By Sister Mary Ann Kuttner, SSND, Central Pacific Province
"On the feast of St. Benedict, the train brought me to Richmond, Virginia. As I walked through the city to reach the German St. Mary’s Church, my glance took in many churches, large buildings, English gardens, all in beautiful spring array.”
In her report to the Louis Mission Society on May 31, 1859, Mother Caroline also noted that the city of 40,000 had less than 4,000 Catholics. At the invitation of the Jesuit pastor, two sisters had opened a mission in Richmond on May 10, 1859. In December 1860, Sister M. Seraphine von Pronath was sent as the second superior of the new mission.
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, was the South’s leading industrial city and an important transportation hub. After the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, Richmond soon became the capital of the Confederacy. St. Mary’s Church, School and Convent were eight blocks from the capitol building.
In 1861, there were 20 sisters at three missions in the South – one in Richmond and two in New Orleans. Mother Caroline reported, “No letter, telegram or travel is possible. ... One must always be ready to flee. ...In addition to the disturbances of war, every kind of illness has already infected entire cities.”
Sister Seraphine, along with Sister Germana, a novice who taught with Sister Seraphine at the school in Richmond, somehow succeeded in traveling to Baltimore in late 1861, but they had difficulty finding a way back to Richmond. They finally left Baltimore on February 25, 1862, and took up their school duties in Richmond again.
Mother Caroline reported in April 1862, “It is deplorable that so many lives are being sacrificed...Taxes are being raised to cancel the national debt...Our taxes for the year will be $500.” She later wrote that, “inflation prevails over the entire country. In addition, the harvest failed almost everywhere.”
On December 10, 1863, Blessed Theresa wrote to Mother Caroline: “According to the details in your letters, the situation in America certainly appears to be dismal. May God have mercy on us!” She also wrote that Sister Seraphine’s sister in Bavaria inquired about her. Could Mother Caroline send her some news? Evidently, Sister Seraphine had not heard that her mother had died.
In June 1864, Union troops settled into a siege close to Richmond, and the people faced starvation. The city was taken on April 2, 1865. Large portions of the business and industrial districts were destroyed by fire, but the residential neighborhoods, including St. Mary’s, were spared. The war officially ended a few weeks later.
In September 1865, Sister Seraphine opened a new mission in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The mission in Richmond continued until 1867 and was then handed over to the Benedictine Sisters.
