Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/648

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Catholic Women in America
607


Clare differed widely from that they wished to adopt, and was uncongenial to the times and needs of the locality. Father Neale, therefore, bought a house and land nearby and installed them in it. Thus was begun by these three ladies an establishment and school which has become famous in America and from which many of her most noted women have graduated. In 1800 Father Neale was consecrated Coadjutor to Archbishop Carroll and continued as president of the Georgetown College. It is not known when Bishop Neale decided to place these devoted women under visitation rules. This little group increased to five members all of whom were known round about as "The Pious Ladies," their only appellation for many years. Mrs. Sharpe who was known as Sister Ignatia, their principal teacher, after a sudden illness died. In 1804 the Poor Clares returned to France, and Mother Teresa (Alice Lalor) was able to buy the house and land which the Poor Clares had occupied. In 1808, Bishop Neale's term as president of the college ended and he took a dwelling close to the convent, which made it possible for him to supervise closely these new daughters of a still unformed community, whom he was endeavoring to train for a monastic life. It is said that in 1812 their buildings were in a state of total disrepair, the monastery a forlorn-looking house containing six rooms, and in 181 1, it is said, Sister Margaret Marshall "succeeded by her energy and the toil of her own hands in lathing and plastering the assembly room." There remains scarcely a vestige of these primitive structures to-day. For a while this was the only Catholic institution of the kind in the United States where the daughters of Catholics might become well grounded in the principles of their religion. The first nine years only four members joined "The Pious Ladies," these were : Sister Aloysia Neale, Sister Stanislaus Fenwick, and Sister Magdalene Neale, and a lay sister, Mary. In 1808 Miss Catherine Ann