BV 4423 .H36 1919
Hand-book of the Mary J Drexel Home and
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Hand Book of the
mary j. drexel home
and philadelphia
motherhouse of
deaconesses
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HAND-BOOK
OF THE
MARY J. DREXEL HOME
AND
PHILADELPHIA MOTHERHOUSE
OF
DEACONESSES
1913
JUN 12 1998
l^fOtOGICAL SE«f ^^
Inarb of EtiXBtnB.
Hon. WILLIAM H. STAAKE,
Court of Common Pleas No. 5, City Hall.
G. A. SCHWARZ,
1006 Chestnut Street.
S'rrrrtarg :
Rev. E. F. bach MANN,
2roo S. College Avenue
(Hrf asurrr :
EDMUND R. TEUBNER, S. E. Cor. Chestnut and Fifth Sts.
Hon. WiLLiAiM H. Staake, W. P. M. Braun,
G. A. ScHWARz, Frederick C. Hassold,
Rev. G. C. Berkemeier, D.D., Rev. G. W. Sandt, D.D., Rev. Samuel Laird, D.D., Prof. H. Offermann, D.D.,
E. Clarence Miller.
iEx-aflSrio :
Rev. E. F. Bachmann, Pastor. Sister Wilhelmine Dittmann, Sister Superior. '~:»t^i^5i*f-
Rev. Hugo C. M. Wendel, Assistant to the Paste. r
Staake and Pat ton, Solicitors
I^osptlal ^taflT.
itappttaarg i>taff.
Visiting Su}-geo)is
John B. Deaver, M.D.,
1634 Walnut Street.
Harry C. Deaver, M.D.,
1534 N. Fifteenth Street.
Assistant
E. G. Alexander, M.D.,
1627 Oxford Street.
Visiti7ig Physicians
Alfred Hand, Jr. M.D.
1724 Pine Street.
Chas A. Fife, M.D., 2033 Locust Street.
J. K. Walker, M.D., 1632 Spruce Street.
Opthalmologist
Charles S. Turnbull, M. D.,
1935 Chestnut Street.
Assistant J. C. Knipe, M.D., 2035 Chestnut Street.
Laryngologist and Otologist
Arthur A. Bliss, M.D. ,t
117 S. Twentieth Street.
Assistants C. L. Manning, M.D., 35 S. Nineteenth Street.
C. W. SCHAEFFER, M.D.,
117 S. Twentieth Street.
Chief of Pathological and Bacteri- ological Department Damon B. Pfeiffer, M.D., 2028 Pine Street.
Chief of X- Ray Department Albert G. Miller, M.D., 2150 N. Twenty-first Street.
Resident Physician G. Lee Hynson, M.D.
Medical H. K. Dillard, M.D., 234 S. Twentieth Street.
Sylvester J. Deehan, M.D., 843 N. Twenty-fourth Street.
Frederick O. Wagge, M.D., 4104 Girard Avenue.
Surgical
Joseph Schenberg, M.D.,
426 N. Fifty-third Street.
E. G. Alexander, M.D., 1627 Oxford Street.
J. Rex Hobensack, M.D., 1706 Columbia Avenue.
Diseases oftheEar.NoseandThroat C. L. Manning, M.D., 36 S. Nineteenth Street
Joseph Schenberg, M.D.,
426 N. Fifty-third Street
C. W. SCHAEFFER, M.D., 117 S Twentieth Street.
Diseases of the Eye
J. C. Knife, M.D.,
2035 Chestnut Street.
J. J. Stanton, M.D., 23d and Oxford Streets.
t Died May i, 191 3 ; Successor not yet appointed.
S^xBtnB
NAME
Entered
Consecrated
^^/9¥/
1 i\
9/
< —
■e. —
^ —
I
2
471
5
6
«^ 9:^
"— 21 ^ — .22
A 24
-25
X26
— 27
28/ ^ 29 30
**• — 32
'—33 34
>, ^35
/— 36
^ -37
— 38 — 39
^ 40 y
•^ - — ^41
42
-^43
>44
Jf. 45
^46
^47
48 y.
'49 - — -50
^ — 52
— '53
54
'55
«4_
Wilhelmine Dittmann, S. Superior
Marianne Kratzer
Magdalene von Bracht
Katharine Bossert
Marie Sowa
Anna Baumgarten
Emma Carlson
Else Dodenhoff
Christiane Dorr
Rosa Dittricli
Emilie Schwarz
Julie Mergner
Marie Roeck
Lydia Klein
Marie Koeneke
Mary Barbehenn
Anna Marie Enderlein
Louise Frey
Veronica Eich
Margaretlie Weller
lyina Beideck
Friederike Ostermann
Eleonore Diehl
Lydia Strempfer
Margaret Schueder
Margaretlie Schultze
Emma Tappert
Flora Moyer
Louise Wackernagel
Gottliebin Koch
Elisabeth Kulinle
Katharine Mauntz
Hannah Christmann
Frieda Broecker
Auguste Hirsch
Christine Rothenbach
Lina Keppel
Elisabeth Heun
Johanna Hertel
Edith Stagg
Alice Fisher
Margarethe Heinbockel
Ada Stedtler
Anna Mayer
Viola Sheaflfer
Mane Wizemann
Louise Altvater
Laura Bitting
Marie Munz
Bertha Mueller
Martha Frey
Marie Gerndt
Mary Cassel
Marie Koch
Emilie Goldhagen
MX.
June 19, June 19, June 19, Jan. 23, Jan. II, Feb. 2, Sept. 20, Jan. 13, Mar. 17, Aug. 7, July 6, June 30, Oct. I, Mar. 27, May 5,
July 15.
July 23, Sept. 20, Oct. 16, Mar. iS, Sept. 4, Nov. 23, Nov. 2, Oct. 19, Oct, 19, Aug. 9, Sept. 16, Oct. I, Oct. 7, May 6, July 6, July 24, Sept. 19, Sept. 19, Oct. 12, Nov. ir, Jan. 13, Sept. 24, Sept. 30, Oct. I, Oct. 9, Oct. 7. Feb. I, May I, April 23, Oct. 8, Sept. 28, Oct'. 31, Aug. 7, Sept. 2, Aug, 17, Oct. I, Oct. 4, Jan. 12, Aug. 15,
884 884 884 885 886 886 886 887 887 888 889
895 889 890 890 890 890 890 S90 891 891 892
893 894 894 895 895 895 895 896 896 896 896 896 896 896 897 897 897 897
897 899 900 900 900 900 900 900 901 901 902 902 902
903 904
April 22 April 22 April 22 Jan. 13 Jan. 13 Oct. 3 May 24 Oct. I Oct. I June 18 Oct. 3 May 24 May 24 May 24 May 24 June 6 June 6 June 6 May 24 June 6 May 29 May 29 June 3 June 3 June 3 May 26 June 3 May 26 Mav 26 Ma'v 18 May 18 May 18 May 18 May 18 May 31 May 31 May 22 May 22 Ma}' 22 May 31 May 31 June 3 June 3 June 7 June 3 June 7 June 3 June 3 May 30 May 30, May 30 June 7 June 7 May 30 May 30
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Probattonprs
NAME
Entered Consecrated
82
Ainalie Hartwig
Louise Cluss
Friederike Cluss
Ada Madden
Cora Wagner
Alwine Stadtliinder . . .
Ella Koch
Thekla Daly
Henriette Hertz
Anna Adelheid Koster . . Elizabeth Grunow .... Anna Magd. Scheyhing . Emma Knipscheer . . . .
Edith Bube
Grace Lauer
EmilieFischer
Friederike Fessler . . . .
Marie Preuss
Mary Berntsen
Bertha Reissig
Frieda VVente
Margarethe Rothenhnuser
Laurette Nelson
Mary Wenrich
vSarah Westley
Elisabeth Leister .... Maude Auchenbach . . .
Oct. 5, Oct. I, Sept. 30, Sept. 17, April 30, May 4, May 4, Sept. 29, Dec. I, Sept. 5, Sept. 14, Oct. 2, May 2, May 2, Sept. 19, Oct. I, Oct. 8, Jan. 23,
July I. Oct. I, Jan. 19, April I,
July 19.
Sept. 2, Sept. 30, Oct. 2, Oct. 4,
1901 1906 1907 1907 1908 1 90S 1 90S 1 90S 1908 1909 1909 1909 1910 1910 1910 1910 1910 1911 1911 1911 1912 1912 1912 1912 1912 1912 1912
May II, 1913 May II, 1913
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JOHN D. LANKENAU
The dedication of the beautiful building of the Mary J. DrexelHome AND PhiladeIvPHIA Motherhouse OF DEACONESSES, twenty-five years ago, attracted much attention in this country and abroad as evidence of the fact that the female diaconate, transplanted from Germany four years before, had taken root and had come to stay. We now offer this "Hand-book" as a brief record of the development of this work during its first quarter of a century, which for obvious reasons will remain the most important period in the history of the Motherhouse. Foundations were laid, methods tested, problems solved and general direction and character given to the work. This summarized survey of the past development may be interesting to the casual reader, but will certainly be valuable to those engaged in similar lines of work as well as to anyone desiring to enter the diaconate. For this reason the general principles and the early history of the deaconess work have likewise been retained from the "Annual" formerly published by us and familiar to all our friends.
A brief glance at the report of last year's work will assure the thought- ful that the Motherhouse is endeavoring to be faithful in the discharge of its duties. It has not been unmindful of the important changes in the social and religious life of our people during the past years, but has adjusted itself to them as far as possible, in order to render really effective service. The Church was fortunate in having established in her midst an institution for the training of deaconesses more than a decade before the Inner Mission movement stirred our people and the Social Service ideas took more definite shape and resulted in aggressive action ; both have impressed the Church with the fact that little can be accomplished by inexperienced and untrained volunteers. The great demand for deaconesses in institutions and congre- gations is far in excess of the number of Sisters at our disposal, and in the interest of the Church and the great problems before her we hope consecrated young women throughout the church will soon begin to realize more definitely the opportunities and blessings offered them by the diaconate. Yet we have reason to thank God for those who have come to us. At the dedication of the Motherhouse our Sisterhood consisted of 23 ; to-day, of 82, showing a gain even somewhat larger in proportion than that of the Kaisers- werth Conference, which reported 7,129 Sisters in 1888, and 21,975 in 1913. Of no less importance is the broadening of the scope of our work. Twenty- five years ago the Motherhouse was limited to its home for aged men and women ; but five years later an amendment to the charter authorized the establishment of "a hospital for children, a high-school for girls, and any similar extension of the objects of the foundation" . . . "in the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, or in other States, if required." Thus the way has been opened to great expansion in the future. It rests, under God, with the Church, and particularly with her young women, whether the Motherhouse shall be the medium of still greater blessings even beyond its present fields of labor. May the perusal of the following pages result in a clearer conception of the female diaconate and in a more rapid increase of thoroughly efficient and consecrated workers !
Philadelphia, October 16th, 1913.
PART FIRST.
A.— NATURE AND PRINCIPLES OF THE DIACONATE.
Diakonia means, in general, ministry, service; but even in ihe New Testament it denotes in a general sense the office (ministry) of the appointed Deacons (1 Tim. 3:8), or Deacon- esses (Rom. 16:1), whose duties were to care for the poor and sick of the congregation. CiuTent church-usage under- stands by the term "diaconate" the ministering" in works of mercy under the control of the Church. Our present diaconate corresponds to, and springs from, the Biblical and apostolic office of Deacon (or Deaconess). It is the exercise of a love born of li\ing faith in Christ, towards the helpless and needy of whatever kind, such ministr}- being undertaken as a life- vocation and officially recognized and regulated by the Church. As a ser\ice done in gratitude and love to the Lord, it is performed voluntarily, without compulsion and without re- ward. AMiere such service is rendered by women, it is called the Female Diaconate.
Every Deaconess Motherhouse, our own included, is in- tended for the planting and development of the Diaconate, and offers to Christian women wdio wish to devote themselves to this ministry of mercy, the necessary training, the communion in the life of the Sisterhood, and a permanent home. In the first place, then, it is to be a training-school where Christian women are fitted for this vocation. The necessary provision for this is made by a preliminary course for beginners, and the continued instruction of all the -Sisters. Again, the Motherhouse offers the blessings and advantages of a firmly organized and well-regulated communion, for the protection, assistance, and improvement of each individual. This com- m.union rests primarily on the religious basis of a common
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faith and confession, and is constantly nurtured by the beauti- ful services of the Lord's house. Besides these blessings, which it has in common with every Christian congregation, the Motherhouse offers a compensation for the home and family life, which those who enter it have given up for the sake of their vocation. A loving confidence and willing obedi- ence to their superiors, and a sisterly attachment to their as- sociates, give to the iNIotherhouse the desired home atmos- phere, and to the individual member a feeling of belonging to this great family, united by the bonds of common faith, love, and service. ]\Iore surely even than the family home, the Motherhouse secures to its daughters the protection of a home under all circumstances, especially in case of sickness or of the enforced inactivity of age. At the same time the com- pact organization and strict order of the INIotherhouse give to each Sister the necessary wholesome direction and sound basis of her whole life-work. Even the less gifted find their appropriate employment in positions which bring out their best gifts and qualities. Finally, the Motherhouse forms a centre from which those who come to it from different parts of the country for training, can be sent out again wherever their services may be most needed and may prove most efifi- cient.
In the organization of our Motherhouse the general over- sight and its representation before the public belong to the Board of Trustees. The Pastor and the Oberin (Sister Su- perior) are ex-officio members of the Board, with the right to vote. At its regular monthly meetings the Board receives the reports of the Pastor and the Oberin, and discusses and decides all that belongs to the general management of the institution, especially the business afifairs.
The institution is connected with the Lutheran Church (General Council), inasmuch as the Pastor must be a member of the INIinisterium of Pennsylvania, and annually reports to that body on the work of the Motherhouse. The inmates of the house constitute a congregation, in which the Pastor per- forms all ministerial acts. Pastor and Oberin together con- stitute the Directory of the Motherhouse with all its branches.
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A Deaconess is a Christian woman (unmarried, or widow without children) who, from love to her Lord and in gratitude to her Saviour, has made it her life-work to serve Him in His poor and needy members, and who, in order to carry out this vocation of ministering love, has voluntarily joined the Dea- coness Mother house, performing her functions under its direc- tion and retaining her membership in it as long as she serves the Lord in this ministry.
Deaconesses are called Sisters because of their fellowship of faith and love in Christ as the daughters of one Mother- house, and because they are to minister to those who are committed to their care, in true sisterly love.
To designate their office, the Sisters w^ear a special garb which is, how^ever, not the habit of an order. This garb or habit is meant to be nothing more than a dignified, practical, plain, and inexpensive dress, not subject to the changes of fashion, and corresponding in the main to the plain attire in vogue during the first half of this century, when the Female Diaconate was revived. The habit is of value not only because of its neatness, but also because it secures to the Sisters a large measure of support and protection in their w^ork.
Li the Sisterhood are Xursing Sisters, Teaching Sisters, and Parish Sisters, according to the three principal spheres of their ministry, the care of the sick and the needy, the in- struction and training of the young, and the assistance of pastors in such work as these may assign them.
The Deaconesses of our Home are Christian women of the Lutheran faith. After a preliminary time of probation, extending over six months or more, they are received as regu- lar probationers, provided they have proven themselves quali- fied for the service. At this point they receive the garb of the Deaconesses, on the solemn and formal promise made by them to the Pastor and the Oberin, that they will faithfully obey their superiors, and abide by all the rules and regula- tions of the house. Having for several years served acceptably as probationers, tl>e}' are, with the approval of all the conse- crated Sisters, set apart to their office by the laying on of hands.
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The Deaconess differs from the Roman Catholic Sister of Charity in this, that she does not claim a peculiar holiness, or a special heavenly reward by reason of her service and vocation. She knows very well that her w^ork is not in itself more holy and pleasing to God than any other in which true Christian faith and love are exhibited ; that she cannot merit anything- before God ; and that her salvation is assured her by free grace, through the merit of Christ alone, which she must apprehend by faith. Another point of dift'erence between the Deaconess and the Roman Catholic Sister is this, that the former does not separate herself from the world and her own family, but performs her service in the world in true evangelical liberty, keeping up her connection with her family as far as her duties, as in any other vocation, permit her to do so. True, she promises at her admission to the Sisterhood and especially at her consecration, to discharge the duties of her office with all the strength the Lord has granted her, and to yield a childlike and willing obedience to the directions of her superiors ; but this is merely her baptismal and confirma- tion vow practically applied. She is bound to the Lord, but not forever to this particular form of service. Whatever she does in the service of her Lord' is done with the full liberty of the Christian.
It is true she has in her own heart, though not by public profession, renounced marriage for the sake of that vocation which is to be her life-work. But she does not thereby imag- ine that she lives in a more holy and meritorious estate than any believing, faithful wife. She is free at any time to give up her vocation, whenever after prayerful consideration she is convinced that the Lord is pointing her to a married life, to serve Him in that estate. No one has a right to blame her for that, and she will be honorably dismissed, provided that she has also in this matter been acting fairly and honorably toward her Alotherhouse.
The Deaconess also willingly assumes a plain and simple life, without extravagance and luxury, as an humble hand- maid of the Lord, because her vocation and ministry demand this of her. But no one urges upon her a self-imposed, merit-
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orious poverty ; she retains full possession .of her private means and the free disposition of the same.
From the "Trained Nurse" the Deaconess differs in this, that whilst receiving her necessary support from the Mother- house, she does not take any payment for her services, as they are primarily rendered to the Lord, nor will she accept gifts from those who are committed to her care. Her only reward is the blessed consciousness : I am privileged to serve my Lord and to do my modest share in the work of His king- dom.
This latter principle distinguishes the work of the Deacon- ess also from all purely humanitarian efforts in similar spheres of philanthropic work. In distinction from these and from the work of the trained nurse, the Deaconess is also to care for the souls of those whom she nurses. She is the assistant and co-worker not only of the physician, but likewise of the pas- tor. But the ministry of the Word is not committed to her irtdgpendently, nor is she ex]5ected to make proselytes for her denomtuation. She nurses all her sick without distinction of creed ; and wherever it is desired, she is bound to procure for her patient a clergyman of the denomination to which he belongs.
B.— HISTORICAL REVIEW. I. — The Diaconate of the Ancient Church.
The service of gratitude rendered the Lord is as old as Christianity. The work of the Son of God, who came to minister and to give His life as a ransom for many, from the very beginning influenced grateful hearts to render Him a counter service. Of such loyal servants of Llim who was their Lord and Master, Scripture tells us that they served Him in faithful imitation and in complete surrender of their entire being. Thus it is said of the mother-in-law of Peter that after her miraculous cure "she served them," i. e., the Lord and His own. And especially were the women to whom the ad- vent of the Lord Jesus brought the greatest gift in freeing their souls and bodies from shameful slavery, ever ready to render service to Him during His sojourn on earth (Luke 8:
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2, 3). They were His true followers even up to the cross (John 19:25; Luke 23:49).
The office of the Diaconate, instituted for the systematic care of the poor, is one of tire very oldest in the Church. In fact, it was this office which was first of all separated from tJTc distincti\-e office of the Apostolate, which at first em- braced the entire congregational service. But w^ith the rapid growth of the congregation at Jerusalem, the demands on the Apostles became correspondingly great, and when finally the insufficiency of their limited oversight in the care of the poor members of the Church gave cause for dissatisfaction, the twehe instituted the office of Deacons, by having seven men chosen "to serve at tables," i. e., to have the supervision of the distribution of food, clothing, etc., to the poor in the congregation (Acts 6:3-6). In this passage w^e find men- tioned the necessary qualifications of deacons : they must be "men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom," to which St. Paul (1 Tim. 3: 8-10, 12, 13) adds further con- ditions and regulations belonging to this office.
While nothing is said in the N<iw Testament concerning the establishment of the office of Deaconesses, there is in Rom. 16: 1, 2, a direct mention of a duly appointed sister: "Phebe, our sister, which is a servant (Greek: diakonos) of the church which is at Cenchrea." (The form "diakonissa" belongs to a later time.) The sister mentioned here, the first deaconess known to us, is entrusted with the high and sacred duty of delivering the letter of the great Apostle to the congregation at Rome. 1 Tim. 3:11 is also to be taken as a reference to the office of deaconesses. The entire contents of this passage seem to prove clearly that the correct translation is not "their wives" (A. V.) but "the women," as the Revised \''ersion has it, i.e., the women in the office of the diaconate.
In the time immediately following the apostolic era, up to the fourth century, we find but one mention of deaconesses, and that about 110 A. D. in the report of the Roman Go\'ernor Pliny to the Emperor Trajanus concerning the life and habits of the Christians. The conscientious official is unable to dis- cover an}' e\"il among them in spite of his persistent efiforts and inquiries, even the rack, so characteristic of the Roman
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method, pro\ ini;- unavailing. "In order to get at the truth of the matter," he writes, "1 deemed it necessary to put to the rack two maids, called by the Christians ''diacoiiisscr.'' But I was unable to get anything out of them, save a most corrupt and boundless superstition."
In the fourth century this office attained its highest development. While the deacons more and more tilled the rank of the lower clergy, assisting in the ministration of the \\'ord, the deaconesses remained within the sphere of the original duties of the office, namely, that of helpers under the direction of the regular clergy. A\'e read that they were inducted into their office by the bishop, with prayer and the laying on of hands; and the "Apostolic Constitutions" dating from those times, give us word for word the intercessory prayer made for deaconesses, the prayer which we still use in the consecration of our Sisters. The same ancient document bear? testimony to the value of the deaconesses in all manner of church services. Their duties consisted in acting as door- keepers and ushers at the women's entrance of the sanctuary and as intermediaries between the females of the congregation and their bishop, in preparing female catechumens for bap- tism, and assisting in their baptism. To this was added the congregational care of the sick and poor and imprisoned, es- pecially among women and children.
There were many deaconesses in those times. As an ex- ample V\-e may mention tlie sisters, forty in all. who labored under the supervision of Chrysostom, while he was bishop of Constantinople (v397-407). Some of these sisters were women of nrible rank, aniong them the wealthy and vouthful widow Olympias, the faithful and influential aid of her bishop. Chrysostom, in his service of the Church and in the struggle against the unbelief and immorality of the court ; and ]\Iakrina. left by death a virgin bride, the deeply devout sister of Basil the Great and of Gregory of Nyssa.
But this period of glorious develi;>pment was brief. As early as the fifth century there began the rapid decline of the Diaconate. The causes were: (1) The removal of the Church center from the East to the West. Avhere women were per- mitted to move more freely among men. making the office of
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a female intermediary between the women and their pastor unnecessary ; (2) the marked decrease of adult baptisms as the nations became Christianized: (3) and above all, the grad- ual loss of the Gospel and with it the rapid growth of monastic orders. A living- faith in the Saviour, and practical, heartfelt love for Him, were now to give place to self-righteousness, super-holiness, and seclusion from the world.
But few traces of this office remained in the Western Church up to 800 and in the Eastern Church to 1200. "The office of evangelical love was killed by the gravediggers of evangelical faith. Where living faith is the tree, there alone the office of evangelical love, regulated by the Church, will find means of flourishing; for this is a love which serves not for the sake of wages and honor, but in gratitude for divine grace experienced in the heart."
II. — The Revival of the Female Diaconate.
This revival did not come with the Reformation, and yet the Reformation did the best work for the future renewal of the office. The abrogation of the doctrine of meritorious works and the emphasis laid on the merit of Christ alone, on faith in Him, and on a grateful and willing communion of faith with Him and service to Him, certainly laid the foundation for the Diaconate of our time. "Good, pious works never make a good, pious man, but a good, pious man performs good, pious works. Faith is a sure, desperately bold confidence in the grace of God. so sure of it, that it would for this trust die a thousand times. And for this reason, without any co- ercion, a man is made willing and eager to do good to every one, to serve all, to suffer many things, for the love and praise of God, who has shown him so much grace. Therefore it is quite impossible to separate works from faith, just as impos- sible, in fact, as it would be to separate heat and light from fire." These golden words of Luther were as much a means of establishing the Diaconate, as of destroying monasteries and nunneries. In fact, the great reformer had the verA^ highest opinion of the peculiar gifts and duties of woman in such service. "A\'omen," he says, "who love godliness, generally
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have the special grace to comfort others, and to soothe their pains." At the same time he freely confesses that 'Sve have not, the necessary persons for such an office (i. e., for the es tablishment of the Diaconate). Therefore I will not trust myself to begin it until our Lord God makes real Christians." It is true, we find isolated beginnings in this direction made in that glorious time of the new life of the Church, but they soon disappeared, and thus the traces of this office in the Re- formed Church of the Lower Rhine region and of Holland were sporadic and temporary. It was only in Mennonite con- gregations of Germany and Holland that the office was pre- served up to the nineteenth century, and it was here that Fliedner first came into touch with this institution, which, in the providence of God, he was to transplant into the Evan- i?elical Church of Germany. Scarcely had the evangelical por- tion of the German people, led through severe judgment and divine help in the wars of liberation from the tyranny of Na- poleon, awakened to a new life of faith; scarcely had the gauntlet thrown down by the modern Rationalism been taken up boldly by the old true faith of the fathers, when also the life of love began anew in the Church. The lack of a well- ordered system in works of mercy by women was every- where felt in orthodox circles, j Pious members of the Church, the Minister von Stein and Amalie Sieveking made efforts to provide for this want, but without effect. Their energies were spent in the effort to imitate in the Evangelical Church the Roman Catholic sisterhoods of mercy. "We wish," said Am- alie Sieveking, "to have something of like nature in the Prot- estant Church." However, the manifest blessing of God did not rest on the work .until it became grounded on the Diac- onate of apostolic times and ceased to be merely an attempted imitation of the Roman Catholic institution.
The first to turn the work into this channel was Johann Adolph Kloenne, pastor in the Lower Rhine Province (tl834). This faithful servant of the Lord, w^ith a warm heart for every effort of building up the kingdom of God, saw clearly the necessity of a re-establishment of the Female Diaconate, and published as early as 1820 an essay on "The Revival of the Deaconess Work of the Ancient Church in our Ladies' Aid
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Societies.'" This essay he sent to persons of iniUience, be- longing to the orthodox wing, and they assured him of their complete and hearty approval. He found a strong champion and co-worker in the person of the noble Count von der Recke V'olmerstein, who had done much for practical Christian phil- anthropy in founding the Rescue Mission in Diisselthal. In 1835 he began writing and working for a renewal of the ofifice of Deaconesses and soon received the support of the pious Prussian king, Frederick William IV. We quote the follow- ing from a letter written by William to the Count : "The re- \ival of this office has been a cherished ideal with me for many Acars, for I am confident that it is one of the many things which our church communion really needs and lacks."
But the realization of the great plans fostered by these brave Christian men was to be eft'ected by that faithful wit- ness of the Gospel, Theodore Fliedner, born January 21, 1800. As a youth of twenty-two, he became pastor of a small Evan- gelical church in Kaiserswerth, in the very center of a Roman Catholic district. The little flock was in dire distress. Even the Church authorities had given it up and declared that the congregation could not be sustained much longer. In fact, the small chapel was threatened w^ith a sheriff's sale. But the faithful young pastor, who had but just arrived on this field of labor, could not bear to witness the death of his congrega- tion. In the year 1823 he started on a collecting tour to Holland and England, and by God's grace the financial object of his mission succeeded perfectly — thanks to the love of those of the same household of faith, and to his great gift of reaching men's purses by touching their hearts.
This proved to be, however, only the less important re- sult of this journey. It served to strengthen the young man's faith by bringing him into contact with numerous upright and pious Christians and fired his ambition to enter personally into the work of Christian philanthropy, of wdiich he had seen many evidences abroad. This resolution he began to carry out immediately by devoting himself with much zeal to the work among criminals. Twice every month he would journey to Diisseldorf and visit the prison there, preaching to and praying with the inmates. He also became the founder of a
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prison society for the Rhine country and ^^'estphalia, which still exists and has been the means of doing much spiritual good among criminals.
The same year brought Fliedner into friendh' intercourse with Pastor Kloenne, and it was the latter's influence which led to his interest in deaconess work. The following year found the indefatigable worker on a new collecting tour in Holland. It was on this occasion that he met the Alennonite Deaconesses mentioned above. He writes of this interesting experience as follows: "Beside this there are in these congre- gations deaconesses, elected by the church council, and placed under its supervision, whose work it is to care for the female poor. They receive no pay, belong to the best families in the congregation, and show much willingness to perform their work, which requires great personal sacrifices of time," etc.
In the meantime he devoted himself with renewed love and care to the work among the prisoners, and endeavored to secure means of providing for discharged female prisoners. But when no other place of refuge could be found for them, he declared himself ready to establish an asylum with this object in view at Kaiserswerth. In this great undertaking he was ably seconded by his devoted wife Frederike, nee IMiin- ster ; and before the necessary funds and shelter were at hand the first inmate made her appearance, 1833. \\'hat was to be done? This first ex-prisoner, who was soon followed by an- other, found shelter in a little house of the pastor's garden. A matron was put in charge, and Fliedner and his wife gave their personal assistance. Before long the inmates were able to move from the little garden-house, the cradle of the institu- tions at Kaiserswerth, -into an asylum specially built for their accommodation. From this time on one work of mercy fol- lowed another. In 1835 Fliedner opened a knitting school in the garden-house, and in the spring of 1836 this had de- veloped into a Little Children's School, or Christian Kinder- garten. Next he turned his attention to the sick, and from the very beginning he combined the proposed building of a hospital with the establishment of a Deaconess Home. In April, 1836, he bought the laroest and finest house in the town for this purpose, fully trusting in the help of his Lord.
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THE MEMORIAL WINDOW
and in May was founded the Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess Society. The faithful couple had many wonderful experiences of God's manifest help in providing- the necessary funds, and on the 13th of October, 1836, the hospital was opened. The tirst sister entered on the 20th. She was Gertrude Reichert, daughter of a physician, and the hrst deaconess of modern times. "She was the first grain of mustard seed sown, small and humble, but in faith and in imitation of the church of the Apostles. Therefore it has a great promise."
A comparison between the ancient and modern form of the Female Diaconate may not be out of place here. Such a comparison will show the following differences between the two : In the ancient Church a deaconess was chosen from the ranks of the congregation which she was to serve ; now she is sent from the Motherhouse, having been chosen by it, to the congregation that desires her help. The deaconess of the ancient Church lacked the special preparation for the calling which every modern deaconess receives. While the former wore no special garb to indicate this office, our deaconesses wear a regularly prescribed garb.
However, all these changes are distinctly of an external nature, and demanded by the conditions of modern times. And in spite of these changes, the deaconess of to-day has as true a claim to this ancient title as the ministers of the Gospel have a perfect right to the claim of being the follow- ers of the presbyters and bishops of the ancient Church, though there may be many dififerences between the office of the clergy of our time and that of the apostolic era. The only essential difl^erence between our modern deaconesses and those of the ancient Church is this, that the latter formed an integral part of the organism of the Church, whilst in our time, for the present at least, such is not always the case in America and rarely so in Europe ; it seems more expedient to o-ather the deaconesses in associations independent of the official con- trol of the Church authorities.
It would lead us too far to folloAv in detail the history of the origin and growth of the different IMotherhouses. We close this historical review with a few statistical figures to show how wonderfully God has blessed the work of the Fe-
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male Diaconate. If ever the Scriptural ])r()inise has been fulfilled: "A little one shall become a thousand" (Isaiah 60: 22), it has been in this case. Out of a small, humble begin- ning-, despised by the v.orld, ridiculed by the Church of Rome in the sure expectation of an early failure, by the grace of God a great work has been developed, branching out in every direction.
In 1864, when Fliedner died, there were, in addition to Kaiserswerth, not less than 31 Deaconesses Motherhouses, with 1,597 Sisters in 406 stations, with a total income of $200,- 000. Of these 425 Sisters, m Stations and about $41,000 belonged to Kaiserswerth.
Thirty years later, in 1894, there were 68 Motherhouses, with 10,412 Sisters, in 3,461 stations, w^ith about $2,200,000 income; and in 1913, seventy-seven years after the work began, there were 87 Motherhouses, with 21,965 Sisters, in 7,923 fields of labor, and an income of $5,850,000.
In 1913 the following houses had the largest number of Sisters: Kaiserswerth, 1,435; Bielefeld, 1,330; Stuttgart, 980; Konigsberg, 927 ; Neuendettelsau, 841 ; Dresden, 777 ; Christi- ana, 539 ; Stockholm, 378; Copenhagen, 322.
These numbers tell their own tale, \\4ioever is able to appreciate what they mean — what healing and alleviation of distress in soul and body, what faithful labor in the name and for the glory of our Saviour, wdiat divine blessings both on the Sisters and on those to whom they ministeied, wil! acknowl- edge: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." But at the same time it will be impossible for him to pass ^"his work wdthout sympathetic interest, which will soon prompt a prayer for God's further blessing and a word of encourage- ment to those who are inclined to enter.
For the benefit of those who desire further information on this subject v,e recommend the following books, which can be ordered through our house :
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ScHAEFER : Die weibliche Diakonie. Three volumes
F. Meyer : Von den Diakonissen und ihrem Beriif.
E. Wackek : Der Diakonissenberuf.
E. Wacker: Diakonissenspiegel.
Schaefer: Im Dienst der Liebe.
ScHAEFER : Diakonissen-Katechismus.
Fr. Meyer: Deaconesses and their Calling. Translated by Emma A. End-
lich. Milwaukee, Wis. : Geo. Brunder. E. Wacker: The Deaconess Calling, its Past and its Present. Translated
by Emma A. Endlich. Appendix by A. Spaeth, D. D., Mary J.
Drexel Home, Philadelphia. Single copies, $0.50 ; by the dozen,
$0.40; by the hundred, $0.30. Julie Mergner: Der Diakonissenberuf. 75 cents. Julie Mergner: The Deaconess and Her Work. Translated fioni
the German by Mrs. Adolph Spaeth. Illustrated, 75 cents. Proceedings and Papers of Ten Conferences of Ev. Luth. Deaconess
Motherhouses in the United States. 1896-1913. The Deaconess and Inner Mission Work. Bulletin No. 2, published
by Inner Mission Society. Philadelphia. Mary J. Drexel Home. J. S. Buettner: Gottes Befehl im Diakonissenberuf. C. GoldER: History of the Deaconess Movement. German and English
editions. Cincinnati, O. Jennings & Pye. (Written from Metho- dist viewpoint, but generally fair.) J. F. Ohl: The Inner Mission. Illustrated, ,f i.oo.
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PART SECOND.
I|iat0rg of nur mntI|^rI)nuBr.
A.— THE FIRST DEACONESSES IN AMERICA.
In the year 1849 the tirst Kaisersvverth Deaconesses ar- rived in the United States. They labored in the service of in- stitutions of mercy, established by a Lutheran clergyman, the late Dr. ^^'. A. Passavant, who died June 3, 1894. (See "Life and Letters of W. A. Passavant, D.D." by Prof. G. H.Gerberding, D.D. ) His name will always be mentioned in connection with the Deaconess cause in this country as that of a zealous and faith- ful laborer in the Lord's vineyard, who was the first to recog- nize the value of the ministry of the Sisters, and to labor vig- orously for the introduction of this work from the fatherland into this country.
While attending the first convention of the Evangelical Alliance in London, 1846, he was encouraged and inspired to undertake the establishment of institutions of mercy. And as he journeyed on to Kaiserswerth he gained an insight into the work of the Deaconesses. He at once asked Fliedner for a number of Sisters for hospital service in America, and in June, 1849, Fliedner himself brought four of his Deaconesses into this country to the city of Pittsburg, where they took charge of the Infirmary and Deaconess Institution, established by the Rev. W. A. Passavant. On July 17, 1849, the hospital was dedicated in the presence of Fliedner, to whom the Fe- male Diaconate owes its reorganization in this century. In the month of May, 1850, the first American probationer, Louise Marthens, was consecrated as a Deaconess, and in 1857 an additional Sister was sent from Kaiserswerth. F)Ut owing to a lack of proper training and pastoral care the work made no further progress.
Dr. Passavant, who was constantly engaged in founding new institutions, could not possibly find the time for the quiet work of building up the Sisterhood. And vet the proper
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development of the Deaconess cause, with the necessary tech- nical and religious training of the Sisters, requires the entire time, thought, and strength of a man. In this limitation to the one cause lay Fliedner's strength and, to a great measure, the secret of his success. Passavant was so overwhelmed with the largest and most vital problems of the Church in his day, and devoted himself so unselfishly and, in a large measure, successfully to their solution, that his early failures in the deaconess work detract little from his greatness. Since 1893, however, his hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., founded by him in 1864, had a Deaconess Motherhouse connected with it, which has at this time 42 Sisters. The Rev. J. F. Ohl was the first Rector, remaining until 1898. Since 1902 the Rev. Herman L. Fritschel is in charge.
Before proceeding to our own ^Motherhouse, we deem it proper to mention briefly the other Lutheran Deaconess In- stitutions, a summary review of whose history will be found in the published proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the Lutheran ]\Iotherhouses in the L'nited States, held in Philadelphia in April, 1908.
1. The Motherhouse at Baltimore, founded by the Gen- eral Synod in 1895, the Rev. Charles E. Hay, D. D., pastor, report! no: 41 Sisters.
2. The Swedish Motherhouse at Omaha, Xeb., founded by the Rev. E. A. Fogelstrom in 1890, and now in charge of the Rev. P. M. Lindberg;45 Sisters.
3. The Swedish Motherhouse at St. Paul, ]\Iinn., founded 1902 and connected with the Swedish Hospital of the ^linne- sota Conference of the Augustana Synod. The pastor. Rev. C. A. Hultkrans, reports 25 Sisters.
4.-6 The Norwegians have three Motherhouses, the oldest in Brooklyn (founded I885, though the first deaconess came there from Norway in I8S3) with 19 Sisters, since 1909 in charge of Rev. A. O. Fonkalsrud ; another in Minneapolis (1889) has 39 Sisters ; rector since 1912 the Rev. M. Rufsvold ; and the youngest and largest in Chicago (l897) with 61 Sisters under Rev. A. Oefstedal. In the past few years Minneapolis and Chicago have experienced the most rapid growth of all our Motherhouses.
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7. Since 1905 there is a Danish Deaconess Institution founded by the Rev. J. Aladsen in Brush, Col., furnishing- the Sisters in charge of the Sanatorium for puhnonary tubercu- losis, founded also by him in 1903. He is doing remarkable work with his three Sisters.
8.-9. Summing up by including ^Milwaukee and our own Motherhouse, we find that according to the statistics of April, 191,'', there are 9 Lutheran Deaconess Alotherhouses. with 358 Sisters, in 78 different fields of labor — i. e.. in 17 parishes, in 14 hospitals, in 12 Homes for the Aged, in ^ Orphans' Homes and the rest in fourteen different kinds of work, including vSisters in the foreign field.
B.— OUR DEACONESSES IN THE GERMAN HOSPITAL.
The German Hospital in Philadelphia was founded and chartered in 1860. In the following year it acquired its own building and property at Twentieth and Norris Streets. But during- the Civil War the United States Government took pos- session of it and used it as a military hospital. Consequently, the first patients were received into the German Hospital, properly speaking, only towards the close of the year 1866. A new era of prosperity and success was inaugurated in the his- tory of the hospital in 1869, when IMr. John D. Lankenau w^as elected president. In 1872 the hospital was transferred to its present location at the southwest corner of Girard and Corin- thian Avenues. Extensive changes were made in the building during 1874 and 1875. Ten years later, "in memory of his wife, son and daughter," President Lankenau added a large wing to the old buflding. \\hich. at the same time, received a fourth story. He also built a new operating room, fitted up with all modern improvements, and a laundry, stable, mortu- ary, and boiler house, not to speak of many important improve- ments in the interior of the buildings.
And } et. perhaps, of even greater importance were the measures carried through by the venerable president, as- sisted by faithful and judicious counselors and co-workers, by
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which the inner administration of the hospital was reorgan- ized and the introduction of Deaconesses effected. In testi- mony of this the words of the president may be quoted, when at the dedication of our Alotherhouse, he said: "By the en- trance of the Sisters a more healthy system of management was introduced into the hospital and a complete change of the old system of nursing was inaugurated."
In the fall of 1882 the way was opened for the introduc- tion of Deaconesses into the German Hospital by a change in the charter, by which the co-operation of the Church was frankly and openly invited by the Hospital Board. Thus an opportunity was afforded for such changes in the internal ad- ministration of the hospital and its methods of nursing as would make it a possibility worthy of consideration to call Deaconesses from Germany.
The President, Mr. John D. Lankenau, and with him Consul Chas. H. ]\Ieyer, had already made several attempts to induce Kaiserswerth or some other large Motherhouse in (jcr- many to give up some Sisters to our hospital. Consul Rasch- dau, of the German General Consulate in New York, had also taken a very special and active interest in our affairs, and in 1883 had made various attempts to secure Sisters for us. But on all sides our applications were refused. The Sisters were too urgently needed at home, and could not be spared for America.
In the spring of 1883, during a business trip to Germany, Consul Chas. H. Meyer undertook once more to secure Dea- conesses for us. He visited Kaiserswerth, where Pastor Dis- selhoff, the son-in-law. and Rev. Geo. Fliedner. the son of the late Inspector Fliedner, carried on the blessed work of their father with so much success. But interesting and instructive as this visit was, its main object was without result, and, in fact, it almost irresistibly forced upon us the disheartening convic- tion that all endeavors would be in vain. However, Consul Meyer did not give up hope, but continued his efforts unremit- tingly.
tn- Hamburg, not long after this, he learned through the Rev. C. Ninck, a warm friend of the Deaconess cause, that in the hospital at Iserlohn there was a small independent
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community of Sisters, under the direction of a Superior, ^larie Krueger, who had been trained in Kaiserswerth, and that possibly this little band of Deaconesses might be in a position to accede to our proposal. A correspondence was opened with the Sister Superior, which resulted toward the end of 1883 in an agreement that she with six Sisters would come over to Philadelphia in the spring of 1884.
It was not easy for the Sisters to bid farewell to their field of labor in Iserlohn and to their old home. Repeated efforts were made by the Towai Council and citizens of Iserlohn to shake their resolution. But the Sisters remained true to their word, and departed with the thanks of the town "for the ex- cellent and self-sacrificing manner in which they had filled their office." On the 7th of June, 1884, the little company embarked on the steamer "Pennland," in Antwerp, and after a safe voyage reached the harbor of New York on the 19th of June, landing at Jersey City. They w^ere there received by the President of the German Hospital, ]\Ir. J. D. Lankenau, and conducted to their new home in Philadelphia.
The names of the Sisters who came as pioneers in the Deaconess work in Philadelphia deserve to be recorded here :
Sister Alarie Krueger, from Ehrenbreitstein on the 'Rhine.*^*^
Sister Frederike AVurzler, from Deutschenthal, near Halle.*^
Sister AA^ilhelmine Dittmann, from Neuwied.
Sister Alarianne Kraetzer, from Harzgerode, Harz Alts.
Sister Alagadelena von Bracht. from St. Vieth, Eifel Mts.
Sister Alma Kohmann, from Eibau, Saxony./^
Sister Pauline Loeschmann, from Writzen,^Iark Bran- denburg.
The last named left the Sisterhood soon after her arrival, and Sister Frederike Wurzler, whose services were invalu- able to us owing to her rich experience, especially in surgical nursing, was obliged to return to Germany utterly broken down in health, and died there after a protracted illness. We also lost the first Superior Sister or "Oberin" and Sister Alma by death. The remaining three Iserlohn Sisters still belong to our house and serve it most faithfully. Sister AA^ilhelmine Dittmann even as "Oberin" since Easter, 1909. Thev cele- brated the twenty-fifth anniversarv of their Deaconess activity
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on April 21, 1897, and of their arrival in this country on June 19, 1909.
The beginning- of the work in our Hospital was in many respects very difficult for the Sisters. The new south wing was not yet completed ; the persons who until this time had charge of the house were, at least for awhile, still on the spot ; and the w^ay was yet to be gradually broken for a perfect understanding of the peculiar character of Protestant Deacon- ess work, not only among the physicians, but even in the Board of Trustees. The work made an important advance through the appointment of a standing Deaconess Committee, which was named by the President of the Board in February, 1885, for the purpose of formally organizing the Deaconess work in this country, winning new Sisters, securing proba- tioners, and providing for their training. This committee held its regular sessions every month, and made all the arrange- ments necessary in the interest of the Deaconess cause. The members of the Deaconess Committee were the following gentlemen : J. D. Lankenau, President and Treasurer ; Chas. H. Meyer. Secretary ; Rev. W. J. Mann, D. D. ; Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D. ; Rev. F. Wischan ; J. C. File, President of the German Society ; J. H. Tilge ; G. A. Schwarz ; and Sister Marie Krue- ger, the Superior.
A further advantage was gained for the Deaconess cause by a change in the mode of appointing resident physicians, this position having generally been occupied by three young doctors, just graduated. As such a plan was incompatible with the principles of the Deaconess work, it was so modified that one resident physician of riper experience was appointed as Medical Superintendent. From T»ly. 1885, this place was satisfactorily filled by -Dr. Geo. A. Bodamer, until he was succeeded in 1889 by Dr. Carl Frese. He was followed in 1902 by Dr. Henry F. Page, wdio is still in charge.
C— PRELIMINARY HISTORY OF OUR MOTHER- HOUSE.
The most important step in the further development of the Deaconess work, however, was the determination of the
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President, Mr. J. D. Lankenau, to erect the necessary build- ings for a Deaconess Motherhouse in connection with the contemplated Mary J. Drexel Home. The idea of founding an asylum for aged and infirm Germans, culminating in the Mary J. Drexel Home, had been conceived by Mr. Lankenau several years before any one thought of the Deaconesses. For this purpose he had bought all the lots adjacent to the German Hospital, and the amended charter of 1882 contained a paragraph giving the management of this institution eventu- ally into the hands of the Hospital Board.
The introduction of Deaconesses suggested to our Presi- dent the establishment of a real Deaconess Institution in connection with the proposed Mary J. Drexel Home. There could be no doubt that if the work of Deaconesses was to take firm foothold among us, and become permanently established, steps should be taken as soon as possible toward founding a separate Motherhouse, where probationers could be received and trained, and where disabled and aged Sisters could have a home in the evening of life. The Deaconess Institution, as such, would have to be established and directed in a churchly spirit, if any growth were to be expected for it. And as the Sisters from the beginning had found their spiritual home in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Johannis and their spiritual guide in its pastor, the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth ; as, more- over, since the amendment of the charter in 1882, three pas- tors from the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsyl- vania were to be in the Board of Trustees of the Hospital, there was no question that the Motherhouse which was to be founded, must stand in organic union with the Lutheran Church. But there was still the possibility that the Mary J. Drexel Home might have its own administration, different from that of the Deaconess Institution. The founder of both institutions, however, after mature consideration, decided that the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses should not only be combined architecturally in one magnificent building-, but should also be placed under one management. For these a special Board of Directors, as an independent cor- poration, was to be created, in which the Board of Trustees of the German Hospital was to be represented by three mem-
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bers. The carrying out of this measure required another change in the charter of the German Hospital. This was pro- posed in the session of the Deaconess Committee of September 26, 1885, by Consul Chas. H. Meyer, and was adopted for sub- mission to the Board of Trustees. At the same time j\Ir. J. D. Lankenau announced that he was ready to begin building the new institution as soon as the Corporation of the German Hospital agreed upon the amendment. During the same ses- sion the name of the new institution was decided upon : "The Mar}' J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Dea- conesses."
xA.fter the preliminary approval of the proposed amend- ment had been passed by the Corporation in the meeting of January, 1886, the first steps were at once taken for beginning the building. xA-t the session of the Deaconess Committee on March 27, 1886, Air. Lankenau announced his intention to en- trust the design and execution of the building to the architect, Mr. G. Knoche. He was then unanimously chosen by the committee as architect of the proposed building, and i\Ir. Lank- enau concluded the necessary contracts with him.
On the 20th of September, 1886, ground was broken, and on November 11th the corner-stone of the new building was laid by Mr. John D. Lankenau with appropriate ceremonies. A full description of this solemn act was afterward published in German and English.
While the external building was making rapid progress, important steps were also taken for the internal development of the Deaconess work, though the time following immediately after the laying of the corner-stone was in many respects full of severe trials and anxieties. On the 30th of November, 1887, the Sister Superior. Marie Krueger, died, and until May, 1888, Sister Wilhelmine Dittmann acted pro tempore as Sister Su- perior. At the same time the internal affairs of the Sister- hood were regulated by weekly conferences of the older Sis- ters held under the direction of their pastor, Dr. A. Spaeth. Repeated eft"orts to secure experienced Sisters from the other houses in Germany proved unsuccessful. The committee hav- ing charge of this work became more and more convinced that the clear duty before us was to train our future Sisters
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ourselves from the probationers who would enter our Mother- house. For this purpose it seemed to be highly important and necessary to secure at least one thoroughly trained Sister from a German Motherhouse, who, as Training Sister (Probe- meisterinj would be fully competent to train our probationers. U'ith a view^ to this end Dr. A. Spaeth, during the summer of 1886, visited the most prominent German Motherhouses, Kaiserswerth, Bielefeld, Hannover, Altona, Stuttgart and Neuendettelsau. At the latter place an understanding was reached with the Rector, Rev. F. iMeyer, to the effect that one of the ablest and most experienced Sisters from that excellent institution, founded by Loehe in 1854, should be sent over to stay with us a number of years and take charge of the train- ing of our probationers. But in the end even this agreement came to naught, as the state of health of the Sister selected for this work did not permit her coming to this country. But after all we owe much to the Neuendettelsau Alotherhouse, in- asmuch as several Sisters at present charged with important work, received their training there. Aleanwhile the need be- came more and more tu'gent. It was absolutely necessary to secure an able and competent Housemother or Sister Su- perior for our orphaned band of Sisters, and, if possible, at the same time, a suitable minister as Housefather or Rector who could devote his whole time and strength to the training of the Sisters and to the systematic development of the Dea- coness cause. For the former position, through the efforts of President John D. Lankenau and Consul Chas. H. Meyer, \\'anda von Oertzen, a woman of great energy, executive ability, and wide experience in nursing, was secured. She ar- rived on May 26, 1888, and w^as solemnly inducted into her office on the evening 'of June 18, 1888. For the position of Pastor and Rector of the Motherhouse of Deaconesses, at the first meeting of the newly incorporated Board of Trustees, on the 18th of February, 1888, Dr. A. Spaeth proposed the Rev. Augustus Cordes, wdio, as the assistant of the late Pastor Ninck in Hamburg, had known the work of the Deaconesses from practical experience. The correspondence opened with him by resolution of the Board, had the gratifying result that on the 7th of August, 1888, we had the pleasure of welcoming
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him at our House, where he cheerfully and vigorously entered upon the duties of his important office. Thus, almost simul- taneously, the two most important practical problems for the continuation and development of the work were solved in a most satisfactory manner. We had secured an Oberin (Sister Superior) and a Rector for our institution, both of whom de- served our fullest confidence, and from whom the happiest results could be expected for the healthy and continued growth of our cause.
In the meantime important progress had also been made in the internal organization of the work. The former Com- mittee on Deaconesses, appointed by the Board of Trustees of the German Hospital, had given place to the incorporated Board of Trustees of the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadel- phia Motherhouse of Deaconesses. At a meeting of the com- mittee on January 22, 1887, a sub-committee had been ap- pointed, consisting of Messrs. John D. Lankenau, Chas. H. Meyer, and A. Spaeth, D. D., to draft a charter for the new corporation, with the advice and co-operation of James Par- sons, Esq. On October 20, 1887, the charter was finally adopted, and the following gentlemen were appointed mem- bers of the new corporation : John D. Lankenau, Rev. A\"illiam J. Mann, D. D., Rev. Adolph Spaeth, D. D., Rev. Frederick Wischan, Rev. Hugo Grahn, Chas. H. Meyer, John C. File, Gustavus A. Schwarz and J. Henry Tilge. When the charter had been granted by the court, the new corporation organized at its first meeting on February 18, 1888, by electing the fol- lowing officers : President, John D. Lankenau ; Vice-President, Chas. H. Meyer; ^Secretary, Rev. Hugo Grahn; Treasurer, Chas. Woerwag; Attorney, James Parsons, Esq. In a com- munication dated March 7, 1888, the President officially in- formed the Board of the German Hospital of the organization of the new corporation, at the same time expressing his sin- cere thanks for their kindness and willingness in conveying the lease of the western part of the Hospital ground to the new corporation, and closing with the hope that there would always exist the kindliest feelings and ready co-operation be- tween the two sister institutions.
As the Deaconess cause thus gradually developed and
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shaped itself in this Western world, it also gained the confi- dence and recognition of the older Motherhouses in the Ger- man Fatherland, which had, from the beginning, shown a kind interest in our history. The General Conference of Deaconess Motherhoiises which meets once in three years, at its conven- tion held in September, 1888, at Kaiserswerth, declared itself ready to invite our Motherhouse for the present to take part in the conference as a guest, provided that our rules and regu- lations should be found in accordance with the principles rec- ognized b}^ the General Conference. In 1894 our Motherhouse was admitted as a regular member of that conference, and since then the Lutheran Motherhouses in Baltimore, Md., in Omaha, Neb., and in Milwaukee, Wis., have also joined the same, giving the Lutheran Deaconess work in America the stamp of approval by the highest authority on Deaconess work and principles in Europe. These four Motherhouses, together with the Norwegian Motherhouses in Brooklyn, in Minneapo- lis and in Chicago, and the Swedish IMotherhouse in St. Paul, are, since 1896, united in an American conference of Lutheran Motherhouses, which meets bi-ennially and has done much towards uniformity of principles and methods of the work in, this country. The Danish Motherhouse at Brush, Col., also reports to this Conference and is recognized by the same.
D.— OUR SISTERS IN THEIR OWN MOTHERHOUSE.
The charter of the corporation of the Motherhouse having been adopted in October, 1887, and our Sisterhood having received a new Oberin and their own spiritual adviser in the person of their Pastor, everything was ready for the formal organization and opening of the Motherhouse.
This event was signalized by the dedication of the mag- nificent building on December 6, 1888. With this date the real history of our House begins. At 3 P. M. on that mem- orable day the members of the Board, the officiating clergy- men and the Deaconesses moved in procession to the Chapel. At the main entrance the architect, Mr. G. Knoche, handed the key to the President, Mr. J. D. Lankenau, who, in an ad- mirable address, formally surrendered the building to the
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Board of Trustees with the promise that he would make pro- vision for its maintenance and support. The Vice-President, Consul Chas. H. Meyer, responded in behalf of the Board, assuring- the generous donor of their consciousness of the grave responsibilities assumed, but also of their grateful recog- nition and appreciation of Mr. Lankenau's act, and conclud- ing with the best wishes for the founder and the institution. This was followed by the formal consecration of the house and with the liturgical order of the Vesper Service, the Rev. Dr. W. J. Mann making the German address, and the Rev. Dr. Jos. A. Seiss speaking in English. After this the new Rector, Rev. A. Cordes, was solemnly installed by the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth.
On that memorable day the Sisterhood consisted of eight consecrated Deaconesses and twenty probationers, five of whom, being trained for the Swedish Motherhouse in Omaha, did not properly belong to our own House.
Meanwhile the work of our Sisters had been sought also in other places. In the spring of 1887 parish work was un- dertaken in the German Lutheran St. Paul's congregation. There, through the influence of the Rev. F. Wischan, a Dea- coness Society had been formed which asked that a Sister might be assigned to them.
The first case of private nursing and the first work out- side of Philadelphia was undertaken in January, 1889, when a Sister was sent to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., to take charge of a family stricken with typhoid fever.
In April of the same year the first monthly Conference of Sisters was held.
Since 1890 the German monthly, "Der Diakonissen- Freund," has been 'published as the organ of our cause, and has met with general favor throughout our Church and our country. Whilst the 3'ear 1890 had seen a number of new enterprises within the Motherhouse and outside, the following years w^ere devoted to quiet development. A great deal of labor was demanded from the Sisters and their leaders. The Rector found some relief in the appointment of a secretary and assistant in the person of the Rev. A. Blum (June 1, 1892). On March 31, 1892, the Isolating House was completed bv
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Mr. Lankenau, and handed over to the Board of Trustees. It is used for the reception of such patients who, whilst under treatment in the Children's Hospital or in the German Hos- pital, are found to be afflicted with contagious disease. It has done most valuable service to both institutions.
An invaluable blessing was bestowed upon our Sisterhood when in 1890 our President opened his cottage by the seashore at Cape May Point, N. J., which he most generously devoted to the recreation of the Sisters, he himself being the kind host who invited the Sisters to his table and offered a most com- fortable home to those who needed rest and the refreshing sea-breeze and bath during the summer heat.
A great loss was sustained by our IMotherhouse when, m July, 1892, Rector Cordes resigned while visiting in Ger- many. ^^'hat he was to our House through his assiduous and many-sided labors shall never be forgotten and deserves our grateful remembrance. His place was vacant from June, 1892, to July, 1893. The Rev. A. Blum acted as substitute, faith- fully discharging the duties laid upon him. In the month of May, 1893, the Oberin was afflicted with severe illness, and for a time had to withdraw from the management of the House.
On the Fourth of July, 1893, the new pastor. Rev. Carl Goedel, arrived, and was solemnly installed in his ofBce on the following Sunday, July 8th, by the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth. He had formerly been in the service of the Rhenish Church as pastor in W^einsheim, near Kreuznach. By the grace of God he succeeded in discharging the duties of his office to the full satisfaction of the Board.
The year 189-! brought a change in the Board, inasmuch as the Rev. F. Wi^chan resigned, and Rev. G. C. Berkemeier, D. D., of the Wartburg Orphans' Home, Mount Vernon, N, Y., was chosen in his place. This choice was made possible by a change in our charter, obtained some time before, which demands that the clerical members of the Board must belong to the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, being no longer confined, as before, to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. By this action and the elec- tion of the Rev. Mr. Berkemeier, the New York Ministerium
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is brought into closer contact with our institution. And it is fair and proper to give a pul)lic recognition to the warm in- terest which we there find for our cause, and which is sho>vn by the fact that quite a number of Christian women have come to us from that part of the Church. It is an advantage to the Church at' large that the work of the Female Diaconate within these two oldest Lutheran Synods is concentrated in one Motherhouse, and that a separation into different smaller institutions has been avoided.
On the 30th of T^Iarch, 1894, the Rev. A. Blum left us, after several years of faithful service, to accept a call as pas- tor. The position of Secretary, which had been filled by him, was first taken by one of the Sisters ; afterwards by ]\Iiss Nora R. Ohl, who resigned to enter upon other work in 1908. She has been succeeded by a Deaconess.
On the 21st of July, 1895, death removed Mr. J. Henry Tilge, who had been a member of the Hospital Board since 1882, and who, when our work was begun, was also elected a member of the Board of the Mary J. Drexel Home.
Of great importance not only for our House, but also for the entire Deaconess work in our Church and in the United States, was the First Conference of Lutheran Deaconess Houses in America, held in our House, September 16-18, 1896. Vital questions w^ere there discussed, involving the fundamen- tal principles of the Diaconate, and a hearty agreement was reached by the representatives of the Motherhouses of Phila- delphia, Milwaukee, Omaha and Baltimore. Before the close of the sessions the Conference efifected a permanent organiza- tion. The second meeting of the Conference was held in Mil- waukee, Wis., October 20-22, 1897 ; the third in Omaha, Neb., October 4, 5, 1899; the fourth in Baltimore, Md., January 5-7, 1903; the fifth in Philadelphia. April 26-28, 1904; the sixth in Milwaukee, October 10, 11, 1905; and the seventh again in Philadelphia, April 21, 22, 1908. The proceedings and papers of these highly successful conventions are ptiblished in pamph- let form and can be had on application.
Our beloved Oberin, ^^'anda von Oertzen, was, in June, 1897, obliged to intermit her labors in order to go abroad and seek relief from a serious ailment. It was, however, the Lord's
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plan to release her entirely from His service upon earth. After a ling-ering- illness, she peacefully fell asleep on the 14th of November in the Deaconess ^lotherhouse, Bethanien, Berlin.
What Wanda von Oertzen was to our two institutions, and to each one of the Sisters is known only by our closest friends. The thoughtfulness of our President has given last- ing expression to our enduring love and respect by the erec- tion of a memorial tablet in the stair-hall of the Motherhouse. Thus the memory of the departed will be perpetuated to the future generations of our House, whilst those who were asso- ciated with her will keep her in faithful and grateful remem- brance as long as they live.
Before this season of trial and privation and anxious wait- ing had come to an end, it pleased God to lay a fresh burden upon us in the sudden death of our Vice-President, the Ger- man Consul in this city, ]\Ir. Charles H. Meyer, who was taken away during the night of August 13, 14, 1898. His name will likewise continue to be linked not only with the history of our House, but also with that of the work of the Diaconate in our land. From the very beginning he was the most faith- ful and indefatigable co-worker of our. founder, and an in- telligent, warm-hearted friend of our Sisters, whose compan- ionship he sought not only in their fields of labor, but also during their hours of leisure and recreation, and for whom he made many a vigorous plea. Though a very busy man, it was his delight to devote his comparatively brief periods of freedom to the service of our institution. To many he was a loyal personal friend. As such he will continue to live in our memories; and his labors for our cause will, as he himself hoped, be his enduring legacy to us, to our Motherhouse, and to the German Hospital.
On the 30th of January, 1898, Sister Emilie Schwarz was installed into the ofifice of Sister Superior of the Motherhouse. In February, 1901, she resigned, and our former Training Sis- ter, Sister Magdalene Steinmann, was installed Sister Superior on the afternoon of ^^^^itsunday, 1901.
By a unanimous vote, the well-known and highly re- spected attorney and present judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Hon. AVilliam H. Staake, a most active lavman of our
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AUDITORIUM OF LANKENAU SCHOOL
SITTING ROOM FOR SENIOR GIRLS
Church, was, at the beginning of the year 1898, elected a mem- ber of the Board, and at the Board's first session in 1899 he was unanimously chosen Vice-President of the institution. At the same meeting- Mr. Hermann Hessenbruch was elected a member of the Board.
The event which during the past years has been of great- est import to us was the death of our President, founder and maintainer, Mr. Johann Diederich Lankenau, on August 30, 1901. Of the many afflictions that have come to our Mother- house in the few years of its existence this has been the most se\'ere. The loss of our kind and loving President, who had been a father to all, was most keenly felt.
The death of our founder has completed the first period in the history of our Motherhouse. A\'e who have been in- trusted ])y our late President with the direction of all the work, must preserve his memory to posterity by a faithful continu- ance and development of the projects to which Mr. Lankenau had given his loving consideration, and which, through the grace of God, had been promoted by his advice and large munificence.
On the 7th of January, 1902, the Hon. William H. Staake was unanimously elected President and Mr. G. A. Schwarz Vice-President of the Board of Directors. The vacancy in the Board caused by the death of Mr. Lankenau has been filled by the election of Mr. ^^'illiam P. M. Braun as member of the Board of Trustees.
On March 9, 1902, our first Treasurer, Mr. Charles A. Woerwag, died. Mr. Edmund R. Teubner was elected his successor, and by his faithful support our institution has a sound system of finances. ^Ir. \\'oerwag was succeeded in the Board of Trustees- by the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., who is also a member of the Board of the German Hospital.
The affairs of the Home went along most satisfactorily until early in 1904, when Pastor Goedel felt constrained to resign in order to return to the Fatherland and to make room for a man more in sympathv with the language and the spirit of this country than he found it possible to be; but as a suit- able successor could not be secured at that time, he most gen- erouslv decided to remain at his post for two more vears. His
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resignation was finally accepted by the Board of Trustees with deep regret, and in full appreciation of the many and faithful services he had rendered in the thirteen years of his pastorate at the Drexel Home. With his family he sailed for Germany on June 21st, 1906, and on his arrival found an invitation to become the pastor of the independent Lutheran congregation in Montreux, on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, where he is now laboring with marked success. The Rev. E. F. Bachmann, who had served Concordia Evangelical Lutheran congrega- tion in Buffalo, N. Y., since 1892, and who had declined a call to the Drexel Home in 1904, was persuaded to accept a second call and entered upon his duties as pastor of the ^lotherhouse on August 4th, 1906. On September 23d the first regular Eng- lish service was held in the beautiful chapel of the Drexel Home, and since then our Sunday evening services have been English. English is also used in the classroom, and, in fact, so generally by most of the Sisters, that candidates from English Lutheran congregations soon feel perfectly at home. They are expected, however, to acquire the German langua'^e also, in order to profit no less by our German services and to enable them to study the German sources on the Diaconate and on Inner Missions; at the same time the unsurpassed de- votional literature of the German Lutheran Church is made accessible to these Sisters and, finally, they are the better fitted for their work in hospitals and parishes. By the grace of God the vexing troubles of the language problem are unknown in the Drexel Home. The summer of 1907 the pastor spent abroad to become accpiainted with some of the leading men and Motherhouses of the Diaconate in German}- and to attend the Triennial Convention of the General Conference of Dea- coness Motherhouses held at Kaiserswert. September 17th- 19th. The beneficial influence of this sojourn abroad is grate- fully acknowledged by the pastor and has made itself felt in the work of the Motherhouse.
Perhaps the most inijiortant event of late }ears for the future development of our work was the purchase in March, 1908, of the large property adjacent to the grounds of the Motherhouse, and extending westward between South College (Girard) Avenue and Poplar Street in triangular form, the
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base on Twenty-second Street and the apex on Twenty- fourth Street. The happy consummation of this purchase, by which the hopes of a score of years were reaHzed, is due pri- marily to the indefatigaljle efforts of our honored President, the Hon. W. li. Staake.
The month following- the acquisition of the above-men- tioned property brought both joy and deep sorrow. We had the privilege of welcoming in our midst the Seventh Confer- ence of Lutheran Alotherhouses in this country, convening here April 21st-22d. A\'hile still rejoicing over the success of this gathering of fellow-workers in the Diaconate, on April 23d a double blow fell upon us, that at first quite staggered us : the total loss of the A'illa Lankenau by fire and the resignation of our Sister Superior, Magdalene Steinmann. A\'e were hum- bled and out of the depths cried unto the Lord ; He heard us, He helped us and to-day we gratefully acknowledge, that He doeth all things well. Sister ^Magdalene Steinmann had faith- fully served the Motherhouse as a deaconess since 1889 and as Sister Superior since 1901, but returned to Germany on wSeptember 2d, 1908, in accordance with her original intention to remain in America for only a limited number of years. After nineteen years of unremitting labor she is now enjoying well-deserved rest and the quiet of her private home in Schwerin, Germany. The Board of Trustees appointed Sister Wilhelmine Dittmann, one of the seven Sisters who came from Germany in 1884, to act temporarily as Sister Superior, but she proved herself so well qualified, that when a perma- nent incumbent of this most important office was to be chosen, she was unanimously nominated by the Board and as unani- mously elected by the Deaconesses as Sister Superior. She was inducted into her crffice on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 11th, 1909.
In the meantime the rebuilding of the Villa Lankenau had also begun, and on June 15th the Board of Trustees met at the almost completed new villa and with appropriate ceremonies inserted the corner-stone. Though the costly furnishings of the former villa can never be replaced and their loss is de- plored so sincerely because of the many articles dear to the memorv of Mr. Lankenau, vet the new villa is in manv re-
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spects superior to the former and lacks none of the comforts of an elegant home.
On May 7th, 1909, the Lord called from our midst a most faithful member of our Board, the Air. Joseph A. Bremer, well known as an active Church-worker and as a successful busi- ness man. He had rendered most valuable services to the Home since his election to the Board of Trustees in Alarch, 1893, but had been forced by physical infirmities, that pre- vented his regular participation in our meetings, to resign in February, 1909. With deep regret and with sincere apprecia- tion of his share in guarding and developing the interests of the Motherhouse, Mr. Bremer's resignation was adopted. He passed away three months later, on the very day that his suc- cessor, Mr. Frederick C. Hassold, was elected. In Mr. Has- sold we have gained a member whose business ability, prac- tical experience and sympathetic interest well qualify him to assist in the solution of the manifold problems awaiting us.
The successful completion of the first quarter of a cen- tury of our work was marked by a quiet but most enjoyable celebration at the Motherhouse on the exact date of arrival of the Sisters from Iserlohn on June 19th, but for i^ractical rea- sons the public jubilee was deferred until the usual anni- versary in the fall, and September 29th was fixed as the date.
This day was one of the most glorious in the historv of our work, second only to the day of the dedication of our Alother- house, as those declare who had been present also on that occasion. The secular as Avell as the religious press gave liberal space to the reports of this jubilee and justified the statement in an editorial of "The Lutheran," that "The eyes of many have been opened to the diaconate as never before, and to the possibilities of the Church, if she will Init learn to use this arm of Christian service." The principal speaker of the day was the former Rector Cordes, to whom the Mother- house is indebted for much that has helped to place its religious life and work on such a high plane. In the morning he preached a powerful sermon on thanksgiving, and at the service in the afternoon he filled the hearts of his hearers with enthusiasm by his appeal for personal and untiring support of the diaconate. All who have heard him felt grateful to him for
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having crossed the Atlantic in order to rejoice with us. The Church was officially represented by the President of the Gen- eral Council, the Rev. Theodore E. Schmauk, D. D., LL. D., and by the President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, Prof. Jacob Fry, D. D., both bringing official congratulations and stirring the large audience by their testimony of the Church's appreciation of the deaconess work. The Hon. William H. Staake, President of our Board of Trustees, had welcomed the many friends at the opening of the afternoon exercises, and the Rev. Dr. Spaeth closed the service with a masterful summing up of the principal sentiments of the occasion, leading up to new inspiration and new consecration. It was a solemn hour. Letters and telegrams of congratulation w^ere read in the evening at the social gathering in a large tent on the grounds, and physicians, as well as clergymen, gladly bore testimony to the efficient and self-denying services rendered by the' Sisters and of the rich blessing resting on their labors. Especially honored on this day were the three survivors of the original seven Sisters, Sister Superior W'ilhelmine Ditt- mann. Sister Magdalene von Bracht and Sister Marianne Kraetzer, each still active and in most responsible positions, and all three in the diaconate since 1870!
How fortunate, also, that we still had with us two members of the original Deaconess Committee of the German Hospital Board, appointed in 1885, Mr. G. A. Schwarz and Prof. Adolph Spaeth, D. D., LL. D., and likewise, the Rev. Hugo Grahn, D. D., who was a member of the first Board of Trustees of our Motherhouse, organized in 1887. Before another year had passed. Dr. Spaeth, whose whole-souled eloquence had been the closing climax of our jubilee, had entered into eternal rest. Though suffering seriously for some time, his friends, and even his family, were quite unpre- pared for the shock, when the Lord called him from his labors on Sunday, June 25, 1910. Li him the Church lost one of her most devoted and energetic leaders and her most eloquent preacher, especially in the German language ; the Theological Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, one of its most scholarly and inspiring teachers; but our Alotherhouse lost in him a spiritual father. He contributed, more than any other man,
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toward its character and policy, and there is not a page in the history of the first twenty-five years of our deaconess work without his telling influence. Together with Pastor Goedel, he issued, in 1896, the invitation to the Lutheran Motherhouses in this country, resulting in the organization of a Conference that has done much for the uniformity of principles and practice. Of this Conference, Dr. Spaeth was the first, and during his lifetime, the only President. Within less than two years another charter member followed him, the Rev. Hugo Grahn, D. D.. who entered into his rest, after a most busy and useful life, on April 17th, 1912. He had served our Alotherhouse with rare fidelity, especially as sec- retary of the Board from the date of its organization, until advanced feebleness prompted him to decline a re-election to this office in January 1909, though he continued as an active member of the Board. The loss of these servants of the Lord is still keenly felt, but with gratitude to God we rejoice in having been able to secure as their successors the Rev. H. OiTermann, D. D., N. T. Professor at the Mt. Airy Seminary, and Mr. E. Clarence Miller, one of the leading men in the Church as well as in financial circles. The former entered the Board in January, 1911. as the successor of Dr. Spaeth, the latter in January, 1913, in the place of Dr. Grahn. At this writing our Vice-President, Mr. G. A. Schwarz, re- mains as the only charter-member of the Board. May it please God to spare him for many more years of further service to our Motherhouse and to the German Hospital, of whose Board he also is one of the most active and faithful members.
The most important step for the development of our work in recent years was ,the purchase of the large triangular plot of ground, with its spacious buildings, directly west of the , Motherhouse and extending from Twenty-second to Twenty- fourth street. After the buildings had been remodeled, in jjart rebuilt, and the grounds laid out anew, our school for girls was transferred there from the fourth floor of the Mother- house'. In grateful memory of the founder and benefactor of our institution, who so modestly refrained from naming any part of these institutions after himself, this school now bears his name and is known as "The Lankenau School for
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Girls." The school was opened here on October 12th, 1910, but the formal dedication did not take place until February 7th, 1911, when all the alterations had been completed. The President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the Rev. E. T. Horn, D. D., L. L. D., and the President of the Philadel- phia German Conference, the Rev. Otto Kleine, took part in the exercises as the representatives of the Church ; a German address was delivered by Prof. H. Offermann, D. D., and an English address by the Rev. J. A. W. Haas, D. D., President of Muhlenberg College. The exercises took place in the audi- torium of the school and were attended by many persons interested in educational work. It was a day of great rejoic- ing for every one connected with the Motherhouse, but, above all, for the President of the Board, the Hon. William H. Staake, whose indefatigable efforts had brought the negotia- tions for the purchase of this property to a most satisfactory conclusion. Nor should Sister Julie Mergner be forgotten, under whose' able administration the school developed to the point that justified the investment of more than $200,000 in the expansion of our educational work. The course of study has now also been increased, so that three departments are formed ; the Junior, the Intermediate and the Senior, of four years each, making a twelve-year course, parallel to that of the public elementary, grammar and high schools. The services rendered by the Lankenau School are appreciated by an ever- increasing number of parents and their daughters, who find that the instruction and training received here give superior standing in other educational institutions and have really laid the foundation for a successful, useful, and therefore happy life of many of our students.
The Kindergarten, which had been conducted in the basement of the Motherhouse under rather unfavorable con- ditions, likewise found a comfortable home in one of the build- ings of the Lankenau School, having its own well-equipped play-ground entirely separate from that of the school.
No less gratifying than the expansion of our educational work was the further branching out into new fields of labor. True, the shortage of experienced parish Sisters compelled us, to our own keen sorrow, to withdraw the Sister from the
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German Lutheran Zion's Church, in Easton, Pa., where she' had labored with marked success for six years, in order to place her at Zion's Lutheran Church, in Philadelphia, whose parish work had been interrupted by the' illness and eventual leaving of their Sister, and where conditions demanded a deaconess even more urgently than in Easton. We were, however, able, in January, 1910, to resume the parish diacon- ate at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, where a Sister had been placed as early as 1887, and where, as a result of the changed conditions caused by immigrants, deaconess work was now more necessary than ever before.
A new line of work was entered when, in response to a most urgent request from the Rev. A. B. Moldenke, Ph. D., of St. Peter's German Lutheran Church, in New York City, we sent two of our Sisters on July 11th, 1910, to take charge of Elsinore Camp, near Plainfield, N. J. Here about eighty children from the over-crowded tenements of New York enjoy a two weeks' outing each, during July and August. Since then we have had two Sisters there every summer, and, though the duties and responsibilities tax every possible talent, from house-keeping to nursing and child-training, our Sisters go gladly, realizing the valuable service they can render these children, who naturally are wild with delight in romping over the wooded crests of the AVatchung mountains, but who also are accessible to spiritual truths, especially at the daily devo- tional exercises.
Early in 1911 the Motherhouse found itself in a position that made it possible to yield to the repeated and urgent pleas of the Rev. G. A. Benze, D. D., under whose leadership a Home for the Aged had been founded about three years previous, by the Lutherans of Erie, Pa., and on April 20th two of our deaconesses were placed in charge of that Home at a public service, which gave unmistakable evidence of tlie warm welcome accorded them. The same cordial spirit has marked the attitude of the Board and the general public ever since and has done much to offset the fact that this is the station farthest removed from the Motherhouse.
Since June 1st, 1913, the German Hospital has inaugurated a long-cherished plan and has been granted a Sister whose ex-
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elusive duty it is to look after the interests of patients in need of far more than medical or surgical treatment can supply. While from the very beginning cases of poverty and other distress have received the special attention of the Sisters under whose notice they happened to come', bringing material relief in most instances, the creation of this special "Social Service" department has decided advantages and deserves the most hearty co-operation.
Many more fields are anxiously, almost impatiently, wait- ing for Sisters, among them, at this writing, three institutions for children and at least fifteen congregations. The petitions for deaconesses would rapidly increase, should we reach the point when we could grant them. What a grand opportunity for blessed service presents itself to Christian young women. The leaders of the Church are realizing the necessity of having trained deaconesses for many of the phases of congregational and institutional activity, and we may rest assured that the cry of the needy will be answered by the Lord and that He will prompt many hearts to obey His call for laborers in His vinevard !
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Uppart nf tift Mark nf tijp UJotljf rljauaf Wet. 1, 1912— ®rt. I, 1913.
1. The Old People's Home. — This was originally intended by Mr. Lankenau as "The Mary J. Drexel Home," with which the Motherhouse and all the other institutions were afterwards united under one roof. It was opened November 11, 1889, and offers a lifelong home to well-recommended, well-behaved, temperate and respectable aged couples or individuals of Ger- man descent, not suft'ering from incurable, infectious or repul- sive diseases. They must be over sixty years of age and un- able to provide for their own support ; they must have been liv- ing in Philadelphia for at least five years previous to their admission, and belong to a recognized Protestant Church. .After a certain period of probation they are fully received. They pay an entrance fee of $300 and bind themselves to leave to the Home any other real or personal property they may possess.
Two Sisters are in charge of the Old People's Home, which, during the past year, had forty-eight inmates. Of these, one died. Vacancies are quickly filled from a long "waiting list," on which at present are 48 names. The health of the inmates is most satisfactory, and they evidently find themselves quite comfortable in their home, owing to the beautiful, healthy quarters which they occupy, the care they receive, the regular Sunday services and daily devotions, and also to the fact that, as far as the state of their health permits, they are kept busy with lighter work about the house.
2. The Children's Hospital comes next in the date of its foundation. It was opened on May 15, 1889, and was in- tended not only to relieve the German Hospital to some ex- tent, but also to serve for the practical training of the Sisters.
The service among these little patients, though very la-
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borious, is most cheerfully rendered, and is a blessed work, inasmuch as the Sister in this case is not only a hospital nurse, but also takes the place of a mother and friendly comforter. And certainly these little ones are the most grateful patients. As a rule they enjoy their stay in these beautiful and airy rooms under the loving- care of the Sisters. The Hospital, with them, is not a place of terror, but whenever the first try- ing pains are over, we see everywhere happy and contented faces.
One of the illustrations shows a ward in the Children's Hospital and the Sisters among the little ones that are com- mitted to their care.
Nothing is left undone to facilitate the work of the insti- tution and add to the comfort of the patients. The new and commodious operating room has the top and sides constructed almost entire!}' of glass, which allows plenty of light, so essen- tial to good surgery, at all times of the day, while electric lights of sufficient power to almost ecpial daylight are used in emergency cases at night.
During the year 1912. one of the most successful in the history of the Children's Hospital, there were treated in the wards and private rooms 1055 patients, ^■iz. : 449 surgical, 234 medical, 10 eye, and 362 nose and throat cases. Of this num- ber 419 were treated free, and many of the rest were unable to pay the regular rate of one dollar per day. There' were 598 1:)oys and 417 girls; 989 Avhite and 26 colored; 916 were dis- charged cured, 50 improved, and 15 unimproved. The deaths numbered 40 — a mortality of less than four per cent. The work in the various dispensaries has been heavy, there having been 13,079 visits made by 3,275 patients. Is it not a blessed privilege to assist in the relief of such a ^"ast amount of suffering?
Our sincere thanks for faithful co-operation are due the entire medical force, especially the chiefs of the various staffs. Dr. John B. Deaver, Dr. Harry C. Deaver, Dr. Alfred Hand, Jr., Dr. Charles S. Turnbull, Dr. Arthur A. Bliss, and to the Resident Phy.sician, Dr. Loyal A. Shondy, who served faithfully and efficiently until June 1, 1913, when he was succeeded by Dr. G. Lee Hynson, who is well fitted for this position by his
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previous experience. On May 1st, 1913, a severe blow fell upon the Children's Hospital, when Dr. Arthur A. Bliss sud- denly passed away within less than forty-eight hours after he had performed his last operations at our hospital. For twenty- four years he had been in charge of our Ear, Nose, and Throat department, in which he combined with his expert knowledge and rare ef^ciency such a spirit of intelligence and sympathetic co-operation with our Sisters and the jNIotherhouse, that when a Medical Board was created, he was appointed chairman, and as such rendered most Aaluable services in the development of our hospital work. His memory will be cherished by all with lasting gratitude. Until the regular election of his successor, his former assistant, Dr. Clarence W. Schaefifer, who has won the fullest confidence of the IMotherhouse during a three-year term as resident physician, is in charge of this department.
A special report of the Children's Hospital is published annually, and can be had on application.
3. Next in order of time is our educational work, bcLun in 1890 as the School for Girls and since 1910 carried on as the Lankenau School for Girls. The aim is "to train young girls to become truly cultured women, well grounded in the Christian faith, and prepared for the practical duties of life." From two classes the school has de\-eloped to a full twelve- year course, enabling it to place properh^ any girl of school age". The three elements emphasized in our aim from the be- ginning— culture, religion, and practical adaptability — place a still further expansion of the course upon us as a sacred obligation to be met as demands arise and circumstances warrant, at the same time it is clear, howe\"er, that the Lankenau School can ne\er be a mere college preparatory school. It has a higher calling and a broader scope. There is, up to the i)resent, no other boarding school for such young girls within the Lutheran Church in this country. The im- portant service rendered, therefore, t(j Lutheran parents who desire to send their daughters away from home for their education, is obvious.
In the year 1912-13 the total number of pupils enrolled was ninety-nine ; of these, 46 were day pupils. The faculty consisted of seventeen teachers, eight of whom are deacon-
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esses. The Lankenau School has been making steady progress in every direction, and the expressions of confidence and grati- tude coming to us from parents and graduates, as well as the excellent standing of our former pupils on entering other schools, justify the conclusion that our school fills with credit an important place in the educational system and meets a real demand. \\'hen the Lutheran Church and, in fact, many outside of it — for more than thirty per cent of our pupils are not from Lutheran families — will have awakened to this fact, even our present spacious quarters will be crowded. It certainly is encouraging that of the twenty-three new pupils entered on September 15th of the present year, eleven are in the first, or freshmen class of our Senior department. (High School), bringing that class up to twenty-one. The total number of pupils enrolled by October 1st is ninety-five, fifty- nine of whom are boarders. Sister Julie Mergner is directly in charge of the school. W'e cannot close this paragraph with- out a word of sympathy for Miss Augusta Schmidt, a most efiicient member of our faculty from the organization of the school until last year, when she was forced by prolonged ill- ness to resign. We gratefully testify to her efificient and faith- ful services and assure her of our abiding esteem and our deepest sympathy in her aftfiction. A recent graduate of the Philadelphia Normal School has been added to the faculty, Miss Cora Klebsattel, who completed her course at our Lankenau School three years ago. The regular catalogue will be furnished upon request to any person desiring further in- formation.
4. Our Christian Kindergarten, opened on October 5, 1893, has been in charge of Sister Anna Marie Enderlein for the past twelve years, during which time she has trained for such work twenty-seven young women, besides a num- ber of our Sisters. One of the latter is now her assistant. Last year the total number of children enrolled was 135, while up to October 1st of this year it was eighty, and the highest attendance sixty. Bible history and verses, hymns and prayers are taught daily, as well as stories, games and useful pastimes. Especially in our day of many attractions which are a menace to good morals and citizenship, the importance
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of filling the minds even of these little ones with high ideals and a consciousness of personal responsibility to God, cannot be overestimated; and the value of the Christian Kindergarten for this purpose needs no proof.
II.— THE WORK ON OUT-STATIONS.
1. The first and principal field of labor is, of course, the German Hospital, to which the Motherhouse itself owes its origin. It constantly requires the service of about thirty Sisters and a great number of assistants. They are at work on eight stations, under the supervision of as many Sisters. besides one in the dispensary, two in the operating room, two in the kitchen, one' in the diet-kitchen, two in the pharmacy, and one in the X-ray laboratory. The Directing Sister is Magdalene von Bracht, assisted by Sister Marie Koeneke as Superintendent of Nurses. Besides a number of male and female nurses, more than fifty-six ])upils of the Nurses' Train- ing School assist in the work. The number of patients per day is 180 to 190 ; frequently, however, over 200. In the past year 3,589 house patients were cared for, and 8,671 dispensary cases treated in 29,494 \isits.
Since June 1st, 1913, the hospital has oj^ened a "Social Service" department, of which Sister Friederike Fessler has been placed in charge. Special cases of distress have always been relie^•ed by our Sisters as far as their means and time permitted, but now^ much more systematic and effective work is possible. A\'e feel assured that much blessing will result.
2-6. In Parish v^^ork there are now five Sisters, divided among the following Lutheran congregations: Zion's, St. Johannis, and St. Paul's, Philadelphia ; St. Paul's, New York, and St. John's, Easton, Pa. In connection with the care of the sick and poor, the teaching of children has been assumed in four parishes, viz. : Christian Kindergarten work in three, and in one congregation instruction in religion and in the German language on five afternoons per week and on Satur- day mornings.
7. The Easton Hospital, at Easton, Pa., has been in charge of our Sisters since its organization in 1890. For the past nine years Sister Marie Sowa has been the superin-
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tendent, during which period remarkable progress has been made. She is assisted in the various departments by three Sisters. The training school for nurses has eighteen pupils. In the past year 1,176 house patients were nursed and 509 were treated in the dispensary. The success and satisfaction with which our Sisters labor there is largely due to the sympathetic and intelligent co-operation of the Board of Managers and the Advisory Board.
8. In September, 1893, two Sisters were sent to take charge of the Lutheran St. John's Home, in Allegheny, Pa. As the first few inmates did not demand the entire time and strength of the Sisters, these began to look after the poor and the sick of the neighborhood. In several cases of serious illness they rendered such efficient aid to the local physicians, that these planned a hospital in that portion of the city, to be placed under the direction of our Sisters. The result was the St. John's General Hospital, opened in 1896 and served by our Sisters until the lack of Sisters for the German Hospital led us to withdraw them on July 15, 1909. In the meantime, the original St. John's Home was removed to a most beautiful location at Mars, Butler Co., Pa. There is now one building for the aged and another for orphans, and at present plans are under consideration for an additional Iniilding.
Sister Friederike Ostermann has been in charge of this work since 1900, assisted by two other deaconesses, caring for twenty-two aged men and women and for thirty-six children. For the latter, a special teacher, Mr. H. Freitag, has been en- gaged by the Board, whose valuable assistance is very much appreciated.
9. Since February, 1907, one of our Deaconesses is devot- ing her entire time to the "Kensington Dispensary for the Treatment of Tuberculosis," organized in 1905, with her co- operation by several Lutheran pastors and laymen in that and.meighboring districts of Philadelphia, and now controlled by an incorporated Board of Managers, composed of Lutheran women.' The benefits of this charity are dispensed to sufiferers without distinction of race or creed. Alore than 200 patients are at present treated there, not merely for their diseased lungs, but also for the consequent aft'ections of the nose and
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throat. F'ven dentistry is called upon to aid in the cure oi incipient cases and in giving relief to those beyond human help. The blessings gone forth from this work, most unsel- fishly supported by a number of physicians of highest rank, are generally recognized.
Since 1909 the Dispensary is located in its own well- equipped property at the corner of Hancock Street and Susque- hanna Avenue. The beautifully located farm, "River Crest," on the Schuylkill near Phoenixville, Pa., purchased about two years later, is being prepared to accommodate especially children threatened with this disease. For the management of "River Crest" a second Sister is desired, but we have not yet been able to grant the urgent plea of the Board.
10. Our latest station is the Lutheran Home for the Aged, at Erie, Pa., founded under the leadership of the Rev. G. A. r.enze, D.D. On April 20th, 1910. we had the pleasure of Benze, D.D. On April 20th, 1910, we had the pleasure of inducting two of our Sisters into this work at a public service in St. John's Church, in which the various Lutheran congrega- tions of Erie united. The warm welcome accorded our Sisters on that occasion and the loyal support given them ever since has materially lightened the burden of responsilnlity resting especially on Sister Frida Broecker, who is in charge. At present thirty aged men and women are under the care of the Sisters.
11. The Lutheran Settlement of the Inner Mission Society, at 1333 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, has had Sister Louise A\"ackernagel connected witli this most im- portant and blessed work since 1907, but owing to her im- paired health, she had to be withdrawn September 1st. 1913, to the deep sorrow of the people among whom she labored and the sincere regret of the Board of the Inner Mission Society. As no other Sister was available for this work, this station is. at least for the present, given up by the ]\Iother- house.
12. From July 5(\ to August 20th. 1913. two Sisters were in charge of Elsinore Camp, near \\"atchung. X. J., and took care of three different groups of children, numbering 25 to 30 each, sent there bv the Rev. A. P.. ]\Ioldenke, Ph. D., of St.
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Peter's Lutheran Church. New York City. We feel assured that the children will have received more than mere bodily benefit from their camping' experiences.
CONCLUSION.
We cannot close this report without an expression of sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the friends, especially to many of the pastors, for the opportunities given us to present the cause of the Female Diaconate, and for their active efforts in securing candidates for the Sisterhood. We are encouraged by the ever-increasing circle of loyal sup- porters and feel assured of larger growth and usefulness in consequence. Rut we cannot refrain from adding also an urgent appeal to the Church at large for a more general as well as active interest in this work. Frcim the outline of the development of the Female Diaconate as presented on the previous pages, and no less from the historv of our Philadel- phia Motherhouse, God's guidance and blessing are as plainly evident as the great need of the Diaconate in the Church of to-day. From the large cities, and even from smaller manu- facturing towns, come most earnest pleas to send deaconesses as God's angels of mercy to the destitute and suft'ering, to the endangered and the lost, many of whom have once been or still are communicants at Lutheran altars.
Many requests of this nature are received from congrega- tions and institutions, and this in spite of the fact that 'Our present inability to furnish Sisters for new work is generally known. How many more would have l^een asked for. had there been a reasonable hope for a favorable reply! Some friends do not see the A-alue of deaconesses until they are in need of them, as the}- have probalily never before given our repeated appeals for Diaconate more than a passing notice. Yet we would not hesitate a moment to send them a Sister that has needed years of training to qualify her for the broad lines of work and sympathy expected of her, had we the right one to spare. True, some wonder why our JNIotherhouse has had so many losses during these twenty-five years, but it must not be over- looked that even the consecrated Sister is at lil)erty to ]ea\"e.
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and that in many cases they are almost incessantly urged by relatives and friends, prompted usually by selfish reasons, to forsake' the Diaconate after they have received their training. It takes women of heroic fibre to remain loyal to this cause of the Lord. AVe cannot expect to do better than Fliedner, who during the first forty years, from 1836-1876, of 940 consecrated deaconesses, exclusive of probationers, lost 418 !
In view of the support the Female Diaconate is finding in other denominations in this country, our plea for larger sup- port is not unreasonable. In 1908 the Protestant Episcopal Church reported 157 deaconesses, not counting the more than twenty-five female orders with several hundred Sisters, and the IMethodist Episcopal Church 731 deaconesses and 420 pro- liationers, a total of 1151, while our Lutheran Church in this C(_)untry had only 307. Shall we' also mention that the Ro- man Catholic sisterhoods in the United States are said to have a total meml)ership of 56,000? Perhaps it would prove a wholesome stimulus to hear that in round numbers they claim 600 colleges and academies for women, 700 institu- tions of charity and 3,000 parish schools ; that they have a total of 1,000,000 dependents to care for, have 70,000 girls in their academies and colleges and 800.000 children in their parochial schools. This gives one a fair idea of the possibilities of truly consecrated women banded together to further the interests of their Church. We are no advocate of any service rendered otherwise than in absolutely evangelical freedom ; but the most bitter opponent of Romanism will have to admit that, with noble exceptions, of course, the spirit of true consecration to the Lord's cause is indeed quite feeble among us compared to that self-sacrifice' so willingly rendered by Romanists. Let us not charge them with work righteousness and hope of re- ward, while the possession of the blessings of the full gospel leaves the great mass of our people inactive, because at heart ungrateful.
AA'hat we need throughout the Church is a genuine ap- preciation of the truths so masterly and devoutly set forth by Luther, especially in the explanation of the second and third articles of the Apostles' Creed, and yet so thoughtlessly confessed! W^e need luore plain honesty in dealing with our-
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selves and with our God, that we will stand by what we tell Him, for the fact is that to no one are promises of greater import made and with no one more thoughtlessly broken than with Him, on whom our eternal destiny depends. As soon as the mass of our people will treat religion seriously, the cry of the Church for men and means will be turned into jubilation, and not merely the deaconess cause will thrive beyond all present expectations, but every branch of the Church's work, will assume unheard-of proportions. The dea- coness cause is not suffering more than any other of the Church, Init no other cause is such a sensitive indicator of the spiritual condition of the Church. The largest and most rapidly growing Motherhouses in (iermany are found in districts well known for the spirituality of the inhabitants, who are, however, just as strong in their support of Inner ^ilissions and Foreign Alissions as of the deaconess cause. Among the leaders with such broad sympathies, Loehe and von Bodelschwingh are perhaps the best known, both as in- tensely interested in the conversion of. the heathen as in the saving of their brethren fallen by the wayside at home, and laboring as incessantly for true spirituality among the masses as for the relief of bodily distress.
In conclusion, permit us to suggest to e\-ery pastor to inform himself by reading the literature on the diaconate ; to visit the Drexel Home, if at all possible ; to refer to the diaconate as occasion oft'ers. either in his sermons or in the catechetical instruction, where the last clauses of Luther's explanation of the first and second articles lead right up to it in the practical- application ; and to bring qualified persr)ns who are inclined toward the diaconate. into touch with the Motherhouse by correspondence, or, which is far more satis- factory, by a personal visit. While the result may mean a temporary loss to the working force of the congregation, it would mean a blessing to some one else, who, having stood idle, must now step into the l^reach. In reality, a direct blessing to the family, the pastor, and the parish would result. as actual experience proves.
It is encouraging to report that the General Council, dur-
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ing the closing session of the Toledo convention in September, 1913, resolved, that on Septuagesima Sunday the pastors call the attention of their people to the Female Diaconate. This makes it possible for the Motherhouses within the General Council to mail to each pastor for that purpose a brief state- ment regarding the status and needs of this cause.
The Federation of the Women's Missionary Societies within the General Council, meeting at Toledo directly after the adjournment of that official body, added to its various missionary departments one especially charged with the work of bringing the deaconess cause directly to the attention of the various synodical, conference, and local societies, for the pur- pose of enlisting young women in this service of the Church. The chairman, Airs. William P. AI. Braun, of Philadelphia, is thoroughly interested in this work, and by her close associa- tions with the management and the Sisters of our Mother- house, as well as for other reasons, is exceptionally well quali- fied for this position. We rejoice in the above action taken on the eve of our Silver Jubilee, and enter with new courage upon the second quarter of a century of our efforts in behalf of the Church in her ministrations of mercy. Let us remem- ber that we ourselves are to go forth and also to pray that the L()rd may send forth laborers. (Luke 10:2.) Let us do our own duty to the fullest extent and leave the rest to the Lord ; we are responsible for our efforts, not for the result. Having worked together in this common cause, we shall rejoice together over the humble yet large share the Female Diaconate of our day is called to have in the bringing of the Kingdom.
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CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION.
1. Our Deaconess Motherhouse adheres to the Evangeli- cal Lutheran Church. Onl}- such young women and widows as are members of the Lutheran Church, will be admitted.
2. The motive for entering the calling must be a pure desire to serve the Lord. One who seeks merely a provision for life, or expects to attain a higher position by means of the deaconess calling, is not fitted for the service.
3. We desire in those applying for admission a devout and sincere mind, turned to spiritual things. This disposition must not, however, be based upon vague emotions, but upon the believing recognition of the truth of the gospel, as it is presented in the Holy Scriptures. The following passages are especially to be considered in this connection: Matth. 16: 24, 25: 20:1-7: and 25:14-30; Luke 14:12-14, and 10:2; Phil. 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1 John 2: 15-17.
4. It is also of great im]M)rtance that one who wishes to become a deaconess should have begun to experience the grace of Christ in her own inner life. One who desires to serve the Saviour among the poor, the sufl:'ering, and the de- graded, and to help in leading them to Christ, must understand her own heart well enough to realize that she dare not rely upon her own strength, but only upon Him who has said: "Without me ye can do nothing."
5. No young woman nuist take a step of such imi)ortance without the blessing of her parents. Her application for ad- mission must therefore be accompanied b_v the written consent of her parents, or if she be an orphan in her minority, of her guardian.
6. A young woman who desires to choose the deaconess calling must be of an unblemished reputation, and must there- fore furnish a testimonial to that eltect from her pastor. 1 Tim. 3 : 7.
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7. A deaconess must possess good physical health. She also needs strength and endurance, so as to be equal to the labors of the calling. To one of a very delicate constitution, or afflicted with a chronic ailment, the service is too severe. She is not called upon to undertake that for which the Lord has not fitted her.
8. Those applying for admission must be between the age of 18 and 36.
9. The following qualifications are furthermore necessary to become a good deaconess : She must possess a mind capable of development, must be able to adapt herself to the associated life, must be peaceful, unassuming and willing to obey. A cheerful disposition and a pleasant manner are desirable gifts for the calling.
10. While candidates may enter at any time, about May 1st or September 1st is most advisable. Those who do not know German must be willing to learn it, and German candi- dates must study English. They must be able to read, write and keep accounts, either in German or English ; they should also be acquainted with the chief contents of the Holy Scrip- tures, and know the most important texts and facts. It is also expected that they have some practice and experience in the usual household duties and woman's handiwork.
11. All candidates must pass through the Preparatory Course. The branches taught in this course include the study of the Holy Scriptures and of the doctrines of the Church, the history and principles of the Diaconate and other works of mercy, medical instruction, and such general branches as his- toi'y^ geography, arithmetic, the study of German and English, singing and needlework. To this is added about two hours daily of household duties or hospital work.
12. The pupils of the course w^ear plain wash dresses of their own selection, and aprons furnished by the Motherhouse. A list of the articles to be brought is sent each applicant. Everything must be of substantial material and simple make, and no unnecessary article should be brought.
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^6. This period will be especially a time of self-examina- tion and preparation. After the conclusion of the course the superiors will decide whether a candidate is to be invested, and therewith received into the Sisterhood as a probationer.
14. Each one, upon being- received into the Sisterhood, gives her solemn promise to obey the rules of the House and willingly to undertake any service of mercy to which she may be called.
15. The Motherhouse provides for the bodily wants of those who, after having passed through the course, have been received into the Sisterhood. It cares for the consecrated deaconesses in their old age, or when they are disabled in the service.
16. The deaconess is bound by no vow, but it is taken for granted that she recognizes her calling as her life-work.
Any young woman who, after prayerfully considering the foregoing conditions, has the desire and the hope that God may use her in the deaconess calling, should apply in writing to the Pastor or the Sister Superior of the Mary J. Drexel Home, 2100 South College Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., adding to the application: (1) A sketch of her life; (2) a certified record of confirmation ; (3) the written consent of her parents or guardian; (4) a testimonial from her pastor; and (5) a certificate of good health from her physician. AVhen her papers are found satisfactory, she will receive i.otice as to the time when she may enter.
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Jlyuc^/^uluv'^^'^^^^
Maoul^^^l^
FORM OF BEQUEST OF MONEYS OR OTHER PERSONAL PROPERTY.
I hereby give and bequeath to the "Mary J. Drexel Home ant
Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses," the sum of
<$ ), to be used for the purpose of the said corporation.
[seal.]
Note. — If the personal property does not consist of money, a brief
description of it can be inserted, instead of the words "the sum of
dollars ($ )," in the above form of bequest.
FORM OF DEVISE.
I hereby give and devise unto the "Mary J. Drexel Home and
Philadelphia IMotherhouse of Deaconesses," its successc s and
assigns, all that certain lot or piece of ground, with the buildings and
improvements thereon erected, situate (follow here with a brief description
of the real estate intended to be devised).
[seal.]
Note. — The laws of Pennsylvania provide that all gifts, devises and "bequests to any charitable institution, by deed or will, must be executed at least one calendar month before the decease of the donor or testator, and attested by two credible and at the time disinterestd witnesses.
All donations of moneys intended for the institution should be sent to the Treasurer, Mr. Edmund R. Teubner, office of Drexel & Co., Chestnut and Fifth Streets, Philadelphia.
All donations of merchandise, or other personal property, should be sent direct to the Home, addressed to the "Sister Superior, Mary J. Drexel Home, 2100 South College Avenue, Philadelphia.
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