Nuns usually enjoy telling people of the miracles that graced their order’s founders, and the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis are no exception.
The primary objective of this order is to care for the sick and the poor, and through the years they have had some interesting experiences. One of their favorites occurred around 1885, several years after they had come to America and settled in the Peoria, Illinois area.
A contagious disease had broken out, and many ill people were being brought to Mother Krasse and her sisters. Most of the sick were delirious with high fever.
The sisters took in everyone who was brought to them. Patients lay on the floor in the narrow hallways after the nuns had given up their beds. The sisters worked night and day caring for the sick.
At one point, a doctor stopped by and noticed how exhausted the nuns were. They obviously needed relief and rest, but he knew they would never abandon the patients. “I’ll send some women from town to help you so you can all get some sleep tonight,” he told Sister Krasse. She was thrilled.
Sure enough, later that day three women arrived, dressed in white. “We came to help you care for the patients,” one said. Needless to say, they were greeted with joy by the sisters.
That night, the three helpers insisted that the sisters find places where they could rest, no matter where. The sisters, exhausted, needed no encouragement and slept soundly.
The next morning, the patients were all resting quietly, and many of them no longer had a fever. Several remarked that the three women had been wonderful nurses and very kind throughout the night. But where were they? Sister Krasse and the other nuns looked for the women to thank them, but they had apparently left.
The following day, the doctor returned to check patients, and Sister Krasse told him how helpful the visitors had been. “Thank you so much for the extra help,” she said. “I don’t know what we would have done without them.”
“Sister,” the doctor shook his head, “I never sent anyone to help you. There were so many ill people in town that I never found anyone.”
But helpers did come! Everyone saw them. We know who they were, don’t we?
