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 Pope Pius IX: Holy Year 1875 Scott 1144 (with label), 2000 What's the Connection? The House of Seven Gables. The Scarlet Letter. Most all of us have either read or are at least familiar with these two novels written by the great American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Hawthorne moved to various locations throughout New England during his life. He attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he was a classmate of future United States president Franklin Pierce. Hawthorne and his wife Sophia had three children, with his youngest child, Rose, being born in 1851.  Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Photograph by Matthew Brady (circa 1860) From Wikimedia Commons In the Public Domain So, what does all this have to do with the Vatican? The connection involves Rose Hawthorne, who would go on to become Mother Mary Alphonsa of the Congregation of Saint Rose of Lima, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. On March 14, 2024, she was recognized for her “heroic virtues” to the faith and was raised to the title of “Venerable” by the Vatican Congregation of Saints in Rome. Born in Lenox, Massachusetts, Rose’s family traces its lineage back to the earliest colonists in Massachusetts. Her father, Nathaniel, came from a Puritan background and favored simplicity and plainness, leading to a distaste of the Catholic Church. Still, Rose’s early life had a Christian influence, and the family read the Bible at home. Due to his friendship with Franklin Pierce, whom he supported in his race for President in 1852, Nathaniel received a diplomatic post in England, and the family relocated to Europe in 1853. It was there that Rose was introduced to the “Roman Church”. The family traveled to France, Portugal and Italy during Hawthorne’s diplomatic posting, which ended in 1857 (although the family remained in Europe until 1860). While in Europe, the Hawthorne children were baptized in the Unitarian Church. Now, here is the connection to the Catholic Church through Pope Pius IX—one that would be pivotal in Rose’s spiritual growth. At age 7, the family was in Rome at Holy Week, and Rose saw Pope Pius IX appear to a throng in Saint Peter’s Square from his balcony. She later recalled: “I became eloquent about the Pope, and was rewarded by a gift from my mother of a little medallion of him and a gold scudo with an excellent likeness thereon, both always tenderly reverenced by me.”Once back in the United States, Nathaniel Hawthorne died in 1864, and his wife Sophia followed him in death in 1871. Also in 1871, Rose married George Parsons Lathrop, the editor of Atlantic Monthly. It was an unhappy marriage, and the one child of the marriage, a son Francis, died of diphtheria at age 4. Rose and George converted to Catholicism in 1891. They would eventually separate in 1895, and George died in 1898. Desiring to commit herself to “good work” and to be “useful”, Rose studied nursing. But she also “wanted to do something for God and the poor” and began ministering in New York’s Lower East Side. Eventually, many women of the city joined her in her work, and they would go on to form the “Hawthorne Dominicans” in 1900. Rose became known as Mother Mary Alphonsa, the order’s superior. Prior to her death in 1926 at the age of 75, the order expanded and opened additional homes to serve the sick. The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne currently have 47 members in two homes, in New York and Atlanta.  Mother Mary Alphonsa (Rose Hawthorne, 1851-1926) Photographer Unknown From Wikimedia Commons In the Public Domain As a result of her work, in 2003, New York archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan opened the cause for the canonization of Mother Mary Alphonsa. The first step toward sainthood was attained with her being declared “Venerable”. Dominican Mother Marie Edward, superior of the Hawthorne Dominicans, summed up the pride the order feels for Rose Hawthorne/Mother Mary Alphonsa: "she demonstrates to us heroic charity and an astounding faith in God.” REFERENCES |
