eLumenate: Rose Hawthorne - Third Order

Credits 

Fr. Darren Michael Pierre, OP fsd@opfriars.org 

Provincial Promoter for the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic -- 

Province of St. Joseph, USA 

Ms. Marianne T. Jablonski, OP veritas18@verizon.net 

Provincial Council President 

Editorial Staff: 

Mrs. Faith Flaherty, OP Editor elumened@verizon.net 

Mrs. Helen Tice, OP Designer prouille_1216@comcast.net 

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Introduction to Rose Hawthorne Lathrop 

Fall 2012 

Volume 1, No. 3 

www.3op.org 

Lay Dominican‐related Topics (LFSD) 

Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.P. 

ʺRose Hawthorne was an exceptional woman whose dedication, sacrifice, and sharp intellec‐ 

tual dialogue set an example that in any age would be hard to emulate. She was far ahead of 

her time in her thinking on and commitment to social justice. Her essays on spirituality and 

charity are inspiring and challenging. She was also a very loving woman, with close, tender 

relationships with her husband and family, and with strong spiritual female friendships. In 

Roseʹs time, strong friendships such as that which existed between Rose and Emma Lazarus 

[author of the poem ʺGive me your tired, your poor...ʺ on the Statue of Liberty], and Rose 

and Alice Huber were very common and beneficial.ʺ1 ‐ Sr. Diana Culbertson, O.P. 

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop 

Rose Hawthorne and her husband George were converts 

to the Catholic Church under the guidance of Fr. Alfred 

Young, C.S.P. Rose’s compassion for the cancer‐afflicted 

poor had been aroused by a story told to her by Fr. 

Young about the painful and lonely death of a poor 

seamstress condemned by her cancerous affliction to 

Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island). As Mother 

Alphonsus later wrote, “A fire was then lighted in my heart, 

where it still burns…I set my whole being to endeavor to bring 

consolation to the cancerous poor.” 2 

George Parsons Lathrop 

Through God’s grace, the light in Rose’s heart was burning in the likeness of St. Dominic’s 

torch, lighting the way of Truth, social justice and love in the spirit of Saint Dominic and 

Saint Catherine of Siena. In one of her newspaper appeals for funds, Rose wrote: ʺI am trying 

to serve the poor as a servant. I wish to serve the cancerous poor because they are more avoided than 

Continued on next page 

REGION 2 

Mr. Anthony Tallini, O.P. veritas922@aol.com 

Rose Hawthorne Pro‐Chapter Members 

To subscribe: please contact prouille_1216@comcast.net 

Copyright © 2012 

All Rights Reserved 

Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic — Province of St. Joseph, U.S.A. 

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any other class of sufferers; and I wish to go to them as a poor creature myself.ʺ 3 This spirit continues 

today with the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne who continue to run “homes” to serve the in‐ 

curable sick at no cost to them. Their love of Christ is reflected in their vocation: 

Fall 2012 

As Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, we witness to the Gospel by consecrating our lives to 

Christ. The example of St. Dominic’s life of prayer and deep love of God strengthens us in 

our resolve to share the fruit of our prayer—communal and individual‐‐with our patients 

and their loved ones. In imitation of St. Rose; we also strive to give our lives in compassion‐ 

ate service to Jesus, who comes to us in every patient. God has truly blessed us with such a 

worthwhile apostolate in which to demonstrate our love for Him. 4 

The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne continue to carry out this apostolic work and loving service 

to those afflicted with incurable cancer. Faithful to the spirit of their foundresses, no payment is 

accepted from the patients, their families, any government agency, or any third‐party payor. The 

sisters continue to rely on the loving providence of God through the generosity of benefactors for 

the support of the work and the community. 5 

______________________ 

1 Sr. Culbertson, O.P., editor of Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Selected Writings, Paulist Press, 1993 

2 Ibid. Introduction, page 3. 

3 Concorma.com/magazine/autumn05/rosehawthorne.html 

4 The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 1900 – 2000 Centennial Celebration Booklet, Editions du Signe 

5 Ibid. 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home, 

S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 

Rosary Hill Home, Hawthorne, New York 

Sacred Heart Home, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

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BIOGRAPHY OF 

Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.P. 

[Rose Hawthorne Lathrop] 

By Carla and the members of the Rose Hawthorne Pro‐Chapter 

of the Lay Fraternity of St. Dominic 

Fall 2012 

Mother M. Alphonsa Lathrop, O.P., was born Rose Hawthorne on 

May 20, 1851 in Lenox Massachusetts to the great American novelist Nathan‐ 

iel Hawthorne and Sophie Peabody. She was brought up in England and 

studied art in Germany and Italy. She came from a privileged and famous 

family that loved her very much and raised her to become a very refined, 

educated young lady. Rose was raised as a Unitarian. 

In 1871 on September 11 she married a writer named George Lathrop 

who was an Episcopalian. In November of 1876 Rose gave birth to a son 

named Francis. She was completely devoted to her son. When he passed 

away at the age of 4, Rose and her husband were devastated. This tragedy 

may have led both of them to be drawn to the Catholic Church through car‐ 

ing friends who supplied them with spiritual writings of the Church. 

In by 1891 both were received formally into the Roman Catholic Church. In spite of this their 

union was doomed to a separation due to her husband’s alcoholism and depression. 

Rose moved to New York City when she was in her forties, where she began to focus in ear‐ 

nest on her literary career. Her poems and short stories were published in Harpers Weekly, The At‐ 

lantic Monthly, and the Century Magazine. 1 Her life was filled by writing and socializing with the 

highest of society. She made many connections which would serve her greatly in the future when 

she was busy raising funds and organizing charitable enterprises for the homes for the incurable 

cancerous which she would eventually found. 

A good friend of hers in New York City was very sick with cancer and eventually died. This 

event brought her closer to the hospitals that were serving cancer patients. Rose was appalled when 

she discovered that only the rich were able to get the treatment they needed and the poor, who 

could not pay, were left to die agonizing deaths, some alone on the streets if they had no one to care 

for them. She had become aware of the terrible plight of the impoverished victims of cancer, a dis‐ 

ease for which there was little available treatment. Once diagnosed, cancer cases were not permitted 

to remain in New York hospitals. Those without family or other means were banished to die in 

bleak isolation on Blackwellʹs Island. Rose became convinced that her vocation was to provide an 

alternative to this fate. 2 She was dealing with an illness which was considered loathsome and com‐ 

municable, like leprosy, hers was an act of immense charity and personal heroism. 3 

Eventually, God moved her in such a magnanimous way that she decided, at age 45, to enroll 

in a three‐month nursing course at New York’s Cancer Hospital; in the fall of 1896, Rose moved into 

a small three room cold water flat in the impoverished section of the lower east side of Manhattan. 4 

Rose lived among the very poor and took dying cancer patients off the streets to care for them. She 

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was overwhelmed with work and many times 

she just went out on the street or door to door 

to help the impoverished sick. 

Rose said at the time “ʺNo description 

had given me a real knowledge of how dark 

the passages are in the daytime, how miserably 

inadequate the water supply, how impossible 

that the masses of poor in tenements should 

keep themselves or their quarters clean.ʺ But 

keeping her focus on God, she resolved ʺ... to 

take the lowest class we know both in poverty 

and suffering and put them in such a condition, 

that if our Lord knocked at the door we should 

not be ashamed to show what we have done.ʺ 5 

A successful portrait painter by the 

name of Alice Huber, was quite taken with 

Roseʹs mission like approach and compassion 

and joined her in her quest to serve the dying 

cancerous poor in the lower east side on Water 

Street. Alice was known to 

have said” When I find a 

work of perfect charity, I 

will join it.ʺ Alice went to 

visit Rose in November 

1897 after reading one of 

Rose’s articles describing 

how she cares for the 

poor. 6 Alice described her 

visit: 

“A fair bright‐faced woman, who 

was bending over an old woman 

bandaging up her leg, rose from 

her work and came forward to 

meet me. I looked at her as she 

stood there, the only bright being 

in all that mass of ugliness and 

misery. As I looked at her, a 

great feeling of affection and pity 

came into my heart for her. So, at 

last I mustered up courage and 

offered to help her one afternoon 

of each week.ʺ 

Fall 2012 

It was then that Alice found “the work of per‐ 

fect charity” and joined Rose on March 24, 

1898. 7 

Rose Hawthorne and Alice Huber 

shared a profoundly spiritual human love, 

which sustained them both in this enormously 

difficult undertaking. 8 This dedication and 

love for the poor with cancer was the corner‐ 

stone and foundation for all their works. 

During this time she wrote many articles 

and flyers about the plight of these unfortu‐ 

nates. She was able to get news out to the pub‐ 

lic through her writing abilities and her connec‐ 

tions to influential groups of the New York 

City establishment. Donations started pouring 

in little by little. A Do‐ 

minican priest, Rev. 

Clement Thuente from 

St. Vincent Ferrer Pri‐ 

ory visited them and 

saw the statue of St 

Rose of Lima in their 

apartment and encour‐ 

aged them to become Dominican Tertiaries. 

On September 14, 1899 Rose and Alice became 

Tertiaries under Archbishop Michael Corrigan. 

Roseʹs husband died in 1898 and a year 

later she had moved to a 

larger house calling it St. 

Rose Free Home for In‐ 

curable Cancer. On Dec 

8, 1900, Rose made her 

vows as a Dominican nun 

taking the name of Sister 

M. Alphonsa; and Alice 

took the name Sister M. Rose. Together, they 

founded the Dominican Congregation of St 

Rose of Lima, later called the Servants of Relief 

for Incurable Cancer. The most fundamental 

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element of the ministry of 

the Servants of Relief was 

that only the poor would 

be admitted to their 

ʺhomes.ʺ The community 

was not to accept money 

from the patients, nor 

from relatives of the patients. Beds were to be 

free. Further — and this condition was abso‐ 

lute — there were to be no medical experi‐ 

ments or operations on the patients. 9 

In 1901 Mother Alphonsa opened Ro‐ 

sary Hill Home in Hawthorne, New York, 

which is now the motherhouse of the congrega‐ 

tion. She died there at the age of 75 on July 9, 

1926. Mother Rose succeeded Mother 

Alphonsa as the superior general and went on 

to open four new homes around the country. 

Mother Rose died on September 30, 1942. 10 

Rose Hawthorne was an extremely cul‐ 

tured woman from a very distinguished family, 

yet she was able to give all of this up and be 

moved by God to give her life to the caring of 

those who had nothing but the fate of death. 

In one of her newspaper appeals, Rose 

wrote: ʺI am trying to serve the poor as a ser‐ 

vant. I wish to serve the cancerous poor be‐ 

cause they are more avoided than any other 

class of sufferers; and I wish to go to them as a 

poor creature myself.ʺ 11 The fundamental ele‐ 

ment of the ministry was that only the poor 

would be admitted to their homes and no 

money was to be accepted by either the pa‐ 

tients or their relatives. Beds were free and 

there were to be no medical experiments or op‐ 

erations on the patients. Also all nursing 

would be done by the sisters but eventually 

male orderlies were employed for the men pa‐ 

tients. 12 

The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 

continue to carry out the apostolate of loving 

Fall 2012 

service to those afflicted with incurable cancer 

relying solely on the providence of God and 

loving benefactors. 13 

Edward Cardinal Egan of the New York 

Archdiocese gave his blessing to begin the di‐ 

ocesan process which opened the cause for her 

canonization on February 4. 2003. He named 

Rev. Gabriel OʹDonnell, a 

Dominican friar, Postulator 

of the campaign. Since there 

are few living people who 

can witness to her life, the 

bulk of documents and re‐ 

cords are found in the Ar‐ 

chives of Rosary Hill Home, 

the motherhouse in Haw‐ 

thorne, NY. 

Each person who is interested this cause 

may assist with prayer and by reporting any 

favors received from praying to Mother 

Alphonsa. 

1 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Papers, Dominican Sisters 

of Hawthorne Archives, Hawthorne, New York 

2 http://www.greatfulness.org. Rose Hawthorne 

3 Concorma.com/magazine/autumn05/ 

rosehawthorne.html 

4 Ibid 



6 Ibid 

7 Ibid 

8 Sr. Culbertson, O.P. editor of Rose Hawthorne 

Lathrop, Selected Writings, Paulist Press, 1993 





11 Ibid 

12 Ibid 

13 Ibid 

“If you are what you 

should be, you will 

set the whole world 

on fire.” 

St. Catherine of Siena 

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A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF 

ALICE HUBER 1 

Alice Huber was born on November 29, 

1861 in Jasper Indiana, the daughter of Dr. Mat‐ 

thew and Sarah Jane 

Huber. When she 

was nine years old, 

the family moved to 

Louisville, Kentucky. 

After attending 

Catholic boarding 

schools in Spring‐ 

field and Louisville, 

Alice taught school 

for several years and studied art. Around this 

time, she became acquainted with the Passion‐ 

ists Father Fidelis (James Kent Stone) and Fa‐ 

ther Edmund Hill, both of whom would be‐ 

come her lifelong friends. She attended busi‐ 

ness school for a short time, and then trans‐ 

ferred to the Conservatory of Fine Arts in Cin‐ 

cinnati. After a few more years of teaching, Al‐ 

ice made the decision to move to New York. 

She first resided at the retreatants’ apartments 

at the Monastery of the Precious Blood and 

then on Putnam Street in Brooklyn. In Novem‐ 

ber of 1897, Alice read a newspaper appeal by 

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop describing her need 

for women to help in her work with the cancer‐ 

ous poor. She contacted Fr. Fidelis, who pro‐ 

vided her with a letter of introduction to Mrs. 

Lathrop. 

On March 24, 1898, Alice joined Rose in 

her work. After a few short days she realized 

ʺ... the sacrifice of life Rose Hawthorne was 

leading. We had not time for reading. I could 

not write, not even think for a time, the change 

was so great, the noise and confusion unbear‐ 

able. I became extremely homesick and shed so 

many tears ... ʺ 2 

Christmas for the patients 

Fall 2012 

Despite the difficult beginnings and the 

challenges of caring for the poor and running a 

community, Sister Rose lovingly kept her com‐ 

mitment for 28 years. She had worked, prayed 

and served Gods poor with the example and 

loving companionship of Mother Alphonsa. 3 

Sister Rose wondered how she could continue 

the work without Mother Alphonsa after she 

passed away; she wrote in her diary: 

“ What a terrible shock and sorrow, our 

Mother Alphonsa, always so active, to 

have passed way so suddenly. I shall 

always miss her. We were closely associ‐ 

ated for many years; her joys and sor‐ 

rows were mine. I was always loyal to 

her and suffered when she suffered. Be‐ 

loved Mother Alphonsa, it seems my life 

had gone out with you, as far as joys are 

concerned, but will be faithful in instill‐ 

ing your wonderful spirit into the hearts 

of your Sisters and will keep your work 

as you founded it.” 

______________________ 

1 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Papers, Dominican Sisters of 

Hawthorne Archives, Hawthorne, New York 

2 http://www.concordma.com/magazine/autumn05/ 


3 The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 1900 – 2000 Centennial 

Celebration Booklet, Editions du Signe 

eLumen ate Page 6

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Fall 2012 

BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONOLOGY OF ROSE HAWTHORNE LATHROP 

May 20, 1851 Rose Hawthorne born in Lenox, Massachusetts, the third and last child 

(Una, Julian and Rose) of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne and Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 

1851 - 1857 Family moves to Liverpool, England while her father served as American 

consul in Liverpool; then to London, Paris, Rome and Florence, Italy 1 

1860 Family moves back to the Wayside in Concord. Mass. and continues 

schooling at Dio Lewis’ school. 2 

May 19 , 1864 Nathaniel Hawthorne died 

1868 Family moves to Dresden, Germany; during that time Rose meets 

George Parsons Lathrop and eventually relocates to England 

1871 Sophia Hawthorne died 

Sept. 11, 1871 Rose marries George Lathrop in St. Luke’s Anglican Church, London 

Nov. 10, 1876 Francis Hawthorne Lathrop born 

1879 Family moves back to the Wayside 

Feb. 6, 1881 Francis Hawthorne Lathrop tragically dies of diphtheria 

1881 The couple left Concord and after spending a short time in Europe, moved to New York 

where Rose began to focus in earnest on her literary career. 3 Her poems and short stories 

were published in Harpers Weekly, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Century Magazine. 

Soon, George Lathrop’s health began to decline, most likely as a result of alcoholism. 

1887 Rose and George leave Wayside and live in New London, Connecticut and begin a friendship 

with Alfred and Adelaide Chappell, whose Catholic faith influences them greatly 4 

1888 Wrote a book of poems, Along the Shore 

Mar. 19, 1891 George and Rose are received into the Catholic Church by Fr. Alfred Young, C.S.P., at St. 

Paul the Apostle in New York City. 5 

1895 Rose and George separate. 

Summer 1896 Rose attends a retreat with the Sisters of Charity in Halifax. 6 

June 1896 Enrolls in a three month nursing course at New York’s Cancer Hospital. 7 

Sept. 15, 1896 After finishing school, Rose rented a flat on Scammel Street in the lower east side of Manhattan 

to care for cancer patients and then moved to 668 Water Street; Rose was 45 years 

old. 8 

Feb. 1897 Rose completes Memories of Hawthorne to raise money to care for the cancerous poor. 9 

Nov. 1897 Alice Huber, a successful portrait painter read an article written by Rose about caring for 

the cancerous poor and plans to visit Rose. 

Dec. 15, 1897 Alice Huber introduced to Rose by Fr. Fidelis Stone, a Passionist priest and starts to assist 

Rose one day a week. 

____________________________________ 

1 Rose Hawthorne – Mother Alphonsa Lothrop (1851 – 1926), http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/rose.html 

2 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Papers, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne Archives, Hawthorne, New York 

3 Ibid 

4 Ibid 

5 Ibid 


7 Rose Hawthorne’s Great Compassion, September 1986 


9 http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/rose.html 

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BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONOLOGY CONTINUED 

Fall 2012 

March 24, 1898 Alice leaves her Brooklyn residence and joins Rose full time 

April 10, 1898 George Lathrop died in Roosevelt Hospital; 10 11 there is a memorial in Greenwood Cemetery, 

Brooklyn, New York 12 

April 20, 1899 Rose’s work is recognized publicly by Archbishop Michael A. Corrigan 

May 1, 1899 Attorney and benefactor Mr. J. Warren Green, whom lost his wife to cancer, placed a down 

payment on a home two blocks away at 426 Cherry Street. Rose and Alice named it St. 

Rose’s Free Home in honor of St. Rose of Lima at the suggestion of Rev. Clement 

Thuente, O.P. 13 . He also suggests that Rose and Alice become Dominican Tertiaries like 

St. Rose of Lima. 14 Mr. Green provides financial and legal support to Rose until his death 

in 1918. 

Sept. 14, 1899 Rose and Alice become Dominican Tertiaries: Sr. Mary Alphonsa and Sr. Mary Rose. 

Dec. 25 , 1899 Fr. Thuente advises Rose and Alice to spend two days with the Dominicans in Caldwell, 

N.J. 

Dec 8, 1900 Archbishop Corrigan gives permission to Rose (Sr. Alphonsa) and Alice (Sr. Rose) to wear 

the Dominican Habit and took their first vows. Fr. Thuente presided. A community was 

formed using the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the Third Order of St. 

Dominic given to them by the Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of the 

Rosary (?) 

Jan. 24, 1901 The community is incorporated as The Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer, which 

would eventually become the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 

June 1, 1901 Mother Alphonsa and postulants purchase a hotel in Westchester County and call it Rosary 

Hill Home. It was also used as the motherhouse and novitiate for the Dominican Sisters. 

Sr. Rose remains at St. Rose’s Home as the superior. 

Mar. 25, 1906 Congregation of St. Rose of Lima receives diploma of affiliation with the Dominican Order. 

15 The decree was signed by the Rev. Hyacinth M. Cormier, O.P. 16 

1906-1907 Mother Alphonsa begins publishing Christ’s Poor and writes about the daily life of the community 

and her spiritual insights and the financial state of the charity. 

1909 Receives Apostolic Benediction from Pope Pius X. 

1912 A new St. Rose’s Home is constructed on Jackson Street 

April 16, 1922 Mother Alphonsa writes an article in the New York Times Magazine’s Book Review to raise 

funds to build a new Rosary Hill Home; the public responds generously. 

1924 The first building of the new Rosary Hill Complex is completed and named St. Joseph’s 

Hall. 

July 9, 1926 Mother Alphonsa died in her sleep; Sr. Rose succeeds as Superior General Mother. 

Late 1920’s The Rule is approved by Patrick Cardinal Hayes. 

1930 Sacred Heart Home is opened in Philadelphia 

____________________________ 

10 “The Remarkable Rose Hawthorne”, George Weigel, The Catholic Difference, September 16, 2009 

11 The Anthonian, Saint Anthony’s Guild, Rose Hawthorne Edition 


13 Rose Hawthorne’s Great Compassion, September 1986 


15 The Founding of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 


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BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONOLOGY CONTINUED 

Fall 2012 

1932 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Home opened in Fall River, Massachusetts; closes in 2002. 17 

1939 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home opens in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Dec. 7, 1941 Our Lady of Good Counsel Home is opened in St. Paul, Minnesota; closes in 2009 18 

Sept. 30, 1942 Mother Rose died in her sleep. 

Nov. 1942 Mother M. Pascal Flanagan succeeds Mother Rose 

1948 Mother M. Siena Frey serves as mother general; the original St. Rose’s Home and the Sacred 

Heart Home is replaced during her tenure. 

1958 Holy Family Home is opened in Cleveland, Ohio; closes in 2004 

1960 Mother M. Elizabeth Chudley elected as mother general; improvements were made to the 

motherhouse and a new structure was started to replace the Our Lady of Perpetual Help 

Home in Atlanta 

1973 – 1981 Mother M. Engela Bott was elected as mother general; work was started on a new Home in 

St. Paul and the motherhouse. 

1981 – 1989 Mother M Bernadette Meehan was elected as mother general; the new St. Paul Home was 

dedicated and repairs were done to the Home in Cleveland. 

1989 Mother Anne Marie Holden was elected mother general; improvements made to the new 

motherhouse and guided the community in using computer technology. 

1997 Mother Marie Edward Deutsch was elected as ninth mother general. 

March 11, 2000 Recognition of the Dominican Sisters of St. Rose of Lima by Pope John Paul II as an Institute 

of Pontifical Right. 19 

Feb. 4, 2003 Edward Cardinal Egan of the New York Archdiocese gave his approval to begin the diocesan 

process for the cause of the canonization of Rose Hawthorne (Mother Mary Alphonsa, 

O.P.). Names Rev Gabriel O’Donnell, O.P., Postulator of the campaign. 

2009 St. Catherine of Siena Home opens in Kisimu, Kenya. 20 

2011 Our Lady of Peace Cancer Home opens (formerly Our Lady of Good Counsel) under the 

sponsorship of the Franciscans. 

________________________________ 

17 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Papers, 

Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne Archives, 

Hawthorne, New York 

 

FACTS ABOUT MOTHER ALPHONSA 

What She Authored, and What Others Wrote About Her… 

Mother Mary Alphonsa received 

the following honors… 

Rotary Medal in 1926 

National Institute of Social Sciences Medal 

An honorary degree from Bowdoin College, 

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s alma mater in 1925 

National Institute of Social Sciences Medal, 

1915 

18 Ibid. 

19 Ibid. 

20 Ibid. 

Oncology Nursing Society Lifetime Achieve‐ 

ment Award, 2001‐2003 

A cablegram from Pope Pius XI on occasion of Sil‐ 

ver Jubilee in 1924 

Hospital Apostolate Award, 2001 

Servant of God Award presented by the Knights of 

Columbus, Thornwood, NY, 2002 

A Key to the City of Atlanta, 1973 

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Atlanta’s Community Service Award, 1996 

She also wrote about working 

with the cancerous poor… 

Streetcar Essay, 1896 

Numerous published newspaper appeals, 1898‐ 

1923 

“A Cheerful View of a Hard Problem,” Catholic 

World, 1899 

Sketch of Aims and Work of St. Rose’s Free Home, 1899‐ 

1900 

“Serving the Sick Poor,” 1900 

“Our Farm in a Nutshell,” 1902 

“A Knock at the Door,” handwritten 

drafts, ca. 1910 

Published the following poetry… 

Published poems, 1882‐1892, n.d. 

“Duty,” (first poem, written as a 

child), n.d. 

“Dear Brother,” 1874 

“A Traveller,”1883 (exhibit) 

“Peace,” 1890 

“Endless Resources,” n.d. 

“Faded Holiness,” n.d. 

“Good‐morrow,” n.d. 

“Life,” n.d. 

“Martial Music,” n.d. 

“Night Shadows,” n.d. 

“Oh Bother the Servants Say I,” n.d. 

“Oh Sultan,” n.d. 

“Perfect Dolls,” n.d. 

“Phalanxed Pines,” n.d. 

“Repose,” n.d. 

“The Spirit of a Nation Sings,” n.d. 

“The Unforgotten,” n.d. 

“What We Give,” n.d 

Published Writings… 

Groton Monument Association Celebration, poem, 1891 

“My Father’s Literary Methods,” Ladies Home Jour‐ 

nal, 1894 

A Story of Courage, 1894 

“Fun Beams,” 1884 

Along the Shore, 1888 

“Hawthorne as a Worker,” The Cambridge Magazine, 

FACTS Continued 

Fall 2012 

1896 

Hawthorne Centenary (photocopy), 1904 

Memories of Hawthorne, 1923 

Memories of Hawthorne: Contracts, 1896‐1926 

Memories of Hawthorne : Library of Congress, 

1897 

Memories of Hawthorne: Printers plates, n.d. 

List of articles and poems published in Harper’s 

Magazine, 1926 

“Unloved,” Atlantic Monthly, 1883 

“Some Memories of Hawthorne” Atlantic 

Monthly, 1896 

“Impress of the Crucifix” On the 

Heart of Saint Clare of Monte Falce, 

an 

Augustinian Nun, n.d (Published in 

In Praise of Nuns: An Anthology of 

Verse, 1943) 

Articles and Essays written by 

others about Mother Alphonsa 

“A Legacy from Hawthorne,” 

Maurice Francis Egan, New York 

Times Book Review and Magazine, 

1922 

“The Hill of Pain and Mercy,” 

George N. Shuster, The Ave Maria, 

1926 

“Daughters of Genius,” Clifford Smyth, Literary Di‐ 

gest, 1926 

“Valiant Women,” The Field Afar (Maryknoll), 

1926 

“Mother Alphonsa, O.S.D.,” Annette S. Driscoll, 

Rosary Magazine, 1926 

“A Daughter of Hawthorne,” Julian Hawthorne, 

Atlantic Monthly, 1928 

“The Rose of All the Hawthornes,” Katherine 

Burton, The Catholic World, 1936 

“Children of the Wayside,” Margaret Lothrop, 

Child Life, 1938 

“For God and the Poor,” Grace Fromhold, West‐ 

chester Life, 1948 

“Woman With the Kit,” Thomas Parrott, C.M., 

The Vincentian, 1949 

“The Most Unforgettable Character I’ve Met,” 

Hildegarde Hawthorne, Readers Digest, 1950 

eLumen ate Page 10

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“Mother Alphonsa,” from The Hawthornes: Seven 

Generations of an American Family by Vernon 

Loggins, 1951 

“Rose Hawthorne: A Flower of Faith,” Ted 

Alexander, Catholic Home Messenger, 1953 

“Not Design, But Destiny,” Rose Michele Wan‐ 

dell, The Cross and the Crown, 1964 

The Apostolate of Rose Hawthorne,” Sr. Mary 

Eucharia, O.P., Sacred Heart. Messenger, 1965 

Entry from The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1966 

“Rose Hawthorne Lathrop,” Sr. Mary Irenaea, 

O.S.F., Annals of Our Lady of the Angels, 1968 

Entry from Notable American Women, 1607‐1950, 

1971 

“The More Things Change, the More They are 

the Same,” The Anthonian, 1972 

“Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Gift to the Church,” 

Immaculata, 1976 

“The Influence of Nathaniel Hawthorne Upon 

the Philosophy and Attitudes of His Daugh‐ 

ter, Mother Alphonsa, Foundress of the Ser‐ 

vants of Relief for Incurable Cancer,” Sr. 

Mary Benedict Bogart, O.P., 1978 

“The Rose Hawthorne Story,” Boniface Hanley, 

O.F.M., Catholic Digest, 1980 

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: Her Father’s Daughter by 

Jennifer Pearce Lowell, 1986 

“For These, the Least of My Brethren,” 

Clementine Lenta, The Key, 1987 

Rose Hawthorne, Jonathan Kemeyis, 1989 

“A 19th Century Servant of ‘the Poorest of the 

Poor,’” Jill Boughton, New Heaven/New 

Earth, 1990 

“Death with Dignity,” Catholic Health World, 

1992 

“Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: Servant of the Dying 

Poor,” Linda E. Sabin, Journal of Community 

Nursing, 2002 

This Lovely Rose Traded Literary Fame for 

Foul Bandages, Christian History Institutes 

Glimpses, 2002 

Out of Many Hearts, WordsFitlySpoken.com, 2003 

“Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: ‘A Fire Was Lighted 

in My Heart,’” Eucharist, 2003 

“Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: A Tertiary Accord‐ 

FACTS Continued 

Fall 2012 

ing to the Plan of Divine Providence,” Sr. 

Mary de Paul, O.P., The Dominican Torch, 

2003 

“Endurance,” Donald DeMarco, Lay Witness, 

Sept.‐Oct. 2003 

“Sister Patriots: American Catholic Nuns 

‘Friend of the Dying Poor,’” Elizabeth Kuhn, 

Faith and Family, 2003 

“Rose Hawthorne: Serving Christ’s Poor in the 

Spirit of St. Dominic,” Amylee Ann Quarta‐ 

raro (Sr. Agnes Mary Quartararo, O.P.) 

“Rose Hawthorne and a More Humane Vision 

of Health Care,” Edward Short, Inside‐ 

Catholic.com, 2009 

”Rose Hawthorne and the Communion of 

Saints,” Edward Short, The Human Life Re‐ 

view, Winter 2010 

Books about Mother Alphonsa 

Mother Alphonsa, James J. Walsh, 1930 

Sorrow Built a Bridge, Katherine Burton, 1937 

A Fire Was Lighted, Theodore Maynard, 1948 

On Wings of Fire, Marguerite Vance, 1955 

Rose Hawthorne: The Pilgrimage of Nathaniel Haw‐ 

thorne’s Daughter, Arthur and Elizabeth 

Odell Sheehan, 1959 

Out of Many Hearts, Sr. Mary Joseph, O.P., 1965 

To Myself a Stranger, Patricia Dunlavy Valenti, 

1991 

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop: Selected Writings, Diane 

Culbertson, O.P., 1993 

A Legacy of Love, Alberta Hapenney, 1999 

Plays and Poems 

Mercy is My Dwelling Place: A Play in Two Acts, 

by L. Robert Griffin, 2009 

The Red Cross Angel, by Felix O’Neill, n.d. 

Tenement, 

New York City 

eLumen ate Page 11

ATE 

THE HEART AND MIND OF ROSE HAWTHORNE 

Growing up in Wayside, Concord Massachusetts 

Rose grew up in a house that knew the footsteps and mighty presences of the 

founders of American literature: the Akotts, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry 

Thoreau, the hermit of Walden Pond, and Orestes Brownson….With a loving 

family atmosphere and great intellectual and artistic stimulation, the Haw‐ 

thorne home became an ideal background for the formation of Roseʹs young 

mind. 1 

An Unexpected Blessing 

Fall 2012 

There was an interesting little incident during this Rome visit. Rose and her mother were taking a walk through the 

Vatican Gardens, and Rose, as usual, was dashing about, peering first at one flower and then another. She bumped sud‐ 

denly into someone walking toward her. To her surprise and alarm she saw that the person she had hit was the Holy 

Father himself, strolling about his small domain. Mrs. Hawthorne looked up at her daughterʹs explosive ʺOh!ʺ and 

came forward to apologize. But Pius IX only smiled at her little girl. He put his thin white hand on the tumbled red 

curls and gave her his blessing. 2 

“She never put herself above others, but was always the servant of those she was called to aid. Even in 

her role of religious superior of her fellow Dominican Sisters, her love was never hidden. Reputed to be 

strict in expecting careful observance of the rule of life the Sisters followed, she was always loving.” – 

Fr. Gabriel B. O’Donnell, O.P. Postulator of the Cause of Rose Hawthorne3 Who was Rose Hawthorne? 

She was an American 

woman ‐ tracing her 

ancestry to the original 

Massachusetts Bay Col‐ 

ony. 

She was surrounded by 

the American literary 

world. 

Rose loved America! ‐ 

She had a portrait of 

George Washington at 

the entrance of the Rosary Hill. 

Rose was a wife who loved her husband but suf‐ 

fered from his excessive drinking. 

Rose was a mother who loved her son and suffered 

tremendously from his death as a young child. 

Rose was a convert to Catholicism. She struggled 

to find the Truth and to find her role in the Church. 

Rose was a Dominican! 

Nathaniel Hawthorne 

Her acts of charity comforted, consoled and taught 

the sanctity and the dignity of the human person. 

Rose was a woman of deep prayer. 

Rose loved and cared for people, seeing in them the 

suffering Christ, and wished to give them the dig‐ 

nity they deserved. 

Rose was the foundress of a congregation and said 

that the purpose of the congregation was ʺto fit itʹs 

members for the beatific vision.ʺ 

Rose was a woman of great trust in Godʹs Provi‐ 

dence. Her last dollars went to others and were al‐ 

ways replenished. 

______________________ 

1 The Anthonian, Saint Anthony’s Guild, Rose 

Hawthorne Edition 

2 Ibid. 

3 The Rose Hawthorne Guild Newsletter. Vol. 2, No. 1 

eLumen ate Page 12

ATE 

In all of the above, so many people can identify 

with her and perhaps feel that she might inter‐ 

cede to God on their behalf. And so Rose is a 

gift to the Church and all people seriously 

striving for holiness, looking for support and a 

model to follow. 4 

Rose’s attitude for caring for the poor: Rose 

closed her newspaper appeal with the follow‐ 

ing: “Let the woman who begs for care have com‐ 

fort, and bestow on this representative of Christ a 

little gentle attention until she dies. This is all, yet 

it requires the sacrifice of your life. But that is why 

Christ asked it, and blesses with unending reward 

the simple choice.” This statement was the one 

that drawn Alice Huber to look for Rose; and 

when they met, Alice decided to join her. 5 

Rose Hawthorneʹs piety ʺwas completely 

dominated by her concern for the work to be 

done: the needs of the patients. When Rose 

wrote in her diary that she wanted to be of the 

poor, she knew what that desire implied. Her 

original concept of the ministry was one that 

the sisters were never to change. They were to 

be servants with all that the concept necessi‐ 

tated.ʺ 6 

Rose Hawthorne served as a servant. In one of 

her newspaper appeals for funds, Rose wrote: 

ʺI am trying to serve the poor as a servant. I wish to 

serve the cancerous poor because they are more 

avoided than any other class of sufferers; and I wish 

to go to them as a poor creature myself.ʺ 

Rose Hawthorne 

moved into a three‐ 

room cold‐water flat on 

New York Cityʹs im‐ 

poverished Lower East 

Side and began to 

nurse the poor with in‐ 

curable cancer. She 

said at the time: ʺNo 

HEART AND MIND CONTINUED 

Fall 2012 

description had given me a real knowledge of 

how dark the passages are in the daytime, how 

miserably inadequate the water supply, how 

impossible that the masses of poor in tene‐ 

ments should keep themselves or their quarters 

clean.ʺ But keeping her focus on God, she re‐ 

solved ʺ... to take the lowest class we know 

both in poverty and suffering and put them in 

such a condition, that if our Lord knocked at 

the door we should not be ashamed to show 

what we have done.ʺ7 Mother Alphonsa insisted that all of the nurs‐ 

ing was to be done by the Sisters. There was 

to be no hired help. (Eventually male orderlies 

were employed for assistance with men pa‐ 

tients.) Referring to the Sistersʹ work, Rose 

Hawthorne wrote: ʺA surgeon among hun‐ 

dreds of wounded soldiers brings a cup of wa‐ 

ter and a little care to a few of them ‐‐ all he can 

do he does ‐‐ with a groan of appeal to Heaven; 

and in this feeble though devoted way a few 

women see and succor suffering women who 

are agonized and forlorn.ʺ8 Of her religious and charitable beliefs, she 

wrote ʺA great deal is involved in listening to 

our Lord, and certainly an active obedience to 

His teachings may be regarded as of the first 

necessity.ʺ9 10 

_____________________ 

4 Mother Marie Edward, O.P. “What does it matter that 

the world know She is a Saint?” Hawthorne Happenings 

(Winter 2002/2003) 

5 The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 1900 – 2000 

Centennial Celebration Booklet, Editions du Signe 

6 Sr. Culbertson, O.P. editor of Rose Hawthorne 

Lathrop, Selected Writings, Paulist Press, 1993 


rosehawthorn.html 

8 Ibid. 

9 Rose Hawthorne…A woman Ahead of Her Time, 

Hawthorne Happenings, Spring 1994 

10 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Selected writings, Edited 

with an introduction by Diana Culbertson, O.P. 

eLumen ate Page 13

ATE 

Mother Alphonsa’s constant thought was of 

God…11Among the effects found after her 

death were several pages of jottings, which 

give evidence ʹof her constant thought of God. 

ʺIf there are any flowers left in the garden 

of our lives. Of selfish enjoyment, let us gather 

them as a gift to Jesus Christ although he does 

not beg for them.” 

ʺI will obey God anywhere, at any time, 

with courage!ʺ 

ʺI will see all things only through the 

presence of God, thus freeing myself of personal‐ 

ity and forgetting my existence.” 

ʺI will never defend myself, complain of 

others.” 

“I will regard creatures in the spirit of Je‐ 

sus Christ.” 

Response to Need 

Rose had her first patient before she unpacked 

her bags. Louis Stellar a seven year old Jewish 

boy, the son of an immigrant. The lad had can‐ 

cer. Soon there were other outpatients to care 

for, most of them suffering from cancer, and 

some just suffering from old age and poverty. 

She turned down no one. She went from tene‐ 

ment to tenement. Her diary reveals that on a 

typical day in October, 1896, she 

• fed and clothed a starving mother and child; 

• changed the dressings twice that day for a 

cancer patient 

• visited an elderly woman suffering from 

consumption 

• gently and successfully prevented an eviction 

• brought food to a child dying with meningitis. 

Her dedication to the poor led her to seek 

alms for them. For Nathaniel Hawthorneʹs 

daughter, with proud Yankee blood in her 

veins, begging was a bitter pill to swallow. She 

did not complain about it. However, in her di‐ 

ary we get a glimpse of how painful it was for 

her. ʺThe distance of Fifth Avenue,” she wrote 

HEART AND MIND CONTINUED 

Fall 2012 

of a begging excursion, ʺsometimes seems as 

far and as frozen as the road to the now famous 

mines of Alaska. That is, it seems so when I 

stand in my little rooms very nearly at the end 

of my money for the time being and ask myself 

if have the courage to enter the homes of the 

well‐to‐do and the rich and beg for the homes 

that are destitute.” 12 

Thinking about the death of her father, Na‐ 

thaniel Hawthorne: “He died the day before 

my thirteenth birthday. .. Even as a child, 

knowing that he could not think me a remu‐ 

nerative companion, I realized how remarkable 

it was that in all his being there was, not an 

atom of the poison of contempt. ...His hand 

was ready to grasp any hand, because it was a 

human creatureʹs, whose destiny was a part of 

every destiny‐even Christʹs.” 13 

Upon the death of her son, Francie: Rose 

wrote a poem about him in 1883 and published 

it in Along the Shore: 

I loved a child as we should love 

Each other everywhere; 

I cared more for his happiness 

Than I dreaded my own despair. 

I gave him all my buoyant 

Hope for my future years. 

I gave him whatever melody 

My voice had steeped in tears. 

I am glad I lavished my worthiest 

To fashion his greater worth; 

Since he will live in heaven, 

I shall lie content in the earth. 

_________________ 







eLumen ate Page 14

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“Francie” was five years old when he died of 

diphtheria. 14 

Upon the death of her husband, George 

Lathrop: “As I stood beside his body soon after 

death, the beauty, the nobility and exquisite 

gentleness of his life ... spoke plainly to me of 

his virtues, and the welcome our Lord had 

given him into His rest. My own soul was 

trembling in the dark uncertainty of all unwor‐ 

thiness.” 15 

Rose completed Memories of Hawthorne in Feb‐ 

ruary 1897. She closed her book by finishing 

the preface: This is the explanation of my re‐ 

turn, in the company of the friends of my father 

and mother, to an old garden, a familiar dis‐ 

course, and a circle of life that embraced so 

much beauty. Toward the end of her life she 

would write “ If there are any flowers left in 

the garden of our Lives, let us gather them as a 

gift to Jesus Christ although he does not beg for 

them.” 16 

In her appeal for help: In one Sunday paper 

she wrote an article concerning the plight of the 

cancerous poor and of the desperate need for 

kindhearted women to work along with her. 

ʺLet the poor, the patient, the destitute and 

hopeless;ʹ she wrote, ʺreceive from our compas‐ 

sion what we would give to our own families if 

we were really generous to them. Let the 

woman who begs for care have comfort; and 

bestow upon this representative of Christ a lit‐ 

tle gentle attention till she dies. This is all. Yet 

it requires the sacrifice of oneʹs life. But that is 

why Christ asked it and blesses with unending 

reward the simple choice;ʹ The words moved 

many young women to consider joining Rose. 17 

lll 

The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, spoke well 

as to why individuals are promoted [for saint‐ 

hood]. Their lives witness the love of God to us 

 

Fall 2012 

who still are on the journey 

to our heavenly home and 

our life in the Trinity. They 

show us that it can be done, 

and in a sense cheer us on. 

The Saint is an embodiment 

of a particular light of the 

Gospel. The Saints bring into focus another 

piece of Christʹs message for us. 18 

__________________ 



15 Ibid. 



17 The Anthonian, St. Anthony Guild 

18 Mother Marie Edward, O.P. “What does it matter that 

the world know She is a Saint?” Hawthorne Happenings 

(Winter 2002/2003) 

Quotes by Rose Hawthorne 

(Mother M. Alphonsa) 

“I should like to feel that the hearts of those who 

help the poor are warmed toward them.” 

“Hope: to take the neediest class you know — both 

in poverty and suffering — and put them in such a 

condition that if our Lord knocked at the door I 

should not be ashamed to show what I have done. 

This is great Hope.” 

Scammel Street Residence, New York City, 1896 

eLumen ate Page 15

ATE 

PEOPLE IN THE LIFE OF ROSE HAWTHORNE 

Through God’s grace we are given family and 

friends to share in the joys and sufferings along our 

journey of life. Rose Hawthorne was blessed with 

many friends who fostered her vocation and helped 

her with her vocation in caring for the poor: 

Sophia Peabody and Nathaniel Hawthorne: 

Members of New York’s literary elite and Rose 

Hawthorne’s parents who were both writers; Nathaniel 

Hawthorne wrote “The Scarlet Letter” hoping 

to earn enough from it to take care of his family. 

They impressed upon her the true meaning of life 

and the need to live it with sincerity and care. Her 

parents' spiritual vision heightened Rose's urgent 

sense of purpose wherever she found herself. 1 The 

Hawthorne’s had three children – Una, Julian and 

Rose Hawthorne. Nathaniel died 13 years after 

Rose’s birth; Sophia passed away seven years 

later. Julian decided to return to the United States 

prior to Sophia’s final illness. Upon Sophia’s death 

Una remained in London and Rose return to America; 

Una passed away 11 years after Sophia’s 

death. 

George Parsons Lathrop: Met Rose in London 

and married in 1871. He was a writer and editor of 

the Atlantic Monthly magazine. 

Francis “Francie” Hawthorne: Only child of Rose 

and George, who died of diphtheria at age five. 

Mrs. Mary Watson: A patient at New York Cancer 

Hospital (Memorial Hospital) who Rose met on the 

first day of nursing class; Advanced cancer had 

eaten away the center of Mrs. Watson's face. Rose 

had to observe as the bandages were removed and 

the lesions dressed. She survived the ordeal and 

never again flinched at the ravages of cancer. 2 

Louis Stellar: Rose’s very first cancer patient was 

a seven year old Jewish boy, the son of an immigrant. 

3 

Alice Huber: Joined Rose in her care of the cancerous 

poor in 1898 and eventually became a Dominican 

Tertiary with Rose; together they founded 

the Servants of the Poor which eventually became 

the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. "When I find a 

work of perfect charity, I will join it” she once told a 

friend on another occasion she blurted in jest, "I 

think I'll have to found a community of my own.” 4 

Mother Alphonsa (Rose) and Sister M. Rose (Alice) 

would work side by side for 28 years. 

Father Fidelis Stone: A Passionist Priest who introduced 

Alice Huber to Rose while Rose was going 

Fall 2012 

around door to door and caring for the cancerous 

poor. 

Fr. Clement M. Thuente, O.P.: A young Dominican 

priest who urged Rose and Alice to become 

Dominican Tertiaries upon visiting them while they 

were caring for the poor at the Water Street tenement. 

5 6 Profoundly impressed, he said as his 

glance rested on a little statue of St. Rose: "Oh, ladies, 

if you want to keep up this life and work, you 

will need most special graces. Join the Third Order 

of St. Dominic like St. Rose." 7 

Alfred and Adelaide Chappell: Rose and George 

met this couple when they left New York City and 

moved to London Connecticut in 1887; the Chappell’s 

Catholic faith had a great affect on them and 

they eventually converted to the Catholic faith in 

1891. 8 

Archbishop Michael Corrigan: Publicly recognizes 

Rose’s work and then later gave Mother 

Alphonsa permission to receive postulants and to 

purchase Rosary Hill, as well as letters from 

Archbishop John Cardinal Farley and Archbishop 

Patrick Cardinal Hayes regarding permission for 

building projects at St. Rose’s and Rosary Hill. 

eLumen ate Page 16 

9 10 

When it was suggested to His Excellency that it was 

a most extraordinary privilege to give the Habit to 

Secular Tertiaries, he answered: "It is extraordinary, 

but remember they are doing a most extraordinary, 

heroic work." If this work be of men, it will come to 

naught. If it be of God, you cannot overthrow 

it.'" (Acts v38,39). 11 

___________________ 

1 Fr. Gabriel O’Donnell. Letter from the Postulator for the 

Cause, Rose Hawthorne Guild Winter/Spring 2012 

2 Founding of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 

3 The Anthonian, St. Anthony’s Guild 







7 The founding of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne 



9 Ibid. 



11 The Founding of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne

ATE 

Hyacinth M. Cormier, O.P: Now Blessed Hyacinth 

M. Cormier; Master General of the Dominican 

Order elected in 1908. 

J. Warren Greene: A wealthy Manhattan attorney 

whose wife died of cancer; he raised 

funds and assisted Rose to obtain a larger 

home on Cherry Street. He continued to provide 

Rose free legal advice and financial support 

over the years. 12 

Doctor E. Miller: Provided free medical assistance 

to Rose at the beginning of her ministry. 

13 

Augustinian Father Daniel O'Mahoney: A 

popular preacher whom promised daily prayers 

and promoted her work from the pulpit. 14 

Fr. I. M. Cothonay, O.P.: After two novenas 

were made to the Sacred Heart, and on the final 

day of the second novena, came heaven's 

answer. A French Dominican who heard that 

Mother Alphonsa was running out of space at 

their Home on Cherry Street told them his community 

was selling a hotel in Hawthorne, NY. 

Rose purchased it and renamed it Rosary 

Hill. 15 

Father Alfred Young, C.S.P.: Received 

George and Rose as Catholics at St. Paul the 

Apostle Church in New York. 16 

Emma Lazarus: A friend of 

Rose and socialite who 

spoke out and wrote about 

social injustice and wrote the 

words engraved on the 

Statue of Liberty: ”Give me 

your tired, your poor, Your 

huddled masses yearning to 

breathe free; Send these, the 

homeless, tempest-tossed, 

to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” 

Emma died of cancer at a very young age and 

her death had a great impact on Rose. 17 

Seamstress: A poor seamstress whose treatment 

and death from cancer horrified Rose 

upon hearing about it from a parish priest. 

Rose questioned who should be responsible 

and then realized: “A fire was then lighted in my 

heart, where it still burns. I set my whole being 

PEOPLE CONTINUED 

Fall 2012 

to endeavor to bring consolation to the cancerous 

poor.” 18 

Edward Cardinal Egan: Archbishop of the 

New York Diocese who gave his blessing and 

approval to begin the diocesan process which 

opens the cause of her canonization. 19 The 

Cardinal also appointed a diocesan tribunal 

and a historical Privacy Information commission 

whose joint purpose is to investigate the life, 

virtue and reputation for holiness of Rose Hawthorne 

(Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.P.), Servant 

of God. 20 

Rev. Gabriel O’Donnell, O.P.: Postulator of 

the campaign for Mother Alphonsa’s canonization. 

The Postulator serves as the voice between 

the Congregation of Rites of the Holy 

See, and those who are participants in the process, 

including the Archdiocese, the Dominican 

Sisters of Hawthorne, and the Rose Hawthorne 

Guild which will promote the cause by distributing 

information and religious articles. 21 

Dorothy Day: A writer and fighter for social justice. 

Dorothy launched the Catholic Worker after 

reading the biography of Rose Hawthorne; 

she was inspired by Mother Alphonsa’s trust in 

God’s providence. 22 

Mary Betts: Rose’s first close friend she met at 

The Seminary for Young Ladies in Concord, 

Mass. They shared the dreams of doing something 

worthwhile when they grew up and were 

both religious and often talked of God, their 

love for him and of his love for mankind. 23 

The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne: The 

community that continues her work today. 

Her numerous patients and many others 

known by God alone… 

_____________________ 

12 Ibid 


14 Ibid. 

15 Ibid. 

16 Ibid. 

17 Ibid. 

18 Ibid. 



20 Ibid. 

21 Ibid. 

22 Greatfullness.org 


eLumen ate Page 17

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The Heart of Canonization 

is the Outstanding Virtue of the Candidate 

Dear Friends of the Hawthorne Dominican Sisters, 

Recently I was appointed postulator of the cause for 

canonization of the Servant of God, Rose Hawthorne 

(Mother Alphonsa, O.P.). That’s a long way of saying that 

I have been asked to guide the complex process of investigation 

into the life, work, and virtue of Rose Hawthorne 

in order to convince the Church of the rightness and usefulness 

of declaring her “Blessed” and ultimately “Saint.” 

As you might guess, it is a rare privilege for a Dominican 

to fill this role for another member of the same religious 

Order. My attachment to Rose Hawthorne, however, is 

double in strength because my own blood brother, also a 

Dominican priest, died peacefully at Rosary Hill in 1995. I 

know first hand the rich tradition of love and care that 

Rose Hawthorne imparter to her daughters. 

As the cause progresses you will be kept abreast of 

developments in Hawthorne Happenings. For the moment 

it is important to note that the heart of a process for 

canonization is the outstanding virtue of the candidate. 

Mother Marie Edward has eloquently spoken of the reasons 

for promoting devotion to Rose Hawthorne. Her life 

challenges each of us because of her selfless service to 

those burdened with the “death sentence” of terminal cancer. 

Such was the state of affairs in the late nineteenth 

and early twentieth centuries. 

In the early days of her work, just before taking the 

step of becoming a religious sister, Rose described her 

vocation to one of her companions: “It will be our aim to 

Fall 2012 

forget ourselves and our finite life of work in the Lord… . 

So that you and I may find that our life is radiantly beautiful, 

in not being ours, but the life of Him we desire to be, 

at whatever cost of our will, and ease. We must try to be 

brave in order to be made brave, for our ambition is to die 

daily for Christ, and it is so hard to have the wakeful energy 

to know how to die.” 

For most of us forgetting is a nuisance and leads to 

all kinds of mistakes. For Rose forgetting became a deliberate 

part of her spiritual life. She knew she was often all 

taken up with her life, her looks, her success, her hurts 

and failures, her family. She chose the heroic road of 

forgetting all about herself in order to serve Church in the 

guise of those dying of cancer. 

You and I don’t want to forget important things, but in 

a mysterious way, we would find it easier to remember 

what is truly important if we could forget about being so 

selfish and self oriented. In this Rose Hawthorne is our 

spiritual mentor and example. 

Our Culture makes much of self-help, self-development, 

self-promotion. The Gospel calls us to move in another 

direction, that of dependence upon God and His 

grace. Jesus speaks of losing one’s life to find it. That’s 

what Rose Hawthorne’s forgetting of self was all about. 

The ordinary person can find a life of rich meaning and 

hope, but not apart from God. Only in Him will we find our 

happiness and true peace. 

Rose Hawthorne’s cause for canonization is meant to 

place before us the witness of one just like you and me 

who chose the way of forgetting herself and being at the 

beck and call of her neighbor. If that encourages us to be 

more attentive to the duties of our own calling, then Rose 

Hawthorne’s message has been heard. 

I invite each reader to begin to pray that in Rose Hawthorne’s 

cause God’s will be done and that through the 

intercession of this wonderful friend of God we will each 

come to that deeper life which yields a harvest of peace 

and joy. 

Sincerely in Christ, 

Fr. Gabriel B. O’Donnell, O.P. 

eLumen ate Page 18

ATE 

CANONIZATION PRAYER FOR 

ROSE HAWTHORNE 

MOTHER MARY ALPHONSA, O.P. 

On January 22, 1999, during his visit to 

Mexico City, Pope John Paul II remarked "The 

Saints are the true expression and the finest 

fruits of America's Christian identity. In them, 

the encounter with the living Christ is so deep 

and demanding ... that it becomes afire which 

consumes them completely and impels them to 

build his kingdom ..." Ecclesia in America #15 

Certainly Rose Hawthorne's desire to 

serve God became a fire in her heart. It burned 

so fiercely that she was able to relinquish all 

that she had in order to serve the living Christ 

by caring for the poorest of the poor. She devoted 

her entire being in service of God, and 

her faith enabled her to persevere and triumph 

under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. 

Should Rose Hawthorne achieve sainthood, 

she will join the ranks of other American 

women so recognized, including Sts. Elizabeth 

Anne Bayley Seton, Kateri Tekakwitha and 

Katharine Drexel. 

As Father Gabriel O'Donnell, O.P., the 

postulator for her beatification, once wrote, 

"service to Christ's poor did not simply mean 

that this lady of culture, education, and social 

status would put on an apron and offer gifts 

from her abundance. She decided to live 

among the poor, to beg for them as they did for 

themselves, and to establish a home where 

they could live in dignity, cleanliness, and ease 

as they faced their final days on earth ...There 

was to be no class system, no 'upstairs / 

downstairs' for her residents. She and her religious 

sisters would be the servants. The residents 

would be the object of all their care and 

concern." 

PRAYER FOR 

HER CANONIZATION 

Lord God, in your special love for 

the sick, the poor and the lonely, you 

raised up Rose Hawthorne (Mother 

Mary Alphonsa) to be the servant of 

those afflicted with incurable cancer 

with no one to care for them. In serving 

the outcast and the abandoned, she 

strove to see in them the face of your 

Son. In her eyes, those in need were 

always "Christ’s Poor.” 

Grant that her example of selfless 

charity and her courage In the face of 

great obstacles will inspire us to be 

generous in our service of neighbor. 

We humbly ask that you glorify your 

servant, Rose Hawthorne, on earth according 

to the designs of your holy will. 

Through her intercession, grant the favor 

that I now present (here make your 

request). 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Have 

mercy on us! (3 times) 

Our Father Hail Mary 

Glory be to the Father 

Rosary Hill Home & Rose Hawthorne Guild 

600 Linda Avenue 

Hawthorne, NY 10532 

(914) 769-4794 

_________________ 

Fall 2012 

1 Hawthorne Happenings, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. 

Winter 2002/2003 

2 Ibid. 

3 George Weigel. "The Remarkable Rose Hawthorne." The 

Catholic Difference (September 16, 2009). 

eLumen ate Last Page 

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