[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 606 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 606

 Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of 
               Charity of Nazareth, on December 1, 1812.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 30, 2012

  Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. McConnell) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of 
               Charity of Nazareth, on December 1, 1812.

Whereas 19-year-old Catherine Spalding, born in Charles County, Maryland, and 
        Bishop John Baptist David, born in France, responded to the need for 
        education on the Kentucky frontier by founding the Sisters of Charity of 
        Nazareth (referred to in this preamble as the ``Sisters''), on December 
        1, 1812;
Whereas, after Ellen O'Connell, a gifted teacher from Baltimore, Maryland, and 
        daughter of a college professor, joined the Sisters and prepared 
        Catherine Spalding and Harriet Gardiner for teaching, the 3 Sisters 
        opened their first school, in 1814, at St. Thomas Farm, in Nelson 
        County, Kentucky;
Whereas, after 2 years of teaching, the school serviced both boarding and day 
        students with a total enrollment of 37 girls, including 13 non-Catholic 
        students;
Whereas, in 1822, the Sisters purchased property located 3 miles north of 
        Bardstown, Kentucky and named that property Nazareth;
Whereas, at Nazareth, the Sisters built log houses and a new school, known as 
        Nazareth Academy;
Whereas, in 1825, Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman and orator, gave the first 
        commencement address at Nazareth Academy, where his daughter, 
        granddaughter, and great-granddaughter eventually received an education, 
        along with Sarah Knox Taylor, the daughter of President Zachary Taylor;
Whereas, during the Civil War, the Sisters nursed both Union and Confederate 
        soldiers;
Whereas Dr. J. O. Murray, a physician in the Union Army in Louisville, Kentucky, 
        wrote to Nazareth, ``I regret very much to inform you of the death of 
        Sister Catherine Malone on January 31, 1862, at General Hospital No. 1 
        in this city. She, as well as the other sisters at this hospital, have 
        been untiring and most efficient in nursing the sick soldiers. The 
        military authorities are under the greatest obligation to the sisters of 
        your order.'';
Whereas, in 1861, at the request of a commanding officer of the Union Army, 22-
        year-old Sister Mary Lucy Dosh and the other Sisters at St. Mary's 
        Academy in Paducah, Kentucky closed their school to nurse Union soldiers 
        and Confederate prisoners of war;
Whereas, while nursing, Sister Mary Lucy Dosh consoled patients and often gave 
        up her own food to provide nourishment for the sick and wounded;
Whereas Sister Mary Lucy Dosh contracted typhoid fever and died on December 29, 
        1861, resulting in doctors and soldiers from Union and Confederate 
        forces calling a truce to mourn her death and officers from both sides 
        accompanying her body up the Ohio River on the U.S. Gunboat Peacock, for 
        burial at St. Vincent's Academy, in Union County, Kentucky;
Whereas, on January 17, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln sent the following 
        letter to Nazareth as a precaution against any military intrusion: ``Let 
        no depredation be committed upon the property or possessions of the 
        Sisters of Charity at Nazareth Academy, near Bardstown, Kentucky.'';
Whereas, in 1878, a yellow fever epidemic besieged the people of the Mississippi 
        River Valley, during which time approximately 120,000 cases of yellow 
        fever were reported and 20,000 people died;
Whereas, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the Sisters closed a local parochial 
        school to nurse the sick, with 6 of the Sisters succumbing to yellow 
        fever between September 22 and October 11, 1878, which prompted the 
        townspeople to erect a monument at the gravesites of the 6 Sisters, 
        honoring their service and sacrifice;
Whereas, in 1918, 29 Sisters, along with sisters from other orders, helped nurse 
        over 10,000 wounded and sick World War I soldiers at Camp Taylor, in 
        Louisville;
Whereas the Sisters, finding the soldiers sleeping on bare mattresses and 
        dressed in uniforms and boots, requested bed linens and hospital 
        clothing for the sick and wounded at Camp Taylor;
Whereas 90 soldiers, many with Spanish Influenza and battle wounds, died during 
        the night that the Sisters first arrived at Camp Taylor;
Whereas deaths at Camp Taylor noticeably declined as the Sisters provided 
        skilled nursing and a commitment to hygiene;
Whereas an officer remarked that he knew when a Sister was in the barracks at 
        Camp Taylor, because the men were especially quiet and well-mannered;
Whereas, by the mid-20th century, the Sisters were located in 10 States, taught 
        in more than 100 elementary schools, 30 secondary schools, 2 colleges, 
        and 6 schools of nursing, and cared for the sick in 12 hospitals and 
        children in 6 orphanages;
Whereas the Sisters opened their first foreign mission in India in 1947, and 
        subsequent foreign missions in Belize in 1975, Nepal in 1979, and 
        Botswana in 2000;
Whereas, in 1986, Nazareth Home, a nursing care facility that the Sisters opened 
        in 1976, in Louisville, became the first long-term care facility in 
        Kentucky to accept HIV/AIDS patients;
Whereas, as of November 2012, the Sisters--

    (1) staff an HIV/AIDS hospice and administer 2 preschools in Botswana; 
and

    (2) provided disaster relief and housing assistance in many places, 
including--

    G    (A) New Orleans, Louisiana;

    G    (B) Joplin, Missouri;

    G    (C) Nelson County, Kentucky;

    G    (D) Appalachia; and

    G    (E) Belize; and

Whereas the Sisters find inspiration and strength for their service in the words 
        of 2 Corinthians 5:14, ``Caritas Christi urget nos'' (``the charity of 
        Christ urges us''): Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commemorates the 200th anniversary of the founding of 
        the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (referred to in this 
        resolution as the ``Sisters''), on December 1, 1812;
            (2) commends the dedicated service of the Sisters who 
        provided nursing care during the Civil War, World War I, and 
        epidemics of yellow fever, cholera, and smallpox in the South;
            (3) recognizes the service of the Sisters in providing 
        health care on the frontier of Kentucky and elsewhere through 
        the establishment of hospitals in Kentucky, 4 other States, the 
        District of Columbia, and abroad;
            (4) lauds the role that the Sisters continue to play in 
        providing education, health care, and nursing home care in 
        response to the needs of economically and socially 
        disadvantaged individuals, families, and communities; and
            (5) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an 
        enrolled copy of this resolution to the Sisters.
                                 <all>