[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 19, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S6762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO SISTERS OF CHARITY

 Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, in 1737, Marguerite D'Youville, a 
young widow and mother of three, founded the Sister of Charity in 
Quebec, Canada. Despite her own misfortune and poverty, she devoted her 
life to caring for those less fortunate--the poor, the sick, and the 
orphaned.
  Since that time, the Grey Nuns, as the sisters are known, have 
expanded their work of compassion throughout Canada, the United States, 
South America, and the Caribbean with schools, hospitals, and 
orphanages. St. Marguerite D'Youville, whom Pope John XXIII called the 
``Mother of Universal Charity,'' was canonized in 1990, the first 
native-born Canadian saint.
  My home State has been blessed by the works of St. Marguerite and her 
followers. On November 20, 1878, three Grey Nuns stepped off a train in 
Lewiston, ME, equipped with little more than caring hearts and 
determination. Within 2 weeks, they opened the first bilingual school 
in that largely Franco-American city, with 200 children arriving for 
the first day of class. Within 6 months, they opened an orphanage.
  The Hospital of the Sisters of Charity they founded was often 
referred to as the ``Sisters' Hospital'' or the ``French Hospital,'' 
but the Grey Nuns welcomed all. It was the first hospital in the twin 
cities of Lewiston-Auburn and the first Catholic hospital in Maine. 
Fees for care in the hard-working mill community were low and were 
often paid in loaves of bread, bolts of cloth, or bushels of apples, 
which the sisters gladly accepted.
  A major expansion of the hospital in 1902 gave Lewiston the two 
magnificent domes that grace the city's skyline. In 1910, the name was 
changed to St. Mary's General Hospital. The growth of the hospital was 
well underway, with the latest medical innovations and a bilingual 
School of Nursing.
  Today, St. Mary's Health System includes a 233-bed acute care 
facility; a strong physician network, an independent living center, and 
occupational health services that reach out to businesses throughout 
the region. St. Mary's D'Youville Pavilion is one of the largest 
nursing homes in New England and a national model for elder care.
  On October 24, St. Mary's General Hospital will honor the Sisters of 
Charity, past and present, for more than 130 years of healing for the 
body and the soul. I rise today to join in that tribute. Through the 
tender care and willing sacrifice of the Grey Nuns, the words of St. 
Marguerite d'Youville, ``We shall continue to love and to serve,'' 
still resonate today.

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