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Photo by Chris Naffziger
St. Anne's Visitation.
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Photo by Chris Naffziger
Helpers of the Holy Souls convent, Washington Blvd.
I’m not going to offer any commentary on the results of yesterday’s elections. This week’s article also will not feature anyone from the “Power List” in St. Louis. In fact, I’m tired of talking about the rich and powerful and their grandiose schemes. Instead, I’m going to write about a group of women who tirelessly worked behind the scenes for over a century in St. Louis, helping those whom others refused to help. They are the Helpers of the Holy Souls, a Roman Catholic religious order for women with roots—like many things in St. Louis—dating back to France in the tumultuous years before and after the Revolution.
Eugénie Smet, who would later take the name of Mary of Providence (Marie de la Providence in French), was born in Lille, France on March 25, 1825, right in the midst of the Bourbon Restoration; when Smet was 5 years old, Charles X was overthrown, which led to the Citizen King, Louis Philippe. Smet arrived in Paris on January 19, 1856, which is the official founding date of the order. She received official permission from the archbishop to found her order three days later, on January 22. Drawn to the teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Smet soon linked up with the Jesuits in Paris.
Smet, now Mary of Providence, chose to focus on those souls in Purgatory. For those readers who are not Roman Catholic, thinking back to reading Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy might rouse some memories. Explained simply, souls of the departed that are not pure must be purged of their sins, hence the role of Purgatory. But the Helpers of the Holy Souls did not stay cloistered all day long, praying for these souls. Instead, the sisters worked with the poor, sick and elderly out in the community, focusing on people ignored by society. Consequently, their valued ministry spread in America first to New York, and then St. Louis, reflecting the city’s strong Jesuit and Roman Catholic community.
Leaving New York on May 29, 1903, a small group of Helpers led by Mother Mary St. Bernard began their 31-hour train ride to St. Louis. Much as St. Rose Philippine Duchesne had discovered several generations before, the Sisters discovered less than ideal conditions in their new home. The house where they were to stay had just been burglarized, and the women were forced to sleep in rugged conditions the first night. But as word of their arrival spread, complete with their habits, or religious clothing that some St. Louisans thought looked like a widow’s dress, the Sisters soon became the recipients of the city’s generosity.
Their next major task was to gain the trust of newly installed Archbishop, and later Cardinal John Glennon, who asked the Mother directly: would they serve the African-Americans of St. Louis? When the Mother replied in the affirmative, the Archbishop welcomed the Helpers of the Holy Souls to St. Louis. At first, they lived at 3887 Delmar (now the site of Cardinal Ritter College Prep’s football field), then moved into the old Visitation Convent at 4012 Washington at the suggestion of a Jesuit priest, holding the first mass in the chapel on June 9, 1906. After the 1927 tornado caused serious damage to that building, they moved to 3950 West Belle Place, as well as 3954 Washington. In 1967, they moved to the new convent at Westminster and Taylor. As membership declined, they moved to an apartment on Lindell. Throughout their different moves, the Sisters always remained close to the Parish of the Visitation-St. Anne’s, focusing their efforts in the African-American community, including Homer G. Phillips Hospital in the Ville, just north of the Central West End.
I recently met up with Sister Patricia Hottinger, who is the final member of the order left in St. Louis. She is actually departing for suburban Chicago in the coming months, meaning that for the first time in over 100 years, there will be no Helpers of the Holy Souls left in the region. Originally from Mankato, Minnesota, Sister Pat came to St. Louis in 1969, and lived in the convent on Westminster for several years. Her older brother was a Jesuit priest, and her sister also joined a religious order. Her younger brother also joined the Jesuits. After working for Northwest Airlines for a year, Sister Pat joined the Helpers after a priest asked her, “So do you want to be a sister or not?”
She attended Washington University to train in occupational therapy, serving the Society’s goal of “helping souls come face to face with God.” Sister Pat worked at St. Anne’s at Page and Whittier before it closed and combined with Visitation in the Ville. (That combined parish has now closed as well.) She now attends church at St. Nicholas, a traditionally African-American parish, and St. Francis Xavier College Church at Saint Louis University. Sister Pat remembers when portions of the Mill Creek Valley were still standing, before urban renewal completely cleared out the historic African-American neighborhood.
She also remembers when the St. Louis Public Schools allowed students to leave for religious classes during the school day—a practice that obviously no longer exists. Another interesting story was when one of her colleagues, visiting a house, talked to two eyes looking at her through the mail slot in the door, only to realize it was actually a dog staring out at her after failing to get a response to her greetings. In fact, visiting homes was a major part of the Sisters’ work in North St. Louis. Visiting people in need all over the city, regardless of the neighborhood’s reputation, was paramount to the Sisters’ mission, and Sister Pat continued that tradition, working in the Ville even after it began to suffer from economic decline.
I always enjoy talking to members of the Roman Catholic Church who have been working in St. Louis for decades, particularly because of the perspective they can offer on social issues and how perceptions have changed over the last century. Particularly, in light of our recent history, I find myself drawn back to people who have chosen to devote their lives to helping people in a city that is fraught with injustice. I hope that the story of Sister Pat, and the history of the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, will inspire others to work to help the less fortunate in St. Louis.
Thanks to Gabe Jones at the St. Louis Archdiocese for connecting Sister Pat with the author.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.
