A Tree Rooted in Faith. Alberta Dieker
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nobody else would have been elected, and love and confidence would have excluded envy or antipathy that might creep up after some time.”27 He added that it was not really his business and his remarks should be considered confidential. Whether Abbot Anselm believed the sisters to be incapable of selecting their own superior, or whether he thought that Mother Anselma’s authority would be enhanced and her confidence strengthened by his decision is unknown. Ordinarily one would expect that the superior of Maria Rickenbach would make appointments for branch houses, but that did not seem to be the case here.
On July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict was celebrated with a picnic at Conception. The sisters made the tedious journey from Maryville for what turned out to be a puzzling and disconcerting experience. The sisters discovered that all of them were to renew their vows on this day. Apparently, this was in recognition of the reappointment of Mother Anselma, since a renewal ceremony had taken place on Pentecost, just a few weeks earlier. According to Sister Bernardine, “It made a melancholy impression on me, for it seemed as if all the sisters were fulfilling this holy act with a certain constraint and pressure. All day long I saw no true cheerfulness among the Sisters.”28
Even their return to Maryville was viewed with suspicion. Mother Anselma had given the sisters permission to remain at the mission over the summer months, since the cooking and church work still had to be done, and there were children coming for instruction in German. Conception Convent was crowded, and the sisters asked for the additional time at Maryville to prepare for classes, even to get in firewood for the winter. However, when the sisters piled into the wagon with Father Adelhelm at the end of the picnic day, they were reproached for not remaining longer at Conception. Adelhelm noted that he could not understand why they were given permission to return to Maryville, and then made to feel guilty for doing so. Sister Bernardine tried to make amends by offering to stay at Conception as long as Mother Anselma wanted her to, but apparently the harm was done, and the misunderstanding left hard feelings on both sides.
Adelhelm tried to explain the situation to Mother Gertrude in Maria Rickenbach. His analysis was that Mother Anselma feared Bernardine’s independence, and had even remarked that Maryville did not need a superior. She limited the amount of money Bernardine could spend, and attempted to keep her in a dependent position. Adelhelm, as might be expected, was convinced that this would not work. He argued that if Mother Anselma would give Bernardine authority and jurisdiction in Maryville it would solve their problems, and “the Sisters would not have anything against Conception and would stop talking about independence.”29 This was probably an insightful but oversimplified view of what was happening.
Sister Bernardine continued to teach and work in Maryville, and to act as superior of the community there until she departed for Oregon in 1882. The rectory served as convent and classrooms for another four years, and tensions and difficulties persisted. Changes of personnel sometimes relieved the situation, and sometimes aggravated the difficulties. A part of the problem was the conviction on the part of Mother Anselma that Father Adelhelm and Sister Bernardine were determined to establish a separate mother house, and to remove themselves from her authority entirely. This might indeed have been the case. In a letter of January, 1878, to Mother Gertrude Leupi in Maria Rickenbach, Father Adelhelm suggested that she give permission to start a novitiate for English-speaking girls in Maryville, since the sisters in Conception (and especially the superior) had not mastered the language.30 He also urged Mother Gertrude to make the trip to America to see for herself.
The problems of earning a living, learning a new language, and adapting to a different climate were severe enough. Added to that was increasing distrust between Conception and Maryville. Sister Scholastica compared the two houses in a letter of November, 1877. She said the work was easier at Conception, but prayer was better at Maryville. Moreover, the countryside around Maryville was more appealing. She had personal reasons for preferring the branch house because there she was permitted to sing, and even to take lessons so that she could play the harmonium. At that time she appreciated the guidance of Father Adelhelm.31
This rosy picture of Maryville changed somewhat as time went on. Father Ignatius Conrad, having had enough of his brother Frowin’s Beuronese ideas, rejoiced to be sent to Maryville to work with Father Adelhelm. Eventually Sister Scholastica and Father Ignatius appeared to take sides against Father Adelhelm and Sister Bernardine. At times the children under the sisters’ care became a part of the controversy.32 Who was spending too much time with whom, who could take students into their rooms, who was sick and who was malingering, all became topics of conversation and letters to Switzerland. Abbot Anselm, still directing from Engelberg, suggested appointing Adelhelm spiritual director for the Conception convent, thus trying to bring some understanding between the two houses and relieving himself of the burden. Mother Anselma objected in language that, for her, was vigorous.33
In January, 1878, Abbot Anselm officially transferred the direction of the Benedictine Sisters in Missouri to Father Frowin Conrad.34 The same month, Adelhelm wrote to Mother Gertrude Leupi, urging her to come to America to see conditions for herself.35 Sister Bernardine had also invited her “beloved Mother from Maria Rickenbach,” but Sister Anselma had advised her not to accept the invitation, arguing that “Bernardine aims too high.”36 Abbot Anselm judged that “Bernardine sees things too black.”37 That restlessness pervaded the house in Maryville is indicated by the fact that in March, 1878, Sister Scholastica begged Abbot Anselm to allow her to accept Bishop Martin Marty’s invitation to go to the Dakotas to work among the Indians.38 Moreover, during the same year, Adelhelm informed his abbot that he had received an invitation from the Archbishop in Oregon. Meanwhile, Father Ignatius was invited to assist the bishop at the Cathedral in St. Joseph, Missouri. He suspected that this prospect had been deliberately arranged by his former friend, Adelhelm, to get him out of the way in Maryville.39 Nevertheless, he accepted the offer.
Meanwhile, letters continued to crisscross between both Engelberg in Switzerland and the two houses in Missouri. Some of them implied that the relationship between Adelhelm and Bernardine was too close for their own good, and divisive for the community. Mother Gertrude continued to sort out the information she received at Maria Rickenbach (difficult as that must have been) and reaffirmed her confidence in Sister Bernardine and her good judgment. Mother Gertrude noted that God had given Bernardine special gifts which were not always appreciated.
The year 1880 took on special significance for the Missouri Benedictines. The convent building in Maryville (promised by Adelhelm several years before) was finally completed, and apparently was more roomy and attractive than the one in Conception. Mother Gertrude Leupi finally arrived in America to get firsthand knowledge of the work and problems of her sisters. After spending a short time in Conception, she moved to Maryville, taking some of the sisters with her. Maryville was made a separate, independent community, with the right to establish its own novitiate. Thirteen sisters were in residence, with Mother Gertrude as superior. She appointed Sister Bernardine her assistant, describing her as “good and able.” By December, eighteen people lived in the new convent, and worries arose about how they would liquidate the considerable debt with which they found themselves encumbered.40 Father Adelhelm had assured the people of the parish in Maryville that the sisters could easily pay for the convent, since their school was flourishing, and many children were taking music lessons as well.
The debt became a serious burden for the sisters in Maryville. In April of 1881, Sister Bernardine was sent out to collect money to help cover their expenses. Records are lacking to indicate where she went and whom she asked, or even how much she collected. A letter from Sister Gertrude to Maria Rickenbach noted that Bernardine would be in New York by June.41 In the same communication, she begged the motherhouse for more sisters, since there was much work in Maryville, and Bishop Marty was looking for missionaries for the Dakotas. Furthermore, mention was made of another “paradisial place” that had been offered. It would be a shame to leave the pagans there without assistance. Mother Gertrude noted that all was going well at Maryville, all were one heart and one soul. However, rumor had it that strange things were going on in Conception.
A rift had developed between Sister Anselma and her former superior, the nature of which remains obscure. Some of the Conception sisters had asked to transfer to Maryville. The newer, roomier convent there seemed to be more attractive to prospective American candidates. German was still the predominant language at Conception. On the