APPENDIX

FUNERAL ADDRESS GIVEN ON APRIL 27, 1955

by the                

RT. REV. MSGR. MAURICE J. DINGMAN, CHANCELLOR OF DAVENPORT

     "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts.” These words are taken from the third book of Kings, Chapter 19, verse 10.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

      Your Excellency, Rt. Rev. Monsignori, Venerable Sisters, relatives and friends of Mother Aloysius:

      Mount Carmel is a series of mountains in Palestine about fifteen miles long. One end is near, the Mediterranean Sea, and here, on one of the highest points, dwelt the Prophet Elias, who is the recognized founder of the Carmelite Order. There, overlooking the beautiful sea on this lovely mountain, Elias thought of his God. There, also, on one of those mountains, he overcame the false priests of Baal and brought down fire from heaven on their idols and hastened the tragic end of these same prophets, when they failed to recognize the one true God. Because of his success, Elias had to flee for his life. To sustain him God sent Elias a wonderful food, and on the strength of that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb where God spoke to him. In answer, Elias replied, "'With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts."

      Mother Aloysius, too, has dwelt on a mountain top, on Mount Carmel, and she has overlooked the beautiful Mississippi for the last forty-four years, in   silence, thinking of her God. There she fought and overcame the foe in the wilderness of life, and God has helped her with wonderful food, Eucharistic food, until at Last, she has reached Mount Horeb, eternal blessedness with God.

      Today marks the end of an era in the history of this foundation, for this is the last of the original four who came from Baltimore to Davenport in the year 1911, and we know they laid the foundation well. Today, this monastery is prospering and doing much for the honor and glory of God. This is an historic occasion, and as we assist at this burial, we are encouraged to review the past.

Time does not permit us to give a complete history, but we can touch upon vignettes in the life of Mother Aloysius, scenes she treasured in her memory, and it would be well to mention a few incidents she would never forget.

      She was barn on a farm in Deerfield, Minnesota, and one day she read an ad about a book on St. Teresa of Avila. She bought it and read it, and this was the beginning of a great love for this kind of life in Carmel, and her love for the saint seemed to increase through the years. We know this was when she first desired that she too might become a Carmelite, and finally, she left her home in Deerfield, Minnesota, and took the long trip to Baltimore and entered the convent which was the cradle of the Order in the United States. This monastery had celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding in America a few years before Mother entered, and many scenes must have been connected in Mother's mind with this, for the monastery began to function at the end of the Revolutionary War. That was also the year that Archbishop Carroll was consecrated the first Bishop of the United States and took possession of the whole nation as his See. There, in this monastery, she received the Habit and lived for twenty years.

      Divine Wisdom ordained that two of Carmel's daughters from the Middle West should return to found a Carmel here. Mother Clare from Dubuque was the leader of the little group, and Cardinal Gibbons appointed Mother Aloysius as subprioress, so that she too would return to the Middle West.

      Another scene ever vivid in her mind was their first Mass in Davenport, in the little queen Anne cottage on 15th and Brady. Bishop Davis said the first Mass, and what joy must have been in her heart when the document arrived with its approval from Rome and the foundatian was started officially on the feast of St. John of the Cross, November 24, 1911.

      Another scene that she remembered well was the time when they left 15th and Brady and came out in a caravan of cars along the Mississippi, and it must have looked much as it does this morning with the Arsenal in the distance, with the flowing river beside it, welcoming them as they Came up the hill to this beautiful site in 1916, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Here they began their permanent foundation, where they are today. Mother Aloysius must have remembered that day as she gazed at the expanse of territory with its wooded shores, knowing that here she would spend the rest of her life of contemplation to bring down grace on these people. Finally, last year when she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, many of her friends were here. The Bishop himself was present for the Mass, and we rejoiced on this occasion with Mother and all the Sisters.

      It is easy far us to talk about the exterior, but who will speak about the interior life, of her prayers, penances, and contemplation during these many years? These things are written in the Book of Life and only God can tell us the scores of benefactors she has helped. We ourselves form part of them.

     Perhaps there is a doctor here who had to perform a serious operation, and he called Mother and the Sisters to pray for the success of the operation -- and it was successful. Perhaps a mother had a straying son; maybe it was a young lady's vocation; a business man with a very serious. financial problem; or a young man looking for the right partner; a priest bringing back a stray soul: these are the stories that could be told, and I would be failing in my duty if I did not recognize the good that she has done in the diocese of Davenport. We priests are the recipients. We know that our work can never be successful without God's grace. 'We need God's grace, and we depend upon the prayers of people like Mother Aloysius. We are in the valley, working; she is on the mountain-top. Like the armies of Moses in the valley, fighting while he prayed on the mountain-top, so long as the prophet's arms were uplifted in prayer, the men in the valley were victorious -- that is description of how much priests depend upon the prayers of contemplatives like Mother Aloysius. We

know that our Bishop has given recognition to the wonderful good that the Sisters have, done. Archbishop Marechal said that "The prayer of contemplatives is one of the great consolations of my life." Truly, the life of Mother Aloysius was apostolic in every-sense of the word.

      Who shall tell the beauty of her soul? She was gentleness itself. Her motherliness attracted all the Sisters to her. She was always ready to listen to them. They knew-they could come to her, and that they would always receive a sympathetic ear. She was their mother. She was even-tempered. She was simplicity itself. On six different occasions she was chosen to be Mother Prioress. For eighteen years she was head of this Community. I remembered the last time she was elected Prioress, and I congratulated her on her election, and she said, “Father, the burden is too much. I'm too old to be Superior. Why, I'll be almost eighty when my term is over. Why dosen't God take me home? It's time for me to die-" In 1938, when Pope Pius XI was so near death, he prayed, "Non refuso laborum .... I do not refuse to work," and God gave him a few more years to work. And thus it was ,with Mother Aloysius.

      Now we come to the concluding event in her life, when her body will be laid in the crypt beneath this monastery in the chapel of the Resurrection beside the beautiful figure of the Risen Saviour, beside Mother Clare. There will be an inscription, "Beyond this enclosure they lie at rest.”

      So we bid farewell to Mother Aloysius. To her daughters who are here at Mount Carmel we say: If you have loved her in life, let her be an inspiration to you for the future. We know that she has built a firm foundation. You have not lost a friend. You have a powerful advocate in Heaven. This is not a day when you are sad only, but it is also one of rejoicing God has found her worthy to come home. God has called her home.

      And I would add these words from the third Book of Kings: "Cast, your mantle upon me.'' As Elias cast hill mantle upon Elisha, may Mother Aloysius cast her mantle upon each of you here, that you may show in your lives the virtues and characteristics of Mother Aloysius.

May she rest in peace.   Amen.