Mary Alfred Moes, (born Maria Catherine Moes; October 28, 1828 – December 18, 1899) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

who was instrumental in establishing first the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, as well as the

Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The congregation was founded in 1877 by Mother Mary Alfred Moes in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Diocese of S ...

. She was also the founder of St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota, which became part of the famed

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Early life

Moes was born in

Remich Remich ( lb, Réimech ) is a commune with town status in south-eastern Luxembourg with a population of 3,645 inhabitants . It is the capital of the canton of Remich. Remich lies on the left bank of the river Moselle, which forms part of the bord ...

, Luxembourg, the daughter of a prosperous

ironsmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grill ...

. She emigrated to America with her sister, Catherine, due to the preaching of Bishop

John Henni John Martin Henni (June 15, 1805 – September 7, 1881) was a Swiss-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1843 until his death in 1881. Biography Early life a ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. Bishop Henni spoke of the need for teachers in the United States, especially among the Native Americans."Our Foundress", Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate
/ref> There were also large immigrant communities, mostly German-speaking, establishing themselves there. Both were highly educated in music and arts. Besides their own Luxembourg language, they spoke and studied in French, German and English. They had also studied mathematics and architecture. The Moes sisters left a life of comfort and set sail from Le Havre, France on September 27, 1851, destined for New York City. From 1852-1863 they lived first in Wisconsin, with the

School Sisters of Notre Dame School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide religious institute of Roman Catholic sisters founded in Bavaria in 1833 and devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and mi ...

in Milwaukee. Mary was dismissed for both a 'lack of a religious spirit' and 'want of a calling.'Lodhe, Nathalie. "The Luxembourgish hand in founding the Mayo Clinic - Mary Alfred Moes", RTL, September 9, 2019
/ref> Both sisters then joined the

Sisters of the Holy Cross The Sisters of the Holy Cross (CSC) are one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, CSC, at Le Mans, France in 1837. ...

La Porte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, India ...

. While there, the sisters took

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

and assumed the names of Sister Alfred and Sister Barbara. Sister Alfred was dismissed from the congregation for 'acting impudently' and 'repeated disobedience.' The Moes sisters, with two companions, were received into the

Third Order of St. Francis The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi. The preaching of Francis and his disciples caused many ma ...

in Illinois, on June 1, 1863.

Illinois

At the invitation of Carl Kuemin, of St. John's Church in

, the small group of four

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

moved to that town the following November to begin teaching the local children. Lightning struck the Church of St. John the Baptist there on July 31, 1864, killing one parishioner, a young woman who left behind a family. The distraught widower asked the sisters to care for his children. This unexpected work soon expanded, and the sisters began to take in orphans, as well as boarding school students, and candidates to the community. The sisters soon bought a larger house and established St. Francis Academy. During the summer of 1865, the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

of the Franciscan friars in the United States, Pamfilo da Magliano, summoned Moes to St. Bonaventure Friary, in

Allegany County, New York Allegany County is a County (United States), county in the Southern Tier of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 46,456. Its county seat is Belmont, New York, Belmont. ...

, along with the first

postulant A postulant (from la, postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a Christian monastery or a religious order for the p ...

to the community, Mary Ann Rosenberger. There he named Moes as

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

of the new congregation of the "Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate". At that time he bestowed the Franciscan

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

on Rothenberger, who took the name Sister Angela. Until 1880, the order used the constitution drafted for the

Franciscan Sisters of Allegany The congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, with its motherhouse at St. Elizabeth's Motherhouse, Allegany, New York, was founded in 1859 by the Very Rev. Father Pamfilo of Magliano, O.F.M. History Father Pamfilo had come to the United ...

, a congregation da Magliano had previously established. By 1869, the sisters had built a new St. Francis Academy, teaching girls aged 3–20 and drawing students from across the nation.

Pastors A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and An ...

around the whole country sought the Sisters to come to their parishes to teach their children, especially in non-English-speaking populations. By 1874, the sisters were teaching throughout five states, as far away as

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Minnesota

Moes came to plan an even larger expansion of the academy. Bishop Foley of Chicago opposed this idea and ordered the sisters to replace her with a new superior general. One of her first companions, Sister Alberta, accepted the post temporarily. She then assigned Moes to go to Rochester to build Our Lady of Lourdes School, at the request of the bishop there. Shortly after that school was opened, Bishop Foley of Joliet directed Moes and the Minnesota sisters to separate from the Illinois congregation. Bishop Grace of Minnesota chose to accept her vows. Moes's permanent successor as Superior General then informed the congregation of her expulsion, and offered the sisters ten days to decide if they wished to join Moes in Minnesota. Of the whole congregation, 92 chose to remain in Joliet, while 25 chose to join Moes. This small group became the nucleus of a new congregation, the Sisters of St. Francis of Our Lady of Lourdes. The sisters began to open a series of successful schools. Following a tornado, which devastated the young city of Rochester in 1883, Moes saw the need for a hospital in the town. She proposed to Dr.

William Worrall Mayo William Worrall Mayo (May 31, 1819 – March 6, 1911) was a British-American medical doctor and chemist. He is best known for establishing the private medical practice that later evolved into the Mayo Clinic. He was a descendant of a famous En ...

that the sisters would operate a hospital for the injured and sick if he and his sons would serve as its

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s. Thus they opened St. Mary's Hospital on September 30, 1889. Today that hospital is a part of the

.Belli, Luca. "Mayo Clinic in Rochester", ''Journal of Medicine and the Person'', Settembre 2004, vol.2, numero 3
/ref> Moes died in 1899, aged 71.

References

Sources

*Kraman, Carlan, O.S.F. ''Odyssey in Faith: The Story of Mother Alfred Moes''. Rochester, MN: Sisters of St. Francis, 1990.

External links

* St. Mary's Hospital (Rochester) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moes, Maryalfred 1828 births 1899 deaths People from Remich People from Rochester, Minnesota 19th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Catholic Church in Illinois Catholic Church in Minnesota Third Order Regular Franciscans Luxembourgian emigrants to the United States Mayo Clinic people Founders of Catholic religious communities Religious leaders from Minnesota Religious leaders from Illinois Catholics from Minnesota