Angelology(14)

whatever shelf space was available. The mundane task of finding a work of nonfiction was as much a

matter of luck as an impromptu miracle. The library was given over to such chaos until Sister

Lucrezia (1851—1923) imposed alphabetization at the turn of the twentieth century. When a later

librarian, Sister Drusilla (1890—1985), suggested the Dewey decimal system, there was a general

outcry. Rather than succumb to gross systemization, the sisters agreed to the ledger, writing each

book’s title in blue ink on the thick paper.

Evangeline’s interests were more practical, and she would rather pore over the lists of local

charities run by the sisters—the food bank in Poughkeepsie, the Spirit of World Peace Study Group in

Milton, and the St. Rose-Salvation Army Annual Clothes Drive that had drop-off locations from

Woodstock to Red Hook. But like all the other nuns who took vows at St. Rose, Evangeline had

learned the basic facts about angels. She knew that angels were created before the earth formed, their

voices ringing through the void as God molded heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1—5). Evangeline knew

that angels were immaterial, ethereal, filled with luminosity, and yet they spoke in human language—

Hebrew according to Jewish scholars, Latin or Greek according to Christian. Although the Bible had

only a handful of instances of angelophony—Jacob wrestling an angel (Genesis 32:24—30);

Ezekiel’s vision (1:1—14); the Annunciation (Luke 1:26—38)—these moments were wondrous and

divine, instances when the gossamer curtain between heaven and earth ripped and all of humanity

witnessed the marvel of ethereal beings. Evangeline often wondered at this meeting of man and angel,

the material and immaterial brushing against each other like wind against the skin. In the end she

concluded that trying to capture an angel in the mind was a bit like scooping water with a sieve. And

yet the sisters of St. Rose had not given up the effort. Hundreds and hundreds of books about angels

lined the shelves of their library.

To Evangeline’s surprise, Sister Philomena joined her at the fire. Philomena’s body was as round

and dappled as a pear, her height reduced by osteoporosis. Recently Evangeline had become

concerned about Sister Philomena’s health when she began to forget meetings and misplace her keys.

The nuns of Philomena’s generation—known by the younger generation as the Elder Sisters—were

not able to retire from their duties until much later in life, so dramatically had the order’s numbers

decreased in the years after the Vatican II reforms. Sister Philomena in particular always appeared

overworked and agitated. In some ways Vatican II had robbed the older generation of retirement.

Evangeline herself believed the reforms beneficial for the most part—she had been free to choose

a comfortable uniform over the old-fashioned Franciscan habit and had participated in modern

educational opportunities, taking a degree in history from nearby Bard College. The opinions of the

Elder Sisters, by contrast, seemed frozen in time. Yet, strange as it seemed, Evangeline held views

that were often similar to those of the Elder Sisters, whose opinions had been formed during the

Roosevelt era and the Depression and World War II. Evangeline found she admired the opinions of

Sister Ludovica, their oldest sister at 104, who would command Evangeline to sit at her side and

listen to stories of the old days. “There was none of this laissez-faire, do-what-you-want-to-with-

your-time nonsense,” Sister Ludovica would say, leaning over in her wheelchair, her thin hands

shaking slightly on her lap. “We were sent to orphanages and parochial schools to teach before we

knew the subject! We worked all day and prayed all night! There was no heat in our cells! We bathed

in cold water and ate cooked oats and potatoes for supper! When there were no books, I memorized

all of John Milton’s Paradise Lost so that I could recite his lovely, lovely words to my class: ‘Th’

infernal Serpent; he it was whose guile, / Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived / The mother of

mankind, / What time his pride / Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host / Of rebel Angels,

by whose aid, aspiring / To sethimselfin glory above his peers, / He trusted to have equalled the Most

High, / If he opposed, and with ambitious aim /Against the throne and monarchy of God, / Raised

impious war in Heaven and battle proud, / With vain attempt.’ Did the children memorize Milton,

too? Yes! Now, I am sad to say, education is all fun and games.”

Still, despite their vast differences in opinion about the changes, the sisters lived as a harmonious

family. They were protected from the vicissitudes of the outside world in ways that seculars were