LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

BLESSED CONSTANCE AND COMPANIONS

In August 1878, yellow fever invaded the city of Memphis, Tennessee for the third time in ten years.  By the month's end, it had become an epidemic with deaths averaging 200 each day.  When it ended, over 90% of the population had contracted the fever and more than 5,000 had died.  Although many fled the city, others, both priests and lay people, remained or came as volunteers despite the risk.  Among those heroes were Sister Constance, the Superior of the Memphis Convent of the Community of St. Mary and other nuns.  At the request of the Bishop, the Sisters had come to Memphis five years earlier to fund a girls school adjacent to St. Mary's Cathedral.  When the epidemic began, Fr. Gorge Harris (the Dean of the Cathedral) and Sister Constance organized relief work among the victims.  Six other nuns from St. Mary's, Sr. Clare from St. Margaret's House in Boston, Mass., Fr. Charles Parsons of Memphis and Fr. Louis Schuyler from New Jersey assisted in the work.  There were also three physicians (two of whom were Episcopal Priests), several volunteer nurses from New York, as well as people from other communions who ministered to people regardless of religious affiliations.

Only two of the workers escaped the fever.  Among those who died were Sisters Constance, Thecla, Ruth, and Frances, Fathers Parsons and Schuyler.  They have ever since been known as "The Martyrs of Memphis" and are buried in Elmwood cemetery.  The High Altar at St. Mary's Cathedral is a memorial to the four nuns, and the monument marking the joint grave to the two priests bears the inscription: "Greater Love Hath No Man."

At a time when, sadly, many Episcopalians had negative feelings about having monks, nuns, and friars in the Episcopal Church, the heroic service and sacrifice of these devoted nuns marked a great turning point in the acceptance and appreciation of the vowed Religious in the American Church.

The Collect for Blessed Constance and her Companions

We give you thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the heroic witness of Constance and her companions, who, in a time of plague and pestilence, were steadfast in their care for the sick and dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death:  Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever.

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To read firsthand reports about Constance and her companions during their heroic work during the 1878 yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, Tennessee, see the accounts which have been gathered by the Episcopal Church at "Project Canterbury" here.

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:39 PM