Today is the commemoration of Constance, nun, and her companions, commonly known as "The Martyrs of Memphis." From Justus.Anglican.org "In 1878 the American city of Memphis on the Mississippi River was struck by an epidemic of yellow fever, which so depopulated the area that the city lost its charter and was not reorganized for fourteen years. Almost everyone who could afford to do so left the city and fled to higher ground away from the river. (It was not yet known that the disease was mosquito-borne, but it was observed that high and dry areas were safe.) There were in the city several communities of nuns, Anglican or Roman Catholic, who had the opportunity of leaving, but chose to stay and nurse the sick. Most of them, thirty-eight in all, were themselves killed by the fever. One of the first to die (on 9 September 1878) was Constance, head of the (Anglican) Community of St Mary." Our chapel at Fessenden House is dedicated to the Martyrs of Memphis and this icon was written for us by our brother Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG and dedicated in 1999.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 10:52:17 +0000
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