The storyline of today’s story will make you cry, so buckle up, readers. Imagine for a moment that a sanctuary that is supposed to be a place of comfort and tranquility is at the center of a terrible calamity. This is exactly what happened when COVID-19 brutally killed thirteen devout nuns at a Roman Catholic monastery in the state of Michigan. This time, you got the number thirteen right! It is imperative that we examine this awful story, which serves as a stark reminder of the virus’s destructive power.T.
These brave people, who ranged in age from sixty-nine to ninety-nine, lived the life of freedom at the Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, Michigan. These amazing women were employed in a variety of occupations, including as teaching and writing, and included a secretary for the Vatican Secretariat of State. The fact that their contributions had an impact on people all across the world makes their loss even more heartbreaking.
This is “the worst loss of life to a community of religious women since the influenza pandemic that occurred in 1918,” according to the Global Sisters Report. It’s been more than a century! Imagine a startling historical parallel that is so startlingly comparable that it makes one shudder. When did the bad things start to happen? Due to their senior age and the close-knit living conditions they endured, these nuns were especially vulnerable. The everyday interaction of living, worshiping, and working together at the convent, regrettably, created the perfect environment for the virus to wreak havoc through its damaging effects.
Are they the unsuspecting crooks? The fact that two of the helpers were infected with the virus was entirely unknown to them. Despite having the best of intentions, the unfortunate admission of these people into the monastery had a striking resemblance to epidemics that have occurred in nursing homes and other senior care facilities. The infection was carried indoors, where it spread like wildfire across a parched forest. Over the period of a month, one sister died from the illness approximately every other day. Thirteen nuns lost their lives. Fortunately, 18 additional people survived despite being ill.
The sisters who were still living were unable to attend their loved ones’ funerals for a variety of reasons, as if this story weren’t already heartbreaking enough. They were not permitted to take part in the rites that would have given them closure due to the possibility of transmission and the requirement to closely adhere to health rules. Imagine the pain of not knowing how to properly say goodbye to individuals you’ve known your entire life. Completely and completely startling.
The period from April 10 to May 10 was especially terrible, at which time twelve nuns died. On June 27, just as the wounds were beginning to heal, another sister died of the illness, which added to the group’s prolonged period of mourning.
The director of clinical health services for the Felician Sisters of North America, Noel Marie Gabriel, could not keep her grief in check. She noted, “The loss, the pain, and the emotional harm were too much for us to handle.” That month, which was characterized by sadness, agony, loss, and grief, seemed to be a whole new way of living. The emotional rollercoaster that our community experienced cannot be fully described in words. ➕
