Campus Life

Campus Life this month is the story of Sister Aloysius who was St. Edward's principal from 1975-1916. From Notre Dame -- One Hundred Years by Arthur Hope.

Sister Aloysius was the head of the Minim department for so long that even she, blunt and direct as she was, might have objected to an exact computation of the period of years. Certainly it was in the early 1870's that she assumed the guidance of Father Sorin's "Princes." Of her ability and tact, there is no doubt. She was a lovable sort of tyrant who knew well how to get along with both parents and children.

Hers was a motherly soul that went directly to the heart of these children in whom Father Sorin placed the "future of the Church in America." One might say that she was a political saint. She knew how to make peace between all parties. Very seldom was her word contradicted. She found herself almost always a "final board of appeal between disputants." I have seen a letter written by a disturbed parent, in which he made some complaint concerning his son who was a Minim. The letter was sent originally to Father Cavanaugh who turned it over to Brother Paul the Hermit, who, on account of his acerbity, was called "The Hornet." Paul made an annotation on the letter remarking that the woman (Sister Aloysius) was an "old tartar;" the letter found its way to Sister Aloysius, who added, under the Brother's remark, "And he calls me an old tartar!" After her death, one who knew her well wrote:

    One more well known figure passed out of the complex, busy life of Notre Dame University when Sister Aloysius died at the convent infirmary last Wednesday Jan. 12, 1916. After the great Father Sorin himself, Sister Aloysius ranks next in years of service at the University.

    She arrived some forty-three years ago...and from then to now she was the gentle despot helping by every good device that came to her head. ...She came to Notre Dame, a simple Irish girl. ...Sorin saw her and took kindly to her soft voice and her Irish manners; and he said, as she knelt before him: 'Honora Mulcaire, hereafter you shall be called Sister Aloysius" ; and in thought added "You shall take care of my Minims-my Princes-down the years."

    ...for the past forty-odd years, she made young boys from six to twelve. ..gentle and thoughtful, strong, studious and resourceful.     How she did this was her secret. ...Perhaps when one says Sister Aloysius' system was her personality one arrives nearest the truth.

    ...Were you in any kind of trouble, you went to Sister Aloysius. Was a sudden death to be announced -why, who else but Sister Aloysius? She had mastered the art of telling a harsh truth in soft words. In sickness, in loss, in any unexpected event in a big family of a thousand and a half, Sister Aloysius was there, the friend and helper. ...