What led to the construction of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale in 1961?
In 1946, I was chosen as one of the Founding Sisters of a new Monastery in my hometown of Canton, Ohio. One day in the 1950s, my work assignment was to scrub the floors in the monastery. Unlike St. Thrse, I used an electric scrubbing machine. In an instant, the machine went out of control. I lost my footing on the soapy floor and was thrown against the wall, back first. Two years after the accident, being barely able to perform my activities, I was hospitalized. On the night before surgery, the doctor walked into my hospital room and stated, “Tomorrow we operate. You should know there is a 50/50 chance you will never walk again. Good night, Sister.” And with that, he coldly walked out. I was panic-stricken and made a bargain with God. I promised if he would allow me to walk again that I would build him a monastery in the South. God kept his end, and through divine providence, so did I. Why Irondale, Ala.? Well, when I presented the building plans for the new monastery to Mother Veronic
