NC - Winter 2021

At that time, the Holy Family
Academy did not have a private
chaplain until 1900. In the
meantime, the Resurrection Father
from St. Stanislaus Parish would
perform the sacred functions
besides the daily Holy Mass, also
the Benediction on Holydays and
Midnight Mass on Christmas.
After the vigil-supper on Christmas
Eve, all the sisters retired for
a nap to be up at midnight for
Meditation, Office, and Holy Mass.
However, we girls, or should I
call it the famous Academy Choir,
decided to refrain from sleeping
so our voices would be primed
for ‘singing’ instead of ‘yawning.’
Since we would be awake, I was
assigned the Portress for that night.
We all went down to the small Music
Room and sang the new Christmas
Carols we previously learned to be
sure we knew them well for Midnight
Mass. As I made my way into the
Music Room, I placed the key on
the piano and sang away with the
Academy Choir, practicing every carol
(some even twice) so that we would
be perfect for Midnight Mass. We
sang for quite a while, and when we
finished, we all dispersed and went
on our way. As designated Portress
for the evening, I remained on the
first floor, awaiting any visitor who
would be calling upon the sisters and
paying attention for Reverend Father,
who would be arriving to prepare
for Midnight Mass. I was quietly
replaying the Christmas Carols in
my head when all of a sudden, the
doorbell rang! I reached for the key
in my pocket, but it was not there.
Where could the key have gone? I
then remembered setting it down on
the piano, so I rushed down to the
Music Room with great haste, went
directly to the piano to retrieve the
key, but it was not there, either!
Where did the key go? At this point,
I became extremely frantic; the
Reverend Father needed to get into
the chapel to prepare for Midnight
Mass. Within that moment, I did
what any logical person would have
done... I ran to one of the parlors,
opened the window, put out a stool,
and asked the Reverend Father to
get on the stool and jump in through
the window because I lost the key.
Upon hearing the Reverend Father’s
second doorbell chime, which
happened while I was grabbing
the stool, Mother Provincial and
Mother Superior came out from the
chapel while I was encouraging the
priest to simply hop on the stool
and jump in through the window.
After all my tearful begging, the
Reverend Father looked at me and
said but one word, “Crazy!” He
then turned around and went home.
Running out of the parlor, I bumped
right into Mother Superior, who
asked me, “Marylka, why don’t you
open the door?” Crying, I answered,
“I lost the key!” Sister Superior took
out her key and moved to open
the door, but I said through my
tears, “Father is gone. I told him
that I lost the key, and I offered
him a stool to jump in through the
window, but he called me ‘Crazy’
and turned back to the rectory.”
Mother Superior immediately called
another girl and told us to run to
the rectory. I was told to apologize
and ask Father Superior to send
the priest because it was getting
close to Midnight Mass. We both
ran to the rectory and asked for
Father Superior. He answered the
door, and I proceeded to tell him my
sorrowful tale. As I explained to him
about the stool and encouraging the
Reverend Father to jump through
the window, Father Superior began
to laugh uncontrollably. I asked him
what was so funny, and he began to
explain that the priest who had come
to visit was not the most athletically
framed man and would have had great
difficulty fitting through the window.
Father Superior called the priest
who had initially come to say Mass
to let him know we had found a key
to open the door, but the priest
refused to come and celebrate Mass.
Nevertheless, Father Superior
told us to go home and that the
priest would be over soon.
With that, we ran home, a distance
of two blocks, and Mother Provincial
was standing on the corridor awaiting
the news. We told her that the
priest would be here in no time and
immediately ran up to join the choir,
who had already begun singing.
The priest came, much to my relief,
and celebrated Midnight Mass.
While we were away pleading with
Father Superior at the rectory, all
the girls came down on the corridor
asking about Midnight Mass. Mother
proceeded to tell all about me
misplacing the key and telling the
priest to crawl through the window.
The next day, one of the girls
came to apologize because she
hid the key. In fact, she hid it so
well that she did not remember
just where she placed it, but
acknowledged it was an awful trick!
NAZARETH CONNECTIONS // WINTER 2021
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