Monastery

The Monastery of the Precious Blood, a contemplative cloistered community, is located at 166 State Street. It is run by the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1861 by Catherine Aurelia Caouette in St. Hyacinth, Canada. In his later years, Dad's Sundays always began here at the 6 AM Mass. The chapel is small, but quite ornate. Some mornings, I'd meet him here, and after the service, we'd go off to one of his breakfast joints, where he seem to know all who came in the door. In the chapel, as we sat in our pew, any nun that made an appearance came right over to us and shook his hand. He knew them all! "Hey, this group is cloistered, Dad! How do you..." His refrain was, as always, "M- , you just don't get it, do you?" This was followed by his knowing chuckle. I'd just smile and wonder what he meant. As kids, we all knew about the Monastery. We each had our turn going with him for Mass cards, on the passing of an acquaintance or loved one. The nuns' cards were and still are well-known and quite distinctive, in their elaborate calligraphy, around the city. Dad's been gone twelve years now, but I bet he's still fondly remembered by the sisters who do their 'work' within these walls.