Oral History: Sister Mary Guido McMillan
Dublin Core
Title
Oral History: Sister Mary Guido McMillan
Subject
Sister Mary Guido McMillan
Description
An oral history of Sister Mary Guido McMillan, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 1995. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on January 14, 1987.
Sister Mary Guido McMillan was born on April 23, 1907 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of William McMillan and Jessie Castner, Virginia Helen McMillan entered the community on May 3, 1925 as Sister Mary Guido McMillan.
Sister Mary Guido served as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools throughout western Pennsylvania for 52 years. She served her entire teaching career in schools within the Diocese of Pittsburgh, except for one six-year term as principal of Sacred Heart, Greensburg. Among the schools she served were Holy Innocents, Sheraden; St. Joseph, Sharpsburg; St. Anselm, Swissvale; St. Irenaeus, Oakmont, St. Keiran, Lawrenceville; Sacred Heart, Greensburg; Sacred Heart, East End, Pittsburgh; Resurrection, Brookline; St. Philip, Crafton; and St. James, Wilkinsburg. After she retired from teaching, she helped care for the elderly.
Sister Mary Guido earned her B.Ed. in Elementary Education from Duquesne University in 1946.
Sister Mary Guido McMillan passed away on November 9, 1995 at the age of 88.
Sister Mary Guido McMillan was born on April 23, 1907 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of William McMillan and Jessie Castner, Virginia Helen McMillan entered the community on May 3, 1925 as Sister Mary Guido McMillan.
Sister Mary Guido served as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools throughout western Pennsylvania for 52 years. She served her entire teaching career in schools within the Diocese of Pittsburgh, except for one six-year term as principal of Sacred Heart, Greensburg. Among the schools she served were Holy Innocents, Sheraden; St. Joseph, Sharpsburg; St. Anselm, Swissvale; St. Irenaeus, Oakmont, St. Keiran, Lawrenceville; Sacred Heart, Greensburg; Sacred Heart, East End, Pittsburgh; Resurrection, Brookline; St. Philip, Crafton; and St. James, Wilkinsburg. After she retired from teaching, she helped care for the elderly.
Sister Mary Guido earned her B.Ed. in Elementary Education from Duquesne University in 1946.
Sister Mary Guido McMillan passed away on November 9, 1995 at the age of 88.
Creator
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Publisher
Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Date
1987/01/14
Rights
All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Format
Audio cassette tape
Type
Oral history
Identifier
OH-37
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Sister Marie Corona Miller
Interviewee
Sister Mary Guido McMillan
Transcription
OH-23
SMCM: This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Mary Guido McMillan and the interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. The interview is being conducted at St. Anselm's convent. The date is January 14, 1987. It will be kept in the community archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
SMCM: Good morning, Sister Mary Guido. I'm very happy to be with you today to have you tell us about your history. Would you like to do that?
SMGMc: Yes, I would be happy to do that. I was born April 23, 1907 in Belleview, Pennsylvania. My sister Betty was also born in Belleview. Shortly after my sister's birth, we moved to Richmond, Virginia where my brother, Billy, was born. A year and a halflater, my mother died at the age of twenty-nine. I was six, my sister five, and my little brother one and a half years old. In the meantime, my mother's aunt took care ofus. Several years later, my father married Margaret Bettet (that's what it sounded like. I listened several times). She was a catholic. Therefore, we became catholic. My sister and I were baptized on March 23, 1917. Prior to that, we went to the Southern Baptist Church in Richmond. My mother is buried there in the cemetery connected with the church. At the beginning of the First World War, when my father married my stepmother, we had to move to Philadelphia because my father was exporting lumber to England. We had to be near the Chesapeake Bay. We started school, I believe I was in third grade at a school where the Sisters of St. Joseph taught. My stepmother caught the flu. My father didn't have anyone to care for us, so he asked the sisters for suggestions as to where he might send us. This happened to be the sisters boarding home in Marian, Pennsylvania. We were there for a year. After my stepmother recovered, we moved to be with my .Grandmother McMillan in Pittsburgh. My grandmother was furious that we had become catholic. She wouldn't permit us to go to church, even though St. Lawrence's Church was right on Broad Street, where she lived in Garfield.
Meantime, my father being a devout catholic, arranged for me and my sister to go to Ursuline Academy. My brother, Billy, went to DePaul Institute, not as a pupil, but as a child to be taken care of. The Ursuline Academy didn't keep summer boarders. My stepmother was unable to take care of us. The sisters in Ursuline Academy advised my father to send us to the Sisters of St.
Joseph in Ebensburg, PA for the summer. We stayed in Ebensburg for the following school year. My stepmother had a nervous breakdown, but she recovered enough for us to come home. We moved to College Avenue in the east end of Pittsburgh. We lived on the first floor. I came home to help her. My sister and brother came home also. My sister and I went to Sacred Heart School. We were both in the same grade. Sister M. Zita Ryan was our teacher. It was seventh grade. My brother went to Sacred Heart also. The following year, my dad moved to Wilkinsburg because he had started a new lumber business on Trenton Avenue. We went to St. James School in Wilkinsburg. In the meantime, my father had a large house built in Regent Square on Lancaster Avenue. From here, we went to Divine Providence High School on Larimer Avenue in East Liberty. I didn't complete High School. At the end of my second year, I entered the Sisters of Charity. I didn't really know the Sisters of Charity very well because my stepmother gave everyone the impression that she was marvelous. You've heard the term "Street Angel, but a
House devil." Well, the term surely described her. She gave us the gift of faith, but she was really mean and cruel to us. I don' t want to go into this as it makes me very upset. So, I'll tell you how I became interested in becoming a Sister of Charity. When I was a little girl in Richmond, Virginia, grandpa came one time and took me to a movie. All I can remember about it was there were two Sisters of Charity from France. They were going along the street when they heard what sounded like a baby' s cry. They lifted the nearby garbage can lid, picked the baby up and took it to their Orphanage. I was so entranced that I said to grandpa: "Who are those ladies, and what are they doing with that baby?" Grandpa said: "SH!" I'll tell you when we leave the movie. So, he told me that they were Sisters of Charity and that they do a lot of good. He said that in China, baby girls are thrown away and sometimes these sisters are able to find the babies and take care of them. I told my grandpa that I knew what I was going to be when I grew up...a Sister of Charity. When we were in high school, the Sisters of Divine Providence were talking about vocations. I didn' t say anything then, but I managed to ride out to Greensburg to see the Motherhouse. I told the Mother Superior, who was Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers that I would be interested in any literature that she could send me. A week or so later, I received a letter from Mother Rose Genevieve telling me that Mother Mary Francis McCullough would be happy to meet with me at Pittsburgh Hospital or at Seton Hill. So my stepmother took me to Seton Hill on March 17th to meet with Mother Mary Francis McCullough As we stepped inside the building, a peace and calm came over me. I knew this was where I wanted to be.
SMCM: What year was that Sister Mary Guido?
SMGMcM: That was March 19, 1925 because Mother Rose Genevieve had Sister Marie Augustine Witt show me around. I was thrilled with the beauty of the place. When we came back to Mother Rose Genevieve's office, I knelt down and signed the papers which said I would be coming to Seton Hill to become a Sister of Charity. In those days, you could enter at any time, so Mother Rose Genevieve told me that a girl was coming on May 3, 1925, and I could come with her. I was surprised to hear that her name was Ruth O' Brien, who had also attended Divine Providence High School. She was a year younger than me. I have never regretted the decision I made to become a Sister of Charity from that day through today. When Mother Mary Francis put the postulant cap on my head she asked me who my sponsor was. I said, what do you mean, and she replied, who encouraged you to come to the community? I told her that my only contact with the Sisters of Charity was when Sister Zita Ryan taught me in the seventh grade at Sacred Heart, and when Sister Jane M. Joyce taught me at St. James in Wilkinsburg. Well then said Mother Mary Francis, I'll be your sponsor. Sister Marie Augustine was there, and she also said she would be my sponsor. So, that's the way it was. I had two sponsors.
SMCM: Sister, who was Ruth O' Brien?
SMGMcM: She was Sister Mary Bernard. The other sisters who were in my group were: Sister Ethelreda Merz and Sister Margaret Frances Coogan. I hadn't finished high school, so I did this by attending the Normal School and attending other classes at Seton Hill.
SMGMcM: The frrst charge I got was the coffee. Sister Mary Bernard was also on this charge. Then I was given Sister Marion Stephen who was in the Sister's Infirmary to take care of. She was a precious, beautiful character. She had what was then called rheumatic rheumatism, which today
would be called arthritis. When I got Sister, she was in a wheel chair. She was able to use her hands to crochet and make rosary beads. She could also sew by using her knee to operate the sewing machine. Sister Mary Bernard would come at night and help me put sister to bed. I took care of Sister Marion during my entire canonical year.
In November of 1926; I was sent out on mission to Holy Innocent's School in Sheraden to do substitute teaching for Sister Margaret Clare Collins. When I returned to Seton Hill in the summers, I again took care of Sister Marion Stephen. When I first went to Holy Innocents, it was to be for just two weeks, but this didn't happen. Sister Amata Brennan asked mother why I was being left in school as I was promised I would go into nurses training with Sister Mercedes McMahon and Sister M.. Nathaniel McNamara at the old Pittsburgh hospital. Mother said:" We need good teachers as much as we need good nurses." Therefore, I never did get to be in nurse's training. Instead, my sister, Betty McMillan, went into training in the very class I would have been in. She went on after graduation to New York and became a pediatrician nurse. She met her husband in New York. I didn't see too much of my sister. In the meantime, my stepmother had another nervous breakdown. In those days if there was any mental illness in your family, you couldn't be admitted to vows. Since she of course was not related in any way, this didn't hold true in my case. My family was concerned about this as they knew how very happy I was. My father informed me that my stepmother had left him. Unfortunately, dad had signed over everything to her...the insurance, the house, the car, everything to her. He was afraid because of the war situation, the economy, and the fact that he was in business for himself, that ifhe didn't sign everything over to her, he would lose everything. It was sad, because dad had to start out from scratch. God was good to him. He was an excellent salesman, so it didn't take him long to build up a rather large list of customers.
My brother, Billy, went to the University of Pittsburgh. He did graduate. However, his eyes were so bad that he was unable to do anything for a year My sister invited him to New York where he met and married his wife, Sophie Sappharo. He also found work in New York, as he was not able to find work in Pittsburgh.
In the meantime, I was the only one in Pittsburgh to visit and be of any help to my dad. I didn't see him very often.
I stayed at Holy Innocents in Sheraden for five years teaching second grade under the guidance of Sister M. Josepha Lee, who was a wonderful primary teacher. When she was sent elsewhere, I was put in her first grade. Sister Josepha was the one who told me that rabbits are a symbol of the Universal Church because they can be found anywhere in the world. She told me many other little things like this which were very helpful to many of my students.
I was very happy in Sheraden. Sister Mary Giles Brandt, who was the principal and sister servant would send Sister Regina Mary Murphy and me out after school at times to visit the sick. We used to say the rosary on the way home.
In 1931, I was transferred to Sharpsburg for three years. I taught first grade there also.
In 1934, I was sent to St. Irenaeus in Oakmont. I was there at the time of the flood in 1936. That's where I met my dear friend, Sister Mary Alfred Sharp. I would go home with Sister Mary Alfred to visit her parents, both of whom were very ill. Her mother was a semi-invalid. From St. Irenaeus, I think I went to Sacred Heart for several years. Then I went to St. Kieran's for a short time, but then I went back to Sacred Heart. I taught in the primary grades all of these years, mostly
in first grade, which I loved. Every summer I went back to Seton Hill to work in the Infirmary. I took care of Sister Marion Stephen for seventeen years. In the meantime, Sister Mary Bernard
O' Brien would be assigned to help me care for Sister Marion. However, Sister Mary Bernard was afraid to touch Sister Marion because of her large (Sr. Mary Bernard's) size. So she took care of things in Sister' s room such as the large fish bowl Sister had in her room. She also had a radio and was simply amazed that you could hear voices from that "box." One time sister had never been in a car. Her sister died, and she requested to go in to Pittsburgh to pay her respects. We rode all the way to Pittsburgh in an ambulance. I knelt beside Sister Marion, even though she was tied in to prevent any mishap. Her sister was laid out in Bellevue, and she was very happy to have gotten in. Sister Marion contracted her illness after teaching for just nine years. The Community sent her to some facility (Sr. Mary Guido couldn' t remember the name) to get some help, but Sister ' s condition just kept getting progressively worse until she was confined to a wheel chair.
SMCM: Sister Mary Guido, when did you make your first vows?
SMGMcM: I made first vows on August 15, 1927. Sister Mary Bernard (Ruth O' Brien) also professed her vows on August 15, 1927. We were in chapel the evening before, and it was announced that Ruth O' Brien would be known as Sister Mary Bernard, and Virginia McMillan would be known as Sister Mary Guido McMillan. I took the name Guido because my father who was a convert had made a retreat at St. Paul's Monastery which was given by Father Guido, Passionist. My father was forever impressed by this retreat, and he and Father Guido became close friends. My father was very pleased that I had been given the name, Guido.
Three years later, on August 15, 1930, Sister Mary Bernard and I pronounced our fmal vows.
My novitiate days were happy ones. I didn't get to spend as much time with the sisters because of my duties in the infirmary, especially caring for Sister Marion Stephen.
I taught from 1926 up until 1975. I only missed three days during the entire time. Then, in 1975, my silver jubilee year, I went on half day teaching at St. Anselm's in Swissvale. I helped the little children who needed help in Phonics and Reading. In 1980, I retired from teaching and visited the sick and shut-ins. The hardest thing for the elderly is being lonely...having no one to talk to.
Sometimes, they don't hear another voice from one end of the week to the other. Sister Pancratius Jablonski was marvelous in doing this work. She began this work after she retired from her work with the choir boys and teaching Singing in the classrooms for many years in St. Anselm' s grade school. Sister Pancratius had done this ministry with the elderly for ten years before I joined in working with her. We would go out visiting together many times. Sometimes, we separated and went via foot to visit some shut-ins. When I had to physically cut back on some ofthis visiting, I would call some elderly people on the phone. If the weather was decent, I went out to visit at the hospitals and nursing homes. At times, I went to see Sister Beatrice McQuade' s mother who was at a nursing home residence in Homestead. Mrs. McQuade was very happy and contented there. From there, the driver would take me down the street to see a little hunchback. In the same area, it was possible for me to visit a person with multiplesclerosis.
SMCM: Sister, do you remember anything else about some of our senior sisters in your experiences as a young sister?
SMGMcM: Well, when I was in the infirmary, I would have to pass trays. One time, Sister Mary Cecelia Schwab had a tracheotomy tube which she coughed up and lost. I had to get down on my
hands and knees to find it, which I did. Then it had to be sterilized and reinserted. It was only a few years later that sister transferred to an enclosed Order.
Sister Generosa was my superior at Sheraden for one year. She also became an enclosed Dominican in Texas. I keep in touch with sister several times a year. She became known as Sister Mary Michael. She was age ninety-three and a half at our last correspondence and asked me to pray for her as she knew she was coming to the end of her life here on earth.
Our deceased Sister Marie Monica Blickenstorfer was also a good friend of Sister Generosa and corresponded with her over the years.
I also took care of Sister Ambrose Walsh in the Infirmary. She was a heavy set sister and I recall that when she had to go to the hospital, she wouldn't permit anyone but me to go with her in the ambulance. I would serve trays, and when I was finished Sister Grace Barr would ask me to fill in where help was needed. Sister Ambrose became a good friend.
SMCM: Now, was Sister Grace Barr the Infirmarian?
SMGMcM: Yes. There was a Sister M. Julia Byrne in the infirmary who was always saying: "Pray for me, pray for me, I'm afraid to die." One day I said to her: "Sister Julia, why are you afraid to die? You've been a sister for sixty five years, have taught and done many good things during your lifetime?" She said maybe I haven't done enough for God and I said if you haven't done enough, what about us who are just starting out? I understand that she did have a very peaceful death.
There was another old sister...Sister Mary Inez Cronin. After Sister Marion died, I used to take care of Sister Mary Inez and the other infirm sisters by cutting their toe nails, finger nails, hair etc. I did this in the evenings. They were the days when we had night silence. I felt that I had to distract the sisters somehow, especially when doing their feet, so, of course I would talk to them.
One evening, Mother Maria Benedict Monahan approached me and said that she understood I was breaking night silence. I told her that if she meant my talking to the old sisters, that I had checked this out with my confessor, because I was concerned about this, and he told me that I was doing a good thing by talking to the sisters, relieving them of any nervousness or anxiety related to my tending to the aforementioned needs. You can see that throughout my life, I've always taken care of the old and the young. I will continue to do this as long as God gives me the health.
SMcM: Sister, I understand that your sister paid for a tour to Lourdes to celebrate your Silver Jubilee. Would you like to tell us about that?
SMGMcM: Very briefly, I will. My sister in Florida saw an article in their paper stating that Cardinal Spellman was conducting a thirty-six day Mediterranean cruise to Spain, Greece, and other places of interest. This was in 1957. My sister, Betty, wrote to me inviting me to go on the tour with her. She had a heart condition and didn't want to travel this far by herself, but wanted to go to Lourdes which was one of the places scheduled on the tour. I was still living at Holy Innocents in Sheraden at the time. I showed the letter to Sister Vincent de Paul Baker who was our senior sister. I told Sister that this was probably an impossibility. Her reply was:''Nothing
ventured, nothing gained," and said that Mother Claudia Glenn was coming in two weeks and I should present the situation to her. Well, Mother Claudia said that if I could get a teacher to take my place during the time of the tour that I had her permission. I was missioned in August to
Resurrection school in Brookline, so it was here that I needed to get the teacher. When I told Sister Caroline Joseph Wilson, who was the principal at Resurrection, about the tour, she told me that she had a very good primary teacher who could cover for me while I was on the tour. I got all of the seat work duplicated and wrote lesson plans from September the eighth, the day of departure up until October thirteenth, the day of my return. There were twenty-seven school days during that time. When I came back, I found the children to be well instructed, in fact maybe even better taught than ifl was there. I bought each little child a medal from Lourdes and a holy card from Fatima. In my class was a little boy, named James Whalen, who later became Father Jim Whalen.
He became a priest for the diocese of Pittsburgh. He invited me to his ordination. I went to his ordination at St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh, but was unable to attend his first Mass, so I told Sister Mary Louise Molchan to inform him of this, and tell him that I would see him sometime in the near future. Little did I realize that I would see him soon afterward at St. Anselm's, which was his first assignment, going in to say the noon Mass, which I was going to attend. We both got a good laugh about this. He was stationed at St. Anselm's for five years and then was sent to St. Lawrence O'Toole's parish in Garfield. Now he is in charge of the retreats at Gilmary Center. I'm sure that he will be instrumental in bringing many vocations to the church.
Going back to my trip with Betty. We were only on our way out of New York Harbor a day when I met Cardinal Spellman who asked why I was the only sister on the trip.I said: "Because it's school time, Cardinal. I was very fortunate that my sister, Betty, paid my way and also paid for a substitute teacher for me for the twenty-seven days (school days) a substitute teacher was needed in my place. When we reached Lourdes, there were twenty-eight tour buses there to take care of us. The entire ship was given over to the tour. There were thirty-six stairwells blocked and altars set up making it possible for thirty-six priests to celebrate Mass. There were seven hundred thirty six people on the pilgrimage. All of the books were removed from the library so that a chapel would be available.
The stations were erected as was a crucifix. You were free in the morning to pray..say the rosary, make your adoration, etc. Then in the afternoon at four o'clock, we had Benediction. It.was beautiful. My sister and I always went to the eight AM Mass in the theater, because it was Bishop McConnell who said the Mass. Bishop Cook, who was secretary to Cardinal Spellman gave the homilies which wer-e excellent, especially the ones on the Blessed Mother. I told him that he should compile a record of these homilies, especially the ones on Mary because they were so beautiful.
When we got to Lourdes, we stayed one night. There was a candle light procession. I didn't go into the baths, nor did my sister. She wasn't well enough. We did get a supply of Lourde's water which we brought back to the states and gave to different people. From Lourdes we went to Fatima.
Every night we got back on the ship which would go from one point to another. Every evening we returned to the ship for dinner. The seating for the evening meal was rotated so that everyone had an opportunity to sit at the Cardinal's table. We had our picture taken with the Cardinal. At Fatima, there were no finished streets as I'm sure there are now. We were able to walk along these streets in Fatima because the weather was nice. We sang hymns as we walked up to the beautiful basilica in Fatima. From Fatima, we went through the strait of Gibraltar. We went to Greece to the top of the mountain where St. Paul preached. I had my picture taken there. We saw other points of interest in Greece, for example Pompey. Next we went to Spain. At St. James Church in Spain, they have a very heavy relic of St. James. ( I tried to get what sister was saying about this relic, but couldn't). It was suspended somehow and swayed back and forth over the people, blessing them. I
believe she said that the practice had been terminated as it took six men to take care of this procedure. No matter what country we entered, we didn't need our passports as the Cardinal's name was sufficient identification. When we entered France, two men got on the ship and checked our passports, but that was the only place. On our return to the states, we got word that Pope Pius XII was very ill. We knew that he was ill all summer because we could not have a private audience with him. He was suffering from choking spells. He came out on the balcony above a courtyard where we assembled. His message to us was: "Know your angels, pray to your angels because they are the ones who will some day take your soul to God." This was the theme of his homily as it was the month of October when we especially honor the angels. This was Friday. Sunday evening, we received word that the Pope was dying. He had in fact had a stroke. We kept perpetual adoration on the ship. The Cardinal got word on Friday that the Pope had died. The ship turned around and went to the Azores where the Cardinal was met by some Americans who flew him to Rome. The day after the Cardinal left ship, we got into a terrible hurricane. We didn't realize that it was as bad as we were later told. We thought it was just a bad storm. Actually, we were told that there was fear of the ship breaking in two. We did, however, arrive safely in New York. Then it was that Father Gray (I think this is whom she said) gave me the Pope' s Zuchetta because Cardinal Spellman had told me that he would give it to me when we got to New York. He did this because there were many women who would have liked getting it. He gave me the last one which the Pope had worn, because he said the Pope took it off his head, handed it to the Cardinal and said: "God bless Sister." When we returned to the states, I sent the Pope's cap to all the schools in Pittsburgh for the children to see. I kept the zuchetta myself for about a year after it had been shown to the children in the
various schools. Then I thought to myself how foolish of me to keep it personally...that it belonged in our Archives in Greensburg, so I sent it there. I feel in my heart that some day Pope Pius XII will be canonized. My sister did not receive a physical cure, but spiritually she felt very peaceful and happy because of the tour. Betty worked as a nurse in the hospital in New York for a few more years, but she contracted whooping cough and the doctor advised her to move to Florida. Her husband took a six month leave from his work and went with Betty. He liked it so well that he stayed there. My sister was never able to have children, but she and her husband adopted a boy when they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she and her husband lived happily for thirty five years. Betty died from a stroke in 1969.
Then my brother felt that he should take over where Betty left off. He took me and my friend, Rosie, on a lovely Carribean cruise for ten days. This was for my Golden Jubilee. It was sad to see the difference between how the rich lived on one side of the island as opposed to how the poor lived on the other side. The little children were constantly begging for money. We were cautioned not to give them any, but I gave them some anyhow as I felt they needed it.
The last trip that I had with my brother, was with Rosie to Ireland. The only way my brother would go is if someone went with him. So I feel that in my lifetime I have been blessed getting to see many things that other sisters have not seen. I am very grateful to the Lord for all His blessings over the years.
SMCM: Thank you, Sister Mary Guido, for sharing so many things about your life. This tape will be kept in the Archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg.
Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: This oral history for Sister Mary Guido McMillan was transcribed from cassette tapes by me. It was completed on March 29. 2011.
SMCM: This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Mary Guido McMillan and the interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. The interview is being conducted at St. Anselm's convent. The date is January 14, 1987. It will be kept in the community archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
SMCM: Good morning, Sister Mary Guido. I'm very happy to be with you today to have you tell us about your history. Would you like to do that?
SMGMc: Yes, I would be happy to do that. I was born April 23, 1907 in Belleview, Pennsylvania. My sister Betty was also born in Belleview. Shortly after my sister's birth, we moved to Richmond, Virginia where my brother, Billy, was born. A year and a halflater, my mother died at the age of twenty-nine. I was six, my sister five, and my little brother one and a half years old. In the meantime, my mother's aunt took care ofus. Several years later, my father married Margaret Bettet (that's what it sounded like. I listened several times). She was a catholic. Therefore, we became catholic. My sister and I were baptized on March 23, 1917. Prior to that, we went to the Southern Baptist Church in Richmond. My mother is buried there in the cemetery connected with the church. At the beginning of the First World War, when my father married my stepmother, we had to move to Philadelphia because my father was exporting lumber to England. We had to be near the Chesapeake Bay. We started school, I believe I was in third grade at a school where the Sisters of St. Joseph taught. My stepmother caught the flu. My father didn't have anyone to care for us, so he asked the sisters for suggestions as to where he might send us. This happened to be the sisters boarding home in Marian, Pennsylvania. We were there for a year. After my stepmother recovered, we moved to be with my .Grandmother McMillan in Pittsburgh. My grandmother was furious that we had become catholic. She wouldn't permit us to go to church, even though St. Lawrence's Church was right on Broad Street, where she lived in Garfield.
Meantime, my father being a devout catholic, arranged for me and my sister to go to Ursuline Academy. My brother, Billy, went to DePaul Institute, not as a pupil, but as a child to be taken care of. The Ursuline Academy didn't keep summer boarders. My stepmother was unable to take care of us. The sisters in Ursuline Academy advised my father to send us to the Sisters of St.
Joseph in Ebensburg, PA for the summer. We stayed in Ebensburg for the following school year. My stepmother had a nervous breakdown, but she recovered enough for us to come home. We moved to College Avenue in the east end of Pittsburgh. We lived on the first floor. I came home to help her. My sister and brother came home also. My sister and I went to Sacred Heart School. We were both in the same grade. Sister M. Zita Ryan was our teacher. It was seventh grade. My brother went to Sacred Heart also. The following year, my dad moved to Wilkinsburg because he had started a new lumber business on Trenton Avenue. We went to St. James School in Wilkinsburg. In the meantime, my father had a large house built in Regent Square on Lancaster Avenue. From here, we went to Divine Providence High School on Larimer Avenue in East Liberty. I didn't complete High School. At the end of my second year, I entered the Sisters of Charity. I didn't really know the Sisters of Charity very well because my stepmother gave everyone the impression that she was marvelous. You've heard the term "Street Angel, but a
House devil." Well, the term surely described her. She gave us the gift of faith, but she was really mean and cruel to us. I don' t want to go into this as it makes me very upset. So, I'll tell you how I became interested in becoming a Sister of Charity. When I was a little girl in Richmond, Virginia, grandpa came one time and took me to a movie. All I can remember about it was there were two Sisters of Charity from France. They were going along the street when they heard what sounded like a baby' s cry. They lifted the nearby garbage can lid, picked the baby up and took it to their Orphanage. I was so entranced that I said to grandpa: "Who are those ladies, and what are they doing with that baby?" Grandpa said: "SH!" I'll tell you when we leave the movie. So, he told me that they were Sisters of Charity and that they do a lot of good. He said that in China, baby girls are thrown away and sometimes these sisters are able to find the babies and take care of them. I told my grandpa that I knew what I was going to be when I grew up...a Sister of Charity. When we were in high school, the Sisters of Divine Providence were talking about vocations. I didn' t say anything then, but I managed to ride out to Greensburg to see the Motherhouse. I told the Mother Superior, who was Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers that I would be interested in any literature that she could send me. A week or so later, I received a letter from Mother Rose Genevieve telling me that Mother Mary Francis McCullough would be happy to meet with me at Pittsburgh Hospital or at Seton Hill. So my stepmother took me to Seton Hill on March 17th to meet with Mother Mary Francis McCullough As we stepped inside the building, a peace and calm came over me. I knew this was where I wanted to be.
SMCM: What year was that Sister Mary Guido?
SMGMcM: That was March 19, 1925 because Mother Rose Genevieve had Sister Marie Augustine Witt show me around. I was thrilled with the beauty of the place. When we came back to Mother Rose Genevieve's office, I knelt down and signed the papers which said I would be coming to Seton Hill to become a Sister of Charity. In those days, you could enter at any time, so Mother Rose Genevieve told me that a girl was coming on May 3, 1925, and I could come with her. I was surprised to hear that her name was Ruth O' Brien, who had also attended Divine Providence High School. She was a year younger than me. I have never regretted the decision I made to become a Sister of Charity from that day through today. When Mother Mary Francis put the postulant cap on my head she asked me who my sponsor was. I said, what do you mean, and she replied, who encouraged you to come to the community? I told her that my only contact with the Sisters of Charity was when Sister Zita Ryan taught me in the seventh grade at Sacred Heart, and when Sister Jane M. Joyce taught me at St. James in Wilkinsburg. Well then said Mother Mary Francis, I'll be your sponsor. Sister Marie Augustine was there, and she also said she would be my sponsor. So, that's the way it was. I had two sponsors.
SMCM: Sister, who was Ruth O' Brien?
SMGMcM: She was Sister Mary Bernard. The other sisters who were in my group were: Sister Ethelreda Merz and Sister Margaret Frances Coogan. I hadn't finished high school, so I did this by attending the Normal School and attending other classes at Seton Hill.
SMGMcM: The frrst charge I got was the coffee. Sister Mary Bernard was also on this charge. Then I was given Sister Marion Stephen who was in the Sister's Infirmary to take care of. She was a precious, beautiful character. She had what was then called rheumatic rheumatism, which today
would be called arthritis. When I got Sister, she was in a wheel chair. She was able to use her hands to crochet and make rosary beads. She could also sew by using her knee to operate the sewing machine. Sister Mary Bernard would come at night and help me put sister to bed. I took care of Sister Marion during my entire canonical year.
In November of 1926; I was sent out on mission to Holy Innocent's School in Sheraden to do substitute teaching for Sister Margaret Clare Collins. When I returned to Seton Hill in the summers, I again took care of Sister Marion Stephen. When I first went to Holy Innocents, it was to be for just two weeks, but this didn't happen. Sister Amata Brennan asked mother why I was being left in school as I was promised I would go into nurses training with Sister Mercedes McMahon and Sister M.. Nathaniel McNamara at the old Pittsburgh hospital. Mother said:" We need good teachers as much as we need good nurses." Therefore, I never did get to be in nurse's training. Instead, my sister, Betty McMillan, went into training in the very class I would have been in. She went on after graduation to New York and became a pediatrician nurse. She met her husband in New York. I didn't see too much of my sister. In the meantime, my stepmother had another nervous breakdown. In those days if there was any mental illness in your family, you couldn't be admitted to vows. Since she of course was not related in any way, this didn't hold true in my case. My family was concerned about this as they knew how very happy I was. My father informed me that my stepmother had left him. Unfortunately, dad had signed over everything to her...the insurance, the house, the car, everything to her. He was afraid because of the war situation, the economy, and the fact that he was in business for himself, that ifhe didn't sign everything over to her, he would lose everything. It was sad, because dad had to start out from scratch. God was good to him. He was an excellent salesman, so it didn't take him long to build up a rather large list of customers.
My brother, Billy, went to the University of Pittsburgh. He did graduate. However, his eyes were so bad that he was unable to do anything for a year My sister invited him to New York where he met and married his wife, Sophie Sappharo. He also found work in New York, as he was not able to find work in Pittsburgh.
In the meantime, I was the only one in Pittsburgh to visit and be of any help to my dad. I didn't see him very often.
I stayed at Holy Innocents in Sheraden for five years teaching second grade under the guidance of Sister M. Josepha Lee, who was a wonderful primary teacher. When she was sent elsewhere, I was put in her first grade. Sister Josepha was the one who told me that rabbits are a symbol of the Universal Church because they can be found anywhere in the world. She told me many other little things like this which were very helpful to many of my students.
I was very happy in Sheraden. Sister Mary Giles Brandt, who was the principal and sister servant would send Sister Regina Mary Murphy and me out after school at times to visit the sick. We used to say the rosary on the way home.
In 1931, I was transferred to Sharpsburg for three years. I taught first grade there also.
In 1934, I was sent to St. Irenaeus in Oakmont. I was there at the time of the flood in 1936. That's where I met my dear friend, Sister Mary Alfred Sharp. I would go home with Sister Mary Alfred to visit her parents, both of whom were very ill. Her mother was a semi-invalid. From St. Irenaeus, I think I went to Sacred Heart for several years. Then I went to St. Kieran's for a short time, but then I went back to Sacred Heart. I taught in the primary grades all of these years, mostly
in first grade, which I loved. Every summer I went back to Seton Hill to work in the Infirmary. I took care of Sister Marion Stephen for seventeen years. In the meantime, Sister Mary Bernard
O' Brien would be assigned to help me care for Sister Marion. However, Sister Mary Bernard was afraid to touch Sister Marion because of her large (Sr. Mary Bernard's) size. So she took care of things in Sister' s room such as the large fish bowl Sister had in her room. She also had a radio and was simply amazed that you could hear voices from that "box." One time sister had never been in a car. Her sister died, and she requested to go in to Pittsburgh to pay her respects. We rode all the way to Pittsburgh in an ambulance. I knelt beside Sister Marion, even though she was tied in to prevent any mishap. Her sister was laid out in Bellevue, and she was very happy to have gotten in. Sister Marion contracted her illness after teaching for just nine years. The Community sent her to some facility (Sr. Mary Guido couldn' t remember the name) to get some help, but Sister ' s condition just kept getting progressively worse until she was confined to a wheel chair.
SMCM: Sister Mary Guido, when did you make your first vows?
SMGMcM: I made first vows on August 15, 1927. Sister Mary Bernard (Ruth O' Brien) also professed her vows on August 15, 1927. We were in chapel the evening before, and it was announced that Ruth O' Brien would be known as Sister Mary Bernard, and Virginia McMillan would be known as Sister Mary Guido McMillan. I took the name Guido because my father who was a convert had made a retreat at St. Paul's Monastery which was given by Father Guido, Passionist. My father was forever impressed by this retreat, and he and Father Guido became close friends. My father was very pleased that I had been given the name, Guido.
Three years later, on August 15, 1930, Sister Mary Bernard and I pronounced our fmal vows.
My novitiate days were happy ones. I didn't get to spend as much time with the sisters because of my duties in the infirmary, especially caring for Sister Marion Stephen.
I taught from 1926 up until 1975. I only missed three days during the entire time. Then, in 1975, my silver jubilee year, I went on half day teaching at St. Anselm's in Swissvale. I helped the little children who needed help in Phonics and Reading. In 1980, I retired from teaching and visited the sick and shut-ins. The hardest thing for the elderly is being lonely...having no one to talk to.
Sometimes, they don't hear another voice from one end of the week to the other. Sister Pancratius Jablonski was marvelous in doing this work. She began this work after she retired from her work with the choir boys and teaching Singing in the classrooms for many years in St. Anselm' s grade school. Sister Pancratius had done this ministry with the elderly for ten years before I joined in working with her. We would go out visiting together many times. Sometimes, we separated and went via foot to visit some shut-ins. When I had to physically cut back on some ofthis visiting, I would call some elderly people on the phone. If the weather was decent, I went out to visit at the hospitals and nursing homes. At times, I went to see Sister Beatrice McQuade' s mother who was at a nursing home residence in Homestead. Mrs. McQuade was very happy and contented there. From there, the driver would take me down the street to see a little hunchback. In the same area, it was possible for me to visit a person with multiplesclerosis.
SMCM: Sister, do you remember anything else about some of our senior sisters in your experiences as a young sister?
SMGMcM: Well, when I was in the infirmary, I would have to pass trays. One time, Sister Mary Cecelia Schwab had a tracheotomy tube which she coughed up and lost. I had to get down on my
hands and knees to find it, which I did. Then it had to be sterilized and reinserted. It was only a few years later that sister transferred to an enclosed Order.
Sister Generosa was my superior at Sheraden for one year. She also became an enclosed Dominican in Texas. I keep in touch with sister several times a year. She became known as Sister Mary Michael. She was age ninety-three and a half at our last correspondence and asked me to pray for her as she knew she was coming to the end of her life here on earth.
Our deceased Sister Marie Monica Blickenstorfer was also a good friend of Sister Generosa and corresponded with her over the years.
I also took care of Sister Ambrose Walsh in the Infirmary. She was a heavy set sister and I recall that when she had to go to the hospital, she wouldn't permit anyone but me to go with her in the ambulance. I would serve trays, and when I was finished Sister Grace Barr would ask me to fill in where help was needed. Sister Ambrose became a good friend.
SMCM: Now, was Sister Grace Barr the Infirmarian?
SMGMcM: Yes. There was a Sister M. Julia Byrne in the infirmary who was always saying: "Pray for me, pray for me, I'm afraid to die." One day I said to her: "Sister Julia, why are you afraid to die? You've been a sister for sixty five years, have taught and done many good things during your lifetime?" She said maybe I haven't done enough for God and I said if you haven't done enough, what about us who are just starting out? I understand that she did have a very peaceful death.
There was another old sister...Sister Mary Inez Cronin. After Sister Marion died, I used to take care of Sister Mary Inez and the other infirm sisters by cutting their toe nails, finger nails, hair etc. I did this in the evenings. They were the days when we had night silence. I felt that I had to distract the sisters somehow, especially when doing their feet, so, of course I would talk to them.
One evening, Mother Maria Benedict Monahan approached me and said that she understood I was breaking night silence. I told her that if she meant my talking to the old sisters, that I had checked this out with my confessor, because I was concerned about this, and he told me that I was doing a good thing by talking to the sisters, relieving them of any nervousness or anxiety related to my tending to the aforementioned needs. You can see that throughout my life, I've always taken care of the old and the young. I will continue to do this as long as God gives me the health.
SMcM: Sister, I understand that your sister paid for a tour to Lourdes to celebrate your Silver Jubilee. Would you like to tell us about that?
SMGMcM: Very briefly, I will. My sister in Florida saw an article in their paper stating that Cardinal Spellman was conducting a thirty-six day Mediterranean cruise to Spain, Greece, and other places of interest. This was in 1957. My sister, Betty, wrote to me inviting me to go on the tour with her. She had a heart condition and didn't want to travel this far by herself, but wanted to go to Lourdes which was one of the places scheduled on the tour. I was still living at Holy Innocents in Sheraden at the time. I showed the letter to Sister Vincent de Paul Baker who was our senior sister. I told Sister that this was probably an impossibility. Her reply was:''Nothing
ventured, nothing gained," and said that Mother Claudia Glenn was coming in two weeks and I should present the situation to her. Well, Mother Claudia said that if I could get a teacher to take my place during the time of the tour that I had her permission. I was missioned in August to
Resurrection school in Brookline, so it was here that I needed to get the teacher. When I told Sister Caroline Joseph Wilson, who was the principal at Resurrection, about the tour, she told me that she had a very good primary teacher who could cover for me while I was on the tour. I got all of the seat work duplicated and wrote lesson plans from September the eighth, the day of departure up until October thirteenth, the day of my return. There were twenty-seven school days during that time. When I came back, I found the children to be well instructed, in fact maybe even better taught than ifl was there. I bought each little child a medal from Lourdes and a holy card from Fatima. In my class was a little boy, named James Whalen, who later became Father Jim Whalen.
He became a priest for the diocese of Pittsburgh. He invited me to his ordination. I went to his ordination at St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh, but was unable to attend his first Mass, so I told Sister Mary Louise Molchan to inform him of this, and tell him that I would see him sometime in the near future. Little did I realize that I would see him soon afterward at St. Anselm's, which was his first assignment, going in to say the noon Mass, which I was going to attend. We both got a good laugh about this. He was stationed at St. Anselm's for five years and then was sent to St. Lawrence O'Toole's parish in Garfield. Now he is in charge of the retreats at Gilmary Center. I'm sure that he will be instrumental in bringing many vocations to the church.
Going back to my trip with Betty. We were only on our way out of New York Harbor a day when I met Cardinal Spellman who asked why I was the only sister on the trip.I said: "Because it's school time, Cardinal. I was very fortunate that my sister, Betty, paid my way and also paid for a substitute teacher for me for the twenty-seven days (school days) a substitute teacher was needed in my place. When we reached Lourdes, there were twenty-eight tour buses there to take care of us. The entire ship was given over to the tour. There were thirty-six stairwells blocked and altars set up making it possible for thirty-six priests to celebrate Mass. There were seven hundred thirty six people on the pilgrimage. All of the books were removed from the library so that a chapel would be available.
The stations were erected as was a crucifix. You were free in the morning to pray..say the rosary, make your adoration, etc. Then in the afternoon at four o'clock, we had Benediction. It.was beautiful. My sister and I always went to the eight AM Mass in the theater, because it was Bishop McConnell who said the Mass. Bishop Cook, who was secretary to Cardinal Spellman gave the homilies which wer-e excellent, especially the ones on the Blessed Mother. I told him that he should compile a record of these homilies, especially the ones on Mary because they were so beautiful.
When we got to Lourdes, we stayed one night. There was a candle light procession. I didn't go into the baths, nor did my sister. She wasn't well enough. We did get a supply of Lourde's water which we brought back to the states and gave to different people. From Lourdes we went to Fatima.
Every night we got back on the ship which would go from one point to another. Every evening we returned to the ship for dinner. The seating for the evening meal was rotated so that everyone had an opportunity to sit at the Cardinal's table. We had our picture taken with the Cardinal. At Fatima, there were no finished streets as I'm sure there are now. We were able to walk along these streets in Fatima because the weather was nice. We sang hymns as we walked up to the beautiful basilica in Fatima. From Fatima, we went through the strait of Gibraltar. We went to Greece to the top of the mountain where St. Paul preached. I had my picture taken there. We saw other points of interest in Greece, for example Pompey. Next we went to Spain. At St. James Church in Spain, they have a very heavy relic of St. James. ( I tried to get what sister was saying about this relic, but couldn't). It was suspended somehow and swayed back and forth over the people, blessing them. I
believe she said that the practice had been terminated as it took six men to take care of this procedure. No matter what country we entered, we didn't need our passports as the Cardinal's name was sufficient identification. When we entered France, two men got on the ship and checked our passports, but that was the only place. On our return to the states, we got word that Pope Pius XII was very ill. We knew that he was ill all summer because we could not have a private audience with him. He was suffering from choking spells. He came out on the balcony above a courtyard where we assembled. His message to us was: "Know your angels, pray to your angels because they are the ones who will some day take your soul to God." This was the theme of his homily as it was the month of October when we especially honor the angels. This was Friday. Sunday evening, we received word that the Pope was dying. He had in fact had a stroke. We kept perpetual adoration on the ship. The Cardinal got word on Friday that the Pope had died. The ship turned around and went to the Azores where the Cardinal was met by some Americans who flew him to Rome. The day after the Cardinal left ship, we got into a terrible hurricane. We didn't realize that it was as bad as we were later told. We thought it was just a bad storm. Actually, we were told that there was fear of the ship breaking in two. We did, however, arrive safely in New York. Then it was that Father Gray (I think this is whom she said) gave me the Pope' s Zuchetta because Cardinal Spellman had told me that he would give it to me when we got to New York. He did this because there were many women who would have liked getting it. He gave me the last one which the Pope had worn, because he said the Pope took it off his head, handed it to the Cardinal and said: "God bless Sister." When we returned to the states, I sent the Pope's cap to all the schools in Pittsburgh for the children to see. I kept the zuchetta myself for about a year after it had been shown to the children in the
various schools. Then I thought to myself how foolish of me to keep it personally...that it belonged in our Archives in Greensburg, so I sent it there. I feel in my heart that some day Pope Pius XII will be canonized. My sister did not receive a physical cure, but spiritually she felt very peaceful and happy because of the tour. Betty worked as a nurse in the hospital in New York for a few more years, but she contracted whooping cough and the doctor advised her to move to Florida. Her husband took a six month leave from his work and went with Betty. He liked it so well that he stayed there. My sister was never able to have children, but she and her husband adopted a boy when they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she and her husband lived happily for thirty five years. Betty died from a stroke in 1969.
Then my brother felt that he should take over where Betty left off. He took me and my friend, Rosie, on a lovely Carribean cruise for ten days. This was for my Golden Jubilee. It was sad to see the difference between how the rich lived on one side of the island as opposed to how the poor lived on the other side. The little children were constantly begging for money. We were cautioned not to give them any, but I gave them some anyhow as I felt they needed it.
The last trip that I had with my brother, was with Rosie to Ireland. The only way my brother would go is if someone went with him. So I feel that in my lifetime I have been blessed getting to see many things that other sisters have not seen. I am very grateful to the Lord for all His blessings over the years.
SMCM: Thank you, Sister Mary Guido, for sharing so many things about your life. This tape will be kept in the Archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg.
Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: This oral history for Sister Mary Guido McMillan was transcribed from cassette tapes by me. It was completed on March 29. 2011.
Original Format
Audio cassette tape
Duration
31:02
27:59
27:59
Bit Rate/Frequency
96kHz
Collection
Citation
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, “Oral History: Sister Mary Guido McMillan,” Collections of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, https://scsharchives.com/items/show/704.
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