Dear Guild Member,

It has been some time since we published our last Guild

newsletter, but we are looking forward to sending it out once

again. We are eager to share the progress of Rose Hawthorne’s

cause for canonization, information related to the cause, and

information about the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of

God. The Guild exists to spread awareness of Rose Hawthorne’s

life and promote devotion to her by encouraging people to ask for

her intercession for any of their needs. We welcome you to report

favors you or those you know have received through her

intercession. We are also grateful for the ongoing spiritual and

financial support that Guild members provide as we continue

with the lengthy process of canonization.

In this issue, we will share with you a short list of articles and

other media about Mother Alphonsa that you might be interested in reading and sharing. Mother has

been in the news several times in the past few years and we are very glad to see more people learning

about her through different media outlets. We will also reflect on why the canonization of Rose

Hawthorne is timely for the Church and the world today. Lastly, in this and in every issue we will tell you

about some of the favors people have received through Rose Hawthorne’s intercession.

Please share this newsletter with anyone who might be interested and invite others to join the Guild.

We welcome all who are interested to spread the word about Mother Alphonsa and the effort to have her

canonized. We look forward to sharing more with all of you in the coming months and to welcoming new

members to the Rose Hawthorne Guild!

Welcome back!

Guild Membership and Spiritual Benefits Many Catholics are still unaware of Rose Hawthorne and her influence as a spiritual intercessor,

mentor and friend. Because she was a convert, wife, mother and religious foundress, she serves as

an example of Christian perfection and holiness to a wide range of people. As members of the Guild

we should make her life and spiritual help known among family, friends and others who might

benefit by her prayers and example. Please use the contact information on the back of the newsletter

to direct others to the Guild so that we can let more people know the good news of Mother

Alphonsa’s virtue, vision and mission. If you are interested in helping people to seek her intercession

for their needs there is also a form to request prayer cards, which have the prayer for canonization

on them. Don’t forget, there are spiritual benefits attached to Guild membership. Not only is there a

monthly Mass celebrated for Guild members and their families, but during the seasons of Christmas

and Easter members are remembered at a novena of Masses offered for their intentions. At other

times, we will announce special novenas or Masses for the intentions of Guild members and their

families. You are also joined in prayer to the Sisters whenever you pray the prayer for canonization.

The Rose Hawthorne Guild V O L U M E I I S S U E I

W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

Rose Hawthorne-A Life Seeking Perfect Love How many of us have lost a loved one? A beloved parent, sibling, spouse

or even a child? How many have suffered in a marriage that began full of love and

ended with much pain and difficulty? How many people have suffered financial

trouble? Or the desire to do something more with their lives without knowing what

it was? How many families experience frequent moves and change from one place

to the next? How common are family rifts and conflicts – sometimes with harsh

words and long periods of silence? And how many have found their home in the

Catholic Church, converting to the faith despite the criticism of others? If you have

experienced any of the above then you have a friend in Rose Hawthorne Lathrop

who experienced all of them. In addition, she was a writer, an artist, was very well

educated and well traveled. Some people might wonder - why seek to canonize yet

another saint? The first answer to that question is easy enough – can there ever be

enough? Saints are living examples of the beauty of God’s love, the startling variety

of lives given wholly over to God. To know the saints is to become fascinated by

what God can do in one’s life if we are brave enough to surrender entirely to Him.

A second answer is that the particular story of Rose Hawthorne is one which God will use in many different

people’s lives because she had such a rich and varied life. Her life was full of joys and sorrows that many people can

identify with. She knew the joy of a close and caring family as she grew up. She knew the heartbreak of the death of

loved ones – her beloved father Nathaniel, in 1864; her mother, Sophia, in 1871; her only sister, Una, in 1877; and her

son Francis in 1881 at only five years old. Another one of her greatest joys became one of her greatest sources of pain–

her marriage to George Parsons Lathrop. Their unexpected union in September 1871 was based on genuine mutual love

but was a source of discord in both families. Her brother Julian was furious and he and the couple were at odds for

several years. The family wound did heal over time but future conflicts between the two men reopened it more than

once. In addition, the marriage itself became troubled as George struggled with alcoholism. It appears from some of

Rose’s letters that he also became abusive. By 1895 the marriage was unsalvageable. With the permission of her local

Bishop, after a series of letters displaying heroic obedience and docility to the Church, Rose and George separated and

remained apart until his death in 1898.

Before their separation the Lathrops converted to Catholicism, entering into full communion with the Catholic

Church on March 19, 1891. This was a bold step and received criticism not only from those close to them but also from

newspapers and public opinion. After their conversion, Rose and George were very active in different Catholic

undertakings such as helping to run a Catholic summer school in New England and coauthoring a book on the

Georgetown Visitation nuns. As early as 1892 she expresses a great admiration for those consecrated wholly to God as

priests and religious, writing to a friend “…but to know these priests and nuns at all intimately is to know that their

daily energy, their daily renunciation of natural impulses for comfort and ease and freedom from moral severity

possess a power and virtue beyond our lay energy, our lay asceticism.” Here we see not a criticism of the laity – whom

she earlier praised in the attendees of the classes – but rather indications of her nascent desire to give more to God. In

her journal entry of January 14, 1893, we see the same growing desire, tucked in amid the normality of daily life and

notes about George’s sickness. She writes briefly “Asked at the Memorare that my

life be made a willing sacrifice.”

In the years to come, God answered her prayer repeatedly. In 1894 Rose heard from

Fr. Alfred Young, CSP (her and George’s instructor in the faith) the story of an

impoverished young seamstress sent to die on Blackwell Island after her diagnosis of

incurable cancer. This story touched Rose’s heart and with a deepening life of prayer,

led her to begin serving the destitute with incurable cancer after her separation from

George. After a three month nursing course at the New York Cancer Hospital, she set

out for the Lower East Side to find a new home for those she intended to care for.

This work consumed the last thirty years of her life and provides one more reason

why her canonization is propitious today. In every person she cared for, Rose

Hawthorne saw Christ and recognized the dignity of each person-no matter how sick

or disfigured they were. She saw their worth, the value of their lives, and the value of

their suffering when united to Christ. She had a burning desire to alleviate that

suffering and thereby serve the person in front of her and console Christ in His Passion.

P A G E 2

In stark contrast to this vision of loving and caring for a person in accord with their dignity, in today’s world we

see an increasing push for euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Other countries, notably the Netherlands and

Canada, have consistently promoted and expanded laws that allow and encourage the hastening of death, even in children.

As of March 2018, active human euthanasia or assisted suicide is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Columbia, Luxemborg,

Canada, Switzerland, Germany and parts of the United States. In the United States, the euthanasia movement is very

active. Currently nine states and the District of Columbia have statutes allowing for physician-assisted suicide. Nineteen

states are considering some sort of “right to die” statute during this year/legislative session. These statistics may make

many people feel discouraged about protecting human dignity at the end of life. For all those struggling with end-of-life

decisions, incurable illnesses or questions of their value when their health and ability decline-and for their loved ones who

struggle with them- Rose Hawthorne’s work with the cancerous poor provides encouragement. Compassion means to

suffer with and she suffered with Christ’s poor – taking them into her own home, giving them the best of what she had,

going without, sometimes even without essentials, so that they could have a little more and come to know the love of God

through her efforts. She lived every day to give them comfort and let them know that they were a blessing, not a burden.

She wanted them to know that their lives mattered regardless of what their illness had taken away from them, and that

their souls were precious to God. Her efforts helped people come to peace with their mortality and with God. In our

current culture there is a critical space for the life and witness of Rose Hawthorne. We pray, along with everyone in the

Guild, that God raises her up as one of his many canonized saints so that more people will come to know about her and

her care for those entering the last stage of life. Her life shows that the end of life is a place where God remains

particularly close to every person and that they, and indeed each of us in every stage of life, are loved, worthy of time,

respect, the best of care and true compassion.

N E X T T I M E : What virtues aided Mother in her heroic life of service? We will begin a series of articles on

the virtues of Rose Hawthorne in the next issue, beginning with Faith.

Rose Hawthorne (Mother Mary Alphonsa), pray for us! Favors received through her intercession

“Shortly before I found out that M. had

lymphoma, I found a prayer card to

Mother Mary Alphonsa. [After finding

out] I prayed the prayer...about a

dozen times. I received word that M.’s

cancer is gone, or at least in

remission...I’m [still] praying to

Mother Mary Alphonsa that M.’s cancer

does not return.” -L.H from Danbury,

CT

“I have been catechizing an elderly

woman...whose daughter is not

Christian. [Her daughter] is dying of

cancer but had an upswing suddenly so

she can go home for a while...The

improvement happened after I asked

another Dominican to pray and she

asked the intercession of Rose

Hawthorne.” - T.S. from Lousiville, KY

“On Aug 4th I was experiencing a pain

in my right side...After conducting a

scan [at the emergency room] it was

discovered that I had a sizeable cyst on

my left ovary. No one could explain the

pain on my right side…The doctor told

me that the cyst could not be ruled out

as cancerous. They took a specialized

blood test [to look for cancer markers]

and told me to come back on August

14th to see the Doctor.

I had just recently become aware of

Mother Mary Alphonsa’s life through a

random encounter on the internet with

her website! The relic and prayer cards

had arrived only a few days earlier. I

began to pray to Rose Hawthorne

using the prayer card from your Guild,

that the cyst would not be cancer. In

the 10 days before my follow-up

appointment I prayed the prayer most

days– I would say “for the favour of a

diagnosis of non-cancer”.

Today was the follow-up appointment

and I was told that the blood test came

back as normal and the indicators

pointed to a non-cancerous

cyst….Thank you for your intervention

on my behalf Rose Hawthorne...I will

continue to thank you and pray for

your canonization.” - M.K. from

Ontario

P A G E 3

T H E R O S E H A W T H O R N E G U I L D

P A G E 4

Mother in the Media:

Crisis Magazine “Rose Hawthorne Lathrop’s Ministry of Mercy” by John F. Quinn, 2014

National Catholic Register and republished in Catholic News Agency “Mother Mary Alphonsa, Daughter of

Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Now Called a Servant of God” blog by Stephanie Mann, 2017

Aleteia “After an abusive marriage, Rose Hawthorne consecrated her life to cancer patients.” by Mathilde De

Robien, 2019

The Berkshire Eagle “A (possible) saint for terminal cancer patients” by Jennifer Huberdeau, 2019

Dolan Productions “Mother Mary Alphonsa: Servant of God The Story of Rose Hawthorne Lathrop” an original

documentary for EWTN, 2017

Word on Fire featured our community and the continuing work and vision of Mother Alphonsa in the “Pivotal

Players” episode on St. Catherine of Siena, 2016

The Guild Needs New Members!

Please contact us:

Phone (914) 769 0114 Fax: (914) 769 0827

Email: guild@hawthorne-dominicans.org

Website: www.hawthorne-dominicans.org

Postal Service: Rose Hawthorne Guild

600 Linda Avenue

Hawthorne, NY 10532

I would like to join the Guild! Please add the

following name to receive information and

material from the Guild:

Name

Address

State Zip Code

City

Mass Intentions

Please remember these

specific intentions in the

Monthly Mass offered for

Guild Members

Please support the Guild:

For a $10 donation we will send one of the

following gifts of your choice:

Pink Acrylic beads Rose Hawthorne Rosary

Brown Acrylic beads Rose Hawthorne Rosary

Rose Hawthorne Guild Notecards—pack of 8 cards and envelopes

For a $5 donation we will send one of the

following gifts of your choice:

Rose Hawthorne Guild post-it notes — 6 pads, 50 notes in each pad

A booklet of Mother Mary Alphonsa’s quotes from her letters and writings

I would like to spread devotion to Mother Mary Alphonsa, please send me _____ pray-er cards (no donation necessary, please specify number of cards )

Please send my prayer cards in Spanish

*The prayer for the Canonization of Rose Hawthorne is also available on our website*

Rose Hawthorne Guild

600 Linda Avenue

Hawthorne, NY 10532