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'Full Circle' Hawthorne Dominicans bring remains of founder's mother and sister home to Concord By CLAUDIA McDONNELL Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of "The Scarlet Letter" and other classics of American letters, left more than a literary legacy. His daughter Rose, a convert to Catholicism, founded the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who have provided free care to poor cancer patients for more than 100 years. Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia Peabody, had a deeply happy and loving marriage but were separated in death. Hawthorne was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Mass., the town where the Hawthorne family had lived for some years. The widowed Sophia and the couple's three children moved to England; Sophia and her daughter Una died there and were buried in London. Now the remains of Sophia and Una Hawthorne are being brought home for burial beside Nathaniel, thanks to the Hawthorne Dominicans and some of their friends on both sides of the Atlantic. "It's the right thing to do," said Mother Anne Marie Holden, O.P., superior general, who is based at the motherhouse at Rosary Hill Home in Hawthorne. The sisters visit the grave-all are brought there as novices-and Mother Anne Marie remarked that they have always wished that the Hawthornes could be buried together. Now they will be, but the relocation of the graves is more than a wish fulfilled. To the sisters' surprise, media interest in the story and in the tender love of Sophia and Nathaniel Hawthorne has generated interest in Rose Hawthorne and her work. That is particularly important to the congregation now, because Rose Hawthorne's cause for canonization has been introduced in Rome. Sister Mary de Paul Mullen, O.P., director of nursing at Rosary Hill Home, said in an interview that the congregation had tried to have a movie made about Rose's life. The project was too costly, she said, and it was dropped. Now a tide of publicity is rushing in. Sister de Paul said she is "weary with excitement" after being interviewed by reporters from media outlets in North America and overseas. "We had no idea that it would have world repercussions," she told CNY. "They're interested in England, in Canada, in Australia, in India. We couldn't have paid for this, couldn't have made it happen. But it happened." How it happened is a tale that's worthy of Hawthorne. After Nathaniel died in 1864, Sophia had to manage on a more modest income; she moved to Europe with the couple's children-including their son, Julian-because it was cheaper to live there. They went first to Germany and then to England, which they loved. Sophia died in 1871, Una in 1877. They were buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, now the oldest English cemetery still in operation. For many years the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne-founded by Rose in 1900-paid for the upkeep of the Hawthorne plot. Early last year the cemetery superintendent notified the sisters that the plot needed extensive and costly repairs. The roots of a hawthorn tree that was planted there had damaged the graves; then the tree had fallen and knocked over Una's headstone. The superintendent e-mailed photos showing the damage. Sister Mary de Paul said that the sisters were discussing the situation one day when one of them mentioned that grave markers had previously been placed alongside Nathaniel Hawthorne's plot to commemorate Sophia and Una. "Why don't we bring them back?" she asked. "It was simpler than we thought," Mother Mary de Paul said. The congregation used an English company, Kenyon Christopher Henley International Funeral Directors, that specializes in repatriation. "They did everything they could to keep it cost-efficient for us," she said. The bill was $15,000. Sister Mary de Paul said that the sisters also will pay for the vaults at the Concord cemetery; all other costs in the United States are being covered by donations. There will be a public ceremony in Concord on Monday, June 26, to mark the reburial of Sophia and Una Hawthorne. About 10 sisters, including Mother Anne Marie, will attend; sisters also will attend the private interment ceremony. Also taking part that day will be the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, a scholarly group whose members include a Hawthorne Dominican, Sister Mary Joseph, O.P., administrator of St. Rose's Home in Manhattan. She told CNY that moving the graves is "very appropriate." "Nathaniel and Sophia had a very loving marriage, and it was a close-knit family," she said. "It was difficult for them to be separated in life, so I think there's a kind of poetic justice in the fact that they're being brought together now." She added that Rose Hawthorne wrote about the influence her parents had on her work. "They both had a great sense of social concern, a deep sense of compassion and of justice," Sister Mary Joseph said. Sister Mary de Paul said that the story of the reburial touches hearts because "we all have this deep, human desire to believe that the love of a man and woman is eternal in God's plan." "No one wants the here-and-now love," she said. "They want the love that's eternal, that goes beyond the grave." Mother Anne Marie told CNY that the reburial has special significance for the sisters. "Rose Hawthorne always admired her father so much," she said. "I really think the beginning of her conversion was looking at how her father treated poor people. She often spoke of that. Being able to bring the whole family together-it kind of brings everything full circle." Rose Hawthorne had married before becoming a Catholic; she converted with her husband, George Lathrop. The marriage fell into difficulty and the couple separated, but they had a son, Francis, who died at age 5 and also is buried in the Hawthorne family plot. Rose, who was known as Mother Alphonsa in religious life, is buried at the motherhouse in Hawthorne. The congregation she founded also is known as the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer. The sisters operate five homes in the United States-including the two in the archdiocese, Rosary Hill and St. Rose's-and plan to open another in Kisumu, Kenya, in 2007. They accept no money from patients or their families, but rely on the providence of God and the generosity of donors. Sister Mary de Paul said that the congregation is "known to be very generous," and that its generosity has come back to it in the return of Sophia and Una to Nathaniel's side. "It's almost like an opera," she mused-two lovers separated in death, nuns bringing them back together. Operas, of course, often end in tragedy. This story ends in a joyful, if postmortem, reunion. In another sense, it doesn't end at all. Rose Hawthorne's work of love and mercy goes on, and the crowning touch could be her canonization. Not even Hawthorne could have written it better. | |