| 
When was St. Bernard's Founded?
St. Bernard's Hospital came into being on July 6, 1900 as the
result of the combined effords of Dr. C.M. Lutterich, Rev. J.E.
Welbel, Mr. J.F. Mason, and the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters,
all of Jonesboro.
Why was St. Bernard's Founded?
After the town had gone through the scourge of smallpox and
malaria fever epidemics, the Sisters, through still in debt
$4,000 for their convent, decided that they, regardless of their
lack of funds, would open the hospital.
Why is the Hospital called St. Bernard's?
The Sisters who founded St. Bernard's belong to the Olivetan
Benedictine Congregation, which was founded by St. Bernard
Ptolomel, born in 1272.
In the year 1343, the plague broke out in Italy, and St. Bernard
sent all his monks to care for the sick and dying throughout the
country. About eighty monks, following the example of their
Abbott Bernard, died in the service off those afflicted with the
plague.
It is most certainly by following the spirit of charity of their
founder that the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters established a
hospital in Jonesboro and named it after their glorious founder.
"Above and before all things, care must be taken of the sick,
that they may truly be served as Christ himself." |
