Having left the sisters in the hands of Bishop O’Hara, Chaplain Tighe returned blissfully to Florida feeling his part of the promise was fulfilled. But God wasn’t finished with him yet. Once again, a phone call from Kansas City shattered his peace. This time it was Bishop O’Hara calling him home immediately. He tried his old excuses for returning to Kansas City, but the Bishop could not be put off; he returned to Kansas City the next day.
This time, Bishop O’Hara was asking Father Tighe not to talk the sisters out of something, but to talk them into something. Bishop O’Hara had procured an old hospital, located on Ninth and Harrison Streets. His dream was to convert the hospital into a home for the elderly. He felt this was the perfect project for the sisters. However, the sisters were missionary, trained for teaching, and with no experience in the care of the elderly. The sisters were ready to return to Spain for this just did not fit their missionary calling. Chaplain Tighe, nevertheless, rose to the occasion. Using his gift of persuasion and the powers above to convince the sisters to stay, he was able to sway them. It was a chance; it was a beginning for them and from this point their missionary dreams could be fulfilled as well.
This decision would not only forever change the life of the sisters, but it had far reaching consequences for Father Tighe. He knew he could not bluff the Bishop any longer. The promise made to the sisters was now his mission, and he saw that he could never go back on that promise made on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on an island called Saipan. Within two weeks he left the Army, returned to his Diocese of Kansas City and continued to dedicate his time to helping the sisters fulfill their dream. Five other Mercedarian sisters had joined them by now, and Bishop O’Hara was magnanimous in allowing them to use his residence until their permanent residence on Ninth Street was completed. The task would prove daunting; remodeling the five story hospital, cleaning and painting and taking English classes kept the sisters on a tight schedule. But the heart of Jesus continued its beat. There was nothing that faith and dedication could not overcome.
As the “miracle” on Ninth Street began to take shape, Father Tighe was assigned to a parish in Joplin, far from the Mercedarian sisters. But as God would have it, Bishop O’Hara called him again to help out with fundraising for the sisters. Using his Irish charm and oratorical skills, he placed himself at the service of fundraising, and raised $100,000– just the amount needed to refurbish the old hospital which would become Our Lady of Mercy Home. And on November 1, 1947, the home opened, with sunny smiles from the sisters, ready to offer the residents health care with a religious dimension. It was a promise fulfilled—a “Triumph of the Sacred Heart.” It was the ‘Miracle on Ninth Street.” But it didn’t end there.
Life is full of snags, and another one arose for the sisters. This time it was Immigration. The student visas of the sisters had expired and Immigration Officials had come to tell the sisters they needed to leave the country immediately. Another call came to Father Tighe.
He returned to Kansas City and sprang into action. Since Father Tighe had made so many friends among Catholics and Protestants alike, everyone did their part to keep the sisters in Kansas City. The urgent need was a Special Act of Congress granting the sisters permanent residence in the United States. A bill allowing the sisters to remain in the country was introduced into the U.S. Congress, but was not reported out of the Judiciary Committee. But no one gave up hope. With the assistance of Harry Darby, Interim Kansas State Senator, plus the efforts of loyal friends, the bill was eventually passed. Harry S. Truman, then the U.S. President, signed into law the bill granting permanent residence to the first Mercedarian Sisters in the United States. Truly amazing! But the truth is when God is in charge, anything is possible.
This “miracle” eventually led to another “miracle” on another Ninth Street in Troy, New York. The Infantry Division of Troy, New York, who had laid down their lives in order to liberate the island of Saipan, found inspiration in Mercedarian Sr. Genoveva’s death during the liberation of Saipan. Though the promise on the flyleaf of the dictionary was not explicit, the men from Troy became a part of that promise to the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz.
In 1955, the promise made on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart in Saipan, unfolded yet again when the sisters met Father Francis Woods who had come to Kansas City with the Rosary Crusade. Sister Josephine helped him with the translation of the Crusade materials into Spanish. In return she asked only that he ask the Lord to bless the Mercedarians with American missionary vocations, because there were so few at the time. This request reached heaven. Not long afterwards, Bishop William Scully of Albany, New York, the home diocese of Father Francis Woods, welcomed the sisters to Troy, New York for parish ministry, youth ministry and social work. In July 1958, Sr. Josephine and five other sisters arrived in Troy. Upon their arrival they met the Mayor himself, John J. Purcell, who had served as a brigadier general with the 105th Infantry on Saipan, as well as other servicemen who had known the sisters from Saipan.
A three story Victorian house awaited them at Ninth Street and Ingalls Ave. God not only gives, but gives in abundance! This was the second “Miracle on Ninth Street”! The promise made on that day in 1945, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, was fulfilled in a way that neither Major Arthur Tighe, nor the sisters, could have ever imagined and while many heroes and heroines generously cooperated with these events, special tribute goes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And it doesn’t end here . . . the final excerpt will be next week.
