THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River
13
Fri., Jan. 14, 1994
Doctor-nun star graduate of her grade school class BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) Elementary school classmates of Medical Mission Sister Eileen Niedfield point to her as an example of the contribution made by Catholic education. She was the featured speaker when the 1933 class of St. Saviour Parish elementary school of Brooklyn gathered for a 60th anniversary reunion. Sister Niedfield graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1951, then qualified as a surgeon with a residency at the Georgetown University Hospital. Her missionary service of 34 years was spent at hospitals of her order in India, except for two years in a government hospital in Bhutan, a small border kingdom between India and Tibet. There were many connections between her order and Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity, Sister Neidfield said. "She worked in one of our hospitals briefly to learn about medical work, we've trained her sisters and she talks at our graduations," she said. Now 73, Sister Niedfield is again living in the United States, but not thinking of retirement. She is living with other members of her order in San Diego, and has taken on three jobs there. She said she did not want to continue surgery, but in order to
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do general practice she had to pass a California exam. That done, she works parttime in three clinics, at one of them seeing HIVand AIDS patients. "I was interested in AIDS because I felt there was a great need not just medically but also socially and spiritually," Sister Niedfield said. Many patients express a desire for God and for changing their lives, she said. So she has opportunities to help them "turn their lives around," and sometimes offers suggestions such as the reading of certain Psalms, she said. Sister Niedfield also volunteers parttime at the St. Vincent de Paul Joan Krock Medical Clinic, which mostly serves homeless people. Her third job, also involving some AIDS patients, is at a clinic operated by the Episcopal Church. One reason for the founding of the Medical Mission Sisters, said Sister Niedfield, was to care for women in areas of the world where men objected to having women in their families examined by male doctors. In San Diego too, she said, women themselves often indicate greater comfort in talking with a woman doctor. "I will be seeing them to deal with one thing, and they will bring up other problems because I am a woman," she said.
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TOP PICTURE, the peaceful grounds and bt,lildings ofSt. Joseph Abbey, Spencer; below, Trappist Father Adrian Proback watches jars of Trappist Preserves as they emerge from pasteurization. (eNS/ Fred LeBlanc photos)
Preserves help pres'erveTrappist life By Peggy Weber The Catholic Observer Springfidd SPENCER, Mass. (CNS) -It's a gooey, sticky business. But these monks know how to do it. During the holiday season, many people give or receive Trappist preserves made and packed by the monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Spencer. The 75 Trappists own nearly 2,000 acres in rural Spencer. Most of their buildings are made of stone and were built by the monks who came to the an:a in 1950. The manufacturing facility contains cooking, bottling, packing and shipping areas for Trappist Preserves. For about five and a half hours on most days, a dozen monks are involved in production of the jams, jellies and marmalades, with another eight helping with the packing of orders. The monks make the preserves 10 months out of the year. "Last year we sold about 95,000 cases of preserves," said Father Dominic Whedbee, director of Trappist Preserves. Each case holds a dozen 12-ounce jars or 48 threeounce jars. On one recent clay, the monks were making 600 cases of seedless red raspberry jam - one of the most popular selections. Other favorites are strawberry and blueberry preservf:s and red raspberry jam.
For those unfamiliar with the distinctions 'among spreads, Father Whedbee explains: Preserves are made with whole fruit, jellies from the juice of fruits, marmalades with fruit juic~ and peel, and jams with pureed fruit. The monks also make conserve from whole fruit, raisins and walnuts. The jam was being prepared under the watchful ,eyes of Brother Francis Mohr, director of quality control, and Brother William James, head cook, who has been making the preserves since 1963. "He hovt:rs over each batch as if it were the first he eVer made," said Father Placid Sweeney, director of public relation~ for the Trappists. "It is this kind of quality and care that makes our preserves so good. The monks use "no preservatives, artificial colorings or artificial flavors," he said. "A while back our strawberry preserves won an award from a cooking magazine and the judgeS said that it was unfortunate that artificial coloring had to be used. They couldn't believe that such good color could be attained naturally. But it is." The Trappist monks were not always in the pre~erves business. Father Sweeney said Father Patrick Brown's stovetop operation of making wine jellies got the abbey involved. Father Whedbee also recalled that Brother John Berchmanns grew mint in the monks garden
and made mint jelly for a neighbor. The neighbor,pleasantly surprised that the jelly was not cloudy, asked for more. Soon it was being sold at the abbey. From those beginnings the business mushroomed and now includes 25 fruit and six wine flavors. The operation was automated in the late 1950s and then Trappist Preserves were picked up by a variety of distributors. They are also sold by mail and at the abbey's gift shop. "We export to Japan and Canada and have customers in all the United States, but most of our business is on the East Coast," said Father Whedbee, noting that the food industry by nature has its ups and downs. "We've been carried by many good and loyal distributors but last year we lost four," he said. "It's a hard thing to predict because it is seasonal. It's a tough market and very competitive." The Trappists rely chiefly on their preserves to support their life in Spencer although they also have another industry, the Holy Rood Guild, which manufactures vest- ' ments. . "You must remember that, unlike Smucker's, we are not here for the sake of producing Trappist Preserves," said Father Sweeney. "We could expand, but we do this work to make income to preserve our monastic life."
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