A Woman For All Seasons

In his Bishop’s(?) Corner for August 20, 2017, Daniel Dolan happened to mention that “Tomorrow is Sr. Jeanne Marie’s feast day, and we wish Sister a blessed one, with many prayers for a speedy and secure recovery. God keep her, and all of our shut in in His loving care.”  Oh, how thoughtful of Dannie – if he had only meant it!  Dannie, Tradistan’s master of affectation, loves to name-drop and to drop “F-bombs”¹ (Flattery, that is) whenever he can – token praise for his groveling cult slaves who toil for him, and who credulously swallow his weekly doses of candy-coated insincerity.

But Dannie doesn’t stop there.  His favorite use of flattery and name-dropping is for eulogizing the deceased – especially those whose memory is revered by the Gerties (and hence do him the greatest material good) – Bernie Brueggemann, for instance.  Bernie was SGG’s all-time biggest benefactor, both spiritually and materially; and hence Dannie has used every opportunity he can to resurrect his memory for “public relations” reasons.  He knows that Bernie is still remembered and revered by most of his Gerties, and that he can still get a lot of “mileage” out of using his name.

We too have invoked Bernie’s name – but not for the same reasons.  Rather, we have reported about how he was taken advantage of by Dannie, and then discarded after Dannie had drained him of his last bit of cash.  We have eulogized Bernie several times, dubbing him (in one of our articles) “a man for all seasons.”  (Click here for article.)  Well, we’d like to take this opportunity to do the same for someone else – only this time, a “woman for all seasons”: Sister Gerard Vincent.  “Sister Gerard” (as she was commonly called) was an older nun who had taken her vows long before Vatican II, but who had left her order after the “changes,” and who eventually ended up at SGG.

Sister Gerard was the one bright spot in SGG’s otherwise dreary landscape, a real nun “from the old school.”  She was, as they say, “the genuine article,” not one of Dannie’s “new creations” (i.e., a “newly minted nun” from one of the fake “orders” that he invented).  Sister Gerard, too (unlike her younger counterparts) was well versed in the old Faith, and -- “old school” nun that she was --  was suited for any task, especially teaching.  A native New Yorker (from Brooklyn), she was “no-nonsense,” but also a jovial and gentle soul, always with a cheerful smile -- and who always had a kind word (and a joke to tell) for everyone.  Her only “weakness” was that, being an older nun separated from her former order (and therefore bereft of its material benefits), she was entirely dependent on Dannie and Tony for her daily sustenance (and, indeed, for all things “material”) – a vulnerable (and thus bad) situation in which to be.

And being the obedient, conscientious, trusting soul that she was, she soon found herself being exploited by Dannie  – because that’s what Dannie does: he takes advantage of people – especially the good ones; and when he can no longer “profit” by them, he discards them (as he did Bernie).  And it was no different with Sr. Gerard.  While she was “productive,” she not only taught, but helped out with SGG social functions (and everything else).  But, with age, she inevitably “slowed down.”  And as this happened, so too "did her star fall” at SGG: the younger nuns – especially the “game-players,” i.e., those who “sucked up” to Dannie, got preferential treatment, while Sr. Gerard became, by degrees, a “non-entity.”

Once having her pick of the most comfortable quarters, she was gradually relegated to smaller and smaller ones, until she ended up In a “postage-stamp” sized bedroom (that had to “double” as an office).  Her one pleasure – her pet cat – she had to give up because one of the younger nuns – one of Dannie’s “favorites” -- was “allergic” to it.²  (Yes, Dannie, who had three cats of his own, made her get rid of hers!)  The cat was taken away, and placed with a new owner.  But the cat, believe it or not, found its way back to the convent; and, climbing a tree in the convent’s front yard, it re-entered through her bedroom window.  But Dannie, when he found out, ordered it removed again.  Sr. Gerard was heartbroken; but, being the obedient soul that she was, she submitted to the mitered maggot’s will – to this impolitic act of cruelty that was so deplorably, but oh so quintessentially, so predictably “Dannie.”

Sr. Gerard, as we said, was an older nun when she came to SGG – so much older that she was, in fact, due to celebrate there her golden jubilee (fifty years) of being a nun, when she fell and broke a bone in her hip – an injury that required her to go into “rehab” for a while.  Because of that, her jubilee celebration (which was to be held in SGG’s “social hall”) was “postponed.” ³  But the celebration never came to pass.  Claiming that she was needed back at SGG, Dannie cut her recuperation short and “pressed her back into service” prematurely, whereupon she fell again.  This time, she didn’t recover.  Shortly afterward, she died.  Dannie, however, did not waste the funds earmarked for her celebration: he spent them on a party for one of those aforementioned “newly minted nuns.”  (This nun, by the way – after much mistreatment by Dannie -- later left the religious life, and returned to the lay state.)

And not only did His Expediency take advantage of Sr. Gerard’s passing to “recycle” her jubilee money for another purpose, but he also exploited it in other ways.  Because Sr. Gerard, for instance, was (as was Bernie Brueggemann) so well liked by all of SGG’s parishioners, Dannie has – you guessed it -- often invoked her memory to his advantage.  On one occasion (in his Nov. 23, 2014 ’Corner), Dannie quipped, “Only 22 years ago dear Sr. Gerard suggested we should have a parish dinner for St Gertrude’s Day, and did most of the cooking herself!  What wonderful memories, what great examples, what an enduring cause for thanks!”  [Yeah, Dannie – it’s too bad that you didn’t give her a dinner!]  And some months earlier (in his June 8, 2014 ’Corner), Dannie oozed this: “God reward the clergy, religious (Sr. Gerard Vincent especially), and laity who so generously gave of themselves in the hour of need for what needed to be done in those early days of the Catholic restoration.” 

May God indeed reward “Sr. Gerard Vincent especially” – but we can’t predict the same for Dannie!  He, so saccharine and sweet in his praise for her after her decease, yet so cruelly abusive to her during her life – but what else could one expect from His Malevolency?  That’s Dannie’s modus operandi.  That’s what he does: he uses and abuses people while they’re living -- and then, after their death, he invokes their memory for whatever advantage he can derive from it.

Did Sr. Gerard realize that Dannie was a scoundrel?  Yes indeed!  But like many, she was at first “taken in” by Dannie’s unctuous charm.  Gradually, however, she came to see him for the scoundrel that he is – and that his “mousy grin” was more that of a malevolent rat.  Certainly by the time of his cruel mistreatment of her, she knew “what was what.”  But by that time, it was too late: old and infirm, she had nowhere else to go.  Some say that, because of her cruel mistreatment, she “died of a broken heart.”  Well, it certainly saddened her.  But, being the true Catholic that she was, she realized that this world’s “vale of tears” is a transient thing, and that she would find eternal joy in the next.  She therefore resigned herself to God’s will, and died at peace with her Maker.  And we’re sure that when she met her Maker, it wasn’t long afterward that she partook of that joy.  We wish we could say the same for Dannie – but we doubt if that will be the case.

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¹ Not to be confused with the kind of “F-bombs” that a certain “door mouse” used to drop (back in his seminary days in Écône).

² This younger nun, along with another nun (and a lay helper as well), did a lot of “sacristan” work for Dannie.  One of her jobs was to procure “altar flowers” and other items for Dannie’s “show.”  But, since she didn’t have a car of her own, she regularly used a parishioner woman’s car to drive to the florist (as well as to run other errands).  This parishioner says that “sister” usually returned the car with an empty tank (and, of course, with no reimbursement for the gas used) – and all strewn with flower petals.  (This parishioner also bought some of the “items” that sister got – also with no reimbursement.  It was simply “expected” of her.)

This nun, who had some “emotional issues” to begin with, eventually had some sort of “breakdown” (no doubt, too, from being overworked by Dannie), and left SGG.  She also left the religious life.  Oddly enough, however, we hear that she has since returned to SGG, but as a lay person.

³ It is interesting to note that Sr. Gerard’s golden (50-year) jubilee was set to be held in SGG’s “social hall,” i.e., SGG’s school lunchroom (with catered “sandwich” fare), while Dannie’s and Tony’s silver (25-year) jubilees were held at Cincinnati’s most prestigious venue, the Palm Court in downtown Cincinnati’s Netherland Hilton Plaza.  Note also that, though Sr. Gerard’s rehab was cut short, Dannie’s “rehab” from a sinus operation wasn’t.  After this unnecessary (and ultimately unsuccessful) operation, Dannie was given “all the time needed” for an expensive (and also unnecessary) “recuperation” at the Bishop’s Lodge in sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Now you know where the cult center’s “priorities” were!