journey across the Atlantic. Ten 'Cornet' Sisters of Charity are in charge of this Unit, which is almost wholly Catholic in its membership and which has been recruited from hospitals conducted by these Sisters in the South and West.

"At six-thirty, Chaplain George T. McCarthy, U. S. A., of Chicago, celebrated Holy Mass. A congregation which numbered, besides the Unit, our own Sisters of Charity, many overseas Nurses attached to other units and a goodly quota of our parishioners was present. All received Holy Communion. At the conclusion of the Mass, the "Star-Spangled Banner" was sung, and after he had blessed a large American flag—the colors of the Unit—Father McCarthy bade the nurses farewell."

SERMON

"In this holy hour and place, while Jesus, the gentle Master, still lingers in your Eucharistic hearts, we are met for a two-fold purpose—to bless the starry banner of the free—the colors of your Unit—and to wish you Godspeed on your heroic way.

"Here within these historic walls of St. Stephen, the Proto-Martyr, whose every stone and pillar and vaulting arch is richly storied with the memories of surpassing men and women and their splendid achievements—here, as it were, on the shore of the far-flung billows of the Atlantic, you are gathered from the length and breadth of our beloved country. With all the sacred courage of an Agnes of Italy, an Ursula of England, a Joan of France, you have, during the past few days and weeks, been called upon to bid your loved ones at home a fond and tender farewell, as you go to follow the trail of the Crimson Cross to service overseas.

"Our first and most holy purpose here, indeed, is to bless this flag that is to lead you on your way; but most truly may the question be asked: 'Can the flag of our beloved Country be blessed more fully than it already is?' Its red is consecrated by the blood of countless heroes; its white is stainless and unsullied as the Truth and Justice for which it has forever stood; its blue is of the mid-day heavens, lofty in its purpose to point the way of freedom to all mankind, that 'Government of the people, for the people, and by the people' may not perish from the earth!

"As we unfurl it to the breeze, it speaks with an eloquence irresistible and it tells a story of heroism and patriotism unsurpassed. It brings memory of Lexington and Concord; it tells of suffering at Valley Forge, and of Victory at Yorktown. It was waved in triumph on the hills of Gettysburg; and the blue of Grant and the gray of Lee entwined it forever in the reunion of Appomattox. Dewey carried it to victory in Manila Bay, even as Shafter and Joe Wheeler did at San Juan and Santiago.

"When a military Power overseas attacked the cause of universal freedom in the world, Pershing with his boys in khaki, and Benson with his boys in blue, carried that flag to the forefront of the battle line; and today, side by side with the banners of England, martyred Belgium, gallant Italy, and unconquerable France, it waves defiance to the foe. It kisses the poppies of Flanders and to the lilies of France it whispers 'Lafayette, we are here.' In asking, therefore, the God of Truth and Justice to bless this flag, we offer Him no indignity. As He loves the right, He must love Old Glory, and therefore we ask Him to re-adorn it with victory.

Sisters of Unit No. 2—The Only Sisters of the A. E. F.
Standing from Left to Right: Sisters Valeria, Catherine, De Sales, M. David, Angela, Agatha, Florence. Left to Right Seated: Sisters Lucia, Chrysostom, Mariana.

"Ours, too, is the performance of another duty, it is to speak the briefest, yet the hardest of all words to utter, the word of final farewell. Had I the gift of eloquence, I would pour into that word, as into a casket of alabaster, all the love, all the affection, all the sad sweet smiles, all the 'God be with you until we meet again,' of your loved ones back home. Through the gates of memory you have left ajar, I seem to see your old home town—the streets guarded by sentinels of maple, oak, and elm; the cottage of white, with lattice of climbing roses; and in the door, her dear face looking sweetly sad yet bravely, towards you, the mother who kissed you as you turned to go. Tenderly she hung the service flag in the window; bravely will she wait and pray beside the vacant chair.

"Many of you have come from the dear old Southland; and there seems to come to me now, floating down the valley of dreams, the song old mammy used to sing:

"'I hear the children calling
I see their sad tears falling,
My heart turns back to Dixie
And I must go.'

"Yes, my dear Sisters and nurses, you must go. There is need of you over there. Our Country's heroes are there, bleeding and dying, and they need you, beloved angels of mercy, to bind their wounds. In the cities, the academies and hospitals from which you came, there are those who would love to be with you on this mighty errand of National Service. The Providence of God has chosen you, however, for the work, and not them. As of old, on the shores of Galilee, the God of Mercy commissioned His chosen followers to carry into the broad world His blessing, even so from these shores of the Atlantic He is sending you forth on your mission of love.

"From yonder tabernacle, He stoops to each one of you and sweetly whispers: 'My daughter of the crimson Cross, of the faithful soul, of the clean heart, and skillful hand, I am sending you over there as My own representative. I know you will not fail Me, and that even unto death you will be true to the Cross and Flag that go before you!' The Nation is proud of you and you are the holiest and best offering of our Country to the cause.

"And thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and wild war's desolation.
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that has made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, since our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, 'In God is our Trust!'
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and home of the brave."

As Base Hospital 102 is vested with the proud distinction of comprising on its roster the only Sisters accompanying the American Expeditionary Forces, it may be here permitted to anticipate and insert a brief account of its heroic personnel and their splendid service.

Its Chief Nurse was Sister Chrysostom Moynahan of Mullanphy Hospital, Saint Louis, Missouri; Sister Agatha Muldoon, Sister Angela Drendel, Sister Catherine Coleman, and Sister Florence Means were from the Sisters of Charity Hospital, New Orleans. Sister De Sales Loftus and Sister David Ingram were from the City Hospital, Mobile, Ala. Sister Lucia Dolan, St. Mary's Hospital, Evansville, Ind. Sister Mariana Flynn, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Joseph, Mo., and Sister Valeria Dorn, St. Vincent Hospital, Sherman, Mo. The ninety nurses were graduates of the various nurses' schools connected with the hospitals in charge of the Sisters of Charity.

They took the oath of allegiance July 2, 1918, and reported at New York on July 4. There they were equipped by the Red Cross with uniforms for overseas duty and were given the necessary military training by an army officer.

The officers and