“Holy Week in Baden” was written by the late Sister Jacinta vanWinkle, L.B., who was a member of the Ladies of Bethany. Sister Jacinta’s poem reflects an earlier time when the late Sister Clement “Clemmy” Marie Nemeth, CSJ, helped run the working farm that existed on our grounds.
During Holy Week, let us model Sister Clemmy’s faithfulness and offer our tasks, even those that seem mundane, to reveal His glory.
Holy Week in Baden
In the distance the ever present sounds:
Engines roaring, wheels on tracks, but
No human voice. Trains, autos, tugs
Move horizontally to unknown destinies.
Nearby the great, old trees stand veiled
In shimmering green and silent hope.
Robins dart, playing at work.
The wide, blue dome embraces all.
From my window under the eaves
I see Clemmie. Stiff-kneed she dribbles
Picking dead branches, aging as she stoops.
Each time she rises she is transformed:
The dead wood becomes a banner in her hand,
The bundle of twigs her bridal bouquet,
She genuflects. The valley is her cathedral,
The bridegroom rises to meet her: Sunday is Easter.
-Sister Jacinta vanWinkle, L.B.