Wednesday,
August 13, 2014
Commemorations
Florence Nightingale, d. 1910
Clara Maass, d. 1901
Renewers of Society
Reflection
Florence Nightingale, “the lady with the lamp,” was born
well-to-do and shocked her family in deciding to be a nurse. She trained at Kaiserwerth, Germany,
with a Lutheran order of deaconesses, and returned to her native England
and worked to reform hospitals and workhouses there. Nightingale led a group of
38 nurses to serve in the Crimean War, working in appalling conditions. She
returned to London
as a hero and resumed her work there. She wrote, “. . . go your way straight to
God’s work, in simplicity and singleness of heart.” The headstone on the grave
reads simply, “F.N. Born 1820. Died 1910.”
Clara Maass was born in New Jersey and served as a nurse in the
Spanish-American War, where she encountered yellow fever, which killed more
soldiers than battle. She later responded to a call for subjects in research on
yellow fever. During the experiments, which included receiving bites from
mosquitoes, she contracted the disease and died at age 25.
The commemoration of these women invites the church to give
thanks for all who practice the arts of healing.
Prayer
God of compassion, Thank you for your gifts of healing and
for your servants, Florence
and Clara. Lead us by their examples of courageous service to give hope to the
hopeless, love to the unloved, and peace to the dying. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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