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INSTITUTION OF DEACONESSES AT KAISERSWER...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
«£»»- - The Institution Of Kaiserswerth ...
of the orphanage coming to sing hymns to them . Tliis is looked forward to on both , sides as a great pleasure , and exclusion from
it is considered a severe punishment . Being desirous of ascertaining the motives which had induced
the inmates of Kaiserswerth to place themselves there , I made a point of inquiring , where I could do so without intruding . My
inquiries were very kindly and frankly answered , and I found that the reasons for joining the sisterhood -were various . Some ,
belonging to the class of household servants , had come merely as a means of gaining their livelihood . But while this had been the
only feeling at first , they told me that in the instruction they receivedthey had found far more than they had sought , and they
, blessed the day that had brought them into such a Christian community . Others , finding nothing in the pleasures of the world to
satisfy their higher natures , had come with their hearts inflamed with a love of holinessand desirous of following Christ by " doing
good . " It is true that , this may be done , as is often beautifully exemplified , without retiring to Kaiserswerth , but many are ready to
work who cannot carve out a line of action . for themselves , and are lad to lace themselves under direction . Manytoo , are weak and
wavering gp when they stand alone among conflicting , opinions ; they need to be encouraged in their course , and thankfully go where they
can find sympathy of feeling and fellow-workers in their labor . Among them , while yet babes in Christ , they are nurtured , until
they reach the stature of the perfect man in Christ , when they either remain to train up other young disciples or return to ordinary
life , knowing now , by their own experience , that "to be spiritually minded is life and peace" and having " put on the whole armour
, of God , they are able to withstand in the evil day , and having done all to stand . "
A third section among the deaconesses or probationers had become such in consequence of bereavements which had left them without
family ties ; desolate and solitary , they gladly turned where mothers or sisters or children by adoption were ready to fill the aching void in
their hearts . Others , again , there were , who sought to find in offices of charity a compensation for disappointed affections , and they did
not seek in vain , for while they ministered to others they were themselves ministered unto . Occupied with others , they forgot
themselves ; instead of dwelling on their own trials until bitter thoughts of all their fellow-creatures had replaced the generous feelings
with which they had entered life , until illness wasted away their frame , or until reason either tottered on its throne or became a
melancholy ruin , the necessity for action preserved their health , both physical and mental . The opportunities for retirement , too , were
like balm to the wounded heart , which would have sickened in the dail Chri y stianity intercourse presented of ordinary to them life either ; and by the word brig or ht deed examp , dire les cted of
their minds to a more sure and stable resting-place than earth can
ever give .
Institution Of Deaconesses At Kaiserswer...
INSTITUTION OF _DEACONESSES AT KAISERSWERTH . 103
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1859, page 103, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041859/page/31/
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