In today's specialized world, we are often tempted to compartmentalize our lives, putting our professional interests in one corner and our spiritual concerns in another.
To Florence Nightingale - the founder of Nursing - fragmenting one's life in this way would have been unthinkable. Nightingale's life work of social action was her way of honoring God. As she put it, "My work is my must." She was and still is an icon of wholeness, an emblem of a united, integrated life. In fact, the integrity of her nursing practice depended on this holistic approach.
In 1875, Mother Maria Theresia - the founder of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration - accepted an invitation to send Sisters to America. Religious persecution in Germany did not stop her from following the One who led her. Like Florence Nightingale, Mother Maria Theresia was determined to keep nursing and hospital ministry as a mission.
As we celebrate National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week, may their examples inspire us!
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