By doing what seemed typical for a woman of her time and place, Mary Baptist Russell lived an extraordinary life. She was born at Newry, County Down, Ireland, on 18 April 1829, baptized as Katherine. She entered the Sisters of Mercy convent at Kinsdale in November 1848. The next year she helped nurse victims of a cholera epidemic, an experience that was useful later. She received her habit on 7 July 1849, and with it the name Mary Baptist. She made her final profession of vows in August 1851, and for the next three years she taught at the convent school.
Meanwhile, an ocean and a continent away, Bishop Joseph S. Alemany of San Francisco was feeling the effects of Irish immigration and also of the California gold rush. Rapid population growth fueled by visions of quick wealth meant some people.....
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