Collections Archive – Civil War Convent Bell

	Convent Bell rung during the Civil War. Gift of Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Lacombe, LA.

The bell which tolled during the Civil War above the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel near New Orleans, LA, has its own tale of the heroism of women who nursed for the military.

The Carmelite nuns established a hospital and treated wounded men from both sides of the conflict who passed the convent on the way to battle—even if it meant giving up their own meager supply of food.

	Mother Hyacinth de Jesus Judice, before January 24, 1887. Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Lacombe, LA.

As Sister Saint Hyacinth Judice rang the call to prayer on the bell one day, a squad of hostile Union soldiers confronted her. They accused her of using the bell to warn Confederate troops of the Union presence in the area. With her hands still on the bell rope, Sister Hyacinth admonished the soldiers, “Do you not know the sound of the Angelus? This is the call to prayer!”

By invitation, the Union soldiers stayed for a “plain, substantial lunch,” which they reported had "a flavor found only at home."

After that, the convent angelus bell rang three times daily “comforting many a sick and dying soldier who knew that during the tolling, fervent prayers from the hearts of the holy Nuns were ascending to the throne of God for him.”

Adapted from Nuns of the Battlefield by E.R. Jolly