History, Religion, and Medicine

Inner Journey


We took a trip to the St. Louis Catherdral. I am a huge fan of architecture so I was looking forward to seeing the inside of this enormous building. When we walked into the Cathedral there were three spots that had votive candles that are meant to be lit in memory of someone. I chose to light one in remembrance of my father-in-law, Tom. He was chrisitan and I wanted to try to connect with him some and pray that he knows he is missed. Doing this caused me to get pretty emotional and teary eyed. I was not expecting to feel as emotional as I did when we went there. Another unexpected occurance, was when I learned about Henriette Delille. She was free woman of color that experienced the heart crushing death of her two babies before they were three. After their deaths, she decided she wanted to help the poor. She chose to go to the Ursuline and ask to become a nun. However, she was not a white woman so they denied her. This did not deter her from her goal. She used some inheritance money she had to find a small unrecognized order of nuns. This eventually became the Sisters of the Holy Family. The sisters took in all of the slave orphans and elderly and helped to educated, house, and care for the poor. She was later declared a servant of god and is now venerable. The city is hoping that she becomes a saint. She will be the first Aferican American in history to become one. That is so inspiring to me. The impact she had by being kind and caring for those that others just pushed to the side is inmeasurable. It makes me proud to see a woman lead with a tender heart. She was able to overcome personal loss and biases to care for those who could not care for themselves. I love a strong woman, and I love that I got to learn about her.












Hernriette Delille






Outer Journey






In addition to going to the St. Louis Catherdral, we all got to go to the Pharmacy Museum. The wind was blowing and the sun was shining as we walked down the broken side walks to get to an unassuming building front. There is a large white sign hanging infront of a dark green door identifying what lies inside. Upon entering the museum, the walls are lined with bottles of different types of medicines and remedies that were used in the 1800's. The room is dark with natural light illuminating it down the middle. The floors are dark concrete with patches of busted spots showing through. There is a beautiful courtyard that is right outside of the back of the building. its lined with vibrant green plants. There is a flower covered arch that leads to another section of the courtyard that has a towering tree growing high in the middle of the ground. Up the winding staircase to the second floor of the museum, the room is white and bright. There are different types of signage that show their age through cracks, stains and faded words. There are glass cases filled with different tools and remedies that have been used throughout history to treat specific illness and ailments. One glass case stood in the middle of a large white room. The case held different types of tools for the eyes, including old eye ointments and a set of semi-circle hazel shaded glass eyes. This is the first pharmacy to ever be established in the United States and the history it holds has filled my mind with wonder.

Courtyard behind Pharmacy museum

Real medicine used