Geographically, we were only two city blocks removed from our friends who continued on at Theodore V. Eddy Elementary School. Experientially, the girls entered another universe. Instead of gym class, art class or music class, the girls had Religion class five days a week. First graders were not expected to go to daily mass but preparations began for the day in second grade that the girls would make their First Communion.
The first few lessons would not be much different than the ones taught in Sunday School at the Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal or Lutheran Churches attended by friends. There was the Creation story, Adam and Eve, angels and Satan, The Garden of Eden, followed by the banishment and on it goes. Oh, yes, the girls learned math and reading and writing including penmanship. These topics Sister Lorenzo covered in a droning monotone with the countenance of a person behind a mule and plow being dragged through a muddy field. However, when the time came for Religion class, her eyes sparkled through her coke bottle lenses and her face grew flushed as her arms came out from under her scapula and animation carried her back and forth across the front of class. Sister Lorenzo was in her element.
SISTER LORENZO ON BAPTISM
When Eve talked Adam into biting the forbidden fruit, they committed the first sin. This was no ordinary sin, this was the Original Sin. Man and womankind would now suffer and suffer for a very long time. This sin marked the souls of every human being born since. God sent his Son, Jesus, to save us. John the Baptist poured water on Jesus and Baptism became the first Sacrament. Baptism washes away the stain of Original Sin. That is why infants are Baptized. They may look innocent but underneath their souls are stained. A person, even a baby is not allowed into heaven to be with God unless this Original Sin is washed away. Glancing side to side with question marks on their faces, one classmates at last was brave enough to ask where these poor dead unbaptized baby souls went. "To Limbo," was her answer. A pall of sadness encompassed the class. Sister insisted that it was almost as good as heaven except that God was not there. Well, at least the girls were living proof that Limbo would not be their fate. It was a close call, though, especially for the younger twin. The story told by Mother was that the second twin looked so fragile that after cutting the umbilical cord, the nurse baptized her. Mother would say she looked like one of those rubber chickens. As an after thought, the other was baptized, too, just in case.
SIN: STAINS THE SOUL.... SISTER EXPLAINS
One of the first things the girls were required to memorize was the Ten Commandments. A person sinned when they broke one or more of the Commandments. Sin separated a person from God. It marked your soul. To demonstrate the various types of sin and the consequences, Sister used the chalk board. The chalkboard, dusty from a previous lesson represented the soul of an unbaptized person with Original Sin. Sister took a damp sponge and made the blackboard as spotless as the first day of school. This is what Baptism does, she said. Your soul is spotless. An untimely death in this state would carry you on the wings of angels right up to heaven. Next, she took the chalk and made some gentle scribbling strokes, "This is venial sin." No one goes to hell for venial sins. Then she took the chalk and with violent stokes that sent goose bump raising screeches into the air, she scribbled with furious giant arm strokes that sent her rosary swaying from side to side. This is Mortal Sin. This is the sin for which a person is condemned to the fires of Hell for all eternity. The girls sat up a little straighter, to accommodate the shivers each experienced going up their spines.
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