... Note 14. - Sister Isidora was one of three children, daughters of Mrs. McNantz, a pious widow residing in Washington. A victim of consumption and in 1813 near death, her sorrow was overwhelming at the thought of leaving them helpless. Mary was twelve, Charlotte ten, and Emily nine years of age. But the Reverend William Matthews, S.J., who assisted her at death mitigated her grief by assuring her that he would take charge of their future. A nephew of Archbishop Neale, he easily secured their admittance into the Convent School, where they led angelic lives. Sister Isidora died in 1817, at the age of fourteen, pronouncing her vows on her death-bed; Sister Mary Leonard (Emily) died in 1819, professed on her death-bed at fifteen; and Sister Mary Bernardine (Mary) died in 1822, in the fifth year of religious profession. The three sisters were favored with surpassing gifts of nature, but still more extraordinary were the gifts of grace that adorned their beautiful souls. ...
