Aunt Lil Enrolls Forever

I am sometimes surprised at the material I’ve discovered in Agnes Tully Stevens personal papers. Not that the material is inordinate in any way. It’s just that, well, some of these things are not exactly her own belongings.

Take this card below, for instance. It belonged to her sister Lily. Granted, Aunt Lil never married, and was a lifelong resident at her parents’ home in Chicago. While she was employed outside the home for many years, she left little to help anyone in the future determine what sort of life she lived. What little was saved came to me with her sister Agnes’ belongings.

While Lil did share the family’s proclivity to enjoy games, she also had a serious side. Like her mother—and, no doubt, her sisters, too—Lily Tully felt the draw of a spiritual nature.

One card from her papers, kept in nearly pristine condition, was a declaration issued by an organization called the Seraphic Mass Association. While the card was dated 1949, I wondered if there were such an organization still in existence. There is. And it still remains in Pittsburgh, though not at the same address.

I can’t help but wonder if the promise to be “enrolled forever” entails receiving the stated benefits in perpetuity.

Certificate of Enrollment in the

Seraphic Mass Association

Lily A. Tully

has been enrolled forever in the Association

on August 22 1949

Fr. Cecil Nally, O. M. Cap.

                        Delegate.

Benefits

1. Each year 6,000 Masses are offered for the members.

2. Members participate daily in 500 Masses; 182,500 per year.

3. In the prayers and good works of 13,000 Capuchins.

4. In 300,000 Holy Communions offered each year.

Seraphic Mass Association, St. Augustine Monastery

220 – 37^th Street, Pittsburgh 1, Pa.