Mother Frances Streitel: "Lord, can this chalice not pass from me?"

Amalia Frances Rose Streitel aka Mother Frances Streitel, Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, and, as a Maria Stern Franciscan, known as Sister Angela.  Sister Angela unraveled more of the mystery of the painful events that preceded her assignment to be administrator of the Marian Institute, as requested by its Board.  Besides the fact that Father Beckert, after requesting that Sister Angela be assigned to that position, gave the position to another person, the accusation that Sister Angela “was stirred up” was based on statements made by her Superior General to Father Beckert. This is obvious from the following statement in Sister Angela’s letter to her Superior General: “Father Beckert relies on your assertion that I was stirred up and presently he is deciding everything.”  “O dear Venerable Mother! For weeks I have prayed “Lord, can this chalice not pass from me? Yet not as I will but as You will.”  She adds that she has sought “peace with those around” her and “prayed much for the project [the Marian Institute].” And then says: “…a matter like this, which bears the stamp of misery, cross, and trouble, must prove to be good.”  She then says to her Reverend Mother: “Do not write again to Reverend Pastor Beckert in regard to this matter; he does what he wants anyway” (Letter of May 6, 1899 to her Superior General).  We see Sister Angela’s faith but also her humanness in the statement “he does what he wants anyway”—a statement that expresses her anger at the way things have unfolded thus far, especially at being accused of having “an evil motive” and letting herself “be used as a plaything by the people. ” (Quotations from Sister Angela’s May 6, 1879 letter to her Superior General). No wonder Sister Angela wanted this “chalice to pass her by.”  When have you asked the Lord to remove a cross from your life?