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Our friend Ray from Chester (pictured here with his wife Maryla) has been tracing his family tree as a hobby. His research has unearthed a beautiful history about his father's saintly Catholic cousin; Dorothy Loseby. This is even more remarkable as Ray is himself a convert to the Catholic Faith.In 1921 Dorothy, then aged 14, went to live in South Africa. In 1926 she became a Catholic with her mother, sisters and brother. As she grew to maturity, relatives, friends and colleagues noted that she was a person of integrity and sincerity, with the rare power to see below the surface of matters and a keen sense of humour.
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She went to study medicine at the fine Stellenbosch University; where she became a conscientous student. This is a picture of the picturesque Stellenbosch region taken from Wikipedia;
During her studies Dorothy became an active member of the University Catholic Society and the Catholic Women's League. The Group President of the latter said;
Our group is definitely the poorer, for characters of Miss Loseby's fine calibre are rare in these days of pleasure seeking and selfishness. Quiet and unassuming in manner, there burned in her soul the fire flame that lights the way to great deeds for God and suffering mankind. To see her, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, was to realize that there was a soul most dear and beloved of God.
Towards the end of her studies, Msgr. Demont came to the university seeking help at the Mission of Aliwal North, in the wake of the death from typhus of the brilliant Dr. Pattis. When no fully qualified doctor was forthcoming, Dorothy was excited to be allowed to volunteer for a long vacation working at the mission.
She quickly learned the Sesuto language and the work that she was required to do. The children, the poor and the elderly soon came to love her deeply. At Christmas she gave the youngsters all her sweets and the hospital received her Christmas table wine. She baptized several dying babies and adapted swiftly to the privations at the mission, whilst seeking ways to work effectively within them.Â
During conversations with the German doctor Miss Heukamp, Dorothy came to realise that she need not become a nun to follow Christ. Instead, she could live a religious life as a missionary doctor under spiritual guidance.Â
Towards the end of her tour she wrote in her diary that she thought she had come down with the flu. Tragically she had actually contracted typhus fever.
When a priest came to administer the Last Sacraments, Dorothy was surprised and whispered 'Then I am going to die?' The priest asked if she would offer her life to God for the cause of the Catholic Church in the Garip mission. Dorothy answered fervently 'Gladly, gladly, gladly!'Â
When Doctor Heukamp asked if she was resigned to die, she replied 'Oh how happy I am. I'm so happy!' At one point, in the midst of great pains, she whispered to one of the nuns 'Jesus suffered so much more.' One of the missionaries said that she died the death of a saint and, after her death, many people wrote touching accounts of her personality and loving actions.
Dorothy Loseby had a beautiful Catholic funeral and was buried next to Doctor Pattis. The ceremony touched the hearts of non-Catholics who were present. As her biographer wrote, in a fine old booklet which is now in Ray's possesion; 'They never die who die in a good cause and surely the propagation of the Faith is the greatest of causes.'Â
It just shows what you can turn up when doing your family tree! May Dorothy Loseby be an example to encourage us in our own daily trials and infirmities; in our attempts to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ; and as we each continue to face the persecutions against Christians, which seem to increase by the day in contemporary British life. Â
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