Elizabeth Schoffen

author

Elizabeth Schoffen

b. 1861

A former Sister of Charity, she turned her life story into a forceful memoir about faith, convent life, and personal freedom. Her work offers a rare firsthand account of more than three decades inside a religious order.

1 Audiobook

The Demands of Rome Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church

The Demands of Rome Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church

by Elizabeth Schoffen

About the author

Born in 1861, Elizabeth Schoffen is chiefly known for The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church. Public catalog records and the text itself identify her as the author of this autobiographical work, and also note her religious name, Sister Lucretia.

Her book is a personal narrative drawn from years spent in convent life, including long service in hospitals and charitable work. Written after she left the order, it presents her experience in direct, plainspoken terms and reflects the religious and social controversies of its time.

Little biographical information about her seems widely documented beyond what appears in the book and library records. Even so, her memoir remains notable as a firsthand account from a woman writing about faith, discipline, labor, and independence in the early 20th century.