‘You can sense it is warm’: Modesto nuns have heat, hot water for first time since May
The heat is on for the eight Catholic sisters who live in a west Modesto convent that had lacked hot water and heat since May as they awaited repairs to a deteriorating, leaking gas line.
Crews finished the work Saturday for a new line, and the gas was turned back on at the Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The convent is on a campus at Maze Boulevard and Carpenter Road that includes St. Stanislaus Catholic School, a community center, day care and St. Stanislaus Catholic Church.
“It’s completely different because you can feel it, you can sense it is warm,” said one of the sisters Monday morning in one of the convent’s rooms near the entrance. “We are more relaxed.”
This is the same room the sister used when she spoke with The Bee on Nov. 11. The room was noticeably chilly that day. It was warm and cozy Monday. The eight sisters are in the 40s to their 80s. The sister said three are in their 80s. But she said no one got sick when they lacked heat and hot water.
The sister, who has declined to give her name but said she is in charge of maintenance at the convent, said she and the other sisters are grateful to have the project finished and for the outpouring of support they have received since The Bee wrote about their plight.
She said people have called to offer portable electric heaters. The sister said they declined an offer because they already had enough. People also offered blankets and donations. She said one woman dropped off eight blankets — one for each sister.
“We are surrounded by many good people,” she said.
The project to replace the gas line was always on schedule but got some unexpected good fortune near the end, said Paul Wood, general superintendent of Simile Construction Service, which is the construction manager for the project.
Project was on schedule
The work was on track to be completed Dec. 9. But Wood said that at a Nov. 15 preconstruction meeting, Hudson Excavation, which would put in the last 80 feet of the gas line, said it was available to work Saturday and a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. inspector also was available that day.
Wood said he learned Saturday morning that a PG&E crew was available to finish the work, including connecting the new gas line to an existing gas line and turning the gas on. “It just happened to align that we have a day that we can just knock this out,” he said.
Wood has said the work was complicated and involved installing about 150 feet of gas line as well as a new gas meter. That involved design and engineering work. He said the project always was expected to be completed between mid November and early December.
The sister said she thought the work was nearing completion in September when she and one or two other sisters provided the Diocese of Stockton with an informal update. But Wood said that was a misunderstanding. He said PG&E approved the contracts and designs for the project in September.
The sister said it did not occur to her and the other sisters to talk to the diocese when the work took longer than they had expected. “We didn’t think it was needed to ask them or call them to let them know,” she said.
A diocese spokeswoman issued this statement Monday: “We are immensely grateful to PG&E and the contractors for completing the repairs and are happy the sisters are safe and comfortable, as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday.”
Contemplative order
The sisters had showered and bathed at the guest house on the convent grounds. They also fetched hot water from the house. But as the weather turned colder, the sisters did not enjoy the roughly 50-foot walk between the guest house and convent.
But they were provided with portable electric heaters, and Simile Construction installed a 50-gallon electric water heater in the convent Nov. 14 for the sisters so they could shower and bathe while they waited for the gas to be turned back on.
The Sisters of the Cross is a contemplative order whose members spend much of their time in prayer. Much of that prayer takes place in a chapel next to the convent. The chapel is heated by electricity.
The sisters pray for the world and the church but especially for priests. “... We know they are very important for the church, for the world,” the sister said.
She said their order was founded in Mexico City in 1897. The Sisters of the Cross were brought to Modesto in 1988 from Mexico by the late Stockton Diocese Bishop Donald Montrose with the help of the late Marie Gallo and others, according to Bee archives.
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 3:01 PM.
