Catherine Seals

Mother Catharine prayed at Mother Anderson's Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Church on Amelia Street.^[7] She took "developing classes" with Mother Anderson, learning Mediumship, prophesy, and healing. A classmate noted that Catherine wore a loose-fitting blouse with a red collar one day, which was forbidden, leading to a misunderstanding and Mother Catherine leaving the Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Church.^[3]

Mother Catherine began ministering from her home on Jackson Avenue.^[1] She believed that women made better leaders and gained thousands of black and white followers.^[2] She gained a following among the Italian immigrant community.^[1] Her work focused on caring for unmarried pregnant women.^[2] Zora Neale Hurston described childbirth as, "the most important element of her creed," and a white follower said that the church "was originally founded to stop abortions."^[5] As is common in Spiritual churches, her theology drew from Catholicism, though it also focused on Mother Catherine as a prophetic intermediary.^[1] For example, Mother Catherine named the children after saints.^[5] The church prayed to the image of a Black Jesus.^[2] Haitian Vodou practice was also included– a 1928 visit to the Temple of Innocent Blood, Zora Neale Hurston noted a snake motif on the wall, which may have represented Damballa, a Haitian Vodou deity.^[7] Mother Catherine played the trombone, and embraced Anderson's use of Black New Orleans music in worship.^[7] A racially mixed choir sang and a ten-piece orchestra played. The orchestra included jazz musicians Cag Cagnolatti, Harold Dejan, and Frank Lastie all played at the Temple of Innocent Blood.^[7][3]

By 1922, she had acquired the property that became the Temple of Innocent Blood.^[8] In a trance, she had seen that this location was Jesus's true birthplace, leading her to name the area "the Manger."^[3] She claimed that the Manger was connected to Bethlehem.^[1] Like the Biblical city, the Temple was difficult to access, requiring people to trudge through knee-deep mud to see her. Through the 1920s, she acquired at least 11 city lots in what is now the Lower Ninth Ward.^[8] The Manger included a chapel and space where Mother Catherine lived.^[3]

The property included a complex of wooden huts housing single mothers and their illegitimate children. It may have also housed orphans and tubercular patients.^[1][3] No men lived in the complex.^[5] Although Mother Catherine was not a midwife, some children were born at the complex. Legally, Mother Catherine could not provide interracial shelter, due to Jim Crow laws, but she still sheltered both black and white children.^[9][3] Census records show that Mother Catherine had adopted some of the children.^[3] The building that had been meant to serve as an orphanage burnt down, possibly due to arson.^[1][9]

During one healing session, Mother Catherine discussed the challenges of being illiterate. Because of this, she was adamant about the education of her school-aged charges. The children were also involved in the ministry. Some were acolytes, who helped direct visitors, while others served in prophecy or healing.^[3]

Mother Catherine was known for her healing powers, using simple ingredients like castor oil and Epsom salts in her practice.^[8] She hoped to create a hospital on Manger property, the "Innocent Blood Home."^[3] She wore a white headdress and a starched apron with the word "MOTHER" embroidered on its bib in red.^[6]

In August 1930, Mother Catherine "had the 'miseries.'" She felt drawn home to Kentucky and traveled back, where she died on August 12, 1930.^[6][5] Due to the concerns of local health officials, her body was not returned to New Orleans to be buried.^[6] Her funeral was attended by thousands and was followed by a procession through the streets, in an early jazz funeral.^[8][7] Time Magazine covered her funeral.^[6]

After Mother Catherine's death, the city of New Orleans tried to auction the Temple and Manger.^[1] Mother Rita, Mother Catherine's successor, claimed that if the building were sold, "the entire city of New Orleans would be destroyed by flood 'so quickly that no one would have time to speak.'"^[6] Ultimately, Mother Catherine's dictated will, signed with an "X," may have been found legal,^[1] though some sources claim that the building and its contents were auctioned.^[2][6] Churches inspired by her keep her picture on their altars.^[8] Folklore claims that the spirit of Mother Catherine periodically appears to women who carry on their work.^[10]

Much of what is known about Mother Catherine's life comes from field interviews conducted by the Louisiana Writers' Project as part of the Federal Works Progress Administration.^[8]