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Article: They're just what she wanted! (prison mission: white socks for the inmates)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- November 10, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"What would you like for your birthday?" The question began to surface among my relatives and friends a month before Oct. 17.
"White socks for men," I replied to each astonished questioner.
"What?" they wondered. No personal items, books, tapes or gadgets? No suggestions for concerts, plays or dinners out?
"White socks."
For whom?
For the prisoners on Rikers Island, I confessed.
Sr. Mary O'Connor from my regional community has been for years a Catholic chaplain in the Men's House of Detention. I'd accompanied her to Sunday night liturgy last summer on a day that saw a temperature of 104 degrees. Nearly 150 men filed in to Mass at ...