|Mother Aloysia and others at Minnehaha Falls, 1880| In 1890,
Mother Scholastica Kerst was replaced as prioress of St.
Benedict's by Mother Aloysia Bath. The election was heated, and
it reopened old wounds. Mother Scholastica had been a strong
leader for St. Ben's, but her decisiveness and quick action made
some of the more deliberative Sisters uncomfortable, and her
initial election as prioress had amounted largely to an abbatial
appointment (which was not uncommon). Scholastica had also made
changes to the constitution of St. Ben's without presenting them
to the community for discussion and vote. This caused the
convent to split into factions that were loyal to Mother
Scholastica and wanted her to be re-elected as prioress, and
another faction that wanted to return to the old ways.
Archbishop John Ireland asked Mother Scholastica to refuse
reelection, per Benedictine tradition, and she assented. Mother
Aloysia Bath, who also served as prioress of St. Ben's before
Mother Scholastica, was elected to another t