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The Mother Superior of Lily’s Catholic School in Santa Fe, which Lily begins attending at age thirteen. Mother Albertina explains the origin story of the “Miraculous Staircase” in the school’s chapel, and Lily takes an immediate liking to her because she treats all students the same regardless of their ethnic or economic background. Lily thinks that she would have made a “fine horsewoman.” When Lily is forced to drop out of school, Mother Albertina tells her that when God shuts a window he opens a door—a phrase that sticks with Lily for the rest of her life. She also encourages Lily to think about becoming a teacher, and later to take the test that will allow her to do so.
Mother Albertina Quotes in Half Broke Horses
The Half Broke Horses quotes below are all either spoken by Mother Albertina or refer to Mother Albertina. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
Mom and Dad always talked as if it was a matter of course that Helen and I would marry and Buster would inherit the property, though I had to admit I'd never actually met a boy I liked, not to mention felt like marrying. On the other hand, women who didn't marry became old maids, spinsters who slept in the attic, sat in a corner peeling potatoes all day, and were a burden on their families, like our neighbor Old Man Pucket’s sister, Louella.
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Halfway into the school year Mother Albertina, the Mother Superior, calls Lily into her study to praise her academic performance and encourage her to think about doing more with her life than simply getting married. Specifically, she tells Lily to think about becoming a teacher. Lily’s thoughts in this moment underscore the realities of living in a man’s world: she has always taken it as a given that Buster will get the KC Ranch simply because he is a boy, while she and Helen’s ultimate goal will be marriage. Despite having no immediate interest in finding a husband, Lily’s fears Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commo
Chapter 3 Quotes
I'd been on the road, out in the sun and sleeping in the open, for twenty-eight days. I was tired and caked with dirt. I'd lost weight, my clothes were heavy with grime and hung loosely, and when I looked in a mirror, my face seemed harder. My skin had darkened, and I had the beginnings of squint lines around my eyes. But I had made it, made it through that darned door.
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Lily makes this reflection upon reaching Red Lake after her long, difficult journey from the KC Ranch with Patches. These lines detail the difficulty of Lily’s undertaking, highlighting her immense strength and determination. Here Lily also reiterates her conception of fate and self-reliance; as Mother Albertina told her before she left school, when God closes a window he opens a door. Lily believes that being pulled from school represented a window being closed, while the offer to teach in Red Lake was a new door. It was up to Lily, however, to make her way through that door—in this case, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusa
Chapter 4 Quotes
She was convinced that Mom in particular would never forgive her for bringing shame on the family. Mom and Dad would disown her, she believed, the same way our servant girl Lupe's parents had kicked her out when she got pregnant. No man would ever want her again, Helen said, she had no place to go. She wasn't as strong as me, she said, and couldn't make it on her own.
"Don't you ever feel like giving up?" Helen asked. "I just feel like giving up."
"That's nonsense," I said. "You're much stronger than you think. There's always a way out." I talked again about the cottonwood tree. I also told her about the time I was sent home from the Sisters of Loretto because Dad wouldn't pay my tuition, and how Mother Albertina had told me that when God closes a window, he opens a door, and it was up to us to find it.
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After overhearing Mr. MacIntosh say she must leave Red Lake, Helen is distraught. Her fears echo the sexism of the time and the harsh, unfair consequences for women who strayed from societal prescriptions for female behavior. The mention of Lupe underscores that Helen has legitimate cause to be concerned, while her statement that she feels like “giving up” foreshadows her suicide. Lily, meanwhile, attempts to lighten Helen’s spirits by recounting stories of self-reliance—including the opening scene from the novel, when the siblings were able to survive a flash flood by climbing a tree. She once again invokes the words of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusan
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Mother Albertina Character Timeline in Half Broke Horses
The timeline below shows where the character Mother Albertina appears in Half Broke Horses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...the beauty of Santa Fe and takes an immediate liking to the strict but fair Mother Albertina , the Mother Superior of her new school. Mother Albertina explains that the staircase to...
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One day Mother Albertina calls Lily into her study and tells her that while many girls are at the...
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Mother Albertina sees a tearful Lily to the train station and assures her that when God closes...
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Lily receives a letter from Mother Albertina . With World War I starting there is a shortage of teachers, and Lily would...
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Chapter 4
...her about all the setbacks in her own life and how she overcame them, echoing Mother Albertina ’s words that “when God closes a window he opens a door.”
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