Angela Mentesana:  

I will begin with the last year of St. Vincents. Instead of graduating with my childhood friends from kindergarten through 8th grade, my dad took me out of school due to Mother John Eucharist pushing me and hitting me so much, he thought I would not make it out alive. Anyone remember Mother Superior and her thick black leather belt? She hit me whenever she could and as much as she could. What were her reasons? Well for one, my hair was too thick so she accused me of teasing it up. This justified a beating. Another thing, I wore a brown sweater over my uniform when I returned to class from having the flu. My desk was next to the window and in the winter she would pull it open so the cold air would blow right on me. When I put my sweater on, she locked me in the closet to go get her belt so she could beat me because my sweater was covering my uniform. Someone unlocked the closet and let me out. I ran to the telephone in the music room and phoned my mother then they locked me back into the closed so Mother Superior would not know my mother was on her way. As Mother superior came walking toward me with her belt, my mother came out and walked toward her with a raised hand to stop the belt from striking me. That night my father was in that pretty pink convent letting those nuns know their meaning of discipline is called child abuse and she would be facing a jail sentence if he ever heard she hit another child again. So instead of graduating with my childhood friends, my dad took me out of St. Vincent's in the 8th grade, six months before graduation and placed me in Woodrow Wilson School and I graduated with strangers. I learned from childhood through the example by my father protecting me by removing me from that situation, no one, man or woman has the right to strike or abuse you in any way. If anyone is in that situation, remove yourself or get the abuser removed. There were certain students in St. Vincent's who were the Chosen Ones. Are you one of the chosen ones that were an Object of Release for the nuns and priest frustrations? Instead of children being exposed to a loving Christian atmosphere, we were slapped, pushed, punched, hit with belts and some of you were knocked down a few stairs. Oh yes, I remember it well. Do you? What a loving Christian Atmosphere we little children were left in all day long. While our mommy and daddy thought we were receiving a loving Christian education, we were actually left in a hostile atmosphe...Expand for more