Gnome Profile: Sister Rosalie of the Rosary

Sister Rosalie Katarina is the latest in the line of Roman Catholic nuns serving as medics for the Imperial Guard of California.

Unlike other nationalities,where women can be nurses, but are under the watchful eye of a male doctor, the nuns have total autonomy to complete their duties, sometimes even disobeying officer's orders (and concerns for their own safety) to save the lives of Guardsmen.

Sister Rosalie is the third child of a Hispanic family outside of Salinas.  Usually the third child in such families have few options: the men join the military and the women are pushed towards the church to avoid more dowries for the family.  Maria wanted both options.  She became a nun and was assigned to the Convent of Santa Anita.  There, she learned the finer points of veterinary medicine.   Soon she became an instructor at the convent, and applied for an appointment to the Catholic Military Medical Reserves.  She she's been appointed, Sister Rosalie has been an indispensible member of her unit. The troops in her company know that this servant of God will not whither under any fire to save them, and they go out of their way to protect her, both on the battlefield, and escorting her off post. 

They do complain that some of her remedies are "horse pills," but for Rosalie, old habits die hard.