The Lilies of the Field (novel)

The Lilies of the Field is a 1962 novel by William Edmund Barrett, who based his depiction of the sisters partly upon the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga,[1] originally located in Boulder, Colorado.

The nuns—Mother Maria Marthe, and sisters Gertrud, Albertine, Elizabeth and Agnes—have no money, subsist on little food and have no materials to build their church.

In the larger town of North Fork, he meets Orville Livingston, who runs a construction company, and was Ritter’s friend and executor.

To earn money to buy some "real food" to supplement the Spartan diet the nuns are able to provide him, Smith gets a part-time job with Livingston, working two days a week.

Smith (whom the nuns now call "Schmidt") helps the sisters improve their rudimentary English (only Mother Maria speaks the language well enough to converse with him) and joins them in singing and playing his guitar.

He buys some usable items—a bathtub and some windows—then heads back to the farm to install them so the nuns at least have a proper bath in which to wash. Everyone is astounded that he’s returned, except Mother Maria.

Mother Maria insists that he attend the opening Mass next day to receive proper recognition from the congregation, but Smith knows that his work is done.