The Ghost of Sister Irenita

Downtown Fresno, St. John's Cathedral - present day. Photo courtesy of historicfresno.org

In downtown Fresno, at St. John's Cathedral there is the legend of Sister Irenita. Sister Irenita served the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno in the early 1900's. It was there she passed away, but never really left. For months her spirit could be seen wandering the halls of the rectory.

The interior of St. John's, taken sometime in the 1950's - photo courtesy of Cathedrals of California.

Finally a special mass was done to put her spirit at rest and the sightings stopped. What's really interesting is that a root from a tree had broken into the Sisters grave a few years later. When she was disinterred, her body showed no sign of decay whatsoever and it looked as she had been buried for only a few days.