Mother Maddalena recorded in her Memoirs of arriving in Almeria on her journey to America: September 20th, [1877] we landed at Almeria, where we were delayed several days. Our first visit was to the Cathedral. Upon entering it, our attention was attracted by a magnificent large oil painting of the glorious Martyr S. Lawrence. We stood to have a good view of it. How it reminded us of our dear San Lorenzo in Rome! We then went to pray before our Divine Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. As we were returning by the middle aisle, we were met by one of the Canons of the Cathedral, Don Eusebio Y Sanchez by name. He kindly showed us over the place. In the afternoon, he accompanied us to the Poor Clares of the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception. About five or six old Nuns were left. They inhabited a few small rooms at the lower end of the church. The Monastery and cloister had been confiscated by government. It was because of the precariousness of the political situation in Europe that the Mother Maddalena and her sister, Mother Mary Constance, sent to America to establish the Poor Clares.