Redemptoristine Texts

Sister Marie-Paul of the Child Jesus O.SS.R., of the Monastery of Bruges 1849-1868

2012-02-26T17:10:00.005-08:00

The characteristic devotion of this good Sister was her devotion to Saint Alphonsus.

Josephine-Jeanne de Mortier was born in Brussels of very Christian parents, on 8th June 1846. She shared the lessons that tutors gave her brothers and sisters at her home. Her bright, lively and affectionate character made her beloved by all those who knew her. Her piety developed with her age, and as she had only good examples before her eyes, this good child never knew evil. – She devoted herself with a great deal of zeal to propagating the Work of the Holy Childhood, and spared neither pain nor efforts for her dear little Chinese (this is what she loved to call them). She also occupied herself with a great deal of charity in teaching the catechism each Sunday to the little children of the poor, and her patience found much opportunity for exercise.

The divine Saviour, who cherished this pure and innocent soul, and destined her to bear the crown of Virgins eternally, hastened to withdraw her into His sanctuary in order to win this crown that she was to receive while still young.

Since her childhood, Josephine had been under the direction of the Redemptorist Fathers. She loved nothing but Saint Alphonsus, she said, so she soon thought to become his daughter and went to present herself to the Monastery of the Redemptoristines of Bruges in the month of June 1866. The Reverend Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence recognized the precious qualities of her postulant very quickly and received her as a present from Saint Alphonsus himself. She made her entry on 15th August 1866. She immediately bore herself with fervour in all the exercises of the religious life. She would go to choir with a very special joy, and she so much loved chanting the office that when the state of her health deprived her of this blessing, this sacrifice drew many tears from her. Her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was such as to make her find the moments that she was able to spend at the foot of the holy Tabernacle much too short. Her love for prayer made her employ this holy exercise all the time that she could give to it. She prepared for it carefully and made great progress in it.

She was very bright, but out side the times of recreation, she greatly loved silence, because she felt the good it does to the soul who seeks to be united to her God. Her charity made her ingenious in helping others. She did it with such a good heart that you could see her jump for joy when a work was entrusted to her. – Her heart was completely devoted to her Superiors. She had entire confidence in them. She loved them and obeyed them like a docile and affectionate child. A word on their part was sufficient to tranquillise her in her pains.

Josephine, when her educandate had finished, received the holy habit on 20th August 1867, and at the same time the name of Sister Marie-Paul of the Child Jesus. She passed the time of her novitiate with great fervour and made her holy vows on 20th August 1868. After a year, her health had greatly altered. From an illness that she had suffered a feebleness remained that degenerated into consumption. The dear little Sister, always courageous, finally, on 20th September, had to descend to the infirmary. The illness made rapid progress, and she was soon reduced to not being able to walk alone, so great was her weakness.

However she preserved her pleasant character, and was pleased with everything and never offered a complaint about her sufferings or the privations that resulted from her illness. She said: “I accept that I need all my courage so as not to lose patience; but I look at the good Jesus on the cross and then I feel strong and happy to suffer.” – She keenly felt the blessing of dying in religion: “I understand it even better now than on the day of my Profession,” she said, “and I renew my holy vows at least fifty times a day. Oh, what a blessing to die in the convent, where everything speaks to me of God, and where I can still take communion so often!”

One single thing hurt her. It was leaving her good Superior, Mother Marie-Philomena. Whenever she thought of it her tears would flow, but the thought of seeing her again one day in heaven dried them up very quickly. A word from the Reverend Mother made her forget all her sufferings. She loved to speak with her of heaven and the blessing of chanting the praises of the Lord there. Sister Marie Paul would then rally and exclaim: “If I love music so much here below, what will happen then in Paradise?” But this moment delayed too long for the vivacity of her desires – she found the time very long, and she had to make acts of resignation to await the moment indicated by the divine will. – One day she wanted to see the novices, her companions, say goodbye to them, and give a picture to each one of them as a souvenir. She promised to pray for them in Paradise and made them promise her to pray a great deal for her after her death.

On the day of the Immaculate Conception 1868, she asked for the Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to be made in the infirmary just as it was being made in public that same day. The dear child offered herself to the divine Heart as a victim of expiation. She offered her life for poor sinners, for the needs of the Church, and to obtain graces for the community. On the eve of her death, she asked if the blessed candle was in the infirmary, because she felt the moment approaching. On 10th December she received Holy Communion once more and passed the morning quite peacefully. About twelve thirty, the confessor gave her the last absolution. She was perfectly conscious and smiled when she saw the Sisters praying round her bedside. She looked confidently at the picture of the Blessed Virgin and in this way, without a moment of agitation, without even a sigh, she peacefully rendered her soul to God.

This necrology is translated from Fleurs de l'Institut des Rédemptoristines by Mr John R. Bradbury. The copyright of this translation is the property of the Redemptoristine Nuns of Maitland, Australia. The integral version of the translated book will be posted here as the necrologies appear.

Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence O.SS.R., Superior of the Monastery of Bruges 1811-1878

2012-01-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

Mère Marie-Philomène de la Divine Providence
Supérieure du Monastère de Bruges
décédée le 13 décembre 1878i.
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CHAPITRE I

son enfance. – son entrée au monastère.

Cette bien-aimée Mère, qui fut une vraie providence pour la communauté de Bruges, naquit à Ath le 29 juin 1811, et reçut au saint baptème les noms de Rosalie-Dieudonnée-Benoîte-Joseph. Elle était la seconde enfant de M. Joseph-Ignace de Savoie et de Mme Rosalie-Joseph Nève, son épouse.

Le ciel avait été prodigue de ses dons pour cette aimable enfant, qui, parfaitement douée du côté de la nature, devint bientôt l'objet de toutes les prédilections de ses chers parents : ils ne négligèrent rien pour développer par une éduction soignée les germes précieux qu'elle apporta en naissant.

Elle avait à peine neuf ans quand elle perdit son père, et de grands revers de fortune suivirent cette perte prématurée. Rosette (on l'appelait ainsi familièrement) comprenait déjà les malheurs de sa famille; mais sa grande âme et son coeur généreux n'étaient sensibles qu'à la douleur de sa mère chérie, qu'elle s'efforça de consoler, de soutenir et de soulager par son amour et sa tendresse; aussi ce ne fut pas sans une vive peine qu'elle se sépara d'elle pour aller à Lille achever son éducation. Dans la pension où on la plaça, elle cultiva tous les talents qui doivent orner une jeune personne. Elle devint parfaite musicienne. Ce talent lui fut toujours cher, parce qu'elle pouvait l'employer à la gloire de Dieu en chantant ses louanges, et en touchant l'orgue pour l'accompagnement de l'office divin.

Son heureux caractère et ses belles qualités la firent bientôt rechercher par de nombreux partis. Rosette, qui ne connaissait pas encore les vues de Dieu sur elle, se décida à accepter la main d'un jeune homme pieux et bon comme elle. Ce mariage était vivement désiré par les deux familles; cependant un secret pressentiment disait à la jeune fille qu'il ne s'accomplirait jamais. De fait, au moment où l'on allait fixer le jour des noces, son fiancé fut attaqué d'une fièvre violente qui l'emporta en peu de jours. Cette mort inopinée, en lui causant une vive douleur, la détacha du monde; et de nouveaux revers ayant atteint sa famille, elle voulut, pour soulager sa mère, utiliser ses talents. Mme la Comtesse de Malet l'accueillit avec joie pour surveiller l'éducation de sa fille unique. "Venez chez moi, lui écrivait-elle, vous serez pour moi une soeur et une amie, et plutôt la mère de ma fille que sa gouvernante." Rosette eut bientôt gagné le coeur et la confiance de la vertueuse dame, qui l'aimait tendrement. Elle jouissait près d'elle de tous les agréments qui eussent pu l'attacher à une vie douce et tranquille; mais Dieu lui fit bientôt sentir qu'il la voulait toute à Lui. Elle eut alors un de ces songes dont Dieu se sert quelquefois pour manifester aux âmes ses desseins. Sainte Philomène se montrant à elle, l'appela à ses côtés, et il lui sembla qu'elle jouissait là des joies du ciel. Depuis ce jour, le monde ne lui inspira plus que du dégoût, et elle aspira de toute son âme au bonheur de la vie religieuse.

De grandes difficultés s'opposèrent à son pieux dessein. La tendresse de sa mère, qui comptait sur elle pour consoler et soutenir sa vieillesse; l'attachement de sa famille; l'affection de la pieuse comtesse, à qui elle devait de la reconnaissance; enfin, sa santé, qui était fort délicate : tout cela lui livra bien des combats; mais la grâce la rendit victorieuse.

Notre saint Institut allait s'implanter en Belgique : elle y fut admise une des premières; mais, pour se conformer au désir exprimé par la Rde Mère Marie-Alphonse, elle retarda son entrée de quelques mois, afin de perfectionner son talent d'organiste. Elle fit de bon coeur ce sacrifice pour le bien de la communauté, et enfin, le 18 décembre 1841, elle entra au monastère provisoirement établi rue des Puits-aux-Oies.

L'hiver était rigoureux et au froid venait encore se joindre tout ce que la pauvreté peut amener de privations et de souffrances dans un commencement de fondation. Rien n'ébranla ce grand courage; elle venait pour se donner à un Epoux crucifié; et elle brûlait du désir de marcher sur ses traces en partageant ses douleurs. Les supérieures virent bientôt quel trésor la bonne Providence leur envoyait, et elle se hâtèrent de demander les dispenses nécessaires pour qu'elle fût associée aux premières postulantes et pût recevoir avec elles le saint habit. Le 25 février 1842, elle prit, avec le voile, le nom de Soeur Marie-Philomène de la Divine Providence. Elle passa l'année de son noviciat avec une ferveur exemplaire, et s'appliqua à pratiquer les Saintes Règles avec une parfaite exactitude. Aussi le jour où elle pourrait prononcer ses voeux etait-il vivement désiré.

Le 23 mars 1843, les sept premières novices devaient offrir leur sacrifice dans toute la joie de leur âme; mais un événement bien douloureux vint attrister ce beau jour. La Soeur Marie-Anne-Joseph du Précieux-Sang, qui avait commencé sa retraite en pleine santé, devint si gravement malade qu'elle dut recevoir les derniers sacrements le 22 mars; elle prononça en même temps ses voeux sur son lit de mort; Notre chère Soeur Marie-Philomène donna, en cette occasion, des preuves de sa grande charité et de son dévouement, passant tout le temps de sa retraite au chevet de sa pieuse compagne, qui lui disait parfois, les yeux mouillés des larmes de la reconnaissance : "Pauvre soeur, comme vous vous dévouez pour moi ! Mais quand je serai au ciel, je vous le rendrai bien, en priant pour vous." Le 23 mars, on quitta le choeur en chantant le Te Deum qui termine la cérémonie de la profession, et les nouvelles professes vinrent entourer le lit de la mourante, qui les regarda encore comme pour leur dire un dernier adieu. L'Angelus sonna, et la malade, en disant la parole Ecce ancilla Domini, inclina doucement la tête et rendit sa belle âme à Dieu.

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CHAPITRE II

charges qu'elle exerce. – Elle est nommée supérieure.
ses vertus.

Notre chére Soeur Marie-Philomène passa encore un an au noviciat; en le terminant, elle fut nommée Maîtresse des Educandes. Elle se dévoua tout entière pour les jeunes âmes que le Ciel lui confiait, et malgré ses nombreuses occupations, elle les formait soigneusement à la vie religieuse. Ses exemples, du reste, faisaient encore plus d'impression que ses paroles, et l'on admirait son exactitude, sa régularité, son grand courage à supporter toutes les privations imposées par la pauvreté. Le couvent provisoire n'était en effet qu'une vieille maison laissant entrer le vent et le froid par de mauvaises fenêtres : tout gelait à côté du feu, et les Soeurs n'avaient rien qui eût pu les garantir contre les intempéries des saisons. La nourriture était bien pauvre et bien peu faite pour une santé comme la sienne; heureuse de souffrir, elle encourageait ses éducandes à supporter aussi joyeusement les mêmes privations. Elle travaillait souvent bien avant dans la nuit, tantôt pour mettre ordre aux affaires de la maison et examiner les comptes de la nouvelle bâtisse, tantôt pour préparer la musique nécessaire pour le chant du saint office ou des fleurs destinées à orner le saint autel. Malgré tout cela, elle était la première au choeur le matin pour les Heures canoniales.

Le 23 juin 1845, la communauté se transporta au nouveau monastère. Soeur Marie-Philomène fut alors chargée du noviciat, qu'elle dirigea jusqu'au 11 août 1851, où elle devint Vicaire. Son zèle pour l'observance avait toujours été grand : il redoubla encore. La Supérieure ne pouvant pas, à cause de sa santé, assister aux actes communs, notre chère Mère Vicaire sembla se multiplier pour les présider tous, sans nuire à ses occupations; et quand Mgr. Malou, voyant la communauté si nombreuse, exprima le désir qu'une fondation se fît à Bruxelles, notre chère Mère, par sa rare prudence, sut soutenir et défendre les intérêts de la maison de Bruges, sans nuire cependant au premier essaim qui devait sortir de cette ruche bénie. Les voix unanimes des soeurs, aussi bien que le désir de son évêque, l'appelèrent alors à porter le fardeau de la supériorité. Il était d'autant plus lourd en ce moment que, vu les embarras financiers, la bâtisse du couvent, les difficultés d'un commencement, on n'avait jamais pu établir dans toute sa vigueur l'observance régulière. Il fallait donc une rare prudence pour détruire d'anciennes coutumes chez les âmes faibles, et pour modérer une trop grande ardeur dans quelques autres. C'est ce que fit notre bonne Mère. Elle eut bientôt gagné tous les coeurs, et la Sainte Règle étant observée avec bonheur et fidélité, on vit régner avec elle la joie, l'union fraternelle, le silence, l'amour de la mortification et de la prière.

Mère Marie-Philomène s'occupa activement à régler les affaires du monastère, paya les dettes, et en établissant partout l'ordre et l'économie, en pratiquant exactement la sainte pauvreté, elle attira sur cette chère maison les bénédictions divines, spirituelles et temporelles.

C'était au prix de prières prolongées bien avant dans la nuit et de grandes mortifications que cette bonne Mère obtenait ainsi du Ciel tout ce qui devait contribuer au bonheur de ses filles. Toujours la première à leur donner l'exemple, elle leur procurait aussi tous les secours spirituels qui pouvaient les aider à marcher sur les traces de notre bon Sauveur, et elle pouvait en réalité dire comme l'Apôtre : "Imitez-moi comme j'imite moi-même Jésus-Christ."

De nombreuses vocations lui permirent de fonder, en 1858, une maison à Velp, en Hollande. Elle y conduisit cinq soeurs choristes et deux converses; après y avoir établi la clôture, elle revint à Bruges. L'année suivante, elle conduisit en Irlande un nouvel essaim pour commencer une maison à Dublin, et ce fut encore au prix de bien des souffrances, de grandes fatigues et de nombreux sacrifices, qu'elle établit cette nouvelle fondation. De retour à Bruges, elle continua à gouverner sa communauté, la faisant toujours progresser en ferveur et en amour de la régularité, n'épargnant rien de ce qui pouvait contribuer au bien de ses filles, et donnant en tout le bon exemple.

Sa sagesse, sa prudence et sa douce fermeté lui avaient tellement gagné les coeurs qu'à chaque triennat, elle réunissait l'unanimité des suffrages, et elle se trouva ainsi obligée de rester en charge l'espace de vingt-quatre ans, c'est-à-dire jusqu'à sa mort. Ce furent des années pleines de ferveur, de souffrances et de mérites pour elle, de bonheur et de prospérité pour la communauté.

Le bon Dieu avait déjà remplacé par de nouvelles vocations les soeurs qui nous avaient quittées pour fonder à Velp et à Dublin, quand il se présenta une occasion favorable pour établir une fondation à Louvain. Mgr. Dechamps, alors archevêque de Malines, qui connaissait et estimait notre chère Mère, lui accorda avec joie toutes les permissions nécessaires. Cependant cette fondation lui coûta beaucoup de fatigues, car sa santé était déjà bien altérée. Elle y conduisit dix soeurs le 25 juillet 1874. Le bon Dieu la paya de la monnaie dont il récompense ses plus chers amis : de nombreuses croix vinrent ajouter de brillantes perles à sa couronne.

La foie vive de notre chère Mère lui faisait voir la main de Dieu dirigeant tous les événements. Jamais on ne l'entendit murmurer ou se plaindre dans ce qui lui causait de la peine. "C'est le bon Dieu qui le veut ainsi, disait-elle : il faut se soumettre et le vouloir aussi." Elle eut à supporter de grandes croix; des personnes peu judicieuses firent d'elle de faux rapports qui lui valurent de grandes humiliations et de durs reproches de ses supérieurs. Elle demeura calme, persuadée que Dieu ferait voir la vérité; c'est en effet ce qui arriva, car les calomnies dont on avait voulu la noircir, ne servirent qu'à augmenter l'estime dont elle jouissait déjà auprès des autorités supérieures; et à partir de ce moment, on lui accorda une confiance illimitée, dont elle n'abusa jamais. Des personnes à qui elle avait fait du bien lui témoignèrent une profonde ingratitude; son bon coeur en souffrait beaucoup, mais sa foi vive lui fit encore découvrir en cela les desseins de Dieu. "Le Seigneur a voulu, disait-elle, épurer ce qui aurait pu être trop naturel. – Je n'aurais pas cru être ainsi payée de ce que j'ai fait pour N. et pour N. J'en souffre, mais j'en remercie Notre-Seigneur; c'est de lui que j'attends ma récompense."

Quelquefois cependant la blessure de son coeur saignait plus fort. Un jour, comme on la trouvait pensive, on l'interrogea sur sa tristesse. "Je m'examine, dit-elle, et je recherche si j'ai fait quelque chose pour mériter les reproches et les procédés de telle personne; mais je ne trouve rien. Je lui voulais tant de bien ! Ah ! Que cela me détache de tout ! Comme on est insensé quand on n'agit pas pour Dieu seul ! Si je n'avais pas fait pour lui telle ou telle chose, il ne m'en resterait rien."

Sa confiance en Dieu la soutint toujours dans les pénibles circonstances qu'elle eut à traverser. Dès son enfance, lors des malheurs de sa famille, et plus tard quand elle se vit à la tête de la communauté, où presque tout était à former, notre chère Mère mit en Dieu toute sa confiance; elle se reposa sur la Providence divine, et son espérance ne fut pas vaine. Sous sa sage conduite, la communauté devint un modèle de ferveur, et le Seigneur y répandit les plus abondantes bénédictions.

Son amour pour Dieu se montra bien par ses oeuvres; car jamais, pendant sa longue carrière religieuse, sa ferveur ne se ralentit. C'est cet amour qui lui inspirait tant d'ardeur pour l'observance des Saintes Règles et pour l'avancement des âmes que Jésus-Christ lui avait confiées. Elle trouvait ses délices auprès du saint tabernacle; mais quand son devoir l'appelait, c'était l'amour de Dieu qui lui faisait quitter Dieu pour Dieu. C'est ce même amour qui lui faisait aimer le silence, la solitude, qui la portait à se sacrifier, à se dévouer pour ses filles, à s'imposer pour elles de bien dures pénitences. Elle abrégea même ses jours en faisant en ceci de pieux excès, qu'elle tenait soigneusement cachés. L'aveu qui lui en échappa un jour, la rendit toute confuse. "Mon Dieu, dit-elle, pourquoi ai-je dit cela ? Je ne voulais pas qu'on le sût."

Notre chère Mère était un modèle de charité envers le prochain : elle ne pouvait pas supporter que l'on y manquât. "Vous me rendez triste, disait-elle, quand vous blessez la charité; et cela me fait trembler, parce qu'en affligeant le coeur de Jésus, vous éloignez de la communauté les bénédictions célestes." Sa joie, au contraire, éclatait quand elle voyait régner l'union et la charité. "Oh ! Que cela me fait du bien! disait-elle; le bon Dieu sera content de nous." Son bon coeur ne refusa jamais un service qu'elle pouvait rendre, et elle souffrait quand la chose lui était impossible. Toujours prête à consoler les soeurs, à les aider, elle les accueillait avec affabilité et les soignait dans leurs maladies. Aussi recourions-nous toutes à elles avec une confiance filiale dans nos nécessités spirituelles et corporelles, et toujours nous trouvions en elle ce que nous avions cherché. On la vit se dépouiller, à l'insu de tout le monde, pour soulager une âme tentée, d'un vêtement chaud et léger qu'on avait jugé lui être nécessaire.

Elle aimait tant le Saint Office, elle le récitait et le chantait avec tant d'ardeur et de joie qu'elle en inspirait aux Soeurs; et elle ne pouvait souffrir qu'on apportât de la négligence à ce saint exercice. "Pensez-y donc, disait-elle, nous faisons en cela ce que nous ferons toute l'éternité." On la voyait se hâter pour arriver des premières. "Je vous assure, disait-elle, que ma plus grande pénitence est de ne pouvoir me rendre au choeur, et si je deviens faible et incapable d'assister au Saint Office, il faudra que le bon Dieu m'aide pour me résigner, car je ne sais comment je ferai ce grand sacrifice."

Son amour pour la pauvreté lui faisait craindre tout ce qui aurait pu blesser cette vertu, qui doit être si chère à une fille de Saint Alphonse. Elle n'avait rien de superflu à son usage, et elle était heureuse quand le bon Dieu permettait qu'on l'oubliât : elle ne se plaignait que du trop grand soin qu'on prenait d'elle. Jamais elle ne demandait rien; cependant sa santé toujours délicate la rendait très sensible au changement des saisons et à la fatigue. Bien souvent elle quittait la table, ayant à peine touché à ce qu'on lui servait, la faiblesse de son estomac ne supportant presque aucun aliment.

En un mot, cette vraie fille de Saint Alphonse aimait tout ce que notre saint fondateur a aimé lui-même. Ses dévotions favorites étaient la dévotion envers le Très Saint Sacrement, l'Enfance et la Passion de notre bon Sauveur; ces grands mystères étaient l'objet continuel de ses méditations. Elle avait pour la Très Sainte Vierge l'amour d'un enfant pour sa mère; elle avait fait le voeu de réciter chaque jour le chapelet, et jamais elle n'omit ce pieux exercice. Elle priait beaucoup pour les pécheurs. Les âmes du purgatoire excitaient aussi sa compassion : elle leur appliquait toutes les indulgences qu'elle pouvait gagner.

C'est ainsi que notre bonne Mère avançait rapidement dans la perfection, et l'Epoux divin, qui se plaisait à la voir ainsi s'unir à lui, voulut encore, vers la fin de sa vie, lui envoyer une bien rude croix, pour achever de la purifier. Elle l'accepta avec un grand amour en une parfaite générosité.

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CHAPITRE III

lettres du Rme p. mauron a la mère marie-philomène..

Les belles pages qu'on vient de lire, seront heureusement complétées par quelques extraits des lettres adressées à la Mère Marie-Philomène par le Rme P.Mauron, Recteur Majeur de la Congrégation du Très Saint Rédempteur. On y verra combien la bonne Mère était profondément estimée par le saint religieux dont nous parlons.

"Très Révérende Mère, lui écrivait-il le 13 janvier 1863, j'ai été touché des prières que vous ne cessez de faire pour moi, et en particulier de la communion que votre communauté m'a offerte le jour de ma fête. Je vous remercie aussi, d'une manière spéciale, du bel Enfant Jésus que vous avez eu la délicate attention de m'envoyer. Il m'a été remis par M. de Splentere samedi dernier, veille de l'Invention de Jésus au Temple. Le jour de la fête, je l'ai porté en récréation. Inutile de vous dire que tous ont admiré ce beau travail, tant le petit enfant, si aimable et si gracieux, que le berceau si délicatement confectionné. Pour lui faire honneur, la communauté a passé la récréation à chanter en sa présence plusieurs petits cantiques. Vous voyez par là, ma Révérende Mère, combien votre cadeau nous a fait plaisir.

"Mais en retour, que dois-je vous offrir ? – Puisque l'aimable petit Enfant Jésus est tant aimé dans votre communauté, je ne saurais vous souhaiter rien de plus précieux que la possession pleine, parfaite et constante de ce divin Sauveur. Car y a-t-il rien de plus beau sur la terre qu'une communauté religieuse dans laquelle Jésus-Christ vit avec son esprit de simplicité, d'humilité et d'ardente charité, dans laquelle on ne pense, on ne vit et l'on ne respire que pour Jésus-Christ, dans laquelle enfin Jésus-Christ est le centre, le lien, l'âme et la vie ! – Que l'Immaculée Vierge Marie et notre bienheureux père, Saint-Alphonse, que vous aimez et vénérez tant, vous accordent, dans toute sa plénitude, l'esprit de Jésus-Christ ! Car, vous le savez, aimer beaucoup Notre-Seigneur et le faire aimer des autres, a été le désir insatiable du coeur de Saint-Alphonse : telle doit donc être aussi la préoccupation première de chacun de ses enfants.

"C'est pourquoi je suis heureux de savoir que vous ne cessez d'adresser à Notre-Seigneur de ferventes prières pour le bon succès des missions et des travaux de la congrégation. Continuez donc à faire violence à notre Divin Sauveur : par vos prières vous réjouirez le coeur de Dieu et le coeur de Saint Alphonse, et vous contribuerez d'une manière efficace au salut des âmes."

Le 15 janvier 1866, le Rme P. Mauron écrit :
"J'ai été surtout touché de la recommandation faite à ces deux saintes fillesii qui sont allées recevoir au ciel leur récompense, de prier là-haut pour moi et pour toute la congrégation. Le nombre de ses enfants au ciel continue à grandir, et par là même le nombre des intercesseurs auprès de Notre-Seigneur en faveur de la famille de Saint-Alphonse. Tout cela est bien consolant, surtout que j'ai reçu de la bouche de Mgr de Bruges la confirmation de ce que je savais déjà par ailleurs, que l'observation régulière et le bon esprit continuent à fleurir dans votre monastère."

A propos d'une image du Vénérable P. Hofbaueriii, le P. Mauron ajoute :
"Je fais des voeux pour qu'un jour nous puissions aussi introduire la cause de quelque sainte Rédemptoristine : le meilleur moyen d'arriver à ce résultat si désirable est de vous pénétrer de mieux en mieux des précieux avis que Saint-Alphonse a laissés comme son testament aux religieuses de sa Congrégation du Très Saint Rédempteur. Ces quarante-quatre avis contiennent vraiment toute l'essence de la perfection religieuse d'une vraie Rédemptoristine; en les pratiquant fidèlement, une fille de Saint-Alphonse mériterait certainement d'être un jour vénérée sur les autels."

Une autre fois, il anime son zèle : "Je suis persuadé, écrit-il le 2 janvier 1867, que vous priez beaucoup pour les besoins de la Sainte Eglise et pour son vénérable chef sur la terre, Notre Saint Père Pie IX. C'est un devoir pour tous les enfants de la Sainte Eglise dans les tristes temps qu'elle traverse, mais plus spécialement pour tous ceux qui, dans la vie religieuse, puisent plus largement à la fontaine des grâces dont elle est la dépositaire."

Le Rme P. Mauron lui recommande les mêmes intérêts l'année suivante; il la met aussi au courant d'une affaire importante : "Vous aurez peut-être appris, lui dit-il, que le Saint-Siège a favorablement accueilli notre demande de voir placer solennellement Saint-Alphonse au nombre des Docteurs de la Sainte Eglise. La cause est officiellement introduite et progresse favorablement. Je la recommande à vos prières, ainsi que celle de la béatification du Vénérable Père Clément Hofbauer."

En cette année 1868, la mort avait fait quatre victimes dans le monastère de Brugesiv. Le P. Mauron console la bonne supérieure par ces lignes touchantes : "Pendant la nuit de Noël que vous avez eu le bonheur de passer au pied de la crèche, je suis sûr que le Divin Enfant aura bien accueilli toutes vos suppliques; vous pouvez espérer d'autant plus les voir exaucées que vous pouvez bien croire que quatre de vos bonnes compagnes ont eu le bonheur de faire cette fête en paradis, et, à cette occasion, ne vous ont certes pas oubliées. Continuez, ma Révérende Mère, à recommander à Notre-Seigneur et à notre chère Madone du Perpétuel Secours les besoins présents et à venir de la congrégation; certes l'avenir est sombre, et Dieu seul peut savoir si l'épreuve dont sa providence vient de frapper nos maisons si florissantes d'Espagne, ne nous est pas aussi réservée autre part ?

Le 23 juin 1874, le P. Mauron avait tendu la main à la Mère Marie-Philomène en faveur des Rédemptoristines de Vibonati, au diocèse de Policastro (royaume de Naples) dépouillées de tous leurs biens par le gouvernement italien. Trois semaines plus tard, il lui écrivait :

"J'ai reçu en son temps votre bonne lettre du 1er juillet, renfermant deux billets de banque de 100 fr. que votre charité offre en aumône à vos pauvres consoeurs de Vibonati, si dignes à tous égards de commisération. Je leur ai fait aussitôt parvenir la somme, et la supérieure, Soeur Marie-Raphaël, vient de m'en accuser réception, ne tarissant pas en action de grâces en son nom et au nom de ses quarante religieuses, pour ce secours providentiel. Elle me prie de vouloir bien vous en exprimer en leur nom toute leur reconnaissance, et de vous assurer qu'elles vous le rendront en ferventes prières pour leurs bienfaitrices.

"J'ai été heureux, ajoute-t-il, d'apprendre que l'affaire de votre fondation à Louvain progresse si favorablement et j'espère que, là comme à Bruges, règneront le bon esprit et l'esprit d'oraison et de vie intérieure que Saint-Alphonse a tant inculqués à ses filles. Je suis vraiment consolé, et Saint-Alphonse au ciel se réjouit de les voir si nombreuses en Belgique."

La Mère Marie-Philomène avait exprimé le désir que l'on pût faire l'histoire des premiers temps de l'Institut des Rédemptoristines : le Rme P. Mauron fit une réponse fort consolante. Il la mit au courant de tout ce qu'il avait déjà fait pour faire aboutir un jour ce projet, et termina sa lettre en la manière suivante : "Je m'occupe de votre histoire avec d'autant plus d'intérêt, que je connais la fidélité et la ferveur avec laquelle les Rédemptoristines servent et aiment Dieu." C'était un bel éloge pour les soeurs de Bruges, mais il s'étendait aussi à toutes leurs consoeurs. La bonne Mère put donc, avant de mourir, savoir qu'un de ses plus chers désirs serait un jour exaucé.

________________

CHAPITRE IV

Mort de la Mère Marie-Philomène.

Hommages rendus a sa mémoire.

Reprenons le récit de la Mère Marie-Aloyse :
"Notre bonne Mère, dit-elle, avait depuis quelque temps le pressentiment de sa mort prochaine. Dans le courant de l'été, elle disait un jour : "Je crois que ma mort est proche, car j'ai craint ce moment pendant toute ma vie, et maintenant je le désire tant ! Mes frayeurs sont passées, j'ai soif d'aller voir le bon Jésus ! Oh ! Oui, continua-t-elle, en joignant les mains et regardant le ciel : je désire tant le voir; car si je ne parle pas beaucoup, j'aime pourtant bien mon bon Jésus; oui, je l'aime de tout mon coeur."

La santé de la Mère Marie-Philomène était déjà bien altérée; notre Mère se traînait péniblement et souffrait beaucoup. Le Jour de l'Immaculée Conception (1878), après avoir communié et assisté à la Sainte Messe, elle se retira dans sa chambre, et peu après, il lui survint des vomissements. Le médecin arriva vers quatre heures de l'après-midi et ne vit rien de grave dans son état. Mais à peine était-il sorti qu'une congestion cérébrale se déclara. Le médecin fut rappelé et ordonna d'administrer sans retard la malade. Nous n'eûmes que le temps de transporter notre chère Mère à l'infirmerie, et M. le Chanoine Minne, notre confesseur ordinaire, lui donna l'extrême-onction. La chère malade avait perdu la parole, et nous ne savions pas même si elle avait encore sa connaissance; mais ce qui nous consolait et nous édifiait, c'était de la voir murmurer sans cesse l'Ave Maria. Elle le fit pendant toute la nuit, sans cesser un instant, et nous vîmes alors se vérifier ces paroles du vénéré Père Passerat, qu'elle aimait à nous répéter : "Si vous contractez la sainte habitude de prier toujours, vous le ferez encore à l'heure de votre mort, même sans le savoir." La connaissance lui revint peu à peu, et notre bonne Mère s'empressa d'appeler auprès d'elle le Tres Révérend Père Kockerols, notre confesseur extraordinaire. Il arriva bientôt, et elle fut bien consolée par sa présence : elle se confessa et reçut la sainte communion. C'était un spectacle touchant de voir cette bonne Mère essayer encore de réciter quelque partie de son office. Elle ne se plaignait jamais, ne demandait aucun soulagement, et quand on lui demandait si elle se trouvait bien, sa réponse était toujours : "Oui, je suis bien." – ou : "Je suis trop bien." Elle répéta plusieurs fois qu'elle pardonnait de grand coeur à ceux qui lui avaient fait de la peine pendant sa vie, et son calme était si grand qu'on eût dit qu'elle jouissait déjà du ciel – "Vous souffrez beaucoup, ma bonne Mère, lui disait le T.R.P. Kockerols. Notre-Seigneur vous envoie de bien grandes douleurs. – Oui, répondit-elle, mais aussi de bien grandes consolations."

Elle assura la communauté qu'elle ne l'oublierait pas au ciel, la recommanda plusieurs fois au R. Père Kockerols, et remercia celui-ci avec une touchante effusion de tout ce qu'il avait fait pour elle. Le Révérend Père, ému jusqu'aux larmes, la remercia à son tour de ce qu'elle avait fait pour la congrégation; il l'assura des prières de tous, ajoutant que, dès à présent, on intercédait pour elle dans toutes les maisons en Belgique.

"Notre chère Mère eut aussi la consolation de recevoir la bénédiction de Mgr. Faict, évêque de Bruges, qui l'estimait tant, et qui s'était empressé de venir lui-même s'informer de son état dès qu'il avait appris le coup pénible qui nous frappait. Le jeudi 12 décembre, au soir, le Révérend Père Kockerols vint encore la confesser, puis les soeurs allèrent recevoir sa dernière bénédiction. La bonne Mère récitait continuellement des Ave Maria, tenant en main son rosaire, et de temps en temps faisant un effort pour se le passer au cou. On le lui passa, et elle demeura calme. La chère mourante baissait visiblement. Vers onze heures, le R.P. Kockerols récita les prières des agonisants, et le vendredi 13 décembre 1878, à une heure du matin, la Mère Marie-Philomène remit paisiblement sa belle âme entre les mains de Celui pour lequel elle avait travaillé et souffert.

"La douleur de la communauté ne peut se dépeindre. Nous perdions en elle la meilleure des supérieures, la plus tendre des Mères, l'amie et la confidente de toutes. Chacune d'entre nous s'empressa de lui payer sa dette de reconnaissance en priant pour elle, et en se promettant de suivre ses conseils et ses exemples.

"Mgr. l'Evêque voulut honorer ses obsèques de sa présence, pour marquer l'estime qu'il faisait de notre bien-aimée Mère. La famille de la chère défunte y assistait aussi; et, chose remarquable, tous les officiers alors en service à Bruges voulurent rendre à notre Mère un hommage que ne reçut jamais une religieuse; ils vinrent donc tous aux funérailles, voulant montrer par là à M. le Général de Savoie, auguste frère de la défunte, qu'eux aussi savaient estimer la vertu de la soeur chérie qu'il pleurait."

A la touchante biographie qu'on vient de lire, nous ajouterons quelques pieux hommages émanant de ceux et de celles qui connurent bien la Mère Marie-Philomène.

Mentionnons en premier lieu le souvenir mortuaire composé par le T.R.P. Kockerols :

J.M.J.A.

N'oubliez pas les enseignements de votre Mère. (Prov. 1.8.)

Elle a été une vraie fille de Saint-Alphonse. Elle nous inculquait sans cesse par ses paroles et par ses exemples le véritable esprit de notre saint fondateur :

Esprit de foi, qui nous fait mener ici-bas une vie surnaturelle et divine.

Esprit d'oraison, qui maintient nos âmes dans une continuelle communication avec Dieu.

Esprit d'humilité et de simplicité, caractère distinctif de notre saint fondateur et de ses vrais disciples.

Esprit de sacrifice et d'abnégation, qui produit l'oubli de soi-même et le plus entier dévouement aux intérêts de Jésus.

Esprit d'amour, amour ardent envers Notre-Seigneur; amour tendre envers Marie; amour plein de zèle pour l'Eglise et les âmes, surtout pour les âmes les plus abandonnées.

Esprit de soumission en toutes choses à la volonté divine. Il nous fera répéter en toute occasion ces paroles sacrées que prononça si souvent, pendant la vie et à la mort, notre vénérée supérieure et bien-aimée Mère :

Fiat voluntas tua !

Une lettre du R.P. Inghels, datée du 3 janvier 1879, et adressée à la Mère Marie-Aloyse, rend à son tour, en termes expressifs, un bel hommage aux vertus de la défunte :

"Nous avons déposé dans la crèche de l'Enfant Jésus nos voeux de nouvel an pour nos bonnes soeurs de Bruges. Puisse le couvent de la rue Sainte-Cathérine rester toujours ce qu'il fut jusqu'ici, un joyeux vestibule du Paradis ! Vous êtes là, heureuses épouses de Jésus-Christ, louant sans cesse votre bien-aimé Sauveur, ne comptant plus pour rien le monde que vous avez quitté, goûtant déjà dans la charité qui vous unit, quelque chose de cet ineffable bonheur que vous attendez. De temps en temps, l'Ange de la Délivrance vient dire : Venez, Epouse du Christ ! Et alors, pour l'heureuse élue, le Paradis s'ouvre, elle entre dans l'éternelle béatitude, elle reçoit la couronne que le Seigneur lui a préparée. Oh ! Sans doute, ma chère soeur, pour celles qui doivent attendre encore dans le vestible, la séparation est pénible; mais quelle grande consolation de pouvoir se dire : elle est heureuse, et nous, dans quelque temps, nous irons la rejoindre !

"Vous pouvez vous dire cela, ma bonne soeur, chaque fois que votre Divin Epoux invite un membre de votre heureuse communauté; mais que ne pouvez-vous pas ajouter, maintenant que la bonne Mère Marie-Philomène a eu le bonheur d'être invitée ! Oh ! Combien belle doit être sa couronne ! N'a-t-elle pas servi d'instrument docile à la Divine Providence pour former à la sainteté une foule d'âmes ? Ne lui devez-vous pas la ferveur qui règne parmi vous ? Ne portait-elle pas bien son nom et n'était-elle pas vraiment une toute aimable providence pour chacune de vous ? Et non contente d'avoir soin de vous, que ne faisait-elle pas pour ceux que la providence amenait près du vestibule ! Ah ! Si les grilles de votre couvent pouvaient parler ! Que d'actes de charité pratiqués par Mère Philomène pourraient être révélés! Comme on a bien fait de choisir pour texte du billet mortuaire les paroles de Saint-Augustin : "Pieuse envers Dieu, affectueuse et tendre envers les siens, bienveillante pour tous ceux qui l'approchaient", et celles de l'Ecclésiaste : "Elle a été aimée de Dieu et des hommes, et sa mémoire est en bénédiction."

"C'est bien là notre bonne Mère Marie-Philomène. Après une telle vie, il n'est pas étonnant que sa fin ait été si belle."

Laissons enfin parler quelques pieuses Rédemptoristines qui connurent bien la vénérée Mère :

"La chère Mère Marie-Philomène, dit l'une d'elles, m'a toujours paru une sainte supérieure dont la force et la douceur rendaient le gouvernement tel que notre père, Saint-Alphonse, dépeint celui de la parfaite supérieure. Elle avait grande dévotion au Divin Office, qu'elle accompagnait avec tant de dévotion. Elle était toujours prête à consoler ses filles, et même les plus petites avaient recours à elle avec confiance."

"Je revois encore d'ici, écrit une autre, la bonne Révérende Mère toujours aimable et souriante. On ne pouvait la rencontrer (fût-on tenté ou assez mal disposé) sans se sentir changé. Rien qu'en la regardant, tout disparaissait et changeait de face devant son amabilité, comme si un ange, paraissant tout à coup, eût chassé tous les démons. Elle faisait passer les âmes de ses enfants par les épines des grandes épreuves sans s'y déchirer. Elle me disait parfois au commencement : "Ne soyez pas de ces religieuses que l'on doit prendre avec des gants."

Un troisième témoin des vertus de la bonne Mère nous donne enfin un portrait achevé de la défunte avec les lignes suivantes :

"Quant à notre bien-aimée Mère Marie-Philomène, qui m'a reçue dans la communauté de Bruges, j'ai particulièrement admiré en elle, dès le premier jour que j'ai eu le bonheur de la connaître, une surnaturelle égalité d'âme qui ne s'est jamais démentie au milieu même des plus grandes peines et difficultés. Un jour que je lui exprimais mon admiration au sujet de son imperturbable patience, elle me répondit : "Mais, mon enfant, si le bon Dieu veut la chose ou la permet ainsi, pourquoi la voudrions-nous autrement ?"

Le charme que la grâce donnait à son énergie, lui attirait tous les coeurs pour les porter vers Dieu. J'ai entre les mains quelques lignes écrites par cette vénérée Mère: en voici la copie, au cas où elle pourrait être utile.

"Vous me demandez, chère petite Soeur M., quelques lignes de consolation : voici ma réponse. Avant tout, chère enfant, je vous souhaite du courage. Déjà bien avant l'invention du chemin de fer, Sainte-Thérèse disait qu'avec du courage on fait cent lieues à l'heure. Le courage est donc le télégraphe électrique de la vie spirituelle. Et pourquoi aller à pied ou par voiture de poste, quand on a le chemin de fer ou le télégraphe à sa disposition ?

"Je vois qu'il vous reste encore une queue de votre ancienne infirmité, découragement. Monsieur le Noir tâche d'en profiter: envoyez-le promener. Au reste, il ne faut jamais se décourager ou s'étonner en se voyant encore imparfaite; on ne devient pas saint en un jour, et Dieu se plaît à nous laisser un côté faible et vulnérable pour que nous puissions constamment nous humilier et sentir l'énorme besoin que nous avons de Lui. Dans vos tentations, ne pensez jamais à la tentation, mais à Jésus-Christ et à Marie; et en général, quand votre esprit veut rêver, réflechir, scruter, regardez fixement et avec bonne humeur l'aimable figure de Jésus-Christ qui est en vous, et sa Sainte Mère qui est à côté de vous. Vous trouverez là de quoi rêver pendant toute l'éternité."

________________

With Thanks to Mr Aime Dupont

Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence O.SS.R., Superior of the Monastery of Bruges 1811-1878

2012-01-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Chapter IV. Death of Mother Marie-Philomena.
Homage rendered to her memory

We continue with Mother Marie-Aloyse’s account:

“Our good Mother,” she says, “for some time had been having a presentiment of her approaching death. During that summer she said one day: “I believe my death is near, as I always feared that moment my whole life long, but now I desire it so much! My fears have gone, and I am thirsting to go and see the good Jesus! Oh, yes,” she continued, putting her hands together and looking up to heaven, “I want to see Him so much. I might not say much about it, but I love my good Jesus so much. Yes, I love Him with my whole heart.”

Mother Marie-Philomena’s health had already altered considerably. Our Mother was in a lot of pain and was suffering greatly. On the day of the Immaculate Conception (1878), she took communion and assisted at the holy mass and then retired to her room. Shortly afterwards she began vomiting. The doctor arrived about four o’clock in the afternoon and saw nothing serious in her state. But he had scarcely left when she started having a stroke. The doctor was recalled and ordered the last sacraments to be administered to the patient without delay. We had only enough time to transport our dear Mother to the infirmary, and the Rev. Canon Minne, our ordinary confessor, gave her Extreme Unction. The dear soul had lost her ability to speak, and we did not even know if she still retained consciousness. But what consoled us and edified us was hearing her murmuring the Ave Maria continually. She did this all night long, without stopping for a moment, and then we saw the proof of the words of our venerated Father Passerat that she loved to repeat to us: “If you contract the holy habit of always praying, you will do it even at the hour of your death, even without knowing it.” Her consciousness came back to her bit by bit, and our good Mother asked for the Very Rev. Father Kockerols, our extraordinary confessor, to be called urgently. He soon arrived, and she was very consoled by his presence. She made her confession and received Holy Communion. It was a touching spectacle to see this good Mother still trying to recite some part of her office. She never complained, nor asked for any comfort, and when she was asked if she felt all right, her reply was always: “Yes, I’m all right.” – or “I’m very well.” She said several times that she pardoned with all her heart all those who had caused her grief during her life, and her calm was so great that it could have been said that she was already enjoying heaven. – “You are suffering a great deal, my good Mother”, the Very Rev. Father Kockerols said to her. “Our Lord is sending you some very great sorrows.” - “Yes,” she replied, “but also some very great consolations.”

She assured the community that she would not forget them in heaven, recommended them several times to the Very Rev. Father Kockerols, and thanked him with a touching effusion for everything he had done for her. The Reverend Father, moved to tears, thanked her in his turn for what she had done for the Congregation. He assured her of everyone’s prayers, adding that, from now on, they would be interceding for her in all the houses in Belgium.

“Our dear Mother also had the consolation of receiving the benediction of Mons. Faict, the Bishop of Bruges, who esteemed her greatly, and who himself made haste to come to her to be informed of her condition as soon as he learnt of the painful blow we had received. On Thursday 12th December, in the evening, the Reverend Father Kockerols came once more to confess her, and then the Sisters went to receive her last blessing. The good Mother continually recited the Ave Maria, holding her Rosary in her hands, and from time to time making an effort to put it round her neck. Someone did this for her and she became calm. The dear soul was sinking visibly. At about eleven o’clock, the Rev. Father Kockerols recited the prayers of the dying, and on Friday 13th December 1878, at one o’clock in the morning, Mother Marie-Philomena peacefully rendered her beautiful soul into the hands of Him for whom she had worked so hard and suffered so much.

“The grief of the Community could not be described. We lost in her the best of Superiors, the most tender of Mothers, the friend and confident of us all. Each one of us hastened to pay our debt of gratitude to her by praying for her, and by promising to follow her counsels and examples.

“Mons. the Bishop wished to honour her funeral by his presence, to show the great esteem he had for our much beloved Mother. The family of the dear departed attended also, and, a remarkable thing, all the officers then in service in Bruges wished to pay our mother a tribute that no nun had ever received, so they all came to her funeral, wishing to demonstrate to M. the General of Savoy, the august brother of the deceased, that they too knew how to appreciate the virtues of the beloved sister whom he was mourning.”

To this touching biography that we have just read, we add some pious tributes emanating from men and women who knew Mother Marie-Philomena well.

In the first place we mention the funeral notice composed by the Very Rev. Father Kockerols:

J. M. J. A.

Do not forget the teachings of your Mother (Prov. 1:8).

She was a true daughter of Saint Alphonsus. She drummed into us unceasingly through her words and her examples the true spirit of our holy Founder:

The spirit of faith, which makes us live a supernatural and divine life here below.

The spirit of prayer, which maintains our souls in continual communication with God.

The spirit of humility and simplicity, the distinctive characteristic of our holy Founder and his true disciples.

The spirit of sacrifice and abnegation, which produces forgetfulness of self and the most entire devotion to the interests of Jesus.

The spirit of love, ardent love for Our Lord; a tender love for Mary; a love full of zeal for the Church and souls, especially for the most abandoned souls.

The spirit of submission in everything to the divine will. It will make us repeat on every occasion the sacred words that our venerated Superior and much beloved Mother repeated so often during her life and at her death:

Fiat voluntas tua!
May Thy will be done!

A letter by Rev. Father Inghels, dated 3rd January 1879, and addressed to Mother Marie-Aloyse, renders in its turn, in expressive terms, a beautiful homage to the virtues of the deceased:

“We have placed our vows for the new year for our good Sisters of Bruges into the Manger of the Child Jesus. May the Convent in Saint Catherine Street always remain what it has been so far, a joyous vestibule of Paradise! You are there, happy spouses of Jesus Christ, unceasingly praising your well-beloved Saviour, counting no longer for anything from the world that you have left, rejoicing already in the charity that brings you something of the ineffable bliss that awaits you. From time to time, the Angel of deliverance comes to say: “Come, Bride of Christ!” And then, for the happy elect, Paradise opens, and she enters into the eternal beatitude, and receives the crown that the Lord has prepared for her. Oh, undoubtedly, my dear Sister, for those who must still wait in the vestibule, the separation is painful, but what a great consolation to be able to say to yourself: ‘She is happy, and we, sometime later, will go to rejoin her!’

“You can say this, my good Sister, every time your divine Spouse invites a member of your happy community, but can you now not add that your good Mother Marie-Philomena has had the good fortune to be invited? Oh, how beautiful must her crown be! Has she not served the divine Providence as a docile instrument to form the sanctity of a huge number of souls? Do you not owe to her the fervour that reigns amongst you? Did she not bear her name well, and was she not truly a most adorable Providence for each one of you? And not content to take care of you, what did she not do for those whom Providence has brought into the vestibule? Ah, if the grilles of your convent could only speak! What acts of charity practised by Mother Philomena would be revealed! How fitting it was to choose as the text on her mortuary card the words of Saint Augustine: “Pious towards God, affectionate and tender towards her own, benevolent towards all those who approached her”, and the word of Ecclesiastes: “She loved God and mankind and her memory is a blessed one.”

“This is so true of our good Mother Marie-Philomena. After such a life, it is not astonishing that her end was so beautiful.”

Let us now listen to some pious Redemptoristines who knew their venerated Mother well:

“Our dear Mother Marie-Philomena,” said one of them, “always appeared to me as a holy Superior whose power and meekness made her government just like what our Father Saint Alphonsus describes about the perfect Superior. She had a great devotion to the Divine Office, which she accompanied with so much devotion. She was always ready to console her daughters, and even the least of them had recourse to her with confidence.”

Another one writes: “I remember our good Reverend Mother as always sweet and smiling. You could never spend time with her (even if you were burdened or were not feeling well) without feeling yourself changed. Whatever it was regarding her, everything disappeared and changed in front of her kindliness, as if an angel suddenly appearing chased away all the demons. She helped the souls of her children pass through the thorns of great trials without being torn by them. She sometimes told me at the beginning: “Do not be one of those religious who must be handled with gloves on.”

Finally, a third witness to the virtues of this good Mother gives us a portrait drawn of the deceased in the following lines:

“As for our much beloved Mother Marie-Philomena, who received me into the community of Bruges, what I particularly admired in her, from the very first day I had the pleasure of meeting her, was a supernatural quality of soul which was never shaken even in the midst of the greatest pains and difficulties. One day when I expressed my admiration to her on the subject of her imperturbable patience, she replied: “My dear child, if the good God wants something or permits it, why would we wish otherwise?”

The charm that grace gave to her energy attracted all hearts to her so she could bring them to God. I have in my hands some lines written by this venerated Mother. Here is a copy of them, in case they can be of use.

“You have asked me, my dear little Sister M., for some lines of consolation: here is my reply. Before all, dear child, I wish you to have courage. Even well before the invention of the railway, Saint Teresa said that with courage you could go a hundred leagues an hour. Courage is therefore the electric telegraph of the spiritual life. And why go on foot or by a postal van when we have the railway or the telegraph at our disposition?

“I see that you still have a trace left of your ancient infirmity: discouragement. Mister Darkness is trying to make use of it, so send him packing. For the rest, we must never be discouraged or dismayed when we see ourselves still imperfect. We cannot become a saint in one day, and God is pleased to leave us a feeble and vulnerable side so that we can constantly be humbled and feel the enormous need that we have of Him. In your temptations, never think of the temptation, but of Jesus Christ and Mary; and in general, when your spirit wishes to dream, reflect and consider, fasten your glance with good humour on the adorable figure of Jesus Christ who is in you, and His holy Mother who is beside you. There you will find what you should dream of for all eternity.”

Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence O.SS.R., Superior of the Monastery of Bruges 1811-1878

2011-12-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

Chapter III. Letters by Rev. Father Mauron to Mother Marie-Philomena.

The beautiful pages that we have just read will be happily completed by some extracts from the letters addressed to Mother Marie-Philomena by Rev. Father Mauron, the Rector Major of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. In them we will see how this good Mother was profoundly esteemed by the holy priest whom we have mentioned.

“Very Reverend Mother,” he wrote to her on 13th January 1863, “I have been touched by the prayers that you never cease to offer for me, and in particular the communion that your community offered me on my feast day. I thank you also, in a special manner, for the beautiful Infant Jesus that you have had the great kindness to send me. It was passed on to me by Mr. de Splentere last Saturday, on the eve of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. On the day of my feast, I had it with me in recreation. It is useless for me to tell you that everyone admired this beautiful piece of work, both the little Child, so adorable and so gracious, and the cradle so finely worked. To give it honour, the Community spent the recreation chanting some beautiful canticles in its presence. So you can see from this, my Reverend Mother, how much your present gave us pleasure.

“But in return, what can I offer you? – Since the adorable little Child Jesus is so much loved in your community, I would not be able to wish you anything more precious that the full, perfect and constant possession of this divine Saviour. For there is nothing more beautiful on this earth than a religious community in which Jesus Christ lives with His spirit of simplicity, humility and ardent charity, in which you both think, live and breathe only for Jesus Christ; a community in which, finally, Jesus is the centre, the link, the soul and the life! – May the Immaculate Virgin Mary and blessed Father, Saint Alphonsus, whom you love and venerate so much, grant you, in all its fullness, the spirit of Jesus Christ! For as you know, loving Our Lord fully and making Him known to others was the insatiable desire of the heart of Saint Alphonsus, and such must therefore also be the first preoccupation of each one of his children.

“This is why I am happy to know that you never cease to address fervent prayers to Our Lord for the good success of the missions and works of the Congregation. So continue to storm our divine Saviour. Through your prayers you will rejoice the heart of God and the heart of Saint Alphonsus, and you will contribute in an efficacious manner to the salvation of souls.”

On 15th January 1866, the Rev. Father Mauron wrote:
“I have been especially touched by the recommendation made to these two saintly ladies [2] who have gone to receive their reward in heaven, to pray from up there for me and for the whole Congregation. The number of his children in heaven continues to grow, and there also the number of intercessors with Our Lord in favour of the family of Saint Alphonsus. All of this is very consoling, especially since I have received from the mouth of Mons the Bishop of Bruges the confirmation of what I have already learnt from elsewhere, that regular observance and a good spirit continue to flourish in your Monastery.”

Regarding an image of the Ven. Father Hofbauer [3],
Father Mauron adds:
“I have offered up my prayers that one day we will also be able to introduce the cause of some holy Redemptoristine, and the best means of arriving at such a desirable result is for you to become adept in the precious counsels that Saint Alphonsus left us as his testament to the religious of his Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. These forty four counsels truly contain all the essence of the religious perfection of a true Redemptoristine, and in practising them faithfully, a daughter of Saint Alphonsus will certainly merit being venerated one day on the altars.”

Another time, he enlivens his zeal: “I am persuaded”, he wrote on 2nd January 1867, “that you should pray as much as possible for the needs of the holy Church and for its venerable chief on earth, Our Holy Father Pius IX. It is a duty for all the children of the holy Church in the sad times that it is passing through, but most especially for all those who, in their religious life, draw must often at the fountain of graces of which it is the repository.”

Rev. Father Mauron recommends to her the same interests the following year, and he brings her up to date with an important matter. “You would perhaps have learnt,” he tells her, “that the Holy See has favourably received our request to see Saint Alphonsus solemnly placed among the number of the Doctors of the Holy Church. The cause has been officially introduced and is progressing favourably. I recommend it to your prayers, as well as that of the beatification of the Ven. Father Clement Hofbauer.”

In this year of 1868, death claimed four victims in the Monastery of Bruges. [4] Father Mauron consoles the good Superior in these touching lines: “During the night of Christmas that you have had the good fortune to spend at the foot of the Manger, I am sure that the divine Child will have happily received all your supplications. You can be even more sure of seeing them heard than you can believe that four of your good companions have had the good fortune of spending this feast in Paradise, and, on this occasion, they will certainly not have forgotten you. Continue, my Reverend Mother, to recommend to Our Lord and to our dear Lady of Perpetual Succour the present and forthcoming needs of the Congregation. Certainly the future is a sombre one, and God alone knows if some of the trials with which Providence has just struck our flourishing houses in Spain is not reserved here for us too.”

On 23rd June 1874, Father Mauron stretched out his hands to Mother Marie-Philomena on behalf of the Redemptoristines of Vibonati, in the Diocese of Policastro (Kingdom of Naples), deprived of their property by the Italian government. Three weeks later he wrote back:

“I have recently received your good letter of 1st July, enclosing two banknotes of 100 francs each, which your charity offers as alms for your poor fellow Sisters of Vibonati, so worthy in every respect of commiseration. I sent this money on to them straight away, and the Superior, Sister Maria Raphael, has just let me know she has received it, never ceasing in her thanksgiving in her own name and in the name of her forty Sisters, for this providential assistance. She begs me to be kind enough to express all their gratitude to you in their name, and to assure you that they will return it to you in fervent prayers for their benefactors.

“I was very happy,” he adds, “to learn that the business of your foundation at Louvain is progressing so favourably and I hope that, there like Bruges, a good spirit will reign, and the spirit of prayer and the interior life that Saint Alphonsus has inculcated so much into his Daughters. I am truly consoled, and Saint Alphonsus in heaven rejoices to see them so numerous in Belgium.”

Mother Marie-Philomena had expressed the desire that the history would be written of the first times of the Institute of the Redemptoristines. Rev. Father Mauron gave a very consoling reply. He brought her up to date with everything he had already done to bring this project to fruition one day, and ended his letter in the following manner: “I am busying myself with your history with all the more interest, as I know the fidelity and fervour with which the Redemptoristines serve and love God.” It was a beautiful eulogy for the Sisters of Bruges, but it also extended to all their fellow Sisters. So before her death, this good Mother knew that one of her most cherished desires would one day be fulfilled.

Footnotes

[2] Sisters Marie-Cécile of the Child Jesus and Marie-Alphonse of the Immaculate Conception.
[3] Beatified.
[4] They were: Sister Marie-Dominique of the Mother of God, Sister Marie-Ildephonse of the Holy Spirit, Sister Aloyse of Jesus and Mary, and Sister Marie-Paul of the Child Jesus.

Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence O.SS.R., Superior of the Monastery of Bruges 1811-1878

2011-11-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

Chapter II. The offices she exercised.
– She is named Superior. – Her virtues.

Our dear Sister Marie-Philomena spent another year in the novitiate, and when she finished it, she was made Mistress of Educandes. She devoted herself completely to the young souls that Heaven entrusted to her, and in spite of her numerous occupations, she formed them most carefully in religious life. Her examples, moreover, made an even greater impression than her words, and everyone admired her exactitude, her regularity, and her great courage in bearing all the privations imposed on her by poverty. The provisional convent was nothing more in fact than an old house that let the wind and the cold in through badly-fitting windows. Everyone froze beside the fire, and the Sisters had nothing that could guarantee them against the inclemency of the weather. The food was very meagre and little suited to a health like hers. But she was happy to suffer and encouraged her educandes to bear the same privations as joyfully as she did. She often worked far into the night, sometimes to bring order into the affairs of the house and examine the accounts for the new building, and sometimes to prepare the music necessary for the chanting of the sacred office or the flowers destined to adorn the holy altar. In spite of all this, she was the first one in choir in the morning for the canonical Hours.

On 23rd June 1845, the community moved to its new Monastery. Sister Marie-Philomena was then put in charge of the novitiate, which she directed until 11th August 1851, when she became the Vicar. Her zeal for observance had always been great, but now it redoubled. The Superior, because of her health, was not able to take part in the community acts, so our dear Mother Vicar seemed to multiply herself to preside at all of them, without harm to her occupations, and when Mons. Malou, seeing the community so numerous, expressed his desire for a foundation to be made at Brussels, our dear Mother, through her rare prudence, successfully sustained and defended the interests of the house of Bruges, without harm, however, to the first swarm which was to go forth from this blessed bee-hive. The unanimous voices of the Sisters, as well as the wishes of their Bishop, then called upon her to assume the burden of the Superiority. It was an even more heavy one at this moment, considering that with the financial concerns, the building of the convent, and the difficulties of a new foundation, it had never been possible to establish regular observance in all its vigour. It therefore required a rare prudence to set aside ancient customs dear to feeble souls and to moderate too great an ardour in some of the others. This is what our good Mother did. She soon managed to gain all hearts, and the holy Rule being observed with cheerfulness and fidelity, there soon reigned with it joy, fraternal union, silence, the love of mortification and prayer.

Mother Marie Philomena occupied herself actively in regulating the affairs of the Monastery, paid the debts, and by establishing order and economy everywhere, and practising holy poverty exactly, she attracted to that dear house all the divine, spiritual and temporal blessings.

It was at the price of prayers prolonged well into the night and great mortifications, that this good Mother thus obtained from Heaven everything which could contribute to the good fortune of her daughters. Always the first to give them their example, she also procured for them all their spiritual helps, which would assist them in travelling in the footsteps of our good Saviour, and she could in reality say with the Apostle: “Imitate me as I myself imitate Jesus Christ.”

Numerous vocations permitted her to found, in 1858, a house at Velp, in Holland. She led five Choir Sisters and two converse there, and after establishing the enclosure there, she returned to Bruges. In the following year, she conducted a new swarm to Ireland to begin a house in Dublin, and it was also at the cost of much suffering, great efforts and numerous sacrifices that she established this new foundation. Upon returning to Bruges, she continued to govern her community, making it continually progress in fervour and love of regularity, sparing nothing of whatever could contribute to the good of her daughters, and giving a good example in everything.

Her wisdom, her prudence and her gentle firmness gained hearts so securely for her that at each triennium, she received the votes unanimously, and she thus found herself obliged to remain in charge for the space of twenty four years, in other words, until her death. They were years full of fervour, suffering and merits for her, and good fortune and prosperity for the community.

The good God had already sent new vocations to replace those Sisters who left us for the foundations at Velp and Dublin, when a favourable occasion presented itself to establish a foundation at Louvain. Mons. Dechamps, then Archbishop of Malines, who knew and esteemed our dear Mother, joyfully granted her the necessary permissions. However, this foundation cost her a great deal of effort, as her health was already greatly altered. She conducted ten Sisters there on 25th July 1874. The good God paid her in the money with which He rewards his dearest friends – numerous crosses began to add brilliant pearls to her crown.

The living faith of our dear Mother made her see the hand of God directing every event. She was never heard to murmur or complain about whatever was causing her pain. “It is the good God who wishes it so,” she would say, “and we have to submit and wish for it also.” She had to support some great crosses – some very undiscerning people made false reports about her that brought her great humiliations and harsh reproaches from her superiors. She remained calm, persuaded that God would make the truth appear, and in fact, this is what happened, as the calumnies by which people wished to blacken her only served to increase the esteem which she already enjoyed among her superior authorities, and beginning with this moment, she was accorded an unlimited confidence, which she never abused. Some people to whom she had done some good manifested a profound ingratitude to her. Her good heart suffered greatly from it, but her living faith still let her discover the designs of God in it. She said, “The Lord has wished to purify whatever would have been too much of nature. – I would never have believed I would be paid like this for what I have done for N. and for N… It makes me suffer, but I thank Our Lord, for it is from Him that I await my recompense.”

Sometimes, however, the wounding of her heart bled more strongly. One day, when she appeared to be lost in thought, she was asked why she was so sad. She said, “I have examined myself and I am trying to work out if I have done anything to merit the reproaches and behaviour of such a person, but I can find nothing. And I wish her so much good! Yes, this detaches me from everything! How foolish we are if we do not act for God alone! If I had not done such and such a thing for Him, I would have had nothing.”

Her confidence in God always sustained her in the painful circumstances that she had to endure. From her childhood, through the misfortunes of her family and later on when she found herself at the head of her community, where almost everyone had to be formed, our dear Mother put all her trust in God. She rested on divine Providence, and her hope was not in vain. Under her wise direction, the community became a model of fervour, and the Lord poured out the most abundant blessings upon it.

Her love for God was also shown in her works; for never, in all her long religious career, did her fervour ever slacken. It was this love that inspired such ardour in her for the observance of the holy Rules and for the advancement of the souls that Jesus Christ had entrusted to her. She found her delights before the sacred tabernacle, but when her duties called her, it was her love of God that led her to leave God for God’s sake. It was the same love which caused her to love silence and solitude, which brought her to sacrifice herself and devote herself to her daughters, and impose very harsh penances upon herself for their sake. She even shortened her days by doing pious excesses of them, which she carefully kept hidden. The admission she let slip one day left her quite confused. “My God,” she said, “why did I say that? I didn’t want anyone to know about it.”

Our dear Mother was a model of charity towards her neighbour. She could not endure anyone going short. “You make me sad,” she would say, “when you wound charity; and this makes me tremble, because in afflicting the Heart of Jesus, you deprive the community of heavenly blessings.” Her joy, on the other hand, burst forth when she saw unity and charity reign. “Oh, how good this makes me feel!” she would say, “The good God will be pleased with us.” Her good heart never refused a service that she could render, and she suffered when this service was impossible for her. She was always ready to console her Sisters and help them, and she received them courteously and took care of them in their illness. So we had recourse to her with a filial confidence in our spiritual and bodily necessities, and we always found in her what we were looking for. We would always see her deprive herself, unknown to anyone and to comfort a tempted soul, of a warm and light garment that she considered was necessary for her.

She greatly loved the Divine Office, and she recited it and chanted it with such ardour and joy that she inspired the same in the Sisters, and she could not endure anyone being negligent in this holy exercise. She would say, “Just remember, we are now doing what we will be doing in all eternity.” We could see her hasten to arrive there among the first. “I assure you,” she would say, “that my greatest penance is not being able to be present in choir, and if I become feeble and incapable of assisting at the holy office, it would need God’s help for me to resign myself to it, as I do not know how I would make this great sacrifice.”

Her love for poverty made her fear everything that could damage this virtue, which had to be so dear to a daughter of Saint Alphonsus. She had nothing superfluous for her own use and she was happy when the good God permitted her to be forgotten. She complained only of the too great care that was taken of her. She never asked for anything; however, her always delicate health made her very sensitive to the changing of the seasons and to fatigue. Very often she would leave the table, having scarcely touched what was served up to her, as the feebleness of her stomach could bear scarcely any food.

In a word, this true daughter of Saint Alphonsus loved everything that our holy Founder himself loved. Her favourite devotions were devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Childhood and the Passion of our good Saviour; and these great mysteries were the continual object of her meditations. She had the same love for the Blessed Virgin as a child has for her mother; and she made a vow to recite the rosary daily, and she never omitted this pious exercise. She prayed a great deal for sinners. The souls in purgatory also excited her compassion. She applied to them all the indulgences that she could gain for them.

This is how our good Mother rapidly advanced in perfection, and her divine Spouse, who was pleased to see her thus united to Himself, also wished, towards the end of her life, to send her a very harsh cross, to complete her purification. She accepted it with great love and a perfect generosity.

Mother Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence O.SS.R., Superior of the Monastery of Bruges 1811-1878

2011-10-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

This biography is due to the pen of the Rev. Mother Marie-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, whose Life we have just read.

Chapter I. Her childhood.
Her entry into the Monastery.

This much-beloved Mother, who was truly providential for the community of Bruges, was born in Ath on 29th June 1811, and at her holy baptism she received the names of Rosalia Dieudonné [God-given] Benoîte Joseph. She was the second child of Mr. Joseph Ignatius of Savoy and Mrs. Rosalia Joseph Nève, his wife.

Heaven was lavish with its gifts for this lovely child, who was perfectly endowed on the side of nature, and soon became the object of all the predilections of her dear parents – they neglected nothing to develop the precious seeds she brought with her when she was born through the medium of a first-rate education.

She was scarcely nine years of age when she lost her father, and a great reversal of fortune followed this premature loss. Rosette (this is what they called her at home) already understood the misfortunes of her family; but her great soul and her generous heart were sensitive only to the sorrows of her beloved mother, whom she tried to console, support and sustain by her love and her tenderness, so it was not without much keenly-felt pain that she departed from her to go to Lille to finish her education. In the boarding house in which she was placed, she cultivated all the talents which were to adorn her young person. She became a perfect musician. This talent was always dear to her, because she was able to employ it to the glory of God in chanting His praises, and in playing the organ to accompany the Divine Office.

Her happy character and her good qualities soon made her sought after by a number of parties. Rosette, who did not yet understand God’s designs upon her, decided to accept the hand of a young man who was as pious and good as she was. This marriage was greatly desired by both families; however a secret foreboding told the young lady that it would never happen. In fact, at the moment when the wedding day had just been decided, her fiancé was attacked by a violent fever which carried him off in just a few days. This unexpected death caused her a terrible sorrow and detached her from the world, and when new setbacks assailed her family, she wanted to use her talents in order to console her mother. Madam the Countess of Malet welcomed her with joy to supervise the education of her only daughter. “Come to me”, she wrote, “because you will be a sister and a friend to me, and more the mother of my daughter than her governess.” Rosette soon gained the heart and trust of this virtuous lady, who loved her tenderly. In her home she was able to enjoy all the comforts which could have attached her to a soft and tranquil life, but God soon gave her to feel that He wanted her completely to Himself. Moreover, she had one of those dreams which God sometimes employs to manifest His designs to souls. Saint Philomena appeared to her calling her to her side, and it seemed to her that she was then enjoying all the joys of heaven. After that day, the world inspired in her nothing more than disgust, and she aspired with all her soul to the blessings of the religious life.

But great difficulties lay in the way of her pious design. The tenderness of her mother, who counted on her to console and support her in her old age; her attachment to her family; the affections of the pious Countess, to whom she owed so much gratitude; and finally, her health, which was extremely delicate: all this caused her a great deal of heart-searching, but grace rendered her victorious.

Our holy Institute was being founded in Belgium, and she was one of the first to be admitted into it; but, to conform herself to a desire expressed by the Rev. Mother Marie-Alphonse, she delayed her entry by several months, so as to perfect her talents as an organist. She accepted this sacrifice with a cheerful heart for the good of the community, and finally, on 18th December 1841, she entered the Monastery, provisionally established in the street of Puits-aux-Oies.

The winter was a most rigorous one, and to the cold there was also added everything that poverty could add by way of privations and sufferings in this beginning of the foundation. But nothing daunted her great courage; she had come in order to dedicate herself to a crucified Spouse; and she burned with the desire to follow in His footsteps and share in His sorrows. The Superiors soon became aware of the great treasure that the good Providence had sent them, and they made haste to ask for the necessary dispensations so that she could join the first six postulants and be able to receive the holy habit with them. On 25th February 1842, she took the veil and with it, the name of Sister Marie-Philomena of the Divine Providence. She spent the year of her novitiate with an exemplary fervour, and applied herself to practising the holy Rules with a perfect exactitude. So the day on which she was able to pronounce her vows was a most keenly desired one.

On 23rd March 1843, the first seven novices were to offer their sacrifice with all the joy of their souls, but a most sorrowful event came to sadden this wonderful day. Sister Marie Anne Joseph of the Precious Blood, who had begun her retreat in full health, became so gravely ill that she had to receive the last sacraments on 22nd March, and at the same time she pronounced her vows on her death-bed. Our dear Sister Marie-Philomena, on this occasion, gave proof of her great charity and her devotion by spending the whole time of her retreat at the bedside of her pious companion, who from time to time told her, her eyes moist with tears of gratitude: “Poor Sister, how you devote yourself to me! But when I am in heaven, I will make it up to you by praying for you.” On 23rd March, everyone left the choir chanting the Te Deum which ends the ceremony of profession, and the newly professed went to stand by the bedside of their dying Sister, who looked at them once again as if to bid them a last farewell. The Angelus rang, and the poor soul spoke the words Ecce ancilla Domini [Behold the handmaid of the Lord], then her head tilted gently to one side and she gave up her beautiful soul to God.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-10-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

The Funeral Eulogy of Our Good and Holy Mother Mary-Aloyse.
By the Most Reverend Father Kockerols,
Provincial of the Province of Belgium.

My dear Sisters,
This week you are attending a very great and moving spectacle! Death has made its appearance in your Monastery and has taken from you your venerated Superior. The appearance of death is always a silent sermon. It reminds us that we are only dust and ashes, that everything passes away in this world, and that nothing is great except holiness. It teaches us the nothingness of everything, so it is a great teaching for us. The author of the Imitation says, “If you have ever seen someone die, remember that you will pass along the same way.”

But, my dear Sisters, the death of a holy soul, such as your venerated Mother was, contains a very special teaching for us. Divine Providence has willed that she was for you in some way a preparation for a retreat. I think that, after having assisted your Mother for so long with all the devotion of which I am capable, I cannot let these circumstances pass without telling you something about this dear soul.

Yes, my dear Sisters, you are indeed convinced that you have lost a treasure, a veritable treasure beyond all treasures. God, who gave this privileged soul the mission of governing you and working day and night for your sanctification, had prepared her for this mission. He had ornamented her spirit and her heart with all the gifts of nature and of grace. Everything was great in your Mother: her heart and her spirit, her charity and her intelligence. In her there was nothing small or petty. She was a superior woman, and with what a great heart and character! We can quite justly compare her to Saint Thérèse. Endowed with an upright and enlightened spirit, with a superior intelligence and a sure judgement, she had a heart which could truly say with the Apostle, St. Paul, “I will very willingly give everything I have and I will even give my own self for your souls.” A heart in which were allied the power of a man and the tenderness of a woman, as in the Mother of the Maccabees. No, I am not afraid to compare her to this mother who is more admirable than words can say. She can be compared to the strong woman of the Bible, of whom it is said, “Where shall we go to find her? We must go to the extremities of the earth.” Your good Mother, my dear Sisters, possessed the firmness without which the responsibility of Superior is harmful to her who exercises it and to those on whom it is exercised. Her guiding principle, in all her actions, was to act firmly and sweetly, - Fortiter et suaviter, - God having given her everything which could inspire respect, esteem and affection. To these gifts of nature, God added all the gifts of grace. My dear Sisters, I who have received the secrets of her heart, I am the only one, perhaps, who can tell you with how great a profusion and magnificence of them God had ornamented her beautiful soul. Yes, since her earliest childhood, God pursued her so as to make her a veritable saint. He watched over her, surrounded her with very special graces, and gave her a very admirable purity of heart, an instinctive horror of sin, a fear of even the shadow of evil, and a tender love towards her God, towards Our Lord Jesus Christ, towards the Holy Church! She herself, as humble as she was, avowed to me on her death-bed, that God had heaped His graces upon her during her whole life, and this is why she said she feared nothing at this supreme moment. Rather, she paid tribute to Him in her gratitude for so many graces received, suffering with joy for love of Him. Ah, my dear Sisters, in eternity you will see the progress that your venerated Mother made constantly in virtue, the point of perfection she attained and the numerous sanctifying and hidden graces she received.

As Superior, she was a veritable model. Her virtue shone forth above all in charity and devotion to the community. There is no-one among you who cannot testify that night and day she sacrificed herself or thought of you, forgetting her own self. And above all, what charity and affection she had for the sick!... What a concern to take care of them! She could truly say with the Apostle Paul, “Who is there among you who has suffered as I myself have suffered?” Her charity went as far as excess, as far as prodigality.

What rendered her so great in the eyes of God and in the eyes of man was her forgetfulness of self, for even in the midst of her most cruel sufferings, she was still always concerned for others. My dear Sisters, it is this forgetfulness of self which is the distinctive character of sanctity. Charity is only genuine when it is accompanied with this sublime forgetfulness of self. Who can say that she did not arrive at the supreme degree of character typical of a true religious, to this spirit of sacrifice, abnegation and devotion to one’s neighbour? But this forgetfulness of self naturally produced humility. I myself can testify to the horror she had of all pridefulness, and her humility was the distinctive sign of her love for God. And didn’t God want her to be exempt from all feelings of pride, because of this perfect abnegation which she possessed!

And patience! How much did she shine out with this in her last illness? My dear Sisters, do not think that this virtue grew all by itself in her, or all at once. You have to practise a very great patience when you are well so that you are not impatient when you are ill. But, in regard to her patience, we have never seen her like. Look at the two months when she was nailed to her bed of suffering, and what suffering! I know something about it, since God ordered me to become aware of it. She told me, “I am enduring unheard-of suffering, incredible suffering (that was her expression), impossible to bear without the special assistance of God.” And yet we all saw how that poor soul remained calm and serene. It was simply because, for all her religious life, she secretly practised patience and mortification, in submission to the will of God.

Not only this, but during her life she had personal troubles, as under that rather rough bark was hidden a great heart which felt things keenly. She keenly felt the cross of her responsibilities and the pains which one or the other of you laid on her at times. She suffered from your faults. The least relaxation or lack of fervour had a great repercussion on her soul. She feared it in almost an excessive manner, and all her efforts were designed to maintain fervour. You know very well that this maternal concern extended to other houses of the Order and she suffered greatly when she learned of anything which was to the least detriment, either to fervour, or to the Rule. And so she exercised a great influence over the other Monasteries.

This concern also extended to the whole Congregation. Some hours before her death, she also told me that she had never made any distinction between the Congregation and you, and she offered herself to God to endure His cruel sufferings for all eternity, if such was His good pleasure, for you and the Congregation. Already in the arms of death, she then exclaimed, Fiat, fiat, fiat voluntas Dei! (Let the will of God be done, be done, be done!), and never ceased to say that she was ready to give everything and even give her own self for souls. She loved the souls of poor sinners and all the souls ransomed at the price of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

And so, my dear Sisters, here are the examples given to you by your good Mother! You should all imitate her. And first of all she who will be elected to replace her and all those who have responsibility in the Community. Above all they should practice this forgetfulness of self, of which she has given such beautiful examples. This will be to their own personal profit. Sanctity does not consist of retiring into a corner and being occupied simply with yourself. It consists in sacrificing yourself for the salvation of others, just as your good Mother has taught you.

Do not desire any other place than what you have been assigned. Do not forget your Mother’s last words, her last farewells. Think of God, be all for God, occupy yourselves with nothing else but God, souls, and above all, abandoned souls, deprived of all spiritual succour in the world. If you have some responsibility in the Community, do not grumble if it displeases you, but accept it for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls. Your venerated Mother is a true model for Superiors and myself alike. I am trying to profit from it. As I have said to my colleagues, the wonderful examples I witnessed in the course of my visits to this holy invalid have done me more good than a retreat. May they not be lost on my poor soul! These examples should also be repeated in all your religious lives. But first of all, we should be intimately convinced that we can do nothing without humility, us Redemptorists and Redemptoristines above all. We must take as the basis of our own perfection that beautiful virtue of humility and simplicity. Your good Mother was so penetrated by it that she said at the end of her life, “After my death, I hope that no-one will try to pass me off as a saint, but will preach instead all my defects and faults, so that prayers will be said for my poor soul.” What an example of humility! Also remember how much she loved the Rule and practised it in every way as Saint Alphonsus would have wished. And how anxious she was to see it done also in all the other houses of the Order! She had an almost child-like obedience. And here now is a little secret which I think I can now reveal to you. She had made a vow to obey her director in everything, and in her last hour, I was able to assure her that she had never failed in any way at all to fulfil this vow which she had made for the love of God.

And how much she loved poverty. She deprived herself of everything, making simplicity reign in the house, and she unceasingly recommended it in practice.

What shall I say about her spirit of mortification? How many times have I not had to stop her! When she was already in the arms of death, she still wanted to do some small mortifications and suffer some privations. So on this point, be good imitators of your Mother, my dear Sisters. She had a supreme horror of exceptions, and she was very austere with herself, while at the same time being indulgent towards others. So let us imitate her as much as we can, so if we had to die some years ahead of time, our good God would be most happy to send some other vocations to reward our love.

And imitate your holy Mother’s recollection too. Even the most distracting occupations did not tear her away from her God. She knew that genuine piety consists of pleasing God in everything, and so her soul was in a continual union with Him. From where did she draw her virtue, her patience and her submission to the divine will? In her love for Jesus Christ she was truly able to say with Saint Paul, “My life is Jesus Christ, and death to me is a gain.” She loved the Blessed Sacrament so much! How much she longed every day, especially during her last illness, to receive it during Holy Communion! And she drew these fine virtues from meditating on the Passion of Our Lord and Mary’s sorrows. So sometimes it seems that Jesus lifted a corner of the veil for her with which He hides His divinity. She avowed to me, at the end of her life, that the graces she had received were so powerful and so strong that she was devoured by the desire to see God face to face. And it is certain that without these extraordinary graces, she would never have been able to speak of God and eternity the way that she did. For me it was a consolation to hear her words.

Yes, my dear Sisters, you have lost a real treasure! Alas, my dear Sisters, you will never see her again in choir, where she sang and recited the praises of the Lord so often and with such fervour. You will never see her again in the long corridors where she edified you by her recollected air. You will never see your dear Mother again in the refectory, which has witnessed so many mortifications. You will never see her again in that room where she so often consoled and encouraged you. You will never see her again in the recreation room where she was so good at uniting to the gravity required by her responsibilities the joy and the saintly happiness of the children of Saint Alphonsus. You will never see her again, your dear Mother, here in the corner of the Conference room where she listened with so much attention, eagerness and love to the words of God. Today you have brought her on your shoulders to the door of the enclosure, and I have had the consolation of accompanying her to her last resting-place. No, you will never see her here again, but with your eyes of faith, you will see her in heaven among all the Redemptoristine saints who have proceeded her, and among them I am certain she will shine like a bright star for all eternity. Go to her now just as you used to go to see her in her cell, tell her all your needs, and she will obtain all the spiritual graces for you that you require. She has suffered so much for you, and she promised not to forget you! Oh, my dear Sisters, do not forget your Mother’s teachings, nor the fine examples she has left you. She can say to you like the Apostle, “Imitate me as I have imitated Christ.” So let us all say, “I wish to remember unceasingly the good examples which our venerated Mother has left us, and try to imitate them. Oh, if only our own death will be the same as hers!” And so it will be, my dear Sisters, if we are good at doing what she has done, and if we are good imitators of Our Lord, for then we will see Him face to face with her in that beautiful Paradise where we shall sing of His mercies in all eternity.

Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.
I shall sing of the mercies of the Lord in eternity.

This necrology is translated from Fleurs de l'Institut des Rédemptoristines by Mr John R. Bradbury. The copyright of this translation is the property of the Redemptoristine Nuns of Maitland, Australia. The integral version of the translated book will be posted here as the necrologies appear.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-10-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Chapter XI.
The death of Mother Mary Aloyse – The Tribute paid to her Memory.

The teachings which we cited in the preceding chapter were not all known by the community. However, the Sisters greatly desired to make their last farewells to their good Mother and receive her last recommendations. The Most Rev. Father Kockerols, who was consulted in this regard, shared the same thoughts and let the invalid know that she owed her daughters this supreme satisfaction.

So on 5th December, the community assembled in Mother Mary-Aloyse’s room. And when she saw them all thus around her bed of sorrows, she could not restrain her tears.

“Pardon me,” she said forthwith, “if you see me weeping like this, my dear Sisters. It is because of the love I bear you.”

Making an effort to control herself, she continued, “Yes, it is the love that I bear you which brings me to address a few more words of farewell to you.

“Be saints, all of you, and great saints. To do this, you only have to be faithful to all the duties of your vocation, and you will be so forever if you quite forget about your own selves. Forget your own selves so as to occupy yourselves only with the glory and interests of Jesus.

“Be great in your spirit, in your heart, in your requests. When you suffer, do not be forever thinking of your pains. Try to forget them and imagine the sufferings of Our Lord instead, and then you will see that your own are nothing in comparison. Sometimes it is a little disagreeable remark which wounds us, perhaps a look, a little ambition, a little susceptibility, a tiny trifle. Forget it. It is not right to let such things turn you away from Our Lord Jesus Christ by making you worry about yourselves. Instead of wasting your time being upset, just say, “I am going to sacrifice it so as to give souls to Jesus Christ.” They are only minor pinpricks. If they make you suffer, say, “All the better, I am going to offer this up to Our Lord.” In appearance, they are nothing, they are petty trifles, but in the eyes of God, they mean a lot, they are very great. And believe me, you will be greatly rewarded at the time of death. You have to have experience of it to be able to understand it. When you spend your whole life trying to forget about yourself for the sake of Jesus Christ, at the time of your death, this good Saviour lifts a corner of the veil which still hides Him, and what delights He gives to the soul, when He lets her glimpse His marvellous beauty!”

The Reverend Mother interrupted herself for a moment to give free course to her tears. Then she continued, “Ah, my dear Sisters, I have always loved you more than you have ever been able to understand, and if sometimes I have brought sorrow to your hearts, it has only been, believe me, for love of your souls, for the sake of your great good, and to attach you to Jesus Christ alone.

“Yes, seek for just Jesus alone, and be great in your thoughts. When you go into His presence, do not go there always thinking of yourselves, or speaking about yourselves. Do not go there to ask for a long list of little things, but think of Our Lord, of His interests, for the salvation of souls. Do not go there so much to recite a whole quantity of litanies and prayers, but rather to ask for some real virtues so as to win souls for God. You will then obtain much more, and that will weigh very differently in the balance. Be great in your affections, love Our Lord well, the most holy Virgin, and Saint Alphonsus. Be always closely united to your Superiors through respect, affection and confidence, and remain just as strongly united among yourselves. Love the Congregation a great deal. Have great love for the poor. So suffer generously for Jesus Christ in both your great and small trials. Forget your own selves in order to think only of Him and of souls.”

The Reverend Mother insisted on this capital point of religious life. “My sufferings are very great,” she added, “I suffer a great deal, but I look at Jesus, I think of His Passion, His sufferings, and I force myself not to think of my own, so that I consider only His. Do not forget, my dear Sisters, that we ourselves are not the aim of our vocation: it is God and souls.” - “You will do this, won’t you?” she said, turning to those who were listening to her. “Promise me that you will forget your own selves in order to become Saints?” They all replied in a single voice, “Yes, good Mother, we promise you.” - “Oh well,” replied the invalid, “now I am tranquil and consoled. I shall never forget you and I shall bring all of you in my heart to Paradise. If you are very faithful, we shall be reunited there one day and sing together like Saint Thérèse.” - And the good Mother, gathering her strength, sang out loud: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (I shall sing the mercies of the Lord in eternity). - “I love all of you and I shall take you all with me to Paradise.”

The moving dialogue continued. Turning now to the novices and the educands, she told them, “And the novices? And the educands? Do they also promise me? Will they also be faithful?” They all replied straight away, “Yes, Reverend Mother!” - Then she said, “My children, understand the happiness of religious life. It is immense. It has, no doubt, its pains and sufferings, but God rewards us for it greatly at our death, and the sufferings of the world are also great. Be on your guard for anyone amongst you who wishes to leave, because I shall come back to retain her.” - And making allusion to their habits, she added smiling, “I would like to see all these dark little heads become white.”

Then that was all. The good Mother wanted to give her daughters a last blessing. She did it using an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which she then kissed devotedly. Then the Sisters left her, bringing from that touching scene an ineffaceable memory.

However, her last days were approaching rapidly. The Most Reverend Father Kockerols, the Reverend Mother’s director, did not fail to assist her in her last moments. A short note from him has been preserved, which breathes the joyous confidence he had in the final combat: “Please tell the Reverend Mother that I have not forgotten her for a moment before God, that I bless her most cordially, that we are all praying fervently for Jesus and Mary to support her right to the end in this great and wonderful combat, that her guardian angel, if he could perspire, would sweat great drops in the effort to record her merits, that she must hold firm to obedience and patience, and that her name is written in the Book of Life. So let her be reassured. Let her keep her presence of spirit, and I shall be there to help her soul fly away to the third heaven.”

No more than Father Olivaint, the Most Rev. Father Kockerols too did not admit that one died reluctantly. A death peacefully and joyfully accepted was in fact the nature of the death of Mother Mary-Aloyse. The zealous director had prepared her for her last journey. On 17th October he administered her the last Sacraments. Some weeks passed by, with the invalid lingering constantly between life and death. Finally on 11th December, the Rev. Father Kockerols was called urgently. He arrived with enough time to address some kind words to the dying Mother and encourage her one last time. This was a supreme consolation for her. Some instants afterwards, her agony began. It was neither long nor painful. On 12th December, at 10.45 in the morning, this good Superior peacefully rendered her soul to God. A heavenly calm immediately spread over her face, and then everyone could approach her, not merely without fear, but also with an interior joy, on her funeral bed where she rested.

The funeral notice was composed by the Most Rev. Father Kockerols. We have decided to give in full:

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Alphonsus
--------
Pray for the repose of the soul
of the Very Reverend
Mother MARY-ALOYSE
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
in the world Miss
Isabelle-Fulvie-Albertine Fabri,
Superior for eleven years of the Monastery
of the Most Holy Redeemer at Bruges,
born at Sény on 22nd October 1822, deceased
piously at
Bruges on 12th December 1889, in the 46th year
of her
religious life and the 44th of her holy profession.

She was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Acts V. 6.

Jesus Christ is my life, and death to me is a gain, Phil. 1. 21.

I shall willingly give everything I have and I shall even give my own self for your souls, “ Cor. XII, 15.

Until the moment of her death, this Mother, who was more admirable than we can say, and worthy to live eternally in the memory of the good, encouraged her children with a great wisdom and firmness, allying a male courage to the tenderness of a woman. 2 Mach. VII, 20, 21.

Do not forget the teachings of your Mother. Prov. I. 8.

Let the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere. (100 days indulg.).

Blessed be the holy, immaculate and most pure Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. (300 days indulg.)

R. I. P.

The universal sorrow and regrets that this sweet death provoked were the best commentary on this pious notice, but of all the tributes of veneration that were paid to the deceased, the most important we think was the funeral eulogy given by the Most Reverend Father Kockerols to the assembled Sisters. We reproduce it the same way it was received by a religious in the Monastery. These praises, given by a man who ordinarily was so reticent, are a singular testimony to the virtue of she who merited to receive them.

(Father Kockerols Eulogy will follow on the next posting.)

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-09-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Chapter X.
The Superior. - Her Government, her Charity, her Patience.
Her last Illness, her last Teachings.

Mother Mary-Aloyse never governed her Monastery according to her own views, but in conformity with the spirit of Saint Alphonsus. The prescriptions of the Rule laid down by the holy Doctor, the teachings enclosed in his books, the instructions left behind by his best disciples, all dictated the manner in which she should act. And so she liked to remind her daughters of the solid exhortations addressed to the Community in 1842-1843 by Fathers Joseph and Paul Reyners, and most especially by the Venerable Father Joseph Passerat during the two years that he spent at Bruges (1848-1850). The numerous notes taken down by her or by the Sisters made this work easier for her, and this was how she was able to maintain this traditional spirit of regular observance in her Monastery, and the apostolic zeal of which we have already spoken.

She also liked to inculcate the practice of the twelve principal virtues, a practice that was special to her Institute. She even composed a very useful little work concerning these twelve virtues, using the teachings of the Ven. Father Passerat. The love of Our Lord is its soul, and she shows perfectly how religious who work in this way for their perfection can give a wonderful aid to the work of the missionaries.

A religious who knew her well has left us some very instructive details on the venerable Superior’s manner of action. “She would most willingly speak of the little habitual mortifications. They win the heart of God.” she said. She also said, “N (she quoted her secular name) should obey Sister Mary N (her name in religion).” In other words, nature should obey grace.

“While severe on herself, she would not allow her Sisters to lack necessities.

“When conversing with people, she was very spiritual and private, giving her opinions according to the advice she had received from the Venerable Father Passerat and other fervent Redemptorists.

“She was truly a mother to the sick and ill. She worried on their behalf during the night, always seeking to procure them some comfort. In the morning, for example, when she went to see them, she would say, “I was thinking last night about something that would help you. I have sent someone out to buy it... Try it.”

“One of the Sisters who was sick wanted to have exactly the same food as the rest of the community. The Reverend Mother did not wish to contradict her, but one day she said to her, “I would so much like to look after the Child Jesus, but He doesn’t want me to.” - “The Child Jesus would like it a lot,” replied the invalid. “The Child Jesus is you, my good Sister!” and the sick nun accepted her care. The Reverend Mother’s face immediately lit up with joy, and she ran off to find the infirmarian and the dispenser, telling them, “She has accepted our care.” And she would immediately lavish her maternal care on her.

Her charity towards her neighbour was also full of thoughtfulness. Towards her religious family she would show herself to be the most tender of mothers. Towards her family who were left in the world, she was always full of kindness and attention. Her sister-in-law died at the age of forty six, leaving seven children of whom two were under age. She wrote the most affectionate letters to her brother to support him in this terrible trial, and gave him her best advice for the education of his children. Her brother died in his turn, and she had as it were a presentiment of it. During his last visit, he was in very good health, but after he departed, she went to see Mother Mary-Philomena and told her. “I shall never see Victor again.” Six weeks afterwards, he died of a stroke. After his death, Mother Mary-Aloyse let slip to her Superior, “I saw his soul in Purgatory.”

Her charity towards the Congregation was affirmed chiefly in her generosity towards the house at Beauplateau, which was the house of study for the Belgian Province. Nothing much mattered to her from the time she decided to support this foundation, which she quite rightly regarded as a nursery for missionaries and apostles. The Most Rev. Father Kockerols wrote to her one day about it. “You have lost your vocation. Your royal generosity seems to indicate that you have a vocation as queen. I prefer, however, to see you as the poor little daughter of Saint Alphonsus on earth, and queen in heaven.”

It is time to speak about her patience in illnesses. Ingenious at hiding her sufferings, she never appeared so jolly as in the moments when some illness troubled her. Two years before her death she felt the first symptoms of the illness which was to carry her off. She only spoke about it when the pain had become insupportable. Then she went down to the ground floor, into the room where she usually stayed. Every day she took holy communion, and every day everyone could admire her heroic patience. She never said a word about her sufferings, or she only spoke of them through obedience. She was always attentive to her neighbour’s needs, and worried unceasingly about her Sisters, and listened to them one by one in spite of her own fatigue, giving them her best advice. This is how her last teachings were recorded, from 17th October to 12th December 1889. We shall cite a part of them here. Better than anything we have said, they typify and show the spirit which inspired this fervent religious. We shall group them under certain headings to give them maximum impact.

I. The Love of Jesus Christ. - The cross.

1. “Love our good Jesus. He is always adorable, even when He comes with the Cross, even when it hurts. Always do His will. Do not ask for sufferings, but accept those He sends you. We are not sure of having grace for those we ask for, but we certainly are for those He gives us. For in them there is nothing of ourselves.”

2. The apostolic virtue of suffering. - If we are truly on the Cross, then we are with Our Lord, so we have nothing to complain of. Everything for You, my God, for the salvation of souls, and there are still so many of them to save; for the conversion of sinners, the deliverance and relief of souls in Purgatory, for the Community, the Congregation, my family, and the holy Church. My God, whatever You want, for as long as You want it, my God, help me, rescue me, and give me Your patience.”

The suffering and Passion of Jesus Christ. - Night and day, she followed Our Lord in His Passion and joined herself to the sorrows of the most holy Virgin. She said, “We must accept our sufferings without consolation, but with love. It is so good to just simply look at Our Lord on the cross, and rest our own souls in His! Just remain at the foot of the Cross and rest in the heart of Our Lord. Look at Him with the eyes of the soul, without saying anything. Get into the habit of it, and you will see, whenever you are ill, how useful it will be to you.

It is better to have ten crosses than just one alone.

“How good it is to be at the foot of the Cross, so that the Precious Blood of Our Lord may fall upon us, wash us and drench us! Ordinarily, after holy communion, I draw from the wounds of Our Lord. Today I said, “My God, I do not know how much to take, so let You Yourself give me what I should have. Perhaps I do not take enough from Your wounds, or perhaps I take what I shouldn’t have. Plunge me into Your precious blood.” And then she added, “This is where I should be.”

“We should always act with a view to pleasing Our Lord. You will find in Him the strength necessary to do your duties and sanctify yourselves.

“Forget about yourselves by thinking of Jesus Christ. He is the one true good. All the rest is folly and vanity.

“It is good to suffer for Jesus Christ.

“Our souls are very beautiful, but Our Lord makes them far more beautiful still through the graces He grants us. How great His mercy is! Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (I shall sing of the mercies of the Lord in eternity).

“Give Our Lord nothing by halves. Be generous, and He will be the same with you.”

II. Will of God.

“Heaven on earth is when you do the will of God.

“You do not need just submission, but conformity with the will of God. Learn to understand the difference.”

III. Sufferings.

It is a great grace to suffer. Sufferings are of an incalculable and inestimable value. Our good God has created a very great miracle by giving me the patience to be cured by them.

The doctor wanted to give her a sedative to relieve her pain, but she said, “You want to take away my treasure.”

After passing a night without suffering, she said, “I have passed the night like an animal, just sleeping and drinking.” It was only a little drop of milk!

“Poor Mother!” someone once said to her. She replied, “It’s better to say “Happy Mother” because I have nothing to complain of.

“Sufferings are worth more than consolations, for there are no illusions possible in them. Crosses are graces.

IV. Love of God.

She often said, “Ask our good God to let me love Him perfectly before I die.”

“Refuse nothing to God. Give Him immediately what He asks of you. Then He will also give you what you ask of Him. He is making me wait before He gives me His wonderful Paradise, and that is to punish me for making Him wait when He asked me for a small sacrifice or some small act.

“When she was seized by a choking fit, she said, “My God, I’m choking. Let me choke with love.”

At every new suffering, she said, “Thank you, my God, thank you. Give me patience. For as long as You want, my God. Fiat! Fiat! (Let it be. Let it be!).

“When you have the occasion to make a little sacrifice, an act which costs you, say, “For You, my God!” Then, do not think of it again, as our nature easily slips in our acts without our knowing it, and makes us lose the merit from what we have just done. So say with Saint Paul, “I know whom I have entrusted my treasure to, so it will not be taken from me.”

“I have always spoken to our good God and the most holy Virgin as a child to her father and mother. I have asked them to help me with everything, to solve a problem, do a job, and other things of this kind. I have always been looked after.

V. Obedience. - Poverty. - Detachment.

“Obedience to your confessor and confidence in him are a source of peace.

“Put obedience above everything” she said on the eve of her death. Seek after God, and you will find Him, if you put something else before Him, you will never find Him.”

She loved poverty and she greatly loved the poor. When she noticed them putting the milk she was taking into the ice-box one day, she asked them to give the poor the money for the ice and said:

“Our Lord would like it, and I too would be happier than if I had iced milk to drink.”

One day she said to her niece, a religious in the Monastery, “The Venerable Father Passerat used to say, “When we do not think of the person we loved and have now lost, but rather of our good God, this sacrifice is so agreeable to Him that He brings this person straight to Paradise. I did this for my own father, and he was looked after. Try to do this for me.”

VI. Jesus and Mary.

“Love Jesus and Mary. This is everything.

“A blessing by the Most Holy Sacrament is so very precious! Never miss out on one voluntarily, or a Mass. - Go to Mass for me, I beg you.

“What a happiness it is for us to be able to communicate so often. Ask this evening not to lose any of the graces that God will grant you tomorrow.

“How good God is to me! It is two months now since I was able to swallow a piece of bread, but I have no trouble with the sacred Host. I can take nothing except what comes from God and (indicating the water from Lourdes) from the most holy Virgin.”

To satisfy her devotion to the Most Holy Sacrament, she greatly loved to hear them singing the Adoro te (Devoutly I adore thee, hidden Deity). One day when they sang it in the community room, which was right next to her own, she could not keep herself from weeping, and cried out during the last verse, Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, (Oh Jesus, Thou whom veiled I now behold) “Ah, Lord, You are too good to me. I am not worthy.” And she told her nurse, “Tell the Sisters that I am praying to Our Lord to grant them the same number of graces as the delights I had during this wonderful song.”

“Oh how nice it is to die when we have often said to the Holy Virgin during our lifetime, “Pray for us at the hour of our death.”

VII. Christian death.

Sursum corda! (Lift up your hearts!). “Do everything for our good God. At death, this is all that remains. All the rest is lost.

*
* *

“Death does not separate us, but makes us arrive at our end. One before, the other after.

*
* *

“When we seek only for God during our lives, He shows Himself to us at our death.

*
* *

“At death, everything disappears. All that remains is confidence in God and in the merits of Jesus Christ.

*
* *

She often liked to repeat either one verse from the Psalms or another. Sometimes she also sang the Adoro te, especially the last verse, or the Magnificat or the Laudate (Praise Him), and would say, “This is how I keep myself going. When you’ve done it all your life, you do it easily when you’re dying.”

*
* *

She clasped the little crucifix that she always held in her hand closely to her heart, and looked at it affectionately and said, “Oh, how true it is what Saint Alphonsus used to say to his own crucifix, “When all the others abandon me at the hour of death, You alone will remain with me, my Lord.” In fact, everyone else is powerless to help me, but my Jesus, who alone remains with me, gives me strength, help and consolation.” When she said this, she lovingly kissed the image of her Saviour.

To a Sister who was having trouble making the sacrifice of her Superior, she said one day:

“Always have God before your eyes, do everything for God alone, and, at the hour of your death, you will find God alone, whom you have sought. Attach yourself only to God, only to Jesus, and think only of loving Him, knowing Him and imitating Him. The imitation of Jesus Christ includes all the duties of a good Redemptoristine. In your pains, think of the pains of Our Lord. When you have certain desires to overcome, tell yourself, “Jesus did not have this. All He sought was humiliation.” And at the hour of death, what is all this anyway? Everything disappears.”

VIII. The Redemptoristine.

During their good Mother’s illness, the Redemptoristines of Bruges did not wish to lose their custom of asking her every evening for her blessing. The pious invalid would address some words of edification to them. We are citing some of them to complete the moral portrait of this true Redemptoristine.

“Always have recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” she told them one day. “Go to Him. You must ask Him for everything through the Heart of Mary, as it is through the Heart of Mary that we will obtain everything.

“Ask God Himself to teach you the art of loving Him. How did He love? Look at Jesus crucified. He gives everything, sacrifices Himself and forgets Himself.”

On 8th December, she made up this beautiful prayer, “Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Preserve them all in your love and in the love of Jesus Christ. They are all your children. May Mary Immaculate bless you and preserve you all pure, and may this fine day end for me in heaven!”

As a faithful disciple of Saint Alphonsus, she could not fail to speak of her blessed Father. She did this on several occasions, and in a remarkable fashion:

“Remain always,” she said one day to her daughters, “remain always faithful to the teachings of our Fathers and the doctrine of Saint Alphonsus. This is our own way to perfection. If you go by another, you will never arrive there.”

“I believe,” she said one day, “I believe that God is granting me so many graces at my death because I have always loved Saint Alphonsus and his works.”

She also said, “Avoid devotions which are not founded on the teachings of Saint Alphonsus.”

“I am dying as a submissive and grateful daughter of the Most Reverend Father General, the representative of Saint Alphonsus.” We saw in the letters that the Most Reverend Father Mauron addressed to her how truly devoted she was to the works of the holy Doctor.

She also reminded her daughters of the end that they must unceasingly have before their eyes:

“Always bring everything back to the salvation of souls. This is our vocation.” And when she had received the last sacraments, she indicated, for the last time, this sublime end of approaching in a compelling manner the silence of Calvary and the silence of the life of a Redemptoristine:

“Live completely tranquil at the foot of the Cross. The great work of Redemption works in a profound silence. Jesus communicates with his heavenly Father without saying a word. Nobody notices what is happening, not a single word is heard aloud, and yet the Redemption is accomplished, and souls are ransomed and saved. Mary, at the foot of the Cross, keeps the same silence. She unites herself to the sentiments and intentions of Jesus, and this is all. Do the same. Ask what Jesus Christ asks. Offer what He offers. Desire what He desires. Enter, in other words, into His Heart, and contribute by the sacrifice of yourselves to the salvation of the world.”

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-08-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Chapter IX.
The Superior. - Her religious virtues.

Mother Mary-Aloyse brought a very serious preparation to the exercise of her new responsibility: a profound piety, a knowledge of affairs, a perfect devotion and a well-tested virtue.

On this last point, it is of benefit to listen to one of the Sisters who knew her best. “The spirit of sacrifice,” says Sister Mary-Anne-Thérèse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “was, in my humble opinion, the distinctive character of her soul. Abnegation and forgetfulness of self became in her like a second nature. These two virtues were often the subject of her exhortations to novices while she was their mistress, and the community when she became their Superior.

“Her faith was lively and efficacious. She did not want her Daughters to have a faith which was no more than just a simple sentiment. When one of them said to her one day following a high Mass, “Oh how much I love the chant of that beautiful verse Et homo factus est!”, the Reverend Mother replied to her, “Are you then making an act of living faith in the mystery of the Incarnation?” - This faith showed itself in her maintaining herself in choir, in her piety when she was chanting the Divine Office, and in her zeal for the observances of the least of the rubrics. It was manifested above all in her devotion to the Most Holy Sacrament. During her retreats, she loved to remain before Jesus, veiled in the Eucharist. One day when speaking of the hermitages which are often mentioned in the lives of the first Carmelites, she exclaimed, “They have their hermitages, but we have the Tabernacle!” One day a religious was tempted by discouragement. She said to her, “Why don’t you just go up to Our Lord exposed in the Oratory and ask Him if He could ever abandon you, when He let Himself be taken captive for love of us.”

“She was very sensitive to the outrages offered to the Divine Host of the Tabernacle. If she learned that a sacrilege had been committed, even if it was in a distant country, she would immediately celebrate a Mass in reparation to the injury done to the Most Holy Sacrament.

“Following the example of Saint Alphonsus, she loved to go during the afternoon rest-time and pick some violets, which she then placed straight away on the altar in the Oratory.

“The Redemptorist Fathers of Tournai kept seven lighted lamps before the Holy Sacrament. When our Mother learned of it, she wanted to imitate them, and supported by many benefactors, she did not delay in realising her project. The seven lamps in the sanctuary are therefore a permanent witness to her devotion to the Eucharist.

“As a true daughter of Saint Alphonsus, the Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse had a special devotion to the Passion of the Saviour. When she became Superior, she had a very beautiful bas-relief placed in the Oratory, representing the agony of Our Lord in the Garden of Olives. She had a great stone sculpture made for the convent garden, representing Jesus bearing His cross. She also increased the number of crucifixes placed in the corridors of the Monastery. She also sought to elevate our hearts and spirits more and more towards our divine Redeemer. To excite us to make reparation for the blasphemies which so cruelly wound the Heart of Jesus, she had some pictures of His Holy Face placed in the church and in various parts of the convent. Every week a lamp would shine before them from Thursday afternoon to Friday evening.

“Our venerated Superior also witnessed her faith by her devotion to the holy relics, the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) and holy water. She had a remarkable ability for making reliquaries. How great was her joy, then, when she had custody, for a period of time, of Saint Alphonsus’ pectoral cross! She allowed it to be venerated, not just by her Daughters, but also by all the Redemptorists who visited Bruges.”

Her Hope. - She expressed herself entirely in this prayer that she composed on the basis of the advice given to her by the Ven. Father Passerat, and which this great Servant of God annotated with his own hand.

“My God, I firmly believe that You are all-powerful, infinitely good and faithful to Your promises. You have said that You will refuse nothing of what is asked of You in the name of Jesus Christ. You are able to make me a saint: I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ and through His merits. I would like You to accord me this grace. You cannot fail in Your promise. I also wish You to grant me the ability to correspond faithfully to the lights, inspirations and graces that You will accord me (I have no doubt of this) so that I may become a saint, a great saint, a true bride of Jesus Christ, a fervent Redemptoristine who has all power over Your heart, to obtain everything I am requesting for Your glory. Finally, I wish to love You absolutely with all my heart and also be greatly loved by You. I wish to become so agreeable to Your eyes that I can console Your heart from the outrages that it receives every day.” - The Venerable Father Passerat wrote the following lines in his own handwriting, after this prayer. “From Your goodness and greatness I have an even more heightened idea of how I, earthworm and poor sinner that I am, can dare say to You, I want this grace, without You being offended by it, but are rather honoured by it, oh great God. Tell me: who am I and who are You!”

“The Reverend Mother’s hope had, moreover, passed through the crucible of tribulation. For a rather long time, at the beginning of her religious life, she was assailed by scruples and interior pains. Her obedience to her director (who was then Father Paul Reyners) saved her. From that time on she had a very maternal compassion for souls afflicted in that way. It so happened that one day, a young religious often tormented by her fear of having failed at poverty, went to see her. She accused herself of some trifling wastefulness in her manual work, and added, “In the world, I would never have stolen, but in the convent I often commit little acts of theft.” The good Mother explained things to her and calmed her down. But some days later, meeting up with the same Sister and finding her probably still a little bit worried, she said to her pleasantly, “What have you stolen today?” The little joke completed what reasoning had begun. The temptation disappeared and never returned.

“Finally we would like to indicate the Reverend Mother’s confidence in the divine Providence. Some days before her last illness, she went for a walk in the garden with the community. Seeing the trees being violently shaken by the wind, she said to us, “This is a good example of life. At certain moments everything is agitated in us and around us, and we think that all is lost, but at the moment willed by God, everything calms down and falls back into order. Never lose sight of this Providence which governs us.”

“This confidence attracted great graces to her. Often, when the occasion to do a fairly considerable good work was offered to her charity and zeal, she would receive unexpected help which she had asked for only from our Heavenly Father. We can be sure, without fear of being wrong, that this virtue was perfected even more in our Mother when she passed under the direction of the Rev. Father John Kockerols, in 1874. This eminent religious, this Father of our community, said one day that he could not be even ten minutes in prayer without feeling dominated by the thought of God’s Providence.”

Her love for God. - This love was very noticeable in the Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse. All her works and her holy life were based on her faith. The will of God was the mover of all her actions, and was also her consolation in her sufferings.

“Just remember”, she said in her final days to a converse Sister, “just remember that holiness does not consist of a communion or a way of the cross, but in fulfilling the will of God. The most holy works harm our souls if they are done outside the will of God. You will understand this later on. I shall ask our good God and Saint Alphonsus to enlighten you about it, and when I am in heaven, I shall ask it even more urgently because of the love I have for your perfection. I shall bear you in my heart to Paradise.”

To this tender love for God, our good Mother added piety to the Saints. She professed a particular devotion to the Most Holy Virgin. Above all she loved to invoke the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. This last point is quite remarkable. The Mother of Sorrows is always particularly dear to those who most greatly love Our Lord and pray for the salvation of souls.

Saint Joseph, the saint with the kind and tranquil heart, “the father of cordial love”, was dear to her also. She loved to invoke him in all the spiritual and temporal needs of the community. Her devotion to this good Saint was candid and simple. Around the neck of a little statue of the holy Patriarch she hung a letter one day in which she expressed her difficulties and desires to him in entire confidence.

The heart of this true daughter of Saint Alphonsus beat strongly for this great Saint. She loved him as her Father and holy Founder. She loved and propagated his works, which are so pious and so clear. She inculcated his teachings in her daughters. Above all she loved to preach to them her own zeal for the salvation of souls, and it was with a profound joy that she saw the Rev. Father Bloete give an entirely apostolic character to the solemn Octave of Saint Alphonsus, preached every year in the Monastery chapel. What joy she had when she learnt that many sinners were converted during these days of salvation, and how much she loved to reward in her own way the Fathers who preached the exercises there! She would obtain for them the relaxation of being able to go and spend a day by the sea at Ostend to recover their strength. (Great progress has been made since then, and even Bruges has become a seaport!). And so a certain proverb soon became true, “It is through the Mother of Bruges that we go to the North Sea.” *

The good Mother honoured Saint Gerard and blessed Father Hofbauer with a tender devotion. These great servants of God recalled so many memories and blessings to her! And another remarkable thing! Among Saint Alphonsus’ first companions, she especially venerated Father Alexander de Meo, of whom the holy Doctor said that his wisdom gave an idea of God’s wisdom.

She often recalled the venerable Father J. Passerat in her conversations. His great virtues and his admirable teachings often furnished her with material for pious dialogues, but what she also loved in him were his social virtues and his good education which added so greatly to his true piety.

Every Order has its devotions and its prayers, and its chosen customs. Mother Mary-Aloyse loved those of her own Order. Speaking just now of just prayers, she wished to preserve them intact and facilitate their usage. To this end she assembled in a little volume all the exercises of piety which are in use in the Redemptoristine Institute. She published them in 1887, on the occasion of the first centenary of the death of Saint Alphonsus, under the title of Manuel de prières à l’usage des Religieuses du T. S. Rédempteur (Manual of Prayers used by the Religious of the Most Holy Redeemer). Mons. Faict, the Bishop of Bruges, approved them as “excellent”, the Most Rev. Father Mauron declared them to be “very well done” and the Most Rev. Father Kockerols, in a prefacing letter addressed to the Reverend Mothers Superior of the Redemptoristines at Bruges, Malines, Louvain and Soignies, demonstrated clearly their incontestable utility.

We have already admired in our good Mother her love for the poor. She loved them tenderly and sought to help them in every way. And so she was happy to see her daughters, on her feast day and offer for them some manual work or surprises intended to help the poor. And also, with the same intention, she also set up a little clothing room to which she sometimes had recourse, in winter for example, in favour of her own daughters.

Poverty and obedience, these two principal virtues of religious life, also shone out with a supreme brightness in the life of Mother Mary-Aloyse. “She loved poverty, as the Rule said, even more than worldly people love their wealth, and she had the ambition of being poor in everything. What she had for her own use was marked with the coin of poverty, which is a detail rather rare among people who are very generous to others. However, this generosity had its limits. “During her forty-six years of religious life,” says a well-informed witness, “she refused herself the satisfaction of sending the least picture to her family, and if, on the approach of death, she gave her own folk some poor little prints, it was only on the insistence of her religious niece, and after having obtained permission from the Most Rev. Father Kockerols, the extraordinary confessor of the community.

Her obedience was no less edifying. Once elected Superior, she followed the advice of the Most Rev. Father Kockerols about her personal conduct with a perfect submission, and this man, so wise and so reserved in his judgements, paid a resounding tribute to this humble obedience.

Her humility was genuine. Her attraction for a life hidden in God never deterred her from courageously fulfilling her duties, but in carrying out her obligations to her best ability, she paid no regard or indulgence to herself. She never let her family know about the responsibilities she had in the convent, and if they learnt one day that she had become the Superior, it was through her niece, already a Redemptoristine at that moment. Never at any time did she boast of her position to grant herself privileges or exemptions. It cost her extremely dear, she avowed one day in private, to preside over the Chapter of faults. She would then go and pray for her Sisters and abase herself before God for her own faults.

There was no lack of people who asked her for her blessing, in the parlour for example. She would get out of it all good-naturedly, “May Jesus and Mary bless each one of us!” she would reply, and that was all. This was a little touch worthy of the Little flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi. In July 1886, the Reverend Mother Mary-Anne-Joseph, the Superior of the Redemptoristines at Malines, came to Bruges with her Mother Vicar (Sister Mary-Marguerite, still living) with the purpose of discussing some points relative to the Institute with Mother Mary-Aloyse. She was received at the door of the cloister by this dear Mother, accompanied by her counsellors. The good Mother from Malines could not wait to prostrate herself at the feet of Mother Mary-Aloyse, but she in her turn went down on her knees, and the benediction turned into a fraternal accolade. Then the good Mother led her dear visitors into the recreation room, where the community welcomed them with the chant of the Ecce quam bonum (Behold how good).

Such were the sweet virtues which were practised at the Monastery of Bruges. Under the influence of such examples, all hearts opened to confidence and to the love of Jesus and Mary, and the practice of the most difficult virtues were despoiled of their harshness to give way to the love of our divine Redeemer and His most holy Mother.

* There is an untranslatable pun in French here. Mère (Mother) sounds exactly the same as Mer (Sea): “It is through the Mère (Mother) of Bruges that we go to the Mer (sea) of the North.”

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-08-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Chapter VIII.
Mother Mary-Aloyse is named Superior of the Community of Bruges. Her charity towards the Redemptoristines of Italy. The correspondence with the Most Rev. Father Mauron. His Lordship’s visit to the Monastery of Bruges.

The death of Mother Mary Philomena, (13th December 1878) was a very serious blow to the community of Bruges, but Providence never fails to put a balm on such wounds. Mother Mary-Aloyse was chosen to replace her much venerated predecessor, and the whole community had but one heart and soul in transferring to the newly-elect all the affection that they had shown to their late Superior.

As soon as she was appointed, the Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse, as a true daughter of Saint Alphonsus, wrote to inform the Most Rev. Father Mauron, Rector Major of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. She received the following reply from him:

“Villa Caserta, Rome, this 19th February 1879.
My Reverend Mother. - I have received your letter of 6th February, which brought me the happy news that you have been elected by an unanimous vote to succeed Reverend Mother Mary-Philomena, of happy memory, as Superior. She governed your Monastery so well for so many years. God has clearly manifested His will, so He will not fail to assist you with His graces and lights.

“In the name of Saint Alphonsus, I give you my blessing in your position as Superior, with confidence that a good spirit and observance will be preserved and grow more and more, under your direction, at this holy Monastery.”

Mother Mary-Aloyse had already sent some monetary help to the Redemptoristine convent of Saint Agatha. The Most Rev. Father Mauron thanked her in these terms:

“I sent your letter on to the Mother Superior of Saint Agatha, together with an Italian translation, and added 25 francs from yourself, which I had surplus to the 200 you sent me at Christmas. Attached is the letter from the Superior of Saint Agatha, in which she tells you of the death of one of her nuns. This poor Monastery is in danger of being suppressed sooner or later, because the law here states that when there are no more than six professed nuns, the Government has the right to send them away; and it is now twenty years since they were forbidden to admit other nuns.

We hope that Saint Alphonsus will not permit this; but if this convent ever comes to be sold by the Government, we will have to do everything possible to save it from the hands of whatever individual wants to buy it. I have already spoken about this to the Bishop of Saint Agatha.
“I bless you and also all the Sisters of the Community, and I am in Our Lord Jesus Christ
“Your devoted servant.
“Nic. Mauron, C. SS. R.” [23]

This letter was not the only one which the Most Reverend Father Mauron wrote to the new Superior. A man of proverbial wisdom, he was overjoyed to find in Mother Mary-Aloyse the qualities of discretion, charity and apostolic zeal which accorded so well with his own temperament. Some of his letters shed a profound light on the generosity of the good Mother. We shall cite some extracts from them.

On 6th July 1880 (the year of the expulsion of the religious Orders from France), the Most Rev. Father Mauron wrote:

“I am happy to be able to grant you Father Kockerols as your extraordinary confessor, according to your request, in spite of his nomination to the office of Provincial

“I have been brought to satisfy your wishes because of the great good that he has done in your Monastery, and also to enjoy the spiritual advantages that you have promised me in this case. In fact I have great confidence in the prayers of your good community, and I am counting on them, not solely during the promised novena, but during the whole year.

“Pray a great deal also for our Fathers and your fellow Sisters in France who are the butt of persecution. Recommend them greatly to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and our holy Father Saint Alphonsus. The evil is so great and universal that God must intervene and make it end. I await this divine intervention with confidence.”

On 4th January 1882, on the very eve of the heart attack which almost brought him to the love of his children, the Most Rev. Father Mauron dictated the following letter.
“I would like to thank you, you and your excellent community for the New Year good wishes that you have sent me, and above all for the prayers and holy communions that you have applied to me and wish to apply to me as well in the future. I feel more than ever the need to be sustained by your good prayers, as my age is advancing with my infirmities, my powers are diminishing from day to day, and in contrast, my work-load is increasing all the time.”

Next he promises them the help of his prayers, and then he adds, “I also want to thank you with all my heart for the 200 francs which you were kind enough to send me for the poor Redemptoristines in Italy. It is me they turn to for their refuge in all their distress, and it is you who are their great providence. I am continuing to gradually distribute to them the sum of money which you sent me for them above all. These good Sisters are very grateful to you. They beg me every time to express their gratitude to you and assure you of their prayers.

“I bless our good God for the excellent result of the mission at Bruges which our Fathers have just given. Monsignor the Bishop, [24] whom I went to see during his trip to Rome and who immediately visited me in return, is full of praises for our Fathers. He also spoke to me about your Monastery in the most favourable terms.”

Next he encouraged her to entrust herself entirely to God regarding her responsibilities as Superior, which had just been conferred on her again, and gave her advance news concerning a future history of the first Redemptoristines. [25]

A year later, on 4th January 1883, Father Mauron wrote, “Tomorrow, it will be a year since our good God came to visit me. In the first days of my illness, I never thought I would ever see this anniversary. I believed on the contrary that my end had arrived. Our good God wanted it to be otherwise, and this grace, I am deeply convinced, I owe uniquely to the fervent and incessant prayers, and the sacrifices which were made for me in your Order, as well as in our own Congregation. Your excellent community had a large part in this work of charity and devotion towards me, and I would like to express my deepest gratitude.”

The venerable correspondent adds, “I had the happiness a few weeks ago of having a very private audience with the Holy Father (His Holiness, Leo XIII). His Holiness welcomed me with extreme benevolence. He brought me into his apartments, with my crosier in my hand, and invited me to sit down beside him. The Holy Father gave me an order not to fall ill, and I am trying my best to obey him. Finally he asked me to transmit his blessing to all the children of Saint Alphonsus scattered across the face of the earth.”

The same letter informs us that the community of Bruges had now reached 42 sisters.

Finally a letter dated 22nd February 1884 attests to the generosity of Mother Mary-Aloyse and her Community and becomes quite an eulogy:
“I have just received your good letter of 18th instant, in which you tell me you are sending some monetary help to your fellow Sisters in Italy, and also to the Villa Caserta. I received this sum the day before a letter from the Very Rev. Father Kockerols. According to your intention, my Reverend Mother, I shall be sure to distribute the 4000 francs intended for the Sisters of Italy, according to the circumstances and needs of their Monasteries. I shall certainly recommend them to pray for your Monastery of Bruges, which is so generous towards them, and in particular for good Sister Mary-Joseph and her family. I am persuaded that they will do this with the greatest fervour.

“As for the sum of 2000 francs, which you have been kind enough to give as a gift to myself, I thank you for it most sincerely, my Reverend Mother. It is a real act of providence for us, which will allow us to push a little ahead with the costly constructions which have been imposed on us by the municipality of Rome.

“I would equally like to express my deepest gratitude for the considerable help that you have organised from our Province in Belgium, both on this occasion and on many others. Your assistance, as the Most Rev. Provincial has told me, have been mainly used for the establishment of the Students’ House at Beauplateau and for the support of a certain number of young men. And thus, my Reverend Mother, you will have a large part in the fruits of salvation which the present and future Belgian missionaries are producing and will produce in souls. May our good God reward you a hundred-fold, in this world and in the next, for your generous assistance!

“As for me, I pray every day for your fervent Monastery, so that it may always remain as it is now, a nursery of souls agreeable to God and His true saints, occupied totally in loving their divine Spouse and conquering souls for Him from the depths of their cells. To this effect I bless Your Reverence and all your good community and in particular your good Sister Mary-Joseph.

We can see how happy Father Mauron was to say “thank you,” but the moment was not far away when he was able to come in person to the community of Bruges to give them his blessing.

This favour was accorded to the pious Monastery in 1884. The Most Rev. Father Mauron, now frail, but eager to visit the Provinces of Belgium and Holland, and the French Communities taking refuge in these countries, left Rome at the end of July of that year. He braved the fatigues of this long journey to go and reassure the anxieties of his children in person. So many reasons brought him to pay a visit to the Redemptoristines of Bruges, that he gave them a special place in his itinerary, and on 24th August these good religious received the happy news that in a couple of days, His Lordship would be amongst them.

“We hastened,” says the narrator of this memorable visit, “We hastened to put the final touches to our preparations for his reception, which were begun a long time beforehand. The cloisters were decorated with coloured paper-chains, artificial flowers and natural shrubs. A great statue of the Most Holy Virgin was placed near the staircase, as if to invite Mary to preside over our feast. Various banners, graciously disposed, expressed our filial love for our most Reverend Father and our welcome to him. In the main chamber of the community, tastefully decorated, the statue of Saint Alphonsus could be seen in his pontifical habits and at his feet the Saint’s pectoral cross enclosed in a reliquary.

“Finally the 26th August arrived. At about 2.30 p.m. in the afternoon, the community assembled in the main parlour. Half an hour later, which seemed like eternity, the joyful sound of the church bell ringing three times announced the arrival of our Father to us, and some minutes later, as we knelt at his feet, we received his holy blessing with an inexpressible emotion.

“After dinner, the Most Rev. Father Mauron visited the Monastery. At the given signal, we formed two rows in the cloister. The door of the enclosure opened and His Lordship walked through, with his companion on the journey, Rev. Father John Kannengiesser. When he arrived at the main room of the community, this Reverend Father stopped before the statue of Our Father Saint Alphonsus. “Here’s Father!” he exclaimed with a charming simplicity. Then he picked up the Saint’s pectoral cross, touched his forehead with it and kissed it tenderly. When His Lordship was seated, we sang some verses for the occasion, which seemed to please him greatly. Then the Reverend Father spoke to us about our holy vocation, the origins of our Order, the first Mothers, and especially Mother Mary-Colomba, whom Saint Alphonsus held in great esteem. It was to her that Our Lord revealed that all those who die in the Institute will be saved, and consequently, His Lordship added, all Redemptoristines and all Redemptorists faithful to their vocation, for, at this time, the Congregation and the Order were spoken of under the single name of Institute of the Holy Redeemer. The Most Reverend Father spoke to us also about the present state of our different Monasteries. We listened to him, charmed by his goodness, simplicity and joy, and astonished by his prodigious memory. When he got up to visit the convent, some of our Sisters who were suffering from deafness or some other infirmity, knelt down before him with a touching confidence to receive his blessing. This recalled the Gospel scenes, and if our dear sick sisters had been the object of a visible miracle, could we not have doubted that the blessing of a saint, received with such a lively faith, would obtain a special grace for them to bear away their illnesses with love?”

The Most Rev. Father Mauron then visited the Monastery. “Each Sister,” says the narrator, “urged him to visit their cells and give them his blessing. This good Father accepted our wishes and had some simple words for each one of them, such as the Saints say, and which penetrated their souls with their sweet unction. The simplicity of our cells pleased him. 'There is nothing surplus,” he exclaimed, “so you may be completely at peace.' This was a witness which made religious poverty even more dear to us. His Lordship also blessed the Educands and the Novices. He addressed a few words to the Novices on the virtues which are proper to them. In the library, our Reverend Mother told him, as she pointed out the shelves containing the works of Saint Alphonsus, 'This is the well from which our souls draw the most.' - To which the Most Rev. Father replied, 'You are right. Those who read these books and put them into practice will certainly become saints.'

“In the Choir of the Holy Family, the crib attracted His Lordship’s attention. 'It’s charming!' he said, and did not stop looking at it. Next, turning towards us, he said very kindly, 'Be the asses in the stable, not to cry out or stamp your feet, but to warm the Infant Jesus.' Then the Reverend Father finished visiting the convent.

“The following day, we had the happiness of assisting at His Lordship’s Mass. He offered the holy sacrifice at the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. In the morning he had long discussions with the Reverend Mother about the interests of the Community. In the afternoon, the Reverend Father entered the enclosure, accompanied by the Most Rev. Provincial John Kockerols (who had arrived the previous night at Brussels from his voyage to Canada) and Rev. Father Kannengeisser. While visiting us, he gave each one of us a printed leaflet containing some maxims by Saint Alphonsus, and a relic of his coffin, the precious souvenirs of a saint, given by another saint, and which we shall preserve with a double veneration.

“However, time was passing. Before leaving us, His Lordship finally said the following words to us, 'My dear Sisters, I shall meet you again, not on earth, but in heaven. We shall all meet again there if we live and die faithful to our vocation. While we are waiting, let us do here below what we shall do up there one day. Let us accomplish the holy will of God on earth. This accomplishment will cost our own nature, but in heaven, it will procure for us an uncontaminated and unending joy.'

On the 28th, the Feast of Saint Augustine, all the Sisters communicated for the intention of the Father General, then they all went to the parlour to receive his blessing for the last time.

This visit, it was clear, left them all deeply filled with gratitude towards God and their good Superior, who had obtained this benefit for them. For Mother Mary-Aloyse, these were days of great consolation. The Most Reverend Father Mauron had scarcely arrived at Wittem when he wished to thank her, and he did it in terms worthy of a successor of Saint Alphonsus.

“The Most Reverend Father, “wrote Father Kannengeisser, “ has taken away from his visit to your Monastery the most happy memory. He is delighted above all to have satisfied himself that the spirit of prayer reigns there. And this is Saint Alphonsus’ very own spirit. The more it is developed in your Monastery, the more abundantly graces will descend from heaven, not simply upon you, but also upon the poor sinners whose advocates Saint Alphonsus has constituted you to be.”

On 1st January 1885, the Most Reverend Father Mauron gave Mother Mary-Aloyse some news about his trip, and added:

“A short while after my return to Rome, I had the honour of a long audience with the Holy Father. His Holiness was informed about my journey, and asked me if I had been to see your Monastery of Bruges, which he remembered very clearly. [26] The Holy Father is very satisfied with it and has asked me to pass on to Your Reverence and to all your fellow Sisters his apostolic blessing.”

Footnotes

[23] Our readers will be pleased to read the letter from the Superior of Saint Agatha. What could be more touching than this exchange of charity on the one hand, and gratitude on the other?
“Monastery of Saint Agatha of the Goths,
“This 16th February 1877.
“My dear Sister in Jesus Christ and Reverend Mother Superior,
“We have received the most wonderful consolation in receiving the beautiful picture of your good and holy Mother, the late Mother Mary-Philomena. She seems very much alive, as we hope that she is in reality now in heaven for all eternity. I thank you most cordially for this beautiful gift.
“Jesus wishes to purify all His Spouses left on earth, by calling to Himself first one, and then another of them. May His holy will always be accomplished! We too have lost one of our Sisters, our good Sister Mary-Jeannette of the Heart of Jesus, aged 75 years. After only seven days of an illness, whose sufferings she endured with great patience, she died on 29th January in the most perfect peace.
“She was very devoted to Saint Alphonsus and had a limitless charity towards the poor, and was happy to fast from time to time so as to send her whole portion to the Tourière as alms for her dear poor. I pray you to make the Suffrages prescribed by the Rule for the repose of her soul.
“Also please pray for us too, as the death of each nun fills us with sadness, at the thought that this house founded by Saint Alphonsus will soon cease to exist. Pray to our good God to put an end to these great tribulations, so that we may have the consolation of leaving others here after us to praise and love the Lord.
“Today we received 25 francs from our Most Reverend Father General, a gift of your charity to the poor daughters of Saint Alphonsus, your Sisters who are totally devoted to Jesus Christ. Together with all my Sisters I thank you a thousand times, and I ask Saint Alphonsus to reward you as you desire and deserve, as it is he who knew our needs and inspired you to help us.
“Dear and beloved Mother Superior, I rejoice greatly in your fervour; let us love Jesus greatly upon this earth, so that we may love Him much more in eternity. Let us love each other with the love of the divine Spouse, and let us remain united in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in whom we hug and kiss you all.
“Your most affectionate Sister in Jesus Christ,
“Sister Mary Crucified of the Holy Nails.!
[24] Mgr Faict, Bishop of Bruges.
[25] This history appeared a few years later under the title of: Les premières Rédemptoristines (The First Redemptoristines), by Father F. Dumortier. It was the Monastery of Bruges which paid for it to be printed.
[26] The Holy Father, when he was Nuncio at Brussels, made the journey to Bruges to assist in the procession of the Holy Blood. On this occasion he paid a visit to the Redemptoristines. The Monastery Chronicles record this visit thus.
“On 9th May 1844, Mons. Boussen, the Bishop of Brussels, accompanied by Mons. Pecci, the Papal Nuncio, and Mons the Bishop of Ghent, attended for our benefit, after which they paid a visit to our Reverend Mother Sister Mary-Alphonse of the will of God, and asked to see the whole Community. Monsignor the Nuncio showed a great deal of interest in our worthy Foundation and had informed himself with great pleasure about the convents of our Order in Italy. These respectable personages then presented themselves at our new convent, which they visited in detail, examining especially the foundations and walls of our future church. Rev. Father Paul Reyners provided answers to all their questions."

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-07-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

Chapter VII.
Mother Mary-Aloyse encourages a Vocation.

Mother Mary-Aloyse, in the important responsibilities which she exercised, acquired some most useful experience. She made use of it to give the most wise counsels, on occasions, to people of the world. In 1872, one of her nieces, Miss Mathilda Fabri, announced a great news to her. She felt herself called to the religious life and burned to join her pious aunt in the cloister. But her father claimed custody over her youth, and her brothers also had need of her care, so how could she get out of such pressing duties! So from then on, how could she maintain the sacred fire in a life spent in the midst of the world? Mother Mary-Aloyse went to her aid with all her power. Her letters to her niece allow us to reveal her in another light. To the advice which she gave her to show her family the most tender attachment, she joined the advice of a superior prudence, so necessary to safeguard a vocation.

What could be more judicious than her first recommendations? “The more I have prayed,” she writes, “the more it seems to me that God primarily wants you to apply yourself to your interior life, to this union of heart and will with Jesus Christ, who ever holds you in a peaceful and loving dependency. A ruling is no doubt necessary, but the main point must always be one of preferring the will of God to your own exercises, and to sacrifice them generously when He asks you to. I cannot praise you too much for your desire to conform yourself exteriorly to others, and to supplement in your heart and your will for what you cannot do.”

Making an appeal to her own memories, she forewarned her niece against a danger.
“Although I would not wish to advise you to miss out on your sleep, on the contrary, I find that you often sleep too little. Believe me in my experience. I made the same error in the world, and I have had time to repent of it.” Then she laid out for her a little rule of life.

“I would be much happier,” she added, “dear Mathilda, to see you communicate more often, if your confessor will allow it, and if you can do it without anyone finding fault with it. Here, the educands communicate three time a week, the novices four times, without counting the Feasts, and the professed, six times. Try to be at least a novice. I am sure that at Enailles you will have the same sacrifices to make as I had at Sény, because we do not like to be displayed before all the world. So make many, many spiritual communions.” She finishes by telling her about some of Saint Alphonsus’ works.

“I advise you to procure the little treatise Of Mental Prayer and Retreats, and Of the Manner of Conversing Continually with God, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori. For your meditations, I believe that you will find it very useful to make use of Reflections and Affections on the Passion and Meditations for the Feasts. All these works are by Saint Alphonsus and printed by Casterman (translated by Father Dujardin). These are some little works which will greatly aid you in meditating with confidence, and which are very consoling.” [18]

In another letter, Mother Mary Aloyse initiates her niece into certain practices of religious life, but adapted to her present condition:
“Since you are so fond of doing what we do, dear sister, it is also appropriate for you to have a Patron saint, a practice and a special prayer for the year - we receive it on New Year’s Day. - Your Patron will be Saint Alphonsus, your practice, patience: patience with yourself when you do not make enough progress; patience with others, for even when we live with the angels, we still need patience. And your prayer will be to ask God often for peace, charity and the accomplishment of the duties of religion to always be a distinctive mark of your family. And for this you will say a “Hail Mary” every day.

She again recommended devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. “Try to love Our Lord more in the Blessed Sacrament, and when you are at home, turn from time to time towards the church to greet Him and adore Him and often make spiritual communions. This will do you so much good, especially in moments of pain, when you feel the need to love or be loved! So continue to turn towards the only adorable and desirable good.

“Well, courage, my good child. Jesus loves you very much, you can be sure. Place a high value on the happiness of being the bride of Jesus Christ. Continue to sacrifice yourself in taking care of your father and brothers. For the moment this is certainly the will of God. Make every effort to maintain charity in the family, and Jesus will bless you and love you.” [19]

“Reading your letters, I feel that your are tormenting yourself too much for your faults. Of course we should not love them, but we must live with ourselves and think that our ugliness, borne humbly and in confidence, will not make us disagreeable to our good God, who is so good. As Saint Francis de Sales said, “we must love abjection in order to correct imperfection.”

“I shall place you especially in the Heart of Jesus at seven o’clock in the morning, which is the hour of our holy communion and the Mass, and I shall pray to the Holy Virgin to always be your good Mother.” [20]

The following letter is no less instructive:
“I have prayed so much for you during Christmas night: I asked during the midnight Mass for the Child Jesus to soon open the door of His dear Bethlehem to you, so that we can dwell in it with Him.

“While we are waiting for this wonderful day, dear child, try to become more and more a fervent lover of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This above all is the mark of a Redemptoristine. Do not be content with an ordinary faith, confidence and love, but instead you must establish between yourself and Jesus in the Tabernacle a current of holy affections going from His Heart to your own and from your heart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. - We learn so many things at the foot of the Tabernacle! There is everything in a consecrated host, so may it be all your treasure, dear Mathilda, your book, your consoler, your confident and your everything. This is one of my most sincere wishes for my good child, whom I desire so much to see all red. Let us hope for it and ask it from the Child Jesus.”

We shall never grow tired of listening to this pious aunt. Here is her judicious advice. “I have to smile, my good little sister, reading these words in your letter: “Everything is going well, but I am so changeable!” Do not forget that your emotions are always changeable. You know that chapter of the Imitation where it is said that we are sometimes sad and sometimes joyful. And we shall be the same until we arrive there, where nothing ever changes. - So this is not a fault, but a misery of our poor nature, which we have to bear with patience. We will never lack crosses or sufferings for as long as we love our good Saviour. He made His daily bread from them, and this must be ours as well.

And she adds, “Try to spend Advent well. It is a time of joy and a time of wishes. The Office is so beautiful! It is a continual sigh calling out to Jesus Christ. If you do not have the Divine Office in French and Latin, I advise you to procure one as complete as possible, and to make use of it sometimes for your meditations. The Advent anthems and the Masses are all so beautiful, and they put us so much into the spirit of the Holy Church! And there is also another advantage, which is that since the Office is drawn almost entirely from Holy Scripture, we are meditating on the words of the Holy Spirit, which always have a particular grace. However, I ask you not to do this without the permission of the Father, who knows you better than I do.”

The letter finishes with come wise recommendations:
“And also try, my good Mathilda, not to go so much against your father. It is better to sacrifice a half-hour of prayers on your knees and pray some other way than to bring down upon yourself some orders or restrictions that you find hard to bear. I have been through that and I know what it means. Once it went as far as wanting to forbid me to confess to the Priest, but I became angry, I wept, I made an uproar so much that they had to leave me alone. It is also true that I made them a terrible threat: If you force me to this, then I will leave even sooner. Then they gave up. But you cannot, must not threaten this. The hour has not come, you can be sure. So be prudent, and see the will of God in the sacrifices He is asking of you.”

In another letter, this good Mother speaks at length on her concern to make family life seem pleasant. Could there ever be anything more judicious, more just, or more like Saint Francis de Sales, if we may so put it, than the following lines?

“You can be sure, my dear child, that our good Saviour will hold you to account for all that you do for Him in sacrificing yourself for the souls of your father and brothers. So try, my good friend, to treat them with the greatest love, and give them a little family pleasure by your well-chosen company, and when there are such gatherings, believe me, do not walk out of them again as you have done. I am sure that your father would have been most upset, and although he may not have said anything to you, he would have spoken about it to others. I heard something about it in Summer through aunt Mathilda, who spoke up for you, however. She also told me that you do not need to go to excess. I have told you this often - be prudent and learn how to make a sacrifice so you do not bring down upon yourself a positive ban on following your exercises. They complain that you are neglecting the housework, that your brothers are always having to rely continually on the servants, since you are never there, that your father is sad and worrying, etc., etc. I know, and I understand that it is very difficult to satisfy everyone, but, my good friend, have you not thought that you will have less graces in praying a little more in your own room and in cutting back somewhat on the time you give to the church, since this is the main complaint?”

She then describes a little rule to her and adds, “So do you not realise that in the convent you will also have to make some of these sacrifices? You often have to learn how to leave God for God, and do His will by leaving the choir when you would be so happy to stay there. So, my dear friend, courage. Fulfil your mission with generosity.”

However, her dear niece went to Lourdes to recommend her vocation to the Immaculate Virgin. “Ah!” she wrote to her from Bruges, “so my little sister is emancipating herself, but in a good manner. I am very happy for you. There you are at the source of graces, so place yourself firmly in the heart of this good Mother. I shall recommend your great desire together with you.”

However, the blessed hour is approaching. We are in July 1878, and in three months the young lady who so generously sacrificed herself for her family, is now about to take flight for the cloister. Her good aunt wants to help her make the right sacrifice now of those to whom up till now she was so devoted to:

“Do not doubt,” she writes to her, “that Jesus and Mary are themselves taking care of those whom you are leaving for their love. The more your sacrifice is generous and full of love, the more abundantly their graces will fall upon your family. So give Jesus and Mary whatever it costs you, often and in advance. After holy communion, offer Our Lord everything you love, Léon, Joseph, Sidonie and all the others, by saying, “My Jesus, I give them to you. Help me to make my sacrifice well so that it will be most agreeable to you. I give you all of them. Make me love you more now that I am leaving them for You. Implore Jesus and Mary for the sentiments that inspired them at Calvary, when you say farewell. Offer this for the soul of your dear Father, [21] and you will see that Our Lord will help you. Tell Him truly that you wish to be a faithful and generous spouse. Then, have confidence. It will cost you, for it will not mean much without it. And soon you will be back at Enailles. You will no longer have the Father [22] to strengthen you, but keep up your prayers. I will send you a copy there of a letter that Mons Dechamps wrote me when I was at Sény. It will please you and do you good.”

From this point on, the correspondence ceases, as the young lady said a last good-bye to the world. She entered the Redemptoristine convent at Bruges.

Footnotes

[18] April 1872.
[19] January 1873.
[20] December 1873.
[21] Mr. Victor Fabri, who died in the month of June.
[22] Father Fiévez.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-07-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Chapter VI.
The Apostolate of a Redemptoristine.

Perhaps readers would like to rest for a while from the long journey they have just made through the noviciate. Mother Mary-Aloyse is about to appear to us in the guise of a very peaceful and very fruitful apostolate. We would like to speak about her apostolate of prayer.

Father Dechamps wrote some very interesting letters to her on this subject.

“Saint Joseph (Brussels), vigil of Saint Nicholas.
“5th December 1853.
“My dear daughter in Jesus-Christ,
“I have not yet told you how happy I was to receive your letters, which have followed me around. It was only upon my return to Rome that a big bundle of them overwhelmed me. I am leaving tomorrow for Coblenz, where I shall leave them in the certainty of never being able to take them up again. But we must pray for other points which will be dealt with at Coblenz. Do not see egoism in this! This Father scarcely ever writes, and when he does write three lines, it is to ask you for prayers! Yes, but not for him alone. So, my dear daughter, truly pray and ask for prayers, please.

“I have just learnt that the Reverend Mother has been, and perhaps still is, suffering greatly. So tell her that she has my memento and memorare, and as her great family is praying for her, everything will end well.
“Your busy Father,
“V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

From Villa Caserta (Rome) where this Father went during the month of April for the Chapter General, and which he was about to leave, he wrote these few lines to Mother Mary-Aloyse, whose mother had just died:

“Yes, my daughter, I have learnt your sad news. She has arrived and is rejoicing more than ever in your vocation. If she has need of it, you will open the door of heaven sooner to her. I join myself to your prayers.

“If the Reverend Mother has no time to do it, I turn to you to pass on to Brussels my news and my requests. So goodbye and say many prayers to the Holy Family, the Archangel Raphael and our good Angels for our journey.
“Your devoted servant in Jesus Christ,
“V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

The Redemptoristines of Bruges sometimes asked to hear Father Dechamps. His sweet and powerful eloquence was well known to them. But how could he promise anything in the midst of work-load he spoke about!

“Tournai, 6th November 1855.
“My dearest daughter,
“It is truly impossible for me to be able to promise anything. I hope to be free for the 22nd, the day of the great Saint Cecile. If I am free, I will come.

“I cannot say any more, because of an extraordinary complication of labours of all sorts. Your Father has become a missionary once more, without ceasing to be a Rector and man of the Court. [15] This has produced a singular mixture. If you do not pray very greatly and very constantly for him, he risks it all getting too much for him.

“I shall see you soon, I hope. Persevere in saying some good prayers to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, both you and all of you and the Reverend Mother, for
“Your most devoted Father in Jesus Christ,
“V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

The following letter testifies also to the need for prayers, which this apostolic man felt so keenly.

Brussels, Feast of Saint Joseph, 1856.
“My dear daughter in Jesus Christ,
“You have said that your old Father has become deaf, and this is why he is dumb. Not so. It is because no matter how old he is, he must run ever faster. He has just come back from one of his journeys. Will he ever get to Bruges without a miracle? It is because he has been entrusted with watering a dry and sandy soil, and as for Bruges, they are evergreen pastures, because it is Jesus Himself who waters them. You say that I am taking refuge in rhetoric to escape the difficulty. No, I am speaking the truth. But I pray to Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Alphonsus to always make the dew of heaven fall ever more abundantly upon you all.

“When will I ever see my children at Bruges? The essential thing is to meet again in heaven. Remember always that those who battle on the plain are more exposed than those who pray in the sanctuary, and be always the good sister and good child of
“Your devoted old Father,
“V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

Always with the aim of obtaining prayers, the eloquent preacher, the illustrious author, kept his spiritual daughter up-to-date with his publications and struggles.

Saint Joseph (Brussels), 2nd January 1857.
“I am very happy that you are all thinking, you, the Reverend Mother, and all of you, of recommending me to the all-powerful little Lamb of God. Please continue to do it, and tell Him to grant each one of us what Mary is asking Him for us this year, and also whatever else He is pleased to give us.

“So you still have some family crosses! I am sure you will already have told them that it is a grace to die young, and it is a great grace most often.

“I have as my virtue of the year “Devotion to the Incarnation and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, and I have now been given almost as penance, the task of writing a book which will deal with these great subjects. So now may I ask you for prayers for this and for another commissioned popular work which will bring within common reach the truths most often attacked today.

“Alas, I have even less free time, and I must work, I’m afraid, like a soldier who is smiting hip and thigh. So pray much and constantly for my poor spirit, my poor soul and my poor head. Yes, I am counting on you.

“I have Saint Francis Xavier for my Patron. He is an apostolic soldier, but if only I had a grain of his courage and confidence and love of the Cross!”

Here is yet another apostolic letter:

Wednesday of Easter 1857.
“My dear daughter and sister in J. M. J. A.,
“A Happy Easter too, a happy Resurrection. That of the soul is the unfailing seed of that of the body.

“Yes, you are right. I have a great war and enough painful combats to wage against the devil and his angels. [16] I have never more greatly felt the need of being helped by our Moses. I finished Lent with a migraine on Easter Day. And because I preached on humility, courage and patience, our good God would have said, “Look at our speaker at work.”

“You will never really know how much you have consoled me by telling me that you are all praying for me. I would most urgently ask you to be kind enough to continue on. As for communion, I believe that if you want to make it with great fervour, you must remain united to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was an act of this Heart (Bossuet says) which gave Jesus Christ to the world, the Fiat of the Incarnation, and it is also this Heart which gives us to Jesus Christ and teaches us to love Him. Let us hide within Mary’s heart, so that She may hide us in the Heart of Jesus.

“I believe, like the apostles after their conversion, in the good news of women who have followed and still follow Jesus Christ. So let us not suspect lack of belief. I trust in your promises.

“My regards and blessings to everyone, especially the Reverend Mother.
“Your most devoted servant in J. M. J. A.,
“V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

Let us finish with this letter, where the heart and spirit of Father Dechamps are revealed in such a touching manner:

21st December 1857.
“You know that there are two sorts of sermons. Those which Jesus Christ brings about, and those which He makes Himself in silence and prayer. It is there that He tells you what to do or not do to obtain more love for the Lamb of the Manger, the Cross or the Tabernacle. Look at Him through these three veils, and you will see His light shine through as much as it can and wishes to shine in this world. 'Happy are those who thirst, for..., etc.' If you obtain this thirst for me, I will willingly wait until I get to heaven for what will quench it perfectly.

“So Brother Gerard is doing things in Bruges. This is all good news.. It reminds me of the times when I wrote smaller books which perhaps were not worth much, given this. Since Brother Gerard loves you all so much, perhaps you will all pray to him for his old Father in Liège. Tell him that I have contributed to making him known a little, and he should remember this when we remember him in heaven. [17]

“Thank you for your good wishes. May our little Jesus reward you. I count on your fidelity to your good promises.
“Your old Father in Liège.”

These continual requests for prayers attest, we think, to the apostolic zeal of the Redemptoristines at Bruges and to Mother Mary-Aloyse in particular. And so the brilliant and hard-working career of him who was one day to become Cardinal Dechamps was sustained and brought to fruition by the prayers of the cloister.

Footnotes

[15] Father Dechamps was then the preacher at Court to the King of the Belgians.
[16] Perhaps he is referring to the polemics aroused by the booklet: “The Murmur of the Parlours”, provoked by the courageous preaching of Father Dechamps.
[17] Father Dechamps in fact wrote a learned preface to the French edition of the Life of the Ven. Brother Gerard Majella by Father Tannoia. - Tournai, Casterman. St. Gerard was canonised on 11th December 1904.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-06-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Chapter V.
Mother Mary-Aloyse is named Directress of the Noviciate (1852-1870).

The letter which we are about to cite was addressed to Mother Mary-Aloyse, Mistress of Novices: this responsibility was in fact entrusted to our modest heroine in 1852, and she exercised it until 1870.

Formed as she was in the school of Mother Mary-Philomena, and abundantly nourished on the instructions of the Rev. Father Passerat, Sister Mary-Aloyse also received from God the precious qualities which disposed her to government. Her practical sense was rare, her judgement excellent, and her knowledge of the spiritual ways permitted her to guide others along the path of perfection. The sweet teachings of St. Alphonsus also served her as a rule, and in the school of this great master, she had learnt to require nothing that was beyond the powers or the abilities of her disciples, but what she always firmly required was for everyone to avoid deliberate faults with the greatest care, to do penance for those which they had committed, and to apply themselves diligently to fulfil all the obligations imposed on them by the Rule. Effort, a care for detail, unhurried actions, these indispensable elements in tendency to perfection, were also the subject of her recommendations, but she wanted everything to be inspired, sustained and brought to a good end through the love of Jesus Christ. So she gave a soul to this body of sometimes meticulous practices which are called spiritual warfare, and a sure pledge of success to efforts that the lack of love condemns too often to powerlessness.

Let us hear her former novices themselves speak to us of some events in their noviciate.

“On the first Friday of each month,” one of them writes, “Sister Mary-Aloyse required her novices to put down in writing the accusation they proposed to make against themselves, so as to rectify it if possible. One day, when a novice brought her piece of paper to her, she noticed her mistress crossing out a sentence in which she accused herself of having wrongly judged her Superior, and of having said several words expressing criticism. So she permitted herself to ask her the reason for this, expressing her regret to her and the desire she had for repairing and expiating her fault. Sister Mary-Aloyse said to her, “This fault is so displeasing to Our Lord’s Heart that a novice must never commit it. Make Him a sincere promise that never again will you cause Him this pain, as whoever despises her Superiors wounds Him right to the Heart.” She imposed a small penance on the novice, who corrected herself, through the fear of causing pain to Jesus Christ Himself.”

“A novice experienced an antipathy towards a Sister whose manners upset her, and some of whose practices toward her were hurtful to her. It was the custom to beg for soup in the refectory. The novice found this penance agreeable, we might even say amusing, but she never managed to bring herself to do it, because the young Sisters had to give way to the older ones. Finally she succeeded one day in taking hold of the blessed dish that she had coveted for so long, and got ready most happily to go round the refectory on her knees to beg for her bread, when Sister N took the soup-plate out of her hands to do the penance in her place. - This trial was too much for the novice. She went and complained to the Mistress, not being able to suppress some disagreeable reflections about the Sister who had supplanted her. When she had finished venting her spleen, the Mother Mistress said to her: “My dear Sister, far too often you have noticed this and that in this fervent religious. Believe me, if you do not take care, you will nourish an antipathy inside you which will be a source of many imperfections for you. If you want to stop this right at the beginning, this is what you must do: every time when , for one cause or another, you feel a sense of discontentment against this good Sister, find an occasion to render her a service, or go up to her in recreation to say something nice to her.” The novice followed this advice and found it good, and applied it for the rest of her life to every Sister whom she did not like, and thanks to the good advice of her devoted Mistress, she managed, by repeated acts, to be able sometimes to quite set aside the dislikes she felt for the Sisters who beforehand seemed so disagreeable to her.

“A novice (it is the same Sister talking), a novice was often criticised for the attachment she had to her own will. On one of the monthly retreats, she wished to give her Mistress a surprise. She sent her a rosary case made of coconut wood, and told her, “Mother, this detachment is small, it is true, but it has cost me a great deal.” Sister Mary-Aloyse took the little box and opened it as they talked. The novice had put a little note inside it bearing the words: “My will.” The Mistress showed herself very satisfied, but added, “My Sister, do not forget this gift which you have just given me, and from time to time let me make use of it.”

Let us listen to some other accounts. Their style is quite different, but they are quite marvellous in letting us glimpse inside the noviciate of Bruges in 1861-62.

“The Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse made us take our noviciate seriously, and ever since I have always blessed and thanked our good God, although, at the time, I found her very severe.

“In recreation, this Mother maintained the most frank cheerfulness. There were several of us French girls and two of them above all would often start talking, because, as they said, they would do anything to liven up the others. But one day, the Mother Mistress said to me, half seriously and half as a joke, “My dear Sister, I believe that if you were to spend a recreation without talking, you would do yourself a great deal of harm.” After this I replied bravely that I would try to do it from the next day on. The Mother Mistress gave a wry smile and agreed. The next day, while continually looking at Mother and the other Sisters, I kept a firm silence, as if was quite easy for me. So then she set herself to get me to talk, offering me whatever would tempt me the most, such as pictures, etc., but to my great satisfaction, the bell sounded before I could say anything. Then there was general laughter.

“Another time, while we were walking in the garden during recreation (it was in the month of November), we happened to walk near an apple-tree. I got very excited at the idea of the fruit that it would bear in the following year, but as our Mother had a better knowledge in practice of the virtues than of arboriculture, she had some doubts about my competence and said to me, “Oh well, Sister, mark the fruit buds with a bit of thread and then we will see the proof of your knowledge.”

“The following year, to my great satisfaction, the tree produced many fine buds, but then withered up entirely and died. I was most disappointed. Then my Mistress ordered me to water my apple-tree every day, which I did even among the snow and ice of a most severe winter. In Spring, divine Providence declared itself in my favour, and my apple-tree produced fine apples. It was given my name (Mary Augustine) in remembrance, and when I was sent on to the foundation of Velp, I still received fruit from my resuscitated apple-tree. It was my Mistress who brought them to me with great joy, and I ate them with great pleasure.”

These citations show Sister Mary-Aloyse as a Mistress who was concerned to advance all her charges in perfection. One of her letters will demonstrate this.

“Dear little Sister,” she wrote to one of her novices, “your good letter has pleased me greatly. Never let yourself be discouraged. Jesus is with you, and when you have worked with courage to prepare a place for Him, He will come to dwell in your heart. He is there already, but He will come in a more intimate manner, and just one of these moments will make you completely forget, or rather, bless all the days of struggling. So courage then! Everything will be well, I can assure you on behalf of Jesus, if you never cease struggling and above all, if you never let yourself be discouraged. I am very happy that you see yourself as ugly. It is a grace. Reply to it by redoubling your confidence in Him who loves you so much and who will make you beautiful, if you offer Him your hand by humbling yourself in confidence. Recollection will also come. Patience, patience. Nothing is done in one day, but you must not let a single day go by without working. You love our good God more than you believe. Bless Him for everything. It is for your own good! Good-by for now, but I shall be looking forward to seeing you again. I pray to Mary to bless you.
“Sister Mary-Aloyse.”

Velp, 24th September 1860...
Let the novices speak again.
Sister Mary Clementine, [11] from the convent of Dublin, pays tribute to the great virtues of Mother Mary Philomena, and adds:

“Regarding the good Mother Mary-Aloyse, Dear Mother, I can only say that as Mistress of Novices and as Superior, she was always an enlightened directress to me and a tender Mother, who preached equally by example and by word, and knew how to make us love our holy Rules and the practice of the religious virtues. In a word, in these two Mothers I have always venerated the archetype of true and worthy Redemptoristine Superiors.”

Sister Mary-Lidwine of the Holy Spirit [12] particularly praises the vigilance and energy of her former Mistress of Novices:

“Both of them, Mother Mary-Philomena and her were most zealous in making souls advance towards perfection and forming solid virtues in their nuns. The Mother Vicar, Sister Mary-Aloyse, was my Mistress of Novices for two years. She greatly edified me through her energy, courage and power of soul by which she made her novices advance, with her eyes and her ears always open to correct the faults which she saw in them.”

Mother Mary Gertrude, the Superior of Clapham (London), was only under the direction of Mother Mary-Aloyse for a few months. “From the first day that I knew her,” she says, “I had the greatest veneration for her. Her recollected exterior reminded me of her angelic Patron, and her air of recollection as she went through the Monastery was wonderful to see. When she was my Mistress of Novices, she was the perfect model of a religious, and through her words, which breathed the spirit of our Father Saint Alphonsus, she taught us never to recoil before any sacrifice when it touched on the good of the Order. She often told me. “You must remember that our good God wants you to be a saint. This is why you must suffer, and struggle, and love beyond all measure Him who has loved us so much.”

“To some of them she could seem severe, but this severity was due to her love of the holy Rule and our Father Saint Alphonsus. I have always heard it said that she was as simple as a little child towards her Superiors. My memory and my heart will forever retain the memory of her spirit of prayer, her fervent love for observance, and her angelic modesty. In a word, it is impossible for me to describe in their entirety the virtues that we venerate in our holy Mother Mistress, and I still love to talk to our young Sisters about her great qualities and her instructions, to encourage them to walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us.”

Sister Mary-Magdalen of Jesus, a Redemptoristine of Dublin, renders this moving tribute to her former Mother Mistress.

“Obedience asks me to do something which I feel entirely incapable of, although I have an inexpressible desire to open my heart full of gratitude towards my former Mother Mistress, the Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse. I was a novice under her orders for more than two years, and during this time, I venerated her like a saint, and this sentiment still remains with me and is still the same as it has been for almost forty eight years. For myself, I believe that she was the most perfect soul that I have ever known. As Mistress, she was strict, as a Mother she was full of tenderness, devotion and sacrifice. Her example was a stimulus to excite our fervour. When speaking of the little observances she would tell us, “What our Father Saint Alphonsus has prescribed for us is not too small for me to practise.” I will never forget her holy words and instructions. Dear Reverend Mother, you will excuse my initiative and my bad French. I hope you will understand me, but my affection for my beloved Mother will never change. I hope that in her heavenly home she will think of her former novice and pray for her. As my own turn is coming, I greatly hope for her prayers to obtain mercy for me from our good God, and a happy death, when it is His holy will.”

From Dublin, too, the following letter comes to us, with its own special charm:

“Your dear aunt [13] being from Liège, I was most curious to get to know her, and I observed her well.

“The Reverend Sister Mary-Aloyse has always been regarded as a holy religious. She had a very serious exterior, and she was very severe with herself, but indulgent towards others. She was a model of regular observance, and showed a great love of poverty and silence. She was also very mortified, but her dearest virtue was that of obedience. The Reverend Sister Mary-Aloyse had a remarkable love for this virtue. She would have liked to change everything into obedience.

“When she became our Mother Mistress of Novices, she seemed a little cold and distant, and we were somewhat afraid of her. In our case, that was just as well. She was very maternal. When we were suffering, she would spare nothing to comfort us.

“In recreation, she was very jolly. Sometimes we spoke in the Liège dialect, but she knew it better than me, and this amused her immensely. Sometimes I would say, “Come now, Mother Mistress, now I can tell you all my secrets in public, because none of the novices can understand a word.”

The good Mother was most eager to inspire us with a love of our vocation and the religious virtues. Later on, I learnt from one of my companions that she had become very affable, very loveable, and our dear Sister Mary-Clementine confirmed it to me. This is another tribute to her virtue, and I am persuaded that this was a fruit of her beloved obedience.

“Through humility she would never let us render her any service, and when we looked for an occasion, she tried to avoid us every time, always saying, “I am my own servant.”

“So, dear Reverend Mother, look what my poor pen has produced. I do not doubt that God and His angels knows all this even better than us, but heaven will reveal it all to us.”

Let us now add another letter to all of these. It is dated September 1905 like the preceding ones. The venerable signatory of it died two months after writing it. [14] What a wonderful sense of gratitude and filial affection is found in it!

“Dear Reverend Mother,
“It is not simply a pleasure, it is a duty for me to say some words about the virtues of our Mother Mary-Aloyse, who was my Mother Mistress in the Educandate and the Noviciate.

“This dear Mother was strict about everything concerning holy observance, and remarkably hard on herself, but she also showed a very maternal goodness towards those who addressed themselves to her. I have had this experience myself. Being naturally timid, I did not dare approach her, but as soon as I had overcome that childish fear, I found a mother’s heart in her, full of the spirit of our Father Saint Alphonsus, and seeking by all means that his spirit suggested to her, to inculcate into our young hearts the divine virtues that our divine Saviour had practised during His life, such as humility, simplicity, abnegation of self, and above everything else, holy poverty. This last virtue she practised herself with great perfection during her whole religious life, so that we could say that it was her favourite virtue.

“She recommended novices to always have a great respect for their religious costume, by keeping it clean and tidy.

“Although this good Mother was occupied all day with the task she was responsible for, when she arrived at recreation, she was always jolly like a young novice.

“May our good Jesus bless her soul in a special manner for having guided me and taught me to walk in the blessed way of holy religious life”

“Sister Maria-Angelica of the Most Holy Sacrament, Religious of the Most Holy Redeemer.”

Footnotes

[11] Died at Clapham (London) on 19th March 1907.
[12] Sent from Bruges to the foundation at Louvain in 1875.
[13] This letter is addressed, like its predecessors, to the Reverend Mother Superior of the Redemptoristines of Bruges, the niece of Mother Mary-Aloyse.
[14] She died at Dublin on 19th November following.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-06-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Chapter IV.
The Different Responsibilities Exercised by Sister Mary-Aloyse.
A spiritual director and the work of a soul.

Contemplative Orders are not Orders of dreamers, and those who would discredit them would be most astonished to see them doing different tasks and fulfilling different responsibilities that require great activity. A community of forty nuns requires to be well directed spiritually, and well regulated temporally. Both souls and bodies have their own needs, for which due provision must be made. Mother Superior, Mother Vicar, Mistress of Educands, Mistress of Novices, Sister Housekeeper, Sister Admonisher, Sister Dressmaker, Sister Sacristan, and many others. Oh, how many degrees there are in the peaceful hierarchy that we call the organisation of a convent!

Sister Mary-Aloyse very early drew the attention of her Superiors. Her talents, her virtues and her aptitudes promptly signalled her as capable of fulfilling the most difficult tasks.

She began with the modest task of sacristan. Father Paul Reyners, her director, would have liked her to join the Council as soon as she left the Noviciate. But the Rule opposed this, and the good Sister, when she discovered this, declared besides that she thought this was all a joke. Because she was capable in whatever she did, she taught the various tasks to the young Sisters. She had learned to paint. She made use of her talents to paint pious images. She made lace for the sacristy. She made reliquaries. This last work was so dear to her that she reserved it to herself, even when she became the Superior, and only her last illness was able to make her abandon it.

In 1853, she was entrusted with the important task of Mistress of Novices, which she exercised for the space of seventeen years. We shall speak of it later. To this task, in 1858, she added that of Mother Vicar, and from then on she became, we may say, the right arm of her worthy Superior, Mother Mary-Philomena, who for a long time had appreciated her virtues. She soon realised the wisdom of her advice, and never wished to make any important decision without consulting her. At the time of the foundation of Louvain, Sister Mary-Aloyse gave her already-suffering Superior the most devoted support, accompanying her on all her journeys, taking all the steps necessary to assure the foundation, and organising everything. Once all the preparations were complete, she left Bruges with the first Sisters, only returning when the ceremony of erecting the enclosure had brought the matter to its end. She still continued to give assistance from afar by her letters to the members of the new foundation. She also accompanied Mother Mary-Philomena on her last journey to Velp (1858). In a word, until the very day (12th January 1879) when she was elected as the Superior of Bruges, Sister Mary-Aloyse never ceased to render the greatest services in all the tasks that were entrusted to her. In these tasks, most exceptionally, she always performed in a manner pleasing to God and satisfactory to everyone involved.

This is perhaps the place to dispel certain misunderstandings on the subject of the spiritual direction of a soul, in placing before the eyes of our readers some letters addressed to Sister Mary-Aloyse by Father Theodore Kockerols, Redemptorist. We will see that this good Father’s direction contained nothing original or ambitious. It was as clear as light, as simple as a fine day, and it spoke at one and the same time to the soul of this good Sister and the soul of her director. We will give these letters regardless of dates, because they are unknown to us, including the year.

Antwerp, 25th....
“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
“Our Lady will give you better counsel than I can give you, but since it has been such a long time since I last talked to you, I think that you will hear me all the more willingly. Besides, if my advice does not agree with that of Our Lady, reject it out-of-hand (mine, of course, as you are simple enough not to understand me). Arm yourself with a holy anger against your own self, and be admirably sweet towards everyone. Be deaf to the voice of your own nature, and lend an attentive ear to every word that Our Lord will speak inside you.

“Be blind to the imperfections of the Sisters who are not entrusted to your care, and have eagle eyes to discover your own shortcomings. Do not listen to the devil, who will discourage you, but to the Lord who inspires confidence. Have more fear of the shadow of a voluntary fault than thousands of temptations, whatever they are.

“Above all else, love prayer, knowing that it is the beginning, the middle and the end of the spiritual life, for it is prayer which purifies the soul of its miseries, which gives it the strength to practise virtue, which detaches it from creatures and brings it to joy in the Lord.

“I wish you even greater graces, and tomorrow I shall pray for you to receive them to your heart’s desires.

“Wishing you everything in Jesus Christ,
“Theodore Kockerols.”

Brussels.
“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
“I recommend to you 1) your own conversion, 2) the conversion of the Reverend Mother, 1 and 3) my own conversion. Three great works of mercy.

“Take care to look into every corner, not of the Reverend Mother’s conscience, nor of my own, but of your own, - and be without mercy for the bears, the leopards and the bad subjects that you will find there. May our good Jesus expel them, striking them with His whip, and may He place a cherubim with a flaming sword at the entry, to prevent them from ever returning.

“Milk and honey run from the rocks,” it says in the Holy Scriptures. - When this becomes true for you, then my poor soul will leap for joy. But for as long as it does not please the Lord for this to be so, I will say with all the power of my soul: Patience, my daughter, patience! Jesus is so adorable and so good that if we have the happiness to find Him and contemplate Him for a single second after a hundred thousand years of seeking Him, then we ought to consider ourselves happy, ineffably happy. Jesus, good Jesus, show us just a little glimpse of Your beauty, and we shall be so faithful to You!

“Pray for the poor soul of him who wishes you to be entirely for Jesus Christ through His holy Mother.”

Here now are the thoughts inspired in Father Theodore by the Feast of St. Luis de Gonzaga, Sister Mary-Aloyse’s patron saint.

Brussels, 20th June.
“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
“If St. Luis de Gonzaga will obtain for you tomorrow the grace which I will be asking for you, then you will have good reason to be happy, like a bird in Paradise. And this grace? I shall have trouble in expressing myself so that you can understand me properly. In any case, it is not deliverance from either your bodily or spiritual miseries, - certainly not that! After some days of thinking particularly about you, I came to feel that misery is your fate, your second nature. So I do not wish for your misery to be taken away from you. God wants it, so take note. But I would dearly wish for you to be as docile as a child in God’s hands - and may you let yourself be annihilated when He intends it and as He intends it. Oh, how much I would like to see you unflinching under God’s hand, even when His hand is armed with the sharp sword of sorrows and humiliation! How much I would like to see you reduced to an atom of dust, but crying out forever and always in a loud voice, “Thank you, my God, thank you! I shall love You increasingly, the more You make me suffer more and more.”

“I can see that I am a little bit cruel in my wishes. I shall stop here, for I am almost at the point of wishing you to be nothing, and more than nothing in the superlative. But truly, you may believe me, I also wish very ardently for you to be great, very great, because you are totally in God.

“In your misery, pray for my misery.
“A happy Feast, Sister Mary-Aloyse, from your Father in Jesus Christ.”

The following letter is neither less well thought out or less well written than the preceding ones. It also reveals the good Sister’s tendency to worry too much in her desire for perfection and the religious virtues.

Brussels.
“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
I thank you for the goodness you have shown me in giving me the news about the Reverend Mother’s health. For the love of our little Jesus, do not let her depart, even though she wants it so much.

“In your letter you ask me when your heart will change. Truly, I thought you had more spirit. But it is changing every day, because every day it is becoming more unendurable to you. Is it not a sign that we are advancing in perfection, when we detest our imperfections and sigh for the moment when there are no more in our souls? In your opinion, apparently, this moment is too long in coming. But the Lord, who knows you better than you know yourself, knows very well that you would send yourself to your destruction if He let this long-desired moment come too soon. You sigh after humility, and I know that your sighs are sincere. So have patience, and let the Lord be responsible for teaching you humility. If He does not do so, what will happen? We often laugh about the little humiliations in the cloister - at the very least they just scratch the skin. But God’s sting us deeply and hurt greatly. I shall pray that this operation will not be too long, and that you will be able to endure it in all patience.”

“Your servant in Jesus Christ.”

A last missive from the good Father Theodore will worthily crown these admirable letters. Of all of them, this is perhaps the most instructive.

Brussels, 30th May 1862.
“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
“In the name of the Reverend Mother, you ask for a death-blow to the activity of your own nature, and certainly, if it depended on me, I would not fail to give it to you. But, but, it is difficult enough to kill an eel by hitting it with a stick. And it is even more difficult to calm down with a whip a heart that is too ardent and in too much of a hurry. Because He wishes to preserve us from every fault and every imperfection, Our Lord Jesus Christ has said, Vigilate - “Be watchful!” ... This advice is perfect for protecting ourselves against all sorts of temptations and weaknesses. But according to the opinion of all the Saints, it is the only indispensable and efficacious advice against the rushing of the heart. At every instant of the day, in a large community, - and a fortiori - “even more strongly”, in the pleasant task of Mistress of Novices, our hearts are exposed to a thousand little enthusiasms, a thousand and one agitations which often reach us this way , especially when we wish to raise everything to the peak of perfection in everything that surrounds us. So she who does not exercise a continual vigilance against all the movements of her heart, to repress them as soon as they depart from the strict rules of meekness and charity, will be like a reed exposed to all the winds, and who is never for a single instant in a perfect calm. Vigilance, - see the whip here. - And the less elegant stick? A generous violence and continual efforts, without listening to the demands of our own self-esteem.

“I perceive that I am dealing with this matter almost seriously, like a doctor. Forgive me and do what I tell you, and you will be a living reliquary You need a great mirror, but I am sure that the Reverend Mother will be happy to buy one for you.

“As for the other miseries that you tell me are so horrible, I am sorry for you, I could almost say that I have pity for you, but I will not say even one “Hail Mary” to deliver you from them. I have the deep conviction that this is a work of God whose final aim is to purify your heart, to make you capable of a closer union with Him. What a strange manner, you tell me, to purify a heart! - In fact it is strange, but you can be sure that it is a good one, because God is using it - God, who is so jealous of the purity of heart of His Spouses. Patience, - that is the whip. - Abandon yourself without a whimper to the will of God, for this is the stick which will knock out your self-esteem, which does not know how to resign itself to this apparent ugliness.

“Now you know what you must do to attract the Holy Spirit and the fullness of His gifts into your heart. So banish every trouble and agitation, and you will feel His presence in the midst of this perfect silencing of your passions. Abandon yourself to the divine will, and thank this divine will for all the distressing things which have happened to you. The fire which seems to come out from all this apparent unpleasantness will purify you. What more is needed to make your heart pure and of good will, and fit to enter into God?

“Pray for the poor soul of your servant in Jesus Christ.”

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-05-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

Chapter III.
The Monastery of Bruges. - Father Passerat and his Conferences (1846-1850).

Let us now get to know a little bit about this Monastery of Bruges (Brugge) where the life of Mother Mary-Aloyse was spent. There are many things about it which will attract our interest.

The foundress was Mother Mary-Alphonsus of the Will of God, who came from Austria with her devoted friend, Sister Mary-Gabrielle of the Most Holy Trinity. When she arrived at Bruges, six choir Postulants and three converse entered. On 23rd March 1843, seven choir sisters made their profession before Monsignor Boussen, the Bishop of Brussels. Trials were not lacking. The house was only provisional, but everyone’s courage was marvellously sustained. Encouraged by frequent letters from the Venerable Father Passerat, Mother Mary-Alphonsus marched bravely at the head of all her sisters, and gave an example of the finest virtues in every respect. Her holy director gives us testimony of it: “Bruges,” he wrote, “will be the flower of the Order, above all in virtues, as I am learning from different sources.” He was invited to come to Bruges. He replied: “Have no doubt that I will do everything that depends on me to come and see you; but, my God, I am certainly not the Messiah, either for you or for your dear educands.” And besides, if the good Father’s words were not kind enough, his lessons were no less worthy of study, as we find witnessed in this letter dated from the end of January 1844, and which our Sister Mary-Aloyse was doubtless familiar with:

“Since you are such good soil, which knows how to make each crop bear fruit, may I be permitted to teach you how to lead the life of Methuselah, even here below.

“How is this to be done? - Be most observant of your holy Rules and Constitutions, and suffer the martyrdom of community life with courage and in a spirit of love; through this you will preserve your Order in its proper fervour until the end of the world.”

Father Passerat was then most concerned to recommend them to flee every deliberate venial sin like death, and concluded with these words. “And so, dear Sisters, fear your little aversions and affections, your slowness to rise in the morning from your beds and be ready for community tasks at the first sound of the bell. Fear this excessive care for your health, your little impatiences, your faults against exterior silence, and especially interior silence, your judgements, no matter how evident may seem the faults that you see; fear all those holy nuances which we know how to give the evil that our hearts desire. Fear, fear... fear as a mortal sin every deliberate venial sin. No deliberate faults at all... none at all, not one. I urgently demand this grace from Jesus Christ through the most holy Heart of Mary for you and for me.” [8]

A year later and Father Passerat came to Bruges in person. The new Redemptoristine convent was finished, and only the chapel remained to be completed. Nonetheless they wished to transfer the community to it new abode. It was on 23rd June 1845, on the stroke of four o’clock in the morning and to the chant of the Benedictus, that the Sisters took possession of their Monastery. The Redemptoristines still remember that admirable scene. The Most Reverend Father Passerat carried the Blessed Sacrament, Mother Mary-Alphonsus and the nuns accompanied her bearing lighted candles. The procession made its way through the cloisters, and finally the holy sacrifice was offered for the first time in the little sanctuary. “The feast lasted three days,” said the Annalist. On 25th June, Mons. Corselis, the Vicar-General, came to bless the Monastery. The following day, His Grace, Mons. Boussen, our Bishop, established the enclosure with great solemnity. The construction of the church was only completed in 1847. On that occasion, the bells were blessed by His Lordship, who himself deigned to open our little church for public worship.”

However, the Revolution of 1848 burst upon them at this time. The Redemptorists fled Vienna and took refuge in America, but four Redemptoristine Sisters came to ask for refuge with their Sisters of Bruges. [9] As for the Most Reverend Father Passerat, he established himself in this town near the Monastery of the nuns. For two years (from 13th September 1848 to 3rd September 1850) he dispensed to them the treasures of his wisdom and his direction.

The advice which he gave Sister Mary-Aloyse is a good indication of the kind of spiritual life inculcated by this Servant of God. It is edifying to see the care with which he attributes everything to Jesus Christ.

“Love Jesus Christ with all your heart,” he tells her, “and retain your affection for His Passion, base all your meditations on it, and aspire to the first place in heaven through your love for Jesus Christ.

“When you suffer and you are prevented from every mortification, remember that in suffering you are praying, you are fasting, and you are fulfilling your whole Rule. This is indeed your mortification. Do not listen to your own nature, which always tells you to descend from the cross. It is a false traitor, and you must not listen to it. Think often of Jesus Christ as you think in the world of a person you love, but think even more of Him who merits it more than any person in the world.

“In your life, unite everything to Jesus Christ. If you suffer, think first of all of Him, and then take the consolation that He gives you. Begin everything in Jesus Christ, and finish everything in Jesus Christ.

“What you must ask of God first of all is courage.

“What is the interior life? It is the life of faith, hope and charity.

“In your meditations, do not think too much; this is how you will obtain the most grace for yourself and others. Love, and do acts of love and gratitude. Do not go so much by the letter of what you read, but let yourself be moved by your affections.

“Be always happy and content. Never reason with the devil, and quickly chase away every sad and troublesome thought. Do not afflict yourself in your temptations.

“Desire to suffer for Jesus Christ. When you suffer interiorly or exteriorly, offer yourself to Jesus Christ to suffer so even until the Day of Judgement if this is His holy will. Unite everything to Jesus Christ: your thoughts, your words, your work, your prayers, your sufferings, and everything.”

This wise and firm direction bore its fruits. Mother Mary-Aloyse was always distinguished by her close union with Jesus and Mary, by the great care which she showed in her actions, by her attention to sanctifying her least sufferings. This fervent professed thus drew great profit from the lessons of her Noviciate. In her conduct towards her neighbour she was always seen to be full of candour and frankness in regard to her Superiors, and most circumspect in regard to her Sisters, and charitable towards them by never judging them, nor criticising them, nor inquiring into their conduct.

Is it not due to this that that we may now apply the promises that she made later to one of her novices:

“In following these counsels, you will be truly happy, as you will enjoy the peace and joy of a good conscience; and when you see the day when you will have to render your account to Our Lord, you will see it arrive without fear and even with joy, as you will be able to say, “Lord Jesus, it is for You that I have lived, have struggled, and have triumphed over myself. It is for You that I wish to die, so as to reunite myself with You forever.” Then you will not regret having reined in your tongue, tamed your character, put a brake on your spirit, and contradicted your heart, because you understand that anything which is not God is nothing.

“May Jesus be all for you. Tell all your troubles to this good and adorable Saviour, and to Mary, his good Mother and your own. They have such compassionate hearts. They will understand you, encourage you, help you and strengthen you.

“Go on ahead before God, remembering that after your death, your good or your bad examples will alone survive you, and do not worry about the conduct of others. For in examining and judging other, you will forget your own shortcomings and fall into pride.”

Footnotes

[8] Souvenirs (Memorials), published by Father Nimal, Redemptorist, 1 vol., p. 128, Liège, Dessain - Paris, Magnin.
[9] These were: in 1848, Sister M. Cherubim who became the Superior at Velp in 1858; - in 1849, Sister Mary-Baptist. She died eight months later, attended by Father Passerat; - in 1850, Sister Mary Fidelis, the granddaughter of Countess Welsersheimb. She left Bruges in 1852 to go to the foundation of Ried. - A converse sister, Sister Alphonsa, had accompanied Sister M. Fidelis to Bruges. Several months later, on 17th January 1851, she went to Galoppe where several Redemptoristines had gathered, waiting for the convent at Marienthal to be finished.

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

2011-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Chapter II.
The Educand. - The Novice (1844-1846).

The house which welcomed the new arrival was no more than a provisional convent, occupied for the last two and a half years by the Redemptoristines, but in a state of dilapidation which they had scarcely been able to remedy. As Mother Mary-Aloyse was to write later on, “It was no more than an old house which let the cold and the wind enter through ill-fitting windows. Everything was freezing, even beside the fire, and the Sisters had nothing which could guarantee them against the worst of the weather.” But the Postulant, avid for sufferings and sacrifices, resolutely embraced this new life. Was she not happy to prove right from the beginning her love for Him who had called her there? The convent was small and cramped. It was but the little house, as it was to be called later on. The Monastery was under construction elsewhere, and this building work was absorbing all their resources. So poverty made its rigours felt, and the necessities were often lacking. But the Postulant never said a word to her family which could have led them to suspect anything. And she who was so used to the fresh country air, could only go and walk in the courtyard for ten minutes or so at midday. She slept at ground floor level in a paved room, in common with the other Educands. In brief, her privations were numerous.

The Postulant also quickly came to know temptations. Father Dechamps had predicted it, and in a letter dated 15th January 1844 from Liège, he wrote to her:

“My daughter in Jesus Christ,
“In war as in war, but you are quite astonished to be a soldier, aren’t you? The greatest enemy is he who throws dust in your eyes and who blurs your sight, the Father of Lies. What matters is go and tell your dear Superiors straight away all the stories he has put in your head. For example, the thought has been given to you with an evil intention that your parents will perhaps be left alone, that you will not be able to cope with this kind of life, etc. You see how wicked he is. He attacks you through fear, through tenderness and even through scruples, and then he make you afraid to ask any of those who are visible Providence to you what you ought to ask. - Courage! Find your weapons! Even to taking up a brush! - I used to know a religious, Father Villani [4] who received some very great graces through a brush .. when polishing his shoes. He didn’t exactly tell me, but I saw it and guessed it. I saw what happened. Sometimes he would polish some of his colleagues shoes, thinking all the time of the words of St. John the Baptist, 'I am not worthy, etc.'

“I am not surprised to hear that you are content with your pains. Jesus Christ is in the citadel when your enemies make a din in all the rest of the place. It is certainly consoling for you to take the place, so clearly and so providentially, of this good nun [5] who is already with St. Alphonsus, where she can show you to her Father, so that He may draw you to Himself.

“'But the virtues?' you will say. Patience, for they are bought little by little. But where do you begin? With simple observance. 'Think of me,' Our Lord said to St. Catherine of Siena, 'and I will think of you.' So leave Him to look after you.

“Everything is quite calm at home...
“As for the news-vendors, I hear nothing from here. Who knows if they are talking about you at Liège? A bit here and there, and then they’re off to the ball, the show, etc. The world is nothing.

“I pray to Saint Alénie [6] to make you love the dear little martyrdom of religious life more and more.”

This consoling letter was followed some time later by a missive from Father Manvuisse, our Postulant’s first director. What could be more interesting than to be present at her first steps in religious life, sustained by exhortations of these valiant servants of God!

Tournai, 20th.
“You have given me great pleasure by your letter, my dear child. I have been awaiting this missive for a long time! Actually, I congratulate you not so much for the triumph that you have obtained over all the difficulties that have faced you in your entry into religion, but regarding your other successes, no less important, that your letter proves, and these are the dispositions that you have. How happy I am that the first difficulties have now been overcome, and that you are facing the others quite cheerfully! Yes, no doubt convent life is a little different from that of the world and the spirit of the one is quite opposed to that of the other! A similar difference with the customs! Certainly your father would shout out aloud for joy if he knew that his daughter was subjected to the little trials of the refectory and so many others... But in actual fact, is there anything so dreadful about it, even for your self-esteem? When you have once committed yourself bravely, then the die is cast. Then you always experience a certain advantage, although it costs less, because you never become quite as proud again as you were before you abased yourself. Certainly the holy founders of Orders thought out things well.

“You are afraid in advance, my dear child, of the communications which you are to make to your future Mistress of Novices. Believe me, sufficient to each day is the evil thereof. When the time comes to open your heart, you will ask for strength and courage for it, and God will grant it to you. He gives everything you require to fulfil the duties that He imposes. Do not alarm yourself in advance. Didn’t you also have to change directors when you were in the world?

“And then, my daughter, try to keep up a brave face before your father when he comes to see you! Show yourself firm and do not speak of these trifling little humiliations or privations which you have to suffer in the convent. It is not worthwhile. Certainly the people of the world have many other things to gossip about!

“So then, courage, courage! Let us not recoil before various trials and even certain sacrifices. God sees and counts up everything, so as to reward you for everything.

“Farewell, my dear child. I bless you with all my soul.”
“Manvuisse, C. SS. R.”

Thus encouraged, Sister Mary-Aloyse set herself bravely to the task. If her energetic soul was at its ease from the first moments when she was in the midst of her privations, she was no less so in declaring war against her natural inclinations. A tendency to worry stemming from a certain eagerness for perfection and sanctity, perhaps a slight tendency to sarcasm, a liveliness which stemmed from her energetic temperament and which never admitted half-measures, were, we believe, the object of her struggles. But she was not lacking in courage. Based on her humble defiance of her own self, it was to work miracles.

Moreover, in this respect she found a solid support in the person of Mother Mary-Philomena of the Divine Providence, her Mistress of Educands. This excellent religious, a model of affability and fervour, brought along in her footsteps all those of whom she had charge. What better way to make her known than by citing the letter addressed by her later on to one of her subordinates?

“Dear Sister M.., you have asked me for some lines of consolation. Here is my reply. Before all else, dear child, I wish you to have courage. Even before the invention of the railways, St. Teresa said that with courage we could go at a hundred miles per hour. So courage is therefore the electric telegraph of the spiritual life. And why go on foot or in a stage-coach, when there is the railway or the telegraph at your disposal? I see that you still retain a trace of your long-time infirmity Discouragement. The Prince of Darkness tries to profit from it. Send him packing. Besides, you should never be discouraged or surprised when you see you are still imperfect. We do not become saints in a day, and God is pleased to leave us a feeble and vulnerable side so that we may constantly be humble and feel the enormous need that we have of Him! In your temptations, never think of the temptation, but of Jesus Christ and Mary, and in general, when your spirit wishes to dream and reflect and examine things, keep your eyes fixed cheerfully on the adorable image of Jesus Christ who is in you, [7] and his holy Mother who is beside you. You will find in them what you should dream about for all eternity.”

As it turned out, the good Mother Mary-Philomena never allowed either the educands or the novices placed under her direction time to dream. She led them sweetly, but firmly to the practice of solid virtues. One of her former subjects depicts this wonderfully: “Always pleasant and smiling to everyone, you could not meet up with her (if you were feeling out of sorts) without seeing your pain vanish. When you looked at her, because of her amiability, everything disappeared and changed for the better, as if an angel had suddenly appeared and chased all the demons away. She made the souls of her children pass through the thorns of great trials, according to the special needs of each one of them. She sometimes said to me, right at the beginning, “Don’t be one of those religious who need to be handled with kid gloves.”

Sister Mary-Aloyse was never one of these last. Her ideal, when she entered the Order, had been to consecrate herself entirely to Jesus Christ through the immolation of her own will, tastes and inclinations. She pursued it unswervingly, in spite of temptations and dislikes of every sort. “My God,” she writes about this time, “I wish to repair the past. What You ask of me is more than recollection, modesty, maintaining my religion, saying less mundane things in recreation, less concern with my own well-being, more affability and evenness of temper towards my Sisters; no longer permitting myself to be sarcastic, and no longer seeking to draw attention to myself.” So much for the correction of her faults. Now let us hear what she says about her own personal sanctity. “Oh my God, let me hide myself in You. I wish to suffer and be despised for You. Oh Jesus. Beginning from today, let me be converted seriously. No more sins, my God, for I have already offended You too much. Mary, my Mother, help me to imitate St. Luis de Gonzaga. To inspire myself to observance, I often think that Jesus Christ wanted to suffer and be tormented for love of me. Come, my soul, courage! In a short time to come, we must merit heaven. Let us suffer cheerfully for God. A suffering discovered is one pearl less in your crown. Long live Jesus! I wish to suffer and overcome myself. The more pain, the more merit!”

The pious educande took the habit on 6th January 1845. She received the name of Sister Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Her companion, Miss Mary Peters of Boxmeer (Holland), received the name of Sister Mary Scholastica of the Precious Blood. Mons. Corselis, the Vicar-General, officiated, and Rev. Father Paul Reyners gave a short address. Her mother and sister attended the ceremony. Her father came on his own later to pay her a visit. On the advice of Father Dechamps, Sister Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary had written him a sort “of letter of honourable satisfaction to paternal authority.” As she wrote in it of her pious director, her father, who was a Christian but too exclusively human “had good reason to believe” in his opposition. And she added, “it is not the contradictions which come from naughty children which is a great cross, but those that come from good ones. It was certainly to give you an occasion to practise patience, resignation and fidelity that God permitted so good a Christian to adhere to so false a point of view.” But everything ended in peace. Mr. Fabri finally understood that he had no more to dispute with God over his child, and so she was able, with joy in her heart and in concert with Sister Mary-Scholastica, to make her religious profession on 23rd January 1846. It was Mons. Boussen, the Bishop of Bruges (Brugge), who conducted the ceremony and Mons. Jacquemotte who made the usual speech. He highlighted the advantages, the obligations, and the rewards of the new life to which the two novices had been forever consecrated.

Footnotes

[4] Canon Villain, from the Diocese of Tournai, entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on 18th July 1835. He died at Saint-Trond in an odour of sanctity on 30th January 1838. He took the name of Father Villani in memory of the famous Father of this name, who was one of St. Alphonsus’ first companions.
[5] Sister Mary-Aloyse, who died on 23rd December 1843.
[6] St. Alénie, martyr in the Forest of Brabant (7th Century). Her relics are in the main altar of the church of the Redemptorist Fathers at Liège. When these relics were moved into the Fathers’ church, Father Dechamps published a little brochure to make this Saint more widely known.
[7] Christum habere per fidem in cordibus vestris. - St. Paul (To have Christ through faith in your hearts.)

Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, O.SS.R. Superior of the Monastery of Bruges [2] (Brugge) 1822-1889

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Chapter I.

Miss Fabri in the world. - Her vocation at the Redemptoristine Institute (1822-1844)

The Reverend Mother Mary-Aloyse of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the world Miss Isabelle-Fulvie-Albertine Fabri, was born on 22nd October 1822 at Sény, a village situated in the county of Nandrin in Condroye, in the Province of Liège. Her father was Mr. Arsène-Henri-Joseph Fabri; her mother was Marie-Agnès-Joséphine de Longrée. They dwelt in the countryside for a great part of the year and spent the winter months at Liège. Until 1830, Mr. Fabri was a member of the States-General. Fulvie was the youngest of six children, four boys and two girls. She was the family favourite, and, as she said later on, even somewhat spoiled by her mother, who by nature was rather strict and severe. From her childhood, she was favoured by extraordinary graces, which through her humility however, she would never explain clearly. When little children came and asked her for alms, she would first make them recite the “Our Father”; but as she herself did not know it in Walloon, she would call the girl from the poultry yard and get her to tell her if they knew it properly. Her parents were very pious, but also very demanding in matters of religion. When their daughters had been to Mass, they had to spend the whole day in recollection and were not allowed to look at themselves in a mirror. Fulvie received her education in the paternal home and never left it before she entered religion. From the time they were first capable, she and her sister took care of the sacristy in the village church. Dressing the statue of the Virgin Most Holy, looking after the sacred ornaments, and tending the lamp of the Holy Sacrament were all her favourite occupations. On Sundays, she would go to the church at daybreak to take communion, would let herself be locked in to dialogue alone with her God, while the village priest would go off and celebrate holy Mass in the neighbouring hamlet. While she was still very young, she felt herself called to religious life. Her brother was preparing to join the Redemptorist Fathers, and had received the Life of St. Alphonsus as a gift from them. Fulvie found it, read it, and fixed her choice irrevocably. She would be a Redemptoristine, and go, if it was necessary to receive this happiness, even to Vienna, the cradle of the Order beyond the Alps. How great was her joy, then, when she learnt that Mother Mary-Alphonsus of the Will of God had come to found the convent of Bruges, aided in this great enterprise by the Most Reverend Father Passerat! Mr. Fabri, although a good and fervent Catholic, was strongly opposed to his daughter’s vocation. He was advanced in age, and Bruges was so far from Liège! How could he make such a long journey? On the other hand, Mons. Van Bommel had just founded the Daughters of the Cross at Liège. With Mr. Fabri’s permission, he did everything possible to persuade the pious young girl to enter this Order, which was devoted to teaching and works of mercy, “And one day”, he said, “you’ll be the Superior there.” Mother Mary-Aloyse said later on, “It was precisely this which prevented me from entering.” To test her vocation, her father, who greatly loved his social life and spent all his evenings playing cards when he was in town, required her to accompany him to his meetings. She went along to satisfy him, but did everything possible not to be pleasing to the world. In spite of her outgoing character she even went as far as maintaining an almost complete silence. Her confessor, the Rev. Father Manvuisse, required her to dress plainly. Her mother, however, soon realised this and would inspect her closely to make sure that everything was in order. But then, at the very moment she was to enter her carriage, the young girl, pretending that she had forgotten something, would go back up to her room and hurriedly pick up dark gloves, a linen kerchief, or something else of this kind. As for going to a ball, she never knew it. When Father Manvuisse left Liège, Miss Fulvie came under the direction of the Rev. Father Dechamps. This holy religious, later a Cardinal, helped her greatly to overcome the obstacles that the affections of her parents placed in he way. This can be seen from the following letters:

1843.

“My daughter in Jesus Christ, “Yes, come on Thursday or Friday. When you are sad and confused, you should open your heart and seek advice. While you are waiting, offer up your sorrows to Jesus Christ. It is the money marked with the sign of the cross. It is this which leads to heaven, and which alone pays for the great treasure that you desire. The most holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary is for you. Do not let yourself be worried. “If your dear father promises to say “Yes” after mother, it is because he counts, no doubt, on having his own way. However, speak about it to your dear mother. There is no reason to say nothing to her about it. I am not annoyed that your father wants to speak to me on his own. Then he will be even more convinced that I am speaking with full certainty. “As you already have a rule of life, I shall limit myself to giving you some advice. “You must make a particular examination of your confidence in God. Confidence in troubles, - confidence among temptations, - confidence in persistently finding obstacles to achieving your good desires. “Be keen to do the will of God in the multitude of little things and He will do your will. If He is slow to do it, it is so that it will be even more worthy of Him. “I promise you I will adhere closely to this divine will. So as to judge you properly, I have to come to know you not just exteriorly, but interiorly too. Those who do not know everything can give you advice in good faith which runs contrary to the internal attraction to which your reason and Faith are responding. But I have no fear in saying that, if they do not recognise a genuine vocation in your desire, motivated and sustained for more than four years for the Community which the spirit of St. Alphonsus inspires, then they are deceiving themselves. Your exterior dispositions accord well with this Institute. It is very fervent, - and God has given you an affection for its holy Founder and the grace to enjoy its spirit. - It is enough for me to tell you this in writing, so that you can show it to whoever is entitled to see it, in case of need. But you must overcome the obstacles with patience and meekness.” The second letter expresses the same thought more deeply, and replies to another objection.

1843.

“My daughter in Christ, “You should not be afraid of being examined by the Vicar-General [2] about the matter of your vocation. No doubt God permits that sometimes one person says one thing and another person another. But it is also important for us to discern His will and feel the interior action of His grace, when it is manifested by the way of obedience. We must never lose sight of the fact that a vocation is a matter of interior grace, and that this can only be discerned by those who know you profoundly. “I hope that the Vicar-General will share my opinion. We could say, I am sure, that Redemptorists would naturally be in favour of the convent of which St. Alphonsus is the Father. - But it would be a mistake to assume this. - As for those persons who turned to me on matters of vocation, I have sent only one on to Bruges, and many others elsewhere: to the Ladies of Christian Instruction, to the Sisters of Our Lady, to the Daughters of the Cross, to the Carmelites, the Poor Clares, the Daughters of St. Joseph, etc., and I have sent an even greater number back to their families. My colleagues have all done the same. “If I have told you that you would do best to go to Bruges, it is because your dispositions and the character of that Institute have convinced me. If you go there you will still have your pains and your crosses, but so does everyone else. What matters is how you bear your own cross. “In Jesus and Mary,

V. Dechamps, C. SS. R.”

Miss Fabri had revealed her temptations and apprehensions to her director. He wrote back to her:

23rd September 1843.

“Your last letter would have been very pleasing to God, because you say openly what is happening in your soul. Yes, it is always good to say it, even when it is past, and so much past that it would be hard to believe that you were ever disturbed by these sorts of fears or thoughts. Now that you have admitted it, may God give you His graces not to give in to all these apprehensions that have the power to crucify us. “You are not at the end of your troubles. “He who loves his father, mother, brothers and sisters more than Me is not worthy of Me.” But, my Saviour, surely You don’t ask everyone to make this sacrifice? - No, only those whom I love with a predilective love. Are you upset about being loved like this? This divine favour costs a great deal, so, as Madame Louise says, “Do not think about what it costs, but about what it is worth.” Then you will also have the inestimable happiness of no longer depending on your imagination and your own ideas, and you will always be able to say: “Now I only do what pleases Jesus Christ.” This is the freedom given to the children of God. “Fine sermons and fine services are good, especially for those who travel through the world dazzled by their own vanity, and who need to find God somewhere where their natural lives have not been absolutely crucified, but only directed towards a legitimate end. When you have left the world, you need this sort of help. And then God comes in solitude and silence. And when He hides Himself, you seek after Him, asking Him, “Even though You hide Your face from me until my death, I shall not leave You.” Life is short and is not intended for pleasure, but for trouble and work. “A little longer and You shall see Me”, says Our Lord. “Confidence and patience, patience and confidence, and a prayer for “Your most devoted servant in Jesus Christ,

“V. Dechamps.”

Another time he wrote to her, “You will be a nun for sure, unless God takes you for His great convent where He Himself vests you in glory. I criticise you only for your lack of abandonment, confidence and hope. When you are unable to meditate, pick up your rosary beads and say acts of hope like you say the “Hail Marys”: “My God, I hope for heaven and the way that brings me there, through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ and prayers of the Most Sacred Heart of Mary.” Hope, Hope, and the assurance of God’s protection. Do not believe your own dark thoughts. Our good God always loves you intensely. We must hold firm to what He has promised. “Please remember me to all your dear and worthy family.” Things turned out as Father Dechamps had predicted, but “the great war of the vocation”, as he called it, could not be avoided, and it was at the price of some fierce battles that Miss Fabri finally won her father’s half-consent. She was then 21 years old. On 1st January 1844, her eldest brother arrived unexpectedly in Liège to take her to Bruges. She had to make her preparations for her departure in some haste. That evening she went to kiss her brother, the lawyer, good-bye and the following morning at 6 o’clock she bid her parents a final farewell. On her way she paid a last visit to one of her maternal uncles, and towards evening she arrived at Bruges. Following the custom of those days, she made a visit to the Bishop of Bruges, Mons. Boussen, to present herself. He asked her if she had obtained the consent of her parents. “Half, Your Lordship” replied her brother. “Oh well,” said the Bishop, “when that’s all you can have, you have to be satisfied with it.” A short while later and Miss Fabri was knocking on the door of the Redemptoristine Monastery.

Footnotes

[2] This Monastery was founded in 1844. All the details of this foundation can be read in the book called: Une Rédemptoristine. - Mère Marie-Alphonse de la Volonté de Dieu, fondatrice des premiers monastères des Rédemptoristines en-deçà des Alpes. - Souvenirs publiés par le P. Nimal, rédemptoriste. (A Redemptoristine. - Mother Mary-Alphonsus of the Will of God, the foundress of the first Redemptoristine Monasteries beyond the Alps. - Memorials published by Father Nimal, Redemptorist. (1 vol., Liège, Dessain, Paris, Ve Magnin).
We cannot mention this venerable nun without paying tribute here to her blessed memory. It was her, in fact, as Cardinal Dechamps has said, whom God made use of to make the Redemptoristine Institute known beyond the Alps. She was born at Lorient in 1793, she moved to Vienna in 1820, and in 1830 went to St. Agatha of the Goths to find the Redemptoristine Rule. She received the habit of her Institute at Rome from the hands of Cardinal Odescalchi, built the Monastery of Vienna and founded the Monastery of Bruges in 1841. She died at Malines in an odour of sanctity on 29th March 1869. She was a faithful disciple of the Venerable Father Joseph Passerat, and communicated to her daughters the esteem which this great servant of God professed for St. Alphonsus’ wonderful books.
[3] Father Jacquemotte, the Vicar-General of Liège, and family friend.

Redemptoristine Profession Ceremony

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Redemptoristine Monastery of Grenoble

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Redemptoristine Clothing Ceremony

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Redemptoristine Bride of Christ

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Redemptoristine Monastery - Landser, France

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Sr Marie Madeleine of Jesus Host, O.SS.R. (1868-1933)

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Sr Marie Madeleine was born at Poperinghe, Flanders, on 2 June, 1868. She was baptised Helen Marie Cornelia Coevoet. Entering the Redemptoristine Order she received her religious name which may seem a little odd to English speaking readers, but the name "Jesus Host" is reasonably commonly given to French nuns in honour of the Eucharistic Jesus. She died piously at the Redemptoristine Convent of Bruges in the 33rd year of her monastic life on 11 March, 1933. †

(From Sister's mortuary card.)

The Servant of God Mother Marie Gabrielle of the Most Holy Trinity, O.SS.R. (1808-1868)

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Redemptoristine of the Monastery of Malines

Maria Victoria Eder was born on 22 December, 1808, in Vähring, near Vienna, Austria. While still young she had a pronounced, even though innocent taste for apparel. One day, her mother having refused to garland her hair with roses, she went off in a fit of tears. The Redemptorist St Clement Mary Hofbauer having heard about this said to her: “Come on, don’t cry any more my child, you will soon receive a crown of roses from me.” The next day she better understood the lesson when she received a rosary from the saint. And in fact from that time on she bade farewell to the vanities of the world and gave herself up to piety. On the advise of St Clement she accepted the position of lady-in-waiting to Princess Poniatowska, grand-daughter of King Stanislaus Poniatowski. After the death of St Clement she took the Venerable Fr Passerat, C.SS.R. as director of conscience.

Soon Maria Victoria was to enter the Redemptoristine Convent of Vienna. She was professed there on 17 May, 1835. Having made remarkable progress in sanctity she departed, with the Servant of God Mother Marie-Alphonse of the Will of God for Belgium where she participated in the foundations at Bruges, Brussels and Malines. It was in this last foundation that Mother Marie Gabrielle died a death precious in the sight of the Lord on 1 February, 1868. She announced her own death – appearing miraculously at the same moment in several distant places. †

(From Memorial Alphonsien.)

The Servant of God Mother Maria-Anna-Josepha of the Resurrection, O.SS.R. (1772 - 1841)

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Born at Gretz in Styria on 22 January, 1772, the Servant of God, daughter of Count Godefroy Suardi, was named Antonia. Her father, after having occupied an important charge in Styria, was created Chamberlain to the Austrian Emperor. She received an accomplished education at the hands of the Visitandine nuns - having the perfect possession of five languages and the added achievement of a piano virtuoso. She married the very honorable Count Joseph Welsenheimb and was widowed in 1811. Thereafter she gave herself to works of piety.

She met in Austria, Eugenie Gauvenet, the future Mother Marie Alphonse of the Will of God, penitent of Ven. Fr. Passerat, and joined her in the projected Redemptoristine Foundation. In order, like Mother Marie Alphonse, to drink of the spirit of the institute at its source, the two were sent by Fr Passerat to the Redemptenstine Convent at St-Agatha-of-the-Goths in Italy to make their novitiate. After having received the religious habit at Rome and having venerated the Sanctuary of Loretto, they returned to Vienna.

They made their perpetual vows and set about the foundation of the Redemptoristines over the Alps. Later Mother Maria-Anna-Josepha had the joy of welcoming the youngest of her 8 children within the walls of her monastery in Vienna. She fell asleep peacefully in the Lord on 25 February, 1841. †

(Translated from "Memorial Alphonsien" and typed with thanks to Mrs Trisha Jones.)

Mother Marie-Alphonse of the Most Blessed Sacrament, O.SS.R. (1913)

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Who died in the odour of sanctity at the Monastery of St Alphonsus in Malines (Flanders) on 12 December, 1913.

Prevented from her most tender youth by choice graces, the venerated Mother Marie-Alphonse radiated above all her great purity and simplicity which became in her the principal of the admirable gift of piety which is to be found throughout her life. God, the Church, her Order, souls, were there unchanging objects of her love. As superior for 25 years she edified all by her perfect regularity, her maternal devotion and her angelic recollection. As spouse of the Divine Redeemer, called like Him to ascend the steep heights of Calvary, God wished to mark her with the Royal Seal of the Cross. She passed the last 12 years of her life upon a bed of sickness. Always smiling, she put up with her cruel sufferings with an heroic patience, until the day when, attaining her Divine Ideal, she expired – a veritable holocaust, consumed in the furnace of pain, in order to go, we are confident, to enjoy her Eternity for unending ages.†

(From Mother’s mortuary card.)

The Servant of God Mother Marie Celeste of the Will of God, O.SS.R. (1875-1922)

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We here present a longer and more substantial life of this holy Redemptoristine Nun.

Chapter I
Birth, Girlhood and Vocation

In one short sentence Our Lord summed up for us the whole scope and meaning of his life on earth: "I am come to do the will of him who sent me."

In these few words He has traced for us the most complete and most accurate portrait of each and all of the saints, whether they be the martyrs of the early Church watering the earth with their blood that the seed of the Word of God might spring up amid the ruins of a decayed civilisation; or the wonder-workers of the Middle Ages, raising their voices above the clash and din of warfare, and startling men by the very force of their miraculous powers; or the gentler race of men, such as St Francis de Sales or St Alphonsus Liguori, combating error by the milder weapons of their pens and persuasive eloquence, none has ever done other than the will of Him who sent them. But times change, and in each varying scene of the world, sanctity, like everything else, has donned a different outward garb.

When the great French Revolution swept away nearly all the old landmarks, the generation of saints who arose, seemingly from the very force of that mighty social earthquake, differed widely from the saints of old, not, indeed, in their essential holiness, but in its outward expression and the setting amidst which their sanctity was worked out.

They were no longer men set apart from their fellows, marked by unmistakable signs and tokens; they lay, as it were, hidden, the leaven leavening the mass. In most cases it was death alone that drew back the curtain that hid their virtues from an indifferent or scoffing world. To few was it given to attain a world-wide reputation like the Curé d Ars; but who shall count the number of hidden lives, already crowned by the Church, or about to be so honoured?

Such was the life of Sister Marie Celeste of the Will of God, whose years on earth were passed in the seclusion of her own home, or the still more restricted solitude of the cloister. But the fact that since her death God seems to be making known His Will, by evident signs, that he wishes her to emerge from her hiddenness, has made it appear desirable that the doors of the cloister that sheltered her should be opened, and that the varying scenes of her life therein should be shown as an encouragement to those, both within and without the walls of the convent, who have to live an ordinary life amidst more than ordinary trials and contradictions.

Most lives of cloistered nuns seem of little if any help to others, for the grille is kept hermetically sealed after as before their death, and a very distorted picture of the soul's pilgrimage is all that is given, from the very fact that it is merely a series of vignettes on a colourless background, with no discernible surroundings. For this reason we have determined to take our readers in spirit behind the grilles, and to show them Sister Marie Celeste as she lived and moved amongst her Sisters, and the scenes amidst which she worked out her salvation, and, incidentally, her sanctification. There may be shadows as well as sunshine; there are both in every true picture. Only in heaven shall we have the true land where it is always afternoon.

In the Gospels themselves we have side by side the portrait of the wholly perfect Man-God, and the first apostate priest, his own friend. The visible presence of the Light of the world did not produce a shadowless picture. The cockle is to be allowed to grow with the wheat. Why should we pretend that there is no such thing as a weed? No matter how deep the shadows in any living picture, even before the end, the sunshine will creep in and absorb the darkness. Half-truths are nowhere so unconvincing as in a biography, and any attempt to paint a picture of even a short life, leaving out the shadow of the Cross, will surely be a failure.

Sister Marie Celeste, Marie-Jeanne van Eeckhoudt, was born on August 7, 1875, at Brussels, and found an elder sister Mathilde and an elder brother Jules waiting to receive her in the old house in the Rue Haute, where her parents had a large stationery business.

John Baptist van Eeckhoudt and his wife Catherine Kebers belonged to old and highly respected bourgeois families. Two of little Marie's maternal uncles were distinguished public servants; one was a well-known lawyer, and the other the director of customs, and during the world-war did good service for his country as Director-General of Finance. Several of her cousins have risen high in the professions of engineering and medicine. But above and beyond all worldly honour and advancement, Monsieur and Madame Eeckhoudt prized their century-old devotion and service to the Church, and their one desire was to see their children carrying on the same honourable traditions. In the bringing up of their young family Catherine seems to have stressed the sterner views of life, while we find the good-natured John Baptist, sometimes even surreptitiously, providing games and innocent amusements for the little ones, whose daily round included not a few pious exercises.

In his youth M. Van Eeckhoudt had dreamed dreams, which he confided to the good Curé, whose delight he was by the piety and the devotion with which he served at the altar, and between them they succeeded in getting permission for little John to begin studying art in the studio of a well-known painter. But alas! The death, within a short time of each other, of his protector and the artist shattered his dreams, and he was obliged to return to his father's house, and to take his place in the business which was to be his inheritance; but he never lost the debonair manner which he had acquired by his short-lived experience of a mild Bohemia.

Later on he loved to take his children out on Sundays or holidays, and to show them the many beautiful objects of art in Brussels, and to teach them how to know and love everything beautiful. To Mathilde and Jules all this was sheer joy, but little Marie did not share her father's tastes, and said frankly more than once, "Thank you, papa; I like much better staying with mamma."

The children might well have been spoiled if the calm, stolid figure of Madame had not been there to counteract any such tendency on the part of her husband. Not that she was a hard woman, far from it, but she did not know such a word as disobedience, and to her duty summed up each hour of the day. What she lacked in imagination and intellectual gifts she made up for in sound common sense.

We have only to look at the photograph of little Marie, aged eight, or, again, as we see her at twelve years old, to be able to analyse her mother's character to a nicety. Strong, sensible stuff clothes, made without a frill or furbelow; thick woolen stockings, and uncompromisingly solid lace boots; the hair drawn straight back from a wonderfully beautiful forehead - all proclaim the sensible, hard-working mother, who loved her children most sincerely, but had no time to spend on trimmings.

She was a woman of very deep feelings, and the love of her life was her little Marie; but she did not spoil her, and expected her to obey without demur, and when the little girl, as not infrequently happened, we are told, was inclined to sulk, her mother's surprised tone as she said, "Well, Marie, are you going to sulk over such a trifle?" soon brought the smiles back, and sunshine once more reigned.

Perhaps the person who brought most joy into the lives of the children at this time was the old grandmother, Madame Kebers; and it gives a very charming touch to the family picture to be told by Mathilde that Grandmamma always understood that Jules wanted plenty of space to kick his feet about in, even in the parlour, and would never allow him to be suppressed.

Madame van Eeckhoudt was, however, a little jealous of the children's love for the old lady, and if the visits were prolonged too much she sent to call them home, especially the little Marie, whom she could not bear out of her sight.

If their mother was somewhat austere in her views concerning their bringing up, she was the first to give the children the example of what she taught. Long before anyone else in the house was astir she was on her way to daily Mass, and only on her return did she wake her little ones, and hear them say their prayers.

The prayers were evidently said opposite a statue or picture of the Child Jesus crowned with flowers; for one of the three tells us that the first prayer they learned, and which have ever since recited, was, "Little Jesus, crowned with flowers, come into my heart and stay there."

Little Marie seems to have profited well by her mother's example and teaching. We are told that very early she began to make great efforts to overcome her naturally impetuous and quick temper, so that the outbursts became less frequent, and never degenerated into real quarrels with her sister and brother, who both loved her very much, and very soon began to give way before her more virile and decided character. It says much for the amiability of her nature that neither of them showed the least jealousy of the decided partiality shown by their mother for her.

Madame van Eeckhoudt early accustomed her children to take their part in all household duties, and encouraged them to make clothes for the poor and themselves, and even sent them occasionally to serve in the shop, in order to teach them good manners and politeness in dealing with others. But she did not encourage them to make friends outside their own family circle, and they visited no houses except those of their relations. Marie and her sister were sent to the excellent school kept by the Sisters of Charity, in the Rue de Poincon, and, in 1892, Marie passed with honours the Government examination in music, domestic economy, and free-hand drawing. Music was always her favourite study, and it was the delight of her father and old grandmother to hear her play or sing, for she had a really beautiful voice.

Study had never any attractions for her, and she often expressed her astonishment at the interest her sister found in books of travel, and, indeed, in all kinds of reading. She never had more than one prayer book, so that already, as a child, she was evidently drawn to the more contemplative way of prayer. She seems always to have been silent and reserved, somewhat of a dreamer we are told, but very amiable and thoughtful for others. The home in the Rue Haute seems to have been a very happy one, and though to modern children it would have been singularly devoid of amusements, perhaps the little van Eeckhoudts enjoyed the yearly treat of the Akermesse, or fair of Brussels all the more from its being such a rarity. Marie took her full share of riding on the roundabouts, and of the various other amusements.

So her happy childhood wore on, and her tenth year dawned, which was to bring with it one of the most important days of her life, her first Communion. Sister Mary Edward, the Mistress of School, set herself to prepare her dear "Mariekin" for this great event. Marie, on her side, redoubled her fervour by placing herself more particularly than ever under the protection of her heavenly Mother and her chosen protector, St Joseph.

With her admission into the class of first communicants, Marie set herself more earnestly than ever to correct her faults, especially her quick temper and her wilfulness, which it had always been the aim of her mother to overcome. When she was still a little child, her brother and sister experienced what one of them expressed naively: "When Marie says 'I will,' the thing must be done." Now, however, we find the little girl gaining more and more the mastery over herself, and winning the love and esteem both of her mistresses and her companions, so that she left a lasting impression on them of a singularly lovable and amiable character, always ready to give in to others and to help them in every way.

According to the prevailing custom in Belgium, Marie made her first Communion on Passion Sunday, April 11, 1886, in her parish church of Notre Dame de la Chapelle. Few details remain to us about this day, of which Marie later on said, "Oh! That was indeed a day of heaven for me."

One of the curates of the church, a very holy priest, said to Madame van Eeckhoudt: "Madame, your little Marie is a saint. When I saw her coming back from the Holy Table I could not take my eyes off her, for I have never seen such an expression on the face of a child. It was that of an angel adoring the Divine Majesty." It was perhaps at that moment that the little girl was listening to the call to follow the Lamb, which, we know from her own lips, resounded in her heart that day for the first time.

In spite of her great piety and eagerness in the performance of her religious exercises, Marie was not at all a goody-goody child. She loved games, and was the first at recreation to take the lead in any amusement, and entered into the spirit of them with her whole heart. What did astonish her companions was that she, who was the life and soul of the game, should on a sudden, at the first stroke of the bell, lay aside the ball, or other plaything, and become at once the staid little girl, whose one preoccupation in life seemed to be the stocking she was mending, or the exercise that had to be carefully written. Marie was already following in her mother's footsteps and learning to place duty before everything else. Even so early she had acquired the habit of knowing no hesitation when the call of obedience summoned her.

A short time after Marie's first Communion the happy home in the Rue Haute was visited by much trouble and anxiety. The business was rapidly declining, and in order to keep pace with the times a whole new plant would have to be introduced, an expense which the worthy proprietors could not face. There seemed nothing to be done but to give up the whole concern, and try and regain part of their losses in a much humbler way of business. It was with bitter sorrow that the poor mother faced the prospect of selling the home, in which all her married life had been spent, and where her dearly loved children had come to add fresh joy to her life. She shared her sorrow with her eldest daughter, Mathilde, then little more than a child herself, and together they wept and prayed. "Let us pray harder, mother," the girl said after one particularly trying day; "and we will get Marie to pray with us." Madame was almost beside herself at the thought that, young as they were, she might be forced to send her children out to earn their own livelihood, but at the mention of her dearly loved Marie her courage returned. She answered quickly, "No, no; say not a word to her; I forbid you; let her remain happy." All her mother's heart went out to shield the baby from too early a sorrow.

Happily, prayer succeeded when all human efforts had failed; an unexpected turn in the tide of fortune put the business again on its feet, and the happy life continued as before. Marie became more and more the sunbeam in the old house, and each day Madame van Eeckhoudt depended more and more on her, especially when, at the age of seventeen, she left the school, and took her place as her mother's right hand in all household affairs. For this she was well qualified, for she had gained her diploma, with honours, for domestic economy. It was in the year 1892 that Marie came home for good. Her mother's health was beginning to fail; doubtless she herself felt already the first beginnings of the fatal malady that was so soon to carry her off. Marie was all in all to her, but even she could not stay the progress of the dreadful cancer, and, in 1894, Madame van Eeckhoudt died after a painful operation, from which she never recovered.

Of a less virile and more emotional temperament than his wife, Monsieur van Eeckhoudt sank under the sorrow that made his house desolate, despite the love and affection of his children, whom he adored. He never seems to have recovered sufficient strength or courage to apply himself seriously to business again, and the home was more or less broken up. Jules entered another firm, and Marie went to live with her grandmother, Madame Kebers, and her two aunts who had a flourishing drapery house at the other side of Brussels.

Foreseeing her own death, and knowing what would then happen, Madame van Eeckhoudt had already sent Marie to learn business with these good ladies. She had acquired great proficiency in book-keeping and the management of affairs, but she came home every evening, and one of the few joys remaining to her relations was her music. As soon as the evening meal was finished, Marie seated herself at the piano, and the sound of her lovely voice, for some few hours at least, drove sorrow away from those she loved. At her mother's death, however, Marie went to live entirely at her grandmother's, only returning on Sundays to spend the day with her father and Mathilde.

To her aunts this arrangement was a sheer joy; their niece had become almost indispensable to them, and they welcomed her most cordially, as did her grandmother, whose favourite she had always been. To the young girl herself, however, it was a sad life; she felt keenly her mother's death and the separation from her father, feeling his sacrifice almost more than that entailed on herself. Above all, she missed the old quiet home life, where she had been accustomed to so much liberty for the performance of her religious duties, and where she was able to indulge her love of solitude and silence.

Now, of necessity, she was from morning till night in the shop, where her winning manners and bright happy smile attracted many customers, and the business increased wonderfully. The very way she bowed to acquaintances in the street made them eager to see her again, and many came to buy who were drawn there by the charm of the niece rather than by the goods of the aunts.

In order to secure her daily Mass and Communion, Marie had to rise very early, and a friend of those days tells us how each morning, sometimes even before daylight in winter, she used to see the young girl hurrying along to the Church of the Madeleine, either alone or accompanied by a servant with whom she had already been to the market for the household provisions. It was at the Madeleine that Marie first became acquainted with the Redemptorist Fathers, one of whom especially was to have so much influence on her and her future life.

Old Madame Kebers was nearly at the end of her long life, and Marie devoted herself particularly to cheering the lonely hours of the old lady and to mending her gloves, for it had become a joke in the family how she was continually wearing out her gloves. One day Marie said to her laughingly, "Grandmother, I know how you wear out so many gloves; it is because you are saying your rosary from morning till night, in the streets as well as the long time you stay in church." The grandmother flushed very red, saying, "Well, say nothing to the others; I will go on saying the Aves and pray for you, and do you go on stopping the holes."

To her grandmother also Marie's music was a great solace, as it was to an old aunt, a sister of Monsieur van Eeckhoudt's, whom she often visited. Though not really old, this aunt was quite blind, and her life was very desolate; the visits of her niece became her one joy, and she seemed to spend her whole time listening for Marie's step upon the stair.

In 1900 the second big sorrow of her life came to Marie; her father died. Though perhaps the void made by his loss was not so great as that when her mother was taken from her, yet she felt the loss keenly, and, as in the former case, her grief was all the more profound that it was the more undemonstrative.

Her sister tells us that up till now Marie had said little or nothing about her religious vocation, knowing how much pain her decision would cause her parents. On her declaring her intention at the time of her mother's death, her aunts had vigorously combated the suggestion and she had much to suffer in consequence.

Still more alone when the house in the Rue Haute was finally given up, she again made known her intention, and her resolution was backed by the authority of her director, Father Strybol, C.SS.R., who stood high in the opinion of all Brussels for his sanctity and rectitude of judgement. All was to no purpose, and Marie had still many a bad quarter of an hour to pass through before she could spread her wings and fly away to the desert.

In 1899 Mathilde van Eeckhoudt married, and not long after her brother-in-law wished to make the ties between the two families still stronger by himself marrying Marie, and for this purpose he sought the mediation of her sister; but more forcibly than ever she declared her intention of never having any other spouse than a Heavenly one. She waited and prayed, and showed her aunts more deference and amiability than ever, and at last even they became convinced that it was useless any longer to thwart her desires. Yet it was not without much pain and many regrets that they at last gave way before the persuasion of Marie's director, and gave their consent to the niece's entering a convent.

Unknown to them, she had already four years previously paid a hurried visit to the home of her choice; this was the convent of the Redemptoristines at Malines. A friend of Marie's tells us that she had for some years marked her separation from the world by dressing herself like a servant. This can have been no small mortification for a young, sensitive girl in a stylish capital like Brussels.

At last, on February 18, 1900, Marie, accompanied by her Aunt Bertha, set out for the promised land, where two other young ladies were to join her and together start on the road of religious life. So great was the young girl's joy at arriving at her destination that her aunt was quite overcome at the thought of how by every means, gentle and otherwise, they had tried to hinder the achievement of this object. "Oh, Marie!" she exclaimed, "we did behave badly; if I had to live this time again I would behave very differently."

Marie always entertained great affection for her aunts, especially Mlle. Bertha, and never, even to the one who was the confidante of her most intimate thoughts, did she ever complain or cast any reflection on the two ladies. †

The Servant of God Mother Maria Rafaela of Charity, O.SS.R. (1699-1778)

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First Superior of the Redemptoristines of
St-Agatha-of-the-Goths.

Born at Naples on 5 March, 1699, of a very honourable family, Matilda de Vito entered the monastery of Scala at the age of 20 upon the advise of Fr Thomas Falcoia of the Pious Workers. She spent nearly half a century there and was elected superior several times.

While she is not the founder of her Order, she became one of its principal supports. The Convent of St-Agatha-of-the-Goths to which she was called by St Alphonsus, who was then Ordinary of the place, and from which other Redemptoristine Convents would come forth, owes to her alongside its existence, the traditions of fervor which it perpetuates.

When the buildings of Scala where falling into ruin, it was Mother Maria Rafaela who raised a new monastery. The spiritual edifice demanded of her no less care and ability. The virtuous nun contributed a great deal, on her part, to its establishment. Mother Maria Rafaela was a witness of the anguish and conflicts of Venerable Mother Maria Celeste Crostarosa, shared her pain and her “enuis” and was herself favoured with Heavenly gifts. Her strong mind and perfect docility preserved her from all “ecart” on this difficult road.

St Alphonsus gave witness later, in a most surprising manner, to the esteem in which he held her. She put all her care into guiding her spiritual daughters on the road of perfection by imitating the virtues and examples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She possessed the gift of prayer in a very high degree. One of the principal cares of the Servant of God was to work for the salvation of sinners. She died at the age of 79 having spent 58 years in religion.

On the occasion of her death, St Alphonsus, then Bishop of St-Agatha-of-the-Goths, in order to affirm the lessons which the holy nun had given to her daughters throughout her long career, left to them, among other advices, this which reveals her great apostolic soul:
..... “I instruct you most especially to pray for sinners and above all for the infidels and others who live separated from the Church. The nun who does not pray for sinners proves thereby the little love she bears to Jesus Christ; those who love the Sweet Saviour wish to see Him loved by all the world. I recommend to you, therefore, sinners and the souls in Purgatory.”

Qui converti fecerit peccatorem…salvabit animam ejus. [St James V,20] †

(After the Memorial Alphonsien.)

The Servant of God Mother Marie Celeste of the Will of God, O.SS.R. (1875-1922)

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Sister Marie Celeste, Marie Jeanne van Eeckhoudt, who was born on August 7th, 1875, at Brussels, was the youngest child of John Baptist van Eeckhoudt and Katherine Kebers—both belonging to old and highly respected bourgeois families who had rendered public and important services to their country.

Mathilde and Jules welcomed their little sister to the old house in the Rue Haute and there they passed a very happy, if, to modern ideas, a somewhat dull childhood. To Madame van Eeckhoudt life was but a round of duties to be faithfully accomplished, but Jean Baptist, who had aspired in early youth to make art his profession, was more genial and pleasure-loving, and nothing gave him more joy than to provide little amusements for his children.

Marie was the delight of her mother’s heart but she was not on that account spoilt, and an incesant war was waged by the good woman against the fits of temper or sulks in which the little girl cometimes indulged, in spite of her otherwise gentle and winsome nature which made her the sunbeam of the old house, and cherished by all who came in contact with her.

The maternal grandmother was, perhaps, the person who brought most joy into the children’s life and, being quite unlike her daughter, understood their childish ways and needs—for instance, that Jules must be allowed “plenty of space to kick his feet about, even in the parlour.”

Marie profited well by her mother’s advice and example, and very early began to make real efforts to overcome her impetuosity and over-sensitiveness, and it says much for her amiability and sweetness of character that her brother and sister loved her devotedly and showed no jealousy of the partiality shown by their mother. Indeed, from the first they were slaves to the little Marie, whose word was law. As her sister remarked naively, “When Marie says ‘I will’ the thing has to be done.”

One of the great factors in the successful training of her children was that Madame van Eeckhoudt asked nothing of them that she did not do herself. Long before others were up in the morning she was on her way to an early Mass, and only on her return did she wake her little ones and bid them go and make the offering of their day during the great Sacrifice. She taught them also her own love of prayer, and to this day the elder sister tells us that she still repeats the first prayer they learned kneeling before the statue or picture of the Child Jesus—“Little Jesus, crowned with flowers, come into my heart and stay there.”

The year before Marie’s First Communion she went to the Convent kept by the Sisters of Charity in the Rue de Ponigon. Here she won the esteem and affection of mistresses and companions alike, who all noticed the remarkable sense of duty already developed in her. The first and most ardent in the games at recreation, the moment the bell rang Marie left all to take up whatever duty was assigned to her, and to mend a stocking or learn a task seemed to be the absorbing interest. Study never had any attraction for her, but she passed with honours the examinations for domestic economy and freehand drawing. Music was her one passion and she possessed a really beautiful voice.

We have no details of her First Communion which she made, according to the Belgian custom, in her parish church of Notre Dame de la Chapelle on Passion Sunday, April 11th, 1886. Later on she used to say “O that was indeed a day of heaven for me.” One of the priests of the parish said to her mother, “Your little Marie is a saint. When I saw her coming back from the Holy Table I could not take my eyes off her, for I have never seen such an expression on the face of a child. It was that of an angel adoring the Divine Majesty.” It was, perhaps, at that moment that Our Lord was calling His little child to follow Him more closely.

Financial worries brought much more anxiety and sorrow to the household in Marie’s twelfth year, but prayer overcame the difficulties and once more joy reigned there till, in 1894, Madame van Eeckhoudt died after a painful operation for cancer. Her husband sank under the sorrow that made his house desolate and the home was broken up. Jules entered another firm, Marie went to learn business with two of her aunts who had a flourishing drapery business, while Mathilde stayed to help her father, who, however, never recovered the shock of his great loss and died in 1899. Mathilde married, and Marie now declared her resolve to be a nun.

She experienced much opposition from her aunts who had come to lean almost entirely on her in their business. After much suffering, prayer triumphed and Marie entered the home of her choice—the Convent of the Redemptoristines at Malines. Her director had been a Redemptorist, famous for his holiness and judicious direction; this, and the report of the sanctity of more than one of the sisters at Malines induced Marie to decide on her entrance there. She had already cut herself adrift from the world by her manner of dressing and life of retirement, and on February 18th, 1900, she bade it a final farewell.

The Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, of which Marie desired to become a member, was founded at Scala in the Kingdom of Naples in 1731. A number of young ladies had assembled there in hopes of reviving within the walls of a once fervent and flourishing monastery the religious life which had become extinct. Among their number was the Vereable Maria Celeste Crostorosa to whom Our Lord revealed the rules of the new Order which He wished established there, and also the fact that a young Neopolitan priest, Don Alfonso Maria de Liguori, was to be the founder, not only of the order of nuns, but of a congregation of Missionary Priests, now known the world over as the Redemptorists, esteemed for their zeal for souls and their fervour as religious. The convents of Scala, and that founded at St. Agatha of the Goths by St. Alphonsus when he was named Bishop of that see, languished for nearly a century, continually harassed by the regalist Government and at times threatened with total extinction.

But God was watching over them and in 1830 a call came from far-off Vienna for a foundation of the Sisters. St. Clement Hofbauer, C.SS.R., had been succeeded as Superior by the Venerable Joseph Passerat, and he it was who brought about the foundation. From Vienna new foundations were made in Austria, and later on the Order spread to Belgium, France, Holland, Spain, England, Ireland and North and South America. Foundations continue to be made and there are now 25 houses of the Order and close on 1,000 nuns.

The Rule, though strict, does not make impossible demands on the modern constitutions. The religious rise at 4 or 4.30, according to the season, and the climates in which they live. Matins and Lauds, followed by Meditation, Prime, Terce and Mass, fill the time before breakfast. Then follow the little Hours of the Divine Office, manual work, the Examen and a short spell of free time before the bell summons the nuns to their early dinner, after which they enjoy an hour’s recreation. Three hours’ strict silence is prescribed from 12.30 till after Vespers in memory of Our Lord’s agony on the Cross. This time is divided between work, spiritual reading and the second half-hour’s Meditation appointed for each day. Work in the cells, Benediction, Compline, the third half-hour’s meditation and half an hour’s free time come before Supper, after which there is another recreation. Night prayers bring to an end a well-filled day and all retire to rest at 9 o’clock. The Postulancy lasts one year for both Choir and Lay Sisters, and the Novitiate one year for Choir and two years for the Lay Sisters, the perpetual vows being made by both three years after the temporary profession.

Marie found life in the Convent far more soul-satisfying than she had ever dreamed of, and she told her director that on this side she had no difficulties, but exteriorly many things were very hard for her. Obedience did not come easily to one accustomed to decide everything for herself, and to be taught the convent ways of sweeping, dusting, etc., must have been a sore trial to an accomplished housewife. She who had been looked up to and consulted by all whom she loved, now found herself among total strangers, and one of a band of novices all much younger than herself. Twenty-six seemed a venerable age to some of them, who could not resist teazing the “Angel of the Novitiate,” as they called her, about her old-maidish ways. She had much real suffering also to endure from the jealousy of one companion, who later on had to leave the convent on account of mental trouble.

In spite of all drawbacks, however, Marie was really loved by her fellow-novices, and one and all agreed that her virtue was very real and above the ordinary.

A companion who knew her well tells us that they sometimes tested the genuineness of her holiness in somewhat drastic fashion. She recalls an occasion when on seeing Marie hurrying in order to be in time for recreation, and knowing her horror of unpunctuality, she got in front of her and on each step of the stairs paused to say, “Jesus meek an humble of heart make my heart like unto Thine.” The prayer was evidently successful as far as Marie was concerned, for when they arrived at the top “she said nothing and was only a little red.” Sometime, however, the old imperious manner would assert itself, and then no one deplored the sally more than the novice herself, whose almost excessive humility was not a little trying to others, especially to the object of the outburst. In fact they begged of the Novice Mistress to tell Sister Marie Celeste to apologize once for her fault and then to have done with it.

On February 12th, 1901, Marie was clothed in the red and blue habit, and on April 23rd, 1902, made her Profession, and a year later joined the Community. Her fervour, far from diminishing, seemed to increase each day, and with it her love of humiliation which God saw fit to indulge to the full. Without any fault on her part, Sister Marie Celeste fell under the displeasure of her Superior and sisters, and for some years lived a very hidden and retired life, having no important charge in the Community though well fitted to be entrusted with them.

She had chosen for her name Sister Marie Celeste of the Will of God, and to that alone she looked. Sorrow or joy, digrace or applause, were one to her so long as they were hall-marked with the seal of the Divine Will. During these years God was preparing His servant for the work He meant to entrust to her. They were her Nazareth where she learned submission and meekness in order that she might be fitted to govern others.

In one of her notebooks she has left us a sketch of what her life’s programme was during this time. “I wish to be a Redemptoristine all for God, even to the sacrifice of my blood, my comfort, my health, my judgment, my will, my affections, my self-love. I wish to belong entirely to the Order, my Mother, by my love and devotedness for her welfare and her glory; by my submission to my superiors and my love for my sisters; by my ardent zeal for souls, especially the most abandoned. What matter how great the sacrifices I shall have to make to attain this end?
I am here to do Thy Will, my God, dispose of me as You will.
I am here to work—strengthen me.
I am here to suffer—console me. Fiat.
Yes, O my God—Fiat to everything that I shall receive.
Fiat to everything I shall suffer.
Fiat to everything that I dread.”
Again we find these words: “You will become a great saint if you hold to nothing, if you love abandonment, if you suffer in silence, if you accept all that God sends you, if you desire nothing but the Will of God.”

Those who lived with her bear witness to the fidelity with which she carried out this rule of life, and when the instrument had been perfected by the refining fire of suffering and trial for the work it was to do, the Divine Will was made manifest.

The voice of God came to her in a call for voluneteers willing to devote themselves to the building-up of the Monastery at Scala in Italy, the cradle of the Order. The venerable old building was not inhabited by but three or four sisters, the remnants of a former generation, as for many years, the Government, besides seizing all their property, had forbidden the entrance of novices, thus dooming religious orders to gradual extinction. The house itself had been bought by the Redemptorist Fathers of the Bavarian province and they were able to admit Belgians to the Community.

Father Strybol, C.SS.R., was entrusted with the work of obtaining funds and sisters to form the new Community, and knowing the holiness and capabilty of his former penitent, asked the Holy See to nominate her Superior, in spite of her being below the canonical age for that office. In October, 1910, Sister Marie Celeste and four companions from the houses of Malines and Louvain started on their journey southwards.

In Rome they were most graciously received by the Holy Father Pius X, who laughingly exclaimed on seeing the red habits, “How is this, my Sister? The good St. Alphonsus has, I see, created you all Cardinals!” On dismissing them he said, “You are about to undertake a great work, and you will only succeed if you fill youselves more and more with the spirit of St. Alphonsus. Go forward with the resolution of making holy observance flourish in your monastery, and prepare yourselves with courage for the sacrifices that all great works demand.” A further consolation awaited the travellers in the permission to visit Pagani, where their holy Founder had lived and died, and where they were privileged to enter the enclosure of the Monastery and pray in his former cell.

An enthusiastic welcome, including the ringing of bells, bands and throwing of flowers, etc., in true Italian style, awaited the Belgian sisters, who were escorted into the church by all the dignitaries of the town, and the Te Deum was intoned. After various complimentary addresses the sisters were at last allowed to enter their enclosure, and their new life at Scala had begun.

The many trials inseparable from a new foundation awaited the new-comers, poverty, discomfort, and a hundred and one small trials were added to the more real and painful ones caused by the peculiar circumstances under which they came to Scala. Differences of character, language and customs made the task of grafting the strict Belgian observance of rule on the happy-go-lucky ways that had of necessity prevailed at the old Monastery an almost superhuman task, and Sister Marie Celeste needed a more than ordinary virtue and courage to carry through the work. Trials of all sorts met her at every turn, both from within the Community and from without, but in spite of it all we constantly find in her letters the words “I am very happy here” and “I think it is our great poverty that makes us so happy.”

Less than a year after their arrival in Italy, Cardinal van Rossum, C.SS.R., Protector of the Order, was able to write: “With the assistance, often clearly manifested, of the good God, everything has been smoothed out. The Community is now fairly settled and in excellent order. Regular observance is in full vigour, and not once has the Divine Office been interrupted. Charity and union reign in the Convent, where we find only peace and the love of God, of the religious life and perfection; happiness, contentment and spiritual joy are met on all sides and cause the poverty, the sacrifices great and small, which present themselves at every moment, to be supported with great generosity.”

In 1913 Sister Marie Celeste was re-elected as Superior for another three years, at the end of which, according to Canon law, she laid down the burden of her charge and returned to the Community as a simple subject. The three years that followed were marked by many and great trials, coming, as they did, from those of her “own household.” But they were years precious beyond all others in so much as they raised her to an heroic degree of virtue and perfection.

In 1919 Mother Mary Philomena was elected Superior. It was she who was destined by God to be the comfort and solace of Sister Marie Celeste during the last years on earth, and to work for her glorification after death.

Ere this date the terrible malady that was to prove fatal to her had declared itself, but the heroic sister kept it a secret till a few days after the elections, when the cancer became an open wound and she was obliged to declare her state.
Twice Sister Marie Celeste was obliged to leave her beloved enclosure to undergo painful operations, both of which she insisted on bearing without anæsthetics. The sisters who nursed her during her stays at the hospital never tired of repeating that never had they seen such holiness.

The sister faced death as she had done every other event of her life. It was but another expression of the Will of God in her regard, and her Superioress tells us that she “awaited it with indescribable calm and holy confidence.”

Her sufferings increased each day and gradually she had to relinquish one cherished religious observance after another. The Archbishop of Amalfi released her from her charge as Mistress of Novices, and in March, 1922, she was obliged to retire to the infirmary. On Easter Sunday she ardently desired to go to the Choir to hear Mass and receive Holy Communion, but the effort was too much and she never again left her sick-room.

Now that Sister Marie Celeste was out of the Community and, as it were, removed from any danger for her ever-increasing humility, God seemed to lift somewhat the cloud that had hidden her extraordinary virtue from the eyes of all but a few privileged ones. Those who had seen the least heroism in the life of their sister were not just those to whom the reality of her holiness shone brightest, and it was with difficulty that they could be kept from the bedside of the dying religious where each one sought edification, and where, perhaps, some also wished to atone for any lack of charity or cordiality on their part. For each one she had a smile, a word of comfort or help. A former novice of hers tells us that to her dying day she shall never forget the way in which Sister Marie Celeste said to her, “Dear Sister, never again think of anything except how to become a saint.” With the gates of eternity ajar that was her value of life.

Her patience and gratitude for the smallest service were touching, and it was indeed evident that she had now obtained complete mastery over the first movements of her soul, and, in spite of the daily increase in her sufferings, a more perfect serenity and peace surrounded her.

She received the last Sacrament on May 15th, and a day or two later was consoled by a visit from the holy Archbishop of Amalfi, Mgr. Marini. Later on he wrote to Sister Mary Philomena: “I visited Sister Marie Celeste of the Will of God twice during her long illness, and I was amazed at the serenity with which she bore her sufferings. I seemed to see her as a joyful victim. I said to her, ‘You are on Calvary, suffering like the Divine Victim,’ and she answered only with a smile. I recommended myself and all those dear to me, and my diocese to her prayers, and after blessing her I went away greatly consoled. I was persuaded that I had assisted at the agony of a Saint.

"Her death was but the epilogue of her life, during which she had given proofs of such admirable virtues of which I was myself a witness. Blessed is the Monastery of Scala, a perpetual nursery of chosen souls, which by the observance of the rule given by the incomparable Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, raise themselves to the highest perfection.”

How lofty the perfection was in the case of Sister Marie Celeste we may judge by the fact that her director at Scala, a holy and learned Franciscan, allowed her in 1919 to make the vow to do always what she thought to be the most perfect. Seeing her ever-increasing love of God and fervour in His service, he allowed her next year to add the vow of “Total abandonment to the Will of God,” and again later that of being a “Victim holocaust,” and even that of imitating the Humility of Our Lord.

Nor did he hesitate to say to her, “I tell you, on the part of God, that you are to become a great saint, but you must annihilate yourself, forget yourself completely. Take your heart in both hands and hold it tight; never mind if it suffers. You have to sigh, to agonize; desire to love the agony, cherish sufferings of all sorts—become a living holocaust.”

This good father called his penitent “Paolina,” for he wished her to imitate the ardent love of the great Apostle, and he did not hesitate to show her “what great things she had to suffer” of her spouse.

Though far advanced in the ways of prayer, Sister Marie Celeste looked on herself as ignorant of the first steps, and said “If I thought God would ever raise my state of prayer beyond the quite ordinary I should beg Him not to do so.” It was by these ways of humility and suffering that God led His servant, letting her light appear only to those who guided in her ascent to Him, and, later on, to the whole Community.

It was on the eve of Pentecost, June 3rd, 1922, that the “call of the Bridegroom” came for Sister Marie Celeste. Without a struggle or sigh, surrounded by her sisters and in the arms of her beloved Superioress she performed the last act on earth of submission to God’s Will for her. She was nearly 47 years of age. The funeral took place next day at 6 o’clock in the evening, when the whole population of Scala accompanied the holy sister to what they thought was to be her last resting-place—but God had other designs.

Writing shortly before his own saintly death in 1923, Father Strybol, C.SS.R., said to Mother Mary Philomena, “When I was giving the retreat to your sisters in Bruges I often recalled to their minds the memory of this saintly one (Sister Marie Celeste) and the example of her virtues, and I always added that if any day I was told that miracles were being worked at her tomb I should not be the least surprised; and that I hoped that before I died I should have the consolation of knowing that the process of her cause had been begun, so that I might bear testimony for her.” The latter part of the holy father’s wish was not granted, but his words were prophetic, for almost immediately after the death of Sister Marie Celeste requests from all sides were made for souvenirs of her, and accounts of more or less miraculous graces granted through her intercession were rumoured.

In January, 1925, permission was obtained to remove the body from the public cemetery and bury it within the enclosure. The return of Sister Marie Celeste to her beloved monastery was a veritable triumphal procession. Ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries, priests and lay-folk from all the surrounding villages came in throngs to accompany the coffin. It was with difficulty that it was carried from the church into the enclosure, so great was the enthusiasm of the crowds that wished to touch and venerate it. When it was opened the Reverend Mother and Sisters gazed with emotion on the incorrupt features of their deceased sister, and they were reluctant to allow the coffin to be closed and interred in their own little “God’s acre.”

Shortly after her death Sister Marie Celeste appeared to several of the Sisters at Scala, and one of the eldest and most matter-of-fact of the Community declared that on June 3rd, 1923, the first anniversary of her death, she came to her and quieted her concerning some doubts and fears that had been causing her much mental suffering. She said “Sister Marie Celeste, are you in Heaven?” Then with a transport of joy Sister Marie Celeste said “Yes,” but it was such a “yes” it seemed with exultation, joy, love, gratitude personified. It will, I think, echo in my heart till I die.

One of the lay-sisters was suffering, in 1922, from a violent inflammation in her arm, and could neither dress herself nor do any kind of work. She began a novena to Sister Marie Celeste and on the seventh day the inflammation and swelling suddenly disappeared, leaving no trace and never again reappearing.

The Reverend Mother of the hospital at Rosano wrote quite recently (1927): “I should be glad to have some more pictures of Sister Marie Celeste, as the one I had I gave to a little boy of six. This poor child was attacked by appendicitis and brought to our hospital. His case was very grave and became worse and worse. At last I had the idea of trying what Sister Marie Celeste would do. I placed her picture on the child and we immediately saw that he was cured. His parents were fully convinced that a miracle had been worked in their favour.”

In this short sketch it would take too long to recount all the spiritual and corporal cures wrought around Scala at the intercession of the holy Sister; but she is not confining her favours to her adopted country. Many favours have been obtained by prayer to her in England and Ireland, and news has come from far-off Australia and Canada of really marvellous recoveries. One must suffice, and we give it in the words of the priest who witnessed it:

“Last August (1927) there was at _____ a postulant lay-brother. He was second cook and a model of piety, charity and regular observance. The local doctor declared that he had appendicitis and he went into the hospital at N_____, conducted by the Sisters of _____. He was operated on by one of the leading surgeons of Sydney and for a week everything seemed to go well. However, a very bad change came and the doctors declared that a second operation was necessary. The second operation was performed and the doctor found things so serious that he had not much hope of his recovery. About two days after the operation all hope was apparently gone, and the Sisters sent a message that he should be annointed. I went to the hospital and the Sisters told me that there was no hope—he had every sympton of peritonitis setting in, and they did not think he could live longer than forty-eight hours. I offered to remain all night with him, but the Sister answered that it would be the next night that he would die. I administered the Holy Sacraments to him; he received them with the greatest devotion. He was not, however, able to receive Holy Viaticum on account of continual vomiting, but I gave him the last blessing.

"Having given him the last blessing, it ran into my head that Sister Marie Celeste might cure him. I told him about her and asked him to say three times after me, ‘Sister Marie Cleste, if it is God’s Holy Will, cure me.’ This he did, and I left him in peace. The Sister promised she would ring up at once if any change for the worse came. Next day Father Rector and myself went to the hospital and were surprised to hear from the Sister, ‘You had hardly gone when the vomiting ceased. I have every hope of him now; it is simply wonderful! I look upon it as a miracle.’ Brother N_____ is restored to health, and, please God, will be a holy and useful brother. Please send me a little picture of Sister Marie Celeste for him: he told me himself that he believed she had cured him.”

At the end of 1927 the Postulator of the Redemptorist causes obtained permission for the body of Sister Marie Celeste to be again removed and placed in the Choir of the Nuns at Scala. There she rests, awaiting, as we hope and pray, the decison of Holy Church which will allow public honour to be paid to this faithful servant of God. †

Prayer to obtain the Beatification of the Servant of God,

Sister Marie Celeste of the Will of God, O.SS.R.

Most Holy Redeemer, as Thou hast deigned to grant so many favours through the intercession of Thy Servant, Sister Marie Celeste of the Will of God, we trust that Thou hast already crowned her in Heaven. We beseech Thee, therefore, if it be for Thy greater honour and the sanctification of souls, to glorify her speedily on earth by the voice of Thy Holy Church. Amen.

(Right: A little girl, cured miraculously by Mother Marie Celeste is dressed like her in fulfilment of a vow.)

Mother Marie Alphonse of the Will of God, O.SS.R. (1869-2009)

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Wonderful Propagatrix of the

Order of Redemptoristines

Post to mark the 140th Anniversary of her Holy Death

23 March 1869 - 23 March 2009
(First Posted on "Papa Stronsay Texts"0

The Servant of God, who was known in the world as Eugenie Gauvenet Dijon was born at Lorient on 22 January, 1793. Her father, Jean-Baptiste Gauvenet, a most distinguished man and remarkable magistrate had been advisor to the king of France. The Revolution having forced them to leave the country, the young Eugenie was formed in piety and the human sciences first in Mainz and then in Strasburg. Her family moved once more to Austria where she met the Venerable Father Joseph Passerat, C.SS.R. and took him as her spiritual director.

Having learnt that he wished to found the Order of nuns of the Most Holy Redeemer on their side of the Alps (i.e. outside of Italy), she made the offering of herself for this purpose. In order that she would drink in the spirit of the Order at its very source, she, in the company of Countess Antonie Welsersheimb was sent by Fr Passerat to the Redemptoristine Convent at Saint Agatha of the Goths (the former see of St Alphonsus).

They completed their novitiate and then journeyed to Rome where they were presented to Pope Gregory XVI by Cardinal Odescalchi. Thence they returned to Vienna via Loretto. From there their Order was spread to Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland, Spain and Canada.

Mother Marie Alphonse exchanged her mortal life for eternal joy at the Convent of Malines in Belgium on 23 March, 1869. †

“Do the bidding of the Good God and He will do yours”
Mother Marie Alphonse

Servant of God Sr Marie Berchmans of Thanksgiving, O.SS.R.

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Redemptoristine of the Monastery of Grenoble

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of her holy death.

Jeanne Gauthier de Saint-Michel, in religion Sr Marie Berchmans, was born at Paris on 13 June, 1877. She lost her parents when very young and her education was confided to her Aunt, Mdm Hello, widow of the Hello who had been alderman at the Appeals Court of Paris and a magistrate of much merit. On the occasion of a visit to her cousin Germaine, Sr Marie-Aloysius, a Redemptoristine of Grenoble, Jesus spoke to her heart and inspired her with the desire of soon consecrating herself to Him in the same Convent. She was only 15 years old.

From the time of her admission to profession on 5 June, 1894, Sr Marie Berchmans proposed to herself the ideal of penetrating into the spirit of her Order, of combating her mediocre life and of tending towards true sanctity by the strictest and most minute regular observance. Her relationship with God was not one marked with sensible sweetness but rather she went to Him by Faith alone. With a desire of walking in the footsteps of the Crucified Redeemer — and of following in them very closely — she sought for crosses with all the ardour that others exert to escape them. Such were the constant goal of her efforts, such were the secret of her virtue and such the secret also of her heroism.

God heard her and granted her desire. After a retreat filled with consolation and Divine lights, she found herself interiorly abandoned and as if delivered over to herself with all her weaknesses. She suffered in mind, heart, soul and body. She generously accepted all and found new ways to add further sufferings to these — until the total renouncement of her own will seemed to her to be preferable to sacrifice. “Take courage my soul!” she told herself, “you must be able to say with St Paul ‘I die daily’ [1 Cor. XV, 31] by the forgetfulness of self — abnegation — this sacrifice prepares us for the death of love.” She also said, “such is God’s wish, He needs our sufferings to save souls.”

It seems unnecessary to mention that, as a worthy daughter of St Alphonsus, Sr Marie Berchmans accorded sovereign importance to the imitation of Jesus Our Redeemer by the conscientious practice of the 12 monthly virtues, to her own prayer, and also to Liturgical prayer — the Divine Office. At the moment of her death she asked if the nuns could chant with her Psalm 118, Beati immaculati in via. She followed each verse with admirable fervour and lucidity.

What may we say of her great love and filial confidence in the Queen of Heaven? “I ask Our lady each day” she once said, “to die while making the perfect act of Love of God, and I am counting on her to indeed obtain for me this great grace.”

Above all she loved Our Lord Jesus Christ more than all else by a fidelity lived at each moment of her life in which she refused Him nothing. “Love Jesus onto folly,” she told one of her sisters. It was this Divine folly which helped her to ascend the Mount of Calvary with such joy, with the desire of there meeting her Divine Spouse Who awaited her and would give her the crown of virgins for all Eternity. “Veni, sponsa Christi.” †

Her life was written by Rev. Fr Alphonse George, C.SS.R.