CHAPTER XI. Last Illness and Happy Death of the Venerable Mother Mary of the

LAST ILLNESS AND HAPPY DEATH OF THE VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF THE INCARNATION.

In the middle of the January following the death of the venerated Foundress, the Mother of the Incarnation relapsed into violent illness. Her previous symptoms re-appeared, with the addition of indescribably painful tumors in both sides. Unable to rest in any position, consumed with fever, tortured in every nerve, not a sigh, or moan, or movement betrayed her agonies, and yet, at that moment, the hand of God pressed heavily on her soul as well as on her body. That she might resemble Him to the end, her crucified Lord presented her once more with the bitter cup of interior dereliction which she had so often before shared with Him, again despoiling the inferior part of the soul of those heavenly consolations which would so greatly have lightened the pressure of physical suffering. "It is hard," the "Imitation of Christ" says, "to want all comfort, human and Divine," but the Venerable Mother was well familiarized with the privation, of both. In the purity of her love, she sought only the accomplishment of the will of her God. "With Christ I am nailed to the cross," she said in a holy transport, and none understood better than she, that it is good to be with Christ even on the cross. The physicians having declared the malady hopeless on the fifth day; she received the last sacraments, made her profession of faith, and then asked pardon, first of the Father Superior and of her director, then of the Mother Superior and community, thanking them for their charity and expressing her regret at the trouble which her long illness had occasioned them. Hearing shortly after, that the grand-daughter of an Algonquin Chief had just joined the seminary, she expressed a wish to see the child, and after affectionately caressing her, she once more impressively exhorted her dear Sisters ever cordially to cherish her "joys," as she called the Indians. All the pupils, both French and savage, were repeatedly brought to receive her blessing.

Overwhelmed with the deepest grief, the religious redoubled their prayers and mortifications, beseeching that their precious Mother might be left to them even a little longer. She could not understand their desire to prolong a life which she deemed useless, but her director, Father Lalemant, comprehending her value to the community far better than she did herself, and compassionating the affliction of her children, commanded her to join in their prayers for her restoration. The order startled her, but at once raising her eyes and hands to heaven, she said, "I think I shall die of this illness, however if God wills that I should live longer, I am resigned." "That is all well, Mother," replied the inexorable Father, "but it is not enough; you must take our side of the question, and do your best to preserve yourself to the community, which still has need of you." The direction was too explicit to admit of appeal; preferring obedience to sacrifice, as had even been her practice, she said, almost in the words of her own St. Martin of Tours, "My Lord and my God! if Thou seest that I am still necessary to this little community, I refuse not pain or labour: may Thy will be done!" A change for the better was at once apparent, and so wonderfully rapid was the improvement, that at his next visit, the physician who had pronounced her recovery hopeless, declared her out of danger. She assisted at the solemn Te Deum which was offered in the choir in thanksgiving for her restoration, and with her usual sweet affability received the congratulations of her now happy daughters, as well as of her numerous friends Presents of the most delicate food were sent from every quarter to tempt her appetite; she tried to partake of it through condescension, but since the commencement of her illness eight years before, her palate had retained a bitterness which imparted the flavour of gall to every species of nourishment, and necessarily created a loathing for it.

Her convalescence continued during the Lent; she was able to join in the ceremonies of Palm Sunday, and on Good Friday, to assist at the Passion and the Adoration of the Cross, but that evening, she felt compelled to tell the Mother Superior that she was suffering excessively from the tumors in both sides. They proved to be abscesses, which on the next day had to be laid open to the bone. She bore this, and subsequent torturing operations as if she had been deprived of all sense of feeling. Once she slightly shuddered, and then she accused herself of impatience, and asked forgiveness. The humility, meekness, and charity always so striking in her seemed to have gained an increase under this new test, but it was because she had laid up an abundant store of them in the days of her strength, that they did not fail in the hour of nature's weakness, when, above all, is proved the truth of the maxim, that it is the moment of trial which shows what we really are. When, long years before, she had offered herself to God as His Victim, it was with the full comprehension that the title implied a life of suffering and sacrifice; now that the hour of immolation had come, she renewed the oblation, content to bear her excruciating pains to the day of judgment, if only God could be thus honoured, and the salvation of souls promoted. Some of the Sisters having asked her to share her merits with them, she replied with a smile, "All belongs to the savages; I have no longer anything of my own." The holy Communion, which she received every alternate day, continued to be her support in death, as it had been in life. By the end of the week, it was apparent that her strength was declining, and her life fast passing away. When informed that all chance of recovery was at an end, her countenance beamed with celestial joy, and from that moment until her last, her existence was one almost uninterrupted ecstasy. Although constantly absorbed in God, she replied sweetly and amiably to all who spoke to her, but at the same time in as few words as possible. The Mother St. Athanasius, who never left her, asked if she had any commission for her son. She seemed affected at the question, and begged the Mother to let him know that she would bear him to heaven in her heart and pray for his perfect sanctification. On the morning of the 30th of April, feeling that the last hour was near, she wished to bid a final adieu to her dear little Indians. She blessed them with all the love of her great heart, and then spoke a few impressive words to them in their own language on the beauty of our holy mysteries and the happiness of serving God. At mid-day, she entered into her agony, if that could be called an agony, where there was no struggle. Although she lost her speech and hearing, it was easy to see that her soul was intimately united to God. Her trembling hand still tried to lift the crucifix to her lips, and when her confessor would have rendered her this service, he found it so impossible to disengage the beloved image from her grasp, that he had to substitute another. A few minutes before six in the evening, she opened her eyes and looked at her dear Sisters, as if to take a last farewell of them, then closed them for ever to earth. At six o'clock, two faint sighs were heard,--so faint, that but for the breathless stillness of the room they must have been inaudible, but the hearing of affection is acute, and every heart present caught the feeble echo, and interpreted it correctly. Death had come at last, but death in a form so fair, that even angels might have envied it, if angels could die. In its flight to God, her pure soul seemed to have left a lingering ray of glory flitting round the calm, still features, which shone as if illumined with heaven's own light, and almost dazzled the beholders by their seraphic beauty. All the Sisters witnessed and attested the prodigy; tradition has faithfully handed it down even to our own day, and still, as each revolving year brings round the 30th of April, a solemn Te Deum resounds through the Ursuline Church at Quebec, as a thanksgiving to God for the exceptional privileges attending the blessed death of the Mother Mary of the Incarnation.

To say that grief for her loss was universal, would be more than superfluous. Throughout the country, she had for many a year been known, consulted, prized, revered, beloved: now that the Mother was taken from amidst her children, no wonder that the children were lonely and that they mourned their desolation. It would be impossible to describe the feelings of the savages; as soon as the news of her death reached Sillery and Loretto, they came crowding round the monastery to pray for her whom they had loved so well and with so much reason. "Our Mother is dead !" It was all they said, and all they had to say. Sorrow like theirs was too deep for words, and to show that they felt it so, they followed up the pathetic exclamation by a gesture indicating that they would speak no more. The Sisters, overcome by their child-like grief, tried to administer to them the comfort of which they were themselves so much in need, and then both went their respective ways to await in prayers and tears the sad, solemn hour which was to hide from them for ever, the object of their reverence and love.

From early dawn on the day of the interment, the convent church was filled to overflowing with a reverential crowd, all eager to pay the last honours to the venerated servant of God. Bishop Laval being then in France, the obsequies were performed by Monsieur de Bernières, Vicar- General of the diocese, Father Superior of the monastery, and nephew to the kind friend of the same name who had so efficiently promoted the success of the Ursuline foundation at Quebec. The funeral oration was preached by Father Lalemant, who better than any one else could do justice to his subject, and then the cherished and revered Mother of Canada was laid to her rest, in the vault destined as the place of sepulture of the community.

Unwilling to lose all trace of her dear familiar features, the authorities both civil and religious joined in requesting that while there was yet time, her likeness might be secured. Accordingly, the day after the interment the coffin was uncovered, and an artist sent by the Governor succeeded in taking a remarkably correct one. This portrait was unfortunately consumed in the second conflagration of the monastery in 1686. That which now hangs in the community room of the Ursuline convent, Quebec, was sent from France.

The Mother of the Incarnation was tall, and the dignity of her deportment was so striking, that while she was in the world, persons were often seen to stand and look at her as she proceeded unconsciously through the streets on her missions of devotion or charity. The gravity of her demeanour was tempered by the modesty of her address, and the courteous affability of her manner. Her features were regular, but their chief attraction lay in their expression, which seemed like a revelation of the invisible beauty of her soul. The irresistible sweetness of her glance appeared to leave a trace of heaven wherever it fell, and although her habitual interior union with God communicated something of an unearthly air to her exterior, no one ever felt restrained or ill at ease in her company. Her constitution was strong, and thereby fitted for the life of unceasing labour to which God called her. She possessed mental qualities of a high order, had great natural abilities, and was what the world would call a clever woman of business, but best of all, she was a saint. From the hour, when at seven years of age she consecrated her young soul to God, until that when at seventy-two, she surrendered it into His hands, her one sole aim had been to adorn it with every virtue, so that it might become ever more and more pleasing in the eyes of His Divine Majesty, and so well did she succeed in this her holy object, that the history of her life, is in fact the history of her virtues; in studying the one, we have at the same time been making acquaintance with the other. Much however as we have learned of those resplendent virtues, we fain would pause a moment longer on them before relinquishing her sweet company, just as we love to linger over a beautiful sunset, and even after the great orb has disappeared, still to watch the traces of his departing glory resting on the golden clouds.

As the virtues of the Mother of the Incarnation have passed in review before us in the course of her history, the same thought may perhaps have occurred to us, as to her son, Dom Claude Martin, that where all were so admirable, it would be difficult to say which was the most worthy of special notice. She was raised up, we know, to glorify God both in her own person and in that of her neighbour; in her own, by her individual sanctification,--in that of her neighbour by leading many souls to heaven. For the fulfilment of this two-fold destiny, it is evident that she had need of a deep ground-work of humility, with a vast fund of charity and self-abnegation; accordingly we find her possessed of these virtues in such perfection, that remarkable as she was for every other, we may perhaps consider her greatest of all in these. In the exalted degree of union with Himself by which the Almighty recompensed her generosity, we adore His own immense, gratuitous liberality;--in the heroism with which, aided by Divine grace, she died to every human feeling, we admire the grandeur of her own utter detachment from self, and the beauty of her thoroughly spiritualized nature.

Her humility, she had early established on the fundamental principles, that God is all, and the creature nothing. From these two truths, as from two great fountain heads, came the one absorbing desire of her life, that the All should engulph the nothing; that God should be exalted and she herself annihilated; hence, there was no height to which she would not have soared to promote honour to God, and no depth to which she would not have descended to procure her own abasement. The generosity of her humility inspired her equally to undertake great things for her Divine Master, when His service required them, and to remain contentedly in inaction when this was more agreeable to Him. Far from attaching any importance to the benefits which she had conferred on the monastery, she looked on herself as useless, sincerely believing that she was tolerated in the house of God only through charity. "I know nothing," she wrote; "I do nothing in comparison with my Sisters; although I teach others, I am the most ignorant of all." That these were no mere empty words was proved by her insatiable thirst for humiliation, to which her humble soul was drawn by the consideration of God's greatness and her own nothingness, as a stone to its centre by its natural weight. In reading of the success which crowned her labours, and the universal love and reverence which her great qualities inspired, we are tempted to imagine, that whatever may have been her interior crosses, she must at least have been a stranger to the mortifications which come to us from others. But it was not so. She loved humiliation in her heart of hearts, as the appropriate homage of the nothing to the All, and God loved her too much to spare it, therefore all through life, in youth as in mature age, in Canada as in France, in religion as in the world, it followed her like a shadow. "I am destined for the cross," she wrote to one of the Mothers at Tours; "trials are my lot, and in them is my peace; help me to return thanks to Him who provides for me so generously." She was contradicted and slighted; she was suspected, misjudged and misrepresented, sometimes to test her virtue, sometimes from more questionable motives, but the possibility that she could he wronged or unjustly depreciated, never for a moment seemed to occur to her. Considering herself the last, the lowest, the most sinful of God's creatures, she confessed that any amount of humiliation was inadequate to her deserts, while at the same time firmly impressed that the unfavourable opinions expressed of her were the correct ones, she was incapable of resentment. The Sisters who knew how discourteously she was often treated, once asked her how she bad been able to restrain her irritation under some particular insult; "I have guarded against that," she replied, "by forgetting all about it." "You admired our Mother's humility under her last annoyance," one Sister remarked to another; "yet this was a trivial one compared with those to which she is accustomed; still nobody ever hears her speak of them." Nevertheless she owned that the persecutions which she endured thus silently, were more trying than even her terrible temptations, for that while the one caused her only personal suffering, the other checked the work of God. Her imperturbable equanimity under humiliations sometimes led to a doubt of her having noticed them at all; she had, and that very clearly too, but because she loved the contempt which she believed her due, she received each new evidence of it with an interior joy, and an exterior calmness, which deceived superficial observers. While incapable of taking offence herself, if she thought that she had inadvertently given even apparent cause of it to others, she never hesitated to ask pardon in the most humble manner even of the youngest Sister. No trace of self-reliance or self-esteem was ever seen in her. She was always ready to receive the suggestions and profit of the opinions even of those far inferior to her in every respect. It is recorded that when, consummated in virtue and experience, she was nearing the end of life, a novice who was at work with her, took the liberty of remarking that she was doing hers wrong. "Show me, my child, how it should be done," the humble Mother gently answered, and while the novice had the simplicity to teach her mistress, the mistress had the humility to take the directions, although she knew them to be incorrect, saying that it matters little whether a piece of work be done in one way or in another, but very much that we practise child-like humility, so as to deserve a place among the little ones of whom our Lord declared is the kingdom of heaven. Sinking ever lower and deeper into her nothingness, she found there a resting-place for her soul, a security against illusion, a safeguard for her virtue, and an antidote for self-complacent thoughts, if by a rare chance, imagination ever suggested one.

The extraordinary graces with which God favoured her, far from exalting, served only to lower her in her own estimation. She fully recognised the magnificence of those graces, but wholly separating the great Giver from the lowly recipient, she viewed them in Him, not in herself; they were His always, hers never, and provided they redounded to His glory, she asked no more. "I am overwhelmed with astonishment," she writes, "that a God who is loved purely by myriads of millions of souls, should cast His eyes on me, the last of His creatures, and condescend to grant me a share in His love." And again, "If a soul is beautiful, good, or holy, it is with the beauty, the goodness and the holiness of God. Knowing that these attributes belong wholly to Him, she desires that He alone should have the honour of them, wishing no honour or praise for herself from any creature. Her only fear is lest vain complacency should open the door of the inner temple to the enemy, who would soon despoil her of her gifts." "Tremble for me," she said to her son, "when you hear of the favours which the Almighty has conferred on me, for He has placed His treasures in the very frailest of earthen vessels: the vessel may at any moment be broken and the contents lost." This humble distrust of human weakness never left her heart. "O my great God!" she would say, "grant me humility, and help me to serve Thee as Thou commandest, in fear and trembling." "I am now near my end," she wrote two years before her death, "and I have yet done nothing worthy of a soul soon to appear before God. Our Lord has ever led me by the spirit of love and confidence, never by that of fear, but when I consider that through the frailty of my fallen nature, I may at any moment lose the Divine friendship, I am seized with dread, and overwhelmed with humiliation. I could not exist if I retained this apprehension of separation from God,--that all-good God from whom I have received more graces and favours than there are grains of sand in the ocean bed. But my firm confidence in His mercy dispels alarm, and rejecting doubts and fears, I cast myself trustingly into His arms, there to repose in peace." Her superior intelligence and eminent virtue would have rendered her a very desirable acquisition to the Jansenists, who used their best efforts to allure her to their ranks, but her humility was her safeguard, and to manifest her horror of their innovations, she would not even reply to their letters.

Flowing from her humility was her spirit of obedience, a virtue of which she so clearly recognised the imperative necessity for all who aim at perfection, that she would do nothing but under its guidance. Even the revelations with which God had favoured her, she never thought of acting on, until she had submitted them to the examination of her director, and so persuaded was she that this course was in accordance with the established order of Providence, that she would have thought herself deluded had she acted otherwise. She was perfectly free from the least attachment to her own lights, natural and supernatural, and never had a difficulty in subjecting her conduct and judgment to the guidance of superiors; this she esteemed a most special grace. It may be remembered that in the years of her servitude in her brother-in-law's house, she made a vow of obedience to him and her sister. Knowing nothing of it, they were lost in astonishment at her wonderful submission, which they could only attribute to her affection for themselves, and consequent zeal for their interests. After she entered religion, obedience was still among her favourite virtues; she almost flew to execute the most trivial order of superiors, or rather she recognised none as trivial, viewing all as emanating from God. In the position of Superior which she held for eighteen years, she still found means of exercising her beloved virtue, and when in the intervals, she resumed her place among the Sisters, her submission to the new Superior was that of a simple child. Obedience had become so natural to her from habit, that she was a stranger even to a repugnance to obey. She strongly inculcated the importance of obedience to spiritual direction, saying that it is the source of that true simplicity which forms the saints.

A soul so humble could not but be meek, and so it was notorious, that although while she was engaged in the world her business had been of a most harassing kind, and that in Canada her varied duties brought her into continual contact with persons of all classes and all humours, she was never seen out of patience. Even when most severely pressed at the time of her great interior trials by temptations to antipathy and irritability, the closest observer could scarcely ever have detected that vanquished nature had made an effort to rebel. If perchance an almost imperceptible reflection of her pains of soul ever passed over her accustomed sweetness of demeanour, she reproached herself for it as for a fault. After her death, when her virtues formed the favourite topic of conversation in her bereaved community, one who had known her for thirty years, observed that "the Mother of the Incarnation always showed the courage of the lion in confronting difficulties and dangers, and the gentleness of the lamb in her intercourse with her neighbour." And this latter remark applied not only to the meekness which is easily maintained because it is not tried, but much more to that which bears the test of sharp and continuous contradictions, and is never found to fail. A person who had occasioned her very great annoyance, finally pronounced as his conclusive opinion, that her patience was made of iron. She was, indeed, so thoroughly inured to mortifications, that injuries had ceased to be injuries, and enemies were enemies no more. Those who had treated her worst, might, for that reason, count securely on special evidences of her sweetness and kindness. For the sake of peace, she was ever ready to yield her judgment, when this could be doue without compromise of duty.

It once happened that in an important matter submitted to the decision of the community, she held a different opinion from most of the Sisters. Finding herself in the minority, she at once yielded the point without a remonstrance or even a remark. A Sister who took her view of the case, a little disappointed at such ready acquiescence, observed, "Well, Mother, one would thank that you had made a vow to obey those people, and do just as they wish." "No," replied the Mother, with her own gentle smile, "I have not vowed to obey them or consult their wishes, but I have promised to please God, and for His love to do all in my power to maintain peace with my neighbour." Perfect, however, as was the meekness of the Venerable Mother, her firmness could equal it when occasion required, and never, perhaps, were the two qualities more admirably balanced in any character than in hers.

Compassion for all in want or trouble seemed like an instinct of her nature. It showed itself, as we have seen, from her earliest childhood, and gained strength with every breath of her life. To see her fellow- creatures in distress, and not make an effort to relieve them, was at all times an impossibility to her kind heart. Known in the world as the mother and advocate of the poor, in religion she maintained, and, if possible, strengthened her claim to the beautiful title. She would have considered that a lost day on which she had not exercised the works of mercy, so during her prolonged tenure of authority as Superior, it was remarked that she never passed one without giving alms of one kind or another. Among the distressed French families whom she thus relieved were persons of respectable condition, who she knew would have shrunk from manifesting their poverty, therefore she took care to spare them the necessity of an appeal for charity, managing also to have her gifts conveyed so cautiously, that they should be unable to trace them to their source, or to consider them in the light of alms. When nothing more remained to her for the destitute, she called on the resources of the rich, and when these, too, were exhausted, she had recourse to God, who never failed to send her help in her emergencies.

If she was the refuge of the French in their wants, still more was she the resource of the Indians, to whom her generous heart and her hospitable monastery were ever open. Vain would be the attempt to tell of all she did and all she endured to procure means of providing for them in their necessities, and helping them through their difficulties. But if their temporal welfare was a subject of deepest concern to her, infinitely more lively was her zeal for their spiritual interests; to these she had devoted her labours; to these she had consecrated her energies and her life; for these were her first, her last, her ceaseless prayers. So well did she succeed in communicating her own ardour to the rest of the community, that from the very commencement of the house the Sisters bound themselves to receive the Holy Communion and recite the Rosary once every month in honour of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, observing a fast on the eve of the festival, all in order to obtain the conversion of the savages. This beautiful devotion is perpetuated in the monastery to the present day.

Another practice of the first Mothers was to draw by lot the names of the different Indian tribes, each offering her prayers, labours, and merits for the conversion of that which had fallen to her. The Venerable Mother had her particular nation like the rest, but her great heart embraced all others at the same time, for nothing less than all could satisfy zeal which, like hers, embraced the universe. As her history has shown us, her whole life in Canada was but one prolonged act of charity to the forlorn race, and when that life was about to close, she bequeathed her love for them to her community, as the most precious legacy she had to bestow.

As well-ordered charity begins at home, her Sisters were naturally the first objects of hers. From the commencement of her religious career, her delight had been to oblige and serve them at the cost of any amount of personal fatigue or inconvenience, and, when Superior, it was her practice to do a considerable portion of their work in addition to her own, thus to procure them a little more rest. That all might be enabled to retire sooner after their weary day, she took for her especial charge to remain up the last at night, and see all the fires extinguished--no easy task when wood was the only fuel, the huge, red-hot logs requiring much time and caution in the cooling. She has been known to leave herself without bed-clothes in the intense cold of winter nights, that she might add a little to the comfort of her shivering novices, her own chilled frame meantime depending for warmth, as Père Charlevoix remarks, "only on the fire of her love;" and this was but one small instance of the compassionate charity which she was ever practising.

She had peculiar tact in reconciling enemies, and a wondrous gift for consoling the afflicted, especially those tried by temptations and interior pains. Many were the sufferers who came to her sorrowful and discouraged, and left her presence consoled and strengthened. Once a person under great trial sought her help, but experienced insuperable difficulty in communicating the subject of her pains. "Let us pray, my child," the Mother said, "that God may enlighten me." Leaning her head on her hand, she prayed for the space of a Pater and Ave; then looking up gently, she asked, "What hesitation could you have had in telling me such and such a thing?"--specifying the causes of trouble. "Should you not have known me better?" Having directed the person what course to pursue, and exhorted her to courage, fidelity, and abandonment to God, she foretold her that her troubles were not at an end, but consoled her by the assurance that they would tend to the Divine honour. The wise counsels not only imparted immediate peace to the suffering soul, but, moreover, helped to sustain her through the remainder of the conflict, which, as the event proved, was not yet over. The good Mother was ever at the command of all who sought her help, ready at all times to lay aside her most pressing occupations the moment any one expressed a desire to speak to her, giving her visitors ample opportunity of unburdening their minds fully, and dismissing all satisfied and consoled. She could not endure to hear an unkind remark, and so perfect was her own practice of charity in speech, that she was never known to utter a word to the disadvantage of any one, even those who had treated her worst. Such was the tenderness of her compassion for the erring, that, as she was accustomed to say, she would have wished to hide them in her heart.

She was so easily pleased, that the charge of assisting her in her different occupations, was quite an envied post. A Sister, who for several years had had the care of preparing her colors for her paintings, and her materials for gilding and similar works, declared that during all that time she had never heard a word from her lips but of encouragement, gentleness, and affection. The kind Mother took delight in teaching her what she knew, and then, with the liveliest interest, would show the Sister's attempts to all who entered, remarking how good they were, and how sure the pupil would be to advance if she only had courage. "How can you praise such work, dear Mother?" somebody one day asked in reference to another's Sister's production; "you who are so good a judge, and, therefore, must have seen its defects." "It was done to the best of the Sister's ability," the Mother answered, "so it was well done for her, and in that sense deserving of praise." Although always recollected in God, she liked to see her Sisters gay at recreation, and that she might be no restraint on their innocent mirth, was herself invariably cheerful. The instances on record of her charity to her neighbour, both before and after she entered religion, are much too numerous for insertion in these pages, but we cannot have perused her history, without discerning that the beautiful spirit of fraternal love influenced her whole life, manifesting itself in a ceaseless effort to relieve the wants, console the sorrows, promote the temporal happiness, and, above all, advance the spiritual interests of all within her reach, as well as by her prayers and desires, of those beyond it.

Charity and patience like those of the Mother Mary of the Incarnation can flourish only in souls whence inordinate self-love has been banished; detachment from self is, in fact, their essence and their life. It was because that of the Venerable Mother was so deeply grounded, that her love of her neighbour was proof against all trials. Disengagement from self is synonymous with sacrifice of self, and of this she was unsparing. For her greater merit, and our instruction and encouragement, the Almighty permitted that during several successive years she should feel the revolt of her passions, and experience all that is painful to nature in the effort to subdue them. The perfect control over them which resulted in her admirable meekness and forbearance was the reward of her fidelity in the hour of the conflict. If her passions were brought so thoroughly under subjection to reason and faith, that they seemed at last to have lost their power, the grand conquest was the work of mortification. Knowing that Christ would live in her in the plenitude of His Spirit, only when her natural life had been destroyed, she sought opportunities of self-crucifixion, as men in general seek chances of gratification and enjoyment. Every feeling, every faculty, every sense, was fastened to the cross. To her interior mortification there was no limit; to her exterior, only that imposed by obedience, and as long as her austerities involved no singularity, obedience imposed but little restraint on them.

While apparently leading an ordinary life, she contrived that no part of her frame should be without its particular suffering, managing to transform into new acts of penance, the very refreshment of food and sleep. Her joy was in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which not only the external, but also the inner world was crucified to her. At any moment of her existence, as well as on her dying bed, she might have truly said, "With Christ I am nailed to the cross;" and with equal truth she might have added, "God forbid that I should glory save in that precious and well-loved cross."

The earnestness with which she sought the entire crucifixion of nature, appears in the rules which she laid down for her particular guidance after having made her vow to do in all things what she believed most perfect. By these she bound herself to make no excuse when unjustly accused; to watch so carefully over mind and heart, that no complaint should escape her under any provocation; never to speak a word to her own advantage, and to be always ready to applaud what was commendable in others; to show special sweetness to those for whom nature felt least inclined; to embrace with loving resignation all trials from God and from creatures; to repress every emotion of self-love, and every reflection on subjects calculated to arouse its sensibilities. These rules, founded on the maxims of the Gospel, formed the guide of her life.

Her virtues were solid, because her humility, their foundation, was profound, and because her humility was profound, God exalted her to a degree of purity of soul, and a consequent height of union with Himself, rarely attained here below. During the whole of her life in France, she was accustomed, as we know, to wonderful supernatural communications, but from the time of her going to Canada, all such favours as could attract the eyes of men were withdrawn, the Almighty having then intimated His will that her perfection should henceforth consist in the practices of ordinary life. But although visible extraordinary favours were suspended, it was not so with the invisible work of Divine grace; that went on ever advancing towards its consummation. From the age of twenty, she had possessed the wondrous privilege of uninterrupted union with God. It was her habitual permanent condition; neither suffering of mind, nor infirmity of health, nor pressure of business, nor weight of care could divert her from it for a moment. Distractions might flit through, and even trouble her imagination, but they never reached the inner soul, which through all, maintained an uninterrupted view of the Divine presence. Her constant application to spiritual things never interfered with the perfect fulfilment of her external duties, while on the other hand, the most dissipating exterior occupations never for one instant disturbed her interior recollection. Never were the spirit of Martha and of Mary more admirably or more perfectly combined. If prayer is an elevation of the soul to God, it may be said without any exaggeration, that her whole life was spent in this heavenly exercise. At the time of actual prayer, she appeared like a seraph of love, her very aspect sufficing to excite devotion in the coldest heart. This was an opinion often expressed by the pupils, who delighted in observing her at prayer, and sometimes managed even to approach near enough to kiss her feet or her habit unperceived. It is not given to us to speak of the sublimity of her prayer, especially towards the end of life. As it became more and more simplified, it were perhaps best described as one unbroken sigh of love. "My God! my great God! my Life! my Love! my Glory! This," she wrote, "is my prayer; these words nourish my soul, not only at the time of actual prayer, but all through the day, from the moment of rising, to that of retiring to rest. Imperfect as I am, I feel habitually lost in my God, to whom I have been so many years united by indescribably intimate bonds. I see His amiability, His grandeur, His majesty, His power, without previous reasoning, or research. I can find no words to express what I would say to Him, yet the silence of simple faith is eloquent. But although my soul is ever absorbed in my God, it never loses sight of its own misery; the abyss of His greatness engulphs the abyss of its nothingness." Not satisfied with all the love of the angels and saints, she desired that her heart could burn even with infinite love, that so she might love her God adequately. She prayed our Lord to place her heart on His, that on that altar of fire it might be made a perfect holocaust of love. "I ask of Him," she said, "no earthly riches, treasures or joys, but only that I may die of His love." Under the severest temporal losses, even in the midst of privations and positive want, she felt, she said, as if needing nothing, for then especially she belonged to God, and God belonged to her, and possessing Him, she had nothing to desire. She had indeed reached that blessed state in which the soul exists more in the God whom she loves, than in the body which she animates. [Footnote: Words quoted by Gerson from St. Augustine and St Bernard.] Yet elevated as she was to sublimest heights of supernatural contemplation, she never failed carefully to prepare a subject of ordinary meditation, true to the end, to her love of common practices, and her esteem of common ways, from which, as we have so often remarked, she never swerved but in obedience to the irresistible attraction of the Holy Spirit, and she ever maintained that the most exalted spiritual state is that distinguished, not by raptures and ecstasies, but by the perfect practice of the maxims of the Gospel, and the closest interior union with Jesus. Her piety was solid and practical, and in one of her letters to her son, we find the remark that she never could content herself with a devotion of mere sentiment and imagination. Our Lord, she said, assumed our nature, that He might become our Model. In every condition, we can imitate Him by the practice of His maxims, which not only discover to us what we have to retrench and correct in our lives and conduct, but also guide us to the means of accomplishing that difficult work of self-correction. Devotion that is not practical, seemed to her, she said, like an edifice built on moving sand.

She had a lively confidence in the Sacred Heart of our Lord, and always concluded the spiritual exercises of each day by recommending to the Eternal Father through Its infinite merits, the Church of Canada, the preachers of the Gospel, and her friends. Her evening prayers to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, are generally known and widely circulated not only in Canada, but in many other countries also, especially among Ursulines. For the benefit of those who may not be acquainted with them, we shall insert them at the end of the volume. She had a very particular devotion also to the ever adorable Trinity, and to the most precious Blood. Of her love for the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, it would be superfluous to speak. Her sentiments on the holy Communion may be epitomized in the one word, that "she wished her life could be one perpetual Communion." She was accustomed to say that she found in communion strength and support for her soul under all the trials and difficulties of life, and so sensibly did she experience its blessed effects, that it almost seemed as if for her the veil of the sacrament had been removed, and the hidden wonders of the mystery of love made manifest.

Among the saints, after their glorious Queen, she honoured St. Joseph and St. Francis of Paula. St. Joseph she had loved from childhood on account of his connection with our Lord and His Blessed Mother; her devotion had received a new impulse from the time when he was shown to her in her vision as the Patron of Canada. Her veneration for St. Francis of Paula originated in the family traditions, which told how when the saint came to France at the prayer of Louis XI, one of his escort from Italy was her great-grandfather, who in the fervour of his simple faith, frequently took his children to visit God's servant and receive his blessing. She loved to allude to the circumstance and no wonder, for there can be no doubt that a large share of that holy blessing had descended to herself, and many were the spiritual helps which she received from the saint in her progress through her pilgrimage. She had also a special devotion to the holy Angels.

The history of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation, has spoken for itself, it is therefore as unnecessary as it would be easy to multiply testimonies to her merits, both from contemporary and more recent writers, still, as it would be doing her an injustice to omit them altogether, we shall insert a very few among the large number at hand. Bishop Laval who knew her well, writes, "She was adorned with every virtue in an exalted degree, and eminently endowed in particular, with the gift of prayer and union with God. She was perfectly dead to self, living and acting only by the Spirit of Jesus. The Almighty having chosen her for the great work of founding the Ursuline Order in Canada, He granted her the plenitude of the spirit of that holy institute. She was an admirable Superior, an excellent guide for novices, and equally qualified for every other position in her community. Her life, externally ordinary, was interiorly divine, so that she was deservedly looked on by her Sisters as a living rule." The eulogy of Père Charlevoix is equally strong. After calling her "the Teresa of New France," he says, "History presents few women who can be compared with her, as none will deny who attentively study her life and writings. Such," he continues, "was the opinion of the most enlightened individuals of the age in which she lived; her most eloquent panegyrists were those who knew her best."

The Mother Cecilia of the Holy Cross, who had never been separated from her since they left Dieppe together on their way to Canada, declared that in the thirty-three years of their close companionship, she had never seen her transgress against meekness, patience, humility, charity, obedience or poverty, or omit an opportunity of practising these great religious virtues.

To Dom Claude Martin, Madame de la Peltrie wrote after her return from her expedition to Montreal, "I esteem myself happy and honoured in the privilege of living under the roof with the Mother of the Incarnation. If I survive her, I shall give you many particulars of her life which will call forth your gratitude to God. She is truly a chosen soul, precious in the eyes of the Lord. What I particularly admire in her, is her fidelity to the duties of common life, and the love which she evinces for those who treat her ill. She lives in great detachment from all but God; perfect abandonment to Providence; unalterable peace, and a constant interior recollection truly admirable. How happy I should be if I possessed the tenth part of her virtues!"

Announcing her decease to the monasteries of the Order in France, her Superior says, among other things, "Her death was the echo of her holy life, passed as it was in the continual practice of the most heroic virtues. Though Superior for eighteen years at different times, she was the most submissive in the house to the one who occupied the place in the intervals. Her exactitude to rule was perfect. Her humility persuaded her that she was unworthy to associate with her Sisters, whose every act of virtue she observed with admiration. Her zeal for the glory of God, far from having diminished with time, became at last a consuming fire. Her patience both in life and death was truly admirable."...

* * * * *

The tradition of her holiness passed from generation to generation, not only of the inmates of the monastery, but of the inhabitants of Quebec generally. Years served but to confirm the impression of her merits, and at last that impression took the form of one earnest, unanimous desire and prayer, that our holy Mother the Church would deign to gladden the heart of every Catholic in Canada, by admitting the Mother Mary of the Incarnation to a share in the public veneration which she allows to her canonized saints. Numerous postulatory letters to this effect were addressed to his late Holiness of saintly and venerated memory, Pope Pius IX, who after the usual delay, permitted the preliminary steps towards the Beatification. The cause was introduced on the 15th of September, 1877, when the Mother Mary of the Incarnation was honoured with the title of Venerable, the prelude, as we humbly trust, to one more glorious and exalted still. Among the postulatory letters is one which cannot be read without very particular interest. It bears the signature of the Huron Grand Chief, followed by that of the principal chiefs and warriors of the tribe.

"MOST HOLY FATHER,--The greatest of Fathers after Him who is in heaven, we are the least of your children, but you are the representative of Him who said, 'Suffer little children to come to me,' so we approach with confidence to prostrate at your feet.

"Most Holy Father,--We the chiefs and warriors of the Huron tribe, humbly present you a perfume of rich fragrance, composed of the virtues of the Reverend Mother Mary of the Incarnation. Deign, Holy Father, to offer it to God, that passing through your hands, it may more surely find acceptance in His sight.

"The Mother of the Incarnation called us from our forests, that she might teach us to know and adore the true Master of life. She took our hearts in her hand and placed them before the Eternal, as a basket of fruit of her own culling.

"Through her instructions we have learned meekness; wolves and bears have fawned on her; the angry roar of fury has been changed into the hymn of praise.

"Our mothers kissed the traces of her footsteps, and then signed our foreheads with the blessed dust, fruitful for eternity. With her own hands she impressed the sign of faith on our hearts, and it has never since been effaced. Thanks to her, we are able to read the books which recall her benefits. We ourselves could fill many books with testimonies of our respectful gratitude.

"She loved us with a human as well as a spiritual affection, so she is twice our mother.

"It is through her teaching, and for her sake, that we have renounced our native wilds, and come to live among our more civilized brethren. The Bear, the Wolf, the Goat, the Beaver and the Tortoise [Footnote: Appellations of the five principal families of the tribe.] will be henceforth chained to the sanctuary, and their occupation will be to celebrate the praises of the Master of life.

"Many moons have passed since that first dawning of the true light. Our once flourishing nation is on the eve of extinction, but,

"Most Holy Father, we beseech you to receive with the last prayer and last sigh of the Hurons, the assurance of their profound reverence for the Mother Mary of the Incarnation.

"The bones of our fathers will exult in their tombs, if your voice proclaims the eternal happiness of the Mother to whom we are indebted for our faith.

"She found among our women, virgins worthy of admittance to the sanctuary, and among our warriors, missioners and martyrs who will weave a crown for her in heaven. There remains to us only one drop of Huron blood, but if that could enrich the immortal crown of the Mother of the Incarnation, we would willingly bid it flow.

"Prostrate at your feet, Most Holy Father, we implore your benediction."

Then follow the sixteen signatures of the Grand Chief and his fellow petitioners.

The day on which the touching appeal of the Hurons shall be responded to, will gladden many a heart besides theirs.

Meantime, O Mother! we thank the Lord for the magnificent grace bestowed on thee, and for thy fidelity in corresponding with them. We thank Him for having given us in thee so glorious a model of religious perfection, and we pray that thy example may ever guide and thy spirit ever animate us. We beseech thee to watch from heaven over the Order which on earth thou didst love so well and adorn so brightly, and to obtain that no Ursuline may ever show herself unworthy of her exalted and cherished title of a daughter of St. Angela, and of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation.

APPENDIX.

On the 30th of April, 1833, more than a century and a half after the saintly death of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation, her precious remains were removed with due solemnity from the vault where they had long lain, to a place of greater honour in the choir of the Ursuline monastery. On the occasion of this translation, the vault was discovered to be quite full of water, and when the Venerable Mother's coffin was opened before being consigned to its new resting-place, it was seen by many witnesses to be also filled with the same clear crystal fluid. The circumstance was easily explained by the gradual filtration of water into the vault, whence it had penetrated into the leaden case through small openings in the soldering. But although the presence of the water could be thus simply accounted for, contact with the remains of God's holy servant had given it a manifest claim to special reverence; it was therefore cautiously drawn off, and has since been so carefully preserved, that although very generously shared with numerous petitioners for it, the supply is not yet quite exhausted. One sealed bottle of this water is kept for the admiration of posterity. The Almighty has been pleased to glorify Himself in His faithful servant, by permitting that it should become the instrument of many wonderful cures. [Footnote: In the History of the Ursuline Monastery of Quebec, published in 1866, the writer says: "Some years ago, a woman of the neighbourhood informed me that her daughter had been cured of a very serious affection of the eyes at the close of a Novena to the Venerable Mother, on each day of which, the water of the tomb had been applied to the diseased part. 'I have a little of the water left,' she added, 'and I would not give it up for any consideration. I have eight children dependent for support on my work; if one of them fell sick, what should I do? I could not fee a doctor, so my only resource is in the water.' Imagining that she attached the idea of some medicinal property to it, we hastened to assure her that it was only ordinary water, which derived its efficacy from the prayers of the Mother of the Incarnation, whom she had so fervently invoked. 'No, no,' she exclaimed, cutting short the explanation; 'it is not ordinary water; if it were, it would corrupt and diminish, but instead of that, it seems to me to increase. It is extraordinary water,' she said; 'it is holy water.' We left her under her agreeable impression," adds the narrator, "thinking that the prodigy had perhaps been permitted in recompense of her simple faith and confidence in our holy Mother."] We are not, however, to suppose that reliance on the prayers of the Mother of the Incarnation dates only from its discovery; confidence in her intercession has, on the contrary, ever kept pace with veneration for her memory, and this, we know, has never varied except to increase.

No account has reached us of the favours obtained through the mediation of the Venerable Mother, previous to the discovery of the water: whether an earlier record may have at one time existed, and been afterwards destroyed by fire or otherwise, is uncertain. Even of the favours received since 1833, no regular register was kept until 1867. In that year, Monseigneur Baillargeon, Archbishop of Quebec, appointed a commission to examine and test, according to canonical forms, all facts tending to demonstrate the sanctity of the Mother of the Incarnation. It then became matter of universal regret that so little publicity had been given to the prodigies wrought through her intercession: it would seem as if men's minds had become so familiarized with them from the frequency of their recurrence, that no one had hitherto thought of attracting general attention to them. On the occasion alluded to, however, the witnesses of the most recent were examined, and on their testimony, a considerable number were proved.

We extract a few from the long catalogue, for the honour of Him who is glorious in His saints, premising that we do not apply the epithet "miraculous," in its strict sense, to the occurrences about to be related, the Church having in her wisdom reserved to herself the right to pronounce definitively on miracles. We merely state facts certified by witnesses of unimpeachable character, leaving to the superior tribunal to decide as to their supernatural origin.

Miss Margaret Mary Gowan had completely lost the use of an arm for nearly a year previous to the opening of the tomb of the Mother of the Incarnation in 1833, and was cured after making a Novena to the Venerable Mother, and using the water of the tomb. She was then a boarder at the Ursulines, and is now a Sister of Charity in Quebec. This fact, adds the convent annalist, inspired great confidence in the efficacy of the water which we had just collected from the tomb with religious veneration.

A child of nine years of age, named Mary Adela Brunette, who had always been remarkable for delicate health, was seized on the evening of December 31, 1853, with pain in the eyes so violent as to deprive her of sleep. A few days later, a film was observed on both eyes, which it gradually overspread, the pain meantime retaining its first intensity. The child had not only to be confined to a room whence all light had been excluded, but moreover to wear a thick bandage across her eyes. So great were her sufferings, that her father often said he would infinitely rather see her dead, than witness them. For six months she had the best medical advice, but remedies seemed only to aggravate pain. To open her eyes, appeared an impossibility.

Towards the end of July, 1854, a friend proposed to the child's parents to pray for her cure through the intercession of the Venerable Mother of the Incarnation. The suggestion was at once adopted, the parents and several neighbouring families arranging to meet daily at the house of the little girl's uncle, a man remarkable for piety. The invalid was conducted thither on the first day with extreme difficulty, precautions having been taken to render her eyes absolutely inaccessible to the faintest ray of light. The next day, she asked to walk without support, taking care, however, to cling closely to her mother's side. Soon she could endure the light sufficiently to guide herself, was able to distinguish objects, and expressed surprise at some slight alterations which had been made in the house during the seven months of her illness. On the ninth day, one of her eyes was quite clear. Meantime, some of the water of the tomb had been procured; it was applied during a second Novena, and the result was the child's perfect restoration. She was not only free from pain, but able to bear the strongest sun-light.

The above particulars were given at Quebec, on the 3rd of June, 1862, by the young girl herself, and confirmed by her mother. She had then had no return of disease of the eyes; her general health was excellent, and her strength equal to any demand on it. She was so convinced of having been cured through heavenly intervention, that she preserved as a precious relic, the empty phial which had once contained the water of the tomb.

* * * * *

On the 22nd of December, 1862, Dr. Landry, an eminent physician residing at Quebec, gave the following testimony, renewed in presence of several ecclesiastics, in 1867:--

"In September, 1859, my daughter had an extremely violent attack of tic- douloureux in the left side of the face. The paroxysms recurred every two or three days, and lasted sometimes an hour, sometimes two or more. In November, the malady assumed a still more severe character, the paroxysms sometimes recurring twice in one day. Towards the end of December, the disease yielded to persevering medical treatment.

"On the 1st of February, 1860, the child entered the Ursuline Convent at Quebec, and the next day had a return of the malady, which continued without notable interruption until March 24th, the eve of the Annunciation. In this last stage of her illness, the attacks of pain were very frequent and very violent, numbering as many as four in a day.

"On the 16th of March, nine days before the feast of the Annunciation, one of the Sisters recommended her to beg the intercession of the Mother of the Incarnation in a Novena, in which the community and the pupils would unite. The paroxysms were violent, and of daily occurrence up to the second last day of the Novena, when the attack was comparatively light. This proved the last. From that moment she has had no return of the pain which for the previous six months had made her life a torture. This wonderful cure which has now lasted eight years, I can attribute only to the charitable and powerful intercession of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation."

* * * * *

Abridged TESTIMONY of the same DR. LANDRY, in 1862, relatively to the recovery of Mother St. Angela, an Ursuline Religious at Quebec.

"In 1859, my professional services were required by Mother Saint Angela, whose delicacy had been of long standing. She was suffering from a complication of diseases, and at the period referred to, was reduced to extreme exhaustion. The remedies resorted to, produced some slight improvement, but it proved only temporary, for, from the middle of February, 1862, her infirmities were so much aggravated, that she was obliged to keep her bed altogether. I had always looked on her as an incurable invalid, destined to wear out her life in broken health and constant suffering.

"At the beginning of May, of the same year, she told me that she felt better, and a few days later, declared to me by order of her Superior, that she was restored to health.

"I did not meet my former patient from that time, until the present date, November, 1862, when wishing to assure myself of her actual condition before writing the above report, I asked to see her. She had an appearance of strength which I had never before observed in her, and although retaining some slight traces of her former maladies, was now able, she assured me, to fulfil all her duties, and to partake of the ordinary fare of the community with good appetite. Her movements, once evincing extreme debility, were marked by the activity and animation of a healthy young person. Her recovery was too prompt, too complete, and too permanent, to admit of my attributing it to the remedies which I had prescribed."

* * * * *

The following is the account of the same wonderful cure given by Mother St. Anne, Assistant of the monastery, and a person of great experience in the care of the sick:--

"The ill health of Mother St. Angela was of many years' standing, but from 1848 to 1862, her sufferings and consequent weakness had so considerably increased, that she had at last been compelled to give up all the regular observances of the community, as well as the duties of her particular charge.

"As that of a confirmed invalid, her case seemed to the chaplain of the monastery, one peculiarly suited to manifest the power of the prayers of the Mother of the Incarnation. Accordingly, to the general surprise, he suggested that a Novena should be offered to the Venerable Mother for the patient's recovery. The pupils especially were amazed when asked to join. 'Our Mistress general, whom we have not seen for three months!' they exclaimed; 'as well ask for the resurrection of the dead! Why, she is but half-alive, and not young either!' To induce them to unite, they had to be reminded of the omnipotence of the Most High, to whom it is as easy to repair His works, as it was to create them;--reminded, too, that the worse the case, the greater would be the wonder of the cure, should it please God to grant it. Still, several remained incredulous, and though all prayed, many felt but little confidence.

"On the 22nd of April, a solemn Novena was commenced, and it terminated on the 30th, the anniversary of the death of the holy Mother. After Mass, the Mother Superior proceeded to visit the invalid, who had communicated in bed at an early hour, and unwilling to believe that she had not been cured, told her to rise. Mother St. Angela attempted to do so, but even with assistance, could not stand, and had no resource but to return to bed. 'You see, Mother,' she said, 'our good God wills me to remain in my present state. I had a great desire that my recovery should redound to the honour of the Mother of the Incarnation, but God's will be done! Let us think no more of recovery.' 'That is not my view of the subject,' replied the Mother Superior, as if suddenly inspired. 'You must begin another Novena to-morrow, asking our Venerable Mother to obtain for you at least sufficient health to fulfil the duties of your charge, and at the close of this Novena, you will assist at Mass, and communicate in the choir.' In all simplicity, the invalid commenced a second Novena on the 1st of May, again joined by all the Sisters and boarders. On the very first day, she felt well enough to resume the recitation of the Office. Appetite, sleep and strength rapidly returned; on the seventh day, she went down to the confessional, and on the ninth, heard Mass, and received Holy Communion in the choir, as she had been ordered. She immediately commenced a Novena of thanksgiving at the tomb of the Mother of the Incarnation, and before its close, had resumed all the regular observances, including very early rising, the fasts and abstinences prescribed by rule, and the chanting of the Divine Office. Surprised and overjoyed, the pupils entoned a triumphant 'Magnificat' for the recovery of their 'resuscitated Mother,' as they called her." During the two years which had elapsed since the cure, when the above statement was written, Mother St. Angela had had no necessity to omit a single community exercise, from four o'clock in the morning to nine at night. So perfect was her recovery, that she said her previous illness seemed to her only like a dream, adding that she felt no inconvenience from duties which had fatigued her when she was young and healthy, but was on the contrary ready to recommence them when completed. She called her restoration, a real resurrection, almost a transformation.

* * * * *

In the summer of 1862, Madame Joseph Latourneau of Quebec, was laid prostrate by a complication of maladies. Towards the middle of July, the danger became so imminent, that on taking leave of her one evening, the physician begged her husband to let him know in the morning whether she was still alive. There seemed so little hope of her passing the night, that several friends had assembled to assist, as they supposed, at her last moments. One of these visitors brought a little of the water of the tomb, and inquired of the invalid whether she had confidence in it. "Oh, yes!" she replied; "great confidence! Have I a chance of getting any of it? I am sure the holy Mother will cure me."--And in afterwards relating the circumstance, she said, "I began to weep, without knowing why, and felt an internal conviction, that I should be restored." She derived immediate benefit from the water, passed a better night, and the next day, the doctor pronounced her out of danger. During her convalescence, she kept a picture of the Venerable Mother continually before her, convinced, as well as the rest of her family, that she owed her restoration to health to the intercession of this powerful Advocate.

* * * * *

Madame Joseph Bélanger of Quebec gives the following details of a favour obtained through the same channel:--

A thick eruption had gathered over the upper part of her baby's lace, spreading gradually to the eyelids and closing the eyes, and still the physicians feared to venture remedies. Seeing that the disease threatened the mouth and ears, the mother became greatly alarmed. Her sister who had received a signal favour from the Venerable Mother, pressed her to use the water of the tomb with faith, telling her that she still possessed a few drops of it, and assuring her that the child would thus be restored, as she had been herself. The water was accordingly applied lightly and sparingly to the parts affected, and to the joy and admiration of the spectators, the malady appeared at once to change its character. After the third or fourth application, all traces of it had vanished, "as if by magic," said the grateful mother. This event occurred in 1862. When the above details were furnished, the little girl was about six years of age, and up to that period had not shown the least tendency to a renewal of the disease of her infancy.

* * * * *

October 31, 1862.--First Testimony to the cure of Sister Mary of Jesus, a Sister of Charity residing at Cacouma, one hundred and twenty miles from Quebec,--addressed to the Mother Superior of the Ursulines at Quebec.

"REVEREND MOTHER,--A thousand thanks for the small phial of water which you were kind enough to send me. As I wrote you, Sister Mary of Jesus was extremely ill on Friday; that evening she appeared so near death, that the prayers of the agonizing were said for her. She was unable to swallow the water, but no sooner had her lips been moistened with it, than she seemed to revive. The next day the physician found her out of danger to his great surprise. Join us in returning thanks to God and His faithful servant for this great favour.

"Sister MARY DE BON SECOURS, Assistant."

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Second Testimony, again addressed to the Mother Superior at Quebec:--

"For the information of all interested in the case, and for the glory of God in His saints, I declare and certify the following:--

"On the 31st of October, 1862, I administered the last sacraments to Sister Mary of Jesus, a Sister of Charity near Quebec, first because from my own observation, I considered her death inevitable, unless averted by miraculous interposition, and secondly, because the attending physician had assured me that he saw no chance of saving her life. To my certain knowledge, the Mother Superior of the convent exhorted Sister Mary of Jesus to ask for her cure through the intercession of the Mother of the Incarnation, in whom she had herself great confidence, after which, the apparently dying sister took a few drops of the water, spent a good night, and the next day, was so much better, that both, in the house and in the environs, her recovery was declared a miracle, attributable to the prayers of the Mother of the Incarnation. In faith of which, I have signed the present declaration on the 21st of May, 1867. "J. C. CLOUTIER, P.P. of Cacouma."

* * * * *

Elias Desharnais, a labourer at Stanfold had given himself a severe hurt, while engaged in mowing; the result was a long fit of illness, followed by utter incapacity for all laborious exertion. Two years after this accident, he was thrown from his horse, and so violently trampled, that he was taken up by the passers-by, senseless and apparently lifeless. For forty-eight hours, he remained unconscious, and during the seven or eight succeeding days, frequently relapsed into insensibility. After a time, he was able to walk, but he gained no strength, and every attempt to resume his work so aggravated his sufferings, that after each trial he was constrained to keep his bed for weeks. He had been in this infirm condition six years, when his sister informed him of a remarkable cure just wrought at the Ursuline Convent, Quebec, where she was herself a lay Sister, advising him also to apply for relief to their Benefactress, the Mother of the Incarnation. A first Novena not having produced any sensible improvement, the good religious sent him some of the water of the tomb, urging him to make a second Novena, and to endeavour to approach the Holy Communion at its conclusion. He made the Novena; applied the water to the stomach, the seat of suffering, and on the ninth day approached the holy table. His faith and hope were not frustrated. From that moment, every trace of his infirmity vanished, he went at once to his work, and having experienced no inconvenience from his first efforts, undertook and accomplished in person the heaviest part of the agricultural labours of the season,--mowing, reaping, saving the hay, storing the grain, &c. Two of his brothers having removed from home about this time, a double share of work devolved on him.' He laboured as vigorously and as unceasingly since, as he had done previously to his accident. Such is the testimony which he himself gave at the Ursuline Convent, on the 12th of November, 1866, having travelled from Stanfold to Quebec, for no other purpose than to make the statement, and declaring that he looked on the expense and fatigue of the journey as of little consequence, compared with the happiness of having thus slightly testified his gratitude to his heavenly Benefactress.

* * * * *

1864.--Madame Elzéar Vincent, a resident in Quebec, aged thirty, had suffered for seven weeks from pain in the knee. The inflammation spreading to the thigh, she was compelled to keep her bed and became quite incapable of moving. Miss Bilodeau, a former pupil of the Laval Normal school, having procured some of the water of the tomb for the patient, they both joined in a Novena to the Mother of the Incarnation. The first application of the water was followed by sensible relief. On the third day, the invalid was well, and able to resume her household duties.

* * * * *

On the 21st of October, 1867, Madame Chateauvert, of the suburb St. Louis, Quebec, declared that she believed herself indebted to the intercession of the Mother of the Incarnation for the preservation of her little girl, aged six weeks, during three of which she had suffered from violent convulsions. The same malady had already deprived Madame Chateauvert of four of her children, and the danger in the present case seemed all the more imminent, as the convulsions had set in earlier than with the other little ones. Towards the middle of July, 1867, the attack was so violent that the infant remained insensible for three hours. The water of the tomb was then applied to her temples; she immediately revived and from this first day of the Novena, had no return of the convulsions, but has enjoyed good health.

* * * * *

On the 20th of February, 1867, Mrs. Isaac Fullerton of Quebec presented herself at the Ursuline monastery to give the following account of her wonderful cure. She stated that for seven weeks, she had completely lost the use of her right hand, which was so swollen, especially in the finger joints, that she could neither open nor close it. The pain extended through the arm and shoulder. In addition, she had suffered all through the winter from an almost intolerable ear ache. Having heard of the water of the tomb, she sent for some: she also procured, a copy of the prayer [Footnote: See end of Volume.] "By the Heart of my Jesus," and began a Novena. At the first application of the water, she found her hand becoming supple, and made her husband observe the improvement. On the ninth day of the Novena, her arm and shoulder were perfectly free from the least pain or stiffness. But the ear ache had not yielded, and on the 9th of February, the day before her deposition, it had been very severe: a tumour had even formed during the preceding days on the upper part of the right ear. In the evening, her husband asked her why she did not try the water of the tomb, which would no doubt prove as efficacious in this ease, as it had done in the previous. The idea had not occurred to her before, and finding that a little remained in the phial she applied it to the ear. A momentary sensation of great heat all through the head was followed by total relief from suffering. "God be praised!" she exclaimed, "I am cured; I have no pain!" Her husband echoed her exclamation of surprise and joy, when on examining the ear, he found that even the tumour had disappeared. "I am now perfectly well," concluded Mrs. Fullerton; "entirely free from suffering, and with heartfelt gratitude I declare that it is to the prayer of the Mother of the Incarnation I am indebted for my cure."

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Miss Bilodeau, a teacher at Rivière Noire in the parish of St. Agapetus, made the following declaration on the 29th of August, 1867:--

"Towards the end of last May, a child of twelve, named Mary Côté, was brought to my school, with a request that I would prepare her for first communion and confirmation. She was conducted by her aunt, and walked with difficulty; her eyes appeared in a sad condition. I was informed that she had been blind since an attack of small-pox five years before, and that during that period she had endured a martyrdom, especially in winter, when the inflammation increased. Hoping that the disease was not as inveterate as it appeared, I begged her aunt to take her to the chapel, and help her to distinguish the altar and tabernacle, that she might the better understand future instructions on these subject, for I had been told that she had never even entered a church, her parents living at a considerable distance from the parish church, and not having a vehicle. Accordingly, she was led to the church, but on her return, I was assured she had discerned nothing, not even the conspicuous white statue of our Blessed Lady. I then examined her eyes more closely. I found the lids livid and bluish; close to the lashes, red and inflamed. In the eye itself, pupil, iris and cornea were alike undistinguishable; all that could be seen was a mass of red, white and black spots, frightful to behold. Both eyes were in the same condition. Dr. Morin had declared the case incurable; the parish priest of Gaspé, and two Trappiste Fathers who happened to pass that way, had expressed the same opinion, the last observing that only a miracle could restore sight so thoroughly diseased. 'Well,' I said to the child, 'I know a servant of God who can obtain this favour, if you pray to her very fervently.' I gave her a little of the water of the tomb, telling her to put a drop of it into her eyes every day, and to say daily also, three Paters, Aves, and Glorias, with the invocation 'Venerable Mother of the Incarnation, obtain my cure!' The first days of the Novena, her sufferings increased so much that she could scarcely support them. I told her not to be discouraged in consequence, for that this increase of pain proved the intervention of the Venerable Mother, and should only stimulate her to redouble her prayers, which she did. On the third or fourth day, she was taken to Mass by her aunt, and although in great pain, prayed with renewed ardour, asking the Mother of the Incarnation to let her see at least the statue of our Blessed Lady. Towards the end of Mass, she felt suddenly inspired to raise her eyes, and saw something white: it was the statue. As she afterwards said, the longer she looked at it, the clearer her vision became. In an ecstasy of delight and amazement, she began to describe to her aunt every thing she saw round the statue and on the altar. On leaving the church, she was subjected to various tests, which only resulted in rendering the miracle more manifest. Her eyes were free from pain and looked perfectly clear, except for a slight discoloration of the left, which however did not interfere with the vision, and soon disappeared. This event occurred on the 8th or 9th of June." On the 23rd of the following August, Miss Bilodeau gave the above details. Dr. Morin, to whom she presented the child, at once recognised his former patient, but could not comprehend the wonderful change visible in her. After a close examination, he declared that only a miracle could have wrought it. The next day he gave the following testimony: "I the undersigned, can certify on oath, that five years ago, I examined Mary Côté's eyes, and found that the small-pox had produced opacity of the cornea of both, or the disease called leucoma. I pronounced the case incurable, and refused in consequence to prescribe medical treatment. I certify that I re-examined the same little girl on the 4th of September, 1867, and that I cannot explain the cure of her eyes by natural causes. "CHARLES MORIN, M.D."

Mary Côté and her mother confirmed the above testimony at a later period.

* * * * *

CURE of MARGARET FOLEY, affected for four years and a half with deafness, 30th of April, 1868.

Margaret Foley was in her fourteenth year, when in September 1867, she was presented at the Ursuline day school to receive instruction for first communion. She had already been sent to three other schools for the same purpose, but her deafness had in each case proved an insuperable obstacle to the success of her teachers. It soon became apparent to her new instructresses, that the present trial must end like the preceding in total failure, therefore they recommended Mrs. Foley to withdraw her daughter.

When the immediate preparation for first communion was about to commence just before the Lent of 1868, some of the pupils mentioned Margaret Foley, and in the hope that her hearing might have somewhat improved in the interval, her mistresses sent for her, but unfortunately, they found no change in her state. Before the loss of her hearing, she had learned to read imperfectly, consequently she knew something of the text of her catechism, but nothing more. When the period of first communion drew near, one of her mistresses, not knowing what to do, proposed a Novena to the Mother of the Incarnation. Just nine days were to elapse before that of the first Communion, which by a happy coincidence occurred this year on the 30th of April, the anniversary of the death of the saintly Mother. Some of the water of the tomb was given to the little girl, with directions to put a drop of it every day into her ears. The nuns and pupils joined in the Novena, and all declared that it would indeed be a miracle if the poor child should recover her hearing. On Friday, April 24th, the day of the examination of the first communicants, Margaret prayed with renewed fervour before a picture of the Venerable Mother, which some one had given her. Her afflicted mother expected only the usual disappointment, and awaited with a sad heart her return from the convent. Suddenly she heard her bounding up the stairs; then saw her rush into the room, kissing her picture in transports of joy which admitted but of one explanation. She had heard the priest quite distinctly, she assured her mother, and hoped to be admitted to the heavenly Banquet. The excitement of her companions, and the gratitude of her teachers can be better imagined than described. On the 30th of April, the last day of the Novena, she made her first communion. She was visited by several of the sisters, those especially who had had personal communication with her during the period of her infirmity, and all recognised the wonderful nature of the cure. Mrs. Foley declared that for four years and a half, she had been able to communicate with her only by signs.

* * * * *

On the 10th of January, 1870, Clément Chaillé of Cap Santé declared that his mother, aged seventy-three, had in the preceding August been cured of a cancerous tumour in the nose, which, having resisted all remedies, disappeared on the application of the water of the tomb.

* * * * *

On the 15th of March, 1877, Miss Fortier, a pupil of the Laval Normal School, Quebec, deposed that her brother Emilius Fortier, eighteen years of age, and subject for two years to epileptic fits, had been cured the preceding September by a Novena to the Venerable Mother, and the use of the miraculous water. The young man, who had been compelled to give up his college course on account of his terrible malady, was then so completely cured, that his father had written to re-engage his place for the next year.

* * * * *

Our limits will not permit us to dwell at greater length on the bodily cures effected through the intercession of the Mother of the Incarnation: the number is so great, that even an imperfect list would fill many pages. The same may be said of the favours obtained through her prayers in the spiritual and moral order, on which, in like manner, we shall touch but lightly. The following are but a few among the many instances of such, which might be recorded:--

Deploring the decline of practical piety in the parish where she resided, a school teacher of remarkable virtue determined as the first step to improvement, to introduce devotion to the Mother of the Incarnation. For this purpose, she began by circulating copies of the Venerable Mother's prayers to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, to which we have so often alluded. She besought the holy Mother to interest herself in the great work of the reformation of the people, and as a preliminary, to give some striking manifestation of the power of her intercession with God: The prayer was heard; the impression produced by a few wonderful cures, led to conversions, and before long, a missionary bore public testimony to the marked change which had taken place in the locality since the introduction of devotion to the Mother of the Incarnation.

* * * * *

A young person charged with a school composed of children of both sexes, found herself constantly surrounded with difficulties of all kinds, but it was her invariable habit to place her troubles in the hands of the Mother of the Incarnation, and she found abundant reason to congratulate herself on having adopted the plan. Whether she had to contend with annoyances from parents, and insubordination from pupils, or whether she had to solve scientific questions beyond her capacity, her powerful Patroness brought her safely through every embarrassment. She had become so accustomed to her charitable intervention, that she counted on it as a matter of course. We shall cite but one instance. A grown lad one day asked the solution of a very difficult problem in arithmetic, required for the following day. Now the poor teacher's arithmetic was one of her weak points; she had never seen the rules on which the given question bore, and had not the remotest idea how to set about her task, so as usual, she had recourse to her unfailing refuge, the Mother of the Incarnation, representing to her that without her assistance, she must infallibly lose her reputation as a teacher, and as a consequence, her moral influence over her pupils. Having finished the day's duties, she retired tranquilly to rest, quite convinced that by some means or another, her difficulties would be removed. When she awoke on the following morning, the answer to the problem was as clearly traced on her mind, as if it had been written on paper before her eyes. She had but to copy the formula on a slate, as she would have copied from a text book on the subject, and then she was ready to meet, and to satisfy her questioner.

There have been instances of visible protection accorded by the Venerable Mother to persons wearing her picture or one of her relics;--instances of the conversion of the victims of intemperance, and of other obdurate sinners for whom her prayers had been invoked;--instances of disunited families reconciled, pecuniary embarrassments relieved, and temporal affairs brought to a happy issue by being recommended to her charity.

Nor is it only in Quebec, or even in the New World, that the fruits of her intercession have been experienced; on the contrary, wherever appealed to, the result has been the same.

"Among the great number of applicants to the Mother of the Incarnation," says a letter from Three Rivers, "all, it is true, do not obtain the cures they pray for, but the good Mother never fails to procure them something better. I do not recollect," continues the writer, "having ever met a single person who had recourse to her intercession and was not satisfied with the result. Some come to tell us joyfully, that they have received the favours they petitioned for; others recognise that it is for their advantage to suffer, since the Mother has not obtained their recovery. Those who have received only partial relief, are contented with it and seem to desire no more."

In whatever other light the preceding facts are viewed, they must at least be looked on as so many "heavenly messengers" assuring us of the love and protection of our saintly Mother, and as such, must necessarily confirm our confidence in her power, and intensify our gratitude for her favours.

"Sing to the lord a new canticle: let His praise be in the church of the saints."--(Ps. cxlix l.)

EVENING PRAYER OF THE VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF THE INCARNATION, IN HONOUR OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.

By the Heart of my Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, I approach Thee, O Eternal Father. By this Divine Heart, I adore Thee, for those who do not adore Thee; I love Thee for all who do not love Thee; I acknowledge Thee as my God, for all the wilfully blind, who through contempt refuse to acknowledge Thee. By this Divine Heart, I desire to pay Thee the homage which all Thy creatures owe Thee. In spirit I go round the wide world, in search of the souls redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. I present them all to Thee through Him, and by His merits I ask for their conversion. O Eternal Father! wilt Thou permit them to remain in ignorance of my Jesus? Wilt Thou suffer that they should not live for Him who died for all? Thou seest, O heavenly Father! that they live not yet; grant them then life, by this Divine Heart. Through this adorable Heart, I present Thee all who labour for the extension of the Gospel, that by its merits, they may be replenished with Thy Holy Spirit.

On it, as on a Divine Altar, I present to Thee especially...........

Thou knowest, O Incarnate Word, my adorable Saviour! that all that I would ask Thy Father by Thy Divine Heart, by Thy Holy Soul. I ask it of Thee, when I ask it of Him, because Thou art in Thy Father, and Thy Father is in Thee. Deign together to hear my prayer, and to make the souls whom I present to Thee, one with Thee. Amen.

EVENING PRAYER OF THE VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF THE INCARNATION IN HONOUR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.

O Divine Spouse of my soul! what return shall I make Thee for Thine excessive charity towards me? I give Thee thanks through Thy Blessed Mother. I offer Thee her Immaculate Heart, as I offer Thy Sacred Heart to Thy Father. Suffer me to love Thee by that holy Heart which loved Thee so tenderly; to offer Thee that body which served Thee, that virginal Sanctuary which Thou didst deign to inhabit. I offer it in thanksgiving for Thy benefits; I offer it for the amendment of my life, for the sanctification of my soul, and to obtain the grace of final perseverance in Thy service and love.

(Name particular intentions. )

I thank Thee, my Jesus, that Thou wert pleased to choose this most Holy Virgin for Thy Mother. I thank Thee for having granted her the graces suited to this great dignity, and for having deigned to give her to us for our Mother. I adore the instant of Thine Incarnation, and venerate each moment Thou didst spend as a Wanderer on earth. I thank Thee for the example of Thy Divine virtues; the merit of Thy labours and the effusion of Thy precious Blood. I wish to have neither life nor movement but in union with Thine. Purify my impure and imperfect life, by the purity and perfection of Thy Divine life, and by the holy life of Thy Immaculate Mother. Amen.

A SLIGHT SKETCH OF THE OLD MONASTERY OF QUEBEC

FOUNDED BY THE VENERABLE MOTHER OF THE INCARNATION AND MADAME DE LA PELTRIE, AND GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBED IN THE HISTORY OF THE URSULINES.

The Ursuline Convent of Quebec, built two hundred and forty years ago, and since then, twice rebuilt and vastly enlarged, occupies an area of six acres in the centre of the Upper Town. It is situated on a commanding eminence, almost entirely surrounded by gardens; its secluded inhabitants can, therefore, freely enjoy, from their upper apartments, the views of unrivalled beauty which encompass the city.

To give the reader some idea of the ever increasing prosperity of this favoured establishment, we shall here insert the statistics of its cloistered population within the last eighty years. At the beginning of the present century, the community was composed of 40 professed members-- 27 of the Choir, and l3 Lay Sisters; added to these were 6 or 7 Novices. The boarders and half-boarders amounted together to upwards of 60, and were united under the same teachers for the study of both the French and English languages. This arrangement was, indeed, a matter of necessity, as there were at the time but two young novices to direct the English classes, Rev. Mother M. Louise McLoughlin of St. Henry, afterwards one of the most efficient Superiors of the house, and Rev. Mother M. Doherty of St. Augustine, who died Mistress of the Novices in 1813.

From the date of the foundation, the day-school pupils had been far more numerous than the boarders, steadily increasing with the progress of the city. At the commencement of the century, two hundred children attended, although no little "Exiles of Erin" had yet augmented their scores. As the Irish element, however, began to intermingle with the population of Quebec, very many of these children made their way to the Ursulines for religious instruction, and soon their numbers increased so amazingly, that in 1824 a day school was opened for them by their zealous teachers, under the auspices and with the aid of the great and good Bishop Plessis, who so dearly loved his adopted Irish flock. From this period especially, the number of French and Irish day pupils augmented very considerably, usually amounting to upwards of 350. For their accommodation, the house formerly occupied by the Foundress was rebuilt and enlarged in 1836.

In 1825 the community was composed of 46 professed Religious, from whom 130 boarders and half-boarders received their education. Here the progress of the institution continues very striking, for in 1855 the community included 56 professed Religious, 38 of whom were Choir Sisters, 18 Lay Sisters, and 10 Novices. At the same date the boarding-school contained 230 pupils, including half-boarders. At the present time, (June, 1880,) the community numbers 62 professed Choir Nuns and 24 Lay Sisters, with 6 white-veiled Novices and 5 Postulants--in all, 97 members. During this last mentioned period, the Boarders' Academy has greatly increased, amounting at times to upwards of 370.

The Normal School Boarders' or Young Teachers' Academy, founded in 1857 by the munificence of the Canadian Government, under the auspices of the Right Rev. Archbishop and the clergy, included at first but 40 pupils. These also having increased in due proportion with the rest of the establishment, now number 60 young students, under the direction of Rev. P. Lagacé, fourth Principal. They receive instruction from their own Professors as well as from the Nuns, and constantly attend the day school, to learn from the Mistresses there engaged the difficult art of teaching.

The vast alterations and improvements in the original buildings were effected at various periods and, necessarily, at great expense. Under the direction of Rev. Mother St. Henry, twenty-second Superior, the spacious classes of St. Ursula were erected in 1830. In 1836, under the direction of Rev. Father Maguire, third Resident Chaplain, the large wing facing Parlor Street was built to accommodate the increasing number of pupils. While Mother St. Gabriel, twenty-fifth Superior, held office, the fine building of Notre Dame de Grace was constructed. A few years later, Rev. Mother Isabella McDonnell of St. Andrew still further enlarged the Convent buildings by the addition of another wing containing the boarders' parlour, reception hall, and music rooms. Later again, in 1873, Rev. Mother St. Mary, being twenty-seventh Superior, the beautiful north wing, dedicated to the Venerable Mother of the Incarnation, was built, and various other improvements also effected with success. Rev. Mother G. Van Felson of St. George, twenty-eighth Superior, laboured with the skill of an artist to embellish the chapel and various other departments.

Since the foundation of the house, 29 Superiors have governed it with wisdom and ability. Of this number, five were French ladies, one English, one Scotch, and one Irish, the present Superior, Rev. Mother E. Tims of St. Catherine, being a native of the Isle of Saints; the others were all natives of Canada.

During the last 240 years, 319 professed Religious have successively enjoyed in the old cloister the blessings of a life dedicated to the service of God and the welfare of society. Among these a great many survived to very old age, a favour which seems also to be granted to the Resident Chaplains. Rev. Father Lemoine, the present Chaplain, who has already spent a quarter of a century in the Institution, is, like his worthy predecessor, Rev. Father Maguire, entitled to all praise and gratitude for his untiring devotedness lo its prosperity. A lasting proof of this will be found in the "History of the Ursulines of Quebec," published under his direction in the years 1863-66, and in which his intelligent aid was so generously given to the annalists.

BY AN URSULINE OF QUEBEC.