CHAPTER X.. The Private and Social Virtues of Sister Bourgeois.

THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL VIRTUES OF SISTER BOURGEOIS.

After what has been already related, it might appear that the labors of Sister Bourgeois were happily ended by the establishment of her Congregation. She had a flourishing institute at Montreal, and a fervent and numerous community, that was well prepared to meet the future exigencies of the diocese, and to supply new missions (when such were needed) with holy and capable subjects. It is true there was still no properly authorized or approved rule, but she had the necessary formulas, which were strictly observed, while expecting the time appointed by Divine Providence for ecclesiastical approbation, and she felt interiorly assured that this would come. She had given her daughters an example of the most heroic virtues, most of her actions being really of the heroic order, and such as might have been expected from a daughter of predestination. In every sense of the word, she had a truly great soul. In the routine of daily life, she was to her Sisters a perfect model. She gave them frequently instructions suitable to their strength, and proper to excite their zeal and fervor in the duty of a community life to which they aspired. We will now see, or rather admire, her extraordinary love of suffering, which very few could imitate.

The Lord gives a cross to every one of us. He spares none of His servants, and she had crosses of all sorts to endure, interiorly and exteriorly suffering the most intense pain of body and mind. The former she often inflicted on herself, the latter was appointed by Divine Providence, and of each she had a larger share than falls to the common lot. Without referring again to the long and painful voyages she undertook for the glory of God, or to the penitential and mortified life of which she made profession, it is well known that, like the Apostle, she constantly endured in soul and body the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Her food was always of the coarsest kind, and she selected invariably for herself whatever was disagreeable to the taste. In the matter of eating she absolutely destroyed sensuality, either by using her food too hot or too cold, or spoiling its flavor by pouring water on it, or mixing it with ashes, or a certain bitter powder, with which she always kept herself supplied. She ate little, and drank less, using water but once a day, and never in sufficient quantity to allay her thirst, even in the hottest weather. She even managed to sit at her meals in a painful and mortified position, being careful to pass every moment of her life in the practice of mortification. She usually prayed prostrate on the ground. Her ordinary bed was the floor, with a block of wood for her pillow. She regarded it as a criminal indulgence, if sickness obliged her to use a mattrass or straw pillow. Her sleep was short and broken, as she rose usually about midnight to pray for at least two hours, and during the intense cold of the most severe Canadian winters she never omitted this practice. She seemed to be insensible to the biting frost, as she never approached the fire in the cold season, and endured the inconveniences of the other seasons with the same indifference to bodily comfort. She scourged her body with rude disciplines, and one cannot describe without a sensation of horror, the cap, bristling with sharp points, that she wore secretly on, her head night and day. The Sisters once accidentally saw this instrument of torture, and begged her to discontinue its use, but she smilingly told them, it caused her no more pain than a feather pillow should.

On another occasion, having been implored by the Sisters to moderate the rigor of her austerities, in order to prolong her life for the sake of the community, she answered them by an instruction on the Christian's obligation of leading an austere and penitential life, and so pathetic were her words that the Sisters burned with a desire to imitate her example.

At last her confessor was obliged to forbid such excessive austerities, and she submitted, so far as exterior mortification went, but she practised interior mortification more ardently than before. That is, she kept a stricter guard over her senses, thwarted more frequently her natural inclinations, and endeavored by every means in her power to keep herself always in the presence of God. But as if her divine Master made light of these penitential exercises, He sent her a more terrible trial than any she had yet endured.

In the year 1689, the devil, jealous of the tranquillity with which she submitted to the decrees of Divine Providence, in the midst of crosses that seemed to multiply daily around her, gave her to understand by the pretended visions of another, that she was in a state of damnation, and at emnity with God. These awful words, or rather this frightful idea, made such an impression on her, that during four years she was not able to banish it from her imagination, being, however, less troubled at the apprehension of the pains of hell, than at the idea of being hated by God, whom she loved with her whole heart. During the long continuance of the temptation she multiplied her prayers, though prayer no longer consoled her, and her penances, though she felt a secret horror for them. Yet she blindly submitted to the guidance of her director, for whom, however, she felt more aversion than confidence. Nothing consoled her. She had to be compelled to receive Holy Communion, of which she believed herself unworthy, and from which she abstained for a considerable time. Only those who have passed through a similar ordeal can judge of her state of mind at that time, or form any idea of what she suffered. But in order to be more explanatory, it will again be necessary to refer to the Memoirs.

As has been already stated, on her second return from France she found herself surrounded by more than forty aspirants to the religious state, who led most humble and penitential lives yet though all were very fervent, all were not equally strong, either in body or mind, and the health of many among them visibly declined, so that it became necessary to set bounds to their austerities, especially as they were not yet under the guidance of an approved rule, which of its own nature would have prevented indiscreet excesses. A mitigation of penitential practices was therefore openly and undisguisedly advocated but Sister Bourgeois, all charitable and submissive as she was, did not relish these suggestions--fearing that a door would be opened to relaxation. She had already reproached herself bitterly for the consent reluctantly given to the building of the first large house for the community, and, notwithstanding the lapse of years, she still regarded its erection as contrary to the spirit of poverty, humility, and mortification they would have preserved in the stable which had been the cradle of the Congregation.

"The grand building brought in its train," she said, "drapery and mattresses--delicate food and fine furniture--and so many other fine things that there was no room left for holy poverty."

Her apprehensions for the future were a species of martyrdom to her, and a difference of opinion was the commencement of all her mental anguish, as after that period we find her Memoirs filled with painful reflections. In 1677 a young person presented herself for admission, who was unfit for any duties except out-door employment, and Sister Bourgeois refused to receive her. The refusal, however, was contrary to the desire of any of the Sisters, although it was approved of by ecclesiastical superiors. The Foundress, writing of the circumstance, says: "From that time I think the Sisters lost confidence in me, and I lost the liberty of speaking of such matters to them."

This was a sad position for a superior who believed God's work would suffer by a real or supposed lack of confidence. It will be remembered she was engaged for two entire years in the task of procuring new subjects, together with the letters patent for the institute, and during that time the signal favors she received from both God and man gave her much consolation. But no sooner had she returned to Ville-Marie than she was replunged into sorrowful embarrassments, as she noticed that what seemed to her to be relaxations had crept in. She attributed the fire of 1683, and the deaths of her two best subjects on that occasion, to her own sins, and overwhelmed with these ideas, her life became a sad and pensive one.

She was also firmly persuaded (in her deep humility) that she was unworthy and incapable of governing the rising Congregation. So persuaded was she of it, that she frequently asked the Sisters to accept her resignation, but as they justly attributed her request to an over-scrupulous conscience, they refused to acquiesce. She then reproached herself with infidelity to her vocation in seeking to be released from the burden of superiority, as she had often promised Almighty God that, come what would, she should never abandon His work. Sometimes pride whispered that she was quite useful in the position she occupied. At other times she felt convinced that others could discharge the duty better. Always disquieted, always agitated, she knew not what to do. In this state of desolation, she lost confidence in her directors, who she supposed, did not understand her. The only consolation she experienced was an absolute submission to the orders of Divine Providence, and a firm confidence that God would at last arrange all things well for His greater glory. And so things were arranged, indeed, but in such a manner that this spouse of the Crucified had to drink to the dregs the saving chalice of affliction, and taste in her inmost soul all its bitterness.

She had now labored for a quarter of a century in the exercise of all sorts of good works. Her body was lacerated by the rudest austerities. She was a martyr to mental anxiety, and had but one beacon-light during her long spiritual darkness, viz., the certainty that she loved God and was loved by Him. Nevertheless her chalice was not yet full. In 1689, on the night of November 3d, one of the Sisters remained up long after the others had retired to rest. Suddenly a Sister who had died about sixteen months before stood before her (as she affirmed), and said slowly and distinctly, "I am sent by God to warn the superior of this Congregation that she is in mortal sin," naming at the same time the person who was the cause of her guilt. The astonished listener related the apparition to Sister Bourgeois, who regarded it as the wanderings of a diseased imagination. But two months after, January 3d, 1690, the deceased again appearing to the same Sister, said, "The superior has not done what she ought to do; it is the last warning I can give her, for I am now going to Paradise," and so saying, disappeared. The visionary (for as such, only should she be regarded) went again to inform the Foundress of what had transpired, and at this second blow the poor superior succumbed, appearing to be indeed stricken by the anger of God. It seems strange that her strong mind could be deceived, even for a season. Perhaps her great age made her more susceptible to the influence of an asserted vision, than she would have been at an earlier period of life. To declare that she was at enmity with God, was to inflict a grievous wound on her heart, and this warning reduced her almost to a state of despair. She felt that she was a reproach among her Sisters. She dared not speak to them, and hardly raised her eyes before them. The Sacraments she regarded with extreme repugnance, believing that they had hitherto been useless to her, and that her receiving them now would be profanation. It happened, however, by the dispensation of God, that her director was a wise and skilful ascetic, who narrowly watched the operations of grace in her soul, and treated her accordingly, and as she blindly followed his directions during the time of trial, she daily sanctified herself more and more.

It was at this precise period that M. de St. Vallier came to Montreal for the first time, and the humble Sister frankly acquainted him with her state of mind and its consequences, asking him very earnestly to appoint another Sister in her place, in order that things might work well and confidence be restored. However, the Bishop did not consent to her resignation then, hoping that her pain of mind would soon disappear. But on his return to Montreal, in 1693, he found matters still in the same state, and consented to a first election in the Congregation, presiding on the occasion himself. Sister Marie Barbier of the Assumption was elected superior, to the satisfaction of the whole community, and above all of Sister Bourgeois herself, who, being at last relieved of the responsibilities of superior, hoped soon to regain her long-lost peace of mind, and so it happened. For in January of the next year, 1694, being just four years from the time she was first warned of her eternal damnation, she felt a distinct conviction in her soul that she was fully reconciled with God. And all her pain of mind disappeared. This interior light, however, only determined her to labor still more earnestly for the glory of God and the maintenance of regular observances. She was a member of the council of the new superior, but the honor of the position caused her much disquiet, as she never ceased to assert that it was on account of her sins the former austerities of the house had partly fallen into disuse. The change of superiors had not in the least diminished the esteem of the Sisters for her, who had been so long their faithful mother in God, and they omitted no opportunity of testifying their esteem, which affectionate attention was doubtless agreeable to her kind heart. In order to tranquilize her mind, and on account of her great age, they judged it expedient to dispense her from attending at the public exercises of the community, leaving the infirmary entirely at her disposal, where she might occupy herself with some light work, as much for recreation as employment. She obeyed without reply, and it may not be uninteresting to hear what she thought of her exile, as she called it. The Memoir says:

"Although charged, conjointly with my Sisters, to watch over the welfare of the house, I knew nothing of what passed in it. For four years I occupied myself with a little sewing, remaining all the time in the infirmary. I slept there, took my meals there, on account of my great age, they said, and that I might be a companion for Sister Crolo, who could no longer go to the refectory. I held no conversation with the Sisters, very rarely went to our chapel, as we of the infirmary could easily hear Mass from our apartment, it being so constructed as to open directly fronting the altar. Yet my former disquiet returned, and I knew not what to determine on, because I could not divest myself of the idea that God required greater perfection from the community than I saw practised in it. It is true they tried to console me by asserting that all was well, and that I might set my mind at rest. I answered them nothing, but I could not conceal from myself that relaxation existed, and that I was the cause of it. I suffered more in this perplexity of mind than I can ever explain." She sighed sadly during her stay in the infirmary, until it pleased God to let peace again dawn upon her soul, by imparting to her a spirit of sensible and tender devotion, and by permitting her to return to the ordinary way in living in her institute during the few remaining years of her life. On the night of July 5th, 1697, as she was meditating on the means of repairing the faults of which she believed herself guilty, a thought, as distinct as a voice, told her she was the Jonas of the Congregation, and that like him, she deserved to be cast into the sea. To this interior voice she could only reply that she was willing to do all in her power to contribute to the glory of God, and do his will. Then the strange inspiration ceased, but on the following night it returned more strongly and vividly than at first, making her understand, like Samuel in the temple, that God had spoken; that it was time to renounce the ideal perfection which tormented her, and that a blind obedience to her directors was her only remedy. She therefore opened her heart to the confessor of the community, M. de Valens, and also to M. Caillen, pastor of Ville-Marie, who decided on sending her to her superior, there to disclose all the anxious thoughts that agitated her soul, and speak of whatever she conceived to be for the welfare of the Congregation. The docile Sister did as directed, and in order to give her useful and practical occupation, the superior told her to write what the Holy Spirit would inspire for the guidance of the institute she had so happily founded. These precious manuscripts are replete with lessons of divine wisdom, and it is from their pages her children still select the beautiful instructions and maxims that keep her spirit alive among them. Her heart being thus freed from its silent agony, she found herself at last completely delivered from the torture she had so long endured, her only desire, for the three remaining years of her life being to exhibit a model of the social and community virtues she had taught to others for more than 50 years. Nor was it only at this late period of her life she had resolved to resign the office of superior, for in 1680, before making her third voyage to France to procure rules for her institute, she had earnestly and tearfully asked the Sisters to elect another in her place, alleging her unfitness and unworthiness. What must have been her astonishment, to hear all exclaim as with one voice and without a moment's hesitation, that they had chosen the Mother of God for their superior, and Foundress; that they should ever regard her as their first Mother in time and in eternity, but begged Sister Bourgeois to continue her government under the protection of their common Mother, to whose love and service she and they were alike pledged. In consequence of this unanimous choice, the holy Foundress, prostrating herself with the whole community before the statue of the Blessed Virgin, addressed to her impromptu, the following prayer:--

"O holy Virgin, behold this little band of your servants, who have consecrated themselves to the service of God under your protection, who wish to follow your example, as good children follow their earthly mother's, and who regard you as their cherished Foundress, and first Superior. We hope that the good God agrees with our election, and gives you the absolute government of this Congregation, which is your work. We have nothing to present to God, but we hope through your means, to obtain all the graces necessary for our salvation and the perfection of our state, You know best what is necessary for us, and what we now ask is, that you will never refuse us your assistance. Help us by your all powerful intercession to receive the light of the Holy Spirit, that we may be enabled to labor efficaciously for the education and religious instruction of our pupils, according to our profession. But above all things we ask, dear Lady and Mother, that our successors and those who contribute to their spiritual advancement, may be of the number of the elect, so that in your glorious society we may all praise our good God during a happy eternity." It was therefore the Blessed Virgin who was elected first Superior of the Congregation. What a grand motive of Faith this afforded to the succeeding superiors, who, believing that they held the place of Mary herself, were all the more strictly bound to advance the spiritual perfection of their subjects, especially in the practice of holy obedience. It was only on this condition that Sister Bourgeois consented to the desire of her daughters, that she should continue to govern them as assistant, their and her principal superior being the queen of Heaven. However, when she returned from France in 1684, as before stated, she again solicited the Sisters to elect a new superior, and so eager was her desire that the Community held one chapter for the purpose, in which nothing was decided, the suffrages being equally divided between two candidates, who were each remarkable for the most sublime virtue. That same night, while the matter was still pending, the fire broke out, and both Sisters perished in the flames. Seven years later, the Foundress brought up the matter again, as there was an excellent subject on the mission at Quebec, who was well calculated to discharge the duties of Superior. This was Sister Anne Verand, one of the first members, and the same who had ten years before commenced the mission of "The Holy Family" with Sister Assumption. All eyes were turned upon her as the new superior, but as she was then ill at Quebec, the community directed her to return home, hoping that her health would soon be re-established, and that she would then fill the position intended for her. She returned promptly, although in a dying condition, and went to receive the reward of her obedience and pious labors a few days after. By her unexpected death, all her plans were a second time upset. If these occurrences may not be reckoned among the marvellous or supernatural, they are at least very singular. For the next two years, the Sisters carefully abstained from commenting on these strange events before Sister Bourgeois, but she had no idea of desisting from her importunities, and in September, 1693, again assembled the community on the all-important subject of an election. Having previously obtained the consent of M. de St. Vallier, she publicly resigned her office in the manner required by the constitutions, although they were not yet canonically approved, and read with a strong clear voice, the following written declaration:

"There is no longer any doubt that I am a great sinner, who has not been faithful to the sacred duty so lovingly confided to me. I deserve the pain of mind I suffer, because my criminal relaxations have extended even to you. I humbly ask your pardon, and beg the succor of your prayers. Remedy this state of things now, as much as may be, by changing the superior, and let her, whoever she may be, see that even the least rules are carefully observed, otherwise the members of the community will be no better than seculars leading Christian lives. Renew, then, in yourselves the spirit that you ought to have, that is, poverty, humility, obedience, and an entire abandonment of yourselves into the hands of God." It has been related already that Sister Assumption was elected superior in her stead. So it will not be necessary to revert again to the fact. It was by direction of this superior the Foundress wrote the beautiful instructions and maxims that have always been regarded as the richest inheritance of her spiritual children. Yet some of her instructions were not suited to every grade of intellect, the perfection they inculcated being so sublime that a few were frightened, and as timid and indiscreet souls are to be found everywhere, there was one in the young Congregation, who dared to say to Sister Bourgeois, that it was useless for her to try to establish such extraordinary perfection among the the Sisters as was suited to herself alone, and that being no longer superior, she was not answerable before God for the pretended relaxations of which she complained. This remark was stinging, and to the point.

Yet the holy Foundress was not at all offended by it. It was for her a message sent from heaven, and she received it with unfeigned humility, determining to write nothing in future that could displease the lowliest of the Sisters. We quote from her manuscript on the occasion:

"The members of our Congregation should live in the most perfect union, in imitation of the early Christians, under the direction of the Blessed Virgin. We should have but one heart and one soul in God, as without this concord we would not be truly a community. The Holy Spirit that animates us is a spirit of simplicity, poverty, disengagement from all things, and the most entire abandonment to God."