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JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY
Donated by
The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province
from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor
University of
St. Michael s College, Toronto
HOLV
LIFE
OF
CARMELITE OF TOURS
Written lay Herself.
ARRANGED AND COMPLETED WITH THE AID OF HER LET
TERS AND THE ANNALS OF HER MONASTERY
BY M. L ABBfi JANVIER,
Director of the Priests of the Holy Face.
WITH THE APPROBATION OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENC
REVISED EDITION.
1884
HOLY
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the Office
of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, in
the year 1883.
PEEFACE.
The life which we are now about to offer
the public, will undoubtedly be acknowledged
to be one of the most remarkable that has ap
peared in our century. A poor, simple seam
stress chosen as the mediator between the
anger of a justly offended Grod and the sins of
a guilty, ungrateful people : the heavenly
ambassadress to one of the mighty courts of
the world : the recipient of the most astonish
ing revelations : and all this in our days ! Is it
possible that visions, ecstasies and revelations
are the lot of mortals of the nineteenth cen
tury ? Do these not rather belong to the days
of the prophets, of the apostles ? Sit Nomen
Domini benedictum ! May the Name of the Lord
be blessed ! His arm is not shortened, nor his
holy spirit mute in our day more than in
times gone by. The life of this generous
spouse of Christ is only one of the many proofs
that his Church is now, as it ever has been,
IV PREFACE.
holy : holy in her doctrine, holy in her minis
ters and holy in her children.
In obedience to her superiors, Sister Mary
St. Peter writes her own life, the charm of
which lies in its childlike simplicity. Her
humility and her obedience shine forth in every
line, producing the most wonderful fruits of
generosity and zeal for the salvation of souls.
What a heroic mission was hers ! To establish
Eeparation in the Church ; to vindicate the
honor due to the most Holy Name of G-od.
And with what admirable generosity, untiring
zeal and devotedness without reserve, has she
not delivered herself to the Spirit of the Most
High, to be a docile instrument in his hand
for the glory of his Name, and the consolation
of his Holy Face !
It is to you, children of Erin, whom the
iron heart of the usurper has driven from your
green hills and fertile valleys, to you who have
braved the perils of the deep, the dreary exile
in the midst of a strange people, to you who,,
in the midst of trials and dangers, of difficul
ties and hardships whose name is legion, you
who have gloriously surmounted every ob
stacle and have succeeded in planting the
faith from ocean to ocean, from the ice-bound
shores of the Canadas, to the zephyr-fanned
PREFACE. Y
plains of Mexico, it is to you to uphold the
glory of the Name of the Most High ; to teach
your children to honor this most Holy Name,
to perform all things in the name of God, the
hallowed expression of your ancestors : In the
Name of God. It is to you, the Irish American
people, worthy children of a St. Patrick and a
St. Bridget, to you is this little book affec
tionately dedicated. May its perusal produce
fruit a hundred fold to the glory of the most
Holy Name of God !
May 1, 1884.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
OUR LITTLE BRETON 1
Birth Early years First steps in virtue Her at
traction for prayer First Communion Death of
her mother Her temptations Her pious amuse
ments Learns a trade Admitted to a confrater
nity in honor of Blessed Virgin Aridities and
trials Change of confessor Makes a retreat.
CHAPTER II.
HER VOCATION 19
Gratitude to the Blessed Virgin First thoughts of
quitting the world Her new director His opin
ion of his little penitent His counsels Her pious
practices of devotion Trials and rebuffs Her
charity manifested toward a poor family Her in
fluence over them First account of the extraor
dinary operations of grace in her soul Her love
for humiliations and sufferings Humiliations or
dained by her confessor Consolations which she
experienced Devotion to Jesus in the most Bless
ed Sacrament To the Sacred Heart Miraculous
cure.
CHAPTER III.
THE TRIAL 35
Influence exercised over her companions Their
entertainments Illness of her sister Fears of her
father that she was about to leave him Embarass-
CONTENTS. VII
ments Second marriage of her father Visit to
Meaux Permission from her confe&sor to enter
there Disappointment Recourse to St. Martin-
Vision Avidity for prayer Charity toward the
indigent sick Illness of her confessor Pilgrim
age to Notre-Dame de la Peiniere Her confessor
desires to send her to the Hospitaliers at Eennes
Trials Promise of Our Lord that she would be a
Carmelite Poverty of her father a seeming ob
stacle Her adieus.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS 58
Her departure Reception by the community First
trials in religious life History of the monastery
of Tours First Superiors Difficulties of the
foundation Fidelity of the sisters to their relig
ious engagements during the revolution of 1789-
Driven from their convent Sufferings of the
religious Prisons Return to their conventual
life Miraculous picture of the Blessed Virgin-
Other sacred objects, in their possession.
CHAPTER V.
HER NOVITIATE 78
Early endeavors to attain the spirit of her rules
first vision relative to Reparation Act of aban
donment demanded by the Lord Objections of
the mother prioress Summary of life of Mother
Mary of Incarnation Early life Call to reli
gion Her character Devotion of Sr. Mary St.
Peter to the Holy Infancy Consecration to the
Holy Family " The Ass of the Infant Jesus"
Month of the Infant Jesus The devil tries to
smother her.
VIII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
HER PROFESSION 96
Her three demands at Chapter Her profession
Act of Consecration Method of keeping in union
with God Her spirit of mortification Her in
terview with an extraordinary confessor Ap
proves her method of meditation Appointed
portress Her prayers for Spain Our Lord again
demands the Act of Perfect Abandonment
Change of monasteries Troubles of the Supe
rior Supernatural aid Vision of Our Lord
Attachment to sensible devotion.
CHAPTER VII.
THE GOLDEN DAGGER 123
Communications on the Work of Reparation Ex
traordinary storm Reflections of the sister Our
Lord s first complaints of the sin of Blasphemy
The Golden Dagger Consoling promises Surprise
of the Prioress at the account of this vision Her
devotion to the Holy Name of God Her exercise
in Reparation Her Superior refuses to recognize
these new devotions Submission of the sister
Her interior sufferings Finding of printed leaf
let on Reparation Joy of Sister St. Peter M.
Dupont distributes Forty Days Prayer among the
Communities Rigor of her Superiors diminish
ing Malady of the mother prioress Novena
made by the community for her recovery Cure.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE REPARATION 141
Confessors of the house The sister defines her " vis
ions " The Lord demands the birth of the devo
tion at Carmel New communications The Holy
Name of God The sister offers a little billet to
the Blessed Virgin Our Lady of Good Help
CONTENTS. IX
Eeit of a novice Divine vengeance Blasphemy
demoralizing modern society France the centre of
this corroding evil The Association at Home
Prayers of Reparation.
CHAPTER IX.
THE ASSOCIATION 167
Interview with the Superior The sister obtains
permission to make her Act of abandonment to
the Infant Jesus She asks to have the Reparatory
Prayers printed Is refused Her letter to the
prioress Her motto " And He was subject to
them " Method of meditation given her by Our
Lord The Association Great desire of the sis
ter for the establishment of Reparation.
CHAPTER X.
THE ARCHBISHOP 188
Necessity of examining the revelations Character of
Mgr. Morlot High esteem for M. Dupont In
cident at the archbishopric The communica
tions subjected to the decision of the prelate
His pastoral The Association of Notre Dame de
la Riche The Lord encourages her to suffer
The carmelites leave their old monastery Graces
obtained by the Reparatory prayers.
CHAPTER XI.
THE LITTLE GOSPEL 207
Death of the Duke of Orleans The Saviour desires
the sister to relieve this soul Three years after, is
assured of his beatitude Proof of this circum
stance Mgr. Morlot s consoling letter to Queen
Amelia Similar circumstance narrated in the life
of a religious of the Visitation Our portress is
besieged by visitors The Little Gospel " M.
Dupont defrays the expenses Great favors ob
tained by the Little Gospel.
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
THEHOLY FACE 231
The Lord encourages his servant to ask for an in
terview with the archbishop Visit of the archbis
hop to the sister His counsels Encouragement
Her joy and consolation The archbishop ap
proves the prayers New trials and temptations
Vision of St. Veronica Our Lord first speaks of
his Holy Face Consoling promises Establishes
relation between the Holy Face and the Sacred
Heart.
CHAPTER XIII.
VERONICA AND THE GOOD THIEF 250
Another vision The piece of coin Great favors ac
corded through the intercession of St. Veronica
Second vision Consoling promises in favor of
those devoted to his Holy Face Third vision
Influence exercised by the Holy Face on St.
Peter Prayer to the Holy Family Sign of Rep
arationOur Lord reproaches her for her neglect
in praying for blasphemy Threats of divine
justice Our Lord thanks her Superior for her zeal
in promoting his work Appointed shepherdess by
Our Lord to watch over souls Offers the example
of Veronica and the Good Thief Magnificent
promises to those who devote themselves to Rep
aration He commands her to write his promises.
CHAPTER XIV.
LA SALETTE 269
M. Dupout Intimacy with the Carmelites Sister
St. Peter asks him for a book treating on the
Blessed Sacrament Esteem of the archbishop for
M. Dupont The mother prioress relates the sis-
ter s vision in which she prophesies the apparition
of the Blessed Virgin (September, 1846) La Sa-
*
CONTENTS. XI
lette, October 22nd Reasons given by the mother
superior why this communication is not found
in the sister s writings Joy and thanksgiving of
Sr. St. Peter.
CHAPTER XV.
THE SINS OF FRANCE 283
Interior sufferings The Lord warns her of his anger
because of the profanation of the Sunday Inun
dation of the Loire Offers herself as a victim to
avert the calamities which threaten France
Demands the establishment of the Work of Rep
aration Information of these revelations sent to
the archbishop Our Lord holds her responsible
for all the sins of France Shows her the multi
tude daily falling into hell Invests her with all
the treasures of his Passion to ransom souls Her
charity toward the agonizing.
GHAPTER XVI.
THE OBSTACLES 300
"Abridgment of facts " addressed to the archbishop
Approbation The litanies composed by the sister
authorized M. Dupont distributes these " Abridg
ments " The Lord complains of the want of love
of the faithful Their neglect in visiting the
Blessed Sacrament She points out the relation
between the face and the name of a man The estab
lishment of the Reparation predicted The sister
saddened at the sight of the many difficulties
The Abridgment of Facts noised abroad Dis
quietude of the archbishop Prohibits any further
movement in the matter Submission of M. Du
pont and the Community Chastisements an
nounced She receives another command from the
Lord to write to the archbishop Opposition of
the superior Sufferings of the sister.
XII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIL
THE COMMUNISTS 318
Secret societies Their destructive principles The
Lord bids her combat them with his cross She
is afraid she has sinned in using imprecations
against them Her interior dispositions The
"Work of Reparation, the salvation of France She
asks other graces of Our Lord The Reparation to
be given to the world through the intercession of
Mary He compares it to a mine of gold De
mands the Work The sister remits the work into
the hands of the Blessed Virgin Our Lady of
the Holy Name of God.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY 336
M. Lebrumont-Julien visits the Carmelites His in
terview with the Bishop of Langres Reparation
Canonical erection of the Confraternity Pius IX.
constitutes it an arch- confraternity Congregation
established by Mile. Dubouche Her vision
Picture of the Holy Face Renounces the world
Father Marie Augustin (Herman) Nightly ado
ration of the Blessed Sacrament.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DIVINE MATERNITY 348
Nature of the sister s communications explained by
the teaching of theologians St. Theresa Her
devotion to the Holy Infancy Hidden mystery-
Jesus, infant in the arms of his Mother Scriptural
references Confirms her singular revelations by
the writings of the saints Her exercices of devo
tion to the Infant Jesus Revelations of the same
nature granted to a religious of Beaune Mary at
the foot of the cross becoming the Mother of all
men Legatee of the merits of Redemption.
CONTENTS. XIII
CHAPTEE XX.
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY 379
Grief of the sister over the sterility of the church of
Tours Prediction of new calamities Notice for
warded to the archbishop The Church men
aced Her prayers for the Pope Eevolution at
Paris The Lord threatens her with a rigorous
account of the graces received Begs a sign that
the archbishop may be convinced Our Lord
commands her again to declare all her revelations
to the archbishop He sends his secretary Ac
count of the interview Consolation from Our
Lord Ecce Homo.
CHAPTEE XXI.
HER VIRTUES 402
Simplicity of her life Her appearance Her educa
tion Natural qualities of mind Good judgment
Gayety Her concentration of mind Her char
ity Her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
To the Blessed Virgin Her humility Spirit of
sacrifice Perfect obedience Detachment Eec-
ollection Her love for mortification " The
Drum " Testimony of one of the sisters.
CHAPTEE XXII.
HER ILLNESS AND DEATH 421
Foretells her death Her strength commencing to
fail Her days shortened by her continual appli
cation to the things of God She falls ill Opinion
of physiciaDs Eetires to the infirmary Her edi
fying resignation The remembrance of her inti
mate communications with the Lord withdrawn
Her cruel sufferings Her Patience Confidence
in God Annointed Asks pardon of the Commu
nity Gratitude toward her superior Her agony
Assaults of the devil Last benediction of the.
XIV CONTENTS.
archbishop Her last words Sit Nomen Domini
benedictum.
CHAPTER XXIII.
HER BURIAL HER WORK
^General opinion of her sanctity among the Carmel
ites One sister convinced after an extraordinary
dream The great number who flocked to venerate
her last remains Extraordinary cure The arch
bishop Sorrow of M. Dupont Pilgrimage to her
grave Her last remains transferred to Carmel
Mission of M. Dupont Origin of the picture
of the Holy Face Miracles wrought by the oil
burning before the Holy Face at M. Dupont s
house His death House transformed into a pub
lic chapel The formation of the Order of Reg
ulars of the Holy Face Rapid extension of the
Reparation.
Sit Nomen Domini benedictum !
PROTEST OF THE TRANSLATOR.
In obedience to the decrees of UrbainYIII.,
of holy memory, we protest that we do not
intend to attribute any other than purely
human authority to all the miracles, revela
tions, graces and incidents contained in this
book, neither to the titles holy or blessed ap
plied to the servants ofG-odnot yet canonized,
except in cases where these have been con
firmed by the Holy Roman Catholic Church
and by the Holy Apostolic See ; therefore, to
their judgment we submit all that is written
in this book.
The proceeds of the sale of this book are destined for a charitable
purpose.
PROMISES
Made by Our Lord Jesus Christ to
Sr. Mary St. Peter in favor of
those \vho honor his most
Holy Face.
" By my Holy Face you will work marvels."
" You will obtain from my Holy Face the salvation
of a multitude of sinners."
"If you could comprehend how agreeable the sight
of my Holy Face is to my Heavenly Father ! "
" According to the care you take to repair my coun
tenance disfigured by blasphemy, so shall I be animated
in the same degree to transform your soul which has
been disfigured by sin ; I will imprint thereon my own
image, and I will render it as beautiful as when it came
forth from the baptismal font."
" My adorable Face is the seal of the Divinity, having
the power to imprint itself on the souls of those who
apply it to their persons."
" As in an earthly kingdom, the subjects can procure
all they desire by being provided with a piece of money
stamped with the effigy of the monarch, so also shall
you be able to obtain all that you desire in the kingdom
of heaven, on presenting the impress of my sacred
humanity, which is my Holy Face."
LIIFIE
OF
SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
CHAPTER I.
OUU LITTLE BRETON.
" 1 weep over my sins."
( Words of the Sister when but a child. )
IT is to Catholic Brittany, that ground so
fruitful in virtuous and heroic characters, that
we are indebted for Sister Mary of St. Peter.
She was born at Rennes, in 1816, of worthy
and honest parents of whom but little is known.
Her father, whose name was Peter Eluere,
was a locksmith by trade, and married Fran
ces Portier, a lady worthy by her piety of
such a h-usband, who, as we shall see, was a*
Christian of the old school. Some years after
their marriage this virtuous woman was car
ried off by death. Being thus left a widower
with twelve children, Peter Eluere had to.
2 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
endure many privations and sufferings, and to
labor assiduously to be able to bring up his
children, and provide for them in their sick
ness which, for the most part, was long and
fatal ; for he beheld them all, one after the
other consigned to the tomb, with the excep
tion of one son and one daughter, who survived
him. His glory before Grod and man was to
have given to Carmel and to the Church the
child of benediction, whose life we have under
taken to narrate.
When Sister Mary St. Peter had become
a religious, she was obliged by obedience to
write her own life, even the most minute
details of the early years of her childhood.
We shall make an extensive use of her letters
and other writings during the course of our
narrative, preserving as much as possible the
simple and unassuming style so natural to her.
She thus enters upon the task set before
her.
" Notwithstanding the great repugnance I
experience in writing of matters concerning*
myself, I will not hesitate to submit to the
orders of obedience. I shall perform what I
have been commanded with the assistance of
the child Jesus, into whose revered little hand
I have placed my pen, entreating him to write
-an account of the precious graces which he
has accorded me, and my malice in so often
offending Him, that thereby Grod the Father
may be glorified for having by his almighty
power produced such abundant fruit for the
OUR LITTLE BRETON. 3
glory of his Holy Name,^ from such sterile
ground covered with the brambles and thorns
of sin and imperfection. At the feet of the
child Jesus in the manger, I now commence
my narrative, in obedience to you, reverend
Mother."!
" I was born on the 4th of October 1816, a
day rendered memorable by the death of our
holy Mother, St. Theresa ; it was also the feast
of St. Francis of Assissium, whose name my
mother bore. I was baptized in the church
of St. Grermain, at Rennes, receiving for patrons
St. Peter and St. Francis of Assisium. My
poor, dear mother received on this, her birth
day, a sad bouquet, in presenting to the world
a little girl who was to cause her so many
anxieties, and such solicitude, by her ill health
and her wilfulness. She confided me to the
care of a nurse, who was a most excellent per
son. But about a month after my birth, an
accident occurred, which would have caused
my death, had it not been for the special pro
tection of G-od. My nurse, having gone out
for a moment, left me in my cradle. One of
her little girls took me in her arms and car
ried me to the fireplace to keep me warm ;
but I fell from her hold into the fire : I have
always retained the marks of this accident
* She alluded to the work of reparation for blasphemies with which
our Lord, himself, inspired her, and which really contributed to the
glory of his Holy Name.
t The Mother Prioress of the Carmelite Monastery J of Tours,
Mary of the Incarnation, of whom we shall speak farther on.
LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
even to this day. My mother, much grieved
at the occurrence, dismissed this woman from
her service/
" I will now jrive an account of one of the
CJ
first acts of malice which I can remember.
When I had grown a little older, some one
told me of the accident, which had happened
to me. To my surprise, my good old nurse
came one day to see me. I received her coldly,
remarking 1 with much asperity : " You have
already "burned one of my cheeks, have you
come to-day to disfigure the other?" At four
years of age. 1 was attacked with scarlet fever,
which brought me to death s door. My parents
have often told me that I had been in great
danger for nineteen days, having been unable
to take nourishment of any kind, save a small
glass of cider. The very recollection of this
often made my father laugh, when speaking
of my illness, during which, a beverage so
contrary to my condition, should have been
the means of preserving my life."
" From the moment my reason commenced
to develope itself, my virtuous parents gave
me the advantage of a pious education ; but I
was naturally very disagreeable and obstinate.
My pious mother took me often to church with
her, but here I was thoughtless and giddy,
and kept turning my head in every direction
to see what was going on around me. After
manifesting such a want of reverence and
decorum in the House of Grod, and failing in
fidelity to my mother s counsels, I was severely
OUJ1 LITTLE BRETON. -J
punished on my return home. When I
was a little over six years of age, I was
taken to confession to accuse myself of all my
faults. I was so jealous of my little sister
that my parents were obliged to separate us
and send her away for some time. Besides
these exterior defects, which rendered me so
disagreeable to others, my heart was filled with
pride and self-love. On one occasion my mother
said to me in the presence of my father, for
the purpose of mortifying me : Surely, this is
not our little girl, if so, she must have been
transformed by her nurse ; it is impossible
that our child could be as perverse as this
little one. Such reflections coming from the
lips of my mother, were not very flattering.
But I soon gained quite a victory over my
pride. Every day a poor, blind, old man, shab
bily dressed, passed our door. On approaching*
the corner of the street he required the assist
ance of some kindly hand to conduct him to
the right path. My kind-hearted parents
frequently requested me to render him this
necessary assistance ; but I was so excessively
proud, and manifested so much repugnance
that they did not insist. Finally, one day I
determined to overcome my pride. I ran from
the house and took the poor old man gently
by the hand, and led him to the right path.
It seemed to me then that I had performed a
most heroic act. AVhenever I was reprehended
for my misbehavior by my parents, I did not
rebel against their authority for I perceived
6 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
that it was for my benefit they corrected me,
and my wayward heart was touched at times
by the voice of God, which reproached me for
my ingratitude."
" I received particular instructions concern
ing the ever Blessed Virgin ; most wonderful
examples of her protection and power were
related to me ; my. heart was touched, and I
commenced to pray fervently to this good
mother, and T soon became better. I began
to love prayer and no longer received admoni
tions on my return home from High Mass and
the other religious services of the Church, for
I had become more sedate. When any thing
repugnant to my inclinations occurred, I offered
it to Grod, saying, My G-od, I offer Thee this
in expiation of my sins.
Let us for an instant interrupt this artless
narrative, and insert two incidents which we
have learned from another source. These
trifling imperfections which she considered
as serious faults, were nothing more than the
result of that forgetfulness common to child
hood, yet which, at so tender an age, had im
pressed her with the most lively horror. Sev
eral times, her eldest sister found her alone,
weeping bitterly. When asked the cause of
her tears, the dear little one replied, " I am
weeping over my sins." She feared even the
slightest appearance of sin to such an extent,
that at eight years of age, having had some
scruples with regard to a book which had been
lent her, she repaired to the parish priest
OUR LITTLE BRETON. 7
before ever opening it, to ask his opinion
regarding its perusal ; when she learned that
the book would do her no injury, yet, that it
was only a frivolous story from the reading of
which nothing profitable could be gleaned,
she returned it to the owner immediately,
without even having read the first page.
" My good parents," said she, " sent me to
catechism with the other little children of the
parish. I enjoyed the instructions greatly,
and my conduct soon becoming more edifying,
flattery succeeded the reproaches which 1 had
been in the habit of receiving. On one occa
sion, a lady said to my mother in my presence :
Madam, your little girl conducts herself in
church like a person of forty years of age !
But I think that these flattering remarks only
increased my pride and self-love. I commenced
about this time to practice the devotion of the
Holy Way of the Cross. The reflections on the
sufferings of our Divine Lord affected my heart
in a very sensible manner, for I felt that my
sins had been the cause of his sufferings, and
full of contrition, I said : Oh ! my Saviour,
didst thou not perceive during thy dolorous
Passion that one day I would be converted and
would belong entirely to Thee ? I kissed the
ground, and humbled myself to the earth at
each station. When I returned home, it often
happened that my face was all covered with
dust, and our Lord permitted that this act of
devotion should draw upon me a humiliation,
for whenever my sister was displeased with me
8 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER,
she would taunt me with the appellation :
dirty nose, which frequently put my feeble
virtue to a severe test."
" The grace of Grod was attracting me
strongly, yet, I was inconstant in the practice
of virtue, alternately rising and falling. I
know" not how it happened, but I remember
having heard of a sort of prayer called mental,
which was much more agreeable to Grod than
vocal prayer. I had an ardent desire to pray
in this manner, and I said to myself: I shall
recite no more words in saying my prayers ;
for the future I shall pray mentally. But when
I finished my prayers according to my new
niethod, I w r as seized with doubts and scruples
for not having said my morning and evening
prayers as had been my custom. Our Lord,
beholding my desire, inspired me to contem
plate his sufferings caused by my sins and
infidelities, over which I wept sincerely ; and
He permitted, a little later, that I should hear
a sermon treating entirely of meditation. I
opened both my ears and my heart to receive
this beautiful instruction, for I was so anxious
to learn how to make so delightful a prayer."
This attraction for prayer in a child of such
tender years, prognosticated the winders w r hich
would result. When the favored child had
attained the age of ten and a half years, she
prepared herself for her first Communion, by
making a good general confession.
u By the mercy of Grod," said she, " my heart
was truly touched by grace. I received with
OUI1 LITTLE BRETON. !
great devotion this Divine Saviour whom I
had so often offended in my childhood, and I
offered myself entirely to Him On the same
day I received the sacrament of Confirmation,
and was invested with the scapular, thereby
placing myself under the protection of my
tender mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to
whom I owed my conversion. My confessor,
observing that I was entirely changed, per
mitted me to receive holy communion again
during the course of the ensuing year. He was
surprised at the marvelous change which
grace had operated in my soul, and did not
hesitate to tell me so ; but after saying many
fine things on the subject, he commenced to
ridicule and humble me. As I was not very
humble, I would have much preferred not to
have received these flatteries and thus to have
avoided the humiliations which followed.
Our Lord, who watched over me, sent me at
this time spiritual trials, well adapted to
humble and purify my soul."
" The devil, seeing that his prey had escaped
him, made a last effort to regain an entrance
into my soul. Having been driven from his hold
he went, as the GJ-ospel relates, to seek seven
other spirits more ^ wicked than himself,
to aid him to regain his prey. Then I was
attacked by a thousand temptations : my mind
was enveloped in darkness, my soul tormented
with scruples, and I believed that I was com
mitting sin every moment : I had not a
minute s peace. If I listened to a sermon the
10 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
demon whispered imprecations and blasphe
mies in my ear, and my mind was harassed
with evil thoughts. I was then but twelve
years old. The sins of my past life returned
to my memory with redoubled force ; it seemed
that I had never confessed them. Confession
appeared to be something impossible for I lost
myself in lengthy examinations, and never
believed myself sufficiently prepared. When
my turn came, I entered the confessional with
my soul filled with doubts, sorrow and anxiety ;
I no longer found any consolation in my pray
ers, for I feared I recited them without the
proper dispositions, and I repeatedly com
menced over and over again the same prayer.
" This repetition was as absurd as it was
fatiguing. My confessor did all in his power
to console me ; but being so young, and having
had no experience in this kind of temptation,
I did not make him sufficiently acquainted
with the nature and extent of my sufferings ;
during this time of trial our Heavenly Father
was only purifying my soul. I was then far
from entertaining notions of pride and self-
love."
" Our Lord afflicted me in a most sensible
manner, by depriving me of my good mother,
whom I loved most dearly. When she expired,
I recalled to my mind that St. Theresa was but
twelve years of age when she lost her mother,
and like this great saint, I also implored the
Blessed Virgin Mary to become a mother to me,
and to fill the place of my own dear mother
OUR LITTLE BRETON. 11
who had been just taken from me. Our Blessed
Lady, indeed, heard my prayer, for I have
always experienced, in a very special manner,
the effects of her maternal protection."
I continued to attend the catechism class
for several years. The priest in charge of the
Sunday School, was a very competent and
worthy person. He is now a most zealous
Bishop.^ I believe he saw- clearly the sad con
dition of my soul, but as he was not my con
fessor, he could not give me the consolation of
which I stood so much in need. However, it
was he who taught me the method of making
mental prayer by the sermon to which I have
already made reference, and later on he ren
dered me great service."
"The fete-day of the Catechism class was
approaching. Three little girls had been chosen
to recite a piece in the form of a dialogue. I
was one of the number ; each one received her
role to memorize. My two companions were to
discuss with me on the pleasures of the world,
which they were to laud highly, whilst
I was to represent their vanity and nothing
ness. At the termination of the piece one of
the two concluded by saying, that my discourse
had convinced her that I had made a vow of
poverty, and that perhaps I would become a
Carmelite. May our Lord be blessed ! for I really
received this vocation some time later : the
* Mgr. de la Hailaudiere, who became Bishop of Vincermes
in America. He afterwards returned to Rennes.
12 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETEIf.
other two remained in the world and were
married."
"Filially, it pleased G-od to deliver me in
the following manner from the torture of my
mental suffering s. A pious young companion of
mine, aware of my spiritual condition, had the
charity to speak of it to my confessor, who was
also hers. One day I entered the confessional
after her, but feeling that I was not sufficiently
prepared, I arose to retire. What was my
astonishment, when I heard my confessor open
the door of the confessional and order me to
return immediately, and commence my confes
sion without delay. I excused myself saying,
that I was not sufficiently prepared, that I had
not finished my examination of conscience, and
that I felt no contrition for my sins : but he
would not listen to ID y reasoning. I submitted
to obedience, made my confession and received
absolution ; my confessor then said to me : My
child, be assured that this confession has been
one of the best of your life. He then expressly
forbade me to recite my prayers over and over
again ; and he gave me a rule to follow re
specting the scruples which tormented me so
terribly. Our Blessed Lord granted me the
grace to submit to the counsels of my director,
and the devil was overcome by obedience.
All my disquietudes vanished like smoke, and
a holy peace returned to my weary heart. Then
approaching our Divine Lord in the sacrament
of his love with a humble confidence and a
holy peace of mind, I soon experienced its
OU 11 LITTLE BRETON. 13
marvelous effects ; my soul was inundated
with consolation. 1 also received many graces
while assisting at the holy Sacrifice of the
Mass. When the moment of consecration
approached it was with difficulty I could con
ceal my transports of joy from the observation
of those present. I kept myself in the Divine
Presence continually, and my union with Grod
was uninterrupted."
As she lived at home with her father, her
brothers and sisters, Perrine, (feminine for
Peter, her baptismal name,) cheerfully joined in
all their amusements. Having assisted at Mass
and the other offices of the Church on Sundays,
they assembled in a party and walked to the
country. On these occasions they took with
them some little refreshments, and each one di
verted himself as he thought proper. Our little
Perrine knew well how to pass these hours of
pleasant recreation piously, and to the edifica
tion of all. We have learned these particulars
from one of her cousins of the same age,
Jennie Benoit, who generally formed one of the
number on these little fetes. Having arrived
at the place where they proposed passing the
remainder of the day, Perrine would draw
her cousin aside and then they would enter
tain themselves, conversing on the Blessed
Virgin and on the benefits bestowed on them
by their heavenly Mother.
The education of our little Breton was
exceedingly limited, she having had but two
years regular attendance at school : reading,
14 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
writing, grammar, and arithmetic, such, at
that period, was all the instruction considered
necessary for persons in her sphere of life.
The daughter of the mechanic Eluere, although
naturally gifted, received no further educa
tional advantages than those afforded by the
times to persons in her position.
Two of her paternal aunts kept a dressmak
ing establishment of considerable importance,
and to them our little Perrine was confided to
learn the business.
" My good aunt," said she, " placed me in a
corner near her where I worked as if I were in
a little cell, separated from the other young
persons employed in the establishment. I was
not disturbed by them, nor they by me, for
they never for a moment perceived the opera
tions of divine grace which were going on in
my soul. Nothing could divert me from the
intimate conversations which I held with our
Divine Lord. I often made spiritual commun
ions, which so enkindled in my soul the fire
of divine love, that in the midst of my occupa
tions I was so transported from this earth, that
at times it became difficult to control myself.
Our Divine Lord granted me the favor of being
admitted into the Congregation of our Blessed
Lady, of which one of my good aunts was the
directress."
This Association had been established by
some holy missionaries in 1817, to maintain
and preserve piety and the practice of Christian
virtue among the youth of the city. At that
OUR LITTLE BRETON. 15
time the association numbered several hundred
members, it continued to flourish for many years
:and was the means of doing much good at Ren-
nes ; it still exists, though not so nourishing.
The ordinary reunions take place in the same
isolated little chapel where but very recently
an ima^e of the Holv Face was installed with
o i
great devotion and solemnity in honor of the
former member whose life we are now narrat
ing.
" After the ordinary period of probation,"
said she, " I was received as a member by the
council, and made my act of consecration. Oh !
what a day of consolation ! The ceremony recall
ed to me my first communion. I was, as on that
day, attired in white, with a lighted candle
in my hand, and kneeling before the director
and another ecclesiastic, and in the presence
of over five hundred of my new sisters, I
renewed my baptismal vows, and I promised
faithfully to observe the rules of the associa
tion. I then consecrated myself to the most
Blessed Virgin, my good mother. This associa
tion had been established for the working-
classes, who were bound to it by 110 vow ; the
rules and regulations were well adapted to pre
serve a religious spirit and the love of piety in
the hearts of the young ; every two weeks the
director gave an excellent and instructive dis
course to the members."
The Divine Master, having nourished his>
little servant with the spiritual milk of con
solation for a sufficiently long period, now
16 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
wished to strengthen her soul by more solid
and substantial food, that she might be fortified
to pass, as she herself expressed it, " from
Thabor to Calvary."
" Consolation gave way to aridity and spir
itual barrenness, this condition seemed strange
to me. AVhat ! to feel that I was 110 longer loving
and serving God ! Being ignorant of the ways
of grace, I imagined that by force of applica
tion, I could again taste the ineffable delights
of those transports of love with which I had
been favored ; but these vain efforts only
wearied me and made me sick. I spoke of the
state of my soul to my confessor, who did not
seem to be at all moved by what I related to
him. He only said that by degrees I would
again enjoy the same consolations. I continued
in the same state of aridity, and in my ingrat
itude to my heavenly benefactor, I relaxed in
the path of perfection ; my weary, miserable
heart turned to creatures for consolation. I
had no peace of mind, and although my faults
were not grievous yet they were injurious to
my soul, for our blessed Lord demanded of
me a greater degree of generosity."
In this painful state of mental suffering she
took a step which might have compromised
her \vhole future. Imagining that her confessor
seemed indifferent to her faults, Perrine, docile
and confiding as she had ever been, asked per-
mission of her virtuous father to consult
another confessor. Being a discreet person, he
doubted the prudence of assenting to his
OUR LITTLE BRETON. 1 7
daughter s request, and before so doing-, con
sulted the same priest whom she wished to
leave. This was the cure of the parish for
whom he entertained the greatest esteem.
Perrine s father represented to him that perhaps
she might feel better under the direction of
another confessor, who w r as then held in great
repute by the pious. The good cure readily
g*ave his consent to the desired change ; but
our little penitent soon had cause to repent of
her inconstancy.
" Although," said she, " I received the most
excellent counsels from my new director, yet I
became no better. At the age of seventeen
the vain attractions of the world began to entice
me, and growing lukewarm in the service of
God, I soon gave myself up to the foolish van
ities of the world. But what was most disas
trous of all at this time, was my neglect of
prayer, a means so necessary to the soul in van
quishing her passions, and in strengthening her
against the attacks of the Evil One."
Alter the death of my mother, the care of
the house devolved upon my eldest sister
and proud / was not always disposed to
submit to her authority, and was thus, often
the cause of much trouble and disseiition. My
conscience often reproached me for my infidel
ities : I recalled to mind the happy days of my
childhood when, faithful to the Grod of mercy
and love, I was filled with ineffable delights ;
I longed to return to Him, but my soul was, as
it were, enchained by my evil propensities ;
18 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
finally I had recourse to Her who is never
invoked in vain, to Mary, my tender mother,
to whom I had consecrated myself forever."
The feast of the Purification was approach
ing, and I prepared myself by a iiovena. I
passed this beautiful day in great devotion,
offering a taper to be burned before the
altar of the Blessed Virgin. The chains, by
which I had been so long bound, were severed,
and my heart was entirely changed. Some
invisible power seemed to impel me to return
to my old confessor. As soon as I beheld him
I exclaimed, Oh ! my good father, virtue fled
from my soul when I left your direction. I
implore you to number me once more among
your many penitents. He received me as did
the father of the Prodigal son, with great
charity. Soon after this, I made a retreat of
eight days in a religious house where there
were missionaries preaching. It was there that
divine mercy awaited me. I had most earnestly
besought the Blessed Virgin to obtain a happy
result to my retreat, and my prayers were
heard. The grace of Grod, together with the in
structions of the good missionaries produced the
most salutary effects in my soul. I made a
general confession, and beholding all my sins
and the infinite mercy of Grod which I had so
long despised, and contemplating the wounds
of my crucifix, I felt my heart penetrated with
contrition, my eyes shed torrents of tears, and
I promised for the future an inviolable fidelity
to God."
CHAPTER II.
HER VOCATION.
" Ah ! my child, your passions
have been only wounded, they
must be immolated."
( Words of her Confessor.}
Our little Perrine had just completed her
seventeenth year : her retreat " entirely con
verted her," as she herself said. She always
attributed this great grace to the most Blessed
Yirgin, the mother of Jesus, and from that
moment united to her past sentiments of filial
affection for this tender Mother, a lifelong debt
of gratitude.
" I became devoted to the Blessed Yirgin,"
said she, " in a most particular manner ; I
admired with what mercy this divine Mother
withdrew me from the verge of the abyss
whither my infidelities were leading me ;
my confidence in her daily increased and I
felt inspired to beg her to obtain for me the
grace of becoming a religious. My good
Mother heard my prayer, for I soon felt the
desire of abandoning the world grow stronger
in my soul. But what was I to do ? I was
afraid to mention the subject to my confessor.
One day, when my sufferings were extreme,
20 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETEU.
and the grace of Clod was strongly agitating
me 011 the subject of my vocation, I hastened
to the altar of my cherished Mother, our Blessed
Lady, and deposited in her maternal heart all
my fears and anxieties. The Blessed Virgin
soon soothed my troubled heart and delivered
me from my disquietude. There was in this
chapel, opposite her beautiful silver statue, the
confessional of one of her zealous servants, the
vicar, of whom I have already spoken, who
had given me the part of a religious in the
catechism conference at which I was asked if
I would like to be a Carmelite. I was kneeling
before the statue of our Blessed Mother, sup
plicating her to assist me in my interior
combat, when I suddenly perceived that this
good priest was about to enter his confessional,
and it seemed that he made me a sign to enter.
I comiot account for how it happened, as I
had never spoken to him of the concerns of my
soul, and behold, much to my astonishment,
he told me all that was passing in my interior,
saying : You want to be a religious, my child,
but to obtain the object of your dssire, you
imagine there is a mountain in your way. Am
I not right? Delighted with having so
unexpectedly found a consoler who understood
me perfectly, I spoke to him very frankly of
my spiritual affairs. He examined me minutely
and declared that I had a good vocation. Much
encouraged by his counsels, I went to find my
confessor to whom I had not dared broach the
subject of my vocation."
11 KU VOCATION. 21
"When I made known to him my desire of
entering the religious state, he replied : Your
sentiments accord perfectly with mine, for I
have always thought that you would be a
religious/ This assurance from my confessor
filled me with joy. Some days after this, he
advised me to defer my departure until spring ;
but, alas ! in the meantime, I had to pass
through the hands of another spiritual father
who was not so quick to decide religious voca
tions. For five years he labored incessantly at
the destruction of the inward wall of my
pride and self-love, with the hammer of morti
fication, before he considered me worthy of
inhabiting the solitude of Carmel."
The new director, of whom she now speaks,
never sent aspirants to religion until they had
given ample proof to hope that once entered
the convent, they would never return 10 the
world again. From accidental causes, Perrine
was led to place herself under the direction of
this wise and prudent confessor.
The parish priest, her former director,
threatened with loss of sight, was obliged to
go to Paris for medical treatment, and know
ing that his spiritual child required the
direction of a skillful and experienced guide,
he recommended her to this holy and venera
ble ecclesiastic, who at the time rendered
valuable services to the various religious
communities of the diocese. He was a man
of great enlightenment in the ways of
grace, and was gifted with peculiar tact in the
22 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
discernment of religious vocations ; he was
so widely known that mothers dreaded to see
their daughters going to consult him. This
skilful director was 1 abbe Panager who, at
the time of his death, was pastor of Saint
Etienne at Rennes. We have his opinion of
our young Perrine, too significant in its brevity
to be passed unnoticed :
" I have only known her from the time she
chose me as her director, and this simply
because she wished to become a religious. Her
motive prompted me to receive her kindly, and
I immediately undertook to aid her. I always
found her very exact, and very docile under
my direction. I lent her books, and from time
to time gave her some particular advice. She
edified me very much, and I decided proposing
her as a candidate to the Carmelites."
Perriue, accordingly, presented herself to
this man of G-od, informing him of her desire
to become a carmelite. He received her
with great charity and encouraged her to per
severe in her holy purpose, but was not
willing to accept the responsibility of becom
ing her director without mature reflection.
His counsel produced such an effect on our
little aspirant that after the return of her pre
vious confessor she entreated 1 abbe Panager
to continue her direction, but he still insisted
on having more time for consideration. Finally r
he said to her: " My child, I will undertake
your direction for the honor and glory of G-od,
and for the salvation of your soul."
HER VOCATION. 23
" These words," said the sister, "inspired me
with great confidence in this holy man s direc
tion. His first wish was to fathom the depths
of my soul, and for this purpose he directed
me to give him a written account of the manner
in which our Lord had conducted me in the
past, and also desired to be informed of my
present disposition. I wrote a small notice of
these matters and remitted it to him ; then he
bade me make a rule of life. After some time
I requested him to interest himself in reference
to my admission to the convent. Ah ! my
child, said he, your passions have been only
wounded, they must be immolated. I had
such an ardent desire of becoming a carmelite
that I would have passed through fire and
water, were it necessary, to accomplish my
object ; bearing this end in view, I commenced
with renewed fervor to labor at my perfec
tion."
The co ansels and exhortations of her confessor
made a great impression on her mind, and she
" took great care not to forget them". We
shall quote from the sister s own artless narra
tive.
" His first care was to caution me against the
foolish weaknesses but too common to devotees.
My child, said he, do not go about consult
ing different directors. If you wish me to be
really your spiritual father, you must be really
my child : be simple then, as a child ; it is here
you must avow your failings, your doubts and
temptations, but make no such disclosures
24 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
elsewhere for it would avail you nothing. Never
speak of your confessor, nor of the penances
imposed on you ; go straight to God in the spirit
of faith ; make no uneasy researches in your
soul for these are but fuel for Purgatory.
Study to know yourself and to know God ; the
more you will know him, the more you will
love him ; be always cheerful and gay ; be not
like those sad and pensive beings who seem to
bear the yoke of the Lord as if it were a heavy
burden. Oh ! my child, what a beautiful path
the Lord has chosen for you ! Consider the
reward that awaits you if you prove faithful !
Prepare yourself for the great designs God has
in view over you."
" Such is a glimpse of the wise counsels
which I received from this good father. By the
grace of God they became fruitful in my soul.
He lent me books which treated of prayer,
interior life, and also the Lives of the Saints.
All these spiritual aids fortified me, and
strengthened my desire of embracing the relig
ious life. But when I expressed my earnest
wish to leave the world, he would calmly
reply : My child, the habit does not make the
nun. I saw by this answer that I had still
to labor at my perfection. I prayed continually
to the Blessed Virgin, my dear protectress, to
conduct me as a c arm elite into the house
where she was most loved. I also prayed
fervently to the glorious St. Joseph, begging
him to obtain for me the precious gift of prayer.
To obtain this grace, and all the others of which
HER VOCATION. 25
I stood in need, especially that of becoming a
religious, I performed a little pilgrimage in his
honor. On Wednesdays, I ate nothing but dry
bread for my breakfast, and on Saturdays. I did
the same in honor of our Blessed Lady. I had
a great devotion to the Holy Family : Jesus,
Mary and Joseph were constantly in my mind.
Most Holy Family ! I would say to them, if I
had the happiness of living when you were
on this earth I would most surely have gone
in quest of you, in whatsoever place you were
to be found, that I might have had the honor
of serving you as your little domestic.
" My director lent me the life of St. Theresa.
When I read the promise which our Lord made
her at the foundation of her first convent, St.
Joseph of Avila, that He would dwell therein,
the Holy Virgin and St. Joseph guarding the
doors, one on either side, oh ! how excessive
was my joy ! I no longer doubted that I would
solicit an entrance to Carmel, the abode of the
Holy Family. I tormented my confessor from
that moment, begging him to interest himself
in my behalf : but to trv me still longer he 2^ave
/ J
me evasive answers, such as these : I shall
see : God s time has not yet come. Once he
said to me : Do you suppose, my child, that I
would suffer you to enter a convent hastily,
before your vocation has been well tried, and
leave it directly as do so many young persons ?
No, my child, when I send you, you will be well
prepared.
This was a sore trial for our young aspirant.
26 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
In the meantime, Divine Providence furnished
her with an occasion of gratifying, at least
in part, her ardent desire. An indigent family
came to dwell in the neighborhood of her
lather s house. This poor family consisted
of three members : the father, a laboring
man, the mother who was blind, and -a
little son aged about four or five years.
They were so very unfortunate, especially
during the winter when the husband had
no work, that their miserable little hut
really bore the appearance of the stable of
Bethlehem. They were found without fire or
a morsel of bread. " I could not permit to pass
such a precious opportunity of honoring the
Holy Family in the persons of these poor peo
ple, and I did not rest one moment until I
had rendered their situation more comfortable,
By the grace of God I entertained a great
veneration and affection for them, and lavished
on them all the care which their indigence
demanded. At that time, just previous to
my admission as a carmelite, my limited means
did not permit me to supply all their necessi
ties : but the Holy Family, whom I served in
their persons, rendered me so eloquent in
pleading their cause among my acquaintances
that nothing was ever refused me."
" All my happiness consisted in visiting
and instructing them in their religious duties,
from which they had been estranged, no doubt r
by their extreme poverty. I persuaded them
to go to confession ; and I engaged the husband
HER VOCATION. 27
to make a retreat of eight days in a house
destined for that purpose. If I loved this
family they reciprocated my affection, and I
soon perceived the influence I had acquired
over them. When dissentions arose between
them, from time to time, I would be called on
to settle the difficulty and restore peace."
The Holy Family did not allow their little
servant to go unrewarded. Perrine daily pro
gressed in virtue. She was permitted by her
director to make the vow of chastity which she
renewed on all the feasts of the Blessed Virgin.
With the view of preparing herself for the
religious life, she endeavored to practice the
higher virtues of mortification, humility,
obedience and the love of prayer. She also
exercised a charitable zeal towards her young
companions, assisting them in their spiritual
advancement.
Let us listen to her own account of her pious
practices of demotion. " I have always had
a special attraction for prayer, and believing
that I could not be a child of prayer without
at the same time having a great love for mor
tification, I labored courageously to acquire
this latter virtue, and also to destroy all my
evil propensities. The better to succeed in my
purpose, I took note of my daily failures and
of the number of my acts of mortification. I
kept by my side two little ribbons, on which
were strung small beads such as are used
for chaplets ; one end served to note my
failures, the other, the number of my little
28 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
sacrifices, or virtuous actions performed during
the day. This cord of mortification was com
posed of fifteen beads in honor of the fifteen
mysteries of the Holy Rosary ; and I believe
that, at night, I often had the blessing of
offering the entire chaplet completed to our
Blessed Lady. I practiced the mortification of
the eyes ; whenever anything pleasant or
agreeable was presented to my view, I would
turn my head away and would not look at it.
"Wh^n I would be just on the point of saying
something agreeable or witty, I would remain
O O <
silent. I made my general and particular
examination with the view of overcoming my
predominant passion, pride. But our Blessed
Lord himself soon sent me the necessary
assistance to vanquish my enemy."
Almighty God, who never permits himself
to be outdone in generosity, beholding this
candid and faithful soul thus placing herself
unreservedly at his disposal, was pleased to
instruct and enlighten her himself.
" Many times." said she, " in the course of my.
life, I have experienced .the extraordinary
operations of grace in my soul, during which, if
I may thus express it, our Lord showed me a
glimpse of the celestial favors with which he
would one day enrich my soul. I had the
happiness of receiving holy communion
three times a week besides Sundays. It
was at this divine banquet that our Blessed
Lord united himself intimately to my soul.
My director had commanded me to inform
HER VOCATION. !><>
him of all that passed in my soul, and I, there
fore, rendered him a strict account of these
supernatural operations with the simplicity
of a child, at which he did not seem to be
astonished. My child, said he, does not your
soul belong to Grod ? Then, permit this
Divine Master, to do as he will in his own
house. These interior communications of our
Lord. oF which I was so unworthy, continued.
Then 1 be^an to commit them to writing; for
C3 O
the purpose oF submitting- them to the guide
of my soul. 1 was sure by this means not to
fall into illusion. He never made any reference
to these communications in my presence : this
pleased me very much, for such divine favors
covered me with confusion. On one occasion
when 1 had presented to him one of these
writings, it occurred to me that if I had read to
him, myself, the account of these testimonies
of affection \\liich our divine Lord had given
me, that it would be a great mortification, I
admitted this to my confessor ; and I w r as, in
deed, obliged to do excessive violence to myself
to read my letters to him. But our Divine
Lord in his mercy made use of this as a means
of counterbalancing his extraordinary favors,
lest they might produce in my soul trie germs
of vanii y and self-love. One day, after having
received holy communion, I perceived in my
soul something like a wall w r hich shook
violently, threatening me with destruction.
At the same time I heard a voice telling me not
to fear, that it would serve to crush out my
30 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
self-love. I comprehended afterwards that
this was a kind warning of a long 1 series of
humiliations and mortifications, a path so pain
ful to nature, and through which our Divine
Lord caused me to walk shortly after."
" As we can do nothing of ourselves, it was
necessary that the Divine Master himself should
produce in my soul a great love for suffering
and humiliation, in order to destroy my pride
completely, for it was a great obstacle to my
perfect union with Him. This would also
cause the violet of humility to spring forth
in my soul, hereby inviting Jesus to dwell
in my heart. I prayed most fervently to
obtain the love of humiliations, and in
formed my director of my ardent desire of
suffering, entreating him not to spare me.
Eeverend father, said I, do not heed
the cries of nature, but immolate my pride.
He was slow to act and waited also on this
occasion to see, no doubt, if my desire were
only the offspring of a passing fervor so common
among young persons. At length, he said to
me one day : My child, I am convinced that
our Lord wills you to attain perfection by
some other than the ordinary way. Gro, then,
before the Most Adorable Sacrament, and con
sider before Grod what you can do to humble
yourself; choose what you judge to be the
most perfect in the way of humiliations, and
then return and inform me of your decision.
From that hour commenced what she play
fully termed, her "journey through the path of
HER VOCATION. 31
humiliations " which were never wanting ;
for each time that she went to see her director,
he purposely tried to mortify her as much
as possible. One day, for example, he brusquely
showed her the door. Another time, Sunday,.
she was seen walking through the streets
carrying an old tattered umbrella notwith
standing that the sun was shining very bril
liantly ; and this for no other purpose than to
attract public attention and ridicule. On
another occasion, she took to the dressmaker a
parcel containing material for a dress. She
had scarcely unfolded the wrapping paper,
when a general burst of laughter and merriment
at her expense, ensued ; for nothing more
absurd or ridiculous could have been selected
for a dress. All these things had been per
mitted by her director as practices of humi
lity.
" When I went to my director," said she, " to
return the books he lent me, or to ask for
others, he had always the charity to offer me
a good dish of humiliations ; yet, he never
anticipated grace. I was obliged to implore
him to continue the kind service he w r as
rendering me. Well, he would say, what
does our Lord desire of you to-day? Have
you nothing to ask me ? As I was naturally
very simple and childlike, and that our Lord
gave me the grace to walk in this way, a mul
titude of things came to my mind, the greater
part being utterly impracticable ; but merely
mentioning them to him, and asking his per-
32 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
mission to perform them, was a most humiliat
ing mortification. When he noticed that it
gave me pain to speak undisguisedly he would
reprehend me quietly but sweetly. Be simple
as a little child, he would say. See with what
simplicity a little child repeats all that passes
in its mind without thinking- of examining
what it has to say ! He would then permit
all that was reasonable ; and as for that which
was unnecessary he appeared equally willing,
until he perceived that I had so far conquered
my pride as to consent to perform even the most
difficult things, when he would interdict them."
One of the great secrets of this manner of
direction arose from the confessor s knowledge
of the sincerity of his penitent, who artlessly
related to him that which she believed would
mortify her the most, yet choosing nothing of
herself. She would say. to him at times : " Ah !
father, how much it costs me to act thus."
" My child," he would reply, "if it costs you
to be humiliated, believe me, it costs me as
much to be obliged to humiliate you, but
have courage."
" When I had crushed my pride under my
feet, our Lord inundated my soul with heav
enly consolations : these were necessary to
me, for without the most powerful assistance
of Grod I never could have acted in this way.
When I was inspired to practise some act of
mortification, I felt such a powerful impulse
of grace urging me on, that it AA oulcl have
been impossible for me not to have performed
HER VOCATION. 33
this mortification, I had such a fear of becom
ing unfaithful to grace. Come, said I, to
encourage myself, one act of heroism and
the victory will be mine. I can accomplish all
things in Him who strengthens me ! I felt
convinced that grace demanded this fidelity
from me ; and notwithstanding all the bitter
ness and repugnance I experienced, I contin
ued to implore my director to nourish my
soul with the wholesome bread of mortifica
tion, so distasteful to nature. He sent me
several times to visit two very discreet and pious
young ladies with whom he had previously
made his arrangements, and there I found
the means of triumphing over my pride and
practising humility. On one occasion, when I
was on a visit to these young ladies, one of the
sisters complained that a person had addressed
some very humiliating remarks to her. Oh !
said I, you are very fortunate to be able to
find humiliations already prepared ; others are
obliged to seek for them. "
During this time of trial our little Perrine
drew all her fortitude from Jesus in the most
Blessed Sacrament. " Ah !" said she, "what
consolation I found in visiting this good
Saviour, particularly during the middle of the
day, when he is most forgotten; I then poured
forth my soul in his divine presence." Once,
as she was praying in the chapel of the Visita
tion, prostrate before the altar, one of her
friends perceiving her, was very careful not to
disturb her or make her aw r are of her presence.
2
34 LIFE OF SISTER, MARY ST. PETER.
She found Perrine kneeling with clasped hands,
her head turned upward and her eyes fixed as
if on some invisible being with whom she
seemed to be in communion.
Perrine often addressed herself to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. "I often made acts of repara
tion to the Sacred Heart, to whom I have a
great devotion. I conjured the most Sacred
Heart of Jesus to break the chains which still
bound me to the world that I might take my
flight toward Carmel. I went afterwards and
cast myself at the feet of the most Holy Virgin,
in the same chapel where I had already re
ceived so many graces for my vocation ; and
animated with ardent love, I poured forth my
heart in her maternal bosom as would a little
child. I importuned her unceasingly, saying,
Behold, my good Mother, my companions are
all married. When wilt thou give me Him for
whom my heart sighs ? I wish for none other
than thy beloved Son for my heavenly spouse.
At the conclusion of this petition we find the
following note :
"This good mother obtained my relief from
a malady : for nine days I besought her to
cure me, promising to have some masses
said in her honor ; and in thanksgiving for
having granted my request, I had fifteen
masses said in honor of the mysteries of the
most holy rosary."
OHAPTEE III.
THE TRIAL.
" You will be a Carmelite. "
( Words of Our Lord.)
Previous to her entering the noviciate of
Carmel, Perrine, retained in the world by
her confessor, was destined by divine Provi
dence to fill the office of little directress, or
rather to be a pious little apostle among her
young companions. Let us permit her to ex
plain herself on this subject.
" I continued to work with my pious aunts,
who employed many young girls in their ser
vice. These latter, observing that by the grace
of Grod, I practised virtue, and that I
always looked cheerful and happy as my di
rector had commanded, placed great confi
dence in me, and frequently consulted me in
their little embarrassments of conscience and
on their practices of piety. I taught them the
method of mental prayer, and assisted them to
advance in virtue : miserable sinner that I
was, I had received grace in abundance from
Grod and it was but just that I should be char
itable to others. One of these young persons
made such rapid progress in virtue, that she
36 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
very soon surpassed her little directress and
entered the religious state before I did. We
conversed about our Divine Lord, the Blessed
Virgin, and the glorious Patriarch St. Joseph,
and also on the practice of virtue. Observing
that they thus consulted me, who stood so much
in need of counsel myself, I was afraid that I
was acting contrary to humility and I sought the
advice of my confessor. He told me to continue,
that the piety of these young girls would
supply my deficiency : this opinion tranquilized
me and I continued to aid them as before. But
during all my intercourse with them I never
revealed what was passing in my own soul ;
I kept my secret to myself. I had no difficulty
in teaching them the method of mental prayer,
as I myself performed this exercise with the
greatest ease, for the presence of my Divine
Saviour was so familiar, that I seemed to
behold Him dwelling in my heart."
AYe know from the testimony of others, that
in order to give greater facility for audience
to her young friends, our little directress pre
pared a small room in her father s house, to
which they had private and easy access.
Here she received these pious young persons
for a pleasant little "chat" as she termed it,
dissimulating under this popular expression
the role of confidence assigned her.
Those who desired could converse without re
straint of their spiritual necessities. She taught
them how to meditate, to examine themselves
interiorly, and how to walk resolutely in the
THE TRIAL. 37
path of virtue, thus, to be prepared to meet
all the possible dangers which might menace
their innocence in the midst of the world in
which they were destined to live.
" One of my companions was aiHicted with
a very extraordinary malady. The remedies
prescribed by the physician giving her no re
lief, I had an intimate conviction that if she
had recourse to the most Blessed Virgin, her
distemper would be cured ; and I advised her
to wear a miraculous medal. We made a novena
together, at the conclusion of which she was
entirely cured. The graces which we thus re
ceived from our heavenly protectress inflamed
us with a tender love for her. I prayed her
unceasingly to break the chains which held
me captive, and I frequently offered tapers to
be burned before her altar. I prepared my
self for the celebration of her feasts by 110-
venas ; and presented little crowns, bouquets
of flowers, and other decorations for her altars.
In fine, I tried my best to touch her mater
nal heart, that she might give me her divine
Son for my heavenly spouse. So many offer
ings, though unworthy of being presented to
the august Queen of heaven, were not re
garded by her with indifference, for she soon
removed one of my greatest difficulties, that of
leaving my father."
As we have seen, Perrine lost her mother
when only twelve years old. " After the death
of my mother," said she, " my good father had
no other desire but to serve God and his neigh-
38 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
bor. He worked peacefully at his trade of
locksmith, without any idea of ever marrying
again ; his life was modeled on that of St.
Joseph. Every morning he assisted at the holy
sacrifice of the mass, and at the benediction of
the most Blessed Sacrament in the evening,
when possible ; notwithstanding his hard
work he always observed the abstinences and
fasts of the Church, and regularly approached
the sacraments with the most edifying faith
and piety. He was often visited with great
tribulations which he bore with christian-like
fortitude and patience."
His eldest son. Prosper, had left home and
gone to America with Monseigneur de la Hai-
landiere, to whom he was much attached. He
settled at Vincennes in the United States, where
he resumed his trade of locksmith, attending
punctually to his business affairs, and giving
there as well as when at home, the edifying
example of a virtuous and Christian life.
But let us return to Perrine : " My eldest
sister, " said she, " who attended to the house
hold duties, was attacked with a long illness *
and about the same time my father had con
ceived the idea that I was thinking of leaving
him to embrace the religious state. This filled
him with alarm and anxiety, for he did not wish
to confide his house to the care of a servant. In
his perplexity he made me the confident of his
troubles hoping thereby to deter me from leav
ing him. I spoke to him rather ambiguously
of my vocation, as I myself did not know
THE TRIAL. 39
when my confessor would permit me to enter
the Carmelites, for he still continued his eva
sive answers and gave me very little hope,
notwithstanding my earnest desire to quit the
world. In the meantime, my dear father was
preparing for the emergency ; he spoke of his
troubles to the parish priest, his confessor ; this
worthy pastor, held him in the highest es
teem, for he often said that he was the best
of his parishoners. Already aware of my
intention of becoming a carmelite, he advised
my father to get married. My good parent
was naturally of a very cold and retiring dis
position, and as can be easily imagined, was
not a little embarrassed in the execution of this
project ; but his kind friend, the priest, as
sured him that he would undertake to find a
suitable companion ; and at last, through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin, he was
married to a most excellent woman whom we
kindly welcomed to our home, and my father
was happy. "
The sister concludes this artless narrative
by enumerating the many other obstacles to
be surmounted in the pursuit of her vocation.
" I thought I had at last reached the
term of my sufferings and disappointments,
and that the doors of Carmel were about to be
opened to receive me. One of my aunts with
whom I worked, decided to go to Mans to assist
at the benediction of the new carmelite monas
tery, and at the same time to visit one of the
religious, an old friend of hers whom she loved
40 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
very dearly ; she told me that I might accom
pany her. This good news filled me with joy,
and I hastened to my confessor, entreating him
to allow me to take advantage of this excellent
opportunity to accomplish my long cherished
desire. He consented, and gave me a letter for
the reverend mother prioress, telling me that I
could enter the monastery of Mans if she
was willing to receive me ; he then gave me
his benediction, and I set out immediately with
my aunt. We arrived on the eve of the cere
mony at the monastery where we were most
kindly received by the carmelites : the next
day I assisted at the benediction of a new re
fectory and a new cemetery. On the same day
a postulant received the holy habit."
" The cloister being thrown open for the
occasion, we visited the interior of the convent.
I entered the community room and there beheld
those dear sisters, many of whom were from my
own native province ; nothing could have
given me more pleasure than this visit. In
the afternoon, I had the honor of speaking pri
vately to the very reverend mother prioress to
whom I had presented my confessor s letter
the evening previous. I expressed my great
desire of becoming a carmelite. She told me
that she had received positive orders from his
Lordship the Bishop to admit no more subjects,
as the house was then too small, every cell
being occupied. Although disheartened by
this information, I consulted her respecting
my vocation, and spoke to her of my inward
THE TRIAL. 41
dispositions. She evidently saw that, notwith
standing my tmworthiiiess,Our Lord had chosen
me to be a child of Carmel, and kindly gave
me some information on the rules of the order,
expressing her regret at not being able to
admit me ; nor could she make any application
in my behalf, as Monseigneur was at the time
absent 011 a journey. She spoke very highly of
the monastery of Orleans from which she had
come to found the house at Mans, and pro
mised to apply there for my admission."
Our disappointed little postulant was thus
obliged to return home and resume her ordinary
duties. She entreated her confessor to make
application for her entrance among the carmel-
ites of Orleans or those of Blois ; however, he
did not seem to be very sanguine about the
matter.
" I was so importunate in my request that
he must have been annoyed with me ; his
evasive answers were most discouraging. We
shall see to that ; or Grod s time has not yet
come. One day I went to a chapel dedicated
to St. Martin. It being his feast, his relics
were exposed for the veneration of the faithful ;
I kissed them with great devotion, and also
received holy communion in honor of this
great saint of whom, at the time, I knew noth
ing ; not even in what part of France he had
exercised his holy ministry ; but that was of
little consequence to me then, overwhelmed as
I was with grief and desolation. I addressed to
him this simple and fervent prayer : holy
42 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETER.
Saint Martin, look down upon me in my sorrow.
I desire to consecrate myself to Grod, but there
is no one to take any interest in me or plead
my cause. holy Saint, I feel convinced
that if you were now on this earth your heart
would be touched at my distress and you
would aid me to obtain the object of all my
desires. I implored him to receive me in his dio
cese if there were any religious in it. St. Martin
heard my prayer,. for I am confident that it was
through his intercession, I became a carm elite
at Tours. I had neither desired nor asked my
confessor to enter the house of Tours, for I did
not know that there was a carm elite monastery
in the city until I had been received there."
In the meantime Our Lord was preparing
her for the life of sacrifice which she was about
to embrace, and for this end, had already be
stowed upon her supernatural graces of the
highest order.
" One day after holy communion," said she,
" I had a vision : Our Lord concentrated all the
powers of my soul in his Divine Heart, and I
seemed to behold therein a number of persons
bound together by a golden chain, each, seem
ingly, bearing a cross. These were, without
doubt, religious souls, for I recognized among
the number, one of my friends who had
embraced the religious life. It seemed that I,
too, was enchained with them and I be
sought Our Lord to give me also a cross. He
led me to understand that I must submit
to his divin e will for the present and await
THE TRIAL. 43
with resignation the accomplishment of his
designs over me ; insinuating that this was
sufficient to bear for the present. But, said
He, when you shall have entered religion, I
shall give you another cross to carry. This
promise remained so much engraved on my
mind, that falling sick after I had entered
Carmel as a postulant, I thought to myself :
Perhaps this is the cross which Our Lord
promised me. But poor simpleton that I was !
this was but a straw to carry in comparison
to the cross which my good Master had
in reserve for me after my profession. I am now
convinced that the Work of Reparation with
which the Lord charged me later, was the cross
then predicted, for I found it in the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. It was from that fountain of
divine love that he spoke to me for the first
time of this work which was to cost me so
many sighs and tears."
Thenceforth she had a very ardent affec
tion for the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. "This
devotion was my chief delight : and I earnest
ly engaged my companions to love and honor
the divine Heart of my Saviour. My sister was
very ill at the time, and I advised her to have
a novena of masses offered in reparation for
the outrages commited against the Sacred
Heart of Jesus in the sacrament of his love,
with the intention of obtaining her restoration,
if it were the divine will. She consented, and
the masses were said in the chapel of the Visi
tation ; for it was to a sister of this Order
44 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER,
that our Divine Lord made known the devotion
to his Sacred Heart. The principal altar of
the chapel was dedicated to the Sacred Heart
of Jesns. I assisted at these masses, during
which I received the most extraordinary graces,
a written account of which I gave to my
director. I cannot recall them now as my
mind was so penetrated with the ineffable
love of Our Lord manifested to me in his
divine Heart that I have only a confused idea
of these heavenly favors, for it seemed that my
soul was entirely lost in Grod. However, I am
certain of one thing : that Our Lord showed
me a cross, telling me it was on this he cru
cified his spouses. I think I must have been
frightened, for soon after he added these
words : Be consoled my daughter ; you will
not be as inhumanly crucified as I was, the
nails shall pierce though my flesh before
touching yours. Doubtless, He wished by
these words to assure me that He being the
first to experience all the tortures and igno
minies of the cross, the faithful disciples who
followed in his footsteps would now find all
its bitterness changed to delight. "
For some time Our Lord inspired her with
a certain kind of prayer which she describes
as " delightful," but he soon gave her to un
derstand that this inspiration w r ould be with
drawn : and, in fact, shortly after she fell
into a state of mental aridity. "Our Lord," said
she, " caused me to pass from Thabor to Cal
vary, according to his own good pleasure and
THE TRIAL. 45
the necessities of my soul ; but as I was now
more enlightened in the ways of God than
during the period of rny spiritual infancy, I
passed through these interior trials without
any detriment to rriy soul."
One grace which she esteemed far above
all these extraordinary favors, was that of
being able to alleviate the necessities of the
indigent sick. "The Lord, " writes she, "en
dowed me with a love for giving alms ; I had
a small private fund which my dear father
allowed me to dispose of as I thought proper.
I would sometimes make a little offering to
Our Lord, and then again to his holy Mother,
in the persons of the poor and afflicted. A
young woman came to dwell in our neigh
borhood, w r ho soon after her marriage, had
fallen ill of a long and painful malady which
proved fatal : the charitable mission of pre
paring her for death fell to my lot. I placed
a picture of the Blessed Virgin near her bed,
that this good mother might come to as
sist her in her last moments. I was then quite
young and had seldom confronted death. The
poor, afflicted creature whom I encouraged by
consoling words, desired that I should remain
always at her side. She sent for me one night
to inquire if she were soon going to die : I re
plied that in all probability Our Lord w r ould
soon call her to himself ; she w r as then reduced
to the last extremity. I do not remember dis
tinctly but I think it was that same night
that she was suddenly seized with terror at
46 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the sight of something invisible to us ; it was-
the Angel of Darkness who had come to tempt
her in this, her last moment. She suddenly
screamed out : Look at the large black cat at
the foot of my bed ! For my part I perceived
nothing. I sprinkled the bed with holy water.
* I see it again ! she exclaimed ; we made a
second aspersion and the Evil One was put to
flight. "We continued praying for this poor
creature, who expired before our eyes. She
had received the last sacraments with the most
edifying submission to the holy will of Grod
and died very happily."
" It so happened, that after her death, I and
one of my friends, should be the only ones to
prepare her for burial. I had the greatest re
pugnance to touch the dead, but as 110 one
could be found to render this service to the
poor deceased, I was obliged to do it myself."
" The Divine Master in his infinite mercy
thus offered me an excellent opportunity of
cancelling a multitude of my sins, which were
undoubtedly the cause of retarding my en
trance into religion. The hour appointed by
Grod was slowly approaching : I besought all
the saints to intercede for me, and had recourse
to the assistance of our holy mother St. Theresa.
At home we had a picture of this saint, and
when I was at table my eyes were always
fixed on this portrait, so much so, that I was
often more occupied in contemplating the pic
ture than in eating my dinner. My father,
who was then fully aware of my intention of
THE TRIAL. 47
becoming a carmelite, often conversed with me
on this subject. On one occasion, during din
ner, he made me laugh heartly at his anxieties
concerning my future bed at the convent.
He had, no doubt, heard of some of the foolish
notions entertained by people of the world re
garding the austerities practised by the Car
melites ; he said, not without evincing great
concern, If the sheets are nailed to the four
corners of the bed, how will you ever get into
a bed thus arranged ? Oh ! said I, that is the
least of my anxieties."
" I was not content merely with praying to
our holy mother St. Theresa, I read her life and
made a list of her confessors, and of the
holy persons who had assisted her in estab
lishing the reform. I arranged them in a
litany without examining whether they had
been canonized or not. St. John of the Cross
"was the first on the list ; and I added the
names of the saints to whom I had a special
devotion, hoping that with the aid of these
powerful advocates the doors of Carmel might
at length be opened to me. At past they
were not regardless of this simple act of con
fidence, for it was on the eve of the feast of
All-Saints that I was admitted to that happy
-asylum, the object of all my desires."
Another trial was still in reserve for her. Her
director fell ill, and was unable to hear her
confession. Observing that she made no pro
gress towards the attainment of her object,
and being reluctant to importune her confessor,
48 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
she made a last effort to interest in her behalf
the ever Blessed Virgin.
" I was inspired," said she. " to undertake a
pilgrimage in honor of Notre Dame de la
Peiniere, from whom I had already obtained
many favors. This chapel was in the parish of
St. Didier, six leagues from *Rennes. As I was
well acquainted with its zealous pastor,
and had also a friend residing there, I easily
obtained permission to perform my pilgrimage.
Full of confidence I set out with the intention
of asking our Blessed Lady for the recovery of
my confessor as a visible proof of my vocation ;
praying her at the same time to sever the many
chains which held me captive in the world.
Ah, said I, lam like a bird in a cage. I
cannot find the smallest opening from which to
make my escape. There was a good priest
travelling in the same car with me, with whom
I conversed during the journey. I spoke to
him of the Blessed Virgin, and observing that it
pleased him, I related many little incidents in
her honor ; I also spoke to him about the Arch-
Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary. This
conversation afforded me much pleasure for I
loved to honor and glorify the Blessed Virgin
as much as I could. At length we arrived at
St. Didier, and I directed my steps toward the
church. There I offered my devotions, and Our
Lord condescended to speak to me concerning
my vocation."
" To render what I am about to narrate
more explicit, I must state that one of my
THE TRIAL. 49
reasons for fearing I would not be received by
the Carmelites was, that my father was poor
and could not give me more than six hundred
francs ($100) on my entrance. I had asked assist
ance of a rich priest of my acquaintance, but he
only expressed his regret at his inability to aid
me in consequence of having recently met
with considerable losses. Perhaps, I was
wanting in confidence in. the Providence of
Grod. The communication which I had received
from Our Lord, and to which I have previously
hinted, filled me with consolation. I think
that this time also He showed me a cross
saying : Is not a vocation of higher worth
than gold ? Thus giving me to understand that
if in his infinite mercy he granted me the first
grace, he could as easily provide the second,
which was of minor importance. He then said :
Pray to my mother, and you shall obtain your
request. "
Full of faith and hope, Perrine continued
her pilgrimage. This miraculous statue was
in a very spacious chapel, which had been
built a quarter of a league from the parish
church. She cheerfully gave her little offer
ing towards the completion of the chapel,
and performed her visits for nine consecutive
days, reciting the first part of the rosary
going to the church, the second part in the
chapel at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, and
the third, on her return.
" Oh ! how fervently I implored my Blessed
Mother to take an interest in my vocation I
50 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
What sweetness and consolation I tasted whilst
.at the feet of the consoler of the afflicted! She
did not remain deaf to my entreaties, for I
received from her divine Son the most wonder
ful graces during my iiovena. For the honor
of the most Holy Virgin, I sincerely regret
not having preserved a written account of
all those graces. I remember, however, that Our
Lord commanded that I should be permitted to
follow his will without more delay. I made
an exact statement of all that had passed in
my soul, and carried this important letter to the
most Blessed Virgin, begging her to bless it
and to touch the heart of him to whom I should
remit it. my good Mother, said I with
childlike simplicity, I do not wish to spend
this winter in sewing, I only desire to.be occu
pied in praising your divine Son, and I there
fore remit into your hands my scissors, needles,
thimble etc., etc. Thus saying, she deposited
the contents of her work-basket at the feet of
the Blessed Virgin.
On her return to Rennes she found her
director in better health, and presented him
her letter, which produced a great impression
on him. However, he tried to conceal it, but
the effects were soon apparent, for he set to
work in earnest to obtain her admission among
the Carmelites ; yet, in seeming opposition to
.her wishes, he proposed to her to enter among
the religious Hospitalieres of Reiines. " I feel
no attraction for them," said she, ".yet I would
prefer to enter among the Hospitalieres rather
THE TRIAL. 51
than to remain in the world. How embarrassing !..
I knew of no other carmelite convent than that
of Mans, and there I could not be received. I did
not know that there was a convent at Tours
and one at Morlaix. I went to my little oratory
and said to St. Theresa and to St. John of the
Cross, of whom I had a picture : Alas ! you
do not want to receive me then among your
sisters ! "
She thought that the question of her portion
might prove the greatest difficulty. She
resolved to go and see the venerable priest who
had directed her for two years and a half, and
to whom she had been more than once a subject
of edification. He w^as.then in his seventy
seventh year, yet he had lost none of his facul
ties and fulfilled the duties of his ministry
with as much activity as a young priest.
" I met him one day in the city ; he seemed
desirous of knowing if I really wished to be a
sister, but as I had 110 intention of unfold
ing my plans in the middle of the street, I de
ferred my answer for a more suitable place ;
and as he possessed much of this world s goods
I proposed interesting his charity in my be
half. With this object in view I called to visit
him one afternoon. It was here that Our Lord
awaited me, to crown the long series of trials
and humiliations to which I had been sub
jected. Through respect for this venerable ser
vant of G-od, I knelt at his feet to speak on the
subject of my vocation ; but ignoring how
well the soil of my poor soul had been ploughed.
52 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
and cultivated during the past five years, he
desired to test my virtue in a very unexpected
and mortifying manner. He took out his brevi
ary and commenced to read without appear
ing to notice me, or to listen to what ] was
saying ; after a few moments he arose quite
abruptly and ordered me to leave. I respected
the will of Grod manifested by his minister, and
was not long awaiting my recompense. This
trial was about the last I had to undergo
during the remainder of my stay in the world.
The worthy priest, agreeably to my desire had
the goodness to present me a small sum of
money. "
" But eight days, had elapsed since my
return from my pilgrimage, and as I have
said, the last time I saw my director he seemed
quite decided to send me to the Hospitalieres.
I was in painful anxiety, for I had such a
desire to dwell in the desert of Carmel ! The
spirit of retirement, silence and prayer, had
such an attraction for me, and in the order of
the Hospitalieres I would be obliged to take
care of the sick, and what was still more repug
nant, to prepare, for burial the bodies of the
dead, of which 1 stood in mortal terror. Our
Lord, in his goodness, relieved me from this
embarrassment. He had promised to hear me
through the intercession of his Blessed Mother,
and he kept his word. The ninth day after
my pilgrimage he revealed himself to me after
holy communion, and with infinite condescen
sion said the following words : My child, I
THE TRIAL. 53
love you too much to permit that you should
any longer be a prey to the^se perplexities ! You
shall not be a Hospitaliere. This is only a trial
to which you are being subjected. Even now
matters are being arranged for your reception.
You will be a Carmelite. This last sentence
was repeated several times : You will be a
Carmelite ; and I think Our Lord added, a
Carmelite of Tours. But I knew nothing of
Tours, not even that the Carmelites had been
established there. I feared that this was but
an illusion, for I felt persuaded that my
director thought no more of sending me to
Carmel. What shall I do, said I to myself! I
must write down this communication and take it
to him according to my custom ; but I was not
particularly desirous of presenting this note :
Oh ! the infinite goodness of God ! what was
my astonishment when my confessor said to
me : My child, you have been received among
the Carmelites of Tours. . What delightful
news ! What happiness I enjoyed that day !
What grateful thanksgiving I offered to our
Blessed Lord and to his most Holy Mother for
having so promptly heard the supplications
and entreaties which I had addressed to them
during my pilgrimage ! "
" The letter which I had placed at the feet
of our Lady de la Peiniere and afterwards re
mitted to my director, had been the prin
cipal instrament in the accomplishment of the
long cherished wish of my heart. My con
fessor had written to the mother prioress of
54 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
\
Tours applying for my admission. This good,
charitable mother immediately replied, that
she would receive me with pleasure. But how
was all this accomplished ? Why had Our Lord
made known so manifestly that it was his
divine will I should enter at Tours, sixty
leagues from my native place, whilst there
were carmelites at Nantes and at Morlaix so
much nearer home ? I asked my confessor if he
had held any communication with the carmel
ites of Tours. He informed me that once, when
passing through Tours, he had had the idea of
visiting the carmelites, but that he had not
gone and consequently was -not acquainted
with them. The reverend mother prioress had
still less to do in bringing about this result,
for she was greatly astonished that a priest of
whom she knew little more than his name
would apply to her for the admission of a pos
tulant. What then was the solution of this
mystery ? Ah ! I see it all. St. Martin had not
forgotten the prayers offered in his chapel on
the day of his feast, when I confided to him
my sorrows and besought him to procure my
entrance to one of the houses of his diocese."
Here again is another remarkable circum
stance connected with this affair : " The
reverend mother prioress of Tours had fixed
the time of my entrance for the feast of All-
Saints : a long delay for my ardent disposi
tion, leaving two months still to be passed in
the world. Nevertheless, this day was not
appointed by mere chance, for I left Brittany
THE TRIAL. 55
on the very feast of St. Martin, who evidently
wished to prove that it was he who was my
liberator."
" There remained still another question to be
solved, my entrance-fee. But that was soon dis
posed of. As I have before stated, my father was
a mechanic attending regularly to his business ;
but G-od often sent him severe trials. He had
to meet the heavy expenses of the prolonged
illness of my eldest sister who was still feeble.
My brother had failed in business and it cost two
thousand francs to re-establish him, towards
which my good aunts contributed as much as
they could. After all these outlays it was found
impossible to give me more than six hundred
francs, but Our Lord had given me to understand
that he who had bestowed the vocation could
also provide the dowry."
"The Blessed Virgin, with a generosity equal
to her power, compensated me for the alms I
had offered for the construction of her new
chapel, and a young lady named Mary with
whom my director had made me practise the
virtue of mortification, as a preparation for her
entrance to a religious congregation, promised
to contribute the balance. "
" "What remained for me to do after such
special graces from the most Blessed Vir
gin ! Our Lord had well said : Address
yourself to my mother, it is through her you
shall be heard : remarkable words, of which I
have always preserved a lasting souvenir.
There still remained the fulfilment of a sacred
56 LIFE OF SISTER MAHY ST. PETEH.
duty towards the Blessed Virgin Mary : that of
offering her a grateful and earnest act of
love. I solicited the permission to return
to her holy chapel to offer her thanks for all
the benefits granted me. I then bade farewell
to my protectress, recommending to her the
new state I was going to embrace, in which I
would IDC attached to her divine Son by the
sweetest ties of love. In the simplicity of my
heart I again asked her for that dear Son as my
heavenly spouse ; she, at length, consented to
give him, notwithstanding rny unworthiiiess ;
my heart had now no other love and nothing
more to desire, save the arrival of the happy
day of our spiritual nuptials."
On her return, as if to celebrate in advance
what she termed her nuptials, the many
relatives of the future carmelite assembled
around her for the last time, and celebrated in
her honor a modest little fete, touching de
monstration of affection worthy of the Christian
sentiments which animated the father of the
young aspirant and her virtuous relatives.
Each felt the regret natural at parting, but all
united in praying for her perseverance, for they
beheld therein a happiness for Perrine and a
blessing for themselves. Their wishes were
fulfilled far beyond their most sanguine expec
tations.
" For myself I most ardently desired the ap
proach of the day of my departure. We were
awaiting the arrival of a religious, travelling in
the direction of Tourraiiie, to whose care I was
THE TRIAL,
to be confided for the journey ; but as she did
not make her appearance, and as I was burning
with the desire to set out, my father decided to
leave his business for some days that he might
present me himself to the Lord. I bade adieu
to my home and friends with much joy,
although I loved them very tenderly, yet, I had
such a longing to go and serve the Holy Family
at Carmel that my natural feelings of sorrow
at such a separation were easily stifled. I
went also to bid adieu to him who had
directed me in my vocation. He vouched for
my perseverance. But fearing that the way
in which the Lord would conduct me might
not be in harmony with the community life, he
said, My child, endeavor to follow the com
mon way ; when a religious is conducted in
an extraordinary manner she is obliged to
demand an extraordinary confessor, which is
not always convenient in a community. Then
as if in a spirit of prophecy, he added : Do
quickly that which you have to do ; hasten to
sanctify yourself for your course will not be
long. After some other counsels he gave me
his last blessing and I departed."
CHAPTEE IV.
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS.
There I found the child Jesus
and the Holy Family."
(Words of our postulant.)
" Accompanied by my father, I left the
town of Rennes on the feast of my dear patron,
St. Martin of Tours, the llth of November,
1839, and travelled towards Tourraine, my
future home. I reached Tours on the 13th,
and proceeded immediately to the convent
where I arrived at 5 o clock in the afternoon.
What rendered this event remarkable to me
was, that it was St. Martin who presented me
to all the saints of Carmel, for on the next
day their feast was to be celebrated. I felt
assured that these good saints would not refuse
me admission on the day of their feast, for I
had prayed fervently, entreating them to admit
me into their company ; they could not have
given me a better or more striking proof of
my perseverance than that of having received
me on such a day."
Our little Breton postulant seemed to have
had no curiosity to visit the city. " That," said
she, " is of little importance to me. Having
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 59
quitted the travelling coach, my father con
ducted me to the Carmelites ; he gave me his
benediction and said with great emotion, while
embracing me for the last time : The will of
God alone, my child, gives me courage to make
this sacrifice. Poor lather ! May Grod reward
your admirable resignation to His decrees ! . .
Yery soon the doors were thrown open and
my father remitted me to the care of this
new family who presented themselves to receive
me. If at that moment I offered to G-od the
sacrifice of a fond father, he gave me in return
a most excellent mother, who was to render me
inestimable services. This was the reverend
mother Mary of the Incarnation, prioress and
at the same time mistress of novices. When in
the world, Our Lord one day gave me to
understand that the mother whom he destined
for me would have a special grace to conduct
me in his ways ; and, in fact, the promise was
verified as soon as our reverend mother under
stood my interior dispositions. This knowledge
came to her by degrees, and according as Grod
judged it proper for his glory and the salva
tion of my soul."
" After I had embraced my new sisters, the
reverend mother conducted me to the altar of
the Most Blessed Vjrgin Mary, my heavenly
mother, to thank her for my admission into the
holy house of Carmel, and to place myself
under her special protection. The hour of
recreation soon drew nigh : I was invited to
sing and I did not wait to be importuned, for
60 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
I had sung the same hymn many times while
awaiting the* happy day of my entrance into
Carmel. It was as follows :
Oh ! Bless d be God ! I ve found that peace
For which I ve sighed so long ;
For Him my love shall never cease,
He ll ever be my song.
" There were fifteen stanzas which I sang
with such cheerfulness that no one thought of
interrupting me."
The new postulant seemed inclined to con
tinue, when suddenly the reverend mother
prioress, who had been absent, entered the
recreation room. Finding one disposed to sing,
the others to listen, and all apparently enjoy
ing themselves, she considered it a splendid
occasion to test the postulant. "Well," said
she, " you have been in a hurry to display your
little talent." A dead silence ensued. After
a few seconds, the mother prioress, turning
toward the little singer, said : " See if you
can entertain us with something better ! "
" Oh ! reverend mother," replied she, " I have
sung you the very best thing I know." Such was
her simple reply. Not a shadow of disappoint
ment or embarrassment could be observed on
her countenance. It was very evident that by
virtue as well as by natural disposition, Perrine
was not of a melancholy turn of mind.
" This frank gaiety," said she, " was already a
proof of my vocation for Carmel ; for our holy
mother, St. Theresa, would not allow sad or
melancholy subjects to remain among her
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 61
daughters ; of this I was fully aware. The
following- day, I attended the Divine Office,
during which I had a very ridiculous tempta
tion, and as it was the only one I remember
having had against my vocation, I shall relate
it. Observing the officiant, the chantress, the
chorists and other sisters going to the middle
of the choir, make a genuflexion, say something
in Latin, then return for others to take their
place, I was alarmed at the number and
variety of these ceremonies. I thought I would
never have intelligence enough to know how
to do so many things, nor to perceive when
my turn would come to do likewise. I con
cluded that perhaps it would be much more
expedient for me to take my little bundle and
return to Brittany. But how could I get home !
I had only forty francs in my purse ; surely
that would not meet the expenses of so long a
journey. I had forgotten that I had given even
this to the good mother prioress. However, I
consoled myself by saying : have patience and
we shall see what will happen. I was con
ducted to the confessional : further dismay.
I perceived a small slab of iron painted white,
pierced with little round holes, and placed in
the wall according to the carmelite custom.
They told me that I should speak through this
grating to the confessor : Patience again, my
soul, and we shall soon see how all these
things will terminate ! From the chapel I was
conducted to the noviciate. Tiiere I found the child
Jesus and the Holy Family, the cherished objects
62 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
of my affection. From this moment the Holy
Family, for whom I had quitted the world and
entered Carmel where I knew they were spe
cially honored, smoothed away all my difficul
ties and I found all things easy and agreeable.
I was so much at home that it already seemed
several years since my arrival. Then I un
derstood by my own experience that there is
vocation, not only for an order, but also voca
tion for a particular House of that order, as I
had no attraction for any other convent ; on
the contrary, from the moment I entered that
of Tours I felt that I was where G-od wished
me to be."
Let us for a few brief moments interrupt
these interesting details to make acquaintance
with the house into which Perrine was led
by Divine Providence.
The monastery of Tours is by no means the
least considerable among the many which the
daughters of St. Theresa have established in
France. We behold in its foundation a visible
proof of St. Martin s protection of his episco
pal city.
Divine love had already formed a bond of
union between the carmelite Reformer and
the Thaumaturgus of the Grauls, which her
biographer has not neglected to mention. The
virgin of Avila writes : " To-day is the feast of
St. Martin to whom I have a special devotion,
for I have frequently received extraordinary
graces from Our Lord during this octave."
It was, as we have seen, on the feast of this
THE CAEMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 6
holy bishop that Perrine had received marked
assistance in the pursuit of her vocation ; it
was also during the celebration of that same
feast that she found, not far from the tomb of
the glorious apostle, the asylum wherein her
perfection was to be accomplished. Is it not
an indication of the watchful care of Provi
dence to have enriched the city of St. Martin
with a community so thoroughly imbued with
the Theresian spirit ? It will be our agreeable
duty to trace, summarily, the origin of the
monastery and its principal historical phases
down to the time of the admission of sister
St. Peter.
The monastery of Tours was established in
1608. Four years previous, that of Paris was
founded by cardinal de Berulle, madame Acarie
and Blessed Mary of the Incarnation. The
latter was related to M. de Fontaines-Marans,
seigneur de Rouziers, in the vicinity of Tours,
whose favorite daughter had entered among
the Carmelites of Paris, but because of ill-
health she was obliged to return home. To
indemnify this beloved child who still sighed
for the peaceful solitudes of Carmel, M. de Rou-
ziers proposed founding a monastery at Tours
with the hope that she would be received as
benefactress, thus enabling her to satisfy her
pious desire, and at the same time remain near
the paternal mansion. It was rnadame Acarie
in person who negotiated for this foundation
with the pious nobleman. Cardinal de Berulle
appointed mother Ann of St. Bartholomew,
64 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
prioress of the projected monastery, and nomi
nated seven sisters to accompany her. This was
the devoted friend of St. Theresa who expired
in her arms. She had come from Spain with
several other sisters, accompanied by car
dinal de Berulle. The annals of the monas
tery have preserved the following account of
the foundation: "We left Paris on the 5th of
May and arrived here on the 9th. The journey
was tedious and painful ; but St. Theresa
appeared and consoled her faithful friend.
She seemed to walk by her side on a path
strewn with thorns, exhorting 1 her to continue
her arduous undertaking in the following
words : Courage ! I shall assist you. From
the moment of their arrival, the sisters took
possession of the house prepared for them, and
the Blessed Sacrament was deposited in the
chapel the Sunday within the octave of the
Ascension, the 18th of May."
" On the same day, mother Ann of St. Bartho
lomew recommended the new monastery to
Our Lord during her communion, supplicating
him to bestow his graces on the little flock
of missionaries present, and on all those who,
in the future, would present themselves to
serve Him. My adorable Master assured me,
said she, that he would grant my request ;
and from that moment to the present time 1
have witnessed the marvelous accomplish
ment of his promise.
At this period the population of Tours in
cluded a great number of heretics, descendants
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 65
of the Huguenots who, in the preceding age,
had been the cause of the most frightful civil
wars. When they learned that a number of nuns
were coming to reside in their city, and were
even crossing the Loire, they exclaimed:
"May they go to the bottom of the river before
reaching the shore !" However, their impious
desires were not realized. The grace of G-od
soon triumphed and changed these hostile
feelings. The nearest neighbor of the Carmel
ites cited them before the law because of a
stray hen, but he was so filled with admiration
at the sight of their exquisite charity, that he
soon abjured heresy. This incident was much
commented upon by the sectarians, who uttered
all sorts of invectives against the Carmelites;
one of them saying : "These Theresiaiis are ca
pable of making Catholics of us despite our
selves." . . . They would have had still greater
reason to fear had they known how many
prayers and penances were daily offered for
their conversion in the interior of the cloister.
The new monastery had already attained
such a reputation of sanctity that persons of the
highest rank came from far and near to solicit
the privilege of taking the holy habit. From
the first year of the foundation, there were as
many as twenty postulants at a time. Among
those whom the venerable mother Ann of St.
Bartholomew admitted to profession, we are
pleased to find the name of one of the daughters
of a Breton gentleman, Mile. Querlingue, in reli
gion Mary of St. Elias ; another young lady from
3
66 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Rennes, Mile, de la Riviere, in religion John of
St. Joseph, who was afterwards sent to the
monastery of Morlaix. These two being, as it
were, the first among the most precious fruits
of sanctity which catholic Brittany was one
day to produce.
The holiness of the first professed was
mirrored in the disciples formed by them. We
have a proof of this in the fact that from among
those who founded the monastery of Tours
four were chosen to spread the Reform of St.
Theresa ; so capable were they deemed of im
planting the true spirit. Many others were
afterward taken from this monastery for the
same purpose. But to return to our subject :
Mother Ann of St. Bartholomew was spe
cially favored by G-od. These are her words :
" The Divine Majesty bestowed on me many
graces, though I had no confessor with whom
I could easily communicate, for our director
understood no Spanish, nor I the French, yet I
confessed as best I could, and our superiors
came to visit us once a year. Our Lord supplied
this deficiency by the consolations which he
sent, for he now bestowed on me the graces
of which I had been deprived at other times.
These strengthened me in the practice of vir
tue and penance for many days together. It
seemed that sufferings redoubled my strength
and without reflecting on it, I felt myself
closely united to God, and so to say, clothed
with the spirit of St. Paul, which caused me to
exclaim with him : What shall separate me
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TdtJRS. 6t
from the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ ! I
was, as it were, environed with the love of my
Saviour : if he had not sustained me by his
almighty power and strengthened my nature
against the many favors with which I was
overwhelmed, I never could have been able to
bear them. I repeated with the great Apostle:
I wish to be an anathema and to die for my
brethren and my Lord Jesus Christ. And as it
happens that on such occasions, the soul
lovingly immolates herself without reserve,
Our Lord once said to me : It is the glory of
the Just -to do my will, adding words so full
of tenderness that I was as if beside myself
with divine love."
In all the difficulties of this foundation, she
applied for aid to St. Theresa, who appeared to
her several times. Not to lose sight of her
holy friend she wore a small picture of her.
When quitting the monastery of Tours, mother
Ann of St. Bartholomew left her mantle as did
the prophet Elias to his disciple; doubtless
her spirit likewise ; for the religious of this
monastery have ever been distinguished for
the most sublime virtues, particularly for an
inviolable fidelity to obedience, and for the
A^igilance with which they preserved in all its
purity the true spirit of their holy mother, St.
Theresa of Jesus. They were not uiifrequently
called upon to found or govern other houses of
the order, upon which they drew down celestial
benedictions. We refer in particular to a sister
from Quatrebarbes, in religion mother Eliza-
68 #IFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
beth of the Holy Trinity, prioress of the monas
tery of Beaume, who died in the odor of sanc
tity. Others in 16 It founded the monastery of
of Riom, at Auvergne ; again others, that of
1ST antes, in 1618, of Senz in 1625, and that of
Angers in 1626.
The year 1616 was memorable for the erec
tion of thechnrch belonging to the monastery.
The first stone was laid on Holy Tuesday
March 29th by the Queen, Mary de Medicis,
when returning from Midi after the marriage
of her son Louis XIII. with Ann of Austria.
The edifice was blessed on Friday, the 3rd of
May 1619, and dedicated to the Maternity of
the most Blessed Virgin. The solemn conse
cration took place during the priority of
Mother Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament,
spiritual daughter of Blessed Mary of the In
carnation. The monastery then changed its
primitive title of" Notre Dame des Anges " to
that of " The Incarnation or, the Holy Mother
of G-od," for it is mentioned in the ancient do
cuments under these two appellations. At
present it bears the latter title.
It is related that at the time of the canoni
zation of St. Philip de Neri, M. Odoir, a good
priest well known in the Order, came to Tours.
The mother prioress requested him to offer the
holy sacrifice of the mass, to obtain through
the intercession of St. Philip, the restoration
of two of the sisters who were ill. On retiring
from the altar after having offered the Holy
Sacrifice the saintly priest said to the prioress :
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 69
" Reverend mother, one of your sisters is re
stored to health," (which was really the case) ;
he added: "The religious of your community
are very pleasing 1 to Grod, for whilst I was ad
ministering to them the holy communion,
Our Lord seemed so desirous of reposing in
their hearts that the Sacred Host departed
from my fingers with great eagerness."
The Carmelites of Tours have always been
remarkable for their great devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. One day during prayer,
the prioress beheld Our Lord, who showed her
his adorable Heart w^herein. were lovingly in
closed all the sisters of the community.
When Jansenism sought to devastate France
by effacing the true spirit of Christianity from
the hearts of the faithful, the Carmelites of
Tours preserved intact the purity of the fcith,
and accepted with entire submission all the
decrees of the Holy See. On several occasions,
the religious of this monastery were chosen by
their superiors either to defend or to establish
sound doctrine in other convents, in which the
members had insensibly become imbued with
the spirit of heresy. The strict adherence
of the prioresses to the decisions of the Holy
Church was even manifested in the writings of
this period ; every circular addressed to the
different houses of the Order invariably termin
ated as follows: "We remain true daughters
of the Church, submissive, by the grace of God,
to all her decrees."
When the revolution of It 8 9 burst forth, the
>70 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
number of professed was nineteen, every one
proving herself worthy of her holy vocation.
One day several of the municipal counsellors,
under the title of commissioners, presented
themselves at the parlor, forced open the door
and entered the interior of the cloister to pro
pose to the sisters what they termed, " The
Oath of Liberty : " all peremptorily refused to
take the oath, declaring that they had offered
to Grod their vows, from which no human power
could dispense them; that they knew of no
liberty more glorious than the practice of their
monastic duties.
In a few days the officers returned. Im
pressed with the idea that obedience to the
superior was the cause of the previous failure
of their efforts, they proposed a re-election, at
which they themselves would preside, exact
ing that all the religious of the house, even the
lay sisters and novices, should have a voice
in the election. Imagine the astonishment 4 of
the officers when they found that the same
superiors were unanimously chosen. " We
have been fooled ! " they exclaimed. Finding
that these means proved ineffectual, they had
resort to another expedient : that of speaking
privately to each religious. They made every
effort to spread disunion and trouble among
the members of the community. But all their
endeavors only served to cement more closely
the bonds of faith and charity which existed
among those good sisters.
It was not long before they were driven from
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 7l
their monastery and forced to seek a shelter
among their friends, who received them with
fear and sorrow. Soon, however, they were
arrested and thrown into prison. We cannot
give an adequate idea of what they endured
during their cruel imprisonment, One of the
sisters, blind and aged eighty-seven, too feeble
to walk, was left for four hours in an open
court-yard w r here she was exposed to all the
severity of the season ; she contracted inflam
mation of the lungs and died eight days after,
deprived of all assistance, but consoling her
self with the thought that she gave her life
for the love of her heavenly Spouse.
The other sisters were several times trans
ferred to the different prisons of the city. One
day, they received the announcement that they
were to be taken out ; the poor nuns thought
they were to be brought to the place of execu
tion ; joy was manifested in their countenances
for death had long been the object of their
desire. On the way, they learned that they
were only journeying to another prison.
The populace had been bribed to utter all
manner of abusive language against these holy
sisters while they were traversing the pub
lic thoroughfares. One of these saintly souls
regretted that day to her last moment exclaim
ing : " Alas ! must I die in bed after having
lost such an occasion of martyrdom !" Lan
guage cannot depict the terrible sufferings
they endured during these eighteen months of
imprisonment. The bare boards were fre-
72 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
quently their only bed, and their food was
coarse and loathsome ; the fidelity with which
they kept their rules of abstinence, in the midst
of their excessive sufferings, filled to over
flowing their cup of bitterness ; for notwith
standing all their privations, they constantly
practised their rule of abstinence. At length,
the prison doors were thrown open and they
were permitted to go forth. They dispersed
among devoted friends, and awaited patiently
the hour of re-union.
Nevertheless, they lived in all possible reg
ularity, under the most exact obedience,
religiously united to their Superior, who re
mained in office until after their re-establish
ment. Every Saturday she sent to each one
whatever was necessary for the week ; on
Sundays they assembled for their relig
ious exercises, held the chapter, and asked
their permissions, as if they had been in the
convent. They possessed nothing in particu
lar, but guarded their vow of poverty as
strictly as if in the cloister.
After the storm had subsided in the year
1798, they were enabled to resume their for
mer manner of life. Then it was a source of
consolation to them to reflect that during this
long period of sufferings, their regular obser
vances had never for one moment been inter
rupted, not even during the sad days of their
imprisonment. Their first habitation was a
miserable little house, where they were obliged
to support themseh es by the labor of their
THE CARMELITE ^MONASTERY OF TOURS. 73
hands, but Providence soon came to their aid.
A benefactress gave them the necessary money
to purchase an old institution of which they
took possession in 1805.*
They then resumed anew the practice of their
holy customs, but were not able to observe
the strict enclosure. It was only in 1822, after
they had returned to their old convent, endear
ed to them by so many titles, that Almighty
G-od accorded them this consolation. They
found a part of the buildings destroyed, yet
there still remained a portion of the old house
w r hich had been consecrated by the sojourn of
the venerable Ann of St. Bartholomew and her
first daughters. The church was in a dilapidated
condition, in consequence of having been used
as a ware-house during the six years of trouble ;
the main-altar, however, had not been dis
turbed, nor the large painting of the mystery
of the Incarnation, under whose invocation the
Carmelite Monastery of Tours had been placed.
The Blessed Virgin seemed to havo taken
upon herself the duty of watching over and
preserving the edifice consecrated to her,
which the following fact, cited literally from
the annals of the monastery, will prove.
The proprietor of our house was earnestly
solicited to sell the church for a theatre, for
which, from its favorable position, it was well
adapted. On the eve of the day on which
* The ancient House of Refuge situated in the parish of Notre
Dame la Riche, which was afterward given up to its original des
tination.
4 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the sale was to take place, one of the commis
sioners went to the church to conclude some
business arrangements. What was his aston
ishment to see two little streams of water
issuing- from the painting ! He approached,
and saw that these tiny rivulets came from the
eyes of the Blessed Virgin. Astonished at the
marvelous occurrence, he examined the pic
ture very minutely, to ascertain if this pro
ceeded from any natural cause, but could
discover nothing. The painting was at an
elevation of thirty feet from the floor, and was
suspended on a wall three feet thick, on which
not the slightest appearance of moisture could
be perceived. This man, who professed no
religion, was so impressed by the event, that he
ran in alarm to relate what he had seen to the
proprietor, saying with great earnestness : If
you sell that church for a theatre, you and
your family will be lost forever, for I have just
seen the Virgin Mary weeping there. We
know not if the proprietor attached any impor
tance to this extraordinary fact : the church,
however, from one cause or another, was not
sold. The commissioner, in his fright, hastened
to the abode of our Mothers to report what
had taken place ; several of whom went to
the spot and bore testimony to the fact."
This miraculous picture is still to be seen
over the main-altar in the church of the mpii-
astery. The Carmelites also possess another
very interesting historical picture worthy of
veneration ; a beautiful image of Our Lord, the
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOURS. 75
original of which, it is said, is preserved at
Grencs, and is regarded by pious tradition as the
true portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ which
he, himself, sent to king Abgare. * A small
number of copies of the picture have been
taken, and are to be seen in Spain. M. G-authier,
a gentleman from Angers, brought one on his
return from Spain with Cardinal de Berulle,
where they had gone to solicit the Carmel
ites to establish a house of their Order in
France. This picture, he kept in his possession
for years, but finally gave it to a friend ; at
present, it is in the possession of the Carmel
ites of Tours. It is painted on wood ; the
countenance of Our Lord is life-size and
exquisitely beautiful ; the view of it inspires
the beholder with admiration and love, so del
icate are the delineations, and so vivid is the
harmony of the coloring. Need we be surprised
that from among all other religious houses,
Our Lord should have chosen this particular
monastery to rejoice in the possession of such
an incomparable treasure ! For it was here
* St. John Damascene relates this fact in the following manner.
(De Orth. fide, lib. IV, cap. XVII. Orat. de virginibus.t Abgare,
king of Odessa in Syria, sent a painter to our Lord Jesus Christ to
take his portrait. The painter could rot succeed in consequence of
the great brilliancy, or effulgence of glory which emanated from the
august countenance of the Lord. But the Saviour placed on his
divine face a pi^ce of linen which immediately took the impression
ot his sacred countenance ; our Lord then sent this linen to Abgare
to satisfy his pious curiosity.
Fleury, in his Ecclesiastical History, Vol. XII. p. 49, narrates
the same circumstance more at length. He quotes all the authors
who have mentioned the fact ; he, himself, seems not to have the
slightest doubt of its authenticity.
*76 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER,
that he first manifested the mystery of his
dolorous Face, and chose this spot as the cradle
of the devotion of Reparation.
The Carmelites of Tours preserve many
other objects of inestimable value to them.
Among others, a celebrated relic of St. Theresa,
a large particle of the bone of her right wrist,
with the authentic documents signed by the
Archbishop of G-renada, by the Discalced Car
melite Monks, and by other dignitaries of the
province of St. Ange, in Upper Andalusia. This
precious relic was brought from the frontiers
of Spain by a royal courier, and sent to the
Carmelites. Another treasure, with which they
are enriched, is the mantle left them, as we
have already mentioned, by the venerable Ann
of St. Bartholomew. And still another equally
treasured, the pall used at the profession of
Mother Magdalen of St. Joseph, the daughter
of the noble founder, of whom we have already
spoken. It is under this same pall that, at pres
ent, the sisters prostrate themselves on the day
of their profession. Lastly, they have the hap
piness of possessing a piece of the veil of the
most Blessed Virgin, sent them in 1835 by the
Carmelites of Chartres.
At the time of the admission of Sr. M. St.
Peter, only seventeen years had elapsed since
the return of the Carmelites to their monastery.
They faithfully guarded these precious sou
venirs of the great example of virtue which
their ancient Mothers had left them. Some of
these venerable religious are still living and
THE CARMELITE MONASTERY OF TOUES.
sustain the primitive spirit of the monastery.
The rules are observed in their full vigor.
Mother Mary of the Incarnation, a soul
well-tried in every virtue and of whom
we shall speak later, gave to the entire commu
nity an impulse as energetic as it was salutary.
It was under the direction of this worthy Supe
rioress, that our little Perrine was immediately
placed. For such a school, the young postulant
was already well prepared, by her worthy and
able director, to mount by rapid strides to
the highest summit of religious perfection.
Let us hasten to return to her artless narra
tive, in which she herself will relate her first
experiences in cloistered life.
CHAPTER V.
HER NOVICIATE.
" I looked upon myself as the little
servant of the Holy Family."
( Words of the Sister.)
The, life of a carmelite, according to St..
Theresa, should be one of special devotedness
to the glory of Grod and the service of the
Church by prayer and penance. The illus
trious Reformer repeated continually to her
spiritual children : " My daughters, we have
not come to Carmel to repose or to enjoy our
selves, but to labor, to suffer and to save
souls."
From the moment of her arrival, our little
Breton postulant felt that she should be thor
oughly imbued with this spirit. "The Grod of
mercy," said she, " manifested the designs he
had in view in calling me to the religious
O O
state ; designs well suited to give me an ex
alted idea of the sublime vocation I had
embraced. The object of all the previous
communications with which Our Lord had
hitherto favored me, was the saiictification of
my own soul. I labored exclusively for my-
HER NOVICIATE. 9
self, as I was only charged with the care of
my own perfection. But when Grod called
me to Carmel, where I was to devote myself
solely to his glory, the necessities of the Church
and the salvation of souls, he . deigned to
teach me to nature of the devotedness, the
spirit of sacrifice and the zeal for the salva
tion of others, sublime virtues of which, as yet,
I knew nothing. On this subject 1 received
the following communication, which I have
always regarded as the foundation-stone of the
Work of Reparation : for before speaking to me
openly of this great work, Our Lord waited
until I had obtained my superior s consent to
make the act of perfect abandonment which
he required of me. This communication re
mains engraved on my heart, but as I did not
make a written account of it, I can only nar
rate from memory what transpired."
" One day, after I had received holy com
munion, Our Lord, accompanied by an angel,
condescended to manifest himself to my soul.
He m showed me the multitudes that were
daily falling into hell, and then expressed his
wish that I should offer myself without re
serve to his good pleasure; moreover, that I
should abandon to him all the merits I might
acquire in my new career, for the accom
plishment of his designs. He promised me
that he would take care of my interests, that he
would cause me to participate in all his
merits, and would himself, be the director of
my soul. The angel (elsewhere she states
80 LIFE OF SISTER, MARY ST. PETER.
that it was the archangel Raphael), urged me
to consent to this magnanimous proposal. It
seemed to me that he envied rny happiness, for
being purely spiritual he could neither suffer
nor merit. .This celestial spirit assured me
that if I consented to Our Lord s request, the
angels would surround my death-bed and de
fend me against the assaults of the devil."
"How I longed to make this act then and
there ! I was almost on the point of offering
the sacrifice to the Lord; but either because
my Divine Master had advised me differently,
or that I was afraid to stray from the path of
obedience, I did not comply with his wish,
thinking that I ought to have the permission
of our reverend superioress. To obtain this,
I briefly transcribed the communication
and presented it to her, as I had been
accustomed to do with my confessor. Our
good Mother, not aware of the manner in
which Our Lord conducted me, did not give
much credit to what her little postulant
related, but she wisely said : My child, this
abandonment which you desire to make, is no
ordinary act, therefore, as I have yet no au
thority over you I cannot counsel you, and for
much greater reason, cannot permit you to
make it. As I had a very great love for
obedience, I submitted respectfully to the
opinion of our reverend mother ; yet her decis
ion grieved me. I returned to Our Lord and
said, Behold, my sweet Saviour, obedience
prevents me from complying with thy demand ;
HER NOVICIATE. 81
but thou dost behold the inmost recesses of
my heart, and therefore, knowest.that I have
offered thee all that I can give. Our Lord,
for the moment, seemed satisfied with my
good will ; nevertheless, he inspired me
several times to reiterate the same demand.
It was only after I had obtained the per
mission of my superiors that he fully com
municated to me the Work of Reparation. Our
prudent mother, perceiving from this that I
received extraordinary favors, took steps to
ascertain the nature of the spirit which con
ducted me ; she forbade me to pay any atten
tion to these supernatural operations. Then I
no longer heard any interior words, and Our
Lord seemed to submit himself with me, in
some manner, to holy obedience."
This superior, to whom Our Lord, for the
moment, was thus submissive, was Mother
Mary of the Incarnation ; had he not ap
pointed her his immediate representative to
this vessel of election, to the chosen soul whom
he proposed to make an instrument of mercy !
It is important that we should make the
acquaintance of this venerable mother imme
diately, as she plays a conspicuous part in the
communications of Sister St. Peter,
The venerable mother Mary of the Incarna
tion was a Breton. She was born at Palmbceuf,
under the " Directoire " on the 9th of January
1785. At that time, the law required children
to be taken before the Municipal officers to
have their names inscribed on the civil register.
82 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
This child was presented, bearing her moth
er s name, Marie Angelique. The municipal
officers, all Revolutionists, were averse to such
a pious Christian name, and gave her one
of their own choice, directing that she should
be called Virtue. Thus it was that Divine Prov
idence made use of the wicked to give a
characteristic appellation to this child of bene
diction from the moment of her entrance into
the world. All the innocence and strength of
character comprised in the beautiful name,
Virtue, was fully exemplified in her future life.
At her birth she could only receive the sacra-
mentof Baptism informally, because of the per-
.secution ; a few years later, all the attendant
ceremonies were administered. She appreci
ated so well the grace of regeneration, that on
hearing a person speak of infidel lands, she
claimed : " Oh ! how I pity the poor
children of those countries who have not as
I have had, the happiness of being baptized ! "
Angelique early became inured to sufferings,
her parents having met with reverses of every
description. Once her mother was congratu
lated for having a child of such promise, ma
ture beyond her years, but she was heard to
reply : "Alas ! she has so often seen me weep !"
This worthy lady, left a widow after the
Revolution., removed to Tours. Her little
daughter, though so young, gave early evi
dence that she understood the happiness of
knowing and loving Grod. She had most ce
lestial inspirations, and seemed naturally averse
HER NOVICIATE. 83
to all the pleasures of the world ; Grod was
not long in manifesting to her his designs.
At the age of thirteen or fourteen, passing before
the devastated church of the Carmelites, she felt
inwardly moved to enter. Kneeling on the
steps leading to the sanctuary, she gazed in
tently on the painting of our Blessed Lady
which hung on the wall at considerable height,
in front of the grating which separated the
choir of the religious from the church. She
then thought to herself: " How happy should
I be, if one day I were admitted among those
who have dwelt within these venerable walls !"
Immediately she heard a voice reply : " Per
severe, and thou shalt taste this happiness."
At this moment she was seized with a pre
sentiment of sorrow ; a crushing weight seemed
to have fallen on her soul, and she fell pros
trate on the pavement, shedding an abundance
of tears : her sobs and sighs were re-echoed
by the deserted building. Terrified, the poor
child ran to a friend to relate what had hap
pened ; the latter said earnestly : " My child,
I have long foreseen that you will one day be
a religious."
The world was not long to retain this inno
cent dove, who at the age of seventeen flew to
the bosom of Carmel. After the Revolutionary
storm had swept by, the Carmelites found
shelter in an old monastery purchased with
the fruit of their toils and self-denials. Marie
Angelique, renouncing the tender care of an
affectionate mother, presented herself to share
84 LIFE OF SISTEE MAEY ST. PETEE.
that poverty which was the portion of the
daughters of St. Theresa, who soon dis
covered the treasure they had acquired and
lost 110 time to enhance its value ; they submit
ted her to the most rigorous trials of obedience
in order to destroy her self-will completely.
Their efforts were not fruitless, for when still
a young professed, she was called upon as Mis
tress oi Novices, to form others to religious
perfection.
The many sacrifices and privations which the
community had suffered during those years of
distress, had prematurely ruined her health, and
brought on a long and painful illness to which
she finally succumbed. Nothing could induce
her to deviate from her usual routine of labor,
prayer and penance. Appointed treasurer,
she managed the modest finances of the house
with such prudence and ability, that the mon
astery was soon relieved from the extreme
indigence into which it had been plunged by
spoliation.
Elected prioress in 1834, she made some
important improvements in the old monastery,
which had been restored to them in 1822. It
was in this place that she had received the
first call of grace. When obliged by threats of
municipal expropriation to leave this venerable
asylum, the task of constructing a new monas
tery devolved upon her. She succeeded mar-
velously in her enterprise, with the assistance
of St. Theresa. Her charity was inexhaustible :
from the depths of her solitude she extended
HER NOVICIATE. So
both spiritual and temporal aid to all the wants
made known to her by Divine Providence.
We find that she was instrumental in the
re-establishment of the Carmelite friars in
France, by the charity rendered two Spanish
religious who had been brought prisoners to
Tours She procured their release, and pro
vided for all their necessities until they were
able to rejoin the reverend Father Dominic and
other exiled priests who were to found a new
monastery. A person of superior mind, she
elicited the admiration of all those with whom
she had any intercourse ; it was said, " ^VYhat
a pity such a remarkable woman is shut up in
a cloister ! "
The venerable Mothers who had received her,
considering her as the chain destined to link
together ancient and modern times had, as she
often remarked, bequeathed to her " the custody
of the sacred traditions of the order on the peril
of her soul" She accepted it on those terms and
under those conditions. To insure their pre
servation, she gathered together with pious
respect from Tours and the other monasteries
of France, the rules, religious regulations, and
all the customs pertaining to monastic disci
pline. From these she compiled, " The Car
melite s Treasure" a most precious work, well
adapted to preserve the traditions of the Order
in France.
As superior, Mother Mary of the Incarnation
knew admirably how to combine firmness
with gentleness. Although it pained her to
86 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
reprehend or chastise others, yet she never for
an instant hesitated when the necessity of the
occasion demanded, or the dictates of her
conscience deemed it expedient. Her lively
faith and experienced judgment were always
guided by the rules of Christian prudence and
by the most scrupulous discretion. One of her
special gifts was the discernment of spirits.
Obedience was the infallible mark by which
she judged between the operations of grace
and those of nature; this, in her opinion, was
the touchstone of real virtue. When necessary,
she administered humiliations in good doses,
and manifested an apparent indifference for the
communications confided lier.
Such was the course pursued by this pru
dent Mother in regard to the young Breton
aspirant committed to her care. To discover
the spirit by which she was influenced, the
reverend mother adopted the method pursued
by Perrine s former confessor, and directed
her to give a written account of all that con
cerned her celestial cornmunications. When
ever her spiritual daughter presented herself
with her paper, the Mother would take it
quietly, lay it aside and continue her occupa
tion, intimating thereby that she would attend
to it W heii time permitted, after she had
disposed of all other matters.
The special devotion of our young postulant,
was a tender love of the holy Infancy of Jesus.
Let us not deprive her of the pleasure of
describing the manner in which she was
HER NOVICIATE 8t
attracted by grace, previous to her reception of
the holy habit.
"When but an infant in Carmelite life,
Our Lord gave me a special attraction to the
mystery of his holy Infancy, and made known
what he desired of me. The following exercise,
consisting of a special devotion for every day
of the month, was traced out in my mind ; I
practised this exercise with great consolation
and with much, profit. I looked upon myself
as the little servant of the Holy Family, and
offered to serve them. I longed to bear their
livery in being clothed with the habit of the
Carmelites, beseeching our reverend mother to
grant me this inestimable favor, notwithstand
ing my great unworthiiiess. Accordingly, I
received the holy habit on the 21st of May,
1840, during the lovely month dedicated to her,
through whose intercession I had obtained the
grace of being called to the religious life. On
that memorable.day of benediction, I consecrated
myself anew to the Holy Family in a most
particular manner. The following is the formula
which I wrote and placed on my heart during
the ceremony :
" Jesus, Mary and Joseph ! Most holy and
admirable family, I beg of you to receive me
to-day as your little servant ; this is the most
ardent desire of my heart. I beseech you to hear
my prayer, for I am firmly resolved to be for
ever faithful ; and though I cannot immolate
myself by the vows of religion, nevertheless, I
beg of you to receive my desire of fulfilling
88 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
them, and to grant me the grace to accomplish
them as perfectly as if contracted. most
Holy Infant Jesus ! G-rant that I may be as
submissive to the Holy G-host and to my supe
riors as you were to the most Holy Yirgin and
to St. Joseph. And thou, Mary, conceived
without sin, obtain for me that I may never
tarnish the brilliancy of the angelic virtue of
purity. O blessed patriarch St. Joseph, thou
who hast practised holy poverty in so eminent
a degree of perfection, and who hast sacrificed
thyself for the Holy Infant Jesus and the most
Blessed Yirgin, his mother, obtain by thy exam
ple and thy powerful influence with Grod, that
I may love and practise holy poverty to my
last breath, that I may make it a duty and a
pleasure to sacrifice myself for my sisters.
most Holy Family ! grant that I may glory in
being your humble servant. Deign to receive
me on this happy day, and give me in proof of
your acceptance of rny offering, the grace of
acquitting myself worthily of the divine office,
that I may recite it with respectful attention
and loving fervor ; grant that I may be as vigi
lant at matins as if I were in Heaven, enrap
tured by the grandeur of God and the splendor
of his glory. Amen."
"After this consecration, I regarded myself
as the little domestic of the Holy Family, and
in all my occupations I had the intention of
serving them at Nazareth. I had but one
more ambition, that of being the little Ass of
the Infant Jesus. If the royal prophet David
HER NOVICIATE. 89
looked upon himself as a beast of burden
before the Lord, with how mucji more pro
priety could I not designate myself the Ass of
the Infant Jesus ? Reflecting, that the Son of
G-od reduced himself to such poverty for our
love, that he was necessitated on his triumph
ant entry into Jerusalem, to send his dis
ciples to borrow so humble an animal, saying
on his part, that the Master had need oi it/
I exclaimed : My good Saviour, now that thou
art in Heaven, I desire thou shouldst have
an ass on earth, entirely at thy disposal, whom
thou mayst lead about at pleasure, wherever
thou wilt ; accept me, I beg of thee. As well
as I can remember, I w r as most desirous of
knowing if Our Lord accepted my offering,
and I believe I even prayed to the Holy
Family w r ith that intention. Afterward, I
proceeded to my appointment in the following
manner."
" Our reverend Mothers were then on
their retreat ; during this time, the postulants
and novices took their recreation in the novi
tiate. One evening, as w r e were all assembled
before a picture of the Holy Family at the
hour of recreation, I proposed to my com
panions to make a sheepfold for the Holy
Family in such a manner, that each would
be consecrated to them according to the office,
or title drawn by lot ; the proposition was
unanimously accepted. It was decided . that
one of us should be the ass of the Infant
Jesus, another the ox, another the sheep, and
90 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. JPETER.
so on. The convention was held, the billets
drawn, and to my great joy, I was chosen by
Providence to be the Ass of. the Infant Jesus. I
inquired into the characteristics of the ass, for
I wanted to avoid its defects. A postulant,
who possessed one in the world, gave me all
the necessary information. We could not have
passed a more pleasant recreation. My billet
was couched in the following terms : The
Ass of the Holy Infant is stubborn, he is idle ;
he will walk only in by-ways, but he has
resolved to correct these defects. His office
shall be, to keep the Infant Jesus warm, to
carry him on his journeys ; and in a word, to
render to the Holy Family all the little ser
vices in its power.
" I was enchanted with my new title ; but
I thought there was still something more to
obtain before I could validly assume the duties
of my ofHce. This was the approval of our
reverend mother, whom I prayed to have the
kindness to sign my billet ; for said I, our dear
Mother represents Our Lord ; if I can obtain
her signature it will be a certain proof that
the Divine Infant accepts me as his little
ass. Our reverend mother was very much
amused with our simplicity. I have no objec
tion, said she, to sign your little billets/
She became a child with her children, prac
tising the saying of St. Paul, making herself
all to all, to gain all ; and we thus obtained
her signature. I was quite serious in thus
offering myself to the Infant Jesus ; I regarded
HER NOVICIATE. 91
it as a little contract by which I could com
ply with the request of Our Lord, made some
days after my entrance into religion, that of
giving myself entirely to Him together with
all that I co.uld do for the accomplishment of
his designs ; for I felt myself continually
urged to make the act of abandonment. The
permission of my superiors, only, was wanting.
When our reverend mother signed my billet,
I hoped that I could make my little sacrifice
to the Holy Infant. However, to be more cer
tain, I spoke to our reverend mother and asked
her if she would be willing to give up her
little Ass entirely to the Infant Jesus, that he
might do with her as he wished. She replied :
1 No, my child ; tell Him that I only lend her,
I cannot yet give her up entirely.
; There were many other painful refusals in
store for me ; a perfect abandonment to Grod
for the accomplishment of his designs might
have entailed results which I could not then
foresee, being so little initiated in the ways
of the Lord. Our wise and prudent mother
wished first to exercise this poor and misera
ble instrument in the virtue of obedience and
in the renunciation of self-will. I offered
myself to the Lord as a loaned Ass, through
the hands of Mary and Joseph. This little act of
simplicity was, I believe, very pleasing to the
Divine Infant, for he began to direct me a-
II ew in his ways ; this was in fulfilment of a
promise he had made after my entrance into
Carmel. I regarded my soul as the poor stable
92 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
of Bethlehem ; and considering the Holy Infant
Jesus reposing in my heart, I adored him in
union with the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph,
and I offered to be his little domestic. I was
his little Ass in prayer, stimulating myself to
keep him warm by the ardor of my love ; his
little domestic in action, by performing for the
Holy Family all the duties imposed on me,
imagining myself to be in the house of Nazareth
The Divine Infant inspired me to honor him
each day of the month by a special devotion."
AVe give here an extract :
MONTH OF THE HOLY INFANT JESUS.
On the 15th of the month, she celebrated
the Espousals of the Holy Virgin with St.
Joseph, engaging herself to labor for them as
their little servant.
The 16th, was consecrated to the mystery
of the Incarnation. On the nine following
days, she honored the Holy Infant in the womb
of his Virgin Mother ; then she accompanied
the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph to Bethlehem.
On the 25th, she celebrated the birth of the
Divine Infant.
On the 26th, she united her homage to that
of the shepherds.
On the 27th, she adored him in his circum
cision, when he was named Jesus.
On the 28th, she honored him in union
with the Magi.
On the 29th, in his presentation in the
Temple.
HER NOVICIATE. 93
On the 30th, in his flight to Egypt.
The first seven days of the following month
were consecrated to the Infant Jesus in his
exile ; then she honored his first steps, his
first words, his first actions, his purity and
his simplicity.
On the 8th, she celebrated the return of the
Holy Family to Nazareth.
On the 9th, she contemplated Jesus com
mencing to work with St. Joseph.
On the 10th, she honored the obedience
which the Divine Infant rendered his parents.
On the llth, his affection for his Blessed
Mother and for the faithful Guardian of his
holy infancy.
The 12th, she consecrated to the Holy
Child in his twelfth year, going to Jerusalem
with the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph to
celebrate the Passover and to manifest his love.
On the 18th, she adored him in the midst
of the Doctors of the Law, defending the rights
of his Father.
On the 24th, she rendered her homage to
o
the Holy Child, found in the Temple by Mary
and Joseph, returning in their company to
Nazareth, where he was subject to them.
This completed the month of the Holy Infan
cy ; the following day, the 15th, she recom
menced. The thought of the Divine Infant,
in union with whom she performed all her
actions, rendered every occupation easy and
agreeable, and thus the time passed impercep
tibly.
94 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
" But, " said she " Satan, pride itself, was
jealous when he saw me honor the humilia
tion of the Word Incarnate. One day, when
I had performed an action which undoubted
ly, was very displeasing to him, he endeav
ored to be revenged as follows : That night,
after retiring, and just as I was falling asleep,
I felt on my head something like a great, ugly
beast which seemed to be trying to smother
me : immediately I had a presentiment that
it was the devil, he was pressing my head.
I cried out to the Blessed Virgin to come to
my rescue. On hearing this sacred name he
took to flight, I then offered a prayer of thanks
giving, after which, if I remember rightly, I
began to sing these words, so terrible to the
infernal spirits : ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST,
ET HAEITAVIT IN NOBis ! This took place
during the grand silence : though I did not
really see the devil, yet from the extraor
dinary sensation experienced in my soul, I
understood that it proceeded from more than
an ordinary dream. Satan, undoubtedly, want
ed to smother the Ass of the Divine Infant,
but the Blessed Yirgiii came to her assistance."
This devotion of Sr. St. Peter to the Holy
Infancy, was cherished by her to her last breath.
Though by the call of divine grace, she was
to accompany Our Lord in the most dolorous
scenes of his Passion, yet she was incessantly
drawn back to this first consoling mystery of
his life, the sweet and innocent impress of
which her viginal soul always retained.
HER NOVICIATE. 95
To maintain herself always in contemplation
of the Divine Infant, she ornamented two little
statues, one of which she called her little king,
and the other, her poor king ; both being ap
propriately decorated to represent the charac
ter which her ingenious devotion gave to each
one. She carried one or the other constantly
with her : and on her death-bed we shall see
how her pious and grateful charity easily
found the means of gaining graces from her
little Kings for the benefactors of her monas
tery.
4^ c<
*^ C- 8 , j
CHAPTER VI.
H E II PROFESSION.
" My child, it is not enough to
sacrifice one thing to God ; all
must be immolated to him. "
(The Mother Prioress. )
Sister Mary St. Peter s noviciate was fast
drawing to a close. The mere thought of the
happy day on which our fervent and generous
novice would consecrate herself to God by the
sacred vows of religion, caused her to exult
with impatient joy. She hastened to mani
fest her eagerness to be admitted to her holy
profession, and frequently entreated her supe
rior to grant her this favor.
" At last, " said the sister, " she ceded to my
pressing solicitations, notwithstanding my lack
of virtue and capacity, and decided to take the
necessary steps toward my admission. Being
told that I would be obliged to present myself
three times at the chapter before being ad
mitted, I had the inspiration to perform a little
exercise of piety each time I presented myself,
in order to obtain for my celestial spouse,
Jesus, the sole object of my desires. I addressed
HER PROFESSION. 97
myself to the three persons who have had
.special claims upon him ; to the Eternal
Father, the Blessed Virgin and -St. Joseph.
In this way, I made my three demands for
profession with great devotion, and gained
him for whom I had longed unceasingly. Not
withstanding my unworthiness, the community
had the charity to admit me to my profession,
and I celebrated my spiritual nuptials with
Jesus. L Abbe Panager, cure of St. Etienne,
who had been my former director, came to
preach at the ceremony. He took for his text :
Beatam me dicent omnes generationes : (All nations
shall call me Blessed) : lie pictured the beauty
of the state I had embraced, repeating contin
ually, Blessed art thou ! How true ! Was
I not blessed ! My vocation irrevocably decided,
and all my desires accomplished ! I was su
premely happy. "
Our humble novice passes rather lightly
over this important circumstance. We can
supply some interesting particulars of the
period which elapsed between the time of her
admission by the community and the day of
the solemn ceremony ; these facts have been
taken from the annals of the monastery. The
interval of several weeks was passed by Sr.
St. Peter in fervent and careful preparation for
the all-important day. She made a retreat of
ten days with so much fervor and recollection,
that she had not once raised her eyes, so ab
sorbed was she in God. The day on which she
pronounced her vows, the mother prioress, on
4
98 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
leavdng the room in which Sr. St. Peter had
been congratulated by the community, per
ceived a young novice very sad and pensive ;
turning to wards the newly professed the Mother
said : Peter, go and console John ! Sr. St.
Peter ran to embrace her companion, promis
ing her that her turn would soon come. In fact,
the latter was professed a few months later,
notwithstanding the many forebodings to the
contrary She never forgot the impression
made on her on that occasion. In embracing
Sr. St. Peter it seemed to her that she had
approached an angel. Sister St. Peter s pro
fession took place on the 8th of June 1841,
date worthy of record. On such an important
occasion, the sister was not without having
given her Divine Spouse a new proof of her
love. The following is her act of
CONSECRATION.
" my God ! deign to accept the sacrifice
which I offer Thee in union with Jesus my Sav
iour, immolated for man. I offer thee through
him and in union with him the entire abandon
ment of myself, the sacrifice of my life. I
remit my soul to thy all-merciful hands. To
thee Jesus, my beloved Spouse, I offer my
entire being on the altar of thy Divine Heart,
by the hands of the most Holy Virgin and of
St. Joseph ; through them I deposit my vows,
begging them to be the witnesses and the
guardians thereof. Deign, cherished Family
to accept the entire consecration which I make
HER PROFESSION. 99
-of myself to. your service ; I also offer myself
to thee on this day, in union with our holy
Mother St. Theresa, and our Father St. John
of the Cross, for the accomplishment of thy
designs over my soul. Look upon me as thine.
I pray thee to guard my holy vows ; accom
plish them in m^ by thy all-powerful grace.
Jesus, my adorable Spouse, I am so poor, so
miserable, so inconstant in virtue !"
" In union with the Hearts of Mary and
.Joseph, I make my professsoii and promise,
Poverty. Chastity and Obedience to Grod, to our
Lord Jesus, and to the most blessed Yirgin Mary,
under the authority of our lawful Superiors,
according to the primitive Rule of the Order of
Mount Carmel of the Reform of St. Theresa
without mitigation, and this to the hour of
my death. Divine Infant ! unite my sacrifice
to thine. "
" When presented in the Temple, thou didst
sacrifice thyself for my redemption : to-day
1 offer myself to redeem sinners. Mary !
my tender Mother, and you my good Father
St. Joseph, who presented two doves to the
High Priest for the redemption of the Infant
Jesus, deign, I beseech you, to offer to the Eter
nal Father, my body and my soul, to redeem
this Divine Infant from the hands of sinners
and to heal his wounds. Impress on me,
I implore you, his divine resemblance ; rather
grant that it may not be 1 who live, but thou
Jesus, who livest and reignest in me ! O
Jesus, Mary and Joseph! with what ardor and
100 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
joy would I not have gone to offer myself to
serve yon, if I had had the happiness of living
when you were on this earth ! With the same
sentiments of love, I wish to serve this hoty
community as though it were you who dwelt
in this house. I beseech you to accept all my
labors, all that I have belongs entirely to you.
Deign to regard me henceforth as your little
servant, and dispose of me as you will. Amen."
SR. MARY ST. PETER OF THE HOLY FAMILY.
(Unworthy Carmelite.)
June 8th, 1841.
The sister, on entering the monastery,
had taken the name of Mary, patroness of all
the Carmelites, and that of St. Peter, her bap
tismal name ; thus was she doubly placed
under the protection of the Prince of the
Apostles. On the day of her profession, she
wished to become more particularly allied to
the Holy Family ; for this reason she added
to her other titles, as we have seen, that of the
" Holy Family," which she lovingly cherished
and by which she was known.
But to continue with her narrative : " Being
thus entirely consecrated to Jesus as his little
domestic, I was soon inspired by him to guard
his flock in the pasture of his divine Infancy ;
and I arranged the plan of a little exercise in
honor of the twelve mysteries of the first
twelve years of his life ; which I called the
HER PROFESSION. 101
" Twelve Tribes of Israel ", of which the
following is an extract : "
" In honor of his first year, I offered him,
through the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph,
our Holy Father the Pope, and all the hie
rarchy of the Church militant, under the pro
tection of Sts. Peter and Paul.
The second year, I offered for the souls of
all religious, under the protection of St. John
and the holy Apostles.
The third year, for kings under the protec
tion of holy king David and the Magi.
The fourth year, for the unfortunate free
masons, under the protection of the holy Mar
tyrs.
The fifth year, for all comedians, under the
protection of St. John the Baptist.
The sixth year, for infidel nations, under the
protection of the nine choirs of angels.
The seventh year, for heretics and schis
matics, under the protection of St. Ann.
The eighth year, for the Jews, under the
protection of St. Ann and St. Joachim.
The ninth year, for unbelievers, under the
protection of the holy Prophets.
The tenth year, for all obdurate sinners,
under the protection of the holy Confessors.
The eleventh year, for tepid souls, under
the protection of the holy AVomen.
Finally, the twelth year, for the souls of the
Just, under the protection of our holy Mother
St. Teresa, and all the holy Virgins. "
Such is what she termed the " Sheepfold of
102 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the Infant Jesus," most touching and admirable
occupation of zeal and charity for the Church
and the salvation of souls. Our Lord had
inspired her with this devotion after her pro
fession. According to her opinion, nothing
could be better suited to the humble function
chosen by her with so much love. " My
adorable Saviour," said she, "soon assumed such
power over me, notwithstanding my uiiworthi-
ness, that I could truly say he had become
the director and master of my soul."
In this divine school, th sister, docile and
faithful disciple, made rapid progress in the
contemplative life. The activity of her mind
attracted her to the perpetual contemplation
of the mysteries of the life of Our Lord. Taking
for her starting-point the Holy Infancy of
Jesus, she passed successively over the scenes
of his hidden life, his dolorous life and his
glorious life ; from his Incarnation to his
triumphant Ascension. She distributed the
hours of the day in such manner, that each
recalled to her mind some particular circum
stance in the life of Our Lord, to whom she
united herself by faith and loving contempla
tion. She had such an attraction for .this exer
cise that sh performed without any apparent
effort, what to others, might seem tedious and
complicated. We can form some conception of
this from the concise report she drew up, in
obedience to the mother prioress.
" At eight o clock in the evening, I offer
myself to the most holy Virgin and St. Joseph,
HER PROFESSION. 103
as their little domestic, to guard their sheep
in the pastures of the Infant Jesus, that is
his mysteries and his sacred wounds ; and I
adore the mystery of the Incarnation until
nine o clock, when matins are sung ; then I
celebrate the birth of the Infant Jesus ; I unite
myself to the angels, to the shepherds, and
the Magi who adored him in the manger.
During the first nocturn, I adore his eternal
birth in the bosom of his Father, and his
divine life ; during the second nocturn, I
adore his birth in the stable of Bethlehem
and his mortal life ; at the third nocturn, I
adore his sacramental birth in the Holy
Eucharist, and his spiritual birth in our
hearts."
" At each of the nine psalms, I unite myself
to the nine choirs of angels."
" At the Te Deum, I adore the Infant Jesus
manifesting himself to the Jewish people in
the persons of the Shepherds."
During the psalms of lauds, I adore the
Holy Infant circumcised and receiving the
name, Jesus ; afterward, I adore him with
the Magi, as Grod, King and Man. This is my
mental occupation during matins."
She thus, perhaps without being aware of
it, adopted a method the most approved by
liturgists and masters of the spiritual life,
that of being united in spirit to Our Lord in
the mysteries of his sacred life during the psal
mody and recitation of the office.
Matins is the last choir-exercise of the day
10 I LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
for the Carmelites, shortly after which the
religions take the necessary repose. Sister M.
St. Peter continued her homage to the Divine
Infant. " Having retired to my cell, " said
she, "lam occupied until eleven, with the
sheepfold and the sheep of the Holy Infant
Jesus, beseeching that amiable Saviour to pour
his benedictions on them, and to apply to
them his sacred merits. After this, I retire
to rest in union with the Holy Infant reposing
in the manger. In the morning, as soon as I
hear the reveil, I arise and adore the Eternal
Father saying to him, with the Infant Jesus :
* Behold me, my Father, I have come to do
thy will. Then I repair to the choir for
prayer, in union with the Blessed Virgin and
St. Joseph conducting the Infant Jesus to the
Temple. During my prayer, I oifer myself
with him to his Heavenly Father ; I renew
the holy vows of my profession and give my
self to this Divine Saviour. Afterward, I offer
him to his Eternal Father for the salva
tion of his sheep. Meditation being finished,
we go with the Holy Family to Nazareth ;
soon the bell summons us to the Little Hours,
and we depart for Egypt. During the twelve
psalms of these Hours, I adore the twelve
years of the Holy Infancy ; and honor his
jsojourn in Egypt, his return to Nazareth, and
his stay in the Temple of Jerusalem, where he
was found in the midst of the Doctors."
" After the holy sacrifice of the mass, the
hour for work arrives, then I contemplate Our
HER PROFESSION. 105
Lord during his hidden and laborious life. At
eleven o clock, I adore Jesus baptised by St.
John : after noon till one o clock, I remain with
him in the desert ; from one to two, I follow
him in his public life. At two o clock ves
pers commence : then I adore his triumphant
entry into the city of Jerusalem, and I go to
the choir in union with our Divine Saviour ;
during the office I keep myself in spirit at his
feet, honoring the sentiments of his adorable
Heart during the last week he passed with his
disciples, and the excess of his love, which
urged him to institute the sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist."
" Afterward, we arrive at the Grardeii of
Olives, and there I remain during the rest of
the afternoon ; I follow Our Lord through the
different stages of his Passion in union with
O
the Blessed Virgin. At five o clock the bell
calls us to meditation." According to the
spirit of the Carmelite rules, the even
ing meditation is one of the most important
exercises of the day ; this will sufficiently
explain the niimber and variety of interior
acts performed by Sr. St. Peter during her
meditation.
" At this moment," said she, " I adore
Jesus crucified, and I remain either at the
foot of the cross or in the Sacred Heart. I
begin by an examination of conscience, and after
humbling myself for my faults, I offer myself
entirely to Our Lord, renewing my holy vows,
in union with his sacrifice. After having
106 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
thus given myself to him, it seems that he
gives himself reciprocally to me with all his
merits : he unites my soul to his, causing me
to participate in the honor which he renders
his Father as Yictim. Then I lose sight of my
self to be occupied with my heavenly Spouse,
for the glory of Grod and the salvation of souls.
I find in the Heart of Our Lord all the mysteries
of his most holy life, his merits, and all his
sheep. I offer each mystery to the Eternal
Father for such and such a portion of the
sheepfold of the Infant Jesus. After which, I
present to thi Divine Father the four quarters
of the globe, which I have placed in the four
wounds of the feet and the hands of my
Saviour : the twelve flocks of the Holy
Family occupy the fold of the Sacred Heart.
To these I also join the souls in purgatory, hav
ing placed them in the other wounds of this
adorable body. Then I offer this august
Victim to the Eternal Father by the hands of
the Blessed Virgin, as a sacrifice of expiation
and of thanksgiving for all the perfections of
the most Holy Trinity. Finally, I adore the
last sigh of Jesus on the cross. Such is the
method which Our Lord has given me to
pursue during the evening meditation."
This method of prayer was particularly adapt
ed to her disposition, and notwithstanding
the seeming multiplicity of acts, we must
concede that it is most simple, natural and
practical. Habit, and the attraction of grace
rendered it easy and delightful to her. She
HER PROFESSION.
never lost sight of Our Lord ; the meditation
ended, she still continued her perfect union
with him. " During the remainder of the
day, I occupy myself till complin with Jesus
reposing in the sepulchre ; then I adore him
rising from the tomb, and I contemplate him
in his ascension to Heaven."
" This is, in general, the order of my daily
exercises. But to faciliate the action of the
Divine Master in my soul, I must practise a
total renouncement of all that could flatter the
senses : no reflections on self unless to humble
myself. Grod alone, his will and his glory :
such is my maxim. These words, And he was
subject to them, and again, I have not come
to be served, but to serve, are always in my
mind. Our Lord gave me a thorough convic
tion of my utter incapacity to do anything
good, and also of my abject misery. The Child
Jesus led his little Ass by the bridle of his
holy grace, I had but to renounce myself, and
obey."
We need not be surprised at this interior
self "renunciation" or at the "humility" with
which the good sister seems to be penetrated ;
it was but the fruit of her continual applica
tion to the mysteries of the life of the Saviour.
The mother prioress, to whom these details
were related in confidence, kept a constant
watch over her, and became convinced
that she was actuated by the impulse of divine
grace. Nevertheless, to assure herself of the
spirit which animated her, she spared her no
108 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETEE.
humiliation but mortified her on all occasions,
and at every instant opposed her wishes ; in a
word, she endeavored to make her pursue a
more ordinary course.
" I made every effort to obey," said the pious
religious, " but to no purpose ; for I would
soon find myself in the same path. Our
mother permitted me to speak to a holy priest,
well enlightened in the interior life. She
said : My child, explain to him how you
make your meditation and in what manner
you are conducted by Grod. I availed myself
of this occasion with thankfulness, and laid
bare my interior to this good priest. Having
thoroughly examined all. he said : My child
continue your course without fear, let G-od
conduct you as he wills, for you have estab
lished the foundation of your spiritual life on
a solid basis, mortification. Tell your reverend
mother that I am satisfied ; I will speak to
her myself also Ifter this, our prudent
mother permitted me to abandon myself fully
to the spirit of G-od ; but she wisely coun
selled me to be faithful to grace, and not to
remain inactive after the cessation of the
divine operations in my soul. As I had 110
employment to distract my mind from the
presence of Grod, the entire day was passed in
an uninterrupted prayer, if I can thus ex
press myself. My work was no hinderance
to my continual union with Our Lord. Having
thus no opportunity to practise virtue, I had
not much merit ; but our reverend mother,
HER PROFESSION. 109
who continually watched over the spiritual ad
vancement of my soul, soon gave me an office
most fruitful in distractions, that of portress.
My love of silence and prayer found no
sympathy with my new office, but I re
garded the command of our mother as an
order from Heaven, and joyfully submitted,
thinking that on that day, the feast of the Incar
nation, the Infant Jesus had given me an
evident proof that he had chosen me to be
his little domestic, and that he would em
ploy me in this office to perform all the
errands of the house. I then renewed the
consecration of myself to the Divine Infant."
It may be well to observe here, that the
office of portress, according to the rule of the
Carmelites, and as it was imposed on Sister
St. Peter, is exercised exclusively within the
Interior of the cloister ; she who is appointed
thereto, receives all the commissions and mes
sages from without, and transmits the same to
those within the cloister. For this reason, it
must not be confused with that of the Sister Tou-
rieres who are in direct communication with
the world, and whose obligations and duties
are essentially different from the cloistered
religious. The office of portress has its moments
of fatigue. She who so willingly designated
herself, the little " Ass of the Infant Jesus, "
was obliged more than once, to ask for relief
from her Divine Master, through her superior.
Besides the fatigue incidental to this employ
ment, general business and preoccupation of
110 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
mind, are the particular lot of those appointed
portress. This was exactly what the mother
prioress had in view in appointing Sister
St. Peter, foreseeing that it would effectu
ally cross the good sister in her habits of
prayer and recollection ; and indeed, it was
a perpetual source of penance and self-renun
ciation : she practised all the austerities pre
scribed by the rules, even adding others volun
tarily ; yet always maintaining herself within
the limits of discretion. Her entire life, both
interiorly and exteriorly, was in reality one
continued mortification, severing her com
pletely from all the pleasures of the senses.
She had asked for a statue of the Infant Jesus
and in a short time received it. She relates
the fact with her usual simplicity :
" I often desired to have, a little statue of
the Infant Jesus, to render my homage to him
during the day ; but I hesitated to ask our
reverend mother for it. One day, it seemed that
the Divine Infant urged me to insist on having
one ; I obeyed the inspiration, and my peti
tion was granted. I now had the Holy Infant
with me in the parlor, and I was supremely
happy ; I offered him all my little labors and
demanded souls as a recompense. This
Divine Infant gave me, in such profusion, all
the graces I needed to fulfil my employment,
that it was not injurious to my spiritual applica
tion, nor did it prevent my union with Grod
when at prayer. All day long I labored for the
salvation of the sheep of the Holy Infant
HER PROFESSION. Ill
.Jesus, and at prayer, he repaid me a hundred
fold. By times during the day, he visited
my soul with a powerful impulse of his grace.
I would leave my work for a. brief moment,
when I felt his approach, that I might hearken
to him the more attentively ; but thinking
that I should have permission I asked our
reverend mother. As she never neglected any
opportunity of exercising my virtue, she for
bade me notice these interior operations.
I only permit you, when your mind is dis
turbed, to pause an instant to recollect your-
.self. "With the grace of God, I followed
minutely her wise counsels."
In 1843, Our Lord engaged her, in a spe
cial manner, to pray for Spain, which was then
in a state of revolution. This Catholic country,
the birth-place of St. Theresa and the cradle of
the Eeform of the Carmelites, would naturally
have engrossed the attention of Sister St. Peter,
and it was not surprising that she often remem
bered it before Grodat a period when the Span
ish nuns and clergy were being persecuted
and sent into exile.
"I have* never," said she, "felt my soul so
closely united to Grod as during that time.
My Divine Master operated in me something
which I can -neither understand nor explain.
It seemed that I heard him asking grace from
his heavenly Father for that kingdom, and so
urgently that I was astonished. He obliged me
o beg mercy in his name ; but I feel that I
112 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
am unequal to the task of explaining this mys
tery of his love, therefore I abandon it."
G-od communicated himself freely to this
generous professed. She felt more and more
urged to make the act of entire abandonment
with which she had been inspired after her
admission to Carmel ; but her Superiors always
refused to grant the permission. However, this
year, 1843, she unexpectedly had an occasion to
renew her demand. The Carmelites were
obliged to quit their old monastery and search
for a site on which to build anew. The circum
stances attendant on this change are intimately
connected with the life of Mother Mary of the
Incarnation, and consequently with that of
Sister St. Peter. The following facts, relative
to this event, are taken from the annals of the
monastery.
" For some time past, our house had been an
obstacle to the various improvements planned
by the city ; moreover, our neighbor s new
buildings overlooked our premises from which
resulted serious inconveniences as to regularity,
not to speak of the unhealthfulness brought
about by such a state of things. Nevertheless,
we would not have thought of making any
change, for we could not bear the idea of aban
doning the cradle of our religious life, hallowed
by the virtues of our first Mothers, saintly
ground which we had recovered at the cost of
so much labor and sacrifice. But when least
expected, unforeseen circumstances hastened
the time of the dreaded change ; several persons,.
HER PROFESSION. 113
desirous of purchasing the house, made some-
very advantageous offers ; the inconveniences
we experienced increased daily ; the plans of
the city officials were about to be put into exe
cution, and we were compelled to decide on our
departure. Before taking other measures, we
had to procure the ground whereon to build.
After much research, Divine Providencp direct
ed our Superiors to a place which seemed spe
cially reserved for us. It was situated in a
tranquil and solitary part of the city, near the
archbishopric ; there were no surrounding
buildings, the air was pure, and in a word, the
spot seemed specially chosen for our manner
of life. We soon made the purchase depending
on the treasury of our Heavenly Father, for
we had not even half the capital necessary for
such an undertaking. "
"The first alms we received for this purpose
merits a special mention. It came from a poor
but virtuous old man. who touched with com
passion at the sight of our destitution, gave
all he had, as we afterward learned. His offer
ing resembled the widow s mite, and was most
pleasing to Grod, for it became a source of bene
diction. But to keep us perfectly detatched
from earthly things, Our Lord permitted that
assistance should be rendered us only in ac
cordance with our necessities, and at the very
moment when all hope was lost, frequently by
means unforeseen. Once in a moment of ex
treme distress, we appealed to St. Yves, the
intercessor of the poor, and we received assist-
114 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
ance truly extraordinary. He inspired a lady
of noble birth, whose modesty forbids us reveal
her name, to give us a special mark of her
benevolence, though but little acquainted with
our community, thus winning for herself our
lasting gratitude, besides the title and privi
leges of a benefactress."
From the outset, this undertaking was a
source of much anxiety to the reverend mother
prioress, Mary of the Incarnation, as we can
readily understand. Quite naturally she re
commended the matter to Sister St. Peter, and
enjoined her to pray to the Infant Jesus to find
a suitable spot for a habitation for his spouses.
" With this intention, I prayed to the Divine
Infant " said the sister, " and asked of him
the land, but I believe I heard him reply :
Give me the land of your soul ! I understood
perfectly what he meant. He, also, had a build
ing to raise for the glory of his Father, and
had long chosen the sandy ground of my soul
for the accomplishment of his design ; notwith
standing my unworthiness, he had ordained
that so miserable a creature should be the
means of adding greater eclat to his glory."
After prime, she went to the office of the
mother prioress, who spoke of her anxiety in
reference to the great enterprise with which
she had been charged. " Our good mother,"
said the sister, "had need of a little relaxation
of mind: I commenced to talk and soon made
her laugh heartily: Reverend mother, said I,
"* when a man wants some money and has none.
HER PROFESSION. . 115
he sells his ass ; if you will sell me to the In
fant Jesus, I am sure He will give you some
money to build the house. Our reverend
mother smiled -at my singular proposition ; but
I persisted, saying : Mother, I am not worth
much, but as the Holy Infant wants me and
even asks for me, he will surely purchase me.
Delighted with the thought of being sold for
Our Lord, who permitted himself to be sold
by Judas, for love of me, I then added :
Mother, how much will you sell me for ?
Our reverend mother perceived by my air of
sincerity and by the great desire I manifested in
making such a request, that Our Lord had
perhaps some design in view ; she seemed to
condescend, and replied : Well, my child,
you can say to the Infant Jesus that if I
were rich, I would give you to him, but as I
am very poor and in need of money to build
his holy house, I am obliged to sell you ; ask
him then to purchase you. This reply gave
me great pleasure ; I addressed myself to the
Holy Infant and imparted to him the commis
sion of our reverend mother : I besought him
as a favor to purchase me, that I might then be
at his disposal. :
" One night, while I was praying fervently,,
offering him the love of the shepherds, the
Magi and the saints who had seen and adored
him, I wove a little crown in honor of the
twelve years of his most Holy Infancy. I thought
this little homage was most pleasing to him,
for I believe I saw him in the interior of my
116 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
soul, and he gave me to understand these
words : Tell your mother prioress that if
she write to such a person, she will assist
to build the house. Oh ! what good news ! Be
hold already a proof that the Holy Infant wished
to purchase his little Ass. I went to our good
mother to give her the message of Our Lord.
The person in question lived 180 leagues from
Tours; I was slightly acquainted with her,
but our Rev. Mother had never heard of her.
However, she wished to ascertain the truth of
this communication, and wrote to the lady
without giving any of these particulars. The
reply was slow in coming and I began to fear
a little ; but the Divine Infant again assured
me. At last, a letter came from the lady, in
which was enclosed an order for five hundred
francs. That was the first donation our mother
prioress received ; it was a guarantee of
what our Divine Saviour would do in the
future. My heart was filled with joy at the
arrival of the letter, and I said five hundred
Laudates to the Holy Infant in thanksgiving.
I asked our Rev. Mother if that sum were not
more that sufficient to buy an ass, and if she yet
consented to deliver me to the Divine Infant
who had sent her this amount. But she still
wished to try my patience, and to discover the
spirit which moved me ; she explained that
she required more money for the construction
of the house of Our Lord before granting the
desired consent."
The good sister then redoubled her fervor
HER PROFESSION.
as much for the glory of Him who had claimed
her, as for the assistance of her mother prioress,
whom she saw in such pressing necessity.
One of her practices was to say the beautiful
invitatory for the feast of the Holy Name of
Jesus ; Mirabile Nomen Jesus quod est super omne
nomen ; venite adoremus. (The name of Jesus is
admirable above all names ; come let us adore).
She repeated this thousands of times, engaging
the other sisters to repeat it also, in order to
form a series of invocations which she likened
to bank-notes on Divine Providence ; her con
fidence never failed to have its reward.
One day, during her prayer, she found
herself as if in the middle of a building.
" Our Lord gave me to understand that it was
a great and meritorious thing to erect a dwell
ing for him ; He said that our Mother would
have many difficulties to encounter in her
undertaking, but that he would furnish the
stones. He also directed me to tell her not to
be troubled ; that if the monastery w^ere con
structed according to the rule of St. Theresa,
he would pay all, for. she would receive
assistance from divers sources. But, added he,
if the house be not built according to this
rule, pay for it as best you can.
" I found my commission a little embarrass
ing, but I overcame my repugnance in order to
accomplish the will of Our Lord. When I had
communicated to our reverend mother what he
had given me to understand, she told me that
she had not been able to rest the night pre-
118 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
vious, in consequence of the uneasiness caused
by the plan proposed by the architect, which
was not at all in accordance with the usual
mode of building. She procured another in
perfect conformity with the customs of St. The
resa ; Our Lord was satisfied and was ready to
fulfil his promise."
The stones which the sister had to furnish
were, as she understood later, the prayers in
reparation for the blasphemies and outrages
committed against the glory of the Holy Name
of Grod. These prayers drew down the greatest
benedictions on the house. The work of Rep
aration would soon be made known to her.
One day the pious virgin was speaking to her
prioress of the abundant graces she had re
ceived before entering religion ; the Rev.
Mother replied that probably she had been
unfaithful to Grod, since his favors were now
withdrawn. "Offer an honorable amende" said
she, "in reparation for your faults and pray
that he may restore your soul to the same con
dition in which it was when he communicated
himself to you so abundantly."
"I shall obey you, my mother, " wrote the
sister, "and I shall pray Our Lord, in your
name to pardon me. My soul was at the time
greatly agitated, prayer was, a task, my imagi
nation was like a furious courser, beyond
control ; but the Divine Master in his bounty
heard the prayer offered him through obe
dience. The next day, on awakening, I heard
an interior voice say : Return to the house
HER PROFESSION. 119
of thy Father, ivhich is no other than my
Heart. These words produced a great calm
in my soul. Having gone to prayer, I
united myself to Our Lord in the most Blessed
Sacrament, and I heard him say : Apply
yourself to honor my Sacred Heart and that of
my Mother, do not separate them ; pray to them
for yourself and for sinners, then I shall forget
your past ingratitude, and I shall give you
more graces than ever before, because you are
now more united to me by your vows.
" A doubt presented itself, whether it was
really Our Lord who spoke, but he gave me
this assurance : It is I, Jesus, present in the
most Blessed Sacrament, who speak. There
are several ways in which I communicate
myself to souls. Do you not perceive how
tranquil and how united you are to me now ;
whilst for the past few days you were as agi
tated as the sea during a storm ? My child, do
as I have directed you, and you shall soon ex
perience the salutary effects.
" Afterward," writes the sister, " he made
me understand that I should not be attached to
sensible devotion, and he gave me grace to see
how we are often carried away by interior
emotions, thinking we are most pleasing to
him. Then, as he directed, I endeavored to
honor these adorable Hearts, both interiorly
and exteriorly, by embroidering scapulars of
the Sacred Heart, and I prayed for the salva
tion of those who would wear them. Then I
added : I do not seek sensible favors ; pro-
120 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
vided them art glorified and that souls are saved,,
this is all I ask."
The sister continued : " With this intention
I offered my will to the Father, my memory to
the Son, and my understanding to the Holy
Ghost. I placed myself entirely in the hands
of God, and I felt convinced that he would
purify my soul by interior sufferings. Then
I was plunged in an ocean of bitterness and
desolation, I was lost in darkness and tor
mented by temptations : but that which caused
me the most suffering, was my desire of loving
and glorifying Our Lord. My soul was hunger
ing for God, it seemed that all I did was of no
avail, for I felt myself to be nothingness, sin
and misery."
" I had a great longing for a book to solace
me, and I asked one from our Eev. Mother.
Notwithstanding her usual kindness, she re
fused, saying: My daughter, it is not suffi
cient to sacrifice one thing only to God, all
must be immolated to him. On another occa
sion, when suffering still more keenly, I desired
to speak to her of my mental distress ; but
G-od inspired her to act in concert with him, to
make mo walk in the path of death to self;
she, always so full of compassion, would not
permit me this time to relieve my weary
heart, but forbade me speak of my interior
pains, even to my confessor, before a fortnight.
With the grace of God, I submitted with a
good will to this trial."
"The devil of blasphemy caused me no
HER PROFESSION. 121
small amount of suffering, but I kept
strongly attached to the cross during the
temptation, not daring to say : God !
come to my assistance, I offered my suf
fering to Our Lord for the salvation of souls and
for the accomplishment of his designs. 1 said
one- day : my Grod, I am now well aware
of my nothingness and my misery ! Meaning
thereby to say : It is enough, my G-od ! I
shall now know how to discern thy gifts, and
shall never attribute them to myself. I see that
I am nothing but a poor and miserable
sinner."
Finally, she felt urged to have re
course to her hoLy mother, St. Teresa, in
whose honor she commenced a noveiia ; the
nine days had not passed ere her sufferings had
altogether disappeared. The Lord now re
sumed with his servant the course of his ex
traordinary communications which had been
totally interrupted for more than two years.
But it was necessary that she should
return to the House ofh?r Father, that is to say,
to the Heart of Jesus, where as gold in the
furnace, her soul would be purified by the
fire of suffering and love. The Devotion of the
O
Holy Face emanates from that of the Sacred
Heart, the one is the complement of the other.
In the order of the designs of the Divine
Master, his faithful disciple was to be con
ducted to the intimate recesses of his most
amiable Heart, before being initiated in the
122 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
mystery of Reparation by means of his dolorous
Face." (*)
(*) M. Dupont, establishing a comparison between the
revelations of Blessed Margaret Mary and those of Sr. St. Peter
said : "If the Heart of Jesus is the emblem of love, his adorable
Face is that of the sufferings endured for our salvation." (Life of
Mr. Dupont, vol. II,) On this subject a distinguished member
of the Society of Jesus, Rev. L. P. Gros, has written the fol
lowing, which furnishes matter for pious reflection : The heart is
the symbol of love ; the face is the living miiror of the heart ;
the face reveals what the heart contains, namely, love, sorrow with
the other sentiments of the soul. For this reason the Church does
not regard with a favorable eye the images of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, if the heart be isolated from the face ; it is the face which
authorizes us to say : behold such a one ! "When I have before m^ the
face and the heart of Jesus, I have before me Jesus entire, his soul
and its sentiments. Thus Jesus manifested himself to Blessed Mar
garet Mary, the face of Jesus in this vision, certainly was the light,
the life, the word of the heart ; that Face of Jesus, at Parray-le-Mo-
nial, was a dolorous face, a Holy Face. Behold tlie heart which has so
much loved mankind. ... and tJiey offer me nothing but ingrati
tude ! Surely it was not jy that Avas then expressed on the Face-
of Jesus !"
CHAPTER VII.
THE GOLDEN DAGGER.
" The earth is steeped in crime !
The Holy Name of the Lord is bias-
phemed ; the very Sunday itself
is profaned : these fill the measure
of iniquity. In no age has crime
been so malignant. . . . My Name
is every where blasphemed ; even
by the little children ! "
(Words of Our Lord to the Sister.)
Four years 7 had scarcely elapsed since the lit
tle seamstress of liennes had bid adieu to the
world, to enter among the Carmelites of Tours,
whither she had been conducted by her father.
Clothed with the holy habit, and after two years
professed, she generously and unreservedly
followed the interior attraction of grace, thus
disposing herself to second its every design,
which till now had remained absolutely hid
den from her view. Divine grace suffers neither
delay nor hesitation in the soul destined to
taste the sweetness of its consolations. Like
the supreme wisdom of the Most High from
whom it emanates, it pursues its course with
untiring vigor and prudence, performing all
things with order, weight and measure. Thus
124 LIEE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
did divine grace act in the soul of Sister St.
Peter. By alternate hours of consolation and
of desolation she was slowly prepared for its
secret operations. The hour is fast approach
ing, in which the object of these various move
ments of grace will be made manifest to her ;
the communications which will be vouchsafed
her, will indicate, in a precise and circumstan
tial manner, the designs of the Most High
over this chosen soul. Her Divine Spouse,
continuing his mysterious colloquies, will first
reveal that which is most offensive and
most painful to his Divine Heart, and which
in consequence, provokes his just indignation.
Then, after having made known the urgent
necessity of a reparation particularly adapted
to the crime to be expiated, he suggests to her
a iormula of prayer to console his Sacred
Heart and to appease his anger. In short, the
year will not have passed until, to the great
consternation of the sister, he, himself, will
have designated by name the guilty nation
which has drawn upon itself the vengeance
of the Almighty. The communications which
our carmelite received on this subject refer
to the first part of her mission, on which she
has written a series of letters, to the original
of which we shall adhere as nearly as possible.
These are prefaced by the following declaration :
Before commencing this narrative, I de
clare in all truth and simplicity, that the glory
of G-od alone, and the accomplishment of his
most holy will, have urged me to make known
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 125
that which, I believe, Our Lord in his mercy
has communicated to me in reference to the
work of Reparation for blasphemy. I shall copy
the letters which I have addressed to our very
Rev. Mother Prioress, adding- to them what
ever may be necessary to make them more
clearly understood ; as also the remarks which
I have since made, or anything else relative to
the subject which I can now recall to mind. I
declare, that the reason why I make these cor
rections is, that I usually write hurriedly, be
cause of my duties as portress ; I state as brief
ly as possible that which the Lord has operated
in me. Our Eev. Mother, herself, has not al
ways sufficient time to listen to a detailed ac
count of these things at the moment of their
occurrence. But as I suffer mentally until I
have related to my Superior what has passed,
I took the resolution to make note of all ; after
which my sufferings cease."
" After this little preamble, I shall write on
in simplicity under the guidance of the star
of obedience. I declare again that if the mer
est untruth could obtain the establishment
of this work, I would never consent to it, for
God is truth itself, and I am firmly convinced
that he will defend his cause, for he has
sworn it."
In the first letter, the sister gives several
details w^hich we have mentioned in the pre-
ceeding chapter. We are now about to narrate
the interesting communication which is the
subject of her second.
126 LIEE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
It took place on the 26th of August, 1843,
the day after the celebration of the feast of
St. Louis, who is specially honored as the pro
tector of France, the defender of the Roman
Church, and the avenger of the Divine Majesty
outraged by blasphemy.
This date is not without its signification,
which shall be noticed further on. A violent
storm had suddenly burst forth from the fiery
heavens and fell in torrents over the city of Tours.
" Never," said the carmelite virgin, " have I
realised the justice of an irritated Grod as at that
moment. Prostrate in an agony of fear before
the Lord, I unceasingly offered Jesus Christ
to his heavenly Father for the necessities of
our holy mother the Church : one of our sis
ters experienced the same emotions as I." Ac
cording to the doctrine of the Apostles, the
phenomena of nature are the visible signs of
things invisible and supernatural. The terrible
rolling of the thunder and the gleaming of the
lightning seemed to be the menacing threats
of the Most High. The flashes of light
ning were as arrows, ready to destroy the en
emies of the Lord. At five o clock, she com
menced her evening prayer ; placing herself in
spirit at the foot of the cross, (according to her
custom, as we have seen), she lovingly asked
of Our Lord the came of his wrath. Her Di
vine Master, wishing to try her, changed his
usual manner, and said : " I have lent ear to
your sighs, and have seen your desire to glorify
THE GOLDEN DAGGER.
me ; yet, all this proceeds not from you, it is I
who am the Author of all holy desires. "
The sister continues : " Then he unfolded his
Heart to me, concentrating therein the powers
of my soul, and addressed me thus : My
Name is everywhere blasphemed, even little
children blaspheme it. And he made me
understand how that dreadful sin pierced and
wounded his Heart, aye, more than all other
crimes. By blasphemy, the sinner outrages
him to his face, attacks him openly, and pro
nounces upon himself his own judgment and
condemnation. Blasphemy is an empoisoned
dagger, wounding his Divine Heart continual
ly ; he told me that he would give me a golden
dagger with which to wound him delightfully,
and heal the poisonous wounds caused by
sin."
" The following is the prayer which Our
Lord dictated to me, notwithstanding my un-
worthiness, for the reparation of blasphemy
against his Holy Name : he offered it to me as
a golden dagger, assuring me that every time
I said it, I would wound his Heart most lov-
ingly."
THE GOLDEN DAGGER.
" May the most holy, the most sacred, the
most adorable, the most unknown and the
most inexpressible Name of G-od be adored,
praised, blessed, loved and glorified, in heaven,
on earth and in hell, by all creatures formed
128 LIFE OE SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
by his sacred hand, and by the loving Heart of
our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Blessed Sac
rament of the altar. Amen. r
The sister here suddenly interrupts her
interesting narrative to explain an expression
contained in this prayer.
; As I was not a little astonished when Our
Lord said and in hell, he had the goodness to
make me understand that his justice was there
glorified. I beg to remark, that he did not only
mean the place where the wicked are punished,
but also purgatory, where he is loved and glo
rified by the suffering souls. The word hell is
not merely applied to the place where the
damned are confined, for our faith teaches us
that the Saviour descended into hell or Limbo,
where the souls of the just were detained
until his Coming ; and does not our holy
mother the Church pray her divine Spouse to
deliver the souls of her children from the gates
of hell ? A porta inferi erue, Domine, animas
eorum." (Office of the Dead.)
To these explanations may be added, that
St. Paul, in one of his epistles, made use of the
same expression in an analogical sense, saying :
" At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend
in heaven, on earth and in hell."
She continues : " Our Lord, having given me
this golden dagger, added : Beware how you
appreciate this favor, for I shall demand an
account of it. At that moment, I seemed to
behold flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
wounded by this golden dagger, torrents
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 129
of grace for the conversion of sinners, which
sight gave me confidence to ask : My Lord,
do you then hold me responsible for blasphem
ers ? This question shall have its answer
later ; for the present, the divine Master said
nothing more. That which he had just com
municated was sufficiently decisive, and de
serving the most serious reflection. " A ware of
my weakness," said she, "and fearing the demon,
I prayed the Blessed Virgin to be pleased to
guard that which her Divine Son had just con
fided to me. "
She did not fail to take instant note of this
important communication, and according to
her custom, delivered it to the mother prioress
as soon as written. The latter received it with
out appearing to attach much importance to
its contents. But after the sister had retired,
and the mother prioress had carefully perused
it, a new avenue of thought was opened to
her, and for the first time she began to suspect
the gravity of the communications received
by her spiritual daughter, and foresaw the re
sponsibility which would devolve both on her
and on her community. For not only was the
prayer in honor of the Holy Name of Grod to be
repeated by the person to whom it had been
revealed, but it was to be communicated and
spread among the faithful.
As we can readilv understand, this was a
subject for reflection to a superior as prudent
as Mother Mary of the Incarnation.
" This communication" said the sister, " has
5
130 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
wrought a change in my soul, for I am con
stantly occupied in glorifying the most Holy
Name of G-od. Our Lord inspired me to add
to the golden dagger, some other prayer, to be
repeated every hour of the day ; he graciously
accepted this exercise, desiring that it be pro
mulgated. My Divine Saviour made me par
ticipate in his desire of beholding the name of
his Father glorified \ he exhorted me to praise
and bless that adorable Name, in imitation of
the angels who are perpetually singing, Sanctus,
Sanctus, Sanctus ; that thus I would accomplish
his desire, that of honoring his Sacred Heart
and the holy Heart of his Mother. He likewise
made me understand that this would not
prevent me from honoring him in his sacred
mysteries, that during his life, his Sacred Heart
had suffered from blasphemy." At the end, she
added : " I understand, moreover, that the more
acceptable a thing is to G-od, the more odious
does Satan try to render it, in order to disgust
the soul ; but if she be faithful, notwithstanding
her repugnance, she will acquire great merit.
Our Divine Saviour gave me these instructions
to help me resist the assaults which the devil
was meditating against me, because of this
work. His aim is its annihilation, as Our Lord
made known to me, but his efforts will be
fruitless."
The little exercise of reparation spoken of
by the sister, and revealed to her on the feast
of St. Michael, commenced with the Magnificat,
followed by twenty-four verses, the first of
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 131
which we subjoin : " In union with the
iSacred Heart of Jesus, come let us worship
the adorable Name of Grod, which is above all
names. ... In union with the holy Heart of
Mary, come let us adore this Name ... In
union with the glorious St. Joseph come let
us adore" . . . The last invitation is thus
terminated : " Come let us adore the exalted
Name of Grod which is above all names, and
let us prostrate ourselves before him ; let us
weep in the presence of the Lord who has
made us, for he is the Lord our Grod, we are
his people and the sheep whom he conducts
to his pastures."
Though these prayers contained nothing
but what was in conformity with the spirit of
the Church, yet the mother prioress would
not at first allow Sr. Mary St. Peter to recite
them, but retained the formula which had been
remitted her.
In the meantime, she took proper care to
place bounds to the impetuosity of a zeal which
astonished her, and which., in her opinion,
might have been the effect of self-love. " But,"
.said the good sister, "as I was persuaded that
my superiors did nothing but by the special
permission of Grod, I submitted to their orders,
and did all in my power to obey. Our Lord,
made a gap in the wall of obedience (if I can
express myself thus) which I had opposed to
him ; through this he came into my heart to
converse about his work, or rather he drew me
to himself."
132 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETEE.
" One day, when speaking to our E/ev.
Mother, I told her that when at prayer I found
myself entirely occupied in repairing the
outrages committed against Grod by blas
phemers. She reprimanded me severely, and
forbade me to continue ; ordering me to
apply my mind to meditate simply on my last
end, or on any other similar subject. She
reproached me for presuming to make repara
tion for others, whilst perhaps I, myself, had
blasphemed Grod in my heart. Would you
not do better, said she, to meditate on these
words which may be addressed to you some
day : Go, ye cursed into everlasting fire ?
With a grieved heart the poor sister retired
from her superior. " Seeing that our reverend
mother appeared to be so dissatisfied with me,
I went to tell my sufferings to Our Lord,
for it troubled me not a little to be obliged to
change my method of prayer and to resist the
attractions which he gave me. I was tor
mented with the fear of disobeying ; but I
did the best I could to follow the method of
meditation indicated by our mother superior,
and I then rendered an account to her. When
she told me that I had fulfilled her desires,
my soul became tranquil. One day, Our Lord
made me understand that it was more neces
sary for me to obey my superiors than to
credit what I believed to have heard from the
Lord himself. With the assistance of grace, I
have always been submissive to the least wish
of my superiors."
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 133
Nevertheless, the humble virgin was a
prey to great mental sufferings. She obtained
no consolation from any one, neither from her
confessors nor her superiors, " who, in their
wisdom," said she, " proposed to try me, to
ascertain if it were really the work of Grod.
It was then I felt the weight of that cross
which, even before my coming to Carmel,
Our Lord had promised to give me in relig
ion." In fact, she now commenced really
to carry the cross, and we shall see that
she was never released from it until her
last sigh. Let us now attend to her, as
she reveals the manner in which she con
ducted herself towards her superiors : " When
Our Lord communicated anything to me on
the subject of his work, I dared not speak of
it to our good mother, but I took note of it
and left the writing in her office, very glad
when she was not there. On ODe occasion,
among others, I was all in a tremble before
the Blessed Sacrament, holding in my hand
a little letter which I presented to Our Lord
before going to remit it. Sometimes the work
of Reparation was a burning fire within me.
I felt the necessity of speaking to some one
who would take an interest in it, but I could
not obtain the permission."
" At length, however, Our Lord sent me a
great consolation : I was one day kneeling be
fore our reverend mother, speaking "to her of
the sufferings occasioned by the work with
which I was charged ; our good mother said :
134 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
What can I do for you, my child ? Nothing,
at all, you must bring forth this work by
your own sufferings. As she was speaking,
there fell from a book which she held in her
hand, a little leaflet on which was printed an
honorable amende to the- most Holy Name of
God, followed by an appeal to the French na
tion, to appease the anger of God, irritated by blas
phemy. This had a striking resemblance to
the communications which I had received,
and which at that time appeared to be a mere
chimera of my own. Our reverend mother was
lost in astonishment. She had never before
seen this paper, 110 one in the house knew
anything about it ; the book which contained it
had not been taken from the library perhaps
for twenty years ; and it was in my presence
that this incident occurred ! I was in an ecstasy
of joy, nor could I disabuse myself of the idea
that Heaven commenced to speak in my
favor. "
The writing in question had been published
in 1819, by 1 Abbe Soyer, then vicar general
of Poitiers, who became bishop of Lucan. To
the first title of Appeal to the People of France,
there was added a second, Reparation, inspired
to appease the Anger of God. Therein it was
stated openly that blasphemy drew down
the anger of G-od on France ; to avert which,
prayers and supplications, similar to those
proposed by Sr. Mary St Peter, were spe
cified. " In her surprise, " continues the latter,
" our good mother said, smilingly, Well,
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 135
sister, if I did not know you, I would think
you were a sorceress. I replied : Mother, I am
confident that the holy Angels have brought
this to light ; for I remembered having invoked
them before going to our Mother s office ; un
doubtedly it was they who caused this book
to be taken from the library at the proper mo
ment. "
The mother prioress sought further in
formation on the subject, and wrote to 1 Abbe
Soyer for an explanation. The prelate re
plied that it was he who had published the
" Appeal, " at the solicitation of a carmelite, of
Poitiers, named Sister Adelaide, a soul of pre
dilection, with whom the Lord had held the
most intimate communications. " That admi
rable carmelite," said he, "was the most morti
fied, the most humble, and the most saintly soul
I have ever met. It would greatly contribute to
the edification of the members of your order
if her life were written. " Mother Adelaide died
on 31st of July, of the same year, 1843 ; and just
twenty-six days after her death, Sr. St. Peter,
religious of the same order, w r as inspired to
demand the work of Reparation for blasphemy ;
as though Grod had awaited the death of one
prophet before raising up another. Uno defi-
ciente liaud deficit alter. \*fo
" Another remarkable coincidence happened
on the same day, the 26th of August. A pious
gentleman had distributed among several of
the communities of Tours, a prayer in honor
of the Holy Name of Grod, to obtain through
136 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the intercession of St. Louis, king of France,
the dispersion of the enemies of that divine
Name. This prayer had been recited before
the feast of St. Louis, and what was more
admirable still in the dispensations of Divine
Providence, was that the prayers had been cir
culated among all the religious houses of the
city, as was afterward learned, the Carmelites
alone being forgotten. On the very next day, the
Lord communicated to the most unworthy of
his servants, the fruit of the prayers of these
holy souls. "
The very pious gentlemen in question, is no
other than M. Dupont, the holy man of Tours.
He was on the most friendly terms with the
Carmelites, and this occurrence, as may be
supposed, only the more strongly cemented the
bonds of friendship existing between them.
For years he had burned with an ardent zeal
for the reparation of blasphemy, and as a nat
ural consequence, with a great devotion to St.
Louis, king of France. This fervent Christian,
as the sister relates, had received with great
joy the formula of prayers called the Quaran
tine of St. Louis, which had come to Tours by
post, 110 one knew from whence, in the early
part of July, 1843. Madam Deshayes, religious
of the Sacred Heart, considered as one of the
foundresses of the Institution, was the first to
receive thirty copies ; she gave one to M. Du
pont who lost no time in having more printed.
The prayer was in honor of the Holy Name
of G-od, and in reparation for blasphemy. On
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 137
the copy distributed among the faithful, there
was the following :
" From the 16th of July to the 25th of Au
gust, inclusively, the faithful are called upon to
unite in prayer for the necessities of the Church
and State. . . . May thy Name, Lord ! be known
and blessed, in all times, and in all places ! "
This prayer had been recited during the forty
days prescribed, in all the communities of the
city. But what was most astonishing, was
that notwithstanding the intimacy existing
between M. Dupont and the Carmelites, (be
sides the circumstance that the Quarantine
seems to have been put under the protection
of our Lady of Mount Carmel), the mother
prioress and her daughters, as the sister re
marked, had not the slighest knowledge of
the event. The day after the feast of St. Louis,
26th of August, immediately after the last day
of the Quarantine, the pious sister received
the divine communication, of which we have
spoken. We cannot but be forcibly struck
with the coincidence, as well as with the af-
fmty existing between the words of the quar
antine : May tlty Name be known, blessed, and
those of the " Grolden Dagger " inspired to Sr.
St. Peter, the same day : May the holy Name of
God be forever praised and blessed
M. Dupont, especially, attached so much the
more importance to this, as he was then pre
occupied with the idea of reparation for blas
phemy. He naturally concluded that the
prayers, offered in 1843 by a great number of
138 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETER.
holy souls, had been heard. " If faith does
not oblige us," said he, " it at least allows us
to believe that God has heard our prayers,
according to his promise : Where several are
united in my Name, there am I in the midst. It
was only one year after the revelations made to
the venerable sister, that we were informed of
the very mysterious coincidence existing be
tween the prayers of the quarantine and the
invocation dictated her by Our Lord. It seemed
as though Heaven had heard the supplication
of earth, and planted the seeds of Separation,
which would ere long spring forth and blos
From the general aspect, it seems as if this
year was predestined by Divine Providence
for the work of Reparation. It was on the 8th
of August, 1843, that the Pope, Gregory xvi.,
promulgated a brief for the erection of a pious
confraternity under the patronage of St. Louis,
king of France, for the Reparation of blasphe
my against the Holy Name of God. "We find
that at the same epoch, a Jesuit labored for
some time in vairi in a small country village
of the diocese of Nantes, whose inhabitants
were strangely addicted to blasphemy. But
after his bishop had approved of an associa
tion in reparation for blasphemy, to which an
indulgence of forty days was attached, he
obtained the most salutary and abundant fruits.
These events had the effect of causing the
superiors of Sr. M. of St. Peter, to relax some
what in their severity toward her.
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 139
" I was permitted to occupy myself with
the work of Grod according to the inspirations
given me. When our Rev. Mother returned
to me the prayers of Reparation, I was carried
away with joy, and every day I recited them
with renewed devotion. My good Master
gave me to understand that they were most
agreeable to him. Soon after, he told me that
I must request my superiors to have them
printed ; a new source of trouble for me, for
our wise and prudent Mother, seeing that Our
Lord continued to follow up his work, desiring
as she did to see it established upon a solid
foundation, continued to try me, in order
to ascertain if it were truly Grod who guided
me."
" One day she told me that I seemed like
another Peter Michel. This man was a vision
ary, who had deceived multitudes by his false
revelations ; he had come to see our Rev.
Mother, but she discovered the imposition at the
first glance. Eventually, he was tried, convict
ed as an impostor and condemned to several
years imprisonment. I knew not what to think
of my communications on beholding myself
placed on a par with this individual. Our
Lord reassured me, however, by these words :
1 As long as you continue humble and obedi-
ent, rest assured that you are under no illu
sion. "
Shortly after these events had taken place,
our Rev. Mother became very ill. Though she
had often crossed me both for the good of my
140 LIFE OE SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
soul and to be convinced whether it was Grod who
was guiding me, yet, I loved her very tenderly
and placed unbounded confidence in her. One
day during my meditation (it was on the eve
of the feast of St. Michael) Our Lord made me
understand that I had pleased his Divine Heart
with my little Eeparation ; that these prayers
caused him to forget my past ingratitude ; and
that if the Community wished to obtain the
restoration of our Rev. Mother, that she might
be able to discharge her duties with less suf
fering, they should make a novena before the
Blessed Sacrament, in reparation for blasphe
my against the Holy Name of G-od, and also that
they should say the prayers of the little exer
cise with which he had inspired me ; that it
was but just, children should aid their mother,
and that if the sisters gave this satisfaction to
his Sacred Heart, he would lavish graces
upon the community."
" I could not refuse to impart this commu
nication for Our Lord, who added, as if to in
duce me to comply with his request : Oh !
if you could understand all I have done for
you, and what graces I have lavished on your
soul, you would be filled with astonishment on
beholding the Creator thus abasing himself to
his creature ! Then I said, My Lord, I will
again do your bidding ; for after all, I run 110
risk, I shall only be covered with humilations.
I placed myself under the protection of the
Blessed Virgin, and I communicated my mis
sion to ourEev. Mother, whose sufferings were
THE GOLDEN DAGGER. 141
most violent. She consented to make the 110-
vena ; but in order that the sisters should not
know it was I who composed the prayers, our
confessor had the kindness to copy them ; they
Relieved the new devotion came from him."
" For myself, I have never regretted my un
limited obedience to Our Lord, who is never
outdone in generosity. On that same day, the
feast of St. Michael, the Divine Master declared
it his will that our mother should begin to
promulgate these prayers of Reparation. As
she was in a state of debility and suffering,
Our Lord granted me as a token of my mission,
the restoration of her health. He assured me
there was nothing in this devotion contrary
to the spirit of the Church, which has
been establishd to glorify the Holy Name of
G-od. I promised him if he cured our moth
er, that she would not neglect his work.
Then when she recovered I said : My Lord,
I shall deliver your messages again, when
and to whom you wish. My Heavenly Spouse,
faithful to his word, restored to health our
beloved unvalid, who was soon able to fulfil
the important duties of her charge. "
CHAPTEE VIII.
THE REPARATION.
"You have offered yourself to
me for the accomplishment of my
designs ; this offering has won
my heart. "
(Words of Our Lord.)
The mother prioress, who wished to test
these first revelations, placed the young pro
fessed in direct communication with a man of
G-od, well versed in spiritual matters, the Rev.
Father Yieillecases, religious of Picpus, and
Director of the grand seminary of Tours. Now
that the communications were becoming of a
more serious nature, that they tended to a
practical end, and were destined to be made
known to the world, her Superior felt the ne
cessity of having a thorough understanding
with the sister s confessor. Only those deemed
indispensable in carrying out the designs of
G-od, were told of these supernatural oper
ations.
By the designs of Providence, two priests of
the diocese became successively her directors,
and thus were cognizant of the ever varying
phases of her life, with its interior illuminations.
THE REPARATION. 143
These were Father Aileron, Dean of the parish
ofOur Lady la Eiche, and the Abbe Salmon. The
former had been the superior of the Carmelites
for twenty-four years ; it was he who received
our little Breton on her arrival ; and when
the community were obliged to remove to
another locality, he took a very active part
in their temporal concerns ; he chose the site,
supervised the work, and in fine, seemed to be
indispensable to these good sisters, who are
so much indebted to his foresight and pru
dence.
He died in 1862, venerated and esteemed by
:all the clergy, who beheld in him a model
priest. His parishioners admired and loved
him as the true type of the Grood Shepherd.
Pious, charitable and zealous, of remarkable
self-abnegation, and perfect disinterestedness,
he displayed in the exercise of his holy min
istry, as much delicacy of conscience as rig
orous exactitude. He possessed a straight
forward mind, solid judgment and good com
mon sense ; these admirable qualities combined
to make him an able and discreet director. He
w r as prudent in deliberation, giving no de
cision until after mature reflection. Simple,
modest and timid by nature, although firm in
his resolutions once formed, he had but little
relish for the extraordinary : both in his pri
vate conduct and for the guidance of others he
preferred the ordinary way. With such dispo
sitions, it will not be surprising that he paid
very little attention to the spiritual communi-
144 LIFE OF SISTEE MAEY ST. PETEE.
cations received by Sr. Mary St. Peter ; he
would even laugh at them by times, when con
versing with her and the mother superior
But by degrees, and after close observation,
he recognized the divine origin of her reve
lations. He was, indeed, so fully convinced
of this fact, that he was the first in the diocese
who requested permission to establish in his
parish the work of Reparation, demanded by
the pious carmelite, and was deeply grieved
when the permission was refused.
This excellent priest professed a sincere ad
miration for M. Dupont, with whom he had
frequent intercourse, as the latter was the
prime-mover in all the works of charity set on
foot in the parish. When the Little Sisters
of the Poor were establised at Tours, it was in
concert with Father Aileron that the pious
founder made his negociations, and selected a
site in the parish of Notre Dame la Riche. This
good priest died on the 16th of August, the day
after the feast of the Assumption. In his last
testament he " willed and bequeathed to Notre
Dame the fruits of his savings. " His charity
had rendered him so very popular that the
municipality, wishing to show their high
appreciation of his merits, gave his name to
one of the streets in the parish de la Riche.
He has, likewise, the honor of having achieved,
almost at his own expense, the handsome ar
chitectural alterations which render the church
of this parish one of the most interesting re
ligious edifices -of the city.
THE REPARATION. . 145
Rev. Father Aileron was an intimate friend
of Father Salmon, his curate at his first parish
St. Pierre des Corps, as likewise at Notre Dame
la Riche. The latter was appointed confessor
to the Carmelites in 1839, which office seemed
in harmony with his austere and pious mode
of life. He embraced this occupation with
ardor, and fulfilled its duties with the most
rigorous punctuality for twelve years. He was
the constant confessor of Sr. St. Peter, and for
six years (1844 to 1850) was resident chaplain
of the community. He was endowed with
qualities eminently sacerdotal. A man of prayer,
a lover of the interior life, serious and reserved,
yet, withal learned and laborious ; he was an
excellent and impressive preacher, though of a
style rather antiquated. M. Dupont held him
in the greatest esteem, and consulted him freely
on questions of theology and holy scripture.
It was this reverend father who advised him
to publish the pamphlet on the " Association
against Blasphemy, " approved by Mgr. Morlot.
Father Salmon possessed a taste for study,
and practised all the regularity of a religious,,
constantly employing every moment with the
most scrupulous economy. He was the first
among the priests of Tours to adopt the Roman
Breviary, even before the archiepiscopal com
mand, with the sole motive of being more
useful to the Carmelites, who have always
recited the Roman Breviary. He never dissim
ulated the joy which he savored at leisure in
the recitation of his office, which drew forth the
146 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
remark from Father Aileron : " His breviary
and his Carmelites ! with these, this good abbot
so avaricious of his time, would willingly
pass his days ! " In fact, his love for Carmel and
the Church was boundless. His zeal in the
sacred tribunal was indefatigable, but unfor
tunately he was of a timorous conscience, some
times amounting to scrupulosity, which caused
him to suspect the influence of the devil in the
simplest circumstances.
An incurable deafness rendered his ministry
painful and fatiguing, increased his indecision
and confirmed his doubts. He distrusted the
communications made to Sr. Mary of St. Peter ;
they seemed to him to be the mere effect of
imagination, and at times, his scrupulous mind
caused him to fear a snare of the devil. But,
by degrees, he recognized by unequivocal
.signs, the action of G-od in this pure and hum
ble soul ; and from the moment he became
convinced, he rendered her every assistance in
his power, defending her cause on every occa
sion. To his sincere regret he was obliged to
resign his position as chaplain of the Carmel-
it*s, 011 account of an attack of apoplexy. *
He retired to the orphanage, of which he was
.a benefactor, (having donated their house) ;
Iierehe resided for some time with his intimate
(*) In 1848, shortly after the death of Sister Mary St. Peter,
Mgr. Morlot, in consideration of the virtues and eminent services
Tendered the diocese by this worthy chaplain, appointed him
honorary Canon of the Archbishopric.
THE REPARATION. 14T
friend the Abbe Yerdier. His days were peace
fully ended at Langeais, in the midst of his vir
tuous and pious relatives.
These were the two grave and virtuous
priests with whom the mother prioress held
consultations from time to time, in order to
be guided in her opinion concerning the
manifestations made known to her by her
spiritual daughter. Here was a question which
involved not only opinion, but also action ;
and the responsibility became more evident
now that she perceived the work was to be
come public.
The heavenly communications of the sister
were frequent. Our Lord either concentrated
all the powers of her soul in his Sacred Heart,
as she herself expressed it, or seemed to come
himself to reside in her heart, and there reveal
his intentions. In both manners, a perfect
union seems to have taken place ; the will of
the Lord, his sentiments, his desire to glorify
his Father, to repair the outrages offered
the Divine Majesty .and to save sinners, all
these became identical with the aspirations
of the soul he penetrated so profoundly.
The state of union to which the sister was
elevated, without even the knowledge of it
herself, was not very easily explained in the^
language of mortals. Poor little Breton seam
stress, illiterate as we have seen, without any
of the resources that study furnishes to mysti
cal writers, when in compliance with obe
dience she took up the pen to expose her su-
148 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
pel-natural revelations, words failed her, or else
were inadequate to depict what she beheld
spiritually. This embarassmeiit became more
palpable the day on which her celestial com
munications had, as their immediate object, not
the sweet and winning mysteries of the Holy
Childhood, but the austere and complicated
work of the Reparation, for Blasphemy. In a
sort of preamble, the pious carmelite plaintive
ly bewails her incapacity, and the great diffi
culty she finds in giving utterance to the
things she had seen, heard or understood. She
implores indulgence, begging the reader to
pay no attention to the style, but to penetrate
the sense and the spirit of what she is writing,
fully convinced that the Holy Grhost will
enlighten her superiors to discern what has
proceeded from him, light and truth itself,
from that which may have originated with
her, who is but ignorance and nothingness.
Moreover, as regards the interviews on
this subject, which took place several times,
she invariably declared that these " com
munications " were not "visions," neither
were they " apparitions ; " that the truths
shown her, were not exhibited under an
external form, nor did she physically hear
what she was commissioned to relate. All
this took place in the superior part of her soul.
"We must then suppose that she had been
already raised to a high degree of union with
G-od, who had favored her with communi
cations the most sublime, and at the same
THE REPARATION. 149
time, the most independent of the senses.
This observation is not without importance,
later we shall have occasion to refer to it
For the present, far from being repulsed by.
the uncouth style of our humble carmelite,
tet us in silent admiration, behold with what
readiness and astonishing clearness she pro
nounces herself upon those matters over which
the most learned theologian would hesitate
before giving a decision. The following is
a further proof.
On the 3rd of November, the first Friday of
the month, on which the Blessed Sacrament
was exposed, and on which, in fulfilment of a
vow made by the mother superior, two relig
ious of the house should receive holy com
munion for the accomplishment of the designs
of the Sacred Heart, the Divine Saviour had
desired that it be the " Community who
"should make him known," and who should
spread the devotion of the Reparation. "Since,"
said he, " the Community desires the accomplish
ment of the designs of my Heart, and prays for this
intention, it is but just that it should have the honor
of giving birth to this Devotion"
"Then," says the sister, " something extra
ordinary took place. My soul in the Heart
of Jesus was as in a burning furnace ;
it seemed to me that it had quitted this
miserable body of clay for a moment, in
order to unite itself with Grod ; my soul was
delightfully lost, annihilated in Jesus, and
I felt that he was its first beginning and
150 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
its most happy end. I could no longer
act, I could only say interiorly, My God,
how admirable are thy operations ! Thou art
not so mysterious a G-od as is supposed. I
would have willingly added, Lord it is good
to be here ! Let us build three temples, to
retain here the three powers of my soul in
captivity. This is what happened during
mass : having had the happiness to receive
holy communion, I took the liberty of say
ing to him : Behold, my Lord, now that I
am so intimately united with thee, if thou
wouldst be pleased to repeat what thou didst
say to me at the beginning of the holy sacri
fice of the mass ! But I felt that it was not
his wish at that moment ; then I gave myself
up to what he was operating in me by this
annihilation of which I have spoken. After
the lapse of a few moments, he seemed to de
clare that he had remained silent to make me
understand that it was not in my power to
hear his interior voice when I would. After
giving me this brief lesson, he continued :
; My daughter, you have offended me more,
you have wounded my Heart more deeply
than all the other sisters, because you have set
an obstacle to my designs over your soul.
Therefore, now you should try to surpass all the
others by your love and zeal for the interests of
my glory. It is not to afflict you that I tell
you of your sins ; have confidence for I will
forget them all. There are two reasons why I
choose you to make manifest my designs : first,
THE REPARATION. 151
because you are the most unworthy ; second,
because you have offered yourself to me for
the accomplishment of these designs : by this
offering you have won my Heart. Be humble
and simple ; make known your imperfections
and your defects ; for this acknowledgment
will redound to my glory.
[ Shortly after this communication, the mis
sion of the carmelite was clearly revealed.
She writes as follows to her superior :
" My Divine Master told me to ask if you
would wrench the sword from his hand ; for
a spouse possesses unlimited influence over her
Spouse. It is his desire that the sisters of the
community should make anovena in Reparation
for blasphemy. If he choose this spot to give
free vent to his plaintive sighs, it is because
he expects more consolation from us than from
others. I seemed to read in his Heart that he
had a burning desire for this work, that it
might invoke his mercy on mankind. " The
manner in which the community was called
upon to promulgate this work, was to get
the prayers, composed for this object, printed.
The request of Our Lord was an urgent one.
He commanded that the community should
defray the expense of the printing, in order
to bestow on it his choicest blessings, and
return a hundred-fold. "I can no longer sup
port this heavy burden. I deposit it with con
fidence into your hands, Rev. Mother, and I
very humbly beg you to examine this affair
before God; for I believe that he desires you
152 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
to render him this service. For my part, now
that I have performed my duty by delivering
you this message of Our Lord, my soul is
unladen of its burden." The fulfilment of
this request implied many serious difficulties
both as regards the public on one side, and
the legitimate authority on the other. The
necessity for a more thorough examination of
the spirit which directed her daughter, pre
vented the mother prioress from taking any
steps to obtain the necessary authorization.
"Our Eev. Mother," said the Sister, "having
observed too much anxiety in me, and too
great a desire to propagate the devotion of the
reparation due to the Holy Name of Grod,
showed me the the enormity of my pride in
asking to have these prayers printed and cir
culated, there being so many other beautiful
prayers composed by the Holy Fathers of the
Church. She forbade me think on this subject ;
and even had the goodness to impose a penance
on me. During this very charitable correction
and also during a second which I shortly after
received at chapter, my stubborn nature had
been so thoroughly broken in, that thanks be to
Grod who had mercy on his unworthy ser
vant, all the compliments in the world could
not have produced the interior joy which I
experienced after these humiliations. I. en
deavored to adopt the sentiments which our
Eev. Mother proposed to me. I humbled my
self before Grod, and sacrified to him my desire
of asking for the establishment of this devo-
THE REPARATION. 153
lion, and promised to think 110 more of it, in
order to become very obedient."
She observes, however, that she was not
forbidden to practise interior acts of reparation ;
these she believed it her duty to perform.
" Our Lord, " said she, " desired me to com
passionate the sorrows of his Heart ; for if this
Divine Master were capable of sadness or of
suffering, he would be saddened even unto
death at the sight of the torpid state of man
who, far from uniting himself to him, there
by to render glory and honor to his heav
enly Father, is continually blaspheming his
Holy Name, in union with Lucifer and his ac
complices. How much it would please him
if the faithful children of the Church would
lovingly unite themselves with him in theHoly
Sacrament of the altar, and with the holy angels
to love and bless the Name of his heavenly
Father ! It is with these intentions that I
offer my devotions in honor of the Holy Name
of G-od, in union with the Heart of Jesus, the
angels and saints, finding in such holy com
pany, an adequate supplement for my un-
worthiiiess. I depose my prayers in the Sacred
Heart, by the hands of Mary and Joseph, beg
ging our adorable Saviour to multiply them a
million times, with the same power with
which he multiplied the loaves in the desert."
Her cherished devotions once commenced,
the good sister knew not where to stop. "With
the same object in view," said she, " Our Lord
inspired me to form a crown or chaplet com-
154 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETER.
posed of prayers in reparation. One day, ^ dur
ing the holy sacrifice of the mass, my Divine
Master gently drew me within the recesses of
his Heart ; and it seemed that he presented
me this chaplet, which appeared to be of the
purest gold, inlaid with precious stones. But
thinking myself most unworthy of possessing
such a great treasure and fearing to be as
sailed by robbers, that is to say, by the devil
and his agents, I begged the Blessed Virgin
to guard the beautiful chap]et in her most
amiable Heart, and I asked Our Lord to grant
some indulgences to it. I think this crown
is very agreeable to him, but most odious to
Satan. I am no believer in dreams, but since
the time my mind has been so much occupied
with the devotion to the Holy Name of Grod,
and that I have prayed for the conversion of
blasphemers, I have twice dreamed that I saw
the demons under the form of wild beasts
ready to devour me ; but I saved myself from
being torn to pieces by invoking the name of
Our Lord, and the Blessed Virgin. Perhaps
the novena of reparation made by the Com
munity had robbed them of their prey. One
day, during meditation, my good Master
warned me of the rage of Satan because of this
devotion, and at the same time gave me to
understand these words : I give you my Name
to be your light in darkness and your strength
in battle. Satan will make use of every means
in his power to annihilate this work from the
very outset : but the most Holy Name of God
THE REPARATION. 155
will triumph and the angels will gain the
victory. "
There was, within the enclosure of the con
vent, a statue of our Lady of Perpetual Help,
greatly venerated by the religious of the mon
astery. Our young carmelite, anxious about
the future of this work on which she had been
forbidden to think, felt urged to confide her
troubles to the Mother of Perpetual Help. " I
wrote," said she, " a short letter, which I placed
in the hands of the Blessed Virgin ; my soul
became tranquil, and I tried to be very obedient
to our Eev. Mother."
"What was the origin of this " Lady of Per
petual Help," invoked so efficaciously by Sr.
Mary St. Peter? Perhaps our reader would be
desirous to know something of its history. To
.satisfy his pious curiosity we shall quote text-
ually from the annals of the Carmelites.
"In 1692, a statue of the Blessed Virgin was
solemnly blessed. This statue may almost be
considered miraculous, and is invoked by the
sisters under the title of "Our Lady of Perpet
ual Help.". The following was the immediate
cause of its dedication. From time immemorial,
perhaps since the foundation of our monastery
at Tours, there was consigned to the attic, a
* block of stone representing the Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin, together with the clouds
on which she was borne. This block was so
heavy that several men could barely lift it ; it
was in such a dilapidated condition that the
subject was almost entirely obliterated."
156 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
"A young lady, having an ardent desire to
consecrate herself to Grod among the Carmel
ites, applied and obtained her admission. After
some time she experienced such difficulty in
reading the breviary, that it was decided to
send he* away as incapable of complying with
one of the principal duties of a carmelite, that
of psalmody of the choir. The poor, discon
solate novice begged the mother superior to
take into consideration her good will, assuring
her that the Blessed Virgin who had obtained
her admission would likewise teach her how to
read the Office. On hearing this, the mother
superior told her smilingly, (perhaps to put an
end to her urgent entreaties to remain) that
in proof of the sincerity of her desire, she
should go and fetch the large stone from the
garret. The novice set out immediately, full of
faith and hope. "What was the astonishment
of the entire community on beholding her
return with the enormous statue ! There
was no longer room to doubt either the will
of God, or the vocation of the young novice,
who soon learned to read the Latin perfectly,
and as a mark of gratitude begged that the
money intended to pay for her habit on the day
of her profession, be employed in repairing
the statue of her benefactress ; and as for her- "
self, that she would willingly wear the habits
already worn by the other sisters ; her wish
was gratified. The statue was cut from the
block of stone, carefully repaired, blessed with
great solemnity and installed in the ante-choir,
THE REPARATION.
Saturday, the 13th of April, 1692. It was
saved from total destruction by one of the
sisters during the revolution, and oil the return
of our Mothers to the monastery, was placed
in its present sanctuary."
Allow us to add by way of comment, that
" Our Lady of Perpetual Help " is now in the
recreation-room. It was here that Sr. Mary of
St. Peter went, as we have remarked, to pray
so piously.
The mother prioress had not yet consented
to the act of perfect abandonment, solicited
by her generous daughter, who in conse
quence, could only entertain : the desire of it."
But this " desire " was most ardent, because she
believed it conformable to what Our Lord de
manded of her for the accomplishment of his
designs. " He urged me to offer him the do
nation of myself. The first time that he asked
it of me, was a few days after I entered re
ligion. His designs at that time were unknown,
but they were revealed to my soul during the
communications which he made on the subject
of the work of Reparation for Blasphemy ;
and I felt interiorly inspired to offer to Grod the
sacrifice of my entire person, and of all the
merits I might be able to acquire in the holy
house where I had the happiness to dwell."
On the 21st of November, feast of the Pre
sentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the
renovation of vows, which is annually made
011 this day by the religious of the com
munity, she had written an act of donation
158 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
which, she had presented to her superior for
approbation, but without success. On the 24th
of the same month, feast of St. John of the
Cross, all the time during mass, she was men
tally occupied in considering the guilt and
wickedness of the world. " I offered my holy
communion in reparation for the outrages com
mitted against the majesty of Grod. This is my
habitual practice since the time that Our Lord
urged me to repair the blasphemies uttered
against the Holy Name of Grod. I experience
great consolation in thinking that Jesus, him-
.self, comes into my soul to offer there reparation,
which can only be worthily made through his
Divine Heart. For this reason when I receive
him in the holy communion, I give myself
entirely to him, I annihilate myself in his
Sacred Heart ; then he performs in me the office
-of mediatoi between Grod and man. But at
this communion, on the feast of our father, St.
John of the Cross, as soon as Jesus had entered
my soul, he took possession of all its powers,
and caused me to hear these words : I have
as yet revealed but a part of the designs of my
Heart ; to-day, I desire to show them to you in
their fullest extent. The earth is covered with
crime ! The sins against the three first com
mandments have provoked the wrath of my
Father ; the Holy Name of God blasphemed, and
the profanation of the Lord s Day fill to overflowing
the measure of iniquity ; this sin has mounted
even to the throne of the Most High, and has
.aroused his wrath, which will burst forth over
THE REPARATION. 159
mankind in an impetuous torrent, if his justice
be not appeased ; in no other time has iniquity
reached such a degree. I most ardently desire
the formation of a society well approved and
properly organized, to honor the Name of my
Father. Your superior is right in remaining
inactive until this work can be established on a
solid and permanent foundation, for otherwise,
my designs would not be accomplished.
"This is, as near as possible, the commission
which I have been told to deliver to my supe
riors. I experienced the greatest repugnance in
accepting it, for I have never heard that an
association had been established in the Church
for the object which Our Lord mentioned to
me. Then I said to him : my Grod ! if I were
sure that it is thou who art speaking, I would
have 110 difficulty in declaring these things to
my superiors. He answered : It is not your
province to examine this matter but theirs.
Have I not frequently communicated myself
to your soul in the same manner as at pres
ent ? Beware,, my child, for if from your
want of simplicity, you would place an ob
stacle to my designs, you would render your
self responsible for the salvation of a multitude
of souls. If, on the contrary, you are faithful,
these very souls will be an ornament in your
crown. Our Lord gave me hereby to under
stand that he wished by this work of Repara
tion to show mercy to sinners. In conclusion
he said : To whom should I address myself if
160 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
not to a carmelite, whose profession it is to glo
rify my Name unceasingly.
" This, Rev. Mother, although imperfectly
detailed, is what I think I have heard from
our Lord, for my soul was totally lost in Grod
and I was seized with terror. I was inspired,
at the same time with the words once repeat
ed to Abraham, that if but ten just were found
among the guilty, Grod would spare all ; and
it seemed to me that his justice would be ap
peased, and that he would show mercy to the
guilty, if he could find devoted souls to say
the prayers in reparation for blasphemy."
When terminating this narrative, our Car
melite added : "This is the substance of what
Our Lord has given me to understand. I very
humbly declare, Rev. Mother, that with the
grace of Grod, I have spoken in all the simplic
ity of my soul. I have informed you of the
commissions of my Divine Master as his little
servant, and I leave all these things to your
judgment, and to the wisdom of our eccle
siastical superior ; as for me, my mission is
fulfilled. The Holy Grhost, who directs supe
riors, will enlighten you to discern if it were
he who has dictated to me all that I have just
written. I shall submit my judgment to that
of my superiors in this matter."
Thirteen days after this event, on the eve of
the Immaculate Conception, the Lord, in his
communications to his faithful spouse, revert
ed to the same subject, and this time the guil
ty nation is designated. " My soul is still
THE BEPARATION. 161
trembling with fear at the thought of what
Our Lord declared to me during this morn-
Ing s meditation. He deputed me to re
late it all to my superiors without fear of
having been deceived, I shall do so in all sim
plicity. Our Lord having recollected the
powers of my soul in his Divine Heart, mani
fested his anger against France saying, that he
had sworn in his wrath to be revenged, if rep
aration were not made to his heavenly
Father for all the blasphemy of which she is
guilty. He declared to me that he could no
longer dwell in this sinful France, which like
a viper gnaws away at the bowels of his
mercy. He suffers patiently all the affronts
against himself, but the outrages committed
against his Divine Father provoke his just
indignation. France has suckled the breasts of
mercy even unto blood, for this reason shall
mercy cede to justice. "
"At these w^ords, I was so terrified that I
cried out : My Lord and my Grod ! permit
me to ask you, if this reparation which you
demand, be offered you, will you pardon
France once more ? And he replied : I shall
pardon her, but remember, only once more. As
this sin of blasphemy is publicly committed
everywhere in the kingdom of France, the rep
aration must likewise be made thoughout the
nation in every village and in every hamlet ;
woe to those who do not make reparation !"
In conclusion, the sister observes, that her
.mind was not at all preoccupi ed with these
6
162 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
thoughts after the revelation had passed ; that
she interiorly felt Jesus uniting her to his
Heart, that it was there he made himself heard.
" I submit all this to your wisdom, Rev. Mother,
I am but a helpless child who has no other
consolation than to refer all things to her
Mother."
Sister Mary St. Peter left the choir in a con
dition difficult to be described : (this we
know from the testimony of another sister.).
She was pale as death, covered with tears and
bearing an expression of sorrow that was
long discernible ; these outward signs were
always visible whenever she received any
revelations of this nature ; she appeared as
if crushed under the weight of divine wrath.
We must explain this "terror" and this
" sorrowful expression of countenance " of the
pious virgin of Carmel. Poor France ! whom
the Saviour points out as the nation the
most guilty. Complaining of her blasphemy,
he likens her unto a "viper" gnawing at
the bowels of his mercy ; he threatens to
withdraw from amidst her children, if they
do not hasten to repair by voluntary expia
tion the odious sin committed with so much
impunity. She has suckled unto blood, the
breasts of mercy ; justice is ready to fall down,
upon her head. What French heart could listen
to such menaces without emotion ! Could hear
such severe and solemn threats unmoved !
The reproaches of the Saviour were, alas !
but too well merited, for her guilt is glar-
THE REPARATION. 163
ingiy palpable. From every rank of society
blasphemy issues forth with frightful impetuos
ity, attacking the G-odhead openly, and wound
ing him as if with a poisoned arrow. To the vile
blasphemy of the common people is added the
doctrinal blasphemy of the free-thinker. From
the streets and thoroughfares of the city, it
lias succeeded in gaining entrance to the
public-room, to the schools, even to the family
fire-side ; it enthrones itself in our theatres, in
-our club-rooms ; it parades itself unblushingly
before the public ; it is to be heard in ordinary
conversation ; it forces its way into our books, our
pamphlets, our newspapers, and in short, into
the multitudinous collection of periodicals
with which our literary market is daily
inundated. It disguises itself under every
possible form to suit every taste, but by pref
erence adopting the tone of jest and pleasantry,
o natural to the French character ; it provokes
the mocking laugh ; by turns it can be philo
sophical or common-place, yet is always in
fluential on the multitude. It attacks, first
of all, the dignitaries of the Church, those
most worthy of respect and the most elevated,
then dogmatic teachings, aye, the very exist
ence of Christianity itself; yet more, it hesi
tates not to attack God himself, to deny his
nature, his rights, nay, his very existence.
This it is that " fills the measure of iniquity
to overflowing," and cries to heaven for ven
geance.
France, among all other nations, is named
164 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
as the most guilty, because she is the one
most favored by heaven, the Beloved of
Christ, and the Eldest Daughter of the Church.
Blasphemy impedes ( her from fulfilling the
providential role assigned her ; she places at
the service of the impious of all other nations,
the influence and ascendency which her
wonderful resources and the natural genius of
her people place at her disposal. Through the
spirit of revolution of which she has become
the centre and the most active agent in
Europe, and the practical atheism which she
professes both in her government and in her
laws, she plays the part of a universal prose-
lytizer as baneful to the individual as to society
at large. Need we be astonished that she in
particular has been threatened with the
wrath of God !
Fortunately, she has in heaven, among the
angels and saints, many powerful intercessors ;
the glorious archangel, St. Micheal, for in
stance, but especially St. Louis, the greatest
and wisest of her kings.
At the very time that Our Lord was com
municating his mysteries to the virgin of
Carmel. the influence of this saint was mak
ing itself felt. It was under the invocation of
St. Louis, that the first cry for pardon for the
blasphemer had been directed to the throne of
the Most High ; it was immediately after his
feast, at the conclusion of the forty days
prayer in his honor, that the corner-stone of the
"Work of Reparation had been laid. Rome
THE - REPARATION. 165
herself, through the voice of her sovereign
pontiff, seemed to have allotted her an ade
quate support, and an encouragement to foster
the efforts already made for her salvation.
Let us be all attention while this little
Sister, explains these coincidences.
" At this period, Our Lord desired to comfort
my afflicted soul by a great consolation. I
learned that there was established at Rome an
association in reparation for blasphemy. ^VYhat
was my admiration and my gratitude when I
beheld on a printed leaf-let, a clause to the
following effect that by a brief dated August
8, 1843, the Sovereign Pontiff permitted the
establishment of pious confraternities ! What
good tidings ! I no longer doubted that the
work with which I had been entrusted was the
work of Grod. What filled me with the most
admiration was this remarkable coincidence :
on the 8th of August 1843. the Sovereign
Pontiff issued a brief at Rome, and on the 26th
of August, the same year, Our Lord manifested
to a poor, miserable little carmelite novice*
in France, this great work of Reparation for
Blasphemy, which he wished my poor country
to use as a shield against the fury of his just
indignation."
She added : "Many pious souls then com
menced to recite the reparatory prayers ;
pamphlets of the association were distrib-
* Professed Novice, because among the Carmelites, the sisters
remain in the novitiate for several years after their profession.
166 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
uted, and there was even question of estab
lishing this society in France." We shall soon
see that the sister will receive promises of
pardon, and will perceive indications of hope.
The guilty nation will not be chastised as it
deserves, for it has been the kingdom of St.
Louis and is still the kingdom of Mary ! A
special source of mercy is opened unto her.
CHAPTEE IX.
THE ASSOCIATION.
" He permitted rae to behold the
Association under the figure of an
immense army of valiant soldiers,
hastening to join him their Chief,
to defend his Father s glory."
( Words oj the Sister. )
Sr. Mary St. Peter felt strongly urged to
make a perfect oblation of herself to Grod for the
accomplishment of his designs. Prevented
by her superiors from offering this act, the
good sister, in all simplicity of soul, thought
she could comply with the urgent demands of
her Divine Master, by a little surreptitious
means, which she herself, with her usual
candor, reveals to us.
It was the feast of the Annunciation, on
which the Church celebrates the Incarnation
of the Son of Grod, patronal feast of Carmel at
Tours.
" I felt an increased devotion to the holy
Infant Jesus, and in union with one of the
sisters, who also had the same attraction, we
formed the design of consecrating ourselves
in a special manner to the Divine Child on this,
the day of his Incarnation, to render him more
168 LIFE OE SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
honor and glory. It was I who was to write
the act of consecration ; I composed it as con
formable as possible to the act of perfect
abandonment which Our Lord seemed to
demand so imperiously. I could not do this
without permission, but I was afraid to ask it
for I dreaded a refusal. I did not seek the
needed permission myself, but induced the
sister to ask our Key. Mother for both, hoping
thus to. make in secret, the long desired act
of oblation to Jesus. The permission was
granted. I was overjoyed, thinking that I had
at last gained my object. But the holy Child
is not a lover of fraud ; he received my act as
a simple consecration, as our Rev. Mother had
intended in granting the permission. There
fore, he directed me to solicit the authoriza
tion of my superiors, that I might offer this
act of abandonment with their full consent.
I went to accuse myself of the fault I had
committed, and repeated to our reverend mother
what our Divine Lord had given me to unde r-
stand. She consulted our worthy ecclesias
tical superior, and I obtained their mutual
consent."
Let us add : this favor was not granted her
immediately ; an extreme delicacy of con
science had urged her to declare the trifling
circumstance narrated above as a grievous
fault, of which her superiors took advantage
to try her the more ; it being only after the
expiration of nine months that she obtained
what she desired.
THE ASSOCIATION. 169
Before giving the details of this event,
the pious sister makes an observation. She
says : "There is something singularly strange
in this express desire of our Divine Lord, that
I should offer him an entire abandonment of
myself for the accomplishment of his designs.
Is he not the Sovereign Master of all creatures ?
Is he not free to do with them as he pleases ?
to make use of their persons, their very lives
in the manner he wills ? Again, to think that
he insisted upon having the full consent of
my superiors before taking complete posses
sion of my soul ! But it was for this reason : that
they, themselves, were to have a large share
in the work which my Divine Master proposed
to erect on such a questionable foundation. I
was nothing in their hands but a useless
instrument, which they were to employ in the
work of G-od ; and as they were to experience
many contradictions on account of this work,
he, in a manner, respected their free-will."
She continues : " I made this act on Christ
mas, 1843. On the eve, before matins, I
placed it in the hands of the Blessed Virgin,
beseeching her to offer it to Jesus, born at mid
night in the stable of Bethlehem."
Act of perfect abandonment to the most Holy Child
Jesus, according to the full extent of his desires,
for the accomplishment of his designs, and for the
glory of the Holy Name of God."
"0 most holy and most amiable Infant
Jesus ! behold, the much desired day has
LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
come at last, on which, without fear of failing
in the obedience due to my superiors, I can,
with full liberty, offer myself entirely and un
reservedly to thee, according to thy good
pleasure and the boundless extent of thy power
over my soul, for the accomplishment of
thy designs."
" I am, indeed, most unworthy, but Divine
Infant, since thou hast desired it, deign, I
beseech thee, to purify thy victim by the tears
shed during thy holy childhood and by thy most
precious blood. Prostrate at thy feet, before
thy humble manger, on this night rendered
forever memorable by thy most holy birth, I
offer myself fully and entirely to thee, my
divine Spouse, by the blessed hands of Mary
and Joseph, upon the burning altar of thy
Sacred Heart, under the protection of the
angels and saints. I offer thee a perfect and
entire oblation of myself for the accomplish
ment of thy designs, and for the glory of the
Holy Name of G-od."
" divine Child ! thou who didst say to thy
Holy Mother when she found thee in the
temple of Jerusalem : Why hast thou sought
me ? Didst thou not know I must be about my
Father s business ? I beseech thee to receive
me on this day as one of thy disciples , grant
that henceforth the one thought of my life
may be to serve thy Eternal Father and to
glorify his Holy Name. "
" most holy Child ! I renounce to-day all
that I have and all that I am, and I give my-
THE ASSOCIATION.
self to all that thou art. Do with me what
thou pleasest, for the accomplishment of thy
designs. I beseech thee, take sovereign pos
session of that which is thine. divine
Infant ! for the love of thee, I divest myself of
all things now and forever. Deign, I implore
thee, in thy great mercy to clothe me with
thy sacred merits perfumed with the precious
odor of thy virtues, that on the day of judg
ment, I may receive a welcome from thy
heavenly Father. Amen. "
" I call upon our blessed father, Peter de
Berulle, apostle of the Word Incarnate, and
upon all the angels and saints of heaven, to
witness this contract which I have just made
with the Infant Jesus."
SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER
OF THE HOLY FAMILY.
(Unworthy Carmelite.)
" This contract having been made with Our
Lord, I looked upon myself as belonging entire
ly to him ; and notwithstanding my unwor-
thiness, he continued to construct in my soul
his edifice, to the glory of the Holy Name of
G-od. At the same time, he urged me to solicit
my superiors to have the prayers of Reparation
printed and propagated. But when I presented
my supplications to our Eev. Mother, she chided
me severely for my presumption, saying that
it would be much better to recite the beautiful
formula of prayers written by the holy Fathers
of the Church, ; that I was self-willed and
172 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
obstinate to continue thinking of this work of
Reparation. After she had said this to me, I had
the idea of presenting all my disappointments
as so much money to the Blessed Virgin where
with to pay for the printing of the prayers
which her Divine Son wished to have propa
gated over the whole world. In the meantime,
G-od was granting numerous graces to the
sisters of our community who recited the
prayers either for themselves or for their
parents. As they were entirely ignorant
whence originated these prayers, they spoke
freely to me about them. One sister said :
Really, you can obtain from Grod all that you
desire by making this novena of Reparation.
There was at the time, a sister very ill, who
felt inspired to promise Our Lord that she would
make this novena ; on the third day she was
perfectly restored, and came to impart her joy
to me. These were great consolations, for be
holding that Grod thus granted so many remark
able graces, I was confirmed in my opinion,
that by the grace of Grod, the spiritual com
munications which I received, regarding this
work, were not illusions. One day after com
munion, my Divine Master himself, wishing to
console me, said these words, which have
since been verified : My daughter, these
prayers of Reparation shall be printed, and
they shall be distributed. "
" Our worthy and charitable superiors, who
were seriously examining the action of Grod in
my soul, commanded me to give them an
THE ASSOCIATION.
account of my interior, in order to ascertain
if it were truly Grod who led me. The follow
ing is what I wrote in obedience to their
request."
" Reverend and very honored mother ; with
the assistance of the Infant Jesus and my
good angel, I will now set about accomplish
ing your command, and state in writing the
manner in which I make my mental prayer.
It is a difficult task, but obedience and the
grace of Grod, will render all things easy. By
this time, very reverend mother, you are ac
customed to my poor language; what you
particularly desire is not well-turned phrases,
but a simple statement of my interior disposi
tions at the present moment."
"Firstly, I have no merit in my mental
prayer, for it is a second nature and a gift which,
notwithstanding my unworthiness, I received
from Grod from my childhood. As a remote
preparation for this exercise, I try not to lose
sight of the presence of Grod, and during the
day I keep him company in the interior of my
soul. Having left to my Divine Saviour the
care of my parents and of all that relates to
myself personally, I think of him alone, consid
ering myself as the little servant of the Holy
Family. Consequently, in all that I do during
the day, in my office as portress, I act as if I
were in the holy house of Nazareth. I imag
ine that a servant has three duties to fulfil :
to accompany his master whither he goeth, to
execute his orders and to guard his flocks in
LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
their proper pastures ; in a word, to work
solely for the interests of his master and ac
cording to his will. This is what I try to do,
with the grace of God. My interior occupa
tion is to accompany Our Lord, through the
mysteries of his life, to unite myself to him,
and to offer him my homage. When I
execute his orders, I think of these words of
the Grospel : And he was subject to them. Every
time the bell summons me to duty, I offer
myself .in sacrifice to the Eternal Father, on
the altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
begging him to unite me to his Divine Son,
that it might be Jesus alone that acts in me.
"When I have no preoccupying duty to perform,!
entertain myself with him, I take his sheej)
to graze in his pastures, by this I mean in
his sacred mysteries, the merits of which
constitute the food and the nourishment of our
souls. I pray for the pastors of the Church,
for the conversion of sinners, and I try to keep
my mind from all absorbing thoughts. I
unite all my actions to those of my Divine
Saviour. Thus, exterior occupations very rarely
disturb my soul, they only cause it to desire more
ardently the repose and tranquillity of mental
prayer ; and when the time appointed for
this exercise draws near, oh! then Our Lord
compensates me for all the little sacrifices of
the day. "
" I commence my meditation by an exami
nation of conscience, after which I humble
myself at the feet of Jesus for all my infidel-
THE ASSOCIATION.
ities to him, beseeching Mm to pardon me
and to purify my soul. Then I entertain my-
self quite naturally and simply with my
amiable Saviour, as would a child. Once, Our
Lord gave me the following method of prayer,
I do not know whether by words or by illu
mination :
Prepare your soul by recollection ;
Purify it by contrition ;
Then fill it with. God. "
" As it is perfectly useless to continue pour
ing water Into a vase once filled, so is it as
useless to crowd the soul with reflections
when one alone is sufficient to fill it. "
" Sometimes I am interiorly urged to make
my mental prayer in union with Our Lord
offering himself to the Father for his glory
and for the salvation of souls. Then I perceive
myself entirely recollected in the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, where I find ample food for reflec
tion. Beholding that I am entirely divested
of self and clothed with the Lord Jesus, I can
approach his Divine Father with more facility,
and being enriched with his sacred merits, I
do not fear to demand extraordinary graces
for our holy Mother the Church and for the
; salvation of souls. Frequently I follow this
method of prayer which is not wholly super
natural, all the powers of my soul being merely
united in the Sacred Heart of Jesus ; at
these times our Lord acts in me and I in him ;
distractions are very rare because my imagi
nation is tranfixed, captive there. But when
LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
I am thus with him, and he wills to communi
cate something new concerning the Work of
Reparation, a second operation takes place
in my soul ; I feel that I am incapable of longer
acting, for it seems as if my mind were
entirely annihilated to cede place to that
of Jesus ; it is then that my soul is capable of
distinguishing his intimate conversation. The
more perfect is this annihilation of all the fac
ulties, so much the more happy is my soul,
absorbed as it is in G-od. "
" In this state the soul finds herself in him
without knowing how she has entered therein ;
the attraction of grace predominates, seizing
and possessing all her powers, elevating her
above herself and absorbing her entirely in
G-od! Oh! what delicious moments! Favor
entirely gratuitous ! I experience this perfect
contemplation but rarely, for I am totally-
unworthy of such extraordinary graces. I
make my customary mental prayer in the Sacred
Heart of Jesus ; there he teaches me his will,
reveals his desires of laboring for the glory
of his Father and for the salvation of souls ;
this is my most pleasing occupation. It is
impossible for me to meditate for any length
of time together, firstly, because I have not the
strength, and again, because this attraction,
coming from the Heart of Jesus, draws my soul
toward him, and I find myself captivated,
confined in this divine sanctuary, like a little
child in the womb of its mother. Then my~
will and all the affections of my heart perform
THE ASSOCIATION.
all, and my poor mind finds itself relieved of
all labor. It is Our Lord himself who has
called me to this degree of mental prayer. At
the beginning, I dared not follow this attrac
tion for fear of not doing right by abandoning-
the ordinary method ; but Our Lord, wishing
that I should follow his method, placed before
my mind this comparison : If a king invited
me to his table, would it not be absurd to take
my dinner with me, instead of partaking of the
viands set before me on the prince s table to
which I had been invited ? Having con
sulted others in this point, I was told not to
fear following the method inspired by the
Holy G-host, that this was the best way of
meditating ; of which I have made the happy
experience, finding the viands of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus much more exquisite than those
which I could possibly prepare myself."
" The signal for the termination of this deli
cious repast is sometimes given before I have
had the time to offer sufficient thanks to my
benefactor. Then I briefly express my grati
tude, and take the resolution not to lose sight
of him who has had the charity to treat me so
magnificently, notwithstanding my unworthi-
ness. Nevertheless I am not without experi
encing pain from time to time, for dryness
and interior suffering are sometimes very
necessary for my soul ; in these times I accept
whatever nourishment the Lord thinks proper
to give me."
We have not been willing to retrench any
178 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
of this interesting and confidential letter,
written with such childish simplicity ; we
here behold, a humble, confiding soul, elevating
herself by degrees to the most sublime heights
of the contemplative life. At the school of the
Sacred Heart and instructed by the Holy
Grhost, the sister proves to be a faithful imita
tor of St. Gertrude, and a worthy daughter of
St. Theresa. "What admirable and astonishing
progress she has made in the unitive life !
Enraptured with her subject, her style becomes
sublime ; our illiterate little carmelite, en-
Tiches her ordinary simplicity of expression
with the most ingenious comparisons, and at
times with conceptions, not unworthy the
pen of our best ascetic writers. Her superiors
had no longer room for doubt ; it was plain that
grace had taken entire possession of this holy
soul, to mould it according to its designs, to
make of it a privileged instrument in the great
work so necessary to France and to the Church.
The Divine Master was not slow in extending
her spiritual vision, revealing in a more defi
nite manner his intentions in her regard.
Not only was an ordinary association of
Reparation necessary, but an arch-confraternity
similar to that of Notre Dame des Victoires,
having a centre toward which all the sub-
confraternities of the same work established
in France, would converge as the rays of a disk
to its centre.
Let us attend to what Sr. Mary of St. Peter
states concerning what was manifested to her
THE ASSOCIATION.
on this subject, February 2nd, 1844. "For
several weeks past, I have experienced nothing"
extraordinary as regards the work of Repa
ration ; yet Our Lord keeps me in union with
him to glorify his Father, to repair the
outrages offered him and to pray that his Name
may be sanctified. But to-day, feast of the
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, it was
my turn to receive the holy communion of
vow."
The sister has already mentioned this "Vow."
Mother Mary of the Incarnation had made a
vow for the necessities of the monastery when
a change of locality was in question. The
terms of this vow were, that for the space of
one year, two of the religious in turn accord
ing to rank, would pray every day for the ac
complishment of the designs of the Sacred".
Heart, in order to draw down a special bene
diction on the community.
"It was my turn, to communicate," continues
the sister, " and my good Master desired, not
withstanding my unworthiness, to manifest
himself to my soul. Previous to the last
occasion on which he addressed me, he was
full of wrath against France, and I listened to
his words with trembling and fear, and wept
bitterly. But to-day, I was inundated witk
joy, when he made known the pleasure expe
rienced by his Divine Heart at the sight of the
zeal and good-will manifested by his children
toward the growing association. As his-
Holy Mother had adopted the arch-confra-
180 LIFE OF SISTEK MARY ST. PETEE.
ternity for the conversion of sinners, so had
he taken under his protection that of the
Reparation ; these two associations were to
act in concert, the latter, to repair the outrages
committed against Grod, the former to obtain
pardon for these outrages, the one through
Jesus, the other through Mary. But Our Lord
gave me to understand that the association
which he wished to establish in France had
two objects in view : first, the Eeparatioii of
blasphemy uttered against Grod ; second, the
sanctification of his Holy Name on the Lord s
Day ; consequently, the extirpation of blas-
phemv and the prohibition of manual labor
on Sunday. Blasphemy and the violation of
the Lord s Day are the principal sins which
provoke the anger of Grod against France."
" To the rules and regulations prescribed
by the association at Home, there are others
added to the one established in France ; for
instance, that the members should perform no
maniial labor, nor allow others to labor, and
to contribute with all their might to the
prevention of all kinds of manual labor on
the days prohibited. Our Lord desires first,
that this association be placed under the pa
tronage of St. Martin, St. Louis and St. Mi
chael ; second, that each member recite daily a
Pater, Ave, and Grloria Patri, followed by the
act of praise which he gave me under the
title of " The Golden Arrow," with an invoca
tion to the holy patrons ; but on Sundays and
Holydays they should recite all the prayers
THE ASSOCIATION. 181
of Reparation, in expiation for the outrages
committed against God on these holy days
and to obtain mercy for the guilty. I beheld
this association under the figure of an army
of valiant soldiers, hastening to join their
Chief, to defend the glory of his Father. He
wished that their name should correspond to
the nobility of their undertaking, and for this
reason, that they should bear the title of, De
fenders of the Holy Name of G-od. He also gave
me to understand that each member should
wear a badge in the form of a cross, bearing
on one side Sit nomen Domini benedictum, and
on the other Vade retro, Satana. That he
would give to this heavenly device a secret
virtue to combat against the demon of blas
phemy ; that every time a member heard a
blasphemy uttered, he should repeat the words
written on this cross, and in this manner to
wage war against Satan, thus glorifying Grod."
" Our Lord manifested to me, that the devil
would make use of every means in his power
to crush this work from the beginning. I felt as
though I could shed even the last drop of my
blood for so holy an association. Our Lord
told me also that he had said nothing to me
for a long time, because it was not necessary ;
that he did nothing undesignedly, but that
it was expedient to give me this information
to-day. He called my attention to the difference
existing between the Association of France and
that of Rome, on account of the violation of the
Lord s Day. Oh ! if we could know with
182 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
what joy hemlocks upon this infant association,,
we would hasten to satisfy the long cherised
desire of his Heart, by enrolling ourselves
under the standard of this glorious militia, of
which he is the commander-in-chief, to fight
with the arms of his cross against the enemies-
of the Holy Name of Grod, and to submit them
to his sway by rallying them under his stan
dard."
The Roman association, to which the sister
here alludes, is that established by a decree
of Gregory XVI. on the 8th of August, 1843.
The headquarters of this association was at
Rome, under the invocation of Peter Caravita y
and was placed under the protection of St.
Louis, king of France. Each member proposed
to himself never to utter a blasphemy or an
imprecation. Those invested with authority,
should try to encourage their dependents to
avoid this odious sin. If they cannot prevent
its commission, they must, at least, offer an
aspiration of praise, such as, May God be
praised! May his Holy Name be Blessed! They
should recite daily "Pater and Ave " for the
conversion of blasphemers. His Holiness has
granted many spiritual favors, notably a
plenary indulgence once a month, on any day
at option, provided the ordinary conditions be
fulfilled ; and at the hour of death, another
plenary indulgence on the invocation of the
Holy Name of Jesus ; many other special in
dulgences are also attached thereto.
An association for the Reparation of bias-
THE ASSOCIATION. 183
phemy was not a new institution in the
Church ; thus we see that Sr. Mary St. Peter
was greatly consoled on learning of the exist
ence of a similar association at Rome, and she
with good reason inferred from this fact, that
the communications, made to her on the
subject, were of divine origin. Yet, as it was
a question of repairing and extirpating this
evil, peculiar to our times, which was prop
agating itself with alarming rapidity, repara
tion for blasphemy, the only object proposed
by the association of Rome, was not sufficient
for that of France, where it was necessary to
add reparation for the profanation of Sunday.
It must be remarked that in the non-observance
of the Lord s Day, the sister beheld an outrage
committed against the sovereignty of God, and
an injury done to the sanctification of his
Holy Name, a crime in her eyes identical with
that of blasphemy : in fact, when the day is
no longer sanctified by the suspension of labor,
the Holy Name of the Lord is not adored,
blessed, known or glorified as it should be.
From the ignorance and contempt of which
He is thus the object, results a social evil, so
much the more pernicious and fatal to society
at large and to individuals in particular, as it
daily tends to become more general and more
prevalent. On this point also, does France
hold the first rank among culpable nations,
for by her people, the precept of sanctify
ing the Sunday, is most daringly and unblush-
ingly contemned. Protestant nations, Moham-
184 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
medans, and even the Jews, officially recog
nize one day of public prayer ; but in France,
neither the state nor the laws ordain a day of
prayer and repose from labor, grave subject
of astonishment and scandal to the great num
ber of foreigners who throng her cities. These,
therefore, are the reasons why the members of
an association for reparation established in
France, should pledge themselves not to labor
on the days prohibited, and to be zealous in
restricting others from performing servile
work on these days. Moreover, it was just
that the proposed association should be placed
under the patronage of St. Michael, St. Martin
and St. Louis. Blasphemy and the violation
of the Lord s Day are sins which attack God
directly, in violation of the first three com
mandments, they confer no benefit on man, but
are sadly prejudicial alike to his temporal and
spiritual happiness. They are diabolical in
character, the unhappy traiigressor labors not
for himself but for the devil, who not only
degrades, but enslaves his victim.
It was therefore but just that the former
enemy of Lucifer, St. Michael, the acknowl
edged champion of the " Eldest Daughter of the
Church," as he was likewise of the ancient
people of G-od, should be the first patron of
a work whose watchword was Vade retro,
Satana. We also know that St. Martin was
one of the adversaries of the demon, driving
him from G-aul with the remnants of idolatry,
and from this has he become an apostle of
THE ASSOCIATION. 185
charity and zeal, one of the glories of Christi
anity and the special protector of France.
The Association at Rome, being placed under
the auspices of St. Louis, because of the just
.severity which he exercised toward blas
phemers, it was but natural in France, where,
unhappily, the traditions of his piety have
been forgotten, that his protection should be
invoked for an institution whose object is, to
obtain by prayer and the rigorous observance
of the divine commandments, that which this
great king had already won by the solidity
of his virtues and the wisdom of his laws.
Some weeks afterward, the sister refers to
the same subject, February 26, 1844. U 0ur
Lord," writes she to the Mother Superior,
" desires most ardently that the work of
Reparation be established, as he has given me
to understand. I seemed to hear my Divine Jesus
from the recesses of the tabernacle address us
these words : ye, my friends and my faith
ful children ! behold if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow ! My Divine Father and
my cherished spouse, the Holy Church, are
despised, outraged by my enemies. Will no
one rise up to revenge me by defending them
against those enemies ? I can no longer remain
in the midst of an ungrateful people : behold
the torrents of tears that flow from my eyes !
Can I find no one to dry them, by making
reparation of honor to the glory of my Father,
begging of him the conversion of the guilty ?
Such are the sentiments, reverend mother, with
186 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
which Grod fills my soul, causing it to expe
rience this interior pain which the Heart of
Jesus glorified can no longer suffer. If a king
or even an ambassador be despised or set at
naught by a foreign nation, his countrymen fly
to arms, the honor of the king must be aveng
ed ; troops are levied and the death of thou
sands is counted for naught. And yet, the most
holy and terrible Name of the Grod of armies,
of the King of kings is despised and blas
phemed ; his holy Day profaned by an infinite
number of sinners, and no one is concerned,
no one thinks of avenging him ! But behold ! Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the ambassador from the
kingdom of heaven, demands reparation of
honor for his Divine Father, or proclaims war
against us, for he has threatened France with
his wrath. Shall we hesitate in our choice ?"
After perusing these soul-stirring apostro
phes, these burning ejaculations, we are over
awed and we ask, what would have become
of France, if the desire, communicated to the
servant of Grod, had been publicly manifested
and immediately fulfilled ? Would the entire
world have witnessed the misfortunes with
which we have since been deluged ? Would
we have had to fear the evils which still men
ace us to-day ?
The sister, in terminating, begs that the
archbishop of Tours be informed of all that
has taken place since the feast of St. Louis,
concerning the work of Separation.
"Would you please permit me," she writes
THE ASSOCIATION. 18t
to the mother prioress, "if our reverend ecclesi
astical superior consent, to address the arch
bishop, for I have such an ardent desire to
inform him of these things ! I most humbly
beg of you to grant me this permission.
Then I shall have performed all that lies in
my power toward the accomplishment of the
work which has been revealed to me, not
withstanding my unworthiness ; but 1 shall
write to his Grace, only when I feel my soul
under the influence of the Holy Grhost, for I
desire to make no use of my own convic
tions, being incapable of anything good ; I
shall beseech him to guide my pen."
In another statement she says : "Our Lord
has given me such interior pain because of
my desire to see his work established, that I
have been unable to take any nourishment
whatever. I can bear this burden no longer
without falling under its weight, for this
reason, I feel strongly urged to depose it at the
feet of the archbishop."
CHAPTER X.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS.
" Our Lord revealed to me that
he charged me with the care of
France ; that he would send
ice as his ambassadress to make
a treaty of peace."
(Words of the Sister.)
Nothing of what we now know concer
ning Sister Mary of St. Peter, had yet passed
beyond the walls of the cloister ; as we have
heretofore remarked, only the ecclesiastical
superior, the sister s confessor and a few very
intimate friends, had been informed by the
mother prioress of all that had occurred ; not
even the archbishop had as yet received any
information. The grave nature of the last
revelation to the cloistered virgin, and her
pressing solicitation to have the matter brought
before the archbishop made it obligatory on
the Rev. Mother to inform his Grace of all
that had transpired.
The archbishop of Tours, Mgr. Morlot, had
been transferred from Orleans to the archbish
opric of St. Martin some two years previous
ly. This prelate was a man of extreme deli-
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS.
cacy of conscience and of exemplary regular
ity. The highest dignities were successively
conferred on him, such for instance as the
honor of the Roman purple with which he was
clothed in 1854 ; and also with the title of
Archbishop of Paris, to which dignity he was
elevated in 1856 ; these honors served to in
crease rather than diminish his detachment
from the transient honors and pleasures of this
earth, and of which we have more than one
admirable proof. His life, prematurely short
ened by the incessant labors of his episcopal
charge, was finally crowned by a most edifying
death. At Tours as at Paris he has left numer
ous traces of his episcopal life of forty years.
His affable and courteous manner and. his
cordial benevolence have rendered his name
illustrious. He had a particular veneration
for the Carmelites ; it was with pleasure that
in 1846 he assisted at the installation of these
religious in their new monastery, and conse
crated their chapel with the greatest solemnity.
At the time of the disastrous inundation,
which happened shortly afterward, he has
tened to offer them the hospitality of his own
palace, thus enabling them to continue in peace
their religious exercises.
Prudence in a very remarkable degree was
his characteristic virtue. Unhappily this natu
ral propensity, fostered by his advancing years,
his experimental knowlege of mankind, and
by the critical circumstances through which
he had passed, amounted at times to an almost
190 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
excessive reserve occasioned by timidity,
which others, less circumspect, did not hesi
tate to attribute to apathy, or weakness of
character. His caution and timidity were not
unfrequently an obstacle to the progress of the
affairs under his jurisdiction, yet he was right-
minded and good-intentioned ; but when a
point of any difficulty arose he allowed him
self to be swayed by the opinion of his coun-
. sellers, who were often the cause of turning
him from a decision prompted by his natural
good sense. His administration had more
than once suffered from this course of action
of which we may judge from his conduct
in regard to Sr. Mary St. Peter, and conse
quently toward Mr. Dupoiit, *for whom, neA^er-
theless, the pious prelate professed the high
est esteem, of which we have given elsewhere
some notable instances.
The holy man of Tours was the first to
bewail in secret the excessive prudence of
the archbishop ; and although he, himself, suf
fered many a stern refusal, yet, he never for
an instant was wanting in the deference and
perfect submission due his authority or to his
person. Prayer was his weapon against the
rigorous decisions of his G-race. One day a
question arose touching the revelations of
Sister St. Peter, when the pious layman
received another refusal, very mortifying to
his ardent zeal. On leaving the archbishopric
he met an ecclesiastic, one of his friends, to
whom he confided his disappointment. Both
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 191
r OTI" ~: _
were walking on the solitary part of the Rue
des Ursulines alongside of the high fence
which surrounded the episcopal domains.
Drawing near the carmelite convent, M.
Dupont suddenly stood still, and taking a,
medal of St. Benedict from his pocket said :
Come, we must have recourse to extraordinary
means, and after having devoutly made the
sign of the cross on the medal, he threw it over
the walls into the garden, saying : Ascende
superius, (Let us seek aid from on high.)
The answer was not long in coming. That
same evening M. Dupont full of joy, went to
his friend, the priest, and informed him that
Mgr. Morlot himself had sent for him, and
with the utmost urbanity had granted the
object of his request.
Indeed, the worthy archbishop esteemed his
virtuous parishoiier. How many times had
he not sent him pressing invitations to dine
at his palace, but the humble " pilgrim of
Rue St. Etienne," as he styled himself, always
declined as politely as possible. One day,
however, in deference to his aged mother,
who urged the impropriety of so many
refusals, he accepted the invitation ; arrived
with the other guests in the dining-room he
observed that there was one place wanting at
table in order to accommodate the number
about to dine ; one of the servants, in mis
take, had just then removed the chair, which
did not fail being observed by the attentive
eye of our guest, who stooped down and whis-
192 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
pered in the archbishop s ear : " You see Mon-
seigneur, that I ought not dine with the great ;
there is no chair for me." Mgr. Morlot was
quite disconcerted at the mishap, and while
giving orders to his domestic to prepare a
place, M. Dupont had already reached the
bottom of the stairs, and was out of sight
before a messenger could overtake him.
A short time after the death of Sister St. Peter,
when there was question of the nocturnal
adoration, and still later, when the society of
.St. Martin for the clothing of the poor was
established, the venerable archbishop mani
fested his eagerness to second M. Dupont in
all his views. We have before us a sketch of
the rules and regulations arranged by the very
hand of the prelate, together with expressions
of approbation for the zealous and charitable
founder of these two holy works.
These details do not appear superfluous in
order that our readers may understand the char
acter of the prelate with whom Sr. Mary St.
Peter will soon find herself in direct communi
cation. It had already been decided upon by
Father Aileron, ecclesiastical superior of the
Carmelites, and Mother Mary of the Incarnation,
that a minute account of all that had transpired
from August 25th, should be presented to the
archbishop. Mgr. Morlot, with his characteristic
reserve, was not willing to give his opinion in
a matter so grave and of such vital importance,
without mature deliberation. He ordained
that the various writings and statements
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 193
which had been drawn up by the sister be
brought him, and of these he, himself, took
cognizance. He could not fail being impressed
with the evidence of sincerity which pervaded
every page, and approved of the conduct of
her superiors toward her, encouraging them to
continue as heretofore. With regard to the
communications themselves, he was so much
impressed, that he did not hesitate to let it
appear in his pastoral for the ensuing Lent of
1844, from which we extract the following,
relative to the profanation of the Lord s Day :
"Have the work-shops been closed? Has
manual labor been suspended on the Lord s
Day ? Show me the street or the throughfare
of the city in which the noise of commerce
has for one instant been interrupted ! Every
where the same clamor resounds, the same
agitation, the same commotion sways the mul
titude as on week days. The children of men
pursue theft avocations with the same ardor
as on the days assigned to labor. Here we
behold them erecting stupendous edifices
which the hand of G-od refuses to bless ; there,
exposing the produce of their industry, pur
suing their speculations, their negotiations,
their insatiable craving for wealth, for power,
for honor." ,
" Look at our villages, pass on to our hamlets,
what do we behold ? The forgetfuluess of G-od
which necessarily follows in the train of pro
fanation, and the countless other disorders,
none the less deplorable. Yet the most diabol-
194 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
ical of all these outrages committed against
the majesty of G-od, is the shameful desecration
of the Sundays and holydays : one part of the
day is consecrated to business ; the other, to
pleasure ; forbidden labor being always fol
lowed by disorderly pleasure. Servile occupation
is succeeded by intemperance and immorality."
Still enumerating the consequences of this
profanation, the prelate continues : " On the
one hand, we behold open revolts and scan
dalous outrages committed against the divin
ity of G-od ; on the other, lukewarmness, nay~
more, total indifference in the fulfilment of
duty. These provoke the wrath of the Most
High, whose justice, though patient and long-
suffering, is, nevertheless, inevitable ; whose
vengeance, though tardy, is certain ; for Grod
has no need to punish day by day ; His power
is eternal and not to be confounded w^ith the
justice of man, intimidated by the number
of the guilty, and which, beholding the multi
tude to be punished, lets the sword fall pow
erless from its hand. It is not thus when
G-od wishes to punish, it is not the number of
the guilty which arrests his hand, he then
counts but the just, and when these have
disappeared from the face of the earth, his
arm falls mercilessly."
The venerable archbishop was not satisfied
with this appeal, addressed officially to his
flock. On the 15th of March, he authorized in
his diocese the association already founded at
Notre-Dame de la Eiche for the Reparation of
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 195
Blasphemy. The pastor, Father Aileron, in es
tablishing this society in his parish, had availed
himself of the power conceded by the Pontifi
cal brief of August 8th, 1843 (of which men
tion has already been made).
Permission had been granted to the sister,
at her own request, to write to the archbish
op.
" I had, " said she, " the honor of writing
to his Lordship ; my worthy superiors had
already informed him of all that the Divine
Master had made known to me regarding the
Work of Reparation. Then the pious prelate
had the little circulars printed which had been
previously published at Nantes. He added
his own approbation on the *L5th of March,
1844, recommending the Association to the
.attention of the clergy of his diocese, and ex
pressing the desire that they would encourage
the faithful to repair the outrages committed
against the sovereign majesty of Glod. A
great number of these circulars were distrib
uted, but there was no association established
according to the demand of Our Lord ; it
.seemed that the hour had not yet come. Let
us adore in silence the hidden designs of the
Most High."
These last words indicate the disposition
in which the sister had received the deci
sion of the archbishop ; although grieved that
the Association of Reparation was not officially
established in the diocese, yet she was consoled
by the encouragement of the prelate, and .by
196 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the approbation which he had given to her
communications. She hoped that the time
was not far distant, when he would place
himself at the head of a movement, which she
believed so necessary for the salvation of
France. Nevertheless, when she perceived
that he took such a neutral stand, she de
plored it deeply, and attributed the cause to
her own sins ; for she suffered "in seeing the
Majesty of the Most High outraged with
impunity, and her countrymen, hastening to
their own destruction." In her distress, the
humble virgin turned to her heavenly Spouse
who had confided this noble mission to her,
of which she had so faithfully acquitted^ her
self. Then the Saviour gave her to understand
that during the interval, it was in her own
soul he desired to make reparation ; of this
she thus gives an account to the mother
prioress :
" Permit me to relate in all simplicity, what
has passed to-day within my soul, after holy
communion. Our Lord inspired me to present
myself before him in the name of France, to
receive him in the kingdom of my heart, and
to offer him my communion in a spirit of repa
ration for the crimes of which our nation is
guilty. After having received this divine King,
I prayed most earnestly for France ; then he
communicated himself to my soul, telling me
that he charged me with the salvation of France,
and constituted me his ambassadress to treat
of peace with him ; also that I should remain
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 197
humbly prostrate before him in the most
Blessed Sacrament of the altar, praying for
Prance and for the establishment of the Work
of the Separation. Then he counselled me to
reflect well on the obligations of the office he
imposed upon me ; for when an ambassador
withdraws from a kingdom, it is received as a
sign of war. Our Lord gave me to understand
that I must not voluntarily withdraw from
his presence in the most Blessed Sacrament,
but that I should remain there in spirit in the
name of France. Then I answered : My Lord,
I have given myself entirely to thee for the
fulfilment of thy intentions, do with me what
thou wilt . And I prostrated myself, adoring
the designs of Grod who makes use of what is
most miserable and despised to perform his
works : I accepted the charge which he im
posed on me, praying him to render me fit to
accomplish his designs over me, and to fulfil
them himself in me."
" I have applied myself for several days to
adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. On
quitting the choir to resume my occupations,
I leave my heart at the feet of my good Sa
viour, and in whatsoever part of the house
I am engaged, I try to keep in his divine
presence. This is the nature of the spiritual
exercise which he demands of me at present ;
he wishes me to remain there at his feet, pray
ing in the name of France."
The Divine Master lent a favorable ear to
the humble prayers of his servant ; he re-
198 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
vealed to her the heinousness and enormity of
the sin of blasphemy. " It seems as if Our
Lord said to me : You cannot comprehend the
abomination of this sin : if my justice were
not restrained by my mercy, the guilty would
be destroyed in an instant ; even inanimate
beings would feel my vengeance, but I have
an eternity in which to punish the wicked,"
" Then he made me understand the excel
lence of this AYork of Reparation ; how far it
surpassed all others, and how pleasing it was
to GJ-od, to the angels, the saints and to our
holy mother the Church. Oh ! would that
we could understand the glory we could ob
tain by repeating these words : MIRABILE
NOMEN DEI. " (Admirable is the Name of
Grod) in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy !"
A short while after, she wrote the following :
" You are aware that Our Lord, some time
ago, directed me to pray for France, telling
me to guard the sheep, of whom he was the
Shepherd ; that he chose me on this day to
be his little shepherdess, giving me his mys
teries and his most holy life for my domain ;
that I could draw forth grace from his divine
wounds for his sheep. In fine, that he gave
himself to me as a mine of gold wherewith
to pay the debt which France owes to his
divine justice, permitting me to draw on the
treasury of his Sacred Heart. Then Our Lord
gave me to understand, that I must be careful
not to act as did the unfaithful servant of the
Grospel, who made no use of his talent ; that
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 199
he would demand of me a rigorous account, and
that I would find no difficulty in drawing from
the mine of gold, which he himself had ac
quired by his labors and sufferings. I believe
that he desired to find some one who would
become a mediator between himself and France,
in order that he might extend to it his mercy."
During this interval, the sister had had much
to endure, for God did not spare her ; interior
sufferings were to prepare her to accomplish
his work : her mind was at times overspread
with darkness, and in the face of her arduous
mission she was confronted with the experi
ence of her own weakness and incapacity.
"This work," said she, (June 6, 1844) "is in
me as a burning fire which causes me to suffer
more or less, according to the good pleasure of
God. During prayer I never cease begging of
the Lord to spare France, to establish in all
her cities the AYork of Reparation, and to raise
up apostolic laborers to preach this work.
" Thou dost behold, my sweet Jesus, how poor
and miserable I am ; I implore thee to, give all
that I am now suffering to some soul more
courageous than I who will render thee more
adequate service. 1
Once, however, Our Lord caused her to feel
his presence for nearly two hours. " During this
delicious repose, I thought I heard his sweet
voice say to me : Courage and confidence, my
child ! Courage and confidence ! Engrave
these words on your heart. Oh ! if you only
knew the advantage you derive in supporting
200 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER,.
these sufferings, you would thank me for send
ing them to you! I have come to visit you
but not to remain with you in a sensible man
ner. You will partake of my chalice, but be
consoled ; although you behold me not, still I
shall not be far from you, for I will hold the
chalice while you drink therefrom. After this
trial, I shall send you consolations ; you have
justly merited these sufferings by your infidel
ity ; however, it is not in anger, but in mercy
that I send you such trials. I then took the
liberty to ask him if the crown which I made
in honor of his Name and of his holy mysteries
was agreeable to him. He replied : All that
is done to glorify me is most agreeable. He
counselled me to practise this exercise when I
would be incapable of mental prayer."
A new aspect of things comes over the
life of Sr. Mary St. Peter. The Carmelites
had just quitted the venerable and cherished
monastery which had been the cradle of their
foundation. The following is the account we
read in their annals in regard to this subject.
" Toward the end of the year 1843, our old
monastery was sold, the purchasers having
paid a reasonable price, with the express
clause, that for the space of twenty years the
chapel, (of which only the walls were left),
should not be used for any other than its
primitive purpose. After the conclusion of the
negotiations, the moment came to put our hand
to the work, and commence anew. The plan
of a monastery was made, which was as much
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 201
as possible in conformity with the rules and
customs of our order. Particular attention was
paid to the arrangement of all the regular places
of the house, in order to facilitate the practice
of our holy observances. Our Eev. Mother Mary
of the Incarnation, then superior, as well as
our worthy ecclesiastical superior, toiled at
this work with unremitting zeal and devoted-
ness. Grod plainly showed that he had chosen
them for this work, by the abundant benedic
tions he bestowed on their labors."
As we have said, a convenient site on the
Rue des Ursuliiies, back of the archbishopric,
had been bought. Mgr. Morlot solemnly
blessed the corner-stone in the month of Sep
tember, 1844. While awaiting the comple
tion of the edifice, the Carmelites were obliged
to remove to a small dwellhig-house which had
neither gratings nor cloisters.*
Although beautiful in appearance and finely
situated, it was small and inconvenient for relig
ious, the absence of gratings being one of the
greatest annoyances. In such cases, every Car
melite carried the grating with her, if we
may be allowed the expression : a thick black
veil enveloped her from head to foot, scarcely
permitting her to breathe or to move. Such
* This house, situated on La Place Gregoire, back of the cathedral
and opposite the Grand Seminary, is at present in the possession of
Canon Allegret, who entertains the greatest respect for the memory
of Sr. St. Peter, and for the former habitation of the Carmelites ; he
has fitted up a little oratory with a picture of the Holy Face in the
same room which had served as their chapel.
202 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
was the habitual condition of Sr. St. Peter
during those two years, when as portress of
the interior, she was obliged to communicate
directly with persons from without, and to
transmit the messages to those within. Let
us listen to the naive complaints to which she
giyes vent.
"The time had come when Our Lord had
prepared a great trial for me, for I was obliged
to quit the dear convent where I pronounced
my vows, and where I had been overwhelmed
with graces by his merciful liberality. I
found myself in a secular house having no
grating, and I still held the office of portress
which kept me in continual contact with
seculars. Condemned to stay for nearly two
years in this parlor, and observing that a great
number of persons were always coming, some
to solicit prayers for the sick, others for the
conversion of those dear to them ; some again
to be consoled in their pains and sufferings,
while others were drawn thither by mere
curiosity ; this novel situation threw me into
extreme affliction. Fearing to lose the spirit of
retirement and recollection, for which I had
such an attraction, I said to myself : Alas!
can I ever hear the voice of my Lord here !
I went to our Mother and manifested to her
this repugnance, which I experienced for my
position. I would have been only too happy
had she changed my office, or at least,
if she had given me a companion to share my
duties with me, yet, notwithstanding her great
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 203
charity, she judged it better to leave me alone
and unaided."
" To avoid the frequent visits of seculars, I
said politely to all who presented themselves,
that the mission of a Carmelite was to hold
intercourse with Grod in silence and retreat
and but little with man ; that they might
expose their sorrows to other religious, and
seek consolation from those not living, as we,
in seclusion ; that we would pray for their inten
tions ; all my reasoning was of no avail. I
cannot help laughing even now, when I. think
of one good women who insisted on bring
ing her daughter to see me, in order, as she
said, that I might give her some advice about
her approaching marriage ; as I declined to
comply with her request, she was obliged to
go and consult some one else, better posted
than I on such matters."
" My good Master allowed me to suffer from
this extreme repugnance for my new position
for some time : but one day, he had the
goodness to come and console me in the inmost
recesses of my soul. He told me that I should
not grieve thus at having an office which
brought one in such constant communication
with my neighbor ; that I should receive these
people with the same spirit of charity with
which he welcomed all those who approached
him when passing through the towns and
cities of Judea ; promising me that this office
would not be injurious to my soul, and that he
would draw much glory therefrom."
204 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Six months passed, during which the com
munications, in reference to the Reparation,
remained as if suspended, and the sister was
conducted by a path of aridity, darkness and
temptation. She seemed ready to fall under
this weight when Grod favored her anew.
"He made me understand that the intelli
gence of man cannot conceive the heinousness
of the affronts offered Grod by the sin of blas-
plemy.^ This crime pierces his Sacred Heart,
and covers him with wounds like another
Lazarus. He pointed out the compassionate dogs
who consoled poor Lazarus by licking his
wounds, and invited me to render him a sim
ilar service, employing my tongue every
day to glorify the Holy Name of Grod despised
and blasphemed by sinners. I never stopped
to consider whether this exercise would give
me interior consolation or not ; it was suffi
cient to think that I soothed his divine
wounds and gave him some relief. It seemed
that he also said : Do all in your power to
have this Work established ; I shall enrich you
with my merits that you may obtain it from
*0n this subject St. Alphonsus de Liguori says : "Blasphemy,
so widespread in our days, is an abomination to the Lord. It is the
most deadly of all sins ; and is ordinarily unpardonable, for it is a
crime of the highest magnitude that can be committed against the
Divinity ; a crime which attacks God openly and directly ; a crime
therefore which God rarely pardons." (Tauney s life of St Alphonsus
V. IV. ch. XV.] In his last years speakiug of France, he says :
" Blasphemy is the cause of maledictions on the earth. Unfortunate
France ! how I pity thee and thy millions of poor, innocent victims
who will be involved itt thy disgrace ! " Ibid., c. xxiv.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. 205
my Father. Ask in ray Name and it shall be
granted you.
Here terminates the first account of the
sister, relative to the Reparation in general ;
she concludes with the following declaration :
"It is in the Sacred Heart of Jesus that I
have found this Work ; it is also in this Divine
Heart, burning with zeal for the glory of his
Father, that I remit it through the hands of the
most Holy Virgin and of the glorious patriarch
St. Joseph, under the protection of the angels
and saints, in expiation to the divine mercy
who has deigned to make use of so vile
an instrument. I declare that it is I, Sr. M. of
.St. Peter of the Holy Family, unworthy Car
melite, who have received these revelations
regarding the Reparation for Blasphemy, and
who have written them, in obedience to the
orders of my superiors, for the greater glory of
G-od, and also for the tranquility of my con
science. I tremble at the sight of the mission
imposed on me by the Lord. A multitude of
souls will be saved if his designs be accom
plished. I also declare that I have spoken
with all truth and sincerity. "
" At this time a circumstance took place
which the sister herself relates. A priest
who had heard something of this Work, came
one day to beg me to pray for two graces :
one for himself, the other for one of his con
freres. The question at stake was the salvation
of a soul, and also the shielding of the reputa
tion of two persons in whom they were greatly
206 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
interested. This priest said to the saintly re
ligious : I believe in the "Work with which the
o
Lord has charged you ; but in proof of your
mission, beg for these two graces. If you obtain
them, I promise that my confrere in the min
istry and myself will devote ourselves to prop
agate this Work. I accepted his proposal,
telling him that I would undertake the
mission confided to me in the name of obe
dience ; for when I ask any special grace, from
Grod in the name of obedience, I obtain it more
readily. He consented and took his leave. I
went immediately before the Blessed Sacra
ment to pray my good Saviour to defend his
cause for the glory of his Name, and to grant
the two priests the favors which they de
sired, assuring him that they would become,,
as they had promised, zealous defenders of his
Name ; after which I made use of all the little
eloquence I possessed to touch his Divine
Heart, commencing whh a novena. Our Lord
gave the proof required to make known the
truth of his Work : the priest who had spoken to
me, received the grace he so much desired, on
the evening of that same day ; the second
also received his request a little later. He told
me that the Lord had heard his prayers beyond
his most sanguine expectations, and that the
unfortunate affair in question, had eventually
turned to the glory of Grod and to the happi
ness of those who had, at first, been so much
grieved. "
CHAPTER XL
THE LITTLE GOSPEL.
" When Jesus received his Name,
Satan was vanquished and disarmed."
After the negative decision of Mgr. Morlot,
there was a short respite in the revelations
made to Sr. Mary of St. Peter, regarding the
Work of Separation. Our Lord, during this
interval, was pleased to console his servant by
holy meditations on the mysteries of his Pas
sion and of his Holy Name ; or by animating
her zeal for the deliverance of certain souls
detained in purgatory. One of these seemed
io have awakened her sympathy in a special
manner. We shall quote the sister s account
of what passed on this subject ; it will enable
us to judge of the holy ardor which prompted
her to assist those among the departed who
.seemed to be most in need of help.
A most frightful and unprovided death
had recently terrified the people of France.
The Duke of Orleans, eldest son and heir pre
sumptive of Louis Philip, was one day driving
through Paris, when his horse took fright and
became unmanageable, the Duke imprudent-
208 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
by precipitated himself from the carriage, and
was almost instantaneously killed by the vio
lence of the fall. The news spread through the
country like a flash, and eyen reached the
Carmelites of Tours. Everywhere it had pro
duced the greatest commotion, the more so, as
the Duke, a few years previous and to the
great scandal of the catholic world, had married
a protestaiit princess, notwithstanding the ad
monitions of the Archbishop of Paris. His
sudden death was regarded as a well-merited
chastisement from G-od.
" One Sunday morning," writes the Sister,
" when I was making my ordinary meditation,
the thought of the Duke of Orleans crossed
my mind ; I had been vaguely apprised of his
death, but had forgotten to pray for the
poor prince after his decease. During the of
fice of the Little Hours, I suddenly became
conscious that his soul was suffering in pur
gatory, and in great need of assistance. It
seemed to me that the nearer I approached the
Divine Heart of Jesus, the more my emotion
increased ; tears so choked my utterance, that
I could with difficulty recite the office. I felt
great sympathy for this suffering soul, whom
the Lord desired to rescue from the flames, and
I offered the holy communion for him ; the Lord
Jesus also inspired me to offer his infinite
merits to his heavenly Father. During my
thanksgiving after holy communion, it seemed
that our souls met in the Lord. I then said to
him : Poor princ- , what remains to you now
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 209
of the grandeur and riches of this world ! How
pleased yon are to-day to have the benefit of
the communion of a poor carmelite ! Remem
ber me when you enter the kingdom of
Heaven ! "
" Our Lord engaged me to pray for him with
more than ordinary charity, and with greater
ardor than that which I felt in praying for my
relatives. He suggested to me to offer, with
this intention, all that he had suffered when
crowned with thorns and derided as a mock
king, during his Passion. I spent the rest of
the morning in prayer for the prince, before
a picture of our Saviour crowned with thorns."
" Three times a day I recited, at the foot of
the altar, six Pater and Aves, and Grloria Patris,
in order to gain the numerous indulgences at
tached to these prayers for the souls in pur
gatory."
" The next day, Monday, I was again urged
to receive holy communion with the same in
tention. The suffering soul seemed, as it
were, chained to my soul ; I carried it every
where with me, all the mortifications which
I performed were offered for its relief."
On the 20th of March, the sister writes as
follow r s to the mother prioress :
The fortnight is now terminating, during
which you have permitted me to offer myself
to Grod for the soul in whom I am so deeply
interested, and to abandon myself to the divine
pleasure, to suffer all he would judge proper
in order to obtain its deliverance. Permit me,
210 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Rev. Mother, to give you an account of all that
has passed in my soul from the 26th of Feb
ruary until the 19th of March."
" I shall simply say that I have been to this
poor prince, like the mother of a sick child,
whose tenderness and anxiety keep her con
stantly on the alert in search of some new
remedy to restore him to health. Night and
day have I sought to relieve him ; at length,
I begged my guardian angel to allow me no
rest until the dear soul would be happy in
heaven. I believe that he has charitably
heard my prayer, for I felt continually urged
on to offer all I did for him. All my com
munions, except one which I was obliged to
offer for one of our departed sisters, all that
I have done, has been performed for the
release of this soul. The holy sacrifice of the
mass, the stations of the cross, and all the
mortifications which I have been permitted
to perform : I have had the consolation of
offering all to Grod for him. I have suffered but
little physically, you have beheld my face
swollen, it is true, but this was comparatively
nothing ; my greatest pain was to have had no
more to suffer ; the sweet union and interior
peace I had been enjoying, has been followed
by dryness and temptation ; for he has hidden
himself from my sight, and permitted that I
should feel my unworthiiiess. Yet, if the
Divine Master has afflicted me with one hand,
he has sustained me with the other, and has
given me the courage to say to him : My
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 211
Grod, that this poor soul may possess and-
glorify thee the more speedily, I accept all
these suffering s ; provided I offend thee not,,
my Lord ; this all I desire.
"The feast of our father St. Joseph, was-
approaching ; I prepared myself by a novena,
supplicating him to obtain of Grod, the speedy
deliverance of this poor soul, promising at
the same time, to continue the penances which
were permitted me. On the eve of the feast,
my ardor was inflamed anew. I was suffer
ing very keenly from the intensity of my
desires. In the refectory, I felt more inclined
to weep than to take my meals. My soul was
in great affliction, but from supernatural
motives, for I had never known this prince.
If I ever felt the privation which my vow of
poverty imposed on me, Oh ! it was at this
moment ! "Were I still possessed of any means,
I would most certainly have had requiem
masses said for this poor soul ; but a con
soling thought came to my mind. I said to
myself : I have renounced all things for my
heavenly Spouse, consequently he has given
himself entirely to me; therefore what is
his, is mine. Then, full of confidence, I offered
to the Eternal Father all the treasures of his
Divine Son, as a supplement for my poverty,,
and I formed the intention of offering for the
soul of this poor prince all the masses cele
brated throughout the world."
" Then Our Blessed Lord gave me to under
stand that there was yet one more act of
212 LIFE OF SISTEE MAEY ST. PETER.
charity I could perform for him, to offer the
holy communion I was about to receive, thereby
gaining the indulgence applicable to the souls
in purgatory. I consented, but not without a
little reluctance, for I had counted on this great
feast to think a little of my own private neces
sities, and to apply to my soul the fruit of this
indulgence ; but since the Lord had ordained
it otherwise, I submitted to his holy will. I
have still continued to intercede for the prince
with all the powers of my soul, and all the
affections of my heart."
"Since this day, reverend mother, I have no
longer experienced any anxiety, I feel entirely
free from responsibility, and say nothing for
him now except the Laudate."
" I believe that my little services, united to
the fervent prayers of our sisters, have pro
cured his relief. It was undoubtly through
the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin
that he obtained his salvation, and through
the powerful aid of our father St. Joseph that
he gained his entrance into Heaven ; for I
think, and am even convinced, that he must
have been delivered from purgatory on the
feast of this great saint. However, of this my
Divine Lord has given me no certainty ; I
adore his designs without any wish to pene
trate them, for I am most unworthy."
" The prince, as is well known, came to an
untimely end by a very terrible accident;
he may have made a sincere act of contrition
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 213
which saved him from eternal death. The
mercy of God surpasseth all his works !"
Three years later, the sister received the
assurance that this soul, the object of so many
fervent prayers, had indeed obtained its deliv
erance.
On the 26th of April, 1846, she writes : "
" After holy communion, our Lord Jesus said
to me : Allow yourself to be guided by the
impulse of grace. I obeyed, and my Divine
Saviour commenced his operation. But how
shall I speak of what I beheld ! infinite
goodness of my Grod ! assist me, that thou
mayst be more loved, more known and blessed
on earth ! Look ! said he suddenly to me,
Behold him for whom you have prayed ! I
bring him to you to thank you for what you
have done. Behold the excess of my mercy in
his regard ! Had I allowed him to dwell
longer on the earth, he would, in his ambition,
have encircled his brow with a temporal
crown ; and now, in Heaven, I bestow on him
a crown of glory.
" By an intellectual view, I beheld this soul
standing by the side of Jesus. Ah ! said I to
him, It is Jesus, not I, whom you must
thank ; as for me, I am mere nothingness : it
is his merits that I have offered to G-od for you.
The soul then said to me : It is to the Blessed
Virgin I owe my salvation, for when I was
brought before the tribunal of G-od, I was
covered with the infinite merits of Jesus
Christ ; and it is through the intercession of
214 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
St. Joseph that I have been delivered from
purgatory. Oh ! most fortunate soul ! I
exclaimed, f Pray for France and pray for
me ; and in a transport of gratitude to the
infinite mercy of Grod, I repeated : Fortunate
soul, pray for me ; let us prostrate ourselves
in .prayer at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
pray that I may obtain the grace to fulfil my
obligations to him. Our Lord said : Now,
he will pray for you : and I kept repeat
ing, pray for me ! But interrupting myself,
I asked : How shall I invoke you henceforth ?
He answered : I am called Ferdinand, call me
Ferdinand; Ferdinand is my name. It seemed
to me that he thus repeated his name several
times as a proof of the truth of what I beheld,
for I was not aware that this was his name.
He added : I now reign with Jesus Christ ;
I am crowned in Heaven. I said to him : I
know the mercy of Grod is unbounded, still I
dared not hope that you had already entered
into glory. But I understood that this was only
permitted by an extraordinary grace from
.
" All that I saw, heard and understood of
the excess of the divine charity toward this
* A thought full of consolation naturally suggests itself to the
mind of the most casual, after the perusal of this incident : In the
most unfortunate accidents which appear to be a chastisement of
the divine justice inflicted alike on the individual and on the fami
ly, there frequently is a mysterious and hidden action of sanctify
ing grace in favor of the individual, which is never suspected by
the bereaved relatives, and which proves the infinite goodness of
God toward the sinner, and proclaims the wisdom of His divine
Providence.
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 215
soul, threw me into an ecstacy of joy ; my emo
tion vented itself in tears and sobs. But at this
delicious moment, the parlor-bell rang, and as
it was obedience that called me, I left our
Lord Jesus to go and fulfil the duties of my
office. Wishing to test the truth of whfcit I
had just experienced, I asked a sister whom I
met, the name of the prince in question. She
answered : His name was Ferdinand. Her
answer impressed me deeply, for I saw in it a
proof of the truth. This operation of Grod
in my soul was the strongest I have ever
experienced." An account of the extraordi
nary event was placed in the hands of Mgr.
Morlot, who beheld therein a communication
so manifestly supernatural, that he thought it
his duty to write to the pious mother of the de
ceased, Queen Amelia, who was very uneasy
over the eternal fate of her son. As can be
readily conceived, the letter was a consoling
balm to the heart of the distressed lady.
This extraordinary fact, so minutely made
known to our Carmelite of Tours, is not with
out precedent, or analogy in history. A sim
ilar instance is related of the deliverance of a
soul from purgatory, by the prayers and suf
ferings of one of the first daughters of the
Visitation, Sister M. Denise de Martignat. The
circumstances are detailed in the life of this
religious, by Mother de Chaugy. " Our Lord
one day lead the sister to the borders of pur
gatory, and pointed out to her the soul of a great
prince whose death had occasioned much regret,
216 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
and the shedding of many tears ; he was a
most powerful prince when on this earth, and
now, more destitute than could be imagined,
for during his life he had not amassed many
good works, which alone constitute the wealth
of fternity."
Our Lord said to her : " My daughter, you
have already offered many prayers for the sal
vation of this soul: now behold him, and con
tinue to pray."
This prince was killed in a duel. " But," ex
plained the sister, " by a master-stroke of divine
mercy, he received the grace to make a sincere
act of contrition for his sins at the last moment,
and instead of being cast into hell, which he
had but too justly merited, he was condemned
for a great number of years to the purifying
flames of purgatory." Sr. Denise de St. Mar-
tignat offered herself as a victim to expiate the
sins of this poor soul, and to relieve him of a
portion of his debt. From that moment, she
was afflicted by the most peculiar maladies
and excruciating sufferings. Several times,
the soul of the deceased appeared to her, thank
ing her and encouraging her to continue and v
suffer still more for him. Shortly before her
death, the servant of G-od received the an
nouncement that the soul of the prince was
greatly relieved ; but less happy than Mary
of St. Peter, she did not know the precise
moment of his final deliverance.
Another saintly practice served as a stim
ulus to the zeal, ever active and ingenious,
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 21*7
which animated Sister St. Peter for the salva
tion of souls. The Carmelites were still liv
ing in the house on Le Place St. G-regoire, (of
which we had already spoken), while awaiting
the completion of their monastery. Sr. Mary of
St. Peter, portress for the interior, was perpet
ually besieged by visitors who were desirous
of receiving consolation or advice. She would
fain have excused herself from these pious
importunities, in order to preserve the spirit of
recollection.
"These good people, " said she, " felt that
the little Breton nun, simple as they them
selves, understood and sympathized with
them in all their troubles and afflictions,
seeking to encourage them to resignation by
the solacing w r ords of religion ; they returned
to their homes happy and contented, but soon
came back to the convent with their neighbors.
Notwithstanding the charity I felt for them,
I nevertheless excused myself as much as
possible from receiving them, in order not to
fail in the spirit of silence, so necessary for a
carmelite. Our Lord, beholding my desire,
gave me the means of gratifying these people
and also of comforting them in their maladies,
by inspiring me with the pious practice of
wearing the Grospel of the Circumcision/
Behold in what manner I arranged this prac
tice in conformity with what had been com
municated to me on the subject."
"The devil uses every means in his power to
snatch from Our Lord the inheritance won by
218 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
his holy cross ; and he is incessantly seeking
to rob this Good Shepherd of the sheep pur
chased at so great a price. To prevent this
ravenous wolf from approaching the sheepfold,
Jesus desired, as he made me understand, that
I should proclaim to all, that his sheep were
marked with his Holy Name, and carried about
them the Gospel announcing to all nations that
the Word Incarnate was named Jesus. My
amiable Saviour made me understand the
depth of virtue contained in that sacred name,
the very mention of which puts the devil to
flight. Those who will have recourse to this
act of piety will receive great graces. He
told me, also, to place below this Gospel, the
words recalling the victory which he had
gained over Satan in assuming, through love
for us, the name of Jesus. This little devotion
was, first of all, approved of by my superiors ;
their charity permitting the Gospd of the Circum
cision to be printed, and a picture of the Infant
Jesus to be engraved on the same leaf, with
the initials of his adorable name. The leaf
was then folded and enclosed in a small cov
ering of woolen material on which was em
broidered a cross with the Sacred Heart ; it
was to be worn as a medal around the neck.
It also received the approbation of the Yicar
General, as being in conformity with the spirit
of the Church ; for we see from history that the
.first Christians had the habit of wearing the
holy Gospels."
" Our Lord told me that these pious little
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 219
objects of devotion should not be sold, but that
they should be distributed in his name, in
order that every one might be able to procure
one easily. That he asked this alms from the
community for his glory, for which he would
richly compensate us, and that he, himself,
would transact the business of the house. Our
worthy superiors gave me permission to comply
with the desire of the Divine Infant ; soon a
countless multitude were enrolled. They wore
the gospel with great devotion, and the Infant
Jesus was not slow in granting them many
special graces. "
" I was continually occupied in distributing
these little gospels, but although I was very
assiduous in the work, I could not meet the
demand of all who desired them. Our good
sisters then kindly offered to help me. I was
charmed with this new commerce which re
dounded to the glory of the Holy Infant. I
made a very pretty little gospel for him, which
I placed round the neck of his little statue. As
I have said, he told me that these little objects
of devotion were not to be sold, but as many
wealthy persons wished to purchase them,
I placed a small purse in the hand of my
little king with the following inscription
thereon :
If you wish, give to Jesus ; it will enable us to
purchase infantile clothing- for him.
"The Divine Child rewarded the good people
a hundredfold for their alms, with the graces
which he granted them. Quite a considerable
220 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
amount was thus amassed in his little purse,
with w^hich our reverend mother purchased
clothing for Jesus. By this I wish it to be
understood, corporals which are linens iised
in the service of the holy sacrifice of the mass.
The sisters of the community, by the direction
of our reverend mother, prepared these cor
porals, which were presented to the Holy In
fant with grand ceremony on the feast of
Corpus Christi, and afterward distributed
among the poor parishes of the diocese. We
also made a trousseau for a poor infant, in
whom we pictured the poverty of the Infant
Jesus at his birth."
The good sister informs us. furthermore, that
Our Lord asked as an alms that these prayers
be distributed as soon as possible ; at the end
of the prayers, he desired should be written :
"When Jesus received his name, Satan was
vanquished and disarmed. He permitted me
to behold the amount of glory which accrued
to him by celebrating his victory in these
words, which make the demons gnash their
teeth with rage. He promised that he would
bless all who would wear this gospel, and
would defend them against the attacks of the
devil."
The Lord afterward informed her, that as
this grace had been drawn from his heart,
that the engraving of the Sacred Heart, to
gether with the instruments of his Passion,
should be stamped on the little covering con
taining this gospel, which would answer the
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 221
same purpose as a seal on a reliquary, which,
guarantees the authenticity of the relic. In
honor of the five letters which form the name
ef Jesus, and in virtue of his five wounds, he
promised to grant five special graces to all
who would practise this devotion.
1st. To preserve them from death by
lightning.
2nd. To protect them against the snares
and the malice of the devil.
3rd. To deliver them from a sudden and
unprovided death.
4th. To assist them to advance with facil-
ty in the path of virtue.
5th. That he would give them the grace
of final perseverance."
As this last favor appeared excessive to the
pious carmelite, the following words of holy
scripture occurred to her mind, and reassured
her: "Whoever will invoke the name of the
Lord shall be saved." (Eom. X. 13.)
These little gospels required no other bless
ing than that given to the palms used on
Palm Sunday, in commemoration of the tri
umphant entry of Our Lord into the city of
Jerusalem.
"Whilst I was seeking," she writes, "the
means of covering these little expenses, (here
she is referring to the first gospels which she
had made) my Divine Master directed me to
address myself to his servant, M. Dupont, and
to say to him, that the Infant Jesus requested
of him this work of charity as the tithe of all
222 LIFE OE SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the benefits he had bestowed upon him ; for
this work was most agreeable to him. I then
said to my Divine Saviour : If you would
only promise me some recompense for him, or
at least some grace for his family ! To which
Our Lord replied : k His love for me is so
pure that he will perform this service with
out offering him any inducement. For his
disinterested love and devotion, I will recom
pense him magnificently in Heaven ; as for
you, you must do this little commission for
me, because you are my little servant. Do
not fear to ask in my Name ; and you will
have the same merit as if you performed the
entire work yourself.
We can imagine with what eagerness M.
Dupont responded to this request. In this, as
well as in the works of piety and charity
which gave him a certain eclat in the city of
Tours, he proved worthy of the eulogy which
the Lord w^as pleased to bestow on his generous
love, and was well deserving the interest
which the good sister manifested toward him
and his family. We read in his life, that this
fervent layman, with all the candor and sim
plicity of his ardent faith, aided the virgin of
Oarmel to pursue her cherished devotions, espe
cially those in reference to the Infant Jesus.
Eefore the little gospels had been printed, he,
himself, copied them, and assisted to distribute
them among the faithful ; esteeming himself
well repaid by the prayers which the sister
promised for his daughter Henrietta, who at
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 223*
the time was preparing to receive hfcr first
communion.
On the feast of the most Holy Trinity, the
Lord encouraged his servant anew to prop
agate this pious practice.
" Behold, as near as possible," said she,
"that which our Lord Jesus made me under
stand. My child, be not afflicted because the
work of your little gospels allows you no time
to enjoy my presence, it is much better to-
sacrifice these consolations, that I may not be
offended, for already has it been the means
of preventing the commission of enormous
crimes. "
Addressing herself to the mother prioress,
the sister adds : " Our Lord again informed
me that with the money received for these
little gospels, you might have fifty masses cel
ebrated for his greater glory, and for the sal
vation of souls ; and that afterward, if sufficient
would be received, to pay the expenses of a new
edition of the prayers of Eeparation ; that I
should thereby recognize that there is 110 illu
sion on my part, but that it is my Divine
Saviour himself who has communicated with
my soul."
You are aware," continues she, " that I
thought no more of asking for the reprinting of
these prayers, because the archbishop thinks
they cannot be easily understood ; and to-day,
Our Lord desires them for religious, that they
may invoke his mercy on France, and appease
his justice, so that the wicked may be con-
224 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
founded. I abandon these things to your bet
ter judgment, reverend mother, all that I seek
is, that the holy will of Grod be accom
plished."
The most 1 wonderful graces were not want
ing to sanction this devotion so simple, and at
the same time, so ancient in the Church. The
following are some of the wonderful facts
which Sister Mary St. Peter herself had taken
care to note down. TVe shall narrate them in
her own words :
" At the time of the enlistment of soldiers,
several of the young men of the city, urged on
by the solicitude of their mothers who feared
to lose in them their stay and the support of
their old age, came to me in their sorrow to
seek my prayers. I advised them to wear the
little gospel, and they were not, in conse
quence, called upon to enlist in the army.
These scapulars also wrought conversions,
Among others, that of a young person who was
a continual source of sorrow to her parents,
owing to her violent bursts of passion ; but she
was induced to wear a little gospel ; this alone
was sufficient to vanquish the demon, to
whose influence she had so long yielded ; she
soon asked pardon of her parents and went
to confession. A hardened sinner, reduced
to the last extremities, obstinately refused to
receive the sacraments : his venerable pastor,
saddened oil beholding this sheep of his flock
about to become the prey of the infernal wolf,
had recourse to the little gospel, one of which
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 225
he placed at the foot of the sick man s bed, the
latter was immediately touched, asked for the
priest and died a good Christian."
" Another, who for many years had aban
doned the practice of his religious duties, was
inspired to wear the little gospel, and to re
cite the prayer attached thereto : from that
moment, he felt urged by a powerful impulse
of grace, soliciting him unceasingly to return
to G-od. For several months he resisted the
call, but finally, yielding to the power of the
Holy Name of Jesus, he threw himself at the
feet of a confessor ; his perfect conversion filled
with joy those who had for so many years
grieved over his past conduct."
" Many persons have experienced the mar
velous effects of this salutary devotion during
their maladies or corporal infirmities. A little
girl had been suffering from a terrible fever,
which had reduced her to the last extremity ;
all were expecting the angel of death, when
her uncle tied around her neck the little
gospel ; they recited the prayers during nine
days and the child was perfectly restored. For
seven years, a lady had suffered from an ulcer
in her throat which, at times, prevented her
from taking her proper nourishment, she had
difficulty even in swallowing the holy com
munion ; many different remedies had been
given her, but all to no purpose. Having put
on the little gospel, she was cured so prompt
ly, that those who took care of her were great
ly astonished, until she made known to them
8
226 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the holy remedy to which she owed her
restoration."
" A great number of women in childbirth
have been miraculously delivered byjthis little
gospel ; upon these especially it hasj operated
the most extraordinary effects."
"A little girl, to whom we gave a gospel of
the Holy Name of Jesus, fell and was seriously
injured. When she was picked up, she was
unable to make any movement ; her discon
solate parents feared that her limbs were
broken, and wished to send for the doctor
immediately, but the child cried out : "No, no,,
don t go for the doctor, but give me my little
relic, the good Jesus can heal me ! " The little
gospel was put round her neck, and she im-
mediatelv ceased crying and fell into a pro
found sleep. On awaking, she was so complete
ly cured that she did not feel the slightest
effect of her fall. Thus was the faith of this
child recompensed ; all who believe like her
shall not hope in vain."
" Many missionaries carried this gospel of
the Holy Name of Jesus to foreign lands ; I
shall give, in conclusion an account of the
conversion of a great sinner."
"On the 26th of December, 1845, a person
weeping bitterly, came to recommend to our
prayers a man reduced to the last extremity.
There is no use speaking to him of the sacra
ments, said she, for he is furious. We gave her
a little gospel to be placed round the neck of
the sick man, with the -prayers to be recited
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 227
in honor of the Holy Name of Jesus. This lady
full of faith and zeal, having learned that
some men were going to sit up all night with
him, begged them to try and put the little
gospel round his neck, and to recite the prayers
attached thereto. They acquiesced, and were so
successful in their mission that the obstinate
invalid was suddenly changed, and appearing
more calm, they proposed sending for the
priest. He assented, much to their surprise,
and after his confession, received the Holy
Yiaticum, and died in the best disposition.
Satan, furious on beholding the escape of his
prey, in revenge turned all his rage against
me. Grod alone knows what I endured at the
moment of the death of this man ; during two
hours, I was surrounded by a legion of demons,
I was as if possessed. I seemed to hear their
horrible voices soliciting me by their most
seductive language ; never have I had a sim
ilar combat to sustain, but the Divine Spouse
of my soul fortified me by his power ; and his
grace rendered me victorious. I ran and threw
myself at the feet of our reverend mother who
was terrified at the pallor of my countenance.
I discovered to her the agony of my poor heart
and she had the charity to console me ; when
she gave me her benediction, I was immedi
ately relieved and passed the rest of the night
in peace."
These prodigies have continued even in our
days. We shall only cite one more example,
which happened at Tours quite recently. A
228 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
foreigner had long neglected his religious du
ties, and had even shown very little respect
for our holy religion during his public career.
He was finally attacked by a mortal malady,
and those interested in his salvation beheld
him with sorrow, refusing to listen to all the
advances made on this subject. Finally, a lady,
who had for a considerable time conversed
with him without making any impression,
adroitly slipped under his chin a little gospel,
and prepared to depart. She had not gone
from the door of the sick-room before the in
valid called her back saying : " However, I do
not wish to appear before God without having
set in order my accounts with him ; send for
a priest, if you please." From that moment he
was entirely changed, and thought only of his
salvation, and of the best means of repairing
lost time by a sincere and public repentance.
It was in this manner that our Divine Lord
sustained his servant, by giving her the occa
sion of making a trial, and so to say, a prepar
atory test of that which was to be more largely
accomplished by means of the great Work
of Reparation. By the Little G-ospel, he glo
rified his name, the blessed Name of Jesus ; he
healed the sick, he brought back sinners to the
true fold. By the Work of Reparation he will
glorify the Name of his Father, this Holy Name
of the Eternal Grod, outraged by blasphemers.
He will cure the sick, save the sinner, and
convert France, that nation formerly the glory
of Christian Europe, now gangrened even to
THE LITTLE GOSPEL. 229
the heart with godlessness and impiety. But
mercy shall be extended to her, a child of the
cloister shall point out the path of salvation,
and France shall once more be reinstated in all
her glorious privileges. Such is the object of
the noble mission confided to the humble
daughter of Carmel.
CHAPTER XII.
THE HOLY FACE.
" I seek another Veronica to soothe
and adore my Holy Face, which has so
few worshippers ! "
( Words of Our Lord.)
The spiritual delight which Mary of St.
Peter received from the meditation on the Holy
Name of Jesus, consoled her somewhat for the
delay made in the propagation of the Work of
Reparation. Our Lord had made no allusion
to the subject from the 19th of November, 1844.
But on the 17th. of June, 1845, the Divine
Master once more referred to this theme so
dear to his Sacred Heart, and encouraged his
servant to have an interview with the arch
bishop. Nothing less than a command from
such a source, could have compelled this
humble and timid maiden to place herself in
direct communication with a Prince of the
Church ; for she was now to entreat him most
earnestly in the name of G-od, to establish this
Work ; a serious undertaking in his eyes from
which he always seemed to recoil.
She writes : "I then suffered an interior
martyrdom which Grod alone knows ; I could
THE HOLY FACE. 231
take no nourishment ; existence was a burden.
My heavenly Spouse told me not to fear
speaking to Monseigneur ; that he himself,
would accompany me and suggest what I
should say. My divine Saviour kept his prom
ise ; for I spoke to this worthy prelate with
the simplicity of a child, conversing with the
respect due to his dignity without being over
awed."
The archbishop consented to pay a visit to
the sister, whom he already held in great es
teem, because of her rare virtue. When she
came into his presence, she fell on her knees
and kissed his feet ; she then implored
him to finish the Work which he had so hap
pily begun for the glory of the Holy Name of
G-od, explaining to him the manner in which
the Lord urged her to further his designs. The
prelate replied : " My child,*! desire with all
my heart, to establish this Work, and to give
it all the publicity it merits ; but this is an
undertaking of some difficulty ; you cannot see
all the obstacles. If at present there is so much
difficulty in obliging the people to perform
their obligations of precept, what would be
said of me if I were to propose practices of piety
hitherto unheard of ? Would not the wicked
be excited to blaspheme G-od more than ever ?
Commend our present embarassments to dod,
and pray fervently for me ; ask for new lights ;
if the Lord deign to enlighten you further,
you must make it known to me. " He added,
as if to tranquillize her with regard to her
232 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
interior dispositions : " My child, that which
you experience bears not the impress of an
illusion ; no, sister, quite the contrary ; - I
recognize therein the hidden workings of Grod.
A\ r e have made inquiries, and have ascertained
that many persons have had the same inspi
ration as you on the subject of this Work of
Reparation, which now exists in Italy, and
there is a movement in its favor in many dio
ceses of France. It is my desire that pious
souls embrace this devotion, but that you in
particular, should offer yourself to God as a
Victim. Offer your penances and all your works
as a sacrifice of Reparation for the Church and
for France ; unite yourself to our Lord Jesus
Christ in the most Blessed Sacrament of the
altar, to render through him honor, praise and
glory to the three divine persons of the adora
ble Trinity ; endeavor to stay the arm of the
Almighty, that it may not fall heavily upon us.
Address yourself to the Sacred Heart of Mary,
and offer to the Eternal Father, through the
hands of this august Mother, the most Pre
cious Blood of her Divine Son, his sufferings
and all his merits ; and I hope we shall thus
appease the anger of the Almighty. "
The archbishop continued his conversation
with the sister, exhorting her particularly to
glorify Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament of
the altar. " Every Thursday, " said he, " make
an honorable amend to Grod : Friday, recite
the Litany of the Passion, and on Saturday,
that of the Blessed Virgin . When Our Lord
THE HOLY FACE. 233
inspires you, my child, you may recite the
prayers of Reparation : but I prefer you to
recite more ordinary prayers. " The pious sis
ter then told him, that sometimes she feared her
own imagination interfered with the operation
of Grod ; but the prelate reassured her again,
saying : " Since you do not tenaciously cling to
your own opinion, and that you remain
within the limits prescribed by obedience,
abandoning these things to the judgment of
your superiors, you should remain perfectly
at ease." In conclusion, he said : " I find
all that you haye related to me very excellent ;
beg the Lord to send me the light of the Holy
Grhost ; and do all things for the glory of
God. "
" These counsels were as a healing balm
poured over my soul ; they filled me with con
solation, for my confessor had declined giving
an opinion on what had transpired in my soul
regarding the "Work of Reparation, saying that
the archbishop had received from the Holy
Ghost the power of pronouncing judgment,
and that I should submit to his decision. Then
I was more than ever convinced of the divine
will, and although Monseigneur had not given
me much hope that he would establish this
work, as he foresaw many grave difficulties, yet,
this did not prevent me frorn hoping that all
obstacles would be removed when the time
appointed by the decrees of Divine Provi
dence would arrive. The following are my
reasons for this conclusion : If the communi-
234 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
cations, which I have received from God in
regard to the Reparation, are not illusions, as
he who has received the grace from on High
to judge, has declared, then this work will
most assuredly be established, for .the word of
G-od is all-powerful ; if, on the contrary, Mon-
seigneur had declared that they were illusions,
I would have abandoned the Work entirely, for
by the grace of God, I have always had more
confidence in the decisions of my superiors,
than in the interior communications which I
believed to have received from God ; in the
latter, I might be deceived, but faith can never
be deceived, for our Divine Master has said of
superiors : He who heareth you, heareth me ;
therefore, we cannot errin obeyingour superiors.
These words of the Gospel have always struck
me forcibly ; they are engraved on my heart ;
and in the practice of them, I have received
wonderful graces with the assistance of those
who have had the direction of my soul. " These
solid reflections give us a wonderful insight of
the soul of our humble and obedient carmelite,
and will corroborate the opinion of the vener
able archbishop concerning her revelations. No
one is ignorant of the fact that in matters of
revelation or heavenly communications, the
touch-stone is humility and a perfect submis
sion of judgment to the decisions of those
appointed by the Church as her immediate
representatives.
Some time after, Mgr. Morlot consented to
give his approbation to the prayers of E-epara-
THE HOLY FACE. , 235
tion, and after having indicated the corrections
which he deemed necessary, granted the per
mission to have them printed. "But," contin
ued she, "this was not immediately done. Our
Lord gave me to understand that if the prayers
alone were printed without a notice on the
object of the work to be established, it would
not be sufficient, because the faithful should be
informed of the designs of his will, in order to
awaken their interest in the Work, and to in
duce them to recite the prayers ; and then we
shall see them adopted by a multitude of
pious souls who will recite the prayers of
Reparation with the same avidity as the bees
seek the flowers of .the field. He made me also
understand that these piayers would obtain
great graces for the conversion of sinners."
She then speaks of the work on blasphemy,
entitled the " Association of Prayers," com
posed by i Abbe Salmon The author adds a
few reflections on the profanation of the days
consecrated to Grod ; then followed the prayers
of Reparation. There was also subjoined the
" Little Office of the Holy Name of God," which
had been compiled with the aid of two vener
able canons, friends of the Carmelites. The
expenses of publication were defrayed mostly
by the contributions of M. Dupont.
" Monseignor, " continued the sister, " ap
proved of this little work which soon met with
great success ; and in a short time, more than
25,000 copies of the prayers of Reparation had
been distributed. From the different cities of
236 .LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
France application came to Tours, for author
ity to propagate this devotion for the glory of
the Holy Name of G-od, and the prayers were
recited everywhere with great devotion. In
reference to this subject, Our Lord told me that
this new harmony appeased his anger ; but
that he wished an Association established ac
cording to the manner indicated"
In conformity with the exhortations of the
archbishop, she began to importune the Lord
to deign to grant her new light on the estab
lishment of his "Work. But it pleased the
Divine Master to lead her once more in the
path of trial. She could no longer think of
anything but her sins ; she believed herself
to be but the phantom of a carmelite, far
removed from what she should be in reality,
and that her sins were the cause of this Work
remaining incomplete. "With a heart laden
with sorrow, she besought Our Lord to choose
another instrument more worthy than she for
the accomplishment of his designs. Then, re
garding herself as very culpable before Grod,
she made a review 7 of conscience with her
confessor, and took the resolution to lead, in
the future, a life more in conformity with the
knowledge she had received of her own
misery and nothingness. This was only the
beginning of a new series of struggles and
interior combats. She was assailed by a
thousand temptations, to which was added the
privation of all sensible consolation ; it seemed
that her soul was not even in the state of
THE HOLY FACE. 23*7
:sanctifyiug grace ; she was reduced to a state
of agony, experiencing disgust and bitterness
in the very devotions which formerly had
been so cherished. She scarcely dared receive
holy communion.
One day, when she was hesitating to
receive holy communion without having
previously exposed her sad condition to her
.superior, the following happy thought pre
sented itself to her mind : that this Bread
of the strong would give her courage. While
awaiting the mass to begin, with new faith
she took her crucifix, and recollecting that
Our Lord had told her that the praise con
tained in the * G-olden Arrow " would wound
his Heart in a most delicious manner, she pro
nounced the formula ten times in succession,
then resolved to present herself at the holy
Table and receive the Blessed Eucharist in rep
aration for the blasphemies uttered against
the Divine Majesty of Grod. Nothing more was
needed to touch the heart of the Divine Spouse.
He tenderly drew to himself this soul who,
in spite of her desolation, had come to unite
herself to him, in order to indemnify his
heavenly Father for the outrages offered him.
"Oh! How good is God," exclaimed the
sister. "How great is his mercy ! After having
received this Grod of love in holy communion,
I said to him with faith : heavenly Physi
cian ! I remit my soul into thy hands ; and
immediately my adorable Saviour made me
experience the effect of my prayer, drawing
238 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
me to himself alone that I might forget all
my sorrows. He told me it was his ex
press will that I should persevere in the exer
cises of Reparation in spite of all the efforts
of the devil who was trying to fill me with
disgust and repugnance, because he wished
to annihilate this Work, Were it in his power."
The Masters of the spiritual life have re
marked that the Word Made Flesh, in his in
timate relations with souls of election, has
unexpected and sudden times of visitation,
causing them in one moment to pass from tears
to joy, from temptation to peace, from the
most obscure darkness to the most brilliant
light. Mary of St. Peter experienced this in th&
present case ; as if to compensate her for
the painful state which she has just de
scribed, Our Lord favored her with one of
his most consoling and most fruitful commu
nications. The Work of Reparation through the
Holy Face was suddenly revealed to her. She
was transported in spirit to the road leading
to Calvary. " There," said she, " Our Lord gave
me to behold in a most vivid manner, the
pious Veronica, who, with her veil, wiped his
adorable Face covered with spittle, dust, sweat
and blood. My divine Saviour gave me to un
derstand that the wicked by their blasphemy
renew all the outrages once offered to his di
vine Face ; these blasphemies, poured forth
against the Divinity, like the vile spittle of
the Jews, disfigure the Face of Our Lord,
who offered himself as a victim for sinners.
THE HOLY FACE. 239
Then he told me that I must imitate the zeal
of the pious Veronica who so courageously
passed through the crowd of rough soldiers to
-offer him some relief, and whom he gave me for
my protectress and model. By endeavoring to
offer reparation for blasphemy, we render
Christ the same service as this heroic woman,
.and he looks upon those who act thus, with the
same complaisancy as if they had performed
this act during his Passion. I observed that
Our Lord had much love for this holy woman.
^For this reason he said that he desired to see
her particularly honored in our monastery, and
he invited me to ask any grace that we wished,
in the name of the service rendered him by
Veronica."
It was the first time Our Lord spoke to his
faithful servant of his Holy Face, and that
he proposed tha example of this noble Jewess,
of whom tradition preserves an immortal
souvenir. The statement is clear and succinct.
The marvelous economy of the Reparation for
Blasphemy is here presented entire in its germ.
We shall behold it bud forth and blossom in
ihe succeeding revelations.
After relating the preceding facts, our car-
melite adds:
"The effects of this communication in my
,soul were so marvelous, that I could not but
admire the power and condescension of Our
Lord. Before receiving this communication, I
was in an abyss of sorrow ; and after having
partaken of this Bread of Life, I was as if
240 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
resuscitated from death, and my soul was
dilated with joy ; I went to seek our reverend
mother to inform her of what the Divine
Master had just communicated to me concern
ing his Holy Face, in regard to the Work of
Reparation. I said to her: Reverend Mother,
Our Lord promised to grant any grace asked
for through the intercession of the pious
Veronica. What shall I ask for you ? I felt
interiorly urged to propose this question to
our reverend mother, for Our Lord assured
me that I would be heard ; and I thought that
if he granted the favor proposed, it would be a
proof of the truth of the last communication
I believed to have received. Our mother
replied : If Grod desire that we should soothe
his Divine Face, and if he be disposed to grant
us a grace in consideration of the services of
the pious Veronica, the favor which I desire
3^011 to ask is, that he would have the good
ness to veil the faces of his spouses, who will
be exposed to the eyes of seculars, if the ground
adjoining our garden be sold to strangers ;
therefore, intercede with him to obtain it for us ;
if he grant you this grace, your superiors will
have a visible proof of the spirit which conducts
you. "
The mother superior, Mary of the Incarna
tion, was at that time occupied with the con
struction of the new monastery on the Rue des
Ursulines. On one side of the enclosure, there
was a piece of ground which commanded a
view of the Carmelites garden, a great incon-
THE HOLY FACE. 241
venience, as can easily be understood for clois
tered religious, who by their rule, should be
sheltered from the curiosity of the world. With
the gayety and apparent indifference with
which she generally spoke to her spiritual
daughter, the reverend mother held the above
conversation to which we have just listened.
The sister obeyed the order of the prioress and
began a no vena in honor of the Holy Face ;
but said she naively : " Thou knowest well,
my Divine Lord, that I only desire this ground
for thy sake and for the glory of thy Holy
Name."
Before obtaining possession of the ground,
there seemed to be insurmountable obstacles to
be overcome ; for this reason, the sister became
importunate in her entreaties to the Lord,
knowing that its acquisition would be a visi
ble sign of her mission ; we shall notice in
what manner this grace was granted.
For the present, let us listen to her describ
ing the manner in which she rendered homage
to the Holy Face, from the time she received the
first communication. " I experience a special
protection from the pious Veronica, and I am
continually occupied in the adoration of the
august and most Holy Face of Our Saviour.
I feel that my soul is in the hands of Grod,.
like an instrument of which he makes use at
his own good pleasure. I felt urged during
those days, to expose to Jesus that which our
worthy archbishop had suggested to me con
cerning the work of Reparation for Blasphemy,.
"242 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
when I had the privilege of speaking to him.
Yesterday, after holy communion, I conjured
Our Lord to deign to give me more light on
this subject, saying to him : Thou kiiowest,
my Lord and Saviour, that it is for Monsei-
:gneur I make this request, and in virtue of
holy obedience. But my Divine Saviour did
not judge it necessary to answer me. He only
concentrated the powers of my soul most pro
foundly in the contemplation of his adorable
Face."
On the 27th of October, from the moment
.she entered the choir for the morning medita
tion, the Lord communicated himself to her
.anew, according to his ordinary custom, and
as if in answer to the prayer addressed to
him in the name of the archbishop, he exposed
his designs on the Work of Reparation.
" It is at the present moment, reverend moth
er," said she, ; that I stand in need of the light of
the Holy Grhost to direct my pen, for I know
not how to write that which I have seen and
heard. I shall relate it as carefully as possible."
" Our Lord, having concentrated the powers
of my soul in his Divine Heart, applied me to
the contemplation of his adorable Face ; he
made me understand by internal rays of light,
that this holy and august Face, offered to us
for our adoration, is the mirror of the ineffable
perfections comprised in the most Holy Name
of God. "
" It is impossible for me to express this in
tellectual view, unless in the words of the
THE HOLY FACE. 24
Apostle St. Paul, Grod is the head of his
Christ.* (Cor. XL 3.) "Which words I have since
read ; they struck me most forcibly, for I re~
cognized in this thought what had been com
municated to me supernaturally."
* May there not be, in effect, a mysterious sense applicable to
the devotion of the Holy Face in these words of the Apostle :
Caput Christi Deus ? (God is the head of his Christ.) May we not
infer that the word, Caput, (head), signifies not only the authority
God possesses over Jesus Christ considered as man, but that the
head of the Saviour, taken in its literal signification, expresses in a
particular manner the figure of the Divine Majesty ?
What favors this interpretation, is the unity of idea contained in
the passages in which these words are found, and the conclusion*
drawn by the Apostle. Jesus Christ is the head of mankind, as man.
is the head of woman, and as God is the head of Jesus Christ. If it
were here only a question of the power which God possesses over the
humanity of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ over man, and man over
woman, it would suffice to conclude, that woman ought to be sub
missive to man, man to Jesus Christ, even as Our Lord himself is
submissive to his Father.
But St. Paul goes still further. He desires that man should re
spect Jesus Christ, his chief, his head, by uncovering his head when-
at prayer . That woman should veil her head when praying, for
man is her chief. We observe here an idea of dignity attached to
the word chief, or head, taken in its literal or physical sense : dignity
of man as head of woman ; dignity of Jesus Christ, the chief of
mankind, dignity and majesty of God in the august head of Jesus
Christ.
Still better, we may infer the dignity of the adorable head of our
Lord from one oi the following passages in which St. Paul says :
" Man should not cover his head, being the image and glory of
God." True, the sacred text simply says, that man is the image and
the glory of God, without particularly mentioning the head ; but
according to this, why forbid him to cover his head, if not be
cause this image and glory reside principally in the head ? Now, if
the head of man be worthy of so much dignity, with how much more
reason should we not consider the august head of Jesus Christ as
the picture and the emblem of the Divine Majesty, and his Holy
Face as the image and the glory of God ?
The above is found at the end of Sr. St. Peter s writings. It
reveals to us an extended horizon of information and light on the
devotion to the most Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and is its
own commendation
244 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
" I understood that as the Sacred Heart of
Jesus is the visible object offered to our ad
miration to represent his immense love in the
most Blessed Sacrament of the altar, likewise, in
the Work of Reparation, the Face of Our Lord
is the sensible object offered for the adoration
of the associates, to repair the outrages of blas
phemers who attack the Divinity, of which it
is the figure, the mirror and the image. In
virtue of this adorable Face, offered to the Eter
nal Father, we can appease his anger and ob
tain the conversion of blasphemers. " The
co-relation existing between the devotion to
the Sacred Heart and that of the Holy Face,
could not have been better expressed. The
Holy Face is a picture of the Divinity outraged
by the opprobrium, of blasphemers, as the
Sacred Heart is a picture of the immense love
of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
The sister was also favored with another
light. " Our Lord " said she, " showed me that
the Church, his Spouse, is his mystical body,
and that religion is the face of this body ; then
he showed me this face as the butt of all the
scoffs coming from the enemies of his Holy
Name ; and I saw that blasphemers and secta
rians renew in this holy face, all the opprobrium
of the Passion. I beheld, also, by this divine
light, that the wicked, in uttering profane
words and in blaspheming the Holy Name of
God, spat in the Divine Face of Our Lord and
covered it with filth ; that all the blows aimed
at the Church and "at Eeligion by sectarians,
THE HOLY FACE. 245
Were the renewal of the numberless buffets
"which our Divine Lord received in his Holy
Pace, and that these unfortunate wretches drew
forth perspiration in drops of blood from his
Divine Face, by thus maliciously destroying
his works."
The word religion, employed here to signify
the face of the mystic body of Jesus Christ, is
easily explained. We may understand it to
mean the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which
teaches us what we are obliged to believe and
practise, and the worship which we must
render to Grod. Eeligion, in this sense of the
word, is the face of the Church, because her
doctrine renders visible the features by which
we recognize her even as we distinguish and
recognize a person by the features of his
countenance. This face of the Church is, at
the same time, the Face of Jesus Christ ; for
the Church can have but one head, which is
Jesus Christ , and consequently but one face
which is likewise that of Jesus. Finally, in
a mystic sense, it can be said that the doctrine
of Jesus Christ, that is the Christian religion,
is as much his face as that of the Church, be
cause it is by this doctrine that we recognize
him as he is himself. Therefore the expression
inspired to the sister, justifies itself, and we
can but admire the nicety and depth of the
word.
Nothing, therefore, could be more conform
able to the spirit of Reparation which Our Lord
proposes to himself. In our days, more than
246 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
ever before, the face of his mystic body, the
Church, is the butt of all the outrages of his
enemies. Sectarians vomit forth their blas
phemies into his face, as so much ignoble filth ;
they launch at her a thousand injurious invec
tives, even falsehoods which recall to mind the
buffets received by the Saviour during his
Passion ; thus do they seek to destroy his
labors ; and after the lapse of centuries since
the time he passed in the world, doing good,
they exult in their endeavors to overthrow
what he has established, and to counteract the
fruits of the salvation brought to man. This
face of the Church, also, stands in need of
being consoled and comforted, and we are not
surprised that Christ has repeated to his ser
vant, the request already made in favor of his
Spouse, placed like him on the road to Calvary.
"Then, at this sight," she continued, "our
Lord Jesus Christ said to me : I seek for more
Veronicas to console and adore my Divine
Face, which has but few worshippers. He
made me understand anew, that all those who
devoted themselves to this work of Eeparation,
would perform the same office as Veronica.
After which he addressed to me the following
consoling words : I give you my Holy Face
as a recompense for all the services you have
rendered me for the past two years ; you have
done but little, it is true, but your heart has
conceived great designs ; therefore, I give you
.this Face in presence of my Eternal Father,
in virtue of the Holy Ghost, and in sight of
THE HOLY FACE. 24*7
the angels and saints ; I present you this gift
by the hands of my Holy Mother, and of St.
Yeronica, who will teach you how to honor
it. Our Lord continued : By this Face, you
will perform prodigies.
She understood that this precious gift was
not for herself alone, but that it was to become
the distinctive symbol of the projected work.
" For," said she, " my Divine Master manifest
ed his desire to see his Holy Face offered as
the appropriate object of devotion to his child
ren, the members of the Association of Repara-
tion for Blasphemy, and he seemed to invite
me to reveal his adorable Face under this
aspect." She undoubtly felt, at the same time,
the excellence of the grace accorded her by
Our Lord. " It was, he told me, the greatest
grace he could have given me after that of the
sacraments, and for which he had prepared
and cultivated the soil of my soul by the
interior trials which I had suffered a short
time previously. I also learned that he de
puted St. Louis, king of France, protector of
this "Work of Reparation, because of his zeal
for the glory of the Name of Grod ; and lor pro
tectress, he designated the pious Yeronica, in
gratitude for the services rendered him on the
road to Calvary."
"After having favored me with these remark
able revelations regarding the Reparation for
blasphemy, he added : Those who do not now
recognize in this, my work, close their eyes,
and will not see. "
248 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
" Toward the conclusion, I felt a little unea
siness with regard to the veracity of this reve
lation, because of its length ; but Our Lord
assured me, saying that he had many means
at his disposal by which to manifest himself
to souls, that he accommodated himself to my
feebleness, and that I had already experienced
that he had communicated himself to me be
fore in this sweet and peaceful manner. He
was as a tender Father giving me his orders
and informing me of his desires ; but for this
purpose, it was necessary that my soul should
not be disturbed by passion of any kind,
neither of joy or pain, which might cause agita
tion and impede his communications. When
by his pure bounty, he condescended to make
himself understood, all passed so sweetly and
impressed me in such a manner, that I could
only apply myself to that which my Divine
Master, ID the excess of his bounty, was pleased
to communicate."
" He had promised after my admission into
religion, that if I would make him a perfect act
of self-abandonment, with all my merits, for
the accomplishment of his designs, that he
himself would conduct my soul in his ways.
I can here testify, to the glory of this amiable
Shepherd, that he conducts me step by step
as one of his sheep, notwithstanding my un-
worthiness ; he leads me at will, to graze now
in one pasture, then in another ; sometimes in
delicious valleys, again in sandy deserts, ac
cording to the necessity of the spiritual health
THE HOLY FACE. 249
of his poor little sheep. I have thought
it might not be nseless to make known in a
few words this conduct of our Lord in my
regard, that the communications, which I be
lieve I have received from my Divine Master,
may the more easily be credited. May his
Holy Name be blessed for having taken so
much care of a miserable sinner ! "
CHAPTEE XIII.
VEKONICA AND THE GOOD THIEF.
" Two persons have rendered
invaluable service to our Divine
Lord during his Passion : Veron
ica on the road to Calvary, in
offering her veil to wipe and soothe
his Adorable Face ; the Good Thief
on the cross, acknowledging and
defending his Divinity. "
(Words of the Sister.)
Two days after the feast of the apostles,.
Simon and Jude, the heavenly Master con-
tinned, during the evening meditation, to in
struct Sr. Mary St. Peter on the new subject
which had been presented to her contemplation.
"Our Lord," said she, " deigned to abase
himself, and hold converse with my ungrateful
and sinful soul. That which he revealed to
me will, I think, reverend mother, give you
much pleasure to learn. It was with difficulty
I could persuade myself that he had granted
me such a great favor as that of presenting
me with the gift of his Holy Face. Therefore,
I besought him to give me a visible proof
of the invisible grace which I believe I had
received from his divine mercy ; it wa&
perhaps in proof of its reality that he commu-
VERONICA AND THE GOOD THIEF. 251
nicated to me what I am now about to relate."
fa. " Having taken for the subject of my med
itation, the treason of Judas, I reflected with
sorrow on the enormity of the outrage offered
to the Sacred Face of Our Lord by a kiss so
perfidious ; and it seemed to me that the Di
vine Master invited me to kiss the likeness of
his Holy Face with love, in a spirit of repa
ration. After having offered .several acts of
praise, I felt that Our Lord was attracting me
to himself ; I obeyed this secret action of grace,
and my amiable Saviour deigned to give me
some instructions on the excellence of the
gift he had bestowed on me, in presenting me
his adorable Face ; and he again had the good
ness to accommodate himself graciously to the
weakness of my intellect by a simple compar
ison, saying : As in an earthly kingdom we
can procure all that we desire by having coin
stamped with the image of the king, so also
with the precious gift of my humanity, which
is my adorable Face, you will obtain in the
kingdom of heaven, all that your heart can
desire.
" These divine lights or heavenly illumi
nations, which, for want of capacily, I am
forced to express by means of such feeble
terms in trying to have them thoroughly un
derstood threw me into an ecstacy of joy, and
I experienced something interiorly which it is
impossible to describe. I besought my Divine
Master to instruct me and to render what I
beheld a little more intelligible to my poor
252 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
comprehension, for the powers of my son!
were as if paralyzed."
The idea of the " piece of coin " filled the
sister with joy and confidence. Naturally
enough her thoughts reverted to the ground
contiguous to the monastery garden which
commanded a view of the interior of the house ;
the same lot of land which the mother prioress
had told her to ask of Our Lord. " It seemed
to me, " said she, " that I was to purchase it
by offering this Holy Face, and our Lord
Jesus informed me that before the expiration
of another year, we would be in possession of
the ground desired ; of this he assured me and
added, that I must not be anxious how it
would come about. "
" In reality, the affair which seemed to be
despaired of, was quite suddenly brought
before our notice. The proprietor, who hitherto
could not be induced to sell, came voluntarily
to offer his land on the most favorable con
ditions ; the contract was concluded, and
strange to relate, a few days after having*
affixed his signature thereto, he died very un
expectedly." *
Though afflicted at the sudden death of this
good baron, the sister, nevertheless, offered
thanks to Grod for the benefit obtained. " This
* This proprietor was the Baron de Nom, a most worthy person
and a practical Christian. Father Aileron, who was his counsellor
and confessor, had not been able to obtain any concession. After
some days he himself decided to sell the land, and the contract was
drawn up three days before his death which, naturally, he could not
have foreseen.
VERONICA AND THE GOOD THIEF. 253
favor filled me with consternation, for I
regarded it as a tangible proof of the gift I
had received, that of the Holy Face ; and I
tremble at the thought of the account which
Grod will demand of me, if I know not how
to improve this divine talent for his glory and
the salvation of souls. "
At the termination of these communications
which unveil to Christian piety so vast and
so luminous a horizon, Sister St. Peter had an
interior vision on the same subject, October
80th, which sublime conceptions she expressed
in the following terms : " Remember, my
soul, the instruction which thy celestial Spouse
has given thee to-day on his adorable Face ! Ee-
member that this divine Chief represents the
Father who is from all eternity, that the
mouth of this Holy Face is a figure of the
Divine Word, engendered by the Father, and
that the eyes of this mysterious Face represent
the reciprocal love of the Father and the Son ;
for these eyes have but one and the same light,
the same knowlege, producing the same love,
which is the Holy G-host. In his beautiful
silken hair contemplate the infinitude of the
adorable perfections of the most Holy Trinity ;
in this majestic head, the most precious por
tion of the sacred humanity of thy Saviour,
contemplate the image of the unity of Grod.
This, then, is the adorable and mysterious
Face of the Saviour, which blasphemers have
the temerity to cover with opprobrium : thus
they renew the sufferings of his Passion, by
254 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
attacking the divinity of which it is the
image."
A number of special communications, rap
idly succeeding each other, will develop and
explain these consoling truths. Our Lord, to
manifest the propriety of the choice he made
of his Holy Face, as the principal object of
these reparatory adorations, declared to Mary
of St. Peter that he gave her this Sacred Face
that she might comfort and soothe him by her
homage and the odor of her praises, then he
adds : " According to the diligence you will
manifest in repairing my image disfigured by
blasphemers, so will I have the same care in
repairing your soul which has been disfigured
by sin. I will imprint thereon my image, and
I will render it as beautiful as when it came
forth from the baptismal font. Abandon your
self, then, to my good pleasure, and be disposed
to suffer everything necessary to restore this
image to its pristine beauty. Be not troubled
if you experience sadness and darkness, for
these have the same effect as the sombre hues
in a picture which only throw out the more
brilliant. There are those who possess the art
of restoring health to the body, but the
Creator alone has the power of restoring the
beauty of the soul. I have given you the
knowledge of this Work of Reparation, I have
shown you its excellence, and now I promise
you the recompense. Oh ! could you but be
hold the beauty of my face ! But your eyes
are yet too weak."
VERONICA AND THE GOOD THIEF. 255
" On the 6th of November, she received a
new communication on the subject of the Holy
Face in regard to the Work of the Reparation.
The Saviour makes use of the soul of his ser
vant as a channel through which to reach the
souls of men redeemed by his Precious Blood.
He declared to her that he wished to make her
understand the virtue of his adorable Face, in
order to restore the image of God in the souls
who have effaced it by sin. "He made me
observe the power which this Holy Face ex
ercised over his unfaithful apostle, St. Peter,
rendering him penitent by one glance. Jesus
cast upon him one look, and Peter wept bitter
ly. By an illumination from on High, I per
ceived that this adorable Face is, as it were,
the seal of the Divinity, having the power to
impress itself on the souls of those who apply
to themselves this image of God ; it is this
sight which causes me to salute the Holy Face,
in these words :"
" I salute thee, I adore and I love thee, O
most amiable Face of my Jesus, my well-be
loved ! most adorable seal of the Divinity ! I
give myself to thee with all the strength and
power of my soul, and I very humbly beseech
thee to renew in us the image of God."
" Very reverend mother, if these communica
tions have come from heaven, this work is
verily the Work of the Reparation ; for man
is invited to repair the outrages committed
against God, and by a return of love, God
promises to repair his image in man s soul in
256 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETEE.
virtue of his adorable Face. What a mystery
of love ! Let us then relieve and soothe this
august Face of our Lord, disfigured by num
berless blasphemies, and our Divine Master
will efface from our souls the filth and hide-
ousness of sin. This is what Our Lord has
imparted to me ; it seems that in thus discov
ering to us the virtue and power of his Holy
Face, he has grand designs of mercy over the
souls of mankind."
" We have in this precious gift an infallible
means of appeasing the wrath of Grod the
Father, irritated against blasphemers ; w r e
shall beg him to cast a glance at the Face of
his Divine Son, and the thunderbolts of justice
will fall harmlessly from his hands. Grod,
our protector, look upon us and cast thine eyes
on the Face of thy Christ ! "
Our humble carmelite sets a just apprecia
tion on the means offered man to stay the
arrows of divine justice. From the beginning
of the year following, the Lord gave her new
lights, and confirmed her in the mission of
mercy which he had already confided to her.
On the 5th of January, 1846, she wrote :
" Our Lord gave me to understand that the
ground which we haA e bought from his
heavenly Father by the offering of his Holy
Face, is a figure of the patrimony for the
living we are to purchase for a multitude
of souls, with the mystic document of this
adorable Face. Then the divine Pastor pre
sented me a flock of sheep, telling me that he
THE HOLY FACE. 25t-
appointed me their shepherdess : he made me
understand that these poor sheep had been
Mtten by the serpent, and were poisoned with
the venom of blasphemy ; that I must lead them
to graze on the .pastures in the realms of his
divine mysteries, that there they might be
healed, and that I should place them in the
adorable wounds of his sacred body, mark
ing them with the sacred effigy of his Holy
Face. He foretold that I would undergo
much suffering, because this flock of blasphem
ers was in a special manner under the
guidance of the Prince of Darkness. The Lord
give me to understand, that Lucifer willingly
abandoned to his subordinates the charge
of the other troops of sinners, as for instance,
the lewd, the intemperate, the avaricious, but
the blasphemers, he kept as his favorite
flock. It is he, continued the Saviour, who
has caused you to have so much repugnance
for this Work of Reparation, but fear not !
St. Michael and the holy angels will protect
you ; with my cross which I give you for
your shepherd s crook, you will become a
terror to Hell. He made me understand
that he had withdrawn me from the world
and called me to inhabit his holy house, in
order to accomplish this mission. And as I
expressed a certain anxiety, regarding the
truth of the communication I had just received,
being always afraid of an illusion, he said to
me : Be tranquil. Satan has too great a horror of
the cross to make use of it in his operations.
258 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
" In one of my meditations, the date of
which I have forgotten, our Divine Lord chid-
ed me for my negligence in not praying for
blasphemers, and showed me how I had given
occasion to the evil spirit to tempt me to
doubt of his mercy ; it seemed that he said :
Did I not give you an example to pray for
blasphemers when I was suspended on the
cross ? He likewise declared to me that he
had wonderful designs of mercy on this class
of sinners, that he wished to make use of me
as an instrument for the accomplishment of
his work. He made me understand that
this reparatory work embraced not only repa
ration for blasphemy properly so called, but
for all manner of invectives uttered against
the Church ; however, it is specially applied
to blasphemy against the Name of Grod. "
Thus is verified what we have previously
stated of that kind of blasphemy professing to
be doctrinal, which attacks religion and the
Church. This is the real, the direct object of
the "Work of Reparation ; for all the invectives
hurled against the Church or religious worship,
are at the same time an outrage offered the
Name of Grod thrice holy. The year 1846 had
set in, and nothing in the exterior course of
events gave any indication whatever that the
desires of the sister were soon to be put into
execution. On the 23rd of January, she re
ceived a communication which she relates in
these words : " I can no longer restrain my
tears at the thought of what Jesus has just
THE HOLY FACE. 259
told me after communion ; behold the terrible
words of this meek Saviour : l The aspect of
France has become hideous in the eyes of my
Father, provoking his justice ; offer him there
fore the Face of his Son, in whom he has
placed all his complaisance, in order to draw
down upon France his forgiveness, else she
will be severely punished. There lies her sal
vation, that is, in the Face of the* Saviour.
Behold, added he, the wonderful proof of
my goodness towards France ! Yet she repays
me with ingratitude !
Affrighted, the pious sister added : "Is it
really thou, my Lord, who communicates this
to me?" Our Lord replied: "Would you
have been able to procure it yourself in your
last communion ? I have purposely left you
in profound darkness for eight days, to make
you discern that now it is my operation which
you experience." Docile and convinced, she
immediately began to say this prayer which
she repeated continually : " Eternal Father,
we offer thee the adorable Face of this thy
well-beloved Son, for the honor and glory of
thy Holy Name and for the salvation of
France."
" My poor heart," said she, "is wounded by
a sword of sorrow. Our Lord directed my
attention anew to the contemplation of his sa
cred head crowned with thorns, and to his
adorable Face outraged by the enemies of G-od
and of the Church. Once more I heard his
sorrowful plaints, and my aimable Saviour
260 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
told me, that in our community he sought for
souls to repair the outrages inflicted on him,
and to heal his wounds by applying to them
the wine of compassion and the oil of charity.
He informed me that if the members of the
community devoted themselves to this exercise
of reparation, he would bestow upon them a
kiss of love which would be a pledge of the
eternal union; new and consoling promise,
most worthy of this gracious and merciful
Saviour. Such a favor responds most admi
rably to the desire of every Christian soul and
to the aspirations of mankind in general, ex
pressed by the Spouse in the Canticle when
she asks of the divine "Word to come forth
by the Incarnation from the bosom of his
Father, in order that she might listen to his
voice, behold his countenance and be admitted
to the kiss of peace from his sacred lips.
(Cant. L., I. ; IY. I.), while awaiting to contem
plate him face to face in the splendors of his
glory."
After this touching elucidation, she con
tinues : " It seems to me, reverend mother,
that Our Lord bids me thank you for what
you have already done for him in this "Work
of Reparation for Blasphemy, and if possible,
to prevail upon you to continue. I had some
difficulty in resolving, to speak of these things,
for I feared an illusion ; and I told him,
that notwithstanding my desire to see him
glorified, I never would have uttered a single
word which was simply an effect of my own
THE HOLY FACE. 261
imagination ; but he urged me to plead his
cause that he might be relieved from his cruel
sufferings. For nearly two hours I was conscious
of the presence of this divine Saviour in my
soul. My Lord, said I to him, deign to
choose a more worthy instrument, a Teresa
or another G-ertrude ! My sighs and tears
afforded some relief to my poor, sad heart !
This day was a one of bitter, but happy suf
fering, for it seemed that Jesus made me un
derstand that the willingness with which I
shared all his pains, was a source of much
consolation to him. "
" Oh ! my good Mother, I beg of you in
mercy for the love and consolation of Our
Lord, send to our houses these prayers of
reparation which are so agreeable to him. I
have said them twice during the course of
the day, begging our Divine Lord to receive
them as the precious perfume which Mary
Magdalen poured over his sacred head on the
eve of his Passion."
"Behold, as near as possible, reverend
mother, what has passed in my soul ; for five
weeks my divine Master has operated nothing
extraordinary. I have been continually occu
pied in offering reparation for blasphemy, and
in sighing for the birth of this Work, but
always in great peace of mind. I have been
also occupied in guiding and caring for the
flock which has been committed to my care ;
every day I take them to graze in the divine
pastures of the mysteries of the life and Passion
262 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
of the Grood Shepherd, who has given his
life for his sheep that not one might perish. "
"We here understand what she means by
these "divine pastures " where she leads the
flock committed to her care ; they are the
mysteries of the life and Passion of Our Lord,
as enumerated by St. Dominic in the devotion
of the holy rosary : the joyful, the sorrowful,
and the glorious mysteries. By them our
Saviour has merited for us the graces which
nourish and give life to our souls ; the fruits
of which are found in the sacraments of the
Church, especially those of penance and the
Holy Eucharist, two fruitful sources, wherein
the sinner can find the means of purifying
and nourishing himself according to his ne
cessities.
The pious carmelite had been chosen to be
the " Shepherdess " of these heavenly pastures ;
certainly not that she was to preach these
" mysteries " or administer the " sacraments,"
which are functions appertaining exclusively
to the priesthood. But the mission assigned to
her was, as her seraphic Mother St. Theresa
teaches in her rule, to aid apostolic laborers by
prayer, contemplation and by the exercises of
the interior life, thus to obtain the light and
unction necessary for the ministers of the
Church to bring sinners back to Jesus, and to
clothe them with his merits, that they might
find in these mysteries the grace necessary
to sanctify, nourish and save their souls.
This mission of charity was, four days after,
THE HOLY FACE. 263
more fully explained by Christ himself. He
informed her that two persons had rendered
him special service during his Passion, the
first of whom he had already spoken, the
pious Veronica, who served his sacred human
ity by offering him wherewith to soothe his
adorable countenance on his way to Cal
vary ; the second, the Good Thief, who
from his cross as from a pulpit, undertook to
defend his cause and proclaim his divinity,
even at the very moment he was being blas
phemed by the other thief and by the Jews.
" Our Lord gave me to understand that both
the one and the other are the two models
given to the Work of Reparation, Veronica, the
model for those of her sex who are not ap
pointed to defend his cause by their eloquence,
but to soothe his Holy Face in reparation for
the blasphemy of sinners, by prayer, praise
and adoration ; the Grood Thief, as the model
for his ministers, who in the Work of Rep ara-
tion should defend him publicly. "
" My amiable Master caused me to notice
the magnificent recompense which he be
stowed 011 these two persons, the one in leaving
her his divine portrait, the other in assigning
him a place in his heavenly kingdom, as a
testimony of the esteem he had for the services
they rendered him. Then he promised me that
those who, in reparation for blasphemy, would
defend his cause by prayers, words, or writings,
would be defended by him before his Heavenly
Father and that he would make them partak-
264 LIFE OF SISTER- MARY ST. PETER.
ers of his kingdom. It seemed to me that he
told me to promise in his Name, to those of
his ministers who would preach this work, to
his spouses who would endeavor to soothe
and honor his Holy Face in reparation for the
blasphemy of sinners, that at the hour of death,
he would purify their souls by effacing the
stains of sin, and would restore to them their
primitive beauty."
" Methought also that he said : Write down
these promises, they will make more impres
sion on the minds of men than all I have
hitherto said to you concerning this "Work,
because of the promise of eternal life, which
although not the purest motive, is at least, not
unworthy of consideration, since I have given
my life that sinners may obtain the kingdom
of heaven. He added, if you keep these things
secret, through fear, you will be guilty of in
justice to mankind. My Divine Master spoke
to me thus because I hesitated to believe this
communication, for I am always afraid of being
deceived."
" This is, reverend mother, a precise account
of what has passed in my soul. The commu
nications which I have just received have
greatly disturbed me, I am filled with interior
sorrow, and I suffer from a devouring fire ; I
tremble and humble myself before G-od, adoring
his divine operations in a miserable atom. "
If the reader be astonished at the important
position assigned the Good Thief in the "Work
of Reparation, let him recall what is written
THE HOLY FACE. 265
in the Grospel, that "whilst the Grood Thief was
hanging on the cross, there came from all parts
those who blasphemed : And the people stood,
beholding, and the rulers with them deriding
him saying : He saved others, let him save
himself, if he be Christ, the elect of Grod. And
one of these robbers blasphemed him saying :
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. These
words of the wicked thief contain a positive
blasphemy, for they are equivalent to saying :
If thou dost not descend from thy gibbet, and
take us with thee, thou art not the Christ as
thou dost profess ; thou dost prove thyself an
impostor by thy very powerlessiiess. What
more cruel injury could be offered to the Son
of Grod ! But the other answering, rebuked him,
saying : " Neither dost thou fear G-od, seeing
thou art under the same condemnation, and we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of
our deeds, but this man hath done no evil."
Behold a true type of zeal and of courageous
charity ! This fervent convert could not suffer
that his companion in disgrace, at the very
moment of appearing before his Sovereign
Judge, should be so far lost to the fear of Grod,
as to join with those who blasphemed the
Messiah, as if the kingdom of Christ was to be
extinct at his death ; he reproached him for
his perversity and audacity ; and full of faith,
humility and contrition, confessed his sins and
accepted with resignation the chastisement
due their enormity. From his gallows, he ren
ders public testimony to the innocence and
266 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
holiness of Jesus. He endeavors to silence Ms
blasphemers, and he proclaims his greatness at
the very moment that all wre anathematizing
him. The cross of the Lord was in his eyes
neither a scandal nor a folly, but the wisdom
and virtue of G-od ; in this patient, meek One
crowned with thorns, he adores the Sovereign
Lord and the King of kings. Casting a respect
ful and suppliant glance toward this dolorous
Face bruised and bleeding, he says, " Lord re
member me when thou shalt come into they
kingdom." So heartfelt a prayer deserved an
immediate response. The divine Face of Jesus
directed toward him a glance, full of compas
sion, and in these ineffable words assured this
model reparator of the immediate vision of
his Face glorified. " Yerily, I say unto thee,
this day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
The eulogy given -to the Grood Thief by the
holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church is
inexhaustible. St. John Chrysostom, consider
ing his faith, extols it above that of Abraham,
of Moses and of Isaiah. " These," said he, " have
beheld Christ seated on the throne of his mag
nificence, surrounded with glory, and they
believed ; whereas the G-ood Thief beholds him
in agony on an infamous gibbet, yet he adores
him as if he beheld him in the realms of his
glory ; he beholds him upon the cross, and he
prays him as if he beheld him seated on the
clouds of heaven ; he beholds him as a criminal
condemned to death and yet he invokes him as
a God. "
THE HOLY FACE. 26 7
According to the same Doctor, he became
on the spot an evangelist and a prophet. He
preaches Christ crucified, and he proclaims the
eternity of his reign.
Tradition recognizes him under the name of
Dysmas. The Roman martyrology places him
among the ranks of the holy martyrs on the
25th of March, and the Breviary, in the feasts
proper to particular places, indicating his
feast as of double rite on the 24th of April.
The prayer of his office contains a significant
passage ; the Church asks of Grod, who is ever-
powerful and full of mercy, and who justifies
the wicked, to move us to repentance by the
merciful regards of his only Son who converted
the Grood Thief, and to grant us the same eternal
glory. A more worthy model could not have
been offered to the zealous worshippers and
propagators of the reparation.
As for Veronica, her life, although not
written in the Grospel, is- sufficiently well
known and authenticated by tradition. The
heroic deed to which Sr. St. Peter makes al
lusion, is the sixth station in the "Way of the
Holy Cross. Her veil is at Rome in the basil
ica of St. Peter, of the Yatican ; from time
immemorial it has always been considered as
one of the most precious relics of the Passion
of Our Lord and has been the object of the
greatest veneration. Since the time of the
communications made to the Carmelite of
Tours, and thanks to the zeal of M. Dupont,
the authentic copy of this venerable image in
268 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
France and in the Catholic world, is the object
of special devotion, and is the exterior symbol
of reparation for blasphemy.
The pions Veronica, herself, is the patroness
and protectress of the work. Her heroic ex
ample would, most naturally, be offered as a
model to all generous souls who devote them
selves to reparation.
CHAPTEE XIY.
LA S ALETTE.
" My Blessed Mother lias warned
mankind of my wrath in her desire
to appease it. "
(Words of Our Lord.)
The revelations received by Sister Mary St.
Peter on the worship of the Holy Face, as
have already been detailed, seem to announce
a%econd phase in the history of her commu
nications. These taken together, have a.char-
acteristic unity, and their object will now
become more definite. Henceforth it will be
easy to follow up the regular course pursued
by Our Lord, and to comprehend the nature
of the communications made to his humble
servant.
She was early imbued with his divine spirit,
and by degrees the * necessity of reparation
became more apparent to her. In order to be
more fully convinced of its absolute necessity,
he leaves her for some time to her own re
flections ; then he gives her special instruc
tions and indicates the worship of the Holy
270 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Face as the means of accomplishing this repa
ration, developing the appropriateness of this
devotion with as much clearness as depth.
The sister had not as yet fathomed the secret
dispensations of the Most High, and could not
imagine by what means the Work of Repa
ration was to be accomplished ; but divine
Providence was preparing the way. There was
one to whom we have already referred several
times, who was to become the principal auxil
iary of the virgin of the cloister. This most
worthy instrument in the hands of G-od, was
M. Dupont, a resident of Tours for over ten
years ; his reputation for sanctity was such,
that he was everywhere spoken of in the city.
He had gradually contracted a pious and
intimate friendship with the daughters of St.
Theresa, more particularly with Sister St. Peter.
During the year that Henrietta, his favorite
child, was preparing to make her first com
munion, her virtuous father took every care to
prepare her worthily for so holy an action.
He commended her to the prayers of the pious
carmelite, who wrote him a letter on this
subject, June 4th, 1844, which merits a record
here, at least in part.
" I accept with pleasure," said she " the
proposition of daily crffering the touching
prayer to the Holy Infant Jesus which you
have sent us, that he may prepare this young
heart to receive him with the most perfect
dispositions. I am not worthy of communicat
ing directly with the Infant Jesus, but I will
LA SALETTE.
beseech. Mary and Joseph to offer my prayer,
and to present your dear little daughter to the
Holy Child, that the day of her first commu
nion may be the day of her espousals with him."
" Permit me, dear sir, to beg a favor of you,
in the name of the child Jesus : that you would
please offer him three wax tapers, to be burned
in honor of the Holy Family that you may to
obtain the accomplishment of your desires ; for
the Child Jesus takes a special pleasure in illu
minations ; he has granted a great grace to Sr.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament, after
having performed this simple and innocent
practice of devotion. Our good and reverend
mother has often given us the means of offer
ing him this pleasure, but at present I am
very poor, and have no candles to offer him. "
Henrietta s father was not slow in fulfilling
this pious request of the sister, which was
perfectly conformable to his own ideas. We
shall cite another letter, dated July 26th, 1845,
when the carmelite virgin wrote to this holy
man requesting him to lend her a pious book
treating on the Holy Eucharist :
" Our reverend mother begs you to procure
me a book entitled, Triumph ofJ&us in the Most
Blessed Sacrament. She does not know where
the one belonging to us has been put, for we
have not seen it since our removal, and as
have no fervor I want to procure this book
whatever it may cost, for I hope to find where
with to enkindle in my soul the love of Jesus
in the most Blessed Sacrament. "
272 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Mgr. Morlot was not ignorant of the relations
existing between the pious layman and the
Carmelites ; when in the month of March,
1844, he had authorized the publication of the
prayers of Reparation, M. Dupont, with his
consent became the zealous propagator. In
the month of October following, Monseigneur
wrote to him, enclosing a letter which he had
just received on this subject; "I take the lib
erty of addressing this letter to M. Dupont,
begging him to answer it for me. I also
enclose two copies lately received from Rome,
which makes me desirous of a new edition of
the prayers for the association, under the pa
tronage of St. Louis, to which should be added
a notice on indulgences more to the purpose
than the present one."
" Yours most humbly and devotedly in Our
Lord,
t F. N.-A. B. OF TOURS."
This intimate and confidential friendship
with the Carmelites on the one hand and with
the venerable archbishop on the other, at once
revealed the important part assigned M. Du
pont in this work ; Providence was planning
the delicate mission which he was soon to
fulfil.
But we have come to the year 1846 ; after
what we have related in the preceding chap
ter, a long silence of six months ensued, that
is from March 23rd to October 4th ; nothing
more was revealed concerning the work of
LA SALETTE. 2^73
Eeparation and the devotion to the Holy Face.
Divine Providence seemed to be leaving time
for reflection to these holy souls, to prepare
them for the efficacious grace which France
was about to receive. In fact, nothing less
than a miracle was about to be performed, to
enlighten and move all Catholic hearts to re
pentance.
We here refer to the apparation of the
Blessed Virgin at La Salette, on the 19th of
September, 1846. Between this ever memo
rable event and the communications of Sr. St.
Peter there exists a marvelous affinity, which,
we must not fail to observe. The authority
of Mr. Dupont in such a matter, is of
the greatest importance ; the account in
detail which we have in his own words will
serve to guide us. Before opening the subject,
the pious narrator certified to the "truth" of
his narrative, " in which ! states he, " accord
ing to my poor conception, we may behold a
prophetic announcement of the glorious event
w T hich took place at La Salette. "
"In 1846, toward the beginning of the month
of September, on the eve of departure for St.
Servan, in Brittany, I went to receive the com
missions of the reverend mother, who had
some relatives at St. Malo. "
" I was obliged to write a long list, so numer
ous were the commissions given me, and in
the meantime, we entertained ourselves on the
divine mission of Sister St. Peter."
" I shall relate to you what she has just
274 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
told me, said the reverend mother, and as I
had a pencil in hand I wrote as follows : " Our
Lord addressing himself to the sister said :
My Mother has spoken to men of my displeas
ure ; she desires to disarm my justice and she
has shown me her maternal heart, saying :
my Divine Son, behold this heart which
has so loved thee ! Let me shower benedic
tions on my other children ! After which she
descended to the earth. Have confidence in
her. I placed these lines in my prayer-book,
and thought no more about them. "Was I not
in the presence of a mysterious language, in
which the past was confounded with the pres
ent and the future ! "
" Reflecting on these things, I came to the
conclusion that I was not mistaken in my con
viction that the sister was the favored confi
dent of Jesus Christ. This conviction was con
firmed when on the 22nd of October, of the
-same year, I received a copy of the first letter
of M. le Cure de Corps, respecting the appari
tion of the Blessed Virgin at La Salette, which
took place on the 19th of September. This
was the fulfilment of the prediction made in
the first part of September to Sister M. St. Peter.
I made a copy of the note I had taken at the
carmelite monastery, and hastened to remit it
to the Cure de Corps, who replied without delay.
From the outset, I believed in the heavenly
mission of the sister ; to-day, if I ca,n so ex
press myself, I believe double-fold. "
M. Dupont concludes with an observation
LA SALETTE. 2t5-
explaining why this communication is not to
be found among the sister s letters, which at
the same time throws more light on the meth
od of direction pursued by the mother prior
ess with regard to her spiritual daughter.
" I made it a rule, " said he, " never to
commit to paper anything related to me con
cerning the communications of this sister. But
it is evident in the case just related, that I
acted on a happy inspiration, as the fact of
which I had taken note, was not to be found
among the collection of her revelations. Re
garding this omission the mother prioress said
to me : I always require the sister to write
what she has to relate to me, but it is probable
that in the circumstance referred to, I listened
to her account, and through forgetfulness, I
may have departed from my ordinary custom
to which I adhered merely to keep the sister
humble, I generally say : My child, in obedi
ence, go and write what you wish to tell me,
I have no time to listen to you now. It may
be that in the course of five years, I have
several times forgotten to tell her to write
what she desired to say, especially when the
communication was short and repeated with
her usual volubility, in which case she would
have been very careful not to have had resort
to her pen.
This explanation, so natural, is very simple
and seemingly quite sufficient . M. Dupont
concludes, that the servant of God had, some
weeks previously, announced the apparition:
2^76 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
of La Salette, and the merciful intervention of
Mary in favor of France.
He adds : " Is it not most astonishing to be
hold our august Mother, confiding to two poor
little children the sorrows of her maternal
heart ! Was it not sufficient that she had been
sprinkled with the blood of her Divine Son on
Calvary ! Is it possible that an impious gener
ation shall recall to her mind the frightful
scenes perpetrated in the streets of Jerusalem
by their blasphemous language ! What would
have become of us, if Mary had no longer
power to arrest the arm of Jesus ! "
Nevertheless, M. Dupont "rejoices, and is full
of hope in consideration of this mark of the
love of our heavenly Mother. The beautiful
crown which she took in her hands before
speaking to her people, announces that the
succeeding revelations will be truly glorious.
The most holy and Immaculate Mother of
Jesus would surely not have accepted this
mission if her poor children of earth would
have received it to plunge themselves more
and more into crime, and to draw upon them
selves more terrible scourges of divine justice.
For this reason I have much hope for the fu
ture of France. "
The account of this miraculous apparition,
communicated by M. Dupont to the Carmelites
of Tours, created a sensation among them, as
can be easily imagined. The mother prioress
looked upon this event as a wonderful and
striking proof of the celebrity which was one
LA SALETTE.
day to be given to the Work of Reparation
claimed by Sister St. Peter in the Name of Grod.
The mission confided to the little shepherds
of the mountain was evidently identical with
that of the cloistered virgin of Carmel.
Another circumstance made known after
ward to M. Dupont, and not unworthy our
notice, is that long before these events took
place, the pious sister had herself ardently
solicited the intervention of the Blessed Vir
gin. Let her relate the fact herself : " Mon-
seigneur would not take any decided step to
forward this work ; his prudence preventing
him taking the initiative. I saw quite plainly
that there was neither hope nor consolation
for me but in prayer, and the intercession of
Mary, our most powerful advocate ; and I re
cited the rosary every day to obtain grace for
France, and also the establishment of the Rep
aration in all the cities of the kingdom. All
my prayers, all my communions, all my aspi
rations and all my thoughts were offered for
the establishment of this work, so dear to my
heart. I desired, if it were possible, to pro
claim it all over France, by making known to
my countrymen the misfortunes which men
aced them. Oh ! how I suffer in being the
only confident in a matter of such importance,
and which I am obliged to keep secret within
the walls of the cloister ! Oh most Holy
Virgin ! I implore you to come to some pious
soul in the -world, and make her a partaker of
278 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETEB.
that which has been communicated to me in
reference to France ! "
We all know in what a striking manner
the Blessed Virgin heard this prayer. Mary
again showed that she is the " Refuge of Sin
ners ; " she interposed herself as an afflicted
and loving mother, between the wrath of God
and guilty France. She presented herself to
her Divine Son whom she had nurtured in his
hours of infancy, and begged of him to extend
his mercy to these, her other children ; and
that mankind might not be in ignorance of
her intervention, she descended to the earth.
With her own feet has she tread our soil, and
has chosen the most humble messengers, who
have since become so celebrated, Maximin
and Melanie. two poor peasants of that part
of the Alps, called " La Salette." Through
their infantine mouths, the Blessed Virgin has
rebuked her people, as she lovingly styles
France, her cherished kingdom, reproaching
them for their impiety, so openly manifested
by their contempt of the commandments of
G-od, notably by blasphemy and the profana
tion of the Sunday.
" If my people will not submit," said she,
"I shall be forced to let fall the avenging
arm of my Son ; He is so justly irritated that
I can with difficulty restrain his anger. Oh !
if you knew how much I suffer for you ! n
And the tears streamed from her eyes ; the
image of the crucifix was on her heart ; the
LA S ALETTE. 279
instruments of the Passion, the hammer and
the nails on either side, lay on her breast. *
The two shepherds related what they
had heard and seen ; they underwent cross-
questioning and contradiction, but their
message become known, and gave to the
Christian world an impulse which has not
since ceased. In vain have the powers of
earth endeavoured to place obstacles in the
way of the apparition becoming known, they
but confirmed the testimony of the children ;
Catholic France recognized her crime and
* A strange fact, relative to La Salette, and bearing every
evidence of truth, dated November 25th, 1846, only five weeks
after the apparition of the Blessed Virgin, has just been made
known to us. In this manuscript we read of a curious incident,
which we do not find mentioned in any of the writings of the pe
riod, and whiqh is interesting to us, as binding together the two
devotions of La Salette and the Holy Faee. A lieutenant, leading
the recruits to Corse, passed through the village of Corps. He
desired to see this child Maxiniin, who was brought, to the hotel
where he was stopping. After having heard the child s story of
the apparition, the officer asked him to sell a piece of the stone
upon which the Blessed Virgin had rested. " Oh ! no, sir," said
the little child, I will give you a piece of it, but I could never sell
it." So saying, the child give the officer a fragment of the stone
which he broke in halves. What was his astonishment on behold
ing on the stone a representation of the Face of our Lord Jesus
Christ crowned with thorns. He traced a copy of this miraculous
head, and gave the sketch to the mother of the child, after having
affixed his signature, as did also another officer, who had witnessed
the occurrence. The precious stone itself, he kept in his posses
sion and would nev^r consent to part with it. The narrator has
drawn on his letter, a picture of this head ; it is a simple sketch
in outlines, with no shading, and a very good likeness of the Sa
cred head of Our Lord, crowned with thorns. Without attaching
to this event more importance than necessary, we may, however,
remark that at this time there was nowhere question of the devo
tion to the Holy Face, except in the writings and communications
t>f Sister Mary St. Peter.
280 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETEE.
feared the chastisement ; she has entered on the
path of reparation.
Our seraphic little Sr. St. Peter intones &
hymn of gratitude and joy on this occasion :
" I render thee thanks, divine Mother ! for
having given me these two little shepherds as
sounding trumpets, to cause the mountains to
re-echo in the ears of France, that which was
made known to me in solitude. The voices
of my two little associates were soon heard
all over the earth, and their announcements
produced a great impression on mankind. The
striking relationship between their communi
cation and those which I have received, leads
my superiors to think that it might be useful
to give information of the fact for the glory
of Grod and the advancement of his work.
Our Lord in the Grospel has said : Blessed
be thou, Father, because thou hast conceal
ed these things from the great and wise of
this world and hast revealed them to little
ones/
" It seems to me that these words can be ap
plied to the poor little instruments of which
G-od has made use for the establishment of
the Reparation in the Church. my Grod, how
incomprehensible are thy ways ! Who would
not be astonished on beholding the instru
ments which our Lord Jesus and his most
Holy Mother have made use of in bringing
forth this work ! They have chosen from earth
a helpless trio most ignorant and despicable,
in whose souls He has worked wonders of
LA SALETTE. 281
.grace, in order to render them capable of
acting in concert for the accomplishment of
the designs of the most adorable Trinity and
for the glory of his Holy Name. The first is
a little shepherdess, who consecrated herself
to the Child Jesus to watch over his sheep
from the mountain heights of Carmel ; the
others are two little shepherds who tended
their flocks on the mountains of La Salette,
These three little beings are commissioned to
announce pardon and mercy, if the people
return to God by penance. "
The three messengers labored together at
the same work, each one performing his part
according to his profession ; the little shep
herdess of Carmel is charged to pray, to write
and to maintain silence in her solitude ; the
little shepherds of La Salette, on the contrary,
to proclaim their mission from the summit of
their mountains, to appear in public before
the multitude who would come to listen to
their predictions. Soon the entire nation was
aware .of the crimes, for which Heaven re
proached the land, which enkindled the divine
wrath against them : they are in. consterna
tion and demand what is to be done to disarm
the vengeance of an offended Grod.
Be consoled, O France ! the shepherdess of
Carmel knows the secret ! Gro and visit her.
Like the shepherds of La Salette, she will say
to you : Grod is provoked against his people
because of blasphemy and the violation of the
Sunday. Over four years she has heard the
282 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
growling storm in the distance, threatening ta
descend in torrents over France : but your fate
is in your own hands. Offer reparation for your
crimes and you will obtain mercy ; you will
then behold "the milk and honey," flowing
forth from the " Mountain of Grod." Mary i s
this mysterious Mountain, who by the excel
lence of her virtues is raised above the angels
and saints.
However, let not our confidence be presump
tuous. Let us pray earnestly, and weep over
our sins ; for a time will come, not far off in
the future, when France will be shaken even
to her very foundations. Then shall she trem
ble, but she shall not be overwhelmed if the
Work of Reparation appear before the eyes of
the Lord in every city of the kingdom ; those
now marked out to be reduced to ashes will
be but slightly injured."
CHAPTER XY.
THE SINS OF FRANCE.
"If you but knew how agreeable the
sight of my Face is to my
Father ! ! ! "
(Words of Our Lord.)
A fortnight after the Yirgin of the appari
tion at La Salette had threatened France with
the divine wrath, Sister Mary St. Peter, who
in the solitude of Carmel was still ignorant of
this important occurence, wrote (October,
1846) to the mother prioress :
" Permit me to give you an account of the
sad presentiments I experienced this morning
after a communication which I received dur
ing the holy communion. You are aware, rev
erend mother, that for several months I have
experienced nothing extraordinary. Our Lord,
during this time of trial, has deigned to
purify my soul by great interior sufferings, he
has withdrawn his presence from me. But to
day, as soon as I received holy communion,
my Divine Master gave me to understand that
he desired me to remain at his feet. I obeyed,
and then he caused me to hear these sad and
284 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
dreadful words : My justice is aroused
because of the profanation of the holy day of
the Lord. I seek a victim ! To which I an
swered : Lord, thou knowst that my superiors
have given me the permission to abandon my
self entirely into thy divine hands ; do with
me what thou wilt. But what am I, O Lord ?
Is it really thou who hast thus spoken to my
soul ? He replied : You will not be long in
doubt. "
" From*that moment, it seemed to me that
Our Lord, accepted the act of abandonment
which I had made him, and I perceived that
he was going to take possession of my entire
being, in order that he, himself, would in
some manner, suffer in me to appease his
justice ; then he commanded me to receive
holy communion every Sunday, first as an
honorable amend in reparation for all the
servile work performed on this sacred day ;
second, to appease his justice ready to strike
mankind, and to ask for the conversion of
sinners ; third, to obtain a respite from all
manual labor on the Lord s day. Then it seemed
to me that Our Lord invited me to offer his Holy
Face to his heavenly Father, in order to draw
down mercy."
"This is, as nearly as possible, reverend
mother, what has taken place in my soul. Let
us hasten to appease the wrath of our Grod, for
I feel that his justice is ready to strike us, the
arm of the Lord is raised ! I abandon these things
to your good judgment ; but I pray you,
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 285
reverend mother, to observe one thing which
affects me sensibly, and is the reason why I
desire more and more ardently to see the es
tablishment of the "Work of Reparation : that
the communications which I have been receiv
ing these three years, tend always to the
same end ; my divine Master has alway com
plained of these two things, the profanation of
the Lord s Day, and the blasphemy of the most
Holy Name of God."
" Oh ! how much I desire the establishment
of this work which Our Lord has so often
demanded of me, for it will appease the wrath
of G-od, and ward off the chastisements with
which w r e are menaced."
Jesus had promised the sister that she would
not long remain in doubt whether it were
really he who announced the chastisements
which the justice of G-od was preparing. Of
this she was soon convinced by the inunda
tion of the Loire, which threatened Tours with
imminent peril, and caused the most frightful
ravages, such as had not been witnessed for
centuries. All the world was in consternation,
and recognized therein the all-powerful hand
of Him, w r ho disposes of the elements at
will, and whom none can resist.
"We should acknowledge," observes the
pious carmelite, " that Tours has been saved
by a miracle. But alas ! they are ignorant of
the principal cause of this terrible disaster,
the profanation of the Sunday."
M. Dupont, in his letters, also speaks of this
286 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
destructive calamity, and attributes it to
the same cause. He therein beholds the fulfil
ment of the menaces made by the Virgin of
La Salette. " These dear, little children," said
he, " have prophesied but too well, when they
announced that we were on the eve of expe
riencing great calamities, if we did, not return
to Grod. Famine was already making itself
felt among the poorer classes who had not
sufficient means to purchase bread at the enor
mous price to which it had been risen. Public
men. are in consternation, fearing a revolution ;
in fact, there has been sufficient said to
arouse the people and to fill them with the
desire for blood and pillage. How often have
they not been told that death is the end of all
things, and that riches will render man
supremely happy."
The Lord made known to his servant that his
justice was, in reality, preparing chastisements
for mankind. We shall soon behold, not only the
elements as the instruments of the divine
wrath, but the malice of man in open rebel
lion against itself."
Some days after, another communication on
the subject took place. In her report to the moth
er prioress, Mary of St. Peter exclaims : "Oh!
if you could perceive all that my heart is
undergoing at this moment ! I cannot contain
myself any longer. I weep, but my tears
are tears of gratitude and love because of
the words of mercy and peace which this amia
ble Saviour has made me understand. sweet
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 28t
Jesus ! thou couldst not behold us suffering
from the chastisements of divine justice with
out being touched more than we, ourselves, at
the sight of the punishments we have so justly
merited by our sins ! "
She then relates that Jesus Christ informed
her that the torrents of divine justice were not
yet entirely exhausted toward France. " I have
seen, " said she, " other chastisements prepared
to satiate divine justice. At this sight I cried
out : sweet Jesus ! if I could quaff the
cup to the dregs that my brethren might be
spared ! Jesus replied that he accepted my good
will, but that I was not equal to the task, that
he alone was able to drain it to the last bitter
drops."
" The Saviour, beholding my sorrow, made
me a sign to enter his Divine Heart ; in his in
finite mercy, he gave it to me as a sacred vase
worthy of being presented to the Eternal Fa
ther, wherein to receive his just anger which,
as I understood, would be changed into the
wine of his mercy by passing through this
vase. But the rights of his justice can not be
compromised ; and if I may thus express my
self, he desires to make an alliance between
his justice and his mercy, and for this purpose,
he asks for the establishment of the Reparation
in honor of his Holy Name, for he would dis
arm the anger of his Father, if he could offer
him a Reparatory Work. Is it not the least
we might do, sweet Jesus ! to repair by our
prayers, by our sighs and by our adorations,
288 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the enormous crimes of which we are guilty
against the majesty of Grod ! The following,
reverend mother, is the prayer with which
Our Lord has been pleased to inspire me, and
which I would wish to repeat unceasingly."
" Eternal Father, behold the Divine Heart of
Jesus, which I now offer thee, wherein to re
ceive the wine of thy justice that it may be
changed for us into the wine of mercy."
He gave me to understand that each time
I made this offering, a drop of the wine of
divine anger would fall into the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, and there would be transformed into
mercy. I beg of you, my good mother, to pre
vail on our sisters to make this offering fre
quently, for alas ! what am I, but a miserable
atom, incapable of arresting the anger of Grod ! "
Mgr. Morlot had requested that information
be sent him of all that would be manifested
to the sister. Therefore, the mother prioress
hastened to transmit the report which we have
just read. On the same day, October 25, 1846,
the prelate returned the following answer :
" I thank you for this interesting communi
cation. There is no doubt but that the calami
ties, we have just witnessed, are the chatise-
ments of our sins and infidelities, and of the
many crimes which inundate the earth. May
this chosen soul use all her efforts to stay the
torrent of evil. Let all who fear the Lord re
double their zeal and fervor ! Pray for me that
I may have grace to accomplish my duty on
this point. "
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 289
" Be assured, reverend mother, of my most
devoted consideration in the Lord,
t F. N., ARCHBISHOP of Tours.
In the communications which follow, it
seems as if the Son of G-od were particularly
occupied with France. He exhorted his little
spouse to suffer and to pray, saying: "I am
charged with all the sins of the world, but I
desire that you will be responsible for those of
France." He then encouraged her, adding: "I
w T ill suffer in you, in order to appease the wrath
of my Father, and I will cede to you all my
merits that you may acquit yourself of your
assumed debts."
The faithful child of Carmel hastened to com
ply with the wishes of the Lord. " I beheld
myself covered with crimes, and I asked par
don for them with the same confusion as if I
had committed them myself." Another day,
insisting on the special mission which he had
confided to his servant, he spoke to her with
the authority becoming the Sovereign Master
of kings and of nations, who assigns to each a
particular role as well in the spiritual order
of grace, as in temporal and civil matters. It
was with difficulty she persuaded herself that
G-od would make use of so vile an instrument
to perform such a grand mission. But Our
Lord consoled her saying : " In the order of
my providence, I appoint a certain king to
govern such a country ; can I not then in the
10
290 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
order of grace assign a special portion to the
care of a particular individual to look after its
eternal interests ? I have chosen you to care
for France. Pray for her : immolate your
self for her ; I give you again the chief and
most important member of my sacred person
to offer to my Father in order to appease his
divine justice. Oh! if you knew how effica
cious, how full of virtue is my divine Face !..
I have taken upon my head the sins of man
kind, that my members might be spared.
Therefore, offer my Face to my Father, for it is
the sole means of appeasing him." He adds :
"I desire this Work of Eeparation, rest assured
that it shall be established, but the fruit has
not yet reached maturity."
The generous carmelite followed the counsel
of her superiors, and abandoned herself to her
Divine Master, ready to do what would be most
pleasing to him. "Then," said she, "Our
Lord charged me anew with France, and I
answered : I accept this charge most willingly,
my adorable Master, but permit me to make
one condition : that you will be the sovereign
Ruler, for if your heavenly Father beholds
you seated on the throne of France, most as
suredly, he will stay his hand."
" I receive Our Lord in each of my com
munions in the name of the entire French
nation, and I offer him my heart to serve as
his throne ; then I salute and adore him as
Sovereign King, supplicating him not to
abandon a nation which has been so gener-
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 291
in contributing to make his Name known
to idolatrous lands."
Whenever I suffer, I pray Jesus to suffer in
me, in order to appease his Father, and I also
beseech him to perform in me all my actions ;
thus I unite myself to him and suffer in union
with him, in awaiting the moment appointed
for the Work of Reparation. Sit Nomen Domini
benedictum."
From the mission consigned to the carmelite
virgin, we perceive that the salvation of
France is intimately linked with the Work of
Reparation. Consequently, Our Lord hastens
to offer the same exterior sign of salvation to
both, and the same efficacious means, namely,
the worship of his adorable Face. This is the
subject of one of the sister s letters, dated
November 22nd, of the same year.
" I have received," said she, "a new com
munication on the subject of the Holy Face of
our Lord, notwithstanding my unworthiness ;
the following is the substance of what myDivine
Master has given me to understand. My
daughter, I appoint you to-day as my agent,
and I again remit my Holy Face into your hands,
to offer it unceasingly to my Father for the
salvation of France. Turn to good account this
divine talent and it will enable you to transact
all the business of my house. By this Holy
Face, you will obtain the salvation of a multi
tude of sinners : in consideration of this offer
ing, nothing will be refused you. If you knew
292 LIFE OF SISTER MAKY ST. PETER.
how agreeable the sight of my Face is to my
Heavenly Father ! "
We can understand the joy she experienced
when she exclaimed in a transport of delight :
"These favors redouble my zeal for the salvation
of our country, and urge me to resort to the
means which Our Lord has placed at my dis
posal, to offer without cessation to the Eternal
Father the adorable Face of his divine Son
for the salvation of France, and also to obtain
the establishment of the "Work of Reparation."
These three were never separated in her
thoughts, the Reparation, the salvation of
France and the Holy Face.
" I am occupied with all these," said she,
"according to the inspiration of grace."
We perceived that her heavenly Spouse was
most bountiful in dispensing his lights and
instructions to this virgin of the cloister.
She writes to the mother prioress on the 21st
of December :
"How shall I express, reverend mother, all
that has passed in my soul during the fifteen
days that Our Lord poured torrents of graces,
the most precious, on me a miserable sinner !
Poor little worm that I am, I cannot find lan
guage to convey an idea of those heavenly
gifts ; nevertheless, I shall communicate to you
all I can of what Jesus gave me to under
stand."
" This divine Director of my soul said to
me : My daughter, be more pliable under my
operations, and more simple, for I wish to nour-
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 293
ish you myself with the milk of my consola
tions. The uneasy reflections you make on self,
the fear you have of illusion, impede me from
fully accomplishing my designs oyer you.
When I had acknowledged my fault, he assum
ed a greater power over me and revealed
many admirable secrets of his infinite mercy.
He called my attention to his justice and mani
fested his wrath as a great ocean, but at the
same time, he commanded me to resist the
impetuous torrent of his anger in union with
his Divine Heart, that it might be lost in the
abyss of his mercy."
"Another day, he presented to my view the
multitude of souls who are daily falling into
hell, and invited me in the most touching
manner to fly to the rescue of these poor sin
ners. He made me comprehend the real obli
gation of the Christian towards these unfortu-
nate,blind creatures, who precipitate themselves
into the eternal abyss ; whose eyes would have
been opened if charitable souls had interceded
in their behalf. He said that if he would de
mand of the rich an account of the temporal
goods confided them for the succor of the poor,
with how much more reason would he not
demand of a carmelite, and of all religious souls,
a rigorous account of the use they have made
of the treasures of their celestial Spouse in suc
coring unfortunate sinners ! Then my amiable
Saviour, opening to me the immense treasures
composed of the infinite merits of his life and
Passion, added : My daughter, I give you my
294 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Face and my Heart, I give you my precious
Blood and my Sacred Wounds ; draw from
this treasury and scatter blessings around !
Purchase without money, my Blood is the
price of souls. Oh ! what a sorrow it is for
my Heart to see that the remedies which have
cost me so much suffering are so wantonly de
spised ! Demand of my Father as many souls
as I have shed drops of blood in my Passion ! "
" Again, on another day, he presented me
his holy cross saying, that he had brought
forth his children upon this bed of sorrow ;
making me understand that it was by the
cross borne for his love, that I would obtain
eternal life for the agonizing, for whose re
surrection to the life of grace he was so
ardent. Oh ! what a longing desire I beheld in
the Heart of Jesus for the salvation of sinners !
What light I received from him on the efficacy
of offering prayers in their behalf! But what
shall I say of the sight Our Lord gave me of
his Wounds and of his Blood ! Ah ! let us press
these Divine Wounds by our ardent prayers
and this Precious Blood will flow abundantly
over poor sinners !"
" On another occasion, Jesus placed my
soul at the gate of eternity, or rather
at the gate of the end of the road called
Time, in order to aid agonizing sinners
to prepare themselves for this last important
journey ! Oh ! when we reflect that the jus
tice of G-od is always ready to pronounce sen
tence on the guilty, and that we can plead
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 295
their cause and appease this Sovereign Judge,
with what zeal should we not fly to the
rescue of those who may be condemned to
eternal death and who, perhaps, have still one
more hour in which divine mercy, if implored,
would touch their hearts ! Oh ! how I feel im
pelled to pray for these poor souls ! "
" And now, reverend mother, with your
permission, I shall speak of a wall of protection
which Our Lord gave me to behold ; a
mysterious wall protecting France against
the arrows of divine justice. Oh ! with
how much gratitude to the excessive mercy
of G-od, have I not been filled on beholding
this vision ! He gave me to understand that
this wall which reached up to heaven, was
the exercise which I practised every day,
joined, no doubt, to the prayers and merits
offered to Grod by so many holy souls for the
salvation of France. This exercise consists
in presenting the Face of Jesus a hundred
times to his Father, in honor of all the mys
teries of the life and death of this divine
Saviour, and in offering him the merits of
each of these mysteries for the salvation of
France. He told me that he gave me this
vision to encourage me to persevere in my
undertaking."
The critical situation of the a^onizincr had
O O
visibly affected the servant of G-od ; she was
brought back some time after to this same
spiritual work of mercy, and was placed anew
296 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
between what she termed the " Grates of Time
and Eternity."
On the 10th of January, 184Y, she writes :
" For three weeks Our Lord has released me
somewhat from the important occupation
pertaining to the salvation of France, that I
might apply myself solely and uninterruptedly
to the service of tho poor agonizing. I accom
pany the most Blessed Virgin as her little
servant on her visits to these travellers from
time to eternity. Jesus made known to me
that he gave me to his august Mother
to fulfil this mission. Oh ! what a glo
rious occupation, on which I have never
much reflected ; but the moment has
come, when I must work with more ardor
than ever for the salvation of souls. It seemed
that Our Lord announced to me that I had
only three years more to live. I am now
thirty years of age ^. I shall endeavor dur
ing the three years to come to try to imitate
Our Lord more closely, for at this age he was
untiring in his efforts to bring back the lost
sheep to the true fold."
" These words give me new strength and
light : If you but knew the gift of G-od ! He en
lightened me on their signification, and I com
menced to penetrate the wonders of this pre-
* Sr. St. Peter died in her 32ud year, 17 mouths after this rev
elation, being then but 31 years, 9 months of age. There is
here a slight contradiction easily explained by observing that she
says "it seems to me " which allows a certain latitude in reckon
ing the years. A little later she announced the precise date of
her death.
THE SINS OF FEANCE. 29 *7
cious Grift of the Father. Oh ! what could I not
obtain for myself and for my brethren if I
knew how to make use of his infinite merits
unknown to the majority of men ! I sanctify
myself for them, Jesus has said to his Father.
Let us then offer to this Divine Father, for the
salvation of souls, all that our Redeemer has
suffered for us, and we shall thereby enrich our
extreme indigence. blindness of men ! who
run with ardor after the treasures of earth
which together cannot purchase one single
soul. The Grift of Grod is unknown, despised ;
this vast treasure of Christians with which we
can buy millions of souls by presenting the in
finite merits of Jesus at the bank of the Divine
Majesty ! It seems to me that we should never
present ourselves in presence of the Eternal
Father without having some of the merits of
his Son in our hands to oblige him, in a man
ner, to accomplish the admirable promise of Our
Lord : Verily, I say into you, whatsoever
you ask of the Father in my Name shall be
granted you. If we have no virtue of our
selves to offer Grod, let us present those of
Jesus, our Saviour, who has sanctified himself
for us. Let us offer his meekness, his patience,
his humility, his poverty, his fasts, his vigils,
and his zeal for the glory of his Father, and
the salvation of souls ! Let us offer his divine
and effacious prayers. He has prayed during his
mortal life ; the Grospel relates that he retired
at night to pray,he prayed to heaven,he present
ed his wounds to his Father,and he prays con-
298 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
tinually for us in the most Blessed Sacrament
of the altar ! Oh ! ineffable mystery ! A Grod
Saviour praying for his creatures ! Let us
unite our prayers to those of the Word Incar
nate, and they shall be heard ; let us again
offer to the eternal Father the Divine Heart of
Jesus, his adorable Face and his sacred
Wounds ; let us offer his tears and his blood,
let us offer his journeys, his labors, his words
and his silence, all he has suffered in each
of the mysteries of his holy life ; in fine, let
us always have our eyes fixed on this Grift of
God." 1
" Let us, if we are able, enumerate all the
goods we possess in this treasure unknown to
the world and we shall soon become rich our
selves and shall enrich poor sinners ; because
we can offer the humilitv of Jesus for the con
version of the proud ; his poverty for the ava-
rious ; his mortifications for the sensual ; his
zeal to glorify his Father, for the blasphemers,
and all the accusations he has suffered at the
hands of the Jews, especially that of violating
the Sabaoth for the conversion of those who
really violate the Lord s Day."
" Gift of God, so long unknown, thou
shalt henceforth be my only treasure ! How
many new riches do I not daily discover in
thee !"
We cannot help admiring these aspirations
of love and these transports of zeal which gush
forth from the pure heart of this admirable
sister. It was not without reason that she
THE SINS OF FRANCE. 299
concludes in these terms : " You see, reverend
mother, that if Our Lord has often charged me
with the salvation of souls, he has taught me
how to save them."
CHAPTEE XYI.
THE OBSTACLES.
" I am not known, I am not loved r
my very commandments are despised."
(Words of Our Lord.)
Three years had already elapsed since the
time Mary of St. Peter had urged, in the Name
of Grod, the establishment of the "Work of Rep
aration, and had declared that the exterior
symbol of the Work should be the sorrowful
Face of Christ. In her ardent love, she com
posed the litanies, canticles and other prayers
in honor of the Holy Face of Our Lord. After
a long period of trial and contradiction, her
superiors, more and more convinced that her
communications were from Grod, made an ef
fort to push forward the project, but no one
dared take the initiative step. However, it
was decided to make a collection of these di
vine communications under the title, An
Abridgment of Facts relative to the Establishment
of the Work of Reparation for Blasphemy. These
were to be sent to some of the carmelite mon
asteries and to a few pious souls. As soon
THE OBSTACLES. 301
as completed, they were submitted, in manu
script, for the approbation of the archbishop,
who returned them to the mother prioress
with the following letter :
" Reverend Mother, I fully approve of the
propositions presented to me in reference to
the inspirations respecting the Work of Repa
ration, believing as I do, that it is not only a
meritorious but a most necessary work. The
project of uniting Reparation for blasphemy
with that for the profanation of the holy days,
is entirely satisfactory : it Has always seemed
to me that the primitive object, Reparation for
Blasphemy, was inadequate to meet the ne
cessities of the times. I find the manuscript
all that could be desired."
In the same letter, the venerable prelate
gave his consent for the publication of the
little book entitled, Association against Blas
phemy. He also granted a special authorization
of the beautiful and pious litanies of the Holy
Face, inspired to Sister Mary St. Peter, and
permitted them to be published and distrib
uted among the faithful. With regard to the
" Abridgment of Facts," the superiors, through
motives of prudence and discretion, had but
fifty copies printed and given to the public
anonymously.
M. Dupont distributed several among his
intimate friends. The mother prioress, on her
part, forwarded some to the various houses of
her order with which she had any direct com
munication, particularly to the Carmelites of
302 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Kouen, and those of Rue d Enfer, at Paris.
The good sister, aware of what was being done-
rejoiced exceedingly, believing her desires
were now about to be accomplished and|her
mission fulfilled ; but in this the humble virgin
was deceived. " I hoped," said she, " that
Our Lord had granted my desires, and that I
would have nothing more to write ; but he has
communicated to me certain things which he
wished to be made known, and consequently I
submit to his good pleasure. Fiat voluntas tua"
The communication here mentioned was
important, as we shall see, for it united two
beautiful and holy devotions, each equally
cherished by the sister, and essentially neces
sary to the "Work of Eeparation.
Let us see how the .daughter of Carmel ex
plains this necessity :
" Our amiable and divine Saviour," said she,
" permitted me to hear his lamentations over
his love, unknown in the most holy Sacrament
of the altar. He most happily united my heart
and my mind at his feet, that I might remain
with him in his abandonment, adoring his
most Holy Face, concealed under the sacra
mental veils. Yerily, it is through this august
sacrament, that Jesus our Saviour wishes to
communicate to souls the virtue of his most
Holy Face. He has again promised me to im
print his divine features on the souls of those
who honor him.
In presenting anew to the sister the mys
tery of his Holy Face, Our Lord enlightened
THE OBSTACLES. 303
her by"a conception which, as she expressed it,
disclosed a "beautiful horizon" on Reparation
for Blasphemy, by manifesting the affinity
existing between his most Holy Name and his
most Holy Face. " Our Lord," said she, " by
the aid of a comparison as simple as just, per
mitted me to comprehend how the wicked by
their blasphemy attack his adorable Face, and
how the faithful glorify it by the homage of
praise rendered his Name and his person."
" The merit of an individual lies in his
character, but the glory of his reputation rests
on his name."
" The Holy Name of G-od expresses the Di
vinity, and contains all the perfections of the
Creator ; it follows, therefore, that the blas
phemers of this Sacred Name insult God
directly. Let us recall the words of Jesus :
" 1 am in my Father and my Father in me."
(St. John.) Jesus became man by the Incarna
tion ; it is he who has suffered in his adorable
Face all the outrages committed by the blas
phemers of the Name of his Father. Our Lord
has manifested to me, that there is something
mysterious on the face of an honorable man,
who has suffered contumely ; his name and
his face are particularly allied. Observe a man
distinguished by his name and by his merits,
in the presence of his enemies ; these raise not
the hand against him, but overwhelm him
with injurious epithets, instead of the honor
able titles which are his due, scoffing at him
and mocking him."
304 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETER.
"Again, notice the expression of his face,
would you not suppose that all the derisive
language of his enemies was imprinted thereon,
causing him to suffer a martyrdom ? Behold
that countenance covered with shame and con
fusion ; he could support the most cruel pains,
the most excruciating tortures without flinch
ing; but the loss of his reputation, of his good
name, this is unsupportable, he can no longer
control his emotions, which are soon depicted
on his countenance. Such is a feeble portrait
of the Divine Face of Our Lord, contemned by
blasphemers."
"Now let us represent to ourselves this
man once more, but in the presence of his
friends, who being apprised of the insults he
has received, eagerly present themselves to
sympathize with him, offering the respect due
to the greatness of his name. Shall we not
then read in his countenance the consolation
which these sympathies afford him ? His brow
again bespeaks peace, and his features become
radiant with joy; happiness beams, from his
eyes, and the smile of gladness is on his lips ;.
loving friends have soothed that face outraged
by enemies ; opprobrium is forgotten, peace and
happiness reign supreme. We can see in this
feeble image, that which the friends of Jesus
perform in the Work of Keparation. The glory
which they render his Name encircles his august
brow, and is portrayed on his most Holy Face in
the adorable Sacrament of the altar. Reverend
mother, this comparison which Our Lord has
THE OBSTACLES. 305
given me, has greatly enlightened me. I now
see clearly that blasphemers insult the Face of
Our Lord, and that reparators rejoice and glo
rify it. I hare never before had occasion to
make this remark, that the face of man is the
seat on which is enthroned either glory or ig
nominy. Therefore, I shall apply my self anew
to honor the Name and the most Holy Face of
Jesus, who has so touchingly invited me to
render him this service."
Notwithstanding the importance attached
to these new favors by her superiors, the sis
ter was still kept in her arduous office of
portress. In the month of February, 1847, a
few days, after the encouragements given by
the archbishop, she felt extremely fatigued.
Perceiving that her strength was failing she,
with entire simplicity, asked for a sister to
aid her in her office. The mother prioress
told her that she could not spare any one at
the moment, and added that perhaps a little
indolence and self-love had prompted her to
ask for assistance ; she directed her to pray for
the restoration of her health, so that after two
weeks she might be able to assist at all the
regular exercises of the community.
Let us lend an attentive ear while she is re
lating to her superioress, what she experienced
after this mortifying refusal : "I received
your order, reverend mother, with respect, yet
I confess that in my weakness, I was much
pained, because I did not find in you, rever
end mother, your ordinary tenderness ; and
306 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the devil commenced to tempt me to murmur."
" Happily, I ran to expose my sorrow to
Our Lord and while shedding many tears, I
told him that this office of portress was a
continual martyrdom, because it kept me
away from him. Having explained to my
good Master, all that was a cause of pain in
this employment, I added : However, my
dear Lord, I only desire that which will
render thee the most glory, and save the
greater number of souls. Thou didst not de
scend from the cross, neither shall I, from
mine ! And I then and there begged for
my recovery in virtue of holy obedience."
" TJae next day, at holy communion, my
Divine Lord said : My daughter, is not soli
tude your delight? During. the first years of
your religious life, when you were without
any office, were you not supremely happy ?
Oh ! yes, my Lord, I replied. Know then,
my child, thai a religious should be a living
crucifix. If you had not these sufferings,
how would you be able to serve the souls I
have placed under your care ? As a proof
that I desire you to remain in this office, and
also that you may know it is I myself, through
the mouth of your superior, who have refused
you assistance, I command that you be in
stantly restored to health. Be consoled, my
child, I will give you immortal souls as the
reward of your labors.
The Lord had not finished speaking, when
all at once the loud ringing of the parlor bell
THE OBSTACLES.
called the virtuous portress to duty. This
was the signal for sacrifice. " Ah ! my Jesus,"
said she, " the bell calls me, I shall return to
my post once more in the name of obedience."
In fact, the favor asked had been obtained;
her health was perfectly restored and she was
able to keep her rule to the letter. In another
communication, Our Lord said to her : " I wish
you to honor my servitude, for I did not come
on earth to be served, but to serve." Then
he added : " In a time of famine, when bread
is very dear, would not a father deserve the
reproaches of his family, if instead of support
ing them, he neglected to labor and was thus
the cause of their sufferings ? Well, then
my child, this is your own portrait. You
have children to support ; I have told you
that you must earn bread for them ; they need
every morsel you can give them ; do not ex
pose yourself to the risk of being accused, on
the day of judgment, of having neglected
them. "
On another occasion, he gave her this in
struction on the duties of her office : " My
daughter, you complain that you cannot lead
a solitary life, because of your occupations ;
but do you not know, it is the soul that must
be in solitude ? The soul that controls her
passions, by the continual immolation of self-
will to the virtue of obedience, is truly a soul
in solitude, for she participates in some man
ner, in the solitude of G-od by a life of con
formity to his holy will. On the contrary, a
308 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
soul, although in the silence of retirement,
is not in solitude when the tumult of her
passions agitates and troubles her, and when
she delights in her own will ; remember, my
child, that the nourishment of all the passions
is self-will." " These are the instructions
which Our Lord has had the goodness to give
me. Henceforth, I desire to have no other
will than his ; I will be portress all my life, if
it be pleasing to G-od and to my superiors. "
And in fact, she was portress until her last
illness.
These children given her to nourish, were
the sinners whose salvation was confided
to her. The Divine Master invited her frequent
ly to this work of charity. "During the past
two weeks," said she, (March 2nd,) "Our Lord
has kept me in retreat. He has not communi
cated with my soul in any extraordinary man
ner ; I have been solely occupied in renovating
my inmost heart,and in humbling myself at the
sight of my many infidelities. Having made
yesterday the confession of all my faults, I
approached holy communion this morning
with the firm resolution of being more faithful
to Grod. Like the prodigal, I humbled myself,
repeating, I have sinned. Then, as I was about
to annihilate myself in the presence of the
majesty of Grod, considering him surrounded
with glory, he pronounced these words : Ah !
my child ! rather consider me covered with
the wounds inflicted by sinners. At that instant
it seemed to me that I beheld him in a most
THE OBSTACLES. 301)
sorrowful state, and he said : My daughter,
approach and lend thine ear. My Divine
Saviour then permitted me to hear these heart
rending lamentations : I am not known, I am
not loved ; my very commandments are de
spised. And he added the following words which
made me tremble : Sinners, as clouds of dust
borne on the wind, are whirled from this
world and precipitated into hell. Have pity on
your brethren and pray for them. Staunch the
blood flowing from my wounds by. the ardor
of your love, and fear not. When you elevate
your heart to me by aspirations, I receive it
in my hands, and I shall guard it safely. After
this, I understood that he was pleased with my
little retreat and he added : If you have
discovered in yourself so many defects, after
having meditated on holy subjects, consider
the unfortunate multitude who never reflect on
the great truths of religion ! Therefore, my
child, it is* your duty to labor for them even as
a mother who cannot take nourishment unless
her children partake likewise.
This letter is concluded in these terms :
"This is what Our Lord has communicated to
me. Oh ! what sorrow I experience when I
think of th.e eternal loss of so many souls !
How ardently I desire to become a fervent
carmelite, to ransom numbers for G-od ! Assist
me I beg of you, reverend mother ; spare neither
my pride nor my self-will. It were full time
that I should entirely immolate my perverse
nature to clothe it with our Lord Jesus Christ."
310 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Thus it was that the Divine Master drew
the attention of his servant to the one great
object, the universal Reparation operated by
his coming in this world, and by his death
on the cross, that is, the salvation of souls. " He
sent me to labor, now in one field, then in
another,according to his own good pleasure. For
fifteen days he has placed me in the retirement
of retreat, forbidding me to withdraw until he
would call me. During this time he showed
me the amount of tare in my own soul, and I
sincerely confessed my faults." Our Lord was
preparing her daily for the special work, the
establishment of which had been previously
announced to her. The project appeared to be
dormant ; there was no question of it, even at
Tours, after the distribution of the notices of
which we have spoken. But at the beginning
of March in 1847: "Behold!" exclaimed the
sister, " the voice of the Lord has resounded
in my ear, calling me and giving me anew
the mission of the Work of Reparation for
Blasphemy. This is the third time he has
called me to this work."
" He assured me a short time ago, that it
would be established, which has given me so
much confidence, that if I saw the World and
hell united to crush it, I would still hope in
Him whose arm is all-powerful. From the
outset, Jesus declared to me that he would
permit the devil to counteract his designs, in
order that the confidence of his servants might
be proven. To-day, he said : Rejoice, my
THE OBSTACLES. 311
daughter, the hour approaches, for the birth of
the most beautiful work that has yet appeared
on the face of the earth. Offer my divine
Heart to my Father that you may obtain it the
sooner.
Our Lord here means the work in repara
tion for blasphemy, to be offered through the
merits of his dolorous Face. The redemption
purchased for mankind by Jesus Christ on
the Cross, is by excellence, the noblest and the
most sublime manifestation of the wisdom and
of the love of G-od. The mind of man can con
ceive nothing more astonishing than this act
of the Word becoming incarnate in a Virgin s
womb, and dying the ignominious death of
the cross, for the salvation of sinners. As
suredly, then, this is the noblest work that
has ever been accomplished on earth, and
is continually renewed in the Church over
every part of the globe from the morning
watch even unto night. But since the con-
.summation of this great sacrifice of the cross,
generations have succeeded each other, new
peoples have arisen ; in our time, the spirit of
evil, armed with pride and sensuality, has in
flicted on society two wounds of such mag
nitude as have hitherto been unknown ; deep-
rooted impiety and absolute incredulity, these
are the two loathsome wounds of modern
society, which corrode all that is most sacred.
To combat this strange and satanical
scourge and to expiate the abominations
which result, the Word Incarnate, our
312 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
only Mediator, and the Sovereign Reparator
of degenerate society, offers us his Holy
Face, this portion of his sacred humanity in
which are reflected, both the thoughts of his
mind and the affections of his Heart, and
which give him an appearance like unto
other men ; and in which he has suffered
the greater part of the ignominies of his Pas
sion. He demands, therefore, a new work
whose object is to repair these crimes of mod
ern society. The Reparation is intimately
allied to the great Work of the Eedemption,
and is in reality the most noble and the most
necessary work for our times.
As the sister w T as continually worrying over
the many obstacles, Our Lord said to her :
" You are now beholding the morning twilight
of a beautiful day ;" and he engaged her to
abandon herself anew into his hands, to suf
fer both interiorly and exteriorly all the trials
that he would be pleased to send her.
" He made me understand," said she, "that
I was in his hands, as a feeble instrument
which he used at pleasure. This is very true,
for I cannot labor at this work but by a spe
cial grace, when he pleases and as he pleases.
I feel convinced that I have received this
grace in my soul, therefore, with the assist
ance of the Lord who directs me, I will do
nothing from my own inclination. Sit Nomen
Domini benedictum ! "
However, the "Abridgment of Facts, which
had been sent to some of the carmelite monas-
THE OBSTACLES. 313
teries, and to some intimate friends in the city
of Tours, had produced their fruit ; an ardent
desire of seeing the Eeparation established.
It was the little grain of mustard seed sown
in good ground, which increased and pro
duced fruit a hundred fold. Yet, notwith
standing all the precautions which had been
taken in the distribution of these prayers of
reparation, the subject was soon noised abroad
and came to the ears of Moiiseigneur from vari
ous sources ; he became alarmed in conse
quence of the political aspect of affairs, and
wrote a hasty letter to the mother prioress,
telling her they had gone too far, and had
exceeded his intentions. In. a word, he im
posed absolute silence both on the Carmelites
and on M. Dupoiit on the subject of Repa
ration. All submitted immediately, the com
mand of the archbishop being received as if
it were from Grod himself, and the distribution
of the Notices was discontinued. But the first
impulse in the right direction had been given
in conformity to the will of Grod. Two great
Works of Reparation would soon spring forth
into life ; of these we shall soon have occasion
to speak : the work of Langres and that of
Mile. Dubouche. Despite this uproar, the " In
strument of Grod " remained in obscurity, as
her name had not been revealed, save to M.
Dupont and a very few intimate friends.
Within the monastery itself, the secret was
inviolably guarded. The religious, secretary
to the mother prioress, was the only person
314 LIFE OF SISTEK MARY ST. PETER.
who had any cognizance of what was going
on. This sister was Mary Teresa of St. Joseph
who succeeded Mother Mary of the Incarnation
as prioress. She was an intimate friend of
Mary St. Peter ; both having entered the clois
ter about the same time and made a part of
their novitiate together. The extraordinary
graces bestowed on the latter could not long
escape the discerning eye of this friend, ever
at her side. When Sr. Mary Teresa was told
of all that was transpiring, she was filled with
astonishment ; her esteem for her companion
was boundless, and she rendered her many
services which were acknowledged by an af
fectionate gratitude. In the designs of Divine
Providence, it was this very sister who was to
withdraw from their obscurity the manuscript
containing the celestial communications of her
old companion, the precious treasure which
had been sealed from observation for thirty
years.
The injuiictious of the archbishop put a
stop to any further action in the matter,
on the part of the Carmelites. Nevertheless,
in the interior of the monastery, the hum
ble confident of Jesus continued to be the re
cipient of new favors. Rendering account of
the sadness she experienced, the servant of
G-od writes, March 14th : "To-day, after holy
communion, our Lord Jesus revealed to me that
the evils which had been inflicted on us, were
only the forebodings of what his justice was
preparing, if we appeased not his anger. And
THE OBSTACLES. 315
he showed me the sins of blasphemy, and the
profanation of the Lord s Day under the form
of two engines by which the guilty drew down
upon themselves the waters of his vengeance,
exposing themselves to be submerged if this
Work of Reparation given in his mercy as a
means of salvation, were not established. After
ward he said that the sectarians called Com
munists had only made an attempt to blind
fold us. Oh ! said he, if you knew their
-secret and diabolical machinations ! If you
could comprehend their anti-christian princi-
ciples ! They are only waiting a favorable
moment to set France in flames, therefore be
earnest in your supplications for the Work of
Reparation . Ask him who possesses authority
to establish it, that mercy may be obtained.
* But my Divine Master, I replied : my
superiors have already requested its establish
ment. That is not sufficient, replied Our Lord,
* you are the instrument whom I have chosen
to accomplish this work, and you must de
mand it in my Name.
The pious carmelite, having thus been
twice ordered by the Lord to write to the arch
bishop, consulted the mother prioress to know
if she should comply ; the latter dissuaded her
under the pretext that she ought not impor
tune Monseigneur in the midst of his many
occupations. " After holy communion this
morning, " said the sister, (March 19th), "I in
formed my Lord Jesus of the counsel I had
received, not to write to the archbishop. My
316 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Divine Master answered me very nearly as
follows : My daughter, the virtue of obe
dience is very dear to me. Be submissive,
that all may recognize the spirit which guides
you. I desire, however, that these communi
cations which I give you, be transmitted ta
your first superior. I replied as follows :
. " My Divine Master, permit me to ask you,
with the simplicity of a child, what you desire
me to say to Monseigneur when I ask for the
establishment of the Work of Reparation, for
you know he has already labored for it ? He
answered : If this work is not built on a
solid foundation, it can never be permanent ;
if it has not a special approval, it will only
languish, and finally perish. But if approved
of by a Brief, the Reparation will soon estab
lish itself in all the cities of France ; and it is
proper that he who has been the first to put
his hand to the work should complete it.
"As I seemed to fear being deceived if
I demanded this work in his Name, he made
me observe that I had not espoused the cause of
reparation until he had inspired me, and that I
should remain perfectly tranquil. He then
informed me that he w 7 ould explain his action
in my regard by the example of a bow and arrow
saying, it was a just image of my soul ; that
he aimed his bow and arrow in whatever
direction he wished, for the accomplishment
of his designs. He added ; When I created you
I proposed that it should be through your
iiistramentality that the Work of Reparation
THE OBSTACLES.
be given to mankind. Therefore, be consoled ;
when this work shall be accomplished, I will
leave you no longer on earth, and my mercy
will compensate yon for all your labor.
The admirable and courageous soul exclaims
during an interview with the mother prioress :
"Permit me, reverend mother, to beg the assist
ance of your prayers, for I stand so much in
need of them; I bring forth this work by prayers
and sufferings. When Our Lord charged me
anew with the Work, he said :
Pray unceasingly for its establishment, and offer
yourself entirely to me, read?/ to suffer in body and
soul, all that I shall think necessary for the accomplish
ment of my designs.
" From that moment, I have been on the
cross, but I dare not complain, I who have so
many times asserted that I would give even
the last drop of my blood for the accomplish
ment of his designs in this Work of Reparation !
Oh ! how unworthy I am to suffer for so noble
a cause, the glory of G-od and the salvation
of souls ! I confess to you, reverend mother,
that I have often had the weakness to weep
and lament, but I implored Our Lord to pay
no attention to my poor nature."
CHAPTER XVII.
THE COMMUNISTS.
" Shelter France under the mystery
of thy Face, and have mercy on
her for the glory of thy Name."
(Words of the Sister.}
Secret societies, the scourge of the French
people and the sworn enemy of the Church
of Grod, had long been plotting their destructive
machinations. The entire world has been more
or less poisoned by the pernicious influence of
both political and religious se,ts, diametrically
opposed to all law and order. France, unhap
pily, has been the centre, and the most active
agent in the formation and encouragement of
these diabolical institutions. It is from her
midst, Paris especially, that the revolutionary
and anti-social spirit has spread all over Europe,
assuming different names at different epochs
to suit the caprice of the moment ; at one time
styling themselves Socialists, then Liberals,
and again Nihilists.
Toward the end of the reign of Louis Philip r
at the period to which the life and communi
cations of Sr. Mary St. Peter now lead us, they
THE COMMUNISTS. 319
bore the appellation of Communists. These
by degrees had usurped the entire control of
the press. They numbered among their party,
illustrious writers, men distingushed in the
schools of philosophy, and among the literati of
the day, not a feAV of whom had endeavored to
put their dangerous chimeras into execution.
This sect, by its secret manoeuverings, had
rapidly increased. Silently and skillfully had
they laid their subterranean mines ; the mo
ment for explosion was near at hand, those en*
trusted with their country s welfare seemed
totally unconscious of the danger. France was
asleep in the very mouth of a volcano. But the
watchful child of Carmel, with an attentive
eye to the wants of her country and the salva
tion of souls, raised the cry of alarm from the
depth of her solitude and while pointing out
the danger to the sacred sentinels, indicated
the means of averting the catastrophe. The
communications which she received on .this
subject form a series in themselves, with which
the following extracts will make the reader
sufficiently acquainted. On the 29th March
she writes :
" God has imposed on me a new mission, at
which I would be disturbed were I of any
consequence, but as I am nothing but a feeble
instrument in his all-powerful hand, I am not
alarmed. He has commanded me to cross swords
with the Communists^who, as he told me, were
the sworn enemies of the Church, and of his
Christ. He gave me to understand that the great-
320 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
er number of these renegades were born in the
bosom of the Church,of whom they now declare
themselves the most bitter enemies. Then
he added : I have already made known to you
that I hold you in my hands as an arrow, now
I will shoot forth my arrow upon my enemies. To
combat them, I give you the arms of my Pas
sion, my Cross, of which they are the enemies,
as also all the other instruments of my suffer
ings. Wage war against them with the simplic
ity of a child but with the courage of a valiant
warrior. For this mission be signed with the
blessing of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy G-host.
Then I besought the Blessed Yirgin, she
who is compared to the Tower of David with
a thousand bucklers, to take charge of these
arms which I had just received. Our Lord
gave me more information on this subject, but
it is too difficult to explain. I exclaimed:
Prepare me for the combat, Lord ! and in
struct me how to use these holy arms. He
replied : The arms of my enemies inflict
death, but mine restore life.
" I frequently recited the following prayer :
Eternal Father, to oppose thy enemies, I offer
thee the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
all the instruments of his holy Passion, that
thou mayst counteract them by divisions and
discord; for thy well-beloved Son hath said:
Every kingdom divided against itself shall
perish.
It is now that our little sister has entered
THE COMMUNISTS. 321
the arena ; her arms are the cross and the in
struments of the Passion. With these she resists
the attacks of the enemies of God. To en
courage her in this mystic combat, the Saviour
reveals to her the designs of the Sectarians, and
their anti-christian principles.
On Holy Thursday, April the first, he said :
" The soldier who knows the object of the war
in which he is engaged, aware of the insult
offered his prince, arms himself fearlessly to
avenge the affront. Well, my daughter, it is
the Communists who have dragged me from
my tabernacles, profaned and despoiled my
sanctuaries, and have even dared to raise
their hands against the annointed of the Lord,
but their designs shall be frustrated. Have
they not committed the crime of Judas ! Have
they not sold me for silver ! This knowledge
should not remain sterile in your soul, for I
give it you to help you in the combat. Be
actuated with a spirit of simplicity, for if
you reason too much, you will not be a fit
instrument in my hands. Think rather of the
glory which the heavenly court will render
me for having made use of so worthless a crea
ture in so noble a cause !"
" Observe,if you please, reverend mother,that
Our Lord made me understand this yesterday ;
and to-day, Holy Thursday, a most memorable
day, for it was on this day that he instituted
the ineffable sacrament of the altar in which
lie is exposed to the outrages and the profana
tions of his enemies, I wish to make again an
11
322 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
honorable amend to my Divine Saviour in the
sacrament of his love, in reparation for these
sacrilegious outrages, which he so forcibly re
called to my mind and which, alas ! I had too
soon forgotten."
Some days after she writes :
" I have entered the arena to combat the
enemies of G-od ; my soul has recovered its
calmness since I have received the banner of
obedience, if I can thus express myself. I am
secure under this standard, and I no longer
fear the evil spirit. Jesus gives me grace and
courage to remain firm at my post ; to-day
after holy communion, he encouraged me to the
combat and pledged himself to give me a cross
of honor, which would open Heaven to me, if
I were faithful. He also assured me that he
would give me the gold of charity : I under
stood that he meant by this, tribulations which
he in his mercy reserved for me, and that he
would grant me the grace to suffer with pa
tience and love. May his Holy Name be
blessed ! But reverend mother, I have some
remorse after having combatted the enemies of
G-od with all my strength, during these three
days. I shall explain myself: I am afraid that
I have made use of imprecations against the
enemy, although I am certain that the holy
king David has done likewise, as we may
perceive from his psalms : yet I am in doubt
whether it be permissible for me to do the same.
But I have said all that Our Lord seemed to
inspire, if it be wrong, I shall do so no more."
THE COMMUNISTS. 323
" I begin by placing my soul in the hands
of Grod, then I ask him to bend his bow and to
shoot forth his arrows on his enemies that I may
combat against them with his cross and with
the instruments of his Passion in virtue of the
holy Name of Grod. On this point arises my unea
siness with regard to the imprecations, for I
have repeated the same words a hundred times,
.but I had no evil intention. These Commu
nists are so malicious and vindictive that I
wished to destroy their vices and I pray that vir
tue may triumph where vice has reigned. I said :
Let God arise, let his enemies be dispersed, and
.let all those who hate him be scattered before
his Face ! May the Name of Grod thrice holy
upset all their schemes ! May the Sacred Name
of the living Grod bring disunion and dissention
in their designs ! May the terrible Name of
Grod wipe out their iniquity ! "
" I also repeat many other invectives, and
.having fought them thus I add : I desire not
the death of the sinner but that he be converted
and Kve. Father, forgive them for they know
not what they do. I perform this exercise with
great facility and without any disturbance of
mind for I allow myself to be conducted by
grace."
It may be of interest to know the state of
her interior during this period of generous
labor for the salvation of souls, and the spirit
ual welfare of France ; we shall most certainly
find that she has rendered an account to her
superior. We quote the following :
324 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
" The way by which Our Lord now con
ducts me is most -painful to nature, for my
Divine Saviour continually exacts from me the
most absolute interior mortification. I rarely
experience any spiritual joy for the communica
tions which I receive, are more of a nature to
cause much suffering, as they unveil to my
view the justice of an angry Grod, and the
eternal loss of so many immortal souls, as
w r ell as the sight of France on the verge of the
abyss. This Work of Reparation, I have now
borne for nearly four years, and GTod alone
knows how much suffering it has caused me,
he himself being the author. Alas ! It has not
yet appeared upon the earth, and yet terrible
calamities are menacing us. my Grod ! arise,
and defend the cause which is thine as well
as ours. Shelter France under the mystery of
thy Face, and show her mercy for the glory of
thy Name ! I most firmly believe that the fu
ture of France depends on this work. It is
always shown to me as the means of salvation
which Grod, in his infinite mercy, has designed
for her. I would shed even the last drop of
my blood to obtain its establishment, for then,
the anger of the Lord would be appeased, and
a multitude of souls would be saved. Such
are the sentiments with which he inspires me,
and which I make known to you, reverend
mother, to unburden my conscience. I declare
that none other than Grod has given me this
idea, and that I was perfectly ignorant of the
establishment of a similar association at Rome,
THE COMMUNISTS. 325
which. I did not know until long afterwards,
and only by a special permission of Providence.
I also declare that I have never been influenced
by any one in demanding its establishment,
but on the contrary, and thanks be to Grod, I
have had the good fortune to receive from my
worthy and prudent superiors, nothing but
reprimands and humiliations because of this
work. I likewise declare, that the unity of
idea prevailing among these successive com
munications is due solely to Grod; and not to
me, for I make a short note of each com
munication that I receive and present it to our
reverend mother, then I feel relieved and think
no more of it, except to pray God to accomplish
his designs ; I dare not converse about them
with our mother superior for I am covered
with confusion when I speak of these heaven
ly communications. When Our Lord first con
fided this mission to me, I begged of him the
following graces which he has had the mercy
to grant : first, that of never entertaining sen
timents of vanity because of the communica
tions with which he favored me ; and second,
that of not being known as the instrument of
the divine mercy."
" Our Lord, himself, who conducts my soul in
this way, convinces me of my misery and my
utter nothingness, so that it would be impos
sible for me not to be covered with confusion
at the sight of the extraordinary graces which
I receive from his divine hand, notwithstand
ing my repeated ingratitude. To my worthy
326 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
.superiors, I leave the care of establishing this
work ; as for me, my mission is to tell them
all Our Lord says to me, to submit to their
decision and to pray for the accomplishment
of his designs for the glory of his Name. For
this object, I have copied the letters containing
these revelations. Sit Nomen Domini benedictum"
Shortly after, she adds : " The object of this
work is twofold : Reparation for blasphemy,
and Reparation for the profanation of the
Lord s Day by manual labor, consequently it
embraces not only reparation for the outrages
committed against Grod, but likewise the sanc-
tificatioii of his Holy Name. Here it will,
perhaps, be - asked if the devotion to the Holy
Face should form a feature in the work ? I
answer, yes ; for it is its most precious ornament
and the source of its riches. Our Lord, himself,
has given his most Holy Face to the associates,
in order that this divine Face which is, so to
say, outraged and despised anew by the blas
phemy of sinners, as he himself complains,
that this Holy Face be respected, honored and
revered in a most particular manner. In the
second place, Our Lord makes us a present of
his most Holy Face, that we may thereby
be all-powerful before the throne of G-od, by
means of the offering which we would thus be
able to make of this most august and sacred
Face, the sight of which is so agreeable that
it will infallibly appease his anger, and draw
down his infinite mercy upon poor sinners.
When the Eternal Father beholds the Face
THE COMMUNISTS. 32 1
of his well-beloved Son, bruised and covered
with, ignominy, when he looks upon, this Sacred
Head crowned with thorns, emblem of the sins
of mankind which Jesus has taken upon his
divine head to save his members (as he one
day told me) this sight moves the very bowels
of his mercy. Let us try to profit by such a
precious gift, and beg of our Divine Saviour
to conceal us in the secret of his Holy Face,
during the wicked days of calamity about . to
befall us. God ! our Protector ! Look upon
us, and cast thine eyes on the Face of thy
Christ ! "
Grod did not break off his communications
with the humble carmelite on the principal
object of her mission. The divine Master,
from time to time, suggested new motives of
encouragement.
One day, May 5th, 1841, when she was ask
ing him for the establishment of the Repara
tion, he replied that he would grant this
grace through the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin.
" Our Lord," said she, " informed me that
he had placed all things in her hand, and
that she would obtain the Brief from the Sov
ereign Pontiff. This "Work of Reparation is
so necessary for France and fraught with so
much glory for God, that he desires his Holy
Mother to have the honor of giving it to this
kingdom, as a new pledge of mercy. Let us
then have recourse to the most Blessed Virgin
who is the treasurer of the graces of Grod.
328 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Let us continually recall to her mind that
France has been consecrated to her, conse
quently, that it belongs to her. Let us redouble
our zeal for this work and let us not be dis
heartened. Our Lord has given me boundless
confidence. Sit Nomen Domini benedictum"
On the feast of Pentecost, May 23rd, while
before the most Blessed Sacrament, the sister
asked what more had she to do, and mani
fested her willingness to make any sacrifice,
even to shed the last drop of her blood, were
it necessary, for the establishment of the Rep
aration.
" Our Lord gave me to understand," she
writes, " that his sole desire was to possess
my heart and my will ; that the more I would
love him, the more grace I would obtain for
the accomplishment of his designs. Soon this
Divine Saviour took possession of all the
powers of my soul, favoring it with a most
admirable perception of the beauty and ex
cellence of this reparatory. work which I
beheld as a mine of gold. Our Lord told me
that it required much patience and care to
work this mine, for it was only by dint of
hard labor that we could obtain the gold. He
also said : Oh ! if the world could only
behold the immense, treasure to be reaped by
those who work my mine, I would not be
without laborers. Make known this commu
nication. Then my good Saviour, to console
me, showed me that the work performed in
this mine for four years, had not been without
THE COMMUNISTS. 329
fruit ; and I saw that indeed the numerous
prayers already distributed, for instance, the
little Manual and the other prayers relative
to the work, were like gold discovered in this
precious mine, and Our Lord addressed me
these consoling words, regarding the repara-
tory prayers : This new harmony has
charmed my ears, delighted the angels, and
appeased my wrath, but I shall not repeat
again what I have said before ; I want the Work
finished: "
" This encouragement has filled my heart
with joy, while the tears covered my face, but
they were tears of joy ; then I answered:
My sweet Saviour, if I say you are no longer
angry, I am afraid that your cause will be
injured and the zeal of those who are as yet
not very much interested, will be cooled.
Our Lord answered : Oh ! my daughter,
what have you just said ! the contrary to what
you imagine will happen ; that soul must
have very little love who would not be more
inflamed with ardor to perfect a thing so
agreeable to me that it subdues my wrath.
Then he gave me wonderful light on the sub
limity of this Association and the preference
with which he esteems it more than all others
established in the Church, because of its ob
ject, to make reparation for all the outrages
offered against the Divinity by blasphemy and
by the profanation of the Sunday. He com
pared the first to the common wine used at
the wedding of Cana, and the latter, to the
330 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
miraculous wine served at the end of the
supper. I told him that there were many
obstacles to his designs ; but he consoled me
and assured me that all this opposition would
only make it shine forth with a more re
splendent glory, and that I should tell our
mother prioress to continue to labor in its cause
when she found a favorable occasion ; he gave
me to understand that it required prayer,
ardent desires and suffering. "
" Behold, as nearly as possible, reverend
mother, what has transpired in my soul. In
conclusion, my Divine Saviour said : It is to
my holy Mother that you are indebted for the
communication you have just received ; she
has obtained it. Live Jesus and Mary forever !"
The day following the sister wrote : " The
letter which , I remitted to you yesterday
about the grace which I received from. Our
Lord concerning the work by excellence con
secrated to the glory of his Name, does not
satisfy me, for I still feel urged to speak ;
the effects of this communication are so great,
and have fortified my soul to such a degree,
that earth and hell armed together against the
work (if such a thing were possible) could not
diminish my confidence. If God be with us, who
shall be against us ? When the moment ap
pointed by Grod will have come, all things
will yield to his sovereign power. Oh ! How
excellent is this work ! How sublime ! What
immense benefits are reserved for the defend
ers of the Holy Name of Ood ! Would that
THE COMMUNISTS. 331
I could publish to the entire world all the
truths my soul has learned on this memorable
day of Pentecost by means of this celestial
light which it is not given to mortals to ex
press ! "
"Why have I not the eloquence of a St. Ber
nard that I might win all men to enroll them
selves in this holy crusade ! In the early ages
of the Church, the Lord raised up an army of
courageous soldiers to combat the enemies
of the Holy Land ; and his faithful ser
vant St. Bernard preached this holy Crusade
with marvelous success : but in our times,
the same Lord demands courageous soldiers lo
defend his Holy Name, blasphemed and de
spised by his enemies. Alas ! Shall he not find
one ! It is not necessary to go to foreign lands
and arm oneself with breastplate and buckler,
nor to endanger one s life. In our sacred militia
the cross of Jesus Christ will be our arms, both
offensive and defensive with which to attack,
and to defend ourselves against these enemies ;
and his sacred Name, full of virtue and power,
will be our buckler of defence."
" But to succeed in this pious undertaking, we
must address ourselves to the glorious Virgin
Mary with a boundless confidence. Beg her
to place herself at the head of this holy army,
she the Greneral of the armies of the Lord,
more terrible than an army set in array ! It is
this amiable Mother who has obtained for me,
notwithstanding my unworthiness. the un
heard of favor which I received yesterday
332 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
from her dear Son. May she be forever blessed !
Being at the feet of this august Mother,
I felt inspired these two days, to invoke
her under the title of Our Lady of the Holy
Name of Grod. Then I composed a crown of
seventy-two invocations, to honor the pre
cious years of her holy life. At the end of each
decade, I recalled to her these words which
she pronounced in her divine canticle : Quia
fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum nomen
ejus. (He who is mighty hath done great things
unto me, and Holy is his Name). After these
words, I added : most holy and most
worthy Mother of Grod ! most powerful advo
cate of Christians.! I place the cause of the
Holy Name of Grod into thy hands. I believe
this little prayer touched the tender and com
passionate heart of my Blessed Mother, for
while offering it, I felt convinced that she ac
cepted it."
" holy Virgin ! " said I, " deign to receive
this new title for thou art really Our Lady of
the Holy Name of* Grod, since thou art the
Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son
and the Spouse of the Holy Grhost, and that
thou dost thyself proclaim that he has done
great things unto thee and that his Name is
holy ! Yerily, Blessed Virgin Mary ! thou art
the honor and glory of the Holy Name of God,
for thou art the masterpiece of his hand, of
him who has operated such wonders in thee.
Therefore, I style thee, Our Lady of the Holy
Name of Grod. Thus, reverend mother, I say
THE COMMUNISTS. 333
all that I can think of, to the most Blessed Virgin
in order to win her favor for the Work of Repar
ation, if I can thus express myself, respectfully
reminding- her, that she, more than all others,
is obliged to work for the honor and glory of
Him who has favored her more than all his
other creatures, and that I doubt not she will
obtain for us the establishment of this work,
which Our Lord has compared to the delicious
banquet at the wedding of Cana. Let us re
member that it was the most Blessed Virgin
who obtained from her Son this miraculous
wine. In the meantime, I humbly beg you
to invite all who have at heart the establish
ment of this work, to salute with me this
Holy Virgin under the title of Our Lady of
the Holy Name of God"
As a sort of " Remark on the glory of the
most Blessed Virgin," the pious sister adds:
" Our Lord made me approach his most
Holy Mother, to receive from her blessed
hands the grace w r hich I had been soliciting
for such a length of time for the glory of the
Holy Name of G-od. I placed myself with
all confidence in the heart of this Mother of
Mercy, begging her to be my advocate in the
cause of G-od, earnestly recommending to her
this great object, during the beautiful month
entirely consecrated to her. I did not invoke
her in vain ; she beheld the tears of her little
servant, she listened to her sighs and entreaties
and soon inspired her servant, the Bishop
de Langres, who heard the project spoken of,
334 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
to take the most lively interest in it. His zeal*
for the Holy Name of G-od urged him on to
establish the Association. The rules were
formed, June 28, 184^7, on the vigil of the feast
of the most holy Apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul ;
and what is quite remarkable, was that it was
solemnly and canonically erected into an Asso
ciation on the 16th of July, feast of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel."
" powerful hands of Mary ! it is you who
have performed all, men have been but your
instruments. I thank you a million times I
Mayst thou be forever blessed ! Let us admire
another trait of Divine Providence and of the
mercy of Mary ; Mgr. the Bishop of Langres
brought the plan of this Work in Reparation
for Blasphemy and the violation of the Sunday
before the Sovereign Pontiff, to obtain a Brief
which would enrich this Association with the
blessings and the indulgences of the Holy
Church. Our Holy Father signed this Brief on
the 2nh of July, 184^7, and a second the 30th,
erecting the Association for Reparation into an
Arch-confraternity. I look upon the Church
with admiration bringing forth this work dur
ing those three days of sorrow. * I behold the
mercy of Grod, superabound where sin hath
abounded. Be forever blessed, O my Grod ! All
this has not occurred by hazard ; thy Providence
has conducted and directed all for the glory of
thy Holy Name and for the salvation of
* Allusion is here made to three days of July.
THE COMMUNISTS. 335
France. Protect this work, which is thine,
and defend it against its enemies. Propagate
it in this kingdom consecrated to the glorious
Yirgin Mary."
We have not wished either to interrupt or
abridge this pious and simple narrative of the
sister, relative to a fact which has so happily
crowned all her desires. There remains to us
to relate some of the details connected with
the principal circumstances of the formation of
.these societies.
CHAPTEE XVIII.
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY.
Sit Nomen Domini bene-dictum f
May the Name of the Lord be blessed T
[Arch-confraternity for Reparation. ]
The confraternity for Reparation sprang up, as
it were, miraculously by the sole will of Grod,
without the intervention of man. In our brief
account of its establishment, we shall follow
exactly the notes furnished us by the carmelite
annals, likewise those of M. Dupont.
One of the " Abridgment of Facts " fell
into the hands of a fervent Christian of Eouen,
M. le Brument-Jeulin, a man like M. Dupont,
renowned for his zeal and for his many works
of charity. It was through one of his friends,
Rev. P. Veilcazes, former director of the Grrand
Seminary of Tours, and at the time of which
we are speaking, superior of the G-rarid Semi
nary and of the Carmelites of Rouen, that he
first heard of the said Abridgment ; shortly
after, being obliged to undertake a journey to
Paris on business, he went as far as Tours on
purpose to ascertain the truth and importance
of these " Facts." From what he there learned
THE ARCH-CONFEATEENITY. 33*7
he did not hesitate to become the courier, and
so to say, the travelling agent of the Reparation,
resolving to plead its cause whenever Prov
idence would give him the occasion, which
was not far distant, as the designs of G-od were
nearing their fulfilment.
On his return from Paris, M. le Brument met
at the hotel were he was stopping, M.
1 abbe Favrel, vicar general of Langres. During
a short interview, the latter informed him that
Bishop Parisis was staying at the same hotel,
and invited him to visit this illustrious prelate,
which he did the same day. During the course
of the conversation, the pious gentleman spoke
of his journey through Tourraine, and related
what he had heard of M. Dupont relative to the
work of Reparation, which he warmly advo
cated. The Bishop of Langres was forcibly
impressed by what he had just heard and told
the pious gentleman that for some time he had
been very desirous of establishing in his
diocese a confraternity to meet the need of
reparation.
On his return home, the Bishop of Langres
wrote to the Archbishop of Tours on this
subject ; the latter, who did not deem it advis
able to take any steps of himself toward the
establishment of a confraternity, through fear
of giving any ostensible proof of his belief in the
revelations of Sister Mary St. Peter, allowed
the bishop of Langres to take the initiative,
which he could do the more plausibly, as Lan
gres was his own native city. After having
338 LIRE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
received the prelate s reply, Mgr. Parisis, by a
mandate, dated June 28, 1847. vigil of the feast
of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, estab
lished in the parish church of St. Dizier,
a Confraternity in Reparation for Blasphemy and for
the Profanation of the Sunday under the protec
tion of St. Martin. He sent M. 1 abbe Marche,
pastor of the parish, as his deputy to Itome to
solicit the title of Arch-confraternity for the
association, and also that it be enriched with
special indulgences. Pius IX., then but two
years raised to the pontifical chair of St. Peter,
received this petition with enthusiasm, and
exclaimed : " The E/eparation is a work destined
to save society," which words have become
the watchword of the zealous associates. The
Holy Father granted the desired indulgences,
and by a brief dated July 30, 1847, raised the
E/eparatory Association of St. Dizier to the
dignity of an Arch-confraternity, desiring
that his own name be inscribed the first on
the register : an inestimable privilege and a
source of benedictions for the new work.
Thus were realized the wishes of our dear
sister conformably to the inspiration she had
received from heaven.
Before going to Rome, the parish priest of
St. Dizier, by order of the Bishop of Langres,
kept up a regular correspondence with the
Carmelites of Tours relative to the work of
reparation. The rule for the Confraternity was
long a subject of discussion between them ; at
last by their joint efforts, the society was
THE ARCH- CONFRATERNITY. 33 &
moulded into form ; and though not com
prising all the minutiae dictated by Sister M.
St. Peter, yet Reparation was the prime object,
all the rules and regulations of the associa
tion verging to this one point. The said
association was consecrated to the adorable
Trinity and to the Holy Name of Jesus, and
placed under the patronage of St. Michael, St.
Louis and St. Martin, protector of France. A
cross bearing on one side these words, Sit
Nomen Domini benedictum and on the other
Vade retro, Satana, was its insignia ; as also
a medal, bearing on one side a triangle with
rays, symbolical of the adorable Trinity, and on
the other, the Holy Face of Jesus. The words
of the inscription were to be repeated by the
members every time they heard a blasphemy,
or that they witnessed the profanation of any
of the feasts of obligation.
Being a confraternity, it had the privilege
of aggregating to itself all other associations
formed for this object, and adopting the rules,
to which an express clause had been added,
reserving to bishops the power of modifying
this rule according to the necessities of their
respective dioceses, provided that the funda
mental points be not interfered with.
The object pursued by Sister Mary St. Peter
was thus attained; but it w^as ever a subject of
regret to her that this association had not been
established at Tours, that a minor church in a
small city of a distant parish, would have this
glorious privilege of being the headquarters of
340 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
a work destined to spread all over France.
Another source of regret, then as now, is that
perfect silence has been maintained in the
episcopal decrees relative to the devotion to
the Holy Face of our Lord Jesus Christ, speci
fied by the sister as the visible object of Repa
ration.
Necessarily, this must be attributed to the
ignorance of those at Langres with respect to
the special lights on this point accorded to the
humble virgin of Carmel ; and perhaps, also,
to the apparent necessity of not seeming to act
in virtue of a revelation not yet sanctioned by
the authority of the Church.
However, as a substitute, the Ecce Homo was
engraved on one side of the cross, and the
Litanies of the Holy Face, composed by Sister
Mary St. Peter were inserted in the Manual of
the Arch-confraternity. Evidently, there was
much more to be done, to fulfil the desires of
Our Lord, according to the revelations of the
Carmelite of Tours ; but w^e must bear in mind
that the devotion to the Holy Face of Our Lord,
had not then the eclat it has to-day. The sister
seemed satisfied with what was achieved ;
it was also a great subject of joy to M. Dupoiit,
who for many years had been so actively occu
pied in seeking the glory -of the Holy Name of
G-od by Reparation for blasphemy.
The Arch-confraternity of Reparation is per
fectly adequate to the necessities of our times ;
and because it was so manifestly desired by
God, it has spread with marvelous rapidity
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY. 341
from city to city. From the very first moment
of its existence, Reparation for blasphemy and
for the profanation of the Sunday, until then
concealed in the hearts of a few saintly souls,
"became the object of general attention ; entire
parishes were inscribed under its banner and
the faithful from all parts of the globe solicit
ed the honor of membership. It may be said,
that the project communicated to the carmel-
ite, and by her to the entire Church, has been
the fountain-head of the manifold works of
reparation since established in France.
One of these deserves a particular notice,
for it contains both Reparation and the devo
tion to the Holy Face : the Eeparatory Con
gregation with perpetual adoration, founded
at Paris by Mile. Dubouche, in religion Sister
Mary Teresa.
This pious lady, a .distinguished artist, (por
trait painter) and at the same time a person of
uncommon strength of mind, and of high moral
worth, heard of the Abridgment of Facts when
on a visit to Mother Isabella of St. Paul,
prioress of the Carmelites at Rue d Enfer. She
was struck by what she read in this little no
tice, and was full of admiration for the beau
tiful litanies of the Holy Face which she had
just received, and commenced to recite them
with great devotion. " The night following
(Friday)," said M. Dupont, "Our Lord ap
peared to her in the same suffering condition
as during his Passion. The next morning
Mile. Dubouche, full of holy ardor, undertook
342 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
to reproduce on canvas the disfigured and
bleeding Face of Our Lord which she had be
held in her vision. She was inspired to work
at this painting only on Fridays and on her
knees : for four successive Fridays she toiled
at this labor of love, and at the expiration of
the fourth week a picture was produced such
as would be creditable to our best artists. Mile.
Dubouche, laden with her precious burden
hardly finished, set out for Tours, and presented
herself unexpectedly at the carmelite monastery r
where she found souls ready to appreciate
and understand her noble heart, for Our Lord
had previously said to Sister Mary St. Peter :
" I will give you my Face and every time that
you present it to my Father, my mouth will
open to plead your cause." Mile. Debouche was
received in the parlor by the mother prioress
assisted by her secretary Sister Teresa of St. Jo
seph ; and in presence of Sr. St. Peter, at the time
portress, Mile. Dubouche opened the box con
taining the picture set in a black frame with a
gold star in each corner. Sister St. Peter was
called upon by the lady to know if the pic
ture corresponded to what she had seen ; she
humbly replied that the Face of Our Lord had
never been shown her in a sensible manner,
but that the picture was a good expression of
the idea she had conceived of the suffering
countenance of our Divine Lord.
To give tbe Community the pleasure and
opportunity of beholding it, the picture was
placed on the novitiate altar, and whilst the
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY. 343
sisters were piously contemplating it, Sister
Mary St. Peter approached and regarded it
with such an expression of sorrow and love,
that many of the sisters remained profoundly
impressed thereat.
M. Dupont desired to behold this wonderful
picture, and to gratify his wish, the pious ar
tist had it brought to his house, and presented
it to him herself. She very willingly gave the
permission to have it copied, of which favor he
was not slow in taking advantage ; the first
hasty but faithful copy was given to the Car
melites. It is preserved with great care in
the chapter-room, above the spot where our
good Sister St. Peter now reposes. Mile.
Dubouche, herself, recopied the picture several
times ; one of these copies is now in the chapel
of St. Ursula at Tours.
From this time forth, as we would natu
rally suppose, friendly relations sprang up
between this lady and the Carmelites ; nor was
she forgotten when the circulars announcing
the death of Sister St. Peter were sent to the
friends of the community. At the moment the
death letter arrived, Mile. Dubouche was
seriously ill; after reading the notice she
suddenly conceived the idea that she ought
to make a novena in union with the dear
deceased, promising if restored to health that
in thanksgiving she would go on a pilgrimage
to her tomb. Only ten days had elapsed,
when full of joy and gratitude, she went to
fulfil her vow. " On her return from the cem-
344 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
etery," says M. Dupont, " I heard her exclaim
with enthusiasm : I was sick, given up by the
physicians, but through the powerful inter
cession of this venerable servant of Grod, I am
now perfectly restored to health.
On her return to Paris, Mile. Dubouche put
into execution the project with which she had
been inspired. On the 6th of August, just one
month after the death of Sister Mary St. Peter,
she retired from the world, and together with
a few chosen souls founded the " Congregation
of Reparation " with the perpetual adoration of
the most Blessed Sacrament. At the end of
three months, the young community, although
but few in number, commenced the nocturnal
adoration once or twice a week, in the chapel
of the Carmelites on Rue d Enfer. It was on
one of these occasions of perpetual adoration
that the celebrated Hermann, a recent convert
from Judaism, and later called Father Marie
Augustin, conceived the idea of assembling
the men together, that they might render their
nightly homage of adoration to Our Lord in
the most Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
One afternoon, this pious neophyte, who
frequently visited the churches in which the
Blessed Sacrament was exposed, entered the
carmelite chapel where he prostrated himself
in adoration before Our Lord, concealed under
the sacramental veils. There he knelt in prayer,
heedless of the flight of time. It was in the
month of November, one of the sister tourieres
gave the signal for departure ; a second was
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY. 345
rung, yet Hermann, unconscious of the approach
of night, made no movement ; then, as if sud
denly coming to himself he said to the sister :
" Yes,yes, I will go when those near the altar
rise to depart." " But they will hot leave here
to-night," replied the sister. This answer was
the precious seed which fell from the hand of
the sower on good ground. Our fervent con
vert, whom we shall soon call, the Angel of
the Tabernacle, left the holy place and with
all haste repaired to the house of Mgr. de la
Bouillerie, then Vicar G-eneral, to whom he
said : " I have just left a chapel where there
are ladies who will remain in adoration all
night before the Blessed Sacrament !" Mgr. de
la Bouillerie, who had been one of the founders
of the Eeparatory Order of Mile. Dubouche,
replied : " "Well, what of that ? If you find
the men, we shall authorize you to imitate
these pious worshippers, whose lot at the feet
of the Lord, you so much envy."
The next day, with the assistance of the
good angels, Hermann awoke a responsive
echo in many holy souls ; he was soon
enabled to count twenty fervent adorers, and
before the end of the year, the men s nightl]
adoration was organized at Notre Dame des
Yictoires.
The first night of adoration was on December
6th, 1848, at the very moment of the news of
the departure of Pius IX. from Eome, fleeing
from before the face of a revolution which had
changed France to a republic, and had shaken
346 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the mighty thrones of Europe to their very
foundations.
"We perceive that the nightly adoration for
men in France has always been characterized
by these two principal intentions ; first, for the
expiation of the outrages committed against
God, second to obtain mercy for France. We
thus behold that the work of reparation by
the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, when
still in its cradle among a congregation of
pious women, gave rise to the nightly ado
ration by men, while both were but the off
spring of the communications made to Sister
Mary St. Peter ; the designs of the Divine Master
manifested to his faithful servant, could not
have been better carried out than by uniting
together the perpetual adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament and the devotion to the Holy Face.
We remember that in the year 1844 (Feb. 27th)
Our Lord had nominated our little carmelite
of Tours as his ambassadress to France, and had
commanded her to remain continually before
the most Blessed Sacrament, at least in spirit,
praying for France and for the establishment
of the work of Reparation . From that day
forth, she felt called upon in a most particular
manner by her Divine Master never to lose
sight of his Sacramental presence on our altars.
At the beginning of 1847, when the co-relation
ship between the Divine Majesty blasphemed
and the veneration of the Holy Face had been
manifested to her in the extraordinary manner
we have portrayed, Our Lord allowed her to
THE ARCH-CONFRATERNITY. 347
hear his lamentations over his love unknown in
the most Blessed Sacrament, and then, as she
said, " he had happily united at his feet both
the heart and the mind " of his servant, in
order that she might keep him company in
his abandonment, adoring his most Holy Face
concealed under the eucharistic veirs.
In founding this Reparatory Congregation
with perpetual adoration, Mile. Dubouche ful
filled to the letter the will of the Lord com
municated to the sister. Mother Isabella of St.
Paul, who rejoiced at the success to which she
herself had contributed, had no hesitation in
attributing (after Grod) all the honor to the Car
melite of Tours. In one of her letters to Mile.
Dubouche,-we find the following remark : "Sister
Mary St. Peter is certainly the foundress of this
work, and I believe that from the highest heavens
she aids us with her powerful assistance, and
fills with fervor and generosity those who are
the corner-stones of this edifice." M. Dupont,
aware of the origin of all the works of repara
tion, did not hesitate to say that Mile. Dubouche
was inspired with the project of her congrega
tion at the tomb of Sr. Mary St. Peter, during her
pilgrimage of thanksgiving. After the founda
tion of the nightly adoration by men at Paris
he, himself had nothing so much at heart as to
have a similar established at Tours (February,
1849) as if it were the mission of this great
servant of Grod to see realized in a public and
ostensible manner, the most secret designs
communicated to the virgin of Carmel.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DIVINE MATERNITY.
" Mother of God ! Remember
thou art my mother, and that I
am the little sister of the Holy
Infant Jesus."
(Words of the Sister.)
The Work of Reparation is now canoiiically
established : at last Sr. Mary St. Peter has at
tained the essential object of all her desires. Our
Lord will now spread out before her vision a
new horizon, and cause her to behold a
series of communications so extraordinary and
mysterious, that before exposing them to our
pious readers, we must point out their precise
import and their nature. They form, in the
history of her visions, a chain of revelations
in themselves, of the highest interest. Indeed,
they could not be omitted from these pages,
without leaving in the shade the most hopeful
and the most consoling part of this great
work of Reparation. The Lord granted them
to the virgin of Carmel for two reasons, clearly
discernible in her own account of these favors.
One in particular seems to have been to rec
ompense her here below for all the sacrifices
which the accomplishment of her mission had
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 349
entailed ; our good Master often acts in like
manner toward the souls who serve him with
fidelity. The other motive, more general, rela
tive to the work of Eeparation itself, was to
prefigure the graces of mercy and salvation
by which the realization of this worS was to
be followed. This future effusion, of grace,
promised to the world, will be the result of
the merits and of the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin, the august Mother of Jesus, (at the
same time the Mother of Christians), a foretaste
of which was given to the pious servant of
her Divine Son in causing her to participate
in a spiritual and heavenly manner in the vir
ginal food which he, himself, received in the
arms of his Mother during his infancy.
A favor so surprising is not an exception
nor a novelty in the history of the saints. No
one is ignorant of the miracle which took
place in favor of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clair-
vaux. In a celebrated vision, the Queen of
Heaven, as a recompense for the many volumes
he had written with so much learning and piety
in her honor, caused to descend on his lips
some drops of heavenly milk. This prodigy
has not unfrequently occurred, it has even
been a favorite subject of study among*
artists. According to the learned Baronius,
(1028), St. Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, a de
voted servant of Mary, was once favored with
a similar privilege, when reduced to the last
extremity by illness. By virtue of the divine
milk which the Blessed Virgin made him
350 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
taste, lie instantly recovered his health, and
was at the same time blessed with the gift of
prophecy.
No one will contest that the foundation on
which these extraordinary details rest, is per
fectly iii keeping with the teaching of faith
and with the doctrine of the Church. The
divine maternity is a dogma of the Catholic
Church, essentially connected with the Incar
nation of the Word ; in all ages it has fur
nished to ascetic writers and to the holy fathers
themselves, the most elevated and ravishing
considerations upon the mystery of the Infancy
of Jesus, and upon his first relations with his
most Holy Mother. Let us, for example,
glance over the writings of St. Athanasius, of
St. Augustine, of St. Bernard and of St. Yin-
cent Ferrier ; these illustrious doctors extol
the maternity of Mary in most admirable
terms of faith and piety, bearing the very
same signification which we observe in the
writings of Sr. Mary St. Peter.
We must, likewise, not mistake the nature
and the method of these divine operations in
this daughter of Carmel. We have already
affirmed and here affirm anew, that nothing
has transpired in a visible or sensible manner.
In explaining to the mother superior what
passed, she has been obliged to employ ex
pressions and images which strike the senses,
while in reality all passed in a sphere purely
intellectual. It is well known that theolo
gians distinguish three kinds of divine corn-
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 351
munications ; those which strike the senses
physically, such as visions and other external
apparitions ; those which take place in the
imagination with the aid of representations
and interior, invisible images; and thirdly,
those which pass in the understanding, the
superior part of the soul, without any images
whatever, either visible or invisible. .These
last, according to the masters of the spiritual
life, are the most elevated and the most per
fect. Now this is precisely the kind of com
munication with which Sister Mary St. Peter
W as favored. Consequently, in all that she
has described so ingeniously, she has beheld
nothing with her eyes, heard nothing with
her ears, touched nothing sensibly, not even
in imagination, which has had no play what
soever in her celestial communications. " Our
Lord caused me to understand," such is her
ordinary expression ; she saw, heard, felt and
tasted, but as the pure spirits, by a means
intellectual and angelic, satisfactorily explained
by theology, but understood only by the
chosen few who have had the experience of
this most perfect mode of revelation.
"We shall cite here the testimony of St.
Theresa, so well versed in these matters ; the
following are her own expressions: "The
vision of the intellect is the most elevated,,
the most sublime, and that to which the devil
can have the least access. We behold neither
with the eyes of the body, nor with those
of the soul, understood that the vision is not
352 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
imaginary. It is a light which, without
striking the senses, illuminates the under
standing that the soul may enjoy so great a
G-ood. Truth is there imprinted by a knowl
edge sovereignly clear, excluding all doubt,
even producing a certainty more positive than
that afforded by the testimony of the senses, for
oftentimes in that which strikes the latter, it
not unfrequently happens that a doubt arises
whether it be an illusion. In our case
it may happe iithat a doubt presents itself at
the first moment, but there is a firm convic
tion that this doubt is without any founda
tion.... The language is so heavenly that 110
human effort could succeed in causing it to
be heard, if the Divine Master himself did not
teach it us by experience. He places in the
depth of the soul what he wishes to make
known to her, and while conversing with her
makes her attentive to all that he says, de
spite herself ; he forces her to hear him, and
prevents her withdrawing her attention.
She is then in the condition a person of ex
cellent hearing to whom another, quite near,
would speak so loudly, without allowing her
to stop up her ears, that willing or not, she
must hear By this kind of conversation, the
Lord wills to give the soul a faint idea of what
passes in Heaven ; h& initiates her to speak
without words, and this is the language of her
heavenly home. That such language existed,
I was in entire ignorance until it pleased the
Lord to give me evidence in an ecstasy."
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 353
"While iii this valley of tears, God
and the soul understand each other by this
means, for he makes her comprehend all that
he wishes her to know and comprehend ; they
have no need of any other art to express their
secret thoughts. Even on earth, two persons
of intelligence can express their mutual love
without making signs, only by looking at
each other. This is precisely what passes be
tween God and the soul ; but it is not given
to see in what manner they cast their eyes
one on the other, nor the glance in which
they read their mutual love..."
" And ^gain, Grod in this manner
causes the soul now to understand . some
great truths, again some profound mys
teries. *By means of this divine language,
truth is infused in us in the same manner as
an aliment which is incorporated in us with
out the trouble of masticating it, ignorant of
the way it has become a part of our substance,
but quite positive of the fact that it is in us.
There is, however, this difference; here the
nature of the aliment remains unknown to
us, whilst as regards this infusion, I know
what is its substance, and that it comes from
G-od, but I know not how he has given it to
me, for I have not seen it, I cannot compre
hend it." These are the expressions of the
illustrious reformer of Carmel ; what she has
experienced, what she has so admirably ex
plained, has been worthily exemplified in one
of her saintly daughters, the Carmelite of
12
354 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Tours. Ill perusing what is about to follow, let
us not lose sight of these preliminary reflections ~
and instead of being scandalized, we shall
rather be edified, and rejoice to behold such
precious and rare favors accorded as a reward,
for her fidelity and her generous sacrifices.
Likewise, let us not forget that this good
sister had long been prepared for the reception
of these heavenly gifts by a precocious and
tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and also
by the particular attraction to the infancy of
the Word Incarnate that we have remarked
from the first moments of her religious life.
This sw r eet mystery was, indeed, tjie principal
cause of her rapid progress in religious perfec
tion and the primary source of the wonderful
lights lavished upon her.
According to the method hitherto adopted,,
we shall take her own simple and candid nar
ration of the marvels of grace of which she
was the object. Her letters on the divine ma
ternity of Mary are preceded by the following*
preamble: "A woman of the G-ospel, speaking-
of our Divine Lord, cried out : Blessed is the
womb that bore thee and the paps that gave
thee suck ! According to the testimony of
the holy fathers, this woman, full of faith and
piety, represents the Church ; she recognized
and confessed before the world both the divin
ity and the humanity of Christ, adoring in him
a Man-God."
" The mystery of an Infant-Grod nourished
with the sacred milk of the Virgin Mary, his
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 355
Holy Mother, is a hidden, unknown mystery,
which the divine Infant Jesus discovers to
whomever he wills. He has deigned, notwith
standing my unworthiness, to apply me to the
contemplation of this mystery for five mouths,
by giving me lights and ineffable consolations
to rejoice and recreate my soul after the little
labors and sufferings I have undergone in
working for the glory of his Name. Yes, most
amiable Infant Jesus, at the .birth of thy Work
of Reparation, thou hast spread a grand ban
quet before my soul, in which she has tasted
the most delicious viands ! "
" My sins have merited nothing but the
rigors of thy justice ; but thy mercy is above
.all thy works, and the admirable familiarity
which thou dost display toward some souls,
.surpasses the understanding of man."
In speaking of a " hidden and unknown
mystery," the sister undoubtedly does not
wish to lead us to infer that she imagines it
lias never been revealed to other than herself :
but rather that it contains hidden and reserved
lights, treasures above .the knowledge and
comprehension of the majority ; then, to the
eyes of the worldling, it will always be a
" hidden mystery." In a first letter to the
mother prioress (June 24, 1847), the servant of
Grod writes thus on the subject :
"It is with the greatest confusion that I
behold myself obliged to say something of
the favors which I have received from the
Divine Jesus and his most holy Mother. I have
356 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
long hesitated before undertaking to write this
letter, for I would much rather write my sins;
however, I must co-operate with the will of the
Infant Jesus, who wishes to engrave his inno
cence in me, and in all simplicity, I will nar
rate what has passed in my soul."
A few days ago, the Infant Jesus strongly
applied me to consider the honor and the
homage of perfect praise he rendered his
heavenly Father .during the period he wa&
nourished with the virginal milk of his most
holy Mother ; he gave me to understand that
he willed I should adore him in this humble
condition in union with the angels, in order
that his mercy might fill me with innocence.,
purity and simplicity, and that I might collect
the precious graces which flow forth from,
this ineffable mystery of an Infant Grod. Then,
my Divine Saviour ravished my soul to a most
sublime state, and in a high contemplation,
I beheld this prodigy of love and humility. He,
who is conceived eternally in the bosom of
the Father, amidst the splendors of his glory,
is nourished with t ne virginal milk of hi&
Holy Mother ! The Holy Grhost has caused me
to penetrate the depth of this mystery, which
until that moment I had never understood.
O angelic spirits, you who are continually
in adoration in his presence, tell me, which,
think you, is the most charming, to see a virgin
holding her Creator and her Grod in her arms
to nourish him with her virginal milk, or to>
behold a God becoming a child, the Word re-
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 35t
duced to silence, the All-powerful enveloped
with swathing- bands in the lap of his Virgin
Mother ! Ah ! I imagine I hear you answer,
that the humiliations of the Infant-G-od in this
profound mystery, constitute the grandeur and
the glory of Mary, whose most august privilege
was to have been the mother and the nurse of
a Man-God."
" To-day, feast of the holy precursor, St.
John the Baptist, joyful day of the happy
birth of this friend of the Word Incarnate, the
Divine Infant Jesus has prepared a feast for my
soul."
" I relate it with the greatest confusion, for
such a favor were due only to a St. Bernard
and not to a miserable sinner as I ; yet I am
obliged to avow it in the simplicity of my
heart ; it is not mere imagination, but a grace
which I know not how to express, having no
words at my command fit for so sublime a
subject. Oh ! ^vould that it were given me to
make known all the lights I have received ! . .
The treasure I have found ! . . . The Infant Jesus,
if I may thus express myself, from the virtues
of his holy infancy, has made up a bouquet with
which he has adorned the chaste w r omb of his
Mother ; these are the virtues of meekness, hu
mility, innocence, purity and simplicity, which
the brothers of Jesus, brought forth by Mary
at the foot of the cross, ought to come and
seek from their adopted Mother. Oh ! what a
grand mystery I perceive ! Mary the nurse of
a Grod! but she is also the nurse of man ! What
358 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
great things my soul has conceived here at
the feet of Mary during this high contem
plation which has ravished my soul ! It took
.the entire hour of recreation for me to return
.^little to myself."
"This is but an abridgment of the opera
tions of the Divine Saviour in an unworthy
.sinner. He desires to embellish my soul with
the virtues of his Holy Infancy before I appear
.at the tribunal of God. I must become a
little child, in order to enter the kingdom of
heaven ; for this reason, whatever time remains
for me to pass on this earth, must be con-
.secrated to honor and imitate his infancy, in
order to receive its divine impress."
" These, reverend mother, are the disposi
tions of my soul, which is entirely concen
trated, as you perceive, on the Infant God and
his Virgin Mother ; I experienced a shower of
graces falling gently on me. Nevertheless, I do
not forget the Work of Reparation, for it is
from the mouth of the Infant* Jesus that God
truly receives perfect praise and glory."
Let us notice here the relationship she es
tablishes between the " Reparation " of the
outrages offered God by blasphemy, and the
mystery of the " Infant Word." This compar
ison seems to have been suggested by the
passage from the psalms in which the prophet
proclaims : " Out of the mouths of infants
and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise
because of thy enemies, that thou mayst de
stroy the enemy." (PS. vin.)
THE DIVINE MATERNITY.
The first time that the pious earmelite was
drawn by the Lord to contemplate his divine
infancy under this mysterious aspect, she was
much surprised, and sought to ascertain if any
of the saints had treated of this subject in their
writings.
" Already," said she, " had I consulted two*
priests distinguished for their knowledge and
piety. I was told that the spirit of God was
acting in my soul, that I should follow the
attraction of grace and correspond to it with
fidelity, as G-od would draw forth his glory-
therefrom ; also that I ought to despise the devil
and pay no heed to these extreme repugnances
with which he filled me, seeking to withdraw
me from a path apparently so extraordinary. "
" I was assured that there was no danger for
me, that I must continue my exercises in peace ;
yet this did not entirely satisfy me r for I still
sought to find the doctrine of same of the
saints in harmony with these communications,
but I did not know where to look for such,
and I implored our Divine Lord to grant my
request. My simple little prayer was not in
vain, for I soon felt urged to ask our mother for
the life of Father d Argentan, which she gave
me. "What was my surprise and my gratitude
to God, when on turning over the pages, I
found a conference on the Maternity of the
most Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Word In
carnate ! my admiration continued to augment
when in reading this conference,. I observed
the esteem in which the Fathers of the Church
360 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
have held this grand privilege of Mary. TThat
I read was an echo repeating letter for letter,
all that had been imprinted on my soul touch
ing this mystery during the operations of the
Holy Ghost. Oh ! with how much respect,
with how much joy I kissed those sacred pages
which Our Lord and his august Mother placed
under my eyes, to enlighten my mind and re
assure me against all disquietude ! Convinced
that this devotion was neither novel, nor vi
sionary, since St. Augustin, St. Athanasius and
St. Bernard have spoken of it with so much
piety and eloquence, I became established in
perfect peace of mind, abandoning myself into
the hands of the Infant Jesus that he might
perform his most holy will in me."
To explain this pious transport of our dear
sister, it may be well to state that the spiritual
book of which she speaks was held in great
repute, among those competent to judge, for its
solid theological and ascetic principles. Father
d Argeiitan, one of the Capuchin Friars Minor,
was one of the writers of the seventeenth cen
tury. "With the exception of a few trite expres
sions and certain eccentricities of his oratorical
style peculiar to himself, his works are not
unworthy of the literary period in which he
flourished. His conferences, on the greatness of
Jesus and Mary, are well known and highly
appreciated in the monasteries of his order.
The Carmelite of Tours, therefore, had good
reason to rely on the authority of such a writer ;
she has even done more, we need not be
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 361
astonished, for she is so imbued with the doc
trine and even with the very words of the book
she had in her hands, that she makes use of the
most striking passages in her own narration,
which she ingeniously avows.
" These thoughts of the holy Fathers have-
been so instructive to me, that I proposed mak
ing use of them in my own account, in order
that those who read it afterward, may find
it more intelligible. I shall write in a spirit of
obedience and charity, according to the light
w r hich the Lord deigns to bestow r upon me,,
in reference to a work so entirely consecrated
to the Incarnation of the Word, and to the
Divine Maternity. I shall speak in all simplic
ity. The Lord has transformed me, causing me
to become as a little child to perform in. me
operations which surpass my understanding.
If you become not as little children, said he
to his apostles, you shall not enter the king
dom of heaven. These " Operations " began
the day of the feast of St. John the Baptist,
June 25th.
She writes : "Having received the holy In
fant Jesus in my heart in holy communion, and
adoring him in the mystery of his birth, on which
I meditated to-day, I beheld in spirit the most
Blessed Virgin nursing her divine Infant ;
suddenly I found myself confined in the heart
of the Infant Jesus. He caused me to under
stand that I should remain there in silence, in
order not to disturb him by the acts I wished
to perform. I obeyed his command. Soon
362 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
after, the Blessed Virgin turned from her
Divine Son, to converse with me, if I can
express it thus, in order to make me under
stand the designs of mercy which her Divine
Son had formed over me."
" The following is what she said : My child,
my Divine Son desires to contract a most
intimate union with you. Acknowledge that
you are most unworthy of such a favor, for it
is a prodigy of his love, for which he has
charged me to prepare you."
Then she avowed her past infidelities, and
whilst asking pardon of Jesus, her soul was
interiorly occupied with her extreme indi
gence, and the Blessed Virgin informed her
that her Divine Son had charged her to nourish
the humble sister with the spiritual milk of
grace and virtue ; that she should beg for
these graces twice a day with the simplicity
of a little child, a favor which would always
be granted her, not in a sensible manner, but
by the influence of grace lavished on her soul,
-which would render her more worthy still to
contract an intimate union with the Infant
Jesus,
"Then," said the sister, "the most Blessed
Virgin gave me to understand that I should
.honor her maternity by some practices of
piety. I obeyed, and the Holy Grhost inspired
me to compose a little exercise on the incom
prehensible mystery of a God becoming man
in the womb of a Virgin."
This "little exercise" of the pious carmelite
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 368
was composed of invocations taken from the
prayers and hymns of the Church, or else from
the pious colloquies, with which the reading
of " Father d Argentan " seemed to have in
spired her. The following is a small extract :
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ;.
blessed art thou amongst women and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou
hast nourished with thy virginal rnilk for
fifteen months."
"Thanks be to thee, most Blessed Virgin
Mary, for the immense love with which thou
hast nursed the King of heaven ; mayst thy
maternal tenderness ever be blessed."
"Eternal Father, we offer thee the Word.
Incarnate at the breast of his divine Mother,,
rendering thee by this infantine action, a per
fect act of praise in honor of thy Holy Name."
" most holy, and most worthy Mother of
G-od ! remember thou art my mother and that I
am the little sister of the Infant Jesus, nour-
ish me with the spiritual milk of grace ; thy
most holy child has blessed thy maternal heart
with the charming virtues of his infancy,,
and to-day he sends me to collect this heavenly
dew which will fill my soul with the lovely
graces of purity, innocence and simplicity."
" favored Virgin, and most Blessed Mother F
receive, I implore thee, these fifteen saluta
tions in honor of the fifteen months thou didsi
nurse the 8011 of God, born in the stable of
Bethlehem."
" divine, august Lady ! what art
364 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
doing- ?" " Of my substance I am giving nour
ishment to him who has given me life. It
will be incorporated into his being, becom
ing the very blood in his veins, which will
be shed on the cross for the salvation of man
kind."
" angels of heaven ! What think you of this
prodigy ? You who have been commissioned
to nourish creatures of this earth with the
delicious manna from heaven ! And this was
accounted such a stupendous miracle ! Behold
the Virgin Mother, your Queen, giving nour
ishment to Grod himself, her Creator, and yours ! "
" most precious milk of Mary ! O Blood
divine of Jesus ! water the earth that it may
bring forth legions of elect !"
Shortly after, the sister was consoled to find
in the life of a carmelite of Beauiie, venerable
Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament, devoted
to the holy infancy, an analgous trait, similar
to that which she herself had experienced. It is
related of this venerable sister that Jesus
revealed to her he had been nursed for lif-
.teen months by his Holy Mother, and that he
desired her to honor him for the same length
of time, to adore him in this stage of his holy
infancy. At the termination of the fifteen
months, the holy Child promised that he would
grant many graces to the soul who would
honor him thus, that she would be most
specially assisted by the Blessed Virgin, his
mother, and that in consideration of how lov
ingly she had nourished him with her precious
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 365
milk, he would grant whatever grace would
be desired through her intercession.
Our carmelite of Tours says : " It is no more
difficult to the holy Infant Jesus to make me a
participator in the virtues of his infancy, than to
have communicated them to one of our sisters
two hundred years ago ; for he is all-powerful.
But what does astonish me, is that this sister
was a saint, whilst I am but a miserable sinner,
divested of either virtue or talents, a poor
worm of earth meriting but hell-fire, yet of
whom the Infant Jesus wills to make use,
because of my abject misery ; I have abandoned
myself to him entirely for the accomplishment
-of his designs."
The whole month of July was passed in the
contemplation and the enjoyment of the hum
ble and sweet mystery which had just been
revealed to her. On the first of August, she
Avrote another letter to the mother supe
rior.
" Notwithstanding my repugnance to write
of the present dispositions of my soul, I \vill do
so willingly, to practise the obedience and the
simplicity of the Infant Jesus whom I wish to
imitate. I will speak to you with the simplicity
of a little, child, in giving you an account of
what has passed in my soul from the feast of
.St. John the Baptist until to-day,"
" Reverend mother, my soul has been all
absorbed in the contemplation- of the Word
Incarnate in the arms of his Holy Mother.
Oh ! what an ineffable mystery ! My soul is
366 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER,
ravished at the sight of such a prodigy. A.
God, the child of a Virgin ! He who has
spoken by the prophets, who has given his
law to man in the midst of thunder and
lightning ! He by whom all things have been
made, the Word of God the Eternal Father !
He, there in silence in the arms of his Mother,,
in obedience to God his Father, offering him
the homage of his absolute power, by reducing
himself to the helpless condition of a little
babe nursed with the milk which will soon be
changed into his most precious blood, and be
shed for the salvation of the world ! "
" There is this Lamb of God, marked out
for sacrifice, helpless in the arms of his Blessed
Mother through the same obedience which
will soon attach him to the cross. Oh ! what
a ravishing contemplation ! After having
considered this divine Infant, my heart turned
toward his Blessed Mother. Oh ! what must
have been the sentiments which filled her
heart in beholding God, her Creator, partaking
of her substance ! How much do I thank her
for her tender care of the future victim for
our salvation ! "
The sister then explains that to correspond
to this ineffable mystery, Jesus demanded of
her perfect innocence of heart and a complete
detachment from creatures. " I must now,"
she writes, "imitate the virtues of his infancy.
For having once been a little distracted, I lost
sight of the presence of the Blessed Virgin
and the Infant Jesus for nearly a week, but I
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 36 Y
humbled myself before God at the remem
brance of my manifold miseries and he pierced
my heart with lively contrition ; I wept bit
terly over my past sins. Soon, like the father
of the prodigal, he gave me the kiss of peace
and of reconciliation, communicating himself
to my soul in the most intimate manner. Then
he made me understand the purity and the
perfection which I ought to have before unit
ing myself to him, for he is my Grod, my all."
"Afterward, he showed me the favors
which he destined for me, if I were faithful
to follow the attraction of his grace. This
communication has entirely changed the dis
position of my soul. I found the Infant Jesus
once more in the arms of his Blessed Mother.
OUF Lord declared to me several times that
he wished me to adore him in this state,
because but few souls are capable of this holy
application which demands a great purity of
heart."
" The devil came to torment me, trying to
make me give up my devotions in honor of
ihis mystery ; but when I had submitted my
inquietude to the guide of my soul and had
put his counsels into practice, the Evil One
.took to flight."
The pious carmelite continued, therefore, to
follow this divine attraction. In contem
plating the sweet object present to her inte
rior vision she united herself to the angels, to
the Holy Innocents, offering to G-od the Fa
ther for the salvation of sinners, this Lamb
368 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
without blemish, in his condition of absolute
dependence and helplessness. Jesus made her
a child like himself, and gave her to receive
from his Holy Mother a part of this spiritual
food ; the happy sister was inundated with
delights and filled with purity and innocence.
" My soul," said she, " is lost in this ineffable
mystery, I think of it day and night. Once,
when I awoke at one o clock in the mornings.
I felt the presence of the Blessed Virgin near
me ; she gave me to behold the treasures
of grace contained in her maternal heart, in
viting me to draw forth graces from this
source with full liberty, u-rging me to share
these riches with poor sinners. During holy
communion, on this same day, the Infant Je
sus admonished me to pray for the impure* I
have prepared and purified thy soul, he said,
therefore, arise, go and seek souls for me that I
may reign over them.
" Then he operated something in me which
I cannot comprehend ; I experienced a
weight of sorrow, inexpressible. 1 was as if
in fire, my senses were bound up as if by a
divine power. I understood that the Infant
Jesus wished me to combat the demon of
pride and of impurity, with the virtues and
the graces of his holy Infancy. Live Jesus
and Mary. *
The sister makes the following reflection af
ter the above letter, which is well worthy
being copied : " Perhaps some will be sur
prised after having seen me occupied for four
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 369
years in meditating the Holy Name of G-od,
to behold me now so mnch absorbed in a mys
tery which may seem in the eyes of some
Christians, to be the most insignificant, the
least worthy of attention in the life of oiir
Lord Jesus. I do not pretend to condemn
those who may hold this opinion, because last
year I wonld, perhaps, have shared it with
them as I w#s without the lights which
the Infant Jesus and his Mother have since
granted me. But to-day it is not thus, I de
clare that this mystery, unknown and- un-
comprehended as it may be to the world, is
nevertheless grand*, admirable, ineffable ; its
depth and sublimity are only penetrated by
th.e Infant Jesus and his most Holy Mother."
" May Grod grant that I may never imitate
the rebel angels, who after having contem
plated the awful majesty and the perfections of
the Divinity, refused to acknowledge the Word
made Flesh, or to adore him in this state of
annihilation. Verily, divine Child, thou art
as worthy of our profound adoration in the
arms of thy Mother as seated at the right
hand of the majesty of thy Father ; Tfyou art
and hast even been the Eternal G-od !"
Mary of St. Peter, as we see, would not
that " Christians " be scandalized after the peru
sal of her account of the action of G-od in her
regard. During four years she had been oc
cupied in redeeming the honor of his Holy
Name, and in appropriating the fruit of his
most sorrowful mysteries. And now, we be-
370 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
hold her entirely lost in the contemplation of
a circumstance in his mortal life which
seemed to be the last and the least worthy of
consideration. Is it that he has less love, less
grace to offer his servant than formerly ? Is
not the susceptibility of man shocked at the
thought of a Man Grod being nursed by a Yir-
gin ? Is not this abasement unworthy of the
majesty of Grod, and of the superiority of man?
Moreover, what good can accrue to the soul
from the assiduous contemplation of this mys
tery.? The sister will give a satisfactory reply
to these objections.
" There are, in the economy of the Incarnation,
mysterious secrets, treasures of wisdom con
cealed from view which the world despises or
ignores, but which for all, are none the less
necessary for its instruction and salvation. Man,
naturally independent and proud, cares not to
recall to mind his origin, his nothingness ;
willingly does he cast off all remembrance of
the early necessities of his nature, desirous
only of contemplating himself in the full vigor
of his manhood, when arrived at the age of
maturity, he wills to recognize but his abso
lute independence, and his power over all
other creatures. His pride, offspring of original
sin, finds a lesson and a sovereign remedy in
the humiliations and annihilations of the Son
of Grod who iu descending in our midst, willed
to be born and brought forth in the world like
himself, with the same necessity for the
first tender cares of a Mother. By this means
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 37 1
has he been pleased to instruct our proud hu
manity, and to correct our unfortunate spirit
of independence. "
According to St. Paul, this is that which
the wise and prudent of this world have not
understood ; what even Christians themselves
do not understand enough in our day. This
likewise, was the rock on which the pride
of the evil spirits was shipwrecked. Accord
ing to the teachings of theologians, Lucifer
and his accomplices, in the hour of trial,
placed in the presence of a God humiliated
and abased even to become the Son of a humble
Virgin, refused to offer him the adoration
which is his due ; their revolt consummated
their reprobation. Eeflecting on these rebellious
spirits and on the infinite number of proud
unbelievers who in their self-constituted gran
deur of mind refuse to submit their feeble
intelligence to the mystery of the Incar
nation of the Word, and the Divine Maternity,
the daughter of Carmel exclaims in a holy and
laudable transport : " Thou art as w^orthy
of our adoration in the arms of thy Mother as
seated at the right hand of the Eternal Grod."
The sister here imitates the language of the
Fathers and Doctors ; of St. Bernard, among
others, who speaking of the Word Incarnate,
says : " The more vile and despicable has he
made himself for my love, so much the more
beautiful and worthy of all glory has he be
come. " * The Church in the hymns of her
* Quanto pro me vilior, tanto mihi carior.
372 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
office publicly sings to her ministers and to
her children : " A little milk has nourished
him by whom all creatures are sustained and
nourished." * And again, ; glorious Mother,
elevated above the highest heavens, he, by
whom thou hast been created, has become a
little child, whom thou dost nourish with thy
most pure and virginal milk ! " f
These, as we have seen, are the sum and
substance of the thoughts which have filled
the heart of the Carmelite of Tours in her
pious contemplations oftheAVord made Flesh.
It was not only for the spiritual enjoyment
of Sister Mary St. Peter alone, that she had
been admitted, a? we have seen, to the parti
cipation of the sweet and mysterious fruits of
the infancy of the "Word made Flesh. In this,
as in all the preceding communications, she
had with regard to the Church and immortal
souls, a higher and more general mission to
fulfil. G-od the Father, irritated against the
world which blasphemed and outraged him,
had menaced his people with his wrath ; his
justice had announced scourges and chastise
ments. But a Mother, full of mercy, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, has interceded in favor of the
* Et lacte inodieo pastus pst,
Fej quetu nee ales esurit !
(Hymn for Lauds, Christmas.)
t gloriosa virgin urn
Subliuiis inter sidera
Qui te creavit parvulum
Lactcnte imtris ubere.
C Office of the Blessed Virgin at Lauds. )
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 373
guilty ; she has bewailed the sins and wan
derings of her people. She has appeared at La
Salette, the tears flowed silently from her
eyes, and covered her face ; her hands wer^con-
cealed, for the moment had not yet come to
distribute grace and mercy on sinful man.
But a beginning of Separation takes place,
she appears serene and compassionate, her eyes
are raised to heaven, her hands are elevated to
intercede and to bless : her maternal heart sends
forth a fruitful stream of grace, to which souls
may come and draw forth pardon and life.
This was the aspect, as novel as consoling,
under which the mystery of the Divine Ma
ternity was presented to the Virgin .of Carmel.
" I was," said she, " in continual contempla
tion of the Infant Jesus in the arms of his
Blessed Mother, reposing on her maternal
breast. Then he gave me admirable in
structions upon the Maternity of the Blessed
Virgin toward men, whom he had given as
her children on Mount Calvary at the foot of
the cross."
Mary, having been called by Grod to be the
Mother of Christians, received at the same
moment the charge of nourishing them and
of training them to a spiritual life ; conse
quently, she must procure for them the milk
of grace for their souls even as she has pro
cured the natural milk for Jesus, her first-born.
The following communication will develop
ihis idea. The sister opens the subject
by excusing her incapacity. (August 13,
374 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
1847). She writes to the mother prioress :
* Where shall I find words to express ideas so
incomprehensible ? "With the aid of the Infant
Jesus I shall try to lisp forth a few words
which, although imperfectly uttered, will nev
ertheless give you some idea of the present
state of my soul." Then she exclaims in her
enthusiasm : " Oh ! if I could only speak ! If
I could only write ! Never until now have I
understood the value of the precious gift
which Jesus dying has bequeathed us in the
person of his most august Mother ! mystery
of love and clemency ! At the very instant he
was bringing forth the human race, to a heav
enly life .on the cross in the midst of the
most excruciating tortures, he placed these
new-born children in the arms of Mary, the
tenderest of mothers, to nourish and bring up
to eternal life. With this object in view, he
has filled her maternal breast with the milk
of grace and mercy ; he has made his Divine
Mother legatee of the immense riches he has
acquired for us during his laborious life, and
his dolorous Passion, that she might become
the admirable channel through which all his
infinite merits would flow to the Holy Church,
his spouse."
How is it that Mary has been constituted
the " legatee," of the riches of redemption ?
This is precisely what Our Lord will explain
to his servant. She writes : "I have again
been enlightened on this mystery : the Holy
Ghost, from the most pure blood of Mary,
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 375
formed the adorable body of our Saviour Je
sus Christ. This body was, therefore, of the
substance of Mary ; consequently, she pos
sessed certain rights over it ; for this reason it
was deposited in her maternal arms after his
death My amiable Jesus caused me to un
derstand that he wished to return to her all
that he had received to operate the redemp
tion- of the world. She had nourished him
with her most pure milk ; Jesus, to thank her,
remitted his blood, of which he made her the
treasurer. There she remained, standing at the
foot of the cross, in order to receive this pre
cious deposit in the sacred vessel of her mater
nal heart. Mary had given to Jesus his most
adorable body, and Jesus, after his death,
returned it to her covered with his glorious
wounds, that she might draw forth, from these
sacred fountains, eternal life for the new
children confided to her watchful care at the
very last moment of his life. Verily, Jesus
belongs to Mary together with all his treasures
of grace, and Mary belongs to mankind, with
all her tend erness. Oh ! how magnanimous is
this merciful Mother ! She stretches forth
her maternal arms inviting us to come and
repose on her motherly heart, always open to
receive us, that she may lavish on us the most
heavenly favors."
These communications, bestowed on the
sister, were but a preparation for the reception
of a knowledge more precise and more intimate.
The Infant Jesus and his Blessed Mother, will.
376 LIFE OF SISTER, MARY ST. PETER.
in turn, manifest themselves, to instruct this
child of Carmel. Jesus said : " Man, while on
this earth, is in a state of infancy ; in heaven
alone will he be arrived at his perfect age of
manhood, for this reason should he have con
tinual recourse to his mother, as a little child."
Our good Carmelite exclaims : " Verily, I
behold this truth clearly in the light of God :
man should have continual recourse to the
most Blessed Virgin, his Mother, if he wishes
to arm^e at the perfect age of manhood in eter
nity. Behold the two grand mysteries of the
Maternity of Mary, which the Infant Jesus
wishes to teach me ; Mary, Mother of Clod, and
Mary, Mother of man. For this reason it is, that
he keeps me in constant contemplation of him
self as Infant in the arms of his Mother, being
nourished with her virginal milk, to teach me
by his example to have recourse to her, that I
may be fed with the heavenly clew of her
virtues. "
The Blessed Virgin, likewise, revealed her
self to the pious confident of Jesus. "She made
known to me," said the sister, " that as she
had chosen certain hallowed spots, wherein to
bestow her favors in great profusion, so .would
she now make choice of my soul to lavish on
it her boundless mercies. I was not long
waiting for the accomplishment of this prom
ise ; for to-day after the holy communion, I
beheld the Infant Jesus reposing in the arms
of his Divine Mother. This great mystery is
a hidden treasure, buried in the field of the
THE DIVINE MATERNITY. 37
Church, which he discovers to whomsoever
he wills. There have been souls appointed
to honor him in the mysteries of his Pas
sion, and who consequently, have been favored
with the sacred stigmatas ; but for me, not
withstanding my uii worthiness, he has bidden
me to bear the state of his infancy, and for this
favor he has already prepared me himself. To
day, he has condescended to unite me to himself
during the holy communion, and to make me
penetrate even to his adorable heart, that I
might draw the nearer to his Virgin. Mother.
O O
He it is who has lead me to this source of
grace and benedictions, bidding me draw
forth the milk of divine mercy in the same
spirit of charity with which he himself had
imbibed the virginal milk of his tender
mother ; for he was nourished with this
milk for the salvation of mankind, and for
mankind had he shed it in such profusion on
the cross. Therefore, in imitation of his exam
ple, I ought to imbibe this mysterious liquor
from the maternal bosom of Mary in the name
of all my brethren, to lavish it afterward over
the entire world as a heavenly dew, to refresh
and purify the earth desolated by the fire of
concupiscence, and filled with the debris of sin
and corruption."
Then the sister seemed to hear Our Lord
saying to her : " I wish you to be very simple
and childlike, but that you have a large heart."
She added : " The following is a short prayer
which was inspired to me, by which I can
378 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
collect this mysterious liquor of mercy from
the maternal heart of Mary : "
" most holy and most worthy Mother of
Grod ! send dow r n in life-giving showers^ the
milk of grace and mercy upon all men, thy
children." The Blessed Virgin told her that
she ought to be very grateful for this inestima
ble privilege granted by the bounty of her
Divine Son. Closing this narrative the sister
says : " reverend mother ! how can I express
what I experienced during this operation of
grace ! Oh ! how incomprehensible the favor of
beholding oneself as a little child in the tenier
arms of Mary, reposing on her maternal breast !
This source of grace and mercy is inexhaustible.
But, alas ! what am I, miserable and unworthy
as I am, to be thus deputed to draw forth at
this fountain of mercy for the salvation of sin
ners ! I prostrated myself on the ground, con
fessing before Grod my unworthiness for such
a mission ; but the Lord has ever chosen the
weakest among his creatures to show forth his
power and glory. Sit Nom i n Domini benedic-
tum"
CHAPTER XX.
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY.
" Your pilgrimage is di awing to
a close !.... The end of the combat
is nigh !..,. You will soon behold
my Face in Heaven I"
(Words of Our Lord.}
The establishment of the arch-confraternity
for Reparation was a source of joy to Sister St.
Peter. " But," said she, " 1 am not yet per
fectly satisfied, because the Church of Tours,
the inheritance of the great St. Martin, has
until now remained sterile. When shall this
seed which she has so long borne, spring
forth?"
Another attempt was about to be made.
On the llth of November, feast of St. Martin,
the virgin of Carmel experienced an operation
of grace which, as she said, " was a signal for
combat. After my soul had been inundated
with ineffable graces for six months, Our Lord
confided anew to my care, the Work of Rep
aration. The following Sunday, November
14th, day on which the feast of the Thaumat-
urgus was celebrated with great solemnity at
Tours, she was inspired to renew her suppli
cations to the archbishop. " Grod," she
380 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
exclaims, " how impenetrable are thy judg
ments ! Let us adore them in silence! All
our plans were futile, but I was not on this
account discouraged, for the most Blessed Vir
gin had given me the hope that a work so
necessary for the salvation of France would
take root and spread over the entire kingdom,
and that she would bestow upon us innu
merable graces. The child Jesus, on his part,
promised me that if this devotion were estab
lished in accordance to his wishes, he would
bestow upon France the kiss of peace and
reconciliation. At another time, the most
Holy Virgin again recommended to my prayers
this new-born Confraternity, just approved by
the Church and enriched with precious favors.
Our divine Mother seemed to be so full of joy
at the birth of this association, that she de
manded of Grod extraordinary graces for
France."
The future welfare of her beloved father
land was always uppermost in the mind of
the servant of Grod, and thus we behold her
praying for it unceasingly. On the 2nd of
December, Our Lord appeared to her all cov
ered with wounds, saying these sad words :
" The Jews crucified me on Friday, but
Christians crucify me on Sunday ! I implore you
to solicit the establishment of the Reparation
in this diocese of Tours, that my friends may
embalm my wounds by their expiatory prayers
and obtain mercy for the guilty. My daugh
ter, the heavens are overcast, the storm is
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 381
threatening to burst forth, but I shall keep my
promise if my will be done. Speak with
humility, but at the same time with a holy
liberty." She made no delay in informing
Mgr. Morlot of this communication. He was
warned of the "storm" which was threat
ening, and apprised thrat the last hour for
action had come.
If the sister was disheartened with her
want of success on one hand, she was en
couraged on the other by a vision so much
the more pleasing as it was unexpected. Let
us listen to her relating the cause of her joy :
".Our holy Mother St. Teresa," said she, " ap
peared to me this morning. She has been
appointed by Grod to combat the enemies of
the Work of Reparation which the powers of
darkness are trying to overthrow. She told
me that this holy work would be the honor
of Carmel for it was truly in conformity with
the spirit of our holy vocation, whose sole
object is the glory of G-od and the relief of
the necessities of the Church ; for this reason
she urged me to devote all my energies to this
work, and to pray with untiring fervor.
Then she recommended me to be scrupulously
obedient, giving me to understand that Jesus
would work miracles for the soul obedient to
her superiors, that she herself had always
submitted the lights and communications, re
ceived from Heaven, to the decision of obe
dience. She showed me with what fidelity
I ought to acquit myself of all our religious
382 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
observances, which are so agreeable to Our
Lord that the fulfillment of them alone is
sufficient to enrich the soul with merit. In
fine, I understood that God gave to this work
a most powerful protectress in the person of
our holy Foundress, and to me a most powerful
consoler in my afflictions. From this moment,
I felt united in a most particular manner to
our holy Mother, so remarkable for her zeal
for the glory of the Most High. It is she who
will succor me in my weakness, and help me
to pursue my thorny path."
The " storm " of which the Lord had
spoken, was threatening in the distance.
About two months later, it was on the point
of bursting forth. The Divine Master had fore
told it in unmistakable terms.
"During my evening meditation," said the
sister, " Our Lord intimated that he had some
thing to communicate. I resisted several
times, for I feared an illusion. But at last,
Jesus, having recollected all the powers of
my soul in his Divine Heart, told me to recall
to mind that L had given myself entirely to
him, to labor for the accomplishment of his
designs ; for this reason he wished to confide
to me a new mission. Presently he warned
m^ of the terrible blow which was menacing
us : The Church is threatened with a violent tempest ;
pray, pray, pray ! * He repeated this several
* It may be well to remark, that this prediction was fulfilled
that very year, 1848, in France and Italy, particularly in Koine,
for the Holy Father was obliged to fly to Gaeta.
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 383
times on different occasions. It would be
impossible to express the touching- manner in
which Our Lord said : Pray, pray ! He
taught me what prayer to say in order to
shelter his Church in virtue of the most Holy
Name of G-od : it was the same prayer he had
offered to his heavenly Father for his Apostles
and for the Church, before quitting the earth.
My Father, keep in thy Name those whom
thou hast given me. (St. John.) This prayer
is more efficacious than any I could compose
of myself and since he chose me in his mercy
to render glory to the Holy Name of Grod, I
have, in some manner, the right to ask grace
in virtue of this Holy Name, the refuge of the
Church."
" My adorable Saviour made me understand
that his justice was roused by the sins of the
world, but particularly by the crimes which
are an -outrage to the majesty of Grod. At this
moment, I beheld Our Lord in the most Blessed
Sacrament, and I saw that the prayers of the
just held captive the arms of divine justice.
Our Lord recommended me to pray for the
Sovereign Pontiff. Lastly, I beheld what
seemed to me a thick black smoke rising
toward the heavens ; it did not, however,
obscure the sun, and I was somewhat con
soled. This smoke was the figure of enemies,
and the sun symbolized the Church. Jesus
continued : The effects you will experience
in your soul will make you understand that
it is I who have spoken. And soon my heart
-384 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
was transpierced with a sword of sorrow. I
theii^ commenced my mission of prayer, say
ing : Holy Father, guard the Church of
Jesus Christ in virtue of thy salutary Name,
for this was the last will of thy Divine Son,
his last desire. Remember the last loving
prayer he offered for our holy Mother the
Church, Holy Father, keep in thy Name
those whom thou hast given me ; while I was
with them I kept them in thy Name. Most
Holy Name of Grod, refuge of the Church and
of France, have pity on us and save us.
" Sunday, 20th of February, having offered
my holy communion in reparation for. the
outrages committed against the Divine Majesty,
I saw that all was over ! Gruilty France
was about to be chastised ; a celestial ray
caused me to observe that the Lord has drawn
his bow, he is ready to aim his arrows. On
beholding him arming himself against sinners
who so shamefully outrage him, I was pene
trated w^ith a holy indignation, and entering
into the designs of his justice, I cried out :
Strike, Lord ! I panted for the glory of G-od
to be avenged, for I saw that the blow w r ould
not be mortal. Although I prayed the Most
High to strike, that he might retrieve his
glory, yet I begged him to strike as a father
and not as an angry judge. Let us adore the
justice of Grod and at the same time invoke
his mercy. It is now more than four years
that the arm of the Lord has been raised in
anger over our guilty heads ! . . . "
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 385
In fact, the hour for chastisement had come ;
an unexpected revolution had broken out in
Paris, the effects of which were experienced
all over Europe.
Louis Philip had been under the impression
that a reign of nineteen years had secured his
sceptre, but alas ! he was obliged to fly with
.his family into exile. The Church, however,
was not openly persecuted, at least in France,
for she is still respected even in the midst of
the greatest social disorders It will not be
until later on that the secret emissaries of im
piety, will try to tryaniiize over her by their
diabolical intrigues.
On the 2 6th of February, after having received
holy communion, our carmelite was much
consoled, the Lord having said these words
relative to the Community : " Fear not, little
troop, thou art reposing under the salutary
banner of my Name. No evil shall befall
thee, for all power is in my hand, and I will
not suffer thee to be wrested from my grasp. "
" Verily," cries out the pious virgin, " the
Lord will recognize and protect all those who
invoke his Holy Name ; it is an all-powerful
rampart, shielding our house, for the members
are united by the bonds of charity."
" Our Lord gave me to understand that the
clergy, likewise, will be spared ; troubles and
vexations will doubtless arise, but the hierar
chy will not be openly persecuted ; the blood
-of priests will not be shed as in 93, because
he has not as much reason to complain as in
13
386 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
those unfortunate times. I am confident that
the Church of France will be protected in vir
tue of the Holy Name of God."
" Holy Father, keep in thy Name those whom
thou hast given me. This is the prayer which
we must continually recite for the Holy Church,
in union with our Lord Jesus Christ."
" Permit me, Rev. Mother, to tell you the
words which Jesus said to me after holy com
munion on the 21st of November ; they caused
me to shed tears in abundance. He was at the
time speaking of the "Work of Reparation and
said : When I shall shake the throne of
France to its very foundations, what, think
you, shall be her distress !
" "With good reason was I overwhelmed
with grief, for I saw that the terrible moments
of Grod s justice were drawing nigh. Alas !
the hour has sounded, and in the twinkling of
an eye, he will execute what he has sworn. I
adore thee, justice of my Grod ; yet I invoke
thy mercy, Lord most high."
The sister felt inspired to invoke mercy
with renewed fervor. Listen to her supplicat
ing cries : " My soul is sorrowful even unto
death, and I feel the necessity of confiding m^r
troubles to you, reverend mother. When I
consider the predictions which Our Lord has
made, I say : Soon, too soon, shall they all be
fulfilled ! My G-od ! have I not reason to fear,
when I think I have been charged with such
a formidable mission ! when I recall these ter
rible words : If through your fault, my de-
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 38*7
signs are not accomplished, I will demand
a rigid account of the loss of these souls at
your hands. Several years have now elapsed,
since I made known that the Lord demanded
a Reparatory Work, in order to stay the threat
ening arm of his Father ; for Reparation would
appear as the rain-bow in the heavens. Hap
pily, the work has been founded and even now
sheds around its beneficent influence, but it is
still too feeble to arrest the arm of the Most
High. Oh ! if this work were spread in the
entire diocese, I would be without fear, for
G-od is faithful to his promise. For some time,
I have implored my good Master to give mon-
seigneur an indisputable sign of my mission,
so that he would do something to establish
the Reparation. I have set forth the present
difficulties of his Lordship to Him who can do
all things, and I have supplicated him to give
some proof of his will. Lord, I implore thee,
send him a sign so marked and certain that
entire France, beholding, will recognize this
work as thine. Grant this great sign I implore
thee."
" Our Lord, seeing that I begged this favor
solely for the glory of his Name and for the
accomplishment of his will, heard my prayer.
On the 13th of February, I had the vision of
which I have spoken. It was in confirmation
of what I had announced to monseigneur in
the communication of December 2nd. My Di
vine Master at that time told me to inform his
Lordship that the storm was threatening in
the distance, that it was time for action. On
388 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
the 13th of February, I saw that this storm
was about to burst forth, and I beheld a black
cloud rising from earth to heaven which did
not, however, obscure the sun (the Church)
because the Church of France had then in
voked the Holy Name of Grod, this Name, her
refuge during the tempest. The Lord told me
that in consequence of this work, France would
not be humiliated as she deserved, but would
be only slightly chastised."
" Our Lord has done what he has promised ;
yes, indeed, he has shielded his Church in
virtue of his life-giving Name. Before striking
the awful blow of his justice, he said : Holy
Father, keep in thy Name those whom thou
hast given me. Therefore have those who be
longed to him been spared. Oh ! how I desire
to make known this consoling truth to all
bishops : that the Holy Name of Grod is the
impregnable fortress of the Church of France I
How I would beg of them with all the earnest
ness of which I am capable, to propagate this
"Work of Reparation ! I have always said, and
I still repeat, that Reparation alone can disarm
the justice of Grod and save France. Happy
shall we be if we know how to use this plank
of salvation."
If unable to proclaim this truth to all
bishops of the world, it would be expedient
that at least she should be allowed to make it
known to the prelate who, from the year in
which she submitted her communications to
him, appeared convinced of the truth and of
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 389
the heavenly origin of her revelations. On the
3rd of March she addressed the following letter
to the mother prioress : " At the conclusion of
my thanksgiving, I hasten to write what Our
Lord has communicated to me during holy
communion. He positively commanded me to
speak to monseigneur, or to his secretary,
telling me that I should boldly proclaim what
has been revealed to me during the past four
and a half years. My good Master assures me
that he will place the proper words in my
mouth. He added : I have again taken the
rod of justice in my hand, if my people wish
to avoid it, let them put in its stead the Work
of Reparation. For your part, be faithful to
fulfil your mission. How noble to be chosen to
manifest my will ! If you remain deaf to my
voice, you will expose yourself to the blows of
this rod ; use all your efforts to withdraw it
from my hand.
" Behold, as nearly as possible, reverend
mother, that whic.li Jesus has communicated
to me. I must continue to recite this prayer in
union with him : Holy Father, keep in thy name
those whom thou hast given me ! According
to what I have beheld, it is he who says this
with me and I who say it in him. Oh ! what
tenderness he has for his Church ! It seems
that he has no other thought but for her wel
fare ; he desires to save her, to shield her by the
adorable Name of his Father. If the Church
of France could speak, she would implore the
establishment of the Work of Reparation. I
390 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
demand it in her name, for it is her only ram
part against the assaults of her enemies."
" Reverend mother, in obedience to my Di
vine Master, I very humbly beg you to solicit
the favor of a visit from monseigneur. If his
lordship be too occupied, beg him to send
his secretary to record all that I feel it my duty
to reveal on this matter."
The request was forwarded to Mgr. Morlot.
and the object of the desired interview was
explained to him. The prelate sent his sec
retary, 1 abbe Vincent, who held the following
conversation with Sr. Mary St. Peter ; w^e
shall give it literally, according to the account
written by herself.
" Reverend mother, I shall give you a short
extract of my pleadings with the archbishop s
secretary on the subject of the Work of Repa
ration. I assure you that Our Lord assisted
me as he had promised ; for I was neither
troubled nor intimidated, and spoke with the
greatest facility. I will now relate, as nearly
as possible, what passed during the interview."
The Secretary : " Sister, I have come to tell
you from monseigneur, that he has presented
your letters to the members of his council, and
that all, unanimously, have pronounced against
the establishment of the work you demand.
Monseigneur has seriously examined the mat
ter before Grod, and finds it impossible to take
any part in it ; we do not recognize the valid
ity of your mission. "
Sr. St. Peter : " I do not pretend to impor-
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECEETAEY. 391
tune Monseigneur, nor to uphold my own
opinion of the mission which I believe has
been imposed upon me by Our Lord for the
salvation of France. My intention was to ful
fil my duty conscientiously. "When I had the
honor of speaking to his Lordship about the
communications which I have received from
Grod, he said to me at the time : My child, be"
tranquil ; there is no illusion here for I discern
the finger of God. It was on the authority of
those words, which I received as coming from
the Holy Grhost himself, that I persevered in
my mission. "
TheSecretary : ** My good sister, monseigneur
told you this at the time, because he knew not
to what lengths this affair would go ; but since
then he has minutely examined all the partic
ulars ; he has prayed: this cannot be."
Sr. St. Peter : " Yery well, reverend sir, that
is sufficient. All I desired was to have the
decision of his Lordship. My conscience
obliged me to do as I have done for the work
of Reparation ; now I am in perfect peace.
But allow me to tell you that the reason why
I desired to speak to monseigneur, was in order
to discharge my duty. Since you are his rep
resentative, I shall depose my mission in
your hands, leaving the responsibility to the
authorities of the Church. They will answer
for it before God."
The Secretary : " But my good sister, the
association of which you speak is already es
tablished."
392 LIFE OF SISTER. MARY ST. PETER.
Sr. St. Peter : " It is true, but the Church
of Tours should have had the honor of being
the mother of this association. I begged it
from monseigneur but he did not deem it ad
visable to establish the work, and I submitted !
What proves the Reparation to be really the
work of God, is that without any concurrence
611 my part it has been established."
The Secretary : " But there are many mem
bers here in Tours. And has not monseigneur
approved a little book of prayers on Repara
tion ?"
Sr. St. Peter : " Yes, very true, reverend
father, but there must be at Tours an associa
tion aggregated to the one at Langres. The
work has need of the patronage of the arch
bishop, all eyes are fixed on him because it is
in his diocese that the idea was first con
ceived."
The Secretary : " Sister, I tell you quite
candidly that this work established at Langres
is not very prosperous, it has even been the
subject of comment in the daily papers."
Sister Mary St. Peter : " That is not very
astonishing, sir, for Our Lord has warned me
that the work would be opposed by all the
powers of darkness. Have you not observed
that the devotion to the Sacred Heart met
with nearly the same opposition ? And that
there were many difficulties to be overcome
before the feast of Corpus Christi was estab
lished ? The Lord has imposed similar mis
sions on souls more worthy than I, it is true,
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 393
but they also have suffered from unjust accu
sations and persecution."
The Secretary: "All the works -of God
have suffered from persecution, among others,
the arch-confraternity of the Sacred Heart of
Mary. This is a most admirable project em
bracing all good works, for its primary aim is
the conversion of sinners."
Sister St. Peter : " Our Lord was fully aware
of its existence when he demanded another
confraternity ; for he made me understand that
the first was not sufficient ; because if we
wish to obtain pardon from a person offended,
it is but just that we offer reparation of honor.
The Lord has given me to understand that it
is the trangressions against the first command
ments that have aroused his wrath against
France. If these disorders cannot be prevented
by the authority of the Church, or that of the
State, they should at least be atoned for by a
suitable reparation."
The Secretary : : Very true, but there lies the
difficulty, my good sister. How are we to be
assured that God exacts reparation ? You may
be deceiving us."
Sister St. Peter : u That is very possible,
yet I hardly think that the imagination could
invent anything like unto this, lasting for five
years, without the influence of any mortal
being. My prudent superiors have not counte
nanced me in my ideas ; they have even for
bidden me to think of the subject, yet they have
not wished to pass any judgment. Our father
394 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
superior has always referred me to the decision
of the archbishop."
The Secretary : " Yery well, my good sister,
be perfectly tranquil ; you have done your duty
in making known these communications to
the archbishop. Now I say to you in his name,
think of these things no more, cast them en
tirely from your mind."
Sr. St. Peter : " Monseigneur, doubtless, does
not forbid me to ask of Grod the accomplish
ment of his designs ? "
The Secretary : " No, but do not pray for
this work."
Sr. St. Peter : " Eeverend sir, I pray you to
assure monseigiieur of my obedience to his
orders."
The sister was faithful to her promise. A
few days after, she writes :
" Our Lord has entirely divested me of the
desire of beholding the "Work of Reparation
established in Tours. "Were but one word re
quisite for its erection, I would not pronounce
it, and this through obedience to ecclesiastical
authority which I shall always respect. I
have been not a little grieved over these last
refusals, but Our Lord consoled me, notwith
standing my unworthiness, for he gave me to
understand that his work would take root and
nourish, that it would remain firm in the
midst of storms, and that if it were not planted
in one soil, it would thrive the better in anoth
er. This latter promise was fulfilled two days
after, for we learned that the Eeparatioii has
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 395
been established at Lyons, where it has been
pushed forward with great zeal."
As if to receive from his servant some com
pensation, the Divine Master applied her anew,
with greater intensity than ever, to the con
templation of his Holy Face. There is 110 more
powerful means of appeasing the irritated jus
tice of the Almighty, than to offer the most
Holy Face of him who has borne the thorns
of our sins on his sacred head, which became
as a rock * under the blows of his divine
justice."
" He has paid our debts, he is our security,
this is why our most amiable Saviour has com
manded me to remain unceasingly before the
throne of his Father, offering him this divine
Face, the object of his complaisance. My ten
der Saviour gave me this consoling promise :
Every time that you present my Face to my
Father, my mouth will demand mercy. My
good Jesus promised me that he would have
pity on France. Let us then be filled with con
fidence ; his all-powerful Name will be our
buckler, and his adorable Face, our rampart.
But he gave me to understand that he desired
to see the devotion to this adorable Face take
root in the hearts of the faithful. good Je
sus ! conceal thy people in the secret recesses
of thy Holy Face, that it may be to them a
tower of defence and an impregnable fortress
against the attacks of thy enemies."
* This word is applied to our Lord in Isaias : " I have set my face
as a most hard rock."
396 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
After communion, the Lord appeared to the
sister as "EcceHomo." "He desired that I
should contemplate his Holy Face. But soon,
he drew my attention, in a very special man
ner to the reed which he held in his hand,
this he presented to me as a sword with which
to fight the enemies of the Church, promis
ing that they would smart from its blows. He
also gave me to understand that this feeble
reed was the figure of my soul. Yerily, I am
indeed but a weak little reed, yet in the hands
of Jesus Christ, my Spouse, I shall become all-
powerful against his enemies, I shall say with
faith and confidence : May the malice of the
devil become powerless before the reed of Je
sus Christ ; like young David, I shall behead
the giant G-oliath in the name of the living
Grod with my javelin, I mean with the ado
rable Face of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Nothing is more conformable to the holy
scripture than this idea of the "rock," applied
to the Face of Christ. As we have seen, it is
the expression used by the prophet, Isaias ;
and St. Paul says, that Christ is the " rock "
by excellence. The Prince of the apostles,
in one of his epistles, uses a similar figure,
calling Our Lord the " corner-stone." He
predicts that this stone will crush to atoms
the enemies of G-od. Thus we behold how
appropriately our simple little Breton applies
her comparisons !
" These, reverend mother, are the projects
with which the Lord fills my soul. Eternal
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 397
"Father, I offer thee the most Holy Face of
Jesus. This is the mysterious coin of infinite
value which alone is capable of discharging
our debt. I offer thee the most Holy Face of
Jesus to appease thy anger : remember that it
has been pierced with the thorns of our sins ;
that it has become like to a rock under the
blows of thy justice. Look upon these divine
wounds of which I would be the voice to cry
out incessantly : Mercy, mercy, O my G-od !
mercy for poor sinners ! Another day, March
30, 1848, she proposed to receive holy com
munion to honor the most Holy Face of Our
Lord, to comfort him in the sufferings caused
by his ghastly wounds She implored him to
imprint this adorable Face upon her heart so
deeply that it would never be obliterated.
" Before communion," said she, " a celestial
light dawned on my soul and I beheld that the
Face of the mystical body of Jesus Christ is the
holy Church, which is now covered with
wounds by the wicked ! "
" Then, I was inspired to offer to Our Lord
the virginal milk of his Holy Mother as a pre
cious and fragrant balm wherewith to heal
the wounds of his most Holy Face ; my soul
experienced great joy in performing this act
of simplicity and love."
" After communion, my divine Saviour, in his
infinite goodness, was pleased to show me that
this exercise was most agreeable to him and
that I should continue it. He told me that in
return he desired I would taste the milk of his
398 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETEE.
divine consolations in order to alleviate my
sufferings. Then I beheld Our Lord resplen
dent with glory and all my senses were rav
ished with joy. Soon he caused me to hear
these sweet and consoling words : Your pil
grimage is drawing to a close ! The end of the
combat is approaching ! You will soon see my
divine Face in heaven ! "
" At these words, I prostrated myself on the
ground, saying : Lord, I merit only hell-fire.
But my good Master replied : The virtue of my
Holy Face has restored the image of Grod in
your soul. Those that contemplate the wounds
of my Face on earth, will one day behold the
glory and majesty with which it is surrounded
in heaven. I was then on Tha.bor, and like
the apostle St. Peter, I would willingly have
cried out : Lord, it is good to be here ; let
us erect three temples for the three powers of
my soul, that they may always enjoy this sweet
repose which surpasses all the pleasures of
earth. But our Divine Lord gave me to un
derstand that his true spouse ought to prefer
the heat of the combat to the repose of con
templation, that to defend his glory she need
not fear casting herself in the midst of the
battle. I told him that I would combat the
enemies of his Church with the instruments
of his Passion, and I perceived that my design
was agreeable to him."
"This is the substance of what passed dur
ing this last communication ; I say the sub
stance, because it would be impossible to find a
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 399
literal conveyance for these interior words, still
less to describe what my soul experienced.
How unworthy and despicable it is to fix our
heart on creatures ! Eternal Father, I offer
thee the most Holy Face of Jesus to appease
thy anger. Look upon his wounds, behold
liis humiliations ! He is the only worthy rep
aration for our crimes ; He is the glory of
thy Holy Name ! Eternal Father, I offer thee
the most Holy Face of Jesus to pay our debts !
This is the coin of infinite value stamped with
the effigy of the King of kings."
The next revelation is short, and bears the
same impress of simplicity, as do all the
others. With a feeling of piety and vener
ation which we doubt not will be shared by
our readers, we shall transcribe it entire, as
it i the last penned by this good sister.
"For several days," said she, " I have per
ceived myself preoccupied with the holy in
fancy of the Word Incarnate. You are aware,
reverend mother, that my soul is vowed to
this mystery. Our Lord invites me from time
to time to contemplate the other mysteries of
his holy life ; but the stable of Bethlehem
is, so to say, my refuge and my home."
" Our Lord gave me to understand last Sun
day, that many pious souls devoted themselves
to the contemplation of the humiliations en
dured during his dolorous Passion, but that
few thought of the annihilations of his Holy
Infancy. He desires that I should contemplate
this phase of his life, with the intention of
400 , LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
fighting against the spirit of pride, of ambition
and of independence, being armed with the
humiliations, the poverty of his manger, and
the captivity of his swathing bands. I think
that the Eternal Father w T ould not be the less
pleased with the Face of the Infant Jesus in
the lowly manger, covered with tears on
account of our sins, than with the Face of
Christ covered with blood and forsaken upon
the cross; for he is the august victim for our
sins both in the manger and on the cross.
Therefore, I offer this divine Infant to the
Eternal Father ; I place him between heaven
and earth to appease the anger of the Most
High. The Holy Grhost directed me anew to
contemplate Jesus reposing in the arms of his
Holy Mother, and toward the end of my
prayer, the most Blessed Virgin deigned to
appear to me, notwithstanding my unwor-
thiness. She told me that she was the Queen
of Carmel, that she would protect its houses
during the days of calamity, and that we should
have great confidence in her and in her Di
vine Son. She also told me that we should
labor with zeal to attain the end of our insti
tute, that is to pray for the necessities of the
Church, and to offer violence to heaven for
the conversion of sinners. This tender Mother
desired me to say the hymn O Gloriosa Virginum,
in honor of her divine maternity, as many times
as we have houses in France, promising me
that she would bedew the flowers of Carmel
with her virginal milk, emblem of mercy."
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY. 401
" She also told me that the more the army
of G-od would be augmented (here she meant
the defenders of his Holy Name) the more the
army of Satan would be weakened (the
enemies of the Church and of the State.)"
" Behold, as near as possible, reverend moth
er, what has passed in my soul. Seventy-
two times I repeated the hymn indicated by
Mary, in honor of the years of her blessed life,
and I prayed St. Joseph, our good father, and
our holy mother St. Theresa to offer them to
the Queen of Carmel for the preservation and
perfection of our dear monasteries of France."
" Oh ! Divine Mary, water the flowers of
Carmel with the mysterious milk of grace,
that they may be strongly rooted in this
ground of benediction and that they may
never be touched by the devil."
In recommending the "flowers of Carmel "
to the "Divine Mary," the dear sister was in
spired with the purest sentiments of gratitude
towards a blessed ground where for nine years
she had been favored with numerous graces,
and blessed with abundant benedictions.
How could the Mother of the Infant Jesus
refuse to grant a prayer so worthy of her ma
ternal heart !
CHAPTER XXI.
HER VIRTUES.
" What gives me the greatest
consolation now, at the hour of
my death, is that I have al
ways been obedient."
(Words of the Sister.)
It may not be uninteresting to our readers
to retrace our steps succinctly, in order to cast
a rapid glance at the virtues of Sister Mary
St. Peter, and at the same time to sketch the
outline .of her religious life, before under
taking the account of her last illness and death.
"We shall thus cull whatever flowers may have
escaped our notice hitherto, besides those
which her good sisters, the Carmelites, have
treasured up in their religious esteem and
affection.
Let us not expect to behold those of rare or
brilliant hue, such as may be found among the
precious fw of earth s immortal sons and
daughters. As we have already remarked,
nothing could have been more simple than
the life of this servant of G-od. We have been
.assured by her superiors that it would have
HER VIRTUES. 403
taken an acute and attentive observer to de
tect the least sign of the marvels of grace with
which she was favored by the Holy Grhost.
The details we are about to narrate, may seem
trifling and common -place, yet they are not
without their due importance, for they will
disclose the hidden beauty of the saintly life
that we have been admiring. Pious souls
of the cloister, even seculars, will here find a
subject of edification, well worthy of imitation.
Would that we could cause the rich treasure
bequeathed us in Mary of St. Peter to be more
appreciated !
"We must first say a word about her phys
iognomy, that mirror of the soul, the mystery
of which she has so eloquently developed in
the passage on the Holy Face of Our Lord.
She calls herself a " little Breton," although
she was about medium height. Her appearance
at first glance, was far from prepossessing
because of the irregularity of her features ;
her forehead was narrow, her eyes and nose
small, and her mouth projecting, but these
defects were amply compensated by a clear,
fresh complexion, but more especially by
a sweet and calm expression which bespoke
the hidden beauty of her soul. Her glance
was modest and cautious ; her grave deport
ment announced a mind absorbed a"nd concen
trated on the one theme, Grod and his glory.
Her beautiful, clear voice, was of great assist
ance in the choir. Skilful and adept, she was
remarkable for her taste in needle- work, and
404 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
for her assiduity in the performance of all her
duties.
Her literary education, as we have already
remarked, was very incomplete ; but unknown
to herself she possessed, besides harmony of
style and an almost poetic instinct, a great per
spicuity in her conception of the sublime and
supernatural operations of which she was at
times obliged to treat. Figures abounded un
der her pen, and although many might have
been revealed to her, yet we find them so
plentiful, that we must conclude the greater
number evidently resulted from her own nat
ural ability.
The same happened when she explained
these marvels by word of mouth, yet-she knew
how to make use of them with as much sim
plicity as modesty. The only desire of her
heart was to advance in the science of the
saints, the knowledge of Grod, desiring only
to know, to love and to serve him.
She was endowed with good judgment, and
a candid mind easily open to conviction ; her
imagination was fully under her control : her
natural inclinations, moderated and guided
by divine grace ; her passions were subdued
and almost extinct, giving her slight cause
of resistance. Her disposition, particularly
adapted for community life, was naturally
sweet, gentle, amiable and gay. She was quick
at repartee, but was never betrayed beyond the
bounds of justice and charity ; firm in her
opinion, especially where there was question
HER VIRTUES. 405
of duty, yet she never maintained it with con
tention or obstinacy.
She possessed so much self-control that it
required a penetrating eye to detect the first
sallies of nature, for she knew how to restrain
her emotions before they were betrayed ex
teriorly. She was naturally of a loving and
sensitive disposition, although not demon
strative, possessed of much tact and perfect dis
cretion. She usually spoke little, and that
little on Grod, never on self. She practised
the most heroic virtues without affectation,
avoiding all singularity.
Sometimes she seemed concentrated in self,
and this from various causes ; first, the influ
ence of Grod who frequently held her captive ;
then, perhaps through respect or deference for
those with whom she was in conversation.
She was at times a little absent-minded but
this might be attributed to her application to
the things of Grod. The virtue of simplicity
animated all her actions, and the rectitude of
her judgment gave her uncommon liberty of
mind, although to behold her, one would have
judged otherwise.
She took so much pains to conceal her vir
tue that a just appreciation of her merit could
only be acquired after a long and attentive
observation. Possessing none of those brill
iant qualities which naturally inspire esteem
and preferment, her beauty was not exterior :
Omnis gloria filia regis ab intus. It would be
difficult to state the particular virtue in which
406 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Sister Mary St. Peter excelled. "Without
enumerating all, we shall mention in prefer
ence those which have contributed to make
her a perfect religious and a saintly carmelite.
She possessed the virtue of charity in an
eminent degree, her tender and solid piety
inspiring her with most ardent and effective
love for G-od. The glory of the Lord and the
salvation of souls were the only objects of her
desires, the sole end of her prayers and of
all her actions. This zeal for the glory of
Grod animated her during her entire life ; we
may even say that she was consumed by it
from the moment, when in 1843, she perceived
by a supernatural vision, that divine wrath
was about to descend on mankind because of
the heinous crimes committed against the three
first commandments. Inspired by grace, she
offered herself to Grod as a victim in order to
satisfy his justice.
The eternal loss of immortal souls made
such a lively impression on her sensitive
heart, that she could not contain her sorrow
but often gave vent to it in torrents of tears.
Her heart became dilated in the love of Jesus ;
she honored his sacred humanity in all its
mysteries, but those of his birth and of his
hidden life possessed inconceivable charms
for her. Her devotion to the Holy Infancy
and to the Holy Family, manifested itself on
all occasions. When she was portress, it was
a pleasure for her to open the doors for the
carpenters, who recalled to her mind the labors
HER VIRTUES. 407
of Jesus and of St. Joseph. One day, a
waggon, driven by an ass, entered the yard ;
approaching this animal, the good sister com
menced to caress it in remembrance of the
services rendered to Jesus and Mary by the
humble beast which transported them to
Egypt.
At Christmas time, she manifested her lively
piety in every conceivable manner ; with a
radiant countenance she contemplated the In
fant Jesus in the manger, taking him in her
arms, making illuminations round the crib and
singing pious hymns in her " best voice."
Sometimes, like David before the ark, she
would commence to dance and rejoice, invit
ing her companions of the novitiate to join
with her; at which the Mother Prioress ex
pressed her surprise, telling her to beware of
levity. "Oh! no, mother," replied she, "I
do so as an honorable amend to the Infant Je
sus for all forbidden dances of lukewarm
Christians."
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist was the object
of all her affections. In the choir, in presence
of the Blessed Sacrament, her countenance,
her entire deportment would lead one to be
lieve that, piercing the eucharistic veils, she
really beheld Jesus on the altar. Did she quit
the sanctuary, she left her heart at his feet ;
in whatever part of the house she was em
ployed, she would turn in this direction,
transported with joy when she could perceive
the chapel windows. The holy place was her
408 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
repose ; she would willingly have passed
there her entire days and nights ; if she had a
few spare moments, her steps were imme
diately directed to the chapel ; on Sundays
and feasts, she made it her dwelling. There,
absorbed in God, she seemed a stranger to all
that passed around her.
When she spoke of the Holy Eucharist she
laid aside her habitual reserve and yielded to
the vehemence of her love. A hundred times
a day, and perhaps more frequently, she went
in spirit to offer him her homage. She assisted
at the most holy sacrifice of the mass with
the utmost reverence and was more than once
observed to shed torrents of tears ; it was es
pecially at communion that her faith became
manifest. She prepared herself on the eve
with extraordinary fervor, inviting the Blessed
Virgin and the holy angels to prepare a
dwelling place for the celestial Spouse whom
she expected to entertain, but when she pos
sessed him, lost and absorbed, she forgot all
else, to enjoy his divine presence.
Her ordinary dwelling-place was in the
Sacred Heart of Jesus ; it was from this fur
nace of love that she drew forth so many
graces for herself and for others. It was her
place of refuge in all her troubles, and to the
Sacred Heart in the most Blessed Sacrament
she had recourse in all her necessities. "We
are aware of her devotion to the most Blessed
Virgin before her admission to the religious
life ; her love for this divine Mother was ever
HER VIRTUES. 409
on the increase, especially since she beheld
herself consecrated to her forever as a child
of Carmel. In her fervor, she conceived many
pions practices in her honor and spoke of her
frequently, endeavoring to enkindle in every
heart the devotion to our Blessed Lady, through
whose intervention, she had received so many
innumerable favors. Abundant light was given
her on the prerogatives of the Holy Mother of
Grod. She called St. Joseph her good father.
The seraphic St. Theresa was also tenderly
loved by this fervent child of Carmel. "We
might say as much for her love of her Angel
G-uardian. One day, during her novitiate, she
was in the garret sorting clothes for the wash.
It suddenly recurred to her mind, that at the
death of her grandfather, whom she venerated
as a saint, she had preserved a lock of his hair,
and not remembering what she had done
with it, she became uneasy and begged her
good angel to take care of this precious sou
venir which she believed to have left at home.
On turning round, she beheld at her side a
lock of white hair which she immediately rec
ognized as being the missing treasure
For fear of making a mistake, she inquired of
the sisters if any one could give her any infor
mation about the lock of hair she had found,
but no one knew anything about it.
She had attained a high degree of humility ;
even in the world she had been well exercised
in the practice of this, the mother of all virtues.
Her soul, nourished with the bread of humil-
410 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
iations, found in it more delight than world
lings experience in praises and acclamations.
"We find that her superiors were ever lavish of
the food for which she constantly hungered, and
this not only to second the designs of G-od and to
secure their fulfilment, but to preserve in her
soul the precious virtues with which she wa&
enriched. Sincerely believing herself the
last and least in the community, the most un
worthy, the most miserable sinner, she chas
tised herself for the smallest imperfections.
She had arrived at such a degree of perfection
that self-love and self-seekings found no place
in her heart. She ingeniously avowed that
neither the graces with which she was so
wonderfully favored, nor all the praises she
could possibly receive, would be able to excite
in her the least sentiment of vanity. Thus, the
gifts of Grod only served to humble her the
more, and to disclose her weakness and unwor-
thiness. Far from being vain of the favors ac
corded her, she trembled at the remembrance
of the account which one day she would be
obliged to give.
Once, when still a novice, the mother prior
ess told her during recreation, to sing for the
amusement of a newly arrived postulant, the
same hymn she had sung on her arrival :
" Let us bless the Lord, &c. " She sang so
sweetly and with so much feeling and piety,
that her young companion was charmed. At
the conclusion the mother prioress said : " Well r
Sister St. Peter, how many vain thoughts have
HER, VIRTUES. 411
you had while singing ? " " Mother," she
replied, her eyes modestly cast down, " If I
have had any, I chased them all away." In
this answer she showed her true spirit of hu
mility, avoiding to acknowledge piiblicly that
.she had been exempt from all sentiments of
vanity, which would have been only too natural
on such an occasion.
Her obedience was most perfect, without*
delay or excuse ; she submitted with the sim
plicity of a child to all that was desired of her,
imitating the example of the Infant Jesus at
Nazareth. She repeated without ceasing, these
words of the G-ospel : He ivas subject to them,
suggesting the same to her companions with
so much gentleness, that the influence exer
cised on those around her, can scarcely be
imagined. She made the holy virtue of obe
dience her food, and daily derived new strength
from its practice. Her opinions, her will, her
interior lights, all vanished the moment she
was aware of the intentions of her superiors.
She had such a lively spirit of faith that she
spoke to them as to Grod himself, receiving as
from him all their commands and counsels.
She used to say : " If my superiors were to
order a postulant or novice to take the direc
tion of my conduct, I would submit to her
for the love of G-od without any difficulty."
She blindly obeyed, not only her superiors, but
also the sisters with whom she was employed,
regarding them all as her superiors, and making
it a duty to acquiesce in their least wish.
412 LIFE OF SISTER MAEY ST. PETER.
She was like an infant incapable of either
action or movement but by the will of those
who conducted her. The obedience of this
dear sister was so perfect, that she was able,
during her last illness to say : " That which
consoles me now at the hour of my death is
the thought that I have ever been obedient."
Her detachment was that of a true carmel-
ite. She loved in Grod all those linked to her
by the ties of kindred, of religion and of grati
tude, but no unregulated affection ever found
any place in her heart. Her parents were
very dear to her and she prayed for them
always, but beholding all things in Grod, she
left in his hands the care of all that concerned
them, without allowing herself even a thought
on the subject.
Her immolation to G-od was entire and with
out reserve, according to the counsel of the
Psalmist : " Forget thy people and thy father s
house, and the king will recognize thy beauty."
"We find that she never spoke of those whom
she had left in the world, she was even ob
served to burn some letters before reading
them, for fear lest they might pre-occupy her
mind. She was wont to say that one of the
greatest obstacles to religious perfection was
irregular affection for parents ; although
it was an obligation to pray for them, yet we
should commit them to the care of an all-wise
Providence, without being pre-occupied with
their temporal affairs.
Her spirit of recollection was so profound
HER VIRTUES. 413
that it was sufficient to behold her, to feel one s
heart elevated toward God. So absorbed was
she in Him that even after her profession, she
was ignorant of the particular places occupied
by the sisters in the choir and refectory, and
often listened with surprise to the account of
what had passed under her very eyes. Calm,
silent and modest, one became aware of her
presence only by the edification of her whole
bearing, and by the manner in which she ac
complished the smallest actions. To belong
entirely to her heavenly Spouse, she abstained
from all that could flatter the senses.
If, on the one hand, she concealed from
creatures the virtues she practised, her sim
plicity and obedience caused her to reveal
them at the first question from authority.
After each celestial communication, she was
pale, trembling and covered with tears, more
especially when G-od announced the misfor
tunes which threatened France. Calmly and
silently the tears flowed from her eyes. She
appeared at these times absorbed in pro
found contemplation ; this lasted for entire
hours at a time, without however deterring
her from the performance of her obligations.
Sometimes it was noticed that she bore the
impress of great sufferings ; she Deemed to be
occupied with some subject that entirely
captivated her thoughts.
Her union with G-od was almost continual ;
she never lost sight of his divine presence,
and according to her own expression, her soul,
414 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
closely united to Jesus, was " a happy prisoner
at his feet." But this life, to all appearances
so heavenly and sweet, was not exempt from
great trials and sufferings, which she bore
with heroic fortitude ; the mother prioress
was convinced that these had contributed to
shorten her days. Is it then astonishing that
her prayers were sometimes miraculously
heard?
How admirable was her love of silence and
regularity ! So vigilant and exact was she at
all times that she might have been regarded
as the living rule of the house ; at the first
sound of the bell, her work fell from her
hands ; she would not have made one move
ment which could have retarded her. It was
sufficient for her companions to observe her
attentively to know, love and practise all
their duties. This dear sister possessed, in
an eminent degree, the spirit of her seraphic
mother St. Theresa, being gifted with that
sweet liberty of mind which distinguishes a
true carmelite ; to the interior virtues she
knew admirably how to unite the charms of
perfect charity and even at times the sallies of
wit.
One day, a friend of the house, offered some
cake ; Sister St. Peter, who was still portress,
being extremely fatigued, received the present,
and brought it immediately to the mother
prioress, saying : " How fortunate ! " and
adding with her usual simplicity : " The Ass
is hungry ! " The good mother smiled, and
HER VIRTUES. 415
gave a piece of the cake to the little portress
who ate it gayly, rendering thanks to Grod.
During the recreations, she spoke but little,
always preferring to listen ; yet she was ever
lively and amiable, taking part in all that
was said and done, although obliged to offer
extreme violence to herself to interrupt her
interior conversation with Grod. Her compan
ions loved to pass the recreation with her,
as they always drew some fruit from her con
versation.
Her reserve, when there was question of
charity, was particularly remarkable ; she ex
cused all, palliated the defects of others with
as much tact as cordiality. She never refused
a service to others for she figured herself as
serving Jesus and Mary in the persons of her
sisters. We have noticed how she fulfilled
the office of first and second portress, even
discharging the duties of both for a consider
able length of time. She was prudent, dis
crete and attentive, of easy access, affable
toward all and spreading round her the sweet
odor of Jesus Christ. Her devotedness was of
great service to the house ; she acquired the
esteem and affection of all who had any inter
course with her. Although this office was
very repugnant, yet it did not in the least
interfere with her habitual recollection, nor
with the tranquility of her soul, fruit of her
purity of heart. It was even amidst the most
fatiguing and annoying occupations that she
obtained from Our Lord the greatest graces.
416 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
Her soul, firm as rock through her union
with our Lord Jesus Christ, was sheltered
from all those disquietudes which agitate the
heart and trouble the mind. She acted without
precipitation, how numerous soever her occupa
tions. In general, she was so pleasant and
joyful in the midst of all the self-renunciation
which she practised, that no one was aware of
the violence she offered herself. The following
is an example. When the community removed
to their new monastery, it was not completed,
and the workmen being obliged to go in and out
continually, gave grand occasion for patience
to our virtuous portress ; but her habitual
serenity never deserted her. When her rule
permitted her to speak, she said laughingly,
with her natural taste for poetry to those
whom she accompanied :
Now since obedience
Rules our actions,
Let us go in diligence
To conduct our masons.
M. Lebroument, whom she called "the cou
rier of the Infant Jesus," and who in turn called
her his " godmother ", desired to have a pious
souvenir of our Carmelite after her death. He
wrote to the prioress who replied :
" Observing, by your letter, that you wished
to possess some little souvenir of your poor
godmother, I thought of an object which she
made under very singular circumstances ; and
I was surprised, when without any intimation
on my part, she, herself, begged me to keep
HER VIRTUES.
the same object for you ; I confess you are her
only heir, for it is the sole article she asked
me to dispose of. What then is your legacy ? "
" It is a drum, but a drum resembling none
other than in its form, it is fashioned so inge
niously. The following is its history. When
the poor sister fell ill, it happened to be at the
very time that the elections were taking place.
I said to her somewhat in fun : Since you are
no longer able to pray, you must be our spirit
ual drum, and when you hear the National
Gruard beating the call to order, you must invite
the angels to our succor. She accepted her
new mission and the next day presented me
a little drum on which was drawn the nine
choirs of angels, the Holy Name of G-od, etc.
She kept it beside her on her bed to call to
our assistance all the heavenly hosts by strik
ing this little drum with her fingers."
" Worldlings would laugh heartily at this
trait of childish piety, but you, sir, who are
not of the world, you, as I, will no doubt,
behold in it the admirable simplicity of a soul
transformed in the science of the manger and
in the virtue of obedience. This drum is, there
fore, destined for you. It will be a pleasing
toy, I think, for your little Charles ; we also
inclose some other little souvenirs for Madame
Lebroument."
M. Lebroument, a man not of this world,
far from giving this precious drum to his
little boy, had it richly enshrined under a
glass case, desiring that this object which he
14
418 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
regarded as a relic, should never pass from his
family.
To these details, which we have taken from,
the private annals of the monastery, we shall
add the testimony of one of the religious.
"To speak of Sister Mary of St. Peter," said
she, "to render homage to her virtue, is both a
duty and a happiness. She entered religion
several years after I did. At the time, although
professed, I was still in the novitiate, which
gave me an opportunity of observing her closely,
and consequently of admiring her greatly. "We
already perceived her to be a soul fully formed
to all virtues ; those which I particularly
remarked were her humility, her recollection,
and her obedience. She received the trials and
the humiliations to which she was subjected
with, as much joy as gratitude, so much so,
that we were all edified ; far from ever excus
ing herself, on the contrary, she was always
accusing herself, ever seeking new occasion of
humiliation."
" She was so recollected that she did not
behold what was passing before her very eyes.
Until her profession, I had no other relation
ship with her than that of the novitiate ; but
soon after, I perceived her special devotion to
the holy Infancy of Jesus, toward which I also
experienced a great attraction ; this bound us
closely to each other, and gave me an occasion
of becoming better acquainted with this beau
tiful soul. Her piety was so meek and loving
that I was enchanted with her."
HER VIRTUES. 419
" Our practices of devotion were always di
rected to honor the mystery of the Holy In
fancy. The holy child Jesus was the subject
<of our conversations., With what tenderness
she spoke of him ! How well she knew how
to imitate the virtues of this Divine Child!
For her rule of conduct, she had taken these
words, He ivas subject to them, I am confident
that she practised them with the greatest per
fection."
" The office of portress, to which she was ap
pointed a few years after her profession, gave
her a wide scope for the exercise of virtue ; I
was a witness of her promptitude to obedience
and her perfect self-abnegation. At our re
moval, her occupations were redoubled, and
although over-burdened, yet she never for an
instant lost her habitual recollection. She was
very diligent, and edified all by her remarkable
zeal and charity. Being at the time treasurer,
I was often in embarassment to settle the bills,
but when she perceived me depressed, or im
patient, she would quietly repeat these words :
And he was submissive to them, adding,
* Come, let us submit ourselves to the will of
the Holy Infant, we are his little servants.
She had to bear sufferings and trials from all
sides ; but she was ever meek, patient, and
resigned, and was never heard to murmur or
to repine. Our dear sister was a great edifi
cation to me in all the corporal infirmities she
had to support. She was taken ill nearly a
year before her death. I was then, infirma-
420 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
rian, I cannot describe the consolation I ex
perienced when beside this pious invalid. She
never refused any remedy how disgusting or
bitter it might be, content with all that was
done for her, she seemed to forget her suffer
ings to be occupied solely with G-od. To such
a degree did she carry her spirit of submission,
that she would not have taken one step out
side the infirmary without my permission. Her
recollection seemed to be continual ; in a word,
I seemed to behold an angel rather than a suf
fering mortal. I was inconsolable when I ceased,
to take care of her."
This picture will be completed hy one more
remark : there was a conviction, almost amount
ing to a certainty among the Carmelites, that
this pure soul had preserved intact her bap
tismal innocence ; she lived in the world as
not belonging to it, and from the moment of
her arrival in religion, she was never seen
commit a single voluntary fault. This is the
unanimous testimony of the entire commu
nity.
CHAPTER XXII.
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH.
" I wish for nothing but my crucifix ;
it is my treasure, my strength, my
consolation."
(flora s of the Sister.}
Ill narrating an account of the last illness and
death of Sister Mary St. Peter, we shall simply
reproduce the account written by order of the
venerable prioress of the Carmelites, Mother
Mary of the Incarnation. This faithful testi
mony of the sanctity of our holy religious, will
be received with respect by the pious reader,
which will warrant its insertion in these pages.
"Our dear sister foresaw her approaching
dissolution ; in several of her letters she plainly
stated that Our Lord had made known to her
the time of her death ; although not aware of
the precise moment, yet she spoke of it as a
thing near at hand. However, she enjoyed
very good health, and we observed no indica
tions that her career was to be so short. She
was frequently subject to head-aches, and we
noticed that she suffered particularly on Fri
days. From the moment she made an entire
422 LIFE OF SISTER MAKY ST. PETER.
abandonment of herself to Grod for the accom
plishment of his designs, she gradually pined
away. The fire of divine love and her zeal for
the salvation of souls slowly consumed her ;
the responsibility of the work which she bore
as she said, with incredible pain, contributed
still more to immolate the victim ; but very
little of all this was apparent, as Sister St. Peter,
ever exact and fervent, continued to fulfil the
duties prescribed by the rule. In the summer
of 1847, to the great joy of our dear sister, the
work of reparation was canonically established.
" Discharged of the burden which rendered
her existence so painful, her soul was inun
dated with delight ; happiness beamed from her
eyes, her health seemed to improve, she even
became sufficiently strong to observe the fast
of the ensuing lent ; but at the very moment
when the Church celebrated the Passion of
Our Lord, a long martyrdom began for this
dear sister, whose life so full of merit, was
fast drawing to a close. On the 30th of March,
Jesus announced that she was nearing the goal.
From this moment she thought only of heaven ;
she loved to converse on this subject ; burning
words escaped her lips proving the ardor
which consumed her."
"The events which had just taken place in
France^ had excited her to new zeal, and the
appearance of the evils which she had an
nounced and which now threatened her coun-
* Revolution called, days of February.
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 423
try, induced her to the performance of a most
heroic act of charity. On Good Friday, at three
o clock, she prostrated herself on the ground
to adore Jesus Christ expiring. At that very
instant she perceived that the enormous weight
of divine anger was about to fall heavily upon
mankind ; immediately renewing her act of
perfect abandonment, she offered herself as a
victim to ward off the dreadful blows of divine
justice."
" Our Lord seemed to have been waiting for
this last generous act, before immolating his
courageous victim ; a cruel malady immediately
declared itself, which reduced her to the last
extremity. We hastened to lavish the most
assiduous care on our dear sister ; the doctor
was called and pronounced the disease mortal.
Our dear invalid herself suspected the gravity
of her condition, therefore, we could warn her
of the imminent danger without fear ; there
was only one thing capable of causing her
regret : The sorrow of leaving you, and of
quitting this dear community forever ; but I
shall pray for you in heaven. I must sacrifice
my life for the Work Grod has confided to
me.
" Before leaving her cell for the last time,
she begged a sister to go before the Blessed
Sacrament (not being able to do so herself) to
ask the blessing of Our Lord that she might
suffer worthily all that it would please him
to ordain. Arriving at the infirmary, she
cast a glance around the apartment which
424 LIFE OF SISTEE MARY ST. PETER.
seemed to say : * I shall never go forth from
here. And in truth, this spot was to be th
last stage of her virtues and her sufferings.
One of the sisters desired to bring some little
objects of piety from her cell in order that she
might continue to enjoy them, but she refused
saying : It is now that all must be sacri-
fied."
" However, we had some faint hope ; the
desire of prolonging so holy a life urged us to
use every means within the power of science
to preserve it. The resources of art were un
availing in her case, so we had recourse to the
Blessed Yirgin. Our dear sister on hearing of
this, in her humility, said : I am of so little
use and my health is so poor, why do you
pray for my recovery ? I will never get bet
ter. As she was suffering much corporally
some one said to her : Beg Our Lord to re
lieve you somewhat. No, she replied, as
regards sacrifice and sufferings I have never
asked anything in particular from Grod, neither
have I ever refused anything.
" When she took to bed never more to rise,
she was deeply penetrated with the judgment
of G-od. Forgetful of the favors by which she
had been overwhelmed, she thought only of
her sins and of imploring pardon for them.
This sentiment of humility in a soul of such
purity is easily explained, if we consider
the light she had received on her own
misery. She was frequently beheld shedding
tears. On being asked the cause, she replied :
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 425
Mother, when I think of the judgment of
God, i cannot but weep for my sins.
" Her disease was hasty consumption, but
other complaints added to the intensity of her
suffering s, and made the most frightful rav
ages. A burning and continual fever devoured
her ; her throat was ulcerated, and her tongue
and mouth as if pierced with thorns, (we must
recollect that Our Lord had told her she must
suffer for blasphemers)."
" The nights flew by one after the other
without bringing her the slightest repose ;
every position on her bed of agony became
a new source of torture ; she was therefore
obliged to keep the same posture for a length
of time together, consequently large wounds
were formed in her body, and her sufferings
were almost incredible."
" During the two months and a half that
her illness lasted, she took no food, a liquid
substance in small quantities, was all that she
could retain. Twice a day she took a little
milk which she offered to the Blessed Yirgin
before drinking; this never caused her any
pain. She became quite emaciated, her face
alone retaining its natural hue ; her skin shriv
elled up as though she had passed through
fire. The frightful state to which she was now
reduced, seemed to indicate a speedy end. Her
patience was ever unflinching, her union with
G-od uninterrupted, and her spirit of sacrifice
as entire, as unreserved as ever. In the midst
of her suffering, her docility, innocence and
426 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
childlike simplicity appeared in every move
ment. "
" To encourage her in these sentiments, we
spoke to her of the Child Jesus and of all the
graces she had received through the mysteries
of his childhood. To which, she said : Our
Lord was then instructing me in the science
of the Cross. Alas ! our poor sister had until
now, but tasted of the bitter chalice which she
was to quaff even to the dregs. She was
animated by the most tender confidence in
G-od and an ardent desire for heaven ; at the
thought of her death, she was overcome with
joy. My hour has come ! she repeated, soon
my chains will be broken. When shall I behold
thee, celestial abode ! When, my Grod, shall
I see thee face to face ? "
" If any one spoke to her of heaven, her
whole figure became animated : heaven !
my home, my eternal dwelling-place ! thou
art the only object of my desires ! Ah ! when
shall I take my flight from this dreary earth !
"These, and other beautiful passages from the
canticles, she frequently repeated. On behold
ing her one would have thought that a ray of
beatitude had already penetrated her soul. Her
brow was serenely tranquil, and a pleasant
smile played about her lips, which only
opened to murmur the name of Grod. Long
would we stand observing her, before she
raised her eyes, so absorbed was she in pro
found recollection.
"At the beginning of June, she was so much
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 427
worse that she, herself, asked for the last sacra
ments ; the danger was imminent and all
haste was made to comply with her request.
She received the Holy Viaticum and the
Extreme Unction with the greatest piety, and
asked pardon of the community in the most
touching manner. After the last rites had
been administered, several sisters remained
praying beside the bed : her countenance was
radiant : she seemed to be in a sort of ecstasy,
we could not behold without being penetrated
with devotion, and moved even to tears. After
some minutes had elapsed, we approached the
bed and asked if she were not sleeping : Oh !
no, she replied, I am entertaining myself
with Our Lord. Are you then, very happy?
Oh ! yes, mother, I desire nothing more. I now
possess my All ! "
" On Friday, the 16th of June, she passed
through a terrible crisis : the community as
sembled in the infirmary to recite the prayers
of the agonizing. The dear, sick sister, who
was in full possession of her faculties, united
with us by fervent aspirations, but she suf
fered most cruelly. Suddenly, she passed
into a supernatural state, the effects of which
were very evident. When our sisters pro
nounced these words : Maria mater gratia, mater
misericordia, she spontaneously raised her hands
to heaven, as would a child perceiving its
mother. She remained a long time in this
posture, although, a few minutes before, her
arms were so stiff and powerless that we
428 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETEE.
could not succed in making her form the
sign of the cross. Then, at two different times
she extended her arms in the form of a cross,
to die as a victim, and when a sister tried to
prevent her, she exclaimed : Oh ! Let me
remain thus, it is a duty I must fulfil.
" She took alternately her crucifix and a little
statue of the Infant Jesus, which she never
let out of her sight, and covered them with
kisses, pressing them to her heart. Then
holding up the Infant Jesus as high as pos
sible, she solemnly but quietly pronounced
these words: Eternal Father, I once more
offer thee this adorable Infant, thy Divine Son,
in expiation of my sins and those of all man
kind, for the needs of our holy mother the
Church, for France, for the Reparation. Ami
able Jesus, I remit this work into thy hands,
for it I have lived, for it shall I die ! Then
she placed the little statue on her head, say
ing : Divine Infant, cover my guilty life with
the merits of thy precious blood : renew my
soul in innocence and grace ; clothe me with thy
robe of purity, thy spirit of humility. Oh !
come with me when I shall depart this life ;
come, my Jesus, come, tarry no longer ! Mary,
my tender Mother, come to claim my soul !
She pronounced these and other ejaculations
with so much love, that it were vain attempting
to convey an adequate idea to the reader ; they
were like sparks of fire escaping from a furnace.
She begged pardon of G-od for all her sins,
then of the community, shedding torrents of
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 429
tears, thanking the sisters for all the care they
had lavished upon her and adding : Oh ! my
sisters, how happy, to die a Carmelite ! :
"Then adressingus: Adieu, mother, said she,
give me your blessing. I shall soon appear
before Glod. I am so happy to die in your
arms. She testified her gratitude for the care
we had taken of her soul ; after which she
said : The hour has arrived. Jesus, come !
Shortly after, crossing her arms on her breast,
she said : Father into thy hands, I commend
my spirit. She remained for some moments
recollected, and then returned to her ordinary
state. During this touching scene, it was
evident that something extraordinary was
passing in her soul."
"During her illness, Sister St. Peter received
the Blessed Sacrament as often our holy rules
permitted. She longed for this favor, finding in
the Eucharist all her strength, all her consol
ation. According to her custom, she prepared
for its reception from the eve, and as she was
deprived of sleep, passed the entire night in
amorous colloquies. Several of the sisters who
watched by her bedside during the night, as
sured us that that they have never passed the
time more profitably. Once, our pious sister
was unable to contain her joy when it was
announced to her that she was going to com
municate the next morning."
" To-morrow morning, my divine Spouse,
full of tenderness, will come to strengthen my
"weakness ! and from time to time she added :
430 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
* My well-beloved appears not yet : night, too
long, wilt thou last forever ! She then took the
statue of the Infant Jesus, and while embrac
ing it, begged pardon for her faults, conjuring
him to purify the heart of his little servant ;
then, as if offering him to the Eternal Father,
she held it up high, and remained one full hour
in this fatiguing position without making the
least movement."
" Another time, we hesitated in having the
Holy Communion brought her for fear that
her conscience might not be well at ease, for
she had passed a most miserable night and
seemed much depressed : but Sister St. Peter
had not forgotten the promise made her. In
the morning, from the moment she perceived
me, she said : Mother, I am waiting for my
Grod : when will He come? Oh! how I long
for him ! How much need I have of Him !
We were obliged to yield to her entreaties and
had the holy communion brought her."
" One day, after receiving the Holy Eucha
rist, a sister remarked an expression of sanctity
on her face which struck her forcibly. She
could not look at her for any length time be
cause of the rays of glory which she beheld
on her countenance. Our dear, sick sister
received anew, the holy viaticum on the feast
of the most Holy Trinity, patronal feast
of the arch-confraternity of Reparation. She
had a great desire to die on that day, but
Jesus decided otherwise. Some time after, I
went to the infirmary to see her. Mother/
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 431
-said she, I shall remain a little longer on
earth, for my soul is not yet purified ; but
during this time, I shall suffer most cruelly,
for Our Lord has attached me to the cross, and
I shall remain there until my last sigh. Grive
me no more care, no more consolation, I must
now suffer ; I desire to think of nothing but
eternity."
I wish to remain alone with Grod, for I can
scarcely speak any more ; they think I sleep,
but I am occupied solely with him. Soon
shall I contemplate his adorable Face, soon I
shall be singing his praises for an entire eter
nity. Oh ! how fervently I shall then pray for
the Church, for France, for the Reparation ! . . .
* But, said I to her, have you no fear of having
been in illusion, or have you no disquietude
for having followed your own ideas rather than
those of Grod ? No, not at all, she replied in
a grave and solemn manner. I might have
been deceived, as I have always said, but I
can certify now, as I am soon to appear before
Grod, that I have never acted of myself in this
matter. It has cost me dearly, but I have never
taken one step but in obedience to the will of
GTod! "
" In all that I have written by order of my
superiors, I have always spoken in the sin
cerity of my soul. By the grace of Grod, I have
nothing to reproach myself on this subject, and
I am perfectly tranquil. Have you any hope
for the future of France ? I have the greatest
confidence ; the wicked will not succeed in
432 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
their evil designs, peace will be restored ; it
is for this purpose that reparation has been
established. My course is run, as Our Lord has
declared to me, for the "Work of Reparation is
established. It was for this Work that God
placed me in the world, it is this "Work which
will save France.
" G-od ! how good thou art ! How bound
less is thy mercy ! He wills not that his little
servant be separated from him after her death,
and he purifies her entirely before admitting
her to his presence. Never, never could I have
believed that he would have given me this
grace, if I had not heard it from his own lips.
The holiness of G-od is so great that I thought
I would have remained in purgatory until the
end of the world. But now I must suffer, I
must fulfil the designs of Grod. Oh ! how true
it is that his justice has means of satisfying
itself far beyond the reach of our poor com
prehension ! . . . In effect, this generous soul
soon entered on a new path of suffering."
" No, she used to say, nothing now but
suffering, let Grod act as he will. If anything
were suggested, she would say : I shall take
it if given me, but I shall not ask for anything.
Yet she yielded more through love for obe
dience, than to the necessities of nature, follow
ing the common path, taking whatever was
prescribed her. But henceforth, we could give
her no remedy or relief for her ills, on the con
trary all that was prescribed seemed to add to
her sufferings. Not a single complaint ever
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 433
passed her lips. Sometimes the excess of her suf
ferings would cause her to break out into plain
tive sighs of resignation, as for instance : My
Grod ! how I suffer ! ! have pity on me, aid
me, abandon not thy little servant. Thou
knowest, Lord, I am thy victim, but I
beg of thee to forget me not. How admirable
are thy ways, O Grod ! Let us adore his holy
will ! How long the time is ! How ardently I
sigh for my well-beloved ! My sweet Jesus
art thou not going to let me die ! Come, Lord
Jesus, come, and tarry not ! During her worst
hours of agony, she said in a tone and manner
impossible to portray : How terrible is the
severity of divine justice ! My Grod ! thou art
so rigorous ! What agony I endure ! ! Oh ! my
divine Spouse how bitter to me art thou who
hast always been so sweet and loving !
" In order to sustain and encourage her dur
ing these moments of desolation, we recalled
to her mind that she had offered herself to
Grod for the accomplishment of his designs.
Yes, she replied, and I do not repent of it ;
my Grod, I desire all that thou dost desire, and
if it were necessary, I would be willing to
suffer even to the end of the world. Being
asked where she suffered the most : In all
parts of my body, I am undergoing a universal
martyrdom : my bed is a purgatory where I
burn ! the fire consumes me, every instant seems
a century.
" I do not ask of Grod to abridge or alleviate
my sufferings, but I call upon the hour of my
434 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
deliverance. Oh! My sweet Jesus, when shall
I be united to thee forever ! She also loved to
repeat : I die a daughter of the Church, and
of Carmel. During the most violent pains she
used to say in a suppliant tone which drew
forth tears from those around : I implore you
to demand patience for me, I can no longer
suffer, speak to me of heaven, speak of Grod."
She would seize her crucifix and kiss it un
ceasingly. I desire nothing but my crucifix, it
is my treasure, my strength and my conso
lation ; I keep my eyes continually fixed upon
him, for he encourages me to suffer ; yes, my
Lord is crucified and I arn crucified with
him.
" She often asked us to offer her sufferings
in union w r ith those of Jesus, and when once
she was desired to apply them for a particular
intention, she said : 1 1 do not know if I can, for
I am entirely consecrated to the Reparation, I
am a victim, but, obedience will decide the
question."
" In the meantime, the innocent soul, over
whom Satan seemed to be unable to gain any
power, was suddenly assailed by all the
powers of darkness ; it was necessary that her
entire being should be offered as a holocaust,
and that she should undergo all kinds of temp
tation. She said, It is but a part of my pen
ance. During the last days of her life she was
a victim to all the malice of the devil, she
believed that there was one of these infernal
spirits continually at her side, urging her to
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 436
murmur and impatience, uttering blasphemies
in her ear, even suggesting thoughts of despair.
She seemed to be extremely uneasy and would
not remain alone for an instant ; she had
recourse to the Blessed Virgin ; but soon the
enemy redoubled all his fury against her.
Oh ! exclaimed she, how I suffer ! My G-od,
I can resist no longer, have pity on me. As
a last resource she prayed to the holy Infant
Jesus, the tender object of her devotion, and
she placed on her neck the " Little Grospel "
of the circumcision. The virtue of be Holy
Name of Jesus dispelled all the illusions of the
enemy; the devouring fever, the terrible temp
tations all ceased at that instant, and she
became most wonderfully calm."
"Toward the end of her illness she was
honored by the visit of Mgr. Morlot : the
venerable archbishop was anxious to come
and see her to give her his benediction for the
last time ; a great consolation which the dear
sister fully appreciated ! She was also assisted
by our ecclesiastical superior, and was most
earnest in testifying her joy and gratitude for
this privilege. A benefactress of the house,
who as such, was privileged to enter the
cloister, begged the mother superior one day to
allow her to receive a last blessing from Sister
Mary St. Peter. This favor could not be granted
as the mere mention of it would have fright
ened the humility of our pious invalid. How
ever, she was admitted and soon reached the
sick bed. Sister Mary St. Peter was apparently
436 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
sleeping, but she was in reality profoundly
absorbed in Grod. After having regarded her
for some time without wishing to disturb her,
the pious benefactress prepared to withdraw,
when suddenly, the sister seized the little
statue of the Infant Jesus, and without a word,
made the sign of the cross over the venerable
lady, thus giving the blessing which had been
vainly implored. The lady, beholding the spon
taneous act, was deeply touched."
" The pure soul of our languishing victim
had recovered its peace and tranquillity, yet
her body was a continual prey to excruciating
sufferings which became more and more poig
nant as the time of her dissolution ap
proached. On Friday, July 7th, her death
agony began, but she was in full possession
of all her mental faculties to the last. As it
was thought she would not survive the night,
we recited the prayers and recommendations
for the dying. This last night was passed by
our dear sister in the most acute sufferings ;
she frequently called for holy water, and kept
united to Grod by fervent aspirations. I re
mained at her side, for she seemed to feel great
consolation when I was present, she even im
plored me with tears not to leave her. How
ever, at dawn I withdrew for a few moments.
During my absence, she wished to change
her position, and needed help ; (for many days
she had been unable to make any movement)
she was told I had recommended she should
not be moved, but that if her sufferings were
HER LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 43^7
too intense, they would presume my permis
sion and try to change her posture. But she
"Would not consent. No, no, said she, we
must obey to the last.
" She responded to all the prayers we
suggested, kissing her crucifix continually,
pressing it to her heart repeating : He is all
mine, and I am all his. What happiness ! I
returned to the bedside of Sister St. Peter and
.she exclaimed : Mother, when ? I replied :
When the Spouse . comes, is it not ? She
answered by an affirmative sign, and I con
tinued : Soon, my child, in a very few mo
ments. She appeared satisfied and composed.
Recollecting that Our Lord had promised in
one of her communications to re-establish in
her soul the image of Grod at the hour of her
death, she begged to renew her baptismal vows,
and as a symbol of the grace which she desired
to receive, asked for some holy water, and
made the sign of the cross on her head saying :
Child, I baptize thee in the name of the Father,
and of the Son and of the Holy Grhost. Then
joining her hands, she added : I renounce Satan
with all his works and pomps. I desire to
belong to Jesus Christ forever. A few mo
ments before this, she seemed to undergo a
painful combat, but after this little ceremony,
her countenance beamed with peace and hap
piness ; one would have said that she was
a child just after being baptized, or an
angel about to wing its flight to the realms
above. From this moment till her last sigh,
438 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
she never ceased praying ; the sweat of death
covered her face, her body was already cold
and stiff, yet her livid lips kept repeating :
Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Come, Lord Jesus. Sit
Nomen Domini benedictum ! These were the
last words we were able to distinguish, the
movement of her lips continued, but in an
unintelligible manner. Soon she heard noth
ing more, her eyes closed, and as if in a last
resemblance to her Divine Master, she uttered
a cry and calmly expired, in the presence of
the whole community."
CHAPTEE XXIII.
HER BURIAL HER WORK.
She will protect your house,
the diocese and France."
(Words ofMgr. Morlot.)
" Sr. Mary St. Peter died on Saturday, day
consecrated to Mary, the 8th of July, near
mid-day : our dear sister had often begged of
the Blessed Yirgin to present her soul to G-od,
and we see that her request was granted. From
the moment the servant of Grod breathed forth
her last sigh, the conviction of her beatitude
filled all hearts ; each felt more like praying
to her than for her ; each recalled her virtues,
and loudly proclaimed that she was a saint."
" We must remember they were still ignorant
of the rare favors and celestial communications
which the Lord had bestowed on her. In the
community she became the object of general
veneration ; the ambition of each was to have
a particle of some thing belonging to her ; they
touched her with objects of piety : nor could
they be separated from her precious remains.
Her countenance bore a peaceful and happy
expression ; her limbs, which during her illness
440 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
were stiff from the excess of emaciation and suf-
fering,became flexible immediately after death."
"There was one sister who did not share in
the general opinion of the sanctity of Sister
Mary St. Peter. She had never beheld her
commit any fault, it is true, but her life so
simple and ordinary, did not seem to her to
merit so much praise. Annoyed at the dif
ference of opinion existing between herself
and the other religious, about a month before
the death of the sister, she had earnestly ad
dressed to Grod the following prayer : "My
God, if Sr. Mary St. Peter be as holy as they
say, make it known to me, I beseech thee by
giving me some relief (this sister was ill) so
that I can join in the community exercises."
"She was heard, and was able to follow
the rule minutely, to the great surprise of all ;
yet she was not convinced by this first proof.
But at the death of the sister, she had a dream
which gave her subject for reflection. It
seemed to her as if she were with the other
nuns, round the bed of the dying sister, who
expired before her eyes. She saw her imme
diately resuscitated under the figure of a most
beautiful child, who descending from the bed
went to embrace each of the sisters except her
self, and disappeared out of sight forever."
" The day following at communion, she felt
entirely changed. The life of her pious com
panion appeared in all its holiness, and she
was filled with regret for not having recog
nized the sanctity of her companion."
HER BURIAL HER WORK. 441
" During the time our dear sister was laid out
in the choir, a great number of seculars came
to pay their last respects to the dear departed.
Many exclaimed : How like an angel ! Oh !
may she pray for us ! A considerable num
ber of people attended her funeral."
" It was remarked during the solemn requi
em service which lasted nearly an hour and a
half, that the large candles placed at the corners
of the coffin, burned without being consumed.
They remained burning brightly, although
there was such a strong draft in the chapel that
the candles held by the sisters were quite wast
ed away. This was proved by a fifth candle
which had not been used because it was short
er than the other four : the same difference
was found to exist between them when meas
ured after the ceremony."
"Heaven also gave signs in favor of the
humble carmelite ; several had recourse to her
intercession and have assured us that they ex
perienced in an extraordinary manner the effects
of her power with Grod. When the news of her
death was spread abroad, the people came from
all parts to ask for little souvenirs of the dear
departed *
"It was noticed that little particles of her
clothing, exhaled a delicious fragrance which
did not resemble any known perfume, it was
* We were careful, when acceding to this pious desire, to re
mark that these things ought to be looked upon simply as souvenirs,
and not as objects worthy of the veneration due to the relies of the
saints recognized as such by the Church. (Note to the Carmelite
Circular.)
442 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
a celestial odor penetrating even to the soul,,
exciting the love of Grod and virtue."
" Both seculars and religious have attested
the fact : one in particular assured us, that on
opening a box which for some time had con
tained little pieces of her habit, a delicious
perfume was noticed, like the fragrance of a
beautiful bouquet of flowers. A lady of Ingou-
ville, in the diocese of Rouen, was taken ill
with a violent fever, for which the doctors
could prescribe no remedy ; a piece of Sister
St. Peter s veil was forwarded her. Scarcely
had it been applied than she felt an interior
process being performed within her which
lasted four hours. The dreaded crisis, the first
symptoms of which had already been an
nounced, was averted ; she passed a quiet
night, and the next day was proclamed out of
danger."
To this pious narrative, literally transcribed
from the carmelite annals, we shall add what we
have gleaned from authentic documents. Mgr.
Morlot, who as we have said, came to give his
blessing to the dying sister, having received in
formation of her departure from this life, wrote
in the following terms to the mother prioress :
" It is with the most lively sympathy I read
of the death of this good sister, but we must
rejoice with her rather than weep over her.
Let us hope that she will continue in heaven
what she has so well begun on earth. She will
protect your house, the diocese and France !...
Of this I am convinced ; to-morrow, I shall
HER BURIAL HER WORK. 443
offer for her and for your community the august
sacrifice of the mass."
When the circular, composed according to
the custom, after the death of Sister St. Peter,
was forwarded to the prelate, he wrote : " I
have read the notice of the death of Sr. M. St.
Peter with the deepest interest, and I doubt
not of the good impression it will produce in
all the houses of your Order. I am confident,
that this chosen soul, now in the possession
of eternal glory, will efficaciously plead our
cause before the Lord, after having prayed
on this earth with so much faith, and prac
tised here below the beautiful virtues which
distinguish the true spouses of Christ."
Such were the personal sentiments of the
archbishop of Tours and they were shared by
all those who had any relationship with the
pious carmelite ; but there was no one more
impressed than M. Dupont. To him the day of
such a saintly death was a day of joy, the be
ginning of glory for the humble virgin, and
for her work of predilection. He had assisted
with a radiant countenance at her funeral ob
sequies, and as if in trumphaiit procession fol
lowed her mortal remains to the cemetery of
Saint Jean des Corps, * a place already hal
lowed in his eyes, as six months previous he
had deposited the last remains of his only and
dearly beloved daughter, Henrietta. When he
h The old Cemetery, thus named from the bloody defeat sus
tained by the Normans in the ninth century, at the aspect of the
relics of St. Martin.
444 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
received the obituary notice from Carmel, he
read it with transports of admiration. Sit
Nomen Domini benedictum \ He wrote the
mother prioress : "I believe we are nearing
the realization of the wishes of the vene
rable sister, apostle of the Work of Reparation.
It is impossible that the circular will not pro
duce a great effect in the hearts of Christians who
will use all their efforts to demand grace and
mercy. May G-od be blessed, and may his Holy
Name be forever glorified ! " M. Dupont desired
that a number of copies be sent to his
friends.
From this time, one of his pious practices,
was to go frequently to pray over the tomb
of this venerable sister, and keep it in per
fect order. He directed his steps alternately
to the tomb of his daughter and to that of the
carmelite, recommending to her all his affairs.
Those who came from afar to confide to him
their difficulties, he frequently sent to the
cemetery of St. John to pray. On his way,
thence one day, he said to a priest who ac
companied him : "This is one of my secrets :
that I address myself to this saintly soul when
I desire to receive any particular grace from
Grod." Under the impression thus given, the
grave of the carmelite received many visits.
In order to perpetuate this kind of pilgrim
age, and to testify his veneration for the
memory of the deceased, he determined to buy
a more suitable burial-place. He took the neces
sary steps and bought in his name and at his
HEE BURIAL HE R WORK. 445
own expense, thirty lots, the deed of which
he presented to the community on the 27th of
September, 1854.
" But," said he, " God will yet do more to glo
rify his faithful servant. For a reason only
known to Him, the remains must be removed
to Carmel." It was not long before this pious
desire was fulfilled. Three years later, imme
diately after the great inundation of the Loirfe in
1856, the cemetery was transferred without
the city limits and M. Dupont took advan
tage of the circumstance to have the remains
of Sister St. Peter exhumed and restored to her
monastery. On the 13th of November, 1857, the
anniversary of the day the sister had entered
religion, he accompanied the inspector before
sunrise to open the tomb. A walnut coffin
lined with zinc had been prepared. M. Dupont,
with the utmost care and religious respect col
lected, and placed in it the hallowed remains,
even the smallest particles of dust ; and to the
great joy of the mother prioress and all the
religious, he obtained permission from compe
tent authority to have the precious remains
deposited in the interior of the monastery.
They still repose in the chapter room, which
is at the right of the chapel on entering. A
slab near the holy water font bears this simple
inscription :
HERE REPOSES
SISTER MARY ST. PETER OF THE HOLY FAMILY,
PROFESSED OF THIS MONASTERY,
\VIIO DIED ON THE 8TH JULY, 1848,
AGED 31 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS.
CONCEAL HER, LORD IN THE SECRET OF THY FACE."
446 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
M. Dupont, who often came to hear mass in
the carmelite chapel, never entered without
pausing a few moments at the spot, above
which the tomb of the revered sister had been
deposited, and in his simple faith, holding con
verse for an instant with the dear departed.
A more intimate and fruitful union was still
to draw these two souls more closely together.
In the designs of Grod, M. Dupout s mission
was to develop the work, revealed to Sister St.
Peter as the means of salvation for France;
the Work of Eeparation for blasphemy and for
the profanation of the Sunday, by the worship
of the Holy Face. More than any other, the
pious layman had received more knowledge
of the wonderful favors granted to the virgin of
Carmel.
He was already admirably prepared by the
piety of his life, to devote himself to " Eepara
tion." What struck him most forcibly in the
revelations of the sister, was the means, indi
cated by Our Lord to his servant, of repairing the
outrages committed against his adorable person ;
namely, the devotion to his Holy Face. Com
pletely enraptured with this idea, he labored to
propagate this devotion without any premedi
tated object, solely for the glory of Grod and the
salvation of souls, wishing to be, as he said,
" the voice " of the revelations of Sister Mary
St. Peter. A circumstance, very simple in itself,
soon gave a decisive character to his pious en
thusiasm.
Lent was drawing to a close. The mother
HER BURIAL HER DEATH 44*7
prioress, who was perfectly aware of M. Du-
pont s opinion with regard to the devotion of the
Holy Face, offered him a present of two pictures
of the Holy Face, copies of Veronica s veil which
is preserved in the Vatican. These the prioress
had received from the Benedictines of Arras,
with whom she had corresponded for several
years on the subject of the "Work of Reparation.
These holy pictures came from Rome and were
soon copied and spread among the faithful by
the zeal of the religious of Arras, who, from the
time of their establishment in 1816, had a lively
devotion to the Holy Face, inspired them by
the writings of St. Grertrude ; these religious
took a marked interest in the revelations of
the carmelite of Tours. They possessed a certain
number of pictures with the authentication. At
the request of Mother Mary of the Incarnation
they sent her several copies, two of which she
gave to M. Dupont, who framed one and
hung it in his parlor. It was before this vener
able image that he passed the last twenty-five
years of his life, thus becoming the apostle of
Reparation. The most extraordinary cures,
conversions miraculously brought about, peace
and harmony restored to families, in fact, so
numerous were the wonders performed through
the prayers of this saintly man before the
" Holy Face " that his house soon became the
favorite resort of pilgrims from far and near.
M. Dupont looked upon these miraculous
graces as so many manifestations of the will
of G-od ; this explains why he attached so
448 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
much importance to the certificates brought
him, which he preserved with the greatest
care, as a faithful guardian, in order to place
them in the hands of the ecclesiastical author
ity, when inquiries would be made relative
to the mission of Sister Mary St. Peter.
" Verily," says M. Dupont, " if the commu
nications of Sister St. Peter were acknow
ledged as revelations, what a blow would be
given to the infernal spirits!"
" The prodigies, operated by the oil of the
lamp burning before the Holy Face, will nat
urally draw the attention of the authorities
of the Church to this subject, and she will be
called upon to give a decision relative to the
writings of the pious carmelite. "We find among
her revelations, the most consoling promises
made to those devoted to the Holy Face. She
proclaims in every letter that the Holy Face
ought to be the external object of Reparation.
What is the conclusion ? Every day we are
here witnesses of the remarkable cures which
have taken place under our very eyes, cures
so extraordinary that if we sought to establish
the facts they could be called .miraculous.
Every day at least two or three are operated
here before the Holy Face, after the applica
tion of the oil ; without mentioning the won
ders wrought by the application of the oil
demanded by the sick, too ill to be brought
hither. These facts authorize us to believe
that there is here a clear manifestation of the
will of Our Lord, to procure our salvation by
HEE BURIAL HER WORK. 449
the work which he himself, demanded from
Sister Mary St. Peter."
His joy was extreme when, on his death
bed, he learned that the archbishop of Tours,
Mgr. Colet, had at last broken the seals, and
that the examination of her precious writings,
so long condemned to secrecy, was confided
to the learned Benedictines of Salamanca, the
worthy sons of his illustrious friend Dom
Grueranger. On hearing this news, his coun
tenance became illuminated, he raised his
eyes to heaven and exclaimed : Nunc dimittis
servum tuum, Domine.
A weight seemed to have been raised from
his heart ; shortly before he expired, on the
18th of March, I8t6, turning his eyes toward
the cloister of the carmelites, where thanks
to his zeal and devotediiess reposed the body
of Sister Mary St. Peter, he exclaimed : " How
brilliant is Carmel ! It glitters with rubies and
emeralds."
He made no mention of the ; Holy Face "
in his will, saying to those around his bed
side : " Grod will provide for it." His confidence
was not unfounded. Grod had placed on the
archi episcopal throne of St. Martin, a most
worthy prelate, who, at the first glance had
recognized the providential mission of our
carmelite, interpreted and followed up by M.
Dupont. An archiepiscopal decree transformed
the private oratory of the holy man of Tours
into a public chapel. The venerable prelate him
self presided at the ceremony of consecration, on
15
450 LIFE OF SISTER MAKY ST. PETER.
the 27th of June, feast of the Prince of the
Apostles, and patron of "this fervent religious
who," said he, " had inspired the Work of
Reparation and the touching devotion, which
for so many years, has been practised in this
holy spot." At the same time he established the
confraternity in Reparation for Blasphemy
and the Profanation of the Sunday, affiliated
to that of St. Dizier ; but taking advantage
of the clause giving full liberty to the director
to modify the minor rules, he gave it a
distinctive character, making it in reality
a confraternity of the Holy Face properly
speaking, which was, as we have seen, the
primitive object of Sister St. Peter. Finally,
this most worthy successor of St. Martin
founded a society of regulars, under the title of
"Priests of the Holy Face " to attend to the
new chapel and look after all the necessities
of the pilgrimage which had commenced even
during the lifetime of M. Dupont.
They live in community in the house of
M. Dupont, binding themselves to follow in
his steps under his protection, and to devote
themselves to all the reparatory works of the
epoch. Thus the work of the pious Carmelite
and that of the " Holy man of Tours," has been
canonically recognized and consolidated.
The diocese of St. Martin thus recovered the
glory of which it had been accidentally de
prived, it re-entered into the right which be
longed originally to it, that of being consid
ered the hearth on which the sacred fire of
HER BURIAL HER WORK. 451
Reparation was first enkindled. From that
time, the work, under the auspices and in the
very dwelling of M. Dupont, has received a
marvelous development, and is to-day spreading
in other lands. The oratory of the Holy Face
has become in a few years the centre of prayers
and " expiation," toward which turn all hearts
from the different points of France, and we may
say, from the entire Church.
The pious invocations composed by Sister
Mary St. Peter, and improperly called Litanies
of the Holy Face, have been authorized by a
number of bishops ; Pius IX. himself, without
giving them a liturgical approbation, has
blessed and enriched them with an indulgence ;
they are at present translated into English,
Spanish, Italian, and G-erman, to satisfy the
many demands of the faithful. Confraternities
of the Holy Face, similar to the one founded
at Tours by Mgr. Colet, are established in
many cities, notably at Versailles, Reims, Laval,
Perpignan; and St. Brieuc. We even behold
it passing over to other lands, to Belgium, Hol
land and even to America.
From all sides the people demand the " Holy
Face" this faithful copy of the veil of Veronica,
identical to that venerated by M. Dupont. It
would be impossible to calculate the number
of these sacred effigies, exposed for pious ven
eration in thousands of places, and nearly
always having a lamp burning before them.
They are to be found in private houses, in ora
tories, in asylums and in communities, in public
452 LIFE OF SISTER MARY ST. PETER.
chapels, in parishes and in cathedrals. Even in
the time of M. Dupont there were pictures of
the Holy Face venerated in the hospital of Vin-
cennes, at the Visitation, of Paray-le-Monial,
and at the Benedictines of Arras.
In onr day, Notre-Dame de Paris, the cathedral
of Pcrpignan, the Basilica of Lourdes and the
provisory chapel of the Sacred Heart at Mont-
martre also contain a copy of this picture.
The Priests of the " Holy Face," undertake to
have them expedited from Rome, in order to
facilitate their propagation, or rather the propa
gation goes on of itself, so natural, so necessary
does this idea of Reparation seem to the faith
ful.
This Reparation is urgent, every Catholic
heart feels its necessity ; pious souls greet it
with transports of joy. Now. if it be true that
France, Grod s privileged nation, the Eldest
Daughter of the Church, if it be true that
among all peoples she is the most guilty, she is
therefore the most deserving of punishment,
for " Much shall be required of him to whom
much has been given." If it be true that here
more than elsewhere, the profanation of the
Sunday is the acknowledged evil, that blas
phemy is uiiblushiiigly tolerated, and that both
the one and the other engender more crime,
produce more ruin and ravage society more than
any other evil, is it not then just that we should
look up to generous Christians (whose number
is infinite in our dear France) for the accom
plishment and for the propagation of a work so
HER BURIAL HER WORK. 453
repeatedly besought by Sister Mary St. Peter in
the Name of the Lord ? And since the cradle of
the Work has been providentially placed in the
very heart of the country, in this city of Tours,
which has the happy privilege of possessing
the tomb of the great protector of the nation,
together with the house in which the pious
devotee of the Holy Face died in the odor
of sanctity, what more natural, what more
just than to make it the centre of our affections,
of our prayers, of our hopes ? What more
patriotic, what more Catholic than to unite
together to re-establish and to repair, even as
we behold impiety, aye infidelity itself, rally
its votaries to ravage, to destroy. *
The work revealed to this noble religious,
is, as she has remarked, " a crying necessity
and a pledge of mercy." Let us then have but
one heart and one soul in uniting to appease
divine justice, and we shall experience the ef
fects of His mercy, which shall be the more
gracious and abundant as our reparation shall
have been more prompt and fervent.
FINIS.
BX 4705 .M38 A313 1884 SMC
Marie de Saint Pierre de la
Li fe of Sister Mary St.
Peter Carmelite of Tours
47237055
