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32X

: 4

•

■'*?'

. I

liLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY

BRIEF SKETCH

OF TIIK

HISTORY OF THE URSULINES

Off

QUEBEC

FROM 1672 TO 1759,

PART JL

I- III-

QUEBEC:
PRINTED BY C. DARVEAU.

1875. :

18 5 8 6 2

&0T- fA

"W::**

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

PART ir.

" CHAPTER I.

lors— loss.

THE MONASTERY AGAIN.

J The Venerable Mother, whose labors

Iliad extended over the thirty-three first

5| years of the Ursuline Monastery, had dis-

M appeared from the midst of her beloved

I family, and her death had left a void that

could not be filled.

But the beneficent influence of her ad-
mirable life remained : her dying bless-
ing, w^ith the rich inheritance of her zeal
for the glory of G-od and the salvation of
I souls, rested there; and her spirit still
# dwelt with those whom Providence had

v.-S

4 QLIMPSKS OF THE MON'ARTKIlT.

assembled tc continue the work she had
commenced.

Who were those favored souls, chosen
to perpetuate the spirit and the labors of
the Venerable Mother Mary of the In-
carnation ?

What are the vicissitudes which the
Monastery was destined to witness in
subsequent years ? I

To answer these questions, we shall
again open, in favor of Our Readers, that
old Record of by-gone days, the monas-
tic Annals.

TheiC we find recounted the triumphs
of Divine Grace in the call to a religious
life, and in the faithful correspondence of
the soul to her sublime vocation : there
are detailed the simple, yet heartfelt joys
of the cloister ; — with its toils, its provi-
dential trials and occasional sufferings;
its pious enterprises ; and other i^ oidents
that vary the even flow of the stream of
time within the protecting walls of the
Monastery. There we may perceive, at
all times, i deep under-current of peace,

,T.

OMMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

k she had

Is, chosen
3 labors of
of the In-

which the
witness in

I
/

we shall
eaders, that
the monas-

le triumphs
3 a religious
pondence of
^tion : there
eartteltjoys
s, its provi-
sufferings;
er i^ -iidents
be stream of
walls of the
perceive, at
nt of peace,

the sure indication of detachment from
earth, and of hopes fixed on things above.

Our first inquiry will he of the statistics
of the Community, which we are about to
revisit ; taking our date three years after
the death of the Ycnerable Mother, 1G75 :
^*ust two centuries ago.

Twenty-five professed nuns compose
the cloistered family, tlie Superioress bein<y
Rev. Mother Margaret de Fiecelles of St.
Athanasius.

Two new members have just entered :
*— Miss de Lauson, daughter of the Senes-
ichal de Lauson, and grand-daughter of
the ancient G-overnor of New France of
that name ; the other young person, from
Ihe Cote de Beaupre^ is Miss Marie Made-
leine G-ravel, who in the humble condi-
jtion of lay-Sister, rende-t-s great services to
her community during forty-eight years,

% 1 The dowry of Mile Angeliqne de Lauson da St,
Bsprit, and her si.«ter Marie-Madeleine de St. Charle.s,
Already professed, gave the Monastery a title to the
imall /ranc alleu noble of Lauson.

7*^s,

f I

9 nLTMPSr.S OF TTTE MONASTKnT.

and dying " in tho fervor ol' her iirst con-
secration to Crod," merits a complete
ulogium.

Up to this date (1675) only four dentns
had occurred in the Monastery since 1039;
a period of thirty-six years.

Passing over tv^^o winters more, we
place ourselves at a hallowed anniversary,
the 30th April. It is the lifth recurrence
of the day since a death, " precious in
the sij^ht of the Lord" has rendered it
memorable ; and, far from being invested
with gloom, there is a joyous ceremony
prepared for the occasion. A young maid-
en is about to enroll herself under the
banner of St. Ursula, exchanging all the
pleasures and advantages which the
world could offer her, for the title of
Spouse of Christ. She will receive, more-
over, a name that is also an inheritance^
and Miss Marie-Catherine Pinguet, will
henceforth be known as Mother Mary
Catherine of the Incarnation.

Two other young ladies are clothed
with the dark robe and white veil of an

Bt\

OMMl'SES OF THE MONASTEUT.

Ilrst con-
comploto

lUT deatns
ince 1039;

more, we
iniversary,
r ecu rr once
irecious in
endered it
\cr invested
ceremony
oung maid-
under the
rinse all the
which the
:he title of
eive, more-
mheritance,
nguet, will
other Mary

are clothed
te veil of an

Ursuline novice, bolbre the close of the
year: the names which they will bear in
the Communiiy, the one lifty-iive and the
other seventy years, are Mother Marie-
Madeleine Amiot of the Conception, and
luother Marie-Anno Anceau of St. Te-
resa. We shall have occasion to mention,
I elsewhere, these three worthy Mothers,
[all ol* whom will be found among the
[Superiors of the Monastery.

Passing to the department of the Ins-
titute, w^e find there the usual joyous
^groups of ^oung French girls, pursuing
the pleasant paths of science, proportion-
ed to the times, to their years, aad con-
dition. There were also a sufficient num-
ber of little Indian girls to form a class,
and these were not cared for with less
tenderness than those, nor with less fruit
for their souls.

7 It was the time when the politic Gro-
fernor, Count de Frontenac, seeking to
strengthen the influence of the French
^ver the restless Iroquois, had conceived
le plan of adopting the daughters of

OLIMPSRS OF TFIK MONASTERY.

1.11

their chic l*s— after their own i'ashiou — and
placing them in the Convent to he in-
structed. Each time he made the journey
to and from Cataraqui, (Kingston) some
of these dark-eyed httle girls of the forest,
were sure to be in his company. The
missionaries also among the Algonquins,
the Ahenakis, the Hurons at Lorette,
would send the most intelligent of their
young female neophytes, knowing the
immense beneiit it was for the whole
tribe, to have among them one of these
pious seminarisls, so well instructed in her
religion.

Fragments of old lists that have es-
caped destruction, are yet inscribed with
the names of some of this little class of
forest-girls of 1682, 3. Thus :—

*' On the 15th of July 1682, Marie Du-
rand, left the Seminary (the Indian class
is thus designated by our Mothers) after
being furnished with board and clothing
during the year. "

" Little Barbe, of the Mohawk tribe,who
had been in the Seminary six years, has
returned to her parents at Old Lorette. "

RT,

CMMPSK8 OF TIIK M0NA8TEUY.

shiou — and
t to be in-
he journey
ston) some
t' the forest,
)any. The
ilgonqnins,
it Lorette,
mi of theii
lowinj? the
Ihe whole
[10 of these
Licted in her

it have es-
cribed with
;tle class of

Marie Du-
ndian chiss
thers) after
,nd clothing

^ktribe,who
c years, has
i Lorette. "

JItM'e an^ oth«T names, at the same date,
lOS;} : " Throdosie, Denise (Abenakis) ;" —
**(rt»n(»vieve, Charlotto, Anne-Thereso,
Ai-nes Wt\sk\vos (Abenakis)." EvidtMitiy,
the cliildron of the forest are no longer
num»*roas at the Convent, as they were
in thi) earlier times.

I Let us make a longer pause at 10S2.

It is the lirst of June, and we find the
Community disposed to elect a Superior-
ess; their House of Assembly on these
occasions being no other than the Chapel
where they have first consecrated their
iives to the service of God ; their prepa-
ratory consultation, a three days' Expo-
Bition of the iilessed Sacrament, special
.|)rayers, and finally the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass and Communion.

Our readers have seen the much es-
teemed Mother St. Athanasius, and Yen.
Mother Mary of the Incarnation, during
thirty six years, called alternately to the
Tank of Superioress, by the united voice
of their Sisters. Each had held as IVom the
Jiand of God, that ofiice of trust and res-

I! i

aiJMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

ponsibility, which li'ives its possessor only
a hu'G^or share of labor and solicitude for
the common weal; while the title, Rev.
Mother or more simply, "Our Mother,"
reminds her, at each moment, of the
s])irit in which she is to wield the sceptre
of authority. Neither had ever forgotten
the words of St, Augustine, admonishing
the Superioress to remember, that "if she
precedes her Sisters in honor before the
world, yet before God she is bound to
plpce herself humbly at their feet, ren-
dering herself of good example to all, and
esteemjng herself happy, not in the right
she has to command, but in the facility
her position aflbrds her to serve and
succor her sisters in a spirit of charity."

The code of legislation adopted by the
order of St. Ursula, provides further for
the welfare of all its members, by limiting
the term of the offices that entail the
greatest amount of fatigue and responsi-
bility, to a term of three years, —subject to
be prolonged by a re-election to six years,
and not more, ^vithout an interval of re-
pose.

STERT.

OUMPSES OF THE MONASTEIlY.

ossGssor only
solicitude for

title, Rev.
)ur Mother,"
nent, of the
d the sceptre
ver forgotten
admonishing
', that " if she
)r before the

is bound to
eir feet, ren-
ple to all, and
t in the right

1 the facility
) serve and
of charity."

lopted by the
es further for
's, by limiting
lat entail the
and responsi-
s,— subject to
n to six years,
nterval of re-

Nor is the direction of the little Com-
monwealth, left to the simple will of the
Superioress, however excellent may be
ker qualilications. JShe has her " Consti-
♦ntions," to which she must conform iu
the acts of her government ; she has also
jier coadjutors, who share, in the various
departments of the Monastery, the burden
of authority : this is the "Privy Council,"
while the "Legislature" comprises the
l^hole community of Choir sisters, after a
certain number ol years of profession.

I But while we have discussed the form
tf government, our nuns have had ether
fffeoccupations. They have discovered
ttiat Rev. Mother St. Athanasius, obey-
ing the impulse of her great humility,
fcas provided herself with the right to
Recline the rank to which they were §o
4esirous to raise her, for the seventh time.
^he permission has been given, and the
IJishop refuses to retract it. Grieved, but
i'pbmissive to the decision of their eccle-
ijastical Superior, they proceed to their
flection. Another of the P'rench nuns
Who had joined the Ursuhnes of Quebec,

i I

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY,

!li

in 1671, Rev. Mother Marie Drouet— of
Jesus, is called to succeed Rev. Mother
Gibault du Breuil, — of St. Joseph, who
had iroverned the Monastery for the last
six years.

These two, with the Rev. Mother Le
Maire — of the Angels, will guide the bark
of St. Ursula till the close of the century,
in the same spirit as their predecessors,
a spirit of meekness and charity.

Thus, during sixty years and more, the
Community of Quebec had the advantage
of being governed by Superiors who had
imbibed the true principles of religious
observance, in the full and fervent Con-
vents of the Order iu France. These
had been foundei at the beginning of
the 17th century, by the daughters of
St. Angela, under circumstances most
favorable to the true spirit of her Institute.

The two Congregations of Paris and
Bordeaux gave rise, directly or indirectly,
before the close of the century, to about
200 Monasteries : both had contributed
to ibiind the Ursulinos of Quebec, the
first of the Order in the New World.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

Drouet — of
,ev. Mother
)seph, who
for the last

Mother Le
ie the bark
ho century,
redecessors,

ity.

1 more, the
J advantage
rs who had
3f religious
rvent Con-
ce. These
^ffinnini? of
aughters of
ances most
3r Institute.

Paris and
' indirectly,
ry, to about
contributed
Quebec, the

World.

Eventually, five nuns of the Congrega-
ition of Tours (or Bordeaux) and seven of
tParis, — including two lay-sisters,— gave
their services to (he foundation of this Mo-
inastery. Six were yet living at the date
fwith which this chapter closes; their
fnames will appear, more than once, in
Ithe Ibliowing pages.

:^#

CHAPTER II.

lO^O.

A MEMORABLE DATE.

I The dimensions of the Monastery as
|ebuilt by Mother Mary of the Incarna-
fion, with its adjoining Church and Choir,
iad sufficed for some thirty years ; but the
^number of pupils augmenting with the
population of the country, it was resolved,

i'tw

;t.,
'II

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

ill the spring of 168(3, to build a separate
department for the nuns, in order to ap-
propriate the greater part of the main-
building to the use of the Boarders.

Accordingly, on the 22nd of June, the
ceremony of laymg the first— stone took
place in this wise : — "At one o'clock in the
al'lernoon, the Community being assem-
bled around the foundations, with the
pupils, all knelt to sing an anthem,
in honor of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Then a little Indian girl, named Marie-
Kose, dressed in white and repre-
senting the Infant Jesus, laid the first
stone, upon which had been placed a
medal of the Holy Family, as a perpetual
memorial that this building was in honor
of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and under
their powerful protection."

Little Marie-Rose reminds us of an-
other Indian girl for whom another ce-
remony took place that same year. Let
us see what religion could do for a child
of the forest: — it is a brief and simple
tale, and soon there will be no more to
tell, for the Seminarists are fast disap-

PERT.

GLIMPSES OP' THE MONASTERY.

1 a separate
order to ap-
f the main-
arders.

of June, the
-stone took
•'clock in the
>eing assem-
s, with the
an anthem,
ind Joseph,
amed Marie-
and repre-
aid the first
m placed a
a perpetual
A^'as in honor
and under

Is us of an-
another ce-

e year. Let

o for a child
and simple
no more to

e fast disap-

pearing, with their people, once sole pos-
sessors of the country we inhabit.

Little Agnes Weskwes hjlonged to the
Irihe of the Abenakis, and to the mission
bf Jkcancour/ The good missionary, Rev.
Father Bigot, S, J. had first sent the little
girl to the Convent to be instructed for
lier first communion, at the age of ten or
eleven. Agnes was gentle and attentive
to the lessons of her devoted teachers :
that great action which influences the
^hole life of a Christian, made a strong
impression upon her, and when she re-
turned to her parents it was to edify them
hj her piety, and to impart to others the
i^ly teachings she had received.

I But, strange to say, the forest had lost
|ts charms for her ; the rude, plays of her
^oung companions could no longer amuse
fier, as they moved in cadence to their
©wn wild melodies. The fur-robe adorned
%ith embroidery ; the moccasins, bright
with beads, with which the tender mo-
ther sought to win her little daughter

#
f
i ^ Oppowite Three Rivers.

(TV •■*'

f' If

t u.

f :

1 1 I

I ii

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

were of no avail to make her forget the
Convent. She was often seen in the di-
rection of the cabin which served as a
Chapel ; for she went there to pray ; hop-
ing also to meet the good missionary, who
surely would take her back some day to
" the House of Jesus," and to the dear
Mothers who had taught her to love and
obey the G-reat Spirit.

Her importunities were at length ef-
fectual, — an Indian mother cannot refuse
the request of her child ; and doubtless
the Black-robe secretly rejoiced to find
one Grenoveva among his flock.

In the early spring of 1686, the little
forest-maiden was again admitted within
the cloister ; again she knelt in the quiet
Chapel where she had first received the
Bread of Life. Did she, as she approached
again the holy Altar on the feast of the
Annunciation, confide some important se-
cret to her Heavenly Mother ? Did she
petition never more to leave her Con-
vent-home ?

It may have been so, for a few days

l!:i

KRY.

forget the
in the di-
erved as a
pray; hop-
ouary, who
lome day to
o the dear
to love and

: length ef-
mnot refuse
i doubtless
ced to find
jk.

B6, the httle
itted within
in the quiet
eceived the
approached
feast of the
naportant se-
r? Did she
je her Con-

• a few days

GLIMPSES OP TIIR MONASTERY.

later, the wild liower drooped, as if it felt
the rays of tho hottest sun. A mortal
sickness had seized the gentle child ; and
iruly it was an edifying spectacle for
ihe nuns to witness with what patience,
*— c:ratefiil for their least attentions, mur-
Inuring words of prayer, — she could suf-
fer. Soon the danger becoming apparent,
|he last rites of the Church brought
further strength for the supreme moment,
|nd tha little Indian girl, on the 5th of
g|.prii, breathed forth in peace her pure
young soul into the hands of Him who
gave it.

,f A canoe from the Indian settlement of
jpecancour was already on its way to
l^uebec ; for a messenger had been sent
warn the parents that their Agnes was
mgerously ill. When they reached the
^onveni, they found her pallid bier,
dire wed with flowers, awaiting them in
the Church.

Around it knelt many of her companions,
watching with the dead, and praying for
the repose of her soul. The peaceful and

aiching sight, joined to the recital of

QLlMP.-iES OV TUB Mt) NASI BUY.

iii'

'1.

riiiM

i! 1

hep happy end, which th.3 nuns, with
consoling words, give tho alHictod pa-
rents, moderated their grief.

On the following day, the Service was
sung with solemnity, in that Charch, so
diiierent from the (Jhapel of the Mission;
the voices of the nuns and the pupils
mingled in the burial strains, full of an-
ticipation of the joys of Paradise ; and
the procession went forth. It was com-
posed of the clergy from the parish
Church, a goodly num})er of citizens, as
well as all the Indians in or around Que-
bec, and closed with that virginal bier,
borne by the young students of the Col-
lege ; four of our " Seminarists ", in whit:
dresses and floating veils, upheld the cor
ners of the muslin pall, while the otln'i
little Indian girls attired in a similar man-
ner, formed another group preceding the
mourners. When the parents and friend?
of the youthful Agnes, witnessed sucli
honors rendered to the mortal remain?
of one of their nation, it no doubt tendi'd
much to console them, as well as to giv
them 0. hi^h idea of that Faith whioii

lY.

OLIMPSRS OF TIIK MONASTERY.

uus, with
licted pa-

orvico was
Ulinrch, so
LO Mission ;
the pupils
full oi'an-
L-adise; and
t was com-
th«> parish
t' citizens, as
iTOUnd Quo-
ivgiual bier,
5 of the Col-
s",iu whit:
leld the cor
le the otht'i
similar man-
eceding tlv
and friendj
nessed such
'tal remains
oubt tend^Hi
ell as to g-iv'
7aith whioli

knows no distinction of race, but embraces
all the children of Grod in one sentiment
, of charity.

"- For our part, assisting in spirit at this
touching ceremony, we have involunta-
rily brought to mind the iiaage of Ma-
dame de la Peltrie, and all her love for
the poor children of the forest, for whose
salvation she would have willingly given
her life : — and it has seemed to us fitting
: that the last lleq;uiem Mass, sung in that
IChurch where the pious Lady reposed,
^should be for the soul of an Indian maid.

I The catastrophe which we have an-
^nounced as A Memorable Date was
§now impending.

I The summer season quickly passes, and

^October comes. The month brings one of

$^hose days, which, in a community, re-

f* emble a family-gathering : it is the Feast
f St. Ursula, Patroness of the Order. On
. these occasions, the Divine Office is chant-
ed with the rites of First-Class ; High
Mass is celebrated with solemnity; the
^whole Church is brilliantly adorned, and

! 1

-m"

fli!

:| I

1 :•■

OLIMPdES OF TUB MONASTEUY.

the Altar fflows with lii?hts and flowers,
The consecrated Virgins who follow the
banner of the lar-famed Princess of Albion,
are filled with rejoicing, as they contem-
plate that heavenly kingdom, where they
too hope one day to follow the Lamb,
and sing that canticle, unknown to all the
other inhabitants of the Celestial Jeru-
salem.

But thoughts far different from these
are suggested by the date of the Vigil
of that festival, in 1080.

It was a Sunday, and as such the day
formed a part of the approaching solem-
nity, doubling its splendor and its privi-
leges.

Let us, for a moment, picture the aspect
of the Monastery on that memorable 20th
October. It was not, then, the " Old Mo-
nastery, " but young and fresh, peacefully
sheltering its happy inmates. The pre-
vious week, in that early autumn, had
realized the w^armth and loveliness of the
Indian Summer. Not a tree in that wide-
stretching landscape, had yet lost the

,,, it

OLIMPSK. OP TFIE MONASTERY.

(1 flowers,
lb How the
i of Albion,
3y contom-
vhevQ they
tho Lamb,
u to all the
stial Jeru-

trom these
.r the Vigil

Lch the day
iuix solem-
d its privi-

e the aspect
orable 20th
" Old Mo-
, peacefully
The pre-
itumn, had
liness of the
1 that wide-
et lost the

wealth of its many-colored, aiid bright-

ited foliage. Embosomed in the trees

of I he original forest, the^Monastery stood,

like a counlry-residence ; the sombre hues

of Its grey stone walls, contrasting agree-

^ably with the bright green of the still

Iverdant lawn in front, and the rich hues

fof its surroundings.

To the left, the pretty Church with its
eavenward-pointing spire, gave a finish
_;to the picture; while to the right, the
Tising walls of the new building, an-
nounced the enterprise and growing
prosperity of the establishment.

AVithin the Choir were assembled, on
this early JSunday morning, the entire
Population of the Monastery : the nuns
l^ere there, kneeling in their stalls ; young
jfirls, from the age of six to sixteen ;
l^varthy faces that denote the forest ehil-
iren of Canada, filled the lower extremity
0f the choir ; while, beyond the grating,
not a few pi<3us worshippers offered their
prayers in that quiet Church, rich in
gilding and tasteful architecture, where

■■a
1

«r

GLIMPSES OF THE .MONASTEllY.

tM'

' ■ ' I !

the spirit of Madame do la Pol trio and
the Venerable Mario do riucarnatiou
seemed still to dwell.

Mass was nearly over: the nuns, in
theit long mantles, had lowered their
veilo over their faces, as they retired from
the Holy Table ;— it was thut blissful mo-
ment, the *' Thanksgiving^ " after Com,
munion, when each in peace and trust, is
wont to renew that total sacrifice of her-
self, implied in her sacred vows.

Suddenly, a confused sovind of human
voices, and the clangor of the parlor bell,
rung as by an impatient hand, startled the
peaceful congregation. Mother Superior
quits her place to answer the unwonted
summons, the import of which, in one
moment, was but too evident.

Her rapid footsteps bear her quickly
through the smoke that already filled the
passages, to the extremity of the main
building where a fire had been lit, in
the huge kitchen chimney of those olden
times.— O terror! the whole apartment
was wrapped in flames !

hiu

:uv.

flLIMTSIS OF TIIK MOVASTKHY

oltrio and
ucarnatioii

3 nuns, in
orod their
tired from
blissful ino-
it'ter Com,
nd trust, is
ice of her-
vs.

I of human
parlor bell,
startled the
r Superior
unwonted
ch, in one

ler quickly
[y filled the
f the main
been lit, in
those olden
apartment

l'joni[)lIy closini^" the door thvou^'h
hich tlie smoke was densely pourin

^he hurrios back to the Chapel, and, in a
'oi(;o ot distress, cries out : " Ail is lost [

hole li

in Ihaaes: sret to a

tiouse
>laO(^ ol'sal'i'ly as (juiekly as possible.'"

That sad voice was all that broke the
aleiicc of the sacred fane. The order
'as olx'Vi'd with one imi)ulse. Th<» pupils,
tTcllowd ))y tht^ nuns, issued from the
ihearest door into the court-yard, while
Ihp smok(» aiul the seething flames, burst-
fco- from doors and windows, left no
doubt as to the urgency of this precipitate
flight. The citizens who had iriven the
Jprst alarm, were soon joined, with shouts
Ind lamentations, by all the population
■ ,#f the city. Ihit, with the fire, a strong
;wind from the north had arisen; and the
pry pine-floors and partitions, })ore swiftly
prward the destroying element through
ftie entire length of the main-buildinjj:
tbwards the Chapel and Church. Seeing
the certain ruin that threatened the whole
establishment, all efforts were now direct-
ed towards saving, at least, the vestments,

¥.1

*■' j

GLIMPSES OF THE M(^NASTERT,

the sacred relics, and the furniture of the
altars. These were in pari secured, with
the business papers of the Community.
And yet, at what risks ! The heroic lay.
Sister, who was transporting the rich re-
liquaries, persisted, after evauy one else
had fled from the Janger, till, on a sud-
den she perceives that the flames have
left her no other egress but through the
attic over the Church. She speeds her
way, laden with her precious burden, and
is saved from her perilous situation, by
being helped down through the windows
in the roof! ^ It was enough that no life was
lost, although every thing else perished.
All the movables, including the Annals of
the Convent, valuable books, objects of
piety or of usefulness, that were almost sa.
cred from having belonged to the Vene-
rable first Foundress or her companions ;
all the stores and provisions ; the furniture

■ii

* This brave Sister, whose name was Sr. Marie
Montmesnil de Ste. Cecile, was a native of Normandy.
She lived fifty-tour years after tlio narrow escape of
perishin<j; l»y fire, related above = yhe was aged 81,
at her decease* in 1740.

tare of the
lived, with
immunity,
heroic lay.
he rich re-
y one else
, on a sud-
imes have
iroug-h the
speeds her
Lirden, and
tuation, by
3 windows
no life was

perished.
! Annals of

objects of

almost sa.

the Yene-
n pan ions ;

furniture

?s Sr. Marie
)l"Noriuai)dy.
u\v escape of
I'lis aged 81,

QLIMPSV.S OF THE MONASTERY. 2&

of the school rooms, bods and clothing-,
ail were destroyed there, as at the iirst
burnins: of the Convent, in the space of
a few hours. The new building, consisling
yet of unfinished walls, underwent the
Jate of the rest, though with less dam.:ge.
trhe outhouses were included in the
|lestruction, with the exception of two
$mall buildings, the bake-house and
Wash-house : even these had to be un-
foofod, ill order to preserve them. One
small building, at tho distance of some
sixty yards, stood entire; it was the house
of refuge, left by Madame de la Peltrie,
which, thirty-six yi'ars before, had shel-
tered the Community in similar circum-
Itances.

But who can well imagine the scene
when the ilames, having obtained com-
plete mastery, drove all the spectators to
a distance, and revelled there with all the
fory of short-lived triumph. The roof of
the main building, with its cross-sur-
mounted cupola, hud sunk, while the
tossing llanics rose higher and brighter;
but it was on the Church that all eyes

■41

■I'l ;

m
im

lii

» 1

ti'' '

GLIMPSK3 OF THE MOXASTKRY.

wore riveted. Its wide arched windows
glowed with the furnace heat within ;
when suddenly the spire was enveloped,
;is with a iiery shroud ; another torrent
ran IVoui point to point along the pine
beams of the groaning roof, till the whole
gave way at a moment, with a tremen-
dous crash ; and there remained one glow-
ing heap of ruins, where an hour before
had knelt devout worshipj^ers in ];)eace-
ful adoration !

Among the spectators of tliis fearful
scene, we lind three aged nuns, who at
the dead of a w^inter's night, thirty -six
years before, had witnessed the destruc-
tion of the first Convent, raised on that
same spot : — Venerable Mother St. Atha-
nasius, now seventy-three years of age,
Mother St. Croix, almost four-score, and
Mother St. Ignatia, nearly seventy : — these
knew by sad experience wdiat it w^as to
be driven from their Convent-Home by
fire.

And how dear must those halls, those
cells, that choir, the class-rooms, — the

•m:

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTEllY.

(1 windows
jat within ;
enveloped,
tier torrent
g the pine
I the whole
a tremen-
d one g-low-
iiour bel'ove
rs ill peaco-

this fearful
ins, who at
t, thirty -six
the destruc-
sed on that
ler St. Atha-
Bars of age,
r-score, and
nty : — these
it it was to
it-Home by

halls, those
ooms, — the

^ery floors

where the Venerable Mo-

Ler Mary of the Incarnation had trod,
ave been to all these her beloved Mo-
thers and sisters, most of whom had lived
^ere many years under her maternal
^are. It was like so many relics doomed
|o destruction. But grace was not less

towerful on this occasion than on the
)rmer. They "who forsake parents, or
llrothers ond sisters, houses or lands," to
fcllow their Lord, should be careful not
"^ suffer their hearts to be captivated by
any thing earthly; so, when the flames had
made a holocaust of tlie fruit of forty
years' economy, there was neither lamen-
tation nor discouragement.

At eight o'clock, on that Sunday mor-
ning, the nuns, Iviieeling in their pious
Chapel, had heard the signal of alarm ; at
one, neither Chapel nor Convent remain-
ed to shelter them or their pupils : yet
hear what they have themselves testiiied
of their feelings in these trying circum-
stances : —

*' This calamity, although severe and
ignloreseen, hardly moved us, Divine

IT"

>^m

Hi. :■'

i.::ii;

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

grace having so taken possession of our
hearts at that moment, when God had
given himself to us in his Sacrament of
love, that it w^as not possible for us to
regret the loss of earthly goods."

Here, pity must give place to admira-
tion ; — such sentiments tell how fully the
Community had imbibed the spirit of its
Saintly Foundress, or rather that they
too were saints : none else could be ca-
pable of such detachment !

CHAPTER Iir.

!», '

; ; j ■

1 • 1

) M

III

1 I

RESTORATION OF THE MONASTERY.

In the mean time, measures were taken
to shelter the homeless Ursulines. It had
been, at once, decided that eight would
remain to guard the beloved site, and to

5TERY.

jssion of our
m God had
lacrament of
lie tor us to
ds."

5 to admira-
LOW fully the
e spirit of its
3r that they
2ould be ca-

GLIMPSES OF TIIU: MONASTEllY.

ASTERY.

s were taken
ines. It had
eight would
. site, and to

^^ 'oct the most urgent reparations, prepar-
fcg the little asylum that was loi't thorn,
to be the future residence of the Commu-
nity.

Ai'ter High Mass at the Cathedral was
4j|rer, about half past twelve, the Bishop
^int-Valier, and their Superior, Kev.
Father Beschefer, S. J., came to escort
flie others to the Hotel-Dieu, where
they were received with the utmost cor-
diality. Entering by the liospital, they
reque&led to be conducted to the Chapel,
where, on bended knees, they entoned
the " Laudate," to thank Grod for having
accomplished his holy will in them, by
depriving them of every thing ; then they
sang the "Memorare," to the Blessed
Virgin, their Mother and principal Supe-
ifioress,to beg her assistance and protection :
finally, before accepting any further rites
of hospitality, they assisted at the Holy
Sacrifice, offered for them by Iv-ev. Father
Beschefer, who had kindly deferred
saying his mass till that hour "in order
to console them more effectually.'-Happy
«)uls ! to whom the consolations of Heaven

i'l

GLIMPSES OF TIIR iMONASTERY.

*. ■ 1

sulTieo : never will you be overcome ' hv
earthly trials !

Ill tact, the courage of our Ursuliiic;
seems never to have faltered an instant.

Their income, during h;df a century,
would not have sufficed to enable them
to rebuild their Monastery ; yet, trustiii:.'
in the assistance of. Divine Providenco,
they resolved to attempt its reconstruc-
tion ; and until that was accomplished,
to live there amidst its ruins. The geuo'
rosity of friends, on every side, enabled
them to effect the first of these purposes :
their own generosUy in suffering, carried
them through the second.

Let us group a few of the incident?
that have been handed down to us o:
that period, duryig which our Mothers
had to contend with the accumulated
difficulties of poverty, sickness, and desti'
tution.

A part of the Community, as wc havt
seen, had sung their perfect act of resig
nation at the Chapel of the Plotel Dion
where they had found hospitality, afie:

sTERY.

)vorcomo ' by

ur "Ursuliiiev
[ an instant.

f a century,
enable thom
yet, trustiiK'
Providence
reconstruc-
3complishe(l,
. Tlie gene-
dde, enabled
se purposes
ring, carried

be incident^
wn to us o:
our Motbei;
accumulated
ss, and desti'

as wc hayt

act of resig

Hotel Dieii

)itality, aftei

GLIMPSES OF TUK MONASTEIIY.

■ }

^h;it disastrous Sunday morning. Their
kind hostesses did not tbrgi^t that the
following day was the Teast of St. Ursula ;
tnd made immediate prtjparations to have
High Mass, Vespers, Sermon, and IJene-
^iction, in favor of their guests, The Ser-
Jnon proved to b(; a moving exhortation
ilrom the Bishop Saint- Via lier, who after
celebrating Mass for the Ursulines and

fivi ng them Holy Communion, sought,
s he said, to console himself, while con-
Soling with tliem; and who seemed, in-
deed, more aifected by the sad accident
than they were. Ai'ter such a proof of
the delicate sentiments of the good IJo^-
pil'ilieres, we are not surprised that the
two Communities lived like one, recitins:
their ollice, taking recreation, their meals,
nd serving the poor invalids, together.
Some may not be prepared to hear that
'Iho Ursulines were also seen at the Castle
of St. Louis. It was deemed i)roper that
the Mother Superior, with som>> of her
Sisters, should pay her respects to the
Marchioness de Denonville. Their con-
ductors on the occasion were Madame do

GLIMI.-KS OF Tin-: MONASTKIIY.

111!;' i ;

j,^

1 M

Yilloray, and Madame Bourdon. It is
hardly necessary to say that th<'y wr'Vi'
received at the Governor's with all the
kindness and cordiality imaginable. Tak-
ini>' leave ol* their friends, the Marquis dc
]Jenonville and the Marchioness, about
live o'clock, they proceeded to the Palace
of the Intendant. Here, they were not
less cordially welcomed than at tho
castle; but they had yet anolher call tu
make, liidding- adieu to Madame Cham-
pig-ny, they followed the streets back to
their Iionie ; and, alighting from their
carriage, they went in to wish a "Good
Evening" to their sisters, the eight who
had been left in possession of the house
of Madame de la Peltrie. When they, at
last, entered the IIotel-Dieu at six o'clock,
" the peace of the cloister seemed delight-
ful, after such a day of fatigue and dissi-
pation !"

On the 7th of November, the Convent
of the Ursulines, as the house of Madame
de la Peltrie was now styled, was in read-
iness, and the exiles prepared to return
The charitable importJunities of their

I'!

H
f ■•

f f:

TKUV.

CiLIMPSES OV THE MONASTERY.

rclou. It is
i tlit'y were
with all tho
iuable. Tak-
! Marquis do
7U0SS, al)out
:o the Palaco
ey were not
hail at tho
oiher call to
lame Cham-
•eets back to
from their
sh a " Good
3 eight who
»i* the house
lien they, at
t six o'clock,
ned delig'ht-
le and dissi-

the Convenl
of Madame
was in read-
ed to return
es of their

Jcind hostesses, were unavailing to retain
thcnn longer ; so, amid good wishes on
*the one side, and sincere protestations of
Jfcisting gratitude on the other, the adieus,
Sot without tears, were made. Three of
jiho good Hospital nuns were authorized to
Accompany the Ursulines, and visit with
lihem the other religious Institutions of the
,«ity. The walk, thus extended, took them
4rst to the Seminary, wliere the illustrious
Bishop Laval, lived with his Community
of Priests and Levites, in the poverty, fer-
vor, and simplicity of the Apostolic times.
Thence, they passed to the gardens, and
to the Little Seminary, where the students
obtained a holiday in their honor. The
Cathedral came next; then the College
of the Jesuits; finally, entering the Cha-
pel of the Congregation, they sang an
anthem tu the lilessed Virgin, and con-
tinued their way, always conducted by
the Bishop ; their Superior, M. de Mai-
zerets (of the Seminary), and Rev. Father
Peschefer.

:h The procession had leno^thened, with

GLIMPSES OF THE MONAhTKllY.

!(i,:i

!<l !;

the road, till it res(Mn])le(l a trininplia!
march. The door ol' their HttU? Convent,
at hist, opened before them, and the crowd
disappeared, as the nuns entered the nar-
row apartments provided i'or their recep-
tion. The walls had not g-rown wid»'r,
and if partitions had separated the lowei
story into a kitchen and a refectory, tlu
other, above, retained its full dimensions,
(thirty feet by twenty,) in order to accom-
modate twenty-eight persons with a dor-
mitory.

A little Chapel and choir had been
fashioned, not in the style of the Jie
i.aissance, bvit in that of the grotto o:
the Naissance in IJethlehem, — it was a
small building, which had formerly serv-
ed as a stable. This, with the other "ira-,
provements" around, seemed to movt
the company more to compassion than to
admiration. " My good listers, I soi
every thing prepared here to make yoi;
suffer," remarked the kind-hearted Eis-
hop : " But for our part, says the Annalist,
our joy was apparent to all, so delighteJ

1]^ M' ■ I

t;;

H! !

rKiiY.

[\ triumphal
tie CouvoDt,
,d the crowd
ired the nar-
their rect'p-
rown \vid»'r.
?d the lowoi
electory, tlk
dimensions,
[er to accom-
s with a dor-

ir had been
of the Jio
he grotto o;
a, — it was a
jrmerly serv-
le other " m\
ed to moyt
Lssioii than tu
isters, I see
o make yon
•hearted Lis-
the Annalist,
so deh<]riiteil

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

rere we to find ourselves again reunited."
'^Erre (iwim hon/fin el qiiam jucundum ha-
bilarr, fntfrcs in unum. " — Yes ! it is a
||)od and pleasant thing for brethern or
iiBter.s io dwell together in unity.

if If adversity is the hour to know one's
fi^ends, our Mothers had reason to congra-
tlUate themselves on the number, the liber-
ality, and devotedness of theirs. While the
smoke was yet rising from the ruins of
the ^Monastery, the Bishop had addressed
himself in their behalf, to the faithful,
assembled in the Cathedral for High
Mass. Soon alter, he issued a Circular,
informing the chn-gy throughout the dio-
cese of the accident, which, he said, in-
terested the whole country and was of
itself sudicient to excite their parishioners,
through gratitude and affection, to render
all the assistance in their power towards
repairing the disaster.

For his part, he contributes, at once,
three thousand francs ; and, during his
absence in P'rance, he pleads the cause
of his afriicted daughters so efhcaciousiy,

\<'J>

';'f

■p'l"

GLIMPSES OP Tlld MONASTEaV.

* -.

that Iho Annals name him ^ asth«»ir cliic;!
bonolactor in ilio roi'stahlislmipnt ol'thtT
Monastery. Tli(3 ]\Iar(|uis chi J)enonvill.'>
lirst oUorini*', is a thousand lV;uics ; \\\n\
the Marchiont'ss makes it her duty to i:
from door to door throuL»'h the city, c<ii
lectiuG: tor her dear Ursulines, to whoL
she hears daily, with her sympathy, lli
fruit oi'her charity. ■

The Rev. Falhers of the Society c
Jesus, after their llrst offeriiiu;- of a tho
sand francs, furnish for live or six tiiiii
that value' in goods and provisions. Tli
members of tho Seminary, and the Intci
dant, contiibnte with equal gencrosii;
The citizens of Quebec, the principal 1
mihes throughout the country, give a:
according to their means ; the ITis
lines of Paris, and the other Houses
the Order, the relatives of the nuns thti
especially the family Le Maiie, and!
Flecelles, again, on this occasion, as :

^ The Bishop embarked in October, huviiiLi' j
concluded the episcopal visit of liis diocese, Caiui.
and Acadiu.

lli i

'Ml

iM!

ASTKRY.

(;iJIMl»8KS OP TIIK MONASTERY.

as iht'ir clii*

llllK'llt of llu'i

*) Donoiivilk"

IVancs; wliil
her duty to l'
I iht^ city, c.
iiios, to wlioL
sympathy, th

the Society (
riiiii,' of a tho
ve or six tiiiii
rovisions. TL

and tho Intci
nal o-enerosir
10 principal I
Lintry, givo ni
IS ; tho Ilrsi
)thor Houses I
'tho nuns thii
: Maiio, and 1

occasion, as :

'ctubor, liuving j
his diocese, Caiui.

[().') 1-2, S(Mid liboral sums to tho poor
Ijisuiinos in Canada.

'l\u) wnitor passed away in providini^
the most neiMlfiil artich's of clothing, and

ti i>lyn!i»' dilii^ontly th(i noiMllo, in such
aiiity oml>roi(h;ry as would bring, hy its
|nle, some proiits to lessen tho necessity
ijor daily ahns.

? J^]arly in spring, the labors oi' rebuilding

freie commenced, under tho skiU'ul di-

lection ot* Uev. Father F. Italaix S. J.

tfhilo tlui nuns invited to th-^ir humble

Chapel, the little girls of tho city for the

Instructions of the First Communion. As

ipon as the snow commenced to disap-

jij|ear, they made preparations for opening

Hlasses ibr day-i)upils, by putting up a

^«)rt of shed, near Iho spot whore lately

^iood that precious memorial of the past,
§18 ''Old Ash Tree." ^ This was no sooner

■f ^ Tluit venerable relic of the primitive forest was
Ipll u inuirnificent tree at the 200th anniversary of
jtjj^e Fuuiuiation of the Convent (1SIJ9). It lost one of
life })!'inci|);il branches a few years later, anil, linally,
|d tho month of Aujj,iust, 18G8, was laid prostrate by
§k Btorni.

' 4

Sv^l

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

in readiriGss than fifty or sixty pupils as-
sembled, and the Ursulines found labor
congenial to their profession.

But, as the adage tells: *' Misfortunes
never come single." If already the hoat
of summer rendered their narrow lodii-
ings most uncomfortable, what would it
be in sickness? A contagious malady
(the measles) was raging in the city,
After attacking the scholars, it fell upon
the teachers, and it was necessary to have
an Infirmary. A small building, serving
as a wash-house, was forthwith accommo-
dated for this purpose ; and thither the
sick were removed and attended, till
nearly the whole community had paid
tribute to the unwelcome visitor.

The month of September brought with
it the mortal illness of the venerable
Mother Cecile de la Croix, now seven! v-
eight years of age. Her vigorous consti-
tution had enabled her to bear a large
share of the hardships of the foundation,
in the early times, and to continue her
services forty-eight years, edifying (lie

iih

FERY.

CLIMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

y pupils as-
found labor

Misfortunes
dy the heat
arrow lodu-
lat would it
ous malady
11 the city,
, it fell upon
isary to have
ling, serving
th accommo-
thither the
ttended, till
y had paid
dtor.

rought with
e venera1)le
ow seveniv-
orous const!'
boar a large
foundation,
ontinue hor
edifying jhe

ommunity by her humility, her charity,
id her lidelity to all the observances of
liiiious lite. The ofTices that she regarded
■:hv\[\i dread, were those of Assistant
and Mistress of Novices to which she was
Icalled more than once, and lor which she
'wa^ well qualified, in every one's opinion
iut her own. She loved far better, to be
^employed at the Externs : the poorest
Ischolars were her delight. " In short, says
LO Annalist, she was a true Ursuline."

■^\ The ardors of a burning fever consumed

Ipie little remains of her strength, while

during three weeks she was attended iu

that miserable hovel, with love and im-

mi'iise compassion. It is the survivors we

jnobt pity, when ibr the bier of their be-

foved Mother, they could tind no better

^lace than the porch of that poor little

|Cliaj)el ; no more convenient spot for her

jgrave than the ruins of their former lovely

IClioir ! To add to the sadness of the burial

^Cf remony, a heavy autumnal rain came

ip(jurmi^ its waters over the funeral cor-

l|tege, as they bore the dear remains across

^■.»

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

1 m:

li;!!:

i ;l

the open court to the last resting place of
the dead. . . r .

The generous resignation with which
the nuns had accepted the ailliction sent
them in the burning of their Monastery,
seems to have extended its soothing influ-
ence to this whole period of privation
and suffering.

" During this year, sajs the Annalist, in
order to second the desims of Divine Pro*
videnceover us, each one strove to advance
in virtue by the practices of mortification
and penance. Daily prayers and thanks-
givings were offered to God for the succor
and aid he sent us, as well as to implore
his protection for our benefactors. Among
other prayers, the Litanies of the Saintb
were recited every day, with the suffrages)
as marked for the Eogation days. The
anniversary of the conflagration, the 20th
October, was a day of special devotion
and fervor. In the morning there was
general communion ; in the afternoon we
went around the ruins in Procession,
singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin,

■•*■?".

TERY.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTEllY.

ing place of

with which

lictioii sent

Monastery,

thing' influ-

)f privation

Aiinaiist, in
Divine Pro-
3 to advance
lortification
and thanks-
r the succor
to implore
ors. Amono"

f the Saints
le suffrages)
days. The
>n, the 20tli
il devotion
there was
ternoon we
Procession,
sed Virgin,

air Mother and Protectress. Our hopes
^%iave not been confounded, lor our (jrood
iMother has so watched over us that even
:#n our greatest distress, we have never

>een reduced to want for the necessaries

>fhie."

Meanwhile the busy scene presented
►y the heroes of the trowel, the plane, and
"the hammer, at their respective stations,
•gave hopes of better days. In November,
.the new wing, ^ hnished as to the exterior,
- oll'ered, at least, one large Hall complete,
and ready to be occupied. This was at
once devoted to the use of the pupils, the
Annals marking with characteristic pre-
cision, that " twelve months and nineteen
days after their accident, they were ena-
,bJed to admit Boarders again."

During the winter, the workmen cou- '

^ This wing, CO French feet by 25, was destined as
a habitation for tlie nuns ; tlie pupils occupied the
'Marge ilall " only till the next spring (May;, wheu
.J they removed to the apartnienls, which the nuns then
J quitted, in the house uf Mde. de la Peltrie.

'*'^*

lliiM!

it;!

'!■ . i

i'i'!

1 .

H. Ml

GLIMPSES OF THE .MONASTERY.

tinned their labors in the interior of tho
building, with siich success that on tho
18th oi' May (1G88), the house was solemn-
ly blessed, and dedicated to the Holy
Family : on the following day, the nuns
were occupied in removing to their new
apartments. It mast have been a joyful
exchange to them, especially to see the
thirteen most aged among them provided
with cells for their nightly rest, instead
of a narrow space measured oli' by inches
in a common dormitorv.

The humble Chapel we have pointed
out, after serving for Holy Mass and the
Divine Oflice during eighteen months,
after witnessing the profession of a fervent
Novice, Miss Juschereau, the funeral of
the venerable Mother 8t. Croix, the Ken-
ovation of the vows, the Exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament several times, w^as
abandoned for the large Hall/ already

^ This apartment, beneath tlie Coninninity-Hall
\vhich served as a Cliapel tliirteen months, lias
become historical since its occupation by General
Murray for the sessions of his Council, Military

i, lull;:

terior of the
that on the
was solemn-
o the HoJy
y, the nuns
their ne\y
en a joyful
to see the
m provided
est, instead
ff by inches

ave pointed
ass and the
sn months,
of a fervent
' funeral of
X, the lieu-
ition of the
imes, was
1, ^ already

iiuimnity-Hall
moiuh.s, lias
1 hy General
iciJ, Military

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTEIIY.

[mentioned, in (he lower story of the new

[wnig.

The restoration of the main- building-,
which gave another Chapel with the
apartments necessary for regular obser-
vance in the Community, a Kefectory,
an Infirmary, additional cells, <S:c., was
accomplished in the course of the same
year(lG88.)

The ancient choir rebuilt as class-rooms
2fbr the boarders, in 1080,^ at last restored

and Private, in 1759. It liad been occupied as a
' Laumiry or clotiics-room, nntii tlie pre^^ent year,
1875.

-;* ^ ''In rol)uil(linir the choir, say tlie Annals, a part
\Only of tlie ancient loundations serveil, the width hav-
,,ring been enlarged six feet on the south, and tlie
length also by several feet."

This building, as reconstructed in 1GS9, served as
; class-rooms refectorv, &c., for the Boarders until
I 18a4, when new apartments having been provided
:, for them, by an additional stury the whole length of
J tlie mam building (! 12 x 35) the old classes were oc-
cupied by the Hall-Boarders. In 1871 tliis old build-
m ^'^^ ^^'^s demolished and rej)laced by another, aug-
iDented in dinieiisions and four stories high.

iil

QLIMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

:it;

the house of Madame cle la Peltrie to its J
ordinary destination, school-rcoms lor the v '^
Externs.

CHAPTER IV.

io»i>.

CLOSE OF THE FIRST IIALF-CEiNTURY.

The events we have had to record thus
far, have presented enough of " hfe's
chequered scenes " to prove that this
edihce, destined to be lasting, had for its
firm foundation the sacred Wood of the
Cross. The Monasteiy, newly restored
after a second burning, again sheltered
the cloistered family, who felt they had
much to be thankful for in the past; much
to hope from tin protecting care of Pro-
vidence, in the future. In their recent

", M ' ',-i'

> y.ili

GLTMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

^eltrie to its
:oms lor the

ENTURY.

record thus
of "life's
e that this
, had for its
^ood of the
^ly restored
ri sheltered
It they had
past ; much
care of Pro-
:heir recent

lisfortune, they had experienced prompt
1 generous sympathy ; all classes of so-
cit'ty rejoiced to seethe Con vent not only
, rebuilt, but enlarged, i The Church,
I alone, had not risen from its ruins.

The date of this restoration, moreover,
coincided with the liftieth anniversary
Mof the arrival of the lirst Ursulines in
PC an ad a.

The Community numbered, now, thirty-
bur members ;— ten others, including the
;hree Foundresses, had, during that space
of time, passed to their reward.

No other year in those early times,
seems to have been so fertile in vocations
for the cloister, as 1G80. Twice the touch-
ing ceremony of " taking the veil," was
^witnessed in the temporary chapel be-

^ Tlie wing, called '^ La Sainte-Faniille, had been
^ fxtendcd towards tlie south-west, forming an angle
|wilh the inaiu-building30 feet by 38 affording a kitch-
' |en and its dependencies, an infirmary, etc. The

,,^first stone was laid on the 19ih July, 1G87, by Made-

'f. J 1 1 J

rpnuiselle de Denonville, then a boarder, danjihter of
. tthe Governor of the Colony.

OLntPSKS OP TIIK MOVASTKllY.

!'! '!i

iri;

neath the present Comiriunity llall. On
both occasions, the Bishop Saint- Vahor
oihciated, assistive! by his clergy and some
oi' the Itev. Fathers oi* the ^Society ot
Jesus. The JNEa^qnis de Denonville, the
Intendant, and their suite, were also pre-
sent, — the new " Brides of Jesus," being
Miss Elizabeth d'Ailleboust, and Miss
Louise-llose de Lanaudiere ; henceforth
known as Mother Marie de la (^roix and
Mother St. Catherine. After the ceremony,
the company were further gratiiied by
being allowed to visit the interior of the
Monastery ; — those cells which, with their
humble furniture, bare walls, and narrow
door with wooden latch, still excite the
curiosity, or admiration of the rare visitors
permitted to behold them ; that Com-
munity-ITall, with its deep-channelled
oaken wainscot, its plain benches around-
instead of chairs ; —wearing yet much the
same aspect as it did two hundred years
ago ; the new refectory and Chapel, — of
which we shall soon have further occa-
sion to speak. So well did the company
enjoy the treat, that it was almost six

-.**.

1'.

I il'iJMl:!!":'

Ii'llt!'!,!;!*;::

GLIMPSES Ob' TlIK .MONASTEllY.

/ Hall. On
Saiiit-Yalier
^y and some
Society ot
lonville, the
?re also pre-
L\sus," being
, and Miss
hencelbrth
a Croix and
e ceremony,
gratilied by
terior of the
|i, with then
and narrow
1 excite the
rare visitors
that Corn-
channelled
les around-
et much the
idred years
Chapel, — of
irther occa-
le company
almost six

ilock boibre the cloistered i^'roands, the

mrk and gardens, ha 1 re^viineu their

routed look of repose and quietude. The

food nuns console themselves with the

ouu'ht that their cloister Will not lowj: be

Lus ini'ringed upon, their new Chapel —

iaving an exttu'ior part destined to the

je of the public, being- nearly in readiness

)r Divine Service.

Four other young ladies, in the fresh
iarsofUfteen and sixteen, embalm the
jw Novitiate with the fragrance of their
wly sacritice, before the close of that
fiftieth year under consideration : these
were Miss Marie-Anne Robineau ^ de

"* Miss Hobineau, of Becaticoiir, daughter of Ba-
fOti Kene Kobirieau, officer of the Uogimerit of Tu-
Bniio, ChevaHer of the Order of St. Michtd ; her
)ther belonged to the ancient and noble fanuly I.e-
5uf de la Potherie.

Miss Gauthier da Coniporle, daughter of P. Gau.
thier, Sieur de Coinporle and Grand Prevost of
Qjiebec; her mother's I'aniily name was Basire. Her

§ter Marie-Anne de Compurte made profession five
irs later.

:;Miss Drouardj of Quebec, took the nanjc of Mother

> I

'•;'•,'•

■.t.

i'l

OMMPSr-S OF Till'] MONASTKRY.

1 '

ti!

i . I

"Docnncour, Miss Mario Madeleine G;ui
thier de Coniporte, Miiss Marie-Madcleiii.;
Drouard and .Jeanne Chorel.

On anothcn' page of our old Ttecoid
mention is made oi' the Episcopal visii
which terminates to the mutual satisl'ac
tion of the Prelate and his spiritiu
daughters ; its close is marked by conlei
ring the ^Sacrament oT Conhrmation, upo:
a Tostulante and about tvventv of tli
Boarders, among whom are several littlr
Indian girls. On the 2ord of June, ih
Holy tSacriiice w^as ottered for the lav
time in the temporary Chapel under th
Community, after w^hich the JJlessed ^.
crament \vas borne, in ceremony, to tli
new Chapel at the other extremity of tli
Convent. The procession moved acro;
the grounds through a winding avenii

St. Michel, at ilie age of lllleen, and lived to the a.
of eighty-two.

Miss Chord de St. Rouiain was soon rejoined
the Nuvntiate by her sinter Marie-Fran^oise, who".
the first to bear (IGD3) the name of Mother Marie.
Sac re Cceur.

fal

■■If

III

Mi ii

iTRRY.

leloinc Grauj
ic-Madeleiin;

old Ttocord
i SCO pal visit,
Ltual satisl'ac
his spiritual
ed by coui'ei
•matioii, upoi
ventv of til
several litll:
of Jane, tlit
L for the la<:
pel under th
le Blessed S:
^mony, to tli
tremity of tli
moved acro;
nding avenii

id lived to the a;

soon rejomea,
an^ctise, who ".
[Mother Miirie:

UIJ.\irsi:8 UL' TIIK MONASTKUY.

>or(lt'r<Hl Aviiii yotnig lir-trees, and strew-
id wiih 1 lowers The nuns, bearing- light-
Id tiii)»M\s, led the way, followed by the
hoarders, in iiolid ly attire ; the Clergy
►recediHl the IJishop, who l>ore with care-
[1 step, the sacred Ciboriuin ; whde the
AM nil P(Uf<re lingnd, an I the Anthem,
sdcnmi Conririiun^ gave exprt^ssion to
le s^Milimeut.s ol* piety and devotion
^hirli animated their hearts. ' '

Th(^ lirst Mnss celebrated in that little
iiu 111 iry, destined to witness during tliir,
M'our y«nirs, the fervor, the rejoicings, the
larias, and ;hc trials of the Ursulines,
''as on the feast of St. John Ijaptist, 1689.

Long since has that Chapel ceased to
,0 with reliuious chants ; its sacred des-
[nation is but a picture of the fancy-
'"okiiiu" the records of the past; — let us
irn, then, to other memorials of those
U'ly times, witnesses to the piety of our
rst nuns, which are still in good pre-
n'vation.

Such of our readers as have ever made
^e Convent their abode, have not failed

^ "'

7 -=■

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

11'

• M^^-

■tl. 1

■iil

to iiotico, thosn niiciont statnos to wh'w]
wo alluclo ; th'-y are, aj)parontly, the Guar
dians of the " Jlouse of .lesus."

It was the Tth December of that .Iiibilc
year, 1(J80, that installed the Image of Hi
Immaculate Vir^'irrwithin its scuiptiuv
and gilded niche, at the entrance of Ih
Community-Hall. Another, of 8t. ,1 osopk
wau placed, with the same tender pietv
on the second landini? of the c^reat stair
way in tlie centre of the building, knowi
as " St. Augustine's stairs." The wlioi^
community walked in procession, singiii:
Hymns, while the litter, covered wit!
llowers, on which the statues were placo!
was borne to their respective station^
How many times, during the space
now nearly two centuries, has the siuli
of those statues been to theinhabitaiit.>i
the cloister, the signal of a quick thoual;
sent winged to heaven ; here by an ^i
Joseph, there by a Tola pulrhra es to tli
Virgin fall of grace and beauty. An
how can we recall the memory of our a:
cient Mothers, never too poor to liii
means to manifest their tender piety t'

if f^'ifM':^'':

ULIMPSES OF TIIK MONAHTEIIY.

los to Avhiciil
tly, the Guar I
sus."

I'thnt.Ii-ibiW

Imai?o of th

in sculptum

itrance ol* th^ ^

of St. .losoph

tender pii^ty

le f^reat stair

Idiiig", kno\vii

The whol^

'ssion, singiii;

covered wii

s were placet";

jtive station^

the space >

has the sigli
inhabitants I
:^uick thoud.
ere by an jh

Irhra es to tli
beauty. An
lory of our a

poor to lin.

nder piety t'

ards (rod and his Saints, withont beino-
lOved bv a I'-tMierous impulse to follow
Ijos.'ly m ilit'ir footsteps, emulatin;^ tho
^oly (\Kaniph's they have hd't us !

Y«'t all \v;is not bright and peaceful in
at v^'iiv, l()8l). In the History of Canada,
iili ;ill its pugcs of terror and warfare,
UMO are none darker with anxiety.
'h<' counlrv seemed indeed on the brink
a total ruin. The Iro(|Uois, far from be-
g wi^akemul or disheartened by the long
#ar tlu'y had waged against the French
wad tln^ allitnl Inilian Tribes, rose bolder
and more aggressive after each encounter.
Th(^ environs of Montreal were infested
with sfraii'gling bands of the blood-thirsty
foe. AVe shall not here revive the
||oomy pi dure of the massacre of La-
||hine,i and the other feats of savage prow-

ls fn tlio year IG^O, tlie Iroquois made a fearful
JslauL^it iip!>n tlie T^laml of Montreal with 140O
irrjiirs. Tlie iiii^lit of tlie 4tli of August was sig-
lliz'd Ijy ati attack upon the ilwelliiigs of the inhab-
mt^; and settlements on the borders of theSault St.
)uls, of w]i')m several hundreds were ruthlessly
pk'ii and ma le captives. Shocking barbarities were

* ■

•V.

* \'\..'-< ,

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

,\ I

i:c|

ess, which rendered the year too sadly i:.
morable ; but opening that old parchni ]. .
bound Volume, our guide in revisi'iiu:
the scenes of by gone days, let us see wlun
record ol'passing events is there inscrilicd

A few days alter the event j ust alludoc
to has been recorded, the Annalist says :-

" A territying report came in all ha,sui
that Three Itivers had been laid in ])Ujji\
and ashes by the Iroquois, who a
ravaging all the country around,
news proved false, but a letter froi ; IL
Governor, the Marquis de Denonvili>', re
ceived later, gave undoubted informrlioi
that he had lifteen or sixteen hunclm
Iroquois to contend against ; whilst ni
other party, in company with two ' ■":
dred English Coloaists, were waitiv'U
fall upon Three Elvers and the o;' j
habitations. This news caused the jr

perpetrated on tliis occasion, which is known
nadian histor}' as the ^' Massacre do Tjacliine." '> "i |
in the brief space of one lionr about 200 person
cruelly butchered, and about tlie same numb* i' i':.:|
ricd olT to be subjected to captivity and tord:*.^
History of Can. by Dr. Miles, p. 202.

ERY.

>osadl; :
parchin

us see V ■
e insciii;

ust alludi
list says ;

in all ]; 1-
aid in ] i
, who
round,
ier lro]n i
nonvilli', :
inform pri
en hundiXM.j
; \A^hilsl !
h two 1 ^
waitii-
d the ('
ed the *.,

is known

iacliiuc.'*

00 persop :

mt' nnnilK r v..:

V and torti:'*'"

GLIMP.-^ES OP THE MONASTERY.

io:-: ODijsternation at Qao))ec, there being
iojily two hundred and forty men hi the
Icitv, capable of bearing arms."

" "^lojor Prevost resolved to do all in

^ . .ower to fortify the place. A fort was

:tod so near the Monastery (hat the

•-.lie passed through the court-yard

'warden. Sentinels were placed on

I at diilerent stations in the city, and

;i patrol made the rounds day and

:d.

" I'igare to yourself, continues the An-
[':'. i , a city without wal Is or gates, whose
ill') cMtants have gone to defend another

.it we have put our conlidence in
who alone can deliver us from the
impending. For this reason we offer
Ku" ]>rayers incessantly to implore the
iiie protection. If God be for us,
have nothing to fe; r ; but if He forsake
s, v/e are undone. This great tribulation
xoites everyone to penitence. There are
nily processions and other acts of piety to
I'Pcase the wrath of God, irritated by

■ u

1 I

' fj

I^o/

•f'l

ill''

I,:;!

!l ;i'

•! ii;

■Ml-

! I :;

•1=1

:!i;i

.54

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

the sins
Am

people. On the feast oi ^Nt|
ced the ibllowiii

justin, we coinraen
devotions, for the preservation
country, the humiliation of the Iroquoisl
and the general welfare of all classes oil
society.

1° A weekly Communion to be oilerj
ed for these intentions.

2^ The Anthem, O sa^?/laris, sung aij
Mass after the Elevation, and the Stiln
Ilegina, after Matins.

3° Five of the Community, named
each week, will pray specially for these
intentions, as follows : — Two will say the
oflBice of the Immaculate Conception be;
fore the Jjlessed Sacrament ; two otheri
the office of St. Joseph; a lay sister ^viil
say nine times th j Gloria Fatri and An\
Marii. All the other penitential acts aiic
good works of the Community, will N
offered for the same ends. These practiceij
of piety are to be continued the whole!
year."

Evidently, our nuns wt're not idle spec
tators, nor speculators on the state of pu

rxy

TERY.

LB feabi ol\St
le Ibl lowing
ition of the
the Iroquois
:ill classes of

to be olfer-l

IS, sung all
id the Salul

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTEUY.

affairs. Like Moses on the Mount, they
[had recourse to prayer, while their breth-
jren battled with the enemy ; — we know
that, of old, the victory depended more
Ion the prayer of Moses, than on the valor
[of the Israelites.

The Ursulines, in fact, had need, not
louly of pious zeal, but of courage, also,
kbr the enemy would not always be at a
distance.

ity, namedl
lly Ibr th('«l
will say tliti
nception be|
; two otheiij
ay- sister will
alri and Aii
tial acts ant
nitv, will 1)^
ese practi( t-:
I the wlio!^

lot idle i^P^'^gi
Laleof publif^

CHAPTER V.

IGOO,

THE ALARMS OF WAR.

When in the security of the present day,

one surveys at leisure the magnificent

j panorama of the fertile and cultivated

valley of the tSt. Lawrence, its scattered

l'^:

?■■.;;■••*,

OLIMPSES OF THE MONA>^TKRY.

cottages, hnmlof.^s i^inl villnf^'os, poacexuily
nestliiiL*' along' the ))ov(U'rs ol' tlio priiiit'-
\ix\ Ibivsls ; itb tliriviiiL>' l^wns, reposing
foarloss of an eiu'my ; lln' old Citadel o[
Q,iie])oc diyriiautlod, and its bat lories at
rest; it may not ])e an easy nialter to hi inn-
to mind that i'ai" diihMtMit pieiure it pre-
sented in by Gfone days.

The occasional apparition of an Indi:;!!
in his characteristic cos! nine, may recall
to mind those times \vhi*n I he whole land
was peopled with a brave ])ut savaue
race, that have now almost totally disap-
peared ; and we think oi* the terror the
name of the Iroquois once :nspired. 1 iio
sii'-ht of the Eni-'lish ilai:'- r^'minds ns also

CD O ~

of a terrible crisis ; and wo contrast the
present security and hai;piness of the
country, with the former stern and foarlul
realities of war ;uid blood&hod.

The TJrsulini o had their share in the
consternation which the name of the In-
dian, and the Ez/i^iis/u/iaj/, in turn, excited.
That old vohuuo of the Annals seems,
even now, to palpitate with dread, in the

IIY.

[^oacoiully
tlu' priiiu,'-
^, reposing
C'ilndol (.1
latteries at
^r to hiu\\f
ire it prt>-

nil liuli:;!!

nay recall
A' hole laiul
lilt sayaae
ally disap-
terror t!io
ired. liie
ids ns also
Diitrast the
_\<s ol" tlio
ind loarlul

are Ui the
) oi' the lu-
ll, excited,
als seeiii.s
'ad, iu the

ca-iMi'iJw OF rnr. monastkrv.

]\'ciial it makes of the siege orcjucbec, iu

i(;!»0. .

Our readers will lollow 'Vvitli interest
Ith'^ events already known to them by his-
t(»i\', hut wliich lake th(3 coloring" ol' ac-
tualitv lis our Annalist describes the
jgc Mies oF which she was an eye witness.

^' On tlio 7th October, slu^ writes, news
Kv IS receiviul tliat a.n Kni^lish fleet of
thirty lour vessels ^vas approacliin^* to
Itako possession of tlni country ; alrt^idy
[on the second oF the month, the enemy
hvas in sight at Mal])aie/ This news
IcriMt'Hl great alarm. Quebec could oiler
liio resistance^ there* 1)eing no soldiiM's in
the city, and but two hundred male ci-
[tizons. The Governor with all the troops

lad gone to Montreal, to defend that place
[aLiainst the [ro(]Uois. A canoe was de-

jpatched, immediately, to carry him the
[tidings of this new danger."

" In the mean time, the Major Prevost
worked at the foriiiiculious, batteries were

' Ni'W calU'il Murruv l!uv.

4J|

'I M

r-i

ar.LMl'SIiS OF THE MONASTERY.

moiuited at the Lower Town ; the streets
were barricaded; the inhabitants ol'the
environs were called upon to aid in tlio
defence. There was a deliberation to
send the two communities of nuns to
Montreal ; but as no boats could be pro-
cured, it was decided we should go toj
Lorette. Four of us were to be sent toj
make prej)arations for the rest ; then, asl
soon as the enemy's sails should be in
sight, the others were to follow. A place
of concealment was contrived in the cel-|
lur, where we stowed away our linen,
stulfs, &c. AYe commenced a novena to the I
Holy Angels, and to St. Joseph, the Patron
of the country, hnving Mass said every |
day in his honor ; — omitting nothing to ap-
pease the Divine justice and to obtam tlie|
favor of God for the country."

" Onr vows w^ere accepted ; contrary!
winds were sent, so that in nine days the
enemv's? vessels did not advance as much
as they might have done in half a day."

" When the ileet reached Quebec, which I
was on the morning of the IGth Oct., the

^i'lii'':

OMMPSKS OF TIIK xMoNASTKRY,

city was prepare^!, liiw ing for its deriMice
two thousaiid men, iiioludiiig tho troo])S
ivc.iUod i'roiii Montreal, under the Count
ih Frontenac; and the Canadian militia,
und'.'rM. de Callieres. The same day, the
Eng'Hsh captain sent a herald to summon
the Grovernor to surrender. According to
the insolent terms of tlie letter, not only
the Fort, arms, munitions and stores, were
to be delivered up, hut all the inhabi-
tants of the city were to surrender at dis-
cretion. One hour only was oliered for
deliberation. The Grovernor gave imme-
diately the answer they deserved namely :
' That Grod would not favor those who
were traitors to their King ^ and their re-
lii>'ion, and that he had no answer to i^ivo
them, but by the mouth of his cann ^n.'
The herald was dismissed without fur-
ther ceremony and the next day theliring
from the fleet commenced. On the 18th,
a part of the English troops landing at
JJeauport, there was a skirmish between

.-■ . ( .

, {

(•

• '^1

^ JuiiR's Tl liiid beeinlrivcMi fivMu liis kitiLrilom, and
Williiiiii III culled in Lo lake lii^ place on tlic throne

of England.

GLIMPSES OV THE :MONASTERy,

them and (ho French militia, with a loss
lor the enemy.

The ibllowing' days the cannonade Avas
renewed, but with less eil'ect. On the
iirst day, a cannon hall burst through a
window-shutter and sash, and finally
lodged at the bedside of one of our board-
ers ; another passed through the apron
of one Oi our Sisters, carrying oil the piece;
other balls fell in the garden, the parks
and the court-yards; but, by the protection
of Heaver, no person was injured. Our
house was crowded with people, and tho
Externs (house of Mad. de la l^eltrie) was
filled with furniture and merchandise,
placed there for greater security. Tho
Boarders' department, the classes for the
Indian girls, the refectory and novitiate,
with our three cellars, were filled with tho
pe^^pleofthe city, women and children,
so that we could hardly pass to and from
our kitchen, but ato our food standing c»ad
in haste, liki^ the Israelites when they ate
the Paschal Lamb.*'

" We passed the first night before the

iii|-'::;iiftHr

^l^-X^

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

Jjlcssed Sacrament in proyor : the I'ol low-
ing' nights, some took a iitt(^ rest in tht^
tSacristy, others in their ceils, remaining*
dressed, awaiting death at any moment.
"VVe had placed in the Choir the statues ol
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, helbrc which a taptu*
I was kept burning, while some ol' the sis-
ters were constantly there in prayer. Wo
lent, on this occasion, our painting of the
Holy P'amily, to be exposed on the steei)lG
oF the Cathedral, to l)ear witness that it
was under their holy patronage that we(?)
were combating the enemy."

Having attempted^ in vain, to take the
city by assault on the side oi' the Littlo
iiivcr, (the St. Charles) where they were
vigorously repulsed by our Canadians, the
enemy retreated to their damaged ships.

This was on the 21st of October."

The evil fortune of the invaders pnr-
fsned them still, during their perilous nav-
igation hom<}w^T,rd. Several of their ships
were lost, and hardships incredible, from
[Want of food and the inclemency of the
weather, attended the scjuadron to the

"In

■ f

QLIMPSKS OP TUK MONASTKUY.

I.,i:

port oi' lioston, whifh they oiitorod only
six \v(3eks after losiim* sii>'ht ol* Quebec.

" The retreat of the enemy left th-j
country in g'reat joy. The people sought
to manifest their gratitude- to fleaven, ac-
knowKnli^ing they had no part in the
victory, but that it was Grod's rig'ht hiUKl
tliat had delivered us. For this end, thu
Bishop of Quebec ordered a procession to
be made, in thaidvSL>-ivinii^. The imai^^t*
of the Jjlessed Virgin was l)orne suc-
cessively to the four Churches, endiii<>'
at the Cathedral, where the Te Deiim was
sung'. In the evening there were l^onliies
(des feux de joie).

Moreover, our Prelate has decided that
the Chapel which is to be built in the
Ijo^^xu" Town, shall bear the title of " Our
Ladv of Victory," in fulfilment of a vow
made to this efF»'ct. Every year, the fourth
Sunday of October will be a commemo-
rative feast ; there will be a procession in
honor of the Blessed Virgin on the same
day.

Our readers know with what fidelity

GL1MPSK8 OF TIIR MONASTERY.

niid lervor this anniversary is stili celo-
hnitod. Happy the country that has
marked it^ calendar by such testivals,
which arc kept alter two centuries, in ilie
spirit of their lbund«»rs !

iNot to interrupt h<'r narration, our clois-
ttM'od historian has dehwed to anothiT
paii'e, her record ol'tho festival ol\St. Ur-
sula. It is in keepini^ with the s[nrit oi'
these primitive times. The city was be-
sieg'cd by an enemy, the roar of their
camions, at various hours of the d'ay, was
hoard so near that the balls ratih^d upon
the roof and walls of the monastery. ^J'he
danger was so real that the Blessed JSa-
cranient was removed from the Taber-
nacle, — nevertheless the N uns sim>' their
iirst Vespers. The Breviary Oihce connot
be recited, because their books, have been
stowed away, with whatever else they
held most precious ; but in order not to
dolVaud Heaven of their accustomed tri-
bute of prayer, they g'^ve an hour more to
meditation. On the Festival, the Bishop is
|in their Chapel to say Mass and give them
Communion. At two o'clock P.M. they

aLlMl'Si;8 OF TIIK MONASTKllY.

ImIvi^ Ihoir •^ccuslotiUHl places in tho cli>
to listen devoutly to a sermon, with ih
oxpectjitiou that at four, a great halii.
would icxkc. place vvitliin {siu,'ht of lli-ir
windows. The sacred preaelier (iM. >;
111 Colomhier*') after ii panegyric of ili'
Virgin martyrs, simzcs the occasion to ix.
hort his audit Jis to similar intrepidity iiil
the approaching danger, congratulatiii:
them on the happiness oi' being called lol
follow ho closely the i'ootstcps of tlnir
illustrious Patroness. He concludes hi?
exhortation in this pathetic style, wbi-ii
the Jjishop entones that jilaintive Ilynui;

*' 3Jaria Mdler ixraliic Et moilia liom

SNsclpe,'" Math such a voice that the gooiil
nuns were hall" persuaded that their In^j
hour had come. It is easy to imagiiuj
with what sentiments tlu^y i)rostrated lo
receive the blessing ol* our Lord in iIk
licnediction Service, at which the rrelaij
olliciated, closing the festal solemnity]
just as the roar of artillery recommencid

Later, it was known that this last car,
iionade of tht;» enemv was but a feint k*
cover their retreat which they eflecicc

(JMMTSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

Avith givat procipiliitioii during the night.
AVhoii tho report ol" this victory reached
the court of France, the conduct of Fron-
feline iuid that of the officers and men
uikUt his command, were so highly ap-
])rociated, that the king ordered a medal
to hi3 struck in commemoration of the
event,

^ome of our Readers may have seen this
modal : it bears the folloWing motto : —

IvEHECA LIBEKATAM. DC. XC ;— and o'n

the other side :

Fkancia in novo oebe victrix. —
Qnehe.c deliver edy 1600. France victorious
\in the New World.

f. f

f .

. •]'

^i&;

CHAPTER VI.

lOO

REV. MOTHER MARGARET DE FLECELLES OF
ST.ATllANASIUS,

BKCOND SUPERIORESS OF THE MONASTEUY :— PA-
RISIAN NUNS.

!;.'

Early in the history of the Monastery,
we meet with the name of Mother St.
Athanasius : — our Yen. Mother Mary of
the Incarnation, her contemporary, has
left us an appreciation of her merU, in
terms of the highest eulogium.

Called to govern the Community dur-
ing eighi^^en years, and to edii'y it by
her virtues throuo^h her loni>' career of|
more than half a century, her memory
is still fresh among us, embalmed in that
gratitude, esteem, and afft^ction which, |
surrounded her during life.

In reading of the vocation of Mother

^^..

OLI.MI'SES OF THE MONASTERY.

M. (le rincariiation, we are struck with
the conviction that Divine Providence
had prepared her in a special manner for
her work; that, truly, the trials and the
toils of preceding- years, were her " no-
vitiate for Canada."

l]ut such was not the case with Mother
[St. Athanasius. In her youth, she was
the i'avorcd child of fortune, as well as
of nature. The honorable family de ^""16-
colies, to which she belonged, was dis-
iiiigiiished, even in the polished circles
of Parisian society.

Mirgaret, the pearl of that noble house,
was placed, at an early age, in the Board-
ing school of the Ursuline Convent in
the Fdubourg St. Jacques, (Paris), an
Institution then recently founded by Ma-
dame de St Beuve, yet already flourish-
ing and enjoying the highest reputation.
Here, while her rare talents were cul-
tivated with success, the excellent qua-
lities of her heart were developed and
fortitied by the relii^ious instructions and
pious exemples of lier teachers. Cheer-

rx-

■'<*■ i

! -: 1

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTi.RY.

1^
>

fill and good humored, modost and
obliging, graceful and engaging in hei
manners^ the youthful Margaret was a
geiieral favorite, while the solidity ol hor
judgment, her sincere and unaflrctod
piety enchained the hearts of her iriond
in the lasting bonds of esteem and ai
lection.

Returning to the bosom of her family,
fitted to become its ornament as eh'
might have been its idol, she did noi
suffer her soul lo be fettered by the silken
cords of love and ease. tShe had heard
the voice of grace, calling her to a life of
s^lf-abnegation, and devotedness to the
good of souls: waiting only to obtain the
consent of her worthy parents, she has-
tened to present herself, in her fresh sev-
enteen, to the Superioress of the Ursu-
lines, in the same Convent where i^hei
had received her education. Admitted to
that Novitiate where all was fervor, she
pronounced her -^ows after two years, thH
usual period of probation, — and continued
her course with fresh ardor, aiming at the
highest perfection. Already seven yearsl

GLIMP.SES OF THE MONASTERY.

had quickly passed away, in the service
ol* Him who has said that his "yoke is
easy and his burden light," when the
little missionary band, destined ior Que-
hi^c, received hospitality in the '* Grreat
Convent " ol* Paris,

Mother Margaret of St. Athanasius, does
not appear to have been attracted by the
sight of the Christian Heroines, to seek to
share their enterprise, as were others of
the Community. No! her vocation to
Canada, like that of her call to religion,
was one of pure generosity, unaided by
the sensible attractions of any special
grace. Crod had permitted her soul to
])e visited by a season of desolation, as
dark as it was trying. In this interior
cunllict, — the precise nature of which is
not stated, — the faithful Spouse of Jesus
abandons her fate, more completely than
ever, to his mercy. " Though he slay me,
yet will 1 trust in him" said holy Job.
The pious Ursuline resolves to do still
more tor Him, whose hand presses so
heavily upon her breaking heart. Sho

1 i

QLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

VOWS to ofier herself to her Snperiors, to
be sent to that little Convent, devotpcl to
the Savag"e tribes in Canada. tSo g( Mic-
rons an act obtained its immediate ro-
ward, in that " peace of the soul which
passeth understanding;" a strength un-
known to her before, fortified" her w^iJl,
and urged her to fulfil her engagemeiil,
sacrificing a second time, her family and
friends, with the Mothers and Sisters
scarcely less dear of that second home,
where she had hoped to pass the re-
mainder of her days. Such was the first
vigorous step of Mother St. Athana^ius in
the rugged path to which she had com-
mitted herself. Let us now introduce the
amiable companion Providence had pre-
pared for her. Mother Anne Le Bugle, — of
St. Clare.

In her vocation, unlike Mother St.
Athanasius, she is borne on the winci-s of
a holy ardor, and deems the happiness to
be chosen for the mission, lightly bought
at the price of a final separation from her
beloved parents, and her community.
rier heart is so consumed with zeal lor

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

tho salvation of the benighted heathen
of America, that siie feels no longer bound
by earthly ties ; and we are forced to
sympathiz) with her weeping parents
more than with herself, when they at
last '\for Gofl's sake,'" as she had entreated,
consent to. let her depart.

Then she casts herself with an uttt
abandon, into the arms of Divine Provi-
d'.Mice, without solicitude for the present,
or the fature. On her voyage, every thing
turns out for the best : the ocean is never
seen but it is "calm;" the sea-breeze
ever proves " mild and refreshing" : as she
nears the shore, " a clear sky is overhead ;
verdant groves and lovely flowers rejoice
her sight." They reach Quebec, at the
end of two months (1040) without acci-
dent.

That little Convent on the beach in the
Lower Town, ^ has a poor Chapel which
to her looks devout : — within, she finds a

V, 'I

1(1
M

•at"

■ i. !

•s

^ The sniiill lionso wlilcli served as a Convent
over tliHM^ V'ars, stood opposite the present Church
of Our Lady ctf Victory.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY,

sweet solitude, where with " most amia])lo
and saintly Sisters," she lives in •' wondor-
fulpeace and union." Her cheerfulness and
filial trust in God, fitted her for the trials
of h'fe; like the reed that, bending to the
wind, is never crushed by the storm. This
commencement was but a presage of the
edification which the life of Mother St.
Clare afibrded, serving her Master, as she
had resolved, with her whole heart, till he
called her to her reward, thirty-six years
later (1677).

The accession of these beloved Pari-
sian Mothers, seems to have been highly
providential for the little Convent of
Quebec. It obtained the powerful aid
and protection of that Monastery, the
Mother House of the Congregation of
Paris, which being of older date than
that of Tours, and situated near the
centre of the Missions of the Society of
Jesus, enjoyed greater facility for pro-
moting: the welfare of the new foun-
dation.

The Biographical Notice of "<5urmost

d Pari-
1 highly
vent of
rful aid

ry, the
atioii of
te than
ear the
ciety of
tor pro-
foil 11-

ur most

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

honored and belovi^d Mother Marg\ de
Flecelles of 8t. Athonasius," describes her
as a shining" rnirror of every virtue,
nourishing her union with God ))y a
special devotion to the Passion and to
the Blessed Eucharist, assiduous to pray-
er, walking in the presence of God, in
the constant exercise of that two-lbld
charity which is the abridgment of all
perfection. If she still remembers the
rich halls of the parental mansion, it is
to provide for herself, the poorest cell,
the poorest raiment, and the most meniaii
employments in the Monastery. When
her Sisters, pained to lind her in the
hake-house or in the wash-room, seek to
persuade her to spare herself, she insists
that it is her consolation to be there, and
the best preservative of her health. —
When from the place of command, she
descends to the rank of inferior, her
obedienre has only acquired the addi-
tional lustre of a more perfect submission ;
she is the willing servant of all who
need her services, more humble in heart

%i '.ft

■i .

l.l,

■i:

•i:

■'•■. ^i

;•,. ' t'

. i^

GLIMPiSES OF THE MONASTERY.

than it is possible for any outward cir.
cumstaiices to make h(3r.

Oiico, only, did Mother St. Athanasius
disoblige her Si^stv^rs, and give them cause
for ^orro\ iirl complaint. It was wheii
she sou£^hi ;i.ud btaiiied of her Kcclesias-
ticai Superior, th I^ishop of Quebec, the
permission to withdraw her ntme at the
election of a new Superior, of the Mo-
nastery, wishing to oijoy the full benefit
of her vow of obedience, the rest of her
days.

Guided in this demand by her humi-
lity, she found from the same motive,
abundant cause of confusion, witnessins:
the affliction of her Sisters, and by their
distress knowing, truly, how very dear
she was to them.

There would be much to add, here, of
her zeal for the int ruction of yonth— a
task from which she would never wil-
lingly be exempted, unless it were in
her old age, the last six months of her
life; — of her detachment, never sniftering
herself to be personally benefited by

I^fll

GLIMPSES OF TFTR MOXASTKRY.

^^ard cir. ^ the m; ly rich* donations of her family ;
oi'hor i»enitenti*xl spirit, her mo iilication,

hanasius
>m cans«
as whei!
^]cclesias-
ebec, the
ic at the
the Mo-
il benefit
st of her

er humi-
motive,

itnessinsf
by tlieir

:ry dear

here, of
ronth— a
ver wil-
were in
IS of her
snfftn'ing
[ited by

her z '1 fv^r the conversion of sinners,
and particularly i'c i that of the poor In-
dians. But let us conclude ; citing from
the Annals the details of the last few
days of her life.

" Our venerable Mother Margaret de
Flecelles of St. Athanasius, charged with
years and with merits, fell ill on the 28th of
May, 1605, in the eighty-lirdt year of her
age. Eising, as usual, at four o'clock, she
had gone to the Choir to prostrate herself
before the Blessed Sacrament. Au hour
later, the inlirmariau perceiving that she
was feeble, conducted her to the infirmary
and pressed her to refresh herself by tak-
ing a little repose. ' Oh ! this will be noth-
ing,' said the venerable patient; — and,
in the afternoon, returning to the choir,
she approached the Sacrament of Penance
in preparation for the Feast of the mor-
row, the Holy Trinity. After Communion
the next mornin-r, and after assisting
at an assembly in chapter at nine o'clock,

I :

•J

GlilMPSKS OF THE MONAhTKRY.

she look h(3r bod to rise no more. Duriiiir
three days, hor vigorous constitution af.
lorded hopes that the fever which wa.s

co)isunnn<»'

lit be abated : l]

er, iriigni be ar)atecl: but
on Wednesday the symptoms of aj)-
proaching dissolution appeared. Mother
St. Athanasius knowing the danger, asked
for the last Sacraments, and received
them w^ith exemplary piety."

" Althouah her snfIerinQ;s w^ere ffreat,
and her soul absorbed in God, she still
w^as attentive to all around her, receivino-
the visits of her Sisters with admirable
kindness and cordiality.

" Perceiving that her lips were dry and
parched with fever, one of us remarked
it to her, asking if she w^ould not drink to
allay her thirst. She was answered by
these w^ords so full ofmeaninc^: — "I have
another thirst w^hich cannot be allayed."
The Superioress, Mother Mary of the
AuG^els, seated bv her bedside, enterini.^
into her thought, added : " You thirst, dear
Mother, to glorify God, to suffer for his
love, to o-ain souls to his service." To this

;

lis.

GLiMrsES OF Tin-: MONA.^TKIIV.

iht' vonorable MoiIkm* replied wilh I'orco :
' V^es, yes! 1 thirst to gloiily God, and to
love him." Then, with th(» same fervor,
she exclaimed, in the words of the Psal-
mist : — " For thee niy soul hath thirsted!
Ill ades'^rt hind, and where no water is ! so,
ill the sanctuary have I come before thee,
God, to see thy power and thy glory."
The last moments of her hfe were
passed in that sweet and intimate com-
munion with God which was habiiual to
her, till, pronouncing three times the
holy name of Jesus, she gently gave up
her soul to Him who made it ; it was
the 3d of June, 1G95, — the sixty-third
anniversary of her religions profession

" Rev. Mother St. Athanasius will ever
bo regarded as a signal benefactress of
this Monastery. God alone knows how
much we are indebted to her. "We hum-
bly hope she already enjoys her re-
compense in the happiness of heaven.
Hl'V many virtues, and all our obligations,
render us most sensible to her loss, .....J!.
her memory will ever be held dear among
us."

5 .'fj.

»i

■1^1

:.i!

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

In closing this slight tributo to I ho
memory of our two first Parisian Motliers,
wo may remind our Iveacb^rs of the thrto
others ol' th(^ same Congregation, who
were welcomed to Quel^ec in liJTl;
Mother Marie Le Maire — oi' the Angels,
Mother ]\Iarie Drouet—oFJesus, and Moth*
cr ]\larie Gihault du Breuil — ol'St. Josei^h.

Thirteen years previous to the decease
of Mother vSt. Athanasius, the Constitu-
tions of Paris, by Uie advice of the
Bishop, had been adopted by the Com-
munity of Quebec. These Constitutions,
published lirst in 1G23, and reprinted
with some slight amendments a few
years after, bear the impress of their
origin, — the linger of God guiding the
hand of his saints. Composed by per-
sons of the highest merit deeply versed
in theology and in the knowledge of the
human heart, every Chapter and every
sentence was made the subject of care-
ful examination, and tested by being put
in practice, before it linally received the
seal of l!]piscop;d approbation. The ex-
perience of two hundred years, has but

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

roudered those Coiislitntious more pre-
cious and venorahle in this Monastery,
where thoy are still in full ibrce, wilh
such moditications only as the circum.-
slaucos ol' the times have required, and
the proper authority sanctioned.

CUAPTER VII.

FOUNDATION OF THE UHSULINE CONVENT OF
TIlllEE RIVERS.

"*' '/ (>'^

Quehec had made provision, from an
early date, for the two classes of society,
the most helpless and the most in need
of succor, — children and the poor inlirm.
The College of the .Jesuits, the Ilrsuline
Convent, and the Hotel-Dieu, p^rew up
with the rising city : the Theological tSem-

OLIMPSKS OF THE Mr NASTERY.

-,«'!■

iiiavy, with its " Little Sominary " for
students, was founded by Bishop

aval.

in 16(jo ; the General Hospital, by Bishop
Saint-Valier, in 1G92 : these were all nour-
ishing institi]tions at the close ot* the
seventeenth century. .

Montreal had also, from a period near-
ly coeval with its first settlement, wel-
comed the heroic Mademoiselle Manse,
and the devoted Mar2;uerite Bour2;eois.
The former endowed Vllle-Marie with its
Hospital ; the latter, with an Institution
for female youth, the Congregation of Our
Lady (lu53) ; the Theological Seminary ot
St. Sulpice, founded in 1677, offered also,
the advantac^es of a Christian education
to youth.

Three liivers, which from the begin-
ning of the Colony was regarded as an
important post, and which received a
permanent settlement, with a local Go-
vernor in KHo, had not, at the end of
sixty years, an Listitution either of edu-
cation or of charity, beyond what the
Mission of the good Jesuits and the Fran-
ciscan Fathers airorded.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

■y" for
> Laval.

]>isho[)
ill llour-

ot' the

:)d near-
Jilt, wel-

Manse,
)urgeois,
? with \\>
stitution
)n of Our
ninary of

red also.
ducatiou

le begin-
ed as an
ceived a

ocal Go-
end oi'
r of edu-
hat the
he Fran-

This want had no doul)t seriously re-
tarded the prosperity and importance of
lhiM'isini>- City, whatever may have been
said by a late author of the lolly of

ibuiuli

Hospital, almost

[most contempor-
ary with the settlement of a country.

The zealous Prelate who had endowed
Qii»'l)ec with its second Hospital, con-
sulted with the local Grovernor of Three-
iiivers, M. Rigaud de Yaudreuil, and it
was dc ided that one establishment, at
least, should be undertaken. Unwilling,
ncveriheless, to leave tne sick and infirm

I unprovided ibr, he conceives the possi-
P bility of uniting the two works of mercy

in one Institution. Ursulines would teach ;

—it is an indispensable article of their con-
II stitutions: but they could also, by Episco-
M pal authority, attend to the wants of the
I sick, in a part of the Monastery to be

II callod The Hoi^inlal. The project was
S now and untried ; it is an additional proof
^1 uf 1 10 zeal and spirit of sacrifice of our

auciont Mothers, when they accept the
foundation on these conditions.

h mansion on the marixin of the ^St. Law-

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

rence had been built for the residence of
the Governor : the Bishop proposed to pur-
chase it, if it would be found suitable for
a Convent. This point being left to the
decision of the nuns, they must needs
make the journey to see it. Rev. Mother
Le Maire of the Angels with the newly ap-
pointed Superioress, Mother Marie Drouet
of Je^us, and a lay 8ister, issuing froui
the cloister, were met by the Grovernor of
Three Rivers, M. Kigaud de Yaudreail
the Bishop Saint-Valier, and M. de Men-
tigny, ^ the ecclesiastical Superior of the
Monastery. The voyage was without
accident, and business was settled to the
satisfaction of the parties concerned,
the contract passed, and the germ of a
tuture Community planted. It was plain
that the nev/ foundation would not have
to endure the hardships and privations
which had attended that of Quebec ; but
it is possible there will be other trials,
for the works of Heaven are ever buih
upon the Cross.

Of tlie Seiniuary of Quel-ec.

GLIMPSES OF THK MONASTERY.

A few day later, there is another part-
ing scene at the Ursulines of Quebec.
Mother Mary of the Angels stands in
readiness to conduct an Assistant, Mother
Le Vailiant of kSt. Cecile, ^ and two more
ot her daughters to the new Convent:
Mother Marie Amiot of the Conception,
and Mother St. Michel have been chos-
en.— i]ut let us join the little colony,
die day preceding their departure from
the dear Monastery, when they go forth
to nay their farewell visits to their
friends in the City. Their first station is
at the Castle, where they offer their re-
spects to the veteran Count de Frontenac,
and receive his compliment of adieu.
They next visit the new Monastery of
'the JxecoUets, and the Bishop's palace,
where a most cordial and paternal re-
ception awaited them : the eminent Pre-
late conducted them himself to the Se-
minary, to present their homage to the

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^ Mother St. Cecile luid l)Ut lately arrived from
licr Convent in IJayeiix', Fninee: she was a persou
(if rare nun'h, — ])Ut lived only twu years after joiuiug
the Ursuliucs of I'hrce Kivers.

'If'

GLIMP6ES OF THE MONASTEllY.

venerable Bishop Laval, and the mem-
bers of hiS Community. Here, again,
all was cordiality, and tlni most obligiiin-
testimonies of good will. Thence, M.
de Montigny led the way to the Colleiie
of the Kev. Fathers, whose hospitality
was displayed by a collation, of which
the nuns must partake, betore they pro-
ceed to the Hotel-Dieu. The scene here,
may easily be imagined. Foi" some, it was
the meeting of old schoolmates and
early friends ; for others, the cherisiu'd
hostesses who had received with such
sympathy, eleven years before, a Com-
munity without a shelter.

But let us hasten on, for at the Intoii-
dant's palace Mr. and Madame Champi-
gny are old friends of the Monastery, wait-
ing to give a hearty welcome to these rare
visitants. — At the newly-founded General
Hospital they are also eagerly expected. Is
there not indeed, a new lie added to tIi*Mr
friendship by the adoption of the title
of HospiUUicres, added to that of Ursu-
hues? The day was scarcely longenoniili
for all these demonstrations of interos^

3 mein-
, agiiin,
Dbliginq-
iico, M.

College
spitality
r which
hey pro-
ne here,
le, it was
ties and
;herished
ith siu'h

a Corn-

he 1 11 ten-
Chaiii[)i-

ry, wait-
Ihese rare
1 General

ected. Is
I to tht'ir

the title

of Ursiv
kenoiiiili
hiterost

GLIMPSES OF THR MONASTERY.

and kindness. The following morning,
at an early hour, w^e find our missionary
Histers hastening their departure, lest the
farewell embrace should move Ihem too
deeply: — they only alight from the car-
riau'e to get their w^orthy Prelate's bless-
ing ; then, descending Mountain Street
to the Low^er Town, they embr.rk for
their future home in Three Rivers.

Another voyage up the River, m the
leisurely style of those days, gives Motuer
Mavy of the Angels an opportunity to
accustom herself to the features of that
laudsoape, w^hicli still strikes the behold-
er Avitli its grandeur and beauty. Tl^^.
milder borders of the Seine w^ould havo
Ijrought her pleasing reminiscences of
her youthful days ; — the St. Lawrence
carried her back to the lirst time she had
beheld, a cjuarter of a century previous,
the wild scenery of her. adoi:>ted country.

Our limits will not permit us to follow
them further, unless it be to see the return,
three years later, of one of these young
nuns, Mother Mary of the Conception,

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

J '■'■

whose absence had taken the light from
her Mother's hearth. Mrs. Amiot had
made the sacrifice of her daughter, in
giving- her to the Ursulines of Quebec,
but she had counted on the pleasure oi"
seeing her, from time to time, in the House
where she had consecrated herself to
God. IMeadiiigher cause with a Mother's
eloquence, she moved the Prelate to de-
cide upon recalling her to Quebec. Here,
her mission extended to long and useful
years, as our Annals show.

In the spring of 1699, we iind Mother
Mary of the Angels, returning to Three
Rivers as Superioress. The ]]ishop and
the ecclesiastical Superior are there to
receive the vows of live novices, and give
the veil to another; thus the Community
numbered eleven members, four of whom
were the professed of Quebec.

Its generous founder, l>ishop Saint- Va-
her, spared no pains, economising even
upon his personal expenses, to assure the
prosperity of an Institution whose useful-
ness he fully appreciated. During the

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

yet perilous period of its foundation,
Mother Mary of the Angels writes:—" I
may be blamed for having undertaken
this work, but after the proofs I have hud
that it is the will of God, 1 cannot
repent of the essay. If I am in error, it
is in company with many persons of va-
rious rank and condition, who are more
enlightened than I am ; and should G-od
permit it, I shall witness the failure of
the enterprise as cheerfully as its success,
for I desire nothing but the accomplish-
ment of the will of Heaven. "

With sentiments like these in the foun-
di esses of the new Monastery, it is not
si.rprising that the blessing of God rested
upon it. Superiors, already exercised in
the difficult art of governing well, like
Mother Le Maire of the Angels, Mother
Marie Drouet of Jesus and Mother St.
Teresa, were deputed from Quebec by
the Bishop to guide the young Community,
until, in 1781, it was found capable of
subsisting by itself. Ten years previous,
it is mentioned by the historian, Rev. F.

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY

Charlevoix, as a " flonrishiiig' Monastery,
composed of I'orly Ursiiline nuns, who
have the care of a line Hospital, in addi-
tion to the labors of their Institute."

The trials which were spared in tho
commencement, were reserved for a lator
day. In 1752, the noble mansion which
had sheltered the devoted LTrsuiines in
their double mission of charity, during
fifty-hve years, became, in the space of a
few hours, the prey of a destructive con-
flagration. The same iire ei>veiop<Hl a
good part of the town in a like misfor-
tune.

The nuns were offered hospitality l)y
the /"ranciscan Fathers, who gave up tlieiv
ow^n house, retreating to a smaller ono,
in order to accommodate a Community in
distress. An appeal to the public in ia-
Tor of the victims of tke conflagration,
was follow^ed by a gradual restoration of
the ruined town. The Convent, also, was
rebuilt in the course of the following year,
Bishop de Pontbriand, in person, over-
seeing and sharing the labors of the re-

I
■ i

GLTMPSr.H OF TIIK MONASTERY.

construction, Iodising ill tho house of tli(3
J (lomesiics, and paying the vv'orkuK^n IVom
^ his own purse. The eminent rreiate
died seven years later, with the li'lory oi'
having accomplished to the letter thi^ Gos-
pel precept ol' |jestowin«i' his g'oods upon
Ww. poor, that he mii^'ht have a treasure in
heaven :— hi^ is justly considered as the
second founder of the Ursulines uf Three
Itivers. After a lapse of another half-
ceiitary, a second disaster called for a simi-
lar devoted uess and generosity on the
part of another Bishop,-— but thore are
details connected with that event which,
to avoid anachronisms, must be reserved
for a future page.

Let us not delay however to inscribe :
—Honor to the Institution, which during
nearly two hundred years has rendered
services of inappreciable value to all
classes of society, both by its well-con-
Uicted Hospital and by its nourishing
educational department.

CHAPTER viir.

iroo.

FEAST OF THE SACKED HEART ESTABLISHED.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
is no longer a practice reserved to a lew
pious souls, who, like a St. G-ertrude, a
St. Catherine, a Saint Francis of Sales,
or like our own Ven. Mother Mary of
the Incarnation, have known, in their
silent communion with Heaven, that the
graces, and gifts from on high, flow most
abundantly through this sacred channel.

Since that auspicious day, when, in the
solitary cloister of Paray-le-Monial, (IGTo)
the voice of inspiration was heard, direct-
ing this devotion to be made public and
extended to all the faithful, it has gra-
dually taken root; the fair tree has risen,
its branches have spread, its delicious
fruit has been ofiered to every palate.

■•• )

OMMPSES OF THE MONASTKRY.

).;

]]\\i the finger of God is apt to move
slowly Avhilo it leaves its broad, and
bright, and indelible trace. Thus it was,
that the decree i'or the celebration of the
Feast of the Sacred Heart throntihout
the Church, which has filled all Thris-
trndora with joy, was delayed two full
centuries; and has but lately issued from
the heart of the illustrious J^ontilf, our
weil-beloved Holy Father, Pope Pius
IX.

Canada may well exult in having
understood and accepted the blessed, cou-
soiinu" devotion, as soon as it was made
known : if it met with opposition in some
parts of Europe, it found none here.

It is not surprising that the Feast of
the Sacred Heart, with the other pvac-
tices of adoration, reparation, and special
love, which belong to it, first found a
shri)ie in that spot where the Yen.
Mother Mary of the Incjarnatioii had so
often prayed, offering her petitions to the
Eternal Father on the living altar of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, and where her

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GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

daughters had since labored to keep alive
the llame she had once kindled.

During the thirty-three years of Mother
Mary's sojourn in Canada, she had each
day lifted up her great soul to God, in
that ardent effusion : — " It is through the
Heart oi my Jesus, my way, my truth
and my life, that 1 approach thee,
Eternal Father," — that form of prayer
which, to day, w;«rms thousands of hearts,
happy to learn from its burning accents
the secret of obtaining most efficaciously
those graces which have been purchased
for us by the siiiferings of our Saviour,
but which must be sought in an acceptable
manner, ere chey are bestowed upon us.

The daughters of Mother Mary of the
Incarnation, imbued with her spirit of
zeal and devotedness, adopted as natu-
rally, not only her sentiments, but even
the expressions that were so familiar to
her.

Thus, as we meet throughout her nu-
merous letters allusions to this efiect :—
' " I salute you in the Sacred Heart of my

QLIMPSES OP TnE MONASTKRY.

Diviiio Spouse." — " I offer you daily to the
Eternal Father on the sacred altar oi" the
Heart of Jesus, &c." — so, in a letter writ-
ten by one oi' tht; nuns I'rom Paris, a short
time alter she had reached the Monastery
oi' Quebec, we iind this tender a[)peal :
" I entreat you to meet me ol'ten in the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, beseeching* iiim to
accomplish his holy will in me. It is
there I embrace you, &:c."

U as yet this devotion had not taken the
form of its exterior manifestations, as was
revealed, later, to Blessed Magaret-Mary, it
was latent here, in every heart, and only
needed a signal to burst forth. As early
as 1G02, we iind the name of *' Sr. Mary of
the Sacred Heart" bestowed upon a novice.
Ill 1G99, while yet the practices of piety
which are now so familiar to all Catho-
lics, were scarcely known, in Europe, be-
yond the cloister walls of raray-le-Monial,
the Superioress of our" Monastery, Kev.
Mother Mary of the Angels, consults her
nuns in Chapter, and wnth their advice,
the first Friday of the month is set apart

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GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

for the act of Reparation to the Sacred
Heart.

Ill the following June, the tirst Friday-
after the Octave of Corpus Christi, was
kept as a Feast of first class, with High
Mass, Vespers and Benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament. The festival was
established : — and never can theUrsulines
of Quebec be sufficiently grateful to G-od
for having chosen their Chapel as the first,
and during many years the only sane-,
tuary in Canada, where the Sacred Heart
received that public tribute of adpratiou,
iove and reparation which He is pleased
to accept from his feeble and erring crea-
tures.

If the homes of genius and the haunts
of learning affect the spirit with a species
of fascination, what must be the influence
of those pious fanes, those holy places,
where the pure in heart have received
the visits of Angels, nay of the Lord of
Angels, and have conversed with G-od in
the manner most acceptable to his Divine
Majesty.

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

And what is more touching for us, in-
habitants of the Old Monastery, is to see
in what a poor and humble shrine our
Divine Lord, during fifteen years, deign-
ed to accept the homage of his servants.

Let us re-people that little Chapel,^ long
since abandoned to other uses, but which
must ever be sacred in our eyes.

Entering, w^hile some pious members
of the Confraternity are engaged in per-
forming their stated " hour of adoration,^
we behold them, oblivious of the world,

1 This apartment, at the soutli-eastern extre-
mity of tlie main-building, now called tlie Old »
Depot, served as a Cliai^el in tlie time of Mother
Mary of the Incarnation, both before the first
coutiagration of the Monastery in 1G50, and
after its restoraj^ion, till the Church was finish-
ed in 1GG7. The martjrs^ Fathers Brebeufand
Lalcmant ; Mgr. Laval, the Missionaries, have
all offered the Holy Sacrifice there.

2 In the original Association of the S. II.,
each member was expected to pass an hour in
prayer, in presence of the Blessed Sacrament,
on one day in the year, as specified in the ticket
of admission.

' »' :>3

It*

il: ?

GLIMPSES OF TUE MONASTERY.

its cares or its enjoyments: their 'eyes are
closed to meditate, or lixed upon the Ta-
beriia^.le, where i'aitli piv^ces the mys-
terious veils and shows the JSaviour, dis-
phiying in proof of his love, that furnace
of llames, his own divine Heart. Yes !
" G-od has so loved the world " and shall
we not return love for love ?

Many adorers are present, perhaps, al-
thoug"h it is not the Festival of the Sacred
Heart, for each great feast of the year
brings a certain number. The highest
kneel beside the lowest before their com-
mon Grod.

But who shall tell with what sentiments
the nuns, w^ho had so long practised the
devotion of the Venerable Foundress,
welcomed that hrst Feast of the Sacred
Heart ! Entering their little choir, with
holy joy, they adore "in spirit and in
truth." -Now, it is the aged Mother St.
I;[^natius (Charlotte Barrej, who seems to
have but waited for the triumph of this
.precious devotion, to sing her " Nunc
dimiltis in pace r Now, it is Kev. Mother

ill!

GLIMPSKS OF TIIK MONASTERY.

1)7

8t. Ag'iios, just elected Superior, with
some of those teu nuns still livinoj, v/ho
like herself, have learned the secret of
the devotion to the vSacred Heart, with
the lessons of religious perfection, from
the lips of the Ven. Mother Mary of the
Incarnation.

But when the fair proportions of our
present (church arose (1723), to replace
that little (Jhapel, it was a welcome ex-
change. Then the artistic taste of the
nuns was called in requisition, and they
vied with each other in adorning the
sanctuary, especially the altar of the
Sacred Heart. Not a few of our good
Mothers are commended, in their obitu-
aries, for their zeal in decorating that fa-
vorite shrine, over which the spirit of the
Venerable Mother Mary of the Incar-
nation seems still to brood.

New members of the Association have
been added from year to year, while
volume after volume has been filled with
the names of the best and the highest in
rank and virtue^ throughout the land.

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GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

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A glancft at those early Registers shows
us such names as the following": — Bishop
Saint-Valier, whose name heads the list,—
the Marquis de Vaudreuil ; the Chevalier
de Repentigny, — des Meloises, — de Ville-
donne, — deContrecoeur,— d'Argenteuil,—
de Lanaudiere, etc. The Marchioness de
Vaudreuil, and her sister Mrs. Tascho-
reau, — Mrs. de la Gorgendiere,— de Ver-
cheres, — de St. Ours,— d 3 Lery, — de Gas-
pe,— de Salaberry; — the Baroness de
Longueuil, etc., etc.

Now^ it is a long list of young girls ; —
for, of course, no pupil ^vould leave the
Monastery without t^ntering into the As-
sociation, so dear to her Convent Mothers.
As we examine those long pages of names,
priests and missionaries; magistrates and
lawyers ; officers and soldiers ; here, w^hole
parishes ; there, congregations, families;—
the thought naturally arises ; — Were not
the people of Canada, in that eighteenth
century, preparing for themselves by
these most salutary practices of piety, a
means to escape the deluge of woes that
was about to inundate the mother couu-

CL MTSKS op TFIK MONASTEHY.

try; niul thus to prosorve, yot a whilt\ the
spirit ol'tho mid llo agos, when the ac-
kiiowliHloHMl Sjpct ot'lifo was to know
(rod. and to advance daily in the path
that loads to heaven ?

And, it* our Lord himself has promised
to those who e8tal)lish, practise and pro-
paiiate, the devotion to the Sacred lleart»
"peace and concord, fervor in the service
of God, consolation in troubles and trials,
with a calm confidence in the hour of
ecid we look further for the

death

source and orii^in of all the graces and
blossings bestowed upon this Monastery
since its foundation to the present day?

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CHAPTER IX.

THE LAST SURVIVOR OF 1G39.

<i;<'

**Oii the 22d January 1701, our dear
Mother St. Ignatius, witnessed the dawn
of the great day of eternity, ardently
desiring her hist hour, in oider to end,
as she said, her sinful life, and to be unit-
ed to her God. She expired in admirable
sentiments of piety and joy, her last act
being to press the crucifix tenderly to her
dying lips."

*' She was eigbty-one years of age, hav-
ing passed fifty-five in religion."

Thus concludes, after a long enumera-
tion of her virtues, the Biographical Notice
of Miss Charlotte Barre, the first professed
of the Ursulines of Quebec. This name
carries us back to the time of Madame de la
Peltrie, and reminds us of scenes worthy
of being portrayed before our Headers.

It is not an everyday occurrence to

QLIMPSKS or THE MONASTEllY.

101

meet with instances ol* magnanimity,
such ns Miss Barre, at the age of nineteen,
Avas enabled to disphiy, and which won
her valuable and prolonged services to
this Monastery.

Horn in th'^ town of Azay, near Tours,
in France, of parents truly christian, Char-
lotte, at the age of thirteen, had already
found within her heart an immense de-
sire to consume her life in the service of
Clod, for the salvation of souls, — but how ?
or where — ? that was the secret of divine
Providence. Her piety seems to have
run in the smooth channels of fervor and
peace, when, at the age of nineteen, she
is sent one day, by her director, Rev.
Father Salin, to introduce herself 'o
Mother Mary of the Incarnation, and
Madame de la Peltrie. From them she
hears of the enterprise they have in view,
and learns that Madame de la Peltrie,
disappointed in a companion who had
promised to accompany her, is in search
of another. To the question : — " Are you
willing to go with us to Canada ? " Miss

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102 GLIMPSES OF THE MONAbTEUY.

Barre roplios: ''All my dc-^iro is to con-
secrate inysoll'to God, ajul I shall iiio.st
gladJy embrace this oirci, which furnishes
me ail opportunity of risking my lil'e lor
Him."

Like the Apostles, she obeys the call
of the Divine Master williout hesita-
tion, and susiains unmoved the solici-
tations of her family, who would have
retained her. There was indeed, no time
for delay, the vessels being ready to sail,
— and the only favor the generous girl
requested, was to take the key of her
trunk, before it was carried off with the
other baggage, to a trust-worthy person,
in order to return some article of value,
which she w^as keeping for a friend.

Madame de la Peltrie knew, from this
moment, what a treasure she possessed.
She was happy to retain her, and pro-
mised to facilitate later her entrance into
the Convent, w^hich they were going to
establish, by paying her dowry. Char-
lotte, on the other hand, was overwhelm-
ed with the conviction of her own un

■

1 'i!

OLIMPSKS OF TIIR MONASTERY.

103

\vorthinoss, and unal)le to understand
how it was that God had i)laced her in
the company oL^difits, calling her to share
the labors, the merits, and the glory oi*
ail enterprise so sublime. In these sen-
timents, she humbly accompanied Mad.
de la Pel trie wherever she went, as long
as her services were required ; then as a
novice, in 1640, she applied herself with
fervor to fullil the new duties that de-
volved upon her, aimmg at nothing less
than a perfect imitation of the Divine
{Saviour, in his life of obedience and morti-
fication. Her zeal for the instruction of
youth, and her talent for teaching — ,her
aptitude for every other office in the
Community, rendered her most useful
during her long career, while her kind-
ness, her universal charity, her amiability,
won her as much love as esteem.

The magnanimity she had given proof
of, in bidding adieu to her home and
country for God's sake, without a sigh,
did not relapse into love of ease and con-
tort in later years. If she once rushed

• J 'I

i <

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: it

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104

GLIMPSES OP THK MONASTERY.

into the flames to save those chihlnni ^Yho.
ill the conflagration of the Monastery ^
were exposed to perish, she never on any
occasion spared herself, whi^n there ^velv
crosses to be borne, or hardships to he eu-
dured. Whether she must have had many
of these, can best be told by those who
have read at length the history of the
Monastery, during the first sixty years of
its existence.

One that truly loves God never says :
" It is enough," when there is question of
corresponding to grace in the practice of
virtue. " This generous soul, says the
Annalist, following the exjlmple of her
Divine Spouse, who calls himself the hid-
den Grod, had no other ambition but to
be ULknown and forgotten, treating her
body as her greatest enemy, seldom ap-
proaching the fire even in the extreme
rigors of winter, abstaining from food so
far that she may be said to have fasted
continually, refusing herself the most in-
nocent satisfaction. Whatever leisure re-

^ Glimpses, Part I, p«Mge IIG.

GLIMPSKb OF THE MONASTERY.

105

mninod to her, al'tor her numerous occu-
pations, was given to ])rayer. Hastening
to the loot of tlie altar, prostrate in the
hunil)le attitude of the rublican in the
Gospel, she sought to annihih\te herself
before God."

The Ions: career of Mother St. Ii^natiu'^,
who had crossed the Atlantic with our
lirst Mothers, and w^ho knew every inci-
cident of those strange early times, must
have furnished a strong link in the chain
of traditions that have come down to us.
As we have already stated, she was the
lirst professed of the Convent of Quebec :
twenty-six choir Sisters surrounded her
death bed, having made profession alter
htT. One of these w4io had also seen
Mother St. Athanasius, Mother Genevieve
Boucher of St. Peter, prolongs her vigor-
ous existence till 17()5, having passed
seven ty-t wo years in the community. At
that date, we find, among others. Mother
Louise Taschereau of St. Frs. Xavier, who
was still living in 1825, and consequently
known to six of our present aged Moth-
ers, who impart to others the precious

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GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

souvenirs, once derived from the vener-
able Mothers St. Athanasiusand St. Igna-
tius.

Doubtless in those former times, as at
the present day, it was a pleasure for the
younger members to surround the aged,
seeking wisdom in the company of those
whose minds have been enriched by the
experience of multiplied years. It is in
this manner that many points of valuable
information, many interesting anecdotes
which have eluded the notice of the
cloistered historian, are perpetuated by
tradition, and thus finally transferred to
record.

CHAPTER X.

iroo-ins.

DAWN OF THE XVIII. CENTURY,

There are some gloomy pages on our
old Iiegister, at the begiiiniiig of the 18th
contary. "Within the space of thirteen
years, famine, pestilence, and war, alter-
nately menace, or invade the Colony ; and
oil such occasions the Ursulines necessa-
rily have their share in the common mis-
Ibvtuues. The scant and blighted harvest
of 1700, is followed by a scarcity border-
ing- on starvation ; while an epidemy, as
unknown to the medical art as it is
fatal in its attacks, augments and renders
more poignant the general distress. There
are not enough people in health to have
care of the sick, nor priests enough to
attend the dying and bury the dead.

The Convent escapes the famine, but
pays its tribute to the cruel malady. So

1 ^evvsfi

108

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

many of the nuns were prostrated by the
fever, that the Infirmary not sufficing to
lodge them, it was necessary to take care
of them in their cells, those who waited
on the others being almost as ill as their pa-
tients. The two victims of this epidoinv
were the Mistress of Novices, Mother
Bourdon of St. Joseph ; and the charitable
Inlirmarian, Mother Boutet of St. An-
gustin.

Two years later, another malady, evei
dreaded in proportion as it is known,
(the small pox) made still greater ravages, I
carrying off', it is said, in the space of a
few months, one fourth of the inhabitants!
of Quebec, making victims in every house,
as well as in the religious Communities.

In the Monastery, every precaution had
been taken to keep the unwelcome visitor
at a distance, and with success until ii
had raged during six weeks in town. Ii
penetrated, at last, from the adjacent
Chapel, where the people had come in
procession to offer prayers, and perforn]
their devotions. A lay Sister and several

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

109

boarders were first attacked ; a lew days
later, the list included seventeen nuns,
and thirty-seven boarders.

In the lodgings ol the servant-men, out
of seven, one alone remained in health, to
wait upon his companions. The depart-
ment of the Externs (Madame de la Pel-
Irie's house) was transformed into an
hospital for the sick boarders ; the Infir-
mary and Novitiate served for the nuns.
Class-duties were suspended, it being
impossible to find teachers, while so many
sick needed attendance night and day.
There were besides, other and more sorrow-
ful duties to be ptirformed. Three among
the nuns, all of them young, were, in the
space of ten days, consigned t^ the tomb ;
with the usua' mournful rites, but without
the ringing of bells, lest that tribute to
the departed, should overpower the
poor patients yet struggling with the
fearful disease. The city authorities had,
indeed, issued an order, forbiddino: to
ring for funerals, the oft-repeated knell
having so affected several persons as to
hasten their death.

110

GLTMPSKS OP THE MONASTERY.

After another respite of two years, the
winter months pass again (1700,) in
bestowing compassionate cares upon the
sick ; seven or eight patients were con-
lined to their bed all winter . — it was a
strange intermittent fever, requiring night
watching, and attentions of every kind.

Other epidemics appear again in ITOli
and 1711, continuing to depopulate the
Colony. On these occasions, there was
much suffering, but no death occnrrpd
among the inmates of the cloister. Thouah
our pen is weary of so mournful a pane,
we have yet to enumerate other calami-
ties which befel the city, or the country,
during that period of twelve or thirteen
years at the beginning of the century,
If these did not regard our nans person-
ally, they shared them by sympathy and
compassion. Let us mention, first, the
conflagration of* the Seminary of Quebec,
1701, while the gentlemen were absent at
>St. Michael's with the students : then fori
"a second time, four years later, wlitMiJ
coJi.sidering the recent improvements, the
loss was greater thaji on the prectnliiig

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

Ill

occasion. The buildings were all nearly
finished, when a carpenter, carelessly-
smoking in the midst of shavings, let a
[spark fall, which caused this second dis-
aster. The details are all duly consigned
I ill our Annals, with expressions of con-
dolence, and regret at not being able to
lend any assistance in the restoration of
jan Institution so precious to the Colony.
They do not forget the venerable Eishop
[Laval, whose affliction must have been
great, if it was in proportion to the inter-
est he bore this Institution, which he had
founded and watched over during forty
lyears of his episcopacy.

The captivity of Bishop Saint-Valier,
Idetained nine years (1704-1718) as a pri-
soner of war in the Tower of London ;
the death of Bishop Laval, (1708) leaving
the Colony without a chief Pastor during
live years; a scarcity, bordering on fa-
mine, caused by a failure in the grain
crop, ravaged by an army of caterpillars
1(1709); the menace of war (1710, 11) ever
rowing louder and more alarming, while
[the military preparations to defend the

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OMMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

city, commenced in 1689, in the imme-
diate vicinity of the Monastery, wore
continued, to the gieat annoyance of the
inhabitants of the cloister :— these are the
events detailed on several pages of the
Annals, forming a picture suificiently
gloomy, yet never tinged by impatience
nor by despondency. The nuns are evid-
ently not vvathout their consolations. In
fact, the life of a good religious has an
intrinsic joyousness of its own, indepen-
dent of outward circu nstances.

Onr Mothers were joined by several
aspirants to the religious life, during this
period, as may be seen by referring to
the list ol entrances. The classes were
interrupted but once ; and with youu!::
girls to instruct; Ursulines must be happy.

Our readers remember how provi-
dentially for Canada that dreaded inva-
sion of 1711, combined with so much ap-
parent ability on the part of the Colonists
of New England, came to naught : a
powerful fleet having been held in check I
by dark fogs and ^strong winds till, with
the loss of eight hundred men by ship-

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

113

wivck, the discomfited invaders retire
witliQiu even seeing the heights of Cape
Diamond ; or meeting with any other
enemy but their own adverse fortune.

This event was recorded to posterity,
by the pious Colonists, who in memory o'
Heaven's protection, erected an enduring
monument to testily their gratitude. The
votive Churck of Our Lady of Victory,
received the addition of a graceful por-
tico, reared by public contribution, while
the titular cognomen was changed to,
*' Our Lady of Victories."

But these long years, so beset with
(lifiiculties, were drawing to a close.
The Treaty of Utrecht (1713), setthng
many political differences, was favorable
to peace in America. This Treaty had
also set free, after nine years' imprison-
ment, the illustrious Prelate, Bishop
Saint Vaiier ; and we seem to share the
glad anticipations of better times, with
which the "joyous firing of the cannon"
announces his arrivaL

" All the population hasten to the wharf

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114

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

to welcome the venerated Pastor, and con-
dact him in triumph, while the chime of
bells and the roar of artillery, mingle with
their shouts of joy."

" In the course of the afternoon, adds
the Annalist (August 18th, 1713), we had
the pleasure of seeing our good Bishop
and hearing him express his joy. For
our part, great is our gratitude to the
G-od of goodness, who has vouchsaf'jd to
grant us such consolation after our long
and heavy trials."

I •

CHAPTER XI.

THE THREE CAPTIVES.

MISa WHEfiLWIUQHT MAKES PROFESSION,

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in4.

Who that has read the history of New
England, or of Canada, knows not the
meaning of that fearful word, ** captiv-
ity"? It tells of treachery, of long and
bitter fireside mourning :~ it brings me-
mories of all that is most lamentable in
that long dismal period of Indian w arfare,
and of conflict between the French and
English colonies.

Our Annals and our traditions, furnish
us the means of tracing, even among the
Indian captives, the hand of Providence,
accomplishing that truly Divine work,
bringing good out of evil.

Three of pur Ursuliue Mothers of the

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OLIMPSES OP THE MONASTKUY.

eighteenth century, owed to cnptivitj' Ihi?
inestimable gift of faith, and that of a
vocation to the leligious life. Let us ro-
hearse some of these tales of— happily, by.
gone days.

In the environs of Boston lived, at the
commencement of the last century^ a
highly respectable family oi' the name ol'
Wheelwright.

Surrounded by such comforts as a Now
England home aflbrded, even in th(j^e
early times, possessing ailiuence and ro-
linement, blessed with lovely childroji,
more precious than riches ;- -happiness
might have taken up her abode in that
quiet country-residence, had it not booji
for the cruel feat of Indian treachery
which we are about to relate.

Whether it was in the early spring of
that year, 1703, when the red twigs of the
young cherry-trees, piercing the last snow-
bank, enticed children into the verge of
the forest ; or whether it was in autumn,
when the bright-tinted leaves of the ma-
ple, or the ripe beech-nuts rattling on the
fallen leaves, tempted them to stray a few

OMMPSES OF Tlir. MONASTUUY.

117

rods IVoni Iho path that led to the school-
honso, we caiin'ot jsay : — but we know that,
at a liiven moment, a hapless child of six
or seven years, was tightly bound in tlie
grasp ol' a prowling Indian, who, cover-
iiin- her lace with his brawny hand, bore
away our little Esther with rapid strides,
to thi^ thickest of the wide, old forest.
Jveaching the camp, and hailing with a
prolonged, ho ! ho! his savage brethren,
he set down his trembling prize, by the
side of his own half-clad children and
their tawny mother. Then commenced
the wanderings of this innocent lamb, sud-
denly purloined from the fold, and forced
to dwell in a den of wolves. Yet, for her,
thpy relaxed their barbarity, as far as was
possible for the circumstances of savage
life The dark-eyed squaw spoke in gen-
ik tones, and guarded with marked pre-
ference the pretty little " pale face ".

But, alas! what altered scenes, what
dismal company, for that little girl brought
up with tenderest care, by her own
g<Mitle-born, loving English mother ! How
long were the marches, and how tangled

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GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

■^,^•'^,

the paths, when the camp broke ap and
the whole party set out for the chase!
How rude the fare, and how repulsive
the resting-place at night; — while the days
lengthen into weeks, and still our little
Esther solaces her childish hear . with its
thoughts of revenge. — "I will tell my
Papa, indeed 1 will." — But no papa is
there more for her ; and the months roll
on. Her tattered school-dress, still clings
to her, but it is getting short ; her blond
tresses forget to fall in clustering ringlets,
smoothed only by the oily fingers of her
squaw mother. More than this, her En-
glish prattle is almost lost, and her tongue
is getting used to the strange dialect of
her companions, when, one day, a Mis-
sionary appears in the midst of the Indian
village.

The Black-robe is not a stranger, even
to the savage Abenakis. He is invited to
the best lodge, where the children are
assembled to hear him tell of the Great
Spirit. What does he there behold ? A
little white girl among the rest, a child
of some eight or nine years, whose grace-

.1^ '•

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

119

ful manners still betray the gentle teach-
ing's of her infancy. To rescue the little
captive was the lirst thought of the good
Father l3igot ; to restore her to civilized
life, and to her parents, if they could be
discovered. But it is well known with
what difficulty an Indian would relin.
qiiibh one of these adopted children. It
was not possible to move, by threats or
promises, the proud Abenakis, who had
placed the pale flowret in his cabin.
What then could the Missionary do ? — He
could yet do much for her. He could
watch over her ; he could teach her, like
the little Indian girls, to adore and love
Grod, there in the forest, while he waited
some favorable conjuncture to set her at
liberty.

No wonder that the child, intelligent
beyond her ai^e, and speaking the In-
dian dialect at the end of three years,
as wel I as if it had always been hers, was
ever the most attentive listener to the good
Father's instructions. No wonder the
woods grew pleasant to her, now that the
love of Grod filled her young heart.

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GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

tiil:

But when those bereaved parents, who
had mourned their child as dead, learned
that she was still living, and living in the
depths of the forest with the Abe n aids,
the enemies of their nation, — what must
have been their sentiments? The only
hope of recovering their child depondc'd
npon the possibility of obtaining the in-
fluence of the French Grovernor. Trusting-
in his humanity, they present him their
petition ; and little Esther, through the
intermediary of E.ev. Father Bigot, be-
comes the subject of serious negotiations
between the Marquis de Vaudreuil and
the Chief of the Abenakis. Even under
such patronage, it was no easy matter to
obtain the release of the charming and
well-beloved prisoner.

Powerful presents, at last, overcome
their reluctance, and the Indian Chief
delivers up the little English girl to the
great Captain of the French.

Exchanging the bark-roof of the wig-
wam, for the Yice-regal residence of the
Governor, at Quebec, the youthful Esther,

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GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

121

HOW ill ^he eleventh year of her age,
speedily wins the love and admiration oi'
her new friends. The Marquis feels for
his protegee the tenderness of a father, and.
"while awaiting an opportunity to restore
her to her parents, provides for her wel-
fare as if she were, indeed, his own child,
by placing her in the Convent. Her home
still lay at the distance of seven hundred
miles ; the intervening wastes, without
roads, were at this time infested by wan-
dering bands of savages, at enmity — the
Iroquois and the Abenakis. — Four years
passed away, without lessening that dis-
tance, or the difficulties of communica-
tioii.

The young girl, happy in her Convent-
home, had made her lir&t Communion,
with angelic fervor ; and having acquired
the graces and accomplishments which
became her so well, she w^as recalled to
the home of her protector, at the Castle of
St. Louis. Very soon, however, the Mar-
quis Wi.s informed that Miss "Wheel right's
only desire W'"».s to prolong her stay in the
Monastery, and even to share the life of

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GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

her pious Convent- Mothers; but he na-
turally refused his consent, and souo-ht
with more activity, to discover some
means oi' sending the lovely young girl to
her parents, whose grief he compassjiou-
ated so sincerely. He conducted her to
Three Rivers, placing her, while he re-
mained there, with our Ursulines; and
afterwards to Montreal, where she \vas
protected by the good Mothers of tlie
Hotel-Dieu.

Unsuccessful in his laudable attempts,
on account of the continuance of hostili.
ties between the Colonies, ^ the Grovernor,
at last, consented to her return to the
convent. Our Mothers, struck Milli
the peculiar circumstances of the case,-
the long years during which the two
countries being in a state of warfare, it
had been impossible to restore her to
her parents ;— the changes that might
have taken place in her family;— and, above
all, the wMU of Divine Providence inaiiij
festing itself by the course of events, adj

1 In 1711 a floet, uiulor the Ailmiral W^alker a:|
tempted to talte Quebec.

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

123

niittoil the interostinn- captive to tho
Xovitiate, in October, 1712. During* the
following' year, newsol'the treaty ol' peace
bt't\vee)i France and England, restored
the Colonies to comparative security, and
the Ursulines were in daily expectation
of liearin<^ from their beloved novice's
family. She had taken the white veil,
with the name of Mother Esther of the
hilimt Jesus. Her two years of pro-
bation had not expired, when, at last, mes-
sengers reached Quebec, bearin<^ letters
from Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright. Her
heart was not insensible to the pleasure
of beholding the signature of a beloved
father and mother; — but the voice of
grace was louder than that of nature
I in her well-balanced soul; and she linds
Istrength to resist thj importunities of her
family, as well as the exhortations of her
friends at the Castle. Far from renounc-
ing her cherished vocation, she entreats
the Bishop to hasten the day of her final
engagement, by admitting her to the vows
|of religion.

She addresses the same petition to the

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124

GMxMPSE.S OF THE MONASTKRY.

Goveinor, whom she cons-iders as her
adopted i'ather, and to the Coininunitv,
the Mothers and Sisters ol' her choic,
who were now dearer to her than iaiui;v
or home. Al'ter mature deliberatiun,
taking into consideration that the youiiir
girl, according to the French laws was
now of age, and that on the other hand
she had no longer the use ol' the languaire
of her native country, nor would she
find there, the means to practice the re-
ligion she had embraced, — ascertaining
also that the Bishop, as well as the Govlm-
nor, had given their assent, the nuns admit
her to pronounce her vows : thus settling
the question according to her desires, be-
yond repeal.

In the eloquent address ot the liev,
Father Bigot to the youthful novice, at I
her reception, we have noticed that he
makes mention of this circumstance
*' that as long as she had been a minor
she had no opportunity of returning' to|
her country ; that now being of age, he:
parents cannot object to her choice of a
vocation, or ii they should disapprove,

GLIMPiiKS OF THE MONASTERY.

125

it will be because they are not aware of
ers as lier ^| j^j; excellence and its saiieliry : he exhorts

the happy novice to lasting gratitude I'or
the favors of Divine Providence in her
ii'gurd, and tells her she may well ex-
Iclanii in the words of the prophet King:
The God who has wrought these
wonders in my behalf is the Lord of the
eternal ages : ever shall he be my God !
under his amiable law I shall live

Igecure

Mother Esther "W'hechwright of the
llnfant Jesus is another of those ancient

inns whose names are never pronounced
iLut with love and veneration in the
[Cumrniinity which she edilied and served

hiring sixty-six years.

She is not however, the only one of the
Indian captives who iound the liberty of
lie soul and the light of faith, in recom-
)t'nse for earthly misfortunes.

With her memory we naturally associ-
ate Miss Davis and Miss Jeryan, rescued
|ike her from captivity among the Abe-
lakis, to end their days in the sweet

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126

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

captivity of Jesus Christ in the Mo.
nastery.

Miss Mary-Ann Davis, in religion
Mother Mary Benedict, was already a
professed nun some years, when our
little Esther entered the Convent as
boarder.

Born in the village of Salem, Massa-
chusetts, she had been taken captive
(1686) at the age of six years, by a war
party, after seeing her parents massacred
and her house in flames. To recount her
subsequent fate, her adoption by the
Chief of the tribe, who cherished the
little orphan more tenderly than his own
children ; — her life in the woods, where
she learned to plant the maize or gather
baskets of fragrant wild-berries, but knew
not the taste of bread, nor the use of a
needle; — would be to repeat, in parti
what has been related of our interesting
Esther. Let us merely tell how another
Apostle of the Abenakis, Rev. Father
Rasle, found little Mary-Ann d jcile to his
instructions, and faithful in following m

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

127

counsels, till after many dilliculties and
delays, he succeeded in extricating* the
young girl, at the age of seventeen or
eighteen, from the perils and hazards of
s;\vage life i—then, after finding friends for
her among the French, he placed her as
boarder in the Convent. This was the
House of Jesus" of which she had heard
I so much, and which she already regarded
I as her future home. Passing from the
classes to the Novitiate, in 1698, she was
admitted to profession two years later,
and was thus the first Ursuline of English
Idescent in the Monastery of Quebec.

Fifty years spent in the service of Him
h'ho had spoken to her heart there in the
[depths cf the primeval forests, were not
too long to testify, every day, her grati-
tude, by her fidelity to the least point of
the rule she had embraced. Humble,
leek, laborious, submissive and pious,
ler life in the Convent was like the fra-
grant May-flower of the woods of Maine,

)lighting all by its gentle perfume, while
It hides itself in the most shady recesses.

128

OI.lMP.-rES OF TIIK iMONASTKllY.

t. ■

ol'tho valley where it has chosen its iv.
treat.

The third captive who became an Up
snline nun, wa.s Mi.ss Mary-Dorothea Joiv-
an. liorne ofl' to tlie woods at so toiKk-r
an ag"t» that she had no recollection oi'aiiv
other house but tlie wigwam where !^ht>
w^as living, she hnd marked the lapse of
years only by the springing flowers or the
I'-dling snow, until the same missioiuirv
who had baptized IMiss J)avis, met this
other little wanderer, and taught her to
kiiow the true Grod. J^egenerated in the
saving waters of baptism, and instrnctcj
in the sublime truths of religion, Mary-
Dorothea feit her youthful heart boat
with the desire that constitutes an Lrsii-
line,— that of teaching oWwx souls the
wav of salvation, while the Celestial
Bridegroom, inwardly inviting her, bade
her hope for the day when she woiiltl
become his consecrated spouse.

Another missionary succeeding the I
martyred Father Rasle, cultivated \yilli|
care this lily of the woods. Transplanted,

GLIMPSES OP TIIR MONASTERY.

129

Tie an I'r.
jihoii.loiv

•

t so teiuk
tiou of any
where s^he
he lapse o[
wers or the
missioiuiry
is, mot this
Liight hi'r to
rated in the
id instructt'd

gion, ^lary
heart beat
es an rvsw
V souls the
e Celestial'
o- her, bade
she would]
e.

at leii^'th to another soil, after some lifteen
years had gone by, and placed within
ihe pale of civilization, it was yet a toil
to engraft upon those rudimentai dispo-
sitions, the forms of education and retiue-
mont.

Her liberator, Rev. Joseph Aubery,
constituted himself her teacher, until
having acquired a sufficient knowledge
ol' the French to be able to make
horself understood, she was placed at
our classes. The progress of the new
pupil was not rapid ; but our Mothers,
hiving regard to the good will of the
subject, her precious dispositions, her
piety and zeal, admitted her to the Novi-
tiate ; and, after the usual delay required
by our rules, to profession (1722).

The future career of Mary-Dorothea,
i now known as Mother St. Joseph, fully jus-
I tilled the hopes that had been entertained
pi" her usefulness. The Monastery became
jh»r second home and country, a thousand-
jfokl dearer to her than her birth-place
)r native land. During the siege of

,>!v

130

OLIMPSE.S OF TIIK MONASTKIIV.

I'i

Quoboc by tho Eng'lish in nr>0, wlii^i
the nuns wim'c Ibrcod to nhaiiddn
their s;icrocl asylum, soekinii^ saloiy ]w.
yond tho wails oi' tho bosioi^od city, ii(;.
thing', could equal tho grieroi* Moihor St.
Joseph.

Would tho victors, hor count! yiiiiMi,
now ])oconio tho persecutors oi* h^u* Coin-
uiunity? Was tho country of lior ado|).
lion destined to lose tho priceless gilt
of faith, tlirougli tho instrumentality of
her own race ? — These afUictive thoiightM
joined to an enfeebled state of hcahh,
rendered her exile from her belovoii
cloister, one long agony. Iler heart had
received its death-wound, and when, on
the 13th September, she became aware i
ot her approaching dissolution, she h'<\\U\i\
the approach of hor last hour, as a pri-
soner would welcome the joyful lu^v?
of his speedy release. The reception oil
the last consolations which the Chuicii
offers her children, soothed her dyind
moments, as she passed away to a betterl
country, on that memorable 14th ^m

aUMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

131

l" hv»v Com-

hov ado\v

itteloss gill

;o thonglit>'

. of lu'^Hh.

XQX bolov»nl
V heart h^d
(1 when, on

Icame awaie

\\\\ as a pi'i''
joyful ne^^•^'
[recoptioii oil
the Chuvc'n
her ayiii:
to a betteil
.e 14th M'\

tt^mbor, (1750) which marked the down-
lall of the Fro>ich Government in Canada.

[This temporary sojourn of the Ursu-
linos with the beloved Mothers of the
General Hospital, was marked in many-
ways for lonp: remembrance : we shall
only mention here, with gratitude, the
cordial hospitality, exercised towards our
whole Community by those true friends,
during' that memorable period ; — reserv-
ing other details for the proper date,
1-1750.]

I >

. i

' ^1

CHAPTER XIL

17"1?^-1^«3,

THE MONASTERY ENLARGED.

Within the space of eleven years, from
1712 to 1723, the Monastery attained th.
proportions which were found sufficient
for the wants of its inhabitants till more
than a century later.

It was a period when the Colony Avas
entering upon a new phase of its exL-
tence. Public calamities were to be fol-
lowed by a season of comparative repose
and prosperity ; there was to be a respit
from hourly dread of the Iroquois; thel
future conquerors of Canada also were,|
unknowingly, willing to wait their day.
During the judicious administration ol|
Grovernor de Yaudreuil, up to 1725, the
resources of the country were considtil
ably developed ; many internal improvej
ments were effected, while the populatioc|
increased to 25,000 souls.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

133

The Ursulines seem to have noted the
'signs of the times." As early as 1712,
we Hiid them deliberatiii<]^ m Council,
and unnnimously deciding upon enlarg*-
iiin- the Monastery and rebuilding the
Church, notwithstanding the depressed
state of their finances. According to the
oiiu'inal plan, the buildings to be con-
.<truoted would have completed a quad-
rangle, with a IVont of more than two
hundred feet, facing Donnacona Street,
and ibrming a large interior court-yard.

It was Rev. Mother Le Maire of the
Anuels, the last survivor of the nuns from
France, who at the age of seventy-one,
undertook this arduous enterprise ; press-
ing its execution with vigor and obtain-
iiio", several times, generous subsidies from
her wealthy relatives in Paris. The pro-
cess of construction was necessarily tedious
and expensive ; but far greater were the
diiliculties, when it was ascertained that
the phin was really too vast for the im-
I mediate wants, as w^ell as the actual re-
isoLiices of the Community. The found-

134

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

ations already commenced had to be
abandoned, and begun anew in another
direction, at the price of much loss and
delay.

The only part Eev. Mother Mary of the
Angels saw completed, was the Novitiate,
an addition, seventy-five feet in length.
to the wing styled, " La Sai7ite FamiUe:^
which had been erected in 1687.

The parlors were also commenced by
her, and the foundations of the present
Church ; but the aged Mother was then
taken from her labors to Ker eternal rest,
and the task of continuing them devolved
on another Superioress, Rev. Mother An-
gelique of St. John. The building front.
ing the street, destined for the conventual
entrance, and the parlors, was completed
in 1717. Then, only, could the nuns
continue the construction of their "se-
cond Temple, " and that they did with
such ardor, that they labored at it with
their own hands.

The Annals relate the buildinG: of the
Church as follows : — " On recommenoinii

OLIMPSKS OF TIIK MONASTKRY.

135

loiumeiicing

the labors, vve drossed a little Indian boy,
to represent the Infant Jesus, and caused
him to lay the corner-stone in honor of
St. Joseph Then each one devoted her-
self with all the energy of which she
was capable, to contribute to the erection
of that sacred editice which had so long
been in contemplation. At the hours
when the masons were absent at their
meals, we used to mount upon the scaf-
folding:, carrying up the stone and the
mortar, our Mother Superior leading the
way, and the Community following her
example with alacrity and emulation.
^Vith the blessing of Grod, every thing
seemed to succeed marvellously.

" When the masons were served, all re-
turned to their respective labors, some
to painting, gilding or embroidery ;
some wrought tapestery or bark-work,
others made artificial flowers :—- this was
to augment our revenues and aid in
pnying the workmen. During ail this
time, adds the Annalist, we omitted
none of our spiritual Exercises, we in-
fringed upon none of our holy rules and

til

: ■ ■ i

!!•

136

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

I !

observances. We have alpo io be thank-
ful that not one of the laborers met with
any accident while working on our build-
ings. A kind Providence has blessed us
in a special manner, enabling us to meet
all these expenses, notwithstanding the
loss of half our income, by the reduction
of the funds on the liotel-de-Yille, in
Paris."

The construction of the Church was
terminated ; an altar had been raifjed :
and, although no pillars yet lifted, their
crowning capitals around it; no sculptured
decorations adorned the sanctuary, no
paintings hung along the naked walls,
yet the sacred edifice, bare of all orna-
ment, could be called the " House of
God ;" — and great were the rejoicings of
the Ursulines, w^ho, for thirty years, had
suffered to see the Tabernacle reposing
?n that narrow chamber, on which, through
courtesy alone, they could bestovv^ the
name of Chapel.

These rejoicings were not confined to
the inmates of the cloister : the citizon*?

' I-

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

137

of Quebec shared the same sentiments,
as ihoy proved by coming in crowds to
celebrate with them three const'cutive
festivals:— the ceremony of the consecra-
tion, the Feast oi' the Assumption,' and
that of the holy Ivelics. At all these })ious
festivities Bishop tSaint-Valier presided,
^vith his clergy, in the midst of all that
was then most distingnished in the City.

Although consecrated, the Chapel still
required the presence of workmen, and
did not serve regularly for Mass and the
observances, until the 19th March follow-
ing' (1723).

It belonged to St. Joseph the titular

patron of the Church and of the Monas-

terv, to h'ansfer the Blessed Sacrament to

:tlie new Altar, as to another Nazareth,

after a Ioniser exile than that he once en-

I (lured in Egypt.

It was only thirteen years later (1735) ^
Ithat the architectural decorations, design-
led, it is said, after a plan of the private

^ The ('(ill('<r(ii of the Jesuits coninKMiccd i)i lO'i,"),
hiis cuinpk'ted about l1ic .same time (17IJi)).

^ .*
■*

I t

i Ml

■ i

I' I

138

QMMrSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

chapel of Louis XIV, gave the last Iinisli
to the interior, rendering the Church of
the Ursulines one oi'the neatest, consider.
ing its dimensions, of the four principal
churches in the City. The gilding, ot
which there is that profusion required by
the taste of those times, was all executed
by the patient toil of the nuns themselves,
The paintings with which it is adorned
at the present day, belong to a later pe-
riod,— the beginning of the nineteenth
century.'

CHAPTER XIII.

QUEBEC IN 172U :■

UKVIEAV CF THE NOVITIATE OF THE URSULINES,
AT THE SAME DATE.

All amiable historian, writing in 1720,
has left us a picture of life and manners
ill Quebec, at once so graphic and so
curious in its details that, although it has
often been copied, it will bear r(^.petition,
and will help to set off another picture
less known, — that of life and society in the
cloister.

Recording his personal observations,
Charlevoix says: — "There are not more
than 7,000 souls in Quebec ; but one finds
there a little world w^here all is select, and
calculated to form an agreeable society.
A Grovernor Greneral with his staff, — no-
bles, officers, and troops ; an Intendant,
with a Superior Council, and inferior
courts ; a Commissary of Marine, a Grrand

'• I

;

' ;

\ • i!

K-ll

■> ' ■ V*.*"

140

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

rrovost, a Grand Yoyer ; a tSuperiiiton.
daiit ofAVaters and Forests, whose juris.
diction is certainly the most extensive in
the woild; merchants in easy circum-
stances, or, at least, living as ii' they weiv;
a Ijishop and a numerous clergy; Uecol-
l(3ts and Jesuits; three female commun-
ities, well established ; other circles olso>
where, as brilliant as those surrounding'
the Governor and Intendant : — in short, it
seems to me, that for all classes of person:,,
there are abundant means of passing the
time agreeably. Every one contributes
to h.;s utmost. There are games and ex-
cursions, the parties using in Summer
calec'ttes or canoes ; in winter they have
sledges and snow-shoes to bear them over
the snow and ice. Hunting is a favorite
amusement : many gentlefolks have no
other resource for living comfortably.

" Current news are confined to a few
topics, as the country does not ailbrd
many. The news from Europe comes all
at once, but lasts all the year, furnishing
endless comments upon the past and con-
jectures upon the future. The arts and

i? . !|

GLIMPSES OV THE MONASTERY.

scitMicos have their turn, so that conver-
sation never languishes.

" The Canadiiins breathe, from their
birth, an air of liberty which renders
them very agree. ible in social intercourse.
Nowhere else is our language spoken in
oToater purity : one observes no defective
accent.

" There are no rich people here ; if there
■were they would do honor to their for-
tune, as very few persons trouble them-
selves about laying up riches. They live
well, if they can also afford to dress
well ; if not, they spare at table in order
to wear richer apparel. And it must be
allowed that dress becomes our Cana-
dians. They are fine looking people, and
the best blood of P'rance runs in their
veins. Good humor, refined and genteel
manners, are common to all, and rusticity
either in language or habits, is unknown,
even in the distant country-places."

Thus far our historian: let us now
inquire at the Ursulines, how that "little
world " described as so deliR'htful, is re-

' (

' 'it

142

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

1 1.

presented with ihem. l]ntoriiig* the No-
vitiate, new and lightsome, commaiidinff
a pleasant prospect from its windows thai
overlook the garden and wide extendin^r
landscape, we lind assembled under the
eye of a grave but gentle Mother- Mistress,
twenty young ladies, of whom lour wear
the badge of x^robation, the white voil.
These must have but hitely renounced
the good cheer, the pleasurs, and amuse-
ments, which even the dispassionate
Jesuit seems to have found so engaging.

A glance upon the old Register shall be
our guide, for in the cloister rank and
title count as nothing : the only prece-
dence acknowledged among sister-no-
vices, is founded on the relative date of
their entrance. The familvname however
prouil or honorable, is laid aside, and
the spouse of Christ is henceforth known
by some appellation that serves to remind
her of heaven, more than of earth.

First, then, in seniority of profession,
we meet Mother Esther Wheelwriofht— of
the Infant Jesus : she has nearly com-

■ !' i'i

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

143

plctod hor sixth year in the Noviliate,
and will thorclbre soon exchaip^i^ thi» lirst
phioo here, I'or the la^it in the Coninmnity ;
and happier will she esteem hersoil' in
occupying' that last place, than when, in
later years, she will be called to g'overn
the Monastery as Superiores.s. Jler his-
tory is somewhat known to our readers,
as well as that of the last white -veiled
novice, Sr. Mary-Dorothea Jeryan of tit.
Jose[)h; we have called them: — ''The
Captives.

Unmindliil of the etiquette of the Con-
vent, we shall revive, for the moment,
discarded honors, to present Miss Char-
lotte de Muy (Mother tSt. Helen) daughter
of the Chevalier Danneau de Muy, G-ov-
ornor of Louisiana ; and her cousin Marie-
Anne de Eoucherville (Mother St. Igna-
tius), naming one of her venerable an-
cestors, Pierre Boucher de Boucher vi lie,
first Governor of Three. Rivers.

Not six months after the entrance of
Miss de Muy, the Monastery-door opened
to the eager appeal of Miss Catherine do

^,'i

I, ■

■

W ' tj '

',!

' J

Ill

aMMP.SK3 OF THE MOVASTKRT.

■■'i,

Iiarnosny, now known as Sr. 8t. Rada.
gon(l(», (lani^htor ol' the ChoviilitT (Maiul'
de Itaiiiosjiy, ^Seio-ncnir of tSorcl and kSu..
Mario K^ Mannoir, Oovernorot' Mojitr^a;,
The absj'iic^*^ of Mi.ss dt) Itamosay uiul
Mij<s do May IVom the circles oi' lashion
ill Moutical, doubtless produced, a si'iisa-
tioii, at the time : —iu the parental mansion
above all, there was a void left which
it was dilHeult to lill. IJut thc^y, iC not
indillerent to the charms of a llattiMJii^
world and their own high position, Ibund
strength to despise them, and they consi-
dered it as gain to exchange the hightM
worldly distinctions their country could
ailord, for the humblest rank in Ihe
House of the Lord For the benelit of
such as cannot believe in a disinterested
sacrilice, let us open the Annals at once,
to see to what grade Miss de Ramesay as-
pired in religion, on quitting the highest
in society. " From the day of her en-
trance into the Novitiate, she gave proof
of the excellence of her vocation by
laboring seriously to advance in poriec-
tion.— She pronounced her vuws in the

,,ll!i

(ILIMTSES OF TlIK MONASTRllY.

145

most oclifyiii!^ dispositions, to her groat
satisi'aclioii as woU as to ours. From this
momoiit she advanced daily in the prac-
tice of every virtue, detached from every
thiii^' created, zealous for the instruction
ol' youth, and for all that regarded the
si'i'vice of G-od, avoiding the parlor, and
every thing that could remind her of the
world she had abandoned."

As to Mother Marie- Anne de Boucher-
ville, of St. Ignatius, one line will suffice
to characterize her. On our usual author-
ity,— the Annals — we can assert thai she
had retained one predominant passion: it
was " to employ every moment of her
time for the benefit of the Community,
or ill aiding and rendering service to her
Sisters. 8he rejoiced to be second in the
odices, seeking in the obedience she ren-
dered her companion, more frequent op-
portunities to practise her favorite virtue,
humility."

Not less edifying in piety and abnega-
tion, v^as the religious career of Mother de
Muy— of St. Helen, whose health gave
small promise of a long life. Delicate and

146

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

) •:

fragile as was the casket, the pearl it
enclosed was of great price : - a gifted and
energetic mind, "enabled her to reiukr
great services in the classes, notwith-
standing the long sufferings which she
endured with astonishing courage." To
her pen, as Annalist, the Convent oww
long and interesting details of the seven
years' war, that closes the French domj.
nation in Canada; her own death on
that memorable 14th September, silently
imparting new pathos to the sad picture
she draws of the distress and defeat ul
her countrymen.

But returning now to the .31st Auirnst,
1717, the day when Miss Kamesay, in the
midst of the elite of the society both of
Quebec and Montreal, recei'/es the white
veil from the hands of Bishop Saint-Vnlier,
and Rv. Father Gerard, S. J., makes a "rav-
ishing discouiovi " on the happiness to he
found in the service of God, we may
discover among his auditors the sudden
awakening of another religious vocation.

The sermon wrought the conveision ol

4^? *

;',<■•

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

147

a "young worldling," whom we now in-
troduce as Mother St. Borgia, lately Miss
Catherine-Margaret des Meloises. That
white veil and linen band conceal a brow
which was then adorned with all that is
most admiied in wreathing tress, or spark-
liim' gem, or opening rose-bud. That sable
robe of serge, replaces the rich brocade or
liortting gossamer, that often enveloped
her gr;icefal form, radiant with the fickle
joys of the ball-room, at the Castle, the
palace of the Intendant, or the " brilliant
circles elsewhere."

The transformation is due to divine
grace, which, after pursuing her with
gentle importunity from her early years,
had asserted its claims victoriously on
the occasion just alluded to. Issuing
iVoiii that little Chapel, where the voice
of an internal monitor had seconded the
eloquence of the sacred preacher, unable
to control her emotion, she flies from the
presence of the gay company that had
attended her ; she hastens along the yet
d^'serted streets. " Passing the door of
the Jesuits Church sh(^. enters. There,

If * if^ ]

148

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

al(?ne with her reflections, in the presence
of God, listening to the reproaches of
her conscience and to the voice of grace,
she begins to detest a life of vanity ; she
begs pardon for her long resistance and
delay; she implores the divine mercv
for strength and courage to break the
ties that bind her to the w^orld, humbly
confessing her own weakness and ina-
bility without (he powerful aid of
Heaven : she addresses herself to the
Blessed Virgin and to the saints, par-
ticularly to St. Francis Borgia, to whom
she had a special devotion.

" Her prayer had been already accept-
ed ; she rises comforted, strengthened in
her resolution to give herself entirely to
G-od. During the two years she was still
obliged to delay entering che Monastery,
never more was she to be met with at
soiree or ball, or party of pleasure. And
when, at last, having arranged with her
brother and sisters all that regarded her
inheritance, she humbly demanded and
obtained admittance amonff the daughters
of St. Ursula, the Novitiate appeared to

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

149

her the gate of Paradise ; she longed for
the day, when she would put off her
worldly attire, as a mark of her voluntary
divorce with the world,

" From that moment she seemed indeed
to become a new creature in Jesus Christ.
Her piety was most exemplary, her cha-
rity unbounded. Her detachment from
self and from every thing earthly ; her
mortilication, her fidelity to the obser-
vance of the rule and her holy engage-
ments, rendered her a bright example
of what is meant by religious perfection.
It was necessary, on more than one occa-
sion to moderate her fervor, which always
exceeded her strength. Her services,
which were extended to all, even to the lay-
Sisters in their laborious avocations, were
especially precious in the classes, where
her zeal for the salvation of souls, and
her own experience of the vanity of the
world, made her eloquent in exhorting
her young charge to avoid its snares,
and to assure their salvation by the prac-
tice of virtue.

150

GLIMPSKS or THE MONASTERY.

" Although she loved her family tender-
ly, she was extremely guarded in spenkinir
ol' her relatives, and if, in conversation,
there was any allusion to the nobility of
her birth, she evidently suffered, and
would adroitly introduce some other topic
of discourse.

" One which suited her humility better
was, to be reminded of her defects; and,
seeking to expiate the self-love which
once led her to relish compliments, she
would willingly tax herself with hypo-
crisy, when her piety — for want of some
other fault more apparent— would be dis-
creetly blamed, as excessive.

" in short, our fervent Mother St. Bor-
gia, pressed with such ardor the affair ofher
perfection that she won her crown early,
passing from the Novitiate, her earthly
Paradise, to that above, just as she \vas
completing the fourth year of her reli-
gious profession."

We have insensibly been led to dwell
too long, perhaps, upon the interesting
Miss des Meloises. The *' little world " ol

GLiMPSi.S OF THE MONASTEUY.

151

Oiiolx^c has yet other representatives of
its hifi"h'\st circles in this Novitiate of
172i). Plere are the two daughters of
Mr. Charles Graillard, member of the Su-
preme Council, — Mother Marie-Louise of
the Vn'^in, and Mother Marie-Clare of St.
Thomas; these fervent young girls, have
each chosen the narrow path, in prefer-
ence to the broad and flowery one, before
thoy had attnnied their sixteenth yiiar.
Here are also, daughters of erchants
and professional men, of the type named
by our historian, " in easy circumstances.*"
—Miss Angeli(|ue PtM*thiu8,(Mother of the
Angels), novice of the white-veil ; and
among the professed, Mother St. Francis
Xavier, (Miss Louise C. Pinguet-Vau-
coars). Mother Teresa of Jesus (Miss Fran-
9oise Baudouin) ; Mother St. Elizabeth,
(Miss Angelique Langlois) ; Mother St.
Stanislas, (Miss Angelique Normandin).
These four young girls have discovered
in early youth, that the world, all fascin-
ating as it may appear, is insufficient to
satisfy the cravings of the soul for hap-
piness : they have sought it in the service

f k' .■!-

152

aLTMPSFS 0^ THE MONASTERY.

of Him who has declared that " His yoke-
is easy and His burden light :" the test-
imony of those who lived with them, till
the close of their peaceful lives is ;— thai
they found within our cloislor " the hun-
dred-fold " that is promised by One who
cannot deceive.

Let us now introduce a few more youii2
ladies from Montreal. In the course of
the same year that saw Miss de Ramesny
quit the gay w^orld for the cloister, htr
example v/as foPowed by three of hir
former companions. Miss Marie-Rence du
Mesnil, (Mother St. Grertrude), w^hose hi-
ther accumulates the titles of Major in
the army, Lieutenant of the Navy, Knight
of the Order of St. Louis, &c. "This
amiable Mother, writes the Annalist
thirty four years later, adorned with all
the qualities that would have enabled
her to occupy with advantage the high
position Providence had assigned her in
society, had the greatest esteem for a life
hidden in God. Penetrated wath seiiti-
me'iits of humiiitv, and submissive to the
will of Heaven, she rejoiced in those in-

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY,

153

firmitios which roiidered her incapable of
occupyin;^ any oflice of importance, or of
discharging those dutiesof the Institute, at
once so delightt'al, so meritorious, and so
honorable.

Another of Montreal's high-born ladies
among oar novices is Mother St. Anthony,
dauMiter of Charles-Juchereau Duches-
nay. Like the other young ladies we have
named from Montreal, Miss Teresa Jii-
chereau formed her lirst acquaintance
with the Ursulines as a boarder. Iveturn-
ing to the bosom of her family, where she
was cherished most tenderly, at the same
time that she was surrounded by all that
lis most calculated to dazzle the youthful
imaorination and soften the heart, she had
I not always paused, to distinguish between
what she owed to her position in society,
and what she was giving to her ow^n love
[of the world, and to vanity. That danger-
ous passion was taking deep root in her
heart, while the daily round of dissipation
and pleasure was as surely extinguishing
all true piety. Our Annalist notes the vo-
cation of Miss Juchereau as "a conquest

' I

^11

154

OMMP>ES OF TIIK MONASTKIIY.

\h.'-

of £^raco, the IVuit of a fervent rotrcai,
" This pi'ivih^ged soul won heaven eaiiv,
her exile hi'ing ahridired by the Divm,.
Master in order to hasten her recom-
pense."

As to Miss de Repentigny (Mothnr
St. j\gatha), although Miss Jueh.'ro;Hi's
friend, we shidl reserve the particulars ol
her vocation for anothi'r momiMit ; anl
inlrodnce next, Miss r]liz:i!)eth Jost'ph de
Villedonne, whose lather was Etiemie de
Yilledonne, Ca|:(ain of a detachnieiU of
the Marine. Uidike the two hist namej
young ladies, Miss de Villedonni', dur-
ing Ih;) two or three years of her absence
from the Convent, never shared but with
reluctance, in the gay amusements thai
offered her their attractions.

Three other novices remain to be in-
troduced : thev are not from the cities ol

1 i

Q'lebec or Montreal, but from coniitrv-
manor or farm-house, not less attractive,

From the Island of Orleans there is I
Mother St. Margaret, (Miss Le Clerc);
from Chateau-Richer, Mother St. Monica

OLIMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY. 155

(Miss Marguerite Cloutior); from the
parish of St. Joiichiin, Mother St. Agnes,
(Miss Marie- Ann Uuteau), who is destined
tooutHve all her companions of the Novi-
tiate, prolonging her active and uselul
existence to the age ot* eighty-three years.

The ceremony of this introduction has
been long, yet would we name our three
(rood lay-Sisters, whose services are not
loss precious in the eyes of God and of
his Saints, nor less appreciated by the
Community, than those of the Choir-
^^isters.

They are Srs. St. Thecla (Blanche
Marier), Mary of the licsurrection (Marie-
Anne Kacine), and Sr. St. Andrew (Marie-
Julienne Mauhs) : the two hist named
live cheei fully their fifty years, in the
humble occupations to which are attached
equal rewards, and far greater facilities
for .cquiring them, than in the more ar-
xiuous, or honorable offices in the Com-
munitv.

As we retire from that Novitiate, where
we have seen so many young ladies

! ■. I.:

^-1>.

156

aiilMPSES OF TUE MONASTERY.

^l'' '"

goiiorously triumphing over the m\\.
iniMits ol' nature, and trampling upoiiaii
that is most esteemed aiul sought altn;
in the world, are there not some ainoii;
our readers who are struck with appr^
hension and pity, as if they had just be-
held so many victims doomed to feel ik
intok^rable weight of perpetual solitude,
and to drag out their weary exiv
tence in the bonds of an unvarying sub
missiou to obedience and rule? Are
there not some who forget what the
Apostle says of himself: " That the world
is crucified to him, as he is to the world,
and yet that he superabounds in joy V

Bat the firm decision of each id the
trying moment of separation from home,
and lier perseverance in her cherished
vocation, h the best reply to any mis-
giving of the kind. Truly the cloistered
nun may say : I have separated myself
from all that the world holds dear and
delightful, but I have done so willingly.
and I consider such a loss my greatest
gain. It is my pleasure, my honor, hence-
forth to seek to live for Grod alone.

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

157

nviiiL^' my follow croaturos for ilu» lovo
lol' (rod. I trust myself to one who does
Inot eliang-e ; in him I shall iincl a remedy
for my own inconstancy. " Hero, as Tho-
nias a Kempis promises, I am excited to
[good by example, and warned from evil
]bv admonition. Here, are diverse olHces,
and one spirit of charity. Here, when
one is weary of attendance on duty,
another supplies her place ; while one
roads many are edified, and each having
her weekly course, all are mutually re-
liovod. When one happily sleeps in the
JLord, she has many intercessois to deliver
hor the sooner from the place of expia-
tion.— Her labor and good conversations
Kvill not be forgotten, but will prolil
many, in future times for an example."

Here, as St. Clement and St. Basil tell,
I" One is able to pray for me to God,
another to console me when sick ; another
to teach me what is useful to salvation :
another will correct me with kindness,
or consult together with me like a friend ;
and all will love me truly, without guile,
|^Yithout flattery. O sweet attendance of

158

UI.lMrsKS OV TIIK >H>NASTKHY.

iViomls, O blossoJ mini^lvj'' ot'ooiulnrt %
O iho faithful sin'ioosof (li(\s«» \vli(>;.
onlv Ciod, () tho truo sinn^lioitv Nvhiih*
iiuwpahlo of a falsohooil. O tho hon •.
ablo h\bov whioh i?^ in obodionoe to G :
to pKw^o (lOil !

"() nionastio Hfo, holv, anuvlioal. Monj.
oJ ! Xo toiiiiuo can oxpross tlio so;,.
niouts of lovo whioh I fool for thoo. l
voioo oaii paint tho joy witli whioh llu:
dost lill uiv hou-t!"

No woiidor, thon, that tho happy so;;,
ohoson bv Ibwvon lor so sublinio avo:.-
lion, makos hor wholo lifo tiiiio, oiio livni:;
of t hail ksui vino-.

l>y lidolity to.horrulo, to j^rayor, aiic

tho saorainonts, sho obtains stronuih !

sustain witli iov tho o'ontlo vokoof Chii>;
•» « I. .

laborino' at statoil hours in tho soluw
room or ii\ tho sorvico of lior sistors; hav-
inu' no othor ond in viow but to accoiii-
plish hor duty for tht» lovo of God. Ik:
lot us also iiu]uiro, ^hat provision h;i>
boon mado for rolaxation and ropo.^o.

The Order of the Day, as mapped out

STKUY.

t>M^ who : •
iMty whuh i
) \\w \w\\ •■
on 00 to Ti ,

li'olical, Mo<i
ss tho 8tMi:>|
tor thoiMi:
I which ih :

h:\ppy so::.
ihliino a voo;v
no, ono hyu;:.

> pvayor. aiic
s stron<:'ili i
okoofChrw
tho sohiV,
sistors; li;iv-
ut to accom-
r God. ]k\
»rovisjoii hA>
d roposo.

mapped out

nl.lMrSES OF TUP. Mi>NASTF.UY.

1 M^

oKUmi linios, and still adhoviul {o as
li as is possihlo, is soniotlunn* roniark-
iMo. Kaoh honr has, it is tnio, its aUottod
HMipatiiMi. IVoni tho tinio whon tlu» hril

Ut lour o c

[ock announoos tho lu>nr to

(\ till iho si;Linal lor rotirinj; ln^loro nino
tho ovoninu"; vot withsuoh aniplitnvlo

)f spac

»«v s

uol

I " rooifimrss as

Kal

)or i'alls

11:

ii ; that ono dnty prosst\s not on tho sti'ps
)l aiiothor, in snoh a nianniM' as to uivo
tho loolinu' of hiMnii" omdiainod or on>lav-
J TluMo aro intorvals, of nioro or loss
iliratUMi, wliioh sorvo as a halt or rostinii-
;> ot for tht* I'oohlo, at tho sanu' tinit* that
ii s a spur to tho vigorous, hy allonlini;-
evasion lor sonio spontanoous aot o['
)w\\\ kiudnoss, or zoal.

Tho hour oi' rocroation is ostooniod of
llu^ sanio valuo for Innivon as tho hour ol'
>ravor ; it is onjoyod with zci^i, in i>ro-
)ortion to tho siK^ioo that prooodi^s. Tho
ayoty of convorsation is puri» and sin-
'vo. It is tho family oirclo, wilhoul its
mxirtios and caros ; it is sociotv, without
fts tedious forms and shallow compli-
leiUs.

'■* , s

160

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTEKY.

* , r

There are excursions too, in summer,
when the day is fine; for the Con\ent
grounds are spacious, and not devoid of
shade. The birds seem to sing more
sweetly there than any where else, and
build their ncsts, in security, in every
clump of lilac, plum, or cherry trees.
Ine buzz and hum of bees and every
gay-winged insect that loves to nestle in
the cups of liow^ers, make music that is
not lost by the ove .'-boisterous merriment
of the groups that stroll leisurely through
the winding alleys of the old garden,

Here, a favorite bed of pansies, there, a
mingled glow of roses, pinks, and lilies,
the gaudy tulip or the gladiolus, attr'\cl
and delight the eye ; or it is growih
of some new shrub or tree that is watched
with interest. The wonders of vegeta-
tive life, the special beauty of each leal,
afford pleasure to the contemplative
mind, shadowing forth the beauties and
wonders of that unseen world, to which
she constantly aspires.

Or, let it be a later hour, when the offieej

-^ ■■

GLDirSES OF THE MONASTERY.

161

anddutios of the day being over, the eve-
ning is closing around the Monastery in
that mysterious silence which is its great
est charm. Then it is that the S'lcred words
of the iJivine Office are heard, from many
voices that form but one chant, in which
the Angels join, although their heavenly
accents m:.y bo inaudible to mortal ear.

Thus falls the curtain of night around
the peaceful cloister, while each one, ac-
cording to the attractions of grace, enters
into the recesses of her own conscience;
there, finding all at rest, all passions
hashed, who can tell the deep feeling of
security and thanksgiving that sweetly
lills the soul, rendering that humble cell
au image and an anticipation of Paradise.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE CHAPEL OF SAINTS.

A little sanctnciry, mncli IVoqueiitt'd by
the inmates of the cloister, a, sort of pil-
grimage to which they resort with special
coiilideiice and consolation, is known ;i8
the Chapel of Saints. An ancient gilded
statue of Our Lady of Great Power, occu-
pies the centre of the altar, amid sculp-
tured decorations ; — the whole breadth of
of the Avail on either side, Ixuni.': covered
with paintings, and reliquaries of various
size and. form ; the larger ones resting on
gilded stands, the smaller ones, endorsed
under glass, in the four pilasters that sup-
port the arching entablature. The vault-
ed ceiling, painted of the color of the sky,
is studded, with gilded stars, while the
central arch, over the altar, encompa.^ses
a painting ; as if the skies had opened
there to permit the view of the heavens
beyond. The nine choirs ol' Angels, the

.entod by
ft of pil-
li special
vuowu as
nt gilded
^^er, ocen-
id sculp-
ireadth of
<• covered
of various
estiiig on
enclosed

that Slip-
.'he vail it-
r the bky,
vhile the
oin passes
d opened
heavens
Ingels, the

arJMPSKS OF THE MONASTRIIY.

1G3

various ranks of Saints, hearing- aloft the
symbols oF their triumph, surround the
th one ot the Most High, in the midst of a
ii^lory, to which the uiuiccustomed eye
l(Mids sj^lendors ev(U' new, and depths
ever widening into the vast ahyss of
eternity.

[This is the Chapel of Saints as it was,
not many years ago, and a? we hope it
yi^t will be : — its present a])pearance is
not so striking.]

But the wealth of the Chapel consists
in the quantity of relics with which it has
been endowed: the antiquity of the
shrines even, that enclose them, and the
names of the donors, add new interest to
the objects, already so precious in them-
selves.

Among ihe iirst of these pious donors
we may mention Don Claude Martin,
who was a Benedictine Monk. He had
already in 1662, procured for the Monas-
tery which his Ven. Mother had founded,
and where she was then living, the relics
ol'the martyrs, Justus, Modestus, Maxim-
in and Fehx.

CEijir

1G4

GLIMPSES OF THE MONAbTEUr.

One of the Ursiilinos of Metz, sent us
from Cologne, precious relics of St. Ur-
sula and her companions.

Madame de Guise, Abbess of Mont
Martre gave others. In 1071, Mother
Le Maire of the Angels, coming to the
Monastery, brought relics of the mar-
tyrs, Placide, Firniin, .lanuarius, Tere-
grinus and Honorius, which her brothvM*
the Abbe Le Maire, had procured for
her in Rome. Some years later Kov.
Father C Uoilleau, another relative of
Mother Mary of the Angels, enrich-
ed the Monastery vsath a casket con-
taining the entire body of the holy
martyr St. Clement, which he had ob-
tained from Pope Innocent XI. Other
relics of the Martyrs, Vital ,Amy, Denis,
Candid, Marcellinus, &c., whoso names
are venerable and illustrious for their
sufferings for Jesus' sake, were bestoAved
by the same generous friend.

In short, so large a quantity of these
treasures had been received, from various
pious donors, that in 1G74, it was decided

OLiMPsEs OP Tni-: monastery.

165

to prepare a Chapel where they might bo
deposited with special honor.

This primitive Chapel perished in the
coiillag-ration of the Church and choir,
oi' which it formed a part, in 1G80.

Bat the relics were not safFered to
perish. A lny-8ister, animated with such
liU'vor as gave her new strength and cour-
age, persisted in transporting them, till
she had nearly become herself a martyr
to her pious zeal, as we have elsewhere
related. „

In times more recent, other treasures
of a similar nature have been added.
Looking over the Catalogue, we find the
names of St. Augustin, the great Legis-
lator of Monastic mstitutions, St. Francis
of Sales, *' the most amiable saint ;" Igna-
tius of Loyola and others formed to sanctity
in his Society, — St. Fr. Xaverius ; St. Aloy-
sius and St. Stanislaias, the patrons of
youth; St. Angela Merici, foundress of
the Ursulines; St. Madeleine de Tazzi,
&c. The recent martyrs of China and

^11

, :.S.,-,|i

166

GLLAIPSKS OF THE MONAsTEliY.

)

Japan are also represented there, as well
as those of Canada.

Our Chapel of Saints has other objects
of still higher antiquity. Like the " Saiiito
Chapelle " in Paris, it has a parcel of the
True Cross and of the Crown of Thorns;
the former enclosed in a small crystal
tube, forms the centre of a silver cross
about fourteen inches in heiuht; it was
presented to the Monastery in 1G77, ])y
Don Claude Martin. Other touchino; sou-
venirs of Grolgotha, are a Fac Simile of
one of the nails that pierced our ]jlesso(I
Saviour's hands; another of the holy
shroud that enveloped his sacred liody in
the tomb ; a crown of thorns, made (lately)
from such thorns as grow in Palestine,—
long, sharp, and thick-set.

Is it necessary, here, to make the apology
of the Chapel of Saints? to tell w^hy, and
how, we honor the friends of God, the
champions and defenders of the Faith?
and, wdien they have gone to their re-
compense, how w^e love to have some
memento of them, some souvenir to recall

GLLMP. LS OF THE MONASTEUY.

167

tlicm to miiul, with the thoiig'ht of the
heaven win re thev are rewarded, and
where we linally hope one day to dwell
with them ?

It is a sent uient .so natural that we all
practise the devotion to relics, when there
is question oT lri<^nd.s or relatives. Not
many years au'o, the grateful countrymen
of AVashinL»t.)n, bore in a procession, a
lociv of his hair, as a trophy of which they
might be proud, and were not afraid of
being' called superstitious. Our shrines and
reliquaries enclose similar objects, and
we venerate them with a kindred feeling,
ho:2:htened bv the knowleds2:e of favors
granted by Heaven, on more than one
occasion, to tJiose who thus honor them
"whom Grod delights to honor." It is a
feeling similar to that which renders the
Catacom])s sacred, or makes the soil of
the arena within the crumbling Colise-
um, seem holy ground.

Yes ! when the first twilight shades are
descending, after that plaintive anthem of
the Yesper-Ofiice ; " lit manus luas Domine,

168

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTRRY.

etc. ** Into thy hands, O Lord, I commt lul
my spirit," — one loves to knool in that
little sanctuary where repose, so many
memorials of those that hiive s>iven their
soul to Grod in peace. And when, at ear-
liest dawn, one ent'^rs 1h to, rememheriiiir
tliose who i'ko the J ^-cihiiist could say:
Ad ie de luce vi;i^iL--" To thee, O Lord,
have I w^atched from the earliest lidit
of day," the soul will ever be refreshed,
and prepared for the sacred hour of morn-
ing prayer. Nor is it less ^.alutary to
bring to mind, that for the last one hun-
dred and fifty years, every nun who has
lived in the solitude of the Old Monastery,
has aften prostrated herself in prayer
before that antique statue of Our Lady of
Great Power, m this same quiet Chapel.

The ashes of the heroic Foundresses,
those of the Venerable Mother, who now
awaits the highest honors the Church of
God awards to her most faithful children,
seem to speak in words of gentle encour-
ao-ement. Oh ! how fervently should
each one pray that nothing may ever
penetrate within the precincts ol the

CLT^iPSES OP THE MONASTEHY.

169

Monri.-story to derogate in the least from
the spirit of M^aco and sanctify which is
here so pal] 'b!y felt. — J.>ut there is
something hev) more Langible, even, ^liaii
the sphit of :.ao place :— there aro also

Ex-YoTOS.

An fix-Yoto ! the word tells of pressing
(lanGCor and of succor obtained in the
moment of peril. It tells of some suf-
fering relieved, for which there was no
earthly alleviation to be obtained ; and
who has not, at some time, su tiered such
anxiety, or seen such woe threatening, that
there went up to God the deep cry ot
the heart, which pierced the heavens,
and brought speedy help for the hour of
need ?

For all who have thus prayed, that
little twinkling llame, dimly lighting an
ancient sanctuary, has a language; and
they turn to view it again, with more of
sympathy than curiosity. If they have
read a delicious page in the " Ilisfoire dii
MonasterCj^ under the title of " La Liunpe

'VSt

t ..

170

OLIMISE' OP TIIK MONASTKRY,

qui ne iiclcint w/s," thoy ask no ruilhiM-
oxplniKiiion. For those who have not,
we shall inscribe here the rollowin<? Hues

TriF, Votive Lamp.

twinklinii; Lamp ! tliy feoblo ray -

Sheds no rc'fiilu;ont ijjbire ;
And yet tliou knowest no decay,

Since once — thrice {ifty-y(;ars away,
Thou first wast, trimmed with care.

Dire was the conflict, when her chains
That maiden sonujlit to break:

Now in her soul triumpliant reljj^ns
God's holy love, atid now it wanes, —

*Tis earthly flames that wake.

" Mother, Powerful ! lend thine aid ;

Pity my dire distress !
I've fled me to this cloister's shnde ;

Let now all worldly phantoms fade,
If Heaven my project bless."

*• Will not the pitying Virt^in hear

A suppliant in her need ?
AVill she not make my pathway clear,

Sending me grace to persevere.
From all this darkness freed ?"

arJMI»SF.S OF TIIR MONASTRUY. 171

Lo ! swift dopcciidniii; froin on hi,i:,li,

I'oace to hur bosom flows ; —
As swi.' i tho ^loom Jind sorrow fly, —

Ilcr soul ii! sweet security,
Forgets its recent throes.

For liu^lit so pure in d.irkost iiour,
A L;nnp bnriift r- 'ar the shrine

Where Mary Mother of Great Power,

Still liears our prayers : and graces shower,

Where beams so tender, shine.

Now, many circlinij; years have sped

While yet that tiny flime,
By gratitude is fotully fed,

As when at first its light was shed
Around that hiirh-born dame.

Still does it point the way secure

To Her, our Queen above;
Whose tender bosom, ever pure.

Pities the woes we may endure,
And succors us with love.

Come, then, at twilight's pensive liour ;

Come, in the early dawn 1
Come, when the skies around you lower,

Come to Our Lady of Great Power,
Sure Help of the forlorn I

172

OLIMPSKS OP THE MONASTERY.

Tliouuh titles new, round Miiry's n;uno,

May cluster every year,
Yet aa I vii'W that votive flamo,

Jjit by the hand of noble dainc,
T love tlio more that ancient claim,

" MuTiiKU OF PoWKii " reij^n here !

Who, then, had lit that tiny Lnmp
helbro tho shrine of Our Lady of Great
Power ? that hirnp which has llickcrcd
and spent daily its little life, to see it per-
petually renewed during one hundred
andlii'ty years? — That maiden's name was
Miss Marie ]\Iadcleine de llepentij^niy.
Her vocation altords an instance of the
manner in which God sometimes pur-
siies a soul, rebellious at hrst, forcing her,
as it were, to take place at the " marriage
Feast " to which he had long invited her
by the voice of his secret inspirations.

The family de liepentigny were among
the lirst of the UDbility that came out to
settle in the Colony. Mother Mary of
the Incarnation makes mention of them
with eulogium, writing in 1GG4. The
daughters were always to be found

OLIMI'SES OF THE MONAKTERY.

173

anionic our boarders : Maric-MadrhMno
h;ul hor turn irom the ago of about ten
years, till her education was considered
to bo in accordance with her rank and
jiosition in society.

Oil leaving tlie Convent, slu', had not
like many o thins, formed to hersell'any
lixiul plan of life, and she soon found
hor.solf surrounded wi<h those temptations
that often l)eset the pathway of a young
^irl on her entrance into the world.

Cray parties of pleasure, frivolous amu-
sements, idle conversations, filled u^) the
precious hours from day to day, leaving
her little time for rellection, serious read-
ing*, or prayer. The prestige of rank, wit
and beauty on the one side, that of merit,
politeness and noble demeanor on the
other, soon resulted in the preliminaries
of an alliance, which appeared advanta-
geous in the eyes of the world ; and which
met the approbation of Marie Madeleine's
parents, as well as those of the young
officer, who was a relative. On isuch occa-
isions, when all seems so bright in the fu-

174

GLIMPSES OF THE MOXASTFIIY.

I I

ture, \\'lio thinks of soriouslv coiisullino-
to know the will of Grod ?

Suddenly the young officer is calloij
away on duty. Alas ! for the fallacious pro-
mises of earthly happiness, — the next
news is of his death !

To the violent gri<'f and mourning of
the lirst months, succeeds an attempt to
dissipate this irksonn^ gloom of mind, by
X:)lunging anew into the vortex of worldly
pleasures.

But the kind hand of Trovidence wis
stdl extended, waiting the moment to
TPclaim this prodigal child, and reconduct
her to a mansion of peace and seciirity,
At one of the churches in the citv, an
eloquent an'd zealous Jesuit was givii]!,^
the exercises of a retreat, for youno' ladies
Marie-Madeleine went with the rest, but
soon found that the Sacred Orator was
preaching— so it seemed to her — for he"
alone : —

""What wnll it avail a man to v:m
the whole world, and yet to lose his -.vii

GLIMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

1 '"rc
1 i'O

sonl. or what shall he ji:ive in exchaim'e
for his soul ? '

These solemn words of our Jjlessed
Lord sank deep into her soul, and she
then })erceived that there had been a void
in her heai^t, which the vanities of the
world had never been able to lill. But
long habits of sell indulgence, the ener-
vating influence of ease, and the servitude
of fashion, do not impart energy to the will,
nor consistency to the character. Marie-
Madeleine hesitates stillj when, behold
the merciful hand that pursue, her, rais-
es an impediment to her vanity, in an
accident almost imperceptible,— yet ef-
ficacious.

The swelliuf^: of a a'land in her throat
threatens to mar her beautv. She con-
salts an experienced friend and learns
that it is not dangerous in itself, but may
become so, if healed. She is thus led
to serious thoui^'ht :-~the future seems to
stand before her, wnth its chances. She
t;'kes times T>r reiiection, and. at last,
beginning to perceive the designs ol' Pro-

17G

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

vidence, she resolves to correspond to
them. After due consultation, she solicits
admission into the No\atiate of the Ur-
sulines. The nuns, remembering her many
good qualities, willingly accept her.

But all is not yet settled between her-
self and God. kShe has long been rebel-
lious to grace ;— that grace now demands
a restitution ; ^he homage of a will sub-
dued bv sulFerini]^ the assaults of its own
inconstancy.

No sooner had she reached the Con-
vent, than she began to experience the
torments of doubt and perplexity. " Was
she truly called ? Had she strength to
embrace the austerities of the cloister?"—

She overcomes this ilrst temptation ge-
nerously, conscious that a passing feeling
of repugnance, is no proof that she is not
in the path of duty. Once in the Novitiate,
the trial disappears for a time : later it re-
turns with such violence that the Con
vent seems to her as irksome as it had
appeared delightful.

But Marie-Madeleine, now Mother St.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

177

Agatha, had learned the force oi' prayer.
She taki^s reiuge at the I'eet of Mary.
She calls upon her as the Mother of
Mercy, the Virgin Most I^owerful, —
and is heard. The clouds have rolled
back from her soul, that now basks in the
eifulgence of joy !

Confirmed, henceforth, in her voca-
tion ; grateful for the protection of
Heaven, she begs permission to found a
perpetual memento of the grace, the
invisible //g/// she has received. Her
own life, cheerful, courageous, mortified,
(luring the twenty years slie had yet to
spend within the Monastery, was another
light, rejoicing her companions more
than the Vollve Lamp which she daily
trimmed with sentiments, ever fresh, of
piety and gratitude,

CHAPTER XV.

lO'ra— iT3i>.

STATE OF EDUCATION IN THE CONVENT.

In picturing the Monastery at any pe-
riod, we must surround it with that
interesting portion of humanity, joyous,
careless, ingenuous youth.

For the sake of these lambkins of the
fo]d of Christ, the cloister of the Ursulines
is not as strict as in the contemplative
Orders. The conventual door opens as
readily to the appeal of children to ])e
instructed, as if it had not a double lock:
the welcome that awaits a pupil is as
warm, the greeting as tender, as if the
inmates of the Convent were the house-
hold friends of her infancy.

,The name of Mother, which she is
allowed to bestow on those who are re-
ceiving her vith open arms, tells the
measiiro of love she may expect; iht-

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

179

amount of care and solicitude she may
claim as her right. For the Spouse
of Jesus remembers the word of Him,
who once took little children in his arms
and blessed them, sayi.ig : "Let little
children come unto me and forbid them
not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven :
*' Whosoever receiveth one of these little
ones in my name, receiveth me." Far
from regardin^^ the duties of a teacher as
irksome, she rejoices in them ; and esteems
no employment more sweet and hono-
rable, than that ot forming the youthful <
heart to piety, and storing the tender
mind with useful knowledge : convinced
that she is thus contributing, most cer-
tainly, to the welfare and happiness of
society.

The Boardino^-School, like the Commu-
nity, is a little commonwealth in itself,
with its own statutes, privileges, and
immunities. The " Local Grovernment"
nominated by the Superioress, is com-
posed of a General Mistress, with her
daff of Teachers and Aids, — as many as
miiy be required for the intellectual, the

180

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

spiritual, and the physical wants oi' tliu
pupils.

It is the Crcnoral Mistress, for instance,
who welcomes the little stranger as she
enters, and dries the tears that will come
when we say adieu to fond parents for
the lirst time ; it is she who comforts the
trembling child with gentle words, and
conducts her to the Chapel, near by, to
ask the blessing of Grod on her sojourn
in the Monastery. Then, the same ma-
ternal hand, after weighuig the little stock
of knowledge the new pupil may already
possess, guides her to the class to which
she will belong, continuing, as the year
advances, to note her progress by the
Report of the different Teachers: for the
General Mistress is entrusted with the
Porie-FeuiUe ; she distributes the certifi-
cates, and is responsible to tlie parents.
In short, she is the intermediary of autho-
rity, maintaining tiiat of the subordinate
mistresses, and applying to the tSupeii-
oress in all cases beyond the limits other
own jurisdiction. Thus, as the Apostle
has advised, " all things are settled in

QLIMPS'IS OF TTIE MONASTERY.

181

oi'iliM*, thnt all being of one mind and
living in union, the God of peace and
love may be with his servants."

Our little pupil is soon at home in the
Convent ; and, passing* from the class-
rooms, where the toil of learning is sweet-
ened by the kindness of the teacher, to
the refectory where she is served with
love ; to the recreation-hall, or the play-
grounds, where innocent sports make the
hour pass only too swiftly, she forgets the
sadness of the parting scene, at the con-
ventual door.

Then, as the months roll on, the crood
seed, destined to produce ten or a hun-
dred fold, is gradually sown : — the love of
God ; the fear of offending Him ; respect
for authority; fidelity to order and duty;
lial)its of virtue and self-government :
such is the basis which the conscientious
teacher seeks to lay, broad and deep
when laboring to form the character of
her youthful charge.

In the early part of the eighteenth
century, which is the period we are about

182 GLTMP>ES OF TIIR MONASTERY.

to consider, ino Course of Studies in ouv
Convent school, was the same as that
followed in the Mother-House in Pcuis;
the Ursulines of Quebec having adopted,
with the Constitutions of that Con^ro-
gation', their Ivules for the educational
department. Th(i curriculum embraced
Heading and G-rammar ; Arithmetic
and Penmanship; Ileligious Instruction,
including Sacred History; with occa-
sional recitations in prose and verse, to
impart a taste for reading, as well as to
ornament the memory and improve the
mi Li I. Dramatic dialoi^ues on moral or
pious subjects, Pastorals, or compliment-
ary apologues on anniversary occasions,
were held in steem, as a means of forming
the pupils lo grace of manners, and that
degree of modest assurance which is so
becoming, yet so difficult to attain in
youth.

Embroidery, in its various styles, and
needle-work in general, received great
attention, as well as domestic economy.

Such a course, announced in the Pros-
pectus of an Educational Institution at

OMMI'SFS OP TIIK MONA«TKRY.

183

tho present day, woald excite surprise
and be declared positively too elementary.
Yet we may be allowed to doubt, whetber
any system of modern education can be
foaiul that does i^reater justice to the re-
cipient of it, than the old training did ; the
chief object of which seems to have been
to prepare the mind for the great object
of life: — that of living well, and perform-
ing well the duties of one's state of life.

AVhen we can name such women as
Madame de Maintenon, and many other
distinguished ladies of her time; w^hen
we see a Marchioness of Vaudreuil, a
pupil of our Convent, called (1700) wath-
ont any further preparation, to fill the
oflice of sub-governess to princes of the
royal line of Bourbon ; when w^e have
read the lives, and the writings of many
of our ancient nuns : we cannot but ad-
mit that there are reasons for not depre-
ciating the old system of education in
Convents.

Zeal for the education of their children
is one of the honorable traits of the

184

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

•/

early settlers of Ciinada ; " many oCwliom
would never have crossed the Ocean to
New France," so they assured Father
Lejeune, " it' tliey had not been ceriiiiu
oi' finding there, persons able to auidtj
their consciences in the care oi' th(Mr
salvation, as well as to instruct tlieir
oflspring in virtue and K*arning." In
this respect as Le Cierc says, " Canada
was more fortunate then new settlements
in other parts of the world."

It is not, therefore, surjMisinii', that
our lists show the prominent names of
the country, from one g'eneration to
another; those of lesser note come, also,
intermingled, while the Day-school or
Externat provided for the religious ins-
tructiou and primary education of all
classes, rich and poor, in the city.

^ Terms for board were always moderate,
and our good Mothers accomodating.
Money being rare in the Colony, pay-
ments were made in goods and provision,^,
sometimes in wood for fuel, or in ma-
terials for building; and not unfrequently
from the alms box of the Monastei y, or

OM.MPSEs OF Tin: M(>nastf:uy.

185

fioiii the smus occasionally runii,>liod by
thi.' French Government.

The best laniilies \ver(^ often not less
in need of concessions and " favors,"
ihiiii the poorer vAas^ ; for, if ilie latter
hiivini^ to labor ibr their subsistence,
were dependant on " \viiid and weather,"
a lino, season or a g-ood hu'vest ; the
former liad to reckon with the casualties
of the Ocean, or tlie acci<lents of war,
and the rrrlainties of an inadequate sa-
lary.

As to the number of pupils frequent-
ini^' the Day-school, or residing in the
Convent as ])oardors, our anciiuit mothers
seem to have left to the good A)igels
who assembled them, the care of counting
and comparing one year with another.
Lists are often without date ; the Registers,
held by dillerent hands, are incomplete,
or defaced ; moreover, that epoch of
renovation ami reckoning, the Vacation,
heiiig unknown, there were [)upils
entering or leaving throughout th(» year,
without any obligation or motive for
presenting a /ola/, ibr any given period.

IMAGE EVALUATION
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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

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OLTMrSES OF THE MONASTERY.

Tf'tho Annals state that there w^ro, in
such a year, "sixteen little communicants,"
or "twenty" on another occasion, it is
not in order to enumerate, but to record
a trait of benignity of their chief Pastor,
who, ** addresses the dear children a mov-
ing exhortation, and communicates them,
as well as the nuns, from his own
hand." Or the good Bishop is present
on a Passion-JSunday, and witnesses a
little action in honor of the mystery, at
which " he manifests his entire satisfac-
tion." When, at the beginning of the
century, there is a terrible epidemy, and
thirty-seven of the boarders are ill at
one time, the Annalist records the fact ;
but she does not tell us how many escaped
the malady, only that the classes were
suspended for want of teachers.

We see that from year to year, there is
a gradual increase; new classes are form-
ed; new class-rooms provided. The "Mon-
astery enlarged " (1717), has shown us the
whole building, adjoining the parlors, oc-
cupied by the boarders.

A class of little Indian girls continued

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY,

187

till about the year 1725. The extern-
school was, nt all times, formerly, far more
numerous than that of the boarders.

Some ofthe pupils entered the Convent
very young, and remained seven or eight
years ; generally, they came at the age
of ten or eleven, to be prepared for their
lirst Communion —remaining from two,
to four or live years. The biographies of
the nuns have enabled us to form these es-
timates; and to observe, at the same time,
that a young girl of fourteen or iifteon
was able to give proof of a maturity of
judgment, and a decision of mind, which
at the present day, we hardly expect at
eighteen. The phenomenon may not be
easy to explain ; but it must be admitted.

Could we now follow in spirit, through
the devious paths of life, some of these
ancient pupils ; could we consult family
records, as we have passed in review thcde
of the cloister, it would complete, in a satis-
factory manner, our appreciation of the
value, and the effects of education in the
eighteenth century.

■

i:.!

i I'
i !

188

OLniPSES op THE MONASTERY.

When as competent a judge as Jiov.
Father Charlevoix, tells us, in 1720, "da
total absence of rusticity throughout the
country;" that he Ibiind the colonists
" most respectable lor their probity, their
candor and solid piety," we naturally
attribute no small share of the merit to
the good religious instruction the mo-
thers of these families hid received. AVho
knows not the iiilluence of the mothiT,
on the rising generation ? AVhocan cloubt
the truth of the aphorism of the old i)io-
tons, upon wliich the ancient settlers of
Canada seem to have acted : " It is bettor
to indrucl a little child than to gather
wealth for him." \ye might fancy we
hear one of those good Christian mothers,
imparting to her offspring the lessons of
piety she had learned at the Convent, in
huigunge as simple and sweet, as in the
following song of the blind minstrel
Herve, the monastic bard of Armorica :—

"Approach my little children; come
and heiiv a new song which I have com-
posed expressly for you : take pains to
remember it entirely.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

189

""When you awake in your bod, ollor

your heart to the i»-ood God. make the

si^u of the Cross, and say with I'ailh,
hope, and love : ^

'SSay : my (Jrod, I give thee my heart,
my body and my soul ; make me to be a
good man, or else to die before my time.

" When you see a raven lly, think that

sill is as black and wicked ; when you
see a little white dove llv, think that vour
soul, if pure, is as sweet and white."

Oh! happy the child that has a good
mother. Never will her lessons of piety,
her examples of virtue be totally cilaced
Irom the mind !

Let us now take a specimen of the
names that occur on our lists, bei^innino'
by Miss Jeanne Le Ber, the admirable
liecluse of Montreal. The piety of .Jeanne,
her tender love of God, and her desire to
imitate the Child of Nazareth, in sim-
plicity, in silence, in labor and humility,
were manifest,* even at the age of eleven
and twelve, when she was an inmate of
the convent, in 1675. Siie found compan-

?\f.:

190

GMMPSK8 OF THE MONASTERY,

( ;.'

ions of her fervor in such young ladies as
the Misses Denis, — des G-rpnges, — JSt.
Amand, -Neveu, — La Forge, — Nolan,—
Marie and Margaret Le Grardeur, — Marie
lierthelot, — Angelique de Lauson, <Jfec.

Taking up the list at anothjr date, we
meet with the name of Miss Mavie-
.Tosephine Fezeret, followed by the three
Misses des Meloises, the two Misses Ville-
donne ; Margaret Gravelle, etc.

Miss Fezeret affords us a noble exam-
ple of energy and filial piety. Returning
to her home in Montreal at the age of
seventeen, she finds her family plunged
in the deepest affliction ; her three bro-
thers had fallen in battle where they had
hoped to win glory and fortune ; her aged
parents, left without resource, were dis-
hearted^nd overwhelmed with the weight
of their misfortunes. Miss Fezeret, far
from adding to the afflictions of her fam-
ily by her own despondency, exerts her-
self to find, at least, a remedy for the in-
di2:ence that threatened them. She draws
up a petition to present to the Governor

GLIMP8KS OF THE MONASTERY.

191

to obtain a grant of lands, " with all sei-
gniorial rights," pleading the losses her
f'niily had sustained " in the King s ser-
vice," and their present necessities, with
such ability that she gains her cause in its
lull extent. The Mnrquis de Vaudreuil as-
signs to the young claimant, in due form,
a remnant of ungranted lands to which
he gives the name of Eourg-Marie, under
the title of lief and seigniory, "sub-
ject to fealty and homage to be. render-
at the Castle of St. Louis in Quebec."

Miss Fezeret was destined to enjoy the
blessing of surrounding the declining
years of her aged parents with joy and
comforts, — happy especially, in having
nobly fulfilled a noble duty. Her subse-
quent marriage with an officer of the
marine, M. de Thiersant, seems to have
been equally blessed by Heaven. The
name of Mrs. Thiersant, found among the
few who in ancient times obtained the
privilege of " Parlor boarder " ( pension-
naive en chambre) proves that she never
forgot her Convent-mothers, nor the clois-

192

(JLLMPSKS OT- Till-: MONASTF.UY.

t(T wlu'io feho had sp<'iit hor yonnM-ev
yt' Ill's.

Itotununi:^ to our lists, wo Avrilo \\'\\]i
plensnro tlio iiaiiio ol* Miss C AulxMt
de \[\ Chesnayo, oiu^ of iho ancestors ol'
. the family Do Gaspo, avIioso doscoiidaiits
occur at all datos dowu to the prosont
day; — tho Missos do Chavig'iiy, — do la
Gorg'oiidioro, — do Jjoauliou, — do la Tos-
sorio ; — with tho uainos equally anciiMit
of Lo Moino, — d(\s Crrosoiili(M*s, — do la
Garoinit% — do Jj''cai\oourt, — Mig'i^oa de
Bransac, — Bolduc, — du Tuy, — Landron,
— Picard, — Joly, etc ;

i'^.^iiong the companions of the young*
captive, ]i]sthor Whoolwright, (1709) we
may notice tho daughter of the Gov-
ornor her protector, Miss Elizabeth do
Vaudreuil, placed tho Coiivont, at the
same time;— and, in their company, Missos
Anne Denis de St. Simon, Charlotte Lo
Gardeur, — Couillard, — d'Ailleboust dos
Musseaux, — du Meiiil, — Duchesnay, —
Ivoy, etc. etc.

In 1712, tho Monastery was edilied by

I'^i

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

193

r yonnirev

the yontht'ul virtuos of Miss Margaret du
Frost de la Gosmorais, bettor known to
our readers by the name of Madame
(i'Youville ; who after experiencing the
bitter vicissitudes of life, constituted her-
self the servant of the poor, the maimed,
and the sick; triumphing over misfortune
by the cheerful practice of the works of
mercy, and endowing h^r country with
that noble institution, bearing the time-
honored name of Scciirs-GriseSy or Sisters
of Charity.

Contemporary with the heroic exam-
ple of Miss de la Gesmerais, ^ we find the
admirable charity of the three daughters
of the ancient Governor of Montreal, the
Misses De Uamesay. The six amiable

1 Miss (le Li Gosinorais wua djiugliter of a dis-
tint^ulsliod officcM- who served inider tiie Marquis de
Dcnonvillo : lier Motlier was Miss Rene de Vareur
IK'S. Several of her relatives were Ursuliues; —
her tliree aunts were tlie Mothers Varennes de la
Prosentatlou ; dn Me.y de Ste. llelene ; Anne-Ma-
rif de 15ouc,herville de St. Ignace : tlie Rev. Mother
]?nu(']ier, de Boiiclierville dn St. Pierre was her
graii(J-a!unt.

' i )

' . I

.v±

GLIMPSES OF TUE MONASTEUY.

sistors had passed through our classes,
to the mutual satisl'actioii of teachers and
pupils. The eldest, after a brief sojourn
in her family, had returned to Qut'hce
and entered the General Hospital, where
she lived nearly half a century, servin;r
with angelic piety the suflering menihors
of our Lord, for the sake of his lovo.
The second, Marie-Catherine, bade a
cheerful adieu to the oijoyments her
position in society promised her, to ho-
come an Ursuline; Genevieve, the third
had accepted an alliance in the world.

^ The three youngest remained in their
family, leading a life worthy of the clois-
ter. Their chief delight was to succor the
indigent, to visit and comfort the sick ;
being ever ready to expose their health
or to endanger their life, if thereby they
might procure relief for the distressed, or
minister to the corporal or spiritual ne-
cessities of the dying.

One instance will suffice to show how
they understood and practised the pre-
cept of charity.

OLIMPSES Oi THE MONASTERY.

195

In IT-)'), tlio city of Montreal was vis-
ited hy :i violt^iit and loari'ul epidomy.
The Hospitals woio soon filled with the
sick and the dying. Nine of the Hospital
8isters had fallen viciinis to the cruel ma-
lady, when by the interference of the
ecclesiastical and the civil authority,
limits were set to the devotedness of the
worthy nuns. The remainder of the
Community, were ordered to quit the
cloister and the city, in o-der to breathe
the pure air in the country; six, only,
W(Te excepted, and these olfered the sa-
crifice of their lives, in order to continue
serving the unfortunate sufferers in the
Hospital.

At this moment of terror and general
consternation, the Missi sdeRamesay did
not abandon their usual post by the sick-
bed. Knowing that the worst cases of the
malady were assembled in the Hospital,
they hastened to offer their services to aid
the nuns in their sublime act of charity
stipulating the following conditions in
their own faror, namely : to have a place in

I i

!?■

it'

196

OLIMPSKS OP THE MONASTr.IlY.

the Hospital, should th<»y l)0 attacked })y
the disease ; ami to bti l)iirii»d in the
Chapel of Our jjady oT (lood Il<'ii)-ilie
cemetery ol' the nuns, — in case ol'tleath.

"We must add that by a reciprocal act
of generosity their oiler was not accei)ted ;
— but who can doubt of the recompense
it obtained in the sight of Him who es-
teems and rewards the will for the deed ?

Let us take a few more names, se-
lecting from the list published in the
llisloire du Monaslere, for the year 1722.
There is mention of a little pupil's death,
at the age of six years: the innocent
child had her last resting place in the
cemetery reserved to the nuns, beneath
the choir. She was the youngest of tlie
three Misses Begon, who were all in the
Convent that year, — the daughters of the
Intendant M. Begon, Captain and Knight
of St. Louis. The list reads on as fol-
lows : — Misses Fran^oise de Lotbiniere,—
Cartier, — Pugibault,— de Beaujeu, — Te-
rese d'Aillebout, — Felicite du Chesnay,—
Jeanne Pinguet-Vaucours, — Lemieux, —

! 1

GLIMPSES OF TUB MONASTERY.

197

do la Cliovrotiore, — de Lery,— Baby, —
deJorifjiiirres, — Duiruet, — do Crirardin, —
de la Croix, — de llertel, — Boucher, — de
Nivorville, — th<» Misses Bissot, — tSt. Ours
Ueschaillons, — JJedard,— Divvis,—de lieau-
jeu. — Bouneau, — St. Lucde la Come, etc,
Charlotte iTAnlicoiiti^ * \vhose ancestor
Louis Joliot, with Kev. Father Marquette,
discovered the Uiver Mississippi;

Let us mention, for the last time, the
little forest girls, as boarders, having their
separate class under the title of '• <Se»u/i-
art/.^^ Frum time to time, even after our
Mothers had ceased to name them in .
their vow of instruction (1725), the mis-
sionaries would send some unprotected
child to the Convent, as in earlier days,
but these were no longer little pagans to
be instructed in the Faith. The rem-
nants of the Indian tribes along the

^ Tlierojulor wlio would see injiny curious details
of Jcnculogy etc. is referred totlie lists publislied iu
tlio diffen'iit Voluiiu^s of tlie llistoire du Manas-
the : tlie extnu^ts printed here are tulicn from Vol.
2. p. 174. uud p. 175.

if ■: I

198

GLIMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

Lower 8t. Lawrence, which war and sick-
ness had spared, had embraced Chris-
tianity ; while their incapacity to adopt
the civilization ol' European nations, luid
become an acknowledged i'act. JLiiico-
forth, the devoted priests who continue
to labor for the salvation of these natives
of the frreat forests of America, find amonji:
them evident traces of a christian Mother's
influence ; and have less difficulty in ins-
tructin<]f them in all that is needful for
the service of God. We know that, as a
judicious author ^ has remarked, " thoy
often exhibited, by their lives, a simplicity
and fervor of intelligent faith, which races,
called superior, would do well to emu-
late. "

^. How far the teaching of young females
from these tribes, in the Convent, during
a period of eighty years, may have aided
the missionary in his God-like task,
is only known to he Remunerator of
good deeds.

^ Rev. X. D. MacLeod : Devotion to the B. V. iu
Auiericii, p. IGii.

CIIAPER XVI.

ANCIENT SUPERIORS :

o the B. V. iu

MARY, PERPETUAL KUPERIORKSS OF THE URSU-

LINES.

A Picture Gallery, hung with the por-
traits of our Ancient ^Superiors, would
not be, for the cloistered Family, the least
interesting part of the Monastery.

Placed in their order, aftci" that of the
Venerable first Superioress, Mother Mary
of the Incarnation, they would now
amount to twenty- four ; — ten of them
belonging to the first centennial period,
from 1639 to 1739.

Our readers are already familiar with
the names of several of those Mothers,
who have been called by Divine Provi-
dence " to bear the heat and burden of
the day," at the post of chief respon-
sibility, while their sisters enjoyed the
enviable priviiege, the merit and security

i|-!H

200

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

of obedience. It may be said that the
Superioress, also, governing with humility
and condescension, performs an act of
meritorious obedience; — yet how unlike
that of the private religious, who, with-
out solicitude or anxiety, makes a peace-
ful and happy voyage, leaving to the
watchful and careworn pilot the charge
of guiding the vessel.

The following list will serve as an
introduction for the first ten Superiors of
the Monastery of Quebec, presenting at
the same time an epitome of their ser-
vices : —

Superiors from 1639, to 173D,

1. Ven. Mother Marie Giiyart de 1 'Incarnation : —
Sup. from 1639 10 lCi5:— 1651 to 1657:—
1663 to 1669. = 18 years.

2. Ilev. Mother Marguerite de Flocelle do St.
Athanase : —

Sup. from 1645 to 1651 : -1657 io 1663 :-
1669 to 1676.-18 years.

3. Rev. Mother Marie Gibault du Breuil — of

St Joseph: —

! 1

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

201

Sup. from 1676 to 1682 :— 1688 to 1694.=
12 years.

4. Rev. Mother Marie Dronet — do Jesus : —

Sup. from 1682 to 1688:— [also Sup. at
Three Riv<T>^] = 6 years.

5. Rev. Mother Marie Lo Maire — des Anij^es ;

Sup. from 1694 to 17U0 :— 1712 to 1717 [S.
also at Three Rivers] = 12 ycar.-^.

(The following made profession in the Convent
of Quebec).

6. Rev. Mother Marie-Anne Bourdon — of St.
Agnes, Sup. from 1700 to 1703 = 3 years.

7. Rev. Mother Angi^lique Poisson — de St. Jean
rEvangoliste : —

Sup. from 1703 to 1706:— 1717 to 1723: —
1726 to 1732.= 15 years.

8. Rev. Mother Catherine Pinguet — de I'lncar-
nation : —

Sup, from 1706 to 1712. = 6 years.

9. Rev. Mother Marie Amiot — de la Concep-
tion,

Sup. from 1732 to 1725, = 3 years.

10. Rev. Mother Marie Anceau— -de St. Thi^r^se: —
Sup. from 1723 to 1736 [also 19 years at

Three Rivers] - 3 years.

'Mi

■ ■ )

2{y2

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

The 11 til Superioress elected in 1735, was Rev.
Mother Migeoii de la Nativito.

Kev. Mother Drouet — of Jesus.
Ai'ter the decease of Our Yen. Mother
Mary of the Incarnation (1G72) and Mo-
ther St. Athanasius (1G95), the lirst to pay
the debt of nature, among these ancient
Superiors, was Mother Mario Drouet — of
Jesus, (1700).

She was no longer an inmate of the
Convent of Quebec, but at the head
of the UrsuHnes of Three Rivers, a post
she had occupied to the entire satisfactioii
of that little Community for the space of
nine years.

During the second term of her Super-
iority at Quebec, the burning of the Con-
vent, (1G8G), and the subsequent hardships
attendant on the accident, gave her such
trials as, happily, but few are called to
bear ; but her energy, her piety and sul)-
mission to Divine Providence, rendered
her equal to the emergency. Her tender
devotion to the mystery of the Infancy
of Our Lord, was perhaps the secret of

■"Will

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTKRY.

203

the mildness and suavity which charac-
terized her as a Superior, as well as of the
meekness and charity which rendered
her the perfect relii2,'ious. She has left us
a perpetual legacy of thf^t devotion, in
the commemoration of the Saviour's birth,
renewed on the 2oth of each month, by
singing a Hymn and an Anthem, before
the Altar dedicated to the Infant Jesus.
Mother Mary of Jesus at her death, had
attained the age of 75 years, — in rehgion

D<.

Kev. Mother Anne Bourdon — of St.
Agnes. — Two years later (1711), there
was mourning for another Ex-Superioress,
our beloved Mother Anne Bourdon of St.
Agnes, one of the early pupils ^ of our
Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarna-
tion. In the obituary ISotice of this good
Mother, we perceive a strain of tender-
ness, unusual even on those pages which
ever breathe of charity : " We have lost
our dear amiwe/t'beloved Mother St. Agnes,"
says the^ writer. " This good Mother is

M
H

^ See Glimpses. Part 1st; p. 62 uud (J4.

20-t

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

deeply regretted by all her Sisters, to
whom she had greatly endeared herself
ill every way. The many virtues which
adorned her life, the many amiable ex-
terior qualities which distinguished her
rendered her a real treasure for our Com-

munity The close of a peaceful and

meritorious life, was in the embrace of
the Lord, sweet and holy, leaving us all
filled with the desire of imitating the
examples she has left us. "

Ilev. Mother St. Agnes is entitled to
the lasting gratitude of our Monastery,
particularly by her labors as Annalist. To
her faithful pen we owe the summary or
Narrative of the lirst forty-eight years of
the history of the Convent, replacing the
regular Annals, which had perished in
1086. Once charged with the care oi
consigning to paper the details of passing
events, her discrimin ation is as remarkable
as her style. Her historical narrations,
neither too brief, nor yet redundant, are
full of vii^or and animation.

One of the last articles that fell from

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTEP.Y.

205

1.1

•J'

■ f

at tell from

hor pen, still firm at the ago of seventy,
although heavier than when she com-
menced some thirty years prtnions, is the
account of the expedition of the Ame-
rican Colonists against Canada, in 1711,
the result of which was still impending,
at her decease.

It closes with these words so expressive,
and so characteristic of the lively faith of
the writer : — "Our enemies trubt in their
multitude and in their strength; but for
lis, O Lord, our sole hope is in thy pro-
tection. "

J\EV. Mother Gibault du Breuil— •
OF St. Joseph. — At the decease (1715) of
this ancient Superioress, the new Annalist
declares she can find no expressions " to
give an adequate idea of the merit, the
rare qualities, the many virtues of this
dear and venerable Mother." She had
spent forty-four years in Canada, contri-
buting zealously to the solid establish-
ment of this Convent, to which she liad
given her services in 1G71.

The last year of her life she was enabled

It:

■ J

M'!

206

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

i\'

to coiitributo to its wellaro in a mannor
most cruciiyiiig to nature. It was no
longer her part to guide others, but she
needed the helping hand of kind sijsters
even to pass I'roni one apartment to an-
other. Blind, and very inlirm, she found
in the charity of compassionate hearts and
in her own complete resignation to the
will of Providence, the only alleviation
her sufferings admitted. Borne several
years, with admirable meekness and pa-
tience, these infirmities w^eie the crucible
wherein the virtues which Mother ^t.
Josepn had long practised, became as the
fine gold purified by fire : she expired,
surrounded by the consolations of reli-
gion, aged sixty-two.

Rev. Mother Marie Le Maire of
THE Angels.— There was still left one
survivor of our beloved French Mothers:
her recent re-election to the office of Su-
perioress, at the advanced age of seventy-
five, proved in what estimation the Com-
munity held t^ev. Mother Mary of the
Angels.

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

207

AVo have mentioned already her soli-
citude ier the establisment ol' the Ursu-
liiies at Three-Rivers, wliere she hold the
office of Superioress, six years. She had
discharged the same duties here, during
seventeen years, when arrived the peace-
ful close of her useful life, in 1717.
Four times during the lutuinn of that
year, did the beautiful ceremony of a
Reception rejoice the heart of the aged
Superioress, who congratulated herself,
with reason, on witnessing such a con-
quest of grace as the vocation of Miss de
liamesay and her companions.

All around the Convent, daring that
fall, workmen had been busy laying vast
foundations for a Church ; — too vast, un-
fortunately, so that much of the labor
had to be abandoned, and recommenced
on another plan. Mother Mary of the
xlngels continued to acquit herself of the
duties that devolved upon her as Su-
perioress, in addition to the cares and
difficulties that attended her in the build-
ing line.

•A

^ *

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, !

208

OLIMPSKS OF TIIK MONARTKRY.

> I .

lh\i winter lind now sot in, and a w\v
(liivs liivon to a rctrc^at, would be rost i'or
body Mild mind : — or, was it a i)ros«Mi-
tiinent of her ap])roachini^ dissolution
that caus(Ml the Venorable Mother to
withdraw from Iku' usual oc(Uipations
to attend to the grave question of her
own progress in perfection ? Certainly,
ilo one else foresaw that the Angel of
death was hovering near, prepared to
strike a blow that would plunge the
whole cloistered family in grief. The
exercises, commenced with such fervor
were speedily interrupted: Mother Mary
of the Angels, seriously ill, became at
once the object of the most tender and
anxious care; the skill of the best^phy.
sicians was called in requisition, while
the sympathy manilested by the Bishop
and clergy, as well as by many of the
citizens and their families, showed how
they all appreciated the worth of the
pious Superioress. The sentiments of
the Community, when, after a few days
of suffering, a life of piety and zeal was
crowned by a happy death, are summed

QLLMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

209

^ :;

up ill that concluding' line of her eulo-
giuin, in tiio Annals : " God aloiio can
console us for such a loss."

The honorable and much esteemed rela-
tives of Rev. ^lother Le Mairc of the
Angels, are ranked among the benefactors
oi' the Monastery. Their liberality was
experienced on many occasions, particu-
larly after the disaster of 1G8G. Among
oilier acts of benelicence, the Ursulines of
the present day must be particularly
sensible to their delicate attention, in pro-
curing for the Community the portraits of
our Venerable Mother Marie de I'lncar-
nation and Madame de la Peltrie, after
the loss of the original paintings in the
second conllagration of the Monastery.

Rev. Mother Aingeltque Poisson —
OF ISt. John the Evangelist. — How
oi'ten have we had occasion to remark
that when the Divine Master removes a
person eminently useful, he has another
ill reserve to supply her place in the Com-
munity, that the wovk^-^His work, may
suffer no interruption.

• 1

210

GLlMPSIiS Oi THE MONASTERT.

Thus it i)rovecl -when Rov. Mothor An-
geliquc roi.ssoii ol'St. John was s^Mecltd,
to replace the larneiited Mother Mury ol
the Angels (1717).

This seventh Superioress, whose loiiir
services in the Community have merihnl
a special return of love and gratitude,
was also the seventh proiessed Choir Sister
in the Convent oi' Quebec.

From the Seigniorial Manor of CnMi-
tilly, opposite Three Rivers, the youth I'lil
Angeliqne had passed to our Classes, and
to the maternal care of our Venerable Mo-
ther Marie de I'lncarnation, at the age of
eleven, in 1G62. The epoch of her lirst
Communion, impressed her heart remnrk-
ably with the sweet influences of pioty;
and the love of God ever afterwards con-
tinned to be the ruling principle of hor
actions. In her studi»^s, her success wns
assured by her natural talents, — a good
memory, taste and judgment. " She was
fond of reading, expressed herself with
facility in conversation, and still more
gracefully in writing. "

OI.IMPSKS OF TIIW MONaSTKHY.

211

Our pnult'iico of tlu» IDth century
>iaiii[), may tako iilarni \vhi'ii wo hear
of IiiT exchiiui'in!'* at \\w. ai»'o of rourteou
years and a half, the tithi of pupil, for
that of conrlidale I'or the relii^ious life :
at least, after consideriuG: her long career,
usefully employed in the instruction of
youth, aiul in the i^overnment of the Mo-
nastery, we must coincide in the opinion
of those who were judges on the occa-
sion, and regard her as *' a pcMson of rare
and precocious intelligence."

Called by the vote of the Community
to lill the place hd'L vacant by the decease
oC the regretted ^lother Mary of the
Ang(ds, we have seen her at the age of
sixiy-six, take the lead in aiding with her
own hands in the building of the Church.

Sh'^ had retained the vigor of the prime
of Hie to the advanced age of eighty-one,
and was again at the post of duty, by the
voice of election, when a sudden failure
of her usual good health obliged her to
(losist from her ordinary occupations,
lu^posing at the Infirmary for a few

ill

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212

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

days, she thought to turn time to good
account by making a review ol' her past
hie, and sent lor her Conlessor to con-
fer upon the matter with him, and
receive the holy sacrament of penance.
His mission w^as just over; the Conventual
door had not closed upon him, when ho
was recalled in all haste to administer
the sacrament of the dying. The dear
Mother, in the unutterable peace of a
soul just purilied by absolution, had
time to receive Extreme Unction, when
her spirit, as angelic as her name, passed
to the bosom of the God she had .so
faithfully served. Mother Angelique of
St. John had celebrated the sixty-second
anniversary of her religions profession,
w^hen her death occurred, in 1732.

In their grief for so sudden a loss, our
Mothers hesitated to proceed, imme-
diately, to the election of another Su-
perioress. The Bishop provided for a
delay by appointing another to that ofRce,
of his own authority.

GLIMPSES OB' THE MONASTERY.

213

IiEV. Mother Marie Axceau— of St.

Teresa.

This worthy Mother thus phiced at the
head of our Communit}^, had but lately
returned from Three Kivers, i?i hopes of
resting from the charge which she had
loiiGr exercised there.

The early life of Rev. Mother St.
Teresa, was, in many points, but the
counterpart of that of her predecessor,
Itev. Mother St. John. Sent to our
Classes as boarder at a tender age, while
our Venerable Mother was Superioress,
she pursued her studies during nine
years, without regretting the parental
mansion at Three Rivers, or sighing for
the delights which the uni^nown futurity
is wont to promise the youthful imagi-
nation. Without returning to the world,
which she may be said to have known,
like the Hermit of Parnell, only by re-
port, she joined that little band of no-
vices who, in 1672, lost an incomparable
Mother-mistress ; but who never forgot

1 "

(

li:

GLIMPSES OP THE MONASTERY.

her, nor hor iiifetrnctions. Moihor St.
Teresa's whole lite breathed of iiinoceiii>o,
simplicity, and goodness of heart. Skil-
ful with her needle as with her pen ;
patient, devoted, pious, and laborious ;
she was eminently qualilied for tlii
instruction of youth ; and was almost
exclusively employed in teaching, until
her services, as Superioress, were re-
quired at Three Rivers : there, she
guided that Community in a most satis-
factory manner, during nineteen years.

A few months after her release from
that office, which had been imposed upon
her anew in our Monastery, as we have
seen, she passed peacefully to her eternal
repose (1735), at the age of seventy-eight,
greatly regretted as she had been much
beloved.

Two Ex-Superiors were still living in
1739, at the epoch of the hundredth An-
niversary ; — Itev. Mother Marie Pinguet
— of the Incarnation, and llev. Marie
Amiot — of the Conception: the Jatler
had yet to see the year 1747, and attain

II I

GUMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

215

the a^eof'eia'lity-five, completinrr seventy
years of religious life. Their names will
occur later.

For the present, let us suspend the re-
view of our "Clallery of Portraits," be-
neath each of which we have inscribed
Iv. I. P.; — for the Ursulines have a Supe-
rioress who is not subject to change nor
death.

OUtt PERPETUAL SUPERIORESS IS

THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN MAKY, MO-
THER OF GOD.

In every religious Order, there is a
special devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It
is with her example in view that, in all
Christian ages, so many young maidens
have separated themselves from the pre-
tended glories and pleasures of the W'Orld ;
seeking in vigils, fastings, and humble
charity, to render themselves worthy of
being numbered in her train.

To the Ursulines, it is a peculiar con-
solation and privilege to remember, that
they are bound by an article of their

•

' , 1

OLIMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

Constitutions, "to cultivate a tender de-
votion to the Mother of God;" and the
motive of the precept is, at the same time,
an encouragement.— It is *'that by her
intercession, and especial protection, they
may labor more fruitfully to form Jesus-
Christ in the hearts of voung* girls, in-

stiUing into their souls her excellent vir-
tues, according to their institute."

Another article of the same code makes
the following provisions:—

"In every Convent, the Blessed Virgin
shall be especially chosen for first and
chief Superioress, which election shall bo
thus made :

*' On the day appointed by the proper
authority, all the religious of the Com-
munity being asseml>led in a chapel,
wherein shall be placed a statue of Our
Lady, holding in her sacred arms the
Infant Jesus, they shall invoke the Holy
Ghost by singing the hymn Vem Creator
Spiritns. Then shall follow some prayer
to the Mother of God, and Jifter that the
Mother Superior shall place the keys of

>^^

GLIMPSES OF THE MONASTEUY.

217

code makes

the Convent at the foot of the statue; and,
all kneelinu', she shall olfer her chari»'e,
and the Convent, to Our jjady by some
devout i'orm of consecration."

This solemn act of homnge and fealty
which the Superioress is to pronounce,
commences in these words: —

" Most-holy and most worthy ^lother
of Grod, Queen of heaven and earth, Tem-
ple of the most August Trinity, llcfug-e
of sinners and of ail who have placed their

conlidence in thy protection ]]ehold

us ham})iy prostrate at thy feet, wliile
we promise in presence of the Blessed
Trinity and of all the Court of heaven, to
take and hokl thee as our special Mo-
ther, Queen, and Protectress, beseeching
thee from the depths of our hearts, to
adopt and protect in a particular manner
this Community, as thy possession. AYe
choose and acknowledsre thee for our
iirst and chief Superioress, desiring to
depend upon thee in the most absolute
mann(U\ And I, Sr. N. N., Superioress
most unworthy, resign this charge into

• i

218

ai.IMPSES OF TIIK MONASTERY.

thy hatids, rosiM'viTig' to mys. 11* no riiiht
to exorcise it })ut in submisisioii tothoo;
placini^ mysolt* and all this House undtT
thy direction nnd conduct ; renderiii<v
thee the homage, honor and obedience diui
to thee from us, in the quality of most
loyal' sul)jects and most humbly devoted

children." — Next is sung- iho iVo.s

cirm prole pia, ^'c. "Do Thou with ihy
JJivine Son, O Virgin most benig'nant,
give us thy ])lessing." All incline to re-
ceive it, and immediately entoning the
Te Deion laudamvs, the Mother Superior
advanc«»s to render homaif-e, by kneeling to
kiss the feet of the statue of the Blessed
Virgin ; all the Community follow, and
do so in turn, passing processionally, while
the grand old hymn is sung to the end.
This act, which recalls so vividly the
fealty and homage of feudal times, was
made — spontaneously it would seem — in
the first Convent of Paris, in 1G38.

Here, it dates from the year 1G50, hav-
ing been made known to our Ven. Moth-
er Mary of the Incarnation by the Iavo

OLiMP-ES or THE :\rov \FTria'.

219

Pajii^ian iiniis, M(>thors St. Alhaiinsius
and St. Clare.

Quo who has assisted at the touching'
corcinony, taking* part in it as per-
sonally interested, needs not t\n} aid of
fancy nor reminiscence, to feel herself
deeply moved by the simple pathos of the
language, the piety of the scene, and the
})athetic accent of the kSa]X'rioress, \vho
pronounces the form of consecration. kShe
need not picture to herself that lirst act
of homage, just before the eonllagration
of the Monastery, when the voices of the
lirst foundresses mingled in that hymn
of thanksgiving, for favors and trials-
past and future, — both being equally the
gift of Heaven : nor recall to mind that
the same pious sanctuary where she
kneels, has witnessed for the past century
and a half, the triennial recurrence of
the same solemn homage to the Mother
of God. All the Ancient Superiors, from
the time of the gentle Mother St. John
who saw the Chapel iivst linished, down
to the present day, have here successively
oil'ered themselves and the Community,

III '-h

i!,v ' |]

ilfl

220

GMMrSES OF THE MONASTERY.

to constitulo the rii^hll'iil inhoritanco and
possession oi' tho Queen oi* Heaven.

On these occasions, Our Jjady ol' Groat
Power descends IVom her loftier pedeslal,
ars ii' to render herself more accessible to
her most loyal and cherished sii))joct.s.
Her throne is all aglow with lights and
decorations. 11* the splendor dazzle our
eyes, let us rest thorn on the titles oi'Oiu"
Blessed Lady, written in large and
gilded characters upon the base of the
lour pilasters beside the altar :

MaIUA, EeGINA YlRGlNUM : — DlRIfJE

Nos! Mahia Mater Ursulinarium:—
Protege nos ! Yes ! O Queen of Virgins,
O Mother of Ursulines ! direct us, protect
us, thy children, thy subjects. Succor
and defend us, O Mother of Mercy,
Queen of Martyrs ! Maria, Mater Mi-

SERICORDI.'E SUCCURRE NOBIS : — MaRIA

Eegina Martyrum : JJefende nos !

CIIAPTELl XVIIT.

ITliU.

THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.

For the splendor ol'puhlicworsliip, the
decoration ol' Altars, and the celebration
of religious festivals, the present genera-
tion must yield the palm to the past.
Readiiig of these things in the early times
ill Canada, is like obtaining a glimpse of
the middle ages.

The Hundredth Anniversary of the ar-
rival of the Ursulines on this continent of
America, was not one of the least of those
occasions, when the population of Que-
bec, uniting in one sentiment, seem, like
the first Christians, to have but one heart
and one soul. The renovating fervor of
the Community at that period, reminds
us of the Cenacle, where the disciples of
the Lord pray with such ardor that the
Holy Ghost descends visibly upon them,

'•t

IC!'

222

arJMPSRS OF TFIR MONASTKllY.

lilliiii,^ thnni with new zeal for acoom-
])lisliiiiir iho divine mission with which
thev are entrusted.

A whole year is not too long to prepare
for the great day.

Ent let the Annalist herself, tell us how
these thinirs wovq done.

" To dispose ourselves ibr the ceh'-
hration of our Hundredth Anniversavy
and in order that it might be for our
Community a motive for a more perfect
rtuiovation, returning thaidcs to Grod for
the iniuimerable benefits bestowed upon
iho Moiuistery during the past century,
we began our prepar;itions a year before-
hand. On the 1st of August, 1738, beiiii^
assembled in tln^ Chapel to listen to an
exhortation on the subject, one of our
Ilev. Fathers addressed ns in a maniun'
well calculated to inspire us with the
fervor that animated our ancient Mothers •
as well as with their zeal for the instruc-
tion of youth, and the conversion of the
poor people of these countries, in laboring
lor which thoy consunied their lives,

GMMrSF.S OF TITR MONASTKRY.

223

tell us how

"roiiotrivttKl wilh tlio livt^liest iiTaliludo
towards God, W(» detcnniiu'd to testily it
by g'ivinji' more tiiiiothun usual to prayer :
for this purpose ^ve prolonged nearly all
our ordinary pious exercises.

" On Fridays, three were appointed in
turn to observe silence, rel'rainin2: iVom
the usual recreations, and adding' several
acts oi'mortili?ation and oC other virtues.

*' All our young Sisters desired to renew
the exercises preparatory to proiession,
])eribrming them with fervor, in order to
draw down upon this house a continua-
tion of Hie Divine favor. Finally, on the
approach of the great solemnity, the 1st
of August, 1730, the anniversaiy of that
day on which our worthy Foundresses
Madame de la Peltrie, Ven. Mother Mario
Guyart de rLncarnation, Mother Marie
de Savonuiures de St. Joseph, and Mother
Cecile Richer de St Croix, arrived in
Quebec, all the Community entered upon
a retreat.

" The renovation of our vows had been
postponed until this day, instead of tak-

IHi

:i I

22 1

(JLIMPSKS OF TIIK MONASTKIIY.

iug" [)hi('(» nccordiiii^* to custoiu, on the
second i'oria alter rentecost.

"All tlien was in readiness lor the coni-
meniorative services, had not the suddtni
decease of an ancient and beloved Mo-
ther, o])]iL>ed us to dcler the rt'joieini»;s lo
the Octave. The r(\stivity oi' our Cvn-
tennial Anniversary had been announced
to the people, with an Indulgence ac-
cor(h3(l by ()ur Holy Fathm*, Innocent X.,
not only lor ourselves, but for the people
who desired to participate in the cel(^-
])ration. On the day i)reccdini:^, at noon,
the chimes oi'lhe Cathedral bells mini^-led
with ours, to announce the festival ; and
this was renewed during* the three days,
with the same solem}\ity.

The Triduum was opened by the can-
ons of the Cathedral, wdio did us the
honor of coming to celebrate High Mass,
Vespers, and Ikmediction of the J^lessed
Sacrament, closing the exercises by sing-
ing the Te Deum.

" The second festival w^as solemnized
by the clergy from the Seminary, attend-

GLlMrsKS OF TIIK MONASTKUY.

00%

Oil by tlii'ir sIiuImiIs uikI (MicUv-iastics. in
;i siiniiiu in;mii»M'. 'lh\i 1 liird and hist day
bi'lun^ed to tin; J^'raiioiscans

"Allllic I'athors cani<; in [)r()cossion,
>ii!i4inu' lilt; To Dt'iuii, and ai'UT crlcbra-
tiii^' Mass, riMurniHl in lln* sanio order, to
til'' cliinii's oi" tlb^ C'alliodral Ixdls and
ours. Tlii^ lu'V. l^'aMuM-s ot' Oio Society
of Jesus, preached on each the three days.

" or the ahns that were distributed,
we need not take note. The ChM'gy as
well as the reJio-ious Conmiiinities, were
|tMitertainod at our expense, and to the
best of our power. TJie concourse in
our Church w^as ^reat during* the three
days; the people beini^' attracted by tlio
Exposition of the Blessed ^Sacrannuit,
which commenced at four o'clock in the
morninu", und ended only at live in the
1 alter noon.

'' The Church, where every thing w^as
fresh and new, was richly decorated
without the loan of ornaments, and all
was ]U"onotinced to be in good taste.
The wails, newly llnished, were hung with

■I

!|i

22G

QLLMPSES OF THE MONASTERY.

,1'

paintinn;s. In the Jarg-e grate, six olo-
g-aiit, silvered, mural lamps, each beariiiu'
fourteen tapers, were suspended, prodiic-
inu' a Jine eifect. A lai'U'e ehandelii^r
hung in front of the Chapel of the Saercu
Heart ; and another, bearing also twenty-
two tapers, adorned the nave. The num.
her of tapers burning during the l]eno-
dietion of the Blessed Saerarnent, was
four hundred ; comprising those of tlui
altar in the choir, which was also bril-
liantly decorated."

"Between the three statues that orna-
ment the portal of our Church, hung the
portraits of our worthy Foundresses, Ma-
dame de la Peltrie, Venerable MothiV
Marie de flncarnation, and Mother :St.
Joseph.

" Beneath the portraits, were inscrip-
tions in poetry, making known a part of
their heroic actions. An address to tk
people was not forgotten, all being placed
at a convenient height to be easily reaJ.
The frames of the portraits, as well as
the Inscriptions, were black, wi(h giUlo

GLIMPSES 0£^ TJIE MONASTERY.

227

ornamoiits. Eolbre the Church door,
youn^ ilr-troes, i)l;intod in several rows,
present' (1 a pri^tty siii'ht and afl'orded aii
aiiTeeable shade. Diirini^ tJiese three
days, there were constantly priests at the
two altars, celehraiin:,^ the iloly 8acrihce,
from ibnr o'clock in the morninGT till
noon. Could we do too much to thank
the Almiiiiity for the blessings showered
down in such profusion on this House
since its iirst establishment?

" The same motive induced us to sa-
criiice a part of the silver plate, belon<^ing
to the Inlirmary, in order to make a
Sanctuary Lamp, with which the Church
had not yet been furnished.

" The solemnity ended by a High Mass
colebrated at the demand of the Indians,
who attended it and sang* the Kijrie^ the
Credo, etc. After mass they pronounced
harangues in the parlor to our address.

" On our part, we offered them a good,
substantial banquet, to which they did
ample honor.

'' Not wishiuiT to have our dear de-

I |l!''

i U Hi

228

GLIMPSES or THE MONASTERY.

ceased Mothers excluded from tliis fes-
tival, we had ili'teen masses celebrated
for their repose, as wtdi as to thank God
for hisi^reat mercies over our Community,
and to implore their continuation."

Nothinir was wantinc:, then,, to render
this celebration, a'' success" except the pre-
sence of the Chief Pastor of the Diocese
Bishop Dosquet, who was absent in
France, where he had gone to resign the
charge he had held since 1733.

One of the Inscriptions reads much as
follows :

Beboiu the Christian lieroines advance,
AfiVonting ])C'ril with intrepid ghmce:
All I'earlesK, braving Ocean's angry wave,
Innnortal souls from endless death to save.
And, now One Hundred years have passed away.
Since first these countries hailed the happy day,
. When landing, they embrace the cherished soil,
Wiiich they will render fertile by tlieir toil.
They lived Angelic lives ; they loved the Cross ;
They counted every earthly gain as dioss;
They taught the Red-man. and his child, the road
That leads to that bright world, now tiieir abode.
And every Christian maid, or Motiier, liere, "
Blesseb the day wlien Ursulines ai)pear,

GLIMPSES OF TIIR MONASTERY.

229

To train tlio yontlii'nl miri'l ; to guard from ill,

AikI teach tlie;n life's high .lestiny to fill. —

Ail honor, then to th<.)>e who led the nay!

Nor if beneath the Convent ro(jf to day.

So niany souls are laboring tl>r Heaven,

All glory to tlie Foundresses be given !

Grant, thou, Lord, that [."essings may increase

From age to age, around this House of peace !

And let it flourish, like a goodly vine,

For 'lis thine own ! let all its fruit be thine!

Another inscription takes the form of
an Epii^ram ; and both are evidently fur-
nished by pens beyond the enclosure of
the Monastery : —

One hundred years this House has stood,
Yet all within is firm and good: —
Without reform the charter stands,
Thus let it pass toyouiiger hands;
For where no rotten wood is found,
It kills the tree to bark it round.

'I i

■< i .

I)/

CHAPTER xvni.

ir3o.

I ' •

THE SFXOND MOTHER ^lAPiY OF THE INCAR-
NATION, AND MOTiiEU ST. CROIX.

At the dawn of tho Centennial year of
1789, the Community was composed of
fifty-three professed nuns; iifty-three
others, during that period of a hundred
years, had passed to a better life.

The family above, was, therefore, al-
ready as large as that which was pre-
paring the festive celebration here below ;
and doubtless there were rejoicings also
in that better world.

A fresh accession to their number in the
course of the year, — a deputation, one
would say, from the Community on earth
lo that in heaven, presents a curious coin-
cidence of names, at such an epoch.

Our readers all remem])er those throe
first nuns whose arrivdl illustrates the

(JLIMPSKS OF THE .'\HiNASTERy,

231

date, 1039; the Yen. Molhors Mnvyof the
Iiicarnatioii, St. Croix, and Si. Joseph.
The dcparinrc oC three others of nearly
the same name, marks the obituary list,
ill 173',) : — the first was Mother Marie de
liepentig-ny of 8t. Ai];';ithn, who aUhongh
she bore not the same reliL>*iovis name,
had hke Mother Mitrie de hi Troche of
St. .Joseph, Hved about the same number
of years in r^digiou. The second death
that occurred, iiiterruptiHl the centennial
celebration. It was Mother Marie Cathe-
rine ringuet of the Incarnalion ; the third
was Mother Marie-Elizabeth D'Ailleboust
of ^7. Croix.

Madame de la Pel trie had also her re-
presentative, in one pi* the boarders. Miss
(les Meloises, who died in the Convent^
at the age of twelve years ; and, by a rare
exception, was buried in the cemetery of
the nuns.

The last pages of this little Volume,
shall, with pleasure, be dedicated to the
memory of the two venerable Motlnu's,
whom W'C miu'ht call the iciti?esses of all
that it has described.

::1

^»;

it!i

!!'■

'k. II J

'1 •

. i

232

GLIMPSKS OF THE MONASTKRY.

■>«

AVho then was tliis iig'od ^lof lier ^laric-
Caih^riiio ol' ilio iiicarnali-jii, who alU'r
a year's preparation to celebrate the g'reat
Anniversary, eontentin'^' lier.si*!!' wiili the
renovation of her vows with her Coiii-
inunity, and sharing* tJie si)irilaal ri^joj.
cings oi'tlie 1st August, ITC'J, hastens to
join the choirs above, before the pal)li(3
festival takes place 1

The faithful pen of the olden time
tells us that ju-t m^ir Qn d)ec, on the Is-
land of OrJi^ans, a bright and happy home
awaited Marit^-Oathernie as she left the
Convent, in 1075, at the age of fourteen :
but its attractions were not so stiong, nor
so sweet, as were those ot'an intm'ior voice,
crdling htn- to a life of separation from the
world, and all its pleasing, but fdlacious
prospects. Her generous-hearted Chrisr-
ian ]>arents had already, some t{},n years
previous, consented to see themselves
deprived of the company of their eldest
daughter, Marie-]\Iadeleine, who had con-
secrated herself to God among our Ur-
sulines. Could they now resist the plead-

RY.

CM MPS IS OF TIF-: MONASTKUY.

233

her ^laric-
who al'U'r
i:; tlie i^'ri'ut
i' wiih the

ht'i- Co 111-
ilual n'joi-

hastens to
llio public

Idea timos
on the Is-
appy home
■<lie lei't the
f fourteen :
strong', nor
u'ior voice,
)n iVom the
t raUacious
ted Christ-
teu years
themselves
heir eldest
10 had eoii-
H' our Lr-
the plead-

ini»'s of Marie-Catherine? Thi'V miuht
have ol)jected that her lienlth ^vas deli-
cate, and her IVauKi of the most frau'ile
mould ; but the. f Tvor of the youthful
aspirant anxious only to ol)ey Him, Avho
is the Master of our destiny, overcame all
ohstacdes.

The Novitiate was opened to her, and
doubtless she had reason to write to her
parents in such words as the following : ^

"No language can paint the peace and
happiness of mind I enjoy. Fear not for
me ; I shall continue to be happy, for I
have given myself v^Uhout reserve to God
and his holy Church." The months of
probation passed quickly by, and the ap-
proach of a great day, filled the fervent
novice with new joy.

"We have witnessed — in spirit- -on the
oOth Ap^'il, 1677, the ever touching cere-
mony of Taking Ike Veil, when, with the
livery of the ^Spouse of Christ, she re-
ceived the venerated and beloved name
of Marie de I'lncarnation.

1 Life of Archbis*liop Spaklnij^-; Student life in
Rome.

r 1

I'!-

Z'A

(IM.MrSES OF TliE MONASTEUY.

'i'

The i'utnrc caioor marked out lor that
(l(>lictite youii!L>' novice, was.a sealed hook
l)eroro her, as it is ibr us all. Her only
care was to accomplii-li IVom day to day,
with checriiil heart, the liiile she hnd
embraced, which is an epitome of the
Gospel precepts ol' perfection ; conlbrmiiio-
her will to tliat ol' IJivine Providence, iu
the various trials, and even hardships
which awaited her on more than one
occasion, iii common Vvith the rest ol' the
Community,

After many years devoted to the care
and instruction of the pupils in the
Boarding school, she was called to ex-
ercise, during- six years, the charge oi
Superioress ; and, at various times, that ol
Assistant, Zelatrix, or Mistress of JNo-
vices. The Novitiate must have derived
the L'reatest benefit from the direction of
a person, endowed with such prudence,
meekness and piety; and w^e observe that
she was re-appointed to that important
office, even at an advanced age in the last
years of her life. These are the principal
services our second Motlier of the Incar-

■i'

(iiiiMi».si:s 01)' xmo mjna-'Tkiiy.

235

nation was enablvnl to rondor hov Com-
munity. AYore thoy not sulliciont to jus-
tify hor in the choico oriierVocatiou ? —
and also to iustiiV Divino rrovidonco in
calling' ]ior to a})an(l()n the paternal man-
sion, where she had indeed a pleasant
home, but subject like all the others ou
the face of the wide v/orld, to cha ir;e,
to sorrow, and to the i^'radual dissolvinix
of its tenderest ties by death.

At length, the summons to quit her
adopted family of the cloister, came; but
she was not to know the grief of a part-
ing' scene ; nor the dread of that last
hour, so terrible, even to the just. A
slight indisposition — so it seemed — a
sudden prostratioii of her strength, which
had caused her to lose consciousness for
a few moments, during the night of the
1st of August, retained the venera])le re-
ligious in the Iniirmary, all the next day :
but without any delinite pain, fever, or
other alarming symptom. It was a Sun-
day, the 2d of August: the clebration of
the centennial jubilee by the public, was

lUi),

)ifv

\¥'

■•ii!

V^^

■f

a MM IVES OF THE MONASTKIIY.

lit'

to take place on ^Monday. Iii the itk an
lime, as evening' came on, there was a
Midden alarm within the JMonafctcry.
Their venerated ]\Iother of the Iiicai-
nation had sunk, as in a swoon, into ht-r
arm-cliair, to which she had walked
from her bed. She seemed to be dyini* :
yet the })hysieian who had been sent tor,
in the course of the day, had found her
m no danf>'er.

In a lew moments she had passed away
all ,i>ently, as the ripened leaf in autumn
ghdes IVom its stem and descends sih.^ntly
to the gTound.

It was a death unlooked for, — but not
unprepared : and although it changed the
accents oi' thanksgiving to those of mourn-
ing, yet each one felt that it was the angel
of mercy that had snapped the silver
thread of lile, just as it was brightest in
the sight of Heaven !

On the 4th of September, the Annalist
writes again with tears : —

" The Almighty who has decreed that

perfect happiness shall never be ours in

IJ:?'

CLIMPSES OF TIIR MONASTEIIV.

237

lliis hfe, has pi'rixiitt(Hl tho rojoiciii^'s of
our lluiulredlh Amiiversiivy to ho I'ol-
lowed by redoiihliHl ailli-ctions, in Ihti
sudden death ol* another of our veneraMo
ancient Mothers. Jjiit y<^sterday our he-
loved Mother Maried']lizuhi4h d'Aille-
boust oi"8t. Croix, was appar<3ntly in piM'-
I'ect health, She had serv(Ml at table in
the reiectory all the week; she assisti^d
at the recreation, aiid at the Divint^ ollice
with us last evenini;"; this movninij:. at
lour o'clock, the tSister who awakens the
Community, entering her cell, ibund her
at the point of death, — speechless and, ap-
parently, unconscious. The pliysiciau
was sent for in all haste, as well as our
Confessor. They found her dying*. She
had merely time to receive a last abso-
lution, and Extreme Unction, Avhen she
gently breathed her last. It is impossible
to say what had caused her death, the
physician finding* no mark of apoplexy
nor any other known malady."

Our readers have recogni/ed in the
family name of our beloved ^lother St.
Croix, that of the third Grovernor of the

2r.8

(ILIMPSKS OF TflK MONASTERY.

Colony; she ^vas liis i^Taiul nioco. Uox
l'alli(»r WJi.s Charles d'Ailluhoust, Sc^ignciir
dos Ma.s.soniix ; and her mother, ]\Ii.s.s Ca-
therine L'i Gardeur de liepeiitigny. They
have also called to mind, that they as-
si.sted, in spirit, at the ceremony ol' her
Jtecei)tion, in lOSti, — in the temporary
Chapel, beneath tlie present Commiinity-
liali.

Iler contemporaries tell us how she
bore, ibr iil'ly years, with hapj^ness, the
sweet yoke of tliii Lord, serving him in a
spirit of love, and with so lively a faith
in his p?esence that her whole exterior
l)ore its in^press. The remembrance of
the Sacred Mysteries of the Passion of
Our Saviour, possessed her soul to such
a deo-ree, that she had learned to disre-
g-ard her own sulferings ; while his Cross
had given her the secret of voluntary hu-
miliations. Providenee iavored her pious
inclinations, by appointing her often to
those duties which had to be performed
chieily in the presence of the Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar ; as that of Sa-
cristine, and of Mistress of Ceremonies at

fJMMl'Sr.S OF THE MONASTi'.UY.

239

tlio Diviiio OlRco, wIkto hor mnu'iiili-
C(5iit yo\vA\ loiiiid its mission iii JLMdini^
the choir, and chautinp: tho pruisi^s of (rod,
"To this trut* d:\ui^*htor ol' the Church the
least of its certMiioiiic.j was sacrtnl ; and to
see h(M* take holy water or iriake i\\c sii^'ii
of the Cro^s, was enough to convince the
]>t'holder that she was penetrated with a
lively i'aith." AVas it not a recompense of
her dinotioii to the Sacred Heart to he
called to appear beiore the Divine tribu-
nal on that lirst J^'iiday oi' the month?
the day on which she had sung ibr so
many years that touching hymn : " O Cor
aniorh Vir/imd. Heart oi' Jesus, Victim
of love ! be thou my protection in all the
trilmlations and sorrows of life ! abovo
all, at the hour of my death, say thou to
mv soul : Behold ! I am thy salvation ! "

-II

!?l

240

aLlMPSKS OF THE MONASTERY.

In ihc view of a life so peaceful and
coiisoliiir^ ill its course, as at its close, we
take leave, for a time, of our beloved
ancient iMolhers; presenting our JieadtM's
with a list of their names, at the epoch
of the llrst Centennial anniversary.

TABLE

\)t the rrofcssnl \iins of the Ursiilinc Convnit,
(liicbcc ; from 1019 to 1739.

aTrivjll ill
C.tn;i<i;i.

i(;ni)

Au^'. 1st.

idetn.

IGIO

July 14.

iileiii.

1044

uly 14.

i.letii.

itiein.

IGf)?

mIv, 14.

IGTl

ei)t. ID.

idem,
idem.

ir,07

Sept 7.

FROM FllAXCK.

1. Vi x. Meiik Makii-: Ouvart dk
LTn'caiin-ation, [Tours.]

2. llev. Mere Marie de hi Troclie
(le Savonuieres de ist. Joseph,
[Tours]

:\. llev. MereCeciUIlicber de Ste.
Croi.r [ Dic'jipe]

4. llev. Mere Auue le Buglcde>S7e.
Claire, [l^iris] .

5. Kev. Mere Mari^aret de T^lecel-
1,'s de »SY. Alhdnase, [Paris]. . .

G. Rev. }^[evQ Aline de Sle. drile.
[Tours]

7. Rev. M ere An ne des Scraphins.

8. Rev. Mere Atiue Le Roue de
Sotre Dame. [Tours]. .

'J. llev. Mere Mane de V'illiers, de
Si. /l/?^/rf [.\la;^tiy]

10. Rev. Mere Marie Gihault du
r>roui!, de St. Jcsejih, [Rour-
gt's]

11. Rev. ^lere Marie Urouet de
Ji'sus [Hourires]

12. Marie Le Maire des Anges.
[Paris] .'

Rev. Mere ^[arie Le Vaiilant de
Vocelle.s de St. Cccile (^froni
Jkiyeux)

« u

1672

1651

1687
1677
1695

1683

1715
1709

1717

1699

60
52

80
71
77

i."/i.

242

TABLE OP THE PROFESSED NUNS.

Entered tli«
Novitiate.

1647
1648
1652
165S
1658
1659
1665

1667
1667
1667
1668
1668

1675

1676
1677

PROFESSED IN QUEBEC.

[This mark * signifies, — living ftt the Cen
teuuiul anniveruary, Aug. 1st., 1739.]

13. Re

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.

V. Mere Charlotte Barre

de St. Jgnace

" Philippe de Boulogne

de St. Dominique . .
*' Marie Genevieve Bour-
don, de St. Joseph. . . .
Anne Bourdon de St.

((

Agne.s.

Marie Boutet, de St.
Augustin

Jeanne Louise Gode-
froy de St.Frs. Xavier

Marie Angelique Pois-
8on de St. Jean V E-
vangeliste

Agnes Duquet de la
Naiivite

Marie Madeleine Pin-
guet de r .'issom/jiion.

Marie Charlotte Gode-
Iroy du St. Sacrement

Marie Le Ber de I' A
nonciation

Marie Madeleine de
Lauzon de St. Charles

Angelique de Lauzon
du St. Esprit .....

Marie Catherine Pin-

gtiet del^ Incarnation*

•* Marie Madeleine Amiot

de la Conception * . . .

((

I- X

1701
1667
1700
1711
1701
1713

1732
1702
1721
1720
1714
1731
1732
1739
1747

81
G4
01
G7
58
68

81
54
09
70
72
79
70
77
85

TABLR OP THE PROFESSED NUNS.

243

EiitiTPd Hie
JS'ovifiute.

PROFE

1G76

28. Rev. ^

1G83

29. '' '

1684

30. '' '

1088

31. '' '

1688

32. '' '

1G89

33. ^' '

1689

34. '' '

1680

35. ^< '

1689

36. '' '

1692

37. <' '

1693

38. " '

1693

39. " '

1693

10. '' ^

1698

41. << '

1699

42. <' '

PROFESSED IN QUEBEC.

Rev. Mere Marie Amie Anceau
de Ste. Titer ese

Marie Routeville de
Sle. Claire

Catherine Juchereau
dts Serajj/iins.

Marie Elizabetli d'Ail-
lelioust de Ste. Croix

L(jiiis('-Ro.-e de
Naiidiere, de Ste Ca-
tliHrine *

Marie-Anne Rohinean
de La Ste. Trinite * ...

xM. Madeleine Gauthier
de Coinporte, de Ste.
Agnthe

M. Mad. Droiiard
de St. Michel * . . . .

Joanne Cliurel <ie Ste.

Uraule *

M.-Frun^oise Cliorel
du Sacre Cceur de

Anne-Marie Gauthier
de Coniporte de St.
Gabriel. .... ....

Aiii:elique Roberge de
St. Marie *

xMarie Dnpuy de l^ En-
fant Jesus

Marie-Genevieve Bou-
clier de St. Pierre * .

Marie Fran^oise Her-
to I de St. Exiipere. . .

1735
1705
1722
1739

1748
1743

1703
1756
1745

1735

1732
1750
1703
1766
1770

75
37
54
70

75
72

81
71

54
72
24

89
90

' 1

-O

ifii.'i

i'T

244 TABL'^. OP THE PROFESSED NUNS.

il I

Ellt<TC(l till'

Novitiuti;.

1G99

1702

1703

1708

1712

1714

1715

171G

1716

1715

PROFESSED IN QUEBEC.

11.

15.
16.
17.
IH.
40.

r.o.

51.

52.

31).

54.

Rev. Mere Aiiiu'- Mar^jjueriic
Gauthier lie Varcime ^e
Id I'^rcsentdtion ....

Maru'-Aiuio Davis de
>S7. /Jeiioit *

Mane Anne Migeun
de Id Ndtirite *

Maru'-(!etievieve ]?au-
iloiii de St. Avgustin.

Mani,' A line Du]:'.o>
dc Sle. Madeleine

Genevieve La Grange
de »S't. L'diis *

Mst her Marie- Joseph
Wiieeiwright, de I' En
fdut J^sus *

Marie Louise Gaillaru
di la Sle. Vierge. . .

Loui.-e-Catlierine Pin-
guet Vanconrs de St.
Fvan^oiii Xatier *. . .

Mnr-iicriie Cloiitier
de Sle. iMonique * . . .

Marie Anne de Pon-
cherviHe dc St. Jgna-
ce *

■n

1726 42
1740 70
1771 86
1735 47

1734

1776 S2

' Marie Anne Buteau
de iSt. Agnes * ....

' Frati9'<ise Elizabeth
Baudciiiin de Jesid^ *..

' Anuelii]ue (^enevieve
Norniandin de iSl. Sta-
nislas .

1780
1764

1740
1770

1772
1781
1747

76
83
51

1727 28

LTNS.

TABLE OF TlIK PftOFESSEU NUNS.

2^5

leriic

ne de

is de

igeoii

172(') 12
ITt'J 70

1771 so

l',im-
is///?.. 1735 47
)iil:'.u^ I

e 1734 02

range

I77r» W2

-eph

• * • «

lillaru

• • •

e Pin-
e Si.

loiUicr!

. • • •

lute an

1780,83

17G4 07

1741)54

1770|70

1772i76
1781 83
51

kabetli
U-*.. 11747

'Vieve

1727

Ent<'rf'(l flic
Novitiate.

i7lG
1717

1717
1717

1717

1717
1717

1717
1719
1719

1719

1720
1722

P110F1-:SSED IN QUEBEC.

57. Kev. Mere Marie-Cliarlotte ile
Miiy, dtSlc. llclene*

58. '' ^' Marie-Catherine <le

Rami sav de St. lladc-

gonde

59. '* " Marie-llenee Dmnes
nil de Sle. Gertrude *

1)0. '' " Anne-Loui>e-Tliere-e
Juuhereau de St. An-
toine. .

()1. ^^ '' Marie Madeleine de
llepentigny de Ste.
A'^athe

G2. '* '^ Marie-iiouise Gaillard
de St. TkoiiKis *

63. '' " Angeliipie-Fran^oise
LaiiLrlois de St. Eliza-
beth *

Marie- Airatlie LeClaire
de Ste. Miirguerite *

'oi^. *' '' Angeiique Victoire Per-

tliuys des Anges

^* Catherine JVradeleine

(\oi^ Meloises de St.

Francois de Borgia

Elizabeth-Joseph de

Villedonne de Ste. Ge-

necicve*

'* Marie Dorothee Je-

ryan de St. Joseph * ..

'' ]''eliciie Ponliii de

I' Assoinpiion *

G4. '' <'

G7.

G8,
G9.

li a

1759

1725
1751

1732

1739
1773

1758
1759
174G

1725

1743
1759
1754

29
52

44
71

GO
59
45

44
Gt

I*
If

hi:

246

TABLE OF TU ') Plli^FKSSEI) NUN'S.

Entered flie
Muvitiutv

1723

1724
1724

1728

1729

1731
1735
1T35
1737

1736
1737

1642

i !

PROFESSED IN QUEBEC.

70. Kev. Mere Marie-Jonepli d'Ail

lebon-^t do Maiitct de
St. Nicolas *

71. " <' M. Genevieve Per

tliny.s de St. Charles *

72. « « Marie-Keiiie Le Page

de St. Louis de Gon-
zague

73. *< *' Aime-Cutlierine I'etit,

de St. Stanislaus de
Kotska *

74. " ** Marie An<re!iqne Ma-

rianclieaii d'Esglys de
St. Eustache *

75. *' " Marguerite Ijaiuloin
de Si. Fr. de Borgia *

76. *' " Louise Lefebre des
Seraphinst *

77. ** *' Jeanne Marchand de
St. Hyacinthe *

78. *^ '' Marie Marguerite Da-

van ne de St. Louis de
Gonzague *

79. << *< Marie Elizabetli Ri-

chaudrfe St. Augustin*

80. " ** Marie-Catherine La-

gere de St. Gabriel * . .

LAY-SISTERS.

81. Sister Anne Bataillede St. Lau-

rent, Professed in
Dieppe

1749
17G1

1733

I77b

1751
1757
174'J
1782

1802

1798
1790

(JG

39
3S
39
o3

83
53

IGG9

I UN'S.

TABLE OF THE PROFESSED NUNS.

247

:c. .

c
•.ti

I'Ail-

L't de

• • * *

174018

Per

rles *

1761 GO

Pat^e

Gon-

• • • • -

1738

Petit,

w.s d^

■ • * •

1775

(;g

e Ma-

ys de

1751

:^D

iiuloin

^ia*

1757

;is

; des

174i)

at)

tid dt

1782

g:^

to Da

lis df

180:;

! 83

Ri-
istin*
La-

ian
in

1708

1790

1GG9

Year of ar-
rival.

1G71

Entered the
Novitiate,

1647
1653
1657
1657
1674
1678
1680
1687
1691
1696
1696
1698
1700

LAY-SISTERS.

82. Sr. Marie Dieu de la Resur-
r«.'ction, Professed in
Paris

PROFESSED i:^ QUEBEC.

83. Sr. Catherine Lezeau de Ste.
Uraule

Frati^oise Ouen de Ste.
Madeleine

Antonette Makinon de St.
Marthe

Anne Dudier de la Pas-
sion

Marie-Madeleiue de St.
Paul

Fran9oise Gravel de St.
Anne

Marie Montnieny de Ste.

84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
9L
92.
93.
94.
95.

Cecile

Genevieve Gravel de la
Visitation

M. Claude Le Vasseur de
de la Visitation *

M. Louise Huart de Ste.
Genevieve.

M. Anne Cote de St. Joa-
chim *

Fran^oise La Foret de
St. Jean Baptiste * . . . .

M. Feuilleteau, de Ste.
Anne *

1708

1684
1697
1676
1710
1722
1699
1740
1691
1745
1703
1740
174i3
1744

77
47
80
67
40
81
23
74
37
65
67
63

248 TABLE OF THE TROFhSSKD NUN;

Ent^H'd fli(
Novitiuft).

170G
1701)
1711
1715
1710
1719
1722
1723
1725

172i

173i

PROFESSED IX QL'EJ;I':(:.
DO. Sr. Genevieve Le Vii'^sonr (K

St, .loM'jih * .

^I. MiidcKine Crave d*.
St. l''tietme

D7.

J8. '

100.

101

102.

103.

104.

105.

jM:>":^uerite (int\'el tie St.

Cici

lU'Ui.

l)laiiche Maurie de Ste

Tli

ecie

M. Anne Itacine de 1:

.(^-urrei^tKtn

^l. .(lilieiiiie Miiufis de St.
Andre *

Mari(; OaLnioi), de St

Paul

Mane-J Patonaiide de St

raiiC(.)is

Loui.-e Gravel do Ste

Marthe

M. Catherine Constantin,
de St. Denis * .

174!)
1711

17G2

174(i

1770
1774

174!)

..M

106. ^' Genevieve M. Miiiiaux de

la P

rcscntatiun

174:

174,

172.<

177i) 7

SU.NS.

ii" (K'

0^
•A

■; ! io

171!' VG

■•,l..l

• • • -

1711

e St.

17G2

"Su".

171(1

.")5

L' ' la

1770

leSt'.

177-1

St.

iUl)

'Jl

e St".

174:5

.■)7

"Sto.

174:;

utiti.

I72S

•li

■ ■ • •

1779

'•'i

APPEXDIX

A Note for piigo 25, supra,

M(i(J(ime dc lit l^eUvie^R house: — Uiiilt in KIl.'J,
aiul bcariiii^ iri'ovocubly tin? iiaiiM! of tli<' iiol»l(> and
})l(nis touiulrcss of the Ur.><n lines, it (1(»lvs not upjXNir
to liavo over scrvcfl her as ;i n'sidcnrc. IJcntcd, at
lir.st, to tiu! pndit of tlio Coinnnmity, it twic-o
.sholtcrcd tlicni, when driven from their Couvout by
lin; — l(J5l, ItJrfU.

In 1(159, on llu^ arrival in Canada, <»f the first
liishop, ^Ii;r. Fr. Laval de Monlniorciu'y, it served
as an eiyiscopal luilacc!

A high Cencc; rnnning tlirongli the nni.s' t(ard(Mi,
gav(3 the eminent Prelate a part for his own use,
and left the nuns to enjoy their (doister.

licpaired many times, the walls wen; finally de~
vwlishcd, in IS-ii). The j)res(Mit huildin<;-, o('eu})y-
ing the same site in part, is much lai'ger than tho
original house, hut has uo windows on the street.
Its ordinary destination has ever been that of i\,
school-house for the free or ext(M"U-sehool.

Tho bakery and wash-house [see same X>age'\
stood in the vicinity of the [late] Old Ash tree. Tho
wells excavated in ohl times, of whicdi four are still
in jrood repair, are from 12 to 25 feet in diameter, —
iu the old French style.

-li

'"■ i'i

iH.

250 APPKNDIX,

B l*ago 51. Yet all teas not hriglit, d'C.

Duriiii,^ tlio years 1(188 — 8!), i\w. Froiich Colony,
more tliaii over, schemed on tlio brink of dcHtrnctiou.
'^riio Iro(|Moi.s, stiniulatod by the English Coh)ni.stM,
prolitcd of every pretext to bn^ik ix.'m'O with the
French. The nnl'ortnnate p(dicy of tlie Governor
Detionville in caiJtnring and sendinj^ several of their
chiefs to France, tlio late success of the Fn^ucli in
th(Mr ex})e<lition aijainst the Senecas, tlie treachery
of Kondiaronk, added fnel to tlieir natural fire, and
'' lik(i hujii^ry and infnriat(Ml wolves they spread
themselves along the rivers and borders of the forests,
every where ravaging tlie French settleni(;nts. '' The
English on the other hand, had carried their arms
into the country of the Abenakis, and dv^vastated
their setthMiients. UnfortunaNdy for the prosperity
of the European c(donies on the Ameri(Nin continent,
their jealousy of each other, a'<d their too great sympa-
thy with their respective mother-countries, kept them
at variance, — and the French and English seemed
now intent only on each other's destruction. 'Yha
Canadians, unable from their snuiU number, to mea-
sure strength with their enemies, sought by every
means to obtain the alliauco of the ditiereut Indiau
tribes.

De Frontenac arrived in an opportune moment for
New France. Adopting the most energetic mea-
sures, the invasion of the English CVdonies was re-
solved u])on, and three diHereut expeditions were

. \

;

APPKNDIX. 251

ill

(liiTctod iiij.'ilnst (Jarlaor [Siilioiioctmly], Salmon Fn\h

and Cas(;<i Hay.

TIk'So liostilit'n'.s roused tlie Eiijj^lisli to pntinpt and
decided action, 'rims was tlie cai»t«ire ot* Quehec;
])laiined and undrrtaUen. Its noii-sn(M*oss is related
in oiir 'I'ext. The siiiiullaneoud attacU upon Mont-
real was nut nioro succussi'ul.

Mr. and Madame CluunpKjny arc oldfriendx dc.

CMiani}»igny, wo must rolato

Apropos of
a littio anecdote.

It was in tlio olden times, — 1()!K3. Our nuns liad
a farm alouijf the banks of tlie St. Charles, and on
soni(i few occasions, tlu^ Superioress witli her c<»uncil,
had leave, or orders, to ^o and visit it. On one of
tiiese occasions, — it was in August — the nuns, with
the re^iuired authorization from IJishop Saint- Valier,
issued from the cloister at a very early hour, and iu
their modest vehicle; proceetled to the farm. 'IMie
morning passed iu examining barns, ditches, fences,
&-C. as they thought best, under the guidance of
Kev. Father llalfeix and M. de la CVdombiero.

An iuvltation to dine with the good Mothers of
theGeneral-IIos})ital — Notre Dame desAnges, could
Hot but be agreiiabhi to all, and doubly so for the
three sisters Bourdon, two of whom were among
the excurtiouiritb. At three o'clock^ the cumpuuy,

APPEN'MX.

ill Mils'- cr t<( MPdtluM* |)res>iii^ invltatluii, jiro oi,
tlnii- \v;i y l<> flu- II«»t('l-I)inj, wlicii they iiM'ct Madaiini
«lc ('li:iiiij»ii;iiy wlin, tnistiiiij lirr iii('s.s:ii((> to no oiir,
liMs ('OHIO licrsclf in Iicr carriai^o to tircct the nuns,
mI sccmi! a call at llic Palacu jiH tlicy rurntcr tin;

city.

'^riic ([Ucslioii is ciiiltarrassiny ! It in lat(<. Tim
good iinn.s of tli(f IIi»t<'l-I)i('u an; waitini;: tlicy
niiisf M(ili('i"(' to a previous cn^ai^cnicnt. lint Ma-
(laiiM! (Ic ( 'liaiiipiirny tinds lliis a poor cxciist'.
(iiviiii^ orders to lier coaidiinan, slie retraces her
Ht('[)s, ami bids the sentinel close the gates of the
town. No otlier entraiuMi remained Init throiiLfli
the apartments of tlie Iiiteiidant'.s Palace. TIk!
jimiaMe lady appears at tin? door in triiinipli t(t
wch'oine lier ^in^sts, wlioiii slio has so i^racioiisly
canijlit in tho snare, and after the most amplo do-
inonstrations of poIitcMiess and ad'ection, sho op(;n,s
llie way and condmrts tlieiii herself te tlui Ilotel-

leii.

1I(

er(^, tJKJ rece]»tion, not less C(»r(

lial,

was

iiion; ndiuioiis. The Hospital imns wer(i await-
inir their visitors in tli(( Chnrcli, and Widcomed

~ 'A

th(;m l)y sinuiiiLj the Ldudate. The moments (lew
so swiftly that evening came on, all unperceiv<'d,
and the excursion was over only at eight o'clock !
^' We entered our dear Convent, at last, as tli(!

dove returned to tli
rest.

•Ic

le arlc, weary and lu ueet

d of

li f

To tell all tliv3 politeuess, the cordiality, the

Al'PKNIUX.

253

tiiill, MTf' <'li

iiiM't M.Klaiiic

ir(> to no Ollf,

•cct till' imiis,

y il'CUtcr llli!

is la to. Tiu>
.vaitiiiii '- tlK'V
il. r.iil Ma-
podV excuse,
i retraces lier
gates of the
hni tliroii^li
Palace. 'IMie
ill trimn[)li to
I HO ,i;raci<>"^ly
)st aiiipl<' <li3-
,„^ sIh^ opens
t(> llio llotel-
cordial, was
M'eiHi await-
viiil wel^conieil
moments llew
II unpeireivetl,
eii;lit o'clock !
last, lis tlio
1(1 ill ueeil ot

cordiulity, tlie

MUiialde attentions of wliicli we wore t1ie olij(>et in
tlu' two CoiMinnnities, would l>e ini[»ossil>le.''

Sc e Nut c CO n t i n u c d paga 207.

The voice of fj race, in her heart, iC'c.

For tlie salx'e of [H'escrvini!; tlieir f'aitli, otluM* ('ap-
tives, besides those ulio Iiad enil»i"aeeil tlie reliuious
state, refused tlic invitations of friends, ur^inj; tiieiii

to return to their native

laud.

a 'V

IMk; dau^'hter of the minister, Eunice Wil-
liams, whom no otiers of ransom cotild I'escue IV(Mii
the Indian \v'ho had taken Ih'J- as a j>ii/.e in the raid
on De<'rliel<l, l»ecann'i the wife of a Cahiiewana chief.
Lonj^ years after, slie visiteil iier friends there, ar-
rayed in an Indian dress ; and after ;i short sojourn,
in s}»il<' of a day of fast of n whole villas, , whi<'h as-
semhled to jiray for deliverance, she ictiiriied to tho
tires of her own wiiiuian and t(» the love of her own
Moliawk children. " — IhincrofCs Hist. U. S(<i(cs.

In several Indian villages of Lower Canada there
are still English luinies borne by descendants (tf
fornier captives.

After Miss Who(dwri<ilit had pronounced her vows,
slie ixave her family inf(»rmation to that elfect, and
:soon had tim satisfaction to kn«»w that her wortliy
parents wei'e not displeased. On tlnicontrary, they
sent another messenger with letters and pres<'nts for
tlieir dau'/hti'r, Later she received lier mother's por-

254

APPKNDIX.

tniit, wlii<'h ia still piv'sorvod iu the Convent, — as

a J

Mild

onn

— Ainoii^ tlie pi'sents were a silver
^oUit'v, marked with tlie family arms, tine linen, vie.
Madame Wheel\vri,<(ht never came to Qindjec, ]»iit
was ahnndantly consoled for \]\o. ahs(Mie(^ of Ikt
danghter by the assurance that she was hai)i)y.

a«re

128.

¥-,

if:
■]■.

The martyred Father liasle, iC-c.

Tho Ahenalvis ofMaiiu^ had first invited a Black-
ro?>c among them in ]C)\(). Father Dniillettes was
sent to them, and hia labors, followed by those of
the Fathei-s Higot — La Cliasse, — Loyard, — Aubry
of the Society of J(\>na, atid Tlinry and Ganlin of
the Seminary of Quelx'c, effected the conversion of
the tribe. '' For thirty years had Fatlier Sebas-
tian Kasle dwelt iu the forest, teacliing its wild, red-
children the love of Go(l juid the dcivotion t(>
Mary. To the Clia[)(d every night and morning
come all the Indian Christians. At morning they
make their prayer in common ; they Jissist at Mass,
chanting in their own dialect, hymns written for

that

)nr-; tse by

heir

ast(»r,

len

le sun (

le-

clines westward, and the shadows cret^p over the
village, they seek tho Cliapel for the public prayer,
and to sing a hymn to Mary.

It v^as on the feast of St. Barthol

omew the

Apostle, August 24th^ l?.")-!, j»hat a band (►f M(»-
bawks and English Colonists burst ujxju the town of

APPENDIX.

255

Convent, — na
were a silver
tin(! liucii, etc.

O QucIkM*, l)Ut

Ll)S(!n('.(> ()f licr
us ha[)i>y.

ivitcil a Black-

)l-uill(!ttOS WMS

mI by tliose of
loyanl, — Aubry
' and Gaulin of
e conversion of
Fatlier Sel)as-
its wiKl, ved-
(levotion to
and morning
tnorniiiii; tliey
issist at Mass,
s written for
1 the snn de-
recp over the
public prayer,

•thob>nie\v tbe
I ])and of Mo-
M)n tbe town <»f

Owenac^nn^a [Nowridi^ewoek.] Tlio women and
eliibh'eu tied; a few young braves wlio were in the
vilhige, cauglit up tlieir arms to witiistand tlie ene-
my. But before tliey could be slain, tlie priest,
remembering tlscso words of our Lord '■Bonus
pastor animam suam dat pro ovibiis siiis, Tbe good
shepherd givetli his life for liis sheep,' and know-
ing liiuiself to bo the real object of the attack,
advanced to meet his foes. They Isaw him just as
he reached the vilbige cross. A yell of savage
exultation, a volh.'y of l/ullets, and the missi()nary
lay dead at the foot of the symbol of salvation.

lieu. X. D. Mcleod.

F Page l.*J2, — The Monastery enlarged, d'c.

We place here ample topographical notes
for the exclusive benefit of the inmates of the
Cloister : a sort of Guide Book, around our
''little world".

The foundations of tlie iirst Monastery were laid
in 1()41 ; its dimensions were 92 feet by 28, French
measure. The Venerable Mother Marie d(; IT near-
nation with her littbi Community, entered it on the
21st November, 1G42. It was then far from being
iinished.

The building was three stories high including the
attic, and surmountyd by a cupola. In the second
story was the nuns' dormitory ; Our Ven. Mother's

25G

APPKNDIX.

cell Ix'iiii; in \]\o ('(Miti;', diroctiy inidcr tlio LcllVy

IS '

Tlic liitclicii was in llic It.isciuciit stoi'y, ;it tli(» ii(»rili-
wcst ('xtrcmify ; the (Miapcl occiipiiMl tlio iirst story
at tlic oilier extremity of the liiiildiiiijf. 'IMie parlm-.s
were Jilxive tlie cliapel. It Avas tliroii^li tlie i;rate
of one of the ));irhtrs, occiipyiiiii; the site oftlio Uoard-
(M-s' new In Urinary (1875), tliat Onr Veil. Motlierand
several of tlie iinns fonnd ineaiis to escape, on the
lii:;ht of tlie .'Ust Deeeinher l( >.")( I- 1 ( 1.") I , [Set? (illinij)-
ses, Part 1st] when the Convent; was destroyetl hy
iire.

'I'he second ^loiiastery was coninuMiced on the
same foniidatioiis as the Iirst ; Madame de la IVdtrie
laid tluHirst-stoiH' on the l!Mh May, K).')!. Its di-
mensions — hetweeii the walls —in I'^'encli ieet, weri^
1{)8 by X!S, or 1 \2 l)y ;}(), English measure.

The uiins heuaii to inhabit it, May IDth, .1(152.

The conier-stoiK' of the Chnndi wlTudi Madame de
la l\dtrie bnilt, was laid in ^:,■rea^ eeremony by the
Governor of the C<dony, M. de Luusou, ou Aise-ensioii
day, June, Id;")!).

It was consecrated with the solemn c(M'(Mnoni(^s of
the Church, under the titular invocation of St. Jo-
seph, liy liisho^) T^aval, at the riMjuest, and in \)vo-
sence of tlu^ Mar([uis de Tracy, Aiii;nst 17th, l()()7.
This Chur(di oc<'n[)ied the site of the present par-
lors, its portal faced (and rea(died) Doiiiiacona
street : there was, also, the handsome Chapel dedi-
cated to St. Anne, erected by the liberality of the

APPENDIX.

257

r \]\o Lclfry.

at tlic norih-

tlio tirst stnry

'Vhv, piuiitrs

iiU tliC! i;rat<'

(tt'tllO Una 1(1-

1. Mother and

scape, <>H tlu^

J [S('(? (iliiiii)-

lU'stroyetl by

(MHmmI on tlio
(' »l(' la r«'lti-i<'

h;:)!. Its ai-

Micli feet, were
snro.

i!)t,b, lone.

1i Matl'uuc i\o
iioiiy by tin'
on Ast'i'iisiou

('(MMMHOuioS of
1)11 ot" St. iJo-
^ and in \)V0-
st 17tb, l()(i7.

pr('s(Mit |>ar-
) l)onn;u'oii;i

Chapel (ledi-
)oriirity of tb(3

Mar<inls do Tracy. IJrasH-bcaded nails in tlio tloor,
aloiiii; tli(* corridor, show the pbuM? ol'tlio bii^b Altar ;
tlic present door leadiiii^ into tin* conrt-yard, 1(h1,
tlien, to tbo interior sacristy by a passai^o. lu tbia
Cbnrcb, \()(l(), Jif/ij-seren deri^y-incu wero present,
with liisliop Laval, on tin? occasion of tbe transla-
tion of the relics of St. Felicity and St. Flavian.

All th('S(5 buildings were covered in slato.

On the 2*-2d June, l()8(), tlie lirst-stone of the \vini,',
La Ste. Famillc, <)(> feet by "iH —[exterior] — was laid
by a litthi Iniliaii-i;irl, Mari(^-Uose. The walla
were biiilr, n[» to tlie second story, when the second
con narration (»f the Monastery took place, Oct 20th
JtiHli. [See Gliniitses pagi^ (18.]

The l[ous(^ of Madame do la Peltrio now served
as a Convent for tln^ 2d time dnriiii; 18 months.
The Chapel, which bad ])een a stable, stood just
near the '' Old Ash 'I'ree." The wash-house oc-
cupied the site of the present wash-ro«)m (lavoir).

In restorinj^ the C<»nvent, tlie lirst l»uilding fm-
ished was L(t Sdinfc-KaiiiHle ; which was l)less(3j
on the LSth May l<!H8, and occupied the following
day. 'I'he pupils had occuiiied the large hall [Laun-
dry for many years] diirini; the precfMling winter.
The corner stone of the kitchen (with Infirmary
above) was laid by a boarder. Miss Marie-Cathe-
rine <le lirisay de Denonville, daughter of the
(Jovernor, on the llHh July 1(581). — Kitchen vaulted,
1()!I8. — 'I'he old refectory [now kitchen] lirst occu-
pied on the 2x1(1 June l(i86.

II 'i

258

APPENDIX.

ii,

Tlio rostoratiou of tlio iiiain-Lulldiiiiz, — the Malls
of which w(3r(3 not detjlroycd l»y tht! fire — was com-
plctcd durii)*^ the year 1(188, 8JJ.

Tho Gruiid Vi(*ar, iMr. Mcrlac, paid the la.st
Mmsh in the tcjiiporary Cliaptd under the Coininu-
iiity-hall, and transported the lU(!Ssed Saerauieiit to
the new Cl»apel (Ohl Depot) on tluf 2M June J(WI.
Here the divine mysteries were eelehruted during .*>.')
years. The apartuieu t adjoiuiuL? (Superior'ti Kooni
J 854 to J875) was the nuus' choir ; beneath which
was the cemetery during the same space of tiuu' :
13 bodies interred there, were transferred to the pre-
sent cemetery only iu 18J32.

The translation of tho bodies from the ancient
choir had taken })lace in \7'2\. On that occasi<»n
the precic'.is remains of our Venerable Mother were
reunited with those of St. Jose]>h and IMadanie <le la
Peltrie, in the b'ad colliu of the latter. 'J'he anciciil
choir was rebuilt as class rooms in l(>89-!)() six feet
wider; ii was also lengthened, some feet.

In 1712, the ISlere des Anges being Superioress,
the wing, la Ste. iNimille, was extended 7.5 feet,
for ii Novitiate, wasii-room and bakery, cells «5v:c.

In 1715, the wing for })arlors, Superior's room,
&c., was commenced.

Mother des Anges's jdan was to continue the build-
ings to fonn a double s(pnire, the eastern extremity
very near Madame de la Peltrie\s house. I'he lari^e
interior court-yard wcnild have been divided by a
narrow buidiug — - (leaving a porch) for portresses'

APPENDIX.

259

r. the \Yl\lls

7 7

(J — was coui-

the Counim-
BacvauicHt to
M June KirlK
iteil Jniiiig '')')
pt'ri(»r'5£ Kuom
beneath whidi
-pace of Tniie :
■reJ to the pre-

111 the aiK'ieut
1 that oecasioii
,h' Mollier ^vt re
1 ^huhime <h" la
Tiie aiu'ieiit

;r9-iH) t^ix IVet

tVet.

ItciHhHl 7.") feet,

u-y

lis &e

uperioi's rooin,

the hnihl-
^teni extiemity
The lai-ue
Viv'Klea hy a

litiinie

use

li «

i) t'oi' poitvesse

room, Depot, room for se\viiiL(-uir] See. witli a corri-
dor t))e whole length ot'tiu; hnildiiigs antiitid the inte-
rior-court } replacinu^ th(3 cloister of European Con-
vents.

In \7\() and 1717, the orii^inal plan haviui; heoii
consid<'rah1y nioditii'd, the foundations of the jmi*-
sent choir and Church were laid, [see p. I. '54, 5 &-c.]
'J'lie Church was 1)lesse<l ]»y l>isli(»p Saint- Valier,
14th Auix. 17"2vJ. If, 1 i L(an to servo regularly
March ii)th 17xi.'i : the interior w'as completely liii-
ished tw(dve years later, 17*5.").

The Cliurch measures 100 feet hy 45, — interior
walls 25 ft. in height: the choir 100 l)y JiO, is but
20 feet high [interi'jr].

Tlie buildings, -as completed in 172^1, formed a
block, exclusive^ of the church wlTudi extended from
one angle beyond th(^ s([uaro — whole length, if }daced
on a line, — about 700 feet, not including the Externs,
nor the [late] low passage to the <'lioir. Tlie Mon-
astery received no further enlargementK) till 18-51.

C !''*>»' pjigo 105. The Chapel of Saints.

Wo co{)y, with ]deasure, a description of tho
Cluqxd of Saints in the First Convent (»f tin* Con-
gi-egation of Paris. J t is easy to see that our little
C'hapcd, altlnjugh greatly inferior, uas »!;;;,Ielled on
this ]triniitive (Uie.

'' Cett(! Chap(dle est un des [dus beaux licux du
Monastcro, siluee au dcssus do l'Avaut-Cha;ur dos

': i ,

ii-l

i! •
M ■

,M
-\ -

260

APPENDIX.

lloliu^icnsos. Ello a jm-os do qnairo t(»is(*s dc Imi-

gMoiir (ft cuui do lar^ciir. An iiiilicu dii iii

\.i

i!ir

III H

do Piiutro cote I'Autcl dii CluiMir) est jk>s(' I'Autcl dr
la Cliapol. II est chmix en toriiic (rAniiuirc uiiii 'I'y
pouvolr sorror Ics R(diqiiaii-('S. Aiix deux- cotrs .hi
PAutol soiit d(MJX tonnes d(? pilastrcs dc laiiil»ris
quaiTcs, aiissi chmix pour lo iiiriiif dt.'ssciii, y ayaut
au dedans dos separations ornocs de riclics otcdl'cs a
francos d'or, avoo dos vitros an dcvaiit dcs pilici-

Kel

;

lines (|Ul

d'ou I'on pent voir u traveix les S iint(
y roposont. Denx antres piliers pareils sont aiix
deux bouts on droito lii,nief; si Men ([n'il y a en t<Ma
quatre piliers dont rantei est an iniHeii. Kt entre
les donx do cliaquo ootO; est inie fenetre (^ui rend
dans le Clia^nr.

*^Lo taldoan do TAntel, en iiunre ronde, est nne
tation dii Paradis : la Tres-Saint<' Trinife,

roDreson

rej

la Sto. Viortre^ qnoLpies Ani^os et A})otres et ([iiel-
ques Saints do ehaqno ordn^ y sont tres bien depeints.
Outre cola la ClKH)ello est touto lambrissdo et tonto
poiute. Lo bord du tablean, 1<'S (tnieinents do I'An-
tel et les quatre piliers, sont dores a fond d'a.znr,
avec des tetos do Cliorubins dordos. Lo lanibris do
bois qui regno dc; liaut on bas tout antour^ est sd[>are
en deux par dos jyointnres divorsos; car lo dessns est
ornc de grands jxnlraits do tons los Patriarclios
d'Ordre, en lour bantenr, ranges solou lo tomps (pi'ils
ontv(5cus. Kt an-dessons S(»nt represeutes, en petit
volume; les Mystcros do la vie do Xotre-S«.'ignenr.

APPENDIX.

261

is(*s (Ic li>n-
i Hinr (<iui H
s(' 1' Ant el .!('
loirc ul'm 'I'v
(MIX t'otrs «lo
; (Ic lailll»ll.S

iciii, y avMiit
•lies (Motl'cs ;i
t <l("S jiilicrs,

•il.s !;*ont aiix
il y a cu t<Mit
■u. Kt ctitn^

c-8<.'igntuir.

'' An plafond paraissciit ([uantitu do tetoa d'Angos
pci^'aiit loH nncM's, ct t'livironnant six i^loltcs do In-
mir'n', en dciix d('s<[n('ls on voit dans nn SuK-il d'ur

cs sacrc'S noms (

k- Ji

IS <

•t ^r

inc. I't anx (inatm

nitres, tons It's instruments de la Passion de Xi»tro-

eiirneur

" Le jour donne dans ce lien par denx fenetros, eu
ontnint a main dntite. La (rliapelle est fort [H'opre-
ment ]dau(d)ee. Knlin tout y est dans nne Ixdio
s^ymmotric et avec unc agreable decoration. Pour
en sortir sont aux deux extremites, denx petits por-
c.lies on forme de cabinets j)eints dedans et deliors;
I'un desijucls rendait, an commencement, dans l;i
cliumbre de Communaute et ([ui de[>uis ;i etc ferme
pour plus grand respect; rantresiUie vis-a-vis a dans
1<? mur a cote ganclie, et tout [U'oclie de la [)<»rt«! (la-
(pndlci donne sur I'escalier ([ui cttnduit du dortoir h
I'Eglise) nne grando table da marbro noir, ou e>t
decrite on lettros (Tor TlnttMition d(j la pieuse Fon-
datrice, [Maibdeine Luillier, Dame d(5 St. Beuve] en
Feroctiou de cette Ciiapelle. (l(!:25.) "

Awialcs mamiscritcs du Grand Convent de Paris
Tliese precious Annals of the first balf-century o.
tbe Grand Convent, form oin^ largo Volume of
000 pages, in folio; written by tlio same band, and
in tbe same leisnrly style as the extract givoi above.
Some account of tbo destruction of tiiat Convfuit
during th<^ reign of ten"(»r; will Ix^ given — God willing
— in a future volmne of the Glimpses.

•it

2o:

APPKNDIX.

p!'

For p;i,i,M) 1(59, Ex-votos.

\ scries of nrticlos on Ex-Votos^j written l)y ]\[iss
Kosc Howe, Mini ))iil)lisli(Ml in VOL Xf. ofthoyl/.v
Maria, aro lii,i(lily suijiicstivo fur iis, AinoricuM
rcadcvs. [TIkj full hi^adiiig is : Noth.F'^, 1/Ami; dk
Fo' •. '?!-' iKs]. TIk! Siyiioio Ci.'nonico Palnrun-i,
uX (»"r)'>a, explains liow to make a Sanctuary.

'' Til!;- . ways tli(^ Doctor, is ginieraliy the oriuln
of a Sanctnary [in lOiirope] ; — some one prays be-
fore a certain altjir, and Kvls that lie receives fnnn
Heaven that for which h(^ Ix'.t^s, so h(^ sends in t>ra-
titiid(! an cx-i'olo : another seeing it there, does lik(>-
wis(i; others follow their example. Fveutnally
there S[)rings np in the In^art (4' the i)eoplo a C(..i-
fid<Mic(MJi prayer offered at that altar ; ex-votoft in-
crease, and in time it l)econies a venerated Sanc-
tnary."

Further on she ex]>laines tlio cx-roto ; '' Au cx-
voto is siin])ly a standing thanksgiving for any gra(U>
obtained, any p(ii"il escap<'d, or petition graiited.''
She giv(^s tln^ form of the most connnou in France :
^' "Wooden tablets in neat gilt frames, containing a
concise narrativf^ [of favors] in hitters of g(dd on a
blue ground. INFarble tablets, — six by eight inches,
quadrangular, oval or square ; these an^ imbedded
in the walls; the letters cut in, gilded, or black.
In Notre-Daiiie-des-Victoires, in Paris, the lime
walls are entirely siipersed<»d by these marble r<>-
cords <}\ the compassion of the ^ Refuge of Sinners'

I :

ArPENDIX.

2G3

tlie ^ C(tinf()-.-tr(\ss of [ho AfHictud.' J'Zv-votost mmj he
the work of our otin hfoids : — litllc l>aTiii(M\s (un-
l)n)i(K 'cd, — It'ttiTs \v< kcd on ciinl-hojinl (Mary luiH
licljicd. Tiiaiik.s to tlio Sacred Heart, — Josepli lias
heard my prayer &;e.) Iiiscrijjtioiis in letters ofi^idd-
C(.'or'-i clotli, or searlet or Idiie satin, inoire-anti([U(i ;
])aintiiig on J5rist(d Itoard with an inscri[»ii(Hi, Ace
l\i'fn(jiam Pecmtonim dc. "

Pago .182.

Course of S ladies in the First Convent I r/".s.

i(n- any gra(U)

Tlio study of Latin, witliout l>eing ^H'citied as
forming part of the course, was so succe>*.'ii.ily pur-
sued by some of the nuns, tliat not only could tliey
read witli ease the Psalms, and the Homilies of the
Fathers which form the oilice of the Jireviary, l)ut
some couhl even write in that language. AVe have
noticed in tlie (d/ituaries of our nuns, tiiat ex})ressiiig
their sentiments of piety in their hut moments, they
made use of the Latin in citing tlw A'ords t)f the Psal-
mist, orof other parts of the I Joly Scriptures. Our V(Mi.
INIother was as familiar with Latin as witli Fr<'nch ;
yet, in her case, her science was rather infused than
acc^uired. It was chieliy by transhiting, and study-
ing traushitions that the nuns appear to have gained
their knowledge of the language of the Church, so
useful, especially to those who, every. <lay, incdude in
their devotions the recitation c .' the Divine oliice.

2G4

APPKNDIX.

We may iidd that the kiiowlcdije of Ljitiii, was hi
tliose tiiiK s coiiiindii aiiKMii^ well-iutonncil feiiuiK's,
if couipaii'd to tlic present (•ciitury.

iiaii

Irfl

Cdnada was more fortmuttc dc.

Till' rollowiiiij^ extract fnnii the ^'Tith's and Do-
cnnients I'clatinu- to the Sei,i;iiiorlal Tennn*" in Ca-
iKuhi, sliows willi what truly Cliristian intentions th(i
settl(!nients oi" the Fren<'1i in America were nn(h'r-
takcn. 'rh(? n'^:iuient <•!" Cari^tian, so often ref(.'rred
to in the liistory of Canaihi is designated [>articnhiily
in tliis act : its name in Canada, la equivalent to a
tith' of nol>ilily.

^'Tlie Sieur (h'

*Mkan 'I'alox, on(i of the Kind's Councilhu's ol'
State and Privy Coimcilhti's, Intenihint of Justice,
Police, and Financi's in Xcw France^, the Island of
New-foundland, Acadia, atid other ct)unirie8 of
New France.

'^'I'o all who these present letters shall see, greol-
iug: —

'Mlis Majesty having at all times sought with earo,
and the zeal s'litalde to his just tith^ of eldest son
of the Church, the means of making known in the
most unknown countries, l)y the pro})agation of the
Faith and the diifusiou of the Gospel, the glory of
God, and the Christian name, first and prindiml

APPENDIX.

205

it in, vva^< lu
t;il fcinalca,

object of Uio oatiil)llslnnout of tlio Froiich Col«»iiy in

(c.

Ics iind 1)<>-

uiro" in Cii-
intcutious tlui
vvcrc mxlcr-
()ft(>n rcfcrrctl
a particnlaiiy
^uivaUiiit to a

;^(»iui('illo»'s of
,t of .Justice,
th(3 Islaml of
foiiuiricsi of

iall so'^, ijjreel-

[olit witli caro,
of cliU'st son

|kn(»\vn in tlie
ligation of till!
I, the iilory of
md priticq^nl

/Uiiailji, luid nccesaoii

ily (»f

MuiUing known

to tl

parts (»f tlio Earth roinotost fnun iutorcourso with
civilized men, tlio grcatTicsa of his nanio ami tho
power of Iji.s urnis, and Iniving judged ti)at tliero
were no surer uufana to tliat elfect, than to compose
tliis Coh)ny of men (it hy their personal (pialities to
till it up, to extend it hy tlieir lal)or and a2)pli('ation
to agriiniUure, and maintain it hy a vigorous defence
against tho insults and attacks to vvliich it miglit
hereafter he exposed, has sent to this country a
iiumher of his faithful sulijects, officers of his troops
in the regiment of Carignan, and others, most of
them agreeahly to tlie great •dlu\2no^lS designs o( Wis
Majesty, heing willing to connect themeelves with
country hy forming tliereiu setlements and seignior-
ies of an extent proportionate to their means, and tho

Sieur N having petitioned us to grant him

a portion of laud :

'' Wo, in coDsideration of ihe good, useful and
praiseworthy services, grant and concede to the
Baid Sieur &o.

Pago 184. — Terms for hoard, d-c.

Wheu the little Indian girls, for VA^hom INIadaine do
la Peltrio had left funds, ceased to come to the Con-
vent (after 1725) tho donati' s applied to tho
education of young persons in indigent circumstances,
particularly those who had become poor through

200

APPENDIX.

accident or inisfortnnos. Thoso fiuida, placed in
Fnuice, were lost during tlio French Kevolution, and
licver recovered.

In justice to tbe French government while it ruled
Canada^ wo should state that all th(! cducatioua.i
estahlishinents in the country received (after 1(]()<)) a
certain suhsidy, to be applied to the purpot'Co of
education.

L r*;>g<^ 218. This act, first made in the

Great Convent, Paris, in 1038, dx.

We transcril)e from the original :

Cette atince, au ineine tcinps que lo roi trtis-chrc-
tien Jjouis XIII, poussc d'une devotion speciale en-
vers Notre-Daine, mit sa personne et son royaunie,
sous sa protection ; la Mere Beron do Ste. Made-
leine eut uno forte inspiration de prendre la memo

Notre-Dame pour premiere et princi[)alti Superieure
do CO grand Couvent, lui remettaut la charge, et

tout Fetat spirituel ot temporel eutro les nuiins,

pour relever deso'inais d'elle. Ses lleligieuses y

iiyant tres volonticrs consenti, s'assemblereut pour

cet eflet en leur Chapelle des Saints., au sortir do

la Ilauto Messe, ou elles avaient communid, le pro-

inier Dimauche d'Octohre fete du llosaire, qui dcheoit

cetto anueo lo troisieme du memo mois. Ui fut

chantd le Veni Creator, et un Saluta la Ste. Vierge,

apres quoi la Superieure a genoux devant son Imago

en relief tenant le petit Jesus, mit la clef de la

APPENDIX.

2t7

Ih, placotl ill
vohitiou, ami

A'liilo it ruled
) ('(Im'iitioiKii
(iiftor UJ(i<I) a
3 piirpoH'Jo of

e in the •

1 roi tr^s-chv6-

in Hpeciale cmi-

, son royamrie,

lo Sto. Mado-

lulre la incine

il.^ Siipericuro

la charge, ol

ro les maiiia,
llellgieuscs y
[iiiblerout pour
jiu sortir do
|muuic, le pro-
re, qui dchcoit
moia. Jjh> fut
a Ste. Viergo,
|aut son Imago
la clef de la

porto Convontncllo ^ S(>.s picds, puis ])rouon(ja ii,
liaiito voix roflVatido (rdlo ct do la niaison u rMlo
Ste. Muro do Dicn, hcIou quo la fervour lui suggd-
rait, I'acconipagnaut do larnu's do toudrcsso ausHi
bion quo tout(?s h(!S iillcs, l('S(piollos (hMuandoront
aprcs, la bonodiotion a lour priiicipalo More ot Su-
j)oriouro, ot cbantiirontou action do grace uu Laudato
Doniinuni (unnos gontos.

Cott(; Holonnollo action so ronouvollacliaquo ann6e
u paroil jour, suivant la fonnulo qui en a oto drossdo,
Et lo Suporiour avoc Cliapitro con.sontant a sa con-
tinuation do trois on trois ans, oil encore, quolquo
jtnir plus couunodo apros PEIoction do la Snporiouro.
IjOs Roligiousos en la niomoCliapollo dos Saints al-
laiont toiitos en lour rang rondro lours honnnagos et
reconnaissaucos a la tros Ste. Viergo, clumtant pen-
dant c(^tto Corouionio lo To Doum Laudanjns. A
I'inijirossion dos Koglomonts do I'Ordro, on y insora
COS deux prati(j[uos, pour otro observeos par tous lea
Mouastcres do la Congregation do Paris.

IVI

Manuscri^pt Annals 'of Paris.
Page 84. [Note C continued.]

8*^1110 of our youthful readers, inhabiting Quebec
may naturally enquire vvhere the Inteudant's Palaco
was situated. An extract from the ^^liues de Quehec^\
a recent pamphlet duo to the indefatigable and eru-
dite pen of J. M. Lenioiue, Esip, will give t];- de-
sired iufonuatiou :

7 ,

\
I

:-•. ■ ■ f

. ^'

268

APPENDIX.

*' L'lntoudaut Do Mrullos, vers 1G84, dota la
j)oiiite est (111 qiuirtit'i' [Saint- Roch] d'uu ediiioe ro-
inan[iiable par sos dimensiods, sa iiiagiiiticeiKM', s<'S
jardins ornes, lo Palais do IMutoudaut. Oil Talon
Hvait laissc uue brassorio v.n dccadoiico ct ])rc8 do
dix-y('j)t arpouts do terro iion occuix's, Louis XIV,
sur I'avls do sou iutondaiit De Mcullcs, })rodigua do
VMstos sommcs pour y t'riger uu }talais faistucux, oil
la justice frau^aise se reudait, on plu.s tard, sous Bi-
got, die so veudait Pros du site de I'aucieu palais,

s'eleve maintenaut la brasserie de M. Hoswell. "

The pabiee, situated so conmiodiously on tlie banks
of tlie St. CMiarles, at a short distance from th< " 'j^ter
Town, was left in ruins by the war of tlie American
invasion, iu 1775-1 77(>, under Armdd.

rs 1G84, (l(Ua h\
h] d'uu edUioe rc-
, uiagui licence, ses
;i(liUit. Ou l\il(iu
adeiico ot pros do
ii|)cs, Louis XIV,
Millcs?, jn'odigiui do
Kihiis fiLstiieiix, oh
i)lu.s turd, souH Bi-
^ do I'aiiciou pulais,
M. Hoswell."

iously on Iho hanks
ico from tli< '^}»})er
ir of tho Anicriciiu
lold.

CONTENTS.

(VOL. II.)

CHAPTER I.

THR MONASTERY AGAIN.

Tlie work of Mcihor Mary ot the Incarnation con-
tinued, p. 'A. — iStatistic??, 5. — A ImHowimI anniverdury,
6. — Tlic pupils^ 7. — Election ul'a Supurior, U.

CHAPTEU ir.

A MEMORABLE DATE.

Layi.ig tl.e lir.at-stone oi' LdSainteFaviille, p. 13.
— Deatli and burial of AgnesWe-kwes, 1.0. — Octoljer,
afi])('cl of the Mona.^tery, 19. — The alarm, 22. — ''All
is lost," 23. — Three of the spectators, 26.— How the
Nuns bear the trial, 27.

CHAPTER in.

RESTORATION OF THE MONASTERY.

The Ursulines at the Hotel-Dieu,;?. 28.— The feast
of St. Ursula, 30. — Incidents, 31. — A little Convent,
34 — Friends in adversity, 35. — The winter and spring
pass, 37. — Classes, 37. — Mortal illness of Mother St.
Croix, 38. — Fervor, 40. — The restoration completed,
43.

CHAPTER IV.

CLOSE OF 'IHE FIRST HALF-CENTURY,

Coijicidence of the restoration, p. 44. — Vocations,
45. — A new chapel, 48. — Guardians of the Monas-

x^,

CONTENTS.

tory, 50. — The country on the britik of ruin, 51. —
Preparations lor uar, 52.

CHAPTER V.

THK ALARMS OF WAR.

Coiitrani of tlie present witli tlie past, p. 55. — The
Annals furnish tlie recital of the Sieize, 57. — Oui
Lady of Victory, (32. — lluw the Nuns keep a festival,
63.

CHAPTER VI.

THE SECOND SUPERIOUESS OF THE MOXASTEllV.

Rev. Mother Mariraret de Flecelles of St. Athana-
sius, ^. (')().- — Her youth, G?.— ller vocati<»ii to Ca-
uada, (ID.— MothiT St. Clare, 70.— "O/o' most hon
ored and bclocvd Mother'"' described hy the Annals, 7;>
— The Constitutions of Paris ado})tcd, 78.

CHAPTER Vn.

FOUNDATION OF THE I'llSULINES OF THREE RlVEi;S,

Educational Institutions in Canada, p. 79. — Pro-
ject of liisliop Saint-Valier, 81. — Consultations and
journeys, 82. — Prosperity of the new Convent; 80. —
Trials of a later day, 88.

CHAPTER Vm.

FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART ESTABLISHED.

Orii^in of the Feast of tlie Sacred Heart, p. 90. —
Tiie devotion already known in tlie iMonastery, 91.
— Establishment of the J'east, 94. — The th*st slirine,
95.— The Association, 97.

CHAPTER IX.

TOE LAST SURVIVOR OF 1G39.

Biographical Notice of Motlier Charlotte Barre of
St. Ignatius, 'p. 100. — Early i>iety, gcMierosity, 101.
— Her edifying life, 104. — Links in the chain of tra
dition, 105.

CONTKNTS. in

CriAPTER X.

DAWN OF TlIK IStiI CKNTl'RY.

The Colony visited \>y lanrnio, Hickiies.s .'ind war,
p.lOl. — Maliulics in llie Convent, lOM.— Oiher c])!-
demies, 110. — Consolutujiis in the midst oftriuln, 1 12.

CHAPTER XI.

THE TIIRKE CAPTIVES.

Allusion to ourly tiine«j,/>. 11 o. — The fjitnily Wlieel-
riulit, 1 U). — Esther anion;j; tlie Indians, 117. — Tiie
Plack-robe, US.— The Caj)live n-cued, i'iO— She
enters the Convent, 121. — Takes the veil, \2:\.- — is
adniittevl to proiessiun, 12 t. — Two other Captives,
125.

CHAPTER XH.

'iniO MONASTKIIY ENI.AUG kl).

The Nuns note the si^ns ol" the times, and resolve
to build, p. 1.T2. — Their ardor, 135. — Their Church
completed, (1T2;J) 137.

CHAPTER XIII.

QUKBEC IN 1720 : TlIK NOVITIATE OF TIIE CUSULINES.

Charlevoix's j)icture of life and manners, p. 139. —
Our Novitiate at the same date, 141. — The novices
introduced : Miss Wheelwright, 142. — Miss de Muy,
Miss de Boucherville and Miss de Kamesay, 143. —
Miss des Meloises, 140. — The Misses Gaillard and
other novices, 151. — More youn;L? ladies from Mon-
treal, 152 — and from the environs of Quebec, 154. —
Thoughts on the Religious life, 155. — Recreations,
151).

CHAPTER XIV.

THE CHAPEL OF SAINTS.

Description of the Chapel, p. 102. — The relics,
1G3. — Other sacred objects, IGG.— Ex-Votos, IGi). —

CONTENTS.

I /

The Votive Lamp, 170. — The donor, Mis8 de Repen-
tigny, 172.

CHAPTER XV.

EDUCATION IN THE CONyr:NT.

The relation of pupil and Convent Mother, p. 178.
— Load Government, 179. — Courpt of studies, 182.
— Zeal for education, 18,'J. — The Day-School, 185. —
Etl'ects of religions teaching, 188. — Specimen of
names on old lists; Miss Fezeret, 100. — The Misses
de Kamesay, 195. — The Mis.'^ea Bcgon and their
schoolmates, 1^6.

CHAPTER XVI.

ANCIKNT SUPERIORS.

Nuuiber of Superiors in 2U0 years, p. 199. — Rev.
Mother Drout't of Je.-^us, 202. — Rev. Mothers St.
Agnes and St. Joseph, 203.— Rev. Mother Le Maire
de's Angos, 20G.— Rev. Mothers St. John and St. 'JY--
resa, 209. — Our Perpeuuil Superioress, 215. — Act of
consecration, 217.

CHAPTER XVIT.

THE CENTENNIA.i ANNIVERSARY.

Celebration of religious festivals, p. 221. — Prepa-
rations for the Centennial, 222. — The Tridaum,
224.— The Indians, 227.— An Inscription, 228.

CHAPTER XVm.

THE 2d mothers MARY OF THE INCARNATION AND

S''. CROIX.

Statistics of the Community, coincidences, p. 230.
— Mother Catli. Pinguet of the Incarnation, her
youth, 232.— Her life in the cloister, 233. — Testimo-
ny the Annals render to Mother Dailleboust of St.
Crcix, 236.

Table of the Professed Nuns from 1639 to 1739, p,

24^

APPENDIX.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS, p. 249.

or, Mi&8 de Repen-

INYCNT. -^ ,,-""♦

mi Mother, ;?. 178.

I'Ft of ptiulies, 182.
Day-School, 185.—
38."^ — Specimen of
, 190.— The Misses
Begoii and their

eari^, p. 199.— Rev.
-Rev. Mothers St.
. Mother Le Maire
it. John and St. 'j'e-
orees, 21.'). — Act of

IT.

VERSARY.

i\8, p. 221.— Prepa-
i.— The Trid'uum,
script ion, 228.

III.

i INCARNATION AND

oincidences, p. 230.
? Incarnation, her
3ter, 233.— Testimo-
: Dailleboust of St.

om 1639 to 1739, p.

s, p. 249.