Requiescat in peace
My Reverend and Most Honored Mother,
Peace and most humble greetings in our Lord, who, at the moment when our Mother the Holy Church celebrates the joyful mysteries of her holy Resurrection, wanted in her impenetrable designs, to plunge our hearts into the chalice of her painful Passion, removing from the middle from us our very honored Mother Céline-Catherine-Marie-Aimée of Jesus, professed and dean of our community at the age of 67 years 7 months, and 46 years and 10 months of religious life.
Our venerated Mother Aimée of Jesus was born in Dijon from an honest and Christian family whom the good Lord was pleased to bless by giving her three children, of whom our little Céline was the youngest.
She had the happiness of being baptized on the very day of her birth, a grace which she considered to be one of the greatest of her life, and whose birthday she loved to celebrate each year with transports of the greatest gratitude. . How good God is, she repeated effusively, to have adopted me for his daughter before my eyes had even seen the light of day! However, mourning soon took place within this respectable family; the Lord, jealous of this soul on which He had cast a first glance of predilection, took from her the authors of her days, to shelter her from the seductions of a world to which she could have pleased by the external qualities of which she was advantageously endowed.
The good Lord therefore permitted, my Reverend Mother, that, from the age of three, she was entrusted, along with her elder sister, to the worthy Religious of Saint Vincent de Paul, who ran a house of education in Paris. . It was from this pious asylum that our little Céline drew this fund of solid piety, this lively faith, and an ardent devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin, which only increased day by day. The frank, lively and playful character, the excellent heart, the amiable manners of the dear child soon made her beloved by her worthy mistresses and all her companions. In these happy dispositions, she prepared to make her first communion, the object of her ardent desires. She was most assiduous at catechisms; one day, however, that her extreme complaisance had led her to complete the work of one of her companions, they came to tell her that the children of the first communion were reunited, and that, according to the decision of Monsieur le Curé, the child who was not at roll call would not take first communion. It was for our dear Céline such great pain that she began to run crying until she arrived at the door of the Church which she found still open and slipped deftly into her place without being seen the worthy Priests who were to preside over the examinations that day. The candid and childish air of our good Céline brought her to the attention of all those gentlemen who, believing her to be younger than she was (she was 11 years old) and wanting to be sure of her education, asked her a large number of questions to which she replied in a manner that would arouse the greatest astonishment, and admired him with satisfaction among those who were to make the first communion.
Since that time, our young Céline made rapid progress in the most solid piety; her union with Our Lord became so continuous and. so intimate that the most stirring games of adolescence in which she seemed to indulge with pleasure were powerless to interrupt this holy union. In this dear community there was a tribune which overlooked the sanctuary; it was there that our pious Céline loved to retire alone with Our Lord to inflame herself more and more with the pure love of the husband of virgins. She received from it such an increase in graces that the effect was apparent on her whole being, which made her companions say that she looked like a little seraph. Others said: “if Céline becomes a Carmelite, she will have ecstasies”. Her good taste, her dexterity for all the works of the hands, made her very useful and put her in a position to relieve her good heart by training those who were starting to work, and by lavishing her services on those of her companions who were late. . This is how this youth, so innocent and so pure, passed away.
The venerated superior who directed this holy House knew how to appreciate the precious qualities of our young Céline. She liked to converse with her, foreseeing that the good Lord had special plans for this privileged soul and would condescend to call her to religious life. This worthy Mother communicated her forecasts to the respectable director of her conscience. This holy priest took a special interest in the sanctification of his soul and made it advance with new ardor in the paths of perfection. He had the consolation of seeing his efforts crowned with the happiest success by the docility and fervor of his penitent. This good father asked her if she felt any attraction for religious life, and, on her affirmative answer that her first choice was for the Carmel, he did not speak to her about it for a few days; then, no doubt to test her, he said to her: you would do well, my daughter, to fix your choice for such and such a community (which he named to her). Our pious Céline, in spite of her first attraction, did not dare refuse this proposal immediately. She confided this ordeal to her intimate friend, saying to her: despite the pain I feel at entering into the views of this worthy Father, he shows so much interest in me that I will perhaps decide to renounce Carmel. . She fell asleep in this painful resolution. During her sleep, she thought she saw herself in the middle of the community which had been assigned to her, but in the morning, when she woke up, she found herself so bathed in tears that she resolved to declare to her director that it was not for her. possible to renounce Carmel. I feel, she told him, that this is where the good Lord is calling me; I can no longer resist this attraction. After this opening, this good Father thought he recognized the will of God, and was willing himself to take the necessary steps to enter Carmel. As he was particularly familiar with our monastery, he proposed it to our former Mothers who accepted it with joy as a happy present from heaven.
At the time of leaving the Holy House where her young years passed, her kind heart full of affection and gratitude for the venerated superior whom she esteemed and cherished as the best of mothers, as well as the worthy mistresses who had lavished on her their care, then her tender affection for her dear and pious companions, made her feel the deepest regrets and shed abundant tears throughout the journey.
But no sooner had she seen the appearance of the poor Carmel House than her tears gave way to transports of unspeakable joy. It was then, my Reverend Mother, that our dear postulant understood that this was indeed for her the center of the happiness that she had foreseen for so long. She repeated with the impulse of the liveliest gratitude: this is the place of my rest forever. As soon as she entered our Monastery, our dear postulant embraced all the observances of our holy vocation with remarkable fervor. Her progress in all the virtues soon caused her to be admitted to the taking of the habit, to the great of our ancient Mothers and of the whole community which, according to her precious qualities and her happy dispositions, foresaw in her a subject of great hope. . She showed herself to be animated by a great spirit of faith which made her see the good God in all her superiors. For her their least desires were orders; his simplicity, his frank character, his generosity in the sacrifices merited for him the grace of holy profession in ordinary times. Her holy commitments only increased her solid piety, her love for God and her fidelity to the graces with which the Lord had already showered her. His great devotion to the holy sacrifice of the mass was beyond expression, especially since the impression given him by his holy director, who, having spent several years in foreign countries, told him that he had seen savages go as far as 'forty leagues away to hear a single mass.
We cannot express to you, my Reverend Mother, the deep respect, the ardent love she had for Our Lord in the most holy sacrament of the altar. Her dearest delight was to keep her company, as much as her occupations permitted; her greatest happiness, on this earth, was to unite herself to Jesus through Holy Communion.
The painful Passion of Our Lord was also the object of her great devotion: she was very assiduous in making the Way of the Cross every day to honor the sufferings of Our Lord, and to obtain, by her merits, the triumph of our mother. the holy Church, the conversion of sinners for whom she had unceasing solicitude, and to gain the greatest number of indulgences in favor of the souls in purgatory. Above all, she offered her supplications and her sacrifices for the benefactors of our community whose tender charity her loving and grateful heart felt so keenly.
His devotion, his filial confidence in the Blessed Virgin knew no bounds; his holy name as well as that of Jesus was constantly on his lips. The Rosary and all the prayers in her honor had a special attraction for her loving heart. She also had a large number of Patrons of her choice, our father Saint Joseph, our mother Saint Thérèse, Saint Joachim, Saint Anne, etc., etc., of whom she had composed a litany which she recited every day with everlasting fervor. new. We have the sweet confidence, my Reverend Mother, that all these good saints, whom she loved so much, will do more to protect her in a special way during her life and especially in her last moments.
Her constant union with the good God was sustained by the consideration of his divine perfections, and all the events that followed led her to bless him; how great he is, she said, what wisdom in the conduct of his divine Providence! When, on Sundays, we walked in the garden, during recreation, she never tired of admiring the beauties of nature; she immediately brought back the glory to the author of all good, see these plants, see these fruits, etc., etc., it is the good God who gives us all that. How good it is!... how good it is!... she repeated in the burst of her gratitude....
The office of mistress of novices was soon entrusted to our dear Sister Aimée of Jesus. She acquitted herself of it with wisdom and prudence and all the devotion of which her good heart was capable. Always united with her prioresses, always acting under their impulse and forming the novices to a great esteem for our holy observances, to the abnegation of themselves and to the care to do all their actions purely for the good God, she recommended to them above all, following the example of the beloved Disciple, to have tender charity for one another.
In the charge of trustee, my Reverend Mother, she showed us unfailing devotion; she was a real support for us; she shared our concerns, our sorrows and helped us with her good advice, which greatly lightened the weight of the burden.
Our good Mother Aimee of Jesus fulfilled the various offices entrusted to her, with the most perfect order to the great satisfaction of her prioresses. In that of the sacristy, it was easy to notice his great spirit of faith and piety in all that concerns worship. What selflessness, what righteousness, what integrity in the making and selling of church vestments! what piety for the relics of the saints! how she took pleasure in adorning them as best she could, to place them in the reliquaries! Her good taste for embroidery and for all sorts of works was of great help to our community, because everything that came out of her hands had this stamp of perfection that feels good. With what eagerness she employed her exceptional industry in preparing the various presents which she was happy to offer to her Mother Prioress on her feast day.
When our good Mother Aimee of Jesus was elected sub-prioress, she displayed in this office all the zeal and all the fervor that the good Lord had given her for the divine office, using her beautiful voice to execute the song and the psalmody well. . His remarkable intelligence and his happy memory were of great use to us for the rubrics and everything concerning the offices of the choir.
But, my Reverend Mother, it is above all in the office of Prioress that we have been able to better appreciate the solid virtues and the precious qualities with which Our Lord had endowed our dear Mother Beloved of Jesus. His humility was sincere and profound, and his regularity exemplary. Her heart overflowed with charity for all her daughters, and to show it to them in every way was a real happiness for her; his charity extended also to all who suffered; she would have been happy to have enough resources to relieve all the unfortunates. Her straight and lively judgment, her attachment to maintaining our holy observances, together with her firmness of character, would have enabled her to overcome all the difficulties she might have encountered. Her opinions were always imbued with the love of God which consumed her soul, and with the impression made upon her by the eternal truths.
The health of our dear Mother Aimee of Jesus, without being the strongest, had held up fairly well for forty-four years. During all this time she had the consolation of observing our holy rule in all its rigour; but for about three years she had suffered from severe pains in the head and a great derangement of the bowels. As we expressed to her our pain at seeing her suffer like this, she said to us: My Mother, the good God is very good; I am not very happy; as long as one can be self-sufficient, that is nothing. His great desire to attend the community exercises made him consent to rest after compiles; she confessed to us that, without this rest, she would not have been able to come to Matins, which she desired so ardently that we did not think it necessary to refuse her this consolation: besides, there were better and better intervals. worse. At the beginning of Lent this year, feeling better than last year, she said to us: I want to do my Lent; I can do without taking it in the morning: what she took, my Reverend Mother, was simply a bit of dry bread, telling us that was what suited her best. On March XNUMX, the community began the novena of grace to Saint Francis Xavier; this good Mother says to us: Oh! how well I am going to do this novena; I am going to ask this great saint to obtain for me the grace to be well imbued with the thoughts of eternity, because everything is there. Good Mother, what she longed for, she had possessed for a long time, for the thought of death and of eternal truths was always etched in her mind.
On March XNUMX, she felt more tired, as well as the following two days. On the ninth, feast of the five wounds of our Lord, when our dear Mother wanted to get up to go to the choir, our good Nursing Sister who was sleeping near her, heard a noise; she ran to her cell and found her lying on the ground, helpless to get up. They came to fetch us in all haste; we thought at first that it was only a mild dizziness; we took her to the infirmary and lavished on her the most attentive care while awaiting the arrival of the Doctor, who, after having examined her, noted cerebral congestion and paralysis of the left side. This sad news, so unexpected, dismayed us to the bottom of our souls; however, we liked to hope that the prayers of a great number of good souls united with ours, would do holy violence to heaven to obtain the healing of a health so useful and so dear to all our hearts. On the other hand, seeing that our good Mother retained her appetite and that the illness seemed to remain stationary, our desire to preserve her helped to give us this hope.
We cannot tell you enough, my Reverend Mother, how much our venerable Mother edified us, during her illness, by her perfect conformity to the will of God. I prefer, she said, this adorable will to all the health in the world. She accepted in advance all the infirmities and all the sufferings that it would please God to send her (it was, moreover, her usual disposition).
Her union with our Lord was continuous. She said: I prefer the least degree of union with Jesus to all the gold in the world. We saw her kissing her crucifix with effusion, making the way to the cross on her armchair and multiplying her acts of love for God. She never ceased to be charmingly amiable, graciously and gratefully accepting the devoted and loving care of our dear Nursing Sisters. One day when they were presenting her little dinner to her, she said to them: I would like, if possible, to tell all the unfortunate people about it, and if, among the number, there were some who would have made me happy. the pain, it is to those that I will offer it in preference. She cherished her community above all expression; she kept thanking our Lord for having called her there. I prefer, she said, my place in Carmel to all the thrones in the world. We heard him sing these words: may my tongue stick to my palate, etc. etc., if ever I forget you, O holy religion of Carmel!...
As we said above, my Reverend Mother, our beloved Mother's illness seemed to remain stationary; but on Easter Monday we had alarming symptoms; our dear invalid was seized with a very deep drowsiness, and seeing that we were powerless to wake her, we begged our Father Confessor, in whom she had complete confidence, to be kind enough to come. This worthy father arrived in haste and found her so ill that he thought fit to give her extreme unction. Immediately after the ceremony, our dear patient regained consciousness. We hastened to make known his condition to Monsignor our venerable Prelate who is for us the best of Fathers. His Greatness soon arrived. After entering the infirmary, our dear Mother seemed to regain her energy and expressed to him the joy she felt at seeing His Greatness. In his paternal kindness, Monsignor blessed her and addressed her words full of unction and encouragement which did her the greatest good. From that moment, the illness continued its course, but on Sunday In Albis it took on an even more alarming character. Our dear Mother then lost her speech and remained calm, peaceful, almost motionless and with her eyes closed until her last breath. We gathered the Community to recite the prayers of the Manual which were repeated to them several times.
All the graces of our holy religion had been lavished on our dear Mother during her illness. However, it was not possible for us to get him to receive the
holy viaticum, because of the impossibility of swallowing even a drop of water during these last three days.
Despite our deep pain, we overcame our emotion to suggest several aspirations to which she seemed to unite. Our worthy Father confessor had the kindness to come and renew the grace of holy absolution to her the last three days of her life, and about an hour after having received it, our much-missed Mother returned her beautiful soul to her Creator, on April 11 , around half past four in the evening, in the midst of the tears of the whole Community, deeply afflicted by a separation so painful to all our hearts.
We have the gentle confidence that our very dear Mother Beloved of Jesus is already in possession of sovereign happiness and that she already protects from heaven our community which she loved so much and which she served with such perfect devotion. However, as Our Lord judges justice itself, we ask you, My Reverend Mother, to add to the suffrages already requested, by grace, a communion from your fervent Community, a day of good works, the indulgence of the 6 Paters, the Way of the Cross, acts of faith, an invocation to Our Glorious Father Saint Joseph, to Our Mother Saint Thérèse and to Saint Joachim, to Saint Anne and to all her patron saints. She will be very grateful to you, as well as to us who have the grace to be united in your holy prayers and with the deepest respect,
My Reverend and Most Honored Mother,
Your most humble servant,
Sister MARIE DE SAINT MICHEL RIC
From our Monastery of the Holy Family, and from Our Mother Ste Thérèse of the Carmelites of Cahors, this May 1, 1888.
P-S. — May our dear Carmels who have had the kindness to take an interest in the healing of our dear Mother Beloved of Jesus, with their fervent prayers, and who have shown us their fraternal sympathy in our great affliction, please find here the expression of the most affectionate sentiments of our sincere gratitude. In particular, our worthy Mothers of Vannes, including the very honored Mother Mélanie and our good Sister Anne, who spent several years with her in the Carmel of Cahors, have always preserved for her the most sincere esteem and the most religious attachment. .
Cahors, Imp. F. Plantade.
