Jeanne de Chaumontel (1845-1924)
Peace and very humble greetings to Our Lord who, on the morning of the feast of our Father Saint John of the Cross, called back to Himself our venerable SISTER JEANNE, MARY OF THE ANGELS AND OF THE SACRED HEART, former Novice Mistress of the Blessed Thérèse of the Child Jesus, professed and dean of our Community. She was 79 years, 9 months old, and had spent 58 years and 26 days in religion.
Our dear Sister was born in Montpinçon, diocese of Bayeux, on February 24, 1845, from one of the oldest and most Christian families in Calvados, whose motto: "Softness and discretion" should be so fully realized by our revered Doyenne.
She was preceded in the household by three sisters, and followed by a brother. With what affection she enveloped them all! Really, it can be classified among " the saints who loved their families very much,” for she shared, from hers, to a very rare degree, the joys and above all the sorrows. It can also repeat, with good reason, that, " despite appearances, she suffered a lot here below”. He will be reminded of this, like a fortifying memory, in the speech delivered on the day of his Golden Wedding.
Madame de X..., his mother, had undertaken, before the birth of the child, to offer him to God for religious life; and our good Sister Marie des Anges tells us many times about this: “Oh! it is indeed the baseness of his servant that the Lord always looked at in me. I was certainly the most incapable, the least enriched with those gifts and those charms which attract, and which I saw shining in my sisters. This is not to say that I was less loved for that, but the feeling of my inferiority penetrated me so deeply, from my childhood, that it has remained very strong in me until today. »
Our little Jeanne, whom we had nicknamed “Mimi”, was very lively and very nervous. In her childish anger, she would cling to the railing of the stairs and from there utter such cries, incessantly, that her tired father resolved at least to shame her, if he could not correct her completely. .
One day, in a magic lantern session, where friends were invited and the little girl placed in the front row, we saw suddenly appear on the screen, an angry little girl, her mouth disproportionately open and shouting at the top of her lungs. . The painting was announced as follows: "Mimi... bellowing "... The lesson paid off so well that the child never again fell into his fault. The good Lord, moreover, undertook to soften her character by many sorrows, which matured her before her age and made her turn entirely towards Him.
The thought of her First Communion kept her busy, and, assisted by a very pious teacher, she made many sacrifices and prayers to prepare for it. However, this day was for her without joy, without light, and, in the evening, such a great sadness seized her that she imagined having made a bad First Communion. All night she shed tears. " Is it possible ! she said to herself, This is the 'happiest day of life, for so many little girls, and for me it will always remain 'like such a bitter memory! Then her sobs redoubled and she thought herself damned. She wept for four whole nights, not daring to confess her distress to the good priest of the village who would have consoled her. Finally, a monk passing through the parish heard him and restored his soul to peace.
It was not, alas! only relative peace, for throughout her adolescence, from the age of 12 to 19, the young girl underwent incessant inner pain: reconsideration of her confessions, scruples of all kinds, to which were added family ordeals that broke her heart. “It was the work of God,” she concluded; this kind of martyrdom prevented me from tasting the sweetest, most legitimate joys, and detached me from the world which, with my ardent nature, would have exerted on me a seduction which it would have been impossible for me to resist.
The fear of God, the thought of eternity were there like a lifeline that kept me from sinking and forced me, so to speak, to practice virtue. Around the age of 19, being exhausted, she had the happy inspiration to entrust herself entirely to the Blessed Virgin; then, throwing herself into his arms, she rested entirely on her maternal tenderness. A few days later, a Franciscan monk from Caen, the Reverend Father Bénigne, came to give a mission in the parish of Beuville where Joan's parents lived at that time.
“He was my saving angel, my good Samaritan, our dear Sister liked to tell us again. It was he who poured the oil and the wine of trust on my unhappy soul, and three years later, guided by his wise counsel, I entered Carmel. »
She had many struggles to sustain, my Reverend Mother, to tear herself away from her beloved family. Sometimes, in the midst of charming reunions, she escaped, overwhelmed, and begged on her knees Our Lord to strengthen her courage, for the hour of the great sacrifice. “It was beyond my strength to announce my vocation to my parents,” she confessed. Addressing the Blessed Virgin, she prayed to her: "If you want me to leave my people, take me by the shoulders and push me to Carmel, because, of myself, I will never have the courage to say the smallest word, nor to take the slightest step forward. »
And the Virgin Mary, so compassionate, took pity on his weakness. The older sister of our poor child took care of the dreaded step. In the meantime, several Carmelites from Lisieux, passing through Caen to go and found the Carmel of Coutances, Madame de X was asked to go, with her daughter Jeanne, to the parlor of Sainte‑Paix (Capuchin Convent), and there, in front of the RP Bénigne, friend of the family, and the Mother Prioress of Lisieux, everything worked out. The day of departure was even fixed.
"I gave this child to the good Lord before she was born," her mother said, crying, "I didn't know he would take me at my word." »
“I needed strength from on high to leave my father's house, our dear Sister repeated to us more than once. As I got into the car, I kissed my brother last, and at the same moment I saw a large nebulous cross hovering over the property; it extended above the right grove, adjoining the outbuildings and ended towards the house. I did not understand the meaning of this mysterious cross until later, and this memory has often supported and consoled me.
The young aspirant, led by her elder sister, entered our Carmel on October 29, 1866, aged 21. She was received by the Reverend Mother Marie-Baptiste, later foundress of the Carmel of Caen, who surrounded her with affection and maternal delicacies.
“Seeing myself so well received and so loved,” Sister Marie des Anges told us, “I became madly attached, alas, to this good Mother! I who had guarded my heart in the world with extreme vigilance and at the cost of so many sacrifices! O my God, she sighed again, in the evening of her life, of what infidelities, of what ingratitudes have I not been guilty towards you! I paid for all this with stinging remorse, mixed with enlightenment, it is true, for, on discovering my misery, I understood that I was capable of anything, even the worst things, without grace, and I became more humble.
“My novitiate companion, whom I also saw very loved by Our Mother, became a subject of terrible jealousy to me. One day when I saw him with her, my suffering became excruciating. But, at the same moment, I was overwhelmed by this inner word, so clear that I will never be able to forget it: Tu make me suffer even more. »
“I wonder how I didn't drop dead then, these words were so penetrating. I cannot think of it without an immense gratitude reviving in my heart.
“But this natural affection, although vanquished, did, by its consequences, extreme harm to my soul; she was to him what are to the flowering trees of spring, the hailstorms, the showers which strew the earth with their flowers. It took me years to heal from this wound. »
Thus pursued by the love of Our Lord, the dear postulant took the Holy Habit of Carmel on March 19, 1867. She took this first step in anguish, although she decided not to go back and to make all the sacrifices to become a good nun.
Until her Profession, she still suffered a lot, but our holy Mother Geneviève, her Mistress of the Novitiate, strengthened her and encouraged her in the ordeal.
The retreat which preceded his total donation passed entirely in desolation. And what was the amazement of the Community, when, at the precise moment of the emission of the vows, the novice already having her hands in those of her Prioress, not a word left her lips and the silence was prolonged, impressive . It was a last attack from the demon, jealous of the beauty of this soul and the glory it would give to God through so many years of faithfulness and love. “I felt,” she tells us, “like an iron fist clenching my teeth violently. I needed incredible strength to finally open my mouth, and it was prayer alone that gave it to me. I still shudder at the memory of that moment.
“When I prostrated myself, peace came to my soul. It was March 25, 1868, the Feast of the Annunciation; the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, and, entering the Choir, coming down from the Chapter, I then experienced a sweet joy at being entirely for the good Lord. »
In the evening, kneeling before the altar of the Blessed Virgin, after Compline and laying her crown where, nearly 23 years later, our little saint was also to lay hers, this new bride of Jesus felt, not the conviction that "soon she would fly away to heaven", but a deep conviction, on the contrary, that a he had a long way to go, and she trembled at the prospect of new struggles. Then Our Lord reassured her; he seemed to hear in the depths of his heart these sweet words: Tu you are no longer alone, I am your Spouse, you will lean on me. »
After recounting these intimate facts to us, again recently, my Reverend Mother, and with an anointing difficult to render, our venerable Dean added in a charming way: "Do you see, my Mother, when I think of the support that Our -Lord promised me that day, I always remember this little trait of my childhood: "Bishop Robin of Bayeux, having come to dine with my parents, distinguished me in the living room, like the smallest girl, ‑ I was barely nine years old ‑ and, as I was going into the dining room, he said to me seriously: “My little child, give me your arm and let's go in together. Very intimidated, I put my small hand on his big arm, and we made our entrance, to the applause of all the guests.
Well ! my Mother, it is an image of what the good God has done for me: He cast his eyes on my lowliness, and, supported by Him during the very long crossing of my existence, I will finally enter, to the joy of all the elect, in the Hall of Eternal Feast. »
The novice's Taking the Veil, which took place on the following June 26, was her first unclouded feast. Her heart was filled with joy, she felt that her trials had been graces. "I would have gladly rehearsed with Job," she told us: " Who will render me this service that the Lord, having begun to destroy me, completes by putting me in dust? » These words had gripped me strongly and they still impress me in my old age, where I see that they have always continued to come true for me. »
Our so virtuous Sister Marie des Anges rendered great services in the different jobs of the monastery. She was very skilful, as well for the sewing as for the works of art, and the sacristy keeps beautiful ornaments embroidered by her in perfection. But, when he entered, there was no question of embroidery. She was assigned to help the first nurse; and every morning, whatever the weather, this delicate young girl, accustomed to being served, went to the washhouse to clean the sheets of a poor infirm Sister. Throughout her life, moreover, until the last few years when she was reduced to impotence, wherever there was something to devote herself to, she was found. In the offices where she had more contact with the Sisters, she showed all her heart, all kindness, and contrived to be agreeable to them, to help them, even at her own expense. She would have dispossessed herself of everything to oblige, to please. In some cases, she exceeded and was almost good-natured. She might also have lacked insight.
These slight imperfections, together with a distracted spirit, somewhat hampered her in the exercise of the duties of Sub‑Prioress and Mistress of Novices, which she both filled for 16 years. However, this dear Sister constantly remained the edification of the monastery by her piety, her abnegation, her spirit of community, her heart so delicate and so sensitive which made her cherish all the Sisters and take part, in a large measure, in their sorrows. as to their joys.
Blessed Thérèse of the Child Jesus had noticed these virtues and these great qualities since she esteemed her Mistress " a true saint, the consummate type of the first Carmelites”. However, the shortcomings of which our beloved Sister was aware, were for her continual matter for very meritorious humiliations.
At the divine office, she gave a good voice, strong and just, but often dragged on without noticing it, on the end of the verses, so that the last syllable fell alone in the silence. At the psalm blessing of Lauds, it was more striking, because of the repeated word of Domino, and it was necessary for us, almost every evening, to warn him of it at the very moment. She received us then with such a humble expression that we were moved. “Thank you, my Mother, she told us, I will be more careful.
"I'm boring for everyone, she sighed lately, "ah! I would like so much, at least, to be humble enough not to feel sorry for my inferiority, my smallness in everything, and, in spite of myself; I am sometimes anxious about it. »
Dear Sister, how her soul rose without knowing it, from the bosom of this littleness! How great she was before God!
She loved each member of her family, we told you, my Reverend Mother, with inexpressible tenderness and strength. But if the trials of her family moved her to the point of worrying her too much, which happened from time to time, we were not afraid to warn her. And what an edification for us to see this venerable Elder, near whom we had finished our novitiate, receive our observations with the most sincere and complete humility, conform to them, ask us not to spare her, to always tell him the truth; then, often, after these painful moments; take our hands and squeeze them with touching affection. The expression on her face, then, was that of a holy ; our "Little Therese" had not said an empty word there.
We have kept, from this true nun; several posts, such as these, which fully reveal the feelings of his heart, so naively, so deeply humble:
30 March 1919
“O my Mother, how I thank you for having made me understand my wrongs,
"I love you all the more for it, but I can clearly see that with my temperament
“Impressive, I will never fully correct myself. I console myself, because
“Our Lord said to Saint Gertrude, that he leaves faults in souls for their sanctification, to humiliate them. I think this is my story and that I will have to die with my baggage of misery. I will do everything to correct myself, but if I fall again, you will pick me up, won't you, my Mother? I'm yours " toddler ".
March 8, 1920.
"... So I think you're holding your old dove to which, during
“his retirement, which seems to be announced well, you will develop, albeit very late, the poor wings. Shouldn't she really take her flight towards the Heart of Jesus, in the depths of which she wants to hide forever?
“We did good business this morning, and we will continue next time; you have to put me skin inside out, or that I leave you pluck me as you see fit. I see many things still to be corrected, I will tell you that. Finally, my dear Mother, I abandon myself to you as to Jesus Himself, do what HE will inspire you, and know well that my tenderness for you will only increase further. »
We wanted to introduce you to the Mistress of Novices of our Blessed before making her appear as such, my Reverend Mother.
When Thérèse entered the Monastery on April 9, 1888, Sister Marie des Anges had already been Sub‑Prioress for the first time, having Mother Geneviève de Sainte Thérèse as Prioress, from 1883 to 1886. It was in October of this last year that she was put in charge of the novitiate and kept it until February 1893. Renamed Sub-Prioress then, then re-elected again after three years, she gave her little flock to Mother Marie de Gonzague and took it back after the death of our Angel. In the office of Sub-Prioress, which she still exercised for seven years, she had at her side four different Prioresses. And in this office, what respect for authority, what obedience, what deference did she not always show towards those who had been her novices, like Mother Marie-Ange and us!
As the Blessed relates in her life, Sister Marie des Anges was also her first job in the lingerie and taught her how to work. But at the same time, she wanted to initiate him into the interior work of perfection and, believing that she was doing well, spoke to him of God almost continuously. These instructions did not respond to the child's attraction to silence, too, as she confesses in her manuscript: Conclusion soul did not expand, and the poor holy Mistress did not know the cause.
Much later, however, on September 2. 1897, our Thérèse told us privately: There was maybe two years that I was here, when the good Lord put an end to my ordeal, and I was able to open my soul to Sister Marie des Anges who, since then, consoled me a lot. »
Yes, my Reverend Mother, this dear Sister consoled her and was also very often consoled. She felt inclined, in fact, to tell him of her own sorrows and received light and peace from it. They were two saints who encouraged each other to bravely support the battles of the Lord, and to sacrifice themselves completely to save souls.
Here is the testimony included, in two words, at the Beatification Process: “With exquisite charity, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus consoled me in many of the difficulties that I encountered and that she felt were so painful to me. »
Nor was the humble Mistress afraid to tell the little novice about the weaknesses of the beginning of her religious life, in order to encourage her more to flee the danger of too human affection.
You are doubtless still awaiting, my Reverend Mother, on the occasion of this circular, some unpublished traits of the life of our Blessed, but the pages which can be revealed on earth will always be few; the Trial itself as a whole, is certainly only one and very small page "My name is written in the sky!" » exclaimed Thérèse as a child, she could have said later "I write my whole life in the sky..."
Here are a few memories however, some transmitted to us by our dear Sister Marie des Anges, others that she submitted to the Trial. We read in STORY OF A SOUL “One day, I surprised our Mistress by saying to her: “I suffer a lot, but I feel that I can suffer even more. » This word remained very present in the memory of the happy Mistress who, many times, reminded us, with moved hearts, of the slightest circumstances of the moment when it was pronounced.
“It was one evening, during the postulancy of my Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Towards the end of the silence, I entered her cell to try to console her a little, because I knew she was in great pain. She was preparing to go to bed, I found her in a long nightgown, her hair loose and falling over her shoulders. She sat down next to me on her pallet. Suddenly, seeing her so calm and beautiful, I felt like I was talking to a saint, I looked at her respectfully. There came through her window a ray of moonlight which lit up her face, and she made me think of those Virgins of Heaven who follow the Spotless Lamb everywhere. I could hardly hold back my tears. Finally, I gave her some encouragement, to which she answered me with the words we know. »
Another time, in a small Christmas party, where the novices had performed “The Dream of the Child Jesus”, Thérèse played the role of the Blessed Virgin and held the Divine Child on her knees. Sister Marie des Anges was spellbound: “Is she ideal and heavenly! she said softly. After that : " I we saw the Blessed Virgin! " He It is true that this impression was unanimous, so much so that never, after the Servant of God's death, did the Community agree to see the scene again, not being able to agree to contemplate the Blessed Virgin there under other features.
But one more detail made the memory of this pious recreation particularly dear: Towards the end, an angel had approached Mary, singing to her several stanzas to console her for the painful dream of the Child Jesus and his canticle ended with these lines which today seem to take on a prophetic meaning:
...............he is a family
That I present to the little King of Heaven
In the future, see how it shines:
Dream, Child, at the Carmel of Lisieux!...
A thought of compassion was attached to our so good Sister at the “graceful retreat” of her Novice, in 1891, because the Mother Prioress did not allow the poor child a single supererogation interview with the Preacher. “I cannot remember this without having a heavy heart,” she said. Our little Saint was second sacristine then, and she heard the religious coming and going in the sacristy outside, reciting his breviary after having informed the first sacristine that he was placing himself at the disposal of the Sisters. Oh ! she was heroic in patience and silence during this retreat, and I suffered a great deal from not seeing her take advantage of it as fully as possible. »
This fact leads us to quote a passage from the Deposition of Sister Marie des Anges: “The strength of the Servant of God was in silence... She worked there, she prayed there, she suffered there; and, in the trials of his life, like Our Lord in his Passion, she was silent. Did He not teach him that a soul without silence is a city without defense, and that "He who keeps silence keeps his soul." »
We find in this Deposition, the fact of the small broken vase, the temptation of the novice entrusted and overcome on the eve of September 8, 1890... And first of all the impression of the Mistress, when she saw, for the first time , Thérèse as a child in the visiting room: “She was an angel from heaven rather than a little girl from the earth. Later, on the day of her entry among us, she noticed "a kind of majesty and simplicity at once spread over her whole person", and this memory, ‑ moreover shared by all those who witnessed it, ‑ remained engraved until the end, in the memory of our dear Sister.
She testified in the same way at the Trial, on personal favors obtained, and which we find more detailed in a notebook where many pages are titled:“Smiles from my little Thérèse. " This are perfumes of roses and violets emanating from the relics she is preparing, it is a portrait that comes to life and smiles at her twice, these are still songs heard. But these graces, very significant, it is true, were also very rare.
She recounts at length the story of a rhododendron that came from her dear forest of Montpinçon, to flourish in the courtyard of Carmel: It dries up, it is almost dead, so we want to pull it out and throw it on the fire. : Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, already ill, is present at the debate, and takes the defense of the shrub, because of the Mother Sub-Prioress whom she sees saddened: "You are hurting this poor Mother , she said, leave it. It is I who will die, but he will live again. ". And for 27 years, the rhododendron has given abundant flowers every spring. This year alone, it begins to wither again.
We read again in the Deposition of our venerated Sister:
"After the Servant of God's death for love, she was very beautiful, no doubt, although not very resembling, exposed to the grille of the Choir, but this beauty was "very pale, compared to the extraordinary brilliance which she radiated in the when the body is lifted, at the door of the infirmary. I was seized by it and wondered if she was really dead. She seemed so alive to me that I wouldn't have been surprised to see her smile at her Little Jesus as she passed in front of her statue, at the corner of the cloister. She looked like a martyred Virgin stretched out on her reliquary, rather than a poor Carmelite in her coffin. »
Returning to Thérèse's death, in these documentary pages, she enthusiastically calls it "the explosion, in heaven, of the love that consumed her heart here below", and compares the shower of roses to "flaming sheaves which spread over the earth to rekindle divine love within the Church, at a time when it is so cold”. “I did not know that she had written her life, we read further. When I read it, I was in awe.
“Some time later, during my retirement, I picked up this book to study it more thoroughly, and one day, as I closed it, delighted with what I had read, I thought to myself: “And I knew her! and her sisters are still with us! and it does wonders! ..."How extraordinary it is!" However, I cannot doubt it... Then, I had the inspiration to open the Holy Gospel, and my eyes fell on this passage: "Where did all these things come from?" What is this wisdom given to him? and how are such great wonders done by his hands? Isn't that that carpenter, son from Marie ? and are not her sisters here among us? » She quotes this word heard: “Truly, there is only in hell where she is not loved, and imitated. ‑ I am not afraid to add that in hell she is the rage and despair of the demons. »
And her testimonies end thus: "I can't compare the Servant of God better than to the mustard seed of the Gospel, that smallest of the seeds which, when it has grown, is bigger than all the plants and s rises like a tree, so that the birds of the sky come to rest on its branches. "It is still for me, of the Servant of God, when I consider her virtues, what it is for any eye that looks at the stars of the firmament: the more it contemplates, the more it discovers. Well! the more I contemplate Thérèse's soul, the more virtues I discover in her and the more I proclaim her a saint. »
The portrait of our dear Doyenne would be unfinished, my Reverend Mother, if we did not tell you a little about her courage on critical occasions, and also about her distractions. A few supporting strokes will certainly make you smile and others will edify you.
Sister Marie des Anges had admired one day, in the beginning of a fire, the coolness of her holy Novice, but the latter only imitated the intrepid Mistress whom nothing frightened. A can of petrol had caught fire while the lamps were being used; our courageous Sister entered the small apartment filled with flames which she was soon surrounded by, and, invoking the Blessed Virgin, succeeded in extinguishing the fire, but not without burning her hands in such a way that weeks of dressing were needed. very painful to cure them.
One evening after Matins, a noise could be heard on the first floor of the sacristy, a building completely isolated from the dormitories. No one dared go to bed or go up to verify the cause. Alone, Sister Marie des Anges went to explore everything, without showing the slightest fear. At the time of the great flood of 1875, our dear Sister had a very good opportunity to prove her courage. Allow us, my Reverend Mother, to copy into our archives the account of the event, despite its length and the details which may deviate from our subject.
It is Mother Geneviève de Sainte‑Thérèse who speaks:
“In 1875 the Mother Prioress (Mother Marie de Gonzague) obtained permission to raise the enclosure wall that borders the Carmelites path on the side of the meadows; regularity demanded this expense, which is why, counting on divine Providence, she hired the company for the sum of 3.000 francs. But while this building was being erected, a catastrophe occurred which nearly overthrew it in its infancy.
“On July 7, at one o'clock in the afternoon, a terrible storm broke out with torrential rain and a dull and continuous rumble of thunder. This storm lasted until 8 o'clock in the evening. At this moment, a waterspout of incredible violence fell in the valley, between Bernay and Lisieux. As it was only a fortnight since the whole of France was moved by the disaster caused by the floods of Toulouse and the surrounding countries, the Lexovians, in the presence of the same scourge, were terrified. The Carmel, located at the entrance to the city, just on the side where the cyclone was raging, was flooded by the torrent in less than a quarter of an hour. Sisters who ventured as far as the barnyard, and even as far as the nearest laundry room, to take away the linen intended to be washed the next day, almost perished and had to abandon everything. The terrified Touriere Sisters begged to be let in, and there was no other way to achieve this than to unseal a parlor gate on the first floor. They then had water up to their knees on the way down to the ground floor, from where they had to take the stairs to go up to the infirmary. However, the chapel was already invaded. So, my Sister Marie des Anges (young professed at that time) asked to go through the small communion gate to save the Blessed Sacrament. Only she could do it, being very thin; but it was still perilous and difficult. The Mother Prioress having allowed her, she succeeded in slipping through the narrow space, and went to take the Holy Ciborium from the Tabernacle, trembling. The Mother Sub-Prioress, who was sacristan, received it from her hands and carried it to the Altar in the tribune, accompanied by two Sisters holding torches. The Community met there and remained there in prayer all night.
“Elsewhere, Sisters who were watching noticed that the force of the water had suddenly opened the large door of the workers. The Mother Prioress, wanting to save the enclosure, tried with a Sister to close it again, but the water having reached the height of six feet and still progressing with a frightening noise, they were forced to withdraw. In the face of the imminent danger which threatened the monastery, the Mother Prioress made the vow, in the presence of the Community which prayed with their arms outstretched before the Blessed Sacrament, to have 15 masses celebrated for the souls in Purgatory, she also promised, a novena of communions and fasts including several with bread and water. It was then 11 o'clock in the evening. The flood had been raging for two hours. But as soon as it was pronounced, this vow realized the promise of divine goodness; "Ask and you will receive. It was like a barrier which the scourge respected, and by 4 o'clock in the morning the water had completely receded.
The danger having passed, a mortal anxiety seized the soul of the poor Mother Prioress: she imagined that the permission given by her to remove the Blessed Sacrament from the Tabernacle made her very guilty. Sister Marie des Anges was no less unhappy.
Finally, around 6 o'clock, our Father Superior arrived who, far from blaming them, hastened on the contrary to console them and to praise the action they had done. He saw with astonishment all the damage done to the Convent in a few hours: the cloisters, the refectory unpaved, the entire ground floor filled with filthy slime and the devastated garden.
The city provided us with some help, Madame la Presidente de Mac Mahon donated 1.000 francs. The alms collected by the community then paid for the boundary wall and the repairs. Alas! the following year, they had to be started again, because this oily mud which had bathed the buildings left a humidity that a second paving could not even combat.
During the flood, the Lord had watched over the monastery, allowing a strong trestle, pushed violently by the water towards the large open door, to close the two doors with a single blow, so that not only did we We were safe on the side of the people outside, but all the laundry tubs, and the wood, and the linen, as well as all kinds of utensils which followed the current, were blocked there and could not come out.
“O Providence! You are admirable in the smallest things, so you deserve all our gratitude. »
It was not always in such serious circumstances that our dear Sister came forward... One day she faced a single combat, which had Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus as a witness and at which she laughed until she cried.
It was July 14. In the afternoon, what a surprise to the solitary Carmel, to see descending in the middle of the courtyard a large human-shaped balloon, having the appearance of a dreadful dwarf, dressed in a flesh-colored suit and so tight that it made him look naked. A little deflated, he slid along the arcades of the cloister. Sister Marie des Anges passing by and seeing him, took him for an object of spell... Animated then by a holy anger, she armed herself with a stick and struck him with redoubled blows. But the hideous personage, seeming to make fun of her, answered her with great bows, with a placid laugh which she considered satanic, and she exclaimed: "Throw some holy water on him!" »
Shortly after, the bell rang, asking if the ball that left the main square had not fallen to Carmel. The door pulled herself out as best she could, without lying or telling about the drama that had just taken place!
We told you, my Reverend Mother, that our dear Sister was as absent-minded as she was brave. One day when we were making, with candles in hand, our annual procession in honor of the Child Jesus, we saw, walking a little behind the community, this good Dean who held, with great devotion, her staff in the air, thinking he had taken a candle!
This tendency to distraction had the advantage of serving more than once to exercise the virtue of our Blessed.
Here is an example: Sister Marie des Anges had told her to warn her whenever she had a stomach ache. And the poor postulant, who had difficulty getting used to the food of the Carmel, came every day courageously, and with a blush on her forehead, to confess that she had a stomach ache! The Mistress quickly forgot the order given and ended up finding it at least strange - her novice saw it well - this daily confession which lasted a long time, because Thérèse did not want, by recalling the injunction, to lose such a beautiful rose of obedience and of humility, to leaf through every day in the footsteps of the Child Jesus.
For her part, the one who gave the opportunity for such merit, no doubt stripped the leaves of equally beautiful ones, by the humiliations which her absences inevitably brought upon her. She told us that she noticed and always recited with particular fervor this verse from Tierce : “Bonum mihi quia humiliasti me. - It is good for me, Lord, that you have humiliated me. -” It still happened that the good Mistress, after having lost her pencil, or her pen, or having run out of paper, went at any time to get supplies from her Novice. If she was present, with a little act of patience and charity, all was well; but, in his absence, it was more delicate. Indeed, according to a command from the Mother Prioress, Thérèse was only to show her correspondence with Father Pichon. Now, if Sister Marie des Anges saw in the inkstand a letter begun, or another coming from Canada, the result, one can imagine, despite her great discretion, was an embarrassment and a pain for both of them.
We will now speak to you, my Reverend Mother, of the lively piety of our fervent Sister. Words of Holy Scripture fed it; she assimilated them and remembered them by the way. She loved vocal prayer: you always met her with the rosary in her hand. She read and reread the works of certain mystical authors, particularly knew the revelations of Saint Gertrude, knew by heart long offerings of the merits of Our Lord, which she repeated during Mass. If necessary, she composed prayers according to the circumstances, such as this one, towards the end of the war:
“O Jesus if your justice cannot forgive us, please leave the glory to your mercy.
“Through my Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, perform, for the salvation of France and the whole world, a miracle of your merciful love which renews the face of the earth and casts sinners at your feet.
“May your justice and your mercy meet and embrace. May peace be finally signed and victory won by your infinite mercy. »
She rhymed easily. At the feasts of her Mother Prioresses, she composed verses full of delicacy in which overflowed the exquisite sentiments of her affectionate heart.
We still find pious canticles of hers, of which here are a few fragments:
To JESUS at the TABERNACLE.
Jesus is there, his approach is easy,
Like the happy blind man in the Gospel,
I can here cry out with faith:
“Son of David, have mercy on me! »
He is the Jesus of the Canaanite woman,
The beloved Master of Saint Madeleine,
Compassionate, stern, by turns,
To test, to strengthen my love.
IN FRONT OF THE NURSERY.
He is small ! yet, let it be,
On the way, He will know how to guide you,
Destroy in you what can displease him,
As Sovereign, as Master, to command.
Jesus will make his strength shine in your weakness,
His infinite power in your helpless being,
His greatness, his goodness, his splendor, his wealth,
In your infirmity, in your poor nothingness.
However, our venerated Sister, a little timorous and timorous, called with all her wishes for a dazzling and soothing light in her spiritual life, a "retreat of graces", she said, to be simplified, rid of importunate scruples and then to sail, she too, on the ocean of absolute trust in God. It was answered in 1913, when Father Foch, of the Society of Jesus, preached the holy exercises to us. In a burst of gratitude, she wrote to her former little pupil, who had become Up There her great Protector:
12 December 1913.
MY BELOVED LITTLE THERESE,
"After praying, begging the good Lord, that this retreat be to my soul" what was, to yours, that of Father Alexis, I am so granted that I come to tell you the most grateful thank you from my heart.
“To me, as to you, peace and joy have been given, and I can fly away towards the good God, on the wings of trust and love.
"I was told: 'The kingdom of God is close to your soul, live in peace, joy, sing MAGNIFICENT! HALLUIA! HAEC DIES, here is the day what the Lord has done ! » my darling little Thérèse, these words so magnificent, full of joy, seem like a dream to me! Is it possible that they are said for me? I am devastated under the weight of such grace, of such a smile. Lord.
" Oh ! now, I will give you my works, my joys, my sufferings, each of the words of the Divine Office, my prayers, everything, in a word, doing everything out of love, for love, and so that everything in me enrich you with roses that will rejoice the Heart of Jesus, when you pluck them on earth, to reach many souls and save them. »
Until the end of her life, the influence of this retreat will stay with her like a shining beacon that she never completely loses sight of, despite the attempts of the spirit of darkness who sought from time to time to darken her. . Fortunately, the grace of his Jubilee came to rekindle the flame a few years later.
This celebration of April 9, 1918, the anniversary of the entry into Carmel of our Blessed Thérèse, was truly beautiful and complete. Surrounded by a large and dear family, blessed with the blessing of HH BENEDICT XV, with the presence of Mgr Lemonnier, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, the beloved Jubilee received from the hands of His Lordship the flowered staff and the wreath of roses, then renewed her vows in the fervor of her soul, in a firm and vibrant voice which was heard by all present.
The day before, Monseigneur had written her these lines which she meditated with delight:
“Our Lord said one day to his Apostles: “I have been with you for so long and you do not yet know me! » You, my daughter, you will say to Jesus: « You have been with me for a long time, and I am happy to know you. Yes I know you are there goodness, you showed it to me every day of my life, especially in Carmel... You are the repair, and your heart will offer your Father that which my past makes necessary through my weakness. I know you, you are love, and you will love my soul here below until the end of my earthly existence, and you will love it in Heaven eternally. »
A very dear relative, Father de Chaumontel, Assistant General of the Priests of Notre‑Dame de Sion, delivered a touching speech, the following passage of which particularly caught the attention of the heroine of the day: “The cross did not Has it not begun in you the work of God? She will finish it. How many times have you had to repeat with Saint Francis de Sales: “I see before me crosses of all kinds. I salute you, small and great crosses, interior and exterior, spiritual and temporal, I salute and kiss your foot, unworthy as I am of the honor of your shade. »
In any case, the Community celebrated, with joy and great devotion, the Novice Mistress of Thérèse. How many times was he reminded of this title that day! Carmel friends, who knew her through her correspondence, always so religious and so delicately fraternal, - especially dear Poitiers, cradle of Lisieux, - had competed in affectionate zeal to fill her. Faced with so many pious and beautiful things, she no longer knew where to stop her eyes, and her heart overflowed with gratitude.
The following evening, she delighted in a little recreation entitled: "LA NIELLE DES BLE" or "The Mission of Thérèse on earth", and said to us since: "When I read this, Thérèse instructs me and enlightens me, I cannot detach myself from them, I ask your permission, my Mother, to keep these pages until my death. »
On our request, she wrote the feelings which had animated her on the solemn occasion of her Jubilee.
"In view of all the preparations that were being made to celebrate my Golden Wedding, and so much honor that awaited me, the good Lord made me feel that all this was not addressed to me, but to Him, to thank Him of all the graces with which He showered me from my mother's womb, since already, through her, I was consecrated to her; and since then, in my earliest childhood, my adolescence, my youth, finally, in the world as in Carmel. Graces, above all, of humiliations of all kinds, forcing me to estimate myself only a little nothing.
“I cannot express the view, the deep feeling of my baseness which penetrated me to the marrow of my bones; but it seemed to me that it was precisely this that won me the gaze of the good God, and drew me his divine mercy. I also seemed to see the celestial Court leaning in astonishment towards me, so small and so celebrated on this day, and to hear it praising more the only Author of all good. I would have liked to be able to be more destitute, more miserable still, to be even more the object of the merciful love of the Lord. »
And the following June 12: “I thought that with my Jubilee, I should begin a new and true religious life. After having been kept awake for a long time this night, by an all too human preoccupation, I have this morning, at prayer and at Holy Communion, abandoned everything, entrusted everything to Jesus. Now I try not to think about it. Is that really what you want from your old jubilee, Mother? Oh! you see that the cross follows me! No wonder, because the one I once saw was so long, so long! »
The Beatification of Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus brought supreme and indescribable consolation to this venerable Sister, you guessed it, my Reverend Mother. However, the infirmities of old age had come on for some years, and had increased for her at that time. Towards the feast of the Good Shepherd, in 1920, she was already explaining them to us, in these colorful and tenderly filial lines: to flee, having poor old ears which are more and more clogged, poor legs which bend, a head which soon touches the ground, always has a young heart, to cherish you with a tenderness which only Jesus knows. The heart is all that He keeps for me and that I will take to Paradise, if it is given to me to join my little Thérèse there in whose arms I will throw myself, with what joy! O my Mother, I really desire to see his Beatification; but will this privilege be reserved for me? And yet, how happy would I be to celebrate the glorification of your little girl and mine!
"I am more into hiding than showing", she told us, at the time of our feasts and the entrances of the Prelates to the Monastery. Our dear Sister, in spite of a growing distortion, nevertheless kept something noble and an innate distinction. Seeing our desire, she simply allowed herself to be put in the way of Their Eminences and Their Greatnesses, who stopped moved to bless her, when we said to them: "Cis the Novice Mistress of the Blessed. » But she apologized immediately, with touching humility: “I didn't do anything, she didn't need me. And we felt she was so sincere in her assertion!
Sometimes, however, if we had not known her thoroughly, there might have been reason to be surprised, noting that, having reached old age, the sacrifice was so keen and so great for her, not to not see and hear everything of the smallest, like the great events of our community life.
"It would be a big sacrifice for me, she told us, the day before an exceptional party, not to glimpse from a small corner how everything will be done tomorrow." We know that it was not immortalification, but only her understanding of our life together. She wanted to share all the joys, to rejoice in everything in God. His imagination, which had remained young and fresh, was sometimes exalted and persuaded him of implausible things. After the departure of HE Cardinal Vico, she made this naive reflection to us: “What desire will the Holy Father have to come to our house, when the good Cardinal Vico has told him his impressions of Lisieux! And, with childlike candor: “Oh! if he could, he would have come already, I'm sure. »
She was still so interested in the general good of our Holy Order that we had to hide the trials from her, lest she make herself ill.
When it was a question of introducing Gregorian chant into the Carmel of France, she could not believe that such an innovation was possible, and yet no one more than this dear Sister was "daughter of the Church" and did not esteem beautiful religious music. But, as we needed her intercession near Our Lord, we kept her more informed of this affair, and since then she never ceased to pray to obtain the maintenance of the point of Constitutions. It was one of her last joys to be granted.
How much she would have enjoyed, for example, the precious information communicated to us, a few days after her death, by one of our Carmels: primitive of the Church, which was preserved among the anchorites, so much so that in the XNUMXth century, it was called: the desert song. »
Sister Marie des Anges also greatly shared our slightest annoyances and concerns. When she learned of the campaign against the portraits of our saint, you should have seen her indignation! Finally, with prayer, she calmed down and said to us:
“Let's not pay attention to it, my Mother, it's the jealousy of the demon that mounts these blows. And even if people were shouting from the rooftops that our "little Therese" was ugly, would that prevent her from having been pretty and from doing good? I find that we can never make it as ideal as it was. I like my memory even better than all his photographs. »
When she was shown a certain failed reproduction of her novice with the white veil, behind the cross in the courtyard, she exclaimed: “What an unfaithful photograph! However, after an enlargement and the necessary retouching, she declared herself so satisfied with the reconstructed likeness that this portrait was chosen for the souvenir images of her fiftieth birthday.
For several months, our venerable Dean felt very tired, very weak, and kept repeating to us: “Ah! I will not see the Canonization! Without admitting it to him, we shared his doubts; but his good temperament, which had enabled him to follow the rule for many years, reassured us. However, she, so active in her work, gradually had to give up all work, even the making of images and relic sachets. His sole occupation from then on was to cut and emboss innumerable rose petals of all colors, in view of next year's celebrations. We will see for a long time this good Sister Marie des Anges, with her stick and her box of paper, going painfully to our recreations, and there, without losing a moment, without almost raising her eyes, doing her charming job. Were we arriving late, she absolutely wanted to get up, like the others, risking overturning her box and throwing her shower of roses at the community, which moreover happened more than once, and it was only the slightest misfortune, for we have seen the poor dear Sister fall herself among her petals!
His deafness became almost complete, and his head tilted more and more, threatening to knock him off balance. It was a pain to see her walk, and an edification to witness her courage. If they had listened to her, she would have risen earlier than the community, in order to be able to pray, say her service, go to mass for the sick, and then without any delay, set to work.
Sometimes, during the night, thinking she heard the truncheon, she would gently open the door of the Nursing Sister, and say to her: “They forget me, I'm not going to be ready for Mass. »
On the death of Sister Marie-Philomène of Jesus, at the beginning of the year, she made this reflection to us: “It is my turn, now. » And, after having read his circular « Ah! my Mother, what a beautiful soul!... But of me, what can you say? I wonder how you will do! »
Her soul sometimes went through hard phases of agony, she was afraid of death. Recently, one of her first novices, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, whom she had always particularly loved, was inspired to answer her on this subject: “But you won't notice it; you will suddenly find yourself before God, like a little child waking up after a long sleep. » « You think ! said Sister Marie des Anges, happily.
On Sunday, November 23, she had spent the day as usual, had come in the evening to the Blessing of the Blessed Sacrament, and even at recess where, arriving first, she struck up a conversation with a postulant:
“Do you like Carmel, my little Sister? she asked pleasantly.
-Oh! Yes, my Sister, I am very happy, I find everything good and beautiful here.
- So that's perfect: "This way is good and holy, go this way...»
The rest of the time she spoke little, out of charity, because it was becoming almost impossible to answer her because of her deafness, but she smiled at us from time to time with affection, and with such a peaceful and gentle air! At the end, being absent and unable to bless her, we went to her house during the silence. She no longer expected to see us and answered us with a very special smile full of gratitude. We promised to come the next day to spend some good time with her: “Oh! thank you, my Mother”, she answered us, with enthusiasm.
Alas! we were no longer to hear his voice here below.
On Monday morning, at 6 a.m., her dedicated nurse found her unconscious, with short, embarrassed breathing that frightened her. They came to warn us in haste. We tried to talk to the dying dear, but she didn't seem to understand us. During this time, the Chaplain was informed, who came running and was able to give him the grace of Extreme Unction. She breathed her last very softly, as soon as the Indulgence in articulo mortis him was applied. It was a quarter past seven; the Community chanted the Little Hours, while the priest recited with us and some Sisters present, the prayers of the Manual.
This death, so prompt, leaves us only a memory of peace... The one who wanted to see herself as our daughter and showed us so much confidence had written to us:
“I see myself, more and more, as a soul devoid of everything. May this indigence bring me the merciful gaze of Jesus, as it has always been for me! May this mercy, under the wing of my Thérèse, cover me at the hour of death and open heaven to me! »
And again: “Our Blessed excites me, her little way delights me. Oh! that she makes me enter and persevere, so that when I die, Jesus is my Lift, and that I fly straight to Him, like our dear Angel! »
We still copy these lines, in a letter written the day before his death to one of his family members: “May God have mercy on my misery, and may his name be blessed with everything, since he does everything for our good. »
What other last word could have glorified the good Lord more, and merited to our venerated and very beloved Sister a triumphal entry into the legion of “little souls” who lived only in humility, love and abandonment?
The burial took place on Tuesday, November 26. The Mass of requiem was sung by the RP of Chaumontel who gave the last absolution, surrounded, can we say, by the whole family, because the absent were there from the heart and each keeps forever to the holy sister-in-law, aunt, or cousin, his veneration and its recognition; his confidence too, in an intercession which had become even more effective in heaven than on earth.
The tomb of our late Sister is very close to the last tomb, still so visited, of our dear Blessed, and where it is proposed to erect her Apotheosis soon. It is therefore in the shadow of her glorious Novice that the humble Mistress will rest, from now on, borrowing, to praise the Lord for the fruits of her long career, these words of Thérèse, engraved on the base of her statue. « 0 my God, you have exceeded my expectations, and I want to sing your mercies. »
Please accept, my REVEREND AND VERY HONORED MOTHER, the expression of our religious and fraternal respect. Our beloved Sister Marie des Anges will be very grateful to you with us, if you will kindly add to the votes already requested the indulgence of the six Padre and an invocation to Blessed Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
Your humble Sister and Servant in N.‑S
Sr AGNES OF JESUS,
thank you
From our Monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception of the Carmelites of Lisieux, December 25, 1924.
