port sister
Marie Hamard 1861-1935
Peace and very humble greetings in Our Lord who has just called for eternal rest, we have the sweet confidence in him, our dear Sister MARIE ÉLISABETH DE SAINTE THERESE, Associate Tourière of our Community for 44 years, and who had made her Profession nun, according to the new Statutes of the Tourières Sisters, on December 8, 1933. She was 74 years and 4 months old. Our late Sister would have liked nothing to be said about her after her death, but the few memories that we are going to evoke do not seem to derogate from her humble desire; Born in Couterne (Orne) from a very Christian family, several of whom are established in Lisieux and in the region, our good dean of the Tour, entered the service of our Carmel on July 7, 1890, two months before the Profession of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whom she later had the great happiness of knowing and appreciating, at the Sacristy and at the Tour.
She also knew our Venerable Foundress, Mother Geneviève de Sainte Thérèse and very recently, she still spoke to us about her with great edification. On October 4, 1897, she followed the very modest procession which led to the cemetery the mortal remains of our Saint. Witness then to the progressive blossoming of the devotion of the faithful around the humble tomb, she was called to testify at the Non-Cult Trial and was able to attest discreetly to what rigorous prudence the Carmel tempered the demonstrations, sometimes premature, of popular piety. His health, already very precarious, did not allow him to attend the Beatification and the Canonization, and his tears flowed when he saw those of his companions responsible for representing the Community there leaving for Rome. From then on, her imagination showed her Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus in such glory that she made us one day this unexpected reflection: “My Mother, we will never make enough beautiful portraits of our little Saint Thérèse; but, lying in the cloister near the infirmary, a month before her death, she is there too humiliated. I don't like people in the world to see her that way; she is so great and so glorious now! We pointed out to him that this intimate photograph was perhaps more encouraging to some, in their sufferings, than an apotheosis, and that Our Lord allowed himself to be represented on the Cross. But our good Sister did not seem to give in to our reasons...
She had seen, however, on her bed of pain, and very shortly before her death, the one who inspired her with so much respect. It was a Sunday in September 1897 when, during Community Mass, she had been called to watch it. Convinced that she was in the presence of a Saint, she spent the entire hour questioning her and building on her answers, without suspecting the extreme fatigue imposed on the heroic patient. A very painful crisis of suffocation ensued, after the departure of Sr. Marie Elisabeth who always ignored it and took only a celestial memory of this fortunate hour. The smallest thing had struck her: “When I think, she told us, that this poor little Sister didn't even want me to try to kill the flies that bothered her in this heat! She begged me not to hurt them, because they are her only enemies and she is happy to have the opportunity to forgive. How nice ! She was highly esteemed in Lisieux, especially by our families. Her Mother Prioresses willingly gave her missions of trust.
This is how the Reverend Mother Marie de Gonzague once sent him to the aunt of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Madame Guérin, who was then dying. The latter, seeing our dear Sister, smiled at her gently and said to her in a low voice: “Sister Marie Elisabeth, it seems to me that I see in you my little Marie, and that all of Carmel is assisting me at this moment. Back at the Monastery, our dear Sister, very moved, reported these words to us and added: “Madame Guérin died like a saint. She said: “How happy I am to die! It's so good to go see the good Lord! I offer my life for priests, like my little Thérèse of the Child Jesus. "Never have I seen such a beautiful death," concluded our good Sister. It was February 13, 1900. She had no idea that on this date, 35 years later, she herself would die a predestined death. In the meantime, she always showed herself very attached to her vocation and fundamentally pious. Also, in spite of her age and her infirmities, she courageously embraced the stricter obligations of religious life imposed by the new Statutes of the Tourières Sisters, and considered it a signal grace to put on the great scapular of Carmel. For fifteen years, the soul of our dear daughter has suffered a real intimate martyrdom, by scruples which left her no respite. “You can clearly see that she is constantly tormented, her companions told us with compassion, and yet it is a soul that gives us the impression of being so innocent, so pure! From then on an expression of sadness appeared on his face.
She lived alone, no longer having the strength to share the work of her Sisters, but nevertheless helping them in little things, with a kindness, a cordiality that touched them deeply. At their Chapter of culpes, Sister Marie Elisabeth, after having humbly accused herself, often interrupted them, not to accuse them, but always to excuse them. Despite her ordeal, she sometimes cheered them up, apropos nothing, with repartee full of finesse. It was only a flash, it is true, and soon his usual worries absorbed him again. She had, however, a well-felt joy in taking part, on December 5, in the Jubilee celebration of our dear Sr Marie of Jesus, charged with the direction of our Tourières Sisters for 30 years, and who, so many times, consoled and supported her in her anguish. The purification of this simple and upright soul was to be consummated soon after, in the greatest peace.
Our good Sr. Marie Elisabeth was attacked, on the evening of Friday, February 8, by pulmonary congestion which reduced her, in four days, to any extremity. She received the Last Sacraments on Sunday evening in full knowledge, fervently producing acts of the most trusting love. On Tuesday, the eve of her death, after her last Communion, she said to the Nursing Sister “Monsieur the Chaplain has left, but the good Jesus has remained. - You must adore her in your heart, the nun then suggested to her. Yes, my Sister, but above all to love him...”, resumed our edifying patient. She often looked, with a beautiful smile, at the image of our Saint placed opposite her bed: “Oh! how I would like to have her perfect abandonment! ". she whispered. And, without ceasing, she repeated while kissing her Crucifix “My God, I love you! Our pious chaplain, very consoled by such a change, such serenity, in a soul he had known so fearful, advised him to push his confidence in God to the firm hope of going straight to Heaven. She replied immediately: “I hope so, since you say so, Father. »
It is in these feelings that on Wednesday, February 13, at 8 a.m. During the Community Mass celebrated for her, our venerated and much-loved Sister gave up her soul to God, so gently that her companions and the devoted Sister of Mercy who assisted her barely perceived her last breath. After his death, that expression of sadness of which we have spoken and which, moreover, had disappeared during his short illness, changed into a smile of peace. The Community, after many visitors, was able to notice it and was edified by it the next morning, when our dear deceased was taken down to the parlor, before closing the coffin. The burial took place the following Saturday. M. le Chanoine Travert, our so devoted chaplain, sang the Requiem Mass, accompanied by M. le Chanoine Germain, Director of the Pilgrimage, and by M. l'abbé Lesaunier, one of the Chaplains, in the presence of several priests, friends of the Monastery, of the family and of a numerous and sympathetic assistance. We beg you, my Reverend Mother, to thank the good God with us for the life so edifying and the death so confident of our dear Sr MARIE ELISABIETH DE SAINTE THERESE, and we humbly ask you to make her return the suffrages of our saint Order. She will be very grateful to you, as well as we, who have the grace to tell us very fraternally in Our Lord,
your very humble Sister and Servant,
Sr AGNES OF JESUS
thank you
From our Monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception, under the protection of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, of the Carmelites of Lisieux, February 16, 1935.
