Lea Nicolle 1850-1926
There is a church at the bottom of a hamlet
You complete a spiritual stopover at the oldest Marian sanctuary in Normandy, Notre-Dame de la Délivrande. You have a few hours of freedom left. You feel like breathing the sea air once again. So, take the small road D 35, preferably by bicycle.
Mer d'huile to Tailleville: flat land, market gardening or fodder crops. Swarms of seagulls bicker behind the tractors as, on the horizon, on your right, behind the fishing boats. Three masts emerge from the blue expanse: the bell towers of Langrune, Saint-Aubin, Bernières. But the wavelets begin: gently sloping coasts towards the Mue (tributary of the Seulles). On the left, in the hollow of a valley, Reviers and its proud Romanesque church. Now the swell is getting bigger, as if the land were getting angry, like a heavy sea. A steep hill: a little walk with your "little queen" will prolong the charm of the route... The Seulles meanders slowly towards its estuary, Courseulles.
Throughout this region, which resembles the plain of Caen and Bessin, Gallo-Roman memories abound.
And suddenly, the surprise: unpredictable, Colombiers-sur-Seulles, in the name of sweetness. Nestled at the bottom of the valley, literally at the edge of the river, a very beautiful church: bell tower in pure Romanesque, choir of the Xlle-Xllle centuries, nave restored in full harmony with the primitive style. The modern Saint Vigor in no way spoils it. Long before the novel, this ancient bishop of Bayeux! He sat in the time of Childebert, son of Clovis and had founded two abbeys: Mont-Chrismat (St Vigor-le-Grand) and Cerisy (Manche). Died before 538, he continues to defeat the dragon.
As long as you shine in this sector, you will come across beautiful monuments, churches and castles, often from the XNUMXthe : the era of great architecture. The quarries offered quality material. It was on the font of Saint-Vigor-de-Colombiers that Léa Nicolle became a daughter of God, one fine day in May 1850. Some thirty years later, the young Maurice Barthélemy-Bellière would walk the same roads: Langrune, Villiers-le-Sec, Sommervieu...
Marguillette of the Good Lord
In 1893, Sister Marie des Anges presented Sister Marguerite-Marie as a “marguillette du Bon Dieu, having the simplicity of this flower” (CG, 1174). "Margueriette" or daisy, if you prefer. Léa's youth unfolds entirely in the rustic setting mentioned above. Nothing is known of his studies, no doubt sketchy. The child is not stupid, because the same portrait underlines the "spiritual repartee" of the Carmelite.
The father, Alexandre Nicolle, is a stonemason. No doubt he worked on Reviers or better still on Amblie, just on the other side of the Seulles: the quarries at Orival were still in operation in 1983. The mother, born Affable Nicolle (because the Nicolles then abounded in Colombiers ) is a lacemaker. At the time, the lace industry employed nearly 15 workers in the district of Bayeux. Born in Colombiers a few days apart in October 000, Alexandre and Affable were married on December 1813, 31. They had five children: Exupère (1835), Antoine (1836), Armandine (1838), Léa (May 1840, 11) and Marie-Leontine (1850). The latter died at eight months (1855-20-5). Five months later the head of the family disappears (1856-20-10). Disease? Accident? Alexandre is kidnapped at the age of 1856. Léa remains the youngest. The tombstone of Mr. Nicolle stands just opposite the portal of the Colombiers church. Under his name, the space created to receive that of his wife remained blank: Mrs. Nicolle had to emigrate to a neighboring village (the place and date of her death are unknown).
In 1872, a new priest arrived in Crépon, a parish close to Colombiers: Father Jules Hodierne. He is thirty-six years old and has just spent ten years as vicar at Saint-Pierre de Lisieux. In 1869-1872, he exercised the functions of chaplain and confessor of the young Carmel of the rue de Livarot. How did Léa Nicolle meet her? Still, Father Hodierne believed he discerned a contemplative vocation and had his penitent admitted to Carmel on July 15, 1873.
Carmelite
The postulant Marguerite-Marie of the Sacred Heart of Jesus inaugurates her new life with a moving ceremony: the taking of the veil of the sisters Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Aimée of Jesus, on July 16, feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The superior, Mr. Delatroëtte, presides over the ceremony. The former chaplain is surely part of the party. He will preach for the clothing of “his daughter” on the following December 8.
On March 18, 1875, the Thursday before Palm Sunday, Sister Marguerite-Marie made her profession, at the same time as Sister Thérèse of Jesus [Annals, November 1983), in the hands of Mother Marie de Gonzague. The two “twins” receive the black veil on the following April 6. It is again Father Hodierne, parish priest of Crépon, who takes the floor. Let us specify, and this is a reference, that the new professed did her novitiate under the direction of Mother Geneviève de Sainte-Thérèse, the foundress.
We don't know much about this sweet and kind little country girl except that she “always flies to work, to fatigue, to devotion” (CG, 1174). In a few years, she will form with Sister Marie-Philomène (Annals January 1982) and Sister Marie de Jesus "the trio that we always see at the head of the Community for all the hard work and loving to call themselves the Michel-Morin of Carmel. (CG, 1174.)
A bright cross
"She would have been one of those who make life together sweet and pleasant": this eulogy comes from the pen of Sister Geneviève (note from 1947-1948). Let us collect it preciously: the author is not prodigal of it. As early as 1908, however, the same pen already noted, with regard to Marguerite-Marie: “an edifying nun in all respects” (NPPO).
“This dear sister, very edifying”... “She was a very good nun”: these two verdicts are from Mother Agnès. “One of the pearls of our Carmel”, adds Sister Marie des Anges (NPPA).
But the cross was planted very early in the life of Sister Marguerite-Marie. Around 1886-1890 (under a priorate of Mother Marie de Gonzague), she presented disturbing mental disorders. We temporize. “The whole Community was sick of it. We ended up hospitalizing him at the Bon Sauveur in Caen, around 1890 it seems. She comes back "fairly recovered" (Marie des Anges) and stabilizes for almost six years. Let us not forget that Thérèse, who entered in 1888, witnessed these facts, while Mr. Martin was himself hospitalized in Caen in 1889-1892.
Late 1895, early 1896, relapse. Sister Geneviève is asked to pray for the healing of Sister Marguerite-Marie on February 24, 1896, the day of her profession. But Thérèse assures us that the miracle will not take place because, at the same time, she saw her in a dream, who entered the community hall with a luminous cross on her shoulders; all the sisters looked at her in amazement, the light she projected was so dazzling, everything seemed darkness next to her (Sister Geneviève, NPPO, 1908). Sister Marie des Anges attests to the same dream (NPPA): “very long and very luminous cross”, she says.
On March 14, 1896, a week before the prior elections, Mother Agnès of Jesus decided to have Sister Marguerite-Marie hospitalized again. Uncle Guérin is in charge of “la drudgery” (VT, n° 63, July 1976, p. 233, note 40), accompanied by Armandine, the patient's sister. The following June 9, the release is "granted on a trial basis": improvement, but no cure. The Carmel cannot consider taking it back under these conditions. After twenty-three years of religious life, the sister is returned to her family. One of his brothers welcomes him to his home in Colombiers. "Several times a year, at determined times, she is no longer hers" (Mother Agnès), but the inconveniences are no longer the same as in a cloistered community. Around 1970, a parishioner from Colombiers still remembered having been in her youth, sewing with Mlle Nicolle: she was living alone then.
She was admitted in 1922 to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Caen. She died there piously on June 12, 1926. “Her heavy cross will certainly bring her great glory in Heaven,” assured Sister Marie des Anges (1915), referring to Thérèse's dream.
Sr Cecile ocd
