DEVOTIONAL BOOKS USED BY SISTER MARY AGNES, O.S.B.
APPENDIX A.
“Manual of Devotions to our Holy Father, St. Benedict, Abbot and Patriarch of the Western Monks; to his Sister, St. Scholastica, Virgin and Abbess; and to all Saints of his Order.” (London: Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Co. Limited.)
Father Ignatius calls himself a Benedictine monk, and his nuns belong to the same order. One would have supposed that though he imitated Rome in the worship of the wafer and of the Virgin, he would still have hesitated to go the full length of Romish superstition by obliging his nuns to put their trust in such questionable characters as Gregory VII., Thomas à Becket, etc. Yet on page 185 of the above book they are required to ask Gregory VII. to pray for them, and on the following page Thomas à Becket is invoked in the same manner. Who and what these two Romish saints were, truthful English history abundantly proves.
As the title of the book shows, it is intended to foster devotion to St. Benedict, to his sister Scholastica, and to all the other canonized saints of the Benedictine Order. Now, who canonized these supposed saints? Was it not Rome?
The first part is entirely devoted to the honouring and invoking of St. Benedict. Throughout this part we frequently meet with the verse, “Pray for us, O holy Father St. Benedict.” There are also a number of litanies, in which he is called upon as being now “placed over the choirs of monks,” as “the star of the world,” as “the equal of the prophets,” as “protector of his order,” as “the scourge of devils,” as the “Abraham of the New Testament,” and is entreated with the cry, “We beseech thee to hear us.” On page 47 the following invocation occurs: “Beseeching thee (holy Father St. Benedict) to be so faithfully present to me at the hour of my death, as to oppose thyself on every side where thou shalt see the assaults of the enemy most violently raging against me, that, being defended by thy presence, I may securely escape the snares of the enemy, and arrive at the joys of heaven.”
Similar impieties occur throughout this and the other parts. Thus, in the part devoted to St. Scholastica, on page 131, we find the following collect: “Mercifully look down upon Thy family, we beseech Thee, O Lord, through the merits of Thy blessed Virgin, St. Scholastica; and as by her prayers Thou didst cause the rain to descend from heaven deign, through her supplications,” etc. A number of litanies also occur, in which she is addressed in the most gushing way, and asked to pray for those who thus address her.
Moreover, this book introduces prayers for the dead. Thus, on page 165, the versicle, “May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
There are many other superstitious practices contained in the book, notably the medal of St. Benedict, the wearing of which is declared on page 223 to be “a constant silent prayer to God, … that He would have regard to the merits of our holy Father, and for his sake would extend His own protection,” etc.
Sister Mary Agnes says that the whole of this book, with the exception of the part on Indulgences, was in constant use by the nuns under Father Ignatius.
Must not then monasticism be a fostering garden of superstition, since even those who claim to reject Rome resort to the same subterfuges as Rome does to fill the void that must necessarily exist in the aching hearts of all the deluded followers of monasticism?
The next book, under Appendix B, will appear, if possible, even more grossly superstitious than the former.—(Editor.)
APPENDIX B.
“The Exercises of Saint Gertrude, Virgin and Abbess of the Order of St. Benedict.” (London: Burns & Oates.)
In the preface a short account is given of the life of St. Gertrude, which is chiefly a legendary history, and made up of some of the most absurd and ridiculous tales.
“Once, when she was pouring out her whole heart in love to its Divine Spouse, it received the impression of the five wounds of the Divine Redeemer, and Gertrude felt them continually to the moment of her death with an ever-increasing anguish and love.”
Again, “On another occasion, on the Feast of Annunciation, the Mother of God fastened on her breast a heavenly jewel, wherein were seven precious stones.”
Again, we have another still more extraordinary miracle vouchsafed to her; for “once she received in her heart the Divine Infant, who sprang from his crib to attach himself to her.”
Must not such teaching as this be in the highest degree degrading? And must not those who can swallow such stuff be spiritually demented?
It is almost needless to point out that Saint Gertrude is said to have been devoted to the worship of the Virgin Mary. We find the following most blasphemous words on the subject: “The love of Gertrude towards Mary was in proportion to the tenderness with which the Mother of God regarded the dearest of the Spouses of her Son. Gertrude has bequeathed to us the expression of her devotion to the glorious Queen of heaven in that exquisite prayer which so expressively reveals the deep and touching character of her piety: ‘Hail, fair lily of the effulgent and ever-glorious Trinity! Hail, radiant rose of heavenly fragrance, of whom the King of heaven willed to be born, and with thy milk to be fed, feed our soul with thy Divine insinuations!’” I will only give the last prayer in the book to show how the invocation of supposed saints is inculcated, as in the other book so commonly used in monastic and conventual institutions.
“O God, who hast prepared for Thyself a dwelling-place of delights in the most pure heart of the blessed Virgin Gertrude, deign, we beseech Thee, through her merits and intercession, to wipe away all stains from our hearts, that they may become meet abodes of Thy Divine Majesty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!”—(Editor.)
APPENDIX C.
Review of “Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. By St. Alphonsus Liguori.” (Published by Burns & Oates.)
This book was sent to me by Sister Agnes, who wrote as follows when forwarding it:
“I send the book which we used daily. It was my constant friend for years; my troubles and sorrows I confided to it. The hymns with the word ‘Ignatius’ at the end are his, but not the others; the writing in the first part of the book, written in MS. on foreign note paper, is taken from St. Alphonsus Liguori, and was approved of by Ignatius, except the part I have covered over: that he did not approve of. It treats of sinful obedience. I cannot quite make it out. The book it is culled from is, I think, entitled ‘The Religious Life.’”
Before reviewing the book itself, I purpose to place before you a part of the matter “written on foreign note paper,” and stuck carefully into the book, acting as a kind of preface to it, as we may say.
Remember this matter is taken from St. Alphonsus Liguori’s “Life of the Religious.”
“There is no consecration so profound, so entire as that of ‘religious’ on the day of their profession, because there is none so purifying, so constant, or so religious. The consecration of bishops and priests is more exalted, as being a Sacrament; it is more noble, as conferring a more sublime dignity and ineffable character; yea, it is more powerful, because it imparts to a mere creature some of the powers of God. But it is not so complete as the monastic consecration, because it does not include a man’s entire separation from himself and from the world; it is not so entire, because it does not absolutely consume the liberty, the independence, and the spontaneousness of his nature: it is a great sacrifice and a great Sacrament, but not a TRUE HOLOCAUST.”
I would urge my readers to stay a moment and mark carefully, and inwardly digest this description of a nun’s life. Where is the liberty that is so vainly spoken of? Are we not here told that a nun by her profession has her liberty absolutely consumed; that is to say, she is a prisoner for life?
Notice, I pray you, the words “it is a true holocaust.” In fact, the sin of the children of Israel, who “caused their sons to pass through the fire,” is committed over again. As king Manasseh “caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom,” so under the pretence of offering the nuns to the service of God, the Roman Catholics, and alas! members of the Church of England, “sacrifice their sons and daughters to devils” (Ps. cvi. 37). It is nothing but Moloch worship over again. But to proceed with Liguori’s description of the life of the religious:
“The violation of the vows is then a very grievous sin against the virtue of religion—(it is) the crime of sacrilege. Man, consecrated to God and to His service, becomes something divine; he owes himself, therefore, a religious respect, which rebounds ever to God; and if ever he should dishonour by mortal sin the virtues of poverty, obedience, and virginity, of which he has made profession, he would commit an outrage against the Divine honour, he would be guilty of sacrilege. What rashness! what crime! what impiety would it not be then in you to violate your vows!
“The infidelity of consecrated persons is more awful than the sacrilege committed against holy places, Eucharist vessels, holy pictures, or relics. Your soul would shudder at the mere thought of a desecrated temple, a dishonoured ciborium, a broken crucifix, or of a saint’s body cast into the flames: would it then consent to far more horrible crimes, or to more infamous violations? Virginity derives not its nobility and worth from itself, but rather because it is an offering to the Lord, inspired and preserved by prudence and piety of the soul.
“If it should happen that a religious, in drawing comparison between his life and that of Christians in the world, should be seized with a holy fear lest he be less zealous, less pure, or less fervent than many of them, he may still find a legitimate reassurance in the thought that his actions, though they may be apparently less virtuous and brilliant, derive, notwithstanding, greater value and more real devotion than theirs from the virtue of religion, which is their chief source, and which has so high a place amongst the more virtuous.”
Do we not see here how a nun is taught to meet what must be an oft-recurring thought—that her life is utterly useless, and that she is unable to devote herself actively to the service of God, and that misery and unhappiness surround her, and that she cannot be so pure as many who, living in the world, are not shut up, so to speak, with only their own heart’s corruptions to brood over. She is taught that all these serious failings are more than atoned for by the mere fact that she has made a solemn profession of poverty, chastity, and obedience. But to proceed.
“He may be consoled that he has eternally consecrated to the Lord the root of his actions in such a way that they all bear the threefold character of a profound religion, ardent generosity (?), and eternal attachment to that which is good. We may reasonably suppose that on its entrance into religion, by making profession of the vows, the Christian soul obtains remission of all its sins. Not that the religious profession, considered in itself, possesses a sacramental virtue, operating by its own intrinsic and independent office, or that it can, like baptism and penance, blot out the stain of sin; but if it be sincere, it is a most excellent act of perfect charity, which unites us very closely to God, by an effectual outpouring of His sanctifying grace, and by an abundant remission of those temporal punishments which remain due to sin after its guilt has been forgiven.
“Before dismissing this noble subject of religious profession let us not omit to observe that the vow of obedience is its chief feature. That which is done by obedience is more agreeable to God than that which is performed by one’s own will. Your Superior is like a sacred vessel wherein God has placed for us all His desires and graces, and the true proof of religious sanctity, the sure token of perfection, is the perfection of obedience to all Superiors.
“Need we add that obedience has its limits. There are, firstly, things forbidden by the law of God, which a Superior cannot prescribe without injustice, since, being then no longer subordinate to the Divine will, he can no longer serve as a medium between him and his subject. They are without the pale of obedience, and the Superior has no authority to enforce them. The subject, therefore, is not to act contrary to the law of God, or to the rule which they profess to follow; in such obedience would be illicit.”
I must make a few observations on this matter of obedience. Notice how, by such an obedience, a professed nun (or monk) transfers to an erring mortal the whole responsibility of her actions. She has to find out God’s will through the Superior’s. The Superior is to her in the place of God, and practically his law and order becomes for her God’s law and order. How can she remonstrate, when the Superior commands what is against the law of God, when she has been taught that she can only learn what is God’s law through the medium of the Superior? And if she dared to resist her Superior’s will because she felt it to be leading her astray, do you suppose that the Superior would ever acknowledge himself or herself to be in the wrong? And is it likely that the poor nun would escape some terrible penance for daring to doubt the propriety of any behest?
But the last paragraph, commencing “Need we add that obedience has its limits,” and closing with “Such obedience would be illicit,” was carefully hidden, for Father Ignatius had told his nuns to paste a piece of paper over it, since he could not agree with the Romish doctor! He required an absolute and unconditional obedience, and believed it impossible for a Superior to prescribe any law that was against the law of God.
St. Alphonsus Liguori has always been considered an extreme exponent of Romish doctrines; but now we find a man holding orders in the Church of England going even beyond Liguori. I beg my readers to make a special note of this. I will now finish my extracts from the writing on foreign note-paper inserted in the book I am about to review.
“The religious is a person consecrated for ever to the divine service” (mark this “for ever”—a prisoner for life, my friends, nothing more or less), “and who cannot disgrace his high dignity without committing sacrilege. He has solemnly vowed that he will belong to no other but God; he has devoted himself to follow after eternal wisdom in order to become perfect, and the religious, in sinning, has stripped himself of his justice and merits and become a shameful ruin, a horrid corpse.”
(This is enough to frighten a poor, timid girl, and to bind her in chains to her prison.)
“The spiritual dangers of the religious life are not to be attributed to the vows, but rather to the fault, of him who, by changing his mind, transgresses those vows. Do not then, under the pressure of most cruel temptations”—(who makes them cruel? Read the experiences of Miss Povey or any other nun who has had the good fortune to escape, or to be turned out of her prison, and you will find out)—“regret the profession you have made in the fulness of liberty”—(remember that previous to profession the Superiors have cunningly woven their entangling web around the nun, and the profession may be compared to the spider, after he has secured his prey, carrying the poor helpless fly into the inner precincts of his home)—“but rather behave the more diligently to subject your impatient nature to so salutary a yoke.” Mark the word “salutary.” Is it not a well-attested fact that many nuns go mad from the unnatural confinement within convent walls?
I can only hope to give a very short review of this book, which was placed in the hands of a nun who was a member of the Church of England. I have not time for an elaborate or lengthy account of its contents. I do not think that it was only at Llanthony that this book was used, and it is to be feared that whilst the Feltham convent is now no longer under the wing of Father Ignatius, yet that, with the exception of unconditional obedience, the teaching there is as extreme and as Romish as at Llanthony, and yet I believe a clergyman, holding a licence to officiate in the diocese of London, acts as chaplain there. How long our bishops are going to allow and wink at this state of things, I know not! May God raise up many faithful men who will demand that the laws of our Protestant Church be complied with!
The above work is one of the so-called devotional books prescribed by Father Ignatius, to be used by the nuns under his control.
It is a Roman Catholic publication, in constant use in all the monastic and other institutions of that Church; was composed in Italian by Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorist Order, translated into English by the Rev. R. A. Coffin, a member of that order, and published by Burns & Oates, the leading Romish publishers in Great Britain.
The nature of this book may be readily ascertained from the fact that it presupposes the consecrated wafer to be really and truly Christ himself, and that it insists upon the Virgin Mary as being the Saviour of every one that is saved. For, in the beginning of the introduction, Liguori says:
“Our holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the consecrated host Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread”; and, further on, speaking of the visits to the Virgin, he says:
“The opinion of St. Bernard is well known and generally believed. It is that God dispenses no graces otherwise than through the hands of Mary.… Hence, Father Suarez declares that it is now the sentiment of the universal Church that ‘the intercession of Mary is not only useful, but even necessary to obtain graces,’” and he concludes:
“Do you then be also careful to always join to your daily visit to the most blessed Sacrament a visit to the most holy Virgin Mary in some church, or at least before a devout image of her in your own house.”
Hence on page 25 we find a prayer to the Virgin, beginning with the words:
“Most holy immaculate Virgin, and my mother ‘Mary,’” in which she is styled the “queen of the world,” “the hope, the refuge of sinners,” and the following blasphemous expressions are used:
“I worship thee, O great queen, and I thank thee for all the graces which thou hast hitherto granted me; and especially I thank thee for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved.… I place all my hopes in thee, and I confide my salvation to thy care, etc.”
Hence throughout the book occur such expressions as the following:
“Sole refuge of sinners, have mercy on me.” “O Mary, grant me the grace always to have recourse to thee.” “Hail, our hope.” “My hope, help me.” “Therefore, my lady, and my hope, if thou dost not help me, I am lost.” “All who are saved obtain salvation through thee; thou then, O Mary, hast to save me,” and the like.
Extracts might be piled upon extracts, but enough have been given to show the nature and tendency of the book. Yet this book the nuns, under Father Ignatius’s jurisdiction, are induced to keep as a constant companion.
It does not seem necessary to say anything further on the head of this book: for its antichristian nature must be apparent to all students of the pure word of God. In Christ alone is salvation, and He alone is our Mediator between God and man.—(Editor.)