The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois

by Anonymous

It does not seem sufficient in recording the life of this remarkable woman, to speak only of her public and exterior actions, leaving her interior dispositions and the religious perfection of her institute in the shade. The actions hitherto related are beyond the power of the greater number either to perform or imitate, as they would also be out of their sphere of usefulness. Therefore, without entering into her spirit, they would only serve as sterile or fruitless objects of admiration. Accordingly we see that not only did God ordain her to be the mother of a numerous posterity of Christian virgins, but also their teacher and their model. It may be said of Sister Bourgeois, as of the Spouse in the Canticles, that she spread abroad the odor of her virtues, in order to leave a sure route of salvation and perfection to those who would follow in her train. Yet, all the glory of the king's daughter was within. There are many principles by which we may judge of the excellence and perfection of an institute or congregation. We may consider it in itself, as seen by the rules that govern it, and the sanctity and merits of its Foundress. We may compare it with other holy institutes to which it may bear resemblance. We may regard the end proposed in its establishment, and the means by which to attain that end, or the model on which its members must be formed. Finally, we may examine the qualities and dispositions exacted from those who aspire to perfection in it, and by the application of such tests we can easily judge of the excellence of the Congregation of Notre Dame. A careful perusal of the rules complied by the Foundress will convince any one that prudence, charity, zeal, and the spirit of God dictated them. But to meditate on them with care, and reduce them to constant practice, is the precious stone mentioned in the gospel, for the purchase of which it is necessary to sell all and leave all. However, it must be confessed that, as perfect as the rule is, it does not reflect all the holy sentiments with which Sister Bourgeois was animated, as she always practised more than she prescribed for others. When, by a prudent and just condescension to the weakness of her children, the greater number of whom, despite their good will, were not able to practise the austerities her zeal recommended, it was found necessary to soften this rigor the rejection of the old practices and penances was one of the most severe trials of her life. It was this condescension, as well as the consciousness of her unworthiness, that made her sigh to be discharged from the office of superior, and it was only her zeal for the glory of God that supported her under the trial. Her own words are: "It seems to me that God has made me sufficiently understand, by the thousand accidents that happened from time to time, as also by the interior warnings of divine grace, that he is not satisfied with us, and I confess that, through cowardice, I have departed from the path marked out for me, by Mary, our dear Mother, who has been the ever present, though invisible superior of this house. I do not wish to abuse the patience of God any longer, and shall endeavor that His will be accomplished, no matter what is the cost of my submission." It must not be forgotten that she regarded herself as the assistant of the community. She never lost sight of the fact that the establishment of the Congregation was not her work, and that she was only a vile instrument in the hands of God. She believed firmly that the interior government of it would always be under the direction of the Blessed Virgin. Neither had she forgotten the divine favors she received in youth, which were, foreshadowings of what God required from her in after-life for His glory. She had always present to her mind the wonderful chain of circumstances that led her to Canada, there to establish devotion to the Queen of Heaven, and form young hearts on that exalted model. She frequently called to mind the promise of protection the Blessed Virgin gave her before coming to the New World, of the fulfilment of which she had frequent and sensible proofs. It is quite remarkable that, in the writings left by this humble and admirable woman, she does not make use of a single word that could lead one to believe she had personally anything to do with the establishment of the Congregation, desiring, no doubt, that it should be directly attributed to the Queen of Angels, whom she wished to be recognized as its Foundress and first Mother. She was often heard to declare that her highest earthly ambition was to induce the Mother of God to conduct her community on the same plan that she conducted the rising Church, after the passion of the Redeemer, when she became the common Mother, refuge, and consolation of the afflicted disciples and their followers. On making a comparison between her institute and other religious orders, she expresses herself as follows:

"The ever Blessed Virgin in prophetic spirit knew, from the very dawn of Christianity, that God would eventually establish communities in His Church, to engage the faithful to practise more perfectly, not only the commandments, but the evangelical counsels. It appears that this good Mother has manifested her designs, and extended her protection in a very special manner, in favor of the smallest and least of all religious communities, viz., that established in Ville-Marie, which, in order to maintain the excellence of its origin, has gathered from other religious institutes their most perfect maxims."

Acting on this principle the holy Foundress borrowed from the Chartreuse a love of solitude and silence, from St. Francis of Assissi the virtue of poverty, from St. Francis of Paul the love of humility, from the Carmelites the practise of penances and austerities, from St Francis de Sales the exercise of sweetness and charity as exemplified in the houses of the Visitation, from the Hospitalieres devotion to the poor and sick, and from the noble order of the Jesuits zeal for the salvation of souls. Her institute is remarkable for the charity and zeal by which its members are animated, their zeal being in a certain sense the spirit of the priesthood, which is par excellence the order of Jesus Christ himself, who was the High Priest of the New Law. The Sisters of the Congregation are bound to co-operate with the pastors of the Church in the discharge of such duties of charity as come within the spirit of their rule, making, however, a specialty of instructing youth, to which Sister Bourgeois devoted all her energies from girlhood. Her zeal was indeed a consuming fire, for she had no sooner learned that there were pagan tribes to instruct and convert in the New World, than she sought means to go there to assist in their connversion.

A thousand obstacles did not dishearten her. When there were no priests on board during the early voyages, she supplied their places as far as woman could, with the zeal of a St. Ambrose, frequently in her peculiar circumstances praying, with the dying and for the dead by land and sea. Christian or heathen, French or Indian, were alike to her; she assisted all, her modesty forming a beautiful rampart around her, that rendered her person sacred in positions where less divinely gifted women might fear to stand. Such were the particular and general views of this Christian heroine in the establishment of her Congregation, and such was the peculiar character of her institute. We give an extract from her writings on the subject: "As the devil is very careful to take a stand, and be on the look-out, at the beginning of all good works, knowing well that a fervent community is capable of effecting much good, sometimes even of arresting the anger of God, armed against sinners, let us fear that this arch-enemy, by his cunning and subtlety, may not seek to destroy our institute. Let us be careful that he does not withdraw from it the spirit of piety, simplicity, poverty, recollection, and mortification, interior and exterior, in order to introduce, under specious pretexts, the inevitable ruin of a soft, relaxed life."

To avoid so dreadful a misfortune, behold the means of defence this good mother presents to her daughters:

"The Blessed Virgin desired to continue the work of God upon earth, and we are pledged to assist her by laboring for the education of youth. The Blessed Virgin prayed for the accomplishment of the prophesies, and the deliverance of the holy souls, who in limbo awaited the coming of the Just One, and we are bound to make fervent prayer for the conversion of sinners, and the souls in purgatory. The Blessed Virgin entered the temple, at the age of three years, to perfect herself in that school of virtue; the daughters of the Congregation, in imitation of that act, consider themselves pupils of Mary during their novitiate. The Blessed Virgin was abstemious and mortified in her food, and in all the other necessaries of life; the Sisters should follow her example and mortify themselves in eating, drinking, sleeping, speaking, and clothing, using nothing but what is absolutely necessary, each one at the same time consulting her strength and constitution. The angel of God saluted Mary while she was at prayer; the Sisters should pray fervently for the graces necessary to enable them to discharge their duties properly, and that among their pupils Almighty God may sometimes select His spouses.

"When the Blessed Virgin had given her consent to the angel, and had really become the Mother of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, she testified her gratitude to the Eternal Father, by promptly corresponding to the designs of His grace, and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, that she might be an instrument in the sanctification of the precursor, and carry grace and salvation to the house of Zachary; it is necessary that on the missions the Sisters propose to themselves the sanctification of little children, and give edification to all classes of persons that they may be recognized as the true daughters of Mary.

"When the days were accomplished that she should bring forth her Divine Child, the angels announced that blessed birth to lowly shepherds, as well as to high-born kings, and the Blessed Virgin received with equal affection the honors paid her Divine Son by the humble herdsman and the Oriental sages; so should the Sisters have an equal regard for the poor as well as for the rich, treating all alike, as the children of Mary.

"The Blessed Virgin continued to dwell in her poor house at Nazareth in privacy and silence, until the calling of the Apostles, to whom she was a sort of mistress of novices by the charm of her virtues; the Sisters, before applying themselves to the instruction of externs, or the duties of the schools, should prepare for it, by the exercise of prayer, pious reading, mortification of the senses, and all other virtues proper to their state. The Blessed Virgin followed her Divine Son to the foot of the cross, like a good mother who could not lose sight of him; the Sisters should always keep themselves as much as possible in the presence of God, in imitation of their glorious model."

Although the rules of religious institutes are not intended for general reading, yet the following extracts are so simple and practical that we think their translation excusable: