He made an ingenious allusion to her love of the cross, by comparing the virtues for which she was most remarkable with the emblem of man's redemption. "Her humility," he said, "was the foot of the cross, which had a deep foundation in the earth, and solidified her other virtues, while poverty and mortification were the arms of the cross, and embraced a great number of holy and pious practices." He then felicitated the Sisters on the glory of their mother, and promised they should partake of it, according to the words of our Lord addressed to His apostles before his passion; "You who have remained with me in my temptations," etc. "Even so does your venerable mother address you from heaven my dear Sisters," he said, "'you who have been faithful to humilations, and sufferings, which is the only heritage I leave you on earth, be faithful to the end, and you shall partake of my present glory.' And she further addresses you in the words of the Gospel, 'I have begotten you in Jesus Christ.' 'It is I,' your departed mother continues to say, 'who have assembled you as a company of Christian Amazons, ready to battle with the enemy of your salvation, not only in the cloister, but amid the tumult of the world.' Labor faithfully, therefore, in your glorious vocation, because you are the children of a saint. Do honor to your mother, walk in her footsteps, and perpetuate her earthly labors. This is an assured means by which to please your celestial Spouse, and participate with her in the glory and merit of the apostolic ministry."
It was not difficult for him to eulogize the courage of Sister Bourgeois, which had certainly been marvellous, and far above what is common to her sex, the two wings that carried her onward and upward being faith and confidence in God. He said her faith resembled that of Abraham, because like him, she heard the voice of God saying, "Leave thy country and thy kindred, and I will make thee the mother of a numerous posterity, and of a chosen nation." Imitating the patriarch she did not hesitate a moment, but came to the New World, poor and unprotected well knowing that He who inspired the design was powerful enough to give success to the undertaking. "You, my dear Sisters, are the children of Mary's faithful client," continued the speaker, "you are the first fruits of the new people of God, of whom she was the spiritual mother." He concluded his discourse, as he had commenced it, by commending his auditors to the care of their good mother, praying that she would obtain for them by her intercession, a love of the Holy Cross, a great zeal for the salvation of souls, and an unbounded confidence in God, which is the source of all true courage.
"Every time you assemble in this place," he said, "to perform your religious exercises, raise your eyes to her heart, the sanctuary of so many virtues, and formerly the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. Imagine you hear her addressing to you these last words of the Apostle:
"My children, my joy, and my crown, persevere in the spirit of fervor, take care to advance in perfection, and procure the sanctification of all confided to your care, so that, having been on earth united by the bonds of charity, and the other virtues proper to our state, we may not be separated in Heaven."
Such, as we have given them in this chapter, are a few of the pious maxims and admonitions by which Sister Bourgeois endeavored to lead her spiritual daughters in the paths of perfection, always proposing to them the example of Mary and inspiring them with the most sublime views of faith, in order to keep them constantly in the presence of God. But we refrain from multiplying extracts, as her spiritual writings, maxims, and reflections would require a separate volume to do them justice, and we earnestly hope that such a volume may be forthcoming at no distant day, as it would prove a lasting benefit to any religious community, so practical, so simple, and yet so sublime are the workings of Sister Bourgeois' mind, having been directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER XIII
A RECAPITULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE LIFE OF SISTER BOURGEOIS.
On reading this life, one cannot help being struck with wonder and admiration, at the great work Sister Bourgeois undertook and accomplished. We behold a simple country girl forming the then astonishing project of going to Canada, in the hope of founding a city bearing the name of Mary, there to teach religion and morality to persons of her own sex. What seemingly insurmountable obstacles presented themselves to her view. She must undertake a voyage of many thousand leagues, must traverse immense and unknown seas, must expect to live in the wilds of primeval forests, exposed to the fury of cruel savages, who unceasingly attacked the weak ramparts of Ville-Marie. And what means did she possess to surmount these difficulties? Had she credit? Had she any available human support? Was she high-born or powerful? Had she wealth at her disposal? To all these questions we must answer, no. Her hopes of success centered only in an unbounded confidence in the providence of God. Young Margaret possessed the strength of soul and resolution necessary for great designs, the noble intrepidity that rises superior to danger, the firmness that obstacles cannot shake, the fertile and ingenious mind always equal to the occasion, and a sublime spirit of piety and devotion that was useful everywhere. While she felt herself in a manner pushed towards Canada, she prayed unceasingly, consulted spiritual directors, listened respectfully to the voice of her superiors, and listened interiorly to the voice of heaven. Nothing could arrest or retard her progress, and she fearlessly set out for the new New World that claimed her zeal. At the age of ten she gathered around her little children to form them to virtues. At a later period she was to establish a religious Congregation in the Church, whose members should aspire to the highest sanctity. Scarcely had the vessel on which she embarked set sail, than her zeal was called into active service. She induced the entire ship's crew to unite in daily prayer and pious reading. Several soldiers falling sick, she nursed them with sisterly charity, eight of them dying in her arms. Arriving at her destination, she finds no home ready to receive her, and takes up her dwelling in a stable, which is for her a happy omen, as it resembles the stable of Bethlehem. There she opens school; from thence she daily departs to perform innumerable good works. But the harvest ripens quickly, and the laborers are few. Overflowing with zeal she again traverses the broad sea in search of help, and leads back many generous volunteers. Again she returns to procure letters patent for the consolidation of her establishment. In the court of a king, in the centre of a camp, she solicits the favor and obtains it. On returning to the city of her love, she resolves on securing ecclesiastical approbation for the rules of her institute, and for this purpose travels on foot through blinding snowstorms. A hundred times would she have crossed the continent rather than fail to accomplish the will of God, and her courageous zeal was eventually blessed by heaven, a crowd of devoted young girls ranging themselves under her standard.
The capital and provinces were alike eager to obtain a foundation of her Sisters, and in a few years all Canada experienced the happy effects of her institute, which for nearly two centuries has not ceased to spread about the odor of sanctity and the knowledge of our holy religion. Being at all times desirous to do good, she established temporarily a House of Providence, for virtuous poor girls, where they might be saved from the snares of a treacherous world. Placing her confidence in God more than in man, she undertook to build a plain, substantial house, to serve the triple purpose of convent, boarding and day-school, and though at the start she had neither money nor credit, the building was completed. At another time she was inspired to build a church, and the church was built. Travelling in Paris she was reduced to extreme poverty, and heaven sent a man from the depth of a Canadian forest to pay her an almost forgotten debt. An establishment of her daughters was demanded for Quebec, and she permitted them to go and live; in a stable pro tem., until better accommodations were offered. The intended property at Quebec having been unjustly contested, she relinquished her rights, and an unknown hand gave her sufficient money to make a clear purchase. But not only was her confidence in God most remarkable; she possessed all other virtues in an eminent degree. In youth she made a vow of chastity, and preserved that beautiful virtue amidst many dangerous occasions, compelling a regiment of soldiers to respect her, although she was frequently the only woman on board. Yet of all her personal virtues none was more extraordinary than her spirit of mortification. She seemed to live for the express purpose of afflicting her body, using her food always too hot or too cold, mixing ashes with her drink, sitting at meals in a painful position, sleeping on the bare earth with a wooden plank for her pillow, and taking little sleep at that. She never approached the fire in winter, and frequently made use of disciplines, hair-shirts, and a frightful crown of thorns, that she concealed on her head. How truly she hated her flesh such severe penances as these prove. When summoned to Quebec by her bishop, she made the journey on foot, through ice and snow, often wading across Canadian swamps. When she undertook a foundation she carried the furniture on her own shoulders, saying with Solomon: "I do not ask for the community either wealth, honors, or the pleasures of this life." Of her holy resignation also we have many striking instances. When all was ready to build the church of Bon Secours, knowing that nothing could be more useful to the young colony than such a work, and that unnecessary delays would ruin the material, yet when ecclesiastical superiors forbade her to continue, she instantly obeyed, without murmur or reply. The Bishop refusing for many years to approve her rule, which was nevertheless an epitome of divine wisdom, she ceased importuning, and silently awaited the time appointed by Divine Providence. In one short hour she lost by fire her convent, and everything it contained, the bodies of two dear Sisters being consumed in the flames. Yet her resignation triumphed over fire and death. For several years she experienced the most frightful interior desolation, neither prayers, reflections, communions, nor spiritual advice affording her the least relief. Yet in silent submission she drank the chalice to the dregs, without one atom of human consolation.
What afflicted her most daring this ordeal was not the fear of hell, to which she believed herself condemned; no, it was lest she should be reduced to the horrible alternative of hating God, whom she wished to love in time, if she could not in eternity. Humility was another of her characteristic virtues, for, after she had solidly established her institute, and formed the Sisters in her spirit, her chief desire was to be exempted from all honorable functions in the community, to become the last and least in the holy obedience. They complied reluctantly with her desires in such matters during the remaining years of her saintly life, but all respected her, and remembered with gratitude how much they owed her. She herself recalled only her sins and infidelities. Such shining virtues were the result of her extraordinary devotion to the Mother of God, to whose service she had consecrated herself from childhood, and to whose glorified earthly actions she had united her own. Believing that Magdalen and Martha were the great models of religious life, she regarded Mary Immaculate as their Mistress, and loved to represent her instructing young virgins, and assisting to form the Church of Jesus Christ. She came to Canada for the express purpose of living in a city named after Mary—Ville-Marie. She called her Congregation Notre Dame—Our Lady—and wished that everything connected with it should bear the name of Mary. But the Queen of Heaven did not allow herself to be outdone in generosity. The statue shone with celestial light before the eyes of young Margaret at Troyes. On the Feast of the Assumption this privileged soul saw in the Holy Host an infant a thousand times more beautiful than the children of men, looking love into her eyes. In a dream she saw as distinctly as in life one of Mary's most devoted clients, M. de Maisonneuve, and finally the Blessed Virgin assured her personally of protection by the solemn words, "Go to Canada. I will never abandon you." If charity is the queen of virtues, Sister Bourgeois practised it to heroism. In girlhood she courageously put on her father's burial-shroud with her own hands, which charitable office for the poor became afterward a favorite duty of her life. Being informed that a few reckless libertines were leading off a young girl to make her the victim of their debaucheries, she followed them with a crucifix in her hands, and despite their menaces to kill her, heroically snatched from them their prey. A soldier once being benumbed with cold, she gave him her only mattress; another received her bed, and two other unfortunates her comforters, her own couch in consequence being the cold ground. A Sister having fallen into her agony, the holy Foundress, who was far advanced in years, cried out to God: "Take me, O Lord, I am old and useless. This young Sister may yet render you great service." The noble sacrifice was accepted, the Sister in her agony recovering, while the Foundress was stricken unto death—a victim of the most heroic charity. We need not be astonished at the extraordinary brightness of her face after death, nor at the wonderful cures effected by touching her body, nor at the red blood that trickled from the burned relic of her heart. All is possible, all is easy to charity.