“My faith was not of sufficient india-rubber-like expansion to embrace the miraculous apparition; but I could easily understand and appreciate the fact, that the young lady had been beautiful and lovely, and that her death was regretted by those who knew and loved her.
“After a few remarks, mutually exchanged, upon indifferent topics, the Superior wrote a permit for Wednesday, and we rose to go. At parting, she pressed my hand in hers, and again exclaimed,
“‘Ah! what resemblance; I should think it was herself: farewell, my daughter, and if, in after years, the world and its frivolities satiate and disgust you,—if your soul becomes weary with the cares of life,—come then to the peaceful shade of the cloister; here you will find quiet and repose.’
“‘I am too young, yet, to have become tired of a world which I am only beginning to see.’
“‘So thought I, at your age; not so do I regard it now; and I look back with regret upon those years spent in idle pleasures, which I should have dedicated to the service of God. Few young people possess sufficient self-denial to practice the austerities of religion. Lady Lavona was a brilliant exception: she left a high station, the pomp and glitter of nobility, to bear her cross and follow her Saviour.’
“There was something solemn and impressive in the look and manner of the Abbess, as she spoke these grave words of advice; her face, marble-like when in repose, lit up when she spoke, like those beautiful Chinese vases, which only show the flowers painted upon the exterior when filled with water within.
“‘Good morning, mother Cecilia.’
“‘Farewell, daughter: the peace of God be with you.’ The attendant nun conducted us back the way we came, the heavy portal opened and shut behind us, and we directed our steps homeward.
“The appearance and conversation of the Superior made a deep impression on my mind. All the way home I thought of what she had said about the lady whom I resembled; her description of her loveliness and purity of life had interested me, still I had no desire to emulate her example of sanctity, and become a nun; I have always thought the life of a religieuse a useless one; to be pure, virtuous, and truly religious, it is not necessary to seclude oneself from society within a convent’s walls, perform penance and say prayers a hundred times a day; the duties of a sincere, upright and active life, are the best offerings we can make our Almighty Father, and, I feel confident, the most acceptable him.