The edifying Death of St. Jane Frances de Chantal.
It was on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that this Saint was attacked by the first serious symptoms of her fatal illness. On the eve of the feast she was in the refectory, and after the blessing of the table she knelt down, and with her arms in the form of a cross repeated twice these words: O Mater Dei, memento mei. She then commented upon these words thus: 'Holy Mother of God, by your Immaculate Conception, remember me and assist me always, especially at the hour of my death.' She remained for a long time afterwards in the same posture, absorbed in profound recollection.
The following day she was confined to her bed to rise no more. Her illness increasing every hour, she knew that her end approached, and thought only of preparing herself to appear before God. She received the last Sacraments with striking fervour, and preserved her calmness and serenity amidst the tears and sobs of all the community. During her intense sufferings she was heard to address the following prayer to the Most Holy Virgin: 'O Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, defend me from the snares of the infernal enemy, and receive my soul into your hands at the moment of my death.' She kept a picture of her Protectress always near her bed; and when her speech failed she made great efforts to turn her eyes frequently towards this dear picture, and before she breathed her last asked to kiss it once more, and to have it buried with her in the tomb.
Prayer.—O Mary, the purest of Virgins! terrified at my weakness and at the dangers that surround me, I recommend to thy loving care with all confidence the chastity of my soul and body. Permit me not, O Queen of the Angels, to be defiled by the least stain after having been adorned with purity and innocence, like a vessel of honour and glory. Banish from my heart all sensual desires, evil thoughts, and irregular affections. To thy love, O my good Mother, do I confide my heart; purify it, render it worthy to be offered to thy Beloved Son, that, having here on earth imitated thee in the most beautiful of thy virtues, I may enjoy with thee for ever in heaven the happiness promised to the clean of heart. Amen.
Ejaculation.—Grant, O my God, that through Mary I may belong entirely to Jesus!
Practice.—If you should meet with any contradiction to-day, preserve your peace of soul.
[SIXTH DAY.]
THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN.
WE read in the Gospel that the Angel Gabriel visited Our Lady in the town of Nazareth; and, as the word 'Nazareth' signifies 'flowers,' well is the Church represented in this town! What, in fact, is the Church but a house or a town adorned with flowers? All actions performed according to her laws are as so many flowers. Mortifications, humiliations, prayers—in short, all pious exercises are acts of virtue, which, like most beautiful flowers, diffuse a pleasing fragrance before God. Most justly, then, may we call the Christian religion a garden of flowers, that are delightful to the sight and most salutary to those who breathe the air impregnated by their fragrance. Our Lady herself was a flower distinguished for beauty and excellence above all other flowers—a flower of incomparable fragrance, possessed of the power of producing many other flowers: Hortus conclusus, soror mea, sponsa—'Thou,' says the sacred Spouse in the Canticles, 'art a garden enclosed:' a garden all studded with the most magnificent flowers that can be produced. Now, tell me to whom belong so many charming and sweet-scented flowers, with which the Church is so gloriously adorned, but to the Most Holy Virgin, since they were produced by her example? It is through her that Holy Church is so well furnished with roses in the martyrs who were invincible in their constancy; with every kind of flower, in the confessors who were nursed in her bosom; and with sweet violets, in so many holy widows, who lowly, humble, and hidden, diffuse the most odoriferous sweetness. In fine, is it indeed not to her that belong, in a special manner, so many lilies of purity and spotless virginity, innocent souls, bright and clear as a resplendent mirror? There can be no doubt, that if so many virgins have consecrated their hearts and bodies to His Divine Majesty, by indissoluble vows, it was that they might imitate the example of the Most Holy Virgin.
She was the first to consecrate her body, her heart, and her whole self to God, by the vow of virginity. Hardly had she been drawn by God than she quickly drew after her a large number of souls who consecrated themselves to God in like manner, under her sacred auspices, in order that they might run in the way of inviolable chastity and virginity: Adducentur regi virgines post eam. You, beloved souls, were seen by the glorious Virgin, when she exclaimed: Curremus—'We shall run, thus assuring her Beloved that many would follow her standard, and that under her protection they might combat and vanquish every kind of enemy.