Praise we now the Father,
With the glorious Son;
Praise to God the Spirit
Likewise shall be done. Amen.
During the singing of this hymn the newly made novice kneels, and all the sisters come, with lighted tapers, to kiss and embrace their new sister; after which a procession is formed, tapers are carried, incense is burnt, and these words are sung:
The wise virgins took oil in their lamps; they went in with Him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
These words were scarcely finished, when a door was suddenly and loudly slammed; and it seemed hard to realize that we were still in the flesh, and there came to my heated imagination some strange expectation of the beatific vision.
No wonder that brains are turned, and young and inexperienced hearts are deluded and led astray by such an imposing ceremony, which no words of mine can adequately describe. You must have been on the spot fully to realize it.
I would impress very strongly on all who read these pages a fact that I think is not generally known, viz., that there is in the convent no difference whatever between a novice and a black-veiled or fully professed nun with regard to vows or rule, save that the latter vows for life, and the novice for a time. Yet the novice believes that she has no more right in the sight of God to go back from her vows than a life-vowed nun has.