Such was the testimony of the Archbishop of Quebec and the bishops of Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, St. Boniface, Kingston, Toronto, St. Hyacinth, Three Rivers, St. Germain, and Sandwich, given in the most solemn form.
The ten years of patient waiting had almost ended in 1877, and further steps could be taken. The documents were by a special permission opened, the life of the servant of God and her writings were proposed. It was then for the Holy See to decide whether they presented such a case that the cause of her beatification could be introduced, and the long law-suit, so to say, be commenced in which her life, writings, and miracles should be subjected to the severest scrutiny. The Sacred Congregation of Rites reported favorably, and one of the latest acts of the great Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., was:
“Our most Holy Father, Pope Pius IX., having deigned to permit on the 9th of September of last year that the question of the signature of the commission charged with introducing the cause of the servant of God, Sister Mary of the Incarnation, be brought up in the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in ordinary session, and without the participation and the vote of the consultors, although it is not ten years since the day of the presentation of the process of the ordinary in the Acts of the Congregation of Rites, and that the writings of the said servant of God have not been inquired into or examined;
“The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Aloysius Bilio, Prefect of the said congregation, in the name and in the absence of the Most Eminent Cardinal Bartolini, reporter of the cause, at the instance of the Rev. Benjamin Paquet, Private Camerlengo to his Holiness, and Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Quebec, designated as postulator in this cause, in view of the postulatory letters of a great number of cardinals of the holy Roman Church, of venerable prelates and persons illustrious by their ecclesiastical and civil dignity, to-day proposed at the session of the Sacred Rites, held at the Vatican, the discussion of the following question: ‘Should the commission of introduction of the cause, in the case and for the object in question, be signed?’
“The same Sacred Congregation, having maturely examined all things, having heard the address and report of Father Lorenzo Salvati, promoter of the faith, has decided to answer affirmatively, that is, that the commission should be signed, if such was the will of the Holy Father.—September 15, 1877.
“The undersigned secretary having then made a true report of all the foregoing to our Holy Father, Pope Pius IX., His Holiness ratified and confirmed the decision of the Sacred Congregation, and signed with his own hand the commission of introduction of the cause of the venerable servant of God, the said Mary of the Incarnation.—September 20, 1877.
“A., Bishop of Sabina,
Cardinal Bilio, Prefect.
”Placidus Ralli, Secretary.”
Years will be spent in the investigation; and meanwhile the hearts of the devout, not only in Canada but throughout this country, will turn with confidence to this wonderful and holy woman, this early propagator in the western world of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, soaring to the highest mystical contemplation, yet immersed in constant, active labor—a fitting patroness indeed for so many of us who find the best and holiest impulses of our lives choked and stifled by the thorns and brambles of earthly cares and duties. Her intercession will be as powerful as it has been, and it may be in God’s providence that confidence will be rewarded by some striking mark of favor to attest the sanctity of his servant.
The body of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation, at the time of the removal of the remains of the deceased members of the community to the new choir in 1724, was placed in a leaden coffin with those of Mme. de la Peltrie and Mother St. Joseph. They were again taken up in 1799 and placed under the communion screen. On the 30th of April, 1833, the ever-constant devotion to Mother Mary of the Incarnation led to another verification of her relics. The leaden coffin was found full of clear, limpid water, which was devoutly preserved as a relic of the holy foundress, and has been, under God, the instrument of many cures which are regarded as miraculous.