Memoirs of the Princesse de Ligne, Vol. 1 (of 2) — John Shaqi
Memoirs of the Princesse de Ligne, Vol. 1 (of 2)Massalska, Apolonia Helena
History
Memoirs of the Princesse de Ligne, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Massalska, Apolonia Helena
Ligne, Charles Joseph, prince de, 1735-1814; Massalska, Apolonia Helena, 1763-1815
[13] Even the princesses of royal blood conformed to this usage; the
Duchesse de Bourbon née Princesse d’Orleans was educated at Penthemont.
[14] Cîteaux, a celebrated monastery situated in the diocese of
Châlon-sur-Saône, five miles from Dijon, was founded in 1098 by Saint
Robert. The rules of Cîteaux were drawn up in 1107. The Abbeys of La
Ferté, of Pontigny, of Clairvaux, and of Morimond were termed the four
daughters of Cîteaux. Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, gave his name
to the monks of Cîteaux, now called Bernardines.
[15] The Cistercian nuns are as ancient an order as the monks. Saint
Hourbelle, mother of Saint Bernard, and several other ladies of rank,
adopted the order of Cîteaux, and were celebrated for their virtue
and austerity. But they did not long retain the favour of their
early piety. They acquired great wealth and, as the annals of the
convent state, “their iniquity sprouted up from their fatness and
their obesity.” They possessed numerous convents under the name of
“Bernardines.”
[16] In this stone was enchased a large gold medal, given by H.R.H.
Madame, on which was engraved in bas-relief the effigy of the Princess.
On the reverse she was represented seated on two lions, holding in her
right hand a medallion with the design of the church. Round this medal
was inscribed the following legend: “_Diis genita et genetrix Deum._”
II
The _Memoirs_ of Hélène Massalska--Her entry at the
Abbaye-aux-Bois--The dormitory--Illness of Hélène--Sister Bichon
and paradise--_La Grise_ and Mother Quatre Temps’s punishments--The
order of truth--Wars of the “blues” and the “reds”--The Comte de
Beaumanoir’s scullion--Madame de Rochechouart.
But it is time to let the little Princess describe in her own
ingenuous and charming language the details of her admission to the
Abbaye-aux-Bois. She pompously heads her copy-book with the following
title, which we reproduce as it stands in the original.[17]
MEMOIRS OF APOLLINE-HÉLÈNE MASSALSKA IN THE ROYALE ABBAYE DE
NOTRE-DAME-AUX-BOIS, RUE DE SÈVE, FAUBOURG SAINT GERMAIN.
“I was received on a Thursday at the Abbaye-aux-Bois. Madame Geoffrin,
my uncle’s friend, took me first to the Abbess’s parlour, which is
very handsome, for it is painted white with gold stripes. Madame de
Rochechouart came to the parlour also, and also Mother Quatre Temps,
for she is the head-mistress of the youngest class, to which I am to
belong.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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