The Catholic World, Vol. 06, October, 1867 to March, 1868.Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 06, October, 1867 to March, 1868.
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
In this house there were fifty choir nuns, eight lay sisters, and
a large school of young ladies. Wherever Madame Louise went, she
was accompanied by the Mère Sainte Rose and the little Eléonore
Dombrousha, the child of her adoption. In this community Louise
was greatly beloved. There was about her a sweetness and a
simplicity, a self-forgetfulness and charity for others which
gave her an inexpressible charm. She was truly noble in character
as well as in birth. She gave that example which God intends
those highly born (as we call it) to give--that of more closely
resembling Him whose birth was indeed a royal and noble one.
{118}
During her stay in Norfolk, the Princess Louise suffered greatly
from bad health. The trials she had undergone, the anxiety of
mind, her long journeys, and the severity of the observances to
which she had bound herself had their effect upon her frame. More
than once there was such cause for serious alarm that the Prince
de Condé and Duc de Bourbon came to see her. It is probable, too,
that the English climate, and especially the part of the country
in which she was living, might not have agreed with her; the
convent, besides, was not sufficiently large, and it was a
favorable change in all respects when the community removed to
Heath. Here Madame Louise met with one whose acquaintance she
conceived to be one of the greatest blessings of her life.
The Society of Jesus was not as yet restored to the church; but
many of its ancient members were living, and showed by their
lives what had been the heavenly spirit in which they had been
trained. Preeminently among these was the Père de la Fontaine,
and it was to this holy man Louise became known while in England.
He often said Mass at the convent, and frequently saw the
princess. Under his direction, the soul of Louise made rapid
progress toward perfection. He understood what God required from
her, and taught her how to correspond with God. Among other
valuable advice which he gave her, and which she committed to
paper, the following is remarkable: "A spouse of Jesus Christ
ought absolutely to avoid all communication with Protestant
society. Their want of delicacy, in general, on those points
which wound a heart consecrated to God in all purity, and their
unbelief, often amounting to aversion, for the great sacrament of
the love of Jesus Christ, are two powerful reasons for keeping at
a distance from them. A truly religious soul has reason to fear
presumption and all its attendant evils, if she allows herself,
without real necessity, to be drawn into such dangerous
intercourse."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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