The Catholic World, Vol. 10, October, 1869 to March, 1870Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 10, October, 1869 to March, 1870
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
I saw a pretty picture last evening--Sister Rose standing on a stool
near the fountain of the court, surrounded by a group of gay young
ladies, to whom she was preaching. She looked like a statue of St.
Angèle. Sister Rose is a lay sister, wholly uneducated, but with
a certain piety of a mystical nature which has given her quite a
reputation for sanctity. She has an oval face of pale olive hue, jet
black eyes with an indrawn look as if conscious of some interior
Presence, and regular features, with a delicacy and refinement quite
remarkable considering her laborious life. She never meets you
without a smile and a "word for Jesus," as she says. The young ladies
of the boarding-school love and revere her so much that they often
lay violent hands upon her and force her to preach to them, which
she does with a smile and the same inward look, and with a grace of
gesture peculiar to her country. As her discourse was in _patois_,
(one of the _langues d'Oc_, and the tongue of Jasmin, who lives at
Agen,) which all understand here, I was not benefited thereby; but
her appearance and her saintly face, with its gentle, serious smile,
were impressive. The exuberance of her audience was soon subdued.
There are a good many Spaniards in this city who are exiled on
account of their political opinions, being Carlists. They had a
solemn mass of requiem chanted in our chapel, the other day, for the
repose of the soul of Don Carlos. Nearly thirty Spanish gentlemen
and some ladies were present. A bier was placed in the centre of
the chapel and surrounded by lights, as if the body were there, and
on the pall was placed a wreath of laurel. The officiating priest,
too, was a Spaniard. I looked with interest on these exiles from
their native land, and my heart grew warm toward them; they were
extremely devout during mass, and I saw many of them wipe away their
fast-falling tears. I could not repress my own; for separation from
the fatherland seemed a bond of sympathy I could not resist. Thus,
when I am gone, and my remains lie in a foreign land, may some kind
souls gather together in the sanctuary of God to chant the _Requiem
æternam_ for my tried soul!
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