The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret BourgeoisAnonymous
History
The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
Anonymous
Bourgeoys, Marguerite, Saint, 1620-1700
It is to be regretted that these contract papers have not been preserved
in the archives of the community. As poor as Sister Bourgeois was, she
did not wish to receive _money_ with either party, but M. Chatel would
not permit his daughter to depart without providing her an abundant
supply of clothing, and about two hundred livres in specie. He also gave
her letters of credit, addressed to persons of distinction, who resided
in the several places through which she must pass, so that, if she
wished to return to Troyes, she might be able to procure the necessary
funds. As to Sister Raisin, she was obliged to go to Paris to get her
father's consent, flattering herself it would be easily obtained.
Astonished at the zealous courage of these Christian heroines, a young
student of Troyes determined to leave all for Christ, and go with them
to Canada to teach the boys, as the Sisters intended to teach none but
girls. He was attacked by a violent hemorrhage during the voyage, and
died in the Sisters' house, two years after his arrival. He was known as
Brother Louis, but was not the Brother Louis who transacted business for
Sister Bourgeois in France at a later period.
To return again to the manuscript. She says: "I and my three companions
started from Troyes to Paris in an old worn-out conveyance, that we
hired for our own use, but had not gone far before we were compelled to
stop, as the owners of the _public_ carriages, who controlled the road,
would not permit a private conveyance like ours to interfere with their
traffic. We were therefore obliged to return to Troyes, where M. Chatel
obtained for us permission to continue the journey. As we had to travel
on Sunday, we requested the driver to stop at some village where we
could assist at Mass. This he very disobligingly refused to do. We
passed before a church pretty soon, however, and one of the wheels
breaking, he stopped against his will, to mend it, and we assisted at
the Holy Sacrifice while he worked at the broken wheel. On our arrival
in Paris, M. Raisin would not permit his daughter to go to Canada, and
stubbornly refused to see her; nor had she the courage to present
herself before him. She could only prevail through the intercession of
friends, and in this way was successful, as he finally gave his consent,
a contract being ratified in her case also. I could not prevent his
offering one thousand livres for her voyage, and, as I feared to
disoblige him by a refusal, I compromised, and accepted one hundred
crowns. However, this did not satisfy him, and he legally arranged to
pay to the community an annuity of thirty-five livres, being the
interest of the seven hundred livres I refused to accept. After his
death, his son, a member of the Legislative Assembly, added to this an
annuity of three hundred livres, interest on six thousand, which was
donated for three yearly Masses, for the repose of his father's soul,
which Masses are celebrated to this day on the 22d, 23d, and 24th of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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