Books: The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
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Anon. >> The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
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"The ever Blessed Virgin in prophetic spirit knew, from the very dawn of
Christianity, that God would eventually establish communities in His
Church, to engage the faithful to practise more perfectly, not only the
commandments, but the evangelical counsels. It appears that this good
Mother has manifested her designs, and extended her protection in a very
special manner, in favor of the smallest and _least_ of all religious
communities, viz., that established in Ville-Marie, which, in order to
maintain the excellence of its origin, has gathered from other religious
institutes their most perfect maxims."
Acting on this principle the holy Foundress borrowed from the Chartreuse
a love of solitude and silence, from St. Francis of Assissi the virtue
of poverty, from St. Francis of Paul the love of humility, from the
Carmelites the practise of penances and austerities, from St Francis de
Sales the exercise of sweetness and charity as exemplified in the houses
of the Visitation, from the Hospitalieres devotion to the poor and sick,
and from the noble order of the Jesuits zeal for the salvation of souls.
Her institute is remarkable for the charity and zeal by which its
members are animated, their zeal being in a certain sense the spirit of
the priesthood, which is _par excellence_ the order of Jesus Christ
himself, who was the High Priest of the New Law. The Sisters of the
Congregation are bound to co-operate with the pastors of the Church in
the discharge of such duties of charity as come within the spirit of
their rule, making, however, a specialty of instructing youth, to which
Sister Bourgeois devoted all her energies from girlhood. Her zeal was
indeed a consuming fire, for she had no sooner learned that there were
pagan tribes to instruct and convert in the New World, than she sought
means to go there to assist in their connversion.
A thousand obstacles did not dishearten her. When there were no priests
on board during the early voyages, she supplied their places as far as
woman could, with the zeal of a St. Ambrose, frequently in her peculiar
circumstances praying, with the dying and for the dead by land and sea.
Christian or heathen, French or Indian, were alike to her; she assisted
_all_, her modesty forming a beautiful rampart around her, that rendered
her person sacred in positions where less divinely gifted women might
fear to stand. Such were the particular and general views of this
Christian heroine in the establishment of her Congregation, and such was
the peculiar character of her institute. We give an extract from her
writings on the subject: "As the devil is very careful to take a stand,
and be on the look-out, at the beginning of all good works, knowing well
that a fervent community is capable of effecting much good, sometimes
even of arresting the anger of God, armed against sinners, let us fear
that this arch-enemy, by his cunning and subtlety, may not seek to
destroy our institute. Let us be careful that he does not withdraw from
it the spirit of piety, simplicity, poverty, recollection, and
mortification, interior and exterior, in order to introduce, under
specious pretexts, the inevitable ruin of a soft, relaxed life."
To avoid so dreadful a misfortune, behold the means of defence this good
mother presents to her daughters:
"The Blessed Virgin desired to continue the work of God upon earth, and
we are pledged to assist her by laboring for the education of youth. The
Blessed Virgin prayed for the accomplishment of the prophesies, and the
deliverance of the holy souls, who in limbo awaited the coming of the
Just One, and we are bound to make fervent prayer for the conversion of
sinners, and the souls in purgatory. The Blessed Virgin entered the
temple, at the age of three years, to perfect herself in that school of
virtue; the daughters of the Congregation, in imitation of that act,
consider themselves pupils of Mary during their novitiate. The Blessed
Virgin was abstemious and mortified in her food, and in all the other
necessaries of life; the Sisters should follow her example and mortify
themselves in eating, drinking, sleeping, speaking, and clothing, using
nothing but what is absolutely necessary, each one at the same time
consulting her strength and constitution. The angel of God saluted Mary
while she was at prayer; the Sisters should pray fervently for the
graces necessary to enable them to discharge their duties properly, and
that among their pupils Almighty God may sometimes select His spouses.
"When the Blessed Virgin had given her consent to the angel, and had
really become the Mother of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, she
testified her gratitude to the Eternal Father, by promptly corresponding
to the designs of His grace, and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth,
that she might be an instrument in the sanctification of the precursor,
and carry grace and salvation to the house of Zachary; it is necessary
that on the missions the Sisters propose to themselves the
sanctification of little children, and give edification to all classes
of persons that they may be recognized as the true daughters of Mary.
"When the days were accomplished that she should bring forth her Divine
Child, the angels announced that blessed birth to lowly shepherds, as
well as to high-born kings, and the Blessed Virgin received with equal
affection the honors paid her Divine Son by the humble herdsman and the
Oriental sages; so should the Sisters have an equal regard for the poor
as well as for the rich, treating all alike, as the children of Mary.
"The Blessed Virgin continued to dwell in her poor house at Nazareth in
privacy and silence, until the calling of the Apostles, to whom she was
a sort of mistress of novices by the charm of her virtues; the Sisters,
before applying themselves to the instruction of externs, or the duties
of the schools, should prepare for it, by the exercise of prayer, pious
reading, mortification of the senses, and all other virtues proper to
their state. The Blessed Virgin followed her Divine Son to the foot of
the cross, like a good mother who _could not_ lose sight of him; the
Sisters should always keep themselves as much as possible in the
presence of God, in imitation of their glorious model."
Although the rules of religious institutes are not intended for general
reading, yet the following extracts are so simple and practical that we
think their translation excusable:
"_How we must bear with the defects of our neighbor_.--I am bound to
believe that my faults and imperfections are greater than those of
others, and that they have to do violence to themselves in order to bear
with my shortcomings; therefore it is my duty to be patient with them,
in imitation of God, who is patient with all, who supports all, and
endures all, notwithstanding our many defects, and the disproportion
that exists between us and Him.
"_On fidelity in little things_.--Our good God is contented with little
virtues, if they are the result of our love for Him, and he knows how to
increase them in our souls if they are performed with purity of
intention. It is necessary, then, that I try to do everything for His
love, and for _that alone_.
"_On death_,--'It is appointed for man once to die, and after that the
judgment.' This thought should oblige me to live always in the state in
which I wish to be found when the last moment shall arrive. Then, death
may come suddenly, but not _unprovidedly_. My resignation will be much
easier, the thought of the last hour sweeter, and the inevitable
consequences less to be feared.
"_On Raillery_.--We sometimes wish to make our conversation appear
witty, and we succeed, _perhaps at the expense of charity_, by using
expressions of raillery, jest, or mockery, without perceiving that we
give pain to our neighbor. A person addicted to this vice receives as
much prejudice from it as the one who is the object of it, and a
frequent use of unkind raillery stains the brilliancy of the baptismal
robe, which we are bound to bring unspotted before the judgment-seat of
God, and loosens the bonds of charity that should hold together all
Christian communities.
"_On respect in the House of God_.--A church where the Blessed Sacrament
is preserved, is the place where God most readily receives our prayers,
and where he has promised to answer them. But that promise is a
_contract_ between our Father in heaven and ourselves, for the due
performance of which He exacts certain conditions on our part. These are
chiefly respect and devotion. Without these conditions we pray in vain,
as God will not hear us. We lack respect for the presence of God when we
act with levity in church, or use indecent postures, and we lack
devotion when we pray with precipitation, without attention, or in a
manner that indicates we have only attended through a meaningless
formality.
"_On Christian humility_.--It is good for us at times to reflect on the
_greatness_ and the _lowliness_ of the Virgin Mother of God. She was by
her privileges and virtues infinitely exalted above all creatures, yet
far from preferring herself to others, she regarded herself as the last
of all. 'The Lord hath regarded the humility of His handmaid.' We would
be both blind and culpable if we preferred ourselves to any one, either
for talent, science, personal attraction, or any other cause whatever,
because self-love often blinds us, and we do not see ourselves as others
see us."
The _omitted_ portions of her rule are filled with similar beautiful
sentiments. But, as an instance of her peculiar spirit of confidence, we
quote the following prayer:
"O eternal and all powerful God, I have not the humility that I ought to
have, but my extreme misery constrains me to acknowledge that I am the
most abject of all your creatures, because being tainted by _original_
sin I am, in a certain sense, lower than the brute creation, and on
account of my _actual_ sins, I deserve to be cast into hell. The
confidence I desire to have in prayer, but do not possess, I expect from
your bounty and mercy, because you have given your only Son to redeem us
by His precious blood, and I would rather lose a thousand lives than
fail to believe the truth of His words. Grant me this grace, my God; it
is my strength and my confidence. As to the perseverance I should have
in prayer, the consideration of the many graces I have received from you
oblige me to testify my gratitude to the last hour of my life, and on
through eternity. For, if I have the happiness of being admitted after
death into the company of the blessed, I shall persevere in prayer, if
you so permit, and unceasingly implore your mercy for the community. I
ask neither wealth, nor honors, nor pleasures of this life; I only ask
that your holy will may be fully accomplished, and that we may follow
the road you have pointed out to us, and which the Blessed Virgin
herself has so faithfully trodden. I earnestly beg that every member of
our community, and those who shall succeed them, as also those who
contribute to their spiritual advancement, may be of the number of the
predestined. I believe, dear Lord, that my demand is just, and I make it
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Mary, His holy mother, of her
glorious spouse, St. Joseph, and of all the blessed inhabitants of the
celestial court."
We will conclude this chapter by giving an outline of the funeral
oration pronounced by M. de Belmont, Superior of the Montreal seminary,
at the sepulture of Sister Bourgeois' heart. The orator took for his
text the words of St. Paul, "Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of
Jesus Christ," and then reminded the Sisters, that although nature
exacts many tears for the death of those we love, tears which religion
does not condemn, provided they are kept within reasonable bounds, and
sanctified by prayer and sacrifice, yet it was fitting, at the
inhumation of the heart of their Foundress, to terminate the duties both
of nature and piety regarding her they all equally mourned.
"You have lost her visible presence," he said, "yet, being the
custodians of her heart, you should revive within you her spirit, by
reproducing in your lives the virtues of which she has given so many
examples. It is for this special purpose God has permitted the division
of her mortal remains, because He wills that both her _heart_ and
_spirit_ shall be _your treasure_, and she was never more truly your
superior and model, than when during life she strove to imitate Jesus
Christ."
He made an ingenious allusion to her love of the cross, by comparing the
virtues for which she was most remarkable with the emblem of man's
redemption. "Her humility," he said, "was the _foot_ of the cross, which
had a deep foundation in the earth, and solidified her other virtues,
while poverty and mortification were the _arms_ of the cross, and
embraced a great number of holy and pious practices." He then
felicitated the Sisters on the glory of their mother, and promised they
should partake of it, according to the words of our Lord addressed to
His apostles before his passion; "You who have remained with me in my
temptations," etc. "Even so does your venerable mother address you from
heaven my dear Sisters," he said, "'you who have been faithful to
humilations, and sufferings, which is the only heritage I leave you on
earth, be faithful to the end, and you shall partake of my present
glory.' And she further addresses you in the words of the Gospel, 'I
have begotten you in Jesus Christ.' 'It is I,' your departed mother
continues to say, 'who have assembled you as a company of Christian
Amazons, ready to battle with the enemy of your salvation, not only in
the cloister, but amid the tumult of the world.' Labor faithfully,
therefore, in your glorious vocation, because you are the children of a
saint. Do honor to your mother, walk in her footsteps, and perpetuate
her earthly labors. This is an assured means by which to please your
celestial Spouse, and participate with her in the glory and merit of the
apostolic ministry."
It was not difficult for him to eulogize the courage of Sister
Bourgeois, which had certainly been marvellous, and far above what is
common to her sex, the two wings that carried her onward and upward
being _faith_ and _confidence_ in God. He said her faith resembled that
of Abraham, because like him, she heard the voice of God saying, "Leave
thy country and thy kindred, and I will make thee the mother of a
numerous posterity, and of a chosen nation." Imitating the patriarch she
did not hesitate a moment, but came to the New World, poor and
unprotected well knowing that He who inspired the design was powerful
enough to give success to the undertaking. "You, my dear Sisters, are
the children of Mary's faithful client," continued the speaker, "you are
the first fruits of the new people of God, of whom she was the spiritual
mother." He concluded his discourse, as he had commenced it, by
commending his auditors to the care of their good mother, praying that
she would obtain for them by her intercession, a love of the Holy Cross,
a great zeal for the salvation of souls, and an unbounded confidence in
God, which is the source of all true courage.
"Every time you assemble in this place," he said, "to perform your
religious exercises, raise your eyes to her heart, the sanctuary of so
many virtues, and formerly the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. Imagine
you hear her addressing to you these last words of the Apostle:
"My children, my joy, and my crown, persevere in the spirit of fervor,
take care to advance in perfection, and procure the sanctification of
all confided to your care, so that, having been on earth united by the
bonds of charity, and the other virtues proper to our state, we may not
be separated in Heaven."
Such, as we have given them in this chapter, are a few of the pious
maxims and admonitions by which Sister Bourgeois endeavored to lead her
spiritual daughters in the paths of perfection, always proposing to them
the example of Mary and inspiring them with the most sublime views of
faith, in order to keep them constantly in the presence of God. But we
refrain from multiplying extracts, as her spiritual writings, maxims,
and reflections would require a separate volume to do them justice, and
we earnestly hope that such a volume may be forthcoming at no distant
day, as it would prove a lasting benefit to any religious community, so
practical, so simple, and yet so sublime are the workings of Sister
Bourgeois' mind, having been directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER XIII
A RECAPITULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE LIFE OF SISTER
BOURGEOIS.
On reading this life, one cannot help being struck with wonder and
admiration, at the great work Sister Bourgeois undertook and
accomplished. We behold a simple country girl forming the then
astonishing project of going to Canada, in the hope of founding a city
bearing the name of Mary, there to teach religion and morality to
persons of her own sex. What seemingly insurmountable obstacles
presented themselves to her view. She must undertake a voyage of many
thousand leagues, must traverse immense and unknown seas, must expect to
live in the wilds of primeval forests, exposed to the fury of cruel
savages, who unceasingly attacked the weak ramparts of Ville-Marie. And
what means did she possess to surmount these difficulties? Had she
credit? Had she any available human support? Was she high-born or
powerful? Had she wealth at her disposal? To all these questions we must
answer, no. Her hopes of success centered only in an unbounded
confidence in the providence of God. Young Margaret possessed the
strength of soul and resolution necessary for great designs, the noble
intrepidity that rises superior to danger, the firmness that obstacles
cannot shake, the fertile and ingenious mind always equal to the
occasion, and a sublime spirit of piety and devotion that was useful
everywhere. While she felt herself in a manner pushed towards Canada,
she prayed unceasingly, consulted spiritual directors, listened
respectfully to the voice of her superiors, and listened _interiorly_ to
the voice of heaven. Nothing could arrest or retard her progress, and
she fearlessly set out for the new New World that claimed her zeal. At
the age of ten she gathered around her little children to form them to
virtues. At a later period she was to establish a religious Congregation
in the Church, whose members should aspire to the highest sanctity.
Scarcely had the vessel on which she embarked set sail, than her zeal
was called into active service. She induced the entire ship's crew to
unite in daily prayer and pious reading. Several soldiers falling sick,
she nursed them with sisterly charity, eight of them dying in her arms.
Arriving at her destination, she finds no home ready to receive her, and
takes up her dwelling in a _stable_, which is for her a happy omen, as
it resembles the stable of Bethlehem. There she opens school; from
thence she daily departs to perform innumerable good works. But the
harvest ripens quickly, and the laborers are few. Overflowing with zeal
she again traverses the broad sea in search of help, and leads back many
generous volunteers. Again she returns to procure letters patent for the
consolidation of her establishment. In the court of a king, in the
centre of a camp, she solicits the favor and obtains it. On returning to
the city of her love, she resolves on securing ecclesiastical
approbation for the rules of her institute, and for this purpose travels
on foot through blinding snowstorms. A hundred times would she have
crossed the continent rather than fail to accomplish the will of God,
and her courageous zeal was eventually blessed by heaven, a crowd of
devoted young girls ranging themselves under her standard.
The capital and provinces were alike eager to obtain a foundation of her
Sisters, and in a few years all Canada experienced the happy effects of
her institute, which for nearly two centuries has not ceased to spread
about the odor of sanctity and the knowledge of our holy religion. Being
at all times desirous to do good, she established temporarily a House of
Providence, for virtuous poor girls, where they might be saved from the
snares of a treacherous world. Placing her confidence in God more than
in man, she undertook to build a plain, substantial house, to serve the
triple purpose of convent, boarding and day-school, and though at the
start she had neither money nor credit, the building was completed. At
another time she was inspired to build a church, and the church was
built. Travelling in Paris she was reduced to extreme poverty, and
heaven sent a man from the depth of a Canadian forest to pay her an
almost forgotten debt. An establishment of her daughters was demanded
for Quebec, and she permitted them to go and live; in a stable _pro
tem_., until better accommodations were offered. The intended property
at Quebec having been unjustly contested, she relinquished her rights,
and an unknown hand gave her sufficient money to make a clear purchase.
But not only was her _confidence in God_ most remarkable; she possessed
all other virtues in an eminent degree. In youth she made a vow of
chastity, and preserved that beautiful virtue amidst many dangerous
occasions, compelling a regiment of soldiers to respect her, although
she was frequently the only woman on board. Yet of all her personal
virtues none was more extraordinary than her spirit of mortification.
She seemed to live for the express purpose of afflicting her body, using
her food always too hot or too cold, mixing ashes with her drink,
sitting at meals in a painful position, sleeping on the bare earth with
a wooden plank for her pillow, and taking little sleep at that. She
never approached the fire in winter, and frequently made use of
disciplines, hair-shirts, and a frightful crown of thorns, that she
concealed on her head. How truly she hated her flesh such severe
penances as these prove. When summoned to Quebec by her bishop, she made
the journey on foot, through ice and snow, often wading across Canadian
swamps. When she undertook a foundation she carried the furniture on her
own shoulders, saying with Solomon: "I do not ask for the community
either wealth, honors, or the pleasures of this life." Of her holy
resignation also we have many striking instances. When all was ready to
build the church of Bon Secours, knowing that nothing could be more
useful to the young colony than such a work, and that unnecessary delays
would ruin the material, yet when ecclesiastical superiors forbade her
to continue, she instantly obeyed, without murmur or reply. The Bishop
refusing for many years to approve her rule, which was nevertheless an
epitome of divine wisdom, she ceased importuning, and silently awaited
the time appointed by Divine Providence. In one short hour she lost by
fire her convent, and everything it contained, the bodies of two dear
Sisters being consumed in the flames. Yet her resignation triumphed over
fire and death. For several years she experienced the most frightful
interior desolation, neither prayers, reflections, communions, nor
spiritual advice affording her the least relief. Yet in silent
submission she drank the chalice to the dregs, without one atom of human
consolation.
What afflicted her most daring this ordeal was not the fear of hell, to
which she believed herself condemned; no, it was lest she should be
reduced to the horrible alternative of hating God, whom she wished to
love in _time_, if she could not in _eternity_. Humility was another of
her characteristic virtues, for, after she had solidly established her
institute, and formed the Sisters in her spirit, her chief desire was to
be exempted from all honorable functions in the community, to become the
last and least in the holy obedience. They complied reluctantly with her
desires in such matters during the remaining years of her saintly life,
but all respected her, and remembered with gratitude how much they owed
her. She herself recalled only her sins and infidelities. Such shining
virtues were the result of her extraordinary devotion to the Mother of
God, to whose service she had consecrated herself from childhood, and to
whose glorified earthly actions she had united her own. Believing that
Magdalen and Martha were the great models of religious life, she
regarded Mary Immaculate as _their Mistress_, and loved to represent her
instructing young virgins, and assisting to form the Church of Jesus
Christ. She came to Canada for the express purpose of living in a city
named after Mary--Ville-Marie. She called her Congregation Notre
Dame--Our Lady--and wished that everything connected with it should bear
the name of _Mary_. But the Queen of Heaven did not allow herself to be
outdone in generosity. The statue shone with celestial light before the
eyes of young Margaret at Troyes. On the Feast of the Assumption this
privileged soul saw in the Holy Host an infant a thousand times more
beautiful than the children of men, looking love into her eyes. In a
dream she saw as distinctly as in life one of Mary's most devoted
clients, M. de Maisonneuve, and finally the Blessed Virgin assured her
_personally_ of protection by the solemn words, "Go to Canada. I will
never abandon you." If charity is the queen of virtues, Sister Bourgeois
practised it to heroism. In girlhood she courageously put on her
father's burial-shroud with her own hands, which charitable office for
the poor became afterward a favorite duty of her life. Being informed
that a few reckless libertines were leading off a young girl to make her
the victim of their debaucheries, she followed them with a crucifix in
her hands, and despite their menaces to kill her, heroically snatched
from them their prey. A soldier once being benumbed with cold, she gave
him her only mattress; another received her bed, and two other
unfortunates her comforters, her own couch in consequence being the cold
ground. A Sister having fallen into her agony, the holy Foundress, who
was far advanced in years, cried out to God: "Take _me_, O Lord, I am
old and _useless_. This young Sister may yet render you great service."
The noble sacrifice was accepted, the Sister in her agony recovering,
while the Foundress was stricken unto death--a victim of the most heroic
charity. We need not be astonished at the extraordinary brightness of
her face after death, nor at the wonderful cures effected by touching
her body, nor at the red blood that trickled from the burned relic of
her heart. All is possible, all is easy to _charity_.
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