The Excellence of Her Institute : Part 2

Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
by Anonymous

(Page 13 of 15)

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."

Foundress of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame.