DEHON, L. Daily Notes Dehoniana 1975/3, 123-153

Per la citazione: DEH1975-29-EN Daily Notes 45th Note Book Brief Notes - 1925 Leon Dehon

JANUARY 1 This is note book and, perhaps, the last year. Let it be so! My desire is to depart and be with Christ. I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the (good) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 My career is finished, this is the evening of my life... I have committed an infinity of faults, but I have confidence in the mercy of the . 3 The ideal of my life, the vow which I made with tears in my youth, was to be a missionary and martyr. It seems to me that this vow has been fulfilled. Missionary I am by the hundred missionaries and more I send into all parts of the of the world. Martyr I am by the response which Our Lord has given to my vow of victim, above all in the years 1878 to 1884, by all of the deprivations and emptying of self to the Consummatum est, the waves of blood lost in various undertakings. 4 I am the least and the most unworthy of Founders; nevertheless, I feel the need of uniting myself to all these Founders. Their names come to me at prayer: Benedict, Bernard, Francis, Dominic, Ignatius, Philip Neri, , Vincent de Paul, Alphonsus, De La Salle, John Eudes, Paul of the Cross, Libermann, Don Bosco, Lavigerie, d’Alzon, Margaret Mary, Sophie Barat, Mother Veronica, Mary of the Sacred Heart. 5 These great souls had a grandiose ideal: to gain the world, to conquer the world for Jesus Christ. They prayed, suffered and worked for this. They founded living and active societies. Margaret Mary founded... the Reign of the Sacred Heart.

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6 I unite myself daily to all these souls. I would elevate my ideals to the height of theirs. I ardently love Our Lord and I would bring about the reign of the Sacred Heart. 7 I have arranged my affairs at St. Quentin, I have put St. John’s into a society and I have sold the house of the Sacred Heart. I am as happy to have arrived at poverty as others are to sense themselves as propertied. 8 I have another Communicantes, it is of my first confreres, my helpers most devoted to the Work of the Sacred Heart. They were a dozen like the first Apostles. I cite some of them: Fathers Rasset, , Andre, Charcosset, Roth, Falleur, Legrand, Jeanroy, Grison, Dessons ... With unexcelled qualities they worked so much for the Work of the Sacred Heart. 9 Each day, I also unite myself to the of the Sacred Heart: Gertrude, Mechtild, Margaret Mary, Father de la Colombiere, Madame Remuzat, Sophie Barat, John Eudes, John of the Sacred Heart, Coudrin, Garricoits, Mother Veronica, Mary of the Sacred Heart (of St. Quentin) Mary of the Sacred Heart (Marseille), Father Yenveux, Father Andre, Father Rasset and the hundred dead of the Congregation and, still more, the Sisters with us. 10 My ideal was theirs, we have worked for the reign of the Sacred Heart. 11 I go out every day, on the way I read from my small but good little book: Monita ad Sacerdotes (Advice to ). In doing so, I am doing as St. Francis, I preach without words... 12 A few days ago, the town of St. Quentin expropriated our house of the Sacred Heart. The pretext is to open a street. But, above all, they want to eliminate us. This is the cradle of the Congregation. We have work and suffered much there. 13 They had already dispossessed us in 1903 - 1905. The judgment was made on the First Friday of April, 1905. I repurchased it. It is necessary to begin again. It is heart breaking. Let it be so! Every institution holds to its cradle from the beginning. Ours was providentially acquired and there was much suffering there. The Cross was promised to us for this house on September 14, 1879. 14 On January 8th, I learned of the death of Marquis Rene de la Tour du Pin. He honored me with his friendship and he received me in his home. He worked very much with me for the spreading of the Christian social ideas. 15 This death reminds me of the beautiful friendships which Providence has given to me. I cannot cite all of them. They were from every strata of society: Benedict XV who called me his old friend, Cardinal Langenieux who said: I have been your friend from the very beginning; Cardinals Lecot, Pie, Mermillod, Begin, Mercier who welcomed me in their homes; Bishops Gay, de Ligonne, Radini-Tedeschi, Tiberghien, Janssen; Fathers Wiart, Vermeersch and influential members of the laity: Albert de Mun, Harmel, Toniolo, Vrau, Beluze, the Veuillots, Goyau etc.

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16 The biggest part of these are already in heaven, I am confident that they are praying for me. 17 Now one only speaks of wireless telegraph, for a long time we have practiced that in a spiritual sense. All of our prayers are wireless messages which go straight to heaven. One of these messages which delights me is the invocation: “Praise, adoration, love and thanksgiving be to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus in all of the tabernacles of the world until the consummation of the world”. Our Lord appears abandoned, forgotten in a great number of tabernacles but it is not so; there he receives a great number of wireless messages; these are the invocations repeated by so many of the faithful who are paying attention to consoling Our Lord in the two hundred thousand tabernacles covering the world from pole to pole. 18 I love the mystery of Bethany. Martha was devoted without measure, Madeline ardently loving because she had been pardoned; Lazarus was young, he was pleasant and friendly as was. Our Lord loved him as He loved St. John. I unite myself to them, I offer to Our Lord all of the care and friendship which they gave Him. I have been pardoned as Madeline and resurrected as Lazarus, I wish to be like them, burning with love for Our Lord. - Divine Heart of Jesus make me love you more and more. 19 I began the year with some suffering: a fall, a serious sprain and a general lameness. Why not? Do I not have much to expiate before ending my life and have I not offered myself as a victim to the Sacred Heart for his Kingdom and for souls? 20 Many of my friends, as Bishop Thibaudier and Bishop Mathieu were for a time discontent with me, but they were reconciled with me before their deaths. I have confidence that Our Lord will also pardon me for my infidelities and he has given back to me his friendship forever. 21 I learn of the death of Madame Arrachart. This is a family of benefactors and friends which has now become extinct. 22 At Quentin, I had a good group of collaborators for the works, for the Patronage, the Journal, the foundation of the parish of St. Martin. The Patronage lead to the foundation of the Workers Circle, the social conferences, the meetings of employers... It was a small social university. Mr. Arrachart Fernand was one of my devoted collaborators with the pious Mr. Guillaume, the brother of the member of the Academy; Mr. Julien the director of the boarding school; Mr. Santerre the saintly grocer: Mr. Andre of the Bank of ; Mr. Filachet and employee... All of these worked modestly there and much good was accomplished. 23 At St. John’s, I also had good collaborators who disappeared one after the other: the pious Mr. Labitte who prepared those for so well, Mr. Legrand, Mr. Rigout, Mr. Marchal, Mr. Lefevre, Mr. Vinchon, Mr.

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Vilfort. Much work was done there also and they were beautiful years. - Our Lord blessed my works in spite of all my weaknesses. 24 Many of my former students from St. John’s and the Patronage write to me many excellent letters such as Jean Chatelain, Paul Lesage, Jules Galiegue. These works accomplished a lot of good in spite of my insufficiency and faults. From all of our houses the letters this year seem very cordial. As St. John, in my old age, I recommend to all charity. 25 Death tightens its lines about me. In a few days it has struck one of my friends in , Msgr. Glorieux and many women who were my penitents or associated with me, Madame Arrachart, Gransart, Nivoit. Very soon, I will be the only one of my contemporaries left... 26 My prayer, such as it is in this last period of my life: I greet the Holy Trinity, my Father and Creator; the Word of God become my brother and redeemer; the Holy Spirit become my guide and consoler. 27 I assist at the great perpetual of heaven; Jesus offers Himself to His Father, the Lamb immolated from the beginning; the Heart of Jesus victim of love for the glory of God and the salvation of men. - Each Hass has its Communicantes: I unite myself to the seven privileged Angels, to the heavenly hosts; to the twenty-four Elders, the and the Prophets, to the , to the Apostles. 28 I unite myself to the friends of Jesus: to the friends of Bethlehem, to those devoted to the Holy Infancy, to the friends of Bethany, to the friends of Calvary and those devoted to the Passion; to those devoted to the Eucharist of whom St. John is the model. I unite myself to the Martyrs, to the Doctors, to the Pontiffs, to the Confessors, to the Virgins. I unite myself to all the Founders, to the Saints of the Sacred Heart: Gertrude, Mechtild, Margaret Mary, Claude de la Colombiere, John Eudes, John of the Sacred Heart, Coudrin, Garricoits, Anne de Remuzat, Sophie Barat, Mary Veronica, Mary of the Sacred Heart, our Fathers and Sisters, both living and dead. 29 There are the intentions for Mass: I pray for the Church and its great present needs, for the union and return of the heretics and schismatics, for the missions. I pray for France and the Christian nations, for the Work, our Sisters, Our Brothers, the students, the work at Rome. I pray for my relatives and friends, for myself. I pray for the deceased; with Mary and , I make a tour of Purgatory. 30 After this, union with the great Mass of heaven, I salute the Savior Jesus Christ: in the mystery of his Infancy with his friends at Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, the Kings, Anna, , etc.; in the mysteries of his Public Life with the Apostles and Disciples; in the mystery of His Passion and Death with Mary, John and Madeline... 31 I greet Mary with St. and St. John. I greet her in all her mysteries: the , her Nativity, her Presentation, her

4 Dehoniana betrothal, , Nazareth, Cana, the Compassion. I greet her in all her sanctuaries and her pilgrimage places. 32 I greet St. Joseph through Jesus and Mary and I invite him to come to my aid at the moment of my death. 33 I greet the Holy Angels, my Patrons, and all of my friends in heaven where I have so many relatives and friends: my mother, my directors, my saintly protectors, confreres, fellow students. I cannot forget Sister Mary of Jesus who offered her life for me. 34 Such is the basis of my prayer with some daily variations. 35 We have purchased a house in Rome, 800.000 lire, to establish a mother house there. The Congregation is completed and organized. It has gone beyond my estimate. It is Our Lord who has done everything, I have only hindered his work. 36 I think constantly of heaven, I live with my protectors and friends on high. I am burning to see them soon: I wish to be gone and to be with Christ. Can this be an illusion and I may not reach my heaven? I do not believe it. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have confidence in you. 37 I unite myself often to the great penitents: , David, Peter, Paul, Madeline, Augustine. Their reparation was superabundant; in uniting myself with them, I shall obtain mercy much more easily. I have done a lot of foolish things in my life. 38 I buy the newspapers for the community, it seems to me to be a good thing to be current with contemporary history and to have some topics for conversation. One can pray better for the Church when one reads of the attacks that it must undergo and of the valiant efforts of the Catholics to organize themselves. 39 I delight more and more in the devotion to the Holy Trinity. God the Father is my Father and Creator. He is my father more so than he whom I had on earth. I owe Him everything, my being, and my life. I love Him to the extreme and in a most filial way, I desire His glory and His reign. The Son of God has become my brother through the Incarnation. He gave His life for me, He comes to me in The Eucharist. I love Him without measure, I lean unceasingly on His shoulder like St. John. I desire to live with Him and to love Him always more. The Holy Spirit is my director, my guide, the soul of my soul as it were a mother to me. I desire to live with Him, to to Him in everything and to prove myself as His loving and faithful . The Glory be and the Creed are a homage to the Trinity. 40 My directors: It was my mother who directed me up to my first Communion and she did very well. She had been a student of the Sacred Heart of Charleville. Our Lord entrusted me for four years to the good Canon Dehaene, the Principal of the college at Hazebrouck, a very brilliant and zealous . However, the Holy Spirit helped me very much directly by his

5 Dehoniana interior guidance and by the lights and the delights which I found in my daily reading: The Devout Life, The Prayers of St. Gertrude, the Imitation, The Manual of the Disciples of the Sacred Heart. For my five years in Paris, I had the Abbe Prevel, the Pastor of St. Sulpice, a man of God, a man of strong interior life. He had me receive Communion every day and he confirmed me in my vocation, the first attraction of which I had received at Hazebrouck on Christmas Eve, 1855. 41 My six years in Rome, 1865-1871, were my golden years under the direction of Fr. Freyd whom Pius IX called a saint. He gave me excellent books: Rodriguez, Fr. Lehen, Fr. Saint-Jure. It was a long religious novitiate. He received me twice a week. After the seminary, he wrote to me. He died in 1875. Then, I had Fr. Modeste, a saintly Jesuit who came frequently to Saint Quentin for the direction of the Sisters. He died in 1891. It was he who guided me in the foundation of the Congregation and in the those so difficult and crucifying years from 1877 to 1888. He was very pleased with the views on prayer and the divine communications of Sr. Ignatius and he never doubted their supernatural character. 42 During these last years, I have not had a spiritual director, only a confessor. I spoke about it to the priest who gave us the last retreat. He told me that it was alright as it was and that my direction was sufficiently fixed by long habit and by our Directory. 43 Spiritual pilgrimages. I love to remake in spirit the numerous pilgrimages which I have made in my life. These did not take me away from Our Lord who lives in all these sanctuaries in His Eucharist. 44 I. The pilgrimage par excellent was the one to . I made it in 1865 and the impressions which I took from it have contributed to the orientation of my life. I remade it in 1911. Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem; I found there the principle mysteries of Our Lord: His Birth at Bethlehem; His Hidden Life in Nazareth; His Public Life and Passion in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem they are cumulative: there is Bethany with the friends of the Savior, the Cenacle with the familiarities of St. John, the Agony in the Garden of Olives, the betrayal, the tribunals, the cruel chastisement, the Cross, Calvary where the fidelity of the great friends of Jesus shone forth, Mary, St. John, St. Madeline. The Holy Sepulcher - the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost. 45 To the pilgrimages to the Holy Land there were also those to Egypt and Asia Minor which I made at the same time. In Egypt, in Alexandria, there was St. Mark, St. Catherine, St. Athanasius, the Fathers of the Desert. In Asia Minor there was the apostolate of St. Paul, the sojourn of Mary and St. John at Ephesus; in Smyrna, the St. who sent us St. Iraeneus and our group of Lyons.

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46 II. Rome. I lived there for six years and I have returned there twenty times. I saw in the first place an echo and, as it were, a 21 replica of the Holy Land with the Crib at St. Mary Major, the table of the Last Supper at St. John Lateran, the relics of the Passion at the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. 47 Rome glorified by the Apostles with the grandiose basilicas of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John and the Twelve Apostles with St. Peter in Chains and the Mamartime Prison. 48 Rome honors the martyrs: St. Lawrence has beautiful churches there. Many martyrs are popular in Rome: St. Sabastian, St. Cecilia, St. Agnes, St. Sabina and many others whose sufferings are represented in a very realistic manner in San Stefano in Rotundo. A pilgrimage to the martyrs of Rome comprises a visit to the Catacombs where their tombs are, and to the Colosseum where they were massacred. 49 As jewels of the first centuries, we have in Rome the ancient basilicas of St. Clement, St. Lawrence, St. Sabina, St. Mary in Cosmedin, Sts. John and Paul, St. Praxede, St. Prudentiana, etc. It is a good thing to unite oneself to the piety of those heroic times! 50 The age of the Doctors is represented in Rome more than anywhere else. It is symbolized by images of the four Doctors in bronze which carry the Chair of Peter. St. Leo and St. Gregory lived in Rome. St. Augustine has his great basilica there in which his mother reposes. The Doctors of the Orient have come to Rome to join their colleagues of the Occident, Rome has the bodies of St. Chrysostom, St. , St. . 51 The great Founders of Order lived more or less in Rome also. To understand and to appreciate St. Benedict, one ought to make a trip to the marvelous monasteries of Subiaco and Monte Cassino. St. Bruno is buried in Calabria. St. Bernard prayed at Rome. St. Francis prayed there also; however, his center is at Assisi with its marvelous art and thrilling legends. St. Dominic performed miracles in Rome; he is buried in Bologna in a royal tomb. St. Ignatius reigned in Rome with a group of saints, St. , , St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. John Berchmans, St. Stanislaus. In my time, Rome saw Lacordaire, a great reformer and Don Bosco, the most popular Founder. 52 At every step, Italy has marvels of art and sanctity. I have already mentioned Loreto, Assisi, Bologna. Naples has St. Januarius and his miracles. Sicily has the memorials of St. Lucy at Syracuse, St. Agatha at Catania and its miracles of Norman and Byzantine art in Palermo. Mount Gargan has St. as we have in Normandy. 53 Ravenna and Bari are a vision of the Orient. Ravenna is filled with monuments of an epoch, the fourth and fifth centuries, which are not found elsewhere. Venice with St. Mark’s could rival Constantinople. Venice is the museum of Europe and the whole world, all of the art there are masterpieces.

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Milan has its ancient basilica dedicated to St. and its jewel of a cathedral which is, perhaps, a little too ornate. 54 In Switzerland, Einsiedeln and St. Moritz attract pilgrims. 55 In the North there is Cologne with its great cathedral, its relics of the Magi and the Church of St. Ursula. In , the cathedrals of Antwerp, Bruges, Gand concede nothing to any other. In these sanctuaries, built by the heroic piety of the people, it is easy to pray well. 56 Vienna and Prague have their great cathedrals. Prague has the body of St. John Nepomucene and the small statue of the Infant Jesus. 57 I have visited the cathedrals brilliant with gold and icons in St. Petersburg and Moscow. I would have liked to see Kiev which is the continuation of Byzantium. 58 In England, it is painful to see so many beautiful cathedrals monopolized by the Protestants. 59 In the Far East, I have prayed at the tombs of the martyrs of Tientsin, Peking and Korea. 60 In Africa, Carthage and Hippo are important pilgrimage places. 61 Spain has its splendid cathedrals Saragossa, Compostella, Seville, Toledo and Burgos. Their kings were Visigoths and this, I believe, accounts for the name gothic. Saragossa has the incomparable pilgrimage to Our Lady of Pilar. At Compostela, it is the Apostle St. James. St. Teresa lives on at Avila and St. at Ubeda. Manresa, Monserrat, Pamplona and Loyola recall St. Ignatius. The memory of St. Vincent Ferrer remains alive in Valencia as well as that of St. John of God at Granada. 62 Portugal has pilgrimages to the pious Queen Elizabeth at Coimbra and the marvelous art at Belem and Batalha. 63 France has its holy places. There is Notre Dame of Paris and Sainte Chapelle with its relics of the Passion. Marseilles and Provence have Saints Baume, Tarascon, St. Maximinus, the Holy Marys, and the memorials of the friends of the Savior from Bethany. Bordeau and Rocamadour have the memorials of Zachaeus and St. Veronica. Lyons has the memory of St. Iraeneus and his companions marked by the beautiful crypt in the hospital and magnificent mosaics of Fourviere. 64 France has received the visits of the Sacred Heart at Paray-le-Monial with Margaret Mary, at Marseilles with Anne de Remuzat and Belzunce, at Paris with all its manifestations at Montmartre. 65 The Blessed has visited us with the Apparition of the Miraculous Medal on the rue de Sevres, then La Salette, at Lourdes, Pontmain, Pellevoisin. 66 From the time of the martyrs we have St. Denis, St. Quentin, St. Symphorian, the martyrs of Lyons and many others. In the Fourth Century there is St. Hilary; in the Fifth century there is St. , St. Pauline. In

8 Dehoniana the Sixth Century there is St. Martin, St. Remigius, St. Cloud, St. Radegone; in the Seventh Century, St. Eloi, St. Amand, St. Ouen; in the Eighth, Charlemagne and his group; in the Eleventh Century we have St. Norbert, St. Bruno, St. Odilo. In the Twelth Century there is St. Bernard, St. Odo. In the thirteenth Century, there is St. Louis, St. Thomas, St. Felix of Valois, St. Cunegonda. In the Fourteenth Century there is St. Roch who is so popular; in the Fifteenth Century, St. Colette the great reformer and St. Jean D’Arc, the Liberator of the fatherland. In the Sixteenth Century there is St. Jane of Valois; in the Seventeenth Century, St. Francis of Sales, St. Jane Chantal, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Francis Regis, Brule, Olier. In the Eighteenth Century, St. Benedict Labre who opposed his poverty to the scandals of the Court. The Nineteenth Century is too close to us to see it in its whole. We cite the martyrs of the missions, the Zouaves in Rome, Sonis at Patay, Lavigerie in Africa, Cardinal Pie... 67 From the Eleventh to the Nineteenth Century we have a witness of the heroic faith of people in the marvelous edifices which they erected: the cathedrals of St. Denis, of Noyon, Laon, Chartres, Paris, Rheims, Amiens, Bourges, Tours, Chalon, Orleans. The jewels of Sainte Chapelle, de Brou, Notre Dame de l’Epine. It is the height of Christian art. Praying there is a bond of communion with the faith of our forefathers. 68 All these memories edify me, it is a “Lift up your hearts”, a spiritual pilgrimage: Reliquae cogitationis diem festum agent tibi (Ps. 75).

FEBRUARY 69 On the first of February, the Good God called to Himself our good Father Jeanroy. He is one of my good collaborators whom Our Lord had chosen to help me to found His small family of the Sacred Heart. Student and model priest at Verdum, he came to us in 1884. He had a passion for the Sacred Heart and brought to us a whole library on the Sacred Heart. We appointed him to be a missionary in the diocese of , and then, teacher at Fayet. He founded the house in . He knew how to find the means. His great work was the Mission Office for the Congo. With Bishop Grison he founded and developed this. He wrote the history of this work. He also found my vocations for us from the Meuse. He founded and directed at Brussels the Work of the Friends of the Poor. He had a holy passion for preparing the sick for death. He published many small works of piety. He loved St. Gertrude and the devotion to her. He died with a reputation for sanctity. His funeral witnessed this.

9 Dehoniana Father Vincent Jeanroy 70 On Wednesday morning at 10:00 the funeral of Fr. Jeanroy was celebrated in the Chapel of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (rue Eugene Cattoir), the former Procurator of the Mission of Stanley Falls (Congo). 71 In the first pew of those assisting were the relatives of the venerated deceased: his brother Alfred Jeanroy, Professor of Medieval History and Romance Languages at the College of France and member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres; his nephew, Doctor Mazillier; the members of the community of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Brussels as well as the delegates of many houses of the Congregation; members of the clergy; representatives of the religious communities of the city and from the Society of the Friends of the Poor. The Chapel was hardly big enough to contain the crowd of those who had come to pay their respects in these sorrowful circumstances and to show their esteem and sympathy for the deceased. The Dean, Fr. Boone, gave the . 72 Permit us to recall that Fr. Jeanroy had been sent by his superiors to establish a community of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Brussels. He was there for some thirty years. Named Procurator for the mission of Stanley Falls, he was for his confrere, Bishop Grison, the Vicar Apostolic of Stanley Falls a greatly appreciated collaborator. He was responsible for the material necessities of the mission. He acquitted himself to this task with great zeal, especially during the early years, with an indefatigable devotion. On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the mission and in recognition for his services rendered to the colony, Fr. Jeanroy was named a Knight of the Order of the Crown. 73 It was he who founded in Brussels the Society of the Friends of the Poor like that which already existed in Paris. This Society had a completely apostolic purpose and today has many groups in the area of Brussels and from a moral point of view was responsible for considerable good. In spite of his absorbing occupation which his various charges put on him, in spite of his very active ministry among souls, Fr. Jeanroy still found time to write many small books of piety, impressive and doctrinal. To say it briefly, after the example of the Divine , he was moved “to go about doing good”, by a life full of charity and devotion to neighbor. We do not doubt that the passing of this humble and zealous religious can only leave those who knew him with sincere regrets. 74 Above - I prepare myself, I think every day about my arrival above. What will I do? My first homage will be for the Holy Trinity: the Father who is more than my Father, my Creator, my God and all. I will say to Him that I love Him exceedingly and more than all else. The Son who became my

10 Dehoniana brother to redeem me by His death. He is the new Adam, beauty itself. How joyful it will be to see Him. I will not know how to satiate myself with it. He will permit me to embrace Him as He permitted St. John. Will He admit us to the saintly communion of the most inconceivable intimacy? I wish to remain with Him and I would return to Him, but I have other visits to make. The Holy Spirit is my director and as the soul of my soul. How much thanks I owe Him. 75 The Virgin Mary, my mother. She is all beauty and goodness. I was consecrated to her from my infancy and she has always had a maternal concern for me. She has cured me many times. She will smile and let me hear her sweet voice: Ostende mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in auribus meis. (Show me your face and let your voice sound in my ears). St. Joseph, a most loveable father. I have sought to glorify him by dedicating my first work to him, the Patronage of St. Joseph. I wish to greet my patrons and those of the Congregation: my Good Angel, St. Leo, St. Augustine, St. Michael, St. John, St. Francis of Sales, St. Francis, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Gertrude, St. Margaret Mary. This is my spiritual family, a noble family in which I am very small, very small. 76 I wish to pass my life in review and to see again all the groups by whom I have been edified: 1° the group of La Capelle: my mother, my father, my brother, some members of my family, the good pastor, some women who interested themselves in me during my childhood and two or three companions. 2° the group of Hazebrouck: Fr. Dehaene, my superior and director; Fr. Boute the best of teachers; some fellow students: Vasseur, Leenhouder, Dassonville, Van de Walle, the first three became priests. Providence led me to this country of faith so that I would find my vocation there. 3° After college, I would have gone to the seminary but I was only sixteen years old. My father sent me to Paris to study law. Providence watched over me, I found a precious intellectual formation in Paris without losing my faith or my vocation. The pious priest Fr. Prevel of St. Sulpice was my director and after him, Fr. Fouillouze. I was in good hands. I frequented the Catholic Circle directed by the saintly Fr. Beluze. 77 There I met Perreau and Gilbert whom I again met in Rome. 78 Through Fr. Poisson, I made the acquaintance of Gauthier, Pegat, de Montplanet, Desgrades who became advocates and magistrates. I was connected with Leon Palustre and I lived two years with him. He was very good and very wise. He had an inclination to the Dominican vocation. He gave me a taste for travel as a means of cultural development. We traveled in Holland, England, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Italy and the Orient. Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land confirmed my faith and left a profound impression on me for the rest of my life. I will look back on it and we will speak again of our old memories which were nothing but edifying.

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79 4° Rome, 1865-1871. This is the ideal period of my life. Fr. Freyd of saintly memory was my superior and director. He had a very spiritual affection for me as I love to look back on it. I also had good fellow students there: Perreau, Lucas who died prematurely, Guilhen, Dugas, de Costa, de Bretenieres, the brother of the martyr in Korea, Poiblanc; Billot, the brother of the Cardinal, Begin, Bougoin, de Dortain, de Rivoyre, the Pineaus, Desaire, Bernard, Duplessis de Grenedan. The greatest part of these became religious. It was Fr. Freyd who made us make a true religious novitiate. What a feast to look back on all this and to speak of Rome again, of Santa Chiara, of Fr. Freyd! We will relive the feasts of Rome, the pilgrimages, the Roman traditions, Pius the Ninth and the Council and our good professors at the Gregorian and our , my first Mass so edifying in the presence of my mother and father and the Zouaves, the wonderful excursions to Naples, Assisi, Subiaco. I will never finish speaking of Rome.

Works of the Local Apostolate 80 5° Saint Quentin, 1871-1917. I have passed more than half of my life there and I received many great graces there in spite of my numerous faults. 81 A) The Clergy: Bishop Thibaudier was very good to me. In the parish, I was connected with Fr. Mathieu, Fr. Genty, Fr. Leleu, in the diocese with Fr. Petit, Fr. Vincent, I will meet these again, they were the servants of God. 82 B) I formed a group of men for various works. These were saints, we were occupied with the Patronage, the Circle the journal; the meetings of workers, of the journal, the foundation of the parish of St. Martin. The life of Alfred Santerre written by Fr. Rasset is the life of a true saint. I must cite Mr. Julien, Mr. Guillaume, Mr. Filachet, Mr. Arrachart, Mr. Andre. 83 We will have a reunion of the Christian employers: Mr. Basquin, Mr. Jourdain, Mr. Black, Mr. Chatelain, a circle of young Catholics: the Basquins, the Marechals, the Jourdains, Lebee and twenty others. Basquin became a Jesuit, Henry Marechal and Lebee became priests. The Patronage saved the faith of many young men which was a salvation for them. Fr. Mathias and Fr. Lobbe helped me with the Patronage. 84 C) The many good women I was able to help somewhat by confession or by contact with them: Mrs. Malezieux, Mrs. Paillette, Mrs. Bernoville, Mrs. Lecot, Mrs. Agambart. 85 D) Our Sisters! There were saints there among them. I devoted much effort to the convent. The dear Mother helped me very much. Sr. Mary of Jesus offered her life for me. Sister Ignatius received from heaven visions of prayer and lights for our work. Many young sisters are dead, true victims of the Sacred Heart. The Sisters Oliva and Clare helped me very much at St.

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John’s and Sister Veronica at the Patronage with the orphans. It is with a holy joy that I will see them again in heaven where they are praying for me. 86 E) I founded the college of St. John. There were good and pious professors there: Mr. Labitte, Mr. Legrand. Some of the young students died as saints. Their lives have been written such as Halluin, Black, Savard, Lecomte, Mennechet. How many beautiful First Communions! The college gave many priests to the diocese. 87 6. Pontiffs and Prelates. Four gave me a testimony of their benevolence towards me: Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV. Illustrious Cardinals were good to me: Cardinal Langenieux, Cardinal Pie, Cardinal Rampolla, Cardinals Ferrata, Vannutelli, and Lecot. How many Bishops received me with kindness and council in their houses. I desire to see them again and to greet them in heaven. I have also had the best of relations with princes of the ruling families: Count Chambord, Princess Clementine, the Duke of Vendome.

Works of the General Apostolate 88 7. I have taken part in the great social apostolate of our time. In France, I was well acquainted with the Harmels, Albert de Mun, La Tour du Pin, de Segur, Lorin, Vrau, de Poncheville; in Rome with Toniolo, Pottier, Fathers Bienerlack and Janssens - Monsignor Tiberghien. 89 8. For our foundation, I saw and consulted saints: Don Bosco, Mother Veronica (by letter), Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart of Bourg, Louise Lateau, Sister Mary of the Eucharist, Foundress of the Work of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus at Paris, Madame Royer at Dijon, the Superiors of the Visitation at Bourg and of- the Reparative Adoration in Paris, the principal Jesuits of our province, Fathers Wiart, Monsignor Gay, etc. 90 9. What a wonderful group of our own I will find on high! Our Lord has given me saintly priests to aid me. Fr. Rasset, Fr. Andre Prevot Fr. Charcosset, Fr. Modeste Roth, etc. etc. Others also came, Monsignor Grison, Fr. Paris. Fr. Vincent came to die. Some of us died generously in the missions, in Congo, Brazil. Young novices marched in the steps of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. 91 I do not go unknown to heaven, there are many who await me there. 92 On February 9, my pious sister-in-law died at La Capelle, three years after my brother. She was always very good and pious but she advanced much in these last years. She was worthy of her mother and mine. I insert here the edifying account of her death written by my nephew1. It is necessary

1 La Capelle, February 11,1925 - My Dear Uncle, I know you are close to us in heart and mind and that you are certainly anxious for the sad details, which until now I have been unable to give you, of the edifying end of her for whom we all weep.

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For some time, she suffered from intestinal inflammation coming from some trouble and excessive fever which she aggravated by numerous imprudences contrary to the demands of those about her to take care. Juliette Née came to spend some days with her and found her in such poor condition that she notified all of us. Martha left for La Capelle and stayed from January 31st with the dear sufferer and called a Professor from the Faculty of Lille for consultation. He did not hide the gravity of Madame Dehon’s condition. From that moment, the inflammation could not be checked by the most attentive and devoted care. The situation was complicated by kidney failure and a weakness of the heart which left us, then, with little hope. I came with Roby on Friday, the sixth; Jean and Germaine, the following day; Henry and Nicole on Sunday. The presence of her children and grandchildren about her was a great joy for our dear mother, surmounting her sufferings which, for the moment, were severe. Raised up by the stimulus which gave her some hours of unnatural energy she regained strength on Sunday morning to give us some advice and to make her farewell to us with an admirable- lucidity and strength of soul. Speaking in a strong and distinct voice, without hesitation or confusion; she said to each of us what she wanted to say not forgetting those who were absent and recommending us to the prayers of the “Saint of Brussels” whose name she pronounced so often in the midst of her suffering. Smiling in the presence of our sadness, happy to have received on Thursday the Last Sacraments which she herself asked for, responding to the prayers to the end, being sustained above all by the thought of receiving Him who she desired to join; she remained the same from Sunday night to Monday always present, lucid, energetic, resigned, serene; ascertaining the progress of her malady and counting the moments which were bringing her to the supreme moment. At this moment her eyes opened, her face was transfigured and she made an effort to get out of bed saying; “They are here, they are coming to find me!” Then, she murmured two or three times: “Henry, is that you?” Then, she was still, quiet, without the death rattles, practically without the pain of the agony! This very admirable death fittingly crowned a life consecrated to God, duty, the good and the love of her own. She softened the pain of the separation for us in spite of the sorrow which pressed on our hearts. The thought of you, my dear Uncle, was never away from us during these very sad moments in which we felt the consolation of your prayers. In spite of all, you understand and share the sorrow of my poor Martha sensing the breaking of one of the last ties which bound her to the past and seeing extinguished forever this home at La Capelle in which all her memories, so dear to her childhood and youth were concentrated. As for myself, I thank God once more for having put in my path a family giving such beautiful examples of piety, virtue, the spirit of duty and family unity. From now on, they are incarnated in you, my dear Uncle, with the superiority with which the sanctity of your life enriches them. May this pious and salutary influence be lavished on us, our children and grandchildren, and may we all, thanks to you, show ourselves worthy of those who preceded us. It is with these sentiments, in the name of my poor Martha and in my own, in making myself the spokesman for all of us, please accept, my dear Uncle, our sorrowful homage, recognizing my respectful attachment. Your devoted nephew. Robert de Bourboulon

14 Dehoniana however, to erase what is said of the “saint of Brussels”, this is a pious exaggeration on the part of an affectionate and charitable relative. 93 All of my old acquaintances have disappeared, the void is around me, it will soon be my turn. I want to prepare myself for the very great union with Our Lord. My friends in heaven will help me. 94 February 20, this is the third anniversary of my brother Henry. He was always a good brother to me, edifying and loving. 95 I live with heaven, with the Holy Trinity, with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, with my saintly protectors, with the fourteen groups of acquaintances which I mentioned above. Our Lord awaits taking me that I might first be purified in bearing the miseries of old age.

MARCH 96 Here, I await my eighty-second year, how necessary is the intervention of my good Mother in heaven and of my good Angel so that for so long a time I escaped all dangers, all the accidents, all of the illnesses which put a human life in danger. Thanks, my divine Mother, thanks my good Angel, I do not know all that I owe to you. I shall know it up there. I thank you in advance and I shall thank you for all eternity. 97 What have I done in these eighty-two years? Not very much. I multiply my reparations, I repeat my regrets and I have confidence in the mercy of the Savior. 98 I made my visits in our chapel, I gained for myself the first time the jubilee indulgence. I will begin to gain it for the deceased. This is a true joy, a spiritual contentment. I am happy to gain all of the indulgences of the jubilee and to be purified of all of my past faults. 99 Indeed, souls search from noon to the last hour for the practice of pure love, but it is very simple: Our Lord has taught us to offer first a homage of pure love to God; then, to pray to Him for our needs. This is the whole of the Our Father, the first part is completely pure love: “Hollowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done... “ The second part is a prayer for our needs: “Give us this day our daily bread...” 100 In the Hail Mary, the first part is all praise and love for Mary, the second part is the prayer of interest. In the Acts, the homage of our faith and our charity is disinterested, the act of Hope is a prayer for our spiritual needs. 101 The four ends of sacrifice sum up the Mass and the whole Christian life: adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, prayer. In the first three ends, pure love dominates, the fourth is a personal prayer. 102 In Mass, the four ends are often recalled. The Glory to God begins with pure love: “We praise you, We bless you, We adore you, We glorify you, We give you thanks...”

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103 104 In the Offertory we think first of the divine glory: “Come, all powerful Sanctifier, Eternal God, and bless this sacrifice prepared for the glory of your Holy Home”. 105 In the Suscipe we unite the glory of God, the honor of the saints and our salvation. 106 The Preface and the Sanctus are all pure love. 107 The prayer which accompanies the consecration recalls the various ends of sacrifice, this is pure love: “Through him, with him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all glory and honor is yours...” 108 Ordinary souls think little of the honor of God and more of their own needs and interests. Souls animated by pure love are more touched by the first ends of sacrifice than by the last. They rest more on the first invocations of the Our Father than on the thought of their daily bread. 109 The litanies are a rapid alternating of praise and prayer. Ordinary souls bring more attention to the demands for assistance, “Have mercy on us, pray for us”. The friends of pure love enjoy above all the beautiful invocations which repeat all of the titles of Jesus and Mary for our praise, our admiration, our love. 110 I have travelled much; perhaps, there was excess in it. However, I have always had in view to instruct myself, to increase my esthetical, geographical, historical knowledge and to confirm my faith witnessing the follies of pagan superstitions, the variations of the Protestants and the icy character of their worship. I have witnessed that man is naturally religious, that all people have always honored the divinity more or less correctly and that modern atheism is a monstrosity, contrary to nature. 111 Have our Sapiential Books not praised the Sages desire for travel? He studied the traditions, the history, the problems of morality, and he goes from nation to nation to learn the strength and weaknesses of man: In terram alienarum gentium pertransiet; bona enim et mala in hominibus tentabit. “... he will travel through the lands of foreign nations, for he tests the good and the evil among men” (Sirach, ch. 39,4). Providence in providing me with the resources from my family or benefactors seemed to aid this desire to see and to know. 112 This month we celebrate the month of St. Joseph. I will only know in heaven what I owe this great saint. My mother was very devoted to him. She founded at La Capelle the work of St. Joseph to visit the poor. St. Joseph came for her on March 19, 1883. 113 St. Mary of Jesus was a child of St. Joseph, she had a very exceptional mystical link with him. As St. Joseph died before the Redemption, she had a presentiment that she would die before the great mysteries of our foundation, the Consummatum est and the Resurrection. On the First of March 1878 she

16 Dehoniana conceived the idea of offering her life to prolong mine. She died on August 27, 1879 in the arms of Jesus and Mary: Sister Ignatius and the Dear Mother held her head when she died. Sister Ignatius symbolized Jesus from whom she received confidences; the Dear Mother, she was Mary. There is something mystical in these things which are not matters of faith but which made a very great impression on us. 114 The espousals. It pleased Our Lord to unite Himself by solemn espousals with some saints, as St. ; outside of these extraordinary graces, Our Lord deigns to have espousal relation with souls who correspond to his graces in the life of prayer. Consecrated souls are invited to his life of espousal to the Savior. Contemplative souls are drawn to it by grace. They are disposed to it and Our Lord lets them feel his consent. How is one dis posed to it? A spouse is loving, faithful, assiduous, devoted. The espoused soul belongs whole heartedly to Our Lord. It thinks of him habitually. It is pleased in his presence: sacramental presence in the Church, spiritual presence everywhere. It lives for him, it desires his honor and his reign. It sympathizes with the offenses he receives. If a soul lives as a spouse, Our Lord will return the same: “I love those who love me”. St. Gertrude in her beautiful prayers so often expresses her affection as a spouse to Our Lord. V.G. (Verbi gratia) “I salute you, spouse more pleasing than the most brilliant flowers; I hold you in my arms, and I kiss with respect your wounds of love, the wound of your heart”. - “That one is united to your pleasure, the most chaste delights , and receives from you the most tender caresses , the sweetest of friends, the most tender of hearts, the most devoted of spouses, the most chaste zealot”, I wish to live in this disposition to which divine grace leads me. 115 The twenty-fourth, I renew with St. Gertrude the recall of my to find again the graces of it, the exorcisms, the profession of faith, the offering, the oblation, the anointing, the new life symbolized by the white garment and the candle. I greet and I invoke my baptismal patrons, St. Leo, St. Augustine. I humbly ask pardon from my God for all of my failures in my baptismal promises. 116 Our Lord prepared, then, many great graces; I, however, have lost many of them. Is it for this reason that he has allowed me to live so long that I might repair a little? 117 I was baptized on the first Vespers of the Ecce Venio. The Dear Mother who was to be the Servant of the Sacred Heart, the Ancilla Domini, was born and baptized on the 25th. Is all of this a simple coincidence; or, indeed, a special design of Providence?

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APRIL 118 Victim of Justice and Victim of Love. A soul moved by the Passion of Our Lord and by a view of the sins of the world, can offer itself as a victim of justice, to be united to the Passion of Our Lord, to repair the outrages committed against God, to save souls by expiating their faults. Providence will permit these souls to pass through some reparative sufferings. Such is, I believe, the offering which some Congregations of victim souls make, such as those of Marseilles and Namur. 119 The way of Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus is somewhat different. She does not offer herself as a victim of justice, she offers herself as a victim of holocaust to the merciful love of Jesus. It is abandonment to the will of Jesus in the spirit of love and immolation. It pleases Jesus, perhaps, to ask from this soul some reparative suffering, she is ready to bear the cross for the love of Jesus and for souls. And love itself has its sufferings. The loving soul suffers from imperfections, it suffers to see Jesus so little loved and so often offended. Its love grows to the martyrdom of love. Our proper spirit is the “Life of Love and Immolation” (Const. chap. II). The immolation of love dominates in it with some part of reparative immolation. We are born of the spirit of Margaret Mary while we approach that of Sister Theresa. Let us follow the attraction which grace inspire in us. 120 Here is the offering of Sister Theresa which has been indulgenced by the Church: “O my God, Most Blessed Trinity, in order to live in an act of perfect love, I offer myself as a victim of holocaust to your merciful love asking you to consume me without ceasing, letting the flood of infinite tenderness closed up in you, flood my soul and then I would be a martyr to your love. O my God! would that after having been prepared to appear before you, I die and that my soul go without delay to the eternal embrace of your merciful love. I wish, O my well beloved, to renew this offering with each beat of my heart an infinite number of times until that one when, the shadows having been evaporated, I may repeat my love to you face to eternal face” (30 days indulgence each time - plenary indulgence each month - July 31,1923). 121 With Sister Theresa we abandon ourselves entirely to the divine will: nos facultatesque nostras beneplacito divino dedicamus et consecramus (we dedicate and consecrate ourselves and our faculties to the divine good pleasure) (Const. 9). With her and St. Margaret Mary, we offer ourselves, our prayers, our works, our suffering to God in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the spirit of praise, love, holocaust and reparation (Const. n. 10). 122 In the month of April we honor St. John. It is the month in which ordinarily Holy Week falls. These are the great days of St. John: Holy Thursday on which he rested his head on the breast of Jesus, Good Friday on which his admirable fidelity earned for him the grace to become the adopted

18 Dehoniana son of Mary. With St. John, I rest my head on the Heart of Jesus as frequently as I can, day and night. I want to be for Jesus a small part of what St. John was for him.

MAY 123 This is the month of Mary. Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus (Lk 1). I salute you, Mary, I salute you today, I salute you every day and many times during each day, day and night. 124 I offer you firstly the great greeting which the Angel Gabriel brought to you from the Holy Trinity. The divine greeting making you the Mother of God. I offer you the greeting that God gave you beforehand in the terrestrial Paradise when he said to the serpent: a woman shall be your enemy, she shall crush your head. I offer you the eternal greeting which God offered to you in the predestination. He prepared the Christ the Savior and his Mother. This is why the liturgy applies to you words spoken by Wisdom: Prov. VIII, Ab eterno ordinata sum et ex antiquis, antequam terra fieret (The Lord created me at the beginning of his work... before the beginning of the earth) Sirach XXIV: Ego ex ore altissimi prodivi, primogenita ante omnem creaturam (I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the first born before all creation). 125 David foresaw your glory. When he praised the Savior in Psalm 44, he placed you right after him: “... at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir”. 126 The Canticle of Canticles is the epithalamion of Christ and the Church but also of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. The liturgy makes this connection. It is a dialogue of ardent love between Christ and Mary. 127 St. Elizabeth took up and completed the greeting of the Angel: “blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus”. The Church completed the Hail Mary: «Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us...” 128 I offer to you, Mary, the millions of Hail Mary, which the faithful pour out to you. It is a perpetual greeting without interruption: Hail Mary, Hail Mary! We repeat it in the liturgy of the breviary, in the recitation of the Angelus, in the millions of rosaries offered to you, in the chants of Lourdes and everywhere: Hail Mary, Hail Mary! 129 like David had foreseen your glory: Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel (Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel) Is. VII, 14. 130 I love to read in Fr. Terrien that the sanctity of heaven does not prevent the demonstration of tender affection. “Pure and holy will be the kisses upon the sacred wounds of our Savior and on the blessed hands of his divine

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Mother; pure and holy, also, the chaste embraces given in the sight of God...” (La grace et la gloire, vol. 2, p. 289).

JUNE 131 The month of the Sacred Heart, the month of the Holy Trinity, the month of the Holy Spirit, the month of the Blessed Sacrament. 132 133 Glory to Jesus and to his Heart, glory and love to the spouse of my soul. I embrace your Heart, O Jesus, with St. John in the Cenacle. Little Jesus, I would embrace you tenderly with Mary and Joseph at Bethlehem, in Egypt, at Nazareth. Merciful Jesus, I would embrace your feet with Madeline in the house of Simon and on Calvary. Jesus-Host, I unite myself to all of the communicants in the world. I share the love of those who are good, I would repair for those who are tepid or evil. These praises and these acts of love, I would offer many times each day, day and night. This is my life. As a loving spouse, I think of you always, union with you is my sole joy. I aspire to the moment of living with you, in your presence, in your intimacy, in the light of heaven. 134 How many memories there are in this month! June 4, 1854, my first Communion; June 1, 1857, my Confirmation; June 6, 1868, my deaconate; June 28, 1878 my first vows and my vow of victim so pleasing to Our Lord that he willed six years of Martyrdom for me: the loss of health, fortune, of parents, of general esteem, fire, assaults of the demon, up to the Consummatum est which was the condemnation and the suppression of the Congregation by the on December 3,1883. The resurrection came on March 24, 1884, but the cross was always my portion. 135 For the feast of the Sacred Heart, I have appropriated this thought from St. Margaret Mary: “O Heart of Jesus, I languish with the desire to he united with you, to possess you and to be engulfed in you who are my home forever”.

JULY 136 How many memories! 137 July 2, ’73, the installation of our Sisters at St. Quentin, I became their chaplain. These relations determined the orientation of my life towards the Work of the Sacred Heart. 138 July 19, ’69, I celebrated my first Mass at La Capelle, this made a great impression on my family and the whole area. July 19, ’70, was the great session of the Council and on the 20th of July, the war began. 139 The beginning of the college of St. John was in July as well as the Congregation. On July 14,1877, I concluded the purchase of St. John’s and

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Sister Mary of the Five Wounds received from Mr. Lombard an inheritance of a million which would aid us; however, much later we would lose it. 140 From July 16 to 31 during a retreat at the convent I wrote our Constitutions which have remained the same such as they are for the part which concerns the spirit and the purpose of the Congregation. 141 On July 6, 1897, the first members departed for the Congo mission which has been the most prominent work among the works of our apostolate. 142 In advancing in age, I see better the action of Providence in the whole of my life. 143 I made a true six years of novitiate in Rome from 1865 to 1871. Fr. Freyd provided me with very careful direction; for a time, he permitted me to make my confession twice a week. For spiritual reading, he gave me books adapted to the religious life: Rodriques especially; then, Fr. St. Jure, La Connaissance de N.S.; Fr. Libermann, Ecrits Spirituels; St. Alphonsus, etc. I devoted twenty minutes a day to this reading. 144 From 1873 to 1877, I again prepared myself for the religious life by my conferences in the novitiate of the Sisters. I took for the subject “The true Spouse of Jesus Christ” by St. Alphonsus. Without this long preparation, I would have hardly been able to organize a Congregation. 145 From 1878 to 1884, after my victim vow, I underwent a sort of martyrdom. Providence took my health, resources, relatives; it sent me fire, calumnies, the assault of the demon and on top of all, the suspicion of the Holy Roman Church, the process of the Holy Office and the condemnation of the Congregation which was the Consummatum est. This was a bloodless martyrdom like that of my dear patron, S. John. 146 I received a fine letter from Mr. Victor Berne of Lyons, it reminds me of my ardent campaigns in the “Christian Democracy” for Catholic social action in France. For some years, I wrote the leading article in this excellent review. It was one of the forms of my social campaign blessed by Leo XIII.

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