Part 22
"The Sister Marie Javelle, twenty-four years of age, after having proposed three months at S. Stephen, entered into the community of the Daughters of Charity, Feb. 17. 1848. Having been appointed to nurse in one of the infirmaries on the night of 30th April to 1st May, in supporting a patient who fell back on her head, she twisted her neck, and so considerable a derangement took place, that it continued in that position. The next day inflammation ensued, and the surgeons called in were themselves alarmed at the gravity of the accident. Before attempting an operation as dangerous as the injury, and which, touching the spinal marrow, might cause instant death, all remedies were tried, but to no purpose. The nerves contracted, the head became stiffly fixed on the shoulders, presently the arm and left leg became paralysed, and the pains so violent, that at times the patient feared not being able to bear them. All her hope was in God: she begged of him courage, resigned herself to His will, and besought much the Blessed Virgin, whom she tenderly loves, and who has already given her special marks of protection. At length came Sunday, 7th May, day on which commenced the 'neuvaine' of the translation of S. Vincent de Paul. That day she had the consolation of communicating in bed, with a morsel of the Host, for her throat being twisted, she joined to her other sufferings that of not being able to swallow more than some drops of water, and that with incredible effort and pain. She expressed a desire to make, in union with the Seminary, a 'neuvaine' to S. Vincent to obtain a cure. On Monday the surgeon declared, that he had no hope but in the success of the operation, and dangerous as it was he pressed it. It was thought requisite to speak plainly to the patient, and tell her, that she would either be healed by means of the operation, or remain an invalid all her life, asking her which she preferred. I shall be composed, she replied, in doing the will of my Superiors, being assured that I am doing that of God. However, it was resolved to finish the 'neuvaine' before attempting anything. Sister Mazin, our most honoured mother, had sent her before a morsel of the waistcoat of our blessed Father S. Vincent. In the night of the 7th to 8th May the patient had the strange fancy to swallow a morsel of this. Not venturing to do it without speaking, she waited till the morning, when, by help of a little water, she swallowed some threads. Scarcely had she done so, when she felt the most perfect conviction that she should not die, and that she should obtain her cure by the intercession of S. Vincent. At one in the afternoon, seeing near her one of the directresses of the seminary, she told her, that could she see the Saint's shrine, and touch it, she should be immediately cured. It was observed to her that this latter was impossible; but she so urged the former, that we were touched by it, and endeavoured from that time to find means to satisfy her keen desire. With the consent of our excellent superiors, a litter was procured; it was arranged as well as we could: and after passing a whole hour in dressing her suitably, at four in the morning on Tuesday, 9th May, she was put on the litter, and the dangerous passage from our house to the chapel of S. Vincent de Paul was undertaken. She was accompanied by the Sister Azais, Sister Girardot, second and third directresses of the seminary, Sister Martha Velay, formerly mother of the seminary, Sister Boscredon, employed in the seminary, Sister Bonneau, third infirmière, who had herself attended on the young patient, by Dominic Belyn, called Louis, and John Scipio, called Baptist, both servants of the house, who carried the litter. During the passage the patient suffered much. In spite of herself complaints escaped her, and especially when the litter was set down in the church she felt so keen a pain that a cry burst from her. The moment she perceived the Saint's shrine, she looked at it with the most lively confidence, and felt an extraordinary movement in her person. At the beginning of Mass she felt inclined to join her hands; in fact, her left arm recovered the necessary strength, and her hand reached the other again. At the Gospel a movement like her first caused her to take her head with her hands, and turn it without difficulty to the other side. At the elevation of the Mass, Sister Azais, who was near her, told her to try and rise; she made the attempt, but was unable, and answered, that it was not yet time. She had continued to suffer much up to this point. At length the Communion was brought her. Her throat was so closed, that she felt a great pain, but this was the last. Some minutes afterwards she came down readily from the litter, unassisted by any one. After this Mass she heard, as a thanksgiving, that of M. Etienne, our superior general,--came back on foot, and from that day, far from preserving the least feeling of her injury, she is better than she ever was. This is attested by the sister on whom the miracle has taken effect, who has signed the present act, as have the witnesses named above.
"Marie Azais, Cecile Girardot, Marie Javelle, Marthe Velay, Justine Boscredon, Josephine Bonneau, Dominique Belyn, and Jean Scipion.
_Note._ "It is well to observe that, on the 2nd of May, the surgeon of the house, M. Hervé de Chegoin, was called in alone to see Sister Marie Javelle, and the case appeared to him so grave, that, not liking the single responsibility of it, he begged to join a colleague, whom he brought the next day.
"The 8th of May, the last day on which M. Hervé had seen her before her cure, he had found her so ill that, on the morrow, when he was told that Sister Javelle had no further need of his services, he asked if she was dead.
"The young sisters, then composing the seminary, begged that their names should be joined to this act, to attest its truth, and to put themselves in a special manner under the protection of S. Vincent. This writing being to be inclosed in a silver gilt heart joined by a chain of the same to a head in silver gilt likewise, the whole has been put into the hands of our most honoured father, M. Etienne, to be deposed on the shrine of the saint."
The second case is as follows:--
_"Attestation du Médecin sur la Maladie de Madlle. Céleste l'Allemand._
"Je soussigné, médecin, demeurant à Paris, Rue Mouffetard, 94., certifie que la nommée Marie Céleste l'Allemand, agée de quatorze ans, native de Jussy, département de la Haute Saône, résidant actuellement à Paris, Rue de l'Arbalette, 25., dans l'Ouvroir des Jeunes Economes, a été traitée par moi, puis par M. Sichel, pendant environ huit mois, pour une amaurose complète; et que les divers traitements employés, tant par moi que par mon confrère, n'ont nullement amélioré la position de cette jeune personne, quoiqu'ils aient varié à l'infini depuis le mois d'Octobre dernier jusqu'au mois d'Avril, où elle a cessé tout traitement."
"Signé, FERNET, D. M. "Paris, 23. Mai, 1848."
"_Relation of the Miraculous cure of a Child of Mary, de l'Ouvroir des Jeunes Economes._
"We, the undersigned children de l'Ouvroir des Jeunes Economes, established at Paris, Rue de l'Arbalette, 25., certify the truth of the following details of the sudden cure of one of our dear companions, named Céleste l'Allemand, child of Mary, of our ouvroir. This companion, aged fourteen, had entirely lost her sight from the month of September, 1847. Six medical men, successively called in to attend on her, had exhausted all the resources of their art upon her without obtaining the least result. They had declared that the optical nerves of our young companion were paralysed, and that she was struck with a complete amaurosis; consequently all medical treatment had ceased since last April.
"Painfully affected at this sad state of our companion, we resolved to consecrate to Mary the month of May, then beginning, in the intention of obtaining her cure by the intercession of the most holy Virgin. From the 1st of May our young companion went to pray every day before the altar of Mary, with the firm confidence that the immaculate Mary would restore her sight before the end of her favourite month. But on the 9th of May, the news of the striking cure worked on a young sister of the seminary of the Daughters of Charity, by the intercession of S. Vincent de Paul, and before his relics, exposed in the chapel of the Priests of the Mission on the occasion of the '_neuvaine_,' celebrated yearly in honour of the translation of his body, suggested to us the desire to recommend our young companion to this great saint. Permission was granted to Céleste l'Allemand to go to pray before the relics of S. Vincent de Paul. It was Friday, 12th May, on which she went to the chapel of the Lazarists, Rue de Sèvres, 95., accompanied by two of our mistresses, Sister Dumargat and Sister Desbré. We were all fully convinced that she would obtain her cure by the intercession of Mary, our good [mother], and S. Vincent. Not being able to accompany Céleste to the chapel of S. Vincent, we heard the holy Mass in the chapel of our house, uniting ourselves to her in heart and spirit. As to our companion, she heard a Mass celebrated at a quarter-past-six, before the altar of the holy Virgin in the chapel of the Lazarists, and received there the Holy Communion. At the moment she received our Lord, her sight was suddenly restored to her; and a violent pain in the head, which she had felt from the moment of her loss of sight, disappeared at the same time. The sister who accompanied her, ignorant of what had taken place in her, took her by the hand again, after the Holy Communion, to reconduct her to her place. Our young companion, fearing to disturb her in her thanksgiving, let her do so without informing her what had happened to her. But a quarter of an hour afterwards she made known to her her happiness; and to prove to her the reality of her complete cure, she changed her position herself, and named to her different surrounding objects, which she perfectly distinguished. After having heard a Mass of thanksgiving, she hastened to return to us, to make known to us her happiness. Though we expected to see her return healed, on account of the greatness and simplicity of her faith, a lively joy and gladness broke forth not the less in all the house on her arrival. It was who should see her first, to congratulate her on the signal favour of which she had just become the object. After this first explosion of our gladness, we assembled to chant in choir the Magnificat, during which tears of joy streamed from our eyes: then we went to the chapel to sing the Te Deum and the Regina Cœli. Immediately after, Céleste wrote with her own hand a letter to her parents to inform them of her miraculous cure.
"Our young companion having been presented to M. Aladel, our good director, was named by him Marie Vincent, in gratitude for her cure, obtained at the altar of the Most Holy Virgin, in the chapel of S. Vincent, before his relics exposed.
"From the day of her cure, Céleste has resumed all her ordinary occupations, which she had been forced to interrupt during nine months: she reads, writes, and works at her needle with the same ease as she did before her eyes were attacked.
"Paris, 30. May, 1848."
M. Fernet attached to this paper, which I gave him to read, the following:--
"Je soussigné, Docteur Médecin, demeurant Rue Mouffetard, 94., certifie la jeune Marie Céleste L'Allemand a été revue par moi quelques jours après la guérison, et que je me suis assuré que la vue était entièrement rétablie.
"FERNET. "Paris, ce 1ᵉʳ Août, 1848."
After giving these two accounts, the Superior General, M. Etienne, thus continues his pastoral letter:--
"In presence of these facts, my very dear sisters, I am induced to remind you, that S. Vincent considered as a visible sign of the protection of heaven over your company the altogether wonderful manner in which one of his first daughters came out safe and sound from the midst of the ruins of a house in which she was, and which, in falling, had buried forty persons, who there perished. This fact was, in his eyes, a sensible proof that God had taken pleasure in his rising work, and reserved for it a comfortable future. It seems to me that if he were to speak to you himself to-day of the two cures which I have just been relating to you, he would not fail to point them out to you as testimonies of the designs of divine providence with regard to you, and as motives which should reassure you against all the fears that the disturbances of social order may inspire. Would he not say to you, as he said then, that your company being the work of God, in like manner as He has known how to raise it up in His compassion for the poor, so will He well know how to sustain it in the moment of trial, and to preserve it from every unfortunate event which might threaten its existence. I confess to you that at the sight of these signs of his protection, at a time which has so many points of resemblance with that in which he lived, I cannot avoid seeing the same career of charity which he so gloriously passed through open afresh before you. * *
"As a thanksgiving for the two miraculous cures worked on the 9th and 12th of last May before the shrine of S. Vincent, a general communion shall take place in each house on the day fixed by the Sister serving it."
In concluding this subject I must add that I by no means sought for such facts as these cures--they came in my way while engaged in other inquiries: I did not think it fit or honest to turn away from them so coming, but endeavoured to ascertain the truth by every means in my power. I now set them forth with the evidence which I was able to collect about them. I am also bound to say that, since I have come to the knowledge of these cures, I have been informed, on the best authority, of two results, approaching at least to the same miraculous character, following immediately from the reception of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. These occurred very lately in the Anglican communion.
_Saturday, August 12._--I had heard so much of the grandeur of Bourges Cathedral, and the beauty of its windows, that I determined to judge for myself. So this morning left by the 8 A.M. train for Orléans and Bourges. Up to Etampes the country is pleasing and broken in parts. From thence to the forest of Orléans is an immense plain, rich in produce, but treeless, dull, and flat as a pancake. From Orléans to Vierzon is another immense plain, desert, sandy, and solitary; after this the country improves to Bourges. Visited the cathedral at Orléans: the western front is fine, well arranged, and forming a somewhat striking unity; but the interior is bare, poor, and most displeasing to the eye, which is pained at so bad an imitation of Gothic. As soon as I reached Bourges I went to the cathedral: the west front, in spite of its five deeply recessed portals, the central one of which is very beautiful, sadly disappointed me--it is totally deficient in unity, and will bear no comparison with that of Amiens, not to mention Reims. The towers are positively ugly; the worst effect being produced by buttresses, which protrude in the most inelegant shape, their strength not at all veiled by ornaments. The interior is very grand: it is peculiar in having no transept, but double aisles continued throughout, the nearest of which to the centre is of inordinate height. Round the choir the huge lancet windows, crowned with roses, are of great beauty; but unfortunately they are not complete, as at Chartres, with the effect of which I do not think Bourges will bear a comparison. The pillars, of which there are twelve on each side from the west front to the apse of the choir, are cylinders with eight engaged columns; they look lighter than those of Amiens and Reims, and very lofty from the height of the first aisle, which must be seventy feet, and has a triforium like the centre. Grand, however, as Bourges is in some respects, I should not put it in the first rank of churches, with Amiens, Milan, Cologne, Reims, and St. Ouen. It is in the first style, like Chartres. The apse has none of the magic lightness of Amiens, Cologne, or St. Ouen. From the north tower is an immense view over the country, which has some eminences, but not strongly marked features.
In the streets nothing but soldiers or national guards are to be seen. It would appear that the purpose for which men are sent into the world is to bear arms. There could not be a heavier condemnation of the Republic than the outward aspect of society. There was, however, a special cause for this. Three hundred, I believe, of the national guard at Paris had come to visit their brethren at Bourges, and were to be entertained at dinner the next day in the garden of the archevêché, on which the state, with its usual insulting dealing towards the Church, has laid its hands from the time of the first revolution. So likewise, it has robbed the church at Bourges of the grand séminaire, an immense building, and turned it into barracks.
_Sunday, August 13._--Was at a Low Mass and part of the High Mass in the cathedral. A great number of soldiers, guards, and country people enter in, and lounge and sit about, without a very religious demeanour. Called at one at the Séminaire, with a letter for the Supérieur, M. l'Abbé Ruel. He talked with me some time, and then sent one of the séminarists and a priest to show me about Bourges. He inquired of the state of things in England; our studies at Oxford. I lamented our state of separation: if the religious feeling of England were united with the Roman Church, the world might be converted. In any case, the state of separation itself was most disastrous to both sides; it wasted the life of the Church. If the truth was altogether with them, as they asserted, then, of course, our loss was fatal indeed; but even then the Roman Church in the loss of England had suffered her right hand to be cut off. Whether we were with her or against her would make all the difference in her conflict with the world. He assented, and observed that England had been the island of saints. I afterwards remarked that my attention had been particularly drawn to the Roman Primacy. He said the disputes as to the Gallican liberties had fallen to the ground; but I thought he intimated that the Gallican feeling was not extinct. Whatever the theory might be, the sway of the Roman See was, in reality, very gentle. It felt its way beforehand, and only acted according to the spirit of the Church. I said my great difficulty was, that all history was for Gallicanism, while the Ultramontane theory was evidently the only entire and consistent one, which would bear out all the acts of Rome. I asked if the revolution had produced any change at Bourges. He said, none at all. Louis Philippe had fallen because he had sunk into general contempt--he had become esteemed "un homme d'argent." The priest and séminariste conducted me to the house in which Louis XI. is said to have been born, but the present walls are evidently of the Renaissance. It is occupied by a small sisterhood. We went also through the Hotel de Ville, the house of Jacques Cœur, and to the cathedral. There is a very fine crypt under the choir and its aisles. Bourges has little interesting save its Cathedral. The climate is damp and unhealthy, from the marshes near. I left by the last train in the evening, at eight o'clock, and slept at Orleans.
_Monday, August 14._--Left Orleans at 7, Paris by 11. Left it at 7 for Amiens: we went through a most violent thunder storm about half way.
_Tuesday, August 15._--At the cathedral during part of one High Mass, and the whole of the second, when the bishop officiated pontifically, and gave afterwards the Papal Benediction. It was nearly full of people. I never felt the superiority of this building more than to-day; the interior is pre-eminent for unity, simplicity, and grandeur. I was sorry to miss the vespers and sermon at three; but I left to reach Boulogne in time for the packet, and got to Folkstone shortly after eleven.
CONCLUSION.
There are certain doctrines in the Roman Catholic Church, which are brought into such prominence in practice, and are in their own nature so very powerful, that they make that faith appear _in its actual exercise_ quite another thing from the faith prevailing among ourselves, although there be really no essential difference between the _true mind_ of the English, and that of the Roman Church. I say the _true mind_, that which forms the basis of the Prayer Book; that of which the Prayer Book faithfully carried out would be the verbal developement. Whether the true ἠθος of the English Church will ever prevail actually within her, cast out the puritan virus, and collect and animate the whole body of Catholic truth which her formularies still contain, remains yet to be seen.
In the meantime I am greatly struck with the power exercised in the Roman Church by the great dogma of the Real Presence. It is the centre and life of the whole. It is the secret support of the priest's painful self-denying mission; by it mainly the religious orders maintain themselves; the warmest, deepest, lowliest, most triumphant and enraptured feelings surround it: the nun that adores in silence for hours together, one from the other taking up that solitary awful watch in the immediate presence of the King of Kings; the crowd of worshippers that kneel at the blessed yet fearful moment when earth and heaven are united by the coming down of the mystical Bridegroom into the tabernacle of His Church; the pious soul that not once or twice but many times during the day humbles itself before Him; the congregations which close the day by their direct homage to Him, as present to the three-fold nature of man, body, soul, and spirit; all these attest the deep practical import which the dogma of the Real Presence exerts on the Catholic mind. Are not their churches holier to the believing soul, than was the temple of Jerusalem when the visible glory of the Lord descended on it? For does not the single lamp burning before the shrine indicate a Presence inexpressibly more condescending, gracious, and exalting to man? In Catholic countries the offering of direct adoration, the contemplation of the mind absorbed in the abyss of the Incarnation, never ceases one instant of the day or night. It is the response of the redeemed heart for ever making to Him, "Who when He took upon Him to deliver man did not abhor the Virgin's womb." When I contrast this with--what is still too common in this country, though happily growing less so daily--the beggarly deal or oak table covered with worm-eaten cloth, or left bare in its misery--with the deserted or pew-encumbered chancel, from which every feeling of reverence seems for ages to have departed--or with the pert enclosure domineered over by reading-desk and pulpit, and commanded all round by galleries: and on which, perhaps once a month, the highest mystery of the faith is commemorated among us, I do not wonder at the Roman Catholic, who regards the English Church as a sheer apostacy, a recoil from all that is controlling, ennobling, and transcendental in faith to a blank gulf of unbelief.