OPENING OF SCHOOLS.--MODIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONS.--COMMENCEMENT OF
THE NEW MONASTERY.
The Mother of the Incarnation at once recognised in her adopted country,
that which had been represented to her in her prophetic vision: the lofty
mountains, the vast forests, the boundless plains, the general aspect and
the minute details, all were the same, except that the mist was less
heavy. She was in the land to which God Himself had called her, as in the
olden days He had called the patriarch to the land of promise, and in her
sacrifice, as in that of Abraham, a great result was involved; to her
obedience, as to his, a magnificent reward was attached. Not only was she
to bring a blessing to Canada in her own person, elevating it by her
lessons and embalming it with her virtues; she was moreover to found a
community of Ursulines, who inheriting her spirit, would perpetuate her
labours and immortalize her zeal. She was to erect an edifice to the
Lord, in which His name should be taught and His praises sung, not for
the years of her own life only, but through ages to come, and by
generations yet unborn. She was to inaugurate the work of education, for
which her natural capabilities so eminently fitted her, and which under
God was to be the efficient instrument in her own hands for the present
improvement of the colony; in those of her future spiritual children for
the development of the work so happily begun. That work was very great,
but it must be owned too that its instrument was very perfect.
Without delay the little community entered on its special function, the
instruction of youth, opening schools on a limited scale both for Indians
and French. Before they could begin to teach the former, it was of course
necessary to learn their languages. In order the more readily to
accomplish the difficult task, they agreed to divide the study, the
Mothers of the Incarnation and Cecilia of the Cross applying themselves
to the Algonquin, the Mother St. Joseph to the Huron, and under the
direction of Father le Jeune, so rapid was their progress, that in two
months they were judged capable of catechising their young charge. Later
in life, the Venerable Mother learned the Huron.
The charity and fortitude of the Mothers was very soon put to a severe
test. Towards the end of August, the small-pox broke out among the
savages, with whom it is usually fatal. After spreading with frightful
rapidity through the hamlet of Sillery, it showed itself at the Ursuline
Convent in Quebec, which was soon transformed into an hospital. Some of
the children contracted the disease three different times, and four died
of it. Through the protection of heaven, their devoted nurses escaped
under circumstances which rendered their preservation almost miraculous.
Night and day they watched their beloved patients, inhaling only the
plague-tainted air of the small, overcrowded room, and having continually
to step across the infected beds, which for want of space were laid
closely together along the floor. During the six months which the malady
lasted, these heroines of charity seemed to vie with each other in the
performance of the most bumbling and revolting offices, the Foundress
setting the example of self-abnegation and devotedness. Their sole
apprehension all through, was lest the panic-stricken savages might
remove their children from the monastery, and thus deprive them of the
spiritual blessings in store, an idea being prevalent among the
unconverted Indians, that the small-pox was a consequence of receiving
baptism, and of associating with the French. Fortunately the fear proved
groundless, for the little ones were afterwards confided in larger
numbers than ever, to the care of their tender, self-sacrificing Ursuline
mothers. When at last the contagion disappeared, the wardrobe of the
charitable Sisters was found not to have been the least of the sufferers
in the cause, every available article of clothing having been converted
into bandages for the sores of the poor patients.
The accounts from Canada might naturally have been expected rather to
check than to encourage vocations for the Ursuline mission, but on the
contrary, each letter from the Mother of the Incarnation to her Sisters
of Paris and Tours, served only to stimulate a holy emulation to share in
her sacrifices. "To enter," she says, "into the true spirit of a
missioner to Canada, the soul must die to all things created; on this
point, the Almighty Master is inexorable. Interior death is no doubt the
sure road to life in God, but who can describe what it costs nature thus
to die!" Notwithstanding the Venerable Mother's forewarnings, the Mother
Superior of the Paris convent prevailed on the Archbishop to allow two of
the Sisters to follow their call to Canada. The privileged two were the
Mother St. Athanasius and St. Clare, who in the world had borne the names
of Margaret de Flécelles and Anne le Bugle. On the 7th of July, 1640,
they landed at Quebec to the great joy of their expectant Sisters. This
addition to the original number necessitated the immediate building of a
monastery, which want of means had hitherto retarded.
It has been already noticed in our rapid sketch of the Ursuline Order,
that, while its spirit and end are everywhere uniform, the great family
having but one heart and one soul in God, the particular rules and
practices of the different Congregations vary on some points. As these
separate Congregations are never intermingled, no confusion or
inconvenience can possibly arise from difference of usages, but in the
instance of the Quebec Ursulines, the case was altered. The Mothers of
the Incarnation and St. Joseph were of the Congregation of Bordeaux,
which does not make the vow of the instruction of youth; the rest of the
Sisters belonged to that of Paris, which does. Again, there were some
points of difference in the costume of the two Congregations. As they
were henceforth to form but one community, it was evident to all that
diversity in any particular, would, for many reasons, be inadmissible.
But, if uniformity of life was indispensable, much tact and prudence were
needed in the adoption of the means best calculated to establish it.
Happily, the Mother of the Incarnation excelled in these great gifts,
and, best of all, she possessed in an eminent degree that heavenly wisdom
derived from her habitual communication with the Divine Source of light.
She held many consultations with her Sisters, evincing in all her
suggestions the practical good sense, mature experience, and gentle
moderation so conspicuous in her. As the little assembly had no object at
heart but the glory of God, their deliberations were quickly and happily
closed. In the decisions adopted, the natural feelings of both parties
seem to have been respectfully and tenderly considered. It was arranged
first, that the vow of instruction should be taken by all, but under the
condition that it should bind the Sisters of the Congregation of Bordeaux
only during their stay in Canada; secondly, that the costume of the
Congregation of Bordeaux should be substituted for that of Paris. Some
other necessary modifications of the rules were agreed on. with equal
unanimity. The decision was referred for approval to the Communities of
Paris and Tours, to whom it gave the most unqualified satisfaction. The
particular rules then accepted were observed until 1647, when, at the,
request of the Community, Father Lalemant drew up others equally in
accordance with the engagements of the Sisters, but better adapted to
their new country. These continued in force until 1682, when, at the
recommendation of Bishop Laval, the Ursulines of Quebec were affiliated
to those of the Congregation of Paris.
Uniformity of observance being thus established, the fervent Sisters
pursued their work with redoubled zeal, exhibiting in their daily
practice the virtues of the ancient solitaries; sustained in the hourly
trials of their mortified lives by that heavenly love which sweetens
suffering, and encouraged in their difficulties by the example of a
Superior who never asserted her authority except to claim for herself the
largest share of the common hardships, seeming to think that the first
place in rank, entitled her also to the place nearest her crucified Lord.
It was a common saying of these generous lovers of the cross; that if
they had anything to complain of in Canada, it was that they had not
enough to suffer. "You say," wrote the Mother of the Incarnation, some
years later, "that my actual experiences of Canada are something very
different from my anticipations. You are right in the remark, but not in
the sense which you attach to it. My life of labour and privation is so
full of consolation, that I now thoroughly realize how sweet is the yoke
and how light the burden of the Lord. The happiness which I experience
when I teach a poor savage to know God, is a solace in pain and a
refreshment in weariness." Canada, with all its sharp, thorns, she called
her paradise, and the company of her uncouth little Indian pupils, she
prized a thousand times beyond that of the greatest and highest of
earthly queens.
In the spring of 1641 the foundation stone of the monastery was laid by
Madame de la Peltrie in the present Upper Town of Quebec, and there, at
the close of nearly two centuries and a half, the Ursuline Convent still
stands. At the period we speak of, the ground was not even cleared; the
woodman's axe was the first implement needed in the construction of the
new monastery; tradesmen were few, wages high, and the poverty of the
country extreme. But at the time of the Venerable Mother's prophetic
vision, more than once referred to, our Lord had told her to go to
Canada, and there build a house for Jesus and Mary. He who had given the
command would, she knew, supply the means for its execution, so with
boundless trust in His providence, she confidently undertook her task,
although to human prudence it might have seemed hopeless.