Hebreos Católicos: Las memorias de Teodoro Ratisbona

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fi{EODORE RJITISBONNE

Note of the translator: Translated from the French edition of 1966,containing a long introduction

of Mother Marie Alice and the text oiFather Theodore;sMemoirs. The French edition, which containsotherdocuments, s available from the creneralateof tire sistersof sion, viaGaribaldi 28,oot53Roma, talia.

Translatedby SisterMarian Dolan of Sion.

PART I - INTRODUCTION

The purpose f this introduction s to help the readerunderstand

the contentsof theseMEMOIRS first by situating Father Theodore

in the wo milieuxwhichsuccessivelyorgedhis personality:he amily

milieuwhich markedhim with its moralworth andwith a deep f some-what vague aith; the Christianmilieu which, from his twentiethyear,

providedhis true vocation.We

shouldalso ike to complete is story

by adding to it other information and someunpublished ocuments

takenmostly rom his correspondence.

At the time of the MEMOIRS,he wasover eightyyears ld. \We

see rom a photograph f this time that he was an old man,worn out

with the years, is faceemaciated nd framed n long white hair, and

with an expression f peace nd kindness. rom his armchair, e daily

dictated o his secretary, other M. Benedicta, verythinghat cameomind without trying to sayeverything.He spokeextemporaneously,n

a f.amiliarmanner; evertheless,ewasa manof his imes, ndhisstyle,in spiteof his ove or simplicity,wasmarkedby the ratherhigh-flownmanner o foreign o the starkspeech f the fwentieth entury.He had

a strongsense f humor and okedeasily; f one orgets his, onerisks

not understanding is thought.There are, therefore,Passagesn his

MEMOIRSwhicharenot to be akenseriously;t is especially ssential

to be able o recognize ertainclich6swhichonly partlyrevealhis ownjudgment,but were characteristicf the prejudices f either middle

classJewsor of the Catholic circlesof the nineteenth century, forexample,with regard o Je*'sand Protestants.



1823

odn lhP snecial t given bY Mr'b r8zl we began the speciatpfritotettl coursei

Bautain.There*ere-only four of usat this firit course, nIrish Catholic'

a schismati.nrrrri"rr"arrtd^;;l;. Mr. Bautainhad himself recently

resumedhe praAiceof ni, ,.iigio,'. i for-., shrdentof the Normal

School,a fellow-d;tP1" ;] Mi Cousin'he had-been"PPointl-Pl:

il;;ifiil*optty at ttte age9f-zo;gifted with greateloquence' e

brilliantly raught t i .a..1i. ind Germin ao.*i"o i'ttitttweiepopular

in contemPorary "t"'io*l circles'-But Providencehad put him in

contactwith Miss H";r" and God had madeher His instrument o

unfold to him th. ;*th;of Ch'i'ti-ity' 1.nt philosopherwassincerely

in search f truth *tti.tt he assimilated s oor,",

it was evealedo him'

His public.oorro'*.r. immedlatelymarkedby thil h^PPyconversion'

His teachingwas;;;g;Ggan btttuncomPromisinglyhristian' nd

this so terrified ttt.lidt"f^ th"inkers f the ime that the qovernment

orderedhis courseso besuspended. ondemnedo inactionlhedecided

to devotehis leizure to private teachingand I was one of the first

forhrnatebeneficiaries f this deciston'

Tramlatedby SisterMarianDolan of Sio'n'

memberof the CanadianProvince'

THE PACT OF TURKENSTEIN: 1797

Beforebeginning he storyof his life, FatherTheodore ecalls neventwhich happened ive yearsbefore his birth but to which heneverthelessscribes is vocation, is wholedestiny: his was he spiri-tual act of union signedat Turkenstein in the provinceof Lorraine),on the Feastof the SacredHeart, June23, 1797,by hreeoutstandingpeople,FatherColmar,Mrs. Breck,Miss Humann.Later on the last

namedwould be the nstrument sedby God to lead o the faith manyyoung ntellectuals; mong hem,Louis Bautainand TheodoreRatis-bonnewere to found congregations f religiouswomen.But FatherTheodore everseparatedhe threesignatoriesn his thought: hisverystrongsense f the communion f saints ndof the patience ith whichGod prepares vents onvinced im that this eventwas he smallseedfrom which would spring, fifty years ater, the congregation f OurLady of Sion.

THE FAMILY

The Ratisbonne amily took its name from the town of Bavariafrom which it emigratedn the eighteenth entury o settle n Alsace.In the following century wo of its descendants,ouis and Auguste,founded n Strasbourghe bankwhose rosperilywas n largemeasuredue to their competence especiallyo the competencef Louis whowasa real amily patriarch and o their complete onestywhichwaswell known and appreciated. double marciageoined them to thefamily of Naftali Cerfbeer, neof the pioneersn the emancipation ftheJews t the imeof the FrenchRevolution. ugustemarriedNaftali'sgrand-daughter,delaideCerfbeer, nd heyhad enchildren:Adolphe,Theodore,Gustave,Zelie, Elisa, Henri, Achille, Paul ine, Alphonse,Ernestine.

The scarcity f documents boutAugusteRatisbonnend his wifemake t difficult to judge their characters. owever, he MEMOIRSand the "Notice" composed y Theodore or M. Bautain's ook,"ThePhilosophy f Christia.tity," iveussomeleetingglimpses.

'!

Augustewasas straightforward n all his actionsas he was n his

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business, nd like all upright people' fre 8av-e is confidenceeasily:

"My father," Tt.ojo,. tl"ia] "had ai*"ys lovedmeandon all occasions

I hadhis compler..""iia."ie.,,This disposition.adde.dogreatkindness

;il; *if'r,. dii not insiston the cirild'seducation; heodorewas

neuer ubjectedo"rrf

disciplineor hardwork and his fathersenthim,

at the age f ri*t""iliJ^tt" Jtt. f""f.ing businessn Paris'The failure

of his son,who tooi ;-i;ierest in finan"cialmatters,musthavecaused

him deep air"ppoi.,t-t*, U"t had he askedTheodoreabouthis own

desires?Thatever he case, e lent his support,with.unusual ndul-

gence, o a seriesol irri,iuiirreswhich tre litt looked uPon as mere

:;;i;;.;;,;;;i;-r: scattered tudieswith no continuity,sometimes

at Strasbourg,ometimesn Paris'

As Presidentof the Consistory'Augustewas worried about the

wretchedconditiori- ;J.; which it. pJor Jewsof Alsacewere still

living, centeringn on themselvesnd iauing no education'n r8z5he

founded severalschools or them and mad-e heodore heir director'

.w.hen,

a littled;; h.l;ed of.the baptismof this son n whomhe

had reposed"[ ;;"iidt"tt, ht felr-profound orrow'-but ftera brief

period of .oon.Jrl-t't io'g""t him' "\(/hen my parents ealizedhow

strong my convtctio"' *ti"," wrote Theodore';'they gave me their

respect."ne.alfi.,g";ftt a!^tit3f

fris father on October3r' r83o' he

added:..\(rhenI ient back o Strasbourg. found my fatherdying. ryI.y

becoming C"tt rii. i"d *.rkened ,r;ith.t his confidencenor his

affection. oftenhad writtenand iot." to him aboutChristianity'.and

he listened o -.-*itt, interest, eliing me that he deepty espectedmy

convictions."

These ew glimpses how':

lugls9Ratisbonne samanof moral

grandeuru.,aoiîn,!;;t;?p"lr. Jr giving disinterestedove,with a

breadthof spiritwhici *as in ,o-. ,"r!.cts-a foreshadowingf ecume-

nism, ounded r, ^ ,",pttt for persons'andheirconvictions' hich he

world is today fita makean essential art of humanrelations.

ADELAIDERATISBONNE

The staterrrentshichTheodore onsecratedo his mother,whom

he had lost in r8r8, show us a woman of great kindnessand completely

faithful to her duties. Father Theodore wrote of her: "If I was not

raised in the Jewish religion, I was at least brought up according to

Jewish traditions and moral values. In reality, I received no moral

training except he exampleof a virtuous mother, no lessons n dogma

except faith in one God. . .I loved my mother very much, and this love

of a son for his mother was in some espectsmy only religion." rVhen

hetells of his conversion,he saysagain: "The undying

memory of mymother's tenderness elped me have some as/areness f Mary's love."

\7e might ask whether, ik e so many children who have lost theirmothers n their childhood, he did not idealize his in his memory. But

he was aheady sixteenu'hen she died, and he had the gift of a pene-trating mind: his u'ise udgmentson personsand things proved this.His filial worship, n'hichprotected im as he grew up, must, herefore,have been motivated by the quality of tendernesswhich provideshappiness ndmakes or unity in a famrly.

Adelaide u'as not satisfied with being the heart of her home and

filling it with joy; her son'sallusion to"her

whosememory remainsblessed mong he poor, both Jervs nd Christians," eadsone o applyto her the words of Scripture: "She holds out her hand to the poor,sheopensher arms o the needy."

This s'asGod's irst grace o Theodore: o be born nto a numerous,united famlly of great moral integrity. His brothers and sisters or along time resented is conversion nd his becominga priest, but hiscorrespondenceroves hat in r84r, at the latest, hey had consentedoresume elationswith him. Father Theodore later on extended o theirchildren and grandchildren the sameaffection he had always had for

his on'n f.amiIy, and exchanges f letters show how important a placehe had in the heartsand even n the ives of his kin.

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE: rSoz-r823

THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH

Theodore had everything that makes f.or a huppy chjldhood, awarm famrly atmosphere, the comfort that comes with riches; yet he

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aspired o somethi"g.tltg' Hi: tTiitt providedno respite o the unea-

sinesswhich p*r.rrZa him: dissatis-fa-Aîo'f theminiland of theheart

still morea..pfi f.ft because f the poorquality of the teachingwhich

he was given. It mustbe said that riretaphysicai,anxietveemso have

been awakened n rritn when r,. *ur

"tiit

qo.it. young- Mother IV{'

BenediAawrites:.,Theodoreassuredme thai he remembered is im-

pressionsro- tti, ;il;*n::g * iater relatedhow hetried to find

out what -* g;l;; ,ro"na ni.. i. spokeof the tendernessvokedin him at rhe igi;i-"i his mother, a uti the astonishmentith which

he wonderedabout he reasonor his own existence mongall things'

This questing ense evelopedwith theyears"'

At twelve he abandoned is father'shouse to which he was

quickly brougt 'i".r. - ,o seeksolitude.At fou,rteen, boarderat

Frankfort, . *^,",irt"ppy,

:'i t"rfered f romunbearableomesickness"'

\?'e were given no religio,,s nstruaion...Nevertheless had a deep

attract iontorecol lect ionandu.ryof, .nlwasseizedwithaprofound

spirit of PraYer."\Tasth isnostalg iacausedbyh is temperamentorwas i ta 'g ta :ce

from God?Some f each, oobtl.Js.Cod *is makinguse-ofhedisposi-

tions that H. h;i;h",.a i" this child to givehim his first awareness

of the ,.t"tiuity?tffi;;""d put him, alti'ough n a confusedway, n

front of tt. ,ii.rrr^tir.if"r,

iUrot,rt. to whicfrall existences bound'

or of"r, "br,,'J-"iiut"t'

not ro"! yearsTheodorewas destined o

pursue ir r.^,.i fo''*tf', andon tfiis roadon whichhewasventuring'

ire would b. ;il;;;;. could understand im, guidehim or even

share is anxiety'

The first stay n paris: rgrg_rgzo or rgzr)

NosoonerhadTheodorecomehomefromFrankfortthanhelefthis family

"g^L,i".ruding his motherwhom he would not seeagain,

to go to p",i, to live witi Mr. Fould. The documentsecalling this

periodpaint"

pi*":f !\ttormentof a youngman' eft too early o

himself,"rra-attt'oored

with a desire o know and to love: "By very

specialdivir,. i'l;;;ti'";, the first part of my youth passedwithout

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problems nd without storms; washeld backby a kind of instinctive

virtue, oundedsolelyon thewordsand example f my motherwhom

I loved tenderly; the mere memoryof her shieldedme from evil.

Although was henalone n Paris, reeandwithoutsupervision,n one

of the great bankinghouses, lived for several earswithdrawn from

the pleasuresf the wodd and ts dangers. avoided ociety, refused

all amusements,odeepand unendingwas he sorrow hat mymother's

deathhad causedme! This deepmourningof my heartcontributedgreatdeal o my taste or serioushings,and nspiredmewith a distaste

for passinghingswhichveryoften eaveonly remorse ehind hem. .

How a word of religion would havehelpedme at that time! How I

suffered rom an indefinableanxiety! neededo love and I was an

easy arget for any loving person; became trongly attached o my

friends, o myprofessors,o the peoplewith whom lived, asking o belovedand understoodlthough did not understand yself...My ifeflowedby in romanticmelancholy...Iwasoftenalone, nd thoughtaboutGod, about religion, abouta vagueobjectwhich could fill the

void in my soul...I knew no prayers, knew no man, no bookwhichwould tell me abouteternal hings. ."

Indefinableuneasiness..melancholy..vagueobject. .is this theillnessof the world? . .But if Ren6 akespleasuren his melancholyand cutshimselfoff from a world to whichhe thinks he is superior,Theodorewants ruth as the only treasure o which he can give hisheart;he suffersbecauset eludes im; he isolates imself o seek t.One day,he will discover t in God. Then all uneasiness,ll anxiety,all melancholy ill disappear. is spiritualhistory s an llustrationof

St. Augustine'sword: "It is You, my God, who tell us to seekour joyin praisingYou, for You madeus or Yourselfand our heart s uneasyuntil it restsn You." It hasbeen aid hat his sentenceummarizeshewholespirit of the CONFESSIONS; e believe hat t alsosummaizaFather heodore'swhole being. Whenhe finds peace f heart n God,he will go forward towards the vision in a peace,a serenity never shaken

doubt,neverchanged y any ufferingor anydifficulty.

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Return o Strasbourg:Szo o r8zr

Theodoredid not lead his "insignificant" ife for long' He went

back to Strasbourgwithout acceptinf a business.1ife,seekinga good

which neithermoneynor the *-ta iould givehim. Tired of being.a

rich, idle young .nu'.r,h. reactedby undertaking-anaustereand stoic

ioi- of df.r iort , self-sacrifice,olitude, anyihing was-good which

helpedhim to

"rr..t

his selfhood.But this attemqtat diversionwas

brtl.r..a by a sense f failure: "How can I describehe sadnessndinner void which wascausingme to wither up?" !n thisexperience.of

foverty was the continualanluish of a heartwhich wastrying to give

L."rrirrg to its own existence:""Amysterious ctionwasgoingon n my

conscience.was iti"g without religionand soughtneithergoodnor

evil, but I often ;J ?. myself I Im men* years ld and I do not

k.,o* why I am in the worid. \7hat is this slrange_thing e call life?

Vhat is my PurPose n earth?Thesequestions.*lith, g"l::l::^:"^?

thousand ih.tr ind provokeda thousand heories ook possesslon.t

.y ,""f to the point ih.r. eventually heyoccupied t to the exclusion

of everything lse."

It was the questionof his eady childhoodwhich was rebornwith

an irresistible eennessnd violenie; it absorbed-all is faculties'He

;;e;ttible battles.t"ot'gft much-groping nddetouring'God was

letiinghim go to the imitsoit""tott depSndjlq:"1{".1its

own resour-

..r, tiu, pi.p"ri"j him to- guide to ihe light all thosewho later,

unbelieversir..pf,.t, wouldcome eeking ishelp'

Hoping to find in it the solution o his doubts,Theodoreavidly

studiedn"inifo-phy of theeighteenth entury. !.th: schools f Bayle

and FonteneU.,r]i.lr".J," "?ip. the slateciean"ofall.prejudice, f

li. *eight"f

iruailion. He saidof himself: "Thesereadingsdried up

the last"rootsof traditional beliefswhose uins I had hung on to.''

H is loveo f themyste r ious-andofe lec t ionpecu l ia r . to the

Jews,drove him to P;b" the-mysteries f FreeMasonry'which gave't

i- ,ro more light tiran did the philosophers: A void full of sadness

*o, gro*i"g ii -y soul." .certainly lri.was entering that profound

solituie whilh pt.p".o theshattering f the person'

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QuestioningNature: fizz(?)

Often, after he hasexhausted ll intellectual esources, an ooks

at the wodd abouthim and asks ife to give an explanation f life.

It was hus hat Mr. Bautainwas o write to JulesLevelandhis riends,

TheodoreRatisbonnend sidoreGoeschler:Visiting alargehospital

is hebest omplemento serious hilosophy."

Theodore imply ookedat nature; f he wasseekinghere races f

God, it was not because, s one might think, he was nfluencedbybiblical extswhich he had heardor readat the synagogue.t wasonlylater that he had anycontactwith Jewish iturgy, at the urgingof Fr.Bautain, nd t wasonly then hatheopened he Bible.Until that ime,philosophers ad beenhis only teachers. n admirerof Rousseau,efollowed he "Solitarv Walker"in his "Dreams."He himselfsincehischildhoodhad been attractedby the mysteryand beautyof createdthings.

One night, aftera long contemplation f the stars, euttered his

cry:"O

God, if you reallyexist,make he truth knownto me,and inadvance swear hat I will consecrate y life to it." This poorman'sprayerexpressed bsolute earning. t was the prayerof a man whof.or a long time had himself wandered n philosophical abyrinths,without seeing nv opening o the ight, to daybreak. rozenwith coldin this much-too-silent ight, Theodore et himsel f fall "on a dung-heap, he exactpicture,"ashe saidhimself, of my inner ife!"

This passagef MEMOIRS s poignant; t is alsodisturbing:doesnot Saint Paul tell us that th rough the universeGod manifestsHisexistenceo man: "\Zhat is invisible about Him.. .appearso man's

intelligencehroughGod'sworks."How was t that he bookof natureremained losed o Theodore?fhy did God not takepity on his dis-tress?frhy did He refuse o enlighten im?

The discovery f truth depends n what St. Augustinecalls he"weight of love,"'which correipondso the Gospel xpresrion: "thetreasure"which possessesthe heart." t hasbeensaid hat Theodore"was going dire&ly towards a unique goal;" this reflectionof Mother



M. Benedicta, ne of thooewho knew him best, s an exactdefinition

of his fundamental isposition f tension owards ruth; he sought-it

*ithout allowing tti-t.if to be turnedaside n \i1q1e-st;s it not to the

pri."itt."rt

thai theLord promisedhevisionof God?

As everyone nows, he heart n the biblical sense ealsnot only

with the emotionsand the will but alsowith the intellect; n order hat

ii ;t t. op.r,"d];;. [ght a1 the facutties f the beingmust.be

ourified. f Theodoreraa#tii that imebeenpreservedrom disorder-fi';;;, trit *"ai"gs, ashe himselfhasconfessed,ad "dried him

;;.5 il;l, *h, he*i unabteo interpret hesignswhichat the same

;it;. ,^;i-"rJ'niJ. the realityof God. Certainly-the ord couldhave

dissipatedn an nstant he false deaswhichclouded is search't was

;;f]il ;;;iilipt'o"r. Ratisbonnewenty_earsater.ButGod's

*"yr.r"ry' in the p.rion, of the two brothers' e presents' s t were'

two distinct typesLf .orru.rrion: for Theodorewai reservedhe long,

oainful searchn ttte courseof which, through a thousand eflectionst*l^"

,i"*^"a-f,.rii"rio"s, mind and reewill were o reach ruth with

thehelpof t ida." g*."t, *ttit. Alphonsewould receiveheexceptional

il;Ti;;il;f;riir',9"1r*tîn whichheAll-Powerfulould

iranifest Himself, freedJmbeingaskedo declaretself at thatmoment'

Second tay n Paris:The CrisisrSzz-t821

At the time when in a lightning moment, he contemplation f the

,t"* tt"Jopened:ti" .y., oithe.h"eart" or him, Theodorewasagain

ol^*.a bv doubt. He went back to Paris to start studying law' In

[oiî, he abandonedhe search nd for a ye r he tried to torget rt by

ilt"ttt;; il;; amusements hich until this time he \aa {9s.pi;.e-a

According o his o*.t .*pr.ssion t was the criticalperiod"of his ife'the crucial ime whenhe risked osingeverything.He was he ostsheep

in the desertwhich is the world of p'ieasure,ut-whom he GoodSh-eP--

herd myst.rioody .o,'tinued to pursue'Hence his last experience.left

him moredissatiified han everi "TheseP"tiL mademe aswoldly as

."

L i-"gined, but after the dissipations hichwere scatteredhroug-

fr."t -y di'ys, fell backoponmyi.lf into the void and an unconquer-

ablesadness."

At the end of his ife, hepointedout strikingsigns f God'saction

within him: the refusalwith which, in spiteof himself,he met the

advances f a young actress,hus,without knowing it, preservinghis

vocation and he nnervoicewhichrepeatedo him: "You must eave

Parisandgo back o Strasbourg." hisvoice, omparableo the mpulsewhichonedaywould urgeAlphonseo go to Rome, ecameo nsistentthat Theodore,abandoning ll that might keephim in Paris, eft for

Strasbourg.he moment had come when

God'sProvidencewould

I"morevisibly akepossessionf his ife."

I Having returned o Strasbourg t the beginningof the year .823,

I hecontinued is aw studies.Oneday,hewasaccostedt theUniversity

f by an unknownstudent,JulesLevel,who nvitedhim to follow a courseI in philosophy iven by Mr. Bautain.His acceptancearked he urning

{ point of his life by openingup to him a milieu in which he would

I reach ruth.

il ru - \rITH MISS HUMANN - 184-1836-

t Mr. Bautain's ourse:May ryth, r8z3fI After having regained his faith under the influence of Miss

Humann,Mr. Bautainnow hadonly oneobjective: o communicatehetruth which had been evealed o him. Forced o stop teaching n the

.Facultyof Arts, in May r8z3 he begana private cortsewhich first

I brought ogether our students: ulesLevel,TheodoreRatisbonne, n

I IrishCatholic, nd a RussianOrthodox.The strength f hisconvictions

I and his admirablegifts in expressing imself explain the influence

I whichhe had over hese oungmenwho were hemselveseekingruth.

1 Theodorewrote: "All four of us istenedwith delight o the simplebutI vibrantwordswhich lowedsoabundantlyrom theheartof the raster.

t This teachingwas not like any other, t was a true initiation into the

! mysteries f man and of nature. Welistenedwith surpriseand admir-I ation to the development of universal truth which the master

Iderived rom the iving source f the Holy Scripturewhence is word

Idrew its strength, ts virtue and its power.This teachingdid more han

lenlightenmy intelligence; t warmedmy heart, it movedmy will, it

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melted the ice which coveredmy soul; finally, the influence of

Christianity nvelopedme n everypart of my beingand.pen{rated.me

without -y b"ing'awareof it: fortunately!For I would not havehad

the courag! to fa"cet." \Whenalmost ifty yearsater FatherTheodore

recalled ,is reactionsas a young man to Mr. Bautain'scourse,he

gradually ound the same *pressions,ut with an evengreater nsist-

Er..,

"r'if

he werereliving the impressionsf the past n the present'

To this evidenceJules Level added his own: "I shall-not tryjo ,describeall that I felt at this teaching which was so new for me. To {

learn to know man and the world, tn? bond, which link men to each $'l

other and all together to God, to perceive the deepe-stmysterie-s f

nature, the reasoi for man's presentmisery, the goal of human life in

this world and the meansof attaining it: such were the first fruits of

these lessons!Thus all these great truths announced with calmness,

nobility and simplicity, operateda complete enewal n my mind. . .Tit

*", th" living word-which I had so lottg been seeking, his was the

knowledge foi which I had so ardentlywished."

fThe master made it easy for the students to exchange ideas in

simple and affectionate meetings: "Outside class ime, we were able to .

see'the professor in private; he received us kindly, listened toour

observati,ons,nlightened our doubts, and would not let us go without

a few words which showedhis kindnessand his interest."

The following year, Theodore persuadedone of his childhood

friends, Isidore Goeschler, to come to the course. Miss Humann's

nephew, Adolphe Carl, was akeady a member of the grouP to which

were added in the following order: Alphonse Gratry, Nestor Level,

Jules' brother, JacquesMertian, Henri de Bonnechose,Eugdne deR6gny,all attractedby the reputation of the Christian philosopher.

Miss Humann's Influence' Mr. Bautain'scoursewas given on ToussaintStreetat the home ofMiss Humann. The latter kept in the background,but her extraordinaryradiance could not for long remain unnoticed.Theodore had only seenher onceor twice, "but," he said, "I must confess hat her dignified and

syrnpathicppearancead madea deep mpression n me." As for Mr.Bautain, t the timeof the first meetingat Baden, ehad noted: "how

sffongly-dtl*l he.was o her without any shadowof impurity beingpartof their friendship"; and he insisted n beingexplicit: "Sh. *"ineitherbeautifulnor pretty,and herewasnothingattractive boutherin this regard.. You cansee hen hat herecouldnot be anyemotionalattraction,any fascination f the imaginationbetweena youngman of

my ag1and her. I repeat,

t wassolely he GermanphilosopherhatI loved n her."At that timeMissHurnannwas ifty-four years ld, hewas wenty-five.Having become is spiritualmother, healso eceiveda vocation f spiritualmotherhood hichwas o belongequally o thedisciples f this "elderson."

I No one hasshownbetter han Father Gr:'try the very exceptional

I influe.tce hat shewascalleduponto exercise n these our,g ntellec-F tuals hat shewelcomedo her home:"As for the saint hat we called

1[ our mother, he authorityof her virtue,her deeppiety, her luminous

I intelligence nd her great heart,had no limit. she was the soul, the

t beloved oulof our little group.Shewas or us what n previous gesI saint Gertrude,saint Brigid and Saint Catherine f Sienna ad been

I for others.Shewas,as t were, ike these reatsaints, mother o God'sI workers.After God, it was hroughher that the Divine'W'ord, They

had but one heartand onesoul',E.u-. a rcalityamongus."

Theodore,whosespiritual guide she was for elevenyears,wasmarked or the restof his life by this direction, nspiredby the pureGospelmessage hich he summarizedn these ew lines:

'tNow:ord,

noexplanation angive an ideaof the delightful days hat my friendsand I spentwith the mother hat God had given

us.

rwe

lived togethertn the simplicityand the joy of God's children,busy n the present,torgefting the past and abandoning he future to the care of DivineProvidenie."

The life describedn this wayrecalls he doublepictureof the Actsof the Apostles: : 4z-46;4: 32-3:,. his model epresentedn the firstLhurch was certainly eproducedn ToussaintStreetas muchas t ispossible o reproducet hereon earth. ts members alled eachother

,

- I I -

':



brother,and Mr. Bautainhimself, whose eachingcontinued o form

their minds,neverwantedanyother itle.

The "Gteat FriendshiPs"

In this group of elite people,Theodorefound what his loving

nature *mtfr; for him, it was^the ime of great friendships-Joined

together n the bloomof youth in a common earchor God, theyonly

b.7*. stronger hrougtr-separations nd the -longplsage of years:first of all, th-e wo Jews, siiore Goeschler ndJuleskvel, who were

travelling hesame piritualstages shehimselfwas'

He spokeof IsidoreGoeschler sa childhood riend, his "confi-

dant." Aiter having been Mr. Bautain's student in the College of

Strasbourg,e had hro*n himself nto a life of pleasure.one dayi'

he *rotelby a very special gracehat at the time I calledchance, e- :

cause had'no knowledgeof the impulsewhich I w-as ollowing, I

looked or TheodoreRat-isbonne,ne-of my childhood riendswhom

I saw from time to time but from whom I had beenseparated ecause

of a differenceof opinion aboutpolitics. Tomorrow,'he said o me,h/e are beginning

"pttilorophy ourse ith Mr. Bautain; ev_eralf our

friends are following it, yfu'ought to come oo.''Yes,' I answered

without an instant',h".rit"tiott,u.tj- ro- that timeon my existenceook

a totally new direction."*

Attracted n his turn by Christianity, e felt it was a waste f time

to go through he conversion roceduies. heodoredid not feel this

*ai; he"ptt"etd

henecessityf those rocedures ith.afaith whichwe

t"gu.a"a'^,

*.akrr.ss. He found hii strengthand happinessn thi;'Jeakness';

he was baptized eforeme but our unionwas sodeep. nd

our beliefs so in agreement hat oncehe wa1 baptizedmy p_osition

becameruupportalii,. . .l insistently-askedor admittanceo the Church,

humanity'ssatvation. wasbaptized ifty daysafter my friend." "'}lv

JulesLevel,who had broughtTheodore o Mr. Bautain,characte-

rizei in a singlesentencehe union of the threeyoung-men: Ihad a

very ntimateTriendshipwith two friends,Messrs. heodoreRatisbonne

-d Iridor. Goeschler,who were following the samepath." Together

tr::I

il tt"t

collaborated n the "Philosophyof Christianit),",not only by their

f "Notices"but alsoby the etterswhichthey ointly w,roteo Mr. Bautain.

il, Therewasalsoa deep riendship between heodore,AdolpheCad'.

andHenri de Bonnechose.WhenFatherCarl died n 1872,Mother M.

Benedicta rote: "This deathbrokeonemore ink in the chain oining

FatherTheodoreo the earlydays f his ife asa Christianandapriest."

As for Henri de Bonnechose,ho became Bishopand a Cardinal,he

never ailed to visit FatherTheodoreevery ime he came o Paris.On: the occasion f his death n 1883,FatherTheodorewrote the Grand-: bou.ghouse: The deathof Cardinalde Bonnechoseasannouncedo

meby a touching etter from his secretary; am going to celebrateMass

at Sion or this eminentPrinceof the Churchwho loved our religious

famtlyso much. f I had some ree time, I should senda circular etterto all ourhousesn honorof thisgreatservant f God."

FinallyEugdne e R6gny,whom he had introducedn r83o to Fr.Bautain,was very dear to him, judging by the correspondencehich

FatherTheodore arriedon with him until the end of his ife.I He certainlyhad preferencesut therewasnothingexclusive bout

I his riendships; e wason cordial ermswith all. \il[rhenFatherGratry n' r87o becamenvolved in the campaignbeing waged against he defi-

. nition of Papal nfallibility, he intervenedo help him. FatherGratry

{ *ut to die ii fi72 i., .o-iiete submissiono the^Church

and in dispo-r sitions f admirable harity.

IV - INTERIOR DEVELOPMENT: t9z3-r81o

- Contemporary ocumentsmake t possible or us to situateTheo-

dore in the humanmilieu where he was to find privileged meansofleadinghim to God: the W'ord, witnessof others, riendship;but itwould be evenmore interesting o be able to know somethingof hisspiritual development.f it is not easy o determinets stages,hereareat leastsomeguide-linesgiven in the MEMOIRS, the autobiographicalnoticeADEODAT, the letters of THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTI-ANITY. The two first of theseworks give the impression hat thetransformationwas nstantaneous:The living breathof his warm and

- 1 2 - -13 -

ffi\l



clear words dissipatedwithout opposition he cloudswhich unhealt\

readinghad accumulatedn myJbd... This teachingmelted he ice

which"coveredmy soul.. .I had found the path y.hich leads o truth"'

The reality was quite different: Fathei Ratisbonne tidesquickly

over his personalstory; he only recordsoutstandingexperiences nd

pays ittle attention o'chronologictorder and-precision'he letters n

PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTIANITY provetliat he reachedhe faith

in a series f stages;n anycase, ewas b sayhimselfwhenhehadgone

part of the way: "I went from one ight to another"''

The PhilosoPhY f ChristianitY

'w'henon May :^3, 8z3,Mr. Bautain'scourse egan,Theodoredid

not evenbelieve tt Coa. Sitt.. Isidore Goeschler nly joined him the

following year, he correspondenceith the professgtbjgll t^" ^8:1-3!

the eadielt.Of the forty-four letterswhich comPosehePHILOSOPHY

OF CHRISTIANITY, six are signedby Theodore.The first makes t

clear hat severalessons adalreadybeengiven: "'W'hatstruckusfrom

the very beginningof your lessons as hat you basedall y9u1 eachingon boois

"utti.tta're a.red to the Jews. .It is you' a Christianphilo-

sopher,who haveawakenedn threeJews espect o.1 he religiol"$

wirship of their ancestors;t is youwho have econciledhemwith the

God oi Abraham, saac ndJacob. .It is youwho used o say:Become

goodJews, ruth will do therest." 4

Adeodat and his friends said that they were then attracted o

christianityand askedhis question:-Is it possibleo be a Christiann

here,a Jew n the family cirile anda deist b thewodd?" Of coursehe

"nr*.r-*us

"no." "Jewi by birth, conductyourselvesn a noblefashion

beforethe pagans,or the deistsof our day,a.slhose of.e'very..agr,?t:none other^lian pagans."The disciples ried in

.vainto follow this

advice; hey asked f,e master o teach hem Christiandoctrine.

a,

ls Revelationof which the Church s the depositoryand the guardian- The Church- The knowledge f God- The Trinity- Fairh- Original sin and evil- The Redemption

- Jesus hrist,God andman- The Eucharist

The disciplesdealt successively ith each of thesepoints; the

correspondence,hich covershe same eriodas he course,musthave

beencarried on over a fairly long time; it is impossible o fi x itsdurationsince he lettersare not dated. n any case, he young mencameo Christianity erygradually.

If by conversion ne means assingrom onereligion to another,the erm doesnot apply o them; heynever ived Judaismo any great

extent; hey did not evenknow it. For his part,Theodore pokeof his"instinctive ttachment"o what hecalled he religionof his ancestors;he knew certainof its prescriptionsy seeing neof his grandmothers

**t*O,icismor from a vaguedeist belief.

observing them, but in his parents' home, there was no sign of anyreligious practice. He found his way to Christianity starting from

Meeting the Living God

In one of the last letters in the PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTI-

,l ANITY, Mr. Bautainanswershedisciples ho wereworriedabout he

I Problemof evil, by St. John'sword: "God is love."'Was

it on thisI occasionhat Theodore eceived he gr^cewhich unveiled o him the

- | trueand iving God andwhich actherevealed t theendof his ife? "Il

Ibelieved,eryieeply n the Blessed rinity. . .a mysteriousriad appear-

I ed to me under all the forms of science..These ymbolswere not

* always xact rom the heological ointof view. .but. .theyhelpedmeI

Ito havea presentiment f a supremedeal.This ideal was revealedo

I m" in a single word: God is love. This evangelicalword was at the^ I

D -

Bi l - I ' -

Henceforth, as the questionswere posedto

lecturedon the following Points:

- Christianitys only hecompletion-ofudaism-- The authority *hi.h servis as foundation for

him, Mr. Bautain

- 1 4 -

the Church is the



same ime heat or my souland light for my mind. I had an intimation

of the eternal ove n themysteryof theTrinity, the mystery f Creation

and he'reasonablenessf all theactsof Redemption."

In view of thevocabulary sed,t would seemhat this text alludes

to oneof thosespiritual experienceshich suddenlyransforma human

being, shatterhis vision of the world, operateby causinga comPlete

rupture befweenhis anterior ife and the one that he will henceforth

live with a new vision. Beginningwith this 1tace,Theodorewill infuture ook at everythingn the ight of eternalLove.

The supposition f a sudden races rendered ll the moreplausi-

ble in that he had written in the marginof a lesson ivenby Mr. Bau-

tain: "Do not say hatmanhas allen;say ather hathe hasbeenPursu-ed, yes,pursuedby his Creator,by his God. The God of Moses s a

jealousGod, a vengeful God, a wicked God, and with the Jewishtradition, Christianityhas nheritedthis God."

Thiscourse asdated 8z6-t827; hiswas he imewhenTheodore

waspreparing or Baptism; is discovery f "God-Love"must hereforehavepriceded he*iiting of thisnote; n thiscase,t correspondedo a

time bf greatanguish n his life, a time of revolt against he problem

of evil, which made he youngman'sdevelopmentery human.But it

may a,lsobe, in view of the chronologicalprecisionwhich sometimes

is evident n the documents,hat this coursewasgivenoneot two years

earlier; this and the courseof. fi33 - on the teachingof Frenchphilo-

sophy n the nineteenth entury, lonebeardates;maybehe dates re

not correct?

KnowingJesus

Christ

God had answered ll Theodore's uestions y revealing hatHe is

love. t would not be long beforeHe madeChristknown to him. The

MEMOIRS clearlystate he circumstancesf this new 1race, nd this

was, certainly,a suddenone. "I abeadyhad a strong faith in JesusChrist and yet I could not bring myself to pray to Him, nor even o

pfonounce {is tt"m.. . .I had fallen ill in a swisshotel, and my vivid

imaginationmademe think I was going to die...The nameof Jesus

, Christ ame rom my heart o my ips n a cry.of. istress..I felt athome

*" wittr. he nameof Christ, from then on I alwaysPfonouncedt with

conftdence'

From his ime on,he did not separate hristandMary n his mind.

Thissense f theclose elationship ets,eenMaty andher Sonwasone

of the characteristicsf his life of faith. He wrote: "The closerwe

comeo

JesusChrist, he more do we feel the needof honouringHis

Mother. .It is throughMary'smaternity hat we come o know Jesus

Christ; t is she who forgesour links with Him. Through her, God

becamehe Sonof man; through her, man becomes child of God-

Thus the honor paid to Mary, when t is deepand intelligent, s an

indication f the depthof our f.aith,he conditionof spiritualPfogress,thesecret f truespiritualhappiness." o appreciatehevalidity of this

attitudewe must ememberhat at the time FatherTheodore xpressed

it, Marian devotiondid not have the soundtheologicalbase t has

today.His meetingwith Christmovedhim to the depthsof his being;

his whole spiritualirywas foundedon the love of Christ; about thislovehe was o say:"If I live, t is no longer who live but Christwho

lives n me. My present arthly ife is lived in faith in the Sonof God

who ovedmeandgaveHimselfup forme."

However, he eady fervour of this period in Genevawas short-

lived and soon after Theodore, eft without direction and without

priestlyhelp,not knowingwhat stepso take o bebaptized, uffereda

periodof irresolution.

At thesameime hewasgoing hroughapainful time of indecision

caused v a situationwhich dailv becamemore untenable:while his

Christian aith was growing, urrdh. assisted landestinely t Churchfeasts, e was still the directorof the Jewishschools, positiongivento him by his father. t was mpossibleo live this double ife f.or anylengthof time; t wasabove ll impossibleor him not to makea publicdeclaration f the truth which had invadedhis soul,not to sacrificeeverything or it.

#

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The Direction of Miss Humann

Theodorethus discovered hrough suffering that to becomea full-

fledgedmemberof God'sKingdom, he would have o completely top

playing the role which wasno longerhis. In addition,his family'splansfor his marriagetroubled his heart. After monthsof indecision andinterior struggle,he askedMiss Humann for advice.The advicegiven

by Fr. Bautainhad beenof no avaiI.Shewasable o givehim the advice

which restored is peace f soul, andat thatmomenthehadan ntuitionthat shewould be the nstrument o bring him to God: "A supernaturalbondwas ormed henbefweenmy souland hers."

Henceforthshewas he personwho initiatedhim into theChristian

life, brought him from a purely speculativeaith to one that was all-

consuming.By showing him how to put into practicewhat he had

acceptedn his mind and heart,shemade t possible or him to see hat

to acceptaith in God meant o bewilling to undertake completely ew

life; faith doesnot mean o integrateGod into one'sown personalway

of life, but rather o discover ne'sown place n God'swodd, to reco-

gnze that one has been possessedy Him, hence to changeone'sperspectivein a word, it is to be convertedn the biblical sense f the

term.A noteof February18z6givesa concrete xampleof the direction

given by Miss Humann and the letter that Miss Humann wrote to

Theodoremakesclear that shehad a very high sense f her mission:"You arc f.or me a soul who has beenvery speciallyconfided to my

cate."

"So," said Father Theodore,"contactwith this very holy mother

increasedmy faith and I ardently wanted to receivebaptism." He

receivedt on April r4th, r8z7; he had towait until

Septemberzth of

the sameyear to makehis First Communion.BaptismPut the sealof

Christandof the Churchonhim; it thussethim apart;its demandswere

not slow in imposing themselves.I understoodnow the meaning of

Christ'sword:'I

havecome o bring a sword on earth'." Theodorewent

forward into a placewherehis loved ones ould not follow him and his

led to rupture rupturewith the synagogue,upture, at least empora-

rily, with his family. Miss Humannwelcomedhim and supportedhim

- r8 -- 1 9 -

in hissuffering. 7e are eminded f what EdithStein aid:"Oneof th

oreatest ufferings n life is to be interiody separatedrom thosew

iou., b".ûse heycanno longer ollow us; but such ufferings anals

!e very ruitful"'

*P,

V - PRIESTHOOD STRASBOURG: 83o-r84o

From the moment of his baptism, Theodore felt a call to devotimself exclusively o the serviceof God and mankind by becoming

riest. If the formation he was given at the seminaryof Molsheim left

h to be desired, God was working in his heart and was beginnin

awaken n him the love for Israel which would give direction to hi

hole ife. He receivedminor orderson OctoberzSth,1828,andpriestl

inationon December Sth, r83o.

"The priest and the altar areone and the same hing." Theseword

of Father Theodore, written twenty-sevenyears after his ordination

show the dominant characteristic f his spirituality: to enter ever mor

deeply nto the mysteryof the Eucharistwhich is "communion with thsufferingsof Christ and His Resurrection." fter the joy of his ordin

ation, he went to join his brothers, he Priestsof St. Louis, in the minol

seminaryat Strasbourgwhosedirection had beenconfided to them. Pu

in chargeof the eighth form, he wrote to Father de R6gny: "I've beetold that you're working hard and how wise you are! I, for my partam paying painfully for the years wasted n the world; for me it is

hard purgatory to have to begin learning the alphabet n my old ag

This makesme long all the more for heavenwhere there will be n

irregular verbs,and where the languageof the angelswill not havean

odd constructions!Oh! how joyously we shall rest in the eternal tentafter having splashed bout for so ong in the mud - and the gramma- of this woddt . . .Pray for me, dear brother; I need t badly."

Difficulties with Fr. Bautai

It costhim a greatdeal to be tied down by teachingwhen his whol

attraction was foithe pastoral ministry; but even more painful was th

"il

*,

*



misunderstandingwhich crept into his relationswith Fr. Bautain.Hehad for the masteran admiration and a gratitude whose fidelity isattested o in the MEMOIRS. Howevet, th.y were never intimatefriends; their ternperaments, s Father Theodoreremarked,did notharmonize: I found no relief in my contactswith Fr. Bautain,whosestiffnessand severitycontrastedwith my own sensitivitywhich wasmuch too natural." This severitywas only on the s,rrface, .In

spiteof

a somewhat old and austere ppearan..," t wassaidafter his death,"Fr. Bautain possessed rare kindnessof heart." But his kindnesslackeda certain warmth which would havemade him a friend andadvisorfor Theodore as well as the incomparablemasterhe alwayswas. In addition, they held differing views: Fr. Bautain saw ,.the

brothers"as engagedsolely in teachingand he could not understandwhy Theodore would want to do anythingelse. n another etter toFatherca'd, Fr. Bautainmadea rather,"u... judgmenton Theodore:

!rue,certlinly, when he talked abouthis noisy, ively natureand his

basicpride, but untruewhen Fr. Bautainattributeso this pride theyoungpriest's nability to

"_d"p,o his teachingduties.Father e R6gny

assureshat "Father Theodorehad always ho*., his predilectionforthe pastoralministry." Fr. Bautain coulj not be urr"*l^r. of this. Healsowrote: "Theodore thinks that he is ill.', yet FatherTheodorewasnot in the habit of sparinghimself;Miss Humann,anxious or hishealth,had been sometimes bliged to temperhis ardor. His illnesscouldhave eenquitereal,perhaps ven erious. *

. Fgyiog his-desires,

he parish priest of StrasbourgcathedralaskedBishop de Trevern to appoint Theodoreasa curate o him; theplan was_carriedout but it w;s not regardedvery favorably uf rr.Bautain. f Father RatisbonnesufferedJrom this, he found, on the

9F..hald,great happinessn his parishduties.oi^n, peoplecame o

his confesst:o"tt tte ett a specialattraction or the directionof soulsvrho wantec to follow "the Lord with all possibleperfection.,, t wasat this time t5"1 Miss

'weywad,a, future Itefigiousof sion, chose im

a.s dbedoti other younggids imitatedher.S

r f

h-2o- .$

Sr" The Priests f St.Louis n Disfavor: r834-r84o

"The staggering low" which struck he Priests f St. Louis came

to snatch atherRatisbonnerom his apostolate. lready n r83r some

rnembers f the Strasbourg lergyhad lodgedcomplaints gainst he

rcachingof hilosophyn theminorseminary.

ln 1834Fr. Bautain and his co-workerswere deprivedof their

posts ndwere orbidden o preach ndhearconfessions.issHumann

'- fo, whomBishopde Trevernhada great espect had hecourageto write a letter n whichshedenouncedn the strongesterms heplots

which led to the young priests osing their Bishop'sconfidence; he

latter,old and imorous, everthelessaintained isposition.

In his MEMOIRS,FatherRatisbonne ummed p the whole sad

af.f.airn one carefullywritten page;he paid tribute o Fr. Bautainasa"manof genius . . who never ai led to appreciatehe ogicalstrength

of reason; ut he waswrong n clinging enaciouslyo formulaswhichwere oo restrictive."

One canguess ow he and his friendssuffered; he only outcomeof sucha trial must be either heroic obedience r defection. fhileduring this sameyear fi34 F6licit6 de La Mennais,placed n similarcircumstances,ecided or revolt by publishing fORDS OF A BE-LIEVER,all thePriests f St.Louissubmitted.

In order to keepbusy hey foundedschoolsn Strasbourg. atherRatisbonne, ho had not been nvolved as were FathersCarl andGoeschler ecause e had not taughtphilosophy, ould have brokenawaybut his faithful affection or his brotherswould not allow him toleave hemespecially t a time of trouble.Forbidden ll pastoralminis-try, he devotedhimself completelyo the elementary lass onfided ohim.

In the courseof the following yearshe fought many severespiritualbattles. empted o complain he reproachedheGospelwhichdid not give him thehundred old promised."His natureand his earlyeducationmade self-sacrificeslow and difficult" for him. As timepassed,e realized hat a work of purificat ionwasbeingaccomplished

- 2 T -



in him. "I did not know at the ime thafGod haddestinedme o becomethe father of a great eligiousfamily; it is certainlywith this vocationin view that God wanted o eradicatefrommy soulall thatmight hinderthe new ife." But at the actualmoment, esaidhe wouldhai given nto discouragementf Miss Humannhad not taughthim to proLrnor.

*.f!,h.

Ty*yof the cross.He cameout of lhis crisisstrengthened

and renewed.7hen in fi46 this "mother", who had baptized im andshownhim how to live a christian life, died, he wasablehenceforthto faceall the difficulties that the future held without seeking l.;;support.

- - shortly beforeher death,Miss Humann had nameda small teamof the Priestsof St. Louis to direct the.society.FatherBautain eplacedFatherRatisbonne,,wnlrra.d.beenppointedbyMissHumann,by hatherde Bonnechose.atherRatisbonn. .it tfrir substitution eenly,eJpeciallyas t seemedo him to bea betnyalof the inal wishof thep.rri.r.oJtresponsibleor the unj_Tof the group. He tried to lessen is pain bytlroyigg himself nto his.*1lk;.p-." n hand,hesrudiedHoly sc'ripturi

the Fathers f the church,chriitian juristsand philosophers,piLitu"iauthorsand historians. rom rg36 to r84o he wrote ttri rire oi s"i.,tBernard, n the introductionof which he developedhe idea of u;iq,which is the main ideaof the book.Bishopperr'one,in a letter to Fr.l"y?i"., gave he following appreciation f th. volume: "I have ustfinished

lelding the Life or siiitt Bernardby Fathernltirbor,rr.. I amregllydelightedwith this work which revealedo methe beautifulsoul

:{ :11utho1.lis ryace f sryre,isprofoundnowledlef thesubjeJne reatsand the enjoymentwhich thereaderexperiencei avedelightedme and filled me with true esteemor th9 yo,rrrgwriter. oh! miy hesoonenrichFranceand the christian

world with 6therequally alentedworks. .I havemadearrangementsor a goodItalian translationof theLife of saintBernard; t wlll probablybe"pubrisrreai"ailan.,,

The authordedicated is book o Fr. Bautain: ,.youhavebeen he

instrument sedby God to transmit ife, light and happinesso me. .

::::T.l].1,ago today divine mercy,laking compassion n my

Protoundwretchedness,irectedme to your lessons. ince that time i

qhavealwaysbeen with you, and my soul, united with yours,has been

encouraged y your example as it has beenenlightened by your teach-

ing." This homage was the expressionof sentimentswhich remained

co-nstantven after the eventswhich were to separatehe disciple from

the rnaster.

VI - FULFILLMENT OF HIS MISSION: PARIS r84o

N. D. desVictoires: r84o-r84r-

La Providence: 84 rIn r84o, after the Priestsof St. Louis and their Bishop had been

reconciled,hey took chargeof the col lege of Juilly under the direction

of Fr. Bautain.Father Ratisbonnebecame co-worker of Father Desge-

nettesat Our Lady of Victory, "with the full consentof his brothers,"

writes Father de R6gny.Henceforth the future founder of Sion will be

more and more directed towards the mission which had beenglimpsedat Molsheim. The following yearhe was chaplain at the oqphange f LaProvidenceand this work, which responded o his love for the poor andfor children,gavehim great happiness: La Providencewas for me the

schoolwhich provided the experiencewhich until that time I had nothad."

Apparition of Our Lady: January zoth, r84z

Then there occumed he incomparable.unforeseenevent that wasthe Apparition of Januaryzoth, rS4z.Alphonsewho "understoodevery-thing," was sure that the unusual graceaccorded o him was not forhimself alone. One of the traits of his characterwas that he wantedeverythingdone immediately,so he urged his brother to do somethingfor the poor Jewish families whosemisery he had seen n Strasbourg

and in Rome. The great Jewish organizationswhich today are spreadthroughout the world did not yet exist and private efforts, like thoseof the Ratisbonne amtly,could not meet he needs.

Father Ratisbonne accepted Alphonse's idea as a message romheaven;but he would not undertakeanything unlesscommissionedbythe Church. This commissionwas given to him in the courseof a tripto Rome in June-July 1842,by Pope Greg<xy XVI. On his return, he

*

#

i

i*'

I

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r| ..

I

- 23 -



gn .into- pposition rom FatherBautain; he atter thought he missionill-timed; he believed hat God'spromisesor Israel ould be fulfilledonly "at the end of the wodd." FatherTheodore,on the other hand,r"y

1 p.ossibilityof working "for_the realizationof thesepromises,,;and he believed hat he was called to it. In his anxiety,he'asked he

!l::::d Jlrgin to give him a sign and his prayerwasgranted.God's\rill had beenmadeclear to him, but now he was facJdwith an un-welcomealternative: either to evadehis call or to act contrary o thewishof FatherBautainwho wasstill hissuperior.

A decisionakenby the Priestsof St. Louisat this time relievedhimof his ernbarrassment.The wish of the members f the communitvofJuilly," writesFatherde R6gny, was o pronounce ows n the handsof their superior.-

-Theceremony as ixld for September6th, rg4z.FatherBautain old FatherRatisbonne f this plan bnly the daybefoie.FatherRatisbonne id not feel he couldmakesucha'binding'decisionin suchhaste,and when his request or a postponement ai refused,he withdrew. He fould the separation ery p"inful, but his call, so

different from that of his brothers,made t'inevitable. n "rry ."r., h.would need all the freedomof action possible o organize he smallcommunitywhichwasbeginning o takeshape roundhim.

The Foundation f thecongregation f our Ladyof sion: 1843

Ilaving no desire o anticipateGod's plans,FatherTheodorehad

1o lhought of forming a congregation,but he saw an indication ofGod'swill in the fact thatMrs. stouhlenandher fellow-workers agedydesired he- eligious ife. Looking upon the Blessed irgin as he"realtoundress, e consecratedis work to her under the titlJ of our Ladyof sion. "However," he remafked, namesdo not makecommunities.

ll*:mustbe ustifiedandgiven ife by thespirit which heyexpress.

lluty respect,he only thing I had n mind wis for a purelychristian

Itte, basedon evangelical harity." In these ew *ords he statedhiswhole ideal as founder

-.:h^rrty, the Gospel, hat is to say he veryessence f the religious ife which is nothing other than a..purelychristian life." AJ for prescriptionsand diieaives which become

- 24 - -25 -

increasinglyecessarysa congregation'sumbers row, theymust low

frorn he Gospeland havecharityasa goal.This ideal found concreteexpression s -perfectlyas was humanly possible n the primitiveChurch, irst of all in the community t Jerusalem hich FatherTheo-doreunceasinglyffered for the mitationof his religious.

-ilflhenSionbegan, e was orty years ld. Sufferinghad expandedhisstrongpersonalily y developing entlenessndhumility.The sisters

who knew him assure s that his portraitsdo not do him justice; heymakehim appearaustere hereasn realityhe wasalways milingandhis expression asone of kindness. s soonashe appeared mong hechildren hey ranup to him. His simplewordswerealwayspersuasive,going directly to the point. \Whenhe was a seminarian,

-hisfriend

NestorLevel wrote: "Lastweek went o Molsheim o hearTheodore.I was yery p]eased. think he has he makingsof a good preacher.He is full of life and I was very impressed ith him." He took hissubjectsmostly rom the Scriptures, oth Testaments. rom the verybeginning f thecongregation,eused o comment verySunday n thl

day'sGospel.The first children of Sion belonged o poor Jewishfamilieswho had appealedo FatherRatisbonne. on" of them tt'asever initiated into the Catholic religion without the consentof herparents.SoonChristian amilieswere also askinghim to admit theirdaughters, nd verysoon t wasa tradition hat girls of every elig ionand.ofevery ountrywouldbe accepted.ateron, n Eastern urope,Turkeyand Tunisia. . parents f evely eligion:Jeu,s,Muslims,Ortho-dox, Protestant, nhesilatingly onfided treir ctritdren o the Congre-gation, ertainhat heir eligious onvictions ouldbe espected.atherTheodorebequeathedhis motto to his daughters: Re-mainirm inyour

own faithwithoutattemptingo mposet on others."The communitygrew slowly; manypostulants eft, unable o cope

with the difficultiesof a work which waionly beginning. he religiouslived very poorly, irst to follow the lessons'oftre Goipel and oT heprimitive church, and also becausehey had no choici. The futureseemedery shaky; o "hangon" often required he founder'simitlesscontrdencen God'sProvidence.



Foundationof thepriestsof Our Lady ofsion: rg5zThe foundation of the priests society of St. peter of sion_

wasstill moredifficult. This wasdue laryery o ther".r1n", thevocationfor Israel, new in the-church, was not easy o understandor even oexplain, ecause

9n tle onehand,prejudicer"J-pila ,rp ou.i iilcenturies, ndon the otherhand, heri wasa ..myster|,,surroundingthe

1*Tyof the lewish peop-le. oday the seconi yitican council andthe Ecumenical

ovem"nfh"u. casta new ight on thisvocation: o becalled to live a life of christ for His peoplS , 6 ;;; witness o thetruth that Israel s the root of thechurch, so hat, n mutrrat espect ndhonesty,Jewsand christiansmaydiscovereachother in God,splan oflovefor all mankind.

VII - CONCLUSION

MY MEMOIRSgivesusan outlineof FatherTheodore,spirituarportrait ashe was.during the last daysof a rife

"l*;;;consecratedothe Lord.He couldhaveiradehis own saintpaul', pili"rrion of faith:"For His sake,

Fav:

up everything. .to gain christ'andto befound innrm' no rongerna-vrr-rgy own personalustice, hat of the Law, butjustificationthrough aitfr n Christ."

The moststriking. hing in his account s the intensityof his faithwhich awGodandHis".tt'

in all things:ht;;;Ait"i

tr,.";t

pirit rewardinghis pure and unceasing"lovef t uth'.sincehe hadreceived he great.g:i.: of being able t"o .. y.rur-Cirist as the out_standingsign of cod's lovehe cJuld alsorecognir., ' trr. fight of theRedemption ndof the.Gospel, il the otherrig"r,, iricn God givesHist*ty::;_wigh

o1 and endless-gratitudee Tound hese igns n hispast ife. It is a sign of"

profo".rrrdaith

..,"

i.."j"iie the smallestevidence f God's 6ve." I

Beforeall elsehis faith pointedto fwo ,,signs,,unbreakablyinkedto Christ:

- His Mother whom He gave to us from the cross: ..Thisis yourMother; accept erasyo,rroirr.',

- His church, "That great anrrywhoseather sSt.peter.,,

Christ's ife is communicated o us through faith; but we can only

receivet if we love all our brothersasChrist loved them.The naturally

warm affectionwhich Father Theodore showed o all thoseu'ith whom

he came n contact was made even greater by the grace of the Ho,ly

Spirit and by his sharing n the love of Christ.His kindnesswas extend-

.i to al l but it was coupled with austereexpectations;he would not

toleratemediocrity and wanted to lead souls very far in the path of

self-forgetfulnessand love. Humility which is the foundation of lovehad little by little penetrated ery deeply nto his soul. By diverting hisattention from himself and keeping his eye fixed on God, it reducedthe "basicpride" of his "wild nature."Thus t madeof him, like Moses,"the gentlest of men." This transformation was the result of twentyyearsof unremitting struggle and there were glimpsesof this strugglein the manner n which he spokeabout the graceshe had received.

"The man who is inspired by the samewill as JesusChrist entersinto union with Him and becomesHis brother, member of His Bodv.sharing the Spirit, child of the sameFather, co-worker with christ."Father

Theodore wrote these ines during the first yearsof his priestlylife. From the time of his conversion,he had such an acuteawarenessof the one only thing necessary "Do always in union with JesusChristwhatever s pleasing o the Father" that he became uspiciousof all his own personal nitiatives. Contemplative by nature, he wouldtakeno decisionwithout first having prayed ong over t. To bring Sioninto beinghe dared o ask or a sign.

The fundamental mark of his character is certainly this verybiblical attitude of total submission o the Absolute \fho is truth andlove.That was he secretof his serenity,of his joy, so evident to all who

met him. He often said in speechand writing:"Peace

and joy" and itis again the words of St. Paul which best expresshis contemplativewonder: "How rich are the depths of God - how deep His wisdomand knowledge- and how impossible to penetrate His motives orunderstandHis methods! fho could ever knbw the mind of the Lord?\7ho could ever be His counsellor? Who could ever give Hirn or lendHim anything? All that exists comes rom Him; all is by Him and forHim. To Him be glory forever. Amen."

- z6--27 -



PART II - MEMOIRS(I)

Dictatedby FatherTheodoreRatisbonneo MotherM^ryBenedicta Grandbourgggz-rg83

Here therelppears the bond of a firiar relationshipwith manyothers,dating o thi memorable nionat Turkenstein.

FatherGrandvau,one of the directorsof saint Surpice eminary,who hasbeenmy spiritualdirector o.,.*.^r;;;,1", urgedme togut intl writing_rni *.:l h4;; anything_todo with my conver_sion and the beginningof the conlregation "of

our Ladyof sion.I havedelayed his work for a rong time, and for severareasonsI did not wanr o undertaket. Firrt oiurl;y i.;itl hasbeenconsi-derablyweakened.y.many ill"ases so that f ."r, scarcelywrite anylongerand my voice s too weak o ai.iut ruryg.."rr, ;r"fm frfr"i

rdI cannotget help from anydocuments ince havenever n my lifekept a diary' I havesomenotesoT -y. trip to Rome in 1863. fI ever took any other notes, have ost h#. r ,.memb"r importantactionsand events,

speciailyhosewhict toufil.l ..,i", I haveneverbeenable to remembetd"t ,""J-rn.

chronologic;i;;., of things.Ishallonly relate hen,asbest can, he-.rori&__*iiJ.o.. to mind;1* i:

thesepages redestinedonil for my spiritual daughters, shalllrctate

them.verysimply,without worryingabout he niceties f lite_rarure;my solepurPosesto glorify God, n"ho*.u.r ll.ited a manner,and to celebrate Hii eternal aZray.r^r v w vLr 'rr

^ l- I musts.peakf my conversionnd of the missionwhichl-::"jdrr:

deignedo assign'to--., I must el l abouta memorable

I-:nt*hirh

!-ppeled.befor:e y-birth, ndwhich , flouetyinkedwithmyvocation. ere s thest9ry f thisevent s t was elatedn a docu_entabout he portraitof'nirnofloseph

Loui, coi-"r, Bishopofayence,ddresied,o thererig-iou!r ou, Ladyofsion by Fathir de6gny,haplaino heLadies"FSi.

*is atJuilly."On Friday une z3-rd,,ry9, feastof the Sacred eartof Jesus,hileFrance"rl.r ttr. tt,.o.r or'irr.-ir.rrchRevolution,here ccurred

;

{

in a small hapelost n thesummits f the Vosges, t Turkenstein,ne

of those ventswhichenraptureheangels nd whichare he originof a

longsuccessionf blessingsor the whole *'orld.Threepeoplevowed

rhei-r earts,heirstrength nd heiru'hole ife to theChristiannstruct-

ion of youthand to the careof the sick,puttingtheirunionunder he

protectionf theSacred eartof Jesus.hesehreepeoplewereFather

Colmarwho wasalso he spiritualdirector,Madeleine ouiseHumann

andMarieTh6rdseBreck.

"Joseph ouisColmar,who wasborn at Sbrasbourgn Junezznd176o,came rom a modestand respectableamily. Quick, intelligentandaffectionate,he child grew under heprotectionof parentswhotook heirChristianduties eriously nd he felt calledby grace o serveGod,withoutanystruggleand as f it werepart of the naturaldevelop-ment of his person.After outstandingstudiesat the seminary,hereceivedHoly Orders n 1784.Having then beenappointedprofessorat the college, e became ell-known or his persistencen promotingthestudyof Greekand of history.But his preference as or pastoralministry,and to his work as professor e addedhat of curaten SaintStephen'sarish.The careof the sick, he administrationf the Sacra-ments,he usualpreachingwerenot enough o satisfya chariqrwhichyearnedo undertake very ypeof work: ministry o the military,youthgroups,charitableorganizatio FatherColmar animated herrrall.The successf his preachingwas such hat parishes ied with oneanothero havehim, in city and country,preachon feastdaysand atreligiousclothings. n thisway passedhe six or seven ears recedingtheRevolution.The young priest,who "madehimselfall things o allmen",wasunknowinglypreparing imself or themoredifficult work

of a frightening imeof persecution.

"In r79o and ry9r the Civil Constitutionof the Clergyand theoathdemandedf them ed to the dispersal f theclergyof Strasbourg.FatherColmar, orced o cross o the othersideof the Rhine,could notremainmore hansix monthsoutside is owncountry.He carhe ack oStrasbourg,esolvedo facedeportation nd the scaffold n order towork for the salvation f soulsdeprivedof all spiritualhelp. He had

rI

- 2 8 -

'&",-29 -



thenaturalqualitiesne,ede.dor thissplendidapostolate. e hadu'swer_ving courage, shrewdmind anda knowledge f men.However,t;;;asa priest hat hewieldedan rresistiblenfluence,andsoardent ", rr],faith that he regardedmartyrdomas he crownoi the christian lif;.-i;this way he lived

f11ten years.isguisinghimself n a thousand;;;

sometimess a soldier,sometimess an officer, as a mason,a coal_heaver,going from onehiding-place o another n the main houses ithe city; alwayshunted, herewasa price on his head;he was

"rt.niscovered ut alwayslglp.d,sometimes in rather*o.rd.rfui ;t;;and he continued o fulfill his dutiesof priestlyministry n the.ii;;of all thesedangerl,

{fhe escapedeatho^.,rum.rousoctasions,t was

'certainly hrough_divinenterventionegardedby his friendsas mira_culous.SuchwasFatherColmar.

"MadeleineLouiseHumannwasborn n 1766, n september9th,feastof SaintMichae-l$9 Archangel.Her parents, umble armerswitha patriarchalway of life, were richer in virtue than in this world'sgoodl; yet their descendantsere able to rise to the highestsocialpositions.Madeleine ouise,

he eldestof numeroushildreir, rom herearliestyearsg^ve evidence f extraordinaryntelligence; he taughtherself nddirected heeducationf heryounger roth"ersndsisters."Toher capacityor studywasaddeda strongan-d olidpieg. In r7gg,shewas wenty-twowhenshe ested er vocationo the religious ife.andenteredhe conventof o_urTady_at trasbourg,hecomminity foundedby SaintPierreFourier.But the Revolution Ii.h brokeout at this timeupsethis plan.

"obliged to returnhome,Miss Humannsuffereda long periodofdiscouragement nd_ epressionwhich she overcam. only"irh.r, she

asked or help from FatherColmar.

. -"This distinguishedirectorsoon ecognizedhat he wasdealins

with an unusual oul,capable f-great hinfs. And indeed,at the peaEof the Revolution,she becam.ttr. centreJr

"nthe priest'sworks of

charity.

"Th6rdseBreckwasa fairlywealthyyoungwoman rom Frankfort,

-,:rlowof a Frenchofficer and mother of threesmall children. n q95

"i.J,ud"the acquaintance f Miss Humann at Strasbourgand soon

j..'.top"d for her a deep,childlike affection. Mrs. Breck'sgentleness,

Iierv ind humility were the basis of her completeself-forgetfulness

lnd' unendingdevotedness'

.,Miss Louise Humann remainedu'ith her family at the beginning

of thetroubles and shesucceededn keeping them unharmed through

her intelligence,her coufageousirmness,her sharpmind and her Pj.fy.

At the same ime shen'as,aswe havesaid,a gteathelp to FatherColmar

in his ministry.Hou,ever,after Mrs. Breckcameunder FatherColmar's

direction, he fwo ladiesdecided o live together;and it was in their

home hat at the mostdifficult moments f his life, FatherColmar hid.

Their house becamea secretcentre of religion for the whole city of

Strasbourg. he united youngpeopleof the tu'o familiesHumann and

Breck soon attractedother young people.Their home becamea centre

of Christianconferencesn which the appealingand solid teachingof

Miss Humann exercised ts own apostolate.Here they celebrated esti-

vals and first communions in a lemporary chapel which had to bedismantled at once when the exubetant joy of the fearless yolrng

aroused he suspicionsof the neighbors.There the faithful who had

been notified cameto seekhelp for the dying; and there, too, as in a

sanctuary,was kept the Blessed Sacrament. n effect, this sanctified

house u* ,."n., from the Primitive Church renewedwithin its walls;

herewere to be found the sameardent faith, the samecharity, the same

pure union of hearts.

q97Ql

"The principal event we want to mention to9\ place at this time.

During tfre firsi days of June ry97, it was decided that the whole

familliwould go to Turkenstein accompanied y Father Colmar whose

state of health required some rest. Turkenstein was the name of a

property which ltrs. Breck had bought as a way of investing Pu*:fiter^d*indling fortune. As this property did not produce he hoped-for

tevenue, t was sold again later. One might have said that it had beenI+?+

-30 --3 r -



acquired or the solepuqpose f providing backgroundor the pactofwhichwe aregoingto speak.

"Turkenstein s situatedon oneof the summitsof the vosges, heDonon, quite close o the cornmuneof Fr:amont departmentof theY*go).

The residences built a few stepsrom theruins of an"rr.i*ifortresswheretherewas a little round.chap.t*rror. bu.k *", ;t;t;;;the rock..The rip to.the counrrywashailid by the .hildr.n u"[ ,tiii

more by thosewho planned t. rx/hilethe childrendividedtheir timelr*."*

religiousexircises,:lydl and long hik;s, F"ther colmar, Mrs.

Breck and Miss Humann filled their tite wi[h conferencesr,i.t,respondedo the attractionwhichGod wasgiving tt.m. The Feast fcorpus christi cameand wascelebrated iih a\oly joy n this spoiunknownto the world. Therewasa processionn the courryardof theproperty; the children carried*r"atht of flowers before he HearrentfKing, amidthesplendorof amagnificentandscape.

_"llhe day ollowing the octavewas he feastof theSacredHeartof

fesus; lmost ll day.long, ather olmarandhis r,wo piritualdaughters

ttT"j"..{. in prayer.in he chaper. ow.ards vening hiy signed hZpactwhich, ike a smallseed-prantedn the ground,iro* with time andunderGod's action,producesa tree ade"nwith'b?anches,lowers andfruit.

"Here sanextractrom thispact:

.:P.spiritual atherspeakingohisdaughtersaid:

"Long live Jesus!"It hasseemed ood to you for your own salvationand the com-plete success f the-work

_yo,,"r.urrd..tuking f;; il glory of ourDivine Master, hat the

gnty qrhg missing r ^? il.p-"ble uniononearthsuchasyouhope o haven hJauen.l'r, your spiritualfather,have he same houghtwhich, I firmlybelieve, ome, fro- God, and for some ime it hasseemedo me that

lo.h"*

{"urtplf"ted would be a misfortune or alr and a suremeans

:::l!_*i"gGod'swilt. So for a long time I h;-b...-pr"ying in thistashrur:

"Lord Jesus, rant that their heartsmay be oneas you and your

Fatherareone'

"But aseverythinghat mustendure as o havea solid oundation,

I think I shouldpresento you the following planand that you should

sign t in memory f your esolutions ndpromises:

"I. It will not be onlv betweenou two, my friends,but between

vour atherandyou hat this nseparablenionwill existsinceGodhas

hesignedo usehim as hemeans f makingHis delignsknown o you,

and of encouragingou to cany them out faithfully and lovingly.

Therefore ur threeheartswill henceforth e only onen the Lord. We

promiseo rememberhis with gratitudeeach ime that we kiss the

crucifixwhich eachof uswill wear ovef hisheartonce haveblessed

them.

"If. Since t is the devil'shabit to try to separatehosewho are

united or the greaterglory of God, n order to circumvent is strata-

gems,we promise,buryingourselvesn the adorableHeart of Jesus,that his union will be ife-long,eavingt up to the Master o re-unite

us for eternity."III. This indissoluble nionwill not eliminatemomentary epa-

rations or the greaterglory of God whencircumstancesequire hem.

"IV. As of now, I haveno further ights excepthat God wishesthis union so that we may minister o the sick and especiallyor theinstruction f the youngwho arecompletely eglected.t must alsobesaid hat evenwheneducations given, t often lacksa solid basisnreligion.

"V. Our refuge n difficultiesand temptations ill be the ador-

ableHeartof Jesus hose ovewe want o makeknown hroughoutheuniverse. nd whose eastwill be for usa most solemnoneso that wemaybegiven he necessaryraces.

"This is all, my children, t seemso me that God has givenme or you for thepresent.f, as hope, his s yoursincereesolve, ignthis document eforeGod and beforeyourspiritual ather,and let uslook uponourselves enceforthaseternallyunited in Jesus nd Mary.

-32 -

re

-33-



"on retuming to Strasb-ourghesechristian womenwere all themore faithful to the worksof chlrity that theyhad undertaken.At th;.time therewassome eraxation" ,l: persecution"f

p;*;. it rr.,Tlre-opened;ut the respitewasshort-liued.n ,a rr*t'iao, 1s"pi"ril.i!h.,

,lgl) therewas frightening new outbreakduring which FatherColmar more than

-o.n:eJust baiely"r.^pJ

.up*;;, however, thethoughtof the scaffold never nterflred"iitn

r,irtr."i. rr. evenwentinto theprisonof oneof his brotherpriests, atherst"rck,who wasobeexecutedor havingperformedhispriestlyministry.

"However, n the autumnof rgoo, the persecution nded;theFirst consul orderedthe churchesopened.Th'enoui apostre, houghscarcelyecoveredrom an illnessbroughton by tt

"t"rarrrip, t. i?Jendured, avehis whole ime to healin! tr,e*oirrd, ,urf.r"d by souls.EleTonesought is helpandno orr..oild understandow hecoulddoall that wasaskedof him. His influencewasso powerfur h"t, ,i.ply

by preachinga sermon n the cathedrai, r. .""ril;," the oppositionof all the catholic;o{ strasbourgwho wereagainsthe nstallation fsaurine,a-priestwho hadtaken

he oathand#ho wasan ex-Bishop fLandeswhom the pope, after the Concordat,orrr.rrtJ ,;;'.",il ;;Bishopof strasbourgf he werewilling to retract ,ir-p"r, actions. utgreatwas he sorrowof the faithful an-d till greater ire sorrowof thespiritual fatherwhen the newspapersnnouncedhat Fathercolmarhad beennominatedo theseeof'Mayence.He did his best o refuse;the First consulwould accept o resistance.athercormarwasconse-

:i:,i:j rt",::r,ltthe Bishopof Trdveswith whom he was atwaysonrne mosr .endly terms.Returning o.strasbourg,-e was he recipient

of themostaffeirionate -roofs f ?te filial loveZi utt.l"*", of society.However,he finally left^forMayenceome aysafterchristmas gor."His nomination o the see of Mayencewas a bitter blow to thefwo soulswhonowsaw hemselveseparatedrorn heirspiritual ather.They believed hat their smalt ro.#ty, foundedat Turkenstein, adcompletedts work,.""9_lh"yseriouslyhought itrqr"g their deadhopes n a convent n vienna. nut piovideice, *ho,-'f", from beingovercome y events,dominates nd directs hern,had other deas.

,'Towardsheendof r8oz,during a trip whichMissHumannmade

rn Mayence,hewas old of the need or a Christianeducationalsta-

Ltirt^"n, fo r youngGerman ndFrench idswho hadno school hich

*ould catero people n their position.Thus the Josephineoarding

schoolwas ounded;t wasgiven his namebecausehe Empressave t

h", u.ryspecial rotection. his establishmentirected yMissHumann

s,ith the helpof Mrs. Breckgave emarkableesults;BishopColmar

was hecentre f all thegood hatwasaccomplishedhere."This is not the place o tell the storyof BishopColmar'serm as

bishop.t left permanentffects hroughouthe country ndoneof them

wasthe seminarywhich gaveso many holy priests o Germany.The

Bishop iedaholydeath nDecember5th, 8r8.

"This was he timewhen he boats rom the Rhinewerebringingback o Mayencehe remnants f an armyovercome y typhus. he citywasafraidof contagion nd no onecame o disembarkhe unfortunatesoldiers.'

"Then the holy bishop,accompaniedy three seminarians,ameto care or them himselfand brought hem away n an ambulance.twas while performing his heroicact of charity hat he contractedheillnesswhichkilled him a few days ater.The youngseminarianshohad voluntarlly oined him in this act of devotednessere FathersRaess,Weissand Geissen.ateron the first became ishopof Stras-bourg, he second ishopof Spireand he astCardinal-ArchbishopfCologne.

"In the monthof March r8r9, BishopColmar's piritualdaughtersleft Mayence,heir only ideabeingto bury their life in silenceand

seclusionn Strasbourg. nce again hey hought hat thework begunin Turkenstein ad endedwith the ife of thebeloved piritual ather,and that this work hadbeendestined y God only for their personalsanctificationnd thegoodof the manyyoungpeoplewho had beenconfidedto them. But once again,Providence howed hat it hadother views.

"In r82o,a seemingly hance ircumstancentroducedMiss Hu-

-34 --35 -

mann to



Mr. Louis Bautain,a philosophyprofessor n the Facultyofrts in Strasbourg.'

This professer,who was still verylgurg yet famouswhenhe leftheNormalschool,.wasgachjng,swas'hisJ[o*-air.ipt., Mr. cousin.anti-christiandoctrines. ut his"conversationsi,r, uiri Humannsoonchangedhe tenorof his ideas.Gifted *i,t ,rp.ri-î'i',"ifig..,.. andanonest eartandal;o.to.ucled y divin. gru."l n.

""+rrtoodthebeau-ties and truth of christianity. pro.n ttrat"pornt

"", t i, ,."ching, whichhad been eageily.followed by an etite fittowi"g, i*;.e compreterychristian.The philosopher,nt*"

believing""f'p;";rng

Chrisrian,becamehe discipl. u.,i spiritual ".r uii H"-t".ir,. soo.,he oinedthe survivorsof-the smairsocietyof Turk.nsr.il-Miss Humann,shome,on ToussaintStreet.J

Here thereappearshe bond of a firiar relationshipwith manyothers,dating to thi memorable actat Turkenstein.

But before alking aboutmy relationships ith Mr. BautainandMiss Humannwhich Ld to -y .onu"rsiona^nd/ rro.u,ion,t seemsto me that I shouldsaysomething f theeadyyr^rJ of-u rir" sinceheeventsand actions esult one frJm the othel ffiG;he imprint ofprovidentialaction.

Very often wasseized yaprofoundspirit of prayer.My earlv educationwas badly negrected. was sent to severalschoolsn suicession,nemore nsignifilant han helth"r,

"rrdfinaily

:::*Strasbourg igh schoolwherE

lpegt the dayso? y childhoodtn utteruselessness.(3)incemy parents adno "t#io", r"'r.y r"i".ithey eft me compretery ithoui air".ti*. I was horoughry isgustedwith studying. 'hen r wasabout hirteenor fourteenylr^ of age,myrotherGustave nd I weresent o a boardt"g,.il;;l? Frankfort. tasa very odd Iewishboardingschool. "yr?"Jgilr;.r. educatedin the samehorlse. t had attiacted

!r parentsEecause mong thetudentswere he sonand daugtrterof B;; s"i"L"" l. Rorhschildas

*

^,o1 as other childrenfrom the richestJewish amilies such as the

Ii,"r,"tr. the Sternes,he Beyfusand otherswhom I have orgotten.

i*^r"ri*rable in themidstof this undisciplinedouth, often cried,

i .uffered rom indescribableome-sickness.fe received o religious

inrtru.tion; he staff only taughtus Hebrew; herewas no question f

Godnorof religion'

However, secretmelancholia ttractedme o recollectionnd very

often profoundspirit of prayerseizedme. My soulwas ike a flowerwhichop.ns n the sunshine.hada vaguedeaof the-meaningf love

since wasat the agewhenthe soulfeelsan irresistible rge to love.

I did not know that oneshoulddirect his gift to God.My precocious

passionound its object n the sisterof one of my friends,Betty de

itothschild.7e were he same geand t still seemso me hatwe were

equally nnocent.W'e

told eachother our feelingsand we wrote a

mutualpromiseof. maniage. mention his incident becausef the

influencet had on my adolescence.he memoryof thisnaivepromise

keptme faithful and savedme from manymistakes. fter returning o

Strasbourgnd separatedrom my idol, her memory tayedwith me as

did an insurmountableeed o love,a needwhich laterwasgloriouslyfulfilled when understoodnd accepted hristiandoctrine.

r8 r7

I was fifteen when my mothercame o take me home from theSaxeboardingschool o bring me back to Strasbourg. was giventutors for private essonswho taughtme scarcely nything.At the endof a year, t was decided o sendme to Paris o the Fould BankingHouseso that I could learn the fundamentals f banking and offinance. hi swas 8r8.

r8 r8

This year s a memorable ne or mefor on DecemberSth lostmymother.Shediedat Strasbourghile was n Paris. .I hada tremendouslove or my motherand his ilial loveservedmeas eligion. !

I was sixteen; was nconsolable t the lossof my motherand my

- 36-

ffi

-37 -

soffow was incfeasld b1 my self-pity..In



.thesedispositions enteredtheFouldBanking o., [hen'or," f trre ead-i-ng;"*i; housesn paris.

This wasa luxurious,o.pr1le1tome.The Fouldswereord friendsof my parents. t thisperiodthe amily *", .o-porJ or theold fatherFould'a fine butvery ccentric "r,. H. il,h;;:;: Benoit,AchilleandLouiswho,foilowingrheexample"r

tn.iii",il.r, t"a no religion;and two daughters,RosJand violltte. Lateron the frrst becameheultra-wealthyMrs. Furtado; hesecond ied _he'sLlI was reatai ", orr"of the ;mily.---"aru

r''s..rw'c' snewasveryyoung'

The first word addressedo me by old Mr. Fourdwhen I becamepart. f his family will give somedeaof the direaionwhichI was oreceive' son, haveyou readRob Roy?" "r'u. r"u.r-rr."rd of it,,, Ianswered.In thatcase,eadRob Roi; that,syrr.iglor mustbegin.,,I had no accesso rilzalterScott'snovels and I dii not follow thereadingplan which h.eold bankergave ne. did takeotherbooksromthesameibraryandfrom thesame"school,itho"r""v'discrimination.However, do remember.u"-g-;uJ *i.h-;;;;i't."r of inrerestchesterfield'sLetters ranslated t-. English.

rn?r. i.tt.rs give soundadvice o. he youngman wishing to live"in th. *oridlrrd to carveouta careerhere.

Yet these eadingsand the office work to which I wasbound eftTt l"Pty and cold. I had no interestn businessnd I understoodabsolutelyothingabout t. I musfulro .onfesshat I havealwayshada strange versionor money; hevery houghtor *-ki"g to get nterestmademe blush. In any case was very well off sinceI had almostunlimitedcredit n rheFouldbank;all I had o do ;;;; appear t thewicket to receivehesumsof money wanted. neverabusedhis creditsince neverspentanythingo.,

".iur.-ent. I was free,without super-vision,withoutdirectitn,wlthout,.tigior,; theonlymoney spentwasfor the Englisha.rdmuri. t.rron, *i'l.rr tutor, .".. ,.'give me. I wassurroundedby all kinds of temptations nd I do nof know how Iscapedhem. 'm wrong-when Ly that r had no reffir, I did haveone: it was he memory6r 'ny mother. wasovercome y secretmourn_ing and I had only depresri"g ,rr""gtrtr. i ,.rrrJ'lJ'"..o.pany the

-38 - -39-

F..,uld famlly to dancesand to the theatre; the parties whose reports

i"^rn"a me mademe evenmore depressd; spentmy evenings oolishly

*ltf, Miss Violette who was suffering from a fatal illness.

During thesedark months, becamedreamy,romantic and almost

ooetical. enjoyed the country more than Paris; I often went to Passy

lrh.t. the Fould famllv had rented a magnificent castleand I found my

sreatesthappinesswalking along the paths of the park where I shed

Lu6 on heiiing the song of the birds and the vibrant echoof thewinds

in the trees.How huPPy would have been at this time if I had some

religionl But I knew of no Pefsonand no book who could teach me

aboutdivine truths. n any case would have disdainfully turned from

anyonewho mentioned Christianity to me since,prejudiced as I was, I

thought of it as dolatry; as for modernJudaism, was disgustedwith

it and ashamedof it and the synagoguewas a barrier between God and

ms.(a)

Nevertheless decided o take a tutor in religion. A young modern

rabbi came once or twice a week to teachme to pray in Hebrew, and

he explained indifferently well-

the meaning of the Jewish feastsand ceremonies. hese essons id not arouse he slightest nterest n me.

However, I do rememberone day when we were discussing he promise

of the Messiah, said to the rabbi: "Vhen will this promise be reali-

zed?" He shruggedhis shoulders. continued: "Christians believe hat

the Messiahhas alreadycome.Could they be right?" He madea sign of

denial; as insisted,he said angrily: "If you want to believe t, I cannot

stopyou!"

Needless o say, hese essonsmadeabsolutelyno impressionon me

except that, as a matter of conscience, very day I read long Hebrew

Pra'ers for mY mother'

rgzo or rgzr

This meaninglessife occupiedseveralyears.The Foulds saw that

I was unutterably bored and they advisedmy parents o bring me back

to Strasbourg. I therefore camehome when I was eighteenor nineteen

yearsold; I knew no mofe about banking than when I left. Yet this was

V

mysterious asgoingon in mysoul. lived withoutany



the careermappedout for me.My father'sbrotherwas hesecond eadof thehouseandhe wasnot huppyaboutmy return;he seemedfraidof having a numberof nephewigrowing up aroundhim and takinfsomeof his_ restige,herefore e put arhany obstaclesspossibleitheir.way. In my case wasreduiedto a completedleneiswhich Ihated. spentmy days n theoffice but I hadnb work; I readnovels:I composeip9.,"y and finally I begana dramawhich I completedasf.aras he hirdact.

I-h"q ?uery imited pogtig alent,burmy vanity ed me o compare

myselfwith Racineand I fully expectedo become memberof theFrench. cademy.As my literary astes rew,so did my dislikeof thewholebusiness orld; I despisedrade,honey, ll financial uestions.I cannot ayhowI acquired uch dislike or goldandsilver. .Theonlyreason eversaved nymoneywas o give t to thepoor.

FIo- my earliestchildhood,oneof my greatestoys was to putsome ruit or candy rom my dessertnto my pocket o give them aterto poorchildrenwhom met n thestreets.

.Eventually couldno longeracceptheemptinessf my,lifesoone

day, akingmy couragen both hands, askedmy fatherandmy uncleto let me leave he office, lock myself n my room,get tutorsandprepa.reor my degree. intended o get my law degreeand soonerorlaterbea lawyer.

It v/asmy intention to carryout this ideato its logical conclusionso at once undertook n austere,toic orm of living. I believedhathuman- ignity consistedn denyingall bodily upp.tit.r and I evenstarvedmyself.Often I sufferedhepangs f hunger,hirstand he ack

of smallcomforts. wenteven arther:I wanted o liue the ife of theold paganphilosophers.left thecity andwent o live alonen a smallcountryvillage, at Robertsau earStrasbourg. do not know how Imanagedo live in this solitude; had no o.te o cook,no servant;

fPeltwholedayswithout_eating,nd n imitationof my paganmodels,

I tried to bring my body undersubjection. et it isîmpossible

toexpressmy sadnessnd interior emptiness;heywereeatingme up.

-40-

-4 r -

Something

religionand I soughtneithergoodnor evil; but I often said: "I am

rwe;ry years ld and I do not know why I exist. Ufhats thepurpoae f

my ife on earth What is at the end of the road? $7'hats my business

here? fhat direction shouldI take?" Thesequestions ave rise to

numerousthersand to the wildestconjectures ndtheysoonbecame

anobsessionith me to thepointwhere could hink of nothing else.

It seemedo me unreasonablehatsuch nteresting uestionshouldgo

unanswered.felt vaguely hat therewassomehidden mysterybehindthem. believedhatsomewheren thewodd theremustbe a school,

templewhere he secret f present nd future ife wouldbe revealedo

a smallnumberof chosen eople. had heardabout he secrets f Free-

Masonry; became postulant;n all good faith I eagedyasked oradmittance.ut therewas no answer o my questions,o my desire orknowledge. et I was aithful in attendancet all Lodgemeetings ndI wasevennamedone of the five lights of these ecret ssemblies.tthis time I read Rousseaund I swallowed ndiscriminately veryopinion,everycontradictionf thischarismaticeacher; becamemore

and more austere nd eveneccentricn my way of acting. talkedphilosophywith a young manwho used o come o Robertsauo seemeandwhose hiefmerit was hat he istened o me;he didn't understandoneword I said.As for me, thought scienceeld the answer o every-thing,not only in ideasbut in practicalife. I had a certainntegrityofcharacter,nd once had admitteda principleas rue, followed t totheend regardlessf consequences.ilful faults againstogic struckrneas beinghypocritical, omethingor which I have alwayshad aninstinctive atred. thought would find theanswer o my doubts nphilosophynd begano read,with insatiableunger, he chiefworksthen popular.I read Rousseau, oltaire,Volney, Bolingbroke,and

everythingproduced n the r8th centurl', both the attractive and theterrible.Theseare sadmemoriesor me. The lastvestiges f thetradi-tional faith to which I had stubbornly clung withered with thesereadings.How far away was hen from thepathto which Providencewaseadingmewithout anya:warenessnmypart! t

The search or Truth completelypossessed e and I was always

hopefulof findingzruwen ftom the philosophers.ut the ronr*.lf t-.^* whom would meet. reachedarisat theendof 1822.meet.



and adnessrsoul ere- u,";llil$i*:l;,?::$ trr,*-f ,.r*"' thomyll Isinglede.i.e, to

-f,ro;;;;r#"TFle

w:thout esPite' hada l,l alone, ependentnly onmyself; tooka room n a hotelon the

*:i::ll*j'nr;*i*1"lff:.:'r"rxl1!:.r't4'T:'*l;f,;1ry,:'L!i:f1jil1r''i:;:"l:,gj:1,_l*,,o,,'"e;ffi;fi-;;',i,1ffiii'if,:ilTi''Ti1ff*.flX'ru:flgJ,f*i'"ff1#.J*,lf-.*Hfiilfiughr:morehanonce, was till uoat daybreak.waiting unriseG 1,". i" i"a neithereligion or_principles.e spent ur eveningsn1;ltole

nichtspe* asking uestionsf natu.le,whichemainedilent, coffee-shopsr at the heatre. was old that he rench heatreas aor thesta.swhichsaidnothingo me,andof themysteryf darknersi il,riii.rpi"r means f leaming or law students.et I mustsay hat

.Ibecameired of myselfand of my theories.After thiokinq .o .. iin ur 6oredme-to tears,evln Racine's ragedies_n spite of their

** :*::^tr:"1'1,..'.'i: iF* c".d':.p:*;;J ;;;f;;*:"d i i'*i."t pt."'.' I foundmontonous.alsoeit to sleept theopera.about he problemof life, i finallv ref

: r: -' -'- &.^ vr rvwsr dnq

divinirv r . ,,t1 -^l L-r:^.^ ,_ -. , ft'"1"ffi^t^the.wiole ideaof a ( Amusementsook mostof my time.A colonelwhoknew my familyL.'31,r:."rld..""terie"." jJ";:il;c":, fii',"JffH r -,, fHffiJ""',li:.f:'l,:;rJlT:';":il'#,ffir#Hlrentuod, I wascrushed I saidhe would introduceme to trIiss Duchesnois,he famous ragic

ll :-...":Td_{:T of life, and the whot. *o.td

"pp."r.a,lai-*toui L rctresswhosehomewasopen to men of lett€rs and to newspapermen.d ;;.

-S;;;;;1;iil;'#il

il'rl'-ewortdaPPearedidiculous

I rctress hose.omewasopeno menof lett€rs.ando newspaperen

v.r"i,..n:,i"*,#il;':;;;H:""'ometimesraughedi*rrI #j?:Tlr:,iil:l*:1.1'flTil"":1illrr*;r1Lr,:y.

"r.--9ti:::g-lllt|1t thewhole.timen the gardenookingat th" rt"r"; VJ mywhole-life.witli Miss Duchesniiswasa yo.jngactressho had ust

1j::i.f:-ej'T:,ty.a-,z.dth"ttcouid-eil;ffifi;ff,"ji'.i J

ii tt..co^.*",:.y,:."Tk:.F+lut i,l E.""naheatle.hewas

F..::i'ff: fif3::i:ii[::'$#:i'gTJl#JT:Il'$?Hxij I ili".]f"*^.'rur' ndaderiberatervddedn russuminsoseo

iilt,f:'ffin:xil*lxff#;:t*';:*"fl+f,1"?.dr *.,,*::':T'^*1*:il"*;lr"m.'€l5.G,il;ff;;'r;#;;'*1il?frilil}3$j:,i1t"":.:fi'F caPtivatedv verimpressionabreeart.om€eeksentv; hen

*'11.;r'.*.J1.;*ii'"Ti llil,",l",n,mooenthatwlr *".;I ::':;::,"":T-1'Jil:::5:,':'Igtrj:j:i*:T*JTjiT:'i1iyr'r".,#.ii"g?.,:t'ii'rPruu"sta(rq'seomentthattw'rd*""I ili,*1,,1f,fi;#ll.i*1ffi..*,r,:,r;:i;T':ff:J[J:;L,.",

i:llô:t"t-tt^1*tt_.?1*iogetwarmedp,.Iwentositonadungn |to :lrl

my.emotioTu:"^-_',:f!t"t$

withcold; o getwarmed p, went osit ona dung f fact.!ha!my emotions rgedme to write back mmediately. wasneaPn theSarden and hiswasanexact yinbol f my nterio, t"tl I

horrified t the hought f-beingn_he oils_f a seductiveoman ndbeing drawn into thJworld of the theatre.How canwe not be awareof

1822 I an invisiblegracewhich drew me from the temptations ith which I

3^s:_i:-!t.**T notgetting ny toseromydegre€;was* f y*.:bj:t",*^d mademeendadvanceshichwere t"T.t1iq

lg.3lltj',t. "j1Try-* F1eI$p*,2 i'it ri of *otttn!

";"fi;d;; [ ;1iVi.taia notanswerhe oung ctressnd never gainaw idrer

f::*;.Tf,.1^.T: !" lh._blcllsion hat h; il;il;ff;il; ffiher r he lder ctresshowas eipatroness.

l.rX,lj':,Pigi.,1 q:to a:is l ltudy *;t6;;;i,"',, f# #, lil r conrinuedeverrhelesst hisirrri"fti."&i'i"ililj}: ili lll#?llf,,lFj?l:iffifi I , *,iil;ffil,f'S:l'Til,;Tiffiil:!?ifi:ffff1i.-

42- - 43-

ocr uncre' raronJames e Rothschild.At this time shewas iving;n | -^ ^*no one came o their classes.ut of somehundreds f stu-the'rmagnificentastletBoulosne^near?"rtr;;;;;;;irl



! l*i';"t, t very.few.olrowed.rhelasses.even ememberhat hehrch ttractedll thearistocracv]shenvitedn. tooneof 6e.ed"rt-I . professori crvrl aw hadonry hree tudents,ndashedictatedromnd.h.ere-I,metld Talleyrandndmany th.. *l.L;i,i*;;;i'T;,:i I iis notebookslrnour nyone niog whathewassaying. fett sorry

ilIH:fr*?,fl1"fi:l'l'l'"t:1":'."':Tp""'il#;;;;;J,t I H ,,,-,,::1:l *::"r=thuihis ictationouriot eom-butat heendr ,r,.-"."r.,n*'*'ril,i,.t19l:,"chty

oaall{9ync.rrn; ptetelyseless:.butwashe.onlyne;heotherhree idnotpay he

thevoidwithin ""na

ri.-#i",lcnrruedmydays,fellbacknil itsr't,11"t1""tg tt_llI _,!:."{:""'"tg pqfesqlwas eaching

.l:::ln:,.:",#;;;;;j#:j.[1l"Ti,T*:iJfi:#f"l*ifflr;llt i,1;xx,%l:ifijiiilfl:T#:11Henrvorce epturgingme: eave aris.I strugglelenergetic"rry"!"'i*

:"i.Jroti,t

!€quirement,nd t.wasonly owardsheeridof 1823hat*::,frg:

impulse. esideshe reasonsfch hadp-."iltJd il,il I for_rndhecourageo sit ror my examinations.knew ery inte Latin::1:.:,ttl"tf*:g'

vanityPrevented e from gorng l.t. iry-m*i, or creek iterature; ut rhankso unbelievabtendulgencen rhepartw-outdaughat my nconstancyndot ny friily,. il;;'il;r"d l^li:lX

0.."*p"*a

to the ridicule of my.professors. P.a"sednd firully obtained he necessaryiploma

nothinglustified y **;;;;:"rewelltor a lonS ime.Besides. eamedy hesweat f mybrow.

objectibrs:oumusid. p"'r"""j

j.till?tlftrlfiu1nt**a "utt tncouragedy hisundeserveduccess,hortly fterwardspassed

'- my first law examination despite my limited baggageof knowledge; I

V could not remember he texh of civil law and I understoodabsolutely

^ .,T,,u.e:b..:.einesistibre,soilertro,st",boo,g,,",y-.rff ffl':i :ff:Sil,.1n"i::XJr;,X#J'iT,,i',-Il!:"i#f:- T*tIBut P-rovidenceasabour-o drrectmy ife morevisibly waste y ime n theofficeof Mr. Briffaut. ormerPresidentfihe ilar,

flflr::t:kblt

..s"ffering ndmisunderctandinga4.[".4.!;. ;;:whowas xkemelyind o me.Buthedictatedongconsultationshich

nexlDle' wasn thedesperateositionf adrow|ingmanwho.havineI found venmoreboring han hecoursest La; School.

toughtagainsthe wav* until exha"r,i"",.i""u;;b'";;;;"il::#'a:.Always ungryo learn, stilt foundnothingwhichsatisfiedmyie cutrent only in my case no ongeriad til ;t-;;;;; ,r,. - , """a

to know,and I was becoming esigned o living out my lite inrndandtretchedutbo natchnero; death.I { iC"".*.I*'r;r"i'"]. alrl"trii'l',li of theyear, was ccostedn one

t1*litrilil,Hf#?'T:::'"f'-l'fl?Jtt#'r

Fj-Tf,[I"1ff*Y"'ilTiT;'yJ5;f'ile.aving

-Paris

n"a rtla - iri.*iJ with Mr.cuvier, hen

presidentt a sPecialoursen philosophyo begivenLy Mr. Biutain.

ot the university' I askedand wasgiven d;rd; ;';.g#; ll . Mr. Bautainwasvery amous t this ime. onty knewhimby sightI-aw choolnconditionhat obtain y_.a.aung ttecou-ri";-h.I $ t.iliio;il; i""i"riJ?"ru n,,nome hilosophicatuestionsL.:^':.I...,h*.{o:"egisteredn r""' t.r,*r

-"i-'H."iri.l""rii liJ

l*r ilar*.i i*.a i. j"..i i. r., o. yo_g tudentho admade;:::HH'iluil;rl**trir:;'i;#;h*j".Ht?:'[,ir $l-trffi:^fi.fr+i*1flhadno taste or iurisprudeoce, had

- 44 - , - i 5 -

9l::ll--tfellowpriesr.He wasMr. JulesLevelof Nancy, thena law

srudent'and later protonotaryapostolicand superiorof-st.

Louis desmy rnind a "clean slate." The conviction of his interestingand brilliant

drove awaf without any resistance n my part, the darkness



Frangaisn Rome.

-,_ -tiyledjately acceptedhe suggestion hich he had made or Iarwaysookeduponph.ilosophys he onryway o knowledgeand ruth.A1 yr_rgligion,t h;d lefr'n;t thesrighiestracen my fu-rhfi;;

mjnd. hadaprofound istasteor Jridaism",

i";;ii;ther rerigiofiwhosenames knew.

rgz3

In r8z3 we beganthe speciatplit"-*phy coursegiven by Mr.Bautain.Therewereonly-our of usat this ririt course,^rrrirh catholic,a schismaticRussiana1{ t'woJews.Mr. Bautainhad himself recentlyresumedle.practiceof his religion. A former studentof the Normalschool,a fellow-discipleof MrI cousin, he had beenappointedpro-

f:::l:f q!ll:::*r at h9age f ,o; gift d witr,gieaieroquence,eDturantly taught heeclectic ndGermandoctrines,rrict weiepopularin conteqqorary ducational ircles.But providencehad put'rrim in

contactwith Miss Humannand God had madeher His initrument tounfold to him the truthsof christianity. The philosopr,e,wassincerelyin search f truth whichheassimilated ssoonas t was evealedo him.His public courses ere mmediatelymarkedby this h"ppy conversion.His Teachingw-aso ongerplsaybut uncompromisinglyhristian,andthis so terrified the liberal hinkers of the ii-. tt

"iir,egovernment

orderedhis courseso besuspended.ondemnedo inaclion,hedecidedto devotehis leisureto private teachingand I *", orr. of the firstfortunatebeneficiaries f this decision.

His t9a9!i1Swas.unlike. ny other; it overflowed from a deeplyentrenchedaith. \D7elistened o him with emotionand admirationashedevelopedhe doctrinewhich initiated us nto the mvsteries f manandnature.until this time I hadknockedn vainat theioors of schoolsof humanity o ask the reasonof things, the goal of life, the cause fthe mysterieswhich surroundus. E,refuherei had found

""t;yp;-heses,ontradictions nd deceptions. his christian proforo, found in

lectures

which my indiscriminate eading had accumulated n my mind; no t

only did the lecturesenlighten my intelligence but they filled my soul

witir warmth, joy and peace.The scales ell from my eyesand I caughta

elirnpseof the light of truth. I saw man as he is and as he is meant to

6e; f understood hat man is no longer as he was when he came rom

thehandsof God. On the one hand, psychologyshowsus the admirable

scope,he harmony, he order of importanceof human faculties.How'

ever, he reality of historyshowsus that a profound alteration has aken

place in these faculties. Man's moral degradation is an indisputable

iact, and I was no longer surprised o find areasof darknesswithin

myselfand around me. But how can one explain this general decadence

except hrough an initial fall ? The idea of reparation hrough sacrifice

and other truths of religion flowed naturally and logically from this

doctrine.

This wasChristianiry n its most deal form without any theological

formulas.rVithout being awate of it my soul was being nourished on

Christian teaching, and I did not know that under the guise of this

enlightening philosophy u'hich gave me such joy, religion was to be

found. \Tithout any consciousnessn my part, I was envelopedand

penetratedby this divine light. I think I would never have had thecourageo come ace-to-face ith Christianity.

This was my state of mind at the end of 1823. The next year'scoursewas held more frequently, and I brought with me one of myyoungco-religionists, sidoreGoeschler,who soonsharedmy impressionsand feelings. We becamemore closelyattached o our learned professorand to Mr. Adolphe Carl, the oldestand finest of his disciples.

I had to someextent becomea Christianwithout knowing it. I hadfound the way to the truth which I had sought somuch and on which

I had called ,o often; and I finally caughtu gti-pt. of the goal of mylife to which all my desiresand tiroughts*.t. directed.This superiorgoal was no longer a mystery o me; it seemedas attainableas ight isto a man who is i'itting io op"n his eyes;and I could not understood hethoughtlessnessof thole who accept his truth and yet take part in the

- 46- -47-

amusementsf the childrenof this wodd, forgetting that life on earthis a passing hing, a rcadwaywhich leads o a sublimeend.But how fugically rom theseprimary truths. If someparts of this luminous



shall I. explain the struggleswhich I had to facewith my childhood

lgu{ices, my-memories, y instinctiveattachmento thething I caileJthe religion of my Fathers! wasnot sufficiently educated"osee helink berweenJudaismand christianity. I thought they weretwo diffe-rent religions and that the God of Abraham was not the God ofChristians. wasaf rai-d f studyingthis questionat a deeperevel,andyet I. had a profoundbelief in the Blessed-rinity withoui knowingthetheological ormula for this sacreddogma. t seernedo me that Iherewasa mysteriousrio in every orm of science nd that it derivedasaphiloao_phicalonsequencerom a host of analogiesn nature.Every-where admireda triple distinction n unity,espJciallyn musicwheiethreenotes orm one perfect.harmony.hese ymbols'wereot alwaysexact.accordingo theology;but since hadno catechism,heyg"u...an inkling of

ls.upremedeal.This idealwas evealedo me n"asingle

phrase:God is love. This evangelicalword gavewarmth to my heirtand-light to my mind. It seemedo meto contiin thekey to knowledge.In the oveof God I sawa foreshadowing f themysteryof the Trinilty,the mysteryof creation and the reasonor all the actsbf out Redemp-tion. EternalLove being lgve by His very natureand substanceegbtEternal Love. \flhat could He have oved beforeHe createdbein[s?obviously He lovedHimself; this means hat Diviniw consisted Talover and a lovedone. But betweenhesewo objects herewasa conti-nual flow of life, of communication nd of love which constituteshethird term and which completes, s t were, he perfectaccord.Thesev?gyeand imperfect deassatisfiedmy thirst for knowledgeand I wasglad to see that christians did nof adore three Gods-- the chiefquestionhatkeepsJews rom Christianity.

The creationof man and of the firmamentalsobecame ompre-hemible o me.An all-powerfulLovewouldof necessityavegrandioseplT a.ndt is easyo understandhat He would createmany-beingsomakethem happy.

All the actsof the Redemption, ll themysteries f ,religion,follow

*r T

I

*

t

*

j-T--

'f,stf-I

lFil

^-f

- E

piZrurewere still hidden from me, I did not add to the darkness y

bbi".ting presumptuously. had had too much experience ith the

weaknessf my own reasoningo takepleasuren useless iscussions.

I wassatisfiedwith the little knowledge had acquiredand I hoped

that uturestudieswould in time fill the emPty Paces.

It is strangehat I alreadyhad a strong aith in JesusChristand

vet couldnot bring myself o invokeHim, nor even o sayHis name,

io entrenched asmy inheritedJewishhatred or thisHoly name.Anunusual ventput my faith to the test. had fallen ll in a Swiss otel,

andmy vivid imagination,ull of unreasonableresentiments,ademe

believehat I wasgoing to die. I fell into depression ndat that deci-

sivemoment did not know what God to call upon.The vaguenessf

myphilosophical eliefs eft me a prey o terribleuncertainty; ndwith-

in me herewasan mmense trugglebefweenmy childhoodprejudices

and my new faith; I darednot pray for fear of offending theGod ofAbraham y praying o theGod of the Christians.t wasa fiercebattlebut gracewon the day.From my lips and my heart he nameof JesusChristcameasa cry of distress.t wasevening;and the following dayI wasso much better hat I was able to leaveGenevawhere was ust

passinghrough. was so comfortedby my invocation f JesusChristthat I wanted to continuepraying; to provide nourishment or myhungry oul, asked neof thehotelmaids o buymea prayerbook. hebroughtme backa big awkwardbook. n spiteof its ungainlyapPear-ance hurriedlyopenedt and readseveralong-drawn-out ageswithfew deasn them-Later,ookingmoreclosely t thebook, discoveredit wasby a Protestant inisternamedOswald.Thatwasenougho stoprne rom readinganymore or I had always ad an nstinctive version

to Protestantisni did not know any Protestant octrines, ut I hadbeen riendswith manyLutherans, ietistsand Calvinists.n comPa-tisonwith mv Catholic riends. found their conversationifelessandlacking*a#th. I could not recognize hristianityunder he guiseofProteslantism.. .My mind neededpecific doctrinesand I hadno desireto returnto the diicussions nd controversiesn which I had wandereduntil now.

-48- -49-

[T', ,

I began.to rayquitesimply,straight rom my heart,without he inelp ot anybookor anyhuman ormula.My lips became

a1d hroughoutAlsac.: My father wanted me to be in chargeof thesemy budding faith a deal t did my old self-



ccustomedto the.

"q:of Jesus hrist; I pronouncedt confidently and,l

"iroray:q to-M1ry.The idolatrouspassionwhich I had .*p.ri*..d in mvyouth had left in my soulan .rnionquerable eed o love; tt. n^rn. o'rJesusulfilled this need- nd ga.'eme a hint of the greatness f God,slove. on the other

!rld, the undyingmemoryof ,r:y mother,s ender-oess aveme an ntuition of Mary's ove. couldnot ieparate he namesof

Jesusnd

Mary, theyrepreseniedo meall the r*..[rr.r, andsymoa-9y to be ound in heaven ndonearth. loved hernnexprasibty.'iflitthisspringtime ervour astedmuch ooshorta time.

L r*

schools.t cost great as

love to accept his missionwhich would put me in contactwith

wretched eople.(r)But the houghtof thegood coulddo, and especi-

aily heopportunity f passing n my new-found aith, mademe decide

o eagerlyaccept his good work and from then on I devotedmyself

whollY o it.

No one either in the family or outside suspectedmy leanings o

Christianiry. hey saw hat I went regulady o Law Schooland that Ipassed ll my examinations. ut the careof the Jewishschoolsook

almost ll my time.Their successxceeded y fondesthopes, nd my

influence n the Jewishcommunitywas truly indescribable. visible

blessingwas attached o these chools.My friends oined me and we

surroundedhem with loving care. 7e taught there ourselves; nd

everySaturday,rom theplatform, preachedand the term s not too

strong) o anaudience f Jewishmenandwomenwho came rom every

corner f the city to hear heword of truth; both parents nd children

seemedo be enteringa new era.A socierywas ounded o encourage

work; maybe t still exists;anotherassociation,omposed f women,carried ut ourwishesor theeducation f girls. .

The historyof institutionswhichcamento existencet this ime s

relatedn the speechesiven o thegeneral ssembliest the City Hallin 18z6end 1827.Christiansmmediately ecognizedhe spirit whichanimatedhesealks;Jews aw hemmerely sspeeches.

This work continuedwith increasing uccessnd no one couldforetell ts future.But our Christian aith was alsogrowing and moreand more we felt the needof participatingn theworshipof a living

religion. Wedeplored he imitations f a situationwhich prevented sfrom declaring ur Christian aith.You haveno deaof the hrill of joy'which went throughme when I secretly ssisted t a Church east!shall never orget"my eelingswhen for the first time I assisted t aHigh Masr; *f,-.r, I heard he singingechoing eligiously n my soullike prayerand ove;when raisedmy timid eyesrom the backof thechurih whereI had hidden myself o see he whiteclad priestraise he

YetItookanevergrowingdelightintheteachingsofChristianity;

kT:{fiTlii#*if,,l::i'#:,{:}hr':*l,,fi il9 so.abou.t.g-di"gbaptized-Providence ad placedme n an unusual ,

""1;;;il]ffi,:,il::Tf:J"|l".""

titreithoerigious

ilimplications whatever.Jewish consistories re purely civil adrfiinis- |trative bodiescomposedof a few influential -.r, i..-ited amongbankersand lawyea

-Y-y father was far removed rom the ryrr"gog.r".as were mostof his fellow-members.Nevertheless, e was ionciriedabout hequestion nownas he regeneration f the .*r.

l*pl. were beginnilq t9{eplore the contrastbetween hesepoor

peopleand the societywhich had dmitted them o its midst. n the'evesof educatedJews, he regenerationor which theyworkedso everisirlywasnothingmorethana superficialcivilization.Somewanted o reacir

thjs g9.al$rorlsh education;others opposedany educationoutsidetalmudicschools.:Te

ideaof progresson the day; and he aggards,as they werecalled,had to bendunder the pressuieof modenilnflu-ences.

r9zS

At once heconsistory began o found Jewishschoolsat strasbourg

-5o- - 5 r

hoat o ctPo6€hc Bless€dacra$ent;his whiteh€adw.s env€lopedn I *n"a to marry.This marriage,very favorabty egardedby all myyd t" i,. t" r. iJiJ iirii. ;ffi ** pleasingo_ e i. sut'p,ouid*L i"u""t"a'," r.#



f::S:f-Tj1.;1o !: ,# I f;;;,**:[.5*_*1.1.:-. +; ""-;.*;;;'il;.";l

';:#i,s;.?;'F"';t#;;; ;;; i;$;F,i;;c*

HYI,f]::ly1a11_."9"..r-'"a;i;**'itfi;;j l;;?;?;/ri,"J;;'fi;;.rh;;;;;;;lr;1*1fiq..r:"im s r.oost.cerestia"."i"*. riii.*;#HilH;;$ ['":i#;li;;ffi::;;;;i;;;;;;;"rri.,r

--,i.i."i'"",,"r*bad seea Cathol.ic worshio in alt its m-^ arr -i :-r----i. lll

'L^-

"..anaindha*iao* ;. . wpr-haw;nd hr^+ft.;^n 17)Thp. r.^,,n.rp,r,aq seeo lthohc woahip h all its pomp.AU rni iaeo abooitic vhom

"rtungingma"riagess awell-paying rofession.(7)heyhourded

Htlt^ { trytpand

thesacrifioi th"i *erc oifcr.d ,h.;-;; r ,"lir.. nui&ti'destinei for sacrifici nd'I'was all themoresusceptible

P5Ljir_T{:t,'".'s.o.usil-o.;;;;;::ffi;iT;.ffi il"il;j;;Hi;;;;;;;;6;;;;;;i;;. i;;:'il;;'$l,wotrdutlje

.as*t . ti"pr.lli,i"';";;;il;Td,'i:[ ffi

::fi;ilil"i^; ;*i-*iri,i?", -"1;iiu;;,;;;;;. i;il;;d'rkn6s; thechutch aloneseemedo meto bethesoie ,"."

"}lil, iry'ot".irring thought,blotting"allother deas rom my h!ad,and ate

whoadoredhettueGod.I r:.*dT:': \l* .:*'.:':1i:11'l::rll'llt*:,:h:11'.'.:'1'

rhuswcntromnenriehteoi:$-:T-".=.j,""""aq14 gr.ffi'15'-""#"ll".i!"it-H*:!1tTi;ii:if,l|iffiill

#":*HP.,.I9Tfound an Jchoand ^

"^"'..in roro"[inG -,.ta tataetonino rtnrrnrr n rhp shc.ir.r. Mv rhai. wa( nrihre.r ngy:ltjgt,tr,*t-*rilr,'Jfi,i.*l.d-.itJi,il .:,Tf".jfli:,8,::t,:1i.:i1,:.*::iT".:::ff:I,".::

T-qjgj_jr*:li"v urro-a-i*"pi#ui-a.r,i,fr,ilill-ri'lt ::i6;,*:::::::{:lr-*l:*l*,:r"":':=:s:-']l1l:.ln::fHc_:.ej,L$_*,'p.r.*",."g..;i""d..l;il'r##;#il| *l::,:^,rf:j:",;.:gTt,'.1l"*p.i:=::.1flH,:.::3,j^.1fi gi_tuti.'.not o ouchr,""c*pJ Jrii-i r,Ji.f"il;T I f_:^T:._.$ fll

fromwhich rovidenceas irectingewithout ePlete ld Testament.rememberheseays owell: t #H$.ffi I

being ware f it'

l:gt ,Tll-t- *o:'.,I l3d q Iî ll*i-.i ,i. bii"f,.il;r1;d. I It was ussesredhat marry youngady rom iennawhosei$*,:y-.ff*.:t,'1"TTf.t^^..J.".iliri"', #t#: | --., r"*'.?iq'"iiL..ipikai auiva,.Everyay.presI:,f::::S it

it thatspentart r,r,.,er,i*ia-i'iff"r; I ;-d,;;;;'a;;; ;;;;;:,;,"'." that his tepouri .ouid"_ _-_"..6..! \esurx r!, Ir ral l -

_ _-"_5._

:-"tl T,t !u,tt do*i until had eadhewttote i saintuatttrc*. ft. I me with ll the happinesscouldwish or. The situationwhichwas

n:,TT^q.gPf":d*h-l

F.g'l st.Johnt ospet,;;;il;;; I f.i"g.rr.r.a io Ji'"r l".orpt.t. .o"t'asf ith he ustereifewhich

lrl-"jr"::.nt^l:j"IiT:tl I Fd .*i iitr,.*gH-ffiil;;;;? al r r'"[*"-r."Jt'l i"'"'"

y_A-"."1 omeysreriousowerithin5f*"01"':,t.T"lTl-l_:1,*,lrl-'t"al;."-r,;;;;ffiff I ..-;.;;.$";;A;-'",r'r.",:t';",#;;_ffi;;; ;*i;. iIT:,fl_lTlL11 serioustyiscussins;;;GGffiii|# f u"-. rrir,"'nl;;;!si;l-i'; -;'tasteor raylrndor eriou|f;,jt:*"1**i-T.'"i. "uu.

"?'pr-il"fJi.;;;'; tr *..kM;;;;;;;;ii-"'"1-i,."-yt'L*.'t rire,r_*ascontinflYj*

*tl* t was4or.z5earsld,,.i aia"

"i

rl"?1; n "tt*".a uy l"J'".pJ.t'-.ri.iJ in vi"""';

"nd

yi t could otbring

[#,j:,ilii_TJi:',""r,1'Tr*-"r;,1il,":;;:ile,*' m;';.Hx,t;':'JffJJ:x'fih:,'ull"n:y,iH= i1Jlt"lg_t1'."tor*5. "i#;il;? ft; f,d"yH; ."-r.Lr'',"'.rrr.,#;;iil;;li .;JiJ il,-;B;;;-';i;;r

hopes,or mv brother'ifiance .a"

y"""g*.i.r"';;] #;: I *,,),, ;;;-;;i"i.:;-i:"a L1.rt me o ily indecision.bmaimes

colognchomehad evetmcte" u* '"ry rii'iJi?aTirffi f dp"; i;1 .ylilt,i. '"T'."J-i. uti"ganyo{luenceobear nme;P^_fl,hit"t:tf..$togne o mak€t.

"."*"iry--i-rgi.; ? I andwhen irt"a r,i,n orhetpi a".i?ing.y uture,eanswered

fg_8:,ltjbe hisagcnt, 1d. .wassuccc,ssful'beyond"ny;;d., f

withan indifferent mite: If you "rry, y-ouo wellr f you do not

- 5 2 - -53-

wanted o do well; sometimes wanted o do_ etter;and for three ongrnonths, battled n themidstof themostcruelp.qpf.*ifey heart and dissipatedall the clouds; I experienceda peacehitherto

unknown.At that moment a supernaturalbond was formed betweenher



rgz5Finally, in oneof my moments f utter depression,elp came rornan unexpected ource.t wasarening; I needed o breathe

"rraI *.iiout mechanicallv.-vrithoutnoticing h.r. I. wast"d, I wasprayingsilently while directingmy steps owards he prJmeri"d.,and raisingmy eyes o heaveno.ask-or help,

I noticeda briuiant star fall frornthe heavens nd{r9p

in the direciionof thestreet r,"r. MissHumannfiv9d. certainly this was a phenomenon f nature,r"l it struckme asbeinga sign fiom heav*. i i--.a^tely changea'ti" air..tion of mywalk,andwentoff to rhestreet ointed rt#; bf ti. rt"r. A suddeninspirationurgedme o go to Miis Humann,s.

This holy lady lived in her homewith her friend, Mrs. BreckandMr. Bautain to whom she had offrred fri."Jt- i;pitality. It wasthereforth n this house hat we met f9r"";;;;;*

oifnil*ophy withMr. Bautain,but we did not know MissHum""".-ii;d onryseen er

fwo or three imes.rlg h1-d everspokeno her.gut r iust confesshather honorable nd.,dignified"pp"^"ru.r..

had madea deep mpressiongn me. n spiteof the atehour, wentstraight o MissHumann,s. helafter seemed little astonisheiat receivin!at this late hour the visitof a distraughtyoungy?n, ^ very upsetyoungman who said to herwithout anypreamble: I havecome o ask o, uEui* I ambeingurg.dto leave immediately to contra t a marriage he prospectof whichdelights

r: *v muth;but canno,rr.. ip ;y .nil whetherogoor to stay."

,This wor-thy hristian woman istened o me with angeric oodness

and answeredn a tendervoice: "you must nevermakea decisionwhen you are troubled.Ask for a three

-months'delay,^rrd *rr.r, you

li::.:',t:'.':1^,lll'.ulTnes:,.o] will beableo-liii,rkor. wisely

aDoutwhatdecrsronoushould ake.,'

Theseshortsimplewordsproducedn meemotionswhich I simplycannotdescribe. heywere ike a breath rom heavenrri.t p"rr.d oiJ,

souland mine; I began o understand he depth of spiritual affections

which one never experiencesn the wodd. This new feeling filled me

with suchhappiness hat it left no room for other feelings; all thought

of.marriagedisappearedike cloudsbefore the sun. I had found a true

mother.Shewas hen sixty yearsold; but I thought shewasmore beauti-

ful than all the women I had met before; the attractionof her glance,

the sweetnessf her voice, the features of her face on which were

stamped oodness nd kindness, ome nexpressibleenderness nd light

which overflowed from her heart, took me somehowout of this wodd

and gaveme a foretasteof the joys of heaven. loved this mother with

a love which was unlike any other loveand it brought me close o God;

she made me understand he BlessedVirgin and the more I loved her,

thecloser came o JesusChrist, the centreof all true love.No word, no

explanationof mine can ever give any idea of the happy dayswhich

followed, dayswhich my friends and I spentaround the mother whom

God had given us. We lived together n the joy and simplicity of God's

children, forgetting the pastand entrustingthe future to Divine Provi-

dence.

I had finished my law studies;and proud of my lawyer's gown, I

went to take my lawyer's oath before the royal court of Colmar. How-ever, since I had undertaken these studies only for reasonsof vanity

and ambition, I thought I shouldgive up my law practiceas had givenup the bank; and encouragedby the examplesof Messrs.Bautain and

Carl, I applied myself to the study of natural and medical science.Mytwo Jewish friends, Jules Level and Isidore Goeschler,did the same,and we were united in commonstudiesand ideas.Our intention was to

devoteourselves ogether o somecharitablecause, nd we proposed,asthe noblest of all careers, o devote ourselves o giving free medicalcare o the poor. Not one of us thought of any higher vocation,some-thing for which, without any awarenessn our part, Providencewaspreparing us. Already Messrs.Carl and Bautain had registered n theFacultyof M.di.ine. This was more difficult for me since first had tornake up classes n mathematics and physics to get my Bachelor of

- 54- -55-

sciencewithout which one could not enter the Medical school. I setto work, therefore,and-by dint of patience, p"sJ th;;;;.*;r),

examinations. hen abandoningfrctnmy baptism; t wasa heavenlyexperience. willingly comparet

rc theemotions elt by a manborn blind who gainshis sight. t seemed



my lawyer',go*.r'- not without someregret I returned o the ife oT^ rtud*t.v

For two years had to take courses.inanatomy,physiologyandclinicalmedicine. .l"d, r"t ttt. rrigitest iking for these ourses; ut IYT.r":grraggd by the beloved o."n whom"Iobeyed s f I wereherchild. she advisedme also to continue o work hard at the areaoftraining which the

Jewshad

confidedto me.Shesa*l' this work theF.glnli"gr of anaplstolate o which n anycase wasverymuchdrawn;but Mr. Bautainwasonly half interestedn it so hat henceforth onlyfollowed the adviceof MissHumann,and t wasshe ho g"u. me thestrength o overcomeheboredomof my studies nd theopposition hatI wasbeginning o sensemong heJews.

-Nevertheless,hrough.my ontactwith thisspiritualmother, fett

ItLltln flloyingcontinially, and I wasmore han mpatiento receive

Daprrsm.hrs gracewas ndefinitelypostponed,forflar of theJ.*r.,]It was feared that my conversion fuld^ prouoke^r, outburrt in the

synagogue nd thus compromisehe good *ork I wasJoing there.Atthat time the conversion-bf Jew*"r'u.ry rareand almostunheard_of.the.onlr.way in which baptiim couldeuenbe.o*iafr.a wourdbe toconfer t in absolute ecrecy. do not knowwhatprecautironsere aken-9 :!d

arrangements eremade.But oned"y i r...i*d a letter fromMissHumann elling me hat would bebaptiied

"iafril r4th of thatyear1827.

r8z7It wasHolySaturday.

il3r1*,!:*:Jfpoured he waterof regenerationvermy headand

leclme nto hechurch. t wasa simple prinkling arried ut withoutceremony,ithoutwitness,n utterseirery-.o onE heknewwhathad!1ege1ean God'ssight,not evenMr. riautai"o, -y rriends. wasachristian, hatwasall I wanted. experiencedndescribableappi.ras

fhatmy dry soulhad beenwashedby a refreshingdew and I felt great

desires row in me as I prayed. could not receiveother sacramental

gracesut I wanted hemwithout knowing what they were, or I had a

ittong presentimenthat there were communications n a deep level

befweenhe Master and His disciples.The loving soul, grafted onto

fesusChrist through baptism, feels the needof nourishment or his

itungrysoul.This hunger for love andunion requiresa divine object.I did not ask for any explanationof this mystery,and I acceptedwith-

outanydifficulty the word of Christwhich revealedhis truth. Rational

explanationswould have weakened ather than justified my faith.

Mysteries f love canneverbe explained o a soulwhich doesnot love;

the loving soul already feels and tastes he truth in itself without

explanation.

I longed o receiveHoly Communion.Providence ame o myhelp; I camento contactwith a holy priest rom Pariswho waspassingthrough Strasbourgon his way to Germany.He was Fr. Martin deNoirlieu, assistantutor to theDukeof Bordeaux.

This worthy priest, both holy and learned,showedme an interestfull of Christian charity;he understoodhe difficulties of my situationand offered to take me himself to Mayenceso that I could makemyFirst Communion n secret here.This great gracewasgrantedto mein theBishop's hapelat Mayence,ull of thememories f theholyBishop tto'had difd theresome ears efore.

The diocese f Mayencewasadminister.dby Msgr. Humann,Miss

Humann'sbrother,who delegatedo Fr. de Noirlieu all the faculties ocomPletehe cerernoniesf baptismand o admit me o the Holy Table.I wasgiven the graceof communicatingagain he following day. The

:eremony ook place n September,n the Feastof the Holy Name ofM"ty. Tire otrlv witnesses ere Messrs.Bautain and Isidore,Goeschler.The htter had'beenbaptizeda few monthsafter me. I7e had to waitsornemorebefore eceiving heSacramentf Confirmation.

- 56- -57-

Jtis to this gracehat my first thoughts of a priestly vocation41.

attached. aos tolonger enable. laced.bf;;;r our faith whichwe did \ot a^--

il.",e,"'"';:l:*;.,i#:*:i:','j,'":T['.1i',



The wonderfuiexample f Fr. de Noidieu, added to the r.*o.o- Isible delights of my Fiist communion, drew me with incrJrj;;attraction o thepriesthood. could hink of no otherministry thatwrimorenoble,morebeautiful. n all my prayers asked or the gr".. ilf...?T.

a-p.riest nd it seemedo me irt"[ .y medical rt"di.r"rhouij

l".ili!"!"this-goal or me, or my dealwas to become counrrypastor.

I still lookedupon the priesthoodtrictly from the viewpoint of itspastoral unctionsand I had no suspicionof how much holiness nJ

educationuch sublime ocationemanded; therwisehe knowledgeof my own shortcomings nd of my unworthinesswould n*". hri.allowedme to undertaki his life. But after my baptismI had becomelike a little child; I regainedhesimplicity and,gatltyof childhood. nthesedispositions pursuedmy studieswithoul for'cingmyself to doany serious tudy. recall that at the bedsideof the sick I wasmoreinclined o bring spiritualconsolationhan to study llnesses ndcures.A certainnatural,almostunconquerableensitivity, rotectedmy voca- lt ionbykeepingmeawayfrompainfuloperatio"iu ' ,aanythingthatI

regarded s-benlathhedignityof theprieithood +f jHowever,my family wasuneasy boutwhat theycalled my eccen-

tric life. They ovedme and they ried to sparem. b.currreof tLe goodI^.*lt-doing in the schools,but they began to suspect hat I wasa l

christian, and their suspicions ere full/ justified every day by mylack of prudenceat chirrch. nevermissedgoing very eaily in themorning,hidden n the folds of mycape; but &eryone knew my cloak,and without being awareof it, I'had becomean object of curiosify.\Thatever the cause, felt the uneasinessf my famrly; my fatherhadalways oved

me deeplyand at everyopportunity he gaveme proofsof

his.trust; ehadgivin'mea great."l'of responsibiiityn the schools,andhe didn't knowwhether -o ongratulate e or beworried about nlinfluence.My uncle,Mr. LouisRat=isbonne,econd ead of the family,wasevenmoreupsetabout he rumorswhich werecoming back o hirn'Finally therewas an uproar n the synagogue. he Jews hounded nyfather to find out what my real feelingsand b.ll.fr were. Our position

-58- f. L

right or it^::l#;*:io" impatientlywaitedo-. *"j:,,T"}s{rugglendcontraa:il;:

gositiorio which rovidencea ;l^"t.of.

:i:#f"'.ffiT,:ffJl, ir 111?*y,i:":,i::.:fn"v"L:1ild:'r+11l;*T*""Tj?::'J",1'.',r?.T:l'

:"Jf"fil'["fiil"#:'l::'"::"i::1"

:":r'"*ed

F eed;: 1'1ti., and rising ,boul uff-nu"te" considerations' e entered he se;h'

att

It is easy o imagine 1]restunned ndignation of the syQaso^'--

A fewdays efor.,;ffiL;;Tt;'l,* studeitsnd heirpareq6offie'

assemblyallof trt. t.rt"5r,?g:::tI had o giveanaddre5t;';1'

assembly,took"t fi';;;i

chapter.Sf Deuteronomy:l* G;il:

il;Gr'and curses il. P::tlti^lIsrael reenumerated'r^ -"'*

these errible words: "lf. yorlwlll not hear the voice of the Lo.j l*ad

God, vilwill fall'up# liu ya cru,shlot" 'The.kv..a!"* *tJlii

becomeeaden"d;il';iiynd on whichyouwalkwill beui t.rl"'

you will be scatterJifir*gh9"t al l thecountriesf thes'otld.'Th;

Lordwill srrike ;;ilh 6ri"1itii, and nsanitv o hatn: *itl ilk

**n':i',l*f*TJl''*liiil,li":"firiH"::ffi-*",;f :"+"tktll*i'J,,1':'ff:T:l"lfJiJ.ii",nrl*l";'i?i':l**rl:n'lffl:'"rff",:*':l*fr*:awakenedin you."

""*nT;Xi:g1i:iilTo'Tfi''f",'nil::Hf:.i'"Sf:that everythins'tf;at

*7,'bring-

said was contrary.to reltglanTh;;

:ll*'#i",H',Y,r".Trti"*;l*:lnTresxrned

d i..i; gr, ii;r Jew, gain houtingo thepeopleo t.ri,*led he "i., lut f* **J",rt alone: ota single ersonollog.4

n.*'

-59-

In spite of this triumph, we could from that moment oreseeheend of our mission.The ottLurst was ndescribablet.r, my friend,5decisionbecameknown. I was then alone to bear

-T

--

Y ,rrupitulated the works to which I had given my services, tried to

| ûk" these oor Jewsunderstandhat they needed regenerationndquite different from thoseoffered bI ut,:topty andsuperficial



the brunt of the1.hock; y line of actionwasclearand remainedii* i'it. But I wasdepressed. owever,God hadgiue.,mea motherwho encouragedndconsoledme. I had to continuJour work until the .ia

"rraawait theindications f provrdenceto publiclyprofesso1i"irt .-Everyonenewhow.deeply sharedmy friend's houghts; "opr..ro-io.rg., wanted oconfidetheir childrento meand.u.ryon. .iamored or my resignation.

The presidentof the consistorywas he only-pe;;;-;19 could egallyask for it, and the presidentwas my own father. He knew that mvresignationwould.-.j: my entry n[o the ,._irrury";il;"dd

;;bear o think of this.How can !ue, exprain hesufferinghe enduredbecausef me and.thesuffering enduiedu.."ur. oi him! i alsohadto overcomehepiryof yv t11!V.l of .y u".i"-""a rny irt.;iunderstoodhen the mg3ningof christ's *o.ir, ,.I

h; come o bringa sword nto thewodd.',

The step takenby Mr. Goeschler,he faithful companionof mychildhood,siudies, ork,and the confidantof mf ,uir..irrg, left nodoubt n the mindsof thosewho already "qp..#,r,"i r wasa chris-

:r.111wz; openly ccusedf having ewitciledt"-liirar.n, some fwhom had somepiousobjectsn thlir possession;n{ *.r. urged obear.alsewitnesq , *f called

"nypoirit. and,ared,1."r; n a word,all thepraisewhichhadpreviously .e'heapedorr.. *u, now turnedinto insultsandoutrages.

The limit had been eached; felt r had to go on; consequentlyconvoked nextrao.rdi"urymeetingof all themem"berrt th. consistoryand he eadersl jT, i{Tt"t:.. I haddecidedo make

" t;ti:roclamation f my.faith.Mifa-ther presidedt. urr.mbly"rthough

hesuspected y intentions.

.fr: meeting ook placeat g o'clock n the evening; t was ike asolemn uneral.My emotionwasoverwhelmingand tiEmemb.rs who

camen oneafter another ookedat eachotherln a morose ilence.Myfather n a tremblingvoiceaskedme o speak. hen,

"it..h"uingbriefly

i pr9g.t.lsovilization At this point there weresignsof a disturbance eginning,

so assumed rnore evereoneand remindedhemof theunending

ingratitude f the nation.Finally, I asked he president o give me a

definiteanswer s o whether should esignor continuemy work.My

f.ather onsultedhe assembly,nd a krnd old man asked hat remarn

at heheadof the schools rovided would undertakeo remaina

Jew.At thesewords, without staying one minute longer than my duties

required, got up and shaking he dustoff my feet, badean eternal

farewell o the Synagogue.his movingscene, hich I shallnever or-

get,pr'.t n end o the complicatedituationwhichhadbeenweighingon

I me for severalyears. n getting rid of my shackles, he fulfillment of

I ry vocation becameeasier; n someways it was a preparationfor the

I priestlyministry; it was also to open the doors of Christianity to many

: souls.The missionwhich I had carried out with so much love and with

I which I had just broken with a shatteredheart, had left me with a'

burning desire o bring enlightenment to the Jews.

However, on the day after this memorablemeeting, the synagogue

' evening I had left my famrly home and gone to the hospitality of the

homeof Miss Humann whereseveralof my friends werealready iving.I shallnot relate he pleasof my famrlyand the very attractiveempt-ations ut in my way to bring me back o my father'shouse. hese adscenes ere epeated veryday.They hought wasunhappy, nd heywanted o avoida complete reakat anycost.But divine grace ustain-ed my weaknessnd easedmy wounds. n any case,n Miss Humann

Providencead givenme a blessed otherwho offeredme n profusionthemostdelicate onsolation,eavenly onsolation hichhelpedmeto riseaboveeverysufferingand everycross.

I would needpages nd pageso describehe temptations nd hestepsof everykind undertaken,without end, to divert me from myvocation.But this vocationhad a solid grip on me. I rememberhat

-6o- -6 r -

one day my old uncle, n a momentof despair, ord me that he wouldratherseeme cut ilto a thousand ieceshan to seeme weat asoutane.I answeredhim very calmly: .,y6uyo.uld ,rot g"ir, by that,

hand. had developed completely ifferent deaof thesuccessorsfthe Apostles.But in Bishopde Tr6vern found sucha fathedy heartthat grew to love him with a tendernessased n a great espect. he



"rrythingbecausef I were.ui i'to a thousandpi...r, .u.ili.L *outa becomea-priest; and insbead f one soutane, ou would havea thousand.,,However he calm which I showed n ihe midst or au thesepainful

l::in:i:"":ly :nthesurface.wasmoved.tohedefths

"r,iryr"uiDyme rears t mv youngsisters hom lovedu.ry -uih and o irtoaI couldoffer no trop. # ch^-.,ge.l-ierthat a[ td. ril.r, of my heart

werebeingtorn apirt, oneaftel another;but the gfa.. or c.a was nproportion o the sacrifices.n any case, knew;b"J the doctrineofrenunciation lthough.itwasonly later that I understoodhe need ordetachmentrom ttreti"r of nature. was rlestinedo contractspiritualtieswhich cannotbe formedas ong asnatural tieshavenot beensub-jugated.The heart-breakshich I fiad to suffer *.r. n.r.fore neces_sary;and I am not sure hat I would havebeenablelo-accepthem fit had not been or the motherwho supported nd assistedme. Thesupernaturalove hat felt for her ncreas"d'propo.ti*",

my familyconnections eakened; nd in the mifs! of my l**r, r tgu., il

experiencehe delightsof a love which becameo, me a foretasteofthe oysof heaven.

Bishophad a magnificenr esidence t Molsheim, delighifur rittletown a short distance rom Strasbourg. e wantedme to finish mytheological tudies here with my friends: Messrs.Bautain,AdolpheCad,Jules evel, sidoreGoeschler, enri de Bonnechose.

Bishopde Trdvernchosea dozen eminarianso form the nucleus

of this school. t painedme tremendouslyo be obliged to leavemyspiritualmotherwho for mehadbeenhepatient nterpreter f Christianteaching. weptmany earsat thisseparation,o muchso, hat onedaywhen herewereno handkerchiefseft, JulesLevelgaveme a flowervase o collectmy unending ears!But I had many other reasonsorregrettingBishopdeTr6vern's rrangementsor me; or the deprivationof common ife as ived in the majorseminary f Strasbourgeft manygaps n my priestlyeducation.f thereare certaindefectsn the studyprograms nd he directionof seminaries,hereare,neverthelessertainadvantageshich I, more han anyone lse, eeded. here hestudents

who are o enter he sanctuaty re nitiated nto the traditions,he age-old customs,he habitsof punctuality f which hadno idea;and aterI was o suffera great eal rom this gnorance.n addition,becausefmy exceptional ituation, had no relationships ith the seminarianswho precededme in the priestly carcer; o that I wasunknownto thebodyof clergyof which I was o be part. I oftenhad reasono regretthesegaps,and it surely did not help my humil iry any more than ithelpedchariry.

In addition, he stayat Molsheimdid not help my studies. wasleft wholly to my own devices. heological

lassesere'curtailed

o onecoursehat the directorgaveus everyday; n theeveningaf.ter upper,we met in the Bishop's rawing-room t the fireplace.Eachone of usin turn readaloud rom the -ofur of Frayssinour.ut since heBishopslept__and snored oudly duringthe eading,we all got the giggleswhich stopped he readir from continuinghis duty. A"d *frenltreBishop*"[. up, he did not want us to fnow he frad slept, and he

r8z8

to receivehesoutanen octoblr, 1828,and af.* d;t;;f;.;, i;;i5iminor orders n the Bishop'schapel.Bishopa. rrti".r, showedextra-ordinarykindnesso m9, This gentleold man was a rericof the ordschool.To his naturaldistinctiJr had been

"Ja.J-rf*polite manners

and thc statelybearingof the crergy f the oriioi i;;i xIV. Drivenrrom rrance by the Revolution,he had spentmanyyears n exile inEnglandwherehe seemedo have orgottin all thai t

"an"pp.rr.J in

France.He was sixty yearsold when . *", namednirrrop of stras-bourg,and o thisvery'Roman iocese,ebroughi;;t i"* whichwerequite opelly Gallican He liked.tg go horseba"ck-.idinl,-andshe didso, he took pleasurescatteringbleiings with the ridlng-whip in his

- 6 2 - -$-

increased ur hirarity,by giving a resum6of pageswhich he had notheardbecauseheyhadnotieen"read.

This was he extentof our

il tt r overflowingof peace, f light andof happiness hich I myselfhad|

'found n acceptingChristian evelation.Perhaps n insignificant nci-

encouragedmy prosyletizingspirit.



superiorstudies,Happ'y, several f usrofited of the rongfree hours J ao somestudyon our own.At ourdisposalwe had,tf,e Bishop's ibrary which *", .o,oposedmostlyof Gallicanand Jansenist trks. r got hold of someof thosebooki.But' without everhafSg.probed he depthsof suchquestions, couldnot come o termswith the doctrines#t i.t, li-il; lh. po*.r, of St.Peter'ssuccessor.

I had a greatdevotion or this Apostre. t seemedo me that thisdevotionhad filtered nto ry ,oui with the baptismarwaters. n anycase had come o look.upol,thechurchur"

rrug;-i;l,ity or *r,l.t, siPeterwas he Father.Thusr lovedand respec,.d';r-,'"nd I couldnotunderstanddoctrineswhich warnedthe childr;;"g"i"r,

the authorityof the ather.Tn-iswas hesimple"rr*.,

- thatof ? goodcr,risti"n_yhi:.h r gaveo thosewho often tormentedme to makeme shareheirGallicanopinions.Thanksbe to God,neve*t;;; il;;e beena priest,in fact never n my Christian ife, have ceasedor one instantbeinean obedient onsu'bmissiveo theheadof the church. b;il; ffi:infallibility long before hedogmawasdefined.

The greatest-grace hat God had grantedme during my stayatMolsheimwas o bring me into contact ith th" writings of st. Teresaof Avila. The ife of tf,isseraphicour,*rii.;y il;if, did me nde_finable.good. I resolved hen to ,nJ. a meditative eadingof an houreveryday,and o practiseasmuchaspossiblehe i.rrtr*tions shegaveon prayerandmeditation.This practici to which I wasvery aithful foralmost

.fu9 )'."^, was fruitful^for my soul and mind, more so thantheologicalargym:lts.However, also "ugrly;;;1"_. works ofBossuet,specially isdiscoursenuniversal istorv.

t -

The bookswhich I found most nterestingwere hosewhich deartwith the conversion f the Jews.All the Fatheisor tr," cnurch after St.Pauipositivelyannggncedhis joyful event. believed hat I wascalledto co-operaten it. My soulneededo sharewith the childrenof rsraei

dent It wasa dreamwhich made a

, aap impressionon me as soon asI arrived at Molsheim. During my

, sleep, dreamt was n agardenwhichsoonbecamerowdedwith men,

women nd children.N7ere heyChristians r Jews? do not know.Soon'theywere all surroundinga little hill on which I wassitting. However,

I hearda rustling behindand I turned my head; eaningon thebackof

" : my chaftwasan old man,clothed n white and with a long white beard.tl "I amEnoch,"hesaid o rne, and I havecome o inspireyou aboutwhat

to say." wasdeeplymoved; and in spite of my naturalpresumption,did not dare o openmy lips. Then the saintlyold man said: "Do notbeaf.nid;youwill talk about he mystery f baptismand shallwhispertoyouwhat o say."

I began o preachat length, but so clearly hat on awakeningrernemberedhe whole speechwhich I was able to write out in itsentiretyand sent t to Miss Humann.

Although I did not want to attach too much importance o thisdream, have,ever since that night, had a specialdevotion to theblessed nochand pray o him everyday.

It is here hat I mustmentionan ncidentwhichpainfully endedmylast familial ties. My father was dying and wanted o seeme, for myentrancento the Churchhad not weakened is affection for me. Morethanonce was able to talk to him about my religiousconvictions;hadhopedthat he would eventuallyshare hoseconvictionsbut death

Putanend o this dream.However,hewassnatchedrom meevenbeforehis death,and the last crisiswas the mostheart-breaking f all I had

suffered.W'henI wasby hisbedside nenight, hewasdying and unableto speak. wasstandingbesidehis bed, erventlyprayingfor heavenlyhelp,when suddenly everalJewshurled themselvesuriouslyat me;theydraggedme towards he door, tearing my soutane. thought theyweregoing to kill me and I defendedmyself shoutingat the top of myvoice:"Jesus, elp me!" And this cry,uttered spontaneously,isturbedrny

Poor atheron his deathbed.May this lastword which he heardon

-65-64-

dying behis first cry".T..rt*i.g

eternity!certainly this finar rupturewith my familv was wilred uy i"a - and it happenedwith indescri.bable violence'A few gyr .Lr* i seru^r,tcame o tell me that nry

sitiespresentedhe ideal of good and virtuous examplesonly frompag^nwritings. History books,even thoseusedby children, dated

mancipationrom



ather wasdead. t wasoaober 3rst.-Thatsameyearaboutchristrx6time,r83o, wasordained"

pri.rilt BishopTr!r'.r" i" ,r,. strasbourgcathedral.The samekind B'ishof "a ord'ained""'ruo_oeacon

ixeeksafterI enteredhesemina"f"ivroH,.i-; "rrJ

tr,. following yearI wash^ppy o receivehe diacoriai.L.."ur. thisgaveme thepowertoreach. t wasasa deaconhat I first mount.a nifurii, i" StrasbourgCathedralopreachn honourof Sr i"*rerr...

At that time_

he small society of Fr. Bautain,sdiscipleswaseginning to grow.

^--, Y:lived together n Miss Humann'shouseon Toussaintstreetand we welcomedseveral fine young people,

",oorrgthem FatherMabilleandFather eGanigni.r;it. rirstbeiameBisho; of versailles,the atterBishop f soissoxs.'hal ..i.ur"r"a-Jy";#, Mass t sr.John's, vparishhurch,n1anuary;drE;il*?".r,^d"ily afterhatI celebratldn St.Lawrence,shapeiat heCathedral.

spi'ritof protes[antism"rrd

u.r, ,f pt;;. ft;fil., or ,n. univer- ,l

_AA-fr

ireople's the time of Lutherwhile, n fact, t wasaperrnanentevoltagainstheChurch's uthority.This s the ruemeaning

if Protestantism.t is foundedon a word *irich has ed manypeopliastray:his is the right to question reely; what it amountso, however,is that every ndividual believeshat he hasa right to interpretGod'steachingsshe sees it and to think what he likes; this is a doctrine

whichhas eplacedheprincipleof evangelicalumilityandsubmission,taught by the Church, with the principle of pride and insubordin-ation.(q)

I wasyoung and I hadneitherenougheducationnor experienceoforeseehat these alse principles would not take long to give riseto free thinkers and to the completedenial of Christian Revelation.These ogical consequencesere producedonly later. Nevertheless,couldnot makemyself each hemto my students.Tho can gauge heharmdone o childrenby filling their mindswith such ies and errors!ThankGod I avoided his baleful university outine. appealedo the

sourcesf historywhich taught rom theCatholic iewpoint, heview-pointof truth. I also oundmeans f overcominghe deadlymonotonyof teachingiterature.

- Obliged o give dictation o my students, wascarefulnot to usebooksproposed or the classes. delighted n composing ictationswhichtaught the studentsunder amusingallegorical orms,so that thestudents,nsteadof being boredwith dictation, ooked forward to it.Remembering ow mu.h I had loathedmy own classes, wanted toavoid he samehing for the youngpeoplesince am firmly convincedthat one

of the essintial conditions-oi successful tudies s to makethem nterestingor the students.

- It is the boredomwhich hasbeen their unremitting companionduring all their studieswhich has ed to the scientific F**f of sornanymen.In any case, had made t my policy to give all my classesa religiousslant;prayerat the beginningof classwasnot just an emptyrormula.Beforesaying t, I demanded few momentsof recollection

nl*

Ire werescarcelyettled in the houseon ToussaintStreetwhenour Bishop, n the kindness f his he.1f,wished o providemorespi-rirual nourishmenior our priestty rre. He turned over to us thedirectionof the minor seminary f Strasbo"rg,; ;;"iairrg job withthe added advantageof. permittinj us to rive together n the sameatmosphere.7e ac;epied.^working"withoutsalaqr"Th.;. is nothing Idislike more hanclassicaleachini""il;;;6

#; figure in themidst of my fellow-teachers ho"ail i.."*-p;;i.rr*i of the upperclasses'As for me, Fr. Bautain pul -.. in chargeof the youngestchildren. wasat the same ime th'eir eacher,heir confessor nd theirstudysupervisor.needed .str-ongonstitutiono s:lpp-orthisunending iork. My wishand heneedof -"y t.1rt was o look after theirspirituar lgrowth; I found it repugnanto spend.y..*rgy irrlitu."ttr) teaching. l

Y::1of this repugnincecame rom my dislike of the text boors the' ,

11,],1.^j3-il g*,1,suqprise,saw hal heywere erm."tJ*itnlf,,i

-6- t -

and I took advantage f these ew m.inrlteso-saya few words aboutGod'sPresencer aboutsomeotherreligious ubjJa. i."rrrrot insist oostronglyon theuseof thispractice;disci"prines Jsy when t is based i

the ways was that it forced me to resume serious theological studies.pogmatic explanations would have been very flimsy without serious

preparation. t was at this time that I becamemore closelyacquaint-



religion.

- My obviousattraction for pastoral unctionswas wefl-knownh,,the arch-priest f the cathedralwho took an affectionat. ;;;;;;;; ;ilthat concernedme.He thoughtthat hewasdoi"g ;;" auoi iy-^r^r.r"gth.eBishop

!9 -nameme aso--nef his vicars; heir numberwasatreadv

filled andall four wereveryactiveand ervent. *;;;lJ.;;;ffiia co-vicarwithout.any assignedob, rike the fifth wh?l on a .";;i;;;whichdid notneedone.

Meantime I retained my work at the minor seminary,but Fr.Bautain,who wasnot in favo'rof the change"./"..upations, placedsome obstaclesn their way. Nevertheleis,I Jent irrto tt.. *ithrenewedzeal,with too muchpresumptionperhaps;t was he pastoralcareer or which Providenceradprepled'me #ithout any requestonmy pa.rt. yas.glad to be n contaawin somebeautifulsouls.The firstonewho askedmeto beher director

wasMisscatherineveywada, theoldestof apatriarch l familyof z4 children.she *", J"rtirred o becomeoneof the foundationstones f the Congregation f our Ladyof sion.The spiritual needsof thesesouls ed .ri tE th. .onuiction that a cate-chismof continuingeducationwould beveryuseful o. ti.-. ThereforeI decided o introiuce a catecheticaiourseof continuingeducationatthe cathednl for

loyg christian iadiesof the ciqr i"explainedmyid91 to Fr. Yvon,

lttefro1y.rch-priest,who was n cJmpla.^

"gr..,,,#ith me.But then metotheroppositionwhich fortunatiy aia"rrJrtopme.The vicars,amongwhom thire *as nevertheles,

"rr"ryholy priesi,

Father Mi.ihe well-known for his heroiccharity criticized whatthey called an innovationand they predicted hat it wluld fail com-

pll"ly I had to fight against those who opposeda work whichdid-not yet exist.Nevertheless, found .rrougir'-r.* to begin heyor!.; maybe was too bold. But God ruppotied .y g?od *if; rromthe first day, sawthe nucleusof an audiêncehicli c?ntinuallygrewin numbers.This ministry was helpful to me in seueralways;

'oiiot

fr

*

!d *ittr the good theologiansand historiansof the Church. i tfrink ttrat

this teaching was good for several people who attracted one another,

but I was f.ar .rom suspectingwhat the providential resultsof this work

would be. It was among this youthful audience hat God's hand had

marked the first instruments destined for the foundation of the work

ofOur Lady of Sion.

My duties at the Cathedral, added to thoseof the minor seminary,

more than filled at my time. and they would have exhausted me

completely f the Mastei of the vineyard had not suddenly nterrupted

them.This is one of the most painful periods of my life.

Father Bautain, ike every genius,had enemieswho for a long time

had been spying on his teachingof philosophyto draw attention to the

errors. These errors,whose significancehas been widely exaggerated,

dealt chiefly with the questionof whether human reasoncan by itself

arrive at belief in the existence f God. Fr. Bautain upheld the contrarybelief, but in much too dogmatic a manner. He taught that reasonalone

wasunable to reacha knowledge of God without a revelationwhich is

the foundation of its deductions.Those who oppose his thesisclaim

that reasonhas its own rights and maintain - not unreasonably!

that the examination of visible things in nature could lead one to pre-

suPposehe existence f a Creator. n any case, his opinion finds support

in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. n approving this, the Bishop of

Strasbourgautomatically condemned the opposing position. Several

timeshe had warned the superiorof the minor seminary,but the latter,

who had a very rigid character,nflamed the debateby carryingon longdiscussions. irere were misunderstandings n both sides. ftS-niingP

certainlyhad no intention of denying thJ power of. graceand faith in

the work of human reason,"r,i

F-t. Bautain nevef underestimated

the logical strength of reason,but he was mistaken n hanging-"lJoformrls which iere too rigij and which needed o be explained.The

rnain thought in all his tLching was to attack at its root German

-68- -69-

rationalism,which at this timewasworking with protestantismto stressthe importanceof humanreasonat the .*i.*. of diuir. authority.

The debates prolonged

Vhatever the truth of the matter was, he watchful Bishop O.i::l

to end the debate with an unexpectedmove. He published a report



.wefe b.:^yr: the philosophy professordid not want to give in. For mi part, I did what'I did in simple aithand I hated atioiarism.Tl. expJriencesf my p"rt iii. had shown neonly too well that, left to its own resources,eison is very weakevenyh:" seeking ruth. It is true that contempiationof nature,swondersleads o a belief n the existence f a Firsi cause,but who or what s

this First cause?Reason annotanswer.this uesiion.Anoth., tffiquestioncannotbe avoided: this wodd presents n unaccountablemixture.of good and evil, and going from the

"ff;.t,to find their

causes,t is.logical o concludehat 'ro primeCausesre n opposition.From this belief havecome he threemost fright.rrirrj h.roies whichhaveever deceivedman'smind: first, manicf,eism,ti.r, posits heexistencef two creatols, neof gp{ a1don9of

"uii;,re*t,pantheism,

which makesall creationpart Jf God; and finally,-",r,.ir., whichdespairing f the rwo others, enieshe veryexistenle r coa.

It waswiththe deaof combattinghis triple error thatFr. Bautainbelittled the valueof human easoni religiou, -",t.ir. He probably

went too far in discussinghis thesisbut h"ehad no inlention, at anytiT.tl oj d.enying he power of human. easonn itself, sornethingofwhich he hasoften bein accused.fhile he al*ays i"rirt.a that faithi;

the primaryconditionof divine knowledge,.'r.u., had the nten-tiorrof.denying-hework of human eason

"idh. neversaid hat

"rr.ry-hing.depended n faith without the work of reason. . *", not veryclear n this teaching,and it wasbecausef this lack of clafity hat hLwasvulnerable. herewasa basicmisunderstandingn all thesedebates;therewasno common

agreement n what the debite., meurrtby humanreason, inceon the one hand, t was being examined n its darkenedstatewhich s a resultof the original fall, id on the other, t wasseenasa facultywhichwhenGod crea-tedt wasa healthyu.rdf.rf..t r"*ity.It is true that in its original state t wasmeant o be ableto encompassthe highest ruths.

f,ffi

&condemningFr. Bautain'sthesis.He went even further in his severi$

and in the same report, he withdrew all spiritual faculties from the

master and his disciples. Thank God, however, he allowed them tocelebrate he Holy Sacrifice. was included in this sentence lthough

personally had never taught-phito;9nlf."o 9lg ever askedme for a

retractionor an explanationof any kind.

I couid haveavoided the sen-tence mposedon Fr. Bautain f I had beenwilling to leavemy friends,but I could never haveacceptedhat condition.

The hammer blow which abruptly broke my connection with theminor seminaryand the Cathedralwas he sourceof profound suffering.I knew quite well the theory of renunciationand sacrifice,but what adistance here is between theory and practice! I had thought that theshatteringof the ties of flesh and blood which had occurredat the timeof my conversionhad been enough to make me humble. But perhapsthe satisfactionshat I found in my ministry were too far from being

supernaturaland it was good for me to be facedwith more sacrifices.At that time I did not know that God had decided hat I would becomethe father of a great spiritual family, and it is surely in view of thisvocation that the hand of God wanted to eliminate from my soul allthat might have presentedan obstacle o God's work.

The divine seed hat baptism sows n the human soul can only bearfruit if it sheds ts natural elements ust as in the vegetablekingdom,the fruit appearsonly after the flower has died. It seems o me now thatat that time I was going through this "shedding" process; n any case,I felt within myself the workings of the crosswithout being able tosee

ts saving effects.On the contrary, I was tempted to criticize myinconsolablesorrows and I accused he Gospel of having presented orne nothing except suffering and pain instead of the hundredfold ofhappiness romised o all thosewho have eft all to follow JesusChrist.Nevertheless, want to go on recordasstating that I have never wantedfor this hundredfold and I must even say that when necessary, havebeenhelped without iimit.

r#

- 7 0 - -7 r -

,-,_rtl^.,*1t_tli: ilprssible for me to recall he sufferings f every

krnd that preceded he new era in my life. I found .ro ,.fi.f i" ;irelationshipwith Fr. Bautainwhose tiifnessand rigidity were n sharp

gernard.Fr. Bautainhad mentioned his nameand I hadgrabbed t, as

it were, n full flight. My only thoughtwas o do somegoodand this

thoughtwhich wasblessed y God upheld my courage. n any case,



contrastwith.my own soft-heartedness.n the oiher'hand, tte salcontentionswith the Bishopof strasbourg losedall avenues f activitvto us,and to crown a'll the humiliations,we were ookedupon ;;d-scribedpriests-andalmostasheretics. or me, his was hesource f themost acutesufferhg because,

il -y_h.."+

and in my mind, my onf

W4ry

was o the Church'3eag\ings. had to fight againstemptationsof discouragementhich I couldrrirr., ha.,e esiied i'f diuin. g'ooar.r,

had not given me a mother who showedme the needto crilcify myhumannature.Alas!how slow and difficult thisself-sacrifice; f*my nature,especially ince had the kind of racialnatureof which thasbeensaid: "\flhat a stiff neckand hardhead!"My progress longthe pathof self-renunciation asnot veryevident; t seemedhat when

lT:lr,1tbindingme o rhenaturalmanon onesidewerebroke.,,n.f

toomedmuchmore.menacingn theother,and for several ears, liveiin a stateof suspension.

backo,J:i:Miss Humann'shouse, nd under he directionof this greatsoul,welived like children n simplicityand peace, olelygiven"tostudyandprayer-Mass,which I continued o sayeveryduyut"th. Cathedrai,wasthe sourceof my strengthand my consolation.n any case,we hadpeaceful onsciences;ur attitude owardsthe disputedquestions asthat of faithful children of the church, a.td we were'quite ready,beginningwith Fr. Bautain, o submitunquestioninglyo the decisiongf !h: Holy Seeassoonas t wasmadeknown.\rhiiJ waiting for thisdecision,Fr. Bautail.begg a greatwork, under the guiseJf .orr.r-pondencewith his disciples, t icr, he publishedunier the title of"Phiiosophy of christianity." unfortunately, this work reawakeneddormantquestions nd madeus the objectof'further annoyance.

At the sameime, I felt theneedof seriouswork, andwith a bold-nessdifficult to justify, I undertook he writing of the historyof saint

- 7 2 -

foundall the documents neededn the ibrary. Beforeeverythingelse,

I wanted o have heassistancef divinegrace ndwith this dea n mind

I madean eighfday retreat n a Trappistmonasteryalled The Mount

of Olives" (Oelenberg).

Trappistsare Cistercians ho have kept alive the spirit of St.

Bernard.Their life is exactly he sameas that lived by the monksofCiteauxand Clairvaux. cannotexpress ow much was ouchedand

edified; I was fortunate o share he daily exercisesf these oly reli-

giousas well as their nightly religiousexercises. envied hem their

vocation nd I would havebeenhuppy o stay here. had neverseenanything ike it and I felt completely t home n this atmospheref

pnyer and silence.During this retreat, read a pamphletwritten byFr. Olier entitled "Introduction o ChristianLife." This book which

soclearlyexplains he iving organism f theCatholicChurchgavemean dea or the ntroduction o the ife of SaintBernard. alsoexamined

the old booksof daily customs swell as he annals f Citeaux.Thesepreliminaryreadingspreparedme for the work which I began n thesmall cell of the Trappist monastery nd which for severalyearsattracted ll my interest. think that this retreatwas n 1834. t was

followed by somemonotonous earsas far as outwardeventsare con-cerned, ut I wasvery nterestedn my work and was n themood ostudy. was also the director of someholy soulswho had becomeattachedo my ministryandwho came o me or advice.

Among thesewere Miss Louise fleywada, whom I have akeady

named, simpleupright soulwho helped heword to bear ruit in herheart;Miss Emily Lagarmitte,a heavenly lower, who was very timidbut yet very energetic nd firm; finally, Miss RoseValentin who wasremarkably ntelligent. There were even more whosenames haveforgotten, but the most outstandingwas Mrs. SophieStouh'len,hewidow of.a very respectablemilitary officer. Shewas about fifty yeatsold when knewher, andshewas iving with heragedmotherwho, ike

-73-

herdaughter, asa woman f strongandgenerousoliness.aterMn.Stouhlenas o becomehe irstSup"erioreneral rou, Ladyof sion.That s why I want o say fewwordsabout r p;;ar reiationstipwith thisoutstandingoul.Later will .or.

ludaism, hey remaineduntouchedby any religious nfluence.My

lldest brother,Adolph,whosewife wasMrs. Fould'ssister,wasdead.

My sisters admarriedwhile I wasat Molsheimandmy youngbrothers,



bi.f ;;;il. story. rrheishecameo askmy spiritualhe1p, hewas-d.pr;;J ""a

il. w,rr""ichildren, hehadno work,nodiJtractionsf ;y d;J. ile spiritof thewoddhadnever nteredhishouse.

It was illed with an unsmiling,gloop{ piery. thought t my duty

to nrroducento r somectiveoi[i^rrd ,i.,." t mi, iri. rr. nlriîihadestablishedt Strasbourgn instiiution or y"""g grrrs, suggestedto Mrs. Stouhlen hat she

-becomeinvolved

"ii,ni?;?e did it with

admirable elf-forgetfulness all the more emarkabieince hewas nverypoor healthand tired.easily.This truly christian widow was assimpleand frank as a child but shehad nJ i"itirii".; her soredesirewas o obey,and in proportionasshegaveup her own will, shecameto experiencehe pro.found oy_o be flund in following the s7ill ofGod.Sheherself aught hesmallchildrenu"drr," *^ f.o.nt regularryat theBiblehistoryleslons trj{r.I gave n this,.r,oot.'sr,".*E fuirryoften to see

Miss Humannand this [ave her tt. "pp.rtunity to consult:ilf,::I"

P|1Ro.sef. my advicewas.to uppo.t her in peace ndsubmrssiveness.t that time,I had no inkling oi tt,emeaningof reli_gious ife and this idea neverentered y ,piritu"i air..tion; it neveroccurredo me that oneday I would worl ti org-i;a=,religious com_munity.

After we left the minor seminary,Fr. Bautain,at the requestofseveralChristianfiT:ttT, had.alsoopeneda school or yourrg.boys.wasardligiouseducatorhere. n addi?ion o these .*p"[iorrrIr, *'hi.hI wasengaged, t the sameime as was.pursling.orJ

interestingper-sonalstudies, alsohad the joLof chattingofte; *rrh l.*, who cameto ask for instruction n the christian

_reli-gio".ni, J", the ministrythat was closest o -my heart, because bJieved that I was called tospread he knovledge_ f Jesuschrist amongthe children of Israel.However,at this time I wasable to baptizegity ^ few; as or my ownf.anily, controlledmore by the spiritôf the wo'd tt"r, uu that of

fi

Achilleand Alphonse, till children,wereat school. wasnot allowed

to haveanycontactwith them. scarcely newAlphonsewho was o betheobjectof somuchdivine gracen :'842.

EveryyearFr. Bautainwas accustomedo takea trip during hisholidays a habitacquired uring hisuniversity ays and he always

tookoneof us with him. One year, l forget whatyear t was) he tookmeashis companion; estayed t several astles here metsome eryinteresting eople. il7espentseveral ayswith the deLamartines. rs.deLamartines asverypiousbut her devotionwenthand-in-hand ithan almost dolatrousattitude owardsher husband.The latter had aprincelydistinctionbut he practised eligion n his own way. WesaidMassn the castle's legant hapel;hepoetassistedt t but I rememberthathe remained eatedhewhole ime,continually attinga smalldogwhichsat on his lap. ThereareChristianswho claim hat animals lsoshouldbenefit rom the kindness f their masters. washappierat the

castle f Cirey n the Vosges, omeof Mr. Chevandier, hose onhadspent ome ime at our family home n Strasbourgndwho aterbecamethe unfortunateMinisterof the Interior underNapoleon II. \7e spenta week n this fairy-likecastlewith the famousFatherLacordaire ndthe prominentchemical cientist,Mr. Dumas. t did my soul good totalk to these emarkable en.This trip also ook us o Grenoble o visitMr. Planta,and then to PariswhereFr. Bautainknew manypeople.Thisstay n Pariswouldhavebeennsupportablef I hadnot mefF"fherDesgenettes,arishpriestof NotreDariri, esVictoires. his iny parishhidden a*ay in more woddly surroundings ad been deserted nd

abandoned;t hadeven ost ts beautifulname; t wassimplycalled hechurchof theLittle Fathers.After several mptyyears,hCparishpriestwas nspired o call on the Immaculate eart of Mary to beg rom hergraces f conversion nd resurrection.7ith this n mind he had formedan associationf prayer or the conversion f sinners, n associationwhich ater the Ubly'See aised o the rank of Archconfraternity ndwhich producedwonderful results.His prayershaving beenanswered

-74--75-

beyondall calculations, atherDesgenettesourdno longercopealonswith his work, andrike the fisherm& of carilee wtos. io"t was oadeddown with fish, hesoughtypen. rre appealedo mygoodwill assoonashe earnedof my sympath.ii. r..tirrg, for his *ori,'"rra I put

with the corpse,an uncontrollableemotion swept over me. I threwqyseIfon my kneesand shortly af.ter fell fast asleep.The following

day,wakingat daybreak,t seemedo me that I heard her voicesaying

to rrr€,"Is this the way, son, that you have learned o keepwatch?"



myselfat his disposal o answeithe frood ,f";i ;;;;"

h,s rectory.Heouldnot guess ow happy -was o work in Mary'i service. askedFr.autain o allow me to wilhdraw from the trip or at least rom accom_panyinghim in his visih, to give my time,r:.;;;;1, No,r. Damedesvictoires. I would tt"". b&n rr"oor a staywith FatherDesgenettes

but I did not dareho?e hat tttir iJn'"r would begranted o me. I hado ideathat onedayDivine providencewourd ndeedgrant it to me.After an absence f severalmonths*;;;;;.? ro srr"rbourg,t"q.l immediately ecame.,uotu.Jl, suchoccupationsswerecom_patiblewith mv humiliatingposition. w'efound tut'is,Humannseriouslyill..For a long time she rli u.." suffering rom an incurable llnessand ts ups"nJ

downshinred"i"pfr*.ting

death.

!(rhile shewas entering the joys of heaven, hoseof us left on earth

were ike orphans n a deserted ouse,plunged nto mourning. Father

Brutain took her place but he did not representher. He had theperfectgifts for the head of an institution;but he did not have a

rnother's eart,nor a father'seither,and he neverassumedhe title of

father.W'ecalledhim brother.For my part, I hadgreatrespector him,but therewas no meetingof soulsbetweenus, and I received o conso-

lation from him, no encouragement. n the contraryhe almost ed me

astray y a completelyunexpected ction.According o what hethought

thebesthumandecision, edecidedo givemy placen our ittle societyto FatherdeBonnechose.o t was hat a few days fter MissHumann'sdeath,he changed he order of rank which had beenconsecrated youractof union. n addition,hewantedme o givemycrucifix o Fatherde Bonnechose.his decision ould easilyhavebeenustified by Fatherde Bonnechose'sualities,and from this point of view I knew that the

societywould benefit by the change.Nevertheless could only regretastepwhich completelyshatteredmy confidence.Our act of union wasour only rule of life; it strengthenedur f.raternal ondsby establishinga specific rder.The only rule Miss Humannhad givenuswas heruleof love; I knew that if this wasnot respected, ur harmonywould befundamentallyendangered.God alone knows how much I sufferedwhen gaveup my little crucifix.However,Fr. Bautainwantedevenmore:he askedme to give him the little pictureof Our Lady whichused o hang over MissHumann'sbed;shehad receivedt from BishopColmarof Mayence nd shehad given t to me asa lastkeepsake.his I

wasnot able to surrender. alwayskept it on my prie-dieuand it gavernemuchconsolation. intend to give it to Mother Marie-Benedicta fSion who, among all the people I have known, is most like MissHumann. shall saynothing abouther here becauset is to her that Iarndictatingthese ines; I shall certainlysaysomethingabouther laterwhen work on the GospelMeditationsand theDirectoryof Our Ladyof Sion.

t83zShehad us sign

I promiseof union which formed us into a hier-archybasedon threebasic"elements".Fr. Bautain*", ," head,Adol_phe carl was secondand I was third. N."t ;;"irr* and NestorLevel, Isidore Goeschrer,Father a" n"""".r,;;;"d;"r de R6gny,Father Gratry,FatherMertian and the others. lh ; the first threewasgivenacrucifix,gift of theBishopof Mayence.

fi36Miss Hurnanndied on september 9th, tg36,at 7 o'crock n the

To.lt.rg. At that moment was .elebrat-irrg,r;'rr'i"'r*r intentionsatthe cathedral. r shail not speakof the ,or"-* *r,i.r,-iil.d myheartwhen on my retum to.the house, found only the lifelessbodyof shewho had beenmy spiritual "mother." There are sorrowswhich canneverb.. ."pto1.d. Fr. Bautainthought he wasdoi.rg me a favorby

;uggesting hat I remainwirh him"id

F"thei c"rl8*ide her deathbed during the night. Buj ai nightfail FathersB";;;il;;d carl disap-pearedand did not comeback. lonfess thatwhen f"il;;;;lf;#

-76- -77 -

.Although our situation in the chutch was beginning to weiph

heavilyon us, hereseemedo beno wayout of thecofipli."f;onr;;:;by our confusion.For a rong time Fr. Bautainhad believed hat ttricontroversial uestions hich gave ise to this situationwerephiloso_

Salinisand Scorbiaco buy the college of Juilly, situatedsomemiles

from Paris.

r84o



phicalonesand hence houldnot bedecided y theHoly see.This was

lilll::.a.ofl"il? inspite f the acrhar ! professJa

"a."pty-f.'ii

submtssiono theChurch authorityn philosophical atters.nfluentiaifriends inally persuaded r. Baufain o go to Rome,and to o* t..uijoy, he took Fatherde Bonnechoseith i'im. Theywereboth recfivJ

with the kindness ndwarmthalways hown o thosewho humbty orn.to submit heir writings to the judgmentof the Head of the churcrlSomemonthswentby, andwe earnedhat Romehad not approved r.Bautain's hesison the limits of faith and of ,reason.I do^notknowwhether his teachingwa_so.rmllly

-condemnedbut it was certainlycriticized,and Fr. Bautainsubmittedwithout argument.No repro"ci.,wasever evelledat his disciples. n the contra{r,cardinal Lambrus-chjni,Secretaryf State.{or

QreSoryXVI, signed,n the pope,sname,a brief

.approving he Life of saini Bernardil wasalsogirren p^pîdecoration.

r84o

In his advanced ge,Bishopde Trevernbecamehildish.He com-pletely orgot all events f the past.A co-adjutor ad beengivenhim,th_e choladyBishop-Raess,ormerly rectorof the major ,.".i.,"ry oiMayence,whom Bishopde Trevernhad appointeddiiector of higherstudiesn Molsheim.He had given heologi coursesnd had pr"ri"d.dat all our examinations. e was more than kind to -. ^rrd always

1!o.*.d me a gooddealof affection.one of his first actsasco-adjutorB-ishop f Strasbourg as o restore ll my ministerial aculties. aterhealsomademe an honorarycanonof the cathedral.At this time.Fr.Bautainhad a letter from Paris rom the parishpriestof Notre Damedesvictoires begginghim to allow me to b" on tirestaff of his church.

fothing could havegiven me greaterpleasure. or a long time Fr.Bautaindelay-ednswering; ut Providencemade t possibieo grantthis request; .or at the time Fr. Bautainwasnegotiatingwith Mlsrs.

-78- -79-

*

*

The sale took place in the year r84o, I think. Consequently

our entiresmall companymoved o Juilly. Teachingwas heonly kind

of work that interested r. Bautainat this time; this prospective as

alsopleasantor the others.But for me,who had neither heir tastes

nor their gifts, the thoughtof resumingeaching illed mewith dread,

and I would have ound it very difficult to go back.Fortunately he

request f the parishpriestof Notre Dame desVictoiresopenedup a

mJchmorepleasant erspectiveor me. t filled my deepestspirations,

in fact it was my only ambition, to becomea specialservantof the

Blessed irgin; to co-operate ith a holy priest n helping souls: his

seemedo me the mostdesirable f all work, and I was mpatient o

shakeoff all the obstacles hich preventedme from answering he

priest'sequest.Patiences the nevitable equirement f all God'sworks.

In themeantime,he college f Juilly, ormedyan Oratorian bbey,

had become ur property.To purchaset, we had formed a tontinesociety hich made he building the common ropertyof all the signa-toriesof thepurchaseontract. wasone of thosemembers nd-allmyinheritance ent into it. In anycase, incemy conversion, had givenover o Fr. Bautain, he earningsrom the small ortune eft to me bymy parents.t wasabout oo,ooo rancs. would havebeenwealthierif my wealthiest ncle,who died childless, ad not disinherite{me b1name.Evenmy father, nfluencedby thosearoundhim, had deprivedrneof available ssets. couldsaywith thePsalmist: The Lord is myinheritance." s co-owner f Juilly, I was given the ratherridicu'lous

title of honorarydirectorof thecollege. saw hen hat it wasonly veryunwillingly that Fr. Bautainagreed o my settling n Paris.He wasafraid that mv distance rom Juilly would weakenstill further thealready eakbonds f my submissionohis authority.

To avoidasmuchashe could his nconveniencehich'he eared,heusedall kindsof tactics.First, not satisfiedwith giving me the titles

of co-ownerand directorof the college,he obligedme to comeeveryFridav to Iuillv to teachcatechismn-one"f

th".-io;; grades.Thenhe wantedmv aoartment n paris to b.",

un.o..fJ.tJbt.",

possibre.He rented oimJ a smallmiserableoom,unfurnished ndunheated,nhe attic of a house

x d_ozeniou-sold ladiesasaudience. was the usualpreacherand Ihad no gift for attracting rowds;more han once wduld havebeendiscourage{3t preachinq

fn this cold desertf the parishpriesthimself,with typicalNormanstubbornness,ad not each ime oliowedme nto



on thestreetof Notr" Darnea.r-vi.t"rres; hemademe takemy meals n$e.

rectory. supposehis food was n exchangefor my services inceFatherp.rg."ettes nevergaveme a cent. relatethese etailsonlv to showwhat frlanshad been-m"a" o, me to live inaris' I can honestlysay that ^f,hi; period-of my life, I experiencedeveryform of pot'eity

and evenof penury.someiimes *r, given anonorarium of mv sermons; ut I w'ould ,"u. r.rlililry if I had keptit; I gaveeverything.conscientiouslyto ei. g"r;ii.*i'r....berthitoften I put in -u pJ.k.t a.pieceoifr.ua from the supper abreat Fr.Desgenetteso tiaf wourdiaueomethiil];;i;;dii. suchwasmyituation.in84o Ir I beganowork

"i*.r."-o^-e des iaoirei.Ii J,?".::l f li:l3 11".111 nwantediJ.;";;; isuse wih

thepulpit to-tellaboutmarvellous onversionsap-peningn otherpartsof the wodd and to exhorthis listeners o pray br sin"nersnd to re_commendhem o theprayers f theArchconfraternity. y confessionalwasat the feetof Our_ ady's tatue n the same hapel, ndquiteoftenI witnessedhe marvelshat-grac9an bringabo-ut hen t is^dispensed

by Mary.I remember ith deep eelingsome f these race,urri I u-hrppy to recallhere wo memories hich havenever eft me.

the ifewhich spent wayrcmJuiitand edp.d;;iiffi ffi , ,eg fo rhe lp .

_ ' , , . . ' - - - - - '

- " vg rgJvv .

i l

o'.-,1,ûj,:1'l:^:tf:?f]life.was adand

painfur, ysoul .,

oll

growingnpeacend9y,Myministry"r

x*-* d",,,;il til"tr* hr? ;

llilr lq,d"yi:h gSriltr-1erice.ias assistanrirecrorf theArch- |

Leaving the church one evening, I was accostedby a young manwho said to me quite simply: "Is this the church where sinners

".*..on-

verted?" S0rhen answeredaffirmatively, he askedme how one wentabout being converted."Nothing is easier,"I answered,and pointingto my confessional, said: "Go in there; I'm going to go in therewithyou." This gentleman was a university professor. had him make aretreat with the Jesuits;he entered the seminaryand became a holy

priest.Another time, I was in the sacristy when an unknown lady came to

give me a letter addressed o me in handwriting I did not recognizewhich told me that the mother of.a famlly, who for a long time had notpractisedher religious dutieswould come o me with a messagewhichshehad beenasked o give me. It was hoped hat this method of g.tti.tgher to Notre Dame des Viaoires would provide an opportunity Ior herreconciliationwith God. Thanks to the attractionof the Heart of Mary,the erring Christianmade her peacewith God and returned happily [oher own countrv.

An even more remarkable conversion was that of a journalist fromPariswho, in order to cast idicule on Fr. Desgenettes,rad announcedtT

lit anti-religiouspaper that on the following Sunday at exactly7:ooo clock in the evening, he parish priest would perform a miracle in theArchconfraternitychlpel. Thir noii.e brought out a great manycuriouspeople including the journalist himself who, of course,wanted to learn

confraternityof the Holy Heart of Mary and it waswith this that I didall my work. Indeed, his Archconfraierniryil.h'had begunveryhumlll, had spreadalmostmiraculouslyn &ery p".t or the wodd; itwas his developmentharhad promptei theH;iyG t ,ar" it to therankof Archconfraternity"

iitle which .o'f.ri"J o., t tt. power oPass n to otherconfraternitieshe ndulgence, lr"udveranted o tself.My work was to correspondwith all ,rrl*. -"i;;;ff", and to signtheirdiplomas f membership.

Yet this work, *li:h broughtgreatgraces o so manycountries,was almost mperceptibre t iti soilrc.. sundayserviceswere badryattended; he ihurch was dark; ti. r"itr,rul members f the Arch-confraterniry nly rT1"

the chapel f the Bl";rJil;,"";a;;;;arounda portablepulpit where hepreactrereryoftenhad onlv about

- 8 o --8 r -

the resultof his practical oke.But like Balaam's onkey,he had pro-phesiedand he himself was the object.of the miracle.at the elaltmomentwhen he choir wassinging he nvocationof the Litany of th.Blesse.dirgin which implores:"Refugeof sinners,pny f.or,rr," thi

{aneaaStreetwhereFr. Dumarais, arishpriestof theForeignMissions,

andhis curateswere living. I was thereforeobliged to leavemy own

apartmento take up residencen the suburbof Saint-Germain hich

necessitatedlong walk everyeveningandseveralimesduring the day



poor journalist fell on his kneesand overcomingevery emptationoihuman re-spect,truckhis breastand went to co-nfession,umbl. unicontrite, hatveryeveningaftertheservice.

J! p :"ry to seehow sucheventsand so manyothersstrengthenedmy faith in

Mary and inflamedthe loving zeal wirich I felt for"her. n1ly

.3r.,. during the first yea4r had the opportuniryof seeing hat

Y^ry't victorieswerepublishednot only ambngchristian sinnelsbutalso.amo-ng ereticsand unbelievers. he Arctrconfraternitywas alsopraying or theconversion f theJewsandI wasglad to baptize everalof them,among hem wo Jewessesho consecrat-edhernselveso God

!n thecommunityof theLadiesof saint-Louis.To obeyFatherBautain,

J go.njinugdo give my weekly classes t Juilly in spite of the ratheringld welcome iven o me here. .rh

At this time my health was at its peak and I was almost nde-

fatigable.The resultwas hat, in spiteof my work at Notre DamedesVictoires, eagedyacceptedhe variouspreachingassignmentsfferedto me n Paris.FatherMartin de Noidieu, at thal timeparishpriestofsaint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas,nvited me to preach the ienten sermonsin_his church; since he gaveme a good report, severalother priestsaskedme for the sameministry; I prelchedsuccessivelyn Saint-ivferry,at I'Aabaye-aux-Bois, t Notre-Dime de Porette,at saint-Sulpice, tSaint-Rochnd n almost ll the churchesf Paris. neverwrotebutanlsermon;perhaps certain omewhat resumptuousonfidencemadeupfor my lackof talent.My only help clme from a few notes madeeach

time and from prayer,especiallyo the Blessed irgin. I wondernowhow I could so blithely accept ucha difficult ministry; today wouldow I could so blithely accept ucha difficult ministry; today wouldneverdare o undertake uch mportantpreaching {

But in theyear r84r an unpleasant hangeook place n my wayoflife. Fr. Bautainwantedan apartmentn Paril since ie often cune herewith Fr. de Bonnechoseo preach.He renteda floor in a houseoo

to fulfill my functionsat Notre-Dame-des-Victoires.

It must be confessedhat howeverpainful this changemay have

beenrom several ointsof view, t had one enormous dvantageince

it permittedme to fulfill a long-timedesire f TI priestly ife: to live

wiih an ecclesiasticalommunity;his waspossible ow sincewe wereliving n thesame partment ouse s hepriests f theForeignMissions,

who were living in community.This was the fulfillment of one of

Archbishop ffre's dearest reams:o have he parishpriest ive with

hiscuratesandhusprovide hemwith a means f avoiding hedangers

which illed Paris or youngpriests.All the clergywere n favour of

this wise step and Father Dumaraishad been asked o make the

experiment. or this purposehe asked o be allowed to choose he

cuiates ho would bewilling to live in thisway. il7ecame o join this

secular ommunity.Unfortunately he attempt ailed. No agreement

couldbe reached s to the hours of mealsor to the frequenrywithwhicha priest'swork might necessitateoingout.Theywithdrewone

after the other, and I was finally left alonewith Fr. Bautainand Fr.deBonnechoseho onlycame ccasionally,ndwith two young riendsof Fr. Dumaraiswhom he had taken n as boarderswhile theywerestudying t Saint-Sulpiceeminary. neof thesewas heholy, studiousCharlesGay who laler became uxiliaryBishop o CardinalPie, thefamousBishopof Poitiers.The otherone,still a laymanalthoughhewotea soutane, as Mr. Gounod.The latter, possessedith a geniustor music,becamehe notedcomposer hosedelightful compositions

5albe

comparedavorablywith those f Mozart.Duringthe few years

I livedwith this iftle community, liked themverymuch,but this ifecouldnot replacehe one had eft *ith FatherDlsgenettes or couldtt console-L fot being so far from Notre DamedesVictoires. n the

l.* *uy of life which obedience ad imposedon me I was like astrangerin a strangeand. had o giveup my regular-confessionimeaswell as Sunday"evening erviceskitn tne

-Archconfraternitywhich

- 82 - -83-

would have made t necessaryo spendhourson Parisstreets ate atnight. To sum t up, there were more nconvenienceshan consolations,and I was faced once morewith the samekind of blind obedience swhen I wasat the StrasbourgCathedral. t is also rue that I wasmore undlmydeath, ut hiswasnotGod'splan.



resigned n Paris han I hadbeen n Strasbourg;o strengthenmy spiritof sacrifice, had taken as my guide the words of Scripture:"He

becameobedient even to the death of the cross." Every eveningIrepeated hembefore went to sleep. t gavemehappiness ecausehecrosswasalreadyworking its purifying task n me, very necessaryorthework whichdivineProvidence ad n store or me.

r84r

On PlumetStreet today Oudinot Street),not far from VaneauStreet,herewasa largeorphanageor girls, foundedsome ime beforeby Fr. Desgenettes, nder the nameof ProvidenceHouse and it wasdirectedby the Daughtersof SaintVincentof Paul. This establishmenthad more than 3oo children and was very poor,havingno source fincomeand beingunable herefore o havea regularchaplain. ince r.Desgenettesnew that I would not ask o be paid,he urged me to take

over the responsibilityor religiousservicesn this Providence ouse.I hadn't the courage o refusesuchpleadingon his part so I tried tocombine his ministrywith my functionsat Notre Dame desVictoires.However, his proved mpossible, nd as a matterof consciencefeltobliged to resign from the Archconfraternity o devote myself exclu'sively o the orphanage.

From then my sufferingsbegan o bear ruit and my interior oy

overcame ll painful experiences.became losely ttachedo my dear

little oqphans; mong hemweremany soulsof greatworth, and I was

very much impressed y the distinguished ualitiesand solid virtue

which sooftensaw n thesemodest oungpeople.All thepoororphanswere my children andI took the same areof themas would a devoted

father and pastor.ProvidenceHousehad becomea school .ot me

where I couldacquire he kind of experience had not had up to now'

I also ovedthe happyobscurityof a humbleministrywhich aroused o

one'sealousy;blasel by tfteVirgin Mary,thisminisiry was ncreastnglff,ruitful.

184z

At the beginning of r84z there occurred an extraordinary event

which suddenly drew a great deal of attention to me - something

whichI had never sought. It was the miraculous conversion of my

brother.From the start, this conversion causeda world-wide interest

whoseechoes ell back on me. For a long time I had to hide from the

crowdof visitorswho, impelled by curiosityor piety, wanted to seeand

hear he brotherof the neophyteof Rome.

I don't think it necessaryo tell here the story of this memorable

conversion. t has been reported with varying degrees of accuracy in

rrranymagazines,Ishall only tell how I got the news.

It was evening on February rst, 1842, vigil of the Feast of the

Purification.Preparations

or this feasthad kept me in the confessional

for an unusually long time. On returning to my room, I was eating

suPperalone when I noticed that there were several etters for me. I

was oo tired to read them and I hurriedly put asideone whosewritingI recognized.t was from Mr. Th6odorede Bussidrewho often annoyedrnebecause e wanted me to proof-read a book on Sicily which he washavingprinted. I opened t afier I had read all the others; t was dateda.tRomeand it relaled the story of what had happened at Sant' AndreadelleFratte.Mv brother himself added a few eicited lines to the endof the letter. I cannot describe my feelings when I read this letter. Icould not control my joy, and yet I could not, did not even want to,

sharethe news with"ttyott.

because his conversion so far surpassedanvthingthat I could havewished for. I was af.raid hat I might be suf-rerrngfrom an hallucination and that, if I revealed t today, tomorrowt^would

be obliged to retract. In its presentcondition, the human heart

fi}otsupport"great joys; it is betier able to support great sorrows'

rnat was my exlerience in this instance. I spent the whole night in a

*

t*

-84- -85-

feverof happiness. ext momins I r7o'crock,6 ayas.s.* "p;-"lH.T,ruX,:iliBfi# ,r* *** ::,i5:Liffiffi.T:iT'#"J.:',:':.tJ?:nut rn sprte i my etforts o controlmyemotioq bundantean ell n ii"tur, t

"tearfully eptoredhereligious egradationf theancient

the.altar.They thought was ll and in greatpain; t felt theconpil . T"L"r. .i c"a *hir" 6lindn.r. ,eemid to t i^ to be wirhouthumangation's ,.but," it



uneasiness,o to leassurehese ompa-esionateeple, t?. Il"i'"f."*; he added, is fervent nd perswering rayerplained o thern hecause f my excitement ndI told th'ern'inirD;i;

'lL?i*rii attractsrace rom heaven nd triumphoveratl resistance."

words hestoryof themiracr.rlousonversion..his.storyarolseda ;f,,. il.'r*i.". tt. begled me to,pr:cute

Christianeducation or Jewishfilled attention.But the namewhichI did ot want o pubtlttresca'pli .hildrenconrrdeo o me Dyrnerrparents, nd he urgedmr to buyafrommy ipninspite f myself, nd endedy

"..oo"t'*itt

tt.

",oi4rlffi;;-i;; ,ht; ip..i"r *.r1. This'tasr equest eeme-ddd_o_me;.it

"The youngJewconvertedn Rome smy brother!"At thesewords ii l*."j i.pr.tii"f and I was unwilting to begina work which could-congregationosenstunnedilence,henwithone oice, ll theorphan5 L.orln',* myministry ndwhich, n myopinion, adno chancefbroke nto theMagnificat. shallnot enumeratehe moments f ;;; ]i..L.- r tlou t -u b'rotheis deas .t g"iting ahead f God; theynesswhichoverciuneme as I finishedMass; hopeGod has orgival ,..rJ _ ,tr",ig. to .e that wondered hither ttrepoorneophyte adme or thern.Meantimet was ot ongbeforehenewsromRorniwas i"ri w, *"_".?", his conversionassoextraordinaryhat _ id_ otbroadcastar andwideand henewspapenere ull of it, The ollow_ lr." to ..i.a completelyn inspilationwhich couldeasilybe froming Sunday _waso pleadt at Notre Damedes Victoires,and Fr Co,l. In -v anguisir, tumedto-theBlessed irgin of whom had aDesgenettesold me that for the honourof Our Ladyand lrc gloryof ;;.-i, #v .o?.,

"naaddressingmyself o her. I prayed: Beloved

God, I must give- he sameaccounto the Archconiratemity I iad-lri"ir,..,-r

,i^rr a" *bateveryou e"llme. f thereforet is youwhohavegiYen o the drildren at Providence. he.drurch *1 p"ckedand 6e '

inrpii.i my br"tfre.-ith the deaof founding hedeticatework which

effectof thestorywas hesame.t wasas f aoelectric urrent, tarting ' he'is uaqestingo me,showmea sign.Sendheone ewish hild andin Rome,had setup vibrations n theheartsof this vastcongregation; t51siiffiio.'me a signof God's fill."and here,asat Providence,hey ntoned heMagnificat.The a-w"-hning

'

of christian sentimenbwasnolt mmediate, ut from that day orward, I said his Playet n themominq;before he endof the day 8ot

the church of Norre DamedesVictoiri-i#; il;ifr; ;'" ;ffi;thesign had aiked or. I -as handed etter romFt' Aladel,superior

movementwiich spread n wery directiona confident aith, thespilllof th; Izzarish, which informedmc in a few lines hat a Jewishady

ofprayerandove orMary.vho wasvery ll-had onfidedo himherwish o have er daughters

rohatouchedemost,owever,ashe rightishthathisi l,iiJtlt"o"l.,i"no1'J'j,fli,I*iff::'l'TiJl:T:J#:ii,l:event caston the 8!eat question ol the convenionof the Jews.Mary's that it was the Blelsed Virsin herself wfio was answeringmy player.visible intervention seerned o me to be an omen of the approaching I rhankedher,

andI rusheioff to find Fr. Aladel on SevresStr€et, o

fulfillment of the promisesof great mercy which God riserved for ' explainbohim the connectionof his proposal with my brother's. TheIsrael, promisescontahed in the sacredbooksof bodr the Old and&c followins dav we wmt tosether to Mis, Vurrnser, the Jewish lady inNew Testament.(r0) his hope, which haddominatedmy thoughtssind guestion:Th; ooor ladv h"ad underaonesurgery and was suffering athe beginning of my vocation,also took possession f my btother from Sreatdeal.ThJsisht of'two priess ai her bediidemovedher. Sheknewthe instantof his conversion.He wrote me a touching letter which wd

I" by nameonlvind shehad an instinctivefear of my influence. Herfull of humility; in simple and enthusiastic anguagi, be gavernebs fint words*e.e thosespokenby wery Jewwhen facedwith those hey

-86-I -8,-



mt; d*li'l*[t*$llired. I pacified her with regard to her rwo oaugntersand assured _u,". 'i"iJ "i.** Ji r,fr.\ia* *rdgood_bye,. porogizedf[:*:f;fil*,]11':Hr.-,ffiT""#i*:rui! *,]it ;;her or havingwornheroutand p_romisedt at,t would-neve-rpci f,i,iT"i", lir" nii;"*. or ,i" Jii."ai." I t adexperienceduring heof religion o her again.The only avour askedwas tut sh" *1,"r_r..

wear smallmedaiof the ntesJed irgin which offeredhc..'s; "rry.t*,_t:T :llol:*y,'tlt-1"-o

tn- suddenlvsaw heHungar-

acceptedlrisprecious'rament ndaskedme o come ackhe ouow-L J9* --; t" "t{ g:--t--9t-t:1e of thebedoppositeme'Youcan

ingiay.rdid'so,andr,aidioie,lton.e,--g:,,..:?,r*9{r***fu:A;:::,lJ?Jfi'f.*.$juiJTllT.Jf":',,fr!!'.*

mention eligion." Butshesaid o me n a_deeplyovedone:-Oh,

yes, mealthough was n frootof him.Dij his earsnterferewith his sight?do talk to me about relision!" At that I cotnued tt. .o"u.oiiii or did Godmakeme nvisible or a moment?Everythingn this on_yhere wq had left off tf,e prwious ary. srt. *"i

"*.y-;ilG; versionadbeen omiraculoushat a miraclewouldnot havesurprised

woman;sheherselfquoted h€semagnificent_words:..Ali

thenatiorr , me.The scene losedn a touching ashion.The new Chlistian, ;ll ofof thegarthwill bebiessedn Abrahim.',Visibly inspired_y thefri fervour,maintained calmand aignlii"d ,it"r,.". Thenwith a suddenof God,she n a certainwavmade professionf til. Ct.Lti"r,"fai6 movernenthe ookmy hand,put t into hehandof herstunoedus-before he newwhat t wai. showeiher henecessityf b"p,il; band ndsaid o him sorrowfully:

.Hereis our children,slotector:

uaite her to JesusChrist and makeher a child of cod. lloivever, ;;i ili;dp th;_ andbririg themup as Christiaru;swearo medtoughtsheneededmoteprepalation,o ,askedpermissiono senj.r oo oydeathbedhatyou "n"r*"y,

,gspJI trr"i, ."ir,lii Lri .irrr*."piousandwell-instructed hristianadyto helphei.The sreatest iffi.cultywas er earof taking uch signiiicanttip withoutf,er usband's The poorJewsobbed: I sweart." A tittle later had a shortknowledge.e wasa rather isagreeabteookiniHunearian ew,f he privateaik witi him andhe oromisedo bringhis childreno me hesaw me n his wife'sroom,he wascapable f" earli'pmeio piecc. iollowine av.Shortlv fte.*aids tt"h"ppymorherdied.nfo*unatelyHowever, is workkepthimaway uring heday.He 'ad a srdt deal she ouljnoiha.,e thristianburial;but amsurehat heAngelsookof respect-for is wife andsubmitted uiteeasily o her inflience.He care f sucha precious oulandwe shallalt sharehehappinessf thehad alreadygiven his consento my educatinqis &uehtets: butb€ FinzlResurrectionosether.Neverthelesshis ombwas he corner tonewas ar romsusPcctingiswife's cligiouseeliigs. }{. of anedificewhich as to bebuilt n honour f Our :dy of Sion.

- somedayswent by, and we fixed a time for conferringbaptisd . - Mrs.wutmser,s wo little daughters erebrougbt o meby theirThegodfatherwas heMarquisdeBrignolles, t that ime Aiuaisaot . father.Theelder was . o, ,o u*ioli-iri-..rembr3Jier rnotr,ir: thefrom Sardiaian paris.I Gvitedod;r wikress€shose am€s oo

n"";;r';;';;,ifiji"i.,Lii,ne resembleder fatherwho waslonger ymer1bgr,.a surprisewas. aiting for us in the sickoodr. . I'a*1rr"",,rrr'." i ;;J;;;'* boardersat providenceHouse,expectedo trnd the patient.in ed,butshewas neeling n the loof i luctr a!";l-g,11,e"tt er s _ittl it hurt his pride to think that hiswlooul any suPPort,wlth her daughters n her left and right sroc'

Icau8hterslvere n an orphaDage. assured im ttrat tlis was only a

-88- li-.1:

- 89

tempomryarrangernent; n my view, the important fting was o prepanY l- Daughte$ of Siont but He wanle{ me to be her father in-every sense

to open a catechumanate. oon this srnall s-eed, lesed- by G"d; b.; i6 th'eword so that the living link binding her to me shouldbe in some

to grow. A Jewish lady, impressedby the conversionwhictr had talil iense he sign of the mission reserved or her and the ptedge of her

place at Rome,asked o seeme. She'was a very fine mother who v]i iidelity. Alphonslne absorbedChristianity; the transfiguration causedradiatedsuper-



leeking ight for herselfand herchildren;at my request, heagreed," t baptism'wasevidenteven n her appearance;he

put her sma.ll daughten in Providence House. Several othei Jewish 'turai beauty. t seemed hat C'odhad given-her what SaintAuSostine

children,brought b'' thei! parents, dded o the gro*ing numLr of calls"a naturallydivine gift", and althoughshewas only barely14

catechumeas. do trot know what spurred ttris movanent which kepton yearsold, she *."s gt"A.I

.$ tlp:.t.T,

il she-were alrcady_a

growing.

,a,.ligiou.. Her spirit oJ faith and her piety ntluencedall her conduct,

Amongthese oungJewishgirts, I shoutd tike to m€ntiontwo heft, d aJb"t n"tural ascendancyverher companionsed to a sPrtlt ot order'

theruturei{other'MariiPierreoirsion,extrernelyintclligentandsiGh fllff;:'i,*'"#f:?'.1f"il:}'rt'yl1lffi:'lHt":tith remarkableptitude or studyand eaching; ndher youngcousia, ll

later MotherMarie Lucieof sioq noted or herholimss. , tliit ttotyyoungneophyteecame iitress f novices henshewashatdly

Baptismsouowedeachotheralmostunintemrptedryn theprovifi"fff":l''-Let

us continue he story of the beginnings f the cate-

dence rapelwhich was oo small o holdall the adiesof the groups* .^,_-_-r ^_-:-L **r.-r. .+rr..+up to help the growing catechumen4tes the organizationwas hen Several ewishmotheJs' ttractingeachother'cameo Ptovidence

called.This work exciteda great dealof interestamongcertainof tire House o give- us.charge.of their childreo and they themselves

faithrul

hoooked.uponias ulfiur,'g_the.propheciJe6ar{inghe

|I:nffi 3i,:'::f"fftff:.3tr?t-t-Tf::'j;,il:::Hf,ff}

Jews. also lern€mberhat sereral of the leadersof Saint-Germainsociety ried to bring accusationsgainstmy ministry becauseh€y husband must alsomakespecialmention of Mrs' suzanneMarc

thougirtwasastenfighe oming-rhenl r +,e,ioaa.'t

i:H".t"...:,ili:ilr,:frt,iJfidT|*,hiff# fr.l*lf'Jft*That did not Preventme from continuing the work so encoura- asttengthoi mirid worthy of a ttue-daughterof Abraham,sheannounc-

gingty begun. Several more catechumensbrought by their parenb ed to f,er husband, a fanag'calJew, that shehad becomea Christian.increased he number of young boardec at Providence House; and He rcfused o allow her to stay n the houseafter this revelation soshe

after sufficient preparation, he first baptismal celemony ook Place ll wrore o me to ask shelter foi herself and her children. I was glad to

MaI rst, 1843. think it wasBishop de Janson,of Naocy, who adolo- se€on this occasion hat the work would have a practical value.The

istered the Sacramentsof baptism and confirmation to dres€tlT fearlessMrs. Samuel eft her husband.abandoningher fairly consid-

neophytes.The future Sister Alphonsine of Sion wasamongthis ltT erablefortune,and shecame

o Pariswith her daughterand two sons.

group, but during the ceremony,she was overcomeby suchemotl"" lhe lafterwere put in a boarding school. heolder onein the collegeatthat the Sisters f St, Vincent de Paul had to carryher Lw^y ufritrq Juilly. heother'atStanistas ollige,where heycompletedheirstudiB

from the chapel. think God allowed his to happen odut l.wou'- the youogercaled AlphonseDemarceft after second earuniveasityhave he consolation f baptizingher myself,a week ater.This Dcau; aodioined hepopes sirviceat the imeof the talianwars;he rmained

ful soul was destinedto becomethe foun&tion stone of Siotr.u*:1xyearswith the'paDal Zouaves.He theo left the serviceof a temponl

shapedher Himself so that one &y stre could be a model for lut"" eng to"ttte,

a spirii ral army and he becamea memberof tle Fathers

- 90- -9 r -

--

ttof Our Iady of Sion.As for hissister, hewasadmitted o Pro"iderr- Ii-

11oundhis childlikeness t onceadmirableand troubling; he seemed

Housend ther aptismhe asivenlle ameadereine..-'

I ::tli"jl."lm;J,$1ilrnT*.ffir[iH#,S,-,?,* i:,:"*It is not possibleo recall he namcs f all thosewhoat this ioe ! lLi"; p".ittr priests, hinking only of their zealand headvantageso

were baptizedand who later joined the ranksof Our Iady of glqo- pn.irtt"., invited him to ceremonieso showhim off; and whilb



irr"itHowcver, among hem I must meotion Moths dphonsinc, Mothel ie *r6ughthirnselfhidden n the crowd,somepriestspointedhim outMarie LucieandMotherMatie Pierre. shouldalsonameMotherMarie , ,nd r.ni

"tt*h.t to bling him to a seat f honour.To putan end o the

rnd her sisterNo€mi; MotherBamabd nd her sisterwho did nqt ll ilur.t."u..d by -much "hotyclriosity",I urgedmybrothero spandrvnain, and ilally Sister aetitia who soughthersanctification mong a few weeksat Juilty. I do not know whetherhe derivedany benefit

the ay sistcn'-

fiom hisvisit. Coltegeife, whenonehasno function here, s not very

_ .whi! rhi:wasoingn,my rotheradert omeooinmen trj;|$,;; il ffl,:"rfr: #lt'L ff*^$;TI*Tjj'uJ"JffParis a,'d he lived with me on Vaneau treet My brother s r r yean

iir-tr" g. *"" *"itlng for an answerromhis ianc€e; ehad nformedyoungetdran . I scarcely newhim; he wasa meredrild when lefthome.once wheo wanted o administer baptismwithin the family

herthat he would oot marry anyone 'ho s'as not a chdstian' The

circle,he aunched gainstme a diatribeof Jewishangerand nvectivearswerooka ong imecoming'

of which I did rrot 6ink he wascapable, o muchsi'that I coutdno f} Meantime, is only preoccupation as he conversion f theJews.longer visit my older brothetwith whom had been econciled. ince

-He dreamedntessantlyof wap of attractinghis_co'religionistso

thal violent scene, had heardnothingmoreof Alphonseexcepthat Christianity,nd he oresawhat he develoPmett f thisvork o-fmelcy

he wastravelling in ltaly; before eaiing, he *roie me a shoit notevould come tom the humble seedgrowing in the shadowof Provi-

announcing is irgagem;; to one of oti nieces. think that on thir dence.or mypatt, onlJ thought hatm-yministrywould becomemore

occasion, -e vensirt-an offering for thepoor. senthim a few inesof ,fruitful with the cqworkerwhomGodhadsent o me. wascounting

thanls, never dreaming hat ro.i'" f *ouia r"" ii-"

iftirl-"na

t i { on hecollaboratiog f mylrother, However, had ogive up this hope:

transformedenon. iatl notspeak f theemotionsf our firstoeet- yhT !t. camc ack romJuilly,he.announcedome in themolt9if a

ing. In trutli the fewent neophytewas ransfigured.His couAtenalce pl hand.ashion hat he was o €nter he J6uit novitiate. accePtedhis t

shine with Oreoy of havings'Jn Mary. His molest bearing, is serious Idecisionnquestioningly s he \7ill of God. For amomentt stunned

andhumble oids,madearep impreisionnme. avoidi askingirn I T:'by, it dld not surpriseme very.much;my brotherwasunder he

questioru n the miracleof his onvlnion; I knewhow much hemlster' 5<luectionof Fatherde Ravignan nd -had complete.confidencen.his

ies of divine grace operate n silence,and I did not want to ris& |qtredon.

l-'{},only-coruideration as ot the goodof asoul very dear

compromising ris stateby ill-consideredwords andgestut€s.t tlnt

! f,

ttte'

"naI could only rejoice lut he was entering he way-of the

timJ I did no"t nowGod's plans or mybrother; diinot askhimhl, I :1* I knew hat his superiorswould not hinder him from helpingintentionsand I took good'carenot to makehim feel obliged o sB{ if

q tnsomewayor other.with me. I-spe* my

-timcshieldinghim from the importuoities l :l o42

visitorsand curiosity-seekers'e spentdavs n ProviienceHou*i'

^t saint-AcheurearAmiens. utandhaving n truth regainedhe sin^plicity i little children,heplalf g.- AlPhotueeot€t€d be novitiabe

with the o"rpharu t nltp.d ttteSistei.sf'Charity with ttle housework*Iote bis depaltute,his rctrunciation f a cherished rojectand the

{- 9 2 - -93-

sacrificeshe had to makewere acceptedwith suchheroism hat I stillfeel movedby it. He had generouslyenouncedhe joysof family life,and he had alreadyhad a foretasteof the hundred-foldpromised1sthosewho leaveall things o follow Jesus hrist.He had a warm ovefor the ittle family of convertswho surrounded swith their happiness

. It was not an easyob, but he knew nothing about t. The only

ness rom which he ever suffered was seasickness;owever, true to

is eccentric nature, he began to suffer from it as soon as we reached\We stayedat the Minerva Hotel not far from the Churchof

-LouisdesFranEais. or the first few days washis nurse.



and who were my pride and joy. The bondswhich unite soulsareinfinitely more ntimate,moredelicateand moredelightful than those

of nature.The future Jesuitnovice did not hesitate o give theseup,

too. I canstill seehim, theeveningbeforehe eft, hilariouslydistribut-

ing among he Sistersof Charity the few possessio'nse had; withoutkeepinganythingfor himself, he went away poor and arrivedpoorat

the novitiate.

His actionsand attitude remindedme of the first Christiansand

mademe blush with shame. saw this youngerbrotherstriding along

aheadof me n thewaysof God; and I wasembarrassedt receiving n

example rom one to whom I shouldhavegiven it. I shall speakagain

of thi attraction hat this examplehad for me.First I must speak f my

first visit to Rome.

That same ear,about une1842, r. Desgenettes,hedistinglishedpastorof Notre Dame desVictoires,askedme to accomPanyliP

t?

ito-., and he askedpermission rom Fr. Bautain.The latter did not

want o hurt the priestby refusing.

Thank God, the trip went off quialy excePtor my own.endless

amusement t the eccentric nticsof Fr. Desgenettes.his goodprtesr'

who came rom Normandy, had an iron constitution.His chief tooo

wasapplesand he couldnot understandwhy everyone lsedid not like

them asmuchashe did. Although he was iairly aduancedn yearc,he

had excellenthealth;the only thing from which he sufferedwasseiga

of sneezingwhich carneon fairly regularly; then he always_neezc'

exactly ou"rteenimes,and he,.re"zesere like cannon hots.His sleep

wasequallyphenomenal.when he slept-inthetrain,he wasas mmov'

ableasan oak,he lookedas f he *.r! d."d and nothing couldy"Ai:

him. Once when he had to change rains, travellershad to ionr*"

ilfi;*il iit, asleep,romone inng' rc dte"

I forgot to say hat, shortlybeforewe left Paris,my brotherwrote

fromSaint-Acheulo inform me that he intended qbuild a chapel n

honourof the BlessedVirgin in ProvidenceHouse, to thank the

residentsor the exampleof smilingholinesshey had givenhim. Heaskedme to look after this task or him without specifying ow much

he meant o spend. was wrong to undertakehis mission. do not

understandnd havenevefunderstood nythingaboutbusiness.here

, are three things which I have nevef been able to learn: architecture,

I astronomy nJmilitary strategy. f necessary could get by without the

last wo since haveneverhad to carrya swordany more han have

had o strugglewith the hostof stars.But it would havehelped,when

I cameo build a church, o know something boutarchitecture.n any

case, thought wasdoing the right thing by confiding his project o

a youngarchitectwho had offered me his services.He had me sign adocument iving him unlimited powersof attorney o guarantee ll the

expensesT tfr. construction somethingof which I could neverbe

proud: nstead f the 4o to 5o,ooorancs had ntendedo spend, illsamountedo more han roo,ooo, nd on top of that,no one iked thechapel;t wasn'ta monument,t wasa piousvillag_ehurch;andaccord-ing to thosewho go to see t in the houseon Oudinot Street, t hasneither tylenor character. ertainlyGod allowed his disappointment;it was o be theherald of anotheronewhich I shallmention ater.

Meantime was enjoying the happiness f being in Romewhere

rnysoulexpandedn an atm6spherei edification. had often heardpeoplecritilcizehe habitsof Romans. t that time this criticismwasaGaliicanway of belittling heRomanclergy, oas o Provewith monu-rrrentalpresumptionhat"theFrenchclergy'was he finest clergy n- h9

I::la ihe truih is that n noorherpart;i theworld do the.priestse1{a life of disciplineand obedience s hey do in Rome. wilt evenadd

- 94--9r-

ug! ryd:- etse re.hcref. **.y rynb ".pg.btl,g,:sr *T*tu ,r.* cregory vl on rhehronef peter. hisvisitmadeteligiousclergy.Certainsupedicial ourisb sFak with delightedho$ot I je"p irop.er.io.ton roe.!e were ed irto 1kind of pavilion eading_oof the scanclalgiven by churcharenwhom dIey claim to havesee! in

I 6eipleodid palace f Albano; t was n this umble dwelling hat thiscaf€s. heset'I'to;ani" have aken or clergy, mployeesndothsr I ffiililt';;i;*;;; i;. ;i.r"lf only hissmallhouie, o hatfuctionarieswho wear he soutane. ost of the otherstories renq fire..t of thi palace lghtbeused sa homeor thepoor.t is difficult



morewell-founded han hisonewhen heyareexamined osely. v6 il eiu"-"d.i*t

idea"ofwhat heArchbishop'sdm was i.ke. t wasfortunate o-visit many corvents nd.mot o{ the

?!-diils:. :Des- Liiy otrfy

"i-r[ ."11,whoseonly furnitur; was some-.simple.ane

geoettesook gg werywherewitfr trjm a$ I :tF**,t y"g i .i6i *iti.ft wereso oadeddownwith book thatwe did not knowwelcocre accotded o the renowned-priestwho had- o""ded the Atch-

| J["r. a sit down. The conv€âtion of the kind old man was as im-

coofratemity:j T",t:,?P:.1"_Y-,tiii':.^-T-.:.I ,:9::^t:v^1 fjl I prasi'eor t'is ively, xpressions or hissparktingit and.colourfulwords about the Cardinalwho made he greatesj.imPr:sionon m€. Logu"g.. Uo*.*ai *L sorry o discover slighitinge of liberalismTheseprincesof the Church areaIIgreatmen and they do not need o i" #""*f of his deas.put on-airs.Th.y are easier o reach n Rome han policecaPtains re

il;;iiil;":il; #.;; s"",ii,;;;,t".i:;theo.itp"".; i ,,1A11r:if

:Y:f1i-ithe amousardinarezzoranti'o

l- **-,t '^ r;-,1 ,- ;-l^.i-. I well known for his extraordinary gift for languages.He spoke o everyii,i.",i;"ii'".r5il;;;;#;;;6ffi;;?t"J;"iti"'a ! :dlhyl{":}:,ry','-d-'y-"-ql'Jf-':-ryrf:.*:!:!1il;;; iliiilil;il; i;il i-ty.p"tr'J. n.a.lr.

-^

foteigner,otonly n the anguagef hiscountrv,utalsonthedialecti andwith the accent f his province. 4ten I methim for the first time,

But thc man who receivedus with the Sreatestwatmth and oPen- he addressedme in Hebrew. It really was Hebrew for me; I didn't

nesswas CardinalLambruschini,he Pope'sSecretaly f State,a trll i undentand word of what he said.Thenhespokeo me n the Alsatian

and dignified old manwhose appearancenstincively irspired respect' I'

diale* which I did not undentand any better."Your

Eminence," saidHe was as well versed n scienceas in Christian Perfection,but above b him, "I speakonly French and that not very well." Everyoneadmired

all, he was a gteat devotee f Ma,ry.He gifted me with severalworlah his eamid and th; breadthof his knowled'ge hich wasprodigious.

q'hichhe hadwritten on the mmaculate oncePtionndon thewfltngs I Yetwhenone met him, what one oundmmt stunningof all was heof SaintTeresa. do not know why he showed uchPattiality o oc J trcmendousumility of this sclolarand Rooan.He wasa truemanofso that at onepoint he told me to ask him for anything -wanted'l I God.Vhen I expresscdstonishmentt healinghim speakso manycolleciedmy thoi:ghs or amoment,hen alling onmyknes I ans{ered '. l*gu"g.r, tre ani'ered oe that theywere only words.and that if hehim: "Your Emiience,what I want more han anythingelse s your

I bsihis"mernorv, c would no longei knowanything.Vhen we teft, I

blessiag."Thenhe blessedme,adding: "l give you all I have." i Iaslgafor his biessing, ut he ansiered: "I amnot; bishop: am ust

A[other Cddinal, likewisea saint,wasCardinalFranzoni, tefect ,r simOteDriest ike vou' and I have an equal tight to ask for ybur

of the Propaganda.his gentleBishoi'*Jt ty ".rt m.t # i" ot F

blotiig "

*ork of the onu..rion oI the;e*s. He waskind enough qy'q There snot a moreadmirable roupof men hdt thosewho com-

me n public; and n thisvein he gaveme a letter of praisewhichwri,r

PoseheSacred ollege f CardinabfThdre ne indsdive$ity of talent

the bcginningof manygraces. , f,dodvirtue n theunityof durity.

We alsovisited CardinalMacira,Archbishopof atbuno,dS-. ThetirelessFt. Desscnett6wanted o visit atl of thern,andwery-

the PapalCardinalbecausee wasgenerally egarded s heooe"* wherche bH the stor.v"ofhe Arctrconfratemitv f Prayerof Notre

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Damedesvictoires.Finally,after havingheard t so often, knew hg'storyby heart,and I mustconfesshat thii monotonousepetition

"ftt.

same hing time after time tried my patience. cannotr.-. b.. itinamesof all the importantpeople we met. But I must mention i..unusual hing that happenedo usat thehomeof cardinal castracanel

,religiousatmosphere.he church s magnificent,but the interior seems !rcbea churchwhere hepresenceof GJd is felt. The vigil lights;,.;burn beforethe statues f the Madonnaalong the imriensecorridorslead o recollectio"pq prayer. t is trury a hel'venlydwelling. iil;'i

sevefalmen

TFtul'



Y.*a. travelling on foot at the time of the day whenRome ,., ii.

siesta. he old cardinal wassleepingn a roomnear he dru*i.g ,oolwherewe had beenplaced o awaif his awnkening. he *tot."putr..wasplunged n silencewhensuddenlyFr. Desgenettesaveo.r. of hi,thunderousneezes.las! I knew hat the first one ouii inevitablv cfollowed by thirteenothers, achone ike a clapof thunder.nut îtt.very irst one,we heard he terrifiedcriesof ttri old manwho hadbeenrudely-awakened.e caljedupon God for help,and finally the dooigp:".$ and he.

lppeared ike-a dishevelled nd terrified ghost.Helooked at us with wonderment,while Fr. Desgenettes,nee"zing ithincreasing igour, tried in vain to give his n"mi. As for me,my voicewasstrangledwith laughter,and I kept silencebecause was airaidoflaughingout loud. This sceneasted or some ime; it wasbecomingbudesque,-buthekind cardinal finally had compassionn our embai

rassment; e took pity on us and utteredsome?atherlywordswhichcalmed he storm.Poor humannature!how little it takes o upset hegood mannerswith which it surrounds tself. often it is whin it istrying to be mostsolemn hat the least ncidentbetrayshow ridiculousit really s.

{i

saw of-God, among them Father dL villefoi, F;th.;Peronne, o famous or his

*theologicalwritings, and Fathe, norurr.rr,who died while I was in Rome -n rs5r. Th-ie worthy sonsof St.Ignatius aveme all kindp

9f,pro9frof bhristiancharityitheywa'rilf

encouragedhe work undertakenor the conversion f

'tire

J;*r; th;ipromised. e their help and blessedhe special ocationwhich calledme to this work. The venerableFatherRbothan, oreseeinghe fruitsthat t wouldbear, lessedt with all hisheart.

I shoulddevotesome ime to speakingabout the man called he'black

!op.," the venerableFatherRoothin, SuperiorGeneralof the

Jesuits. e heaped indness ponkindness nme.^The nly explanadonfor this is the fervour hat my brother's onversion ad ust arousedn

Rome.This saintly man deeply mpressedme; I felt that I was n thePresencef a holy man. had seueialong talls with him; I consultedhim about the little work of the catechumenatehich had come nt?

being after the conversion f the child of Mary who had just enteredthe Jesuitnovitiate.

The Mother House of the Jesuits, he Gesu,has a profowdll

\ilfhat shall I sayof the unforgettable udience rantedusby popeGregory.TYli{y. h:1* wrt fea1iry ery astu,T .rorr.a n! nri"roomswhich lead to the office of th" Holy Father. went from onesurpriseo another.The first roomwhich we enteredn the SovereignPontiff's apartmentswas filled with swissGuardsarmedwith hnJesanddressedn a costumerom the Middle Ag.r; ,roy ilot.d like the

jack of clubs. In the secondwere the ,.rvarrt, in d,azzling ed silkuniforms.From there,we went into a third room wherechambe,ains

|f^:f._":ranks,attached o the Holy Father,s ervice,had gathered.

fll"rrta lastroom, ess mposing han he others,wasopeneJSeveralDrsnopsnd superiorofficersof the Noble Guards n iress uniformwere tandinghere,motionless,t the-pope's oor.This walk bri"gr;;

H^tl..thigherto reach he feetof theHoly Father,givesonean deaof

;::l:*.hyof the Catholic Church.But all this imposing array

:I"Pltlir when the door opensand oneseeshe faceof'the fi.", of"-ttrlSt. henone s faced, ot with a worldly powerwhich s composed

Paftly of fear and partiy of respect,but rather with a father whorePtesentsthegoodnesr icod".,.r.o*

tilHi; p;;, andauthoriry.

Ur" f-t^.g.?.yXYI wasan old manof auerageeightwho had kept all

;::Tt1"ion 3.denthusiasmf youth.For Fr. Deigenettes' akehe cut

dil,::l:usual,threeenuflexions; esaw hat me6td manv/ashaving

x"::it"lv kneeling ndhe tookpity on him.He madehim sit downani""tcoedcarefullyto the storyof the Archconfraternityof Notre Dame

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It

desVictoires; thenhe was kind enough o listenattentively o the few

words hat wanted o tell him about heCatechumenate;inally,seeing

that thiswork wascreatin a great ealof interest, felt inspired o ask

him for a specialmission or the conversion f the Childrenof Israel.

At this the Pope osewith greatsolemnity; kneltbefore.him..He ut

Nevertheless spoke o her especiallyof the small group of neo-phyteswhich had aken orm in Parisundermy direction. wasworriedibout the future of theseyoungsoulswhom I couldno longer eave nthe house of the Sistersof Saint Vincent of Paul. On one hand theSisters,although they were as good and devotedas one could find



his two handson my headand blessedme enthusiastically._Iad the

favourof a second udience hich I had not requested. ardinalLam-

bruschini nformed me that they would pick me uP the following

morning,Sunday,o takeme o theVatican. WhenI wasabout o meet

the Pope,a prelateaskedme to kneeldown and swear hat I would

keepabsolutisilence n the subject f m,y onversation ith the.Pope.

I sworeand I havekept the secretn my heart;all I want o sayhere s

that I keepan unforgettablememoryof this audience; shall add no

furtherword.

It is impossibleo describehe mpressionhat I retained rom the

h"ppy moments pent n thecomPlnyof the Holy Father. think I was

*irr'-or. profoundlyCatholicafter havingbeen-so.closeo the one

who personifi"t he centreof the greatChristian amily. This contact

had on mealmost heeffectof a salrament; ll my feelings f faith andpietywere enewed; prayedwith theconfidence f a child of God,on

ihor. headwere all lhe-blessingsf the fatherof the family. .was

basking n joy and blessed onsolations.nd I owedall th.is tlnniltl?

to theblessedVirgin. Is not this belovedMother the mediatrixof all

graces?Vas it noishe who presentedhe fruit of the Treeof Life to

ill -.r, of goodwill? Shewas divinelyappointedMother of the chil-

drenof theChurch o love hem, ,.tf in#, guide hem n thewayof

eternalsalvation.Shecarriesout hei missionwith indescribableom'

p"rrio.,, or afterhavinggiveqbirth to theAuthorof life,3n. ti.ii1lg,

iy continuesermother-lyhission;hegives ife toour souls;=dir.1s'T:

n.ed uswell asher oy to contributeo people's appinestYy_gjt:t',lt;overflowed;and o pour t out into the heartof my heavenly. other'

went to the churchof Sant'AndreadelleFratte. 7ith emotione'lsl w

understand lookedat the blessed ltar where shehad appea!:i

transmit ight and gr^ce o the poor child of Israelwho hencerorF

would beconsecratedo Jesus hrist

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anfwhere,had not a teachingvocationand could not instruct he cate-chumens; n the other hand, heJewish amilies elt a certain eluctanceat having their-childreneducatedn an orphanage. fter all, it wasnotthe catechumenatelong hat was nvolved. A specialwork wasneces-sary,one in conformity with the thoughtsof the Church, o fulfill thepromises f God concerninghe conversion f thechildren of Israel.

Certainly heir convenion seems t the moment o be an insolubleproblem. et God'smercy son a parwith hisomnipotencendnothingis mpossibleo Him. Therefore droveout of my mind all thoughts fdiscouragernent;re-read he words of SaintPaul and the Prophets.

The Apostle, in his letter to the Romans,expresses imself asfollows:

"DidGod rejectHis people?Of course ot. I am an Israelitedes-cended rom Abraham through the tribe of Benjamin. Let me put

anotherquestion hen: havethe Jews allen forever,or have hey juststumbled?Obviously hey have not fallen forever; their fall, however,hassaved he pagansn a way the Jewsmay nov/ well emulate.Thinkof thc extentto which the paganworld hasbenefitted rom their falland defection then think how much more it will benefit from theconversionf thernall...Since their rejectionmeant he reconciliationof the world, do you know what their admission ill mean?Nothingtesshan a resurrectionrom the dead! .. A wholebatchof bread stnadeholy

if the first handful of dough s madeholy; all thebranchesot a treeareholv if the root is holv. . .There s a hidden reason or allthis,brotherr,of which I do not want you to be ignorant, n case outhink you know more than you do. One sectionoTIrr".l has becomeblind,tut thiswill last only until thewhole paganworldhasentered ndthenafter his the restof israelwill be "n*dt wetl. As scripture ays:rhe hberatorwill come f.rcm Zion, he will banishgodlessnessrom

Jacob.'The Jewsare enemies f God only with regatd o the Good'N"*r,

and enemies nly for your sake;but as he chosen eople, hey

arestill lovedby God, oved or the sakeof their ancestors' od nevet

takesbackhis gifts or revokes is choice. .How rich are the depthsof

God - how de"episwisdomandknowledge- andhow impossibleo

*

obtaina soundChristianeducation ndsafeguardheir future? placedall thesecares n the heartof Mary; and encouraged y the blessingswhich I had alreadyobtained hroughher, I cameback o paris deter-rninedto rent a place for my adoptedchildren under the directionofsome iousChristianwomen.



penetrateismolives r understandismethods!" Rom. z)

The prophetsare equallyexplicit. Here are somePagesrom the

Old Testament:

The prophetHoseasays: Fof the sonsof Israelwill be like thesandon the

^seashore,whiih cannotbe measured r counted' n the

placewhere hey were old,'You areno peopleof

Tt:.,' theywill be

calledThe sonsof the iving God.' The ionsof Judahand Israelwill

be one againand choosehlmselvesone single leader,and they will

,pr.^d fa"rbeyond heir country;so greatwill be the day of Jezr.eel.";''for th" sormof Israel will be kept for many dayswithout a king,

without a leader,without sacrifice r sacred tone,without epfgd o.r

teraphim.Afterwards he sonsof Israelwill comeback; heywill seek

yahieh their God and David their king; theywill come rembling o

yahweh,come or his good hings n those ays o come." Hosea, )

The prophetZechariah dds: I shallnot treat hus he remnant f

this peopleas treated hem n former imes,sayshe Lord of armies'

i;; ,'h.r: ;iri L" a seedof peace. will pour out a -spiritof kindness

and prayer.Theywill look on on" whom heypierced; heywillT:,::l

fo, hi-'^, f.or anonlyson,andweep or him aspeopleweeP or.a trsr-

born child. Then theywill ask heLord: where-dohesewoundscorne

from in the middie Jf you, hands? nd he will answer: waspierced

with thiswound n the ro,rr"of thosewho ovedme. . Justasonc€ oti

wefea cufseamong he nations, ouse f Judaandhouseof Israel,o

'meanto save ou oi you obecome blessing."Zechariah )

Meditating on thesewordsat the feetof the Blessed j:8i":,::::"

clearly hat thiiwork couldnot beconfided o anycongregati"::::::7,

in existence.What henshouldbe done or the nstruction f theyou"a

neophyteswhosenumberswereconstantlyncreasing?How coulclLuv,

{

I

- r o2 -*f;

- ro3-

Before eaving hesubject f Rome, mustmentiona detailwhichmustnot be forgottenbecauset proves hat the successorf SaintPetershowedme special indness. was n the drawingroomof theMinervahotelwith Fr. Desgenetteshena prelatesentby the Popewasannoun-ced.This kindly messedgereadme a brief giving resoundingapprob-ation o the historyof SaintBernard. hen he handedme hedecorationof SaintSylvester hich he Holy Fatherwasgoodenougho accordme.This completelyunexpected avour amazedand stunnedme. I wassuspectedf havingasked or i t, for in Rome,more hananywhere lse,intrigue is rampant.But I swear hat such a thought neverenteredmyhead.Thank God, at Romeand elsewhere,n some emptingcircum-stances, neverbroke he resolution had made rom the moment hatI beganmy priestly training, that I would not seek any honoursordignities. havealways een aithful to this resolutionwhich I madeatthe suggestion f Miss Humann. The consolation rom this decorationlav n the approbation iven o a bookwhich wascriticizedoften andvehemently y adversariesf Fr. Bautain's chool.More than once,wasevenafnid that t would beput on the ndex. n anycase, wouldneverhavedared o aspire o suchan honour.As for the Romandecor-ation,people aid did not deservet; theywere ight, and f I wore t,I think I did the right thing because actedon the adviceof my con-fessor. confesshal it em6"rr"ssedme to find myselfsingledout bythis decoration rom the rest of my confreres. believe hat a priestshouldseekothermeans f distinctionhan a l ittle ribbon n his apel.

Yet the title of Romanknight was not without its usefulness,oi inRomet conferssomeprecioir pr.rogatives.Thus,on the feastof SaintsPeterand Paul, t g"u. -" tfre rigtrtt havea place n thesanctuary flatnt Peter'sso that I had a close-up iew of the splendidceremonieswhichtook placebehind hehigh aliar where he Sovereign ontiff, inall thebrillianceof his religioui majesty,was seated n hls throne,sur-

rounded y Cardinals, ishops, uperiors f ReligiousOrdersand epre-

sentatives f all the churchhierarchy. shall not try here o picture he

splendoursof Catholic worship seenon theseoccasions.-!rey are

heavenly ceneso whichno human ongue ando justice' shallnevet

forget the spectacle resented y SaintPeter'ssquafewhen the Holyurbi et orbi."

'Whenhe appears n the

\

*

rnen eastexrylt it. I doubt if there s a period in history whenmenthought essof it than heydo now.

de' In any case, he history of cenfuries eachesus that providence

prepareswell in advancehe peopleand institutionswho are to beHisinstrumentsn carryingout His plans.Noah began he construction f



FatLer gives his blessingbalcony-of he Basilica, t the headof a splendidprocession,uddenly

"-ouing silence ucceedsheringing of bells, he canonand rumpets,

the electiifiedcrowdfalls to its knees;he onlooker aneasily magine

that it is the scene f the last udgementwhen the Sonof God, sur-roundedby legionsof angels, omeso pass entence.hen the.things

of earth ."- pettyand nsignificantwhen comparedo great eligious

manifestations. he splendours f the Churchare usuallyhidden in

mystery;heyarecontiined n theeternal entre f light. But on certain

great olemnities, hesesplendours re reproducedn visible symbols

Ind tney project acfoss he world raysof beauty.ike reflections f

Mount ttt^bo.. The Christianwho has akenpart in thesemysteriess

huppyandproudof beinga Catholic ndalway-ss. urroundedy 9race.nuiîi is oniy in heavenhat theseeelingswill find adequate xpression'

On my return I was eagero impart my impressions f the trip. o

Fr. Bautain, ndabove ll to tell him my thoughts bout heconversion

of the1e*s.Fr. Bautaindid not relish y la.utftte hadonce isapproved

of themat Strasbourg;n particularhe disapprovedf the little organl'

zation had begun i'p"rir. The objectionwhichhe always aisedwas

that it wasnot the timeto begina work whichwas o beaccomPlished

o"ty rt theendof theworld.Fatherde Salinis,who aterbecame ishop

of Amiens,was presentat this conversation; e did not shareFr'

Bautain's eelings.On the contrary,he saw in the little neophytl

gathered round"me fter themiracleof January_to_t!,he irst-frutts rbod', mercyannouncedo the peopleof Israel. leaveall.questions

concerninghe end of the world to people_whoike discussions.aIlJ

satisfied,knowing that the remnantof Isiaelwill be convertedand hat

this conversionwill mark an eraof expansionor the Church.No 9n1

knowswhen this will be.All *e kno# is that the endwill comewhd

I- ro4- - ro5-

the mysteriousArkIT yearsbifore the deluge.The coming of the

Messiahwaspreceded y centuries f preparation.The evangeiical athof the Saviourwas self preparedby thepreachingof Johnlhe Baptist.

Finally,we

readthat the Apostles hemselvesid not Legin their apos-tolateuntil after a long period of waiting. \fe must a]lso rn.rnb.,anotherruth, namely, lrat theworksof God often start nsigni .icantly,imperceptibly, ndunretognized.At their beginning, hey^rI ti.,y r..jiyhich germinateundergroundfor a long time before lifting theirbranches,adenwith flowersand ruit, to thesun.

confident in theseunshakableacts, resolvedo go aheadas f Iweresureof the future. It seemedo me hat the imehadcome o givea

lPecial orm to the work which wascoming nto existence. had"comeback rom Romewith this idea. But what form would the houseof

catechumensake? saw cleadythat it would never each ts goal if itremainedmixed up with an orphanage.n the church I saw nstitutesconsecratedo the easingof everyhumanmiserybut I did not know ofa single one devoted o working for the children of Israel and theirsalvation. n the other hand, ttre thought of founding a new congre-gationhad nevercrossedmy mind; and if I had bee"n res,rmptuous

Soug!.c give any thought to the matter, would havereject.i it",npossibleto realize, first because knew absolutelynothing about

theconditionsof life in religiouscomrnunities; esides, mustionfess,

lliltived in-clo_seuarterswith somebeginningconiregations

"rrd

i

'uq beenshocked t their lack of education, nd I sawsomany thingsthatI couldnot accepthat I wanted o havenothingto do with it em.-

184i

, --.Tgget rid of my uncertainty, made hesimplestdecision. rentedc stnall ground floor in a houseoppositethe piovidence Flouse.The

youngchildrenwho ived n thisapartmentormeda small amilywhich

I confided o thecareof some iousanddevotedChristianwomen.One

of them,Louise s7eywada,showed he mostPraisewofthy elf-forget-

fulnesson this occasion. think the fwo others ater becameSistet

Flore and SisterVictorine.Unfortunately hey were still quite young,

maturehandto direct he house. t was hen hat

in her business ffairsnor in her fortune.she askedher nephew,Mr.Migard, to look after it for her; at the time he was presidentof theRoyalcoutt at caen.This excellentchristian magistrate ustainedhecourageof his eldedy aunt in the courseof the bTttleswhich shehadto facewith her family and societyn general.Shewas rurrd"-.r,taty



and theyneededwas nspired o appealo a saintlywidow of Strasbourgf whom have

alreadyspoken,Mrs. SophieStouhlenwho had continued o write to

me, and who had often told me of her desireo come o Paris o work

undermy direction n some haritable ndertakings.-wrote o her hatI needed enefous ollaborationo developa verydelicatework. I did

not dare o tett her that it involvedworking with Jews or fear of dis-

couraging er. ndeed,nothing s more epulsivehan he poorJews.f

Alsace.llmit.d myself o telling her that the work that I was asking

her to directwould probablydemand hat shesacrifice ompletely er

own tastes ndher sympathies;hat n anycase would accePt er only

if shecamePersonally nd waswilling to meetme n Paris'

As a matte of. .act, hedid arriveat the endof April, 1843, hortly

after he openingof thenewhouse. did not ntroduce er o thishouse,

and I told her th^t I would speak o her of the work only after_the

month of Mary during which f *as to preachat Notre DamedesVic-

toires.Shedid not asklny questions,uf she ollowed heservicesf the

monthwith greatexactitude.

N(hen the services ere over ... she old me that shewas ready

to enter heway of complete bandonmenthich Godhad designedor

her. At that point t said to her: "And if I told you that the worr

involved *orkirrg in hospitalswith lepers,would you let yourselfbe

stoppedbyyourriatural epugnancerom undertakingt?" Sheanswerec

si-ftyr "i counton God'i {tur" and the he-lp j the.Blessedirginto

heli me faceeverysacrificel" \(ell," I saido her,"the work involves

raisingpooryoungJewishgifls and makingChristians f them." *

I was af.nid,thathis statement ould frightenher,but sheseerned'

on the contrary, o be relievedat what I haJsaid. This fine Chri,sian

womanwasriih andcharitabte. told her at once hat I hadno inteta"

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good,andwhenshe ame o assumehe"administrationf then.ophy#h9T:,*gle-spontaneously begano callher: theGoodMother,

"rr"-.

whichshehad richly earnedand by which shehasalwaysbeenknownin the Congregation.

The first ladiesof the institution ived togethern perfectcharity,forming only one heart and one soul. Then"they *"rit.d to wear areligioushabit so that they would not be mistaken or society adies.I think I haveabeadympntionedhow opposed was o this whole dea.At anycost wanted o steerclearof. anythingwhich might suggestreligiouscommunity.However,a religioui spiri"t rew up imost ifo"t"-neouslyn thissmallgfoupof chosen-souls;ândrr.n if t *ere opposedto the external orms, wis more han

l"ppy- to encouragehe diielop-ment of an interior life. resembling he iife of the H"oly Famity if

Nazareth ndof theprimitive Churcf,n Jerusalem.

.^ '1.youngconverts and at the headof this list I shall alwa;n

lt .h.pp.yo name.he dignified Alphonsine found deephappiness

li,:T:,holiness;the love of the Eulharistand of the Bl*sed'virgin

rllled these erventsouls;and becausef the carefuleducationof lrirs.Stouhlen,hey learnedto unite good mannersand christian dignity totheirpiety.

The small institutionEgl" to develop rom one day to the next

n9:.the.qojhelly careof

"theBlessedirgin; tt* tt.r. cameanIttcrd€otwhich

threatenedts simple *ay oi life. A young Russiany1ag1'.ttrecountessAlexandrinede Laferronays,ecommendedy Fr.ue rbvignan, came o tell me of her wish to dedicateher life to ttre

^ltt$,i"fneoptrytes. thought his unexpectedelp wasbeingsent o

;::.:Icgd.an{ I welcomedher very warmly. I ioon ,.g.#.d thi,

;::"*This pious ady wasreallysinceren her search or"perfection.

"uw€v€rr she failed to understoodsomethingusually forgotten in a

woddly life: perfectioncanbeachie'red nly at thepriceof self-forget-

fulnessand of giving up woddly pursuits. f holinesss rare among

Christians, t is only because eoplehave forgotten their baptismal

promises. ow manyworldly peoplewant o beholywithout destroying

the edifice of human mperfection!The world canonizeshem, and

maybe hey think they are holy womenbecausehey receive he Sacra-

prov_T.howadmirablyGod directshuman af.f.airs. acceptedhat itwould be Fr. de Bonnechose ho would preach he LentensermonsnRome.God wanted o repayme for my sacrifice. was nvited to preacha rdreat in honour of the BlessedVirgin at Tours. It was ttre firstMissionof its kind that I hadeverpreached.t was ruitful andbroughtmemuchconsolation.t brought me nto closecontactwith Fr. Voisine,



mentsoftenand and hey ussaroundn church li the ime.But in spite

of their feverish ctiviry n manychurchworks, hey emainat thesame

place n perfection nd heyneveradvancen thewaysof God; theyare

like ships which move nervously n harbour but never go forwardbecausehey remain ied to their moorings. he greatevil of our time

is thatpeopledo not take heir baptismal romiseseriously. heywant

to go to heavenbut theydo not want to give up what is on earth.They

look for spiritual consolationsut without giving up the vanitiesof

earth.

The noble advwho had come o live n ourhumblecatechumenate

had broughtwith her princelywaysof living. Shehad manyvisitors

who praisedher self-denial nd proclaimed er sanctity ar andwide'

The fact was hat she eltcoopedup in a smallhouse.Shebecamell

and soon eturned o her fami|y.

I had counted n thishumanhelp;her departure aused ea great

dealof suffering.Anothersorfowbelongso thisperiod oo. received

a letter from Msgr. Lacroix,Superiorof SaintLouis desFranqaisn

Rome,askingme to preach he Lenten sermonsn his church. was

delightedat the prospectof returning to Rome,and I quickly sent he

letter to Fr. Bautiin.-He took a long time to answerme, and I finally

heard hat he himselfhad written o BishopLacroix, uggestinghatFr.

deBonnechoseo to Rome n myplace.This opposition urt me deeply,

but it -^s .ertainly willed by God; Fr. de Bonnechoseasso highlythoughtof at Rome hat whenBishopLacroixdied,Fr. de Bonnechose

succeededim and wasnamedprotonotary postolic. e becameupe-

rior of the churchof SaintLouisdesFranEais nd ater Bishopof.Car'

cassonne, rchbishopof Rouenand finally a Cardinal.The priceless

good done by the eminentPrinceof the Churchduring his long careet

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pastorof Saint Victorin, who bore a close resemblanceo the GoodShepherd.He tendered me his friendship and we remainedcloselyuniteduntil his deathand,hopefully, hroughouteternity. Zhat greater

blessings there han the friendship of a holy priest! f I were o list theinspiring exampleswhich hegaveme n his ministry, nsteadof writingthe coloudessmemories f my own priesthood, would be able to filla huge book.

The sufferings, he opposition, he tribulationswhich we meet npursuingGod's pathsare alwaysom€nsand preliminariesof preciousgrace.Divine blessingslow like a soothingbalm from thewoodof theCross.Thus my disappointmentover the questionof going to Romebrought forth fruits of consolationor the Church;and the pain that I

felt when the Countess e Laferronays eft helped n the developmentof the work of thecatechumenate.

Mrs. Stouhlenand her devotedco-workersbelieved hat if theyconstituted hemselves sa religiouscommunity, hey would be savedfrom the encroachment f the spirit of the world. For a long time Ifought against his innovation; but finally, giving in to their repeatedinsistence, consentedo having them weara semi-religious abit. Itconsisted f a black dresswithout veil or ^ny symbol.To tell the truth,the community came nto being in spite of me, but once it was inexistence,we had to give it a name,and this questionoccupiedmuchof my thinking. I did not want this small community o be called aftera person or a streetor someother ridiculous name ashappenedwithother communities uch as "L€s Oiseaux" n Paris,"les Picpussiennes,lesDamesdu Roule," or othernames f this kind which haveabsolutelynothing to do with religion. For a long time I could not makeup mymind. I knew only one hing, and that wasthat the institution was he

work of the BlessedVirgin and mustbe consecratedo her.Howev",Mary's ist of names adalreadybeenexhaustedy theexisting eligiouicongregations.

One day, going very early to the chapelof ProvidenceHousewhere saidMasseverymorning, sawon the prie-dieuwhere mademy thanksgivinga small book which arousedmy curiosity.The firct

rne o give the Lentensernons n his cathedral; he latter askedme fora similar avourandgaveme he itle of honorarycanonof his ."tt

"lr"t_his kind prelatewanted to do even-more or me; he gaveme very

encouraging-ffers to kgep me w-ithhim and.to give me a positionwhichyou-ldput meat the headof the charitablew"orks f hishi..o..ceftainly theseproposalshad a greatdeal of attraction or



word which I sawwas he nameof Sion. immediatelyunderstoodhatthis biblical name,so often repeatedn the Psalms,was the one thatmostcloselyepitomizeda work whoseaim was o restoreo the Church

the wandering heep f the childrenof Israel.Sion s the realnameofthe Blessed irgin's faml|y. David ruled in Sion,and his Immaculatedaughter s in every especthe Mother, the model and the protectressof the daughtersof Sion called to walk in her footsteps.Happily Iwrote on the doorsof our househis word of the Psalmist-:The Lordloves he doorsof Sionaboveall the tabernaclesf Jacob."Thereforewe consecratedo Our Ladyof Sion his smallnewreligious amily, he'teachersswell as heconverts.

Nevertheless amesdo not make communities.Names must bejustified and enlivened y the spirit of which theyare the expression.In this respect, had only one dea: that the ife shouldbe completelyChristian, basedon evangelical hariryand totally separated rom anyworldly thoughts.A limited, simplerule decided he hoursof work,prayerand religiousexercises.t wasassimpleas that. This rule wasfollowed by both the directressesnd the converts.The children andthe directressesed thesame ife. Both found their source f happinessin the practiceof a holy life. The work which was visibly blessed yGod continuedo grow.Nevertheless riticswerenot wanting.However,while thoughtless r prejudicedpeople ookedupon our work as anunfortunateundertaking,others,especially mong he moreholy priests,

lookedpositivelyon the beginningsof a fruitful work. Amongthe firstfriends of Sionwas BishopGuibert,appointedBishopof Viviers,andlater to becomeCardinal-Archbishopf Paris.He delighted n visitingthe small group of young convertsand he offered themgreatencoura-gement.Then therewasBishopGiraud,Cardinal-Archbishopf. Cam-brai, andCardinalDonnet,Archbishopof Bordeaux.The formerasked'

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me";lould havegladly acceptedhem with completeconfidence in.. trr.

cardinarhad undertakeno establishhe work of our Lady of si;;;Bordeaux nd o provide henecessaryinances.

In spite of these ffers, I did not think I should eaveparis.In anycase, was sure hat Fr. Bautainwould not consento sucha change.Aheadyhe was ratherworried aboutme because f my frequent b-sencesrom Juilly. Neverthelesshadalwaysobeyed im faithfully, andI scrupulously avphim all the stipendshat I receivedor my pre".h-ing. I hh.dnever beentempted,o break the bondsplacedon^mebyMiss Humann.For his part, whenFr. Bautainsawme absorbecin awork which he himself had not founded, he treated me with icypoliteness s f he couldno longercounton my devotedness.

184z

. .one daywlren a.rrivedn Juilly, Fr. Bautaincalledmeandbluntly

said o me: "r have akenan mportantdecisionwhichhas heassent fall the membersof our t99iew.;we are going to pronounceperpetualvowsand the ceremonywill takeplace omorrowmorning; be ,""dy.,,At this.nexpectedstaiement, exclaimedn suqprise.o"rrrsociety,i'said o hirn, "hasno constitution.t hasno speciiicgoal. t hasneitherrulesnor organization.ilflhatwould be the point oT tuki.,g perpetualvows n suchcircumstances?n anycase, do not want to tiul. iuch adecision astilyand withoutmaking

apreparatoryetreat."Fr. Bautainanswered: The ceremonywill take place tomorrowrnorningatmyMass; cannotgrantyouanypostponement.,,

I wasstunnedby this haste;and or the first time n my ife, I daredto resisthim. The nextmorningI did not attend he cerernony f vowsin spiteof the coaxingof my iriendswho beggedme not to turn aside

from the roadwhich we had travelledso ong together. assuredhem

and Fr. Bautain hat I would alwaysbe faithful to the act of union

composedor usby MissHumannand hatvowswould not ncreasehis

fidelity.

\trith God's help I found the strength o resist he pleasof my

neededo be enlightenedaboutGod'swill. The holy priestwho at thattime was masterof novices,Fr. Rubillon, receivedme with a warmwelcome,but he refused o discusshe questionof vocationuntil I hadmadean eight-day etrat. He carefullyexaminedall the circumstanceswhich_had rought nto being the work which wasmy chief preoccupa-tion. He saw hat it wasprovidentially rupiredand had the marks-of



friends. was errified at the thoughtof beingaloneagainsthemand

of causing offow o the superiorwhom deeply espected.ut lateron

how glad I was that I had not takenpart in the spur-of-the-moment

ceremony!As Fr. Bautainhad put all the talentsof his disciplesnto the

collegeof Juilly, they ater found that heyhad o appeal o Rome, ne

after the other, o be releasedrom their vowsPronounced ith so ittle

reflection; hus hese eloved onfreres fterhavingcriticizedme, ound

themselves oing as I did so that they could accept he variety of

apostolateshat Providenceoffered them. For somereason do not

know,evenFr. Bautaineventuallyeft Juilly.

Fr. Bautainwent to live at Viroflay, nearVersailles,n the home

of a pious ady Mrs. Dailly, who offeredhim hospitality.SeveralimesI visiiedhim there, or I wanted o maintainmy relationswith him and

with my other friends.Finally, was nvited to his funeral,and I was

honored o beapall-bearer.

As for my own situation, mustconfesshatwhen was reed rom

the bondsof obedience, was afnid of my freedom; was ike a child

frecd from his mother'sapron-strings ho did not know how to walk

alone.My confessor dministeredhe Sacramentsn a vefy holy manner

but he did not giveany direction. understoodhen hat I wasnot made

to be adiocesan riest. wanted o entera priestlycommunity,-et'

suadedas I was hat thir stepwould be of help to my undertakings

since they w-ould be protectedby priestswith experienceand more

capabitity han I of developing he work of Notre Dame de Sion.

shared hese houghtswith Mrs. Stouhlenwho alwayshad the same

thoughtsas . She"promisedo stayat her post,and mlde uPmI -in1

to joln my brothei Alphonse n the Jesuitnovitiateat SaintAcheul. I

- r I 2 - - f i ' -

God'swill on it, and he assuredme with all the authorityof a manofGod thatGod'swill was or me o remainat my post.This decision utan end to the scrupleswhich had hauntedme concerning he affaii of

the vows at Juilly. I cameback to Paris to the great delight of thedevotedwomenwho thought I had abandonedhem,and I was veryh"ppy to go back again o my flock of orphansat ProvidenceHouse;was as attached o them as a mother s to her children.But a painfuleventput anabruptend o thisattachment. shall ell it verysimply.

one morning,several utstandingJesuits ame o celebrateMass nProvidenceHouse, n the chapelerected y oneof their novices. o my$e?t suqprise,he superiorof the Sisters f charity refusedpermissionand inforrted me that Fr. Etienne,SuperiorGeneralof their congre-gation,would not allow the

Jesuitso

perform anyservice f the minis-try in the houses f SaintVincentde Paul. As chaplain, had to informthemof this decision. couldnot makeup my mind to do it and I wentto interview Fr. Etienneand said to him: "How can you refuseper-mission o mybrother,who is a Jesuit,o celebrateMass n our chapel?"He answered ery gently: "I shall makean exception or your brotherbut I cannotchangehe general ule."

I told him that my brotherwould neveragree o performa servicein our chapel f his brethren wereexcluded. had no right to ask hereasonsor a decisionwhich seemed eryodd to me. learnedater that

hehad had to takeprecautions gainst he ndiscreetzealof somemem-bersof theCompany.

It is undentandablehat after this embarrassingncident,I couldno longer remain as chaplain at Providence House. Qnff Godknows 'hat it cost me to llave. I resumed he directionof the littlecommunityof Sion; wasbroken-heartedut still completely onfident.

'I was ike a bird which doesnot knowwhere o land. I went to sayMass

in the chapelof SaintJohnof God in my neighbourhood;t wasalso

there hat I sent he neophytes hosenumbers ept ncreasing. oon he

house n OudinotStreetwas oo small. wanted o buy ahousewith the

moneywhich sincemy baptism had confided o Fr. Bautain.He gave t

to me without any difficulty; I forgethow much t was. t was ikely

receiptnor any kind of documentand the judgesmust havethoughtthat I hadno sense. he crowningmisfortune or me was o find -uJ.tfwithout any_funds nd withoyt a-nymeans f providing for the upkeepof the children whom I had adopted. was facedwith the terribftnecessity f giving up_awork whosebeginningshadbeensopromisingand so edifying. until then, I had neverseen he valuesof the virtui



aboutroo,ooo rancswhich, added o whatmy brotherhad bequeathed

to me,wasenougho buy alargehouse. ut I did not want anythingbig

or beautiful; I was af.rz;idhat I would be laughedat if I took a big

houseor a smallcommunity. mustconfesshat did not hink t woulddevelopasrapidlyas t did, and I had sooften regrettedhe decisions

takenpt"sumptuouslyhat above verything lse, wanted he nstitute

of Oui Ladybf Sion o be foundedon Christianhumility, so did not

accept properfy hat theMarquisof Nicolai waswilling to sellme at

abigaiiprice. i consulted liwyer who had he reputatio-nf beinga

good Christianand n whom had blind confidence. e offeredme an

6ld hoor., in a badly-rundownondition, nd concludedhe salewith

a great ealof stupid nexperience.he repairs ndconstruction hich

had to be done bifore it was habitable or the neophytes,ausedme

moreworriesand moreexPenseshan would havehadwith a housengoodcondition. am conuincedhat he priceof a newhouses always

lesshan heexpensef repairing n old one.

r845

This wasonly the beginningof a sorrowfulway. t happenedhat

I wasdoingbusiness ith a crookedawyer. handed im r5o,ooorancs

which I Md on hand,so that he couldpay the ownefof the house n

the spot.You can maginemy surprisewhen learned hat the owner

had not beenpaid! Twice he'askedme for the priceof the housewith

the interest. he lawyer had put everything n his pocketwithoutevengiving mea receipt. wasextremelyembarrassed;had neverhad

"*p..T*.&ithfinaniesand I wasashamed t havingactedwith such

thiughtlessness.he lawyer had involved pany people n his bank-

*pt{'; he wasbrought nto courtan{ I had to lPPearbefore he ury

to^give evidence.My part in this af.f.airwas absurd,sinceI had no

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of povertyand I hadno knowledgeof the divine impulse hat the crossgives o God'sworks.

Not knowing what decision o take, I thought of consultingmybrother,FatherMary, who at this ime was n the Jesuit cholasticatetLaval.The time wasChristmas, 844.S7hen arrived atLaval,I wasvery upset,and I was worried about elling FatherM^ry who wasasinterestedn the work of Our Ladyof Sionas was.But hisunshakableconfidence asgreaterhanmine. shallnever orget he calmserenitywith which he listened o my sad story. He led me to the crib, andpointing o thestrawon which the statue f the nfant Jesus as ying,he said to me: "There'sour treasure!"He seemed ery happyas heassuredme that the work of Sionwas not to seeksecurity n financialresources,nd that since he Blessed irgin had inspiredand foundedSion,we were o leave ts present nd future in hermothedyhands.

I cameback o Parisaspoor aswhen left, and tormentedwith allkindsof contradictoryreoccupations.n theonehand, emporalaffairskeptme busyconsulting awyerswhose alkativenessxhauitedme andtook up muchof my time; on the otherhand, needed eace f mindto carryout thepreaching ngagementshich I hadundertaken.t mustbe remernberedhat in thosedays herewere ewerpreachershan therearenow and engagementsere madeseveral earsaheadof time. Thismeant hat I had to make requent rips outsideParis at the same ime

$ my financial affairs equiredmypresencehere.Howevermy ministrybroughtme enough undJ to pay the intereston the capital of which Ihad been obbed; hanksalso to someprovidentialhelp, I wasable tosupporthenewSionianwork.

This work wasgrowing visibly underGod's providence. s theneophytesbecamemore nurnerous, he divine Master also sent the

vocationso help in their education.Several ine womenwhom I had

directedat Strasbourg r at Notre Dame desVictoires, felt called to

devote themselveso this work; one after another there cameRose

Valentin,Emilie Lagarmitteand later their sisters.After them came

C6linede Layensand severalotherwomen rom Notre Dame desVic-

toires, monghemHortense oulon,Cl6mentine esjardins, ntoinette

"';:irt::';

Christianwomena soundCatholic raining. Thgrewerealrea y a greatm ny religiousordersdoing this work and I did not think it waI mvplace o add to the number.

However, severalserious easons ersuadedme that a boardingschool added to the neophytes'houseof Our Lady of Sion, mightconceivablybe in the plans of God. I shall give someof the reasons



Ann6e,FlorentineDoutrelepont. hey oinedMother SophieStouhlen

and Louise Veywada.They formed the first nucleusof the community

which begano assumehe regularaspect f a religiouscommunity.The ,

religiousspirit of thesewomen mademy task an easyone; and thisspirit wascommunicatedo the interestinggrouP of students onfided

to thedirection f youngAlphonsine,he irst neophyte. herewassuch

a holy andhappyspirit among hese oungpeople hatmanyaristocratic

ladiesbeggedme o take heir daughterso have hemeducatedwith ourpoor children.After having esistedor a long time, f.inally udged t

wise to grant their wish. The first boarderat Our Lady of Sionwas

little Charlottede Leusse, aughter f the Countde Leusse, ho soon

stoodout becausef her piety. nameher becausefterhavinggivenus

a great ealof consolation,hewas o bethe cause f muchannoyance

and suffering.Her parentswithdrewher from Sionwhensheexpressedan attraction or religious ife. They wanted o testher vocation n the

excitement f the wodd, whereher socialsuccessoonawakenedhe

instincts f femininevanity.The testendedwith a goodmarriage. he

marriedCountde Missiessy, true Christian entleman, onorable nd

loyal. But the young woman soon forgot the family of Sion and its

father.Divine goodness alled threeof her daughterso the religious

life and heyenteredSion.

Mme Le Grom of Strasbourg ad likewise nsisted n havingher

only daughter ducated y Mrs.Stouhlen. heherselfhadbeenbrought

up in MissHumann's chooln Mayence. hedied at Sionshortlyafterhiving enrolledher daughterMarie Aim6e n the school. shall count

her asoneof God'sprimary nstrumentsn helping o establishhe young

community.This child and CharlottedeLeusseormed he nucleus f a

boardingschool a typeof institution to which I had nevergivenany

thought,althoughI understood he great mportanceof giving young

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which madeus develop his work soprovidentiallybegun. saw t asameansof avoiding one danger hat I feared more thanany other.Ouryoungconverts, n spiteof their piety,were nclined

to form a clique.Their little group was oo separatedrom Christiansociety, nd n thesecircumstances,heir innatepresumptionwas nclined o find a greatdealof expression.

I felt that if we accepted omegirls of good Christian amilies,wecould overcome hesedangersand other gaps in their early educa-tion; my greatest ear was hat any traceof Judaismmight be found inour house. his I wanted o avoidat all costs.

The chief difficulty in developing he two worksat thesame imewas o avoid both the dangersof mingling and thoseof separation. tfirst, both groupswere taught together,but this stateof af.fairs ouldnot last long. The samekind of educationcannotbe given to childrenof different classesnd talents.Moral and intellectualgrowth demandthe samecare as growth in nature.Each tree in an orchard must betreatedaccordingo its individuality. t seemso me hat hechief aultof moderneducational nstitutions s to try to put everyonehrough thesamemould. desperately anted o avoid his rap.

Our houseof neophytes adbeencomposedrom thebeginningofthreeclasses, ccording o the age of the children. The youngestchil-

dren's classwas called Bethlehem.On leaving this, they went to anintermediateclasscalled Emmaus. inally they went to Nazarethclass,thatof theoldestgirls.

The boardingschool,where herewasa morecomplete urriculum,lived in different quarters,completelydistinct and separatedrom thehouseof neophytes.Converts of high intelligence and good moral

qualitieswere admitted o the boarding school.Thus the fwo works

were mutually complementary,nd in eachone, he spirit of Catholic

piely permeated ll teaching. he boarders'eeshelped o support he

classesf the poor children,another easonn favor of developing he

boardingschool.A third reason issolvedmy last doubts: he Sisterswere ncreasingn numbers ndwehad o havea sufficientlyarge ield

tain of Sion; it brought inoeasing harvestwith it." SeveralJewishfamilies, mpressedy the changewroughtamong ome f themby theirconversiono Christianity,came o seek nstructionand baptism;andChristian life, spreading through the branchesof these numerousfamilies,went from grand-childreno agedgrand-parents.ne of thelatter servedmy Mass or several ears.These raceswerenot confined



of work to absorbheir devotedness.

However, uring he irst years,hecommunitytselfwascomposed

of a handful of co-workers.herewere ew vocations, nd each ime anew one came, t seemedhat one of the others eft; the latter were

discouragedy thework'sslownessn developing. s a result, t seemed

that I couldnever each he dozenSisters hich was he goal I had set

for myself.

Yet in spiteof the poverfyof the situation,we had the sympathy

and understanding f some mportant riendsand this kept our hope

alive. ArchbishopAffre, the holy Archbishopof Paris, mpressed y

the conversionshich wereconstantlyakingplaceat Sion,allowedus

to havea chapel n the houseand several imeshe camehimself to

administer he Sacramentsf baptismand confirmation.ArchbishopSibour,his revered uccessor,dded urther encouragemento that of

themartyredprelate.Many otherprelates nddignitaries f theChurch

cameo blesshecommunity nd seehehouse f theneophytes.mong

them were CardinalFornari,Papal Nuncio; CardinalGiraud, Arch-

bishopof Cambrai;BishopYalerga,Patriarchof Jerusalem; ishop

Chigi, ApostolicNuncio; Cardinal de Bonnechose,rchbishopof

Rouen.Thanks o the presencef theBlessed acrament,he chapelof

Our Lady of Sionbecame centreof life and fervor.Pioussouls iked

to share heSisters' rayers nd o hear hesingingof the"PaterDimitte

Illis" three imesat the Elevation f the Mass.At this same ime,moreimportant avoursweregranted o the work of Sion.PopePius IX,

opening he Church's piritual feasures,askind enough o grantmany

indulgenceso the first daughters f Sionand even o include n them

the aithful who helpedo supporthecatechumenate.

The blessing f Christ'sVicar was"like a gentle ain on the moun-

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to the Jews.They werealsogiven to schismaticsnd heretics.SeveralProtestants,among whom I am hrppy to mention Lady Campden,returned o Catholicism n the chapelof Our Ladyof Sion.

t847

In proportion as theseexterior fruits weregrowing, the interiorspirit wasalso lourishing.$(e then begano write down the daails ofreligiouspractices nd to work out the kind of habit theSisterswouldwear. n thechapel hey receivedt with across nd rosary,af.truravingpronouncedan act of consecrationo theBlessed irgin. They did notpronounce nyothervow.

V'e had to introducea novitiate o trainthe wo youngaspirantso

the religious life. These were the two young convertswhom I havealreadymentioned:Alphonsineand Madeleine. h.y were 16 or 17yearsold. But the former hada maturevirfue and an ntelligencewhichmadeus confide o her the directionof the otheryoungconverts;heSpirit of God waspreparing er to becomenedaymistress f novices.In the meantime,he smallgroup of postulants ereput in the chargeof SisterC6line, truly angelic oul.

I must say that all this progresswent on in spite of me. I wasconstantlystoppedby the fear that I might be embarkingon a path

whoseend I could not seeand which seemedo me to be beyondmyaptitude and experience.

\7-hile moderating the enthusiasm f my dwoted co-workers,followed rather han directed his movement. had to admit that theinspiration ame rom heaven;t wasquiteobviouslyheBlessed irginwho helped heSionian amily to grow,andmore hanonce wasaware

that the lessof my own personal ctivity I put into the work, the betterit progressed.he boarding chooln particular lourished.Peoplewerecoming o appreciate sys tem f education istinguished y its simpli-city and by a spirit of piety n which hespirit of thewodd had no part.Soon he buildings on Rue du Regardwere too small for the growingworks. n7e had to think of building elsewhere. was errifiedat thisnecessityn view of the blunders had aheadycommitted. felt that I

vocation o the Jesuits o that his studieswould be well-foundedandthat he would be well grepare-dor his ministryat our Lady of sion.ln anycasehe communityneeded riestlydirectionand t wai our dutyto provide t. I had already .dmitted smy helpers everal riestswh6seemedo me well disposedo work with me, but oneafter the otherthey eft for reasons hichseemedo me o be nadmissible. acedwiththese n_c_onstanteople, often found myself n an embarrassing



had neither he courage ot the resourceso begin again.

r85About this time, FatherMaty endedhis novitiate and his scholas-

ticate.He came o Paris;he was ust aspooras was;but he hadenoughconfidenceo makeup for my deficiencies; nd this confidence ouldmovemountains. hanks o providential elp whichalways ame t the

crucial moment,we were able to considerbuying a building. TheOratorians oughtour house n Ruedu Regard or r5o,ooo rancs. his

enabledus to buy in our turn. Father Mary, who alwayswent rightahead, ound threeneighbouringhouseswith a fairly largepropertyonNotre DamedesChampsStreet.Webought t and we wereable o live

much more easilya community ife while the novitiate, he converts'workrooms nd boardingschoolwerewell established,specially incewe had a temporary hapel.My brother ookedafter he businessf tak-ing possession.wasveryh"ppy to have omethingo givehim to do for

at this time he wasno iongera Jesuit.Here I mustgive an accountof

one of the mostdelicateeventsof my life. My brother'sSuperiors ad

senthim to VaugirardCollege;his heartwasat Sion.He hated he dea

of teachingLatin rules o a classof small children,and from that time

on, he was hauntedby the idea that he should eave he Jesuits.On

the other hand, he felt truly called to be associated ith me in my

ministry,persuadedhat the Lord had calledhim in a specialway towork for the conversion f theJews.Perhaps shouldhaveopposedhis

idea aboutwhich he spoke o me everyday, but this was difficult for

me since secretly haredt. Like him, I believed hat his conversion nd

vocation were for a specialend, and that he could not follow his

vocation f he remaineda Jesuit. am sure hathe hadonly a temporary

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itu-ation. \rith all my heart I was working to found a modestpliatlycoqmunitywhichseemedo me o have ndisputable dvantag.r. ut u,

the evelof the community rew, hewholebuitdingseemed6 crumble.Fortunately did not become iscouraged;set o work againwithnewmaterials, ollowed by-new disappointments.placed^ll my hope nFatherMury. I believedhat God destined im for the formatio.r f th"smallcommunityof the Priests f Sion.Everyeventseemedo conso-lidate hisopinion;andyet darednot give n to it, becausewas afnidthat f FatherMury eft theJesuits, e would be abandoning od'swillfor him. This questionwasso seriousn my view that did not want toresolvet alone. submittedt to examination yseveral nowledgeableclergymen,irst of all to Archbishop ibour, Archbishop f paris.All

approvedFatherMary's decision.However,even heii ideasdid notbring mepeace; knew hat each f these relates ada grudgeagainstthe Jesuits. hen,urgedby -y brother, went to Rome o present hecase. left with a heart illed with anxieg, begging he Lord to causeme to drown rather han to allow a procedurewhichwould be againstHis will. I could eel n advance hata painful surprisemy newswouldbe for the Jesuits ho loved FatherMury with sucha generousove. nreality, heyweremoreupset hansurprised. atherRubillon,AssistantGeneral,whom I first saw,could not deny hat FatherMary's specialvocationwasa valid reasonor him to leave he Company f Jesus. e

told me to talk to the SuperiorGeneral.The latter was deeplymovedby -y newsbecause f the adverse ffect that this might hive in theChurch.Then I was ntroducednto the presencef Pius X who listen-ed to me with indulgentkindness s exposedmy deas.He said o me:"If it is God'swill, let it be done!" For me thisword was he definiteanswer;delivered rom all my scruples, wrote to FatherM^ry thathis

i;:r -

freedorn had been festored. This decision was received far lesswarmly

in paris than in Rome. They accusedme of having initiated the move,

*h.r"ur the truth is that if I could haveprevented t, I would havedone

so. God knows that I would willingly have sacrificedmy own advantage

andmy personalconsolation o spare he Jesuitsa sorrow-for which they

*"r. io- ill-prepared. I have u-everstopped loving and admiring the

since I have known them. How can one not love them when

,ii

flight, bangs against-every obstacle.His zeal was equal to everyfunction, to every defeat,and like a river which has oierflowed itsbanks, eput no limit on hisactivities. ortunately e did not have hegift of eloquence hich might have ncreasedis presumption. ut hisburning words awokepassions nd sometimes rought bout humili-ations.CertainlyGod permitted hese ailures o keephim on thewatchand n humiliry.



lesuitslhey lo.'e the Church so much! They have always been the butt of the

animosityand persecution f the spirit of the world, for they are always

among those io whom the Lord said: "You will be hated on myaccount." The Company bears the name of Jesus.This explains the

hatred of which they are the object. I know that among some of its

members,community solidarity can be carried too far and that some-

times hey make he good of their order more mportant than thegeneral

good; at least his is what they afe reproachedwith. But what community

of human beingsdoesnot have some ault?

\Thatever the casemay be, I have alwaysmaintained good relations

with them. But how I suffered when I had to let them believe hat I had

acted n an underhandedmannefwith them! Thank God, the eventwas

clearedup and charity won the day.

But then there began for me a time of tribulation which lasted for

several years.

, 1852

My brother came to live with me and put himself under my

direction. But whether it was that my direction seemedessenlightened,

lessauthoritarian than the one he had left, whether he was undergoing

the shock of too sudden a change, he rarely asked my advice and he

would not acceptmy remarks.How heavily my resPonsibilityweighedon me at the view of the temptations acing a young priest who had no

idea of the dangers which surrounded him! He did not know what

precautionsare recommendedo priests-who_re gnglged in the-dayto-

day ministry, and he seemed o me to be like a bird released rom its

cagewhich doesnot know how to use ts wings and which, in its jerky

- I 2 2 - - r23 -

\Whateverthecasemaybe, saw hat mybrotherwould not providethe necessarylementwhich I neededo discipline he Fathers f Our

Ladyof Sion.He himselfseemedo see ow awkward hesituationwas.He proposed hat he shouldmakea pilgrimage o the Holy Land,andI acceptedhis ideaas an inspiration rom heaven.ndeed t wasaninspirationof the Blessed irgin as he future would show.

HoweverGod'swork continued o develop n the middle of allthese rucifyingexperiences;eligious ocations ecame orenumerouswhen the Sionian tree was readyto be separated rom its roots andbranches.

It wasFatherMary's preachingwhich gavebirth to someof these

vocations,ncluding very precious nes. only want to mentionone,and this becausef her hrppy influence n thecommunity f Sionandon myself,and even hen will say ittle becauset is to her that I amdictating thesewordsand that thereare favors which will be revealedonly in heaven.

Yet I cannotbe silent about he dearsoulwho bears o well thenameof Marie Benedicta. regard erasa pricelessift that heBlessedVirgin gaveme; n her I have ound the supportof a fine intel ligenceand a heart illed with holiness. daresay hat her soulwasunited omine to the point that the vow of Christ might be realized: hat theymaybe one.

Thanks to this perfect harmonyof our thoughtsand feelings,found n my daughter he co-operatorhat heBlessed irgin had givenme o carryout my functions.t wasshewho co-ordinatedhematerialsof the Directory, and who placed he subjects f meditation n a form

s-*

that might be publishedunder he title: "Gleaningsrom the Gospel."Heavenalone will tell us how much the congregationowed to thisbeautiful soul.

I said that other beautiful soulscame at this time to consecratethemselveso our Lady of sion. It would take oo long to talk abouteach f them,but I cannotail to mentionmy daughterMarie-Paulwho,in God's view, was o becomehe right handof the superiorGeneral.

szhile Providencencreasedhepersonnel nd he resources";t;:ommun-ity,t worked at-increasinghe works of sion. It is impossible

not to admire hework of God in ttre ounding_ofGrandbo*& 6il;I had a visit from Mr. Alexis Revenaz, .t of the functionariesof theITp..i"t Marines. had neverseenhim and I did not know him at all.

*,"r," respectableman of the world, whoeeanguage howed



Shehad been ntroduced o me by Mrs. Josson, ife of the presidentof the tribunal of Lille, about whom I shall give somedetiils. Mrs.

Josson nd her husband ad come ooking for me at Boulogne-on-the-Seawhere waspreaching novenan preparationor the Assumption.she askedme to preacha sermon t Lille in favor of charity,and thisgave_mehe opportunity o seeher frequentlyand to come o appreciatethe ferventdesireof her soul.she was the president f sevelil goodworks,among hema smallgroup of motheisof familieswho prayedtogether or their familiesand children.This unionof. prayerarousedmysympathy nd couldseen it thepossibility f fruitful development.In fact, when a few years ater,Mr. and Mrs. Josson ame o live inParis, he small societyof ChristianMothersmet periodically n the

chapelof Our Lady of Sion. t wascomposed f manypiousmothersand producedmany ruitsof consolation. introducedt to Romewhereit wasvery popular,so much so that Pius IX, alwaysawareof whatmight be of advantageo the Church,was kind enough o raise heAssociation f Christian Mothers to the rank of Archconfraternity,fixing its headquartersn Paris n the chapelof Our Lady of Sion.

Since hen he iliationswith thisMother confraternity avespreadthroughout lmost ll the countries f thewodd; theyhelp o re-awakenthe piety of Christian families and at the same ime to propagate henameof Our Ladyof Sion.

Mrs. Jossonbecamea widow, and she felt irresistibly drawn tothe religious life; she generouslyentered he novitiate n spite of heradvancedage.After making profession, hewasto becomePresidentof the Archconfraternityof Christian Mothers,a function which shefulfilled with a great ealof skill.

- r24- - r25-

,H. ittleknowledgeof religion,but onecouldseebehind hisLnirage anuprightheart,honestand loyal. He inspiredme with confidei.e Tmmedi"tJly.

9" -y tablehl openedout a hugepapershowing heplan of oneof hishugeestates. n tTi"s this,.I thoughthe wascoming o propose hatI buy t and told hirnthat the conlregationof ou, Lay or'sio" *",not.lic.! gnough o b.ula countryhouse.-"I'mnot offering yo" a salebuta gift," he answeredme. Good fortune of this kind seelned o rare tome, especially oday, that I dared to ask for explanations rom thismysterious enefactor.He answeredme quite simpiythathe felt drivento found a charitablework on oneof hii propert'ies,n memoryof his

lorthy wife who had just died,and for this'purpse, he intended ogive his Grandbourgpropertyto a teachingcornmunitywhich seemed

to offer signsof stability.He knew no congregationof this kind, and1ft:r

hryt"g_soughtnformationat the charrcer/office, he wascomingto faceour Ladyof sion in all simplicity. fe went to visit the Grand]

!o"tg estate,and I confesshat I *as orrer*helmedat the sight of thehuge orchard and the immensecountrypark. Mr. Revenazgive us theker; and later regularized-thewhole pto..rr of this fine gifl \ze soontook possessionf jt, establishing hire the beginningtJf a boardingschooland a workshop.Thesewere he admirablebegfinningsf a neicolonyof Sion which since hat time hascontinued

-togro*.

NOTES

L - Somesentences nd expressionsn the Memoits which conveya kind of

instinctive and hereditary repudiation of Jewish and Protestantvalues

have been suppressed. hey reflect the Catholic thinking of.the

last

century and miqht be unnecessarily ffensive to readersof today. The

complfte unalte;ed ext in the Archives s at the disposalof the Congre-

gation.

9 - Father Theodore shared the concise views of catholic thinking of histime when there was

-no question of eormenism and when the Ieachingof history was- oo often characterizedby an apologetic concern ratheithan by scientific precision.

1O-It is upon these promises _upon the \7ord of God, consequentlythat Father Theodore'svocation rests;he felt himself called-"to workfor the fulfillment of the Promises".But how? First of all by prayer:"it is fervent and persevering prayer which will attract



2 - Neither the dates given in the headincs nor the division into sections

appear n the original text.

3 - Father Theodore's statementsabout his studies are not to be taken

seriously. n reality he rnas highly cifted. He quickly acquired- nd

assimilatedknou'ledge which ordinarily involved more prolonged and

intensive tudy or mostPeoPle.

4 - The aversionwas not to Judaismas such, but to what Theodoreknew

about t. Th e entireconteit indicatesha t he belonged o an assimilated

environment, nd that his lack of knowledgeprevented im from de -

termining he religious alue of rabbinical udaism cf . Introd')'

J - "wretched people". . According to the context,FatherTheodorehas in

mind miseryun d icnor^nce, toi moral corruption.The equa_lity.ofightsobtained durine the Revolution and for which Naftali Cerfbeer had

worked effectively, had made it possible or some families to acquire

culture, wealth and important positions.They constituted,however, a

very tiny minority. The poor Jewscontinued o live in a tyPeof crowded

ghetto where hey suffered he consequencesf extremepoverfy:crowded

unsanitary odgingsand gnorance.

6-Father Theodore was baptized n 1827; he sought advice rom Miss

Humann about this marriage n 1825 (or the beginning of tgZ6 at the

latest) and could not thereforehave beenmore than 23 yearsold.

7 - Father Theodore,h"ppy that he had escapedrom these snares",pejo-ratively describeshb^;'matchmaker" r

' 'shadken",who was often a

colouriul character, ut very useful to the Jews n making it possible or

them to man1among heir own.

8 - "literal" - it seems his word should be understood n the senseof

"teaching rom a text".

- 1 2 6 - - r27 -

grici fiomheaven". These are Father Marie's words (page tS2 in the originalFrench text); but Father Theodorewas to repeat them in one form or

andther throughout his life. Father Marie recommendedhat his brotherprovide a Christian education o Israelite children brought to him bytheir parents.The great poverty of someJewish families and the waveof dejudaizationwhich followed in the wake of emancipationexplainswhy this work was undertaken.Soon,however, ts justification ieasedto e xist. It then took another form and children from all countriesandal l religions, were readily accepted(cf. Introd. p. 72 in the originalFrench text).

As far as adult baptismwas concerned, ather Theodore nstructedandintroduced into the Church - whether they were Jews, Protestants orunbelievers only thosewho came o him. He did not "proselytize"and

always taught respect or people's conscience. 7hen thi movement intothe Church, which accompanied his and Father Marie's conversion,slackened, he insisted more than ever that it is only prayer with "love

which wins souls".

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Documents

Hebreos Católicos: Las memorias de Teodoro Ratisbona