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HISTOEY OF THE DEYOTION

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

I^OETH AMERICA.

BV
THE REV. XAVIER DONALD MACLEOD,
PH( FES30R OF RHETOBIO A.ND BELLES LETTRES LN ST. IIARY's 00LI.»*^
OIMCINNiTI.

WITH A MEMOIR OP THE AUTHOE,
BY
THE MOST EEV. JOHN B. PURCELL, B.O.,
ARCHBISHOP OF OINCIITNATI.

SOI.,I> ISY SUJ3iSCKII?TION ONI^Y.

BOSTON :
MURPHY & McCarthy,
33 bromfield street.
Providence : 269 Westminster Street.
1880.

Bnterdd awordlng to Ant t'tf Congress in tbe year xo^
Bt VIETUE & TOESTON,
In the Clcrk^s Offlce of the District Court of tbe buiUsd btales for iba Sontbera
District of New York.

PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.

Catholic Literature in this country is not yet rich in
works of a historical character ; and though not a few have
appeared evincing great research, and worthy of a high
place, there was still wanting a popular element which
genius alone could supply by lending its charm to the often
dry details of the historian.
The devotion to the Blessed Virgin in this country, from
its settlement to the present day, was a theme which had
been briefly touched upon by one or •'¦wo writers. Still, it
was a field which the late lamented author of the following
pages entered with all the zeal and devotion of his ardon*
and impassioned character, and as a necessary conscquenct
he gave his work the stamp of his peculiar genius.
Few more gifted writers have appeared among us that,
Xavier Donald Macleod ; and in undertaking his work, ma
terial was contributed by his numerous friends. The writer
of this, one who had enjoyed that friendship from boyhood,
rejoicing to see him about to take up a subject so wor
thy of his talents, furnished him an abundant material
which he had collected, and feels now, perhaps, too great
pleasure in his privilege in having contributed to so noble
a work as that here presented to the Catholic public.
The early Spanish explorers came with tbe banner of
Mary ; the very ship of Columbus gave up its profane
appellation for that of " St. Mary ;" the earliest shrines

iv PuBiisHEEs' Notice.
were reared under her invocation ; bay, and river, and
mountain received the hallowed name ; the first city on
the mainland that became a bishop's see was St. Mary's.
If the ardent sons of France chose the icy realm of Canada
to plant the Jieurs-de-lis, its rigors could not chill devotion
to Mary ; Cartier, in his distress, turns to Mary, and vows
a pilgrimage to her shrine ; and Montreal Island sees a city
rise with the name of Ville Marie ; while, westward as her
pioneers and missionaries go, St. Mary marks her path, till
the great Mississippi, the River of the Immaculate Concep
tion, bears them down again towards those Spanish realms
where every officer swore to defend the Immaculate Con
ception. The Catholic settlers of the coast between, who came
from the British Isles, came, too, with love for Mary ; and
the land which seemed closed forever on Catholicity, is
studded with shrines of Mary, and sees a council of arch
bishops and bishops meeting unchecked by government
dictation, and spontaneously placing the land under the
patronage of St. Mary's Immaculate Conception.
Such is the theme of this beautiful work, last and noblesi
offering of the genius of Xavier Donald M&cleod. It can
not but be read with charm and delight, or fail to quicken
and animate zeal and devotion.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER L
Page
GdEEAL View — Nattteal Growth of the Devotion— First Catho
lics — Sodthern States and Canada — Our Lady's Discovery of
America — Churches of her Name — Ministers of the Devotion —
Sdrofean and American Devotion — Honor ddb to Mary — Emi
grants — Patroness of the United States  1

CHAPTER II.
Zeal of Pioneers — Champlain and the Eecolleots — Mother Mary
of the Incarnation and the Ursulines — Marquette and the Im-
XACULATB Conception  80

CHAPTER IIL
Advance of the Devotion — First Seventy-five Tears — Jesihts nf
Canada — Our Lady of Anoels — Olier and St. Sclpioe — The City
of Mary — Mademoiselle Manse and the Hospital Sisters  60

CHAPTER IV.
MaBGITEIIITE BOIXEGEOTS AND THE CONGREGATION OF OtIR LADT  81
CHAPTER Y.
Extermination of the Hcrons — Our Ladt of Foie — New Loretto—
The Northwest — Immaculate Conception in Illinois — Mary Ako
—Down the Mississippi — Back to Montreal — Our Lady's Guard
— Tbe Conoregation again — The Eecluse of Ville-Marie — Our
Lady of Angels  103

6 Contents.
CHAPTER YI.
Pago
Devotion of the Holy Family — Odr Lady of Victory — Our Lady
of Good Help — Our Lady of the Visitation — Lodge of the Im
maculate Conception— Our Lady or Snows — Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception, and Churches of Odr Lady in Quebec 127
CHAPTER YII.
Devotion m Texas, California, and New Mexico- Our Lady of
Guadalupe— The New Mount Caumel— The Atlantic Spanish
Missionaries — Maryland  1*6
CHAPTER YIII.
The Devotion dt Maine — Sillery and Chacdibre — Wampum Belt
FOR Notre Dame de Chaktres — The Vow of the Owenagunoa —
Mission of the Kennebec — Murder of Father Easles — The
Catholic Eed-skin and the Puritan Council  165
CHAPTER IX.
The Devotion in New Tore — The Saint of the Mohawks — Saint
Mary among the Iroquois  184
CHAPTER X.
Cine Lady of Loketto of the Hdrons  •  205
CHAPTER XL
Our Lady's Assumption, a. d. 1790, and what came of it — A Mission
ary Prince  220
CHAPTER XIL
Our Lady of the Lake  238
CHAPTER Xin.
Our Lady's Sisters — Les S(eurs de Notre Dame  258
CHAPTER XIY.
Our Lady of Meroy and Charity— Odr Lady's loving Friends at
THE Cross^Our Lady of Christ's precious Blood  265

Contents. 7
CHAPTER XY. Paga
OoB Lady of Saint Ursula and Saint Angela  287
CHAPTER XYI.
Various Orders of Our Lady — Pilgrimages to Our Lady of Peace,
OF Mercy, of Grace, and back to Our Lady of Good Help in
Mont!Ieal  813
CHAPTER XYIL
GiLLIB-MAmi NAN Gael. — Malie teba Wanbanakzi Alnambak  383
CHAPTER XYIIL
Oblati Marine Immaculat^a — Offered for Mary mmaculate  356
CHAPTER XIX.
Mary's Oblates on the Atlantic and in the Land of the Da-
COTAH  892
CHAPTER XX.
Company of Jesus again — Immaculate Conception in Boreal Lati
tudes — Devotion in Minnesota — Our Lady of the Kooky Moun
tains  408
CHAPTER XXL
The Black-robe in Oregon— How the Black-robe Dies- Eooky
Mountains again — The March of the Blaokfeet towards the
Shrine of Our Lady — Abenaki and Flathead touch hands  487
CHAPTER XXIL
Bboken Threads — Conclusion  458

MEMOIR

BY THE MOST KEY. JOHN B. PURCELL, D.D.,
AKOHBISHOP OF dNCDTfTATI.

The author of the following history of the Devotion to the
Blessed Yirgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, in
North America, Rev. Donald Xavier MacLeod, was a native
of New York, and a convert to the Catholic Church. Not
withstanding the ardent temper and impetuous character
which he received from nature, soon as he had finished his
collegiate course he took orders, as they are called, in the
Episcopal Church, and exercised ministerial functions in his
native State, and subsequently as a presbyter of the Right
Eev. Dr. Ives, the illustrious convert, in North Carolina.
Neither the bishop nor' his curate was satisfied in the
Anglican communion. They had read her history. They
knew the vice of her origin, the hollowness of her preten
sions. They beheld her sanguinary, self-inflicted wound of
schism ever bleeding. She was for them the 'bad fruit of a
bad tree — ^the creation, or the creature, of an Act of an obse
quious Parliament ; and that neither in England nor in the
United States could she . assert her claim to the marks by
which the Gospels and the first four general councils teach
us to recognize the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
of Christ. Before the minds of bishop and minister were
fully irradiated by the ever growing splendor of Catholic
1*

X Memoib.
truth, they practised some of the ordinances and rites pecu
liar to the old Church. They went to confession to one
another ; they gave each other salutary penances. They
adorned their churches as Catholics, from time immemorial,
had been wont to do on the greater festivals ; and of Mr.
MacLeod, in particular, it may be said that, while the proofs
of the truth of our holy faith satisfied his judgment, the
aesthetics of religion had a special charm for his soul.
After his abandonment of the ministry and religious opin
ions of the Reformation, Mr. MacLeod, for some years, de
voted his time to literary pursuits, writing books and
delivering lectures in many of our cities. In St. Louis,
where he was, if we mistake not, connected with the edi
torial department of a newspaper or a magazine, he became
attached to an accomplished young lady of the best society;
but, after having gone even to the altar for the marriage
ceremony, the match was for some reason, for which neither
himself nor the lady was to blame, suddenly broken off.
We have the assurance of a highly respectable priest of St.
Louis, who was perfectly cognizant of all the proceedings,
that the conduct of Mr. MacLeod was all that could have
been expected, in the premises, from a Christian and a man
of honor.
The world having no longer any attractions for Mr. Mac
Leod, he wrote to his friend, the Most Rev. Archbishop of
Cincinnati, stating that he and the world had irreconcilably
quarrelled, and reminding him of a promise, when such au
eventuality occurred, to take him under his own protection
and care. His request was promptly granted, and the sem
inary of Mount St. Mary's assigned him for his home. In
this institution he continued several years, teaching, study
ing theology, and disciplining his mind and manner, in refer
ence to his aspirations to the priesthood. Here, after mature
refiection, he received the clerical tonsure and minor orders
on Thursday, 13th December, 1860. In March of the fol-

Memoie.

XI

lowing year he was ordained sub-deacon ; in October,
deacon and priest. From the seminary he continued for
some time to visit Sedamsville and North Bund, collecting
together the scattered Catholics, catechizing the children,
and visiting the sick, until, the little church of St. Vincent
of Paul being built, he took up his modest lodgings in the
basement, whore he continued, without a murmur, to bear
privations such as fall to the lot of but few priests, until his
lamented death. Of the acceptableness of his ministrations
at Sedamsville, and the manner of his death, we here insert
the account given in his obituary written by H. G. Lord,
Esq., Superintendent of the Indianapolis and Cincinnati
Railroad, taken from the " Cincinnati Commercial," of Mon
day, 3d July, — his death having occurred on Friday, 30th
June, 1865 : " The Rev. Donald MacLeod.
" Eds. Com. — A short paragraph in the morning papers, of
Saturday, announced that the Rev. Donald MacLeod, pastor
of the Catholic Church in Sedamsville, had been accidentally
killed by a train on the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Rail
road, on Friday evening.
"It is proper for me to explain the circumstances of this
sad event. Father MacLeod was, at the time, on his way
to visit a poor woman, who was thought by her husband
and friends to be dangerously ill, and who had requested
the attendance of her faithful pastor. As he turned into
the street which crossed the roads of the Ohio and Missis
sippi, and Indianapolis and Cincinnati companies, he was
stopped by a passing train on the former road. At tlie
time, he was standing on the track of the latter road, and
at a sharp curve. The noise of tlie passing train drowned
the signals of the approaching train on the Indianapolis and
Cincinnati track. He was struck by the latter and instantly
killed He died while on his errand of duty and mercy.

xii Memoib.
" This event h^s cast a gloom over our little community,
and I cannot help referring to some of the peculiar traits
of character and disposition which had endeared Father
MacLeod to myself and so many of his personal friends and
admirers, and to so many of the poor and laboring people
among whom he mingled, and by whom he was so much
beloved. " My acquaintance with Father MacLeod commenced but
a few months ago, yet at the time of his death I knew him
well. I had learned to appreciate his excellent qualities of
heart, and to honor his restless and vigorous intellect, his
independent judgment, his fine scholarship, and his great
learning. He was a man of remarkable energy. In look
ing after the necessities of his little church, in hunting up
the needy and destitute, in ministering to their wants, in
consoling the sick, in cheering on the well, working as will
ingly by night as by day, in the rain and under the glare
of the sun, he never seemed fatigued or tired of his mission.
Whatever he had to do he did cheerfully and with all his
might. Hundreds of section-men and laborers on the two
roads between Cincinnati and Lawrenceburg will bear testi
mony to their knowledge of him, and to his knowledge of
them ; to their love and respect for the positive, yet good-
natured priest, to his unfailing kindness to them and to
their households, and to his influence and control over them,
which never lost its hold.
" Father MacLeod was a man of rare independence of
judgment. He never adopted the opinions of others, but held
them subject to a severe analysis, and only accepted ihem
when they accorded with his own well-defined convictions.
Whatever position he took, whether in the Church or as a
citizen, he took conscientiously and with determination, and
upon his own judgment, and he would recognize no hi\man
authority as above his own conscience or the conclaeions ol
his own intellect.

Memoie. xiii
" Father MacLeod was a man of rare learning. I do not
speak of him as a theologian, -nor of his acquirements in
that department of knowledge, but as a master of history,
sacred and profane, of political economy, of many languages,
ancient and modern, of natural philosophy, geology, botany,
and their kindred sciences. His acquirements were equally
varied and substantial ; and I have often heard him, in the
same hour, instruct a wise man and delight a child. As an
author he was well known, and his life of ' Maiy Queen of
Scots' drew from Y^'ashington Irving a most touching and
beautiful letter of commendation, in which that gifted man
thanked our friend for having so ably and generously vindi
cated the character of a suffering woman and the truth of
history. " But it is to the genial traits and generous friendship of
Father MacLeod that I love most to refer. He was a man
of strong impulses, quick, and sometimes violent temper ;
but his impulses were generous, and he ever struggled to
control his temper, and was always ready to recall an unkind
word and to correct a false Impression. A kind word to
him always brought a kind word from him, and he loved to
serve and defend his friends. It was a cruel and merciless
engine that, with its terrible blow, shattered that manly
and vigorous frame, and in an instant of time stunned the
great and restless brain, stilled the loving and generous
heart, and released the spirit of Donald MacLeod. " H. C. Lord."
The writer of this notice is not a Catholic. But it shows
that the character, the acquirements, and the talents of the
deceased were appreciated and admired by others as well
as by those of his own Church. The independence of all
human authority so justly claimed for him, was confined to
subjects of a merely human or secular description. To
Church authority, in which he recognized the authority of

xiv Memoie.
God, he was at all times amenable. To hei decisions he
submitted, — if with a reasoning and a reasonable conviction
of his clear and vigorous intellect, yet with the childlike
simplicity which taught him that, when God speaks through
au infallible tribunal, it is the enlightened Christian's duty
to listen and to obey.
Devotion to the Blessed Yirgin, and zeal for her honor,
was a ruling passion of the soul of Rev. Mr. MacLeod. He
was her client, her son, her knight, her priest. The "Le
gends of Holy Mary" and " Our Lady of Litanies" preceded
the beautiful "History of the Devotion to Mary in North
America," which we now present to our readers. But an
other proof of his veneration for the Immaculate may aptly
find its place here. The first sermon he preached after his
ordination was on the purity of the Yirgin Mary. The
choice of this subject was probably suggested by the publi
cation of a tractate called " James, the Lord's brother," by
one Chauncey Fitch, an Episcopalian minister of Piqua,
Miami County, Ohio. The object of this tractate was to
show that Mary had other sons besides the Lord. It was
highly recommended by the Episcopal bishop, McUvaine, of
Ohio. The bishop thus speaks of it in a letter to Rev. Dr,
Anthon, editor of the " New York Protestant Churchman :"
" Rev. AST) Dbae Sir — I Relieve you know sometliing of a trac
tate which the Rev. Mr. Fitch of Ohio has written on ' James, the
Lord's brother.' He has recently completed a fvll carrying out of the
argument, and made, I think, a very conclusive proof that James was
the son of Joseph and Mary, and really, literally, the Lord's brother.
It upsets the whole Mariolatry, and all her claims to supremacy
through Peter. . . I believe it would be as good an article in the
Romish controversy as we could publish.
" Yours, affectionately, C. P. McIlvaine.
" CiNCLNNATi, Jan. 19, 1857."
Commenting on this letter of the bishop, Father MacLeod

Memoie. xv
remarks, in a printed refutation of Fitch's theory, as
follows : "MARY EYER YIRGIN."
That Catholics may see and know how unfaithful and
utterlj' false to the principles of their own creed are lead
ing Episcopalians, we reprint in this form a letter from an
Episcopalian to the "Catholic Telegraph," January 22, 1859,
which sets forth the real teachings of the Episcopal body
on the subject of the perpetual Yirginity of the Mother of
our Lord. The letter being a contribution, we shall not
change it, but print it as it came to us.
Now this same Bishop of Ohio (1) disbelieves, if he had
any religious belief or disbelief at all, the whole contents of
Fitch's emanation. That same Bishop of Ohio, in common
with all other bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
assigned Dr. Gilbert Pearson's Exposition of the Creed as the
only standard dogmatic work in his communion, as the one
dogmatic guide of his theological students, and as the text-
hook of the General Theological Seminary in New York. If
he do not believe with Pearson, he is false to his trust and
position in giving such a work to his students ; if he do,
he, by his approval of Fitch for the sake of a dirty insult
to Roman Catholics, has carried dishonorable baseness to an
extent of which his is the only example. Furthermore, by
so doing, he not only denies the common faith of all Chris
tians and the applicability of the passages from the proph
ets universally applied to our Lord, but also shows an
ignorance of the mere letter of Scripture, which may be
pardonable in an Episcopalian Bishop, but which should be
a reasonable cause of degradation to the assistant sexton in
a Hard Shell Baptist Conventicle.
The book from which I quote is "An Exposition of the
Creed, by John Pearson, Bishop of Chester (in the 16th cen
tury). New York : Appleton & Co. 1857." It is as follows :

xvi Memoie.
" Thirdly, We believe the mother of our Lord to have been,
not only he/ore and after his nativity, but also forever, the
most immaculate and blessed Virgin. For although it may
be thought sufiScient as to the mystery of the incarnation,
that when our Saviour was conceived and born, his mother
was a virgin ; though whatsoever should have followed
after, could have no reflective operation upon the first-fruit
of her womb ; though there be no further mention in the
Creed, than that he was horn of tlie Virgin Mary : yet the pe
culiar eminency and unparalleled privilege of that mother, the
special honor and reverence due unto that Son, and ever
paid by her, the regard of that Holy Ghost who came upon
her, and the power of the Highest who overshadowed her,
the singular goodness and piety of Joseph, to whom she
was espoused, have persuaded the Church of God in all ages
to believe that she still continued in the same virginity, and
therefore is to be acknowledged the Ever-Virgin 3Iary. As
if the gate of the sanctuary in the prophet Ezekiel were to
be understood of her : ' This gate shall be shut, it shall noti
be opened, and no man shall enter in by it ; because the
Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it
shall be shut.' (Ezek. xliv. 2.)
" Many, indeed, have taken the boldness to deny this
truth because not recorded in the sacred writ ; and not only
so, but to assert the contrary as delivered in the Scriptures ;
but with no success. For though, as they object, St. Mat
thew testifieth that Joseph ' knew not Mary, until she had
brought forth her first-born son' (Matt. i. 25), from whence
they infer, that afterwards he knew her ; yet the manner of
the Scripture language produceth no such inference. When
God said to Jacob, ' I will not leave thee until I have done
that which I have spoken to thee of (Gen. xxiii. 15), it fol-
loweth not that when that was done, the God of Jacob left
him. When the conclusion of Deuteronomj' was written, it
was said of Moses, ' No man knoweth of hh sepulchre unto

Memoie. xvii
this day' (Deut. xxxiv. 6) ; but it were a weak argument
to infer from thence, that the sepulchre of Moses hath been
known ever since. When Samuel had delivered a severe
prediction unto Saul, he ' came no more to see him until the
day of his death' (1 Sam. xv. 35) ; but it were a strange
collection to infer, that he therefore paid him a visit after
he was dead. ' Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child
until the day of her death' (2 Sam. vi. 23) ; and yet it
were a ridiculous stupidity to dream of any midwifery in
the grave. Christ promised his presence to the apostles
' unto the end of the world' (Matt, xxviii. 20) ; who ever
made so happy a construction as to infer from thence, that
forever after he would be absent from them ?
"Again, it is true that Christ is termed ihe first-born son
of Mary, from whence they infer she must needs have a
second ;. but they might as well conclude, that wheresoever
there is one, there must be two. For in this particular the
Scripture notion of priority excludeth an antecedent, but
inferreth not a consequent ; it supposeth none to have gone
before, but concluded not any to follow after. ' Sanctify
unto me [saith God] all the first-born ;' which was a firm
and fixed law, immediately obliging upon the birth ;
whereas if the first-born had included a relation to a
second, there could have been no present certainly, but a
suspension of obedience ; nor had the first-born been sanc--
tififd of itself, but the second birth had sanctified the first.
And well might any sacrilegious Jew have kept back the
price of redemption due unto the priest, nor could it have
been required of him, till a second offspring had appeared ;
and so no redemption at all had been required for an only
son. Whereas all such pretences were unheard of in the
Law, because the original Hebrew word is not capable of
any such construction ; and in the Law itself it carrieth
with it a clear interpretation, ' Sanctify unto me all the
first-Lorn ; whatsoever openeth the womb among the chi'.-

xviii Memoir.
dren of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine.' (Exod.
xiii. 2.) The apertion of the womb determined the first
born ; and the law of redemption excludeth all such ter
giversation : ' Those that are redeemed, from a month old
thou shalt redeem' (Numb, xviii. 16) ; no staying to make
up the relation, no expecting another birth to perfect the
redemption. Being then ' they brought our Saviour to
Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in
Law of the Lord' (Luke, ii. 22, 23), it is evident that be
was called the first-born of Mary according to the notion of
the Law of Moses, and consequently that title inferreth no
succession, nor proveth the mother to have any other
offspring. " Indeed, as they thirdly object, it cannot be denied but
that we read expressly in the Scriptures of the brethren of
our Lord : ' He went down to Capernaum, he, and his
mother, and his brethren' (John, ii. 12), and, 'While he
talked unto the people, his mother and his brethren stood
without, desiring to speak with him.' (Matt. xii. 46.) But
although his mother and his brethren be named together,
yet they are never called the sons of his mother ; and the
question is not whether Christ had any brethren, but
whether his mother brought forth any other children. It
is possible Joseph might have had children before Mary was
espoused to him ; and then, as he was reputed and called
our Saviour's father, so might they well be accounted and
called his brethren, as the ancient fathers, especially of the
Greek Church, have taught. Nor need we thus assert
that Joseph had any offspring, because the language of
the Jews includeth in the name of brethren not only the
strict relation of fraternity, but also the larger of consan
guinity ; and therefore it is sufficient satisfaction for that
expression, that there were such persons allied unto the
Blessed Yirgin. 'We be brethren' (Gen. xiii. 8), said
Abraham unto Lot : when Abraham was the son of Terah,

Memoie. xix
Lot of Haran, and consequently not his brother, but his
nephew, and, as elsewhere properly styled, ' the son of hia
brother.' (Gen. xii. 5.) ' Moses called Mishael and Elza-
phan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto
them. Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanc
tuary' (Lev. X. 4) ; whereas those brethren were Nadab
and Abihu, the sons not of Uzziel but of Aaron. ' Jacob
told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he
was Rebekah's son' (Gen. xxix. 12) ; whereas, Rebekah
was the sister of Rachel's father. It is suflScicnt, there
fore, that the evangelists, according to the constant lan
guage of the Jews, called the kindred of the Blessed Yir
gin the brethren and sisters of her only son ; which indeed
is something the later, but the most generally approved
answer. " And yet this difficulty, though usually no further con
sidered, is not fully cleared ; for they which impugned the
perpetual virginity of the mother of our Lord, urged it fur
ther, pretending that as the Scriptures called them the
brethren of Christ, so they also showed them to be the sons
of Mary, the mother of Christ. For first the Jews express
them particularly by their names, ' Is not his mother called
Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and
Judas ?' (Matt. xiii. 55.) Therefore, James and Joses
were undoubtedly the brethren of Christ, and the same
were also as unquestionably sons of Mary : for among the
women at the cross we find ' Mary Magdalene and Mary
the mother of James and Joses.' (Matt, xx vii. 56.) Again,
this Mary, they think, can be no other than the Mother of
our Lord, because they find her early in the morning at the
sepulchre with Mary Magdalene and Salome (Mark, xvi. 1) ;
and it is not probable that any should have more care of
the body of the son than the mother. She then who was
certainly present at the cross, was not probably absent from
the sepulchre; wherefore, they conclude, she was the mother

XX Memoie.
of Christ, who was the mother of James and Joses, the
brethren of Christ.
" And now the urging of this argument will produce a
greater clearness in the solution of the question. For if it
appear that Mary the mother of James and Joses was differ
ent and distinguished from Mary the Yirgin, then will it
also be apparent that the brethren of our Lord were the
sons of another mother, for James and Joses were so called.
But we read in St. John, that ' there stood by the cross of
Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of
Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.' (John, xix. 25.) In the
rest of the evangelists we find at the same place, ' Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses' (Matt.
xxviii. 56 ; Mark, xv. 40) ; and again at the sepulchre, ' Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary' (Matt, xxviii. 1) ; where
fore that other Mary, by the conjunction of these testimonies,
appeareth to be Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and the mother of
James and Joses; and consequently James and Joses, the
brethren of our Lord, were not the sons of Mary his mother,
but of the other Mary, and therefore called his brethren ac
cording to the language of the Jews, because that the other
Mary was the sister of his mother.
" Notwithstanding, therefore, all these pretensions, there
can be nothing found to raise the least suspicion of any
interruption of the ever Blessed Mary's perpetual virginity.
For as she was a virgin when she conceived, and after
she brought forth our Saviour ; so did she continue in the
same state and condition, and was commended by our
Saviour to bis beloved disciple, as a mother only now of an
adopted son.
" The consideration of all which will at la§t lead us to a
clear explication of this latter branch of the Article, where
by every Christian may inform himself that he is bound to
profess, and being informed, fully express what is the ob
ject of his faith in this particular, when he saith, I believe

Memoir.

XXI

in Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary. For
hereby he is conceived to intend thus much: I assent unto
this as a most certain and infallible truth, that there was a
certain woman, known by the name of Mary, espoused unto
Joseph of Nazareth, which before and after her espousals
was a pure and unspotted virgin, and being and continuing
in the same virginity, did, by the immediate operation of the
Holy Ghost, conceive within her womb the only-begotten
Son of God, and, after the natural time of other women,
brought him forth as her first-born son, continuing still a
mx>st pure and immaculate virgin ; whereby the Saviour of
the world was born of a woman under the Law, without
the least pretence of any original corruption, that he might
deliver us from the guilt of sin ; born of that Yirgin which
was of the house and lineage of David, that he might sit upon
his throne, and rule for evermore. And in this latitude I
profess to believe in Jesus Christ, born op the Yirgin Mart.''
We have a word to add to this. " The Western Church
man," organ of the Episcopalians here, endeavored to cast
discredit upon the above quotations. Now this was sheer
impudence. The book is not only an Episcopal dogmatic
text-book, but it is their only one. The title and the
publisher's name are given above, and may be verified by
anybody who chooses to take the trouble. The quotation
begins upon page 263, Article IIL, "Born of the Yirgin
Mart," and is unbroken to the last paragraph, beginning,
"The consideration of all which," etc. Between that and
the preceding matter, intervenes the proof of the title
" Mother of God," and of the absolute necessitt of Mart's
Immaculact to the Incarnation.
From this intervening and very brief portion we add one
further quotation to those given above :
" The necessity of believing our Saviour thus to be born

xxii Memoir.
of the Yirgin Mary, will appear both in respect of her who
was the Mother, and of Him who was the Son. In respect
of her it was necessary, that we might peepetuallt preserve
an esteem op her person proportionable to so HIGH A DIGNITT.
It was her own prediction, ' From henceforth all genera
tions shall call me blessed,' (Luke, i. 48); but this obligation
is ours, to call her, to usteem her so. If Elizabeth cried out
with so loud a voice, ' Blessed art thou among women,' when
Christ was but newly conceived in her womb ; what ex
pressions op honor and of admiration can we think suffi
cient now that Christ is in Heaven and that mother with
Him ! Far be it from any Christian to derogate from that
special privilege granted unto her, which is incommunica
ble to any other. We cannot bear too reverent a regard
unto the Mother of our Lord, so long as we give her
not THAT worship which is due unto the Lord Himself"
—P. 212.
God grant that these words of old Bishop Pearson may
infiuence the hearts of his pretended co-religionists here, if
not to less hatred of the Church, at least to respect and
sense of propriety and decency towards her whom their
Prayer-book calls the " Blessed Yirgin Mary."
We cannot resist the desire of embodying in this notice
of the eloquent defender of Mary's prerogative, the beauti
ful tribute to the effect of mediseval devotion to the
Blessed Yirgin, for which we are indebted to a very com
pulsory witness indeed, " Lecky's Rationalism in Europe,"
vol. ii., pp. 224, 225. The reader will perceive that only an
enemy and a bigot would use the words " benighted and
monkish" in such connection.
"The world is governed by its ideals, and seldom or
never has thera been one which has exerciseH a moferprJF^
found and, on the whole, a more salutary influence than'ffie

Memoir. xxiii
mediseval conception of the Yirgin. Foi (he first time woman
was "elevated ttTTIerrightful position, "an3~fhe ~saiictity of
weakness was recognized as well as the sanctity of sorrow.
No longer_tha. slaLVB-or -toy of man, no longer associated
onlyLwith ideas of degradation and sensuality, woman rose,
in the^persoETofTlle'Y'iTgiTi Mother, into a new sphere, and
became the object of a reverential homage of which anti
quity had had no conception. Love was idealized. The moral
cliarin~an3' beauty of female excellence was, for the first
time, felt. A new type of character was called into being,
a new kind of admiration was fostered. Into a harsh and
ignorant and benighted age this ideal type infused a con
ception of gentleness and of purity unknown to the proudest
civilization of the past. In the pages of living tenderness,
which many a monkish writer has left in honor of his celes
tial patron ; in the millions who in many lands and in many
ages have sought with no barren desire to mould their
characters into her image ; in those holy maidens who, for
the love of Mart, have separated themselves from all the
glories and pleasures of the world, to seek in fastings and
vigils and humble charity to render themselves worthy of
her benodi(;tion ; in the new sense of honor, in the chival
rous respect, in the softness of manners, in the refinement of
tastes displayed in all the walks of society ; in those and
in many other ways, we detect its influence. All that was
best in Europe clustered around it, and it is the origin of
many of the purest elements of our civilization." — Yol. i.,
pp. 225, 226.

HISTOKY OF THE DEVOTION
TO
THE BLESSED YIEGII^ MAEY
IN NOETH AMEEIOA.

CHAPTEE I.
General View — CoLTrarBus — NatueaS Geowth of this Devotion— Fiebi
Catholics— THE Southern States and Canada — Our Lady's Dis-
OOVEEY OF AmEEIOA — CHURCHES OF HEE NaME — MiNISTEKa OF THE DE
VOTION — EUEOPEAN AND AMERICAN DEVOTION — HoNOR DUE TO MaEY —
Emiqeants — Patroness of the United States.
The little seaport town of Palos, in Andalusia, lay
basking in the sun, and its harbor was crowded with
swarthy sight-seers and vocal with wondering tongues.
The cool mountain waters of the Tinto brawled past
the haven, and flowed into the broad Atlantic. Out on
the burnished sea three caravels lay at anchor.
The crowd had assembled to see a set of madmen,
as they called them, depart upon a hopeless voyage.
Their tongues were busy in discussing the probable
manner in which evil fate would fall on the expedition,
for no one dreamed of a happy issue for the adventure.
If any dared to suggest such a probability, he, too,
was hooted at as insane, and ironically recommended
to ship for the voyage. 1

2 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
And, as they disputed and sneered, ever and anon a
strain of the Mass-music would swell out from the
church, where Faith was kneeling to ask protection ;
where Confidence was drawing new strength from de
votion to God and Mary. For the adventurers, their
commander at their head, were preparing, by confes
sion and Holy Communion, to enter like Christian men
upon their perilous undertaking.'
Then the Mass was over, and out from the church,
grave, resolute, and calm, walked the admiral at the
head of his crew ; and the crowd, hushed into silence,
opened a way for the procession to the jetty.
A few moments were allowed for farewells. Then
the brief orders were given, and the sailors entering
the boats, rowed out to their respective vessels.
Then the report of the culverin sounded from the
bows, and the standard of CastUe swung out to the
April breeze from the peak of the Santa Maria ; and
the crew cheered, and the crowd on shore responded,
as the admiral stepped on board.
A few moments more and the anchors were weighed,
the yards were trimmed, the sails filled, and the flotilla
of Columbus stood out to sea. And with it, as it
crossed those pathless waters, the love and protection
of our dear Lady and Mother floated over the Atlantic
to the shores of America."

' Prescott : Ferdinand and Isabella, ii. ] 30.
¦¦ The humble and reverent spirit in which Catholics undertook
their great labors is wondered at, and sometimes even sneered at, by
modern historians. These do not understand the consecration of all

in North America. 3
The first land touched by the Christian admiral he
called San Salvador,' ia honor of the Son ; the next,
Santa Maria de la Concepcion, did reverence to the
Mother. It is well-nigh four hundred years since then, but
never has Mary forgotten nor been forgotten here ; but
her servants have labored to extend her devotion ; the
faithful have responded with eager and loving hearts ;
her powerful prayers have aided them in heaven ; and
now, from the perpetual Arctic snows to the mists of
Terra del Fuego, ascriptions of honor arise to the
Mother Immaculate.
For devotion to Mary is in its own nature a neces
sarily growing one, inasmuch as it is the expression of
our love and reverence for her ; and these are inevi
table, because of her nature, immaculately conceived
as it was, Kngering sixty sinless years on earth, and
now glorified and triumphant in heaven.
things to God. Yet such was the spirit of Columbus. His prayer on
reaching San Salvador is preserved by Washington Irving :
"Domine Deus, seterne et omnipotens, sacro tuo verbo coelum et
terram et mare creasti; benedicatur et glorificetur Nomen tuum,
laudetur tua majestas quae dignita est per humilem serviim tuum ut
ejus sacrum Nomen agnoscatur et prsedicetur in hac altera muudi
parte." " 0 Lord, eternal and omnipotent God, Thou hast, by Thy holy
word, created the heavens, tlie eartli, and tlie sea ; blessed and glori
fied be Thy Name ; praised be Thy Majesty, who hast deigned that,
by means of Thy unworthy servant. Thy sacred Name should be
acknowledged and made known in this liew quarter of the globe." —
Irving: Columbus, i. 156.
' To call a land after the Saviour being deemed superstitious, the
English conquerors reverently changed it to Gat Island.

4 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Mary is, of all creatures, except the sacred Humanity
of her Lord and Son, the nearest to the heart of God ;
and the love that she gives us is, after all, God's love,
whereof she is the channel; and God's love, in His
dealings with us, never stands still, but is evermore on
the increase here, as it will be through the rapturous
ages of eternity. But God gives love in exchange for
love ; He allows us with our own coin, poor as it is, to
purchase treasures on high, and so our love necessa
rily increases in an humble kind of proportion with
His. Then, when He sends us so much favor through
Mary, we are impelled to return it through the same
blessed channel ; and thus devotion to her grows ever,
and shall grow, until love shall be placed beyond the
reach of change or decay.
So, then, Mary has gained vast possessions in this
country. One day, let us hope, she will conquer it aU,
and annex it all, loyal and devoted, to the kingdom of
her Son. There are peculiarities in her conquests and
in her sacred warfare without parallel in the victories
of the sword. The weapons of her hosts are gentle
ness, and mercy, and weariless afi'ection ; self-sacrifice
and refusal of reward on earth ; and, better still, when
ever a soldier falls, fighting bravely in the front rank
for her honor, his death only strengthens her armies
and helps to insure the success of her cause. From
the soil which was enriched by the blood of the mar
tyrs, spring the flowers that deck her altars in the
month of May.
With the successors of Columbus came the cannon

IN North America. 5
and the sword : but there came also the Cross and tho
Eosary. There came lust of dominion, of lands, of
gold ; cruelty, bloodshed, and the vices of civilization.
But among them, and unharmed by their contact, were
self-sacrifice, devotion, zeal for souls, love of God and
of man only for God's sake.
They that took the sword perished by the sword,
and won only blood-stained names as their re
ward. But the warriors of Zion and of Carmel
won souls back to Heaven ; and if they died in the
conflict, their blood spake louder than their voices had
done. Ponce de Leon, Vasquez de Ayllon, Narvaez, de
Soto, Alvarado, Coronado, with all the power of their
arms, with all the Spanish and Indian gore they shed,
only gained the abhorrence and hatred of the natives.
But Father Mark, the Franciscan, armed only with
the crucifix, penetrated New Mexico, in 1539, and
gained the Indians' love. Five other Franciscans took
the same path in 1540 ; and two of them, Father John
de PadiUa and Brother John of the Cross, remained in
the country, and taught the doctrine of Christ, until
they were slain in an inroad of stranger savages.
Eodriguez, Lopez, Santa Maria followed in 1580, and
confirmed the faith in New Mexico, from which it has
never since departed.
But earlier than this, in 1544, Andrew de Olmos had
sought out the fierce Texan tribes, and had converted
many ; and in 1601, the Carmelite Father, Andrew of
the Assumption of the Yirgin, with his companions,

6 Devotion to the B. Y. Mary
had entered California, and celebrated the divine mys
teries at Monterey.
Florida was first baptized in the blood of Louis
Cancel, the Dominican. As he stepped from his un
armed vessel, alone, and knelt down upon the shore,
he was slain by a blow from a war-club, and his reek
ing scalp was shaken in derision before his shuddering
brethren (1544.) To him succeeded many others, to
labor for a while almost in vain, and then to die be
neath the tomahawk or by the arrow. The Spaniards
struggled long to make a successful settlement at Pen
sacola, but gave it up, for a time, in 1561. And when
the soldiers had departed, there lingered on the shore,
alone, resolved to labor on, Father Salazar and Brothel
Matthew of the Mother of God.
But a few years later, on the feast of the Nativity of '
the Blessed Yirgin, St. Augustine, " by more than forty
years the oldest town in the United States," was
founded, and so soon as this foothold was obtained,
the heroic missionaries poured in.' Jesuit, Francis
can, Dominican, thronged in generous rivalry to
spread the gospel of the Highest throughout the new
' " It was the hour of vespers, on the evening preceding the Festi
val of the Nativity of Mary, that the Spaniards returned to the harbor
of St. Augustine. At noonday of the festival itself, tlie governor went
on shore, to take possession of the continent in the name of his king.
The solemn Mass of Our Lady was performed, and the foundation ol
St. Augustine was immediately laid. It is by more than forty yeara
the oldest town in the United States. Houses in it are yet standing
which are said to have been built many years before Virginia waa
colonized." — Bancroft : History of the United States, i. 69.

St. franxis x.uier.

IN North America. 7
country. They pierced the thick forests, they crossed
the mountain ranges, they swam the broad rivers of
the South. They toiled with the Natchez, the Creek,
and the Cherokee ; they established missions in Caro
lina and Yirginia, and they coasted the whole Atlantic
border as far north as the Chesapeake, which they
called St. Mary's Bay.
They were martyred, it is true, by the Indians ; they
died in the wild iorest of starvation or fatigue ; but
that did not deter others from foUowing in their steps ;
and the first Europeans who dwelt peaceably in these
lands were the missionary fathers, who claimed them,
not for any earthly power, but for God and St. Mary
the Virgin.
It is true that they were soon driven from Yirginia
and the Carohnas. Shortly after the discovery of Amer
ica, followed the discovery of that system of rebellion
popularly known as the Eeformation. The only distinc
tive mark of this was, and is, hatred to the Church, and
whenever its adherents had the power, it was signal
ized by the destruction of religious establishments.
While the most splendid monuments of religion and
art were falling beneath its axes in Europe, its repre
sentatives in the New World, in Carolina and Yirginia,
banded with and led on the savages to the sack of the
humble missions, and the slaughter of the devoted
priests who served them.'

' The Christian Indians driven out with the missionaries took the
name of Seminoles, or Wanderers. Deprived of their instructors, they

8 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
No so-caUed Protestant powers have ever mado
their way to any new or pagan country — India, China,
Japan, or America — without finding Catholic mission
aries in possession before them ; quia Domini est terra,
" the earth is the Lord's." And wherever they have
been strong enough, they have invariably overthrown
those missions and re-established paganism. Nay, in
some places they have endowed it ; and to-day the dis-
torted.idols for India are manufactured by the ton in
the cities of Christian England.
So the missions on St. Mary's Bay and in the Caro-
linas were destroyed by the combined zeal of the Ee-
former and the Yemassee ; but under the Catholic flag
of Spain, they flourished and took root in Alabama
and Florida ; and the summer sun of 1693 shone upon
a statue of the Mother of God, under whose patronage
and protection they were founding, and successfully,
Pensacola." And while these transactions were occurring in the
south and southwest, the French missionaries were
conquering the tribes of the north. From Acadia and
the St. Lawrence the servants of Mary spread the news
of salvation. The forests of Canada rang with the
Salve Regina ; from the birch canoes that cut the azure
waters of the great lakes swelled up the Ave Maris
Stella. On the banks of the Hudson, Bressany told
his beads in the intervals of Iroquois torture. " In tho
gradually relapsed into paganism. — Vide Shea's Catholic Missions,
p. 75.
' Shea : History of the United States, p. 40.

m North America. 9
valley of the Mohawk streamed the blood of the mar-
tjTed Jogues, and whole districts of New York Indians
publicly renounced their idolatries.
AUouez and Dablon evangelized the chill shores of
Lake Superior; Marquette bore the cross down the
waters of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkan
sas, established a mission of the Immaculate Concep
tion among the Illinois, and laid his weary frame to
rest at last on the shores of Lake Michigan. And so
the Catholic embrace circled North America, extending
through pain and privation, through toil and martyr
dom, until the Jesuit, going northward from Missouri,
and westward from Canada, completed the sacred cir
cle as they met beneath the crests of the Eocky
Mountains and on the plains of Oregon.
But after all, this was but Our Lady's discovery of
North America, as it were — was but a planting of her
standard and the act of taking possession. The battle
was still to be fought, the hostile tribes were to be sub
dued ; re-enforcements of foes from lands inimical to
her cause were to be expected, and were only to be
met by re-enforcements of fiiends from lands that
loved her.
-Her conquests resemble those of the world in this,
that if they are to succeed, the officers must be skilful,
fearless, diligent, prudent, unselfish, and prompt ; the
troops must be steadfast, obedient, loyal, and constant.
If they shall appear to have been so, we will under
stand how her honor has increased in the land ; how
seven hundred churches bear her Name, out of three

10 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
thousand five hundred in every portion of the country ;
how the same sweet Name is given to river, lake, and
mountain peak and bay, north, south, and through the
centre ; and how more than two million voices chant
her praise, and proclaim her Lady and Protectress.'
The instruments, then, of the gracious will and favor
of God are the fidelity of His ministers, the influx of
foreign Cathohcs, and the winning character of the
doctrines and devotions of the Church.
The fidelity of the minister is the main point, since,
without this, the aborigine would retain his paganism,
the emigrant lose his faith, the American remain un
converted. He must be faithful who would preach the
gospel of Christ, and so extend the devotion to Mary,
for these two go together. The Mother, for all eter
nity, now is inseparable from her Son. When He took
her pure flesh upon Him in time, it was not only to
suffer in it here, but to preserve it forever in heaven.
She whom He called Mother here. He calls Mother
there. She has no honor but His, and what she merits
by duty faultlessly performed to Him. Whatever goes
towards God's glory is an honor to Mary ; whatever
detracts from it or obstructs it, is a pain to Mary.
She has nothing of her own, yet she has all ; for she
has Him, " of whom and by whom and for whom are
aU" — -propter quern omnia et per quern omnia!'
' Even these estimates are less than the truth. They are made
from the almanac for 1861, in which, for some dioceses, the names of
churches are not given : indeed, whole dioceses have no report at all.
" Saint Paul : Epistle to the Hebrews, ii. 10.

m North America. 11
It is her Maternity to Him that explains — that only
can explain — the Catholic devotion to her. It is be
cause she has Him for her child that she has us for her
reverers. She has a right to our veneration, because
she bare Him who has a right to^our adoration. It is
a common sentiment of our nature to honor every
good mother for the sake of her son ; it is a sin, then,
against our regenerate nature to refuse honor to that
best Mother of the best Son. And so it comes that
His ministers are her ministers ; that fidelity to the
gospel of Christ is fidelity to devotion for Mary.
And for this fidelity must her minister be endowed
with the gifts which insure it, and which are rendered
necessary by the circumstances of their lives, as well
as for the success of their mission.
They must be prudent as serpents, for a thousand
snares are daily laid for their destruction. Estate ergo
prudenfes id serpenfes' — yet prudent without selfishness
or trick ; " be ye simple as doves" — .'simplices sicut co-
Inmhce. They must be brave in their innocence, for
" I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,"
mitto vos sicut agnos inter lupos / humble, for the poor
in spirit have the blessing — beati pauperes spiritu ;' yet
in all their personal humility they must preserve the
highest dignity and sacred character of their office,
since, " as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you"
— sic2d misit me Pater et ego mitto vos.* Eenunciation
of the world, and separation from its ties and it, are
' St. Matthew's Gospel, x. 10. ' St. Matthew, v. 3.
' St. Luke, X. 3. * St. John's Gospel, xx. 31.

12 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
necessary, for the "cares of this world choke the
word," and the married man careth for the things of
the world, how he may please his wife, cerumnce sceculi
siiffocant verbum,' and qici cum uxori est solicitus est mundi
qui. modo placeat uxori!'
The ministers of God and Mary must find no obsta
cle in disease, privation, or poverty, no terror in death ;
for the " sufferings of the present life are not worthy
to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed" —
non sunt condignce passiones hujus temporis ad futuram
gloriam qua; 7'evelabitur in nobis.' He must be persever
ing, for only " to him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of Life which is in the Paradise of my
God" — Vincenti dabo edere de ligno vitce quod est in Pa^
radiso Dei mei ;' and he must be ever vigilant, since
only that servant is blessed whom his Lord, when He
cometh, shall find watching — Beati servi iUi, quos, cum
venerit Dominus invenerit vigilantes.''
And it is precisely men of such qualifications whom
it has pleased God to send out for the evangelization
of America. Had they been endowed with less than
all this, the English conquest of North America would
have swept the devotion to Mary from the land. Were
they not so endowed to-day, devotion to Mary would
perish before the godlessness, the indifference of the
world around us. But they are the same in the nine
teenth century as in the sixteenth ; they may differ
' St. Mark, xiv. 19. ' Apocalypse, ii. 7.
' 1 Corinthians, vii. 33. ' St. Luke, xii. 37.
" St. Paul to the Eomans, viii. 18

IN North America. IH
externally in some matters, but the interior — the in
tention, the purpose — ^is the same, as is the divine
commission and ordination which gives authority to
their labors.
Monseigneur Verot builds a church to-day on the
spot where Luis Cancel de Barbastro was martyred
three hundred years ago. Bishop Lamy renews among
the Spaniards and Indians in 1862 the fervor awakened
in 1560 for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Where Jogues
told his beads as a preventive for martyrdom, on the
banks of the Mohawk, a hundred voices are repeating
the same prayers ; and while the circle of Mary's in
fluence has been widened, till its bounds are the Gulf
of Mexico, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and its
northern limits are the extreme Arctic regions — while
a bishop has his seat at the mouth of the Columbia
Eiver, and another in far Florida, the land named for
Palm Sunday,' and a third rules in the almost per
petual winter of Hudson's Bay, and a fourth in, the
golden land of California — the intrepid missionaries
are pushing the frontiers still further northward ; and
faithful servants of Mary have filled, and are still fill
ing the whole interior of the country with love and
reverence for her name.
While the old missionary orders, Jesuit, and Sulpi-
tian, and Franciscan,' are still energetically pursuing
' The Spaniards landing on Palm Sunday, which they call Pascua
Florida, or the Flower Easter, gave this name to the new land.
' The EecoUects, an order of reformed Franciscans, are busied in
Canada.

14 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
their sacred conquests in Oregon, among the Esqui
maux and the tribes of British America, new orders
have arisen especially devoted and dedicated to the
Blessed Yirgin, as the Marists' and the Oblates of
Mary Immaculate.^
These are the outposts and advanced guards of
God's army in North America ; while, in the interior,
the secular and regular clergy, bishop and priest, are
in the heat of the fight. These have, perhaps, even
harder work than the missionary to the pagan. I do
not say this in a spirit of comparison, but only in ex
pression of a feeling which I possess, in common with
others, and which is this : That he who is roaming
through the grandnative forests, breasting the torrent
in a birch canoe, setting a stout heart against the in
clemencies of a wild nature, has the poetry and ro
mance, the adventure and ever-varying incident to
inspirit and excite him.
So Bancroft, after a tribute to the zeal of the mis
sionary, says : " And yet the simplicity and the free
dom of life in the wilderness had its charms. The
heart of the missionary would swell with delight, as,
under a serene sky, and with a mild temperature, and
breathing a pure air, he moved over waters as trans
parent as the most limpid fountain. Every encamp
ment offered his attendants the pleasures of the chase.

' An educational order founded at Bordeaux, France, in 1818.
' A missionary order whose superior-general is Mgr. the Bishop of
Marseilles, and who are laboring chiefly in British America and in the
Bouthwestern United States.

IN North America. 15
Like a patriarch, he dwelt beneath a tent ; and of tlio
land through which he walked he was its master, in
the length of it and in the breadth of it, profiting by
its productions without the embarrassment of owner
ship. How often was the pUlow of stones like that
where Jacob felt the presence of God ! How often did
the aged oak, whereof the centuries were untold, seem
like the tree of Mamre, beneath which Abraham broke
bread with angels ! Each day gave the pilgrim a new
site for his dwelling, which the industry of a few
moments could erect, and for which nature supplied a
floor of green, inlaid with flowers. On every side
clustered beauties which art had not spoiled and could
not imitate." '
He has the rough, hearty life of a soldier, and the
triumph of the discoverer; and he has to teach the
true God to those who have worshipped demons. But
the priests in the midst of a more or less perfect civili
zation have not this. Their fight is against the vices
of civilization, very unpoetic, very unromantic ; against
the love of money, the cheatery of trade, the permitted
dishonor and dishonesty of the world ; against the in
fluence of the drinking-shop and the low gambling-
table ; against the serpent of liberalism and godless
ness; against the temptations of impurity and false
doctrine ; against the ever-changing phases of sin in
individuals; against dangers which confer no glory,
and poverty which is not picturesque. They are in the

Bancroft : History of the United States, iii. 158.

16 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
heart of the army, in the midst of the ranks ; they are
the unnoticed fighters, who fall, and are succeeded by
others who fall in turn ; who combat all their lives to
gain one foot of gi'ound, or, perhaps, only not to lose
one foot ; and whose record is only on the page of the
book of the Great King on high.
For them the steaming walls of the hospital replace
the dark green arching aisles of the stately immemorial
wood. For them the rush and roar of the hot and nar
row street must be a substitute for the fresh, free leap
of the wild and beautiful river. The skulking convict
and the drunkard, the brazen harlot and the apostate
Catholic, must be their dark-skinned warrior tribe.
The idols they must shatter are the human passions ;
the temples they must renovate are human hearts.
It is in this view that I have ventured to call their
work harder ; not in itself, but in its circumstances :
not because more actual labor is required from one
than another ; but because of the lack of much which
can stimulate and distract.
And this brings me to a point which must be care
fully noticed by the reader. I mean the difference be
tween the rise of devotion to the Blessed Mother of
God in this country and in the old Catholic lands, and
the consequent difference between the respective ex
ternal manifestations of it.
When the Gospel of the Son of Mary issued from
Palestine and spread over Europe, it was for the
dethronement of false deities among comparatively
simple men; for civilization then was exclusively

'm North America. 17
Eoman, save here and there a little colony. Men re
ceived the faith, sooner or later, in simple, earnest
hearts. Faith retained for many, many centuries a
straightforwardness and mmhesitating openness which
has begun to decay only within the last three hundred
years. For the general diffusion of a too thin and in-
nutritive knowledge has unquestionably injured the
simplicity of faith, by increasing, not our wisdom, but
our conceit that we are wise.
Men have been taught by this to replace Faith with
those niggardliest of qualities, suspicion and doubt.
State any manifestation of God's love to man, any in
dividual and distinct mark of His favor or providence,
and for one that will say Blessed be His Name for
that, a hundred will doubt it, wiU furnish a score of
mean reasons against its probability, will suspect a
score of honorable men of collusion, invention, and
deceit. Pantheism — if I may use that word for want of a
better to express the generalization and depersonaliza
tion of God — was not universally spread as it is now.
If it existed, it was in some head which " too much
learning had made mad" — some mind gone astray
through over-esteem of its own reasoning faculties;
and was generally confined to a university chamber.
Then men believed in a personal God, to whom they
were personally accountable ; they loved to receive His
gifts and benefits as personal ones ; they knew nothing
of these fine, new, universal humanities and confeder
acies of God ; but He was my Father and my God aa
B

18 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
well as our Father and our God. They got closer to
Him by this individualizing, which was yet in no sense
exclusive. A man received a benefit, not as a general,
universal gift — of the gratitude for which his own share
was so small that God would not miss it if it were
never paid — but as a benefit done to him, for which all
his gratitude was too little.
And so they had personal dealings with God ; and
when he said to the beloved disciple — speaking from
the cloud of agony which overhung the Cross — " Son,
behold thy mother !" they saw in that divinest boon a
mother for all and each of them ; a mother equally
loving and tender to each of her children ; procuring
benefits for each from her Divine Son, and, therefore,
naturally carrying back to Him the thanks of each for
such benefits.
WeU, then, in a little time, human thanks to God
ran generally through Mary's heart and lips as their
channel, the channel naturally the most agreeable to
Him ; and so her name got to be embroidered on the
bright mantle of the European world as its chiefest
decoration. They went to fight, and begged her pro
tection; they came back successful, and they buUt
Notre Dame des Victoires. They were perishing by an
epidemic, and made a novena to her, and she heard
them, and their Cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady of
Help in need, Notre Dame de hon secours.
Travellers lighted on land after storms, like the
grand, heroic Columbus, and because in their trouble
they had begged help from the gentle Mother, and

in North America. 19
thought that she had heard them, they caUed the new
land by her name. A city escapes some general deso
lation ; they change its name for some title of hers. A
poor, pious man, attacked by highwaymen, converts
one by his gentle discourse ; the place is called St.
Mary of Bobbers, and some nineteenth-century liter
ary skirmisher wiU inform you that the Blessed Yirgin
was the patroness of thieves in this neighborhood.
In this way Europe became covered with mementoes
of benefits received by Mary's intercession, and, by
inevitable naturalness, they bear her name ; and, in
those days, remembering some kindness done by her
to some particular town, and standing in need of the
same kindness for himself, a man would pray to our
Lady of Eehbourg, St. Mary of ChaUons, the Immacu
late Yirgin of Liege. From which circumstance cer
tain flatulent writers have deduced that those Catholics
thought there were many Blessed Yirgins, and that
each Uved in her own special village.'
Hence, the History, of the Devotion to the Blessed

¦ Even such as Walter Scott and Washington Irving commit blim-
ders which are incomprehensible to men whose education is far in
ferior to that of those masters. Catholics going to Mass at all hours of
the afternoon and evening, confessing to and receiving absolution from
laymen, and men, women, and children in general using breviaries
and missals. A well-educated author, a Protestant, is required to
know the meaning of the Kamadan, the Mishna, the Norwegian
Sagas, Joe Smith the Mormon, the Yezidees, the Fetish, but is allowed
to blunder like an idiot about Mass, Vespers, and Eosary, the highest
and most frequent acts of worship of two hundred millions of Chria
tian men, half of whom are of the leading races of civilization in
France, Spain, North America, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain 1

20 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Virgin in Europe is simply a ramble through the
Beautiful. There is no hamlet, no burgh, nor city
without its consecration, partial or entire, to the dear
Mother of God, and for His sake ours. Europe is
flooded with fact, and legend, and circumstance ; and
he who writes of the devotion there finds difficulty,
not in discovering material, but in deciding amid the
masses that Ue before him what he wUl accept and
what refuse.
But with us, the national antiquities, so to speak, of
the Catholic Faith must be looked for only on our
borders. The poetry of evangeUzation meets only the
Indian missionary, the tradition of the Spaniard in the
South, of the Frenchman in the North. I mean, of
course, the published poetry ; for the hidden, intrinsic
beauties of our faith and our devotion are imperishable
and invariable. We live, comparatively few in number,
in a land which, if not Protestant, is, at least, anti-
CathoUc. No sacred processions, with vested clerics
at their head, sweep through our streets ; no train of
pilgrims winds along the river-bank, or through the
greenwood, to a favored Lady Chapel ; no sweet face
of dear Mary Mother smUes at us as we pass from
wayside shrine ; there is no halt of business,' and gen-
' These statements are to be taken generally, and particularly only
of the United States. French Canada, of course, retains, with the
ancient faith, many of its external practices. The colonies of Catholic
Highlanders in the extreme north can do as they please. Louisiana.
New Mexico, and part of California, are still Catholic ; but where our
great populations and our largest wealth and influence are, these
words are true.

in North America. 21
eral baring of the head for a moment's communion
with God, when the Angelus rings out from the steeple.
A few traditional observances may Unger in portions
of the United States where the Spanish or French in
fluence has remained unaltered; but the length and
breadth of the land is bitterly hostUe to any out
ward manifestation of our love for Mary, because bit
terly hostUe to that love itself.
Pulpit and lecture-room, rostrum, pubUc meeting,
and corner-stone layings, the press and the bar-room,
re-echo with charges of idolatry, of taking from God
the honor which is His due only, and giving it to a
creature ; and even the gentlest wiU shake their heads
and bewaU with grave charity the unfortunate propen
sity of the Papist to give too much honor to Mary.
And yet what is our feeble love and honor compared
to that which she obtains from God ? As our love for
our feUows is but a shadow of His love for man, so
our especial love for Mary is but a shadow — a faint,
attenuated shadow — of His love for her. The Eternal
Father hath chosen her to be the Mother of His only
Son ; the Holy Spirit elected her His spouse. The
Son who giveth right-hand thrones to the apostles who
preached His word, is bound in justice to do more for
the Mother who bore Him. For His sake, if you
would please Him, reverence her; if you believe in
honoring your own mother, believe that He believes in
honoring His. It is impossible for the Christian
adorer of the Incarnate God to give His blessed
Mother more honor, interior or exterior, than is her

22 Devotiun to inE B. Y. Mart
due. Sancta et immaculafa Virginitas, quibus te laudibus
efferam nescio ; quia qvem coeli capere non poterant, tuo
gremio contidisti.^
So, then, when we consider how strong this feeUng
against devotion to Mary is ; how powerful the influ
ence of the majority is, especiaUy when that majority
possesses the wealth and influence of the land ; how
many temptations surround the Catholic here ; how
hard it is to bear slight, misrepresentation, and wilful
falsehood ; how much easier it is to deny having a del
icate and beloved sentiment the rather than to expose
it to the risk of a sneer ; how swift the pace of the
money-hunter is here ; how Uttle the beautiful in life
and creed is cultivated, and how devoted are men to
what they are pleased to caU the practical, and which
means simply more careful dUigence for the body than
for the soul, for time than for eternity ; — when we con
sider all these, the wonder is, not that there is so much
or so Uttle devotion to Our Lady, but that there is any
at all.
Yet in despite of all this, we are prepared to believe
that there is no old Catholic country in Europe ; that
there never has been a country in which reverent love
and earnest heartfelt devotion for the Blessed Mother
of God was more deeply rooted, more ardently cher
ished, or more fervently and fruitfuUy practised than
this same North America. It is unobtrusive, but it is
¦ Eesponse in ofiBce of B. V. M. Holy and immaculate Virginity 1
with what praises to greet thee I know not ; for Him whom the
heavens cannot contain, thou hast borne in thy bosom.

IN North America. 23
real. It guides and influences the hearts of men, and
it is found, pure and glowing, in the souls of some who
seem to be the most thoughtless in society, of some who
seem to be the driest and most engrossed by affairs.
It begins in earUest chUdhood, when the scapular
and the medal are placed round the neck, to be kept
there ever afterwards, even in the grave. As the child
grows, he is won into membership of some Sodality of
the Blessed Yirgin, some Eosary Society, some Confra
ternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The elders
form their benevolent associations, and place them un
der the patronage of the Queen of Angels. Nuns of
Notre Dame and of the Yisitation train the female
chUdren. Brothers of Mary are consecrated to the
education of boys. The Bishop labors patiently tiU
his seminary of St. Mary is completed ; the priest toils
arduously untU his parish of the Annunciation or the
Assumption is estabUshed ; and all join their prayers,
their counsel, their money, their manual labor, their
seH-denial and renunciation, untU the Cross peeps
through the greenwood from the convent of Mary's
Help, and the Church of the Immaculata crowns the
summit of the hUl.
We close this chapter, then, with a short view of the
means whereby this devotion has entered and in
creased in this country, before examining its progress
and effects more .particularly.
And first, the Spaniard brought it in his heart as
his best treasure for a new life, his best memento of
his own old fervent land. He planted it in the ever-

24 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
glades of Florida, on the coasts of Alabama ; or bore
it with patient perseverance into Mexico, California,
Texas, and even Oregon. In the various changes
which this country has undergone of poUtical rule and
advancing civUization, the Iberian was driven from the
East, and made powerless in the West, and his faith
grew lazy, and in some places almost disappeared.
But reUgious freedom fought its way here into general
acceptation, and now the love of Mary is reappearing,
fresh and beautiful, as the resurrection of the flowers
when the winter has passed away.
Then the Frenchman, above aU, the loyal and pious
Breton, settled Acadia.'
" When, in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sun
set
Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chimneys.
Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles.
********** Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the children
Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them.
Eeverend walked he among them, and up rose matrons and maidens.
Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate welcome.
Then came the laborers home from the field, and serenely the sun
sank
Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the belfry
Slowly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the village
Columns of pale-blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending,
Eose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.
Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers —
Dwelt in the love of God and man." ^
And thence they were driven by the EngUsh, under
, ' The Acadia of the French settlers embraced Maine, New Brun&
wick, and Nova Scotia.
» Longfellow's "Evangeline."

IS North America. 25
circumstances of barbaric cruelty which wrung from
the very heart of a Protestant the finest poem yet
written in America, and one of the finest poems of
home and domestic affection extant in any language.
But the good seed had been blown abroad by those
brave northern winds, and the love and the name of
Mary had been carried, through the wUd red tribes, to
the shores of Lake Superior, and missionaries were
already sighing for permission to bear it to the far and
yet unknown Mississippi.' And when, in 1673, Father
Marquette discovered and explored that river, the
name that he gave it was "Immaculate Conception."
The Frenchman, descending the Mississippi, met
the Spaniards coming up from Mexico, through New
Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas. And yet,
although it was^the forces of Great Britain which ex
terminated the missions of CaroUna, and half de
stroyed those of Acadia and Canada, it was reserved
for that empire to send forth a colony which should
make the central line CathoUc, and give the name of
Mary to the State they founded.
With these three points starts the History of the
CathoUc Church, and, consequently, of the devotion to
the Blessed Mother of God in North America. What
missionizing was done went either westward from
' Bancroft, ii. Thus did the religious zeal of the French bear the
Cross to the banks of the St. Mary and the confines of Lake Superior,
and look wistfully towards the home of the Sioux, in the valley of the
Mississippi, five years before the New England Elliot had addressed
the tribe of Indians that dwelt within six mUes of Boston harbor.
3

26 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Maryland or southward from Canada, the Jesuits and
EecoUects reaching the Hudson and Mohawk rivers
and the State of IlUnois. But little, however, was
accompUshed untU after the Eevolution, in the interior
of the States east of the Mississippi. West of that
great river, the whites were few or none.
¦But the emigration began. More French came into
the central States on the Atlantic, and their religion
was respected for the sake of their services to the
country, if for nothing else. The Irishman came, bear
ing from the shores of his seagirt isle the faith which
had withstood centuries of persecution, and such a
persecution as is a phenomenon in history, having no
paraUel in the annals of man's injustice to man. Yan-
quished, enslaved, starved, tempted, they clung to God
and St. Mary the Yirgin only more closely for aU at
tempts to sever them.
Crushed down by that preposterous incubus caUed
the National Church, they remained and stiU remain
devotedly faithful to the ancient creed. I do not speak
of the priest-hunting and sanguinary portions of the
persecutions, for that violence rather "fans the flame of
loyalty ; but of that dead, stupid, crushing load, which,
pressing as it did on their very lives and souls, needed
a miracle of grace to enable them to resist it as they
have done.
And when, commending themselves to that dear
Mother in heaven, who had been their support and
consolation, they bade adieu to their home, they
brought to the land of their adoption the same im-

IN North America. 27
shaken fideUty to their reUgion. They spread, like
bee-swarms, over the land ; their strong arms hewed
wide pathways through the forest, and cut the canals
which were the Ufe-veins leading to the country's
heart ; their hands laid the long, interminable lines of
raUway with which the map is covered as by a spider's
web ; and wherever they went they caUed to them
Saggart aroon, the priest of their love ; and when he
came, the new Uttle church of St. Mary soon rose,
and the ancient Salve Regina resounded beneath the
heavens in a new land.
Then from the Ehine came their brethren, from that
"long street of cassocks," as Charles the Fifth was
wont to caU it, where pilgrims are seen daily seeking
shrines of Our Lady; where the mile-stones by the
road are wayside niches for her image ; where her
name is the most beloved of household words ; where
a hundred poets chant her praises ; where the great
schools of modern art love to reproduce her pure, ma
ternal face ; and where the very Protestant has not
learned to speak of her with disrespect, nor utterly to
empty his heart of aU love for her.
These came to take up a thousand minor necessary
industries which were too slow for the swift, rushing
American ; to occupy smaU farms throughout the in
terior ; to teach the vineyard how to bloom upon the
hiU-side. And they, too, brought a store of devotion to
Mary, unobtrusive, Uttle noticed, but fixed, steadfast,
patient, and indestructible as then- own quiet character.
These parishes are generaUv the largest in America •

28 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
they retain the pleasant customs of their fatherland ;
they caU their settlements Mariastein, Mariahilf, and
they transmit to their children their own trust in and
affection for die lieilige Mutter Gottes.
Thus, then, from North, South, and East, have the
armies of blessed Mary marched into the land. Since
the year of our Lord 1580, they have advanced, at first
slowly, and then with rapid strides. For not only do
the foreign populations retain and transmit their ven
eration for her, but countless conversions are made
from heresy, or from the godlessness which is more
prevalent and dangerous than it. And how many of
these have been caused through affection for the ma
ternity of Mary, or by her direct interposition ? Some
have been brought into the true fold by reading for
the first time the story of the Church's love for her ;
some by wearing her medal ; some by invoking her in
time of need — " 0 holy Mary, conceived' without sin,
pray for us sinners who have recourse to thee 1" and
some by observing the devotion of CathoUc friends to
her, and the beautiful charities, the gentleness, and un
selfishness which are apt to spring from that.
What wonder, then, that in her own sweet month
of May, the Fathers of the CouncU of 1846 held in
Baltimore — twenty-two bishops, with their theologi
ans — should solemnly elect as Patroness of the United
States of America the Blessed Yu-gin Mary, immacu
lately conceived? The Fathers had been trained in
her honor, they had Uved for her service, they desired
to add this crowning glory to their life-long prayer

in North America. 29
and praise, and at the same time to show their zeal
for the true interests of this country, by entreating
her protection for it in this eminent and public way.
The next year this election was confirmed by the
sovereign Pontiff,' and now forever in the grand pub
Uc session that closes these august assembUes, after
the Te Deum has been simg, the cantors, richly coped,
stand before the altar and intone their first acclama
tion to the Most High God. That chorused, they
burst forth —
" BeatissimsB Yirgini Marise, sine labe originaU con
ceptse, harum Provinciarnm Patronse, honor seternus!"
And in chorus the venerable bishops, the theologi
ans and attendant priests, and the whole multitude
of people, repeat the glad ascription, and then, sweU-
ing to vaulted roof, and filling aisle and nave and
broad cathedral sanctuary, roUs in deep, majestic
chorus the solemn Amen ! Amen !

1 Decrbttjm :
Cum E. P. D. Aichiepiscopus Baltimorensis ej usque Suffraganei
Episcopi Concilium Sextum Provinciale mense Maio anno 1846
celebrantes, supplices petiissent ut a S. Sede approbaretur electio
quam ipsi in Concilio fecerunt Bmse. Marise Virginis sine labe origi
nal! conceptse in Patronam Septentrionalis Americse FcederatEe Pro
vinciarnm ; * * * Emi. ao Eevmi. Patres in congregatione general!
de propaganda Fide censuerunt supplicandum Ssmo. Dno nostro ut
pientissimis Concilii votis annuere dignentur.
Hanc vero S. Cong, sententiam in audientia die 7 Februarii 1847
habita Ssmus Dns noster Pius divina providentia PP. IX. benigne
probavit in omnibus.

30 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart

CHAPTEE n.
The Zeal of the Pioneees — CnAMPLADf and the Eecolleots— Motheb
Mart of the Inoarnatioit awd the DESuLiHEa — Maequette Ann thb
Immaoxilate Conception.
The secret of the devotion to Mary is a heart-felt
zeal for the glory of God. It was a higher motive
than any worldly one that brought Columbus to San
Salvador and Concepcion, or Champlain to the snows
and forests of the North.
"The salvation of a single soul," says this pious
gentleman, "is worth more than the conquest of an
empke, and kings should seek to extend their domin
ions in countries where idolatry reigns, .only to cause
their submission to Jesus Christ." ' He undertook his
toUs and labors with patience, in order " to plant in
this country the standard of the Cross, and to teach
the knowledge of God and the glory of His Holy
Name, desiring to increase charity for His unfortunate
creatures." ^
Thinking that he would " commit' a great fault if he
employed no means of bringing the savages to the

' The first words of the Sieur de Champlain's voyages.
' Planter en ce pays I'estendart de la Croix et leur enseigner la
coguoissance de Dieu et gloire de Son Sainct Nom, estant nostre desir
d'augmenter la charite envers ses miserables creatures. — Voyages et
decouvertures depuis 1615.

in North America. 31
knowledge of God," he earnestly "sought out some
good EeUgious who would have zeal and affection for
God's glory." Such as these are always discoverable
by those who are reaUy in want of them, and Cham
plain soon found them — men " wi.o were borne away
by holy affection, who burned to make this voyage, if
so, by God's grace, they might gain some fruit, and
might plant in these lands the standard of Jesus
Christ, with fixed resolution to Uve, and, if need were,
to die, for His sacred Name !"' So, when the ship is
ready, we naturaUy expect the next record, that "each
of us examined himself and purged himself of his sins
by penitence and confession, so best to say adieu to
France and to place himseU in a state of grace, that
each might be conscientiously free to give himself up
into the keeping of God and to the bUlows of a vast
and perUous sea.""
When the voyage is thus undertaken, what wonder
that we find, along the first discovered coasts, St.
Mary's Bay, St. Mary's Isle, St. Mary's Eiver; that
Montreal is first caUed Vilh Marie; that the first
grant of land from the Due de Yentadour to the
Jesuits is the lordship or seigneurie of Our Lady of
Angels, and that then, by Mary's lake and missions of
Assumption and Annunciation, we sweep away west
ward to the mysterious river of the Conception ?
And so the portal of the Occident being thrown
open, and the highways baptized by the name of
' Voyages depuis 1615, p. 3. ' Ibid., p. 8.

32 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Mary, her servants enter in. How they labored, a
sketch of one or two of them wiU suffice to show.
Mother Mart of the Incarnation.
In the convent grounds of the Ursulines, at Quebec,
stood lately an old ash-tree. More than two hundred
years ago, under its shadowy foUage, one might have
seen a crowd of swarthy Indian girls, Algonquins, Iro
quois, Abnakis, but most of aU, Hurons. Their voices
sounded with natural sweetness in prayer, as their
dusky fingers told their beads, or mingled in the Salve
Regina or Ave Maris Stella, and their eyes were closed
in meditation or lifted up with love upon the figure of
the crucified Eedeemer or the image of Our Lady, or
fixed reverently and attentively upon the calm, affec
tionate face of their instructress. And she, with the
holy wisdom and patient sweetness which are the gifts
of saints, taught them the love of God, winning them
one by one, and through them their famUies, from
their pagan superstitions and their wretched life, to
the love and service of that dear Lord and His
Mother, to whom she had totaUy given up her body
and her soul.
Far away in central France she had left a gay and
comfortable world, the society of the noble, the ease of
wealth, for the white bandeau and dark veU and habit
of the UrsuUne ; and, in the year of our redemption
1639, she completed her renunciation of aU things by
forsaking her sunny native land forever for the ice
bound shores, the privations, the perpetual toUs of

in North America. 38
Canada. Her very name was left behind her in the
world she had forsaken ; the lady of the French salons
had been caUed Madame Sophie Gaynet ; the UrsuUne
beneath the ash-tree in Quebec was Mother Mary of
the Incarnation. And this is, in brief, her story.
One holy Christmas-tide, in her home at Tours,
when her heart and soul had been particularly given
up to union with God, by meditation on the mystery
of His Incarnation, she feU asleep and dreamed. She
thought that she, with one companion, hand in hand,
were toiUng along a broken and difficult road; more
difficult than ordinary, because they did not see, but
only felt the obstacles. But they had plenty of cour
age, and went on until they reached a place known as
the Tannery, beyond which lay their home.
Here they were met by a venerable old man, in
whose pure, sacred Uneaments beamed kindness and
protection. It was he who had watched and guided
St. Mary and her ChUd from the roofs of Bethlehem
to the palm-shades of Egypt. And St. Joseph, she
thought, conducted them into a vast inclosure, whereof
the sky was the only roof. The pavement and the
waUs were of white, spotless alabaster, and arabesqued
with gold. Here aU was silence, deep, reUgious, recol
lected. And, without disturbing the holy stiUness by
a word, their guide pointed out to them the way they
should go. And they saw a Uttle hospice of quaint,
ancient architecture, but very beautiful, and of snow-
white marble ; and in an embrasure of this, upon a
deUcately-sculptured seat, sat Our Blessed Lady, St.

34 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Mary, with the infant Jesus in her arms; but their
backs were towards the traveUers.
Mary of the Incarnation sprang forward and em
braced the throne of her Queen, whUe her companion
knelt at a Uttle distance, where she could easily see
the Yirgin and her Child. The hospice faced the
Orient. It was built upon an eminence, and at the
foot of this was a vast space, murky with clouds ; and
through the thick, chiU mists tUere rose into pure air
the spire and gables of a church, but the body of it
was hidden by the heavy fog. A rugged, perUous road
led down the rocks into this space, winding along fear
ful precipices and through cavernous rents in the
mountain. Our Lady's gaze was fixed upon this
gloomy space, and the heart of the nun kneeUng be
hind her burned with desire to see the face of the
Mother of pure deUghts.
And then the Yu'gin turned and welcomed the sup-
pUant with a smUe of ineffable sweetness, and, bend
ing down, she gently kissed her forehead. Then she
seemed to whisper something about the UrsuUne to
the divine child in her arms. And when she had done
this three times the vision faded, and in a tremor of
deUght the nun awoke.
A year after, while absorbed in mental prayer, the
UrsuUne became impressed with the idea that the
cold, cloudy space was Canada, then caUed New
France. She felt the most powerful attraction to
wards those unhappy regions, and seemed to hear a
command to go there, and to found a house for Jesus

IN North America. 35
and for Mary; so, then and there, she promised, if
such were the wUl of God, to obey the inspkation if
He would supply the means. She was right in her
conclusions ; this was her vocation ; the shores of the
broad St. Lawrence were to form the scene of her
labors for more than thirty years ; and then, blessing
and blessed, she was to depart thence for her eternal
home in heaven.
In October, 1636, comes a letter from the Jesuit
Fathers, inviting her most urgently to join them. It
is dated from the mission of the Immaculate Concep
tion ; it contains an anecdote of how the Fathers had
made a vow to give the names of Mary and Joseph to
the first persons baptized by them ; how they had ac
complished that vow ; how Joseph died a holy Chris
tian death soon after, but Mary was Uving, and was
the first Indian who had brought her children for
baptism and education to the missionaries. Their
converts numbered several hundreds, and the Fathers
often heard resounding from the leafy aisles of the
forest the sweet names of Jesus and of Mary.
The saints have a straightforward simplicity in their
lives which prevents our ever being surprised attheir
actions. After her vision, her waking convictions as
to its significance, and the letters from Canada, we are
ready to see her seated in the cabin of the St. Joseph,
and writing placidly to her superior : " There are signs
of a storm, the captain says ; we are at war with Spain
and England also, and may meet their cruisers in the
Channel ; but those are not reasons for being troubled

36 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
now. In fact, one has no trouble now ; the difficulty
is to explain or understand that infinitely sweet repose
which foUows one's complete abandonment to God;
lorsqu'on s'est donne une bonne fois a Dieu." '
There were no crowds of affectionate friends; no
weU-Uned carriage ; no warm and brUUant drawing-
room ready for her in Canada : her welcome was to
hear the savages chant hymns in their own languages ;
to see five himdred Huron names upon a year's bap
tismal register ; to receive her young future pupUs as
they came forward, and to mark their names, Mary
Negabmah, and Mary Amiskwam, and Mary Abateno,
and Mary Gamitien;'' and then to go to such house
as she had, and, with her sisterhood, commence at
once her thirty years' occupation.
It is not much of a house, that convent and semi
nary of the Ursulines ; between the cracks of the planks
you can see the bright winter stars ; and it is almost
impossible to keep a candle burning in the rooms. It
is no easy matter to accommodate aU their pupUs, and
the sisterhood in the bargain. The beds, for instance,
made of pine-plank, have to be arranged in tiers, after
the manner of berths in a canal-boat. They are
obUged to cut up their own bedclothes to make gar
ments for the poor Uttle Indian girls as they come in,
and their chief articles of diet, indeed their only ones
for a whUe, are salt fish and lard.
' Choix des Lettres Historiques de la Venerable Mere Marie de Tin-
carnation, premiere superieuie des Ursulines de Quebec, p. 20.
" Ibid., pp. 35, 37.

IN North America. 37
And then the chUdren. They are not aU Uke Mary
Gamitien, who needs no spur to daybreak devotion ;
who is up with the sun, reciting her rosary, and who
sings beautiful hymns to the Blessed Yirgin in the
Huron tongue. They are not like her when they come
out of the woods. But they are brought to the good
sisters with no more clothing than a solid coat of
grease, weU rubbed in by their parents.' And to get
that, and worse, off of those Uttle bodies, takes a pro
found and patient scrubbing, and a frequent changing
of garments for months. Nice work for those delicate
French ladies ; but they dispute for the office in their
humble, gentle way. Magdalen de Chauvigny, Dame
de la Peltrie, gets it the first year; Mother Mary of
St. Joseph monopoUzes it the next. And whUe the
scrubbing goes on, and indeed always, there are men
and women waiting in the parlor to be fed through the
grating by others of the nuns.
The smaU-pox entered their seminary and turned it
into a hospital. The sisters aU resigned themselves
to catch it, and, if it were God's wUl, to die of it ; for
they were in attendance day and night upon their
patients, and Uved aU together in smaU and crowded
apartments ; but, through the care of Mother Mary,
not one sister was attacked. Add to this the perpet
ual wars with the treacherous Iroquois ; the struggles
' Quand on les nous donne elles sont nues comme im ver. * * *
Quelque diligence que I'on fasse, quoiqu'on les change souvent de
linge et d'habits, on ne peu de long temps epuiser la vermine. — Choix
des lettres, p. 31

38 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
of thd medicine-men to retain their superstitious emi
nence among the savages, — that smaU-pox, for in
stance, and aU these new diseases come, they say,
from the magic of the whites ; the seeming impossi
bUity of teaching the elder ones to bridle their in
famous passions ; the desolation of the long winters ;
the forests echoing with savage howls ; the repeated
shocks of earthquake ; the dreary wastes of snow
which spread around ; the news, now and then, of a
missionary's martyrdom; surely these must break
down our courage.
Not a bit of it. " We are perfectly weU ; we sing
oftener and better than we did' in France. The air is
exceUent — a Uttle cool, perhaps, but exceUent ; so, you
see, it is a Paradise on earth, where the crosses and
thorns spring up so lovingly, that if one is pierced by
them it is only to let new floods of love in upon the
heart. Pray God to give me the grace to love Him
always." '
But Mother Mary's troubles and trials cannot be
given here ; a mere Ust of them would take up too
much room. Only one or two of them can be men
tioned, which offer themselves apropos of our subject.
It is the night of December thirtieth, " in the Octave
of our Lord's Nativity." Sister Martha has a large
baking on hand for to-morrow, and forgets the fire in
the bakery, which is exactly under our seminary. The
night prayers are over, and aU go to bed, to sleep a8
' Choix des lettres, p. 48

IN North America. 39
weU as the cold wUl let them. A few hours afterward
we find that some of them— poor souls !— have gone to
bed with their shoes on, so terrible is the chUl Ca
nadian air. And, at midnight. Mother Mary of the
Seraphim, who has the care of the chUdren, and sleeps
at the door of the seminary, rushes into our dormitory
with the cry, " Wake, sisters, wake ! The house is on
fire ! Up, and let us save the childreia !"
As they spring up, the flames, red and wUd, leap
crackling through the pine-floor of the apartment. The
Mother Assistant and Sister St. Lawrence break down
the convent grating, which is fortunately of wood, and
get out a portion of the scholars that way. Our
Mother Mary, trying to save some of the chapel furni
ture, gets caught between two fires, hesitates as to
whether she should throw the large crucifix, her own,
out of the window ; thinks that that would be irrever
ence, so kisses it with lowly love and faith, and leaves
it to the flames. Then she escapes into the beU-tower,
is just missed by the faUing beU, and gets out, bare
footed, into the December snow.
' Sister Ignatia has a theological difficulty. The
smaUer children are stiU up stairs : is it permitted her
to give her life for theirs ? Meantime, she goes up to
their room, and lets them down, aU safe, from the
window, one by one. Then, with a fiery crash, the
roof faUs in, and Sister Ignatia's difficulty is solved.
All in authority appear to have presence of mind.
Each goes first to her proper post, to see if any thing
may be done there. Mother Superior, -who has the

40 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
keys, goes to set the doors wide open, and stands
there caUing to the sisters by name. But no one
comes forth — no one repUes ; then she throws herself
at the feet of the Blessed Yirgin, and makes a vow —
its terms we do not know^-for the preservation of her
sisters ; and, after a short agony of doubt, she finds
them aU safe, their poor Uttle Indian girls with them.
Safe they are, but nine-tenths of them barefooted,
with a single garment to cover them, standing in the
December snow. But Mother Mary could see, by the
tranqiulUty and submission of their faces, that God was
in their hearts. " We were stripped," she says, " as
bare as Job, but then we had better friends."
In fact, the people had gathered by this time round
them ; the Jesuits from their house, the French and
Indians from the neighborhood. One man, after star
ing in amazement at the perfect calm and resignation
of the nuns, was heard to say, " Either these women
are mad, or they have an exceeding love for God."
Then aU are hurried off, some to the neighbors'
houses, some to the large parlor of the Jesuits ; the
nuns to the hospital, where the sisters clothe them
with their own gray habits, and make, for the time
being, sceiir grises of them. On the way thither they
are met by some good people with welcome shoes;
and one of the first pair is given to Mother Superior,
in right of her age and position. ' Mother Mary of the
Incarnation does not say that she got a pair, which is
very good evidence that she did not ; in which case
this deUcately nurtured woman must have walked

in North America. 41
some quarter of a mile, barefooted, through the snow,
to the Hospital of the Gray Sisters.
And now aU their earthly possessions were gone —
house, furniture and raiment. Nothing remained to
them but a black, ugly mass of ashes and ruin, whence
a column of gloomy smoke rose, sluggishly curling up
through the gray frosty dawn. Not a whit downcast
is Mother Mary. "Divine Providence," she says,
"wUl help us to pay our debts and to buUd again.
That has placed us in our present sad condition. That
wiU set us up again, through the most holy Yirgin, of
xohose succor we are so assured, that we Uve in peace
in that direction. What she does not of herself,
she wiU excite friends to do for us ; and so in time she
wUIdoaU."' Those miserable Iroquois were the greatest difficulty
of aU. They would wage war, make peace, and wage
war again. They scalped, burned, and hewed in
pieces our good Hurons and Algonquins. Their proph
ets accused our missionaries of bringing disease and
other misfortunes upon them. Father Jogues goes off
among them to have his fingers cut off, joint by joint ;
to escape, but only io go back again and win the
crown of martyrdom. Father Daniel is burned by
them, aU clad in his vestments, at the foot of his altar.
Father Breboeuf has ijhe flesh torn from his body —
torn carefuUy in thin strips, so as not to break the
large veins ; has boiUng water poured upon his head
" Choix des lettres, 310.

42 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
in mockery of baptism ; has his naUs torn out by
pincers ; and passes from that torture into the eternal
glory. AU these were friends of Mary of the Incarnation.
"Ah," she sighs, "if we could only get hold of some
Iroquois girls to educate and send back as mission
aries to their fiendish clansmen! But some of the
French are as bad as the Iroquois. Some have come
hither only to trade, without care for souls ; and the
easiest trade is made by means of brandy, fire-water.
Our best converts, some of them, are lured astray;
our very school-girls get to love the heUish beverage,
which they get when they go to see their parents.
The traders are excommunicated, but they laugh at
that. AU our efforts wUl faU, unless it please God to
interfere in our behalf."
God does interfere, he shakes that far northern land
with an earthquake. It was in 1663 that this occurred.
Houses rocked to and fro, cracked, and feU to ruin;
the atmosphere was dust ; steeples swung like trees in
a storm ; the mighty St. Lawrence ran yeUow as
sulphur ; the lamp of the Blessed Sacrament feU three
times in the church of Beaupre. A mountain near
Tadoussac sank whoUy into the yawning earth, and
the vaUeys rose into plains. " The walls of our con
vent spUt ; we were nearly choked with dust, asphyxi
ated with bituminous and sulphurous exhalations.
Half of the neighboring forest was destroyed ; some
Uves were lost ; but God was with us !"
The brandy-traders, at least, were weU frightened ;

Iff North America. 43
and a pious governor, coming over from France, put
an end to them for the present. And we learn, too,
from these records, a new and very advisable method
of measuring time — a method much and successfuUy
used by those early Ursulines in Quebec. Some of
the shocks, they teU us, only lasted an Ave Maria,
whUe others were as long as two Misereres.
AU these trials, and all the daUy hard labor, seemed,
after aU, by God's benediction, only to make these
deUcate women stronger, happier, healthier, daUy
more devout. Mary of the Incarnation never seemed
to need repose ; teaching, counselling, praying. She
wrote a catechism in Huron, and three in Algonquin.
She translated a large coUection of prayers, and com-
pUed a dictionary in the Indian tongues. "And I,"
she says, "I am so useless, that I tremble at the
account I must render before God."
What then were her consolations ? for, in fact, it
were impossible to support such a Ufe without some.
They were abundant enough to fiU Mary's heart with
courage, confidence, and love. There was the touch
ing, simple faith of the Indians. One poor couple,
no longer young, were deserted with scorn by their
heathen relatives, and the old man was ill. So his
wife prayed, " O Thou who hast made aU, Thou canst
help me. Cure my husband ; for we beUeve in Thee,
and shaU beUeve in Thee, even though he die." "And
when my wife had made that prayer," said the poor
Indian, " I got weU. But," he continued, " I had no
canoe to fish from, and knew not how to make one.

44 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
But I prayed with aU my heart, ' O Creator of aU, help
me, I beseech Thee ; for Thou knowest I have never
made a canoe.' And then I set to work at it. Come,
look at it ; it is perfect !"
Then, again, the Indians got into a habit, when
setting out on their hunting expeditions, of leaving
their Uttle daughters in the hands of the Ursulines,
and by this means good seed was sown in those Uttle
hearts and matured there, and one day bore a hun
dred-fold. The baptisms increased yearly. New la
borers for the ripening harvest came from France;
the converted Indian himself became a messenger of
good tidings to his brethren, suffering, many a time,
torture and death with the fervor and constancy of a
martyr. Above aU, the venerable Mary of the Incar
nation saw that sweetest fruit of truth, that most civU-
izing and gentle making of influences, devotion to
Mary Mother of God, spreading deeply and broadly
throughout the Huron and Algonquin tribes, and sink
ing more profoundly into the soids of her own some
times too Ught countrymen.
There was the Abenaki tradition of a virgin's son,
who had repaired the world after the great deluge, and
who was to come to earth again. In the Huron name
of this Being, which is Messou, the good Ursulines
loved, probably correctly, to find Messiah. Then, be
sides the names of places which marked the land to
her devotion, the Feast of the Yirgin's Immaculate
Conception was the patronal feast of aU those coun
tries. All the people, habitans and Christian Indians,

m North America. 45
were wont to recur to the Holy Family in aU their dis
tresses, and not in vain. Mary of the Incarnation
knew one blind man who had besought St. Anne, the
Mother of Our Lady, to restore his sight. The Saint
caused it to be made known to him that that boon
must come by invocation of the Holy Family, and so
he prayed and received his sight. Lords, a Christian
Huron, taken by the sanguinary Iroquois and con
demned to be burned aUve, was saved by the Blessed
Virgin. He himself told the UrsuUne how, as he
prayed earnestly to Our Lady for help, in the night,
he felt the knots of the sinew-cord which bound him
loosening on his right hand. Then it feU off, and left
his fingers free to undo the other knots, and so pass
ing unseen through several hundred sleeping Iroquois,
he, thanks to St. Mary, escaped safe to Quebec.
What a pleasure to see the Indian girls, who had
left the seminary to pass the winter in household du
ties with their parents, coming back in the spring,
laden with early flowers to crown the beloved image of
the Queen of May ! Their first visit, on returning, was
to the Most Holy Sacrament ; their next, to bring their
flowers to decorate the statue of their beneficent
Mother. Even among the troops, our venerable Ee
Ugious knew of five hundred soldiers who wore the
scapular and daUy said the Eosary. Indeed, this
beautiful devotion of the beads, to which aU grades of
men, the simplest and the highest inteUigences, be
come so fervently attached, was seldom neglected in
New France. Mother Mary asked a young Indian,

46 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
who, soon after his baptism, had gone upon a long
hunt, how he had managed when temptation assaUed
him. " Ah," he replied, " I was often tempted to sin ;
but then I took my beads in my hand, and said, ' Have
pity on me, Jesus, Thou who determinest aU ; chase
away the evU spirit, and have mercy upon me ;' and
then the temptation would depart."
Another, an old man, gave himself up entirely to the
instruction of his brethren. They used to see him with
Yictor, an ancient Algonquin, a man of faith and love,
but of decayed memory, reciting the beads thrice over
at one visit. Many of the good souls, even in their
long and exciting hunts, never once omitted to say the
five decades daUy; and some, taken prisoners and
¦doomed to die with the martyr Jogues, when the beads
were taken from them by the cruel Iroquois, said the
prayers upon their fingers ; and when these were cut
off, joint by joint, they said them on the bleeding
stumps — a Rosary indeed. Where such faith, such
devotion were, it was not possible for our gentle Queen
and Mother to leave unanswered the fervent prayers of
her children. One instance out of many.
A young lieutenant, coming too late to say the Eo
sary with the rest, walked out into the bordering woods
to pray apart. And there, whUe kneeUng, the sentinel
took him for a lurking Iroquois, for it was in time of
war, and firing at him from the distance of ten paces,
shot him in the head, a finger's breadth above the
temple. But Our Lady preserved him ; he feU, but
rose again, with his beads stUl in his hands ; the baU

IN North America. 47
was extracted from the skull, and he felt no very evU
effects from the wound. Nay, where the famous
church of St. Anne overlooks the broad St. Lawrence,
our dear Lord manifested His love for His blessed
Mother by daUy miracles accorded to her intercession ;
and to-day, the rough boatman of those regions wiU
teU you countless instances of mercy sought and won
by prayer to Mary, his patroness and Queen.
So, then, amid such trials and such consolations, in
faith, hope, patience, and charity, did this devout ser
vant of Mary pass thirty years and more of holy life ;
and when worn out at last, with the same sweet confi
dence and resignation, she crossed her pale hands
upon her bosom, and gave up her soul to the Yirgin,
who presented it lovingly to her God and Son. Mother
Mary of the Incarnation ceased from her labors in the
year of grace 1672.
Father James Marqitettb.
We have Breboeuf and Daniel, Jogues and Noue and
Bressany, the Jesuits, the EecoUects, the Oblates, the
Sulpicians to choose from, and we take Father James
Marquette as the most American, so to say, inasmuch
as he was the discoverer and explorer of the Missis
sippi, and as remarkably devout to Mary, having in
childhood been consecrated to her, and in manhood as
doing aU for God through especial devotion to the Im
maculate Conception.
Of an ancient famUy of Laon, always famed for their

48 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
valor in war and their sincerity in devotion, this glori
ous servant of Mary was born in the year 1637. Until
the age of seventeen, his mother, Eose de la SaUe, had
educated him, inspiring him with that profound, ar
dent, tender, and unwavering devotion to Our Lady
which was the mainspring of his Ufe. When he had
reached his seventeenth year she gave him up to God
in the Society of Jesus. Twelve years from that dedi
cation he landed in Canada. Mother Mary of the In
carnation was one of those who welcomed him to the
toils and seK-sacrifice which his sacred ambition de
sired. New York was red with missionary blood, and
he longed for that field of labor, but it was not to be
his. First of aU he must learn the languages, but these
he soon mastered. Then he began his westward
march, and first halted at the Sault Ste. Marie, where
the Cross had been planted by Father Isaac Jogues
twenty years before, but had faUen. It was for Mar
quette and AUouez to replant it, and to buUd the first
Catholic church there, where now stands the cathedral
of St. Mary, and the apostoUc Bishop Baraga pre
sides. From this, further west to the Ottawa, was a mission
almost hopeless, from the abandonment of that people
to the worship of their own passions. But now the
great dream of his life began to rise in his heart, soon
to take possession of it altogether. He had heard from
straggling hunters, as from general rumor, that out to
wards the sunset a mighty river took its rise and rolled
its floods, for measureless mUes, through populous

in North America. 49
pagan lands, to the far southern seas. Ah ! to dis
cover this — to launch himseK on those swift tides with
his cross, his beads, and his breviary 1 not to win a
name among the learned of the earth, the applause of
science, the gratitude of trade, but to bear to those lost
tribes the glad news of a Eedeemer ; to people heaven
with their ransomed souls ; to teach those pathless
prau'ies and unhewn woods to re-echo the sweet names
of Jesus and of Mart !
This, Father James Marquette felt, was to be, for
the future, his ambition. So at once he began offering
up perpetual devotions to the Immaculate Mother for
the accompUshment of his yearning. Indeed, things
seemed to work that way. He was sent south and
westward to Mackinac, south and westward, to Green
Bay — southward, at last, to the Illinois. Everywhere
he heard more and plainer tidings of the great river,
and he redoubled his devotions. Then Mary heard
and granted his prayers. JoUet arrived, sent by the
Count de Frontenac, then governor of Canada, and
bringing with him, from Marquette's superiors, the
long wished-for permission. And note the day of Jo-
Het's arrival : it is the 8th of December, the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception of Mary 1
The heart of the missionary burned within him, for
it took months to prepare the expedition ; but at last
it was ready, at the mission of St. Ignatius, the cross"
o'f which, on the Isle of Mackinac, was seen over the
wide straits and from the two inland seas of Huron
and of Michigan ; and in the middle of May, the month
r 3

50 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
of Mary, they pushed out their bark canoes upon the
deep blue lake. They took aU possible precautions,
made aU prudent preparations, but " above aU," says
Marquette, " I placed our voyage under the protection
of the Blessed Yirgin Immaculate, and promised her
that if she obtained us the grace of discovering the
great river, I would give it the name of Conception, as
I would do to the first mission I should estabUsh
among those new nations." '
The story of this discovery cannot be repeated here ;
it is the common property of historian and geographer,
We have only to show the voyage of devotion to the
Mother of God, and what advances that made into the
wfld interior of North America. The missionary, start
ing inward from the shores of Green Bay, had pene
trated west and south, through many adventures, leav
ing here and there some hint of the Gospel, which ht
hoped one day to preach to aU these nations, and
reaching at length a stream, wide, and swift, and deep,
which they told him would bear him to the great river.
Before embarking on its bosom, they began a new de
votion to the Blessed Yirgin Immaculate, which they
practised every day, and "by especial prayers we
placed," he says, " under her piotection the success of
our voyage and ourselves.'"' Then, for a hundred and
' Sourtout je mis nostre voyage soubs la protection de la Ste. Vierga
Immaculee, luy promettant, que si elle nous faisoit la grace de decou-
vrir la grande riviere je luy donnerois le nom de la Conception. — Eed*
des Voyages et des Descouvertes de P. Jacques Marquette, cap. ii.
' Eecit des Voyages, cap iii.

IN North America. 51
twenty miles, they float down the Wisconsin, through
the State of that name, to its mouth and the object of
their wishes. Then out upon the broad breast of the
Father of Waters, and down its stream past Iowa,
Missouri, HUnois, noting every object, the nature of
the trees, the varying width of water, the animals, es
peciaUy the "wild cattle," and the panthers which
came in sight.'
The Illinois seem to have been a mUd, dignified, and
hospitable race, receiving Marquette in their villages,
showing him their customs, and Ustening with respect
to the new doctrines which he uttered. They urged
him to stay with them, and when he refused for the
time, gave him provisions for his journey and a calu
met for his defence. Then down the river again as far
as the mouth of the Arkansas. Just above this they
had been attacked by a party of hostUe Indians, ap
parently not natives of the neighborhood — perhaps
Tuscaroras or Iroquois. They were armed with bows,
arrows, axes, war-clubs, and bucklers, and prepared to
attack the missionary both by land and water, some
embarking in canoes, a part to ascend, others to de
scend the river, so as to surround their prey. The
current drew the canoe to the shore, and the young
men sprang in to seize it ; but not getting near enough
for that, they returned to the shore, and seizing their
bows and arrows, prepared to pierce the servant of
God. Death seemed inevitable. "But," says the
' Marquette gives the name of pisikiou to the American bison

52 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
faithful Marquette, " we had recourse to our patroness
and guide, the Holy Yirgin Immaculate, and we had
great need of her assistance, for the savages were urg
ing each other to the slaughter by fierce and continual
cries."' But God suddenly touched the hearts of the
old men, the yOuth were checked, and for that time tlie
missionary was spared.
They had now reached a land where the inhabitants
"never see snow, and know the winter only by the
rain which faUs oftener than in summer ;" that is, they
were in Arkansas. And now the problem of the great
river was solved; and they knew how that, coming
from the cold lakes of the north, it watered so vast an
extent of country, to empty at last in the Gulf of
Mexico. For they had heard already, by the New
York missionaries, how bands of wandering Iroquois
had warred against the Ontongannha, who Uved on
the banks of a beautiful river (Ohio) which leads to
the great lake, as they caUed the sea, where they
traded with Europeans " who pray to God as we do,
and have rosaries, and beUs. to caU men to prayers.""
Of these and other such accounts, Marquette gained
full confirmation from the Arkansas tribes ; and so,
having navigated its waters for a distance of eight de
grees, and pubUshed the Gospel as weU as he could' to
the nations he had met, and learning that aU the tribes
below were in perpetual war and furnished with fire-
' Eecit, cap. viii.
' Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, pref., p. xxiii
' Eecit, cap. ix.

in North America. 53
arms, he turned the prow of his canoe and began to
ascend ihe river.
Entering the Illinois Eiver, he passed a town of the
Kaskaskias ; another, higher up, of the Peorias, and
was compeUed to promise both to return and instruct
them. Three days he preached the faith in all their
cabins, baptized a dying child, and so, after a voyage
of two thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven mUes,
on foot or in birch canoe, he reached the mission of
Green Bay.
It was here, under the roof dedicated to his beloved
mission-model, St. Francis Xavier, that Marquette
spent the summer of 1674, trying to recover from the
chronic dysentery which his labors and fatigues had
brought upon him ; and it was here that the eagerly
sought orders found him to go to the HUnois. In the
month of November he set out, and was well enough
upon the lake ; but, with the severe cold upon the
land, his disease attacked him with redoubled vigi
lance. StUl he pushed on ; for had he not his work tc
do ? But when he reached the banks of the IlUnois,
and found that river frozen, he was prostrated. And
there he lay, so Ul that even on his well-loved patronal
feast, of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8), he could
not offer the Holy Sacrifice. There he must winter,
that dying servant of Mary, in a half-open wigwam.
exposed to tUe fierce northern blasts, dependent for
his food upon the guns of his two poor French com
panions. Tho lUinois heard of him, but only send to him fc

54 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
powder and for goods. "I have come," he answers,
" to instruct you, to speak to you of prayer, to stop
your wars with the Miamis, and to spread peace
throughout the land. Powder have I none."' How
much does he murmur? "The Blessed Immaculate
Yirgin" — ^these are his words in his last journal — "has
taken such care of us in our wandering, that we have
never wanted food ; we Uve quite comfortably."" This
is the " History of the Devotion to the Blessed Yirgin
Mary in North America," this spirit in her servants.
What worldly motive-power is going to resist or over
come this? See that lone, feeble missionary, that
chUd of an antique race of sunny France, in the poor
bark hut of the savage, in the dead of the northern
winter, lying prostrate there, yet performing the
spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, confessing and com
municating his two comrades twice a week, fasting on
Fridays and Saturdays, and saying, and believing, in
his deep, saintly humUity, that he "Uves quite com
fortably !" ' That, we say, is the History of the Devo
tion to Saint Mary ; stop that, if you can, by a sneer,
a treatise, or a mob !
Meantime, the flesh of humanity has its laws, and
under these the missionary is doomed to death. Far
' Marquette's unfinished journal-letter to Father Dablon, superior
of the missions, December 36.
" Journal, December 30.
' The last words in his joumal are a gentle jest at the fatigues of
the French traders — he forgets his own: "Si les Franpois ont dej
robbes de ce pays icy, ils ne les desrobbent pas, tant les fatigues sont
grands pour les en tirer." AprU 6.

IN North America. 55
south Ues the desired mission ; here, where he is lying,
stretch the desolate snoAvs and howls the wild boreal
wind. He sinks daily, hourly ; his comrades are be
ginning to consider where, beneath the frosts, they
shaU scoop out his soUtary grave. But he says, " Not
yet. Let me see my mission first, and then die. To
prayer, friends!" Never has that dear Lady Mother
of his failed him yet ; nor, such is his confidence, wUl
she do so now. They make a novena to the Immacu
late Mother of God, to Mary conceived without sin.
His companions have but Uttle faith — he much. And
the prayer of nine days is past, and Marquette rises
from the couch of death recovered.
On the 29th of March, in the Octave of the Annun
ciation of the Blessed Yirgin, he is able, stUl very
feeble, to start. The ice is broken up and is fioating
down the river. On the 8th of April he reaches the
long-desired vUlage of the Kaskaskias. Here he
assembled for several days the ancients of the tribe,
then visited the separate wigwams, which were crowded
to hear him. On Thursday, in Holy Week, he spake
to all in public. It was a large town, five hundred
'fires burned there daily, and his audience was vast.
His church was a prairie knoU. On four sides of him
were planted his banners, large pictures of the Blessed
Yirgin, attached to strips of India taffety. Five hun
dred chiefs and ancients formed the first circle, nearest
to the Father ; fifteen hundred young warriors gathered
behind them ; the women and the children formed the
outer ring.

56 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
Thus he preached to them the doctrine of Christ
crucified ; the Gospel of God's Son made Mary's Son
for them. He offered up the awful sacrifice of the
Mass for their conversion. On Easter Sunday he cele
brated the same dread mysteries again, and claimed
that land as a possession for the Most High God, and
gave that mission the name of the Immaculate Con
ception of St. Mary.
The good Indians received his message with joy,
his mission was securely founded, and his work was
done. He could not labor there, but must go and get
other Fathers to replace him. For thirty mUes on his
way the new converts attend him, contesting who shaU
carry something belonging to him. Then he reaches
Lake Michigan, poor Jacques and Francois despairing
almost of getting him further ; for he Ues helpless in
their arms now, or wherever they lay him down —
gentle, but feeble as a Uttle chUd. He smUes, and
speaks sweet, calm encouragement to these two, or
Ues quiet, murmuring from time to time, " I know that
my Eedeemer Uveth," or " Mary, mother of grace and
Mother of God, remember me !" He directs every
thing to be prepared for his death, blessing holy water.
for his agony and burial, instructing his companions,
reading his breviary untU the film of approaching dis
solution gathei^s on his eyes.
He had always entreated his dear Mother that he
might die on Saturday, the day of the office of the
Immaculate Conception. Well, Saturday had come,
and he bade them paddle to the shore to a knoU, at

IN North America. 57
the foot of which a little river ran into the lake.' They
laid him, Uke St. Francis Xavier, upon the shore, and
stretched some birch-bark upon poles above him.
There he gave them the last directions, thanked them
for their love, begged then: pardon for the trouble he
had given, heard their confessions, and bade them
take some repose. When they returned, he had en
tered the vaUey of the shadow of death ; but he told
one of them to take his crucifix and hold it up where
his eyes might rest upon it. Looking on this, he
uttered his profession of faith, and thanked the Triune
Majesty for the grace of dying a missionary of Jesus,
alone, and in the land of savages. Then, now and
again, they heard him say, Sustinidt anima mea in
verba ejus, and Mater Dei, memento mei. Then, as he
seemed to be passing away, they caUed aloud, as he
had told them, the names of Jesus and of Mary, and
at the sound he raised his eyes above the crucifix ; he
saw some object which they could not see, for his eyes
fiUed with the Ught of ineffable joy ; a look of intensest
deUght made his whole face radiant; he cried out,
Jesus and Mary ! and feU asleep.
Surely we have no need of words to connect this
man's life with devotion to the Mother of God, or of
the part he took in estabUshing it in America. Let us
content ourselves with citing the words of one of his
editors and biographers :" " We could say much of his
' The river and the bay into which it falls, in Colton's Atlas, are
caHed Marquette.
' John G. Shea : Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, p. M
3*

58 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
rare vU'tues, of his missionary zeal, of his chUdUke
candor, of his angelic purity, and his continual union
with God. But his predominant virtue was a most
rare and singular devotion to the Blessed Yirgin, and
especially in the mystery of the Immaculate Concep
tion. It was a pleasure to hear him preach or speak
on this subject. Every conversation and letter of his
contained something about the Blessed Yirgin Im
maculate, as he always styled her. From the age of
nine, he fasted every Saturday, and from his most
tender youth began to recite daUy the Uttle office of
the Conception, and inspired aU to adopt this devotion.
For some months before his death, he daUy recited,
with his two men, a little chaplet of the Immaculate
Conception which he had arranged in this form : after
the Creed, they said one ' Our Father, and HaU Mary ;'
then, four times, these words : ' HaU, daughter of God
the Father ! haU, Mother of God the Son! haU, Spouse
of the Holy Ghost ! hail. Temple of the whole Trinity !
By thy holy virginity and immaculate conception, 0
most pure Yirgin, cleanse my flesh and my heart. In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost;' and, last of aU, the 'Glory be to the
Father,' the whole thrice repeated.
"So tender a devotion to the Mother of God de
served some singular grace, and she accordingly
granted him the favor he had always asked — to die
upon a Saturday; and his two companions had no
doubt that she appeared to him at the hour of his
death, when, after pronouncing the names of Jesus- and

in North America. 59
Mary, he suddenly raised his eyes above the crucifix,
fixing them on an object which he regarded with such
pleasure and joy that they Ut up his countenance ; and
they, from that moment, beUeved that he had surren
dered his soul into the hands of his good Mother."
His bones were laid in the Isle of Mackinac, where
they were taken soon after ; his name is invoked by
the boatmen when the lake is agitated by storms,
and the Indians caU him the "Angel of the Ottawa
Mission."

68 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE III.
Advance of the Devotion — First Seventy-five Tears — Jesuits in Ca
nada — OuE Lady of An&iils — Olieb and St. Sulpioe — The City or
Mary — Mademoiselle Manse and the Hospital Sisters.
We have shown rather fuUy the spirit of those
whom God, in His mercy to America, has charged
with the diffusion of devotion to Mary. Nor did we
choose them from any special preference for them
rather than for others ; for the Hospital Sisters of Our
Lady were in Canada before the Ursulines arrived,
and there were gray-headed missionaries among the
Indians before James Marquette had left his own
sunny France. The spirit which, in the first chapter,
we set forth as necessary, is conveniently exemplified
in Mary of the Incarnation and the holy discoverer of
the Mississippi ; but it is the same in aU the servants.
Urged by the love of souls, the children of St. Francis,
known as EecoUects, as early as the year 1616, foUow
the good Champlain. Of these three priests, two
throw themselves at once into the difficult struggle,
against sin and death, among the nomadic Algonquins
of the Saguenay, the Ottawa, and the St. Lawrence,
whUe the other pushes forward to the shores of Lake
Huron, among the more settled Wyandots or Hurons.
Three others are found about the same time in Maine ;
but the new, young orders of Jesuits and Sulpicians,

in North America. 61
fuU of fi'esh ardor and energy, came upon the field and
claimed its dangers and its toUs, in the names of Jesus
and Mary.
The year 1625 is the first of'the establishment of the
Jesuits, although they had labored in Nova Scotia and
Maine fi-om 1608 to the conquest of Acadia. Then the
Due de Yentadour granted them lands around Quebec,
under the title of the Seigneurie of our Lady of Angels.
Their first house was buUt at St. Charles. Then for
the Mission of St. Joseph, near Quebec, Brulart de SU-
lery furnishes foundation. He desires to estabUsh a
spot where the wandering savages may be attracted
and assembled, as the surest mode of their conversion.
He hopes, in the deed of foundation, that aU his plans
" wUl happUy succeed by the merits and powerful help
of the most holy Yirgin, Mother of God ; and wishes,
by the deed, also to testify the gratitude which he feels
for the wondrous favors received from that Mother of
Mercy." So he dedicates the foundation "to the
honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity, — of the
Father, who chose the Yirgin to give a second life unto
His Son ; of the Son, who accepted her as His Moth
er ; of the Holy Spirit, who operated in her the work
of the adorable Incarnation ; and in honor of that same
Yirgin, who hath ever been Immaculate and without
defect ; and in memory and thanksgiving of the mira
cles of holiness wrought in her, and in gratitude for
the graces which he, the founder, has received from
God by her intercession."
So there he estabUshed a residence of Jesuits, on

62 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
condition that the " Fathers shaU say, or cause to be
said there, forever, a Mass of the Blessed Yirgin, on
every day permitted by the usage of the Church ; and
on other days the Mass shaU be celebrated with the
same intention of honoring the Mother of 'God, so as
to thank her more worthUy, and to invoke her more
efficaciously by this foundation, placing her Son Jesus
Christ anew in her hands, and heartUy beseeching her
to offer Him, herself, in daUy sacrifice to God for the
whole Church, and in express memory of that admira
ble offering which the same Mother made of her Son
at the moment of the Incarnation, and afterwards in
the Temple, to satisfy the apparent obUgation of the
law, and finaUy at the Cross, on the mountain of Cal
vary." '
Thus founded at Quebec, the members of the Com
pany of Jesus radiated throughout aU New France,
carrying the Ught and warmth of salvation to every
part of its territory. Checked for awhUe by the suc
cess of the British arms, it was only to commence
again with renewed fervor. By 1633 no less than fif
teen priests of their order were at work in Canada,
" and every tradition bears testimony to their worth.
Away from the amenities of Ufe, away from the oppor
tunities of vain-glory, they became dead to the world,
and possessed their souls in unutterable peace. The
few who Uved to grow old, though bowed by the toils
' Fondation faite par le Commandeur de Sillery pour le Eesidence
de St. Joseph, pres de Quebec, from Father Bressani's Eelation abre
gee, redigSe par E. P. Martin, Montreal, 1853.

IN North America. 63
of a long mission, stUl kindled with the fervor of apos
toUc zeal. The history of their labors is connected
with the origin of every celebrated town in the annals
of French America ; not a cape was turned, nor a river
entered, but a Jesuit led the way." '
They foUowed the shores of the lakes to the Bay of
Saguenay, and pierced mto the heart of the Huron for
ests. St. Mary's rose upon the Niagara Eiver. The
Marquis de Gamache gave himself to the Society, and
endowed with his ample fortune the first coUege at
Quebec. From 1641 to 1644 the remoter Huron mis
sionaries received no suppUes; their clothes feU to
pieces; they had scarce bread enough for the Holy
Mysteries; they themselves crushed the necessary
wine from the wUd grape that sprang in the woodlands.
And yet, before 1647, forty-two members of the order
had visited and labored in these lonely wUds, counting
their Uves as nothing, if only they could win souls for
the kingdom of Christ.
Before 1690, thirteen had baptized the pagan land
with their blood. Others had fallen victims to starva
tion or exposure.
Father Anne de Noue, after years of terrible toU,
died, frozen stiff and cold by the wUd February blasts,
upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. They found him
kneeUng upright, with crucifix clasped to his breast,
and calm eyes open and fixed on heaven, on the Feast
of the Purification of her whom he loved and served so
" Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 133.

64 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
weU (1646). Charles Garnier, pierced by three Iro
quois musket-baUs, prepared to die, when he saw a
Christian Indian expiring. The sight awakened aU
the priest within him ; he staggered to his feet only to
fall again. But though he could not rise, he coidd and
did drag himself along the blood-stained ground, and,
as he gave the last absolution, a tomahawk clove his
skuU, and he died on the eve of the Immaculate Con
ception, which gracious mystery he had early bound
himself by a vow to defend, even unto death (1649).
Anthony Daniel feU at the Iroquois sacking of St.
Joseph's, in 1648. The braves were aU absent at the
chase. There were none at home but the old priest,
the women, and the children, when the savages burst
through the paUsades. Swift he rushes to the wig
wams to baptize the sick ; a crowd of others demand
that Sacrament ; he has no time for even shortest cere
monies ; he dips his handkerchief in water, and bap
tizes them by aspersion. Then he gave general abso
lution to aU who sought it, and, entering the chapel,
he vested and stood prepared to meet his death. " The
wigwams are set on fire ; the Mohawks approach the
chapel, and the consecrated envoy serenely advances
to meet them. Astonishment seized the barbarians.
At length, drawing near, they discharged at him a
flight of arrows. All gashed and rent by wounds, he
stUl continued to speak to them with surprising energy
— now inspiring fear of the Divine anger, and again, in
gentle tones, breathing the affectionate messages of
mercy and grace. Such were his actions untU he re-

IN North Amekica. 65
ceived a death-blow from a halbert. The victim of the
heroism of charitj' died, the name of Jesus on his lips.
The wUderness gave him a grave ; the Huron nation
were his mourners." ' It wd,s in the Octave of the Yisi
tation of Mary Mother of God.
Noel Chabanel receives his death-blow upon the
banks of a stream near St. Mary's, from the axe of an
apostate Huron, on the 8th of December, the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception." Eene Goapil, so livid
and mashed with club bruises that his features were
undistinguishable, had his thumbs cut off while repeat
ing " Jesus, Mary, Joseph." Tied to the ground upon
his back, at night the savage boys poured coals upon
his breast untU the flesh was charred. Six days
tormented thus, he and his companion. Father Jogues,
too weak to escape, were left at Uberty. But one day,
when they had retired apart to pray, two young men
foUowed and ordered them back. "Dear brother,"
said the Father, " let us recommend ourselves to our
Lord and to our good Mother the Blessed Yirgin, for
these men have some evU design." They walked back,
telUng the beads of their rosary. They had said four
decades, when a tomahawk crashed into the brain of
Eene, and he died, uttering the name of Jesus.'
Bressani (1644), captured by the Iroquois, marched
chained in their procession, whereof the banner was
the head of a Huron CathoUc, whose heart he saw torn
' Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii. 139.-
' Marie de I'lncarnation, p. 148.
' Shea's Narrative of the Captivity of Jogues.

66 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
from the body to be eaten in bravado — marched fear
lessly in that dread procession, for " I was fiUed," he
says, " with confidence in the intercession of the Holy
Yu'gin." Six days they advanced through the forest,
he being compeUed to act as their slave, fetching the
wood and water for the night encampments, cooking
for his savage captors, and repaid by blows. He slept,
tied to a tree, uncovered, in the night air of the early
northern AprU. Arrived at the vUlage, they prepared
him for running the gauntlet, by spUtting his hand up
between the ring and little fingers, and then beat him
as he moved between their barbarous lines. They
forced him then to dance and sing for hours ; they ran
spUnters into his flesh, and burned him with brands ;
they covered sharp points with hot ashes, and com
peUed him to walk thereon ; they tore out aU the
nails of his fingers with pincers or with savage teeth.
One night they would tear out a naU, the next cut off
or burn off a joint ; and aU this, and more than this,
lasted for a month. His wounds swarmed with worms ;
he " said unto rottenness. Thou art my father ; unto
worms, Te are my mother and my sisters." '
FinaUy the sentence was passed,- that what life lin
gered in him it should be burned out at the stake ; and
then he says : " I prepared my soul and commended
myself unto the Mother of Mercy, who is in truth the
Mother most amiable, most admirable, most powerful,
most clement, and the consoler of the afflicted. She,
' Putredini dixi : Pater meus es ; mater mea et soror mea vermi-
bus. — Job xvii. 14.

IN North Ajuerica. 67
after God, was the only refuge of me, a poor sinner,
abandoned by all creatures in a strange land." ' Then
they reversed the death sentence. "For such," he
says again, " was the wUl of God and of the Yirgin
Mother. To her I owe not my life only, but tho
strength to support my pain." It was the HoUanders
of New York who saved him at length, purchasing him
from the barbarians for some forty doUars, and he
says : "I sang my coming out of Egypf on the 19th of
August in the Octave of the Assumption of the Yirgin,
whom I consider the bestower of my freedom."
WeU, this at least was enough for one man ; he
surely left his mission. On the contrary, the same
year saw him on his way to the Hurons. Four times
he made that voyage, and thrice he fell into the same
bloody hands, and was covered anew with wounds, yet
God and Our Lady deUvered him out of all. What
wonder that those mutUated hands can record among
the reverers of Blessed Mary, as the fruits of thirteen
years, twelve thousand Indians !
There was yet another of these Jesuits, the last we
shaU cite here, who came in 1625, and won the crimson
crown of martyrdom in 1633. When he came to the
Hurons, he found not a single Christian ; when he left
them for the eternal glory, they numbered eight thou
sand. It was the noble Jean de Breboeuf — the heroic,
impassioned servant of Mary. It was he who " once
Bressani, Eelation, pp. 116-139.
' In exitu Israel de .Sigypto, domus Jacob de populo barbaio
Pb. 113.

68 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
imparadised in a trance, beheld the Mother of Him
whose cross he bore, surrounded by a crowd of virgins,
in the beatitudes of heaven." '
This was his vow : " Wliat shall I render to Thee, 0
my Lord Jesus, for aU that I have received from Thee ?
I will accept Thy chaUce ; I wiU caU upon Thy name.
And now I vow, in presence of Thine Eternal Father,
and of the Holy Ghost, in presence of Thy most holy
Mother ; before the angels, the apostles, and the mar
tyrs, my sainted fathers, Ignatius and Francis Xavier,
that if, in Thy mercy, Thou shalt ever offer unto me,
Thy unworthy s,ervant, the grace of martyrdom, I wUl
not refuse it. So that if any occasion to die for Thee
occur, I promise not to shun it (unless Thy greater
glory so demand), and even to receive the mortal blow
with joy. Now, from this hour, I offer unto Thee, with
all my wiU, 0 Thou my Jesus, my body, my blood, my
soul, so that, by Thy permission, I may die for Thee
who hast deigned to die for me. So let me live that I
may merit such a death! So, Lord, wiU I accept
Thy chalice and invoke Thy name, O Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus!"" St. Louis, St. Mary's, and Conception were attacked
by a thousand Iroquois in the winter. of 1649. Among
the prisoners taken was John de Breboeuf, who, when
he saw the stake destined for his torture, kissed it
with respect. So earnestly he exhorted his compan
ions to be firm, that the brutal savages cut off his Ups
' Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 134.
* Eelation de Bressani, p. 360.

IN North America. 69
and tongTie. Continuing still his exhortation by signs,
they gave him the first preference in the torture.
" Thou wert wont," they said to him, " to teU others
that the more they suffered here, the greater would be
their recompense in the new Ufe. Now thank us, for
we only brighten thy crown." Then, having made a
necklace of red-hot hatchet-heads, they hung it about
his neck. In mockery of baptism, they poured boiUng
water upon his head. They pierced his hands and
breast with red-hot irons ; they tore his flesh away in
strips ; they cut his scalp into the semblance of a
crown, then tore it fi-om his head. He was a strong
man, using to say of himself, " I am only an ox (hoeuf),
fit for labor;" yet he died in three hours — ^^'hUe his
comrade, Gabriel LaUemant, young, delicate, and fraU,
Uved seventeen. Yet his first torture was, to be
stripped, enveloped from head to foot in bark, satu
rated with rosin, and set on fire.'
But we must turn elsewhere and look for other
" Marians," as the pagan savages caUed them, saying
only with the historian of the missions :° " Fain would
we pause to foUow each in his labors, his trials, and
his toUs ; recount their dangers from the heathen
Huron, the skulking Iroquois, the frozen river, hunger,
cold, and accident ; to show Garnier wrestling with
the floating ice, through which he sunk, on an errand
of mercy ; Chabanel struggling on for years in a mis-

» Bancroft : History of the United States, iii. 140.
" Shea: flistory of Catholic Missions, p. 183.

70 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
sion from which every fibre of his frame shrank with
loathing; Chaumonot compiling his Indian grammar
on the frozen earth ; or the heroic Breboeuf, paralyzed
by a faU, with his coUar-bone broken, creeping on his
hands and feet along the frozen road, and sleeping,
unsheltered, on the snow, when the very trees were
spUtting with cold."
But we must turn to other devout chUdren, whose
fiUal love has taught this coimtry affection and devo
tion to the Mother of Divine Grace. In the great
world of Paris, the Blessed Yirgin Mary had few
cUents more sincerely devoted to her than the secre
tary of the king, Henry the Fourth — Jacques OUer de
YemeuU, the trusted minister of his sovereign, the
friend of Saint Francis of Sales. His wife, Mary
Dobe, Lady of Ivoi, was worthy of the respect which
this holy bishop bore her, of her husband, and of her
son. To them, among other children, God gave a boy
who, from his earlier years, belonged to Mary — Jean
OUer de Yerneuil, founder of Montreal. Even in chUd
hood, whatever recaUed the holy Yirgin, or had any
reference to her, caused joy or gratitude in him. He
was glad to have been born of a mother named Mary,
in a street caUed Our Lady of SUver.'
In his studies, he counted more upon the assistance
of the Throne of Wisdom (Sedes Sapiential) than on
his own abUities, though these were naturaUy very
' 27'otre-dam&-d' Argent — a name given to the street called Hoi de
Bicile, because of a silver statue placed at its corner by Francis I., in
expiation of some sacrUege committed there.

OUU LADY OF ANGELH.

IN North America. 71
great. He says himseK that he could learn nothing
without " HaU, Mary !" and others have recorded that
the devotion with which he used to repeat this angeUo
prayer moved them to tears. He undertook nothing,
indeed, without first going to that dear Lady and ask
ing her to command him to do it, as a mother her son.
When clad anew, when the new hat or coat was given
him, he never felt at ease untU he had gone to dedi
cate them, and himself in them, to the Blessed Yirgin,
and to implore her for the grace, never, so long as
he should wear them, to offend her Son. "I have
thought," he said, in later Ufe, " sometimes, that this
practice might be a feebleness or a foUy. But, when I
omitted it, my clothes were sure to come to speedy
ruin the first day or the next. So I took these acci
dents as a visible punishment, sent to correct my fault,
or to warn me not to faU into it again."'
/ Grown up, he entered the gay world at Paris, as his
birth and rank seemed for the time to require of him ;
and even there his patroness preserved him from its
evU. He conceived an ambition to be profoundly
learned, and set out to Eome to gratify it. But an
affection of the eyes threatened him with total loss of
sight; so, instead of staying at Eome to study, he
went to Loretto to pray ; and there Saint Mary healed
him, and showed him also that he was to be her faith
ful and devoted servant. In 1633, accordingly, he re
ceived tho holy order of the priesthood, and, aftei
Vie de M. Olier. Paris, 1844, p. 5.

72 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
three months' spiritual retreat, said his first Mass in
the church of our Lady of Mount Carmel. To her his
devotion increased daily. Convinced that to her, after
God, he owed all the graces he had received, he chose
her for his august Lady and Queen ; he held aU his
possessions as a gi'ant from her; used them only in
her name ; made a vow of perpetual servitude to her ;
and, with the antique symboUsm of his day, wore
round his neck a silver chain to .show that he was
bondman to the Queen of Heaven. From that day he
never refused, when in his power, to give whatever was
demanded in the name of Mary.
He made no journey without first going to the
church of Notre Dame to ask his Blessed Mother's
benediction. When struck with apoplexy, his reason
shaken, his sight and hearing gone, only two sounds
seemed to reach his sense — the names of Jesus and of
Mary. At the first, a bright smUe gave inteUigence to
his half-dead face ; at the second, his paralyzed Ups
murmured "Mother." When the idea of the grand
Seminary of St. Sulpice was in his mind, he went as
usual to Notre Dame, and there our Lady showed him
visibly the plan for the proposed edifice. Then he
commenced that sacred work, and the corner-stone
was laid in the Octave of the Yirgin's nativity. The
works went on untU the winter interrupted them.
They ceased on the Immaculate Conception; they
were recommenced in the Octave of the Purification.
He sang the Mass de Beata, with the keys in his
bosom, offering them to Our Lady as the owner of the

IN North America. 73
house. "For herein," he says, "I trust that the holy
U.ame of Mary wUl be blessed forever. AU my desire
is to imprint it deeply on the hearts of our brethren ;
for Mary is our counseUor and president, our treasurer,
our princess, our queen, and our aU." In the court,
facing the portal, he placed a grand statue of the
Yirgin, seated, and holding the infant Jesus in her
arms. He refused to be caUed the founder of the
house. " Fundavit eam Altissimus," he said; "it is
Jesus in Mary who is our founder ;" and he caused the
monogram of Mary to be engraved on the silver,
wrought in the iron-work, marked upon the linen, for
the house was hers.
OUer furnishes the idea, and Le Brun paints the
ceUing. It is the coronation of Mary Queen of Heaven
by the hands of the Father Eternal; whUe below, the
Church militant, represented by the Council of Ephe-
siis, hail her with cries of exultation, and proclaim her
title, de fide, of Mother of God.' Two other pictures
from the same hand adorned the chapel — Mary, the
channel of God's grace, and the Yisitation. In that
house the first devotion was to the interior Ufe of
Jesus ; the second was to Mary. And aU this love and
devotion to the Queen of Saints was, by Father OUer's
means, sent to consecrate the swift waters and im
memorial forest-lands of North America. Before treat
ing this point, we cannot leave the holy founder of St.
Sulpice without mentioning his death. His last years

' Vie de M. Olier, p. 381.
4

74 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
were united to the Passion of his beloved Lord by a
complication of disorders, especiaUy the agonizing
one of gravel. In its acutest attacks, when the soul
Was almost driven out of him by physical anguish, he
uttered no complaints, but lay stUl, gently smUing,
offering his pain to Jesus crucified, and murmuring,
OLove! OLove!"
He rendered up his soul into the hands of Christ
ind his dear Mother on Holy Saturday, March 26,
1657. It was in 1686 that the Company of Montreal was
founded "for the conversion of the savages and the
maintenance of the Catholic reUgion in Canada."
Five priests, a cardinal (EicheUeu), a duchess, two
dukes, twelve other nobles, and a simple Sister of
Charity, formed the association; and, for four years,
they labored faithfuUy to bring their scheme into suc
cessful operation. Their plan was this : To buUd,
upon the Isle of Montreal, a town which should be at
once a home for the missions, a defence against the
savages, a centre of commerce for the neighboring
people, which should be consecrated to the most holy
Virgin, and be caUed YUle-Marie.
So, when aU was ready, on the morrow of the Feast
of Our Lady's Purification, the associates assembled in
the cathedral church of Notre Dame. M. OUer offered
up the perfect Sacrifice at the Yirgin's altar, whereat
aU the laics communed, whUe those of the Company
who were priests said Mass at other altars with the
same intention, "fervently imploring the Queen of

IN North America. 75
Angels to bless their enterprise, and to take the Isle
of Montreal under her holy and most especial pro
tection."' The coUection after this ceremony was two hundred
thousand fi-ancs. The .commandant was Paul de
Chaumeday, lord of Maisonneuve, a warrior who, for
twenty years, had served his king with honor, the
Blessed Yirgin with devotion, having made for her
sake a vow of perpetual chastity, never omitting, for
any excuse, the recitation of the chaplet, and the Uttle
office. Under him, then, they start at length from
EocheUe, cross safely, winter at Quebec, and, on tho
17th of Mary's own month of May, arrive at Montreal.
They buUd a chapel of bark, erect an altar, and offer
for the first time the Sacrifice of the Mass. On that
day they reserved the Blessed Sacrament, and from
that day it has always been reserved in YiUe-Marie.
"Henceforth," says the American historian, "the
hearth of the sacred fires of the Wyandots was con
secrated to the Yirgin."^
The colony does weU, only it should not depend en
tirely upon France for clergy. The hospital sisters
have settled here ; the Congregation of Our Lady is
estabUshed expressly for the place ; there must be a
seminary. The same devotion which buUt St. Sulpice
for Mary in Paris, buUds the new St. Sulpice three
thousand mUes away in the colony that bears her

' Vie de Sceur Marguerite Bourgeoys. Ville-Marie, 1818, p. 31,
' Bancroft, iii. 138.

76 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
name. The mother house furnishes priests — Messrs.
de Quaylus, de GaUinet, DaUet, and Louart, to begin
with. In 1663, the Company, whose only object was
the conversion of the savages, resigns, into the hands
of the Sulpicians, aU seigneurial rights over the island,
titles confirmed, a century later, by the British govern
ment, after the conquest of Canada. And thus it is
that the Blessed Yu'gin Mary is stUl the sovereign lady
of Montreal.
These Sulpicians also have their crimson records —
their dealings with the fierce and wily Iroquois. Two
only, for the present, wiU we mention. When M. OUer
first proposed this mission to his ecclesiastics, aU
eagerly offered themselves : none were more zealous
than Father Le Maitre. " Send me," he said ; "I wUl
promise earnest labor ; I wiU go to the Indians, even
in then- own country." "You wUl not have the
trouble," answered the servant of God; "they wiU
come to look for you, and wUl so surround you that
you shaU not escape from their hands." Two years
after the death of M. OUer, Father Le Maitre, then in
Canada, was surrounded and beheaded by the Iro
quois, on the Feast of the DecoUation of Saint John
the Baptist. Father Yignal foUowed him to heaven
by the same painful path.
On the scant records that we have been able to
procure, we read the names of twenty -five seminary
priests in less than forty years — Salagnac de Fenelon,
on the north Ontario shores; among the Iroquois
de Belmont in the Indian school of the Moimtaia;

IN North America. 77
Buisson de St. Come, going far south to the Natchez.
The children of Ignatius and Xavier were the adven
turers and pioneers ; for them earth had no resting-
place, death no terrors ; their time of labor and its
field were whUe and wherever their Ups could proclaim
the name of Jesus ; their rest was only in Patria. The
ecclesiastics of Jean-Jacques OUer were a settled
colony to educate, civiUze, train, and keep the con
verted. The Jesuit furnished the element of conquest ;
the Sulpician that of conservatism.
Side by side with the Jesuit of Quebec labored the
patient hospital sisters, founded by the bounty of the
Duchess d'AiguUlon, and the Ursulines of Mary of the
Incarnation. So, at YUle-Marie, we have other hos-
pitaUeres, endowed by another pious and noble lady,
the Duchess de BulUon, and sister Marguerite Bour
geoys, and her " Congregation of Our Lady."
It is most interesting to trace the manner in which
Mary caUs and inspnes her servants, so various, yet so
effective are the means she uses. One has simply a
restless feeling, searches repose everywhere, and finds
it suddenly at the first purpose of self-consecration to
Mary. Another is summoned in a moment, when
thinking of nothing less than of the Blessed Yirgin,
by a voice, or an apparition, or an accident, as Father
Louart, the second priest of Montreal, could have
testified. He was destined for the world ; he was on
the point of marrying, when on the Feast of the As
sumption of Our Lady, he strayed by chance into a
church in Paris. The preacher was not weU prepared

78 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
— did not get along weU on the subject of the day, and
went wandering about in his discourse untU he found
a more famiUar topic. This happened to be, the ne
cessity of being sure of your vocation before entering
upon any state of Ufe. Whether he dealt more hap
pily with this subject than with the one he had left for
it, we are not informed ; but he set the mind of the
young Louart at work ; the vocation for matrimony
was found not to exist, and a few years after saw the
fiance cure in YUle-Marie. Different Ulustrations are
foimd in the cases of the two holy women who came
first to the wUd island in the St. Lawrence, there to
represent the tender pity and care of Mary Pruden-
tissima, Mary Salus Infirmorum.
A young lady of Langres, MademoiseUe Jeanne
Manse, passing her Ufe quietly among her friends in
the ordinary routine of a pious girl's Ufe, is suddenly
struck with the idea of consecrating herself to the ser
vice of the Blessed Mary in New France, What New
France is she has no idea, or, at least, a very confused
and indistinct one. It is a notion from some travel
ler's story, think her friends. Her confessor is con
sulted ; he has never heard of Montreal, and he treats
his penitent as a visionary ; but, as she persists in her
notions, he writes to Paris for information. The an
swers confirm the purpose of MademoiseUe Manse;
she goes to Paris, is introduced to the Duchess de
BuUion, a great friend of the Montreal scheme ; the
vocation is tried, ascertained, and foUowed. "I wUl
go," she said; "give me, madame, a letter to the

IN North America. 79
directors of the Company." The pious duchess gives
her a note to M. de la Dauversiere, and a purse of
tiv&aty thousand Uvres for expenses. She was warned
that, in aU probabiUty, the waUs of Montreal must be
cemented in blood ; that there were tribes of hostUe
savages who would oppose, perhaps destroy, the
colony ; that she would be alone to care for the sick
and wounded : but when these representations only
increased her zeal and fervor, the good man blessed
God, and bade her go in His name. And when he did
that, he laid the foundation of that Hotel of God
(Hotd Dieu), or Hospital St. Joseph, where now some
forty nuns and fifteen novices are consecrated to the
service of Christ in His poor.
They arrived in the middle of the month of Mary ;
the land was assigned ; the gold of the good duchess
was exchanged for wood and labor; a house and
chapel rose up swiftly, and, on the 15th of August,
1642, it was opened to celebrate the Feast of the As
sumption of St. Mary the Yirgin. As the colony grew,
the number of its sick augmented also ; the house was
found too smaU, the labor too great for any one per
son, however zealous. A new gift of sixty thousand
Uvres, by Madame de BuUion, enlarged the edifice,
and recruits from France brought help to Mademoi
seUe Manse. It was de Maisonneuve, the command
ant of YUle-Marie, and the sworn servant of its
Patroness, who went to look for hospitaUeres. He
found eager candidates for the mission among the
sisters of St. Joseph, in la Fleche, from whom three

80 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
were selected and sent to found their order' in Amer
ica. And now, what more have we to say of this
lady ? Her arm, broken by a f aU, and badly treated,
became hopelessly paralyzed. She was patient, but
she was a burden to others ; so she resolved to seek
reUef from God through her holy and gentle Mother
Mary. Every one in Montreal had, of course, great
veneration for M. OUer ; so, fuU of devotion and simple
faith, she made a journey to France, and, at his tomb,
she prayed for such a restoration only as might enable
her to aid herself, that she might be no longer a bur
den to others ; and her arm was made whole.' She
returned to her labors, and died in 1673. There is no
more to teU. Hospital sisters have no stories. Their
whole Uves are beautiful praises to the gracious God,
and are written only in His Book of Life on high.
' They were stiU seculars. Pope Alexander the Seventh erected
them into a religious order in 1666.
" Vie de M. Olier, p. 394.

IN North America. 81

CHAPTEE IV.
MARGDEKrrE BOTJRGEOYS AND THE CONOREGATION OF OuR LaDT.
The hospital sister practices the virtues of Mary,
and dies adventureless. But Mary's servants are of
aU kinds. There are adventures m the Ufe of Mar
guerite Bourgeoys— more than she sought, faithful,
loving soul, as she was, but not more than God saw
were necessary for her perfection. She did not look
for roses, nor did she find them ; but her life is itself
a rose, offered and accepted on Our Lady's altar. If
the old style of writing in conceits were in vogue, her
life is one that could almost be composed so that
every third word should be " Mary." That word was
in her mouth and in her heart, from the time her Ups
first could frame it, untU they laid her head, whitened
by ninety winters, beneath the snows of Canada. She
was born in 1620, this Margarita, this pearl of the
Queen of Yirgins. She was caUed, in reUgion, Mar
guerite of the Holy Sacrament. She was the founder
of that society knowk as Daughters of the Congrega
tion of Our Lady.'
It was in the city of Troyes, in Champagne, that
Marguerite was born. Her parents, not notable for
rank or wealth, were distinguished for something
• Vie de M. Olier, p. 394.
F 4*

82 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
better — earnestness in the practice of reUgion. This
was the best heritage they bequeathed their daughter ;
it was the only portion of their bequests that she re
tained. Her chUdhood was distinguished, quite early,
by a certain grave piety, which was always character
istic of her in after-Ufe, and by zeal in the confraterni
ties and rosary societies to which she belonged. It
was at a feast of our Blessed Lady that she first
caught a gUmpse of her vocation. It was the festival
of the Eosary, and Marguerite had gone to join in the
procession, which it is the custom of the Dominicans
to make on this day. On this occasion. Anno 1640, so
great was the throng of people, that the pomp was
forced from its usual neighborhood into the larger
streets, and passed before the grand cathedral church
of Notre Dame. A statue of the Holy Mother of God
adorned the grand portal, and Marguerite saw it, as
she thought, at least, environed with lustre ; whUe the
eyes, fuU of kindly inteUigence, appeared to look wist
fully at her. Imagination or reality. Marguerite re
ceived it as an invitation to consecrate herself to God,
under the auspices of St. Mary. And, fi-om that mo
ment, aU the innocent Uttle fineries of dress, in which,
like other girls, she had hitherto indulged, were laid
aside, and she thought only, henceforward, of how she
might acompUsh her self-dedication.
At first she tried to gain admission into the convent
of our Lady of Mount Carmel; but God had other
work for her, and she was baffled in this attempt,
although she persisted for years — although it became

m North America. 83
the strongest desire of her heart. There was another
order of nuns whom she frequented in Troyes, those
of Notre Dame, devoted to instruction, and they had
under their supervision a number of young persons,
united by an agreement, without vow, Uving each in
her own, famUy, and visiting and instructing those who
coidd not attend the classes of the nuns. These were
caUed the " outside Congregation of our Lady," and
into it the members received our Marguerite with
gratitude. This was her novitiate. Here she prac
tised aU those virtues of holy poverty and seK-sacri-
fice, charity and devotion, with which, afterwards, she
made America iUustrious. So, in the course of time,
her saintly, mortified Ufe won great grace for her.
Her heart was always fiUed with fervor when she ap
proached the Holy Communion; nay, such was her
devotion, that our Lord vouchsafed to ghow himself
to her in the Blessed Sacrament as a Uttle chUd
incomparably beautiful. It was the Feast of Our
Lady's Assumption, the chief festival of her congre
gation. Among the nuns of Notre Dame was a sister of that
pious noble, the commandant of YUle-Marie. Another
sister, equally devoted, Madame de CuiUy, remained in
the world. Of course, both were interested in their
brother's far-away colony in America ; they had*
pledged themselves to use every effort to procure for
him some reUgious, for the instruction of the young
people, and, for a long time, many of the nuns of
Notre Dame hoped to be sent. They had given to

84 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
M. de Maisonneuve a picture of the Blessed Virgin,
whereon they had written, in testimony of their prom
ise and desire, these Unes :
" 0 Holy Mother of our God, Virgin of loyal heart,
Keep for us, of thy royal mount [Montreal], a consecrated part."
Naturally, then, the good sisters talked much about
Canada, and Marguerite Bourgeoys Ustened. For, by
this time, she had won the respect and love of the
whole community, and had been offered admission to
the Order ; but it was not her vocation — that, as far as
she knew it yet, was to be a CarmeUte. But de Maison
neuve, arriving in France to look for hospital sisters
for MademoiseUe Manse, and soldiers for the defence
of his colonists, went, as he ever did, to visit his sisters
at Troyes. It was in the parlor of the convent at
Notre Dame that Marguerite met him, and heard him
talk of YUle-Marie. Then she knew at last where her
vocation was. If she needed confirmation, she had
seen the commandant in a dream some weeks before
his arrival, and recognized him as soon as she saw
him ; and when, in the absence of the bishop, she went
to take counsel of the vicar-general, he told her, in so
many words, that God requked her in Canada.
To know her vocation was to foUow it. She was
guardian of a younger brother and sister, and she
arranged at once for their education. She had some
property — she made it over to them and to the poor,
and stood firee in the world. She said, " I am ready ;"
and then came the difficulties and temptations. The

IN North Amectca. 85
reUgious, refused for the present by de Maisonneuve,
dissuaded her fi'om going untU they could go too. She
desired to have with her a member of that " outside
congregation," of which she had for some time been
prefect, a young girl, whose honor she had saved ; but
chcumstances were inexorable : only one could be
taken ; there was employment only for one. Mar
guerite must stay or go alone — alone, of her sex, in a
ship iiUed with newly-recruited soldiers, and their
commander, whom she had seen but once. Not an
easy obstacle this to surmount.
She has recourse to her confessor. " Go freely," he
says ; " M. de Maisonneuve wiU be your guardian ; he
is one of the noblest knights in the court of the Queen
of Angels.'" StUl, nature and modest education are
powerful ; Marguerite yet hesitates ; then the Blessed
Virgin herself decides. One morning, while meditating
ia her own chamber, a lady, beautiful, white-robed,
surrounded with a halo of flashing yet tender light,
appears before her, and says gently : " Go, Marguerite,
to Canada ; I wiU not abandon thee." This settles the
matter. Come now what may, she wUl be at Nantes
for the embarkation by the Feast of the Visitation of
St. Mary. Many a thing wiU come — temptations, re
monstrances, imputations which are the hardest for
women to endure, but aU useless. She quits Troyes,
in the Octave of the Puriflcation, for Paris. At Paris

¦ " C'est un des premiers chevaliers de la chambre de la Eeine deg
Anges." — Vie de Soeur Marguerite, p. 51.

86 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
she is generaUy laughed at ; her uncle there, not shar
ing in the hilarity, storms, argues, rebukes, forbids,
brings tears abundantly and humble protestations of
affection, but no change of purpose. The provincial
of the Carmelites begs her to renounce this crazy ad
venture — offers to procure her reception in any Car
melite convent she prefers. Here, then, is the dearest
wish of her heart reaUzed at last, and it staggers her
a Uttle. She pays a visit to the nearest church, and
comes back fixed. It is not to Our Lady of Mount
Carmel that she belongs, but to Our Lady of YiUe-
Marie. Then she makes up her comforts for the voyage.
These consist of a crucifix, a rosary, a book of devo
tions, and a change of Unen. She takes this luggage
in her hand, and she starts for the port of Nantes.
TravelUng alone, she is frequently insulted ; at Saumur
and at Orleans she is contemptuously refused entrance
at the hotels. One night she passes in a stable, the
other in a church. She has a letter for a merchant at
Nantes, whom, on her arrival, she meets in the street.
He gives her the address of his house, and promises
to foUow thither shortly. A young man, going out
with M. de Maisonneuve, insists upon carrying her
Uttle bundle, and they present themselves at the house
of Monsieur le Coq. Madame, in person, opens the
door ; madame appears to have been one of the " unco
good." She looks at the poor young woman and the
youth beside her, and shuts the door in their faces.
Marguerite crosses over to the church of the Jacobins,

IN North America. 87
m time for the commencement of the Eosary proces
sion, joins in the ceremony, and then with renewed
courage attempts the merchant's house again. This
time she is soundly rated for her impudence, and
dismissed Avith ignominy. But, as she turns away
patiently, M. le Coq himself comes home, and the
weary servant of Mary finds a shelter at last.
She reposes for a day or two. By the Octave of
the B. V. M. of Mount Carmel, she is out at sea — not
in a modern packet-ship, or luxurious, swift-puffing
steamer, but Uj the lumbering Uttle transport of two
hundred years ago. In this vessel, sleeping upon a
pUe of cordage, the nurse of the sick, the consoler of
the distressed, making the night and morning prayer,
the attendant upon a hundred soldiers and the crew,
the heroic woman traversed the Atlantic. When she
steadUy refused to eat at his table, M. de Maisonneuve
sent her food, filtered water and wine, which she re
ceived gratefuUy, and distributed among her patients.
She ate the coarse fare of the ship ; she drank, from a
Uttle leathern cup, the ropy, unsavory water of the
common cask, and drank but once a day — a habit she
preserved through all her after-Ufe, from devotion to
our dear Lord's bitter thirst upon the cross. In the
practice of these virtues, after a journey of between
three and, four months, sister Marguerite arrived at
Montreal about the Feast of Our Lady's Presentation,
1653, and then and there began the labors which knew
no rest for nearly half a century.
The town of ViUe-Marie had few magnificences in

88 Devotion to the B. V. M.vrt
that day. Within the stockade, some fifty houses ;
outside the waUs, twenty or thirty farms, and a half
hundred of Indian wigwams — that was the city of
Montreal. But, smaU though it were. Marguerite
could find work enough in it. Scarcely any one of
those habitations faUe to received a daUy visit; you
saw her everywhere, if good were to be done there,
nursing the sick, consoUng the sorrowful, instructing
the ignorant, washing the Unen and mending the
clothes of the poor, as well as giving away to the
needy what others thought the very necessaries of Ufe.
M. le Coq had given her a bed, which she had never
used on board the ship. There was a straw bed, a
mattress, two coverlets, and a pUlow. In less than a
week, one after the other disappeared, and Marguerite
slept upon the floor in the Canadian winter. In a
word, she "became an eye unto the bUnd, and feet
unto the lame. When the ear heard, then it blessed
her ; when the eye saw, it gave witness to her, because
she deUvered the poor that cried, the fatherless, and
the helpless. The blessing of him that was ready to
perish came upon her, and she caused the widow's
heart to sing for joy." '
Above aU, she found her greatest pleasure in in
structing young girls, both French and Indians, in the

' Oculus fui ccEco et pes claudo. Auris audiens beatificabat me, et
oculus videns, testimonium reddebat milii. Eo quod liberassem
pauperem vociferantem et pupUlum cui non esset adjutor. Rene-
dictio perituri super me veniebat et cor viduse consolatus sum. — JoV
xxix.

IN North America. 89
branches necessary for them, especiaUy in the prin
ciples and practice of reUgion. " She ihspired them,"
says one of her biographers, " with sentiments of love
and devotion towards the august Mother of God, to
whom she was herself particularly devoted. A worthy
coadjutrix of M. de Maisonneuve, whUe he was build
ing up a material city for Mary, she was estabUshing
the spiritual empire of that Blessed Mother in the
hearts of the faithful."' For four years occupied in
these labors, she ran from house to house, for as yet
no buUding could be spared her for a school. But if
the commandant could give her no building, he could
and did give her land ; and on this, thinking first, as
always, of St. Mary, she determined to buUd, not a
school, but a chapel in her honor. Then she redoubled
her energies, running about to every one in the town ;
and so, one brought wood, and another stone ; a few,
money ; a greater number, their stout arms, wUling
hearts, and mechanical skUl; and thus the chapel
arose, just where now stands the church of Our Lady
of Good Help (du Bon-secours).
But the colony was growing large — a bishop had
arrived, Mgr. de Laval de Montmorenci — and Mar
guerite felt that, if her work was to go forward, she must
have help. MademoiseUe Manse was going to France
to look for hospital sisters, and for reUef for her use-
' La Vie de la /Venerable Soeur Marguerite Bourgeoys, dite du
Saint Sacrament, Institutrice, Fondatrice et premiere Superienre dea
PiUes Seculaires de la Congregation de Notre Dame. Ville-Marie,
1818.

90 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
less arm. Marguerite then could wait upon her, and
BO sanctify the voyage itself; and, when arrived in
France, could gather some devoted souls, and, if it
were God's wiU, estabUsh a congregation of Our Lady
in ViUe-Marie. They had a safe and pleasant passage ;
they visited together M. OUer's tomb, and, together,
rendered thanks to God for the mercy extended to
MademoiseUe Manse. Alone, as she came, so she
goes back to her native country,, a simple woman,
without rank, wealth, or influence, to ask parents for
their daughters, to go to an isle in a scarce explored
river, three thousand mUes away, surrounded by cruel
and hostile savages, to instruct the children of poor
colonists and Indians in the knowledge of the Gospel
Df God. Truly it required some confidence to make
the request, and more to hope for a favorable re
sponse. But Marguerite knew to whom she looked,
whom she loved in her heart, whom she trusted in,
whom she had chosen.' " I will come back in a year,
and successful," she said, as she left Montreal, on the
Octave of the Virgin's Nativity, 1658.
No sooner had she arrived in Troyes, than three of
her old companions presented themselves to her for
the mission ; but the father of one of them, a notary,
wanted a little information on the subject. " How did
they Uve, for instance, in that wild country ?" " They
had a stable," said Marguerite, " which M. de Maison-
' Eegnum mundi et omnem ornatum sseculi contempsi proptei
amorem Domini mei Jesu Christi, quem vidi, quern amavi, in qaem
credidi, quem dilexi. — Com. non Virg.

IN North America. 91
neuve had. given them, and which only wanted some
repairs to make a residence of it." The notary wished
to know what inducements were offered to those who
should inhabit this fine lodging ? " Troubles, humiU-
ations, and labors," answered Marguerite. " Was it
proposed to support life exclusively upon these?"
asked the notary. " Oh, no ; she would insure them
bread and soup, and, with the blessing of God, that
was enough." The tears arose in the old man's eyes.
"You shaU have my daughter," he said, "provided
you accept a dowry with her." Marguerite thanked
him, in Our Lady's name, for the former, but refused
money upon any conditions. At length, with five re
cruits, she returns to America and her stable in Isle
Mont-Eoyal. "It was a stone buUding, this stable," she teUs us,
" about twenty -five feet square, and had long been a
retreat for animals of every sort. But I had a chimney
.buUt, and got it cleaned; so that we could lodge there
the children whom the Indians gave us, as weU as hold
our schools. As for us, there was a sort of dove-cot,
or garret, above, where, until now, pigeons had been
bred, and of this I made our dormitory and com
munity-room, although it was rather inconvenient of
approach, the only access being by a ladder outside." ' *
Yet, in this establishment they Uved, taught their
schools, guarded young emigrant girls who came from
France — once as many as eighteen — and trained their
' Vie de Marguerite Bourgeoys, p. 81.

92 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
postulants and Indian converts. Next, they spared
two sisters for the famous Mountain Mission of the
Iroquois. It was the mountain which Jacques Cartier
had surnamed the Eoyal, and which gave its name,
corrupted, to the island.
When first, in 1649, M. de Maisonneuve beheld the
stately height, that " knight of the Queen of Angels"
vowed to erect a cross, the standard of his Lord, upon
its summit, and to place beside it the lesser banner of
his sovereign Lady. So he caused a taU, massive
cross to be made ; and he himself bore it painfuUy to
the top of the mountain, planting it firmly there, and
inserting carefuUy, in a niche at its foot, the image
given him by his sisters at Troyes. This took place
the same year and season — perhaps the same day and
hour — in which Marg-uerite, looking up from the
Eosary procession upon the great statue of Our Lady,
beheld it robed with unwonted splendors.
So now she sent two sisters to toU among the In
dians ; for M. de Belmont, serving there as priest, had
opened schools for the savages, which were weU at
tended. And there the sisters dwelt in birch-bark
wigwams, and labored for the spiritual weal of the
native American. Wlien advancing civiUzation drove
the Indians thence to the Saut au EecbUet, and thence
to the Lake of Two Mountains, the sisters foUowed
them, and are stUl found there in 1862, faithful to their
inherited duties, as were the first two sent by Sister
Marguerite. But labors and troubles accumulated-—
difficulties about the congregation — hard work in get"

IN North America. 93
ting the rule. The saiiitl} bishop hesitates, would lUie
to unite the orders of Quebec and YiUe-Marie, does not
see with Sister Marguerite's eyes. She must needs go
to France again, and get a charter for her congrega
tion from Louis le Grand ; which charter, according
to the propriety of dates which seems to accompany
these matters, is issued and signed by King Louis in
the month of May. Mgr. de Montmorenci falls ill, and
is obUged to resign his see ; so that, when Sister Mar
guerite returns to Canada, she finds no bishop to
whom to submit herself and the rule, as the term ol
the charter reqaU-ed.
One treasure she acquires in France. All the Com
pany of Montreal, we know, were distinguished for de
votion to the holy Virgin Mary. Among them, le
Pretre, lord of Fleury, had a coUection of ancient
reUcs in the chapel of his castle. One of these was a
Uttle statue of Our Lady, by which it had pleased God
to work miracles. This he determined to send to
YUle-Marie, where, he hoped, a chapel would be buUt
for it, and where it would be more honored than else
where, as that town and colony were more particularly
consecrated to the pure Mother of God than any other
portion of the world. Being brought to M. de Fan-
camp, another member of the Company in Paris, he
was healed instantaneously of a dangerous Ulness, and
then he vowed to labor steadfastly for the chapel,
headed the subscription list with a heavy sum from
his own purse, and placed that sum and the sacred
image at once in the hands of Sister Marguerite. It

94 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
was the consolation of the sisters on their voyage, and
the object of their unremitting zeal on their arrival,
which happened on the eve of the Assumption. So
well they labored, that, on that day two years, they
saw the chapel finished — the first stone church erected
in Montreal — walked in the long procession, and heard
the first Mass within its walls. The house of the Con
gregation rose beside it, and the sisters dwelt and
toiled there under the eye of their tender Mother.
Many a storm passes by her and over her during aU
these years. Chapel and house consumed to ashes;
the first EngUsh war and the capture of the city ; the
burden of the Superiority — for the order numbers
forty persons now, and she desires to lay down the
authority, to place it in younger hands ; nay, she
waljis to Quebec, on foot, through the midwinter snow,
at the age of seventy -three, to beg remission from the
office, but the bishop (Lacroix) wiU not Usten to her.
" Go back. Marguerite, to your austerities, your labors,
to this position of honor, harder for your humUity to
bear than either : ' qid perseveraverit usque in finem hie
salvus erit — ^whoso persevereth unto the end, he shaU
be saved.' " ' So Marguerite persevered, Uved to see
her mission-schools spread over the land ; to hear her
community blessed by every mouth; to build a new
church, in 1695, and'to see there founded the perpet
ual adoration of the most holy Sacrament. Her prayer
on this occasion to the Prisoner of Love is preserved,
' St. Matthew, x. 32.

IN North America. 95
wherein she beseeches 'His especial benediction upon,
and his guardianship for, her sisterhood. " Most Holy
Virgin," thus, after long suppUcation to Jesus in the
Sacrament, it ends, "remember that thou art our
Mother. Be, too, our advocate, and supply what our
devotion to thy Son is lacking in. Make us see the
power of thy intercession with Him, bearing thyself
our poor and feeble prayers to Him, and presenting
them thyself before the throne of His glory."
And, now, the day was weU-nigh over— the hour was
approaching for repose, for reward. Sixty years of
austerities and toUs had done their work upon the
weary frame — forty-seven of those years in the wilds
of Canada. Consult her, Ufe for the extraordinary
spnit of mortification which always ruled her, or judge
what treatment she reserved for herseU when she pre
scribed this course for her community : " To live in
perfect renunciation of self and aU things earthly ; to
seek only the glory of God ; to be devoted to the in
struction of young girls, and the practice of all good
works, without murmuring at the pain, trouble, humiU-
ations, and suffering which are inseparable from these ;
to imitate the simple and modest life of Mary in aU
things ; on their missions to imitate the Apostles ; to
travel always, when jDossible, on foot; to win their
bread by the labor of their hands ; to be chargeable to
no one. In their missions and community to have
only the simplest, poorest, most indispensable furni
ture ; to wear tho commonest clothing, and eat the
coarsest food ; to have no better bed than straw ; to

96 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
live in aU things as the poorest people, only in scrupu-<
lous neatness. Such was her rule for others ; it waa
luxurious when compared with the ride for herself." '
Thus, when the Master came. He found His servant
watching, and the end W3,s on this wise. Sister Cath
erine, the mistress of the novices, lay dying in the in
firmary, stiU young, but early called. The last sacra
ments had been administered ; the agony came on.
The sisters watching her ran to the various rooms to
summon all to the prayers for the dying. When they
came to sister Marguerite, she groaned in spirit, and
said : " 0 Father ! why not take me, the old and use
less, and spare that poor sister who can yet serve
Thee long ?" And Mary bore the aspu-ation of self-
sacrifice to the feet of God, and God heard it, and
granted it. Sister Catherine rose up cured. Sister
Marguerite lay down upon a couch of cruel anguish
for ten days, borne with thanksgiving and hymns of
praise, and then, on the Feast of the Epiphany, she
feU into a sweet and gentle agony,"" and, with her
hands crossed meekly on her bosom, went to " find the
young ChUd and His Mother" in the courts of heaven,
January 12, A. D. 1700.
How simply she told her Mother what she desired
for her congregation ! " Oh, my good Mother, I ask
for our community no goods, no honors, no pleasures
of this Ufe. Obtain for me only that God may be
faithfuUy served, and that we may never receive
' Vie de Soeur Marguerite, p. 139. = Ibid., p. 168.

IN North America. 97
haughty or presumptuous persons in om. midst; nor
those whose hearts are in the world; nor who are
slanderers or mockers ; nor any save such as wiU study
to practise those maxims which our Lord, thy divine
Son, has taught us, has sealed with His blood, and
which thou, oh, most Holy Yirgin, hast observed with
such exactitude."' How dearly 'she loved the very
name of Mary, giving it in baptism to the poor Uttle
Indian babes, abandoned or easily given up by their
parents ! The first, baptized on the feast of Our Lady
of Snows, and aU the others, were named Mary. One,
an IlUnois girl, Uved to be eighteen, and died a holy
death in their house. Other two, Iroquois, Mary
Barbe, and an Algonquin of the same name, became
sisters of the community.
But Marguerite's whole Ufe was devotion to the
Blessed Yirgin; every thought was affected by her,
every act was done as if by her direction. To Mary
she gave herself in France ; for her she left her native
land forever, to dweU in a wild and just discovered
country, in a town bearing the name of Mary, to
estabUsh a congregation under the name of Mary,
where the books, and houses, and persons wore the
livery of Mary, and where Mary herseU was solemnly
chosen first and perpetual superior.
For, at the first formal assembly of the congregation
for the election of a superior, the sisters had cried with
one voice, that " they would have the Blessed Virgin
' Vie de Sceur Marguerite, p. 114
5

98 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
for their superior, their origin, founder, protectresSj
and good mother for time and for eternity."' And
then Marguerite and the rest of them prostrated them
selves before the image of our dear Lady, and made
this prayer, remembered and preserved by the sister
hood : " Look, holy Virgin, on this Uttle band of thy
servants, who have consecrated themselves to God's
service under thy direction, and who desire to foUow
thee as good children follow their mother and mistress,
and who consider thee as their superior, hoping that
God wiU give to thee the rule over a community which
is thine own creation. We have nothing worthy to
present to God ; but we hope, by thine intercession,
to obtain the graces necessary for our salvation and
for the perfection of our state. Thou knowest better
than we what we need, and what we should ask for.
Eefuse us not thine aid. Help us, by thy prayers, to
receive light and grace from the Holy Spirit, so that
we may labor faithfuUy in the instruction of the young ,
girls whom it is our especial charge to teach. And,
above aU, oh, our dear Lady and Mother, procure that
we, the teachers, and aU the children to us committed,
and aU who shaU contribute to then spiritual advance
ment, may be of the number of the elect ; so that, ia
thy society, we may praise our good God in the joy
which endureth forever."" And so it happens that, in
the Congregation of Our Lady, there are no earthlj
superiors, but only sub-superiors.
' Vie de Soeur Marguerite, p. 148. ' Ibid.

in North America. 99
We would Uke to show, by its manifold varied exam
ples, the zeal of Marguerite for God's service in other
channels of devotion, but it cannot have place in this
book, which is dedicated to one topic only. But, she
used to teU her sisterhood, and her entire life exhibited
her own conviction of its truth, that their zeal, to be
perfect, must be formed upon the model of the Blessed
Virgin's, of her whom it pleased the Eternal Father to
make a coadjutrix (in a manner) of her divine Son's
work of redemption. From this, that dependence on,
and imitation of, Mary, which she so much insisted on
in the formation of her society, it was no barren and
transitory sentiment of devotion which caused her to
caU her institute the Congregation of Our Lady, under
the title and invocation of the Visitation of Mary. It
was the expression of the devotion which filled her
heart. It was a monument of her own dependence
and love — a model for her sisterhood, hereafter, that
she proposed to estabUsh by these titles. Some brief
quotation from her own simple instructions to them
will not only give us an insight into her ruling senti
ment, but wiU exhibit the power of one means of ex
tending the devotion to the Mother of God in this
country. "The Blessed Virgin," she said, "desired to con
tinue the work of God on earth : this must be our de
sire in our special mission, the instruction of young
girls. As Mary used to pray for the fulfilment of the
promises, for the deUverance of the Fathers, who, in
limbo, awaited the coming of the Just One, so must we

100 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
pray continually for the souls in purgatory, and for the
conversion of sinners on earth.
"At the age of three years she was taken to the
Temple, as to the school of vu'tue : our novices must
be scholars of Mary and with Mary during their prep
aration. She was edifying in aU her acts ; ever ready
to serve others ; moderate in her repasts and in aU
things : and we, Uke her, must do aU things for edifi
cation ; must prefer others to ourselves, and be as
moderate in food and drink, in apparel, in slumber,
and in conversation, as necessity wiU admit.
" Mary was at prayer when the angel saluted her :
'Hail, full of grace!' By prayer, then, must we gain
the graces needed for our condition as instructresses.
And when our Lady had given her consent to become
the Mother of God by the operation of the Holy
Ghost, at once to show her gratitude to the Eternal
Father, to correspond with the graces He bfe.3towed,
and with His designs for the redemption of the human
race, she hastened to visit her cousin, Saint EUzabeth,
to become an instrument for the sanctification of the
great Saint John the Baptist, and to carry grace and
salvation to the house of Zacharias : so we, the ser
vants of Mary, on our missions, must strive to contrib
ute to the sanctification of chUdren, to edify aU per
sons, especially those of our own sex, and to let the
whole world know that we are indeed daughters oi
that most holy Virgin.
"Mary received, with equal kindness, both kings
and shepherds as they came to adore her Son, and

IN North America. 101
took to herself no tittle of the honors which they paid
Him : nor shall the sisters distinguish between their
scholars, rich and poor, nor attribute to themselves
any of the success which God may grant to then-
labors. It is believed that, as the number of Chris
tians increased, Mary, and other holy women, aided
the Apostles by instructing persons of their own sex,
and, by their prayers and exhortations, recalled them,
if they erred from the promise of their baptism : and
the sisters must be ready to receive such in retreat, and
to labor for their reformation, where that is needed.
" But the Ufe of the Blessed Virgin being aU perfec
tion, and including aU the virtues of the religious state,
points her out in all things as especiaUy to be chosen
as our model, our mother, and our directress. As,
then, she has deigned to admit us into the ranks of
her humble servants, has chosen us to imitate her Ufe,
and is our founder and superior, let us, in conformity
with all th^ graces given us, as far as the frailty and
corruption of our nature wUl aUow us, imitate her
virtues. Our good God has always, in the history of
the Church, given to the founders of reUgious orders
the special graces demanded by the spirit of their in
stitutions ; be sure, then, that he wUl accord to Mary,
our dear -founder, the graces which she asks for her
daughters, so entirely consecrated to her glory and
that of her Eternal Holy Son.
" Study, then, her Ufe, oh, my sisters, and imitate
her virtues, and, if we are faithful, we may be confident
of her perpetual help."

102 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
This is the spirit which animated the whole life of
this saintly woman — the spirit which she carefuUy in-
stUled into the Congregation that she founded. In
her own long, laborious Ufe, she formed at least sixty
of the sisters after this model; and since she has
passed, as we beUeve, to her eternal joy and reward,
she has seen from heaven that Congregation ramify
and extend over the country, preserving intact the
principles she left them. At this hour, in the haU-
dozen dioceses we can learn about, more than three
hundred sisters of the Congregation are teaching the
example of Mary to seven thousand pupils in the very
spirit of their venerable founder.
So you see, my reader, what Marguerite Bourgeoys,
the poor girl of Troyes, the austere, lowly reUgious of
the colony in the wUderness, has to do with devotion
to Oux Lady in North America.

THE I3IMAC(.rLATIi; COXOEPTION.

IN North America. lOS

CHAPTEE V.
Extermination of tre Hueons — Odb Ladt of Foie — New Loretto —
The NoRTiiTVEST — Immacclate Conception in Illinois— Maey Ako — ¦
DoicN THE Mississippi — Baok to Montreal — Our Lady's Guard —
The Coxgregation 4GAIK — The Recluse of Ville-Marie — OxiR Ladt
of Angels.
Westward from Nazareth and Bethlehem, through
Europe, to the shores of America ; westward, athwart
that continent, advanced the devotion to Mary, on its
consecrating march to the Pacific. We have seen the
broad St. Lawrence entered by her servants; a vast
manor given up to her in the territory of Quebec ; a city
buUt as a monument of devotion to her, and solemnly
caUed by her name ; and the bearers of her standard
pushing westward, painfuUy, but with courage un
flinching, and planting a fort or a chapel, a station or
a mission-house of St. Mary, to mark their toilsome'
but triumphant way. Let us foUow it as it leads
through the Umits of the present British possessions ;
then through the French claim, down the VaUey of the
Mississippi, and so to its progress under the Spanish
flag, and to the settlement of the United States. This
much wUl bring us to the year 1776, and thus to the
present day.
The Huron learned quickly to love the name ot
Mary. Above aU, the women looked up, from their la-

104 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
borious debasement, to this glorified model of woman
hood; and when they heard from the Jesuit or the
Sulpician that, by imitating her virtues, they might
share in her glory ; when they saw the UrsuUne, the
HospitaUere, and the daughter of Notre Dame, tread
ing this sanctified path, they gave up their very hearts
to the Immaculate Queen, and besought her foUowers
on earth to teach them the way to her protection.
Nor less did the tall warrior swear himself to her ban
ner ; the wisest spake her praises by the councU-fires
of his tribe ; the bravest crowned his dusky forehead
with the grains of her rosary. Mary of the Incarna
tion could count two hundred redskins in her schools ;
Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament saw them de
voted sisters of her order. In their country the mis
sionary placed his headquarters, St. Mary's on the
Matchedash or Wye. " There, at the humble house
dedicated to the Virgin, in one year, three thousand
guests from the cabins of the red-man received a frugal
welcome." ' And thence the early Jesuits went forth
to discovery, to spiritual conquest, or to martyrdom.
In the cabin of the Huron they sate as fathers of the
tribe ; side by side with the Huron they received the
deadly arrow, or felt the keen scalping-knife of the
Iroquois. Breboeuf organized the mission in 1634, and the
Fathers never left untU the Hurons were no more a
people, 1650. They taught them in the day of peace ;
' Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii. 135.

IN North America. 105
suffered with them in their misfortunes, and gave them
hope bfeyond the grave for their restraint and consola
tion. The triumph of the Iroquois broke the nation
up into five bands. The first sought immediate
security with the French. The second fled northward
to the ManitouUn Islands, and, driven thence by their
implacable foemen, took refuge in Quebec. The third,
appealing to the generosity of the Mohawks, were re
ceived by them as brethren and adopted^into the tribe.
Here they preserved the faith, although without priest
or instruction. They met in common to chant the
hymns they had learned, and to teU the beads they
had acquired before the days of their captivity. They
became missionaries among their captors, and allured
many from paganism. When the Fathers at length
penetrated into the Iroquois cantons, some of these
converts, grown old in the long-deferred hope of bap
tism, rushed forward to meet them, and wept aloud for
joy. The fourth troop went to Mackinac, where the
enemy foUowed ; thence far beyond Lake Superior to
the Sioux, who treated them as Ul as the Iroquois;
thence to the Ottawas, in North Michigan ; and then
to Point St. Ignace, upon the Straits of Mackinac,
where a smaU remnant of them dweUs to-day.
The fifth joined the Eries, and, with them, were
blotted from existence by their relentless enemies.
The first alone reaped benefit from the national ruin.
They settled in Isle Orleans, in the St. Lawrence, and
changed its name to St. Mary's Isle, and here, amid
their cabins, rose the house of prayer, and the fixed,
6*

106 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
though humble, residence of the missionary. The Iro
quois drove them even from that, it is true ; but, when
the war was over, they settled again about four mUes
off, and gave to their new home the name of Mission
of Our Lady of Foie. Hither the Belgian Jesuits
brought a statue of the Holy Virgin, sculptured from
the oak of that forest near Dinan, in which was found
the miraculous image which bears the title of Notre
Dame de Foie in Europe. But their need of the chase
drew them nearer to the woods, and a league further
brought them to a place wherein they hoped at length
to rest. The cabins were arranged in the form of a
square, and in the midst of them the church was
placed supereminent, dominating aU the viUage with
its cross as in perpetual benediction. To this the
missionary, Chaumonot, added a chapel of the Blessed
Virgin, in size and form, material and furniture, a
copy of the Holy House of Loretto, wherein our Lord
was born. This became the holy place of the Indians.
The Iroquois convert found a home here, side by side
with his ancient Huron victim. The Hurons them
selves grew in holiness and aU primitive virtues ; and
then- brethren in far exUe were wont to make pUgrim-
ages hitherward, bringing offerings of furs and balm,
from the distant west, to the feet of the Virgin Im
maculate. Another and final removal to a very short
distance took place long after. They caUed the settle
ment the New Loretto,' and there, to-day, are gathered
' Notes to Bressani's Eelation, 309-318.

IN North America. 107
the fast-fading remnants of the once grand Huron
nation. What was once the site of the Old Loretto of
the Hurons is now the parish of the Annunciation of
Our Lady.
The Cross went northward, and was planted among
the Chippewas of Lake Superior. The mission-house
was caUed by the name of Mary, and stood where the
cathedral of the Immaculate Conception now shadows
the leaping waters of the Saut. Then along the south
shore of the same great water. Father AUouez carried
the beautiful devotion, founded the mission of the
Holy Ghost at the very extremity of the lake, and
taught a Chippewa choir to chant the Pater and the
Ave Maria.' And here he met the scattered Hurons
and Ottawas, the sun-worshipping Pottowattomie from
the recesses of Lake Michigan, the Sac and Fox, the
gentle HUnois, and the proud warrior Dacota. For
years, AUouez, Dablon, Marquette evangeUzed the vast
regions from Green Bay to the head of Superior, " de
fying the severity of cUmates, wading through water
or through snows, without the comfort of fire, having
no bread but pounded maize, and often no food but
the unwholesome moss from the rocks ; laboring in
cessantly ; exposed to live, as it were, without nourish
ment, to sleep without a resting-place, to travel far,
and always incurring perUs; to carry his Ufe in his
hand, or rather daUy, and oftener than every day, to
hold it up as a target, expecting captivity, death from
' Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 150.

108 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
the' tomahawk, tortures, fire."' So to the Fox Eiver,
to Iowa and Wisconsin, to the tribes of the Kickapoo,
the Mascoutin, and the Miami, the devoted servant of
Mary proclaimed her beautiful name.
The Mission of the Immaculate Conception among
the Illinois was the most prosperous, although not
without its checks. In a foray of the Kickapoos
the EecoUect Eigourde was slain, and his coUeague,
Membre, put to fiight. AUouez, the "Apostle of the
West," labored long, and then retired to Isle St.
Joseph to die. But, as in later times, with other
races, some of the red men were willing to adopt
Christianity only on condition that it should not inter
fere with their passions. The chief of the Kaskaskias
called himself a Christian, and professed great re
spect for the missionary, but he lost it in this way.
The Ught of his lodge was his daughter Mary,
brought up from chUdhood in the faith, which had
found congenial soil in her innocent heart. Mary had
heard of the virgin spouses of Christ, and longed
always to be such as they were. Besides, she desired
to belong altogether to that dear, spotless Mother of
Purity, whose name she had received in baptism. , But
a Frenchman, named Ako, rich for the place and time,
but dissolute and reckless, demanded her hand, and
her father determined to give it him.
Mary prayed earnestly to be left as she was ; she
told her father that she had given her heart to God,
¦ Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 153.

in North America. 109
and could not religiously marry ; but the old chief
forced her to the chapel. At the very altar she told
Father Gravier of her earnest disUke to the marriage,
and was instructed by him that her free consent was
necessary. This she refused to give, and the party
left the chapel. But her dusky sire stripped her and
turned her from his lodge. More than this, he won
the other chiefs to his side, and the " Prayer" was pro
hibited in the vUlage. Gravier appealed to the French
commandant, one of t^ie adventurer La SaUe's posting,
but Ako had been there before him, and he was dis
missed with blame and reproach. The mission was
tottering to its faU. Fifty Peorias and Kaskaskias
remained faithful, but then- opposition was only strong
enough to irritate, not to resist, the party of the chief.
The cross would soon be broken down, the chapel
closed, the pastor driven away. Then Mary offered
herself in sacrifice for the good of her tribe, and, on
her father's promise to restore the mission, she gave
her hand to Ako. Her virtues and her gentleness re
claimed the dissolute Frenchman, and he became a
model of penitence. The old chief made himself a
sacristan, and morn and evening he went through the
viUage caUing his people to prayer. His wife in
fluenced the women, as he did the warriors ; and Mary
assembled the children daily in her house, and taught
them to invoke, by prayer and hymn, the benign
Eefuge of Sinners.
From this source was it that the good Indian woman
drew her consolation and strength. " I caU her only

110 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Mother," she was wont to say of the Blessed Mother
of her Lord. " I beg her, with aU the terms of endear
ment that I know, to accept me as her child. If she
accept me not as daughter, if she will not be my
mother, what can I do ? I aih but a chUd, and know
not how to pray. I beg her to teach me how to pray,
how to defend myself against the evil one, who attacks
me ceaselessly, and wiU effect my faU unless I have
recourse to her, unless she shelter me in her arms, as
a gentle mother does a frightened child." ' This was
an lUinois Christian woman two hundred years ago.
I know of no country in which the influence and in
terference — so to speak of the Blessed Mother of God
— is so evident as in this country. Here, now, in lUi
nois, as the first Jesuits disappear, the Priests of the
Foreign Mission take their place, and the Priests of
the Foreign Mission were originated in a sodality of
the Blessed Virgin in Paris. These carried the be
loved name to the banks of the Ohio and the St.
Joseph's. The number of converts among the lUinois
grew rapidly, and embraced the noblest and best of
the tribe. So changed was an Indian village now, that
the French settlers preferred to choose their wives
from its maidens. At home, the tribe was punctual at
the chapel ; when they went to their hunting-grounds,
they would meet every night and chant — for that was
their way — in alternate choirs, the Eosary of Our
Lady. ' Shea's Indian Missions, 417.

m North America. Hi
There was no priest at Peoria since tho death of
Father Gravier, slain there by the influence of the
medicine-men or prophets. But the grand chief wore
a crucifix upon his breast, which he revered with sin
cere piety, and a medal of the Blessed Virgin. He
had found this somewhere, and had carried it to better
instructed Christians to learn what it was. They told
him that it represented the Virgin Mother of God ;
that the Uttle Infant, whom he saw in her arms, was
the Eedeemer of the world, and that her especial title
was Mary the Help of Christians. He received this
lesson into a faithful heart, and he wore his medal
with confidence in her whose image was embossed
upon its surface. One day, walking with his gun un
loaded, he espied a Fox Indian lurking in a thicket,
and saw that the musket of the savage was leveUed at
his heart. Then he cried to Mary Help of Christians,
and she heard him. Five times in succession the gun
of the Fox missed fire. Before he could aim a sixth
time, the piece of the Peoria chief was charged and
leveUed in its turn. The Fox surrendered, threw down
his gun, and the votary of Mary led him triumphantly
to his lodge. It was to Father de Charlevoix that he
told the story, when he brought his Uttie daughter for
baptism to that clergyman.' What most charmed the
later missionaries, when they came among these In
dians for the first time, was their pecuUar, grave, alter
nate chant for the Eosary.
' Shea's Missions, p. 438.

112 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
These lUinois chanters of the Ave Maria had been
even to the . mouth of the Mississippi, to the new
French settlements, chaplet in hand, and the by no
means too pious Europeans there looked admiringly,
and, perhaps, seU-reproachfuUy, at these swarthy war
riors, who had not left their religion behind them in
the far-off lodges of their tribe. Indeed, a prayer to
Mary Immaculate was not new there, for de Soto's
expedition in 1539 had been accompanied by twenty-
two ecclesiastics. The Salve Regina had floated over
the waters of the mighty father of streams, from the
mouth of the Eed Eiver to the ocean, and the infidel
MobUian, in the wUds of Alabama, had Ustened with
wonder to the chant of the Litany of Loretto. Membre
told the pure Name to the swarthy Arkansas ; Mon-
tigny to the Tsensas on Eed Eiver; St. Come laid
down his life to honor it, amid the towns of' the fire-
worshipping Natchez ; Foucault, du Poisson, and Louel
shed their blood while proclaiming it among the Choc-
taws and the fierce Yazoos. When Iberville came
from France, to meet the Acadian and the Frenchman
descending from the Canadas, he caUed the islands at
the mouth of the Mississippi, Chandehur,' in honor of
our Blessed Lady's Purification ; and soon we find
withm the stockade of New Orleans the hospital sister
(1705), the monks of the Blessed Virgin of Mount
Carmel (1722), and those devoted pioneers of educa-

' The French Festival de la Chandeleur answers to our old English
Candlemass, or Feast of the Purification.

IN North America. 118
tion, the daughters of St. Ursula. Thus, then, from
its head-waters to the ocean, had the devotion to Mary
foUowed the tides of the Mississippi; and on both
sides of the stream it had been planted, and its roots
had taken firm hold, and had spread widely. We shaU
soon see their bloom.
But we must now return, where indeed we find the
throbbing heart of this devotion, to the city of Mary
on the St. Lawrence, to YUle-Marie. There, while aU
others were contributing to the honor of their sacred
patroness, their safety was watched over by the guard
of de Maisonneuve ; for this gentleman had enroUed
from among the soldiers sixty-three volunteers, all
speciaUy vowed to defend the town of Our Lady, out
of pecuUar devotion to her. The number was sug
gested by the years of her blessed life on earth ; and
these veterans of old France formed thus, in the forests
of America, a sort of miUtary confraternity. They met
daUy for the recital of the Eosary ; they wore the
medal of their order as a mUitary decoration ; they
approached the holy sacraments on all the feasts of
the Virgin ; and be sure that for aU this they were the
first to confront the cannon of the English, or to an
swer, with their battle-cry of Ave Purissima, the war-
whoop of the sanguinary Iroquois.
So, too, when their chief enroUs the inhabitants into a
mUitia, it is " attendu que cette isle appartient d la Sainie
Vierge — because this island belongs to the Blessed
Virgin." And those who are forward in the service
are to have their names publicly recorded " as a mark
H

114 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
of honor, as having exposed their Uves for the interests
of Our Lady and the pubUc weal." '
And the imitation of Mary in her Visitation to Saint
EUzabeth spread fast and wide, the distinctive institu
tion of Northern French America. It was this festival
that Marguerite Bourgeoys had chosen for the patronal
hoUday of her institution. " The Visit of Our Lady,"
she used to say to her sisters, " was the occasion of the
greatest of miracles, the purification of Saint John the
Baptist from 'original sin ; his sanctification and that
of his famUy. Take that thought with you, sisters, in
all your missions. Imitate Mary in the sanctification
of children." Swift and steadfast the good work
spread ; ecclesiastics wrote to their friends in France ;
colonial officers reported to the home government ; the
soldier detailed to his ancient comrade the marvels of
Marguerite's institution. Their missions multipUed
from Isle Orleans to Quebec. Not only did they fol
low their vocation in their schools, but in what was
caUed the Outer Congregation, which was devoted to
grown-up girls. This was of incalculable benefit, not
only in correcting morals and manners that were de
fective, but in implanting the principles of purity and
zealous practice of religion. On Sundays and festivals
the sisters were wont to gather the maidens of the
neigliborhood to instruct them in the faith and in their
duties for this Ufe. Then they would leaa them in

' Memoires et documents publies par la Societe Historique de Mon
treal. 1860, vol. iii., p. 134.

m North America. 115
procession to the church, and watch that then- deport
ment there befitted children of Mary, and servants of
the Lamb without spot.
" Then," says one of the biographers of Marguerite
— "then did piety, religion, and modesty succeed to
levity and indevotion ; and not only were aU improved,
but the hearts of many, touched by the lessons and
example of their saintly instructors, grew disgusted
with the world, and they consecrated themselves to
God in the Congregation of Our Lady." ' Marguerite
Uved to see no less than eight of these missions
securely founded and prosperous in weU-doing ; a few
years after, they had increased to thirty-three, and
now they form an especial glory of Canada, and are to
be found in one diocese at least of the United States.
Anywhere in their mission you may see them patiently,
sweetly, perseveringly busied in their beautiful caUing,
the " sanctification of children," leading the young
heart, through Mary's maternal tenderness, to God,
her Eternal Son. But most edifying must that sight
have been when they met in their new and present
home in ViUe-Marie, on the Octave of our Blessed
Lady's Nativity, A. d. 1845, their number lacking but
one of the hundred. And stiU more touching is that
anniversary of theirs, when they assemble on the day
that Marguerite Bourgeoys died — not to lament her
as one lost, but to celebrate with joy her birth into
' From the large and very beautiful life, in two volumes, published
for " the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame." Ville-Mario,
1853. By Eev. M. Failloii, St. Sulpioe.

116 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
that new and better land where her soul is reaping
the rewards of her self-sacrifice, her labors, and her
sanctity. For many months before the day comes round, the
young girls of the wealthier classes consecrate their
working-hours to the making of a complete outfit each
for one of the poor chUdren of the outer schools. And
on that day aU assemble, rich and poor, in the pres
ence of the good sisters and a concourse of friends, in
the grand hall, where aU the gifts are laid at the foot
of an image of Blessed Mary. There stands, too, a
bust of Marguerite, at the feet of her whom she loved
so truly and foUowed so devoutly; and there, after the
other exercises are over, each chUd leads up her Uttle
protegee, presents for Mary's sake the roU of comfort
able clothing, and adds something wherewith to make
a Uttle feast at home in honor of Marguerite and Saint
Mary. And this is the annual celebration of the
Daughters of Our Lady at ViUe-Marie.
One mark of the devotion to the Mother of God,
which stiU exists in all its pristine fervor in Montreal,
I insert here, as belonging to the Congregation by
sentiment, although to our own time by date. It is an
extract or two from the pious dedication to the Ufe of
Marguerite Boui-geoys, to which I am indebted for so
many beautiful facts.' The dedication is —

' Let me thank, here, for the loan of this book, as well as for the
Life of Mademoiselle Leber, the kind courtesy of the Hon. Thomas
D'Arcy McGee, M. P. P. for Montreal.

IN North Ameeioa. 117
"To the Most Holt Virgin — Queen oe Apostles,"
and it begins —
" Blessed Virgin, I am most happy to recount here
the touching effects of your love for the Sister Bour
geoys, who owed to you, after God, aU that rendered
her so venerable to the colony of Montreal. Her vir
tues and her labors are your work. Her biography is
the history of your love for her, or rather, the mani
festation of your especial predUection for your beloved
city, on which you have deigned to bestow so rare an
instrument of your choicest favors. By this privileged
soul you desired to renew and to make felt in this
rising colony the effects of your grace. You made to
her an abundant commnnication of your spirit, and
rendered her a living image of your own apostoUc
zeal; so that, veUing your power beneath her form,
you gained as many hearts for God as she attracted
by the fervor of her prayers, by the force of her words,
and by the efficacy of her example. Be blessed then,
for this sweet discovery of your love.
" Be blessed anew for having willed to perpetuate so
great a benefit in this colony by the establishment of
the congregation which justly recognizes you as its
foundress, its instructress, its superior, and its Queen.
She who originated it was but an instrument in your
hands. It was formed by a diffusion of your spirit,
extending from her through aU the members of this
body to give them life ; by your love it has grown ; by
your caro and maternal soUcitude it has been main-

118 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
tained untU to-day. If you are Mother of aU saintly
communities, by the participation in His fcecundity
which God the Father gave yon in the adorable mys
tery of the Incarnation, you are so in an especial sense
of this institute, which has received from you aU that
it has, and is, by you, aU that it is. Deign to protect
it forever, and always to renew that primitive spirit of
fervor and zeal which you gave it so abundantly at the
beginning. Cause aU who read this book to reap edi
fication from its pages ; to be drawn to imitate the vir
tues of your faithful servant — above aU, her sincere and
tender fiUal love for you. And may they, by this read
ing, learn how consoling is that truth, that he ivho has
found you has found life^ in you, the Life which is Jesus,
from whom by you he may attain everlasting salvation."
Such, then, for two centuries, has been the ardent
feeUng in Montreal for the Lady of their city. And it
is by reciting such things as these that we reveal to
you the secret springs of devotion to Saint Mary in
North America.
Although the history of the famous church of Our
Lady of Good Help, and of the chapel of Our Lady of
Victory," belong to the history of the Congregation,
yet we reserve them for another place, and end this
chapter with the beautiful episode of MademoiseUe
Jeanne le Ber.'
' Proverbs, viii. 35.
" Notre Dame de Bon-secours and Notre Dame de la Victovre.
' L'Heroine Chretienne du Canada, ou la Vie de MademoiseUe le
Ber, ViUe-Marie, chez les Sceurs de la Congregation de Notre Dame.
1860. ByM. FaiUon.

in North America. 119
Among aU who loved Marguerite Bourgeoys — and
who did not love and revere her? — none was more
eminent than this lady. Daughter of the wealthiest
merchant in French America, she had every thing at
her command that could make the world inviting ; an
esteemed pupil of the pious Ursidines, the religious
orders would have thought her an acquisition, but her
vocation made her turn from both, and she went to
dweU alone in prayer, and work, and meditation with
God. It is not our purpose to follow her life, but only
to look at it as a devotion to Mary. It was love tor
this Blessed Mother that drew her so surely and at
tached her so ardently to the Congregation. " How
happy your lot," she used to say to a cousin of hers m
the sisterhood, " to be numbered among the daughters
of Mary ! Learn weU the excellence of your good for
tune in this, and aU the extent of your obligations.
You must be perfectly free from the maxims of the
world and from aU carnal incUnations. She who wears
the Uvery of the most holy Yirgin must care for naught
else.'" Faithful to this predilection, when the time
had come at last to retire, it was with the Congrega
tion of Notre Dame that she sought seclusion. The
immediate cause was the holy death of a young sister
of that society, whom she tenderly loved, and whose
death-scene was of such beauty, and hopefulness, and
peace, that it broke what Uttle tie there was to bind
her to the world. She exclaimed in her heart, with
' " Life," p. 334

120 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
the Syrian prophet, " Let my soul die the death of the
just, and may my last end be Uke theirs."' She de
termined upon absolute seclusion, but it was exacted
from her that she should undergo a novitiate, as it
were, of five years in the house of her father. This
ended, her mother's death, meanwhUe, giving new
strength to her purpose, she retired to the church of
the Congregation, which she had largely aided from
her abundant means.
Here, in a Uttle ceU behind the altar, dwelt this de
voted recluse, the ceU modeUed upon the Santo Oamim
or sacred chamber of the Holy House of Loretto ; so
that in this she might be perpetuaUy, as it were, under
one roof with the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
Here, with her rosary, her little office of the Blessed
Virgin, and her utensils for embroidering — for she
proposed no idleness — she was at length inclosed,
after vespers on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows,
August 5, 1695, to go no more out forever. Here she
dwelt for nineteen years in prayer, in manual labor for
the altar, in meditation, and in adoration of the thrice
holy Sacrament.
To aid her in obtaining the inner union which she
sought with the perfect dispositions imprinted by the
Holy Spirit on the heart of the Blessed Virgin, she
kept continually before her eyes, upon the waUs of her
ceU, two pious pictures. The first was called the " in-

' Moriatur anima mea morte justorum et fiant noviseiina mea
horum similia. — Numbers, xxiii. 10.

in North America. 121
terior Ufe of Mary." There you saw the Blessed
among women enthroned on clouds, the hands crossed
upon her immaculate bosom, whUe the sacred Dove,
hovering over her, seemed to pour from his spotless
wings His sevenfold grace. The eyes of Our Lady,
raised to heaven, were fixed upon the sacred mono
gram, I. H. S. — Jesus hominum Salvator. This showed
that if the Holy Spirit were the source of Mary's
actions, Jesus and the salvation of souls was their end
and aim. Below the print, you read: "With Mary.
By Mary. In Mary." This was Sister le Ber's — for
such was her title henceforward — this was her -object
now ; sought steadily in prayer, at holy Mass, in her
communions and other pious exercises, in labor, in her
poor repasts, to unite herself by faith and love to the
interior dispositions of Mary ; and earnestly she be
sought that sacred and tender Mother to be with her
spirit, her heart, and aU her faculties ; to be the model
of her actions and the soul of her soul ; to penetrate
and fiU her mind, to possess it altogether, until she
should become a simple instrument wherewith the
Mother might deign to glorify her Divine Son.'
The other print represented the same good Mother
receiving into her arms and lovingly supporting a
Christian soul, which, languishing in this condition of
exUe, seemed to find aU its joy and repose in Mary.
The Sulpicians celebrated the feast of this interior life
of the Blessed Virgin on the nineteenth of October,
' Life of MademoiseUe le Ber, p. 311.
6

122 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and for the pious recluse it was a day of particular
devotion. And, stUl more to honor it, even by the
works of her hands, she made a superb vestment for
the feasts of the Immaculate Queen, and in the centre
of the cross she embroidered most cunningly the pic
ture first described. How aU this love was answered
and increased, we shaU see in the notes of the chapels
and churches connected with the Congregation. She
never wearied in her benefits to this " famUy of Mary,"
as she caUed it. Her means had greatly aided the
buUding of their church; she furnished the richest
vases and ornaments for the altar ; she founded there
the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament,
and endowed a daUy Mass ; and more, to maintain,
out of filial love and tender devotion to Saint Mary, an
institute so distinctly her own, she gave them ten thou
sand Uvres " for the good friendship that she bears to
the Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady,'" the
only condition being that the revenue shaU be apphed
to their uses in ViUe-Marie alone.
Glad enough, we may be sure, was the heart of
Sister Marguerite to have such a guest within the
walls of her house. At the time of her coming there
were other guests there also. The Hospital Sisters
had been burned out, and had found affectionate wel
come from the humble Daughters of Our Lady. " We
have now," says Marguerite Bourgeoys, " in our house

> " Tour la bonne amitie qu'eUe porte aux Soeurs de la Congregation
de Notre Dame." Words of the deed of donation.

in North America. 123
the three estates of women whom our dear Lord left
on earth, after His resurrection, to serve Him and His
Church : like Magdalen, by soUtary life ; like Martha,
by active life in the cloister ; Uke the most holy Virgin,
by an uncloistered life of zeal."' There Uved, then,
the recluse, so busied with her needle, that she fur
nished aU the parishes of Montreal with chasubles,
altar fronts, and other ornaments. They still preserve
in the parish church of the city a cope, chasuble, and
dalmatics, richly embroidered on cloth of sUver by her
nimble fingers. Towards herself she showed an ex
treme parsimony, making her poor woollen robe and
coarse shoes last for years by mending them repeatedly
herself ; for of aU her large revenues, what was left
from her gifts to the altar, she scrupulously gave to
the poor. She knew the Psalms and the New Testa
ment almost entirely by heart. They were her books
of predUection. But, besides reading these, she re
cited daily the Litanies of the Saints, the Office of the
Cross, the Eosary, and the Little Office of the Blessed
Virgin. Add to these her ordinary prayers, mental
and vocal, her adoration of the Sacrament, the office
for the dead three times a week, her embroidery, and
her care for the poor, and judge whether she had not
caught some of the tireless spirit of zeal of her sacred
model and Mother.
The faithful of that day and place believed that the
angels used to help her. That she did receive many and
' Vie de MademoiseUe le Ber, p. 339

124 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
visible graces from on high, it is impossible to doubt,
Touched by her example, her brother Pierre also re
nounced the world from devotion to Mary in the Holy
Family. Joining with Frangois Charon de la Barre,
he instituted the Hospital Brothers in honor of St.
Joseph, and buUt with his fortune a chapel of St.
Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin, on the oppo
site side of the town from that where stood his sister's
chapel of Bon Secours. This was the origin of St.
Anne's, so famous in song and northern story. Dying
before his sister, he left to her beloved community ten
thousand Uvres, on the sole condition that there should
always be one of the sisters who should bear the name .
of Saint Mary, and another that of Saint Anne. His
body was buried in the church of the Hospital
Brothers, his heart in the chapel of the Congregation
of Our Lady — ^that it and his dear sister's heart might
not be divided even in the grave.
Marguerite, dying, had charged her sisterhood to
increase the accommodation for their schools so soon
as Divine Providence should provide the means. But
thirteen years passed on, the necessity annuaUy in
creasing, but the good sisters growing no richer. For
years, however, this project had lain in the charitable.
heart of Jeanne le Ber, and now that she felt heaven
drawing nearer, she determined to execute it. First,
she recommended her project to the Blessed Virgin
and to her holy friends the angels, and then she began
to press the sisters to the work. They were reluctant,
having the fear of debt before their eyes, and they put

IN North America. 125
off the pious recluse as weU as they could. But they
were used to listen to her advice, and when she said
that she knew it was the wiU of God, and that the
angels would help them, they went to work and gave
the first orders, although they had neither materials
nor money. The foundation was dug, the corner-stone
was blessed and laid by M. de Belmont, and the new
house was dedicated to their heavenly superior, under
the title of Our Lady of Angels. This was the inscrip
tion on the plate in the corner-stone :
"Most Holy Virgin, Queen of Angels, refuge and
safety of men, receive the prayers which we, in fuU
confidence, offer, to obtain your blessed protection for
the commencement, the advance, and the completion
of this building which your servant and our good
mother. Marguerite Bourgeoys, has charged us to con
struct. With aU our hearts we desire that it may
serve to augment your honor and the glory of your
Divine Son. Do not, oh. Immaculate Virgin, ever
permit mortal sin to enter in this house. Bid the holy
angels watch so weU over the conduct of all who dweU
therein, that you may be ever loved and faithfuUy
served as Our Lady and Our Queen. Amen."
Ask in the country where it stands to-day, and they
wiU teU you that immortal hands worked at those
waUs, and that the masons looked with awe every
moming at a progress to which they had not con
tributed. Be that as it may, the house was finished ;
and Jeanne le Ber, gathering together her last thirteen
thousand Uvres, founded therewith what we would

126 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
now caU scholarships for girls who merited education,
but whose parents were too poor to furnish the requi
site means. And this was the last act of money-giving
charity, done in honor of Our Lady of Angels. It
was the day after the Feast of the Blessed Virgin's
Nativity, September 9, 1714, that she signed the deed
of this foundation ; twenty -four days after, hope had
become realization.
On their own festival, the second of October, the
holy guardian angels came for the pure soul of the re
cluse, and she died in prayer and love as she had
Uved, resigning herself into the hands of that blessed
Mother whom on earth she had served so weU. Her
modest ceU and work-room were religiously preserved,
and the devout of ViUe-Marie loved to go pray at her
tomb ; but the ceU with its furniture, the church, and
the house of the Congregation, were consumed by the
fire of 1768. When the estabUshment was buUded
anew, a repository was made on the site of the ceU,
where now remains, in His ineffable patience, the
Prisoner of Love. Beside the grave of the recluse
stands the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Pity,
gracious sentinel over the ashes of her devoted chUd.
Frequent recurrence wiU be made to Mademoiselle le
Ber in these pages ; but now, for the present, we leave
the edifying volume which contains her biography, and
is dedicated with propriety. To Mart presented m
the Temple.

m North America. 127

CHAPTEE VI.
Devotion of the Holt Family— Our Ladt of Viotout — Dim Ladt of
Good Help — Our Lady of tub Visitation — Lodge oe tub Immacu
late Conception — OcR Ladt of Snows — Catuedral of the iMiiAOtr-
late Conception-, and Chuboues of Odb Ladt in Quebec.
The first three titles written above are the titles of
three most eminent devotions in Canada. Dating back
to the very beginnings of the colony, they, or at
least two of them, have grown steadily in the affec
tions of the Canadian CathoUc down to this day. A
favorite theme of M. OUer's devout meditation was the
Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in the stable,
in the humble house at Nazareth, or the fiight from
the murderous wrath of Herod during the long hidden
life of our Lord. As by this sacred household it had
pleased the Eternal Father to convey salvation unto
man, so did M. OUer desire to secure its protection for
the new France which was growing up in the snowy
pine-woods of the scarcely trodden West. It was in
February, then, that this holy priest, assembUng the
Society of Montreal in the church of Onr Lady of
Paris, and having offered the eternal Sacrifice at the
altar of the blessed Virgin, consecrated Montreal and
its whole territory to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, under
the particular protection of Mary, to whom the com
pany resigned forever the sovereignty and dominion of
their lands.

128 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
As he used to go before, on their journeys in the
land of Palestine ; as he marched before on the weary
way to Egypt ; so now St. Joseph was the first to
come amid the ice-fields and by the rusliing rivers of
Canada. He came in and with the hospital sisters of
MademoiseUe Manse, endowed by M. de la Dauver
siere expressly to honor the pure foster-father of
Christ. Then came the seminary priests of St. Sulpice,
whose aim was, as is that of the sacred priesthood in
deed, to represent our Lord himself, and to diffuse His
spirit. And, thirdly, came the institute of Marguerite
Bourgeoys, to make the name and thought of Mary
revered and loved. To none of these three had M.
OUer revealed this cherished idea ; yet, without their
own design, they perfectly accompUshed it. By and
by, the time came ; the Jesuit Father, Chaumonot, pro
posed and took the management of the scheme ; the
three communities accorded heartUy, and the Confra
ternity of the Holy Family was estabUshed in Canada.
The object was to reach the three estates of manhood,
womanhood, and chUdhood ; to induce every resident
of the land to do something towards an imitation of
these great exemplars of human virtue — the men to
find their model in St. Joseph, the women in Our
Lady, the children in the gentle innocence of the In
fant Jesus.
Sister Marguerite records her signing of the act oi
foundation, together with MademoiseUe Manse, and
Mother Mace, superior of the HospitaUeres; "for,"
says the Sister Mozier, historian of the Hotel Dieu,

IN North America. 129
*• onr first superiors were closely bound in holy friend
ship with Marguerite Bourgeoys and her sisters ; they
were daughters of the most holy Yirgin, whom they
had chosen for mother and protectress ; and we daugh
ters of St. Joseph, which makes us, too, adopted chU-
di'en of the same Holy FamUy."' The first use to
which Marg-uerite applied the new scheme was in the
estabUshment of a house for poor grown-up girls,
wherein they might be taught some honest calUng,
whUe their soiUs were kept pure from the temptations
to which they were exposed. And this was caUed the
House of Providence of the Holy FamUy. Soon it was
used for spiritual retreats ; then for the preparation of
children for their first communion ; and so incalculable
were the moral benefits produced, that royal procu-
reurs grew eloquent about it in their letters to the king,
traveUers consecrated pages of their journals to its
praises, and the Parisian Father Souart used to caU
Sister Marguerite la petite Sainte Genevieve du Canada.
Mgi-. de St. VaUier desired such a blessing for his
episcopal city of Quebec, and sister Marie Barbier was
sent to found it. From the very commencement, zeal
and fervor for a better and hoUer Ufe spread through
out the city ; every day gave birth to some new prac
tice in honor of the Infant Saviour, the Yirgin, or St.
Joseph ; the young girls in humbler life had been over-
fond of dress, vieing with each other in self-ornamenta
tion, and, by dressing above their class, had exposed

' Vie de Sceur Marguerite, i. 170.
6*

130 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
themselves to vanity and the usual risks and tempta
tion that attend it. But, before the end of the first
year, this was aU cured; and, on Corpus Christi, a
modest neatness was the characteristic of aU, and their
head-tire and other gilded decorations were lying at
the feet of the statue of St. Mary the Virgin. Since
that day, no people has ever surpassed the Canadians
in devotion to the Holy FamUy.
About the autumn of 1711, VUle-Marie was fiUed
with terror at the report of an English armament,
twelve thousand strong,' on their way from Boston to
the conquest of Canada. Montreal and Quebec, had
they been together, had no means of resisting even the
haK of such a force ; and it was soon clearly evident
that, if help there were, it must be only from the hand
of God. To Him, therefore, the CathoUc people had
recourse. The churches were thronged, the altars be
sieged. Men and women vied with each other in acts
of interior and exterior penitence. And, at last, the
young people who formed the external Congregation
of Notre Dame united in a vow to the sacred Mother
of God, that if, by her powerful intercession, she would
save the town, which was buUt in her honor and bore
her gracious name, they would erect a shrine in their
gratitude, in perpetuam rei memoriam, which should
bear the title of Our Lady of Victory. As the time
passed on, the rumors grew to certainty. The fleet
was already in the St. Lawrence, and advancing swiftly
' Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii. p. 223,

IN North America. 131
towards the city. The alarm reached even the ceU of
Sister le Ber. The sister who carried her modest pro
vision to her, told her that, if the wind should hold
favorable, the English fleet and the ruin of Montreal
would arrive together, and that in a day or two. But,
after a short sUence, the recluse said, calmly : " No,
my sister, the Blessed Virgin wUl take care of the
country; she is the guardian of ViUe-Marie, and we
have nothing to fear."
Now the people of the good town had great confi
dence in the prayers of the holy recluse, and they
trusted in God in the midst of their reasonable alarm.
Her cousin, the Baron de LongueU, governor of the
place, resolved to attack the advancing fleet off Cham-
bly, and do what he could to keep them from the
town. He could get but a mere handful of men, and
his hopes were entirely in the help of their Blessed
Patroness. So a banner was prepared, on the centre
whereof they wrought a picture of the Virgin Mother,
and Jeanne le Ber's cunning needle worked round the
image this legend : " Our enemies put aU their trust
in arms, but we conflde in the Queen of Angels, whom
we invoke. She is terrible as an army in battle array,
and under her protection we hope to vanquish our
foes." M. de Belmont blessed the standard before aU
the populace in the parish church of Our Lady. Then,
bearing it in his own hands, LongueU set forth at the
head of his Uttle troop.
Their trust was not in vain. Heaven fought Visibly
for the servants of Mary. As the fleet came up the

132 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
St. Lawrence, abreast of Egg Island, on the night of
the second of September, a fierce northward-careering
gale smote them suddenly. Seven of the largest ships
were instantly wrecked, another was struck with Ught
ning, and the shattered remnants of its hulk flung
sheer up upon the yeUow sands. The shores were
covered with corpses-^nearly three thousand, say the
French — about a thousand, says the accurate Bancroft.
The rest were driven from the river, and fled back to
Boston, where their arrival was foUowed by a confla
gration that destroyed eighty houses.
When solemn thanksgiving had been rendered to
the Most High for this signal deliverance, the externes
of the Congregation commenced their collection. The
sisters gave a piece of ground within their own inclo
sure, and the chapel of Our Lady of Victory raised its
roof above the dwelUngs of Montreal. Pope Bene
dict XIII. enriched it with privileges and indulgences ;
its patronal feast was the Nativity of Mary ; and, for
many a year, no day ever saw it unvisited by faithful
worshippers who came to give thanks for their preser
vation. Burned with the other buUdings, it was recon
structed in 1769, and became thenceforward the par
ticular chapel of the externes of Notre Dame.
But the greatest, as it was the first, treasure of the
good sisters was, and is, their church. Our Lady of
Good Help, Notre Dame de Bon Secours. If you should
make a pilgrimage to this famed American shrine — and
a more edifying devotion you wUl not find on this con
tinent — you wUl see its quaint structure on the hUl-

in North America. 133
Bide, fronting Notre Dame Street, and overlooking the
broad, saU-covered St. Lawrence. Its not ungraceful,
rather Oriental-looking steeple, with its two open lan
terns, one above the other ; its steep, snow-shedding
roof, and old-fashioned ornamentation of the doorway,
wiU at once carry you back to the date of the Jesuit
martyr and the Indian missions. Of course, this, or
something Uke it, had found a place in M. OUer's
saintly reveries. " Often," he says, " it comes into my
heart that God wiU, of His grace, send me to Montreal,
in Canada, where the first chapel buUt to Him shaU be
under the title of the Holy Virgin, and I shall be the
chaplain of that Blessed Lady." ' But he was not to
see Canada ; the' work was for Marguerite Bourgeoys,
and we have seen her struggles to buUd crowned with
ultimate success in 1675. The wish of M. Olier was
fulfiUed in the person of his spiritual children, the Sul
picians, for they became the chaplains of Our Lady in
VUle-Marie. Father Souart headed a procession of all
the people upon the feast of Saints Peter and Paul,
and solemnly blessed and laid the corner-stone —
" D. 0. M. Beatoi Marice Virgini et sub titulo Assump-
tionis. To God, most Good, most Mighty, and to
Blessed Mary the Virgin, under the title of the As
sumption." The walls rose swiftly; a beU was cast from a bronze
cannon which had been burst in the Iroquois war ; the
miraculous statue of Our Lady was placed in a shrine,
' Vie de Marguerite Bourgeoys, i. 238.

134 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
gilt and enriched with jewels, and Bon Secours stood
open to the faithful, the first stone church on the
island. Then the sisters made over aU their claim to
the parish church of the city, retaining this privUege
alone, the perpetual right to keep it in repair, and to
adorn it, " which we offer to do," they say, " to render
to the Blessed Virgin, our Mother, all the honor and
service that we can." This was accepted by the Sul
picians, as lords of ViUe-Marie, and the deed was
sealed with their famous seal for Montreal, which
shows on its intaglio the Queen of Saints kneeling to
receive the Most Holy Eucharist from the hands of
the beloved Disciple, with this brief, eloquent legend :
" Virgo Virginem virgini communicat. A virgin to a
virgin gives a Virgin in communion." And there,
henceforth, were daUy Masses said ; and there, in all
distresses and calamities, were pubUc processions
made ; a daily pilgi'image sprang up for the citizens,
and from the remotest parts of settled Canada came
others, for already Our Lady of Bon Secours had be
come the refuge of New France, and to her protection
was attributed the success of the infant colony. This
was the beacon of the boatmen on the stormy river,
and the remembrance of the trapper in the far-off'
forests. For the Sisters of the Hospital, expeUed by
the fire of 1784, it became a refuge, a hospital, and a
gi'ave ; for, almost coeval with the fire, an epidemic of
most virulent kind broke forth ; they had no place but
the chapel wherein to lay their sick ; and it was within
its venerated waUs that they performed their offices of

IN North America. 135
mercy ; and that eleven of them, smitten by the plague,
died there, and were buried there, under the eyes of
the Virgin of Good Help.'
In 1754 a great part of the town was burnt again,
and this time, to the horror of the people, they beheld
their beloved and venerated shrine reduced to ashes.
Nothing was saved, picture nor altar furniture — aU dis
appeared under the smoking ruin ; aU things, save one.
Beneath the ashes they found the Uttle statue, not even
discolored by the fire, but in perfect preservation.
Imagine with what joy it was recovered by the Sisters
of the Congregation! They carried it with devotion
to their own church, and the holy Father was pleased
to transfer thither the many indulgences with which
the shrine of Bon Secours had been enriched.
Many an evU foUowed this. Famine, and war, and
EngUsh conquest, with its train of consequences ; and
the ashes grew black with age over the site of the
venerated shrine, and the rains beat upon them and
mingled them with the soU. Now and then, a devout
soul would say, amid the sorrows of a conquered
people, " Ah, if we only had Our Lady of Good Help
back in her own house, aU would go weU !" But the
people were disheartened, and did nothing towards a
reconstruction. At last the governor claimed the place
as waste land, and this roused them from their apathy.
Not that, at least ! The land, and the city, and the

• Manuel du Pelerin de Notre Dame de Bon Secours. Montreal,
1848, p. 22.

136 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
people he might have ; but Our Lady's Uttle plat of
ground ! no, that, at least, no governor should get, by
any fault of theirs.
So, towards the end of June, in 1771, the ground was
cleared anew ; and, on the anniversary of the first pro
cession, a second, manifold as great, chanting Utanies
and hymns, passed to the spot to lay anew the ancient
corner-stone. The new inscription teUs the history of
the shrine: " D. 0. M. et Beatce Marice Auxiliatrid sub
titulo Assumptionis, Temjplum hoc, primum angustiori
forma cedificatum, anno 1675, postea flammis adustum
anno 1754, ampliora forma restauraverunt Gives Mari-
anopolitani, cultui Beatoe Marice Virginis addictissimi
anno 1771, die Junii 30" eadem qua primus lapis veteris
ecclesice fuerat impositus. To God, the All Good, the
Almighty, and to Blessed Mary of Good Help under
the title of the Assumption, the citizens of ViUe-Marie,
most devoted to the veneration of the Blessed Yirgin
Mary, have restored this Temple, buUt at first in 1675
of narrower dimensions, consumed by the fiames in
1754, in ampler form, this 30th day of June, 1771, the
same day that the first stone of the ancient shrine was
laid.'" It was finished in 1774, and so stands to-day. It is
not large, the nave being seventy feet by forty-six;
the choir, thirty-two by thirty ; but it holds the relig
ious heart of Canada. Over the portal stands Our

' Vie de Marguerite Bourgeoys, ii. 437-30; Pelerin de Notw
Dame, 23-24.

m North America. 137
Lady's image, with the legend: "Maria Auxilium
Christianorum — Mary Help of Christians." It looks
over the swift-rushing river, and the flash of its metal-
Uc roof makes it a beacon to the boatman and the
saUor, " beckoning him," says Father Martin, " as it
were, to the shore of the heavenly country, the port of
safety and repose." The famous image was of dark-
brown wood, exquisitely sculptured, and, after being
the object of affectionate veneration for three cen
turies, was stolen by some infamous wretch in 1831,
and has never been recovered. How it has been re
placed by a modern substitute, we shaU see hereafter.
Another ancient American shrine of the Blessed
Mother, near, or rather at present in, Montreal, must
have brief notice. It is that of the first chapel at La
Prairie, the Indian mission so often referred to in
these pages. The date is 1675, September 22. Very
humble, indeed, in man's eyes, is the gift we chronicle,
but precious as St. Peter's or Cologne in the sight of
God and to the heart of Mary. It was only " a lodge
of stakes or upright logs, straw-thatched; but, for
thirty years, it sheltered the celebration of the Divine
Mysteries, and echoed to the responses of the Eosary."
Nay, within its Uttle inclosure of twenty by twenty-five
feet, Mgr. de St. VaUier once held a confirmation in
1692. And this is the deed of gift :
" Pierre Pera, and Denise Lemaistre, his wife, both
dweUing at the Prairie of the Magdalen, with mutual
accord and consent, moved thereto by an impulse of
piety, have given, and by these presents give, to the

138 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Holy Virgin Mary Our Mother, purely, simply, and ir
revocably, a stake lodge, thatched with straw, situated
on their property at the Cote St. Lambert, with the site
of the said lodge, as well as with a perch of land all
round, and a right of way to be adjudged and marked
out ; the said lodge, site, environ, and way, to be per
petually used for the service of the Blessed Virgin, and
this lodge to be made a church dedicated to her
name."' Sixteen years from this time the pious donors
were massacred by the inevitable Iroquois ; but the
simple church they gave, blessed under the title of
Our Lady's Immaculate Conception, survived them for
many years ; and even now a handsome cross marks
the spot, and has indulgences, attached to it by Mgr.
Bourget, for aU who shaU salute it with respect. Here,
then, is the second church of the Immaculate Concep
tion, in a land where now nearly a hundred temples
stand in honor of that wondrous mystery.
Next, in Montreal, was, and is, the church of Our
Lady of the Visitation, or the church of the Congrega
tion. Built, as we have seen, chiefly by the help of
MademoiseUe le Ber in 1696, this shrine of the faithful
chUdren of Mary was held second, in the devotion of
the people, only to Bon Secours. Here mouldered the
heart of Sister Marguerite ; here lived and died the
saintly recluse ; here, for many years, aU the indul
gences of Bon Secours, were obtainable ; and here, in

' Souvenirs Historiques sur la Seigneurie de la Prairie : par J. Viger,
Ecuier, ancion et premier Maire de Montreal. 1857.

IN North America. 139
our own day, some of the most earnest devotions in
Canada take place. In 1718, a pious widow, Marie
Biron, gave foundation for a Mass and Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament in honor of the holy Heart of
Mary, "with intention of conforming to the zeal which
the Sisters of Our Lady have ever shown to inspire in
the breasts of the chUdren whom they educate, a
knowledge of, and love for, that most Sacred Heart." '
For this purpose was the Mass to be offered and the
Benediction given, after which the sisters were to say
a De Profundis for the souls in purgatory, who, when
on earth, had shown devotion towards the Heart of
Mary. This pious intention is stiU carried out on the feast
of that title, the Sunday in the Octave of the Assump
tion. Burned in 1768, this church was rebuUt, as it
now stands, by the close of the next year. The last of
the ancient shrines mentioned by us here, is Notre
Dame des Neiges.
Fronting on Sherbrooke-street, a waU of defence and
two towers are stUl erect, to show you where once
stood Our Lady of the Snows. Formerly, surrounded
by the dwellings of the Indian converts and their in
structors of the " Mountain Mission," it stood on the
southern slope of the Eoyal Mount. The present
chapel of the name is in the viUage of Cote deg
Neiges, behind the mountain. Here foUows the
Legend of — ' Yie de Marguerite Bourgeoys, ii. 354

140 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

OUR LADY OF THE SNOVTS.
If, pilgrim, chance thy steps should lead.
Where, emblem of our holy creed,
Canadian crosses glow —
There you may hear what here you read.
And seek, in witness of the deed.
Our Lady of the Snow 1
In the old times, when France held sway
From the Balize to Hudson's Bay,
O'er all the forest free,
A noble Breton cavalier
Ead made hia home for many a year
Beside the Kivers Three.
To tempest and to trouble proof,
Eose in the wild his glittering roof.
To every traveller dear ;
The Breton song, the Breton dance.
The very atmosphere of France,
Diffused a generous cheer.
Strange sight, that on those fields of snow
The genial vine of Gaul should grow.
Despite the frigid sky !
Strange power of man's all-conquering will.
That here the hearty Frank can stOl
A Frenchman live and die !
The Seigneur's hair was ashen gray.
But his good heart held holiday,
Ab when in youthful pride
He bared his shining blade before
De Tracey's regiment, on the shore
Which France has glorified.

' From " Canadian Ballads," by Hon. T. D. McGee, M. P. P,
Montreal

IN North America,
Gay in the field, glad in the hall.
The first at danger's frontier call.
The hmnblest devotee
Of God and of St. Catherine dear
Was the stout Breton cavalier
Beside the Rivers Three.
"When bleak December's chilly blast
Fettered the flowing waters fast.
And swept the frozen plain —
When, with a frightened cry, half heard
Far southward fled the arctic bird.
Proclaiming winter's reign —
His custom was, come foul, come fair.
For Christmas duties to repair
Unto the ViUe-Marie,
The City of the Mount, which north
Of the great river looketh forth
Across its sylvan sea.
Fart fell the snow, and soft as sleep.
The hillocks looked like frozen sheep.
Like giants gray the hills —
The sailing pine seemed canvas spread,
With its white burden overhead.
And marble hard the rills.
A thick, dull light, where ray was none
Of moon, or star, or cheerful sun.
Obscurely showed the way —
While merrily upon the blast
The jingling horse-bells, pattering fast.
Timed the glad roundelay.
Swift eve came on, and faster fell
The winnowed storm on ridge and dell,
Efi'acing shape and sign —
UntU the scene grew blank at last,
' Afl when some seaman from the masl
Looks o'er the shoreless brui&

Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Nor marvel aught to find, ere long
In such a scene the death of song
Upon the bravest lips —
The empty only could be loud
When nature fronts us in her shroud.
Beneath the sky's eclipse.
Nor marvel more to find the steed,
Though famed ior travel or for speed.
Drag on a painful pace —
With drooping crest, and faltering foot.
And painful whine, the weary brute
Seemed conscious of disgrace.
Until he paused in mortal fear.
Then plaintive sank upon the mere,
Stiff as a steed of stone.
In vain the master winds his horn —
None, save the howling wolves forlorn.
Attend the dyiug roan.
Sad was the heart and sore the plight
Of the benumbed, bewildered knight.
Now scrambling through the storm,
At every step he sank apace.
The death-dew freezing on his face —
In vain each loud alarm.
Down on his knees himself he cast,
Deeming that hour to be his last.
Yet mindful of his faith —
He prayed St. Catherine and St. John,
And our dear Lady called upon
For grace of happy death.
When, lo ! a light beneath the trees.
Which clank their brilliants in the breeie.
And lo ! a phantom fair 1
As God is in heaven ! by that blest light
Our Lady's self rose to his sight.
In robes that spirits wear I

IN North America. 143
Oh ! lovelier, lovelier far than pen.
Or tongue, or art, or fancy's ken
Can picture, was her face —
Gone was the sorrow of the sword,
And the last passion of our Lord
Had left no living trace.
As when the moon across the moor
Points the lost peasant to his door.
And glistens on his pane —
>r when along her trail of light
Belated boatmen steer at night,
A harbor to regain —
So the warm radiance from her hands
Unbinds for him death's icy bands.
And nerves his sinking heart —
Her presence makes a perfect path ;
Ah I he who such a helper hath,
May anywhere depart.
All trembling, as she onward smUed,
FoUowed that knight our Mother mUd,
Vowing a grateful vow ;
Until, far down the mountain gorge.
She led him to an antique forge,
Where her own shrine stands now.
If, pUgrim, chance thy steps should lead
Where, emblem of our holy creed,
Canadian crosses glow —
There you may hear what here you read.
And seek, in witness of the deed.
Our Lady of the Snow.
At Quebec, the EecoUect Fathers had raised a
handsome church, as early as 1693, "to the per
petual glory of God and the honor of the Virgin
Mother of God, instead of the ancient convent ol

144 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Our Lady of Angels," converted into an asylum for
the poor."
But old, even as the original convent — older than
our Uttle straw-thatched lodge at La Prairie — ^is the
cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, buUt by the
noble and saintly Bishop Montmorenci de Laval, in
1666. So that they buUt cathedrals in America two
hundred years ago, in honor of that dogma which the
learned reformed divines declare a novelty in 1860.
The cathedral is very lofty, with massive arches of
stone dividing the nave from the aisles ; its dimensions
are two hundred and sixteen feet by one hundred and
eight, and it can contain four thousand worshippers.
The taU tower and spire stand detached from the body
of the building. Its interior was destroyed by sheUs
during the bombardment of 1759, and the pictures and
decorations now there kve modern.
Next comes the hospital, with its chapel, dedicated,
in 1672, " to the Blood of Christ poured forth for us,
and to the Blessed Mother of Mercy — effuso Christi
Sanguini et Miserioordice Matri/' and thither one goes
to look at Coypel's famous picture of the " Yirgin and
ChUd." At the repulse of the British arms in 1690, the
Feast of Our Lady of Victory was estabUshed in the
church of that title ; and, twenty-one years later, on
the wreck of the Boston fleet, the title was changed

• For these notices of churches in Quebec, see " Hawkins' Picture
of Quebec." 1834.

m North America. 145
to Our Lady of Victories. The church was destroyed
by the bombardment which injured the cathedral.
Of old pictures of our Blessed Mother, which we
hear of in Quebec, the Ursulines possess an original
Vandyke, a Mater Dolorosa. The Seminary of the
Holy FamUy has a Flight into Egypt, by Vanloo ; an
Adoraticm, of tive Wise Men; and a Virgin ministered untc
by Angels. K 7

146 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE VII.
Devotion in Texas, California, New Mexico — OuB Ladt of Gdaka-
LurE — The New Mount Caumel — The Atlantic Spanish Missiosr-
AEIE3 — MaETLAND.
In the North — as we have seen — ^the devotion waa
planted and grew ; grew steadUy, in spite of checks
and obstacles. Throughout the present British pos
sessions it maintained itself healthfully, with the single
exception of unfortunate Acadia. But its story in the
South is twofold. Brought by the early Spaniards, ever
devoted to the Holy Mother of God, her name was
proclaimed upon the coasts of Florida and Alabama ;
was carried thence through the forests as far north as
the Bay of St. Mary (the Chesapeake) ; as far west as
the yeUow Mississippi. But new dominions drove it
hence, only to be renewed with additional fervor in our
own day. This was the approach from the Atlantic
and from the Gulf of Mexico. But the conquests of
Our Lady of Victories were more progressive and
steadfast on the Pacific side — the side of the Ocean of
Peace. Here, securely sheltered by the golden flag of
Spain, the missionary pushed his way through the
Mexican territories, new and old — Texas and CaU-
fornia. From that day the love of Mary has conse
crated those regions ; and stiU are the rivers, the
mountain-peaks, the vaUeys, and the upland slopes,

IN North America. 147
blessed by her beautiful name. A daily newspaper
wUl show this, wherein the letters from these countries
are fuU of Santa Maria, Asuncion, Virgen, Concepcion,
Loreto, El Eosario, Carmelo, and la Purissima ; the
last new diocese estabUshed there is Marysville, and
the capital of New Mexico is stUl caUed Santa Fe.
It is not to be supposed that the blood of so many
holy missionaries had been shed in vain in the South-
em Atlantic and Gulf States, or that the EngUsh arms
effectuaUy destroyed aU reverence for the sacred name
of Mary. Something survived, if only the solitary
" one cluster of grapes, or as the shaking of the olive-
tree, two or three berries on the outermost bough, or
four or five on the top of the tree." ' Enough was left
to give courage by tradition, enough to support hope
when it pleased the Son of Mary to " send new laborers
into His harvest."
Although the first explorers who landed on the
Southern coast were accompanied by ecclesiastics, yet
there remains no record of any fruits gathered by them
for God. But, as early as 1526, Mexico, thoroughly
Christianized, began to pour her heroic missionaries
upon the Northern shores of the New World Mediter
ranean. Franciscan, Dominican, and Jesuit struggled
side by side. These first missions were about St.
Augustine, the town founded on the Feast of Our
Lady's Nativity, with solemn celebration of that rising
• Sicut racemus et sicut excussio olese duarum vel trium olivarum
in Bummitate rami, sive quatuor aut quinque in cacuminibus ejus
[ructuB ejus. — ^Isaiae, xvU. 6.

148 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
of the Morning Star. By 1597, three chapels, dedi
cated to Our Lady, stood upon the soU of Florida ; a
mission upon St. Mary's Bay invited the Algonquins of
VU'ginia ; another wooed the Uchees and Catawbas
amid the pine-covered CaroUnian mountains. The
Cherokee, the Natchez, the MobUian tribes, were
visited. The Indian and the Spaniard knelt side by
side at the foot of the stately statue of Our Lady,
which threw its stately shadow over the harbor of
Pensacola. But they were nearly aU washed away in
blood. The tomahawk and arrows of the savages slew
over thirty Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans. The
English conquest did the rest. The Catholic Indians
who throng around the Spanish St. Augustine grew
few and feeble in the destructive and licentious pres
ence of the Saxon successors of the Spaniard. They
wandered back to hide themselves in their thick, green
everglades, and were called Seminoles — the "Wanderers.
By 1783 they were all gone from the neighborhood of
the city where they had been peacefuUy colonized and
instructed in the faith of Christ and the virtues of civU
ization, near the shrine of St. Mary the Virgin.
The same power desolated the missions of Alabama,
until, in 1722, none remained of the converts save four
chiefs — Oziuntolo, the Creek; Adrian and John Mark,
the Appalachicolas ; and Tixjana, or Baltasar, chief of
the Talapoosas. These, gathering a himdred Chris
tians of their tribes, estabUshed the Mission of Our
Lady of the SoUtude. Then came the cession to the
EngUsh, and the red-skinned devotee of Mary disap-

IN North America. 149
peared. Their priests were banished ; the religion of
the fooUsh Establishment was proclaimed ; and if any
still lingered who loved the beautiful Name, it was in
the fastnesses of the forest yet pathless for the invader.
Nevertheless, before we cross the Mississippi, let us
note the double consecration of its waters to the Im
maculate Conception. Almost from its source to the
Arkansas had Marquette made its shores hear the
praise of that adorable mystery of God's love to man ¦
and, ere his foUowers sank the body of Fernando de
Soto in its turbulent floods where they near the sea,
his fingers had traced in his last wiU and testament
these directions :
"I order" — he says, after the usual Christian pref
ace and commendation of his soul to the Most Holy
Trinity — " I order that, wherever I may die, my body
shaU be carried to Xeres — to the church of San Miguel,
and laid in the sepulchre where lies my mother." * * *
" And in that church, I order that of my goods a site
and place be bought, where shaU be built a chapel,
which shaU have for its invocation Our Lady of the
Conception. In which edifice and work I desire that
there be expended two thousand ducats — fifteen hun
dred for the structure and inclosure, and five hundred
for an altar-piece representing the said Invocation of
Our Lady of the Conception." He then directs fully
the furnishing of sUk vestments ; the chaplain's salary ;
the fund for the perpetual guardianship and repair of
the chapel, and for the Masses to be said therein — to
wit : five of the Passion of our Lord ; five of His sacred

150 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
wounds ; sixty for the souls in Purgatory ; ten of All
Saints ; ten of the Holy Ghost ; and twenty of " Our
Lady of the Conception." And then he adds : " In the
event that my body cannot be taken for sepulture to
Spain, I order that that be no impediment or hindrance
to the founding of said chapel." Ah, Christian Cabal-
lero ! not beside thy mother ; not in the chapel of the
Conception ; but in the swift, turbid river of the Con
ception were thy bones laid to moulder untU the trump
of God shall bid them rise. Requiescant in paceP
Meanwhile, in Mexico, the devotion to the Blessed
Virgin was spreading rapidly and surely. The Span
iard had been nurtured in it afar ofi^ beside the Anda-
lusian streams, or on the hiUs of CastUe. And the
Indians — ^they were a gentle race, except in the cele
bration of their pagan rites — the Indians gladly learned
the beautiful mystery of the Saviour's Incarnation, and
gave up their whole hearts to His influence, embracing
with simple but most earnest faith the privilege of
sharing in Mary's maternal love. In a Uttle while they
returned that love with faithful childlike affection, and
so won great spiritual reward from her gracious in
tercession. Throughout Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts,
of California, you find churches by the score dedicated',
to the Mother of God. Some of these were built but
yesterday ; some, echoing now on festal days, to the

' De Soto's wiU may be found in the "American Historical Maga
zine," vol. v.. p. 104.

ST. TERESA.

IN North America. 151
chant of Our Lady's Litanies, or the choral sweetness
of the Ave Regina, heard the same sounds swelling
from Indian voices two hundred and forty years ago.
On every mountain-side, on forest edge, on village-
watering stream, upon the frontier of the far-stretching
pranie deserts, beside the canon's brink, they stand,
perpetual prayers in stone, invoking the intercession
of the matchless Virgin with her eternal Son : Our
Lady of the Eosary, Our Lady of Angels, Our Lady
of Light, Our Lady of Carmel, Our Lady of Sorrows,
Our Lady's Annunciation, Nativity, Immaculate Con
ception, Assumption; Our Lady of Belen, of Santa
Cruz, of the Canon de Jemes ; but, above aU, Our
Ladt of Guadalupe !
No less than five of these famed shrines are filled
with praise, even in this age, in the diocese of Santa
Fe alone. That diocese is weU named, for the holy
faith, sown there in blood three hundred years ago,
has never faded from the people's hearts. But why
so many shrines of Guadalupe ? Ask the lady in the
drawing-room, or the shepherd-boy on the hiU-side ;
inquire of the soldier in the barrack, the cattle-driver
on the pampa, the Indian girl with the basket of fruit
upon her dark-tressed head, and they wiU aU tell you
the same story of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.''
Our Lady of Guadalupe was soon the patroness of
aU New Spain ; Texas, and CalUornia, and New Mex-

• The legend of Our Lady of Guadalupe is given in Orsini'a Life
(Virtue's edition), p. 374.

152 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
ico, were rivals in showing her honor. Eivers and
towns were called after her name, and little hamlets
on the edge of the forests stiU bear the name of Guada-
lupita, or Little Guadalupe.
At least a score of churches, dedicated to Our Lady
of Guadalupe, have in those States resisted the changes
of empire ; the many revolutions ; the influx of Ucen-
tious infidels from the Eastern States; the cruel,
causeless, wicked destruction of the harmless CathoUc
Indians by the people of the United States.' A chap
ter was formed for the first church, and Pope Benedict
XIV. accorded a Mass and ofiice, with a privUeged
octave. The copy of the miraculous portrait given
him, he gave to the religious of the Visitation of the
Blessed Yirgin in the Eternal City. To Spain he gave
the right of celebrating the festival in Europe, and the
great Pius YI. extended the privilege to Italy.
Judge then, with such a patroness for New Spain,
how fast the devotion spread ! By 1581 the fearless
missionaries had carried it seven hundred miles from
the capital, into what is now the State of New Mexico.
The land vras of course irrigated here, as elsewhere,
with blood ; and the first to fall for St. Mary was the
Fransciscan Father, Juan de Santa Maria. Sixteen
years later, eight more of the same order had pene
trated to the northern Eio Grande. By 1608 eight
thousand souls had been baptized into the faith of
Christ ; and when less than a score of years more had
' Vide note at end of chapter.

IN North America. 153
roUed over. Father Benavides had estabUshed the
twenty-seventh mission in New Mexico. Three weU-
buUt churches of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and others,
under various dedications, sheltered crowds who adored
the All Holy and told the beads of the Eosary of the
Virgin. Of these poor Indians, in spite of their many
sufferings from the governments which have plundered
and oppressed them, eight thousand stiU exist as a
proof of the graces won from God by la Purissima
Virgen. As early as the year 1686 there was a Guadcdupe
river in Texas, and eight Franciscan missions flourished
on its borders. Nay, some of them were pushed for
ward among the Osages and Missouris, whUe others,
going towards the Pacific shore, had marched to the
spiritual conquest of California. These pioneers of
Christ, who were hunting souls, more precious far than
gold, were in a special way St. Mary's own sworn ser
vants ; they were the Monks of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. These were the founders, two centuries and
a half ago (1601), of Santa Barbara, San Francisco,
and Monterey; and, at the latter place, an altar was
erected beneath a shadowy oak, and Father Andrew
of the Assumption of the Virgin said then and there
the first Mass, and laid claim to CaUfornia in the name
of the King of kings.' South of that rose the new
Mount Carmel, and the mission of that title stood at
its feet, looking out upon the broad, stUl, transparent

' Shea's Indian Missions, p.
7*

154 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
sea ; and the dusky Pueblos gathered there to learn
the history of the Incarnation ; to be glad at the news
of a Eedeemer ; to Uft their untutored hearts in rev
erent love to His Mother, whose protection they soon
learned to trust. And the good Fathers won them
from their savage sloth, and idleness, and want, having
heard in their souls a voice Uke that which sounded to
the prophet of old : "Feed this people with thy crook,
this flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitary in the
wood in the midst of Carmel."' There the beads of
Mary's Eosary were taught, and the hymns of her
feasts were sung in the Indian language ; and as in
Asia the Mediterranean bathed the feet of the ancient
hUl, so here the blue, clear Pacific sought the shore,
and broke at the base of the new-found vineyard of
God.' "Wondrous, indeed, were some of our dear Mother's
manifestations of power and protection. In the Octave
of her glorious Assumption into Heaven, year 1770,
the priests Somera and Cambon started off for the in
terior, where pagan tribes, hitherto unvisited, were
dying in ignorance of the Father of all. Weary days
and nights they traveUed with their little escort of ten
soldiers, tUl they reached the base of the vast Sierra.
The sun was going down over the Western Ocean ; the
snowy peaks of the mountains were turning rose-hued
in the setting day, when they saw hundreds of Indians,
' Pasce populum tuum in virga tua, gregem hereditatis tuae, h»W
tantes solos in saltu, in medio Carmeli. — Micah, vii. 14.
" Tlie Hebrew word Carmel signifies God's vineyard.

IN North America. 155
fully armed, and shouting their war-cry, rushing upon
them. A moment's commendation of their souls to
God, and then the missionaries unfurled their battle-
flag — the flag of the Blessed Virgin. Fold after fold,
the azure standard, studded with golden stars, streamed
out in the Ught of the sunset, and from its field the
radiant beauty of Our Lady's eyes beamed on the
startled Indians. Their hearts were touched; they
threw away their arms ; and catching their trinkets, or
whatever else they had of value with them, they came
forward humbly to offer them to her as a propitiatory
gift. They were soon won to know her and love her
better ; the Mission of San Gabriel, of him who brought
to her the message of the Incarnation, rose among the
mountains ; the Cross was securely planted, and the
•first Mass was offered on the Feast of her Nativity, in
the chapel which her new children had buUded.
Thus the whole golden land was won to Mary and
her Divine, Eternal Child. Missions of Santa Maria,
Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, la Purissima Concep
cion, were crowded with the Christianized natives. AU
these estabUshments had the same rule. At daybreak
the Angelus summoned all to church for morning
prayers and Mass before their fast was broken. After
that, each went where the duties and labors of the day
might summon him. Again the Angelus recaUed them
at eleven, when they dined, rested until two, and re
turned to work, untU the third Angelus sounded as the
sun went down, and they gathered for the Eosary and
then for their last meal. The evenings were spent in

156 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
innocent recreations. Their wealth was in common,
and was laid out by their spiritual Fathers for their
best welfare ; happy, innocent, and pious, thus thoy
Uved, untu the " lust of gain in the spirit of Cain" sent
the eastern money- worshipper among them to bUght,
demoraUze, and destroy.
In 1837, thirty-one thousand lingered stUl in pleni
tude and peace ; but the next year Father Saria died
of starvation and poverty — died clad in his sacerdotal
vestments, as he strove to begin the Mass where for
thirty jeans he had offered it, at the altar of Om' Lady
of the SoUtude. In 1840 there remained of these
poor chUdren of God only about four thousand in aU
the missions of CaUfornia. Would you know the rest
of their history, read the note which foUows this
chapter. While these first conversions were going on in the
more Southern and Southwestern States, an EngUsh
nobleman, a friend of his king, yet powerless to prac
tise his reUgion even under that protection, resolved to
seek for freedom of faith in America. A grant of lands
was obtained ; the expedition organized ; the spiritual
charge of it given to some Jesuit Fathers, and thus the
first step was taken towards the estabUshment of that
church which, two centuries later, should declare Our
Lady of the Immaculate Conception patroness of aU
the land.
It was then, in the year of our Lord one thousand
six hundred and thirty-three, on the twenty-second day
of November, the first day in the Octave of Onr Lady's

IN North America. 157
Presentation in the Temple, that the Catholic emi
grants, under Lord Baltimore, embarked on board the
"Ark" and the "Dove." "They placed their ships,"
says their chaplain. Father White, " under the protec
tion of God, of the Blessed Virgin Mother, of St. Igna
tius, and of the Guardian Angels of Maryland," and so
set forth to seek reUgious fi'eedom in the forests of
America. Their voyage was long, as usual in those
days, and a furious storm threatened to send them to
the bottom. The two vessels were driven apart, and
in the one which bore the Jesuit they expected and
prepared for death. Strengthened by the Sacrament
of Penance, they had resigned hope, almost, when the
priest, kneeUng on the drenched deck, called to witness
" the Lord Jesus and His Holy Mother, that the pur
pose of the voyage was to pay honor to the Blood of
the Eedeemer by the conversion of the barbarians."
The tempest soon luUed, and, at the close of February,
they gave thanks to the Blessed Yirgin as they landed
in Virginia. Then saUing up the Chesapeake, first
caUed, by Christian men, St. Mary's Bay, they entered
the Potomac, and reached the territory of Maryland.
Their first solemn thanksgiving for safe arrival was
made on the Feast of Our Lady's Annunciation (March
25). They offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and
then planting a huge cross, hewn from a tree, they
knelt at its foot to recite the Litanies. No other colo
nists of the United States, known to us, dealt so fairly
with the red-men. No rum, no worthless trinkets, no
destructive weapons were used in trade ; but the Indian

158 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
set his own value on the laud, parted from it willingly,
and received in exchange seeds, cloths, and instru
ments of husbandry. No native blood stains the soil
purchased for St. Mary the Yirgin ; no Indian warfare
is in the records of its history ; but on St. Mary's
Eiver they pitched their tents, and, in friendship with
the red-man, laid the foundation of their town. They
called it after the beloved Mother of their Lord, to
whose protection they avowed their safety from the
perils of the sea ; and for years the little town of St.
Mary's was the centre of their colony.
One of their earliest converts was the chief Tayac,
and with him were baptized his wife and daughter,
both of whom received the sacred name of Mary. And
soon the fervent heart of the Jesuit Father White was
gladdened by hundreds of neophytes, for the aborigines
received with joy the doctrine pf Christ. The cere
mony of the baptism of the chief's family had been
conducted with what pomp their rude circumstances
permitted. A cross was borne in procession, the gov
ernor of the colony and his officers walking beside the
dusky American king, and all chanting the beautiful
words of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. Soon came
the crowning boast of this colony, the passage of the
reUgious toleration act, in 1649 ; for these children of
St. Mary had not been, like the Puritans of New Eng
land, soured by persecution into relentless and absurd
intolerance. Churches soon arose to bless the land,
sometimes the work of government, sometimes of in
dividuals, as when WUUam Bretton gave, for a church,

IN North America. 159
a grant of land " in honor of Altnighty God and the
Ever Immaculate Virgin Maiy." '
This colony, it is true, was soon to see itseU dis
franchised, robbed of its religious freedom, and its
Catholic people stripped of their privileges for wor
shipping God in the way of their fathers. But before
this, Father White had disjalayed the spirit of his holy
Company, in the evangelization of the savages. Sail
ing up the rivers in an open boat, with a box of jires-
ents, a chest containing the sacred vestments and
altar-stone, and a basket of provisions, with a mat for
shelter from the sun and rain, he went forth in pursuit
of souls. Towards nightfall the boat was made fast
to the shore ; the two attendants v/ent into the wood
to look for game ; and the priest gathered sticks to
make a fire, or, if it rained, stretched the mat upon
boughs of trees. " Thanks be to God," he says, " we
enjoy our scanty fare and hard beds as much as if we
were accommodated with the luxuries of Europe."
On one of these occasions he was called to a Chris
tian Indian, an Anacostan, who had fallen into an am
bush of Susquehannas and been run through with a
lance. Father White found him chanting his death-
song, and the Christian red-men beside him praying
fervently. Then the good priest heard his confession
and prepared him for death. But, ere leaving him, he
read a gospel and the Litany of Loretto over him ; he
urged him to commend his soul to Jesus and to Mary
' Day -Star of American Freedom, by G. L. L. Davis, p 338

160 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Then, touching his wounds with a reUc of the true
cross, he bade the attendants bring the body to the
chapel for interment, and launched his canoe to go visit
a dying catechumen. Eeturning the next day, he be--
held with amazement the same Indian vigorously pro
pelling a canoe to meet him. When they met, the
Anacostan stepped into the priest's canoe, and, drop
ping his blanket, showed him a faint red Une, which
was all the trace remaining of the deadly wound. Eec-
ommending him to make his whole Ufe an act of grati
tude to Jesus and Mary, the father went on his way,
giving thanks to God.'
But here the further records of devotion to our
Heavenly Queen, if any such exist, from this time to
the Eevolution of 1776, have, o-^ing to the distracted
condition of these States, and other causes, become
quite inaccessible to the present writer. The present
significance of the settlement of Maryland is this, that
the devotion to Our Blessed Lady, expressed in the
English language, here enters the now territory of the
United States. The Spaniards planted it, to be weU-
nigli extinguished, along the Mexican GuU ; and, more
permanently, in Texas, CaUfornia, New Mexico, as early
as 1540. The French so cherished it from its first
coming, in 1615, that it grew with luxuriant beauty,
grows daily now, and promises, by God's blessing, to
shelter, with its pleasant shade, the whole North, from
the Arctic circle to the great lakes. The EngUsh, aa
' Shea's Missions, 493, 493.

IN North America. 161
we see, attempt the centre in 1634. We shaU return
to them at the period of the American Eevolution
Now we are to look at the other early Missions in the
United States.

Note to Page 153.

An unexpected confirmation of this sort of fact is found in Harper's
Monthly Magazine, 1861, p. 307, et seq. When I saw in the Annates
de la Propagation de la Foi, the statement in a missionary's letter,
that the whites were wont to " try their new pistols" upon the unfor
tunate Indians, I was unwiUing to believe. Read, now, the testimony
to that and to the Catholic Missions from the most prejudiced and
anti-Catholic work in this country :
" As California became more settled, it was considered profitable,
owing to the high rate of compensation for white labor, to encourage
the Christian Indian tribes to adopt habits of industry, and- they were
employed very generally throughout the State. In the vine-growing
districts they were usually paid in native brandy every Saturday
night, put in jail next morning for getting drunk, and bailed out on
Monday to work out the fine imposed upon them by the local authori
ties. This BTstetn stUl pre\ aUs in Los Angeles, where I have often
seen a dozen of these miserable wretches carried to jail roaring drunk
of a Sunday morning. The inhabitants of Los Angeles are a moral
and intelligent people, and many of them disapprove of the custom on
principle, and hope it wiU be abolished as soon as the Indians are all
kiUed off. Practically it is not a bad way of bettering their condition ;
for some of them die every week from the effects of debauchery, or kill
one another in the nocturnal brawls which prevail in the outskirts ot
the Pueblo.
" The settlers in the northern portions of the State had a stiU more
effectual method of encouraging the Indians to adopt habits of civiliza
tion. In general they engaged them at a fixed rate of wages to culti
vate the ground, and, during the season of labor, fed them on beana
and gave them a blanket or a shirt each ; after which, when the har
vest was secured, the account was considered squared, and the Indiana
were driven off to forage in the woods for themselves and families
during the winter. Starvation usually wound up a considerable
number of the old and decrepit ones every season ; and of those thai

162 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
failed to perish from hunger or exposure, some were killed on the
general principle that they must have subsisted by stealing cattle, for
it was well known that cattle ranged in the vicinity ; while others
were not unfrequently slaughtered by their employers for helping
themselves to the refuse portions of the crop which had been left in
the ground. It may be said that the.se were exceptions to the general
rule ; but if ever an Indian was fully and honestly paid for his labor
by a white settler, it was not my luck to hear of it. Certainly, it
could not have been of frequent occurrence.
" The wild Indians inhabiting the Coast Range, the valleys of the
Bacramento and San Joaquin, and the western slope of the Sierra
Nevada, became troublesome at a very early period after the discovery
of the gold mines. It was found convenient to take possession of their
country without recompense, rob them of their wives and children,
kill them in every cowardly and barbarous manner that could be de
vised, and when that was impracticable, drive them as far as possible
out of the way. Such treatment was not consistent with their rude
ideas of justice. At best they were an ignorant race of Diggers,
wholly unacquainted with our enlightened institutions. They could
not understand why they should be murdered, robbed, and hunted
down in this way, without any other pretence of provocation than the
color of their skin and the habits of Ufe to which they had always
been accustomed.
" Voluminous reports were made to Congress, showing that a gen
eral reservation system, on the plan so successfully pursued by the
Spanish missionaries, would best accomplish the object. It was known
that the Missions of California had been built chiefly by Indian
labor ; that during their existence the priests had fully demonstrated
the capacity of this race for the acquisition of civUized habits ; that
extensive vineyards and large tracts of lauds had been cultivated
solely by Indian labor, under their instruction ; and that by this
humane system of teaching, many hostile tribes had been subdued,
and enabled not only to support themselves, but to render the Mis
sions highly profitable establishments.
" No aid was given by government beyond the grants of land neceS'
gary for missionary purposes; yet they soon grew wealthy, owned
immense herds of cattle, supplied agricultural products to the raiiche-
ros, and carried on a considerable trade in hides and tallow with the
United States. If the Spanish priests could do this without arms or
assistance, in the midst of a savage country, at a period when tha

IN North America. 163
Indians were more numerous and more powerful than tliey are now,
surely it could be done in a comparatively civilized country by intelli
gent Americans, with all the lights of experience and the co-operation
of a beneficent government.
" At Nome Cult A^aUey, during the winter of 1858-59, more than f,
hundred and fifty peaceable Indians, including women and children,
were cruelly slaughtered by the whites who had settled there under
official authority, and most of whom derived their support either from
actual or indirec' connection with the reservation. It was alleged
that they had driven off and eaten private cattle. Upon an investiga
tion of this charge, made by the officers of the army, it was found to
be entirely destitute of truth ; a few cattle had been lost, or probably
kiUed by white men, and this was the whole basis of the massacre.
Armed parties went into tlie rancherias in open day, when no evil
was apprehended, and shot the Indians down — weak, harmless, and
defenceless as they were — without distinction of age or sex ; shot
down women with sucking babes at their breasts ; killed or crippled
the naked children that were running about ; and, after they had
achieved this brave exploit, appealed to the State Government for
aid ! Oh, shame, shame ! where is thy blush, that white men should
do' tliis with impunity in a civilized country, under the very eyes of
an enlightened government I They did it, and they did more ! For
days, weeks, and months they ranged the hills of Nome Cult, killing
every Indian that was too weak to escape ; and, what is worse, they
did it under a State Commission, which, inall charity, I must believe
was issued upon false representations. A more cruel series of out
rages than those perpetrated upon the poor Indians of Nome Cult
never disgraced a community of white men. The State said the
settlers must be protected, and it protected them — protected them
from v-)men and children, for the men are too imbecile and too abject
to fight.
" During the winter of last year a number of them were gathered
at Humboldt. The whites thought it was a favorable opportunity for
getting rid of them altogether. So they went in a body to the Indian
camp, during the night, when the poor wretches were asleep, shot all
the men, women, and children they could at the first onslaught, and
cut the throats of the remainder. Very few escaped. Next morning
sixty bodies lay weltering in their blood — the old and the young, male
and female — ^with every wound gaping a tale of horror to the civUized

164 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
world. Children climbed upon their mothers' breasts and sought
nourishment from the fountains that death had drained ; girls and
boys lay here and there with their throats cut from ear to ear ; men
and women, clinging to each other in their terror, were found per
forated with bullets or cut to pieces with knives — aU were cruelly mur
dered ! Let any who doubt this read the newspapers of San Francisco
of that date. It will be found there in its most bloody and tragic de
tails. Let them read of the Pitt River massacre, and of aU the mas
sacres that, for the past three years, have darkened the records of the
State." If such a record as this can be read in the pages of Harper's Maga
zine, in what language would the exiled Franciscan describe this un-
holv march of modern civiUzation 1

IN North America. 165

CHAPTEE VIII.
The Devotiow in Maine — Sillekt and Chaudiere its Nurseeies— Thi
Wampum Belt fok Ocr Ladt of Chartbes— The Vow of the
Owenagunoa — The Mission of the Kennebec — The Murder of
Father Kasie — The Catholic Red-skin and the Puritan Counoil.
From the crimson record of the Iroquois we turn to
a gentler race ; — from the struggle of Christianity with
sanguinary paganism, along the bright lakes of New
York, to the serene and beautiful rise of the Morning
Star over the hiUs and pine-forests of Maine.
The reader wiU perhaps recollect that fine Catholic
gentleman and knight of Malta, Brulart de Sillery ; — -
how he renounced the world that favored him ; left
his king who honored, and his country which was
proud of him, to consecrate himself to God in the
¦wilds of the New World ; how, " to testify his gratitude
for the wondrous favors received from the Mother of
-Mercy," he founded the Mission of St. Joseph ; and
how he hoped, " by the merits and powerful help of
the Holy Virgin Mother of God," to " attract, assemble,
and settle the wandering savages, as the surest means
of their conversion." By that powerful help the foun
dation suoceeded; numbers of Algonquins and Mon-
tagnais forsook their nomad Ufe to gather round the
" black-robes," to Uve by tiUage of the soil, and to ex-

166 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
hibit, bj" their lives, a simplicity and fervor of inteUi
gent faith which races, self caUed superior, would do
weU to emulate.
Eminent among these, for his many virtues, was the
Algonquin, Charles Meiaskwat. Hearing, one day,
that a party of his pagan clansmen had taken some
Abenaki prisoners and were torturing them, though
they were not enemies, he hurried in pursuit and res
cued the captives, but not untU they had been 'most
savagely treated. But he brought them down to Sil
lery, or St. Joseph's, and there the Hospital Nuns,
from the Quebec foundation, dressed their wounds, and
attended them with their usual gentle charity untU
they were quite recovered. When they went home,
weU armed and clothed, Meiaskwat accompanied them,
visited their towns on the Kennebec, and preached
Christ and His blessed faith to them. One sagamo, or
chief, returned with him to Quebec, was instructed and
baptized. His example was followed. In a Uttle
while, no Abenaki, or, as New Yorkers caUed them,
Owenagunga, viUage was without two or three Chris
tians. FinaUy, on the feast of the Mother of God's
Assumption into heaven, year 1646, they formally
aslced for black-robes. And then two Jesuits went
forth from their central house in Quebec — Isaac
Jogues to the New York Iroquois, Gabriel DruUlettes
to the tribes of Maine.
Father Gabriel was received by a docile and gentle,
although heroically brave people. In three months he
could catechize and preach in their own tongue ; and

in North America. 167
he labored, on and off, as the necessities of other mis
sion stations required, until 1657; by which time the
good seed was sown and had sprung up, never to be
eradicated. Although they were often without a mis
sionary for long years at a time, yet they remained
steadfast in the faith. Before the attack on Fort Pen-
quid, in 1689, we find aU the braves fortifying them
selves by the Holy Sacrament; and during aU that
expedition they said the Eosary of Our Blessed Lady
perpetuaUy, without intermission even at meal-time.'
Judge, then, if they had not received into fervent souls
devotion to the Queen of Angels. And be not sur
prised at their fidelity through the long residence of
Father Easles and Father Vincent Bigot among them ;
nor yet that they remain to-day pure and fervent
CathoUcs amid the temptation, vices, and irreligion ol
effete Puritanism. From about 1680 to 1700 the mis
sionaries, unable to Uve amongst these tribes, sought
to draw them nearer to Quebec, whence spiritual and
physical help could be more easily procured.
In a Uttle whUe the men of the Kennebec outnum
bered the vanishing Algonquins in SiUery, and for years
the Mission was caUed the Abenaki. Then Father
James Bigot, of the Society of Jesus, founded the
Mission of St. Frangois de Sales, on the beautiful Falls
of the Chaudiere, not far from the spot where your
modem maps show you three townships of St. Mary
side by side. In 1685, the new reduction absorbed
, ' Shea's Indian Missions, p. 143.

168 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
that of SUlery. Two letters' of Father Bigot, now be
fore us, are fiUed with edifying details of these most
fervent American Catholics — these faithful American
devotees of the Blessed Mother of God. They were
poor to extremity, their vUlage seemed a favorite abode
for epidemics, yet men, women, and children exhibited
a firm, resigned love for the holy wiU of God, most
edifying and most instructive to the civiUzed'white, if,
indeed, he would take advantage thereof. TheU pecu
Uar religious characteristics, if we may say pecuUar
where all were so good, were an intense trustful love
for Jesus crucified, and a zeal for and practice of per
fect purity in honor of His Immaculate Mother. Ten
derly they used to caU upon her beautiful name in
then sickness, and fondly summon her to the couch of
death with prayers. To her they sent their choicest
wampum necklaces, the work of a whole long winter's
leisure. Do you smile at the poor offering of Indian
beads ? send your own necklaces and bracelets of gold
and ruby, in the spirit of the simple Abenaki, and then
you may smile with more satisfaction to yourselves and
edification to your neighbor.
Among the treasures of the famous cathedral of Our
Lady of Chartres,' France, you may stiU see, preserved
' The letters, printed from the originals, form part of an exquisite
series, contributed, among so many other things, to American Christian
history, by the indefatigable zeal and taste of John QUmary Shea.
'' As this celebrated cathedral has not been described in tho work of
the Abbe Orsini, and as it had so close a connection ¦with our poor little
American Mission, a note descriptive of it, and explanatory of a reliquary
goon to be mentioned, will fcUow the notice of the Huron reduction.

IN I^ORTH America. 169
with reverence, a band of this sea-shell wampum, all
that the American had of most precious sent to Our
Lady, as a token of their simple love, in 1695. The
ground is -riolet, and in white letters you may read this
inscription :
" MATRI ¦VCRGINI ABNAQUICEI, D. D."
" To the Yirgin Mother, her most devoted Abenakis."
•The chapter of the great .cathedral received the offer
ing as it would have received the jeweUed gift of a
king, and ¦wrote affectionately to the poor Indians a
thousand leagues away. Whatever taste and power of
deUcate labor the Owenagunga could bestow, were
lavished on this belt. The best workers of the village
were employed, the choicest and most perfect beads
carefuUy selected. And this they entreat the clergy of
the cathedral "to offer as their little present to the
most Blessed Virgin." "Though it be only Indian
work," they say, " our sacred Mother wiU see by it our
hearts, and aU the sentiments of love and tenderness
with which we offer it. We have already offered it
here, placing it at the foot of her image during two
whole novenas, praying for you; and at the end of
each day's Mass chanting the Inviolata benigna Regina
Maria." These novenas commenced, one on the Feast
of the Assumption of Our Lady, the other on that of
her sinless Nativity. "Ah," cries Father Vincent
Bigot, in ¦writing of these Indians, " if yon could hear
them sing at the Holy Mass ; if you beheld their fer
vor, their innocence, their extreme abhorrence of even
8

170 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
the least fault, their docility for the sacred mysteries,
their love for Jesus Christ crucified, and for His
Blessed Mother, which attain to a very great tender
ness, to an heroic desire for suffering, and aU the marks
of predestination which accompany their holy death,
you would be greatly touched."' The chapter of
Chartres having made some presents to the little
church of Chaudiere, the hearts of the forest childieu
overfiow with gratitude. " We always loved the blessed
Yirgin Mother," they write,° " we always honored her
sincerely ; but now it seems that your kind gifts have
redoubled our affection and reverence for our crood
Lady. Some years ago we consecrated to her our vU
lage, our persons, aU that we have, and aU that we are.
Each year, on the day when she was assumed, body
and soul, into heaven, we renew that consecration.
Present our poor Uttle gift to Mary, and, what we
especiaUy desire, cause that this very paper touch her
shrine. Maybe, from that, fresh ardor wiU be con
veyed to us here, to augment our love for our sacred
Princess. We have said. Let this belt of wampum
confirm our words."
The present sent from Chartres was, as we find by
a letter from Eev. Pere Aubery, written sixty years
later, a very beautifid statue of the Blessed VUgin in
silver, a copy of that known as Notre Dame sous terre,
or under-groimd, so called from the subterranean
' Les Voeux des Hurons et des Abnaquis a Notre Dame de Chartres
par M. Doublet de Boisthibault. Chartres, "1857, p. 33.
" Ibid., pp. 34-38.

IN North America. 171
chapel, which wiU be described in a note. This letter
is signed by the missionary and six Abenaki chiefs.
The letters of their missionaries are full of simple
Uttle traits of devotion to St. Mary the Virgin. Some
times they would want the Indian names, family names
of the women, to distinguish in their registers one from
another, and they would find the greatest diificulty in
getting them. "My name is Maiy," they would say.
" But I want your Indian name — your Abenaki name."
And the answer would be, " I have no other name ;
Abenaki name no good ; my name is Mary !" Almost
every woman was a Mary; if they did not get that
name in baptism, they took it in confirmation, or they
would go and ask permission of their pastor to be
called henceforward by the beloved name. Or, after
Mass, they would Unger in the church, even in the
depth of winter, to recommend their resolutions and
then- good thoughts especiaUy to her. And, after all,
what else could they do, since they were consecrated
to her individuaUy and as a people ?
It was on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
that this solemn dedication, or donation as they called
it, took place. They adorned, as well as they could,
the chapel of Our Lady in the church at Sillery, ex
posing to veneration their beautiful silver statue ; and,
for many days after, they practised particular devo
tions in honor of their elected Queen.' Then, every
' Relation de ce qui s'est passe de plus remarquable dans la Mission
Abnaquaise de Sainct Joseph de SUlery et de Sainct Francois de Sales
I'annee 1665 : par le Pere Jacques Bigot de la Compagnie de Jesus

172 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
year, on the Feast of the Assumption, they bore the
image in procession to bless the viUage at Chaudiere,
and solemnly renewed their gift. This was. their act
of donation :
" Great Mary, may the heavens and earth bear wit
ness to our sincerity. May aU thy fi'iends gathered
now in heaven hear us, and be glad that we thus imi
tate them. Let them testify that our hearts and our
words accord. May Jesus, our Lord and our God,
acknowledge our sincerity, who hath wUled His in
fancy to be governed by thee, who so mhaculously
gave him birth ; who hath made 'the universe confess
thee Lady of aU, almost as though He had placed His
sovereign dominion in thy hands. May He, whom we
hail as Lord, behold our hearts, see that we have but
one thought, that thou shalt be forever our Lady and
our Queen. And thoii, 0 Mary, hear us from heaven,
where thou art throned in incomparable splendor;
hear us, and accept what we offer.
. " 0 Mary, Yirgin Mother of God, we have long
waited for this day to choose thee for our Queen,
for hitherto we have been but obscurely thine. Take,
then, possession of us and ours. We make thee mis
tress of our village, and therefore have we borne thine
image hither. If in any of our lodges thou shouldst
see what can displease thee, hasten to remove it. May
aU anger, and disunion, and evil speaking, aU impurity,
drunkenness, and every other sin, take flight before
the approach of thy sinless steps. May the demon not
dare to injure a land which belongs to thee. Do nob

IN North America. 173
disdain to dweU with us, since, having thee, we shall
have the virtues that go with thee, and that remain
where thou art, gentleness, unitedness, charity, docility.
Do not refuse to dweU with us, great and glorious
Lady. Though among us, vUe and contemptible as we
are, thy grandeur wUl not be obscured, but our lowli
ness and our wretchedness wnl gi\ e it new splendor by
the contrast.
" This, our blessed Princess, is what we have to say.
Would to God that our words were engraven upon the
rock, never to be effaced. But they wiU not vanish,
for they are "written on our hearts. They are im
printed on the tender hearts even of our Uttle children.
They wiU hand them do'wn, and our remote descend
ants shall know how we loved thee and recognized
thee as our Queen. So shall our example teach them
to love and serve thee. Woe to him who would destroy
our affection, or change the sentiments we have for
thee ! Eather may the brooks cease to flow, and the
sun to shine, yea, aU things to exist, than that one of
our descendants should prove disloyal to thee. Love
us, then, Mary, our great Queen ; procure for us the
favor of thy Son ; and may we one day behold -with
joy His unutterable glory and thine. We have
spoken." '
This was the school in which the true Americans of
Maine learned the faith which they practise stiU on the
banks of the Penobscot and Kennebec.
' Yceux des Hurons, pp. 39^J ,

174 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
"V^Tien, after a time, the Missions were re-established
in their o'wn country, by the salmon-filled streams of
Maine, we find no diminution in the fervor of these
red-skinned children of Saint Mary. Father Thury, at
Panawaniske, on the Penobscot ; the EecoUect Father
Simon, at Medoktek, :m the St. John's ; and Fathei
Vincent Bigot and Father Eale, or Easle, on the Ken
nebec, were steadfast laborers by 1688. Bigot' has
two especial themes of praise in his people, their fervor
for the Most Adorable Eucharist, and their love for
Mary. The first thing in the morning, the last thing
at night, was a visit to our Lord, if only for a few
moments : going to or returning from work, they made
it a law to go salute, at least, the Most Holy. So fre
quent were these visits of the children, women, and
men, that Father Bigot declares it was like a continual
little procession to and from the chapel. So constant
a habit had some of them formed of spiritual union
with our Lord and his blessed Mother, that none of
their occupations could distract them from it. An old
chief blesses God for his blindness, since nothing now
can attract his sight from the wounds of the Crucified
and the beautiful face of Mary. Maidens die in their
bloom, blessing her for taking them unfettered by mar
riage and its distracting cares. A young man, whose
right arm was dropping to pieces from necrosis of the
bone, would ask her pardon for the irrepressible groans

' Relation de ce qui s'est passe dans la Mission des Abnaquis &
I'Acadie I'annee 1701.

IN North America. 175
wrung from him by his bitter pain. To the priest ask
ing a young girl dying, if they could do nothing to
assuage her sufferings, she answered, "No, father, I
can wish for nothing more. The Mother of Jesus, my
good mother, knows that I have no more fervent and
continual desire than to see her face." '
An Indian who desires to reach a point has a way
of going straight at it. Not remarkable for syllogistic
abUities, he has a shorter method of reachUig correct
conclusions. The Mohawk, when the Albany Dutcli-
man sneered at her for honoring Mary, asked to whom
he prayed. He said, to Christ his God. But she
shaking her head gravely, said, " Guess not pray
much ; no have honor for Mother, no have much for
Son." One of the Kennebec chiefs, of Bigot's time,
was taunted with the errors of his creed, in his visits
to the EngUsh settlements, and urged by the people
to adopt thehs. "Which of them?" asked the red-man,
"for no two of you have the same." Of course they
must deny the power of the Blessed Virgin ; for they
could see the scapular on his swarthy chest, or the
beads and medal twisted into his head-dress ; but he
fought the usual battle with them, and gave himseU as
an example to prove his doctrines. " You have known
me long enough," he said. "You know that I was as
big a drunkard as ever Uved. Well, God has had pity
on me ; and I can defy any one to reproach me with
having tasted wine or brandy for many years. To
¦ Relation, p. 36.

176 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
whom am I obliged for this but to our holy Lady, to
the Mother of Jesus. For to her I had recourse in my
extreme feebleness, for grace to conquer my inveterate
habit of drunkenness ; and by her help I conquered
it. After that, wiU you tell me that the saints do not
hear us ; that it is useless to address ourselves to the
Mother of God ? I believe none of your words ; you
are deceivers. My own experience. convinces me ; and
know you this," and the brave, a reno-wned one, drew
himseU up, and his dark Indian eye kindled, "know
this, that I wUl love and bless the holy Virgin to the
last breath of my life. For I am sure that she is glad
now, and that she wUl recompense me for defending
her cause against you." '
Father Vincent Bigot is succeeded by Sebastian
Easle, another of that grand " Company of Jesus." On
his thirty years' mission we shall touch but lightly. In
1705, one Hilton, at the head of a party of New Eng-
landers, burnt the church and village of Norridgewock,
profaned the sanctuary, and withdrew. In 1713, after
the peace of Utrecht, some of the chiefs went to Boston
to hire workmen to rebuild their church. " I wUl re
build it for you," said the governor, " if you will dismiss
your missionary and receive one whom I will send you."
" Listen," said the warrior in answer. " You saw
and knew me long before the French, but neither your
predecessors nor your ministers ever spoke to me of
prayer or of the Great Spirit. They saw my furS, my
' Eelation, pp. 9, 10.

IN North America. 177
beaver, and my moose-skins ; these they sought alone,
and so eagerly that I have never been able to bring
them enough. When I had plenty, they were my
friends, and only then. One day my canoe missed tho
route, and I wandered a long time, having lost my way
At last I landed near Quebec, in a great village of Al
gonquins, where the black-robes were teaching. As
soon as I had arrived, one of them came to me. I was
loaded with furs, but the black-robe of France dis
dained to look at them. He spoke to me of the Great
SpU-it, of heaven, of heU, of the prayer which is the
only way to reach heaven. I heard his words with
pleasure, and remained in the viUage near him. At
last, the jirayer pleased me and I asked for instruction.
Then I asked for baptism, and received it. * * *
Now I hold to the prayer of the French ; I agree to it ;
I shaU be faithful to it, untU even the earth is burnt
and destroyed. Keep your men, your gold, and your
minister. I wUl go to my French father." '
For thirty years now, has Father Sebastian Easle
dwelt in the forest, teaching to its wild, red children
the love of God and Mary. He is burned by sun and
tanned by wind untU he is almost as red as his parish
ioners. The languages of the Abenaki and Huron,
the Algonquin and lUinois, are more famiUar to him
than the tongue in which his mother taught him the
Ave Maria. The huts of Norridgewock contain his
people; the river Kennebec flows swiftly past his dweU-
' Shea's Missions.
M 8*

178 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
ing, to the sea. There he has built a church — hand
some, he thinks and says ; perhaps it would not much
excite our more luxurious imagination. At any rate,
the altar is handsome ; and he has gathered a store of
copes and chasubles, albs and embroidered stoles, for
the dignity of the holy ser-vice. He has trained, also,
as many as forty Indian boys in the ceremonies, and. in
their crimson cassocks and white surplices, they aid the
sacred pomp. Besides the church, there are two
chapels, one on the road which leads to the forest,
where the braves are wont to make a short retreat
befoiHj they start to trap and hunt; the other on the
path to the cultivated lands, where prayers are offered
when they go to plant or gather in the harvest. The
one is dedicated to the Guardian Angel of the tribe;
the other to our most holy Mother, Mary Immaculate.
To adorn this latter is the especial emulation of the
women. Whatever they have of jewels, of silk stuff
from the settlements, or delicate broidery of porcupine
quiU, or richly tinted moose-haU', is found here; and
from amidst their offerings, rises, wliite and fair, the
statue of the Virgin ; and her sweet face looks down
benignantly upon her swarthy children, kneeling before
her to recite, their rosaries.
One beautiful inanimate ministrant to God's worship
they have in abundance — light from wax candles. The
wax is not precisely opus apimn, but it is a nearer ap
proach to it than you find in richer and less excusable
places. It is wax from the berry of the laurels which
cover the hills of Maine.

IN North America. 179
And to the chapel every night and morning come all
the Indian Christains. At morning they make their
prayer in common; and assist at Mass, chanting, in
their o'wn dialect, hymns written for that purpose by
their pastor. Then they go to their employment for
the day : he to his continuous, orderly, and ceaseless
labor. The morning is given up to visitors, who come
to their good father with their sorrows or disquietudes ;
to ask his relief against some little injustice of their
feUows ; his advice on their marriage or other projects.
He consoles this one, instructs that ; re-establishes
peace in disunited famUies ; calms troubled consciences ;
administers gentle rebuke, or gives encouragement to
the timid. The afternoon belongs to the sick, who are
visited in their own cabins. If there be a council, the
black-robe must come to invoke the Holy Spirit on
its deliberations ; if a feast, he must be present to bless
the viands and to check all approaches to disorder.
And always in the afternoon, old and young warrior
and gray-haired squaw, Christian and catechumen, as
semble for the catechism. When the sun declines west
ward, and the shadows creep over the vUlage, they
seek the chapel for the pubUc prayer, and to sing a
hymn to St. Mary. Then each to his home ; but before
bedtime neighbors gather again, in the house of one of
them, and, m antiphonal choirs, they sing their beads,
and with another hymn they separate for sleep.'
1 Lettre du E. Pere Sebastian Easle, 1733, tiree de la Choix des
Lettres edifiantes ecrites des Missions etrangeres. Paris, 1809, vol.
vii., p. 395-413.

180 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
When they go to the seaside for their fishing, they
bear with them, as wandering Israel bore the taber
nacle, a chapel formed of bark, that they may have the
consolations' of reUgion, while exposed to danger and
temptation. And now compare this picture of the
progress of devotion to Our Lady, 'with any march of
Protestantism among the Indians. Eead the French
Catholic's mission to the Algonquin, Abenaki, Huron,
and Iroquois ; or, in our own day, to the Kaw, the
Osage, and the Flathead ; and the work of Protestant
England or the United States among the Seminoles,
the Pottowattomies, or the Pueblos. One carries the
beads, purity, and ci'vUization; the other a whiskey
bottle, defilement, and death. One thing, in a reU
gious way, the descendant of the Puritan is pretty apt
to do — namely, to attempt the destruction of his neigh
bor's reUgion. Boston contributes a minister to effect,
if possible, this end, even in the 'wUds of Maine a
hundred years ago. He reaches the mouth of the
Kennebec, and building a school-house there, does his
best to entice the children to it by presents and
caresses. This faiUng, he attempts their parents, and
snuffles out to them nasal denunciations of the Sacra
ments, purgatory, invocation of Saints, the beads, the
cross, the altar lights, and images. Then Father
Easle, from his lodge, leagues away in the forest,
writes him a Latin letter, sixty-two pages of it, fuU of
instruction on these topics, and of charitable recom
mendation to let the Indians alone. And the divine
replies, swiftly, that the arguments are chUdish; and so

IN North America. 181
wends back to Boston to inform the august community
there of how he had been persecuted by the Jesuits.
So, in 1722, Norridgewock was attacked by a force of
two hundred and fifty New Englanders, for after the
war broke out the Abenaki adhered to the French Cath
olic, rather than to the EngUsh Puritan. A few old
men, women, and children only were in the village ; but
the Pui'itans were after the priest. He had time to
consume the sacred hosts in the tabernacle, and to
escape on his snow-shoes. But they piUaged the
church and his lodge, and carried off every thing, even
to his inkstand. They stiU show with pride, in Har
vard CoUege, his, manuscript Abenaki dictionary, made
'with such long toU and patience", and bravely con
quered by two hundred and fifty advancers of civiliza
tion from an old ecclesiastic and a handful of squaws
and papooses. Father Easle had broken both legs
some time before, and yet he refused to leave the main
band of his people, foUowing them about wherever the
necessities of warfare chanced to lead them. The New
Englanders never relaxed their efforts to catch Father
Sebastian, for in him they saw the soul of the Indians.
Accustomed- themselves to deify their own popular
leaders, till they tired of them, they fancied that the
strength of the red-man lay not in the CathoUc faith,
but in the talents of the priest.
Him, at aU hazards, they must have ; and triumphant
success crowned their efforts in 1724. It was on the
feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, August the
twenty-fourth, that a band of Mohawks and New Eng-

182 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Ush burst upon the town of the Owenagunga. The
women and children fled ; a few young braves who
were in the viUage caught up their arms to withstand
the enemy. But before they could be slain, the priest,
remembering those words of our dear Lord, "Bonus
pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis,' the good shep
herd giveth his Ufe for his sheep," and knowing himself
to be the real object of the attack, advanced to meet
his foes. They saw him just as he reached the viUage
cross. A yell of savage exultation, a voUey of bullets,
and the missionary lay dead at the foot of the symbol
of salvation.
Half a century later, the descendants of these men
were asking the hiendship of the Owenagunga against
the arms of Great Britain. The Kennebecs, Passama-
quoddies, and Penobscots met the Council of Massa
chusetts, and expressed their determination to espouse
the cause of the colonies, but added : " We must have a
French black-robe ; we wiU have no ' Prayer' that
comes from you." Orono, the Penobscot chief, bore a
commission in the army of the Eevolution, and his
clansmen fought beside him. " If one of our priests
would be agreeable to you, we 'wiU endeavor to get
you one, and take care he be a good man." Such was
the offer of the CouncU ; but the answer of the Abenaki
was stUl, " We know our religion, and love it ; we know
nothing of you or yours." Thus faithful to the teach
ings which they had received in 1650, these true
¦ St. John's Gospel, x. 14.

in North America. 183
American CathoUcs continued to cherish it, by rosary,
and crucifix, and earnest prayer, until they carried the
cross which Father Easle had worn, to Bishop CarroU
at Baltimore, and by it, demanded a pastor of the true
faith. We shaU see the.se faithful red-men, briefly, again

184 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE IX.
The Devotion in the State of Ne-w York — The Saint of the Mo
hawks — Saint Mart among the Iroquois.
Bravest, haughtiest, handsomest, most adventurous
of all North American aborigines, were the clans of the
warrior Iroquois. The territory which they dwelt in
was small, when compared with the vast circle traveUed
over by the nomad Algonquin, or the Umitless prairies
of the mounted Dacotah. The State of New York,
with the neighboring parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio,
held them all. From the wide St. Lawrence, they
swept along the southern shores of Erie and Ontario,
to the yellow waters of the Beautiful Eiver. Amid the
forests, by the clear blue mountain streams of New
York, stood the towns of the taU, spare Seneca, the
Cayuga and Onondaga, the beautiful Oneida and the
merciless Mohawk.
To white man and Indian they were a terror and a
fate. The far Natchez had felt their tomahawk, by the
winding Mississippi. At the echo of their wild war-cry
the heart of the Frenchman stopped beating within the
palisades of Quebec. They slew the wandering Algon
quin on the edge of the Chesapeake, or caught him as
he fled on his sinew-woven snow-shoes ; and crimsoned

IN North America. 185
the white wastes of Canada with his blood. They were
a dread to the Winnebago, although Lake Michigan
roUed between them ; to the Chippewa and Menome-
nee, although their canoes ruled the waters of Superior.
They chased the unfortunate Huron from the fur-lined
sepulchre of his fathers, and drove westward the poor
remnants of that shattered tribe, as the 'wind of the
autumn drives the leaves of the forest.
For their savage virtues were aU nullified by their
immeasurable barbarity. We have heard of indi
viduals in other races, whose cruelty won for them a
bad distinction, but here was a nation, from the hum
blest of whom the historic tyrant might learn his art.
In stealth they were Uke serpents ; in slakeless blood-
thirst they were tigers. The Huron had no other name
for them than Nado- Wessioiiex — the Cruel. These were
the enemies of Cartier and Champlain ; these were an
incarnate and ceaseless terror to the rismg colonies of
Quebec and Montreal. They were Iroquois arrows
which quivered through the paUsades of the fort ; an
Iroquois torch brought the new mission-house to ashes ;
an Iroquois tomahawk sent the first priests to heaven.
Their name is the one terrible word in all the early
writings, in the letters of Mary of the Incarnation, of
Marguerite of Our Lady, of the Jesuit relations, of the
Virgin's knight, Maisonneuve. Priest and laborer, nun
and warrior, wound up the tale of their hardship with
horror for the Iroquois. Yet into the inner tent of
that fierce people a ray from the loving heart of Mary
shone at last ; they learned to hush the war-whoop and

186 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
to sheath the scalping-knife in honor of her name ;
and in a Mohawk vUlage which reeked with Christian
gore, grew as sweet and gentle a fiower of holiness as
ever bloomed.
Always at vindictive war with the Canadian Indians,
they turned their ire upon the French when these made
friends with the Algonquin and the Wendat. They at
tacked the very forts of the settlers ; they waylaid their
voyagers. Beaten often, punished as weU as the smaU
force of the Europeans would aUow, they returned 'with
redoubled fury. Champlain and others chased them
into their o'wn country, fired their viUages, and reduced
them for a time. They would make peace with the
white man and bury the hatchet ; but, dug up again be
fore the blood had well dried upon the blade, it flamed,
hungry for murder, in the clutch of the treacherous
savage. A favorite method of foray was the waylaying
of Huron or French, parties as they passed from Mon
treal or Quebec to the Mission on the distant lakes.
But the cross was to be planted among even the
sanguinary Iroquois, and the mode chosen by God's
wisdom was as foUows. In the year of our Lord 1644,
Father Isaac Jogues, who had been laboring for years
on the shores of Huron and Superior, descended to
Quebec accompanied by a train of Indians. Twenty-
three in number they started from the Mission of St.
Mary's, in the Huron country, and in thirteen days
reached the colony of the Conception of. the Blessed
Virgin, at Three Eivers. And from this place he was
returning to Saint Mary's, the canoes hugging the

IN North America. 187
shore to avoid the strong current of the stream, when
suddenly the warwhoop of the fatal Iroquois rang
through the air and a hail of musket-baUs rattled about
them. The pagan Indians leaped at once from the
canoe ; but the Jesuit, with the three Frenchmen and
the few Christian savages with him, "offered up a
prayer to Christ and faced the enemy." ' But already,
at the fu'st whistling of the baUs, a catechumen had
thrown himself upon his knees in the canoe, and the
fearless priest had baptized him. They fought, some
dozen of them, but the Iroquois were seventy in
number. The missionary did not even try to escape.
Eene GoupU, whom we have mentioned, was taken,
fighting like a lion. The next brought in was a
famous Christian chief, Ahasistari, who cried, " Did
I not swear, my father, to live or die with thee !"
FinaUy, a young Frenchman, WiUiam Couture, who had
escaped, came back and gave himself up, saying, " T
cannot abandon my dear father." This heroism won
him the honor of instant torture ; they stripped him at
once ; they tore his naUs away, crushed his fingers with
their teeth, and ran a sword through his right hand.
The same treatment was then given to Father
Jogues and GoupU. But we will recite no more of
these brutal tortures here. As they treated Breboeuf,
so they treated these, not once, but twenty times, stop
ping short only of death for the present. Whenever
they rested, on their long journey of thirteen days,
' Lettre du P6re Isaac Jogues au P. Provincial de la Province de
France , apud Eelation abregee de P. Bressani, pp. 188-346.

188 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
torture was the amusement of their captors ; whenever
they met another roving band of savages, and the
forests were fuU of them, the torture of their victims
was the feast to which they welcomed them. Twenty-
two in number, they filed off from the battle-groimd,
and tramped sadly through the woods on their way to
the towns of the Mohawk. Through the woods to the
beautiful lakes Champlain and Horicon, and thence,
past Saratoga, across the country to the Mohawk.
The last four miles they marched on foot, carrying all
the baggage of their masters, covered with putrefying
wounds, unfed save by the berries which, with muti
lated hands, they caught from the bushes on the road
side. But, " at last," says the servant of Mary, " on the
eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Yhgin, we ar
rived at the first village of the Iroquois. And I thank
our Lord Jesus Christ that He thus deigned to grant
us a share in His sorrows and His cross, on .the day
whereon the Christian universe celebrates the triumph
of His sacred Mother taken up into heaven."
They entered the town of the barbarians by running
the gauntlet, — Jogues comforted as he went "by a
vision of the glory of the Queen of Heaven." ' Then
on to another village, and so to a third, tracking the
whole land with their blood ; the Jesuit offering up his
agonies to God, instructing his Huron neophytes when
ever he could get beside them, as watchful and as ready
for his duties as a priest, as if within the walls of a
 :  -I- 
I ' Bancroft's History United States, vol. iii., p. 133.

IN North America. 189
parish church in France. He hears Goupil's confession
as they drag their weary Umbs through the forest ; he
baptizes two pleading neophytes as they wade through
a woodland stream ; he wrings the rain-drops from a
stalk of corn and confers upon two others the sacra
ment of regeneration. Thus, in constant torture and
prayer, he lingered until the Feast of the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin brought him hope. Two Hollanders
from Albany arrived to treat for his deliverance, which
was effected, however, only in the summer of the next
year. But before that, he had seen his friends faU,
one by one ; the Huron chief praying at the stake for
his enemies; GoupU tomahawked at the thirty-ninth
" HaU Mary" of the Eosary ; blood, death, horror,
demon-worship around him.
His Breviary had long since been taken from him,
but he had found, from time to time, fragments of his
Bible, the Imitation of Christ, and the Little Office of
the Blessed Virgin. How often did he sit thus "by
the waters of Babylon, and weep as he remembered
Zion !" " " How often," he exclaims, " did I carve Thy
Name, O Jesus ! upon the taU trees of the forest !
How often, stripping off the bark, have I traced there
the most holy cross of my God !" See him kneeUng
there, half clad, with skins, and meditating on the life
of his Eedeemer ; or watch his lips as they move in
the recitation of the only office left him ; how his voice
lowered at the last Tu autem Domine, miserere nobis,
1 PsaJm, cxxxvi. 1.

190 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
gathers strength again, and breaks forth in the anti-
phon, " Felix namque es, sacra Virgo Maria, et omni laude
dignissima ; quia ex te ortus est Sol Justitia, Christus Deus
noster ! Blessed art thou and worthy of aU praise, 0
sacred Virgin Mary, for from thee rose the Sun of
Eighteousness, even Christ our God!" Thus did he
teach the aisles of the New York forests to resound, for
the first time, with the sweet and holy name of Mary.
When, after a year's endurance of captivity, he was
released by the kind offices of the HoUanders, he had
baptized no less than seventy persons — some captives
and some converts. They get him a passage from
New York to England, and a collier carries him thence
and lands him, barefooted and in tattered sailor's dress,
on the coast of Brittany. He approaches a peas
ant's house, and they rise to receive the forlorn saUor
kindly; then he Ufts up his poor mutilated hands and
blesses them in the name of the Eternal. What shall
he do with these hands ? A priest with but one thumb
and four or five fingers left him ! Courage, Confessor
of God ; the Holy Father, Urban VIII., wiU settle that.
" Indignum," he exclaims, "indignum esse Christi marty-
rem, Christi non bibere sanguinem ! It were unjust that
the martyr of Christ should not drink the blood of
Christ!" So the dispensation is granted. AU throng
to do him honor ; great nobles vie in offering him
their services ; prelates throw open their palaces ; the
Ups of the stately Anne of Austria, the Queen of fair
France, are reverently pressed to those deformed and
mangled hands. But his place is not here. Away,

IN North America 19]
thousands of miles, it lies, where the Hudson and the
Mohawk mingle their clear waters beneath the sho.dow
of the immemorial woods.
In the month consecrated to his beloved heavenly
Queen, he left his country for the last time, and arrived
just soon enough to see a peace concluded with the
Iroquois. They asked for " black-robes," and his su
periors offered Father Jogues the mission. * "Yes," he
said, " I shall go, and I shall not return ; Ibo et non redibo;
but I wiU be happy if our Lord wUl complete the sacri
fice where he has begun it, and make the little blood I
have shed in that land the earnest of what I would
give fi-om every vein of my body and my heart." ' The
sacrifice was accepted. He and Father Jean de La-
lande departed with the treacherous Iroquois. The
very day of their arrival the savages began to threaten
them. The next day they tomahawked them at the
door of a lodge ; their heads were stuck upon the pali
sades of the to'wn ; their bodies were thrown into the
Mohawk. But he had not died in vain. Two churches of St.
Mary'' stand upon the shores of that beautiful river ;
the Arch Confraternity of her Immaculate Heart is
established in the principal town bathed by its waters.^
For the beautiful fiower of devotion to Mary had been

' Letter to a friend, in Sloa's Narrative of Captivity.
> At Amsterdam and Little Palls. The place itself is now Tribes
Hill, just opposite to the confiuence of Schoharie Creek with ths
Mohawk. » Utica.

192 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
surely planted by Father Jogues, and nurtured with
his tears and blood in the woodlands of New York,
when he kneeled to say her office at the foot of the
cross traced by his crushed fingers on the trunk of the
maple. "Beata Dei Genetrix Maria," he had said
again and again in his agony, " Virgo perpetua, tern-
plum Domini, saorarium Spiiritus Sancti, sola sine ex-
emplo placuisti Domino Nostro Jesu Christo ; ora pro
populo ; interveni pro clero ; intercede pro devoto fosmi-
neo sexu. Blessed Mary, Mother of God, ever a Vir
gin, Temple of the Lord, dwelling-place of the Holy
Ghost ; thou only, without example, hast been found
pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ ; pray for the peo
ple ; intervene for the clergy ; intercede for Holy
women." ^ And Mary heard him.
Although the tribes upon whose heads his blood had
faUen were fiercer and haughtier than ever, yet the
day was to come when the knees of the Iroquois should
bend in prayer to a saint of their own race and nation.
At present, supplied by the Dutch and EngUsh with
arms, they spread the fiames of war over the land.
They destroyed, as we have seen, the Hurons. They
drove the northern Algonquins from the shores of the
lakes, and slew the French and their allies under the
very walls of Quebec. Then, weary of the war-path,
they themselves asked for peace. And the heralds of
this peace were those whose " footsteps are beautiful
upon the mountains ; who pubUsh glad tidings of
' Antiphon in Little Office of B. V. M.

IN North America. 193
good."' Father Chaumonot assembled the Ononda-
gas in the chief town of their people, on the Oswego ;
received from the nation a site for a mission-house,
and commenced his labors by the baptism of a poor
captive woman of the Eries, and an explanation of the
leading doctrines of the Gospel. The red-men received
his message with songs of joy, and the council gave
permission to preach Christianity in aU their vUlages.
Soon after, one thousand Onondaga braves were to
meet four thousand Eries in fight ; and they vowed,
like Clovis, the Frank, of old, that if the God of the
Christians would give them the victory, they would
thenceforth serve him alone. They drove the Eries
like deer from before them ; and though many were
false to their vow, yet a goodly number sought in
struction, and became the first-fruits of the warrior
L'oquois. In November, 1653, the back walls of St.
Mary's church arose, and the dread sacrifice of the
Mass consecrated the land to its Maker. By the Oc
tave of the VU'gin's Nativity, 1656, the back walls were
exchanged for stone, and daily devotions to Mary Im
maculate were paid in that first church of New York,
Our Lady's of Ganentaa.
The same year saw Father Eene Menard standing at
the altar of a Uttle chapel among the Cayugas, between
pictures of our Lord and His Blessed Mother, and ex
plaining their significance by the legend of man's re-

1 Quam pulchri super monies pedes annuntiantis et prsedicantie
pacem annuntiantis bonum, prsedicantis salutem. — Isaias, lii. 7.
9

194 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
demption. The great allies of the missionaries were
the captive Huron women, many married now to Iro
quois warriors. They brought their babes for bap
tism ; they instructed their pagan neighbors, whom
they edified by their virtues ; " and in almost every
cabin could be found an Indian mother teaching
her wayward chUd to Usp a prayer to Jesus and
Mary.'" But the demon grew strong again. The war was re
newed; the missionaries were driven away or fled;
and, by the end of 1658, not a priest was left in the
Iroquois territory. But the converted Indians, nota
bly the grand statesman and noble warrior Garacontie,
had been at work ; and the missionaries were implored
to return to Onondaga. So, with much labor and in
terruption, the holy toil went forward untU, in 1668,
they had once more renewed their foothold throughout
the cantons ; and, in 1670, the first day of the Octave
of the Annunciation of Our Lady, the worship of the
demon Areskoui and other pagan superstitions were
renounced and solemnly condemned. But the English
were by this time in New York, with the energetic
Dongan as their governor, and the missionaries to the
Iroquois were Frenchmen. Intrigues were commenced
with the Indians ; the servants of Mary were driven
from the country; and, by 1687, not one remained.
Then the Catholics of the Five Nations went over and
joined the French; and though the missions were
' Shea's Missions, p. 333.

IN North America. 195
re-estabUshed fourteen years afterwards, it was only
to Unger out a j)ainful existence ; and Father Mareuil,
the last Jesuit in New York, left the desolated harvest-
field of the Iroquois just sixty-seven years after Jogues
had first enriched it 'with his tears and blood.
But although the field was laid waste, the fruit had
been gathered. In thirty-five years fi'om the capture
of Father Jogues, two thousand two hundred and
twenty-five L'oquois were baptized — many children,
but many noble women and the choice of the sachems
and orators. Garacontie, " the advancing Sun," the
grandest statesman of the Five Nations, the bulwark
of Christianity for a quarter of a century ; he who cried
out, before he died, as he covered with kisses a picture
of our Lord, " Jesus born of a Virgin, thou art peerless
in beauty; grant that we may sit near thee in heaven."
Kryn, the high chief of the Mohawks, who, when his
tribe would not Usten to his pleadings, raised his wild
war-cry for the last time in the streets of his village ;
gathered forty devoted followers, and, kneeling down
amid the graves of their fathers, poured forth a prayer
for his nation ; then rose, and, with streaming eyes, led
his braves away forever from the fires of their people
to the Christian settlement at La Prairie. Catherine
Ganneaktena, the Erie by birth, the Oneida by adop
tion, the foundress of La Prairie on the banks of the
St. La-wrence. Mary Tsawento, "the Precious," the
saint of the Onondagas. Stephen te Gannonakoa, who
suffered purely for the faith, and was cut to pieces
almost with knives before they threw him into the fire.

196 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Ourehouhare, the war-chief of the Cayugas, who, when
Ustening on his death-bed to the story of the Passion,
cried out, Uke Clovis, "Oh, had I been there, they
never would so have treated my God !" Frances Gon-
nonhatena, who, when a barbarous kinsman tore the
crucifix fi-om her neck, as she stood bound to the stake,
and gashed a cross upon her bared bosom with his
scalping-knife, said : " I thank thee, my brother ; thou
hast given me a cross which none can take away."
These, and many another Uke them, form the crown of
the Iroquois missionary in heaven.
But, brightest and sweetest flower in the Indian
coronal of 'M.arj, was Catherine Tegahkouita, the
" Saint of the Iroquois."
Her father a Mohawk chief, her mother an Algon
quin captive, this holy girl was born in 1656, in the
town whence Eene GoupU and Father Isaac Jogues
had ascended, by martyrdom, to their rest. The smaU-
pox, which made her an orphan at the age of four
years, had also injured her sight ; and, shunning the
light of the sun, she passed her infancy and girlhood
with an uncle, in a cabin, at the door of which the
tomahawked priest had fallen. The child had not re
ceived the grace of Holy Baptism, and had only what
Christianity she could remember from her mother's
instructions, with, perhaps, occasional teaching from
some poor Huron captive. Thus, her affliction of the
eyes was, in God's will, a means and excuse for that
retirement whicli would otherwise not have been
aUowed. Thus she grew up, free from the vanities and

IN North America. 197
vices almost ineAdtable to an Indian girl in those Mo
hawk viUages.
The temporary peace already spoken of had been
made with the French. The missionaries, whom the
savages had demanded, arrived from Quebec, but found
chief and people engaged in a drunken debauch to cele
brate the peace. Behold " how all things work together
for good to them that love God."' The drunkenness
of the tribe was the opportunity of Tegahkouita. The
retiring gUl, unfit for the revel, was ordered to enter
tain the missionaries, and won their hearts by her
gentleness. But her timidity kept her silent before
them, and they went away from the village to their
several stations, without learning her desire for bap
tism. The girl grew up beautiful. It was for the in
terest, of her relations to marry her, for the product of
the chase went to the wife and her family. But she
earnestly and steadily refused. Entreaties, stratagem,
argument were tried in vain. Th'^n they began to treat
her as a slave ; whatever work was hardest or most
unpleasant was laid upon her, mingled with reproaches
and even blows; but so invincible was her patience,
and so docile her gentleness, that they softened even
the hearts of her persecutors.
Then Father James de Lamberville came to the vil
lage, and brought the fulfilment of her long-deferred
hopes. She had wounded her foot, and could not fol
low the other women to labor in the corn-harvest. The
' St. Paul to the Eomans, \iii. 38.

198 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
missionary chose the opportunity, offered by the ab
sence of the majority, to visit those who remained in
the vUlage; and to him the girl opened her heart,
and set forth with touching simplicity her love for the
" Prayer," and her long and ardent yearning for bap
tism. This sacrament, however, he dared not lightly
confer. He gave the whole winter to her instruction
and to close inquiry about her character. She came
forth from the trial white and pure as the blossom of
the thorn. Of aU that knew her, no one could say
aught but in her praise. Even when they blamed her
for what they considered defects, the Christian priest
knew these to be 'virtues. So at length, upon the
Feast of Easter, 1676, she received the seal of regen
eration and the name of Catherine. Ah ! then how
her saintly soul unfolded, petal after petal, virtue after
virtue, tiU she stood before the dear heavenly Mother
Mary, whom she tenderly loved, a white rose of purity
and all goodness.
But her trials came with her graces. The time she
took'^for her beads, which she said twice a day, for her
attendance at the chapel, for her various devotions,
was made a reason of blame and rebuke. The girls of
her own age, angered by self-reproach, mocked and
insulted her ; the children were taught to pelt her with
earth and stones, and to shout " Christian !" derisively
as they passed. One day a fierce young warrior dashed
into the cabin and swung his axe above her head ; but,
without looking up, she crossed her hands upon her
breast and awaited the blow. The brave was abashed,

St. IGNATIUS OB' LOYOLA,
FOCSDER OF THE .SOCIETY OF JESUS.

IN North America. 199
and rethed. Then her relatives returned to their at
tempts at her marriage, and omitted no effort to shake
her resolution, but in vain. Even the calumny which
is hardest for a woman to bear, faUed to destroy the
sweet patience with which she bore their persecutions.
But she had heard of La Prairie. Yearly a few con
verted Iroquois would bid adieu to the graves of their
fathers and go thither for peace in reUgion. And as
the love of Christ grew daily greater in her heart, she
sighed for the free exercise of her worship, the enjoy
ment of he" faith.
At last a half-sister of hers, a Christian, at La
Prairie, opened communication with her and urged her
flight. Father de Lamber'vdUe approved of it, and at
length it was concerted. The husband of he;.- sister
and a Christian Indian from Loretto, in the absence
of her uncle, managed the escape ; but the old chief
heard it, and, charging his gun with three baUs, he
pursued them. They hid her in a thicket, and sat
down by the road-side as weary men taking repose.
When he saw theni alone, he was ashamed of having
suspected them, and, without telling his uneasiness,
went back to his to'wn. Then the flight was renewed,
and Catherine, with her friends, arrived in safety at
La Prairie. There, then, she saw with rapture a settle
ment entirely Christian ; and what Christians ! They
were lUte those of the first century, Uving in the fervor
of fresh faith in the presence of ever-impending death.
For the leaves of each forest they entered were Ukely
to conceal the war-paint of the Mohawk ; from behind

200 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
each rock on the road-side might twang the Cayuga
bow-string. The young girl vowed herself entirely unto God, and
from that moment seemed to have no tie on earth ex
cept that of labor for others. At the four o'clock Mass
she entered the chapel, nor left it again tiU after the
community Mass, two hours and a half later. Often
in the day she interrupted her work to 'visit the Most
Holy Sacrament ; and in the sacred shadow of the
image of Our Lady, she passed whole hours absorbed
in prayer. Every week she summed up her daily self-
examinations, and approached the tribunal of penance.
The least defect in her conduct caused her fioods of
tears. "Oh, how can I be wicked," she would say,
" and pffend my God who has so loved me !" So
serenely beautiful, so recollected and devout was she
at each communion, that the others used to say they
could make their preparation better if they knelt where
they could see Catherine. Her spirit of mortification
was intense ; she used scourges and iron chains, and
mingled ashes with her simple and scanty food ; she
would remain on her knees, in midwinter, in chapel,
untu directed to retire by the pitying priest ; she slept
upon a hard bed strewed with thorns, until her morti
fications, becoming known to her director, were mod
erated by his command.
She visited the Ursulines at Montreal, and falling in
love with their consecrated life, asked and obtained
permission from her confessor to render her ever-
cherished purpose of living a virgin for Christ's sake

IN North America. 201
irrevocable by a vow. This was done on the Feast of
the Annunciation of Our Blessed Mother. "A mo
ment after Our Lord had been given her in the holy
communion, she pronounced, with wondrous fervor,
the vow of perpetual virginity. Then she besought the
holy Virgin, to whom she always had the tenderest
devotion, to present to her divine Son the self-oblation
which she made ; and then passed several hours at the
foot of the altar in perfect union with God." '
From this time she belonged to earth no more, but
longed perpetuaUy for the presence of her Eternal
Spouse in heaven, and to be with her Mother, Mary,
Queen of Angels. " She never spoke of Our Lady
but with transport," says her biographer. " She had
learned the Litany of the Blessed Virgin by heart, and
said it every night alone, after the common prayer of
the family was ended. She was never without her
rosary, which she said many times a day. On Satur
days, and other periods consecrated to the Virgin, she
redoubled her austerities, and passed the day in the
practice of some one virtue of Our Lady, augmenting
her fervor on all St. Mary's feasts.'"' But the sUght
frame was wearing fast away ; the eager soul must
soon be unchained, and, Uke the dove of the royal
poet, "fly away and be at rest."'
As the spring drew on, she prepared to pass away
when the glory of the forest foliage and flowers was
» Father Cholenec's Letter. — OhMix dea Lettres Edifiantes, torn,
vii. 447.
» Ibid., p. 453. ' Psahn, liv. 7.
9*

202 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
just dawning on the land. The men were aU away at
the chase ; the women absent the entire day, planting
the golden corn ; and Catherine lay there, in the deso
late cabin, alone, -with a plate of crushed maize and a
cup of water by her pillow, from morn tUl the stars
had risen. Pain, of the acutest and most ceaseless
nature, racked her worn, deUcate frame ; but it never
forced a murmur from her — never drove the sweet,
tranquU smile from her lips and large, dark Indian
eyes. The week of the Lord's drear Passion had
come ; she was to keep Palm Sunday and Holy Mon
day on earth, but her glad, eternal Easter with St.
Mary in heaven. The holy Viaticum was administered
on Tuesday. Father Cholenec would have anointed
her then, but she told him she was not yet dying ; and
she passed that night in fervent communion with our
Lord and his dear Mother. "But on Wednesday,"
says the good father, " she received the last unction
with her usual piety ; and at three o'clock in the day,
having uttered the holy names of Jesus and of Mary,
she passed into her agony." In half an hour, without
struggle or consciousness, she was asleep in Jesus.
They did not pray for her when she had gone, but
to her ; and many a cure and many a grace were ob
tained by her intercession. The holy bishop, Mont
morency de Laval, as he knelt by her grave, called her
the Gene'vieve of New France ; they planted a taU
cross above her ashes, where it stUl stands, and there
did American Catholics, natives by a hundred descents,
Lneel and pray to a native American saint, nearly two

IN North America. 203
hundred years before Satan invented Native American
politics, for the persecution of those who say the
prayers and worship the God of Catherine Tegah
kouita. Thus did the devotion to Mary take root in North
America; fiUing human hearts -with sanctity, repeo-
pUng heaven, and making new intercessors for a sinful
world. The State of New York had been taken pos
session of in the names of Jesus and Mary ; its lands
had been consecrated to the Immaculate Conception ;
its children taught to say the Ave Maria or chant the
Regina Coeli. In thirty-seven years the fierce Indians
of the Five Nations had learned to come in crowds to
the New Loretto, and pray at the feet of Our Lady of
Foie. St. Mary's Church was buUt in Onondaga.
Another stUl, St. Mary's of the Mohawks, soon occu
pied the very spot where Father Jogues was slain.
The picture of her pure, sweet face adorned the chapel
altar at Cayuga ; the Mission House of the Immacu
late Conception stood in the midst of the Senecas ; a
statue of the Virgin Mother was erected in Oneida,
and the SodaUty of the Holy FamUy won scores of
that people to its banner. The noble MohaAvk women
wore their beads with firm devotion, though the
burghers of Albany threatened them for displaying
their "popish trumpery" in the streets. One, stung
past all patience by the taunts of the boors, went into
their temple and said her rosary aloud.' The brave
' Shea's Indian Missions, p. 368.

204 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and wise Garacontie was driven from that temple for
kneeling upon its floor to recite his chaplet. " What !"
he said, " are you Christians, and wiU not let men
pray?" It was the aged Mohawk, Assendase, whose
beads were torn from his neck, while the raised toma
hawk threatened his head, white with eighty years.
"Strike!" said the old chieftain, "for this cause I
shall be glad to die." One woman drove her husband
from the lodge because he had destroyed her chaplet ;
but, learning that she had done wrong, recalled him,
and so won him by her gentleness that he forsook his
paganism. And another, mocked by the Dutch for
her beads and her medal of St. Mary, said to them
with quiet scorn, "You pretend to worship Jesus, yet
wish me not to honor his Mother !"
Such, nearly two hundred years ago, was the devo
tion to the Virgin Mother of God in New York.

IN North America. 205

CHAPTEE X.
Our Ladt off Loretto or thb Hdhoih.
One fair September day, rather more than two cen
turies ago, a young man, a novice, sat in the garden of
the Jesuits in Eome, reading the narrative of Father
John de Breboeuf. Two points, he teUs us,' especiaUy
riveted his attention. First, that in the land described
there was no wheaten bread, no wine, nor any of the
luxuries that sweeten European Ufe, but there was
abundance of suffering. And second, that to instruct
and convert the barbarous tribes of America, there was
more need of humUity, and patience, and charity, and
zeal for souls, than of great wit or very great learning.
Then it struck the young man that such a home and
such a Ufe were precisely what was best for him ; for he
had a very decided calling to the life of a missionary.
His name was Joseph Mary Chaumonot.
For the sinless Mother and pure foster-father of the
Eedeemer he had always had a vi"dd devotion, even in
the early part of his life, which had furnished him 'with
abundant material for penance. So he turned to them
1 " La Vie du E. P. Pierre Joseph Marie Chaumonot, de la Com
pagnie de Jesus, ecrite par luimeme par ordre de son Superieur I'an
1G68." Another of Shea's unappreciated gifts to American Catholic
history.

206 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
to get him aU the permissions that were needed to quii
his studies, to be ordained, to leave Eome in time for
the next missionary ship, and above aU, to make, on
foot and begging his bread, a pilgrimage to the holy
shrine of Loretto, there to offer himself to her who in
that house had given birth to God the Son. For he
had made a vow to seek in all things the greater glory
of God, under the especial protection of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. So, in October, he started upon his
pUgrimage. The very first day something Uke the
white swelling appeared in his knee ; but in spite of the
extreme pain, growing daUy worse by exercise, he for
eight days marched on with heroic fortitude ; then by
the intercession of a holy person at St. Severino, during
the Mass of his companion, Father Poucet, he was
healed. They arrived in Loretto, and the vow was
solemnly pronounced before the shrine, with this ad
ditional one : that, if it were possible, he would some
day build in Canada a house upon the model of the
sacred one wherein he was then praying.
We know that he fulfilled the second part of his vow
at the Mission of the Indians of Loretto. During four
teen years he was chaplain there ; during forty-nine
years he was Huron missionary. And in the duties of
this post he sought to accompUsh the first obligation.
He and the Ursulines and the Hospital Sisters reached
Quebec together in 1639. Two days after his arrival he
set out in a canoe for Lake Huron. His early instruc
tors were Lallemont, Daniel, and Breboeuf, the latter of
whom had first made known to him his vocation, and

IN North America. 207
whose Indian name, Hechon, he inherited when Bre
boeuf went to heaven by the bitter path of Iroquois
torture. From that moment he was a Huron. He
never left them, except for a journey to Montreal or
Quebec on their business, except once to aid the Onon
daga mission, untU his superiors called him away in
his last iUness. He remained with them throughout
their desperate and fatal struggle with the Five Nations,
and did not forsake them in their ruin, but led the
chief remnant of the tribe first to the Isle of Orleans,
under the protection of Quebec, and, afterwards, to the
new Loretto.
It was he, we know, who expressed the unuttered
wish of OUer's heart, and with Marguerite Bourgeoys,
Judith de Bressole, Superior of the hospital, the Sulpi
cian Father Souart, and Madame Barbe de Boulogne
d'AiUebout, founded the Devotion of the Holy Family.
While his Hurons were stiU in the city, he was ap
pointed chaplain of De Tracey's newly arrived troops.
He and his new charge felt some mutual distra:t at
first, but when the soldiers saw that he was never iale,
that he was in almost constant prayer, that he spoke
with them only of what concerned their souls, that he
waited on their sick, saved them by his intercession
from iU-treatment, and thought nothing of himself,
they grew to love him. Soon he had them all at a
short night prayer, then saying a chaplet every night
in honor of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and by and by
enroUed among the devotees of the Holy Family
Nay, one of them, a captain, became a priest

208 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
pastor of Port Eoyal, in Acadia ; another became a lay
brother in the Company of Jesus.
The next of his works was the founding of Our Lady
of Foie, a shrine immediately sought by the devotion
not only of the red-men of the parish, but of the French
from the neighboring city. The writers of the day
record several miracles of mercy wrought through the
intercession of St. Mary, and the Uttle chapel was en
riched with gifts fi'om Canada, and even from Europe.
The Indians, in gratitude for the statue bestowed, had
sent to Our Lady of Dinan a wampum belt, the first
which reached Europe in this way. This one bore, in
black letters on a white field, the legend, Beata qua
credidisti — "Blessed art thou who hast believed" — the
words of St. EUzabeth to Our Lady when first she was
saluted as Mother of the Lord.' A second, dispatched
to Loretto, bore the inscription, Ave Maria Gratia. It
was received with aU honor, and, richly encased, was
hung up in the Santa Casa at Loretto. " The canons
received it with aU hd'nor," writes the pious Chau
monot, " and I doubt not that the Blessed Virgin gave
it a stUl kinder reception, since, a few years ago, she
procured me both the opportunity and the means of
building a new Loretto in the forests of New France."
Ah ! Mother of Grace," he continues, " why can I not
daily render thee a mUUon acts of thanksgiving ? above
aU, when I have the happiness to celebrate the holy
Mass. Were it permitted me here to set forth aU tha
' St. Luke, i. 45. * Vie de Pere Chaumonot, p. 91.

IN North America. 209
wretchedness, even spiritual, from which thy pity has
rescued me, others would be excited to thank thee for
me, and to have recourse to thee with confidence."
^Tien his purpose was known, the means soon fol
lowed — land and labor, money from Canada, and silver
lamps and rich vestments from France. It was com
menced in January, 1674, and finished and blessed the
same year in November. The ceremony drew vast
crowds of French and Indians together. The Hurons
and the Christian Iroquois, of whom, by this time,
there were many in the Eeduction, bore the image of
Our Lady, a copy of that in the Italian Loretto, in
solemn procession ; the Superior of the Jesuits chanted
the solemn High Mass and preached ; and aU hearts
saluted with fervent devotion St. Mary of the Huroi.s.
The shrine may stUl be seen, with some modern addi
tions, but substantially the same. It stands upon an
elevated point between two gorges. One of these is
thickly covered with vegetation ; but down the other,
over rock and gnarled roots, rushes the foaming
river. On aU the heights, and on the sides of the first
deep glen, stand the houses of the habitans ; beyond
these rises the remnant of the aboriginal forests, and
the blue, wavy outline of the distant mountains forms
the background of the picture. It is now called the
"Ancienne Lorette ; Church of the Annunciation of Our
Lady."^ Many a favor, obtained by Mary's intercession,
'See engraving in Oi'sini's Life B. V. M.
o

210 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
made grateful hearts in this Eeduction ; many a mir
acle aided the celebrity of the shrine, which was now
the only shelter of a once flourishing tribe. Let us
give one story here of Mary's pity, on the authority of
Father Chaumonot. He says it would require a large
volume to record them aU ; of this one he was an eye-
'witness ; his legend runs thus :
Mary Ouendraca was a Huron woman and a fervent
Christian. Her husband, Itaenhohi, and two of her
children — one five and one fifteen years old — had died
in the bosom of the Church, and slept in the grave
yard of Our Lady of Foie. Some years after the re
moval to Loretto, this good Mary was smitten by one
of the terrible typhoid fevers which used to desolate
the Indian 'viUages in those days ; something analo
gous to the camp-fevers which we hear of now. So
completely reduced was she that her whole body was
powerless, as if paralyzed; the last sacraments had
been given her, and her decease was momently ex
pected. Should she die, she must leave behind her
her remaining children, John and Teresa. So, when
human help had ceased to be of use. Father Chau
monot called the children — ^Teresa, a married woman,
and John, a boy of fourteen — to him, and the three
united in a vow to the Blessed Virgin, that if she would
be pleased to obtain from the Master of Life the re
covery of the mother, they would say in her church
nine chaplets of the Holy Family in thanksgiving for
the favor. When they made this promise, the priest
went away to the chapel to pray for the dying woman,

IN North America. 211
In a few moments Teresa came to say that her
mother asked for Hechon. He arose and hurried to
the cabin, recalling as he went the prayers for a de
parting soul. As he entered the lodge, its mistress
rose and received him with profound reverence, a la
Frangaise, he teUs us. He thought this effort the last
that nature would make — the flickering of the Ught
before it should expire forever. He urged her to Ue
do'wn at once upon the poor mat which served her
for a bed ; but she said she would be as weU seated.
He again urged her, but she answered gravely, she
was perfectly weU. StUl the good Father fancied this
a dream of mere deUrium, which, when she had ob
served, she sent her chUdren from the lodge and told
the priest as foUows : That, soon after he had gone
out, two persons entered the lodge and took their
places by her mat, one at the side, the other, a little
boy, at the foot. The one at the side seemed a young
woman or fuU-gro'wn girl, and said, " My mother, if
you wiU touch the edge of my robe, you wiU be healed."
But Mary Ouendraca could not believe that any one
from heaven would condescend to visit one so lowly as
herself ; and as mortals would not have appeared like
these, she fancied them demons come to trouble her
last hour, and she prayed to be rescued from them.
But the young girl, with a sweet, heavenly smile,
brushed the edge of her robe across the sick woman's
face, and said, " There, mother, you are cured." And
then they disappeared. Then Mary tried to move,
and confidence began to steal into her heart as she

212 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
found herself mistress of her strength. She rose and
walked to the door, tried aU her Umbs, and sent her
trembling daughter for Chaumonot ; for the boy had
fled from her as from a spectre. Then the good priest
understood that the gracious Queen of Heaven had
heard their prayers, and had sent to her lowly Huron
namesake her own children, 'with the boon of health.
There were no degrees in the recovery, Mary Ouen
draca walked at once to the church, there to offer her
thanksgiving, perfectly restored.
So many and so marked indeed were the favors ob
tained through the intercession of the Mother of God,
that the poor Indians were always regretting their
lowliness and poverty, because they had no means of
honoring her as they desired. Nevertheless, they de
termined to do what they could. They had sent a
wampum-belt to Foie and to Loretto ; they must send
another, ad, Virginem parituram, to Our Lady of Char
tres ; for the Mission of Loretto, as weU as that of the
Abrakis, had been united, by a " union of intention in
prayer," to the grand cathedral in France. So they
made as fine a belt as they could of black and white
wampum, and they -wrought the edges in the finest
quill-work, of the richest dyes, and the legend was,
" Virgini Parituh^ Votum Huronum," and they sent it
with this letter :'
" It fills our hearts with joy, O Holy Virgin, that
' Those who are curious in these matters may see ;he original
Huron letters in John Gilmary Shea's exquisite edition of Father
Ciaaumonot's Autobiography.

IN North America. 213
even before your birth, the city of Chartres built to
your honor a shrine with this dedication, 'To the
Virgin who shall bear a child.' Happy are they who
have won the glory of being your earliest servants.
Alas! incomparable Mother of God, it is quite other
wise with us poor Hurons ; we have the sorrow to
have been the last to know you and to honor you. But
we would do what Ues in our power to make up for all
past neglect of your service by fervent devotion now.
This we desire to do, joining ourselves to your chU
dren at Chartres, so that we may have but one mind,
one mouth, one heart with them, to render you praise
and service and love. We beseech them to offer for us,
and in our name, aU the honors which they have ever
paid to you. It shaU be they, for we hope they will
not refuse us, who shall win your bounty for us ; their
fervor compensating for our sluggishness, their know
ledge for our ignorance, their riches for our penury.
"And, Holy Virgin, although your holy child has
been born into the world, we wiU still honor you under
that title of Virgo Paritura, so that you may deign to
accept us also as your children. As we honor you
here in a house modeUed upon that wherein you gave
a human life to God, we hope that you wiU obtain a
spUitual Ufe for us ; so shall you be, O ever Virgin, our
regeneratrix until Jesus be born anew in our hearts.
This is what we ask of you, sending this wampum in
testimony that we are bound to your service." '

'Voeux des Hurons et des Abnaquis, p. 1.

214 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
The chapter of Chartres placed the Huron belt
among the treasures of their glorious cathedral, and
were very kind to their poor Indian brethren on the
banks of the St. Lawrence. They sent them, among
other things, a very handsome, weU-fiUed reUquary.
It was of massive silver, richly chased ; upon one side
bearing in high reUef the kneeling figure of Our
Blessed Lady, and of the Angel who brings the An
nunciation, who with one hand extends the lUy of
purity, and with the other points to the eternal Dove,
hovering, white-winged, in the upper glory. On the
other side you see the hollow oak wherein, on a low
altar, sits the Yirgin with the Holy Child in her arms.
On the base of the altar is a legend, Virgini Pariturm.'
This was received with great gratitude, and on the
feast of AU Saints, 1680, it was exhibited for the ven
eration of the faithful. Sermons were preached in
French and Huron ; the reUquary was incensed and
placed within the niche prepared for it; and Our
Lady was thanked for this, as for other favors, by the
mingled voices of French and Indians chanting the
Ave Maris Stella.
The daUy life at Loretto was more like that of a re
Ugious community than of a vUlage of poor Indians
who depended upon the chase for their support.
Morning prayer, Mass, and general examination in
' N')tice sur un Eeliquaire donne en 1680 aux Hurons de Lorette
en la Nouvelle Prance par le Chapitre de I'eglise de Chartres, par M.
Doublet de Boisthibault. Extrait de la Eevue Archeologique, XV'.
annee. Paris, A. Leleux, 1858. .

IN North America. 215
the chapel occupied the leisure of the forenoon ; cate
chism and instruction of tliose who could attend, with
'visit to the Blessed Sacrament, sanctified the after
noon ; and when the sun was setting, the sound of the
beU caUed the canoe to the shore, and bade the loiter
ing hunter hasten from the forest to end the day with
prayer. Then, when aU were gathered, they sang
vespers on feast-days, and other prayers on ferise.
They sang in alternate choirs, in Indian and in Latin,
their evening devotions. There was a short examina
tion of conscience, the beads of the Blessed Yirgin or
of the Holy Family, the Pater, Ave, Credo, Confiteor,
the Commandments, and other prayers for the Uving
and the dead, an anthem to the most pure Mother, and
the Angelus. Thus closed the day, and then the stars
reigned in heaven ; or, if the clouds made the mid
night more profound, the Indian chUdren of Mary
slept in secure humUity beneath the shadow of her
shrine in the Loretto of the forest.
Missionary to the Hurons for more than fifty years,
the hour for Father Chaumonot's rest must be at hand.
There are successors, capable men, for the mission.
Part of his daily duty was to teach the Huron lan
guage for at least half an hour,' but at length the
superior thought him too much worn for further labor,
and recaUed him to the tranquiUity of the coUege, in
1692. What else we know of him is not from hia

' His Huron grammar was the basis of all other Northern Indian
grammars, and the text-book of the missionary.

216 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
autobiography, 'written in obedience and for humility,
but is from the work of a contemporary Father who
knew him and watched his decUning years, as he
passed from holy Ufe to hoUer, in the college of Our
Lady of Angels. He had passed the Umit usuaUy
aUotted to man, the threescore years and ten. In
1689, on the Feast of St. Joachim, the second day of
the Octave of Our Lady's Assumption (Aug. 15), he
chanted, in the cathedral of Quebec, his "Mass of
fifty years." Half a century had he been priest, and
had broken the Bread of Life to " the souls that hun
gered in the wilderness." FaUing sick at last, the old
man was summoned from his mission, but as soon as
he had somewhat recovered, he craved permission to
return. They put him off until the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception, and from that until Epiphany,
and then they needed no more excuses. His rapidly
breaking system told him that Loretto and he were
parted forever. So he prepared himself by ceaseless
prayer and meditation, and offering up of his suffer
ings, from acute gravel, to his crucified Lord ; and on
the morning of the nineteenth of January, he took
leave of the world without a moan, entering the new
Ufe with the words, "Jesus, Mary, Joseph!" on his
lips. We conclude this chapter with the promised Note,
on the especial patroness of our early Indian missions,
Our Lady of Chartres.
Note. — " L'anciennete, la devotion et la service de I'eglise cath^
drale de Nostre Dame de Chartres I'ont rendue sainte et venerable i

IN North America 217
tons les Chrestiens . . . C'est ce qui a mou la piete des roys noa
predrcesseurs, la dotter de plusieurs fonds et domaines, favours et
privelt'ges, et par leur charites, liberalites, magnificence royalle, la
restablir et la reedifier des le temps de S. Fulbert qui en estoit evesqu*
en I'estat qu'eUe se void a present."
So speaks the Most Christian King Louis the Thirteenth when
founding in this famous cathedral, in 1638, a perpetual requiem Mass
for the soul of his father Henri Quatre. " The antiquity, devotion,
and service of the cathedral church of Our Lady of Chartres have
rendered it holy and venerable to all Christians. This it is which has
moved the kings our predecessors to endow it with many foundations,
domaines, favors, and privileges, and by their charities, liberalities,
and royal magnificence to re-establish and re-edify it from the days of
St. Fulbert, who was its bishop, in the condition that we see it in
to-day." ' For Chai'ties yields to no quarter of the earth in devotion
to the Mother of God. In the diocese whereof this venerable shrine
is cathedral, nine stately abbeys and forty-five parish churches are
dedicated by name to the Blessed Virgin, and her veneration traces
back, by reverent tradition, beyond the date of Christianity itself.
There is nothing requiring a very unusual stretch of faith or credulity
in the tradition. The argument is briefly this : That all peoples' had
a, tradition of a virgin who should l)ear a, child, the Saviour of the
world ; that the Druids in Gaul were the learned of the day, the
holders of all religious tradition as well as its ministers, and that
Chartres was the headquarters of Druidism.' Such is the argument
for its probability, and the legend is as foUows :
The cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres stands upon a hUl once
covered with the sacred oak-grove wherein the Diuids worshipped
their god Teutates.'' In the centre of the wood was a cavern or vast
grotto, where the sanlight scarcely penetrated, and where the sombre
mysteries of the Druidic idolatry were celebrated. There, says the

' Lettres patentes de Louis XIII., apud Boisthibault, p. 59.
^ For a remarkable instance among the American Indians, see this
work, p. 44, Orsini's Life B. V. M., chap. 1, and I'Abbe Henrion's
Notre Dame de France, pp. 184-193.
2 Hi (Druides) certo anni tempore in finibus Oarnutum, qnsp regie,
totius Gallia? media habitur, considunt in loco consecrate. — C^sMi de
Bel. Gal, iv. 13, 14.
* Tacitus, Qermania. »10

218 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
legend, one hundred years before the Saviour's birth, did Priscus,
king of Chartres, gather his warriors, bards, orators, and priests, to
see erected, by command of the Druidic college, an altar, bearing tha
Image of a "Woman with a Cluld in her arms, and the inscription,
" To THE VlKQIN WHO SHALL BRING FOKTH A CHILD." ViKGINI
PAMT (iR.a;. The altar was set up, and Priscus the king solemnly
consecrated himself, his land, and his people forever to her who should
bear the "Desire of all Nations." "When, then, the first heralds of
the truth. SS. Potentianus, Altinus, and Sabinianus arrived in this
country and announced that She, so honored there, had come, and had
born " Emanuel, God with us," the hearts of the Carnutes, long pre
pared, received the message gladly. A rude church was buUt within
the grotto, the very image sculptured by pagan fingers was blessed,
and the land became Mary's, to the greater glory of her eternal Son.
"When Constantine gave peace to the Church, and the empire of
the Caesars became Christendom, the grove was cut down, and a
church, still modest and poor, was erected upon the summit of the
hill. Hither the early Gallic Christians flocked, and here Our Blessed
Lady was pleased to manifest her maternal love for the unfortunate
human brethren of her Son. The crowds of worshippers gradually
augmented, and various structures succeeded to the primitive build
ings as the necessity of the times required. At length, in 1020, the
Bishop, Fulbert, aided by the devout largesse of Eobert of France,
Knut the Great, of Denmark and England, Richard of Normandy,
William of Aquitaine, Eudes of Chartres, and other sovereign princes,
laid the magnificent foundations of the actual cathedral, and finished
vaulting the grotto which thus became the crypt of the church.
In the crypt-church, which is known as Our Lady's Under Ground,
is preserved the antique statue, in a niche over the altar. The image
was of wood, the original color long since destroyed by the smoke of
wax-lights and its great age. The Virgin was represented as seated
in a chair and holding upon her knees her Divine Son, who holds the
globe of the earth iu His left hand, and with His right bestows the
benediction. The Blessed Virgin is crowned. And there rested the
statue where the hands of the Druids had placed it, until the progres
sive republicanism of 1794 overthrew the shrine, tore the image from
its niche, heaped outrage and insult upon it, and then burned it pub
licly at the door of the noble temple which piety had raised iu its
honor. That which is now seen in the cathedral is only a copy of the
antique image, so consistently destroyed by our modern political and

IN North America. 219
Bocial reformers. Besides this, however, the church was enriched
¦with other treasures, which happily escaped the rage of the Revolu
tion. There was a statue called Our Lady of the PiUar; long a
vehicle of Mary's graces to her children. The stone pedestal on
which it stands has been worn hollow by the kisses of the devout,
and the legend on the base is, Tota pulchra es arnica mea et macula
non est in^te — "Thou art all fair, my beloved, there is no spot in
thee." There is also, since the year 870, an Oriental veil, such as is still
Worn in the East, and which is said to have been Our Lady's. It was
given to the church by Charles the Bald ; it has received the venera
tion of all centuries since then, even of our own ; and in 1855, the
eloquence of the great Bishop of Poitiers chose it for one theme of
his discourse, when the statue of Notre Dame was solemnly crowned
in that year. Many another sacred treasure does this grand old tem
ple possess, and simple and poor, yet honored among them, you may
BtiU see the wampum belts of the Abenaki of La Prairie and the
Huron of Loretto.'
' Vide " Notre Dame de France ou I'histoire du culte de la Sainte
Vierge en Prance depuis I'origine du Christianisme jusqu' a nos jours.
Province ecclesiastique de Paris, par M. le Cure de Saint-Sulpice."—
Voeijuc des Hurons, etc., etc.

220 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE XI.
Odb LAiir's Assumption of a. d. 1790, and what came of it — A Mis
sionary Pbinoe.
Destined to temper, if possible, the absolute free
dom of the one, and to serve as a refuge from the hor
rors of the other, the Church in the United States
appears serenely between the American and the French
revolutions. The first name in the hierarchy of this
repubUc is a name from the Declaration of Indepen
dence : the first clergy under the jurisdiction of Car
roU are those whom fetterless tiger passions drive from
old Catholic France. Dubois, Flaget, Da'vid, Badin,
Dubourg, Marechal Cheverus, Richard, Salmon, and
their companions, lay the foundations of this country's
true indebtedness to the land of St. Louis. Of these,
Stephen Badin' is to be the first priest ordained in
America ; six others are to be bishops, one afterwards a
cardinal ;' Abbe Salmon is to die of cold and wounds,
in the snow ; Garnier shaU see his plaisant pays de
France again, and end his labors as superior-general of
St. Sulpice ; Cheverus, a Prince of the Church, and Du
bourg die members of the restored hierarchy in their
native land ; and the others are to find the place of
' Stephen Badin, ordained at Baltimore, 1793.
' John Lefevre Cheverus, Bishop of Boston, 1810 ; of Montauban,
1818 ; Archbishop of Bordeaux, 1826 ; Cardinal, 1836.

IN North America. 221
their rest in the land which their toUs have conse
crated. So that France, the pioneer of Christianity, heir of
the Spaniard in Louisiana, and sacred conqueror of
Canada, sends the first company of soldiers of Mary
to reduce to the submission of God the centre of this
vast northern continent.
Nevertheless, it is in England that this act of the
sacred drama opens. In the centre of a well-watered
VaUey, running downward through Dorsetshire to the
Channel, stands the antique castle of Lulworth, a
gothic pile of four round towers united by massive
battlemented curtains. This was the home, first of
the Norman de LoUeworths ; in King John's days, of
the princely Newburghs ; then of the Bindon Howards ;
lastly of the Welds, sprung from Edrio the Wild. For
these a home, for others a temporary refuge. For
here the austere monks of Our Lady of La Trappe
found a shelter when driven from their mountain for
ests by the mercUess saiis culottes; and later, by another
effort after universal equality, the old walls became
the abode of the royal house of France, before they
moved to that castle of sadder and darker history, the
Scottish Holyrood.'
It was the scene of many a hard fight in olden days,
as when de Clare stormed it for the Empress MatUda ;
but none of its memories can interest us so much as
that of the midsummer morning which gave their first
' Sir Bernard Burke's " Landed Gentry," Article, Weld.

222 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
bishop to the United States. The day was not un
happily chosen. For the discovery and consecration
of the land from Maine to Florida, from the Chesa
peake to California, by the servants of Mary, and the
solemn dedication of it to her name, may be likened
to her Nativity. The growth of the French and Span
ish churches is her beautiful youth. Then come the
dark times of Puritanic conquest, the destruction of
the Catholic missions, and the disappearance of the
Catholic Indians, as the dark time of her sorrows from
the FUght into Egypt until the Crucifixion. And
now the new rising of the Church is visible meetly
on the Feast of her Assumption, when she went up
into the presence of the King her Son, and "the
King rose up to do her reverence, and they set a
throne for the King's Mother, and she sate at his right
hand." '
So that from that Feast of Our Blessed Lady's As
sumption in the castle chapel of old Lulworth, unto
that which has been celebrated this year throughout
the length and breadth of North America, the devotion
to Mary has grown steadily ; and now there is scarcely
a county without a church to her name ; scarcely a
square mUe from the Gulf to the Arctic Ocean wherein
that name has not at least been proclaimed. In that
short space of a single human Ufe, seventy-two years,
^ Lib. iii.. Begum: Venit ergo Bethsabee ad Regem Salomonem ;
et surrexit rex in occursum ej us : adoraidtque eam, et sedit super
t'hronum suum ; positusque est thronus matri regis quae sedit ad dex-
teram regis.

IN North America. 223
" the least has become a thousand, and the Uttle one
a most strong nation." '
The holy de Montfort," if we remember rightly, ap
pUes to Our Lady those words of the Song of Songs :
" As the apple-trees among the trees of the wood, so
is my beloved among the children of men ;" ' and says
that she shaU come to unite in herself almost all the
veneration paid by man to saints ; or at least shall be
acknowledged as supereminently worthy of it in every
part of Christendom. And we seem to see the fulfil
ment of this declaration in North America. In Europe,
every to mi and 'V'illage has its own patron, who ab
sorbs most of the devotion of the people ; but in this
country, placed under her especial protection by Span
iard and Frenchman, by emigrant Englishman, and
American in the fresh flush of new independence,
nearly the whole devotion of the people concentrates
in her; or turns, for her sake, to Saint Anne among
the Canadians,* or to Saint Joseph among the faithful
in the United States.
What antique Catholic land, even Spain or Ireland,
can show what this country shows, even by the ex-

' Isaias, Ix. 23.
' See Dr. Neligan's " Saintly Characters." — Kirker : New York.
' Sicut malus inter Ugna silvarum, sic dUectus meus inter fiUos.—
Cant. ii. 3.
" Tho voyager gives as reverential reason for his great devotion to
St. Anne, that Our Lady is too lofty and great for his unworthiness
to address directly ; and so as other Catholics plead through the ma
ternity of Mary to the Heart of Jesus, the Canadian implores the ma
ternity of St. Anne to intercede with the Heart of Mary.

224 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart
tremely imperfect record of the almanac, one church in
every five bearing the beautiful and enduring name of
the Mother of Our Lord and of us ? What territory,
of one-tenth the vastness, has ever been placed by
four independent and unintercommunicating powers
under her peculiar patronage and protection ? Then,
with this for the divinely ordered starting-point, let us
look to see whether the other means, the zeal of the
ministry, has been commensurate, in its degree of
course, with the clear grace bestowed by our eternal
Father. We adopted as principles,' at the outset of
this work, that a devotion advances in proportion to
its own merits and to the ardor of the ministry who
propagate it. The whole of this great book, Orsini's
noble " Life," and our own humble continuation, is an
exhibition of the merits of Mary, and we have seen the
latest Ulustrious historian of America, puritan though
he be, supporting us in our claims for the early pioneer
servants of Mary in the land. Let us begin by stating
what they have done in a single evident way for this
beautiful devotion — as Kenelm Digby would say, the
way of churches.
There are many churches of Our Blessed Lady un
known to this writer. Of seven dioceses in the British
Possessions he has no account ; but with all this, and
with the gi'eat imperfection of such records as he has,
he stiU can give the foUowing Ust of Mary's shrines in
North America. ' See pages 9, 10.

IN North America. 225
There are (1862) nine dedications to Mary Help of
Christians, nine to Mary Star of the Sea, two to Mary
Eefuge of Sinners, seven to the Sacred Heart of Mary.
There are sometimes only one, sometimes as many as
four, to Our Lady of the Port, of the Isle, of the Cata
ract, of the Gulf, of the Eiver, of the Eocks, columba in
foraminibus petrce,' Our Lady of the Portage, of the
Snows, of the Woods, of the Lake, of the Desert.
There is Our Lady of La Salette, of Belen, of Levis,
and nine of Guadalupe. Again, we have Our Lady
of Light, of Grace, of Good Help, of Eefuge, of Good
Hope, of Prompt Succor. There are four to Our Lady
of Victories, three to Our Lady of Consolation, five to
Oiu- Lady of Loretto, seven to Our Lady of Angels,
nine of the Eosary, seven of the Good Shepherd, six
teen of Our Lady of Mercy, twenty-one of Sorrows,
twenty-two of Carmel, thirty-one to " Our Lady,"
simply. There are three churches of the Mother of God, five
of the Purification, eleven of the Nativity fourteen of
the Annunciation, sixteen of the Visitation, fifty of the
Assumption, one hundred and forty-five of the Im
maculate Conception, and three hundred and sixty-
seven which are simply called Saint Mary's.
In aU, there stand in North America, in honor of its
Patroness, more than eight hundred churches.
How this swift growth has come about in so short a
time we are about to look at more in detail. We are
" My dove in the clefts of the rock." — Song of Solomon, ii. 14.
P 10*

226 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
to see the priest and the religious, the energy of man
and the patient labor of woman, under new difficulties
and trials peculiar to their position, extending to the
people who surround them their own earnest devotion
to God and Mary. Coeval with the consecration of
Bishop Carroll, the Daughters of Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel were in Maryland suffering from poverty al
most extreme, fasting eight months in the year, sleep
ing on straw, obtaining a modification of their clois
tered austerity to enable them to become teachers,'
and offering perpetual prayer for the country wherein
they came to dwell.
The Poor Clares followed, but did not continue long;
when they decUned, the Visitation of Our Lady took
their place. Long, long ago among the mountains of
Chamblais, there stood an ancient shrine of the Blessed
Virgin, resorted to by pious pilgrims. Here, graduaUy,
certain hermits gathered, as in Switzerland they clus
tered about the famous Abbey of Einsiedeln, and the
saintly Bishop of Geneva had given them for title,
Hermits of the Visitation. Afterwards, when Saint
Jane Frances de Chantal formed her congregation at
Annecy, in Savoy, St. Francis de Sales caUed them the
Order of the Visitation of Our Lady.' It was their
rule and title which Miss Alice Lalor, by direction of
Bishop Neale, adopted for her new American sister
hood in Georgetown, A. D. 1814; and now between
' De Courcy's History of the Catholic Church in the United States,
p. 83.
' Approved by Pope Urban VIII., 1636.

IN North America. 227
three and four hundred of these daughters of Mary
teach reverence to her name in these States.
Aheady the Sisters of Charity were at Emmittsbttrg
with their venerable foundress, Mother Seton, 1809.
To-day where are they not? Their orphan-asylums
and schools, their hospitals, their barrack near the
battle-field mark their presence. And there are no
longer in this whole vast country, we believe, unless
perhaps in New England, many who do not know and
reverence the dark-robed form as it moves on its er
rand of mercy through the streets. Add to aU these,
the fervent priests, so few at first in number ; the early
bishops, pennUess, sometimes barely clothed, and often
without Ught or fire in winter ; traversing distances
on horseback that we grumble at passing over in the
raUway-train now ; enduring all this cheerfully and
heroicaUy as we shaU soon see. Sum up all these and
we begin already to observe that Devotion to Mary in
Central North America is to rival the Devotion of the
Canadas. Bishop CarroU foimd himself " spiritual governor of
aU the territory then o'wned by the United States, and
his missionaries started from Baltimore for the West
as one would strike out to sea alone in a bark canoe.
For the uncut forest surged around them with its vast
green waves of verdure ; the Indian, rarely friendly,
lurked in its dim recesses; the road was oftenest no
clearer than a hunter's trail or a forsaken deer-path.
They themselves were scholarly men, nurtured in
European habits, necessities, ideas of distance. But

228 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
in the precise spirit of Marquette, Jogues, Breboeuf,
they put their trust in God and went wheresoever He
directed. Borne by them, the Devotion to Our Lady
foUowed the course of the great natural boundaries
of this mighty land. Flowing westward from the bay
which the first missionaries caUed St. Mary's; from
the town which its first settlers called St. Mary's ; this
river of devotion, checked, as might be supposed, by
the chain of mountains, by Alleghany, and Cumber
land, and Blue Eidge, divided into three streams.
One of these streams ran northward, as if to seek the
old weUs of devotion among the red-men and the
French ; and this soon carried on its bosom a saintly
Cheverus to hear through the gloom of the wood the
song Magnificat and the Salva Regina from the lips
of our old friends the ever-faithful Abenaki. A second
ran southward, to visit again, after an interval of two
centuries, the spots where the blood of Jesuit and
Carmelite, of Augustinian and Franciscan, had min
gled to baptize the CaroUnas. And the third foUowed
the course of la belle Riviere, and fiowed with its yel
low waters through the fertile heart of the land, to the
river wherein De Soto had been buried, and to which
Marquette had given its name of Immaculate Concep
tion. In eighteen years, sixty-eight priests and eighty
churches formed too heavy a burden for the venerable
Bishop of Baltimore, and the sees of New York, Bos
ton, Philadelphia, and Bardstown in Kentucky, were
estabUshed. Let us look at a type or two of the men

IN North America. 229
who led these missions. As early as 1795 there was
one Father Smith who was missionary for an enormous
district in Western Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsyl
vania. There, for forty-one years, he toiled in hum
ble faithfulness ; from thence his soul ascended to the
judgment which his Ufe had merited. It wiU not be
uninteresting to consider some points in the life of this
servant of Mary, this glorious, although unrenowned
pioneer of her honor in this country.
This Father Smith, missionary of Hagerstown and
Cumberland in Maryland, of Martinsburg and Win
chester in Virginia, of Chambersburg and the Alle
ghany mountain sweep in Pennsylvania, and thence
southward; of far more, in a word, than what now
constitutes the entire diocese of Pittsburg ; this rival
of Gomez in the south, and of Father Chaumonot in
the north ; this founder of Our Lady of Loretto in the
centre of the continent, was not always known as Father
Smith. In his own country, the vast Muscovite em
pire, then ruled by the Czar Alexander I., he was
known as the Prince Augustine de GaUitzin. His
father, Prince Demetrius GaUitzin, was ambassador of
Catherine the Great to Holland, at the time of the
missionary's birth. His mother, the Princess Amelia,
was daughter of that famous Field-marshal Count von
Schmettau who iUustrates the miUtary annals of Fred
erick the Great.
The young GaUitzin was decorated in his very
cradle with military titles, which destined him from
his birth to the highest posts in the Eussian army.

230 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
High in the favor of the Empress Catherine, his father,
a haughty and ambitious nobleman, dreaming only of
the advancement of his son in the road of preferment
and worldly honor, was resolved to give him an educa
tion worthy of his exalted birth and brUUant prospects.
ReUgion formed no part of the plan of the father, who
was a proficient in the school of GalUc infideUty, and
the friend of Diderot. It was carefuUy excluded.
Special care was taken not to suffer any minister of
religion to approach the study-room of the young
prince. He was surrounded by infidel teachers. His
mother, a CathoUc by birth and early education, was
seduced into seeming Voltairianism by the court fash
ion of her native country, and her marriage with Prince
Demetrius coniirmed her habits of apparent infidelity ;
we say apparent, for she retained, even in the salons
of Paris and in the society of Madame du Chatelet, a
fervent devotion to Saint Aug^ustine, that grand doctor
of the Church who had been a great worldUng and
heretic. After the marriage of the elder GaUitzin with
the Princess AmeUa, he brought her to Paris and in
troduced her to his Uterary infidel friends, especially
to Diderot, in whose company he deUghted. This
philosopher endeavored to win the princess over to his
atheistical system ; but though she was more than in
different ou the subject of reUgion, her naturaUy strong
mind discovered the hoUowness of his reasoning. It
was remarked that she would frequently puzzle the
philosopher by the little interrogative — why ? And as
he could not satisfy her objections, she was determined

in North America. 231
to examine thoroughly the grounds of revelation.
Though having no reUgion herself, she was determined
to instruct her chUdren in one. She opened the Bible
merely for the purpose of teaching her chUdren the
historical part of it. The beauty of revealed truth,
notwithstanding the impediment of indifference and
unbelief, woidd sometimes strike her — her mind being
of that mould which, according to TertuUian, is natu
raUy Christian.
A terrible Ulness eaUed her mind back to God ; she
saw the truth and beauty of the CathoUc faith, and she
returned to the protection of Mary on the Feast of St.
Augustine, in the week foUowing the Octave of Our
Lady's Assumption.
It is to the happy influence and bright example of
his mother, to whom, under God, we must mainly as-
scribe the conversion of the young Demetrius. As the
iUustrious Bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, consoled the
mother of Augustine, when he used to say " that it was
impossible for a son to be lost for whom so many tears were
shed;" so we may beUeve that the pious Furstenberg,
her son's tutor, cheered, in a simUar manner, this good
lady, in her intense soUcitude for a son whom she so
tenderly loved.
At the age of seventeen the young prince was re
ceived into the Church. He was, in the year 1792, ap
pointed aid-de-camp to the Austrian General Von LU-
ien, who commanded an army in Brabant at the open
ing of the first campaign against the French Jacobins.
The sudden death of the Emperor Leopold, and the

232 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
murder of the king of Sweden by Ankerstrom, both
suspected to be the work of the French Jacobins who
had declared war against aU kings and aU religions,
caused the governments of Austria and Prussia to
issue a very strict order disquaUfying aU foreigners
from miUtary offices. In consequence of this order the
young Prince de GaUitzin was excluded. Eusisia not
taking any part in the war against France, there was
no occasion offered to him for pursuing the profession
of arms for which he had been destined by his military
education. It was therefore determined by his parents
that he should travel abroad and make the grand tour.
He was allowed two years to travel ; and lest, in the
mean time, his acquirements, the fruits of a very fin
ished education, might suffer, he was placed under the
guidance of the Eev. Mr. Brosius, a young missionary
then about to embark for America, with whom his
studies were to be stiU continued. In the company of
this exceUent clergyman he reached the United States
in 1792.
The next we need see of him is as a seminarian with
the Sulpicians in Baltimore, November 5, 1792. In
this moment of his irrevocable sacrifice of himself to
God, the feelings of his inmost soul may be gathered
from a letter which he wrote ab the time to a clergy
man of Munster, in Germany. In it he begs him to
prepare his mother for the step he had finaUy taken,
and informs him that he had sacrificed himself, with
aU that he possessed, to the service of God and the
salvation of his neighbor in America, where the har-

IN North America. 233
'vest was so great and the laborers so few, and where
the missionary had to ride frequently forty and fifty
miles a day, undergoing difficulties and dangers of
every description. He adds, that he doubted not hia
caU, as he was wUUng to subject himself to such ardu
ous labor.
Father Etienne Badin was the first priest ordained
in the United States ; Prince GaUitzin was the second,
and he, as early as 1799, was settled for Ufe in the
then bleak and savage region of the AUeghanies.
From his post to Lake Erie, from the Susquehanna to
the Potomac, there was no priest, no church, no re
Ugious station of any kind. Think, then, of the in-
e'vitable labors and privations of this missionary ; and
again understand how the devotion to Mary has spread
over North America.
During long missionary excursions, frequently his
bed was the bare floor, his pillow the saddle, and the
coarsest and most forbidding fare constituted his re
past. Add to this, that he was always in feeble health,
always infirm and deUcate in the extreme, and it was
ever a matter of wonder to others how the Uttle he ate
could support nature and hold together so fragile a
frame as his. A veritable imitator of Paul, " he was in
labor and painfulness, in watching often, in hunger
and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness." '
When he first began to reside permanently on this
mountain, in 1779, he found not more than a dozen
" 2 Cor., xi.

234 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
CathoUcs, scattered here and there through a trackless
forest. He first settled on a farm generously left by
the Maguire famUy for the maintenance of a priest.
A rude log-church, of some twenty-five or thirty feet,
was sufficient for a considerable time for the first Uttle
flock that worshipped according to the faith of their
fathers on the Alleghany. He commenced his colony
with twelve heads of families; he left behind him
when he died six thousand devotees of Mary.
But the population grew rapidly, aUured by the
saintly reputation of Father Smith. It was he who
purchased enormous tracts of land, who buUt the grist
and saw miU, he who found himself oppressed by debt
in his old age. Of course he expected his father's in
heritance, and when that prince died in 1803, he was
pressed to quit his beloved Loretto and go to claim
his rights in Eussia. His mother and friends urged
him to come; his prelate was on the point of com
manding him ; but when he met Bishop CarroU, he
gave reasons for remaining among his flock which that
prelate could not in the end refute. He stated that
he had caused a great number of CathoUc famUies to
settle in a wild and uncultivated region, where they
formed a parish of a considerable size ; that the Legis
lature had proposed to establish there a county-seat ;
and that numbers stUl continued to flock thither. The
bishop at length fully acquiesced in his remaining, as
he could not send another in his place. The apostoUc
missionary then wrote to his mother, that whatever he
might gain by the voyage, in a temporal point of view,

in North America. 235
coidd not, in his estimation, be compared with the
loss of a single sold that might be occasioned by his
absence. Had he gone, it would have been in vain, for the
Emperor and Senate of St. Petersburg settled the
question by disinheriting him for "having embraced
the Catholic faith and clerical profession." Neverthe
less, he hoped to share 'with his sister, who had in
herited aU. And she did supply him, until the ruined
German Prince de Solm, whom she had married, made
away with her fortune as he had done 'with his own.
Then came his days of debt, dreariest of aU days to
men. But he lived so that none should suffer but
himself. He neither ate nor drank nor was clothed at
the expense or loss of any creditor or others. His
fare was often but some black bread and a few vege
tables ; coffee and tea were unknown luxuries in those
times. His clothing was home-made and of the most
homely description ; his mansion was a miserable log-
hut, not denied even to the poorest of the poor. With
the prodigal son of the Gospel, but in a most meritori
ous and heroic sense, he could say : " How many hired
servants in my father's house have plenty of bread,
and I here perish with hunger !" '
" Being now," he says, " in my sixty-seventh year,
burdened, moreover, with the remnant of my debts,
reduced from $18,000 to about $2,500, I had better
spend my few remaining years, if any, in trying to
,  1  —  ¦
¦ St. liuke's Gospel, iv.

236 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
pay off that balance, and in preparing for a longer
journey." On that Loretto of his love he expended, from the
¦wreck of his fortune, $150,000. So is it with the ser
vitors of Mary. Three centuries ago, they gave their
bodies to be burned, their heads to the scalping-knife,
their finger-joints to the teeth of the Iroquois ; later,
they gave their Uves and fortunes, counting them as
nothing if so they might win souls to Christ.'
Let his friend and biographer tell the secret of aU
this, and thus show what a Muscovite prince can have
in common with this book :
" As he had taken for his models the Lives of the
Saints, the Francis of Sales, the Charles Borromeos, the
Vincents of Paul, so like them he was distinguished for
his tender and lively devotion to the Blessed Virgin ;
and he lost no opportunity of extoUing the virtues of
Mary. He endeavored to be an imitator of her as she
was of Christ. He recited her rosary every evening
among his household, and inculcated constantly on his
people this admirable devotion, and aU the other pious
exercises in honor of Mary. The church in which he
said daUy Mass, he had dedicated under the invoca
tion of this ever-glorious Vu-gin, whom all nations
were to caU blessed. It was in honor of Mary, and to
place his people under her peculiar patronage, that he
gave the name of Loretto to the town he founded here,

' Omnia detrimentum feci et arbitror ut stercora ut Christum lucri-
faciam. — PhU. iii. 8.

IN .North America. 237
after the far-famed Loretto, which, towering above the
blue wave of the Adriatic, on the ItaUan coast, ex
hibits to the Christian pilgrim the hallowed and mag
nificent temple which contains the sainted shrine of
Mary's humble house in ivhich she at Nazareth heard an
nounced the mystery of the Incarnation, and which the
mariners, as they pass to encounter the perils of the
deep, or return in safety from them, salute, chanting
the joyous hymn, Ave Maris Stella ! For, like St. John,
he recognized in her a mother recommended to him
by the words of the dying Jesus : " He saith to the
disciple. Behold thy mother !" And so, when the frame
was worn out in her service and her Son's, he went up
to see her face on high.'
Proceeding in the order proposed to ourselves, we
give the first place to that which bears the name of
Our Lady.
' Discourse on the Life and Virtues of Rev. Demetrius Augustine
GaUitzin, by the Very Rev. Thomas Heyden. Printed for the Monu
mental (to Prince GaUitzin) Committee of Loretto, Penn. From this
eloqueiit discourse nearly the whole of the above account is taken.

238 Devotion ±o B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE XIL
OuB Ladt of the Lake.
Not long ago, in 1834, in the old town of Mans, in
Catholic France, a holy and devoted priest, Moreau,
was professor of dogma in the seminary and canon of
the cathedral in the town. He was eloquent, zealous,
and one of the grandest preachers in France. He
gave up much of his time to preaching retreats ; that
is, to the leading of his flock away from the world, to
the "quiet pastures and stUl waters," where is the
presence of the Good Shepherd, whose crook and staff
rule, guide, guard, lead; who "restoreth the souls"
of the erring, the weary, and the so-called lost, and
giveth them to eat and to drink of His own table,
whereat is "fulness for evermore.'" After many years
thus passed, his bishop authorized him to form an
auxiUary society of priests to aid him in this pastoral
labor. He accordingly associated with himself four
pious and devoted clergymen, with whom he lived a
regular community life in the seminary for over a year.
About this time, or a few years previously, a com
munity of a different kind had been founded in the
same diocese, by the Very Eev. Mr. Dujarier, one of
' Psalm, xxii.

IN North America. 239
the venerable survivors of the Eevolution. It consisted
of a band of devoted men, mostly young, who, without
aspiring to the ecclesiastical state, yet, animated by a
true zeal to labor for God's glory and the salvation of
souls, had formed themselves into a religious com
munity under the title of the Brothers of St. Joseph,
consecrating themselves to the Christian education of
youth, and having no higher aim than to imitate the
humble and hidden Ufe of their holy patron.
Then, two years later, moved by the self-sacrifice c
these good men, some pious and devoted women of the
humbler class of society offered themselves, from a
motive of holy charity and zeal, to conduct the work
of the estabUshment, and to serve those good Priests
and Brothers as the holy women of the Gospel did our
Sa'Ndour and his disciples. God wiUed it that this
event should inspire our worthy founder with the idea
of establishing, as a third branch of the association, a
sisterhood to co-operate with the two former branches
in aU their pious labors, and to labor themselves in a
particular manner for the benefit of the youth of their
own sex ; the whole association thus forming a united
and most efficient body, able to act in concert upon all
classes of society. Under the training of the saintly
Superioress, Mother Mary of St. Dorithei, Juet, they
made a fervent and regular novitiate, and were, one
year afterwards, admitted to the reUgious profession
under the name of "Sisters of the Holy Cr-Dss,'" and
patronage of Our Lady of tJie Seven Sorrow,'-:
They were, said their founder, to seek Cjrod in all

240 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
things, to aim only at heaven, to aspire to the happi
ness of possessing Jesus, of belonging only to Him and
to His Blessed Mother, making use of aU interests,
lights, or goods for the sole honor of their Di-rine
Master and the salvation of soiUs. They were to lead
a Ufe of abnegation in aU employments and exercises,
never acting save by the wUl of a Superior; a Ufe
regular and exact, by constant and universal fidelity to
the rules and constitutions of the Society, observing
them in the spirit of love and not of fear, by the Ught
of faith and not through human motives ; a Ufe social
by humility, in meekly bearing or charitably support
ing others, accomplishing to the letter the maxim of
tJie picus author of the Imitation, of mutuaUy support
ing, consoling, aiding, instructing, and admonishing
one another ; a life edifying by modesty, the forgetful
ness of self, religious gravity, avoiding in conversation
all criticisms, raUlery, and above aU, levity ; a Ufe of
labor — a life mterior and elevated to God by the habit
ual practice of the acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity,
by the example of Jesus Christ, whom we are partic-
rdarly bound to imitate in our conduct, for we must
above all lead a life hidden in our Lord, if we would
not ruin the work of the Holy Cross.
" Here," he says, " are three orders subordinate one
to the other, an imitation of the Holy FamUy, where
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, although of conditions so
different, are made one by the union of thoughts and
the unif jruv'ty of conduct.
" In ordei to cement this union, and this imitation

in North America. 241
of the Holy Family, I have consecrated, and conse
crate again as much as in me, the Priests, to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, Pastor of souls — the Brothers, to the
Heart of St. Joseph, their patron ; and the Sisters, to
the Heart of Mary, pierced with the sword of grief.
" Behold, my dear children in Jesus Christ, the plan
of government which it is the will of God should be
foUowed in the administration of Our Lady of Holy
Cross." The Bishop of Vincennes, Monseigneur de St. Pa
lais, desires to have these children of St. Mary to help
him in extending her renown through the west of
Northern America. So Father Sorin, stUl Superior,
comes with six brothers. They "bless God and his
Holy Mother" for their safe arrival, and they claim
possession of the soil "in the name of the Cross, of
the Blessed Virgin, and of St. Joseph.'"
Monseigneur sends his new colony, Matris cultores
Dei, to the northern part of Indiana, about thirty
mUes south of Lake Michigan. This section had been
secured, years before, by the proto-priest of the
United States, Eev. Father Badin ; his efforts, how
ever, had only been crowned by the erection of a little
log-church, and a poorer log-house. But the situation
is one of extreme beauty — not grandeur ; for northern
Indiana can claim nothing of the sublime or grand in
her scenery. Yet the monotony of her low land and

• Vide Life of Rev. F. Cointet, Priest and Missionary of the Con-
gregation of the Holy Cross. Cincinnati, 1855.
R 11

242 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
prairies is frequently diversified, and the character of
the beautiful given it by clear, placid, little lakes, sur
rounded by gently undulating plains. The farm in
question contained two of these pleasant lakes, to
which Indian tradition had attached many a tale of
enchantment. Dedicating this spot to "Notre Dame du Lac,"
Father Sorin selected a charming Uttle island, in the
largest lake, as the site for two new novitiates — one
for the Priests he hoped to train for his new mission,
and the other for the Brothers. A beautiful situation
was also chosen on the banks of the lake for the future
coUege ; then, with firm confidence in Divine Provi
dence, he spent the winter in collecting the scattered
Catholics of the neighborhood into a regular congrega
tion, in forming his Novitiate of the Brothers, and at
tending to the temporal wants of his little colony.
At this period, the aid so long and earnestly desired
by this devoted missionary was furnished in the per
son of his former beloved friend, the young Abbe
Cointet, he who in youth had made this resolution —
" To give up some time every day to reading holy
books." Then, in his journal, after that, he adds :
"For the same intention, I shaU say the Eosary.
Since an early age I have been consecrated to the
Blessed Virgin, and to her care have I confided my chas
tity. I wUl study attentively the virtues of this Holy
Mother, to whom I am strictly bound to have many
traits of resemblance, and towards whom I ardently
desire to feel all the tenderness of a true chUd."

IN North America. 243
So, then, there are two priests ; how apostolic, in
one point, these words of Father Sorin himself shaU
hint :
"For some years the wardrobe of Father Cointet
and his Superior was considered very full when they
possessed a pair of boots and a hat as property in com
mon. The boots he adroitly managed not to wear
untu they had passed through the stages of good and
indifferent, but the hat could not be so easily managed,
there being no alternative except to replace the ecclesi
astical square cap by the beaver, when on the Mission.
Accordingly, if Father Cointet was recognized riding
or walking off with a hat on his head, it was known to
the members of the Uttle community that the Superior
was at home."
And now, what else is to be said of these devoted
souls shall not be in the words of him whose name is
on the title-page of this book, but in those of a sister
of the order, of a servant of Mary at the foot of the
Cross. As " Notre Dame du Lac" now stands, it holds,
in various establishments circUng the pleasant waters
of the lake, a college, a manual-labor school, a convent
in its popular sense, the initiatory schools of the
Brothers, and the seminary — all and each of these
solemnly dedicated in 1845 to devotion to, and placed
under the special protection of, the Blessed Mother of
God. St. Mary's Lake is thus encircled, and over aU,
one hundred and ten feet from the ground, stands the
statue of "Blessed among women." She looks with
love upon the apprentices of the manual-labor school

244 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
in their different workshops and fields ; the Brothers
in their quiet novitiate ; the seminarians in their holy
solitude. And off a mile to the west, her eye rests dis
tinctly upon the institutions of'the Sisters of the same
order, dwelling under the title of St. Mary's of the
Immaculate Conception.
The Catholic pupils of both places are enrolled in
the sodalities of the Children of Mary and the Li'ring
Eosary. Every Saturday evening the Litany of Loretto is
solemnly chanted in the conventual churches.
The Month of Mary is here made a glorious festival
of thirty- one days. Benediction of the Blessed Sacra
ment is given every evening, and a discourse pro
nounced by one of the Eev. Fathers in honor of their
Heavenly Queen.
The Assumption is annually celebrated by a solemn
procession after High Mass. On that day every pic
turesque spot is adorned with some memento of the
Queen of Heaven. Arches ornamented with her image
point the route to the pious pilgrims, and the murmur
ing waters of the lake, the songs of the birds, and all
the pleasant sounds of midsummer in the green woods,
together with the joyous chime of twenty-one bells in
the church-tower, unite to form a triumphal chorus to
the happy voices of the children of Notre Dame as
they intone the Litany of Loretto, the Magnificat and
the Salve Regina.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin may truly be said to
be the presiding spirit of the place. Private chapels

in North America. 245
in her honor are in every house. The grounds are
adorned with statues of the Madonna and Child and
of the Immaculate Conception. At Notre Dame a
luxuriant arbor, at least an eighth of a mile in length,
dedicated to Notre Dame aux Raisins, bears conspicu
ously on every arch the different titles of the Litany of
Loretto. In the conventual church is the altar of the Seven
Dolors, above which is a fine group of statuary repre
senting the body of Our Blessed Lord taken from the
Cross, and laid in the arms of his Mother. A magnifi
cent stained window above the main altar represents
the Assumption.
In every direction the spirit of Mary seems to
breathe and influence. The full ecclesiastical year
should be passed at Notre Dame, in order to under
stand how every festival of the Blessed Virgin brings
some new or touching evidence of the love which the
Society of Holy Cross bears to Notre Dame, and
which it seeks to instil into the hearts of its pupils.
On a beautiful little promontory opposite the col
lege, the zeal of the Superior has caused to be erected
a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. Here
the Catholic pupils spend one night of every month in
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. This chapel
is built on the exact plan of the celebrated chapel of
" Our Lady of the Angels, or the Portiuncula," and has
been enriched by the Holy See with all the privileges
of that world-renowned pUgrimage established by St.
Francis of Assisium.

246 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
These privileges, which have made " St. Mary's of
the Angels" one of the richest treasures in Italy, con
sist of plenary indulgences gained by aU the faithful
who, being heartily sorry for their sins, go to confes
sion, receive Communion, and visit the chapel between
the first and second Vespers of the 22d of August — not
one indulgence alone, but as many times during the
day as the faithful enter the chapel with the proper
dispositions wUl they gain a plenary indulgence.
These immense spiritual blessings were granted to
the prayer of St. Francis by the visible intercession of
Mary, and by Jesus Christ himself. During six hun
dred and twenty-five years the devout among the
people of Italy, and many pilgrims from foreign climes.
have assembled at Assisium on this feast of grace and
mercy. So numerous were these devotees, that it is
related of St. Bernardine, when he preached at St.
Mary's of the Angels, that two hundred thousand per
sons were assembled around the chapel.
And to give the faithful of North America an oppor
tunity of gaining the same treasures, and in the same
manner, the Society of Holy Cross has transported, as
it were, this chapel with aU its spiritual wealth into
our midst.
At St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception, the
residence of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, one mUe
west of Our Lady of the Lake, the duplicate of the
Santa Casa, or Holy House of Loretto, has been
erected as the special chapel of the children of Mary.
This chapel has also been enriched by the Holy See

in North America. 247
with all the indulgences belonging the famous pilgrim
age of Loretto.
These two .chapels bring to our own land the two
most famous shrines of Italy, and are most powerful
means, in the hands of the religious, of promoting in
the hearts of the youth intrusted to their care a deep
and abiding love for the Blessed Mother of God ; and
may we not hope that at no distant day love for Our
Blessed Lady will bring many a pUgrim to these two
chapels, in crowds, if not as great, at least as fervent,
as those which visit the original chapels in Italy ?
The Society of Holy Cross has several houses of
education estabUshed in different parts of the United
States and Canada; and, as at Notre Dame and St.
Mary's, so do they all aim at spreading the love and
devotion for their Holy Mother by every means which
their zeal and resources wiU present.
The consecration of this order was made on the
Feast of Our Lady of Snows, and in the snows of
November they first took possession of the old log-
church and the adjacent lands. This church had been
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin by the early French
missionaries, de Seille and Petit, and here these holy
men had taught the Indian to love and venerate their
Heavenly Queen. When Father Sorin came and heard
of the pioneer devotion of the American proto-priest,
he rejoiced at the thought of laboring in this domain,
already consecrated to his Blessed Mother. Not as
owners of the soU, but as faithful and devoted servants
of Mary did the first members of Holy Cross com-

248 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
mence their work. Every thing was to be improved,
every thing made useful or beautiful. For Mary's
sake, their Queen, the lake was called St. Mary's
Lake. Plans for novitiate, church, manual-labor
school, and coUege, were sketched, and all conse
crated to Notre Dame, and aU the land was Mary's
land. Notwithstanding the rigors of an unusuaUy
severe winter, zeal for the glory of the august Mother
of God warmed the hearts of her children with its
ardent and generous rays. Often during the first
years they actually suffered for lack of food and rai
ment. Their favorite devotion on such occasions was
the thousand Hail Maries said in common — a devo
tion stUl customary among the members of the con
gregation. Let us learn, among the items of this wondrous
North American Devotion to Mary, how these sisters
of hers are consecrated to her Seven Sorrows. Let
one of them stiU speak, and teU how pleasing, how
dear to the Queen of Martyrs must be the devotion to
her Sorrows ; how, more than all other devotions, it
tends to supernaturalize the mind, since in it the most
wonderful divine operations mingle with -the common
woes and sorrows of a suffering world ; and it ex
presses that union of self-abasement and self-oblivion
in which all the greater graces of the spiritual Ufe take
root. Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary unites us to
an abiding sorrow for sin. It is aU stained with the
precious blood of our dear Lord, and thus it puts ua
into the very depths of His Sacred Heart.

IN North America. 249
The lessons which Our Mother's Sorrows teach us
are wanted at almost every turn in Ufe ; they are im
parted with such loving tenderness, with such pathetic
simplicity, and in the midst of such countless simili
tudes between our sinless Mother and our sinful
selves, that no school can be found in which so much
heavenly wisdom is taught so winningly as in the Sor
rows of Mary.
Before we quit this pleasant subject, let us see that
this land of Mary does not belong solely to the living,
but also to the memory of the dead. In the parish
graveyard chapel stands the statuarj' group of the
Mother with her dead Son. Over the earth wherein
the Sisters are buried, smiles serenely " Our Lady of
Peace ;" where the priests and seminarians repose, is
the statue of the Immaculate Conception. Every
where Madonna, she is the Lady of Lake and Land.
When recreation calls the chUdren of the Sisters'
schools together, among other pleasures they have the
reading of their journal, the " Mystical Eose." It was
in this that a Sister, whose heart is full of music as of
devotion, sang in sweet rhythm her prayer for North
America. Later, we wiU see that Litany chanted by
the UrsuUne nuns before Our Lady of Swift Help,
Notre Dame de Prompt Secours, during the battle of
New Orleans, in 1812 ; now let us read the hymn of a
religious of Mary's Sorrows, sung in this time of great
national pain and small individual charity :
11*

Devotion to the B. V. Mart
STELLA MATUTINA.
0 Star of Morning I dense the clouds
That hover round our nation's bark.
And howling winds shriek through her shroud*
As on she ploughs the billows dark.
Oh, show thy light ! thou art our guide.
Thy Virgin beams our path shall lead.
As fearful o'er the stormy tide.
Before the conquering blast we speed.
O Star of Morning ! pierce the gloom,
And gild our path along the sea.
Ere anarchy shall seal our doom.
And chant the death-dirge of the free.
From St. Augustine, far away,
To bold St. Lawrence' northern strand.
Prom San Francisco to the bay
That waters honored Maryland,
Deep love for thee with mystic power
Hath mingled with our nation's life.
And aided us, in danger's hour,
'Gainst wars and elemental strife.
O Star of Morning ! 'twas thy ray
That led the mariner of old
Along the ocean's trackless way.
Earth's western wonders to unfold.
'Twas love for thee that fired his breast.
And made him count all perils light.
That opened to the cloud-girt 'W'^est,
Thy morning beams to heathen sight.
0 Star of Daybreak ! when the hand
Of bold oppression crossed the wave.
Thy shelter sweet in Maryland
Made conscience there no more a slave.
Thy chosen child. Lord Baltimore,
Struck off the manacles that bound.
By tyrant power, the infant shore.
And stamped her soil true freedom's ground.

IN North America.
Twas there that Faith — celestial bird —
First flung abroad her carol loud :
And thou, fair Star, her matins heard.
Which, soaring heavenward, pierced the cloud.
Sweet Orb of Dawn I it was thy ray
That, creeping through the western wilds.
Kissed the broad streams, and kindled day
Along the woodland's dark defiles.
And woke a song of praise that wound
Where mighty lakes majestic flow ;
Memnon's famed lyre were harshest sound
To anthem blest that haUed thy glow ;
The touching strain so old — so new,
The words we ne'er shall cease to frame,
Those mystic syUables that drew
A God from heaven at thy sweet name, —
" Hail, fuU of grace I the Lord, with thee,
On earth is blessed evermore ;"
And Gabriel's salutation free.
Echoed in joy from shore to shore ;
And savage men submissive bowed,
To own a Saviour crucified,
While Error, in her dusky shroud.
Sought in her darkest haunts to hide.
The waters of the sylvan lake.
And wild wood stream were haUowed thei^
By sacred touch for Jesus' sake.
And Mass was sung in glade and glen ;
And crosses in the wilderness
Sprang up to bless primeval shade.
Where lilies wild, and water-cress.
Alone before thanksgiving made.
0 peerless Orb ! along thy wake,
How clear thy constellated train
Of virgin stars, fair saints that take
Their rank along the ethereal main

252 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
A constant harbinger thou art
Of Him, the Son of Light Divine,
Who drank sweet warmth from thy pure heart,
Whose wondrous grace through thee doth shine I
¦WTien climbing soft the evening gray.
Thy radiant form doth gem the sky
We know ere long wiU come the day.
We know the rising Sun is nigh.
Oh, yes, when o'er our sinful souls
Thy genial rays benignant fall.
Our Blessed Lord His love unfolds.
And Mercy's daylight spreads o'er all.
Yes, thou wilt bring to us, sweet Star
(A nation of young restless life),
The light of peace, and near and far
Will cease the bitter sound of strife.
We ask thy aid ; we beg thy care ;
"We know we cannot plead in vain ;
So, trustful, through the murky air
We hail thee with thy heavenly train.
0 blissful Star ! words cannot frame
The gratitude we owe to thee,
As reverent now we name thy Name,
And meekly suppliant bow the knee.
Then show thy light — thou art our guide ;
Thy Virgin beams our path shall lead.
As hopeful o'er the stoi-my tide
Before the conquering blast we speed.
They educate in the love of Mary five thousand five
hundi-ed chUdren. Mary Angela is the Mother Pro
vincial, and Mary of the Ascension, Superior.'
' Letter of Very Eev. E. Sorin, October, 1863.

EJ North America. 253

CHAPTEE XIIL
OuB Lady's Sisters — Les Scehes de Notee Dame.
Let us look at other orders of holy women who
bear the name or advance the devotion to Our Blessed
Lady in these States. In fifteen dioceses — perhaps in
more— you find les Sceurs de Notre Dame, Our Lady's
Sisters ; and they are engaged teaching thousands to
venerate the sacred Mother of God. Four of their
houses are (1862) in the diocese of New York, eight
are in Cincinnati, three in New Orleans, three in far
Monterey. They are in Baltimore and Oregon, in
Newark and Detroit, in Philadelphia and Boston —
spreading and gro'wing Uke the mustard seed of the
Gospel ; covering this vast continent with a lace-work
of prayer, and education, self-denial, devotion, and
love for God and man, yet are scarcely sixty years in
existence. It is amazing how much of fruit for North Amer
ica, how many unrecked-of blessings to its headlong
people, sprang from the horror and anguish of the
French Eevolution. These Sisters of Our Lady
issued, by God's will, from that triumph of Satan and
Molo'^h, as UUes from the putrid fertUizers of the
soiL Marie Louise, Viscountess de Blin-Bourdon, and

254 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Mademoiselle Julie Billiart, sought refuge in Belgium
from the mercUess iniquity of the land once ruled by
St. Louis. And here, in 1804, they pronounced their
first vows. This was their vow : to give themselves,
and, by the efforts of their Uves, to extend devotion to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, protected by the Immacu
late Heart of Mary. Next year they venture sixty
miles into the north of France, to Amiens, and there
commence their work.'
They have a lodging, it is e'vident, and some room
for scholars — of what exceUence and how large we
cannot say ; but we can discern one pleasant figure at
the very beginning. It is the figure of Sister Ber
nardine, wandering about the streets with a big bell in
her hands. Gravely along the wealthier streets, cou
rageously down fetid aUey-ways, and into quarters of
the very poor, her beU chanting Vivos voco,' her own
voice translating that to those who came about her ;
and at length her heart thrUling with gratitude and
love to gentle Mother Mary, as she leads some
seventy children to the schools — sweet first-fruits of
Our Lady's new harvest in half-ruined France. By
1807 the Mother House is weU estabUshed at Namur,
and begins to send forth its colonies. So far as we
can ascertain, the first flight of doves from tliis cote
was a long one, over the Atlantic Ocean, and across
half a continent to the very heart of this country — to
' Notice sur I'ordre des Soeurs de NStre Dame de Namur.
* " I caU the living." Part of the old inscription upon church bells
" Vivos voco ; mortuos plango ; sabbata pango."

IN North America 255
Cincinnati. There they stiU remain, teaching thirty-
six hundred pupUs in the cathedral city alone.
But Ohio does not satisfy their ambition. Theii
next flight from Namur is aU the way to Oregon ; to
that river no longer to be known as one that

-" rolls and hears no soimd

Save its own dashing,'"
but a stream henceforth to show the shadow of the
Cross, and to mingle the song of its waves with the
music of Mass, and vespers, and convent litany, or with
the sweet, wUd notes of the Indian children, as they
chant, from their canoes, their hymn to Blessed Mary :
Ayas skokoum maika,
Kwanissom tlosh Marie
Kopa sahale taye.
Wawa pons na'i'ka
Pous ka kwa yaka temtom
Na'ika memmeloucht,
Ayak yaka eskam na'ika sahale.
In thee I place my confidence.
Oh, Virgin, strong and fair ¦'
Be thy protection my defence.
Be all my life thy care !
And when I draw my latest breath.
And seek my endless lot.
Obtain for me a holy death.
And then forsake me not.
It was under the charge of the apostolic de Smet
that these devoted Sisters of Nore D ame made their

' Bryant's Thanatopsis.
' " Ptdchra ut luna, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata." — Cant
Canticorum, vi. 9.

256 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
long journey : a journey vexed with many storms, and
almost finished by one off the coast. Decks were swept
clear by the irresistible waves ; sails shivered ; top
masts went by the board ; water-casks completely
emptied ; no soundings ; nothing but guesses as to
their whereabouts, and those guesses proved after
wards to be wrong. But the Sisters were calm, and
fuU of that most beautiful courage which is caUed res
ignation : fuU of resignation, but not at the expense
of hope. They gather in their cabin, holding there to
whatever can be seized to steady themselves, and in
tone their Utany ; they make a new vow to the Immac
ulate Heart of Mary, and then they trust. By and
by the storm subsides, the winds abate, the waves go
down, and as the crimson lustre of the sunset is flung
athwart the sea, they notice, floating towards them,
masses of long, green, salt-meadow grass, and they
know by it that the shore is on their lee.'
And so they landed, and on the eve of the Assump
tion of Our Lady they lodged in a tent on the banks of
the Wallamette. In the morning, they raised and
adorned, as they might, a little altar, and Mr. Blanchet,
afterwards Archbishop, offered the Holy Sacrifice. On
the second day of the Octave they reached the mission.
It was a house, but without doors, without windows ;
only with open spaces ready for such luxuries. Car
penters were the rarest and most costly articles in
Oregon in those days. " Every man is his own builder
' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, tom. xvii. 483. Lettre du
Pere de Smet.

IN North America. 257
here," was the consolation which Our Lady's Sisters
got when they looked at the yawning window-frames
and portals. No matter ; they took the Highlandman's
proverb for their law : " Set a stout heart to a steep
hUl-side ;" and one undertook to learn the management
of the plane, another voted herself a sashmaker, a third
claimed to be a house-painter, and if any found abso
lutely no mechanical vocation within her, she went
straightway to Our Lady and asked her help for the
others. Then the voyagers, and the Indians, and the half-
breeds brought melons, and potatoes, and some eggs ;
and, that nothing might be wanting to make the good
reUgious feel at home, they added thirty-five or forty
Uttle girls to go to school, and about twoscore orphans
whom they generously handed over to the sisters as a
KTTiiia eg dei, a possession forever. So they got them
selves and their pupUs and their orphans housed in
some sort, and from that time tiU now, about the hour
of twiUght, they have never faUed to chant the Litany
of Our Lady of Loretto. Its sounds of benediction
float over the WaUamette, and further, over the scarce-
inhabited wild tracts of Oregon, and over the stray
hunter-band of savages, or knot of trappers ; and bear
better promises to Northern America than that land is
at all disposed to beUeve in.
The prospects of this mission were so brilliant, that
they lured " Sister Eenilde and her companions" to try
their fortune in the same direction. That is the style
and title of this new expedition : " Sceur Renilde et ses

258 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
compagnes, Sceurs de N6tre Dame." What Sister Ee-
nUda's name was in the world we have no idea of ; stUl
less can we suggest any clue to those anonymous com
panions, except in two instances, which we shaU see in
a moment. AU that we know is contained in a few
very dusty leaves, hardly aspiring to the dignity of a
pamphlet, foimd on a top shelf of the library of his
Grace the Archbishop of Cincinnati. It is a letter ad
dressed to a " very dear Mother Constantine," whom
we suspect to have her abode either at Namur or
Amiens. It is dated " July 5, 1847, on board the
Morning Star ;" and contains the journal of the voyage
to Oregon, signed as above stated, " Sister RenUda and
her companions. Sisters of Our Lady."
It was on the 22d of February, Washington's birth
day, if Americans choose to accept that omen, and on
the " eighth day of our Novena in honor of the Holy
Virgin," says Sister EenUda, " that we embarked at
Brest. Monseigneur the Archbishop gave us his bene
diction, and at nine o'clock of the cool morning, a gun
gave the signal for departure. And whUe the Morning
Star wound her way slowly among the buoys, smaU
craft, and other obstacles that somewhat clogged our
course out of the harbor, we all gathered on the quar
ter-deck, chanted the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and
sang the Ave Maris Stella, so to place again our voyage
under Her protection, whom none ever invoked in
vain." The Morning Star is not a very unpleasant ship for
reUgious to saU in, for the captain hears Mass every

IN North America. 259
day, and at eight beUs he calls the crew to prayers.
" It is very beautiful, dear Mother," says EenUda, " to
hear those hardy saUors, their captain at their head,
recite Our Father, HaU Mary, and the Creed, and end
with the Angelus, which done, the lieutenant wishes
them ' good voyage, stout courage, and fair wind ;' and
then, at night again, they come together and sing
'HaU, Ocean's Sacred Star," and say the same prayers
as at morning." The gentle Sister might easily find
that to be very beautiful ; that solemn recommenda
tion of themselves to God's help through Mary's
Mother-love of the tough seamen — those men who
are professionally nearest to death and God. And
they who cannot share her admiration must be inland
bred. "For," says the Holy Ghost, "they that go
do^vn to sea in ships,' who are employed upon the
great waters ; these men see the wonders of the Lord
and His works upon the deep. For He saith the
word, and the stormy winds arise ; He speaketh, and
the waves are lifted up. They mount up towards the
heavens ; they sink down into the deeps ; their souls
faint for fear. They are troubled ; they reel like a
drunken man ; aU their wisdom is swallowed up. And
then they cry unto the Lord in their affliction, and He
bringeth them out of their distresses ; He turneth the
storm into a calm and aU the waves are stiU."
It is necessary to know that Sister EenUda is near
enough God to retain some feeling of poetry. She
* Ave Maris Stella. ' Psalm, cvi. 25.

260 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
thinks that the sea offers a panorama of beauty, and
speaks of it to her "dear Mother Constantine" in
terms which probably contain all her possible elo
quence, but which faU infinitely short of the exhaust-
less reality of beauty 'which the main presents. "Ah!"
she says, "what gracious varieties does the sea ex
hibit! Now it is calm as peace, now troubled; then
surging furiously ; it is green, it is blue of heaven, it
flashes with phosphorescent gleams. The sun, when
setting, clothes all the deep in raiment of living Ught ;
and the horizon in clouds of every tint, gold and pur
ple, violet, and green, and orange. These take the
most fantastic forms : volcanoes in eruption ; vast
crimson seas of fire ; mountains snow-capped, and
forests, towns, and battlemented castles. Our recrea
tion is to look on this ; and before going to our rest,
after this spectacle, we chant the Litany of the Blessed
Virgin and say her Eosary together."
" I cannot teU you, my dear Mother, what happi
ness one feels in singing Mary's praise, our dear, good
Mother's, in the midst of the ocean ; under a heaven
sown with stars new to us, to the solemn sound of seas
which break upon the frail sides of our ship ; and then,
fuU of confidence and of thoroughest trust, we sleep
in the hand of God, tranquilly as in our European
convent." StiU at sea, they keep the Feast of the Annunciation
on board the Morning Star, with high Mass, vespers,
and a sermon. "It is very consoUng to us," says
Sister EenUda, " to see Mary so loved and honored by

in North America. 261
aU who surround us;, almost aU the sailors wear the
medal of the Immaculate Conception, and many add
the chaplet. Easter, too, they keep at sea; and the
altar on deck is covered with the missionary banner of
Oceanica, where the Oblates of Mary are at work — a
white banner bearing a crimson cross ; and then, upon
a background of pale-blue drapery, there hangs, for
altar-piece, a painting of St. Mary, blessed by the
Holy Father."
And so after many experiences — after the length of
the Atlantic, Cape Horn, the length of the Pacific,
they reach the mouth of the Columbia. Then the In
dians come off in theu' canoes, and scramble aboard,
Chinooks, and Oregons, and Wallawallas, with a
haughty Dacotah here and there ; and they all make
the sign of the cross, many wearing the chaplet, and
many others the medal of Our Lady. The mission
aries go ashore and bring back wood-blooms, lupins
probably, and the three -violets and other forest flow
ers, and the Sisters " make bouquets of them to adorn
the Virgin's Altar." ' With aU the length of the voy
age, however, and -with aU those sentiments and abso
lute stormy realities, with aU those prayers, and
hymns, and intoned litanies, do not let it be supposed
that the gentle Sisters grew puritanic, or their faces
long and sour. No, no ; if anybody may wear a gay
face, it is a child of Mary, devoting all to her and her
Eternal Son. " We never passed our recreations more
' Lettre de Sceur Renilde, p. 17.

262 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
gayly," Sister EenUda says. " Even the bad weather
helps to make us fun. We caU one end of our par
ticular cabin Wallamette, such being the name of our
mission not yet reached, and the other end we name
The FaUs." The latter place being probably on the
lee-side, with a very decided slope. " AU of us," says
the Sister, "visit The FaUs several times a day.
Sister Francisca goes oftener than any of the rest
of us. And only the other day Sister Mary Alphon-
sus, after rapidly sliding thither, her soup-plate in
her hand, was turned about by the roll of the vessel,
and sUding back as rapidly, emptied the contents
of that soup-plate on the head of Sister Mary
Bernard." And this is the additional information promised
by the present writer some page or so above. This
is what he knows about the other two sisters; that
Mary Alphonsus, compelled thereto by an affluent
wave, emptied her soup upon the person of Mary
Bernard. Among the Indians who come or are brought on
board is a young female barbarian, une petite sauvor
gesse, a candidate for baptism. And the Sisters, before
they quit the ship, assist at that sacrament. The cap
tain is godfather, and endows his filleule with half the
trinkets and gay old clothing in the ship ; and, of
course, the Uttle red-girl is caUed Mary. Then there
is a venerable Chinook who sings for them in his own
tongue, " in a voice by no means disagreeable," the
hymn just given above ; and pointing with simple

St. LIGUOEI.

IN North America. 263
exultation to the medal of the Immaculate Conception
which hangs upon his swarthy chest. Then, when the
Morning Star is lodged by her pilot upon a sand-bar,
at the mouth of the Wallamette, " Sister Eenilda and
her companions" quit her deck for canoes, and pro
ceeding in them to their mission-house, are lost to
sight of ours.
It is proper to say here, that other orders than that
of Sister EenUda caU themselves of Notre Dame.
Some in North America trace their origin to Lorraine,
so far back as 1565, Blessed Paul Fourrier being their
founder, and are to be met with at MUwaukee.' Then
Marguerite Bourgeoys and her sisters are a kind of
colony from these. This is the extent of our informa
tion regarding the Soeurs de Notre Dame ; and it is
possible that some of our statistics may not be always
attributed to the proper society of these three. Should
any one discover this, we can only declare that such
error is not wUful. They are aU, at least, Sisters of
Our Lady, aU children of one Mother, and we do not
intend, by this present writing, to assign them any
immediate credit at aU. We wish to foUow their ex
ample, and to assign aU credit, aU the honor, aU the
glory, to Jesus, their eternal Spouse, who loved them,
and who bought them with His blood — to Him, and
His Immaculate sweet Mother. What we do know is

' "Les Servantes de Dieu en Canada, 1853. Essai sur rhistoim de«
communautes religieuses de femmes de la Province:" par C. do
Laroche-Heron.

264 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
this, that certain devout women, kno'wn as Sisters of
Notre Dame, are daUy teaching more than thirty thou
sand American chUdren devotion to the Blessed Saint
Mary the Virgin.

Df NouTH America. 265

CHAPTEE XIV.
OuB Ladt of Meecy and of Chaeitt — Onn Lady's lovlno Feiehds a»
[tub Ceoss — OuK Lady of Cheist's pkeoious Blood.
The History of Devotion to Blessed Mary in the
Old World, and even of that in elder Canada, seems
rather an exhibition of effects, the sources of which
are easUy enough di'rined ; but, in our careless, anti-
antiquarian, and recordless state, we must be con
tented with getting at such causes as are visible to us,
and from those deduce the inevitable effects. If cer
tain reUgious have thUty thousand pupils, and are
guided in their Uves and their instruction by certain
'visible principles, it wiU require no wizard to guess at
the result of the education which they give.
Kenelm Digby writes a book called " Compitum, the
Meeting of the Ways," to show that aU roads duly fol
lowed lead to the Church. It is true ; and so is the
reverse true. AU ways lead out of the Church again
over the suffering world. Wlien the convent doors
open in the morning, it is that one Sister may go to
the school-room, another to the hospital-ward, another
through the streets to the houses of the charitable,
another to the garrets and dismal ceUars, to the
shrines of utterest poverty, to inodorous aUeys, where
13

266 Devotion to the B. V. IMaet
poverty and filth and sin have supremacy. Here, a
black-robe ; there, a brown one, with a crimson cross
upon the bosom, threads the city paths. On one
square you hear young voices carolling hymns to
Mary from the windows of an academy ; on the next,
you see the white, broad-leafed, quaint bonnet of the
daughter of St. Vincent de Paul. And aU these are
travelUng in a circle; they come from the hearts of
Jesus and of Mary ; they are to go back thither when
their earthly work is done.
One family of these precious souls is known by the
name of Sisters of Mercy. Do you remember Long
fellow's Evangeline in the yeUow-fever hospital for the
poor in PhUadelphia ? Let us repeat it :
Only, alas ! the poor who had neither friends nor attendants.
Crept away to die in the almshouse, home of the homeless.
Then in the suburbs it stood, iu the midst of meadows andwooc
lands.
Now the city surrounds it, but still with its gateway and 'wicket,
Meek, in the midst of splendor, its humble walls seem to echo
Softly the words of Our Lord, " The poor ye have always with yon."
Thither by night and by day came the Sister of Mercy. The dying
Looked up into her face and thought, indeed, to behold there
Gleams of celestial light encircle her forehead with splendor.
Such as the artist paints o'er the brows of saints and apostles,
Or such as hangs by night o'er a city seen from a distance.
Unto their eyes it seemed the lamps of the City Celestial,
Into whose shining gates, ere long, their spirits should enter.
And with light in her looks she entered the chamber of sickness
Noiselessly moving among the assiduous faithful attendants.
Moistening the feverish lip and the aching brow ; and in silence
Closing the sightless eyes of the dead and concealing their faces.
Where on their paUets they lay, like drifts of snow by the wayside.
Many a languid head upraised as the Sister entered.

• IN North America. 267
Turned on its pillow of pain to gaze while she passed ; for her presence
Pell on their hearts like a ray of tho sun on the walls of a prison.
And as she looked around, she saw how Death the Consoler.
Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it forever.'
EarUer than the year 1830, we find Sisters of Mercy
in Charleston South CaroUna, helpers to Bishop Eng
land in his apostoUc work do-wn there, and now they
are elsewhere ; in Cincinnati, among places kno-wn
to us. These are of the good gifts bestowed by Ire
land on America, and are, so to speak. Children of the
Order of the Presentation of the Ever Virgin Mary, in
that ancient and Catholic island. Let us judge of
what they are Ukely to do in advancing the devotion,
by what we can know of their daily lives and rule.
Given fideUty to a rule, its natural effects wiU not re
quire to be proved. Now, these Sisters of Our Lady
of Mercy say daUy the Office of the Blessed Virgin,
which is composed of thirty-seven of the Psalms of
Da-rid ; the hymns of Simeon, of Blessed Mary, of the
three youths in the Assyrian furnace, of Zacharias,
prophet of God, with lessons and other passages
from Holy Scripture, and some pious ejaculations,
prayers, and versified hymns for the seven divisions
of the day.'
' LongfeUow's Poetical Works. Boston : Ticknor & Fields. 18mo
ed., vol. ii., pp. 73, 73.
' It is almost humiliating to even an ex-man-of-letters to be obliged
to say that the Office is not the Mass — to repeat again that the Mass is
what Protestants would call the Service of the Holy Communion, and
¦the Office is the Breviary — to ¦wit, the Psalms of David, with Scripture
lessons and commentaries ; short biographies or notices of the saint,

268 Devotion to the B. V. MaBt
Then another rule binds the good sisters " to inspire,
as much as in them Ues, the chUdren whom they edu
cate with a sincere devotion to the passion of Jesus
Christ ; to His real presence in the Holy Eucharist ; to
the Immaculate Mother of God, and to their Guardian
Angels." They must say daily in their schools five
decades of our Lady's Eosary or her Litany of Loretto.
Their days of recreation are aU Mary's days — the long
vacation from her Feast of Mount Carmel, June 16, to
Monday after her Assumption, August 15 : the other
days are Saturdays, consecrated by the Church to her,
and the Feast of her Presentation. Then their rule
bids them "bear perpetuaUy in mind that their Con
gregation is under her especial protection, and that
she is, under God, its chief Patroness and Protectress."
Therefore the Sisters " must have the warmest devo
tion and affection to her, and must regard her in an
or other sacred subject of the day ; coUects or short prayers, from
which those of the Anglican and American Episcopal churches are
translated, and a few hymns and pious verses, usually from Holy
Writ. But when such a man as Thomas Carlyle, the pre-emiaent
"sham" hater, who writes, iu correction of aU other historians, his
history of Frederick the Great, and half of whose multitudinous notes
are devoted to abuse of other men's ignorance; when he gives us
Mass in the afternoon, and, for a whole page, jumbles up this Book of
Psalms with the Communion Office, what can an ex-man-of-letters do
but notice it ? Vide History of Frederick II , called Frederick the
Great. By Thomas Carlyle; vol. iii., p. 206. New York: Harper &
Brothers. Mummery as much as you please ; nonsense and idolatry as much
as you please ; but a, writer, a public teacher of men, is bound in
BimiJle honor to know something about the daily mummery even of
two hundred mUlions of civUized men.

in North America. 269
especial manner as their Mother, and the great model
which they are to imitate." They are to have, " indi
vidually, unUmited confidence in her ; to have recourse
to her in all their difficulties and spiritual necessities,
and by the imitation of her virtues are to study to
please her and to merit her maternal protection."
They shaU, moreover, " solemnize her festivals with
aU spiritual joy and devotion, and shall instil in the
minds of the children, and of all such as they can infiuence,
the greatest respect, veneration, and love for her."
They shall " say the beads every day in her honor ;"
and " on the Feast of her Presentation, in every year,
the whole community, with Ughted wax lights in their
hands, shaU, on their knees, before the altar of the
Blessed Virgin, make the foUowing act of oblation and
of consecration to the Blessed Mother of God :" '
" The Act oe Eene'wed Consecration.
" Most holy and glorious Virgin, Mother of God, we
Sisters of the Congregation of Charitable Instruction,
convinced how much we stand in need of the grace of
God to fulfil the arduous duties and obligations of our
pious institute, and of the greatness of thy power
with Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, and of thy good
ness towards poor Christians, most humbly address
ourselves to thee this day, as the Mother of Mercy,

' Sketch of the Life of Miss Nagle.
Rule of the Sisters of our Lady of Mercy, of the Presentation,
Dublin.

270 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and in the fuUest confidence of obtaining, through thy
holy intercession, the Divine assistance.
" We, therefore, most clement Virgin, prostrate be
fore thee with all humility, earnestly beseech thee to
be most graciously pleased to accept of the oblation
we aU irrevocably make on this holy day of ourselves
to thy love and ser'vice, proposing with the Divine as
sistance to bear always towards thee the most cordial
respect and veneration, and to engage, as far as in our
power, all others to love, honor, and respect thee.
Deign, 0 most pure and immaculate Virgin, Mother of
God, to receive us aU, and every one of us in partic
ular, under thy holy protection. We look up to thee
as our Mother, our Lady, and our Mistress, as our Pa
troness and Protectress, Advocate and Directress,
humbly entreating thee to obtain the pardon of aU our
sins and transgressions against the Di'rine Majesty,
and of all our negligences in thy holy service.
" We beseech thee to obtain from the infinite good
ness of thy beloved Son, that this Uttle Congregation
of Charitable Instruction may always be favored with
thy singular assistance, especiaUy in the arduous func
tions of the Uistitute and in the practice of every reU
gious virtue. In fine, we most earnestly request thou
wilt be graciously pleased to obtain that perfect union
of hearts and minds may always reign amongst us;
that we may ever be faithful to the observance of our
rule, and persevere to the end of our Uves in the spirit
and grace of our vocation, that having with fideUty
served thy beloved Son, by imitating thy virtues on

IN North America. 271
earth, we may, with thee and all the elect, praise and
glorify him in heaven for all eternity. Amen." "
And then tliose Sisters of Our Lady of Charity —
aU one with some external difference, some with
schools, some without ; some with quaint, picturesque
white butterfiy-winged bonnets and antique-looped
gowns ; some aU in black and some in brown, but all
aUke ; More Juchereau in 1630, Mother Seton two cen
turies later ; Gray Sisters {Soeurs Grises) or Hospita
Ueres, or Sisters of St. Joseph, or of the Hotel Dieu,
or sacred inn, whereof our Lord is the host, and where
the pennUess are guests and " have wine and milk
¦without money and without price ;" " or Sisters of
Charity in New York, in Boston, in New Orleans, in
Cincinnati, in Minnesota, in Montreal, they are all one
— aU are chUdren of Saint Vincent de Paul ; all rejoice
to be known by that proud title which he bestowed
upon them, " Daughters of Charity and Servants of
the Poor."
What need have we to speak of them ? Let the
school, the hospital, the prison, the filthy lodging-
house, the orphan asylum, the blood-stained camp talk
about them. Why, the Protestant and the Pagan;
the roughest among men, the " lost, lost, lost" among
women, know the Sister of Charity, and find some
where amid the ruins of their souls an untainted bless
ing for her as she passes.
' Rules and Constitutions, etc. Dublin, 1809.
' " yui non habetis argentum, properate : venite, emite absque
argento et absque uUa commutatione, vinum et lac." — Isaias, Iv. 1.

272 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
In Quebec, in 1637, more than two hundred years
ago, they wanted a school and a hospital, and the
Sisters of Charity furnished both. Montreal, Mary's
city, felt the need, and we have seen how Mademoi
selle Manse provided. In the States, Mother Seton
founds her adaptation of the great order, and now the
Sister of Charity is everywhere. Here, there is the
Sister of Providence; there, the "little Sister of the
Poor ;" everywhere the faithful child and humble im
itator of Holy Mary. Mother Seton's first convent is
a tenement of four rooms ; one floor and one garret
must lodge sixteen persons. But she has the " chapel
of the Blessed Virgin" ' wherein to receive the Bread
of Life ; it is Saint Mary's Mountain which is their
hoped-for laboring-place, that Saint Mary's to'wn, now
Baltimore ; and they can give their own fond phase of
signification to Maryland.
Here were Dubois, afterwards Bishop of New
York, and saintly Brute, their wise guides, the second,
afterwards Bishop of Vincennes. He it was who had
"no time at home to get his hair cut,'"' and so catch
ing the barber one day in the woods, he sat down.
upon a stone and was newly tonsured there. It was
he, too, whom students of St. Mary's, known to the
present writer, used to see laboring with his own
hands to make more easy a steep up-mountain path

¦ Life of Mrs. E. Seton, Founder and First Superior of the Daughters
of Charity in the United States. By Rev. Dr. White, p. 235.
» The same, p. 386.

m North America. 273
which led to his grotto oratory and the statute of the
Mother of God. Ah ! they were very poor in money
and influence in those early days, but rich in graces,
in humility, in love of labor, and in sweet contented-
ness. They have Uves of roughness and great labor,
but God gives them encouragement. They have sick
ness and pain Uke others, but He sends them pleasant
thoughts. They die, some years too early, we may
fancy, but so " He giveth His beloved sleep." '
What sick Sister was it on whose heart whUe she
slept, Mother Seton placed a rose just given her? We
do not know, shaU never know her name ; nor is it in
any point essential to us or her that we should. But
as she lorote her simple thanks for it, we may look
here at the form of words it took.°
The morning was beautiful, mild, and serene,
AU nature had waked from repose ;
Maternal affection came silently in.
And placed on my bosom a rose.
Poor nature was weak, and had almost prevaUed
The long-wearied eyelids to close ;
But the soul waked in triumph and joyously hailed
The sweet Queen of Flowers, the Eose.
Whitsuntide was the time, 'twas the season of love,
And I thought that the Blest Spirit chose
To leave for a while the sweet form of the Dove,
And come in the blush of the Rose.
Come, Heavenly Spirit, descend on each breast,
And there let thy blessings repose,
' Psalm cxxvi. 2 : " Dederit dUectis suis somnum.''
' White's Life, p. 494.
T 13*

274 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
As thou once didst on Mary, the temple of rest,
For Mary's our Mystical Rose.
Oh may every rose that springs forth evermore,
Enkindle the hearts of all those
Who wear it or see it to bless and adore
The Hand that created the rose.
Let US guess how Mother Seton would move young
hearts to the' love of the Blessed among women, by
what we see of her own child, her Eebecca. Just a
glimpse into that weU-tried Ufe of hers ; a moment's
raising of the curtain to expose the mother's pain, and
one glance into the heart of the child. The record of
the Uttle girl's long-suffering is most pitiable ; the
record of her patience is most beautiful, as she Ues
there white and stiU, suffering heroically, and not
"wishing her sufi'erings shortened;" her large eyes
never quitting the crucifix except to turn upon the
poor mother beside her, the mother struggling for
resignation while the pangs of her offspring were tear
ing at her own heartstrings ; and trying to unite her
pain with the pain of Her who stood at the foot of the
cross, the Mother of Jesus." ' By and by the umocent
head sinks down upon the mother's bosom ; there is a
struggle and a final sigh ; and then, He that carrieth
the young lambs in his bosom," "suffereth that Uttle
one to come to Him."
That ended. Mother Seton lays the untenanted body
' " Btabat autem juxta Crucem Jesu, Mater ejus." — Saint John'»
Gospel, xix. 25.
' Isaias, xl. 11 ; Saint Mark's Gospel, x. 14.

IN North America. 275
from her arms with a low mm-mured, "Oh, my dar-
Ung !" then says to the attendant Sister, " My chains
are broken," and to her God she says, lifting her eyes
and arms, " My Lord, my darUng is with Thee ! She
wUl nevermore risk to offend Thee : and to Thee I
give her up with aU my soul." Now, this was the
chUd's prayer or act of consecration. She and two of
her companions had given themselves early-to Blessed
Mary in this form of their own composition :
" Oh, our Blessed Mother ! we consecrate our poor
Uttle hearts to you. Eeceive our offering. From this
day we wUl begin, and 'with your dear assistance will
continue to try our very best to love and serve you
faithfuUy. Oh, our dear, dearest Mother, intercede for
your poor little chUdren before the throne of your
Di'rine Son, for He wiU not deny you. His dear Moth
er, any thing ; and therefore we beg you to obtain for
us the virtue of purity of heart, which is so very pleas
ing to you and your Divine Son, and that of modesty
and love. But above all, oh, our Blessed Mother, ob
tain for us a happy death, that we may reign forever
in the blessed mansions of peace and rest which is our
true country and home. Amen." '
It is only the act of three Uttle American school
girls, some fifty years ago ; but ex ore infantium et lac-
tentium perfecisti laudem — " Out of the mouth of babes
and suckUngs Thou hast perfected praise ;"^ and Mary
' " White's Life of Mrs. Seton," Appendix, p. 498.
' Psalm, viii. 2.

276 Devotion to B. V. Mart
seems to have heard them, for they aU died in child
hood. One of these very first of Mother Seton's commu
nity sur'rives (1863), the venerable Mother Margaret
George, fifty-one years a "Daughter of Charity and
Servant of the Poor." If you would see her and ask
her prayers, you 'wUl find her in the midst of the
orphans, at the asylum in CumminsviUe, Cincinnati.
Of other Sisters of Charity, and of these, a fact or two
will Ulustrate our attempt at a history of devotion.
One single community, that of Emmittsburg, has
twenty-two asylums, for orphans, for the insane, for
incurables ; eleven hospitals, and twenty-five schools.
In the city of New York alone, Sisters of various
orders teach at least six thousand pupils.
In Canada, eight hundred religious women, ten
years ago, were teaching eleven thousand children,
guarding a thousand orphans, nursing five thousand
sick,' and teaching, by precept or example, devotion to
the Blessed Virgin to every one of these. If we had
any records here, we might be able to apportion to
each order in the United States its due number of
pupils ; but, as yet, system is wanting.
Just take your atlas for awhile, and see those Gray
Sisters, the first we ever saw in North America •' see
them to-day, more than two centuries later, toiUng in
the half-tropical heats of the South, or braving, for the
love of God and Mary, the boreal wind careering over
' Servantes de Dieu en Canada. » Vide this work, p. 40.

IN NoRiH America. 277
the semi-frozen floods of Hudson's Bay, or the almost
perpetual snows that lie around far Athabasca Lake,
in north latitude 60°. Look at the Daughters of the
Cross, saUing in 1855 from Treguier, in France, to
AvoyeUes, in Louisiana — Mary Hyacinthe, superior of
the first colony ; Mary Agatha, of the second, in 1856.
It is this last colony which, when their ship takes fire
far out at sea, assemble in their cabin and chant the
Salve Regina — "Hail, Queen; haU, Mother of Mercy,
our Ufe, our sweetness, and our hope." These also re
cite each day the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.
Then, when Kentucky was a wilderness, almost, in
1812, and holy Father Nerinckx labored as missionary
there, he caUed into existence, to aid the cause of God
and Our Lady, the " Sisters of Loretto, or Friends of
Mary at the foot of the Cross ;" their object, first, their
own perfection, and then the education of girls, espe
ciaUy of the very poor. He caUs their house on Har
din's Creek, Loretto, the house whereof Our Lady was
the mistress on earth ; within whose waUs Our Lord
became incarnate. St. Mary's poverty was to be their
model of life. Their houses are therefore poor and
badly furnished, their food is of the plainest kind, and
their raiment of the coarsest. Hard labor in the fields
and forests was to be their earthly luxury, and their
lives penitential — ^barefooted most of the year, for one
item.' "Poor to extremity, but ah," says saintly

' Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky. By Ri
Eev. M. J. Spalding, Bishop of Louisville ; pp. 206-313.

278 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Bishop Flaget, "such spotless cleanliness!"' Now,
they have at least ten estabUshments in Kentucky,
Missouri, Arkansas, out among the Osage Indians.
There are two hundred Sisters now, and every house
has schools. And then, these "Friends of Mary at
the Cross" meet in their darkened chapel when three
o'clock comes round each day, for a long meditation
on, and commemoration of, Our Lord's drear Passion ;
and whUe the beU tolls mournfuUy they murmur at
stated intervals, "O suffering Jesus! 0 sorrowful
Mary!"' Then, close by the side of these good reUgious, and
educating more chUdren to love and reveyenee St.
Mary, are the Dominicans ; and St. Dominic, you
know, is the Father of the Eosary. Not of that man
ner of prayer, but only of that manner brought to per
fection of practice; for the use of beads in prayer
sweeps far back beyond the Incarnation of Our Divine
Eedeemer, and is common to aU Oriental nations,
Pagan, Hebrew, Mahommedan, and Christian. Now,
the first two women of this order in the present States,
so far as we can find out, were in Kentucky, and were
both caUed Mary. They were here m 1807 or 1808.
Then they were at St. Mary's, Somerset, Ohio, in 1819 ;
and they have houses in ZanesviUe in that last-named

> Sketches of the Life, Times, and Character of Bt. Rev. Benedict
Joseph Flaget, first Bishop of LouisviUe. By Bt. Rev. M. J. Spal
ding ; p. 290.
" Letter of Rt. Rev. Dr. Spalding, Oct. 2, 1881

»r North America. 279
State, and in Benicia in CaUfornia, in Memphis and
NashviUe, Tennessee, and in Brooklyn, Long Island.
Then- first convent was called St. Eose ; their
second, St. Magdalene, now called St. Catherine's. I
only know them to be in a most especial manner de
voted to the Blessed Virgin ; to be zealous in impart
ing that love to others. They educate a couple of
hundred pupils at least each year; and in the same
State of Kentucky the Sisters of Charity at Nazareth
teach between four and five hundred.
Our road for the rest of this chapter must be a very
undetermined one. Perforce a vagabond, we wander
from mountain to prairie, from forest to sacred sea
side, picking up here a woodland flower, there a peb
ble ; sometimes getting a mere glance at some bright
object, and utterly unable, for thicket, surf, or quick
sand, to come any nearer. What we shall get into our
basket, however, be it agate or patch of moss, we lay
on Our Lady's altar, persuaded of this at least, that
she wUl have no contempt for it.
The Sisters of Providence, in Oregon, in Canada, in
Vermont, those who received at Grasse Re the thou
sand of ship-fever patients in 1848 ; these educate
some hundred and fifty girls who pay, and some nine
hundred who are too poor for that. The " Sisters of
the Holy Names- of Jesus and Mary" aU bear the
name of Mary, and teach a thousand pupils. The
Sisters of the Presentation at St. Hyacinth ; the Sisters
of St. Joseph ; the Daughters of St. Anne ; how many
do they teach to honor Mary ? God knows, and God

280 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
rewards. Everywhere, to him who has eyes and who
looks out of them, there is observable some new par
terre from the Church's perpetual fertiUty.' On the
day which sees these Unes written, we read in the
Freeman's Journal of New York these facts : How, in
the year of grace 1844, a small community of nuns en
tered the diocese of Cincinnati, ha'ring the title of
" The Most Precious Blood," whose principal office
consists in the nocturnal adoration of the Most Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar, together with other duties
common to most convents, and some pecuUar to them
selves. The founder of the Arch-confraternity of Priests of
the Most Precious Blood was the Canon Caspar di
Bufalo, who was born at Eome, A. D. 1786. Another
true benefactor of America he, issuing Uke so many
others from the red fange of that French Eevolution.
Chiefiy through his exertions the Arch-confraternity
of the Most Precious Blood was organized, in 1815, at
Eome. So rapid was its progress, that fifteen years
later, in 1830, more than a hundred and fifty lesser
confraternities were already affiliated with it, not only
in Europe, but in Africa, India, and China. It was not
until some years later that the first body of these holy
missionaries directed their steps towards America.
The Eev. M. Sales Brunner, with eight missionary
priests and six novices, saUed in 1843 for New York,
and upon the invitation of the Most Eev. Arch-
' See M. de Courcy's " Servantes de Dieu,'' passim.

IN North America. 281
bishop, estabUshed themselves in the diocese of Cin
cinnati. During a pious pUgrimage at Eome, in the year
1832, Madame Anna Maria Brunner, mother of the
reverend gentleman mentioned above, uniting herself
with the greatest fervor in aU the objects of the saintly
Canon di Bufalo, became a member of his Arch-con
fraternity, and on returning to her native land, re
solved to consecrate the remainder of her days to the
adoration of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, in the
Holy Sacrament of the altar. The better to withdraw
from distractions which might tend to interrupt her
devotions, she retired to the solitary castle of Lowen-
berg, in the Grisons (Switzerland), where, in the course
of the foUowing year, she was joined by twelve devout
young women from Alsace and Baden, who placed
themselves under her direction, and for whom she
prepared a rule, by which they led a regular religious
life in the observance of nocturnal adoration.
The night was subdi'rided, and each member passed
two hours before the altar. Every day, at the close of
the morning "prayers and before the celebration of the
Holy Mass, the sentences enjoined by Arch-confrater
nity were repeated by each member of the community,
in an audible voice ; and during the celebration of the
Mass, they recited together the Utany of the Most
Precious Blood. The day was employed in manual
labor, always accompanied by prayers or meditation,
in the house or garden, or in the fields ; for they were
poor, and could command no other means of subsist-

282 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
ence, either for themselves or for the indigent female
orphans whom they sustained in their convent. The
blessing of God gave the fruits of their toU ; and trust
ing to the results of their prayers and industry, and
the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother of
God, they, after a Uttle time, charged themselves with
the expense of educating for the holy priesthood seven
young missionaries, who were afterwards attached to
the zealous band who (as we have related) entered
the diocese of Cincinnati, A. D. 1843.
A year after the arrival of the missionary priests,
the Most Eev. Archbishop of Cincinnati extended
an invitation also to the community at Lowenberg
to establish themselves in his diocese, which was ac
cepted. The simple story of the travels hitherward,
by land and sea, of these angelic women, as given in
letters to their friends, is most touching. Our limits
confine us to a few brief extracts from this interest
ing correspondence. After a tearful parting with the
beloved ones at Lowenberg, whose faces they should
see no more on earth, they went first to prostrate
themselves at the feet of our Lady of Einsiedeln, to
implore her blessing on then- great undertaking, and
to place it under her dkection. Eefreshed and fuU of
consolation, they now directed their steps towards the
great Western ocean, which they must traverse in
order to reach their goal in the midst of the vast con
tinent beyond it, yet no fear or danger agitated their
strong and faithful hearts.
" Truly," writes one of them, " this great journey

IN North America. 283
might weU have frightened us, but when we remem
bered that the Son of God had freely poured out the
last drop of his most precious blood for us, we said
one to another, ' If in America we can prevent even
one mortal sin, the fatigues we now undergo wiU be
richly repaid ; and should we find nothing else to do,
we can teach our CathoUcs to say the Eosary of the
Most Precious Blood, and we can seek out some poor
orphans who have need of our care, and then we shall
be content. But even if we find nothing to do, we
know weU that our dear Lord wiU accept our good
intentions to honor His great sacrifice ; for, sweet
Mother, have we not laid our undertaking, and aU that
may result from it, at thy feet ? When we accepted
this mission to America, did we not place ourselves
under thy blessed patronage as servants of Mary ?' "
Thus rejoicing on their way, these humble daughters
of our Blessed Lady reached America.
Within a few days, more than forty Catholic maidens
were received for catechetical instructions by the Sis
ters, who lost not a moment in resuming their religious
life in its original order, both in the nocturnal adora^-
tion of the Most Blessed Sacrament and in the daUy
manual labor, commingled, as before, with constant
prayer and meditation, and the offices of the chapeL
Their first Mass was offered on the midnight eve of
Christmas, and they commemorated this happy event
by naming their chapel Maria zur Krippe — AngUce,
Mary of the Manger.
The community increased rapidly by the accession

284 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
of many young women from Europe, who deshed to
participate in their holy Ufe of seclusion, which is at
the same time so fuU of usefulness ; and from time to
time American girls presented themselves for admis
sion, so that within five years after their arrival the
number of the Sisterhood had reached one hundred
and fifty-four. At this time (1862) their catalogue re
cords the names of more than four hundred, some of
whom have already entered upon their rest.
Ten convents of their order are distributed over a
region of some five and twenty miles or more in length,
and of unequal breadth. They are usually seated in
the midst of fertile fields of corn, and surrounded by
orchards, vegetable gardens, and vineyards, which pre
sent the most striking contrasts to the surrounding
wUderness of woods, which extends in all directions
further than the eye can reach. It is a pleasing spec
tacle to the traveller, as he pursues his soUtary path
along the rude highways that perforate the vast forests
of this district, when, above the unbroken line of lofty
trees, he descries, first, a symmetrical steeple ; a little
further on, he is almost startled by a sudden opening,
which discloses an apparition of wide fields, from near
the centre of which rises a cluster of substantial edi
fices of various kinds. The church, no longer a rude
structure of logs, has now become a spacious, weU-
proportioned, and solid pile of brick and stone.
Here Father Brunner began to preach on Devotion
to Our Lady, and on the nearly unknown devotion of
her Eosary. In the Society, when the sun is setting,

in North America. 285
they say the Eosary, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin,
and have, by special privUege, the Benediction of the
Most Holy Sacrament. Then, at night prayers, again
the Eosary ; and, in the silence of the midnight, each
sister, during her two hours of adoration, recites it
thrice. Oh, think of that. How often from these holy
women goes up that beautiful suppUcation for us aU,
whUe the beads drop noislessly, one by one, through
the wearUess fingers, and the hush of the solemn
hours is scarce broken by the murmur of " Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the
hour of our death!" You can hear the Brothers and
the Sisters at their daUy labor, break into praises of
Saint Mary ; and if they rest from their toil, it is only,
with many of them, that they may teU their beads. If
any thing is greatly needed, if epidemics threaten, if
temporal or spkitual loss seem to impend, a devotion
to the gentle Mother is commanded, and they say that
they always obtain theu- requests.'
So that you do not wonder to hear that, all through
the suiToimding country, the text-book in each family
is Saint Alphonsus Liguori's " Glories of Mary," and
that the Chaplet is their daily devotion ; that the
chapels are crowded every evening ; that in the bitter
¦winter you can see Unes of lanterns, glimmering
through the dark of the early morning, as the faithful
pick their way, through the most detestable of roads.

' Letters of Rev. Joseph Dwenger, Priest C.PP.S., September 14 and
August 24, 1861.

286 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
to the break-of-day Mass and first Eosary. All are
enroUed in one or more Confraternities of the Blessed
Virgin — that of the " Sacred Heart of Mary, for the
Conversion of Sinners," or that of the " Scapular," or
of the " Living Eosary," or of " Our Lady's Seven Sor
rows," or of the " Immaculate Conception," or in the
" SodaUty of the Blessed Virgin." " Our people," says
a devoted priest of that region, " would almost think it
a mortal sin to omit the Eosary on Sundays or on
Festivals." Every few mUes a new brick church, or
convent, or pious school, gleams through the openings
of the woods; and the venerable Archbishop Purcell
caUs the place the " Thebais of Ohio." It is, too, the
"Blessed Virgin's land," and the whole district re
sounds with Saint Bernard's cry, 0 clemens, 0 pia, 0
dulcis Virgo Maria! O piteous, O gentle, 0 sweet
Virgin Mary !

IN North America. 287

CHAPTEE XV.
Cub Lady of Satot Ursula and Saint Angela.
As early as the year 1700, the nuns of Our Lady of
La T'rappe were at work amid the ice of New Scot
land.' By 1790 the nuns of Our Lady of Mount Car
mel, home of the Scapular, were laboring in Maryland.
When you get to Cincinnati, in these days, and debark
from the railway train, perhaps you may want to go to
the cathedral. Get, then, into one of those " street
cars," and ride up into the to'wn. After a square or
two has been passed, a woman gets in, probably ac
companied by a chUd. Young looking, but how
young you cannot nearly guess : the infinite peace of
God seems to settle on such faces, so as to destroy the
marks of Time's advance. Whether she be twenty or
forty is not particularly e'rident. But you remark her.
There is a look of singular sweetness and patience on
the face, which gives refinement ; or it may be that
that is there naturaUy— you don't know; she may
have been born a countess, for there are such among
them. There is a bonnet, not very peculiar, but such
as nobody in good society would Uke to wear, at least ,
there is a black cloak — a very poor woman's cloak ;
' Vie de Marguerite Bourgeoys, ii. 470.

288 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
there is a coarse brown robe, and on the bosom of
that, the crest and arms of her nobUity, is a crimson
cross. That is a Franciscan Hospital Sister, out beg
ging from door to door, for food, clothes, money, any
thing that good j^eople choose to give for the sup
port of a hospital where any who are poor may
enter, " without distinction of sex, age, country, or re
Ugion." There are only two doubts to be settled : is the ap
plicant in do'wnright need? and, is there a bed empty?
These decided, they take the patient in, and set to
work to support and nurse him or her for the love of
the dear God who died for us aU. That is the way
these new crusaders, these red-cross sisters, do at the
Hospital of Mary's Help. They were added to our
holy Archbishop's causes of gratitude to God, some
three or four years ago, invisible for awhUe — violets
in the winter ; by and by, when the spring came, a
couple of years later, blooming out modestly, two days
after their arrival, begging from door to door in the
strange, uncultivated, but not unkindly town. And
then, as reward for their energy, God sent them, in the
first week, some dozen of pauper patients, in a few
weeks forty, and then they knew that His blessing was
with them. Swift then as weeds, but pure and sacred
as tall lilies, sprang up their convent and their hos
pital of "Mary's Help." In 1860, two hundred and
seventy patients had been nursed ; the next year, five
hundred and eighteen, and, among tliose, thirty, worn
out with age, for Ufe ; and aU supported, and aU ex-

IN North America. 289
penses paid, by the daily ashing of alms from door to
door. Ah, blessed women, daughters of Charity and Mercy,
servants of the poor, spouses of Jesus, sisters of Bless
ed Mary, vestals who ward off the wrath of Justice,'
pure types of consecrate womanhood, ye are called by
many names, ye Uve by the pulse of one Heart. Other
creeds have striven to imitate you, and have gotten
exotic and bereaved plants, and these have found no
nourishment in those stranger lands, by stranger
waters. But the CathoUc sister is a strong and glori
ous tree, whose sap is the Blood of the Lord, whose
roots are planted in the Paradise on high. Think how
those sisters move about the noisome streets of pover
ty and dark infectious lanes, quietly, as by stealth,
stealing through the shadows, uncovetous of man's ap
probation. Gentle, modest flowers of hoUness ; the
fragrance of whose mercy and prayerfulness, and love
for God and man, like the scent of the Alpine rhodo
dendron, escapes the perception of man, and floats
straightway upwards to the Throne.
One day, too, shaU they all be gathered there, and
out from the Ups of Him who died for us, of the King
and Judge, these words shall flow : " My sisters, I was
an hungered and ye gave Me meat, I was thirsty and
ye gave Me drink, I was naked and ye clothed Me, sick
and ye ministered unto Me, in prison and ye visited Me.

' In pagan Rome, the passing by of a Vestal Virgin conveyed par
don to criminals doomed to death.
U 13

290 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
For inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of my poor
brethren, ye have done it unto Me. When ye consoled
the sorrowful, your words of pity sank into My wounded
heart ; it was My ear that listened when ye instructed
the pauper ; when ye reUeved the beggar, this pierced
hand took the alms ; when ye gave drink to the thirsty,
ye Ufted the cup to the lips of your Eedeemer and your
God. And these shaU go into everlasting Ufe." '
As you leave the College of Our Lady of Angels, to
cross into Canada by the Suspension Bridge, you see
above the rainbow-crowned mist the Convent of Our
Lady of Peace. It is a house of Lorettines, and, be
ing a place of pilgrimage, will be spoken of hereafter.
Let us come to Our Lady of Saint Ursula and Saint
Angela. There is an order of holy women "wonderfully raised
up," says the Collect, " in His Church by God, under
the protection of the glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of
His only-begotten Son."" These enter the Chapel,
wherein they take their veil and vows, to the music of
this solemn march :
0 GLORIOSA VIRGINUM.'
0 Mary, while thy Maker blest
Is nourished at thy virgin breast,
Such glory shines that stars, less bright,
Behold thy face and lose their light.
' St. Matthew, xxv. 34-46.
= Collect for Feast of St. Ursula.
« I find this rendering in Bishop England's Works, iv. 208.

IN North America. 291
The loss that man in Eve deplores.
Thy fruitful womb in Christ restores ;
And makes the way to heaven free
For them that mom-u to follow thee.
By thee the heavenly gates display
And show the lights of endless day.
Sing, ransomed nations ! sing, and own
Tour ransom was a Virgin's Son.
May age to age forever sing
The Virgin's Son and Angel's King,
And praise, with the celestial host.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
And then the celebrant chants solemnly, for the
postulant, Ora pro ea, Sancta Dei Genitrix ; and the
choir of sisters respond in harmony, Ut digna efficiatur
promissionibus Christi. " Pray for her, Holy Mother of
God, that she may be made worthy of the promises of
Christ."' These are the Ursulines, and to me, at least
whUe making this book, they seem inseparable, some
how, from the Sisters of Charity and Mercy. Eemem-
ber the beginning of our story, and see how they stood
side by side amid the Canadian snows. When they
were burnt out in the sharp winter of 1638-9," it was
the sisters who received them into such shelter as they
had, and clothed them for the time in their own gray
habits. At New Orleans, they had, at one time, to
perform the duties of Hospital Sisters, for they were
the only reUgious there in 1728," and for many years

> Works of Bt. Rev. Dr. England, iv. 192.
* Vide this work, pp. 40, 41.
* Annales de I'Ordre de Sainte Ursule, Clermont-Ferrand, ii. 6G1.

292 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
after. It was in their schools that the first Indian
girls were taught ; it may be there that the last shaU
learn their Ave Maria, before they perish under the
ruthless feet of the white man.
When we last saw the daughters of Saint Angela
Merici, they were in Montreal and Quebec. A century
later we find them amid the miasms of Louisiana.
Mother Mary Tranchepain, surnamed of Saint Augus
tine, and ten devoted companions, form the first band
who go to the city of New Orleans — city of so many
and varied destinies. We have her own earnest and
pious account of the voyage;' of their danger and
wreck, and their vow to Saint Mary the Virgin ; of her
perfect confidence in that good Mother, and conse
quent calm fearlessness." Afterwards she describes
the arrival and rude settlement of their community,
and then, also, she has to teU of the holy death of
three of them, as each in her turn succumbed to the
labors and the insalubrity of the climate.
On the first year of their arrival they were welcomed
by somewhat such terrors as greeted their sisters long
ago in the days of the Iroquois. The Natchez feU
upon Fort EosaUe, and massacred aU but the children.
These, or thirty at least of them, were purchased back
from the savages, and formed the first Orphan Asylum
of the Ursulines. To this they soon added other
' Relation du Voyage des premieres Ursulines a la NouveUe Orleans
et de leur etablissement en cette 'vdUe. Par la R. Mfire St. Augustin
de Tranchepain.
' Relation du Voyage, etc., pp. 15, 25, 26.

IN North America. 293
schools, one for young French ladies, one for the slave
women, a day-school for the poorer white children, a
hospital, and a Magdalen Asylum. So that not con
tent with being Ursulines, they must needs, for awhile
at least, make themselves Daughters of Charity and
Sisters of the Good Shepherd. And for all these toUs,
in 1730, seven nuns — it was aU that was left of them —
found courage and resignation in those inexhaustible
wells, the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.'
By and by there comes, in 1755, a new claim on the
charity of these brave women, a claim met heartily
and with good-wiU. It came from the extreme North,
there where Mary of the Incarnation worked and wrote
long ago. In her neighborhood, but stUl further north
and eastward, in the now British province of Nova
Scotia, was the land once known as Acadia. There
are many Protestant historians who sketch the sad
history of the cruel ruin of these settlements, but there
are no Catholic authors obtainable by me. Most
beautiful of all narratives is Longfellow's " Evange-
Une ;" but it teUs the story only of two exiles, both
of whom find their rest in another part of this vast
semi-continent, and, cradled in Nova Scotia, make
their graves in Pennsylvania. When Evangeline
wandered to Louisiana, she found only Ursuline
nuns, as there were no other religious in New Or
leans at the time of the arrival of the Acadians.
These holy women formed the provisional army of
' Life of Bishop Flaget, pp. 157, 158.

294 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Charity and Mercy during the first struggles of those
countries. They were Bretons originaUy, these Acadians, and
from that land, and from Ulustrious La Vendee, whose
warriors went to battle with the sacred Heart of Mary,
white embroidered, upon their breasts, they brought
their fideUty to the Queen of Angels, far over the
troubled Atlantic, to the wUd and ice-bound shores of
Cape Breton. They made those deserts blossom ; the
vaUeys of that boreal and breeze-swept land stood
thick with golden corn ; sixty thousand head of horned
cattle soon grazed upon the pastures tUled by their
careful and industrious hands. The flax which they
cultivated, and the flocks which they reared, spun and
woven by the nimble fingers of their pious women,
clothed the Acadian farmers. Each family was 'jveU
able to provide for its own wants, so that there were
no poor, and little barter. The blessing of paper-
money had not lighted upon them, and they had little
or no use for the slight stock of gold and silver which
they possessed. They kept as clear of the court of
justice as they did of the trader's exchange. The
elders of the vUlages settled all slight quarrels ; they
carried the greater to the priest. He drew their pub
lic acts, recorded their wiUs, kept them instructed in
the law of God, consecrated their lives by Sacraments,
kept vivid in their souls devotion to Mary Im
maculate. His salary was the twenty-seventh part
of the harvest — always more than he needed, for
there were no poor. "Misery was whoUy imkno'sm,

m North America. 295
and benevolence anticipated the demands of pov
erty." '
The Acadian married j^oung, chose his own partner
for Ufe, and she brought him her portion in fiocks and
herds. When the union had been determined on, the
whole community built the young couple a house,
broke up the lands about it, supplied them with life's
necessaries for a twelvemonth, and bade them God
speed. The population numbered eighteen thousand
souls. And when their sun was at its serenest the
storm came down. In 1762 this charge was brought
against them, " That the Council were fuUy convinced
of theh strict attachment to the French king, and their
readiness at aU times to take part with and assist
him." " This was the cloud, and from it the lightning
soon feU. In the Octave of Our Lady's Seven Sorrows,
September 17, they stood upon the shore surrounded
with bayonets whicli were to drive them, if resisting,
into the vessels prepared for their deportation. Their
houses, churches, barns, and miUs had been given to
the flames — two hundred and fifty-three of these burn
ing at once in a single settlement, five hundred lying
in ashes in another. Some fied and perished in the
woods, some made good their escape, most of them
submitted to the force employed.
Back from the cold beach about a mile stood the

' Haliburton, C. J., i. 172.
' Proceedings of his Majesty's Council on the subject of the removal
of the Acadians in 1762, extracted from Council books.

296 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Church of Our Lady of Acadie. There they gathered
for the last time, while Father Eeynal offered the Holy
Mysteries for them. Then they marched slowly out,
weeping, telUng their beads, chanting the Litanies of
the Blessed Virgin, singing hymns to her eternal Son
and her. AU the way from that chapel to the shore
the mournful procession passed through the kneeling
ranks of their wUd weeping mothers and wives, of their
sisters and little children ; and when the men had
passed, these rose and followed to the ships. And so,
driven aboard, they passed away over the strange seas,
in that Octave of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The sun went down. Such of the poor women as
were left found shelter where they could for them
selves and their children, and the provincial soldiery
stood in their ranks upon the sands, alone in a once
beautiful and fertUe country, " without a foe to sub
due, or a population to protect. But the volumes of
smoke," says the Protestant historian, "Avhich the
half-expiring embers emitted, while they marked the
site of the peasant's cottage, bore testimony to the ex
tent of the work of destruction. For several succes
sive evenings the cattle gathered round the smoking
niins, as if in expectation of the return of their masters,
and all night long the faithful watch-dogs howled over
the scene of desolation, and mourned alike the hand
that had fed and the house that had sheltered them.'"

' Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia, by Hon. Chief
Justice Haliburton. Halifax, 1829, i. 180, 181.

IN North America. 297
All these sad victims were sown like wild-flower
seeds, by chance, as it were, aU along the North Amer
ican coast from Main to Louisiana. No regard was
paid to family ties : daughters were separated from
their mothers, wives from husbands, and little chUdren
from their families. Such of the latter, a large num
ber, as reached New Orleans, formed the second in
heritance of orphans which fell to the Ursulines of the
South. There, at least, these Uttle ones found a home.
Many a trial to their faith, hope, and patience, had
the community of New Orleans to sustain. First, want,
and labor, and poverty, — but these were natural to the
missionary nun ; then the loss of eighteen of their
number at once, who retired to Havana on the pur
chase of Louisiana by the United States Government ;'
then by the decay of reUgious spirit among the people,
only revived by the coming of Bishop Dubourg. They
knew where to have recourse in their sorrows. The
good bishop having obtained for them the permission
of the Holy Father to that effect, they placed them
selves under the especial protection of Saint Mary,
and caUed themselves thenceforward Ursulines of the
Presentation of Our Lady." And then, at the close of
1814, ha'ring finished their chapel, they erected the
statue of our Lady of Swift Help, Notre Dame de
Prompt Secours, and thither go the Ursulines for com
fort now. In that same year of 1815, an army threat-

¦ Servantes de Dieu : La Roche Heron, p. 28.
' This was effected on January 16, 1813
13*

298 Devotion to B. V. Mart
ened the town of New Orleans, and General Andrew
Jackson commanded its defences. And while Old
Hickory swore and fought hard, the daughters of Saint
Angela knelt before the statue of Notre Dame, and
behind them knelt the women of the city, lady and
negress side by side, aU, with earnest suppUcation,
pouring forth the Litany of " Our Lady of Prompt
Succor." And the cannon that thundered without,
and the rattle of musketry, and the shouts of the
fighters went their way also. Perhaps, since then,
with the same or greater agony of supplication, they
may have prayed this Litany ; perhaps they are pray
ing it now, October, 1862.
We will condense it for economy of space. After the
usual Kyrie eleison and invocation of the Most Holy
Trinity, of " Holy Mary," and of " Mother of the In
fant Jesus," it is in substance as follows :
Our Lady of Prompt Help, Pray for us.
Our Lady, Prompt Help of those who invoke thee
¦with confidence ; of those devout to the Infant Jesus ;
of those yearning for an earnest and enlightened faith ;
of penitents ; of afflicted famiUes ; of the poor and in
firm ; of travellers ; of mariners ; of the shipwrecked ;
of those in the last agony ; of the souls in purgatory,
Pray for us.
Our Lady, Prompt Help to obtain and preserve
charity; to observe the law of God; to obtain con
trition and perseverance in the practice of good works,
Pray for us.
Our Lady, Prompt Help in the conversion of sin-

IN North America. 299
ners ; in the wants of the soul ; in occasions of sin ; in
temptation ; in necessities of the body ; in the acci
dents of life ; in confiagration ; in inundation ; in en
lightening unbeUevers ; in the conversion of heretics.
Pray for us. •
Our Lady, Prompt Help against impurity ; against
the revolt of the wiU from God's will ; against lightning
and tempests ; against contagious diseases ; against the
Evil One, Pray for us.
Our Ladj', Prompt Help of the people of New Orleans ;
of those who fight in defence of their country ; against
our enemies. Pray for us.
O God, who beholdest us encompassed on aU sides
by dangers and miseries ; grant us in Thy goodness
that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God Thy
only Son, may defend us from the malignant enemy,
and protect us against all adversity; that she may
ever, by prompt help, deliver us from the necessities
of body and soul, and with her powerful hand lead us
in safety to the kingdom of heaven ; through, etc'
In 1823 these noble Ursulines of New Orleans were
strengthened by a colony of six from Old Quebec
again ; and in 1861 by others from the convent of St.
Martin, in Ohio. Let us move that way. Up from
the French capital, following Marquette's Eiver of the
Immaculate Conception to the Ohio, first known to
those Jesuit servants of Mary who died beneath the

' Find this Litany printed in St. John's Manual. Dunigan &
Pro.. New York, 1857, p. 1136.

300 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Iroquois tomahawk and scalping-knife, to the cathedral
town of Cincinnati; and thence back into the new
country, where, since July 21, in the Octave of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel, 1845, they have been training
souls in the love of God and Mary.
As you approach it, you are struck 'with the features
of American natural beauty which surround it : we
once heard an eloquent guest compare it to the Happy
VaUey of Easselas, a valley in, but not of the world.
We would rather liken it to the mountain-top, as being
more isolated, and higher up, nearer to God than val
leys are or may be. Mountain-top or vaUey, however,
this place is like a result of the traditional recoUection
of Eden. The broad plains covered with corn, vine
yards, and orchards, or lying in wide sheets of dark
green meadow, daisy-spotted and arabesqued by
brooks ; the stately, calm nobleness of ancient forests,
Unden and oak and maple and locust ; then over and
through all this, the humming of bees and golden
beetles in the noon, and the flashing of phosphoric
fire-fUes, diamond-Uke luminous in the dusk ; and the
constant, varied song of unhunted birds, from the
pure, sweet whistle of the golden yellow-bird, through
robin and red-bird, quaU-pipe, screech of blue-jay, low
coo of purple-throated dove, to the varied utterance
of the reddish mocking-bird, and the sweet, rolUcking
song of the bobolink, rocking on a muUen top.
First you see the Uttle church, usuaUy with half a
dozen birds upon its cross, making you think of that
Ecce enim passer invenit domum, etc. Behold the spar'

IN North America. 301
roiu hath found her a house, and the turtle-dove a nest
ivhere she may lay her young, even Thine altars, 0 Lord
of Hosts, my King and my God.' Then you see the
presbytery where two holy priests. Fathers Gacon and
Cheymol have, Uke their Master, been " doing good"
for twenty years ; and then you see, amid the trees,
the noble Convent of the devoted daughters of St.
Ursula. Another colony comes to Cleveland. Their bishop,
Mgi'. Eappe, receives them in their chapel 'with Bene
diction of the Blessed Sacrament, the first time there,
on the feast of the Virgin's Assumption. In the Oc
tave of the Immaculate Conception, their chapel re
ceived by its consecration that beautiful title as its
own. On the festival of the Annunciation, the first
Communion of the pupils took place. Go further north
and you find them stUl ; at three Eivers, at the Sant
Sainte Marie, chUdren these, too, of the 'antique pio
neers of Quebec. And these of the North now count
over seventeen thousand pupils, instructed in more
than the ordinary branches, some in the highest of
women's studying ; best of aU, instructed in the lore of
love of God, and devotion to the Model of Christian
women, the stainless and gentle Mary."
But we must retrace our way, back down the Father
of Waters, to what, so short a time ago, was wilder
ness ; to far-off Texas, to Galveston and San Antonio.

' Psalm ixxxiii. 3.
2 Annales de I'Ordre de Sainte Ursule, ii. 550, 556.

302 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Sister Saint Ambrose will be our guide.' From South
ern France, she — from Auch, in diocese of Toulouse.
" Good-by, fair France !" she writes from Havre ; "fare
well, my good Mother Superior, and aU my sisters.
We confessed, heard Mass, and received the Holy
Communion this morning at Notre Dame. Earnestly
we called upon Mary, and besought her to offer us to
her Divine Son : then, at her feet, we bade adieu to aU
whom we love. Good-by, till heaven." It was on the
eve of the Annunciation of Our Lady that they sailed.
On the Feast of her Visitation they were at their home
in Galveston. It was on an island, she tells us, flat,
without a single spring ; they drank unfiltered rain
water there, as in Africa and elsewhere. They are de
voured by mosquitos ; overrun with sharp-biting ants.
The convent is of wood. "Not much of a palace,"
says Sister Saint Ambrose, " but finer than our Lord's
at Bethlehem." For her own presidential room, she
has a plank hut, a shanty in the garden ; with a rough
wooden cross made by herself, and below it, pasted on
the waU, une petite image de Marie, — a little picture of
Mary. " Send us some help, good mother," she writes to
France ; " young sisters, in good health. Make them
study English thoroughly, without going before the
mirror to practise the th. Preach to them weU.
Promise them, that if they come here, they shall have
affliction, privation, humUiation, suffering, and temp-
' Annales, ii. 571, 608.

in North America. 303
tation of aU sorts and 'without end.'" The Protestant
ministers preach a crusade against them : it sends all
the curious to look at and listen to them. Ministers
mock at the poverty of their convent ; it sets people
thinking, and converts come in by the dozen. A hur
ricane sweeps away the roof ; the rain-storm that fol
lows drenches the house. "Never mind," says Sister
Saint Ambrose, "we sail in the good ship, 'The Divine
WiU,' peacefuUy and joyously, and are confident that
Mary 'vrill bring us safe to port."
After a little, in the summer of 1853, the yellow fever
and the cholera together furm'sh them with new ex
periences. In New Orleans two thousand persons
perish in a single week : the dead-cart rumbles per
petually over the pavement. In Galveston these
plagues decimate the population. "But all our con
fidence is in Mary, who we know 'wiU help us to keep
ready for our appearance before our Lord." Prayers
are ordered, of course, by Monseigneur Odin. To
these the Ursulines add a particular devotion to
Mary. In the Octave of Our Lady's Nativity in Sep
tember, almost in the tropics, a severe frost sets in and
the terrible scourges are checked. " No doubt," says
the pious sister, " we owe this favor to Blessed Mary ;
therefore we intend to make a devotion in her honor
immediately, at once to recognize her kindness in
banishing the plagues, and to beg her continuous pro
tection for our community."
There were, before the sickness, seven priests and a
deacon in the then new settlement ; after it, there re-

304 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
mained two priests. This was October, 1853, and Sister
Saint Ambrose says, "We hope that Mary wiU preserve
these two. In our house we have not had a single
case, neither among the religious nor the scholars.
The true, the only reason for this is the ' devotion' of
which I have spoken, offered by the community unto
Mary."THE VOW OF THE GALVESTON URSULINES TO THE IM-
MACULATE HEART OF MARY,
Consecrating themselves to it in gratitude toe theie pbes-
euvation fkom the scottrge op 1853, and to assure them
selves a continuation op her love. october 9, 1853.
" O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, deign to
look upon this community of the daughters of Saint
Angela, who, prostrate before thee, render thee their
homage and implore thy protection.
" Eemember, O Mary, that the Most High has made
thee the dispenser of His bounty ; and that He has
only made thee so powerful, so rich, and so good, that
thou mayst give us succor in our wretchedness. Thou
seest the calamities which afflict this land; perhaps
our want of ardor in thy service has been the only
cause of them. Help us now worthily to repair our
forgetfulness and our ingratitude. Eevenge thyseU,
we pray thee ; but revenge thyself, O tender Mother,
by piercing our hearts with a sword of love for thy
dear Son and thee. Henceforth we wish to be thy
most devoted servants. We choose thee for our
Queen, our Mother, our Advocate, and our Patroness.

IN North America. 305
To thee we dedicate and consecrate ourselves, and our
convent, and the hearts of all who dwell or shall dweU
therein forever. Queen of Virgins, deign to accept
the irrevocable gift of ourselves, which, in the sight
of heaven and earth, we make to thee this day. And
that we may obtain thy strong protection for this con
vent, wMch is now thine own, we solemnly engage—
" 1. To dedicate our new convent and its church to
God, under the title of the Immaculate Conception.
" 2. To make a nine days' devotion before each of
our feasts.
" 3. To make a procession in thy honor on the feasts
of thy Immaculate Conception, thy Nativity, thy An
nunciation, and Assumption.
" 4. On each of these days to cause the Most Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered for these intentions.
"O, our dear Mother, crown all the kindness thou
hast shown us by the grace of a holy and happy death,
that so, one day, we may aU ascend to love thee, and
to bless thee forever in heaven. Amen." '
The Mother Superior, Sister Saint Jane de Chantal,
read this vow aloud in the presence of the Most
Blessed Sacrament exposed. A young girl, white-
fobed, held a wax-Ught near her. " We sang the hymn
and chorus of Our Lady of Victories, Ndtre Dame des
Victoires ; then the Superior, in the name and by the
consent of all the sisterhood, pronounced the vow of
consecration. Then, afterwards, we sang the hymn,
' Annales de I'Ordre de Saint Ursule, ii. 593.
V

306 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
I am the child of sweet Mary,
And that Mother beloved doth bless me each day ;
I am the child of sweet Mary,
'Tis the cry of my heart, 'tis my chorus alway.
How blest is he, 0 tender Mother,
' Who in thy ranks hath chosen his part !
There is on earth no bliss more perfect.
Than his who gives to thee his heart.'
" Then came the Tantum Ergo, and, after the bene
diction, the Te Deum. Our statue of the Virgin we
had decorated with our best taste and power, and she
seemed to us more gracious than ordinary."
Fire next ; but Mary shows her tenderness in that ;
and though the buildings be of pine, and the column
of flame is visible from afar, but little damage is done.
The Convent of the Immaculate Conception grows
rapidly the while. Next year comes the fever. " The
houses around us are all draped in mourning : our con
vent alone escapes without a single case." At the cathe
dral, a priest, the Abbe Metz, falls victim. " Thanks to
our Mother Mary, so good, so tender ! May the people
here learn her gentleness and love her." There are
more hurricanes. Once, the gulf and the bay threaten
' Je suis I'enfant de Marie,
Et ma mere cherie me biSnit chaque jour ;
Je suis Tenfant de Marie,
C'est le ci'i de mon coeur, c'est mon refrain d'amour.
Qu'il est heureux, 0 tendre mere,
Celui qui t'a donne son coeur I
Est-U un etat sur la terre
Qui puisse egaler son bonheur ?
— Cantique d Marie Immaculee.

IN North America. 307
to unite their waters and submerge the island. The
Ume takes fire and burns away— four hundred doUars'
worth. A hurricane unroofs the town. Mcds, Marie
nous a protege— E\xi Mary protected us. The other
sisters are rather busy, but " I," Sister Saint Ambrose,
" only teach French, writing, drawing, embroidery, and
a feio hours of classes !" And so let us bid fareweU to
Sister Saint Ambrose and her convent of the Immacu
late Conception, — safe there on that island, with the
moan of the American Mediterranean for perpetual
deep basso to the hymns of the Ursulines.
SaU now along the gulf where the coast trends south
ward and westward, tiU you reach Espiritu Santo, the
Bay of the Holy Ghost. Into that pour two streams ;
the larger is the river of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the
second is Saint Anthony's river. Tracing the latter
up, some hundred and fifty mUes from the beach, you
wUl come to its head-waters and the ancient Span
ish town and new Ursuline convent of San Antonio.
Let us Usten to an extract from the letters of Sister
Saint Joseph, as Mother Saint Angela reads them
aloud to the community in far-off French BrignoUes.
Country, she thinks, rather savage. Our cloister
waU consists of certain stakes set in the earth and
connected by iron wire. Father Dubois, priest of the
parish, made our grand gate. Cattle are numerous, a
circumstance unfavorable to sleep. Besides this, hun
dreds of wolves' prowl round the cabins by night, and
• Prairie wolves, coyotes.

308 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
if not particularly dangerous, are at least an insuffer
able nuisance, for they howl the whole night through.
Any lack of needful peril is made up by the great
abundance of rattlesnakes. " One day we found a
large one in the kitchen, coiled up upon a plate."
Sister Saint Joseph begs a place in men's memory of
the animal kingdom at San Antonio for the fleas. She
says that they are many; that they last for five
months each season. She decUnes to commit herself
to any definite census of them, but quotes from a
letter of Father Dubuis. " Even now, while I write to
you, there are more than three thousand in my boots." '
These are the amusements at San Antonio : for the
work there has no measurement except the capacities
and phj'sical strength of each. For consolation and
support they too have their little chapel of the Im
maculate Conception, the inner joy of conformity to
God's wiU, the assurance of Mary's love and pro
tection. Let that noble type of the missionary bishop, Mgr.
Odin, tell a story of the Convent of San Antonio.
" A young girl, sixteen years of age, belonging to a
Protestant family, after having spent three years in
the Convent of San Antonio, and often expressed the
desire of receiving baptism and becoming a CathoUc,
concluded that if she returned to her parents she
would never have the happiness of embracing our holy
' Annales, ii. 607.

IS North America. 309
religion. She consequently asked her father to per
mit her to remain some time longer at school. Three
days after receiving the permission to remain she fell
Ul. From the first she declared that she should never
get better, and again requested to be baptized. The
Superior recommended her to wait some time longer,
hoping that she would be better ; but a few days hav
ing elapsed, she said to the Mother Superior, ' I have
only a few minutes to live ; for God's sake let me be
baptized.' The priest was sent for, the young person
received the sacrament of regeneration, and died a few
hours afterwards in the most sublime sentiments of
piety. " She had scarcely been buried a fortnight, ere the
Protestant newspapers published anonymous letters,
in which this young person's death was questioned.
This report gained credence in the public mind ; it was
intimated that the religious had shut her up in a
dungeon, in order to force her ultimately to join their
community. Between three and four months after the
interment, the father of the young person, accom
panied by several Protestants, presented himself at
the convent to verify the fact, and was conducted to
the tomb which contained the mortal remains. The
grave was opened, then the coffln : the deceased was
found in a perfect state of preservation, and even more
beautiful than on the day of her death ; her white robe
had not received a single stain. The father recogniz
ing her, cried out, ' O my daughter !' Then he wept
bitterly, and uttered no word of complaint against the

310 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
religious, for he was convinced that these good sisters
had done aU in their power to preserve the life of his
child. " Some time after this event, the sister sacristan,
while cleaning the chapel, found, under the foot of the
statue of the Blessed Virgin, a charming letter, which
the pious gUi had addressed to the Queen of Angels,
asking of her, in terms of admirable simplicity, to ob
tain, from her Divine Son, for the writer, the grace of
not dying without baptism.' " t John Mart,
" Bishop of Galveston."
And now, with a fact or two about the connection of
the UrsuUnes with the Devotion to the Mother of God
in North America, we wiU say good-by to those noble
and exemplary ladies. And first : their distinct mis
sion of education is to the girls and young women of
the wealthier classes. They always have schools for
poor children attached. The North American Ursu
Unes, or rather the Ursulines in North America, for,
with a few EngUsh exceptions, they are chiefiy French,
have taught love, confidence, and hope in Christ,
through His beloved Mother, to more than thirty thou
sand of the wealthier persons of this country. Ah,
what may that not effect ; thirty thousand seeds* sown,
of respect for marriage, of maternal duty, of honor to
authority, of reverence to Blessed Mary, of love of
' Annals of tho Propagation of the Faith, November, 1859.

IN North America 311
God, of fear of sin, of love of virtue, of habitual sdf-
governmenf, meaning thereby, domination of one's o'wn
individual passions. Ten Ursulines, or ten of their
pupUs who observe and keep what the Ursulines teach
them, would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah. Here
there are eleven houses of the Order.
To conclude this chapter let us borrow an article or
two from the Constitutions.
Article I. Devotion to the Blessed Mother of God
being earnestly recommended to aU reUgious com
munities, inasmuch as she is their Lady and Mother,
as weU as the sole perfect model of the life which they
should lead, the reUgious of this Order of Saint Ursula
are more particularly bounden to this duty, so that by
her intercession and especial protection they may labor
more fruitfuUy to form Jesus Christ in the hearts of
young girls, and to instU into those hearts the virtues
of Mary, according to the spirit of then' institute.
Article II. Therefore, in every convent, the BlessgiJ**
Virgin Mary shall be especiaUy chosen for,.£-rgrand
chief Superior, which election shaU be thus made :
Article III. On the day appointed by proper au
thority, aU the reUgious of a community being as
sembled in chapel, wherein shaU be placed a statue of
the Blessed Virgin, holding in her sacred arms the
Infant Jesus, they sliaU invoke the Holy Ghost, by
saying or singing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus.
Then shaU foUow some prayers to the Mother of God,
and after that the Mother Superior shaU place the
keys of the convent at the foot of the statue, and, aU

312 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
kneeling, she shaU offer her charge and the convent to
Our Lady by some devout prayer. Then the Mother
Superior shaU render homage to the Blessed Virgin by
kissing the feet of her image, and aU the sisters shaU
do so in turn, passing processionaUy, and singing the
Te Deum la,udamus.
And this, with what is already recorded,' is a faint
sketch of what the Ursulines have to do 'with Devotion
to Mary in North America.
' See this work, pp. 33-47.

IN North America. 313

CHAPTEE XVI.
Vaeiods Okders of Odr Lady — Pilgrimages to Onit Ladt or Peace,
OF Merot, of Gkaoe, and back to Our Lady of Good Help in
Montreal.
It is to be understood that every religious order is
devoted in some way to the Blessed Virgin. But in
our extreme dearth of material we can only signaUze
a few besides those already given. The Ladies of the
Sacred Heart are too weU known to need any descrip
tion. They are in Oregon and New Orleans, in New
York and Missouri. They had, in 1853, twelve estab
Ushments for education : they numbered two hundred
reUgious in the United States.' The Princess GalUtzin,
cousin of the heroic prince-priest already sketched,'
was one of the earliest and most energetic developers
of this Order in North America. She died of yellow
fever in Louisiana in the year 1843. In Canada they
have forty-three reUgious. We can allude to only one
of the good works of this devout order of women, of
which the influence on Devotion to Our Lady in North
America is most evident, and by which their zeal for
that devotion may be partiaUy estimated. It is what

' Servantes de Dieu, etc., pp. 93, 93.
» See this work, p. 229.
14

314 Devotion to the B V- Mart
the French caU an external association,' composed ol
young ladies who in secular society retain their desire
to advance, even there, the cause of religion.
It is called " Association of the ChUdren of Mary in
the World," and is composed, in the first instance, of
those who have been educated in the schools of the
Sacred Heart, under the superintendence of a reUgious
of which order every society is placed. Any other per
son, however, desiring to share in the pririleges may
be admitted, after the prescribed tests of fitness have
been made. The principal object of the members is to
cherish a tender love for the Divine Heart of Jesus,
modelUng their love upon that which Mary bore her
adorable Son. They meet on the first Saturday of
every month at the Convent of the Sacred Heart,
where they Usten to an instruction, after having as
sisted at Mass and received the Sacraments of Pen
ance and the Most Holy Eucharist. Then the various
labors and undertakings of the several members are
discussed. " Our Society," one writes to me from a
metropolis, " is large and fiourishing. Many are at
tracted to it by the simple sweetness of the title,
' Children of Mary,' and, inspired by filial love, aim
diUgently to acquire the virtues which should charac
terize the children of such a Mother. You may ima
gine how great must be the infiuence of such an
association ; and it is consoling to think how, more
and more, in our community here, this influence is
' Congregations externes.

m North America. 315
extending among the wealthier and more educated
classes in general society, removing antipathies, soft
ening prejudices, and gently but surely instilUng the
principles of Faith."
Some such external association is, I believe, directed
by the Sisters of Mercy and of Our Lady of the Visit
ation. There is, then, an order in the dioceses of Michigan
and PhUadelphia, elsewhere perhaps, who are called
" Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary." Their
objects are the instruction of youth ; the founding of
CathoUc schools ; the care, if necessary, of orphans ;
the instruction of young girls for first communion.
Their churches, convents, and schools are all placed
under the immediate protection of Our Blessed Im
maculate Mother. Then- uniform is of her colors, blue
and white ; in aU their exercises they have particular
exercises in honor of the Immaculate Conception ; and
in honor of that sacred mystery they commence even
then- recreations with a " Hail Mary." '
There is no end to the variety of titles under which
the devotees of Mary seek to express their love for
Our dear Lady. Some choose for especial devotion
that grand Mystery of her preparation to bring forth
the Eedeemer of the world, called the Immaculate
Conception ; others choose the Visitation, and find the
sanctification of children to be their distinct work in
this world. Some caU themselves Lorettines, in rever-
» Letter of Rev. M. Callaert, October 18, 1861

316 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
ence of that particular Lady-chapel. Some honor es
peciaUy Our Lady of the Presentation, and these aU
take, in religion, the name of Mary. One Society is
called " Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and
Mary ;" another is the " Commimity of Our Lady of
Charity of the Good Shepherd" — of Him who said,
" As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, so will I seek
out my sheep and will deUver them out of aU places
wherein they were scattered in the dark and cloudy
day. I wUl seek that which was lost, and bring again
that which was driven away, and wUl bind up that
which was broken, and will strengthen that which was
sick. And I wiU make with them a covenant of peace,
and wiU cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land ;
and they shaU dweU safely in the wUderness ; they
shaU sleep even in the woods. For ye, My flock, the
flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God,
saith the Lord God." '
This is the community, the first idea whereof sprang
from a brave woman of the working classes, Madelaine
I'Amy ; but the first who put on the habit and pro
nounced the vows, was a child of one of the haugh
tiest and most ancient houses of Normandy, Mademoi-
' Sicut visitat pastor gregem suam, sic visitabo oves meas, et libe-
rabo eas de omnibus locis in quibus dispersje fiierunt in die nubis et
caliginis. Quod perierat requiram, et quod abjectum erat reducam,
et quod confractum fuerat alligabo et quod infirmum fuerat consoli-
dabo. Et faciam cum eis pactum paci'<, ct cessaro faciam bastias pes-
simas de terra et qui habitant in deserto, securi dormient in saltibus.
Vos autem greges mei, greges pascufe mess homines estis, et ego Domi
nus Deus vester dicit Dominus Deus. — Ezechiel, xxxiv. 11, 13, 16, 35, 31.

IN North America. 317
seUe de TaiUefer. Now nearly eight hundred of these
devoted women are laboring to reclaim their ruined
sisters. " We are touched," it has been said by a
certain writer, " we are touched by the devotion of
those chaste spouses of Christ, who have consecrated
themselves to education ; of those who deny them
selves the supreme joy of motherhood, to become
mothers and servants of the orphan poor. We ven
erate those who have made themselves, for God's sake,
the inseparable companions of contagion and infec
tion ; breathing, as it were by predUection, the putrid
miasms of the hospital ; cleansing the loathsome ulcer,
binding up the bleeding wound, sustaining feebleness,
watching over idiocy or madness.
"But what shaU we think of those religious who
choose for their daily companions the most degraded
of their sex, so as to win those poor lost sheep back to
the flock and fold of God ? What shaU we say of Vir
tue going to look for Vice, of Modesty searching out
Eibaldry, overcoming the mere instincts of respecta-
bUity to save one brand from the burning, one immor
tal soul from heU, for the love of that eternal King
who died for us aU ? Ah ! in the msufferable wicked
mockery of that noblest of EngUsh words, ' loyalty,' in
the midst of those floods of trash which men dare to
call, now-a-days, by that pure and Christian and
beautiful name, how encouraging to him who has eyes
and who looks out of them, to see one set of holy
women, if that were aU, loyal in its only sense, loyal to
their King !"

318 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
I do not Icnow whether it be a rule of this Order or
not, but I observe, in looking over the lists of three or
four institutions, that aU of the religious are named
Mary. They have been in the United States, so far as
I can discover, since 1842.
The Ladies of Loretto are also all called Mary ; and
I beg my readers particularly to note these Uttle
points. It is the st^-aiv which shows how the wind
blows ; in breeze, or gale, or tornado the clay-bank
stands stupidly steadfast. So many of these Domini
cans, Lorettines, Good Shepherds, Trappists, Carmel
ites, are all caUed Mary, and only inteUectual obesity
can be dull to the infiuence of a name. The Lorettines
spoken of above come from Dalkey Abbey in Ireland,
but the institute originated in Bavaria among the loyal
British exiles who had taken refuge there in the last
struggle of the Stuart. In North America, since 1845,
they are discoverable by me only in Toronto and at
Niagara FaUs. At the former place their convent is
known as Our Lady of Loretto, at the Falls it is Our
Lady of Peace. The grand cataract itself has been
consecrated by his lordship Doctor Lynch to the
Blessed Virgin of Peace,' and the Holy Father has
been pleased to grant the privileges of pilgrimage to
this convent.
He grants a plenary indulgence to those who, after
the usual preparation, shall receive the Most Holy

' Kind and courteous letter from V. R. Mr. Northgraves, October,
1861.

IN North Ajmerica. 319
Communion and pray in the church for " the concord
of Christian princes, the peaceful triumph of Our Holy
Mother the Chmch, the extirpation of heresy, and the
conversion of sinners." "Pius, PP. IX., for ever
lasting memory of the fact : — It has been shown Us by
our venerable brother John Lynch, now Bishop of
Toronto, that he intends to estabUsh a pUgrimage to
the Church of the Blessed Virgin, caUed Our Lady of
Peace, situated within his diocese at the Falls of
Niagara. We have granted, therefore, to the pilgrims
making this pUgrimage the indulgences attached to
the prescribed and annexed prayers." ' It was on the
Sunday within the Octave of Our Lady's Ascension
that the church was dedicated. Hundreds of pilgrims,
after hearing Mass in the city of Toronto, proceeded
by steamer and raUway to the shrine. And when they
came back, at least upon the steamer, they chanted,
with the sublime, perpetual voice of the cataract for
basso, the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin. After which
all knelt, with their faces towards Toronto, in adora
tion of the Blessed Sacrament, thanking the Eedeemer,
there present, for their preservation from aU casualties

' Pius P. P. IX. ad perpetuam rei memoriam. Exponendum nobis
nuper curarit 'Venerabilis Frater Joannes Lynch hodiernus Episcopus
Toruntinus sibi in r.tiimo esse instituere sacram peregrinationem ad
ecclesiam Beatse Marise Virginis, cui nomen a Pace, sitam ad prceci-
pites lapsus aquarum loci " Niagara" qui nominatur, dictoe diojcesis.
Enixas ideo preces Nobis admovit ut pro fidelibus prsefatani sacram
peregrinationem, peragentibus caelestes indulgentiarum thesauros de
benignitate Nostra, reserare dignaremus." — die 1 Martii, MDCCCiLXI
Ponti Meatus nostri anno decimo-iuinto.

320 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
during that, the first pUgrimage to Our Lady of
Peace. And now from Our Lady of Peace, riding do'mi the
shore and past the tower where swing the inter-
wreathed crosses of Saint Andrew and Saint George,
we may cross the bridge and stand, in view of the star-
spangled banner, near Our Lady of the Cataract and
the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels. Not to delay,
but to hurry eastward, by a little south, through the
land of the old Iroquois Missions, of Jogues and Gou-
pU's martyrdom, of Tegahkouita's and Garacontie's
birth ; past Saint Mary's church at Medina, the Na
tivity of the Blessed Virgin at Brockport, the Immacu
late Conception at Eochester, the Assumption at Syra
cuse, the Visitation at Saratoga, to the handsome
Gothic heights of the Cathedral of the Immaculate
Conception in Albany, once the metropoUs of antique
Dutchmen. Then down the grand Hudson, through the flat lands
which won the Batavian heart so many years ago,
through the majestic Highlands, over the sparkling
river. We touch our hats as we pass Saint Mary's of
Hudson, Saugerties, Poughkeepsie, and New Ham
burg ; Our Lady of Loretto at Cold Spring ; Immacu
late Conception at Port Jervis ; Our Lady of Mercy at
Portchester ; Immaculate Conception at Melrose ; the
Church of the Madonna at Fort Lee ; and then, land
ing at Hoboken, within sight of the taU commanding
pile of the Immaculate Conception in Jersey City,
across Harsimus Bay, we linger in Hoboken to say a

IN Noirrn Am^RicA. 321
prayer or twain at the shrines of Our Lady of Mercy
and Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken.
WhUe the energetic and devoted Father Cauvin was
buUding the church of Our Lady of Mercy, a pious
layman was providing an altar-piece in Eome. It was
an accident, a chance, a providence, which you wiU.
But the facts are these. When Father Cauvin wrote
to his fi'iond and protector. Cardinal Brignole, for an
altar-piece, he received an immediate reply. Some
time before, the Signor Paci-Ippoliti had caused a
copy of the Madonna delta Misericordia of Eimini to be
made, and had begged the cardinal to present it to
some American mission. Mr. CauA'in's letter foUowed
closely on this, and West Hoboken received the pic
ture. It gave to the church its title, as you may see,
if you Uke, above the great door, where the inscription
reads thus : MATER MISERICORDIA.
Mother of Grace, 0 Mary, hear I
Mother of Mercy, lend thine earl
From raging foes our souls defen ,
And take us when our life shall end.
The dedication of the church was a solemn one : the
preacher was His Grace the Archbishop of New York,
and a large attendance of clergy and devout laity
thronged the aisles. The painting, covered with a
curtain, was above the altar, and when it was with-
dra'wn, and thfi Ave Maria rang forth from the choir,
all feU upon thoir knees and joined in that beautiful
vr Ii*

322 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
prayer to Our Lady of Mercy.' But the greatest
honor paid to her was that which came across the sea
from Italy — the fervently faithful devotion of the truly
Italian CathoUc heart of Signor Ippoliti. From the
moment he was told that his picture had found its
mission-home, he wrote to Father Cauvin that he be
gan to place unlimited confidence in Our Lady of
Mercj', through the prayers of the devout people of
the parish. And then he tells how, on the thirtieth of
January, 1853, he was engaged in certain exporiaif>Et.s
with gunpowder. He thought, happened to think, ho
says, of the church in Hoboken, and recommended
himself particularly to the care of Our Lady as vener
ated there, just as he entered the n.arrow .ind close
room which was the scene of his experiments.
He had a very large qiirmlily of pcvfder flioro, when
he went in, " giving himself up to Mary with the samo
filial confidence as a child's, when it throws itscK into
its mother's arms."" In a few moments the whole in
flammable mass had exploded about his head and face.
The windows and doors of the room were shattered to
pieces, the whole house was shaken, but, as he says,
" by tho mercy of God ojtd his blessed Mother," the
servant of Mary was uninjured. The same year, in
gratitude for his preservation, he leaves a foundation
in perpetuum to the church of Our Lady of Mercy.
When the Passionist Fathers were sent there by the
' Courrier des Etats-Unis, November 27, 1853 ; Freeman's Journal,
same date.
" Letter from Signor Ippoliti, August, 1853

IN North America. 323
Ordinary, Father Cauvin resigned his pastorate to
them, and moving eastward into the midst of the town,
founded there the church of Our Lady of Grace.
There the pilgrim, for these are aU pilgrimages, wiU
find an exquisitely fine copy of that Madonna of
Eafael's which is tuovv'n as del Foligno; that one
where you see Our Lady, with her divine eternal Son
in her arms, surrounded by cherubic heads of extreme
finish and beauty. Below stand or kneel Saint John
the Baptist, Saint Augustine, Saint Benedict, and Saint
Francis of Assisium. In the centre a cherub holds an
iminscribed tablet. This is the grand picture, the
altar-piece as we may say, of the Church of Out' Lady
of Grace ; and outside, over the great door, is set a
tablet bearing this inscription :
gratiarum -virgini.
And here the pilgrims are frequent and numerous.
Some thirty ex votos, in gratitude for graces, cures, or
conversions ob(ained by her intercession, already hang
at the altar of the Sacred Patroness. What is said to
be a relic of her veil is piously preserved in the church,
and the Papal benediction is by especial permission
imparted each year on the feast of the Eosary.
His lordship the Bishop of New Jersey testified his
veneration for tho shrine by solemnly crowning the
picture ; hoping, by that act of honor and veneration
to our blessed Lady, to increase the devotion of the
faithful to the Mother of Grace, and to consecrate a
shrine fuU of invitation to tho needy and the sorrowfuL

324 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
There is a large number of pictures of unusual merit
in the church, notably, those of Our Lady of Grace
(del Foligno), Our Lady of Sorrows, and Our Lady of
the Eosary. An immense assemblage attended to do
honor to the sacred Lady of the day, and one among
them, Madame Pychowski, sang this hymn in honor of
the festival :

Mother dearest, mother fairest.
Virgin brightest, purest, rarest.
Lady mild and sweet ;
Hear the grateful songs we sing thee.
Hear the hymns we humbly bring thee,
Bending at thy feet I
Gate of Heaven, Star of Moming I
Lo, the votive gifts adorning
This, thy favored shrine I
All the wondrous story telling,
Of thy mercy with us dwelling.
Mother of Grace divine I
In our need upon thee calling.
Thou hast saved from death appalling.
Heard thy children's prayer ;
Heard our cry amid the dashing
Of life's waves, our frail barks lashing.
Granting us thy care I
Mother-arm, thy Son infolding.
Mother-heart, within thine holding
All who turn to thee ; —
Still thy kind protection lending.
Let thy love on us descending.
Our sweet comfort be !
¦While our souls to thee uplifting.
We seek peace amid the drifting,
Darkening storms of earth,

IN North America. 325
Humblest Virgin ! Queen of Heaven I
Unto thee be honor given,
Honor due thy worth I
Joyfully this git we proffer.
Humbly this fair crown we offer.
Deign on us to smile !
Mother of Grace, 'with heart's o'erflowing,
Thus our grateful love we're showing —
Bending low the while I
Ages past have known thy glory.
Mighty kings and prophets hoary
Sung thy starry crown I
Blessings, honors, clear foretelling,
Lauding thee as all excelling,
Shadowing forth thy throne 1
Israel iu thee rejoices,
Salem lifts her myriad voices.
Quivering with thy love !
Queen of Angels ! Bride of Heaven !
Mediatrix to us given !
Undeiiled dove !
East and -West unite to praise thee.
North and South their hymns still raise thee.
Blessed in every land I
Hosts angelic join with mortals.
Far within the starry portals.
Where the seraphs stand ! —
Where amid the wide creation,
Holding foremost rank and station,
Christ's dear Mother's seen.
List the glorious strains ascending, •
Heaven and Earth, their voices blending.
Hail thee, Crowned Queen I
Sweep northward again, to our venerable early
triend. Our Lady of Good Help. This ends the pU-

326 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
grimages known to us on this continent, as it began
them. It is with a document of remarkable devotion
to Mary that we close this chapter. It is the pastoral
of Monseigneur Bourget, bishop of Montreal.

PASTORAL
Of Monseignbtir the Bishop of Mouteeal, to encoueage the
piLGRrwAGB of Notrb Damb db Bon SECorms, and to establish
DT THAT Chapel the Confkaterntty of Oub Lady of Good
Help fok the whole Diocese.
Ignace Bourget, by the mercy of God and the favor
of the Holy Apostolic See, Bishop of Montreal, etc.,
etc., etc.
To the Clergy, secular and regular, to the EeUgious
Communities, and to aU the Faithful of our Diocese,
Health and Benediction in our Lord Jesus Christ.
You have not forgotten, dearest brethren, that on
the thirteenth of last August we publicly bound our
selves by vow to do our utmost to re-establish the
pious PUgrimage of Our Lady of Good Help, which,
by our indifference and the evU of the times, had
ceased to be frequented as it once was.
In making this vow we sought to erect a barrier
against the terrible epidemic which was making fright
ful ravages at the gates of our city, and which every
day overleaped the Umits within which men strove to
keep it, to smite its victims in the very heart of the
town. In this we only imitated the good example of
our fathers, for whom this holy chapel was, from im-

ST. UOMIXJC.

IN North America. 327
memorial time, a certain refuge in great calamity.
Patres 7iostri narraverunt nobis.'
We had long groaned in secret to see the venerable
Chapel of Good Help almost deserted. We could al
most apply to it the words wherewith Jeremiah ex
pressed the just grief which overwhelmed him when he
saw the holy temple abandoned and the august solem
nities neglected : " The ways of Zion do mourn, be
cause there are none who come to her solemn festi
vals."' In fact, we no longer saw, as in our fathers' days,
crowds of pious pilgrims, moving in the evening, when
the toUs of the day were done, towards the cherished
sanctuary to thank our august Lady of Good Help for
the graces obtained by her mighty intercession, and to
ask for new ones. Except during low Mass, none were
seen there at prayer during the day ; so that it be
came necessary to keep the doors closed, so as to pre
vent the sacrUegious thefts committed there. But this
state of abandonment had something in it sinister to
our eyes. Without wishing to examine too closely the
secret judgments of God, it seemed to us that such an
indifference must, sooner or later, draw misfortune
upon us. History and our own recollections inspired
us with just fear. You yourselves know the great
calamities which desolated this city and country after

' Our fathers have told ua. —Psalm xliii. 1.
' Vise Zion lugent eo quod non sin*, qui veniant ad solemnitatem. —
Lamentations, i. 4.

328 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
the fire of 1754, which reduced to ashes the second
chapel of Bon Secours. You have not forgotten that,
in 1831, a profane hand carried off the statue so vene
rated by our fathers, and which had escaped the dev
astating flames. Ah, since that day, how many iUs
have come upon us !
The terrible political agitations which shed the blood
of citizens in the streets of the city on the 21st of May,
1832 ; the dreadful cholera which appeared on the 8th
of June of the same year and decimated our popula
tion ; the same epidemic which returned in 1834,
spreading everywhere desolation and death; the
troubles of 1837 and '38, which caused so many tears
to flow, and covered the land with sorrow and ruin;
the miUions of insects which for so many years have
desolated our country, and ruined the commerce of the
city with the hopes. of the husbandman; all these are
too near you, have left too profound traces to be for
gotten yet. FinaUy, last year, we were exposed to a
new plague, which threatened at every moment to in
vade both country and to'wn.' Those whom duty car
ried to the field of that affliction, to relieve that
¦wretchedness, were nearly all attacked by the disease,
and many fell. But we desire not to reopen your
wounds, still bleeding, by recalling your sufferings and
your misfortunes. Occupied solely with the means of
appeasing Heaven, and of preser'ring you from the iUs
which have fallen upon your clergy and the religious

' The ship-fever of 1847

IN North America. 329
communities, we were struck with the thought that Our
Lady of Good Help, so compassionate towards our
fathers in all their misfortunes, would have pity upon
us, and obtain for us grace and mercy. Then we made
a vow, at first in our own secret heart ; then in the
presence of this diocese we formed the solemn engage
ment to do what in our power lay to restore to the
pilgrimage of Bon Secours aU its solemnity. We need
not tell you here that Mary heard the vow and granted
our prayer. How could she do otherwise when she
beheld herself surrounded, as aforetime, by a multitude
of devout servants ; 'n'hen she heard her sanctuary re
echoing with plaint and moan ; when, throughout the
whole Octave of her glorious Assumption, the throngs
of sad pilgrims crowded the venerable shrine ?
By hearing our prayer thus in her Chapel of Good
Help, Mary has caused us to know that to-day, as long
ago, she wishes to be especially honored in this tem
ple ; that this sanctuary must be for us, as for our
fathers, an asylum in great calamities ; that this chapel
was indeed the throne from which she bestowed her
pity in tliose terrible days when the hand of rigorous
justice lay heavy upon us poor chUdren of Adam. It
is then at the close of such favors, at the end of the
month aU consecrated to her honor, that we undertake
to perform a duty so agreeable to our heart, and dic
tated, moreover, by a vivid gratitude. We would be
the most ungrateful of men, indeed, and our tongue
should cleave to the roof of our mouth, if we were to
forget that we owe to your fervent prayers in tha

330 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
chapel of Bon Secours the health we enjoy to-day.
May we consecrate it whoUy to the glory of Mary and
the sanctification of your souls !
We exhort you then, brethren, to make often and
with devotion the pious pUgrimage of Our Lady of
Good Help. It is for the greater honor of Mary, the
greater good of your souls, and the acquittal of our
conscience that we invite you to Uft up your eyes
towards that place from whence we may expect such
powerful aid. For we are convinced that this chapel
is one of those privileged spots where God is pleased
to show His great mercy through the intercession of
Mary. . . . This pilgrimage commenced with tho
settlement of the country. Three churches have risen
from the corner-stone laid in 1657, despite the many
misfortunes of our country ; proof that our fathers
felt keenly the need of such a sanctuary. On its front
is carved the august name of Mary, and the heart's
gratitude rather than the workman's chisel has en
graved her sacred monogram. It is there to say to
the ages to come that Montreal in its greatest calami
ties must never lack confidence in that powerful name.
Maria, 0 nomen sub quo nemini de.sperandum est (St.
Augustine). You read over the doorway the simple
and noble inscription, Maries, auxilium Christianorum.
Mary, help of Christians. That was our fathers' cry
of confidence in aU the trials wherewith it pleased
Divine Providence to visit them ; such was their sole
resource when total ruin threatened them. Eead it, 0
Montreal, with joy and happiness; for thy destiniea

IN North America 331
are great, if thy confidence in Mary correspond to the
expectation of them that founded thee. Make thyself
worthy to take again, and to wear forever, the glorious
name of Ville-Marie.
That nothing may be wanting to the holy chapel of
Good Help, that may win your confidence, we propose
to establish the pious confraternity of Our Lady of
Good Help in that venerable parish, and hope that aU
the parishes of this diocese will unite with it. By
such an institution we shaU erect a durable monument
to the piety of our fathers, for when they formed the
generous resolution of coming to the New World, and
there to found in honor of the Blessed Mary the city
wherein we dweU, they formed an association which
they caUed " Society of Our Lady of Montreal for the
conversion of the Indians." Now, in j^lace of a hand
ful of associates enroUed to pray for the conversion
and civiUzation of the red-man, we trust that thousands
wUl gather beneath the glorious standard of Our Lady
of Good Help, to implore her mighty intercession for
the destruction of error and vice, more particularly of
drunkenness and impuritj^ which ruin body and soul,
and render their victims wretched both in time and in
eternity. Once the pious region of Chartres' saw one hundred
and nine churches or chapels dedicated to Mary, and
all springing from the famous church of Notre Dame
de Chartres. So many monuments proved that the

' See for Chartres and its connection with our Missions, pp.

332 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
venerable town was indeed, as in name, the city of ihe
Blessed Virgin. Its legend is Quce est Carnutensium
tutela? Maria, Mater Gratice, Mater Miserioordice.'
Long ago a writer said that " aU Chartres resounded
with the name of Mary;"" and we, bound to that
antique shrine by ancient association of prayers, wUl
follow its example and participate in its privileges by
means of our new confraternity. For each parochial
society wUl be a Uving church issuing from the mother-
church of Good Help. Ah, brethren, beUeve me, there
can never be too many sanctuaries for prayer and
expiation, nor too many shelters for virtue and peni
tence. Then let us strive to preserve fresh on our city
and diocese the stamp of reUgion imprinted by two
hundred years of faith and piety.
And now to preserve the precious souvenirs which
should attach you to Our Lady of Good Help. We
purpose, on the twenty-first of this month (May), to
erect a statue which shaU replace that which a sacri
legious hand stole from the shrine in 1831. May it,
like the ancient one;' be the instrument of Mary's
mercy. It has been solemnly blessed at Notre Dame
des Victoires in Paris, that sanctuary whence flow so
many graces to water aU the lands. Let us trust then
that it is fiUed with heavenly benediction, given it at
the altar of the Holy Immaculate Heart of Mary,
' Who is the guardian of Chartres ? Mary, Mother of Grace and
Mother of Mercy.
' Camutum ubi omnia Mariam sonant.
> For description, see this work, p. 317.

IN North America. 333
powerful to aid poor sinners and lift them from their
wretchedness. To render it still dearer to your hearts
and worthier of your confidence, we shall crown it
'with aU that solemn pomp of ceremony observed in
Eome, where are pointed out to the especial devotion
of the people such sacred images of the Blessed Vir
gin as God has pleased to make the instrument of His
gracious favor. Our gratitude forbids us to forget
how, last year, the suppUcations offered in the chapel
of Our Lady of Good Help deUvered both town and
country from the terrible pestilence. In the same view
we shaU place in the chapel a painting representing
the glorious Virgin Mary arresting the typhus at the
gates of this her city.
O people of Montreal, who possess in your midst so
venerable a sanctuary, visit it assiduously ; go hear a
Mass there on your way to your daily occupations ;
stop there and give thanks for a moment when the
labors of the day shaU be ended ; never pass it without
saluting Mary. Eead the new inscription above the
doorway and obey it.
" Si I'amour de Marie
En ton coeur est grave,
En passant, ne t'oubUe
De lui dire un Ave."
Pause, if the love of Mary
Be graven on thy heart.
And breathe one fervent A'^e
Ere thou depart.
Go thither, ye dweUers in the peaceful country.

334 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
when duty calls you into town. Show your needs
with fiUal confidence to Our Lady of Good Help,
Eecommend your occupations to her vigilance. Beg
of her the grace of going home with an unsullied inno
cence. Your market is under the eyes, as it were, of
Mary, Help of Christians. Keep strictly, then, the
laws of sobriety, justice, and piety. Then back in
peace to your pleasant homes, — and may none of you
be met drunk upon the road.
Thither, ye pious mariners and boatmen who risk
your lives on that vast stream which roUs majestically
at the foot of Our Lady of Good Help, as if to inrite
you to seek her shrine before you quit the harbor,
after you enter it in safety. Look lovingly on the
sacred chapel each time you pass it. In danger re
gard that Star of the Sea, and call on Mary "Bespice
Stellam : voca Mariam." For you is it that' we place
upon the river-front of the shrine a statue. Inscribed
over the head you shaU read : " 3Iarianopolis Tutela,
Protectress of ViUe-Marie;" and at the feet, "Posuerunt
me custodem, they have made me their guardian." So
shaU we show to the future that Mary is the Patroness
and Mother of Montreal, city and diocese. These deeds
shall fUl us with confidence in her help. These shall
make us love her shrine, and frequent it with great
devotion. "Quamdilecta tcdjernacula tua; stantes eruni
pedes nostri in atriis tins. How lovely is thy dweUing-
place ; our feet shaU tread in the courts of thine
abode." Therefore, 'with the consentient advice of our vener-

IN North America. 335
able canons, and in the most holy name of God, we
order, that the twenty-fourth of May be kept as Titu-
Ui Feast of Our Lady of Good Help, with Octave :
that the Feast of our Lady's Assumption be the
patronal festival : tliat, by Indult of the Sovereign
Pontiff, the Confraternity of Our Lady of Help be and
remain established. We authorize the Sulpician clergy
to establish such office, and exercises for the chapel
and for the pilgrimage thitherward, as they deem
meet. In recitation or chanting of the Litanv of the
Blessed Virgin, the invocation "Auxilium Christia
norum" shaU be thrice said or sung. We grant forty
days of indulgence to all who say with confidence,
"Maria, Auxilium Christicuiorum, ora pro populo, inter
veni pro dero, Mary, Help of Christians, pray for the
people, intercede for their clergy." These are the
words which form the inscrijotion of the chapel ; they
are 'written on the base of the statue ; they are to be
the expression of trust, the raUjdng cry of Our Lady
of Good Help
Such, Mary, are the measures which we venture to
take to-day to honor thee in the good old chapel of
Bor Secours. It is Uttle for thee who hast merited
such honors from earth and Heaven ; still, deign to
bless and to accept them. And now, O Blessed Mary,
be pleased from thy sanctuary to watch over this city
and" this diocese. They belong to thee, they have
been particularly consecrated to thee. Eemember
that Bon Secours is the first shrine of this town which
m Our youth heard Our supplications, and that thou

336 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
hast chosen Us to govern, under thy protection and
g'uidance, this diocese. The work done here is thine,
not Ours. And as we see the risk of losing our
selves and the dear flock to Us intrusted, we cry to
thee and say, "Vitam prcesta puram: iter para tutum.
Give us purity and innocence of Ufe : show us the
road of perfection." Let not so many souls, to
Us intrusted, perish by neglect or inexperience of
Ours. But obtain that we may aU find Ourselves to
gether in that Eternal Temple, there forever to con
template Jesus, thy divine Son, and to rejoice with
thee evermore. ?Mgnatius, Bishop of Montreal.
Guess, then, pious reader, how the hearts of our dear
old friends. Marguerite Bourgeoys, and her Congre
gation of Notre Dame, must have rejoiced at the read
ing of this pastoral. On that same twenty-fourth of
May, the whole Community of Sisters, novices, and
pupils, made a pUgrimage to the ancient shrine, and
there solemnly renewed their consecration to Mary of
Good Help. As a symbol of their devotion, they
offered to her a heart wrought in sUver. It was borne,
upon a cushion of blue sUk, by the president of the
Children of Mary, and four little girls held ribbons, as
you see the banner-cords held in the procession. The
five were the representatives of the ChUdren, while the
Mother Superior, her assistant, and the mistress of the
novices, renewed their self-offering in the name of aU
the reUgious. The heart was placed in the bishop's

IN North Ajvierica. 337
hands, and he, after celebrating High Mass and mak
ing them a paternal address, presented their humble
offering to that good and gentle Mother, to whom
nothing is smaU if only offered in love.

338 Devotion to the B. Y. Mart

CHAPTEE XVIL
GILLE-MAIEI KAN GaEL. — MaLIE TeEA WaNEANAKKI A^/fAMBAE.
Before returning to the United States, by way of
tracing the course of our devotion by missionary men
let us pass from Montreal out to Arichat and Antigo-
nish, where the wUd Hebridean dwells by his native
sea. The sea, at least, his ; free as himself ; his own
sea ; because it is God's, because Beannaichte Mairi is
its Star ; and because he is God's and Mary's. From
the land to which lona belongs ; where the so-called
Protestants stUl bless themselves with the sign of the
Cross, and take off their bonnets and say a prayer in
the ancient churchyard of Saint Columba and Saint
Aidan, on AU Souls' Day.
Now, in the diocese of Arichat alone, which forms
the eastern portion of the Province of Nova Scotia,
about thirty-five thousand Highland Catholics have
found a new sea-kissed, sea-nurtured home. On these,
some Indian Missions, containing fifteen hundred sav
ages, so caUed, depend. They can abide together, for
with both, silence amid torture is a native quality, be
it good or bad. They have no poets who sing perpet
uaUy of their wrongs ; no political orators to "hawk
their sores through the world." They suffer and re
member. The sword of their indomitable spirit never
left their hand tiU 1745, when both blade and clutched

IN North America. 339
Land were crushed by the united power of Saxon and
Southern Celt. From the misty isles, and from the
straths, glens, and mountains of Invernesshire, Eoss,
and Argyleshire, come nearly all of this sUent High
land folk. From Lochaber, synonymn for an exile's
waU ; from Glengarry and Arisaig, from Knoydart,
angl Morar, and Stradthglas ; from the wave-beaten
isles of Eigg and Kanna and Uist. When the unfor
tunate apostasy of many of the chiefs was known, it
became the choice of these clansmen to renounce aUe
giance either to Him who had given them those chiefs,
or to them who were His representatives.
They hesitated long, and they suffered bitterly, but
they chose the God of their chiefs' fathers, and of their
own ; " they preferred," says a venerable bishop, one
of themselves, " they preferred expatriation, exUe, and
perpetual banishment from their hiUs and glens. Un
der the protection of Heaven, and with fiUal invocation
of the sacred name of Mary, they committed them
selves to the wUd ocean.' Led by God's hand, they
reached Prince Edward's Island and Upper Canada,
and now the Scottish Highland Catholic population of
the North American provinces surpasses one hundred
thousand." A single diocese, Arichat, numbers twenty
priests of the Clanne nan Gael. Inwards of the brine-
nursed strand of that sea, their count will be some
thirty or forty more. The counties of Glengarry and

' Letter from his lordship, Kt. Rev. Colin Francis Mackinnon, bishop
of Arichat.

340 Devotion to B. V. Mart
Stormout on the Saint Lawrence, are all Catholic Gael,
and from some one of these came the crook used in one
of his latest ministrations by the venerable A. M. F. de
Charbonnel, nmquhile Bishop of Toronto.
Wlien King Eobert the Bruce, indomitable after
thirteen defeats, met his crisis and his crown on Ban
nockburn, this crook first threw its silver light outside
of the Abbey of Aberdeen. It was of chased silver,
and inclosed the bone of the right arm of St. Aidan,
monk of lona and abbot of Lindisfarne. It was on the
feast of Saint John the Baptist, 1313, "when King
Eobert drew his army up about a moat and ordered
that aU should confess their sins and receive the
Blessed Sacrament. And then Mauritius, abbot of
Aberdeen, said Mass for the king and his chief nobles ;
and bishops and priests celebrated throughout the
army. Then, after the king's exhortation, as the En
glish army came near, " the whole Scots army fell
down upon their knees to recommend themselves to
God, and the holy abbot advanced with the cross
erected like a banner" and blessed them as they knelt.
And after that they fought ; and, at the conclusion of
the battle, King Eobert " divided the great spoil and
ransom-money among his army, except the cloths of
gold and sUver which were in King Edward's and the
English noblemen's tents, which the king caused to
be given to the churches for altar cloths and other
necessary ornaments." '
' David Scot's History of Scotland. Westminster, folio, 1728, pp.
187, 188.

in North America. 341
This cross or crook, of solid silver elaborately
carved, having on one side a precious stone and on
the other an effigy of the Eedeemer, was in the he
reditary custody of the Macnabs, by them intrusted to
the Maclndoirs, their standard-bearers, and by the
last of these was brought to Canada, where, with the
letters and charters of James the Second (of Scotland),
it is now preserved in the township of Macnab on the
Ottawa. The first, five hundred in number, came with their
good priest Angus Macdonald, in 1786. Later, the
heroic Hon. and Et. Eev. Bishop MacdonneU, who had
raised for the crown a regiment of his CathoUc clans
men and others, and had served them as chaplain,
led them, when their wars were over, to the shores of
the broad Saint La'wrence and dwelt among them, and
now rests from his labors in the shadow of the Kings
ton cathedral.
Ten years later, the Hebrideans set sail from Kanna,
and Muick, and Eonin, and the shelter of towering
Scaur-Eigg : from the shadow of sacred lona, from
Mull and wUd Tiree ; fi-om Uist and Skye, of gray
mists. From Ulva dark and Colonsay,
And all the group of islands gay
That guard famed StafFa round.'
Hither they came, these servants of God and children
of Mary, with their utter impossibility of enduring a
' The Lord of the Mes.

342 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
spy; with their marrow-bred loathing of informers;
with their thousand-year-old incapacity for serviUty :
hither, to be free to adore the Sacred Trinity, and to
worship tenderly the Mother of Emmanuel, after the
rites of their fathers. Macleod and his "yeUow stick'"
disregarded ; their beloved mountain land, with its
passionate seas, resigned ; for God's sake, they crossed
the aiseag mhor, the " great ferry," the Atlantic, and
sought new homes for themselves. Always, however,
without asking sympathy, without complaint, still reso
lute, unsung, unmentioned in speeches, their deep woes
known to their God and to them ; known and remem
bered by both.
" When my forefathers," says the grandson of one
of these men, " left Eigg, in company with many
fi-iends, they took lands in a part of the province of
Nova Scotia (the name of it was akin to what was
closest to their hearts), caUed Cape d'Or, on the bay
of Fundy. Here they labored hard for eleven years,
untu, like the Acadians, by industry and perse
verance, they had converted the primeval forest of
that 'wild country into fiourishing fields and verdant
lawns. " They were beginning to be very happy, in a tem
poral point of view : but they had neither priest nor
church to console them in the land of their pilgrimage,
' This chief, after forsaking the ancient religion, converted some of
his ancient clansmen by the argument of his cane. Hebridean Pro
testants have been eveo" since, and are now called " Protestants of the
TcUow Stick."

Df North America. 343
and aU the surrounding country was getting rapidly
occupied by Protestants. The emigrants saw the
imminent danger to which their children would be ex
posed of losing their faith, if thoy remained where they
were. To what purpose, they asked tearfully, have we
abandoned our native hills and glens in ancient Mor
ven, the homes of our CathoUc ancestors, if we are to
become Protestants here in the wUderness ? No, we
must move again and commit ourselves to the kind
protection of Heaven. Under the guidance of the
gentle Star of the Sea, our dear Mother, we will seek
other lands, where we hope that, in time. Providence
wUl enable us to rear our children in the faith of their
fathers ; in the practices and teachings of the Catholic
Church. "One aged matron, Mary Macleod her name, a
mother in that Celtic Israel, was especially impatient.
She constantly repeated to her sons and daughters
that there were lands to the eastward. 'There,' she
said, ' we may find a happy home. There we shaU be
come a numerous progeny. There we shaU raise the
Crois na Criosdh, the Cross of Christ ; and under the
patronage of the Mother of God, in years to come,
there shaU rise from our descendants, those who shaU
be the spiritual rulers and guides of our people.' The
venerable woman spake sooth. Of her descendants,
five are priests, and one, the child of her daughter
Una, is tho bishop, the spiritual ruler of the Gael in
Arichat, Antigonish, and Cape Breton."
AU the CathoUcs of the old colony left it and settled

344 , Devotion to the B. V. Mart
in the county of Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the sea-beat
island of Cape Breton. And the old mother Uved
there to a good old age, and saw her children's chU
dren to the fourth generation. Now, in her grandson's
diocese, there stand twelve churches, including the
cathedral, under the invocation of the Immaculate
Mother of God. "We have thousands," says the
bishop, " members of the Confraternity of Our Lady's
Eosary : of the Confraternity of the Scapular and of
the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.'" There then,
in brief, imperfect sketch, we intimate the existence of
the mountain Gaelic child of Mary on this continent.
Doubtless a mine, with rich veins of gold therein, could
the taste and the opportunity for its working be united
in the same individual.
Under the spiritual jurisdiction of Arichat are the
tribes of Indian Catholics of that region. The Mic-
macs, we beUeve, are the largest. Converts they of
the old Acadian missionaries, in the days of the mar
tyr Jcsuite, of the Ursuline Mary of the Incarnation :
and of Margaret Bourgeoys, the Sister of Our Lady.
They are allied with the Mareschite, the Penobscot,
the Passamaquoddy, and the remains of the Canadian
Abenaki ; all appertaining to the once wide-spread
and powerful race of the Algonquin. "A good people
these Micmacs of Cape Breton," says the Protestant
Judge Haliburton, "possessed of an inexhaustible
stock of spirits and good-humor. Eoman Catholic/
1 Letter of Rt. Rev. Dr. Mackinnon.

in North America. 245
priests are still their religious instructors, and, con
sidering the smaU advantages of these poor people,
their character is not bad. Dishonesty is seldom
heard of among them." '
So says the Protestant historian of Nova Scotia, but
the CathoUc Pastor says, " AU our Indians are Catho
Ucs,— honest, humble, good people. Their churches
are generaUy under the invocation of Saint Anne, the
Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Anne was
given the aborigines of this country as patroness by
the first missionaries.
Our poor Indians are very devout people : they
are remarkable for their fidelity to the faith. Not
withstanding the many temptations to which they are
exposed, and the manner in which their religious be
Uef is tampered with, no inducement can bring them
to abandon their faith. The Indian, male or female,
invariably has either a medal of the Blessed Virgin,
or a smaU crucifix hanging from the neck. With the
blessed beads in his hand, he defies all opposition ;
and no human argument, no amount of bribery can
make him violate his aUegiance to God. He says to
all, that Jesus Christ is his father, that Mary is
his mother, and within that impregnable stronghold
cf faith, the gates of heU cannot prevail against
him.'" If your canoe be of birch-bark and your sail of good

' Hon. C. J. Haliburton's Nova Scotia, ii. 350.
' Rt. Rev. Bishop of Arichat. 15*

346 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
canvas ; if the sea be smooth and the wind right abaft,
you may sweep over the blue brine Uke a swaUow
through the air, and in a few hours land, from Cape
Breton, in Maine of the CathoUc Abenakis. The last
we saw of them, if we remember rightly, they were
standing horror-struck around the hacked and man
gled body of Father Easles at Norridgewock. Now we
are to see them again, foUowing the steps of saintly
Cardinal de Cheverus, somewhere, I guess, in the
absence of dates, about 1810. He has given himseK
the preliminary trouble to learn what he can of the
language of these Indians. He thinks it, as do other
scholars in it, allied, by structure at least, to Hebrew.
Be that as it may, philology is not at present his oc
cupation. He gets together what vestments, books,
and other things in smaU compass, are absolutely
necessary for a priest. He hires a guide, buys a staff,
and sets off, on foot, from Boston, " hub of the Uni
verse." He strikes into the trackless forest ; breaks his way
through brush and thicket ; Uves upon bread which he
has taken with him ; sleeps upon the spruce-boughs
which the guide hews down. Day after day they
break their road through the obstructed forest, or
walk cheerily where they have found a glade. The
day of the Lord, dies Dominica, comes, crimson at
dawn, to Ught the green umbrage of the redolent
pines ; " on dewy branch, birds, here and there, with
short, deep warble, salute the coming day. Stars fade
out, and galaxies. The Universe opens its portals for

IN North America. 347
the levee of the great High King." ' And above the
woodland notes, or the sough of the wind in the pines,
rises a chorus of human voices, indistinct, distant, soft,
ringing through the verdurous alleys of the scented
wood ; and the French missionary recognizes the notes
of Dupont's Eoyal Mass ; that which stiU echoes be
times among the stately arches of Notre Dame, or the
paganish square-flatness of the Madelaine. It is the
Sunday morning devotion of the poor, priestless, but
impregnably loyal Abnaki. Savages, they caU them,
to distinguish them from the French democrats of
1793, and from others. They caU themselves Wanba-
nakki, ChUdren of the Northern Light.
So, while God was Ustening to such of the prayers
of the AlamesJcemok, or Mass Devotion, as the poor
" savages" were entitled to utter, His minister and rep
resentative walked into the midst of them. Then were
prayers and all else put aside, as their swift observa-
tive eyes saw the cassock. " It is the black-robe," they
cried, "it is the chief of prayer." He was the first
they had seen for fifty years. Yet never, during all
that time, had these " savages" omitted to celebrate
the Sundays and the grand festivals, as they could,
without one empowered to offer the supreme act of
adoration, a pure sacrifice. Not an answer of their
catechism had they forgotten : the children had learned
question and response correctly from the memory of
their barbarian sires and dams. Their instruction, iu
' Carlvle's French Revolution.

348 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
its limit, was so perfect, and their morals, ou examina
tion, were so spotless, that the holy de Cheverus wept
for joy.
" See how good God is to you," he said to them.
" He has not forgotten you ; He has only tried your
faith and perseverance. Now you have your reward.
He has sent me here to you to dispense His word. His
graces, and his sacraments." And they were glad,
those poor savages, that the bread of Ufe was to be
broken to them again : and, progressionist as we are,
we fear that they were content with what de Cheverus
could give them, heedless alike of the inviting splen
dors of the Great Father at Washington, of the Bos-
tonian inteUigence, or of the phUanthropy of Doctor
Beecher and Madame Eaphael.
¦ The coarse fancy hunger to be the greatest of evUs ;
ah, if they could feel the horror of being obliged to eat,
by courtesy ! Mgr. de Cheverus sat upon his bear
skin, and compelled himself to swaUow, from his birch-
bark dish, the filth which the pious Indians can swal
low with impunity : aged fish boiled without salt, for
two months ; swine's fiesh greenly antique ; by and by,
towards the third month of his mission, getting covered
by those " friends of man," which, having eight legs,
are nameless. "Le seul casuel," he said, "qu'il retirdt
de son ministere. The only chance (fee) which he got
in his ministry there." At last he had to confine him
self exclusively to bread ; unable as he was to see,
with his good Indians and some others who are not
Indians, the connection between piety and nastiness.

IN North America. 349
The master of a French vessel recognized him once,
from his deck, buffeted by the rough waves of the
ocean, in a bark canoe : and begged permission to
carry him to his destination. The future cardinal de
clared himself at home with his Indians, and refused
to change conveyances.
Our Indians were dirty ; but though that caused him
much suffering, it was not that which he saw most
clearly. But this' — sentiments so noble and so com
monly prevalent, that the civUized world might well
blush at the comparison : such simplicity of gratitude
for small kindness ; such tenderness of mothers ; such
heroism of fiUal pietv. They could not believe that
the French had murdered their king (Louis XVI). " It
was a Ue," they said of their neighbors, " invented to
make them hate the French." In vain did Monsei
gneur de Cheverus declare to them that the nation dis
avowed the crime, that a handful of miscreants in
power had committed it : the distinction was too fine
for the Wanbanakki. Jt was an old white-headed
Indian who questioned the missionar;", and who, com
prehending the atrocity, was incapablr: v: f comprehend
ing the excuse. " I love tho Trench no longer," said
the ignorant savage. " But," urgod tho priest, " the
people, as a nation, disavow th^^ C3'ime." "Disavow it
do they," cried the unletts-ed b/^rbarian, " they should
have stood between their king ari his assassins. Lxid
' Vie de Jean Lou's Anne Madelaine Lefeb-r° "^t ChCT^-t"!. V^^«.
veque de Bcido<.iis. Pi.ris, Jacques Lecoffre, 1850, t?i>, ^ -vA

350 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
died in his defence." ' Later, when, as archbishop and
cardinal, he spoke of his barbarous red children, it was
with tears in his eyes, and with these words often re-
repeated, "Ces dmes si grands, si nobles, those grand and
noble souls."
And the next holy man we see among them is Bishop
Fenwick. Bishop of Boston he, and by no means un
mindful of his red-men. He goes to Norridgewock,
Uke a true Celt, to take vengeance ; Uke an apostle, to
take the vengeance of a Christian. "Sije ne me trompe
je vous ai fait part de I'intention ou f etais de venger la
memoire du pere Rasles.' If I be not deceived, I have
told you of my pmrpose to avenge the memory of
Father Easles." He cites from a New England author
ity of that day, the foUowing argument used to convert
the savages. " Father Easles is accused of employing
aU the artifices used in his order (Jesuits) to seduce
the Indians. That he taught them the doctrine of
salvation through Jesus Christ, but at the same time
rrade them beUeve that Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ,
was a Frenchwoman ; that our Blessed Lord himself
had been put to death by the English ; and that it was
meritorious, just, and good for aU Christians to kill
EngUshmen." ' A doctrine not so unbelieved as you
might fancy, only not a French doctrine.
Now the mode of the good bishop's vengeance was
on this wise. First he purchased an acre of land, in-
' Vie du Cardinal de Cheverus, p. 74.
' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi a Lvop, vii. 177.
• See detailed account in Dr. Penwick's letter. — Ibid., vii. 178

IN North America. 351
closing the site of the ancient Indian Church, of the
cabin of Father Easles, and of part of the once happy
viUage of Narrantsowack. A pUe of stones still
marked the position of the altar, and beneath them
mouldered the relics of the martyred missionary,
Bishop Fenwick then ordered a graniti.- obelisk and
pedestal of twenty feet in height, surmounted by a flo
riated cross in iron. Then, after careful pubUcation oj
his intentions, he went to the spot, to celebrate a re
quiem Mass for the Indians, some sixty or seventy in
number, who had faUen in the massacre : to pronoun c 3
the eulogy of the missionary, and to inaugurate his
monument. The inhabitants poured out of the towns
and vUlages to see the novel ceremony. Five thou
sand, the bishop thought. And there the monument
was erected on that anniversary of the martyrdom,
August 29th, 1833. Two years afterwards it was
thrown do'wn ; restored again ; and again, in 1851,
overthro'wn. Among the audience M'as a grandson of one of the
murderers ; a Protestant and a man of great respect
ability. More than once, during the ceremonies, he
wept bitterly, and it was in a voice broken by liea^vy
sobs, that he thanked the prelate for the " pious and
solemn act of reparation made "to the memory of as
honest a man as ever lived upon the face of the
earth." ' If we give his story in his own words here,
it is to show what the love and habitual imitation oi
¦ Ann. de la Prop., vii. 183, et seq.

352 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Mary can effect in the hearts of savages. " Your work
here," he said to the bishop, " is a truly pious one. I
do not belong to your religion, but I esteem this act of
yours. I am no stranger to the events of that deplor
able day on which Father Easles lost his Ufe. My own
grandfather was one of that unhappy, cruel, and un
just expedition ; and on the day of his death, he cried
Uke a chUd on remembering the massacre. One cir
cumstance, unknown to CathoUcs, unrecorded by non-
Catholics, I wiU, with your permission, teU you.
" The New Englanders had with them a large num
ber of pagan savages. The young braves of Owena
gunga were away hunting or fishing. The first fire of
the assassins kUled the few old men and boys who at
tempted to resist, kUled them, or wounded and dis
persed them. One woman, with her baby in her arms,
crossed the river, and hid herself in a cavern in the
forest there. On the next day, when, after burning the
church and viUage, the Yankees had retired, carrying
with them what was valuable among the missionary's
personal effects, the poor woman recrossed the stream
to search for her husband among the corpses of the
slain. She found him, and having scooped out his
grave in the sands of the river shore, she laid him
therein, and tmmed away from the spot to recross the
river. But deep moans of pain from a thicket arrested
her attention : she searched the spot and found, not
one of her people, but one of their white murderers,
severely wounded by a baU from some Abnaki
musket.

IN North America. 353
" There he lay, completely at the mercy of this sav
age who had just inearthed her husband, — kUled, per
haps, by this same pale face. But she subdued every
thought of vengeance, she recalled only ideas of reU
gion : she pardoned, and, having succeeded in getting
the man to her canoe, paddled him over the river and
concealed him, from any chance return of the Indians,
in her o'wn cave of refuge. Here she nursed and nour
ished him with the tender caro of a mother, and bade
God bless him when returning strength permitted him
to depart for his home. ' He wept,' says hi^ descend
ant, ' at the recoUection of this good Samaritan
woman ;' which was a great consolation, for he was a
cirilized Puritan, she merely a Papist and a savage."
AU the long period from Father Easles' death to the
advent of Bishop Fenwick, our poor red friends were
exposed to perpetual annoyance from the " mission
aries" of Boston : nay, even Indians are employed ;
and their ancient foe, the Iroquois, furnished some
apostates from the faith, who undertook the perversion
of the Alnambay of Maine. They succeeded as those
edifying laborers usuaUy do — that is, they have not yet
made one single convert. Now, fortunately, they have a
devoted patriarch, or as they, who have no "E" in their
language, caU him, Patlias, Eev. Eugene Vetromile.
This priest has secured them from much danger by
providing them with books in their own tongue, a book
of catechetical instruction and a prayer-book.' He

' Alnambay vii AwikJiigan, Indian Good Book, made by Eugene
T

354 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
was kind enough to send both, as weU as his ingenious
calendar, to the present writer. The instruction book
I gave to the venerable De Smet, on his departure for
the Eocky Mountains ; the other I value gratefuUy,
and preserve.
" Siempre fid, ever true," is the proud motto of the
Cuban Spaniard ; but who have a better right to such
a legend than our poor sons of the Northern Light, —
so long neglected, bereaved, untaught, but preserving
their religious instruction orally, through desolate half
centuries at a time ? " To-day," says Father Vetro-
mUe, " you cannot find house or wigwam without a
picture or image of our Lady. I have never met an
Indian who did not wear a medal, a Eosary, or a Scap
ular. The first prayer which parents teach then- chU
dren, is the ' Malie EitalamiJcol, HaU Mary.' " They
still keep up the ancient practice' of sending then sons
to our Lady of Saint Francis de Sales, in times of sick
ness or distress. Tliere kneeUng, they cast their sor
rows at the. feet of Mary, and remind that gentlest
Mother, "that none ever have recourse to her in vain."
Let us give this shortest prayer, the " 3Iemorare o
piissimo. Virgo Maria : remember, O gentlest Virgin
Mary," as a specimen of the Penobscot tongue. " We-
wittahama Sangamawi Malie kussiusque, esma wewel-
maussi attamahh, kemisnamon ehhlat, Nehamskawass
Vetromile, Indian Patriarch, for the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, St.
Johns, Micmac, and other tribes of the Abnaki Indians. New York •
Dunigan & Brother, 1858.
' Vide, passim, chap. viii. of this work.

IN North America. S55
peseko, k'delan attamahh kemisnamon elat. Anda,
Sangamawi MaUe kussiusque, anda. Meli elitchawel-
dama, eU k'sangman mena Zezus. Nialetch." '
' Indian Good Book, p. 166.

356 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE XVni.
03LATI MAEI.« ntMAOULATJE. OFFEKED EOE MAKT IMMACULATE.
SuRELT no one of the devout readers of these
sketches has forgotten the name of OUer; how we
saw him working for the City of Mary on the Saint
Lawrence, founding the society, sending out the minis
ters, who, reaping for the same Master, where the
Jesuits had sown, garnered glorious harvests in North
ern America. Let us hope, too, that Father Chau
monot, that student in the College of I esus in Eome,
who gave its first Loretto to this continent, is not
already hidden by the un'wise 'fiirry of our life here.
If yea, let us recall them both by another student, one
nearer to us in time. Another flower ripened by that
detestable muck-heap, the Fronch Eevolution. A baby
exile : a schoolboy in the college of nobles at Turin ;
after that, tempted by wealtli, by his family, by abun
dant opportunity of and influence for distinction to
remain in ths world; and refusing aU. Urged by an
aged uncle 'with this final argument, " You aro the last
of your name ;" he makes answer, " And what more
honorable for any famUy than to end in the person of
a priest ?" '
' Oraiaon funfibre de Monseigneur de Mazenod, par Monseigneur
Jeancard, 6veque de Cerame. Marseilles : 1861.

IN North America. 357
Finally, grown up ; not wUful, but able by education
and conviction to convince his elders, he overcomes
their opposition, and enters as student in the Semi
nary of Saint Sulpice. His name is Charles Joseph
Eugene de Mazenod. It is not ours to follow him in
his career as seminarian and priest. Enough that the
blossom and bud foretold the riclmess of the ripened
and perfect fruit. Bishop of Marseilles he stands,
when we first require to look at him. A soldier of
God and Mary, with the new ideas, begotten of the
Eevolution, to combat; with the looseness of manner
and inner morals, and the decay of respectability
inseparable fi-om the success of liberty, falsely so
caUed, to correct, as grace might be given him. His
courage was high, his will firm, his flag the true one,
his reliance the Strong One, but he could not hope to
battle triumphantly alone.
He worked long and hard to gather and form a body
of devoted priests. Caught by his spirit, many gave
themselves up to him for these new missions in the
land of the " Eldest Son of the Church." Their zeal
was rewarded with a golden harvest of souls; their
success won recruits to their banner ; they were evan
gelizing seven dioceses already,' when, entreated by the
bishops, he determined to form them into an Order, if
permitted. So he sought the permission at the tomb
of Peter. The then successor of the Prince of the
Apostles, Leo the Twelfth, received both the bishop
' Oraison funebre, p. 17

358 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and his project with favor. The Cardinals charged
with such affairs received their orders, and the new
association took its place among the canonically con
stituted families of God's Church. They were called
" Oblati Marice — Men offered, soul and body, unto God
Supreme in honor of Immaculate Mary."
He had already been offered the Cardinal's hat by
the same Pontiff, but had refused it. Let him stay
with his Oblates of Mary : that was his place : that his
work. " God willed," says his eloquent eulogist, " to
bestow upon him, not the purple of terrestrial dignity,
but the robe of eternal glory. Was it not a foretaste
of that, when he lived to see his spiritual children
evangelizing the world, from the islands and peninsulas
of Japan to the snow-clad wastes beyond the vast
North American lakes ! To see five of them conse
crated bishops by his own hands at the head of as
many missions ! We may say of him as of the Ajdos-
tles, ' His voice has gone forth over all the earth.'
What man, of our day, has done more for the Church ?
To find his fellows we must remount to the holy found
ers of orders. His order, only of yesterday as it is,
counts a legion of evangelical laborers at home as
abroad, from the tropics to the poles. He it was who
cared for them all; he who directed their zeal and
fortified their courage. He animated them- with his
fervent spUit; communicated to them his own lively
faith ; inspired them with that heroic confidence which
defies obstacles. No seas have been found so vast or
stormy, no forest so profound, no race so barbarous

IN North America. 359
and rebel to the truth as to stop them in their march
of self-devotion, in their progress of sijiritual con
quest." They are Oblates of Mary.
Let his last will and testament show the spirit of his
life. "I implore," he says therein, "the mercy of
God, through the merits of our divine Saviour, Jesus
Christ, in whom I place aU my confidence, so to obtain
the pardon of my sins and the grace of reception in
His holy Paradise. Therefore, I invoke the mterces-
sion of the holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother
of God ; daring to remind her, in this my extreme hour,
in aU humUity, but with consoUng confidence, of my
Ufe-long fiUal devotion to her, and my perpetual desire
and endeavor to make her known and loved whereso
ever my influence could extend." "Never," we are
told, " did he neglect his meditation or his Eosary ;
never did he remit the austerities of his laborious and
penitent Ufe, nor the fervor of his devotion to the
Blessed Virgin."
" Stay with us, my Father," said some one to him as
he lay dying. " We have such need of you, God wUl
not refuse to leave you with us, if you ask Him." "No,"
he answered, " I cannot ask for that. I have but one
desire : that His blessed wiU be done. Eead then the
prayers for the dying! But give me first my mis
sionary cross and beads ; those are my arms !" He
took the crucifix in one hand and his chaplet in the
other, and never loosened his hold on them again, al
though his agony lasted thirty hours. They repeated
the complines over and over again for him. At the

360 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
verses, " In Him will I sleep and take my rest" — " In
Thee, 0 Lord, have I trusted; I shall never be con
founded" — " Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit ;" and at the " Now, Lord, let Thy servant de
part in peace,"' he testified his approbation of the sen
timent by a motion of his hands.
Then, when they recited the Salve Regina, for it was
Tuesday in the Whitsun Octave, he followed the
beautiful prayer. At the sentence, "After this exile
show to us thy Son," he opened his eyes. When they
said, " O clement, 0 gentle," he murmured the words,
and then, with a supreme effort, he added aloud 'with
the others, " 0 sweet Virgin Mary !" ' and breathed
forth his holy soul into her maternal arms. Such was
the father : let us look for a little at the life of his sons
in North America.
In 1827 the work was begun in France, or rather
the idea of the holy prelate was accomplished by that
date. By 1845 nineteen Oblate priests were at work
in Canada.'' At Montreal, at Quebec, at Kingston,
with the vast dependencies of those dioceses. By 1845
they had secured to themselves the Indian Apostolate,
and that of the lumberers or woodmen, thousands of
whom live, more uncultured than the savage, in the
' In idipsum dormiam et requiescam. — Ps. iv. In Te Domine
speravi, non confundar in aeternum. In manus Tuas Domine com-
mendo spiritum meum. — Ps. xxx. Nunc dimittis servum Tuum
Domine. — St. Luke's Gospel, ii.
' " Filium, post hoc exilium ostende. 0 clemens, 0 pia, 0 dulcis
Virgo Maria." — Pentecost Compline Antiphon.
* Annales de la Propagation de la Foi. Lyons, xvii. 241, et seq.

IN North America. 361
vast northern forests where their scene of labor lies.
They had already visited all the tribes about the
mouth of the Saint Lawrence, and were looking with
eager eyes towards the ice-bound coasts of Labrador
and the snow-huts of the Esquimaux. Each year some
one or more of them must make a visitation of every
post. In 1846 they are called to Hudson's Bay. A
mission nearly as large in territory as the whole of
Europe. Ten degrees of latitude in -width (48° to 58°
N.), it sweeps across the longitude from 70° to 142°,
seventy-two degrees, from the shores of the Northern
Atlantic to beyond the Eocky Mountains, from Lake
Superior and the northern Umit of the States to the
• perpetual icebergs of the Arctic Ocean.
Since that time they have increased immensely in
. number, and in fervor, were that possible. They are
extending their Umits into the United States. New
York has at least one colony : New Mexico, if we mis
take not, another : California and Oregon rejoice in
the presence of the Oblates of Immaculate Mary : and
eleven years ago (1852) a party of twenty-two of them
left France for the Missions of Texas. It wUl not be
uninteresting to watch the growth of their devotion.
The first wUd missions are from Three Eivers, up the
Saint Maurice, in a canoe, except when the frequent
portages required walking. Salt pork formed their
dinner and dessert ; two blankets apiece their bed ; the
dryest bit of soU they could find their soUd bedstead ;
the fir-forest foUage or the boreal sky their canopy.
But their welcome by the Algonquin repaid them for alL
16

362 Devotion to the E. V. Mart
Such eagerness in the poor red-skin to show his love
and gratitude ; such aridity for the truth ; such hum
ble reUance on God, such childlike love for Mary. In
that first mission,' fifty Indians made their first com
munion, and twenty were baptized, nearly aU adults.
Another party ^ stretches off' one hundred miles east
ward of Quebec to Tadoussac. Old CathoUcs these,
unedifyiug a year or two ago, but now, 1844, pious and
flourishing, " fire-water" having been permanently re
nounced. "Look, father," says one of them, "when
we drank, we forgot thy lessons : we ceased to drink,
and now every word stays here," and he laid his hand
upon his heart. One hundred communions, thirtj^-six
baptisms here. Still another Oblate, Father Laver-
lochere, mounts the Ottawa, from Montreal to the
tribes of Abbitibbe, nearing the lower shores of Hud
son's Bay. He is met by the grand chief, clad all in
scarlet, with a collar of pearls round his neck, and
hanging over his breast Our Lady's Eosary and a
medal of the Immaculate Mother. All fervent Catho
Ucs here, having, for Indians, fair wealth of furs and
game, and no whiskey.
Next year we make a stride from Montreal of tiuenty-
five hundred miles northwestward. No railways or
steamers here; yea, 1845 though it be. Our boat is of
birch bark, rather thicker than this paper whicli you
are holding, twice as thick may be, not more; but

' Annales de la Prop., xvii., 243. Father Bourassa, 1844.
' Father Fisette, Annales, xvii., 247.

IN North America. 363
tough and strengthened with ashen ribs and vertebras :
requiring to be very light, so that two persons may
shoulder it and carry it round falls and rapids : a boat
of perfect buoyancy, holding a dozen persons with a
tent or wigwam, if need be, and some provisions and
simple cuUnary apparatus. So through the grand
forests, along the fair waters, chanting such hymns of
the Blessed Virgin as ring iu the cathedrals and parish
churches of old CathoUc France. The squirrel chat
ters at them as they pass ; the cardinal grosbeak
utters his wild, loud whistle ; the indigo bunting
flashes his sapphire plumage through the clear air ;
or if it happen to be snow season, and the voices and
wings of these be stiU, at least you can see the white
rabbit spring up and scurry away over tlie spotless
waste, and, borne to the ear, over mUes of snow plain,
sounds the long, weird howl of the hungry wolf.
Away up the Ottawa or the Mattawan, past Sault
Saint Marie, along the north shore of Superior, up the
Taministiquia to the extreme limits of Canada, and
then, on foot, across the broad plateau tiU the sparkle
of the Eed Eiver waters becomes visible, and, launch
ing on that stream, they foUow its course, to the palace
on its banks, of Monseigneur Provencher, bishop of
Juliopolis and vicar apostoUc of Hudson's Bay. A
Canadian he, by birth, early called, early sent to this
wUd mission of Saint Boniface, on the Eed Eiver, near
Lake Winipeg. Fancy his life : " the intensity of cold,
the pangs of hunger, the extreme want to which he
was exposed, sometimes without clothes enough to

364 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
cover him.' Fatigue and privation in every shape were
his, also utmost heroic apostoUc zeal."
From 1818 to 1853, thirty-five years, was his period
of labor in the boreal wilds. A bishop, yet he swung
a deft axe in the woodland ; a bishop, but if you visited
him in the season, you would find him following the
plough. He had his work to do over souls also — to
transform tribes of furious wolves into a flock of lambs,
so that the Good Shepherd might find them ready
when He caUed and led them " to the green pastures,
by the still waters," where, in "His presence is fulness
of joy forevermore." '' By and by he gets assistance.
The Oblates of Immaculate Mary " come over to help
him.'" He sees the sacred fruits of his'labor extending
for eighteen hundred miles, from the door of his cathe
dral ; " Germinaverunt speciosa deserti. Beauty spring-
eth up in the desert." ' Then he knows that his work
is done. He sends for Mr. Tache, a missionary, one
thousand miles away, to help him. But before the
Oblate of Mary can reach him, ho sleeps sweetly in
Jesus. " Dedit Dominus dilecto Suo somnum. He hath
given His beloved sleep."" And now Monseigneur
Tache is the Bishop of Saint Boniface."
To go back a Uttle. When Father Laverlochera

' For a sketch of Mgr. Provencher, see Annals of the Propagation
of the Faith, xxvi. 47-51.
' In loco pascusB me collocavit : super aquam refectionis educavii
me. — Psalm xxii. Adimplebis me Isetitia cum vultu Tuo. — ^Psalm xv
' Acts of the Apostles, xvi. ' Psalm cxxvi.
« Prophecy of Joel, ii. « Consecrated, Nov. 28, 1857.

m North America. 365
starts for his second mission in 1843, he begins it, as
he tells us, " by offering the August Sacrifice, and by
placing himself under the protection of Immaculate
Mary." This protection is necessary, thinks the mis
sionary ; for, in passing down a furious rapid, hurled
by the impetuous stream, the bark canoe strikes a tree-
trunk caught there by the rocks, is broken in two, and
they, its freight, struggle as they may in the white
foaming waters. AU get safe, although weU wearied
and drenched, to shore. As for the two Oblates,
" Marie Lnmacidee, leur auguste mere veillait sans ces.se sur
leurs jours, — Mary Immaculate, their august Mother,
watched ceaselessly over their Uves.'" At the last
mission, two years before, six hundred and twenty-five
savages had forsworn whiskey; at this mission, they
find, to their sorrow, that one has 07ice broken his pledge.
Here, among the Abbitibbi, in a family of distin
guished hunters and braves, only the old mother had
remained resolutely pagan. This time she asked foi'
baptism. All the long interval since the last visit, she
had " dreamed," as the Indians caU it, and had made
up her mind to foUow her children. "All, Father,"
she said," " I was very -wretched until the Great Spirit
took pity upon me. Since the BlacJc-robe warned me
of the danger of remaining as I was, I have had no
rest. Often, while asleep, I seemed to be faUing into
the gulf. Then when I awaked, I promised the Great
Spirit to obey the counsels of the Black-robe ; but as
1 Annai.es, xviii. 454. ' Ibil.

366 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
often the Mcdchi-manitou (the evil spirit) conquered me
Whenever I looked at the holy grains of prayer (tha
Eosary), or at the blessed face of Mary on the medal
round my children's necks, I was troubled. But, all
the last year I have Uved with my eldest son, and
every day we counted the holy grains of prayer together,
and it did good to my heart, and I yearned for bap
tism. All, how long the year seemed ! ' WiU the
Black-robe never come ?' I said. ' He might have pity
on me.' This was all I thought of through the sad
winter. And when my son set out for Kithi Kami
(Hudson's Bay), I prayed him to 'write you. Here is
his letter. Now you, my Father, are following him.
You wiU see him at Abbitibbi, and wiU teU him that
his mother is a Christian."
Some temporal comfort the missionary finds in tliose
desolate regions. Sir George Simpson builds him a
church. About the same time, another Oblate of Mary Im
maculate, in Northern Oregon, is in the snow-camp of
the Yakama. There pains and miseries, physical and
mental, cold and starvation, and sorrow over hard
hearts, fall on him, he thinks, " hke hail on a springing
plant." So he caUs his mission "Holy Cross;" and
bears his lesser crosses more cheerfully, in remem
brance of that. The petty chieftain Ydlow Snake is his
grand enemy. Whenever he caUs the better sort to
the prayer, YsUow Snake gathers his pagans in a
neighboring wigwam, and there holds infernal revel
ries, YeUow Snake's devU is nearly as clever at inven-

IN North America. 307
tion as the devU of Doctor Brownleo, or of the loss
inteUigent American antipapists. "The Black-robe,"
quoth YeUow Snake, "catches rattlesnakes, and, by his
enchantments, makes them vomit a black poison upon
our tobacco. He wUl soon kill us all." '
To thi.s is added accusation of producing all the sick
ness, fever, gastritis, a case or so of smaU-pox. The
cold is so uitense that wild animals are scarcely to be
found. Sometimes the ponies are frozen to death
when out hunting ; but, upon the whole, that is a kind
of blessing, for then they eat the pony. Our Oblate of
Mary thanks God that he stiU has (January 12, 1849) in
his ice-larder one dog and two dead, wolves, which agree
able provision he hopes wiU last until mUder weather,
when, perhaps, "Our dear Lord wiU have pity onus,
and send us some bear or deer." Meantime, he in
structs many, baptizes the cliildren, attends the dying,
buries the dead. The medicine-man faUs into dis
repute, but does not gi^-e up yet. " Do you see that
cabin, with the white cross on it?" — such is one of
Yellow Snake's harangues. " That is the source of our
misery : out of that the Black-robe sends us death ; he
is kUling us all by his prayer, his words, and his medi-
cine--n'ater (baptism). Burn down his cabin and cut
his head off, and I promise to cure aU your maladies."
But Father Chirouse trusts in God, and hopes that he
shall welcome death joyfuUy for the cause of Jesus
Christ. ' Annales, xxiii. 76

368 Devotion to the B. V. M.iRT
It is true that woful tales of destitution and suffer
ing come in from the Nezperces, the Cayouses, and the
Flatheads, that their stock is perishing under the
snows, and their lodges full of sickness ; that there is
eight feet of snow at the mission of the Immaculate
Conception ; but aU this does not break down the
Oblate of Mary, nor even take the sweet French gayety
out of his heart, nor off' his pen. Has he not a pantry
fuU of choice provisions? A dog and two defunct
wolves ! He acknowledges that the climate is rather
cool for the condition of his wardrobe ; and that when
his ragged and only cassock fell to pieces at last, the
wind that sweeps those frozen solitudes, bit him more
keenly than he relished.
" So I cut out a new cassock from a fine thick
blanket, and dyed it in the juice of the corn-bloom.
The color produced being a lively violet, I fancied
myself a bishop ; but the first time I was caught in
the rain, the violet aU washed out, and my cassock was
as white as the Pope's. A poor pope I, for I lost my
only needle, and could find no other in aU my Quirinal
palace. But I took the head off a big pin and made
it into a kind of needle, with which I have mended the
old cassock. Do not mock at my needle ; she is
coarse, but solid ; it is true that she bends oftener than
I could desire, but then she never breaks." '
An ingenious man, you say. True, but not more so
than his brother Oblate of Mary, Father Farand,
' Annales, xxiii. 79.

m North America. 369
whose beat is about Lake Athabasca, and thence north
ward. He has made himself a little box which holds
bread and wine, a vestment, altar Unen, the chalice
and the stone, every thing, indeed, needed for the
adorable sacrifice, and, when the box is opened, and
its double cover arranged, it forms, ho thinks, a very
decent Uttle altar. Another box contains a neat tent
of seven feet by five in base, which covers his altar ;
the body of his church is the forest, the pranie, the
river-bank. He must know, if possible, the Mon-
tagnais, a dialect of Algonquin. He studies it through
the medium of the Cree, and this he acquires from an
old bUnd Indian who knows no French. The process
is not detaUed, but the result is that he can catechize,
at least, in four or five months.
It was this same Oblate, Father Farand, who buUt
the church at Athabasca. The Scots commandant, a
Protestant, of the post, gave the place and aU the
material but the wood. The priest cut that down in
the forests with his own hands. Then the commandant
had it brought to the place and sawed. So the frame
work soon arose, and the reverend Oblate's own
fingers made the absolutely necessary furniture, the
tables and benches, as weU as the doors and window
frames. Two years alone at this place ; never seeing
a coreligionist except his poor Indians, he never lost
courage, nor regretted his self-sacrifice for Mary.'
As with the priests, so with the bishop. We saw the
" Annales, xxiv. 223-227.
z 16*

370 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
departure of Monseigneur Provencher for the Bet
ter Land ; let us look at his successor, Monseigneur
Alexander Tachi^. He is writing to the venerable
Bishop of Marseilles, Superior General of the Oblates
of Mary. He has visited the stations of Saint Anne
and Our Lady of Victories, and is setting forth from
Saint Boniface to Cross Island, nortli latitude 54°.
The date is February 27th. Let us see how this
bishop makes his visitations.'
" Our small caravan was comprised as foUows : two
Montagnais Indians, with guns on their shoulders and
hatchets in their hands, each dra'wing a small sledge,
upon which was their store of provisions, and wearing
large snow-shoes, opened the way, and, in case of
need, removed any insurmountable obstruction; behind
them plodded your humble servant, provided with
snow-shoes somewhat smaUer, on account of the weak
ness of his legs ; next came four of the finest dogs of
the country, drawing a sledge four feet six inches
broad by six feet and a haU in length, upon which
were attached my culinary apparatus, my bed, ward
robe, chapel, provisions, as well as the effects of a young
half-breed, who closed the procession, and who had
charge of the dogs and the sledge. This arrangement
was a little disturbed the very first day, since the kind-
hearted M. Deschambault, a member of the Honorable
Hudson's Bay Company, would have me placed under
the guidance of one of their servants. The latter was
' Annales, xvi. 112, et seq. Baltimore : American edition.

IN North America. 371
provided with excellent dogs, so that I felt disposed to
avaU myself of the offer, and husband my strength.
This lazy project was, however, speedUy abandoned.
In the afternoon, the dogs, not much accustomed to
fatigue, found that the honorable load which they wera
dragging along was too heavy for them ; I was conse
quently obliged to dismount, put on my snow-shoes,
and tread down the snow before my enfeebled steeds,
a necessary labor for the foUowing nine days.
"To pitch our rude camp ere the nightfall, the first
thing of course necessary, is to move away the loose
snow. For this, the snow-shoes serve the purpose of
shovels, and the ice-bound surface beneath is then
covered with fir branches. At the same time, tho
rigorous axe is actively engaged in decimating tho
forest trees. Their gigantic trunks are severed in
profusion, the steel emits the long-desired spark, the
fine carpet of evergreens, which has replaced the snow,
invites the traveUers to take possession of their now
abode ; each one places himself by the fire to satisfy
the most imperative want — that of warming his limbs,
benumbed with cold; some fimo is spent in rubbing
the chin, the cheeks, and the nose, to restore the cir
culation of the blood ; and when tho lips have been
restored to their natural suppleness, the impressions
received and the adventures of the day are dis
cussed." And so on, day after day, over the cold wastes plods
the holy Oblate of Mary : now and then stopping at a
post of the Hon. Company to confirm, baptize, or cele-

372 Devotion to the B. V. Mart »
brate the divine mysteries. One post the good bishop
is sorry to place under the care of the nearest priest,
because he has no assistant ; the residence of that
nearest priest being one hundred and fifty miles from
this station. Then the poor savages are nearly aU
pagans stiU. They have theft, murder, drunkenness,
the lowest depth of moral degradation, for their in
veterate habits. Crees make war upon Sauteux, As-
siniboins, Nez-Perces, Black-Feet, Blood-Eaters. Here
and there only a Christian famUy could be found ; suf
fering, but always faithful.
" Help ! help !" cries the devoted prelate to his
friends in France. "What a vast field is here ! What
an abundant harvest! It is true that it appears far
from being ripe ; but the dew of celestial grace is so
fructifying and powerful, the rays of the sun of justice
so vivifying, that they may ripen it before the period
assigned by human calculation. The great desidera
tum is more priests. Young Oblates, my brothers and
fi'iends, cast, I entreat you, your regards in this direc
tion. In consecrating yourselves to God, in renoun
cing aU worldly enjoyments, you took for your derice
these expressive words : ' Evangdizare' pauperibus misit
me Deus : God hath sent me to evangelize the poor.' '
May your zeal be exercised here, and may you be one
day enabled to exclaim, with exultation, 'Pauperes
evangdizantur ! The poor have the Gospel preached
to them."' As a recompense for your generosity, I
¦ St. Luke's Gospel, iv. 18. ' Ibid., vii. 22.

IN North America. 373
cannot promise you either wealth, pleasures, or honors;
I know that your generous hearts despise thorn. I
cannot even assure you that you will always experi
ence those sensible joys that sometimes accompany
the exercise of the sacred ministry : the work which is
here confided to us is one of devotedness and self-
abnegation. Jesus alone will be your recompense, as
He alone is tho end of your labors. It is always a
sufiicient happiness to find only God, when He is the
only object of our desires."
Some consolations, nevertheless, there are. At Fort
Augustus seventeen were confirmed ; in another place
twenty-two adults baptized ; and at Our Lady of Vic
tories, a meeting with the young Oblate, Father Eemas.
He had been here four months only, suffering much.
At his first coming, says the bishop, "he had no
house, and the season was too far advanced to think
of buUding one ; a man of the country gladly offered
him his. This habitation is about thirteen feet square,
and six and a half high. It was in this den that your
poor child first made himseK acquainted with our
mode of life ; this was also the episcopal palace that
he had to offer me, and which I willingly accepted.
The only seat it contained, the decayed trunk of ^•
tree, served as my throne, and I found it perfectly
adapted to my condition as a missionary liihop.
Here, as elsewhere, I had no worldly enjoyments,
which I do not desire ; but I found the inexhaustible
treasure of the consolations which Divine goodness is
pleased to bestow with a bountiful hand upon those

374 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
who labor for His glory. The Lake of Our Lady of
Victories is the finest I have seen in these regions.
May the Divine Protectress, to whose patronage it is
confided, make it the centre of a flourishing mission !"
Before separating, perhaps forever in this world, the
bishop has a house built for the young Oblate of the
Immaculate Mother.
" On the 1st of May, Our Lady's own peculiar
month, after a Mass which I offered up to obtain the
protection of the most Holy Virgin in favor of our en
terprise, we proceeded, with a troop of men of good-
wiU, to the place selected for the mis y ion. One of our
pretty Indian canticles, in honor of our good Mother,
was the prelude to our labors, which I commenced
myself, by felling the first tree. I then engaged work
men to coustraot, as soon as possible, a house ; and I
trust that the Father has already been enabled to es
tablish in it his penates. On the 8th of May, in the
morning, I took leave of him. You can scarcely im
agine what were my feelings when giving him my
blessing and embracing him. Alas ! poor missionary,
alone, in the depths of the forest, upon the banks of
the cold lake, among a people of whose language he
knows but a few words ; far, very far, from the beauti
ful France, from his beloved family, without being as-
s Delated even with one of the numerous brethren whom
he has adopted in his religious profession! What
noble devotedness ! what admirable generosity ! 0
holy religion ! what power hast thou over the human
heart, since thou art enabled to break asunder at the

m North America. 375
same time the ties of nature and those formea by
habit! At thy call he forgets every tlmig, mindfid
only of his divine Model, who, in order to save us,
withdrew, so to speak, from the bUss of Paradise, and
wrested himseK from the ineffable embraces of hia ce
lestial Father."
Sometimes, however, as indeed is always tho rule iu
this world, the darkest hour is the hour before the
dawn ; and pleasure comes from that which threatened
pain. Our Oblates are chiefly Frenchmen ; r.ud many
a thing in the Western wUds appears savage and per
ilous to those who issue from the old civilizations,
which is a matter of indifference to the trained Ameri
can. Besides, if they only imagine danger, the pain of
that is quite as great to them as any sense of reality.
Only very stupid people laugh at imagined griefs ; not
that the grief is less, but that the mocker lacks in him
self the quality that caused it. When Father d'Her-
bomez, an Oblate of Mary, in Oregon, lost his way
somewhere between that territory and Northern CaU
fornia, his position was not a comic one. " It was a
case," he says, " for trying the divining rod. I said a
' Hail Mary,' and threw the reins upon the neck of my
mule. At one time, I began to fear the Blessed Virgin
had not heard my prayer. I had already been going
at a slapping pace fot some time, and yet saw nothing
of our friends ; when, suddenly, I came upon a sort of
vUlage, consisting of some twenty huts, out of which
streamed men, women, and chUdren, carrying in their
hands some sort of instruments, I knew not what^ and

376 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
coming towards me. They were black ; blacker than
any coal ; ihe white of their eyes and of their teeth
seemed all the more striking, and gave them, in truth,
a sinister asjject. I was soon surrounded by them.
Now, yen see, I was not yet used to this sort of thing ;
the 'dea that these folks might turn out to be anthro
pophagi made me feel wliat I would rather not ex
press. To be eaten before I had even reached my
post, Lpp "sarcd to me somewhat premature, to say the
least of it; so I assumed as bold a tone as I could, and
asked my way. The only reply I got was simply a
horse-laugh. I was on the point of repeating my
question, when those on my right hand uttered a shout
of joy, repeating in their language a savage word
which I did not understand. They had evidently
made a discovery of something that pleased them, for
they clapped their hands with great glee.
" The chief now approached me. He was distin
guished from the rest by the superior manner in which
he was tattooed on the face and over the rest of his
body. Strings of beads, formed of human teeth, were
suspended from his ears and neck. He made signs
for me to dismount, and I felt by no means at ease ;
resistance, however, was out of the question ; so, with
out more ado, I commended myself to God and to our
tender Mother."
After all, they were only glad to see him, these wUd
men. They made him smoke the calumet, and he
found, on trial, that some of them spoke a Uttle Eng
Ush. It was the sight of the missionary cross under

in North America. 377
his cloak that made them glad, they said. Then ho
saw a couple of children with our dear Lady's Scapu
lar and medal round, their necks ; and finally, he dis
covered that two-thu-ds of them were Christians.'
Father Brunet also, at La Crosse, Hudson's Bay, in
1857, has his consolations. Let him teU us a story or
so of Mary's red children at He La Crosse, Hudson's
Bay. One year, while giving his mission, he was
struck by the perfect, beautiful serenity of one face.
It was the face of a girl of seventeen, and when he
asked her name, she told him it was Angela." " Never,"
he teUs us, " was name more appropriate." When the
mission was over, she, perishing already with decline,
foUowed her family to the forests. With them she
moved about from place to place, as their needs re
quired, suffering always, and always patient, daUy
growing feebler ; fading daUy as the forest leaves fade
when the fall comes on.
So she Uved on till Mary's month of May. Her
parents always expected her to die, and told her of
their apprehensions. But she said, " No : not before
she should attend another mission." This was her
only prayer. As if she said with the poet-king, " One
thing have I desired of the Lord, and wUl seek to ob
tain : that I may once more behold the delight of the
Lord, and may -risit His temple." ^ And her sweet
purity of life obtained this favor for her. But when
' Annales, xvii. 138. ' Ibid., xxx. 74.
" Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram ; ut videam voluptatem
DoaUni et visitem templum Ejus. — Psalm xx'vi. 4.

378 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
she reached La Crosse, she was no longer able to at
tend the public services. But she told the Oblate of
Mary, " I knew that I should see you again, I had
asked that so earnestly from God. My parents said
that I must die. But I told them, ' Yes, when I should
arrive here.' " She only wanted one thing more, this
Indian Angela, to partake of the Food of Angels ; and
on Whit-Sunday her yearning was gratified. The
priest told her she was gomg, and spoke to her only of
the joys of the eternal home.
And so, on the next Sunday morning, he went to
¦give her the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. He
thought she slept, but it was her agony, only so gentle
thai it seemed Uke sleep. He spoke to her, and she
opened her eyes. He gave her the crucifix, and she
kissed it, saying, "Jesus, have mercy on me ! Help me,
my Mother Mary !" The missionary thought that she
would last through the night ; yet, as he turned away
to leave her, he could not help saying, " May the
angels conduct thee into Paradise," ' and, as he spoke,
she passed away. For God had heard the last prayer
of the Oblate of Mary, and the angels came from
heaven, and took the soul of their Sister Angela, to
its rest.
In the same tribe lived the good old chieftain Em
manuel, who, too feeble to go out for the chase, em
ployed his leisure in searching the forest for the chU-
di'en of his nation, and teaching them the catechism ;
' Ordo Commendationis Animse.

IN North America. 379
and so the savage peoples the desert with new children
of God. And then there is our young friend Henry,
idolized by his tribe, and foUowed by aU in whom the
instinct of self-devotion has been cultivated. He
writes, on one occasion, " My father, I remember the
Prayer. I keep myself altogether for God and you. 1
want to go to heaven ; Father, pray for me. When
you read this letter, you wiU read ray heart. I have
hunted successfuUy ; I have many furs : I do not
love them ; I love God. I teU you, Father, in mine
integrity, I teU you that I love only God, and
that land which is above, and that I may be pre
served for that land and for my good God, l pray
to my Angel, and, above aU, to Mary, sweet Mother
of God."
But the Uves of the Oblates, like those of other men,
are made up of alternations ; if we ha's'e just seen our
Lady Mary as Health of the Feeble, as Protectress, as
puissant over the rude savages, we must also nee her
as " Consolatrix Affl.ictorum, the Consoler of the Af
flicted." Go up then, with Father Grandin, to the
Oblate Mission of Our Lady of Sorrows, north of Lake
Athabasca. Let him give another sketch or so of the
Ufe of the missionary.
" On the feast of the Assumption, I had to convey
the holy Viaticum to a poor dying woman. Every
Saturday the aged and infirm came to encamp near
the Mission, whence they did not return untU the
Monday foUowing. On this occasion, in order to ac
company the Blessed Sacrament, they returned the

380 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
same evening. My canoe was drawn by one man lame
and another almost blind ; I was escorted by seven or
eight other barks, fiUed with sick people, the strongest
of whom were old grandmothers in charge of infants.
In their infirmity they managed to ply the oars with
sufiicient effect to keep up with the canoe which car
ried Jesus Christ, and to sing hymns with the utmost
exertion of their lungs.
" We arrived at the abode of the sick woman at
nightfall. A priest in Europe would be at a loss how
to proceed, if, while bearing the sacred elements to his
sick people, he met 'with houses arranged like the huts
of our savages. In Europe he would find in the habi
tations of tho poorest at least a table, prepared by
some friendly neighbor ; but he would have to enter
the Indian cabin by crawling on his hands and feet, to
take great precautions against burning his clothes or
soiUng them. But, under such circumstances, where
is the priest to deposit the Holy Sacrament whUe
hearing the confession of the sick person ? There is
not a single piece of furniture in the hovel, not even a
log of wood. For my part, knowing beforehand what
I have to expect, I carry with me a smaU casket, not
so large as a quarto volume, which I wrap in a piece
of clean linen, and, on arriving at the abode of the
savage, I place it on the ground, in the least dirty
place. I'll is is the throne upon which the King of
kings is pleased to descend, while I prepare Him an
other in the heart of the sick person by receiving his
confession."

in North America. 381
Then, again, is not this a fit scene for the Mission of
Our Lady of Sorrows ? "A poor old Indian arrived,
foUowed by his wife and children, and laden with a
heavy burden. They struggled through the deep snow,
painfully, to the door of the Mission House, and, with
bitter tears, told their errand. The burden which the
old man carried was the dead body of one of his boys,
and his request was for Christian burial ; for his faith
was, at least, as great as his paternal love. When the
cofiin and grave had been arranged, I prepared to per
form the burial service. The cemetery is at a consid
erable distance ; there is along the road a quantity of
wood, which obstructs it, and there was no one to
carry the corpse. Two boys, one of whom was the
brother of the deceased, tried to carry it ; but they
had not sufficient strength, so that the poor father was
obUged to resume his burden, now considerably in
creased in weight. My clerk v,-as a Utile Indian, five
years old ; although he had only the cross to carry, ho
feU several times, tripped up by the snow and the
branches ; I was obliged to raise him, myseK encum
bered with my book and the holy water. I had also
to act as guide to the old man, that I might not have
to Uft him up also. On arriving at the grave, I was
about to let down the corpse myself, when the poor
father told me to wait for his wife, who had not been
able to arrive in time. When she came up, the old
savage knelt do-wn devotedly, kissed the coffin, in which
act he was imitated by his wife and children. Eeturn
ing aU together to the church, in tears, I recited with

382 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
them the Eosary, and sang a hymn, to which they re
sponded, as weU as to the Eosary." '
Father Paul Durieu" had spent five years in the
Eocky Mountains, wandering about from soUtude to
solitude, from forest to forest, constantly exposed to
perish in torrents, to fall by the awful grip of the
grizzly bear, scarcely knowing where to get food from
day to day, or shelter and rest at night. Stiff with gold,
rain, and snow, wet to the bones for days together;
after his long, long isolation, getting, as best he might,
to the next mission, one hundred and fifty miles away ;
staggering the last few miles of the distance, and faUing
at last upon the threshold, so apparently dying, that they
get him to bed and administer the Extreme Unction.
Plenty of sufferings were his ! The usual unscrupu
lous wickedness of dealing with the Indians in the
States, was one source of his troubles. Cheated first
in the form of obtaining their lands ; second, in the
measurement; third, in payment, and generally in
every other point of the bargain ; the poor American
was driven to desperation, rose, two or three thousand
strong, without discipline, ammunition, or provision,
against the millions of Celtico-Saxon civUization in
1858. Paul Durieu had a mission of four hundred
Christians ; who, obedient to the missionary, refused
resolutely to join the exasperated tribes. Of course,
they were reckoned as enemies ; they were obliged to
fly from their mission ; to leave their viUage, with its
' Annales, xix. 343. * Ibid., xxxii. 212.

IN North America. 383
wigwam church, to the flames, and to take refuge in
the mountains.
Three mighty hiUs they crossed to reach their ]:>lace
of refuge ; a range of mountains two hundred and fifty
miles in length, rising in enormous peaks covered with
eternal snow. From the top of the last height which
divided them from their new home, they looked down
over the plain where the wild massacre was going on,
and shuddered at the thought of how its thousand
sparkUng streams were tinged with blood. At first the
hunting was not bad ; the bear and roebuck were
abundant; and, when the hunters, with their Oblate
Father among them, succeeded in finding a good herd,
they would remember who sent it, and, kneeling upon
the snow, they " would sing the Ave Maris Stella, to
thank God, through the medium of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, for giving them food in the wilderness."
T'wice had the savage pagan warriors been crushed
by the civilized cannon ; and now furious, not tamed,
by their defeats, they were searching all the wilderness
for re-enforcements ; and one night a fierce troop en
tered the Christian encampment. They knew that the
Oblate of Immaculate Mary had prevented his people
from joining the fierce forays of the heathen. He heard
them coming and yelling out his title. He fell upon
his knees, made a solemn act of contrition and recom
mendation of his soul to God, and then awaited them.
[n a few moments they poured into his lodge.'
' Annales, xxi. 221.

384 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
" Here is the priest," he said. " What do you want
of him?" The chief showed the cords that vrere to
bind him. The warriors brandished the guns and the
knives that were intended, at least, to intimidate him,
but he said, " Do you know in whose lodge you stand,
and to whom you are speaking ? It is to the minister
of Jesus Christ ; to the messenger sent by God among
you ; to him who is sacrificing himself for your salva
tion. And your minds are so perverse, your hearts so
ungrateful, that you would do him harm. Are you not
afraid that the Master of Heaven wUl destroy you on
the spot ? If you are thirsting for my blood, I am in
your hands : pierce the heart that has always loved
you ; here it is," and he bared his breast, adding :
" Strike if you dare, and aU wiU be consummated, —
your crime and my sacrifice."
The heathens were suUen and silent, and Mary's
Oblate continued : " You want powder and balls ; I
have none. But, if I had them, I would not give them
to you, nor would I become associated with your mas
sacres, by furnishing you with the means of commit
ting them. The Black-robe is the man of peace and
charity. He is ready to give up his Ufe to save yours :
he detests those who would disseminate death. Go
from my lodge. The Master of LKe wiU deal with you
some day. He will take vengeance for what you are
doing now. But I entreat Him to have pity on you,
and to change your hearts, for I cannot help loving
you stiU." Then the chief said, " He has said it. It
is true. The Black-robe was and is our best friend.

in North America. 385
Pardon us. Black-robe, we were ordered by our chief
to come. We go away now, without doing harm. The
Black-robe shaU always be our friend." Then they
shook hands with him, and defiled, in their sUent
way, down the mountain. Well for them, most
probably, for the Christian Indians soon returned
from the chase ; and had they seen their priest
threatened, bloodshed would have certainly ensued.
" But," as they are so fond of repeating in their
letters, "Our Mother Immaculate watches over her
Oblates." The poor Indians, preposterously simple in the eyes
of the schoolmen, are so blessedly childlike in the eyes
of our God. One poor old Montagnais at the Mission
of Our Lady of Sorrows, was found to pass his Fridays
altogether without eating, because fish was not pro
curable. Father Grandin told him that there was no
obligation of abstinence upon him. But he said, " I
guessed so. Father, but I want to see the face of God,
and I would rather do too much than too little." And
the savages, for so the translator of the "Annales," pre
fers to render the French word sauvages, the Indians of
Our Lady of Sorrows, when they cannot get fish for
their abstinence days, have a habit of picking out such
pieces as they like least. One, only seventeen years old,
and newly baptized, went out to hunt. He passed
three days without eating. Then he killed a bear.
And when he brought a rib or so of it- to the Oblate
Father, he told him that he had slain the brute on a
Friday, and had eaten some of his fat. "I am not
AA 17

3SG Devotion to the B. V. Mart
certain whether I did right, Father, but I said the
Blessed Virgin's Eosary three times." '
And we must remember, in our estimation of these
neophytes, their position, and its temptations and con
sequent perils. They are among the savage pagans of
their race ; akin by blood, separate by religion ; and,
faithful in such circumstances, can he doubt that as
with Abraham of old," " it wUl be reckoned to them for
greater righteousness?" Father Farand, of Mary's
Oblates, shows us in a sketch how wild these circum
stances of association necessarily are.° He says :
" On my return, I found an assemblage of fifty In
dians, leaping, shouting, firing gims, and incapable of
restraining the expression of their enthusiasm and joy.
Among them were two old men, still infidels, but par
tiaUy acquainted with the sacred truth. ' Good and
merciful God,' exclaimed one of them, ' I thank Thee
for having permitted me to live to see Thy priest,
through whom I am to obtain salvation.' The Indian
ceremonies having been duly performed, ' Father,' said
they, ' do you consider our hair sufficiently gray? Are
we sufiiciently ripe for heaven ? We are not attached
to the present life, but we have asked of God to grant
us the favor of living to see again your face, and re
ceiving baptism.' On hearing my affirmative reply,
they dried their tears, and I proceeded to the fort.

' Annales, xx. 104. American edition.
' St. Paul to the Hebrews.
» Annales, xx. 228. American edition.

in North America. 387
But I was soon obliged to leave every thing ; numer
ous gun-shots had just been heard, the whole tribe of
the Yellow Knives had arrived, and this was their
greeting to me.
" The YeUow Knives are much less humane than the
Montagnais ; their faces bear the impress of frightful
barbarity ; they had come, however, to hear the words
of salvation. As their language is something like that
of the Montagnais, I was able to instruct them ; the
difficulty was to hear, for they spoke all at once,
screaming and howling in the most deafening manner.
I could perceive, however, that they were speaking of
me 'with admiration. Some of them, whom 1 had seen
four years before, wanted to impose sUence upon the
others, that they might speak to me alone ; but it was
quite impossible for any single voice to be dis
tinguished amid the tumult. This scene continued
untu half-past eleven at night, when I dismissed them.
If the Yellow Knives should one day become Chris
tians, I feel convinced that they wiU practise virtue to
heroism. They have long been the terror of the other
sa'v^ages, and they are stiU the most violent ; but are
not the most violent dispositions the most susceptible
of giring the brightest examples of virtue ?
"I announced the opening of the Mission for the
foUowing day, which was Sunday, on the morning of
which day, the sun appeared to rise more bright and
radiant than usual. Having concluded my meditation,
I rang the beU, and the Indians, at the first signal,
filled the room that served us as a church. After Mass

388 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and instructions, the chief of the Yellow Knives, a
man of good sense and regular conduct, remained with
me, together with the second of the old men, who, also,
had asked to receive baptism. ' God,' said the latter
to me, 'with an earnest look, 'the God, whom you
preach, must be good beyond expression, since you are
so good.' Then, addressing himself to the chief of
the Yellow Knives, 'What country has given him
birth? who has inspired him with the thought of
coming here to instruct us, poor, miserable creatures,
who were so deserted ?' The reason appeared evident
to the other old man, who replied : ' Father, I now see
you for the first time, although I have long had the
desire of meeting you. But I am happy in having
thought of one thing that you have preached to us.
You spoke to us of the omnipresence of God ; some of
my tribe considered this very extraordinary: weU, I
then explained to them how this could be possible. If
the sun, which is so smaU, lights aU our forests and
lakes at the same time, is it astonishing that He who
has made the sun should be able to penetrate and
search even the bottom of our hearts?'
" But I was not to overlook the principal aim of my
voyage. The mountains of snow had already disap
peared under the sun's rays, and my workmen had
already prepared for me all the building- wood. I took
two men with me ; we got upon a raft, upon which we
drifted towards Elk Island. To relate all the dangerg
we incurred that day would be impossible. Some
times in the water up to the waist, we resolutely per-

in North America. 389
sisted in clearing the ice which would not give way ;
sometimes we were carried away by the current, and
we were in danger of disappearing beneath these float
ing mountains. At one time, while seated astride of
a flake of ice, I was thrown into the water, and should
have been drowned had I not been an expert swimmer.
I got out upon another piece of ice, and was caught
by my men ; but I was obUged to descend in the raft,
and return with them to the fort without having suc
ceeded in my attempt. The foUowing day the wind
changed, and drifted away the ice. We hastened to
set out ; the building-wood was put on board, and at
four o'clock in the afternoon we landed on the deserted
island. Our savages followed us, and we now went to
work. For eight days I superintended the workmen,
hatchet in hand. When the house and chapel began
to require less of my direction, I left my workmen to
continue their labors, and resumed my missionary
occupations. " Then a new clan of heathens came in upon us sud
denly, with salvos of musketry and rather discordant
yeUs. Of these, only one had been baptized, but he was
an apostle ; he had instructed his brethren, and they
might have been taken for old Christians. Moreover,
the numerous tribes that inhabit the banks of the great
Mackenzie Eiver are so desirous of instruction, that it
is sufficient to initiate one alone to give to all the rest
the essential notions of Christianity ; so that all these
savages, even those who are not baptized, look upon
themselves as Christians. I devoted the whole of

390 Devotion, to the B. V. Mart
the night to the examination of the new-comers, and
the next day I was enabled to fix the time for the
grand baptismal festival. Providence added to the
solemnity of the event in permitting us to perform
the ceremony in our modest chapel, which, although
unfinished, was available for the exigencies of the
occasion. " In the morning I ascended a small hiU that over
looks the house and chapel, that I might more freely
devote myseK to prayer. Beneath me lay two hun
dred and sixty Indian huts, and I heard a few voices
muttering prayers. On the previous evening I had
exhorted them all to prayer, and they spent the night
in singing hymns and reciting the Eosary. At break of
day, some of them, overcome by fatigue, had gone to
sleep ; others were still engaged in prayer. On the
signal being given, they aU assembled. After Mass,
I called over the names, and thirty-six adults, ad
mirably disposed, received the sacrament of regen
eration. A few days after, eighty other adults were
sufficiently weU prepared, and enjoyed the same happi
ness." And then how gratifying it is, to see these great
heroes, these warriors of God, unmentioned in news
papers, unquarrelled for by parties, unaware of their
own grandeur, remembering so tenderly the father,
mother, Uttle sister, whom they left at home in kindly
France. Living in the wilds as God made them, unen-
thraUed by the extreme elegance and deUcacy of North
American civiUzation, these men, amid their wander-

m North America. 891
ings, and perils, and noble seK-sacrifice, have Uberty
at least to remember humanity, their famUy, and the
home, so weU worth loving, but which they left to b«
Oblates of Mary.

892 Devotion to the B. T, Mart

CHAPTEE XIX.
Mart's Oblates on thb Atlahtio ahd m the Land of the Daootah,
There are other missions, too, less near the North
ern Pole, but no less fruitful in suffering. To me there
is something inexpressibly touching in the address of
Father Bernard's letter from the GuK of St. Law
rence. "Mt Good and Deaeest Mother:'
" I remember that when I was stiU very young, 1
once read to you a letter from a missionary, in which
he spoke of the labors of his apostleship. He repre
sented himself as catechizing his people late at night,
seated upon a beam of his half-erected chapel. This
scene was lighted by a splendid moonlight ; and the
secret desire of imitating the good priest was enkindled
in my heart. It has pleased God to aid, by His grace,
the sentiments with which He then inspired me. It is
now eleven years since I left France to proceed to
Canada, where I have already built two churches, both
dedicated to the Apostle St. Peter, my glorious patron.
For the means to construct these two churches, I had
' Annales, xx. 238. American edition.

IN North America. 393
to turn beggar, and I have now sufficient to complete
them. " For four years, I exercised the ministry among the
French Canadians, and it was not until last spring that
I saw an Indian tribe, in their normal state, in the
midst of the woods. The dream of my early years is
now reaUzed, and it is to you, my good Mother, that I
address the first narrative of my wanderings. I left
Montreal on the 13th of last May, and Quebec on the
20th, accompanied by Fathers Bubel, appointed to the
chief direction of the Mission ; Arnaud, missionary to
the Nascapis ; and Crepman, sent to Labrador. On
our way to the Mission, in the bark canoes, we recited
the Eosary and prayed together. We mingled out
voices in singing the Magnificat ; to the eye of faith, it
was a splendid sight to 'witness these thirty-four
traveUers praying daUy in common. And at the Mis
sion we find all the Indian Christians. On our arrival
the women run and pick up dry wood. They light a
fire and boU the pot. The children gambol, and run in
quest of wild fruit, while the men watch, gun on arm,
upon some crag. You may, if you like, apply here the
proverb, ' that you should not seU the bear's skin be
fore having kiUed it.' Despite all the proverbs in the
world, the pot boils ; it must have victims — ^it wUl have
them ! Have patience ! Do you see that napeshish
(little boy), nine years old, with smiUng Ups and a
quick step? With as little concern as possible, he
says to you, as he passes: 'Nota shiship; Father, some
game!' Good, good! by the aid of the murderous
17*

394 Devotion to B. V. Mart
lead we will have some godes, some moniac, for dinner,
and there wiU be some left for this evening. The meal
over, the voyage is resumed until nightfaU, when
anchor is cast, and aU again land. A large fire ia
lighted; the game wUl soon be cooked; some coarse
black tea will serve as a beverage. After supper, aU,
at a given signal, assemble around the large fire, and
recite, on their knees, the Eosary. This is foUowed by
night prayers, after which an Indian, with a clear voice,
intones, in his own language, three times, the Parce
Domine, and three times, also, that invocation to the
Blessed Virgin, — ' Sancta Maria, refugium peccatarum,
ora pro nobis.' Then is added that touching invoca
tion from the office of the Church : ' Into Thy hands,
O Lord ! I commend my spirit. Thou hast redeemed
us, 0 Lord God of truth ! Glory be to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ! Keep us, O Lord,
as the apple of thine eye. Protect us under the
shadow of thy wings !' ' SubUme accents, how they
move the soul of the Christian praying in soUtude be
neath a star-covered sky !"
At Mingan, they find ninety Christian Indian fami
lies assembled, and " Mingan possesses a deUghtful
little chapel, surmounted by a beKry terminated by a
small arrow, and ornamented with a cross. A beU is
used to caU to Mass the nomadic people encamped in
the neighborhood. There is a Mass at five o'clock.

' Holy Mary, Refuge of Sinners ; pray for us.
' Conclusion of the Compline OflSce, Boman Breviary.

IN North America. 395
preceded by prayer, and accompanied by the -ringing
of hymns. This is followed by instruction ; and, at
seven o'clock, by the last Mass. An Indian woman,
whom I asked if she were not fatigued with remaining
so long at chapel, and always in a squatting posture,
replied : ' I wish the Fathers would remain with us
always. Can we make too much of them during the
days of the Mission ? Ah ! if you knew how long the
months appear when we are without priests !' ' And
what,' said I, ' do you do on a Sunday when we are not
here? Do the men hunt?' 'Never, Father, unless
they have been unsuccessful the night, or night but
one, before. The Great Spirit does not wish his chil
dren to die of hunger. About the time when we know
that the High Mass is being offered up in the parish
churches of Canada, we read prayers and recite the
Eosary, and so also at the time for Vespers. This is
aU our consolation while awaiting the return of the
Mission.' " These words, I am bound to say, were fully justi
fied in their conduct. You would be delighted to see
them go about their avocations, the women inside the
cabins, the men outside ; some fishing, some hunting,
and others building bark canoes. You would be
equally surprised to see them leave off work to go to
confession. You would not, perhaps, find one who
would content himseK with going only once. At night
fall they assembled at the chapel to sing hymns, which
are followed by the recitation of the Eosary, prayer, and
benediction, and expositicn of the Blessed Sacrament.'

396 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
" The devotions are terminated by the singing of a
hymn to Mary, of which the foUowing is a translation
of the first and simple strophe :
" ' How I love to look upon the Queen of Heaven's
sacred image ! My heart and my voice have always
understood her language. She says to me, with a
smile — Come, my child.'
"I must also speak to you of the procession in honor
of the Blessed Virgin, which generaUy closes the Mis
sion. At that to which I aUude, a statue of our good
Mother, brought from France, was borne by four
young Montagnais girls, whUe four others held the
ends of the ribbons. All of them might have said,
with the Virgin of Solomon, ' Nigra sum, sed formosa : '
we are black, but this by no means prevents us from
being pleasing to the Queen of Heaven,' During the
procession, a company of hunters from time to time
discharged their guns. Each report was instantly an
swered by the cannon fired on board the Canadienne,
moored in front of the chapel ; and her numerous
crew, at least the major part of it, had come, by our
invitation, to form an escort to the image of the Pro
tectress of France and Canada. You wUl be as
tonished at the grandeur of this ceremony, if you re
flect that it took place at a distance of four hundred
miles from Quebec, upon an uncultivated coast, and in
a wood, in which, in spite of the gnats and musquitos,
I had opened a road, eighteen feet wide and five hun-
' Song of Songs.

IN North America. 397
dred yards long. We inaugurated it on the previous
evening by planting a large cross, to which disconso
late souls may come hereafter for strength and con
solation." We have seen, this year, 1863, that struggle of the
Sioux for the possession of Minnesota, which wUl
probably be their last. We have read of their out
rages, and of the hanging of some seventy of them.
Let us see how a civiUzed woman proposes to argue
the matter 'with them. It wiU give us an idea of the
ferocity and savage hate for aU whites which exist,
as Ufe-elements, in the bosoms of the untamable Daco
tah. "Minnesota," says Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm,
"wiU never make peace with the Sioux Indians.
Whenever they get out from under Uncle Samuel's
wing, we wUl hunt them, shoot them, set traps for
them, put out poisoned bait for them, kill them by every
means we would use to exterminate panthers. We can
not breathe the same air with these demon riolators
of women, crucifiers of infants. Every Minnesota man
loho has a soul, and can get a rifle, 'will go to shooting
Indians, and he who hesitates wUl be blackballed by
every Minnesota woman, and posted as a coward in
every Minnesota house." '
Now, if this be a just way of dealing, even retribu-
tively just, with the Dacotah, we can gain an insight
into the perUs of the Oblate Father Mestre on his
journey through the country of these indomitable
' Lecture delivered by the above-named lady, in "Washington, on
Saturday, Feb. 21 or 28 1863.

398 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
savages less than three years ago.' "I would not
write you these horrors," he says to Monseigneur de
Mazenod, " were it not to afford you joy and inspire
you with gratitude, by proving to you once more that,
in the midst of deserts the most frightful and formida
ble, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate are 'risibly pro
tected by her whom you teach them daily to invoke as
their Protectress and Mother.
" Nature herseK gives us the first idea of what our
journey is to be, for, about nine o'clock at night, just
as we had aU taken to our blankets, and were thinking
of taking a little repose on the hard ground that was
to be our traveUing couch, a most violent storm broke
out. The wind, blowing with fury, continuaUy lifted
up our tent and threatened to overturn it, whUe the
clouds poured down upon us a torrent of rain. For a
good hour we had the greatest difficulty in preserving
our slight place of shelter, and in protecting our pro
visions against the water, which broke in upon us at
all sides. When the storm had ceased, and the sky
became again serene, a tempest of another nature was
suddenly heard in the tent next to ours, and one,
too, which gave us much more alarm than the one
against which we had been so vigorously struggling.
The three haK-breeds, who had shown us the greatest
civUity, having been visited in the evening by some
comrades, invited them to drink, and drank with them
to excess ; then followed shouts and songs, which wore
' Annales, xxii. 229. Baltimore edition.

in North America. 399
those of true Iroquois : but these were soon succeeded
by quarrels, and, as a finish to the feast, by sanguinary
battles, for one of the combatants received two knife-
cuts in the orbit of the right eye. This scene lasted
until three o'clock in the morning."
Then they strike off into those boundless plains
where the eye seldom sees any trace of human life
between itseK and the far horizon. But in a few days
a straggling Indian or trader would meet them, and
pass them rapidly with the news that the Sioux were
up ; " and soon," says Father Mestre, " we saw, in
the direction of the northwest, an immense fire, and
our people recognized in this a practice of the Sioux,
who must have discovered us during the daytime, and
who, by this means, were giving to their brethren, dis
persed on the prairie, the signal for a rendezvous, that
they might be able to attack us with greater advan
tage. This supposition was but too true.
"It so happened that, under these fearful circum
stances, we had with us only four young haK-breeds,
not more than eighteen years old, and a man of about
forty, but who appeared least courageous of aU. It was
in vain that we sought to rouse him from the preoccu
pations that preyed upon us, as weU as him ; in vain
did we exhort him to put his whole trust in God and
the good Mary. Alas! it would seem he anticipated
the horrible scene in which, eleven days later, he was
to faU a victim to the perfidy of the Sioux. About six
o'clock in the evening, just as we were retiring within
our camps, perceiving him stUl in the same dejected

iOO Devotion to the B. V. Mart
mood, 'Come,' said I to him, 'I wUl stand sentinel,
and see that our horses do not go astray, and give the
alarm at the first sign of danger.' And, accordingly,
with my gun on my left arm, and my Eosary in my
right hand, I set to walking about, in aU directions,
around our carts, stopping at every step to listen."
So they go on, over those seas of land, tiU, on the
twentieth day of their journey, they " suddenly heard
the almost simultaneous report of several guns. 'It
is all over with us,' said the men one to another ; ' the
enemy is behind the hiU; we are lost!' 'Lost,' ex
claimed Father Moulin and I, as if instinctively
repeating the word ; ' no, no, it is not possible ! the
All-Powerful hand that has protected us thus far, wiU
not abandon us. We are here two missionaries, two
children of Mary Immaculate : our glorious Mother is
with us.' "
The shots came from a band of Dacotahs who had
fired at three straggUng haK-breeds. The latter now
came in and swelled the drunken, mixed-blood escort
of the unfortunate Missionaries. These feUows told
the Oblate Fathers that there were only twenty-five
miles left of their journey towards the Mission of
Saint Joseph ; and that there was no further danger
from the Sioux. The truth was, that they had still
one hundred mUes to traverse, and that through the
very central camping ground of those redoubtable
heathens. But "God and Mary" was their watch
word ; and earnest, practical belief in that which they
professed, was their strength. But the luggage of

IN North America. 401
their escort consisted chiefly in whiskey : the unbred
brutes were always drunk and quarreUing; and the
two priests, " offered to God for Mary," determined
to go in advance of the (>.aravan : hoping and beUeving
to find that she, who is the " Star of the Sea," would
prove for them also the " Star of the Prairies."
They beUeved that they had twenty-five mUes to go,
and they started : Father Moulin, with his broriary
under one arm, and their stock of provisions swung on
an umbreUa over the shoulder of the other ; while
Father Mestre bore a traveUing-bag, weighing thirty
pounds, attached to the muzzle of his rifle. So they
go on, from daybreak until three o'clock, the twenty-
five mUes of supposition gradually lengthening out into
the hundred miles of reaUty. So the night fell at last,
and there was nothing left but to lie down beneath the
tufted wUlows which fringed the watercourse that
guided them, with trust in God and His Immaculate
Mother, for their sole protection from, the night-dew,
the prowling woK, the grizzly bear, and the grizzlier
Dacotah. "It is needless," says Mary's Oblate, "to describe
the horrors of that long night. Half reclined upon the
damp ground, we could not sleep for a moment, for,
at every movement of the leaves, we imagined our
selves assailed by enemies of aU sorts ; and as I placed
much reliance on my gun, I never, for an instant,
parted with it. Ah, with what joy we witnessed the
break of day about four o'clock next morning ! After
having offered up an act of thanksgiving to God, and
BB

402 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
implored the intercession of the Blessed Virgin for our
protection, we sought the best means of crossing the
river; but what was our surprise, on reaching the
opposite bank, to discover an immense plain between
ns and the long-desired mountain !" — the mountain at
the foot of which they fancied St. Joseph's mission lay.
Therefore, they march on bravely, and find, at seven
o'clock, that no Mission is there. Courage ! it is at
the other side of the mountain ! So they set a stout
heart to a steep brae, and chmb the hiU. And on the
top they find the beginning of a new and apparently
Umitless plain, stretching off far to the base of another
and a taller peak.
Then Father Moulin is struck with an attack of
ague, from which he had been for some time suffering,
and faUing down, declares his inabiUty to go any fur
ther. What is to be done ? The escort cannot over
take them in less than two days : they have had no food
for twenty-four hours ; on this elevated plateau there is
not one drop of water to quench their parching thirst.
Then says Mestre : " ' What shall I do, my brother ?
Shall I lie down beside you that we may die together,
or shaU I leave you, and strive to reach the Mission ?'
And Father Moulin answered : ' Go forward, friend, if
you have stUl any strength remaining. It may be that
St. Joseph's is at no great distance. Ah ! if you could
but reach it without accident, you would probably find
there some charitable souls who would fly to my assist
ance, and then — ' ' Leave that to me,' said I, with
my heart swoUen 'with grief. ' Ever since we were left

in North America. 403
to ourselves in this frightful solitude, God has delivered
us from so many dangers, that He will stiU be my pro
tector and guide, and will likewise watch over you.'
With these words, I placed my gun and bag at the
feet of my dear brother, and now, that I had divested
myseK of this heavy burden, I felt capable of walking
several mUes before nightfall.
" I must admit, that when I saw my beloved brother,
hitherto so courageous, lying helpless on the ground,
I could not help feeUng discouraged. For a moment
I thought it was aU over with us ; but Providence, who
had reserved for us this severe trial, came to my aid ;
and no longer thinking of the pains in my legs, or the
numerous bUsters that had almost rendered me in
capable of putting my feet to the ground, I set out
with almost as much energy as at the moment of
departure. " I had scarcely proceeded three miles, when I sud
denly perceived, a few yards before me, what appeared
to be a man's head in the grass. ' Hold !' said I to
myseK, ' there is a Sioux lying in wait for me.' I re
solved, however, to advance, trembUng with fear, and
recommending myseK to God with all the fervor that
an almost certain and immediate death was calculated
to inspire. On approaching the so-much-dreaded ob
ject, I distinguished a black cap fixed on the end of a
stick set up in the very path along which I was walk
ing. On approaching this trophy, I saw also two
arrows on each side of the road, and beneath the cap,
a large knife, very recently steeped in blood. This

404 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
was quite sufficient to convince me that the Sioux must
have committed there a double murder 'within a few
days. Looking around me, I perceived on the grass,
which appeared much trampled, some traces of blood
and shreds of clothes ; thirty or forty yards behind the
spot, a knot of dwarf wiUows, the branches of which
were for the most part twisted or broken, bore evi
dence that the enemy had made this their ambush."
The next encounter was with a woK — no dog-like
coyote of the mUder prairies, but a gaunt, ta'wny-gray
wolf of the north. Poor Father Mestre had nothing
to' do for it but trust in God, and to keep his umbreUa
pointed at the brute. By and by it slunk away, and
the Oblate felt better, until at sunset, when, having
finished his Office, he heard the growl of more than
one grizzly bear. No hunter's joy was his at the
sound ; for the unaided umbrella is not reliable in the
case of the bear. "Besides," he says, "I could scarcely
bear up against the pain that was caused by the con
traction of the sinews ; I was also parched with thirst,
which tended to increase the state of weakness to
which I was reduced. I tried, however, to drag myseK
along for some time, firmly resolved to keep the prom
ise I had made to Father Moulin, to walk day and
night. I also expected to meet with some lake or
stream at which I should be able to quench my thirst.
But at nine o'clock, finding myself deceived in my ex
pectations, and my. strength completely exhausted, I
was forced to make a halt. I took shelter for the night
under some bushes densely covered 'vrith foUage, and.

IN North America. 405
before going to sleep, recommended myseK with all my
heart to God, and to her who is justly designated the
Comforter of the afflicted. Apprehensive that I might
only awake in the presence of the great Judge, I thrice
repeated my act of contrition, then painfuUy stretching
myseK upon the already damp grass, with my cross in
one hand and my Eosary in the other, I laid my head
on my breviary, and crossed my arms on my breast.
In this posture, I waited patiently until sleep came to
close my eyeUds. But the sweat in which my whole
body was suffused, the dew which had already wet my
clothes, distressed me very much ; and it was not tiU
after having lain long and painfuUy awake, that a deep
sleep enabled me to forget for a time the fatigue and
suffering that I had endured during the whole day.
At ten o'clock I was suddenly roused by the howUng
of the wolves."
So up he must rise and stagger on again : but he
blessed God for ihat, for eleven o'clock brought him to
a river, shadowed by dwarf red-oak and maple. Here
he quenched his thirst, and, after one or two faUures,
succeeded in cUmbing up into a triple tree-fork. Here
he felt disposed to mock at the howUng of the now
numerous wolves, for he knew that the brute could not
cUmb, but a deeper growl in the distance moderated
his triumph, and bade him remember that the tallest
trees are accessible to the bear. But he got some Uttle
rest, though broken, in his forest arm-chair, and at
daybreak he felt better able to continue his route.
And so stiU fasting ; chewing the blossoms of certaia

406 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
odorKerous plants for hunger, and Ucking the de'vv
from the large oak leaves to quench his thirst, he found
his way at length to his brother Oblates of Mary Im
maculate, at their mountain Mission of Saint Joseph.
He had been separated from Father MouUn forty-
two hours, during aU which time that priest lay, pros
trate with fever, on the open prairie. But ten stout
men hurried off at once for him, and it pleased our
Lord to save him for future usefulness on earth.
But Father Goiffon, of Saint BonKace, caught in a
storm of rain, haU, and snow, saw his horse perish in
a marsh, in December, 1860. His efforts to save the
poor brute exhausted his own remaining strength, and
he feU beside the creature that had carried him. Five
days and nights he lay there in the knee-deep, half-
frozen slush, piUowed on and nourished by the dead
horse only.
On the sixth day, his 'wild shouts of delirium at
tracted attention, and they found him lying cramped
there, and, with crazy hospitality, inviting aU to share
his deUcious banquet of horse-flesh. Saved, he, but
at the expense of one leg, and the foot of the other.
A day or two after these were amputated, the mission
house took fire, and when they came to move him, he
said, " Leave me to die : go save those who are useful :
as for me, I am no longer good for any thing." And
they had scarcely carried him out when the fire seized
upon and consumed the room wherein he had lain.'
1 Annales, xxii. 244. Baltimore.

St. FRANCIS DE SALES.

IN North America. 407
Such is our meagre sketch of the Oblates of Immac
ulate Mary. Are not these the legitimate successors
of those grand men, who strode in conquest over this
vast land three centuries ago ? Do not the spirits of
Marquette, and Jogues, of LaUemant, Bressani, Daniel,
Brebeuf, look do'wn from heaven in benediction on
these completers of their work? What, to these he
roes, are the toUs they undergo, the iUs they suffer, the
death that they confront ! AU have for their battle-
caU and raUying cry, these words of one of their num
ber, now laboring in Texas : ' " Blessed forever be the
sacred names of Jesus and of Mary, to whom we ap
pertain for time and for eternity ! too happy we in
having given up our Uves for them."

' Father Mary Sivy, Oblate of Mary Immaculate. See Annales,
xxii 251. Baltimore edition.

408 Devotion to the B. V. Mart

CHAPTEE XX.
The Compant oi- Jesus aoain — The Immaculate Conoepi-ion is the Bo
real Latitudes — Devotion in Minnesota — Our Ladt of the Eock"?
MouNTAraa.
We are not to suppose, however, that none others
are offered for Mary but those who are so by title as
well as practice. In those same cold regions, side by
side with this fresh young Knighthood of the Immac
ulate Mother, labor some secular missionaries : a few
sons of Saint Benedict, and, of course, the inevitable
Jesuit. Pioneer warrior of God to-day as he was
three hundred years ago, the soldier of the Company
of Jesus preserves the spirit, features, and disciphne
of those who evangelized the Abnaki and Algonquin of
old, who paid for the souls of the Iroquois with their
blood, as their Master had bought their souls with His
most precious Blood. Year after year, new tribes,
from among the thousands who stUl wander between
Hudson's Bay and the Pacific, come in search of the
Black-robe, or are sought out by him. The Dacotah
even respects him, and if he have harmed any it was
by mistake, and aU other tribes exhibit to-day the wel
come of Hiawatha, as in the days when Daniel and Mar
quette first visited the cool shores of Gitche Gumme.'
' The Big-Sea Water : Lake Superior. The address of Hiawatiai
in the Doem, is a translation merelv from Shea's " Mississippi."

in North America. 409
From the distant land of "Wabun,
From the furthest realms of morning,
Came the Black-robe chief, the Prophet,
He the Priest of Prayer, the pale-face.
With his guides and his companions.
And the noble Hiawatha,
With his hands aloft extended,
Held aloft in sign of welcome.
Waited, full of exultation.
Till the birch canoe with paddles
Grated on the shining pebbles.
Stranded on the sandy margin.
Till the Black-robe chief, the pale-face.
With the cross upon his bosom.
Landed on the sandy margin,
Then the joyous Hiawatha
Cried aloud and spake in this wise :
" Beautiful is the sun, 0 strangers,
Wien you come so far to see us I
All our town in peace awaits you*
All our doors stand open for you ;
You shall enter all our -wigwams.
For the heart's right hand we give you."
And the Black-robe chief made answer.
Stammered in his speech a little.
Speaking words yet unfamiliar :
" Peace be with you, Hiawatha,
Peace be 'with you and your people.
Peace of prayer, and peace of pardon.
Peace of Christ, and joy of Mary I" '
The Jesuit of the Missions of Canada, so caUed, stil!
found at the old grounds, Saut Saint Mary's, Holy
Cross, and Sacred Heart, has now a more modern cen
tral post, at the extreme northern verge of Lake Su
perior, the Mission of the Immaculate Conception.
¦ Longfellow's " Song of Hiawatha," xxii.

410 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Prom this they go forth to visit their numerous sta
tions, at thirty, sixty, and one hundred miles distance.
Northward to the nomad tribes which stray over the
wastes which are clad with six months of winter ; over
vast turbulent streams, and countless lakes, and un
sheltered level lands, where the biting wind sweeps
barrierless. The Iroquois who, of old, was the perU
of the Mission, and so often the murderer of the mis
sionary, is found now amid the far western tribes, a
missionary himself : a retainer and earnest lover of the
early tradition of the Black-robes.' But K that kind
of martyrdom has nearly ceased, the slow, sUent mar
tyrdom by toil, starvation, frost, still allures the de
voted soul from the joys of the world, to seK-sacrifice
for the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
The letters from the Mission of Our Lady of the Im
maculate Conception in 1854, differ from those of 1654
only in this, that the scalping-knife, the stake, and the
tomahawk, figure in them less freely, and that conso
lations are more abundant from the fideUty of the poor
Indian Christians who inhabit those wUds. Father
Fremiot writes to his Superior such a letter as Dablon
might have written to his."
" I will not here describe to you our poverty, our
ti;ials, and misfortunes. A hasty glance at our first

' We shall see the eiforts of these Iroquois missionaries directly,
and in Father de Smet's " Sketches," p. 91, where he attributes tho
conversion of those Flatheads, under God, to the once blood-lapping
Iroquois. * Annales, xv. 181. American edition.

IN North America. 411
proceedings would show you that our only church was
a smaU chapel, extemporized in one day, and built of
bark ; and in the next place, you would witness the
sinister glare of a fire amid the winter's ice, destroying
our new house, raised by the penny subscriptions of
the poor and the orphans. You would also see that,
for eighteen months, death has been carrying off, with
out pity, our beloved children, and thus causing the
Black-gowns and their prayers to be blasphemed ; for
the superstition or the bad faith of these people leads
them to attribute to us these scourges of Divine wrath.
" But I did not intend to make you share with us
the bitter cup of our afflictions. Let us change our
theme. You have had a glance at the cross and the
thorns : behold now, Mary, the mother of good hope,
with a countenance radiant with love, and her hands
filled with heavenly blessings, which she scatters, like
a fertilizing shower, upon the heads of her Uttle In
dian family. Ah ! if it is true that no one need de
spair beneath the shadow of her name, how can we im
agine that she will permit this nascent Mission to
perish, since its future destiny is placed under the
glorious title of the hnmaculate Conception ? Is not
this that tower of David, from whicli a thousand
shields are suspended for the defence of those whom it
is to protect? Moreover, was there ever an age in
which this prerogative presented an aspect so promis
ing for the future ? Where could we find, at the present
day, a more secure pledge of protection, hope, and life?
"The experience of the past already seems to an-

412 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
swer for the future. The finger of God has stamped
our work, which is His own, with a lasting impress of
the Cross ; but from the maternal heart of Mary, a few
drops of consoUng balm have already faUen upon us."
The Government of the United States, in pursuance of
its immemorial custom of extruding the Indians from
its territories, forced large bands of the unfortunate
red-men, who stiU Ungered east of the Mississippi,
into the northern lands beyond the great lakes; and
these immigrations are haUed by the missionary as
new grain to be cultured and reaped for the harvest
of God.
" I have already," says the pious Father, " baptized
the first-fruits of these future neophytes : of those who,
with God's permission, are to be the objects of our
affection here, our consolation on earth, and our crown
of glory in heaven." When this Indian woman is
questioned by Father Fremiot, as to the motive which
induced her to embrace the Prayer, she tells him this
story. "One day, I went with my three chUdren to an
island in Lake Nipigon, about ten miles from the land.
WhUe eating some myrtle-berries and other wUd fruits,
a violent wind rose upon the lake, and the waves,
graduaUy rising, at length carried off my canoe, which
I had left close to the bank. There I was, alone and
helpless, upon a desert isle, with my children ; I
thought we should aU be lost. I did not, however,
give way to despair, but resolved to find out some
means of saving my Ufe and that of my chUdren. I

in North America. 413
made a sort of raft with two pieces of wood tied to
gether with flexible roots, and crouching upon it as if
in a canoe, I seized an oar and pushed off. The storm
had fortunately been succeeded by a complete calm,
under favor of which, I reached the land without acci
dent. But I had no sooner landed, than the waves
began to rise anew, so that had I been still in the mid
dle of the lake, I must haA'e perished. I hastened in
quest of a canoe, that I might return to fetch my dear
chUdren, whose cries of distress I could stiU hear in
the distance. At length I discovered the object of my '
search, and immediately embarked to return. The
water had again become calm, and I reached my chil
dren, just before sunset, and found them all alive.
Then it was that I recollected hearing our old nien
speak of the Great Spirit, when I was still a child.
' He is above,' they used to say ; ' He it is who made
the earth and all things ; He is the Master of Life.' I
had never thought of this for a long period ; but I now
felt that it was He who had sent this extraordinary
calm ; that it was to Him my chUdren and I were in
debted for our Uves. And hence, when I heard the
prayer of the Great Spirit mentioned, I felt an earnest
desire to learn and embrace it.' "And indeed, this
poor woman surprised every one by the promptitude
'with which she learnt the Christian truths, although
she only heard them publicly announced from time to
time in the church. I gave this good neophyte the
name of Mary Anne."
As for his- CathoUcs, it is nearly aU consolation.

414 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
They are so unciriUzed and barbarous as to practise
what they profess. One of these savages, closely ex
amined a year after his baptism by Father de Smet,
said, with some surprise in his tone : " No^ Father, I
have done none of these things. Did I not promise
the Master of Life and you to abstain fi-om them?"
Here, about the Mission of the Immaculate Concep
tion, they are like nearly all the other Catholic Indians
— they have " become like little children." Except the
Kyrie eleison, which they sing, Father Fremiot says, in
Latin,' they sing, congregationally, the Mass and Ves
pers, in their own dialect, to the notes of the Eoman
chant ; and, at sundown, on the day of the Lord, they
gather, for the fourth time that day, to recite in common
the Eosary of Our Lady Mary the Immaculate.
It is cold there in the winter. "A young man, who
was travelling in the woods, arrived here with his
cheeks and chin frozen black and blue ; and I myself,
on going to the fort by a road through the forests,
took off my gloves for about two minutes to wipe my
spectacles, covered with a double coat of ice, caused
by the respiration, for I had a shawl over my face ;
but I found it utterly impracticable. My breath, in
stead of melting the ice, only served to thicken it. I
could not have thought that this operation would have
frozen my fingers ; but I became painfully aware of it
a quarter of an hour afterwards, on entering a house
and experiencing a sudden transition from cold to heat.
' Annales, xv. 185.

IN North America. 415
I went out immediately to rub them in snow ; but it
was already a little too late, and this painful sensation
continued for two or three days. On this occasion,
also, we were obliged to thaw the chalice three times
during one Mass, although there was by the side of
the priest a chafingdish, and two stoves in the chapel.
But what wiU appear to you still more incredible is,
that the wine actuaUy froze in the cruet, placed only
half a foot above the stove ! A journey during this
season is not exactly like a pleasure excursion. Ima
gine that on some occasions, as was the case last
spring, we have to walk on the melting ice, softened
to the depth of half a foot, or make our way, with a
watchful eye, across the clefts which present them
selves on all sides. Sometimes, also, as it happened
this winter, we have to cross the woods, without any
road to guide us, wandering from the early morning
tUl nine or ten at night. Once, for example, in cross
ing a lake at night by the light of birch-bark torches,
we tread upon the newly-skimmed surface of a wide
crevice, and are well drenched for our carelessness ;
but the December wind soon freezes our garments,
and we do not feel the wet. Only sometimes, on these
occasions, we recall our recreation walks over the hiUs
of sunny southern France, where, somewhat nearer to
the skyey regions, we raised our voices to her who is
their Queen, in the strains of the Salve Regina.
" This, however, is not the south of France. There
is our trip to Prince's Bay — ^latitude 45° 50' ; air very
pure there in the month of January; bracing, indeed,

416 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
as weU-wrapped-up old gentlemen caU it when they
see a youngster shiver. We started for the bay at two
in the morning, intending to walk across the ice and to
sleep on the other side. There had been a recent
thaw, but we had forgotten aU about that, and now it
recurred to our remembrance.
" There was, indeed, stiU some ice ; but it was so
thin that it would have been foUy to venture upon it.
We were consequently obliged to make up our minds
to encamp even at this unseasonable hour. The snow
was faUing in large flakes, and we could scarcely see
two steps before us. We began by setting fire to a
birch-tree. The bark immediately ignited to the very
top ; and, by the Ught of this burning column, one
shook the snow from the trees under which we were to
camp ; another, using his snow-shoe as a substitute for
a shovel, cleared the place of encampment ; and a third
went in quest of dried wood to feed the fire during the
night. After having taken a fi'ugal meal, each one lay
down to rest upon a few fir-branches, near the extem
poraneous hearth.
" I wrapped myself up as well as I coiUd in my
blanket and buffalo skin ; but although the snow had
been shaken from the tree under which I was lying,
there was stUl some left, which, being melted by the
smoke, feU in large drops upon my face. Of this
circumstance I became painfully aware, when I was
wakened out of my first sleep by the cold, for the sky
had become clear, and a cold, frosty 'wind blew across
the desert. I awoke my men, who went to cut some

in North America. 417
wood by moonlight. For my part, I turned my face
down upon the bed, leaving the drops of water to con
geal quietly over my head. In the morning, the ice of
the bay was broken into thousands of pieces. How
ever, after a long winding, we arrived at length at the
house where we were so anxious to arrive the night
before. There we spent the remainder of the day; and
although the boards were our only bed, we slept there
much better than beneath the dropping of 'the forest
trees. "But what are all these adventures, fatigues, and even
dangers ! If at this price, the priest should only suc
ceed in adding one neophyte to this mysterious num
ber of the elect, he would have no reason to regret the
sacrifice he has made. He would recaU to mind the
sentence of Saint Francis Xarier : ' To go to the
world's end to save a soul and then die, is an enviable
fate.' "
It has happened to this missionary to be caught in
a storm, towards nightfaU, on that grand inland sea,
and in order to save the canoe and its contents, to land
upon an island rock, as the only visible shelter and
place of safety. On the top of the rock, some eigh
teen feet high, they found a few dead fir-trees, which
gave them fire at least. Around them lay many weU-
bleached bones of the wild Huron and Iroquois of old.
There they slept, and when morning dawned, they
added to their usual prayers those two grand hymns to
sweet Mary Mother, the Salve Regina and the Lnviolata
There they pass, fasting, the whole day : very appro-

418 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
priate that fasting, thinks the Jesuit, " for it is Friday
in Ember week," and with the coming down of the
shadows, came also a furious and night-long rain
storm, " with peals of thunder and terrible flashes of
lightning." Father Fremiot thus continues his narrative : " At
length, on Saturday, the wind veering to the northeast,
roUs the waves, gradually increasing in size, against
the rock to which our canoe is fastened, and makes us
apprehensive that, if we defer any longer, we shaU not
be able to launch her again. But whither shaU we go ?
The storm prevents us from returning to the Immacu
late Conception. Let us cross the lake.
" We say the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, and pre
pare for the worst. The wind is on our side, and we
set up our blanket for a sail. By this means we ad
vance a Uttle ; but the north wind gradually increases
the force of its blast ; enormous waves, white with
foam, rise before us in rapid succession ; we cut them
in the middle, however, tolerably well ; but when we
irrived in the open water, about half-way across, the
billows become irregular and the danger serious. Our
only rower begins to lose courage. ' I said how it
would be,' he muttered ; ' the wind is too strong ; let
us return.' The other was of a different opinion. ' Let
us return,' I said myseK, ' if there is less danger than
in advancing.' 'The danger is equal,' he replied.
' Courage, then, my boys : mind how you meet the
waves, and place confidence in Him for whose glory we
are laboring. We have not undertaken this voyage

in North America. 419
from motives of pleasure or interest, but solely for the
service of the Great Spirit ; He will watch over us. I
wiU pray while you work.' ' Yes, Father, intercede
earnestly with the Great Spirit,' said the oarsman, a
heathen. ' Without doubt, my son ; do you also pray
to Him in your heart, and ply your oar vigorously.'
And, while I was repeating my Eosary very devoutly,
I saw the young man moving his Ups as if reciting a
prayer." Next day the pangs of hunger are rather sharp, but
one effect of this is salutary. " Wlien we repeat the
. ' Our Father,' we have unusual earnestness in the peti
tion ' Give us to-day our daUy bread.' And we did
indeed recite it with fervor, accompanied with a prayer
to the Blessed Virgin for calm on the following day.
Iter para tutum;" and so at length ou Sunday "we
reach Eock Harbor in time to recite with the Indians
the Eosary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin."
And then Father Fremiot signs himself, " Yours faiths
fully, in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and of Mary."
While these, then, keep the fields which the prowess
of their predecessors won for our Blessed Mother east
of the Father of Waters, others start westward from
that stream, and conquering the wUd tribes of the
bison-trodden prairies, pass the savage gorges and taU
peaks of the Eocky Mountains, and plant the everlast
ing Cross upon the strand of the Northern Pacific.
Their Umits are, hitherward, the Mississippi States;
beyond, the long shore-line of the great ocean as it
runs northerly from CaUfornia, past Oregon, and theu

420 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
trends westward and northward to 55° north latitude,
near the regions of perpetual snows. On our way
thither, K we go by the north, let us hear from Father
FayoUe, ApostoUc Missionary in Minnesota, his means
of confidence when, in 1856, he enters the territory of
the terrible Sioux. He teUs us that " having set out
from Saint Paul's on the 6th of August, I reached, on
the 8th, the caravan of Pembina, at the point where it
crosses the Mississippi. This was my Eubicon. I
passed it in a light canoe ; I then went on my knees to
offer my Ufe to God, to implore his protection, and to
recommend myself to Mary." Then when he comes
into the very presence of the peril, it is thus that he
takes courage and imparts it.
"Although but a small number, the half-breeds were
confident of their abiUty to defeat three hundred Sioux.
The former are brave, and well skilled in warfare ;
they load and fire, on horseback, with extraordinary
rapidity, and in this consists their great superiority
over the savages. Besides this, we placed our hopes
in God ; we reflected that Mary was with us. My
companions observed : ' There are many persons at
Pembina who are praying for us, and who are perform
ing exercises of devotion for our intention.' We said
prayers in common every evening, and when, in
conclusion, I recommended our voyage to the good
Mother, they responded with especial devotion. On
Sunday, we had Mass in the morning, and the Eosary
in the evening. On the Feast of the Assumption, the
altar was erected on the banks of a beautKul lake, and

IN North America. 421
Ughted up by the rays of the rising sun. This was
probably the first time that Jesus Christ had been
offered up in these solitudes ; the first time that tho
triumph of the Queen of Angels had been mentioned,
or the happiness of loving her. Hope in Mary is
honey of the desert, the refuge of the traveller, an im
pregnable rampart against every enemy. Whenever
you go to Notre Dame, beg of the Blessed Virgin, that
my love for her may increase, that I may labor for her
honor until the end of my life, and that at my last
hour I may obtain her powerful intercession." '
In far Kansas, Oregon, and those Eocky Mountain
lands, however, as aU scholars know and sppak of, as
the Government of the United States is aware of, to
its benefit, what dominion based on love there is
among the wild men, is given to the Black-robe by
these grateful Americans. Start from the central
point, St. Louis, and push your way anywhither
towards the Eocky Mountains, and you wUl be sure,
by and by, to see a picture Uke this.
" ' On the western slope of these mountains,
Dwells in his little vUlage the Black-robe chief of the Mission.
Much he teaches the people, and tells them of Mary and Jesus ;
Loud laugh their hearts with joy, and weep with pain, as they hear
him.'
Thither they turned their steeds ; and behind a spur of the moun
tains,
Just as the sun went do'wn, they heard a murmur of voices.
And in a meadow green and broad, by the banks of a river,
Saw the tents of the Christians, the tents of the Jesuit Mission,
' Annales, xxx. 88. Baltimore edition.

422 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
trader a towering oak, that stood in the midst of the village,
Knelt the Black-robe chief -with his children. A crucifix fastened
High on the trunk of the tree, and overshadowed by grape-'vines,
Looked 'with its agonized face on the multitude kneeling beneath it.
This was their rural chapel. Aloft, through the intricate arches
Of its aerial roof, arose the chant of their vespers.
Mingling its notes with the soft susurrus and sighs of the branches.
Silent, with heads uncovered, the travellers, nearer approaching.
Knelt on the swarded floor, and joined in the evening devotions.
But when the service was done, and the benediction had fallen
Forth from the hands of the priest, like seed from the hands of the
sower.
Slowly the reverend man advanced to the strangers, and bade them
Welcome." '
Ex uno disce omnes. We shaU only foUow one of
these servants and children of Mary, and him so
slightly that this shaU not merit to be caUed even a
sketch, for, in all that vast territory, I know not whether
there be any thing, great or small, that he has not
seen ; out of which he has not drawn profit for human
souls, instruction for human minds. The authorities
of Washington thank him for the topography of those
lands of theirs ; the army asks his attendance, with all
respect for their valor, as a safeguard. No savage so
wild, as will not, at least, listen to him. As he threads
the immemorial forests he classifies the trees ; as he
moves over the prairies he notes and catalogues the
wUd-flower and the esculent or medicinal weed.
The haunts and habits of the grizzly bear and woK ;
the marks and seasons of the rock antelope, and tall,
poak-loving wild sheep ; the dam of the beaver ; the
' LongfeUow's " Evangeline," iv.

IN North America. 423
lurking-place of the mink; the spot where the otter
oftenest plunges in the pool ; the line where the rabbit
begins to grow white, and that from which the wiry
ermine leaps almost invisible over snows no more spot
less, save the black tail tip, than himself : all these,
and the veins of the minerals, are most sUently taken
note of by this apostle. Eead one letter, and you
would say this man has done little but hunt ; from a
second, you would fancy him a naturalist ; from a
third, a mere painter or poet revelling in the grandeur
and beauty of the nature he surveys — were it not that
in all you see the presence of God ; the ceaseless zeal
for His greater glory ; the devotion, as a mental char
acter, to the Heart of Jesus ; the child's loving reliance
on the gentle heart of Immaculate Mother Mary.
He is a man past sixty, twenty-three years of them
on these Indian Missions ; robust, tall, straight as a
pine, sUver haired now as the poplar of the country.
He is grave, quiet, simple, dignified. Bronzed, silent
and quick, observant-eyed as he is, he might be a
Delaware or Omaha chief. Very earnest and straight
forward, but of feminine gentleness and modesty : full,
also, of merriment of the silent kind ; laughing more
with the eyes than with the lips. A foe to no man liv
ing ; a friend whom aU your prosperity can attach no
more closely, whom aU your adversity could not sepa
rate from your side. An Indian Missionary, this man ;
a Black-robe, servant of God, a child of Mercy, a sol
dier of the Company of Jesus.
It was in the year 1840 that Father de Smet started

424 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
on his first expedition for the Indians with whom his
name was to be so tenderly and indissolubly united.
The first force of savages whom he meets are the She-
yennes, who welcome him warmly, their great chief
ordering three of his fattest dogs to be served up as a
banquet for the Black-robe whom he delighted to
honor.' By July, he encounters the Flathead deputa
tion who have come to meet him, and in the Octave of
Our Lady's Visitation they reach the great camp.
Ah, how they welcome him ! with what earnest joy !
with what simplicity of devotion! " Kaikolinzosten,
the Great Spirit," so speaks the high chief, " has ac
complished our wishes and our hearts swell with joy."
That night two thousand red-skins assembled be
fore the Black-robe's lodge for night prayers. By the
next year, the Mission of Saint Mary's was completely
established, and the Flatheads and other tribes formed
a Christian people. In all his wanderings at this time,
he was treated kindly as soon as known. Even the
fierce Blackfeet Sioux received him with reverence and
Ustened to his instructions. He risited thirty-six dif
ferent tribes, numbering at least forty thousand souls.
Wandering among them he found a countryman, John
Baptist de Voider, from Ghent, an ex-grenadier of
Napoleon, who had exchanged grenade and axe for
rifie and fur-trap, and had dwelt thirty years now in

' Letters and Sketches, 'with a narrative of a year's residence among
the Indian tribes of the Eocky Mountains. By P. J. de Smet, of the
Society of Jesus. Philadelphia, 1843.

IN North America. 425
pursuit of the bear and beaver. He had forgotten his
native tongue almost completely, remembering only
his prayers and a hymn to Saint Mary the Virgin,
which his mother had taught him when a child.
We do not notice here the thousand objects of in
terest in this missionary's charming letters ; nor his
perUs from hunger, exposure, from venomous serpents,
from the grizzly bear or panther, and from wilder,
fiercer mortals, who perpetuaUy shed each others'
blood around him. He found something good in the
worst of them. He recounts, for instance, the insa
tiate blood-lust, and measureless, ingenious cruelty of
the Kansas to their prisoners and foes ; yet says even
of them — " However cruel they may be to their foes,
the Kansas are no strangers to the tenderest senti
ments of piety, friendship, and compassion. They are
often inconsolable for the death of their relations, and
leave nothing undone to give proof of their sorrow.
Then only do they suffer their hair to grow— long hair
being a sign of long mourning. The principal chief
apologized for the length of his hair, informing us of
what we could have divined from the sadness of his
countenance, that he had lost his son. I wish I could
represent to you the respect, astonishment, and com
passion, expressed on the countenances of three others,
when they visited our Uttle chapel for the first time.
When we showed them an ' Ecce Homo' and a statue
of our Lady of the Seven Dolors, and the interpreter
explained to them that that head, crowned with thorns,
and that countenance, defiled with insults, were the

426 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
true and real image of a God who had died for the
love of us, and that the heart they saw pierced with
seven swords was the heart of his mother, we beheld
an affecting Ulustration of the beautKul thought of
TertuUian, that the soul of man is naturaUy Christian."
He is again met by the Flatheads the next year,
1841, near Saint Mary's Eiver, on the Feast of Our
Blessed Lady's glorious Assumption. He had to listen
to a hundred stories, and to learn with joy that " they
had prayed daily to obtain for me a happy journey and
a speedy return. Their brethren continued in the
same good disposition ; almost all, even children and
old men, knew by heart the prayers which I had taught
them the preceding year. Twice on every week-day,
and three times on each Sunday, the assembled tribe
recited prayers in common. Whenever they moved
then- camp, they carried with them, as an ark of safety,
the box of church vestments left in their custody.
Five or six children, whom I had baptized, had gone
to heaven during my absence : the very day after my
departure, a young warrior, whom I had baptized the
day previous, died in consequence of a wound received
from the Blackfeet about three months before. And
another, who had accompanied me as far as the forts
of the Crows, and as yet but a catechumen, died of
sickness in returning to the tribe, but in such happy
dispositions that his mother was perfectly consoled for
his loss by the conviction that his soul was in heaven.
A girl, about twelve years of age, seeing herself on the
point of dying, had soUcited baptism -with such ear-

IN North America. 427
nestness that she was baptized by Peter, the Iroquois,
and received the name of Mary. After having sung a
hymn in a stronger voice than usual, she died, saying,
' Oh, how beautiful ! I see Mary, my mother.' "
From that time, the Mission of Saint Mary's ad
vances steadfastly in sanctity. In October, the good
Black-robe thus expresses his joy over the souls of his
red chUdren.'
" Next to the Author of aU good things, we returned
thanks to her whom the Church reveres as the Mother
of her Di-rine Spouse, since it has pleased the Divine
goodness to send us the greatest consolation on several
days consecrated to her honor. On the feast of her
glorious Assumption we met the vanguard of our dear
neophytes. On the Sunday within the Octave, we, for
the first time since my return, celebrated the Holy
Mysteries among them. On the foUowing Sunday our
good Indians placed themselves and their chUdren un
der the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
of which we then celebrated the feast. This act of
devotion was renewed by the great chief in the name
of his whole tribe, on the feast of her Holy Name.
On the 24th of September, the feast of Our Lady of
Mercy, we arrived at the river called Bitter Eoot, on
the banks of which we have chosen the site for our
principal missionary station. On the first Sunday of
October, feast of the Eosary, we took possession of
the promised land, by planting a cross on the spot
1 Sketches, p. 132.

428 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
which we had chosen for our first residence. What
motives of encouragement does not the Gospel of the
present Sunday add to aU those mentioned before.
To-day, too, we celebrate the Sacred Maternity of
Mary ; and what may we not expect from the Virgin
Mother who brought forth her Son for the Salvation of
the world ?"
" On the feast of her Patronage, we shaU offer by
her mediation to her Divine Son, twenty-five young
Indians, who are to be baptized on that day. So many
favors have induced us unanimously to proclaim Mary
the protectress of our mission, and to give her beauti
ful Name to our new residence." By December, a
solid wooden chapel is erected, wherein, after weeks of
instruction, the fathers rejoice in the baptism of two
hundred and two adults. Proud and happy were the
Indians when they saw their chapel adorned. For,
"some days previously the Fathers had engaged aU
'who were wiUing, to make mats of rushes or straw.
All the women, girls, and children assembled eagerly
for this good work, so that they had enough to cover
the fioor and ceUing, and hang round the waUs. These
mats, ornamented with festoons of green, made a
pretty drapery around the altar. On a canopy was
inscribed the holy name of Jesus. Among the orna
ments they placed a picture of the Blessed Virgin over
the tabernacle."
Then back to the instructions; and in the joyous
Christmas-tide they have a new baptismal fete, one
hundred and fifteen Flatheads, the last of the pagans,

m North America. 429
with thi-ee chiefs at their head; thirty Nez-Perces,
with their chief; a Blackfoot chief and his family.
Seven hundred adults baptized in one year, and a
Uttle army of chUdren .! Thus he sums up the fruits of
the year, in that Mission of Saint Mary's in the Eocky
Mountains : " The whole Flathead nation converted ;
four hundred Kalispels baptized ; eighty Nez-Perces,
several Coeurs d'Alenes ; many Koetenays, Blackfeet,
Snakes, and Banacs — the Sinpoils, the Chaudieres,
who open their arms to us, and eagerly ask for Fathers
to instruct them ; the earnest demands from Fort Van
couver on the part of the governor, and of the Eev.
Mr. Blanchet, assuring us of the good desires and dis
positions .of a great number of nations, who are ready
to receive the gospel — in a word, a vast country, which
only awaits the arrival of true ministers of God, to
raUy round the standard of the Cross. Behold the
beautiful bouquet, Eev. Father, which we have the
happiness of presenting you at the close of 1841."
Next year, Father de Smet crosses the mountains on
a -risit to Columbia Eiver, a dangerous passage, so sav
agely broken up by rKts and chasms is that vast bar
rier known as the Eocky Mountains. " On one occa
sion," he says, " before entering the forest, we crossed
a high mountain by a wild winding path. Its sides are
covered with fine cedars and pines, which are, however,
of smaUer dimensions than those in the forest. Sev
eral times whUe ascending the mountain I found my
seK on parapets of rocks, whence, thanks to my safe-
footed mule, I retired in safety. Once I thought my

430 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
career at an end. I had wandered from my comjDan-
ionS, and following the path, I all at once came to a
rocky projection which terminated in a point about
two feet wide ; before me was a .perpendicular descent
of three feet ; on my left stood a rock as straight as
a wall, and on my right yawned a precipice of about
a thousand feet. You can conceive that my situation
was any thing but pleasant. The slightest false step
would have plunged the mule and his rider into the
abyss beneath. To descend was impossible, as on one
side I was closed in by the rock, and suspended over
a dreadful chasm on the other. My mule had stopped
at the commencement of the descent, and not having
any time to lose, I recommended myself to God, and,
as a last expedient, sunk my spurs deeply into the sides
of my poor beast ; she made one bold leap, and safely
landed me on another parapet, much larger than that
I had left."
Consolations are found everywhere by the devoted
servant of Mary, because the presence of God is every
where, and " in that presence only is the fulness of
consolation." " I cannot pass over in silence the pleasant meeting
I had in the depth of the forest. I discovered a little
hut of rushes, situated on the banks of the river. Eais-
ing my voice to its highest pitch, I tried to make its
inhabitants hear me, but received no answer. I felt
an irresistible desire to visit it, and accordingly made
my interpreter accompany me. We found it occupied
by a poor old woman, who was bUnd and very ill. I

IN North America. • 431
spoke to her of the Great Spirit, of the most essential
dogmas of our faith, and of baptism. The example of
the Apostle St. Philip teaches us that there are cases
where aU the requisite dispositions may entirely consist
in an act of faith, and in the sincere desire to enter
heaven by the right path. All the answers of the poor
old woman were respectful, and breathing the love of
God. ' Yes,' she would say, ' I love the Great Spirit
with my whole heart ; aU my Ufe He has been very
kind to me. Yes, I wish to be His child, I want to be
His forever.' And immediately she fell on her knees,
and begged me to give her baptism. I named her
Mary, and placed around her neck the miraculous medal
of the Blessed Virgin. After leaving her, I overheard
her thanking God for this fortunate adventure."
Listen now to the legend of Uttle Paul.'
" On Christmas eve, 1841, a few hours before the
midnight Mass, the village of St. Mary was deemed
worthy of a special mark of Heaven's favor. The
Blessed Virgin appeared to a little orphan boy named
Paul, in the hut of an aged and truly pious woman.
The youth, piety, and sincerity of this child, joined to
the nature of the fact whicli he related, forbade us to
doubt the truth of his statement. The following is
what he recounted to me with his own innocent lips :
' Upon entering John's hut, whither I had gone to
learn my prayers, which I did not know, I saw some
one who was very beautiful. Her feet did not touch
' Sketches, etc., p. 192, et seq.

432 Devotion to the ,B. V. Mart
the earth, her garments were as white as snow ; she
had a star over her head, a serpent under her feet, and
near the serpent was a fruit which I did not recognize.
I could see her heart, from which rays of light burst
forth and shone upon me. When I first beheld aU
this I was frightened, but afterwards my fear left me,
my heart was warmed, my mind clear ; and I do not
know how it happened, but aU at once I knew my
prayers.' (To be brief, I omit several circumstances.)
He ended his account by saying that several times
the same person had appeared to him whUe he was
sleeping, and that once she had told him she was pleased
that the first village of the Flatheads should be called
Saint Mary. The child had never seen or heard before
any thing of the kind; he did not even know if the
person was a man or a woman, because the appearance
of the dress which she wore was entirely unknown to
him. Several persons having interrogated the chUd on
this subject, have found him unvarying in his answers.
He continues by his conduct to be the angel of his
tribe. " Next year, 1842, we performed the devotion of the
month of Mary, and I can flatter myself that the ex
ercises were attended with as much piety and edifica
tion as in the most devout parishes of Europe. At the
end of the month a statue was borne in triumph to
the very place where our Blessed Mother designed to
honor us with the aforementioned apparition. Since
that day a sort of pilgrimage has been estabUshed
there, under the name of ' Our Lady of Prayer.' None

IN North America. 433
pass the pious monument without stopping to pray on
then- knees ; the more devout come regularly twice a
day to speak to their Mother and her divine Son, and
the children add to their prayers the most beautiful
flowers they can cuU in the prairies."
A glorious Pentecost foUowed, with renewal of the
tribe's seK-consecration to the Immaculate Mother of
God ; and after that again, " the feast of Corpus
Christi was solemnized by another ceremony no less
touching, and calculated to perpetuate the gratitude
and devotion of our pious Indians towards our amia
ble Queen. This was the solemn erection of a statue
to the Blessed Virgin, in memory of her apparition to
Uttle Paul. The foUowing is a brief account of the
ceremony. From the entrance of our chapel to the
spot where little Paul received such a special favor,
the avenue was simply the green sward, the length of
which, on both sides, was bordered by garlands, hung
in festoons. Triumphal arches, gracefully arranged,
arose at regular distances. At the end of the avenue,
and in the middle of a kind of repository, stood the
pedestal which was destined to receive the statue.
The hour specified having struck, the procession
issued from the chapel in this order. At the head was
borne aloft the banner of the Sacred Heart, followed
closely by little Paul carrying the statue and accom
panied by two choristers, who profusely strewed the
way with flowers. Then came the two Fathers, one
vested in a cope, and the other in a surplice. FinaUy
the march was closed by the chiefs and aU the mem-
DD 19

434 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
bers of the colony, emulating each other in their zeal
to pay their tribute of thanksgiving and praise to their
Blessed Mother. When they reached the spot, one of
our Fathers, in a short exhortation, in which he re
minded them of the signal prodigy and assistance of
the Queen of Heaven, encouraged our dear neophytes
to sentiments of confidence in the protection of Mary.
After this address, and the singing of the Litany of the
Blessed Virgin, the procession returned in the same
order to the church. Oh ! how ardently we desired aU
the friends of our holy religion could have witnessed
the devotion and recollection of these new children of
Mary !"
See, then, how this Blessed Name is known, even as
the "holy and terrible Name"' of God is known, "from
the rising of the sun unto the going down of the
same;"" how it is sung beneath the magnoUas of
Floridian woods, and praised where the ice-bound sea
lies silent round the coasts of Labrador ; how the taU
arches of eastern cathedrals re-echo its melody, and
the sound of its sweetness floats off from the peaks of
the hiUs of Oregon far over the wide blue Pacific. In
this journey of short two years, Father de Smet, with
his coUeagues, Fathers Mengarini and Point, have es
tablished a church in the wilderness. They have de
stroyed lying, thieving, and the use of the scalping-
knife in several tribes. They have restored marriage
to its simplicity and indestructibility; they have
' Sanctum et terribile Nomen ejus. — Psalm ox. ' Malachi, iii.

IN North America. 435
taught the wUd hunter to love agriculture, and, in
some degree, the mechanic arts ; they have elevated
the women from mere drudges to Christian compan
ions; they have baptized one thousand six hundred
and forty souls.
Soldier and trapper, American fur-trader and British
governor, no less than the poor Indian, bless the name
and work of the Jesuit missionary. Governments
seek his aid; commanders of armies thank God for
his presence ; but Parker disapproves ; Parker is
afflicted ; Parker will be an obstacle in these matters.
" Who is Parker ?" you ask. I do not know. Father
de Smet knows or knew. It would seem that he had
written a book ; that Parker had written it, since he
boasts that, in 1836, on his way homeward from these
'wilds, he, Parker, "broke down a cross planted by
some CathoUc Iroquois over a child's grave, not wish
ing to leave in that country an emblem of idolatry!"'
" Poor man !" says the Black-robe Chief of Prayer
" Were he to return to these mountains, he would heai
the praises of the holy Name of Jesus resounding
among them. He would hear Catholics chanting the
love and mercies of God from the rivers, lakes, moun
tains, prairies, forests, and coasts of the Columbia.
He would behold the Cross planted from shore to
shore for the space of a thousand miles ; on the lofti
est height of the Pointed-Heart territory ; on the tow
ering peaks which separate the waters of the Missouri

Sketches of de Smet, p. 212.

436 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
from those of the Columbia ; on the plains of WaUa
mette, CowUtz, and Saint Mary's. The words of Him
who said that this holy sign should ' draw all men to
Him,' begin to be verified 'with regard to the poor
strayed sheep of this vast continent.
"Were he who destroyed that humble, soUtary
cross now to return, he would find the image of Jesus
Christ crucified, worn on the breasts of more than
four thousand Indians, and their smaUest child would
say to him : ' Mr. Parker, we do not adore the Cross ,
but do not break it, because it reminds us of Him
who died thereon to save us. As for us, we adore
God alone.' " And so Father de Smet leaves Par
ker, and the above is his only appearance in this
history. We do, indeed, desire never to see him
any more. Nor shall we, probably, for the missionary
has started back for Saint Louis. He reached that
town in safety, and by the last Sunday in October,
1842, as he tells us, " he was kneeling at the foot of
Saint Mary's altar, offering up thanksgiring to God for
the signal protection He had extended to His poor un
worthy servant."

IK North America. 437

CHAPTEE XXI.
Tus Blaok-robe in Oregon — How the Black-roee Dies — Rooet Moub-
TAi.N's again— The March of the Elaokeeet towards the Shrine of
Our Lady — Abenaki and Flathead touch h.\.nd3.
It is by a long route that Father de Smet revisits
his Indians in 1844. Since we saw him last, he has
been to Europe for re-enforcements, and returns in the
Morning Star, escorting round Cape Horn, and up the
Pacific coast, to the Wallamette Mission on the Colum
bia, ," Sister Eenilda and her companions," whose ac
quaintance we have already made.' Before taking final
leave of these good Sisters of Our Lady, let us give
their academy the benefit of an advertisement; and,
for the convenience of any of bur readers who may de
sire to send their daughters to WaUamette, for educa
tion, let us copy the price demanded for a quarter's
tuition, as set forth in the Prospectus of the Sisters :
" Tuition and board per quarter, 100 lbs. flour, 25 lbs.
pork or 36 of beef, 1 sack of potatoes, 4 lbs. hog's lard,
3 gaUons peas, 3 dozen eggs, 4 lbs. candles, 1 lb. tea,
and 4 lbs. of rice."" From which it may be seen that
the Sisters cannot often expect their claims to be re
mitted by mail.

' Vide this work, p. 256.
« Missions de I'Uregon : par le Pfere de Smet, p. 53.

433 Devotion to the B. V., Mart
"It was on the Feast of the Assumption of. our
glorious Lady that we left our boats for the shore,"
says Father de Smet. That is, on the 15th of August,
1845. He finds that since the Mission of Upper
Oregon was founded, in 1839, three thousand Indians
have been baptized, and that three thousand more are
to be added to these frorn other Oregon tribes since
1841. The track of the Black-robe winds through ten
degrees of latitude and sixteen of longitude ; going up
to Athabasca, the middle one of that amazing chain of
inland seas which unite the waters of Lake Superior
with those of the Arctic Ocean and Behring's Strait.
A year after his landing, we find the weariless man at
the station of St. Mary's Assumption, the Mission of
the Flatbows, Arcs-d-plats. >
" Since my arrival among the Indians," he writes
from here, " the feast of the glorious Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary has ever been to me a day of
great consolation. I had time to prepare for the cele
bration of this solemn festival. Thanks to the instruc
tions and counsels of a brave Canadian, Mr. Berland,
who for a long time has resided among them in the
quality of trader, I found the little tribe of Arcs-d-plats
docile, and in the best disposition to embrace the
faith. They had aheady been instructed in the prin
cipal mysteries of religion. They sang hymns in the
French and Indian tongues. They number about
ninety families. I celebrated the first Mass ever
offered in their land ; after which ten adults, already
advanced in age, and ninety chUdren received baptism.

in North America. 439
The former were very attentive to all my instructions.
In the afternoon, the planting of the Cross was as
solemn as circumstances would permit. There was a
grand salute of ninety guns, and at the foot of the
lowly standard of the God-Saviour, the entire tribe
made a tender of their hearts to Him, with the promise
of inviolable attachment to all the duties of true chil
dren of the Prayer ; availing themselves of this occa
sion to renounce the remains of their ancient juggling
and superstition. The Cross was elevated on the
border of a lake, and the station received the beautiful
name of the Assumption. Under the auspices of Mary,
our good Mother, in whose honor they have for many
years sung hymns, we hope that religion will take deep
root and fiourish amidst this tribe, where union, inno
cence, and simpUcity reign in full vigor."'
In September he solemnly plants the Cross among
the Koetenays, and, on the Feast of the Immacu
late Conception, baptizes one hundred and five of their
number, giving them our Lady of that Mystery for
Patroness and its name for the name of the Station.
On the Feast of the Blessed Virgin's Nativity, there
are a planting of the Cross and baptism at the extreme
sources of the Columbia. So on, from point to point,
never received ill by the savages, but sometimes in
deed with hypocritic fondling ; sometimes with brutish
indifference. Ah, the field in which he had to Uve, and
' Missions de I'Oregon et "V^oyages aus Montagues Eocheuses, aux
sources de la Colombie, de I'Athabasca et du Sascatshawln en 1845-46
Par le Pere P. J. de Smet, de la Societe de Jesus. Gtand, 1848, p. 78.

440 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
sleep, and eat among the nasty Assiniboins ! What
uncertainty of IKe he felt among the blood-stained,
untamable Blackfeet! What wearisome days and
nights of journeying over that enormous territory he
endured that he might win souls to Christ !
But now and then he would meet with a few poor
Iroquois, one family, or maybe only an individual;
wandering tribeless and priestless, but ever faithful
now, lay missionaries among their pagan congeners.
Doing this penance, as it were, for the sanguinary in
fidelity of their ancestors. By and by he gets back to
Saint Mary's, to his good, pious Catholics, the Flat-
heads, the Ear-rings, and the Awl-hearts. Of them
and their devotion to our Blessed Mother, he writes as
foUows to a benefactress in Europe :
"You cannot but be aware that, among the Indians,
the beads are recited in every family, so that I am
already assured, and I have the consolation of saying
to you, that many thousand recitations of the chaplet
have already been offered up to God and his august
Mother for you. Those good Indians,^ — those children
of the forest, — so dear to my heart, wiU continue to
display their gratitude tiU I tell them to cease, and
that will not be very soon. What confidence have I
not in the prayers of those Indians, whose merit is
known only to God ! Oh ! if it be true that the prayer
of him who possesses the innocence, the simplicity,
and the faith of a child, can pierce the clouds, is aU-
powerful, and is certainly heard, then be assured that
in these new missions, in which the finger of God has

m North America. 441
been so -risibly manifested, these virtues reign pre
eminently ; and that the prayer of the Indian wiU be
heard in your behaK! How happy should I be, my
dear, exceUent madam, could I give you to understand
how great, how sweet, how rapturous is theh devotion
to the august Mother of God ! The name of Mary,
which, pronounced in the Indian language, is a sweet
and endearing sound, delights and charms them. The
hearts of these good chUdren of the forest melt, and
seem to overflow, when they sing the praises of her,
whom they, as weU as we, caU their Mother. Oh ! I
feel confident, knowing, as I do, their disposition, that
they have a distinguished place in the heart of that
Holy Virgin; and that, through the intercession of
Mary, invoked by so many fervent souls, you, their
benefactress, -wiU obtain from God whatever you ask." '
Before this letter was written, July 25, 1846, and
since 1843, this venerable man had crossed the great
American desert which stretches from the frontier of
the United States to the Pacific Ocean ; had overrun
the United States from Saint Louis to Baltimore ; from
New Orleans to New York ; had seen a great part of
Ireland and England, all Belgium, Holland, and France,
and had passed through Geneva and Leghorn to the
presence of the Supreme Pontiff in eternal Eome.
Thence over the Atlantic, round Cape Horn, up the
seven thousand miles of Pacific coast to the Columbia.
Thence, again, to wander over aU Oregon ; up into

' Missions de I'Oregon, p. 171.
19*

442 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
New Caledonia and the far British Northwest posses
sions ; planting crosses, preaching the Gospel of the
Son of God, founding Missions, baptizing thousands
of pagans, giving glory to God in the highest, and
honor perpetual to Mary, the Mother Virgin Immacu
late. " So faithfully have my dear Indians prayed for me,"
he says in the same letter, " that, whether by sea or
land, I have not suffered one moment's iUness ; nor
had to deplore a single grievous accident. Glory to
God for so special a protection : and gratitude to the
good Indians who ceased not night or day to invoke
the assistance of Heaven through the intercession of
the Holy Virgin for her poor unworthy servant." He
dearly loves his poor Indians. What pastor of un-
savage men will say this ? " When the priest gives
the white robe at baptism to these people, and says in
the words of the Eoman ritual,' ' Take this white robe
and wear it spotless before the judgment-seat of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest inherit eternal
life,' he may enjoy the moral certitude that the greater
part of these catechumens will preserve their innocence
untu death.'"

' mtuale Romanam. Baptism. Accipe vestem candidam quam
imraaculatam perferas ante tribunal Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et
habeas vitam asternam.
^ The testimony to the primitive piety and simplicity of religious
practice among the Flatheads, Ear-rings, and Awl-hearts, is not that
of an enthusiastic and imaginative young Missionary. Father de
Smet is himself a very grave and quiet man : and he says nothing in
this way of praise which is not equalled, if not surpassed, by the Pro-

IN North America. 443
Let Father Point of the same Mission explain his
ideas of the source of this so great goodness. He
says : " It is to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary that the
pastors of souls owe their consolation ; at least, it is
thence, beyond a doubt, that we derive ours. Every
day our Indians invoke these treasuries of goodness,
which alone explains the wonders which we relate.'"
Yesterday they — the Coeurs d'Alenes — worshipped the
beasts of the forest, the principle of evU, a colored rag,
the hoof of a mountain antelope. To-day, all who are
old enough have made their first Communion; they
are guiding cattle and sheep and swine ; they are cul
tivating the fields ; their squaws have become Chris
tian women ; their faith and their practice would
shame us in our educated self-conceit, were our sense
of shame nearly so deUcate as theirs.
" If ye have faith even as a grain of mustard seed,
ye shaU say unto this sycamore-tree : Be thou removed
hence and planted in the middle of the sea, and it
shall be done." ' Most men profess to believe in
Him who spoke these words, and explain these and
all his other words to mean nothing at aU. This,
I am told, is the exercise of reason. It is lacking to
testant governors, Indian agents, army officers, and traders of this
country. — "Vide Exploring Expedition from the Mississippi River to
the Pacific Ocean — Lieut. MuUan, U. S. A., p. 308 ; Governor Stevens'
E.eport to the President, 1854 ; President's Message to Congress, 1854
-5 ; Washington Irving's Bonneville, pp. 390-91 ; Putnam, vol.
10, &c.
' De Smet's Oregon, p. 183. ' Saint Luke's Gospel, xvii. 6.

444 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
the barbarians who inhabit the Oregon viUage which
is caUed " Heart of Jesus." " Father, my Uttle girl's
dying ; aU your medicines have done her no good ;
she refuses the breast ; she is dying." Such is one
Indian father's report to the Black-robe. " Has the
child a medal of the Immaculate Conception?" " No,
Father." " Take this one then, hang it round her
neck, and do thou and thy wife pray the prayer there
on written : ' Holy Mary, conceived 'without sin, pray
for us who implore thine aid.' " The Indian took the
medal and departed, and when the Black-robe met him
next day, he asked : " How is your Uttle child ?"
" Oh," said the savage simply, " she is well !" What
wonder that every year the tribe renews its act of
consecration to the Immaculate Heart of that dear
Mother !
But prayer in our days, however fervent and con
stant, wUl not win the white man's veneration. Let
us see if the Black-robe be good for aught else. It
was a dangerous time going do'wn the upper Missouri :
bloodshed daily : bitter wrongs were to be washed red,
by savage men whose sense of justice was very uncivil
ized and primitive. As for us Black-robes, on the 20th
of October, 1847, we had gone ashore for the night —
" our fire was seen by a band of Arikaras, armed to
the teeth. They crept in close to us in the gloom,
'without our ha'ring perceived any trace of them.
Their chief recognized me (de Smet) in the fitful blaze
of the fire, by the Cross which hung upon my breast,
and by my cassock. He flung down his mace, which

IN North America. 445
was quivering in his gripe as he made ready for a
spring, and bounding towards the fire, caught me in
his arms, saying, ' Ah, but thou wert near departing
for the land of Spirits. We thought thee far from
here : we took thee for a foe.' " Of all the tribes in
this part of the desert, the whites have most terror of
the bloody Arikaras. From this chief and from all his
men Black-robe de Smet received a solemn promise,
that they would never again approach a party of white
men except with the pipe of peace in their hands.
Now aU who know Indians, know, that, whether for
good or evil, they keep their promises.
Look now at this story of the Black-robes, de Smet
and Hoeken, if you fancy that their physical and
spiritual way Ues altogelher through fiowers. Father
Hoeken, remember, is returning from a visit to Saint
Louis after fifteen years' Indian Mission. They are on
board a steamer struggling up the Mississippi to Fort
Union, two thousand mUes north of Saint Louis. The
summer had been rainy beyond example, the Father of
Waters was in flood, covering so much land beyond his
banks as to be sometimes fifteen miles wide. There
were over a hundred passengers on board, eighty em
ployees, for instance, of the American Fur Company.
The force of the furious current rendered their prog
ress almost impossible. The rains were continual.
The change from violent heat to piercing chiU damp
occurred more than once every day. A dozen different
diseases broke out : strong Father de Smet succumbed
at last to a low biUous typoid fever ; and finaUy, Asiati"

446 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
cholera declared its terrible presence among the pas
sengers and crew. The boat had become a floating
hospital. On the 10th of June a clerk of the Company
was seized with the cholera ; in a few hours he was
dead. Others followed him in swKt succession. De
Smet lay powerless in his cabin.
But night and day, indefatigable, heroic Father
Hoeken attended the sick, and said the last prayers
over the dead. Priest, doctor, and nurse at once, he
aided and waited on the ill in their sufferings, prepared
their remedies, rubbed them with camphorated spirits,
heard their confessions ere they died, went on shore to
bless the grave scooped out upon the bank for their
remains, and interred them with the sacred solemnity
of the ritual. But his Ufe of privations among the In
dians, his labors and perpetual journeys had broken a
once iron constitution. This terrible hospital duty
was destined to give the last blow. By and by it ap
peared that the illness of de Smet was changing into
the cholera ; so he besought his comrade to hear his
confession and to administer the last unction. But
Hoeken, who had that day assisted three dying per
sons, assured Father de Smet that he was not to be
the fourth.
Their cabins, or state-rooms, adjoined each other.
Some hours after this interview, between one and two
at night, when aU was silent but the sighs and groans
of the sick and dying, the prostrate de Smet heard
Father Hoeken's voice, the voice as of one in his
agony, calUng to him for help. He roUed from his

IN North America. 447
berth as best he might, dragged himself along the
floor into the cabin of his friend, and found him in his
extremity. There, dying himseK, as he beUeved, he
heard the Missionary's last confession, administered
the unction, and then breathed his own shrift into the
duUed ear of one, already almost in the presence of his
God. " Yes, there," he says, " I made my confession,
crouched, weeping, by the piUow of my brother in
Jesus Christ, of my faithful friend, of my only com
panion in the wUderness. I, iU and almost dying, con
fessed to him in his last agony." '
There, he found strength to recite the prayers for
the agonizing ; to pronounce the final absolution, and
then, the fair soul of the Black-robe went forth to the
bosom of his Eedeemer. He had preached the Gospel
of the Son of God to thousands of pagans : he had
planted many crosses in those unblessed wilds ; he had
founded and served many missions ; he had baptized
many hundreds of heathen, and now died Uke his
master, a martyr of charity, the war-cry "Jesus,
Mary !" on his Ups, in the fore-front of battle with his
armor on.
So when a furious plag-ue raged among the unfor
tunate Osages in Upper Missouri, Father Bax was,
under God, their comfort and support. Two thousand
Indians had he baptized : nearly fifteen hundred of
them, swept off by the epidemic, he consoled with the
last Sacraments of the Church. His last letter de-
' Annales de la Propagation, xxiv. 238-40.

448 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
scribed their fervor. " They begged to hold the Cross
in their hands in their last hour, and implored that the
image of the Blessed Virgin might be held before
them. Begging the assistance of their good Mother,
they turned their dying eyes upon her gentle face and
kept them fixed there until they expired." This
Black-robe also was physician, catechist, and priest.
He rose at aU hours, went forth in aU weathers, visited
the sick and dying, baptized the children, converted
the hardened at the eleventh hour : breathed the foul
miasm of the plague, slept in his tainted garments, and
arose to renew his trying duties. The Indians caUed
him " The Father who is aU heart," and it was with
expressions of zealous love for them upon his Ups
that he resigned his Ufe into the hands of Him who
gave it.'
Thus die the soldiers of the Company of Jesus : the
chivalry of the Queen of Heaven. Three days before
his death, Father de Theux, another of these grand
Black-robes, when his physician told him that he could
not survive the morrow, repUed gently : " No, Doctor,
you are wrong. I shaU not die to-morrow, I shall die on
Saturday. Saturday is my day." He had always ex
pressed a desire to die on some day consecrated to the
Blessed Virgin, and he was confident that his desire
would be fulfilled. And so, Saturday morning found
him stUl alive, and murmuring at intervals, " Jesus,
' Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres du R. P. De Smet. Paris et Toumai,
1858, p. 245.

in North America. 449
have mercy on me ! Mary, pray for me ! ' and with
these words on his lips, he died on that day of the
week which is given to the special honor of Saint
Mary. One of his last acts on his Mission was to es
tabUsh the Arch-confraternity of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary ; and he it was, who, when consulted
by a venerable archbishop, in troubled times, as to
what course were best to pursue for relief, he it was
who made answer : " Have earnest recourse to the
Supreme Pontiff, and obtam his permission to insert
in the proper place in Mass and Office the word ' Im
maculate! before the word ' Conception.' " '
What wonder then that, with such men in pursuit of
their souls, we find even the fierce Blackfeet Sioux be
ginning in 1855 to yield. That year Father Poiut could
register six hundred and sixty-seven baptisms, and the
wild blood-drinkers began to look with wondering ad
miration at their brave old enemies, the Flatheads.
" For there," says Father Adrian Hoeken, brother of
him just commemorated, " they all admire the deep and
tender devotion of the Indians for Mary ; a certain
sign that the roots of faith have struck deep into their
hearts. Every morning and evening the famUies meet
in their wigwams to recite the rosary in common :
every day they implore the Blessed Virgin to offer
their thanks to the Great Spirit, that He hath drawn
them out from the old night of their paganism."
Finally from his last journey, in 1859, made as chap-

' Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres, p. 426

450 Devotion to B. V. Mart
lain to the United States army, Father de Smet brings
back from Father Point this story of a Blackfeet battle.'
" When Father Point was among the Blackfeet, he
presented crosses to several chiefs as distinctive marks ;
he explained to them their signiflcation, exhorting
them, especially when in danger, to invoke the Son of
God, whose image they bore, and to place in Him their
entire confidence. The chief who related these detaUs,
was one of a band of thirty Indians who had gone to
war against the tribe of the Crows. The latter having
tracked their enemies, assembled in haste and in great
numbers to fight and exterminate them. They soon
discovered them barricaded in the forest and protected
by a coUection of trees and branches, and surrounded
them, raising at the same time the war-cry. The Black
feet, on perceiving the superior numbers of their op
ponents, who were about to pounce upon them sud
denly, were under the persuasion that they were aU
about to perish at their hands. One among them bore
upon his breast the sign of salvation, the cross. He
then recollected the advice of Father Point, which he
communicated to his companions, and they aU re
peated : This is our only chanc£. of scfety ! They then
invoked the Son of God, and left the barricade. The
bearer of the cross was at their head ; he pushpd for
ward, and they aU followed him. The Crows met them
with a volley of balls and arrows : not one of them
was seriously wounded, and they aU escaped. In re-
' Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. Baltimore, 1860, p. 233.

in North America. 451
lating the circumstance, the chief added in an energetic
tone : ' Yes, the prayer (reUgion) of the Son of God is
alone good and efficacious ; we are aU desirous of ren
dering ourselves worthy of it, and of embracing it.' "
So here then let us bid our Indian apostle farewell,
so far as this book is concerned. Little more than a
year ago we enjoyed his society for a morning, and re
ceived his blessing as he started to begin a new jour
ney into the American wilderness, his twenty-second
year of these wild Missions. We gave him then at
parting the Scripture History in the Abnaki language,
and the curious Church Calendars prepared for those
Indians by their Patriarch, Eev. Eugene Vetromile.
And so by this Uttle book the Owenegunga, the ancient
servants of Mary, stretch out their hands from Maine
and from Newfoundland to their brethren at St. Mary's
of the Flatheads ; or at the vUlage of Immaculate Con
ception in the gorges of the Eocky Mountains.
May we again have the pleasure of seeing his ven
erable face in this Ufe, strong as when he bade adieu
to Bishop de Eam in Belgium,' and ready to end the
narrative of his new adventure as he does that of 1860,
in these words : " My greatest source of consolation is
that of having been, in the hands of Providence, the
instrument of eternal salvation to nearly nine hundred

' At their leave-taking Monseigneur implored the Black-robe to give
him some little token of remembrance. But the Missionary had
nothing. So taking a copper sous from his pocket, he bent it double
¦with his teeth, and gave that to the bishop, who preserves it relig
iously.

452 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
poor dying children whom I baptized. Several of them
seemed only to be waiting for this happiness to fly to
their God and praise Him forevermore.
" To God alone be all the glory ; and to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, humble and profound gratitude for the
protection and the favors received during this my last
and long voyage.'"
' Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. Baltimore, xxi. 284

IN North Ajmerica. 453

CHAPTEE XXII.
Broken Threads — Conc;lusion.
At length we have reached the last chapter of oui
appointed task, and have only to pick up the broken
threads of our subject, and then to bid fareweU to our
readers. A history of the devotion to Blessed Mary
is, after aU, but a chapter of Church History. Where
the Church goes, there goes the devotion; they grow
together, they stand or fall together. There is no pos
sible separation of Mary and the Church. The Mother
of the Bridegroom is the Mother of the Mystical Bride.
But stUl every century can furnish new Ulustrations ;
every generation of men wUl find novel expressions of
the perpetual idea, and the accumulation of such illus
trations and expressions 'will constitute each age's His
tory of the Devotion.
For instance, the Immaculate Conception of the
Mother of God is an old and endless truth ; but its
dogmatic definition by the glorious Pontiff who now
wears the signet of the Fisherman, is a part of the his
tory of this century. Note now the example of this
fact, in our little book here. On pages 137 and 144
you have descriptions of two churches of the Immacu
late Conception in North America, as «arly as 1666

454 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
and 1675 ; on page 47 you have the life of the heroic
discoverer of the Northern Mississippi, a life wholly
given up to the worship of this sublime mystery from
early childhood, in 1654. And in the sketch of the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate, of the Marists, and
other new orders, you have to-day's manner of ex
pressing the old idea. The historic truth stands im
mutable, and even the utterance of it by the varying
generations is less remarkable for variety than for re
ligious fervor and consistency.
So, then, the collation of such facts as church dedi
cations, founding of orders, sayings of men, acts of
men and women, directly referring themselves to Mary,
make up, with the kno'wn devotion of aU Catholics,
what we have to offer as our best attempt at a History
of the Devotion in North America. But there is some
thing else to be added. Not merely what is pecuUar
to North America makes it history, but that also which
it has in common with the rest of the CathoUc world.
The extreme proportion of churches which seek the
benediction of Mary's name, is more remarkable by its
pubUcity, but not by its popularity, than the Sodali-
ries. Confraternities, medal-wearing, saying of Eosa-
ries, and other devout forms of showing love for the
Mother of God. We have already alluded to the, so
far as we know, universality among aU classes of Catho
lics, of carrying, and we presume naturally of saying,
the beads. Furthermore, not to judge, but simply to
offer an individual observation, it is the American and
not the old CathoUc emigrant who is most prone to

in North America. 455
this devotion. CathoUcs of the oldest European fideli
ties will say to you, when you speak of the beads :
"Oh, I can read." Americans of two centuries of
American-born, educated ancestors — of names world-
revered in science and art — show what Protestants
would call a superstition about saying their chaplet.
Generals and admirals, shipping merchants of New
York, prominent lawyers, favorite and most successful
physicians, are known to this writer as fervently par
ticular about that simplest, most chUdUke, and sweet
est of devotions to our gentle lady-Mother. Of course,
in these remarks we do not speak of converts to the
faith, for the zeal of a convert is generaUy excessive.
Another point is the observable piety during the
month of May, the month of Mary. There is scarcely
a missionary parish so smaU as not to celebrate it.
Every cathedral, coUege, chapel, parish, church, and
convent chapel has an altar especiaUy decorated for
those thirty-one days. The month is opened and
closed by especial solemnities. A preacher is audible
at least once a week ; the sunset devotions are nearly
invariable throughout the land, and the large number
of worshippers is surprising. The immense majority
of Catholics wear the scapular ; you wUl -with difficulty
find here and there one without the medal of the Im
maculate Conception.
Then, again, many thousands belong to an associa
tion, estabUshed in 1858, lately approved by the sov
ereign pontiff, and recommended by several prelates,
which has for its object the conversion of souls — an

456 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
object so holy, that the Eternal Son of God became
man, and remained on earth thirty-three years, to seek
the strayed sheep and redeem them -with His precious
blood. How consoUng for us to be able, by means of
prayer and other good works, to co-operate with God
in the salvation of souls, the most divine, as St. Denis
calls it, of aU employments. St. Chrysostom assures
us, that there is nothing more pleasing to God than
the salvation of souls. "Though your riches should
be ever so great," says he, "yet, by converting one
soul, you would do far more than by giving aU you
have to the poor."
Now, to co-operate in this glorious work, prayer is
one of the most efficacious means. " Pray for one an
other that you may be saved ; for the continual prayer
of a just man availeth much."' "There is nothing
more powerful than a man who prays, because such a
one is made partaker of the power of God.""
The members are most earnestly recommended to
offer up frequently their good works for the end of the
Association ; and also for the conversion of some of
their friends, chiefly for those ah'eady favorably dis
posed. It is much to be desired that the members
prepare themselves for the reception of the sacraments
on all those festivals on which a plenary indulgence is
granted. When any member dies, he shaU be recom
mended to the prayers of the Association in the place
where he resided ; and every member there residing
' St. James, v. ' St. Chrysostom.

IN North America. 457
shaU say three times the " Our Father" and the " Hail
Mary," for the repose of the deceased. All priests,
members of the Association, are requested to say two
Masses a year, one for the deceased members, and the
other for tlie conversion of America.
Prayers for the conversion of America.- — First prayer,
with indulgence : "Almighty and eternal God, who
wisheth to save aU, and wilt have none to perish, have
regard to those souls who are led astray by the deceits
of the deril, that the hearts of those who err, rejecting
all errors, may be converted, and return to the Unity
of Thy Truth, through Christ, our Lord. Amen."
Second prayer. — Memorare (300 days' indulgence
every time, if said with contrite heart) :
"Eemember, Mary, tenderest-hearted Virgin, how
from of old the ear hath never heard that he who ran
to thee for refuge, implored thy help, and sought thy
prayers, was forsaken of God. Virg-in of virgins.
Mother, emboldened by this confidence, I fiy to thee ;
to thee I come, and in thy presence, I, a weeping sin
ner stand. Mother of the Word Incarnate, oh, cast
not away my prayer ; but, in thy pity, hear and an
swer. Amen."
"O Mary, Mother of Mercy, Help of Christians,
Eefuge of Sinners, lest I perish, take upon thyself the
care of my salvation, and the salvation of aU those in
whose behalf I implore thy powerful mediation, in or
der that aU may be brought to the One True Fold, in
which Jesus Christ, thy Son, wishes us aU to Uve and
die. Amen." 20

458 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
" O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for the con
version of this country.
" Queen of Apostles, conceived without sin, pray the
Lord of the harvest that He send laborers into His
Harvest." " Our Father," " HaU Mary," " Glory be
to the Father," etc.
To become a member of the Association, nothing
more is required than to have the name registered in
a book by a priest of the diocese in which it is estab
Ushed, and to say daily, in honor of the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin, for the conversion
of America, one " Hail Mary," 'with this ejaculation :
" O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for the conver
sion of this country." No special meeting is requisite ;
but it wiU be sufficient, wherever the Association is
estabUshed, that the prayers appointed by the arch
bishop, or bishop of the diocese, be said by the pastor,
either immediately before or after High Mass, vespers,
or any public service on Sundays. It is most ardently
desired that once every month, every member go to
confession and communion for the conversion of Amer
ica. Should, however, any member receive the Holy
Sacraments monthly, in compliance with the regula
tions of any other Society or Confraternity, he may by
such reception comply with this rule, by adding the
intention of the Association to the intention or inten
tions he may have already formed.
A plenary indulgence has been granted, 1st. On the
day of admission. 2d. On the 16th of May, the day
on which the Association was estabUshed. 3d. Onca

IN North America. 459
a month, to those '\\ho confess and receive Holy Com
munion. 4^/i. On the Nativity of our Lord, the Feast
of St. Joseph (19th of March), on the Feasts of the
Purification, Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity, and
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. One
hundred days' indulgence to members who assist at
the weekly meetings, provided they say the prayers
appointed by the archbishop, or bishop of the diocese.
The prayers of the diocese of Cincinnati are three
" Hail Marys." One hundred days' indulgence, in the
archdiocese of Cincinnati only, are granted to those
who bring a member into the Association ; and a hun
dred days to those who say the ejaculatory prayer :
" O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for the conver
sion of this country." The propagation of this good
work is most earnestly recommended to the zeal of
every one, and especially to those charged with the
care of souls.
We do not know positively but that the discourage
ment of writers who might furnish American books of
devotion, may be from the zeal for her honor in the
hearts of older and better informed CathoUcs. It may
be from a spirit of nationaUty ; it may be from the wis
dom attained by authority ; it may be from charity,
lest the humiUty of the Christian should be injured by
some notice of the writer ; but the consistent discour
agement, although generally negative, is a fact. But
for aU that, the land is Mary's. Why shaU I not ad
vance thus modestly her claim to it, when nations have
battled and are battUng for it ?

460 Devotion to the B. V. Mart
Who then has the true claim to the o'wnership of
North America ? The red Indian steps noiselessly for
ward and says, " It is I ! For ages immemorial my
fathers fished these waters, or struck down the game
in these yet undesecrated forests." " I claim the land,"
saith the Spaniard, " I, who redeemed th(^se Southern
pampas, and first taught the Gulf and the lagoon the
sounds of Christian praise." " It is mine," says the
fiery Gaul. " The snow-wastes of Canada were crim
soned with French blood : it was a French sword
which tamed the fierce Iroquois, and tribes of every
tongue, the roaming Algonquin, from the mighty
ocean to the mysterious great lakes."
" The land is mine," says the English Puritan from
Berks or Huntingdon ; or the English Cavalier from
Derbyshire, York, and Cumberland. The Highlander,
in gutturals deep as those with which he turned away
from the red, red field of CuUoden, demands at least
the mountains of the CaroUnas and Georgia, the cold
coasts of Nova Scotia, and part of the shores of Saint
Lawrence. But we cannot grant to any one of these the fulness
of his claim. Wherever they are found as agents act
ing subserriently to the fulness of our own claim ;
wherever they shall seem to have advanced and aided
that, we will give them the praise of worthy servants.
Eeverence then for the silent Indian ; reverence,
deep as justice, mute as himself, for the olden lord of
this land ! Honor to the swarth Iberian who planted
the yeUow standard of CastUe on the shores of the

IN North America. 461
Mexican Gulf; honor to the chivalric Frank who
s^vung the liUes out to the icy air of Canada : honor to
the broad-chested Briton, for he named his first town
Saint Mary's : honor to the sine-wy son of the green
old Island of Eire : honor to the patient toiler who
came, singing harmonious choruses, from the arrowy
rush of the Ehine — but glory supreme to the Lord of
Hosts, from whom aU blessings are ! For whom and
for His Mother, we claim as thehs, by right of first dis
covery and seizure, this North American continent.
Glory to God, the Eternal, and honor perpetual to Im-
maciUate Mary.

INDEX.

Abonakl Indians, 165-1S3.
Aciidia, 8, 2ns ; destruction of, 24, 294
Aiiasistjiri, Huron cliiof, 1S7.
Aidan, St. Relic of. 340.
Alabama Mis.Mon3. 143.
Algonquin Indians, 1S4, 1S8. 196.
AUouez, Jesuit Tatber, 8, 107.
Alvarado, 5.
Angela, tbe Indian girl, ST8.
Angels, Onr Lady of, 61.
Angelus, The, 1.55.
Anne, St, 45; cbapel of, 124: devotion to,
345.
Apparition of Our Lady, 431.
Areslcoui, Worsliip of, renounced, 194
Arichat diocese, S3S.
Arkansas, Marquette at, 9. 52.
Asendnsfi, MobawI< chief, 204
Assiniboin Indians. 872.
Association of Cbihlren of Mary In the
World, 314; ..f i'rayer, 456.
Assumption Mission, 4.33.
Atliabast-a Lake Mission. 869.
Augustine, St, Florida, founded, 6.
Awi-heart Indians, 413.
Badin, Eev. Stephen, 220, 238.
Baltimore. Lord, 157.
Bancroft Tributes from, 14, 25, 104
Bannak Indiaus, 429.
Banner of Our Lady. 131, 155, 261.
Bannockburn, Battle of 840.
Baptism of Indians, 152, 168, 187, 195, etc.
Baraga, Bishop, 48.
Bardstown diocese, 228.
Barre, de la. 124.
Bayley, Bishop, 828.
Beads, The, 46. 53, 65, 208, etc.
Belmont, Sulpician, 76, 92, 131.
Benedict XIII., Pope, 1.32.
Benedict XIV.. Pope, 152.
Bigot. Father James, 167.
Bigot, Father Vincent, 167, 169, 174
Billiart Julie, 254.
Biron, Marie, 139.
Blackfeet 429.
Blackfeet Sionx, 424
Blanchet Archbishop, 256.
Biln-Bourdon, Vioomtesse, 258.

Boniftice, Bt., diocese, 868.
Bon Secours, Ndtro Dame de, 132.
Boston diocese, 228.
Bourgoovs, Marguerite, 77, 81, 114, 128.
Bourget,' bishop, 826.
Brandy traders, 42.
Brebeuf, Jesuit Father, martyr, 67, 68, 70.
Bressani, Jesuit Father, 6, 6-5.
Brothers of St Joseph, 240 ; of the Hoe-
pi tal, 124.
Bruce, King Eobert, 840.
Brulart de Sillery, 165.
Brunei, Oblate Father, 877.
Brunner, Father, 280.
Brunner, Madame, 281.
Brut6, Bishop, 272.
Bufalo, Canon di, 280.
Caiifornia Missions, 146, 158; Indians, 161.
Cambon, 154.
CanBel, Father, 6, 18.
Carmel, Mount, monks of, 158; nuns o(
226.-
Carroll, Archbishop, 226.
Catechism, Indian, 43.
Catherine Tegahkouita. 196, 199.
Cat Island, once called St. Saviour's, 8.
Cauvin, Father, 331.
Chabanel, Jesuit Father, death of, 65, 69.
Champlain, 80.
Charbonnel, Bishop, 840.
Charity, Sisters of {vide Sisters).
Charles, St, Mission. 61.
Charlevoix, Father de, 111.
Chartres, Ndtre Dame de, 163, 212, 218, 21&
Chaumeday, Paul de (viffe Maisonneuve).
Chaumonot, Jesuit Father, 79, 106, 128,
198, 205.
Cherokee Indian Mission, 7, 148.
Chesapeake Bay. St. Mary's, 8, 157.
Cheverus, Cardinal, 346.
Oheymol, Father, 300.
Children taught by nuns, 264, etc.
Chinook Indians, 26.3.
Chippewa Indians, 412.
Chirouse, Oblate Father, 867.
Cholenec, Jesuit 202.
Cholera in Louisiana, 808; in Montreal
826 ; on tbe Missouri, 446.

464

Index.

Cincinnati diocese, 25S, 2T6, 237.
Clares, The poor, 226.
Cleveland diocese, 301.
Coeur-d'Ai6ne Indians, 429, 440.
Cointet, Father, 242.
Columbia Uiver Mission, 24, etc,
Columbus, Christopber, 1, 2; his succes
sors, 5.
Conception Immaculate, 9, 49, 53, 58, 108,
203, 247, 307, 410.
Confraternities, 127, 2S6, 344.
Congregation of our Lady, 75, 81, 114, 327.
Conquests of Mar}', 22,
Consecration to Blessed Tirgin Mary, 172,
2To, 304, 337.
Converts, Early Indian, 67.
Coronado, 5.
CoLe SU Lambert, Chapel of Mary at, 137,
Council of Baltimore, 29.
Creek Indian Mission, 7, 148.
Cross, The, daughters of, 277; from Ban
nockburn, 340; De Smcfs life saved by,
444; the sta'.di-rd of the Blackfeet, 897;
planting of, 447.
Crow Indians, 412.
Crowning of pictures, 323,
Cumminville, 276.
Dablon, Jesuit Father, 8, 107.
Dacotah Indians {vide Sioux).
Daniel, Father, Jesuit Martyr, 64.
David, Bishop, 220.
Devotion to Blessed Virgin, Difference
between European and American, 17;
blunoers about it, 19; obstacles to, here,
20; style of, here, 22; beginning of, 23;
Marquette's, 58; Olier's, 72; of the Aben
aki;;, 168; of the Ursulines, 804; at our
Lady of the Lake, 237; in Oregon, 24;
cause of rapid spread o^ 443,
Dictionai'y, Indian, 43. *'
Dominicans, 278,
Druiileites, Jesuit Father, 166.
Dubois, Bishop, 220, 272.
Dubourg, Bishop, 220, 297.
Durieu, Oblate Father, SS2,
Dwenger, Eev, J., 285,
Ear-ring Indians, 440, 443.
Earthquake in Canada, 42.
Einsiedeln Our Lady o^ 232.
Elliot, Eev. Mr., 25.
Emisi'ation, French, 25; German, 27;
Irish, 26.
English, their unkiudness, 26; invasion of
Ganaria, 130,
Erie Indians, 105, 195.
Farrand, Oblate Father, 868.
Fayolle, Fatiicr, 420.
Fdnelon, Fatlier, 76.
Fenwick, Bishop, 350.
Fever, Yellow, 303,
Fire in convents, 39,
Flaaet, Bisliop, 220, 278.
Flatbow Indians. 438.
Flathead Indians, 423, 426.
Florida bapUzed in bbod, 6; origin of
name, 18; Missions in, 148.

Foreign Missions, Priests of, 110.
Foucault, martyr, 112.
Fourrier, Blessed Peter, 263.
Franciscan Sisters, 288.
Francis de Sales', St., Mission, 167.
Fremiot, Jesuit Father, 410.
French labor for Mary, 25; French zeal,
26; French emigration to America, 26.
Gacon, Father, '800.
Galitzin, Prince, 229; Princess, 813.
Gamache, Marquis de, 63.
Ganneaktena, Catherine, 195.
Gannonakoa, Stephen te. Chief, 195
Garacontie, Chief, 195, 204.
Garnier, Jesuit Father, his death, 64, 69.
George, Mother MargMret, 276.
Gille Mairi nan Gael, 338.
Goiffon, Oblate Father, 406.
Gononhatena, Frances, 196,
Goupil, li6ne. toriure and death, 65, 187.
Grace, Our Lady of, 324.
Grandin, Oblate Father, 379,
Gravier, Jesuit Father, labors, 109, 111,
Guadalupe, Our Lady of, 151, 153.
Hebridean emigrants, 339.
Herbomez, d', Oblate Bishop, 875.
Hiawiitha^'s welcome, 4U8.
Highlanders in America, 838.
Hoeken, Jesuit Father, death, 4461
Holy Family, 127; devotion to, 207,
Hospital Brothers, 124.
Hospital of Mary's Help, 283,
Hospital Sisters, 60, 75, 79, 128, 288;,
Hotel Dieu, 128,
House ol Providence, 120, 361.
Hudson's Bay Missions {vide Oblate), 15.
Huron Indians, 103; conversion, 103; thelf
Loretto, 106,
Illinois Indians, 51.
Immaculate Conception, 9, 49, 58, 58, 108,
203, 247, 307, 410, 433, 439, 453; first
church of, 144; second church of, 159.
Incarnation. Mother Mary of the, 32, 83.
Indiau Catholics destroyed, 8, 14S, 152,
162.
Indian converts, 51, 97, 194, 205.
Indian Maries, 171; missionaries, 47, etc.;
Sisters, 97.
Indian hymn to Blessed Virgin, 255;
prayer, 354.
Indian Missions among Abenakis, 166-183 ;
Algonquins, Ifio; Assiniboins, 372; Awl-
hearts, 429, 440; Bannaks, 429; Black
feet, 429: Calitbrnians. 153,154; Cher
okees, 7; Chinooks, 263; Chippewas,
107; Crows, 412; Dacotahs (mrfe Siou.v);
Ear-rings. 440, 442; Fioridians, 6, 13,
148; Flatbows, 438; Flatheads {vide
De Smet and Oblate); Hurons, 64, 67,
103; Illinois, 51; Iroquois, 184-204;
Kalispels, 4-J9 ; Kansas. 425; Kaskaskias,
His ; Koetenays. 429, 439 ; Louisiana, 112 ;
Miamis, 54; Missouiis, 153; Micmacs, 61,
151; Mohawks, 184, etc.; Montagnais,
165, 870, 392; Natchez, 7, 112; New
Mexicans, 5, etc; New York, 184-204;

Index.

465

Now Caledonians, 259 ; Nez-perci53, 429 ;
Oregons, 255, 423, etc. ; Osagea, 447 ;
Peorias, 111; Seminoles, 14S; Sinpoils,
429; Sinnx, 420; Snakes, 4L»i; Te.\ans, 5,
153; Wyandots, 60; Yakamas, S6G;
Yellow-knives, 3ST.
Irish emigrants, 26.
Iroquois Indians, 184, etc.; their Mission,
184.
Jackson, General Andrew, 298.
Jesuits, the Fathers, 9, 13, 47-59, 61-72,
103-111. 165, etr.
Jogues, Jesuit Father, martyr, 13, 48, 186,
423, etc.
Joliet, Sieur, 49.
Joseph. Saint, Vision of, 83; Mission of,
61, 165,
Juchereau, Mother, 271.
Kalispel Indians, 429,
Kansas Indians, 425 ; Missions, 425.
Kaskaskia Indians and Mission, 103.
Kentucky Missions, 277,
Koetenay Indians, 429, 439.
Kryn, Mohawk chief, 195.
La Dauversiere, Mr, do, 79, 128.
Lake, Our Lady of tbe, 237.
LaUemant, Father, martyr, 69.
Lalor, Miss Alice., 226.
Lamberville, father, 197.
La Prairie Mission, 137, 144, 199.
Lamy, Bishop, 13,
Laval, Montmorency de. Bishop, 89, 98,
144. 202.
Laverlochere, Oblate Father, 3G3,
Le Ber, Mademoiselle Jeanne, 121, 131,
Le Maitre, Father, his death, 76.
Le Pretre. Seigneur de, 93,
Litany of Blessed Virgin, 157, 286.
Longeuil, Baron de, 121.
Longfellow quoted, 24, 266, 409, 421.
Lorettines, 290, 315, 318.
Loretto in North America, 106, 229, S46.
Loretto Sisters of, 277,
Louisiana Missions and Indians, 112.
Lulworth Castle, 221.
Lynch, Bishop, 318.
Mace, Eeverend Mother, 128
Macdonald, Eev. Angus, 341,
Macdonnell, Bisho[t, 341.
Mackinac, Marquette at, 49.
Mackinnon, Bishop, 389.
Macleod, 342.
Macleod, Mary, 348
Maine, Missions in, 346,
Maisonneuve. Lord of, 75, 87-89,
Manse, Mademoiselle, goes to Montreal, 78.
Marechal. liihhop, 220.
Mareuil, Father, 195.
Maria Hilt; Maria Stein, 28.
Maria, Santa, ship of Columbus, 2.
Marians, 69,
Mark. Franciscan Father, 5.
Marquette, Jesuit Father, S ; sketch of his
labors, 47, 107; death, 58.
Martin, St., Convent, 292.
20*

Mary Ako. 109.
Mary, Indian women so called, 171.
Mary, Mother of God, Iut greatness, 4;
lier maternity, 12; cnannul of prayer
and grace, 19; pntronps.s in America, 30;
lady sovereign of MontrcMl, 79; titles oi
in America, 115 ; Indian devotion to,
1C5, lT'.i, etc.; Oblates of, 859; her his
tory the history of the Church, 453;
month of, 432; Lady of North America,
459; conqnesLs In America, 23,
Mary at the Foot of the Cross, Sisters of,
277.
Mary of the Incarnation, 82; ber vision,
83; her death, 47.
Mary, rohg'ous so named, 318.
Maryland, Missions in. 156.

Mazenod, Hisliop de, 857.
Medal, Blessed
261,444,445,

)p de, 0£
Virgin

Mary, 28, 111, 175,

Meiaskwat, Algonquin chief, 166.
Menihr6, Father, 112.
Memorare, The, in Indian, 855.
Mengarini. Father, 484.
Menard. Father, 193.
Mercy, Sisters of, 2G6.
Messiah, Abenaki tradition of, 44,
Mestre, Oblate Father, 897,
Mexico Missions, 24.
Miami Mission. 54.
Micmac Indians, 61, 151.
Ministers, Divine, their characteristics, Ife
Missionaries. English {vide Maryland),
156; French, 166, etc. {vide Obliito,
Jesuit, etc); Spanish, 15, 33, 148; Fran
ciscan, 13; in cities, 15.
Missouri Missiftns, 153.
Mohawk Indians, 175.
Month of Mary, 432.
Montigny, Mr,, 112.
Montmorency, Bishop Laval de, 89, 144.
Montreal, its founder, 70; consecrated to
Mary, 127 {vide Villo-Msrie),
Morninc Star. Voyage of tlie, 258.
M<-ulin,"Oblate Fath.T, 400.
Mountain, Mission of the, 92, 139.
Nagle, Miss, 269.
Narvaez, 5.
Natchez Indians, Missions to, 7.
Neale, Bishop, 22G.
Nerinckx, Father, 277.
Nev\? Caledonia Missions, 25G.
New Mexico. Missions there, 146, 152.
New York, first Missions, 1S4 ; lirst church
in, 193; first saint, l9ti; devotion to
Mary two centuries ago in, 205; diocese
of, 227.
Nez-percrs Indians, 429,
Niagara Falls. 3lS,
Norridgewock burned. 176.
Notre Dome des Victoires {-vide Our
Lady and Sisters), IS; de hon Secours^
18,326; de Foie, 1U6. 208: deo Neige&
189 ; de Prompt Secours, 297,
Nt'itre Dame, Si^ters of, 114, 253, 263.
Nova Scotia Missions, 61.
Oblates of Mary, 359.

466

Index.

Odin, Arnhbisiiop, 803.
Ofiice of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 263.
Office, Divine, 268.
Olier, -Tolin do Vernenil, 70; liis devotion
to tlie Blessed Virgin Mary, TO, 73;
founds St. Sulpice, 72; deatii, 74; devo
tion to Holy Family, 127.
Olmos, Father Andrew di, 5.
Oregon, 24, 255, etc.; Oblates there, 865;
Jesuits there, 250; Sisters, 25S.
Orono, Penobscot chief, 1S2.
Our Lady of Angels, 61 ; ban Secours, 89,
132, 136, 326; Congregation of, 75, 81,
837; of Foie, 106, 203; of Guadalupe, 13,
151; of Silver, 70; of Snows, 189; of
Victory, 118, 13(1, 144, 373; of vaiious
titles, 225, 244; of the Lalte, 243; of the
Solitude, 148; of Ganentaa, 193; of La
Trappe, 2S7 ; of Peace, 290, 319, 820.
Ouendraca, Mary, 210.
Oar.Aouare, Oayuga chief, 196.
Owenagunga, 182.
Padilla, Father John de, 5.
Pantheism, 17.
Parlier, preacher iconoclast, 435,
Paul, Indian boy. Story of, 431.
Peace, Our Lady of, 290.
Peltrie, Madame de la, 37.
Pensacola, Settlement of, 6.
Peoria Mi.^sion and Indians, 111.
Personality of God, 17.
Philadelphia, 229.
Pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 20,
145, 302.
Pilgrimages, American, 320, 328, 351.
Planting of the Cross, 447.
Poems to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 140,
324
Point, Jesuit Father, 434, 449.
Poisson. Martyr, 112.
Ponce de Leon, 5.
Poor Clares, 226.
Precious Blood. Congregation of, 280.
Priests of ths Foreign Mission, 110.
Prompt Succor. Our Lady of, 297.
Protestant tesLimony, 14, 25.
Provenchtr, Bi.-hop, 803.
Purcell, Archbishop, 268, 280, 2ST.
Quaylus, 76.
Quebec, 62, 145.
Eam, Bishop de, 451.
Eappe. liisliop, 300.
Easles, Jesuit lather, martyred, 176, 846.
Eftttlesnakes in a convent, .308.
EecoUect Kriars, 60, lOS. 139, 144
Eemas, Oblate Father, 878.
Eenilda, Sister, 258.
Eevolution, French, 849, 856.
Eeyniil, Father, 296.
liibour.le. Death of Father, 108.
Eicliard, Fathei-, 22il.
Eo.sary, The, 45, 154, 183, 268, 278, 286, 844,
~ 3B4.
Sacred Heart, Ladies of, 318.
Saggart aroon. 27.
Bt. Ambrose.Bister, SOT.

St Augustine, Florida, founded, 6.
St. Charles, 61.
St. Come, Mr. de, TT ; martyr, 112.
St Francis, Mission, 167.
St Mary's, 63, (.Maryland), 15T, (Onondaga),
193, (Flathead), 4-32.
St Palais, Bishop de, 240.
St Vallier, Bishop, 129.
Salazar, Father, 6.
Salagnac de Fenelon, T6.
Salmon, Father, death, 220.
Santa Maria, Father John de, martyr, 15,%
Saria, Father, death, 156,
Saut Ste. Marie, 48.
Scapulai of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 23
455.
Seal of Ville-Marie, 134.
Seminoles, Meaning oi, 148.
Sei^vants of the Immaculate Heart ot
Mary, 315.
Seton, Eebecca, 274.
Seton, Eev. Mother, 227, 271, 2T8.
Sillery, Brulart de, 61, 166.
Sinpoil Indians, 429.
Sioux, massacres, 897; Missions among.
420.
Sisters, of Nfitre Dame, 114, 2.58. 263; of
Chanty, 2T1; Gray Sisters, 41. 276; IIos-
jiital Sisters, 70, 123, 134; of Holy Cross,
246; of the Visitation, 226; of Mercy,
2C6, 267; of Providence, 279; of the
Poor, 272: of the Good Shcplierd, 316;
of Loretto, 277; of St Dominic, 278-
various orders, 2S7, 816.
Smet, Father de, 25.% 42.3, 4-34, 487.
Smith, Father (Prinre Galiteiu), 229.
Snal<6 Indians, 429.
Snows, Our Lady of the, 139.
Sodalities, Blessed Virgin Mary, 23.
Somera, Father, 154.
Sorin, Father, 241.
Soto, Fernando di, 5; his will, 149.
Souart, Father, 76, 77, 133.
Souel, Maityr, 112.
Spanish labor for Mary, 2.3.
Statues of Mary, 8, 33, 93, 106, 133, ITO,
203, 209, 249, 298, 810, 828, 896, 483.
SteUa Maiiitina, 249.
St Valher, Bishop, 129.
Sul]iice, St, founded, T2.
Sulpician Fathers, 75, 76.
Tach6, Oblate Bishop, 364, 370.
Tegahkonlta, Catherine, the Saint of th»
Mohawks, 190, 198.
Texan Missions, 146.
Tlicbais of Ohio, The, 2ST.
Theux, De, Jesuit Father, 448,
Tsawento, Mary, 195.
Ursulines, their first Houses hero, 82, 249;
at New Orleans, 292; in Cincinnati,
800; in Galveston, 802; io Clevelaud,
801. ' ^
Vasquez de Ayllon, 5.
Voider, Father de, 424.
Ventadour, Duke of, 61.
Vetromile, Father Eugene, 858L

Index.

Vestments, Eare, 123.
Verot, Bishop, IS.
Victory, Our Lady of, 118, 180, 144, S73.
Vignal, death of, 76.
Ville-Marie, 81, 74, 118, ISO.
Virginia, First Missions of. 7.
Visitation of Mary, 226; Church of, 183;
Sisters of, 226.
Wallamette Mission, 263.
Pampum for Our Lady, 169, 203.

Wanbanaki Indians, 347.
White Father in Maryland, 157.
^Visconsin. The, Marquette there, 60.
Wreck of English licet 131.
Wyandots, or Wendat Indiaus, 60L
Xavier, St Frnnoia, 67, 417.
Takama Mission, 366,
Yellow Fever, 303.
TcUow-knife Indians, Sf

3 9002 00452 2398

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