TRIALS OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10, 9 March 1905, Page 29

TRIALS OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS

The following extracts from a letter of a member of the Visitation Order in France to relatives in Auckland will gi c c^ir readers an idea of the persecution to ■winch the religious Orders in that lodge-ridden land a 1 c sib.ectcd by t!.e (io\ eminent of the day :—: — ' When our home at Vei sallies was broken up, it was more as a precautionary measure, and al-o because the Polish Siste, s really wished to retiurn to their country, than an effect of the persecution which was then beginning. At present it is quite a t'lfleront matter. I will now relate the events that ha\e taken place in our usually so uneventful life. Whei I last wrote we had just sent away our pupils as a metisKirc of precaution, hoping thus tio prevent the law— then being discussed — from being applied to us. As soon as they had gone we sold off the school furniture, so that in case of domiciliary visits, we coi'M prove that we had no intention of continuing to teach. We set to work to execute the orders for work that we had received, and fo"r about three weeks we Ihoroftitctfilv enjoyed the qinet and omr regular religious life, which is so disturbed when there is a school, a« the real aim of our Order is the contemplative life. The Iniquitous Law, forbidding all congregations henceforward to teach, was finally passed by the Senate on the 7th July. On

the 13th our Rev. Mother received notice, by the arrival of officers of justice, to close before October 1. Ihis notice was given in terms that might be interpreted in two ways, and left us in a state of great anxiety. It might also concern the closing of the school, and it niigjht also mean the supp ession of the convent and our dispersion. No one could be really 3ure how the law would be applied to us, a;S in Uhe days in which we live, the GoAernment proceeds in an irregular and arbitrary manner and there are no precedents t*> guide us. We knew we had a certain time betore uvs, as we co u ld ryot be turned out before October 1, but what we had most to fear was that a liquidator might be sent to make an inventory of all our furniture, etc., asnd in this way sei/e it as Government property. The convent aiid grounds, being " authorised," a"c alrea/ly considered as belonging to the State, notwithstanding that they were bought and built with " dots " of the Sisters, and charitable presents, and tbat we, as fall other citi/.ens, pay all the usual rates and taxes, as well as many special o'ies. 'On Friday eveUiiaig, July 15, a friend of the convent came to warn our Mother that the nomination of a liquidator was already being discussed in the Tribunal, and he might arrive in a tlay or two. To save our belongings ttlie only thmg was to get them out of the house as soon as possible, anl to sell wiiiat we could, for alter the visit of the liquidator, we shiould have no right lo anything. Not a minute wa^ lost Our Mother, who is a supeiior woman in -Ul ways, and \ery intelligent in business matters, arranged all things with great presence of mind, and we were at her disposal After supper she called us and said " There is no time to lose, we must all set to work and pack up everything that is not absolutely necessary, eivetn. if we have to work all night. Immediately each one went to her department to pack up what she had in her charge, and everyore was busy. In the meantime our faithful and devoted gardener had gone to fetch men to help us, aaid carU and waggons to carry our things. I must tell )o,i that in the town the Visitation Order is greatly lo\ el and highly esteetneJ, and amon°; the population we oa-i only count friends and prolectois. Our enemies aril those who wi/sh us barm are the Co-. eminent officials anJd a band of socialists who have not mmji imfluence. As soon as some of our neighbors, ,who h»we farms near, heard of our alarm they offeied to take in all that we oould send, and for that purpose sent their carts. The convent soon lost its monastic appearance, and looked more like a railway station when an express is about to leave. In an immense house like ours, when everything is in its place, there doe-, not seem to be maich ; but when cupboards are emptied, book shelves l a i|l bare, tables chairs, pictures, statues, etc., block all the corridors, one is qnte ama-ed, a n|ri it takes more time than one would think to load carts and carry them off. We were in 'th's state of disorder, hustle and dust, for almosi a wee 1 -, and passed three whole nights at woik, nnd t o acid to our fatigue it was frightfully hot As mhhi as Iho population knew that we had fallen under the law, the whole tpwn was in a state of Indignation, Excitement, and Compassion, and everlyome offered to help us in any way, and to store our things. Seeing this, the Proeurour of the Tribunal, who had received orders from M. Combes, with all the other Procurcurs of France, to proceed as quickly as possible to the suppression of the monasteries, called a private meeting to name a liquidator. This was a very illegal proceeding, as not being the day for a meeting, the adoocates on the Government side had alone been summoned. But as this underhand way of acting is well known to the others they are on the " gui v/ive " and there is alwlavs Some employee who warns them. A most providential tiling happened to us. o>ur Rev. Mother has a cousin, who is a very clever barrister. Well, on the day cf the private meeting a messenger arrived at bis house, telling him to go to court. He did not know what for, but arriving there, the first thing he heard wps that the most urgent business was to mime a liyiida^o- for the Visitation Convent. He immediate!'/ stepped forward and said that it 'was not neiessarv, the Visitation hud closed the school before the law had been prtoc/laimed, atnd was " authorised " as a contemplative Orde". 'It is 'difficult to describe the anguish we enHureil during those days anJ oven weeks of uncertainty from July 13 t o August 5. What was in store for us ? Where should we go if we losvt our case ? Rieht was with us, but Might was against us. Our Mother's faith and confidence in tJod's goodness were admiroMe, anjd all our Sislers followed her example, and in s'rite of the great sorrow which filled our own hearts at the

possibility of being dispersed, we continued oUjt daily life,, feeling closely united and really joyful a t having oji share of This Cruel Persecution. So many have fallen victims to it, and there is such intense siittering amongst religious souls. The cloistered Orders that are now being attacked are emigrating if they have tihe means to do so, or hope, as we do, that some special Piowdence will shelter them during t/he stiorm which becomes more a,nd more violent But the congregations exclusively for teaching hake been dissolved, and no one knows to what misery and suf. fering sluch members have been reduced. Some are old and mfilrm, anjd hia\e no longer any member of their family ; the families of others refuse to receive them ; some cannot find work, others have been trained as teachers and ate incapable of doing anything else. And tkere are thousands of these in France. We did not Know what day had been lixed for tihe hearing of our case, so we were overcome with joy when a friend who had assisted at the pleading, came at Uhe beginning of our morning recreation on Friday, August 5, t 0 tell oiur Mother tbat the judgment had been gi.ven in our favor. It was proved that our object was not teaching, that we had given it up ourselves, and that the Bill d^es not concern us. ' A liquidator was appointed for the school builUirc; only. Up is the husband of one of our former pupils, and, although not at all a religious man, has certain good qualities, and, having heard from different quarters that we have sold oft" everything that concerned the school, he is not going to wjorry us with useless visits. For the time being we are fairly at our ease and hope to pass the winter quietly in our convent, as, until a new law is made, we have been lccognised as being within our rights. 'The convent has a \ery bare and denuded appearance, as ojr " mobilier " has been gireatly reduced, and we are r.niy having the things that are absolutely necessary brought back, for although we nave been reassured for a time, things in general in France are in a state of disorder and effervescence. Our help can come from God ■alone We haive a good many orders for work whit h is faialy well paid for, but as there are not many who lmve the talent to do nne work, we cannot earn large sums. We are not sad and depressed, on the contrary we ha' c no\or perhaps been in a happier s.tate of mind, for of a tnulh one is never really so rich as when all human help fails and one is entirely dependent on God's bounty. And one is never so light-hearted as when one exj eriences how little one needs to live.'