A Penitent Communist

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 49, 5 December 1907, Page 30

A Penitent Communist

The subject of this sketch, Louise ' Gimet Michel, was _ one of the wbrst among the Paris .Communists in 1871 (says -a writer" in the ' Irish Monthly '). Her life was compiled by, Dr Bois* sarie from facts given to him by Sister De la Garde, of St. Joseph's Convent, Montpelier, ■ who was instrumental, in "the marvellous change' and conversion- in this remarkable penitent, who was thirty-three years of age at the time of the Commune. Tall, strong, energetic, her expression of" face was stern, yet now a-id .then softened by gleams of^brightness and sweetness ; heirt and soul she joined in the Revolution, and, being a friend of Garibaldi, she held a high position among the Freemasons, and developed a strong taste for military tactics, which she quickly acquired. Under the Commune she took the name ' Captain Pigerfe,' and wore the uniform of a captain with a red sash, usually attending 'at the head of her company at the deaths of condemned prisoners, thus gratifying her bloodthirsty nature. She presided at the shooting of Monsignor Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, on May 24, 1871. After the third round was fired he still breathed, and she- went forward and despatched him, with a brutal kick in the head, and then savagely trampled on his dead body. Four or five days later, when tKe Archbishop's remains were brought home, Abbe Schaepfer and other witnesses were surprised at finding the face' disfigured and unrecognisable, the effects of Louise's maltreatment, no ball having struck the head. On May 26 sbe' again headed her men at the death of' Pere Olivaint, S.J., reserving to herself the right of firing the first shot. At this moment Pere Olivaint, noticing the disguise, said: ' Madame, ''this costume is not becoming.' As time went on," if holy Pere Olivaint's name were mentioned- in her hearing she trembled and could not conceal her remorseful expression. Late on the unhappy woman, among the many crimes and" scandals of. her past life, confessed to having Murdered Thirteen Priests. Arrested in arms on the Barricades, Pigerre was tried by court-martial and- condemned to death. The superioress of St. Lazare, anxious to save this- sinful soul, begged for a reprieve, which was granted. This delay saved Louise's life ; her name, doubtless being overlooked, was not again called. She was imprisoned in St. Lazare, which was ultimately the happy cause of her conversion, as the nun- who had saved her life now became the guide of this fierce nature. She often said : ' I want, and I will have, your soul.' At the beginning of Louise's conversion, in trying moments of mental .struggle, her best solace was to pray at Pere Olivaintjs tomb, whose last -words were reprimanding -her. ' While kneeling there, at 33 Rue de Sevres, the pioiis penitent was miraculously cured of a painful wound in the knee. During her imprisonment she had only one book in her cell — a volume of Pere Olivaint's sermons, which so touched her heart that she observed to the superioress : ' Strange that a priest whose name I could not formerly utter without fury is nn-,v instrumental in bringing me to God.' At Montpelier the Sisters of St. Joseph, conducted an orphanage, as well as a separate community, consisting of "a hundred young girls and women, who, having more or" less erred, wished to redeem the past, and gave solemn promise of lasting reform. TJ lUxer the name and wearing the habit of ' Children of Mary ' thty are truly spiritual and are partly recruited by liberated prisoner*. (But, alas ! can we still speak thus in the present tense.) After the defeat of the Commune, two hundred of these women, variously accused, were distributed among the different homes established in France, and* at the termination of their sentence some begged- to be allowed to remain under the care of the nuns, and proved models of piety and self-denial. Such was Louise Gimet, who henceforth for the remaining eighteen or twenty years of her life was devoted to Prayer and Penance. Surely this noble self-abnegation redeemed her former sinful life. The change was complete ; no murmur, no uncharitable or critical remark ever passed her lips, and her "greatest happiness was to help the dying. Thus Louise 'spent her last years. *On her dying bed, being asked if she were tormented by fear, she replied : ' What can I fear ? I ha.ye thrown myself completely on God's mercy.' - A former companion, also - penitent, in some degree accounted for the grace granted to Louise, who, she "said, 1 always

preserved devotion to the Blessed. Virgin, and besides was most charitable to the poor. During her youthful wanderings, going along a street at the foot of Fourviexes Hill, Lyons, she heard a passing youth blaspheme the name of qur Blessed Lady; sheturned back and struck" him.- About this time (1858) she visited the Cure d'Ars, who prophetically accosted her : " My daughter, unhappily you will do great evil, but- in due time our merciful God in His "goodness will grant you the grace .to Te*pent in reward for your devotion to ' His Mother.' The Sisters "of St. Joseph at Montpelier being dispersed by the Government, Louise returned to her native place, Marseilles, where she died a peaceful, saintly death in March, 1904.

Thus a depraved profligate, meeting in the path of life two hoy souls, the Blessed Cure d'Ars and Venerable Pere Olivaint, found salvation in the consoling mystery of God's mercy; an encouraging lesson to those whose great mission is to instruct the ignorant and to reform sinners. »