Her Noviciate.

“One day, after I had received Holy Communion, Our Lord, accompanied by an angel, condescended to manifest Himself to my soul. He showed me the multitudes that were daily falling into hell, and then expressed His wish that I should offer myself without reserve to His good pleasure; moreover, that I should abandon to Him all the merits I might acquire in my new career, for the accomplishment of His designs. He promised me that He would take care of my interests, that He would cause me to participate in all His merits, and would Himself, be the director of my soul. The angel (elsewhere she states that it was the archangel Raphael), urged me to consent to this magnanimous proposal. It seemed to me that he envied my happiness, for being purely spiritual he could neither suffer nor merit. This celestial spirit assured me that if I consented to Our Lord’s request, the angels would surround my death-bed and defend me against the assaults of the devil.

“How I longed to make this act then and there! I was almost on the point of offering the sacrifice to the Lord; but either because my Divine Master had advised me differently, or that I was afraid to stray from the path of obedience, I did not comply with His wish, thinking that I ought to have the permission of our Reverend Superioress. To obtain this, I briefly transcribed the communication and presented it to her, as I had been accustomed to do with my confessor… 

“Accordingly, I received the holy habit on the 21st of May, 1840, during the lovely month dedicated to her, through whose intercession I had obtained the grace of being called to the religious life. On that memorable day of benediction, I consecrated myself anew to the Holy Family in a most particular manner. The following is the formula which I wrote and placed on my heart during the ceremony:

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Most holy and admirable family, I beg of you to receive me today as your little servant; this is the most ardent desire of my heart. I beseech you to hear my prayer, for I am firmly resolved to be forever faithful; and though I cannot immolate myself by the vows of religion, nevertheless, I beg of you to receive my desire of fulfilling them, and to grant me the grace to accomplish them as perfectly as if contracted. O most Holy Infant Jesus! Grant that I may be as submissive to the Holy Ghost and to my superiors as you were to the most Holy Virgin and to St Joseph. And thou, Oh Mary, conceived without sin, obtain for me that I may never tarnish the brilliancy of the angelic virtue of purity. O blessed patriarch St Joseph, thou who hast practised holy poverty in so eminent a degree of perfection, and who hast sacrificed thyself for the Holy Infant Jesus and the most Blessed Virgin, His Mother, obtain by thy example and thy powerful influence with God, that I may love and practise holy poverty to my last breath, that I may make it a duty and a pleasure to sacrifice myself for my sisters. O most Holy Family! Grant that I may glory in being your humble servant. Deign to receive me on this happy day, and give me in proof of your acceptance of my offering, the grace of acquitting myself worthily of the divine office, that I may recite it with respectful attention and loving fervour; grant that I may be as vigilant at matins as if I were in heaven, enraptured by the grandeur of God and the splendour of His glory. Amen.

“After this consecration, I regarded myself as the little domestic of the Holy Family, and in all my occupations I had the intention of serving them at Nazareth. I had but one more ambition, that of being the little Ass of the Infant Jesus.” 

… to be continued…

Excerpt taken from: The Holy Face and the Work of Reparation, by Sr Marie de St Pierre, & Abbè P. Janvier (ed.), (1884), reprinted in 2026 by A.D. Press.