Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-08-16
INTERESTING CEREMONY.
Reception ofthe Black Veil BY Three
Dominican sisters at NJ. Agnts
Convent ON sunday Morning.

of the Convent Of St. Agnes, in this city
was permitted yesterday morning tc
witness, at that institution, the solemn
ceremony Of the Reception of the Black
Veil by three Sisters. who had previously
received, at St. Peters church, the Habit
of the Order of St. Dominic. The scr.
vices consisted of grand High Mass,
chanted in touching and Impressive tones
by Rev. Father Fortune, assisted by a
choir of the Convent Sisters, who sang
the Kyrie Eleison. Gloria In Ezcelsis,
Vent Sancte Spiritus, as we'll as psalms
and hymns appropriate to the occasion,
in such concord of sweet sounds as filed
the hearts Of all present with the purest
feelings of devotion. 1t was scene that
the best-gifted mind in the world might
admire-a scene, in fact, that an angel
might rejoice over-so simple, and yet so
msjestically grand-so quiet, and yet so
full of moving melody-so formal, and
yet so devoutly sincere--so seemingly
sad, and yet SO full of soul-joy, of illu-
mined Faith, of Hope clinging to q
thousand rocks, Of Charity lifting the
humble and oppressed from the depth of
darkness into the effulgence of light-a
sublime grouping of pious souls and
wholesome sentiments formed by the
teachings and discipline of Christian
church. After Mass, the three Sisters
formerly known among their relatives
and acquaintance as Miss Marian Owen,
of Canada, Miss Fanny keenan,,
Of Canada, and Miss Agnes Leister, of
Ohio, but now separated from the world
and its vanities, and known among the
Sisterhood of the Order of St. Dominic
IS Sister Martha, Sister Mary and Sister
Mary Agnes--knelt before the Mother
Superioress, who was seated on chair
near the altar of the Convent chapel,
and repeated in succession their last
vows, and signed and sealed them in the
presence of witnesses, according to the
customs and usages of the Order from
the establishment ofthe Convent of Prou-
lille in 1905 to the present time. The
Superioress then arose from her seat and
adjusted in due form the Black Veil on
the head of each Sister. when, after suit
able prayers and short sermon by
Father Fortune, and the singing of the
Veni Creator by the choir, the ceremony
ended.
This going out of the world into clois-
tered life by ladies calculated to adorn
society may seem like puzzle to some
who cannot see in every movement of
humanity the workings Of Divine
Providence. But does a lady who be
comes Sister and enters convent &C.
tuslly leave the world? Not at all-she
only strips herself of series OF useless
vanities and puts on habit of useful
ness; she leaves behiRd her oil the
caprices, vexations, sensations, annoy
ances. pleasures, pastimes, and thou
sand aud one little trifes and troubles
which make up the life of the fashion
able belle, the woman of fortune,
or the splendid girl " of the period, and
enters into life of serenity, happiness,
humility, tenderness, joyousness of soul,
meekness of heart, and never-ceasing
charity; to assist the needy, 10 feed the
hungry, to clothe the naked, to sootbe
the suffering, to lead the young mind
into the paths of honor and virtue, and
to be forever doing good to some
body. Although her face may be hid
from the world, her benevolent acts
are felt in it, and will take root
and sprout, and bloom into beautiful
blossoms, shedding fragrance here and
there for the benefit of society. What
would the world be were not some men
and women called by wise Creator to
follow as near as possible in the steps of
the Great Teacher and his disciples A
terrible chaos Of darkness and in6delity.
The breath Of life in q tabernacle of clay,
even under the mellowing influences of
civiliy alton, is a wild and hayward ele-
meat that cannot be subdued save by the
powers of Christianity and system Of
education that softens the passions How
often do we see it fume and fret and
mount into pillows of wrath like the
ocean, and grow dim and dismal aud
send forth q whirlwind of spleen like a
tempest; and then when its rage eyhausts
itself, it gradually lnlls into sFeet CALM,
and the mind becomes placid as an I'M
rufied sea, and the eye looks as lovely as
an qnclouds sky, and the heart, grown
tender after re tHmglt, feels the touch Of
something divine within it. But this is
the feeling of the weIl.trained Christian
heart, whose rage 10 the work of the
Spirit of Evil, aud whose calm is the
work Of the Spirit Of Goodness. And
how many are lost for the wsRt Of Chris.
tian training, aud whose spirit OF Ev:,
is sl,oped 70 run roughshod over the
Spirit OF Goodness, decorating all the
fine feelings of humanity, aud making
man, instead Of haltangel. Lali devil,
wholly deWon. And what glorious
tLiag'ii Is FOR society that intellectual
women can be found who are willing to |
enter into fields of labor, such as con.
vents, asylums, hospiials and Ao@ea OF |
charity, and devote theis lives to the |
education OF youth, the helping of the |
feehIs, the raising up of the vretched,
aud the spiritual instruction Of the
ignorant, so that the Spirit of Evil may
be subdued and the Spirit of Goodness
cultivated in such a manner as to pro-
duce that calm in the Christians breast
which is as beautiful as a placid sea and
tSuotv q. q m nneloudad akv