The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-05-02
A WHITE SISTER.

II NJ OST visitors to Antwerp know the
dWN Pepiniere. 1t lies little way out
~ y of the town. and generally has
SOME good open-air concerts with which
to entertain the people when they go
there.
Now 7 was staying a few months ago at
Antwerp with my very good friends the
Ursuline Sisters of Mt. Sta. Maria. which
as everybody knows. is a large, conventual
building, where some thirty or more re-
cluses live under the wise and benencenl
rule Of the reverend mother, Mere Mar
suerite, and one day as l sat reading in
the Spracht-Zimmer Mere Angelo came in
quickly.
1T will soon be time for benedictlon,
she said as she stood near me. IF you
would like 1t we will go to the convent of
the White Sisters and hear the service IN
their chapel. 1t is, as you know, the fes-
tiva of the Assumption
/ jumped up in a hurry.
II should like it above all things, dear
Mere Angelo" ] said with a smile.
1 am always impulsive and ready for an
interesting expedition. So 1t was not
many moments before 1 stood in the hall
fnlly prepared for our walk 1t was one
of those hot afternoons of August last,
when there seemed no air in the streets.
and when there is little or no choice be-
tween the temperature indoors or out
side. put on hat and gloves the Mere
Angelo added q veil to her toilet. for
sister needs but little preparation for her
expeditions. and we set forth.
1t was a very gay day in Antwerp. and
the road to the Pepinere was lined with
expectant ranks of spectators awaiting
the return of the pleasure-seekers who
had gone to keep the festival at the races
Drags, carriages. cabs and the humble
cart were conveying the people home
again. and the dust and noise were fright
nj hfAf had hFx N
horses and carriages-or, for the matter of
that how many people-there We're in this
beautiful, artistic and interesting city on
the Scheldt.
The change, as we stepped into the quiet
chapel of the White Sisters. was some
thing wonderful.
The peace and the hush of the service,
the sonorous voice of the priest the ex-
quisite beauty of the small chapel-all
these stole upon us with a sense of re-
freshment after WEAKNESS, rest after toll.
calm after conflict. There was such a con-
trast between the world outside and This
world into which we had for a brief mo-
ment entered Mere Angelo glided for
ward noiseiessly with that soft football
peculiar to nuns, and followed closely
behind her until we reached the barrier
which, in this convent separated the Sis
tiers from the rest of the congregation.
1t was just a lovely chapel for all that
art and wealth could do had been done to
heautify and adorn it. Exquisite frescOes
We're on the walls. the priests robes were
richly ornamented, the altar was vested
In gorgeous purple and fine linen, and as
glanced at my friend. the Crsuline sister
who had accompanied me. I fancied that
Mere Angelo looked wistfully AT all this
display of wealth and glory
"They are rich" she whispered. and
after her whisper came a little sigh.
Aye, that they were.
m ma Ia min n nif s.
of the altar, lilies whose rare blossoms anC
delicious odOr filled the chapel, being watt
ed out into the aisle where we knelt
White annunciatiOn lilies also were
grouped at the sides. while tall. stately
and gigantic palms filed the space be-
tween the altar and the apse. their foliage
rearing itself on high against the delicate
coloring Of the background.
When the pater had finished his portion
of the devouons the nuns took up the lit
any. after the custom OF the Roman
church, where you Will often hear poo
peasant folks spending their extra hou
after vespers i'm chanting some antiphona
ntany which is intensely comforting Il
their souls.
The White Nuns have VOW Of silence
In quietness they go through their dali.
round. and the Voiceless calm of their con
ventual life goes on from day TO day, ant
all day long.
But in the chapel they sing. and as If Z
make up for the long hours OF enforced ST
lence, they pour forth their hearts int
the voice of their song. until it ring
through the dim choir into the shadow
aisles. and out beyond into the corridor
of the cloister.
Never, surely, have ] heard such singing
1t swept around me as. when the Titan
ceased. they sang hymn of many verses
in which soprano and alto. in rich. cul
tivated tones. rose and feN. filling my sou
with a sort of pain as we'll as rapture
pain that made the tears rush unbdden I
my eyes.
On-and on-and on-the measur
swept. and no one moved i'm the dusk
aisle. We knelt as if turned to ston,
while those pleading, importunate voice
passed from the fervor of prayer TO IN
grand crescendo Of rejoicing, and the tr
umphant ascription at the end proclaime
that the benediction was over.
Nay, we still knet. while the white
ROBBED sisters drew their long wells owe
their faces and passed. as we watched
into the silence of their cloister home ono
more.
One voice had rung out more clearl
than the others. 1t was that of a nun VIII
had knelt so close to me that by putin
out my hand 1 might have touched he
Yet, near as 1 was, 1 did not so much q
catch a fieeting glimpse of her face. Onl