The times., 1897-12-26
THE SILENT SISTERS.
Never a Word Is spoken in This
Gloomy French Convent.

Paris, Dec. 15.-Near Biarritz- happy +,
brilliant Bia rritz stands theIone, yetvs en-
bordered convent OF the Silent Women tie
Soeurs Silencieuses.
Here, not far from the sounding waterS
of the Bay of Biscay. fifty-seven Iadi-s of
birth and breeding l,ave seen III. 20 I'm
mure then selves III what Is nothing less
than a living tomb Womans tongue
has, justly OF uniustly. been Il cen1uried
bywo'd yet the Soeurs SiiencieuSrs
Voluntarily resign their right 10 sps.ik,
ana sentence themselves. for the rest
Of their naturaIlwcs. To absolute, unbr ken
silence.
The ConTent, which is modelled IN that
for men ~ La Trappe. was founded many
years ago by lady of the French court.
who, in company with soln4 friends, 80 lgh,
this solitude and gave her life 20 God.
WHO She washer very identity-is in
dispute. Indeed, it was her own wish that
the authorities of the CATHOLIC Church
should preserve her name Il secret: ana all
the women who iiavc followed her into
SeclUson here have likewise endca T,Jred
To sink their identity.
A Ielrut tom ki1rrt' in the direction
of the Pyrcnees one tufns aside from tie
stretching toward Mauicon Through
woods cr beccb and wild olive. an i'll
Eeut. deepIy-futtet. laie faftIs IT, a high.
walled Enclosure. over the walls there
is a glimpse ur yc,v trees: ana. If the
visitor he man, that .s All ue can see oF
the silent SISTERS home Even women
travellers are rarely admitted past the
heavy waodeu gates. with their lunc;tcs
for lay sisters TO Erer through
The Curycnt park Is laid Out in long,
straight walks. planted on either side by
yew trees. Each nun has. a walk to- her
self. It IS allotted hcr wien she enters,
ana she PAGES 1t until her death Up
and dowr the walk size goes, with silent
tread, never raising her eyes save In
pra yer, and never exchanging Il syiiILle
with mortal being.
4 recent visitor q the convent thus de
scribes F hat size sa ".
The lay sister who received Us tiay
sisters dc all the household and garden
work and ale allowed tn talk would
not allow rs to approach near enough
to the nuns 10 get even a glimpse Of
their dUyyncdst faces We saw, however,
that they wore long black cowIs, wijh
great white crosses between the shoulders
and reaching To tie hem OF the go -vn.
Save for the crosses they We're ARA ycd
wholly III black; nj bIacS wells drlped
their faces.
"As We watched, the chapel bell toiIed
out, and the Soeurs SileHcicusss raoyed
towards its orcIl door. We were admitted
10 the gallery. and saw them kHeeling in
the half Iigiit below Us. 4 minis voic, was
reading prayers, but no man could we see.
Afterwards we learned that he spoke from
behind screen. He wasa Omitted 20 the con
vent chape, b. an underground pasSag geway
Trading bayoad tlie walls.
Al present tie chaplain IS q reverend
abb, Df nearly eighty years ot age, who IN
joys reputation for ascetic san city
throughout Navarro. The onIytime the nuns
see hial l. wien he celebrates mass.
in chapal they bend almost to the floor,
their hands Crossed upon theIT breasts They
eat only vegetables and drInk only water.
In the entire history OF the order. it is sail
there was but one nun who failed to J5ey
the rules Of silence and subuis ission. The
poor won en- dig ti.eir own graves, and
when hey are buried no cross or Tn0nulHenr
of any bind marks their resting place.
1t Is very wholesome fJr tie gay bellies
Of BiarritZ anu Of Pau To visit the SoeI-s
SilencieGses and tlcir convent occJsion-
ely. our party could not got the reuem-
brance out Of their heads Tor weeks after.
1t purSgsd Us like "a haunting horror.
Last season some OF the Catholic la
dies at pau ass ed leave TO make what is
called retreat at the convent. They re-
ceived brief note from the mother su-
peTior. which read. NY children. when YOU
ioiu us III must la for INp. Tie idea Of
the retreat was quickly abandoned.