The times., 1899-05-31

character in womanhood. thus protecting
liberty in the individual and in the home
with the blessings of education in which
religion is the very soul.
THE story of the Visitation Convent
may be found written at the hearthstones
of thousands OF families throughout the
length and breadth of the land. 1t is burn
ed into the very lives of devoted women
mothers daughters, and sisters. Catholic
and Catholic.-who offer the tribute
Of their love TO the nuns who trained them
in the ways that lead to life. 1t is found
in the sanctified sacrifices of sanity nuns
who unknown to the world, have for
hundred years given their lives to the
guardianship of the better education. Here
you find the cell of the recluse. the altar
of the contemplative,. the torch Of the ed
ucator The convent tells OF progress
through privation, of success through
courage of sacrifice through love. They
scwed, indeed in tears, but they reaped in
Joy As they look today upon the harvest
of the years. they cannot fail TO remember
the sorrows of the trial during the years
of the seeding.
He then entered into a history of the
foundation of the ConS eut CT the Vista
ton. dwelling with marked emphasis upon
the life of Father Neale. afterward Arch
bishop of Baltimore. who was the founder
OF the order in the United States, and al
luded to the proscr!ptive laws against the
Catholics in Maryland, although it had
been established as the home OF religious
liberty by the early Catholic coonists.
Associated with Father Neale was Miss
Alice Lalor, who was known in religion
Mother Teresa, who became the foundress
of Georgetown Convent and for many
years its mother superior. Born in ireland
and reared in an atmosphere of religion.
fervent. modest. Jealous, devoted to the
Blessed Sacrament, this young Irish girl,
with all the religious fervor of her race,
had consecrated herself to God by VOW
of virginity. The formation OF the com
munity known as THE Pious Ladies'"
the opening of school beside the convent,
the suffering which these religious women
had to endure. and their subsequent sue
cess, were all detailed. The establish
ment a religious order in 1914, the per-
mission for solemn VOWS in 1876 and the
establishment of the institute. with all the
privileges and rights of the visitation in
1929 were dwelt upon.
Mgr. Conaty also gave a history
Of the upbuilding of the academy, from
1902. with its meagre accommodations
until its present fiourishing condition.
The growth of the order by the establish
ment of houses in other cities of the
United States was also mentioned.
He then asked the question, What
gave inspiration to the work that has
been done by this institution? What is
its soul and character? l find 1t engraved
over its doors in the motto, "Vovete ct
reddite Domino. Vow ye and pray unto
the Lord your God;" Make VOWS and
keep them" in other words, service and
sacrifice are the principles of the nuns
life. For her, life belongs to God, its
thoughts. its aspirations, It's services are
all for God. For her the cosiest, quietest.
happiest nook is an altar before which to
pray. Simplicity. austereness, plainness
are the characteristics of her cell. Ele-
gance may be bought, but elegance is
often delusive and leads seldom to hap
piness. Happiness comes by sacrifice and
its value is tested in the virtues of life.
Judged by certain tendencies of the age
in which We live the convent is an anach-
ronism. It is such largely because spirit
ual perfection to many is an anachronism.
If men judge convent cut of place in
the nineteenth century, Is it not largely
due to the fact that spiritual perfection
finds no place in the code OF living ap-
proved by worldly people? Christians are
not SO foolish as to believe that enlighten-
; ment began with the century. True en-
lightment is from the Cross of Christ:
true civilization is from the Saviour at
Bethlehem. Salvation is as necessary in
this as in the first century, and the esti-
mate placed upon it by the early Chris
tians is the true estimate. Salvation is
still subject to the conditions laid down
by Christ. With all the progress of the
modern age there will not be found for
sin any other salvation than the redemp-
ton through Christ; there will be evolved
no other means OF salvation except those
laid down by Jesus Christ. There is no
variant in the conditions Of salvation. The
words of Christ to the young man in the
Gospel TO sell all and follow Him, is still
heard by souls anxious for the more per-
feet life. Poverty, obedience, chastity,
| freely chosen and lovingly enjoyed, are the
! pride and joy Of the religious life, the
higher expressions Of the spirit of Christ
which peopled the. desert with anchorites
which produced a Francis de Sales, Vim
cent de Paul, a. Francis Xavier Ter
esa, Gertrude, a Jane Francis de Chan
tai; which developed the monastic system
in the Eastern and Western Churches
| which built the monasteries, the schools,
and the asylums; which civilized and
/ Christianized the world.
, Christianity from the beginning has had
its Marys who have chosen the better
{ part with the Saviour. while its Marthas
have worried in solitude for the things
of the world. Christianity has repeated in
all ages the words of the Saviour in vindi-
I cation of the Marys of religious life, why
do you trouble this woman
The world with its maxims of ungodli-
l ness, with its ambitions for earthly pleas
: ures. with its absolute qualification of self
with its vanities. and its impurities, will
not understand the spirit of sacrifice by
, which men and women who feel them
selves called to the duties of religious life
voluntarily sacrifice all things human for
God and Gods children. These have heard
the call OF the Saviour to the higher life:
they seek to follow, not merely the duties
of the ordinary Christian, but also the
, higher call to the evangelical councils.
Their souls are absorbed in the love of
Christ, and they remember that he was
obedent unto DEATH he had not whereon
to lay his head; he was the pure, un-
spotted one, and they follow him; like
him they would be obedient. poor. and
: pure Leaving all things. they follow
! Jesus. that they may manifest to him the
love of the true disciple. Obedience to
God is TO them the highest liberty: sacrifice
of self leads them to the truest freedom.
Consecrated to religion. they live for God
alone, and their lives are spent in doing
/ not their Will, but the will of the God,
t whom they have chosen to serve. Obedi-
ent with his obedience, poor with his pow
: erty. pure with his purity, their lives are
=, passed in union with him that like him
they may go about doing good. They have
, felt the spirit of a divine vocation, and
they realize the words of Christ to the
. apostle: II have chosen you, and | have
appointed you that you should go and
should bring forth fruit. and your fruit
should remain" The morbid the unrelig-
. ious the worldling, men and women with
!. out faith cannot understand this vocation,
this mission or this life. for their minds
-, are dulled and their vision dimmed by
prejudice and worldly ambitions.
/, What more beautiful in our earthly con-
r II, ~