The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-05-26

I'M awe | kiss your mouth, the door
That leads to your hearts shrine,
Which Christ has blessed forevermore
By His own flesh and blood divine.
Dear child, preserve your wreath and
veil,
Your candle keep aglow,
And keep your garment in this dale
Of earth as white as snow.
Remember evermore this hour,
Of Jesus fondest love,
And be for aye His little flower,
His child, His bride, His little dove.
From your loving mother.
When Maria had read these lines,
tears came to her dark sweet eyes, she
threw both arms around her mothers
neck and whispered: Yes, mother
dear, that will, for | have begged the
dear Lord this morning that He
should rather let me die young than
let me commit mortal sim"
Donna Teresa, with tears of joy and
sorrow looked into the clear eyes Of
her child, pressed her to her heart,
and with reverence kissed the pure
white forehead and the lips that could
speak such words. .
After this day Maria became
boarder in the nearby convent of the
Lorreto Nuns, at Cartilleja de la Cues
ia, where she had already spent some
days previous to her First Holy Com
munion. In a still higher degree sho
now became the joy of her teachers
and the universal favorite among her
fellow pupils. With quiet serenity she
did her work. Steady patient energy
brought her success. In the course of
years she mastered piano and harp,
learned to speak English, French and
German fuently, and painted num-
Der of pictures which up to this day
are kept as precious souvenirs i'll her
parental home.
Maria loved to give unexpected joy
to others. Every time she came homo
she prepared new song to the harp,
which she played and sang for her
dear ones, especially on cool summer
evenings ON the veranda of their pal
ace.
On her excursions and travels Al
/ fonso was her usual companion He
| loved Spain with passionate ardor, he
knew its earliest history; he studied
all its natural wonders and treasures
of art and also tried to initiate his Sis
ter into these realms. Maria entered
all his plans with loving zeal and re-
markable understanding. The more
they grew in age the more their
mutual affections seemed to grow and
this extraordinary attachment was n
blessing for both.
On sultry day in June during the
last year of her sojourn in CartilleJa
Alfonso paid her visit. He appeared
so serious and excited as never before
and Maria at once sensed that there
was something wrong. When he evad-
ed direct answer to her anxious
questions, she asked him to accom-
pany her into the garden and there
| sitting side by side on a bench she
| finally succeeded in extracting from
him the secret of his worry. Alfonso,
hurt in his national pride, by the
words of an Italian duke, whose ac-
quaintance he had made shortly be-
fore, had become enraged and the re-
suit was duel to be fought with re-
volvers at ten feet distance.
At first Maria looked at her brother
with shy and confused eyes, as though
she could not quite grasp the meaning
of his words, but when she began to
see the abyss that threatened her be-
| loved Alfonso, she threw her arms
about him and cried and cried, until
| his tears mingled with hers. And
CONTINUED on page o.