Trials overcome triumphantly

Yesterday I wrote about St Eugene de Mazenod and referred to the destruction of Carmel in the French Revolution and its later restoration in the 19^th Century.  A leading role in the restoration of the Sisters was played by an absolutely extraordinary woman whose story is profoundly moving and inspiring.  Here it is:

“On July 24, 1784 Mademoiselle Camille de Soyecourt, a daughter of the highest French nobility, received the Carmelite habit. She was a frail young lady suffering with what her doctors diagnosed as an incurable heart disease. Everyone thought she would be unable to stay in the convent more than six months. ...  In 1792 her convent was invaded and the nuns dispersed. Leading a group of them, Sister Camille settled in a private house firmly determined to keep the Carmelite spirit alive. The small community was denounced and the nuns arrested. When she was set free, Mademoiselle de Soyecourt took refuge in her family home but not for long. Shortly afterward, her parents and two sisters were incarcerated. … she was then employed on a farm. During this time she never failed to fulfil all the rules set forth by the Carmel as rigorously as she could; fasting, reciting the office at the prescribed hours and with great difficulty, going to confession weekly with a refractory priest (a priest who remained faithful to the Church and fought against the French Revolution). One day she learned that all her relatives had been convicted and guillotined and that one of her sisters still had a young son alive.  Despite her most difficult situation, Sister Camille took care of her nephew until her death. Her parents’ execution revealed her cover and she was expelled from the farm where she worked, reducing her to beg for alms for a while. Then she ran into one of the sisters from her convent and decided to restore her Order. With money raised by begging for alms and aided by refractory priests, she got a hold of a seminary chapel and resumed religious services. After the Terror ended, Mademoiselle de Soyecourt … decided to recover her parents’ fortune for her nephew and her convent. Lawyers and notaries public were amazed to hear an impoverished woman talking about millions in land sales and purchasing real estate. But she got everything she wanted and called back her scattered sisters.  She then reinstalled her community at the Carmelite convent in Paris where she lived for over 45 years, though not without problems. For example, in January 1811 Joseph Fouché, a French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon, was informed that a Carmelite superior was actively copying and distributing the Bull of excommunication  …against the emperor himself. She was promptly arrested and taken to a place far away from the convent, though this did not stop her from assisting her community. The nuns would visit her in disguise and safely pass by the guards. The Restoration [of the monarchy in France in 1815] freed her from this exile. … Her body had become pale and almost transparent because of fasting and penance. ... She died in 1849 aged 92.” [Courtesy of G Lenotre]

Intercessions

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Fr Jon Bielowski (Plymouth Diocese), Catherine, Alex (43 with five children), Sister Daranee Teapthong, Theresa K

Ivy – sick child

Brian (recovering from Pneumonia)

Kevin (heart attack)

William Gove (recovering from stroke)

Illness:  Katy Keeling

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Mark – brain infection

Michael, Kira – vulnerable youngsters

Defence of the unborn and the elderly

We are asked to pray for the Diocese of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand, as the Northern Mission celebrates its centenary. The process of selecting a new bishop continues.