CHAPTER XXXIV.
MONTREAL.
In the year 1873 a convent of Discalced Carmelite nuns was founded at Montreal, in Canada. For the account of this foundation we are indebted to the life of Mademoiselle Frémont, written by Rev. Antoine Braun, S. J.1 To fully appreciate the manner in which it was brought about, a sketch of that life will be necessary.
Marie Lucie Hermine Frémont was born at Quebec, on the 24th of December, 1851, of truly Catholic parents. Her father was the dean of the medical faculty at Laval University. In her early youth she was placed for her education in the convent of the Sisters of Jesus-Marie, at Pointe-Levis, where she remained until the death of her father, in 1862, when she continued her studies in the convent of the Ursalines of Quebec and completed them at home.
A few years later, in 1866, her sister Adine, entered the convent of the Precious Blood. Meanwhile Hermine made great progress in virtue and in the knowledge and love of God. She spent the winter of 1870 with her sister Adine in the convent of the Precious Blood at St. Hyacinth, and, during her sojourn in that asylum of piety, Adine was taken away from her by death.
On a visit to Florida, in 1872 , she made the acquaintance of the Carmelites at Baltimore. Returning home she wrote from New York:
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1Une Fleur du Carmel, par le R. P. Antoine Braun, S. J.
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336 Carmel in America.
"At Baltimore, where we spent more time than in the other cities, I was very much interested and edified in visiting the numerous communities of the city, especially the Discalced Carmelites, who received us with much charity. We asked them many questions, and they, seeing that we were desirous of knowing some details concerning their manner of life, made known to us several points of their rules and constitutions.
“They follow in everything the rule of St. Teresa and appeared to me very fervent. Their goodness, meekness and holiness edified us very much. Everything reminded me that I was in a house of prayers and penance and of love for poor sinners.
“How happy I am to have seen the Carmelites! I told mamma that their austere monastery was what I loved most at Baltimore, and that I would not exchange the happiness I experienced in that city for anything in this world.
“I recommended myself earnestly to the prayers of those good sisters.”
This visit to the convent at Baltimore was the means that God made use of to call Hermine to the Order of Carmel. It was the 18th of April, 1872, the Feast of Blessed Mary of the Incarnation. The Sisters told her that they were celebrating the feast of a holy Carmelite, and they would place her under the protection of their Blessed Sister. On that day the first thought of becoming a Carmelite entered her mind.
This was not one of those passing impressions that leave no mark and are followed by no action. It was the voice of God that had sunk deeply into her soul and to which she proved herself obedient. A little more than a year after this first indication of the Divine will, Hermine Frémont had crossed the Atlantic, leaving Canada and her mother behind, to consecrate the remainder of her brief life to God in the monastery of discalced Carmelites at Reims, in France, where she arrived on June 14th, 1873.
She received the habit on the 13th of October, of the same year, and took the name of Teresa of Jesus. Hermine had now attained the object of all her desires on earth, but God had
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decreed that her career should be short; she was a flower that was soon to be transplanted. During the few months she spent in the novitiate she edified her Sisters by her humility, her love of silence, her mortification and her charity. Toward the close of the year 1873, she suddenly declined in health. On December 22nd, her situation being exceedingly grave, the last Sacraments were administered to her. In the morning of the same day she had been allowed to take her vows. A short time before her death she requested her Sisters to sing the " Magnificat," and asked them repeatedly to speak to her of Jesus. Finally, about four o'clock in the afternoon, her soul departed to a better world. The flower had faded on earth to re-open with new life and fresh beauty in the celestial gardens of the Divine Bridegroom.
Sister Teresa had the desire of seeing the Order of St. Teresa established in Canada. “I offer my whole fortune,” she wrote before leaving her country, “to have a monastery of Carmel established at Montreal.” It was thought that God had chosen her to be the instrument of this foundation, but the Almighty had otherwise decreed. Many difficulties opposed the projected establishment, but after the death of Sister Teresa they gradually disappeared.
The idea of bringing the Carmelites to Canada, it is said, was almost as old as the colony and originated about the time that the first convents of discalced Carmelites were founded in France. The plan, however, could never be put into execution until Mgr. Bourget became Bishop of Montreal. Miss Frémont had endeavored to have a house of the Order established at Quebec or Montreal, but in vain; finally, however, after her death, the moment arrived. On the 6th of May, 1875, a colony of Carmelites from Reims arrived at Quebec. They were six in number. After a short time they established the convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, at Hochelaga, near Montreal, on June 6th, 1875.
A few years after their arrival in Canada they lost one of their number, Sister Mary Angela of the Eucharist. She was a young religious of great virtue, who died on August 8th, 1879.