book is well bound, and on the whole a pleasing and valuable addition to our

Catholic literature.
From "The New York Fkeeman's Journal am) Catholic Eegister," JJecemho' 20, 1884.
"Wk live in a time when an histori interest, provided that nothing of the supernatural is claimed for it. It may rest on slight liuman authority, but so long as no divine authority is quoted, it is taken for granted. But let the word " miraculous '" occur in the recital of it, and the supercilious reader turns away from the subject in disgust. The evidence of trustworthy witnesses, unbroken traditions, voluminous records, are as nothing. The man thoroughly impregnated with the miasma of the century would rather doubt the testimony of his own senses than believe in a miracle.
Henri Lasserre's wonderful records of the miracles at Lourdes, well sup- ported as they are by the testimony of experts in the case of Louise Lateau, art; simply ignored by adepts in " modern thought," who distrust their favorite methods when they tend to prove a miracle.
Esj)ecially Catholics in Englisli-speaking countries start back distrustfully at the line that materialistic teaching draws between the natural and the supernatural. People who say "Credo" with all their hearts are unworthy of the gift of Eaith if they need a miracle to keep them firm ; but it is no proof of the firmness of their Faith to decline to consider any corroboration of it, and while accepting the miracles recorded in Sacred Scripture in a perfunctory manner, to look with distrust on all modern miracles. This distrust is not always so much incredulity as it is the revolt of a falsely-formed state of mind against any widening of the bounds of Faith. It is an illogical, a prejudiced state of mind, l»rought about by tiie modern sophistry which has contiived to associate Faith with ignorance.
A remarkable exhaustive and erudite work by the llev. Dr. George F. Dillon, of Sydney, Australia, on the ancient sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Genazzano, has been recently issued from the press of the Projia- ganda Fide at Rome. We have favourably alluded to it before". It is the record of a miracle, incrusted with a most valuable mass of historical learning, care- fully wrought out and arranged by a loving hand, entirely devoted to the service of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Dr. Dillon has produced, writing in the
7
very shadow of tte sanctuary of Genazzano, a volume whicli includes the whole history, sacred and profane, of the shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, besides a hundred details, the fruit of untiring research, which leave nothing to be said. Dr. Dillon's volume of nearly seven hundred pages covers the ground fully.
Dr. Dillon hopes to assist in spreading devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel, which is so fervently l^ept up in Italy. " This devotion," Dr. Dillon says, " aims at obtaining all that the gift of Good Counsel gives through the intercession of Mary, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, to Whom the Infallible Spouse of Christ attributes the very words of the Holy Ghost, ' In Me is Counsel.' " This devotion is now beginning to be made kno■\^^l in English- sjieaking countries. And in no time has the gift of the Holy Ghost been more needed in all countries than in the present.
Near the city of Rome, in ancient Latium, on a spot where the lascivious rites of the Eoman worship of Venus were performed, where the masters of the world indulged in nameless excesses in honour of their goddess, a shrine to the Immaculate Virgin has risen. Dr. Dillon gives an interesting historj' of Genaz- zano. The famous Prsenestiue roses that once bloomed in honour of Venus now deck the shrine of the Purest of God's creatures. Dr. Dillon sharply points out this contrast.
To Genazzano, whose inhabitants, having been delirious in their worship of the devil, but who Avere now fervent worshippers of God, there passed one day a lovely image of the Mother of God holding the Saviour of the world in her arms. Scutari in Albania had just been taken by the Turks, in 1167. From thence to Genazzano in broad daylight jjassed the fresco, to be Avelcomed by a population which for nearly ten centuries had honoured the Mother of God. Its appearance on the public square Avas Avitnessed by crowds of people, for it came on a festival. Heavenly singing and Avonderful light folloAved it. "In its passage from Scutari to Genazzano," Avrites Dr. Dillon, " it AA'as folloAved over land and sea by tA\'o trustworthy witnesses, Avho after\A'ards lived and died and left families in Latium." Italy made itself into a huge pilgrimage to visit it. Pope Paul II. instituted an inquiry not more than tAVO months after its appear- ance. Sixtus IV., Avho succeeded him, A\'as ardently devoted to the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel. Miracle after miracle was wrought at her shrine. Copies and pictures of the Sacred Image have Avrought miracles. St. Alphonsus Avas devoted to the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, and her picture is usually reproduced in his laortraits. Dr. Dillon tell us "that picture of Our Lady, Avhich spoke so lovingly to the angelic youth, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, was a copy." Other copies haA^e Avorked wonderful prodigies in Rome, Naples, Genoa, Lucca, Frosinone, San Benedetto Ullano, and numbers of cities in Italy and Germany.
When the Sacred Image fled from Scutari to Genazzano, the cross seemed to be flying from the crescent in the East. Scanderbeg — King George Castriota, of Albiinia, protector of the shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel — had heroic- ally driven back the invading and unsjieakable host. At his death, the Turks broke in like the ocean through a frail dyke. Italy Avas threatened. The Pope kept the Moslems at bay; but Europe seemed lost Avhen St. Pius V., intensely devoted to the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, called Colonna, Lord of Genaz- zano, to command his fleet. The Turk Avas all-j)0Tv-erful ; but then came the crushing victory of Lexianto, gained by the Mother of God for her clients. Later, Sobieski triumphed at Vienna, and the baleful fire of the crescent paled before the halo that surrounded the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel.
Dr. Dillon points out the more subtle Islam that noAV threatens, not only Europe, but the Avorld. The neAV enemy cannot be met Avith material Aveapons ; a Scanderbcrg, a Colonna, a Don John of Austria, a Sobieski, Avould be power- less against tlie new enemy. It does not come, barbaric and blood-stained, but pleasant to the sense, gentle, refined, ajsthotic. It is modern culture, Liberal Catholicism, unbelief — all those forms of modern thought and sensuousness so subtly ojiposed to Christianity. Surely yve need the help of the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel now more than ever !
" In addition," Avrites Dr. Dillon, " to the millions of Catholics Avho live in comparative spiritual security in faithful Ireland, and the millions of Catholics
8
now in Great Britaii, the wrilor has special reasons to think, most of all, of those other millions who leave Catholic homes for a life among strangers, the majority of whom (lifter from them in religion, in distant lands such as America and the principal English-speaking colonies. Twenty yeai-s' experience in Australia lias convinced hiui that a greater and more constant devotion is now more than over needed to keep the faith alive in themselves and in their children. They have to encounter all the perils which come from the infidel movements now supreme over the vital question of primary education in the United States, in Australia, and almost -everj'when! in English-speaking countries. In England, and even in Ireland, a strong efforii is made to go with the universal current against religion upon this and other most important subjects. Then in new counti'ies, more than in old ones, the tendency is very great to contract mixed marriages, to frequent dangerous associations and reunions, and to lose the ring and vigour of sound faith by concession to the prevailing spirit of a worldliness invariably anti-Catholic."
From "The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion,"
Sq'tcmhcr 2Gf/i, 1884.
ExGLlSH-SPEAKiNG Cafholics, as a rule, know little of the devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel and amongst them it will probably be a matter of sur- prise that a book of importance could be written on the subject. But if, to use the well-known phrase addressed to Augustine, they " take and read," we feel assured all will be convinced that the subject was eminently worthy of being treated for the benefit of English-speaking Catholics, and that, in point of fact, the author is a writer who can invest any subject with paramount interest. Mgr. Dillon first visited Italy in the Spring of last year, with the view of recruiting his health which was impaired after twenty years of mission- arj^ labours in Australia. That he derived great pleasure from his visit to the Ansonian land, that fertile nurse of great men, we have testimony sufficient in Avhat he has Avritten ; but if the labour of writing an elaborate work such as this since the spring of last year, was, in his case, consistent with the spending of holidays for the benefit of health, we must conclude that he is endowed with ability far above the ordinary kind, and a wonderful facility of composition. He travelled much through Italy, and ever with the resolution to judge fairly and to treasure all the information he could gather concerning men and man- ners in the Peninsula. His observations prove that in the course of his short experience ho laid up a great store of information. What he did see he describes in graphic language ; it taught him that at least nine-tenths of the Italians are practical Catholics, that they are far from being in sympathy with the opponents of Catholicism, and that they not only recognise the Pope as their spiritual ruler, but that they Avould hail with joy the restitution of his temporal sovereignty. They do not exert their power in political affairs, but to all attempts upon their religion they offer a determined and passive resist- ance. Mgr. Dillon pays a tribute to the purity of their domestic life. He assures us that, in general, family life amongst them equals the purity and inno- cence of the farm-houses of Ireland. From their intense and universal devotion to the Blessed Virgin he derived much edification, and his knowledge of the many favours conferred upon them in consequence of their devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel induced him to compare the present work giving an account of her shrine at Genazzano, and the miraculous translation of her Sacred image from Scutari in Albania to Genazzano. When this extraordinary event occurred, the Crescent had supplanted the Cross in the East, and the heroic Scanderbeg, who had received help and counsel at the shrine of this very image in Albania, had passed away. Then " Mary caused the miraculous image to break away from the Avails of her temple in Scutari and to pass to Latium." The writer examines critically the proofs of the translation of the image and of its apparition amongst a multitude of people on the occasion of a public festival ; and the preservation of Europe from the hordes of Turks Avho poured down upon it and Avere crushed at Le^^anto at the Avails of Vienna, he sees the influence of the Mother of Good Counsel. Of the supernatural re- sults of devotion at the sh]-ine at Genazzano ho has had the most reliable and
9
convincing testimony. No one ever, lie informs us, went to that shrine less credulous than he was ; but in the sight of the miracles wrought before his eyes and carefully examined and pi-oved, he could only say that the hand of God is not shortened, and that niiracles wrought through the intercession of His Mother Avill never cease. There is in Mgr. Dillon's work an immense amount of what may be called collateral information. Interesting historical incidents are brought to mind, customs are carefully noted, and landscapes are depicted with a master hand. A chapiter is devoted to au explanation, intended for non-Catholics, of the worship which Catholics pay to the Blessed Virgin. .... Mgr. Dillon, by making known to English-speaking Catholics a de- votion so largely' practised and so fruitful in Italy, has done a service which will, it is to be hoped, prove of permanent utility ; and he has, at the same time, brought together a store of most important information respecting Rome, the centre of the Catholic world,. and the Italian people, whose character is the subject of so many contradictory statements. There is great beauty in his style ; throughout the book is to be found ample proof that in narrative and descriptions he has a facile pen, and that he has at command a rich voca- bulary. Every sentence is vigorous and graceful.
From the "Weekly Register." /(rz/z/^^/y yd, 1885.
MoNSIGNOR DILLO^^, who describes himself simply as a visitor from Sydney to the shrine of Our Lady at Genazzano, has devoted a goodly volume to an account of his experiences in Italy, and especially to a descrij^tion of that famous place of pilgrimage. Not the history of the miraculous image only, but of almost everything that has any possible connection with it is painted by his pen. The book thus covers a very wide field ; but Monsignor Dillon writes mainl J' with the object of introducing to English speaking Catholics a devotion which is very popular on some parts of the Continent.
The representation of Our Lady at this shrine is a fresco, painted long ages ago, but when and in what country none can tell. It has remained in the place where it now is for four hunded and sixteen years ; and how many centuries it existed before is unknown. It first came into public notice during that great struggle between the Crescent and the Cross, when the eastern empire was overthrown. The heroic Rcanderbeg, King of Albania, in whose country Scutari with its shrine and image lay, was enabled to resist the advancing arms of Islam and drive back Mahomet II., the captor of Constanti- nople, from the walls of his little caj)ital. Eor twenty years he saved his country and Christendom ; and, when he died, his ashes were not cold before the Turks swept over the land and passed to the Adriatic. It was then that the miraculous translation of the image from Scutari to Genazzano took place ; and fVom that date Italy presented an impregnable barrier to the infidel. A second Scauderbeg arose in the person of Colonna, Lord of Genazzano whom Pius v., in an hour of supreme danger, called to the defence of Christendom. At Lepanto, Colonna, as Admiral of the Pope's fleet, and Don John of Austria, together representing the two outposts of Christian Europe, struck such a decisive blow that the Turks were driven from the waters, which they have never since regained. From that day to the present time the shrine has had varied fortunes. Many miraculous cures took place, and pilgrimages were attracted from all parts of Italy and the Continent. In course of time a new church was built, and was enriched by the devotion of pilgrims with precious gifts of gold, silver, and gems. The wealth of the shrine before long excited the cupidity of spoilers, audit was stripped to feed the ambition of Napoleon. But it was left to the agents of Victor Emmanuel to drive the inmates of the convent from their home and to confiscate the monastic revenues ; and though afterwards the I'cligious were permitteil, through fear of popular disaffection, to occupy part of the old conventual liuildings, they were allowed to do so only as tenants paying rent. The Church of Genazzano has lately been ri;stored to somewhat of its ancient glory, and now glows with beautiful marbles and frescoes.
Monsignor Dillon had abundant o])portuuities of mixing with the peo])le of the country, and studying thei]- feelings and convictions. He tells us that he thinks no pepolc could be more devoted to their religion than tliey. His
10
impression was that tlio Lulk of the people in the Eonian States wouhl irhully receive back the temporal government of the Pontiff. Heavy burdens of taxation and conscription have followed in the steps of the new regime. It is, he thinks, by means of hired mobs and newspaper rorrespondents that pid)lic opinion in England and France is misled. The Italian peoi)lt' liavc obtained the reputation of being formal in their religion, but Monsigiun- Dillon shows that though they are fond of the beautiful ceremonies of the Church their religion is far from being confined to externals.
" Long hours before tlie English visitors leave their hotel beds thi- Italian population in cities and villages are up and stirring, and up and stirring, too, simply because of religion. As early as half-past four, even on winter morn- ings, the Church of Santa Maria in Genazzano is crowded by a congregation of people who desire to hear Mass before going to their daily labour. With, thousands in every city Mass is not confined to the Sunday. The devout attend it every day. The works of St. Liguori, Avhicli are very connnon, lead souit; millions in Italj- to practice without ostentation meditation, visits to the Most Holy Sacrament, and works even of the highest perfection.''
The volume, which was printed at the Propaganda in Rome, and contains four illustrations, will doubtless become a classic on the subject which Monsignor Dillon has so happily taken in hand.
From "The Ave Maria," Indiana, U. S., Xoreiubcr 1, 1884.
A MOST attractive volume. The learned author begins at the very origin of the town of Genazzano, traces its history through the times when it was the scene of the infamous orgies of heathen worship, to the blessed dawn of Christianity, which purified and consecrated its polluted walls and groves ; and then through the vicissitudes which followed the decline of the Roman Empire in Italy, interesting alike to the arclueologist, the historian, and the poet. But most interesting among all events that have occurred in that favoured spot is the coming of the miraculous painting from Scutari to the church rebuilt by the devotion of a poor widow, Avho lacked the means to complete the good work she had begun, but whose faith and piety were rewarded by this signal assist- ance from Heaven. Full particulars of the miracle are given, and a detailed narrative of the event, illustrated by drawings, of the ruined church in Scutari whence the picture — a fresco painted on the wall — was convej'ed by angelic hands, after tlu; final capture of Albania by the Turks. The sworn testimony of witnesses, copied from the records, follows, and a family tree of the principal Albanian witness, whose descendants now reside in Genazzano, is given. Then follows as perfect an account as could be found of the miracles since Avrought at the shrine, the records of which were imperfectly kept, both on account of their great frequency ;uid the expense of the formalities which ecclesiastical law requires for the verification of supernatural events, and also on account of the troubled state of the country, and the frequent robberies committed in the name of secular authority. These miracles are extremely interesting, especially one that occurred under the very eye of the author of the present work — the cure of blindness and epileptic fits in a young girl who had been given up by the physicians. They extend from the middle of the fifteenth century to the l)resent time— -over four hundred years of constant divine interposition. Follow- ing, we find accounts of various miraculous copies of the original picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel, piously venerated in different localities. The volume itself is enriched with engraved copies of the painting, the beauty of whose execution is what might be expected from the Italian artists. Succeed- ing chapters give an account of the devotion of nuiiiy distinguished Popes and many learned and pious men to this remarkable shrine ; of the pilgrimages that are constantly made to it; of the apostles of this devotion, and in jiarti- cular of Canon IJacci and Don Stephen Andrea Rodota ; of the Pioper Mass and Ofhce granted as the most distinguished mark of ecclesiastical approbation ; of the indulgences attached to the devotion ; of the rise, progress, and present prosperity of the confraternity known as the Pious Union ; of the present state of the church and sanctuary itself of Our Lady of Good Counsel : and of the devotion of the Italian people. A concluding chapter gives a full and dogmatic account of the veneration due and paid by the Catholic Church to the Blessed Virgin, with the blessings that have attended its practice.
11
Trom " The Irish Ecclesiastical Record," October, 1884.
Detotiox to our " Mother of Good Counsel " is not without being cultivated in these countries, but it is cultivated to a far less extent than it ought to be. " Good Counsel " is one of the attributes that strikes us as specially becoming in her whom we salute as the " Yirgo Sapiens," and to whom the Church applies the words of the Holy Ghost "in me is Counsel." Besides, we feel assured that it is an attribute that is calculated to call forth in a very special Avay the devotion of the faithful, who are so trustful in the protection and .c-uidance of the Mother of God, particularly in times of doubt and difficulty. Yet the picture of the " Virgin Mother of Good Counsel " — and it is indeed a very distinctive and devotional picture — is not often met with in our churches or oratories, nor is the invocation of the Blessed Virgin under this sweet title so frequently on our lips as the many other ejaculations that are so famiHar to us from childhood onwards. The real cause, however, of this omission is to be traced to the fact that the people generally had no knowledge of the devotion to the Mother of God under this special form : at least we had no full history of its origin and wonderful development in other countries. This want, we are happy to say, is now admii-ably met by Monsignor Dillon's beautiful book.
Among the-shrines of the Blessed Virgin, there is none, perhaps, so ancient, and fcAV more famous for its miracles, the number of its pilgrims, and the extraordinary manifestation of piety to be witnessed there from year to year, than the shrine of the " Virgin Mother of Good Counsel." This famous shrine is at Genazzano, a picturesquely situated little town, in the Sabine Eanges, some thirty miles from Eome, near Palestrina, the old Praeneste capital of Latium. Here our Mother of Good Counsel has been honoured under this beautiful title from the earliest times, indeed from those far off times Avhen the deserted pagan temples round Eome were taken up by the Christians, and the abominations of idolatry replaced by the pure worship of the true God. We are told that the first sanctuary of our Lady of Good Counsel at Genazzano had been a temple of Venus.
In course of time God manifested His pleasure at the great honour paid to His Mother at Genazzano by a miracle of a kind which reminds us forcibly of that other renowned sanctuary, the holy House of Loretto. In the year 14(37, a beautiful picture of the Virgin, holding in her arms the Divine Infant, passed miraculously from Albania when seized by the Turks, to the shrine at Genazzano. This picture is preserved with jealous care, and we have been told by friends, who were present on the occasion of the annual Feast when the picture is uncovered, that the piety of the people was such as to make even one who had witnessed the enthusiasnr of the pilgrims at Lourdes, to marvel.
But we must send our readers to Monsignor Dillon's highly interesting book for a full history of our Lady's Shrine at Genazzano. The work is so complete and of so useful a character as to merit the high commendation of Cardinal Simeoni ; and even the Pope himself has sent to the Eight Eev. autlior, with his blessing, a letter of praise and thanks.
If we may venture to make a suggestion to the Eight Eev. author, we would say to him to complete his splendid service in spreading devoting to our Virgin Mother of Good Counsel by publishing in due course a small popular Manual, embodying in a concise form the history of this venerable and famous shrine, with prayers and suitable devotions. Thus he Avill establish a very sfrong claim to the reward he speaks of so earnestly and lovingly, "Qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt."
From "The Dublin Review," Odohcr, 1884.
In a very handsome vohnne of over 600 pages, printed with extreme clearness and wonderful correctness at the Propaganda Press in Eome, Monsignor Dillon, of Sydney, sets forth with great detail and with j)ious warmth the history of the miraculous image of Our Lady at Genezzano. Many of our readers will liuow that this widely venerated effigy is said to have appeared suddenly on the wall of an luifinished church at Genezzano, now more than four centuries ago, A short time afterwards there came to the sanctuary two
12
strangers from Albania, who declared that tlio imago was no other than ono which had been venerated from time immouiorial in Scutari (not Scutari on the Bosphorus, but 1 ho Albanian town), and which had disappeared precisely at the time they left their native land. This double tradition ^Nlonsignor Dillon undertakes to substantiate. That there is a celebrated Madonna at Genezzano, and that many graces and nuraculous favours have been received there, no Catholic would think of disputing. And whoever goes carefidly through this elaborate work, will easily convince himself that there was a miraculous apparition in 1467 ... As to the sacred image itself, as now venerated, it is a fresco, i)aintod (if it be painted) on thin hard mortar, as if it had been detached from the surface of the wall. It is stated by those who have seen it to be still altogether detached from any wall or backing. Its existence in this state for upwards of 400 years is by itself a wonderful fact. Representations of the sacred image are not uncommon, and there are probably few who have not looked on the most characteristic face of Mar}', and on the Divine Infant, lovingly leaning His cheek against hers, with one little arm round her neck and the hand of the other grasjiing her robe at the throat. .... Genezzano is not far from Rome, in a land rich with Cliristian shrines and memories of the jiast. "NVe cannot doubt that this charming book, wi-itten with the leisure of an antiquarian and the piety of a true Catholic, will not only send many pilgrims to Our Lady of Good Counsel, but will increase her glory and promote devotion to her in all English-speaking lauds.
SUFFERINGS OF THE NUNS OF ITALY.
Catholics are already aware that by the laws of Italy the whole property, real and personal, of all religious orders, both of men and women, was confiscated in that country. A very small pension, heavily taxed and not always satisfactorily paid, was allowed to the older members — the younger ones getting nothing, or next to nothing — perhaps two-pence a day to live upon. For this the Grovernment took their lands, tlieir funds, their house property, their Convent buildings, their very churches, ceme- teries and all the furniture, sacred and secular, they possessed. They were disbanded, prevented from receiving novices, or, as religious orders, even educating children. Sometimes public feeling forced their persecutors to give them a few rooms in their old homes, or to huddle several com- munities into one large barrack. In cases where a part of their Convent only was allowed them, the rest was used as Grovernment offices, or very o-enerally for soldiers' barracks. It thus became a kind of living death for these poor religious. They mostly, however, held together with wonder- ful tenacity, and as the old inmates died out tlie j^ounger ones, with but a few half-pence a day to live on, grew on in years and weakness and want. Many of these — indeed all the choir sisters — brought fortunes, which were placed in the common funds of their several institutions, and so found and taken by the mean-spirited Freemasons now in power in Italy. The consequence is that these poor nuns, long absent from the thoughts of relatives, die in great numbers and in much want. The present work and that on Our Lady of Good Counsel have been given over by the author for their relief. He has just received the following letter from Monsignor Kirby, who lays out, with every care and judguient, all he can get together for the benefit of these suffering spouses of Christ.
"I received the alms you kindly forwarded from tlieir Lordships the Bishop of Leeds and the Bishops of Aberdeen and Dunkeld, in aid of the poor nuns in the Papal States. May God reward them for theii' charity.
*' But what shall Isay, my dear Monsignore, for your own generous offerings for these suffering Spouses of Jesus Christ 'i Through your assistance I have been able to j-elieve many holy suffering communities in Frascati, Yiterbo,
13
Foligno, Assissi, Monte Falco, and other localities, not forgetting the nuns jon specially mentioned for relief in Rome. They suffer terrible privations, bnt their charity and patience would do honour to the early Christians. They pray constantly and earnestly for those who assist them in their bitter need. . . ."
Still more touching descriptions of the destitution of these j^oor servants of God may be obtained from the iJirin Salrafore of Rome, which devotes many of its columns to the service of the collection made in favour of the despoiled nuns.
The followiug items, taken from a current number of that journal,
will give an idea of the need existing. The Editor says : —
" On the 7th of March we received the following letter from a venerable religious, who has the care of a parish and of a monastery : — ' The letters you sent me have arrived, as so many angels of comfort, with your charity. The Mother Abbess did not know what to do in the future. 8he had to withdraw the one plate of nourishment hitherto given daily to the religious. My heart is afflicted, because I know that if they have not food the choir cannot be sustained, and already some of them are prostrated, from weakness of the stomach, in need of ordinary food." The day after the Prioress of a Dominican Convent writes : — ' Our misfortunes are at their height, and it seems that everything conspires against iis. The very old and helpless sisters must be deprived of the lay sisters' help, whom we took into the religious life, but Avho must now leave us for want of food. The aged will have to die for mere want of neces- saries. We do not ask the Government for anything to maintain laj sisters, but these are now not even permitted to us. For charity pray to God tliat some may be moved to pity us.' Four days ago a Benedictine Superioress thus commenced her letter to us :— ' The day before yesterday, having shed many tears before the Image of Most Holy Mary, beseeching Her to send me some help, because I had at last arrived at extreme necessity, your letter arrived with alms. Ah, so groat was my joy, that before opening it I carried it before the sacred Image to thank Our Lady, and have called the nuns, who did the same. My Father, believe me, that in order to exist together, we suffer much want indeed.' Five days after another Superioress writes to us: — 'The moment I received your most valued letter, I exclaimed, Oh, my dear St. Joseph, how much I thank you wbo hast given to that good Father the inspiration to hel)i me in my preseut agony. I cannot describe to you the sorrowful condition in which I find myself. As many farthings as you have sent me, I pray that they may become so many pi-ecious graces, which may fill Avith benediction tlie families who give such blessed help to us i)oor abandoned religious.' "
Not long after another Superioress wrote : —
" Do you then discharge our duty to the kind and pious benefactors v/ho do not forget the suffering spouses of Our Lord in times when so many hate and illtreat them, and seek new means to render them, if that were possible, unhappy. But that can never happen, because it is our greatest felicity to be liated liy the enemies of Jesus Christ. At prest^nt we are prohibited to i-eceive young-fady boarders, who, by their payments for education, might help us not a little in our misery. But we confide in the good, generous hearts who come to our assistance.''
On the 1 7th of May, from the ends of Italy, the following letter came to us: —
" On Tuesday I received, as a consoling angel, your letter with the bounti- ful alms it contained. What my joy was on that day I cannot tell you. I seemed like one confounded to such an extent that my nuns tmderstood that some extraordinary grace had been given me by our gi'eat Patriarch St. Joseph. When I told them what had been given they Avere in jubilee at it, and I can- not tell you how many prayers and fervent communions will be offered, and luvve indeed been offered already to God for those who have been so kind to
14
US. oil, 111}'' FalLev, if you but know wlial luy sorrow liail been tliaf day. An iinpliicable creditor pressed me, and T liad not on lliat day one loaf of biead to take the hnnger away from my poor community. My Father, I cannot tell you -what terrible houi's I passed. During certain days I felt as if a knife had ])ierced my heart. I wept scalding- tears, and almost lost confidence. Ali, Father, do not forget us, foi- charity sake, I beseech you, witli idl my heart."'
A few days after this (for we take the letters at haphazard as they come to our hand) wo received anothei-, wliich thus commeuces : —
" Oh, my Father, how much am I obliged to you. You have called me to life again. I went to ask the Archangel Raphael to bo mindful of us, poor deserted sisters, and the holy Archangel heard me I Wherefore may God be l)lessed, and thanks without end for your charity and that of our benefactors. 8ee how Avanting in discretion I am, my Father, the more you ai-e mindful of us, the most distressed of all. I do not wish to be importunate. Thai would not be well. But our misery surpasses perhaps the juisery of other convents. All my poor lay sisters are h^ng barefooted, and I cannot get them shoes, for I have no means to buy leather. "We, the choir sisters, wear clogs of wood, which, when once made, last very long ; but our poor lay sisters work vei-y hard, and wear away their clothing very much.''
Another letter comes from a Benedictine Abbess in Tuscany. She says :—
" Reflecting on our sad circumstances, and knowing by experience your charitable he.xrt, I have at last determined to ask you for some charity, for the love of Jesus. We are twenty-five in community, without a morsel of bread in our house, and deprived absolutely of the means to obtain it ; the Lord having permitted that we should be abandoned by all, because we are all in great "distress and tribulation. Your Reverence by these words may mider- stand my internal affliction and the nature of the sword that pierces my heart."
Hei'e is a letter from a holy Prioress of Augustinian nuns, driven out of their convent and obliged to rent a house : —
'• I reply, with deep gratitude, to your precious letter, and thank yon infinitely for the alms sent in it. I thank the Giver of evciy good, and after Him all'those who havC' concurred to aid us, and you Avho are the head of the o-ood Avork, so full of charity, as is that of assisting us poor creatures reduced to extreme necessity. For as this necessity is all the more increased as Ave, most unfortunate, have been driven out of our convent, and Avith sorrow and fright, have been olaliged to rent this poor house at a sum beyond the possibility of our being able to pay. May Jesus, our Spouse, be blessed for all these mis- fortunes. There remains to us one only consolation. It is that daily Ave have the holy Mass in a little chapel, and we can remain with Jesus in the Eucharist. Where Jesus is there is nothing that Ave can desire. They have at length taken our convent from us, but of Jesus no one can depriA'C us.''
Another Superioress writes : —
" I am ahvays more and moi-e confirmed in the belief that your reverence is inspired by God. Three days jiassed and I had not a farthing to buy bi-ead for my poor conuuunity. But 1 had recourse to our sAveet Mother Mary Avith loving confidence, that she Avould give nu; the means of keeping life in my poor daughters. I Avept Avith emotion and exclaimed, '• l>lessed is he Avho confides in the Lord."
Another letter, dated 24th of last October, is as foUoAVS : —
" My Father, how grateful I am. I found inyself at the height di misery," but seeing your gift my heart bounded with joy. Oh, I can at least give a little to my dearest daughters Avho, poor children, for the most part, are infirm and Avcak in ston'.ach because of ]^)^\
nourishing food oi' drink of any kind ! But how can I help them ? I cannot get boarders, and benefactors there are none, because our relatives have to think of their own families. My only resource is your charity. You dry my tears, You console my heart in so many and such great necessities."
A Superioress of Tuscanj-, after Laving recommended a sick sister whom she called, "an angel of innocence and of goodness, and on the point of taking wing for paradise," and having received some assistance, writes: —
"Jesus watches over His spouses. This moi'ning I received your oflPering for the sick sister, which the great charity of your reverence sent me. I am confused in seeing myself so benefited without any merit. The sick sister reu^ains alive, always the victim of her beloved Spouse Jesus. She wastes away as wax before the fire. She suffers with heroic virtue, and wishes that your reverence would bless her in order to have greater strength to suffer more and more in union with Jesus crucified, whom she has always before her eyes, and continually kisses. I do not know how to describe her satisfaction at tlie charity shown her, nor to tell you her gratitude. I will tell you only that with all her heart she says to you, ' May Jesus reward him together with the benefactors.' She is young, only twenty-four years of age, and is in the monastery three years and three months. The Lord has placed this beautiful flower (she is called Rose) in His garden, and He will take it at His pleasure. It seems that we are not worthy to possess it."
The number of the Divin Salvaiore, from which the above extracts are taken, has been selected almost at random from a file of that excellent journal. The editor very feelingly ends the record as follows : —
"We repeat that these few extracts from letters are given solely as a sample of numberless other letters of the same class, which might form many volumes. Ah, how many pages, besides, would be necessary if we should have to narrate the sufierings and the secret martyrdoms endured, during, now more than twenty years, by so many thousands of Italian religious ladies for the sublime love of that Crucified Grod, to whom they were and are consecrated. But such pages are written in characters of gold only in the book of eternal life, and from this book it is not given to us to cop3\ Let it suffice to know that these admirable creatures so intensely hated by the world of the sectaries (Freemasons, etc.,) because guilty of being models of virtue, flowers of purity, doves of innocence, beings more of heaven than of earth, have won, and still win by their undaunted perseverance, a most glorious victory over this world, enemy as it is, of the Name and the Cross of Christ."
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