The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 25, 1900, Page 6

DAY CALL. ERHAPS no place on the face of the earth are the people less in h with t rit of the nine- to say nothing of n the heart of fer to their ig- f steam plows the slow-go- vor for transporta- never been re- Prim- though has implem ¥ be, they answer not preclous in ers the country and unique is the in- together medie: The two great ce and the Ref- n the Pyre- middle ages of e all of th cism, the all self- rdent bellevers in quite unani- day of mira- ssity for them would look In coun- every day, st a statement rmed prising Lourdes, t fre- >ugh any vored re- performed. Only s ago & woman of the en accomplished wi lothes, The sick of ey cured touching cell which she occu- me the object of plous £ nd near. Stranges innumerable pleces have from the garments to send < who were unable to make the grimage, they are mot in the least di- growing miraculously on each to t riginal size and form. and most begutiful marvel w becc E of & he liwed and died engels sing perpetually. That this is true, 1 e he testmony of & plous old lady, nearsr and nearer, and finally burst into & grand majestic chorus. I heard the sound of many organs and harps and vio- line, but the singing was heaven itself. It seemed to me like the roar of the ocean, the song of the nightingale, the whisper- ings of the wind and the voices of chil- dren that I have loved, all blended to~ gether. Ah, I shall never forget it!" The old lady stopped for breath, and I locked "at her enviously. That she had heard the angelic voices I did not for one moment doubt. Gentle and kind, child- like and ecstatic, I felt even as I looked at her that the angels were singing in her heart. : As an outcome of this medieval dispost- tion which predominates convents throughout the Pyrenees are very numer- ous: the hills and valleys are simply full of them, most of them being conducted not by such orders as the Sisters of Mercy or the Bisters of Charity, whose work Is g0 well known and appreclated the wide world over, but rather by contemplative orders like the Carmelites and the Ber- nardines, who are pledged to eternal si- lence, and whose only duties are prayer end mortification. Several miles from Bayonne, in a region Jonely but divinely picturesque, stand two he Berpardines in the gulshed ladles, who, scorning the world and all of its pomps, withdrew to the soll- tude of the hills to better give them- selves to God. With their own hands they built a few cabins wherein the only fur- nishings were a board and a straw pillow for each to sleep on and the only decora- tions skulls and crossbones. The fame of these holy women spreading throughout the country, applications to join thefn were numerous, so that in time quite a little group of cabine was visible on the hillside.. Each person entering was re- quired to have enough of a fortune to sup= port herself in this fashion for the rest of her days, for no bread-winning was al- lowed among the Bernardines. They wera there to meditate, to pray, to adors and to glorify God and to atone In some mcas. ure by excessive mortification for the sins of the world. As their only dlet was bread and water the entrance fee was not exorbitant. During the reign of Napoleon IIT he and the Empress Eugenie often came to Biare ritz, where they had bullt a beautiful sum« mer palace. The Emperor heard of tha Bernardine retreat in the loneliness of the hills and determined to visit {t. In fact, it appears that one of the ladies well known at his court had abandoned the pleasures of imperial favor for this life of prayer and mortification. At the command of the Emperor a well-known abbe escorted the Imperial party to the Bernardine retreat. There was consterna- tion in the cabins when the distingulshed visitors arrived, for it was one of their vows that no man should ever behold the face of a Bernardine. But quickly they drew their vells and appeared before the Emperor enveloped like mummies. “I'll bet that they're all old and ugly,” the Emperor remarked, merrily, to the abbe, ‘“or else they would never cover themselves In that fashion. A pretty woman always finds some way of reveul- ing her loveliness. It's as natural to her as it is to breathe. “I do not know,” sald the abbe. “They make their confessions to us, but we never see them.” “Well, we'll ind out,” . sald the Em- ‘peror, and turning to one of the nuns he \vommanded her to lift her veil. The Ber- who heard the angellc voices. “Oh, 1t was wonderful, superb,” shé sald to me, her cheeks burning with ecstacy at the bare recollection. *I thought that I should die of joy. When I first entered the cell I heard nothing at all,” she went on ardently, “and a great SOrTow pos- sessed me. I thought that I was not good gh to hear the heavenly voices. Then on my knees and I prayed our dear Lord to pardon all my sins. I was disap- pointed because the angels did not sing to me, but I struck my breast and sald: ‘Lord, thy wiil ke done.. I art not wonthy of this great happiness. Thy blessed will be done’ Then as I prayed and prayed with all the fervor of my soul I seemed to fall into a sort of -ecstacy, and all of & sudden I heard the angellc voices. At first they were indistinct, as though com- ing from a distance, then they approached =2’ THE (=" BERNARDINES DURING RECREATION convents, one a sort of accessory to the other, but both of more than ordinarv in- terest. They are shut off from the outside world by a row of purple hills where the sun falls to rest, the only suggestion of the'hand of man within their vista being the towers of the Bayonne cathadral, which rear their crosses above the lowest hill. One of the convents is the home of the Bernardines, the other s conducted by the Servants of Mary. The Bernar- dines, from the time that they enter till they dle, speak never a word except to their confessor. They spend their time in meditating on death, in contemplating skulls and in digging thelr own graves. In their midst are many Princesses and Countesses. In fact, nearly all of the Ber- nardines, they tell me, are of very high degree. The convent was originated :bout sixty-filve years ago by wseveral distin- nardine lowered her head and hesitated, when the abbe kindly remarked to her, “My dear child, obedience is a great vir- tue, and it is the Emperor who commands you.” Whereupon the nun lifted her vell and stood blushing before the scrutiniz- ing gaze of the Emperor. “Mon Dieu!” he exclaimed vehemently, “she’s the lovellest woman I have ever seen and not more than eighteen years of age, If you belleve, my abbe, that God made a mouth as red and deliclous as that one to hide behind ‘a hideous black vell, you have more falth than L Tradition has it that the Emperor was 80 enraged at the ‘thought of so much hidden loveliness that it required all the persuasive eloquence of the abbe to keep him from forcing the nuns to abandon their retreat. The primitive cabins of the Bernardines yet exist and are yet occupled, although a more imposing edifice has grown up around them. All of the cells are in thef ground with simple sand floors, barel boards being too great a luxury. The re- fectory also is minus a floor. The long tables are of the coarsest, roughest wood, and at each place are an earthen cup, g A CONVENT WHOSE GRAVES AND ALSO ARE PERIMIT=- TED TO Many of these penitents but not all of them by any der the ugly straw hats I and rosy ch share of misct silently watc work, when hourly pr knees, w one wort their hea adorat far deeper D let has ever wom what a sweet peni life In the open al plants, sun! During the prayer we n penitent who bowed her hes any of the o whe and In eve fervor. Her iced one y ad low wooden spoon and a napkin. T must con- fess that in visiting this department % marveled at the presence of the napkins. Of snowy whiteness, they seemed a trifla luxurious, accompanying the earthen cup and the wooden spoon, and when I thought of the bread and water dlet they seemed a trifle superfluous. However, let us hope that a generous and merciful Divinity will pardon this indulgence on the part of the Bernardines. At every few steps in the convent hangs some inscription in huge black letters which contains the word “Death.” Tt is impossible to forget for one moment one’s inevitable destiny. ‘“Are you prepared? This hour may. be your last. Reflect on Death,” s a sample of the Inscriptions. Another one that I noticed was to this effect, “That’ you may not sin because you have beautiful hair, cut if off. Beau- tiful eyes and a beautiful face have caused much sin. Detest them, and think about Death.” The nuns’ cemetery is within the con- vent inclosure and is the favorite resort of the Bernardines. Here they prom- enade, praying for the dead, and at 4 o'clock every day each one digs a shovel- ful of earth from her own grave. As the Bernardines are vowed never to speak a word, the Servants of Mary ate tend to all of their necessities for them, which I presume are not numerous, re- membering that the baker and the water- carrier are the only venders who are wel- comed at the back door of the Bernar-, dines. The Servants of Mary have a more' practical, and, in the eyes of the pro- fane, a more important mission In life than the Bernardines. They afford a shelter for fallen women who may feel disposed to repent and to lead honest lives. The convent presents the busfest scene imaginable, the women being occu- pled at all sorts of trades, even shoe- making. By means of its many induse tries the institution is entirely self-sup- porting. The most beautiful embroideries and laces and all kinds of exquisite hand- work may here be obtained. But nothing did I find so touching as the sight of the penitents working in the fields.. Clothed in short dresses of coarse blue serge, Ahick-soled ehoes and ugly, rough straw hats, plowing the fields, driving the oxen and digging the =oil are some of the most famous demi-mondaines that Paris has known. There are women among them who have worn the jewels of kinzx eart of the as hard a knot as possible, yet showed i~ VOTARIES NEVER SFPERK yrenees DIG THEIR ON ANY ACCOUNT LUl praying for admittance. She had Qla- monds on her wrists, on her fingers and in her ears. These she took off impe uously and threw on the ground befors her, saying, ‘T hate them; I loathe t s Now the penances that she inflicts on her selt are extraordinary. board, wears a hair shirt ar tiring worker. I haye no do will one day be a very great s Who could doubt it? The most observer could tell on looking at she must be one thing or the other. who had been no milk-and-water sinner would just as surely be no milk-and-water She saint. We stayed till the sun had set the hills. Then the cow bells ti and we saw the penitents drivi the pai beasts. It was all peace, perfect, bea . at peace that the world as we w it cannot gt o An average waltz dancer over about ters of a mile; a sc makes her cover ha girl with we gramme travels thus in one evening: Twel nine miles; dances at apl a