S//A tiK. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library BX4700.M13 B34 1893 Life of the Venerable Madeleine Barat : olin 3 1924 029 423 450 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029423450 THE LIFE OF THE VENERABLE MADELEINE BARAT, FOUNDRESS OF THE SOCIETY OF TEE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. DRAWN AND ABRIDGED FROM THE FRENCH BY LADY georgiana fullerton. NEW YORK : P. O'SHEA, PUBLISHER, 45 Warren St. 1893. PREFACE. Since the Life of Mother Baiat, translated from the French of the Abb§ Baunard, was published in English some years ago, an eventdeeply interesting to all those who cherish the memory of this great servant of God, has changed the feelings of admiration and reverence, with which she was looked upon during her life and after her death in every part of the world where her spiritual children carry on the great work she instituted, into one of a more solemn and devotional nature. On the 18th of July, 1879, His Holiness Pope Leo 'XIII. signed the decree for the introduction of the cause of the Beatification of the Foundress of the Sacred Heart, and allowed her to be called Venerable, thus authorizing the spontaneous homage paid her by many of the faithful and encouraging the hope that her sanctity will be one day attested by the infallible voice of the Church, and the name of Sophie Barat, the daughter of the vine-dresser of Joigny, numbered amongst those of the saints who in every age have done great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The object of this volume is to present to Catholics a cheaper and more popular history of the servant of God than the one previously published, and by bringing it iv Preface. thus within the reach of a greater number of readers, to spread more widely the knowledge of her virtues and the lessons her life affords. When the Church permits us to call one of her departed children Venerable, and the person so honored is one whom we have ourselves seen and known, or heard of from onr friends, or who has at any rate lived in our own days and amidst scenes more or less familiar to our mind, it seems to bring before us even to a greater de- gree, than in the case of holy persons in past ages, the fact that sanctity is attainable and should be aimed at not by a few only but by all baptized Christians. The details of such a life have greater influence, generally speaking, than those of the Saints of the Deserts or the Martyrs of old. The words, " Go thou and do likewise," seem less impossible to obey— the first stepeaser to take, in a road the features of which are not strange, and where all depends on the spirit and strength of will with which it is entered upon and pursued. Little did the Vener- able Mother Barat dream where God was leading her. Every successive stage in that long pilgrimage of more than eighty years took her humility by surprise, and when it was completed she looked back and felt she had done nothing. It was her profound humility which led to her great achievements, and if God gives us grace to build in the least measure on the same foundation, we may hope to accomplish something towards the same end. Argfield, March 1, 1890. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Sophie's childhood and the early formation of tier character. 1779. Her childhood ' . Louis Barat Her education . Her vocation Her departure for Paris Her religious training . 3 5 7 9 15 17 CHAPTER II. Origin of the Society of tlie Sacred Heart. 1800. Father Varin .... Father de Tournely Origin of the Society of the Sacred Heart Madame Barat's vocation to the Sacred Heart The Little Community in Paris The first consecration . Madame GeneviSve Deshayes The Foundation at Amiens Mother Barat makes her vows She is chosen Superior 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 45 47 VI Contents. chapter m. Mother Barat Superior at Amiens- 1802. Mother Julie Billiart . First members of the Society . Separation from the Dilette in Rome Rue de l'Oratoire Philippine Duchesne . Foundation at Grenoble Sainte Marie d'en Haut Pius VII- blesses the Society . Euphrosyne Jouve CHAPTER IV. Foundations at Poitiers and Niort. 1805. The first rules . Mother Anne Eaudemont Mother Barat is elected Superior General Mother Duchesne's call to the missions Foundation at Poitiers Mother Chobelet ; Mother Josephine Bigeu Mother Theresa Maillucheau Novitiate of Poitiers Foundation at Cuignieres and Ghent Mother Susanne Geoffroy Mother Emilie Giraud CHAPTER V. Visits to the houses of the Society. 1808. Abbe de Saint Esteve . Her father's death She visits Poitiers, Niort, and Grenoble The Constitutions Dooresele separates from the Sacred Heart The existence of the Society is threatened The triumph of Mother Barat's patience PA9E 51 53 58 61 63 65 65 68 70 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 85 93 93 95 97 99 100 105 107 113 118 Contents. ra. CHAPTER VI. The Constitutions. 1815. Tbe second General Council ..... 115 Abridged plan of the Institute ..... 116' The Community of Cuignieres removes to Beauvals . 121 Foundation at Quimper ..... 123 Mother Eugenie de Gramont ..... 124 The American mission . . . . . 127 Mother Duchesne and her companions leave Europe . 131 Foundations at Chambery and Lyons • . . 134 Foundations at Bordeaux ..... 135 Illness and death of Aloysia Jouve .... 139 CHAPTER VII. Third General Council. Extension of the Society. 1820. The third General Council. Education . . . 144 The Hotel Biron . . . . . .147 Foundations at Le Mans and Autum .... 149 Reconciliation of the nuns from Ghent . . .150 Foundation at Turin and Metz .... 150 Second Foundation at Bordeaux .... 151 Her niece Dosithee offers her life in her stead . . 155 Mother Barat's views on education .... 160 Approbation of the Holy See .... 166 CHAPTER VIII. Fourth General Council. The Paris Novitiate. 1826. The fourth General Council ..... 169 Foundations at Lille, at Lyons, and in America . . 170 The Society recognized by the State . . . .171 Madame Galitzin ...... 175 Foundation at the Trinita dei Monti .... 179 Foundations in America ..... 181 Tbe Revolution of 1830 183 The novitiate established at Middes . . . .191 vm Contents. PAOB The novitiate transferred to Montet . . . 195 Foundation at Annonay . • 196 Congregation of the Children of Mary in the world . 199 The cholera in France ...... 301 CHAPTER IX. Mother Barat in Italy. Fifth General Council. 1888. Her cure at Turin ...... 306 The Roman novitiate at Santa Rufina . . . 313 Foundation at Parma ...... 318 Fifth General Council . . . - .330 Foundation at Charleville ..... 333 The "Dames de St. Pierre" join the Sacred Heart . . 224 Josephine Gcetz and Sister Elizabeth . . 339 CHAPTER X. The Novitiate in Borne and Paris. The opposition to the Decrees. 1836. Mother Barat visits Rome The Villa Lante The Roman novices. Tlie cholera The novitiate of the Rue Monsieur Fathers Varin and De Ravignan Proposed changes in the Constitutions Opposition from within and without . Council at Lyons. Fresh opposition . Appeal to Rome. Unanimity restored CHAPTER XI. F vndations in Europe, Africa, and America. 1840. Mother Galitzin in America ..... Foundations at Algiers. Laval Foundations at Montpellier, Nancy, Saluzzo, Padua, and Lemberg ....... Foundations in Ireland and England .... Journey to Rome ...... Death of Father Baral ...... Conflans .....,, 233 333 233 236 239 340 242 249 253 254 256 257 257 263 265 Contents. LX. PAGE Marie Lataste ....... 269 Foundations at Bourges, Rennes, Grenoble, and Gratz . 272 Miraculous cure of a novice '..... 273 Death of Mother Eugenie de Gramont . . . 274 Banishment of the Society from Switzerland . . 276 Banishment of the Society from Italy • . . 276 Purchase of the Abbey of Marmoutier . . . 282 Revolution in Italy, 1849 . . . .283 Death of Father Varin . . . .285 CHAPTER XII. Half centwy of the Sacred Heart. Seventh General Council. 1850. Fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Society, Completion of the Constitutions Seventh General Council Foundations at Orleans, Layiac, Moulins, Si. Brieuc and Blumenthal . Foundation at Warendorf Foundation at Riedenburg and Milan Transfer to Roehampton Foundations at Armagh and Dublin Numerous foundations in America Mother Cutts Death of Mother Duchesne Foundation at Santiago in Chili Visit to Riedenburg and Eientzheim Mother Barat's charity for all Foundations at Perugia and Posen Foundations at Havanna, Chicago, and Chamartin Her government, organization Advice to Superiors CHAPTER XIII. Calais, 287 289 290 295 296 296 297 298 299 299 299 301 305 312 318 319 321 321 Mother Barat's exterior direction. Two of her pupils in the world . Madame de la Grandville ..... 325 Julia 337 Expulsion of the Society from Milan, Parma, and Lore to . 348 Contents. Expulsion of the SoGiety from Siuii' E.pidm mxl Perugia The Eighth General Council An act of charity ... CHAPTER XIV. Consummation of Mother Barat's sanctity. Her spirit of poverty and mortification Her profound humility Her love of God Her recollection and union with God Her devotion to the Saints and Angels Her respect for bishops and priests Her zeal for souls The Helpers of the Holy Souls She honors the poor. Her liberal alms Her love for children . Her supernatural gifts CHAPTER XV. Last days and death of Mother Barat. 1865. Portrait of Mother Barat Her desire of Heaven . The last Easter Previsions of her death Her last letter She has an attack of congestion Her last hours . Her death and funeral Testimony paid to her sanctity Miraculous answers to prayers Conclusion paoz 351 354 357 362 365 366 369 369 370 373 373 377 379 381 382 383 384 387 389 390 392 393 394 401 CHAPTER I. Sophie's childhood and the early formation of her character. It was towards the close of the year 1779, in the little town of Joigny, in Burgundy, that Sophie Madeleine Barat, was born two months sooner than was expected, her mother having been prematurely confined, in conse- quence of the fright she underwent at a conflagration in the vicinity of her house. So small and so frail did the in- fant appear that she was at once taken to the church to be baptized. Her brother Louis, then eleven years of age, stood as her godfather. Little did the schoolboy, at home for the holidays, for he was then a pupil at the College of Joigny, foresee that he was to be hereafter the teacher and for a while the spiritual guide of this young sister. It would indeed have seemed equally, if not still more, incredible, to the vine-dresser, Jacques Barat, if when he carried his child in his arms into the church of his small native town, it had been foretold to him that the weak tiny creature in his arms, which he hardly expected to rear, was to live to the age of eighty- five, to accomplish one of the greatest works a woman ever did in her lifetime, to behold with her own eyes its wonderful extension and fifteen years only after her death to receive the title of Venerable. Yet so it was to be. How it happened we will endeavor to relate. We shall Life of Mother Barat. have to watch the slow unremitting and sure work of Providence from the beginning to the end of that long career. Little Sophie gained strength by degrees under her mother's fostering care. She was never robust at any period of her existence, but became healthy and even ex- hibited a wonderful amount of exuberant life and a more than ordinary degree of childish ardor and vivacity, which tallied with the origin to which she ascribed her birth. She had been told of the conflagration which had marked that night. It used to amuse people to ask her, "What had brought her into the world ;" and to hear her always answer very gravely, "The fire !" Her intelligence was singularly precocious. She appears to have been conscious of her existence when only seventeen months old. Excelling, as she did, in all infantine sports, Sophie very early took the lead of all her com- panions, to whom she used to relate prophetic dreams in which she herself played the part of a great queen. But what was most remarkable in this eager child was he* good sense, and the just and rapid estimate she formed of whatever subjects came before her. A legal friend of her parents liked to put questions to Sophie, and was al- ways astonished at her answers. One day that she ac- companied her mother to the house of a solicitor where she had important business to transact, the way in which this little girl of ten years, rectified and completed Madame Barat's explanations perfectly amazed him. She had from infancy an inveterate horror of falsehood, and would have suffered anything rather than utter an untruth. Where so many excellent and brilliant qualities existed, there was some danger of self-complacency, and their cleverness led her to observe and comment on Mer Childhood. the defects of others with a certain amount of severity. But goodness of heart was so strong a characteristic of her nature that it redeemed and corrected those slight failings. Her brother, who was studying for the priest- hood, was uneasy at the vehement attachments she con- ceived, even as a little child. He feared the sorrows, anxi- eties, and even dangers and entanglements, which that im- petuous sensibility might entail on her later in life if God did not at once take full possession of so pure and ar- dent a heart. Her mother, on the contrary, rather encouraged than repressed the manifestations of her excessive tenderness. She found in Sophie's affection a consolation for secret sorrows of so delicate a nature that she could not confide them to anyone. Married to a man, good, religious, and upright, but greatly her inferior in birth, education, and cleverness, Madame Barat suffered intensely from this dis- parity. In her unbounded love for her children, she sought relief for this aching void. Sophie used to caress her with passionate fondness in hopes of assuaging a grief she could as yet hardly understand. These tender scenes once over, the child resumed all the gaiety which belonged to her youth and her disposition ; but the knowledge, thus early acquired, of the secret trials of do- mestic life, imparted to her character an earnestness and a thoughtfulness beyond her years. There was one inmate of Sophie's home who furnished a living example of a true Christian. This was her maternal grandfather, who had long edified his family and his native place by virtues worthy of the primitive days of the Church. From this venerable relative, and still more from her pious mother, Sophie received her first instructions in Christian doctrine. Life of Mother Barat. As soon as her age allowed of it she attended the cate- chism classes of the parish. A trifling circumstance which occurred at that time enabled her spiritual guide to form some idea of the sincerity and generosity of soul of which she gave so many subsequent proofs. One day, shortly before Easter, the cure" of St. Thibault, having collected together the children of his parish, was exhort- ing them to make an act of contrition and to ask God to forgive them their sins, adding that if their sorrow for these sins was perfect they would all be -forgiven. Im- mediately a litte girl stood up, and of her own accord be- gan to make in a loud voice a confession of her faults. This child was Sophie Barat. Everyone laughed, and the priest stopped her ; but in this spontaneous act of humility, and the simple piety which prompted it, he dis- cerned the graces likely to descend on his young penitent. Simple-hearted as she was, it was nevertheless this little girl who gave the best answers in the catechism class ; but she was so short, and her voice so weak, that in order to be seen and heard she had to stand on a bench. When, at ten years of age, she was presented for admis- sion to make her first Communion, the vicaire at once concluded that she was too young, and postponed her ad- mission ; but the cure" judged more correctly. He ex- amined little Sophie, and was so struck by her knowl- edge and her innocence that the decision was reconsidered, and she was permitted to receive the Bread of Angels. This was in the memorable year 1789. Her first Communion infused into the soul of Sophie wonderful grace and light ; she was struck at that time with those words of our Lord which have so often sug- gested the first thought of a religious vocation : "If any man loves father or mother more than Me, he is not Louis Barat. worthy of Me ;" and those others : " Whosoever has left house, or brother, or sister, fatlier or mother, for My sake, shall receive a hundred-fold and possess eternal life." Endowed as she was with so many natural and spirit- ual graces, Sophie required a director ; she found one in her own family. Young Louis Barat, after hard study in the College of Joigny, which be left at the age of seventeen, having borue away all the prizes of his class, felt himself called to the priesthood. The times were becoming more and more perilous. It was evident that the Church, already held up to scorn by the revolutionary party, would soon be the object of its violent attacks, and that persecution, or even martyrdom, would be the fate of its ministers. Louis Barat was not daunted by these threatening pros- pects. His faith was firm, and he was endowed with no ordinary amount of strength of character. He courage- ously entered the great Seminary of Sens, where, at the age of twenty-two, he was ordained subdeacon, having previously completed his ecclesiastical studies. He was then sent to the College of Joigny as professor of mathe- matics, and awaited there the age for ordination. It was then that he discovered with astonishment the rare qualities of his young sister, and felt that a great duty devolved on him, that of training her soul for God. He therefore undertook her education, and devoted him- self to it with the generous, though rather austere, zeal which belonged to his character. Up to that time Sophie had shared all her mother's occupations, sometimes accompanying her to the vine- yard, sometimes employed in the work of the house, and acquiring under her guidance those habits of order, in^ dustry, and economy which endeared to her in after days 6 Life of Mother Barat. the holy mysteries of the home of Nazareth. But now a change took place in her daily avocations ; her brother made her devote herself to study, and he gave her a rule of life. Each day, early in the morning, at the hour when her father entered his workshop or proceeded to the fields, Sophie rose, and after having devoutly heard the first Mass in the neighboring church, she returned to her garret, and there occupied herself with studies, only interrupted by necessary intercourse with her family and very rare holidays. Her favorite recreation was to walk in her father's vineyard, on the heights of Larry. From thence, the serpentine course of the Yonne, as it wound through the fields, the amphitheatre of hills which in the distance di- vided the plateau of Mount Tholon from Mount St. Jac- ques ; and in the further distance, the deep forest of Othe presented to her view a magnificent image of the great- ness of God, shown forth in His works. Her holidays only lasted during the vintage, or during the Abbe" Louis' short absences, and even these brief intervals of repose were sometimes abridged by the unexpected return of her teacher, who forthwith set his saddened scholar to work again. She speaks in after-life of these disappointments : " I had to leave my basket and return to my books, pay- ing to myself, ' It is indeed true that there is no pleasure without bitterness.' " However, the same somewhat exacting master who insisted on these sacrifices, used to soften their severity by the charm his piety imparted to them. There were, if one may so speak, two different men in the Abbe" Barat. He was at the same time a mathematician and a poet ; to a. remarkable inflexibility of character he united a great elevation of heart and a grace of imagination, Her Education. which enabled him, in conversing with his young sister on the love of God, to illustrate his teaching by the most pleasing comparisons. He found her one day with her pet lamb at her feet ; the creature was so much attached to its little mistress that it would leave even its food to follow her, and seemed to find perfect happiness in rest- ing by her side. " See what that lamb is doing !" the Abbe Barat said to Sophie, " it lies still and it loves." This sort of love, this quiet abandonment at the feet of the Good Shepherd, became, as we shall see, one of the peculiar characteristics of Madame Barat's piety. Un- der this stern yet sweet training, Sophie's mind developed itself so rapidly that she soon mastered the elements of scholastic knowledge. Then, her brother, persuaded that it would be for the glory of God, and guided, no doubt, by a providential inspiration, determined to cul- tivate to the utmost the seeds that promised so rich a harvest, and to enlarge his plans for her education. Step by step, he was led to extend the sphere of his sister's studies, far beyond the usual amount of feminine knowl- edge. He taught her Latin, and soon she was able to read the classics in the original texts. This opened a world of delight to the eager young girl ; Virgil's poems es- pecially fascinated her. His elevated, deep, and relig- ious mind, and his exquisite descriptions of the beauties of nature, filled her with admiration. " I was a Virgil- ian, more than a Christian, at that time," she said, in al- luding to this youthful enthusiasm. She learned Greek also, and translated Homer. The study of these ancient authors was more than an intellectual enjoyment to the future Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Many of the sentiments and thoughts which she found in them seemed to answer to her own thoughts and feel- Life of Mather Barat. iiigs, and satisfied her innate cravings for ideal beauty and moral grandeur. In allusion to this, she writes in later years : " I like heroism ; it gives, at any rate, breathing space to the soul and life to the heart." But the first and the highest benefit of these studies was to awaken in Sophie's soul lofty and boundless aspirations, which are God's invitations to those whose yearnings He alone can satisfy. She was conscious of this herself; one day we shall find her saluting from the shores of the Ad- riatic that fair Grecian land, the home of beauty and art, but in the midst of her enthusiasm, thanking the Giver of a higher Revelation, and animating herself to train souls in the knowledge and the love of a holier beauty. Nothing seemed to satify the engrossing activity of Sophie's mind. The natural sciences, botany, and ele- mentary astronomy were taught her by her brother, who excelled in all these branches of knowledge. He allowed her, as a recreation and a reward, to learn mod- ern languages. She studied Spanish and mastered Ital- ian, which enabled her in after-life to instruct and to edify her spiritual daughters, when she visited them in Italy. Sophie's mother found it very difficult to understand the object of subjecting her child to so much mental la- bor ; what was the use, she thought, of so much learn- ing for the daughter of a vine-dresser ? She never an- ticipated another destiny for this beloved child than to marry and settle at Joigny. Her father, oh the contrary, Was elated by her success, and predicted for her a bril- liant future. "What that future was to be neither of them could foresee, but God, to Whom it was visible, was secretly pre-ordaining means to His end. It was necessary for the Foundress of a teaching In- Her Vocation. 9 stitute, iu which knowledge was to be a special require- ment, to be distinguished by an uncommon degree of mental culture. Seen in that light, science was an ap- proximation to God. " If I had the intellect of an an- gel," a Saint once said, " I should love God as the an- gels love Him." Sophie's passion for books might have led to a taste for dangerous reading, but she was preserved from this snare by a delicacy founded on the fear of God. She read wonderfully well, throwing her whole soul into her intonations and accent. Madame Barat once requested her to read to some of her friends one of Marmontel's tales. She could not resist the wish to show off her daughter's talents, but Sophie, when she tried to comply with her mother's desire, showed so plainly that it distressed her, that one of the visitors in- terposed, and begged that she might be spared the trial. Once Sophie yielded to the temptation of reading a book, which was then greatly in vogue both in France and England, Clarissa Harlowe, but she felt remorse for it as long as she lived. When circumstances required it, she knew how to re- pel familiarity in the most prompt and decisive manner. One day when she was visiting some friends of her fam- ily, a young man ventured to approach Mdlle. Barat, and endeavored to fasten a bouquet to her dress. She threw the flowers on the ground and trod upon them, express- ing at the same time her displeasure by a few indignant words. Graceful and pretty she naturally was, her countenance full of life and animation, but she never took pains to increase her good looks by artificial means, and was remarkable for the extreme simplicity of her dress, a simplicity which her companions laughed at as exaggerated. She took, in consequence, a little more 10 Life of Mother Bar at care of her persoual appearance, and even consented to powder her hair, a piece of vanity she soon discontinued and looked back to with regret. The idea of consecrating herself to God in religion arose in her mind at an early period. She conld not point to the moment when she had first felt this desire, but she knew that it had existed from the time of her childhood. It was the spontaneous fruit of grace, and the consequence and reward of her love of Jesus and his holy Mother. It is remarkable that up to the day of her own consecration she had never been acquainted with any nuns. It seemed as if our Lord had chosen to accomplish in a direct man- ner His own purposes in this extraordinary vocation. It was in the year 1792 that she made up her mind on the subject. Her sister, Marie Louise, had just been mar- ried toM. Dusaussoy,a merchant of Joigny. Sopiiie seized on this opportunity to declare that, for her part, she had made choice of the only Bridegroom who can be unbound- edly loved, and even adored, without remorse. This res- olution was an heroic act at the time when she made it, for at the very moment when she determined to enter a convent, the religious houses were on every side attacked, devastated, and despoiled. The Reign of Terror was fully established, the prisons full of nuns and priests, scaffolds were everywhere being erected, and the assaults directed against the Church had, even then, attained and saddened the peaceful home of the Rue du Puits-Chardon. Louis Barat had already been ordained deacon when, in 1790, all the ministers of religion were called upon to swear fidelity to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The Constitution was an act of schism, which withdrew the Church of France from the authority of the Holy See, and placed it under the control of the sovereign people. The Louis Barat. 11 parents of the young deacon could not estimate the bear- ings of this act, and alarmed at the consequences which a refusal of the oath of allegiance would entail on their son, they entreated him with tears to obey the decree. De- ceived by the example of his Archbishop, the too famous Lomenie de Brieune, and of a certain number of his priests, Louis suffered himself to be persuaded to take the required oath. But no sooner had he done so, than he preceived into what an abyss he had fallen, and listening only to the remonstrances of his conscience, he openly re- tracted the step he had taken, by a letter addressed to the Municipal Council, which is still preserved in the arch- ives of the town. After this courageous act, Louis Barat had continued to live for two years at Joigny, teaching in the College, and directing the education of his sister at his father's house ; but at the end of that time, pursued by re- iterated summons which offered no alternative but " the oath or death," he left that town and proceeded to Paris, bidding a possibly eternal farewell to his family and his dear pupil. In Paris he hoped more easily to conceal him- self, and earn his subsistence by giving lessons. But his tranquillity was not of long duration. In the month of May of that fatal year, 1793, Louis Barat, having been denounced by a former college com- panion, was consigned to one of those prisons from whence the victims emerged only to mount the scaffold. This sad intelligence soon reached his parents, and from that moment life was for them but one long anguish. Mad- ame Barat, in particular, gave way to despair, in a way which made her friends afraid that she would go out of her mind. She maintained a mournful silence, refused to take food, and perceptibly wasted away. In vain Sophie prepared and pressed upon her whatever she thought 12 Life of Mother Bar at. most likely to tempt her appetite. She rose from every meal in gloomy silence, after handing over to her daugh- ter the dishes she would not touch. But one day Sophie said in a determined tone of voice : " Neither will I eat anything." "Are you ill, my child ?" " No, mother ; but I have resolved to eat nothing as long as you refuse food ; we shall then, at any rate, die together." Mad- ame Barat burst into tears, embraced her daughter, and consented to take some nourishment ; by degrees she re- gained sufficient strength to await with resignation what- ever it would please God to ordain for her son. He, meanwhile, was being dragged from prison to prison. At first he was lodged in the Conciergerie, and then successively transferred to Sainte Pelagie, to Bicetre, to Saint Lazare, and, finally, to the Luxembourg, These removals were occasions of severe suffering to tLe prison- ers. Chained together in pairs, and drawn slowly along in carts, they were subjected to the rudest insults of the populace. Already eighty-five of the prisoners of Saint Lazare had been beheaded, and Louis Barat was in con- stant expectation of his death-warrant, when the 9th Thermidor ushered in the fall of Robespierre. He was not, however, released until the month of February, 1795, after an imprisonment of one year and eight months. He had at that time attained the age of twenty* seven. On regaining his liberty, this confessor of the faith was secretly ordained by Mgr. de Barral, the former Bishop of Troyes, who had returned from exile. The nc* priest burned with desire to do great things for the glory of God. Sometimes, in his deep regret at not having been found worthy of martyrdom, he felt inclined to seek it in the foreign missions j at other moments, he felt powerfully Louis Barat. 13 attracted towards the Society of Je