Blessed Marie of the Incarnation

Having returned against her will to her parents at the age of fourteen, she continued her pious, interior, and austere life there. She longed for the religious state: the poorest congregations were those that attracted her the most. This is why she asked to enter the Hospitalières of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, to serve the poor sick there for her whole life; but God, who destined her for other works, permitted her parents to oppose this design. Her mother declared that she would never allow her to become a nun. Barbe believed that God was speaking to her through the mouth of her mother and obeyed: "My sins," she said, "have made me unworthy of the glorious title of spouse of Jesus Christ; I must be content to be His servant in a lower state." The world had no more attractions for her because of this: she did not like finery or pleasures; her mother, judging that this was not keeping her rank, was very displeased and reprimanded her severely. Once, she even punished her by locking her in a room without a fire, where she left her like that, in the middle of winter, for several days. "Her feet became so frostbitten that it was necessary to remove bones that the cold had spoiled." She endured this operation with angelic sweetness and did not complain about her mother's harshness. So many virtues, joined to a brilliant and cultivated mind, and to all the external graces of that age, made her loved and esteemed by everyone. She was asked for in marriage several times. Between seventeen and eighteen, she married Pierre Acarie de Villemor, Master of Accounts, a man of great nobility, and of even greater piety and charity, who devoted a portion of his fortune to the relief of English Catholics, forced by the bloody laws of Elizabeth to flee their homeland and go into exile in France. From this marriage were born six children: three girls and three boys. Our Saint raised them with extreme care. They rose early, recited morning prayer together, did meditation, and went to hear Mass; then came study and recreation. The mother presided over everything: she had accustomed them so much to her presence that they could not do without it, and she had to take part in their amusements. She inspired in them the most vivid horror of lying; she forbade them to complain, whether about their food, their clothes, or the servants; she demanded much care and cleanliness from them; she sought to stifle in their hearts any feeling of vainglory. Her second daughter liking to show off her wit, Madame Acarie often appeared not to hear what she was saying, or to make nothing of it. To make her children love almsgiving, she made them consider it as a reward or a ho ly thing; she madame Acarie Ursuline mystic and founder in Canada. only gave them something to distribute to the poor when she was satisfied with their progress in study, their conduct, or on the days when they were to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist. These children profited admirably from such a beautiful education: the tender mother expressed her joy to them; once she said to them: "Now I am truly happy; I see that you love God and I know that God loves you; to be the mother of children whom God loves is an unspeakable happiness." Seeing her raise her daughters in such piety, it was believed that she destined them for religious life. She replied to her friends who spoke to her about it: "I destine them to accomplish the will of God. If I were a queen, and I had only one child, called to the religious state, I would not prevent them from entering it; if I were poor and I had twelve children without any means to raise them, I would not want to be the cause of the entry of a single one into religion: a religious vocation can only come from God." God did indeed call her three daughters to be Carmelites, and her three sons, engaged in the various careers of the magistracy, the priesthood, and the military, always kept in their hearts the sentiments that their holy mother had endeavored to inspire in them.

The conduct of Madame Acarie toward her servants should serve as a model for all Christian women. She watched over them to ensure they fulfilled their religious duties; she corrected them with kindness and charity; she cared for them herself in their illnesses. She associated her chambermaid, Andrée, with all her practices of piety; they agreed to accuse themselves, in the evening, one before the other, of the faults they might have committed during the day; the humble mistress would kneel and confess, with great feelings of repentance, the slightest faults to her servant: the latter, quite confused, would turn away so as not to see the Saint in such a state, and would cover her ears so as not to hear her. But Madame Acarie demanded that she then conduct herself toward her as a superior. They had also agreed that when one saw the other letting herself go to light or superfluous words, she would make a sign to her, or touch her arm to stop her and bring her back into the presence of God.

So tender for her children, so good for her servants, our Saint was filled with respect, love, obedience, and devotion for her husband. She undertook nothing without having asked his permission. If he called for her at the moment she was about to receive Holy Communion, she would leave the church immediately, because obedience is more pleasing to God than a practice of devotion, and because the truly obedient person always obeys, in every place, in everything.

Her husband, a zealous partisan of the League, for which he had contracted debts, was exiled by Henry IV to eighteen leagues from Paris. Then his creditors demanded their repayment and had all his property sequestered: this rigorous measure was executed with such inhumanity, at the hour whe Son époux Husband of the Blessed, Master of Accounts, and supporter of the Catholic League. n our Saint was at the table, that they took away the plate from which she was eating, t he chair Henri IV King of France mentioned for the dating of the chapel. on which she was sitting. She was not at all troubled: "When one believes in Providence," she said, "one is not surprised by any event. I have great thanks to give to God for having detached me from temporal goods before they were actually taken from me." She was for some time deprived of the necessities, even to the point of lacking bread, but never patience. Her husband having been accused of conspiracy against the king, she undertook his defense herself, provided the proofs of his innocence, drafted the letters and memoirs, enlightened the judges, and directed all the proceedings. Her efforts were crowned with success: her husband, absolved, made arrangements with his creditors which, while greatly diminishing his fortune, still left him a considerable position in society, and obtained, after three years, permission to return to the capital. At the moment of the greatest embarrassment of her affairs, it had been proposed to our Saint to separate her property from her husband's; she did not want to deny debts that she knew were real, nor to do her husband the injury of abandoning him in bad fortune.

What made Madame Acarie so calm, so firm, so serene in circumstances where others would give way to anger or despair, was that she had learned, in her conversations with God, to consider things from the perspective of heaven. She entered into this state of contemplation for the first time while meditating on this maxim in a book of piety: "He is very avaricious to whom God does not suffice." From then on, she felt entirely different: it seemed to her that she no longer had the same soul, the same heart, the same mind, the same senses, and that she walked, saw, listened, and spoke differently than before. One would have thought her initiated into the secrets of God's Providence, so much did she rely upon it.

She discovered, in these kinds of ecstasies, beautiful truths, among others these four maxims: 1st, to have a disinterested spirit in all things, and to act only with great uprightness and a great simplicity of intention; 2nd, not to apply oneself to any business without an interior movement coming from God, or a command from one's superiors, the surest expression of the will of God; 3rd, not to cease, while acting, to always have one's gaze fixed on God: when our Saint lost for an instant the presence of God, she would stop short in her actions, as if she no longer knew where she was; 4th, to be always ready to render service to one's neighbor, without respect of persons: she followed this last maxim above all. She was so sensitive to the needs of her neighbor that she felt them no less keenly than they felt them themselves. Her charity was inexhaustible, and her house a source of graces and blessings, from which one never left without hands full, heart content, and mind edified. Everyone was welcome at her home, in the morning, in the evening, during meals, and at any hour of the day; she always showed that one could not importune her. She offered herself with such a frank heart, and made herself so prompt to do what was desired of her, that people went to find her with complete freedom, so that she spent the whole day and even entire nights listening to those who had recourse to her. She was not afraid of devoting too much time to the service of her neighbor: "When one gives one's time to God," she said, "one always has enough to fulfill one's duties." The principal objects of her charity were nuns, nobles ruined by political upheavals, the shamefaced poor, and destitute girls whom need might have led into evil. She often delivered from the torment of hunger, misery, and even death, and above all from vice, women who, after having lived in libertinage, were destitute of everything, sick, and abandoned. She assisted the dying and prepared them to die as Christians. She used all her influence to persuade those whose souls she believed to be in a bad state to make a general confession: it is impossible to say how many people she saved by this means, for God gave her words a supernatural charm; moreover, her figure was majestic, her demeanor modest and easy. She had a great knowledge of men and things, and, always united to God, she spread around her light, serenity, and I know not what fragrance. "Whatever troubles one might have when approaching this holy woman," said the mother of Chancellor Séguier, "one never left her without having one's soul in peace; I have experienced it myself, and others have experienced it like me." Heretics were not excluded from her benefits. She made every effort to convert Protestants; and when she was told that conversions were rare: "It is true," she replied, "but a person who has converted a sinner or brought back an infidel has not lived in vain."

In a time of famine, in Champagne, where her husband had great estates, she converted into money everything she had to help them; she did not give them simple alms, but organized work to tear the poor away from idleness and vagrancy, and to make them earn their bread. During the siege of Paris by Henry IV, she deprived herself of food to help the unfortunate who were dying of hunger. It was so well known with what wisdom she gave alms, and how she knew how to sanctify them, that people of the highest distinction wanted to have their liberalities pass through her hands: Henry IV and Marie de Medici were among them. Madame Acarie, despite the Queen's desire, came to court only once; but the Queen often consulted her on matters of religion and charity. Compassionate for others, she seemed insensitive to her own pains. One day, while returning from Luzarches, a small town six leagues from Paris, she fell from her horse and broke her thigh; this accident did not draw from her any complaint, as the peasants who picked her up and transported her to the neighboring town recounted with admiration; not even the slightest cry escaped her while the surgeon performed the operation; so much so that he said to her with astonishment: "But where are you, Madame? I am causing you unheard-of pain, and you do not cry out? Are you dead or alive?" On two other occasions, the same misfortune having happened to her, she showed the same patience. In general, she loved suffering so much that, to taste its delights, if one can speak thus, she did not want to be distracted from it by prayer, which took her out of herself and placed her entirely in God. She was heard to say: "I believe that the desire to suffer will make me die." Historians report that, by a rare privilege, she sometimes experienced, on Fridays and during Lent, in her feet, hands, side, and head, pains proper to make her understand those of Our Lord in His crucifixion.

A woman so zealous, so enlightened above all in the things of God, and so universally respected, was bound to take a great part in the various reforms that took place in France at that time within the clergy and religious orders, and in the foundation of new congregations that revived the spirit of piety or caused Christian sciences to flourish. Saint Teresa h ad just reform Sainte Thérèse A mystic saint who prophesied the greatness of John the Baptist. ed the Carmelite Order in Spain, and already, so great was the renown of the holy reformer and her disciples that pious figures, such as the Abbés de Bérulle and de Bretigny, translators of the works of Saint Teresa, supported by Saint Francis de Sales, were occupie d with introducing this saint François de Sales Bishop of Geneva who prophesied the vocation of Olier. Order into France; but the success of their efforts was due mainly to Madame Acarie, who exhorted them, encouraged them, took a thousand steps, interested the most distinguished ladies of the court in this establishment, and through them the King and Queen, removed all obstacles, and procured the necessary funds. Finally, she earned the title of Foundress of the Carmelites in France. Six nuns, brought from Spain to France by M. de Bérulle, brought with them the spirit of Saint Teresa, which has been maintained in all its purity. Their convent was located on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, opposite the Val-de-Grâce. Soon, the principal cities of France had a house of this Order.

While she was working on the establishment of the Carmelites, Madame Acarie gathered, in a house near Sainte-Geneviève, several young people who seemed called to religious life. There, they lived as in a monastery, dedicating their time to prayer, retreat, and mortification. It was a trial, a preparation for religious life. Thus, some entered the Carmelite Order, and others became the first Ursulines of Paris, for the education of youth. Our Saint worked on this establishment with as much care and su ccess as on that o Ursulines de Paris Teaching order whose establishment in Paris she promoted. f the Carmelites: she knew and proclaimed its full importance: "Your work," she said to the Ursulines, "will contribute much to the general reform of morals: daughters are more under the supervision of their mother than that of their father. These mothers, raised in good principles, will transmit them to their children who, even if they stray from them for a moment, will return to them later, because the first impressions one has received are not entirely erased."

She also contributed to the establishment of the Oratorians in France. It would be too long to recount all the fruits of her zeal.

Her husband died in 1613. Once she had paid him her final respects and settled his affairs, she asked to enter the Carmelites. The convent of Amiens was designated for her to complete her novitiate. When she presented herself there, the community was assembled to receive her: our Saint threw herself at the feet of the prioress, saying: "I am a poor beggar, who comes to implore divine mercy, and to throw myself into the arms of religion." After the clothing ceremony, she said, full of joy: "Here we are, poorer than those who beg for alms." The secular clothes she had just left behind were carefully collected, and several sick people were healed by touching them.

She had to be granted the lowest tasks in the house: as her infirmities did not allow her to stand, she washed the dishes and kitchen utensils. If she was obliged to stay in the infirmary, she asked to wash the oldest clothes and rags of the community. She took her vows on April 7, 1615, from her bed, in a room that had a window overlooking the chapel. She took the name Marie de l'Incarnation, because of the mystery that was being celebrated that day. The offi ce of Prioress having Marie de l'Incarnation Ursuline mystic and founder in Canada. become vacant, she was elected to fill it; but she refused with such humility and firmness, and she was, moreover, so weak and infirm, that they did not dare to compel her. We have said that her three daughters had entered the Order of Carmel. Her eldest having been elected sub-prioress in this same convent of Amiens, the mother, in her capacity as a lay sister, immediately threw herself at the feet of her daughter, who had become her superior, and promised her obedience. A touching spectacle! They themselves were so affected by it that they could not speak.

The Carmelite convent of Pontoise being not very prosperous, Sister Marie d e l'Inca Pontoise Site of the translation of relics in the 9th century. rnation was sent there, so that her care, or at least her presence, might [text fragment missing in source]... tionary and subsisting with great difficulty, poor nuns, having escaped a stupid persecution, tried, fifty years ago, to gather the Carmelite tradition, and they continue it in the shadows, in prayer and in work:

Principites atra son tempestate columbe : Condense et divum amplexe simulacra podobant ».

M. Cousin turned to these good nuns, and the most gracious benevolence answered him. The documents that were necessary for him were handed over to him, along with manuscript annals and a collection of ample and detailed biographies. Drawing from these pure and unpublished sources, M. Cousin wrote pages full of charm and interest.

made it more flourishing. Indeed, within the space of a few months, the debts of this house were paid off, the building enlarged, the church adorned, and the spirit of Saint Teresa restored. Our Saint spent the rest of her days there. "She fell ill on February 7, 1618; the symptoms of apoplexy and paralysis declared themselves, and she was not long in experiencing convulsions: she suffered extremely. The holy Viaticum was administered to her, but it was thought best to defer Extreme Unction. Sometimes she seemed lost in the abysses of divine love and appeared insensible to everything, repeating then only these words: 'What mercy, Lord! What goodness toward a poor creature!' During her illness, she often recited the twenty-first and one hundred and first psalms, which describe in such a sublime and pathetic manner the sufferings of Our Lord in the Passion. The prioress having asked her to bless all the nuns, she raised her hands to heaven, saying: 'O Lord, I beseech you to forgive me for all the bad examples I have given!' — Then, blessing the community: 'If it pleases Almighty God to admit me to eternal happiness, I will pray to Him to grant you that the designs of His Son may be accomplished in each of you.' Her final hour was approaching, her sufferings became even more intense, and were without interruption; but her patience was not in the least altered. The doctor observing to her that her pains must be very violent: 'They are indeed,' she replied, 'but when we understand that we are suffering under the hand of God, this reflection lightens our sufferings.'

On Holy Thursday, April 12, the Viaticum was brought to her. On Holy Saturday she rose again and heard Mass. On Easter Day, at three o'clock in the morning, she received Holy Communion, and died on April 18, while M. Duval, director of the house, was administering Extreme Unction to her. The doctor observing that she was no more, M. Duval stopped, and, before reciting the Subvenite, a prayer for the soul that has just departed from this world, he turned to the community and said: 'At the moment I speak, the deceased is already enjoying the sight of God.'

The Blessed Marie de l'Incarnation had lived fifty-two years, two months, and seven days. Thirteen years had passed since the establishment of the Carmelites in France, and four since her religious profession. The day after her death, her body was exposed at the grille, where the people of the city and surrounding areas flocked in crowds to see it. One could not tire of admiring the beauty of her face; some said it had been painted; others, that it was a wax mask that had been applied to her; still others, that she had been made up, although she had not even been washed; but it was an extraordinary beauty that showed on earth the excellence of the beatitude her soul was enjoying in heaven. One would not have given her more than twenty-five years, because her face remained perfectly smooth without any wrinkles, and with such grace and sweetness that one would have said she was in deep prayer, her eyes closed, just as she had closed them herself while dying: which is all the more admirable, as having died in violent convulsions, of which she had had three attacks at the hour of death, this should naturally have left her with some deformity.

God had abundantly provided His servant with the gifts of nature and grace: her figure was majestic, her bearing was modest and easy. One could not forget her once one had seen her. Everything in her revealed her piety, her inner peace, her attention to the presence of God; everything won hearts to her. She had an easy grasp, great discernment, sound judgment, a knowledge of calculation, and a profound knowledge of men and things; but she was always peaceful; the most complicated, the most embarrassing affairs could not divert her mind from the presence of God and the care she took to receive His inspirations.

Marie de l'Incarnation was beatified by Pius VI. Her office was inserted in 1822 into the Paris Breviary. Her relics, which escaped the profanations of 1793, were solemnly reinstated on May 7, 1822, in the chapel of the Carmel ites o Pie VI Pope cited as having approved the cult of Julie in 1821. f Pontoise, who had bought back and restored their monastery. M. de Monthi Ses reliques Remains of the saint preserved in Pontoise and Paris. ers, who had saved this sacred body during the revolutionary storm, obtained as a reward some bones for the chapel of his château in Nucourt. An arm bone was given to the church of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs in Paris, another to the church of Saint-Méry, where it is kept in a beautiful gilded bronze reliquary. It is in this latter church that the Blessed had been baptized.

She is sometimes represented on her deathbed holding an image of Our Lady and recommending to her superior not to let any of her nuns die without being protected by the liveries of Mary.

A very beautiful statue of the Saint, in Pontoise, represents her kneeling.

All modern biographers; see in particular the Life of the Blessed, by Abbé Tron.