Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/303

 28 1 RCLIGION piety and charity, who was in charge of a Dominican orphanage. He recognised in her the energy and the self-abnegation needed for the stupendous task of founding a re- ligious order. Mdlle. Fage became the mother foundress of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, and took the name of Mother Mary of Jesus. Father Fernet died in 1899 at the mother house of the order in the Rue Violet, Paris. In the course of thirty-five years the little community of two sisters, with which he had started the order, had spread to Belgium, England, Ireland, and America. Moreover, the order had become canonical by Papal decree, and Cardinal Vanutelli had become its cardinal protector. Rarely have founders of religious communities lived to see their work in so secure and advanced a state as was that of Father Fernet at his death. The Regulations of the Order A rigid spirit of poverty is the distinguish- ing characteristic of the Little Sisters of the Assumption. The rule of their foundation forbids them to receive any payment for their work ; neither must they give their services to any who can afford to pay them. The poor, and the poor alone, must be their patients. The sisters go into the most wretched hovels ; they may be seen passing through the slums and the dark places of London at all times of the day. In the home where the mother lies ill they take on her duties ; they do all the menial work, prepare the children for school, and cook the husband's meals. In addition they act as skilled nurses to the invalid, sitting by her bedside all through the night if necessary. By their rules the sisters can take no food, not even a cup of tea, in the patient's house, nor can they, when night comes on, accept any greater comfort than that afforded by a chair. All must be given, nothing taken ; and so strict is this condition that the offer of a little present as a souvenir will be refused. The order is strictly non-sectarian in its mission. The religion of the applicant for the sisters' service is never inquired into. There are no lay sisters in the community, all take a share in all the necessary work of cleaning and cooking. In addition to this equality of sisterhood, each community has the privilege from Rome of accepting postulants without a dowry. In most orders a special permission is necessary for the admission of penniless girls. Of course, if a dowry is forthcoming it is not refused — it goes to the common funds of the house. The Little Sisters of the Assumption, in their organisation, follow the rule of St. Augustine, with special additions appropriate to the special circumstances of the order. Their day is divided into three portions — eight hours for work, eight hours for spiritual exercises, which include the Office of Our Lady, and eight hours for rest and refresh- ment. The life is not one of great austerity, but it demands absolute renunciation of self. Novitiates Ladies entering the order have to go through a novitiate of two years. At the end of that time they take simple temporary vows, and after a term of some years such vows become perpetual. The dress of the sisters is the usual blacl? and white, a short black veil being worn over the stiff white coif and bandeau, which cover forehead and neck. In addition to the actual service rendered to the poor during times of stress and illness, the Little Sisters of the Assumption aim at raising the general moral tone of family life by keeping in touch with their patients afterwards. For this purpose they have confraternities for men and women, which meet once a month, for homely lectures and chats. Extent of the Work in Engfland The first branch of the order in England was established in 1880. There are now three houses of the sisters in London — at 14, Wellington Road, Bow ; 6, Earl Street, Westminster ; and 133, Lancaster Road, Netting Hill. There is also one at Norwich. The rule of the community which exacts that all meals and rest be taken at the con- vent makes it impossible for the sisters to go beyond a certain radius ; but each house has more demands for services than it can supply. Cardinal Vaughan, who was par- ticularly enthusiastic about the work of the nursing sisters, said he wished they had twenty houses instead of one in Westminster. The motto of the order is " Thy Kingdom Come." CONVENTS IN THE DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER AND BIRMINGHAM Continued from pa^re 12S, Part j St. Marv's Priorv, Stamford Hill, London, N. St. Mary's Abbey School, Mill Hill, N.W. Address : Mother Abbess. Convent of La Sainte Union des Sacr6s Coeurs. Highgate Road, London, N.W. Address: Rev. Mother Superior. Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Castle Hill House, Ealing, London, W. St. Joseph's Convent and Boarding School, Hendon, London, N.W. Addf-ess : The Superioress. Convent of the Faithful Companions of Jesus, Gumley House, Isleworth. Convent of the Sacred Heart, St. Charles's Square. London, W. Address : Rev. Mother Superior. Benedictines of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, St. Mary's Abbey, Oulton, Staffs. Address : The Lady Abbess. Sisters of Charity, Monk's Kirby, near Rugby. Address : The Sister Superior. The Sisters of the Assumption, Alton Castle, Staffs. Address: The Rev. Mother Su- perior. To be eontinued