Page:Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guerin Foundress.djvu/36

24 symbolism; there, it might truly be said, she began to be "conversant with God." Having once learned that the vastness of the sea is an image of the immensity of Him who set its bounds, she could never look upon the waters without fixing her thoughts upon that blessed home beyond the sea of time and experiencing a longing for things that were not of earth, a longing which increased as she advanced in years, and which laid the foundation for that contemplative and meditative spirit which was habitual to her in later life. To those youthful musings may be traced the thought of eternity, an abiding thought of her maturer years, a thought, too, that often carried her back in spirit to the shores where first she looked upon the sea in its symbolic aspect, and which inspired her with an admiration that often held her spell-bound.

We are not aware that there was anything in the early life of this child of benediction that could be considered marvellous. To the ordinary eye she was only a good and very bright child. Those who saw into the secrets of her heart, however, understood more, their spiritual insight discerning a singular purity of soul. This incomparable grace, together with her precocious understanding, procured for her the favor of receiving her first holy communion at the age of ten years. When told to prepare herself for this happy event, her joy was inexpressible. She had prayed for the favor of being admitted soon to the holy table, but the answer to her prayers came so much sooner than she expected that her surprise was as great as her joy. In later years it was a special subject of thanksgiving with her that she had been