Page:Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guerin Foundress.djvu/53

Rh The words would seem to refer to this incident; nor should we be surprised, knowing the fervor and purity of her life, and the great devotion she always entertained towards the heavenly messengers of God.

Madame Guérin had a magnanimous soul, which caused her to be as fervent in reparation as she had been unreasonable in her daughter's regard. That she never repented having made the sacrifice is proved by an incident which occurred several years later. Monsieur Louis Letouzé, her son-in-law (her younger daughter, Marie-Jeanne, was married at this time), accompanied her in a visit to Mademoiselle Thérèse, who had entered the convent. He could not understand why so charming a person should bury herself within convent walls, and proposed to charge himself with procuring a dispensation for her from the Holy See if she would consent to return home. Madame Guérin hearing the proposal exclaimed: "What! take back from the altar the victim that has been offered?" Evidently Monsieur Letouzé had little idea of the obligations of vows, and still less of the character of her who had assumed their responsibilities. But this takes us in advance of our narrative.

Having obtained her mother's consent, it now remained for Mademoiselle Guerin to choose the place of her retirement. Carmel had been her choice from early childhood, long before she felt assured of having a religious vocation. The prayerful and austere life of the daughters of St. Teresa, her patron by baptism, had great charms for her, and inspired many of the practices that were habitual to her. It would seem, besides, that her natural temperament, and her