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 I besought my Creator, whom I had so often offended, to deign to accept for the torments I had merited, those that I then voluntarily underwent; and the thought that his mercy consented to it, filled my soul with such heavenly consolation that I was happy in the midst of my pain."

On their return Lapa tried in vain to obtain from Catharine a relaxation in her austere practices; her daughter turned a deaf ear, and only implored her, day by day, to go and press the " Sisters of Penance/' to no longer refuse her the holy habit for which she languished. Lapa, overcome by her importunities consented to it. The sisters replied that it was not their custom to give their habits to young maidens, but to widows of mature age, who had consecrated themselves to God; that they kept no enclosure (or cloister,) but that each sister must be capable of governing herself at home. Lapa returned with this answer, which was, we may presume, less painful to her, than to her pious daughter.

The Spouse of Jesus Christ was not however troubled; she trusted in the promise she had received from heaven, and solicited anew its accomplishment. She told her mother that she was not discouraged, and that she must insist with the sisters, and Lapa yielded at length to her earnestness, but returned home without any better success.

In the mean time Catherine was seized with a malady common to young persons in her country. Providence had his designs. Lapa loved all her children with tenderness, but this one in particular. The poor mother sat by her bedside, giving her every imaginable remedy and seeking to console her; but Catherine, amidst her sufferings, only pursued with new ardor the object of her desires