NOVICE

The Novice, with the exception of the large rosary and crucifix that will be given her on the day of her profession, is really identical with all the other Carmelite Sisters. From that moment her body will be given over to all their penances, and her spirit will have to undergo a continuous and austere mortification.

As one despoils a garden of flowers to cast them on the ground in a procession of the Blessed Sacrament, so the Novice throws at the feet of God the white petals of her daily sacrifices, so that in the paths of her soul the only plants growing should be eternal ones.

In this incessant work of climbing she is not alone, but is assisted by the Novice Mistress. Her mission is to guide the inexperienced young Novice up the steep slopes of Carmel, so that she may gain all that is implied in the words "Carmelite perfection" without any curtailment.

St. Theresa of Avila, in brief strokes, traces all the lines of direction that the Mistress must use towards the Novice. "For the love of God", writes Anne of Jesus, Prioress of Granada, "I implore you to think that you are educating souls that are to become Spouses of the Crucified! Well then, crucify them! Conduct them to the point of no longer having a will of their own."

The Novice must be taught from the very beginning and fully, about everything that gives reason to the very fact of her religious choice: Which sentiments are, in fact, the same that inspired the prophet Elias. The whole motive of the life of a Carmelite is the presence of the living God; it is in the sole working out of this thought, at all times and in everything, that the young Novice has to be trained in all its actuality.

The nakedness of their cells, with their plain black cross instead of a crucifix, the almost total absence of books, gives to this Presence a most suggestive meaning. Everything in their cells recalls to the mind that the possessions of man are but vanity. Only one thing is necessary.

In the presence of God, of which one is always reminded, lies the secret of Carmel. The Novice will group all her actions into a plan of solitude, silence and bareness especially in the most important hour of the day, the hour of her mental prayer.

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The Mistress of the Novices at that time was M. Theresa Mary of Jesus, worthy sister of Cardinal Guadagni, also a member of the Carmelite Order who had died in the odor of sanctity, She was an austere woman, but gifted with great discernment and prudence in gaining the hearts of the young ones confided to her care and bringing them to the real spirit of the Seraphic Saint Theresa.

She saw at once that the young Sister Theresa Margaret had great courage and a generous soul and that she was called to a high state of perfection. She resolved, therefore, to do her best to cultivate in her the admirable gifts of grace and virtue she had already received from God. In this she followed the spirit of the Constitutions which said that the Novice Mistress must teach the Novices to go against their own will, even in the smallest things; mortifying them in proportion to the strength and virtue that she found in each.

The Novice Mistress wished to be convinced of the worth of this new daughter, and as she could find in her but few external faults with which to mortify and shame her, she had recourse to the remedy of the Saints; she humbled her in every way. It was always a rebuff and a reproof for our poor Novice who always did wrong. Theresa Margaret never excused herself when chided and was then told that it must be her pride that kept her dumb.

One day, during recreation, Sister Theresa Margaret was told to learn how to fold the fine church linens. She obeyed with alacrity and to see better how it was done, she went and knelt by the side of her instructress. As she was naturally quick and intelligent she understood very quickly and exclaimed with eager vivacity: "Give it to me, I know how to do it now". The Novice Mistress at once reproved her, saying: "Sister Theresa Margaret, I am surprised at you. I thought you more humble, kindly stay where you are and continue to learn that you may do better". Judging herself guilty and fully worthy of reproof, she immediately prostrated herself with her face on the ground, as is usual in such cases in Carmel, waiting for permission to rise. The Novice Mistress continued to chide her. "Do you not know", she said, "that the foundation of perfection is humility? Try to remember this. Now you may rise". The poor girl rose and without making any excuses for herself, simply thanked the Novice Mistress, adding: "May God reward you for your charity". She then resumed her first position and her watching of the folding and pleating of the linen with serene good humor as if nothing had happened. At the end of recreation, while the Novices were returning to their cells, she approached the Assistant Mistress and begged her in a whisper: "Please pray that I may become less proud". The good Nun, Sister Mary Anna Piccolomini, felt a greater admiration for her than before; all the more, as she later testified in the process for beatification, since she had never been able to detect in her the slightest trace of pride. Many a time, the young Novice, after an utterly unmerited correction, would remain for several minutes on her knees before the severe Mistress, so long in fact, that the others would begin to wonder if the latter had forgotten to give the Novice permission to rise, and they would remind her about it. "I will bid her rise", she stiffly replied, "when the right moment comes." Sister Theresa Margaret would get up quite unruffled after her humiliating experience and resume her work cheerfully.

All the Novices were lost in admiration of her virtues and the Mistress herself could see how this soul was growing daily in grace. Notwithstanding her lively and ardent temperament, Sister Theresa Margaret could subdue all her natural feelings so well by mortification, that she always seemed filled with peace and joy. However much the Novice Mistress humiliated this Novice in public, she esteemed her greatly in her heart and held her up as a model to her Sisters in religion.

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