Dear Readers,
When Saint Brother André, CSC, was canonized last year, on October 17, with the help of the media, we were able to relive the last moments of his life and of his death and scenes of his funeral. The public had not forgotten this humble Canadian-born man, a model of prayer, of charity and a great friend of Saint Joseph.
Recently, the whole world rejoiced at the news of the forthcoming beatification of John Paul II, a pope of our times and probably the only one a generation has ever known. The media once more was instrumental in helping us be united to the deeply touched and prayerful crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square to witness the last moments of his earthly life and participate in his funeral.
Mother Élisabeth Bruyère was not forgotten by those who knew her, lived with her and who benefited from her great charity and compassion. Beginning with this issue, Volume 30 of ECHOES intends to inform us of facts and circumstances surrounding her last illness, her death and funeral, accompanied by moving testimonies of faithful who recognized in her a woman of great respect and consideration for people of all races, cultures and religions.
The road to sainthood is open to everybody: the humble Porter, the great Pope, the courageous Foundress lead the way. Let us pray for progress in the Cause of Beatification of Mother Bruyère and for the hopeful joy of invoking her as another Blessed Canadian.
The Staff
The Centre for the Cause of Élisabeth Bruyère
9 Bruyère Street
OTTAWA ON K1N 5C9
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Scenes taken from everyday life
The hidden camera pursues its task of revealing
Mother Bruyère’s truly human personality.
Religion and Controversy
Contrary to the trend of her time, Mother Bruyère always showed an ecumenical presence of mind. Her hospital is open to sick of all religious denominations and even her boarding school is open to young Protestant ladies. She welcomes the Anglican Minister who comes “to talk about his excellent religion to some patients”. However, her insight is not always shared by everybody.
Towards the end of August 1860, she and her travelling companion Sr. Marie-de-la-Nativité, set sail for France. The purpose of the trip was to study the feasibility of affiliating the Ottawa Sisters to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux. The ten-day crossing had more or less interesting encounters in store for them.
In her Diary, Mother Bruyère reported a conversation she had with an elderly Anglican lady, highly educated, who spoke to her of Fénélon and Bossuet. For her part, she spoke of Faber, who had embraced Catholicism shortly after Newman, and who was still living; the lady said :
“Oh! don’t talk to me about them. I do not like those men” - “But, if he is converted, it does not keep him from being a great man, even in the eyes of Protestants. [...] Well, admit it, you have given us good men”.
For her part, in her own Diary, Sr. Marie-de-la-Nativité reported an incident that occurred on September 2, 1861:
“Aboard the ship were two ministers. One of them kept looking for controversy. As he was attracted to St. Augustin, M. Bruyère had him notice, laughingly, that she was surprised to hear him resort so often to Saints of the Catholic Church. He needed less in order that he might trace the origins of the Reformation back to the first centuries of Christianity. To this, the superior answered that if she had greater fluency in his language, she would have no trouble countering his assertions. She pointed out that his preaching would have a better chance of producing results if he addressed the sailors instead of two Catholic nuns, and she ended up telling him that his discussions displeased them, and that for their part, they were not bothering anyone, and that they wished to be left in peace. On that, the conversation shifted to banal topics and ended up peaceably.”
Mother Bruyère was a decisive woman, a woman of character!
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Mother Bruyère relates...
The Last Stage
When a loved one passes away, relatives and friends are anxious to learn about the circumstances surrounding the death and final stages of the disease. On the occasion of the 135th anniversary of Mother Bruyère’s death next April 5th, we bring you the following moving as well as edifying facts that gradually took place during the final months of her earthly life. These excerpts are taken from Émilien Lamirande’s biography: “Élisabeth Bruyère, Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa”.
At the time of her death, on April 5, 1876, M. Bruyère had just turned fifty-eight years of age. She had already become familiar with death, having gone through many illnesses and having asked often it if would not have been more advantagious to leave this world with no further delay. She had lived a full life, but in spite of everything, at a slower pace than that of today. She had the feeling of having lived a long time, of having fulfilled the mission entrusted to her, and since she was afraid of neither the judgment nor the encounter with her God, she could only welcome the thought that her time had come.
THE EXPERIENCE OF ILLNESS
Twice, prior to entering the Grey Nuns then in 1847, M. Bruyère had been seriously ill; the nature of her illness could not be found. As the years went by, she became vulnerable to ailments of all types. She repeatedly had to spend time in the infirmary and sometimes for prolonged periods. Insomnia regularly disturbed her night’s rest.
The superior did not complain but neither did she hide her general discomfort. She resorted to the medicines of the day, but found little relief.
In 1856, there was fear of a stroke of paralysis and M. Bruyère acknowledged that her pace of life was a contributor. She wrote to her cousin J. Dulong :
“It could be caused by the lack of exercise; pray that I experience a conversion, for it seems that I have been too sedentary; it would be better if I walked more than I do now...”
In 1859, she was confined to a dark room for more than a month, suffering from an eye ailment that kept her from reading and writing at night for a long time; she could only engage in knitting. In the summer of 1860, there was fear of cancer.
The last years of M. Bruyère were particularly trying. It was as if all the ills came down on her: inflammation of the liver, jaundice, an incipient erysipelas, inflammation of the brain, leg pains, pneumonia, inflammation of the lungs, palpitations, tumor in the left breast, without mentioning frequent insomnias, all diagnosed by physicians. Regardless of what one thinks of their science, no one can challenge either the frequency or the variety of the ailments that afflicted the superior.
The year 1873 was particularly bad for M. Bruyère. In the Fall, there was fear that the tumour in the left breast would prove fatal, but it soon seemed to reabsorb itself. When she wrote her daughters in the end-of-the-year circular, the superior presented herself thus :
“A Mother who believed she had only farewells to address to you with her last recommendations.”
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THE THOUGHT OF DEATH
M. Bruyère was never, however, obsessed with death. She confided to her friend, M. Catherine Aurélie :
“One never gets used to the thought of death. However, God gives me the grace of not being frightened by it.”
The attitude of M. Bruyère toward death closely correlated with her concerns relative to health. The latter seemed precious to her, as we have seen, since it allowed one to accomplish good. Life itself was a favour of which one must take advantage. And so she wrote to Sr. Ste-Marie in 1866 :
Sr. St. Liguori is dead to the world but no doubt she is living for her God. Is she not happy to have run her course? But do not, for that, ask to die; your turn will come soon enough. Be happy to live to do all the good possible.
At the time of the retreat of 1871, she had alluded to the subject in one of her conferences :
A religious should always be ready to die, and that is what keeps her from allowing herself to feel dejected, like people of the world. Our Protestant students, at the time of the epidemics, came to admire our courage and found us lucky not to be afraid of death. Yet, the thought of death always brings a certain fright, but if you make your retreat seriously, if those who are holy become even holier, if those who are imperfect reform themselves, you will see death coming without fear; are we not happy to find our sisters so peaceful, so resigned, so well-prepared for death?
M. Bruyère was no less sensitive to the demise of her daughters and found therein for herself and the others a call to vigilance. She wrote in 1874 :
Death, the unmerciful death that spares no one, weighed more heavily on us this year than I can say. Be that as it may, let us worship the God whose hand falls heavily on us only to warn us to be prepared always.
At times, she declared herself indifferent to life or death, as in a letter to her cousin in 1858 :
“For me, a long or short life is the same thing; death cannot harm my undertakings. I rather believe that it would be an advantage to die before I am too indebted to the divine justice.”
However, this last notion did not prevail in her, but acceptance of the divine will did, as she explained in 1865 to Sr. Phelan :
I am submissive in everything to whatever God wills, life or death are equal to me. However, if in living longer I must earn a few more degrees of love in heaven, I am resigned to suffer as long as the world exists, if necessary, but if God wanted to call me to him sooner, I would not want to do anything to delay it, for I would consider myself most happy to go meet the beloved Savior of souls...
“I am submissive in everything
to whatever God wills”
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The same assertion could be found a few years later in 1869:
“Yet, I do not fear death; if it pleased God to cut short my days, I would consider death a gain. But I do not wish to ask for it, it would be too imperfect.”
During M. Bruyère’s time, it was generally taken for granted that the souls of the deceased had to pass through a long period of purification prior to attaining the heavenly reward. M. Bruyère, at the death of sisters, adopted a rather optimistic attitude relative to their deliverance from purgatory.
As a woman who attended the dying, M. Bruyère was conscious of how painful death could be, and she granted no value to suffering per se. She hoped, thinking in terms of transition, that the day of her death would be “the sweetest” or “the most beautiful” of her life, but she did not necessarily expect an exhilarating experience. She knew that it was not given, even to the greatest saints, “to die in transports of love or ecstasy.”
THE LAST MONTHS
In early August 1875, the illness that would prove fatal for M. Bruyère broke out, and serious concerns arose in all around her. With her condition worsening, the Drs Hill, Grant and Beaubien held a consultation, diagnosed a heart disease (cardiac hypertrophy or dropsy) and deemed that M. Bruyère’s constitution was ruined; a mere nothing could take her away.
September 6 was a bad day, and Dr Taché thought it was time for the last sacraments. It was at this time that the houses outside of Ottawa were notified and that prayers for her recovery were sought from various sources, notably the bishops who had been dealing with M. Bruyère. The sisters undertook one novena after another and multiplied their sacrifices and mortifications. The request was for nothing short of a miracle, since the disease seemed incurable and the danger imminent.
On October 7, a new alert. It was at this time that M. Bruyère addressed these words to her daughters:
My dear children, death is unpleasant because of its accompanying features, but is also has its consolations... Be humble, obedient, and respectful toward your superiors. Oh! most of all, be charitable, love one another, and be of service to others for the love of God. Banish all jealousy, envy and tale-bearing. God will not forsake the community if you are humble, charitable and obedient, if you work at stripping yourself of egotism...
“Most of all, be charitable,
love one another”
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Another respite came about, after which she developed a bloatedness suggesting that the illness had entered its last phase. The sick Mother was resigned to any eventuality. On October 18, she said:
“My dear Sisters, always pray with confidence, I am very resigned to God’s will; if he wishes to give me health, I will work again, and if he wants me to die, these prayers will not be lost.”
On November 21, feeling very poorly, she asked to call together the professed sisters of the house, and she began by asking their forgiveness:
At the point I have reached, Sisters, I feel that I cannot last long; therefore, I asked that you come so that I may ask all of you, and to each one personally, to forgive whatever hurt I could have caused you. I ask Sr. Assistant to beg forgiveness for me from the sisters in the missions.
She mentioned her first companions.
“Love your senior sisters; these poor sisters have worked very hard to form you; respect them, overlook the faults that you think they have.”
In turn, before leaving their sick Mother, the sisters begged her forgiveness. She responded :
It is true that you also may have caused me a few sorrows as I could to you, but that is all forgotten. I have no right to bless you, but God knows that from the depth of my heart, I bless all of you... Pray much that I not stay long in purgatory. If I have the good fortune to go to heaven, we will all meet again one day; it will be a great celebration.
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THE FINAL DAYS
By the end of March, M. Bruyère had reached “the greatest state of weakness, of complete exhaustion”. The end, from now on, was very near. On the 27, the doctor advised that again she be given the last rites. Fr. Tabaret, who came to visit the moribund Superior, found her perfectly lucid. The superior was concerned about seeing herself so calm in the face of death, and recalled the end of the bishop who had caused her to suffer, but to whom she had always remained attached. It was noted:
Tonight, our beloved Mother was saying that if she had not witnessed the perfect tranquillity of Bishop Guigues in his last hours, that she would fear the state of calm and of security in which she found herself, but that the sweet recollection reassured her.
Next day, Fr. Tabaret spoke to the sisters assembled in the chapel, and while praising the dying superior, disclosed that she had received more than her share of reproaches. There follows here, as they were recorded, the very words of a man who had been one of the most intimate confidants of M. Bruyère:
Our good Fr. Tabaret told us that we were gathered to assist at the last visit of Our Lord to our dying Mother. We were to see a last sign of love and predilection of Our Lord toward a privileged soul, one he had chosen for himself to perform works which, in his sight, our congregation must carry on, a soul to whom he had given great graces. Your Mother loved you, she loved all of you, she loved everyone of you very specially. Take advantage of this last visit to your Mother, to unite the offering of your whole being to the renovation she herself will make of what is left her, to strengthen the bonds of charity that must unite you one to the other, to penetrate yourselves more and more with her spirit, and to give a new impulse to the attachment you bear your Congregation.
After that short speech, the sisters, bearing candles, directed themselves processionally to the room of their dying Mother. Fr. Tabaret followed, carrying the Blessed Sacrament. Once they had arrived by her, he said, in substance :
Mother, here are your daughters who come to thank the Lord for the graces he granted you, to promise you that they will do all they can to love the duties you have taught them, and to be but one heart and one soul as you have so often recommended. Continue, Mother, to offer your sufferings for the community, to call down God’s blessing on the works of the Congregation.
The superiors of the nearest houses began to arrive. To the few sisters who happened to be near her, M. Bruyère succeeded in saying :
“A greater mortification, a greater humility, and with much good will, much can be done.”
On April 3, a rapid distortion of the face was observed. The suffering was violent, but the sick Mother remained attentive to the sisters around her. Every now and then, she glanced about her and said: “Poor children.” In the course of the following day, she seemed absorbed and often pronounced, in a hardly audible manner, the words: “My good Jesus.”
On the morning of the 5th, Fr. Tabaret went to the moribund Superior and renewed the absolution. Soon it was announced that she was nearing the point of death. Between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m., she drew her last breath.
The emotion, until then restrained, gave way. The tears, the sobs, that was all that was heard all over the house. With the bishop’s authorization, four physicians proceeded to do an autopsy and set apart the heart that the Sisters hoped to preserve. The mortal remains were placed in a poor coffin covered with a white fabric, and she lay in state that afternoon in the community room. A considerable crowd filed before her, touching her with pious objects.”
On the 6, the bishop came to the mother house to celebrate a first funeral service and addressed these words to the community :
Sisters, I came to pray with you this morning for the repose of the soul of her whom you regret, and to express to you the deep sympathy I bear your Congregation. Yes, weep – you are allowed to shed tears on the loss of the one who received you in the community. Weep for the one who, by her perseverance and spirit of sacrifice, assured the future of your congregation. Pray also that if she does not yet possess the heavenly glory, she may enjoy it soon.
The funeral services took place on the 7 at the cathedral. The community custom for the bier had been respected, but for the rest, Bishop Duhamel had ordered that nothing be spared, since it was a “public homage of respect” which the diocese wished to render the deceased, of whom the citizens were saying :
“Mother Bruyère was the mother of the whole city of Ottawa; she did so much good.”
“Mother Bruyère was the mother
of the whole city of Ottawa;
she did so much good.”
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The body was then placed in the sepulchral vault of the cathedral.
Expressions of sympathy gave way to manifestations of great admiration for the departed foundress. While in the mission in Red River out West, Sr. Curran gave this moving testimony:
“It is consoling to know that our forever regretted Mother had, for a long time, been ripe for heaven, for she was enjoying the reward of a full life. She will continue to watch over the community she left fully imbued with her spirit, which was truly that of God”.
Let us add only, on the subject of our departed heroine, these words of Father Tabaret, superior of the College (University) of Ottawa :
“In her illness, I admired the sublimity of her humility, of her obedience. Virtues that perfect could only ensure immediate entrance to heaven. Also, when in her last moments, I was reciting the prayers of the Ritual, I found it difficult to be praying for her; I was more disposed to invoke her. Live then, dear Sisters, in the remembrance of her virtues; be comforted in the thought that in heaven, she will continue to exercise her charity toward you, you whom she loved so tenderly”.
Strange as is may be in the eyes of our contemporaries, this gesture shows the great esteem the daughters of Mother Bruyère had for their cherished Mother. Her heart, centre and symbol of affection, still occupies a place of honour at the Mother house. Forthcoming issues of ECHOES will further expand on the facts surrounding the death of the Servant of God, Élisabeth Bruyère, some of which have some bearing on us today.
We mourn her because her presence was always so pleasant and for the
edification provided by her virtues, her kind conversation, her generous and
maternal heart, her saintly soul; but none of that is really taken away from us
except her physical presence. The fond souvenir of her virtues remains and serves
as a model for us. [...] Her soul remains for she is in God, and that is where we
can reach her, listen to her and speak to her.
Mother Catherine-Aurélie of the Precious Blood. |
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Children’s Corner
Sad News
- Sister Thibodeau, is it true that Mother Bruyère is very ill?
- Yes, the doctor said that she has a very sick heart. She even has to stay in bed.
- I am very sorry to hear that. Do you think that she is going to die? It would be so sad not to be able to talk to her. She is so good and I love her so much.
- She used to spoil us with her stories, her biscuits and even with beautiful apples.
- Her recovery is unlikely. However she is still very courageous. She had been ill often before and the doctor always succeeded to nurse her back to health.
- Is she afraid to die?
- Not at all, but she feels sorry for those she will leave behind.
- I will never forget her. I will join my friends and we will all pray together for her.
Mother Bruyère won the affection of all the children she met. Here is a picture of some of her friends.
Can you find the 8 differences between the following two drawings full of souvenirs?
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WHAT WE FIND IN OUR MAILBOX ...
... and HEAR ON OUR TELEPHONE
THANK YOU,
DEAR MOTHER BRUYÈRE
I am sending you a money-order for a mass in thanksgiving to Mother Bruyère for all the favours she obtained for me in 2010 ( R.);
Please find herewith a donation I had promised relying on the help of Mother Bruyère for the sale of my house (F);
Ten years ago, I was tested for memory at the Memory Disorder Clinic and at the time, I was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimers. I was tested each year for the last ten years, and each year, I visited your chapel and asked Mother Bruyère that I would not get any worse. Last year, I was taken off the drug for Alzheimers and told I need not come back as I remained at the same status as I was when I first came in (S.);
Thank you Mother Bruyère! I sold my house within a short period of time. I will keep on making you known through the prayers and relics (S).
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“Cries from the heart” to Mother Bruyère
(Every evening, the Sisters pray this perpetual Novena
in the intentions of those who recommend themselves
to her intercession).
Prayer
Father of loving kindness,
in Mother Bruyère
You have given us
a heart attentive to all needs,
a soul open to all types of suffering.
Confident in her powerful intercession,
through her, we dare to present
our most intimate intentions (…)
and those of all the persons
who confide in her maternal heart (…)
In the name of your Son Jesus
we beseech you to
hear our humble prayers
and grant to your Church
the grace of the Beatification
of your faithful servant Élisabeth Bruyère.
Amen.
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Dear Mother Bruyère, obtain the conversion I am asking you (B);
Take under your care this child whose father is brutal and the mother mentally deficient (N);
I pray you for my daughter that her cyst may not be cancerous (J);
Pray for my husband and I as we grow old and weak, and for our children who suffer physically (G);
I entrust you with my sister-in-law suffering from leukemia and my suicidal grandson (S.);
Intercede for E. who is 33 and suffering from lung cancer ( R.); heal N. suffering from epilepsy ( R.);
I pray to you for the rapid sale of my house (S.); please, I need help with the sale of my house (J.); dear Mother Bruyère, help my son who wants to buy a slaughterhouse;
Mother Bruyère I commend to your care A. whose kidney cancer is spreading. Heal him completely (M.);
I am placing my family under your protection, especially my husband who has cancer (L.);
I entrust to your care my spouse suffering from memory loss (J.-G.);
I entrust you with the care of all the members of my family (C.); I pray you to grant harmony within our family (A.);
I am placing my family under your protection, especially my husband who has cancer (L.);
Intercede for me so I may find light, courage and strength to make the right decision on which depends my happiness (S.);
Protect young X., 18 months old, and suffering from a mouth infection ( R.); come to my aid so my blood sugar may normalize (A.);
Mother Bruyère, pray for me: I will undergo surgery for a cancer under my eyelid (G.);
Please pray for the continued improvement of my health and that of my children and grandchildren.
(L);
I entrust to you a friend who is seriously ill (H); grant that my health will improve; I am threatened with the loss of autonomy (P.);
Watch over this couple on the verge of separation; help to find a better solution to the custody of the 4 children (S.);
Shed some light on this couple in the process of divorcing; protect all parties concerned: spouse, friend, children (S.);
My son is quadriplegic following an automobile accident in 1997. Through Mother Bruyère, I am asking for the miracle that would allow him to walk again... in God’s time (C.);
Please help my son who is looking for a job (M);
I entrust you with my health problems : high blood pressure, angina and other cardiac ailments (M.);
I am asking you to heal this person with cancer of the lungs (J.).
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Signs
of faith and expressions of hope
“I take pleasure in telling you that Mother Bruyère has answered the prayers for my grand daughter. She had been notified that she had failed her academic year and during the holidays, she received notice of the contrary. I am proud of my grand daughters, they all studied Health Sciences and I know that Mother Bruyère will continue to watch over them” (G.);
“It is always a pleasure to receive ECHOES and to give thanks with all those whose prayers were answered” (S.);
“I am happy to be united with you in payer. We are heartily grateful to our Mother Bruyère for interceding for the well being of our family” (M.);
“At night, I speak to Mother Bruyère and ask her to help me. When things are not going well, I speak to her and to my guardian angel. It gives me courage” (L.);
Mother Bruyère is my very special friend. Many are the times when I have called and requested prayers for friends who are looking for jobs, trying to sell their house or summer home, and each time she has granted my requests. [...] I keep her relic under my pillow and pray to her several times a day” (S.).
