Page:For Remembrance (ed. Repplier) 101.jpg

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

cated by documents and seals from Rome. This is the body of St. Justin, a child martyr of the early pagan persecutions. The gift was bestowed by His Holiness "Pius IX" on the Countess de Boutourlin. The daughter of this lady having become a religious of the Sacred Heart, the mother gave the valued relics to the society; and, when the Eden chapel was consecrated as a church, Reverend Mother Barat, through the hands of Mother Hardey, bestowed it on the American convent. The final depositing of these holy bones in their present shrine was made by Bishop Wood, of Philadelphia, in 1867.

For the old pupils of Eden, the thought of its church is perhaps closest to memory and dearest to heart, among the many close and dear relics that accompany them through life. Its picture has value, and even a word concerning it is not worthless, for its aisles, its altar, its nooks, keep sacred hours of the past safe in those quiet shadows which breathe out incense. TO us, the "old children," who so loved it, its very gain in outward beauty through the last twenty years has brought something like a pang, simply because we could not find it in our hearts to wish it other than it was. Beloved old walls, you have witnessed our schoolgirl woes, triumphs, tragedies and raptures, and you sanctified them. To the same sanctifying influence we have often brought life's real sorrows and deep joys, and we have gone forth with tears and with peace, for our souls had saluted the Saving Host and found rest.

H. M. W.



71