The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello by Rev. Fr. William R. Bonniwell

Author:Rev. Fr. William R. Bonniwell [Bonniwell, Rev. Fr. William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TAN Books
Published: 2015-04-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter XI

MARGARET IS EXPELLED FROM THE CONVENT

Despite her youth and inexperience, Margaret understood the nature of convent life. She knew that a girl entered the convent not because she was necessarily a saint, but because she wished to become one. The blind girl was too intelligent to share the popular illusion that the taking of the veil automatically, as it were, eradicated one's personal shortcomings. She realized that, normally, spiritual perfection could be acquired only after many years of the most arduous self-discipline. Consequently, the obvious imperfections and the weaknesses of the various Sisters in the monastery did not in the least disturb Margaret's peace of mind.

But there was one phase of her religious life which did perplex her. It was the same problem which, both before and after Margaret's time, has troubled the members of any religious Order that has noticeably lowered its primitive standards of discipline. In joining the community, Margaret bound herself to live according to the Rule of that Order. Now, the Rule has been drawn up by a saint of the loftiest ideals and of the courage necessary to be true to those ideals. During the lifetime of the saint, when zeal and enthusiasm ran high among his followers, the observance of the Rule was maintained at a correspondingly high level. But after his death, it was inevitable—human nature being what it was—that there should have set in a slow, almost imperceptible lessening of the severe requirements and the stern austerities of the primitive Rule. This gradual decline had now been going on for some centuries. The average novice, noticing the discrepancy between the Rule and the actual life of the nuns, would be reassured by the explanation:

"The Rule was written ages ago! Today, one could not live up to it in all its details. Times have changed too much!"

Unfortunately for Margaret's peace of mind, she was well above the average in intelligence, and furthermore possessed a candor that allowed no evasion where any moral principle was at stake. As a result, she could not reconcile the explanation with the facts.

Thus, the Rule insisted on the value of silence at certain periods of the day and night; yet this rule was ignored. Margaret heard the nuns talking day and night on unimportant subjects; conversations were freely held in the corridor, in the rooms, and even in the refectory during meals, despite the admonition of the Rule that silence be preserved in all three places at all times. The novice mistress explained to the blind girl that it was more important to be sociable ("Charity, you know, is the greatest virtue") than it was to preserve silence. But Margaret's difficulty was that she could not understand why it was not possible to be charitable and at the same time observe the Rule.

The Rule frowned on frequent visits to the parlor to entertain visitors. Yet all day long there was a stream of relatives and friends calling on the Sisters; as a result, many hours were lost in idle conversations.

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