"This improvement did not last long. Mother Sacred Heart [Mother Saint John Fontbonne's successor as Superior General] had to write soon: 'The health of our venerated Mother Saint John has been failing for some days. This causes us grave fears, since her great age renders her unable to fight against the sickness. We must hope in God. Let us redouble our prayers for her preservation. You know how justly she is entitled to our filial love. She has been, so to speak, the maker of our congregation. Her long administration has been remarkable for the wisdom of her acts, her counsels and the fruitfulness of her works. There is scarcely one among us, whom she has not received to her holy vows. Her goodness, her great perfection and her admirable regularity have made her, and still make her, at the age of eighty-four, a model for all. Should not these memories excite in us an ardent desire for the restoration of her health? With what fervor ought we not united in prayer to God that He leave to us for our imitation, our gratitude, and our love, one so full of experience, virtues and merits?'
"This letter, dated March 11, 1843, evoked in the congregation a redoubling of prayers. God showed that He heard them, by prolonging the life of the dear invalid for several months. The time was drawing near when Mother Saint John was to depart to see Him for Whom she had suffered. She languished for several months. Her daughters flocked around her. Each one wished to lavish cares on her, and to receive her counsels, because they felt that they were the last. Mother Sacred Heart spent herself and spared nothing to prolong those precious days.
"The dear patient was more than ever admirable. No complaint and no moan came from her lips; and the peace of her soul radiated her countenance. With perfect calmness, she spoke of her death. 'Have I much longer to live?' she asked a few moments before her death. 'Your chains will soon be broken,' was the answer. At these words, a celestial smile shone on her face. Calmly and peacefully she waited, wishing only to do the will of God. She did not wait long. With an almost imperceptible sigh, she left the earth... Mother Sacred Heart wrote: 'Our Reverend Mother Saint John is no more. After sixty-three and a half years of religious profession, God called her to Himself, on the morning of November 22, 1843, aged eighty-four years and eight months. Her last moments were as beautiful as her life had been. Patience and her usual sweetness accompanied her to the end. She died the death of the just, full of years and merits. Her obsequies took place on the twenty-third, with a religious pomp, worthy of her who was its object. All the Sisters, who were able, came to take part in the ceremonies. It was very consoling to see them, in the name of the whole congregation, pay a last tribute of regret and love to her whom we had so long venerated as a most perfect Religious, the wisest and most prudent of Superiors and the most tender of mothers. We are happy to express our gratitude to them. Let us remember in our prayers the soul of our beloved Mother and may the ardor of our supplications in her behalf correspond to the benefits we have received from her, and to the rich heritage of religious traditions she has bequeathed to us.'
"Mother Saint John is no more. To her daughters of the two worlds, who venerate her, what remains today? There remains her portrait which they are happy to contemplate. There remains her memory which brings them back to the source of their Institute and renews their fervor. The last years of Mother Saint John, with all their sufferings and humiliations, are a fitting close to a life which, from earliest childhood, was spent solely in the service of God. Without those years, which were the real test of her virtue, Mother Saint John's example to the world would have lost much of its lustre, while her soul would have been deprived of great merit before God. Without those years, the crowning proof of her pure, unselfish love ..., the blessings obtained by their holy Foundress would not have enriched, during all these years, her Religious family throughout the world...
"We read in Canon Rivaux that Mother Saint John had received from the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII, a brief in which she was appointed Superior General of the Congregation of Saint Joseph for life; but her modesty kept it constantly hidden. It was found when she changed her room. However great a distinction is this brief, in our opinion it does less honor to Mother Saint John than the beautiful, dignified and simple manner with which she bore her trial. 'A great suffering is a great majesty.' God wished to add this to all the other dignities of His Chosen One.
"'Three months after the death of Mother Saint John, when one of her daughters, who was quite devoted to her, offered to the Cure of Ars an honorarium for Masses for the repose of her soul, the holy priest refused, saying: 'Your Reverend Mother does not need them. She is high in glory. I know it.'
"When the humble Mother Saint John gave an account of her stewardship, she could show to her Judge more than three thousand Religious and two hundred forty-four convents of Saint Joseph founded or restored to unity from 1807 to 1838."
"This letter, dated March 11, 1843, evoked in the congregation a redoubling of prayers. God showed that He heard them, by prolonging the life of the dear invalid for several months. The time was drawing near when Mother Saint John was to depart to see Him for Whom she had suffered. She languished for several months. Her daughters flocked around her. Each one wished to lavish cares on her, and to receive her counsels, because they felt that they were the last. Mother Sacred Heart spent herself and spared nothing to prolong those precious days.
"The dear patient was more than ever admirable. No complaint and no moan came from her lips; and the peace of her soul radiated her countenance. With perfect calmness, she spoke of her death. 'Have I much longer to live?' she asked a few moments before her death. 'Your chains will soon be broken,' was the answer. At these words, a celestial smile shone on her face. Calmly and peacefully she waited, wishing only to do the will of God. She did not wait long. With an almost imperceptible sigh, she left the earth... Mother Sacred Heart wrote: 'Our Reverend Mother Saint John is no more. After sixty-three and a half years of religious profession, God called her to Himself, on the morning of November 22, 1843, aged eighty-four years and eight months. Her last moments were as beautiful as her life had been. Patience and her usual sweetness accompanied her to the end. She died the death of the just, full of years and merits. Her obsequies took place on the twenty-third, with a religious pomp, worthy of her who was its object. All the Sisters, who were able, came to take part in the ceremonies. It was very consoling to see them, in the name of the whole congregation, pay a last tribute of regret and love to her whom we had so long venerated as a most perfect Religious, the wisest and most prudent of Superiors and the most tender of mothers. We are happy to express our gratitude to them. Let us remember in our prayers the soul of our beloved Mother and may the ardor of our supplications in her behalf correspond to the benefits we have received from her, and to the rich heritage of religious traditions she has bequeathed to us.'
"Mother Saint John is no more. To her daughters of the two worlds, who venerate her, what remains today? There remains her portrait which they are happy to contemplate. There remains her memory which brings them back to the source of their Institute and renews their fervor. The last years of Mother Saint John, with all their sufferings and humiliations, are a fitting close to a life which, from earliest childhood, was spent solely in the service of God. Without those years, which were the real test of her virtue, Mother Saint John's example to the world would have lost much of its lustre, while her soul would have been deprived of great merit before God. Without those years, the crowning proof of her pure, unselfish love ..., the blessings obtained by their holy Foundress would not have enriched, during all these years, her Religious family throughout the world...
"We read in Canon Rivaux that Mother Saint John had received from the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII, a brief in which she was appointed Superior General of the Congregation of Saint Joseph for life; but her modesty kept it constantly hidden. It was found when she changed her room. However great a distinction is this brief, in our opinion it does less honor to Mother Saint John than the beautiful, dignified and simple manner with which she bore her trial. 'A great suffering is a great majesty.' God wished to add this to all the other dignities of His Chosen One.
"'Three months after the death of Mother Saint John, when one of her daughters, who was quite devoted to her, offered to the Cure of Ars an honorarium for Masses for the repose of her soul, the holy priest refused, saying: 'Your Reverend Mother does not need them. She is high in glory. I know it.'
"When the humble Mother Saint John gave an account of her stewardship, she could show to her Judge more than three thousand Religious and two hundred forty-four convents of Saint Joseph founded or restored to unity from 1807 to 1838."
from Mother Saint John Fontbonne: A Biography translation adapted from the original French edition by a Sister of Saint Joseph Brentwood, New York
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