Page 22 - Michael 2024 January

u wanting to completely liquidate the general hospital, painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suf-
so as to take back the land and buildings, which would fice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the
then be rightfully theirs. In addition, some elderly answer to this question...” (CCC, 309). “God is infin-
Hospitaller Brothers lived there—why replace them itely good and all His works are good. Yet no one can
with a community that didn’t yet exist? Wouldn’t that escape the experience of suffering or the evils in na-
be a flagrant departure from the founders’ intentions? ture which seem to be linked to the limitations proper
A petition signed by the most prominent citizens of to creatures,:and above all to the question of moral
Montreal, and sent to Count de Maurepas, the Secre- evil... ‘I sought whence evil comes and there was no
tary of State, demanded that Madame d’Youville be solution,’ said Saint Augustine, and his own painful
expelled from the city. Among the leaders of those quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the
who signed the petition were close relatives of Ma- living God. For the mystery of lawlessness (2 Thess
dame d’Youville, still 2:7) is clarified only in the light of the mystery of our
filled with strong resent- religion (1 Tim 3:16)” (CCC, 385).
ment against François “In time, we can discover that God in His almighty
d’Youville and his father Providence can bring a good from the consequences
who, through their traf- of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by His creatures.
ficking, had ruined many It was not you, said Joseph to his brothers, who sent
honest merchants, there- me here, but God... You meant evil against me; but
by disgracing the family. God meant it for good, to bring it about that many
On All Saints’ Day, people should be kept alive (Gn 45:8; 50:20)” (CCC,
Marguerite and her com- 312). Saint Augustine wrote, “For almighty God..., be-
panions left their house cause He is supremely good, would never allow any
to go to Mass. Immedi- evil whatsoever to exist in His works if He were not
ately, they were met by so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge
a crowd of people which from evil itself” (CCC, 311).
railed against them with “From the greatest moral evil ever committed—
shouts and screams, and the rejection and murder of God’s only Son, caused by
then chased them, hurling stones. In the days that the sins of all men—God, by His grace that abounded
followed, similar scenes recurred. Always consisting all the more (Rm 5:20), brought the greatest of goods:
in invented fabrications, the slander went at a good the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for
pace: the Sulpician priests were accused of furnishing all that, evil never becomes a good” (CCC, 312). “The
Madame d’Youville and her assistants with alcohol, revelation of Divine Love in Christ manifested at the
which they secretly sold to the Indians, only after hav- same time the extent of evil and the superabundance
ing drunk some of it themselves. Consequently they of grace (cf. Rm 5:20). We must therefore approach
were called, ironically, the “Soeurs grises,” which is the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of
both “Gray Sisters” and “Tipsy Sisters” in French, our faith on Him who alone is its Conqueror” (CCC,
meaning the women were “grisées,” or drunk from 385). By His Passion and Death, Christ gave redemp-
alcohol. tive value to suffering and death, and made them into
At the same time, one of Madame d’Youville’s a means of sanctification. United to His, the many
most devoted companions died on the job. Father crosses borne by men and women lead to the Resur-
Normant, practically the only supporter of the grow- rection.
ing community, likewise was struck down by a fatal An unenviable taking of possession
disease. Marguerite d’Youville herself was confined
to a chair by stubborn knee pain. On top of that, on Saint Marguerite d’You-
January 31, 1745, a fire forced the little commun- ville considered her trials
ity out of its home, and left their half-clad group in in the light of Christ. In
the snow. Gossips did not fail to see in this a “right- 1747, faced with the hospi-
eous punishment from Heaven.” But by Divine Provi- tal’s effective bankruptcy,
dence’s merciful plan, a charitable woman made her the regional administra-
home available to Marguerite d’Youville so that she tion made an unexpected
might continue her work. and nearly unbelievable
decision—to temporarily
A question as pressing as it is unavoidable entrust the establishment’s
The reversals this goodly undertaking met with administration to Madame
allowed the following question to arise: “If God the d’Youville. The taking of
Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good possession was put into
world, cares for all His creatures, why does evil exist? effect on Saturday, Octo-
To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable, as ber 7, 1747, on the Feast

22 MICHAEL January/February 2024 www.michaeljournal.org