Page 28 - Michael 2024 March

u deared her to her employees. She would discretely
insist that they go to confession often. And because
she possessed talent, discretion and ease of expres-
sion, what she said was understood and received. In
her every act, the Word of God remained present in
her mind: “Having meditated on the Psalms, I was
constantly reminded of passages from them, which
I used whenever I encountered others… As I went
about my business, I commended myself to God
with this aspiration that was so familiar to me: ‘In
You, O Lord, have I set my hope; may I never be put
to shame’ (Ps 30:2).”
In April 1619, at the age of nineteen, Marie gave
birth to a son, named Claude after his father. Six
months later, the latter died, no doubt because of the
distress caused by the bankruptcy of his silk business.
A widow at the age of twenty, it was up to Marie to
wind up her husband’s affairs. She must settle court
cases, satisfy customers and debtors, and plan for
the future. “All these crosses,” she later said, “were
naturally greater than a person of my age and sex, of
my capabilities and limited experience, could have
borne. But the excess of divine goodness put in my
mind and in my heart a fortitude and a courage that
allowed me to endure everything. My strength was
founded on these holy words: ‘I am with those who
are in tribulation’ (cf. Ps 90:15)… In this way, I was The ecstasy of Marie of the Incarnation, by Mother
able to accomplish everything I undertook.” Sainte-Ursule, according to Enrico Bottoni, circa 1890
An irresistible force

Marie withdrew to her father’s house, and her de- servants”, taking on the most unrewarding and tiring
tasks in the household. By turns cook, chambermaid
sire to enter a convent resurfaced with a vengeance. and nurse, she took her meals with around thirty
But the pitiful state of her business affairs and her in- “rouliers” (laborers) to prevent them from blasphem-
fant son prevented her from leaving the world. Many ing, and looked after them like a mother when they
suitors came forward; she was urged to remarry to were unwell. However, that same year, mystical
restore her finances. After some hesitation, however, graces led her to a closer union with Christ. Already
she decided to follow her inclination towards soli- bound to God by the vow of chastity, she also took
tude, and took a vow of chastity. She began to read the vows of poverty and obedience.
spiritual books and to converse intimately with God.
Suddenly, the Lord burst into her life. She herself re- However, her talents as an administrator became
counts the mystical experience that led to what she apparent; by 1625, Paul Buisson put her in charge of
calls her “conversion”. One morning, as she was go- his river transport business. Marie was plunged into
ing to look after her affairs, an irresistible force swept a “business hassle”, having to speak to a large num-
over her and stopped her in the middle of the street. ber of customers on the quays of the Loire. However,
In an instant, the eyes of her mind were opened and she was also experiencing “an interior paradise” and
all her faults and imperfections were shown to her receiving ineffable revelations about the mystery
with a “clarity more certain than any certainty.” At of the Holy Trinity. She was twenty-seven and her
the same moment, she saw herself immersed in the son Claude was eight. He was a frail, shy little boy,
redeeming Blood of the Son of God. She confessed whom his mother was gently preparing for their final
to the first priest she found in the chapel of the Feuil- separation. Under the guidance of Dom Raymond
lants, and returned, so powerfully transformed that de Saint-Bernard, a “Feuillant” monk (a Cistercian),
she no longer recognized herself. Marie Martin patiently waited for God’s ways to
Marie yearned for a life of seclusion, but in 1621 become clearer. She chose the Ursulines because
her sister Claude, who was married to Paul Buisson, a secret voice told her that God wanted her there.
a merchant, invited her to live with her. She accepted The Order of Saint Ursula was founded in November
1535 in Brescia, Lombardy, by Saint Angela Merici
the offer in order to support herself and her son, but (1474-1540). The Ursulines first arrived in France in
was determined to lead a life of self-sacrifice and ser-
vice. At first, she positioned herself as a “servant of 1608; as cloistered nuns, they devoted themselves

28 MICHAEL March/April 2024 www.michaeljournal.org