The Secret of the Blue Trunk Read Online Free PDF Page A

to it. For the first time in my life, I realized I was happy, at last.
    Sister Adolphine spoke French with a Breton accent, a musical quality that added a new flavour to my everyday existence. I even tried to imitate it, which made her laugh. I was fascinated by the distance she had covered to come all the way to us.
    I often quizzed her about her country. I must have bothered her more than once, but her replies delighted me and made me want to travel.
    This desire was completely new for me, even though my reading made me discover new horizons. Until that day, the idea of leaving had never entered my mind. My talks with the nun who had come from afar encouraged me, however, to explore territories other than my familiar surroundings. Besides, my education would soon be completed, and I would have to leave the convent school.
    The Augustinian sisters weren’t showing me the door, but they urged me to think about my future. After all the congregation had done for me, it would be right to pay my debt by becoming a member of the congregation, they said. So, when I was seventeen, I mentioned to Sister Adolphine that I would like to take the veil within the same community as hers. I indicated to her in this way how deeply I admired her.
    The nun was thrilled, but she wanted me first to take part in a compulsory retreat for novices. The retreat would allow me to think things over thoroughly and find out if I really felt the call of God. She suggested a few considerations I might reflect on, such as the fact that by joining the ranks of the community, I would renounce the joys of motherhood. I should also ask myself if my love for God was powerful enough to make me accept all the heartbreaks without being overwhelmed with regrets for the rest of my life. “Because you are bound to have regrets at some time or other,” she said.
    Have I prayed enough to God to guide me on the path I believe to be mine? Am I ready to show a spirit of penitence and self-effacement and to glorify God at all times? In short, am I really willing to lead such an austere life?
    I was much too young to be aware of all that was involved in such a decision. Those questions seemed abstract to me then. I couldn’t really grasp their full meaning and certainly not their implications. Having only known the convent, I looked upon this calling as an occupation that would allow me to develop my talents as a dressmaker while I continued living a communal existence, as I always had.
    To set my mind at ease, however, I asked Sister Adolphine what exactly one feels when one thinks one has been called. She said that if I had been summoned I would know it. But perhaps the call hadn’t made itself heard yet, she added.
    She also explained that to join her congregation one had to fulfill certain requirements. First of all, it was necessary to bring a dowry, as when a woman gets married. In 1929, the amount could be as high as $750. On the other hand, no candidate had ever been turned down on the grounds of a lack of money. Next, I had to agree to go through my novitiate at the congregation’s mother house in Brittany. Even if I didn’t have the money for the dowry, I would still need the funds for the trip. I felt wretched because I hadn’t expected that becoming a nun would be so complicated.
    When Sister Adolphine noticed my distress, she came to my aid once again. If my desire to join her congregation was sincere, she said, there might be a solution. She made an appointment with one of the curates of the parish. This priest had set up the Société Sainte-Marthe, which assisted needy girls. They immediately agreed to help me get the money together. Three months later, the Société Sainte-Marthe gave me $175. That was an achievement, especially in a time of crisis. Among my benefactors was a very wealthy couple from Chicoutimi. This amount made it possible for me to pay for the voyage across the Atlantic, which cost $27, and allowed me to have a few extra dollars for