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in cooperation with the Oblates of

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the Virgin Mary presents A Sister

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of St. Therese, Servant of

1:01

God Leone Martin, Bearer

1:04

of Hope with Fr. Timothy Gallagher.

1:07

Fr. Timothy Gallagher is a member

1:09

of the Oblates of the Virgin

1:11

Mary, a religious community dedicated to

1:13

retreats and spiritual direction according to

1:15

the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius

1:17

of Loyola. He has featured

1:20

on several series found on the

1:22

Eternal Word Television Network. He's

1:25

also the author of numerous books on the

1:27

spiritual teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola and

1:29

the Venerable Bruno Lanteri, founder of the

1:32

Oblates of the Virgin Mary, as well

1:34

as other works focused on aspects of

1:36

the spiritual life. A

1:38

Sister of St. Therese, Servant of

1:41

God Leone Martin, Bearer of Hope

1:44

with Fr. Timothy Gallagher. I'm your

1:46

host, Chris McGregor. Well

1:52

here is Zelie writing in a letter

1:55

to Pauline this time. And

1:57

in them she describes Leone. and

2:00

as simply uncontrollable, that

2:03

unless fear was

2:05

the only thing that would stop her from

2:07

acting out, otherwise, if you gave

2:09

her any freedom, any rain at all, the

2:12

whole house would be in confusion,

2:14

just impossible. Either that, or she

2:16

would hurt herself in some way that there just was no

2:18

peace in the house. You hear you get a glimpse of

2:20

it. At noon,

2:22

I told her to make some sacrifices to

2:24

conquer her bad mood, and that

2:26

for each victory, she should put a hazelnut

2:28

in a drawer. This was

2:30

in a drawer I pointed out to her, and

2:32

we would count them that evening. This was a

2:34

practice, it was about them in living

2:37

the spiritual life at the time, and it was certainly in

2:39

the Bhartan family, where you would make

2:42

sacrifices or do things for the

2:44

Lord, and then in some way

2:46

you would count these. I'm just

2:48

remembering, as I say this, that my mom did

2:51

that with us on occasion.

2:53

During Lent, she had a practice where

2:55

each of us would have a glass jar, and then

2:57

there were just ordinary beans, hard

3:00

little beans. Every time you

3:02

did something for someone else in the family or something

3:04

like that, you could put one in there, and

3:07

then there would be some kind of reward at the end

3:09

of Lent or something like that. Well, it's that sort of

3:11

practice here. She was

3:13

very happy about this, but

3:16

there were no more hazelnuts. I made her

3:18

bring me a cork that I cut into

3:20

seven little slices. That evening,

3:22

I asked her how many practices or

3:24

deeds there were, none. She'd

3:28

done the worst she could. I wasn't

3:30

happy and scolded her bitterly, telling

3:32

her that she certainly shouldn't ask to

3:35

be a religious under these conditions. Then

3:38

she started to cry. It must

3:40

have been just Xaeli at her wit's end

3:42

at this point. It just cannot make sense

3:44

out of this child, it feels helpless, and

3:47

so she scolds her. This never worked

3:49

with Leonie, and we'll see

3:51

Xaeli will discover this. Then

3:54

she started to cry because she was

3:56

sincerely repentant, and she flooded my face

3:58

with her tears. Today there

4:00

are already little slices of cork in

4:02

the drawer. Now

4:05

and this will give us another insight

4:07

into Leonie. Same letter to Pauline. So

4:10

you can see what Zayli is doing. You

4:12

know she's staying up at night. She's tired

4:14

but she's just sharing the little doings

4:16

of the family to encourage and

4:19

just to keep Pauline abreast which and she

4:21

knows Pauline will love all of us. Now

4:24

I must tell you about an adventure that happened

4:26

to us last night. The maid,

4:28

this is Louise who will be returning

4:30

in the story soon. The

4:34

maid was in the process, of course a maid

4:36

because with the business and the children Zayli and

4:38

her health Zayli simply couldn't keep up with things.

4:41

The maid was in the process of drying the dishes.

4:44

It was already dark so it's evening and

4:47

she was getting ready to cut the bread for

4:49

the soup when she was interrupted. Leonie

4:52

always quick to help her. Let's just note that.

4:55

Leonie who is always so difficult is always

4:57

quick to help the maid. Took

5:00

hold of the bread and sliced it. Finally

5:03

here is the soup ready to serve with

5:05

the soup poured over the bread. It

5:08

was a puree of pea soup which Marie

5:10

likes a lot. She said

5:12

Papa's had a grand dinner at Monsieur Bital's house

5:14

who is a good friend of his member

5:17

of a Catholic circle in Alençon but

5:20

he won't have soup as good as this. We

5:22

all sat down to the table. I began to

5:25

serve the soup but I couldn't push the spoon

5:27

in. I felt a tremendous

5:29

resistance. I said to Louise what have

5:31

you put in here? I can't find

5:33

any bread. Are there only vegetables on the bottom

5:36

of the soup tureen? Finally

5:38

I tried to pull up whatever was

5:40

blocking the spoon and after many

5:43

tries I pulled up and

5:45

she has three little dots the dish towel. Leonie

5:48

had cut the bread over it without noticing it

5:50

so she put the dish towel together with the

5:52

bread into the soup. That's

5:55

Leonie. You know heart of gold.

6:00

goes, something that doesn't

6:02

work out for her and this will be

6:04

a pattern so often for her. The

6:08

soup wasn't eaten but on the other hand we

6:10

had a good laugh. Your father

6:12

said it was like the little shoe of the

6:14

man from O'Vern. It's not that

6:16

dirty, it's that it takes up space. You

6:18

know the song. Marie, now

6:20

look at this, Marie didn't want me to tell you

6:22

this. Last night I heard her

6:24

say, I'm sure mama is going to tell Pauline

6:27

and the teachers will know I'm ashamed of it.

6:31

Which is a little insight into what it was

6:33

like to be the sister of Leonie who would

6:36

do these things that would make you cringe

6:38

with embarrassment and then Marie

6:41

to think that all the teachers and the

6:43

nuns back at the boarding school are all

6:45

going to learn about this. She's just embarrassed

6:47

and ashamed of this whole thing. Zaylie

6:50

says, I answered, I'll tell her all the

6:52

same. They can laugh about

6:54

it if they want. The conclusion

6:56

of this same letter. Goodbye

6:59

my Pauline. If your letter hasn't been sent

7:01

all the better because I would very much

7:03

like a few words for Leonie. I would

7:06

like her aunt to write something to Leonie.

7:10

This poor child went to the instructions at

7:12

the retreat every morning at six o'clock so

7:14

this is in the morning and

7:16

there's a retreat. I'm not sure maybe

7:18

this is in preparation for that second

7:20

solemn communion but something along these lines.

7:23

She went to the instructions at the

7:26

retreat every morning at six o'clock. She

7:28

was very afraid of failing. I didn't

7:31

want to wake her up so early but she woke

7:33

up on her own. Once she

7:35

didn't have time to put on her shoes and

7:38

without anyone noticing she went wearing

7:40

some kind of worn-out slippers. Fortunately

7:43

it was dark out but she was strongly

7:45

scolded and I told her she wouldn't

7:47

do that again. I kiss you with all my

7:49

heart. So there's Leonie again. Just

7:52

embarrassing. Unaware

7:54

that she's you know just doing things that

7:56

are going to appear odd to others. Very

7:59

eccentric. You know, and the thing

8:01

is, those are the kind of shoes, if you can

8:03

picture it. And I'm sure people have seen that. They're

8:06

the kind that go up more

8:08

past the ankle, near the calf,

8:11

that have to be laced up. So it would have

8:13

taken time to put

8:15

your foot in the shoe. So it's not like

8:17

slipping on the shoe and running out the door.

8:20

You'd have to do some work. And

8:23

she was so nervous, or

8:25

focused, or just

8:28

wanted to get out there. She

8:30

didn't think of the social

8:32

ramifications. She had shoes on.

8:34

She had something covering her feet. So

8:37

she ran out the door. It may be

8:39

that she just woke up a little later

8:41

than usual, too, and had to scramble. Who

8:43

knows, yeah, any of those

8:46

situations. Yeah. All

8:48

right, two months later, to Pauline. And

8:53

this is a lovely letter, which in a different

8:55

context would be nice to go through entirely. And

8:58

Zayli's aware that she doesn't know for

9:00

certain yet, but she's almost looking back

9:02

over her married life and

9:04

describing it to Pauline. And at this point,

9:06

she's talking about when they started having the

9:08

children. But when we

9:10

had our children, our ideas, her

9:12

and her husbands, about their marriage,

9:14

our ideas changed somewhat. We lived

9:17

only for them. She says in another letter that

9:20

I was born to have children. They

9:23

were all our happiness, and we never found

9:25

any except in them. In

9:27

short, nothing was too difficult, and the world

9:29

was no longer a burden to us. For

9:32

me, our children were a great

9:35

compensation. So I wanted to have a

9:37

lot of them in order to raise them for heaven. And

9:40

it's hard to doubt that the nine of their children are

9:43

in eternal life. Four of

9:45

them are already in a better place. So

9:48

those are the two boys and the

9:50

two girls who died at an early age. The

9:52

others, yes, the others will go there as

9:54

well to the heavenly kingdom, laden

9:57

with more merits, since they will have fought

9:59

much longer. It's only

10:01

Leonie who's still a very heavy

10:03

cross to bear. May

10:06

her dear aunt obtain for me a change

10:08

in my poor child. I'm always

10:10

hoping for it. This evening

10:12

she came to ask me if she could see

10:14

her aunt's mementos. Selena and Therese

10:16

looked at them at the same time and kissed

10:19

them. At

10:22

this point we reach what I think can

10:25

fairly be called the pivotal moment in

10:27

the life of Leonie. This

10:29

is a letter that's written a week after that

10:31

we just read from and

10:34

it's to her sister-in-law. I

10:36

think that my sister, her aunt, Leonie's

10:38

aunt, has obtained a great grace for me.

10:42

What happens at this point in Zélie's

10:44

mind is very clearly linked to the fact

10:46

that her aunt who just a few weeks

10:48

earlier died and is clearly

10:50

in her mind with the Lord. What

10:53

happens here she will always understand and

10:55

Leonie will too as

10:57

a grace gained through the intercession

10:59

of Leonie's aunt. I

11:03

think my sister has obtained a great grace for

11:05

me. You know that I

11:07

wasn't able to have any influence over Leonie.

11:10

She ran away from me and this was so

11:12

differently than any of the other children. I

11:15

tried everything and nothing worked. She

11:18

was fascinated by the maid. Alright,

11:21

so this is where this Louise Mare

11:24

comes into the story. Louise had been there.

11:26

She was I think about 12 years with

11:28

the family as a maid and

11:30

she would stay until Zélie's death.

11:34

I tried everything, nothing worked.

11:37

She was fascinated by the maid. So

11:40

the maid had some kind of sway

11:43

over Leonie who

11:46

nevertheless made her very unhappy without my

11:48

realizing it. So this whole dynamic that's

11:50

been playing out and that she's just

11:52

discovering now has been going on

11:54

and for several years Zélie

11:56

just was not completely unaware of it.

12:00

Marie is the one who discovered everything and

12:02

told me about it. This is really a

12:04

moment in which Marie shines. She

12:06

sees what nobody else sees. I've

12:09

suffered a lot, I assure you,

12:11

not understanding this child's very strange

12:13

behavior. Consequently, I didn't

12:15

think there was any need for me to live.

12:18

Aware that she's perhaps close

12:20

to death, there's no longer any

12:23

need for me to stay here because I

12:25

really can't do anything more for Leonie. I've

12:27

tried and tried and tried and

12:29

she simply pleased for me. Consequently,

12:32

I didn't think there was any need for

12:34

me to live, not being able to be

12:37

helpful to her at all. But since Saturday,

12:39

everything has changed and in such a way

12:41

I'd never hoped for and I can't get

12:43

over it. I don't

12:45

have time to give you a lot of details, but

12:48

all I can tell you is that she doesn't want to

12:50

leave me. I'm taking care

12:52

of her exclusively, as is Marie. The

12:55

other, that is Louise, the maid. The

12:58

other one has lost her influence forever.

13:00

I can do as I please with Leonie. Before

13:04

I couldn't persuade her to get dressed to go

13:06

out, but yesterday and today she

13:08

put on an outfit to come with me

13:10

and wants to follow me everywhere. She

13:13

was sorry this morning because she didn't have enough

13:15

time with me and is asking

13:17

me when this letter is going to be finished so

13:20

she can talk to me and sit by my side.

13:24

Now in the next letter we'll look at, we'll

13:26

get the key as to what's going on here.

13:29

I received your good letter, which I

13:31

was awaiting impatiently, so I

13:33

see there's no hope for me as far as the

13:35

doctor goes. So through her brother, who

13:37

is the pharmacist and doctors that he knows,

13:40

she's been asking for medical advice and at

13:42

this point it's clear that she's

13:44

not going to recover from this cancer. But

13:48

yet I want to live. Okay,

13:50

before she was ready to go, but now

13:52

everything's changed. But yet

13:54

I want to live, especially now to begin

13:56

to raise my Leonie. Yet

13:59

I have hope that our Our Blessed Mother will cure

14:01

me, but I still want to go on a pilgrimage.

14:04

And in fact, she will make a pilgrimage

14:06

with the three oldest girls to lure a

14:08

seeking cure. Alright, this is a

14:10

letter written on the same day and this

14:12

time to Pauline. I

14:15

believe I have obtained a great grace through the

14:17

prayers of your aunt. I have

14:19

commended my poor Leonie to her so many

14:21

times since her entrance into heaven, and

14:24

I believe I am feeling the effects of it. You

14:27

know what your sister was like? Was

14:29

like a spirit of

14:32

insubordination. In other words, something's changing now.

14:34

Never wanting to obey me except by

14:36

force, acting defiantly, doing

14:39

the complete opposite of what I'd wanted. And

14:41

this is what Celie simply could not understand.

14:45

Doing the exact opposite of what I wanted even

14:47

when she would have wanted to do it, and

14:50

finally obeying only the maid. I'd

14:53

tried everything in my power to draw her to

14:55

me. It had all failed

14:57

until today. And watch

14:59

what follows. And that was the greatest sorrow

15:01

I'd ever had in my life. This

15:04

inability to win the heart of this

15:06

difficult daughter, she describes as

15:08

the greatest sorrow I'd ever had in my

15:10

life. Since your

15:12

aunt died, I begged her to return this

15:14

poor child's heart to me, and Sunday morning

15:17

my prayer was answered. Now

15:19

I have her heart as completely as possible.

15:22

She doesn't want to leave me for a moment. She

15:24

hugs me to the point of suffocating me, does

15:27

everything I tell her without arguing, and

15:30

works by my side all day long. The

15:32

maid completely lost her authority. And

15:35

it's certain that she'll never again have

15:38

any influence over Leonie by

15:40

the way in which things happened. She

15:42

found it a severe blow and she cried and moaned

15:45

when I told her to leave immediately and that I

15:47

wanted her out of my sight. Now

15:49

we still don't yet have the full explanation. I'm just

15:51

going to let the letters unfold this. But

15:55

it's clear that the maid Louise has

15:57

had a very harmful influence on Leonie.

16:00

And the moment that Leonie is now free

16:02

from that, everything blossoms in her and her

16:04

relationship with her mother. I'm

16:07

going to wait some time before I make her leave

16:09

because she's begged me so much to stay. In

16:11

fact, the various maids who Zélie had over

16:13

the years, they all loved Zélie. None of

16:15

them wanted to leave because she treated them

16:17

like family and was so good to them.

16:20

I'm going to wait some time before I make

16:22

her leave because she begged me so much to

16:24

stay. In fact, Zélie will

16:26

forbid her to say even a word to Leonie.

16:29

They have nothing to do with Leonie, but

16:31

will allow her to stay as long as

16:33

she, Zélie, is alive. And

16:36

Leonie, in later years, would write that

16:38

she was always grateful to Louise, the

16:41

maid for the loving care that she

16:43

took of Zélie in Zélie's last months.

16:48

Now I treat this child with so much

16:50

gentleness that I hope to succeed, and this

16:52

is what always works with her. Little

16:55

by little and correcting her faults. Yesterday

16:57

she came with me to

17:00

go for a walk and we went to the

17:02

monastery of the poor Clares. That's the monastery I

17:04

mentioned earlier. She whispered to me, Mama,

17:07

ask the cloistered sisters to pray for me so

17:09

that I become a nun. Finally,

17:12

all is well and let's hope this

17:14

continues. My

17:16

dear Pauline, since you're so favored by your

17:18

aunt, pray to her that

17:20

she cure me of my illness, which

17:23

you know about. I want now

17:25

more than ever to stay with you. It's

17:27

more necessary for Leonie than for the little

17:29

ones. Oh. She,

17:33

knowing now that Leonie can

17:36

be changed and needs some mother's

17:38

love, now in a

17:40

whole new way she longs, as

17:43

we'll see, at least for some more years of life,

17:45

because she knows this will not be a quick process

17:47

with Leonie, but she now knows that

17:49

it can happen. Ten

17:53

days later, to Pauline, I

17:55

didn't have the courage to give the maid all the messages

17:57

that were in your letter. So, Pauline, I want to thank you

17:59

for your support. obviously had some pretty sharp things

18:01

to say to the maid now that she's

18:03

realized what the maid was doing. I

18:08

don't at all profess to be as sympathetic

18:10

to her as you are, especially recently. I

18:13

know she's devoted and attached to us in her

18:15

own way, but I'm not happy

18:17

with her violent nature. Now,

18:20

here I'll interject from that memoir

18:22

that Marie wrote in later years

18:24

her description of Louise,

18:26

the maid, and what was going on. So

18:30

she says, later we had a maid who

18:32

had the unhappy talent of freezing with just

18:34

a glance my three little

18:36

sisters, so Pauline, Leonie, and then Helene.

18:40

No one could ever get away with that kind of thing with

18:42

Marie. She just never permitted that. She

18:44

was strong in that way. I

18:46

was the only one she didn't catch in her net.

18:49

I saw that poor little Helene, this

18:51

sweet, lovely little girl, was

18:54

very sad when she happened to get a spot

18:56

on her stockings or on her apron. She

18:59

didn't dare to play for fear of having

19:01

that happen and then being scolded

19:03

by Louise. I did it on

19:05

purpose to show her I wasn't afraid of her. And

19:08

when she reproached me, I answered back

19:10

immediately, I'm free. I am. She

19:14

nicknamed me, I'm free. I am. And

19:16

it was she who was afraid of me. Interesting

19:19

is the more you get into the family, each

19:21

of these five surviving sisters had a very different

19:23

character. Since I'm

19:26

on the chapter about Louise, I will

19:28

say that that poor girl made my

19:30

two little sisters, Leonie and Helene, very

19:32

unhappy. She did love

19:34

very much little Helene, who was ravishing and

19:37

had the sweetness of an angel.

19:39

But as Louise was lacking in judgment, she

19:41

didn't see that she was terrorizing the poor

19:43

child. And that word is not too strong.

19:47

Leonie, toward the end of her life, maybe

19:49

we'll later read some of these letters, reflects

19:52

back on these days and speaks

19:55

of Louise as her

19:57

torture, which is the exact translation.

19:59

of the word she uses. Essentially

20:02

what Louise did was this. She

20:05

saw this girl that nobody could discipline.

20:08

Parents, no one, they were all helpless and

20:10

she decided that she was going to be

20:12

the one to take charge. And

20:15

so she began literally

20:17

terrorizing Leonie, forcing

20:20

her to obey her. And

20:23

if she didn't, she would

20:25

physically and emotionally be hit,

20:27

struck, yelled at. And

20:29

Louise told her that I'm the one

20:31

that you are to obey and not

20:33

your mother. If your mother asked you to do something, you

20:36

go ahead and do it but you're gonna pay a price for

20:38

it afterwards. And this was why Leonie would

20:40

not obey her mother because she knew she would suffer

20:43

for it later. And this is why

20:45

she was always helping Louise. So she

20:47

was literally terrorized during and this

20:49

went on for several years. So

20:52

today we would speak of physical and

20:54

emotional abuse. She was in

20:56

this sense very much. She was an abused child

20:58

in addition to everything else. Now

21:01

there's a lot of writing on why Louise

21:03

did this. There was

21:05

a goodness in Louise but there's another side that

21:07

you see Marie describing that could

21:09

be cold and harsh and

21:12

domineering. Louise was not

21:14

educated. Her judgment was poor. So she

21:16

stepped in and she was solving a

21:18

problem in her mind but she really

21:21

made Leonie suffer and of

21:23

course, Zélie as a result. And this went

21:25

on for some years and Zélie has no

21:27

idea that any of this is happening. She

21:30

notices of course both things that

21:32

Leonie is very resistant

21:34

to her and that Leonie is

21:36

always hanging around the maid, working

21:39

with the maid when the other children are out playing and

21:41

Zélie can't get her to go out and play and so

21:43

on. Now she understands.

21:45

What happens is Marie hears enough. She

21:48

just hears some conversation going on between

21:51

Louise and Leonie and gets

21:53

a sense something isn't right here and

21:55

she begins looking into it and she

21:57

uncovers what's happening and she tells Say,

22:00

Lee, and this is when everything changes.

22:03

So the Gallagher, if we could, too, for

22:06

those who are listening to kind

22:08

of set the stage, you know, there might be some

22:10

out there who will say, well, why didn't Zelle see

22:12

this? Their home

22:15

was also a place of work. There

22:18

was a lot of activity happening. And

22:20

I would imagine the maid is not

22:23

just a maid, but also a

22:25

child caregiver. And

22:27

so there probably wasn't

22:29

the type of oversight you would

22:32

have anticipated if you

22:34

were in a modern day home. I

22:37

mean, there's a lot going on there. And

22:39

Marie, during those years as

22:41

this was growing, she wasn't there. She

22:44

was at school. So

22:46

it wasn't until she was able to come

22:48

home and began to interact with the girls.

22:51

While Zelle still is continuing to work,

22:54

plus she's dealing with all of

22:56

the physical elements that's coming from

22:58

having breast cancer and

23:01

not being able to have it treated

23:03

as we understand breast cancer treatment is

23:05

cared for today. So

23:07

there's a whole dynamic

23:09

happening in this

23:11

household. But having said

23:14

all that, as you said,

23:16

Leonie is experiencing child abuse

23:19

in a very real way by this

23:21

particular caregiver, especially if she does

23:23

have a degree of some type

23:25

of disability. Yes. And

23:28

in addition to this, there was no

23:31

reason to suspect Louise of anything. She'd

23:33

been with the family for years. Zelle

23:36

loved her. She had her limitations and so on.

23:38

But there was every reason to trust

23:40

her. There had been no other complaints about her

23:42

as she'd interacted with the children over the years.

23:46

And as I guess is often

23:48

true in these cases, she was very able

23:51

in sending the message to these

23:53

young girls that if you let any of this

23:55

leak out, you are really going to pay for

23:58

it. Yeah, they call that groom. grooming

24:01

behavior even back in the

24:03

late 1800s, sad to say.

24:07

But then again here is the story of that

24:11

it seems long ago and yet

24:13

it has it touches

24:16

on the experience of many people, I

24:19

mean different aspects of it. This

24:21

is not an unheard-of story. No.

24:25

And it certainly had its impact

24:27

on holding back the goodness

24:29

of heart that was in Leonie, you know,

24:31

in a very real way. Well

24:33

let's complete Marie's comments on Louise.

24:37

She did very much love little Helene who was

24:39

ravishing and had the sweetness of an angel. Okay,

24:42

but as Louise was lacking in judgment she

24:44

didn't see that she was terrorizing that poor

24:46

child and really hurting her. Mama

24:50

saw this one day and said to her, but

24:52

it seems to me that you are making these

24:54

children unhappy. I forbid you to scold them for

24:56

nothing's like you do. Then

24:58

seeing that the two little ones were always

25:00

around her and seemed to love her, this

25:03

poor little mama trusted Louise. So

25:05

that's Marie's comments on what's

25:07

happening. Alright,

25:10

let's pick up with the letter to Pauline. I

25:12

know that she, that is Louise, is devoted and

25:14

attached to us in her own way, but

25:17

I'm not happy with her violent nature. I won't

25:20

be sorry to see her go, especially since

25:22

I discovered what she'd put Leonie through. That

25:25

you see I'll never forget. I could

25:27

never have believed that one could

25:30

have done for so long and so

25:32

coldly the things she did to a

25:34

poor creature who didn't dare complain for,

25:36

quote, fear of getting it

25:38

twice as bad as she, Leonie, now

25:40

admits. And

25:43

would you believe this girl claims that she was being

25:45

a great help to me? Maybe

25:47

in her own mind she thought she

25:49

was, thinking that she was very clever to

25:51

have been able to control your sister who

25:54

in her opinion no one else was able

25:56

to tame. And

25:58

then, let's say the comments, but Bruce, Fatality

26:00

never converted anyone and

26:02

certainly never Leonie. It only

26:05

makes slaves of people and that's what happened to

26:07

this poor child I'm

26:09

still convinced that it's your aunt who's

26:11

responsible for this being discovered Now

26:14

Leonie doesn't leave me for a minute. That's I think

26:16

you can see where I speak of this as the

26:18

pivotal moment in her life She

26:22

goes everywhere with me showing a happy

26:24

face She no longer puts

26:26

up any resistance to me on

26:29

the contrary She anticipates everything that would

26:31

please me and doesn't wait for

26:33

my instructions. I Didn't

26:35

know why she never wanted to take a minute of

26:37

playtime When a meal was

26:40

finished she would clear the table put

26:42

the room in order and In

26:45

short do the servants work. I was tired

26:47

of saying to her go outside

26:49

and play in the garden I don't want to see

26:51

you here while everyone else is

26:53

enjoying themselves She would

26:55

say to me grudgingly. I want to stay here

26:58

I've since learned that the maid had said to her

27:01

if your mother tells you to go play go

27:04

But you know that afterward you're going to pay You

27:07

see all of that outrages me to a

27:09

point I can't express Now

27:12

Leonie plays with the joy of a

27:14

four-year-old, so this is an enormous liberation

27:17

for Leonie She makes

27:19

a little too much noise and isn't quiet

27:21

enough That's Leonie, and I

27:23

have to calm her down, but she tries very hard Let's

27:26

hope that little by little she'll change

27:29

completely with God's help That's

27:31

why now I have a desire to live that

27:33

I never knew until today my

27:35

child needs me very much After

27:38

I die she'll be too miserable and no one

27:40

will be able to make her obey Except

27:42

the one who made her suffer so much But

27:45

no this won't be because when I'm dead

27:48

she'll have to leave right away In fact,

27:50

they leave made this as a firm condition

27:52

and it was observed She

27:54

allowed Louise to stay because Louise begged

27:56

so much as long as she'd say

27:58

Lee was alive Zélie

28:01

could watch over her behavior but

28:03

as soon as Zélie herself was no longer

28:05

there and she insisted that Louise leave which

28:07

in point of fact is what happened. Good.

28:12

Interestingly enough Louise later married,

28:14

raised a family, she

28:17

asked for forgiveness, Leonie did forgive her,

28:19

we'll probably read that letter later on

28:22

toward the end of her life it's a lovely letter and

28:25

she was actually one of those who

28:27

was a witness in the cause of canonization

28:29

of Therese, you know, so her testimony is

28:31

there with the others. But

28:33

no this won't be because when I'm dead

28:35

she'll have to leave right away. I don't

28:37

think they'll refuse to carry out my last

28:39

wishes which they didn't. But I

28:41

trust in God I'm asking him now for the

28:43

grace to let me live. I

28:45

know very well that he won't take my illness away

28:48

and my dying but I

28:50

ask that he grant me enough time so

28:52

that Leonie won't need me anymore. I

28:56

just have to say you

28:59

know how how

29:02

good God is in that

29:06

Leonie will have these memories

29:08

of her mother in these

29:10

last days. It

29:13

may not have been a long time

29:15

but they had some time

29:17

and she will have some memories and

29:20

for Zélie I mean

29:23

it's so poignant. I mean it

29:25

just doesn't it's hard press

29:27

to get more poignant than this

29:30

moment. It really is. Yes her

29:32

sister dies in February

29:34

and Zélie will die

29:36

in August so

29:39

you know what is that about seven months

29:41

or something like that but those

29:43

months were really important for

29:46

Zélie and for Leonie for the rest of

29:48

her life. The relationship

29:50

that would have been there much earlier had it

29:52

not been for the maid was

29:54

finally able to be established and

29:56

that was really key in Leonie's

29:59

life. And I would say that must

30:01

have been an important moment for

30:04

those sisters, for

30:06

Marie and Pauline particularly, because they were

30:08

old enough to be aware of what's

30:10

happening. But also maybe for the

30:12

younger ones. But for

30:15

those two older sisters to be able to

30:17

look at their sister, Leonie,

30:20

and know that it wasn't that she

30:22

was willfully or even out of ignorance

30:24

being cruel to their mother, and

30:26

that she wasn't in

30:29

those last years, that you didn't treat mama

30:31

well. For those

30:33

girls, especially from Marie, to have been

30:35

the advocate for change, I mean, in

30:37

which part of that,

30:39

picking that all up, including the

30:41

heavenly intercession of her aunt, for

30:44

them to have that understanding of what

30:46

happened, I think that was important for

30:49

the whole family to heal, so there

30:51

wasn't that resentment and bitterness towards her.

30:53

Sure. I think

30:55

I quoted earlier the phrase of one commentator

30:58

that Leonie's life is the victory

31:00

of a family. And

31:03

you can see at the end, of course,

31:05

her parents, her sisters, even

31:07

her other aunt and her

31:09

uncle Isidore, all

31:12

of that, this is really very much the love

31:14

of a family. Leonie

31:16

could not have done it without her family, and

31:18

they supported her all the way

31:20

to the end of her life. We'll

31:22

be seeing some of this later on. The

31:24

aunts and uncles, all of them, needed to

31:27

know this part of her story. It

31:30

truly was a reconciliation. I

31:32

mean, it's that depth

31:34

of understanding of what was going on

31:36

so that there would not be this

31:38

bitterness towards her after

31:41

Zelie's death. Oh, well,

31:43

that's something that we'll be seeing. Not

31:46

only was there no division

31:48

or bitterness amongst

31:51

the five sisters, but

31:53

there was never remarkably in

31:56

Leonie, there is never the slightest bit

31:58

of jealousy toward her sisters. She

32:01

loves them all with

32:03

great affection and the sisters all

32:05

love her with all four

32:07

of them, including Therese. The

32:09

love between these sisters is one of

32:11

the really beautiful things, many beautiful things

32:14

in this certainly humanly painful

32:16

story. But one of them

32:18

is the depth and the warmth of

32:21

the affection and love of these five sisters

32:24

amongst themselves. And

32:26

it made all the difference in Leonie's life,

32:29

but it was a huge source of strength for all of

32:31

them. But we'll be seeing some of that directly later on

32:33

when we look at some of the letters. And

32:36

I just have to interject probably

32:38

also the prayers of another little

32:40

sister, Elena, who

32:42

was trying along with her and

32:44

praying so hard for

32:47

that Leonie. Well,

32:50

that's one way of looking at the

32:52

life of Leonie. She

32:54

owes her physical

32:56

survival to the

32:59

prayers of her aunt who makes that novena

33:02

to then blessed Margaret Mary Alacoke.

33:05

She owes what she calls her conversion

33:08

at age 14, what we're exploring right

33:10

now, again, to the

33:12

intercession of her aunt, because it takes place

33:14

within weeks of her aunt's death and entrance.

33:18

These got into eternal life. And

33:20

I don't want to anticipate too much, but

33:23

if she was able to live religious

33:25

life, she owes that to

33:27

Therese, because this happened shortly after Therese's

33:29

death. And Therese also said that she

33:31

would be taking this intention

33:33

before the Lord. And Leonie is

33:35

very well aware of this, you know, how

33:38

she owes these pivotal points in her life,

33:40

how she owes them to the grace of

33:42

other saintly members in the family. That's

33:45

a beautiful story. Humility.

33:48

Isn't that a classic example of that

33:50

knowledge, that understanding? That's a

33:52

humble knowledge, isn't it? Well, Father

33:54

Gallagher, thank you so much. I cannot wait

33:57

for the rest of the story. Thank

34:00

you. We'll pick this up next time. You've

34:08

been listening to A Sister of St.

34:10

Therese, Servant of God,

34:12

Leone Martin, Bearer of Hope, with

34:15

Father Timothy Gallagher. To

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