At fifteen she entered the Secular Third Order of St
Francis of Assisi. Her sister Rosalie was the first to enter the
novitiate of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Antwerp where she
received the name of Marie Honorine. It was only after the departure of
Marie Honorine for Sri Lanka that Pauline decided to enter the novitiate,
followed by her sister Mathilde.
Marie Amandine was simple, joyful, generous, truly
Franciscan. Her good humour and easily relationships attracted and
created around her a homely atmosphere of joyous serenity.
She was first sent to Marseilles to be trained in the
service of the sick in the future hospital of Taiyuanfu.
From there she left for the
mission. The boat passed through Sri Lanka and its port, Colombo where
she had the joy of meeting her sister Marie Honorine. The joy was mutual
and then there was the 'good-bye':
"Good-bye
… till heaven!"
In
the mission she gave the best of herself to the dispensary. She
describes her task in these words to her superior general:
"There
are two hundred orphans, among whom are many sick ones whom we care for
as best we can. The sick from outside also come to be cared for. If you
saw these patients, you would be horrified. You can't imagine their
wounds, aggravated by a lack of hygiene. How fortunate I am to have
learned a little of everything in Marseilles. I do all I can to relieve
them."
In
fact, the task was enormous: a life of sacrifice
without a break, accepted with joyful endurance.
"Sister
Amandine is, by age and by nature, the youngest among us", wrote
Marie Hermine. "She sings and laughs all day. That is not bad; on
the contrary. The cross of a missionary must be borne joyfully".
The Chinese called her "The European sister who is always laughing".
She passed nights and days watching over and caring
for Marie de Sainte Nathalie during her illness, and continued her usual
work with the sick, so much so that in the end she fell seriously ill
… There are no great means, but little by little her robust nature
overcame everything … She resumed her service.
In one of her last letters, Marie Hermine
relates:
"Marie
Amandine said this morning that she was praying to God not to preserve
the martyrs but to strengthen them."
And in fact, she herself
continued to prepare remedies, singing as usual. Her joy was the admiration of those who were imprisoned with her. Certainly, she to whom
God had given Franciscan joy, will have sung the "Te Deum" till the end, that hymn of praise of the Lord God, "Total Good,
Unique Good, all Good" according to the prayer of Francis of Assisi.
|
