Maria and the Bellasis Family 6

 

Chapter 6

 

Now fully recovered  I looked forward to my hour with Mother Francis. I had so many questions, and comments, but knew I should not disturb her train of thought which meant her doing the telling in strict chronological order. 

She was pleased to see me too and started right away with where we left off, Pierce having made the decision, but nothing had yet happened. 

“Meanwhile the daily routine at Gracemer  went on as usual, Mercer, now eight years old, was one of the youngest pupils at St Charles's College, whither he accompanied his father every morning. 

“Little Adeline was still too young to go to school, but she delighted in visits to the convent and was allowed to join in the recreations of the little ones. 

“Mrs. Connelly's attitude towards her husband at this time was one of generous admiration. She never wavered in the belief that his  call was wholly  supernatural. Her vocation had been for home and domestic life, and in it she had been greatly blessed. She had sought first the Kingdom of God and had experienced the fulfilment of the promise that all things else should be added to her. The thought of a religious vocation had never entered her mind as a practical possibility, and when the idea was first suggested to her it awakened only repugnance.”

 

“But you said before, that she was already thinking of starting a convent of her own.”

 

“That was commented by her to me in retrospect, so the idea  was in her mind, but hadn’t actually made it into her conscious thoughts yet. 

“Well things had moved on, and her fourth child, a girl, was born and died a few days later. 

“Then on the 29th March, 1841, her youngest son Frank was born, and for a time the cares of motherhood must have absorbed her thoughts and filled her days.” 

 

“So this shared plan to practice chastity somehow managed to provide another child.”

 

“He wasn’t yet a priest, nor she a nun, so the plan was not yet official.”

 

“Their  plans took another turn. The Shrewsburys who had befriended them on their first trip to Rome, offered to have Mercer educated in England at their cost. 

“Cornelia could see the sense of giving her eldest son a good Catholic education in England, but again it was such a sacrifice to her. Some months passed before the Earl was able to procure for Mr. Connelly an engagement such as he desired, but in 

April, 1842, he wrote earnestly pressing him to come over to England at once, and offering him a post. It had already been suggested to Mr Connelly, as a test of the reality of his vocation, that he should leave his family for a time and travel in Europe. It was also a good opportunity for him to take over his little son to be educated in England. The offer seemed to combine every advantage, and Mr. Connelly lost no time in accepting it. 

 

“Mrs. Connelly found herself installed with her two children in a small cottage within the convent grounds, called ‘Bishop's Cottage.’ She went there in the spirit of a postulant admitted into religion, for, as we have seen, she had decided her vocation

in her last retreat, and she entertained at this time no other thought than that of remaining as a religious at this convent of the Sacred Heart. 

 

“The impending separation from her husband, though decided  upon between them, still awaited the consent of the Holy See, and might remain unsettled for a long time. Rome, always slow to act, would be more than usually cautious in dealing with 

such a rare and exceptional case. 

 

“Her little daughter Adeline seems to have furnished her with many opportunities for sacrifice. She left her entirely to the care of the nuns, often denying herself the pleasure of her company. Adeline, fresh to the joys of school life, and knowing 

that her mother was at hand in case of need, hardly missed the former constant companionship with her.”

 

“That sounds to me like she is trying to excuse herself, making it sound as if her daughter preferred to be at school.”

 

“Her love for her children was very great, and the separation from her eldest son, Mercer, was keenly felt. She wrote to him constantly, showing an interest in all the details of his school life, sending him little presents, and urging him to overcome 

his faults. 

 

“Then, Pierce was offered a position,  as traveling companion (with £200 a year and all expenses paid), of a young English Gentleman. He wrote to Cornelia to tell her about it. ‘Mr. George Berkeley of Spetchley, is from one of the best families in England, and will come into a large fortune. We shall go to Belgium, Fribourg, Munich, Milan, Ancona, Loreto, Rome, and back by  Florence, Genoa and Paris.  I hope to be in Munich before the end of October, and in Rome by the end of November.’

 

“Pierce Connelly reached Rome and laid his petition before the ecclesiastical authorities. The result was a decision that nothing could be done unless the husband and wife were brought together in Rome to signify their mutual consent. After fifteen months spent in the convent at Grand Coteau, Mrs. Connelly was accordingly summoned to Rome. 

“Meanwhile Mr. Connelly was making the most of his stay in Rome, and as tutor to young Mr. Berkeley, was frequenting the most fashionable society. 

 “Pierce Connelly did not wish his wife to make the long and tedious journey alone with her children. He crossed over with young Mr. Berkeley to escort her himself, having obtained permission to make this a part of the educational tour, and they met in Philadelphia. After some weeks, probably spent by Cornelia in making farewell visits to relatives, and by Pierce in showing Mr. Berkeley the sights of the neighbourhood, they sailed in August and after about a month spent in England the Connellys left for  France and Rome. 

‘It was not until the 7th of December that the party reached the end of their journey. 

“Cornelia and her children were installed at the convent (the Trinita dei Monti), I have a letter Pierce wrote to his brother, in which he says,  ‘took our children  with us when we went to see the Pope, and our son  made our audience a very merry one indeed. As we were coming away I told him to kneel down and kiss the Pope's foot like Ady, so he jumped forthwith upon Ady's back to kiss it over her shoulder, and finished by giving the foot a crack with his handkerchief.’”

“ It all seems so surreal.”

“From their first presentation to him in 1836 the Holy Father Pope Gregory XVI had taken an interest in the American converts, Their petition for separation had already been presented. Now husband and wife knelt together in audience before the Holy Father to present the request for Pierce Connelly's ordination.  This is from the details of the interview. 

" ‘The wife of the petitioner, being now thirty-four years of age, has already been accepted in the Convent of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, at Trinita del Monti, where she will enter as a postulant, on making at once a solemn vow of perpetual chastity. 

" ‘The petitioner, aged thirty-nine years, has also been graciously accepted by the Reverend the Superior-General of the Society of Jesus for the purpose of entering as a member of that body, to which he feels himself specially called by the Almighty. A provision has also been made in the most suitable manner for the education and the future welfare of the three children granted to them by Divine Providence. The son of eleven years of age is placed at the College of Stonyhurst, in  England, which is under the management of the Jesuit Fathers. The daughter, aged nine years, is being educated in the aforesaid Convent of the Sacred Heart, here in Rome, where her mother is to take the veil. 

" ‘There is also a son, three years of age, who will be placed in due time, where he may be taken care of, and be brought up with every attention, and may also receive, while his tender years require it, the assistance of his mother herself. And the petitioner will assign a capital out of his own private estate for the benefit of each of the said children. 

" ‘In order to accomplish the wishes of your humble petitioner, there remains one favour which he now implores from Your Holiness. With the acquiescence of the Very Reverend the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, he proposes, before entering that body, to be promoted to the priesthood ; and, therefore, immediately afterwards during the present Lent, to take minor orders. It is necessary, however, that Your Holiness should be pleased to permit the petitioner to be promoted to the aforesaid orders here in Rome, by the hands of his Eminence the Cardinal Vicar.’

“March 17,  1844.

“Pierre wrote to his brother. 

" His Holiness sent for the Cardinal Vicar the day before yesterday, and told him he dispensed with all letters dimissory  from America, and that His Eminence might give me Minor Orders immediately. This will perhaps be done before the end of Lent, and Nelie (his pet name for Cornelia) at the same time will enter the Convent of the Sacred Heart where little Ady is, not as a novice but only as a postulant, remaining at liberty as long as Frank has need of  her. He is to be received with his nurse in a cottage in the  garden of the Convent just as he was at Grand Coteau. Cornelia will always pass her nights with him, and he has the most beautiful garden you can imagine to play in, large and high, with a sweet view of all Rome. 

" You know the Prince Borghese has taken charge of Frank's education, and he will probably be  here in the College of Nobles at Rome. Cornelia is where the two little ones are in the midst of the most admirable community, and soon I will be in Priest's Orders.’”

“And Cornelia was happy with all this, was she?”

“Remember women had no rights in those days. They and their children were considered their husband’s  property, so she had to do all these things that her husband requested of her. Towards the end of the year 1845 Cornelia’s uncertainty was brought suddenly to an end. In a  memorable interview Pope Gregory XVI declared to her that  she was not called to join any existing Order, but that she had a  great work to do in God's Church. This work was to be the education of Catholic girls in England and to start a convent of her own.”