Death of the Mother, election of Mother Jeanne Françoise de Cromont 1667.
We tasted the sweetness of the conduct of our Most Honored Mother until February 21, 1667, when Heaven took away from us this treasure of virtue, in the midst of our tears and our regrets, she was only 47 years old, and we hoped to enjoy for a long time a government so happy and so useful to our Community. On the 28th of the same month, we elected our Most Honored Mother Jeanne Françoise de Cromont. She had courage enough, although we were far from being rich, to undertake the building of our church. Human prudence would certainly have cried out loudly against this conduct, if the blessings which Heaven has bestowed upon this enterprise had not fully justified it. When this good Mother made it, she saw help that seemed certain, and the materials were cheap, so that if we had not built then, we would never have been able to do it. The dowries of the subjects which she received seconded her zeal, yet she did not have the pleasure of seeing the beginning of her work before her deposition.
Election of Mother Madelaine Angélique Tomassin 1670.
In 1670, we elected our Most Honored Mother Madelaine Angélique Tomassin, professed of our Monastery of the Faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris. It was judged appropriate by our Superiors, that they took advantage of this opportunity to send to Paris two of the most capable Sisters who were the most knowledgeable in the affairs of the Community, in order to confer and take the opinion of intelligent people on the measures that had to be taken for a considerable lawsuit that was being brought to us. Our Most Honored Sisters Françoise Catherine de Moncels and Claude Marie Garlier, who left on May 27, 1670, were chosen. They fulfilled their commission worthily, and received in our dear Houses of Paris a thousand testimonies of kindness; then they returned to Metz, bringing our new Mother who was awaited with great impatience. As she was endowed with all the talents proper to conduct, and as she had a very great zeal for everything that concerns our Holy Institute, it was easy for her to maintain the union that reigned in the Community, as well as the spirit of retirement that worries did not weaken.
Courage of our Sisters in the church building.
She continued the enterprise of our church and had the canonization of our Holy Founder celebrated; we will follow for these two great things the account which was made and printed at that time.
“Brave Italian architects laid the foundations of this edifice and supervised its construction; it is a marvellously surprising and almost incredible thing, how great the affection and courage of these fervent Religious appeared for the erection of this holy Temple, which they intended to celebrate the glory of their Holy Founder. They spared nothing for this work, boring by its length, and tiring by the pains and privations it required; their property, even their lives, seemed nothing to them in comparison with so noble a design. They sacrificed themselves pleasantly to their God, carrying to each other’s envy, with a courage no less invincible than generous, stones, lime, sand, and plaster. Three years passed in this way, during which they saw this building rise, as a sacrifice, not only of their bodies, but much more of their hearts, which they incessantly presented to their heavenly Spouse. They finally had the consolation of seeing it completed in the month of January 1672; Monsieur le Roux, Canon of the Cathedral, Vicar General and Spiritual Father of the Monastery, blessed it on the 25th of this month, assisted by the Confessor of the House and other ecclesiastics.
The hearts of his chaste doves were filled with joy, and led them to unite the solemnity of the canonization with the feast of St. Francis de Sales, but the altar being only half raised, it was necessary to suspend their pious eagerness. The Most Honored Mother left the care and stewardship of this work to the vigilance of Sister Assistant Françoise Catherine de Moncels, whose zeal was admirably distinguished at this meeting. The whole work was finished at the end of April, and astonished the whole city by its beauty, and the rarity of its modern form, here is the description.