Final chapter
Here we conclude the life of our foundress: Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud, born exactly 200 years ago, on October 28, she entered eternal life on August 3, 1903. A discreet figure who lived in the shadow of her work, she was the tireless linchpin throughout her life. Although she achieved international renown, she faded from the memory of the faithful even though she continues to care for her work from heaven in the company of angels and patron saints. It is our duty to keep her memory alive and ask her to intercede for us.
Return to Grace
The Guard of Honor thus returned to the cradle of the Visitation Monastery in Bourg-en-Bresse. The new dial of Mercy, made official in 1892, filled up incredibly. The recruits, informed of this new dial, which allowed them to offer an additional hour for the conversion of their loved ones, immediately signed up. Nearly a thousand names were added each week! They came from all corners of the world. In a monthly bulletin, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud recounted the countless conversions obtained through this means. The former Superior of Montmartre, Father Yenveux, asked to meet her. From the very beginning, he felt great esteem for this humble nun. A few days later, during a meeting of missionary bishops, he pleaded the cause of the work to the entire assembly. He entrusted all the apostolic vicars and their delegates with documents to disseminate the Guard of Honor. Thanks to him, it spread throughout North America, South Africa, and even Ceylon. It then expanded to Texas, Holland, and Canada. For 20 years, until the end of his life, Father Yenveux maintained a correspondence with Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart. He was a tireless apostle in making the Heart of Jesus known.
How could anyone imagine that at a time when the only means of communication was mail, which took several weeks to reach its destination, the Guard of Honor would travel to more than 120 countries and register nearly 30 million people in its 50 years of existence!
Grief and Trust
As age approaches, it is not uncommon to see fellow travelers depart for Heaven. But when this happens to loved ones in the prime of life, the grief is immense. Less than a year apart, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart learned of the deaths of two elite priests closely linked to the work of the Guard of Honor: Canons Buathier and Théloz. The news of their departure deeply affected her. One died of an illness whose fatal outcome was unimaginable, and the other was struck down in the middle of Mass at the very age of 46. Two key players, indispensable to the operation of the organization, thus suddenly disappeared. Despite her grief, Sister Bernaud remained confident that God would ensure the continuity of the Guard as many times as necessary. In fact, Canon Laplace was appointed Director and took over a large part of the work of his two predecessors. In old age, weapons in hand, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart has just turned 70. Her health seems less poor than in the past, allowing her to sustain a colossal amount of work. Her cheerfulness and joviality are intact. She still enjoys leading recreation activities. Surrounded by the affection of all the sisters, she is nicknamed “grandmother.” She has also retained her lovely timbre of voice and sometimes leads services.
Despite the effects of her age, which gradually diminish her but in no way impair the vivacity of her spirit, she wishes to die with weapons in hand. With her alert pen, she continues to write the zealous posts, which are now in their umpteenth edition. For committed members, she has undertaken to write a collection entitled “The Divine Heritage, the Calls of the Heart of Jesus,” in which she explains 33 different aspects of Jesus: his Wound, his Pains, his Desires, his Blood, etc. She hopes in this way to further discover the treasures of the adorable Heart of Jesus. At the same time, she continues to respond to countless letters and requests for the opening of new centers.
Indeed, since the Holy Father Leo XIII elevated the Confraternity of the Guard of Honor to the title of Archconfraternity, the work’s progress has been marked by one or more national centers each year. The Foundress watches over her beloved Guard with great care: “It’s not just names we need, but hours of fervent Guard service!” she insists.
The jubilee of her 50 years of religious life
On April 4, 1901, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart celebrated her 50th anniversary of religious profession. Long in advance, people all over the world rejoiced at this occasion to express their deep affection for her. Her sisters surrounded her with gentle veneration and sang to her: “This is this beautiful day, grandmother, for which around you, all hearts, in their prayers, have repeated: keep her for us!” Since April 4 fell on Holy Thursday that year, the celebration was moved to April 23. But on the same day, messages, gifts, and testimonies arrived from everywhere. Starting on Easter Monday, she began the long task of responding to everyone. However, she was not at her best; the winter had been long and trying. The sisters even wondered by what miracle she could still cope with such a workload when her only sustenance consisted of a glass of milk, which her body sometimes could no longer tolerate.
Throughout her life, Marie du Sacré Cœur suffered from poor health, punctuated by hemoptysis (coughing up blood) and recurring liver problems. On several occasions, the sisters saw her on the verge of death. Only exceptional help from God can explain how she was able to carry out such labor for years. The day before her feast day, her health showed worrying signs. But in the morning, she had regained strength drawn from who knows where: “to suffer and work again for the dear Glory of the Beloved,” she exclaimed. She renewed her vows in the chapel, filled with fervor, decorated in her honor. After the celebration, the measure of her fame was revealed by the countless gifts adorning the dining room, not to mention all the messages from around the world… and especially a personal telegram from Pope Leo XIII blessing her for the occasion! The gifts would arrive over the next several weeks.
The Last Days
Life returned to normal, but her strength diminished with each passing day. Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart became increasingly absorbed in deep contemplation, and when asked what she was thinking about, she replied: “I cannot live without the Beloved.” With astonishing ease, she continued the correspondence for the work. Patiently facing pain and fatigue, she rarely interrupted her work. “She always served her dear Guardian more by the offering of all her suffering than by her work,” the sisters who knew her would say. At rare intervals in the last weeks of her life, she sometimes feared the final judgment. But her few anxieties in no way altered her trust in Mercy. She wrote: “The Lord needs souls entirely His own to take His delight in them, and He finds so few of them.” What does this divine Jealous One do? He separates the one He has chosen, isolates her, despoils her, so that she can repeat this prayer that He Himself dictated to Blessed Margaret Mary: My God, My Only and My All, You are all to me and I am all Yours…[..] “I find enough souls to act,” our Lord once said, “but very few who want to suffer.”… Suffering passes, the reward is eternal.”
This letter-testament alone sums up the entire interior life of Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, all the sacrifices made, all the suffering offered, the entire journey she took to reach such a spiritual summit. It is indeed her experience of which she speaks. She learned to extract God’s will and transmit it through words of unfathomable spiritual power. On July 21, 1903, the death of Leo XIII devastated her. She mourned this great pope who had committed himself to the Guard of Honor. On August 1, exhausted, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart had to take to her bed. She knew she was living her final hours, but she remained calm. Her confessor, Father Chatelard, came to receive her final confession. Despite the high fever, she did not seem in immediate danger. On the evening of the 2nd, her strength diminished by the hour. The entire community gathered to accompany her. She renewed her vows and received Communion. At the priest’s invitation to sacrifice her life for the atonement of her sins, she responded with astonishing energy and in a voice that had nothing to do with that of a dying woman. Her thoughts went out to the guards of honor: “Tell them all that I die in peace and that from up there, I will not forget them.”
On the morning of August 3rd around 9:00 a.m., surrounded by the sisters who were praying the litanies of the Sacred Heart and the Precious Offering, she passed away with a very gentle breath. Until the day of the funeral, the crowd pressed forward to have all sorts of objects touched to the remains. The funeral took place with a large number of priests and faithful, sometimes rushing from very far away. For several months, the sisters received telegrams, letters, and condolences from all over the world by the mail bags. Throughout the centers, it was agreed that Sister Marie du Sacré Cœur Bernaud was one of the souls who worked the hardest in the last century for the Glory of the Sacred Heart! In September 1879, she wrote about the Wound in Christ’s Side: “We will live there, we will die there, we will dwell there eternally. It is the last stage of love on earth… it is the abode of all those who have humbly loved and tenderly consoled the Heart of Jesus in His Guard of Honor.” **************************************