A Golden Legend in the pure spirit
of the Gospel could be written from many other acts of this kind
springing from the hearts of the poorest. Thence grew the Factory
Apostolate, i.e., the apostolate from girl to girl. Father Brisson's
annual spiritual retreat gathered between 400 to 500 girls.
Father Brisson has been right:
Leonie Aviat, under the name of Mother Frances de Sales, was the
priceless auxiliary he had been hoping for.
As he had a gift to awaken in the
wealthy a burst of generous charity- equaling sometimes those of
apostolic times- he took the ungrateful role of provider, always
finding the money to pay the debts, accepting weariness, humiliations
and spiteful opposition to accomplish his mission.
With one accord, the Founders added
to their apostolate elementary schools, the boarding schools for the
daughters of the middle and upper classes.
Having well established the houses
in Troyes, Mother Aviat went to Paris to reorganize one of the
boarding schools. Father Brisson wished all classes of society to
benefit from the spirit of St. Francis de Sales, by the practice of
his Spiritual Directory. Indeed it can be used by lay people, as well
as by those in religious life.
Mother Aviat was to stay eight
years in Paris; it was a great sacrifice for her to leave the "Oeuvre
Ouvriere", the principal aim of her vocation. It was a break in her
life... How delicate were her feelings, however, in her compliance to
the Will of God!
"Let us be God's little tools and
allow Him to use us according to his wishes."
"Yes, my God, yes! Always yes to
your Divine Will."
The acceptance of the Will of God
goes hand in hand with her faithfulness to live in the 'present
moment.'
"Let us live in the present moment
to receive all the graces which it brings."
"You must not wish to live outside
the 'actual moment.' It contains the light that you must follow and
the help necessary for each circumstance."
In Paris, she was as successful
with the high society school girls as she had been with the young
workers. When, after her time there, she came back to Troyes, Father
Brisson was going through a difficult time with the Ecclesiastical
Aurthorities. This is the fate of all Founders. During the four
years, Mother Aviat herself had to suffer misunderstandings from her
community. She then put into practice what she taught:
"The difficult moments, so painful
to our nature, take us nearer to our Saviour."
"Treat all obstacles as having been
permitted by God. Let us establish charity and trust in our heart, so
that we, Sisters, may practice what delights the Heart of God and
obtains everything."
"The spirit of charity is acquired
by practicing humility."
"Mother Frances de Sales is above
all an eminent model of perfect charity. Her love is a wonder of
strength and simplicity. How and why was she able to have so much
simplicity and nevertheless be so strong? For her, strength and
simplicity were the way of love. 'It is charity' Saint Paul says,
'that we become tied to perfection.' We have to look at the love
alone before considering in turn these two virtues, so apparent and
eminent in her, and so paradoxically interwoven." Card. Garrone
In 1893, Mother Aviat was
re-elected Superior General, which she was to remain until her
death.
"At her time when she took charge
of her Congregation -once and for all-it seemed to her she heard
these words: 'You will be Superior because I want to govern
everything.' It was God speaking. It is not possible to say in a more
exact way where she found the source of her simplicity. She depended
entirely on God in whom she found the source of her strength. God
used her as an instrument without resistance." Card. Garrone
She gave a solid base to the
foundations in existence or those being developed. There were already
Missions established in South Africa and others starting in Ecuador,
(South America). In Europe, her daughters were welcomed in
Switzerland, Austria, England, and Italy.
This was God's permission in view
of the terrible storm that was to hit France when Religious
Congregations would be scattered by the spoilation of their
possessions. These laws came into force in 1903, In France,
twenty-one well established houses, four in the process of being
organized, and six where the Sisters worked in conjunction with the
Oblate Fathers were closed on the same day, to be handed over to the
liquidator. For the girls and for their families as well, it was more
than grief, it was a deep affliction. Father Brisson, aged 87, could
not go to live abroad; so he returned to his family home at Plancy,
whereas Mother Aviat had to deal with the distressing situation.
Thanks to the example of her generosity, all her daughters trusted
her entirely. To save what they could from among the houses and
schools in France, she asked some of the Sisters the sacrifice of
wearing lay dress to continue their teaching and thus avoid for the
families the sorrow of being cruelly forsaken. Others accepted to go
to foreign countries. She herself went into exile with her
assistants. The Mother House was transferred to Perugia. From now on,
Italy was to become her second homeland. From there she perfected the
new organization of her Institute, supporting the Sisters' courage by
her visits and her letters.
Her last and greatest trial was the
death of Father Brisson. On the 2nd of February 1908, he died as the
'Nunc dimittis' was being sung in his church at Plancy. By a moving
coincidence, on the same day the liquidator was putting up for the
auction the very bed on which was dying the kind priest who had
harboured so many unfortunate people.
A fortnight before, as she was in
her room at Perugia, Mother Aviat had a supernatural foreboding that
the Servant of God was near his end, she wept. At that moment two of
her assistants entered the room. When she told them what she felt,
they tried to reassure her. "No" she insisted, "something is
happening to Father Brisson." At that very hour he was receiving
Extreme Unction. A short while later, a telegram confirmed her
painful premonition. Mother Frances de Sales went immediately to
receive his supreme blessing and his last sigh. At his funeral, she
had the sorrow of being lost among the crowd without her religious
habit, so as not to draw attention to the apostolate she was trying
to save.
In this trial she remained, the
comforter for others: "Say 'yes' to the divine Will, following Father
Brisson's example."
"The cross unites us to our
Saviour; let us summon up all our courage to bear it with confidence
and trusting willingness."
She still had six years of life in
which to complete the Constitutions of her Institute, with a view to
their definite approbation. His Holiness Pope Leo XIII had granted
his approval for ten years in 1890. It had been extended because of
the events in France. In her exile, Mother Aviat valued being near to
Rome and getting direct advice from the Sacred Congregation for
Religious. Father Brisson had communicated to her filial love for the
Pope; she complied with Holy Church's teachings, for herself and for
her Institute. In 1911, His Holiness Pope Pius X gave their
Constitutions the final approbation.
The task of the Foundress was
fulfilled, God was going to call her, "to reward her with the
abundance of His love", as Saint Francis de Sales promised in his
Spiritual Directory, "to the souls who have done all their actions in
the name of God and for His sole Pleasure."
After a short illness (bronchial
pneumonia), she died, comforted by the blessing of Saint Pius X, on
Saturday, 10th of January 1914. An Oblate Father was there to
administer Extreme Unction and give her the last blessing. With
fervor and peaceful serenity, she said: "He is going to give me the
last Sacraments; I deeply desire to receive Holy Communion, and I
want to receive it now." After the anointing she again expressed this
burning wish.
Once she received Our Lord, she
began a long thanksgiving, probably doing what she had often
recommended to her daughters, "Abandon yourself in total confidence
to the divine Will." Serene and peaceful was her agony. The priest
suggested that she unite her heart to the litany of the Blessed
Virgin he was going to recite. She then gave a beautiful smile, her
last... It was for Mary whom she had loved so much.
Very soon the news of her death
spread through the town of Perugia. People flocked to the Mother
House wishing to gaze for the last time on her whom they called 'the
Saint...'
Testimony was given by the two
Reverend Mothers who assisted Mother Aviat during her long years at
the head of the Congregation.
Mother Pupey-Girard: "She was
heroic, but with simplicity."
Mother de Cissey: "Her love for our
Lord was so ardent and her thirst for perfection so great, that she
was urged to spread it and communicate it to those around her."
