Alain-Marie Duboin - The Life and Message of Sister Mary of The Holy Trinity: Poor Clare of Jerusalem (1901-1942)

THE LIFE AND MESSAGE OF

SISTER MARY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

POOR CLARE OF JERUSALEM
(1901-1942)

by
Father Alain-Marie Duboin, O.F.M.

Translated by
Mary Douglas Chomeau

Revised and edited by
The Poor Clares of Rockford, Illinois

and
Raphael Brown, S.F.O.

Published in cooperation with the
Poor Clares Corpus Christi Monastery,
Rockford, Illinois.

Translated and adapted from Louisa Jaques, Qu'un meme amour nous rassemble, by Alain Duboin, O.F.M., published by Apostolat des Editions, Paris (now renamed Mediaspaul Editions), and by Editions Paulines, Montreal, in 1979. The "Notes" (words of Christ to Sister Mary of the Trinity) included herein are excerpted from The Spiritual Legacy of Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity (TAN Books, 1981), a translation from the French work entitled Soeur Marie de la TriniteLouisa Jaques, Clarisse de Jerusalem (1901-1942), second edition, copyright 1950 by Imprimerie St. Francois, Malines, Belgium. That work has also been published in German, Italian and Flemish.

All materials from Qu'un meme amour nous rassemble which are used in this present volume are published by authorization of Apostolat des Editions.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Copyright 1987 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 87-50747

ISBN: 0-89555-318-X

Anyone obtaining favors through the intercession of Sister Mary of the Trinity or wishing to know more about the enclosed contemplative vocation of the Poor Clares as lived today may write to The Poor Clares, Corpus Christi Monastery, 2111 South Main Street, Rockford, Illinois 61102.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

1987

SISTER MARY OF THE TRINITY

DECLARATION OF OBEDIENCE

In complete submission to the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and in conformity with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that we have no wish to anticipate in any way the judgment of the Church on the nature of the communications made to Sister Mary of the Trinity, or to attribute to the words contained in this work any other meaning than that which the above-mentioned decrees permit.

The Editors

CONTENTS

by Raphael Brown

by Father Duboin

Part One
THE LIFE

)

by Father Duboin

)

by Father van den Broek and the Poor Clares of Rockford

)

by Father Duboin and the Poor Clares of Rockford

)

by Father Duboin and the Poor Clares of Rockford

Part Two
THE MESSAGE

by Father Duboin

by Father van den Broek, Father Duboin, and the Poor Clares of Rockford

by Father Duboin

selected by Sister Mary Gabriel, P.C

selected by the Poor Clares of Rockford

selected by the Poor Clares of Rockford

by Raphael Brown

Chicago Tribune article by Robert McClory

INTRODUCTION

by Raphael Brown

Sister Mary of the Trinity (1901-1942) was the daughter of a French Swiss Protestant missionary in South Africa who became a Catholic in Italy and a Poor Clare in Jerusalem. There during the last years of her life she recorded 665 "Notes," which consist of words seemingly spoken by Jesus Christ. Those Notes, along with autobiographical material by Sister Mary entitled "Conversion and Vocation," were published by her Belgian Franciscan spiritual director in Beirut in 1943 and in Belgium in 1947.

An English translation of this work by a British Poor Clare and myself was published by the Newman Press and by Mercier Press in Ireland in 1950. The Newman Press edition, The Spiritual Legacy of Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity, was reprinted in 1981 by TAN Books and Publishers, in cooperation with the Poor Clares of Rockford, Illinois.

Meanwhile, in 1979, another French edition of the "Notes," with important new materials on Sister Mary's life, edited by the French Swiss Franciscan Father Alain Duboin, was published in Paris by Apostolat des Editions and in Montreal by Editions Paulines. The Rockford Poor Clares have undertaken to bring out in English the new data in that book. (That French work also included most of the Sister's Notes, all of which are already available in English as The Spiritual Legacy of Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity.) Only certain selections from the Notes, arranged by topic, are given in this present volume.

I will now describe the important new materials which appear for the first time in English in this present work.

In Part One: The Life, the chapter entitled "Childhood and Youth" was written by Father Duboin using an unpublished manuscript by her spiritual director in Jerusalem, the Belgian Franciscan Father Silvre van den Broek, who died in 1949. Father Duboin added to that text and used in other parts of his book new biographical information obtained from interviews and letters written by the Sister.

He also inserted that information in the form of footnotes in the account of her "Conversion and Vocation" and throughout the 200 pages of her Notes. As both the Notes and "Conversion and Vocation" (of course without his footnotes) are available in the 1981 TAN Books reprinting of The Spiritual Legacy of Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity, we have had to find another way to present all the new material.

We have therefore decided that three new biographical chapters would be composed by the Poor Clares of Rockford, blending footnotes from The Spiritual Legacy in with Father Duboin's versions to produce a flowing narrative. This material makes up of Part One: "Conversion and Vocation," "In the Harbor," and "Last Days." (The first is based on Sister Mary's own account and includes information given in the section entitled "Conversion and Vocation" in Spiritual Legacy.)

Part Two: The Message contains Father Duboin's Introduction to the Notes, supplemented by an essay entitled "The Message and the Messenger" by the Poor Clares of Rockford. (I decided to condense Father Duboin's text in the light of a background letter which he wrote to me in December of 1979.)

Next we present three groups of extracts from Sister Mary of the Trinity's Notes arranged by topic; these were selected by Sister Mary Gabriel and the Poor Clares of Rockford. Here we have included Father Duboin's "Summary" of the Vow of Victim, with appropriate extracts from the Notes. The Rockford Sisters have added a selection of Prayers written by or loved by their Sister.

I have appended an Epilogue entitled "Franciscan Connections," which contains biographical information about the editors and translators of the Belgian, French and American editions, with data about related persons and projects.

Then, after the Epilogue, the book ends with a relevant Appendix: "Hidden Goodness," a readable Chicago Tribune article by Robert McClory on the way of life and spirituality of the Poor Clares of Rockford, Illinois, with a profile of their abbess, Mother Mary Dorothyto whose zeal we owe this book on Sister Mary of the Trinity.

This book also contains a number of illustrations which Father Duboin obtained and reproduced in his work. All the materials in that book which have been used in this one are published by authorization of Apostolat de Editions (now renamed Mediaspaul Editions).