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SISTER JULIE CABAGNIOL
In Bishop Serra's letter to the Superior General [Mother Emilie Julien] he wrote, "It would be difficult to find a superior more humble, more kind, or more suited to preside over a little community than this good Sister Julie. She does not teach much, perhaps, with words, she does not reprove much, but she teaches much and reproves when it is necessary by her saintly conduct full of charity and well advanced in religious perfection. " [20 Aug 1857] In 1878 Mother Julie was succeeded as Superior in Fremantle by Mother Teresa Mackenzie, who had been working in the Burmese mission for some years. In April of that same year the Albany foundation was made, with Mother Teresa, Sr Josephine Smith and Miss Mary Donnelly taking the weeklong trip by mail coach. After six or seven months Mother Teresa returned to Fremantle, and in December Sr Julie was appointed pioneer Superior of this new foundation. There she laboured tirelessly for the next seventeen years.
When she died, the poor and needy of both Fremantle and Albany paid great tribute to Mother Julie for her assistance to them. She was held in such high esteem in Albany that following her death, by their own special request, the Mayor and Councillors of the town acted as pall-bearers at her funeral and commanded that the flag on the Council House be flown at half-mast. A fine polished granite cross was erected by public subscription and still stands as a monument to her in the old Albany Cemetery.
It is said of Mother Julie that she was never strongly inclined to teaching, but preferred to be sacristan to the church with all that that entailed, and to attend to all the convent and school "extra" jobs. In fact she did not like teaching, but when she was in Albany, she had to take the infant classes from time to time when the sisters were short-handed. Her vocation was nursing the sick in their own homes, sometimes staying with the patient overnight and returning to the convent for early morning prayers.
Mother Julie also spent many of her days in the kitchen and for several years made all the bread. On washing days she was always to be found in the laundry doing her share of the work. Gardening was her great love after her duties as sacristan. There were plants growing in every possible spot and she always had flowers with which to decorate the altar. Of course she also had a flourishing vegetable garden that supplied the needs of the little community.
Mother Julie never spoke of the hardships she endured during the first years on the mission, and when she spoke of the voyage to Fremantle one would think that she had enjoyed it! The great example given by her spirit of poverty made a lasting impression on her sisters, particularly it seems, in the matter of her own clothing and things of personal use. When she died there was not enough money in the house to pay for her funeral, neither was there any money owing to anyone.
About two years before her death she was diagnosed with diabetes, and soon after, with galloping consumption. Her once strong frame rapidly weakened, and death finally claimed this heroic soul on 4 May 1895.
Mother Julie was a woman of great faith and vision who always put the needs of others before her own comfort and convention.
SISTER LUCY FIEUZET
Although Sr Lucy had been a Superior in France, when coming to Fremantle, she asked to be the cook. She never succeeded in learning the English language, saying that a cook didn't need it!
In later years she became doorkeeper in the Convent and, in spite of her halting English, excelled in public relations.
Her special charge was to care for the children housed at the Adelaide Street Convent, whose parents were very poor. She also helped with sewing for the poor.
She lived a life of great asceticism and was considered to be a very saintly soul. She practised mortification to a great degree, generally choosing the leftovers for her own food. When she was over eighty years old her poor, bent figure would often be found kneeling without any support before a statue in the corridor, especially in the evening. In fact when it was dark the sisters would have to be careful not to stumble over her, for she would be deep in prayer, oblivious to everything around her.
She lived to the age of 85 and sometime prior to her death she had to submit to a painful operation and she bore the pain without a murmur. She died just three months before Mother Julie, with whom she had a strong friendship, and with whom she shared a great spiritual affinity.
SR EMILIE PETIT
When she died on 28 December 1878, Sr Emilie had been in the colony for twenty-three years.
"During that long period [she] devoted her talent to the education of the young, the instruction of the ignorant, to the care of the sick, and the succour of the poor. Sister Emilie was a highly accomplished and educated lady, and for many years had the principal charge of the Young Ladies' School, attached to the Convent of St Joseph, and in that capacity Sister Emilie became widely known, and by her pupils was deeply beloved and respected. To the poor of Fremantle Sister Emilie was a sincere and devoted friend, and no class of that town, will feel her loss more keenly... The name of Sister Emilie will be long and affectionately remembered in Fremantle. ["The Record" 2/1/1879]
At one time Sister Emilie was expecting the arrival from Europe, of her sister who was also a member of the Congregation. On the day before the ship was due she distinctly heard a voice saying, "You know Adele, I am dead." (Adele was Sr Emilie's Christian name). She related this to her companions, and instead of the Sister arriving on the ship there was a letter announcing her death.
Sr Emilie taught in Fremantle until 1898 and gave private lessons before and after school hours. She died at the age of 62. In a letter from Mother Julie to the Mother House written on 18 January 1864 she speaks of Sister Emilie's frequent illness, and inability to eat, at the same time requesting that more sisters be sent for the mission.
It was not an ordinary illness that caused her death. One day while calmly supervising children in the playground, she was accidentally hit on the head by a cricket ball. Though at first this injury did not seem serious, her death came as a result of complications that followed.
Her death came as a great loss to the community as she was highly intelligent and a skilful teacher.
SISTER ZOË DE CHAMOUIN
Well educated, from a prosperous family, Sr Zoë had never learned to cook. It is recorded that due to a variety of circumstances, she had never even had to light a fire until her sixtieth year, and then, when she did, she almost burnt the convent down! Having come to Australia as a novice she had not had the opportunity of being trained in domestic work during her novitiate.
When Mother Julie went to Albany in December 1878, she was accompanied by Sr Zoë, who quickly became highly regarded as a teacher. Like Sr Lucy, Sr Zoë used the time before and after school hours to give private lessons.
She was renowned for her charity. It was said that even the shadow of an uncharitable word never passed her lips.
Sr Zoë, who was always most exact in what she said, related the following incident which occurred during their second year in Australia. One day when she and Sr Emilie were alone in the house, they distinctly saw a sister passing down the corridor. They were astonished, as they knew that the other two sisters could not have returned as yet, but on searching the house they found no one. Later on, letters announced the death of the Mother Foundress, and it was ascertained that the time of her death coincided exactly with the time they had seen the mysterious religious. They firmly believed that it was their beloved Mother who had visited their poor little home.
After 26 years in Australia, she returned to France with Sr Marcelline Loubet, the General Secretary. However, after an absence of about 18 months she rejoined the mission in her adopted land and went back to Albany, where she taught in the High School until a few years before her death, which took place in 1906 when she was 71.
| Sister Julie Cabagniol |
