Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen Read Free Book Online Page B

higher purpose, and soon it seemed the religious life, with all its penance and hardships and imperfections, was freedom for you, and the holy life you’d been seeking all along.” She pauses and stares at the postulant, and she asks, “Have my own petty and selfish reasons partly touched yours, Mariette?”
    She hints at no irony as she tactfully says, “You have discovered and honored me.”
    Mother Saint-Raphaël smiles. “Well put,” she says, and stands up. She parts the curtains and peers outside at sunshine and the unpainted weatherboarding of the milking barn. “Oh, proud I was, and swelled up with willfulness and self-praise, until God grew irritated with my haughtiness and I heard Christ’s words in the gospel of John, saying, ‘ You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit , and that your fruit should remain.’”
    “I have always liked that part,” Mariette says.
    Mother Saint-Raphaël turns. She pauses until she sees that the girl has heard and understood. “Do not lose your fervor, Mariette. Do not grow bored and dull and disinclined to pray. Do not become again the haughty girl you were, but the holy nun that God wants you to be.”
    “I shall.”
    Mother Saint-Raphaël walks to the chapter room door and opens it. Five novices are dallying in the hallway, but quickly tidy themselves when the mistress stares. She says to Mariette, “Sister Saint-Denis is expecting you upstairs in the classroom by the scriptorium. You’ll be having religion there at this hour until you take vows.”
     
    “What are the seven deadly sins?”
    “Excessive pride, anger, covetousness, lust, gluttony, laziness, envy.”
    “What are the seven healing virtues?”
    “Humility, meekness, liberality, chastity, temperance, diligence, sisterly love.”
    “What are the seven spiritual works of mercy?”
    “Correcting sinners, comforting the afflicted, counseling the troubled, forgiving offenses, teaching the ignorant, suffering all wrongs patiently, praying for the living and the dead.”
    “What are the seven joys of Our Lady?”
    “The Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of Our Lord, the Adoration of the Magi, the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple, the Apparition of the Risen Christ to His Mother, and the Assumption and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven.”
    “What are the seven charisms?”
    “Evangelism, eloquence, healing, prophecy, wisdom, contentment with poverty, true discernment of evil spirits.”
    “What are the seven sins against the Holy Spirit?”
    “There are only six. Despair of salvation, presumption of God’s mercy, impugning the Christian faith, hard obstinacy in sin, impenitence at death, and jealously over our sister’s blessings and increase in holiness.”
    “Excellent, Mariette.”
     
    Mass of Saint Hyacinth, Confessor.
     
    Work. Mariette kneels on ginger-brown earth as she plants winter seeds in a hot-weather garden that Sister Saint-Luc has harrowed and Sister Saint-Pierre has grooved with a stick. Brussels sprouts, kale, and savory cabbage. Sister Hermance is just behind her with a tin watering can. Sister Saint-Luc sings the hymn “Immaculate Mary” and the sisters join her.
    Hot breezes slide through the bluejoint grass. Sister Sabine is walking behind a horse-pulled thresher in the barley field. When Sister Hermance pours, she sees the water puddle like hot cocoa, but soon it is just a faint stain in the earth. Killdeer kite down and dally above Mariette, as if suddenly interested. Turtledoves watch from the telephone wire. And Sister Hermance thinks, We will have a bounty. Everything she touches will grow. Dirt puts itself in her hands .
     
    Mass of Saint Agapitus, Martyr.
     
    At collation Sister Pauline is in the high pulpit, continuing their reading from the Revelations of Divine Love: “‘We can ask reverently of our lover whatever we will. For by nature our will wants God, and the good