he situation, while her recognized sanctity gave her an influence for
good that no one else would wield. This was not Mother Duchesne's
opinion of herself. On the contrary, she thought herself an encumbrance
and a drawback upon God's work; and again and again, ever since she had
been in America, she had begged to be replaced by some one who would
possess the virtues and abilities in which she thought herself entirely
lacking. Bishop Rosati's reply was a great relief to the heart of Mother
Barat, and Mother Duchesne remained in office for the time being.

The years immediately following brought the holy Mother many crosses, of
which we can only name the most notable. Mother Regis Hamilton, the
dearest of her American daughters, had to undergo a severe operation,
according to the rude surgical methods of the time. The ravages of the
cholera in France filled her with anxiety for the fate of the French
houses, as also for that of her own relatives and friends, and letters
were long in coming.

The cholera broke out with great violence in St. Michael's, where it
carried away five of the community, and finally it reached St. Louis.
One morning, after her brief rest, she arose to find every one in the
community ill except herself. Happily the disease had appeared among
them in a milder form, known as cholerine. No one died, but during three
months all the sick suffered from continual relapses. The devoted Mother
seemed to multiply herself to be able to attend to them all, and at the
same time to look after the house. Often she was up the whole night with
those who were the more seriously affected. Fortunately, the orphans
were spared, and so were the houses of Florissant and St. Charles, but
Mother Duchesne heard, with great desolation of heart, that besides the
five religious already mentioned, the pestilence had carried off her old
friends, the Abbe Martial, Mgr. de Neckere, first Bishop of New Orleans
after the division of the diocese, and twenty priests--an immense loss
to the Church and to souls.

She had been compelled to dismiss all her pupils except the orphans, and
was consequently obliged to borrow from the bank to meet ordinary
expenses. Under the pressure of so many sorrows and trials, Mother
Duchesne determined to appeal to Heaven by a day of fasting and penance,
ending with an expiatory procession. She and the older orphans made it
barefoot and with a rope around their necks, in the old medieval
fashion. A few