their number." To the day of her death the nun never knows how near
and dear by the ties of Nature may have been the soul for which she
has prayed every day since the announcement was made.

The Sepolte Vive, when found guilty of any breach of the rule, are
labeled with a ticket attached to their habit, and on which their
fault is written in large, conspicuous letters--for instance,
"Disobedience," "Curiosity," "Talkativeness"--and this they wear
at their ordinary avocations for as many hours as the superioress
commands. They never undress on going to bed, and wear the same habit
winter and summer, the stuff being too hot for the one and too cold
for the other; so that at all times the penance is the same. On the
wrists many of them wear iron manacles that graze the skin and cause
constant irritation at every turn of the hand: this is sometimes
imposed as a penance, but very often is voluntarily inflicted
on themselves by zealous members of the sisterhood. Before the
prohibition to receive additional novices the sisterhood consisted of
a fixed number, and when a vacancy occurred by the death of one the
place was filled by the first on the list of postulants. _This list
was always a large one_, and generally contained many names belonging
to the noblest families of Rome. These details were gathered from
the same lady who acted as madrina to the Dominican nun Sister Maria
Colomba; and when she and a friend obtained permission from the pope
to penetrate the "enclosure," the nuns told her that it was _twenty
years_ since the same privilege had been granted. For almost the space
of a generation no stranger had been seen or heard by them, for not
even the privilege of a grated and curtained parlor interview is
allowed to the Sepolte Vive. And yet with all this unparalleled
refinement of austerity they were as blithe and healthy a body of
women, as cheerful and youthful in manner, as peaceful and calm in
appearance, as could be found among the Sisters of Charity or the lay
members of an association of Mercy.

The Carmelites are an order spread wide over the Christian world. The
reform of Saint Teresa was sadly needed among these nuns three hundred
years ago, and the recital of the vehement opposition made to her
efforts shows the merit due to her. At the present day the order is
one of the strictest in existence. The habit is of coarse brown serge,
including the tunic and scapular, a cord round the waist, sandals (in
Engla