rom God the freedom of her soul; when she is so disposed that
their visit is a cross, let her see them by all means. For then she
will bring good to their souls, and do no harm to her own."

This seemed not a little grim. But how touching is the personal
confession which appears on the following page.

"My parents loved me extremely, according to what they said, and I
loved them in a way that did not allow them to forget me.
Nevertheless I have seen from what has happened to me, and what has
happened to other nuns, how little we may count upon their
affection for us."

The unselfishness of such conduct seemed open to doubt. But
unselfishness is a word that none may speak without calling into
question the entire conduct of his or her life. Evelyn remembered that
she had left her father for the sake of her voice, and that she had
refused to marry Owen because marriage, especially marriage with Owen,
did not seem compatible with her soul's safety. Looked at from a certain
side, her life did seem self-centred, but allowance, she thought, must
be made for the difficulties--the entanglements in which the first false
step had involved her. But in any case she must not question the
efficacy of prayer, that was a dogma of the Church. The mission of the
contemplative orders is to pray for those who do not pray for
themselves, and if we believe in the efficacy of prayer, we need not
scruple to leave our parents to live in a monastery where, by our
prayers, we held them to eternal salvation. We leave them for a little
while, but only that we may live with them for ever.

"Believe me, my dear sisters, if you serve him well you will not
find better parents than those the Divine Master sends you. I know
that it is even so."

"What beauty there is in her sternness," Evelyn thought.

"I repeat that those whose trend is toward worldly things and who
do not make progress in virtue, shall leave this monastery; should
she persist in remaining a nun let her enter another convent; for
if she doesn't she will see what will happen to her. Nor must she
complain about me; nor accuse me of not having make known to her
the practical life of the monastery I founded. If there is an
earthly paradise it is in this house, but only for souls who desire
nothing but to please God, who have no thought for themselves; for
these the life here is infinite