The portrait of Mother Veronica appearing in the pages of the early history of the Bernardine Sisters in the United States and recalled by memories imbued with a grateful tenderness takes on definite characteristics. There is no doubt that her early training, the conditions in her country, and the circumstances of her life helped to shape the spirit that these memories retained. Like many of the cultured members of her race migrating here in the last century she was deep and shy and found adaptation to the New World difficult. Thus the reason for the absence of a forwardness characteristic of a new venture in her early work. It must be admitted that practically she seemed unprepared for the active work she was assigned to introduce according to conditions in the United States which were at variance with those of the Old World from which she had come at the turn of the last century. But the project designed by the Holy Spirit and carried out by Mother Veronica was of supernatural origin and supernatural in scope. The most beautiful features of her character spring from the supernatural. By leaving to her Community these marks she has left the treasure of a priceless heritage to her daughters in the active work for all time.
Her faith was strong and ever present. In her early childhood she was given a thorough training in the fundamentals of the Catholic religion by her parents, who also set the example of practical Catholic living. In school she continued to increase her knowledge of revealed truth and as her mind developed she learned to see things in their true relationships to the Invisible God Who dominated all. She practiced her faith continuously at home and in school, and desired nothing more than to know God, love Him and do His will. As a young girl, filled with a longing to become His Spouse, she left parents and home and entered the Congregation of Mary at Czestochowa. When the fulfillment of this desire could not be realized because of conditions hostile to religion in her country at the time, she returned home and for twenty-two years led a life resembling that of a religious. She placed her spiritual care under the direction of a Capuchin Father and followed his teachings carefully. In order to sustain her faith she frequented the sacraments, attended public devotions in the churches of her city regularly, and made pilgrimages to the renowned shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Her virtue shone with greater brilliance when she left home again when opportunity presented itself of realizing her earlier desire, and joined the Bernardine Sisters at Zakliczyn. Her act of profession in the Community, sealing her willingness to be a holocaust on the altar of God’s love, was an expression of the deep faith that filled her generous heart. The same virtue prompted her to accept in obedience to her vow the command given her by her superiors to leave the country that she loved and lay the foundation for an active apostolate in the western world.
From faith radiated the esteem she manifested for Holy Mother Church and her representatives. She entered intensely into the cares of each successive Pope who reigned during her life: Pope Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X and Benedict XV. She exhibited an active interest in each Pontiff’s difficult days. She was a true daughter of the Church with a deep desire to see it propagated throughout the world, but knowing that by disposition or talent or opportunity she was not destined to do more than her duty prescribed, she remained satisfied with the fulfillment of the one demanded by her vows. One of her favorite hymns sung as the Motherhouse every first Saturday in her memory was to the Immaculate Virgin, begging her protection on the Church Militant.
She entertained a supreme veneration for all sacred persons and things. In each representative of the Church she saw Christ Himself, and gave her fullest respect. She passed on the same lesson to her daughters, teaching them by word and example a marked deference for every priest. She sought enlightenment from them in matters of community interest and in matters of conscience and tried to follow the advice given. No less was her regard for the liturgy of the Church. All prescribed prayers and ceremonies were given her conscientious attention. She allowed dispensations from the former in the early days of the Community only when empowered by her Superior in Europe to do so. She felt a peculiar interest in celebrating all the greater solemnities of the Church.
Out of an ardent faith grew her favorite devotions: to the Blessed Sacrament, her first and greatest happiness being the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist and the possession of a chapel in each successive convent home. She spent long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and a little custom of her life revealed her great respect for Christ hidden in the Sacred Host. She always retired with her face turned towards the tabernacle in the chapel. This act may also be an indication of her constant living in the presence of God. She had a very special devotion to the Sacred Heart as revealed by her external practise of venerating the image of Christ’s love. She never tired of reflecting on the mysteries of the Sacred Heart or of conversing with her daughters on this favorite subject. The first Friday devotions and the unique celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart introduced by her and continued at the Motherhouse attest to the presence of this lively devotion. From her great faith she poured out on the Community the same intense devotion to the Sacred Heart which characterizes every Bernardine. Many have testified to the help and consolation they have received in time of trial or tribulation after having invoked the Sacred Heart which Mother Veronica had so loved.
After Christ, His Mother held first place in Mother Veronica’s devotions. She was always a devoted client of Mary having learned of her Mother in childhood and increasing in knowledge of her worth with the years. In prayer and song, in the erection of little shrines and observing her feasts, in a special fast which she observed every Saturday till her death, she honored her Heavenly Mother.
She had other favorite saints whom she invoked and honored with greater frequency: St. Joseph, St. Francis, St. Bernardine and St. Veronica de Julianis, her patron saint whom she sought to imitate all her life.
Her greatest joy lay in the knowledge that she had assisted in her own humble way to strengthen and preserve the faith of the immigrants by the work of her Community and that her daughters would continue a work for the spread of the faith for generations to come. To the very end of her life she gave testimony to the deep faith that animated her soul; a faith steady and firm, simple and sincere, in all the circumstances and events of her long life.
Her hope was firm. The exercise of hope does not necessarily preclude all fear as to one’s salvation; in fact, the theological virtues of hope whose object is God, takes its rise in the fear of human weakness. Thus Mother Veronica expressed herself frequently: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the most Holy Virgin, obtain for me the salvation of my soul ... Of myself I can do nothing ... I trust myself to their power ... The will of God is my only support ... Though I can do nothing, I rely with a firm faith in the power of God ... I hope in His mercy and fold myself in the arms of His immense love and unlimited power ... I place myself in His Divine Charity with all my weakness ...
This hope manifested itself early and grew with her spirit of prayer. It remained her refuge in time of trial and temptation, especially that of discouragement which she always met with a gentle and sweet hope. In her youth she did not allow herself to be weighted down by earthly desires, but disattached herself from things of the world and looked with hope to the possession of a life rich with an eternal value. She went through life strengthening that hope, freeing herself gradually from a reliance on her own will, her own resolutions, her own judgment and her own desires. When her life drew to a close she could look with trust to a union with her Master in whom she had placed her sole confidence and her only trust.
To her heroic trust may be attributed the assistance that the Community received in the way of financial help for the acquisition of its first property, the arrival of the first vocations, and the success in transplanting the Community into the New World.
If her faith was lively and her hope profound, her love was equally ardent. It was the flowering of grace and obedience to the Divine Initiator, for the love which joins the creature to God is a gift which comes from Him alone. She loved Him in the days when she was a child, she loved Him in the days of her youth, and attached to Him Whom she had long served, she loved Him ardently to her death. Her love manifested itself first in her obedience to her parents and teachers who took God’s place in her life; it expanded with the years with her increase of virtue and knowledge of God; from her reflections on Catholic truths and the beauty of the faith, from her ardent prayer and practice of all means for attaining a blessed eternity.
The greatness of her love for her Supreme God may be inferred from her intense hatred of sin and her fear of displeasing the Author of all good. Hence her intense contrition which she displayed when subject to the slightest imperfection. Hence her constant striving for perfect purity of conscience and soul. Where she couldn’t prevent sin she performed acts of atonement and included these in the prayers and sacrifices of the Sisters.
It was the love of God, which she cherished above all natural loves, that prompted her to accept all the trials and tribulations of her life willingly, to find joy in the company of her Eucharistic King in the tabernacle, to persevere at a task which she did not choose and admitted an incapability for. That same spark of God’s love glowed in her soul creating the desire to unite in a blessed union with her Eternal Spouse.
Mother Veronica’s faith, hope and charity further manifest themselves in the single act that dominated her life – her heroic abandonment to God. United to God, abandoned to His action, she accepted everything – duties, crosses, success and failure, beholding in them something of the divine life. Carefully she followed the duties of her state, quietly she followed the attraction given to it, and peacefully she submitted to the dealings of grace. “All is Yours,” she was wont to say, “from You and for You. I have no hand in the arrangement of one single moment of my life.” With this attitude she strove for a heavenly purity, a blessed annihilation, and an unreserved submission to God.
From her love of God flowed a love for neighbor marked by charity and zeal. Her Sisters were always her first concern, and her love for them was tender, deep and supernatural. She was a loving mother who saw to their needs of body and soul with an impartiality that stemmed from solid virtue. The sick, the lonely, the tired, or the distressed were the immediate objects of her solicitude. Many a tear was dried and shadow lifted by the kind words and consolation of Mother Veronica, and many a sorrow was drowned in the taste of a few sweets brought to the suffering one by her. But she desired sanctity for her Sisters and by word and example made that known to them. In the first few years when she was the only Mistress and guide, and in the years that followed, that was her constant refrain.
She was forgiving and harbored no ill-feelings and she betrayed a natural inability to do so. When an erring daughter came back to the fold, Mother Veronica received her with no mark of disdain, but rather, like the father of the prodigal son, treated her with courtesy and respect. She had a beautiful way of admonishing, pointing out to the Sister her duty to act differently without giving her cause for humiliation. At those times she was most kind and with her “Mine Own” – Moja Ty – preceding every address she won over the victim or disarmed the recalcitrant one. In her ingenious way she clothed the censure in words that made it accepted even by those inclined by nature to haughtiness or pride.
She had the beautiful quality of putting people at ease. When as Mother General on invitation she accompanied a very young Sister to the home of her parents, and all attention was lavished on the young Sister to the complete exclusion of the Superior, Mother Veronica joined in with the family in paying homage to their daughter in order not to embarrass the hosts.
She loved the laboring class and the poor. The latter always found in her an echoing sympathy. She loved little children and found great joy in folding their hands and teaching them to bow their heads before their Master and King. Like her Seraphic Father, St. Francis, she loved nature which revealed the omnipotent God, the animals, tress, grass, flowers and shrubs.
The same charity which influenced her dealings with the living characterized her zeal for the dead. For the suffering souls in purgatory nothing was too much for Mother Veronica, toil, prayer or sacrifice. She made the heroic act early in life so all her satisfactory works were directed towards the alleviation of the pains of the suffering souls. She encouraged the Sisters to make the offering of their daily sacrifices and prayers for the liberation of the souls in purgatory.
Two other virtues which Mother Veronica excelled in were humility and patience. The first was made manifest in the low opinion which she had of herself in thought, word and deed. Her own nothingness was the habitual subject of her reflection as revealed in her conversations with the Sisters. Her orders were always humble expressions of request rather than plain commands, and except in cases where it was her duty as superior to reprove any rebellious person for her faults her tone was always deferential. Criticism or reproofs from authority were accepted in the spirit of profound humility. Out of a sense of her own unworthiness she never undertook anything without the advice of others, including that of her younger companion. To conceal her penances and prayers, she often performed them at night in order not to attract attention. It often happened that a Sister stumbled over her prostrate form on the floor of the Ridgewood chapel long after the other members of the Community had retired for the night.
Mother Veronica was heroically patient. The fact that she endured calmly her trials without any resentment shows the existence of a very high degree of patience and forbearance. She had subjects who deviated from the path of duty; others made mistakes of judgment out of which a good deal of suffering accrued to her, yet no one ever noticed any loss of equanimity or sweetness of temper. After the first minor revelation of an irritation she returned to her steady calmness. Her admonitions were prudently and gently worded and given with kindness, firmness and love. Nowhere is her patience more greatly revealed however than in the silence which she faithfully kept all her life in regard to her physical condition. There is no doubt that there were times when she was ailing or fatigued, yet she never ws heard to complain. Her health was never robust; in fact, hers was a delicate constitution, but it was never a topic of her conversation. The special diet which was prescribed for her was faith fully kept and unchanged for many years before her death but no one ever knew the exact condition of her health.
Poverty, chastity and obedience were an integral part of the spiritual makeup of Mother Veronica. Obedience, which according to St. Gregory engrafts the whole circle of virtues in the soul, preserves them and trains them to perfection, was fundamental. It was an offspring of her humility, for none but the truly humble can subject their will and understanding to God and man. Mother Veronica subjected her intellect and will not only to God but to all His representatives, whether her superiors or her directors. Out of her heroic obedience the new Community in America was given its providential beginning.
Since the use of reason she preserved intact the virtue of chastity. With the help of prayer, the avoidance of the occasions of sin, a modest demeanor at all times she remained ever pure of heart. She had desired to take the vow of chastity at the age of twenty, but when prevented from doing so, she lived according to a private vow for twenty-two years until the opportunity was given her to pronounce her espousals publicly in the convent of the Bernardines. Her whole manner of life, approach and demeanor drew respect from all who approached her and no one in her long life ever dared make any familiar approach.
She had an instinctive fondness for evangelical poverty. It seems that she was endowed with the grace early, for as a child she was opposed to pomp and vanity. As she grew in years she advanced in the spirit of detachment in imitation of her Divine Spouse who had given the first example of the greatest poverty in His birth, life and death, and her great patron St. Francis who had espoused Lady Poverty twelve centuries later. As a Bernardine in America she was known to have few personal belongings; in fact, she retained for her personal use only the barest essentials like a few articles of clothing. When attempts were made after her death to collect these as remembrances by her loving daughters, it was revealed how few these were. Truly of Mother Veronica it can be said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
