CHAPTER 31 - FRANCE
The heart of the hermit was bursting with gratitude. Not only was he able to consecrate himself to God as a hermit in the Salesian family, he was able to pronounce his vows in the presence of one of the founders, and in a Visitation monastery chapel. After the nuns had chanted the psalms for Evening Prayer, one of the Sisters read a reading from the Bible about giving up everything for the sake of the Gospel and then Henri pronounced his vows, kneeling at the feet of the foundress.
It was a rare day when the entire community could go to the visiting parlor and celebrate, albeit through a grill, with a visitor. Today was one of those days. Coffee and cake were served, and stories were shared of new ideas and the power of the Holy Spirit. Brother Henri shared with his new Sisters that he was on his way to China. He believed that it was crucial for men and women of every faith to recognize and respect one another's differences, and share whatever it was they held in common. He would do this with his very life. He had no idea what he would find when he got there. Brother Henri had little money and was literally leaving everything behind, just as the Gospel reading a half-hour before had invited him to do.
"Callings from God are curious things indeed. I remember the difficulty I had in trying to help people understand the new vision of monastic life that Bishop Francis de Sales and I had for the Visitation. Some people simply humored us, others discouraged as, and some actively worked against what we were doing. In the end, of course, God's will was accomplished. Your vocation, Brother Henri, is indeed a unique one. It is also one that has been with humankind from the beginning of the Church and even before then. Please know that your Salesian family is always with you and will keep you in our thoughts and prayers now.” The foundress radiated a beatific energy and then smiled, "and through the ages."
Before Brother Henri left for Asia, Mother de Chantal told him that Bishop Francis de Sales eventually asked her not to call him “Lord Bishop” any longer because, he said, “We are one heart, one soul.” (Perhaps the saintly bishop had a premonition of the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that one of their own Visitation nuns, St. Margaret Mary, would one day experience. This image of the heart of Christ would ultimately invite people to relate to the humanity of God as well as to the divinity of God.) The foundress continued her Salesian lesson, “I encourage you, my brother in the Lord, to use your heart to relate to all people as your sisters and brothers, and thus live out the title ‘Brother’ which you now bear.”
There is no record of how Brother Henri made his way to China. Stories passed down by word-of-mouth in various Visitation monasteries suggest that he lived in a simple hut in the woods and spent his days praying and growing various Chinese medicinal herbs, then taking the herbs to market. He would treat the occasional person who came by, but his life was primarily cloistered. The parchments from the mother foundress were food for his soul and helped him to understand the Scriptures and the eremitical life more profoundly. He mourned the loss of a collection of letters by Mother de Chantal that Francis de Sales had saved. The foundress had told him that she threw them in the fire when the Bishop died so that no one would see those annotated notes about her soul.
A Chinese family was captivated by the unique lifestyle of this Western hermit. They were familiar with Daoist monks and Buddhist monks but a Western Christian monk was a novelty. Brother Henri was a likable person and he became like one of the family to these kind Chinese people. The years passed and the hermit knew his time on earth was coming to a close. He felt he had lived up to what God had invited him to and, as he lay dying, he asked a favor of the family who had been kind to him by allowing him to live in a hut on their property.
"There are some parchments I would like you to take care of for me." Brother Henri's Mandarin was like that of a small child--but then so was his heart. "Someday they need to be returned to my spiritual family, but for now if you just see that they are protected, and please pass them on to upcoming generations. I believe that they will eventually go to the person they are intended to reach."
The mother and father of the household nodded and smiled. They bowed to the dying hermit and received the leather satchel containing two stacks of parchments tied together with faded purple ribbons. They could make no sense of the writing and didn't understand why these writings were precious. They were precious to Brother Henri and that was enough for them.
The old hermit died and was buried near his little hermitage. Practically no one even knew he lived there but he had the peace that comes from knowing he had followed the will of God as best he understood. Not only that, the hermit was grateful for a rich and fulfilling life when he died.