the Convent of Agnetenberg, at Dulmen. 'When I had pronounced my vows,' she
says, 'my relations were again extremely kind to me. My father and my
eldest brother brought me two pieces of cloth. My father, a good, but
stern man, and who had been much averse to my entering the convent, had
told me, when we parted, that he would willingly pay for my burial, but
that he would give nothing for the convent; and he kept his word, for
this piece of cloth was the winding sheet used for my spiritual burial
in the convent.'

'I was not thinking of myself,' she says again, 'I was thinking of nothing
but our Lord and my holy vows. My companions could not understand me;
nor could I explain my state to them. God concealed from them many of
the favours which he bestowed upon me, otherwise they would have had
very false ideas concerning me. Notwithstanding all my trials and
sufferings, I was never more rich interiorly, and my soul was perfectly
flooded with happiness. My cell only contained one chair without a
seat, and another without a back; yet in my eyes, it was magnificently
furnished, and when there I often thought myself in Heaven. Frequently
during the night, impelled by love and by the mercy of God, I poured
forth the feelings of my soul by conversing with him on loving and
familiar language, as I had always done from my childhood, and then
those who were watching me would accuse me of irreverence and
disrespect towards God. Once, I happened to say that it appeared to me
that I should be guilty of greater disrespect did I receive the Body of
our Lord without having conversed familiarly with him, and I was
severely reprimanded. Amid all these trials, I yet lived in peace with
God and with all his creatures. When I was working in the garden, the
birds would come and rest on my head and shoulders, and we would
together sing the praises of God. I always beheld my angel-guardian at
my side, and although the devil used frequently to assault and terrify