The Abbe de Rance became a Monk of the Benedictin order of La Trappe,
in 1660, and his conversion was attributed to a lady whom he tenderly
loved. They had been separated for some time by her parents; she
having written to him to remove her for the purpose of becoming united
in marriage, he set off, but, during his journey, she was seized with
a fever and died. Totally ignorant of the circumstance, he approached
the house under cover of the night, and got into her apartment through
the window. The first object he beheld was the coffin which contained
the body of his beloved mistress! It had been made of lead, but being
found to be too short, they had, with unheard of brutality; severed
her head from her body! Horror-struck with the shocking spectacle, he,
from that hour, renounced all connexion with the world, and imposed
upon himself the most rigid austerities, which he continued until his
death, forty years after.
When M. de Rance undertook the superintendance of the Monastery, it
exhibited a melancholy picture, of the greatest declension, and it
is curious to peruse the steps by which he effected so wonderful a
change;[2] and how men could ever feel it either an inclination or a
duty to enter upon a mode of life so different from the common ways of
thinking or feeling.
[Footnote 2: Reglements de L'Abbaye, La Maison-Dieu Notre Dame de La
Trappe, par Dom. Armand de Rance.]
The Monks of La Trappe were not only immersed in luxury and sloth, but
were abandoned to the most scandalous excesses; most of them lived by
robbery, and several had committed assassinations on the travellers
who had occasion to traverse the woods.
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