Julienne-Marie, the beggar woman.

— In the commune of Villatte, near Nozai (Lower Loire), there was a poor woman named Julienne-Marie, old, infirm, and who lived on public charity. One day she fell into a marsh, from which she was pulled out by Mr. Aubert, an inhabitant of the region, who habitually rendered her assistance. Carried to his home, she died a short time afterward, in consequence of the accident. It was the general opinion that she had wished to commit suicide. On the very day of her death Mr. Aubert, who is a Spiritist and a medium, felt over his whole person as it were the brushing of someone who was at his side, without, however, explaining its cause to himself. When he learned of the death of Julienne-Marie, the thought came to him that perhaps her Spirit had come to visit him. Following the counsel of one of his friends, Mr. Cheminant, a member of the Spiritist Society of Paris, to whom he had recounted what had taken place, he made the evocation of that woman, with the aim of being useful to her, not without first taking counsel with his protecting guides, from whom he received the following answer:

“You can, and this will give her pleasure, although the service you propose to render is useless. She is happy and entirely devoted to those who were compassionate toward her. You are one of her good friends; she hardly ever leaves you and, without your perceiving it, often converses with you. Sooner or later the services rendered will be recompensed, if not by the one favored, then by those who take an interest in him, before and after his death. When the Spirit has not had time to recognize itself, other sympathetic Spirits, in its name, bear witness to all its gratitude. This is what explains what you felt on the day of her death. Now it is she who helps you in the good you wish to do. Remember what Jesus said: ‘He who humbles himself shall be exalted.’ You will have the measure of the service she can render you, if, however, you ask of her assistance only to be useful to your neighbor.”

Evocation – Kind Julienne-Marie, you are happy; that is all I wished to know. This will not prevent me from thinking of you often and from never forgetting you in my prayers.

Answer. – Have confidence in God; inspire in your sick a sincere faith and you will triumph almost always. Never occupy yourself with the recompense that will come of it, for it will surpass your expectation. God always knows how to recompense as he deserves the one who devotes himself to the relief of his fellow beings and dedicates to his actions a complete disinterestedness. Without this, all is but illusion and chimera. Before all things one must have faith, otherwise, nothing. Remember this maxim and you will be astonished at the results you will obtain. The two sick persons whom you cured are the proof of it; in the circumstances in which they found themselves, with simple remedies you would have failed. When you ask of God permission for the good Spirits to pour upon you their beneficent fluids, if the request does not make you feel an involuntary start, it is because your prayer was not fervent enough to be heard; it will be heard only in the conditions I indicate to you. This is what you have experienced when you say from the bottom of your heart: “Almighty God, merciful God, God of boundless goodness, receive my prayer and permit the good Spirits to assist me in the cure of…; have pity on him, my God, and restore his health to him; without you I can do nothing. May your will be done.” You did well not to despise the humble. The voice of the one who suffered and bore with resignation the miseries of this world is always heard; and, as you see, a service rendered always receives its recompense.

Now, a word concerning myself; this will confirm to you what was said above.

Spiritism explains my language to you as a Spirit. I need not enter into details in this regard. I also believe it useless to make known to you my previous existence. The position in which you knew me on Earth must make you understand and appreciate my other existences, which were not always irreproachable. Devoted to a life of misery, infirm and unable to work, I begged my whole life. I did not lay up treasure; in old age my small savings were limited to a hundred francs or so, which I reserved for when my legs could no longer carry me. God judged my trial and expiation sufficient and put an end to them, freeing me, without suffering, from earthly life; for I did not commit suicide, as at first was thought. I fell struck down at the edge of the marsh, at the moment when I was addressing my last prayer to God. The slope of the ground was the cause of the presence of my body in the water. I did not suffer; I am happy to have been able to fulfill my mission without hindrance and with resignation. I made myself useful, to the measure of my strength and of my possibilities, and I avoided doing harm to my neighbor. Today I receive the recompense and I give thanks to God, our divine Lord who, in the punishment he inflicts, softens the bitterness by making us forget, during life, our former existences, and by placing on our path charitable souls, to help us bear the burden of our past errors. Persevere also and, like me, you will be recompensed.

I thank you for the good prayers and the service you rendered me. I shall never forget it. One day we shall see each other again and many things will be explained to you; at the moment they would be superfluous. It is enough for you to know that I am very devoted to you, that I am often near you and always whenever you have need of me, for the relief of those who suffer.

The poor little one Julienne-Marie.

— Having been evoked at the Society of Paris, on June 10, 1864 (medium: Mrs. Patet), the Spirit Julienne-Marie dictated the following communication:

Thank you for having admitted me into your midst, dear president; you well sensed that my previous existences were higher from the social point of view; and, if I returned to suffer the trial of poverty, it was to punish myself for a vain pride, which made me repel whoever was poor and wretched. So I suffered that just law of talion, which made me the most hideous beggar woman of this region; but, as if to prove to me the goodness of God, I was not repelled by all; that was all my fear. I bore my trial without murmuring, having a presentiment of a better life, from which I was no longer to return to this Earth of exile and of calamity. What happiness the day when our soul, still young, can enter into the spiritual life to see again the beloved beings! for I, too, loved and I am happy to have found again those who preceded me. Thanks to that good Aubert; he opened to me the door of gratitude; without his mediumship I could not thank him and prove to him that my soul does not forget the happy influences of his good heart, and recommend to him that he propagate his divine belief. He is called to gather in the souls gone astray; let him be well convinced of my support. Yes, I can repay him a hundredfold for what he did for me, by instructing him in the way you follow. Give thanks to the Lord for having permitted me that the Spirits may give you instructions to encourage the poor in their afflictions and to restrain the rich in their pride. Know how to understand the shame there is in repelling an unfortunate one; let me serve you as an example, so that you may avoid, like me, coming to expiate your faults in those painful social positions, which place you so low and make you the dregs of society. Julienne-Marie.

Remark. – This case is full of teachings for whoever meditates upon the words of this Spirit in these two communications. All the great principles of Spiritism are gathered together there. From the first, the Spirit reveals its superiority by its language; like a beneficent fairy, it comes to protect the one who did not reject her in her rags of misery. It is an application of these maxims of the Gospel: “The great shall be humbled and the small shall be exalted;

blessed are the humble; blessed are the afflicted, for they shall be consoled;

despise not the little ones, for he who is small in this world perhaps is greater than you believe.” Let those who deny reincarnation as contrary to the justice of God explain the position of that woman, condemned to unhappiness from birth, by her infirmities, if not by a previous life!

— This communication having been transmitted to Mr. Aubert, he obtained, in his turn, the one that follows, which comes to confirm the preceding:

Q. – Good Julienne-Marie, since you wish to help me with your good counsels, in order to make me progress in the way of our divine doctrine, have the kindness to communicate with me. I shall exert every effort to draw profit from your teachings.

Answer. – Remember the recommendation I am going to make to you and never depart from it. Always be charitable, to the measure of your possibilities; you understand charity sufficiently as it ought to be practiced in all positions of earthly life. I need not, therefore, come to give you a teaching in this regard; you yourself will be the best judge, following, however, the voice of conscience, which will never deceive you, when you listen to it sincerely.

Do not deceive yourself as to the missions you have to fulfill on Earth; the small and the great have theirs; mine was very painful, but I deserved such a punishment, by my preceding existences, as I confessed to the good president of the mother society of Paris, to which you will all be reunited one day. That day is not so far off as you think; Spiritism marches with giant strides, in spite of all that has been done to hinder it. March on, then, all of you without fear, fervent adepts of the doctrine, and your efforts will be crowned with success. Let it matter little to you what is said of you. Place yourselves above a derisory criticism, which will fall back upon the adversaries of Spiritism. The proud ones! they believe themselves strong and think to bring you down easily. You, my good friends, remain tranquil and do not fear to measure yourselves against them. They are easier to vanquish than you imagine; many among them are afraid and dread that the truth may, at last, come to dazzle their eyes. Wait; they will come, in their turn, to help in the crowning of the edifice.

Julienne-Marie.