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A HOUSE OF MERCY. 21
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
. At A Few This High Days Institution Ga...
rather In one sense , for here they learn to understand those wonderfully consolatory words spoken by the Saviour of the woman in the
city who was a sinner : * ' Her sins , which are many , are forgiven : for she loved much . " These divine words of mercy spoken by the
lips of Divine Love are emblazoned in clear letters above the altar . Violet and white , lilac and grey , with a little crimson cloth about
the altar , and crimson-cloth curtains with a black fleur-de-lis upon them which hang half-way down the chapel , are the sole colours in
the apartment ,, which , though most simply fitted up , has a pure , cheerfuland devotional character . The altar-cloth is violet and
, white , with the words " He that eateth me , even he shall live by me , " embroidered upon it . The floor is covered with cocoa-nut
matting , and the wood-work is of varnished deal . The chapel makes a striking impression , simple as it is , when you enter it from
the bare passages and unornamented rooms in the rest of the house . I could believe that it was very efficacious , thus making the chapel
the _chief point of beauty in the whole place . The girls , as I learned from the Sisters , take great delight in
their religious services , and are allowed upon holidays to decorate the chapel with wreaths . If prevented by illness from attending
the services , they are quite impatient for permission to again enter the chapel . The serviceswhich take place several times a day ,
, are generally of about ten minutes' duration , except the morning and evening services . The service at which I was present
consisted merely of the Litany chanted by the Warden , and responded to by the penitents and the Sisters . Kneeling amidst those unhappy
girls snatched from a hell upon earth , with the sunshine streaming in through the clear windows upon their white-capped heads , and
bowed grey and lilac forms , in the hushed silence to hear the Warden ' s voice chant forth , " O God , the Father of Heaven , have mercy
upon us miserable sinners ! " and then those young penitent voices l" O Godthe Father of Heaven , have mercy upon us
mirep serable y , sinners ! , " brought sudden tears to my eyes , and brings them again even now , when I recall the scene .
I cannot but believe that the religious services in such Refuges and Penitentiaries ought to be rendered as beautiful and as
impressive as possible . All that is pure and lovely should , it seems to me , be brought to these poor girls connected with the words of Christ ,
lie who spoke as never man spake to fallen woman . I noticed one thing which surprised me when I saw the girls
assembled in the chapel , and this was that amongst them there were not above half a dozen moderately good-looking . I did not
see one remarkably handsome . The greater number were decidedly
p when lain , the and girls three enter at the least establish were almost men t they idioti are c-looking generall . y Of much cou out rse
A House Of Mercy. 21
A HOUSE OF MERCY . 21
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1858, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031858/page/21/
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