To make one's coulpe means to prostrate one's self flat on one's face during the office in front of the prioress until the latter，who is never called anything but our mother，notifies the culprit by a slight tap of her foot against the wood of her stall that she can rise.The coulpe or peccavi，is made for a very small matter——a broken glass，a torn veil，an involuntary delay of a few seconds at an office，a false note in church，etc.；this suffices，and the coulpe is made.The coulpe is entirely spontaneous；it is the culpable person herself（the word is etymologically in its place here）who judges herself and inflicts it on herself.
On festival days and Sundays four mother precentors intone the offices before a large reading-desk with four places.
One day one of the mother precentors intoned a psalm beginning with Ecce，and instead of Ecce she uttered aloud the three notes do si sol；for this piece of absent-mindedness she underwent a coulpe which lasted during the whole service：what rendered the fault enormous was the fact that the had laughed.
When a nun is summoned to the parlor，even were it the prioress herself，she drops her veil，as will be remembered，so that only her mouth is visible.
The prioress alone can hold communication with strangers.The others can see only their immediate family，and that very rarely.If，by chance，an outsider presents herself to see a nun，or one whom she has known and loved in the outer world，a regular series of negotiations is required.
If it is a woman，the authorization may sometimes be granted；the nun comes，and they talk to her through the shutters，which are opened only for a mother or sister.It is unnecessary to say that permission is always refused to men.
Such is the rule of Saint-Benoit，aggravated by Martin Verga.
These nuns are not gay，rosy，and fresh，as the daughters of other orders often are.
They are pale and grave.
Between 1825 and 1830 three of them went mad.
BOOK SIXTH.——LE PETIT-PICPUS
Ⅲ AUSTERITIES
One is a postulant for two years at least，often for four；a novice for four.
It is rare that the definitive vows can be pronounced earlier than the age of twenty-three or twenty-four years.The Bernardines-Benedictines of Martin Verga do not admit widows to their order.
In their cells，they deliver themselves up to many unknown macerations，of which they must never speak.
On the day when a novice makes her profession，she is dressed in her handsomest attire，she is crowned with white roses，her hair is brushed until it shines，and curled.
Then she prostrates herself；a great black veil is thrown over her，and the office for the dead is sung.
Then the nuns separate into two files；one file passes close to her，saying in plaintive accents，'Our sister is dead'；and the other file responds in a voice of ecstasy，'Our sister is alive in Jesus Christ！'
At the epoch when this story takes place，a boarding-school was attached to the convent——a boarding-school for young girls of noble and mostly wealthy families，among whom could be remarked Mademoiselle de Saint-Aulaire and de Belissen，and an English girl bearing the illustrious Catholic name of Talbot.
These young girls，reared by these nuns between four walls，grew up with a horror of the world and of the age.
One of them said to us one day，'The sight of the street pavement made me shudder from head to foot.'They were dressed in blue，with a white cap and a Holy Spirit of silver gilt or of copper on their breast.
On certain grand festival days，particularly Saint Martha's day，they were permitted，as a high favor and a supreme happiness，to dress themselves as nuns and to carry out the offices and practice of Saint-Benoit for a whole day.
In the early days the nuns were in the habit of lending them their black garments.
This seemed profane，and the prioress forbade it.
Only the novices were permitted to lend.It is remarkable that these performances，tolerated and encouraged，no doubt，in the convent out of a secret spirit of proselytism and in order to give these children a foretaste of the holy habit，were a genuine happiness and a real recreation for the scholars.They simply amused themselves with it.
It was new；it gave them a change.
Candid reasons of childhood，which do not，however，succeed in making us worldlings comprehend the felicity of holding a holy water sprinkler in one's hand and standing for hours together singing hard enough for four in front of a reading-desk.
The pupils conformed，with the exception of the austerities，to all the practices of the convent.
There was a certain young woman who entered the world，and who after many years of married life had not succeeded in breaking herself of the habit of saying in great haste whenever any one knocked at her door，'forever！'Like the nuns，the pupils saw their relatives only in the parlor.Their very mothers did not obtain permission to embrace them.The following illustrates to what a degree severity on that point was carried.
One day a young girl received a visit from her mother，who was accompanied by a little sister three years of age.The young girl wept，for she wished greatly to embrace her sister.Impossible.
She begged that，at least，the child might be permitted to pass her little hand through the bars so that she could kiss it.This was almost indignantly refused.
AUSTERITIES
One is a postulant for two years at least，often for four；a novice for four.
It is rare that the definitive vows can be pronounced earlier than the age of twenty-three or twenty-four years.The Bernardines-Benedictines of Martin Verga do not admit widows to their order.
In their cells，they deliver themselves up to many unknown macerations，of which they must never speak.
On the day when a novice makes her profession，she is dressed in her handsomest attire，she is crowned with white roses，her hair is brushed until it shines，and curled.
Then she prostrates herself；a great black veil is thrown over her，and the office for the dead is sung.
