Letter 1111. To Mother Marie Constance de Bressand

My very dear Daughter,—I have read right through poor Sister N.’s letter, and indeed I feel great compassion for her, for I see clearly that there is a certain something good in her soul, but her passions are so exceedingly strong and violent and her mind is so peculiar that it is pitiable, and they get the better of her when she is tempted to commit faults. Had she been under the guidance of our Blessed Father I think he would have made something good out of her, and he would have tried to gain her by exercising towards her more than usual gentleness, charity, and forbearance. To treat her in this way is the only means of reclaiming her. I say this because I know you will do it and that you wish me to tell you to do it.

For the love of God, when she offends against you personally and the sisters are unaware of it, say nothing about it, only show compassion for her mind. Never reproach her about such failings nor bring up what you have done for her—your forbearance with her in this or similar instances—but treat her with all possible considerateness and charity. Make her understand that you wish to go back to your first manner of guidance of her, and that you departed from it only because you wanted to try every possible means of inducing her to behave in a temperate manner. When she commits serious faults before the sisters, as, for instance, when she acts in an eccentric way, try, as soon as her mind is a little calmed, to make her

I) Bd DS BLDG EI oh ah eng 203 desire of her own accord to do some penance in presence of the community, to prevent in this way the bad consequences that might result. She complains that nothing is said to her when she commits these faults. Alas! hers is a spirit that needs great encouragement and soothing; therefore, I beg of you, when you think her emotion will have a little passed, say in some hours, go to her to encourage and help her to return to a good way, saying kind words to her with great gentleness and cordiality. You see, my dear daughter, this is a case that needs not ordinary but very extraordinary kindness, and this you are called upon to practise. Do so then willingly on such occasions, for perchance you will render greater service to God by your efforts to gain this soul than by everything else you have done in your life. Give her all the time that she needs to unburden her heart to you; she will waste your time without doubt, but there is no remedy for that, for hers is a mind that has a constant need of being talked to. And since she does not give her confidence to those outside [the convent], you ought to give her all possible relief from within. Never let her see that she is a burden to you, nor look impatient nor cross at what she may say or do, but treat her always with great motherliness, for I tell you again that she wishes and requires to be managed with extreme kindness and forbearance. I know quite well you do all this, but I beseech of you to do it more and more, because I believe with such help she is destined for eternal salvation.

I think I have already told you that for such minor faults as she may commit, of omission and the like, she should not be corrected, and in these things the sisters ought to bear with her cordially, for I tell you they are more culpable before God with all their perfection for the slight faults they commit, than she for her more serious ones, on account of the extreme peculiarity of her mind and the violence of her passions. You should be somewhat lenient in regard to certain little desires of hers, and take care not to contradict her. This is charity of a prudent and tactful nature, but a kind that is essential for superiors.

We have here a sister from Moulins since St. Bartholomew’s Day. She brought back our Sister F. Angélique [de la Croix de Fésigny], and she does not think of leaving till after St. Michael’s Day. The sojourn will, I believe, be of great use to her. She tells me the foundation of Croisic is not made, and that you are still burdened with the sisters who were sent for it. I am sorry for this, for I see you do not apply to Moulins for the relief of your necessities but to the faubourg of Paris, as my sister the superior there writes to me that she is in trouble about lending you money and getting a security. I am very glad she helps you; but we superiors, who are but birds of passage, when we have finished our time, or are sent to another monastery, sometimes leave a debt on the houses, and those who succeed us are not too rejoiced thereat, which is not very pleasant for us. This is my reason for wishing you to arrange in such a manner that, before the time of the superiority of the sister of the faubourg is ended, you have settled the matter and delivered over the security. Then the ecclesiastical superiors will have no cause for complaint. You see, my dear daughter, with what a royal heart this Mother assists our houses. It rejoices me, yet we must not be the means of mortifying her before her ecclesiastical superiors.

For the rest, I candidly told my sister the Supetior of Moulins that she has given double the sisters necessary for this foundation, and that some of them ought to be sent back to her. Verily if we continue to make foundations with sisters who have not humility, love of poverty, and the other characteristic virtues of our Institute, the houses of the Visitation will be mere outward shells of religion; for, as I said in my ‘ Answers,’ one cannot infuse into others what one has not in oneself. You see by experience what it is to send such sisters as Sister M. Martha [Dubois], who is not suitable. However, since the thing is done, I believe if you treat her very gently and charitably and with great forbearance you will gain her, for she has a certain something good at heart. I hope our sister the Superior of Moulins will come back home with a new spirit, and that the love of poverty, humility, and simplicity will have taken root in her heart. Superiors do not certainly sufficiently inculcate these virtues in their daughters. Be zealous in doing so in the future, for without this spirit we are but phantoms of religious life.

My daughter, I remain wholly yours, etc.