Letter 1507. To the Rev. Mother Perrucard de Ballon

To the Rev. Mother Perrucard de Ballon, Superior of the Reformed Bernardines. [Thonon, 1637.] Vive Kh Jésus |!

My very dear Mother,—May the most kind and gentle Saviour be your strength, your light and your guide in all your tribulations! He has given you a very large share of His holy Cross, which consoles me, as does likewise your humility and patience under its weight. Oh, my dearest Mother, show yourself always a true servant of Jesus Christ and a legitimate daughter of our Blessed Father.

Persevere humbly in the practice of perfect charity and forbearance amidst such severe and unjust attacks, and let not your lips utter one single word of recrimination nor of defence against the calumnies heaped upon you. Accept in imitation of our sacred Spouse all that will be done or said against you sweetly and without self-pity, and God will take your cause in hand. But when there is question of the truth in regard to Mgr. N. and the reason for which he wished to revise your Constitutions, reply that you informed him that when the manuscript was shown to him it was already printed. It is a point the truth of which you should maintain, and also the reasons upon which he grounded his objections to four or five points in the Constitutions.

He told N. he was resolved not to suffer the practice of them in his diocese. I have seen a copy of two of his Lordship’s letters to you: they are very paternal, full of piety and true kindness, and altogether worthy of this great prelate.

As for me, it seems to me that [were I in your place] I should, relying on his Lordship’s prudence and charity, surrender myself so loyally to him that he would not refuse the restoration of these four or five articles, when, with all humility, you have shown him their importance, and the great injury and prejudice their suppression would bring on your monasteries. You ought to summon your mothers and sisters to meet and, to whatever conclusion God will guide you, decide upon that.

I shall never forget what our Blessed Father once wrote to me. ‘Peace,’ he said, ‘isso great a boon that it cannot be too dearly purchased.” Once more let me say that I feel sure if you beg an interview with his Lordship and, throwing yourself at his feet with very humble submission, beseech him to have these hard terms suppressed, the great kindness with which God has endowed him will not suffer him to refuse you. You should defend the practice of these points as being in accordance with your letters of foundation. It is such an inestimable blessing for religious to possess the affection and protection of their bishops and ecclesiastical superiors that, for my part, I should never like to see our Institute establish itself in a diocese without it. Such, dearest Mother, is what my heart dictates to you, but I do not feel capable of making a final decision as to what you should do in case his Lordship will not allow you to observe these four or five points. From this I beg of you to excuse me.

Recommend me always to the divine mercy, for I always beg the special assistance of God for you, that you may conform yourself to His most holy, humble, and crucified Son. Yours, etc.