Letter 1542. To a Superior of the Visitation

I count it all happiness, my dearest Daughter, to be despised and ridiculed by the world on the subject of wishing to establish a Father-general or Mother-general for our Order. Truly, were I rash enough to entertain such a thought, I should deserve to be so thought of. The letters we wrote you about a month ago and what N. has told you give you the truth. We have no desire to establish anything new amongst us. Our only wish is that, with God’s grace, we may have the requisite humility and charity to keep intact what has been left us by our Blessed Founder, and to continue to walk in the way he traced out for us. But it is a good thing that the world should sometimes damp and cloud our vision; otherwise we might be dazzled by the graces, the gifts and the favours God bestows upon us by means of our holy Founder. And so our heads will not be turned by vanity and self-esteem.

This new project has, I think, been brought about by several great servants of God in ——, who strongly counsel the change and say that unless we make it we shall soon lose our spirit, our union and our conformity; but I am not of this opinion, for, trusting in God and in the virtue of our sisters, I believe that the sacred bond of charity which keeps us united will be stronger and more lasting than all that human prudence could think of or devise. In short, I know well the wishes of our Blessed Father, I honour and will adhere to them without ever, please God, deviating from them until the last day of my life. Ask God to put this same desire into the heart of every daughter of the Visitation; then there will be no need to fear the decay of union.

You seem to be a little tired and dejected under the heavy burden of your charge. O my daughter, you must be of good courage and think not of the magnitude of the burden, but of God who has placed it on your shoulders, and who, without doubt, will bear the hardest part of it. Always look unto Him and He will make all things easy. Grow not weary at the outset. I beseech the divine Goodness to be your strength and your consolation. Yours, etc.