Letter 1567. To Mother Mane Henriette de Prunelay

To Mother Mane Henriette de Prunelay, Superior at Rennes. Vive se Jésus | [Annecy] 4 July, 1638. My very dear Daughter,—You will have received my last letter, which answers that which I had but the other day from you on the subject of this annoyance they are giving you about confessions and about the interior guidance of your house. You are not the only one who has to suffer from this. No one except you has written or spoken to me about these memoranda. Anyhow, you have God with you, since holy peace reigns in your community. Let the mastiffs bark away outside as much as they will; let them

I have written about it to the Superior of the town, who is most desirous to serve our monasteries. I wish you could let her know the way in which these good fathers have treated you, and the reason. My God! how necessary it is for us to have little or no communication save with our good ecclesiastical superiors! But if sometimes necessity demands it, we should certainly choose them from among the fathers belonging to religious orders, and let them be men who are devoted and capable, and who have a knowledge of and esteem for the Institute and go hand in hand with the Mother Superior. Observe as far as you can our Blessed Father’s maxims; he used to say: ‘ Be friendly with all but familiar with few, and as far as it lies in your power let none be your enemy: keep on good terms with all, and give no one occasion of offence. Do thus as much as you are able, but judiciously, always regarding God. As long as He is with us and for us we ought to live in tranquillity, even though He should permit the whole world to be in league against us.’

I am indeed sorry that our sister the Superior of Orleans does not correspond with your Charity, but persevere and I am sure you will receive an answer from her.

The Ursulines who have separated themselves from their good Bishop will repent of it at leisure. God grant that such a misfortune may never happen to us, but that they [our Bishops] may always be to us true fathers, and we their very obedient and cordial daughters. I bear you in my heart as my dearest daughter, whom may God bless, and may He be blessed.¹

Footnotes

1. These various works announced by St. Jane Frances de Chantal did not appear as promptly as she hoped. The Lives of the deceased sisters, written by Mother de Chaugy, were not published until 1659, and the Foundations are still unpublished. bay: they cannot bite you. God will prevent them. As to the Bishop of Tours having forbidden anyone to assist you, I think if the Bishop of Rennes is in communication with him he will soon have this restriction removed; if not, you must make use of some prelate or other person whom he trusts. My Sister the Superior of Paris [of the town], or the Superior of the faubourg, could serve you in this matter. ↩