Letter 1617. To Mother Madeleine Elisabeth de Lucinge
Superior at Turin.
[Annecy, 1639.] Vive > Jésus!
My most dear Daughter,—How we welcomed the letters and the news this young man brought us! For we were in terrible anxiety about you and your family, although for some days it had been partially alleviated by the assurance given us that there was no battery on your side;+ but previous to that, my daughter, I cannot tell you how I suffered, ofttimes longing to have you here.
Our sisters are continually praying, and we are told there is sure to be a truce for two months, and that hopes are entertained of peace. May God in His infinite goodness make it reign in souls and between the contending parties, for it makes one’s hair stand on end to hear of the desolation and calamities that poor Christendom is suffering. I bless the infinite goodness of God in all, and may He give you strengthening grace amidst all these terrifying things. It is a great consolation to know that nothing whatever can happen save by the permission of God, and that, for those who wish only to do His will, He intends all to turn to good, so that to life, death and the manner of dying we should be alike indifferent, since all proceeds from the incomparable Source of mercy. We ought, however, to do our part in avoiding risks and not to tempt God. For the rest there is but little to add to what I have already said in regard to your guidance of this dear sister of whom you write to me. She has an excellent heart, is gentle and inclined to good, but needs help. Superiors, to whom God commits the care of souls dear to Him, are obliged not only to watch over, correct, and emancipate them from their faults and imperfections, but likewise to make them advance in the way of perfection, so that they may be worthy of the holy union to which their vocation and the goodness of God calls them. He hath chosen those souls, out of so many who stagnate in the world, to conform them to His likeness and unite them to Him. To forward this is the chief duty of a superior. God will demand of her an account of it, and no excuses of human respect, timidity, or self-interest will avail. Over and above all such considerations He will have us cultivate souls—pluck out noxious plants, and in their stead plant
Footnotes
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Mother H. A. Lhuillier encountered many difficulties in the foundation of Saint-Denis, but they were all removed through the powerful intervention of the Queen, Anne of Austria. On June 30, 1639, a little swarm left the First Monastery of Paris under the guidance of Mother Frangoise Elisabeth Phélippeaux de Pontchartrain, to begin this blessed hive wherein such sublime virtue was to be practised. St. Vincent de Paul, its first ecclesiastical superior, used to say of it: ‘I breathe nothing but God when I enter this house, for here I see the Institute in its first fervour. With no other monastery that I visit have I been more satisfied, and in none other have I found greater regularity.’ St. J. F. de Chantal, having visited Saint-Denis during her last journey in 1641, expresses herself in similar terms: ‘I felt,’ she says, ‘ absolute satisfaction on seeing the primitive purity, innocence, simplicity, and fervour of the Institute in this little community. — Unpublished History of the Foundation of Saint-Denis. ↩
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The death of Victor Amadeus I in 1637 was the signal for both civil and foreign war. The two parties who disputed the guardianship of the young Duke, Charles Emmanuel II, had called in the aid of Spain and of France, and Piedmont became the theatre of the long and terrible war. On August 27, 1639, the town of Turin fell into the hands of the Spaniards. holy virtues, nourishing them with devotions, exhortations, incentives; and then leave the growth and the fruit to the care of divine providence when He seeth fit: He will not hold us responsible for the harvest, but for their training He indeed will. And though the effects of our labours may not be in sight, we must have patience and persevere in toiling, as we have said, without growing weary, and so God will bless us. This, my daughter, is how we ought to work with each and all, and it seems to me, thank God, that the Italians are of a temperament very suitable to be true daughters of the Visitation. As to their minds, I have always said that you must not expect the gentleness and suppleness of these parts from them. Their nationality does not favour it. For all that, they are children of God, and certainly what I have seen of them is good. They possess real virtue, though not in a gracious manner. You must be content with what is available. But above all things keep them hopeful and joyful, and let them know, only gradually, all the perfection that is required of them. Show your pleasure at their efforts, otherwise you will damp their courage. It will be well that they give an account to their mistress, but I think it would be very helpful to them if you spoke to them every week as you have time to do so. Do not worry them about their faults, and give correction in a maternal manner. Oh, how it consoles me to know of these assurances that Our Lord gives you! and what graces will He not bestow upon you, my dear daughter, if you faithfully correspond to His designs of glorifying Himself in these dear souls: for I always think that it was not without reason that our Blessed Father so much desired that the Institute should go beyond the Alps. Yours, etc. ↩
Chapter 173 of 252