Letter 1653. To Mother Héléne Francoise Belin

[Annecy, 1639.] Vive > Jésus!

My very dear Daughter,—What a consolation to see the change that God has wrought in you! Such is the fruit

Your manner of prayer is altogether good, holy, and solid; all you need is to keep your mind sweetly and tranquilly fixed in a simple attention to God. Judging by your account of your dispositions, sentiments, and practices, all appears exactly as it should be. Nothing more is required save to persevere faithfully in the desire of humility and the love of your own lowliness, which is the cream of humility and its most solid practice. Humility is a great treasure, and a grace that draws all other graces, and even God Himself, into the soul, for He takes His pastime with the lowly.

Dwell therein, my daughter, and be indefatigable in the practice of this holy virtue without any foolish scrutiny as to whether there may not be some insidious vanity therein. No, if it appears to you that there is anything of the kind, turn away from such subtleties and examinations up all monastic virtues, admiration for which inspired the sisters to elect her as Superior in 1649, and again in 1658.

Persuaded that all creatures may become messengers of the divine will, salutary and efficacious instruments to work out the life-and-death struggle required by the Holy Spirit of souls desirous of sanctity, she fixed her attention on God and let Him act. From Salins she went to govern the monastery of Belley, and there her brother, who was Bishop of Belley and knew well her solid piety, ordered her, to her inexpressible joy, once more to partake daily of the bread of life. Here, and elsewhere, her intimate and perfect union with the sister Déposée was the joy and edification of the various communities over which she governed. Besangon, Gray, Salins, and Belley were all in turn blessed by her gentle rule. After of your self-love. Take no action. Do not even appear to perceive them, and leave in the hands of our adorable Saviour the care of purifying you of all the other little imperfections with which your nature is weighed down. Have but one care: to be attentive to Him, as your attraction leads you; doing good in the way that His providence directs you from moment to moment, and unburdening yourself of all other solicitude. Holy simplicity being singularly accordant with the path in which you are led, you will have difficulty in making reflections, and must absolutely give up the attempt.

You are right to be very reserved in communicating your interior state: few persons would understand so simple a path. Oblige me by recommending me often to the divine mercy, you, and all our sisters, I beseech you. Yours, etc.¹

Footnotes

1. During her whole life Mother Belin experienced the truth of St. Teresa’s words: ‘ The privilege of the friends of Our Lord here on earth is to suffer much.’ From the time of her reception at the age of fifteen for the foundation of Besangon, 1630, she walked with valiant steps in the conquest of pure love. In 1639 the suffrages of the community called her to replace Mother Madeleine Séraphine Maréchal. This premature election at the age of twenty-four became for her the signal of the most overwhelming troubles. One day she heard these words in the secret of her heart: ‘My daughter, thou shalt for the future have only Me, but I will be thy strength.’ So was she prepared for suffering, and it soon came. At the close of her first term of government the Archbishop, prejudiced against her, prevented her re-election, and the spiritual father stopped her daily communions which she had been privileged to receive for fourteen years. The Archbishop sent her to the monastery of Gray, where her gentle, silent, humble demeanour sufficed for her justification, and in a short time the sisters foundresses of Salins obtained the favour of associating her with their mission. In her own person she summed of the holy patience and resignation you have practised, by the grace of God, amidst terrible trouble and temptations. Divine Providence made use of these tests to prove you, and to purify your soul as gold in the furnace. May His infinite goodness be eternally blessed! There is a great feeling of serenity, my dearest daughter, in finding oneself in an atmosphere of calm after so severe a storm—that is, if the spirit be always in the disposition to receive indifferently bitter or sweet, seeing in both the most holy will of God: for He gives with equal love the one and the other, and more often He attaches to the former a peculiar grace and profit for our souls. thirty-five years of absence she returned to Besangon, the dear house of her profession, where she died March 12, 1695. ↩