Letter 1783. To Monseigneur J. J. de Neuchéze

To Monseigneur J. J. de Neuchéze, the Saint’s Nephew and Bishop of Chalons. [Annecy] 17 May [1641]. Vive > Jésus!

My very dear and beloved Lord,—Most willingly shall I pray and communicate that it may please God’s infinite goodness to grant your kind wish, the release of your dear cousin, and that He may render all our projects conformable to His glory and your eternal welfare. As to the good things of this world, I cannot desire them for you, but indeed I greatly desire to see you rich in grace and in spiritual goods that will never pass away.

Alack! our good Archbishop must be too fond of his beautiful gardens since so much melancholy comes thereby! But they tell me that he has taken the mortification exceedingly well. His heart is so good that I feel assured he will acquire great spiritual profit through this unexpected affair, which has taken such hold of him, on account of his attachment to these perishable things. You see that we ought not to attach ourselves to anything whatsoever (tllegible words]. We should enjoy such things as God gives us with a certain detachment that will enable us to let them go willingly when it may please Him to deprive us of them. Oh! truly how faithful our late Blessed Father was to the practice of these maxims—he of whom I so ardently wish you to be a perfect reflex. Eh! how happy my very dear Lord you would then be. It is the only honour I covet for you.

As to M. de la Grave’s son, if you will be so kind as to do him this service, he must have patience to take his turn; but do not, please, let others take unnecessary precedence of him, for I assure you he is quite a gentleman. I certainly wrote to you against my inclination in regard to M. Roseau de Bourg, and my letter showed it, but I could not refuse our dear Sister de Blonay. We shall have her here, by the way, after all. The Cardinal of Lyons has given her up to the Bishop of Geneva, who begged him to do so, as she was a subject of this monastery. It is a great consolation to us, for she is a soul wholly given to God and a true daughter of our Blessed Father.

For the love of God, my very dear Lord, consider well in His presence the character of those to whom you think of giving your nieces, and if you do not find the treasure of the holy fear of God in their hearts, even though, as to all the rest, they may be the greatest and the most accomplished men in France, I most solemnly conjure you never to accept them. Save on this point I do not wish to have any voice in the marriage of these dear little souls. A very trustworthy person, who has known M. de Senecey from his childhood, tells me that he is steeped in the spirit of the world and of the Court, a man given up to sensual pleasures and to vice. How well and deeply you ought to consider this affair. My sister, the Superior of our house at Paris, has written to say that M. de la Grange begged of her to ask me, on his part, if I would be willing to accept his son as a suitor for my daughter de Chantal I pass on the proposal to the Archbishop of Bourges and to you, my very dear Lord. The young man is not known to me, but his mother is very virtuous, though, indeed, so is Madame de Senecey; yet her son, they say, does not obey her. The eldest son was, in his condition, a pearl of virtue. I pour out my thoughts in all confidence to you. May God in His infinite goodness deign with His holy hand to bless these matriages and give you in abundance the graces and gifts of His holy Spirit. Remember me in your holy sacrifices, and love always, I beg of you, her who is, my very dear Lord, most sincerely your very humble and very obedient aunt, daughter, and servant in Our Lord.

P.S.—I have just received the letters of our poor sisters of Saint-Amour; they have received nothing from your

The Saint’s wishes were not granted, and we know how sadly her maternal anxieties in regard to the settling in life of these two granddaughters were realised. Gabrielle de Toulonjon married in 1643 Count Roger de Bussy Rabutin, of unhappy notoriety, whose brilliant qualities concealed grievous faults. She died in 1646, leaving three daughters. Two became nuns, and the third married the Marquis de Coligny. Marie de Chantal married in 1644 a Breton gentleman, the Marquis de Sevigné, who, unfortunately for himself and his young wife, was sadly deficient in those qualities so much desired by the Saint. He died in 1652 from the effects of a wound received ina duel. He left two children, Francoise Marguerite, Madame de Grignan, known as the recipient of so many letters from her gifted mother, Madame de Sevigné, the brilliancy of whose pen earned for her in the world of literature the title of the Queen of Letter Writers; and Charles, who died without issue.

stewards. Out of charity send a little word to call attention to this. Alas! but I am distressed about our good and virtuous Monseigneur de Sens; they tell me he has continual fever. May God in His goodness preserve him to his Church. Give me news of him, I beg of you. I shall be grieved to the heart if this strong pillar falls so soon.¹

Footnotes

1. In an old manuscript of the Visitation of Annecy is the following: ‘ Our holy Mother had great compassion for her granddaughter de Chantal on account of her being deprived of both her parents at so early an age, and although the little girl was very rich and this proposal an exceedingly good one, the Saint’s wish was that she should become a nun, and she prayed and never lost hope about it. She once said, very gently, that every day she offered to God her granddaughters de Toulonjon and de Chantal, and, she added, ‘‘ As for Gabrielle [de Toulonjon], I dare not ask that she may be a nun, because she belongs to her mother, who would not like it; but little de Chantal, who has no mother, I offer with all my heart to God, and it consoles me to do so, for it seems to me that I make Him a fair enough gift.’’’ ↩