Letter 1805. To M. Chaudon

To M. Chaudon, Spiritual Father of the Monastery of the Visitation at Dijon. Annecy, 26 June, 1641. Vive >& Jésus! Sir,—...1 Thank you for the funeral discourse you have been so kind as to send me, and for the fatherly manner in 1 The beginning of this letter is an expression of affection and regret on the death of the Saint’s brother, the Archbishop of Bourges. 2.¢ which you continue to look after our dear sisters, your daughters. Your account of the good spiritual state in which you found our dear sisters of Semur has been the greatest consolation to me. I assure you, Sir, that I give entire credence to your judgment in this matter, and do not need to hear that of others who, it is true, wished me to believe the contrary, but, as I had seen the satisfactory state of that community and knew the solid virtue of dear Sister M. Delphine Malteste, what they said made no impression on me. It is, Sir, truly a great act of charity to take away Sister F. As regards Sister Parise, your Reverence has spoken like a true Father of the Visitation. It is only reasonable that the monastery of Beaune, to which she belongs by right of foundation, should either take her back or give her a pension. I assure you, Sir, that, by the grace of God, I desire to be quite fair to both sides, and should be very sorry to overburden one monastery in order to convenience another. I love all in Our Lord. As the urgent need of Semur was represented to me, I turned to Dijon, whom it behoves to see to them. It is not that I wish to prescribe or to order this or that: it is not my province. That I leave, Sir, to your prudence and to the charity of my dear sister the Superior. Meanwhile, with much consolation, I remain in peace about them, while praying, Sir, that our sisters, your daughters, may not be the only ones to feel the effects of your fatherly solicitude, but that you will extend it to me by remembering in your holy sacrifices the needs of her who will always be, Sir, yours, etc.