Letter 1895

LETTER 1895 [No date.] Vive >& Jésus! My dearest Daughter,—May the divine Saviour live and reign in our hearts, as the greatness of His mercy gives us

I am extremely glad that you have tried to satisfy good Sister N., for sweetness ought, in us, to overrule all things. As to these goings-out, I assure you that secular benefactresses are, in all our houses in which we have them, allowed to go out when they wish and when it is necessary. I tell you this to take away any scruple you may have in permitting it. Not that it is not good to regulate their goings-out as far as it can be fairly done.

I bless God that, as you tell me, you esteem yourself happy in being able to suffer something for Him. May He increase your courage and that of all Christian souls, for, as our Blessed Father said, ‘ The greatest happiness in this life is to do and to suffer.’

It is a consolation to me to know that you are so resigned and have given yourself up so completely to the good pleasure of God. Let self die therein, by an out-and-out trust in the goodness of Him who gives you and all our sisters these feelings, and gives you such a stock of courage to bear up under all He permits to happen. My God! what holy dispositions these are. Yet the glory must truly be His who inspires them. By the truth of His word I hope that, while seeking the kingdom of God and His justice, He will provide for our temporal necessities, not perhaps abundantly, but as He sees to be absolutely necessary. My experience is that those who trust Him when in real want are content with very little. Try to practise poverty betimes, so that the little you have may last for along time. Pray for her who is ever yours, etc.¹²³

Footnotes

1. Psalm liv. 23. ↩

2. Luke xii. 31: ‘ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things shall be added unto you.’ ↩

3. Psalm cxliv. 15. hope that He will. I thank you and all our good sisters for your charity in recommending me so lovingly to His goodness, but let it only be, I pray you, to obtain for me the spiritual profit that comes from that entire despoliation He desires to see in me. And this I ask not only for myself, but for all the daughters of the Visitation and for all Catholics, my dear brothers in Our Lord. ↩