Letters 89–98

Letter 89

To Mother Margaret Frances Patin. The Saint congratulates her on having celebrated the feast of the Heart of Mary. Then he expresses fear of her being elected superior of the Visitation Convent at

Saint-Lo, ( 1 )and he outlines the course she should follow during Lent

Rouen, February 15, 1660 J.M.J.

My dear good Mother:

May the divine will be our guide in all things.

I was very happy about what you wrote me concerning our dearest Sister Mary of the Child Jesus, and I thank Our Lord and His most Holy Mother infinitely for it! I will do whatever i s necessary, after we have discussed it together.

You make me very happy, too, my dearest Mother, by telling me that you celebrated the feast of the most Holy Heart of our admirable Mother so well. I give infinite thanks to her and her beloved Son for all the graces they bestowed on you that day-both you and all our dear Sisters. I bless and praise them with all my heart, too, for guiding you, my dear Mother, along the road which they themselves traveled, the way of the Cross and desolation. It is a very great favor that they are conferring on you; have no doubt about it, my dearest Mother. Embrace your cross wholeheartedly for the love of our most amiable Crucified and His divine Mother, and abandon yourself entirely to the divine will.

Thursday I delivered a lengthy exhortation at the greater Visitation Monastery, and another yesterday at the smaller one, where I saw the (1). A town in the department of la Manche in Normandy.

Mother Superiors of both places. I was highly gratified with them, especially with the superior of the first-mentioned monastery;(2) she is truly a holy nun. We spoke a great deal of Mother Margaret Frances Patin, for whom she shows a great affection. But she told me something that troubles me exceedingly: that it is to be feared that you may be elected to the foundation at Saint U, where Mother Chary was to go. I beseech you, my dearest Mother, to let me know as soon as possible if there is any likelihood of this, any reason to fear it, so that we may anticipate and try to avert this blow which would spell the ruin of the house of Our Lady of Charity. Please write me what you know about this, and your sincere opinion of it.

This good Mother also told me that she hopes soon to have copies of the Lives of your first Mothers, and that she will send them to you.

I greet our dear Sisters, one and all, in the sacred love of the most Holy Heart of Jesus and Mary, beseeching them not to fail to visit our most amiable Saviour in the desert each day during Lent, in the name of the whole human race, that they may prostrate themselves at His feet to adore Him in all that transpires within Him, both outwardly and inwardly. Let them also thank Him for all He is doing and suffering for them and for all mankind, ask pardon of Him for the many sins for which He is mortifying Himself so rigorously, give themselves to Him in order to be united with His holy dispositions in fasting, praying, and remaining in silence and solitude, and try to imitate Him in all these things. After that, they should also visit His most holy Mother, who is in a state conformable to that of her Son, that they may greet and honor her in this condition, thank her, unite themselves with her and pray to her.

I am with all my heart, speaking to the dearest Mother and her dear daughters, my beloved Sisters, Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest.

P. S. Please have a few little prayers said in private, my dear Mother, for nine days, and have the Sisters receive Holy Communion in a body, for my intentions. (2). The superior of the first monastery at Rouen was Mother Joan Mary de Raguemare. The superior and foundress of the second one was Mother Mary Frances Elias. Ory, op. cit., P. 103, note.

Letter 90

To Father John Dupont.(1) On the numerous crosses borne by the Saint.

March 4, 1660 My dear brother, crosses come to me from all sides. If the good God did not sustain me, I should be overpowered by them. Lately my crosses are the heaviest and most painful that I have ever had to bear. (1). See Letter 66, note i.

Letter 91

To Father John James Blouet de Camilly. On the behavior of the candidates for ordination at

the Rouen seminary, during the Lenten ordination of 1660

March 31, 1660

We were highly gratified with our candidates for ordination, who numbered one hundred twenty. God has singularly blessed us in them. His Lordship the Archbishop(1) ordered us to bring them in procession on Saturday, the ordination day, into Notre Dame Church, where he conferred Holy Orders on them. Then they returned as they had come, but with such great modesty, piety and recollection, both in entering and leaving, and during the ordination ceremonies, that everyone agreed it would be impossible to find humbler religious anywhere. All who saw them were greatly edified, and his Lordship the Archbishop evinced such great satisfaction over them that he insisted on telling everyone about it over and over again, and proclaiming his joy in his seminary. Give thanks to God and His most Holy Mother for all this, and communicate it to our dear brethren, whom I embrace with all my heart. (1). Francis Harlay de Champvallon. See Letter 54.

Letter 92

To a Priest of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. On Father

Nicholas Paillot(1)

1660 This venerable priest is our good friend, or rather our beloved brother whom we love and consider as one of our own, and as belonging to our Congregation, because he really loves it as much as any one of us. For many years now he has been laboring with us on our missions with wonderful blessings and results, since God has endowed him with the true missionary spirit and all the qualities necessary for the perfect exercise of such functions. (1). Father Paillot was not a Eudist, but spent several years on the missions with St. John Eudes and the first Eudist missionaries. He was an excellent catechism teacher and drew large crowds to his instructions. Cf. Boulay, OP. Cit., VOL 3, PP. 370-371.

Letter 93

To the Community of Our Lady of Charity. On submission to the

will of God

Paris, July 20, 1660 J.M. J. My dearest and beloved Sisters:

May the divine will be our guide in all things.

I thank you with all my heart for your beautiful and cordial letter, which made me very happy indeed.

When I left Caen I expected to be away two months at the most, but my will was not i n agreement with my thoughts, for it was my wish to be gone longer than eight months, but I was not aware that such was my will. I desired it, since God did, for His will is mine. I did not know then that I should have this intent, because I was ignorant of God's will in the matter, just as I do not know what He intends for the future. It is quite evident that His holy providence has brought

us here so that we may accomplish, worthless instruments that we are, what we can scarcely believe, but we do not know yet how He wishes to dispose of us later on. Pray, my dearest Sisters, that He will do whatever is most pleasing to Him solely for the glory of His Holy Name, without regard for our unworthiness and wretchedness.

it is true that I am not in the least worried in your regard, my beloved Sisters, for, aside from the great concern and ardent love that I know our admirable Mother has for the daughters of her Heart, I also know full well in whose protection I have left you. That does not prevent, however, m y offering you daily to Our Lord Jesus Christ during the holy sacrifice of the Mass, nor from visiting you each day in spirit. I beseech you in turn, my dearest Sisters, to join us daily in our labors during this mission,(1) by your prayers and other pious exercises. You can do nothing more pleasing to His Divine Majesty.

I am very happy over the blessings which God in His infinite goodness is bestowing on your little Community. I implore Him most humbly to increase them more and more, and not to tolerate any hindrance on your part. That such a thing may not happen, my beloved Sisters, I entreat you to examine yourselves particularly on these three points, namely: humility, obedience, and mutual charity and cordiality. I remain, a great deal more than you can imagine or I can say, in the sacred love of the most Holy Heart of Jesus and Mary, my dearest and beloved Sisters, Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest. (1). At the Church of Saint Germain-des-Prés in Paris.

Letter 94

To Mother Margaret Frances Patin. On the Launay property(1) and

other matters

(Paris, 1660) J. M. J.

My very dear and good Mother:

May the divine will be our guide in all things.

I praised God with my whole heart for all the graces He is giving you and for the holy dispositions He is implanting in your soul. I thank Him, too, for increasing the ranks of our dearest Sisters, your good daughters. But particularly do I give thanks to Him for the good will He inspires i n you toward my niece;(2) I am most grateful to you on that score, my dearest Mother, and thank you with all sincerity.

I was delighted at first to read in your letter that your business in Rome is progressing satisfactorily, but this example at Avignon(3) of which you speak worries me considerably, for I am afraid they wish to unite you with the religious of Avignon-a thing that must never (1). The Launay estate, situated in the parish of Saint Aubin-de-la-Pierre, near Periers, had been sold to the Coutances seminary in 1 6 5 5 by Anne Le Conte, who entered the novitiate of Our Lady of Charity that same year. She brought the Community, a dowry of eight thousand livres. Upon receiving the habit she took the name of Sister Mary of the Presentation. In 1678 the Launay home became the novitiate of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. (2). The reference here is to Frances Herson, sister of Mother Mary of the Nativity Herson. She took the habit on July 25, 1662 at the age of twenty-one, was professed n a lay sister on March 2 5 , 1665 and died on March 26, 1733. She was known in religious life as Sister Mary of St. Francis. Entering the monastery in her youth, she suffered an injury to her arm at the hands of an unskillful surgeon, and for 2 long time it Was feared that she might lose the use of her arm. Mother Patin allowed her to remain, nevertheless, out of respect to her uncle. The Saint alludes to these facts i n this letter. Ory, op. cit., p. 110, note. (3). In the Refuge of Avignon, the penitents were governed by former penitents who had become religious. St. John Eudes, on the contrary, wanted the administration of the religious of Our Lady of Charity always to be kept free from any mint of suspicion and thus he frowned upon allowing the penitents desirous of consecrating themselves t; God to be professed in the Order; he preferred their being sent to other Communities. III& fact explains why he opposed, at all costs, the union of the Refuge of Caen with the one at Avignon. Cf. Ory, ibid., p. 110.

be allowed to happen. Indeed, I should prefer instead to See the house utterly destroyed, but I trust that Our Lord and His most Holy Mother will provide. When Mr. de la Boissière arrives here, where he is ex. pected, I shall know from his own lips Just what he meant.

I saw our dearest Mother de Maupeou(4) and shall see her again, God willing, after the close of our mission here.

If I can locate the goldsmith, I will take care of your request.

That business about the Launay estate is giving me a great deal of trouble, for our brethren at Coutances write me that it will ruin our house if something is not done about it.

I beseech you, my dearest Mother, to consider that I undertook this transaction as a favor to your house, that I did so against the opinion of all our brethren, and that we purchased this estate when Do one else wanted it. All that is incontestable, for the place was certainly not such a bargain that we were obliged to buy it. It is true that, after the deal had been closed, you or someone else told me that the pastor of Saint Nicolas Church was asking for the property, but at that time I had a verbal agreement with another person who was also making a bid for it. Even so, if the pastor of Saint Nicolas had come into Possession of it, together with the same troubles in connection with it that we are having, he would not have failed to appeal to you for indemnity. Hence I am entreating you, m y dearest Mother, to act in this case as You would have others act toward you under the same circumstances. It is a transaction in which we have been cheated, and if she who sold us this property were still in possession of her wealth, she would be obliged to indemnify us. Now it may be that it was largely a donation to you. That is why it is up to you to do what she would be obligated to do if the estate still belonged to her; such a course is only fair and equitable. But do not let me be the judge of it; I urge you, my dearest Mother, to forestall any offense against Christian charity by allowing yourself to be guided in this matter by what the Rules of the Visitation Order command you to do whenever any legal difficulty (4). Magdalen Elizabeth de Maupeou, daughter of the Calvinist Giles de Maupeou, entered the Visitation Order at Paris in 1628. She was superior successively at Caen (1635-41), Bayonne and Paris, where she had been recalled. She died at the first Paris monastery on July 3, 1674 at the age of seventy-eight, after forty-five years of religious life. Cf. Année sainte of the Sisters of the Visitation, Vol. 7

arises, that is, to choose several mutual friends, well informed in business affairs, to whose judgment you may refer matters such as this one. It is the expedient which should be adopted, and I do not doubt that you will resort to it, since it is eminently fair, reasonable and Christian.

Meanwhile, I send my most cordial regards to our dear Sisters, one and all. Please tell them that I beseech them to help us on this mission, a highly important one, by their prayers.

I remain with all my heart, my very dear and good Mother, Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest.

Letter 95

To Mother Margaret Frances Patin. On her spiritual disturbances, and the steps to take in

obtaining the approbation of Rome for the Order

(1660) J. M. J.

My very dear and good Mother:

May the divine will be our guide in all things.

I bless Our Lord with my whole heart for the favor He has granted you in having controlled the wind and tempest, and having filled your soul with calm and tranquility. But I thank Him even more for the grace He has given you in allowing you the sufferings which I perceive from your letter you have undergone. My dear Mother, how precious is the state of suffering! Ah, what a priceless gift from divine Bounty it is! How much more should we render thanks to God for such desolations than for all the consolations in the world! They are the greatest gifts that God can bestow on earth upon souls who are very dear to Him, and, were we to remain on our knees for a century in thanksgiving for the most trifling affliction possible, we still could not thank Him worthily, as He Himself said on one occasion to Blessed Henry Suzo of the Order of St. Dominic. But, my dearest Mother, I beseech you to shun the thought that you have no vocation to the house

of our Lady of Charity. This idea does not proceed from God, since it is certainly contrary to the truth. Never have I known a vocation to be more obvious, indisputable and manifest than yours.

God grant that the news from Rome may be false, but I fear it is only too true, for Cardinal Anthony Barberini(1) to whom reference is made, and Cardinal Antonio are but one and the same person. It is true that we, on our part, have never spoken in Rome of the Daughters of the Heart of the Most Holy Virgin, so I do not know where that could have originated.(2)

Be that as it may, we must be completely resigned to the most adorable will of God and trust that His infinite goodness will arrange everything in the manner most pleasing to Him; that, after all, is what we wish. Nevertheless, we should not become discouraged, but should do whatever we can to achieve our end.

I have always said to you, my dearest Mother, and I say again, that we must send a man to Rome expressly on our business, for the reasons I have already given you. It is my opinion that we should wait for further news; however, we must be prepared to send someone in case it becomes necessary. It is not nearly enough that the matter has been recommended to His Lordship of Le Puy;(3) it is still necessary for us to send an ecclesiastic to further the affair. I know one(4) i n Paris who would be well qualified, and I do not think he would refuse me. I have written to Paris to find out when His Lordship of Le Puy plans to leave, so that I may meet him to discuss the matter with him at greater (1). Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), nephew of Pope Urban V111, was created Cardinal in 1627. (2). The Saint's enemies had probably succeeded in prejudicing Cardinal Barberini against the sisters because of their devotion of the Holy Heart of Mary, which was something new at that time, and it is in this regard that Mother Patin must have written the Saint. Cf. Ory, op. cit., p. 108. (3). The Bishop of Le Puy, of whom mention is made here, was His Lordship Henry de Maupas. He was about to leave for Rome to urge, in the name of the French clergy, the canonization of the saintly Francis de Sales. (4). The man referred to was Fr. Francis Louis Boniface, a Flemish priest, whom St. John Eudes met in Paris during the Mission at the hospital of the Quinze-Vingt in Paris. This sincere and worthy priest knew Italian and had a number of friends and acquaintances in the Eternal City. To him the Saint entrusted the negotiations for the approbation of his religious orders. Cf. de Montzey, Father Eudes, p. 185; Joly, Life of St. John Eudes, p. 150.

length, and contact this ecclesiastic. If His Lordship consented to accompany him on the trip, that would be satisfactory. At any rate, I am asking you, my dearest Mother, to have on hand the money that he will need, in case he agrees to go, and to have good legible copies made, as soon as possible, of Bishop Mole's letters, the last judgment of verification, and your Constitutions. This last, however, is not so pressing.

Most cordial regards to all our Sisters. I remain in all sincerity, my very dear and good Mother, Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest.

Letter 96

To Mother Margaret Frances Patin. On her spiritual anxieties, and on sending a representative

to Rome for the purpose of soliciting approbation for the Order

September 21, 1660 J. M. J.

My very dear and good Mother: May the divine will be our guide in all things.

If I were to speak according to the senses, I should indeed pity you for your sufferings, but speaking according to the spirit, I find you more worthy of envy than of pity. The greatest happiness that can befall you is to be in conformity with Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is our most adorable Master. Now, your present state of privation, death and annihilation is highly conformable to that endured by our most amiable Saviour here on earth. Therefore give yourself to Him, my dearest Mother, that you may suffer with Him in that condition and in His spirit, as He desires. Try to do these three things: 1. Strive not to become disheartened, guarding well. against it. Surrender yourself to virtue and to divine strength, that they may sustain YOU. 2. Accept this state of death and annihilation, saying with the Son of God: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." (1). Abandon yourself completely (2). Luke 23, 46.

to the most holy will of God, repeating with Our Lord: «Not my will, but Thine be done.» (2)

I come now to your undertaking, my dearest Mother. A short time ago I saw several persons who recently had been in Rome on business of the same nature as yours, and they assured me that i t will never receive attention unless you send a man expressly to advance it, for the same reasons that I have already mentioned and written to you so of ten.

Remember, too, that His Lordship of Le Puy (3) said this same thing to me on the subject, and that what you wrote me about Mother de Maupeou should not cause you the slightest hesitation, because I am quite sure that after I have explained things to her, she will agree with me.

I have also been informed by various persons who were recently in Rome what the approximate cost will be. They all tell me that a moderate expenditure will come to at least two hundred livres for the journey there and that much again for the return trip. While there, one cannot get along on less than four hundred livres a year; however, it will not take that long. In brief, while it is impossible to determine exactly what the entire cost will be, I think YOU Can manage on about six hundred livres. That sum, of course, is nothing in a matter of such great consequence. Have no regard for money, my dearest Mother, in this urgent necessity, lest Our Lord tell you some day what he told to St. Teresa on an occasion when she was having difficulty in deciding something regarding the establishment of one of her houses; she was hesitating because it would cost a great deal, whereupon the Son of God said to her: "Thou art therefore still mindful of money!" The person who has made you an offer to go to Rome to transact your business for a hundred crowns is either joking or else he is planning to go there anyway and would like to make the trip at your expense. But has he all the qualifications necessary to handle this affair? If so, do as you please about it. But remember, my dearest Mother, what I have written you concerning the person(4) here who offers to go (1). Luke 22, 42. (2). Bishop Henry du Tour de Maupas. See Letter 95, note 2. (3). Father Boniface. See Letter 95, note 4.

through pure and disinterested charity, and who is a very good man, learned, intelligent, courteous, with a knowledge of the Italian lan. guage and a number of friends and acquaintances in Rome.

Finally, the time to leave on this trip is drawing near. Let me know your final decision as soon as possible, and in God's name have faith in one who loves the house of the Blessed Virgin as I do, and who speaks to you in all truth and sincerity. It is he who remains with all his heart, my dearest Mother, Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest.

Letter 97

To Sister Mary of the Assumption Eustace de Taillefer.(1) On conformity.

to the will of God

(Paris, September-October 1660)

J. M. J.

A thousand thanks to you, my dearest daughter, and to all our dearest Sisters as well, for your charitable regards and sincere cordialities. I assure you that I am not forgetting you in God's presence, and that I bring you daily, each and every one of you, to the holy altar.

If I followed my own inclinations, I can assure you that I should prefer to be at Caen where I could speak to you sometimes about the incomparable goodness of our most bountiful and adorable Saviour, rather than be here to walk about the streets of Paris. But God keep us ever from doing our own will, and grant us the grace to acknowledge that we have no interest in this world save that of accomplishing His holy will, everywhere and in all things, "with a great heart and awilling mind!"(2) Ah, what a joy it is to know that this is our sole concern, and that all the powers of earth and hell cannot prevent us for a single moment, with the grace of God, from performing this one (1). See Letter 16, now x. (2). Mac. 1, 3

duty if we wish to do so; indeed, the more they strive to hinder us, the more they help us to accomplish it.

With all the love in my heart, or rather in the sacred love of the most Holy Heart of Jesus and Mary, I send greetings to our dearest Sisters, one and all, and particularly to our dear good Mother,(3) on whose word I rely completely.

Devotedly yours, JOHN EUDES, missionary priest. (3). Mother Margaret Frances Patin, the Superior.

Letter 98

To Father John Dupont, Superior of the Coutances Seminary. On the

course to follow regarding the seminary at Valognes, (1)which was sus

pected of being tainted with Jansenism

(Paris, September 25, 1660)

I learned that a young man who had been sent by his father to our house in Coutances to determine his vocation, wishing to go to Valognes to study theology there, wrote his father that a close friendship exists between the latter seminary and the one at Coutances, and that you assured him there was absolutely no danger. This greatly surprised the father, in view of what is being said about the Valognes seminary.

If that was your counsel, it was given with good intent and because you do not know how that seminary is reputed to be a hotbed of Jansenism an opinion which is current here, and held by the Queen, (2) the Sorbonne and many others. What you said is capable, therefore, of doing us great harm and causing us to be considered something we are not, thank God.

I implore you, then, my dear brother, to make amends for this as best you can without telling anyone at all that I wrote you. (1). Valognes is a town in the district of Cherbourg in Normandy. It was more important in the Saint's time than it is today. (2). Anne of Austria. See Letter 50, note 1.