Letters 221–243

Letter 221

To a Nun of Montmartre. On obedience during a time of illness

If you are ordered to cat meat, be extremely careful not to make the slightest resistance to obedience, for you will tender more honor to God by eating flesh-meat through obedience than by fasting on bread and water of your own volition.

Letter 222

To One of His Nephews. On the occasion of some services he had

received from him

I pray Our Lord Himself to be my gratitude; and to shower you so abundantly with His choicest graces for the life you wish me, even at the expense of your own, that you may join the ranks of the holiest priests in paradise.' 'One of the brothers of Mother Mary of the Nativity Herson entered the religious life. This letter Was evidently addressed to him. The wish expressed at the end pre dudes any doubt on this Point.

Letter 223

To the Superior of the Seminary of Coutances. On the feast of the

Holy Heart of Mary

I thank you for the great consolation afforded me by your letter. I was overjoyed to learn that the feast of the Most Holy Heart of Our Admirable Mother was so well celebrated, and that his Lordship of Coutances officiated and has promised to do so again next year. I give infinite thanks to Our Lord and His most Holy Mother.

Letter 224

To a Superior. On how to say Holy Mass

I beseech each one of our dear confreres to say Mass with the utmost concentration of mind and heart on this great and divine mystery, never to hurry, and to pronounce distinctly every word said at the altar.

Letter 225

To the Superior of One of His Houses. On mistrust of sell and frequent

recourse to Our Lord

Let us frequently have recourse to our oracle, who is Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, i n order to pray Him to lead and direct us along all our paths. Let us acknowledge that we arc but darkness, and that we have an extreme need to mistrust ourselves and an infinite necessity of the enlightenment of grace.

Letter 226

To the Superior of One of His Seminaries. On trust in God

There has occurred to me a way to find help, and I have communicated it to our friends who approve of it. Nevertheless, I am not counting on it in the least, but if Our Lord finds it pleasing He will avail Himself of it. Otherwise, His holy will be done. In Him alone should we place our dependence and trust. He does want us, however, to do what we can on our own part ...

Letter 227

To the Same Superior. On another occasion

May God deign to keep us from depending on anything but His in nite goodness. Let us expect nothing, hope for nothing and wish for nothing save Him, placing our dependence and trust in Him alone.

Letter 228

To the Superior of the Seminary at Rouen. On the necessity of offering

daily an hour of prayer

Wi&out prayer, it is impossible, my dear brother, for a Congregation to subsist in the spirit of piety and virtue necessary to render it pleasing to God and useful to the Church. To make ahalf - hour of prayer and not make any at all are practically one and the same thing. And yet, there i s nothing more necessary to ecclesiastics. Besides, I know of no seminary where an hour of prayer i s not made. If you are absolutely set on establishing a half-hour for the seminarians, I beg of you to arrange it so that our confreres may always make a full hour of prayer. Otherwise it would be better for us to give up the seminary.

Letter 229

To the Superior of One of His Houses. To request prayers of him for

the poor who were involved in lawsuits

I am asking you to have a novena of Masses and rosaries said for all those who are implicated in just lawsuits, and who arc poor and defenceless, in order to ask Our Lord Himself to be their judge, the Blessed Virgin their counsel, St. Joseph their attorney, and St. Gabriel their petitioner.

Letter 230

To a Superior. The Saint reproves him for neglecting to celebrate a day

recommended as one of thanksgiving in the Congregation for a favor

received from God

Is it possible, my dear brother, that you have so little esteem and affection for a grace like that one, of which you are so well aware? I must

confess to you that I felt, and do feel now, an inexpressible sorrow. I beg of you, and of all our brethren, too, to atone for this omission as best you can. To that end give the order that, on the first day open after the receipt of this letter, all the Masses be votive Masses: some of the Holy S pirit , some de Cruce, some de Beata, and have one de Beata High Mass-all of them in thanksgiving for the favors God has granted us and in reparation for our misuse of them. For the future, it will be necessary to repeat this each year.

Letter 231

To a Superior. On how to direct subordinates

Always show meekness and cordiality, no matter with whom you are dealing. That is the spirit and behavior which should reign among us. It is the spirit of our Father and Mother, of whom it i s written: "My spirit is sweet above honey.(1) (1). Ecclus. 24, 27

Letter 232

To a Superior. The Saint complains because he refused to allow the

withdrawal of a subject

If you persist in your impetuosity and disobedience, I shall complain about it to Our Lord and His Holy Mother. I am wholly confident that they will take the matter in hand, and will not allow you to ruin and destroy their Congregation in this manner.

It is charity alone which constrains me to write you these things. I urge you, my dearest brother, by the Sacred Heart of our most benign Father and our most bountiful Mother, to make good use of my recommendations and accept them in a spirit of humility, obedience and charity.

Letter 233

To a Superior. The Saint asks him not to be too exacting with regard

to the sick

It is never detrimental to the spiritual progress of a Community when one does not do what God does not want him to do. Now God does not desire anyone to observe rules when he cannot do so because of illness or some other infirmity. We should not wish to do more than what God desires. Let us do only what we can, my dearest brother, without becoming troubled or worried, submitting ourselves with peace and tranquility to the commands of His most adorable will.

Letter 234

To a Confrere. The Saint's charity toward a sick person

I embrace our dear patient most cordially, in the sacred love of the most Holy Heart of Jesus and Mary. I beseech him to rejoice and to bless God for the graces He is bestowing upon him, to abandon himself wholly to the divine will, and to entrust himself unreservedly to His infinite goodness. With all my heart do I implore our most kind Jesus and His most bountiful Mother to grant him their holy blessing, not for his death, but that he may live and recover in order to win still more souls who may bless them for all eternity. It is for that intention, in the name and on behalf of the Son and the Mother, and by virtue of their divine Heart, that I pronounce over our beloved brother: Nos cum Prole pia benedicat Virgo Maria.

Letter 235

To One of his Sons. At the beginning of the New Year

God grant us the grace to make perfect use of this New Year in His service and that of His most Holy Mother, and with as much solicitude and fidelity as if this were to be our last year. With all my heart do I desire to do so. For that reason I have withdrawn into seclusion-to make a good retreat, God willing, just as long as possible. Help me to do this, my dearest brother, by your holy Masses.

Letter 236

To a Priest of His Congregation. The Saint informs him that his past

wrongs are forgotten

I am here in Evreux, where I received your letter. It would have made me very happy if I had found therein, instead of such a long discourse, this one word of humility: Peccavi. For everyone knows Chat you have brought M ... But let us say no more about it. It is enough, my dearest brother, for me to protest to you that my heart is yours in all truth and sincerity. .

Letter 237

To One of His Priests Who Was on a Mission. On the persecutions (1)of

which he was a victim

While you are contending with the seven-headed, ten-horned monster where you are, it i s striving to wage war on us here. But, thanks be to God, it does not deprive us of peace. For those to whom God grants (1). See Letters 176 and 183.

the grace to be, to have and to do what they wish, because they desire only what He wills-those, I repeat, always possess perfect peace. And then, too, I agree with our benefactors, for I have resolved to take their part against myself and my sins because I find that they are right in wanting to annihilate a sinner who deserves the wrath of God and of all His creatures, provided they do what they are doing with the zeal of divine justice and in the spirit of Christian charity. That is what I should and wish to believe.

Letter 238

To the Priests of His Congregation. On the accomplishment of the

divine will

The accomplishment of the divine will is the sole object of our being in this world; it is our sole business and unum necessarium. It is what we ask of God each day through these words: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."(1) It is our proper sphere and our element, in which we shall find real repose and true life. But in order that the divine will may reign over us and govern us, it i s absolutely necessary that we renounce our own wills, which are just as contrary to Him as the devil is to God. We should strive, with the help of God, to trample our wills underfoot, to crush them like a serpent and like the and Christ, in the conviction that nothing within us forms so great an obstacle to the accomplishment of the divine will as our own wills. (1). Matt. 6, 14.

Letter 239

To One of His Sons. On obedience

Perfect obedience is prompt, having no need of reasons or speeches to become convinced. What would happen if each one obeyed his own temperament and inclinations whenever it was necessary to send a subject to a different house or give him some employment?

Letter 240

To Some of his Priests during a Mission. On devotion to the Blessed

Virgin Mary

Above all things, my beloved brethren, I urge you to honor and have honored, in as many ways as possible, our most kind and amiable Mother, the most Holy Mother of Jesus, the beloved of God and the consoler of the afflicted.

Letter 241

To a Priest of his Congregation. On crosses

Dearest brother:

May Jesus be eternally blessed for the share He deigns to grant us in His Cross. Oh I when shall we be able to say with truth: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world."(1). How very true it is that there is nothing to be desired in this world, save to be nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ! Therefore let us joyfully embrace our crosses, dearest brother, and try to bear them in the spirit of our most adorable Crucified Lord. (1). Gal. 6,14.

Letter 242

To a Priest of his Congregation. To outline to him a reply to be given

to a Carmelite Sister of Caen, who believed that she had been inspired

to change Communities

In reply, tell her that I exhort her to follow the example of her blessed Mother, St. Teresa, who one day received a command from the mouth

of Our Lord Himself to go and establish a new Order-a matter of far greater importance for her than merely changing from one convent to another. When the Saint informed her superior about her plans, she was prevented from carrying them out and was ordered to go elsewhere. Whereupon she obeyed at once, not only without accusing her superior of resisting the will of God, but even without opening her mouth to make any reply or plea. Afterwards Our Lord told her that she had been more pleasing to Him in obeying her superior than if she had made the new foundation. Let Sister St. Anne remain i n peace where she is, according to that example, until I come to Caen to look into this matter more closely. In it I perceive a good many things which to me seem contrary to the spirit of God. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I should be very glad to investigate the whole thing right on the premises. Obedience does no harm. Sister may be mistaken in her revelations, but she will never make a mistake by being obedient.

Letter 243

To the Superior of the Seminary of Coutances. Trust in God during

a time of trial

I left all our brethren ill in Lisieux, ecclesiastics as well as laymen, with the exception of two. Nevertheless, that does not discourage me, thank God, because I do not lose sight of the divine will which does all things and does them well, and because I have the greatest confidence that Our Lord