Letter 4. To Mother Eleanora Baptist

Prioress of the Convent of Veas

The blessed father consoles her under an affliction

JESUS

Be in your soul. Think not, my daughter in Christ, that I am not sorry for you in your troubles, and for those who share them with you ; but when I remember that God has called you to an apostolic life, which is a life of contempt, I am comforted, for He is leading you on that road. God will have a religious to be a religious, that he shall be dead to all things, and all things dead to him ; because He will be his riches, his consolation, his glory, and his bliss. God has conferred a great grace upon your reverence, for now, forgetting all things, you may rejoice in Him alone, caring nothing, in your love of God, for what may come upon you, since you are no longer your own, but His. Let me know whether your departure for Madrid is certain, and whether the mother prioress is coming. I commend myself especially to my daughters Magdalene and Ana and to all the rest, not having leisure to write to them.

FR. JOHN OF THE CROSS.

From GRANADA : the Sth of February, 1588.