VII–VIII. To his sisters Flora and Rosie

Pax Abbaye de St. Benoit, Maredsous. par St. Gérard [Nov., 1889 | My dearest Sister,’

As I know a few lines from me will add to your feast-day joy, I come to assure you of my unchanging affection; & to repeat again, what I have so often told you, that many times each day I carry your intentions & desires with me into the Divine presence, & try my best to obtain for you the grace to become the saint that God would have you. I never told you, I think, that I think you are the only member of our family who resembles me: there is no purgatory for us two — as a very holy Jesuit assured me some little time before I came here, we must go either to heaven by a most fervent love of God & perfect detachment, a very close union with Him, or be lost forever. Srs. Peter or Columba * could save themselves, & even get a very respectable position in heaven, without leaving the world; at least that’s my opinion; but for us, we must keep very close to God, never let go His hand for a moment, lest we fall. I sometimes sigh for the day when the sight of God will confirm my poor weak snus in His grace & love & render sin no longer possible.

But now about your feast-day. Your Saint isn’t known over in these countries, we celebrate on the 13th of this month the feast of all “the Saints of the Benedictine order,” (40,000); & on the 14th, your feast, we have “the Commemoration of all the deceased Benedictines.” What I’ll do is this: I’'ll offer everything that day for these poor souls, & tell them to do their best for you as you are my sister. I find the poor souls do great things for me at times.

I sent you the notice of the death of poor brother Fridolin.* We were great friends. He had been dying of consumption for the last two years. He was a very perfect soul, most obedient, simple &

‘Flora, a Sister of Mercy whose name in religion was Sister Lorenza and whose patron saint was St. Lawrence O’Toole, an archbishop of Dublin in the twelfth century. November 14 is his feast day. Sister Flora died a happy death in 1892. See Thibaut, op. cit., p. 6.

• Two other sisters of Dom Marmion, also Sisters of Mercy. * Brother Fridolin, lay brother of Maredsous, who died on November 4, 1889. charitable. Some days before his death, I got leave to go see him. He was unconscious & did not recognise me; when I went away he got better and asked the infirmarian who had been there. He said Pére Columba. He sent me word to return. When I came to him he said, “oh, Pére Columba, I desire so much to die!” But he added, I leave that entirely in God’s hands. I said to him, my dear brother, in a few hours you will see God face to face. I want you to ask two special graces for me. Indeed I will, he said, but added immediately, but you know, I am but a poor sinner & we must fear till the last breath. He died most peacefully & beautifully. We were all present when the Abbot anointed him. He said he was never so happy, it reminded him of his profession. His is the third grave now in our little church yard.

I was so glad to hear Sr. Peter was in Dunmore. It would be a gratification to me to get a line from her giving me her personal impression of the place, &c.; as you know how great an interest I have always taken in the foundation, & Columba* scarcely ever writes to me now. I tell them that the new P.P.® with — doubtless — his velvet waist-coat and gold chain, has got inside the poor Benedictine who wears no waist-coat & sports a boot lace for a chain. However, for the honour of the order, I must say that all these defects are hidden by the habit, for though a Benedictine should yield to no other religious in the love & observance of the vow & virtue of poverty, he is obliged to be scrupulously clean & neat in his person, & even respectable &, as the French say, “distingué” in his bearing. I have had croaks innumerable on that subject. |. . .|

Say all kinds of nice things to Rev. Mother, M.M.G., M.M.A. &c. for me. Tell Rev. Mother when she writes for prayers I get all the Community to join, & do my best for her tho’ I can’t write. Tell Sr. Ryan to be a good child, & to keep very close to God, & to try to forget herself as St. Benedict says “seeking rather what is useful to others than to herself”; ® if she does this she would do well. fr. Columba, O.S.B.

• Sister (Mother) Columba, Dom Marmion’s sister who had founded Dunmore. ° Parish priest, or, in American usage, pastor. * Rule of St. Benedict.

Vill. TO HIS SISTER ROSIE

FIVE LETTERS

Pax Maredsous. Oct. 17. 1891 My dear Sister,"

You must excuse my delay in answering your letter. It is a real privilege to aid anyone to love our dearest Lord, & nothing conduces more to this than peace of soul.

As regards your questions. Your being a professed religious need not in any way hinder you from making the act of offering for poor sinners, which is very agreeable to our Lord. When a religious makes such an act, the condition is always understood “as far as my obligations as a religious permit”; so that, in practice, you make this act once for all, & renew it from time to time, & then go on just offering your actions for the intentions prescribed by obedience, & for your own wants, etc., just as others do, who have not made this act, & our B. Lord will arrange the details; that is, He will reserve in your actions what obedience & your obligations towards yourself or others require, & apply the rest to sinners. Just as a priest, who is a religious, is obliged to offer H. Mass daily for the intentions indicated by the superior; but this does not prevent him from offering it for any other intentions he may wish, as he only offers it for those last intentions as far as his obligations permit. In one word, act in this matter without any anxiety; make the act with your whole heart, & then just go on as before.

As regards various intentions in prayer, there are many souls who find that great precision, & nicety in specifying various intentions in prayer, interferes with the unity of their prayer, & is a cause of anxiety & distraction. For such souls the best thing is to specify these inten-

• Rosie, in religion Sister Peter, Sister of Mercy. During Dom Marmion’s childhood and youth, Rosie was his confidant and the favorite companion of his walks and games. (See Thibaut, op. cit., p. 10f.) He wrote her numerous letters that would have thrown much light on the evolution of his soul as child and young man, but unfortunately Rosie herself destroyed most of these valuable letters. (See Idzd., Preface, p. xi, n. 1.)

Dy tions only from time to time, for example, once in the morning, & then a single glance of the soul is sufficient to recall them at the beginning of prayer. However, in all this, my dear Sister, follow the attraction of the H. Spirit with great peace; as all anxiety is the mortal enemy of that disposition which the H. Spirit wishes to find in that soul which He calls to a great union with Him. If there is anything you don’t take in, in what I say, write when you like, & I will answer, when I find time.

Your 3rd question is regarding the sisters with whom you like to be at recreation. Well, my dear Sister, your attraction to speak of God, & to be with those who are fervent, & to go often to choir is an excellent sign of the state of your soul, & shows that the spirit of God is guiding you, & calling you to an intimate union with Himself; however, I don’t like the idea of your searching out special sisters to be near during recreation, even though the motive be most excellent; unless it be only from time to time. In a Community, charity is so delicate, that any preference shown to others is sure to wound it, & then the eye of love is so quick, that with the utmost precautions, your secret will get out in the end, & you will have wounded our Lord in the apple of His eye by saddening the heart of some sister, who thinks herself less loved, less esteemed by you, than others, & this would be specially the case with less perfect sisters.

I don’t mean to say that you may not love in J.C. some sisters more than others, or find more pleasure in the company of those who are edifying & kindred spirits from time to time; but it is certainly more perfect, more pleasing to our dear Lord to associate yourself freely with those whom you find yourself with; & this practice will have a great power of detaching your heart from all merely human consolation & fixing it in the S. Heart. However, in all this there must be nothing strained or violent, no closing yourself up in yourself; but each day as you advance in love of J.C. & in union with Him, your heart must expand more & more in love towards all your sisters.

I would like you to read this portion of my letter to Rev. Mother —if you like—as what I have said depends in a great measure on the manner in which recreation is taken in the Community. Understand me well. What I have said does not mean that it would be against perfection to be united by a spiritual affection, or even to enter into a league of pious practices & prayers with sisters who had aspirations & desires similar to yours. —St. John Berchmans had entered into such a league —. But it would be contrary to perfection to do anything which would lead any of your sisters to suspect that they occupied a lower place in your affection & esteem than others.

As regards your desire & attraction towards a more intimate union with God, for a spirit of prayer, I feel, from the various points you indicated, that it is the H. Spirit who has inspired the desire; & that if you are faithful & patient, He will, in His own good time, work in your soul what is for His greater glory, & your perfection. Theologians teach that when God inspires us with an ardent desire of some gift, such as that of a spirit of prayer; & that we often feel, when praying for it, a great peace & confidence, it is a certain sign that He means to accord it.

Your habit of frequently turning to God during work, & of purifying your intention, are excellent aids towards the formation of this habit, in so far as it depends on us (for never forget that a spirit of prayer is a gift of God). You must be very careful to possess your soul in peace, as the evil one will probably make great efforts to prevent you acquiring this spirit of prayer. As a general rule, you ought to regard as coming from the enemy any thought which agitates you, throws you into perplexity, which diminishes your confidence & narrows up your heart. The best thing in such cases, is just to put the matter which perplexes you out of your mind, saying, “when I have the opportunity I shall ask the solution of this difficulty from some priest”; then go on in peace as you were before.

Finally, my dear Sister, never forget that Jesus Xt. is everything, & we are agreeable to the Father just in proportion as we are united to Him. When celebrating H. Mass lately, I was greatly struck, while reading the Preface, with the thought, that the Seraphim & Cherubim & Angels & Archangels in all their perfection burning with love as they are, can praise the Divine Majesty only “through Jesus Xt.” (per quem majestatem tuam laudent angeli, etc.) He is the golden bond of union between all creation & the Adorable Trinity; as our dear St. Gertrude says He is the harp through the chords of which all praise must resound in order to be an agreeable harmony to the

Adorable Trinity. This is why the Canon of the H. Mass ends with these mysterious words, per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in 1pso, etc. “through Him, & with Him, & in Him, is all honour & glory to thee Eternal Father, etc.” Therefore, my dear Sister, in every action, try to unite yourself intimately with Jesus, who is ever in your heart, with His dispositions, His designs on you & on others etc. & you will thus raise your actions to a value they would not otherwise have. I have the habit of uniting myself thus by repeating very frequently, in the depths of my heart, “My Jesus, Mercy.” However, in all this follow the attraction of the H. Spirit.

I would like you to show this letter to Rev. Mother. There is nothing in the new decree which would prevent her from reading it, (but do as you like). Pray for me, as I have many miseries of soul & body.

Yrsinwj fr. Columba O.S.B.

IT; ie pax Abbaye de Saint-Benoit, Maredsous. 28. III 1922 My dearest Sister,

I have just got back from Malines, where I had been to see our Cardinal.* I find dear R. Mother’s letter announcing your serious illness. May God’s holy will be done: but He could not ask me a greater sacrifice than to lose you. You know how our hearts are united, & one, in Him. I shall say H. Mass for you tomorrow with my whole heart, begging our Lord to place your heart in His, & to assume & take on Himself all your pains & your languors, to make them Divine; crying out to the Father, as the Voice of His Son, as a continual prayer & immolation in His presence. Our Lord has said that what we do to the least of His members we do for Him, & so in the hour of your weakness, the voice of your suffering is as the voice of His own Son crying out for pity. As on the occasion of my last visit I offered the Infinite Sacrifice to supply for all that may have been wanting in your past life, to thank him for all he has

• Désiré Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines. done for you, to atone for all your sins & purify you in His blood, so shall I do tomorrow. I must finish for the post. I remain in close & continual union with you. May God bless & love you as I do. Columba Abb

P.S. Dear R. Mother, a thousand thanks. Please let me know at once if any change comes.

Pax Bruxelles. 47, Avenue des arts Qi lVce My dearest Sister,

Just a line to wish you a happy & holy Easter. I should have done so sooner, but I have been very busy indeed. It is a great joy —in fact my greatest Paschal joy,—to know that God has spared you to us, & especially to me. You will be glad to know that I am in good health, & have been able to celebrate all the Pontifical offices without difficulty. God is very good to me. He shows me more & more that our great treasures are our weaknesses & our miseries, for He has espoused them at the moment of the Incarnation. Vere languores nostros ipse tulit’ St. Paul says, “What is weakness in God is more powerful than all human strength, & what is folly in God is wiser than all human wisdom.” * He did not take on Him a glorious body like that of the Transfiguration, but came clothed in a body which was like that of us poor sinners in similitudine corporis peccati® & He sanctified, & rendered divine all the weaknesses of that poor fallen nature. So St. Paul glories in his weakness, for this glorifies God & fills us with His power.*

I am here at Brussels spending a couple of days with the Marquis I... one of our highest families. All the family were at H. Communion during my Mass said in their oratory. When good, the

*“Surely He hath borne our infirmities” (Isa. 53:4). ml Cor. 1:25;

5 “Tn the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3). Bil Gor, 12:0.

Belgians are excellent. I am on my way to Tournai, where I have important business to transact. I am praying for you, dearest, & for all. God is so good to me I live now on my daily Communion. All the morning “I walk in the strength of that divine food,” & from the afternoon I live in the thought of the following Communion; for He strengthens us according to our desires & preparation.

Our Lord has promised that “He who eateth me shall live by me.” ® His life becomes ours, the source of all our activity.

May God bless & love you as I do, from my heart of hearts,

Love to R. Mother & all

• Columba Abb

Pax Maredsous. 29. XII 22 My dearest Sister,

I was really longing to answer your loving letter for Xmas; but you have no idea of the life of an abbot in a large monastery, having a big college, & school of arts & trades, a convent of nuns, to provide for; & then I have got to be known by so many people that I have a crushing correspondence. Every morning at H. Mass I place you in our dear Lord’s heart, & I beg Him, as He enters into the “Holy of Holies” (His Father’s bosom), through the veil, which St. Paul tells us is His crucified humanity,’ to take us with Him, & present us to the Father. “Xt has died for all,” says St. Paul, “in order to present us to His Father. He, the Just one, for us sinners, having died in His Flesh to be filled with the force & strength of His Spirit for us.”? What He presents to the Father is ever most acceptable, however miserable we may be. You have this every morning, & at Xmas the 2nd Mass was for you, Matty, Mary,® & some spiritual children.

I see our dear Lord is just introducing you into the last stage, through which your soul has need to pass before going to Him. Our

• III Kings 19:8.

• John 6:58.

• Heb. 6:19-203; 9:11-12.

• This text is not from St. Paul, but from St. Peter, First Epistle, 3:18. * Matty, his brother; Mary, his sister.

Lord has taken all our sins on Him, & has fully expiated them & this expiation is applied to us by compunction, & absolution. But besides this, He has taken on Him all the infirmities & incapacity of His Spouse. Before going to Him, she must see, & feel & know that all come to her from Him, & that it is our misery, poverty, & imperfection which having been assumed by His S. Humanity, is raised to a divine value in Him. This is a great secret which few understand. St. Paul expresses it in these words: “Willingly do I glory in my infirmities, in order that it be Xt’s virtue et strength which dwells in me. This is why I take pleasure in my infirmities.” * When I make my Stations daily, & contemplate God the Infinite, the All Powerful, crushed by weakness, & trembling in Gethsemani; I see instead of taking on Himself a glorified body, He has assumed “a body like unto that of us sinners,” ° in order to render our weakness divine in Him. This is what you are passing through at present, in order to destroy & eradicate entirely from your soul the last traces of confidence in yourself, or the talents or qualities which He gave you, & on which you have perhaps leaned just a little up to this. “His left hand supports your head & His right hand encircles you in your weakness.” © He has been showing me this in my soul for some time; & I am never so happy as when prostrate before His Infinite Mercy, & I showing Him my misery, weakness & unworthiness; but I keep looking all the time, not at my misery so much as at his infinite Mercy. Just like a little girl who having fallen into a pool of dirty mud, runs to her mother showing her pinafore & crying until it is cleaned.

I am laid up at present with a kind of bilious flu; but it is getting better. I have to go to Brussels next week & meet all sorts of people, bless a marriage, meet Mary, etc. My monks wish to have my portrait painted in oil by one of our great artists, as I am the 3rd Abbot of Maredsous.’ The R. Mother of Tyburn ® was at the /ast extremity

*II Cor. 12:9.

® See Rom. 8:3.

® See Cant. 2: and 8:3.

• This portrait was painted at Antwerp by the artist Joseph Janssens, in January, 1923. It was finished less than a week before Abbot Marmion’s death (January 30).

*Mother Mary of St. Peter Garnier with whom Abbot Marmion had a long and very beautiful spiritual correspondence in French. See Section XXIV. last week; but the Infant Jesus came & cured her (this is a secret). Love to R. Mother, & all. from my heart of hearts + Columba Marmion Abb.

Two Fragments of Lost Letters [. . .] If we only had faith, we should see that by offering H. Mass we really present, by the hands of the priest, a gift and an immolation to God, which is beyond our debts, because it is infinite.|. . .|

[. . .] One of the highest and most perfect forms of charity is that of consenting to govern others for God’s love. God has chosen you because you are so weak, and small, in order that whatever good you do, may be clearly seen to come from Him. (St. Paul) : “Divine folly is wiser than the wisdom of men.”? I pray that God may give you the grace to abandon yourself entirely into the hands of Jesus Christ; for when we abandon ourselves with absolute confidence, and without reserve, to His wisdom and love, He takes a most zealous care of every detail of our life; for, says St. Paul, “Jesus Christ is our wisdom, our sanctity, our patience, our justice and redemption from God.”?