Letter XVII. To a Bernardine Sister

On the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament.

YOUR heart will be pure, my dear litole daughter, since your intention is pure; and the idle thoughts which surprise you cannot sully it in any way. Remain at peace, and patiently support your little miseries. You are God's without reserve; he will guide you well. If he does not deliver you from your imperfections so quickly, it is in order to deliver you from them more profitably, and to exercise you the longer in humility, that you may be firmly rooted in that beautiful virtue. He who receives the most Holy Communion receives the living Jesus Christ, whose body, soul and divinity are in this divine Sacrament: and inasmuch as his divinity is the very same as that of the Father and the Holy Ghost who are but one sole God with him, he who receives the most Holy Eucharist receives the body of the Son of God, and consequently his blood and his soul, and consequently the most Holy Trinity.

But still this divine Sacrament is principally insti tuted that we may receive the body and the blood of Our Saviour with his life-giving life; as clothing covers primarily the body of man, although, because the soul is united to the body, it consequently covers the soul — the understanding, the memory, and the will.

Walk quite simply in this belief, and often salute the heart of this divine Saviour, who to testify to us his love, has willed to clothe himself with the appear ances of bread, in order to remain most familiarly and most intimately in us, and near our heart.

Let us clearly see in spirit the holy Angels who sur round the most Holy Sacrament to adore it, and who in this holy Octave pour forth sacred inspirations more abundantly on those who with humility, reverence, and love approach to receive it. My dear daughter, these divine spirits will teach you how to act to celebrate well these solemn days, and will teach you above all the interior love which will make you know how great is the love of our God, who to make himself more ours, has willed to give himself as food for the.spiritual health of our souls, in order that nourished by him they may become more perfect.

LET. xvm.] Letters for Various Festivals. 427