Letter XXII. To the Same (?). on the Feast of St. John Baptist

LOOK at a rose, my most dear daughter. It represents the glorious St. John, in whom the scarlet dye of charity is more brilliant than the rose, which he resembles also in this that he lived amid the thorns of many mortifications.

But think how this great man had graven in the midst of his heart the holy Virgin and her Child, from the day of the Visitation, in which he first of mortals felt how amiable were the Mother of this Child and the Child of this Mother. Outside this Mother and this Child, nothing ought to engage the heart of my daughter or of her father. May the glorious and * Luke i. 68.

divine Jesus live and reign for ever in our spirits, within the arms of his holy Mother, as on his established throne.

Behold then, my dear daughter, how you have here a spiritual nosegay, where you see two lilies in a rose, one born within the other, both making blessed, with the odour of their sweetness and the perfection of their beauty, the rose of those hearts which by a perfect pricking mortification live stripped, despoiled, and free of all things, for their sakes. Ah! who will give us the grace of duly relishing the honey which this mother-bee makes in the midst of this sweet flower! Good night, my most dear mother; good night to all our sisters.

LETTEK XXIV.

To THE SAME (?). On tJie Feast of St. Peter.

OUR great St. Peter, awakened from his sleep by the Angel,* gives you good day, my very dear mother. What sweetness is shown in the history of this deliverance! for his soul is so enraptured that he knows not whether or no he is dreaming. May our Angel touch our side to-day, awaken us to loving attention to God, deliver us from all the chains of self-love, and consecrate us for ever to this heavenly love, that we may be able to say: Now I know indeed that the Lord hath sent his Angel, and hath delivered me.

Peter, lovest thou me? t — not that he doubted it, but

• Acts xii. t John xxi.

LET. xxiv.] Letters for Various Festivals. 437 for the great pleasure which he takes in often hearing us repeat and protest that we love him?

My dear mother, do we not love the sweet Saviour? Ah! he knows well that if we do not love him we at least desire to love him. Oh if we love him, let us feed his sheep and his lambs; this is the mark of faithful love. But with what must we feed these dear little lambs? With love itself; for they either live not, or they live with love; between their death and love there is no alternative; they must die or love; for he that loveth not, says St. John,* dbideth in death.

But do you notice an agreeable thought? Our Lord goes on to say to his dear St. Peter: t When thou wast younger thou didst gird thyself, and didst ivalk where thou wouldst; but when thou shalt ~be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. Young apprentices in the love of God gird themselves, and take mortifica tions as seems good to themselves; they choose their penance, their subject of resignation and devotion, and do their own will at the same time as that of God; but old masters of the craft let themselves be tied and girded by others, submitting themselves to the yoke which others impose on them, go by ways which according to their own inclination they do not choose. It is true that they stretch forth their hands, for in spite of the resistance of their inclinations they voluntarily let themselves be governed against their wills, and say that obedience is better than sacrifices: t and behold how they glorify God, crucifying not only their flesh but their spirit.

Truly, yesterday while they were singing the Invi-

• I John iii. 14. t John xxi. 18. J I Kings xv. 22.

tatory, and saying, " The King of the Apostles — come and adore him," I had such sweet and agreeable senti ments that more could not be, and immediately I desired that it should flow out over our whole heart. 0 may God Our Saviour be ever all things unto us! Keep your heart uplifted into the bosom of this divine goodness and Providence, for it is the place of its re pose. It is he who has made me all yours, and you all mine, that we might be more purely, perfectly, and solely his. Amen.