Letter V. To the Same

Never to forget the day on which we returned to God.

10th July, 1605. I have forgotten to say to you, my dear child, that if the prayers of St. John, and St. Francis, and the others you say, have more relish for you in French (than in Latin), I am very pleased that you should recite them so. Remain in peace, my child, with your Spouse clasped tightly in your arms.

Oh! how satisfied is my soul with the exercise of penance we have made these days past, happy days, and acceptable and memorable! Job desires that the day of his birth perish/ and that there never be a remembrance of it; but, as for me, my child, I wish, on the contrary, that these days, in which God has made you all his own, should live for ever in your soul, and that the remembrance of them should be perpetual. Yes, indeed, my child, they are days whose memory will, without doubt, be eternally agreeable and sweet, provided that our resolutions, taken with so much strength and courage, remain well closed and safe, under the precious seal I have put with my hand.

I wish, my child, that we should celebrate every year their anniversary days, by the addition of some particular exercises to our ordinary ones. I wish that we should call them days of our dedication, since in them you have so entirely dedicated your spirit to God. Let nothing trouble you henceforth, my child; say with St. Paul: From henceforth, let no one be troublesome to me, for I bear the marks of Jesus Christ in my body;f that is, I am his vowed, consecrated, sacrificed servant.

Keep the enclosure of your monastery, let not your intentions go forth hither and thither; for this is only a distraction of heart. Keep the rule well, and believe, but believe firmly, that the Son of Madam your Abbess (the Blessed Virgin) will be all yours.

Keep up, as far as ever you can, a close union amongst yourself, Madame du "Puits d'Orbe, and * Job iii. 3. t Gal. vi. 17.

Madame Brulart; for I think this will be profitable to them.

You will conclude, since I write to you on every occasion, that I see you often in spirit: it is true. No, it will never be possible for anything to separate me from your soul: the tie is too strong. Death itself will have no power to dissolve it, since it is of a stuff which lasts for ever.

I am much consoled, my dear child, to see you filled with the desire of obedience: it is a desire of incomparable value, and one which will support you in all your trials. Ah! no, my very beloved child, regard not whom but for whom you obey. Your vow is addressed to God, though it regards a man. My God! do not fear that the providence of God may fail you; no, if necessary, he would rather send an angel to conduct you than leave you without guide, since with so much courage and resolution you wish to obey. Repose, then, my dear child, in this paternal Providence, resign yourself entirely to it. Meanwhile, as much as I can, I will spare myself, in order to keep my promise to you, and by help of celestial grace, to be able long to serve you; but may this Divine will be always done! Amen.

Yesterday I went on the lake in a little boat, to visit M. the Archbishop of Vienne; and I was very glad to have nothing (save a two-inch plank) to trust to, except holy Providence; and I was still more glad to be there under the obedience of the boatman. He made us sit and keep still, without moving, as seemed good to him, and indeed I did not move. But, my child, do not take these words for things of high value. No, they are only little fancies of virtue, which my heart makes to cheer itself, for when it is in good sooth, I am not so brave.

I cannot help writing to you with a great nudity and simplicity of spirit. A-Dieu (to God), my dearest child, this same God whom I adore, and who has made me so uniquely and intimately yours, that his name, and that of his holy Mother, may be blessed for ever.

Yesterday, also, I called to mind St. Martha, exposed in a little boat with Magdalen: God was their pilot to land them in our France. A-Dieu, again, my dear child: live all-joyous, all-constant in our dear Jesus. Amen.