Letter XLVI. To the Same

The Saint exhorts her to communicate often, and to abandon hc7*selfto Providence in contradiction.

May our Lord take away your heart as he did that of the devout St. Catharine of Sienna (whose feast we keep to-day), to give you his own most divine, so that you may live solely by his holy love. What a happiness, my dearest sister, if some day, in coming from Holy Communion, I found my weak and miserable heart out of my breast, and established in its stead the precious heart of my God! But, my dearest child, since we ought not to desire things so extraordinary, at least will I that our. poor hearts should henceforward live only under the obedience and commandments of the Lord: this will be quite enough, my dear sister, to imitate profitably in this point St. Catharine; and then we shall be gentle, humble and charitable, since the heart of our Saviour has no laws more dear to it than those of gentleness, humility, and charity.

Yon will be very happy, my dearest sister, my child, if amid all these follies of personal attachments, you live all in yourself, and all for God, who indeed alone merits to be served and followed with passion; for thus doing, my dear sister, you will give good example to all, and will gain holy peace and tranquillity for yourself. Let others, I beg you, philosophize about the reason you have for communicating: for it is enough that your conscience, that you and I, know that this diligence in often looking over and repairing your soul, is greatly required for the preservation of it. If you wish to give account of it to some one, you may well say that you need to eat this divine food so often because you are very weakly, and without this refreshment, your spirit would easily faint away. Meanwhile, continue, my dearest sister, to clasp closely to your breast this dear Saviour. Let him be a lovely and sweet nosegay on your heart, in such sort that every one who approaches you may smell that you are perfumed, and know that your odour is the odour of myrrh.

Keep your soul in peace, notwithstanding these disquieting things round about you. Submit to the most secret providence of God what you find hard, and firmly believe that he will sweetly conduct you, your life, and all your affairs.

Do you know what the shepherds of Arabia do when they see it lighten and thunder, and see the air charged with thunderbolts? They withdraw under laurels, themselves and their flocks. When we see that persecutions or contradictions threaten us with some great pain, we must withdraw, ourselves and our affections, under the holy cross, by a sweet confidence that all things work together unto good to them that love God*

So then, my dearest child, my sister, keep your heart entirely recollected in peace; keep yourself * Kom. viii. 28.

$7 6 St. Francis de Sales.

carefully from worry; often throw your confidence on the providence of our Lord. Be quite certain that rather will heaven and earth pass away, than our Lord be wanting to your protection so long as you are his obedient child, or at least desirous to obey. Two or three times a-day think whether your heart is not disquieted about something; and finding that it is so try at once to put it back in repose. Adieu, my dearest child. May God ever be in the midst of your heart. Amen.

LETTER XL VII.

To a Lady.

The means to be all to God is to crucify our strongest inclinations.

My dearest Mother, — Now what shall I say to you? Many things, without doubt, if I wished to follow my affections, which are always full for you, as I desire that yours be full for me, above all when you are in the little oratory. I beseech you there to pour them forth before God for my amendment; as on my part I pour forth, not mine, which are unworthy, on account of the heart whence they come, but the blood of the Immaculate Lamb before the Eternal Father, for the good intention you have of being all his.

What happiness, my dear mother, to be all his, who, to make us his, made himself all ours! But for this it is necessary to crucify in us all our affections, and specially those which are more strong and active, by a continual slackening and tempering of the actions which proceed from them, that they may be done not with impetuosity, nor even by our own will, but by the will of the Holy Spirit.

Above all, my dear mother, we need a kind, sweet and loving heart towards our neighbour, and particularly when he is burdensome and displeasing to us; for then we have nothing to love in him but his relation to our Saviour, which, without any doubt, makes love more excellent and worthy, inasmuch as it is more pure and free from transitory conditions.

I pray our Lord to increase in you his holy love. I am, in him, your, &c.