Letter V. To Madame de Chantal

Duties of widows relatively to their salvation; means of gaining that end. Annecy, Feast of the Holy Cross, 3rd May, 1604. Madame, — I write to assure you more aud more that I will carefully keep the promise which I made you to write as often as possible. The more I am separated from you exteriorly the more I feel myself united with you interiorly, and I will never cease to pray our good God to please to perfect you in his holy work, that is, the good desire and design of reachiog the perfection of Christian life. This desire you must cherish and tenderly nourish in your heart, as a blessing of the Holy Spirit and a spark of his Divine fire. I have seen a tree which was planted by the blessed St. Dominic at Rome: every one goes to see it, and is fond of it for the sake of the planter. In the same way having seen in you the tree of the desire of sanctity, which our Lord has planted in your soul, I cherish it tenderly, and take more pleasure in regarding it now than when present; and I exhort you to do the same and to say with me: may God give you increase, O lovely tree! Divine heavenly seed, may God grant you to produce your fruit unto maturity: and when you shall have produced it, may God guard you from the wind which makes the fruits fall to earth for vile beasts to eat. Madame; this desire should be in you like the orange

Letters to Widows.

trees of the coast of Genoa, which almost all the year are covered with fruit and flowers and leaves together, for your desire should always fructify by the occasions which offer of fulfilling it every day, and yet your desire for objects and means to advance further should never cease. These wishes are flowers of the tree of your design; the leaves are the frequent acknowledgments of your weakness, which preserve both the good works and the good desire. This desire is one of the pillars of your tabernacle; the other is love of your widowhood, a holy love, desirable for as many reasons as there are stars in heaven, and without which widowhood is contemptible and false. St. Paul commands us to honour the widows who are widows indeed;* but those who love not their widowhood are not widows, save in appearance, their heart is married. These are not they of whom it is said: Blessing, will I bless the widow;f and elsewhere: God is the judge, protector and defender of widows. % Blessed be God who has given you this dear holy love. Increase it every day more and more, and the consolation of it will increase for you at the same time, since all the building of your happiness is supported on these two pillars. Look, at least once a month, to see whether one or the other be not weakened; use for this some meditation or consideration similar to that of which I send you a copy, and which I have communicated with some fruit to other souls which I have in charge. Do not, how-

• 1 Tim. v. 3. t Ps. cxxxi. 15.

% Ps. lxvii. 6.

ever, tie yourself to this same meditation; for I do not send it you for that purpose, but only to show you the direction of this monthly examen and trial of yourself, so that you may learn more easily to get advantage from it. If you like better to repeat this same meditation it will not be useless to you; but I say, " if you like better/' for in all and everywhere I wish you to have a holy liberty of spirit about the means of perfection. If the two columns are preserved and strengthened, it matters not much how this is done. Keep yourself from scruples, and rest entirely on what I have said to you by word of mouth; for I have said it in our Lord. Keep yourself constantly in the presence of God by the means which you have. Keep yourself from eager solicitudes and disquietudes, for there is nothing which more hinders us from journeying to perfection. Throw your heart gently into the wounds of our Lord, and not violently. Have an extreme confidence in his mercy and goodness, and assurance that he will not abandon you; and for this cease not to keep yourself to his holy cross. After the love of our Lord I recommend to you that of his spouse, the Church, this dear and sweet dove, which can alone produce and bring forth little doves for the Spouse. Praise God a hundred times a day for being a daughter of the Church, like Mother (St.) Teresa, who often repeated this sentiment at the hour of her death with extreme consolation. Cast your eyes on the bridegroom and the bride, and say to the beloved: O, to how lovely a bride art thou espoused! And to the Spouse: O, to how divine a lover art thou wedded! Have great feeling for all the pastors and preachers of the Church, and behold them spread over all the face of the earth j for there is no province in the world without them. Pray God for them, that while saving themselves they may procure the salvation of many souls; and here I beg you never to forget me, since God has given me such strong will never to forget you. I send you a little manuscript on the perfection of a Christian life. I have made it, not directly for you, but for several others; still you will see in what you can make it useful for yourself. Write to me, I pray you, as often as ever you can, and with all the confidence possible: for the extreme desire which I have of your good and advancement, make me pleased to learn often what you are doing. Recommend me to our Lord, for I have more need of it than any one in the world. I beseech him to give abundantly of his holy love to you and to all belonging to you. I am for ever, and beseech you to consider me, your very assured and devoted servant in Jesus Christ.