Letter 137. To a Young Lady

My very Dear Child in Jesus Christ,

I have received your letter, in which you try to lay the state of your mind open to me. I am gratified by your confidence in my affection, which is as true and stedfast as you can wish: God be thanked in and for all things. But I must say a word or two concerning the subject of your letter.

First of all, I beg you to understand clearly that the notion that you can only receive God’s Help through me is simply a temptation of the evil one, whose aim it is to make us dwell on the thought of distant help, so that we may while so doing neglect to make use of that which is at hand. It is a mere moral disease when those who are suffering from bodily sickness set their heart on the assistance of some physician who cannot be had, to the exclusion of those who are at hand. We must never persist in wanting what is impossible, or reckon upon what is difficult and uncertain. Nor is it enough that we believe God to be able to succour us by any instrument; we must go further and believe that He does not choose to make use of those whom He puts at a distance, and that

He means to make use of such as He brings near. While I was near you I would not have rejected your wish, but now it is altogether unreasonable.

Next, I think you have hit off the real source of your difficulty, when you say that it lies in a multitude of longings which can never be fulfilled. Practically, this is a similar temptation to the other, or, to speak more correctly, that is an offshoot from this, which is the root. Now, a great variety of food tries any digestion, but it is fatally mischievous to one that is weak. When the soul has broken free from worldly and evil affections, it comes across spiritual and pious attractions, and like one a-hungered, it seizes upon them with such greedy haste as to be altogether overwhelmed. You must seek the remedy for this at our Dear Lord^s Hands, and from the spiritual guides who are near you; they, being able to put their finger upon the evil, will know best what remedy to apply. Still 1 will tell you briefly what occurs to me about it

I think that if you do not begin trying to put some of these longings into practice, they will continue to multiply, and will at last so entangle your mind as to produce hopeless confusion. Well, then, we must come to results, but where to begin?

We must begin with visible external results, which are most in our power. For instance, you doubtless wish to tend the sick, and to render them mean and disagreeable service for love of Christ These are a sort of groundwork of such longings as yours, without which others would be suspicious. Well, practise such results of your longings as these — ^neither object nor opportunity can be lacking — it is entirely within your power to do this, and consequently you ought to do it It is useless to imagine that you would do those good works which are beyond your reach or impossible, if you neglect such as are attainable. So henceforth be diligent in the practice of common lowly works of charity, humility, and the like, and you will soon find the benefit of so doing. Magdalene needed to wash the Saviour^s Feet, and to wipe them with her hair before she dared speak heart to heart with Him; she anointed His Head with oil before she was filled with the balm of Heavenly contemplation.

It is well to aim high, but we must regulate our aims and desires according to what is seasonable and possible. Gardeners prune away the leaves of certain plants, in order to let all the sap and juices go to the formation of fruit, rather than to mere exuberant foliage. And in like manner, it is well to hinder the mere multiplying of wishes, lest the soul should rest in them, and neglect to produce those results, of which the smallest, when practical and real, is worth all imaginable vague impossibilities. God requires a faithful fulfilment of the merest trifle given us to do, rather than the most ardent aspirations for things to which we are not called.

After all, if these remedies do not help you, be patient; wait till the sun arise, and it will disperse the mists. Be of good cheer, ‘‘ this sickness is not unto death, but for the Glory of God.”... I wished to say something to you, rather as a proof how sincerely I wish your well-doing, than because I feel able to help you. But do not doubt that I will commend you to the Father of Light; I do so gladly, hoping that you will do the like by me, as indeed I greatly need it, being, as I am, embarked in the most stormy part of the Church’s ocean.... Finally, I intreat you to persevere in the resolution you made in the midst of your letter: ‘‘ I protest before God, and before you, that I desire Him only, and would serve Him alone. Amen.”

This is right and just, for He on His part asks you for nothing, save — ^yourself I

I am, truly and heartily, my dearest child in Jesus Christ, your very affectionate, See,