Letter 85. To a Lady, Expecting her Confinement

My Dearest Daughter, Sept, 29, 162a

I am no ways surprised to hear that your good resolutions seem to be weary and heavy; it is an unquestionable fact that our souls are habitually affected by the condition and circumstances of our inferior nature, — that which is purely physical, I mean, and subject to physical infirmities. So a delicate frame, oppressed by discomfort and pain, cannot but hinder the soul from being as lively and vigorous, as ready for exertion, as it would be at another time. Still, all this does not really counteract the true life of the superior nature; its acts are as acceptable to God as they would be were you in the most cheerful, easy condition — ^rather more so, being made with greater effort and struggle to yourself; but of course they are not so acceptable to her who makes them, because of that very effort and struggle.

My dearest daughter, we must not be unjust, or exact more than is possible of ourselves. When we are weighed down with ill-health or bodily weakness we must only require the soul to make acts of submission and acceptance of its weariness, uniting our will to God's Good Pleasure; while as to external acts we must do the best we can, and be satisfied often to perform such things i contre languidly and wearily.

But in order to turn all this weariness and languor to good account, so that it may advance the Love of God in our heart, it is needful to face it honestly, and to accept, and even love, the humiliation it brings. By so doing you will change the heavy leaden weight which oppresses you into gold, and that a finer gold too than anything you have known in your brightest hours. So be patient with yourself. Let your superior being bear calmly with the infirmity of your inferior nature, and do not fail continually to offer up to your Creator's Glory the little one whose existence He wills to create by means of you.

My dear daughter, we have a Capucin artist at Annecy, who, as you may imagine, paints nothing save what is for God and His temple. While painting, his mind is so wholly given to his work that he cannot pray at the same time, and often he is very much absorbed and wearied by his work; nevertheless, he does it heartily, as advancing God's Glory, hoping that his pictures will promote His Worship among men. So, my dear (laughter, the child you bear is created in the image and likeness of God, but the physical discomfort involved wearies and oppresses you, so that you are unable to perform your wonted religious exercises heartily and with enjoyment; but accept all this wean-ness and exhaustion lovingly, as your contribution towards God^s Work, remembering that your babe is destined one day to be an inhabitant of the Heavenly Jerusalem, to be the cause of joy to God, to men, and angels, that the Saints will give thanks because of its eternal blessedness, and you, too, when you are permitted to share it with your child. So be patient for a while, though you feel lifeless and weary, clinging firmly to the Holy Will of our Dear Lord, Who, in His Eternal Wisdom, has so willed and ordered events. I cannot say how earnestly my soul desires that yours may grow in all perfection. God has planted you very deeply in my heart May His Divine Goodness guide both you and me according to His Good and Holy Will, and bless all your family abundantly, especially your dear husband, whose I am, as well as yours invariably, &C,