Letter (number unidentified). To the Ven. Anne of Jesus, Prioress of Veas, Avila, towards the end of December, 1578

The Saint thanks her for having provided money to help the commission sent to Rome.

MY daughter and my crown ! I cannot thank God enough for the favour He did me in drawing you to the religious life. For, as His Majesty, when He delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, set before them a column which guided andenlightenedthem by night and sheltered them from the sun by day, so He seems to have done for our Order — and your Reverence, my daughter, is the column which enlightens and defends us. All that you have done for these fathers has been most judicious and your devotion and generosity prove that God dwells in your soul. May the Master, for Whom you have done it, reward you and may He grant to these efforts the success befitting them! . . .