B-V/1. To Mother de Chantal: What was to be the spirit of her religious life.
I desire you to be extremely little and low in your own eyes, sweet and yielding as a dove; to love your abjection and practise it faithfully. Employ willingly all the opportunities of this which occur. Be not quick in speaking, but answer with slowness, humbly, sweetly, and say much by keeping silent with modesty and equableness.
Support and greatly excuse your neighbour, with great sweetness of heart. Do not reflect upon the contradictions which happen to you; do not look at them, but at God in all things, with no exception. Acquiesce in all his orders most simply.
Do all things for God, making or continuing your union by simple turning of your eyes or outflowings of your heart towards him.
Do not agitate yourself over anything; do all things tranquilly in a spirit of repose; for nothing whatsoever lose your interior peace, even if everything should be turned upside down: for what are all the things of this life compared with peace of the heart?
Recommend everything to God, and keep yourself still and reposeful within the bosom of fatherly Providence.
In all sorts of occurrences be faithfully unchanging in this resolution of remaining in a most simple unity and unique simplicity of adherence to God by a love of the eternal care which divine Providence has over you. When you find your spirit outside of this bring it back gently and very simply.
Remain unvaryingly in most simple unity of spirit without ever clothing yourself with any cares, desires affections or designs at all, under whatsoever pretexts.
Our Lord loves you, he would have you all his. Have no longer any arms to carry you but his, nor other bosom to rest in but the bosom of his divine Providence. Direct not your eyes elsewhere, nor let your spirit stay save in him alone.
Keep your will so intimately united to his that there may be nothing between; forget all the rest, troubling yourself about it no more: for God has desired your beauty and simplicity.
Have good courage, and keep yourself very humble, abased before the divine Majesty; desire nothing but the pure love of Our Lord.
Refuse nothing, painful though it may be; clothe yourself with Our Lord crucified; love him in his sufferings, and make ejaculatory prayers over them.
Do this indeed, my dearest mother, my true daughter: my soul, my spirit blesses you with all its affection; and may Jesus Christ himself do in us, with us, and through us, and for his own sake, his most holy will. Amen.
I have, thanks to God, my eyes fixed on this eternal Providence, whose decrees shall be for ever the laws of my heart.
B-V/2. To the Same: Questions and answers on the same subject.
[This is the famous “livret” so highly esteemed in the Visitation. The translation is made from the actual autographs of the two Saints.]
In the name of Jesus and of Mary.
1. First, you should ask of your very dear lord, if he will approve your renewing in his hands every year, at the renovation time, your vows, your general abandonment, and committing yourself into the arms of God, and if he will specify particularly what he considers to affect you most closely, so as at last to make this abandonment perfect and without exception, and to enable you truly to say: I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.[1] And to reach this let your good lord not spare you, nor permit you to make any reserve, either in little or in much, let him appoint the daily exercises and practices required for this, in order that in truth and reality the abandonment may be perfect.
Answer. I answer, in the name of Our Lord and of Our Lady, that it will be good, my very dear daughter, that you should make every year the renewal proposed and freshen again the perfect abandonment of yourself into the hands of God. For this end I will not spare you; and you yourself must cut off superfluous words which refer to the love, even just, of all creatures, and in particular of relatives, house, country, and above all of father, and as far as possible all lengthened thought of all these things, save on the occasions when duty obliges you to order or procure things needed; so that you may perfectly put in practice that word[2]: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father’s house. Before dinner, before supper, and at night when going to bed, examine whether according to your actions of the present moment, you can sincerely say: I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.
2. Whether the soul, being thus committed, ought not, as far as possible, to forget all things for the continual memory of God, and to repose in him alone by a true and entire confidence?
Answer. Yes, you should forget all that is not of God and for God, and remain entirely at peace under the guidance of God.
3. Whether the soul should not, particularly in prayer, try to stop all kinds of reasoning, effort, reflection on self, curiosity and the like, and instead of regarding what she has done, what she will do, or what she does, look at God and so simplify her spirit and empty it of everything, and of all care about herself, remaining in this simple view of God and of her nothingness, quite abandoned to his holy will, in the effects of which she should remain content and tranquil, not disturbing herself at all to make acts either of the understanding or of the will. I say that even in the practice of virtues and in faults and falls there must be no moving from this, it seems to me; for Our Lord puts in the soul the sentiments required and perfectly enlightens it; I mean in everything, and better a thousand times than it could be by all its reasonings and imaginations. You will say to me: why then do you stir from it? O God! it is my misery, and in spite of myself, for experience has taught me that this is very hurtful; but I am not mistress of my spirit, and without my leave it wants to see and manage everything. This is why I ask from my dear lord the help of holy obedience to stop this miserable truant, for it seems to me that it will fear an absolute command.
Answer. Since Our Lord, this long time, has drawn you to this sort of prayer, having made you taste those desirable fruits which spring from it, and made you know the harm of the contrary method, remain firm, and with the greatest quietness you can, bring back your spirit to this unity and simplicity of presence and of abandonment with God. And inasmuch as your spirit desires that I should employ obedience, I say thus to it: My dear spirit, why will you practise the part of Martha in prayer, since God makes you understand that he wants you to exercise that of Mary? I command you then that you simply remain either in God or with God, without trying to do anything there, or seeking from him anything whatever, except in proportion as he inspires you. Do not return at all upon yourself, but be there near him.
4. I come back then to ask of my dear father, whether the soul being thus committed to God ought not to remain quite at repose in its God, leaving to him the care of what regards it, whether interiorly or exteriorly, and remaining as you say in his Providence and will, without care, without attention, without choosing, without any desire save that Our Lord would do in her, with her, and by her, his most holy will, without any hindrance or resistance on her part. O God! who will give me this grace which is the sole one I ask for save you, good Jesus, by the prayers of your servant?
Answer. God be gracious to you, my dear daughter. The infant which is within its mother’s arms needs only to let her act and to fasten itself to her neck.
5. Whether Our Lord has not a quite special care to ordain all that is requisite and necessary to the soul thus committed to him?
Answer. Persons in this state are dear to him as the apple of his eye.
6. Whether she should not receive all things from his hand, I say all, down to the very smallest, and also to ask his counsel about all, about all?
Answer. In this God wants us to be as a little child. We have only to take care not to use a superfluous attention when we seek out the will of God in all the particular details of small, ordinary, and trifling actions.
7. Whether it will not be a good exercise to become attentive without laborious attention, to remain tranquilly in the will of God, in the many little occasions which contradict us and tend to put us out of humour (for as to great ones these are seen from afar)—as, to be disappointed of some consolation, which seems to us useful or necessary, to be hindered in doing a good action, a mortification, this or that, whatever it may be, which seems to be good, and instead to be turned aside by things useless and dangerous, and sometimes bad.
Answer. Not consenting to evil things, indifference for the rest should be practised on every occasion, under the leading of God’s Providence.
8. To make oneself faithful and prompt in the observance of rules, when the sign is given? Here are so many occasions of little mortifications! We are surprised in the middle of something we are telling, in the midst of some action which it is hard to interrupt; only three strokes more are wanted to finish the work, one letter to make, just to warm oneself—what not?
Answer. Yes, it is good not to attach yourself to anything so much as to the rules, in such sort that, unless for some important occasion, you go where the rules draw you, and make it stronger than all these trifling attractions.
9. To let oneself be absolutely governed as to what regards the body, receiving simply all that is given us or done for us, good, bad, disagreeable; to take what is, according to our judgment, too much, without saying anything or showing any kind of disapprobation; to take the indulgences of sleep, rest, warming oneself, exemption from some painful action or mortification; saying sincerely what one can do, but if they insist giving in without a word? This point is great and difficult for me.
Answer. You must say sincerely what you feel, but in such a way as not to take away the courage of replying from those who have care of us. For the rest, to make yourself so perfectly tractable is what I very strongly desire of our heart.
10. To yield with great sweetness to the will of the sisters, and of all others, as soon as one knows it, although one can easily avoid it and question it; this is somewhat difficult and tends to leave nothing for oneself. For how often would one desire a little solitude, rest, time to oneself?—but one sees a sister coming shyly along (qui côtoie), who would like this quarter of an hour for her, a word, a caress, a visit, anything.
Answer. One must take reasonable time for oneself; and this done take up again the opportunity of gratifying the desires of the sisters.
11. Such is what has come to my mind as to points in which it seems to me that I could exercise and mortify myself. My dearest lord will approve it if he think fit, and will ordain what pleases him, and, my God helping me, I will obey him.
Answer. Do it and you shall live. Amen.
12. I ask for the honour of God help to humble myself. I have the thought to make myself very particular in never saying anything whence there can come to me any sort of glory or esteem.
Answer. Without doubt, he who talks little of himself does extremely well; for whether we speak of self in excusing ourselves or in accusing ourselves, whether in praising or in dispraising ourselves, we shall see that our words serve ever as a bait to vanity. If then some great charity does not draw us to speak of ourselves and of what belongs to us, we ought to keep silent on the subject.
The book of The Love of God, my dearest daughter, is made specially for you; for which reason you may, indeed you should, lovingly practise the teachings which you have found there. The grace of God be with your spirit for ever. Amen, Amen.
13. I do not want to forget this, as I have often been in trouble about it. All preachers and good books teach that we should consider and meditate the benefits of Our Lord, his greatness, our redemption, particularly when the Holy Church brings them before us. The soul, however, which is in the above state, desirous to try to do it, is in no manner able, whereby she distresses herself greatly. But still it seems to me that she does it, and in a very excellent manner, namely, by a simple remembrance or very delicate representation of the mystery, with very sweet and delicious affections: my lord will understand better than I can say it. But further, sometimes also one finds oneself dry as to the remembrance of his benefits, or on some occasion, when reasoning is required, as when one would confess or renew one’s vows, and contrition is necessary: meantime the soul remains without light, dry and without sentiment; and this causes great pain.
Answer. Let the soul stay on the mysteries in the manner of prayer which Our Lord has given it; for preachers and spiritual books understand it not otherwise. And as for contrition, it is very good when dry and arid; for it is an act of the superior, yea the supreme, part of the soul.
B-V/3. To the Mothers-superior of the first Monastery of the Visitation, Rue St.Antoine, Paris: On the excellence and duties of their charge.
Since it is the height of Christian perfection to lead souls to God, a work which has drawn Jesus Christ down from heaven to earth in order to labour at this and to consummate his work in death and by the cross, it is easy to judge that those whom he employs in this function ought to esteem themselves to be highly honoured, and to acquit themselves thereof with a care worthy of the spouses of him who was crucified and died as a king of love, crowned with thorns, amid the army of his elect, encouraging them to the spiritual warfare which must be sustained here below, to arrive at the heavenly country promised to his children.
Thus, my dear daughters, those whom God calls to the guiding of souls ought to keep within their mystic hives, where the heavenly bees are gathered together to produce the honey of holy virtues; and the superior, who is amongst them as their queen, should be solicitous to be present there in order to teach them the way to make and store it. But it is necessary to do this work and this holy business with an entire submission to holy Providence, and a spirit of perfect courage, in the continual practice of humility, sweetness and meekness of heart, the two dear virtues which Our Lord recommended to the Apostles who were destined to the superiorship of the universe—drawing from the bosom of the celestial Father the means suitable to this office.
For it is not with your own milk nor from your own breasts that you feed God’s children; it is with the milk of the breasts of the divine Beloved, you doing nothing more than showing them and saying: take, suck, draw, live: and he will do your part with you if you do his with him; now his is the sanctification and perfection of souls, for whose sake he has willed not to fly the labour required for glorifying the name of his Father.
Work at this then humbly, simply, and confidently; never will there arise from it any hurtful distraction; for this divine Master who employs you at this work has bound himself to give you his most holy hand in all the duties of your office, provided that you correspond on your side, by a most humble and courageous confidence in his goodness. He calls to his service things that are not as those that are, and makes use of nothingness as of much for the glory of his name. Wherefore you must make your own abjection the chair and the chain of your superiorship, making yourself in your nothingness valiantly humble and humbly valiant in him who made the grand manifestation of his all-mightiness in the humility of his cross.
He has destined you a help, assistance, and grace most sufficient and abundant for your upholding and support. Do you think that so good a Father as God is would want to make you nurse of these daughters without giving you abundance of milk, butter, and honey? The Lord has put these souls into your arms and on your bosom, to make them worthy of being his true spouses, by teaching them to look solely upon his divine eyes, to renounce little by little the thoughts which nature suggests of itself, and so to make them think solely of him. A daughter destined to the government of a monastery is charged with a great and important affair, above all when it is to found and establish. But God extends his almighty arm in the measure of the work which he imposes, and prepares for her great benediction, in order to cultivate and govern the sacred seed-plot.
You are the mothers, the nurses, and the waiting-women of these daughters of the king. What a dignity has this dignity! What a reward, if you do this with the love and the breasts of mothers! It is a crown which you are making, and which you will enjoy in beatitude; but God wants you to carry it entirely within your heart in this life, and then he will put it on your head in the other.
Spouses of old wore on their marriage day only such crowns and garlands of flowers as they had themselves gathered and woven. Mourn not, my dear daughters, the loss of your spiritual advantages or of the particular satisfactions which you would receive in your own devotions, so long as you can cultivate properly these dear plants; be never weary of being mothers, although the toils and cares of maternity are great: for God will reward you in the day of the heavenly nuptials, crowning you with himself, since he is the crown of his Saints.
B-V/4. To the Same: Same subject: means to be used.
Since you hold, my dear daughters, the place of God in the guidance of souls, you must be jealously careful to adapt yourselves to it. Observe his ways, and not your own, and carefully second his drawing in each one, by helping them to follow it with humility and submission, not in their own way but in God’s; and this you will know better than they so long as self-love is not annihilated in them, for it often causes us to go astray, and to turn the divine drawing to our ways and the pursuit of our inclinations.
For this object always have upon your lips and your tongues the fire which your Beloved, burning with love, came on earth to cast into hearts, to the end that it may consume the whole exterior man and remake it into an interior one, wholly pure, ardent, simple, and strong to bear the trials and exercises which his love will send them for their good, to purify, perfect, and sanctify them. And in order to encourage them to this, show them that it is not with spiritual as with material rose-trees—in the latter the thorns remain and the roses fade, in the former the thorns will pass away and the roses will remain; that they have no hearts save in order to be children of God, loving, blessing, and serving him faithfully in this mortal life; and that he has united them together that they may be extraordinarily brave, hardy, courageous, constant, and eager to undertake and carry through great and difficult works.
For regarding henceforth your houses as the seed-plots of many others, you must root there the great and perfect virtues of a masculine, strong and generous devotion, abnegation of self love, mortification of the senses, and sincere charity; taking from them that petty delicacy and softness which disturb our peace and make us flatter our humours and inclinations. To this will serve the continual changes which are practised in your Order, as of rank, cells, and annual offices; which tend to deliver them from being attached to this or that other employment, and from the imperfection of a vain and jealous imitation, and to strengthen them to desire not to do all that the others do, but only whatever superiors may command them, and to make them walk in that single and simple intention of serving the divine Majesty with one same will, same undertaking, same design, in order that Our Lord and his most holy Mother may thereby be glorified.
But if some were to set themselves against this guidance, you can take occasion to bring them to it by pointing out to them their ignorance, their unreasonableness and lack of judgment in thus giving heed to the fancies and false imaginations which depraved nature suggests; you may tell them how opposed the human spirit is to God, whose secrets are revealed only to the humble; that there is not question in religion of philosophers and clever men but of graces and virtues, and of these not to talk learnedly about them, but humbly to put them in practice; and you must command to them, and make them do things hard to do and understand, and humiliating things, so as to detach them insensibly from themselves, and engage them to a humble and perfect submission to the orders of superiors, who for their part ought to have a great discretion, duly observing time, circumstances, and persons.
For whereas it is a very hard thing to feel oneself crushed and mortified at every turn, yet the skill of a sweet and charitable mother gets the bitter pills swallowed with the milk of a holy friendship, continually offering to her daughters a bosom rich in spiritual fulness, kind looks, and joyful gracious welcomes, that they may run to it with joy, and so may let themselves be moulded like balls of wax, which will without doubt grow soft in the fire of this ardent charity. I do not say that they are to flatter, but that they are to be sweet, amiable, and affable, loving their sisters with a cordial, maternal, fostering, and pastoral love, making themselves all to all, mothers to all, the succour of all, the joy of all; which are the only sufficing conditions, and without which nothing suffices.
Hold the balance justly among your daughters, and let not the gifts of nature make you distribute unfairly your affections and good offices. How many persons are there of disagreeable exterior who are very agreeable in the sight of God! Beauty, gracefulness, the gift of speech, often form a great attraction to persons who still live according to their inclinations; but charity regards true virtue and interior beauty, and spreads itself cordially over all without distinction.
Do not be disturbed to find obstacles arise in your government. You must quietly bear everything, and then lay it before God and take counsel with your assistants; afterwards doing what is thought best, and with a holy confidence that divine Providence will order all things to his glory. But do this so sweetly that your inferiors may not take occasion to lose the respect which is due to your office, nor think that you need them for your governing; in order, also, to follow the rule of modesty and humility, and what is laid down by the Constitutions. Because, you see, we must as far as possible take care that the respect of our inferiors for us does not diminish love nor love diminish respect, and if some sister should not fear you or treat you with sufficient respect, point out to her by herself how that she ought to honour your office and to co-operate with the rest to preserve in dignity the charge which binds all the congregation together in one body and in one spirit.
Hold fast to the strict observance of rules, to the orderliness of your persons and of your houses. Have a great respect paid to sacred places and things. Do not dispute over the more or the less of temporals, since this best befits the sweetness which Our Lord teaches to his children. The Spirit of God is generous; what one would gain by contention would be lost in reputation: and peace is holy merchandise, worthy to be bought at a high price.
Preserve sweetness with equal-mindedness amidst the troubles and multiplicity of affairs. Every one expects from you good example joined to gentleness of charity; because from this virtue, as from the oil of the lamp, the flame of good example rises, and there is nothing which gives so much edification as gentle charity.
Willingly take advice which is not contrary to the design which has been resolved upon, following in all things the spirit of a sweet gentleness, and thinking more of the interior of souls than of the exterior. For, at last, the beauty of the king’s daughters is within,[3] and this superiors must cultivate, if the daughters do not themselves take this pains, lest they sleep on their way and let their lamps go out through negligence: for it would undoubtedly be said to them as to the foolish virgins who presented themselves to enter the nuptial feast: I know you not.[4] Tell me not that you are weak; charity, which is the nuptial garment, will cover all. Persons who are in this state excite those who know them to lighten their burden, and even cause a particular tenderness of love towards them, provided that they are seen to carry their cross devoutly and in sweetness.
I recommend you to God that you may obtain his sacred grace in your government, in order that entirely according to his will and by your hands he may work upon souls, whether by hammer, chisel, or pencil, to form them all according to his good pleasure; giving you for this end the hearts of fathers, solid, firm, and constant, not without that tenderness of mothers, which makes them desire sweetnesses for their children according to the divine order, which governs everything with a strength all sweet and an all strong sweetness.
B-V/5.To Mother Joly de la Roche, Superioress at Orleans: “Collection of the particular instructions which Monseigneur has given me for my amendment.”
My judgment is, that it would be extremely useful for you to try to keep your soul in peace and in tranquillity; and for this you must on rising in the morning begin that exercise; doing your actions quite quietly, forecasting in your morning exercise what you have to do, taking pains throughout the day not to let your spirit dissipate itself: continually observe whether you are in this state of tranquillity, and as soon as you see yourself out of it, take great care to put yourself back into it, and this without reasoning or effort.
At the same time I do not mean that your spirit is to be always on the strain after this peace; for all must be done with a simplicity of heart entirely founded on love, keeping yourself with Our Lord as a little child with its father: and when it happens that you commit faults, whatever they may be, ask Our Lord’s pardon for them very quietly, saying to him that you are well assured he loves you dearly and will pardon you: and this always simply and sweetly.
This ought to be your continual exercise; for this simplicity of heart will hinder you from thinking distinctly (I say distinctly, because we are not so far masters of our thoughts to be able to have only those we like) of anything but what you have to do or what is marked out for you, and will not let your spirit run off to the willing or desiring other things, and will make all those desires of pleasing and fears of displeasing our mother disappear, till there remain solely the desire of pleasing God, who is and shall be the one object of our soul.
When it happens that you do something which might annoy or disedify the sisters, if it be a matter of grave importance excuse yourself, saying, if true, that you had no bad intention; but if it be a little thing, of no consequence, do not excuse yourself; ever acting with sweetness and tranquillity of spirit in this, as also when you are spoken to about your conduct. And although the inferior part may be excited and disturbed, do not put yourself in trouble about this, but try to keep peace amid war; for perhaps it will never be in your power to escape feeling correction: but you are well aware that such feelings, like any other temptation, do not make us less agreeable to God, provided that we do not consent to them.
You mistake in thinking that you ought to make forcible acts, in order to free yourself from the feelings and troubles of the inferior part: on the contrary, you must take no heed of these, but simply go on your way, not so much as looking at them. If they beset you too closely you must show them some contempt, as it were despising them, and this by a simple look of the superior part; after which you must think no more about them whatever they may say.
And it is the same with thoughts of envy and jealousy, and also with the anxiety you have about your bodily comforts, and the like trifles, which are ordinarily passing through our minds: you must cut off from your soul every care except that of keeping in peace and tranquillity, even the care of your own perfection; for I remark that this too great solicitude about becoming perfect hurts you a good deal; for as soon as you happen to commit some fault you get troubled over it, because it always seems to be against your purpose of making yourself better. In the same way if some fault is pointed out to you you fall into discouragement.
Now all this you must do no more, but must steady yourself on this—not to let yourself be troubled for any cause whatever. Still if you happen to let yourself become so, despite your resolution, even then do not give way to disturbance of mind; but put yourself back into tranquillity as soon as you see where you are, and ever in the same way that I have described, quite simply, without effort or agitation of mind.
And do not think that this is an exercise of some days; oh! no, for it requires much time and much pains to attain this peace. But still it is true that if you can keep faithfully to it, Our Lord will bless your labour. His goodness draws you to this exercise; that is a thing quite certain: and therefore you are seriously obliged to be faithful in it, in order to correspond with his will. It will be hard for you, inasmuch as you have a lively spirit, and one that stops and busies itself over every object which it meets; but the difficulty must not make you fall into discouragement as if unable to reach the object of your strivings. Do quite simply and quietly what you can, not troubling yourself about anything else.
In like manner, when some order which you give is not as well received as you would like, pass on, thinking on what you have to do. Look at Our Lord, and try to go to the God of all things, doing your best to multiply ejaculatory prayers, interior looks, turnings of the heart to God, fervent movements of the spirit towards him; and I assure you that this will be very useful to you.
God wants you wholly and without any reserve, and to the very utmost stripped and denuded of self. Therefore must you take the greatest care to put off your own will; for that only it is which hurts you, as it is very strong in you, and you are strongly attached to the willing of what you do will.
Adopt then this exercise very faithfully, since I tell you this with the charity of God and the knowledge which I have of your need. Which need is that you regard the Providence of God in the contradictions which will be offered to you, God permitting them in order to detach you from all things, to fasten you better to his goodness, and to unite you to himself: for I know that he wants you to be his own, yes, and in a very special manner.
Make yourself therefore quite indifferent as to whether you get what you ask or not, and cease not still to ask with confidence. Remain in indifference as to having or not having spiritual goods: and when you feel that you lack confidence to approach Our Lord, on account of the multitude of your imperfections, then bring into play the superior part of your soul, saying words of confidence and love to him, with the greatest fervour and frequency you can.
Take great care not to distress yourself when you have committed some fault, and not to give way to self-pity, for all this simply comes from pride; but humble yourself promptly before God; and let it be with a sweet and loving humility which may bring you at once to have recourse with confidence to his goodness, making you sure that it will aid you to amend.
I do not want you to be so tender, but like a strong woman to serve God with a good courage, looking at him alone; and therefore when those thoughts, as to whether people like you or not, come into your mind, do not even look at them, assuring yourself that they will always like you as much as God wills. And let this suffice you, that God’s will be accomplished in you, who are obliged with a particular obligation to perfect yourself, for God wants to make use of you. Effect it then, and for this purpose try to greatly love your own abjection, which will hinder you from disturbing yourself about your defects.
Take pains to keep your soul in peace and occupied with high things, faithfully diverting it from the attention which you give to yourself, principally when you are put out and when you are discouraged. Occupy yourself in telling Our Lord that you desire to have courage, and that you will never consent to what a troubled spirit may suggest to you: you will do better still to divert your mind from the subject, making it think that you have no trouble, taking no more notice of it than if you did not feel the pressure of this feeling.
The more you think yourself poor and destitute of all sorts of virtues, the stronger purposes you must have to do right. Do not be disturbed about the evil sentiments you may have, strong as they may be; but take care, at such times, to multiply ejaculatory prayers and returns of the soul to God; and as you have a great need of sweetness and humility, take care to put your heart very often during the day in the posture of a humble sweetness.
And when you are reproved or corrected for something, try gently to love the correction, and be not vexed if the inferior part is disturbed; but make the superior part rule, in order that you may do what is wanted from you on the occasion.
Be not so much in love with your peace as, when it is broken by some command or correction or contradiction, to become troubled; for that peace which is not willing to be shaken is an object of self love.
And now I tell you you must have a most particular care to make yourself equable in your humours, never letting any change appear in your exterior. What a pity is it thus to show your imperfections, since this prevents God from being served by you as he desires! This equableness of your exterior behaviour is required for the perfect employment of the talents which God has given you. Often consider then what a sorrow it will be and should be to you, to see that you fail in corresponding with God’s will, since he has left it to your efforts to acquire what is to perfect and complete your talent.
Work faithfully for this, join all the forces of your spirit to attain it, and take care that mortification shine out in your exterior, so that seculars may find more reason to observe that than your appearance or good style.
You ought to have a very great care to bend yourself towards the side of humility, since you have so great an inclination to pride and self-esteem. Doubt not that having got this virtue, you will have in the same proportion all those which you need. Abase yourself very often in the abyss of your nothingness before Our Lord and Our Lady. But remember what I said in the conference on humility; as often as it brings not forth that fruit it is indubitably false—abase yourself in the knowledge of your littleness, and at once afterwards raise up your spirit to consider what God wants from you.
B-V/6. To the Same: Advice for the Charge of Superioress.
God wants you to serve him in the guidance of souls, since he has disposed things as they are, and has given you the capacity of governing others.
Have a great esteem for the ministry to which you are called; and to fulfil it properly never fail to say daily when you awake, that word which St. Bernard so often said:
“Whereto art thou come?” What does God want from thee? Then at once abandon yourself to divine Providence, that it may do with you and in you all it pleases without any reserve.
Have a particular devotion to Our Lady and your good Angel. Then, my daughter, remember that you require more humility to command than to obey. But take care also not to attend so minutely to what you do. Have a right intention to do all for God, and for his honour and glory, and turn yourself away from all that the inferior part of your soul would like to do: let this tease as much as it likes round about your spirit; do not even look at what it is doing or what it wants to say, but keep yourself firm in the superior part of your soul, and in the resolution of willing to do nothing save what is for God, and is agreeable to him.
Further, you must give great attention to that word which I have put in the Constitutions, viz., that the superioress is not so much for the strong as for the weak; though she must have care of all, so that the more advanced may not fall back. Have at heart the support of the imperfect daughters who are in your charge: never show yourself discomposed, whatever sort of temptation or imperfection they may discover to you; but try to give them confidence to tell you entirely all that is troubling them.
Be very tender with regard to those who are more imperfect, to help them to profit by their imperfection. Bear in mind that a very impure soul can attain a perfect purity if well assisted. God having given you both the duty and the power of doing this, by his grace, apply yourself earnestly to do it for his honour and glory. Note that those who have the greatest number of bad inclinations are those who can reach a greater perfection. Avoid having particular affections.
Do not be at all discouraged to find in yourself many very bad inclinations, since by the goodness of God you have a superior will which can overrule all this.
Take great care to maintain your exterior in a holy equableness. And if you have any trouble in your mind, let it not appear outside. Preserve a grave demeanour, being sweet and humble, but never showing levity, particularly with young people.
Such, I think, is what you must pay attention to, in order to give God the service which he has desired from you. But I greatly want you to consider very often the importance of the charge which you hold, not only of being superior, but also of being in the place where you are. The glory of God is concerned here, and also the reputation of your Institute; on which account you must lift high your heart, making it understand the importance of what you are called to.
Annihilate yourself in the very depths of your being, to see that God wills to use your littleness to do him a service of such great importance. Acknowledge yourself to be much honoured by this honour, and go on earnestly to beseech Our Lady to deign to offer you to her Son, as a creature absolutely given up to his divine goodness, resolving that in future you will by means of his grace live a life entirely new, making from henceforth a perfect renewal of your whole soul, detesting for ever your past life, with all its old habits. Proceed then, my dear daughter, full of confidence that after having made this perfect act of holy abandonment of self into the arms of the most holy Virgin, thus consecrating and sacrificing yourself again to the service of her Son’s love, she will keep you all the time of your life under her protection, and will present you again to his goodness at the hour of your death.
Then I say to you: speak as little as possible of yourself; and I say this in good earnest, bear it well in mind and pay attention to it. If you are imperfect, humble yourself to the bottom of your heart, and do not talk of it, for that is only pride which inspires you to say much about it, so that people may not find in you as much as you say. Speak little of yourself, I keep saying, little.
Have a great care to preserve your exterior amongst your daughters in such a medium between gravity and humble sweetness, that they may see that while you love them tenderly you are still the superior; for affability must not hinder the exercise of authority. I entirely approve that superiors should be superiors, making themselves obeyed, provided that modesty and patience be observed.
Keep a holy gravity with seculars; for as you are young you must carefully observe this. Let your laugh be moderate, even with women, with whom you can have a little more affability and cordiality. By this gravity you must not understand that you are to be severe or frowning; for a gracious serenity is always to be observed before young people, even though of ecclesiastical profession. For the most part keep your eyes cast down, and be brief in words with such persons, always taking care to profit their souls by showing forth the perfection of your Institute. I do not say your own but that of your Institute, not in words, save very simply; only praising it in the way that one speaks of oneself, or of one’s relatives, that is, briefly and simply.
Praise highly other Orders and forms of Religion, and put your own below others, though you must not conceal that you live in peace, and must say, simply, when occasion presents itself, the good which is going on. Always make much of the Carmelite Sisters, and enter into friendship with them wherever you may be, always testifying that you have a great esteem for them and love them dearly.
Incline much to the Jesuit Fathers, and communicate gladly with them; as also with the Fathers of the Oratory, and the Minims; take counsel with any of these when you have need, and particularly with the Jesuit Fathers.
Do not be at all so reserved as to raising the veil as the Carmelite Sisters are, but still use discretion in this, letting it be seen when you raise it, that you do so to gratify those who speak to you, observing not to go nearer the grille, still less to pass your hands through, unless for certain persons of quality who desire it.
As regards prayer, you must take care that the subjects of it be the death, life, and Passion of Our
Lord; for it is a very rare thing that we cannot make profit out of the consideration of what Our Lord has done. After all, he is the sovereign Master, whom the Eternal Father has sent into the world to teach us what we ought to do; and therefore, besides the obligation which we have to form ourselves on this divine model, we ought for this reason to be strongly induced to consider his works in order to imitate them, for it is one of the most excellent intentions we can have in all we have to do and do, to do it because Our Lord has done it, that is, to practise the virtues because Our Lord has practised them and as he has practised them. To comprehend this rightly we must faithfully ponder, observe and consider how this thought—because our Father did it in such a way I wish to do it— includes love towards our divine Saviour and most beloved Father; for the child who really loves his good father has a great inclination to conform himself closely to his ways and to imitate him in all he does.
There may, however, be some exceptional souls who cannot dwell upon nor engage their minds with any mystery; they are drawn to a certain gentle simplicity before God, and held in this simplicity, without other consideration save to know that they are before God, and that he is their whole good; and so they remain profitably. That is good: but I think it is clearly enough expressed in the book On the love of God, which you can go to if necessary, or to the other books which treat of prayer.
But speaking generally you must make all the sisters, as far as possible, keep in that state and method of prayer which is the most safe; viz., that which tends to the reformation of life and change of manners, which is the prayer that I named at first as being made over the mysteries of the life and death of Our Lord. And credence must not always be given to young sisters just entering religion, when they say they are in this or that lofty state; for very often it is only a delusion and amusement of the fancy. Wherefore they should be put in the same way and the same exercises as the others; for if their prayer is good they will be very glad to be humiliated and to submit themselves to the guidance of those who are in authority over them. There is everything to fear in these kinds of exalted prayer, but one can walk securely in the more common, which is to occupy ourselves with simplicity about our Master, to learn what he wants us to do.
The superioress can on some great and special occasion impose a two or three days’ fast on the Community, or, say, only on the stronger members; or the discipline in preference to fasting—for this is a mortification which does not hurt the health, and therefore all can take it, after the fashion which is used here. But you must take care not to introduce austerities into your houses; for this would be to change your Institute, which is principally for the weak.
The superioress should certainly visit the cells of the sisters from time to time to prevent their having anything in private possession, but still this must be done so discreetly that the sisters may have no just reason to think that the superior has any distrust of their fidelity, whether in this or in any other thing: for this discretion must always be observed so as neither to hold them too tight nor leave them too free; and you cannot think how necessary a thing it is to keep in this moderation.
For my part, I should greatly approve that you do nothing but simply follow the community in all things, whether in mortifications or in whatever it may be. It seems to me that it ought to be the principal practice of a superior, this going before her daughters in the simplicity of doing neither more nor less than they do. For this causes her to be greatly loved, and marvellously keeps the spirit of her daughters in peace. I greatly desire that the history of Jacob be ever before your eyes, that you may do like him, who accommodated himself not only to the steps of his children, but even to those of his little lambs.
As to Communion, I should wish you to follow the advice of confessors; when you desire sometimes to communicate beyond your usual practice, take their counsel. You may well communicate once a week oftener than the community, as well as in your turn like the others; and even as to communicating more frequently on exceptional occasions, you must do what those who have care of you think good, for you must let them direct you here. It will be good for you, my dear daughter, to habituate yourself to give a report of yourself every month, or every two or three months if you like, to the extraordinary confessors, or to the ordinary if he is competent, or to such other as you choose; for it is a great advantage to do nothing save by the counsel of others.
I do not think there is any practice to Which you should pay more attention than to that of most holy charity towards your neighbour, by sweetly bearing with them and lovingly serving them; but in such sort that you take care always to preserve the authority and gravity of a superior, accompanied with holy humility. When you have decided that something ought to be done, walk securely and fear nothing, regarding God as often as you can. I do not say, be always attentive to God’s presence, but multiply as much as ever you can the turning of your spirit to God. “It is this last point which, with all my heart, I have promised my God to practise faithfully, by the help of his grace, having taken Our Lady as protectress of this my resolution.”[5]
B-V/7. To the Same: The Saint’s last advice to her on her departure from Annecy.
[Written with his own hand.]
Go, my very dear daughter; God will be propitious to you. Three virtues are dearly recommended to you: most humble sweetness, most courageous humility, perfect confidence in God’s Providence; for as to equableness of mind and of outward demeanour, it is not a particular virtue, but the interior and exterior ornament of a spouse of Our Saviour. Live thus then all in God and for God, and may his goodness be ever your repose. Amen.
Act thus, my most dear daughter. May God’s be the praise of the trial by which Providence exercises you in sending you this sickness: it will sanctify you, by his holy grace. For as you will never be a spouse of Jesus Christ glorified unless you have first been one of Jesus crucified, you will never enjoy the nuptial joy of his triumphant love unless you have felt the suffering love of the bed of his holy cross.
Meantime you must pray God ever to be your strength and your courage in suffering, as your modesty, sweetness, and humility in his consolations.
B-V/8. On the Vocation to a Religious Life
A good vocation is simply a firm and constant will which the called person has to serve God in the way and in the places that Almighty God has called him to: that is the best mark that one can have to know when a vocation is good. Not that it is necessary that such a soul should do from the beginning all that it must do in its vocation with so great a firmness and constancy as to be exempt from all repugnance, difficulty or disgust, in the matter of its vocation; still less that this firmness and constancy must be such as to make it exempt from committing faults; nor has it to be so firm as never to come to waver or vary in its undertaking to practise the means which may lead it to perfection: since all men are subject to such passions, to change, to vicissitude, and are not to be judged by these different movements and accidents, so long as the will remains firm as to the point of not quitting the good which it has embraced, though it may feel some disrelish and coldness.
So that to have the sign of a good vocation there is not needed a sensible constancy, but an effective one. To know whether God wills one to be a religious man or woman, one is not to wait for him sensibly to speak to us, or to send us an angel from heaven to signify to us his will; nor is there any need to have revelations on the subject. Neither is there need of an examination by ten or twelve doctors of the Sorbonne to try whether the inspiration is good or bad, to be followed or not; but one must properly cultivate and correspond with the first movement, and then not be troubled if disrelish or coldness supervene.
For if one try to keep the will always firmly fixed upon seeking out the good which God shows us, he will not fail to make all turn to his glory. From whatever side the motive of the vocation may come, it is enough to have felt the inclination or movement in the heart to seek after the good to which one is called, and to remain firm and constant in its pursuit, although this may be with repugnance and coldly.
And in this one ought to have a great care to love souls, and to teach them not to be alarmed at these vicissitudes or changes, and to encourage them to remain firm under them; saying to them that they must not distress themselves about these sensible feelings, nor examine them so much, that they should content themselves with this constant will, which amidst all does not lose its affection for that first design, that they must only be careful to cultivate it well, and to correspond with this first movement, not concerning themselves as to what side it comes from, because our God has many ways of calling his servants to his service, now making use of sermons, now of the reading of good books, now of the vexations, misfortunes, afflictions, and crosses which befall us, now of the world which gives us cause to be angry with it and abandon it—for from all these causes there have come great servants of God. Others again come to religion on account of some natural defect of body, as for being lame, short of an eye, ugly; others are brought to it by their fathers and mothers in order to benefit their other children by this relief: but God often displays the greatness of his clemency and mercy by making use of such intentions, which of themselves are far from good, to make of such persons great servants of his divine Majesty.
In a word, he makes the lame and the blind to enter to his banquet, to show us that two eyes and two legs are not needed for going to Paradise. Many of those who have come into religion in this way have produced great fruit and persevered faithfully in their vocation. Others who have been duly called have, however, not persevered in it, but after having remained some time have given up all. Of whom we have an example in Judas, of whose good vocation we cannot doubt, since Our Lord himself had chosen and called him like the others, and he could not be deceived in choosing him, for he had the discernment of spirits.
It is a certain thing that when God calls any one by prudence and divine Providence he obliges himself to furnish all the helps necessary to make him perfect in his vocation. When he calls any one to Christianity he obliges himself to furnish him with all that is required for being a good Christian. In the same way when he calls any one to be priest, bishop, or religious, he obliges himself at the same time to furnish him all the means required to be perfect in his vocation.
In this, however, we must not think that it is we who obliged him to do this in making ourselves priests or religious, seeing that we could not oblige Our Lord save as he obliges himself for himself, led by his infinite goodness and mercy: so that in making me a religious Our Lord is obliged to furnish me all that I need have to be a good religious, not by obligation but of his infinite mercy and Providence; though the Divine Majesty never fails in care and Providence touching all this.
And to make us believe this the better, he has obliged himself to it in such sort that we must never entertain the opinion that there is any fault of his when we do not succeed well, nor must we think that he does not sometimes give the same helps and succour even to those whom he has not called—so great is his mercy and liberality. But although he gives all the means necessary to become perfect in the vocation to which he calls us, this does not say that he gives them to us all at once, so that those who are called are perfect in the very instant of their entrance into their vocation; for then religious Orders would not be named from hospitals as anciently they were named, or the religious themselves (from the Greek word, Θεραπευται) Therapeuts, which means healers in hospitals, because they healed one another. We must not then think that in entering into Religion one becomes perfect all of a sudden, but that one enters there to tend to perfection.
It is not then the sad deportments, or the tearful faces, or the sighing bosoms which have always the best call; nor those who kiss the Crucifix most frequently, who are never willing to leave the Church, or who are always in the hospitals; nor those again who begin with great fervour. We are not to regard the tears of the tearful, nor the groans of the melancholy, nor the gestures of exterior ceremonies, to know those who are properly called; but we are to look for those who have a firm and constant will to be saved, and who for that end work faithfully to recover spiritual health. Nor must we hold as a mark of a true vocation the fervour which causes persons to be discontented with their actual state, and to flatter themselves with certain desires, which are usually vain though specious, of a greater sanctity of life; for while one is busying oneself to seek out what very often is not one’s vocation, one omits what would render us perfect in that which we have embraced.
B-V/9. On the Reception and Probation of Sisters
1. For the state of postulant
With regard to the first reception into the monastery in the secular dress, as one cannot know much of the candidates because they all bring a good exterior and show themselves as prompt in words as St. James and St. John to drink the chalice of Our Lord, so one cannot well refuse them. And indeed one must not make too great question about receiving them. All that one can do is to observe their manner, and by conversation with them learn something of their interior.
As to what regards corporal health and bodily infirmities of any kind, little if any consideration is to be made of them, inasmuch as the weakly and infirm can be received in the Visitation as much as the strong and robust; and it is partly made for them, provided that the infirmities are not so bad as to make them altogether incapable of observing the rule and of doing what belongs to their vocation.
2. For taking the habit, or clothing
As regards the receiving them into the habit or novitiate, one must do so with as much more difficulty and consideration as one has had more opportunity of remarking their character, actions, and habits. To be yet sensitive, or hasty, or subject to other passion of the kind, should not be a bar to their admission to the novitiate, provided they have a good will to amend, and to submit to use the medicines and appliances suited to their cure; and even though they have a repugnance to them, or take them with great difficulty, this does not signify, so long as they do not cease to use them; nor again that they are somewhat rough and awkward in their manners, from having been brought up badly and without due training; this, I say, ought not to hinder their reception; for though they may have more trouble and difficulty than others who have a gentler and more tractable nature, yet still if they much desire to be cured and testify a firm will to receive a cure, though at a great cost—to these refuse not your votes notwithstanding their falls; for these persons, after long labour, produce great fruits in Religion and become great servants of God, and acquire a strong and solid virtue: for the grace of God supplies the void, and ordinarily where there is less nature there is more grace.
3. For profession
As regards receiving them to profession there is required a greater consideration. Three things must be observed.
The first, that they be healthy, not in body but in heart and spirit; that is, that they have the heart well disposed to live in an entire docility and submission.
The second, that they have a sensible (bon) mind—not of those superior minds which ordinarily are vain and full of self-satisfaction, which in the world were abodes of vanity, and which come to religion not to humble themselves, but as if they came there to give lessons in philosophy and theology, wanting to lead and govern everything. Against these you must be very specially on your guard. But a sensible mind is a medium mind, which is neither too great nor too little; these minds are to be valued, because these spirits always do a good deal, and yet without knowing it; they apply themselves to work, and give their attention to solid virtues; they are tractable, and there is not much difficulty in leading them, for they easily understand.
The third thing to be observed is whether the sister has worked hard during the year of novitiate; if she has well borne and profited by the application of the remedies suitable to cure her infirmity; if she has carried into effect the resolutions which she made on entering Religion, and afterwards in her novitiate, of changing and amending her bad habits, faults of character, and inclinations. If one sees that she perseveres faithfully in her resolution, and that her will remains firm and constant to continue, and if it is observed that she has applied herself to reform and to form herself according to the rules and constitutions, and that this will remains still in her, viz., to desire always to do better, it is the sort of conduct which deserves reception, and even if she fall into grave faults on occasion, and maybe rather often, this should not cause her to be refused.
For although in the year of her novitiate she was to work at the reformation of her manners and habits, that does not say that she must commit no faults, nor that she must be perfect at the end of a year: as the Apostles, although they were called, and had for a long time laboured at the reformation of their life, did not cease committing faults, and this not only in the first year but also in the second and in the third.
B-V/10. To Mother Rosset: On her duties as superior (at Bourges).
Our Blessed Father told me that the arms we must carry with us when we go to any foundation are no others but holy humility; with which virtue he said I must be wholly endowed, because humility is entirely generous, and makes us undertake with an invincible courage all that regards the service of God and the advancement of his glory. And the less ability we feel in ourselves to do it, the more should we clasp and fasten and bind ourselves to Our Lord, trusting and leaning on him alone, on his assistance and on his grace, which his goodness will not fail to give us in order to enable us to do our duty according to his holy will, if we are filled with humility and distrust of self. For it is quite certain that we can do nothing ourselves, but it is also the truth that in God all things are possible to us. We are not procurators nor superiors of the talents and gifts which God has placed in us, but only dispensers[6] to distribute them to others, carrying everywhere the spirit of the Visitation, in order to pour it out for our neighbour, trying to polish, purify, and adorn the spirits of those whom Our Lord will commit to our charge, which are very diverse. With them we must practise a great sweetness, simplicity, and long-suffering patience as we watch them journeying at slow pace, and always falling into imperfections: at the same time we must inculcate upon these souls true humility, generosity, sweetness, and charity, which is the true spirit of our rules, in order that by this means they may arrive at the perfection of sacred love, and of union with the divine Majesty, which is the end for which he has called them to Religion.
B-V/11. To Sister Claude-Simplician Fardel: Description of the true daughter of the Visitation.
[It is the Saint’s answer to the question: “My Lord, if you were a sister amongst us, what would you do to be quickly perfect?”]
It seems to me that with the grace of God I would keep myself so attentive in fulfilling the little and minute observances which are established amongst you, that by this means I would try to gain the heart of God. I would keep the silence well, and also I would sometimes speak, even in time of silence, I mean whenever charity required, but never otherwise. I would speak very gently, and would give particular attention to this because the constitution so orders. I would open and shut doors very quietly, because so our Mother wishes, and we firmly will to do all we know she wants us to do.
I would keep my eyes well cast down, and would walk very tranquilly; for, my dear daughter, God and his angels ever regard us and love extremely those who are living well. If I were employed in anything or had an office given me, I would love it and would try to fulfil it duly; if I were not employed in anything but left alone, I would not give my attention to anything save to be very obedient and dearly to love Our Lord. Oh! methinks I would love him with all my heart, this good God, and would closely apply my spirit to observe well the rules and constitutions. O my daughter, indeed we must do this well, the best we can; for is it not true that we have become religious only for this, you and I? I am indeed very glad that there is a sister here who wants to be a religious for me; and specially glad that it is my Sister Claude-Simplician, for I love her much. So let us then do the best we can; nothing ought to keep us from doing properly what is in our constitutions, for we are able to do it by the grace of God. But we must not be troubled about our faults, for what can we do without the help of our good God? Nothing whatever.
I think also that I would be very cheerful, and that I would never excite myself. That, thank God, I do already; for I never let myself become excited. I would keep myself very little and lowly; I would humble myself and would practise humiliations according to the opportunities I had, and if I were not humiliated I would at least humble myself because I had not been humbled. I would try my best to keep myself in the presence of God, and to do all my actions for his love, for, my daughter, here we are taught to do thus. And what have we to do but that in this world? Nothing at all; we know all that is required if we know this. And now at this present we have to quit ourselves. Let us begin in good earnest, God will help us. If we have good courage we shall do much, God helping.
But do you know this further, my daughter Simplician? I hope that I would gladly allow people to do with me whatever they liked, and I would often read the chapters on humility and on modesty in our constitutions. Yes, my dear daughter, these you must read well.
B-V/12. To Mother Favre: Method of receiving postulants to the habit.
[This was written down by the Saint himself.]
I will second you as well as I possibly can, my dear daughter, in your good intention; though between us there is neither second nor first, but a simple unity. I have thought that perhaps it would be well tomorrow, before going to holy Mass, that you should call all your daughters to you, and then make the two who are going to be received come forward, and in presence of the others should say to them three or four words to this effect:
You have asked us to receive you amongst us, to serve God in the unity of the same spirit and the same will; and, hoping in the divine goodness that you will make yourself greatly devoted to this end, we are about to receive you this morning into the number of our novice sisters, in order afterwards, according to the advancement which you may make in virtue, to receive you to profession at the time we think good. But before going further, think well with yourselves again of the importance of what you undertake, for it would be much better not to enter amongst us than after having entered to give some cause for not being received to profession: but if you have a good will you must hope that God will aid you.
Now, entering amongst us, know that we only receive you to teach you as well as we can, by example and words, to crucify your flesh by the mortification of your senses and appetites, of your passions, humours, and inclinations, and of your own will: in such sort that all this may henceforward be subject to the law of God and to the rules of this congregation.
And to this effect we have committed the labour and particular care of exercising and instructing you to Sister de Brechard here present, to whom therefore you will be obedient, and whom you will hear with such respect and honour that one may know it is not for the creature’s sake that you submit yourself to the creature, but for the love of the Creator whom you acknowledge in the creature; and if we should appoint another, whoever she may be, to be your mistress, you must obey her with all humility for the same reason, not looking into the face of her who may govern you, but into the face of God who has so ordained it.
You enter then into this school of our congregation to learn to duly bear the cross of Our Lord by abnegation, self-renunciation, mortification of your senses; and as for me I will love you cordially as your sister, mother, and servant, and all our sisters will hold you as their well-beloved sisters.
Meantime you will have Sister de Brechard as mistress, whom you will obey, following her directions with humility, sincerity, and simplicity, which our Lord requires in all those who join this congregation.
You would quite deceive yourselves if you thought you were come to have greater repose than in the world, for on the contrary we are only assembled here to work diligently in uprooting our evil inclinations, correcting our faults, acquiring virtues. But blessed is the labour which will give us eternal repose.
Now I do not say, my dear daughter, that you must say these words, nor all this, but what you will see fit, less for these candidates themselves than for the edification and stirring up of others.
I should also think it good that after you have received some promise from them that they will conduct themselves well, you should add: Blessed are those who will give you good example and console you in your undertaking. Amen.
Such is what I have thought of, and you can make use of it as you think fit. Good-night, my dear mother, truly my daughter. Vive Jésus, et Marie! Amen.
B-V/13. Short Sayings from Various Letters
1. The spirit of one Professed
I rejoice that you are now professed. Oh blessed be God for having so greatly loved you!—for I have no doubt that with the grace of Profession he has given you the height of courage, the lively realisation of eternity, the love of sacred humility, and the sweetness of the love of his divine goodness, required for the perfect practice of Profession.
2. On humility and openness
There is no danger in what has happened to you, since you manifest it; but note, my dear daughter, that God has begun his visitations in your soul with the feeling and practice of littleness, lowness, and humility, in order to sanction the advice which is given you, to bring yourself down to this state, and to be truly a little child. I say in every way little, in your own eyes, in exercises, in obedience, simplicity and abjection of yourself; little and a true infant, which hides neither its good nor its bad from its father, its mother, its nurse.
3. On the same
My dear daughter, dwell in this, and love this holy simplicity, humility and abjection, which the divine Wisdom has so highly esteemed, that It has left for a time the exercising of Its royalty, to practise that of poverty and abasement of self, even to that desired supreme degree of the cross, where the Mother of Wisdom having imbibed this affection has spread it thereafter in the heart of all her true daughters and servants.
4. A perfect life
Serve God with a great courage and as far as ever you can by the exercises of your vocation. Love all your neighbours, but particularly those whom God wishes you to love the most. Bow yourself down to the acts whose outside seems less worthy, when you know that God wills it; for in whatever way the holy will of God is done, whether by high or by low deeds, it matters not. Often sigh after the union of your will with that of Our Lord. Have patience with yourself in your imperfections. Do not make yourself anxious, and do not multiply desires for actions which are impossible to you. My dear Sister, walk on uninterruptedly and very quietly; if our good God makes you run, he will enlarge your heart: but on our part let us stay at this one lesson: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart.[7]
5. On prayer
My dear daughter, if you relish your point in prayer, it is a sign that God wishes you to follow this method, at least at the time. If, however, God draws us, at the beginning of prayer, to the simplicity of his presence, and we find ourselves engaged therein, let us not quit it to return to our point, it being a general rule that we must always follow his drawings, and let ourselves go whither his spirit leads us. The effervescence and violent expansions of the heart cannot always be avoided, but when one perceives their approach it is good to lessen these movements and calm them, by relaxing a little our attention and yearnings; forasmuch as prayer is the more fruitful the more calm, simple, and delicate it is, that is, the more wholly it takes place in the supreme point of the spirit.
6. On the same
My dear cousin, my daughter, you must not lose courage; for you ought to be so much in love with God that even though you may be unable to do anything before him or in his presence, you will not be any less glad to place yourself there, simply to see and regard him sometimes. And some little time before going to prayer, put your heart in peace and repose, and conceive a hope of doing well; for if you go to it without hope, and already disgusted, you will have a difficulty to excite your appetite again. . . . When your heart is wandering and distracted, bring it back quietly to its point, restore it tenderly to its Master’s side; and if you did nothing the whole of your hour but bring back your heart patiently and put it near Our Lord again, and every time you put it back it turned away again, your hour would be well employed, and you would perform an exercise very agreeable to your dear spouse, to whom I recommend you with the same heart with which I am all yours.
7. On the great virtues
You tell me, my dear daughter, that in your house is made particular profession of evenness of mind. For God’s sake, I implore you, try to thoroughly establish this spirit throughout, with that of sweetness and real humility. I regard henceforth your house as a seed-plot of many others; wherefore you must aim at rooting therein the great and perfect virtues of abnegation of self-love, love of one’s own abjection, mortification of natural humours, sincere charity—that Our Lord and his most holy Mother may be glorified in us and by us.
8. On the divine office
You do well to give your honoured brother all the satisfaction you can, since he shows you so much love. And since he desires it, you are right in occupying yourself all day in work, but as for putting off your Vespers until you retire at night after supper, my dear niece, I do not advise you this. Not that it is any great sin, for it is at most only venial, but because it will be of more edification to all your community and more benefit to your soul if you retire for half-an-hour before supper to say your Vespers, letting it be seen that this is your dear labour, and well-beloved business.
9. On bearing with our Neighbour
When will the bearing with our neighbour have its due power in our hearts? It is the last and most excellent lesson of the doctrine of the Saints: blessed the soul who learns it. We desire to be borne with in our miseries, and always find them worthy of toleration; those of our neighbour always seem to us greater and heavier to bear.
10. On Poverty
My Saint is St. Francis, with the love of poverty; but I know not how to love it, this attractive poverty, for I have never seen it very close: still, having heard it spoken so well of by Our Lord, with whom it was born, lived, was crucified and rose again, I love and honour it beyond measure.
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[1] Gal. 2:20.
[2] Ps. 44:11.
[3] Ps. 44:14. .
[4] Matt. 25:12.
[5] These words have been put in inverted commas as being apparently the words of Mother Joly de la Roche, [Tr.]
[6] Referring to offices exercised in the Visitation. [Tr.]
[7] Matt. 11:29.
