XLV.To St. Francis de Sales.

[A]The Little Office of Our Lady.[B]An old French coin.

[A]The Little Office of Our Lady.

[B]An old French coin.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Paris,August, 1621.

Pray much, my incomparable Father, for the Archbishop of Bourges,[A]and ask our Sisters to prayfor him. What is this storm after all in comparison with the sufferings of Our Lord in His Passion? I beseech His divine Majesty, to which I have consecrated myself, to let my brother's part in this affair serve entirely for His glory, and I doubt not but that it will be so. The doctor was thunderstruck when they told him that Mgr. of Bourges had been removed and M. N. given the Archbishopric. He speaks of nothing but the universal affection of the people of Bourges for our good Archbishop, who feels this blow though he has taken it in his usual good-natured way. You who know him can understand how detrimental the change will be to the poor and to the religious Houses, to both of whom he has been such a benefactor. Our Sisters will not be the least sufferers, for he loved them much and was extremely good to them. A word from you would be an immense consolation to him.

May the sweet Jesus fill your heart with His most pure love, and may we eternally repose in Him. Amen.

[A]The Archbishop of Bourges, being one of those who discovered the ambitious conspiracy hatched by Condé, Governor of Berry, for which he was arrested in September, 1616, became, upon that Prince's release several years later, the object of his special vengeance. He obliged Mgr. Frémyot to resign his Archiepiscopal See, assigning him in compensation the abbeys of Ferrières, and Breteuil, and also the priory of Nogent-le-Rotrou.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Paris, 1621.

Madame, I pray that God may always be your strength, your love, and your hope, for in my littleness I have an incomparable affection for you. Eh! but your letters, dear, best of sisters, console me, and yet I truly feel with you who bear the burden of sharp and hidden sorrows. But after all, how happy we should be to suffer such things with only the eye of God to look upon them. Truly our crosses ought greatly to raise our courage, seeing that by them we attain to a union all secret with our sweet Master, the greatness of whose sufferings nor men nor angels can ever conceive. Take comfort in this thought when pain is at its height. Still, you ought not to conceal your pain from ourBlessed Father(but I think you do not).

We can, it seems to me, so name him, as there is a worthy ecclesiastic here who calls himthe true Father. I am sure, dearest sister, that each day he strives after a higher perfection. Happy they who have the example of his rare virtues before them, but far happier they who imitate them! God grant us the grace to be of this number, and may my weakness not hold me back. I shall be satisfied ifI follow him a hundred steps behind. I am very glad that your sister has the comfort of staying with you and that your son is good. May God give him the grace to persevere, and may he root all vanity out of your daughter's heart. Mine is very extravagant. It is well that she has found such a good and prudent husband. When I see her I do my best to make her sensible and to show her her mistake. I recommend her to your prayers. My son is also most extravagant, but otherwise he is brave, loveable, and esteemed at court, where the King has given him a very honourable post for one so young. But all this is vanity. I value more your remembrance of him before God than all these dignities. He is always here, I mean with the court, or in his garrison. I trust to the prayers of our Blessed Father to save these children's souls, and that is all I care about.

Adieu, dearest Sister.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Paris, 1621.

My dearest Daughter,

The dress I am sending you is really quite perfect and is the most beautiful that can be procured. If your brother were very rich it would bea pleasure to him to pay the bill for you, but as it is he begs of you to be satisfied with his good-will, for he has not wherewith to pay it. Be content with this dress, for it is handsome and quite sufficiently stylish, and because you so long for it I want to satisfy you. M. de Toulonjon writes that you have not a single gown except the one you are wearing. I cannot understand this, as during the last seventeen months you have had four silk dresses and the brocade costume about which you told me. What then am I to think, I pray you, dear Françoise? Oh! God bless you, my daughter; do be content and let it be seen that you are the child of parents who were altogether reasonable, peaceful, and constant in their perfect affection, and this it is that I desire for you.

I write in haste. A thousand salutations to all your dear relatives. Do not expect your brother: he cannot go to you, and I do not wish him to. You have my nephew. Courage, my child, be not a silly, frivolous girl, troubling over trifles, and letting them take up your thoughts. Urge M. de Toulonjon to send me the money for the dress. The amount of the bill is, I understand, 500 livres, and I have not got the money to pay it, so let me have it by the first opportunity, as I do not wish to remain in debt here.

God bless you, dearest Françon. I am in a great hurry.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Dijon,May, 1622.

My dearest Daughter,

Your letter of the 17th of March is the only one I have received; the others will no doubt come to hand later, God willing. You must not put off your departure beyond the date you mention. I do wish you were here, for it certainly does delay me not to have you. Your presence here is needed, and as the affairs of dear Mme. de Dalet are hopeless you had better come away as soon as ever you can. The house of Montferrand ought to finance your journey from the place whence you came to them, and the house of Lyons should do likewise; but your coming here is hardly more than your going to Nessy.[A]I shall write to the Lyons Sisters in reference to this.

We are, thank God, poor here, yet, God be praised, nothing is wanting to us. A widow of good family, discreet and genial, wants to live with us as a benefactress. She proposes giving her furniture and 2,000 crowns, besides defraying all her own expenses.

We have received two good children, and find nolack of aspirants for our life, but the important thing is to be careful in our choice. In my opinion you will be pleased with those you will find here. Yesterday we went with Mgr. de Langres[B]to look for a house. It is not easy to find a suitable one, but Our Lord will help us. We are advised to bide our time and to put up with the house that adjoins this, which is sufficiently commodious for a beginning. Moreover, to the money the good lady (the benefactress) intends giving us she will add sufficient to enable us to be housed here. Then upon our leaving this house, which will be at the end of three or four years, if not sooner, she will give us the 2,000 crowns. Everybody agrees in thinking this a most advantageous offer. The worst of it is that the garden is very small: the courts are quite suitable. Dijon is very much shut in, and it is difficult to find a house to rent that will accommodate us. That in which we now are is small and has no garden or courtyard except one hardly bigger than a table. Even as I write it makes me laugh to think of it; and I must tell you besides that if we want to get a little fresh air we have to climb on the roof. Nevertheless, we are, thank God, as merry and as contented as we can be. Be on your guard, mygreat daughter,[C]against thatdislike which you have of coming here. Overcome it, I beg of you, for everybody who knows that you are coming is delighted at the idea, and as for me, I simply cannot tell you how I am looking forward to it. Oh! what a joy to see you once more for a little while. It will do me a world of good. Who are those timorous people who say that they must not use terms of affection to me? I don't agree with them at all, neither should you. Our hearts could not stand that.

The Archbishop of Lyons is in trouble as to who will take you back. They have made a great fuss about Sister ——. If ourCadetteis removed I am afraid that house will fail. She has never been elected: see to this if you can at your deposition, and don't stop longer than just to arrange about it. Let me have news of you again before you start. What will Mme. de Chazeron's plan come to? I most affectionately salute yoursuccessor. It has always been a source of regret to me that I have not seen your community: none the less do I love it, and I send my warm greetings to it and to all its good friends.

With all my heart, your affectionate,

P.S.—Ask the Sisters, I beseech you, to pray hard and continually for my poor son till he is won back to Our Lord.

[A]A popular name for Annecy.[B]Monseigneur Sebastian Zamet, Bishop of Langres, in which diocese Dijon was situated.[C]A title given to Mother Favre by St. Francis.

[A]A popular name for Annecy.

[B]Monseigneur Sebastian Zamet, Bishop of Langres, in which diocese Dijon was situated.

[C]A title given to Mother Favre by St. Francis.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Dijon,June 8, 1622.

So engrossing is Paris, my dear nephew, that if I do not refresh your memory about your old aunt she runs the chance of your forgetting all about her. Yet for all that I do not think you would forget me. I have received too many proofs of your good nature for that. But, tell me, what are you doing in that great Paris amidst so many honours and such worldly luxuries? Oh! I beseech of you, dear child, guard yourself vigilantly on every side, lest an undue affection for these things take hold of you. My God! how I hate them all. And am I not right, dearest nephew, since they leave no time for reflection, and no desire for eternal goods? All is sacrificed to perishable enjoyments. For the love of God beware of them. I would have you protect your dear soul with a very watchful care, so that however abundantly you possess temporal things they may never take possession of you. Rise quickly and holily above them all. This advice goes to you direct from my heart, and as coming thence I know you will receive it. Now and always I am most affectionately desirous of obtaining foryou through the divine Goodness an abundance of blessings, all that it is in my power to procure, that you may enjoy God's grace in this life and in the next His glory. These, dearest nephew, are the wishes of her who remains always,

Your very humble aunt and servant.

P.S.—Allow me very affectionately to salute good M. Robert Dapantor[A]and all your household. Dear Sister Parise[B]took the habit on St. Claud's Day. Mgr. de Langres gave it to her and performed the whole ceremony. She sends you affectionate messages, as does likewise the deceased[C]Mother of Bourges and all that little family of nine daughters. If they dared they would all beg of you respectfully to salute on their part his Grace the Archbishop.

[A]Former tutor of the young Baron de Chantal.[B]Sister Marie Claire Parise was the foundress of the Visitation Monastery at Dijon—a humble and fervent soul. While still a secular she asked God never to permit her to be without suffering of some kind for His love. He heard her prayer, and her life was a continual interior martyrdom, nevertheless joy and tranquility of soul never abandoned her. Having with the utmost solicitude and care established the monastery of Dijon, she was sent to Beaune, on its foundation in 1632, and there died in the odour of sanctity.[C]A nickname given by the Saint to Sister Anne Marie Rosset when she was deposed from the Superiorship of Bourges.

[A]Former tutor of the young Baron de Chantal.

[B]Sister Marie Claire Parise was the foundress of the Visitation Monastery at Dijon—a humble and fervent soul. While still a secular she asked God never to permit her to be without suffering of some kind for His love. He heard her prayer, and her life was a continual interior martyrdom, nevertheless joy and tranquility of soul never abandoned her. Having with the utmost solicitude and care established the monastery of Dijon, she was sent to Beaune, on its foundation in 1632, and there died in the odour of sanctity.

[C]A nickname given by the Saint to Sister Anne Marie Rosset when she was deposed from the Superiorship of Bourges.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Dijon,30th June, 1622.

I cannot but believe, my dearest daughter, that there is more artifice than martyrdom about our N., and I assure you I find it very difficult to think otherwise. If she were reproved, or passed over, I expect it would cure her. There will be nothing but trouble if God does not put His hand to the work. May His divine Goodness apply the remedy. I enclose her letter, and my reply. What a strange thing is this spirit of the world! You must remain patient and firm under its hard criticism. As you will see by my answers all your letters have reached me.

It certainly is a rare thing, my child, in a large community not to find someone who is a trial, but that so many are good is a great subject of consolation. For the love of God, I pray you don't imagine that it is through your fault that others do not advance. That is not so, thank God. They will be very happy, my dearest daughter, if they follow your advice, and do as you do. In a word I am of opinion that in this (the support of feeble souls) consists in great part the cross of poor Superiors.The strength of mind God gives you to reprimand will be of great service to them. Persevere in allowing nothing contrary to perfection. For zeal combined with gentleness is of great force in animating hearts, and the like of us women need to be perpetually egged on and kept up to the mark.

I feel I must just simply tell you the truth. All you say about yourself gives me great cause to praise God. It is all excellent. Go always, as you now do, to God alone. I had much consolation in reading your letter and above all in seeing what courage God has given you. Verily, my dear Sister, he who loves not, he who trusts not, he who rests not wholly in the arms of divine Providence must be hard as flint and altogether insensible. In these arms, then, at His mercy, let us dwell so that He may do as He pleases with us.

I cannot tell you how grateful I feel to God for the graces that I see and know you to have received, and it seems to me that for this I am under a great obligation of gratitude to Him.

Instruct, and speak continually to your daughters of the sweet, sure, abundant mercy of God towards those souls who hand themselves over to Him, trusting Him out and out. I am very glad about little de B. I think she will be a good child if she can bear mortification, but the gentleness which is practised with us will make it easy for her. Goodbye, my dearest daughter; I am truly overwhelmedhere with visits and writing. I salute all my friends and above all our poor Sisters of Villeneuve.

Show these letters to the Rev. Father. It only needs a little time to get the postulant away. We must do this, and say nothing, except that as the Chapter has not received her she cannot be kept, and we must bear the consequences patiently. God will direct all and you will draw profit from it. The good Father who brings you these letters is a great friend of our Institute, and we are under many obligations to him.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Lyons,8th December, 1622.

My own dearest Daughter,

Here we are returned from our dear little Montferrand where I certainly found excellent souls, full of desire to advance in the perfect observance. The poor Superior[A]was almost broken by the dread of her charge; this she told me you already knew from herself; I have left her greatly encouraged. She truly gives me pleasure, for her judgement is good, her aspirations are good, and she possesses an exceedingly good appearance and manner (severalillegible lines). My daughter, perform the Office, I beg of you, as it is marked. These fancies pass. His Lordship wishes us to keep up a tone not too high, but moderate, and to sing clearly, distinctly, and evenly: as for other faults I do not know of any, unless some defect in pronunciation. I very much desire that we should observe the same manner of singing the Office in all the houses; changes I find slip in. But for the future his Lordship will mark how it is to be carried out, and then we have only to keep to what is settled. At St. Etienne they drag shockingly. By the way there is an excellent Superior there who carries out her charge with great discretion.[B]You know how exact she is, she fits into her office admirably. I tell her that she is in her element. Certainly all goes well in that house, and I am delighted with it.... Monseigneur is here,[C]and we see a little of him. He does not wishus to leave yet; this I think is out of consideration for the Archbishop of Bourges. Sister Marie de Valence is also here. She is undoubtedly a most humble and simple soul, without any constrained or peculiar ways, and her little daughter is the same.

I pray you, my child, manage if you can to get the letters from Madame de Puy-d'Orbe; I wish you could help her, for she greatly needs it.

His Lordship wants us seriously to contemplate a means of keeping the houses united. He intends to consult the great Jesuit Fathers about it, and hewishes us always to have recourse to them, for he says no one comes up to them. I am very glad the Father Rector likes you so much; he has always done so. Salute him very affectionately for me, also the good Father Gentil, I have the highest respect for them both. But above all do I honour with a singular reverence and affection Mgr. de Langres. Assure him of it, my child. When he goes to Dijon and when I know he is there I shall write to him.

M. Gariot is here: he will worry you with his suggestions, but it is not necessary, I think, to do all he wants, at least I don't: above all in the parlour, where I cut him short; nevertheless, my Love, have his affairs recommended to Councillor Berbisey. This is urgent, for he wishes to start. My good cousin, I must tell you, is in admiration of you (three lines illegible). He has a good heart; be quite open with him, and with the good Sister de Vigney, who is also very fond of you, as indeed are all the others.

Adieu, my child, my truly amiable and dearest daughter. God be blessed—Our Lady's Day—have prayers said for our affairs. Salute on my behalf all our relatives, our friends, and whoever else you wish.

[A]Mother Marie Jacqueline Compain.[B]The foundation of St. Etienne had but just been made, and Mother Françoise Jéronyme de Vilette named Superior.[C]"On December 8th, 1622, while King Louis XIII. was making his state entry into Lyons amidst a great display of pomp on the part of the two courts of France and Savoy, St. Francis de Sales, wishing, like a true father, to enjoy the society of his daughters, sent off all his retinue to see the fête and came by himself to the Convent parlour. There in the course of conversation with us he drew a contrast between the feast which the Church that day celebrated, and the political feast the town was keeping in honour of the King's entry."Our worthy Mother de Chantal, who was present, was overjoyed to meet again the father of her soul, but this meeting was not to give her the consolation for which she had hoped. The town was crowded with persons of distinction, all of whom flocked to the Visitation, there to meet 'the Sun of Prelates,' as they called St. Francis de Sales. One day the Archbishop of Bourges and his nephew, the Abbé de Neuchèze, the devout Sister Marie de Valence, and Père Cotton, S. J., all met in our parlour, so that it was said our house was the meeting-place of all the holiest people, and had become, so to say, a court of Heaven, while the court of the Royal Princess was being held in the town."Upon a certain day St. Francis, having some hours free, came to the parlour to confer with the Venerable Foundress; but much as she wished to speak to him of her interior state, he would not permit her to do so, deferring all that until their return to Annecy, desiring her to visit the Monasteries of Valence, Grenoble, and Belley before returning to Savoy. St. Jane Frances at once set out, never dreaming that she had seen her blessed Father for the last time on earth." (Taken from the "History of the Foundation of Lyons.") St. Francis died on the 28th of that same month.

[A]Mother Marie Jacqueline Compain.

[B]The foundation of St. Etienne had but just been made, and Mother Françoise Jéronyme de Vilette named Superior.

[C]"On December 8th, 1622, while King Louis XIII. was making his state entry into Lyons amidst a great display of pomp on the part of the two courts of France and Savoy, St. Francis de Sales, wishing, like a true father, to enjoy the society of his daughters, sent off all his retinue to see the fête and came by himself to the Convent parlour. There in the course of conversation with us he drew a contrast between the feast which the Church that day celebrated, and the political feast the town was keeping in honour of the King's entry."Our worthy Mother de Chantal, who was present, was overjoyed to meet again the father of her soul, but this meeting was not to give her the consolation for which she had hoped. The town was crowded with persons of distinction, all of whom flocked to the Visitation, there to meet 'the Sun of Prelates,' as they called St. Francis de Sales. One day the Archbishop of Bourges and his nephew, the Abbé de Neuchèze, the devout Sister Marie de Valence, and Père Cotton, S. J., all met in our parlour, so that it was said our house was the meeting-place of all the holiest people, and had become, so to say, a court of Heaven, while the court of the Royal Princess was being held in the town."Upon a certain day St. Francis, having some hours free, came to the parlour to confer with the Venerable Foundress; but much as she wished to speak to him of her interior state, he would not permit her to do so, deferring all that until their return to Annecy, desiring her to visit the Monasteries of Valence, Grenoble, and Belley before returning to Savoy. St. Jane Frances at once set out, never dreaming that she had seen her blessed Father for the last time on earth." (Taken from the "History of the Foundation of Lyons.") St. Francis died on the 28th of that same month.

"Our worthy Mother de Chantal, who was present, was overjoyed to meet again the father of her soul, but this meeting was not to give her the consolation for which she had hoped. The town was crowded with persons of distinction, all of whom flocked to the Visitation, there to meet 'the Sun of Prelates,' as they called St. Francis de Sales. One day the Archbishop of Bourges and his nephew, the Abbé de Neuchèze, the devout Sister Marie de Valence, and Père Cotton, S. J., all met in our parlour, so that it was said our house was the meeting-place of all the holiest people, and had become, so to say, a court of Heaven, while the court of the Royal Princess was being held in the town.

"Upon a certain day St. Francis, having some hours free, came to the parlour to confer with the Venerable Foundress; but much as she wished to speak to him of her interior state, he would not permit her to do so, deferring all that until their return to Annecy, desiring her to visit the Monasteries of Valence, Grenoble, and Belley before returning to Savoy. St. Jane Frances at once set out, never dreaming that she had seen her blessed Father for the last time on earth." (Taken from the "History of the Foundation of Lyons.") St. Francis died on the 28th of that same month.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

My very dear Sister,

It is indeed true that the privation of the presence of my beloved Father is the greatest sorrow I could have: for it was my priceless privilege and my sole joy in this life. But since it has pleased God to deprive me of it I acquiesce in His good pleasure with all my heart, consoling myself in that I can now say with truth: "He is my supreme and only consolation." Alas! my dearest Sister, ought not this to be enough and even all-satisfying? Truly that heart is too avaricious for which God is not enough: and miserable is the heart which is satisfied with anything less than God. I owe it to you, and it is my wish to tell both you and Sister Hélène-Angélique (L'huillier), since by the goodness of God you are so perfectly united, that this most holy soul, who in life gave us so many perfumes of virtue, gives us still the manifestation of them.[A]The greater partof the sisters here perceived numberless times and in divers places odours so sweet and extraordinary that we can but think it is our Blessed Father who visits us and makes us understand by these celestial perfumes that he is praying for us. How this penetrates me, dearest Sister! On Sunday I was quite overcome, for three distinct times I was conscious of them.

It would take too long to tell you how God is manifesting His most humble Servant. In a word there is much for which to thank and glorify Him. Do so then, my daughter, whom my soul loves, and let your gratitude be shown by faithful observance to all we have learnt. Oh! what honour and happiness is comparable to that of serving in humble and absolute submission the holy will of our good God! Let us only think of, only seek this glorious eternity, for there is our Sovereign Good, with whom we shall eternally rejoice. May He be blessed!

Yours, etc.

[A]We read in the history of the foundation of Annecy: "As soon as the blessed body (of St. Francis de Sales) had been carried into the first Monastery, celestial perfumes were perceived throughout the entire house, on account of which our worthy Mother forbade the Sacristan, who alone had in her keeping pastilles and perfumes, to use any of them, and a like obedience she gave to all the Sisters, forbidding them to handle or put any scented thing anywhere in the house. But all these precautions only served the better to make known the favour Our Lord had granted, for the cloisters, corridors, choir, oratories, and other places of the Monastery were perfumed with a most fragrant odour, which, like a heavenly unction, spread many interior graces upon the Community."

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

Glory be to God, dearest Daughter, that this disagreement between you and our Sisters of Nevers has come to an end. I have known of it for a long time. Henceforth, I conjure you, live together in perfect and sweet union, for such was the desire of our Blessed Father.

I shall write to our Sister the Superior of Paris, and if she can leave you the dowry of Sister M. Marguerite I am sure she will do so, for she is no lover of money, but justice must be maintained.

For God's sake keep far from you all desire of being well off. Love poverty and God will make you abound in true riches: this is the spirit of our Blessed Father. He could not tolerate any eagerness in us for temporal goods, or that we should be solicitous at all about them. It consoled him to see souls love and esteem poverty. Surely it is but reasonable that we who are vowed to it should no longer hold dear the riches we have renounced. And it is with the great Master that this contract has been made. Oh! my daughter, be not angry with me for speaking thus. I do not accuse youof this evil, but I speak because I have an extreme desire to see holy poverty honoured and cherished amongst us, and my heart's wish is that every soul in the Institute should love it.

O Jesu! never burden yourself, daughter dearest, with girls who have no religious vocation, nor fitting dispositions for our manner of life. After having exercised charity for some months towards this girl, if God does not truly touch her heart and if she does not genuinely desire to be a Religious, you ought in all humility to ask these gentlemen, her relations, to take her away: for how does it look, I pray you, to keep girls in the convent who are simply boarders andmusthave their meals apart? Certainly, daughter, this must not be done, and I feel confident that Sister Marie Aimée (de Morville) is too good-hearted not to help this girl to overcome herself, and send her to eat with the community while she is with you. My God, how we must guard ourselves against this miserable world, and take every precaution, lest its spirit enter into our monasteries. May God in His mercy preserve us from it!

I have the greatest aversion to this titleMère ancienne, because it is against the Rule and therefore against the spirit of our Blessed Father. You will see a little reference to it in the last conference he gave at Lyons. I should like to see our Sisters hold in such reverence his memory, and the Rule, that in comparison to them they could give nothought at all to their own silly fancies and inclinations, and I am sure Sister Jeanne Charlotte (de Bréchard) would agree with me, as she ought to in this. Alack! what honour is there in such things? Rather is honour to be found in perfect observance. I am very sorry for poor Sister M. Catherine (Chariel), but she ought to be faithful to the exercises, in as much, at least, as depends on herself, by the exterior observance of them, and she should refuse to consent to those evil reflections, resisting them with the sword of the spirit. This much God has put in our power, and never can we fall except by our own will. If she is faithful to this, God will be satisfied, but she must submit herself absolutely. I will write to her.

Be most careful to let no coolness exist between you and the Jesuit Fathers, and give them no excuse for keeping away from you. Our Blessed Father would not have approved of it. Soon, please God, you will see in the Directory what he said to me at Lyons on this point. Recall them gently, daughter, and give them your former confidence. Although the good Father you mention did not take the matter rightly the Jesuits are too wise and too good to keep up a grudge against us.

I think I know Père de Géney, if it is the same; he is a very good Religious in whom you can confide. Converse in a trustful spirit with them all, but above all with the Jesuits and their Rector. He spoke thetruth to you in saying that the Sisters are satisfied and feel the improvement. Keep your courage ever higher, my most dear daughter, and always, I beseech you, govern in a spirit of extreme gentleness. Look sometimes at the advice I give to Superiors, and although I am worthless Our Lord has allowed Himself to speak through me in this. May He be blessed for ever!

If Sister M. Charlotte (de Feu) is eighteen or twenty let her in the name of God follow the community, and if on that account she suffers somewhat she will be very happy. At least do not let her be the judge of her own needs, and she should submit herself to you. Give her plenty to do, and then be at her side to help her. You ought not to have sent out that letter that you did not understand, though it is true when written to one of ourselves there is less danger.

Bear with the old woman, I beg of you, and you will gain her to God. I rather prefer your writing during recreation than in the evening. I do this, and in the midst of our Sisters. Get Sister Jeanne Charlotte or someone else to help you in this, and write little except to our monasteries; but you should read a good quarter of an hour every evening afterMatins, for this will be useful to you. We should wear ourselves out in the service of our neighbour, and doing so we shall be happy.

Certainly, daughter, the dormitory ought not to bemade into an infirmary: if doing otherwise gives a little more trouble to the sisters they will have all the more merit. Alas! my God, the poor have far more than this to put up with. Our Blessed Father's maxim was to refuse no inconvenience, and to ask for no relief, yet if relief was given him he accepted it. Oh, daughter, great courage is needed to seek God alone, bearing all for love of Him.

I am a little surprised to have no news of Sister Jeanne Charlotte, and Sister Marie Aimée. Had I time I would send them a note to waken them up, and assure them that I belong to them, but for this time give them my message and tell them that I wrote to them when I was at Moulins the last time, at least to the elder sister. May God in His goodness hold you in His holy hand. I am devoted to you more than I could ever put into words. God be Blessed!

I salute all our sisters, especially Sister Assistant, for whom I have a great affection, but I wish she would write to me once more, then I would answer her fully. It is because I have not had time that I have not done so. God be Blessed!

P.S.—It has occurred to me that I ought to send you the first sheet of the Directory—all that is yet out—in which is set down how the Office ought to be performed on the great feasts of our Lord. His Lordship will be satisfied at its being performed inthis manner. The change must be effected quietly and imperceptibly. Our Sisters are very much pleased with it.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

My very dear Daughter,

Do not be astonished at seeing yourself surrounded by spiritual enemies; only guard your heart so that they may not enter. But I know you would die a thousand times over rather than let them do so. Remain then in peace and patience, awaiting your deliverance by our good Saviour, and He will free you sooner than you think. This trial is, dearest daughter, hard to bear, but believe me if you had any other you would find it equally so. This life is only given us to combat. Every one has his own cross. Oh God! how heavy is the burden to me of my own extreme misery and of my own infidelities! May the good God deliver me from myself! Be brave, daughter dearest, he who does not conquer shall never be crowned. I beseech the divine Goodness to strengthen you in this combat. Pray to the good God for

Your humble and unworthy Mother.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

My dearest Daughter,

Do you know that these fears and self-torturings about your past confessions are pure temptations of the devil? Make a firm stand and take no heed of them, dear daughter, for the devil is only trying in his malice to deceive you. Bear with his attacks and the suffering that comes of them gently and humbly, submitting to the good pleasure of God, who permits them to test your fidelity andconfidence. Pay no regard to anything the tempter suggests. Never let your mind argue about it; but suffer it without yielding consent. Throw yourself upon the mercy of the divine Mercy. Leave to it the care of your salvation and of everything regarding you. Tell God that you have entire trust in His goodness, and although it may seem to you that you have not any, never cease to assure Him that you have, and always will have with the assistance of His grace. This I command you to do. And bear patiently the burden without desiring to be delivered from it; for that would be a brave sort of virtue which never wished to be attacked, and a grand fidelity that which would surrender at the first approach of the enemy! Remain firm without wishing ever to confess past sins a second time, or ever swerving from your duty of patience and confidence in God: and you will see how God draws His glory and your good out of this temptation, for which may He in His infinite goodness be blessed.

[A]Sister Françoise-Gasparde de la Grave, professed of the first Monastery of Annecy in 1617, was specially loved and trained by St. Francis de Sales, and always showed herself worthy of her great master. She was chiefly remarkable for her calm and unalterable sweetness in the midst of the contradictions of all kinds with which she was surrounded. "My Blessed Father has taught me," she would say on such occasions, "that the love of one's own abjection ought never to be one step distant from our hearts." She was successively Superior at Belley, Bourges, and Perigueux, from which last house she contributed to the foundation at Tulle. Having governed the Monastery of Seyssel for three years, she returned to the house of her profession, where she died in 1638. After her decease they found she had carefully written down all the humiliating things that had ever been said to her. On the corner of this packet was written: "The enclosed are to perfume my heart with the precious odour of humiliation."

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

My Lord,

I have heard of your kindness to our poor Sisters of Moulins in regard to the difficulties they have had with their Foundress, and that by the grace of God you and your Council, recognizing thetrue virtue and uprightness of the Superior and of her Religious, gave them protection and comfort in their extreme affliction. But, my Lord, from what I learn, they at the present moment need more than ever your paternal assistance, and I humbly beg your Lordship in the name of our good God to help them. If, in order to restore tranquility in their monastery, it is only necessary to return the money to our good Sister Foundress, so that she may live elsewhere, certainly we shall be content to do so, for we love better to live poorly and keep our observance than to abound in riches and be thwarted in it. The Providence of God will never fail us as long as we persevere in fidelity to His holy service; and our delight is, under its protection, to live in poverty. See, my Lord, how I lay my sentiments before you in all simplicity. If, however, our Sister the Foundress continues to enjoy the happiness she possesses I shall rejoice provided she content herself with the privileges which you, my Lord, have either confirmed or granted her, and for the rest that she live as is fitting to her condition.

Beseeching you my Lord, very humbly and with all earnestness to provide help for these good servants of God, and trusting that through your kindness and piety the divine mercy may come to their aid, I pray God to spread in abundance His holy benedictions upon you and your Church.

I remain, with humble reverence, etc.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

Annecy, 1623.

You know and you can never doubt how truly you are my dearest daughter. Lay claim to this title more and more by your charity in praying for me. Indeed, my daughter, this dear Mother (Favre) is a soul of true virtue. She is all for God, for the Rule, and for me. I hope you will always continue to feel that you have a faithful friend in her. The spirit of religion and even religion itself is destroyed by preoccupation about miserable human affections. If the intelligence of the Sisters be not clouded by them nor by self-love they will see the guidance of God over this soul, and through her over other souls, and will themselves be established in solid virtue. Keep the spirit of your novices at a high level and do it with vigour. Engrave in their hearts this maxim, that the love of their divine Saviour is the only love for them, and that in Him they must love their neighbour according to the order of duty and true charity. Oh God! what should we seek on earth or aspire to in heaven save Thee who art our portion and our eternal inheritance? My daughter, a Religious of the Visitation who should attach herself to anything whatsoever but God is notworthy of her vocation. Make this very clear to our Sisters. Each one must have a holy zeal to attain eternal life by the path which God has marked out for her. If our Sisters really love their holy Founder they will prove it not only by the attention and pleasure with which they read his writings, for all the world delights in them, but also by faithfully carrying out his teachings. That incomparable love and sweetness towards their neighbour, that profound humility and lowliness of which he was so great a lover, and which put him at enmity with all ostentation, should above all be practised by them. Finally, let them make theirs the glorious gift he enjoyed of devout attention to the presence of God.

My daughter, see that the spiritual exercises are held in great esteem by the novices. Bring this about: for prayer, recollection, and frequent ejaculatory prayer are the oil of benediction in monasteries. Give good books to those dear novices to read, so that their minds may be filled with profitable food wherewith to make useful reflection, and to undeceive themselves as to the value of the false maxims of the world. Make them value thoroughly the acts and exercises of their Directory, so that their memory being well stored with spiritual things, and their understanding well enlightened, our divine Master will (as I hope) soon warm their wills with His holy love.

Your devoted.

On St. Francis de Sales.[A]

Vive ✠ Jésus!

1624.

Alas! my Rev. Father, you command me to do what is beyond my capacity. The intimate knowledge that God has permitted me to acquire of the interior life of my blessed Father and Lord, and especially that with which He has favoured me since this holy man's decease (for the object being present somewhat, it seems to me, obscured the light), is, I feel, altogether beyond my deserts: and I confess to you quite frankly that I have no facility whatever in expressing myself. Yet to obey your Reverence and for the love and respect which I owe to the authority by which you command, I will write what comes to my mind in all simplicity, in the presence of God.

First, then, I have always observed in him the perfect gift of faith accompanied with great clearness, certitude, perception, and extreme suavity. It was a subject upon which he spoke admirably, and he once told me that God had bestowed upon him much light and knowledge of the mysteries ofour holy faith, and he thought that he had a good grasp of the correct interpretation of the Church's teachings to her children. To this his life and writings bear witness.

God had so fully illuminated this holy soul, or, as he put it, shed so clear a light in the highest point of his soul, that he had, so to say, but to open the eyes of his spirit and the excellencies of the truths of faith lay before him, and from this proceeded raptures, ecstacies, and celestial ardours. He submitted himself to the truths thus unveiled to him by a simple yielding up of his will, and the place wherein these illuminations were centred he called "The Sanctuary of God." It was his place of retreat, his every day abode, for notwithstanding continual exterior occupation he held his spirit in this interior solitude as much as was possible. The one longing, the sole aspiration and desire of this holy man, it always seemed to me, was to live by faith and according to the maxims of the Gospel. He used to say that the true way to serve God was to follow Him and walk in His footsteps by the pure light of grace, without the support of consolations, of feeling, of light, other than that of bare faith, and for this reason he valued derelictions, desolation, and dryness of spirit. He never stopped, he said, to think whether or no he had consolations, and that if Our Lord sent them he received them in simplicity; if they were not given him he made no reflections abouttheir loss. But as a matter of fact he usually had great sensible sweetness, as was betrayed by his countenance, however slightly he withdrew into himself, which he was in the habit of doing. Thus did he draw good out of all things, turning all to the profit of his soul. The time of preparation for his sermons, which he usually spent walking about, was one of special illumination for him. Study, he said, provided him with prayer, and he came from it enlightened and full of holy affections.

Several years ago he told me that he had no sensible devotion in prayer, and that God operated in him without feeling, but by sentiments and illuminations, which were diffused in the intellectual part of his soul, the inferior part having no share therein. These were for the most part perceptions and sensibilities of simple unity and heavenly emotions which he did not try to fathom: for his practice was to hold himself in humility and lowliness before God with the trustful reverence of a loving child.

When writing to me he has often asked me to remind him when we met to tell me what God had given him in prayer. When I did so he would say, "These things are so impalpable, so pure, so intangible, that one cannot explain them when they have passed, only their effects remain in the soul."

For several years before his decease there was left him little leisure for prayer, as business overwhelmedhim, and one day when I asked him if he had any time for prayer, he said: "No, but I do what is the same." In such wise he held himself always united to God, saying that in this life work and labour are prayer. And most certainly his life was a continual prayer. Though, from what has been said, it is easy to believe that the delightful union of his soul with God in prayer was not his only enjoyment. Oh! indeed it was not, for however the will of God was presented to him he equally loved it. And in his last years he had, I believe, attained such purity in his love that all things were the same to him so long as he saw God's will in them. There was nothing in the world, as he used to say, that could give him any satisfaction out of God. Thus he lived, as was manifest to those who knew him, no more in himself but truly Jesus Christ lived in him. This universality in his love of the will of God was the more excellent and the purer by reason of the clear light which God diffused in his soul, and because of it his soul was neither subject to change nor to deception, and by it he perceived in himself the first movements of self-love which he faithfully suppressed the more perfectly to be united to God. He told me, that, sometimes in the depth of his greatest afflictions, he felt consolations beyond comparison more sweet than at ordinary times, for by means of this intimate union with God things most bitter became to him most sweet.

But, if your Reverence wishes to see clearly thestate of this holy soul on these points, read, if you please, the three or four last chapters in the "Divine Love."[B]All his actions were animated with the sole motive of pleasing God, and truly (as he says in this sacred book) he asked nought of heaven nor of earth but to see the will of God accomplished. How many times has he not repeated over to me those words of David: "O! Lord, what have I in heaven, and besides Thee what do I desire on earth? Thou art my portion and my eternal inheritance." He lived on the principle that what was not God was nothing to him. His eminent virtue and that universal indifference which was remarked in him by all were the product of this perfect union. I never read those chapters which treat of it in the ninth book of "Divine Love" without seeing clearly that as occasions arose he practised what he taught.

That admirable but little known maxim,Ask for nothing, desire nothing, refuse nothing, which he faithfully carried out to the very end of his life, could not originate with one who was not entirely indifferent and dead to self. In regard to his actions such incomparable equality of mind did he possess that there was no changeableness in his attitude. He unquestionably felt keen resentment when subjected to rudeness or insult, above all when God was offended, or his neighbour oppressed; but on such occasions, as is mentioned in his memoirs, he exercised complete self-control and would retireinto himself with God and remain silent. Yet he none the less set to work, and that promptly, to remedy the evil, for he was the refuge, the succour, the support of all.

Because he had acquired a perfect mastery of his passions, there reigned in his soul complete submission to God, and in his heart an imperturbable peace. "What is there that could disturb our peace?" he said to me at Lyons. "When all is in confusion around me it does not trouble me, for what is all the world besides in comparison with peace of heart?" This power was the outcome of his intense and virile faith, for he regarded all things, the least and the greatest, as ordained by that divine Providence in which he reposed with more tranquility than a child on its mother's bosom. He used to say that Our Lord taught him this lesson from his youth, and that if he could be born again he would despise human prudence more than ever, and would let himself be still more entirely governed by divine Providence. He had very great illumination on this subject, and conveyed it forcibly to the souls he counselled and governed. All the undertakings God committed to him he placed under the protection of this supreme government, and never was he more certain of an affair or more content amidst vicissitudes than when he had no other support than God. On the contrary, when human prudence foresaw the impossibility of the executionof a design his firm confidence in God alone remained unshaken. Therefore did he live without solicitude. I remarked this to him when he had made up his mind to establish our Congregation, and he replied: "I have no light as to how to do it, but I am sure that God will do it"; and so it came about, and that far more quickly than he anticipated. Speaking of this confidence in God, I remember once many years ago, when attacked with a violent temptation, which he bravely resisted, he wrote to me: "I feel very much under its pressure. It seems to me that I have no strength to resist and that I should succumb if the occasion were presented to me, but the weaker I feel the more do I trust in God, and I assure myself that were the object to present itself, I should be invested with the power of God, and that my enemies would be as lambkins before me."

Our Saint was not exempt from the stirrings of passions nor did he wish nor think it desirable to be so. Except for the purpose of governing and checking them, which he said gave him pleasure, they were disregarded by him; and he looked upon them as excellent opportunities for practising virtue and establishing it more solidly in the soul. His own were so absolutely under his control that they obeyed him as slaves, and in the end hardly showed themselves at all. His was a manifestly bold and generous soul, very dear Father, strong to bear burdens and responsibilities and to carry out the undertakingswith which God inspired him. Nothing, as he said, could induce him to abandon these; not an inch would he abate, and he had a courage that conquered all difficulties.

Certainly such perseverance as his, required wonderful strength of mind, for who has ever seen him out of humour, or losing one iota of self-control? Who has ever seen his patience ruffled or his soul embittered against any one whomsoever? and all because he had a guileless heart.

That he was gentle, humble, and gracious none could fail to remark. His mind was clearer, freer, and broader than any other I have come in contact with; the prudence and the wisdom natural and supernatural with which God had endowed him were excellent and solid.

Our Lord indeed forgot nothing in perfecting His work. "Charity," as he says, "entering into a soul brings with it every other virtue sweetly and unostentatiously in the degree and measure by which charity animated it." He made no mysteries, and did nothing that might excite admiration; there was no singularity about him, no display of great virtue to exalt him in the eyes of the vulgar. He walked the common way, but in so supernatural a manner that it seemed to me that of all to be admired in his life this was the most admirable trait. He had no affected ways, neither casting up his eyes nor closing them, but he kept them modestlylowered and made no unnecessary gestures. His face, passive, sweet, and grave, portrayed the profound tranquility within.

Whoever observed his outward bearing was unfailingly impressed. Whether at prayer, reciting the office, or saying Mass, his countenance shone with angelic splendour, but it was above all at the consecration of the Mass that it seemed to radiate. This has been remarked to me a thousand times. He had a special devotion to this adorable Sacrament. It was his true life, his sole strength, and when carrying it in Procession he looked like one on fire with love. As his outpourings of love when before the Divine Sacrament, and his wonderful devotion to our Lady are treated of elsewhere I will not speak of them here.

Oh, how worthy of admiration was the order with which God had endowed this blessed soul! so much was it under the control of reason, so calm, and so lucid the light shed by God within it that absolutely nothing passed therein that was hidden from him.

So clear was his view in regard to perfection of spirit that he could distinguish between the most subtle and intangible sensibilities, and never willingly would he tolerate the less perfect in his soul; his burning love could not suffer it. It was not that he did not commit some imperfections, but they were always from frailty or pure surprise, and I never knew him to leave in his heart one single attachment,however small, that was contrary to perfection. Purer than the sun, whiter than the snow in every act, resolve, and desire, he was united to God not only by his purity, but in humility and simplicity.

To hear him speak of God and of perfection was a delight, for his terms were precise and intelligible, so that they easily brought home to the understanding the high and subtle points of the spiritual life and this great gift he used for the guidance of souls. Reading the depths of their hearts and clearly seeing the motives from which they acted, he guided and governed them with a skill other than that of this world. His indefatigable charity for souls is well known, and the incomparable delight with which he laboured amongst sinners, never resting till he had put the conscience in peace and set the soul on its way to heaven. What care did he not bestow upon the weak and repentant sinner, making himself one with him, weeping together with him over his sins, and becoming so one in heart with his penitent that none could conceal anything from him.

Zeal for the salvation of souls was, I consider, his dominant virtue, and in a sense it may be said that he preferred the service of his neighbour, for whom he wore himself out, to the immediate service of God. His charity was regulated in a remarkable manner, for he loved the many souls for whom he had a special regard, and they were great in number, not equally yet perfectly, and purely, recognizingthe most estimable virtue and the measure of grace in each and giving it place accordingly in his regard. While to all he bore the utmost respect because he saw God in his neighbour and him in God, yet his humility never prevented him from reverencing the dignity of his position as Bishop, and with what gravity and majesty he bore himself in it.

I now venture to repeat what so many persons have said to me—that when they saw this man it seemed to them that they looked upon Our Lord on earth. And to me he always appeared the living picture in which the Son of God, Our Lord, was portrayed, for most truly the order and economy of his soul was divine.

I remain, my Reverend Father,Your very humble, obedient, and unworthy daughter and servant in Our Lord,

Sister Jane Frances Frémyot(Of the Visitation of Holy Mary).

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