You are very dear to me, my child. Do not think I have forgotten you.
God alone can render you happy. Give yourself wholly to him, never
more to take yourself back. Love him with all your heart. Retire
often within the closet of your heart to commune with God. Do not pray
to him in a constrained and formal manner, but all simple and natural.
God loves better the affectionate language of the heart, than, the cold
and discursive thoughts of the intellect. The prayer of love softens
the heart.
Do not shrink from your ordinary duties. We are often more united to
God, in our daily avocations, than in retirement. The reason is, our
good Father holds us more closely, when we are most exposed to
temptations. Endeavor to maintain, at all times, harmony and oneness
with God. You have only to abandon yourself wholly to divine love, and
perform all the duties that devolve upon you. Do not be restive, and
thus mar God's beautiful design and operation upon your soul. Place in
his bosom of rest, all your inquietudes, and allow him to carry you, as
a little child is borne by its mother. This little one has only to
regard, lovingly, the smiles of its tender mother.
God will give you a wise discernment as to food and drink, and all the
pleasures of life. He calls us to a temperate life, but not to a life
too austere. We should avoid the _too much_ and the _too little_ in
eating and drinking.