formed his final resolve to leave us under the authority of their
Lordships the prelates. He added, with a deep and humble sense of
confidence: "Jesus Christ will be your Head and your Protector--the
happiness of your Congregation will not depend on being placed under the
government of one Superior, but on the fidelity of each Sister
individually, and of all together, to unite themselves to God by an
exact and punctual observance." These are very consoling and striking
words, full of faith as they are. I am aware that they are in the Book
of Customs, yet I feel impelled to quote them again here, for I should
like to write them in a hundred places, and above all in the depths of
your hearts. We should look upon them as the last will and testament of
our holy Founder, and by faithful practice keep them inviolably. In them
we shall find our happiness and the one and only means of preserving
untarnished the spirit of our Institute, which is a spirit strong and
finely tempered. By means of them shall we also learn how to hide
ourselves and how to dwell in peace in the paternal bosom of our good
God, humbly trusting that these his words will produce deeds. So we must
not be anxious, no matter what happens to us, but remain ever tranquil,
striving with the assistance of divine grace not to philosophize on what
may never come about. For our Blessed Father said to me: "To maintain
our Congregation we may search in vain amongst human means for any
better way than our Rule."
He likewise told me that he intended to put things still more plainly,
so as to secure that unity and conformity amongst the monasteries and
that spirit of humility, with all of which God had already so abundantly
blessed them; for he longed above all things that they should continue
as they are. He ordered me to see that, to the permissions for
foundations given by the Bishops, the article on "Foundations" which is
in the Book of Customs should be added. The principal exterior means
that he judged suitable for keeping up union was conformity to and
correspondence with Annecy in everything regarding the complete
observance received from him. "Although," he said, "it is established in
a small town, it has nevertheless been the will of divine Providence
that the germ of the Congregation of the Visitation should be formed
there, and there receive its law and foundations." Wherefore the other
monasteries of the Visitation are always to acknowledge the house of
Annecy as their mother and source, and maintain with it the closest
union of charity, conforming themselves entirely to it, having
particular intercourse with it, and referring to it in order to be
instructed in the doubts and difficulties which may arise in practising
the Rule and Customs. Such, I assure you with entire truthfulness, was
his express wish, and he informed me of it in a manner full of
graciousness and wisdom. Conformity to his wishes, and likewise the
happiness which this monastery possesses in being the depository of his
holy body, will always induce the other houses to keep up an
affectionate union with us here. And as he asked this on your parts so
did he desire that Annecy should make you all a return of unstinted
service, giving both materially and of its members with a great zeal and
a large-hearted affection, while keeping up the observance even to the
most minute regulations conscientiously and exactly, so that here it may
be always found practised in its pristine vigour and integrity.
I must not omit to repeat these words of his, also said to me at Lyons:
"It is by a special providence of God that the Jesuit Fathers have so
great an affection and charity for us. We should value this and return
it, holding them in singular respect and giving them our confidence, for
they will be a great help to us. It is not, however, necessary so to
attach ourselves to their Order as to lose our liberty, for this we must
jealously guard. Neither should it prevent us from union with other
Orders with which we ought to keep in touch, for our Congregation should
have a universal spirit"; and again: "I do not mean that those who
counsel our Sisters are to change their exercises or their manner of
carrying them out, for there must be no change, and in this they must be
firm."
Such is almost word for word what I learned from his lips, and to know
his will is sufficient, I feel assured, in the goodness of your hearts,
to render you docile to it. For me, it but remains to urge you to this,
not only exteriorly, but what is of far more consequence, interiorly, in
the spirit, to be cordial, gentle, humble, artless, poor with a poverty
which keeps us to a holy medium in everything, avoiding superfluities
and all that savours of ostentation. To all this I affectionately
entreat you with all the earnestness of which I am capable. I cannot
truly bring my letter to a close without congratulating this dear
convent of Annecy on the privileges and graces with which eternal
Providence has been pleased to favour it in rendering it lovable and
worthy of respect to all the other houses, for where will true daughters
of this Order be found who hold it not in high esteem and who envy it
not its privileges, above all that of being the dear guardians of the
sacred body of its Founder?--verily, a most precious grace, for which it
ought unceasingly to offer the sacrifice of praise to the divine
Majesty. But, my very dear daughters, what, think you, ought to be this
sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for so great a benefit? None other
surely than the constant and persevering offering of a very exact and
holy observance to all contained in the Institute, so that it will
always there be found practised in its perfect vigour and integrity.
See, my dear daughters, to what our birthright obliges us.
Let us then remain very humble, very poor in our own esteem, and in holy
fear before God, showing our appreciation of the dignity conferred upon
us not by esteeming ourselves above others, which would but turn to harm
the priceless gifts we possess, but rather by being the most humble, the
most lowly, the most faithful of all.
May God grant us this grace! Amen.
May I venture to add a very humble prayer to our Sisters the Superiors,
that they will keep in mind this word of the Rule: "Let us be before God
under the feet of all our Sisters"? Ah! my God, if we treat them so, if
we love our Sisters with a truly maternal love, which is solicitous,
vigilant, zealous for the welfare of its children; if we govern them not
according to our own views we shall draw upon our family all manner of
blessings. Let them feel that you have a mother's heart and solicitude
for them, keeping their minds tranquil and contented, and you can do
what you like with them.
All I have said above, very dear Sisters, I have said solely moved by
love and desire. I reiterate it all with the most emphatic and tender
entreaties from the depth of my heart. All our happiness is shut up in
it. We are obliged to it by vow. It is our way of perfection of which we
shall have to render an account at the hour of death. Think well on
this.
I pray the divine Goodness, through the intercession of His Holy Mother
and of our Blessed Father, to pour on you all the abundant treasures of
His grace, so that generously and cheerfully you may continue to walk on
this road, gaining by it the fullness of all perfection in this life and
in the next the prize of a blessed eternity.
Pardon the great length of this letter and its confidences, and obtain
from the divine Mercy eternal salvation for her who wishes you God's
best graces in abundance and who is, with unbounded affection,
Devotedly yours.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] Saint Jane Frances originally intended this letter to serve as a
Preface to the Book of Customs, but deeming that she had spoken with too
much authority therein, and also in order not to give any pretext for
the calumnies of those who accused her of desiring to pose as General of
her Order, the holy foundress kept back its publication, and never in
her lifetime gave it to the Institute. Amongst her sisters she would not
accept any other title than that of Eldest Daughter of the Family.
LXVI. _To Sister Anne Marie de Lage de Puylaurens, Assistant and
Mistress of Novices at Bourges._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1626.
MY VERY DEAR DAUGHTER,
God has indeed favoured you in giving you His holy light and strength to
extricate yourself from the dangerous temptation against your good,
virtuous Mother. It is the devil's doing, in the hope of upsetting you
both by disuniting you. God be blessed who has delivered you. Take great
care never to fall into it again and keep invariably united to your
written Rule, and to the living rule which is your Superior. For it may
be that God will permit you to be under a very imperfect Superior, and,
if so, endure it. The spirit of God is there for you, and think of
nothing save that. Most assuredly, if faithful you will never come to
grief by this road.
Yes, of course, dearest daughter, your timidity comes from self-love.
For the love of God, master your inclination and live as the Rule tells
us, according to reason and to the will of God. If you yourself do not
make up your mind to this, there is no way of helping you. You can be
told what you ought to do, but no one can do it but yourself. Be brave
then. God requires this of you. He calls you to a high perfection, and
your true way, the solitary road by which you can attain it, is by
corresponding faithfully to the exact observance of the Institute, and
this with a holy fervour of spirit, humbly, sweetly and simply. It
consoles me to hear that you have cut short your introspections, and
that you are more tranquil in the desire for your advancement, this
eagerness comes from nothing but self-love. Be watchful against it
always, I beg of you, and accustom yourself to regard the will of God in
all things and to unite yourself to it. There is nothing changed in the
ceremonial. You can take as you think fit from the Book of Customs and
the Spiritual Directory for the instruction of your Novices, whom I
affectionately salute, and you also whom my soul cherishes with a
special and cordial love. I beseech of you to be cordial and generous.
LXVII. _To the Baron de Chantal, the Saint's Son._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1626.
I have an intense longing for news of you, as I cannot but feel anxious
about this pain you are suffering. If I could but ease it by bearing it
in my own body! God so willing, what a relief it would be to me, for my
heart is sore at the thought of you. Yet, believe me, my dearest Son,
this suffering is sent for the profit of your soul. Bear it then as
sweetly and as patiently as you can. It will help to win heaven for you.
Lift up your heart often to that blessed country. The happiness that
awaits us there is eternal, while the sorrows of this life soon pass
away. And I beseech you, my own beloved Son, since your condition
obliges you to row on the tempestuous sea of this world, try never to
swallow its waters, but drink rather of those of Divine grace, turning
in all your needs with a loving, filial trust to that source of mercy.
Love above all else, and fear to displease, the God of sovereign
goodness who alone can make you happy both here and hereafter. That you
may possess in abundance His most precious graces is the abiding wish of
her who with all her heart loves and cherishes you, her own special one.
Your good Mother.
LXVIII. _To the Same._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1627.
May blessings of every description be bestowed upon my very dear son and
beloved daughter for this new year and for always, so that after having
lived long and happily together here on earth they may continue in the
enjoyment of one another in eternal glory. This is my wish of wishes for
you, dearest son, and for that most charming little wife whom God has
given you and whom I love so tenderly for your sake. I long for news as
to the health of both of you and of the dear little daughter,[A] whom
may God also make altogether His own if it please Him.
I still look forward to visiting you next summer, as Mother de Châtel,
who is Superior here (at Annecy), desires me to go to Orleans, and you
are so near that I hope to be able to see you and your little family.
This consolation I promise myself with the help of divine Providence
which I unceasingly invoke for you, that it may lead you securely
through all the miseries and temptations of this wretched life, beset as
it is with occasions of separating us from God's holy fear and love. My
beloved son, never put a foot outside the safe keeping of this love and
fear. Think of the eternal life to which we are all journeying and of
the instability of this one, which is but a roadway on which we pass
from one sorrow to another. In the name of God let us so live here that
we may live together eternally in everlasting happiness and glory. This
desire consumes the heart of your unworthy Mother, who loves you beyond
words.
FOOTNOTE:
[A]Marie de Chantal, afterwards Madame de Sévigné.
LXIX. _To M. de Coulanges, Junior, at Paris._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_12th January, 1627._
SIR,
I bless God with all my heart for the good news you give me of your
happy marriage and of the complete recovery of my son. Indeed, I am
allied to your honourable family by so many obligations and so close an
affection that I cannot but share in a large measure all the good and
evil fortune that befalls you; therefore have I every reason, seeing you
so happy in this marriage, to rejoice with you and to congratulate your
family. Thanking God, as I do with all my heart, for this great
blessing, I beg of Him in His infinite goodness to spread an abundance
of graces upon your union and to give you many prosperous years. Such,
Sir, are the wishes of my heart for you and for your wife, whom I pray
to believe me to be her very humble servant.
Always your very
humble and affectionate servant.
LXX. _To the Countess de Toulonjon._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1627.
MY DEAREST DAUGHTER,
May God in His infinite goodness recompense you by an abundance of
spiritual and temporal blessings for the loss you have sustained in the
death of a son,[A] tidings of which have reached me. I know that you
will have received this visitation of God with a patient and loving
submission to His good pleasure, for in this valley of tears we must
expect many afflictions and but few consolations. Keep lifting up your
thoughts to Eternal Life, where alone is to be found true repose. Into
it cast all your heart and all your hopes, and teach the little one
(Gabrielle[B]) this lesson while she is still young.
FOOTNOTES:
[A]Madame de Toulonjon unhappily lost several of her children at birth.
[B]Gabrielle de Toulonjon married her cousin, de Bussy Rabutin, of
unenviable celebrity. Needless to say, the union was not for her a happy
one.
LXXI. _To the Same._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1627.
MY VERY DEAR DAUGHTER,
May the sweet Saviour fill you and all those dear to you with His holy
love. I do not know whether you have received my last letter in answer
to your confidential one. I am looking out for good news. The tender
love I bear you cannot but make me a little anxious. However, I trust
that God in His love will support you and bring you safely through. Now
that a satisfactory peace[A] is, thank God, concluded, I hope to have
the consolation of seeing you this year. Nevertheless, dearest daughter,
do not let yourself be taken up too much with this hope, so that if
divine Providence should put obstacles in the way you may not be greatly
upset; for beyond everything I want you to love His holy guidance, and
He is so good that He always arranges what is best for His children, one
of whom you most assuredly are. How I long to impress upon you this
truth, that nothing can happen except by the order and disposition of
the Eternal Will. I salute dear Gabrielle.
Ever your Mother, etc.
FOOTNOTE:
[A]A temporary peace made, during the Thirty Years' War, with the
Huguenots in May, 1626, and called the Peace of Monzon.
LXXII. _To Mother Marie-Adrienne Fichet, Superior at Rumilly._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1627.
[The first lines are illegible.]
As to your temptations, divert your mind from them, and in this do
violence to yourself, but let it be a gentle violence, and yet taking
good hold. This firmness tempered with mildness is, my daughter, the
course for you. God has hidden the prize of eternal glory in the
conquest and mortification of ourselves, but a conquest and a
mortification that are always accompanied with sweetness; otherwise,
with your quick nature you will be the cause of suffering not only to
yourself but likewise to others. Hence, gentleness is an important
factor in government, and when allied to generosity, I daily see how
much souls are helped and supported by it. You are aware of the very
special love which I have for your soul, and your house is to me as one
of our own dormitories here. They speak of your monastery as being
unfortunate, and ask how it is that it is so afflicted. Such affliction
should not be spoken of as a misfortune, as it is the means of bringing
glory to God; for not one of your Sisters has died whose soul is not
giving Him praise in Heaven. This is, dearest daughter, the language of
the world. That of God is quite otherwise: for whenever a house is
visited by such tribulation as does not offend Him it is a great mark of
His benediction upon that community. Now continue to be on your guard
lest there be any asperity in your corrections, for hardness is neither
becoming nor fruitful. Those who have the charge of others are not
usually able to say with St. Paul: "I am innocent of your blood,"[A]
meaning of the faults which these people commit. On the contrary most
commonly we are guilty not only of our own faults but likewise of those
of others. For either we are too severe, or too lenient; we have either
corrected with harshness, not seasoning our words with the sugar of holy
charity, or have neglected to correct at all.
I have nothing more to say, dearest daughter, but that I forward the
money for the new habit you have made for me, and I beseech you, on the
first opportunity, to send me back the old one which the sisters have
kept. There is nothing upsets me more than these exterior manifestations
of imaginary sanctity in me; they are simply snares that the devil lays
to make me tumble into the pitfall of pride. I am already a sufficient
stumbling-block to myself without your adding to it. I implore of you,
all of you, not to be the occasion to me of so dangerous a temptation,
and if anyone has anything belonging to me they will oblige me by
burning it. Would to God that my sisters treated me as I deserve before
Him, then I should have some hope that by humiliations I might become
what they imagine me to be: but this providing me with continual
temptations to vanity is a thing insupportable to me. I tell you this
with sorrow in my heart and tears in my eyes. The good N. and N. are
very happy in having so many exterior humiliations. I cherish them more
on account of these, and believe them to be, in God's judgement, which
is so different from that of men, all the greater because of them.
Yours, etc.
FOOTNOTE:
[A]Acts, XX, 26.
LXXIII. _To Mother Anne Catherine de Beaumont, Superior of the First
Monastery of Paris._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_August 12th, 1627._
How good it is, my dearest daughter, to rest in God and seek only His
glory! See how He has guided this election, which has been a great
consolation to me, and I have every hope that this dear Mother Hélène
Angelique (L'huillier) will rule with such humility and gentleness that
much glory will accrue to God, and the Sisters be consoled and
satisfied. The Bishop of Geneva is very glad that things have turned out
as they have done. When you are in the new house I think you will do
well to send him word of your deposition and tell him of the nature of
your new office.
Our Blessed Father's process[A] is, thank God, progressing well. The
Depositions are bringing to light treasures of virtue and sanctity: His
incomparable charity and profound humility shine conspicuously
throughout; but, for the matter of that, there is no virtue that does
not shine in him, for he possessed all in a pre-eminent degree. Lord
Jesus, what a glorious thing it is to be a saint! May God make us worthy
daughters of such a Father, and may we above all have the grace to
imitate his humility and his poor opinion of himself! Oh how happy we
should be if we could love this lowliness and poverty so much prized by
him.
The Archbishop of Bourges will be here till October; but he will not be
able to finish the business. The Bishop of Belley will then take it up,
for it is going to be a long affair. We start for Orleans (D.V.) at
latest on the 15th of October.
If Sister M. M.'s mind is not in accord with that of her superior of
Paris, and she is not satisfied, though it seems to me she ought to be,
you would be doing a great charity to take her away with you. It is a
misery to see poor souls like this who are not content with things as
they are; however, they are objects of our charity and our forebearance.
Goodbye, very dear daughter; I pray God to fill you and all our dear
Sisters with His holy love. I salute all, but in particular Sister
Assistant. Our Sister the Superior of Blois writes to tell me that their
good foundress has died. Help to relieve them if you can in reference to
the foundation.[B] They have confidence that you will do your best for
them, and do it, I beg of you.
FOOTNOTES:
[A]Process of Beatification.
[B]This is to say, see that the sum promised by the foundress for the
founding of a convent is forthcoming.
LXXIV. _To a Visitation Superior._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1627.
Thank you, my dear daughter, for praying for my son. With his death,[A]
most truly, came to me not a feeling of death so much as of life for
the soul of my child, and God has given me a very clear light and a very
tender gratitude for His mercy towards this soul. Alas! not one of the
fears that used to come upon me of his dying in one of those duels into
which his friends enticed him but was harder to bear than has been this
good and Christian death. And although it has deeply affected me, yet
the consolation in the thought that my son has given his blood for the
Faith outweighs the sorrow. Besides, dear daughter, it is a long time
now since I have given him and everything to Our Lord, by whose goodness
I hope to obtain the grace no more to desire aught save to see Him
dispose of all things to His liking in time and in eternity.
FOOTNOTE:
[A]The death of the Baron de Chantal is related by a contemporary
historian in the following terms: "Chantal was chosen to head the first
squadron of Volunteers, which at this time comprised the whole flower of
the Court, and finding himself under orders to defend the Isle of Ré
against the English on July, 22nd, 1627, held his post with such
tenacious courage during six hours, although he had received twenty-six
pike wounds, of which he died two hours later, that the heroism of his
death was the subject of universal praise, and all mourned him as his
valour merited. He was thirty-one years of age. The end of this gallant
gentleman was as Christian as it was self-sacrificing. On the morning of
the combat he prepared himself by the reception of the Sacraments, and
breathed his last in sentiments of the most sincere piety. The following
day Toitas claimed his body from the English General, and it was then
embalmed and buried in the Isle of Ré, his heart having been sent to his
sorrowing widow, who had it buried with honour in the church of the
Minims in Paris, from whence it was afterwards removed to the Church of
the Visitation Monastery, Rue St. Antoine."
LXXV. _To Mother Jeanne Hélène de Gérard, Superior at Embrun._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_14th September, 1627._
MY VERY DEAR MOTHER,
I have just received your letter, and as we are on the point of starting
for Orleans I can neither give my answer the attention the matter
deserves, God with His wonted goodness will make up for my
deficiencies. Those good subjects to whose admittance your Archbishop
objects must not, of course, be received, and if the Fathers write to me
in reference to them I will keep to his Lordship's commands.
It is impossible for a superior to undertake to give all her orders at
the Obedience[A] although it is well for her to think a little
beforehand of what she intends to say at that time. The defect you
mention is a mere trifle, but that of urging on spirits over much,
although there is rarely sin, owing to your purity of intention, is,
however, a matter of great importance: therefore, my dearest Sister, do,
I beg of you, proceed gently in this holy work.