Sales), and you will there see the extreme sweetness and suavity with
which he led souls, and how marvellously they thus advanced. Follow his
spirit closely, I pray you, animating all, encouraging all, yet always
with gentleness. Commonly speaking, we have more strength for bearing up
on great occasions than on small ones, so it is that being overcome by
slight difficulties we get to know, through the grace of God, how weak
we are, and in this way He keeps us humble and dependent on Him. These
little attacks which give you heart-aches are nothing to an enlightened
mind resolved to will only as God wills; and this, I know, is your own
sole aim.
Your sincerity in telling me this thought (that you are more enlightened
than I am) has given me great pleasure. Such openness and simplicity of
heart is the cream of virtue, which I desire for the daughters of the
Visitation. May God increase it in you, together with the love of your
own humiliation and holy liberty of mind.
Keep to this way, very dear daughter, and God will, I trust, make you
experience the wonders of His mercy. Abide, I pray you, between the arms
of divine Providence and of holy Obedience, and let not your desires
outstep these limits.
Believe me, daughter, it is to God's glory that you finish your term of
office. I mean your triennial term in the charge of which obedience has
placed you. I have a thousand reasons, both for God's sake and for what
is becoming in yourself, to show you that this is the Visitation spirit,
but I have no leisure to write them. Give us the comfort of seeing you
persevere generously. You have only eighteen months to get through. It
will soon pass, and at the end of it you will have abundance of
consolation for having satisfied the good pleasure of God who asks this
of you. Before that time, please God you will confer and resolve
together as to who is to be your successor, and also about the
buildings in regard to which it would be well to have the opinion of the
Archbishop so as to conform to it as much as possible.... I want to say
a few words to Sister Anne Marie (Bon) and then hasten to finish.
Praying God abundantly to spread His holy benedictions upon you and all
your dear family, I recommend myself with great earnestness to your
prayers, that in this journey, and at all times, I may accomplish the
holy will of God. I shall always answer your letters whenever I receive
them, for God has given me a very sincere affection for you and for your
little house, and my desire is to respond to the holy confidence you
place in me with so much candour and fidelity.
Adieu, dearest daughter. Believe me, with my whole heart,
Your very humble sister and servant.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] Before the Sisters disperse at the morning and evening recreations
they receive "Obediences" from the Superior as to any change of
employment or any special devotions in the course of the day.
LXXVI. _To Sister Françoise-Angélique de la Croix de Fésigney, Mistress
of Novices at Riom._[A]
Vive [+] Jésus!
ORLEANS, 1627.
MY DEAREST LITTLE ONE,
Your letter has given me much consolation, for in it I see somewhat more
determination to follow the advice we have given you, which, for you,
is the only suitable advice. Keep your heart on high and confide with
holy joy, and no reserves, in the goodness of God. He has designed to
make choice of you for His service in the Monastery in which He has
placed you: where no doubt there are others more capable than you, but
that does not signify in God's eyes. It is humility, not capacity, He
looks for. The most humble and the most faithful to His divine will
contents Him most, and this is, I know, the way in which you are
determined to serve Him. Live where you now are as you used to live at
Nessy, growing in perfection by perseverance in the practice of virtue.
This is all I ask of you. And if you give way now and again, be not cast
down by such falls, but for love of God rise again with courage. It will
give me great pleasure if you try to suppress childish ways. I wish I
could make you see this. Should you, however, fall into them sometimes,
do not worry. In a word, dearest little one, guide your novices boldly
according to the teaching of the Directory and you will see how God will
bless your care of them. For my part I feel sure He wishes to use you
for the well-being of your monastery, for, as you know, all depends on
the novitiate.
I never thought much of good Sister Madeleine. Let her not think that I
believe in her revelations. Most assuredly God does not give such to
souls who are so full of imperfections. She can tell untruths about
what I said to her just as she does about other things. Try, however, to
gain her and give poor Sister, the Superior, all the comfort you can. I
write in haste. I should like to write often, but I cannot. However, we
shall meet again, please God. My daughter, my dearest little one, be
henceforth, I repeat, joyous and generous in the service of the good
God. Ask Him always how you should speak and act, and be assured that in
everything for your good and for that of your dear novices He Himself
will act and speak through you. I salute most affectionately the novices
whom I dearly love, and all our Sisters. May God put Sister N. in the
right way.
Adieu, daughter.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] This Sister was a relative of St. Francis de Sales. St. Jane
Frances, who never flattered, used to call her "the little Saint."
LXXVII. _To St. Vincent de Paul._[A]
Vive [+] Jésus!
PARIS,
_December, 1627._
Now that you are working in the Province of Lyons, my very dear Father,
we shall have no opportunity of seeing you for a long time, yet it is
not for us to gainsay what God arranges. May He be blessed in all
things. But, very dear Father, I am taking advantage of the liberty
which in your charity you have given me to continue importuning you with
my confidence, and I do so in all simplicity.
I gave four days to the Exercises (Retreat), and no more, on account of
the amount of business that has come unexpectedly upon me. During those
days I realized how much I need to labour at acquiring humility and at
bearing with my neighbour. I have been trying to acquire these virtues
during the past year, and with Our Lord's help have practised them
somewhat. But it is His doing, not mine, and if it please Him I will so
continue as He gives me many opportunities for the practice of them. For
my part it seems to me that I am in a simple state of waiting on the
good pleasure of God to do whatever He wills with me. I have no desires,
no plans; I hold to nothing, and very willingly leave myself in His
hands; still, I do this without sensible devotion, but I think it is all
right at the bottom of my heart. I just do at the present moment what
seems to me necessary without thinking any further, or planning for the
future. The whole inferior part of my being is frequently in revolt,
and this causes me much distress. I can but bear with it, knowing that
through patience I shall possess my soul. Moreover, I have an ever
increasing weariness of my charge, for I cannot endure the labour it
entails, and I am obliged to force myself to do the necessary work which
is wearisome to both mind and body. No matter how I am occupied, my
imagination gives me a good deal of trouble, and it all makes me sick at
heart. Our Lord permits me besides to have many exterior difficulties,
so that nothing in life gives me pleasure save only the will of God who
wills them. I beseech you to implore Him to have mercy on me, and I
shall never fail to pray Him with all my heart to give you the strength
you need for the charge that He has entrusted to you.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] The reciprocal affection and veneration of St. Vincent de Paul and
St. Francis de Sales is well known. Both trained in the school of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, the one the apostle of Charity, the other of
Gentleness, these two souls bore so striking a resemblance to one
another that when, upon the death of St. Francis, St. Chantal placed
herself under the guidance of St. Vincent de Paul, she is said to have
felt that she had made no change in her spiritual direction. Of her
intimate correspondence with St. Vincent, which continued until her
death, there remains, unfortunately, but a mere fragment.
LXXVIII. _To the Countess de Toulonjon._
Vive [+] Jésus!
PARIS,
_10th of May, 1628._
MY GOOD, DEAREST DAUGHTER,
May God be your eternal joy and consolation! The Bishop of Chalons has
written to tell me what a comfort it has been to him to have had you
near him for a little while, and his only regret is that you could not
have stayed longer. He is most kind-hearted....
M. Coulon, at the request of M. de Coulanges, has brought me all the
contracts, in order to let me see just how things have been, which
indeed I knew already, and an account of which I have given in a
memorandum to M. de Bussy for you, so that M. de Saint-Satur may make up
his mind either to relinquish his claim or to make it good: for M. de
Coulanges wishes to hear our side of the matter before putting my son's
property in order. This is, dearest daughter, my reason for begging of
you to settle how you intend to act, for if this business is dragged on,
the property will be spent to the ruin of the little de Chantal child. I
hope Our Lord in His goodness will let us see clearly the truth, and
that seeing it we may preserve that blessed peace and harmony which is
more precious in families than all the goods of the world. M. Coulon
will have told you how greatly M. de Coulanges and my daughter de
Chantal desire that this union amongst us should be maintained, and that
things should be arranged amicably and without delay; of this I can
assure you, dearest daughter, so pray think the matter over; for to tell
me that you will give it all up if I so desire is not the point at all.
If you have a just claim I have no wish that it should not be satisfied,
this being only reasonable; but if you have none, which I think is the
case, and that the title-deeds show it as plain as day, I would wish you
to put in no claim, so that the affairs of this poor little child may
be arranged in peace. Should God take her to Himself you will then have
wherewith to be satisfied. While awaiting the great comfort of seeing
you, you ought, I think, to act conclusively in the matter.
Praying God to spread in abundance His holiest blessings upon you and
upon our poor child, I remain, very dear daughter, notwithstanding all
surmises to the contrary, in very truth and with my whole heart your
Mother, who has for you that incomparable maternal love which God has
given me and which by His grace will never grow less.
I salute M. de Saint-Satur, whose most humble servant I am.
Good-bye, my dearest daughter.
LXXIX. _Extract from a letter to Mother Favre._
Writing from Bourges, 1628, to Mother Favre, who had just been elected
Superior of the Second Monastery of Paris, St. Chantal says: "Your good
Father (St. Vincent de Paul), for whom I feel so much reverence and
affection, thanks me for the gift we have given him of you. This is, I
think, to forstall your being taken away. I shall see to it with the
Bishop of Geneva and with you yourself. What a rogue you are! But all
the more are you my truly loved daughter, for whom I have an
incomparable affection. I send my salutations to whoever you wish. God
be blessed!"
LXXX. _To Sister Anne Marguerite Clément at Orleans._
Vive [+] Jésus!
DIJON, 1628.
Yes, indeed, my dearest daughter, God should be all in all to you. The
one cherished good of the soul is to be alone with her God. Remain in
this state of simple detachment, loving and obeying Our Lord in the
person of your Superior and following blindly her guidance and her
commands. I know full well that you have given me your heart and that
God has lodged it in mine, and this is why I hope nothing may ever take
it thence. Through His grace we have been trained in the same spirit and
vocation in this world; may we continue together to love and praise the
supreme Beloved of our souls for all eternity. Since God has deprived
you of the power to use the intellectual faculties of your soul, do not
attempt to do so, but acquiesce in His good pleasure. Be as a child in
the arms of its nurse, letting God do just as He likes with you through
holy obedience, and try little by little to forget self. I do not think
there is any other means of securing stable peace of soul than the
giving oneself up absolutely, in order to be led and directed by
obedience.
Yours, etc.
LXXXI. _To Mother Catherine-Charlotte de Crémaux de la Grange._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1629.
MY VERY DEAR DAUGHTER,
The good gentleman[A] who is making your foundation at Condrieu
manifests a great regard for it and much piety, courtesy, and humility
in the articles of his foundation which I have seen. Indeed it is but
reasonable to do all you can to please him. However, in regard to this
first proposition of naming those whom he wishes to be received without
a dowry, you must if possible arrange that the Sisters have the liberty
to choose the subjects, lest those he names may not be suitable. This is
an important point for the preservation of peace in our Institute, as
usually those who present subjects have such a strong desire to see them
received that, if they prove to have no vocations, the Sisters by
sending them away make for themselves enemies instead of friends: so
have a clear agreement on this point. It is quite necessary, in order
not to be constrained to take those who are found to be unsuitable. The
Book of Customs will afford light on this matter....
As to the Fourth Article, the instruction of young girls. To take
boarders is contrary to the spirit of our Institute. Our Blessed Father
never approved of it. I do not know if you will find amongst his letters
one which he wrote to a superior who had been approached on this subject
by her Bishop. The Book of Customs permits indeed that three young
girls, but not more, between the ages of ten and twelve, whose parents
destine them for the Religious life, should be instructed and trained
for it. If therefore one could manage to give satisfaction by arranging
such instructions as they desire in the parlour to young girls, and to
some friends, that could be done on feast-days, and on one day in the
week besides, but to act otherwise would be contrary to the Institute.
Such is my humble opinion, since you desire to have it.[B] We received
your letters yesterday, and will answer them as soon as we can, but the
bearer only gave us time to open them. We shall have the answers ready
to send you on the first opportunity that presents itself.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] This foundation was made from Lyons by M. de Villars, whose brother,
Mgr. de Villars, Archbishop of Vienne, presided at the installation of
the Sisters at Condrieu, January 1st, 1630.
[B] The Little Sisters, of whom St. Jane Frances herself deemed it
sometimes necessary to increase the numbers, have long since been
superseded by small secular schools. The needs of the times, and the
solicitations of the Bishops, under direct obedience to whom St. Francis
wished his daughters always to remain, impelled the Mother Superiors of
various monasteries, including that of Annecy, to deviate from the
original design of the founders in so far as to open schools. But where
this departure from the original Rule is not found necessary, the houses
continue to be purely contemplative. It is interesting to note that on
the deathbed of the Venerable Mother Chappuis, her daughters desiring to
know her dying wish in reference to their own school, she said: "It
neither interferes with the silence, the regularity, nor the solitude of
the Sisters, and is neither against the Rule, nor against the spirit of
the Institute." We are told that at Troyes, where this venerable servant
of God died, the Community, apart from the few engaged in teaching, was
absolutely ignorant of what passed in the school, knowing neither the
names nor the numbers of the school-children.
LXXXII. _To M. Poiton,[A] at Chambery._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_Feb. 2nd, 1630._
MY GOOD AND VERY DEAR BROTHER,
I have already thanked God for your safe return, and when writing to my
Sister the Superior (of Chambery) sent you my good wishes. Now, while
renewing them, I would like to tell you how very much I desire to see
you and talk over some matters of interest with you, so I hope this
poor town will soon be restored to entire liberty.[B] Meanwhile, dear
brother, you will, with your usual kindness, take steps to accelerate
the lawsuit against M. de la Ravoir, and this I very strongly recommend
to you, as I am greatly astonished to see such apathy about an affair,
that is so clear. It is now two years, or at least a year and a half,
since the suit was begun, and it is of great importance to all our
monasteries in Savoy. As to us here, if the judgment is not in our
favour it will later entail a number of legal proceedings and
annoyances, for many are awaiting the result of this case to go to law
with us themselves. M. Fichet, who is at Chambery, has already done so,
and hopes to deprive us of the dowry of his sister, who died here after
a year and a day of profession. The ground upon which he bases his claim
is, that, notwithstanding her profession, she made a will leaving
everything to this monastery. You see, dear brother, how much the peace
or trouble of our houses of Savoy, in regard to the Sisters' dowries,
depends on the issue of M. Ravoir's case. If you can still procure legal
approval of our exemption from the tax upon salt all our houses will be
under fresh obligations to you, and, besides, you will be helping
towards our Sisters' buildings while awaiting the time when you can help
us to build our church.
Pray convey my remembrances to the Commander Baldain. I never write to
him because letters only worry him, and, besides, I am myself so
overwhelmed with letters and business, owing to the number of our
monasteries that correspond with this one, that I am hardly able to get
through it all. From day to day we are expecting the removal of the
restrictions on this town, after which we shall converse with leisure,
fully and freely. I beseech Our Lord to shed upon you His choicest
blessings. Recommending myself to your good prayers, believe me with the
same affection that I always have for you,
Yours, etc.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The Convent lawyer.
[B] In the spring of this year (1630) the invading armies of Louis XIII.
reached Annecy. The little town bravely but ineffectually resisted. On
capitulation one of the clauses it stipulated, and which was granted by
the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, was that the body of the
venerable Francis de Sales should never be removed nor taken out of
Annecy.
LXXXIII. _To Dom Galice, Barnabite Father at Montargis._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_February, 1630._
MY REV. FATHER,
May the love of our Divine Saviour be the life of your soul....
I am very incompetent to give a useful answer to your letter in
reference to my Sister the Superior of Montargis:[A] I beg of Our Lord
to enlighten me that what I say may be in accordance with His good
pleasure. In the spiritual life of this Sister I have always seen many
traits of special communication from God. Her humility is genuine, her
charity towards her neighbour practical, her manner of treating with her
Superiors straight and simple, and she has a real love of mortification,
and of the practice of virtue. These are solid dispositions and such as
are usually favoured by God. He has, I see, given your Reverence so
clear and discerning a light in regard to the workings of grace in this
soul and so much wisdom and counsel in guiding her that we can but look
on with silent admiration. All I have to say is that I have never seen
anything clearer, more simple, humble, and artless, than the terms, in
which, with such lucidity, she manifests the operations of God in her,
and the activities of her own soul. To me it is impossible to believe
that she is moved by any other than the Spirit of God. It is said that
we know the tree by its fruit, and as her tree brings forth the fruit of
solid virtue there is nothing, I think, to fear. With your approval, my
very dear Father, I venture to say that the suitable accompaniment to
such great favours is interior recollection and self-humiliation. She
writes to me somewhat fully of her feelings. I reply briefly, but, as I
think, sufficiently. Let her pay little attention to what passes in her,
and fix the eyes of her mind on the unity and simplicity of the presence
of God, leaving it to do its own work. As to communion, your Reverence
will allow it to her as your prudence and discretion dictate. I am told
that the Bishop of Sens is a man of a very interior spirit and of great
piety. If he visits this convent it would be well, I have been thinking,
subject to your approval, to let him know what passes in this dear soul:
this would give us much light, or at any rate it would give us
confidence. I am quite of your opinion that it would be well for her to
write what passes within her.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] Mother Anne Marguerite Clément.
LXXXIV. _To the Same._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY,
_August, 1630._
MY REV. FATHER,
My dear Sister, the Superior, is very happy to be privileged to receive
so many graces in such a spirit of deep humility and detachment. This is
the touchstone by which to prove that they are from God, and which keeps
in security the soul of the recipient. She serves truly a good Master;
yet I am always of the same opinion that she ought not to be too much
carried away by these affections for fear that in weakening the body
they might unfit her for the duties of her charge. It would be well for
her to restrain her emotions so as to keep them in the superior part of
her soul and thus prevent an overflow on the body: this is a safer way.
To hear from time to time of what passes within her would, my very dear
Father, be an immense consolation to me: say, for instance, towards the
end of the year, or as your Reverence judges best.
LXXXV. _To Mother Anne Marguerite Clément, Superior at Montargis._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1631.
I am very well satisfied, my dearest daughter, with the favourable
opinion of your Bishop as to your dealings with God. Blessed for ever be
He who is so infinitely good as to deign to communicate Himself in such
plenitude to His poor and unworthy creature.
My daughter, there is nothing for me to say on this head. Do faithfully
whatever your worthy Bishop desires you to do. You have only to look at
God and to let Him work, completely forgetting yourself in Him. Since He
in His love permits you to speak to Him so lovingly and familiarly I
pray you, dearest daughter, present to Him sometimes my miserable little
heart, humbly beseeching Him to make it entirely His, to strip it of all
that does not find favour in His sight, and to give it the grace to do
and suffer all things whatsoever that His good pleasure wills.
Earnestly recommend to Him our poor little Congregation, that His spirit
may reign therein, and commend me often to His most holy love. Do this
so heartily that I may feel the effects in as full a measure as His
adorable will permits. Give me always your sweet affection in that holy
love. I have read the two pages of your letter regarding your interior
state, upon which I say nothing, save to praise God for the graces and
lights that He vouchsafes to you. It is not for the creature to use
empty and insipid words when the Creator Himself deigns to speak.
LXXXVI. _To Sister Marie Denise Goubert, of the First Monastery of
Lyons._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1631.
MY DEAREST SISTER,
I have read and re-read your letter, at the end of which you beg of me
to tell you if you are deceiving yourself in the belief which you hold
as strong as an article of faith (to begin with, it is a grave fault to
believe one's imagination in the same way as one believes an article of
faith) that your spirit is lost in God, as you describe it to be. Now I
tell you plainly, with my wonted sincerity, that I believe you are
deceiving yourself; for true lowliness is not made up in the
imagination, nor does it consist in having many affections and lights
to discourse on such things as you do. When one sees such lights in a
soul dead to self it gives great consolation. But, my daughter, you are
very far from such happiness, for you are bristling with self-love. Try
to acquire genuine humility, which consists in the death or the allaying
of your passions, inclinations, sentiments: your presumption, vanity,
and self-love; having achieved this you must labour constantly and
perseveringly by a continual mortification of your whole being. Begin by
retrenching the vain flights of your imaginations and the activity of
your understanding. I would wish you not to be so subtle in your
questions.