Salesian Literature

Vol. 2, CONFERENCE 8 : Answer to questions in the Visitation of Lyons

 

(Note: This is a collection of various talks which St. Francis de Sales gave to the community in general or to the Superior or another Sister in particular.)

 

The first time he came to visit us, he spoke to us for about an hour and a half on the tranquillity of heart, with an intense feeling of fervour. He told us several rimes that we should never worry about anything, and never lose our peace of mind no matter what may happen to us. As for himself, he would rather choose to occupy a comer of a room and be at peace than to be lodged at the Court in the midst of all the worries of honours and riches. For this reason, he expressed his wish to stay in the room normally used by Father Brun, our confessor. We told him several times that he would be uncomfortable there. He kept on saying "No", and that he would be better off than he deserved. Moreover he would be close to his dear daughters. When we continued to tell him that he would really be uncomfortable in that room, he said to us: "I am quite comfortable. Don't worry about me. Be at peace". And with great humility and gentleness he remarked to us: "I see that you wish to get rid of me; but, I beg of you, please let me stay there, and please do not worry about my discomfort. In fact, at Annecy I sleep in a room ten times colder than this".

 

And since he continued speaking to us about the tranquillity of heart, we told him: "My Lord, we humbly beg of you to give us a talk on the subject of the tranquillity of heart and also on how we should conduct ourselves on the occasion of the change of Superiors". He replied, "I would love to do it; but let us wait for our Mother to come". He dwelt a long time over the spirit of renouncement we should have when Superiors are transferred. He said: "Most of the tears shed on these occasions are but the overflow of self-love, flattery and fear that one has because people will think that we do not have any feelings or that we do not love enough.  All these things are small pretences which could involve lies, so also our words. The younger Sisters are greatly subject to this weakness especially when they know that the Superiors are soft-hearted and take pleasure in these small signs of affection. Of the thousands of tears shed on these occasions, few are really genuine, and very often it is done to imitate others. Well, that is the way of young women." We told him that many of our Sisters had mentioned to us during recreation that very often they wept only because they saw others doing so. To this his reply was: "Is it possible that they said this? I am grateful to them. It is very true that these tears and sobbings are indeed open to suspicion. In Italy they are wonderful regarding this. They express their praise for people by weeping. Your love should be solid and not depend on such sentimentally. True love is shown as much when you are close to a person as when you are far from her, and is not attached to what is human. All this is not the fruit of grace. The Sisters should regard their Superiors, so long as they have them, as those who hold God's place, and not waste time on all these human inclinations which are nothing without real virtue. Even though we are told that St. Teresa of Avila shed many tears on the death of one of God's servants, we are not to imitate her in this. We should imitate only the virtues of the Saints."

 

We asked him if he did not have some plan to ensure that the spirit of gentleness and simplicity which is practised among us is kept alive, and that there be some link between the different Houses of our Congregations- Many persons were of the opinion that a Superior General would be the right kind of link. He answered with a very surprising firmness: "My dear daughter, this is a purely human idea. I spent two days and two nights thinking about this, because our Mother had written to me telling me that people had brought this point to her attention, but I do not intend to do it. We said to him: "What, then, is your intention. My Lord?" He answered: "My desire is that we leave everything in the care of divine Providence". He repeated this to us over and over again and made it quite clear to us that he had no other plan in view. We know that he discussed this matter with the Jesuit Fathers who were of the same opinion. He told us that he was very glad about this and said that you have always to face many difficulties when dealing with things pertaining to God." He further added: "The happiness of a Religious Order does not depend at all on the Head. We see this from our experience of day-to-day life. Those who have had people of great excellence as their Head, did not for that matter cease to become lax. Everything depends on the fidelity with which we unite ourselves to God through our faithful observance of our Rules and Constitutions. Try a-s you may to look for all sorts of means, yet nothing can preserve a Community as each one's fidelity in observing the Rules". And he also said that he had no other desire but that God should deign to grant to our Monasteries the spirit of unity and humility. This spirit of unity should be maintained through the perfect observance of the Rules so that the Order of the Visitation may persevere according to God's will.

 

We asked him how we should conduct ourselves with regard to the administration of temporal goods, given the fact that everybody urges us to be concerned about them and interested in them. If we wanted to be completely detached from them, everybody would criticize us and show us all the other monasteries which are well-built and well-financed, whereas ours are not so- He answered: "It is true, my daughter, that the world dreads poverty, but what can we do about it? All we have to do is to show simply that we do not wish to be attached to material goods, nor do we want to lose our peace of mind for the goods of this world." In this connection we told him that the house of the Archbishop of Lyons was destroyed by fire and he had lost his silverware worth six thousand gold coins. And I said to him that this was a real disaster, for that money could have been useful to us to build our church, He became visibly annoyed and said to me: "Oh, my God! My dear daughter, don't ever have such desires. Few indeed are the people who know to discover the treasure of real poverty. It requires that we desire nothing but rather be pleased with the little God wants us to have. How happy our Sisters would be if they were poor and lacking in something."

 

"The diligence of the Superiors, their devotion and their spirit should make up for all that is not written down- My mind and my feelings are totally against the exclusion of the sick from our Community: whoever is guided by a natural and human prudence will ruin charity." He added: "If ever it happens that objections are made to admit the sick and the infirm into our Houses. I would come back and I would make a great deal of noise in your dormitories to make it clear that things are being done against my wishes."

 

We asked him whether he would agree that the girls who come to us from well-to-do families should ask their parents to give us help when our Monasteries were uncomfortable. He told us "No", He said he would prefer that our House should suffer from lack of facilities, and be in need of something, than to allow the girls such desires which would greatly promote their self-love. He would not allow them even to ask for help for the sacristy, even though it was in a poor condition. If they gave something, we should receive it humbly but we should ask for nothing and not even desire anything, except in some rare and exceptional situation. It is always better to keep oneself in poverty.

 

We asked whether a Superior could give something to a relative of hers, who is with the Sisters of St. Claire, and who asks her for alms. He said "Yes. She could do it, in the same way as she would allow a Sister to do so". I told him that I often had scruples and remorse of conscience because I was not strict enough concerning temporal goods. It was due to fear that the parents of the girls would not give enough financial help to their daughters through my fault, and that thus our House would be poor. He said to me, "Don't worry about that. You have to deprive yourself of material goods, not out of disdain and contempt, but from a spirit of renouncement.

 

Then he said to me: "Our Mother wants me to write on the sayings of the Son of God. I honour them, I revere them, and I respect them with all my heart, but I do not practise them. The Son of God said: do not go to Law, but if I do not do it, everybody is against me. The Son of God said: If a man wants your shirt, let him have your coat as well (Mt.5:40). If I wish to do it, people tell me that I am quite wrong, that I would leave nothing for myself, and that I am already quite poor. The Son of God said: If someone gives you a blow, offer the other cheek (Mt.5:39). The world wants to do nothing of the sort, nor does it want to tolerate the least insult. The Son of God said: Be gentle (Mt.5:4) and people want me to get angry; if I do not, they think it is due to stupidity.

 

We asked him whether it was his intention that we give alms in all our Houses. He said, "Yes, according to the sayings of the Son of God. But we are not sure that the people to whom we give alms are really poor. Nevertheless, it is always good to give alms."

 

Speaking to him as to whether he found it a good thing that in our Houses we serve meals to our confessors, he answered: "As for me, if I were the confessor of the Visitation Sisters, which I don't deserve to be (it is true that I don't deserve it; it would well be for me the greatest happiness that I could ever hope to be a confessor of the Visitation and relieved of all my other dudes), if it were to be so, I would prefer to make some arrangement, rather than put the Sisters to inconvenience to prepare my meals. I would also not like to let them know my weakness whenever I got fed up, or disgusted or made a fuss over the food served to me. Why should the handmaids of the Lord be troubled with my weakness?  Would it not be a hundred times better that they remain in their peace and quiet, rather than have to attend to all this botheration. So you see, my daughter, it is very important that you should not encourage your confessors to do this- For a single one who is easy to deal with, there are very many who are not, especially regarding their food. The virtue of temperance is great, but very few know to practice it well. Now [ don't want you to change your attitude towards your present confessor; he is so good and easy to please, and I think there is no trouble with him. Since you have already started to provide him with meals, continue doing so, but be careful of the others. I much prefer that you raise their stipend.'

 

"It is true, my daughter, I cannot ever complain about your food, except to say that sometimes it is too good; isn't that the way to go about it, my daughter? You are afraid that the Sisters will be offended if you serve them food prepared from the leftovers; it pains me to hear about it, but to eat such food, never!"

 

"Poverty and simplicity are strongly recommended to you. Nevertheless, you say that there are some Sisters who r because of what I say in the Constitutions, that the Congregation should take an exceptional interest to see that the sacristy is looked after very well - understand that they have to be greatly anxious so that nothing is missing and they have a large number of beautiful articles. Oh, God, is it possible that things can be so greatly misunderstood and that people go to such lengths in order to follow their natural inclinations? Have they nor observed that in so many places the Constitutions insist on always maintaining the spirit of tranquillity and never losing it for any reason? I noticed such attachments among our Sisters at Annecy. When they are given some responsibility, they cannot bear lacking anything; but as soon they are relieved of their charge, they are not bothered any more.

 

There are two things you have to change in your sacristy. This being the second House, I want that everything goes well here as at Annecy. Firstly, your cord is too beautiful, it is not simple enough. Two ribbons are more than sufficient with the big cord, the others are superfluous. Secondly, your alb has too much braid; there is no need to have braid whether under the sleeves or above the sleeves; it is enough to have it on the seams, and that too should be quite small. The reason why I have said in the Constitutions that there should be no dolls placed on the altar is because normally these dolls are badly made and then it is a great waste of time, and young women take a natural delight in making them. As for angels and cherubim, you can place them on the altar without any scruple."

 

We told him one day that we were afraid it would be a great danger when the Superiors did not have the spirit of the Rule.  "What would you do about it? If they are faithful in their observance of the Rules, God will give them the spirit in due course." When the Sisters desire to have a responsibility, we should give it to them to make them happy. We have seen from experience that some of the Sisters, who were not doing so well as subjects, have done better as Superiors. They did not do it for themselves nor does it serve their perfection but they help others.

 

He told us that it is always better to elect a Sister who has solid virtue, even though she is young. God helps people who live in simplicity and confidence. He also said that it pained him very much when people elected a Superior who had neither the virtue nor the capacity to fulfil her charge. You have to provide them with a good Bursar to lighten their burden.

 

"There are very few Superiors who handle temporal affairs. It is not at all necessary as part of their responsibilities. When Superiors who are not suitable to the task interiorly are elected, we must give them a good Assistant." We said to him: "When the Superiors do not have much self-control, they cannot bear another performing their duty. - "And why", he asked, "do they not bear it? If I were a Superior, I would be quite happy that someone relieved me and I would willingly let him do what he wanted."

 

Speaking about confessions on special occasions, we asked him whether it was better that the Sisters opened their hearts to the Superior before going to confession since the confessors ask them especially about sins against chastity. He said: "You must leave this freedom to the Sisters because it can happen that the Superior does not understand such things."

 

We said to him: "My Lord, it seems that when we have confidence in God, He does not fail to give His light to carry out our responsibilities and that the essential thing is to have charity." He replied: "It is true, you are quite right; when the Superiors remain closely united to God, He does nor fail to instruct them."

 

Speaking about Superiors, who spend too much time in the parlour, he said: "I don't approve of it at all: but what can one do about it?"

 

About the removal of a Superior which had deeply affected the Sisters and which made it difficult for them to call her Sister, as they were always accustomed to call her "Mother", he remarked very gently: "Let them call her Grandmother", if they want to, I would not know what to do about it. I see, nevertheless, that these Sisters neither respect nor observe their Rules and Constitutions.

 

We said to him: "My Lord, after you have given us a Conference on how we have to conduct ourselves at the election and removal of Superiors, we shall work wonders by putting it into practice." He answered: "Our words don't perform miracles; you have to devote yourself to the practice of what the Constitutions tell you to do. They tell you enough of what you should do. But the Sisters have so many small longings which they prefer to follow rather than obey. And what can be done about it? You have to allow them to shed tears in order to show their love, for they would think that others would be sure they have no love at all if they do not weep. It is just the weakness of women!

 

You should say nothing and do nothing to win over the love and respect of creatures, nor to merit their scom. You have to believe that if creatures do not love us in this world they will love us in Heaven where we shall all meet. Moreover, why are we so worried about winning the love of creatures, so long as we know that we have the love of the Creator? Since we have the complete assurance of this love, we should be satisfied,

 

When somebody asks you if you will say always the Little Office, say yes, because you hope to get the Pope's permission, and that you already have it for ten or twelve years. It is my aim and my desire that you continue saying it; but I would not interfere if someone were to oppose me."

 

You may also answer to the question concerning expulsion from the Order that it should be done according to the Rule. I have removed what I said of it in the Constitutions not only to satisfy the people but also to prevent Sisters from examining minutely the faults of their companions to see if they deserve expulsion at all.

 

He was asked if it was necessary to confess imperfections or if it was wrong to confess them. He said that he had learnt in theology that it was not necessary to confess them, but we could do it without harm. The method taught to us allowed us to do so because we do not always see clearly if there is a sin, that is, why we explain in a general manner. You should not say much about them in ordinary confessions, two or three of them at most. "It is all right if you speak about them in your annual and extraordinary confessions- When you find nothing to confess, you can mention some sin you committed while you were in the world."  We can very well confess the feelings of impatience or bad moods, which have led to some action though small, such as coughing or saying some word, for there could be a sin there. You should not get worried about these things, for we do not have a perfection whereby we are completely free from self-love which leads us to commit a little sin here and there. You should not be in the least surprised. You could accuse yourself in the following manner: "I accuse myself of having acted through irritation, because of something done against my liking, or through impatience. However, if we do not act due to these feelings, there is nothing bad about it, but rather merit.

 

As for the act of contrition, he said that to make it well one should regret the sins of the past and detest them with all one's heart and take a firm resolution not to commit them again- One should have made a general confession for it is not for venial sins that the act of contrition is intended- Confession is not invalid when one goes to it without contrition; it is enough to have the determination to correct oneself. "You are not expected to have such feelings as would make you shed tears, but displeasure for having offended God. It is not a sign of a lack of goodwill if one falls into the same faults again and again, provided it is not done deliberately. A good act of contrition consists in having a firm determination never to offend God again."

 

"As for useless words in recreation there should be none. All that is said in recreation is not useless. You have to enjoy your recreation. You should not keep your spirit always tense for then you would run the risk of becoming sad and gloomy. Even if you spent the whole recreation in talking about things that are indifferent, it would not be wrong and the words would not be useless. You are not expected to speak about virtuous things all the time. Your conversation is holy and Joyful when there is no evil in what you say and when you do not speak about the faults of others. You should never do that, nor should you speak of worldly and unbecoming things.

 

There is no harm in laughing a little at a Sister or in saying something which would embarrass her somewhat. But it should not make her sad, for that you should never do. However, if it were to happen, you are not to mention it in confession provided it was done from simple recreation. When we want to reach perfection, we have to aim at the bull's-eye, but we should not get discouraged when we do not succeed. We have to go very simply and sincerely and make the best of our recreation. Should attention be diverted elsewhere, we are to recall it, if it prevents us taking part in the recreation.

 

"Even when you have not thought of doing it to please God, you should not have any scruple, for your general intention is sufficient. However, you should try and direct your intention at the beginning. You have to teach the Novices to do this well. It is very important that the Sisters do it well.

 

When we have thoughts of disrespect against our neighbour, it is not wrong if we do not reject it outright for lack of attention. It is enough that we reject these thoughts when we become aware of them. As regards the question you ask, whether it is better for you not to speak about your troubles or of anything which would show some good in you, because you are afraid you don't know how to express it and so it results in your receiving appreciation rather than in making known your difficulties. My dear daughter, you have to speak quite frankly and simply of what is good and what is bad in you, provided that you do not seek appreciation. If people praises you, don't be troubled by it any more than if people despise you. Don't distract your mind with such things.

 

"There is nothing wrong in thinking about oneself now and then, provided that it be done to humble oneself, for instance, to think of one's ingratitude, but we should always reach out to God. As I have told you, prayer properly speaking does not consist in always reflecting on oneself. In fact, prayer is the uplifting of our heart to God with a view to be united with Him. We have to make reflections when our Lord invites us to do so, but we have to try to make progress towards perfection by a way that is most simple and not be so subtle.

 

We cannot live with a continual awareness of the presence of God- That is possible only to the Angels. All we are expected to do is to try and be aware of His presence as far as we can, and to raise up our hearts and minds often in Him-1 do not want that our spirit should be in a continual state of tension. If what we are doing takes our attention from God, and it is something necessary, we should not be troubled by it. It is enough that you do all your actions for God quite simply. If it happens that you have not thought of directing your intention before beginning and doing your work, it is enough that you do it afterwards and don't be scrupulous about it. The general intention we make in the morning is quite enough. In the beginning Novices are taught the practice of offering to God all their actions. All the same, they must be aware that it is not necessary to do it always because that will distract them from keeping themselves in the simple presence of God- Whenever we do something for God, it is being in His presence. The desire we have to be aware of God's presence keeps us in His presence. We should not be surprised when we find that we do not remain aware of the presence of God as much as we want to. We should be quite contented with the desire that we have to serve God and we should not give undue importance to not having the feeling that we want to have in His service.

 

Don't be worried if it seems to you that you overcome your imperfection more because you dislike corrections than for the love of God. Direct your intention and all will be well. Even if you find that you commit some faults because of your strong feelings, don't fix your attention on this and turn yourself away from such reflections. We have to aim at the bull's-eye of perfection, and we should not be surprised if we do not succeed according to our desire. My dear daughter, the desire of everlasting things should bring you a certain relaxation of mind. You should not be anxious about the feeling. In fact, you should believe that you are not worthy to have it.

 

"If it seems to you that you have a craving for eating, it is not a bad thing to eat. Don't give in to these scruples. Eat for the love of God and be at peace. Go about it in all simplicity and do not think that you are just satisfying your appetite under the pretext of obedience. There is no danger when your will does not consent. Don't complicate the situation.

 

It does not upset me if someone sleeps during prayer, provided he does all he can to wake up. We have to bear up with this humbly and remain like a statue in God's presence, ready to accept whatever He sends. Sometimes, our Lord is pleased to see us struggle against drowsiness throughout the time of prayer and without wanting co free us from it We have to bear up with it patiently and love our humiliation. Never say that you are unable to do anything, for we can always do something when we are determined to do it. Otherwise, it would mean that Our Lord asks us to do the impossible, which cannot be true. We can do everything with His grace which is never lacking to us (Phil.4:13).

 

In order to prepare ourselves to receive Holy Communion, we have to keep ourselves very close to Our Lord and speak to Him the words our heart desires and which He inspires us to say. We have to realize that He is within us and that He became flesh of our flesh, so as to make us one with Him; we have to say to Him like the Bride of the Canticle that he may kiss me with a kiss of his mouth (Song 1:1), and He does it when He comes within us, and then our heart can cry out My beloved is mine and I am entirely his (Song 2:16; 6:2). "We shall never be free from venial sins. Merely accusing ourselves of sins means nothing if we are not ready to be reproved. And if we do not consciously like that others notice our defects, it is a sign of self-love. The feeling of resentment that we have on being corrected is nothing, provided our will is firm in loving our humiliation- It is always better to keep ourselves in an attitude of confidence in God, than to live in fear, even if we do it in order to humble ourselves. Love humbles us enough.

 

"My daughter, do not deprive yourself of Communion because you feel bitterness of heart. When you experience this, you ought to receive Communion in order, to be strengthened and to unite yourself to God by a spirit of gentleness. We have to abstain from Communion sometimes because of certain defects, for instance, when you have given vent to your impatience or reacted unexpectedly, doing or saying things which have scandalized others. In such cases, you may not receive Communion with the permission of the Superior. When you are not much worried about it and you are ashamed of doing penance, it is good to choose it rather than ask for another.

 

"Fidelity to God consists in being perfectly resigned to His holy will; in bearing up patiently with everything His goodness allows to happen to us; in doing all our spiritual exercises in love and for love, and especially prayer, in which we should talk with our Lord quite familiarly about our little needs, to place them before Him but always remain submissive to Him with regard to all that it pleases Him to do with us; to be very obedient, to do everything that we are commanded to do with a willing heart, even if we find it distasteful; to be faithful to leave as soon as the bell rings, and to cast aside the distractions that come to us when we are at prayer and Office; to preserve a great purity of heart, for it is there that God dwells, and not in hearts which are filled with vanity and self admiration, which on the contrary He chastises and punishes severely. God has given you a great grace in calling you to His service at a young age; thank Him well for it with all the powers of your heart

 

It is indeed very bad, my dear daughter, to deliberately look at the imperfections of others. You should never do that. But if it happens at times that you notice them, you should turn away from them and think quietly of Heaven and of God's perfection, of our Lord, our Lady, the Saints and the Angels and sometimes we should look at our selves, our lowliness and our unworthiness. When thoughts of the imperfections of others come to us, we should humble ourselves and lie prostrate in the dust of the earth, seeing that we are but tiny little worms who dare to find fault with the actions of other Sisters who are the Brides of our Lord' We have to give our heart a deep conviction of its own weaknesses. We have to rebuke ourselves so as to be more careful in the future. Oh God! may we never commit this fault of looking at the imperfections of the Sisters, for this would greatly delay our own perfection and do great harm to our soul.

 

"When you find it difficult to confide in your Superior or your Mistress of Novices, I advise you to speak about it to them and ask for a suitable penance. However, the best way to avoid all this is to attach yourself to the Creator and not to creatures.

 

''''Regarding the proper preparation for prayer we have to go for it with deep humility and the consciousness of our nothingness. We have to ask the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our Guardian Angel. Throughout this time we have to remain quiet in God's presence, believing that He is more present in us than we are to ourselves. Even though our prayer is devoid of thinking and reflections, there is no danger. In fact, prayer does not depend on thoughts and reflections. Prayer is a simple attention of our spirit to God; the more it is simple and free from emotion, the more it is prayer. Few people grasp this truth, especially women, to whom reflections cause great harm because of their ignorance. Nevertheless, I advise you to gather up your heart with reflections during the day, if you are able. But you should not think of your sins during the time of prayer. When such thoughts come to you, you should simply humble yourself before God, for all your sins, without thinking of any particular sin, for this single act of humility is enough. Usually, these thoughts are only a cause of distractions.

 

"You will live constantly in God's presence in all your actions, if you do them all for God. Eat, sleep, work for Him - this is being in His presence. It is not in our power to be conscious of His presence always, except through a special grace. Whenever we do some work which requires our attention, from time to time we have to place ourselves in God; and if we fail to do it, we have to humble ourselves, and through this act of humility to go to God, and from God come back to humility, with confidence, speaking to Him as a child speaks to its mother, for God knows well what we are.

 

"It would be wrong to speak on worldly matters and about yourself during the whole recreation. There is no harm in doing it once or twice or saying one or two words to amuse a Sister. That's nothing wrong, you need not mention it in confession- Take great care to cultivate a spirit of simplicity and to humble yourself. Keep aside human prudence and wisdom and take hold of that of the Cross.

 

"Do not be surprised at temptations. Hold yourself as truly nothing; empty your heart of all worldly attachments and engrave on it our crucified Lord. Thank Him for the gift of your vocation and be determined to obey. But don't be like the many who say: "I would not like to be a Superior"; rather, always keep yourself in holy indifference: desire nothing, refuse nothing.

 

"It is indeed sensible to deprive ourselves of worldly satisfaction for God, since He has divested Himself of His glory for us. You have been enlightened enough to see in what consists the happiness of your vocation. You should never say that you cannot do something, but you are right in saying that it seems that you cannot. Indeed we can do everything with God's grace, which is never lacking to us when we are in need of it.

 

"Concerning prayer: there is no danger at all if you sit down for some time when you need to do so. But you should not be seated throughout your time of prayer. You have to avoid all sorts of easy-going ways which are dangerous and very harmful to us in our way of salvation. Physical infirmities do not prevent devotion. On the contrary, they help us if we accept them as coming from

the hands of God. We can always have a cheerful face among the Sisters; the suffering you feel does not prevent this, except perhaps sometimes when you are very tired.

 

Oh my dear daughter, beware of these reflections, for it is impossible for God's Spirit to dwell in a heart which wants to know everything that takes place within it. Take courage! See that you make this little girl who is so weak grow up and become totally generous to overcome all sorts of difficulties.

 

"You should not shed useless tears, for if we will be called to give an account of every useless word we have uttered (Mt. 12:36), much more shall we be called to account for all the useless tears we have shed. You must mention it in confession as a serious shortcoming and you must put a stop to weeping, as far as possible. You have also to take care not to speak idle words and if you do it two or three times you should mention it in confession. But you need not say in confession that you failed to be present at the spiritual exercises unless it was due to contempt or great carelessness. One has to be present as far as possible. Otherwise, if it becomes a habit, it will do harm to religious life.

 

When you make a vow to follow our Rules, you take them with the understanding that they do not bind under sin; that is why neither the Rules nor the Constitutions are the cause of our sins.  "You should be very courageous, my dear daughter, because you are a daughter of Jesus Christ crucified. You should not, then, have any other aim in life except to be united with God.

 

You should stand firm in all your worries, for as long as we are in this life we shall never be able to remain in the same situation, that is something impossible.

 

The desire for eternal life is good but we must desire only the will of God.

 

"The virtue of the first offering we made, in sacrificing ourselves to our Lord, is sufficient even though we do not consciously offer Him all that we do. Consoling feelings are not necessary to arrive at the perfection we desire, for our Lord himself was deprived of all consolation, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in spite of this He never gave up doing the will of His Father (Mt.26:37-46).

 

"As for a good and effective government, it does not depend on mere natural talents, but on supernatural grace, which is a more perfect means of gaining the necessary experience than all human prudence and human wisdom- There is less of display in God's wisdom and in this consists its excellence.

 

"You have to take what is needed for your body, like keeping it warm and feeding and clothing it, in a spirit of thanksgiving and humility and not in a spirit of boredom. You should also never desire to complain about your inconveniences. That is understandable in people who are weak. The daughters of God should not be so easy-going. What do you say, my daughter, about what I said in the conference that if I were to be born again I would have no desires at all? You, Sisters, are indeed happy, your Rules and all your duties are leading you to this union. The Constitutions teach you what you have to do: be simple and ask for whatever you need, without any scruple. "Take care to preserve the desire you have to observe your Rules, for they are all permeated with love; remember that you will always meet with difficulties, but don't lose heart; keep trusting in God and throw yourself into the arms of His divine Providence. There is no surer way to God than the way of suffering, provided we suffer with love, gentleness and patience, and thus we come to imitate our Lord and all the Saints. We have to believe that all we suffer is little before God; you have to think as little as possible of our own sufferings.

 

"You should learn to ignore the feeling of pleasure you get in making use of things which are necessary for you. Someone walking along a road and finding it full of mud will simply take another path. That is what we should do, without thinking much about it.

 

"It is true that you do well to cut short all kinds of conversations, except those which concern your spiritual good. That does not mean that you should put a stop to what your father or mother begin to say to you. After they finish what they have to say, talk to them about things which would comfort them, without being in any way conceited. Listen gently to them without interrupting them, for that is not what I intend telling you, except if people come with a lot of news of the world, which you should not be curious about. Put your confidence in God, for parents soon forget their children.

 

No doubt! It would be a curiosity to seek to know whether it is the will of God that you eat It is indeed true that we should know what we do against God's commandments, that is, against His Will. As regards other things that happen we should not probe whether it is God's will or not. We should keep our hearts in God. We are not to listen at all to such thoughts which may come. Beware of thinking that it is not the good spirit because your intention which is good will change what is bad into good.

 

"Humility is such an excellent virtue that you have to be truly holy to possess it perfectly. It is humility which brings along all the other virtues. Now, to do all your actions in a spirit of humility means to do them with the intention of doing them with humility. It is thus that you have to go about doing all your actions and all your work, so as to imitate our Lord who humbled himself even

to the death of the cross (Phil.2:8).

 

"We should be quite pleased to have some things which would be of use to others, like to lend some articles from the sacristy. Oh, my God! give them gladly. If God allows them to be spoilt, He will provide you with the means to buy others. And besides it is such a small matter that you should not give so much attention to it. It is better you are concerned about eternal life.

 

It is true that charity gives value to all our actions and only God can give it. Expect to have it more from Him than from your own self.

 

"It is a very good thing that you should not love to talk about your own self; the less you do it, whether to say good things about yourself or bad things, the better it is.

 

"The article concerning chastity consists mainly in having a great simplicity and purity of heart, and not to entertain contrary thoughts, I mean deliberately.

 

"It matters little whether the word of God is proclaimed in a high style or in a low style; it is just a purely human quest which seeks for excellence in everything.

 

"You have to abandon yourself into God's arms and serve Him in the manner which pleases Him. True zeal consists in letting yourself be led by God as well as by your Superiors.

 

"It is extremely important to educate and bring up the Sisters in the truth and the light of faith. Even if they find it difficult, still you should not give up educating them in this. You should never let them be occupied with tenderness towards themselves and sentimental feelings which have nothing to do with real virtues. It is useless to talk too much; the important thing is to do.

 

"You joined the Religious Life for the love of God; so be indifferent to the ways by which His goodness will lead you. Let it be by way of consolation, or suffering or humiliation. You deserve to be led as well in this way as in that. My daughter, when the pagans were putting Saint Blandine to death, she was crying out: "I am Christian!". In the same way, when we have sufferings or difficulties, we too should say: "I am Christian!".

 

"The difficulty we have to bear our abjection, and the fear we have of being humiliated, are imperfections to which we are all subject. We should not be at all surprised about it, but take fresh

courage and place our heart in God, not desiring anything than to please Him. A humiliation is not as bad a thing as we think it is. It will not do us as much harm as we think it will or as it appears to us. Let us not be so afraid of it. Look at our Lord, who humbled himself so much right up to death. Think of all the Saints who with so much love went in search of occasions to practise this virtue. Be happy with the humiliations which come your way, accept them with a good heart, and with love. Accept, love and embrace self emptying and humiliation. May all your attachments be to Jesus Christ crucified. Don't be surprised to find vanity in you; be faithful in your struggle against it; there is no harm done so long as you do nothing else besides.

 

"You want to know what it means to meditate day and night on the law of God (Ps.I:2). It means doing all our actions for God's greater glory, and to keep your heart always attentive to Him. Do not think that this means that you have to be always on your knees.

 

"You ask me how I see so many persons who are anxious about while I don't trouble myself about anything. I have not come into the world to bring worry. I find there is enough of it already. I am so glad when people ask me where I am staying, to answer that I live at the gardener's room of the Visitation Sisters."

 

"There are very few young women who are not stubborn. If ever you come across one who is not stubborn you have to consider her as very dear. And when you are tempted to be envious because your Sisters do better than you or because they are loved more than you, you will have to wring your heart like a towel to make it reasonable.

 

No, my dear daughter, you should not waste your time with these little desires that come to you of wanting to suffer from the cold or things similar. They would debase your heart too much and prevent it from the practice of solid virtues. As for the cold, do you know when you should suffer from it? It is when your Superior sends you to the garden to gather vegetables and you run the risk

of getting your hands frozen on the plant. Still, you should not give up doing such work for that is obedience.

 

We should take great care to encourage the Sisters and do all we can to help and to comfort them. We should not think that they have few troubles, for it is not up to us to judge about that.

 

We shall not go to Heaven because we have sung well, but only if we do well to obey. God will not ask us to give an account of the number of Offices we have recited, but only if we surrendered ourselves well to His will.

 

You ask me for the exact meaning of the article of the Constitutions which says: We will use our heart, our eyes, our words uniquely for the service of the Heavenly Spouse and never for the service of our moods, human tendencies. "My daughter, you speak to me of a perfection which few people practise, even though everybody ought to do it. Take an example: here are two of our Sisters; you are very fond of one, but you are not so much inclined to love the other. Because of this you do not regard with as much kindness the latter as you do the one you love. However, if you were to love the first purely out of love for God, you would regard the one you are not fond of, with as much kindness as the one you are fond of, and you would desire for her as much good as for the other.

 

It is true that I love everybody very much; but especially simple people. As regards the respect, which you seem to think I have for one and all, good manners teaches us that, and it comes naturally to me. I have never been able to follow the attitude of some people, who as soon as they are raised to some dignity expect everyone to honour them- And when they write letters, it is only to the most distinguished persons that they sign "Your humble servant'. As for me I write that to everybody, unless of course I write to Peter or Francis, my servants. They would think I was making fun of them by signing off as "Your most humble servant". I don't make a great difference between one person and another.

 

Speaking to him about condescendence or adaptability to others, we asked him how he managed to be so free with everybody. He replied: '"I do not have much difficulty regarding the matter. It costs

me nothing to be easy to get along with, and equally it does not bother me if it happens that I am not that easy to get along with. I am not naturally prone to be self-willed; but then, is it not always good to be accommodating towards your neighbour? I cannot go against what others desire. When I see that someone needs my help, I give in willingly.

 

I told him that I wished so much to imitate his spirit of condescendence. It happened so often that just as the bell went for the Office I had to go to meet someone in the parlour, and even on Christmas Day I had to miss Compline (Night Prayer) for some small, insignificant reason. He answered me: "That is true condescendence, my daughter, just as you show condescendence in being with me at this time. It was on the feast of St. Stephen, during None, that he spoke so graciously to us about this virtue. He told us: "You should encourage visitors to come outside the times of Office, as far as possible." 1 asked him something about preaching and confession: "I love very much hearing the word of God; that is the only good point I have. I have committed several lapses in confession, but not more than two. I am not at all scrupulous and I do not hide anything."

 

Once he expressed to us his desire to have the foundation of the Monastery at Besancon, and he told us that he would be so glad to see the Sisters spread far and wide, because they live with so much peace and gentleness.

 

We asked him if we should not warm ourselves? He said: "Well, when you see that fire is made, it is for the sake of obedience that one warms oneself provided that it is without over-eagerness."

 

Once we told him that our great desire was to see that our House should imbibe his spirit. He replied: "God preserve you from that! You should rather take hold of the spirit of God and that of Saint Augustine."

 

Once he heard the confession of one of our Sisters and he spent about an hour and a half listening to her. We expressed our admiration for his gentleness, at the trouble he took and his patience to listen to her for such a long time. He said to us then: "Oh, that's fine! that's fine! You have to treat sick people like sick people. When they review their life it is better to cut their discourses short, as much as possible."

 

We told him that the Sisters had taken to heart tile two sayings he had recommended to us ("Desire nothing, refuse nothing") and since some time they had got into the habit of warming our beds. Could we let them continue doing it? He said, "Yes, but they should be told that you are not much in favour of it, and that it is better not to need many things than to have many things, as the Rules indicate."

 

We asked him if it was in the spirit of the Constitutions to tell the Superior what we think other, since they (the Constitutions) direct us to help the Superior in the discharge of her duties. He told us that he had included this article in the Constitutions for those who did not feel more confident enough to tell the Superior about these things. Those who are confident are the better ones.

 

Oh, yes, my daughter, you can accept illegitimate girls into the Congregation, and even more admit girls whose parents have been executed for a great crime; what can the girls do about it? Nothing. I told him that we never dared to admit such girls in this town, because of objections. He asked us; "Why did you not send them to Annecy?"

 

You should never allow the Sisters to leave their Office to go and do some work, not even in the sacristy. You could allow them, but rarely, to leave during the time of the spiritual reading. Happy are the Religious who greatly love to follow the Community always and everywhere. It's a great grace from God. I shall tell you about a Religious who wanted to practise all kinds of penances and mortifications over and above those practised by his Community. I told him all long that the best thing to do was to follow the Community in everything and asked him to put this advice into practice. He did it. After some time he came to see me and thanked me lovingly and told me that I had done him a lot of good."

 

We told him that there are some Sisters who are naturally frugal and who generally eat only about a third of their share. We asked him whether we should insist that they should eat more. He answered saying that it is better to experience some difficulties for some time in order to get accustomed to it- You have to do that because otherwise it could, with time, ruin their health. "No, you do not commit a venial sin by enjoying your food, these are but the imperfections of our human nature. You have to control your greed and avoid using harsh words. As for me, I am not a great critic. Saint Bernard says that few persons are alike in their manner of directing or governing people, but that nevertheless, the way of gentleness and graciousness is far better. You can look at it from any side, but you have to come back always to that.

 

May God Be Praised!

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