Note A — XCIX. To Sister Marie Aimée de Rabutin,[A] Mistress of Novices at Annecy.

Marie Aimée de Rabutin possessed all the caustic wit for which the de Rabutins were distinguished, and had no other thought than of pleasure and of her independence, until St. Jane Frances won her to Christ. "Make haste, my daughter," she said to her, "for God is the enemy of delay." From the entrance of Mademoiselle de Rabutin into the Monastery of Annecy (1624) her fervour was without bounds, and were it not for obedience her austerities would have shortened her life. When she was elected Superior at Thonon St. Jane Frances said to the outsister who came to fetch her: "Make the most of the time your new Superior rules you, for you have never had and perhaps never will have her equal." She governed several monasteries and died in 1678. Her praises are summed up in these words of St. Jane Frances: "When once Mother Marie Aimée returns to Annecy she must not be taken away again, for although she is my relative, I cannot help saying that she has always been a living rule and a model of perfect observance." (Archives of the Visitation, Annecy.)