XCVIII. To the Countess de Toulonjon.

Vive ✠ Jésus!

1634.

You wish, my very dear daughter, to have in writing my desires in your regard. Here they are.[A] The strongest longing I have is that you should live as a true Christian widow, modest in dress, reserved in action, and above all in conversation. On this account you must avoid having to do with vain and worldly young men. If you do otherwise, my dearest daughter, although by the grace of God I hold your virtue to be unapproachable and feel surer of it than of my own, it might easily be sullied, and your conduct would surely be criticised when it became known that you receive such persons and take pleasure in their society. I beseech of you, trust me in this. Your honour and my own and my peace of mind are involved. I know well that there is no living in this world without some sharing in the pleasures it offers, but, believe me, you will never find stable enjoyment save in God, in virtue, and in a just and reasonable attention to the education of your children, to the management of their affairs, and to the care of your household. If you seek it elsewhere you will have a thousand tribulations of heart and mind. Well do I know this. I would not have you refuse the lawful pleasure that is to be found in the upright conversation of the virtuous and in their visits, although in the circumstances in which God has placed you it would be desirable to receive visitors but rarely. In a word, dearest child, for God's glory, for the love and reverence you owe to the memory of your dear husband, for the preservation of your good name, and the edification of your daughter, who, without doubt, models herself upon you, you must keep your inclinations a little in check, submitting them to God, to reason, to your own well-being and to that of your children. You must also bear in mind what is due and becoming to your birth and your condition and to the comfort of your neighbours. You will be greatly helped in this by faithfully following the little practices of devotion of which I have spoken to you, and which I will now again set down.

Upon awakening in the morning, turn your thoughts to God present everywhere, and place your heart and your whole being in the hands of His goodness. Then think briefly on the good that it will be in your power to do that day, and the evil you should avoid, above all on that defect to which you are most subject, resolving by the grace of God to do good and avoid evil. Having risen from bed, kneel on your bed, or elsewhere, and adore God from the depths of your soul, thanking His goodness for all the graces and benefits that He has bestowed upon you, for a moment's reflection will show you how you are surrounded by His mercies and what a special care He has had of you. This thought ought indeed to touch your heart, which offer Him anew with your resolutions, affections, thoughts, words and works of that day, in union with that sacred offering which our divine Saviour made of Himself upon the tree of the cross, and ask Him for His holy grace and assistance to guide you through the day. Beg afterwards for His holy blessing with that of the Blessed Virgin, of your good angel and your holy patrons, saluting them by a simple inclination of the head and an interior act of reverence. All this can be done in the space of two Paters and Aves. Next, do not waste time over your toilette. As far as possible assist at holy Mass every day as attentively and devoutly as you can by using such holy considerations as are taught in Philothea.[B] If you cannot be present at Mass hear it spiritually as the same book teaches. Philothea ought to be your book of predilection and your spiritual guide. Either during holy Mass, if you cannot give other time, or at some other hour, withdraw a little into some quiet place every morning, and make about a quarter of an hour's prayer from your heart, placing yourself in God's presence, or at His sacred feet, or at those of the most holy Virgin, as a daughter before her father or her dear mother, and converse with the divine Majesty in humble, filial confidence. Do this either by reflecting on some mystery of Faith, or in accordance with some need you may have, or as your mind suggests. Conclude all by an act of great desire of loving and pleasing God, renewing your holy resolutions and invoking His grace. Let your chief care be to do everything with purity of intention, and often offer up your actions to God by holy affections, frequently calling to mind His goodness as He will suggest or your own heart will dictate.

Read every day for a quarter or half an hour some spiritual book, preferably Philothea. Before supper, either walking about or retiring apart, place yourself in the hands of God by some holy aspirations. Before going to bed examine your conscience and, prostrate before God, adore, thank, and invoke Him, offering Him your soul. If you are able, add the Litany of Our Lady, your attendants making the responses. Communicate at least on each first Sunday of the month and on the chief feasts, such as those of Our Lord, and our Lady, and the feast of St. Joseph, to whom I wish you to be devout.

Try to subdue your passions and bring them and your inclinations under the law of reason and of the holy will of God: otherwise you will never have anything but trouble and uneasiness of soul. God permits or sends to His predestined children, for their good and as a means of bringing them to His glorious beatitude, the afflictions and contradictions of this life. My dearest daughter, if you are so happy as sweetly and patiently to accept all that He sends, then be assured you will begin to taste even here on earth something of the delights of the blessed eternity of glory. But for this you must serve God willingly and love Him supremely, seeking His pleasure, choosing His divine will through holy obedience in preference to your own will, desires, or inclinations.

May God in His sweet goodness grant you this grace, dearest daughter; I unceasingly implore it of Him from my heart, which is that of one who loves you as her own with her entire capacity for loving. Amen.