[739.]

TO A WIDOW.

CXXI.

CONCERNING HER CHILD'S

EDUCATION.

As to your dear little girl, if it is God's Will that she should enter upon the religious life, she will come to it sooner or later, notwithstanding the present opposition of her grandmother. God will, if He sees. fit, make use even of the world and its influences to draw her to taste the sweetness of religion. I can assure you, my dear daughter, that not unfrequently when young children are brought up with a view to the religious life without any choice of their own, they cast it off as a bondage, like a horse which has been put too early into harness. A religious vocation is too sacred and special a grace to be given by human training or labour. God often makes education tend to develop a vocation, but He will effect His own purpose without the help of education, if it be His Will. You will do more by offering your child to God, than by striving to educate her to a religious vocation.

Letters.

T

[748.]

CXXII.

TO ONE OF THE BISHOP'S MARRIED SISTERS.1

MY DEAREST SISTER,

I only write just to say "good evening" to you, and to wish you and my brother countless blessings; above all, that you may ever be transfigured into the likeness of our Lord. Oh, how beautiful is His Countenance! how past telling the marvellous sweetness of His Eyes! and how blessed a thing it is to go up with Him to the mountain of glory! There it is, my dear sister-child, that we should fix our longings and desires, and not on this world, where all is vain beauty and attractive vanity! But thanks be to our Saviour, we have gone up to Mount Tabor, by means of our firm resolves to love and serve Him, and we must confirm these with a holy hope. Let us go ever upwards, dearest sister, unwearyingly upwards towards the heavenly vision; little by little let us quit all low and earthly clingings, and aspire only to the happiness Christ has set before us.

I intreat you, dear child, to pray much for me, that our Lord may keep me henceforth in the paths of His Will, and that I may serve Him sincerely and stedfastly. Indeed, dearest child, I would wish to die or

Apparently written on the Transfiguration:

to love God-death or love ;-for a life without that Love is far worse than death. Ah, my dearest child, how happy we may be, if we love His Sovereign Goodness above all things, remembering all His favours and blessings.

Let us give ourselves up wholly to Him, amid all the weariness of earthly things. How else can we prove our stedfastness amid all trials? Alas! my dearest sister-child, solitude has its conflicts, and the world its difficulties;-in each and everywhere we must be firm, remembering that God's Help is ever ready for all who trust in Him, and who seek His Fatherly guidance.

Beware of letting your care degenerate into anxiety and unrest; tossed as you are amid the winds and waves of sundry troubles, keep your eyes fixed on our Lord, and say, "Oh, my God, I look to Thee Alone, be Thou my Guide, my Pilot ;" and then be comforted. When the shore is gained, who will heed the toil and the storm? And we shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage stedfast, our mind and our trust fixed on God. If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest, never fear; let us take breath, and go on afresh. I am sure that you are adhering to our good resolutions;-do not be disconcerted by the fits of vexation and uneasiness which are sometimes

produced by the multiplicity of your domestic worries. No indeed, dearest child, all these are but opportunities of strengthening yourself in the loving, forbearing graces which our Dear Lord sets before us. Believe me, true holiness is not formed amid external freedom from care, any more than good fish come out of the stagnant waters of a marsh. Hail Jesus! Ever yours, &c.

[749.

CXXIII.

TO THE SAME.

April 30.

MAY our Saviour take out your heart, as He did to the holy Saint Catherine of Sienna, whose festival we keep to-day, and give you His Own Heart, in which you may live wholly to Him. What a blessing, dearest sister, if some day, on coming from Holy Communion, I were to find my weak, wretched heart gone, and the Precious Heart of my God in its place! But, dear child, although we may not seek after such extraordinary things, at all events we may desire that henceforth our poor hearts may live wholly in obedience to His precepts. In this way we can imitate S. Catherine, and so doing we shall be meek, humble, and charitable, for there is nothing nearer to His Heart than meekness, humility, and charity.

You will be very happy, my dearest sister-child, if,

amid all these frivolous distractions, you can live an inward life for God, Who Alone is worthy to be served and followed with earnestness. In so doing you will set a good example to all around, and you will ensure a holy peace and calm to yourself.

Pray let others speculate as they please concerning your motives for communicating often. It is quite sufficient for your conscience that you and I know such diligent reviewing and repairing of your soul's breaches to be most needful for its welfare. If you wish to give explanations to any one, say that you need to partake so frequently of that Sacred Food because you are very weak, and without that strength your spiritual force would soon perish.

Give heed, dearest sister, to clasp that Dear Lord closely to your bosom. Let Him be the bouquet which rests upon your heart, so that every one who comes near you may perceive the perfume, and recognise the incense of Heaven. Try to keep an even mind, in spite of the troubles around. Refer all your difficulties to God's hidden Providence, and believe firmly that He will lead you gently on, guiding you, all your affairs, and your whole life. When Arabian shepherds are overtaken by a thunderstorm they hide with their flocks beneath the laurel bushes; and so, when persecution or contradiction seem to overwhelm us, we must take shelter beneath the Holy Cross, with