d of love.

"Therese thinks all this"--you say--"because she does not know my
difficulties." She does know, and knows them well; she understands
everything, and she tells you confidently that you can go without
fear to receive your only true Friend. She, too, has passed
through the martyrdom of scruples, but Jesus gave her the grace to
receive the Blessed Sacrament always, even when she imagined she
had committed great sins. I assure you I have found that this is
the only means of ridding oneself of the devil. When he sees that
he is losing his time he leaves us in peace.

In truth it is impossible that a heart which can only find rest in
contemplation of the Tabernacle--and yours is such, you tell
me--could so far offend Our Lord as not to be able to receive Him
. . . What does offend Jesus, what wounds Him to the Heart, is
want of confidence.

Pray much that the best portion of your life may not be
overshadowed by idle fears. We have only life's brief moments to
spend for the Glory of God, and well does satan know it. This is
why he employs every ruse to make us consume them in useless
labour. Dear sister, go often to Holy Communion, go very
often--that is your one remedy.

II

1894

You are like some little village maiden who, when sought in
marriage by a mighty king would not dare to accept him, on the
plea that she is not rich enough, and is strange to the ways of a
court. But does not her royal lover know better than she does, the
extent of her poverty and ignorance?

Marie, though you are nothing, do not forget that Jesus is All.
You have only to lose your own nothingness in that Infinite All,
and thenceforth to think only of that All who alone is worthy of
your love.

You tell me you wish to see the fruit of your efforts. That is
exactly what Jesus would hide from you. He likes to contemplate by
Himself these little fruits of our virtue. They console Him.

You are quite wrong, Marie, if you think that Therese walks
eagerly along the way of Sacrifice: her weakness is still very
great, and every day some new and wholesome experience brings this
home more clearly. Yet Jesus delights to teach her how to _glory
in her infirmities._[2] It is a great grace, and I pray Him to
give it to you, for with it come peace and tranquillity of heart.
When we see our misery we do not like to look at ourselves but
only upon our Beloved.

You ask me for a method of obtaining perfection. I know of
Love--and Love on