in my Father's
House":[7] if there were only those--to me--incomprehensible
mansions with their baffling roads, I should certainly never enter
there . . .

VII

July 13, 1897.

Your soul is too great to cling to the consolations of earth, and
even now its abode should be in Heaven, for it is written: "Where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also."[8] Is not Jesus
your only treasure? Now that He is in Heaven, it is there your
heart should dwell. This sweet Saviour has long since forgotten
your infidelities. He sees only your longing after perfection, and
the sight makes glad His Heart.

Stay no longer at His Feet, I beseech you, but follow this first
impulse to throw yourself into His Arms. Your place is there, and
I see clearly--more clearly than in your former letters--that all
other heavenly route is barred to you save the way your little
sister treads.

I hold with you when you say that the Heart of Jesus is more
grieved by the thousand little imperfections of His friends than
by the faults, even grave, which His enemies commit. Yet it seems
to me, dear Brother, it is only when those who are His own are
habitually guilty of want of thought, and neglect to seek His
pardon, that He can say: "These Wounds which you see in the midst
of My Hands, I have received in the house of those who love
Me."[9] But His Heart thrills with you when He had to deal with
all those who truly love, and who after each little fault come to
fling themselves into His Arms imploring forgiveness. He says to
His Angels what the prodigal's father said to his servants: "Put a
ring upon his finger, and let us rejoice."[10] O Brother! Verily
the Divine Heart's Goodness and Merciful Love are little known! It
is true that to enjoy these treasures we must humble ourselves,
must confess our nothingness . . . and here is where many a soul
draws back.

VIII

1897.

What attracts me towards our Heavenly Home is the Master's
call--the hope of loving Him at last to the fulfilling of all my
desire--the thought that I shall be able to win Him the love of a
multitude of souls, who will bless Him through all eternity.

I have never asked God that I might die young--that to me were a
cowardly prayer; but from my childhood He has deigned to inspire
me with a strong conviction that my life would be a short one.

I feel we must tread the same road to Heaven--the road of
suffering and love. When I myself have reached the port, I will
te