poured upon the concealed
fire, to give you a sweet and clear manifestation of the loving
presence of God.

You bear two marked results of the divine presence--interior
recollection, and a continual _amen_ in your heart; a true and just
response to all God's dealings with your soul.

I realise a very close union with you. This union is not in the
emotions, and not in the will of man, but in the will of God. It is a
union, from which I could no more separate myself, than from God; it is
a fulfillment of the prayer of our Lord, "that they may be one, as we
are one." It is a union which death cannot interrupt, but will
substantiate more and more fully in God.

Ever yours, in our Lord.

TO A YOUNG FRIEND.

You are very dear to me, my child. Do not think I have forgotten you.
God alone can render you happy. Give yourself wholly to him, never
more to take yourself back. Love him with all your heart. Retire
often within the closet of your heart to commune with God. Do not pray
to him in a constrained and formal manner, but all simple and natural.
God loves better the affectionate language of the heart, than, the cold
and discursive thoughts of the intellect. The prayer of love softens
the heart.

Do not shrink from your ordinary duties. We are often more united to
God, in our daily avocations, than in retirement. The reason is, our
good Father holds us more closely, when we are most exposed to
temptations. Endeavor to maintain, at all times, harmony and oneness
with God. You have only to abandon yourself wholly to divine love, and
perform all the duties that devolve upon you. Do not be restive, and
thus mar God's beautiful design and operation upon your soul. Place in
his bosom of rest, all your inquietudes, and allow him to carry you, as
a little child is borne by its mother. This little one has only to
regard, lovingly, the smiles of its tender mother.

God will give you a wise discernment as to food and drink, and all the
pleasures of life. He calls us to a temperate life, but not to a life
too austere. We should avoid the _too much_ and the _too little_ in
eating and drinking.

I pray our divine Lord, to enlighten, strengthen and comfort your heart.

LETTER TO HER SPIRITUAL GUIDE.

The state in which I find myself, my Father, takes away from me
entirely, the liberty to address you any longer as my Spiritual Guide.
I realize so great a detachment from all things, that there remains