AUGUST

ABANDONMENT TO GOD: GENEROSITY

August 1: We do not belong to ourselves, dear Sisters; religious perfection consists in the renunciation of all spirit of propriety in a life stripped of all self-will, all self-seeking in order to keep our eyes fixed only on the interests of our Lord.

2: It is in meditation that Sisters of Notre Dame must learn the science of spiritual crucifixion which the good God requires on the part of souls called by Him to the sublime functions of the Apostolate.

3: Place all your confidence in God. He will always assist us in circumstances wherein we recognize His will; let us cling to that, above all. As soon as you feel yourself disturbed, wait....Who knows God’s time? Therefore we must not become weary in waiting for the most favorable moments: the good God has waited so long for us. How good He is!

4: My dear good friend, hold fast the hand of the good God so that He may lead you, and that you may do all He wants. Leave yourself entirely on one side...If we could, once for all, let the good God act, all would go better with us.

5: Manly courage and firm confidence in God - these are the arms of a Sister of Notre Dame. With these she may overthrow all the devils of Hell, and face the most cruel tyrants of earth.

6: Of a truth, the life of a Sister of Notre Dame is no easy and comfortable life. It is modeled on that of our Lord and must be a life of annihilation, of sacrifice, of crucifixion.

7: Woe to the Sister of Notre Dame who does not live by immolation; she ignores the very purpose of that Divine call which fixed its choice on her.

8: You do well to offer yourself with your whole heart for all kinds of privations that it may please our Lord to send you: however rigorous His dealings with us may appear to be, His conduct is always that of a Father infinitely wise, just and good, Who leads us to our end by different ways.

9: Make haste and leave behind you all your horns, large and small, for you know you told me yourself people with horns cannot enter heaven. That gave me a moment’s recreation and I laughed heartily. It was your way of expressing it that amused me. For I see that you wish to be a good child of the good God, and that you are willing to have all the horns pulled out, be they long of short! In the meantime, do not let them grow any longer.

10: Souls of faith are unshaken by all the events of life. We must accustom ourselves to see everything in God - then all goes well, and the soul rests on the bosom of her Father. Let us love, love, love Him, my daughter, and repose in the care of His immutable Providence.

11: No, I see no middle course. God wishes for all or nothing, that is to say, to refuse a little corner of your heart to Him is to do a great injury to His infinite love, especially in souls whom He calls to greater generosity. I have great confidence that you are of this blessed number, consequently He asks of you very great fidelity in dying to all that is not Himself.

12: Let us die, let us die to all things, and especially to our wretched self. There is yet so much to be done in us, although the good God has been busy with us for so long. What a treasure of patience my God possesses. He has so long endured all my imperfections, but this should only increase my trust.

13: Let us think of nothing but gaining souls for our Jesus. What do not people of the world do to get followers? And we, shall we do nothing for our blessed Master and Lord?

14: All for the greater glory of God! Let us desire nothing but that. Leave alone, leave alone all the rest, all sensible support. God alone more than ever. He is our only Helper when all others abandon us.

15: I ask the good God most especially that He may impress His holy love so deeply in our hearts that nothing may ever separate us from Him. On the Feast of the Blessed Virgin I placed you at the feet of our good Mother, and made the consecration with you and the others who join us in the union of faith. I shall continue it with you during the octave.

16: How good is the good God, dear child, to make it so easy for us to derive advantage from everything, even from our misery and weakness. Let us not lose so good an opportunity, for it is by means of all these little occasions, given us by God that we are to become perfect. Confidence, dear child, perfect abandonment....What I would like to give you is the liberty of spirit enjoyed by the children of God.

17: Do you think, my good child, that every thing will be done without a struggle on both sides. The devil is too jealous of this good work to neglect putting forth all his strength in order to hinder it. But, dear child, do not doubt that you will have the very special protection of God, if you only know how to place all your cares in the bosom of His adorable Providence. Always hope, my dear daughter, for the assistance of grace, for it is never refused to anyone who asks for it in the right way.

18: Fiat voluntas! May the Holy Will of God be done in us all. Let us unite ourselves very specially to God’s will in all the different circumstances of life. Once again, my dear daughter, I have great confidence that the good God will give you grace to become stronger by the trials He sends you.

19: My dear daughter, with a little grain of the love of the good God in your heart, you would have acted more perfectly...love puts nature down and grace up.

20: Time is a great master, I prefer to let it pass; it will teach us a good many things. I go quietly on day by day. I wait for the good God. I look at Him, I follow Him. This is the one cry of my heart - “My God, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

21: As the work of God in souls is done gradually we must content ourselves with quietly following grace; a word, a remark, a little token of friendship, a thousand other ingenious ways which grace points out to us. After all, we cannot lead people to the knowledge of the truth without a miracle of grace. For that we must pray much.

22: I have the utmost confidence that God will bless in you the holy resolutions you have taken to advance in this precious life of death to self, although it seems to you that there is a great deal of work to be done. God is so kind, so merciful that He will be content with the little we are able to do day by day, and He will help us by His grace, provided that we set to work afresh everyday. That is all He asks of us.

23: A Sister of Notre Dame must be content with everything, and let her Superiors do with her as they please --- send her here or there, use her or set her aside, tell her to come or go --- without losing the peace and tranquillity of her soul. “The whole earth is the Lord’s,” therefore a Sister of Notre Dame must be at home everywhere, because everywhere she finds the good God to glorify, and souls to be saved.

24: Would to heaven that we had as much love for God as we have for ourselves.

25: God alone! God alone! Happy, a thousand times, those who lean upon no one but their Lord; whatever He may send them, they are never shaken in their trust in Him.

26: Let us rest in God - He turns all things together into good for those who love Him. So let us go on our way, ever straight to our good God - leaving Providence to do His work.

27: You would like to find virtue ready made, and put it on as you would a garment, says St. Francis de Sales. No, no, my good daughters, a long and strenuous fight is needed before we can acquire real virtue. If you let things go, and put up no fight at all, your difficulties will increase until they become insurmountable.

28: My dear good daughter, it is only the things we do against the grain that really count as sacrifices pleasing to God. Come, take courage! Let us deny our own inclinations, our own attractions. That is no small labor: ah, my God, help me, I pray!

29: How good a thing it is to lean upon Him Who alone is unchangeable! Let us cast all our care upon Him --- confidence, love, total abandonment into the hands of so good a Father.

30: Let us die to all things so as no longer to live but with the life of God, with the life of faith. Yes! Let us endeavor to perform all our actions in the sight of God, in pure simplicity. Ask our tender Father to grant us the grace always to do what is more agreeable to Him and most for His glory; then we shall always be near our Father, serving Him with fervent hearts.

31: You know our work together is not done yet. The good God has designs of perfection over your soul. But, you know, you must allow Him to act in you. Do not intrude your ways into His and you will see that the good God will accomplish His work in you in peace and calm. Thus alone is grace given a soul.