Letter 94

From Quebec. To her son. 3 October 1645
Her desire that all the congregations of Ursulines in France would unite as those of Tours and Paris have done in Canada. How the call of God must be answered. How we must lose ourselves in God when we cannot imitate His perfection.

My very dear and beloved son,

The love and life of Jesus be your sanctification and salvation!

I have received your two letters with your kind present which I accept with affection and devotion, as did those with whom I shared it. When I want to give my spirit a little relaxation I imagine the triumph of the Holy Virgin and those saints who have sung about this. But now let me answer your first letter. I am very much obliged to you for the clarification you have given me about the affairs of your order and especially about the separation of your congregation of St. Maur from that of Cluny. I should have been troubled about this matter because I got a hint of it from France. Now I understand the whole business and its importance and I am consoled by your decision to remain in the congregation of St. Maur because it was to that God called you to be all His and to lead you to heaven.

You are right in what you tell me about the union of our Congregations in France. If this is to be accomplished, it must be with the consent and through the means of all the bishops of the dioceses in which there are monasteries, for we are subject to them. And what is annoying is that, since each is free to draw up its own constitutions and customs, there is great difference in customs even in the same Congregation. Add to this the fact that each Congregation’s original constitution has been changed and overthrown through all the changes made by the bishops. Today all these are so weakened that in order to bring unity it would be necessary to have a union of bishops with the consent of the Holy See draw up a constitution approved by His Holiness.

I have just received a letter from France which tells me that in the Assembly General of Prelates which was to have been held in Paris last May, this affair was to be discussed. I don’t know what has been done but I put this into the hands of God. The Congregation of Paris and our own Congregation are the most important and also the most alike. Yet, nevertheless, I have no doubt that there would be difficulties to resolve because of the large number of houses of which they are comprised, as well as the different dioceses where they are located.

As far as our Union here in Canada, that is not the same thing. The prelates and superiors who sent us here know very well that since we would comprise only a single house, it would be essential to adjust our customs; for it would not be possible to remain in peace were we all different from each other - especially in the midst of people entirely contrary to us in morals, in disposition, in customs. Thus it is much easier to abandon these original customs through necessity rather than to do so by force or even through a loving adjustment. It is true that there is an important difference which must be adjusted by common consent. The mothers of the Congregation of Paris make a fourth solemn vow: to teach young girls. We do not do this in our Congregation of Tours. We are only required through a papal bull to do this after ten years of religious life or at the age of twenty-five. In order to adjust to this, we are making this vow without, however, any obligation to do so solemnly if we do not wish, and only for the period of time we will be in Canada. For who can predict the events of Providence? It could happen that reversals would force us to return to France although I foresee no trend toward that. In order to compensate for our adjustments, the mothers of the Congregation of Paris have adopted our habit, which is different from theirs, under the same conditions in which we have taken the vow. These are the most outstanding difficulties of our Union which, nevertheless, have been peacefully resolved.

Who can have told you that I have had difficulties in our establishment? Yes, I have had, and unless one has experienced this it is hard to believe how many problems one encounters in an establishment made in a new and completely barbarous country. Far removed from France and from all help, relying entirely on Providence, we depend so completely on France that without its help we would not know what to do. In addition, no matter how urgent and important things are, one must wait a year in order to have them resolved; and if this cannot be done during the period when the ships are in France, then one must wait for two years. When the ships return, those to whom some concern has been entrusted are apt to think only of their own affairs; thus one can hardly ever have a clear solution to any problem. Even more, most of our plans are not understood; thus quite often things are resolved differently from what we had wished. This is what obliges the Fathers to sometimes send one of their own men for their affairs, just as there are deputies for the affairs of the country.

I don’t mention the innumerable thorny problems with which we are constantly faced in this country. In a word: nature has no hold on what could comfort it nor any claims which could flatter or satisfy it. I must admit to you that I have suffered so many crosses that except for an extraordinarily strong grace of God, I would have fallen under their weight. But after all, the divine Goodness has always brought success to our little affairs, both spiritual and material - even to those which, according to human appearance, ought to remain imperfect. Above all, we suffer because of our Bull of Union which we thought to receive from Rome but which the Pope does not wish to give us until there is a Bishop here to receive it. We are trying another expedient in the hope that the present Pope will be more obliging than his predecessor. With this in mind I am writing to several influential people to beg them to work at this as something essential for us. If you had had a bull from Rome confirming the union of your Congregation of Saint Maur with that of Cluny, the latter would not have let it be so easily broken. I cannot see, however, what could trouble ours, here at the end of the world, except my sins.

We experience here a profound grace which unites us powerfully to Our Lord and, just between us, here is a sign of it. This year we have had the election of a superior, for I had been in charge for six years and our rules do not permit any further time without an interruption. We have elected one of the mothers of Paris who is a wise and virtuous daughter, in order to show that we make no distinction of Congregations. Besides, we felt that in acting thus our Union would become stronger and more firmly cemented. Yet the fact that your union foundered for lack of a bull makes me concerned and leads me to make every effort to obtain from Rome what we still lack to ensure our Union. I hope for this grace from Our Lord, for there have been so many extraordinary circumstances in our vocation and in our mission to Canada that I would have great difficulty in believing before I could convince myself that his Divine Majesty would leave this work unfinished. All our pains and crosses have never let me lose heart. I expect still more than I say…in the profound experience I have had of his Divine Mercies toward me, even were I to see a complete reversal of plans. If you realised this, my very dear son, your heart would melt with love toward my Benefactor. But enough on the subject; I must answer your other letter.

If what I write to you touches you, it is our good God who makes up for the lack in my words. It is true though that it is my heart that speaks to you If my little labours are pleasing to God they belong to you as well as to me; and if you accompany me in my duties then I accompany you in yours. This Sacred Heart of Jesus is the centre between us, and His Divine Spirit is the link of our conversation. For it is with Him that I speak of everything which touches you and everything which concerns me. I make only a single subject of yours and mine. Or to express it better: I make only a single host to be consumed in the fire burning on this divine altar.

No, I have no difficulty in believing that God is giving you zeal and devotion for the salvation of souls. This vocation may be a general one, however. If I may express my thoughts, I would advise you not to repulse it. (I never even knew there was a Canada and when I heard this word spoken, I thought it was invented to frighten children.) It is not only the place which can improve a vocation. God often begins with a general thought, then brings the heart to a halt in the place where He wants it to be, either by being actually present there or simply by praying for the souls in that place or working for their good in some other way.

My vocation has been of this kind and there are many others like this. I spent many years without knowing where my spirit would rest: this was a general vocation. Then very clearly God let me understand that it was Canada where He wished me to serve Him. Then finally He accomplished this in a remarkable way. On my part I have done nothing about this but submit to the Divine Will. Often I rejected the inspirations God gave me because I saw the great disproportion between what I was and what was being interiorly suggested to me. Then I was immediately admonished to follow God’s orders which I awaited in peace, abandoning myself to the Divine Will.

Fr. Poncet has gone to catechise the Nipissiainins, three hundred leagues from here, and he may even go farther. We don’t get letters from him oftener than we get them from you, so you cannot get an answer to your letter for two years. He is an excellent missionary, as is Fr. Bressani, his companion. This good father has planted an excellent seed in your soul, inspiring you with the desire for martyrdom. Oh, my dear son how consoled I should be if I were told you had lost your life for Jesus Christ. If I were present and they were about to do you such a signal favour, our divine spouse would give me courage enough to push you back into the fire or under the hatchet, if you tried to draw back through human frailty, for I know you would be infinitely obliged to me for the good deed.

What will you do, powerless as you are, to follow God and imitate His perfection? For myself, when I see myself in this powerlessness, I try to lose myself in him. I do my best to forget myself in order to see only Him and, if possible, I speak with Him intimately. To put it naively, my whole life is constantly taken up with this exchange. I so do dearly love this union of heart and will with God in the love of this same God that this is the reason for the requests I make of you. I cannot understand how there can be a light in our spirit without our will being possessed. Is it not true that God is so loveable, so sweet and captivating, that one must submit to him unquestioningly at the very moment when he makes himself known? The same is true with regard to His virtues and His divine works. It is through an excess of his goodness that he reveals himself to us and He even seems grateful when we throw ourselves into His arms to caress him lovingly.

This is why He will be all and we will be nothing for thus we will be more easily lost in Him. My dear son, let us come together in this loss of ourselves - or better, in this infinite abyss where all our failures will be obliterated, for charity covers everything. I am much more imperfect than you, but why should we hesitate to lose ourselves in Him who wishes to purify us and who will do so if only we will lose ourselves in Him by a bold and loving trust? Small children give small gifts; but God divinizes his children, bestowing on them qualities conformable to their high dignity. This is why I am more pleased to love and express my love than to stop and think about my lowliness and unworthiness.

I am deeply indebted to all the Reverend Fathers who honour me by their charity and their remembrance of me. Assure them that I pray for them and that they have a share in my labours.

I regard them all as my good Fathers, and they are so indeed since they are yours. I have such love for your holy congregation that I seem to belong to it. No use asking you to pray for me for I know you do.

From Quebec. 3 October 1645.
Kelly, Sr M. St. Dominic, O.S.U. Marie of the Incarnation 1599 - 1672 Correspondence, (translated from the French edition by Dom Guy Oury Monk of Solesmes), Irish Ursuline Union, 2000, p. 100 -103.