Courage then, Sisters ! let us give our hearts entirely to Him who is knocking for admittance, and let us banish from them everything that is not for God. In order to give ourselves to him without reserve, let us endeavor to go out of ourselves, so that God may find no obstacle when he comes to take possession of our hearts. Up to the present time, as I have already told you, I have been paying up for the agreeable time that I spent at Scala ; I am as well as one can expect during the storm ; I am in such a state that at times I can see neither heaven nor earth, and I find within myself a dark abyss, — where no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth. Job, x. 22. May the will of God be ever done ! and if it be for the greater glory of God that I should be damned, may the will of God be done ! This I say in all sincerity. Pray to God for me, that I may not offend him, since it would not be for his greater glory that I should offend him. O Lord ! here I am ; hell would be little for me. Mgr. Falcoia1 has written to me in terms so affectionate, that he has entirely captivated me; he did not mention when he would return, but I understood it was to be about the 2oth of November. My dear Mother, I beg you most earnestly to pray and to have prayers said for my poor penitent Maria ; I know no longer what to do or what to say to her. She does not hear me, she does not understand me. The more I say, the more troubled she becomes ; hence she is also tempted to leave me. I have told her that she may go to whom she wishes, but I see that it is only a temptation. She is tempted almost continually to commit suicide. It appears to her that there is no God, and that if there be a God, he hates her and she hates him ; moreover, it seems to her that this hatred which she bears towards God does not afflict her, and this thought only increases her misery. Her anguish, the reason and source of which she cannot ex plain, is so great that she has almost gone out of her mind. Only yesterday, while she was kneeling in the confessional, her pain was so excessive that it brought on a kind of swoon, which rendered her speechless. I tell you all this in order to excite your compassion for this poor desolate soul, who, I must say, consoles me by her prompt obedience even in things the most difficult which I have imposed upon her in order to try her. I ask you to pray for her for at least three days, and to recommend her to the prayers of the Community at holy Communion ; moreover, have the Litany of our Lady said, that God may give me light and her strength to obey and to suffer this great affliction. If she does not throw off the yoke of obedience, I hope that she will give great glory to God ; but there is need of much prayer and assistance. Pray then for her, as God has perhaps made me acquainted with you in order to obtain your prayers in behalf of this soul. And she in her turn will pray for you as well as she can. Now, my dear Sisters, do not grow negligent in praying for me. I, who am a priest, called to save souls, should be filled with zeal for the glory of God : pray that I may give him pleasure, and then if he wishes to send me to hell, may his will be done ! I shall appear importunate by repeating so often, Pray for me ; because I fear that as time goes on you may grow cold. You must know that the very thought that you are praying for me gives me courage, and spurs me on to give pleasure to God, as it seems to me almost impossible that God can refuse to hear you when you pray earnestly for some soul, and say to him as St. Teresa was accustomed to say: Lord, we wish to obtain this for our friend. How discouraged I should feel if you should cease to pray for me ! I beg you, if that should ever happen, to leave me in ignorance of the fact, that I may flatter myself with the thought that you are still praying for me. It would be a very great trial for me to find that you had forgotten me in your prayers. I for my part never forget you in my prayers, poor as they may be : to tell the truth, you share in a great part of my unworthy prayers. It seems to me that I pray more for you than for myself: for, as regards myself, I endeavor to be resigned if God wishes me to remain in the lowest grade of sanctity ; but as for you, I will not rest until I see you all like Seraphim. From time to time I turn towards your home and ex claim : O ye enamoured souls ! love Jesus. Love him, then ; do not lose a moment of time ; you can give him the greatest pleasure. Remember that he loves you without ceasing ; he loses no time. Speak to him often, especially when you find yourselves before him in the Blessed Sacrament ; speak to him of love rather than of anything else : for he enjoys the conversation about love more than any other subject. Love Jesus : love above all his Sacred Heart and his divine will. Do not trouble yourselves as to whether you are among the predestined or the reprobate, among the abandoned or among the favorites of God. Unite your will with the will of God, and then say : O Lord ! Thy pleasure and Thy glory are sufficient for me. Let this be our only aim to glorify God in ourselves; after that let disgrace and abandonment, crosses and trials, storms and darkness, desolation and despondency, come upon us ; let , them come as often as it pleases God to send them. He remains the same good God, worthy of all our love ; may he then be blessed and loved forever ! Let us always speak in this manner, and then place all our confidence in God, for this is what he earnestly desires. I beseech our Lord to cause your hearts to burn in that furnace of love, of which St. Teresa speaks, and in which love is the torture of hearts. My heart, confide and hope : The tempest too is able oft To bring the bark to port. l Do me the favor to omit henceforward in your letters the title Most Illustrious, as I am not a bishop. Don Giovanni 2 recommends himself to the prayers of all. You may read the foregoing in public ; but the following lines you will please read yourself, and then read to those particular Sisters to whom I am writing privately. My penitent is writing to Sister Maria Colomba. In the first place I address you not as Mother, but as Maria Angiola, and I wish to say to you : My daughter (I call you so because you call me Father), I am deeply grateful to you for whatever you do for me. I know that you not only pray for me yourself, but that you also recommend me very often to the prayers of the Community. To judge from your manner of acting, I should say that you are a woman of deeds rather than of words. You cannot imagine what great pleasure your conduct affords me. Do not forget to pray for me ; I never forget you nor will I ever do so, I assure you. I am no friend of twaddle, but I speak as I really feel. I recommend you to God in a special manner not only at Mass, but also in all my humble prayers ; the grace which I ask from God for myself I seek to obtain for you also. You are a guiding light to me, as I am certain that God reposes in your heart and wishes never more to leave it. Gratitude, as you well know, even towards our neighbor, is not displeasing to God. Your soul is very, very dear to God. It rests with you to inflame me with the love of God : it will be sufficient if you speak only one tender word to him when you recline upon his bosom after holy Com munion. The fears you express with regard to Maria Colomba fill me with great consolation : it encourages me to tell her that she must surrender her whole will to God, for he desires this. I conclude by blessing all your affections, thoughts, words, deeds, and in fact everything that is yours. I forgot to send you that souvenir. I send you in this letter the verse: Dio mio, ecc. — My God, etc.1 I send to Maria Cherubina her prayer : Gesii mio, ecc. — My Spouse, etc. Tell her from me that sorrow for sin is not necessary for one who has been already pardoned by God. I wish her to become inflamed with love, to become foolish for love, and finally to die of love for him who became a fool and died for love of us. Let her do this, and I, on my part, will take upon myself the responsibility of rendering an account of her soul ; tell her that I bless her. To Sister Maria Felice : Please tell her, I shall continue to offer her will to God, and that she must continue to do the same in my regard. I send her also the little prayer : My Jesus, etc., which she has asked for. To Sister Maria Rosa: Our dear Lord wishes her to become a saint, but without any delay. St. Rose became a saint and died the death of a saint while still very young. Tell good Sister Maria Raffaella'2 that I send her the following message : My dear Sister, I rejoice to hear that you have become blind and deaf; I would that you were as I desire to see you. I am delighted to hear again. I love, and yet I know not what I love. Whether you are far or near, united or separated, love, love the adorable will of God ; do not trouble yourself to find out whether you love or do not love, whether you belong to God or not. Seek neither consolation nor light ; do not strive to come forth out of your darkness and misery ; everything happens according to the sweet will of God. For example, it is the will of God that you pray for me ; abstain then from doing so if you can ! Do not give yourself any further thought as to whether your prayer helps me or not. It is certain that if you make a saint of me, I shall be better able to assist you, as you well observe. I shall send the message for you to Mamma, * through my other Mamma, St. Teresa ; I know that Mamma will listen to it with the greatest pleasure. May Jesus and Mary bless you ! To Sister Maria Michele : Tell her that if my imprecations were realized, she would have to be pitied ; and let her know that I shall not cease to pray for her until I learn that she is fairly burning alive with the love of God.