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Have mercy upon those to whom G.o.d has sent the bitter trial of separation from those they love!
Have mercy on that loneliness of heart, so full of sadness, so crus.h.i.+ng, sometimes full of terror!
Have mercy upon those struggling against the difficulties of life, and faint with discouragement!
Have mercy on those whom fortune favors, whom the world fascinates, and who are free from care!
Have mercy on those to whom Thou hast given great tenderness of heart, great sensitiveness!
Have mercy on those who cease to love us, and never may they know the pain they cause!
Have mercy on those who have gradually withdrawn from Holy Communion and Prayer, and losing peace within, weep, yet dare not return to Thee!
Have mercy on all we love; make them holy even through suffering! if ever they estrange themselves from Thee, take, oh, take all my joys, and decoy them with the pleasures back again to Thee!
Have mercy on those who weep, those who pray, those who know not _how_ to pray!
To all, O JESUS, grant Hope and Peace!
IX.
SIMPLE COUNSELS FOR A YOUNG GIRL
Yes, very simple. Listen my child, and may they sink deep into your heart, as the dew sinks in the calyx of the flower.
These are my counsels:--
_Distrust the love_ that comes too suddenly.
_Distrust the pleasure_ that fascinates so keenly.
_Distrust the words_ that trouble or charm.
_Distrust the book_ that makes you dream.
_Distrust the thought_ you cannot confide to your mother.
Treasure these counsels, and sometimes as you read them, ask yourself, "_Why?_" Guardian Angel of the child we are addressing, teach her the reason of these sentences that seem to her so exaggerated!
X.
A RECIPE FOR NEVER ANNOYING OUR FRIENDS
This was made by one who had suffered much for many years from numberless little worries, occasioned by a relative, whose affection no doubt was sincere and devoted, but also too ardent, and wanting in discretion.
There must be moderation in all things, even in the love we manifest, the care we take to s.h.i.+eld them from trouble.
This recipe consists of but four simple rules, very clear, very precise.
Behold them:--
1. _Always leave my friend something more to desire of me._ If he asks me to go and see him three times, I go but twice. He will look forward to my coming a third time, and when I go, receive me the more cordially.
It is so sweet to feel we are needed, and so hard to be thought importunate.
2. _Be useful to my friend as far as he permits, and no farther._
An over-anxious affection becomes tiresome, and a multiplicity of beautiful sentiments makes them almost insupportable.
Devotion to a friend does not consist in doing _everything_ for him, but simply that which is agreeable and of service to him, and let it only be revealed to him by accident.
We all love freedom, and cling tenaciously to our little fancies; we do not like others to arrange what we have purposely left in disorder; we even resent their over-anxiety and care for us.
3. _Be much occupied with my own affairs, and little, very little, with those of my friend._
This infallibly leads to a favorable result. To begin with, in occupying myself with my own affairs, I shall the more speedily accomplish them, while my friend is doing the same.
If he appeals to me for help, I will go through fire and water to serve him, but if _not_, then I do both myself and him the greater service by abstaining. If, however, I can serve him without his knowledge of it, and I can see his need, then I must be always ready to do it.
4. _Leave my friend always at liberty to think and act for himself in matters of little importance._ Why compel him to think and act with me? Am _I_ the type of all that is beautiful and right? Is it not absurd to think that because another acts and thinks differently to myself, he must needs be wrong? No doubt I may not always say, "_You are right_," but I can at any rate let him _think_ it.
Try this recipe of mine, and I can answer for it your friends.h.i.+p will be lasting.
XI.
BENEATH THE EYE OF G.o.d, G.o.d ONLY
As you read these words, are you not conscious of an inward feeling of peace and quietness?
_Beneath G.o.d's Eye!_ there is something in the thought like a sheltering rock, a refres.h.i.+ng dew, a gleam of light.
Ah! why always such seeking for some one to _see_ me, to _understand_, _appreciate_, _praise_ me?
The human eye I seek is like the scorching ray that destroys all the delicate colors in the most costly material. Every action that is done, only to be seen of others, loses its freshness in the sight of G.o.d, like the flower that pa.s.sing through many hands is at last hardly presentable.
Oh, my soul! be as the desert flower that grows, blooms, and flourishes unseen, in obedience to G.o.d'S Will, and cares not whether the pa.s.sing bird perceives it, or the wind scatters the petals, scarcely formed.
On no account neglect the duty you owe to friends.h.i.+p, relatives, society, but remember each day to reserve some portion of it for yourself and G.o.d only.
Remember always to do some actions that can be known to none but G.o.d.
Ah! how sweet to have G.o.d as our only Witness.
It is the high degree of holiness.
