DAILY MEDITATION (FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18)
MEDITATION OF THE DAY
Some Women Who Accompanied Jesus
I’m not suffering a lot, and yet now I feel almost continuously the inner work that the illness is doing, but the suffering is quite bearable. I hope the Blessed Mother will cure me, if not completely, at least so I’ll have the time to raise my children. At first, I always asked her for it. If it’s necessary, I’m certain I won’t be refused….
I see a shining ray of hope for Léonie that foretells to me a complete change to come. Up until now, every effort I’ve made to become attached to her has been fruitless, but it’s no longer the same today. She loves me as much as it’s possible to love, and, with this love, little by little the love of God penetrates her heart. She has unlimited trust in me and goes as far as revealing to me her slightest faults. She truly wants to change her life and makes many efforts that no one else can appreciate like I do.
I can’t get the idea out of my head that this transformation is due to the prayers of my holy sister because everything changed two or three weeks after her death. She’s also the one who obtained the grace for me to know how to manage to attach her heart to mine. I hope God will let me complete my task, which is far from being finished. It takes time to conquer such a nature, and I see that this mission was entrusted to me….
So I’m really giving up my Alençon lace and beginning to live off of my investments. Anyway, I think it’s time…. I may be mistaken, but I believe the other manufacturers will be right behind me because the events that are developing won’t help this kind of industry. Ladies make do with flowers, even the “middle class ladies,” who are wearing veritable flower beds on their heads this year. It’s strange, but not beautiful!
It’s time that I finished my letter. It took me several attempts to write this long letter…. I always say it, and I’ll never stop saying it: God will give you what you need at the right time. You are Christians who are too good for him to do otherwise.
Saint Zélie Martin
Saint Zélie († 1877) and her husband, Saint Louis, were the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The cause for the canonization of Léonie, another daughter, was opened in 2015. [From A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863-1885, Ann Connors Hess, Tr. © 2011, The Fathers and Brothers of the Society of St. Paul, ST PAULS/Alba House, Staten Island, NY. www.stpauls.us. Used with permission.]
