From Sister Marie‑Dosithée to Mme Martin. February 12, 1872.
Hello, dear little sister, and until Easter, We are going back into Lent (February 14) and I want to sink into it all the more since my fasts will not be rigorous, at least more meditation is needed. Even my little girls who are going to do it, I won't give them sweets all Lent; they must be accustomed early to the spirit of mortification; the first habits and memories of childhood are always etched in the mind and it is not easy to get rid of them. Then Pauline must prepare for her 1st Communion; So ask her from time to time what she is doing to prepare for it, that will keep her awake. Some time ago, at the penultimate letter that you sent, we kept it during the study; she was sick at heart, I told her not to study if she wanted to, and made her come to me. It had been a quarter of an hour since I had given her your letter, she had put it in her pocket; I asked her caressing her why she didn't read it, she replied blushing that she wanted to do a practice, yet she really wanted to read it. I kissed her and told her to read it out of obedience, that she would have her practice of mortification and in addition that of obedience: that's it! But I would like it to be open with me, like Marie. How I love Marie! What a good child! What candor, what righteousness and sincerity, it's lovely! Almost every day I see her running after me and accusing herself of her shortcomings and without being asked, of course. At the end of the study as I was leaving, she arrived as usual and approached me saying: “Aunt, I did a composition and I didn't apply myself at the beginning; neither do I study at the beginning of my studies”; she tells me that often. I turned to Pauline and said to her: Look! Marie is not like you, no one asks her to come and tell me all these things, so there is no danger that I will scold her, and, when she has made a mistake, the means of repairing it it is to accuse him; the good Lord asks of you that you don't always have to apologize, and it really pains me to see that you do everything possible to hide everything; she promised to imitate Marie.
I try to bring her to this as much as I can and she really seems well disposed to it. She has an extreme difficulty for the calculation, she does not know how to do the simplest problems; I give her lessons, but her great misfortune is not to reflect, she doesn't even take the trouble to read her problem in its entirety before putting down figures. Finally I promised to give her a price at Easter if she wanted to apply it. Tell her that you would like her to win it, it will make her try. Also tell Marie to apply herself to her letters, she tells me that she applies herself only to her style duties and not to her letters.
I embrace you all with affection, the little girls are very cheerful and, on the whole, good.
