17 August 97
My dear little Father,
It's your turn to get a letter from your granddaughter; it is therefore to you, my dear little Father, that I come today to give news. They're not good. Besides, Francis may have written to you about it because he came to see our little patient. Jeanne had written to me asking me to tell her exactly whether to take tickets for the pilgrimage. We were very embarrassed, seeing the condition worsen. So our Mother was kind enough to suggest that Francis come and see for himself if there was any inconvenience in going on the pilgrimage. My letter had just left when Francis, who had come to Lisieux to see Bonne Maman (Fournet) who wanted to see him having had a few heartbeats, came to ask me in the visiting room. So our Mother let him in and he saw our little patient; this visit moved him deeply. He found her very ill and only gave her a fortnight before leaving for Heaven. Since Sunday, the Blessed Virgin seems to have hastened the progress of the illness, for on the evening of her feast, she suffered from a very violent pain in the other lung; it was beginning to set before Monsieur de Cornière left, and Francis noticed that for the past week the disease had also made progress in this second lung. He told us that the tuberculosis had arrived at the last degree, that perhaps you would have time to finish your treatment at Vichy, but that it was barely there; now he says it could be even shorter, which we cannot know. He found our little patient admirably cared for, and he said that with all the care that Mr. de Cornière had given her, if she had not recovered it was because the good Lord wanted to take her for Himself in spite of everything. .
Oh ! if you only knew, my dear little Father, how kind your little Queen is and how she loves you both; when she talks to me about you, we feel that she has such great affection, and that when she is in Heaven she will watch over you so filially. You must not believe that his desire to go to Heaven is an enthusiasm, oh! no, it's very peaceful. She said to me this morning: “If they told me that I was going to recover, don't think that I would be caught; I would be as happy as to die. I have a great desire for Heaven, but it is above all because I am in great peace that I am happy, because to feel an immense joy as sometimes when your heart beats with happiness, oh! no... i'm at peace, that's why i'm happy. Francis found her very nice and very angelic.
As for Bonne Maman, don't worry, it seems it's nothing, Francis has to come back tomorrow to see her, but just to please her. He will go to the parlor to ask for news.
Ma Sr Th. of Children. Jesus can no longer get up, she is too weak and can no longer move on her own; since yesterday her legs have started to swell, I think that's a very bad sign, but the spitting of blood hasn't reappeared. Today she might seem a little better, she is less dejected, less feverish, but tonight the oppression begins again. I will give you tomorrow morning the news of the night before closing this letter.
I say goodbye to you my dear little Father, you know how much I love you and how much I love mum; I think very much of you, if you could understand it. I did not say in this letter all my heart, but it was necessary that I give news. I very much regret that Léonie told you that Mother Agnès of Jesus was weak. It's true, but there really isn't too much harm, she is as usual and only suffers from migraines from time to time: it's a little health that can last a long time despite everything.
Your little girl who cherishes you Marie of the Eucharist r.ci.
PS (August 18) The night was not bad, there is nothing new in the state of his health.
