From Sister Marie-Dosithée Guérin to her brother.
V+J.
From our Mother of Le Mans
August 6, 1865
Dear brother
I congratulate you on the luck that God gives you in all your endeavors, but I would also like you to be (sic) grateful for it: when I think that to obtain the result you have achieved, you had to use half your existence!. . . the other half should at least be employed to make you a passable establishment for eternity. It is in all seriousness that I want to speak to you today, you are no longer a child and here you are on the eve of establishing yourself in the world; you have to reflect and take the path that leads to happiness, you see I never told you, but today I am going to speak to you frankly, your thought, your memory saddens me to tears, sometimes I am sees crying in community, we don't know why *[1 v°], of course I cannot say it and it is you who cause all my sorrow, because although according to the world you are very good, yet you are far from working out your salvation and then everything you do is useless, because surely the good God did not put you on earth to do what you do here, but to become a saint, which you would certainly do if you turned your heart towards your Creator and that you would not follow your inclinations which carry you with ardor towards the vain and perishable things of this world, all that I say to you will seem very strange to you because your ideas are very different from mine, but I'm sure if you thought about it carefully you would see that I'm right and if I I'm right, you're wrong and in this case you have to do what I tell you. Go my dear friend, if you give me so much trouble it's because I love you more than anyone in the world, especially since the death of our poor Mother I felt the need to love you for the one you lost and I assure you that since that moment my affection for you *[2 v°] has been an affection of Mother and Sister, for I certainly do not feel for Zélie or my nieces what I feel for my dear little baby formerly, but also you are not in the same conditions as them.
I conjure you therefore my dear child, by the sufferings and the death of Our Lord to convert you to him; go believe me you always have to do it, it will be easier now than later, I know it will come but I would like to enjoy it before I die.
While waiting for what I wish so ardently, I embrace you with all my heart.
Sr. M. Dosithee Guérin
of the Von Ste Marie
DSB
I think you received a summons like me for the houses of Pré-en-Pail.
Don't send me a lot of stamps. (Mme Martin advised her brother to send stamps to the Visitandine)
