JMJT
Jesus Carmel February 28, 1889
My dear Celine,
Is it possible that I'm writing to you in Caen?... I wonder if I'm dreaming or if I'm awake... But no, it's a reality!... I'm going to surprise you , darling little sister, telling you that I am far from pitying you, but you see, I find your fate worthy of envy. Jesus has views of an indescribable love on you, he wants his little immortal lily all to himself, but it is he himself who is in charge of making him his first novitiate, it is his divine hand that adorns his spouse for her wedding day, but her beloved hand is not mistaken in adornment... Jesus is a spouse of blood... He wants for Himself all the blood of the heart...
Oh ! what it costs to give Jesus what he asks!... What happiness it costs... What ineffable joy to bear our cross weakly. Did the Immortal Lys understand the poor grain of sand?... Your novitiate is that of pain, what an inexplicable privilege...
Ah! Dear little sister, far from complaining to Jesus about the cross he sends us, I cannot understand the infinite love that led him to treat us like this... Our dear father must be well loved by Jesus to have to suffer like this, but don't you think that the misfortune that strikes him is quite the complement of his good life? matter, I still think many other things about the love of Jesus on our souls?... Life is but a dream, soon we will wake up, and what a joy... the more our sufferings are great, the more our glory will be infinite... Oh! let's not lose the test that Jesus sends us, it's a gold mine to exploit, are we going to miss the opportunity?... The grain of sand wants to get to work, without joy, without courage , without strength, and it is all these titles which will facilitate the company to him, he wants to work by Love.
It is the Martyrdom that begins, together let us enter the list if the Lily-Immortal does not disdain
the poor grain of sand.
