Marie Guérin to her Father
July 3 1898
... Since the stories of the little graces obtained by our little angel give you pleasure, I'm going to tell you about one that happened to me this winter and that I hadn't told you about.
One day when it was very cold, around 5 o'clock in the evening, my feet were freezing that I could barely walk, I no longer felt them.
I must tell you beforehand, to clarify my story: 1° that the soles of our alpargates being made of rope, take on moisture very easily and that we have to dry them on a heater, but the heater simply heats the alpargates when you do not have your feet in them, the use of heaters to warm your feet being forbidden in Carmel;
2° second clarification: At that time, I was bleeding frequently from the nose, and our Mother had obliged me to put warm alpargates from time to time, but for a few days, the nosebleeds seeming to be over, I found the obligation suspended Also. So that evening, my alpargates being to dry, I could without sin put them very warm since I had permission to do so, but I preferred to mortify them, I said to myself: If my little Thérèse were here, what would I say? -She ? Oh ! her answer would be categorical, she would like
that I change my alpargates to take warm ones, because for her little novices, she was always filled with tenderness and very often prevented them from suffering. But in my place too, what would she have done? Ah! the little rascal would have jumped on this means to mortify herself and would have remained with frozen feet for love of the good Lord. So I spoke to her and said to her: Since you would have done that, I can do it too, you shouldn't set us an example if you don't want us to follow it. My resolution was therefore taken; happy to give something to God, I passed singing in front of the apartment where our alpargates were heating. Hardly had I passed the door, of the apartment, crack... here, I feel something crack at one of our alpargates, I look... it was irrecommodable at the time, it was for me impossible to continue walking with these alpargates. I was therefore obliged to go and put on some very warm alpargates since I had no more others.
The good Lord sometimes has these little delicacies when we deprive ourselves for Him. I recognized one of my little Thérèse's tricks; this was often how she acted, she willingly let us make our sacrifices, then always found some way to diminish them when they were fully accepted...
