Ms C 19r

[19r°] withdraw them without my having a right to complain. However, the goods which come directly from God, inspirations of the mind and heart, profound thoughts, all this forms a richness to which we are attached as to a proper good which no one has a [5] right to touch. For example, if on a free day I tell a Sister about some light received during prayer and shortly afterward this same Sister, speaking to another, tells her what I confided to her as though it were her own thought, it seems as though she were taking what does not belong to her. Or else if during recreation one Sister whispers [10] to her companion something that is very witty and to the point, if her companion repeats it aloud without making known its source, this appears again as a theft from the owner who doesn’t claim it, but would like to do so and will seize the first opportunity to make it known that her thoughts have been borrowed.

[15] Mother, I would not be able to explain these sad sentiments of nature if I had not felt them in my own heart, and I would like to entertain the sweet illusion that they visited only my heart, but you commanded me to listen to the temptations of your dear little novices. I learned very much when carrying out the mission you [20] entrusted to me; above all I was forced to practice what I was teaching to others. And so now I can say that Jesus has given me the grace of not being any more attached to the goods of the mind and heart than to those of earth. If it happens that I think or say something

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Ms C 19r