At last her confessor was obliged to forbid such excessive austerities, and she submitted, so far as _exterior_ mortification went, but she practised _interior_ mortification more ardently than before. That is, she kept a stricter guard over her senses, thwarted more frequently her natural inclinations, and endeavored by every means in her power to keep herself always in the presence of God. But as if her divine Master made light of these penitential exercises, He sent her a more terrible trial than any she had yet endured. In the year 1689, the devil, jealous of the tranquillity with which she submitted to the decrees of Divine Providence, in the midst of crosses that seemed to multiply daily around her, gave her to understand by the pretended visions of another, that she was in a state of damnation, and at emnity with God. These awful words, or rather this frightful idea, made such an impression on her, that during four years she was not able to banish it from her imagination, being, however, less troubled at the apprehension of the pains of hell, than at the idea of being hated by God, whom she loved with her whole heart. During the long continuance of the temptation she multiplied her prayers, though prayer no longer consoled her, and her penances, though she felt a secret horror for them. Yet she blindly submitted to the guidance of her director, for whom, however, she felt more _aversion_ than _confidence_. Nothing consoled her. She had to be compelled to receive Holy Communion, of which she believed herself unworthy, and from which she abstained for a considerable time. Only those who have passed through a similar ordeal can judge of her state of mind at that time, or form any idea of what she suffered. But in order to be more explanatory, it will again be necessary to refer to the Memoirs. As has been already stated, on her second return from France she found herself surrounded by more than forty aspirants to the religious state, who led most humble and penitential lives yet though all were very _fervent_, all were not equally _strong_, either in body or mind, and the health of many among them visibly declined, so that it became necessary to set bounds to their austerities, especially as they were not yet under the guidance of an approved rule, which of its own nature would have prevented indiscreet excesses. A mitigation of penitential practices was therefore openly and undisguisedly advocated but Sister Bourgeois, all charitable and submissive as she was, did not relish these suggestions--fearing that a door would be opened to relaxation. She had already reproached herself bitterly for the consent reluctantly given to the building of the first _large_ house for the community, and, notwithstanding the lapse of years, she still regarded its erection as contrary to the spirit of poverty, humility, and mortification they would have preserved in the stable which had been the cradle of the Congregation.