It may be that some day my present state will appear to me full of defects, but nothing now surprises me, and I do not even distress myself because I am so weak. On the contrary I glory therein, and expect each day to find fresh imperfections. Nay, I must confess, these lights on my own nothingness are of more good to my soul than lights on matters of Faith. Remembering that "Charity covereth a multitude of sins,"[33] I draw from this rich mine, which Our Saviour has opened to us in the Gospels. I search the depths of His adorable words, and cry out with David: "I have run in the way of Thy commandments since Thou hast enlarged my heart."[34] And charity alone can make wide the heart. O Jesus! Since its sweet flame consumes my heart, I run with delight in the way of Thy New Commandment, and I desire to run therein until that blessed day when, with Thy company of Virgins, I shall follow Thee through Thy boundless Realm, singing Thy New Canticle--The Canticle of Love. ______________________________ [1] 1 Kings 16:7. [2] Tobias 12:7. [3] Cf. Isaias 3:10. [4] Prov. 9:4. [5] Isa. 66:12, 13. [6] Cf. Ps. 70[71]:17, 18. [7] Soeur Therese had charge of the novices without being given the title of Novice Mistress. [8] Ps. 118[119]:141. [9] Ps. 118[119]:100, 105, 106. [10] Luke 1:49. [11] Cf. John 1:5. [12] Cf. Luke 18:13. [13] Ps. 91[92]:5. [14] Ps. 143[144]:1, 2. [15] Ps. 132[133]:1. [16] Matt. 22:39. [17] Cf. Matt. 7:21. [18] Cf. John 13:34. [19] John 15:12. [20] Luke 11:33. [21] John 15:12. [22] 1 Cor. 4:3,4. [23] Luke 6:37. [24] Matt. 5:43, 44. [25] Luke 6:32. [26] Luke 6:30. [27] Matt. 11:30. [28] Matt. 5:40. [29] Matt. 5:41. [30] Matt. 5:42. [31] Luke 6:34, 35. [32] Prov. 1:27. [33] Prov. 10:12. [34] Ps. 118[119]:32. ______________________________ CHAPTER X THE NEW COMMANDMENT Dear Mother, God in His infinite goodness has given me a clear insight into the deep mysteries of Charity. If I could but express what I know, you would hear a heavenly music; but alas! I can only stammer like a child, and if God's own words were not my support, I should be tempted to beg leave to hold my peace. When the Divine Master tells me to give to whosoever asks of me, and to let what is mine be taken without asking it again, it seems to me that He speaks not only of the goods of earth, but also of the goods of Heaven. Besides, neither one nor the other are really mine; I renounced the former by the vow of poverty, and the latter gifts are simply lent. If God withdraw them, I have no right to complain.