II LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS Our Lord is more tender than a mother, and well do I know more than one maternal heart! I know a mother is ever ready to forgive the little involuntary failings of her child. HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. VIII I know of one means only by which to attain to perfection: LOVE. Let us love, since our heart is made for nothing else. Sometimes I seek another word to express Love, but in this land of exile _the word which begins and ends_[2] is quite incapable of rendering the vibrations of the soul; we must then adhere to this simple and only word: TO LOVE. But on whom shall our poor heart lavish its love? Who shall be found that is great enough to be the recipient of its treasures? Will a human being know how to comprehend them, and above all will he be able to repay? There exists but one Being capable of comprehending love; it is Jesus; He alone can give us back infinitely more than we shall ever give to Him. LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUÉRIN There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing--He does so want our love! VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CÉLINE When we really love, we rejoice in the happiness of the loved one and make every sacrifice to procure it for him. COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES True love is nourished by sacrifice, and the more the soul denies itself natural satisfactions, the stronger and the more disinterested becomes its tenderness. COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.... VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CÉLINE Love can supply for length of years. Jesus, because He is Eternal, regards not the time but only the love. V LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS I desire no sensible consolation in loving; provided Jesus feel my love that is enough for me. Oh! to love Him and to make Him loved ... how sweet it is.... V LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS O Jesus, I ask of Thee only Peace!... Peace, and above all LOVE--love without bound or limit. Jesus, let me for Thy sake die a martyr; give me martyrdom of soul or body. Ah! rather give me both the one and the other! HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. VIII I have no longer any desire unless it be to love Jesus even to folly! Yes, LOVE it is that draws me. I can say these words of the canticle of our Father, St. John of the Cross: