TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prayer, Faith, and Accepting your Vocation

  Thy Will be done

To a young woman prevented from becoming a nun

  Do the will of God joyfully

To a woman, on obtaining true devotion and peace of soul

  Serve God where you are

To a priest, on fidelity to one’s calling

  Let us be what we are, and let us be it well

To a wife who thinks marriage hinders holiness

  Our faith should be naked and simple

To a nun, on Christian faith

  There are two principal reasons for prayer

To a young woman having difficulty praying

  Little virtues prepare for contemplation of God

To Jane de Chantal, on prayer and virtue

  We must remain in the presence of God

To Jane de Chantal, on prayer

  Never does God leave us save to hold us better

To Jane de Chantal, in praise of the “little virtues”

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Loving and Serving God in your daily life

  Marriage is an exercise in mortification

To a young woman contemplating marriage

  As far as possible, make your devotion attractive

To a married woman, on harmonizing family and devotion

  Have patience with everyone, including yourself

To a woman beset by many tasks

  Keep yourself gentle amid household troubles

To a busy housewife, on maintaining a spiritual calm

  Do what you see can be done with love

To a wife having difficulties living with her parents-in-law

  Parents can demand more than God Himself

To a widow, on her duties to her mother

  Avoid making your devotion troublesome

To a married woman, whose relatives interfere with her devotions

  Have contempt for contempt

To a woman angered by her broken engagement

  Lord, what would You have me do?

To a man wondering if he has a religious vocation

  Take Jesus as your patron

To a young man going to live at court

  Remain innocent among the hissing of serpents

To a woman, on dealing with improper conversations

  Never speak evil of your neighbour

To Jane de Chantal, on not judging others

  Extravagant recreations may be blameworthy

To a woman, on Christian entertainment

  We must not ask of ourselves what we don’t have

To a pregnant woman suffering lassitude and discouragement

  If you get tired kneeling, sit down

To a pregnant woman, on loving God in her suffering

  You will not lack mortification

To a pregnant woman, telling her to eat properly

  We must always walk faithfully

To a childless woman

  Illness can make you agreeable to God

To a woman who is ill, on resignation to troublesome things

  You are being crowned with His crown of thorns

To a woman suffering great physical pain

  Often the world calls evil what is good

To a woman whose husband is ill

  Rest in the arms of Providence

To a woman facing the death of her child

  In confidence, lift up your heart to our Redeemer

To a woman, on how to conquer the fear of death

  We must slowly withdraw from the world

To an elderly man, telling him how to prepare for death

  This dear child was more God’s than yours

To a man whose son has died

  Think of no other place than Paradise or Purgatory

To a woman anxious about the fate of her deceased son

  How tenderly I loved her!

To Jane de Chantal, on the death of Francis’ younger sister

  Calm your mind, lift up your heart

To a woman whose husband died recently

  Miserable beggars receive the greatest mercy

To Jane de Chantal, on humility and widowhood

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Bearing your Cross

  Love God crucified, even amid darkness

To Jane de Chantal, on bearing abjection, and even longing for it

  Do not desire mortifications

To a woman striving too hard for perfection

  Practise the mortifications that are given to you

To a woman, on serving God with gentleness and strength

  O good Cross, so loved by my Saviour

To a woman, on bearing the troubles of this life

  You only want to bear the crosses that you choose

To Jane de Chantal, on true resignation of spirit

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Overcoming fear, temptation, Failure and discouragement

  We must be patient as we seek perfection

To a young woman who is discouraged by spiritual failures

  Have courage, for you have only just begun

To a young woman, on how to benefit from affliction

  Be gentle and charitable to your soul

To a woman, distressed by her sins

  God loves greater infirmity with greater tenderness

To a superior of the Visitation Nuns, on accepting imperfections

  We must bear ourselves until God bears us to Heaven

To a woman struggling with spiritual problems

  Self-love can be mortified, but never dies

To a nun, on the masks that self-love wears

  We must attain holy indifference

To a woman, on struggling against self-love

  Lean on the mercy of God

To a woman wondering whether she has done her duty

  To change the world, we must change ourselves

To a woman angered by sinfulness in the world

  In patience shall you possess your soul

To a Jane de Chantal, on patience and bearing temptations

  Do not worry yourself about temptations

To a Jane de Chantal, on dealing with temptations

  We must not be fearful of fear

To a man fearful of judgement after death

  Constrain yourself only to your serving God well

To Jane de Chantal, on calming the troubled spirit

  True simplicity is always good and agreeable to God

To Jane de Chantal, on charity and humility

  We must do all by love and nothing by force

To Jane de Chantal, on temptation and spiritual liberty

  Be then all for God