Entretien II. De la Confiance

The Foundation of Holy Confidence

True confidence in God is rooted in the humble confession of our own misery and unworthiness.

[Unreadable source fragment.] [Unreadable source fragment.] My sisters!¹ Dear daughters, if one of you,² feeling her misery, can go to God with great confidence.³ I answer that not only can the soul that knows her misery have great confidence in God, but she cannot have true confidence unless she knows her misery; for this knowledge and confession of our misery brings us into God's presence.⁴ Thus all the great saints, like Job, David, and the others, began all their prayers by confessing their misery and unworthiness; so it's a very good thing to recognize yourself as poor, lowly,⁵ abject, and unworthy to appear in God's presence. That famous ancient maxim, Γνῶθι σεαυτόν—know yourself—⁶ even though it is understood, as the Socratic saying, to mean knowledge of the greatness and excellence of the soul—⁷ [Source unreadable: OCR corruption; no independent French clause can be securely recovered here.]⁸ (Ms.⁹ et Coll.)¹⁰ —¹¹ So as not to debase and profane it with things unworthy of its nobility, it is also understood as the knowledge of our unworthiness, imperfection, and misery: for the more we come to know ourselves as miserable, the more we will put our trust in the goodness and mercy of God; for between mercy and misery there is so close a bond that the one cannot be exercised without the other.¹² If God hadn't created man, He would still have been truly all-good, but He wouldn't have been merciful in actual exercise, because mercy is exercised only toward the miserable.¹³¹⁴

Humility as the Path to Union

While self-distrust and holy confusion are necessary, they are intermediate steps meant to lead the soul to union with God through love.

You see, the more we realize how miserable we are, the more reason we have to trust in God, since we have nothing of our own to rely on. Distrusting ourselves comes from knowing our own imperfections. It's good to distrust ourselves, but what good would that do us, if not to cast all our trust on God and wait on his mercy?¹⁵ The faults and unfaithfulness we commit every day should bring us real shame and confusion when we want to draw near to Our Lord. We read that great souls—like Saint Catherine of Siena and Mother Teresa—felt that deep confusion whenever they fell into a fault. It's only right, then, that after offending God we should draw back a little in humility and remain confounded; even if we have only offended a friend, we are thoroughly ashamed to approach him. But we mustn't stop there, for these virtues of humility, self-abasement, and confusion are intermediate virtues, by which we are to climb to the union of our soul with its God.¹⁶¹⁷ It wouldn't amount to much to have emptied and stripped ourselves of ourselves—which is done through acts of confusion—if it weren't in order to give ourselves entirely to God, as Saint Paul teaches us when he says:^✦¹⁸ **^.¹⁹ ui.²⁰ ç, lo.²¹ Strip yourselves of the old self, and put on the new; for you must not remain naked, but clothe yourselves with God.^✦²² That brief step back is only so we can spring forward toward God with an act of love and trust. We shouldn't cast ourselves into sad, anxious confusion; it's self-love that creates that confusion, because we're grieved at not being perfect—not so much for the love of God as for the love of ourselves.²³ And even if you don't feel such confidence, you still must not stop making acts of it, and saying to Our Lord: Even so, my Lord, though I have no feeling of confidence in you, I know nonetheless that you are my God, that I am entirely yours, and that I have no hope except in your goodness; so I abandon myself wholly into your hands.²⁴ And it's always within our power.²⁵ It is he who makes us say: "Alas, Lord."²⁶ "I never dare approach you."²⁷ "I am too unworthy!"²⁸ These are all temptations of self-love that drive us. I'm not saying that feelings of confusion aren't good when they're well applied; it's reasonable that, having offended God, we should draw back a little through humility and a holy confusion—especially since if we had only offended a friend, we would be ashamed to approach him. Still, it's true that we must not remain there, because the virtues…²⁹³⁰ [Unreadable source fragment.]³¹ Resume the text.³² Ilf.³³ ^ )³⁴ It is within our power to make these acts, and though we may have difficulty, there is nevertheless no impossibility; and it is on those occasions, and amid those difficulties, that we must show Our Lord our faithfulness—for even when we make these acts without relish and without any satisfaction, we shouldn't trouble ourselves about it, since Our Lord loves them better that way.³⁵ And don't say that you do say it, yes, but only with your mouth—for if the heart did not will it, the mouth would not utter a word of it.³⁶ Once you have done that, stay in peace, and without dwelling on your trouble, speak with Our Lord about something else. So here is the conclusion of this first point: it’s good to feel shame when we recognize our misery and imperfection, but we shouldn’t stop there or fall into discouragement because of it. Instead, lift your heart to God with a holy trust that is founded on Him rather than on ourselves, because we change while He never does; He remains just as good and merciful when we are weak and imperfect as when we are strong and perfect.^✦³⁷ I have often said that the throne of God’s mercy is our own misery; therefore, the greater our misery, the greater our trust must be.^✦³⁸ (<^)³⁹

The Practice of Self-Abandonment

Abandonment to God consists of perfect indifference to all events, conforming our will to both God's signified will and his good pleasure.

Let's turn now to the other question: the abandonment of ourselves, and what the practice of an abandoned soul should be. We need to understand, then, that abandoning our soul and letting go of ourselves is nothing other than leaving and freeing ourselves from our own will in order to give it to God; for it would do us little good, as I've already said, to renounce ourselves and leave ourselves behind if it weren't so that we might be perfectly united to the divine Goodness.⁴⁰ So it's only for that reason that we must make this abandonment, which would otherwise be useless.⁴¹ It would resemble those of the ancient philosophers, who made admirable abandonments of all things and of themselves for a vain pretension of dedicating themselves to philosophy. Take Epictetus, for example, a highly renowned philosopher who was a slave by condition; people wanted to free him because of his great wisdom, but he, through the most extreme renunciation of all, refused his freedom and remained voluntarily in his slavery, living in such poverty that after his death they found nothing of his but a lamp, which was sold at a high price because it had belonged to so great a man.⁴² But as for us, we don't want to abandon ourselves except so that we may leave ourselves at the mercy of God's will.⁴³ Many people tell Our Lord, "I give myself entirely to you without any reserve," but very few actually practice this abandonment, which is simply a perfect indifference to whatever happens, accepting everything as it comes by the order of God's providence.⁴⁴⁴⁵ Affliction as readily as consolation, sickness as readily as health, poverty as readily as riches, contempt as readily as honor, and disgrace as readily as glory.⁴⁶ I mean this regarding the higher part of our soul, for there's no doubt that our lower nature and natural inclinations will always lean more toward honor than contempt, and more toward riches than poverty.⁴⁷⁴⁸ [The source text is illegible.]⁴⁹ [No translatable text.] Sickness, health, and poverty.⁵⁰ [The source text is illegible.]⁵¹ Disgrace, honor.⁵² [The source text is illegible.]⁵³ Of poverty: though no one can fail to know that contempt, lowliness, and poverty are more pleasing to God than honor and an abundance of great riches.⁵⁴ To practice this self-abandonment, we must obey God's signified will and the will of his good pleasure: the first is done through resignation, and the second through indifference.⁵⁵ God's signified will includes his commandments, his counsels, his inspirations, our Rules, and the ordinances of our Superiors. The will of his good pleasure concerns the outcomes of things we cannot foresee: for example, I don't know if I'll die tomorrow. I see that this is God's good pleasure, so I abandon myself to it and die with a willing heart.⁵⁶ Likewise, I don't know if next year all the fruits of the earth will be ruined by storms. If it happens that they are, or that there is a plague or other such events, it is perfectly clear that this is God's good pleasure, and so I conform myself to it. It may happen that you won't have consolation in your spiritual exercises; it is certain that this is God's good pleasure. That is why we must remain in extreme indifference between desolation and consolation. We must do the same with everything that comes our way—the clothes given to us, the food set before us. We should also recognize that in some matters we must join God's signified will to his good pleasure. For example, if I fall seriously ill with a high fever, I see in this event that God's good pleasure is for me to remain indifferent between health and sickness. But God's signified will requires that, if I am not under obedience, I call a doctor and use every remedy available to me—not the most elaborate remedies, but the common and ordinary ones—and that members of religious communities who are under a superior accept, with simplicity and submission, the remedies and treatment prescribed for them. For God has made this known to us by giving remedies their effectiveness; Holy Scripture teaches it in many places, and the Church commands it. Once this is done, whether the illness overcomes the remedy or the remedy overcomes the illness, we must remain completely indifferent to the outcome. Suppose sickness and health stood before us and our Lord said, “If you choose health, I won't take away even the smallest measure of my grace; if you choose sickness, I won't increase that grace either, but choosing sickness would conform a little more closely to my good pleasure.” Then the soul that has entirely surrendered and abandoned itself into our Lord's hands would undoubtedly choose sickness, simply because it contains a little more of God's good pleasure. Even if this meant spending the rest of its life in bed doing nothing but suffering, it wouldn't wish for any other condition in the world. Thus the saints in heaven are so united with God's will that, if there were even a little more—[the remainder of the source is illegible]. [The source text is illegible.] [The source text is illegible.] One must [illegible]. [The source text is illegible.] [No readable source text.] I (») tt$ pim» #sf«ii.⁵⁷ If they found more of His good pleasure in hell, they would leave Paradise to go there.⁵⁸ This state of self-abandonment also includes abandoning yourself to God's good pleasure in all the temptations, aridities, drynesses, aversions, and repugnances that come in the spiritual life; for in all these things you can see God's good pleasure, when they don't come through our own fault and there's no sin in them.⁵⁹ spirit into your hands.^✦⁶⁰ It is true, He meant, that—John^✦⁶¹ 19:30.^✦⁶² everything is finished, and that I have fully accomplished what^✦^✦⁶³ 17:4.^✦⁶⁴ you commanded me; and yet, if it is your will that I remain still on this cross to suffer more, I am content; I commit my spirit into your hands—you may do with it entirely as it pleases you.^✦⁶⁵ We must do the same, my dearest daughters, on every occasion—whether we are suffering or enjoying some consolation—letting ourselves be led by the divine will, according to God's good pleasure, without ever letting ourselves become preoccupied with our own particular will. Our Lord loves with an extremely tender love those who are happy enough to abandon themselves completely in this way to his fatherly care, letting themselves be governed by his divine providence without stopping to consider whether the effects of that providence will be useful, profitable, or harmful to them. They are fully assured that nothing can be sent to them from that fatherly and most lovable heart, and that he will not allow anything to happen to them from which he will not make them draw good and benefit, provided we have placed all our trust in him and from a willing heart we say: I place my spirit, my soul, my body, and all that I have into your blessed hands, to do with them as you please.⁶⁶ For we are never reduced to such an extremity⁶⁷ that we cannot always breathe before the divine Majesty the fragrance of a holy submission to his most holy will, and of a continual promise not to want to offend him at all.⁶⁸ Sometimes Our Lord wants the souls chosen for the service of his divine Majesty to nourish themselves on a firm and unchanging resolution to keep following him amid the dislikes, dry spells, repugnances, and harshnesses of the spiritual life—without consolations, savor, tenderness, or spiritual taste—and to believe themselves worthy of nothing else, thus following the divine Savior with the fine point of the spirit, with no other support than that of his divine will, which wants it so.⁶⁹⁷⁰ And that is how I desire that we walk, my dear daughters.⁷¹

Living in the Divine Arms

The abandoned soul lives in a state of simple, childlike trust, letting God govern all things while remaining faithful to duty.

Now, you ask me what a soul that has completely abandoned itself into God's hands should focus on internally.⁷² She does nothing except remain close to Our Lord, without worrying about anything—⁷³ not even about her body or her soul; for since she has embarked under God's providence, what business has she thinking about what will become of her?⁷⁴ Our Lord, to whom she has wholly entrusted herself, will take thought enough for her.⁷⁵ I don't mean by this, however, that we shouldn't think about the things each of us is bound to attend to according to our responsibilities; for a Superior must not, under the guise of having abandoned himself to God and resting in His care, neglect to read and learn the teachings necessary for the exercise of his office. It's certainly true that we need great trust to abandon ourselves like this, without any reservation, to divine Providence; but then again, when we abandon everything, Our Lord takes care of everything and directs everything.⁷⁶ But if we hold something back because we don't trust Him with it, He leaves it to us, as if He were saying: You think you're wise enough to manage that without Me; I'll leave you to run it—you'll see how you fare. Those who are dedicated to God in the religious life must abandon everything without any reservation.⁷⁷ Saint Mary Magdalene, who had completely abandoned herself to Our Lord's will, remained at His feet and listened while He spoke.⁷⁸ He spoke; and when he stopped, she stopped listening too, but she still didn't leave his side.^✦ So this soul that has abandoned herself has nothing else to do but remain in Our Lord's arms like a child at its mother's breast: when she sets him down to walk, he walks until his mother picks him up again, and when she wants to carry him, he lets her.⁷⁹ He doesn't know, and doesn't even think about, where he's going, but lets himself be carried or led wherever his mother pleases. Just so, this soul—loving the will of God's good pleasure in everything that comes to her—lets herself be carried and yet still walks on, carefully doing everything that belongs to God's signified will.⁸⁰⁸¹ You're asking whether it's truly possible for our will to be so completely dead in Our Lord that we no longer know what we want or what we don't want. First of all, I say that this never happens, no matter how abandoned we may be—⁸² Likewise, a Superior or a Mistress of Novices must not neglect to read and learn the duties of her office under the guise of saying, “I have abandoned myself to God; I rest in his care,”⁸³ and Coll.).⁸⁴ However abandoned we may be, our freedom and the liberty of our free will still remain with us, so that some desire and some will always come to us; but these are not absolute wills and formed desires. For as soon as a soul that has abandoned itself to God's good pleasure notices some will in itself, it at once makes that will die into the will of God. You would also like to know whether a soul still quite imperfect could usefully remain before God with this simple attention to His holy presence in prayer. And I tell you that if God puts you there,⁸⁵ you can certainly remain there, for it often happens that Our Lord grants these moments of quiet and tranquility to souls that aren't yet fully purified. However, while they still need purification, they ought, outside of prayer, to make the observations and reflections necessary for their amendment. Even if God kept them in a state of deep recollection, they would still have enough freedom to reason with their understanding about many indifferent things; why, then, couldn't they consider and make resolutions for their own amendment and the practice of the virtues?⁸⁶ There are very perfect people to whom Our Lord never gives such sweetness or quietude,⁸⁷ who do everything with the higher part of their soul, making their will die in the will of God through sheer force and the exercise of reason; this death is the death of the cross.^✦⁸⁸ which is much⁸⁹ n, ».⁹⁰ more excellent and more generous than the other, which one should call a falling asleep rather than a death. For this soul, having embarked on the ship of God's providence, lets itself go and sails gently, like a person sleeping in a vessel on— Now.⁹¹ to answer what you were asking me (Ms. and Coll.).⁹² of reason; this is what we call dying in the love of the Crucified, and this death (Coll.).^✦⁹³ a calm sea that still keeps moving forward.⁹⁴ This kind of death, so gentle, is given by way of grace, while the other is given by way of merit.⁹⁵ You still want to know what foundation our confidence should rest on. It must be founded on God's infinite goodness and on the merits of the Death and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with this condition on our part: that we possess and recognize within ourselves a complete and firm resolve to belong entirely to God, and to abandon ourselves wholly and without any reserve to his providence. Still, I want you to notice that I'm not saying we have to feel this resolve to belong entirely to God in that way, but only that we must have it and know it in ourselves—because we shouldn't get caught up in what we feel or don't feel, since most of our feelings and satisfactions are nothing but diversions of our self-love.⁹⁶ We also shouldn't take this to mean that, in all these matters of abandonment and indifference, we never have desires contrary to God's will, or that our nature never resists the outcomes of his good pleasure—for that can often happen. These are virtues that make their home in the higher part of the soul; the lower part ordinarily understands nothing of them. We must take no account of it, but without looking at what it wants, we must embrace this divine will and unite ourselves to it, in spite of the lower part.⁹⁷ Few people reach this level of perfect self-abandonment, but we must all aim for it nonetheless, each according to our own reach and limited capacity. and abandon ourselves completely; for it would make no sense to say to Him, "I trust in you, but I don't want to be entirely yours."⁹⁸ On this I desire (Ms.⁹⁹ and Coll.)¹⁰⁰

Read the original French

\ oii. > inc (Il'iii. iikIoz, mes Ut's-r! ier(»s filles, si une dJiic ay. int le sentiment de sa mist»re jxMit aller à Dieu avec iHie grande confiance. Or, je responds que '**' non seulement lame (jui a la cognoissance de sa misère peut avoir une grande cf)nftance en Dieu, mais qu'elle ne f)cut avoir une vraye confiance qu'elle n'ayt <*^^ la cognoissance de sa misère; car ccste cognoissance et confession de nostre misère nous intnxluit devant Dieu. Ainsi '<*> tous les grands Saints, comme Joh, DavirI et h*s autres, commençoient toutes leurs prières par la confession de leur misère et indignité; de sorte que c'est une très-bonne chose de se recognoistre pauvre, vil. abject ••.

et indigne de comparoistre en la présence de Dieu. ( e mot tant célèbre entre les Anciens, ■ ( Ognois-tov toy-mesme •. ■ cncores qu'il s'entende de • Socf«m dicUM»; la cognoissance de la grandeur et excellence de 1 aine.

•pa«r té une • le MOltaiMil d' m iiUmib, alWT A l>iru Av«c unr graiMSr oooAmkc. (Mt. ri Coll.) — Rcapoocv. iV 20 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels pour ne la point avilir et prophaner en des choses indignes de sa noblesse, il s'entend aussi de la cognoissance de nostre indignité, imperfection et misère: d'autant que tant plus que nous nous cognoistrons misérables, tant plus nous nous confierons en la bonté et miséricorde de Dieu; car, entre la miséricorde et la misère, il y a une certaine liaison si grande, que l'une ne se peut exercer sans l'autre. Si Dieu n'eust point créé l'homme, il eust esté vrayement ^s) tout bon, mais il n'eust point esté actuellement misericordieuxt d'autant que la miséricorde ne s'exerce qu'envers les misérables.

Vous voyez donc que tant plus nous nous cognoissons misérables, tant plus nous avons occasion de nous confier en Dieu, puisque nous n'avons rien de quoy nous confier en nous mesmes. La deffiance de nousmesmes provient de la cognoissance de nos imperfections. Il est bien bon de se déifier de soy-mesme, mais de quoy nous serviroit-il de le faire, sinon pour jetter toute nostre confiance en Dieu et nous attendre à sa miséricorde? (») Les fautes et les infidélités que nous commettons tous les jours nous doivent bien apporter de la honte et confusion lors que nous voulons approcher de Nostre Seigneur: et ainsi lisons-nous qu'il y a des grandes âmes, comme sainte Catherine de Sienne et la Mère Thérèse, qui lors qu'elles est oient tombées en quelque défaut, a voient de ces grandes confusions; aussi est il bien raisonnable qu ayant offencé Dieu nous nous retirions un peu par humilité, et demeurions confus, car si seulement nous avon> offencé un amy, nous avons bien honte de l'aborder: mais il n'en faut pas demeurer là, car ces vertus d'humilité, d'abjection et de confusion, sont des vertus mitoyennes, p>ar lesquelles nous devons monter à l'union de nostre ame avec son Dieu. Ce ne seroit pas grande chose de s'estre anéanti et despoùillé de soy-mesme (ce qui se fait par des actes de confusion), si ce n'estoit pour se donner tout à Dieu, ainsi que saint Paul nous l'enseigne quaiKi il dit •: • coi. **^. ui. ç, lo.

Ue^puiiilUz'Vous du vieil homme, et vous revestez du nouveau; car il ne faut pas demeurer nud, ains se revestir de Dieu. Le petit reculement ne se fait que pour mieux 0' s'eslancer en Dieu par un acte d'amour et de conhance, car il ne se faut pa> confondre tristement et avec inquiétude: c'est l'amour i)ropre qui donne ces confusions-là, parce que nous sommes marris de n'estre pas parfaits, non tant pour l'amour de Dieu que pour l'amour de noub-mesmes.

El si bien vous ne sentez pas une telle confiance, si ne faut-il pas laisser d'en faire les actes, et dire à Nostre Seigneur: Encore, mon Seigneur, '*> que je n'aye aucun sentiment de conhmre en vous, je sçay pourtant que vous estes mon Dieu, que je suis toute vustre, et n'ay espérance tju'eii vostre l)onté; ainsi je m'abandonne toute entre vos mains. Ht il est tousjours 4iiMi avuir. C'»t luy qui ncMi« fait dire: HrU«, Srifnrur. )e n'owfoto )amaAi m'approclMT dr vou». )« Mii« «Mr ni ttHit! CrU «t ttot — ttolactkwi dr l'Amour pmpTP qui nou» j- ^ Je nr di« pa* qu« on mnfiiiinni •• %oycot boonea quand ellca «ont bien appllqu4«a, car 11 cat raiaunnablr qu'ayant «iflrncé IHeu nous noua rrtirions un pau par huinilitr rf daaMartoaa ooAfuaaa, d'«uLAOl que ù •pulrmmt nuu* avoo« oflmcé un amy noua aroat boota da l'aburdcr: béan nt vray qu'il n'en faut pa» tkoMumr là, parea qiim lr« vrrtu« (M« f\ ^. ^A\.) [Krprmdrr au tvxtr.

Ilf. ^ )

22 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels en nostre pouvoir de faire de ces actes, et quoy que nous ayons de la difficulté, il n'y a pourtant pas de l'impossibilité; et c'est en ces occasions là et parmi ces difficultés, que nous devons tesmoigner de la fidélité à Nostre Seigneur; car bien que nous fassions ces actes sans goust et sans aucune satisfaction il ne s'en faut pas mettre en peine, puisque Nostre Seigneur les ayme mieux ainsi. Et ne dites pas que vous le dites voirement, mais que ce n'est que de bouche ("^); car si le cœur ne le vouloit, la bouche n'en diroit pas un mot. Ayant fait cela demeurez en paix, et sans faire attention sur vostre trouble, parlez à Nostre Seigneur d'autre chose.

Voila donc pour la conclusion de ce premier poinct, qu'il est tres-bon d'avoir de la confusion quand nous avons la cognoissance et sentiment de nostre misère et imperfection; mais qu'il ne faut pas s'arrester là, ni pour cela tomber en descouragement, ains relever son cœur en Dieu par une sainte confiance, le fondement de laquelle doit estre en luy et non pas en nous; d'autant que nous changeons et il ne change jamais, et demeure tous] ours aussi bon et miséricordieux quand nous sommes foibles et imparfaits que quand nous sommes forts et parfaits. J'ay accoustumé de dire que le throsne de la miséricorde de Dieu c'est i^) nostre misère: il faut donc, d'autant que nostre misère sera plus grande avoir aussi une plus grande confiance. (<^)

Passons maintenant à l'autre question, qui est de l'abandon de soy-mesme, et quel doit estre l'exercice de l'ame abandonnée. Il faut donques sçavoir qu'abandonner nostre ame et nous laisser nous mesmes n'est autre chose que quitter et nous deffaire de nostre propre volonté pour la donner à Dieu: car il ne nous serviroit de guère, comme j'ay desja dit, de nous renoncer et délaisser nous-mesmes, si ce n'estoit pour nous unir parfaitement à la divine Bonté. Ce n'est donc que p^iur cela qu'il faut faire cest abandonnement, k-quel autrement seroit inutile, ci ^l*^M. •mbleroit ceux des anciens philosophes, qui ont fait des admirables abandonnemens de toutes choses et d'eux-mesmes, jxjur une vaine prétention de s'adonner à la philosophie: comme Epictete, tres-renommé philosophe, lequel estant esclave de condition, à cause de sa grande sagesse on le vouloit 'P' affranchir; mais luy, par un renoncement le plus extrême de tous, ne voulut jxjinl sa liberté et demeura ainsi volontairement en son esclavage, avec une telle pauvreté, qu'après sa mort on Re luy trouva rien qu'une lampe, qui fut vendue bien cher <<l) à cause qu'elle avoit esté à un si grand homme. Mais nous autres, nous ne voulons pas nous abandonner sinon pour nous laisser à la mercy de la volonté de Dieu.

Il y a beaucoup de gens qui disent à Nostre -Seigneur: Je me donne tout à vous sans aucune reserve <'>; mais il y en a fort peu qui embrass<*nt la pratique de cest abandonnement, le<juel n'est autre chose (ju'une parfaite mdiHerence à recevoir toute sorte d'evenemens, î»elon quiLs arrivent par l'ordre de la providence de Dieu. aiiNM bien l'altliction comme la consolation, la maladie comme la santé, la pauvreté comme les richesses, le mespris comme l'honneur et l'opprobre comme la gloire. Ce que j'entens selon "' la partie sujH'rieurc de nostre ame, car il n'y a point de doute que l'inférieure et l'inclination naturelle tendra tousjours plustost du costë de l'honneur que du mespris, des richesses que («) à ft(0votr \e% rvmrffnrti* par rartlrr <tr U HvtïvidMW» dIvlB*:

rtCTVoéf «calmMOt r«fllirtkia rtmimr U cuntitlatk*! . U mâladi» mauM» U «aillé, U pauvrrlé. Ir n»r«prn •! l'oppci^bcr nmiror lr« rkhMwi. 1* rt la glotrv Jr dK avf>r (M* H CoU )

24 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels de la pauvreté; quoy qu'aucun ne puisse ignorer que le mespris, l'abjection et la pauvreté ne soient plus agréables à Dieu que l'honneur et l'abondance de beaucoup de richesses. Or, pour faire cest abandonnement, il faut obéir à la volonté de Dieu signifiée et à celle de son bon plaisir: l'un se fait par manière de résignation, et l'autre par manière d'indifférence. La volonté de Dieu signifiée comprend ses commandemens, ses conseils, ses inspirations, nos Règles et les ordonnances de nos Supérieurs. La volonté de son bon plaisir regarde les evenemens des choses que nous ne pouvons pas prévoir: comme, par exemple, je ne sçay pas si je mourray demain, je voy que c'est le bon plaisir de Dieu ("), et partant je m'abandonne à son bon plaisir et meurs de bon cœur. De mesme, je ne sçay pas si l'année qui vient tous les fruits de la terre seront tempestés: s'il arrive qu'ils le soient, ou qu'il y ayt de la peste, ou autres tels evenemens, il est tout évident que c'est le bon plaisir de Dieu, et partant je m'y conforme. Il arrivera que vous n'aurez pas de la consolation en vos exercices: il est certain que c'est le bon plaisir de Dieu, c'est pourquoy il faut demeurer avec une extrême indifférence entre la désolation et la consolation; de mesme en faut-il faire en toutes les choses qui nous arrivent, es habits qui nous sont donnés, es viandes qui nous sont présentées.

Il faut de plus remarquer qu'il y a des choses csquelles il faut joindre la volonté de Dieu signifiée à ctlle de son bon plaisir: comme si je tombe malade d'une grosse fièvre, je voy en cest événement que le ïnm plaisir de Dieu est que je demeure en indifférence de la santé ou de la maladie; mais la volonté de Dieu signifiée est que moy, qui ne suis pas sous l'obéissance, j'appelle le médecin et que j'applique tous les remèdes que je puis (je ne dis pas les plus ixquis, mais les communs et ordinaires), et que les Religieux, qui sont sous un Supérieur, reçoivent les remèdes et traittement (|ui leur sont pressentes, en simplicité et st»ubmission; car Dieu le nous a signifié en ce qu'il donne la vertu *»' aux remèdes, la Sainte Escriture le nous enseigne en plusieurs endroits et l'Eglise l'ordonne. Or cela fait, que la maladie surmonte le remède, ou le remède sunnonte le mal, il en faut estre en parfaite intlifference, en telle Noite que si la maladie et la santé estoient là devant nous ( t que Nostre Seigneur nous dist: Si tu choisis la santé je ne t'en osteray pas un grain <y' de ma grâce, si tu choisis la maladie je ne te l'augmenteray p^is aussi de rit-n '*, mais au choix de la malailie il y a un peu plus dt* mon ïxm plaisir; alors lame qui s'est entièrement délaissée et abandonnée entre les mains de Nostre >eigneur choisira sans doute la maladie, pour cela Neuleinent qu'il y a un peu plus du bon plaisir de Dieu; ciuy mesme quand ce seroil pour demeurer toute sa vie dans un lict, sans faire autre chose que SDufirir, elle ne voudroii jx>ur rien du monde désirer un autre estât que celuy-là. Ainsi les Saints qui s<jnt au Ciel ont une telle union avec la volonté de Dieu, que s'il y avoit un peu <|urk|ur cbn«r dr tiiréllrur;. ^ i|iirl pnip>i« \'oulei-v»iu« «lo«r <|u*«4W> w rvvwV» 4ltrtitivr ^ viMit rarmtrr? Qitr té rllr Ir (ait. il faut <r ;! it-' tr liirti, ri Ir timir m crite priilr rua«ul4itf «i t|ii. .

I (») tt$ pim» #sf«ii. — nuib rvux que >• prus I m iHru iyi u 26 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels plus de son bon plaisir en enfer ils quitteroient le Paradis pour y aller. Cest estât du délaissement de soy-mesme comprend aussi l'abandonnement au bon plaisir de Dieu en toutes tentations, aridités, sécheresses, aversions et répugnances qui arrivent en la vie spirituelle; car en toutes ces choses l'on y void le bon plaisir de Dieu, quand elles n'arrivent pas par nostre défaut et qu'il n'y a pas du péché.

esprit entre vos mains. Il est vray, vouloit-il dire, que • joan. , XIX, 30. tout est consommé * et que j'ay tout accompli ce que *ibid. , XVII, 4. vous m'avez commandé*; mais pourtant, si telle est vostre volonté que je demeure encore sur ceste croix pour souffrir davantage, j'en suis content; je remets mon esprit entre vos mains, vous en pouvez faire tout ainsi qu'il vous plaira. Nous en devons faire de mesme, mes tres-cheres filles, en toute occasion, soit que nous souffrions ou que nous jouissions de quelque contentement, nous laissant ainsi conduire à la volonté divine, selon son bon plaisir, sans jamais nous laisser préoccuper de nostre volonté particulière.

Nostre Seigneur ayme d'un amour extrêmement tendre ceux qui sont si heureux que de s'abandonner ainsi totalement à son soin paternel, se laissant gouverner par sa divine providence, sans s'amuser à considérer si les effets de ceste providence leur seront utiles, profitables, ou dommageables; estant tout asseurés que rien ne leur sçauroit estre envoyé de ce cœur paternel et tres-aymable, ni qu'il ne permettra que rien leur arrive de qiioy il ne leur fasse tirer du bien et de l'utilité, jx^urveu que nous iiyons mis toute nostre confiance en luv et que de bon cœur nous disions: Je remets mon esprit, mon ame, mon corps et tout ce que j'ay entre vos b<*nitfs mains, pour en faire st-lon qu'il vous plaira. Car jamais nous ne sommes réduits à telle fxircmilé. (jue nous ne puissions tousjours respiuidrc devant la divine Majesté des parfums d'une sainte sousmission à sa tres-sainte volonté, et d'une continuelle promesse de ne Ir vouloir point offencer. (Quelquefois Nostre Seigneur veut que les âmes choisies pour le service de sa divine Majesté se nourrissent d'une resolution ferme et invariable de persévérer à le suivre panni les desgousts, sccheressi'S, répugnances et aspretés de la vie spirituelle, sans consolât i(jns, saveurs, tendretés et sans goust, et qu'elles croyent de n'estre dignes d'autre clio^e, suivant ainsi le divin Sauveur avec la fine pointe de l'esprit, sans autre appuy que celuy de sa divine volonté qui le veut ainsi. Et voila comme je désire (jue nous cheminions, mes chères filles.

Or maintenant, vous me demandez à qiioy se doit occuper intérieurement ceste ame qui est toute abandonnée entre les mains de Dieu. Elle ne fait rien sinon demeurer auprès de Nostre Seigneur, sans avoir souci d'aucune cho. se, non pas mesme de son corps ni de miii ame; car puistju'elle s'est embarquée sous la providence de Dieu, qu'a-t'elle aftaire de penser ce qu'elle deviendra? Nostre Seigneur, auiiuel elle s'est toute délai y jx*nsera assez pour elle. Je n'entens pas pourtant ile dire qu'il ne faille pas penser es choses aus<juelles nous sfimmes obligés chacun selon sa charge; car il ne faut pas qu'un SujxTieur, sous ombre de s'estre abandonné à Dieu et se reposer en son soin, néglige de lire et d'apprendre les enscignemens «pii Mini propres jioiir l'exercice de sa charg»- ^ 28 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels Il est bien vray qu'il faut avoir une grande confiance pour s'abandonner ainsi sans aucune reserve à la Providence divine; mais aussi, quand nous abandonnons tout, Nostre Seigneur prend soin de tout et conduit tout. Que si nous reservons quelque chose, de laquelle nous ne nous confions pas en luy, il nous la laisse, comme s'il disoit: Vous pensez estre assez sages pour faire ceste chose-là sans moy, je vous laisse gouverner, vous verrez comme vous vous en trouverez. Celles qui sont dédiées à Dieu en la Religion doivent tout abandonner sans aucune reserve. Sainte Magdelaine, qui s'estoit toute abandonnée à la volonté de Nostre Seigneur, demeuroit à ses pieds et Vescoutott tandis qu'il ♦Lucae, X, 31.

parloit *; et lors qu'il cessoit de parler, elle cessoit aussi d'escouter, mais elle ne bougeoit pourtant d'auprès de luy. Ainsi ceste ame qui s'est délaissée n'a autre chose à faire qu'à demeurer entre les bras de Nostre Seigneur comme un enfant dans le sein de sa mère, lequel, quand elle le met en bas pour cheminer, il chemine jusques à tant que sa mère le reprenne, et quand elle le veut porter il luy laisse faire. Il ne sçait point et ne pense point où il va, mais il se laisse porter ou mener où il plaist à sa mère: tout de mesme ceste ame, aymant la volonté du bon plaisir de Dieu en tout ce qu'il luy arrive, se laisse porter et chemine neantmoins, faisant ^'^'^ avec grand soin tout ce qui est de la volonté de Dieu signifiée.

Vous dites maintenant, s'il est bien possible que nostre volonté soit tellement morte en Nostre Seigneur que nous ne sçachions plus ce que nous voulons ou ce que nous ne voulons pas. Or je dis en premier lieu, qu'il n'arrive jamais, pour abandonnés que nous prouvoira bien. De mesme, une Supérieure, une Maistresse des Novices, il ne faut pas que sous ombre de dire: Je me suis abandonnée à Dieu, je me repose en son soin, elles négligent de lire et d'apprendre l'exercice de leur charge, (Ms. et Coll.)

soyons, que nostre franchise et la liberté de nostre arbitre ne nous demeurent, de sorte qu'il nous vient tousjours quelque désir et quelque volonté; mais ce ne sont pas des volontés absolues et des désirs formé> car si tost qu'une ame qui s'est délaissée au bon plaisir de I>ieu apperçoit en soy quelque volonté, elle la fait incontinent mourir en la volonté de Dieu Vous voudriez aussi sçavoir •* si une ame encore bien imparfaite pourroit demeurer utilement devant Dieu avec cesle simple attention à sa sainte présence en l'oraison Ht je vous dis que si Dieu vous y met. vous y pouvez bien drmourer, car il arrive assez souvent que Nostre Seigneur donne ces quiétudes et tranquillités à des âmes (|ui ne sont pas bien purgées; mais tandis qu'elles ont encore besoin de se purger, elles doivent, hors l'oraison, faire des remarques et des considérations nécessaires à leur amendement; car, quand bien Dieu les tiendroit tou>jours fort recueillies, il leur reste encor assez de lilx»rté pour discourir avec l'entendement sur plusieurs choses indifférentes: p<»urquoy donc ne pourront-elles pas considérer et faire des resolutions jxjur leur amendement »t pour la pratique des vertus? Il y a des jxTsonnes fort parfaites auMpielles Nostre Seign» «ir ne donne jamais de telles douceurs ni de ces quietuu-. qui font tout avec la partie su|)erieure de leur ame, et font mourir leur volonté dans la volonté de Dieu à vive force et avec la i>ointe de la raison: et cestc mort icy est la mort df la croix •. laquelle ('') est beaucoup • ihiiii. n, ». plus excellente et plus généreuse que l'autre, que l'on doit plustost apjH'ller un endormissement qu'une mort; car ceste ame qui s'est embarquée dans la nef de la providence de Dieu se laisse aller et vogue doucement, comme une personne qui dormant dans un vaivseau sur (•*) Or. pour mpandrr & ce que vooi m* dtOModat, (Mlb «1 CoM.)

(D U pmrtt4 9%ptf%4Uft et ^ U rakon: «t oa appalto nU l'amour du CnictAs: et cr»ir mort (Coll.)

30 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels une mer tranquille ne laisse pas d'avancer. Geste manière de mort ainsi douce se donne par manière de grâce, et l'autre se donne par manière de mérite.

Vous voulez encor sçavoir quel fondement doit avoir nostre confiance. Il faut qu'elle soit fondée sur l'infinie bonté de Dieu et sur les mérites de la Mort et Passion de Nostre Seigneur Jésus Christ, avec ceste condition de nostre part, que nous ayons et cognoissions en nous une entière et ferme resolution d'estre tout à Dieu, et de nous abandonner du tout et sans aucune reserve à sa providence. Je désire toutesfois (&') que vous remarquiez que je ne dis pas qu'il faille sentir ceste resolution d'estre ainsi toute à Dieu, mais seulement qu'il la faut avoir et cognoistre en nous, parce qu'il ne faut pas s'amuser à ce que nous sentons ou que nous ne sentons pas, d'autant que la pluspart de nos sentimens et satisfactions ne sont que des amusemens de nostre amour propre. Il ne faut pas aussi entendre qu'en toutes ces choses icy de l'abandonnement et de l'indifférence nous n'ayons jamais des désirs contraires à la volonté de Dieu, et que nostre nature ne répugne aux evenemens de son bon plaisir; car cela peut souvent arriver. Ce sont des vertus qui font leur résidence en la partie supérieure de l'ame, l'inférieure pour l'ordinaire n'y entend rien; il n'en faut faire aucun estât, mais sans regarder ce qu'elle veut, il faut embrasser ceste volonté divine et nous y unir, malgré qu'elle en ayt.

Il y a peu de personnes qui arrivent à ce degré du parfait délaissement d'elles mesmes, mais nous y devons neantmoins tous prétendre, chacun selon sa portée et petite capacité.

((<') et de nous — tout abandonner; car de luy dire: je me confie en vous, mais je ne veux pas estrc toute vostre, il n'y auroit pas de la raison. Sur quoy je désire (Ms. et Coll.)

Scripture echoes

↩Eph.4.22-Eph.4.24;Col.3.9-Col.3.10 — you were taught to put off your former way of life, the old self, which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit; Eph.4.23 — and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Eph.4.24 — and put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Col.3.9 — Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices, Col.3.10 — and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator
↩Eph.4.22-Eph.4.24;Col.3.9-Col.3.10;Rom.13.14;Gal.3.27 — you were taught to put off your former way of life, the old self, which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit; Eph.4.23 — and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Eph.4.24 — and put on the new self, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Col.3.9 — Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices, Col.3.10 — and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator Rom.13.14 — But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its desires. Gal.3.27 — For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
↩Mal.3.6;Jas.1.17;Lam.3.22-Lam.3.23 — For I am the LORD; I do not change. And you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Lam.3.22 — The steadfast love of the LORD—it has not ceased; his mercies have not come to an end. Lam.3.23 — They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
↩Heb.4.16;Exod.25.17-Exod.25.22 — Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Exod.25.17 — You shall make an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. Exod.25.18 — And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them, at the two ends of the mercy seat. Exod.25.19 — And make one cherub from one end and one cherub from the other end; from the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends. Exod.25.20 — The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall be toward one another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. Exod.25.21 — You shall place the mercy seat on top of the ark, and into the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. Exod.25.22 — And I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, all that I will command you concerning the people of Israel.
↩Ps.31.5 — Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
↩John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
↩John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
↩John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
↩John.17.4 — I glorified you on earth, having completed the work that you gave me to do.
↩John.17.4 — I glorified you on earth, having completed the work that you gave me to do.
↩Luke.23.46;Ps.31.5 — And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. Ps.31.5 — Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
↩Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word.
↩Phil.2.8 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
↩Phil.2.8 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Notes

1 ↩Reconstructed from heavily corrupted "iikIoz, mes Ut's-r!" as the Salesian address "mes sœurs"; preceding token remains unreadable.
2 ↩Normalized from "ier(»s filles, si une dJiic ay." to "chères filles, si une d'icelle a[yant]…" (Visitation address + start of the confidence question).
3 ↩Normalized "int le sentiment de sa mist»re jxMit aller à Dieu avec iHie grande confiance" to "ayant le sentiment de sa misère peut aller à Dieu avec une grande confiance."
4 ↩Normalized OCR noise in an otherwise clear sentence: lame (jui→l'âme qui; cf)nftance→confiance; f)cut→peut; ccste→ceste; intnxluit→introduit.
5 ↩Normalized Joh→Job, DavirI→David, h*s→les; sentence continues into s8 and the next section.
6 ↩Source OCR is badly damaged: reconstructed as «Ce mot tant célèbre entre les Anciens, Γνῶθι σεαυτόν, toy-mesme» from readable French fragments and the famous Delphic maxim (Gnothi seauton). Greek form and French gloss are probable, not certain in the witness as printed.
7 ↩Reconstructed «encore qu'il s'entende de Socraticum dictum; la cognoissance de la grandeur et excellence de l'âme» from OCR «cncores… Socf«m dicUM»; … de 1 aine». «Socraticum dictum» (Socrates's maxim) and «l'âme» are probable restorations; the sentence continues into the next section.
8 ↩The normalized French is near-total OCR noise between the previous clause on the soul's grandeur and the continuous purpose-clause that resumes in s5. Continuous Annecy sense runs from 'the knowledge of the grandeur and excellence of the soul' straight into 'so as not to debase and profane it…' with no separate intervening sentence.
9 ↩Corrected from garbled '(Mt.' — almost certainly the start of the Annecy apparatus note '(Ms. et Coll.)' (Manuscript and Collection), not a Matthew citation.
10 ↩Completes the apparatus note begun in s2: '(Ms. et Coll.)'.
11 ↩'Rcapoocv' is unreadable residual OCR (likely spilled Greek or footnote debris from the earlier γνῶθι σεαυτόν / 'know thyself' apparatus). Only the dash is retained; no secure lexical content.
12 ↩Stripped running header/page noise 'iV 20 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels' from the head of the sentence. 'la' continues the prior reference to the soul (l'âme).
13 ↩French 'actuellement' here is scholastic 'in act / actually operative,' not modern 'currently.' Rendering: 'in actual exercise.'
14 ↩Normalized 'misericordieuxt' → 'miséricordieux'; ignored stray footnote marker '^s)' after 'vrayement'.
15 ↩Normalized reading has «se déifier de soy-mesme» (to deify oneself), which contradicts the chapter’s theme of défiance and the preceding sentence. Translated as the intended Salesian sense «se défier de soi-même» (to distrust oneself).
16 ↩Normalized text has OCR splits («est oient», «a voient», «avon>», «p>ar», etc.); translated from the restored reading: «étaient tombées», «avaient», «avons», «par».
17 ↩«Mère Thérèse» in this 17th-century Salesian context almost certainly means Teresa of Ávila, not Mother Teresa of Calcutta; kept as «Mother Teresa» to mirror the French title while remaining natural.
18 ↩The Pauline citation after «quand il dit» is corrupted in the source (trailing «quaiKi il dit •: • coi.»); the following section begins the likely continuation (put off the old man / put on the new). Left as a colon introducing a lost quote.
19 ↩Source text is only «**^.»—almost certainly OCR debris from a scripture citation or footnote mark, not a translatable sentence.
20 ↩Source text is only «ui.»—OCR fragment, not a complete French sentence.
21 ↩Source text is only «ç, lo.»—OCR debris (possibly from a biblical reference such as Col.), not a translatable sentence.
22 ↩Opening OCR garbage 'Ue^puiiilUz'Vous' reconstructed as 'Dépoüillez-vous' from the Pauline put-off/put-on formula and the previous section's broken Paul citation; 'ains' read as archaic 'but rather'.
23 ↩Normalized corruptions: 'conhance'→confiance; 'pa>'→pas; 'i)ropre'→propre; 'noub-mesmes'→nous-mesmes; ignored OCR noise '0'' before s'eslancer.
24 ↩OCR corrected: El→Et; conhmre→confiance; vustre→vostre; tju'eii→qu'en; l)onté→bonté. 'Encore… que' taken as concessive 'even so / though'.
25 ↩Source OCR 'Ht il est tousjours 4iiMi avuir' restored as 'Et il est tousjours en nostre pouvoir', the clause that the next section continues ('…de faire de ces actes').
26 ↩OCR restored: C'est luy qui nous fait dire: Hélas, Seigneur. 'He' is contextually self-love (amour propre), which the next sentences dramatize.
27 ↩OCR restored: Je n'ose jamais m'approcher de vous.
28 ↩OCR restored: Je suis trop indigne!
29 ↩Heavily restored from OCR against the chapter's earlier clean parallel on confusions, amour propre, humility, and not remaining there. Opening clause 'qui nous j-…' is incomplete in the witness; end breaks mid-phrase at 'les vertus'.
30 ↩'Confusion' kept as interior shame/abashment before God, not mental disorientation; 'amour propre' rendered 'self-love'.
31 ↩Raw OCR '^A\.)' yields no recoverable French sense; likely footnote, signature, or page debris.
32 ↩OCR '[Krprmdrr au tvxtr.' restored as editorial note 'Reprendre au texte.'
33 ↩Source reads only 'Ilf.' — almost certainly OCR/print debris with no recoverable French sentence. Left untranslated rather than inventing sense.
34 ↩Source reads only '^ )' — footnote/page mark or OCR noise, not a sentence. Left untranslated rather than inventing sense.
35 ↩Normalized source opens with running-title/page matter ('22 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels') before 'en nostre pouvoir…'; rendered as the intended clause 'It is within our power…'.
36 ↩Parenthetical mark ('"^') in the source appears to be footnote/siglum noise and was not rendered as content.
37 ↩Normalized reading takes OCR corruption «tous] ours» as «toujours» (“always”).
38 ↩Ignored OCR residue «i^)» between «c'est» and «nostre misère»; sense is that our misery is the throne of God's mercy.
39 ↩Source text is only the OCR fragment «(<^)», likely a stray footnote or mark with no recoverable sentence content.
40 ↩divine Bonté: rendered as a titled divine name, "the divine Goodness," matching Salesian usage rather than a mere quality of God.
41 ↩Normalized OCR-corrupt source "p^iur" → pour; "k-quel" → lequel; trailing garbage "ci ^l*^M." treated as broken start of the next sentence (et ressembleroit…), not as independent words.
42 ↩Opening "•mbleroit" reconstructed as "[et] ressembleroit"; "jxjur" → pour; "jxjinl" → point; "on Re luy trouva" → on ne luy trouva; footnote-marker noise ("'P'", "<<l)") ignored.
43 ↩à la mercy de la volonté de Dieu: early-modern "mercy" here means disposal/power (être à la merci de), not misericordia; "at the mercy of God's will" preserves that sense in natural English.
44 ↩Salesian «indifférence» here means equal readiness to accept whatever God sends, not apathy or carelessness.
45 ↩Normalized garbled forms: embrass<*nt→embrassent; le<juel→lequel; (ju'une→qu'une; mdiHerence→indifférence; evenemens→événements; î»elon quiLs→selon qu'ils.
46 ↩Opening «aiiNM bien» read as «Aussi bien»; «altliction» as «affliction»; «mespris» as «mépris».
47 ↩«sujH'rieurc» read as «supérieure»; tail after «des richesses que» is heavily corrupted and reconstructed as «de la pauvreté» from the parallel pairs and the following corpus section, which begins with that phrase.
48 ↩«partie supérieure / inférieure de l'âme» is the Salesian distinction between the rational will under grace and the sensory/natural appetite.
49 ↩The supplied French is too severely corrupted by OCR to support a reliable reconstruction or translation.
50 ↩Only the words “sickness,” “health,” and “poverty” remain recoverable; intervening text is corrupt.
51 ↩The supplied French cannot be reconstructed with adequate confidence.
52 ↩The recoverable words appear to be “l’opprobre” and “l’honneur”; the grammatical relationship between them is lost.
53 ↩This line may contain a damaged footnote or page artifact rather than continuous body text.
54 ↩Source opens with '24 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels de la pauvreté,' which looks like a page number plus running title/header fused to the sentence; translated as a topic cue ('Of poverty') and the following clause.
55 ↩Salesian pair kept: 'volonté de Dieu signifiée' = God's signified will; 'bon plaisir' = good pleasure. 'Indifférence' is holy indifference (spiritual detachment), not apathy.
56 ↩Source has a stray '(")' after 'Dieu,' likely a footnote marker; omitted in English.
57 ↩The supplied source for this sentence is pure OCR garbage (I (») tt$ pim» #sf«ii.) with no recoverable French. No translation is offered rather than inventing wording.
58 ↩Recovered from the only legible French in the sentence after stripping OCR noise and the running head '26 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels'. Prefixed garbage (— nuib rvux que >• prus I m iHru iyi u) is discarded. Continues the thought begun in Entretiens.1.2.14.s3 about the saints' union with God's will ('s'il y avoit un peu…').
59 ↩délaissement de soy-mesme / abandonnement: Salesian terms for self-forsaking and entrusting oneself to God's good pleasure (bon plaisir); rendered as 'self-abandonment' and 'abandoning yourself' to keep the technical force without archaic diction.
60 ↩Fragmentary sentence; almost certainly the close of the Cross-word 'I commit my spirit into your hands' (cf. s6 and neighboring Entretiens.1.2.17).
61 ↩Corrupted reading '• joan' treated as 'Jean' (John), introducing the Gospel citations in s3–s5.
62 ↩Citation fragment ', XIX, 30.' read as John 19:30, completing the book name begun in s2.
63 ↩Asterisks and '*ibid.' are print/citation markers left in the source; the clause continues into s5–s6 ('what you commanded me').
64 ↩Citation fragment ', XVII, 4.' read as John 17:4, completing the 'what [you gave me to do / commanded me]' of s4–s6.
65 ↩Leading 'vous m'avez commandé*' completes the truncated clause of s4; asterisk treated as a print/citation marker, not spoken text.
66 ↩Normalized OCR corruptions: qiioy→quoi; jx^urveu→pourvu; iiyons→ayons; luv→lui; b<*nitfs→bénites; st-lon→selon.
67 ↩Normalized OCR corruption fxircmilé→extrémité. Clause continues in s3.
68 ↩Normalized OCR corruptions: (jue→que; respiuidrc→respirer; Ir→le. Completes the consecutive clause begun in s2.
69 ↩Normalized OCR corruptions: panni→parmi; sccheressi'S→sécheresses; consolât i(jns→consolations; clio^e→chose.
70 ↩desgousts, sécheresses, saveurs, tendretés, and goût are technical spiritual terms for dryness and sweetness; rendered as plain interior experience. 'Fine pointe de l'esprit' kept as the Salesian 'fine point of the spirit'.
71 ↩Normalized OCR corruption (jue→que.
72 ↩Source OCR 'qiioy' read as 'quoi' (what).
73 ↩Truncated OCR 'cho' completed as 'chose' (thing/anything), continuing into the next sentence.
74 ↩Leading OCR fragment 'se,' treated as the end of 'chose' from s2. 'miii ame' read as 'son âme'; 'puistju' as 'puisque'; 'aftaire' as 'affaire'.
75 ↩Source OCR 'auiiuel ... délai y jx*nsera' restored as 'auquel elle s'est toute délaissée, pensera assez pour elle'.
76 ↩Page furniture and OCR noise stripped: running title 'Les vrays Entretiens spirituels', page mark '^ 28', and garbled forms restored (e.g. 'ile'→'de', 'es choses ausquelles'→'aux choses auxquelles', 'sfimmes'→'sommes', 'SujxTieur'→'Supérieur', 'enscignemens ... propres pour l'exercice de sa charge'). Two consecutive periods appear fused in one sentence unit by the source segmentation.
77 ↩'la Religion' rendered as 'the religious life' (consecrated/religious state), not generic 'religion'.
78 ↩OCR 'Vescoutott' read as 'écoutait'. Source sentence is cut by page break; following unit begins 'parloit', so the finite verb is supplied as 'spoke'. Marginal citation 'Lucae, X, 31' almost certainly aims at the Mary-and-Martha scene (commonly Luke 10:39).
79 ↩délaissée here means wholly given over / left in God's care (abandonment to providence), not forsaken as neglected.
80 ↩Salesian pair retained: volonté du bon plaisir de Dieu = 'will of God's good pleasure' (what God permits and ordains in events); volonté de Dieu signifiée = 'God's signified will' (what God has made known as to be done—commandments, duties, vocation).
81 ↩Normalized past OCR junk 'faisant ^'^'^ avec grand soin' as 'faisant avec grand soin'.
82 ↩Source ends corruptly: «pour abandonnés que nous prouvoira bien.» Reconstructed as the classic Salesian construction «pour abandonnés que nous soyons» (“however abandoned we may be”), which the next section opens by continuing with «soyons, que nostre franchise…». The thought is incomplete in this section.
83 ↩Sentence ends mid-parenthesis with «(Ms.»; the apparatus continues in the next sentence as «et Coll.)».
84 ↩Editorial source tag completing s3’s parenthesis: «(Ms. et Coll.)» — manuscript and collected-edition apparatus, not continuous spiritual discourse.
85 ↩Reading continues the prior clause 'pour abandonnés que nous soyons' and corrects OCR errors: formés; Dieu; cette; Et.
86 ↩Corrected OCR: demeurer; qui; toujours; liberté; pourquoi; pour; et.
87 ↩Corrected OCR: personnes; auxquelles; Seigneur; quiétudes.
88 ↩'la pointe de la raison' rendered as 'the point of reason' (Salesian higher reason / sharp tip of rational resolve), not mere cleverness.
89 ↩Fragment only; 'ihiiii' treated as unreadable OCR, not translated. Completes into s7 as 'much more excellent...'
90 ↩Source appears to be residual footnote/apparatus OCR ('n, ».'), not recoverable French prose.
91 ↩Corrected OCR: appeller; vaisseau. Em-dash marks where the ship simile is cut off by apparatus/corruption; trailing 'Or' kept as discourse marker 'Now.'
92 ↩Highly conjectural reconstruction of OCR 'pour mpandrr & ce que vooi m* dtOModat, (Mlb «1 CoM.)' as 'pour répondre à ce que vous me demandiez, (Ms. et Coll.)'.
93 ↩The supplied French is almost entirely OCR-garbled. Surviving readable anchors are «l'amour du …», «mort», «raison» (as rakon), «appelle» (as appalto), and the apparatus tag (Coll.). The most plausible reading is a collation/variant note on the previous sentence’s “higher part of the soul … with the point of reason / death of the cross”: the higher part is of the reason, and that dying is called dying in the love of the Crucified. “CnictAs” is taken as «Crucifié».
94 ↩The supplied line begins with the running header/page marker «30 Les vrays Entretiens spirituels», which is apparatus, not body text (cf. meta source notes). Translated only the residual clause «une mer tranquille ne laisse pas d'avancer», which continues the previous section's ship-of-providence simile.
95 ↩Read «Geste» as «Cette» (standard OCR confusions of C/G in this witness).
96 ↩Source has an opaque marker '(&')' after 'toutesfois'; treated as a typesetting artifact and not rendered.
97 ↩'malgré qu'elle en ayt' refers to the lower part of the soul resisting; rendered as 'in spite of the lower part' rather than a freer paraphrase.
98 ↩Normalized OCR corruption estrc → estre (être). Leading artifact ((<') treated as non-lexical noise; em-dash in de nous — tout abandonner read as continuous phrase "abandon ourselves completely," continuing the previous section on perfect self-abandonment. Feminine toute vostre kept as "entirely yours," addressing the soul or Visitation sisters.
99 ↩Fragment only: sentence is cut at the opening of a parenthetical manuscript citation (Ms.). Sur quoy rendered "On this"; full thought is incomplete in the supplied witness.
100 ↩Completes the parenthetical started in s2: (Ms. et Coll.) — editorial reference to manuscripts and collections, not running prose of the conference.

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