Sr. Mary de Sales Galerne VHM, did not have a long life, living only 37 years, from 1895 to 1932. But this French Visitation Nun managed to grow interiorly from a young person indifferent to religion in her early youth to one filled with profound spiritual wisdom, and a recipient of the Lord’s mystical graces.
She became a professed member of the Visitation community of Gennes-sur-Seiche, France, after a short stay in Carmel, where her weaker health prevented her becoming a member of that illustrious Order.
In the early days of her religious life she tended to be a bit severe in her judgments; desiring perfection herself, she hoped to find it in others! But she learned to sympathize with human weakness, saying, “Under the guise of my annoying neighbor is the divine image hidden; if it is a little disfigured by imperfections, believe that Our Lord in His Holy Passion had His adorable face covered with sweat and blood. Do we not recognize his disfigured face ? Out of compassion and love for Him, oh! love the dear neighbor, whoever he is, as Jesus has loved to die for him. “
One of her mystical experiences occurred after holy Communion. She explains, : “Once, after Holy Communion, the Divine HEART came with a kindness and tenderness and said: “.. you are made one spirit with Me.” A transformation has occurred: I no longer live my life but the littleness and charity of Jesus-Host.I love my neighbor with his HEART. “
A deep lover of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sr. Mary de Sales teaches us that “Whining about your lack of fervor, even if true, does absolutely nothing. Simply take in the treasures of the HEART of JESUS. It is infinitely rich and asks only to give to us. Draw without measure, we will not exhaust Him.”
Her mystical experiernces in prayer are recounted in her biography, in French, called, “Une Petit Semance, du Divin Bon Plaisir” or, in English, “A Small Seed of Divine Pleaure.”
May your soul benefit from Sr. Mary de Sales Galerne’s spiritual gleanings:
“It is not this or that situation, a particular job that will lead us to holiness, but the resignation of ourselves, our judgment, our will, to live and act by the divine motion, making no resistance to his divine will, but instead leaving us available to our divine owner.”
“True union is not to have beautiful feelings, experiencing delight, but to merge oneself totally to join Him and become one spirit with Him.”