| A Leg and Soul in Need of Mending |
This week we read part of a letter from St. Francis de Sales to Soeur de Bréchard, Sister at the Visitation in Annecy, written from Annecy in September 1613.For context: In the course of their sick-calls in the town, two of the Visitation nuns had called on St. Francis to dress a sore on his leg but had been so overcome with emotion that they did their work badly. Soeur Brechard then offered her services, and this is the letter she received in reply.To prepare for our chat on Sunday, please read the letter, which is reproduced below, and review the questions at the end.Click for Living Jesus Chatroom  Canadian nursing nuns (Public domain)I am afraid that you would make this sore leg too dear to me, my very dear and beloved daughter, if it led to a visit from you and to my sampling the skill of your nursing. Indeed, I should prize this indisposition highly if it brought me such consolation; at this rate I should never want it to get better; no, not even if your Mother had come and had brought you along with her.But as you know, my very dear daughter, this cannot be, for even though in their innocence and candor the hearts of father and daughter do not need to use so much restraint, we must conform to what is required by the rigor of other hearts. So this poor Father, in all his poverty, must do without the visit of his daughters and especially of his Mother, unless he has some serious illness which warrants so great a good. My very dear Mother and my very dear daughter will pass modestly and not too far away from the house of their poor Father, without coming in and without seeing him, and they will go straight on to serve the poor who are not really their son or their father but whom they look upon as brothers and as members of Jesus Christ.So peace be with you, my very dear daughter, till tomorrow, when I shall take this sore leg to your parlor if I can; for I do not in the least deny that my very dear Mother’s care and the prescription of my clever daughter would do it good. But in the meanwhile, as you cannot dress the sore leg, do something good for your poor, feeble Father’s heart; pray much for him who in his turn wishes you countless blessings.I send greetings to our sisters. Monsieur Michel [M. Michel Favre, the saint’s own confessor and ordinary confessor to the Visitation community] is very fortunate to be able to go and see my daughters when he wants to. One day we shall all see one another together in that eternal liberty of love which shall not know any bounds or any end, nor any other limit than that of its own immensity. Reflections: Is St. Francis being imprudent in not accepting help from the sisters?Think about the sisters visiting the poor sick throughout the town. How is this like Christ healing the sick during his days on earth?How is nursing analogous to the work a priest does for our souls?We still use the title “Father” for priests today, but have we lost touch with the deeper meaning? Do we see our bishops this way?How can we better pray for and support our priests and bishops? Especially for their offices and what they represent?St. Francis calls heaven the “eternal liberty.” Discuss this. What exactly does it mean? Sign up for our Living Jesus Chat Room:Come to our Living Jesus Chat Room, 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time |