297 think it would be advisable to have them in church on big feasts. I think that, by making the establishment right after the mission that the Bishop ofBeauvais wants to have given there, it will be easy to get all that can be desiredfor the good of the confraternity. I have not done anything at all about suggesting this collection. Addressed: Monsieur Vincent 207. - TO CLEMENT DE BONZI, BISHOP OF BEZIERS [September or October 1635] 1 Your Excellency, I learned from M. Cassan, the brother of a priest from your town of Beziers, that you wanted to know three things about us. Now, since I was unable to have the honor of answering you at that time because I was leaving for the country, I decided to do so now. I shall tell you, first of all, Your Excellency, that we are entirely under the authority of the bishops to go to any place in their diocese they wish to send us to preach, catechize, and hear the general confessions of the poor; ten to fifteen days before ordina- tion, to teach all about mental prayer, practical and necessary theology, and the ceremonies of the Church to those about to be ordained; and to receive the latter into our house, after they are priests, for the purpose of renewing the fervor OurLord has given them at ordination. In a word, we are like the servants of the centurion in the Gospel2 with regard to the bishops, insofar as when they say to us: go, we are obliged to go; if they say: come, we are obliged to come; do that, and we are obliged to do it. We Letter 207. - Reg. 1, f° 13. The copyist notes that he had before him a rough draft in Saint Vincent's own handwriting. 'Reference to Clement de Bonzi in a dated letter to Antoine Portail(no. 209, dated October 16, 1635) prompts us to assign the months and the year in which this letter might have been written. 2 Mt. 8: 5-9. 298 are, moreover, subject to their visitation and correction just like country pastors and curates, although for the preservation of uni- formity of spirit, there is a Superior General whom the Mission- aries obey in matters of internal discipline. That, Your Excellency, is how we conduct ourselves with the bishops. Now as to whether we can send you two priests, that, Your Excellency, is where the difficulty arises, because we are few in number and possess little virtue. You may be sure, nev- ertheless, Your Excellency, that if we could do this for any prelate in thekingdom, it would be for your Most Illustrious Lordship, as much because of the exemplary life you lead in the Church, as for the need that I imagine your poor mountain people have of them. As for the third question, Your Excellency, my response is that, since we go along without taking anything from the poor or from ecclesiastics for our living expenses or clothing, we would need, I think, eight hundred to one thousand livres for the maintenance of two priests and a brother. These, Your Excellency, are the replies I can give to your Most Illustrious Lordship regarding the things you wish to know. If I were fortunate enough to be able to render you some service, Your Excellency, I would certainly consider it a special blessing from God. 3 Your Most Illustrious Lordship may make full use of me, if he so desires, as of one who is, in the love of Our Lord, your most humble and most obedient servant. 3A priest who had been dismissed from the Bons-Enfants or from Saint-Lazare, having heard of the request of the Bishop of Beziers, went to that city saying that Saint Vincent had sent him, and succeeded in deceiving the prelate, who employedhim. His disedifying conduct gave Clementde Bonzi a poor opinion of the Missionaries. (Cf. vol. IV, no. 1436, the letter of December 21, 1651, to Achille Le Vazeux.) 299 207a. - TO SAINT LOUISE [October 1635] 1 Mademoiselle, The grace of Our Lord be with you forever! Yesterday, I spoke to the priests' group about what Madame Goussault had told me concerning the situation at the Hotel-Dieu. However, in the end it was decided to postpone the matter again for a few days. It is better to let everybody talk than to expose so many people, when the unfitness of a single one of them could destroy the work completely. And then, they say that those good young women are not too much to be believed in the matter. Mon Dieu! how worried I am about your poor Sister Barbe2 and about the other one who is a patient at the Hotel-Dieu, as is good Madame Mussot! I am in no way recommending them to your care; you have enough worries. However, I am especially con- cerned about your telling me that you are able to do so little that it is a pity. I am afraid that you yourself are ill. Let me know about this, please, and if that is the case, do not go back to the Hotel- Dieu. Marie3 will take your place during your absence. If not, I think you will do well to go there tomorrow, perhaps sleep there, Letter 207a. - Bibl. Nat. n. a. f. 22.741, f° 285, original autograph letter. 'This letter, as well as the one immediately following, was written shortly before no. 207 c which is from October 1635. In his corrections in vol. XIII, Coste reappraised the date he had originally assigned to no. 207 c (formerly no. 201). Therefore, the letters previously numbered 199 and 200 have been repositioned accordingly as nos. 207 a and 207b. 2Barbe Angiboust occupies an important place in the first twenty-five years of the history of the Daughters of Charity, undoubtedly the most important after SaintLouise. She entered the Community on July 1, 1634, at the age of twenty-nine and was admitted to vows March 25, 1642. The Holy Founder placed her at the head of the houses founded in Saint-Germain-en- Laye (1638), Richelieu (1638), Saint-Denis (1645), Fontainebleau (1646), Brienne (1652), Bernay (1655), and Chateaudun(1657), where she died December 27, 1658. In 1641 she was in charge of the Sisters employed in the service of the galley-slaves. Nothing is more edifying than the conference on her virtues held at the Motherhouse, April 27, 1659 (cf. vol. X, no. 109). 3Marie Joly. 300 and come back the following day to Saint-Nicolas in order to get Marie used to those young women little by little, and them to her. But what shall I tell you about Mademoiselle Laurent? She appears to have good judgment but her age worries me. Nev- ertheless, if you think it advisable to have her come to the Hotel- Dieu, spending two or three days with her, and after that to have her come and go from one house to the other until it is the right time to go to the country, then do so. She can observe and you can observe her. But make it quite clear to her that this is just an experiment, and to your heart that I am, in the love of Our Lord, your most humble servant. V. D. Addressed: Mademoiselle Le Gras 207b. - TO SAINT LOUISE [October 1635] 1 Mademoiselle, The grace of Our Lord be with you forever! Monsieur Holden2 did not come to have dinner here; let me know why; I was expecting him. Letter 207 b. - According to Coste, the original autograph letter wasat the house of the Picpus Fathers of Braine-le-Comte (Belgium). (Since 1954, the Picpus Fathers [the Priests of the Sacred Hearts] have had their Generalate in Rome.) The present location of the letter is unknown. 'The passage referring to Marie leads us to place this letter after no. 207a. 2Henry Holden was born in Lancaster County in England in 1586 and came to France at the age of twenty-two. He spent five years at the College Anglais de Douai and from there went to the College de Navarre wherehe finishedhis theology. Michel de Marillac, Keeper of the Seals and Saint Louise's uncle, received him into his house as chaplain in 1626 and entrusted to him the direction of his conscience. Henry Holden obtained his doctorate in 1636. He died March 14, 1662, in the community of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. We have his annotated edition of the Novum Testamentum (1660, 2 vols.), a rational compendium of the Catholic religion 301 I shall speak with your son. He must not give up the clerical state without due consideration. If he does, there might be cause for regret. However, God, Who does everything for the best, would find His glory in it. We must be resigned to His Divine Will in all things. He is more God's child that yours; He will do what is best. Therefore, be prepared for any outcome and do not readily acquiesce in this instance. If he gives up the clerical state, people will laugh, even at that college; if he goes elsewhere, he will be lost or at least will be running a great risk. I have spoken to Madame Goussault. She is not surprised at the suggestion. She says that Marie3 will neither pray the way it has been done, nor make repetition. But do not insist on that. You will be able to look into it now and then. In the meantime, I recommend myself to your prayers and am, in the love of Our Lord, your most humble servant.