Letters to Young Girls

Dear Friend,

The family having just come home from Sunday Mass, Mathilda’s father declares: “Today, I’m going to make brunch for you.” Without delay, he sets to preparing the meal with special attention. Mathilda grabs an apron and joins the head cook for the day, saying: “I’ll help you, okay? Let’s get on with it!”

Their mother, sitting in the living room, has picked up a good book. In fact, she has been forbidden from setting foot in the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she observes her husband and daughter who, as they enjoy this time of relaxation, are joking about and interiorly, she savors the scene. She understands that they want to please her, lighten the load of having to plan for and prepare a meal, a routine duty she does with love, even if this daily task is sometimes rather burdensome.

At table, each one eats heartily, looking at each other and smiling. It is a touching moment because of the love they feel for each other. This immediately makes the mother think of the novel she has been reading, an autobiography of Félix Leclerc entitled, “Pieds nus dans l’aube” [“Barefoot at dawn”]. “I will read you a wonderful passage,” she says. “Listen to what Felix Leclerc’s mother did.”
“Once the family had gathered around the table and the smell from the steaming tureen brought water to our mouths, mother would sometimes say:
“– ‘Stop eating and talking for a moment.’
“We would obey.
“– ‘Look at one another,’ she would gently tell us.
“We would look at each other without understanding, amused.
“– ‘This is to make you think of happiness,’ she would add.” (chap. II, p.39)

Mathilda’s father comments: “How true that is! A family in which there is love, this is happiness. We must appreciate it and thank God for this.” At that moment, the conversation is interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. Ah! Would this finally be the news everyone has been waiting for in the last few days?

It is within the traditional family made up of a father, a mother and the children, as God desired it, that authentic values are passed on. Even if trials can strike anywhere, Mathilda is particularly favored in her home and she is well aware of this. Between her parents, there is love, respect and harmony and between them all there is a deep affection, in which each one can sacrifice himself or herself for the welfare of the others.

Her mother and father are very present and attentive to the physical, psychological, moral and spiritual development of their children. What security this brings! Unfortunately though, not everyone has that opportunity. And yet, the family is the basic cell of society, the place where beings are formed with a noble heart and a generous soul, capable of participating in the renewal of the world.

If your family is experiencing the ordeal of a separation or a divorce, of illness or bereavement, if it is going through hardships, you can nevertheless cherish the value of the family while striving to accept the trial God is permitting. In whatever situation you find yourself, in times of joy or sorrow, keep alive in your heart the great dreams of the loftiest family values and remember that this “demands of you your loving participation.” “’Tis for you to embellish the home atmosphere. At times life is hard, but from this, one must profit;  ’Tis the school of life where one learns to give, to love, where one learns to work, to study and to observe.” (Marie-Paule, The Community of the Lady of All Peoples, pp. 106 and 102)

Mathilda’s mother hangs up the phone and announces the good news: “Colombe has had her baby! And it’s… a girl!” There are exclamations of joy from everyone. “Let’s go look at the picture they sent us by Internet!” Colombe, now a mother, and Xavier, already well prepared for his new role as a father, are looking lovingly at the newborn. Long live the family! Long live the “sanctuary of the family” in which there radiates the love the Lady taught us!

The Daughters of Mary