Letters to Young Girls

Dear Friend,

Mathilda and Sophie walk into the house, followed by Colombe and Xavier carrying little Esther on his shoulders. Mathilda hastens to say to her parents: “Do you know what we saw during our walk? A mother duck with her ten young ducklings!”

Colombe continues: “It was so nice to see them! The family waddled across the path to go to the stream, where the young ducklings, unsure of themselves, all jumped in the water, under their mother’s watchful eye and her encouragement. They must rapidly learn to fend for themselves if they want to survive. The day will come when the mother duck will watch them fly for the first time and, later, leave her. Then, they will be ready to face their life.”

Right now, surrounded by your family, you follow the direction shown you by your parents. Perhaps you do so while being more or less personally convinced? A day will come when, because of your studies, a job or some other event in life, you will leave the family home, which will give you an even greater autonomy. In fact, no longer being under the “watchful eye” of your parents and their rules, you will experience a new freedom, some independence.

At the age of 19 or 20, Marie-Paule left her family to follow a nursing course in Montreal. However, fifteen months later, health problems forced her to return to Lac-Etchemin. She admitted that, at Montreal, “her religious devotion was on the decline”, and once she was home again, she became increasingly aware of the protection she had benefited from, thanks to her good mother’s prayers.

She wrote that, exposed to the hustle and bustle of a busy and stressful life and to a great diversity of mentalities, it would have been so easy for her to come to grief; and she added: “But obedience to a strict rule of life and a judiciously enforced discipline had been a protection to the inexperienced adolescent that I was.” (Life of Love, vol. I, p. 66)

What Marie-Paule experienced, you too will experience it like all young people do, but in a social context that is much less favorable for the life of your soul. Hence, the importance of preparing yourself well for this step, and when the time comes, you will have to remain vigilant to protect yourself by not neglecting the spiritual and human means that will safeguard you

Xavier comes up to his sister Sophie and, putting his arm around her shoulders, says to her: “To think that my dear little sister will soon fly off to Europe for several weeks, like a young duck starting to fly always farther away! I won’t be there to watch over you, but I know that you are a serious-minded person and that you will be able to benefit from this experience without exposing yourself, but will remain faithful to a good rule of life.”

Taking her little Esther in her arms, Colombe comes up to her husband, who, without leaving his sister, affectionately draws her to him. Filled with the wonderful spirituality she lives by, she adds to her beloved husband’s words: “Sophie, and you too Mathilda, will have to see to it that each one of your “flights” be constantly under the eyes of God and Marie-Paule, right?

Stay dependant on them at all times, like a child against their Hearts, just like our darling little Esther who, tired after her day, is falling asleep in my arms. All of us are going to miss you, Sophie, but we are happy for you.”

The Daughters of Mary