The bells

Can you tell me why I have always loved to hear the sound of the bells? It is that the soul of man, who thinks and suffers, always seeks to free itself when it experiences that mute happiness, which awakens in us vague memories of a past life. It is that such a sound is a translation of the word of Christ, which has vibrated in the air for eighteen centuries: it is the voice of hope. How many hearts it has consoled! How much strength it has given to believing Humanity! That divine voice terrified the great ones of the age: they feared it, because the truth they had stifled made them tremble. Christ showed it to all; they killed Christ, but not the idea. His sacred word had been understood; it was immortal, and yet, how many times has doubt slipped into your hearts! How many times has man accused God of being unjust! He exclaimed: My God, what have I done? Did misfortune mark me in the cradle? Am I, then, destined to follow this path that tears my heart apart? It seems that a fatality attaches itself to my steps; I feel my strength abandoning me; I am going to annihilate myself in this life. At this moment, God makes a ray of hope penetrate into your heart; a friendly hand removes from you the blindfold of materialism that covers your eyes; a voice from the heavens says to you: Look on the horizon at that luminous focus: it is a sacred fire that emanates from God; that flame must illuminate the world and purify it; it must make its light penetrate into the heart of man and expel from it the shadows that darken his eyes. Some men claimed to bring you the light; yet they produced nothing but a fog, which caused the right path to be lost.

Do not be blind, you to whom God shows the light. It is Spiritism that allows you to lift the corner of the veil that covered your past. Look now at what you were and judge. Bow your head before the justice of the Creator. Render him thanks for giving you courage to continue the trial you chose. Christ said: He who kills by the sword shall die by the sword. That thought, entirely Spiritist, contains the mystery of your sufferings. May the hope and the goodness of God give you courage and faith; always listen to this voice that vibrates in your hearts. It is for you to understand, to study with wisdom, to elevate your soul in fraternal thoughts. May the rich man extend his hand to the one who suffers, for riches were not given to him for personal pleasures, but that he should be their dispenser; and God will ask him to account for the use he has made of them. The only riches that God recognizes are your virtues; the only ones you will carry away when leaving this world. Let those pretended sages speak, who call you mad. Tomorrow – who knows? – perhaps they will ask you to pray for them, for God will judge them. Your daughter, who loves you and prays for you.

Paris. — Typ. H. CARION, rue Bonaparte, 64.