Mission of woman

Each day the events of life bring you teachings capable of serving you as example, and yet you pass by without understanding them, without drawing a useful deduction from the circumstances that provoked them. Meanwhile, in this intimate union of Earth and space, of free Spirits and captive Spirits, bound to the accomplishment of their task, there are such examples, whose memory ought to be perpetuated among you: it is peace proposed in war. A woman, whose social position attracts all eyes, goes, a humble sister of charity, to bring to all the consolation of her word, the affection of her heart, the caress of her eyes. She is an empress; upon her brow shines the crown of diamonds, but she forgets her position, forgets the danger in order to hasten into the midst of suffering and say to all: “Be consoled; here I am! Suffer no more: I speak to you; do not be troubled: I shall take care of your orphans!…” The danger is imminent, the contagion is in the air, and yet she passes, calm and radiant, amid these beds, where pain lies. She calculated nothing, feared nothing, she went where her heart called her, as the breeze goes to refresh the withered flowers and straighten their fragile stems. This example of devotion and self-denial, when the splendors of life ought to engender pride and selfishness, is surely a stimulant for the women who feel vibrate within them that delicacy of sentiment which God gave them to fulfill their task; for they are charged chiefly with spreading consolation and, above all, conciliation. Have they not grace and the smile, the charm of the voice and the sweetness of the soul? It is to them that God entrusts the first steps of his children; he chose them as the nurses of the gentle creatures who are to be born.

This rebellious and proud Spirit, whose existence will be a constant struggle against misfortune, does he not come to ask them to instill in him ideas different from those he brings at birth? It is to them that he stretches out his little hands; his voice, once harsh, and his accents, which vibrated like brass, will soften like a sweet echo, when he says: mama.

It is woman whom he implores, that sweet cherub, who comes to learn to read in the book of Science; it is to please her that he will make every effort to instruct himself and become useful to Humanity. – It is again to her that he stretches out his hands, that young man who has strayed on the road and wishes to return to good; he would not dare to implore his father, whose anger he dreads, but his mother, so sweet and so generous, will have for him only forgetfulness and pardon.

Are they not the living flowers of life, the unalterable devotions, those souls whom God created women? They attract and enchant. They are called temptation, but they should be called remembrance, for their image remains engraved in indelible characters in the heart of their children, when they exist no more; it is not in the present that they are appreciated, but in the past, when death has restored them to God. – Then their children seek them in space, as the sailor seeks the star that is to lead him to port. They are the sphere of attraction, the compass of the Spirit who has remained on Earth and who hopes to find them in heaven. They are also the hand that guides and sustains, the soul that inspires and the voice that pardons; and, just as they were the angel of the earthly home, they become the consoling angel who teaches one to pray. Oh! you who have been oppressed on Earth, women who are held to be slaves of man, because you submitted to his domination, your kingdom is not of this world! Be content, then, with the lot that is reserved for you; continue your task; remain as mediators between man and God, and understand well the influence of your intervention. – This is an ardent, impetuous Spirit; the blood boils in his veins; he is going to grow exalted, he will be unjust; but God put sweetness in your eyes, the caress in your voice; look at him, speak to him: the anger will be appeased and the injustice will be averted. Perhaps you will have suffered, but you will have spared a fault to your companion of the journey and your task will be fulfilled. That one is still unhappy, he suffers, fortune abandons him, he believes himself an outcast!… But there is a devotion put to the test, a constant self-denial to lift up that downcast morale, to restore to that Spirit the hope that had abandoned him. Women, you are the inseparable companions of man; with him you form an indissoluble chain that misfortune cannot break, that ingratitude must not stain, and which could not be broken, for God himself formed it and, although at times you have in your soul those somber preoccupations that accompany the struggle, yet rejoice, for in this immense labor of earthly harmony, God has given you the most beautiful part.

Courage, then! O you who live humbly, laboring for your inner improvement, God smiles upon you, for he gave you that gentleness which characterizes woman; whether empresses, sisters of charity, humble laborers or sweet mothers of a family, they are all wrapped in the same banner, and bear written on their brow and in their heart these two magic words, which fill eternity: Love and Charity.

Carita. n [1]

[v. Carita.]