Waiting. 175
take a better time than that of your absence when I
can render you no service. Neither am I needed by
any one else in the house, for since you went away I
have not written a single word for my brother, and
that is the thing for which he needs me most. But
he can do very well with some one else ; indeed, I
see no way in which I can possibly be needed until
your return from Rouen, certainly if you compare
such usefulness with the necessity which there is for
my making this retreat."
And then, presently, she thinks of another good
argument to urge : " For since God has shown me
the grace to increase daily within me the effect of
that vocation He has pleased to give me, and you
have^ permitted me to keep, and which it is my de-
sire to accomplish as soon as He shall make known to
me His will by yours — since, I say, this desire aug-
ments every day, and I see no power on earth that
can prevent my accomplishing it if you will and per-
mit it — tJiis retreat would serve to prove whether it is
there that God would have me. I could then listen to
Him alone {seul a seul), and perhaps I sJiall find that
I am not born for that sort of place ; and, if it is thus,
I will ask you frankly not to think of it any longer,
or pay any more attention to what I have said to
you
" Behold, M. mon pere, the very humble prayer I
make you. I doubt not you will grant it If I
176 Sister and Samt.
have ever been so happy as to satisfy you in anything,
I beg you grant me promptly what I ask. The ab-
besses, on their part, have accorded me the privilege.
M. Perier, my brother, and via fidcle (Gilberte), ap-
prove my plan and are quite willing, provided I can
gain your consent
" If there were any other consideration stronger
than the love of God, which will urge you for His
sake to accord me this slight request, I would employ
it. In the name of that sacred love which He gives
to us, and which we owe to Him, grant this request,
either to my iveakness or to my arguments
" You may be certain that your commandments are
laws to me, and that where your satisfaction is con-
cerned, even at the prejudice of my whole life's re-
pose, I promptly hasten to obey. It is gratitude and
affection rather than duty that leads me to do this,
and when I accord to you what you demand of me, it
is from pure love to your service next to that of God.
This service is the reason you have given for keeping
me with you. I hope in God you will some day
know how much better I could serve you by being
with Him than by being with you. But while wait-
ing for this time, I pray Him to keep me in the same
sentiments I have always had, to await patiently your
will after I have sought to discover His.
" On the subject of my little retreat I await your
answer with impatience such as you can imagine, but
Wat ting. 177
with entire submission, altJioiigh I have the greatest
desire for it. Whatever your answer may be, it will
not in the least change the passion it will find in me
— a passion which will never leave me — of proving to
you how much more I am by the affection of the
heart than by the necessity of nature, M. my father,
your very humble and very obedient daughter and
servant, JACQUELINE Pascal.
" M. Perier, my brother, and ma fide le, humbly kiss
your hands."
A better specimen of a woman's logic — compounded
of tenderness, obedience, defiance, pleading, argu-
ment, and religion — it would be diflficult to find. It
is easy to recognize in the writer the little girl who
sat on Richelieu's knee, and through tears and ca-
resses, backed by genuine determination and a fine
talent for sticking closely to the point, obtained her
father's pardon.
We are not told whether this letter brought the
desired permission, but it certainly deserved to do so.
While Jacqueline was at Clermont, living in the
little cold room partitioned off for her, making " coats
and garments " and taking them to the hospital, she
became acquainted with a certain good Father of the
Oratory, who seems to have been much interested in
the earnest young disciple. Madame Perier says :
" The good man often came to see my sister, and
8*
1 78 Sister and Saint.
liis edifying conversation gave her pleasure. He one
day said to her that, since her talents had formerly
been employed on worldly themes, it was but reason-
able that she should now use them in some attempt
at honoring God ; that he had heard of her as writing
poetry, and had thought of furnishing her with an
opportunity of thus glorifying God by translating for
her some of the Church hymns from Latin into
French prose, which she might afterward versify.
She replied promptly that she was quite willing. He
brought her first the Ascension hymn, Jcsu, nostra
redeviptio, which is chanted every day at the Ora-
tory, and she put it into rhyme."
This hymn is supposed to have been written by St.
Ambrose in the year 390. It is given us in some of
our church collections as follows :
" O Christ ! our Hope, our heart's desire.
Redemption's only spring ;
Creator of the world art Thou,
Its Saviour and its King.
" How vast the mercy and the love
Which laid our sins on Thee ;
And led Thee to a cruel death
To set Thy people free !
" But now the bonds of death are burst.
The ransom has been paid ;
And Thou art on Thy Father's throne.
In glorious robes arrayed.
*' O Christ ! be Thou our present joy.
Our future great Reward ! *
Waiting. 1 79
Our only glory may it be
To glory in the Lord ! "
It may be interesting to some readers to see it in
Jacqueline Pascal's French version:
"Jesus, digue rangon de rhomme rachete.
Amour de notre coeur et desir de notre ame,
Seul Createur de tout, Dieu dans I'eternite,
Homme a la fin des temps naissant d'une femme.
" Quel exces de clemence a su ta surmonter,
Que, portant les peches de son peuple rebelle,
Tu souffris une mort horrible d, reconter.
Pour garantir les tiens de la mort eternelle ?
"Que la meme bonte t' oblige maintenant,
A surmonter les maux dont ton peuple est coupable ;
Remplis ses justes voeux en les lui pardonnant,
Et qu'il jouisse'en paix de tu vue ineffable.
" Sois notre unique joie, O J6sus, notre Roi,
Qui seras pour toujours notre unique salaire ;
Que toute notre gloire a jamais soit on toi,
Dans le jour ^ternel o\\. ta splendeur eclaire ! "
"The good father thought this so fine," continues
Madame Perier, " that he urged her to proceed, but
her scruples were aroused by the reflection that she
had undertaken the work without due consultation."
She wrote to Port Royal to ask advice, and re-
ceived an answer, Sainte-Beuve says from Agnes,
Cousin says from Angelique, and where such doctors
disagree we would not undertake to settle the point.
i8o Sister and Saint.
At any rate, the letter probably expresses the opin-
ions of both sisters on the subject, and they had forti-
fied their own by that of M. Singlin. " I have ob-
tained M. Singlin's opinion on the questions you ask,"
the letter runs. " To the first " (which seems to have
been an inquiry into the propriety of some employ-
ment), " he says that nuns must not work for vanity,
and it would be better for you to work on it a little
at a time by way of occupation. As to the second, it
is better for you to hide your talents of that nature,
instead of making them known. God will not re-
quire an account of them, and they must be buried, for
the lot of women is humility and silence."
Again, '' I am glad that you have yourself antici-
pated this decision. You ought to hate your genius,
and all the other traits in your character which, per-
haps, cause the world to retain you, for where it has
sown it would fain gather the harvest. Our Saviour
will do the same in His own good time. He will call
for the fruit of that divine seed which He has set in
your heart, and which, with patience, will become
abundantly multiplied. This is all He now asks
of us."
" When Jacqueline received this letter," says her
sister, " she showed it to me, and, without giving any
reason, begged the good father to excuse her from
proceeding farther." This was, then, with one nota-
ble exception, Jacqueline Pascal's last poetic effort.
Waiting. 1 8 1
The third noteworthy production of her pen during
these years was a series of fifty-one " pensees edifian-
tes" on the mystery of the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
It was the custom at Port Royal to decide by lot
every month on a motto, or subject of meditation,
for each member of the sisterhood. The M6re Agnes
often included Jacqueline in this drawing of lots, and
in May, 165 1, she sent her the subject given above
with this kind little note : " I have drawn for you the
Mystery of Jesus Christ's Death, and the same subject
has also fallen to my lot. I have thereby been led
to think that .... none of those holy desires, emo-
tions, and actions which God inspires in us can reach
their full perfection, nor aid us in the attainment of
Christian holiness, until our self-will is entirely dead
and happily swallowed up in God's will. When this
is done, we can not fail of experiencing that resurrec-
tion which gives eternal life. Let us therefore try,
my dear sister, to realize that it is the privilege of our
heavenly calling to die daily, and let us not shrink
from crucifying our own inclinations, if we may there-
by honor Him whose death has procured for us eter-
nal life."
These reflections of Jacqueline Pascal's on the death
of Christ would be rather heavy reading, to say noth-
ing of writing, for most young ladies of the present
day, however religiously inclined. We are to notice
1 82 Sister and Saint.
/
that they are thoughts — not feelings — and that each
one has a practical bearing. If any girl will make the
experiment of writing out fifty-one distinct thoughts
on any one single fact, she will get an impression of
the quality of Jacqueline Pascal's mind.
We give a few extracts, choosing them on the prin-
ciple of brevity chiefly :
III.
Jesus died in reality, and not figuratively, or in de-
sire only.
This teaches me that I ought to die to the world
effectively, and not to be content with imaginations
and beautiful speculations about it.
IV.
The death of Jesus has nothing extraordinary about
it ; that is to say. His body "was deprived of life, as
all other bodies are, and death took possession of Him
in the posture and in the manner natural to that
condition.
This teaches me that although I ought to destroy
within me the flesh and all its desires, there should
nevertheless be nothing extraordinary nor singular in
my actions ; but I should do simply those things
which are suitable to my present condition.
Waiting. 183
VIII.
Jesus did not wait to die of old age, but antici-
pated death in the strength of His youth.
This teaches me not to wait till the decadence of
my life before dying to the world, but to anticipate
the actual by the mystic death.
X.
Jesus died on the cross, raised above all the world,
having ever}^'thing under His feet, even His blessed
mother.
I learn from this that my heart should be above all
the things of this world, and that by this elevation of
spirit, which is not proud, but heavenly, I should rci
gard as beneath me everything, even that which is
most grand and most amiable.
XV.
Jesus died publicly, before the eyes of all who chose
to gaze.
I learn from this that although my condition may
expose me to the eyes of the world, nevertheless I
should die to it.
XXVIII.
I see Jesus dead in three different places : on the
cross in view of the whole world ; descended from the
184 Sister and Saint.
cross in the midst of His friends ; and in the tomb in
entire solitude ; and in these three places He is equally-
dead.
This teaches me that in whatever state I may find
myself, in conversation or in solitude, I should equally
be dead to the world.
XXX.
Jesus was clothed after His death with the garments
suitable to the dead.
I learn from this to show by my dress that I am
dead to the world.
XXXII.
Even the cloth in which the body of Jesus was
wrapped did not belong to Him.
I learn from this not to be attached to the things
which are about me, even those which are most useful.
XLVII.
Jesus did not enter triumphant into heaven as soon
as He died to the earth, but He waited patiently sev-
eral days.
This teaches me to suffer in patience the privation
of celestial consolations.
Waiting. 185
XLVIII.
Jesus died, but in dying He did not leave His own
comfortless. He sent to them His Holy Spirit,
which is His Divine Love, to dwell with them
(though invisible), even to the end of the world.
I learn from this that in whatever manner I may
be separated from my own, I ought, nevertheless,
always to dwell with them by an affection which is
born of God, and always assist them with my prayers.
It ^vas by the death of the natural body of Jesus
that He gave life to His mystical body, which is the
Church.
This teaches me that my death to the world should
be the principle of my life in God,
THE LORD OPENS THE WAY,
XIII.
THE LORD OPENS THE WAY.
THUS the months and the years had passed
away till Septemoer, 165 1. "At that time,"
says Madame Perier, ''my father was seized
with the illness of which he died, and my sister de-
voted herself to attendance upon him by day and
night, with the utmost zeal and assiduity. She may
be said to have done nothing else, for when her
presence was not needed in his room, she withdrew
to her own apartment, where, as she herself told me,
she prostrated herself and prayed for him incessantly
with tears. But God, notwithstanding, did accord-
ing to His own will, and my father died, September
24th. We were at once informed of it (being then at
Clermont), but my state of health prevented us irom
reaching Paris before the last of November." This
was the time when, as we may remember, Madame
Perier " preferred to incur the expense and trouble "
of taking her little girls with her rather than run the
(iSg)
190 Sister and Saint,
risk of possible ribbons and laces bestowed by their
indulgent grandmother.
While Blaise and Jacqueline waited together these
few weeks in the house of mourning, there seems to
have been a renewal of the old, beautiful, tender in-
timacy between them.
" My brother was much comforted in his deep afflic-
tion by her society," says Madame Perier. And,
doubtless, Jacqueline was as much comforted by her
brother. Notwithstanding the opposition of her
opinion to that of her father, her love for him was
deep and her mourning most sincere. Touched by a
common sorrow, the hearts of brother and sister crept
naturally close together. Once more Jacqueline be
comes her brother's scribe, and they write together s
long, beautiful letter of mingled grief and consolation
to their sister.
" Let us view death," they say, " in Jesus Christ,
and not without Him In Christ all things are
pleasant, and work together for our good. Death is
no exception. Christ suffered and died that He
might sanctify death and sorrow.
" It is not right for us to be without grief, even as
the angels who are unconscious of sorrow. Neither
ought we to refuse comfort, as do the heathen in
their ignorance of grace It is our duty to let
the comforts of grace overcome natural sorrow, and to
say with the apostle, * Being afflicted, We give thanks.'
The Lord Opens the Way. 191
"A holy man once told me that one of the most
advantageous ways of showing our love for departed
friends is ^ do as they would advise us, were they
still living, to follow their counsels, and to endeavor
to attain that state of holiness in which they would
delight to see us."
And then Blaise cries out in his own name (though
the handwriting throughout the letter is Jacqueline's),
" His loss is greater to me than to the others. Had
I lost him six years ago I had been ruined, and
though my need of him is not quite so absolute at
the present time, it seems as if he were necessary to
me for the next ten years, and his presence would
have been useful through my whole life."
Undoubtedly, during the three years just past,
father and son had been much thrown upon each
other for companionship, and the separation was the
more keenly felt on that account. Perhaps, also,
there was another reason for his feeling the need of a
father's restraining and inspiring presence.
As we have seen, his path and Jacqueline's have
been all this time diverging. Not only was he not
ready to follow her up to her cold, calm heights, but
his feet had, actually, for a time, turned in another
(and in Jacqueline's austere judgment), an opposite
direction.
That he had not lost his faith is abundantly
proved by the letter from which we have quoted.
T92 Sister and Saint.
But cut off from all study, either secular or religious;
deprived of the old home enjoyments by the absence
of one sister and the still greater inaccessibility of the
present one ; denied, both by ill-health a»d by his
easy circumstances, the invigorating effect of manual
labor, it would have been a marvel if the young man's
life had not acquired a taint of aimlessness. At first,
when the physicians had ordered him to " abandon
every sort of mental occupation, and seek, as much as
he could, opportunities of amusing himself," he was
very reluctant to take their advice, " because " (keen,
clear, honest logician that he was !) " he saw its danger T
"At length, however, he yielded, thinking it his
duty to do all he could to restore his health, and
believing that trivial amusements could not harm
him." And so, to use the severe expression of Jan-
senism, Pascal had " set himself on the world."
Margaret Perier, his niece, relieves the picture by
a few slight details :
" In consequence of my uncle's miserable state of
health," she s^ys, " the physicians had to interdict all
mental effort ; but a disposition so lively and energetic
as his could not long remain idle. When he was no
longer busied in scientific pursuits, or in religious
studies requiring close application, he felt the need of
amusement, and this drove him into company where
he played cards and joined in other diversions. At
first he did so in moderation ; but by degrees his
The Lord Opens the Way. 193
taste for society increased, and though his life was
never in the least vicious or irregular, it gradually be-
came gay, frivolous, and useless At length he
made up his mind to follow the common routine,
purchase some office, and marry."
And this is the worst that, in all the Port Royal
and the family annals, can be found set down against
those few deeply-regretted years.
But now his father's death recalls Blaise Pascal from
whatever worldly pleasures he may have been enjoy-
ing, and the loss of that father's affectionate presence
throws him back upon his sisters for the love he so
much needs both to give and to receive.
How beautifully the strong, natural affection blazes
up at this opportunity — that affection so soon to be
resolutely smothered, though never extinguished !
"May God continue in my heart," he says, "that
love for you and my sister which seems to me greater
at this moment than it ever was before. I feel as if
the love we used to lavish on my father ought not to
be lost, but to be gathered up and concentrated oji each
other. The legacy of love he left us should be in-
vested in a deeper fraternal affection, if that were
possible."
With such feelings in his heart, with Jacqueline by
his side, writing for him and ministering to him in
her old sisterly way, it is not strange that he should
have been " much comforted," nor that he should
9
194 Sister and Saint.
have " imagined that kindness would induce her to
stay with him at least a year, to help him in recover-
ing from this great calamity."
But Jacqueline's purpose was exactly what it had
been for three years. The Lord had now removed
the only obstacle in the way of her fulfilling it. There
was, then, in her view, but one thing for her to do.
She would take the portion of goods that fell to her
and go to Port Royal. Till her sister could come,
and the property could be divided, she would stay
with her brother. And while' she stayed she would
be his loving, sympathizing, and tender sister. She
would not add to his grief if it were possible to help
it. She would make the wrench as gentle as possi-
ble. " She concealed her intentions till we arrived,"
says her sister. " She then told me that she meant
to take the veil as soon as the estate was divided, and
that she should spare my brother's feelings by letting
him suppose she was only going to make a retreat at
Port Royal."
A month passed after Madame Perier's arrival at
Paris before the estate was settled. During this time
Jacqueline "disposed of everything" in preparation
for retirement from the world. On the last day of
December the division of property was made, and
the last papers signed. Jacqueline had a part of her
own share transferred to her brother, but she kept a
considerable sum — her fdowry for her " divine be-
trothal " — about which more hereafter.
The Lord Opens the Way. . 195
_ «
Three days after the settlement she left her home
forever. This is her sister's simple story :
" On the evening before, she begged me to say
something to my brother, that he might not be taken
by surprise. I did so, with all the precaution I
could ; but though I hinted something about ' a re-
treat,' he did not fail to be deeply moved. He with-
drew very sad to his own chamber, without seeing
my sister, who was then in a small cabinet where she
was accustomed to retire for prayer. She did not
come out till my brother had left, as she feared his
look would go to her heart.
" I told her for him what words of tenderness he
had spoken, and after that we both retired. Though
I consented with all «ny heart to what my sister was
doing, because I thought it was for her highest good,
the greatness of her resolution astonished and occu-
pied my mind so much that I could not sleep all
night.
"At seven o'clock the next morning, when I saw
that my sister was not up, I concluded that she was
no longer sleeping, and feared she might be ill.
Accordingly, I went to her bed, where I found her
still fast asleep. The noise I made awoke her ; she
asked me what time it was. I told her ; and having
inquired ho-\\^ she was and if she had slept well, she
said she was very well and had slept excellently.
" So she rose, dressed, and went away, doing this, as
ig6 Sister and Saint.
everything else, with a tranquilHty and equanimity
inconceivable.
" We said no adieu for fear of breaking dozvn. I
only turned aside when I saw her ready to go.
" In this manner she quitted the world on the 4th
of January, 1652, being then exactly twenty-six years
and three months old."
Thus ends Madame Periei's sketch of the sister's
life, from which we have quoted so often.
How touching in their simplicity are these last
words ! How full of suppressed, unselfish love !
" What a picture," says Principal Tulloch, " does
this extract give us of this remarkable family ! — the
elder sister's wakeful anxiety— the younger's calm
determination — the brother's half-suppressed yet
deeply-moved tenderness- the proud and sensitive
reserve of all the three ! "
To our mind, the elder sister, acting as medium
between Blaise and Jacqueline, who dared not trust
themselves to meet — quite forgetting herself in
tender concern for each of them — shielding and
soothing the wounded brother, yet rising to full
sympathy with Jacqueline in her high resolve — al-
ways unselfish, always "la fidele,'' forms the noblest
figure of the group. Yet there is dignity in the
silent Blaise, sitting " very sad," but unremonstrating,
uncomplai^ning in his chamber. And there is a won-
derful calm brightness about the noble girl sleeping
The Lord Opens the Way. 197
" excellently " on the eve of so great and solemn a
change. Was this from want of love and tenderness ?
Gilberte knew belter than that ! " She feared his look
would go to her hearth *' We said no adieu for fear
of breaking dozun."
Port Royal opened joyous gates to the dear sister
who had so long waited for admittance. Jacqueline
was assigned at first to the Paris house, and entered
at once upon the active duties of the convent as pos-
tulant or candidate.
It was, undoubtedly, a pleasant and a healthful
change from the life of solitude and introversion she
had been leading. At the same time there were in-