Living the New Commandment
- LUCIE CHRISTINE
The most dangerous moment is not that in which I am suffering, but that in which I am calm again.
For then I fall back upon myself once more, wearied and exhausted by the recent struggle. It is then that I seek to distract and dilate my mind, instead of returning to the strength-giving practice of my Rule....
I must always make excuses for others; always forgive.
I must love, love ardently the soul of my neighbor, and excite in myself charity towards those persons who cause me the most pain.
I must never excuse myself, even when I am in the right, if I cannot do so without irritation.
I must never make an observation or a reprimand without thinking of the pain it will give the person to whom I make it, and without grieving over this myself beforehand. I must always reflect when I see the faults of others, how weak I am myself and how much I fall short of my own good intentions. Others have, as I have, good thoughts, and have made resolutions which they find very difficult to put into practice.
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Acknowledgement
Lucie Christine. "Living the New Commandment." excerpt from Spiritual Journal of Lucie Christine (1870-1908) (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1915).
This excerpt appeared in Magnificat.
The Author
Lucie Christine (1844-1908) was the pseudonym of an upper middle class Frenchwoman, Mathilde Boutle. She married at 21, reared five children, was deeply involved in domestic life yet suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of an alcoholic husband. Lucie Christine said her mysticism was "very simple. My soul lives in God, by a glance of love between him and myself". Anyone can learn to "be silent before God," she said, "to look at Him, and let Him look at you." Books about her include Spiritual Journal of Lucie Christine (1870-1908) by A. Poulain and A Mysticism of Kindness: The Lucie Christine Story by Astrid O'Brien.