The Truth That Conquers Our Grief
- SERVANT OF GOD ELISABETH LESEUR
Once again providence helped me in the midst of my grief and frequent bodily pain;
... I was still able to remain in deep union with God’s will. As my sister Juliette would say, I want to “reform my life”. That is, without any great external change or remarkable behaviour to stabilise myself in greater serenity, true humility, and charity. I want to be truthful more and more, and it is sometimes more difficult than it seems. Even if my grief is inconsolable and has totally changed my life, I must not give in to depression and sadness. Since I am not entirely able to lead the life I would like, it is all the more necessary to make my actual life more fruitful for God and for those entrusted to me. After all, workers do not choose their task, and children yield to the loving desires of their parents. The only important thing is to accomplish my calling; the milieu and the means matter little.
I know from experience that God makes up for what is lacking with great generosity. He gives us inwardly what outward circumstances deny. With him and by him I must become more loving, strong, and peaceful, live the inner life more, and yet give myself generously to those I love and to all whom providence has put on my path.
To speak little of my physical suffering and yet take care of myself adequately. To expect nothing from those whom I try to help, except, of course, those whom I know well. To accept silently the disappointments, the misunderstandings, and even the disdain that always come to those through whom others think they can attack God. To live in the remembrance of grace, in prayer and action, in hope and attentiveness. To be completely reasonably, spiritually Christian. To pray, to act, to work, to love.
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Acknowledgement
Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur. "The Truth That Conquers Our Grief." from Elisabeth Leseur: Selected Writings (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, Inc., 2005).
Reprinted with permission from Paulist Press.
The Author
Elisabeth Leseur († 1914) was a French laywoman whose atheist husband, upon reading her spiritual journal after her death, experienced a profound conversion and later became a Dominican priest. She is the author of Elisabeth Leseur: Selected Writings and The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: The Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband from Atheist to Priest.
