THESE FEW LINES ARE A WITNESS OF MY REMEMBRANCE AND TENDER AFFECTION FOR YOU

Young fathers Charles Gondrand and Charles Baret were in the Oblate community in Limoges and had written a much-appreciated letter to Eugene. Inundated with work, he had delayed in responding.

If, through the instigation of the spirit, my dear sons Gondrand and Baret, you may have judged your father badly, what regret should you not feel when you see these few lines, a witness of my remembrance and tender affection for you…

Do you not see your letter on my desk, buried under a pile of other papers? Not a day goes by that it does not several times pass through my hands when I am rummaging and re-rummaging to find out what is the most urgent matter to be taken care of. Well, each time that I touch it or that my eyes focus on it, the sight of it prompts in my soul an affectionate sentiment that I express even exteriorly with love. Dear children, I tell myself, you wait for my answer. At another time: there is that letter again! If they only knew how much I love them! Is there really need to tell them? And again: why can I not talk with them instead of writing to them and how I would hold them to my heart! What would I say to you? It is a continual monologue, or rather a dialogue, for you are always present to me, so much so are you personified in my heart.

Letter to Fathers Charles Gondrand and Baret, 25 February 1849, EO X n 998

REFLECTION

“Letter writing can be seen as a gift because someone has taken his/her time to write and think and express love.” (S. Coffelt)