L E T T E R S

627which he, then, handed to him personally. Beside the ordinary exercises ofmeditation, reading etc. to put him under fire, and accustom him to devotions thatwere as yet unknown to him, little by little I assigned a visit to the BlessedSacrament, the Way of the Cross, and the Rosary. And when he had acceptedeverything most eagerly and showed himself most punctual in fulfilling whateverwas prescribed, and especially when I saw him on his knees before the MostBlessed Virgin humbly reciting the Rosary, in spirit I cried out: Victoria! He wasso moved and spiritually edified that for a while he kept telling me that he wantsto remain with the Trappists for about a year as a ―frere familier‖, that is, as a laybrother without vows, who performs services and manual labor in return forcertain participation in the monastic devotions and food. Only there did weestablish a genuinely closer relationship among ourselves. May God grant thatwith time it will lead to a complete unity with us. Right now he is still attracted bythe aromas of garlic and onions from his past politico-romantic life; his mind andheart are still confused by the ―kosher and no-kosher‖ of the emigrant parties.From this you can surmise that he is still unwilling to renounce himself for Christ,is still overly sensitive to his political impotence, and retains a false esteem for hisformer activities. Brother Edward (Duński) detected this very well in his Juneletter to Valerian. He needs to attack him full force on this point, writing a specialletter to him. For my part, I have to be very careful in dealing with him; for if Iwish to push him a little further beyond his actual dispositions, not only does heresist, but even takes a step backward for fear of some anti-democratic tendencies.At least that’s the way it has been until now. That is why in my dealings with himI have tried above all to gain time, and to prevent him from plunging into somekind of political activity. He is presently getting ready to go to the seashore; and,thank God, this occupies his attention completely. As for later, after his return, hehas agreed to involve himself in some scholarly work; he promised that he wouldundertake the translation od some religious work. (His Confessor in Paris is Fr.Lavayer from St. Roch, the same who was confessor for Mikulski. He is veryhappy with him, loves and respects him. He made his first confession immediatelyafter coming to us in October).