Serious Hours of a Young Lady | Page 7

to us the existence of a
faculty in the soul, unknown to the philosophers, undiscovered by the
saints, unspoken of by the prophets. This faculty is more conspicuous
in woman than in man, for it exercises in her a decisive influence which
extends over the entire period of her life. Hence, God, "who ordereth
all things, sweetly," (Wisdom, viii. 1), desired that its existence should
be made known to us by a woman, and that, too, while she was visiting
another woman.
In answer to the salutation of her cousin St. Elizabeth, Mary, filled with
the Holy Ghost, breaks forth into that sublime Canticle, called the
"Magnificat:" "He hath scattered the proud," she sings, "_mente cordis
sui;_" literally, "in the mind of their heart." This is the faculty of which
I speak; that _mind_, that _intellect of the heart_, if I may so term it,
which is the hidden recess, the secret chamber of the soul, either
blessed by the peaceful presence of humility, or cursed by the baneful
restlessness of worldly ambition or pride.
It is not going too far to say that a woman's mind is in her heart; it is the
source both of the thoughts which ennoble and elevate, and of those
which are selfish and worldly; it is the key to all the powers of her soul,
so that he who becomes the possessor of her heart is master of her

whole being, and can exercise over her a power of fascination which
has no parallel in nature.
God who disposes every being for the end which He proposed to
Himself in creating it has established in woman's heart an abyss which
no human affection can fill nor exhaust when once it has been filled,
because He desired to submerge her whole being in love, and thus to
render easy and necessary to her the noblest sentiments and the most
heroic sacrifices. Such is the agent that He wished to employ for the
culture of charity in society and in the family circle, as well as of the
virtues of tenderness, compassion and devotedness. He desired that in
the family the child should be borne, so to speak, on woman's heart and
man's intelligence, as on the two arms of one and the same being; He
desired that in society the mind of the one should furnish the light to
guide in the way, and the love of the other should produce that
vivifying principle which animates and quickens man's being: And,
thus, that the moral life of humanity should be the result of these two
factors. God endowed the heart of woman with treasures of tenderness
and devotedness, desiring to be Himself the supreme object of its
devotion. To Himself alone has He reserved the power of calming its
fearful agitation and soothing its poignant grief, hence we see it turning
to Him in its joys and sorrows, like the magnet to the pole that attracts
it. He has made the heart of woman broad and deep, so that its
devotedness may suffice for all the exigencies it is called upon to meet,
whether in society or in the family, yet finding no created object able to
exhaust it.
When, forgetting the sublime end for which she has been created,
woman lives for the world and not for heaven, lavishing her love on
creatures instead of giving it to God, her Creator, her soul becomes the
prey of inexpressible anguish and despondency, which admonish her of
her mistake and induce her to correct it.
You can easily judge from this of what great importance it is to you to
keep a vigilant watch over your heart and its movements, since the
heart is, so to speak, the citadel of your whole being, and hence when it
is captured all the powers and faculties of your soul are forced to
surrender. The heart is the agent that furnishes woman with the greater
part of her ideas, and the object of its predilection inevitably becomes
the only object of all her thoughts. This is the artist that furnishes the

imagination with those images which remain substantially the same
under forms constantly varying, but absorbing the soul to such a degree
that a person is often tempted to look upon their action as the result of
obsession.
It is the heart that governs and shapes the will, giving it that flexibility
and at the same time that constancy so prevalent among the greater part
of women, leading them, with unflinching stubbornness of
determination to the accomplishment of the end proposed. All
difficulties vanish that stand between them and the object of their heart.
This disposition renders them potent for good or evil, hence the
necessity of regulating the heart and of never losing control over its
movements. When their