The fruit of the Spirit

Here is a very powerful quote from St. Madeleine Sophie from a Conference that she gave for the Feast of Pentecost, 1827.

If I could only make you realize the happiness of a soul who gives herself to the Holy Spirit wholly and without reserve! If I could tell you what happens within her, if I could picture for you her joy! She is no longer the one who acts, it is God. She moves only to follow God's inspirations. Everything becomes easy for her: the Holy Spirit has taken possession of her... If the happiness of an individual is so great, how much greater that of a  Society that allows itself to be wholly guided by the Spirit and gives itself to her without reserve...It would be heavenly! What peace, what union and, at the same time, how much good would be accomplished!"

 I forgot to tell you that when I came home I found Phil Kilroy's latest book: "The Society of the Sacred Heart in Nineteenth-Century France, 1800-1865 here waiting for me. I had pre-ordered it before it was published and I see that it is now even more expensive so you should ask your library to buy a copy and be the first to read it. I am sure I will be sharing some of it with you in this blog. I have almost finished it and will start reading it a second time! I did my dissertation research on the spirituality of St. Madeleine Sophie, but Phil has done research outside the Society of the Sacred Heart and I found some details new and interesting.
I just saw that this blog has more than 89,000 hits so I guess that encourages me to keep posting!!