This has truly been obtained with tears, for I feel the aversion of this heart. I receive these words for Sister Gabriella.74
“Daughter, daughter, daughter of mine. And didn’t you allow yourself to be carried away by a desire for the great heights where the Cross soars? And didn’t I say to you the last time, ‘Go with my peace. And let it be a viaticum for you in your great needs?’ For I know what concerns each man. For I knew you needed a viaticum. For I know that a great reward is reserved for those who do God’s will. For I know what the hour of Gethsemane is. Because of all of this pain which is on earth and for the sake of all the glory which is in Heaven for the generous, I gave you my peace as a viaticum. And since you have allowed yourself to be carried away by a desire for the great heights where the Cross soars, learn to repeat the words of the Cross, and especially, for your case, the first and last two phrases, joined together by the golden chain of a thirst to expiate for the world. Peace be with you, Maria Gabriella, peace be with you, and, once again, peace be with you.”75
74 See note 4.
75 We pass over the following twenty-four handwritten pages, containing the episode “For the Disciples of Sicaminon,” dated August 11, 1945, and pertaining to The Second Year of the Public Life.