Quote of the day, 9 June: Mother Agnès of Jesus

Cause for Beatification: Ordinary Process
Session 14: 27 August 1910, 08:30

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On the subject of charity with regard to God
Mother Agnès of Jesus, O.C.D. — Witness 1

In June 1895, she felt compelled to offer herself as a victim to God’s Merciful Love. She came to ask me for permission to do so, for I was Prioress. When she approached me with her question, her face was animated, and she seemed as though she was burning with love. I allowed her to make this act of oblation, but without appearing to make too much of it. She, therefore, wrote her prayer of self-offering and submitted it to me, adding that she wanted to have it verified by a theologian. Reverend Le Monnier, Superior of the Missionaries of La Délivrande, examined it. He simply replied that he found nothing in it that was contrary to faith, but that she should replace “I feel in my heart infinite desires,” with “I feel in my heart immense desires.” This represented a sacrifice to the Servant of God, yet she made the replacement without any objection. Besides, the act in itself was approved and she expressed great joy at this.

It was on 9^th June 1895, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, that she officially made this self-offering. In this act of oblation, I note two requests for favors that are quite extraordinary: firstly the grace to preserve the real presence of Jesus Christ between her Communions: “Remain in me as in a tabernacle”; secondly, the grace to see the stigmata of His Passion shining in her glorified body in heaven.

Examiner: Do you know whether the words “Real presence between Communions” and “Stigmata on her glorified body” were spoken and written by the Servant of God in a somewhat metaphorical sense, or in a strict sense?

She often developed these thoughts when talking to me and I am certain that she meant them in the literal sense. Moreover, her loving trust in Our Lord gave her a sort of unreserved boldness when making requests. She doubted nothing when considering all-powerful love.

Examiner: Did she speak of this self-offering openly in front of the other nuns?

Not at all! No one knew about it. Later on, she spoke of her act of oblation to just two of her novices, pointing out to them the advantages and glory that it can bring God.

Moreover, she kept saying that surrendering oneself to love meant surrendering oneself to suffering; she expressed the same thought in this stanza:

“To live of love, ‘tis not to fix one’s tent on Tabor’s height and there with Thee remain. ‘Tis to climb Calvary with strength nigh spent, and count Thy heavy cross our truest gain” [Cf. PN 17, “Living on Love”, stanza 4].

Examiner: Could you show us the original handwritten “Offering”?

Mother Agnès produced the handwritten document as well as the copy that she had prepared with the intention of enclosing it with the Cause documents. This copy was immediately read and recognized as conforming perfectly to the original. It was placed in the Process files.

Examiner: Once this self-offering was made, did the Servant of God forget it?

Oh, no, never! She was constantly reciting it; it was like the cornerstone of her life. On her death bed, she said to me one day, “I often recite my act of consecration.”

Mother Agnès of Jesus, O.C.D.

Cause of Beatification, Ordinary Process
Pages 208v–212r