LETTER #2

Venice, at the Trinity, July 21, 1535
To AGOSTINO BARILI,at the Maddalena,in Bergamo
and to the COMPAGNIA

Brothers and Children, Dearly Beloved of the Compagnia of the Servants of the Poor.
Your humble Father greets you and exhorts you to persevere in the love of Christ and in loyalty to the Christian law. When with you, by deeds and by words, I taught you to do this so much that God has been glorified in you through me. Our objective is God, the source of all good, and as we say in our prayers, we must have confidence in Him alone and in no others. Our Merciful Lord allowed these difficulties in order to strengthen your faith without which, according to the evangelist, Christ cannot perform miracles, and to answer your fervent prayer to Him. He wants you to be His ministers though you are poor, afflicted and wearied by tribulations, scorned by all. Moreover you are deprived of the presence but not of the affection of your humble, beloved and dear father. And why He allowed this, no one really knows. However, we can find these three considerations.

The first is that Our Blessed Lord wants to number you among His dear children, provided you have perseverance. He has done this to all His friends that they may become saints.
The second reason is that He wants your faith to increase in Him and in no one else. As I have already told you, God does not perform His works through those who have not responded with entire faith and hope in Him alone. He has lavished His love on those who have a strong faith and hope and He has done great things for them. Consequently, if you do not lack faith and hope, He will do great things for you and He will honor the humble. Therefore, God deprived you of my presence and of every other means that could help you, and lead you to this crossroad: either you will lose faith and turn to wordly things or remain strong. In the latter case He would give you the opportunity to prove it.
And here is a third choice. God wants to test you, as gold is tested in a furnace. The dross is eliminated by fire and the gold remains and increases in value. So it is with the good servant of God, who hopes in Him and remains loyal in tribulations. God comforts him and for what he has renounced for His love gives a hundredfold in this world and eternal life in the next. This has been done for all the saints. He also did this for the people of Israel. After the numerous tribulations they had suffered in Egypt, not only did He take them out miraculously and feed them with manna in the desert, but He gave them the Promised Land.
 

You already know, because I and others have assured you, that the Lord will deal with you in the same way if you remain strong in faith. I say again and reassure you more than ever that if you keep the faith when you are tempted, the Lord will comfort you here below and deliver you from difficulties, give you peace and quiet in this world; in this world, I say, for a time and forever in the next. I have visible proof our Compagnia will have a place of peace in this world. The reason I write this letter is for you to send me two young men to whom I shall show the promised land that we all call a peaceful place. I recommend that this news be kept in confidence and told only to the members of the Compagnia. Therefore, send me two young men from the Compagnia of the Servants and tell the others to persevere in the ways of God which are love, humility and devotion.
 

Act in such a way that there be no obstacle or trouble for the Compagnia or wherever you work. As to the two that you do send me, they should not be chosen from the first to have arrived nor from the last. In a word, neither from the oldest nor the youngest. Pay particular attention to two things: that no inconvenience be caused to the Compagnia anywhere; rather, give them the greatest care possible. I do not know what better to say to you: give them the greatest care possible and do not spare any effort to keep everyone in the service of God. The second thing is: see to it that the two young men you send me have the intention to remain with the Compagnia, retain our good Christian customs and come voluntarily.
 

I beg all the members of the Compagnia that this task be entrusted to Father Agostino and to his assistant Giovanni Antonio, and I hope that all will be satisfied with the choice upon which they have agreed after prudent and thoughtful consultation. There is no urgency. However, when God gives us such an opportunity, we must not overlook it.
 For another reason I say to you not to hurry. I would want these young men to be instructed in everything regarding the Compagnia by Father Agostino, by Giovanni Antonio and Giovanni Pietro. In addition to the letters the three of them will write me, Giovanni Pietro should answer whatever I shall ask them. Therefore, it would be good for all three of you to start to write these letters soon and at length. I have nothing else to add. I want all of you to have trust in what I am going to say to you. Be absolutely, completely assured that my absence will be for the glory of God and for the benefit of the Compagnia, if you are faithful to your duty. If you are not faithful, His glory is not lessened (as written in Scripture); it is manifested through others. Therefore, all this is up to you. God never fails.
 

Give the two scarves that Giovanni Antonio and I usually wear to the young men. Tell them that they will be lodged in the hospital and that they are bearers of important letters to me. Tell them to request a little bread in my name, for the love of God, in such a way as not to lose time in begging. However, caution them not to rely on this help but on the Lord, and to be ready to suffer. I beg you also to tell all others that besides the letters, if they have something to tell me, to do so directly, in secret, through Father Agostino.
 

After having read this letter, you, Father Agostino, will send it to the Compagnia, confiding everything to the Lord.

Written by Jerome

July 21, 1535 at the Trinity,in Venice.