The “Breviary of Fire”

About the Book A prominent woman in Parisian society, Marie de la Guesle—the Countess of Châteauvieux—met Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament on a charity visit in August 1651. So taken was she with the Prioress’s wisdom that she returned several days later to resume the conversation. Soon the nun began to serve as the Countess’s spiritual guide, leading her in the paths of faith, self-renunciation, prayer, and the pure love of God. The Countess and her husband became great benefactors of Mother Mectilde’s undertaking, and the Countess herself, on the day after her husband’s death in November of 1662, entered the monastery of the Benedictines of Perpetual Adoration she had helped to build. A permanent record of the friendship, which grew ever deeper between the mystic of Lorraine and the grand lady, was left in their candid and multifaceted correspondence, conducted over a period of about a dozen years. Marie later arranged Mectilde’s letters into a v