A great responsibility in the eyes of God and the Church
(…) Once again I thank you, with all my heart, as I have done now for 40 years, ever since, with the grace of God, I founded your first Convent. It began with a handful of sisters, and today we number 800 nuns and 188 schools with a total of 32,000 pupils.
This number, maintained over the years, brings the grand total of our pupils since the early days of the Congregation, to some hundreds of thousands! But it is not these growing numbers that I wish so much to stress, my dear Daughters, but rather the great responsibility you bear, in the eyes of God and the Church.
If you have carried out your apostolate faithfully and holily, what an immense amount of good you must have done, in educating so many Christian young girls, and forming during their years of childhood, such a large number of devoted mothers of families. And if alas! You have failed in your duty, violating your promises and your holy Constitutions, what a terrible moment of revelation awaits you one day! (…)
Well, my very dear children, you know how anxious I am that you should be in earnest and willing; and how much I desire that your convents should prosper, and that in being more holy yourselves, you should bring about the salvation of your children. (…)
From the Circular Letter of Fr. Debrabant, 23rd February 1869
Once again I thank you, with all my heart, as I have done now for 40 years, ever since, with the grace of God, I founded your first Convent.