Child’s Pray - Jacqueline-marie-angélique Arnauld

1591–1661

Mademoiselle Arnauld was only eleven years old when she was put in charge of a convent. That’s not a reflection of her own brilliance but of her family’s string pulling (and they lied about her age on the application). At the time, the Roman Catholic church in France was rife with corruption. It was well known, for instance, that the previous abbess of that convent had borne twelve illegitimate children by different fathers.

“Instead of praying,” Arnauld later wrote, “I set myself to read novels and Roman history.” She felt no particular calling as a nun. But that changed when she was seventeen. A visiting Franciscan preacher challenged young Jacqueline (who had now taken the name Angélique) to get serious about her faith, and she saw the need for reform—first in herself, and then in the convent. She restored the daily prayer services and restricted visitors—even her own family. A vegetarian diet was introduced, and private property was abolished. Leading theologians of the day came to instruct the sisters.

“Mother Angélique,” as she became known, carried on prolific correspondence with leaders throughout Europe, including other abbesses, members of her influential family, and even the queen of Poland (with whom she often discussed the issue of female leadership).

A recurring theme of hers was how hard it is for humans to understand God; therefore we should be careful in interpreting God’s actions. “Often . . . what appears to be the result of his wrath and justice is actually the result of his mercy,” she wrote to another convent leader. “Blessed are the souls who perceive in every event only God’s holy will in order to submit to it.”

It seems that the child nun had grown up to embrace a calling of divine submission. In that era, as in ours, people were striving to understand God, explaining his mysteries in brilliant new ways. Such knowledge is a good thing, but it’s not the only thing. As Angélique wrote to her brother, “I only desire that God may deign to fill you deeply, not only with the knowledge of the truth, but with a perfect love that you practice faithfully and that gives you a humble patience toward everything.”

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

Philippians 1:9