\n-\n
\nDearest brother,\n
\n-\n
\nThe last letter I received from you is dated July 6, 1824. I have written several to you. I enjoy excellent health. This year we have had several misfortunes. The corn harvest is entirely lost; the wheat harvest was eaten by insects; the drought has consumed all our stores of greens, beans, potatoes, turnips, etc., etc. Now we eat bread made from corn, and if the drought continues, we will lose next year’s wheat harvest too. When you are the head of a family composed of more than fifty people, you may be tempted to lose courage under such circumstances; however, the faith I have in Providence, which sustains us even now, is a source of comfort and consolation to me. Nonetheless, this does not impede me from doing everything in my power to alleviate our situation, since we need not tempt God. As you can well imagine, this gives me constant worries. Another misfortune must be added to the above list. The poor Sisters who live a short distance from the Seminary have suffered a fire, which burned down their kitchen; after we were made aware of the fire at two in the morning, I immediately notified all the brothers who were with me, and together with the efforts of the Seminarians, they were able to save the rest of the Monastery from the flames. You cannot imagine that a Religious House like this would exist in Europe. Before the fire, our Monastery…\n
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\nI have told you that our family is numerous. It is composed of priests, who are my collaborators, thirteen or fourteen Seminarians, ten lay brothers, ten young scholars who we maintain through charity, ten blacks big and little, of every size, and two or three secular people hired to work, etc. Although the number of students does not exceed two dozen, it is necessary to teach a large number of lessons. For my part I have three a day, which are Greek, Philosophy, and Theology, without counting the class on sacred Scripture once or twice a week. I but rarely leave the house to make visits among the Parishes, and to administer Confirmation. Besides lessons I still have the temporal management of the house, which becomes more difficult as our misfortunes grow, I am needed to hear confessions and administer not only to those of the house, but also the Sisters, the secular workers, etc., etc., as well as preach frequently: as here it is impossible to hold Mass without at least preaching a sermon, otherwise the parishioners would not think they had been to Church; even on days during Holy Week, during the longest ceremonies of Ordinations, etc., etc., it is necessary to explain them to instruct the Catholics and dispel the prejudices of the Protestants, who willingly come to our Churches. Here is how I spend my time; and I assure you it passes quickly, and before I even notice it. Given all this, we need to appreciate everything and reflect often upon our lives. It has already been more than ten years since I left Italy; it seems only yesterday to me, and I am already in the thirty-sixth year of my life; and even if it should prove a very long life, I would still have already run more than half of it, and the other half, although I may not know for certain, is likely to pass with the same speed. Death may come at any moment, it pursues us, it constantly leads us…
"}]}],"thumbnail":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/f962b05f-1dd6-4ad5-9ecf-8aecd9f418a1/full/500,500/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","height":500,"width":500}},{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/85f4e044-fd03-4c65-b3ff-f7e2d86f6417/canvas/_4","@type":"sc:Canvas","label":"CMC0565_02_015_004_p015","height":4739,"width":3775,"images":[{"@type":"oa:Annotation","motivation":"sc:painting","resource":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/a6885824-6aba-48d2-81d3-591d232a4713/full/full/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","format":"image/tif","service":{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/context.json","@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/a6885824-6aba-48d2-81d3-591d232a4713","profile":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/level2.json","tiles":[{"width":2048,"scaleFactors":[1,2,4]}]},"height":4739,"width":3775},"on":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/85f4e044-fd03-4c65-b3ff-f7e2d86f6417/canvas/_4","metadata":[{"label":"Translations","value":"…towards Eternity. Oh my dear brother, let us make each other prepared, and in the middle of our labors let us not ever forget the grave business of our eternal salvation; let us never lose sight of that maxim from the Holy Gospel: Quid prodest homini so mundum universum lucretur, anime vero suae deterimentum patiatur. I did not come to America if not to earn souls, I do not work for anything other than this end; and even if I were able to save all the inhabitants in all the forests and in all the civilized provinces of this hemisphere, what good would it do me if I lost myself along the way? And as for you, my Dearest, although you may succeed in all your undertakings, if you were to lose sight of your eternal salvation, what good would it do you? Let us therefore seek to each of us work in his own way so that we may be able to reunite one day in Heaven. In the meantime, believe me when I tell you that I love you and our whole family so very much, to whom I direct a thousand things, and particularly to our dearest Mother, whose hand you will kiss for my sake, and I ask you especially not to forget to greet on my behalf all our relatives, whom I do not name here as I have no more room. I am from the heart\n\n-\n
\nYour most affectionate brother\n
\nGiuseppe, Bishop of Tenagra\n
\n-\n
\nP.S. When you write to me, do not forget to give me news, especially of our family, relatives, and Friends. I would be extremely grateful. My compliments to my lord Master Can.o. Silvestri. I often speak of him with my students.\n
\n-\n
\nReceived 6 August 1826\n
\n-\n
\nReplied 21 September\n
\n-\n
\nCopied by C.L.S.\n
"}]}],"thumbnail":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/a6885824-6aba-48d2-81d3-591d232a4713/full/500,500/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","height":500,"width":500}}]}],"thumbnail":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/44bc6ca3-fba6-454e-b46a-506a3e8be40c/full/300,300/0/default.jpg","logo":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/depaul/iiif/logo"}