Mother Lestonnac amply possessed the mental and moral qualities that she deemed indispensable to carry out her difficult functions. At fifty-four years of age, she had, together with the authority imparted by experience, the advantage of being endowed with a distinguished appearance, her countenance illuminated by the splendour of an exceptional soul, in which gravity and grace harmoniously coexist. A nun who had received the veil from her hands said that in her, physical beauty – that hazard to the purity and humility of so many others – was a divine radiance that commanded respect and inspired a holy attraction to virtue. When her daughters beheld her in prayer, when they heard her speak of spiritual things, they concentrated all their senses and faculties on seeing and hearing her. It seemed to them that this natural beauty, which shone so extraordinarily in her face, became that of the Blessed, manifesting itself to speak to them.
But this was but a pale reflection of her moral beauty. Dutiful, affable, genteel, she was both strong and kind. To her superior intelligence, to her sound judgement, to her admirable practical sense, she added an energetic will and a manly heart. Born to found and to govern, she had an unusual capacity for resolution, with a discernment of spirits that allowed her to perceive at a glance the whole of an issue or a problem – to assess the advantages, measure the difficulties and predict the results. Therein lay the secret of her speed in making decisions and her unshakable constancy in carrying out undertakings wrought with obstacles. She saw the goal and advanced with assurance. And then grace, which moved her, increased her strength tenfold.
COUZARD, Rémi.
“La Bienheureuse Jeanne de Lestonnac”.
Paris: Lecoffre, 1904, p.70-71.
