Letters of Maria Celeste:

10 September 1633

Most Beloved Lord Father

Last Thursday, and also Friday until nightfall, I stood with my soul in suspense, seeing that your letters were not going to arrive, not knowing to what cause I could arrogate that silence. When later I received them, and thus learned that Monsignor Archbishop was well aware of my gaffe regarding the buffalo eggs, I could not help but blush for shame, although on the other hand I am happy to have given you grounds for laughter and gladness, as it is with this motive I so often write to you of foolish things. I have consoled Mother Vinta with the reassuring news you gave me of her great-nephew, Sire, and when she learned the details of that self-same magnanimous man's charitable acts, she became sorely resentful, saying that not only Signor Emilio but also his mother Elisabetta never give a thought or a penny to her, so that she believes they assume she must be dead: and yet you know how needy she is, Sire, being almost continuously sick in bed. I received the bags with all the things that you wrote you were sending: the buffalo eggs I have shared with our friends here and also with Signor Rondinelli; the saffron was excellent and more than enough to make the pills, for which I have purified about 4 or 5 ounces of aloe, sure to be of the best quality for my having run it over the rose water seven times. The very next opportunity I have to write, which I will find before Tuesday, I will send you some of the preparation I want to make fresh today or tomorrow, provided that the headache and toothaches, which I endure at the moment, will ease enough, for now they force me to leave off writing, while I continue always to commend you to the Lord God as the One to grant you true consolation.

From San Matteo, the 10th day of September 1633.

Most affectionate daughter,
S. Maria Celeste