Summary

Pages 43 through 53 — This final letter in the collection is Weil’s reply to Father Perrin’s reaction to the previous letter. Weil appreciates Father Perrin’s concern and his exhortations but she is clear here that she needs no hope or promises in order to further believe God or divine mercy. This is because of the certainty of her experience. She has already touched such things through a type of direct contact with God that lies beyond her capacities for understanding and reflection. Even promises of future bliss and salvation could add nothing to this.

Weil has found mercy in affliction transmuted to joy. The outward, exterior effect of affliction always appear to be negative, but it is through the depths of affliction, “something not of the senses” (44), that divine love and mercy shine through. Joy is found in...