enough shelter for her, and she contented herself with the
wild plants she chanced upon. During the forty-fifth year
of her errantry, Zosima – an Abbot of an eastern desert
monastery – discovered her. She related to him her story
in all its starkness and begged him to bring her the Holy
Eucharist the following year. He complied with her wish.
A year later he sought her but chanced upon her dead
body with a slip of paper next to her head on which were
written: “Return to the earth that which belongs to the
earth and pray for me”.
A painted picture of this saint who reached dizzy
spiritual heights is in the Museum of Modern Art in
Philadelphia (U.S.A), while a chapel in her name is among
the side chapels of Notre Dame (Paris).^45
All seekers after Christian perfection glorify the
Heavenly Father Whose Grace so floods the hearts of
those who cleave unto Him and thus raises them from the
abyss of despair up to the Light where He Himself
appears.
elle
(Elle)
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