The sisters, remembering that today is the anniversary of my profession, were sad thinking that if I were on land I could have received Communion. I appreciated their compassion but, on the other hand, only a day ago Jesus came to rest in me, and I seem to feel His presence within me yet.

And then, we recall Jacob’s mystic dream. Sleeping on a stone, he saw a mysterious ladder reaching from earth to heaven, on which angels of God ascended and descended…

Even though we are at sea, far from the holy tabernacle of love, here even at sea there is also that mysterious ladder that touches heaven. The angels also ascend and descend for us, and from the summit Jesus watches over us and makes us generous promises. We too, like Jacob, can repeat,

“Truly the Lord is in this place, and we did not know it.”

Therefore, even at sea, I am happy to celebrate the most cherished anniversary of my life. Jesus, at the top of the ladder, watches kindly over me. I invite Him, and He immediately comes to me spiritually, deigning to come down to our ship, the Fulda, to grace us and all our fellow passengers. What a great grace!

– written while crossing the Atlantic, September 14, 1894