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J.M.J.

Holy Cross Academy.
1312 Mass. Ave.

June 26, 1893.

Dear Mrs. Stanford.

When the news reached us of your sad bereave-
ment, I felt your grief was too sacred to be intruded
upon, even by words of sympathy or consolation.

Your poor heart is crushed; the cross seems almost
unbearable, but yet our good God knows how to
heal the sorest wounds, and teaches us by His own
sacred sufferings how to bear nobly the burden He
places upon us, to sanctify and draw us nearer to
Him. Your dear One has gone to his reward, but
O how lonely, how desolate you are left.

"Give him, O Lord, the fruit of his hands." If this
prayer alone, of the many which ascend for him, is
heard, think of what joy is his to-day - think of the
thousands whose burden of sorrow he has lightened. If
the happiness he gave to others is now returned to him,
as God had promised, who can imagine all the joy
that is now his!

The prayers of sadness and grief are turned into songs
of joy when we know our dear ones will be on the