_ 174 _ May Christ be praised, since while Portugal has people to spare, here we are in short supply. Consequently, the work has stopped and is half finished, until Our Lord ordains otherwise(A) Oh Brothers, come to our aid. Here the honey of Divine consolation, which you cannot find in the closed cells of Portugal, flows through the fields. It you are not learned, that great scholar, the Holy Spirit, who provides what is needed in this place, whose teaching is more deeply imprinted and I acted in accordance with the instructions and rules that Father Superior Francisco left me, which allowed me to take some men for the Company and send others out there. However, it should be borne in mind that, if such an action does not meet with approval of Father Superior Franscisco and Father Antonio, the Rector of Goa, or anyone running the Company in their name, then it would be helpful to lodge the priests, who take my place when I travel to China, in the college. As I may be away for a long while, I shall naturally hasten to finish my time there. I later sent a message to Father Antonio, the Rector in India, apprising him of what I was doing, both as regards (A) Biminel: “… I decided to start work immediately, because the inspiration of the Holy Spirit does not brook delay and man’s determination is altered by mankind’s temper.
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