HAVE PATIENCE TO WALK WITH SHORT STEPS“Have patience to walk with short steps till you have le

HAVE PATIENCE TO WALK WITH SHORT STEPS

“Have patience to walk with short steps till you have legs to run with, or rather wings to fly.  Be content yet a while to be a little nympha*, soon you will become a full-formed bee.”–Saint Francis de Sales to a Religious of the Visitation  in Letters to Persons in Religion  ‎(Aeterna Press, 2015) page 133.

* The newly hatched and undeveloped bees are called Nymphs: when they have their wings, Francis de Sales calls them Avettes, from the Latin word Apicula.

In the original French:

“Ayez patience d'aller le petit pas jusqu'à ce que vous ayez des jambes à courir, ou plutôt des ailes à voler. Soyez volontiers pour encore une petite nymphe, bientôt vous deviendrez une brave avette.”  –Francois de Sales