| Title: | Coogan, William to Coogan, Matthew, 1868 |
|---|---|
| ID | 6328 |
| Collection | Carlow-Coogan Letters |
| File | coogan/17 |
| Year | 1868 |
| Sender | Coogan, William |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | monk |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | New Melleray, Dubuque, Iowa, USA |
| Destination | Harlem, NYC, USA |
| Recipient | Coogan, Matthew |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | brothers |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 503 |
| Genre | monastery life, request for baptism certificate, family |
| Note | |
| Transcript | New Melleray, Dubuque, Iowa Dec 15th, 1868 My Dear Mathew, I received your letter of the 6th instant which gave me great happiness to find by it that you are all in the enjoyment of good health as I enjoy perfect health and happiness at present thank God. Dear Matthew, I have the happiness of announcing to you that I have already joined the Order and everything going on to my satisfaction. I feel quite happy and I am getting very good health. The Rule does not come one bit strange to me. Even getting up at such an early hour does not affect me in the least. I am becoming accustomed to it now, and I feel quite a happiness. But there is no true happiness to be found in this world unless we seek it in God and from God. For were it possible to reunite all created objects, never could they satiate the longing desire of man's heart. We don't belong to this world. Therefore we can never find true happiness unless from God by an observance of his Holy Law. But people of the world think that they have nothing to do when they die nor any delay but go right straight to Heaven, but narrow is the way that leadeth to Heaven, and except we adopt the narrow road and avoid the broad he shall never or at least with great difficulty ever save our souls, and what doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world and in the end suffers the loss of his dear immortal soul. So I hope you won't fret any more about me for I feel very happy, much happier than ever I could be in the world. And I hope that you will all attend regularly to your religious duties as usual and never on any account neglect it for that is our only dependence to secure for us a happy eternity and sure what matter what way we are in the next--and may God protect us all--and give us the grace to never again offend him. Dear Matthew, I want to trouble you at this time to write to Mrs. Doyle and have her to send me my certificate of Baptism as I cannot be received to the habit unless I have it. And I would have written to her myself only you telling that you were going to write and that will save me so much trouble and do the business all as good. I had a letter from Brother Declan on last week. He is very well. I haven't heard from James since I came here though I wrote to him. I hope my mother and all friends are well and in good health and that they won't forget praying for me. I remain my Dear Brother, Yours very affectionately, William Coogan N.B. Please send me the certificate as soon as you receive it from Mrs. Doyle. And remember me to her. Yours, WC |
