As a child in France, Gabrielle Bossis enjoyed a special sense of God’s presence. She liked to carry on “simple talks” with Jesus, a practice she continued all her life. When she described this practice to a priest, he urged her to become a nun. But she was certain that her vocation, instead, was to live out her dedication to God as a single woman in the world.  

She trained as a nurse to serve the poor. But at sixty-two, she began writing “moral comedies” for the theater and went on to become famous as a playwright and actor. After her death on June 9, 1950, her journals were published—to the astonishment of friends, who knew nothing of her rich inner life.  

Christ’s message, as conveyed by Bossis, is the imperative to seek his face not only in other people but in every circumstance and to respond to him joyfully and with love. “You were touched when you read that I was in the Gospels, hidden in the sacrament of the Word. But how much more I am present in the sacrament of human life!”  

The God she loved was hidden in her own yearnings, sufferings, and ideals—but always wanting to be discovered. “Hunt for me everywhere! I’ll let myself be captured with such joy! And when you have found me, give me to others. There are people I am waiting to reach only through you.”  

“Don’t think that a saint must look saintly in the eyes of humans. . . . Their value is in their hearts.”  

—Gabrielle Bossis