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ALS, signed "Jackie," five pages, 6 x 8.5, March 25, 1969. Addressed from “Trinidad” while on board the private motor yacht Christina, a handwritten letter to Archbishop Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston, in full: “Your Eminence, Your letter, which you wrote from the hospital, was brought to me here by the children, who came for the Easter holidays. Dear Dear Your Eminence - you push yourself beyond the mortal limit in your care and love for others. I sense sadness between the lines of your letter - and I wonder, who is there to comfort you? - you, who expend all strength and love on others? You say you resolved you would write us in you own handwriting. You must not ever do that. I know you feel that would show how much you care for us, if you take the pain to write in your own hand. But we, of all people, - do we need to be given further proof of your love for us? If you ever do that, it will break my heart.
And the Joan of Arc medals for Caroline - all the trouble you went to. I shall always wear one, because it comes from you. And I shall give her, on Easter morning, the most precious one, blessed by you and his Holiness, (for it is in that order that I value their blessedness) - with your beautiful words about them. And she will strive all her life to live up to those words. The devotion you give to such little things - the lives of children - that is what touches me so deeply about you that it causes pain.
And what you do for me - what you do for Ari. The nobility of your sending your speech, so that he might give to his Patriarch. I can't describe how I feel when I think of you and me. But in these days I think of many things I never thought about before. So many people we loved are gone. I was so hostile to God after he took Jack. You, more than anyone, brought me back to him. Now, because of your example, I have the deepest faith that cannot ever again be shaken. So I owe my life - and the lives I will try to give my children - to you.
When I sense such sadness between the lines of your letter, I want to give you something. I know no human comfort can mean anything to you, compared to the comfort which god can give you. But maybe if you know that another human senses your suffering and longs to share it, and take it on their hearts to spare yours - maybe it would be nice for you to know that once in your life - because all your life is taking the pain out of other people's suffering.
I gave your address to Ari, for him to send to the Patriarch, when I joined him in Paris March 16. He was so deeply moved. The reason you did not hear from us earlier is that I didn't join him till then. Then we got on his ship - and ever since, we have been crossing the Atlantic. We got to Trinidad tonight - where the children joined us by plane from New York for the Easter holidays. Now it is 1 am and we are setting sail for another Caribbean island - and I am sitting on the deck in the hot starry night, writing to you. Mrs. Kennedy is joining us in 2 days, to give her a respite from the difficult winter. And then Ethel and her children and friends are coming for the same.
Apart from my family, from all the ties of blood and marriage - the person that I truly love in all this world is you, your Eminence, and I apologize for taking all these pages to tell you that. I arranged for the film of your talk March 30 to be sent to us, so we will all watch it on this ship together - and be close to you with all our love that day. We have the noble red picture of you here - and the children have their beautiful one in our library in New York You see you are never out of our thoughts and hearts. I pray that such new health and strength will come to you. They will, with spring. They must, you Eminence. You must not suffer. That is the one thing no one can bear - for you to suffer any more than you already have. With the deepest love and eternal devotion.” In fine condition. An intimate and lengthy handwritten letter from Jackie sent to a man she revered and leaned on through the many wonderful, and tragic, times in her life.
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