{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_27852/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_27852","id":"gutenberg_27852","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27852","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Devotional exercises","Devotional literature","Meditations"],"text":"Produced by Stephen Hope, Kajsa Anderson, Fox in the Stars\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n   [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n   *GOLD DUST*\n\n   A Collection of Golden Counsels for the Sanctification of Daily Life\n\n\n   TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED FROM THE FRENCH\n\n   BY E. L. E. B.\n\n\n   EDITED BY\n   CHARLOTTE M. YONGE\n\n\n   GROSSET & DUNLAP\n\n   PUBLISHERS  NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n   _Printed in the United States of America_\n\n\n\n\n   _To_\n\n   _E. B. H._\n\n   _This little book is most lovingly dedicated_\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThis little book is a translation from a collection of devotional thoughts\npublished in France under the title of \"Paillettes d'Or.\" It is\nnecessarily a selection, since the gold dust which suits French readers\nrequires a fresh sifting for the English; but the value of most of the\nthoughts seems to me well to deserve the term of gold. There are many who\nwill much enjoy having this little collection on their table, so as to be\nable to take it up and dwell upon some one of its grains at leisure times\nthroughout the day's business.\n\n    C. M. YONGE.\n\nFeb. 12, 1880.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nIn the south of France, during the summer, little children and old and\ninfirm poor who are incapable of hard work, in order to earn a livelihood,\nemploy themselves in searching the beds of dried up rivers for \"Paillettes\nd'Or,\" or golden dust, which sparkles in the sun, and which the water\ncarries away as it flows. What is done by these poor people and little\nchildren for the gold dust GOD has sown in those obscure rivers, we would\ndo with those counsels and teachings which GOD has sown almost everywhere,\nwhich sparkle, enlighten, and inspire for a moment, then disappear,\nleaving but regret that the thought did not occur to collect and treasure\nthem.\n\nWho is there that has not experienced at some time in his life those\nteachings so soft and gentle, yet so forcible, which make the heart\nthrill, and reveal to it suddenly a world of peace, joy, and devotion?\n\nIt may have been but a word read in a book, or a sentence overheard in\nconversation, which may have had for us a two-fold meaning, and, in\npassing, left us touched with an unknown power.\n\nIt was the smile on the lips of a beloved one whom we knew to be\nsorrowful, that spoke to us of the sweet joy of resignation.\n\nIt was the open look of an innocent child that revealed to us all the\nbeauty of frankness and simplicity.\n\nOh! if we had but treasured all the rays of light that cross our path and\nsparkle but for a moment; oh! if we had but engraved them on our hearts!\nwhat a guide and comfort they would have been to us in the days of\ndiscouragement and sorrow; what counsels to guide our actions, what\nconsolations to soothe the broken heart!\n\nHow many new means of doing good!\n\nIt is this simple work of gathering a little from every source--from\nnature, from books, above all, from mankind itself--that is the intention\nof one of your fellow-creatures, dear souls, you who long so to make your\nlives more holy and devout!\n\nAnd in the same way as the gold dust, gathered and accumulated from the\nriver's bed, was the means of bringing a little profit to the hearth, so\nwould we endeavor to carry a little joy to your hearts, and peace to your\nsouls.\n\nGather, then, these little counsels; gather them with watchfulness; let\nthem for a moment penetrate deep into your heart; then scatter them abroad\nagain, that they may go with their good words to the help of others.\n\nThey will not be importunate, will not even ask to be preserved; they do\nnot desire fame; all that they seek is to convey a transient blessing.\n\n\n\n\nGOLD DUST\n\n\nI.\n\n\"My LORD!\" exclaimed once a devout soul, \"give me every day a little work\nto occupy my mind; a little suffering to sanctify my spirit; a little good\nto do to comfort my heart.\"\n\n\nII.\n\nIf by our deeds we become saints, true it is, that by our deeds also we\nshall be condemned.\n\nYes, it is little by little that we press onward, either towards salvation\nor eternal ruin; and when at last we reach the gate of glory, or that of\nperdition, the cry escapes our lips, \"Already!\"\n\nThe first backward step is almost imperceptible; it was those tiny flakes\nof snow, seeming to melt as they touch the earth, but falling one upon\nanother, that have formed that immense mass which seems ready to fall and\ncrush us.\n\nAh! if I tried to trace back to what first led to that act of sin, the\nthought that produced the desire, the circumstance that gave rise to the\nthought, I should find something almost imperceptible; perhaps a word with\na _double entendre_ I had heard, and at which I had smiled; a useless\nexplanation, sought out of mere curiosity; a hasty look, cast I knew not\nwherefore, and which conscience prompted me to check; a prayer neglected,\nbecause it wearied me; work left undone, while I indulged in some\nday-dream that flitted before my fancy....\n\nA week later the same things occur, but this time more prolonged; the\nstifled voice of conscience is hushed.\n\nYet another week.... Alas! let us stop there; each can complete the sad\nstory for himself, and it is easy to draw the practical conclusion.\n\n\nIII.\n\nA young girl, in one of those moments when the heart seems to overflow\nwith devotion, wrote thus in her journal: \"If I dared, I would ask GOD why\nI am placed in the world; what have I to do? I know not; my days are idly\nspent, and I do not even regret them.... If I might but do some good to\nmyself or another, if only for the short space of a minute in each day!\"\nA few days later, when in a calmer mood she re-read these lines, she\nadded, \"Why, nothing is easier! I have but to give a cup of cold water to\none of CHRIST'S little ones.\"\n\nEven _less_ than that: a word of advice; something lent to another; a\nlittle vexation patiently borne; a prayer for a friend offered to GOD; the\nfault or thoughtlessness of another repaired without his knowledge--GOD\nwill recompense it all a thousand-fold!\n\n\nIV.\n\nAlms given in secret; that is the charity which brings a blessing.\n\nWhat sweet enjoyment to be able to shed a little happiness around us!\n\nWhat an easy and agreeable task is that of trying to render others happy.\n\nFATHER! if I try to please and imitate Thee thus, wilt Thou indeed bless\nme? Thanks! thanks! be unto Thee.\n\n\nV.\n\nIs it fair always to forget all the good or kindness shown to us by those\nwith whom we live, for the sake of _one_ little pain they may have caused\nus, and which, most likely, was quite unintentional on their part?\n\n\nVI.\n\nWhen you sometimes find in books advice or example that you think may be\nof service, you take care to copy and consult it as an oracle. Do as much\nfor the good of your soul. Engrave in your memory, and even write down,\nthe counsels and precepts that you hear or read; ... then, from time to\ntime, study this little collection, which you will not prize the less that\nyou have made it all yourself.\n\nBooks written by others in time become wearisome to us, but of those we\nwrite ourselves we never tire. And it _will_ be yours, this collection of\nthoughts chosen because you liked them; counsels you have given yourself;\nmoral receipts you have discovered, and of which, perhaps, you have proved\nthe efficacy.\n\nHappy soul! that each day reaps its harvest.\n\n\nVII.\n\nDo you wish to live at peace with all the world? Then practise the maxims\nof an influential man, who, when asked, after the Revolution, how he\nmanaged to escape the executioner's axe, replied, \"I made myself of no\nreputation and kept silence.\"\n\nWould you live peaceably with the members of your family, above all with\nthose who exercise a certain control of you? Use the means employed by a\npious woman, who had to live with one of a trying temper, and which she\nsummed up in the following words:--\n\n\"I do everything to please her.\n\n\"I fulfil all my duties with a smiling face, never revealing the trouble\nit causes me.\n\n\"I bear patiently everything that displeases me.\n\n\"I consult her on many subjects of which, perhaps, I may be the better\njudge.\"\n\nWould you be at peace with your conscience? Let your Guardian Angel find\nyou at each moment of the day doing one of these four things which once\nformed the rule of a saintly life: (1.) praying; (2.) laboring; (3.)\nstriving after holiness; (4.) practising patience.\n\nWould you become holy? Try to add to the above actions the following\nvirtues: method, faith, spiritual combat, perseverance.\n\nFinally, if you would live in an atmosphere of benevolence, make it your\nstudy to be always rendering others service, and never hesitate to ask the\nsame of them.\n\nIn offering help, you make a step towards gaining a friend; in asking it,\nyou please by this mark of your confidence. The result of this will be a\nconstant habit of mutual forbearance, and a fear to be disobliging in\nmatters of greater importance.\n\n\nVIII.\n\nWhen teaching or working with others, never laugh or make fun of their\nawkwardness. If it is caused by stupidity, your laughter is uncharitable;\nif from ignorance, your mockery is, to say the least, unjust.\n\nTeach the unskilful with gentleness; show him the right way to work; and\nGod, Who sees all your efforts, will smile on your patience, and send you\nhelp in all your difficulties.\n\n\nIX.\n\nWhen the heart is heavy, and we suffer from depression or disappointment,\nhow thankful we should be that we still have work and prayer left to\ncomfort us. Occupation forcibly diverts the mind; prayer sweetly soothes\nthe soul.\n\n\"Then,\" writes one who had been sorely tried, \"I tell my griefs to God, as\na child tells its troubles to its mother; and when I have told all I am\ncomforted, and repeat with a lightened heart the prayer of S. Francoise de\nChantal (who certainly suffered more than I), 'Thy will be done for ever\nand ever, O LORD, without _if_ or _but_;' ... and then, for fear a murmur\nmay arise in my heart, I return immediately to my work, and become\nabsorbed in occupation.\"\n\n\nX.\n\nHe who is never satisfied with anything, satisfies no one.\n\n\nXI.\n\nAre there many who try to be of some little help or comfort to the souls\nwith whom they are brought in contact through life?\n\nPoor souls, that, perhaps, have no longer strength or will to manifest the\nlonging they experience, and who languish for want of help, without being\naware that they are perishing. Oh, mingle sometimes with your earthly help\nthe blessed Name of GOD; and if there remain one little spark of life in\nthe soul, that Name will rekindle it, and carry comfort and resignation;\neven as air breathed into the mouth of any one apparently dead, rushes\ninto the lungs, and revives the sufferer, if but one breath of life\nremains.\n\n_Souls! Souls! I yearn for Souls!_--This is the cry of the SAVIOUR; and\nfor their sakes He died upon the Cross, and remains until eternity their\nIntercessor.\n\n_Souls! Souls! I must win Souls!_--It is the cry of Satan; and to obtain\nthem he scatters gold to tempt them, multiplies their pleasures and\nvanities, and gives the praise that only infatuates.\n\n_Souls! Souls! we long for Souls!_--Let this be our aim, readers and\nwriters of these our \"Paillettes;\" and for the sake of even _one_ soul,\nlet not fatigue, expense, or the criticism of the world, deter us....\n\n\nXII.\n\nHow few there are who would thus dare to address GOD each night: \"LORD,\ndeal with me to-morrow as I have this day dealt with others; ... those to\nwhom I was harsh, and from malice, or to show my own superiority, exposed\ntheir failings; others, to whom, from pride or dislike, I refused to\nspeak,--one I have avoided, another I cannot like because she displeases\nme; I will not forgive,--to whom I will not show any kindness.\"...\n\nAnd yet let us never forget that, sooner or later, God will do unto us\neven as we have done unto them.\n\n\nXIII.\n\n\"Grant me, O LORD,\" said a humble soul, \"that I may pass unnoticed through\nthe world.\"\n\nThis should be the wish, or rather the aim, of all true devotion.\n\nSmall virtues require the praise of man to sustain them, just as little\nchildren require encouragement to walk or stand alone.\n\nBut true virtue goes quietly through the world, scattering good around,\nand performing noble deeds, without even the knowledge that what it does\nis heroic.\n\n\nXIV.\n\nS. Chantal one day was excusing herself to S. Francois de Sales for having\nspoken hastily to some one, on the plea that it was in the cause of\njustice. The Saint replied, \"You have been more just than righteous; but\nwe should be more righteous than just.\"\n\n\nXV.\n\nA devout woman once wrote thus: \"In my own family I try to be as little in\nthe way as possible, satisfied with everything, and never to believe for a\nmoment that any one means unkindly towards me.\n\n\"If people are friendly and kind to me, I enjoy it; if they neglect me, or\nleave me, I am always happy alone. It all tends to my one aim,\nforgetfulness of self in order to please GOD.\"\n\n\nXVI.\n\nLearning is not without its effect upon the soul; it either lends it wings\nto bear it up to GOD, or leaves behind it tiny sparks, which little by\nlittle consume the whole being.\n\nIf you would ascertain all the good or ill you have derived from all those\nhours devoted to historians, poets, novelists, or philosophers, put to\nyourself these questions: Since acquiring this knowledge, am I wiser? am I\nbetter? am I happier?\n\nWiser?--That is to say, more self-controlled, less the slave of my\npassions, less irritated by small vexations, braver in bearing\nmisfortunes, more careful to live for eternity?\n\nBetter?--More forbearing towards others, more forgiving, less uncharitable,\nmore reticent in opposing the faults of others, more solicitous for the\nhappiness of those around me?\n\nHappier?--That would mean more contented with my station in life, striving\nto derive all possible benefits from it, to beautify rather than to alter\nit?\n\nHave I more faith in GOD, and more calmness and resignation in all the\nevents of life?\n\nIf you cannot reply in the affirmative, then examine your heart\nthoroughly, and you will find there, stifling the good that GOD has\nimplanted, these three tyrants that have obtained dominion over, you: (1.)\nPride; (2.) Ambition; (3.) Self-conceit.\n\nFrom them have sprung: dissatisfaction and contempt of your life and its\nsurroundings, restlessness, a longing for power and dominion over others,\nmalice, habitual discontent, and incessant murmurings. Have you any\nfurther doubts? Then inquire of those with whom you live.\n\nAh! if this be indeed the sad result, then, whatever may be your age,\nclose, oh! close those books, and seek once more those two elements of\nhappiness you ought never to have forsaken, and which, had you made them\nthe companions of your study, would have kept you pure and good.\n\nI refer to prayer and manual labor.\n\n\nXVII.\n\nListen to the story of a simple shepherd, given in his own words: \"I\nforget now who it was that once said to me, 'Jean Baptiste, you are very\npoor?'--True.--'If you fell ill, your wife and children would be\ndestitute?'--True. And then I felt anxious and uneasy for the rest of the\nday.\"\n\n\"At Evensong wiser thoughts came to me, and I said to myself: Jean\nBaptiste, for more than thirty years you have lived in the world, you have\nnever possessed anything, yet still you live on, and have been provided\neach day with nourishment, each night with repose. Of trouble GOD has\nnever sent you more than your share. Of help the means have never failed\nyou. To whom do you owe all this? To GOD. Jean Baptiste, be no longer\nungrateful, and banish those anxious thoughts; for what could ever induce\nyou to think that the Hand from which you have already received so much,\nwould close against you when you grow old, and have greater need of help?\nI finished my prayer, and felt at peace.\"\n\n\nXVIII.\n\nThe work of the Sower is given to each of us in this world, and we fall\nshort of our duty when we let those with whom we are brought in contact\nleave us without having given them a kind thought or pious impression.\n\nNothing is so sad as the cry, \"I am useless!\" Happily none need ever _be_\nso.\n\nA kind word, a gentle act, a modest demeanor, a loving smile, are as so\nmany seeds that we can scatter every moment of our lives, and which will\nalways spring up and bear fruit.\n\nHappy are those who have many around them ... they are rich in\nopportunities, and may sow plenteously.\n\n\nXIX.\n\nFew positions in life are so full of importunities as that of the mother\nof a family, or mistress of a house. She may have a dozen interruptions\nwhile writing _one_ letter, or settling an account. What holiness, what\nself-control, is needed to be always calm and unruffled amid these little\nvexations, and never to manifest the slightest impatience!\n\nLeaving the work without apparent annoyance, replying with a smile upon\nthe lips, awaiting patiently the end of a long conversation, and finally\nreturning calmly to the yet unfinished work--all this is the sign of a\nrecollected soul, and one that waits upon GOD.\n\nOh! what blessings are shed around them by such patient souls ... but,\nalas! how rarely they are to be met with!\n\n\nXX.\n\nThere are times in one's life when all the world seems to turn against us.\nOur motives are misunderstood, our words misconstrued, a malicious smile\nor an unkind word reveals to us the unfriendly feelings of others. Our\nadvances are repulsed, or met with icy coldness; a dry refusal arrests on\nour lips the offer of help....\n\nOh, how hard it all seems, and the more so that we cannot divine the\ncause!\n\nCourage, patience, poor disconsolate one! GOD is making a furrow in your\nheart, where He will surely sow His grace.\n\nIt is rare when injustice, or slights patiently borne, do not leave the\nheart at the close of the day filled with marvellous joy and peace.\n\nIt is the seed GOD has sown, springing up and bearing fruit.\n\n\nXXI.\n\nThat which costs little is of little worth. This thought should make us\ntremble. In our self-examination we may experience at times a certain\nsatisfaction in noticing the little virtues we may possess, above all,\nthose that render us pleasing in the eyes of others.\n\nFor instance, we may like to pray at a certain place, with certain\nsentiments, and we think ourselves devout; we are gentle, polite, and\nsmiling towards one person in particular; patient with those we fear, or\nin whose good opinion we would stand; we are devoted, charitable,\ngenerous, because the heart experiences an unspeakable pleasure in\nspending and being spent for others; we suffer willingly at the hands of\nsome one we love, and then say we are patient; we are silent, because we\nhave no inclination to speak; shunning society because we fail to shine\nthere, and then fancy that we love retirement.\n\nTake these virtues that give you such self-satisfaction, one by one, and\nask yourself at what sacrifice, labor, or cost, above all, with what care\nyou have managed to acquire them.... Alas! you will find that all that\npatience, affability, generosity, and piety are but as naught, springing\nfrom a heart puffed up with pride. It costs nothing, and it is worthless.\n\nAs self-sacrifice, says De Maistre, is the basis and essence of virtue, so\nthose virtues are the most meritorious that have cost the greatest effort\nto attain.\n\nDo not look with so much pride on this collection of virtues, but rather\nbring yourself to account for your faults. Take just one, the first that\ncomes, impatience, sloth, gossip, uncharitableness, sulkiness, whatever it\nmay be, and attack it bravely.\n\nIt will take at least a month, calculating upon three victories every day,\nnot indeed to eradicate it,--a fault is not so short-lived,--but to prevent\nits attaining dominion over you.\n\nThat one subdued, then take another. It is the work of a lifetime; and\ntruly to our faults may we apply the saying, \"_Quand il n'y en a plus, il\ny en a encore._\"\n\n\"Happy should I think myself,\" said S. Francis de Sales, \"if I could rid\nmyself of my imperfections but _one_-quarter of an hour previous to my\ndeath.\"\n\n\nXXII.\n\nBEFORE HOLY COMMUNION\n\n    JESUS\n\n\nMy child, it is not wisdom _I_ require of thee, it sufficeth if thou\nlovest Me well.\n\nSpeak to Me as thou wouldst talk to thy mother if she were here, pressing\nthee to her heart.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Hast thou none for whom thou wouldst intercede?_ Tell Me the names of thy\nkindred and thy friends; and at the mention of each name add what thou\nwouldst have Me do for them. Ask much fervently; the generous hearts that\nforget themselves for others are very dear unto Me.\n\nTell Me of the poor thou wouldst succor, the sick thou hast seen\nsuffering, the sinful thou wouldst reclaim, the estranged thou wouldst\nreceive to thy heart again.\n\nPray fervently for all mankind.\n\nRemind Me of My promise to hear all prayers that proceed from the heart;\nand the prayer offered for one who loves us, and is dear to us, is sure to\nbe heartfelt and fervent.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Hast thou no favors to ask of Me?_ Give Me, if thou wilt, a list of all\nthy desires, all the wants of thy soul. Tell Me, simply, of all thy pride,\nsensuality, self-love, sloth; and ask for My help in thy struggles to\novercome them.\n\nPoor child! be not abashed; many that had the same faults to contend\nagainst are now saints in heaven.\n\nThey cried to Me for help, and by degrees they conquered.\n\nDo not hesitate to ask for temporal blessings,--health, intellect, success.\nI can bestow them, and never fail to do so, where they tend to make the\nsoul more holy. What wouldst thou this day, My child?... If thou didst but\nknow how I long to bless thee!...\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Hast thou no interests which occupy thy mind?_\n\nTell Me of them all.... Of thy vocation. What dost thou think? What dost\nthou desire? Wouldst thou give pleasure to thy mother, thy family, those\nin authority over thee? what wouldst thou do for them?\n\nAnd for Me hast thou no ardor? Dost thou not desire to do some good to the\nsouls of those thou lovest, but who are forgetful of Me?\n\nTell Me of one in whom thou hast interest; the motive that actuates; the\nmeans thou wouldst employ.\n\nLay before Me thy failures, and _I_ will teach thee the cause.\n\nWhom wouldst thou have to help thee? The hearts of all are in My keeping,\nand _I_ lead them gently wheresoever _I_ will. Rest assured, all who are\nneedful to thee, _I_ will place around thee.\n\n_Oh! My child, tell Me of all thy weariness_: who has grieved thee?\ntreated thee with contempt? wounded thy self-love?\n\nTell Me all, and thou wilt end by saying, all is forgiven, all forgotten\n... and _I_, surely _I_ will bless thee!...\n\n_Art thou fearful of the future?_ Is there in thy heart that vague dread\nthat thou canst not define, but which nevertheless torments thee?\n\nTrust in My Providence.... _I_ am present with thee, _I_ know all, and _I_\nwill never leave thee nor forsake thee.\n\nAre there around thee those seemingly less devout than formerly, whose\ncoldness or indifference have estranged thee from them without real\ncause?...\n\nPray for them. _I_ can draw them back to thee if they are necessary to the\nsanctification of thy soul.\n\n_What are the joys of which thou hast to tell Me?_\n\nLet Me share thy pleasures; tell Me of all that has occurred since\nyesterday to comfort thee, please thee, to give thee joy!\n\nThat fear suddenly dispelled, that unexpected success, that token of\naffection, the trial that proved thee stronger than thou thoughtest....\n\nMy child, _I_ sent it all; why not show some gratitude, and simply thank\nthy LORD?\n\nGratitude draws down a blessing, and the Great Benefactor likes His\nchildren to remind Him of His Goodness.\n\n_Hast thou no promises to make to Me?_ I can read thy heart; thou knowest\nit; thou mayst deceive man, but thou canst never deceive God. Be sincere.\n\n_Art thou resolved to avoid all occasions of sin?_ To renounce that which\ntempts thee; never again to open the book that excites thine imagination?\nNot to bestow thine affection on one who is not devout, and whose presence\nsteals the peace from thy soul?\n\nWilt thou go now and be loving and forbearing towards one who has vexed\nthee?...\n\nGood, My child!... Go, then, return to thy daily toil; be silent, humble,\nresigned, charitable; then return to Me with a heart yet more loving and\ndevoted, and _I_ shall have for thee fresh blessings.\n\n\nXXIII.\n\n\"There will soon be none left,\" said S. Francis de Sales, \"who will love\npoor sinners but GOD and myself.\"\n\nOh! why do we fail in love towards those poor sinful ones! Are they not\nvery much to be pitied?\n\nWhen they are prosperous, pray for them; but when misfortune comes (and\ntrouble weighs heavily upon the wicked), death depriving them of the only\nbeings they did not hate, afflicting them with a loathsome disease,\ndelivering them up to scorn and misery--oh! then, when all this comes upon\nthem, love them freely. It is by affection alone that we can reach the\nworst characters, and the souls that are steeped in sin.\n\nHow many have died impenitent, who, if only some one had cared for them\nand shown them love, might have become at last saints in heaven! Oh! the\nsins that are committed, oh! the souls we suffer to wander from GOD, and\nall because we are so wanting in love towards them.\n\n\nXXIV.\n\nLet us always be on our guard against _Prejudice_.\n\nSome women have a way (of which they themselves are unconscious) of\nturning the cold shoulder to some one member of their family.\n\nFor what reason? They cannot say, simply because the cause is never very\nclearly defined and in this lies all the mischief.\n\nPerhaps an air of indifference they may have fancied, and which arose\nmerely from fatigue, or trouble that could not be confided to them.\n\nA word misinterpreted, because heard at a time when they felt\ndiscontented, and their morbid imagination made everything appear in a\nfalse light.\n\nSome scandal to which they ought never to have listened, or, at least,\nshould have endeavored to fathom, going direct to the person concerned and\nseeking an explanation.\n\nAnd behold the result: they in their turn become cold, reserved, and\nsuspicious, misinterpreting the slightest gesture ... in a few days arises\na coldness, from the feeling they are no longer beloved; then follow\ncontempt and mistrust, finally, a hatred that gnaws and rends the very\nheart.\n\nIt all springs up imperceptibly, till at last the family life is one of\nbitterness and misery.\n\nThey console, or better still, excuse themselves, with the thought of\ntheir suffering, never considering how much pain they give to others, nor\nwhere the fault lies.\n\n\nXXV.\n\nLet it rest! Ah! how many hearts on the brink of anxiety and disquietude\nby this simple sentence have been made calm and happy!\n\nSome proceeding has wounded us by its want of tact; _let it rest_; no one\nwill think of it again.\n\nA harsh or unjust sentence irritates us; _let it rest_; whoever may have\ngiven vent to it will be pleased to see it is forgotten.\n\nA painful scandal is about to estrange us from an old friend; _let it\nrest_, and thus preserve our charity and peace of mind.\n\nA suspicious look is on the point of cooling our affection; _let it rest_,\nand our look of trust will restore confidence....\n\nFancy! we who are so careful to remove the briers from our pathway for\nfear they should wound, yet take pleasure in collecting and piercing our\nhearts with the thorns that meet us in our daily intercourse with one\nanother. How childish and unreasonable we are!\n\n\nXXVI.\n\nOf all the means placed by Providence within our reach, whereby we may\nlead souls to Him, there is one more blessed than all others,--intercessory\nprayer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHow often, in the presence of one deeply loved, but, alas! estranged from\nGOD, the heart of mother or wife has felt a sudden impulse to say an\nearnest word, propose an act of devotion, to paint in glowing colors the\nblessings of faith and the happiness of virtue ... and she has stopped,\ndeterred by an irresistible fear of how the words may be received; and she\nsays to herself, poor woman, \"To-morrow I shall be braver.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPoor mother! poor wife! go and tell to your Heavenly FATHER all you would,\nbut _dare_ not, say to the loved one who gives you so much pain.\n\nLay that sin-sick soul before the LORD, as long ago they laid the\nparalytic man who could not, or perhaps _would_ not, be led to Him.\n\nPlead for him with the long-suffering SAVIOUR, as you would plead with an\nearthly master, upon whom depended all his future welfare, and say to Him\nsimply, \"LORD, have patience with him yet a little longer.\"\n\nTell GOD of all your anxiety, your discouragements, the means employed for\nsuccess.\n\nAsk Him to teach you what to say and how to act. One sentence learned of\nGOD in prayer will do more for the conversion of a soul than all our poor\nhuman endeavors. _That_ sentence will escape our lips involuntarily. We\nmay not remember that we have said it, but it will sink deep into the\nheart, making a lasting impression, and silently fulfilling its mission.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nYou are, perhaps, surprised, after many years, to see such poor results.\nAh! how little can you judge!...\n\nDo you know what you have gained? In the first place, time--often a\nphysical impossibility to sin, which you may attribute to chance, but\nwhich was, in reality, the work of Providence; and is it nothing, one sin\nthe less, in the life of an immortal soul?... Then a vague uneasiness\nwhich will soon allow of no rest, a confidence which may enable you to\nsympathize, more liberty left you for the exercise of religious acts; you\nno longer see the contemptuous smile at your acts of devotion. Is all this\n_nothing_?\n\nAh! if, while on your knees praying for the one you would have reconciled\nto GOD, you could but see what is passing in his soul,--the wrestlings, the\nremorse he strives vainly to stifle; if you could see the work of the Holy\nSpirit in the heart, gently but firmly triumphing over the will, how\nearnestly, how incessantly, would you continue to pray!\n\nOnly have patience to wait--perseverance not to grow weary.\n\nIt is the want of patience that often makes us exacting towards those we\ndesire to help.\n\nMore haste, less speed, is an old saying; the more we are exacting, the\nless likely are we to succeed.\n\nMen like to act freely, and to have the credit of their actions.\n\nIt is because we have not learned to persevere that the work seems never\nto progress.\n\nCourage, then! the ground may seem too dry for cultivation, but each\nprayer will be as a drop of water; the marble may be very hard, but each\nprayer is like the hammer's stroke that wears away its roughness.\n\n\nXXVII.\n\nThe sweet peace of GOD bears the outward token of resignation.\n\nWhen the Holy Spirit dwells within us everything seems bright.\n\nEverything may not be exactly as we would wish it, but we accept all with\na good grace.... For instance, some change in our household or mode of\nliving upsets us. If GOD is with us, He will whisper, \"Yield cheerfully\nthy will; in a little while all will be forgotten.\"\n\nSome command or employment wounds our pride; if GOD is with us, He will\nsay to us, \"Be submissive, and _I_ will come to thine aid.\"\n\nWe may dislike a certain neighborhood; the society there may be repulsive\nto us, and we are about to become morbid: GOD will tell us to continue\ngracious and smiling, for He will recompense the little annoyances we may\nexperience. If you would discern in whom GOD'S Spirit dwells, watch that\nperson, and notice whether you ever hear him murmur.\n\n\nXXVIII.\n\nI WANT TO BE HOLY\n\nHeavenly Father, aid Thy child, who longs to become holy!\n\nBut then, I must be patient under humiliation, let myself be forgotten,\nand be even pleased at feeling myself set aside.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I wish to be holy!_\n\nBut I must never excuse myself, never be impatient, never out of temper.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I wish to be holy!_\n\nThen I must continually be doing violence to my feelings,--submitting my\nwill always to that of my superiors, never contentious, never sulky,\nfinishing every work begun, in spite of dislike or ennui.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I wish to be holy!_\n\nBut then, I must be always charitable towards all around me; loving them,\nhelping them to the utmost of my power, although it may cause me trouble.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I wish to be holy!_\n\nBut I must constantly strive against the cowardice, sloth, and pride of my\nnature, renouncing the world, the vanity that pleases, the sensuality that\nrejoices me, the antipathy that makes me avoid those I do not like.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I still wish to be holy!_\n\nThen, I shall have to experience long hours of weariness, sadness, and\ndiscontent. I shall often feel lonely and discouraged.\n\n_Never mind! I am resolved; I wish to be holy!_ for then I shall have Thee\nalways with me, ever near me. LORD, help me, for I want to be holy!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHOW TO BECOME HOLY\n\nOh! it is quite easy, if I fulfil every duty to the best of my ability;\nand many who had no more to do than I have become saints.\n\nOne day is the same as another. Prayer, worldly business, calls to be\ndevout, charitable, and faithful,--these are the duties that each hour\nbrings in its turn; and if I am faithful in their fulfilment, GOD will be\nalways ready to help me, and then what signifies a little ennui, pain, or\nmisfortune?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE SANCTIFICATION OF DAILY DUTIES\n\nI will perform them as in GOD'S sight, conscious that He is present, and\nsmiling on my efforts.\n\nI will perform each as if I had but one to accomplish, striving to render\nit as perfect as possible.\n\nI will fulfil each duty as if upon that one alone depended my salvation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMOTIVES FOR SANCTIFYING MY ACTIONS\n\nGOD expects me to honor Him by that action.\n\nGOD has attached a special blessing to that action, and awaits its\nfulfilment to bestow it.\n\nGOD notes each action; and of them all hereafter I must give an account.\n\nGOD will see that I love Him, if I strive to fulfil every duty, in spite\nof weariness and trouble.\n\nI honor GOD by this action; and I, poor, weak, sinful child, am allowed to\nglorify Him, in place of those who blaspheme and rebel against the Divine\nwill.\n\n\nXXIX.\n\nThey say there is nothing which communicates itself so quickly amongst the\nmembers of a family as an expression of coldness or discontent on the face\nof one of its members. It is like the frost that chills us. This is not\naltogether true; there is something which is communicated with equal\nrapidity and greater force--I mean the smiling face, the beaming\ncountenance, the happy heart.\n\n\nXXX.\n\nLITTLE WORRIES\n\nThere is not a day in our lives that we are not distressed by some one of\nthose numberless little worries that meet us at every step, and which are\ninevitable.\n\nThe wound made may not be deep; but the constant pricks, each day renewed,\nimbitter the character, destroy peace, create anxiety, and make the family\nlife, that otherwise would be so sweet and peaceful, almost unendurable.\n\nLife is full of these little miseries. Each hour brings with it its own\ntrouble.\n\nHere are some of the little worries: An impatient word escapes our lips in\nthe presence of some one in whose estimation we would stand well.\n\nA servant does his work badly, fidgets us by his slowness, irritates us by\nhis thoughtlessness, and his awkward blunders make us blush.\n\nA giddy child in its clumsiness breaks something of value, or that we\ntreasure on account of its associations; we are charged with a message of\nimportance, and our forgetfulness makes us appear uncourteous, perhaps\nungrateful; some one we live with is constantly finding fault, nothing\npleases them. If, when night comes, we find we have not experienced these\nlittle worries, then we ought to be grateful to GOD. Each of these, and\nmany more, are liable to befall us every day of our life.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHOW TO BEAR LITTLE WORRIES\n\nIn the first place, expect them. Make them the subject of our morning\nprayers, and say to ourselves, Here is my daily cross, do I accept\nwillingly? Surely! for it is GOD Who sends it. After all ... these little\ntroubles, looked at calmly, what are they? Ah, if there were never any\nworse!\n\nSecondly, we must be prepared for them. You know, if you wish to break the\nforce of a blow falling on you, you naturally bend the body; so let us act\nwith regard to our souls.\n\nAccustom yourself, wrote a pious author, to stoop with sweet\ncondescension, not only to exigencies (that is your duty), but to the\nsimple wishes of those who surround you--the accidents which may intervene;\nyou will find yourself seldom, if ever, crushed.\n\nTo _bend_ is better than to _bear_; to bear is often a little hard; to\nbend implies a certain external sweetness that yields all constraint,\nsacrificing the wishes, even in holy things, when they tend to cause\ndisagreements in the family circle.\n\nSubmission often implies an entire resignation to all that GOD permits.\nThe soul that endures feels the weight of its trouble. The soul that\nyields scarcely perceives it.\n\nBlessed are those docile ones; they are those whom GOD selects to work for\nHim.\n\n\nXXXI.\n\nTO OBTAIN PEACE\n\nApproach the Blessed Sacrament, O restless soul, in search of peace, and,\nhumbly kneeling there, pour forth bravely, slowly, and with earnest\ndesire, the following prayer:--\n\n    O JESUS, gentle and humble of heart, hear me!\n    From the desire of being esteemed,\n    From the desire of being loved,\n    From the desire to be sought,\n      Deliver me, JESUS.\n    From the desire to be mourned,\n    From the desire of praise,\n    From the desire of preference,\n    From the desire of influence,\n    From the desire of approval,\n    From the desire of authority,\n    From the fear of humiliation,\n    From the fear of being despised,\n    From the fear of repulse,\n    From the fear of calumny,\n    From the fear of oblivion,\n    From the fear of ridicule,\n    From the fear of injury,\n    From the fear of suspicion,\n      Deliver me, JESUS.\n\nThat others may be loved more than myself. JESUS grant this desire.\n\nThat others may be more highly esteemed.\n\nThat others may grow and increase in honor, and I decrease. JESUS, grant\nme to desire it.\n\nThat others may be employed, and I set aside. JESUS, grant me to desire\nthis.\n\nThat others may attract the praise, and myself be forgotten.\n\nThat others may be preferred in all.\n\nGrant me the utmost holiness of which I am capable, then let others be\nholier than myself. JESUS, grant me to desire it!\n\nOh, if GOD hearkens,--and hearken He surely will, if your prayer has been\nsincere,--what joy in your heart, what peace on your countenance, what\nsweetness will pervade your whole life!\n\nMore than half one's troubles arise from an exaggerated idea of one's own\nimportance, and the efforts we make to increase our position in the world.\nLacordaire says, that the sweetest thing on earth is to be forgotten by\nall, with the exception of those who love us. All else brings more trouble\nthan joy; and as soon as we have completed our task here, and fulfilled\nour mission, the best thing for us to do is to disappear altogether.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLet us each cultivate carefully and joyously the portion of soil\nProvidence has committed to our care. Let us never be hindered or\ndistracted by ambitious thoughts, that we could do better, or a false zeal\ntempting us to forsake our daily task with the vain desire to surpass our\nneighbors.... Let this one thought occupy our minds. To do _well_ what is\ngiven us to do, for this is all that GOD requires at our hands. It may be\nsummed up in four words,--simply, zealously, cheerfully, completely.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThen if we _are_ slighted, misunderstood, maligned, or persecuted, what\ndoes it matter? These injuries will pass away; but the peace and love of\nGOD will remain with us forever, the reward of our faith and patience. The\nlove of GOD! Who can describe all the joy, strength, and consolation it\nreveals?\n\nNever has human love, in its brightest dreams, been able to form any idea\nof all the sweetness the love of GOD imparts to the soul, and which is\nbrought still nearer to us in the Blessed Sacrament.\n\nI can well understand the words of a loving soul: \"With heaven so near,\nand daily communion with our GOD, how can we ever repine!\"\n\n\nXXXII.\n\nAFTER HOLY COMMUNION\n\nOUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN\n\nO JESUS! it is Thou Who biddest me say, FATHER! _My Father!_ Oh how that\nName rejoices my heart! _My Father!_ I can no longer feel alone; and\nwhatever may happen to me this day, I feel I am protected, comforted,\nbeloved.\n\nJESUS! let me dwell on the sweetness of those words: _My Father!_ I need\nnot lift my eyes to heaven, Thou art within me, and where Thou dwellest\nheaven must be.\n\nYes! heaven is within me! heaven with all its peace and love; and if I\nkeep free from guile this day, my day will be one of heavenly joy, and in\naddition, the privilege of suffering for Thee.\n\nHALLOWED BE THY NAME\n\nTo hallow Thy Name, O LORD, is to pronounce it with reverence and awe.\n\nTo-day I will pray more fervently, try to realize Thy Presence, Thy\nGoodness, Thy Love; and my heart shall be a sanctuary into which nothing\nshall penetrate that could be displeasing unto Thee.\n\nTo _hallow Thy Name_ is to call upon it fervently, to have it constantly\nupon my lips; above all, before taking an important step, when there are\ndifficulties to be overcome, I will softly whisper the Invocation, which\nis the secret of all holy living! \"JESUS, meek and humble of heart, have\npity upon me.\"\n\nTHY KINGDOM COME\n\nO JESUS, Thy kingdom is within my heart, reign there in all Thy\nsovereignty and power, reign there absolutely!\n\nMy King! what dost Thou require of me to-day? Thy commandments, my rule of\nlife, my daily duties,--these are Thy commands that I will promise to obey;\nmore than that, I will regard all in authority over me as Thine\nAmbassadors, speaking to me in Thy Name. What matters the tone or the\nharshness of the order?\n\nWhat does it signify if some unexpected command upsets all my previous\nplans? It is Thy Voice I hear, Thou LORD, Whom I will obey always, and in\nall things.\n\nThy kingdom is also in the hearts of others; and there would I see Thee\nreigning. Then to whom can I speak of Thee this day? What counsels can I\ngive? What moments may I seize, in which, without wounding the feelings,\nor parading my zeal, I may be allowed to speak a few words of piety? LORD,\nlet me have the opportunity to help another to love Thee!\n\nTHY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN\n\nYes, yes! Thy Will be done! Thy sweet all-perfect Will!\n\nWhat wilt Thou send me to-day?\n\nHumiliation? Provocation? Sufferings? A fresh rending of the heart? A\ndisappointment? Shall I see myself misjudged, falsely suspected, despised?\nI accept beforehand all that Thou sendest me; and if through weakness I\nweep, suffer it to be so; if I murmur, check me; if I am vexed, correct\nme; if hopeless, encourage me.\n\nYes, yes! Let Thy sweet and holy Will be done!\n\nEven, O LORD, if to glorify Thee, I must be humiliated, suffering,\nuseless, and forsaken, still, LORD, stay not Thine Hand, I am wholly\nThine.\n\nGIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD\n\nHow blessed, O LORD, to depend only upon Thee ... behold me, Thy child,\nwaiting with outstretched hand to receive Thy benefits.\n\nGrant me my temporal blessings,--clothing, nourishment, shelter ... but not\ntoo much of anything; and let me have the happiness of sharing my\nblessings with those poorer than myself to-day. Grant me the blessing of\nintelligence, that I may read, or hear one of those golden counsels that\nelevate the soul, and lend wings to the thoughts.\n\nGrant me the loving heart, O my FATHER! that I may feel for a moment how I\nlove Thee, and Thy love towards me; let me sacrifice myself for the\nwelfare of another. Give me the Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist! I have\njust received it, LORD! Grant me again ere long that great blessing.\n\nAnd then, give all these blessings to those I love, and who love me!\n\nFORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THEM THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US\n\nWhen I pronounce the word of pardon, what a weight seems lifted from my\nheart.\n\nI will not only banish every feeling of hatred, I will efface every\npainful remembrance. O GOD, if Thou forgivest me, as I forgive others,\nwhat mercy for me!\n\nThou seest I bear no malice, that I forget all injuries....\n\nI have been offended by _words_; I forget them; by actions, I forget them;\nby omissions, thoughts, desires; they are all forgotten.\n\nAh! in all these ways I have offended Thee, and Thou wilt forget, even as\nI have forgotten.\n\nI will be very merciful, so that Thou mayst have mercy upon me.\n\nLEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL\n\nNow, as I leave Thine altar, I go to encounter temptation.\n\nO SAVIOUR! help me, keep me, and warn me of my danger!\n\nLet me shun all occasions of evil, and if by weakness or allurements I am\nled into paths of sin, if I fall, oh! rescue me speedily, that I may fall\nupon my knees, confessing my sin, and imploring pardon.\n\nSin! this is the evil from which I beseech Thee to deliver me; other\ntroubles that may happen, I accept; they are sent to try me and to purify,\nand come from Thee; but sin, I have no pleasure in it! Oh! when in the\nhour of temptation I fall away, LORD, hearken to the cry that I now raise\nto Thee in all sincerity; I _will_ it not! it is not wilful! I go from Thy\nPresence, but, JESUS, Thou art with me! In work, in prayer, in suffering,\nlet all be done in Thee!\n\n\nXXXIII.\n\n\"Mother,\" asked a child, \"since nothing is ever lost, where do all our\nthoughts go?\"\n\n\"To GOD,\" answered the mother gravely, \"who remembers them forever.\"\n\n\"Forever!\" said the child. He bent his head, and, drawing closer to his\nmother, murmured, \"I am frightened!\"\n\nWhich of us have not felt the same?\n\n\nXXXIV.\n\nOne more solemn thought: How old are you? Nineteen. Have you reckoned the\nnumber of minutes that have elapsed since your birth? The number is\nstartling: nine millions, three hundred and thirty-three thousand, two\nhundred.... Each of those minutes has flown to GOD; GOD has examined them\nand weighed them, and for them you must give account.\n\nEach minute bears its own impress (as a coin bears the impress of the\nSovereign), and only those marked with the image of GOD will avail you for\neternity.\n\nIs not this thought one to make you tremble?\n\n\"I never could understand,\" writes Guerin, \"the feeling of security some\nhave that their works must find favor with GOD--as if our duties were\nconfined to the narrow limits of this little world. To be a good son,\nstatesman, or brother, is not all that is required of us; GOD demands far\nmore than this from those for whom He has destined a crown of glory\nhereafter.\"\n\n\nXXXV.\n\nOne great characteristic of holiness is never to be exacting, never to\ncomplain.\n\nEach complaint drags us down a degree in our upward course.\n\nBy complaining, I do not mean the simple imparting of our troubles to\nothers.\n\nComplaint savors always of a little bad temper, and a slightly vindictive\nspirit.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe saints were never exacting.\n\nContented with their lot, they never desired anything that was withheld\nfrom them.\n\n\"I have asked,\" said a holy soul, \"for something I thought needful; they\nhave forgotten to answer me, or perhaps would not bestow it. Why need I be\ndisquieted? If it were really necessary, GOD would quickly provide means\nto obtain it.\" How few could enter into this feeling; and yet it is but\nthe echo of CHRIST'S own words, \"Your FATHER in Heaven knoweth that ye\nhave need of all these things.\"\n\n\nXXXVI.\n\nJoy in life is like oil in a lamp. When the oil gets low the wick is\nconsumed, emitting a black vapor, and sending forth only a lurid glow,\nwhich does not give light.\n\nA life without joy passes away unprofitably, shedding around it only gloom\nand sorrow.\n\nIf every morning in a simple prayer,--in those fifteen minutes' meditation\n(which only seem hard when we do not practise it),--we opened our hearts to\nGOD, as we open our windows to the sun and air, GOD would fill it with\nthat calm, sweet joy which elevates the soul, prevents it feeling the\nweight of troubles, and makes it overflow with benevolence.\n\nBut joy does not mean levity, witty sayings, or repartee ... it is\nhabitual serenity.\n\nThrough a clear atmosphere we can always see the sky; it seems so light\nand full of elasticity.\n\nA serene sky is always pure ... clouds may pass across it, but they do not\nstain it.\n\nSo it is with the heart that early in the morning opens to receive GOD'S\nPeace.\n\n\nXXXVII.\n\n\"You are never out of temper,\" was once said to a woman well known to be\nmuch tried at home; \"is it that you do not feel the injustice, the\nannoyances?\"--\"I feel them as much as you do,\" she replied; \"but they do\nnot hurt me.\"--\"You have, then, some special balm?\"--\"Yes; for the\nvexations caused by people, I have _affection_; for those of circumstances,\nI have prayer; and over every wound that bleeds, I murmur the words, 'Thy\nWill be done.'\"\n\n\nXXXVIII.\n\nMY DAILY CROSS\n\nIf I have no cross to bear to-day, I shall not advance heavenwards.\n\nA cross (that is, anything that disturbs our peace) is the spur which\nstimulates, and without which we should most likely remain stationary,\nblinded with empty vanities, and sinking deeper into sin.\n\nA cross helps us onwards, in spite of our apathy and resistance.\n\nTo lie quietly on a bed of down may seem a very sweet existence, but\npleasant ease and rest are not the lot of a Christian; if he would mount\nhigher and higher, it must be by a rough road.\n\nAlas, for those who have no daily cross!\n\nAlas, for those who repine and fret against it!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWHAT WILL BE MY CROSS TO-DAY?\n\nPerhaps that person, with whom Providence has placed me, and whom I\ndislike, whose look of disdain humiliates me, whose slowness worries me,\nwho makes me jealous by being more beloved, more successful, than myself,\nwhose chatter and lightheartedness, even her very attentions to myself,\nannoy me.\n\nOr it may be that person that I think has quarrelled with me, and my\nimagination makes me fancy myself watched, criticised, turned into\nridicule.\n\nShe is always with me; all my efforts to separate are frustrated; by some\nmysterious power she is always present, always near.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis is my heaviest cross; the rest are light in comparison.\n\nCircumstances change, temptations diminish, troubles lessen; but those\npeople who trouble or offend us are an ever-present source of irritation.\n\n\nHOW TO BEAR THIS DAILY CROSS\n\nNever manifest, in any way, the ennui, the dislike, the involuntary\nshudder, that her presence produces; force myself to render her some\nlittle service--never mind if she never knows it; it is between GOD and\nmyself. Try to say a little good of her every day, of her talents, her\ncharacter, her tact, for there is all that to be found in her. Pray\nearnestly for her, even asking GOD to help me to love her, and to spare\nher to me.\n\nDear companion! blessed messenger of GOD'S mercy! you are, without knowing\nit, the means for my sanctification, and I will not be ungrateful.\n\nYes! though the exterior be rude and repellent, yet to you I owe it that I\nam kept from greater sin; you, against whom my whole nature rebels ... how\nI ought to love you!\n\n\nXXXIX.\n\nWho is anxious for a beloved one's eternal welfare?\n\nWe interest ourselves for their success, their prosperity; we ask GOD to\nkeep them from harm and misfortune; we try to start them well in the\nworld, to make them of reputation, to procure them pleasure.\n\nTo spare them trouble, we sacrifice our own ease and enjoyment....\n\nOh, that is all very beautiful, very right; but what should we do for the\nsoul?\n\nDo we pray to GOD that this soul may become humble, pure, devoted?\n\nDo we take as much pains to procure him the little devotional book that\nwill really help him, as we should to obtain a transient pleasure?\n\nDo we help him, unseen, towards that act of charity, humiliation, or\nself-renunciation? Have we courage not to spare the soul the trial that we\nknow will purify?\n\nDoes it seem too hard for you?\n\nAh! then you do not know what real love is. Does not GOD love us? Yet GOD\nlets us suffer; even sends the suffering.\n\nLove is given us to help us onwards, nearer to GOD. The most blessed is\nthat which draws us nearest to Him; and in proportion as it leads to GOD\nwe realize its blessedness.\n\nThe essence of true love is not its _tenderness_, but its strength, power\nof endurance, its purity, its self-renunciation.\n\nThe mistake we make is when we seek to be beloved, instead of loving. What\nmakes us cowardly is the fear of losing that love.\n\nNever forget this: A selfish heart desires love for itself; a Christian\nheart delights to love--without return.\n\n\nXL.\n\nTo learn never to waste our time is perhaps one of the most difficult\nvirtues to acquire.\n\nA well-spent day is a source of pleasure. To be constantly employed, and\nnever asking, \"What shall I do?\" is the secret of much goodness and\nhappiness.\n\nBegin, then, with promptitude, act decisively, persevere; if interrupted,\nbe amiable, and return to the work unruffled, finish it carefully--these\nwill be the signs of a virtuous soul.\n\n\nXLI.\n\nAre you full of peace? _Pray!_ Prayer will preserve it to you.\n\nAre you tempted? _Pray!_ Prayer will sustain you.\n\nHave you fallen? _Pray!_ Prayer will raise you.\n\nAre you discouraged? _Pray!_ Prayer will reassure and comfort you.\n\n\nXLII.\n\nThe young are seldom forbearing, because they so little understand the\nfrailties of poor human nature.\n\nOh! if you could only witness the terrible struggles passing in the heart\nof that friend whose vivacity annoys you, whose fickleness provokes you,\nwhose faults sometimes even make you blush....\n\nOh! if you saw the tears that are shed in secret, the vexation felt\nagainst self (perhaps on your account), you would indeed pity them. Love\nthem! make allowances for them! never let them feel that you know their\nfailings.\n\nTo make any one believe himself good, is to help him almost in spite of\nself to become so.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nForbearance is even _more_ than forgiveness; it is excusing, putting\nalways the best construction upon everything; above all, never showing\nthat some proceeding has wounded us; speaking of any one who has vexed us\nthus: \"She did not think, else she would have acted differently; she never\nmeant to pain me, she loves me too much; she was perhaps unable to do\notherwise, and yet suffers at the thought of having displeased me.\"\n\nFor a wounded heart no balm is so efficacious as forbearance.\n\n_To forbear_ is to forget every night the little vexations of the past\nday; to say every morning: \"To-day I shall be braver and calmer than\nyesterday.\" Forbearance even sometimes leads us to detect in ourselves a\nlittle want of good nature, condescension, and charity.\n\n_To forbear_ is not only freely to forgive, but to meet half-way, with\nextended hand, those who timidly ask for pardon.\n\n\nXLIII.\n\nMy friend, do you know why the work you accomplish fails either to give\npleasure to yourself or others?\n\nIt is because it is not cheerfully done, and therefore appears discolored.\n\nA joyous heart amid our work imparts to duty a brilliancy that charms the\neyes of others, while it prevents those feeling wounded who cannot perform\nit equally well.\n\nJoy, with us, is like a lever, by which we lift the weights that without\nits help would crush us.\n\nA workman once said: \"If I were to leave off singing, I should be quite\nunequal to my business.\"\n\nThen sing always; let your heart sing as in its earliest years.\n\nThe refrain of the heart, which perhaps never passes the lips, but which\nechoes in heaven, is this sentence:--\n\n\"I love and I am beloved!\"\n\n\nXLIV.\n\nWhat regret we sometimes feel, after the death or departure of friends, at\nnever having shown them the respect, the gratitude, we felt towards them,\nand how from the depths of our heart we are filled with tenderness and\naffection for them!\n\nIt may have been that at times we could not speak, because we thought too\nmuch of _how_ to say it.\n\nAnother time we lost the opportunity, because we were always shirking it.\nDeep devotion is sometimes a little erratic; always afraid of doing too\nlittle, doing it badly or inopportunely. Oftener still the tokens of\naffection are checked, because we think we could show it in some better\nway; we put off till brighter days the dreams we cherished, the sweet\nyearning to open the heart to the loved ones, and let them see for once\nwhat a large place they fill there.\n\nAlas! the days fly past, suddenly comes death, or, sadder still,\nseparation without hope of return, leaving the bitter thought: \"Others\nwill show them better than I have done, how dear, how valued, they are.\"\nAh! when we can be loving _to-day_, never let us say, \"I will love\nto-morrow;\" when we have the opportunity of being grateful, never put off,\nfor _one_ hour, the proof of our gratitude!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCONCLUSION\n\nLacordaire, in preparing for a retreat in the country, said he only\nrequired for his realization of a dream of happiness and solitude, three\nthings,--(1) GOD; (2) a friend; (3) books.\n\n_God!_--We never fail to find Him when we are pure, holy, and fulfilling\nhourly our duty.\n\n_A Friend!_--Responds always to the heart's call, if only that heart be\nloving and devoted.\n\n_Books!_--Oh! if only this little book of _Gold Dust_ might be allowed to\nform one of the numbers of those that are carried away, far from the\nworld's turmoil, and read in order to gain a little help and peace!\n\nIt will take up _so_ little room!\n\n\n\n\nGOLD DUST\n\n_SECOND PART_\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE FRIENDLY WHISPER\n\nUnder this title we commence a series of short counsels for each day of\nthe week, which will be as a friendly whisper, the voice of a Guardian\nAngel, inspiring, as occasion presents itself, some good action, some\nself-denial, some little sacrifice.\n\nWe recommend that it should be placed on the writing-table, in the book we\nmost frequently turn to, or wherever it is most likely to meet the eye.\nWhat is so often the one thing wanting to some devout person devoted to\ndoing good? Simply to be _reminded_.\n\n\nMONDAY\n\nCHARITY\n\nBe good-natured, benevolent, keep up a cheerful expression of countenance,\neven when alone.\n\nThat clumsiness, those brusque, rude manners, let them pass without\nnotice.\n\nWhen wishes contrary to your own prevail, yield without ill-humor, or even\nshowing your effort; you will give pleasure, and thus be pleased yourself.\n\nTry to please, to console, to amuse, to bestow, to thank, to help. That is\nall in itself so good!\n\nTry to do some good to the souls of others! An earnest word, some\nencouragement, a prayer softly breathed.\n\nOvercome your dislike and aversion to certain persons; do not shun them,\non the contrary go and meet them. GOD goes before you.\n\nBe courteous even to the troublesome individual who is always in your way.\nGOD sends him to you.\n\nForgive at once. Do you believe harm was intended? If so, is it not the\ngreater merit?\n\nDo not refuse your alms, only let your motives be pure; and in giving,\ngive as to GOD.\n\nDo not judge the guilty harshly; pity, and pray for them.\n\nWhy imagine evil intentions against yourself? cannot you see how the\nthought troubles and disquiets you?\n\nCheck the ironical smile hovering about your lips; you will grieve the\nobject of it. Why cause any one pain?\n\nLend yourself to all. GOD will not suffer you to be taken advantage of if\nyou are prompted by the spirit of Charity.\n\n\nTUESDAY\n\nTHE DIVINE PRESENCE\n\nNever separate yourself from GOD. How sweet it is to live always near\nthose who love us!\n\nYou cannot see GOD, but He is there; just as if some friend were separated\nfrom you by a curtain, which does not prevent his seeing you, and which at\nany moment may unfold and disclose him to your view.\n\nWhen the soul is unstained by sin, and if we remain still and recollected,\nwe can perceive GOD'S presence in the heart, just as we see daylight\npenetrating a room. We may not be always conscious of this Presence, but\nimperceptibly it influences all our actions. Oh! however heavy may be the\nburden you have to bear, does it not at once become light beneath the gaze\nof that FATHER'S eye?\n\nThe thought of GOD is never wearisome; why not always cherish it? Go on,\nwithout trembling, beneath the Eye of GOD; never fear to smile, love,\nhope, and enjoy all that makes life sweet.\n\nGOD rejoices in our pleasures as a mother in the joys of her child.\n\nWhat is contrary to GOD'S Will, grieves Him, and does you harm, that alone\nyou need fear,--the thought that will stain your soul; the wish that\ntroubles your heart; that unwholesome action, that will weaken your\nintellect, and destroy your peace.\n\nNever long for what GOD sees fit to deny.\n\nGOD, beside you, will repair your blunders, provide means whereby you may\natone for that sinful action by one more virtuous, wipe away the tears\ncaused by some unmerited reproof or unkind word.\n\nYou have only to close your eyes for a moment, examine yourself, and\nsoftly murmur, \"LORD, help me!\"\n\nCan you not hear GOD'S Voice speaking to you? What! when He says: _Bear\nthis, I am here to aid thee_; you will refuse?\n\nHe says: _Continue another half-hour the work that wearies thee_; and you\nwould stop?\n\nHe says: _Do not that_; and you do it?\n\nHe says: _Let us tread together the path of obedience_; and you answer:\nNo?\n\n\nWEDNESDAY\n\nSELF-RENUNCIATION\n\nDo not be afraid of that word _Renunciation_. To you, perhaps, it only\nmeans, weariness, restraint, ennui.\n\nBut it means also, love, perfection, sanctification.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWho cannot renounce, cannot love.\n\nWho cannot renounce, cannot become perfect.\n\nWho cannot renounce, cannot be made holy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Self-renunciation_ means devotion to our duty, going on with it in spite\nof difficulties, disgust, ennui, want of success.\n\n_Self-renunciation_ is self-sacrifice, under whatever form it presents\nitself,--_prayer_, _labor_, _love_ ... all that would be an obstacle, not\nmerely to its accomplishment, but its perfection.\n\n_Self-renunciation_ is to root out all that encumbers the heart, all that\nimpedes the free action of the Holy Spirit within--longings after an\nimaginary perfection or well-being, unreal sentiments that trouble us in\nprayer, in work, in slumber, that fascinate us, but the result of which is\nto destroy all real application.\n\n_Self-renunciation_ is to resist all the allurements of the senses, that\nwould only give pleasure to self, and satisfy the conscience, by\nwhispering, \"_It is no sin._\" _Self-renunciation_, in short, is\ndestroying, even at the risk of much heart-rending, all in our heart,\nmind, imagination, that could be displeasing to GOD.\n\nRenunciation is not one single action, that when once accomplished we\nexperience relief; it means a constant _sacrifice_, _restraint_,\n_resisting_, _rending_, each hour, each moment, during our whole life.\n\nBut is not this a worry, a continual torment? No; not if the moving spring\nbe love or godly fear....\n\nDo you consider it a trouble when you make yourself less comfortable to\nmake room for a friend who visits you?\n\nWell! there are times when GOD would make you sensible of His Presence. He\nis with you, and to retain Him close, Who is all Purity, will you not be\nmore modest in your behavior?\n\nIf you would receive Him into your heart at Holy Communion, will you not\nmake room for Him, by rooting out that affection He has pointed out to you\nas dangerous, that interest, that desire, that worldly, sensual\nattachment?\n\nOh! if you only _really_ loved.\n\nWould you call it _torture_ or _constraint_, the energy with which you\nshatter some poisoned cup you were almost enticed to drink?\n\nWell! when encountering the attractive enjoyment, the material delight,\nwhich might lead you astray, or the siren voice which would allure you\nfrom your duty for a moment--then when conscience whispers, \"_Beware_,\" ...\nwould you be cowardly?\n\nAlas, it is slowly and surely that the stream carries on to destruction\nthe blossom that has fallen into its current.\n\nIt is little by little that pleasure leads on to sin the heart that lets\nitself be lulled by its charms.\n\n\nTHURSDAY\n\nSUBMISSION\n\nAs soon as you awake in the morning, try to realize GOD stretching forth\nHis Hand towards you, and saying, _Dost thou really desire that I should\nwatch over thee this day?_ and you lift up your hands towards this kind\nFATHER, and say to Him, \"Yes, yes, lead me, guide me, love me; I will be\nvery submissive!\"\n\nBeneath GOD'S protecting Hand, is it possible that you can be sorrowful,\nfearful, unhappy?\n\nNo; GOD will allow no suffering, no trial, above what you are able to\nbear.\n\nThen pass through the day, quietly and calmly, even as when a little child\nyou had your mother always beside you.\n\nYou need only be careful about _one_ thing, _never to displease God_, and\nyou will see how lovingly GOD will direct all that concerns you--material\ninterests, sympathies, worldly cares; you will be astonished at the sudden\nenlightenment that will come to you, and the wondrous peace that will\nresult from your labor and your toil.\n\nThen, welcome trial, sickness, ennui, privations, injustice ... all of it\ncan only come directed by GOD'S Hand, and will wound the soul only in\norder to cleanse some spot within.\n\nWould your mother have given you a bitter dose merely for the sake of\ncausing you suffering?\n\nIf your duty is hard, owing either to its difficulty or the distaste you\nfeel towards it, lift your heart to GOD and say, \"_Lord, help me_,\" ...\nthen go on with it, even though you seem to do it imperfectly.\n\nShould one of those moments of vague misgivings, that leave the soul as it\nwere in utter darkness, come to overwhelm you, call upon GOD, as a child\nin terror cries out to its mother.\n\nIf you have sinned, oh! even then be not afraid of the merciful GOD, but\nwith eyes full of tears, say to Him, \"Pardon me\" ... and add softly,\n\"chastise me soon, O LORD!\"\n\nYes, yes, dear one, be always at peace, going on quietly with your daily\nduties ... more than that, be always joyous.\n\nAnd why not?\n\nYou who have no longer a mother to love you, and yet crave for love, GOD\nwill be as a mother. You who have no brother to help you, and have so much\nneed of support, GOD will be your brother. You who have no friends to\ncomfort you, and stand so much in need of consolation, GOD will be your\nfriend.\n\nPreserve always the _childlike simplicity_ which goes direct to GOD, and\nspeak to Him as you would speak to your mother.\n\nKeep that open _confidence_ that tells Him your projects, troubles, joys,\nas you tell them to a brother.\n\nCherish those _loving words_ that speak of all the happiness you feel,\nliving in dependence upon Him, and trusting in His Love, just as you would\ntell it to the friend of your childhood.\n\nKeep the _generous heart of childhood_ which gives all you have to GOD.\nLet Him freely take whatever He pleases, all within and around you. Will\nonly what He wills, desiring only what is in accordance with His Will, and\nfinding nothing impossible that He commands.\n\nDo you not feel something soothing and consoling in these thoughts? The\nlonger you live, the better you will understand that true happiness is\nonly to be found in a life devoted to GOD, and given up entirely to His\nGuidance.\n\nNo! no! none can harm you, unless it be GOD'S Will, and if He allows it;\nbe patient and humble, weep if your heart is sore, but love always, and\nwait ... the trial will pass away, but GOD will remain yours forever.\n\n\nFRIDAY\n\nPRAYER\n\nOh, if you only knew what it is to pray! oh, if GOD would only give you\nthe grace to love prayer! What peace to your soul, what love in your\nheart!\n\nWhat joy would shine in your countenance, even though the tears streamed\nfrom your eyes!\n\n_Prayer_, as the first cry escapes the lips, indicates to GOD that some\none would speak to Him, and GOD, so good and gracious, is ever ready to\nlisten (with all reverence we say it), with the prompt attention of a\nfaithful servant, He manifests Himself to the soul with ineffable love,\nand says to it, \"Behold Me, thou hast called Me, what dost thou desire of\nMe?\"\n\n_To pray_ is to remain, so long as our prayer lasts, in the Presence of\nGOD, with the certainty that we can never weary Him, no matter what may be\nthe subject of our prayer, or at those times when we are speechless, and\nas in the case of the good peasant quoted by the Cure d'Ars, we are\ncontent to place ourselves before GOD, with only the recollection of His\nPresence.\n\n_To pray_ is to act towards GOD as the child does to its mother, the poor\nman towards the rich, eager to do him good, the friend towards his friend,\nwho longs to show him affection.\n\n_Prayer_ is the key to all celestial treasures; by it we penetrate into\nthe midst of all the joy, strength, mercy, and goodness Divine, ... we\nreceive our well-being from all around us, as the sponge plunged into the\nocean imbibes without an effort the water that surrounds it ... this joy,\nstrength, mercy, and goodness become our own.\n\nOh, yes! if you knew how to pray, and loved prayer, how good, useful,\nfruitful, and meritorious would be your life!\n\nNothing so elevates the soul as prayer.\n\nGOD, so condescending to the soul, raises it with Him to the regions of\nlight and love, and then, the prayer finished, the soul returns to its\ndaily duties with a more enlightened mind, a more earnest will. It is\nfilled with radiance divine, and sheds of its abundance upon all who\napproach.\n\nIf you would succeed in your study, with the success that sanctifies,\n_pray_ before commencing.\n\nIf you would succeed in your intercourse with others, pray before becoming\nintimate.\n\nNothing so smooths and sweetens life as _Prayer_.\n\nThere is the _solitary_ prayer, when the soul isolated from all creatures\nis alone with GOD and feels thus towards Him: \"GOD and I;\" _God_ to love;\n_I_ to adore, praise, glorify, thank.\n\n_God_ to bestow, _I_ humbly to receive, to renounce, ask, hope, submit!...\n\nAh! who can tell all that passes between the soul and its GOD?\n\nThere is the _united_ prayer of two friends, bound together by a holy\nfriendship, their desires and thoughts are one, and as one they present\nthemselves before GOD, crying, \"Have mercy upon me!\"\n\nThere is the prayer of two hearts separated by distance, made at the same\nhour in the same words. Soothing prayer, that each day reunites those two\nsad hearts torn by the agony of parting, and who in GOD'S Presence,\nstrengthened with the same HOLY SPIRIT, recover courage to tread the road\nto heaven, each in its appointed sphere.\n\nThen there is Public Prayer, that which has the special promise of GOD'S\nPresence; prayer so comforting to the feeble, guilty soul, who can cry in\nvery truth, \"My prayer ascends to GOD, supported by the prayers of\nothers.\"\n\nOh! if you knew how to pray, and loved prayer, how happy and faithful\nwould be your life!\n\n\nSATURDAY\n\nEARNESTNESS\n\nYou love GOD, do you not, dear one, whom GOD surrounds with so much\naffection?\n\nYes, yes! I love Him!\n\nAnd how do you prove to Him your love?\n\nI keep myself pure and innocent, so that His Eye falling upon me may never\nsee anything that displeases Him. I keep myself calm and quiet, and force\nmyself to smile that He may see I am contented.\n\n_That is right, but that is not enough._\n\nI think often of how much I owe Him, and apply myself diligently to the\nwork He has given me to do; I bear patiently with those I dislike, with\ntroubles that irritate me; when I am weak I call upon Him, when timid I\ndraw near to Him, when sinful I implore pardon, and strive to do my duty\nmore faithfully.\n\n_That is right, but that is not enough._\n\nI lend myself to the importunities of others. I am as a slave to those who\nneed me, and take care never to judge any one harshly.\n\n_That is right, but still it is not enough._\n\nAh! then what more can I do, good angel, thus addressing me, what can I do\nto show my love to GOD?\n\nDevote thyself to doing good to the souls of others.\n\nOh, if you knew how it pleases GOD to see you laboring for them! It is\nlike the joy of a mother, every time she sees some one benefiting her\nchild.\n\nHow thankful she is to those who nursed it in sickness, spared it pain,\nshowed it some token of affection, a counsel, a warning, that gave it\npleasure, by a kind word, a plaything, a smile!\n\nAll this you may do in that circle, more or less extended, in which you\nlive.\n\nLeave to GOD'S minister, if you will, the work of converting souls, and\nlimit your efforts to doing good by bringing yourself into communion with\nthem.\n\nTo do so, means sweetly, unconsciously, softly, speak to them of GOD,\ncarry them to GOD, lead them to GOD.\n\nThis may be done by gently, tenderly--by inference as it were--speaking to\nthem of GOD, thus leading them towards Him, bringing them into contact\nwith Him.\n\nHearts are drawn together by talking of their kindred pursuits, souls by\nspeaking of heavenly things.\n\nIt is not necessary for this purpose to pronounce the name of GOD; it will\nsuffice that the words shall lift the soul beyond this material world and\nits sensual enjoyments, and raise them upwards to that supernatural\natmosphere necessary to the real life.\n\nSpeak of the happiness of devotion, the charm of purity, the blessing of\nthe few minutes' meditation at the feet of JESUS, the peace procured by\nentire resignation to Providence, and the sweetness of a life spent\nbeneath GOD'S Fatherly Eye, the comfort the thought of heaven brings in\nthe midst of trouble, the hope of the meeting again above, the certainty\nof eternal happiness. This is doing good to others, drawing them nearer to\nGOD, and teaching them more and more of holiness.\n\nLimit your efforts to this; later on I will tell you what more you may do.\n\n\nSUNDAY\n\nSYMPATHY\n\nWelcome with joy each week the day that GOD has called His day.\n\nTo each day of the week GOD has given its special mission, its share of\npleasure and of pain, necessary to purify and fortify and prepare us for\neternity.\n\nBut _Sunday_ is a day of _Love_.\n\nOn Saturday we lay aside our garments faded and stained by toil, and on\nSunday we array ourselves in garments, not only fresher, but more choice\nand graceful.\n\nWhy not prepare the heart, even as we do the body?\n\nDuring the week has not the heart been wearied with petty strife and\ndiscontent, interests marred, bitter words?\n\nThen, why not shake off all this, that only chills affection? On the\nSaturday let us forgive freely, press the hand warmly, embrace each other;\nand then peace being restored within, we await the morrow's awakening.\n\nSunday is GOD'S day of truce for all. That day, laying aside all revenge\nand ill-feeling, we must be filled with forbearance, indulgence, and\namiability.\n\nOh! how good for us to feel _obliged_ to be reconciled, and each Sunday\nrenews the obligation.\n\nLet us leave no time for coldness and indifference to grow upon us ... it\nonly engenders hatred, and that once established in the heart, oh! how\nhard is it to cast out again!\n\nIt is like a hideous cancer whose ravages no remedies can stay.\n\nIt is as the venomous plant that the gardener can never entirely\neradicate. Only by a miracle can hatred be destroyed. At once then let us\nplace a barrier in our hearts against the approach of coolness or\nindifference, and each Saturday night the head of the family shall thus\naddress us: \"Children, to-night we forgive, to-night we forget, and\nto-morrow begin life afresh in love, one towards another.\"\n\n\nII.\n\nWhen I have sinned, wrote a pious soul, I feel chastisement will fall upon\nme, and as if I could hide myself from GOD'S Eye. I _shrink_ into myself,\nand then I pray, I pray, and the chastisement not being sent, I again\nexpand.\n\n_Chastisement_ is like a stone threatening to crush me; _Prayer_ is the\nhand that withholds it while I make atonement.\n\nOh! how can those live peacefully who never pray?\n\n\nIII.\n\nOUR DEAD\n\nThey are not all there--our dead--buried in the churchyard, beneath the\ngrave, o'ershadowed by a cross, and round which the roses bloom.\n\nThere are others which nothing can recall; they are things which belong to\nthe _heart_ alone, and there alas! have found a tomb.\n\nPeace surrounds me to-day; and here in my lone chamber I will invoke them,\nmy much-loved dead. Come!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe first that present themselves are _the sweet years of childhood_, so\nfresh, so guileless, so happy.\n\nThey were made up of loving caresses, bountiful rewards, and fearless\nconfidence: the words, _pain_, _danger_, _care_, were unknown; they\nbrought me simple pleasures, happy days without a thought for the morrow,\nand only required from me a little obedience.\n\nAlas! they are dead ... and what numberless things have they carried with\nthem! What a void they have left!\n\nCandor, lightheartedness, simplicity, no longer find a place within!\n\nFamily ties, so true, so wide, so light, have all vanished!\n\nThe homely hearth, the simple reward earned by the day's industry,\nmaternal chidings, forgiveness so ingenuously sought, so freely given,\npromises of amendment, so sincere, so joyously received.... Is this all\ngone forever? can I never recall them?\n\nThe vision that follows is that of my _early piety_, simple and full of\nfaith, which was as some good angel o'ershadowing me with its snowy wings,\nand showing me GOD everywhere, in all, and with all.\n\nThe good GOD, Who each day provides my daily bread!\n\nThe GOD, Who spared my mother in sickness, and relieved her when she\nsuffered--GOD, Who shielded me from harm when I did right!\n\nThe GOD, Who sees all, knows all, and is Omnipotent, Whom I loved with all\nmy heart.\n\nAlas! faithful, simple piety, thou art dead; in innocence alone couldst\nthou live!\n\nNext comes _the love of my earliest years_. Love in childhood, love in\nyouth, so full of true, simple joy, that initiated me in the sweet\npleasure of devotion, that taught me self-denial in order to give\npleasure, that destroyed all egotism, by showing me the happiness of\nliving for others.\n\nLove of my childhood, love of my youth, so pure, so holy, on which I\nalways reckoned when they spoke to me of trouble, loneliness, depression\n... thou also art dead.\n\nAn involuntary coolness, an unfounded suspicion never cleared, an\nill-natured story ... all these have destroyed that child of Heaven. I\nknew it was tender, and I cherished it, but I could not believe it to be\nso frail.\n\nI could make a long list of all the dead enshrined in my heart! Oh, you\nwho are still young, upon whom GOD has lavished all the gifts that are\nlost to me,--candor, simplicity, innocence, love, devotion ... guard, oh,\nguard these treasures, and that they may never die, place them beneath the\nshelter of _Prayer_.\n\n\nIV.\n\nTHE SPIRITUAL LIFE\n\nWhat a sweet life is that! The maintaining, strengthening it, has a\nsoftening influence; and it is a labor that never wearies, never deceives,\nbut gives each day fresh cause for joy.\n\nIn the language of devotion, it is called the _interior life_; and it is\nour purpose to point out minutely its nature, excellence, means, and\nhindrances.\n\nLet no one think the interior life is incompatible with the life domestic\nand social, which is often so engrossing; just as the action of the heart\nmaintained by the constant flow of blood in no way affects the outward\nmovements, so is it with the life of the soul, which consists chiefly in\nthe action of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT within, that never hinders our social\nduties, but on the contrary is a help towards fulfilling them more calmly,\nmore perfectly.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNATURE OF THE INTERIOR LIFE\n\nThe interior life is an abiding sense of GOD'S Presence, a constant union\nwith Him.\n\nWe learn to look upon the heart as the temple where GOD dwells, sometimes\nglorious as above, sometimes hidden as in the Holy Eucharist; and we act,\nthink, speak, and fulfil all our duties, as in His Presence.\n\nIts aim is to shun sin, and cultivate a detachment from all earthly things\nby a spirit of poverty; sensual pleasures by purity and mortification;\npride by humility; dissipation by recollection.\n\nAs a rule, people are prejudiced against an interior life. Some are afraid\nof it, and look upon it as a life of bondage, sacrifice, and restraint:\nothers despise it, as nothing but a multiplicity of trifling rules,\ntending only to narrow-mindedness and uselessness, and fit only for weak\nminds. In consequence they are on their guard against it, and avoid the\nbooks that treat of it.\n\nThey would serve GOD no doubt, but they will not subject themselves to the\nentire guidance of His Spirit; in short, it is far easier to bring a soul\nfrom a state of sin to that of grace, than it is to lead a busy, active,\nzealous person to the hidden, contemplative life of the soul.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nEXCELLENCE OF THE INTERIOR LIFE\n\nGOD dwelling within us, the life of CHRIST Himself, when on earth, living\nalways in His FATHER'S Presence.\n\nIt is the life of which S. Paul speaks when he says, \"nevertheless I live;\nyet not I, but CHRIST liveth in me.\"\n\nAll saints must lead this life, and their degree of holiness is in\nproportion to the perfection of their union with GOD.\n\nCHRIST animates their souls, even as the soul animates the body.\n\nThey own CHRIST as Master, Counsellor, and Guide; and nothing is done\nwithout submitting it to Him, and imploring His aid and approval.\n\nCHRIST is their strength, their refuge, their defender.\n\nThey live in constant dependence upon Him, as their Father, Protector, and\nall-powerful King.\n\nThey are drawn to Him, as the child is drawn by love, the poor by need.\n\nThey let themselves be guided by Him, as the blind let themselves be led\nby the child in whom they confide; they bear all suffering that comes from\nHim, as the sick, in order to be healed, bear suffering at the hands of a\nphysician; and they lean on Him, as the child leans on its mother's\nbreast.\n\nIt lifts them above the troubles and miseries of life; the whole world may\nseem a prey to calamities; themselves, deprived of their goods through\ninjustice or accident; they lose their relations through death, their\nfriends through treachery or forgetfulness, their reputation and honor\nfrom slander, a serious illness deprives them of health, their happiness\nis destroyed by hardness and temptations.... Ah! no doubt, they will have\nthese trials, no doubt they must shed bitter tears, but still GOD'S peace\nwill remain to them, the peace that passeth all understanding; they will\nrealize GOD has ordered it, guided it with His Hand Divine, and they will\nbe able to exclaim with joy, \"Thou art left to us, and Thou art\nall-sufficient!\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nACTS OF THE INTERIOR LIFE\n\n1. _See God_, that is to say, be always realizing His Presence, feeling\nHim near, as the friend from Whom we would never be separated, in work, in\nprayer, in recreation, in repose. GOD is not importunate, He never\nwearies, He is so gracious and merciful, His Hand directs everything, and\nHe will not \"suffer us to be tempted above that we are able.\"\n\n2. _Listen to God_: be attentive to His counsels, His warnings; we hear\nHis Voice in those Gospel words that recur to our minds, in the good\nthoughts that suddenly dawn on us, the devout words that meet us in some\nbook, on a sheet of paper, or falling from the lips of a preacher, a\nfriend, or even a stranger.\n\n3. _Speak to God_: hold converse with Him, more with the heart than the\nlips, in the early morning's meditation, ejaculatory prayer, vocal prayer,\nand above all in Holy Communion.\n\n4. _Love God_: be devoted to Him, and Him alone; have no affection apart\nfrom Him; restrain the love that would estrange us from Him; _lend_\nourselves to all, out of love to Him, but _give_ ourselves to Him alone.\n\n5. _Think of God_: reject whatever excludes the thought of Him. Of course,\nwe must fulfil our daily duties, accomplishing them with all the\nperfection of which we are capable; but they must be done as beneath the\nEye of GOD, with the thought that GOD has commanded them, and that to do\nthem carefully is pleasing in His sight.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMEANS BY WHICH TO ATTAIN THE INTERIOR LIFE\n\n1. _Great tenderness of Conscience_, secured by constant, regular, and\nearnest confession to GOD, a hatred of all sin, imperfection, infidelity,\nby calmly but resolutely fleeing every occasion of it.\n\n2. _Great purity of heart_, by detachment from all earthly things,--wealth,\nluxuries, fame, kindred, friends, tastes, even life itself ... not that we\nneed fail in love to our kindred and friends, but we must only let the\nthought of them abide in the heart as united to the love and thought of\nGOD.\n\n3. _Great purity of mind_, carefully excluding from it all useless,\ndistracting thoughts as to past, present, or future; all preoccupation\nover some pet employment; all desire to be known, and thought well of.\n\n4. _Great purity of action_, only undertaking what lies in the path of\nduty; controlling natural eagerness and activity; acting soberly, with the\nhelp of the HOLY SPIRIT, the thought that by our deeds we glorify GOD:\npausing for a moment, when passing from one occupation to another, in\norder to direct aright the intention; and taking care to be always\noccupied in what is useful and beneficial.\n\n5. _Great recollectedness and self-mortification_; avoiding, as much as we\ncan in keeping with our social position, all dissipation, bustle,\ndisturbance; never allowing voluntarily, useless desires, looks, words, or\npleasures, but placing them under the rule of reason, decorum,\nedification, and love; taking care that our prayers be said slowly and\ncarefully, articulating each word, and trying to _feel_ the truth of what\nwe are saying.\n\n6. _Great care and exactitude_ in all the ordinary actions of life, above\nall in the exercises of religion; leaving nothing to chance or hazard;\nbeholding in everything GOD'S overruling Will, and saying to one's self\nsometimes, as the hour for such and such duty arrives, \"I must hasten, GOD\nis calling me.\"\n\n7. _Much intercourse with God_; speaking to Him with simplicity, loving\nHim dearly, always consulting Him, rendering to Him an account of every\naction, thanking Him constantly, and above all, drawing near to Him with\njoy in the Holy Eucharist. One great help towards such sweet communion\nwith GOD, will be found in a steady perseverance in the early morning's\nmeditation.\n\n8. _Much love for our neighbor_, because he is the much-loved child of\nGOD, praying for him, comforting, teaching, strengthening, and helping him\nin all difficulties.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHINDRANCES TO THE INTERIOR LIFE\n\n1. _Natural activity_, always urging us on, and making us too precipitate\nin all our actions.\n\nIt shows itself:--\n\n_In our projects_, which it multiplies, heaps up, reforms, and upsets. It\nallows of no rest, until what it has undertaken is accomplished.\n\n_In our actions._ Activity is absolutely necessary to us. We load\nourselves with a thousand things beyond our duty, sometimes even contrary\nto it. Everything is done with impetuosity and haste, anxiety and\nimpatience to see the end.\n\n_In our conversation._ Activity makes us speak without thinking,\ninterrupting rudely, reproving hastily, judging without appreciation. We\nspeak loudly, disputing, murmuring, and losing our temper.\n\n_In prayer._ We burden ourselves with numberless prayers, repeated\ncarelessly, without attention, and with impatience to get to the end of\nthem; it interferes with our meditations, wearies, torments, fatigues the\nbrain, drying up the soul, and hindering the work of the HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n2. _Curiosity_ lays the soul open to all external things, fills it with a\nthousand fancies and questionings, pleasing or vexatious, absorbing the\nmind, and making it quite impossible to retire within one's self and be\nrecollected. Then follow distaste, sloth, and ennui for all that savors of\nsilence, retirement, and meditation.\n\nCuriosity shows itself, when _studies_ are undertaken from vanity, a\ndesire to know all things, and to pass as clever, rather than the real\nwish to learn in order to be useful--in _reading_, when the spare time is\ngiven up to history, papers, and novels--in _walking_, when our steps would\nlead us where the crowd go to see, to know, only in order to have\nsomething to retail; in fact, it manifests itself in a thousand little\nactions; for instance, pressing forward with feverish haste to open a\nletter addressed to us, longing eagerly to see anything that presents\nitself, always being the first to tell any piece of news.... When we\nforget GOD, He is driven from the heart, leaving it void, and then ensues\nthat wild craving to fill up the void with anything with which we may come\ninto contact.\n\n3. _Cowardice._ GOD does not forbid patient, submissive pleading, but\nmurmuring fears are displeasing to Him, and He withdraws from the soul\nthat will not lean on Him. Cowardice manifests itself when in the _trials\nof life_ we rebel against the Divine will that sends us illness, calumny,\nprivation, desertion; when in _dryness of soul_ we leave off our prayers\nand communions because we feel no sensible sweetness in them; when we feel\na sickness of the soul that makes us uneasy, and fearful that GOD has\nforsaken us.\n\nThe soul estranged from GOD seeks diversion in the world; but in the midst\nof the world, GOD is not to be found; when temptations come, wearied,\nfrightened, and tormented, we wander farther and farther away from Him,\ncrying, \"I am forsaken,\" when the trial has really been sent in order to\nkeep us on our guard, prevent our becoming proud, and offering us an\nopportunity for showing our love.\n\n\nV.\n\nTHE LESSON OF A DAISY\n\nI saw her from afar, poor child; she looked dreamy as she leaned against\nthe window, and held in her hand a daisy, which she was questioning by\ngradually pulling it to pieces. What she wanted to ascertain I cannot\ntell; I only heard in a low murmur, falling from her pale lips, these\nwords: \"_a little, a great deal, passionately, not __ at all_,\" as each\npetal her fingers pulled away fell fluttering at her feet.\n\nI could see her from a distance, and I felt touched.\n\nPoor child, why do you tell a flower the thought that troubles you? have\nyou no mother?\n\nWhy be anxious about the future? have you not GOD to prepare it for you,\nas tenderly as eighteen years ago your mother prepared your cradle?\n\nFinally, when the daisy was all but gone, when her fingers stopped at the\nlast petal, and her lips murmured the word _little_, she dropped her head\nupon her arms, discouraged, and, poor child, she wept!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhy weep, my child? is it because this word does not please you?\n\nLet me, let me, in the name of the simple daisy you have just destroyed,\ngive you the experience of my old age.\n\nOh! if you only knew what it costs to have _much_ of anything!\n\n_A great deal of wit_ often results in spitefulness which makes us cruel\nand unjust, in jealousy that torments, in deception that sullies all our\ntriumphs, and pride which is never satisfied.\n\n_A great deal of heart_ causes uneasiness which vexes, pain that rends\nasunder, grief that nearly kills ... sometimes even the judgment is\ndeceived.\n\n_A great deal of attractiveness_ means often a consuming vanity,\noverwhelming deception, an insatiable desire to please, a fear of being\nunappreciated, a loss of peace, domestic life much neglected.\n\n_A great deal of wealth and success_ is the cause of luxury that\nenfeebles, loss of calm, quiet happiness, loss of love, leaving only the\nflattery that captivates.\n\nNo, no, my child, never long for _a great deal_ in this life, unless it be\nfor much forbearance, much goodness.\n\nAnd if it should be GOD'S Will to give you _much_ of anything, then, oh,\npray it may never be to your condemnation!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIs _Passionately_ the word you long for? Passionately! oh, the harm that\nis done by that word! there is something in the thought of it that makes\nme shudder. Passionately means transport, frenzy, excess in everything.\n\nThe life that the word _passionately_ describes must be a life full of\nrisks and dangers; and if, by little short of a miracle, nothing outwardly\nwrong appears, the inner life must resemble a palace ravaged by fire,\nwhere the stranger sees nothing but cracked walls, blackened furniture,\nand drapery hanging in shreds.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMy child, I would prefer for you the words _not at all_, as applied to\nfortune, external charms, and all that goes by the name of glory, success,\nand fascination in the world. I know it may seem a hard sentence,\ninvolving a continual self-denial, and exacting incessant hard labor to\nobtain the bare necessities of life for those we love.\n\nBut do not be afraid of it. GOD never leaves His creatures in absolute\nneed. GOD may deprive a face of beauty, a character of amiability, a mind\nof brilliancy, but He will never take away a heart of love; with the\nfaculty of loving, He adds the power of prayer, and the promise always to\nlisten to and answer it.\n\nAs long as we can love and pray, life has charms for us.\n\nLove produces devotion, and devotion brings happiness, even though we may\nnot understand it.\n\nIn prayer we feel we are beloved; and the love of GOD, oh, if only you\nknew how it compensates for the indifference of our fellow-creatures!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere now only remains to us the last words of the daisy, _a little_! the\nloving fatherly answer GOD has given to your childish curiosity.\n\nAccept it, and make it the motto of your life!\n\n_A little_; moderation in wealth and fortune, a condition that promises\nthe most peaceful life, free from anxiety for the future--doubtless\nrequiring daily duties, but permitting many innocent enjoyments.\n\n_A little_; moderation in our desires, contentment with what we possess,\nmaking the most of it, and repressing all vain dreams of a more brilliant\nposition, a more extended reputation, a more famous name.\n\n_A little_; the affection of a heart devoted to duty, and kindling joy in\nthe family circle, composed of kindred to love, friends to cheer, poor to\nsuccor, hearts to strengthen, sufferings to alleviate.\n\n_A little_; a taste for all that is beautiful,--books, works of art, music,\nnot making us idly dream of fame, but simply providing enjoyment for the\nmind, all the more keen, as the daily toil renders the occasions rare.\n\nDo you see, my child, how much may lie beneath those simple words, _a\nlittle_, that the daisy gave you, and that you seem so much to despise!\n\nNever scorn anything that seems wanting in brilliancy, and remember to be\nreally happy we must have--\n\n    More _virtue_ than knowledge,\n    More _love_ than tenderness,\n    More _guidance_ than cleverness,\n    More _health_ than riches,\n    More _repose_ than profit.\n\n\nVI.\n\nEach day is like a furrow lying before us; our thoughts, desires, and\nactions are the seed that each minute we drop into it, without seeming to\nperceive it. The furrow finished, we commence upon another, then another,\nand again another; each day presents a fresh one, and so on to the end of\nlife ... sowing, ever sowing. And all we have sown springs up, grows and\nbears fruit, almost unknown to us; even if by chance we cast a backward\nglance we fail to recognize our work.\n\nBehind us angels and demons, like gleaners, gather together in sheaves all\nthat belongs to them.\n\nEvery night their store is increased. They preserve it, and at the last\nday will present it to their Master.\n\nIs there not a thought in this that should make us reflect?\n\n\nVII.\n\n\"LEARN OF ME, FOR I AM MEEK AND LOWLY OF HEART\"\n\nThis is a simple rule of life for me, requiring no more than I am able;\nbut I feel it unites me to GOD, makes me more devout, more faithful to\nduty, more ready for death. Since I have made it my rule, it has been to\nme a source of consolation, enlightenment, and strength; and yet GOD alone\nknows how full of pain my life has been!\n\nDear friends, who, like myself, long to become holy, I commend this\nsentence to you in all its simplicity; listen, for it comes from the\nloving Heart of JESUS, it fell from His gentle Lips:--\n\n\"Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.\"\n\n\nI. BE MEEK\n\n1. MEEK TOWARDS GOD\n\nLiving from day to day beneath His Eye, and where all things are ordered\nby a Divine Providence.\n\nAs carefully as a mother arranges the room where her child will pass the\nday, does GOD prepare each hour that opens before me. Whatever has to be\ndone, it is His Will that I should do it; and in order that it should be\ndone well, He provides the necessary time, intelligence, aptitude, and\nknowledge.\n\nWhatever of suffering presents itself, He expects me to bear it, even\nthough I may not see any reason for it; and if the pain be so sharp as to\ncall forth a cry, He gently whispers, \"Courage, My child, for it is My\nwill!\"\n\nIf anything occurs to hinder my work, anything goes contrary to my plans\nand projects, He has ordained it so on purpose, because He knows that too\nmuch success would make me proud, too much ease would make me sensual; and\nHe would teach me that the road to heaven is not _success_, but _labor and\ndevotion_.\n\nWith such thoughts as these all rebellion is hushed! With what peace, what\njoy, our work may be begun, continued, interrupted, and resumed!\n\nWith what energy we reject those enemies that assail us at every\nhour,--idleness, haste, preoccupation, success, want of perseverance under\ndifficulties!\n\nDoes the past sometimes rise up to trouble me with the thought of the many\nyears spent without GOD?\n\nAh! no doubt the shame and grief are sharp and keen, but why need they\ndisturb my peace of mind?\n\nHas not GOD promised His pardon for His blessed SON'S sake, to all who\ntruly repent and unfeignedly believe His Holy Gospel? Have I made a full\navowal and entire submission? and am I not willing to fulfil whatever I am\nadvised in GOD'S Name to do for the future?\n\nDoes the future in its turn seem to frighten me? I smile at the foolish\nfancies of my imagination; is not my future in GOD'S Hands?\n\nWhat, when all that will befall me to-morrow, next year, ten years, twenty\nyears hence, is ordained by Him, shall I distress myself with the thought\nthat it may not be good for me!\n\nLORD! be Thou my Guide, and choose my lot as may seem best to Thee!\n\n\n2. MEEK UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES\n\nEvents are messengers of either Divine goodness or justice.\n\nEach has a mission to fulfil; and as it comes from GOD, why not let it be\naccomplished in peace?\n\nPainful, heart-rending, though they may be, they are still the Will of\nGOD. Watch them as they come, with a little trembling, perhaps even\nterror, but never let them destroy in the least degree my faith and\nresignation.\n\nTo be meek under these circumstances, does not mean awaiting them with a\nstoic firmness which proceeds from pride, or hardening one's self against\nthem to the point of repressing all trembling. No! GOD allows us sometimes\nto anticipate, postpone, or even when possible flee them; at any rate, we\nmay try to soothe and soften them a little.\n\nThe GOOD FATHER, when He sends them, sends at the same time the means by\nwhich they may be endured, and perhaps averted.\n\n_Remedies_, in sickness.\n\n_Love_, in trouble.\n\n_Devotion_, in privations.\n\n_Comfort_, in weakness.\n\n_Tears_, in sorrow.\n\nGOD has created all these; and knowing perhaps that I may fail to find\nthem, He has given commandment to some privileged servants to love,\nconsole, soothe, and help me, saying to them,--\n\n\"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,\nye have done it as unto Me.\"\n\nOh! welcome then the friendly voice that in the midst of trouble speaks to\nme of hope; I will receive with gratitude the care that affection presses\nupon me.\n\nWith thankfulness I accept the _time_ devoted to me, _privation_ borne for\nmy sake; and I will pray GOD to bless these kind friends, and ask Him to\nsay to them words such as these: \"All that thou hast done for Mine, I will\nrepay thee a hundred-fold.\"\n\n\n3. MEEK TOWARDS OTHERS\n\nThis may seem even more difficult, for it so often appears to us as if\nothers were actuated by malice.\n\nBut how often it is only the result of temperament, pride,\nthoughtlessness; seeking their own pleasure without a thought of the harm\nthey are doing me; then why be unhappy about it? I need only to be on my\nguard.\n\nNever stand in the way of others (when it is not the case of a duty to be\nfulfilled), and if they sometimes are an obstacle in yours, remove them\ngently, but do not harm them.\n\nYielding, submitting, retiring, giving up, this should be our conduct\ntowards the members of our family, and those we call our friends.\n\nThe more facility you give them for doing what they think right, the more\nyou enter into the feelings they have of their own importance, leaving\nthem a free course of action, so much the more will you be likely to be\nuseful to them, and retain your own peace of mind.\n\nIt is astonishing how those we never press open their hearts to us!\n\nDo not try to examine too minutely the actions of others, or the motives\nthat actuate them; if they are wanting in tact, appear not to notice it,\nor, better still, try to think they have made a mistake.\n\nThe best remedy for the dislike we feel towards any one is to endeavor to\ntry to do them a little good every day; the best cure for their dislike to\nus is to try to speak kindly of them.\n\nAre those around you wicked? be cautious, but do not lose heart; GOD will\nnot let them harm you.\n\nHow easy for GOD to stay the consequences of slander and calumny!\n\nGOD is the shield, interposing between others, circumstances, and myself.\n\n\n4. MEEK TOWARDS SELF\n\nThis does not imply self-complacency, self-indulgence, self-justification,\nbut simply encouragement, strength, and fortitude.\n\n_Encouragement_ in some wearisome, monotonous, unrecognized work, with a\nthought like this: \"GOD is watching me, and wishes me to do this.\" This\nlabor occupies my mind, perfects my soul, and shields me from mischief.\n\nEncouragement such as this, in the midst of sadness and isolation, when no\none thinks of us, or gives us the smallest token of sympathy, \"Is not my\nduty sufficient for me? God requires it of me, and it will lead me to\nheaven.\"\n\n_Strength_ to rise again after some failure, some humiliating fault, some\ndepressing weakness; rise again lovingly, confidingly, and with the\nthought, \"Never mind, it is a good FATHER, a kind Master, with Whom I have\nto deal.\" Confess your sin, humble yourself, and while awaiting the\nassurance of pardon go on with your daily work with the same zeal as\nbefore.\n\n_Fortitude_ against the desertion and forgetfulness of others.\n\nWe have two things to fortify us,--_Prayer and Labor_.\n\nOne to cheer us,--_Devotion_.\n\nThese remedies are always at hand.\n\n\nII. BE HUMBLE\n\nI. HUMBLE WITH GOD\n\nResting always in His presence, like a little child, or even a beggar, who\nknowing nothing is due to him, still asks, loves, and awaits, feeling sure\nthat hour by hour, in proportion to our need, GOD will provide all that is\nneedful, and even over and above what is absolutely necessary. Live\npeacefully under the protection of Divine Providence; the more you feel\nyour insignificance, weakness, sickness, misery, the more right you have\nto the pity and love of GOD.\n\nOnly _pray_ fervently; let your prayer be thoughtful and reverent, sweet\nand full of hope. The poor have nothing left to them but _prayer_; but\nthat prayer, so humble, so pleading, ascends to GOD, and is listened to\nwith Fatherly love!\n\nDo not have a number of varied prayers, but let the \"Our FATHER\" be ever\non your lips and in your heart.\n\nLove to repeat to GOD the prayer that CHRIST Himself has taught, and for\nHis sake is always accepted.\n\nLook upon yourself as a hired servant of GOD, to whom He has promised a\nrich reward at the end of the day He calls _life_; each morning hold\nyourself in readiness to obey all His commands, in the way He wills, and\nwith the means He appoints.\n\nThe command may not always come _direct_ from the Master; it would be too\nsweet to hear only GOD'S Voice: but He sends it by means of His\nambassadors; these go by the names of _superiors_, _equals_, _inferiors_,\nsometimes _enemies_.\n\nEach has received the mission (without knowing it) to make you holy; one\nby subduing your independence, another by crushing your pride, a third by\nspurring your slothfulness.\n\nThey will, though fulfilling GOD'S command, do it each in his own way,\nsometimes roughly, sometimes maliciously, sometimes in a way hard to bear\n... what does it matter, so long as you feel that all you do, all you\nsuffer, is the will of GOD?\n\nDo your duty as well as you can, as you understand it, as it is given to\nyou; say sometimes to GOD, \"My Master, art Thou satisfied with me?\" and\nthen, in spite of ennui, fatigue, repugnance, go on with it faithfully to\nthe end.\n\nThen, whether praise or blame be yours, you will, good faithful servant,\nat least have peace.\n\n\n2. HUMBLE TOWARDS OTHERS\n\nLook upon yourself as the servant of all, but without ostentation, or\ntheir having any knowledge of it.\n\nRepeat to yourself sometimes the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: \"Behold\nthe handmaid of the LORD,\" and those of our LORD, \"I came not to be\nministered unto, but to minister;\" and then act towards others as if you\nwere their slave, warning, aiding, listening; abashed at what they do for\nyou, and always seeming pleased at anything they may require you to do for\nthem.\n\nOh! if you knew the full meaning of these words, all they signify of\nreward in heaven, of joy and peace on earth, how you would love them!\n\nOh! if you would only make them the rule of your life and conduct, how\nhappy you would be yourself, and how happy you would make others!\n\nHappy in the approval of conscience, that whispers, \"You have done as\nCHRIST would have done.\"\n\nHappy in the thought of the reward promised to those who give even a cup\nof cold water in the name of JESUS CHRIST; happy in the assurance that GOD\nwill do for you what you have done for others.\n\nOh! what matters then ingratitude, forgetfulness, contempt, and scorn?\nThey will pain, no doubt, but will have no power to sadden or discourage.\n\nPrecious counsel, inspired by CHRIST Himself, I bless you for all the good\nyou have done me!\n\nWhen first those words found entrance to my heart, they brought with them\n_peace_ and _strength_ to stand against _deception_, _desertion_,\n_discouragement_ and the _resolute will_ to live a life more devoted to\nGOD, more united to Him, more contented, and ever pressing onward towards\nheaven. Once more, I bless you!\n\nPrecious counsels, enlighten, guide, and lead me.\n\n\nVIII.\n\nA SIMPLE PRAYER\n\nO JESU! in the midst of glory forget not the sadness upon earth!\n\nHave mercy upon those to whom GOD has sent the bitter trial of separation\nfrom those they love!\n\nHave mercy on that loneliness of heart, so full of sadness, so crushing,\nsometimes full of terror!\n\nHave mercy upon those struggling against the difficulties of life, and\nfaint with discouragement!\n\nHave mercy on those whom fortune favors, whom the world fascinates, and\nwho are free from care!\n\nHave mercy on those to whom Thou hast given great tenderness of heart,\ngreat sensitiveness!\n\nHave mercy on those who cease to love us, and never may they know the pain\nthey cause!\n\nHave mercy on those who have gradually withdrawn from Holy Communion and\nPrayer, and losing peace within, weep, yet dare not return to Thee!\n\nHave mercy on all we love; make them holy even through suffering! if ever\nthey estrange themselves from Thee, take, oh, take all my joys, and decoy\nthem with the pleasures back again to Thee!\n\nHave mercy on those who weep, those who pray, those who know not _how_ to\npray!\n\nTo all, O JESUS, grant Hope and Peace!\n\n\nIX.\n\nSIMPLE COUNSELS FOR A YOUNG GIRL\n\nYes, very simple. Listen my child, and may they sink deep into your heart,\nas the dew sinks in the calyx of the flower.\n\nThese are my counsels:--\n\n_Distrust the love_ that comes too suddenly.\n\n_Distrust the pleasure_ that fascinates so keenly.\n\n_Distrust the words_ that trouble or charm.\n\n_Distrust the book_ that makes you dream.\n\n_Distrust the thought_ you cannot confide to your mother.\n\nTreasure these counsels, and sometimes as you read them, ask yourself,\n\"_Why?_\" Guardian Angel of the child we are addressing, teach her the\nreason of these sentences that seem to her so exaggerated!\n\n\nX.\n\nA RECIPE FOR NEVER ANNOYING OUR FRIENDS\n\nThis was made by one who had suffered much for many years from numberless\nlittle worries, occasioned by a relative, whose affection no doubt was\nsincere and devoted, but also too ardent, and wanting in discretion.\n\nThere must be moderation in all things, even in the love we manifest, the\ncare we take to shield them from trouble.\n\nThis recipe consists of but four simple rules, very clear, very precise.\nBehold them:--\n\n1. _Always leave my friend something more to desire of me._ If he asks me\nto go and see him three times, I go but twice. He will look forward to my\ncoming a third time, and when I go, receive me the more cordially.\n\nIt is so sweet to feel we are needed, and so hard to be thought\nimportunate.\n\n2. _Be useful to my friend as far as he permits, and no farther._\n\nAn over-anxious affection becomes tiresome, and a multiplicity of\nbeautiful sentiments makes them almost insupportable.\n\nDevotion to a friend does not consist in doing _everything_ for him, but\nsimply that which is agreeable and of service to him, and let it only be\nrevealed to him by accident.\n\nWe all love freedom, and cling tenaciously to our little fancies; we do\nnot like others to arrange what we have purposely left in disorder; we\neven resent their over-anxiety and care for us.\n\n3. _Be much occupied with my own affairs, and little, very little, with\nthose of my friend._\n\nThis infallibly leads to a favorable result. To begin with, in occupying\nmyself with my own affairs, I shall the more speedily accomplish them,\nwhile my friend is doing the same.\n\nIf he appeals to me for help, I will go through fire and water to serve\nhim, but if _not_, then I do both myself and him the greater service by\nabstaining. If, however, I can serve him without his knowledge of it, and\nI can see his need, then I must be always ready to do it.\n\n4. _Leave my friend always at liberty to think and act for himself in\nmatters of little importance._ Why compel him to think and act with me? Am\n_I_ the type of all that is beautiful and right? Is it not absurd to think\nthat because another acts and thinks differently to myself, he must needs\nbe wrong? No doubt I may not always say, \"_You are right_,\" but I can at\nany rate let him _think_ it.\n\nTry this recipe of mine, and I can answer for it your friendship will be\nlasting.\n\n\nXI.\n\nBENEATH THE EYE OF GOD, GOD ONLY\n\nAs you read these words, are you not conscious of an inward feeling of\npeace and quietness?\n\n_Beneath God's Eye!_ there is something in the thought like a sheltering\nrock, a refreshing dew, a gleam of light.\n\nAh! why always such seeking for some one to _see_ me, to _understand_,\n_appreciate_, _praise_ me?\n\nThe human eye I seek is like the scorching ray that destroys all the\ndelicate colors in the most costly material. Every action that is done,\nonly to be seen of others, loses its freshness in the sight of GOD, like\nthe flower that passing through many hands is at last hardly presentable.\n\nOh, my soul! be as the desert flower that grows, blooms, and flourishes\nunseen, in obedience to GOD'S Will, and cares not whether the passing bird\nperceives it, or the wind scatters the petals, scarcely formed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn no account neglect the duty you owe to friendship, relatives, society,\nbut remember each day to reserve some portion of it for yourself and GOD\nonly.\n\nRemember always to do some actions that can be known to none but GOD.\n\nAh! how sweet to have GOD as our only Witness.\n\nIt is the high degree of holiness.\n\nThe most exquisite happiness.\n\nThe assurance of an entry into heaven hereafter.\n\nThe mother that reserves all that is most costly for her child, the child\nthat prepares in secret some surprise for its mother, do not experience a\njoy more pure, more elevating, than the servant of GOD, who lives always\nin GOD'S Presence, Whom alone they would please, or the loving heart that\nenclosing alms to some destitute family writes upon the cover these words\nonly, \"In the name of the Good and Gracious GOD.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe following lines were found on some scraps of paper belonging to some\nstranger: ... They have just told me of a poor destitute woman; I gave\nthem ten pence for her; it was my duty to set an example. And now, my\nGOD, for Thee, for Thy sake only, I mean to send her five shillings,\nwhich I shall deduct from my personal expenses.\n\n... To-morrow Henry is coming to see me, that poor Henry I loved\nso dearly, but who has grown cold towards his old friend. He\nwished to grieve me, and little knows that I found it out. Help\nme, LORD, to remember I have forgiven him, and help me to receive\nhim cordially.\n\nThou alone knowest all I have suffered.\n\n... What a happy day was yesterday! happy with regard to heavenly\nthings, for alas! my poor heart suffered.\n\nYesterday was a festival. The snow outside kept every one at home by\ntheir own firesides, and I was left lonely.... Ah, yes, my heart felt\nsad, but my spirit was peaceful; I tried to talk to GOD, just as if I\ncould really see Him at my side, and gradually I felt comforted, and\nspent my evening with a sweet sense of GOD'S Presence.... What I said,\nwhat I wrote, I know not; but the remembrance of yesterday remains to\nme as some sweet, refreshing perfume.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPerhaps at the Last Day all that will remain worth recording of a life\nfull of activity and zeal will be those little deeds that were done solely\nbeneath the Eye of GOD....\n\nMy GOD, teach me to live with an abiding sense of Thy Presence, laboring\nfor Thee, suffering for Thee, guided by Thee, ... and Thee alone!\n\n\nXII.\n\nMY DUTY TOWARDS GOD\n\nPRAYERS.\n\nSlow, recollected, persevering.\n\nPeaceful, calm, resigned.\n\nSimple, humble, trusting.\n\nAlways reverent, as loving as possible.\n\nCharitable. Have I not always opportunity to give? to thank?\n\n\nSUBMISSION.\n\nTo my lot and to my duty: they come from GOD, are ordained by GOD, lead me\nto GOD, to neglect them is to estrange myself from Him.\n\nTo the Guide of my soul: He has received the Holy Spirit in order to show\nme the way; he has GOD'S Spirit to guide him.\n\nTo my Parents: they have GOD'S authority.\n\nTo circumstances: they are arranged and sent by GOD.\n\n\nLABOR.\n\nBegun cheerfully.\n\nContinued perseveringly.\n\nInterrupted and resumed patiently.\n\nFinished perfectly and devoutly.\n\nRepose and care for the body, as in GOD'S Sight, under GOD'S protection.\n\n\nDUTY TOWARDS MY NEIGHBOR\n\nGOOD EXAMPLE.\n\nBy modest demeanor and simple dress.\n\nBy a smiling face and pleasing manner.\n\nAlways striving to give pleasure.\n\nFaithfully fulfilling every duty.\n\n\nGOOD WORDS.\n\nZealous without affectation, encouraging, consoling, peaceful, joyful,\nloving. These are possible every day.\n\n\nGOOD DEEDS.\n\nService rendered by alms, by industry, by influence.\n\nIlls remedied, by excusing, justifying, protecting, defending, concealing\nfaults and mistakes; if possible, by repairing them.\n\nJoys provided, for the _mind_, by a joyous manner; for the _heart_, by\nloving thanks; for the soul, by a word of Heaven.\n\n\nMY DUTY TOWARDS MYSELF\n\nCOURAGE.\n\nIn trials and adversity, disturbance, sickness, failure, humiliations.\n\nWorries that trouble without reason.\n\nIll temper controlled, in order not to pain others.\n\nAfter failures, to begin again.\n\nIn temptations, to withstand them.\n\n\nORDER AND METHOD.\n\nIn my occupation, each at its appointed hour.\n\nIn my recreation.\n\nIn all material things, for my benefit.\n\nShunning scruples and constraint as much as caprice and folly.\n\n\nNOURISHMENT.\n\nPious thoughts, read, meditated upon, and sometimes written.\n\nBooks that elevate and excite love for all that is good and lovely.\n\nConversations that refresh, rejoice, and cheer; walks that expand the\nmind, as well as strengthen the body.\n\n\nXIII.\n\nTHE POWER OF AN ACT OF LOVE TOWARDS GOD\n\nHave you ever reflected upon this?\n\nLet us consider the exact words that describe it.\n\n\"_I love Thee with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength,\nbecause Thou art so good, so infinitely good!_\"\n\nTry and repeat these words slowly, so that each may penetrate deep into\nyour heart.\n\nDo you not feel moved, as if your whole being in these words went forth to\nGOD, offering to Him life itself?\n\nDo you not feel, in making this Act of Love, you give far more than if you\ngave your wealth, influence, or time; nay, rather does not this very act\nseem to bring you riches, strength, opportunities, all that you possess?\n\nPicture to yourself, standing before you, a child--a child perhaps who may\nhave injured you deeply, and yet whose sincerity at this moment you cannot\ndoubt, who is actuated neither by fear nor self-seeking, but simply by a\npenitent heart, and who comes to say to you words of love, such as those\nabove, do you feel no emotion, no feeling of pity?\n\nI defy you to be without some emotion, not to feel your arms extending,\nperhaps in spite of you, to embrace this poor child, and not to answer,\n\"_I also love thee_.\"\n\nI have yet another test to put to you, poor, desolate, guilty, hopeless as\nyou are, seeing only within and around you, _fears_, _terror_, and--ay, let\nme say it--_damnation_.\n\nI defy you to kneel and say these words (laying a greater stress on them\nbecause of the repugnance you feel): \"_My God! I love Thee with all my\nheart, with all my strength, with all my soul, above everything, because\nThou art so good, so infinitely good!_\" and then not to feel that JESUS is\nmoved with compassion, and not to hear His Voice, saying to you, \"My\nchild, I love thee also!\"\n\nO JESUS, how can we find words in which to express the tenderness awakened\nin Thine Heart, by a word of love from one of Thy little ones! That Heart,\nso tender, gentle, sensitive, and loving!\n\nA sentence of Faber's may sound unnatural to us, so little spiritually\nminded: he says, \"GOD sometimes draws us to Him, and fills us with love\nfor Him, not that He may love us, _that_ He always does, but in order to\nmake us _feel_ how He loves us!\"\n\nAn Act of Love demands but a few moments. The whole of the day, even in\nthe midst of labor, we can multiply it infinitely, and what wonders are\nwrought by each Act!\n\nJESUS Himself is glorified, and He sheds abundant grace upon the earth.\n\nOur Guardian Angel, beholding us, listens, draws nearer, and makes us feel\nwe have done right.\n\nThe Angels above experience a sudden joy, and look upon us tenderly.\n\nEvil spirits feel their power diminished, and there is a moment of rest\nfrom the temptation that surrounds us.\n\nThe choir of saints above renew their songs of praise.\n\nEach soul on earth feels the peace Divine.\n\nAh! which of us each day would not renew these Acts of Love to GOD!\n\nAh! all who read these lines, pause for one moment, and from the bottom of\nyour heart exclaim, \"My GOD, I love Thee! My GOD, I love Thee!\"\n\n\nXIV.\n\nBE SERIOUS\n\nA statesman retiring from public life occupied himself in his latter days\nwith serious thoughts.\n\nThe friends who came to visit him, reproached him with being melancholy.\n\"No,\" he replied; \"I am only _serious_. All around me is serious, and I\nfeel the need that heart and mind should be in unison with my\nsurroundings.\"\n\n\"For,\" he added, with such solemnity as to impress all present, \"GOD is\n_serious_ as He watches us. JESUS is _serious_ when He intercedes for us.\nThe HOLY SPIRIT is _serious_ when He guides us. Satan is _serious_ when he\ntempts us. The wicked in hell are _serious_ now, because they neglected to\nbe so when on earth; all is _serious_ in that world whither we are\nwending.\"\n\nOh, my friends! believe me, it is all true; let us at least at times be\n_serious_ in our thoughts and in our actions.\n\n\nXV.\n\nCONSOLATION\n\nYou distress yourself sometimes, poor thing! because amongst those who\nsurround you, there are one or two who worry and annoy you. They do not\nlike you, find fault with everything you do, they meet you with a severe\ncountenance and austere manner, you think they do you harm, you look upon\nthem as obstacles to your doing good.\n\nYour life passes away saddened and faded, and gradually you become\ndisheartened. Courage! instead of vexing yourself, thank GOD; these very\npersons are the means of preserving you from humiliating faults, perhaps\neven greater sins.\n\nIt is like the blister the doctor applies, to draw out the inflammation\nthat would kill.\n\nGOD sees that too much joy, too much happiness, procured by those little\nattentions for which you are so eager, would make you careless and\nslothful in prayer; too much affection would only enervate, and you would\ncling too much to earthly things; so in order to preserve your heart in\nall its tenderness and simplicity, He plants there a few thorns, and cuts\nyou off from all the pleasures you fancy yours by right. GOD knows that\ntoo much praise would cause pride, and make you less forbearing to others,\nand so He sends instead humiliations. Let them be, then, these persons who\nunconsciously are doing GOD'S work within you.\n\nIf you cannot love them from sympathy, love with an effort of the will,\nand say to GOD, \"My GOD, grant that without offending Thee, they may work\nmy sanctification. I have need of them.\"\n\n\nXVI.\n\nHOLY COMMUNION\n\nThe result of a good Communion is, _within_, a fear of a sin, _without_, a\nlove for others.\n\nHoly Communion is a great aid to sanctification.\n\nJESUS visits the soul, working in it, and filling it with His Grace, which\nis shed on all around, as the sun sheds forth its light, the fire gives\nout its heat.\n\nIt is impossible but that CHRIST, thus visiting the soul, should not leave\nsomething CHRIST-like within, if only the soul be disposed to receive it.\nFire, whose property is to give warmth, cannot produce that effect unless\nthe body be placed near enough to be penetrated with the heat.\n\nDoes not this simple thought explain the reason that there is often so\nlittle result from our frequent Communions?\n\nDo you long at each Communion to receive the grace bestowed by CHRIST that\nshall little by little fit you for heaven hereafter?\n\nWill you, receiving thus the GOD of _Peace_ within, have for those around\nyou kind words that shall fill them with calmness, resignation, and peace?\n\nWill you, receiving thus the GOD of _Love_, gradually increase in\ntenderness and love that will urge you to sacrifice yourself for others,\nloving them as CHRIST would have loved them?\n\nWill you, receiving Him you rightly name the _Gracious_ GOD, become\nyourself gracious, gracious to sympathize, gracious to forbear, gracious\nto pardon, and thus in a small way resemble the GOD Who gave Himself for\nthee?\n\nThis should be your resolve when about to communicate.\n\n_Resolved_: to obey GOD'S Commandments in all their extensiveness, never\nhesitating in a question of duty, no matter how hard it may be; the duty\nof forgiving and forgetting some injustice or undeserved rebuke; accepting\ncheerfully a position contrary to your wishes and inclinations;\napplication to some labor, distasteful, and seemingly beyond your\nstrength....\n\nIf your duty seems almost _impossible_ to fulfil, ask yourself, \"Is this\nGOD'S Will for me?\" and if conscience answers _yes_, then reply also, _I\nwill do it_.\n\nAll difficulties vanish after Holy Communion.\n\n_Generous_: depriving yourself those days of Communion of some pleasures\nwhich though harmless in themselves, you know, only too well, enfeeble\nyour devotion, excite your feelings, and leave you weaker than before.\n_Generous_ means doing over and above what duty requires of us.\n\n_Conscientious and upright_: not seeking to find out if some forbidden\nthing is really a _sin_ or not, and whether it may not in some way be\nreconciled to conscience.\n\nOh! how hurtful are these waverings between GOD and the world, duty and\npleasure, obedience and allurements. Did JESUS CHRIST hesitate to die for\nyou? and yet _you_ hesitate! Coward!\n\n_Humble and meek_: treading peacefully the road marked out for you by\nProvidence, sometimes weeping, often suffering, but free from anxiety,\nawaiting the loving support that never fails those who trust and renew\ntheir strength day by day. Living quietly, loving neither the world nor\nits praise, working contentedly in that state of life to which you are\ncalled, doing good, regardless of man's knowledge and approval, content\nthat others should be more honored, more esteemed, having only one\nambition,--_to love God, and be loved by Him_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf this be the disposition of your soul, then be sure each Communion will\nbe blessed to you, make you more holy, more like CHRIST, with more taste\nand love for the things of GOD, more sure of glory hereafter.\n\n\nXVII.\n\nAFTER HOLY COMMUNION\n\nSELF-SACRIFICE\n\nLORD! take me and lead me whithersoever Thou willest! Is it Thy Will that\nmy life be spent in the midst of such incessant toil and tumult that no\ntime is left for those brief moments of leisure of which I sometimes\ndream?\n\nYes! yes! I wish it also!\n\nIs it Thy Will that lonely and sorrowful I am left on earth, while those I\nloved have gone to dwell near Thee above?\n\nYes! yes! I wish it also!\n\nIs it Thy Will that unknown by all, misunderstood even by those whose\naffection I prize, I am looked upon as useless, on account of my\nstupidity, want of manner, or bad health?\n\nYes! yes! I wish it also!\n\nThou art Ruler. O my GOD! only be Thyself the Guide, and abide with me\nforever!\n\n\nMY MEMORY\n\nMy Memory! the mysterious book--reflection of that of eternity, in which at\neach moment are inscribed my thoughts, affections, and desires.\n\nInto Thy Hands I commend it, LORD, that Thou alone mayst write there, Thou\nalone efface!\n\nLeave there, LORD, the remembrance of my sins, but efface forever the\npleasures that led to them--were I to catch but a glimpse of their enticing\nsweetness, I might again desire them. Leave there the sweet memories of\nchildhood, when I loved Thee with such simplicity, and my father, my\nmother, my family, were my sole affections. Those days, when the slightest\nuntruthfulness, or even the fear of having sinned, left me no peace till I\nhad confessed it to my mother. Those days, when I always felt my Guardian\nAngel near me, helping me in my work, and soothing my little troubles!\n\nLeave me the remembrance of my first sense of the Divine absolution, when\nmy heart overflowing with secret joy, I cried, _I am forgiven, I am\nforgiven_!\n\nAnd then the recollection of my first Communion! oh, recall it to me,\nLORD, with its preparation so fearful, yet so loving; its joy so calm, so\nholy, yet so sweet, that even now the thought of it fills mine eyes with\ntears!\n\nLeave me the remembrance of Thy Benefits! each year of my life is crowned\nwith blessings ... at _ten_ ... _fifteen_ ... _eighteen_ ... _twenty_\nyears ... oh! I can well recall all Thy goodness to me, my GOD! Yes,\nreceive my memory, blot out all that can estrange me from Thee, and grant\nthat nothing apart from Thee may again find a place there!\n\n\nMY MIND\n\nOh! by what false lights have I been dazzled! They showed me prayer as\nwearisome; religious duties too absorbing; frequent Communion as useless;\nsocial duties as a heavy bondage; devotion the lot of weak minds and those\nwithout affection.... Oh, I knew well how false it was, and yet I let\nmyself be half-convinced!\n\nWhen have I ever been more _zealous in labor_ than those days when I had\nfulfilled all my religious duties?\n\nWhen more _loving and devoted_ than on the days of my Communions?\n\nWhen have I felt _more free, more happy_, than when having fulfilled all\nthe duties of my social position?\n\nLORD, receive my mind, and nourish it with Thy Truth!\n\nShow me that apart from Thee, _pleasures of the senses_ leave behind only\nremorse, disgust, weariness, and satiety.\n\n_Pleasures of the heart_ cause anxiety, bitterness, rendings, and fears.\n\n_Pleasures of the mind_ produce a void, vanity, jealousy, coldness, and\nhumiliations! Teach me that all must pass away ... that nothing is true,\nnothing is good, nothing is eternal, but Thou, Thou only, O my GOD!\n\n\nMY WILL\n\nMy deeds are the result of my will, and it is the will only that makes\nthem of any value. Oh, then to begin with, I will learn submission! What I\n_wish_, may not always be good for me; what I am _bidden_ must be right.\n\nO JESUS! grant me the grace of _obedience_, and then let me be bidden many\nthings: works of piety, works of charity, self-renunciation, brilliant\ndeeds, deeds that are ignored in my family life, or wherever I may be,\nthere are numberless calls for all of these; LORD, behold Thy servant! may\nI be always ready when Thou hast need of me!\n\n\nALL THAT I HAVE\n\nMy GOD, how richly hast Thou blessed me!\n\nTreasures of love, I offer them to Thee!\n\n_I have relations_, dear ones, Thou knowest how I love them.... Ah, if it\nbe Thy Will to take them from this world, before me, though I say it\nweeping, still I say it, Thy Will be done!\n\n_I have friends._... If it be Thy Will they should forget me, think ill of\nme, leave me alone, with that loneliness of heart so bitter and so keen\n... I yield them to Thee!\n\n_I have worldly goods_ that give me a certain degree of comfort, by\naffording me the means of helping others poorer than myself.... Should it\nbe Thy Will to deprive me of them, little by little, till at last I have\nonly the bare necessaries of life left ... I yield them to Thee!\n\n_I have limbs_ that Thou hast given me. If it be Thy Will that paralysis\nshould fetter my arms, my eyes no longer see the light, my tongue be\nunable to articulate, my GOD, I yield them to Thee!\n\nIn exchange, grant me Thy Love, Thy Grace, and then ... nothing more, only\nHeaven!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nO JESUS, abandoned by all in the garden of Gethsemane, in need then of\ncomfort and strength:\n\nJESUS, Thou Who knowest that at this moment there are some on earth who\nhave no strength, no comfort, no support, oh! send to them some angel who\nwill give them a little joy, a little peace! Oh, if only _I_ might be that\nmessenger! What must I suffer, LORD?\n\nIf an outward trouble or inward pain be needful to make of me but for one\nmoment a consoling angel to some poor lonely heart, oh! however keen the\npain, or bitter the trouble, I pray Thee, grant it to me, JESUS!\n\nO JESUS, in search of _lips_ to tell the love Thou bearest for Thy\nchildren; _lips_ to tell the poor and lonely they are not despised, the\nsinful they are not cast away, the timid they are not unprotected. O\nJESUS! grant that my lips may speak words of strength, love, comfort, and\npardon. Let each day seem to me wasted that passes without my having\nspoken of help and sympathy, without having made some one bless Thy Name,\nbe it but a little child.\n\nO JESUS! so _patient_ towards those who wearied Thee with their\nimportunity and ignorance! JESUS, so long-suffering in teaching, and\nawaiting the hour of grace! JESUS, grant that I may be patient to listen,\nto teach, though over and over again I may have to instruct the same\nthing. Grant me help, that I may always show a smiling face, even though\nthe importunity of some be keenly felt! and if through physical weakness I\nmanifest ennui or weariness, grant, O JESUS, that I may speedily make\namends, with loving words, for the pain I have caused.\n\nO JESUS! Who with infinite tact didst await, seated at the roadside, the\nopportunity for doing good, simply asking a small service of the poor\nSamaritan woman Thou wouldst save, and draw to Thee.\n\nO JESUS! grant that I may feel and understand all the pain that timidity,\nshyness, or reserve keep buried within the recesses of the soul. Grant me\nthe tact and discretion that draws near without paining, that asks without\nrepulsing, without humiliating, and thus enable me to bring peace and\ncomfort to the wounded heart.\n\nO JESUS! seeking some one as faithful dispenser of Thy blessings, grant\n_much_ to me, that I may have much to bestow on others. Grant that my\nhands may dispense Thine alms, that they may be as Thine, when Thou didst\nwash the feet of Thine Apostles, working for all, helping all; let me\nnever forget that, like Thee, I am placed on this earth to minister, not\nto be ministered unto.\n\nGrant that my lips may speak comforting words and give forth cheering\nsmiles, that I may be as the well by the roadside, where the weary\ntraveller stoops to drink, as the shade of the tree whose branches laden\nwith fruit are extended over all that pass beneath.\n\nO JESUS! to Whom all Thy children are so dear, and whatever they may be\nThou carest for them, and rememberest they are the much-loved children of\nGOD! Oh! grant that in all my intercourse with others, I may only see,\nlove, and care for their _souls_, that soul for whom, O GOD, Thou hast\ndied, who like myself can call Thee FATHER, and with whom, near Thee, I\nhope to dwell, throughout the ages of Eternity.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nRemoved an extraneous comma from this line:\n\n    _Self-renunciation_*,* means devotion to our duty, going on with\n    it in spite of difficulties, disgust, ennui, want of success.\n\nStandardized spelling in this line by removing hyphen from\nlight-heartedness, to match usage elsewhere in the book:\n\n    whose chatter and lightheartedness, even her very attentions to myself,","title":"Gold Dust: A Collection of Golden Counsels for the Sanctification of Daily Life","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":23658}