{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38355/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38355","id":"gutenberg_38355","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38355","summary":null,"tags":["Category: How To ...","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life -- Catholic authors"],"text":"Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Veronica Brandt and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n LIGHT AND PEACE.\n\n\n INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVOUT SOULS\n TO DISPEL THEIR DOUBTS AND\n ALLAY THEIR FEARS.\n\n BY\n R. P. QUADRUPANI, Barnabite.\n\n\n _Translated from the French._\n\n\n With an Introduction by\n THE MOST REV. P. J. RYAN, D.D.,\n Archbishop of Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n\n ST. LOUIS, MO. 1898.\n Published by B. HERDER,\n 17 South Broadway.\n\n\n NIHIL OBSTAT.\n\n F. G. Holweck,\n _Censor Librorum_.\n\n\n IMPRIMATUR.\n\nSt. Louis, Mo., 1. Oct. 1897.\n H. Muehlsiepen, _V. G.,_\n _Adm._\n\n\n_The French translation, from which the present English version has been\nmade, is approved by the Archbishop of Paris, the Bishop of Versailles\nand the Bishop of Meaux._\n\n\n Copyright, 1898, by Jos. Gummersbach.\n\n\n --BECKTOLD--\n PRINTING AND BOOK MFG. CO.\n ST. LOUIS, MO.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.\n\n\nThese _Instructions for Pious Souls_, now published in English under the\ntitle _Light and Peace_, were written in 1795 by the illustrious and\nsaintly Barnabite, Padre Quadrupani. They contain a summary of spiritual\nguidance for earnest Christians in the ordinary duties of life in the\nworld. The author had formed his own spirituality on the model presented\nby the life and teaching of St. Francis de Sales, and in this little book\nhe reflects the wisdom, prudence and sweetness of that \"gentleman Saint.\"\n\nThe work has passed through uncounted editions in its original Italian,\nand through a large number of editions in both the French and the German\ntranslations. An English translation was published many years ago, but\nbesides its present rarity, its many imperfections warrant the belief\nthat a new rendition will not be unwelcome. The translator has, moreover,\nbeen encouraged by the persuasion that the maxims of Father Quadrupani\nare specially adapted to the American character. Unlike many foreign\nreligious works, whose spirituality often fails to touch the Anglo-Saxon\ntemperament, this author's teaching is decidedly practical and\npracticable, and appeals in every way to the common sense and fits in\nwith the busy, matter-of-fact life of the average American Catholic.\n\nThe present translation has been made from the twentieth French edition\nand has been collated with the thirty-second edition of the original\nItalian published at Naples in 1818. The many recommendations from the\nEpiscopacy of France prefixed to the French translation are here omitted,\nas the Introduction by the Most Reverend Archbishop of Philadelphia is\nabundant testimony to the doctrinal solidity of the work.\n\n I. M. O'R.\nOverbrook, PA.\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\n\nGod's attributes being infinite and our intellects limited and also\ndarkened by the fall, we see these attributes only in part and \"as afar\noff and through a glass.\" In contemplating His awful sanctity, we are\noverwhelmed with fear and forget His ineffable mercy. Our views are also\ngreatly influenced by our natural temperaments, whether joyous or sad,\nand change with our environments and moods.\n\nAs the blue firmament is ever the same, so is the great God Himself--\"the\nKing of Ages immortal and invisible, without change or shadow of\nvicissitude.\" But as the clouds that hang as veils of the sanctuary are\nmovable and variegated, now dark and gloomy and again brilliant in silver\nor gold, now opening into vistas of the firmament above and again closing\nin darkness, except when arrows of light pierce them and show their\noutlines, so are we variable and inconstant and need spiritual direction\nadapted to our peculiar wants. The naturally joyous, hopeful and\nsometimes presumptuous, need that wholesome fear of the Lord which is\n\"the beginning of wisdom.\" The constitutionally severe, scrupulous and\nalmost despairing, need to remember God's tender paternal character and\nto learn that \"His mercies are above all His works.\" To such souls this\nlittle book must prove invaluable. Its theology is sound, as the various\nepiscopal approbations testify. Hence its statements can be entirely\ntrusted. The fact that it has passed through twenty editions in French is\nsufficient evidence of its appreciation in that country. May it continue\nits holy mission of light and consolation and joy in this country and act\nlike the angelic messenger to Peter in prison, liberating the soul from\nthe chains of doubt and despondency, illuminating her by the light of\nGod's holy truth and bringing her out of the darksome prison into the\ncompany of the confiding, prayerful, joyous saints of God.\n\n +P. J. RYAN.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n PART FIRST.\n _Exterior Practices._\n\n Page.\n I. Spiritual Direction 1\n II. Temptations 8\n III. Prayer 19\n IV. Penance 37\n V. Confession 43\n VI. Holy Communion 62\n VII. Sundays and Holydays 76\n VIII. Spiritual Reading 81\n\n PART SECOND.\n _Interior Life._\n\n IX. Hope 85\n X. The Presence of God 90\n XI. Humility 93\n XII. Resignation 99\n XIII. Scruples 108\n XIV. Interior Peace 112\n XV. Sadness 116\n XVI. Liberty of Spirit 119\n XVII. Christian Perfection 130\n\n PART THIRD.\n _Social Life._\n\n XVIII. Charity 146\n XIX. Zeal 153\n XX. Meekness 162\n XXI. Conversation 165\n XXII. Dress 173\n XXIII. Human Respect 176\n XXIV. Resolutions 178\n XXV. Conclusion 182\n Additions 186\n\n\n\n\n Light and Peace\n\n\n INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVOUT SOULS\n TO DISPEL THEIR DOUBTS AND ALLAY THEIR FEARS.\n\n By R. P. QUADRUPANI, Barnabite.\n\n\n\n\n PART FIRST.\n EXTERIOR PRACTICES.\n\n\n\n\n I.\n SPIRITUAL DIRECTION.\n\n\n For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Ghost. (S. Mark, xiii, 11.)\n\n1. It is absolutely true that in matters of conscience obedience to a\nspiritual director is obedience to God, for Christ has said to His\nministers on earth: \"He that heareth you, heareth Me.\" (St. Luke, x, 16.)\n\n2. A soul possessed of this spirit of obedience can not be lost: a soul\ndevoid of this spirit can not be saved. (St. Philip Neri.)\n\n3. Saint Bernard says there is no need for the devil to tempt those who\nignore obedience and permit themselves to be guided by their own light\nand deterred by their fears, for they act the devil's part towards\nthemselves.\n\n4. Do not fear that your director may be mistaken in what he prescribes\nfor your guidance, or that he does not fully understand the state of your\nconscience because you did not explain it clearly enough to him. Such\ndoubts cause obedience to be eluded or postponed and thus frustrate the\ndesigns of God in placing you under the direction of a prudent guide. It\nwas the priest's duty to have questioned you further had he not fully\nunderstood you, and that he did not do so is a positive proof that he\nknew enough to enable him to pronounce a safe judgment. God has promised\nhis special help to those who represent Him in the direction of souls. Is\nnot this assurance enough to induce you to obey with promptness and\nsimplicity as the Holy Scripture commands?\n\n5. God does not show the state of our souls as clearly to us as he does\nto him who is to guide us in his place. You should be quite satisfied,\nthen, if your director tells you the course you follow is the right one\nand that the mercy and grace of your Heavenly Father are guiding you in\nit. You should believe and obey him in this as in all else, for as St.\nJohn of the Cross tells us, \"it betrays pride and lack of faith not to\nput entire confidence in what our confessor says.\"\n\n6. Spiritual obedience is most needful for a Christian. Ignore,\ntherefore, the groundless suspicion that you sin by obeying, and walk\nconfidently in this path exempt from danger. \"You sometimes fear,\" says\nSt. Bonaventure, \"that in obeying you act against the dictates of your\nconscience, whereas, on the contrary, far from incurring guilt, you\nreally increase your merit before God.\"\n\n7. We should allow obedience to regulate not only our exterior actions\nbut likewise our mind and our will. Hence do not be satisfied with\nperforming the works it prescribes, but let your thoughts and desires be\nalso moulded according to its direction. In fact, it is in this interior\nsubmission that the merit of spiritual obedience essentially consists.\n\n8. Obedience should be simple and prompt, without reservation or\ndisquietude. Simple, because you ought not to argue about it, but decide\nby the one thought: _I must obey_; prompt, for it is God whom you obey;\nwithout reservation, because obedience extends to everything that does\nnot violate God's law; without disquietude, because in obeying God you\ncannot go astray: this thought should be sufficient to drive away all\nfear of doing or of having done wrong.\n\n9. When choosing a director, be careful to select one who has the\nnecessary qualifications. He should be not only virtuous, but prudent,\ncharitable and learned. St. Francis de Sales gives the following opinion\non the subject:\n\n\"Go,\" said Tobias to his son, when about to send him into a strange\ncountry, 'go seek some wise man to conduct you.' I say the same to you,\nPhilothea. If you sincerely desire to enter upon the way of devotion,\nseek a good guide to direct you therein. This advice is of the utmost\nimportance and necessity. Whatever one may do, says the devout Avila, he\ncan never be certain of fulfilling God's will, unless he practice that\nhumble obedience which the saints so strongly recommend and to which they\nso faithfully adhere. And the Scriptures tell us: 'A faithful friend is a\nstrong defence: and he that hath found him, hath found a treasure: ... a\nfaithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality: and they that\nfear the Lord shall find one.' (Ecclesiasticus, c. VI, vv. 14-16.)\n\nBut who can find such a friend? They that fear God, the Wise Man\nanswers--that is to say, those humble souls who ardently desire their\nspiritual progress. Since it is so essential, then, Philothea, to have a\nskilful guide in the devout life, ask God fervently to give you one\naccording to His Heart, and rest assured that when an angel is necessary\nto you as to the young Tobias, He will give you a wise and faithful\ndirector.\n\nIn fact, the selection once made, you should look upon your spiritual\nguide more as a guardian angel than as a mere man. You place your\nconfidence not in him but in God, for it is God who will lead and\ninstruct you through his instrumentality by inspiring him with the\nsentiments and words necessary for your guidance. Thus you may safely\nlisten to him as to an angel sent from heaven to lead you there. To this\nconfidence, add perfect candor. Speak quite frankly and tell him\nunreservedly all that is good, all that is evil in you, for the good will\nthus be strengthened, the evil weakened, and your soul shall thereby\nbecome firmer in its sufferings and more moderate in its consolations.\nGreat respect should also be united with confidence and in such nice\nproportion that the one shall not lessen the other: let your confidence\nin him be such as a respectful daughter reposes in her father, your\nrespect for him such as that with which a son confides in his mother. In\na word, this friendship, though strong and tender, should be altogether\nsacred and spiritual in its nature.\n\n'Choose one among a thousand,' says Avila: \"among ten thousand, rather, I\nshould say, for there are fewer than one would suppose fitted for this\noffice of spiritual director. Charity, learning and prudence are\nindispensable to it, and if any one of these qualities be absent, your\nchoice will not be unattended with danger. I repeat, ask God to inspire\nyour selection and when you have made it thank Him sincerely, and then\nremain constant to your decision. If you go to God in all simplicity and\nwith humility and confidence, you will undoubtedly obtain a favorable\nanswer to your petition.\"\n\nIn conclusion, it may be well to remind you that the director and the\nconfessor have not necessarily to be the same priest. St. Francis de\nSales was the spiritual director of many persons to whom he was not the\nordinary confessor. \"To a director,\" he says, \"we should reveal our\nentire soul, whereas to a confessor we simply accuse ourselves of our\nsins in order to receive absolution for them.\"\n\n\n\n\n II.\n TEMPTATIONS.\n\n\n My brethren, count it all joy when ye shall fall into divers\n temptations. (Epist. S. Jas., Cat., c. i, v. 2.)\n\n Now if I do that which I will not, it is no more I that do it, but sin,\n which dwelleth in me. (St. P., Rom., c. vii, v. 20.)\n\n1. \"If we are tempted,\" says the Holy Spirit, \"it is a sign that God\nloves us.\" Those whom God best loves have been most exposed to\ntemptations. \"Because thou wast acceptable to God,\" said the angel to\nTobias, \"it was necessary that temptation should prove thee.\" (Tobias, c.\nxii, v. 13.)\n\n2. Do not ask God to deliver you from temptations, but to grant you the\ngrace not to succumb to them and to do nothing contrary to His divine\nwill. He who refuses the combat, renounces the crown. Place all your\ntrust in God and God will Himself do battle for you against the enemy.[1]\n\n3. \"These persistent temptations come from the malice of the devil,\" says\nSt. Francis de Sales, \"but the trouble and suffering they cause us come\nfrom the mercy of God. Thus, despite the will of the tempter, God\nconverts his evil machinations into a distress which we may make\nmeritorious. Therefore I say your temptations are from the devil and\nhell, but your anxiety and affliction are from God and heaven.\" Despise\ntemptation, then, and open wide your soul to this suffering which God\nsends in order to purify you here that He may reward you hereafter.\n\n4. \"Let the wind blow,\" remarks the same Saint, \"and do not mistake the\nrustling of leaves for the clashing of arms. Be perfectly convinced that\nall the temptations of hell are powerless to defile a soul that does not\nlove them. St. Paul endured terrible temptations, yet God, through love,\ndid not deliver him from them.\" Look upon God as an infinitely good and\ntender father and believe that He only allows the devil to try His\nchildren that their merits may increase and their recompense be\ncorrespondingly greater.\n\n5. The more persistent the temptation, the clearer it is that you have\nnot given consent to it. \"It is a good sign,\" says St. Francis de Sales,\n\"when the tempter makes so much noise and commotion outside of the will,\nfor it shows that he is not within.\" An enemy does not besiege a fortress\nthat is already in his power, and the more obstinate the attack, the more\ncertain We may be that our resistance continues.\n\n6. Your fears lead you to believe you are defeated at the very moment you\nare gaining the victory. This comes from the fact that you confound\nfeeling with consent, and, mistaking a passive condition of the\nimagination for an act of the will, you consider that you have yielded to\nthe temptation because you felt it keenly.\n\n*St. Francis de Sales, with his usual simplicity, thus describes this\nwarring of the flesh against the spirit:\n\n\"You are right, my dear daughter. There are two women within you ... and\nthe two children of these different mothers quarrel, and the\ngood-for-nothing one is so bad that sometimes the good one can scarcely\ndefend herself, and then she takes it into her head that she has been\nworsted and that the wicked one is braver than she. Now, surely, this is\nnot true. The bad one is not the stronger by any means, but only slyer,\nmore persistent and more obstinate. When she succeeds in making you weep\nshe is delighted, because that is always just so much time lost, and she\nis content to make you lose time when she cannot make you lose\neternity.\"*[2]\n\nIt is not always in our power to restrain the imagination. St. Jerome had\nretired into the desert and still his fancy represented to him the dances\nof the Roman ladies. His body was benumbed, as it were, and his blood\nchilled by the severity of his mortifications, and yet the flames of\nconcupiscence encompassed and tortured his heart. During these frightful\nconflicts the holy anchorite suffered, but he did not sin; he was\ntormented but was not guilty; on the contrary, his merits were augmented\nin the sight of God in proportion to the intensity of the temptations.\n\n7. The holy abbot St. Anthony was wont to say to the phantoms of his\nmind: I see you, but I do not look at you: I see you because it does not\ndepend upon me that my imagination places before my eyes things I would\nwish not to see; I do not look at you because with my will I repulse and\nreject you. \"It is so much the essence of sin to be voluntary,\" says St.\nAugustine, \"that if not voluntary, it is not sin.\"\n\n8. The attraction of the feelings towards the object presented by the\nimagination is at times so strong that the will seems to have been\ncarried away and overcome by a sort of fascination. This, however, is not\nthe case. The will suffered, but did not consent; it was attacked and\nwounded, but not conquered. This state of things coincides with what St.\nPaul says of the revolt of the flesh against the spirit and of their\nunceasing warfare. The soul, indeed, experiences strange sensations, but\nas she does not consent to them, she passes through the ordeal unsullied,\njust as substances coated with oil may be immersed in water without\nabsorbing a single drop of it.\n\n*St. Francis de Sales explains this distinction so plainly and yet so\nsimply in one of his letters, that it may be useful to repeat the passage\nhere: \"Courage, my dear soul, I say it with great love in Jesus Christ,\ndear soul, courage! As long as we can exclaim resolutely, even though\nwithout feeling, My Jesus! there is no cause for alarm. Do not tell me it\nappears to you that you say it in a cowardly way, and only by doing great\nviolence to yourself. It is precisely this holy violence that bears away\nthe kingdom of heaven. Do you not see, my daughter, it is a sign that the\nenemy has taken everything within our fortress except the impenetrable,\nunconquerable tower--and that can never be lost save by wilful surrender.\nThis tower is the free-will which, perfectly visible to the eye of God,\noccupies the highest and most spiritual region of the soul, dependent on\nnone but God and oneself; and when all the other faculties are lost and\nin subjection to the enemy, it alone remains free to give or to refuse\nconsent. Now, you often see souls afflicted because the enemy, occupying\nall the other faculties, makes therein so great a noise and confusion\nthat they scarce can hear what this superior will says; for though it has\na clearer and more penetrating voice than the inferior will, the loud,\nboisterous cries of the latter almost drown it: but note this well: as\nlong as the temptation is displeasing to you, there is nothing to fear;\nfor why should it displease you, except because you do not will it?\"*\n\n9. Should it frequently happen that you have not a distinct consciousness\nof your success against temptation, it may be that God refuses you this\nsatisfaction in order that, lacking this clear assurance, your knowledge\nmay come through obedience. Therefore, when your spiritual director,\nafter hearing your explanation, says that you have not given consent, you\nshould be satisfied with his decision and abide by it with perfect\ntranquillity, discarding all fear that he did not understand you aright\nor that you did not explain the matter sufficiently. These doubts are but\nfresh artifices of the devil to rob you of the merit of obedience. As has\nbeen said above, to give way to such inquietude is to offend seriously\nagainst this virtue, for all direction would thus be rendered impossible,\nby the failure of the penitent to recognize God Himself in the person of\nhis director.\n\n10. To constitute a mortal sin three conditions must co-exist. First, the\nmatter must be weighty; secondly, the mind must have full knowledge of\nthe guilt of the action, omission or dangerous occasion in question; and,\nthirdly, the will, through a criminal preference for the forbidden\naction, culpable omission, or proximate occasion of sin, must give full\nconsent. These reflections should serve to reassure your mind if the fear\nof having committed a mortal sin disturb it, for it is very difficult for\nthis threefold union of conditions to be effected in a God-fearing soul.\nHowever, perfect security can come, and ought to come, only from\nspiritual obedience.\n\n11. In temptations against faith and purity, do not make great efforts to\nform acts of these virtues, but simply turn a pleading glance towards\nGod, without speaking even to this compassionate Friend concerning the\nthought that afflicts you, lest thereby you root the evil suggestion more\nfirmly. Then, without disquieting yourself, engage at once in some\nexterior occupation or continue what you were doing. Make no answer to\nthe tempter, but ignore him, just as though his assault had never\noccurred. In this way, whilst preserving your own peace of soul, you will\ncover your enemy with confusion.\n\n*The same counsel is given by St. Francis de Sales in his characteristic\nstyle:\n\n\"Do you know how God acts on these occasions? He permits the wicked maker\nof such wares to come and offer them to us for sale, in order that by the\ncontempt we show for them we may testify our love for holy things. And\nfor this is it necessary, my dear child, to feel anxious, and to change\nour position? No, no. It is only the devil who is prowling around your\nsoul, raging and storming, to see if he can find an open door.... What!\nand you would be annoyed at that? Let the enemy storm away; only be\ncareful on your part to keep all the entrances well fastened, and finally\nhe will grow weary; or if he do not, God will force him to raise the\nsiege.\"*\n\n12. Though you should be assailed by temptations during your entire life\ntime, do not be disquieted, for your merits will increase in proportion\nto your trials and your crown be accordingly all the brighter in heaven.\nThe only thing necessary is to remain firm in your resolution to despise\nthe efforts of the tempter.\n\n*\"This serious trial, and so many others that have assailed you and left\nyou troubled in mind, do not at all surprise me, since there is nothing\nworse. Do not worry, then, my beloved daughter. Should we allow ourselves\nto be swept away by the current and the storm? Let Satan rage at the\ndoor; he may knock and stamp, and clamor and howl, and do his worst, but\nrest assured that he can never enter our souls but through the door of\nour consent. Let us only keep that closed tight and often look to see\nthat it is well secured and we need have no concern about all the\nrest--there is no danger.\"*--St. Francis de Sales.\n\n13. The most learned theologians and masters of the spiritual life agree\nin saying that simply to ignore a temptation is a much more effectual\nmeans to repulse it than words and acts of the contrary virtues. On this\nsubject read attentively Chapters III. and IV. of the _Introduction to a\nDevout Life_. You will find much light and consolation in them. See also\nChapter XII. of the _Spiritual Combat_, and Chapters VI., VII., XII.,\nXX., XXIX., LV., and LVII. of the Third Book of the _Imitation_.\n\n\n\n\n III.\n PRAYER.\n\n\n Who can persevere the whole day in the praise of God? I will suggest a\n help. Whatsoever thou doest do well, and thou hast praised God. (S.\n Aug., on Ps. xxxiv., Disc. 2.)\n\n Oh! what do I suffer interiorly whilst with my mind I consider heavenly\n things; and presently a crowd of carnal thoughts interrupt me as I\n pray. (Imit., B. III., c. XLVIII., v. 5.)\n\n1. We ought to love meditation and should make it often on the Passion of\nour divine Lord, striving above all to derive therefrom fruits of\nhumility, patience and charity.\n\n2. If you experience great dryness in your meditations or other prayers,\ndo not feel distressed and conclude that God has turned His Face away\nfrom you. Far from it. Prayer said with aridity is usually the most\nmeritorious. *It is quite a common error to confound the value of prayer\nwith its sensible results, and the merit acquired with the satisfaction\nexperienced. The facility and sweetness you may have in prayer are favors\nfrom God and for which you will have to account to him: hence the result\nis not merit but debt. (Read the _Imitation_, B. II, c. IX.)* The very\nfact that we derive less gratification from such prayer, makes it all the\nmore pleasing to God, because we are thus suffering for love of him. Let\nus call to mind at such times that our Lord prayed without consolation\nthroughout his bitter agony.\n\n*\"All this trouble comes from self-love and from the good opinion we have\nof ourselves. If our hearts do not melt with tenderness, if we have no\nrelish or sensible feeling in prayer, if we do not enjoy great interior\nsweetness during meditation, we are at once overwhelmed with sadness: if\nwe find difficulty in doing good, if some obstacle is opposed to our\npious designs, we give way to disquietude and are eager to conquer all\nthis and to be free from it. Why? Undoubtedly because we love\nconsolations, our own comfort, our own convenience. We wish to pray\nimmersed in sweetness, and to be virtuous that we may eat sugar; and we\ndo not contemplate _our Saviour Jesus Christ, who, prone upon the ground,\nis covered with a sweat of blood_ caused by the intense conflict He feels\ninteriorly between the repugnances of the inferior portion of his soul\nand the resolutions of the superior.\"*--St. Francis de Sales.\n\n*The same teaching is given by another great master of the spiritual\nlife:\n\n\"We frequently seek the gratification and consolation of self-love in the\ntestimony we desire to render to ourselves. Thus we are disturbed about\nour lack of sensible fervor, whereas in reality we never pray so well as\nwhen we are tempted to think we are not praying at all. We fear to pray\nbadly then, but we should fear rather to give way to the vexation of our\ncowardly nature, to a philosophical infidelity, which ever wishes to\ndemonstrate to itself its own operations--in fine, to an impatient desire\nto see and to feel in order to console ourselves.\n\nThere is no penance more bitter than this state of pure faith without\nsensible support. Hence I conclude that it is freer than any other from\nillusion. Strange temptation! to seek impatiently for sensible\nconsolation through fear of not being sufficiently penitent! Ah! Why not\nrather accept as a penance the deprivation of that consolation we are so\ntempted to seek?\"*--F\u00e9nelon.\n\n3. You will sometimes imagine that at prayer your soul is not in the\npresence of God and that only your body is in the church, like the\nstatues and candelabras that adorn the altars. Think, then, that you\nshare with those inanimate objects the honor of serving as ornaments for\nthe house of God, and that in the presence of your Creator even this\nhumble r\u00f4le should seem glorious to you.\n\n*\"You tell me that you cannot pray well. But what better prayer could\nthere be than to represent to God again and again, as you are doing, your\nnothingness and misery? The most touching appeal beggars can make is\nmerely to expose to us their deformities and necessities. But there are\ntimes when you cannot even do this much, you say, and that you remain\nthere like a statue. Well, even that is better than nothing. Kings and\nprinces have statues in their palaces for no other purpose than that they\nmay take pleasure in looking at them: be satisfied then to fulfil the\nsame office in the presence of God, and when it so pleases Him He will\nanimate the statue.\"*--St. Francis de Sales.\n\n4. When you have not consciously or voluntarily yielded to distractions,\ndo not stop to find what may have been their cause, or to discover if you\nhave in any way given occasion to them. This would be simply to weary and\ndisquiet yourself unprofitably. From whatever direction they come, you\ncan convert them into a source of merit by casting yourself into the arms\nof the Divine Mercy. St. Francis de Sales when asked how he prayed,\nreplied: \"I cannot say it too often--I receive peacefully whatever the\nLord sends me. If he consoles me, I kiss the right hand of his mercy; if\nI am dry and distracted, I kiss the left hand of his justice.\" This\nmethod is the only good one, for as the same Saint says: \"He who truly\nloves prayer, loves it for the love of God: and he who loves it for the\nlove of God, wishes to experience in it naught but what God is pleased to\nsend him.\" Now, whatever you may experience in prayer, is precisely what\nGod wills.\n\n5. St. Francis de Sales teaches us that merely to keep ourselves\npeacefully and tranquilly in the presence of God, without other desire or\npretension than to be near him and to please him, is of itself an\nexcellent prayer. \"Do not exhaust yourself,\" he says, \"in making efforts\nto speak to your dear Master, for you are speaking to Him by the sole\nfact that you remain there and contemplate Him.\"\n\n*\"Remember that the graces and favors of prayer do not come from earth\nbut from heaven and therefore that no effort of ours can acquire them,\nalthough, it is true, we must dispose ourselves for their reception\ndiligently, yet withal humbly and tranquilly. We ought to keep our hearts\nwide open and await the blessed dew from heaven. The following\nconsideration should never be forgotten when we go to prayer, namely,\nthat we draw near to God and place ourselves in His presence principally\nfor two reasons. The first is to render to God the honor and the homage\nwe owe Him, and this can be done without God speaking to us or we to Him,\nfor the duty is fulfilled by acknowledging that He is our Creator and we\nare His vile creatures, and by remaining before Him, prostrate in spirit,\nawaiting His commands. The second reason is to speak to God and to listen\nto Him when He speaks to us by His inspirations and the interior\nmovements of grace.... Now, one or other of these two advantages can\nnever fail to be derived from prayer. If, then, we can speak to our Lord,\nlet us do so in praise and supplication: if we are unable to speak, let\nus remain in his presence notwithstanding, offering him our silent\nhomage; he will see us there, our patience will touch him and our silence\nwill plead with him and win his favor. Another time, to our utter\nastonishment, he will take us by the hand, and converse with us, and make\na hundred turns with us in his garden of prayer. And even should he never\ndo this, still let us be content to know it is our duty to be in his\nretinue, and that it is a great favor and a greater honor for us that he\nsuffers us in his presence.\n\nIn this way we do not force ourselves to speak to God, for we know that\nmerely to remain close to him is as useful, nay, perhaps more useful to\nus, though it may be less to our liking. Therefore when you draw near to\nour Lord speak to him if you can; if you cannot, stay there, let him see\nyou, and do not be anxious about anything else.... Take courage, then,\ntell your Saviour you will not leave him even should he never grant you\nany sensible sweetness; tell him that you will remain before him until he\nhas given you his blessing.\"*--St. Francis de Sales.\n\n6. The same Saint gives further valuable advice as follows: \"Many persons\nfail to make a distinction between the presence of God in their souls and\nthe consciousness of this adorable presence, between faith and the\nsensible feeling of faith. This shows a great want of discernment. When\nthey do not realize God's presence dwelling within them, they suppose He\nhas withdrawn himself through some fault of theirs. This is an ignorant\nand hurtful error. A man who endures martyrdom for love of God does not\nthink actually and exclusively of God but much of his own sufferings; and\nyet the absence of this feeling of faith does not deprive him of the\ngreat merit due to his faith and the resolutions it caused him to make\nand to keep.\"\n\n7. Your vocal prayers should be few in number but said with great fervor.\nThe strength derived from food does not depend upon the quantity taken\nbut upon its being well digested. Far better one Our Father or one Psalm\nsaid with devout attention than entire rosaries and long offices recited\nhurriedly and with restless eagerness.\n\n8. If you feel whilst saying vocal prayers--those not of obligation--that\nGod invites you to meditate, gently and promptly follow this divine\nimpulse. You may be sure that in doing so you make an exchange most\nprofitable to yourself and agreeable to God from whom the inspiration\ncomes.\n\n9. Prepare yourself for prayer by peaceful recollection and begin it\nwithout agitation or uneasiness. St. Francis de Sales has this to say on\nthe subject: \"Some little time before you are going to pray, calm and\ncompose your heart, and be hopeful of doing well; for if you begin\nwithout hope and already devoid of relish, you will find it difficult to\nregain an appetite.... The disquiet you experience in prayer, accompanied\nby great eagerness to discover some object that can fix and satisfy your\nthoughts, is of itself sufficient to prevent you finding what you seek.\nWhen a thing is searched for with too great eagerness, one may have his\nhands or his eyes almost upon it a hundred times and yet fail to perceive\nit. This vain and useless anxiety in regard to prayer can result in\nnothing but weariness of mind, and this in turn produces coldness and\napathy in your soul.\"\n\n10. Be careful not to overburden yourself with too many prayers, either\nmental or vocal. As soon as you feel uncontrollable weariness or\ndistaste, postpone your prayers, if possible, and seek relief in some\npleasant pastime, or conversation, or in any other innocent diversion.\nThis advice is given by St. Thomas and other learned Fathers of the\nChurch and is of the utmost importance. Follow it conscientiously, for\nlassitude of mind begets coldness and a kind of spiritual stupor.\n\n11. Never repeat a prayer, even should you have said it with many\ndistractions. You cannot imagine the innumerable difficulties in which\nyou may become entangled by the habit of repeating your prayers.\nTherefore I beg of you not to do it. *In St. Ignatius' time there was a\ncertain religious of the Society of Jesus who was a victim of this kind\nof scruple. The recital of the daily Office always kept him much longer\nthan was necessary because he would repeat again and again and for hours\nat a time any passage that he suspected had not been said with sufficient\nattention. St. Ignatius tried to correct him by various means, but in\nvain. At length the thought occurred that one scruple might be cured by\nanother. He therefore commanded the poor Jesuit, under pain of sin and in\nvirtue of religious obedience, to close his breviary every day at the end\nof a specified time, this being just enough to allow him to read the\nOffice through once and rather quickly. The first day the religious was\nobliged to stop before he had half finished. This caused him such intense\nregret that ere long the fear of not being able to say the entire Office\nmade him contract the habit of finishing it within the allotted time.*\nBegin your prayer with the desire of being very recollected. This is all\nthat is necessary. \"A desire has the same value in the sight of God as a\ngood work\", says St. Gregory the Great, \"when the accomplishment of it\ndoes not depend upon our will.\" During these involuntary distractions God\nwithdraws the sensible feeling of His presence, but His love remains in\nthe depths of our hearts. St. Theresa, in the midst of dryness and\ndistractions, was wont to say: \"If I am not praying I am at least doing\npenance.\" I should say: you are doing both the one and the other: you do\npenance by all that you are suffering, you pray by the desire and\nintention you have to do so.\n\n12. You should never repeat a prayer nor a point in your meditation even\nif you have had in the inferior portion of your soul ideas and feelings\nat variance with the words pronounced by your lips or with the sentiments\nyou wished to excite in your heart. Nay, do not be induced to do it, even\nwere these ideas and feelings injurious to God. Under such conditions, be\ncareful not to give way to anxiety and agitation and do not try to make\nreparation for an imaginary offence. Continue your prayer in peace as if\nnothing had disturbed it, not taking the trouble to notice these dogs\nthat come from the devil and that can bark around you while you pray in\norder to distract you, if may be, but that cannot bite you unless you let\nthem. *\"This temptation should be treated exactly the same as temptations\nof the flesh: do not dispute with it at all, rather imitate the children\nof Israel who made no attempt to break the bones of the paschal lamb but\ncast them into the fire. You need not answer the enemy, nor even pretend\nto hear what he says. Let the wretch clamor at the door as much as he\nwants to, it is not even necessary to call: Who is there? What you tell\nme is no doubt true, you say, but he annoys me and the uproar he makes\nprevents those within from hearing one another speak. That makes no\ndifference. Have patience, prostrate yourself before God and remain at\nhis feet. He will understand from your very attitude, although you utter\nno words, that you are his and that you crave his help. Above all,\nhowever, keep yourself well within and do not on any account open the\ndoor, either to see who it is, or to drive the importunate fellow away.\nEventually he will tire of shouting and will leave you in peace.\"*[3] St.\nAugustine says that the devil is a formidable giant to those who fear\nhim, but only a miserable dwarf to those who despise him.\n\n13. Should it happen that the whole time given to prayer be passed in\nrejecting temptations or in recalling your mind from its wanderings, and\nyou do not succeed in giving birth to a single devout thought or\nsentiment, St. Francis de Sales is authority for saying that your prayer\nis nevertheless all the more meritorious from the fact of its being so\nunsatisfactory to you. It makes you more like to our divine Lord when he\nprayed in the Garden of Gethsemani and on Mount Calvary. \"Better to eat\nbread without sugar, than sugar without bread. We should seek the God of\nconsolations, not the consolations of God: and in order to possess God in\nheaven, we must now suffer with him and for him.\"\n\n*\"When your mind wanders or gives way to distractions, gently recall it\nand place it once more close to its Divine Master. If you should do\nnothing else but repeat this during the whole time of prayer, your hour\nwould be very well spent and you would perform a spiritual exercise most\nacceptable to God.\"*--St. Francis de Sales.\n\n14. It is well to bear in mind that in commanding us to pray always our\nSaviour did not mean actual prayer, as that would be an impossibility.\nThe desire to glorify God by all our actions suffices for the rigorous\nfulfilment of this precept, if this desire be habitual and permanent.\n\"You pray often,\" says St. Augustine, \"if you often have a desire to pay\nhomage to God by your actions: you pray always if you always have this\ndesire, no matter how you may be otherwise employed.\"\n\n*\"Need we be surprised that St. Augustine often assures us that the whole\nChristian life is but one long, continual tending of our hearts towards\nthat eternal justice for which we sigh here below? Our only happiness\nconsists in ever thirsting for it, and this thirst is in itself a prayer;\nconsequently if we always desire this justice, we pray always. Do not\nthink it necessary to pronounce a great many words and to struggle much\nwith one's self in order to pray. To pray is to ask God that his will may\nbe done, to form some good desire, to raise the heart to God, to long for\nthe riches he promises us, to sigh over our miseries and the danger we\nare in of displeasing him by violating His holy law. Now this requires\nneither science nor method nor reasoning; one can pray without any\ndistinct thought; no head-work is necessary; only a moment of time and a\nloving effusion of the heart are needed; and even this moment may be\nsimultaneously occupied with something else, for so great is God's\ncondescension to our weakness that he permits us to divide it when\nnecessary between him and creatures. Yes, during this moment you can\ncontinue what you were doing: it is sufficient to offer to God your most\nordinary occupations, or to perform them with the general intention of\nglorifying him. This is the continual prayer required by St. Paul ...\nthought by many devout persons to be impracticable, but in reality very\neasy for those who know that the best of all prayers is to do everything\nwith a pure intention, and frequently to renew the desire to perform all\nour actions for God and in accordance with his divine will.\"--F\u00e9nelon.*\n\n15. You should never omit or neglect the duties of your state of life in\norder to say certain self-imposed prayers. These duties are a substitute\nfor prayers and are equally efficacious, St. Thomas teaches, for\nobtaining the graces you stand in need of and which are promised to those\nwho ask them properly. It is even more meritorious to perform some work\nfor the love of God, to whom we offer it, than merely to raise the soul\nto Him by actual prayer.\n\n*\"Every person is bound to observe strictly the duties of his particular\ncalling. Whoever fails to do this, although he should raise the dead to\nlife, is guilty of sin and should the sin be grave deserves damnation if\nhe die therein. For example, bishops are obliged to make a visitation of\ntheir diocese in order to console and instruct their flock and to rectify\nwhatever may be amiss. If I, a bishop, neglect this duty I shall be lost\neven though I spend my entire time in prayer and fast all my life.\"--St.\nFrancis de Sales.*\n\n16. Make frequent use of the prayers called _ejaculations_,--which are\nshort and loving aspirations that raise the soul to its Creator.\nAccording to St. Francis de Sales, ejaculations can in case of necessity\nreplace all other prayers, whereas all other prayers cannot supply for\nthe omission of ejaculations.\n\n*\"Acquire the habit of making frequent ejaculations. They are sighs of\nlove that dart upwards to God to sue for His aid and succor. It will\ngreatly facilitate this custom if you keep in mind the point of your\nmorning's meditation that you liked best and ponder it over during the\nday. In sickness let pious ejaculations take the place of all other\nprayers.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n17. Ejaculatory prayers can be made at all times, wherever we are or\nwhatever we may be doing. They might be compared to those aromatic\npastilles, which we may always have about us and take from time to time\nto strengthen the stomach and please the palate. Ejaculations have a like\neffect on the soul by refreshing and fortifying it.\n\n18. The monks of old, of whom St. Augustine speaks, could not say long\nprayers, obliged as they were to earn their bread by daily toil.\nEjaculatory prayers, therefore, took the place of all others for them,\nand it may be said that although laboring unceasingly they prayed\ncontinually.\n\n19. I cannot too earnestly urge you to accustom yourself to the\nprofitable and easy practice of making frequent ejaculations. It is far\npreferable to saying many other vocal prayers, for these when too\nnumerous are apt to employ the lips only rather than to reanimate and\nenlighten the soul.\n\n20. St. Theresa's opinion is that the body should be in a comfortable\nposition when we pray, as otherwise it is difficult for the mind to pay\nthe proper attention to prayer and to the presence of God. Do not then\nfatigue your body by remaining too long prostrate or kneeling: the\nimportant thing is that the soul should humble itself before God in\nsentiments of respect, confidence and love.\n\nRead Chap. XIII, Part II, of the _Introduction to a Devout Life_.\n\n\n\n\n IV.\n PENANCE.\n\n\n A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a contrite and humble heart,\n O God, thou wilt not despise. (Ps. L., 19.)\n\nI. According to the teaching of St. Thomas there are three ways of doing\npenance, namely, fasting, prayer, and alms-deeds--either corporal or\nspiritual. Therefore you must not suppose you are prevented from doing\npenance when not allowed to subject your body to severe fasts and painful\nmortifications. The other two penitential works, prayer and alms-giving,\ncan in this case take the place of corporal austerities in the fulfilment\nof the Christian duty of penance. Observe also that it is not in\naccordance with the spirit of the laws of God and of his Church, which\nprescribe fasting, to injure your health thereby, nor to hinder the\naccomplishment of the duties of your state of life.\n\n2. Labor, sickness, disappointments, reverse of fortune, dryness in\nprayer, all these when accepted with resignation are penitential works,\nsuch, too, as are the more agreeable to God from their being so\ndistasteful to ourselves. All virtues may be divided into two great\nclasses, active and passive. The characteristic of the active virtues is\nto do good, of the passive, to endure evil. Now the virtues of the second\nclass are more meritorious and less perilous. In the active virtues\nnature can have a large share, and a dangerous self-complacency, or\nsatisfaction in their effects, may easily glide into them. This danger is\nless to be feared in the practice of the passive virtues, especially when\nthe sufferings are not of our own choosing but come to us direct from the\nhand of God.\n\n3. St. Jerome teaches that when the devil cannot turn a soul away from\nthe love of virtue, he tries to urge it to excessive mortification, in\norder that it may thus become exhausted and lose the vigor indispensable\nto its spiritual progress. Numbers of devout people have fallen into this\nsnare.\n\n4. \"I charge you,\" says St. Francis de Sales, \"to preserve your health\ncarefully, for God exacts this of you, and to husband your strength so as\nto employ it in his service. It is even better to save more than the\nrequisite amount of strength than to reduce it too much, for we can\nalways lessen it at will, whereas, once lost, it is no easy matter to\nregain it.\" Therefore give your body the nourishment it needs to maintain\nits strength and health.\n\n5. We learn from Cassian and St. Thomas that in a celebrated conference\nheld by the holy Abbot St. Anthony with the most learned religious of\nEgypt, it was decided that of all virtues moderation is the most useful,\nas it guards and preserves all the others. It is owing to the lack of\nthis essential moderation in their devotional exercises and\nmortifications that many persons whilst seeking holiness find only ill\nhealth. As a consequence they eventually abandon the path of perfection,\njudging it impracticable because they have attempted to walk in it bound\nwith fetters.\n\n6. St. Augustine makes the following apt comparison, which you can look\nupon as a good rule in this matter: \"The body is a poor invalid confided\nto the charity of the soul, the soul being commissioned to give it such\nassistance as it requires. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, are its habitual\nailments; let the soul then charitably apply to them the needful\nremedies, provided these be always within the bounds of moderation and\nprudence.\" He who acts in this way fulfils a duty of obedience to his\nCreator.\n\n7. From these various opinions it is easy to see how false are certain\nmaxims met with in some ascetical works: for example, that it is of small\nconsequence if one should shorten his life by ten or fifteen years in\norder to save his soul. If this were true, a much surer way would be to\nsecure a still speedier death, and see to what that would lead. No: it is\nnot permissible in ordinary practice to impose upon ourselves arbitrarily\nany kind of mortification that would directly tend to shorten life. \"To\nkill one's self with a single blow,\" says St. Jerome, \"or to kill one's\nself little by little--I make but slight distinction between these two\ncrimes.\" Life, health and strength are blessings that have been given us\nin trust, and we cannot lawfully dispose of them as though they belonged\nto us absolutely.\n\n8. The example of those saints who practised extraordinary penances\ndeserves our sincere admiration, but it is not in these exterior acts\nthat we should try to imitate them; to do this would necessitate being as\nholy as they were. Duplicate their miracles also, then, if you can. \"If\nwe had to copy the saints in everything they did,\" says St. Frances de\nChantal, \"it would be necessary to spend our life in a horrible cave like\nSt. John Climachus, or on top of a pillar as St. Simon Stylites did, to\nlive several weeks without other nourishment than the Holy Eucharist like\nSt. Catharine of Sienna, or to eat but a single ounce of food each day as\nSt. Aloysius did.\" Aspirations to imitate the saints in what is\nextraordinary are the effect of secret pride and not of genuine virtue.\n\n*The French translator of these Instructions had a conversation in Rome\nwith the learned and pious Jesuit, Rev. Father Rozaven, on this subject.\nSpeaking of the extraordinary fasts and mortifications of St. Ignatius,\nFather Rozaven said: \"Do not let us confound cause and effect. It is not\nbecause he did these things that Ignatius became a saint: on the\ncontrary, it is because he was already a saint that it was possible and\npermissible for him to do them.\" In truth every act that exceeds human\nstrength is an act of presumption unless it be the result of a special\ninspiration, and the Church approves it only if she recognizes this\ndivine impulse which alone can authorize a deviation from the general\nrule. It is owing to such an exception that she venerates among those who\nsuffered for the faith Saint Theodora, Saint Pomposa, Saint Flora and\nSaint Denys, notwithstanding the fact that they violated the law which\nforbids any one to seek martyrdom. The same spirit influenced her in\nsanctioning the voluntary death of Sampson and of Saint Appolonia, who\nmight be called pious suicides were it allowable to connect two such\ncontradictory words.--Read Chap. XXIII, Part III. of the _Introduction to\na Devout Life_.*\n\n\n\n\n V.\n CONFESSION.\n\n\n I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord, and\n thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin. (Ps. XXXI, 5.)\n\n But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ\n the Just. (1st Epist. St. John, c. II, v. 1.)\n\n Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose ye shall\n retain, they are retained. (St. John, c. XX. v. 23.)\n\n1. The sacrament of penance is a sacrament of mercy. We should therefore\napproach it with confidence and in peace. Saint Francis de Sales assures\nus that for those who go to confession once a week a quarter of an hour\nis enough for the examination of conscience, and a still shorter time for\nexciting contrition. Not even this much is necessary, he adds, for those\nwho confess more frequently.\n\n2. Faults omitted in confession either because they were forgotten or\nbecause they seemed too trivial to mention, are nevertheless effaced by\nthe absolution. St. Francis de Sales has this to say on the subject: \"You\nmust not feel worried if you cannot remember your sins when preparing for\nconfession, for it is incredible that any one who often examines her\nconscience would overlook or be unable to recall such faults as are\nimportant. Neither should you be so keenly anxious to mention every\nminute imperfection, every trifling fault; it is enough to speak of these\nto our Lord, with a sigh of regret and a humble heart, whenever you\nremark them.\" And do not imagine in consequence that you are guilty of\nsecret sins which you are hiding from your confessor. This fear is an\nartifice made use of by the devil to disturb your peace of mind.\n\n*\"You must not be so anxious to tell everything, nor to run to your\nsuperiors to make a great ado over each little thing that troubles you\nand that will, perhaps, be forgotten in a quarter of an hour. We must\nlearn to bear with generosity these trifles which we cannot remedy, for\nordinarily they are only the consequences of our imperfect nature. That\nyour will, feelings, and desires are so inconstant; that you are at one\ntime moody, at another cheerful; that you now have a wish to speak, and\npresently feel the greatest aversion to do so; and a thousand similar\ninsignificant matters are infirmities to which we are naturally prone and\nwill be subject to as long as we live.... It is needless to accuse\nyourself in confession of those fleeting thoughts that like gnats swarm\naround you, or of the disgust and aversion you feel in the observance of\nyour vows and devotional exercises, for these things are not sins, they\nare only inconveniences, annoyances.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n3. Rest assured that the more closely you examine your conscience the\nless you will discover that is worth the trouble of telling. Moreover,\nyou must remember that too long an examen fatigues the mind and cools the\nfervor of the heart.\n\n4. To those who in their confessions are inclined to confuse\ninvoluntarily movements with sins, Saint Francis de Sales gives the\nfollowing useful advice: \"You tell me that when you have experienced a\nstrong feeling of anger, or have had any other temptation, you are always\nuneasy if you do not confess it. When you are not sure that you have\ngiven consent to it, I assure you it is unnecessary to mention it except\nit may be in spiritual conference, and then not by way of accusation, but\nto obtain advice how to behave another time in like circumstances. For if\nyou say: I accuse myself of having had movements of violent anger for two\ndays, but I did not give way to them, you are telling your virtues, not\nyour sins. A doubt comes into my mind, though, that I may have committed\nsome fault during the temptation. You must consider maturely if this\ndoubt have any foundation in fact, and if so, speak of the matter in\nconfession with all simplicity; otherwise it is better not to mention it,\nas you would do so only for your own satisfaction. Even should this\nsilence cost you some pain, you must endure it as you would any other to\nwhich you can apply no remedy.\"\n\n5. \"Omit from your confessions\"--we again quote the same Saint--\"those\nsuperfluous accusations which so many persons make merely through habit:\nI have not loved God sufficiently; I have not prayed with enough fervor;\nI have not loved my neighbor as much as I should; I have not received the\nSacraments with all the reverence due to them; and others of a like\nnature. You will readily see the reason for this. It is that in speaking\nthus you tell nothing particular that would make known to the confessor\nthe state of your conscience, and because the most perfect man living, as\nwell as all the saints in Paradise might say the same things were they\nmaking a confession.\"\n\n6. Those who go to confession frequently should always bear in mind what\nthe saintly director says in addition: \"We are not obliged to confess our\nvenial sins, but if we do so it must be with a firm resolution to correct\nthem, otherwise it is an abuse of the sacrament to mention them.\"\n\n7. After confession keep your soul in peace, and be on your guard--this\nis a point of cardinal importance--against giving access to any fear\nabout the validity of the sacrament, either as regards the examination of\nconscience, the contrition, or anything else whatsoever. These fears are\nsuggestions of the devil whose aim it is to instil bitterness into a\nsacrament of consolation and love.\n\n*\"After confession is not the time to examine ourselves to find if we\nhave told all our sins. We should rather remain attentively and in peace\nnear our Lord, with whom We have just been reconciled, and thank Him for\nHis great mercy. Nor is it necessary subsequently to search out what we\nmay have forgotten. We must tell simply all that comes to mind; after\nthat we need think no more about it.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n8. It is essential to be sorry for our sins--it is not essential to be\ntroubled about them. Repentance is an effect of love of God, anxiety is\nan effect of self-love. In the midst of the keenest and most sincere\nrepentance we can still thank God that He has not permitted us to become\nyet more culpable. Let us promise Him a solid amendment, relying for\nsuccess solely upon the assistance of divine grace; and should we fall\nagain a hundred times a day, let us never cease to renew the promise and\nthe hope. God can in an instant raise up from the very stones children to\nAbraham and exalt the most corrupt natures to the highest degree of\nsanctity. At times He does so, but usually it is His will that we long\ncontinue to bear the burden of our infirmity: let us not then lose our\ntrust in Him, nor mistake a state of trial for a state of reprobation.\n\n*God has, indeed, on some occasions cured sinners instantaneously and\nwithout leaving in them any trace of their previous maladies. Such, for\ninstance, was the case with the Magdalen. In a moment her soul was\nchanged from a sink of corruption into a well-spring of perfection, never\nagain to be contaminated by sin. But, on the other hand, in several of\nthe beloved disciples this same God allowed many marks of their evil\ninclinations to remain for some time after their conversion, and this for\ntheir greater good. Witness Saint Peter, who, even after the divine call,\nwas guilty of various imperfections and once fell totally and miserably\nby the triple denial of his Lord and Master.\n\n\"Solomon says there is no one more insolent than a servant who has\nsuddenly become mistress.[4] A soul that after a long slavery to its\npassions should in a moment subjugate them completely, would be in great\ndanger of becoming a prey to pride and vanity. This dominion must be\ngained little by little, step by step; it cost the saints long years of\nlabor to acquire it. Hence the necessity of having patience with every\none, but first of all with yourself.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n*There is no sight more pleasing to Heaven than to witness the\npersevering and determined struggle of a soul which, throughout, remains\nunited to God by a sincere desire and a firm resolution not to offend\nhim--and maintaining this struggle calmly and patiently even when it is\nto all appearance fruitless. Such a soul, resigned to retain its defects\nif it is God's will, yet determined notwithstanding to fight against them\nrelentlessly, is more precious in the eyes of God than if the practice of\nvirtue were easy for it and it were in peaceful possession of spiritual\ngifts. Labor, then, in the presence of your heavenly Father; struggle on\nwith strength and courage; but do not be too desirous of success, for\nwhen this craving for self-satisfaction is excessive it is sure to be\naccompanied by vexation and impatience.\n\n\"Evil things must not be desired at all,\" says Saint Francis de Sales,\n\"nor good things immoderately.\" And elsewhere: \"I entreat of you, love\nnothing too ardently, not even the virtues, for these we sometimes\nforfeit by exceeding the bounds of moderation.\" And again: \"Why is it\nthat if we happen to fall into some imperfection or sin we are surprised\nat ourselves and become disquieted and impatient? Undoubtedly it is\nbecause we thought there was some good in us, and that we were resolute\nand strong. Consequently when we find this is not the case, that we have\ntripped and fallen to the earth, we are anxious, annoyed and troubled;\nwhereas if we realized what we truly are, in place of being astonished at\nseeing ourselves down, we should wonder rather how we ever remain erect.\"\n\n\"We should labor, therefore, without any uneasiness as to results. God\nrequires efforts on our part, but not success. If we combat with\nperseverance, nothing daunted by our defeats, these very defeats will be\nworth as much to us as victories, and even more. But beware!--there is a\nrock here! If this conflict is not undertaken in perfectly good faith, we\nwill try to deceive ourselves as to the genuineness of our efforts by\ncalling the cowardice which caused us to refuse the battle a defeat, and\nby dignifying with the name of trial the results of our own effeminacy\nand sloth.\"*\n\n9. Contrition is essentially an act of the will by which we detest our\npast sins and resolve not to commit them in future. Hence sighs, tears,\nsensible sorrow are not necessary elements of true contrition. Contrition\ncan even attain that degree of disinterested perfection which suffices\nfor the justification of a sinner, in the midst of the greatest dryness\nand an apparent insensibility. Therefore never allow yourself to be\ndisturbed by the want of sensible sorrow.\n\n10. Do not make violent efforts to excite your soul to contrition, for\nthese only have the effect of producing anxiety, weariness and oppression\nof mind. On the contrary seek to become very calm; say lovingly to God\nthat you wish sincerely you had never offended Him and that with the\nassistance of His grace you will never offend Him more--that is\ncontrition. True contrition is a product of love, and love acts in a\ncalm.\n\n11. \"An act of contrition,\" says St. Francis de Sales, \"is the work of a\nmoment.\" Cast a rapid glance at yourself to see and detest your sins, and\nanother towards God to promise Him amendment and to express a hope of\nobtaining His assistance in keeping this promise. David, one of the most\ncontrite penitents that ever lived, expressed his act of contrition in a\nsingle word: _Peccavi_--I have sinned, and by that one word he was\njustified.\n\n*\"You ask how an act of contrition can be made in a short time? I answer\nthat a very good one can be made in almost no time. Nothing more is\nneeded than to prostrate oneself before God in a spirit of humility and\nof sorrow for having offended Him.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n12. You say you would wish to have contrition but cannot succeed in\nfeeling it. Saint Francis de Sales replies: \"The ability to wish is a\ngreat power with God, and you thus have contrition by the simple fact\nthat you wish to have it. You do not feel it indeed at the moment, but\nneither do you see nor feel a fire covered with ashes, nevertheless the\nfire exists.\" The immoderate desire of sensible sorrow comes from\nself-love and self-complacency. A sorrow that satisfies only God is not\nsufficient for us, we wish it to satisfy us also; we like to find in our\nsensibility a flattering and reassuring testimony of our love of good.\n\n13. If God does not grant you the enjoyment of sensible sorrow, it is in\norder that you may gain the merit of obedience, which should suffice to\nreassure you as to your perfect reconciliation. Believe therefore with\nhumility, obey with courage, and you will earn a twofold reward. The\ngreatest saints have at times believed they had neither contrition nor\nlove, but in the midst of this darkness of the understanding, their will\nfollowed the torch of obedience with heroic submission.\n\n14. Do not conclude that you lack contrition or that your confessions are\ndefective, because you fall again into the same faults. It is very\nessential to make a distinction in regard to relapses. Those that are the\noffspring of a perverse will which has preserved an affection for certain\nvenial sins, takes pleasure and wishes to take pleasure in them,--these\nshould not be tolerated; we must vigorously attack them at the very root\nand not allow ourselves any respite until they are utterly exterminated.\nBut those relapses that proceed from inadvertence, from surprise\nnotwithstanding constant vigilance, from the infirmity and frailty of our\nnature, to these we shall remain partially subject until our last breath.\n\"It will be doing very well,\" says Saint Francis de Sales, \"if we get\nfree of certain faults a quarter of an hour before our death.\" And\nelsewhere: \"We are obliged not only to bear with the failings of our\nneighbor, but likewise with our own and to be patient at the sight of our\nimperfections.\" We must try to correct ourselves, but we should do it\ntranquilly and without anxiety. We cannot become angels before the proper\ntime.\n\n*\"You complain that you still have many faults and failings\nnotwithstanding your desire for perfection and a pure love of God. I\nassure you that it is impossible to be entirely divested of self whilst\nwe are here below. We shall always be obliged to bear ourselves about\nwith us until God transfers us to heaven; and whilst we do this we carry\nsomething that is of no value. It is necessary, therefore, to have\npatience, and not to expect to cure ourselves in a day of the numerous\nbad habits contracted through past carelessness in regard to our\nspiritual welfare. Pray do not look here, there and everywhere: look only\nat God and yourself; you will never see God devoid of goodness, nor\nyourself without wretchedness and that wretchedness the object of God's\ngoodness and mercy.\"--St. Francis de Sales. (After the examination of\nconscience read the _Following of Christ_, B. III., Chap. XX.)*\n\n*F\u00e9nelon speaks in the same tone: \"You should never be surprised or\ndiscouraged at your faults. You must bear with them patiently yet without\nflattering yourself or sparing correction. Treat yourself as you would\nanother. As soon as you find you have committed a fault make an interior\nact of self-condemnation, turn to God to receive a penance, and then tell\nyour fault with simplicity to your director. Begin over again to do well\nas though it were the first time, and do not grow weary if you have to\nmake a fresh start every day. Nothing is more touching to the Sacred\nHeart of Jesus than this humble and patient courage. We should not be\ncast down if we have many temptations and even commit numerous faults.\n'Virtue,' says the Apostle, 'is made perfect in infirmity.'[5] Spiritual\nprogress is effected less by sensible devotion, relish and spiritual\nconsolations, than by means of interior humiliation and frequent recourse\nto God.\"*\n\n15. Habitually add to your confession some general accusation of all the\nsins of your past life, or of such of them as occasion you most remorse.\nSay, for example, I accuse myself of sins against purity, or charity, or\ntemperance. You thus preclude the possibility of there being lack of\nsufficient matter for the validity of the Sacrament.\n\n16. Banish from your mind the dread of having omitted any sins in either\nyour general or ordinary confessions, or of not having explained their\ncircumstances clearly enough. The learned theologian Janin sets forth the\nfollowing rules on the subject: The Church, the interpreter of the will\nof Jesus Christ, requires sacramental integrity in confession, and not\nmaterial integrity. The former consists in the confession of all the sins\nwe can remember after a sufficient examination, the duration of which\nshould be regulated by the actual state of the conscience. Material\nintegrity would require a rigorously complete accusation of all the sins\nwe have committed with their number and circumstances, without the\nslightest omission. Now sacramental integrity may be reasonably exacted\nsince it exceeds no one's ability; whilst material integrity, on the\ncontrary, could not be exacted without the sacrament becoming an\nimpossibility; for, no matter how carefully we make our examination of\nconscience, some sin, or some detail in regard to number or circumstance,\nwill always escape us. In a word, all that the Church demands of the\nfaithful is a sincere and humble avowal of every sin that can be brought\nto mind after a suitable examen: for the rest, she intends good will to\nsupply for any defect of memory.\n\n*Do not be uneasy because you fail to remember all your failings in order\nto tell them in confession. This is unnecessary, because as you often\nfall almost without being aware of it, so you often get up again without\nperceiving it; just as in the passage you quote it is not said that the\njust man sees or feels himself fall seven times a day, but simply that he\nfalls seven times a day: in like manner he gets up again without noticing\nparticularly that he has done so. Hence have no anxiety about this, but\nfrankly and humbly confess whatever you remember, and commit the rest to\nthe tender mercies of him who puts his hand under those who fall without\nmalice that they may not be bruised, and raises them up again so gently\nand swiftly that they scarcely realize they had fallen.--St. Francis de\nSales.*\n\n17. By a diligent examination of conscience you have thoroughly satisfied\nall the requirements for sacramental integrity; therefore banish whatever\ndoubts and fears may come to beset you, for they are nothing but\ntemptations.\n\n18. Should you suspect that you failed to fulfil these requirements owing\nto not having been particular enough about your examination of\nconscience, you may feel sure that your confessor has by prudent\ninterrogations supplied for whatever may have been wanting on your part.\nAnd if he did not question you further it was due to the fact that he\nunderstood clearly enough the nature of your sins and the state of your\nsoul, and this is the object of sacramental accusation.\n\n19. How great then is the error of those poor souls who wish continually\nto make their general confessions over again, either through fear of\nincomplete examination or of insufficient sorrow; and how blameworthy the\nweak complaisance of those confessors who offer no opposition to their\ndoing so! If such fears were to be listened to, every one would be\nobliged to pass his entire life in making and repeating general\nconfessions, for they would incessantly spring up afresh and even the\ngreatest saints would not be exempt from them. A sacrament of consolation\nand love would thus be transformed into a perfect torture for the\nsoul--an heretical perversion anathematized by the Council of Trent.\n\n*\"I have found in your general confession all the marks of a sincere,\ngood and earnest confession. Never have I heard one that more thoroughly\nsatisfied me. You may rely on this, for in these matters I speak very\nplainly. However, if you really omitted something that ought to have been\ntold, consider if you did so consciously and voluntarily, in which case,\nif it was a mortal sin or you thought it one at the time, you would\nundoubtedly have to make the confession over again. But if it were only a\nvenial sin, or though mortal you omitted it out of forgetfulness or some\ndefect of memory, have no scruples; for at my soul's peril, I assure you\nthere is no obligation to repeat your confession. It will be quite\nsufficient to mention the matter to your ordinary confessor. I will\nanswer for this.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n20. It is the teaching of the saints and doctors of the Church that when\na general confession has been made with a sincere and upright intention\nand with a desire to change one's life, the penitent should remain in\npeace in regard to it, and not make it over again under any pretext\nwhatsoever. Those who do otherwise recall to their memory things that\nshould be banished from it, and increase the trouble of their soul by a\ntoo eager desire to purify it. For, as Saint Philip de Neri so well\nexpresses it: _the harder we sweep, the more dust we raise_.\n\n21. Remember, in conclusion, that according to the common opinion of the\nsaints, the fear of sin is no longer salutary when it becomes excessive.\n\n\n\n\n VI.\n HOLY COMMUNION.\n\n\n Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye\n shall not have life in you. (St. John, c. vi., v. 54.)\n\n And he sent ... to say to those who were invited, that they should\n come; for now all things were ready. And they began all at once to make\n excuse. (St. Luke, c. xiv., vv. 17-18.)\n\n And if I send them away fasting ... they will faint in the way. (St.\n Mark, c. viii., v. 3.)\n\n My heart is withered; because I forgot to eat my bread. (Ps. ci.)\n\n1. Frequent communion is the most efficacious of all means to unite us to\nGod. \"He that eateth my flesh,\" said our divine Saviour, \"abideth in Me\nand I in him.\"[6]\n\n2. St. Bernard calls the Holy Eucharist _the love of loves_. Hence you\nshould desire to receive it frequently in order to be filled with this\ndivine love.\n\n3. St. Francis de Sales says there are two classes of persons who should\noften receive holy communion; the perfect, to unite themselves more\nclosely to the Source of all perfection, and the imperfect to labor to\nattain perfection; the strong that they may not become weak, the weak\nthat they may become strong; the sick that they may be cured, and those\nin health that they may be preserved from sickness. You tell me that your\nimperfections, your weakness, your littleness make you unworthy to\nreceive communion frequently; and I assure you it is precisely because of\nthese that you ought to receive it frequently in order that He who\npossesses all things may give you whatever is wanting to you.\n\n*The following words on this subject will not perhaps be considered by\nothers as giving much additional value to the authority of the saintly\nBishop of Geneva. They do so, however, in ours, because they are from the\nlips of a holy religious whose memory will always be dear to us----from a\nman whose last moments were the occasion of the greatest edification it\nhas ever pleased God to accord us. The Rev. Father Margottet, a Jesuit,\ndied at Nice, April 1st, 1835, shortly after his return from Portugal\nwhere he had suffered a most cruel captivity with the courage that faith\nalone can inspire. During the last months of his life he took great\npleasure in conversing with a certain young man who visited him regularly\nto be instructed and edified by his pious discourse. One day this young\nman confided to him the confusion he felt in availing himself of his\ndirector's permission to receive holy Communion several times a week.\nThis was due especially to the thought that St. Aloysius, whilst a novice\nof the Society of Jesus, went to Communion on Sundays only. \"Come, come,\nmy dear sir,\" laughingly replied the good Father, \"continue your frequent\nCommunions--you need them much more than St. Aloysius did.\" It is indeed\nan error to consider holy Communion a reward of virtue, and, in a\nmeasure, a guage of perfection, whereas it is above all a means to attain\nperfection, and the one pre-existing virtue required in order to employ\nthis means is the desire to profit by it. Our divine Lord did not say:\n_Venite ad me qui perfecti estis_--_Come to Me all ye who are perfect_:\nHe said: _Venite ad me qui laboratis et onerati estis_[7]--_Come to me\nall ye who labor and are burdened_. (Read Chapters XX. and XXI., Part\nII., of the _Introduction to a Devout Life_; and Chapters X. and XVI.\nBook IV. of _The Imitation_.)\n\nThe spirit of the Church has at all times been the same in regard to this\nimportant subject. F\u00e9nelon says in his letter on frequent Communion that\nSt. Chrysostom admits of no medium between the state of those who are in\nmortal sin and that of the faithful who are in a state of grace and\ncommunicate every day. In vain certain Christians, believing themselves\npurified and just, do no penance as sinners and nevertheless abstain from\nCommunion, because, they say, they are not perfect enough to receive it.\nThis intermediate state is not only most dangerous for one who wilfully\nremains in it, but is also injurious to the Blessed Sacrament. Far from\ndoing honor to the Holy Eucharist by depriving ourselves of it, we offend\nour divine Lord when we decline to partake of the Banquet to which He\ninvites us. In a word, according to this early Father of the Church, we\nought either to communicate with those who are in a state of grace, or to\ndo penance that we may be united to them as soon as possible.\n\nWe will quote the Saint's own words: \"Many of the faithful are weak and\nlanguishing, many among them sleep. And how, you say, does this happen\nsince we receive the Blessed Sacrament but once a year? That is precisely\nthe cause of all the trouble! For you imagine that merit consists not so\nmuch in purity of conscience as in the length of time intervening between\nyour Communions. You consider no higher mark of respect and honor can be\npaid to this Sacrament than not to approach the Holy Table often....\nTemerity does not consist in approaching the Altar frequently, but in\napproaching it unworthily were this but once in an entire life time....\nWhy then regulate the number of Communions by the law of time, instead of\nby purity of conscience, which should alone indicate how many times to\nreceive? This divine Mystery is nothing more at Easter than at all other\nseasons during which it is celebrated continually. It is ever the same,\nthat is to say, ever the same gift of the Holy Ghost. Easter continues\nthroughout the year. You who are initiated will understand perfectly what\nI say. Be it Saturday, or Sunday, or the feasts of the martyrs, it is\nalways the same Victim, the same Sacrifice.\" \"It was not the will of our\ndivine Lord that His Sacrifice should be restricted by the observance of\ntime.\"\n\nOther Fathers of the Church speak in the same way of Holy Communion:\n\n\"If it is daily bread,\" says Saint Ambrose, \"why do you partake of it but\nonce a year?... Receive it every day in order that every day you may\nbenefit by it. Live in such a manner that you may deserve to receive it\nevery day, for he who does not deserve to receive it every day will not\ndeserve to receive it at the end of the year.... Do you not know that\nevery time the Holy Sacrifice is offered, the death, resurrection and\nascension of our Lord are renewed to the atonement of sin? And yet you\nwill not partake daily of this Bread of Life! When one has received a\nwound does he not seek a remedy? Sin which holds us captive is our wound:\nour remedy is in this ever adorable Sacrament.\"\n\nIn order that it may be plainly proved that the faithful of the present\nday have no reason to act differently in this respect from those of the\nprimitive Church, let us see how this ancient discipline has been\nconfirmed in later times by the Council of Trent:\n\n\"Christians should believe in this Sacrament and reverence it with such a\nfirm faith, with so much fervor and piety, that they may often receive\nthis Super-substantial Bread; that it may be, in truth, the life of their\nsoul and the perpetual health of their spirit, and that the strength they\nderive therefrom may enable them to pass from the temptations of this\nearthly pilgrimage to the repose of their heavenly fatherland.... The\nCouncil would have the faithful receive Communion each time they assist\nat Mass, not only spiritually, but sacramentally, that they may derive\nmore abundant fruit from the Holy Sacrifice.\"*\n\n4. The evening before your Communion devote some little time to\nrecollection in order to ponder the inestimable gift that God is about to\nbestow upon you, and endeavor also to excite in your soul the desire and\nthe hope of finding therein your delight.\n\n5. Do not conclude that you derive no benefit from Holy Communion because\nyou find no perceptible increase in your virtues. Consider that it at\nleast serves to keep you in a state of grace. You give nourishment to\nyour body every day but you do not pretend to say that it daily gains in\nstrength. Does food appear useless to you on that account? Certainly not;\nfor, though it fail to augment strength, it preserves it by repairing the\nconstant waste. Now, this is precisely the case with the divine Food of\nour souls.\n\n*Observe, moreover, that there is no real increase in virtue without a\ncorresponding growth in humility. Consequently the more virtuous you are\nthe less so you will esteem yourself; the worthier you are to approach\nyour God, the more profoundly will you feel your unworthiness. For man,\nno matter to what degree of virtue he attain, cannot be otherwise than\nweak and sinful here below, and he realizes his baseness more and more\ndistinctly in proportion to his advancement in grace and in light.\n\nF\u00e9nelon speaks as follows on the same subject: \"Hitherto you lacked the\nlight to discover in your soul many movements of our malicious and\ndepraved nature, which now begin to reveal themselves to you. In\nproportion as light increases we find ourselves more corrupt than we\nsupposed: but we should be neither surprised nor discouraged, for it is\nnot that we are in reality worse than we were,--on the contrary we are\nbetter,--but because whilst our sinfulness decreases the light which\nshows it to us increases.\"*\n\n6. Do not fear that you are ill-prepared for Holy Communion and abuse the\nSacrament because in receiving it you are cold, indifferent, and devoid\nof feeling. This is a trial sent or permitted by God to test your faith\nand to advance you in merit. All that has been said in regard to dryness\nin prayer might be repeated here. Try to have an abiding desire to feel\nfor the Blessed Eucharist as ardent transports of love as were ever\nexperienced by the saints. A desire is equivalent before God to the thing\ndesired, as I have already quoted for you from Saint Gregory the Great;\ntherefore you should be satisfied with this when you can attain nothing\nhigher. Everything over and above this is grace, not merit.\n\n7. If you dare not receive Holy Communion often because you are not\nworthy, then you must never receive it, for you will never be worthy.\nWhat creature could be worthy to receive a God? Nay more, to follow out\nthis principle We should have to abandon the practice of visiting\nchurches and of speaking to God in prayer; for a miserable, sin-stained\nhuman being is unfit to enter the House of the Lord or to converse with\nHim.\n\n*\"How many scrupulous Christians do we not see languishing for want of\nthis divine Food! They consume themselves with subtle speculations and\nsterile efforts, they fear, they tremble, they doubt, and they vainly\nseek for a certainty that cannot be found in this life. Sweetness,\nunction, are not for them. They wish to live for God without living by\nhim. They are dry, feeble, exhausted: they are close to the Fountain of\nLiving Water and yet allow themselves to die of thirst. They desire to\nfulfil all exteriorly, yet do not dare to nourish themselves interiorly:\nthey wish to carry the burden of the law without imbibing its spirit and\nits consolation from prayer and frequent Communion!\"--F\u00e9nelon.*\n\n8. In regard to Holy Communion, therefore, do not confine yourself to a\nconsideration of your own unworthiness, but temper this with the thought\nof God's mercy. The guests at the symbolic marriage-feast,--a figure of\nthe Holy Eucharist,--were not the great and the rich, but the poor, the\nblind, the lame. Whosoever is clothed in the nuptial garment, that is to\nsay, whosoever is in a state of grace, is welcome to this banquet.\n\n9. St. Francis de Sales says that when we cannot go to Holy Communion\nwithout giving annoyance to others, or without failing against duties of\ncharity, justice or order, we should be satisfied with spiritual\nCommunion. \"Believe me,\" he adds, \"this mortification, this deprivation,\nwill be extremely pleasing to God and will advance you greatly in His\nlove. One must sometimes take a step backward in order to leap the\nbetter.\" It was not by frequent Communion that the holy anchorites\nsanctified themselves, but by the exact observance of the duties of their\ncalling. Saint Paul the Hermit received Holy Communion but twice during\nhis long, penitential life, nevertheless he was precious in the sight of\nGod. A propos of this subject Saint Francis de Sales gives us this\nadmirable advice: \"In proportion as you are hindered from doing the good\nyou desire, do all the more ardently the good that you do not desire. You\ndo not like to make such or such an act of resignation, you would prefer\nto make some other; but offer the one you do not like, for it will be of\nfar greater value.\" Saint John the Baptist was more intimately united in\nspirit with our Lord than even the Apostles themselves: yet he never\nbecame one of His followers owing to the fact that his vocation required\nthis sacrifice on his part and called him elsewhere. This is the greatest\nact of spiritual mortification recorded in the lives of the saints.\n\n*\"I have often admired the extreme resignation of Saint John the Baptist,\nwho remained so long in the desert, quite near to our Lord, without going\nto see, hear and follow Him. And after baptizing Jesus, how could he have\nallowed Him to depart without uniting himself to Him with his bodily\npresence, as he was already so united to Him by the ties of affection!\nAh! the divine Precursor knew that in his case the Master was best served\nby deprivation of His actual presence. Well, my dear daughter, it will be\nthe same with you in regard to Holy Communion. I mean that for the\npresent God will be pleased if in accordance to the wish of the superiors\nwhom He has placed over you, you endure the privation of His actual\npresence. It will be a great consolation to me to know that this advice\ndoes not disquiet your heart. Rest assured that this resignation, this\nrenunciation will be exceedingly beneficial to you.\"--St. Francis de\nSales.*\n\n11. Never refrain from receiving the Holy Eucharist because you happen to\nbe beset by temptations; this would be to capitulate to your enemy\nwithout offering any resistance. The more combats you have to sustain,\nthe greater the necessity of providing yourself with the means of\ndefence, and these are to be found in the Blessed Sacrament. Go\ncourageously then and renew your strength with the Food of the strong and\nvictory shall be yours.\n\n12. Be careful not to frequent the Holy Table because such and such a\nperson does so: an imitation common for the most part to women's vanity\nand jealousy, says Saint Francis de Sales. It is through love that our\ndivine Saviour gives Himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament: love alone\nshould lead us to receive it.\n\n13. Holy Communion should not be partaken of with the same frequency by\nall the faithful. All, indeed, must have the same object in view, that is\nunion with God, but the same means to attain that object are not proper\nfor every one. It is only by obedience to the advice of a spiritual\ndirector that each person can know what is suitable for him, as that\nwhich would be too little for one might be too much for another.\n\n\n\n\n VII.\n SUNDAYS AND HOLYDAYS.\n\n\n The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. (St. Mark,\n c. II., v: 27.)\n\n1. Every day of our life should be employed in glorifying God, but there\nare certain days He has particularly appointed whereon to receive from us\na more special exterior worship. These are Sundays and holydays.\n\n2. It is therefore obligatory upon us to sanctify such days. The ordinary\nmeans of fulfilling this duty are, principally, works of charity, the\nHoly Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, sermons, religious\ninstructions, and spiritual reading.\n\n3. Nevertheless, we should avoid over-fatiguing the mind and wearying the\nbody by too many exercises of devotion. Excess even in holy things is\nwrong, as virtue ends where excess begins. All that was said on this\nsubject in the chapter on Prayer is equally applicable here.\n\n4. Moreover it is well to know that a friendly visit, a walk, a lawful\ndiversion, all of which can be referred to God, serve also for the\nsanctification of Sundays and holydays, when undertaken with a view to\nplease Him. The same may be said of such daily occupations as are\nrequired of man by his bodily needs.\n\n*\"How often we are mistaken in our point of view! I tell you once again\nit is not the outward aspect of actions that we must look at, but their\ninterior spirit, that is to say, whether or not they are according to the\nwill of God. By no means regard the nature of the things you do, but\nrather the honor that accrues to them, worthless as they are in\nthemselves, from the fact that God wishes them, that they are in the\norder of his providence and disposed by His infinite wisdom. In a word,\nif they are pleasing to God, and recognized as being so, to whom should\nthey be displeasing?\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n5. These things are said for the instruction of those who are eager and\nanxious on Sundays and holydays of obligation to heap devotion upon\ndevotion and who make a crime of everything that is not an exterior act\nof piety. They apply themselves, it seems, to the material observance of\nthe sabbath, following the superstitious custom of the Pharisees, instead\nof peacefully sanctifying the Lord's day with that sweet and holy liberty\nof spirit which our divine Saviour teaches in the Gospel. Too much\ndissipation and over long prayers are two extremes each of which it is\nequally necessary to avoid.\n\n6. Should it happen that you are obliged to travel on Sunday or to attend\nto some unforseen business, do not be disquieted about the impossibility\nof fulfilling your customary devout exercises. Replace these with pious\nejaculations, which, as I have already said, can in case of necessity\nsupply for the omission of all other prayers.\n\n7. Remark, in conclusion, that to assist at a low Mass suffices strictly\nspeaking for the sanctification of the Sunday or holyday. Even this may\nbe omitted by those persons whom duty obliges to attend the sick, to mind\nthe house, or to take care of young children; for these being works of\njustice and charity and good in themselves, may, when performed with a\npure intention and accompanied by ejaculatory prayers, equal and even\nsurpass in value all exterior practices of devotion.\n\nI do not speak at all of the sick, for by their sufferings they can\nsanctify every day and make each one equal to the greatest festival.\n\n*\"Worldly notions are forever blending with our thoughts and throwing\nthem out of perspective. In the house of an earthly prince it is not so\nhonorable to be a scullion in the kitchen as to be a\ngentleman-in-waiting. But it is different in the house of God, where\nthose in the humblest positions are oft-times the most worthy; for\nalthough they labor and drudge it is done for the love of God and in\nfulfilment of His divine will; and the true value of our actions is fixed\nby this divine will and not by their exterior character. Therefore he who\ntruly loves God's will in the accomplishment of his duties, does not\nallow his affections to become engaged in any of his spiritual exercises;\nand so, if sickness or accident interfere with them he experiences no\nregret. I do not say indeed that he does not love his devotions, but that\nhe is not attached to them.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n*\"If you have a sincere regard for the virtues of obedience and\nsubmission, I wish that, should justice or charity demand it, you would\nforego your pious exercises, which would be a sort of obedience, and that\nthis omission should be supplied by love. I told you on another occasion:\nthe less we live according to our own liking, and the less option we have\nin our actions, the more goodness and solidity will there be in our\ndevotion. It is right and proper sometimes to leave our Lord in order to\noblige others for love of Him.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n\n\n\n VIII.\n SPIRITUAL READING.\n\n\n Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt instruct, O Lord, and shalt teach\n him out of Thy Law. (Ps. XCIII, v. 12.)\n\n All scripture divinely inspired, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to\n correct, to instruct in justice. (S. P. Timoth., Ep. II, iii, 16.)\n\n1. Spiritual reading is to the soul what food is to the body. Be careful,\ntherefore, to select such books as will furnish your soul with the best\nnourishment. I would recommend you to become familiar especially with the\nworks of Saint Francis de Sales.\n\n2. When the choice of reading matter is made by the advice of a spiritual\ndirector the teaching it contains should be looked upon as coming from\nthe mouth of God.\n\n3. Do not affect those lives of the Saints in which the supernatural and\nmarvellous predominate. The devout imagination becomes inflamed by such\nreading and is imbued with vain and useless desires: it leads some to\naspire to the revelations of Saint Bridget or the raptures of Saint\nJoseph of Cupertino, others to imitate the mortifications of the\nStylites; and thus by losing time in desiring extraordinary graces, they\nneglect, to their great detriment, ordinary duties and real obligations.\nTake great care, then, not to allow yourself to be absorbed in those\nwonderful characteristics of the saints which we should be content to\nadmire; give preference rather to their simple and interior virtues, for\nthese alone are imitable for us.\n\n*\"We ought not to wish for extraordinary things, as, for example, that\nGod would take away our heart, as He did with Saint Catherine of\nSienna's, and give us His in return. But we should desire that our poor\nhearts no longer live save in subjection to the Heart of our loving\nSaviour, and this will be the best way of imitating Saint Catherine, for\nwe shall thus become meek, humble and charitable.... True holiness\nconsists in love of God, and not in foolish imaginations and dreamings\nthat nourish self-love whilst they undermine obedience and humility. The\ndesire to have ecstacies and visions is a deception. Let us turn rather\nto the practice of true meekness and submissiveness, of self-renunciation\nand docility, of ready compliance with the wishes of others. Thus we\nshall emulate the saints in what is more real and more admirable for us\nthan ecstacies.\"--St. Francis de Sales.*\n\n4. Use still greater precautions in regard to ascetical works. Many of\nthese are carelessly written, confound precepts with counsels, badly\ndefine the virtues by not showing the limits beyond which they become\nextravagances, and entertain the reader with trifling and purely exterior\npractices that are more apt to flatter self-love than to reform the\nheart.\n\n5. It has been remarked very justly by a learned theologian that the\nignorance and indiscreet zeal of certain writers of ascetical books have\nfurnished the heretics of later times with arms to attack our holy\nreligion and to turn it into ridicule.\n\n6. A judicious author expresses himself thus on the same subject: \"In\norder to write on spiritual matters it is not enough to have great\npiety,--great learning is also necessary. A man actuated by the best\nmotives in the world may yet have strange delusions, and feed his\nimagination with devout extravagances.\" An author should be equally well\nversed in theory and experienced in practice, otherwise he will err\neither in regard to principles or to their application. There is a well\nknown saying generally attributed to Saint Thomas: \"If a man be good and\nholy let him pray for us; if he be learned too, then let him teach us.\"\nIt is essential, in matters of religion especially, to give none but true\nand precise ideas, or else they will do more harm than good. Doctrines\nthat are not exact create scruples in weak souls and invite the\ncriticisms of intelligent Christians, whilst they excite the railleries\nof free-thinkers and furnish arguments to unbelievers.\n\n7. Almost every day we find ascetical works published which contain many\ninaccuracies of the kind described. Exercise great care, therefore, in\nthe selection of this kind of reading or you may injure your soul instead\nof sanctifying it. The safest course is to consult your director on the\nsubject.\n\n\n\n\n PART SECOND.\n INTERIOR LIFE.\n\n\n\n\n IX.\n HOPE.\n\n\n Casting all your solicitude upon Him for He hath care of you. (St.\n Petr., Ep. I., c. V., v. 7.)\n\n Let Thy mercy descend upon us according to the trust we have placed in\n Thee. (Cant. Saint Ambrose.)\n\n1. \"Blessed is the man who hopes in the Lord,\" says the Holy Spirit. The\nweakness of our souls is often attributable to lukewarmness in regard to\nthe Christian virtue of hope.\n\n2. Hold fast to this great truth: he who hopes for nothing will obtain\nnothing; he who hopes for little will obtain little; he who hopes for all\nthings will obtain all things.\n\n3. The mercy of God is infinitely greater than all the sins of the world.\nWe should not, then, confine ourselves to a consideration of our own\nwretchedness, but rather turn our thoughts to the contemplation of this\ndivine attribute of mercy.\n\n4. \"What do you fear?\" says Saint Thomas of Villanova: \"this Judge whose\ncondemnation you dread is the same Jesus Christ who died upon the Cross\nin order not to condemn you.\"\n\n5. Sorrow, not fear, is the sentiment our sins should awaken in us. When\nSaint Peter said to his divine Master: \"_Depart from me, O Lord, for I am\na sinful man,_\" what did our Saviour reply? \"_Noli timere,_--fear\nnot.\"[8] Saint Augustine remarks that in the Holy Scriptures we always\nfind hope and love preferred to fear.\n\n6. Our miseries form the throne of the divine mercy, we are told by Saint\nFrancis de Sales, for if in the world there were neither sins to pardon,\nnor sorrows to soothe, nor maladies of the soul to heal, God would not\nhave to exercise the most beautiful attribute of His divine essence. This\nwas our Lord's reason for saying that He came into the world not for the\njust but for sinners.[9]\n\n7. Assuredly our faults are displeasing to God, but He does not on their\naccount cease to cherish our souls.\n\n*It is unnecessary to observe that this applies only to such faults as\nare due to the frailty inherent in our nature, and against which an\nupright will, sustained by divine grace, continually struggles. A\nperverse will, without which there can be no mortal sin, alienates us\nfrom God and renders us hateful in His eyes as long as we are subject to\nit. At the feast spoken of in the Gospel, the King receives with love the\npoor, the blind, and the lame who are clothed with the nuptial\ngarment,--that is to say, all those whom a desire to please God maintains\nin a state of grace notwithstanding their natural defects and frailty:\nbut his rigorous justice displays itself against him who dares to appear\nthere without this garment. This distinction, found everywhere throughout\nthe Gospels, is essential in order to inspire us with a tender confidence\nwhen we fall, without diminishing our horror for deliberate sins.*\n\nA good mother is afflicted at the natural defects and infirmities of her\nchild, but she loves him none the less, nor does she refuse him her\ncompassion or her aid. Far from it; for the more miserable and suffering\nand deformed he may be the greater is her tenderness and solicitude for\nhim.\n\n8. We have, says Saint Paul, a good and indulgent High-Priest who knows\nhow to compassionate our weakness, Jesus Christ, who has been pleased to\nbecome at once our Brother and our Mediator.[10]\n\n9. Do not forfeit your peace of mind by wondering what destiny awaits you\nin eternity. Your future lot is in the hands of God, and it is much safer\nthere than if in your own keeping.\n\n10. The immoderate fear of hell, in the opinion of Saint Francis de\nSales, can not be cured by arguments, but by submission and humility.\n\n11. Hence it was that Saint Bernard, when tempted by the devil to a sin\nof despair, retorted: \"I have not merited heaven, I know that as well as\nyou do, Satan; but I also know that Jesus Christ, my Saviour, has merited\nit for me. It was not for Himself that He purchased so many merits,--but\nfor me: He cedes them to me, and it is by Him and in Him that I shall\nsave my soul.\"\n\n12. Far from allowing yourself to be dejected by fear and doubt, raise\nyour desires rather to great virtues and to the most sublime perfection.\nGod loves courageous souls, Saint Theresa assures us, provided they\nmistrust their own strength and place all their reliance upon Him. The\ndevil tries to persuade you that it is pride to have exalted aspirations\nand to wish to imitate the virtues of the saints; but do not permit him\nto deceive you by this artifice. He will only laugh at you if he succeed\nin making you fall into weakness and irresolution.\n\nTo aspire to the noblest and highest ends gives firmness and perseverance\nto the soul. (Read _The Imitation_, B. III, C. XXX.)\n\n\n\n\n X.\n THE PRESENCE OF GOD.\n\n\n Walk before Me and be perfect. (Genesis, c. XVII, v. 1.)\n\n I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come\n to me. (Psalm CXX, v. 1.)\n\n1. The constant remembrance of God's presence is a means of perfection\nthat Almighty God Himself prescribed to the Patriarch Abraham. But this\npractice must be followed gently and without effort or disturbance of\nmind. The God of love and peace wishes that all we do for Him should be\ndone lovingly and peacefully.\n\n2. Only in heaven shall we be able to think actually and uninterruptedly\nof God. In this world to do so is an impossibility, for we are at every\nmoment distracted by our occupations, our necessities, our imagination.\nWe but exhaust ourselves by futile efforts if we try to lead before the\nproper time an existence similar to that of the angels and saints.\n\n3. Frequently the fear comes to you that you have failed to keep yourself\nin the presence of God, because you have not thought of Him. This is a\nmistaken idea. You can, without this definite thought, perform all your\nactions for love of God and in His presence, by virtue of the intention\nyou had in beginning them. Now, to act is better than to think. Though\nthe doctor may not have the invalid in mind while he is preparing the\nmedicine that is to restore him to health, nevertheless it is for him he\nis working, and he is more useful to his patient in this way than if he\ncontented himself with merely thinking of him. In like manner when you\nfulfil your domestic or social duties, when you eat or walk, devote\nyourself to study or to manual labor, though it be without definitely\nthinking of God, you are acting for Him, and this ought to suffice to set\nyour mind at rest in regard to the merit of your actions. Saint Paul does\nnot say that we must eat, drink and labor with an actual remembrance of\nGod's presence, but with the habitual intention of glorifying Him and\ndoing His holy will. We fulfil this condition by making an offering each\nmorning to God of all the actions of the day and renewing the act\ninteriorly whenever we can remember to do so.\n\n4. For this purpose, make frequent use of ejaculatory prayers. We have\nalready spoken of them. Accustom yourself to make these pious aspirations\nnaturally and without effort, and let them for the most part be\nexpressive of confidence and love.\n\n5. Should it happen that a considerable space of time elapses without\nyour having thought distinctly of God or raised your heart to Him by any\nloving ejaculation, do not allow this omission to worry you. The servant\nhas performed his duty and deserves well of his master when he has done\nhis will, even though he may not have been thinking of him the while.\nAlways bear in mind the fact that it is better to work for God than to\nthink of Him. Thought has its highest spiritual value when it results in\naction: action is meritorious in itself by virtue of the good intention\nwhich preceded it.\n\n\n\n\n XI.\n HUMILITY.\n\n\n If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. (St. John, c. VIII, v. 54.)\n\n For behold I was born in iniquities: and in sins did my mother conceive\n me. (Psalm L., v. 7.)\n\n1. Few persons have a correct idea of this virtue. It is frequently\nconfused with servility or littleness.\n\n2. To attribute to God what is God's, that is to say everything that is\ngood, and to ourselves what is ours, that is to say, everything that is\nevil: these are the essential characteristics of true humility.\n\n*Hence it would appear at first sight that simple good sense ought to\nsuffice to make men humble. Such would be the case were it not that our\nfaculties have been impaired and vitiated in their very source by pride,\nthat direful and ineffaceable consequence of original sin. The first man,\na creature owing his existence directly to God, was bound to dedicate it\nentirely to Him and to pay continual homage for it is as for all the\nother gifts he had received. This was a duty of simple justice. The day\nwhereon he asserted a desire to be independent, he caused an utter\nderangement in the relations of the creature with his Creator. Pride,\nthat tendency to self-sufficiency, to refer to self the use of the\nfaculties received from God--pride, introduced into the soul of the first\nman by a free act of his will, has attached itself as an indelible stigma\nto the souls of all his descendants, and has become forevermore a part of\ntheir nature. Thence comes this inclination, ever springing up afresh, to\nbe independent, to be something of ourselves, to desire for ourselves\nesteem, affection and honor, despite the precepts of the divine law, the\nclaims of justice and the warnings of reason; and thus it is that the\nwhole spiritual life is but one long and painful conflict against this\nvicious propensity. Divine grace though sustaining us in the combat never\ngives us a complete victory, for the struggle must endure until\ndeath,--the closing chastisement of our original degradation and the only\none that can obliterate the last traces thereof. (See _Imitation_, B.\nIII., Ch. XIII.--XXII.)*\n\n3. As God drew from nothingness everything that exists, in like manner\ndoes He wish to lay the foundations of our spiritual perfection upon the\nknowledge of our nothingness. Saint Bonaventure used to say: _Provided\nGod be all, what matters it that I am nothing!_\n\n4. When a Christian who is truly humble commits a fault he repents but is\nnot disquieted, because he is not surprised that what is naught but\nmisery, weakness and corruption, should be miserable, weak and corrupt.\nHe thanks God on the contrary that his fall has not been more serious.\nThus Saint Catherine of Genoa, whenever she found she had been guilty of\nsome imperfection, would calmly exclaim: _Another weed from my garden!_\nThis peaceful contemplation of our sinfulness was considered very\nimportant by Saint Francis de Sales also, for he says: \"Let us learn to\nbear with our imperfections if we wish to attain perfection, for this\npractice nourishes the virtue of humility.\"\n\n5. Some persons have the erroneous idea that in order to be humble they\nmust not recognize in themselves any virtue or talent whatsoever. The\nreverse is the case according to Saint Thomas, for he says it is\nnecessary to realize the gifts we have received that we may return thanks\nfor them to Him from whom we hold them. To ignore them is to fail in\ngratitude towards God, and to neglect the object for which He gave them\nto us. All that we have to do is to avoid the folly of taking glory to\nourselves because of them. Mules, asses and donkeys may be laden with\ngold and perfumes and yet be none the less dull and stupid animals. The\ngraces we have received, far from giving us any personal claims, only\nserve to increase our debt to Him who is their source and their donor.\n\n6. Praise is naturally more pleasing to us than censure. There is nothing\nsinful in this preference, for it springs from an instinct of our human\nnature of which we cannot entirely divest ourselves. Only the praise must\nbe always referred to Him to whom it is due, that is to say, to God; for\nthey are His gifts that are praised in us as we are but their bearers and\ncustodians and shall one day have to render Him an account for them in\naccordance with their value.\n\n7. The soul that is most humble will also have the greatest courage and\nthe most generous confidence in God; the more it distrusts itself, the\nmore it will trust in Him on whom it relies for all its strength, saying\nwith Saint Paul: _I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me_.[11]\nSaint Thomas clearly proves that true Christian humility, far from\ndebasing the soul, is the principle of everything that is really noble\nand generous. He who refuses the work to which God calls him because of\nthe honor and \u00e9clat that accompany it, is not humble but mistrustful and\npusillanimous. We shall find in obedience light to show us with certainty\nthat to which we are called and to preserve us from the illusions of\nself-love and of our natural inclinations.\n\n*\"We should be actuated by a generous and noble humility, a humility that\ndoes nothing in order to be praised and omits nothing that ought to be\ndone through fear of being praised.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n8. It is even good and sometimes necessary to make known the gifts we\nhave received from God and the good works of which divine grace has made\nus the instruments, when this manifestation can conduce to the glory of\nHis name, the welfare of the Church, or the edification of the faithful.\nIt was for this threefold object that Saint Paul spoke of his apostolic\nlabors and supernatural revelations.\n\n\n\n\n XII.\n RESIGNATION.\n\n\n Yea, Father: because so it has pleased Thee. (St. Luke, c. X., v. 21.)\n\n O my Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me.\n Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. (St. Matthew, c. XXVI.,\n v. 39.)\n\n1. We should recognize and adore the will of God in everything that\nhappens to us. The malice of men, nay of the devil himself, can cause\nnothing to befall us except what is permitted by God. Our divine Lord has\ndeclared that not a hair of our heads can fall unless by the will of our\nHeavenly Father.[12]\n\n2. Therefore in every condition painful to nature, whether you are\nafflicted by sickness, assailed by temptations, or tortured by the\ninjustice of men, consider the divine will and say to God with a loving\nand submissive heart: _Fiat voluntas tua_--Thy will be done: O my\nSaviour, do with me what Thou willest, as Thou willest, and when Thou\nwillest.\n\n3. By this means we render supportable the severest pain and the most\ntrying circumstances. \"Do you not feel the infinite sweetness contained\nin that one sentence, _the will of God?_\" asks Saint Mary Magdalen de\nPazzi. Like unto the wood shown to Moses, that drew from the water all\nits bitterness, it sweetens whatever is bitter in our lives.\n\n4. Without this practice, so comformable to faith, and without the light\nand strength that result from it, the pains and afflictions of life would\nbecome unbearable. This is what Saint Philip de Neri meant when he said:\nIt rests with man to place himself even in this life either in heaven or\nin hell: he who suffers tribulations with patience enjoys celestial peace\nin advance; he who does not do so has a foretaste of the torments of\nhell.\n\n5. Not only is it God who sends or permits our troubles, but He does so\nfor the good of our souls and for our spiritual progress. Do not, then,\nmake a matter of complaint that which should be a motive for gratitude.\n\n6. Saint Francis de Sales says that the cross is the royal door to the\ntemple of sanctity, and the only one by which we can enter it. One moment\nspent upon the cross is therefore more conducive to our spiritual\nadvancement than the anticipated enjoyment of all the delights of heaven.\nThe happiness of those who have reached their destination consists in the\npossession of God: to suffer for the love of Him is the only true\nhappiness which those still on the way can expect to attain. Our Lord\ndeclared that those who mourn during this exile are _blessed_, for they\nshall be consoled eternally in their celestial fatherland.[13]\n\n7. Notice that I say, _to suffer for the love of God_, for, as Saint\nAugustine remarks, no person can love suffering in itself. That is\ncontrary to nature, and moreover, there would no longer be any suffering\nif we could accept it with natural relish. But a resigned soul loves to\nsuffer, that is she loves the virtue of patience and ardently desires the\nmerits that result from the practice of it. A calm and submissive longing\nto be delivered from our cross if such be the will of God, is not\ninconsistent with the most perfect resignation. This desire is a natural\ninstinct which supernatural grace regulates, moderates, and teaches us to\ncontrol, but which it never entirely destroys. Our divine Saviour\nHimself, to show that He was truly man, was pleased to feel it as we do,\nand prayed that the chalice of His Passion might be spared Him. Hence you\nare not required to be stolidly indifferent or to arm yourself with the\nstern insensibility of the Stoics; that would not be either resignation,\nor humility, or any virtue whatsoever. The essential thing is to suffer\nwith Christian patience and generous resignation everything that is\nnaturally displeasing to us. This is what both reason and faith\nprescribe.\n\n*The Redeemer of the World seems to wish to show us in His Agony the\ndegree of perfection which the weakness of human nature can attain amidst\nthe anguish of sorrow. In the inferior portion of the soul where the\nfaculty of feeling resides, instinctive repugnance to suffering, humble\nprayer for relief if it please God to accord it; and in the superior\nportion of the soul where the will resides, entire resignation if this\nconsolation be denied. A desire for more than this, unless called to it\nby a special grace, would be foolish pride, as we should thus attempt to\nchange the conditions of our nature, whereas our duty is to accept them\nin order to combat them and to suffer in so doing. (See _Imitation_, B.\nIII., Ch. XVIII-XIX.)\n\nIn the following terms Saint Francis de Sales proposes to us this same\nexample of our Saviour's resignation during His agony: \"Consider the\ngreat dereliction our Divine Master suffered in the Garden of Olives. See\nhow this beloved Son, having asked for consolation from His loving Father\nand knowing that it was not His will to grant it, thinks no more about\nit, no longer craves or looks for it, but, as though He had never sought\nit, valiantly and courageously completes the work of our redemption. Let\nit be the same with you. If your Heavenly Father sees fit to deny you the\nconsolation you have prayed for, dismiss it from your mind and animate\nyour courage to fulfil your work upon the cross as if you were never to\ndescend from it nor should ever again see the atmosphere of your life\npure and serene.\" (Read _The Imitation_. B. III., Chapters XI and XV.)\n\nThe same Saint also gives us some sublime lessons in resignation applied\nto the trials and temptations that beset the spiritual life. He draws\nthem from this great and simple thought that serves as foundation for the\nExercises of Saint Ignatius, namely, that salvation being the sole object\nof our existence, and all the attendant circumstances of life but means\nfor attaining it, nothing has any absolute value; and that the only way\nof forming a true estimate of things is to consider in how far they are\ncalculated to advance or retard the end in view. Accordingly, what\ndifference does it make if we attain this end by riches or poverty,\nhealth or sickness, spiritual consolation or aridity, by the esteem or\ncontempt of our fellow-men? So say faith and reason; but human nature\nrevolts against this indifference, as it is well it should, else how\ncould we acquire merit? Hence there is a conflict on this point between\nthe flesh and the spirit, and it is this conflict that for a Christian is\ncalled life. (On this subject read _The Imitation_, B. II., Ch. XI.; and\nB. III., Ch. XVIII., XIX., XXXVII., XLIX., L. and the prayer at the end\nof Ch. XXVII.)\n\n\"Would to God,\" he says elsewhere, speaking on the same subject, \"that we\ndid not concern ourselves so much about the road whereon we journey, but\nrather would keep our eyes fixed on our Guide and upon that blessed\ncountry whither He is conducting us. What should it matter to us if it be\nthrough deserts or pleasant fields that we walk, provided God be with us\nand we be advancing towards heaven?... In short, for the honor of God,\nacquiesce perfectly in his divine will, and do not suppose that you can\nserve him better in any other way; for no one ever serves him well who\ndoes not serve him as he wishes. Now he wishes that you serve him without\nrelish, without feeling, nay, with repugnance and perturbation of spirit.\nThis service does not afford you any satisfaction, it is true, but it\npleases him; it is not to your taste, but it is to his.... Mortify\nyourself then cheerfully, and in proportion as you are prevented from\ndoing the good you desire, do all the more ardently that which you do not\ndesire. You do not wish to be resigned in this case, but you will be so\nin some other: resignation in the first instance will be of much greater\nvalue to you.... In fine, let us be what God wishes, since we are\nentirely devoted to him, and would not wish to be anything contrary to\nhis will; for were we the most exalted creatures under heaven, of what\nuse would it be to us, if we were not in accord with the will of God?...\"\n\nAnd again: \"You should resign yourself perfectly into the hands of God.\nWhen you have done your best towards carrying out your design (of\nbecoming a religious) he will be pleased to accept everything you do,\neven though it be something less good. You cannot please God better than\nby sacrificing to him your will, and remaining in tranquillity, humility\nand devotion, entirely reconciled and submissive to his divine will and\ngood pleasure. You will be able to recognize these plainly enough when\nyou find that notwithstanding all your efforts it is impossible for you\nto gratify your wishes.\n\nFor God in his infinite goodness sometimes sees fit to test our courage\nand love by depriving us of the things which it seems to us would be\nadvantageous to our souls; and if he finds us very earnest in their\npursuit, yet humble, tranquil and resigned to do without them if he\nwishes us to, he will give us more blessings than we should have had in\nthe possession of what we craved. God loves those who at all times and in\nall circumstances can say to him simply and heartily: _Thy will be\ndone_.\"*\n\n\n\n\n XIII.\n SCRUPLES.\n\n\n Having therefore such hope, we use much confidence. (St. Paul, II.\n Cor., c. III., v. 12.)\n\n Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because\n fear hath pain. And he that feareth is not perfect in charity. (St.\n John, I. Epist., c. IV., v. 18.)\n\n1. There are persons who look upon scrupulosity as a virtue, confounding\nit with delicacy of conscience, whereas it is, on the contrary, not only\na defect but one of a most dangerous character. The devout and learned\nGerson says that a scrupulous conscience often does more injury to the\nsoul than one that is too lax and remiss.\n\n2. Scruples warp the judgment, disturb the peace of the soul, beget\nmistrust of the Sacraments and estrangement from them, and impair the\nhealth of body and mind. How many unfortunates have begun by scrupulosity\nand ended in insanity! How many, more unfortunate still, have begun by\nscruples and ended in laxity and impiety! Shun then this insiduous\npoison, so deadly in its effects on true piety, and say with Saint Joseph\nof Cupertino: _Away with sadness and scruples; I will not have them in my\nhouse._\n\n3. Scrupulosity is an unreasonable fear of sin in matters where there is\nnot even material for sin. But the victim does not call his doubts and\nfears scruples, for he would not be tormented by them if he believed he\ncould give them that name. He should, however, place implicit reliance in\nthe opinion of his spiritual guide when he tells him they are such and\nthat he must not allow himself to be influenced by them.\n\n4. In all his actions a scrupulous person sees only an uninterrupted\nseries of sins, and in God nothing but vengeance and anger. He ought,\ntherefore, to consider almost exclusively the attribute of the divine\nMaster by which He most delights to manifest Himself, _mercy_, and to\nmake it the constant subject of his thoughts, meditations and affections.\n\n*\"We should do everything from love and nothing from constraint. It is\nmore essential to love obedience than to fear disobedience.\"--Saint\nFrancis de Sales.*\n\n5. There is but one remedy for scruples and that is entire and courageous\nobedience. \"It is a secret pride,\" says Saint Francis de Sales, \"that\nentertains and nourishes scruples, for the scrupulous person adheres to\nhis opinion and inquietude in spite of his director's advice to the\ncontrary. He always persuades himself in justification of his\ndisobedience that some new and unforseen circumstance has occurred to\nwhich this advice cannot be applicable.\" \"But submit\", adds the Saint,\n\"without other reasoning than this: _I should obey_, and you will be\ndelivered from this lamentable malady.\"\n\n6. By sadness and anxiety the children of God do a great injury to their\nHeavenly Father. They thereby seem to bear witness that there is little\nhappiness to be found in the service of a Master so full of love and\nmercy, and to give the lie to the words of Him who said: \"Come unto Me\nall you that labor and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you.\"\n\n*\"Woe to that narrow and self-absorbed soul that is always fearful, and\nbecause of fear has no time to love and to go generously forward. O my\nGod! I know it is your wish that the heart that loves you should be broad\nand free! Hence I shall act with confidence like to the child that plays\nin the arms of its mother; I shall rejoice in the Lord and try to make\nothers rejoice; I shall pour forth my heart without fear in the assembly\nof the children of God. I wish for nothing but candor, innocence and joy\nof the Holy Ghost. Far, far from me, O my God, be that sad and cowardly\nwisdom which is ever consumed in self, ever holding the balance in hand\nin order to weigh atoms!... Such lack of simplicity in the soul's\ndealings with Thee is truly an outrage against Thee: such rigor imputed\nto Thee is unworthy of Thy paternal heart.\"--F\u00e9nelon.*\n\n\n\n\n XIV.\n INTERIOR PEACE.\n\n\n Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things.\n (St. Luke, c. X., v. 41.)\n\n Always active, always at rest. (St. Augustine.)\n\n1. Be on your guard lest your zeal degenerate into anxiety and eagerness.\nSaint Francis de Sales was a most pronounced enemy of these two defects.\nThey cause us to lose sight of God in our actions and make us very prone\nto impatience if the slightest obstacle should interfere with our\ndesigns. It is only by acting peacefully that we can serve the God of\npeace in an acceptable manner.\n\n*\"Do not let us suffer our peace to be disturbed by precipitation in our\nexterior actions. When our bodies or minds are engaged in any work, we\nshould perform it peacefully and with composure, not prescribing for\nourselves a definite time to finish it, nor being too anxious to see it\ncompleted.\"--Scupoli.*\n\n2. Martha was engaged in a good work when she prepared a repast for our\ndivine Lord, nevertheless He reproved her because she performed it with\nanxiety and agitation. This goes to show, says Saint Francis de Sales,\nthat it is not enough to do good, the good must moreover be done well,\nthat is to say, with love and tranquillity. If one turn the\nspinning-wheel too rapidly it falls and the thread breaks.\n\n3. Whenever we are doing well we are always doing enough and doing it\nsufficiently fast. Those persons who are restless and impetuous do not\naccomplish any more and what they do is done badly.\n\n4. Saint Francis de Sales was never seen in a hurry no matter how varied\nor numerous might be the demands made upon his time. When on a certain\noccasion some surprise was expressed at this he said: \"You ask me how it\nis that although others are agitated and flurried I am not likewise\nuneasy and in haste. What would you? I was not put in this world to cause\nfresh disturbance: is there not enough of it already without my adding to\nit by my excitability?\"\n\n5. However, do not on the other hand succumb to sloth and indifference.\nAll extremes are to be avoided. Cultivate a tranquil activity and an\nactive tranquillity.\n\n6. In order to acquire tranquillity in action it is necessary to consider\ncarefully what we are capable of accomplishing and never to undertake\nmore than that. It is self-love, ever more anxious to do much than to do\nwell, which urges us on to burden ourselves with great undertakings and\nto impose upon ourselves numerous obligations. It maintains and nourishes\nitself on this tension of mind, this restless anxiety which it takes for\ninfallible signs of a superior capacity. Thus Saint Francis de Sales was\nwont to say: \"Our self-love is a great braggart, that wishes to undertake\neverything and accomplishes nothing.\"\n\n*\"It appears to me that you are over eager and anxious in the pursuit of\nperfection.... Now I tell you truthfully, as it is said in the Book of\nKings,[14] that God is not in the great and strong wind, nor in the\nearthquake, nor in the fire, but in the gentle movement of an almost\nimperceptible breeze.... Anxiety and agitation contribute nothing towards\nsuccess. The desire of success is good, but only if it be not accompanied\nby solicitude. I expressly forbid you to give way to inquietude, for it\nis the mother of all imperfections.... Peace is necessary in all things\nand everywhere. If any trouble come to us, either of an interior or\nexterior nature, we should receive it peacefully: if joy be ours, it\nshould be received peacefully: have we to flee from evil, we should do it\npeacefully, otherwise we may fall in our flight and thus give our enemy a\nchance to kill us. Is there a good work to be done? we must do it\npeacefully, or else we shall commit many faults by our hastiness: and\neven as regards penance,--that too must be done peacefully: _Behold_,\nsaid the prophet, _in peace is my bitterness most bitter_.\"[15]*\n\n\n\n\n XV.\n SADNESS.\n\n\n I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the\n house of the Lord.... Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the\n Lord with gladness.... Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou\n trouble me? (Psalms CXXI., XCIX., XLII.)\n\n And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Apoc. C. XXI., v.\n 4.)\n\n1. Sadness, says Saint Francis de Sales, is the worst thing in the World,\nsin alone excepted.\n\n2. It is a dangerous error to seek recollection in sadness: it is the\nspirit of God that produces recollection; sadness is the work of the\nspirit of darkness.\n\n3. Do not forget the rule given by Saint Francis de Sales for the\ndiscernment of spirits: any thought that troubles and disquiets us cannot\ncome from the God of peace, who makes his dwelling-place only in peaceful\nsouls.\n\n*\"Yes, my daughter, I now tell you in writing what I before said to you\nin person, always be as happy as you can in well-doing, for it gives a\ndouble value to good works to be well done and to be done cheerfully. And\nwhen I say, rejoice in well-doing, I do not mean that if you happen to\ncommit some fault you should on that account abandon yourself to sadness.\nFor God's sake, no; for that would be to add defect to defect. But I mean\nthat you should persevere in the wish to do well, that you return to it\nthe moment you realize you have deviated from it, and that by means of\nthis fidelity you live happily in the Lord.... May God be ever in our\nheart, my daughter.... Live joyfully and be generous, for this is the\nwill of God, whom we love and to whose service we are\nconsecrated.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.* (_Imitation_, B. III., Chap.\nXLVII.)\n\n4. It is wrong to deny one's self all diversion. The mind becomes\nfatigued and depressed by remaining always concentrated in itself and\nthus more easily falls a prey to sadness. Saint Thomas says explicitly\nthat one may incur sin by refusing all innocent amusement. Every excess,\nno matter what its nature, is contrary to order and consequently to\nvirtue.\n\n5. Recreations and amusements are to the life of the soul what seasoning\nis to our corporal food. Food that is too highly seasoned quickly becomes\ninjurious and sometimes fatal in its effects; that which is not seasoned\nat all soon becomes unendurable because of its insipidity and\nunpalatableness.\n\n6. As to the amount of diversion it is right to take, no absolute measure\ncan be given: the rule is that each person should have as much as is\nnecessary for him. This quantity varies according to the bent of the\nmind, the nature of the habitual occupations, and the greater or less\npredisposition to sadness one observes in his disposition.\n\n7. When you find your heart growing sad, divert yourself without a\nmoment's delay; make a visit, enter into conversation with those around\nyou, read some amusing book, take a walk, sing, do something, it matters\nnot what, provided you close the door of your heart against this terrible\nenemy. As the sound of a trumpet gives the signal for a combat, so sad\nthoughts apprise the devil that a favorable moment has come for him to\nattack us.\n\n\n\n\n XVI.\n LIBERTY OF SPIRIT.\n\n\n Now the Lord is a spirit: and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is\n liberty. (St. Paul, II. Cor., c. III., v. 17.)\n\n For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but ye\n have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba,\n Father. (St. Paul, Romans, c. VIII., v. 15.)\n\n Love God and do what you will. (Saint Augustine.)\n\n1. Christian liberty of spirit, so earnestly recommended by the saints,\nconsists in not becoming the slave of anything, even though good, unless\nit be of God's will. Thus our purest inclinations, our holiest habits,\nour wisest rules of conduct, should yield without murmur or complaint to\nevery manifestation of this divine will, in order that they may never\nbecome for us obstacles or impediments to good or the occasion of trouble\nand disquietude. By this means only can we perform all our actions with\ncheerful confidence and devout courage.\n\n*\"I leave you the spirit of liberty; not that liberty which hinders\nobedience, for such is the liberty of the flesh, but that which excludes\nscruples and constraint.... We ask of God above all things that his name\nbe hallowed, that His kingdom come, that His will be done on earth as it\nis in heaven. All this implies the spirit of liberty; for provided God's\nname be sanctified, that His divine Majesty reign in you, that His will\nbe done, the spirit desires nothing more.\"[16] (_Imitation_, B. III.,\nChap. XXVI.)*\n\n2. St. Francis de Sales, speaking on this important subject, says: \"He\nwho possesses the spirit of liberty will on no account allow his\naffections to be mastered even by his spiritual exercises, and in this\nway he avoids feeling any regret if they are interfered with by sickness\nor accident. I do not say that he does not love his devotions but that he\nis not attached to them.\"\n\n3. A soul that is attached to meditation, if interrupted, will show\nchagrin and impatience: a soul that has true liberty will take the\ninterruption in good part and show a gracious countenance to the person\nwho was the cause of it. For it is all one to it whether it serve God by\nmeditating or by bearing with its neighbor. Both duties are God's will,\nbut just at this time patience with others is the more essential.\n\n4. The fruits of this holy liberty of spirit are prompt and tranquil\nsubmission and generous confidence. Saint Francis de Sales relates that\nSaint Ignatius ate flesh meat one day in Holy Week simply because his\nphysician thought it expedient for him to do so on account of a slight\nillness. A spirit of constraint would have made him allow the doctor to\nspend three days in persuading him, he adds, and would then very probably\nhave refused to yield. I cite this example for the benefit of timid souls\nand not for those who seek to elude an obligation by unwarranted\ndispensations.\n\n*This matter is of such importance and a just medium so difficult to\nfollow in practice, that it seems useful to transcribe the following\npassage from Saint Francis de Sales in its entirety, with the rules and\nexamples it contains, in order that the proper occasions for the exercise\nof this virtue and its limitations may be well understood.\n\n\"A heart possessed of this spirit of liberty is not attached to\nconsolations, but receives afflictions with all the sweetness that is\npossible to human nature. I do not say that it does not love and desire\nconsolations, but that its affections are not wedded to them.... It\nseldom loses its joy, for no privation saddens a heart that is not set\nupon any one thing. I do not say it never loses it, but if it does so it\nquickly regains it.\n\nThe effects of this virtue are sweetness of temper, gentleness, and\nforbearance towards everything that is not sin or occasion of sin,\nforming a disposition gently susceptible to the influences of charity and\nof every other virtue.\n\nThe occasions for exercising this holy freedom are found in all those\nthings that happen contrary to our natural inclinations; for one whose\naffections are not engaged in his own will does not lose patience when\nhis desires are thwarted.\n\nThere are two vices opposed to this liberty of spirit,--instability and\nconstraint, or dissipation and servility. The former is a certain excess\nof freedom which causes us to change our devout exercises or state of\nlife without reason and without knowing if it be God's will. On the\nslightest pretext practices, plans and rules are altered and for every\ntrivial obstacle our laudable customs are abandoned. In this way the\nheart is dissipated and spent and becomes like an orchard open on all\nsides, the fruit whereof is not for the owner but for the passers-by.\nConstraint or servility is a certain lack of liberty owing to which the\nmind is overwhelmed with vexation or anger when we cannot carry out our\ndesigns, even though we might be doing something better. For example: I\nresolve to make a meditation every morning. Now if I have the spirit of\ninstability or dissipation I am apt to defer it until evening for the\nmost insignificant reason,--because I was kept awake by the barking of a\ndog, or because I have a letter to write, although it be not at all\npressing. If on the contrary I have the spirit of constraint or servility\nI will not give up my meditation even though a sick person has great need\nof my aid just then, or if I have an important and urgent dispatch to\nsend which should not be deferred; and so on.\n\nIt remains for me to give you some examples of true liberty of spirit\nwhich will make you understand it better than I can explain it. But,\nbefore doing so, it is well that I should say there are two rules which\nit is necessary to observe in order not to make any mistake on the\nsubject.\n\nThe first is that a person must never abandon his pious practices and the\ncommon rules of virtue unless it is plainly evident that God wills that\nhe do so. Now this will is manifested in two ways,--through necessity and\nthrough charity. I desire to preach this Lent in some little corner of my\ndiocese; however, if I get sick or break my leg I need not give way to\nregret or inquietude because I cannot do as I intended, for it is evident\nthat it is the will of God that I serve Him by suffering and not by\npreaching. Or, even if I am not ill or crippled, but an occasion presents\nitself of going to some other place which if I do not avail myself of the\npeople there may become Huguenots, the will of God is sufficiently\nmanifest to make me amiably change my plans. The second rule is that when\nit is necessary to make use of this liberty of spirit from motives of\ncharity, care should be taken that it is done without scandal or\ninjustice. For instance: I may know that I should be more useful in some\ndistant place not within my own diocese: I should have no freedom of\nchoice in this matter for my obligations are here and I should give\nscandal and do an injustice by abandoning my charge.\n\nThus it is a false idea of the spirit of liberty that would induce\nmarried women to keep aloof from their husbands without legitimate reason\nunder pretext of devotion and charity.... This spirit rightly understood\nnever interferes with the duties of one's vocation nor prejudices them in\nany way. On the contrary, it makes every one contented in his state of\nlife, as each should know it is God's will that he remain in it.\n\nSaint Charles Borromeo was one of the most austere, exact and determined\nof men; bread was his only food, water his only drink; he was so strict,\nthat during the twenty-four years he was an Archbishop he went into his\ngarden but twice, and visited his brothers only on two occasions and then\nbecause they were ill. Yet this austere priest when dining with his Swiss\nneighbors, which he often did in order to move them to amend their lives,\ndid not hesitate to join them in drinking toasts and healths on every\noccasion and in doing so to take more than was necessary to quench his\nthirst. Here is true liberty of spirit exemplified in the most mortified\nman of his time. An unstable spirit would have gone too far, a spirit of\nconstraint would have thought it was committing a mortal sin, a spirit of\nliberty would act in this way from a motive of charity.\n\nSaint Spiridion, a bishop of olden times, once gave shelter to a pilgrim\nwho was almost dying of hunger. It was the season of Lent and in a place\nwhere nothing was to be had but salt meat. This Spiridion ordered to be\ncooked and then gave it to the pilgrim. Seeing that the latter,\nnotwithstanding his great need, hesitated to eat it, the Saint, although\nhe did not require it, ate some first in order to remove the poor man's\nscruples. That was a true spirit of liberty born of charity.\"--Saint\nFrancis de Sales.*\n\n5. Again, it is this Christian spirit of freedom that excludes fear and\nuneasiness in regard to all those things which God has not permitted us\nto know. It gives us a sweet and tender confidence as to the pardon of\nour past sins, the present condition of our souls and our eternal\ndestiny. It reminds us continually that although we have deserved hell,\nour divine Lord has merited heaven for us, and that it would be doing a\ngreat injury to His goodness not to hope for pardon for the past,\nassistance of divine grace for the present, and salvation after death.\nFinally, it teaches us to drown our remorse for sin in the ocean of the\ndivine mercy.\n\n6. I earnestly exhort you never to make indiscreet vows in the hope of\nthus increasing the merit of your ordinary works. One can attain the same\nend by many ways that are easier and less dangerous. Those who are guilty\nof this imprudence often run the risk of breaking their vows and of thus\nsinning gravely. And if they avoid this misfortune it is only at the\nexpense of their peace of soul, sacrificed to a craven and unquiet\nservitude which is totally incompatible with the tranquillity and\nconfidence required in the great work of our spiritual perfection.\n\n7. Many pious persons are too prone to advise obligations of this kind.\nIf they do so to you, humbly excuse yourself by saying that you do not\npossess the extraordinary virtue requisite in order to fulfil them\nwithout disquietude. Saint Francis de Sales disapproved of all the\nparticular vows made by Saint Jane Frances de Chantal and declared them\nnull. I have almost invariably found persons bound by such solemn\nobligations restless and agitated, and have frequently seen them exposed\nto the gravest falls.\n\n8. Do not allow yourself to be misled by the example of some of the\nsaints who made vows. Rarely is the desire to imitate certain\nextraordinary practices of theirs an inspiration of divine grace: rather\nis it a temptation from the devil inciting us to pride and temerity.\nSaint Francis de Sales exclaimed: \"Give me the spirit that animated Saint\nBernard and I shall do what Saint Bernard did.\" Let us apply ourselves, I\nrepeat, to the imitation of those simple and solid virtues by which the\nsaints attained sanctity, and be content to admire those supernatural\nacts that suppose it already acquired.\n\n9. To bind one's self by arbitrary vows without compromising salvation,\nthree things are necessary: 1st. supernatural inspiration urging one to\nmake them; 2d. extraordinary virtue so as never to violate them; 3d.\nunalterable tranquillity in order to preserve peace of soul in keeping\nthem.\n\n\n\n\n XVII.\n CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.\n\n\n Conduct me, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Thy truth. (Psalm\n LXXXV.)\n\n Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.\n (Psalm CXXVI.)\n\n1. A Christian is not obliged to be perfect, but to tend continually\ntowards perfection; that is to say, he must labor unceasingly and with\nall his strength to increase in virtue. To make no attempt to advance is\nto go back.\n\n*You see it is a question not of succeeding but of laboring earnestly and\nsincerely. Success does not depend upon us. God grants that or refuses it\nor defers it according to what He knows is best for us.\n\n\"Let us do three things, my dear daughter, says Saint Francis de Sales:\nfirst, have a pure intention to look in all things to the honor and glory\nof God; second, do the little we can towards this end, according to the\nadvice of our spiritual father; third, leave the care of all the rest to\nGod. Why should he torment himself who has God for the object of his\nintentions and does all that he can? why should he be anxious? what has\nhe to fear? God is not terrible for those whom He loves; He is satisfied\nwith little for He knows well that we have not much to give.\"\n\n... \"Allow yourself to be governed by God; do not think so much of\nyourself; make a general and universal resolution to serve God in the\nbest manner you are able and do not waste time in examining and sifting\nso minutely to find out what that may be. This is simply an impertinence\ndue to the condition of your acute and precise mind which wishes to\ntyrannize over your will and to control it by fraud and subtlety.... You\nknow that in general God wishes us to serve Him by loving Him above all\nthings and our neighbor as ourselves for love of Him; and in particular,\nto fulfil the duties of our state of life; that is all. But it must be\ndone in good faith, without deceit or subterfuge, and in the ordinary way\nof this world, which is not the home of perfection; humanly, too, and\naccording to the limitations of time; to do it in a divine and angelic\nmanner and according to eternity being reserved for a future life. Do not\ntherefore be so anxious to know whether or not you have attained\nperfection. This should never be; for were we the most perfect creatures\non earth we ought not to dwell upon or glory in it but always consider\nourselves imperfect. Our self-examination must never be for the purpose\nof discovering if we are imperfect, for this we should never doubt. Hence\nit follows that we must not be surprised at seeing ourselves imperfect,\nsince we can never be otherwise in this life; nor on that account give\nway to despondency, for there is no remedy for it. But, yes; we can\ncorrect our faults gently and gradually, for that is the reason they are\nleft in us. We shall be inexcusable if we do not try to amend them, but\nquite excusable if we are not entirely successful in doing so, for it is\nnot the same with imperfections as with sins.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n2. Now the means to be employed in laboring for perfection and in making\nprogress in virtue do not consist in multiplying prayers, fasts and other\nreligious practices. Some good religious who had fasted three times a\nweek during an entire year, thought that in order to satisfy the\nobligation of advancing more and more in virtue they ought to fast four\ntimes a week the following year. They consulted Saint Francis de Sales on\nthe subject. He laughingly answered them: \"If you fast four times a week\nthis year so as to advance in perfection, you will be obliged for the\nsame reason to fast five times the next year, then six, then seven times;\nand the number of your fasts being always the guage of the degree of\nperfection you shall have attained, it will be necessary for you, under\npain of advancing no more, thereafter to fast twice a day, then thrice,\nthen four times, and so on.\" What Saint Francis de Sales said of fasting\nis just as applicable to all other devout practices.\n\n3. Instead, then, of continually adding to your religious exercises,\nstudy to perfect yourself in the practice of those you already perform,\ndoing them with more love and peace of soul, and with greater purity of\nintention. Should it happen that you are unable to perform all your usual\ndevotions conveniently, omit a portion of them so that the remainder may\nbe done with greater tranquillity. The spirit of perfection, says Saint\nBernard, does not consist in doing great things, but in doing common and\nordinary things perfectly. _Communia facere, sed non communiter_.[17]\n\n*\"Most people when they wish to reform, pay much more attention to\nfilling their life with certain difficult and extraordinary actions, than\nto purifying their intention and opposing their natural inclinations in\nthe ordinary duties of their state. In this they often deceive\nthemselves, for it would be much better to make less change in the\nactions and more in the dispositions of the soul which prompt them. When\none is already leading a virtuous and well regulated life it is of far\ngreater consequence, in order to become truly spiritual, to change the\ninterior than the exterior. God is not satisfied with the motions of the\nlips, the posture of the body, nor with external ceremonies: What he\ndemands is a will no longer divided between Him and any creature; a will\nperfectly docile ... that wishes unreservedly whatever He wishes and\nnever under any pretext wishes aught that He does not wish.\n\nThis will, perfectly simple and entirely devoted to God, you should bear\nwith you into all the circumstances of your life, and everywhere that\ndivine Providence leads you.... Even mere amusements may be transformed\ninto good works, if you enter into them only through a kindly motive and\nto conform to the order of God. Happy indeed the heart of her for whom\nGod opens this way of holy simplicity! She walks therein like a little\nchild holding its mother's hand and allowing her to lead it without any\nconcern as to whither it is going. Content to be free, she is ready to\nspeak or to be silent; when she cannot say edifying things she says\ncommon-place things with an equally good grace; she amuses herself by\nmaking what Saint Francis de Sales calls _joyeuset\u00e9s_, playful little\njests, with which she diverts others as well as herself. You will tell me\nperhaps that you would prefer to be occupied with something more serious\nand solid. But God would not prefer it for you, seeing that He chooses\nwhat you would not choose, and you know His taste is better than yours:\nyou would find more consolation in solid things for which He has given\nyou a relish, and it is this consolation of which He wishes to deprive\nyou, it is this relish which He wishes to mortify in you, although it may\nbe good and salutary. The very virtues, as they are practised by us, need\nto be purified by the contradictions that God makes them suffer in order\nto detach them the better from all self will. When piety is founded on\nthe fundamental principle of God's holy will, without consulting our own\ntaste, or temperament or the sallies of an excessive zeal, oh! how\nsimple, sweet, amiable, discreet and reliable it is in all its movements!\nA pious person lives much as others do, quite unaffectedly and without\napparent austerity, in a sociable and genial way; but with a constant\nsubjection to every duty, an unrelenting renunciation of everything that\ndoes not enter into God's designs in her regard, and, finally, with a\nclear view of God to whom she sacrifices all the irregular inclinations\nof nature. This indeed is the adoration in spirit and in truth desired by\nJesus Christ, our Lord, and His eternal Father. Without it all the rest\nis but a religion of ceremonial, and rather the shadow than the reality\nof Christianity.\"--F\u00e9nelon.*\n\n4. Apply yourself in a particular manner to become perfect in the\nfulfilment of the duties of your state of life; for on this all\nperfection and sanctity are grounded. When God created the world He\ncommanded the plants to produce fruit, but each one according to its\nkind: _juxta genus suum_.[18] In like manner our souls are all obliged to\nproduce fruits of holiness, but each according to its kind; that is to\nsay, according to the position in which God has placed us. Elias in the\ndesert and David on the throne had not to become holy by a like process;\nand Joshua amidst the tumult of arms would have sought in vain to\nsanctify himself by the same means as Samuel in the peaceful retreat of\nthe Temple. This instruction is addressed to those who being placed in\nthe world would wish to practise there the virtues of the cloister, or\nwhilst residing in palaces would attempt to lead the life of the\nsolitaries of the desert. They bear fruits which are excellent in\nthemselves, no doubt, but not according to their kind, _juxta genus\nsuum_, and hence they do not fulfil the will of God.\n\n5. Perfection has but one aim and it is the same for all,--to wit, the\nlove of God; but there are divers ways of attaining it. Among the saints\nthemselves we find most striking differences. Saint Benedict was never\nseen to laugh, whereas Saint Francis de Sales laughed frequently and was\nalways animated, bright and cheerful. Saint Hilarion considered it an act\nof sensuality to change his habit, whilst, on the other hand, Saint\nCatherine of Sienna was extremely particular about bodily cleanliness\nwhich she looked upon as a symbol of purity of soul. If you consult Saint\nJerome you hear only of fear of the terrible judgments of God: read Saint\nAugustine and you will find only the language of confidence and love. The\nminds, dispositions and characters of men are as varied as their\nphysiognomies; grace perfects them little by little but does not change\ntheir nature. Hence in our endeavors to imitate the ways of such or such\na saint for whom we feel a particular attraction, we should not condemn\nthose of the others, but say with the Psalmist: _Omnis spiritus laudet\nDominum_.[19] Consult your director as to whom and what may be most\nsuitable for your imitation.\n\n6. Never be afraid that you are not following the way of perfection\nbecause you still have defects and commit many faults. This was true of\nthe greatest saints, for Saint Augustine declares that all of them could\nexclaim with the Apostle Saint John: \"If we claim to be without sin, we\ndeceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.\" \"He who came into the\nworld with sin,\" says Saint Gregory the Great, \"cannot live there without\nsin.\"\n\n* \"Act like the little child who, when it feels that its mother is\nholding it by the sleeve, runs about quite boldly and without being\nsurprised at all the little falls it gets. Thus, as long as you find that\nGod is holding you by the good will and the resolution He has given you\nto serve Him, go on bravely and do not be astonished that you stumble and\nfall occasionally. There is no need to be troubled about it, provided\nthat at certain intervals you cast yourself into your Father's arms and\nembrace Him with the kiss of charity. Go on your way, then, cheerfully\nand heartily, doing the best you can; and if it cannot always be\ncheerfully, let it at least be always courageously and faithfully.\"\n--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n7. But we must bear in mind the vast difference that exists between the\nlove of sin and sin committed inadvertently or from weakness. (See\n_Confession_, [S] 14.) Affection for sin is the sole obstacle to\nperfection. Thus the most learned Fathers of the Church make a\ndistinction between two kinds of tepidity: that which can be avoided and\nthat which cannot be avoided. The former condition is that of a soul that\nretains an attachment for certain sins; the other, that of one falling\ninto sin through frailty and from being taken unawares, which has been\nthe case even with the greatest saints.\n\n8. Therefore in place of troubling yourself about these accidental falls,\ninseparable from human nature, make them turn to your spiritual advantage\nby causing them to increase your humility. It often happens, says Saint\nGregory the Great, that God allows great defects to remain in some souls\nat the beginning of their spiritual life that by means of them they may\ngrow in self-knowledge and learn to place their entire confidence in Him.\nSaint Augustine tells us that God in his infinite wisdom has been better\npleased to bring forth good out of evil than to hinder the evil itself.\nThus when you learn to draw fruits of humility from your faults, you\ncorrespond to the sublime designs of God's unspeakable providence.\n\n9. Should you happen to fear that you are not walking in the true way of\nperfection, consult your director and place implicit reliance upon the\nanswer he gives you. Who is the saint that has not had to suffer because\nof a like doubt? But they were all reassured by the consideration of\nGod's infinite goodness and by obedience to their spiritual father.\n\n*Some persons, although conscious of a sincere desire to serve God,\nnevertheless are disposed to feel alarmed about their spiritual\ncondition, at the remembrance of all they have heard and read in regard\nto false consciences, self-illusion and the deceptive security of those\nwho are following a wrong path. There are two ways of forming a false\nconscience: first, by choosing among our duties those for which we feel\nmost attraction and natural tendency, and then, in order to give\nourselves up to them more than is necessary, to persuade ourselves we can\nneglect the others. Thus a person with a preference for exterior acts of\nreligion will spend all day praying or attending sermons and offices of\nthe Church and considers herself very devout, although she may have been\nneglecting her temporal duties. Another, being differently disposed, will\napply herself exclusively to the duties of her state of life, sacrificing\nto them without regret those of religion, quite convinced that one who is\nfaithful in all the domestic relations, and gives to every one his due,\ncannot possibly be otherwise than pleasing to God. The second way of\nmaking a false conscience consists in giving the preference in our esteem\nand practice to those among the Christian virtues which find their\nanalogies in our natural dispositions, for there is not one of the\nvirtues that has not its correlative amongst the various qualities of the\nhuman character. Persons of a gentle and placid disposition will affect\nmeekness, the practice of which will be very easy for them and require no\neffort; and imagining they exercise a christian virtue when in reality\nthey only follow a natural bent, they are liable to fall into a culpable\nweakness. Those who, on the contrary, have an exact and rigid mind will\nesteem justice and order above all else, making small account of meekness\nand charity; and thus justifying themselves falsely by their natural\ntemperament, they follow the tendency of the flesh whilst believing they\nobey the spirit, and may easily become addicted to excessive severity.\n\nIt is evident, therefore, that the first rule to be observed in order to\navoid these dangerous illusions and to walk securely in the way of\nperfection, is to apply ourselves in a special manner to the practice of\nthose duties for which we feel least innate attraction, and always to\nmistrust our natural virtues however good they may appear. Then there is\none consideration that should serve to reassure all Christians who are in\nearnest about their salvation; whilst they act in good faith and deal\nfrankly and sincerely with their confessor, it is impossible for them to\nbecome the victim of a false conscience.\n\nIn the following passage Saint Francis de Sales recommends us to watch\ncarefully over our natural tendencies and to substitute for them as much\nas possible the inspirations of grace, which he calls living according to\nthe spirit:\n\n\"To live according to the spirit, my beloved daughter, is to think, speak\nand act according to the virtues that are of the spirit, and not\naccording to the senses and feelings which are of the flesh. These latter\nwe should make serve us, but we must hold them in subjection and not\nallow them to control us; whereas with the spiritual virtues it is just\nthe reverse; we should serve them and bring everything else under\nsubjection to them.... See, my daughter, human nature wishes to have a\nshare in everything that goes on, and loves itself so dearly that it\nconsiders nothing of any account unless it be mixed up in it. The spirit,\non the contrary, attaches itself to God and often says that whatever is\nnot God's is nothing to it; and as through a motive of charity it takes\npart in things committed to it, so through humility and self-denial it\nwillingly gives up all share in those which are denied it.... I am\ndiffident and have no self-confidence, and therefore I wish to be allowed\nto live in a way congenial to this disposition; any one can see that this\nis not according to the spirit.... But, although I am naturally timorous\nand retiring, I desire to try and overcome these traits of character and\nto fulfil all the requirements of the charge imposed upon me by\nobedience; who does not see that this is to live according to the spirit?\n\nHence, as I have said before, my dear daughter, to live according to the\nspirit is to have our actions, our words and our thoughts such as the\nspirit of God would require of us. When I say thoughts, I of course mean\nvoluntary thoughts. I am sad, says some one, consequently I shall not\nspeak; magpies and parrots do the same: I am sad, but as charity requires\nme to speak, I shall do so; spiritual persons act thus: I am slighted and\nI get angry: so do peacocks and monkeys. I am slighted and I rejoice\nthereat: that is what the Apostles did.\"\n\nIn fine, to live according to the spirit is to do in all circumstances\nand on all occasions whatever faith, hope and charity demand of us,\nwithout even waiting to consider if we are or are not influenced by our\nnatural disposition. (_The Imitation of Christ_, B. III., Ch. LIV.)*\n\n10. Generally speaking it is only after a long and painful struggle that\none succeeds in climbing the mount of perfection. There are some statues,\nsays Saint Francis de Sales, that it has cost the artist thirty years'\nlabor to perfect. Now the perfecting of a soul is a much more difficult\nwork. We must therefore set about it with tranquillity, patience and\nconfidence in God. We shall always obtain what we wish soon enough if we\nobtain it at the time God pleases to grant it.\n\n\n\n\n PART THIRD.\n SOCIAL LIFE.\n\n\n\n\n XVIII.\n CHARITY.\n\n\n By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love\n one for another. (St. John, c. XIII., v. 35.)\n\n He who saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, he is in\n darkness even until now. (St. John, Ep. I., c. II., v. 9.)\n\n1. Our divine Lord has said that His disciples should be known by their\nlove one for another. This christian virtue of charity makes us love our\nneighbor in God, the creature for the sake of the Creator. Love of God,\nlove of our neighbor,--these virtues are two branches springing from the\nsame trunk and having but one and the same root.\n\n2. Assist your brethren in their needs whenever you can. However, you\nshould always be careful to consult the laws of prudence in this matter\nand to be guided by your means and position. Supply by a desire to do\ngood for the material aid you are unable to give.\n\n3. When your neighbor offends you he does not cease on that account to be\nthe creature and the image of God; therefore the christian motive you\nhave for loving him still exists. He is not, perhaps, worthy of pardon,\nbut has not our Saviour Jesus Christ, who so often has forgiven you much\nmore grievous offences, merited it for him?\n\n4. Observe, however, that we can scarcely avoid feeling some repugnance\nfor those who have offended us, but to feel and to consent are two\ndistinct and widely different things, as we have already said. When\nreligion commands us to love our enemies, the commandment is addressed to\nthe superior portion of the soul, the will, not to the inferior portion\nin which reside the carnal affections that follow the natural\ninclinations. In a word, when we speak of charity the question is not of\nthat human friendship which we feel for those who are naturally pleasing\nto us, a sentiment wherein we seek merely our own satisfaction and which\ntherefore has nothing in common with charity.\n\n*\"Charity makes us love God above all things; and our neighbor as\nourselves with a love not sensual, not natural, not interested, but pure,\nstrong and unwavering, and having its foundation in God.... A person is\nextremely sweet and agreeable and I love her tenderly: or, she loves me\nwell and does much to oblige me, and on that account I love her in\nreturn. Who does not see that this affection is according to the senses\nand the flesh? For animals that have no soul but only a body and senses,\nlove those who are good and gentle and kind to them. Then there is\nanother person who is brusque and uncivil, but apart from this is really\ndevout and even desirous of becoming gentler and more courteous:\nconsequently, not for any gratification she affords me, or for any\nself-interested motive whatever, but solely for the good pleasure of God,\nI talk to her, aid her, love her. This is the virtue of charity indeed,\nfor nature has no share in it.\"--Saint Francis de Sales. (Read St. Luke,\nC. VI., vv. 32-33-34.)\n\nThe literal and exact fulfilment of the evangelical precept is often\nfound impracticable. How, we say, is it possible to have for all men\nindiscriminately that extreme sensibility we feel for everything that\ntouches us individually, that constant solicitude for our spiritual or\ntemporal interests, that delicacy of feeling that we reserve for\nourselves and for certain objects specially dear to us?--And yet it is\nliterally _au pied de la lettre_, that our Lord's precept should be\nobserved. What then is to be done? An answer will be found in the\nfollowing passage from F\u00e9nelon, and we shall see that it is not a\nquestion of exaggerating the love of one's neighbor, but of moderating\nself-love, and thus making both the one and the other alike subordinate\nto the love of God:\n\n\"To love our neighbor as ourselves does not mean that we should have for\nhim that intense feeling of affection that we have for ourselves, but\nsimply that we wish for him, and from the motive of charity, what we wish\nfor ourselves. Pure and genuine love, love having for its sole end the\nobject beloved, should be reserved for God alone, and to bestow it\nelsewhere is a violation of a divine right.\"*\n\n5. But although it is forbidden us to show hatred or to entertain it\nvoluntarily against the wicked and those who have offended us, this is\nnot meant to prevent us from defending ourselves or taking such\nprecautions against them as prudence suggests. Christian charity obliges\nand disposes us to love our enemies and to be good to them when there is\noccasion to do so; but it should not carry us so far as to protect the\nwicked, nor leave us without defence against their aggressiveness. It\nallows us to be vigilant in guarding against their encroachments, and to\ntake precautions against their machinations.\n\n6. Always be ready and willing to excuse the faults of your neighbor, and\nnever put an unfavorable interpretation upon his actions. The same\naction, says Saint Francis de Sales, may be looked upon under many\ndifferent aspects: a charitable person will ever suppose the best, an\nuncharitable one will just as certainly choose the worst.\n\n*\"Do not weigh so carefully the sayings and doings of others, but let\nyour thought of them be simple and good, kindly and affectionate. You\nshould not exact of your neighbor greater perfection than of yourself,\nnor be surprised at the diversity of imperfections; for an imperfection\nis not more an imperfection from the fact that it is extravagant and\npeculiar.\"*\n\n7. It is very difficult for a good christian to become really guilty of\nrash judgment, in the true sense of the word,--which is that, without\njust reasons or sufficient grounds he forms and pronounces in his own\nmind in a positive manner a condemnation of his neighbor. The grave sin\nof rash judgment is frequently confounded with suspicion or even simple\ndistrust, which may be justifiable on much slighter grounds.\n\n8. Suspicion is permissible when it has for its aim measures of just\nprudence; charity forbids gratuitously malevolent thoughts, but not\nvigilance and precaution.\n\n9. Suspicion is not only permissible, but it is at times an important\nduty for those who are charged with the direction and guardianship of\nothers. Thus it is a positive obligation for a father in regard to his\nchildren, and for a master in regard to his servants, whenever there is\noccasion to correct some vice they know exists, or to prevent some fault\nthey have reasonable cause to fear.\n\n10. As to simple mistrust, which should not be confused with suspicion,\nit is only an involuntary and purely passive condition, to which we may\nbe more or less inclined by our natural disposition without our free-will\nbeing at all involved. Mistrust, suspicion, rash judgment are then three\ndistinct and very different things, and we should be careful not to\nconfound them.\n\n\n\n\n XIX.\n ZEAL.\n\n\n But if you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in your heart,\n glory not, and be not liars against the truth: for this is not wisdom\n descending from above, but earthly, sensual, diabolical. (St. James,\n Cath. Ep., c. III, vv. 14 and 15.)\n\n For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God. (St. James, Cath.\n Ep., c. I., v. 20.)\n\n1. Zeal for the salvation of souls is a sublime virtue, and yet how many\nerrors and sins are every day committed in its name! Evil is never done\nmore effectually and with greater security, says Saint Francis de Sales,\nthan when one does it believing he is working for the glory of God.\n\n2. The saints themselves can be mistaken in this delicate matter. We see\na proof of this in the incident related of the Apostles Saint James and\nSaint John; for our Lord reprimanded them for asking Him to cause fire\nfrom heaven to fall upon the Samaritans.[20]\n\n3. Acts of zeal are like coins the stamp upon which it is necessary to\nexamine attentively, as there are more counterfeits than good ones. Zeal\nto be pure should be accompanied with very great humility, for it is of\nall virtues the one into which self-love most easily glides. When it does\nso, zeal is apt to become imprudent, presumptuous, unjust, bitter. Let us\nconsider these characteristics in detail, viewing them, for the sake of\ngreater clearness, in their practical bearings.\n\n4. In every home there grows some thorn, something, in other words, that\nneeds correction; for the best soil is seldom without its noxious weed.\nImprudent zeal, by seeking awkwardly to pluck out the thorn, often\nsucceeds only in plunging it farther in, thus rendering the wound deeper\nand more painful. In such a case it is essential to act with reflection\nand great prudence. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent,\nsays the Holy Spirit.[21] Prudent zeal is silent when it realizes that to\nbe so is less hurtful than to speak.\n\n5. Some persons are even presumptuous enough in their mistaken zeal to\nmeddle in the domestic affairs of strange families, blaming, counselling,\nattempting to reform without measure or discretion, thus causing an evil\nmuch greater than the one they wish to correct. Let us employ the\nactivity of our zeal in our own reformation, says Saint Bernard, and pray\nhumbly for that of others. It is great presumption on our part thus to\nassume the r\u00f4le of apostles when we are not as yet even good and faithful\ndisciples. Not that you should be by any means indifferent to the\nsalvation of souls: on the contrary you must wish it most ardently, but\ndo not undertake to effect it except with great prudence, humility and\ndiffidence in self.\n\n6. Again, there are pious persons whose zeal consists in wishing to make\neverybody adopt their particular practices of devotion. Such a one, if\nshe have a special attraction for meditating on the Passion of our divine\nLord or for visiting the Blessed Sacrament, would like to oblige every\none, under pain of reprobation, to pass long hours prostrate before the\ncrucifix or the tabernacle. Another who is especially devoted to visiting\nthe poor and the sick and to the other works of corporal mercy,\nacknowledges no piety apart from these excellent practices. Now, this is\nnot an enlightened zeal. Martha and Mary were sisters, says Saint\nAugustine, but they have not a like office: one acts, the other\ncontemplates. If both had passed the day in contemplation, no one would\nhave prepared a repast for their divine Master; if both had been employed\nin this material work, there would have been no one to listen to His\nwords and garner up His divine lessons. The same thing may be said of\nother good works. In choosing among them each person should follow the\ninspirations of God's grace, and these are very varied. The eye that sees\nbut hears not, must neither envy nor blame the ear that hears but sees\nnot. _Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum:_ let every spirit praise the Lord,\nsays the royal prophet.[22]\n\n7. Bear well in mind that the zeal which would lead you to undertake\nworks not in conformity with your position, however good and useful they\nmay be in themselves, is always a false one. This is especially true if\nsuch cause us interior trouble or annoyance; for the holiest things are\ninfallibly displeasing to God when they do not accord with the duties of\nour state of life.\n\n8. Saint Paul condemned in strong terms those Christians who showed a too\nexclusive preference for their spiritual masters; some admitting as truth\nonly what came from the mouth of Peter, others acknowledging none save\nPaul, and others again none but Apollo. What! said he to them, is not\nJesus Christ the same for all of you! Is it then Paul who was crucified\nfor you? Is it in his name you were baptized?[23] This culpable weakness\nis often reproduced in our day. Persons otherwise pious carry to excess\nthe esteem and affection they have for their spiritual directors, exalt\nwithout measure their wisdom and holiness, and do not scruple to\ndepreciate all others. God alone knows the true value of each human\nbeing, and we have not the scales of the sanctuary to weigh and compare\nthe respective wisdom and sanctity of this and that person. If you have a\ngood confessor, thank God and try to render his wisdom useful to you by\nyour docility in allowing yourself to be guided; but do not assume that\nnobody else has as good a one. To depreciate the merits of some in order\nto exalt those of others at their expense is a sort of slander, that\nought to be all the more feared because it is generally so little\nrecognized.\n\n9. \"If your zeal is bitter,\" says Saint James, \"it is not wisdom\ndescending from on high, but earthly, sensual, diabolical.\"[24] These\nwords of an Apostle should furnish matter of reflection for those persons\nwho, whilst making profession of piety, are so prone to irritability, so\nharsh and rude in their manners and language, that they might be taken\nfor angels in church and for demons elsewhere.\n\n10. The value and utility of zeal are in proportion to its tolerance and\namiability. True zeal is the offspring of charity: it should, then,\nresemble its mother and show itself like to her in all things. \"Charity,\"\nsays Saint Paul, \"is patient, is kind, is not ambitious and seeketh not\nher own.\"[25]\n\n*\"You should not only be devout and love devotion, but you ought to make\nyour piety useful, agreeable and charming to everybody. The sick will\nlike your spirituality if they are lovingly consoled by it; your family,\nif they find that it makes you more thoughtful of their welfare, gentler\nin every day affairs, more amiable in reproving, and so on; your husband,\nif he sees that in proportion as your devotion increases you become more\ncordial and tender in your affection for him; your relations and friends,\nif they find you more forbearing, and more ready to comply with their\nwishes, should these not be contrary to God's will. Briefly, you must try\nas far as possible to make your devotion attractive to others; that is\ntrue zeal.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n11. Never allow your zeal to make you over eager to correct others, says\nthe same Saint; and when you must do it remember that the most important\nthing to consider is the choice of the moment. A caution deferred can be\ngiven another time: one given inopportunely is not only fruitless, but\nmoreover paralyses beforehand all the good that might have subsequently\nbeen done.\n\n12. Be zealous, therefore, ardently zealous for the salvation of your\nneighbor, and to further it make use of whatever means God has placed in\nyour power; but do not exceed these limits nor disquiet yourself about\nthe good you are unable to do, for God can accomplish it through others.\nIn conclusion, zeal, according to the teachings of the Fathers of the\nChurch, should always have truth for its foundation, indulgence for its\ncompanion, mildness for its guide, prudence for its counsellor and\ndirector.\n\n*\"I must look upon whatever presents itself each day to be done, in the\norder of Divine Providence, as the work God wishes me to do, and apply\nmyself to it in a manner worthy of Him, that is with exactness and\ntranquillity. I shall neglect nothing, be anxious about nothing; as it is\ndangerous either to do God's work negligently or to appropriate it to\none's self through self-love and false zeal. When our actions are\nprompted by our own inclinations, we do them badly, and are pretentious,\nrestless, and anxious to succeed. The glory of God is the pretext that\nhides the illusion. Self-love disguised as zeal grieves and frets if it\ncannot succeed. O my God! give me the grace to be faithful in action,\nindifferent to success. My part is to will what Thou willest and to keep\nmyself recollected in Thee amidst all my occupations: Thine it is to give\nto my feeble efforts such fruit as shall please Thee,--none if Thou so\nwishest.\"--F\u00e9nelon.*\n\n\n\n\n XX.\n MEEKNESS.\n\n\n Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the land. (S. Matth., c.\n V., v. 4.)\n\n Learn of me because I am meek. (St. Matthew, c. XI., v. 29.)\n\n1. Our Lord offers us in His Divine Person a model of all the virtues.\nMeekness, however, is the one that He seems to have wished more\nparticularly to propose for our imitation since He said: \"Learn of Me for\nI am meek and humble of heart.\"\n\n2. Try, therefore, to acquire and always preserve in your soul this\nchristian virtue and to make all your exterior actions correspond with\nit. I do not say that you should never have the slightest feeling of\nirritation, as that would be to expect an impossibility; but you should\nbe attentive to repress these movements and never yield to them\nvoluntarily. It is natural for man to be often assailed by anger, says\nSaint Jerome, but it is peculiar to the Christian not to allow himself to\nbe overcome by it.\n\n3. A Christian, says Saint Bernard, who has no one at hand who gives him\noccasion to suffer, should seek such a person eagerly and buy him at any\nprice, that he may have opportunity to practice meekness and patience. If\nyou are not disposed to go to this expense, at least profit of whatever\nopportunities divine Providence has given you gratuitously, that you may\naccustom yourself to the exercise of these two inestimable virtues.\n\n4. An excellent rule to follow is to make a compact with your tongue such\nas Saint Francis de Sales did with his, namely, that the tongue remain\nsilent whenever the feelings are irritated. Otherwise you will begin to\nspeak with the sincere resolution to keep within the bounds of moderation\nand prudence, but you will never succeed in so doing, because the bridle\nonce loosened you will invariably be carried farther than you wished.\nReprimand from an angry man can do no good. Reproof is a moral remedy:\nhow would it be possible for you to select and administer this remedy\nwith discernment and prudence, when you yourself are ill and stand in\nneed of both medicine and physician? Wait therefore until your soul is at\npeace, and when you have been restored to calmness you can speak\nadvantageously. Even when it is your positive duty to administer a\nrebuke, defer it if possible until free from excitement, remembering that\nto have a salutary effect both he who gives it and he who receives it\nmust be calm. Without this precaution the remedy will only aggravate the\ndisease.\n\n5. When obliged to reprove the fault of another, never fail to pray that\nGod will speak to the person's heart whilst your words are sounding in\nhis ears.\n\n6. Observe, however, with Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Thomas, that\nif those it is your duty to correct abuse your mildness and\nconsiderateness, you are then justified in repressing their boldness with\nvigor and firmness. \"Speak to the fool,\" says the Holy Spirit, \"the\nlanguage that his folly renders necessary, that he may not continue wise\nin his own eyes.\"[26] I repeat it: reproof is a remedy, and a remedy must\nbe chosen and proportioned according to the nature and gravity of the\nevil.\n\n\n\n\n XXI.\n CONVERSATION.\n\n\n Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a\n candlestick, that it may give light to all who are in a house.\n\n Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works,\n and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (St. Matthew, c. V., vv.\n 15-16.)\n\n Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subversion of\n the hearers. (St. Paul, II Tim., c. II., v. 14.)\n\n1. Conversation should be marked by a gentle and devout pleasantness, and\nyour manner when engaged in it, ought to be equable, composed and\ngracious. Mildness and cheerfulness make devotion and those who practice\nit attractive to others. The holy abbot Saint Anthony, notwithstanding\nthe extraordinary austerities of his penitential life, always showed such\na smiling countenance that no one could look at him without pleasure.\n\n2. We should be neither too talkative nor too silent,--it is as necessary\nto avoid one extreme as the other. By speaking too much we expose\nourselves to a thousand dangers, so well known that they need not be\nmentioned in detail: by not speaking enough we are apt to be a restraint\nupon others, as it makes it seem as though we did not relish their\nconversation, or wished to impress them with our superiority.\n\n*\"Take great care not to be too critical of conversations in which the\nrules of devotion are not very exactly observed. In all such matters it\nis necessary that charity should govern and enlighten us in order to make\nus accede to the wishes of our neighbor in whatever is not in any way\ncontrary to the commandments of God.\"--Saint Francis de Sales.*\n\n3. Do not conclude from this that it is necessary to count your words, as\nit were, so as to keep your conversation within the proper limits. This\nwould be as puerile a scruple as counting one's steps when walking. A\nholy spirit of liberty should dominate our conversations and serve to\ninstil into them a gentle and moderate gaiety.\n\n4. If you hear some evil spoken of your neighbor do not immediately\nbecome alarmed, as the matter may be true and quite public without your\nhaving been aware of it. Should you be quite certain that there is\ncalumny or slander in the report, either because the evil told was false\nor exaggerated or because it was not publicly known, then, according to\nthe place, the circumstances and your relations towards those present,\nsay with moderation what appears most fitting to justify or excuse your\nneighbor. Or you may try to turn the conversation into other channels, or\nsimply be content to show your disapprobation by an expressive silence.\nRemember, for the peace of your conscience, that one does not share in\nthe sin of slander unless he give some mark of approbation or\nencouragement to the person who is guilty of it.\n\n5. Do not imitate those who are scrupulous enough to imagine that charity\nobliges them to undertake the defence of every evil mentioned in their\npresence and to become the self-appointed advocates of whoever it may be\nthat has deserved censure. That which is really wrong cannot be\njustified, and no one should attempt the fruitless task: and as to the\nguilty, those who may do harm either through the scandal of their example\nor the wickedness of their doctrines, it is right that they should be\nshunned and openly denounced. \"To cry out wolf, wolf,\" says Saint Francis\nde Sales, \"is kindness to the sheep.\"\n\n6. The regard we owe our neighbor does not bind us to a politeness that\nmight be construed as an approval or encouragement of his vicious habits.\nHence if it happen that you hear an equivocal jest, a witticism slurring\nat religion or morals, or anything else that really offends against\npropriety, be careful not to give, through cowardice and in spite of your\nconscience, any mark of approbation, were it only by one of those half\nsmiles that are often accorded unwillingly and afterwards regretted.\nFlattery, even in the eyes of the world, is one of the most debasing of\nfalsehoods. Not even in the presence of the greatest earthly dignitaries,\nwill an honest, upright man sanction with his mouth that which he\ncondemns in his heart. He who sacrifices to vice the rights of truth not\nonly acts unlike a christian, but renders himself unworthy the name of\nman.\n\n7. In small social gatherings try to make yourself agreeable to everybody\npresent and to show to each some little mark of attention, if you can do\nso without affectation. This may be done either by directly addressing\nthe person or by making a remark that you know will give him occasion to\nspeak of his own accord,--draw him out, as the saying is. It was by the\ncharm and urbanity of his conversation that Saint Francis de Sales\nprepared the way for the conversion of numbers of heretics and sinners,\nand by imitating him you will contribute towards making piety in the\nworld more attractive. In regard to priests you should always testify\nyour respect for the sacerdotal dignity quite independently of the\nindividual.\n\n8. Disputes, sarcasm, bitter language, and intolerance for dissenting\nopinions, are the scourges of conversation.\n\n9. Although this adage comes to us from a pagan philosopher, we might\nprofitably bear it always in mind: \"In conversation we should show\ndeference to our superiors, affability to our equals, and benevolence to\nour inferiors.\"\n\n10. Generally speaking, it is wrong for those whom God does not call to\nabandon the world, to seclude themselves entirely and to shun all society\nsuited to their position in life. God, who is the source of all virtue,\nis likewise the author of human society. Let the wicked hide themselves\nif they will, their absence is no loss to the world; but good people make\nthemselves useful merely by being seen. It is well, moreover, the world\nshould know that in order to practice the teachings of the Gospel it is\nnot necessary to bury one's self in the desert; and that those who live\nfor the Creator can likewise live with the creatures whom He has made\naccording to His own image and likeness. Well, again, to show that a\ndevout life is neither sad nor austere, but simple, sweet and easy; that\nfar from being for those in the world an impediment to social relations,\nit facilitates, perfects and sanctifies such; that the disciples of Jesus\nChrist can, without becoming worldlings, live in the world; and that, in\nfine, the Gospel is the sovereign code of perfection for persons in\nsociety as well as for those who have renounced the world.\n\n*F\u00e9nelon, who perhaps had even greater occasion than Saint Francis de\nSales to teach men of the world how to lead a Christian life in society,\nwrote as follows to a person at court:\n\n\"You ought not to feel worried, it seems to me, in regard to those\ndiversions in which you cannot avoid taking part. I know there are those\nwho think it necessary that one should lament about everything, and\nrestrain himself continually by trying to excite disgust for the\namusements in which he must participate. As for me, I acknowledge that I\ncannot reconcile myself to this severity. I prefer something more simple\nand I believe that God, too, likes it better. When amusements are\ninnocent in themselves and we enter into them to conform to the customs\nof the state of life in which Providence has placed us, then I believe\nthey are perfectly lawful. It is enough to keep within the bounds of\nmoderation and to remember God's presence. A dry, reserved manner,\nconduct not thoroughly ingenuous and obliging, only serve to give a false\nidea of piety to men of the world who are already too much prejudiced\nagainst it, believing that a spiritual life cannot be otherwise than\ngloomy and morose.\"*\n\n11. If all confessors agreed in instilling these maxims, which are as\nimportant as they are true, many persons who now keep themselves in\nabsolute seclusion and live in a sad and dreary solitude would remain in\nsociety to the edification of their neighbor and the great advantage of\nreligion. The world would thus be disabused of its unjust prejudices\nagainst a devout life and those who have embraced it.\n\n12. Never remain idle except during the time you have allotted to rest or\nrecreation. Idleness begets lassitude, disposes to evil speaking and\ngives occasion to the most dangerous temptations.\n\n\n\n\n XXII.\n DRESS.\n\n\n Women also in decent apparel, adorning themselves with modesty and\n sobriety. (St. Paul, I. Tim., c. II., v. 9.)\n\n1. Clothing is worn for a threefold object: to observe the laws of\npropriety, to protect our bodies from the inclemency of the weather, and,\nfinally, to adorn them, as Saint Paul says, with _modesty and sobriety_.\nThis third end is, as you see, not less legitimate than the other two,\nprovided you are careful to make it accord with them by confining it\nwithin proper limits and not permitting it to be the only one to which\nyou attach any importance, so that neither health nor propriety be\nsacrificed to personal appearance.\n\n2. External ornamentation should correspond with each one's condition in\nlife. A just proportion in this matter, says Saint Thomas, is an offshoot\nof the virtues of uprightness and sincerity, for there is a sort of\nuntruthfulness in appearing in garments that are calculated to give a\nwrong impression as to the position in which God has placed us in this\nworld.\n\n3. Be equally careful, then, to avoid over-nicety and carelessness in\nrespect to matters of toilet. Excessive nicety sins against moderation\nand christian simplicity; negligence, against the order that should\ngovern certain externals in human society. This order requires that each\none's material life, and accordingly his attire which is a part of it, be\nsuitable to his rank and condition; that Esther be clad as a queen,\nJudith as a woman of wealth and position, Agar as a bond-woman.\n\n5. I shall not speak of immodest dress, for these instructions being\nintended for pious persons or for those who are endeavoring to become\nsuch, it would seem unnecessary. Nevertheless, as some false and\npernicious ideas on this subject prevail in the world and lead into error\nsouls desirous to do right, here are some fundamental principles that can\nserve you as a rule and save you from similar mistakes.\n\n5. A generally admitted custom can and even should be followed in all\nindifferent matters; but no custom, however universal it may be, can ever\nhave the power to change the nature and essence of things or render\nallowable that which is in itself indecent and immodest. Were it\notherwise, many sins could be justified by the sanction they receive in\nfashionable society. Remember, therefore, that the sin of others can\nnever in the sight of God authorize yours, and that where it is the\nfashion to sin it is likewise the fashion to go to hell. Hence it rests\nwith yourself whether you prefer to be saved with the few or to be damned\nwith the many.\n\n\n\n\n XXIII.\n HUMAN RESPECT.\n\n\n I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people.... Lo, I will not\n restrain my lips.... I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from\n a great council. (Psalms CXV. and XXXIX.)\n\n That which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops....\n Whosoever shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before\n my Father who is in heaven. (St. Matthew, c. X., vv. 27-32.)\n\n1. Charity towards your neighbor, tolerance for his opinions, indulgence\nfor his defects, compassion for his errors, yes; but no cowardly and\nguilty concessions to human respect. Never allow fear of the ridicule or\ncontempt of men to make you blush for your faith.\n\n2. We are not even forbidden to call one human weakness to the assistance\nof another that is contrary to it: men do not like to contradict\nthemselves, and they dread to be considered fickle. Well, then, in order\nthat no person may be ignorant of the fact that you are a christian, once\nfor all boldly confess your faith and your firm resolve to practise it,\nand let it be known that in all your actions your sole desire is to seek\nthe glory of God and the good of your neighbor. Let this profession be\nmade upon occasion in a gentle and modest manner, but firmly and\npositively; and you will find that subsequently it will be much easier\nfor you to continue what you have thus courageously begun. (Read Chapters\nI. and II., IVth Part of the _Introduction to a Devout Life_.)\n\n\n\n\n XXIV.\n RESOLUTIONS.\n\n\n Long-standing custom will make resistance, but by a better habit shall\n it be subdued. (_Imitation_, B. III., c. XII.)\n\n To him who shall overcome, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, as\n I also have overcome. (Apocalypse, c. III., v. 21.)\n\n1. We should not undertake to perfect ourselves upon all points at once;\nresolutions as to details ought to be made and carried out one by one,\ndirecting them first against our predominant passion.\n\n2. By a predominant passion we mean the source of that sin to which we\noftenest yield and from which spring the greater number of our faults.\n\n3. In order to attack it successfully it is essential to make use of\nstrategy. It must be approached little by little, besieged with great\ncaution as if it were the stronghold of an enemy, and the outposts taken\none after another.\n\n4. For example, if your ruling passion be anger, simply propose to\nyourself in the beginning never to speak when you feel irritated. Renew\nthis resolution two or three times during the day and ask God's pardon\nfor every time you have failed against it.\n\n5. When the results of this first resolution shall have become a habit,\nso that you no longer have any difficulty in keeping it, you can take a\nstep forward. Propose, for instance, to repress promptly every thought\ncapable of agitating you, or of arousing interior anger; afterwards you\ncan adopt the practice of meeting without annoyance persons who are\nnaturally repugnant to you; then of being able to treat with especial\nkindness those of whom you have reason to complain. Finally, you will\nlearn to see in all things, even in those most painful to nature, the\nwill of God offering you opportunities to acquire merit; and in those who\ncause you suffering, only the instruments of this same merciful\nprovidence. You will then no longer think of repulsing or bewailing them,\nbut will bless and thank your divine Saviour for having chosen you to\nbear with Him the burden of His cross, and for deigning to hold to your\nlips the precious chalice of His passion.\n\n6. Some saints recommend us to make an act of hope or love or to perform\nsome act of mortification when we discover that we have failed to keep\nour resolutions. This practice is good, but if you adopt it do not\nconsider it of obligation nor bind yourself so strictly to it as to\nsuppose you have committed a sin when you neglect it.\n\n7. It is by this progressive method that you can at length succeed in\nentirely overcoming your passions, and will be able to acquire the\nvirtues you lack. Always begin with what is easiest. Choose at first\nexternal acts over which the will has greater control, and in time you\ncan advance from these, little by little, to the most interior and\ndifficult details of the spiritual life.\n\n8. Resolutions of too general a character, such as, for example, to be\nalways moderate in speech, always patient, chaste, peaceable and the\nlike, ordinarily do not amount to much and sometimes to nothing at all.\n\n9. To undertake little at a time, and to pursue this little with\nperseverance until one has by degrees brought it to perfection, is a\ncommon rule of human prudence. The saints particularly recommend us to\napply it to the subject of our resolutions.\n\n\n\n\n XXV.\n CONCLUSION.\n\n\n But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and which have\n been committed to thee; knowing of whom thou hast learned them. (St.\n Paul, II Tim., c. III., v. 14.)\n\n1. The writer of these instructions makes no pretension to have derived\nthem from his own wisdom. The material was furnished him by the greatest\nsaints and the most eminent doctors of the Church. You can therefore\nbelieve in them with great confidence, follow them without fear and adopt\nthem as a safe and reliable guide in your spiritual life.\n\n2. If you try to regulate your practice by making personal and\nindiscriminate application of everything you find in sermons and books\nyou will never be at rest. _One draws you to the right, the other to the\nleft_, says Saint Francis de Sales: doctrine is one, but its applications\nare many, and they vary according to time, place and person. Besides,\nthose who speak to a hardened multitude, from whom they cannot get even a\nlittle without exacting a great deal, insist vehemently upon the subject\nwith which they wish to impress their hearers and for the time being\nappear to forget everything else. If they preach on mortification of the\nsenses, fasting, or any other penitential work, they fail to explain the\nproper manner of practising it, the limits that should not usually be\nexceeded and the circumstances under which we can and should refrain from\nit. This is due to the fact that the cowardly and the lukewarm, whom it\nis more necessary to excite than to restrain, will take from these\ninstructions only just what is suitable for them. Now as these form the\nmajority, it is for them above all that it is necessary to speak.\n\n3. It would then be better for you individually, without lessening your\nrespect and esteem for books of devotion and for preachers animated by\nthe spirit of God, to confine yourself as far as practice is concerned to\nthe advice of your director and to the teachings of the saints as\npresented in this little volume.\n\n4. Recall what has been already said, that Saint Francis de Sales\ncounsels you to select your spiritual guide from among ten thousand, and\nto allow yourself subsequently to be entirely directed by him as though\nhe were an angel come down from heaven to conduct you there.\n\n5. Without this rule of firm and confident obedience, books and sermons\nand all that is said and written for the multitude, will become for you a\nsource of fatiguing inquietude, and of doubts and fears, owing to the\nfact that you will try to assimilate things which were not intended for\nyou.\n\n6. Remember, moreover, the pleasant saying of Saint Philip de\nNeri,--namely, that he had a special predilection for those books the\nauthors of which had a name beginning with the letter S.; that is to say,\nthe works of the saints, because he supposed them to be more illumined by\nheavenly wisdom.\n\nNow, in observing these instructions you will have for guide and director\nnot the poor sinner who has compiled them for the glory of God and the\ngood of souls, but Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas, Saint Philip de Neri\nand especially Saint Francis de Sales, in whom the Church recognizes and\nadmires such exalted sanctity, profound wisdom, and rare experience in\nthe direction of souls. These are the three eminent qualities requisite\nto constitute a great doctor in the Catholic Church, and to form the\nsafest and the most enlightened guide for those who wish to be his\ndisciples.\n\n\n\n\n ADDITIONS.\n FINAL ADVICE IN REGARD TO HOLY COMMUNION.\n\n\nA cause of frequent error and trouble, particularly in regard to Holy\nCommunion, is that feelings are confused with acts of the will. The\nfaculty of willing is the only one we possess as our own, the only one we\ncan use freely and at all times. Hence it follows that it is by the will\nalone that we can in reality acquire merit or commit sin. The natural\nvirtues are gratuitous gifts of God. The world is right in esteeming them\nfor they come from Him, but it errs when it esteems them exclusively for\nthey do not of themselves give us any title to heaven. God has placed\nthem at the disposal of our will as means to an end, and we can make a\ngood or bad use of them just as we can of all God's other gifts. We may\nbe deprived of these natural virtues and live by the will alone,\nspiritually dry and devoid of sentiment, and yet in a state of intimate\nunion with God.\n\nThis explanation is intended to reassure such persons as are disposed to\nfeel anxious when they find nothing in their hearts to correspond with\nthe effusions of sensible love with which books of devotion abound in the\npreparation for Holy Communion. These usually make the mistake of taking\nfor granted the invariable existence of sentiment, and of addressing it\nexclusively. How many souls do we not see who in consequence grow alarmed\nabout their condition, believing they are devoid of grace notwithstanding\ntheir firm will to shun sin and to please God! They should, however, not\ngive way to anxiety, nor exhaust themselves by vain efforts to excite in\ntheir hearts a sensibility that God has not given them. When He has\ngranted us this gift we owe Him homage for it as for all others; but God\nonly requires that each of His creatures should render an account of what\nhe has received, and free-will is the one thing that has been accorded\nindiscriminately to all men. Thus we find Saint Francis de Sales, who\npossessed in such a high degree sensible love of God and all the natural\nvirtues, making this positive declaration: \"The greatest proof we can\nhave in this life that we are in the grace of God, is not sensible love\nof Him, but the firm resolution never to consent to any sin great or\nsmall.\"\n\nPious persons can make use of the following prayers with profit when they\nare habitually or accidentally in the condition described above. They\nwill then see how the will alone, without the aid of feeling, can produce\nacts of all the christian virtues.\n\n\n Act of Confidence.\n\n I will go unto the altar of God. (Ps. XLII.)\n\nIt is obedience, O my God! that leads me to Thy Holy Table: the tender\nwords by which Thou hast invited us would not have sufficed to draw me,\nfor in the troubled state of my soul I cannot be sure they are addressed\nto me. Misery and infirmity are claims for admission to Thy Feast, but\nnothing can dispense from the nuptial garment. Therefore when I turn my\neyes on myself, after having raised them to Thee, I doubt, I hesitate, I\ntremble; for if I go from Thee I flee from life, and if I approach\nunworthily, to my other sins I add the crime of sacrilege.[27] But Thy\nmerciful wisdom, O my God, whilst foreseeing our every need, has foreseen\nall our weaknesses and has prepared helps for us against both presumption\nand distrust. For if Thou hast not willed that, certain of Thy grace, we\nshould ever advance with the assurance of the Pharisee and say like him:\nI come to the altar of the Lord because I know I am just in His eyes:\nneither hast Thou permitted that a sacrament of love should become for us\na torture and an unavoidable snare. I therefore obey, O my God, and in\nthe darkness that envelops me I wish to follow implicitly the guidance of\nhim whom Thou hast appointed to lead me to Thee. I shall approach the\nHoly Table without wishing for any other warrant than the words spoken by\nmy confessor, or rather by Thee: _You may receive Holy Communion_. I\naccept, O my God!--be it a well merited punishment or a salutary\ntrial,--this privation of light and sensible devotion, this coldness and\ndistraction, which accompany me even into Thy presence when all the\nfaculties of my soul should be absorbed and confounded in sentiments of\nadoration and of love. Faith, hope and charity seem to be extinct in my\nheart, but I know that Thou never withdrawest these virtues when we do\nnot voluntarily renounce them.\n\n\n Act of Faith.\n\nNotwithstanding, then, the doubts that cross my mind, _I wish to\nbelieve_, O my God! and _I do believe_ all that Thy holy Church has\ntaught me. I have not forgotten that brilliant light of Faith which Thou\ndidst cause to illumine my soul in the days of mercy in order that the\nprecious remembrance of it should serve me as support in the days of\ntrial and temptation.\n\n\n Act of Hope.\n\nIn spite of these vague fears that seem to extinguish hope within my\nsoul, I know that although Thou art the mighty and strong God before whom\nthe cherubim veil themselves with their wings, the just and all-seeing\nGod who discovers blemishes in the purest souls, still Thou wishest to be\nin the most Holy Sacrament only the Victim whose Blood effaces the sins\nof the world; the Good Shepherd who hastens after the strayed sheep and\ncarries it tenderly and unreproachfully back to the fold; the divine\nMediator who comes _not to judge but to save_.[28] All this I know, O my\nGod! and therefore _I hope_.\n\n\n Act of Love.\n\nNotwithstanding the coldness and insensibility that benumb my soul, I\nknow that _I love Thee_, O my God! since my will prefers Thy service to\nall the joys of this world, since Thy grace is the sole good to which I\naspire, and because I suffer so much by reason of my lack of sensible\nlove for Thee.\n\n\n Act of Desire.\n\nNo, I am not indifferent, Thou knowest, O my God! that I am not\nindifferent to this Most Holy Sacrament which I approach unmoved by any\nsensible feeling: for Thou seest that although I find in Holy Communion\nneither relish nor consolation, I would yet make any sacrifice in order\nto receive it.\n\n\n Act of Contrition.\n\nI feel neither hatred nor horror of sins to which the world does not\nattach shame and contempt; I experience no sensible sorrow for the sins I\nhave committed, but I know, O my God! that, with the assistance of Thy\ngrace, my will denounces them, for I am resolved to commit them no more.\nI have taken this resolution because sin displeases Thee and because all\nthat swerves from eternal order is abhorrent to Thy infinite sanctity. _I\nbelieve, then, that I am contrite_, O my God! because I believe in Thy\npromises, and if Thou dost not always grant us the consolation of\nrealizing our contrition, Thou wilt never refuse its justifying virtue to\nthose who humbly implore it; and this I do.\n\nNo, my God, I shall not pray Thee to grant me sensible enjoyment, not\neven that of Thy spiritual gifts: what I implore of Thy grace is to keep\nmy will ever turned towards Thee and never to permit it to fall or wander\nanew on the earth.\n\n_Lord! into Thy hands I commend my spirit._\n\n(Read _The Imitation_, Chapters IV., XIV., XV. of B. IV.; and Chapters\nXXV., XLVIII and LII of B. III.)\n\n\nIf you have an ardent desire for the sensible love of God, a desire that\ncannot but be pleasing to Him provided you are at the same time resigned\nto be deprived of it, remember that according to Saint John Chrysostom it\ncan be obtained only by fidelity to prayer. God wishes, says the Saint,\nto make us realize by experience that we cannot have His love but from\nHimself, and that this love, which is the true happiness of our souls, is\nnot to be acquired by the reflections of our minds or the natural efforts\nof our hearts, but by the gratuitous infusion of the Holy Ghost. Yes,\nthis love is so great a good that God wishes to be the sole dispenser of\nit: He bestows it only in proportion as we ask it of Him, and ordinarily\nmakes us wait for some time before He grants it.\n\nThere are few prayers better calculated to dispose the soul to receive\nthis great grace than the XVI. and XVII. chapters of the IVth. Book, and\nXXI. and XXXIV. of the IIId. Book of _The Imitation_.\n\nFor thanksgiving after Communion, read Chapters XXXIV., V., XXI., II. and\nX. of the III. Book of _The Imitation_.\n\n\n\n\n Footnotes\n\n\n[1]Saint Paul, I. Cor. x., 13, says: ... God is faithful, Who will not\n suffer you to be tempted above what you are able: but will even make\n with temptation an issue, that you may be able to bear it.\n\n[2]The Chevalier du Chambon de M\u00e9silliac, who translated this little work\n of P. Quadrupani's into French, inserted much additional matter,\n quotations for the most part from the same authorities frequently\n cited by the Italian author. These selections he placed at the end of\n each _Instruction_ under the title of \"Additions.\" The English\n translator has changed this arrangement into one which seems more\n convenient and better calculated to maintain the connection of ideas.\n Therefore the extracts chosen by the French translator are here\n inserted in the body of the text, immediately following the paragraphs\n which suggested them, and are marked by asterisks to distinguish them\n from the original matter.\n\n[3]St. Francis de Sales.\n\n[4]Proverbs, XXX, 21-23: \"By three things is the earth disturbed ... by a\n bondwoman, when she is heir to her mistress....\"\n\n[5]II. Cor., xii., 9.\n\n[6]John, vi, 57.\n\n[7]Matt. xi., 28.\n\n[8]Saint Luke, c. V. vv. 8-10.\n\n[9]Luke V., 32. Mark II., 17. Matthew IX., 13.\n\n[10]Epist. St. Paul to the Hebrews.\n\n[11]St. Paul to the Philippians, IV., 13.\n\n[12]Matt. X., 30.\n\n[13]Matt. X., 30:--Luke XII., 7.--\"_Blessed are they that mourn, for they\n shall be comforted._\"\n\n[14]III Kings, C. XIX.\n\n[15]Ecce in pace est amaritudo mea amarissima. (Isaias.)\n\n[16]Saint Francis de Sales.\n\n[17]See P. Rodriguez, S. J., Christian Perfection, C. I.\n\n[18]Gen. I., 11.\n\n[19]Psalm CL., 5. _Let every spirit praise the Lord_.\n\n[20]Luke, IX., 54.\n\n[21]Ecclesiastes III., 7.\n\n[22]Ps. CL., 5.\n\n[23]St. Paul, I Cor. I., 13.\n\n[24]S. James, Cath. Ep. III., 14-15.\n\n[25]S. Paul, I Cor. XIII., 4-5.\n\n[26]Proverbs, XXVI., 5.\n\n[27]_Imitation_, B. IV., c. VI.: \"For if I do not appeal to Thee, I fly\n from life; and if I intrude myself unworthily I incur Thy\n displeasure.\"\n\n[28]S. John, c. XII., v. 47: \"For I came not to judge the world, but to\n save the world.\"\n\n\n\n\n Translator's Notes\n\n\n--Corrected a few palpable typos.\n\n--Added several missing quotation marks and asterisks where unpaired ones\n occurred.","title":"Light and Peace: Instructions for devout souls to dispel their doubts and allay their fears","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":36439}