{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_9184/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_9184","id":"gutenberg_9184","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9184","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life -- Catholic authors","Devotional literature"],"text":"Produced by Charles Aldorondo, Tiffany Vergon, William Flis, and Distributed Proofreaders\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES\n\n\n\n\nNihil Obstat:\n\n  + F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B,\n     CENSOR DEPUTATUS\n\nImprimatur:\n\n   E. CANONICUS SURMONT\n     VICARIUS GENERALIS\n\nWestmonasterii\ndie 27th Maii 1910\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES\n\nBY HIS FRIEND\n\nJEAN PIERRE CAMUS\nBISHOP OF BELLEY\n\nNEW AND ENLARGED EDITION\nWITH A PREFACE BY HIS GRACE THE\nARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER.\n\nTRANSLATED BY J. S.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPreface by the Archbishop of Westminster\nSketch of Jean Pierre Camus, Bishop of Belley\nThe French Publisher to the reader in 1639\n\nUpon perfect virtue\nBlessed Francis' estimate of various virtues\nUpon the lesser virtues\nUpon increase of Faith\nUpon temptations against Faith\nUpon the same subject\nUpon confidence in God\nOur misery appeals to God's mercy\nUpon self distrust\nUpon the justice and mercy of God\nOn waiting upon God\nOn the difference between a holy desire of reward and a mercenary spirit\nContinuation of the same subject\nGod should suffice for us all\nCharity the short road to perfection\nUpon what it is to love God truly\nUpon the Love of God in general\nAll for Love of God\nThe same subject continued\nUpon the Love of God called love of benevolence\nDisinterested Love of God\nUpon the character of a true Christian\nUpon not putting limits to our Love of God\nUpon the law and the just man\nUpon desires\nHow Charity excels both Faith and Hope\nSome thoughts of Blessed Francis on the Passion\nUpon the vanity of heathen philosophy\nUpon the pure love of our neighbour\nUpon bearing with one another\nUpon fraternal correction\nUpon finding excuses for the faults of our fellow-men\nUpon not judging others\nUpon judging ourselves\nUpon slander and detraction\nUpon hasty judgments\nUpon ridiculing one's neighbour\nUpon contradicting others\nUpon loving our enemies\nUpon forgiving our enemies\nUpon the virtue of condescension\nHow he adapted himself to times, places and circumstances\nUpon the deference due to inferiors and dependents\nOn the way to treat servants\nAnother instance of his gentleness with his servants\nHis never refusing what was asked of him\nUpon almsgiving\nHis hopefulness in regard, to the conversion of sinners\nHis solicitude for malefactors condemned to death\nUpon the small number of the elect\nTo love to be hated; and to hate to be loved\nUpon obedience\nUpon the obedience that may be practised by Superiors\nAn instance of his obedience\nUpon the Love of Holy Poverty\nUpon the same subject\nUpon poverty of spirit\nHis love of the poor\nUpon the Christian view of Poverty\nUpon Prosperity\nUpon Chastity and Charity\nUpon purity of heart\nUpon Chastity and Humility\nUpon Modesty\nThe contempt he felt for his body\nUpon his Humility\nUpon humbleness in speech only\nUpon various degrees of Humility\nUpon Humiliation\nHumility with regard to perfection\nUpon excuses\nUpon our good name\nUpon despising the esteem of men\nUpon the virtues we should practice when calumniated\nUpon some spiritual maxims\nUpon Patience\nHow to profit by bearing with insults\nUpon bearing with importunities\nThat he who complains sins\nHis calmness in tribulations\nHis test of patience in suffering\nUpon long illnesses\nHis holy indifference in illness\nUpon the shape of the Cross\nA diamond Cross\nHoly Magdalen at the foot of the Cross\nUpon the power of gentleness and patience\nA rejoinder both striking and instructive\nHis favourite beatitude\nHis gravity and affability\nHow he dealt with a criminal who despaired of salvation\nUpon mortification\nUpon the same subject\nUpon fasting\nDoubts solved as to soldiers fasting\nThe golden mean in dispensations\nUpon the words \"Eat of anything that is set before you\"\nUpon the state of perfection\nMarks of progress in perfection\nUpon the perfection aimed at in Religious Houses\nUpon Frugality\nHis esteem of the virtue of simplicity\nHis love of exactitude\nThe test of Religious Vocation\nUpon following the common life\nUpon Vocations\nUpon Prudence and Simplicity\nThe same subject continued\nUpon mental prayer\nUpon Aspirations\nUpon interior recollection and ejaculatory prayers\nUpon doing and enduring\nUpon Mortification and Prayer\nUpon the Presence of God\nHis unity of spirit with God\nHis gratitude to God for spiritual consolations\nUpon the shedding of tears\nUpon joy and sadness\nOn the degrees of true devotion\nThe test of true devotion\nWhat it means to be a servant of God\nThat devotion does not always spring from Charity\nUpon perfect contentment in the privation of all content\nUpon the Will of God\nHis resignation to the Will of God\nThat we must always submit ourselves to God's holy Will\nHis sublime thoughts on holy indifference\nNothing save sin happens to us but by the Will of God\nUpon the same subject\nUpon abandoning ourselves to God\nUpon interior desolation\nUpon the presence in our souls of the Grace of God\nUpon our wish to save our soul\nUpon good natural inclinations\nHow to speak of God\nUpon eccentricities in devotion\nUpon Confraternities\nUpon intercourse with the world\nAgainst over-eagerness\nUpon the same subject\nUpon liberty of spirit\nUpon nature and grace\nUpon exaggerated introspection\nUpon interior reformation\nHis vision of the Most Holy Trinity\nHis devotion to our Blessed Lady\nHis devotion to the Holy Winding Sheet of Turin\nUpon merit\nUpon good will and good desires\nAgainst the making of rash vows\nUpon the pro-passions of Our Lord\nHis victory over the passions of love and anger\nUpon our passions and emotions\nHow he came to write his Philothea\nUpon the example of the Saints\nUpon the love of God's word\nHis love of retirement\nHow he sanctified his recreations\nWhat he drew from lines of poetry\nUpon being content with our condition in life\nUpon self-sufficiency and contentedness\nHis reverence for the sick\nUpon the care of the sick\nUpon speaking well of the dead\nUpon Death\nUpon wishing to die\nUpon the desire of Heaven\nWhat it is to die in God\nUpon length of life\nUpon Purgatory\nUpon Penance\nUpon penitent confusion\nUpon interior peace amidst anxieties\nUpon discouragement\nUpon rising after a fall\nUpon kindliness towards ourselves\nUpon imperfections\nThe just man falls seven times in the day\nUpon the purgative way\nUpon venial sin\nUpon complicity in the sins of another\nUpon equivocating\nUpon solitude\nUpon vanity\nUpon the knowledge which puffs up\nUpon scruples\nUpon temptations\nUpon the same subject\nThoughts on the Incarnation\nUpon Confession and Communion\nUpon Confession\nUpon a change of confessor\nUpon different methods of direction\nAdvice upon having a Director\nUpon true and mistaken zeal\nUpon the institution of the Visitation Order\nHis defence of his new Congregation of the Visitation\nUpon the odour of sanctity\nHe rebukes Pharisaism\nUpon religious Superiors\nUpon unlearned Superiors\nUpon the founding of Convents\nUpon receiving the infirm into Communities\nUpon self pity\nUpon the government of Nuns by religious men\nThat we must not be wedded to our own plans\nHis views regarding Ecclesiastical dignities\nHis promotion to the Bishopric of Geneva and his refusal of the\n    Archbishopric of Paris\nA Bishop's care for his flock\nUpon the first duty of Bishops\nUpon the pastoral charge\nUpon the care of souls\nUpon learning and piety\nAdvice to Bishop Camus as to resigning his See\nThe joyous spirit of Blessed Francis\nUpon daily Mass. His advice to a young Priest\nA Priest saying Mass should be considerate of others\nBlessed Francis encourages the Bishop of Belley\nUpon a compassionate mind\nUpon doing one's duty without respect of persons\nThe honour due to virtue\nUpon memory and judgment\nA Priest should not aim at imitating in his sermons some particular\n    preacher\nUpon short sermons\nUpon preaching and preachers\nBlessed Francis and the Bishop of Belley's sermon\nUpon controversy\nThe same subject continued\nUpon reason and reasoning\nUpon quoting Holy Scripture\nUpon political diplomacy\nUpon ambition\nUpon courts and courtiers\nUpon the Carnival\nAn instance of his compassion for animals\nUpon hunting\nUpon the fear of ghosts\nHis portrait\nUpon his true charity\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Spirit of a Saint we may, perhaps, regard as the underlying\ncharacteristic which pervades all his thoughts, words, and acts. It is the\nnote which sounds throughout the constant persevering harmony which makes\nthe holiness of his life. Circumstances change. He grows from childhood to\nboyhood; from youth to manhood. His time of preparation is unnoticed by the\nworld until the moment comes when he is called to a public activity which\narrests attention. And essentially he remains the same. In private as in\npublic, in intimate conversation as in writings or discourses, in the\ndirection of individual consciences as in the conduct of matters of wide\nimportance, there is a characteristic note which identifies him, and marks\nhim off apart even from other heroes of sanctity.\n\nWe owe to a keen and close observer a knowledge of the spirit of St.\nFrancis de Sales for which we cannot be too grateful. Let it be granted\nthat Mgr. Camus had a very prolific imagination; that he had an unconscious\ntendency to embroider facts; that he read a meaning into words which their\nspeaker had no thought of imparting to them. When all such allowances have\nbeen made, we must still admit that he has given to us a picture of the\nSaint which we should be loath to lose; and that his description of what\nthe Saint habitually thought and felt has made Saint Francis de Sales a\nclose personal friend to many to whom otherwise he would have remained a\nmere chance acquaintance.\n\nThe Bishop of Belley, while a devoted admirer, was at the same time a\ncritical observer of his saintly friend. He wanted to know the reasons of\nwhat he saw, he did not always approve, and he was sufficiently indiscreet\nto put questions which, probably, no one else would have dared to frame.\nAnd thus we know more about St. Francis than about any other Saint, and we\nowe real gratitude to his very candid, talkative, and out-spoken episcopal\ncolleague.\n\nMany years ago a brief abridgment of the \"Spirit of St. Francis de Sales\"\nwas published in English. It served its purpose, but left unsatisfied\nthe desire of his clients for a fuller work. To-day the Sisters of\nthe Visitation, now established at Harrow-on-the-Hill, give abundant\nsatisfaction to this long-felt desire. Inspired by the purpose of the late\nDom Benedict Mackey, O.S.B., which his premature death prevented him from\naccomplishing, and guided by the advice which he left in writing, these\nDaughters of St. Francis of Sales, on the occasion of their Tercentenary,\ngive to the English-speaking world a work which, in its wise curtailment\nand still full detail, may be called the quintessence of the Spirit of\ntheir Master, the Founder of their Institute. We thank them for their\nlabour; and we beg God's blessing upon this book, that it may be the means\nof showing to many souls that safe and easy way of sanctification and\nsalvation, which it was the special mission of the saintly Bishop of Geneva\nto make known to the world.\n\nFRANCIS, ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER.\n\nMay 18th, 1910.\n\n\n\n\nSKETCH OF THE LIFE OF\n\nJEAN PIERRE CAMUS,\n\nBISHOP OF BELLEY.\n\n\nJean Pierre Camus came of an illustrious, and much respected family of\nAuxonne in Burgundy, in which province it possessed the seigneuries of\n_Saint Bonnet_ and _Pont-carr\u00e9_.\n\nHe was born in Paris, November 3rd, 1584.\n\nHis grandfather was for some years Administrator of the Finances under King\nHenri III. Though he had had the management of the public funds during\na period when fraud and dishonesty were as easy as they were common, he\nretired from office without having added a single penny to his patrimony.\nOn one occasion having received from Henri III. the gift of a sum of 50,000\ncrowns, which had been left by a Jew who had died intestate, and without\nchildren, this upright administrator sent for three merchants who had lost\nall their property in a fire, and distributed it among them.\n\nThe father of our Prelate, inheriting this integrity, left an honourable\nname, but few worldly goods to his children.\n\nFaithful, and devoted to the interests of his king, Henri IV., he gave part\nof his fortune to the support of the good cause, the triumph of which he\nhad the happiness of witnessing. He died in 1619.\n\nThe mantle of paternal loyalty and patriotism undoubtedly descended upon\nthe young J. P. Camus, for second only to his love for God, and His Church,\nwas his devotion to France, and its king.\n\nOn his mother's side, as well as on his father's, he was well connected.\nHer family had given to France chancellors, secretaries of state, and other\ndistinguished personages, but noble as were the races from which he sprang\ntheir chief distinction is derived from the subject of this sketch.\n\n\"This one branch,\" says his panegyrist, \"bore more blossoms and more fruit\nthan all the others together. In John Peter the gentle rivulet of the\nCamus' became a mighty stream, yet one whose course was peaceful, and\nwhich loved to flow underground, as do certain rivers which seem to lose\nthemselves in the earth, and only emerge to precipitate themselves into the\nwaters of the ocean.\"\n\nBooks and objects of piety were the toys of his childhood, and his youth\nwas passed in solitude, and in the practices of the ascetic life. His\nphysical strength as it increased with his years, seemed only to serve to\nassist him in curbing and restraining a somewhat fiery temperament. His\nwish, which at one time was very strong, to become a Carthusian, was not\nindeed fulfilled, it being evident from the many impediments put in its\nway, that it was not a call from God.\n\nNevertheless, this desire of self-sacrifice in a cloistered life was only\nthwarted in order that he might sacrifice himself in another way, namely,\nby becoming a Bishop, which state, if its functions are rightly discharged,\nassuredly demands greater self-immolation than does that of a monk, and is\nindeed a martyrdom that ceases only with life itself.\n\nIf he did not submit himself to the Rule of the Carthusians by entering\ntheir Order, he nevertheless adopted all its severity, and to the very end\nof his life kept his body in the most stern and rigorous subjection.\n\nThis, and his early inclination towards the religious life, will not a\nlittle astonish his detractors, if any such still exist, for it is surely\na convincing proof that he was not the radical enemy of monasticism they\npretend. In his studies he displayed great brilliancy, being especially\ndistinguished in theology and canon law, to the study of which he\nconsecrated four years of his life.\n\nAfter he had become a Priest his learning, piety, and eloquence not only\nestablished his reputation as a preacher in the pulpits of Paris, but soon\neven crossed the threshold of the Louvre and reached the ears of Henry IV.\nThat monarch, moved by the hope of the great services which a prelate might\nrender to the Church even more than by the affection which he bore to the\nCamus family, decided to propose him for a Bishopric, although he was but\ntwenty-five, and had not therefore reached the canonical age for that\ndignity.\n\nThe young Priest was far too humble and also too deeply imbued with a sense\nof the awful responsibility of the office of a Bishop to expect, or to\ndesire to be raised to it. When, however, Pope Paul V. gave the necessary\ndispensation, M. Camus submitted to the will both of the Pontiff and of the\nKing, and was consecrated Bishop of Belley by St. Francis de Sales, August\n30, 1609.\n\nThe fact that the two dioceses of Geneva and Belley touched one another\ncontributed to further that close intimacy which was always maintained\nbetween the Bishops, the younger consulting the elder on all possible\noccasions, and in all imaginable difficulties.\n\nBishop Camus had already referred his scruples regarding his youth at the\ntime of his consecration to his holy director. The latter had, however,\nreminded him of the many reasons there were to justify his submission,\nviz., the needs of the diocese, the testimony to his fitness given by so\nmany persons of distinction and piety, the judgment of Henry the Great, in\nfine the command of His Holiness. In consecrating Mgr. Camus, St. Francis\nde Sales seems to have transmitted to the new Prelate some of the treasures\nof his own holy soul. Camus was the only Bishop whom he ever consecrated,\nand doubtless this fact increased the tender affection which Francis bore\nhim. John Peter was, what he loved to call himself, and what St. Francis\nloved to call him, the latter's only son. There was between the two holy\nPrelates a community of intelligence and of life. \"Camus,\" says Godeau, the\npreacher of his funeral discourse, \"ever sat at the feet of St. Francis de\nSales, whom he called his Gamaliel, there to learn from him the law of God:\nfull as he himself was of the knowledge of Divine things.\"\n\nWe must bear this in mind if we wish to know what Camus really was, and\nto appreciate him properly. He was by nature ardent, impetuous, and\nimaginative, eager for truth and goodness, secretly devoted to the austere\npractices of St. Charles Borromeo, but above all fervently desirous to\nimitate his model, his beloved spiritual Father, and therefore anxious to\nsubdue, and to temper all that was too impetuous, excitable, and hard in\nhimself, by striving after the incomparable sweetness and tenderness which\nwere the distinguishing characteristics of St. Francis de Sales.\n\nMgr. Camus was endowed with a most marvellous memory, which was indeed\ninvaluable to him in the great work to which both Bishops devoted\nthemselves, that of bringing back into the bosom of the Church those who\nhad become strangers, and even enemies to her.\n\nHis chief defect was that he was over hasty in judging, and of this he\nwas himself perfectly well aware. He tells us in the \"Esprit\" that on one\noccasion when he was bewailing his deficiency to Francis, the good Prelate\nonly smiled, and told him to take courage, for that as time went on it\nwould bring him plenty of judgment, that being one of the fruits of\nexperience, and of advancing years.\n\nWhenever Mgr. Camus visited the Bishop of Geneva, which he did each year\nin order to make a retreat of several days under the direction of his\nspiritual Father, he was treated with the greatest honour by him.\n\nSt. Francis de Sales gave up his own room to his guest, and made him\npreach, and discharge other episcopal functions, so as to exercise him in\nhis own presence in these duties of his sublime ministry.\n\nThis was the school in which Camus learnt to control and master himself, to\ncurb his natural impetuosity, and to subjugate his own will, and thus to\nacquire one, in our opinion, of the most certain marks of saintliness.\n\nThe Bishop of Geneva was not contented with receiving his only son at\nAnnecy. He often went over to Belley, and spent several days there in\nhis company. These visits were to both Prelates a time of the greatest\nconsolation. Then they spoke, as it were, heart to heart, of all that they\nvalued most. Then they encouraged one another to bear the burden of the\nepiscopate. Then they consoled each other in the troubles which they met\nwith in their sacred ministry.\n\nIt never cost the younger Bishop anything to yield obedience to the elder,\nand no matter how great, or how trifling was the occasion which called for\nthe exercise of that virtue, there was never a moment's hesitation on the\npart of the Bishop of Belley.\n\nThe latter, indeed, considered the virtue of obedience as the one most\ncalculated to ensure rapid advance in the spiritual life. He tells us that\none day at table someone having boasted that he could make an egg stand\nupright on a plate, a thing which those present, forgetting Christopher\nColumbus, insisted was impossible, the Saint, as Columbus had done, quietly\ntaking one up chipped it a little at one end, and so made it stand. The\ncompany all cried out that there was nothing very great in that trick.\n\"No,\" repeated the Saint, \"but all the same you did not know it.\"\n\nWe may say the same, adds Camus, of obedience: it is the true secret of\nperfection, and yet few people know it to be so.\n\nFrom what we have already seen of the character of John Peter Camus, we\nmay imagine that gentleness was the most difficult for him to copy of the\nvirtues of St. Francis de Sales; yet steel, though much stronger than iron,\nis at the same time far more readily tempered.\n\nThus, in his dealings with his neighbour he behaved exactly like his model,\nso much so, that for anyone who wanted to gain his favour the best plan was\nto offend him or do him some injury.\n\nI have spoken of his love of mortification, and a short extract from the\nfuneral discourse pronounced over his remains will show to what extent he\npractised it.\n\nGodeau says: \"Our virtuous Bishop up to the very last years of his life,\nslept either on a bed of vine shoots, or on boards, or on straw. This\ncustom he only abandoned in obedience to his director, and in doing so I\nconsider that he accomplished what was far more difficult and painful than\nthe mortifications which he had planned for himself, since the sacrifice of\nour own will in these matters is incomparably more disagreeable to us than\nthe practising of them.\"\n\nThis austerity in respect to sleep, of which, indeed, he required more than\nothers on account of his excitable temperament, did not suffice to satisfy\nhis love for penance, without which, he said, the leading of a Christian\nand much more of an episcopal life was impossible. To bring his body into\nsubjection he constantly made use of hair-shirts, iron belts, vigils,\nfasting, and the discipline, and it was not until his last illness that\nhe gave up those practices of austerity. He concealed them, however,\nas carefully as though he had been ashamed of them, knowing well that\nsuch sacrifices if not offered in secret, partake more of the spirit of\nPharisaism than of the gospel. This humility, notwithstanding, he was\nunable to guard against the pardonable curiosity of his servants. One of\nthem, quite a young man, who was his personal attendant during the first\nyears of his residence at Belley, observing that he wore round his neck the\nkey of a large cupboard, and being very anxious to know what it contained,\nmanaged in some way to possess himself of this key for a few moments, when\nhis master had laid it aside, and was not in the room.\n\nUnlocking the cupboard he found it full of the vine shoots on which he was\naccustomed to sleep. The bed which everyone saw in his apartment was the\nBishop's; the one which he hid away was the penitent's. The one was for\nappearance, the other for piety. He used to put into disorder the coverings\nof the bed, so as to give the impression of having slept in it, while he\nreally slept, or at least took such repose as was necessary to keep him\nalive, on the penitential laths he had hidden.\n\nHaving discovered that through his valet the rumour of his austerity had\ngot abroad, he dismissed the young man from his service, giving him a\nhandsome present, and warning him to be less curious in future. But for\nhis failing, however, we should have lost a great example of the Bishop's\nmortification and humility.\n\nThe latter virtue John Peter Camus cultivated most carefully, and how well\nhe succeeded in this matter is proved by the composure, and even gaiety and\njoyousness, with which he met the raillery heaped upon his sermons, and\nwritings.\n\nCamus, like the holy Bishop of Geneva, had throughout his life a special\ndevotion to the Blessed Virgin, and never failed in his daily recital of\nthe Rosary. Every evening it was his habit to read a portion of either _The\nSpiritual Combat_, or the _Imitation of Jesus Christ_; two books which he\nrecommended to his penitents as next in usefulness to the gospels.\n\nFollowing him in his Episcopal career we find that as the years rolled\non his reputation passed beyond the confines of France, and reached the\nVatican.\n\nPope Paul V., who knew him intimately, held him in high esteem, and all the\nCardinals honoured him with their friendship.\n\nHad it not been for his own firm resistance to every proposal made to him\nto quit his poor diocese of Belley, Mgr. Camus would assuredly have been\ntransferred to some much more important See.\n\nAnd here we may again quote the words of his panegyrist, to indicate the\nfruits produced by his zeal in the little corner of the vineyard of the\nDivine Master, which had been confided to his skilful hands.\n\nGodeau says, \"The interior sanctity which he strove to acquire for himself\nby prayer, by reading holy books, by the mortification of his senses,\nby the putting aside of all secular affairs when engaged in prayer, by\nhumility, patience, and charity, were the inexhaustible source whence\nflowed all his external works, and whence they derived all their purity and\nvigour.\"\n\nAs regarded the poor and needy in his diocese, Mgr. Camus was no less\ngenerous in ministering to their temporal than to their spiritual wants.\nHe looked upon himself as simply a steward of the goods of the Church. He,\nindeed, drew the revenues of his diocese, but only as rivers draw their\nwaters from the sea, to pay them back again to it with usury.\n\nMore than once in years of famine he gave all his corn to the poor, not as\nJoseph did in Egypt by depriving them of their liberty, but by depriving\nhimself of what was necessary for his support, and treating himself no\nbetter than the rest of the poor.\n\nOne day he was told that the dearness of wine was the cause of great\ndistress among working people. He immediately gave orders that his own wine\nshould be sold, but after a most curious and unusual fashion. He would not\nhave any fixed price set upon it, but only desired that an open bag should\nbe held, at the door of the cellar so that purchasers might throw in what\nthey pleased. You may be sure that the bag was not very full and that the\nbuyers availed themselves to the utmost of his liberality.\n\nWhat, however, do you think he did with the small amount of money which he\nfound in the bag? Even that he forthwith distributed among the poor! Surely\nif anything can approach the miraculous transformation of water into wine\nit is Bishop Camus' mode of selling it!\n\nAfter having established in his diocese that order and peace which are\nthe fruits of the knowledge and observance of the duties of religion, and\nhaving formed a body of clergy remarkable for their piety and learning,\nMgr. Camus thought he ought to advance even a step further.\n\nHe felt that it was his duty to have in his Episcopal city a community of\nReligious men who by their example should assist both clergy and laity in\ntheir spiritual life. He did this by building, at his own expense, in 1620,\na Capuchin Monastery.\n\nFor a long time he supplied these Friars with all that they needed, and\nfinally gave them his own library, which was both choice and extensive.\n\nHe was equally cordial in his relationship with other Orders, welcoming\nthem gladly to his own house, and often making retreats in their\nMonasteries.\n\nCamus was too intimately connected with Francis de Sales not to have with\nhim a community of spirit.\n\nKnowing how useful the newly-formed Order of the Visitation would be to the\nChurch, he also founded at Belley, in 1662, a Convent, to which he invited\nsome nuns of the New Congregation. This Institution of the holy Bishop\nof Geneva was vigorously attacked from its very beginning. It was called\nin derision, _the Confraternity of the Descent from the Cross_, because\nits pious founder had excluded from this order corporal austerities, and\nhad adapted all his rules to the reforming of the interior. The Bishop\nof Belley declared himself champion of this new Institution. Indeed, his\nardent soul was always on fire to proclaim and to maintain the glory of the\nChurch. At whatever point She was attacked or threatened there Camus was to\nbe found armed _cap-a-pie_ to defend her.\n\nAs for his own temporal interests, they were to him matters of absolute\nindifference when weighed in the balance of that beloved Church. His own\nwords, however, speak best on this subject.\n\nOn one occasion, when a Minister of State wrote to ask him something\ncontrary to those interests, backing up his request with the most liberal\npromises, the Bishop of Belley, after courteously excusing himself from\ncomplying with the request, wound up his answer to the statesman with these\nremarkable words: _This is all that can be said to you by a Bishop who, as\nregards the past, is under no obligation to anyone; as regards the present\nwithout interest; and as regards the future has no pretentions whatever._\n\nWe have said that the Bishop of Belley was indefatigable in labouring for\nthe sanctification of his people, but this did not in any way prevent him\nfrom bestowing due care upon the interests of his own soul.\n\nWith this object in view he considered that after long years of toil for\nhis flock he ought to retire from the world, so as to have more time to\ndevote to himself. To live in solitude had been the desire of his youth, as\nwe know it was ever his desire through all the period of his Episcopate;\nbut his spiritual guide, the holy Bishop of Geneva, always succeeded in\ndissuading him from laying down the pastoral staff to take refuge in the\ncloister.\n\nHowever, after the death of his illustrious friend and counsellor, this\ndesire returned to Camus with redoubled force. For seven years, out of\nrespect for the advice of his dear dead friend, he abstained from carrying\nout his purpose, and during that time of waiting, relaxing nothing in the\nardour of his love for his people and his zeal for the Church, he devoted\nhimself to the work of repairing and restoring his Cathedral, which was\naccomplished in the year 1627.\n\nWhen in 1837 this ancient edifice was pulled down in order to be rebuilt,\nan inscription was discovered stating this fact, which is not otherwise\nmentioned in any extant writings, probably because those in which it was\nrecorded were among the rich archives of the Chapter destroyed by the fury\nof the vandals of 1793.\n\nAt last, in 1628, Camus finally decided to give up his Episcopal charge to\none who was indeed worthy of such a dignity.\n\nThis was Jean de Passelaigne, Abbot of Notre Dame de Hambic, Prior of St.\nVictor of Nevers, and of La Charit\u00e9-sur-Loire, Vicar-General of the Order\nof Cluny.\n\nThen, having obtained the King's consent, Camus retired from the diocese\nof Belley, which he had ruled so happily and so well for twenty years, to\nthe Cistercian Abbey of Annay, there to exercise in the calm of solitude\nall those virtues to the practice of which he said the stir and bustle\ninseparable from the episcopal functions had not allowed him to devote\nhimself. This he did, it would seem, towards the end of 1628, or the\nbeginning of 1629.\n\nThe Abbey of Annay, which the King gave to him on receiving his resignation\nof the See of Belley, was situated in Normandy, near Caen. There Camus\ndwelt for some time, not, however, leading an idle life, for we find that\na great many of his works were printed at Caen. He also succeeded in\nintroducing into this Religious House, and into the neighbouring one of\nArdaine, that reform which it was the desire of his heart to bring back to\nall the Monasteries of France. It was while in Normandy that he made the\nacquaintance of P\u00e8re Eudes, and between these two holy Priests the closest\nfriendship sprang up, founded on a mutual zeal for the salvation of souls.\n\nThe Bishop of Belley was not long allowed to enjoy his quiet retreat at\nAnnay. Fran\u00e7ois de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, being unable at that time,\nowing to ill health, to exercise his duties as a Bishop, felt convinced\nthat Providence had sent Mgr. Camus into his diocese on purpose that he\nmight share his labours. His earnest entreaties prevailed upon the good\nBishop to emerge from his retreat and help to bear the burden which pressed\nso heavily upon a sick and failing Prelate.\n\nAt Belley he had been accountable to God alone for the discharge of those\nduties which he had for a time laid aside; now at the call of charity\nhe did not hesitate to take up the burden again to ease another. He was\nappointed Vicar-General to the Archbishop of Rouen, renouncing, like St.\nPaul, his liberty in order to become the servant of all men, and thus gain\nmore souls to Jesus Christ.\n\nAlthough in this new sphere Camus laboured with the utmost devotion and\nuntiring energy, living a life of ascetic severity, fasting, sleeping on\nstraw, or spending whole nights in prayer, while his days were given to\npreaching, confirming, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, consoling\nthe afflicted, advising, exhorting, patiently listening to the crowds who\nflocked to consult him, yet he still felt certain that the voice of God\ncalled him to solitude and to a perpetual retreat.\n\nDesiring to spend the rest of his days among the poor whom he loved\nso well, he came to Paris, and took up his abode in the Hospital for\nIncurables, situated in the Rue de S\u00e8vres. He reserved for himself out of\nhis patrimony and benefices only 500 livres, which he paid to the hospital\nfor his board and lodging, distributing the remainder among the needy.\n\nIn this hospital he passed his time in ministering to the sick, dressing\ntheir wounds, consoling, and instructing them, and performing for them all\nthe functions of an ordinary Chaplain.\n\nEven if he went out to visit friends in the vicinity of Paris, he never\nreturned later than five o'clock in the evening. Occasionally he preached\nin the chapel of the Duke of Orleans before His Royal Highness, and at\nsuch times denounced vehemently the luxury and indolence of Princes and\ncourtiers.\n\nThere was at this time a diocese in a no less pitiable condition than was\nBelley when Mgr. Camus was, at the King's desire, placed in charge of\nit. This diocese was that of Arras, and on the 28th of May, 1650, he was\nappointed by Louis XIV., acting under the advice of the Queen-Regent, to\nadminister all the affairs of the diocese until such time as a new Bishop\nshould be nominated to the vacant See by His Majesty and our Holy Father\nthe Pope. Into this laborious task of sowing, ploughing, cultivating a vast\nweed-grown, and unpromising field, Camus threw himself with all his old\nardour and energy. He did so much in a very short time that his name will\nlong be remembered among the descendants of those from whom the troubles\nof the times snatched him so suddenly, but not before he had bound them to\nFrance while leading them to God by bands of love stronger than citadels or\ngarrisons.\n\nPolitical disturbances and the calamities of war having prevented this\nindefatigable servant of God from carrying on his work at Arras, he\nwithdrew again in the following year to the Hospital of the Incurables at\nParis, there to await better times, and also doubtless the expected Bull\nfrom the Sovereign Pontiff. However, the great Rewarder called Camus to\nHimself before the Pope had sanctioned his appointment to the Bishopric of\nArras.\n\nBut ere we close this slight sketch of the life of the good Bishop, and\nspeak of its last scenes, we must say a word about the gigantic literary\nlabours which occupied him more or less from the time of his retirement to\nthe Abbey of Annay, in 1628, till his death, in 1652.\n\nIt was his great love for the Church which made him take pen in hand.\nVaried as were the subjects on which he wrote, his writings, whether\ncontroversial, dogmatic, devotional or even light and entertaining, had but\none single aim and end--the instruction of mankind and the glorification of\nCatholicism.\n\nIf we bear this in mind we shall be ready to forgive the bitterness and\nharshness which we may admit characterised many of his writings. To reform\nthe Monasteries of France, and to deal a death blow to the abuses which had\ncrept into some of them, was the passionate desire of his heart.\n\nThis, and not a personal hatred of monks, as his enemies have averred, was\nthe moving spring of his actions in this crusade of the pen. At the same\ntime we do not deny that his natural impetuosity and keen sense of humour\nmade him too often, in accordance with the bad taste of the day, present\nthe abuses which he wished to reform, in so ridiculous and contemptible a\nlight, as to provoke and irritate his enemies, perhaps unnecessarily.\n\nYet, if in this he showed the lack of judgment which he had years before\nlamented in himself, can anyone who knows what those times were, and who is\nas jealous for the honour of God as he was, blame him? There was another\nevil of the day which the good Bishop witnessed with grief and indignation,\nand set himself zealously to reform. This was the publishing of romances,\nor novels, which, as then written, could only poison the minds of their\nreaders, inflame their passions, and weaken their sense of right and wrong.\nHe pondered the matter, and having made up his mind that it would be\nabsolutely useless to endeavour to hinder their being read, as this would\nonly increase the obstinacy and perversity of those who took pleasure in\nthem, he decided on adopting another method altogether, as he himself said,\nhe \"tried to make these poor diseased folk, with their depraved taste and\nmorbid cravings, swallow his medicine under the disguise of sweetmeats.\"\n\nThat is to say, he himself began to write novels and romances for them;\nromances which, indeed, depicted the profligacy of the age, but in such\nodious colours as to inspire aversion and contempt. Vice, if described, was\nheld up to ridicule and loathing. The interest of the story was so well\nkept up as to carry the reader on to the end, and that end often showed\nthe hero or heroine so entirely disabused of the world's enchantment as to\nretire voluntarily into convents, in order, by an absolute devotion of the\nheart to God, to repair the injury done to Him, by giving to the creature\nthe love due to Him alone.\n\nThese books passed from hand to hand in the gay world, were read, were\nenjoyed, and the fruit gathered from them by the reader was the conviction\nthat God being Himself the Sovereign God, all other love but that of which\nHe is the object and the end, is as contrary to the happiness of man as it\nis opposed to all the rules of justice.\n\nLet us hear what Camus himself says as to his motive and conduct in the\nmatter of novel writing.[1]\n\n\"The enterprise on which I have embarked of wrestling with, or rather\ncontending against those idle or dangerous books, which cloak themselves\nunder the title of novels, would surely demand the hands of Briareus to\nwield as many pens, and the strength of Hercules to support such a burden!\nBut what cannot courage, zeal, charity, and confidence in God accomplish?\"\n\nHe goes on to say that though he sees all the difficulties ahead, his\ncourage will not fail, for he holds his commission from a Saint, the holy\nBishop of Geneva, in whose intercessions, and in the assistance of the God\nof Saints, he trusts, and is confident of victory.\n\nHe tells us in several of his works, and especially in his \"Unknown\nTraveller,\" that it was St. Francis de Sales who first advised him to use\nhis pen in this manner, and that for twenty-five years the Saint had been\ncogitating and developing this design in his brain.\n\nIn the same little pamphlet Camus points out the methods he followed as a\nnovel writer.\n\n\"It consists,\" he says, \"in saying only good things, dealing only with good\nsubjects, the single aim of which is to deter from vice, and to lead on to\nvirtue.\"\n\nHe was an extraordinarily prolific and rapid writer, scarcely ever\ncorrecting or polishing up anything that he had put on paper. This was a\ndefect, but it was the natural outcome of his temperament, which was a\ncurious combination of lightness and solidity, gaiety and severity.\n\nFew people really understood him. He was often taken for a mere man of the\nworld, when in truth he was one of the stoutest champions of the Church,\nand in his inner life, grave and ascetic, macerating his flesh like a\nmonk of the desert. He wrote in all about 200 volumes, 50 of these being\nromances.\n\nIn the latter, which drew down upon him such storms of bitter invective,\nowing to his freedom of language in treating of the vices against which\nhe was warning his readers, we do not pretend to admire his work, but\nmust remind readers that his style was that of the age in which he lived,\nand that Camus was essentially a Parisian. We have said that he wrote at\nleast fifty novels; we may add that each was cleverer than that which had\npreceded it. Forgotten now, they were at the time of their appearance\neagerly devoured, and it is morally impossible but that some good should\nhave resulted from their production.\n\nAnd now old age came upon the busy writer--old age, but not the feebleness\nof old age, nor its privileged inaction. As he advanced in years he seemed\nto increase in zeal and diligence, and it was not till suddenly stricken\ndown by a mortal malady that his labours ceased.\n\nThen on his death-bed in a quiet corner of the Hospital for Incurables in\nhumility, patience, and a marvellous silence, only opening his lips to\nspeak at the desire of his confessor, calm and peaceful, his eyes fixed\nupon the crucifix which he held in his hands, Jean Pierre Camus gave up his\nsoul to God. This was on the 25th of April, 1652. He was 67 years old.\n\nHe had in his will forbidden any pomp or display at his funeral, and his\nwishes were strictly obeyed.\n\nSome time after his death a stone was placed by the Administrators of\nthe Hospital over the tomb of the good Bishop, who had been so great a\nbenefactor to that Institution, and who rests beneath the nave of its\nChurch in the Rue de S\u00e8vres.\n\nWhen he felt the first approach of illness, about six weeks before his\ndeath, he made his will, in which he left the greater part of his money to\nthe Hospital, founding in it four beds for the Incurables of Belley.\n\nAnd now our work is done.... The object has been to make John Peter Camus\nknown as he really was, and to cleanse his memory from the stains cast upon\nit by the jarring passions of his contemporaries.\n\nIf we have succeeded in this the reader will recognise in him a pious\nBishop, armed with the scourge of penance, an indefatigable writer in the\ndefence of good morals, of religion, and of the Church--a reformer, and not\nan enemy of the Monastic Orders; finally a Prelate, who laboured all his\nlife to copy the Holy Bishop of Geneva, whom he ever regarded as his\nfather, his guide, and his oracle.\n\nOne word more. Those pious persons who wish to know better this true\ndisciple of the Bishop of Geneva have nothing to do but to read the _Spirit\nof Saint Francis de Sales_. There they will see the Bishop of Belley as\nhe really was. There they can admire his ardent piety, the candour of his\nsoul, the fervour of his faith and charity; in a word, all that rich store\nof virtues which he acquired in the school of that great master of the\nspiritual life who was for fourteen years his Director.\n\n[Footnote 1: In the preface of his book, entitled \"Strange Occurrences.\"]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FRENCH PUBLISHER TO THE READER, 1639.\n\n\nSince the holy death of Blessed Francis de Sales, Prince and Bishop of\nGeneva, which took place on December 28th, the Feast of the Holy Innocents,\nin the year 1622, many writers have taken up the pen to give the public the\nknowledge of the pious life and virtuous conversation of that holy Prelate,\nwhom some have very fitly called the St. Charles of France.\n\nThe writer, however, with whom we are most concerned is Monseigneur Jean\nPierre Camus, Bishop of Belley, whose work we are now introducing to our\nreaders. After the death of Blessed Francis this faithful friend and\ndevoted disciple was entreated, urged, conjured, in season and out of\nseason, by an infinity of persons, to employ the literary faculty given to\nhim by God in communicating to the world the many rare things which he had\nhad the opportunity of observing in the life and conversation of Blessed\nFrancis, under whose direction and discipline he had been for fourteen\nyears.\n\nM. Camus constantly excused himself under the plea that many had already\ntaken the work in hand, and that he did not care to put his sickle into\nanother man's crop, nor to make books by simply transcribing those of\nothers, as is done by many writers of our day. At last, however, he allowed\nhimself to be persuaded by some members of the Order of the Visitation,\nfounded by the holy Bishop, to write the life, or, more properly speaking,\nto delineate the spirit of his beloved Master.\n\nHaving promised to do this, he considered that he had, at least partially,\nfulfilled his promise by publishing some pious Treatises conformable to the\nspirit of the holy Prelate. It was, however, afterwards thought better to\ngather up, and, as it were, glean from M. Camus' own sermons, exhortations,\nconferences, conversations, books, and letters, that Spirit of Blessed\nFrancis which he had imbibed, in common with all the holy Bishop's\ndisciples and spiritual children.\n\nTo make this collection was not difficult, because there was scarcely\na sermon, conference, or spiritual lesson given by him in which he did\nnot say something about the Saint, so deeply imbued was he with his\ninstructions.\n\nOne of the most intimate and familiar friends of the Bishop of Belley,\nhaving given his attention to the matter, now lays before you as the\nresult, this book to which he has given the title: _The Spirit of Blessed\nFrancis de Sales, represented in his most remarkable words and actions._\nThis holy Bishop was mighty in works and in words; he was not one of those\nwho say much that is good but who do not practise it. To say and to do was\nwith him the same thing, or rather, his doing surpassed his saying....\n\nIn this collection offered to you, there is but little formal arrangement,\nthe component parts were gathered up as they fell from the lips or the pen\nof Monseigneur Camus. It is a piece of mosaic work, a bouquet of various\nflowers, a salad of divers herbs, a banquet of many dishes, an orchard of\ndifferent fruits, where each one can take what best suits his taste.\n\n\n\n\n_Note.--In this translation an endeavour has been made to group together\nthe sections treating of the same subject. These are scattered, without\norder, through the three volumes of the French edition._\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES\n\n\nUPON PERFECT VIRTUE.\n\nBlessed Francis de Sales thought very little of any virtue unless it was\nanimated by charity; following in this the teaching of St. Paul, who\ndeclares that without charity the greatest virtues are as nothing. Thus,\neven the faith which works miracles, the almsgiving which leads a man to\nsell all his goods to feed the poor, the spirit of martyrdom which impels\nhim to give his body to be burned, all, if without charity, are nothing.[1]\n\nThat you may clearly understand the distinction which he drew between the\nnatural excellence of certain virtues, and the supernatural perfection\nwhich they acquire by the infusion of charity, I will give you his exact\nwords on the subject, as they are to be found in his Treatise on the Love\nof God.\n\nHe says: \"The light of the sun falls equally on the violet and the rose,\nyet will never render the former as fair as the latter, or make a daisy as\nlovely as a lily. If, however, the sun should shine very clearly upon the\nviolet, and very mistily and faintly upon the rose, then without doubt\nit would make the violet more fair to see than the rose. So, Theotimus,\nif with equal charity one should suffer death by martyrdom, and another\nsuffer only hunger by fasting, who does not see that the value of this\nfasting will not, on that account, be equal to that of martyrdom? No, for\nwho would dare to affirm that martrydom is not more excellent in itself\nthan fasting.... Still, it is true that if love be ardent, powerful,\nand excellent, in a heart, it will also more enrich and perfect all the\nvirtuous works which may proceed from it. One may suffer death and fire for\nGod, without charity, as St. Paul supposes[2], and as I explain elsewhere.\nStill more then may one suffer them with little charity. Now, I say,\nTheotimus, that it may come to pass that a very small virtue may be of\ngreater value in a soul where divine love fervently reigns, than martyrdom\nitself in a soul where love is languishing, feeble, and dull. Thus, the\nleast virtues of our Blessed Lady of St. John, and of other great Saints,\nwere of more worth before God than the most exalted perfections of the rest\nof His servants.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3.]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Cor. xiii. 3.]\n[Footnote 3: Bk. xi. chap. v.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' ESTIMATE OF VARIOUS VIRTUES.\n\n1\u00b0. He preferred those virtues the practice of which is comparatively\nfrequent, common, and ordinary, to others which we may be called upon to\nexercise on rare occasions.\n\n2\u00b0. He considered, as we have seen, that the degree of the supernatural\nin any virtue could not be decided by the greatness or smallness of the\nexternal act, since an act in itself altogether trivial, may be performed\nwith much grace and charity, while a very brilliant and dazzling good work\nmay be animated by but a very feeble spark of love of God, the intensity of\nwhich is, after all, the only rule by which to ascertain its true value in\nHis sight.\n\n3\u00b0. The more universal a virtue, the more, he said, it is to be preferred\nbefore all others, charity only excepted. For instance, he valued prayer as\nthe light which illumines all other virtues; devotion, as consecrating\nall our actions to God; humility, which makes us set but little value on\nourselves and on our doings; meekness, which yields to all; patience, which\nincludes everything besides. He valued these, I say, more than magnanimity,\nor liberality, because such virtues can be more rarely practised and they\naffect fewer subjects.\n\n4\u00b0. He was always on his guard against showy virtues, which of their very\nnature encourage vainglory, the bane of all good works.\n\n5\u00b0. He blamed those who measure virtues by the standard set up by the\nworld, who prefer temporal to spiritual alms; haircloth, fasting, and\ncorporal austerities to sweetness, modesty, and the mortification of the\nheart; virtues by far the more excellent.\n\n6\u00b0. He greatly condemned those who select the virtues most agreeable to\ntheir taste, and practise these alone, quite regardless of those which are\nspecially adapted to their state of life. These people, indeed, serve God,\nbut after a way of their own, not according to His will: a by no means\nuncommon mistake, which leads many, otherwise devout-minded, far out of the\nright path.\n\n\nUPON THE LESSER VIRTUES.\n\nHe had a special affection for certain virtues which are passed over by\nsome as trivial and insignificant. \"Everyone,\" he used to say, \"is eager to\npossess those brilliant, almost dazzling virtues which cluster round the\nsummit of the Cross, so that they can be seen from afar and admired, but\nvery few are anxious to gather those which, like wild thyme, grow at the\nfoot of that Tree of Life and under its shade. Yet these are often the most\nhardy, and give out the sweetest perfume, being watered with the precious\nBlood of the Saviour, whose first lesson to His disciples was: _Learn of Me\nbecause I am meek and humble of heart._\"[1]\n\nIt does not belong to every one to practise the sublime virtues of\nfortitude, magnanimity, endurance unto death, patience, constancy, and\ncourage. The occasions of exercising these are rare, yet all aspire to them\nbecause they are brilliant and their names high sounding. Very often, too,\npeople fancy that they are able, even now, to practise them. They inflate\ntheir courage with the vain opinion they have of themselves, but when put\nto the trial fail pitiably. They are like those children of Ephrem, who\ndistinguished themselves wonderfully by, in the time of peace, hitting the\ntarget with every arrow, but in the battle were the first to fly before the\nenemy. Better had their skill been less and their courage greater.\n\nOpportunities of acquiring offices, benefices, inheritances, large sums\nof money, are not to be met with every day, but at any moment we may earn\nfarthings and halfpence. By trading well on these small profits, many have\nin course of time grown rich. We should become spiritually wealthy and lay\nup for ourselves much treasure in Heaven did we employ in the service of\nthe holy love of God, the small opportunities which are to be met with at\nevery hour of our lives.\n\nIt is not enough to practise great virtues; they must be practised with\ngreat charity, for that it is which in the sight of God forms the basis of\nand gives weight and value to all good works. An act of lesser virtue (for\nall virtues are not of equal importance) done out of great love to God is\nfar more excellent than a rarer and grander one done with less love.\n\n\"Look at this good soul, she gives a cup of cold water to the thirsty with\nsuch holy love that it is changed into the water of life, life eternal. The\nGospel which makes light of the weightiest sums cast into the treasury,\nreckons of the highest value two mites offered out of a great and fervent\nlove.\"[2]\n\n\"These little homely virtues! How seldom is mention made of them! How\nlightly they are esteemed! Kindly concessions to the exacting temper of our\nneighbour, gentle tolerance of his imperfections, loving endurance of cross\nlooks, peevish gestures, cheerfulness under contempt and small injustices,\nendurance of affronts, patience with importunity, doing menial actions\nwhich our social position impels us to regard as beneath us; replying\namiably to some one who has given us an undeserved and sharp reproof,\nfalling down and then bearing good humouredly the being laughed at,\naccepting with gentleness the refusal of a kindness, receiving a favour\ngraciously, humbling ourselves before our equals and inferiors, keeping\non kindly and considerate terms with our servants. How trivial and poor\nall this appears to those who have their hearts lifted up with proud\naspirations. We want, they seem to say, no virtues but such as go clad in\npurple, and to be borne by fair winds and spreading sails towards high\nreputation. They forget that those who please men are not the servants\nof God, and that the friendship of the world and its applause are worth\nnothing and less than nothing in His sight.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. xi. 29.]\n[Footnote 2: Cf. _Treatise on the Love of God_. Bk. iii. c. ii.]\n[Footnote 3: Cf. _The Devout Life_. Part iii. c, i., ii., and vi.]\n\n\nUPON INCREASE OF FAITH.\n\n_Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!_ Lord, increase the Faith in us!\nAnd how is this increase of Faith to be brought about? In the same way,\nassuredly, as the strength of the palm tree grows with the load it has to\nbear, or as the vine profits by being pruned.\n\nA stoic philosopher remarked very truly that virtue languishes when it has\nnothing to overcome. What does a man know until he is tempted?\n\nOur Blessed Father[1] when visiting the bailiwick of Gex, which adjoins\nthe city of Geneva, in order to re-establish the Catholic religion in some\nparishes, declared that his Faith gained new vigour through his intercourse\nwith the heretics of those parts, who were sitting in darkness and in the\nshadow of death.\n\nHe expresses his feelings on this subject in one of his letters: \"Alas! in\nthis place I see poor wandering sheep all around me; I approach them and\nmarvel at their evident and palpable blindness. O my God! the beauty of\nour holy Faith then appears by comparison so entrancing that I would die\nfor love of it, and I feel that I ought to lock up the precious gift which\nGod has given me in the innermost recesses of a heart all perfumed with\ndevotion. My dearest daughter, I thank the sovereign Light which shed\nits rays so mercifully into this heart of mine, that the more I go among\nthose who are deprived of Faith, the more clearly and vividly I see its\nmagnificence and its inexpressible, yet most desirable, sweetness.\"[2]\n\nIn order to make great progress in the spirit of Faith, which is that of\nChristian perfection, Blessed Francis was not satisfied with simple assent\nto all those truths which are divinely revealed, or with submission to the\nwill of God as taught in them, he wanted more than this. It was his desire\nthat we should be actuated in all our dealings by the spirit of Faith, as\nfar at least as that is possible, so as to arrive at last at that summit\nof perfect charity which the Apostle calls the more excellent way, and of\nwhich he says that _he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit_.\n\n[Footnote 1: St. Francis de Sales was spoken of as _Our Blessed Father_,\nnot only by the Visitation Nuns, but in the whole neighbourhood of Annecy.]\n[Footnote 2: Cf. _The Depositions of St. Chantal_. Point 24th.]\n\n\nUPON TEMPTATIONS AGAINST FAITH.\n\n_He who is not tempted what knows he?_ says Holy Scripture. God is\nfaithful, and will not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength; nay, if\nwe are faithful to Him, He enables us to profit by our tribulation. He not\nonly helps us, but He makes us find our help in the tribulation itself, in\nwhich, thinking we were perishing, we cried out to Him to save us.\n\nThose who imagine themselves to be in danger of losing the Faith, when the\ntemptations suggested to them by the enemy against this virtue, harass and\ndistress them, understand very little of the nature of temptations. For,\nbesides that temptation cannot harm us, as long as it is displeasing to us,\nwhich is the teaching of one of the early Fathers, it actually, in such\ncase, produces an absolutely contrary effect to what we fear, and to the\naim of our adversary, the devil. For just as the palm tree takes deeper and\nstronger root, the more it is tossed and shaken by the winds and storms,\nso the more we are tossed by temptation, the more firmly are we settled in\nthat virtue which the temptation was striving to overthrow.\n\nAs we see from the lives of the Saints, the most chaste are those who\noppose the greatest resistance to the goad of sensuality, and the most\npatient are those who struggle the most earnestly against impatience. It\nis for this reason that Holy Scripture says: _Happy is he who suffers\ntemptation_, since, _after his trial, the crown of life awaits him_.[1]\n\nIn this way the more violent are the temptations against Faith with which\na soul is troubled, the more deeply does that virtue bury itself in the\nheart, and is there held all the more tightly and closely, because of our\nfear lest it escape.\n\nBlessed Francis provides us in one of his letters with three excellent\nmeans of resisting and overcoming temptations against Faith. The first, is\nto despise all the suggestions of the Evil One. They are outside and before\nour heart rather than within it, for there peace maintains its hold, though\nin great bitterness. This so exasperates our proud enemy, who is king over\nall the children of pride, that, seeing himself disdained, he withdraws.\n\nThe second is not to fight against this temptation by contrary acts of\nthe understanding, but by those of the will, darting forth a thousand\nprotestations of fidelity to the truths which God reveals to us by His\nChurch. These acts of Faith, supernatural as they are, soon reduce to ashes\nall the engines and machinations of the enemy.\n\nOur Saint gives us his third means, the use of the discipline, saying that\nthis bodily suffering serves as a diversion to trouble of mind, and adds\nthat the devil, seeing the flesh, which is his partisan and confederate,\nthus maltreated, is terrified and flies away. This is to act like that\nKing of Moab, who brought about the raising of the siege of his city, by\nsacrificing his son on the walls, in the sight of his enemies, so that,\npanic-stricken, with horror at a sight so appalling, they took at once to\nflight.\n\n[Footnote 1: James i. 12.]\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nWhen the tempter sees that our heart is so firmly established in grace that\nwe flee from sin as from a serpent, and that its very shadow, which is\ntemptation, frightens us, he contents himself with disquieting us, seeing\nthat he cannot make us yield to his will.\n\nIn order to effect this, he stirs up a heap of trivial temptations, which\nhe throws like dust into our eyes, so as to make us unhappy, and to render\nthe path of virtue less pleasant to us.\n\nWe must take up shield and sword to arm ourselves against great\ntemptations; but there are many trivial and ordinary ones which are better\ndriven away by contempt than by any other means.\n\nWe arm ourselves against wolves and bears; but who would condescend to do\nso against the swarms of flies which torment us in hot weather? Our Blessed\nFather, writing to one who was sorrowful and disquieted at finding herself\nassailed by temptations against Faith, though these were most hateful and\ntormenting to her, expresses himself thus:\n\n\"Your temptations against Faith have come back again, even though you never\ntroubled yourself to answer them. They importune you again, but still you\ndo not answer.\n\n\"Well, my daughter, all this is as it should be: but you think too much\nabout them; you fear them too much; you dread them too much. Were it not\nfor that, they would do you no harm. You are too sensitive to temptations.\nYou love the Faith, and would not willingly suffer a single thought\ncontrary to it to enter your mind; but the moment one so much as occurs to\nyou you are saddened and troubled by it.\n\n\"You are too jealous of your purity of Faith. You fancy that everything\nthat touches it must taint it.\n\n\"No, my daughter, let the wind blow, and do not think that the rustling of\nthe leaves is the clash of arms. A little while ago I was standing near\nsome beehives, and some of the bees settled on my face. I wanted to brush\nthem off with my hand. 'No,' said a peasant to me, 'do not be afraid, and\ndo not touch them, then they will not sting you at all; but if you touch\nthem they will half devour you.' I took his advice, and not one stung me.\n\n\"Believe me, if you do not fear these temptations, they will not harm you;\npass on and pay no heed to them.\"\n\n\nUPON CONFIDENCE IN GOD.\n\nOn this subject I must relate a charming little instance of our Blessed\nFather's perfect confidence in God, of which he told me once with his\naccustomed simplicity, to the great consolation of my soul, and one which\nI was delighted afterwards to find related in a letter addressed to one of\nhis most intimate friends.\n\n\"Yesterday,\" he said, \"wishing to pay a visit to the Archbishop of Vienne,\nI went on the lake in a little boat, and felt very happy in the thought\nthat my sole protection, besides a thin plank, was Divine Providence. The\nwind was high, and I was glad, too, to feel entirely under the command of\nthe pilot, who made us all sit perfectly still; and, indeed, I had no wish\nto stir! Do not, however, my daughter, take these words of mine as proofs\nof my being very holy. No, they are only little imaginary virtues which I\namuse myself by fancying I possess. When it comes to real earnest, I am by\nno means so brave.\"\n\nThe simplicity of the Saint's thoughts when on the water, and of his way\nof mentioning them, shows how childlike was his trust in God. It reminds\none of the happiness with which St. John leaned upon the Saviour's breast.\nA saying, too, of Saint Teresa which I have read in her life comes to my\nmind. She declared she was never more absolutely content than when she\nfound herself in some peril which obliged her to have recourse to God;\nbecause then it seemed to her that she was clinging more closely to His\nholy presence, and saying to Him, as did Jacob to the Angel, that she would\nnot let Him go until He had blessed her.\n\n\nOUR MISERY APPEALS TO GOD'S MERCY.\n\nTo a soul overwhelmed by the consideration of its infidelities and miseries\nhe wrote these words of marvellous consolation.\n\n\"Your miseries and infirmities ought not to astonish you. God has seen\nmany and many a one as wretched as you, and His mercy never turns away\nthe unhappy. On the contrary, by means of their wretchedness, He seeks to\ndo them good, making their abjection the foundation of the throne of His\nglory. As Job's patience was enthroned on a dung-hill, so God's mercy is\nraised upon the wretchedness of man; take away man's misery, and what\nbecomes of God's mercy?\"\n\nElsewhere he writes: \"What does our Lord love to do with His gift of\neternal life, but to bestow it on souls that are poor, feeble, and of\nlittle account in their own eyes? Yes, indeed, dearly beloved children,\nwe must hope, and that with great confidence, to live throughout a happy\neternity. The greater our misery the greater should be our confidence.\"\nThese, indeed, are his very words in his second conference.\n\nAgain in one of his letters he says: \"Why? What would this good and\nall-merciful God do with His mercy; this God, whom we ought so worthily to\nhonour for His goodness? What, I say, would He do with it if He did not\nshare it with us, miserable as we are? If our wants and imperfections did\nnot serve as a stage for the display of His graces and favours, what use\nwould He make of this holy and infinite perfection?\"\n\nThis is the lesson left us by our Blessed Father, and we ought, indeed,\nto hope with that lively hope animated by love, without which none can\nbe saved. And this lively hope, what is it, but a firm and unwavering\nconfidence that we shall, through God's grace and God's mercy, attain to\nthe joy of heaven, which, being infinite, is boundless and unmeasurable.\n\n\nUPON SELF-DISTRUST.\n\nDistrust of self and confidence in God are the two mystic wings of the\ndove; that is to say, of the soul which, having learnt to be simple, takes\nits flight and rests in God, the great and sovereign object of its love, of\nits flight, and of its repose.\n\n_The Spiritual Combat_, which is an excellent epitome of the science of\nsalvation and of heavenly teaching, makes these two things, distrust of\nself and confidence in God, to be, as it were, the introduction to true\nwisdom: they are, the author tells us, the two feet on which we walk\ntowards it, the two arms with which we embrace it, and the two eyes with\nwhich we perceive it.\n\nIn proportion to the growth of one of these two in us is the increase of\nthe other; the greater or the less the degree of our self-distrust, the\ngreater or the less the degree of our confidence in God. But whence springs\nthis salutary distrust of self? From the knowledge of our own misery and\nvileness, of our weakness and impotence, of our malice and levity. And\nwhence proceeds confidence In God? From the knowledge which faith gives us\nof His infinite goodness, and from our assurance that He is rich in mercy\nto all those who call upon Him.\n\nIf distrust and confidence seem incompatible with one another, listen to\nwhat our Blessed Father says on the subject: \"Not only can the soul which\nknows her misery have great confidence in God, but unless she has such\nknowledge, it is impossible for her to have true confidence in Him; for it\nis this very knowledge and confession of our misery which brings us to God.\nThus, all the great Saints, Job, David, and the rest, began every prayer\nwith the confession of their own misery, and unworthiness. It is a very\ngood thing to acknowledge ourselves to be poor, vile, abject, and unworthy\nto appear in the presence of God. That saying so celebrated among the\nancients: _Know thyself_, even though it may be understood as referring\nto the knowledge of the greatness and excellence of the soul, which ought\nnot to be debased or profaned by things unworthy of its nobility, may\nalso be taken as referring to the knowledge of our personal unworthiness,\nimperfection, and misery. Now the greater our knowledge of our own misery\nthe more profound will be our confidence in the goodness and mercy of God;\nfor between mercy and misery there is so close a connection that the one\ncannot be exercised without the other. If God had not created man, He would\nstill, indeed, have been perfect in goodness; but He would not have been\nactually merciful, since mercy can only be exercised towards the miserable.\nYou see, then, that the more miserable we know ourselves to be the more\noccasion we have to confide in God, since we have nothing in ourselves in\nwhich we can trust.\"\n\nHe goes on to say: \"It is a very good thing to mistrust ourselves, but at\nthe same time how will that avail us, unless we put our whole confidence\nin God, and wait for His mercy? It is right that our daily faults and\ninfidelities should cause us self-reproach when we would appear before\nour Lord; and we read of great souls, like St. Catherine of Siena and St.\nTeresa, who, when they had been betrayed into some fault, were overwhelmed\nwith confusion. Again, it is reasonable that, having offended God, we\nshould out of humility and a feeling of confusion, hold ourselves a little\nin the background. When we have offended even an earthly friend, we feel\nashamed to meet him. Nevertheless, it is quite certain that we must not\nremain for long at a distance, for the virtues of humility, abjection, and\nconfusion are intermediate virtues, or steps by which the soul ascends to\nunion with her God.\n\n\"It would be no great gain to accept our nothingness as a fact and to strip\nourselves of self (which is done by acts of self-humiliation) if the result\nof this were not the total surrender of ourselves to God. St. Paul teaches\nus this, when he says: _Strip yourselves of the old man and put on the\nnew_.[1] For we must not remain unclothed; but clothe ourselves with God.\"\n\nFurther on our Saint says: \"I ever say that the throne of God's mercy is\nour misery, therefore the greater our misery the greater should be our\nconfidence.\"[2]\n\nAs regards the foundation of our confidence in God, he says in the same\nconference: \"You wish further to know what foundation our confidence ought\nto have. Know, then, that it must be grounded on the infinite goodness of\nGod, and on the merits of the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ\nwith this condition on our part that we should preserve and recognise in\nourselves an entire and firm resolution to belong wholly to God, and to\nabandon ourselves in all things and without any reserve to His Providence.\"\n\nHe adds that, in order to belong wholly to God, it is not necessary to\n_feel_ this resolution, because feeling resides chiefly in the lower\nfaculties of the soul; but we must recognise it in the higher part of the\nsoul, that purer and more serene region where even in spite of our feelings\nwe fail not to serve God in spirit and in truth.\n\n[Footnote 1: Col. iii. 9.]\n[Footnote 2: Conference ii.]\n\n\nUPON THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD.\n\nYou ask me a question which would be hard for me to answer had I not the\nmind of our Blessed Father to guide and assist me in the matter.\n\nYou say: Whence comes it that Almighty God treated the rebel Angels with so\nmuch severity, showing them no mercy whatever, and providing for them no\nremedy to enable them to rise again after their fall; whereas to men He is\nso indulgent, patient towards their malice, waiting for them to repent,\nlong suffering, and magnificent in His mercy, bestowing on them the copious\nRedemption of the Saviour?\n\nWell, He tells us in his _Treatise on the Love of God_[1] that: \"The\nangelic nature could only commit sin from positive malice, without\ntemptation or motive to excuse, even partially. Nevertheless, the far\ngreater part of the Angels remained constant in the service of their\nSaviour. Therefore God, who had so amply glorified His mercy in the work\nof the creation of the Angels, would also magnify His justice; and in His\nrighteous indignation resolved for ever to abandon that accursed band of\ntraitors, who in their rebellion had so villainously abandoned Him.\"\n\nOn man, however, He took pity for several reasons. First, because the\ntempter by his cunning had deceived our first father, Adam; secondly,\nbecause the spirit of man is encompassed by flesh and consequently by\ninfirmity; thirdly, because his spirit, enclosed as it is in an earthly\nbody, is frail as the vessel which enshrines it, easily overbalanced by\nevery breath of wind, and unable to right itself again; fourthly, because\nthe temptation in the Garden of Eden was great and over-mastering; fifthly,\nbecause He had compassion on the posterity of Adam, which otherwise would\nhave perished with him; but the sixth, and principal cause was this:\nAlmighty God having resolved to take on Himself our human nature in order\nto unite it to the Divine Person of the Word, He willed to favour very\nspecially this nature for the sake of that hypostatic union, which was\nto be the masterpiece of all the communications of Almighty God to His\ncreatures.\n\nDo not, however, imagine that God so willed to magnify His mercy in the\nredemption of man that He forgot the claims of His justice. No, truly; for\nno severity can equal that which He displayed in the sufferings of His Son,\non whose sacred Head having laid the iniquities of us all, He poured out a\nvengeance commensurate with His Divine wrath.\n\nIf, then, we weigh the severity displayed by God towards the rebel Angels\nagainst that with which He treated His Divine Son when redeeming mankind,\nwe shall find His justice more abundantly satisfied in the atonement made\nby the One than in the rigorous punishment of the others. In fine here, as\nalways, His mercy overrides His judgments, inasmuch as the fallen Angels\nare punished far less than they deserve, and the faithful are rewarded far\nbeyond their merits.\n\n[Footnote 1: Bk. ii c. iv.]\n\n\nWAITING UPON GOD.\n\nOn this subject of waiting upon God I remember hearing from Blessed Francis\ntwo wonderful explanations. You, my dear sisters, will, I am sure, be glad\nto have them, and will find them of great use, seeing that your life,\nnailed as it is with Jesus Christ to the Cross, must be one of great\nlong-suffering.\n\nHe thus interpreted that verse of the Psalmist: _With expectation have I\nwaited on the Lord, and He was attentive to me._[1]\n\n\"To wait, waiting,\" he said, \"is not to fret ourselves while we are\nwaiting. For there are some who in waiting do not wait, but are troubled\nand impatient.\"\n\nThose who have to wait soon get weary, and from weariness springs that\ndisturbance of mind so common amongst them. Hence the inspired saying that\n_Hope that is deferred afflicteth the soul_.[2] Of all kinds of patience\nthere is none more fitting to tedious waiting than longanimity. Strength is\ndeveloped in dangers; patience drives away the sadness caused by suffering;\nconstancy avails for the bearing of great evils; perseverance for the\ncarrying out a good work to its completion; but longanimity has to do with\nsufferings which are painful because they are long enduring.\n\nSuch pains are tedious, but not often violent, for violent sufferings\nare, as a rule, not lasting; either they pass away, or he on whom they\nare inflicted, being unable to bear them, is set free by death. To wait,\nindeed, for deliverance from evils quietly, but without any anguish or\nirritation, at least in the superior part of the soul, is to wait, waiting.\nHappy are those who wait in this manner, for their hope shall not be\nconfounded. Of them the Psalmist says that God will remember them, that\nHe will grant their prayers, and that He will deliver them from the pit\nof misery.[3] Those who act otherwise, and who in their adversity give\nthemselves up to impatience, only aggravate their yoke, instead of\nlightening it.\n\nThey are like the bird which beats its wings against the wrist or perch on\nwhich it is poised, but cannot get free from its chain.\n\nWise Christians making a virtue of necessity and wishing what God wishes,\nmake that which is necessary voluntary, and turn their suffering to their\neternal advantage.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xxxix, i.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm xiii. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm xxxix. 3.]\n\n\nUPON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HOLY DESIRE OF REWARD AND A MERCENARY SPIRIT.\n\nI am asked if there is not something of a mercenary spirit in these words\nof our Blessed Father: \"Oh, how greatly to be loved is the eternity of\nHeaven, and how contemptible are the fleeting moments of earth! Aspire\ncontinually to this eternity, and despise heartily this decaying world.\"\n\nYou will observe, if you please, that there is a great deal of difference\nbetween a proper desire of reward and a mercenary habit of mind. The proper\ndesire of recompense is one which looks principally to the glory of God,\nand to that glory refers its own reward. A habit of mind which, according\nto the teaching of the Holy Council of Trent, is most excellent.[1]\n\nBut a mercenary habit of mind is shown when we stop short voluntarily,\ndeliberately, and maliciously at our own self-interest, neglecting and\nputting on one side the interests of God, and when we look forward only\nto the honours, satisfactions, and delights given to the faithful, and\nexclude, as it were, the tribute of glory and homage which they render for\nthem to God.\n\nAs regards these words of our Blessed Father's, I am perfectly certain\nthat, whatever they may at first sight seem to mean, they are assuredly the\nexpression of thoughts, utterly unselfish, and totally devoid of the spirit\nof self-seeking. He had written just before: \"Take good heed not to come to\nthe feast of the Holy Cross, which is a million times fuller of exquisite\npleasures than any wedding feast, without having on the white robe,\nspotless, and pure from all intentions save that of pleasing the Lamb.\"\n\nAgain, I should like to read to you an extract from one of his letters, in\nwhich you will see that he knew how to distinguish, even in Paradise, our\ninterests from those of God: So pure and penetrating was his sight that it\nresembled that single eye of which the Gospel speaks,[2] which fills us\nwith light and discernment in things spiritual and divine. He speaks thus\nin his letter: \"I have not been able to think of anything this morning save\nof the eternity of blessings which awaits us. And yet all appear to me as\nlittle or nothing beside that unchanging and ever-present love of the great\nGod, which reigns continually in Heaven. For truly I think that the joys of\nParadise would be possible, in the midst of all the pains of hell, if the\nlove of God could be there. And if hell-fire were a fire of love, it seems\nto me that its torments would be the most desirable of good things. All\nthe delights of Heaven are in my eyes a mere nothing compared with this\ntriumphant love. Truly, we must either die or love God. I desire that my\nheart should either be torn from my body or that if it remains with me it\nshould hold nothing but this holy love. Ah! We must truly give our hearts\nup to our immortal King, and thus being closely united to Him, live solely\nfor Him. Let us die to ourselves and to all that depends on ourselves. It\nseems to me that we ought to live only for God. The very thought of this\nfills my heart once more with courage and fervour. After all, that our Lord\n_is_ our Lord is the one thing in the world that really concerns us.\"\n\nAgain, in his Theotimus,[3] he says:\n\n\"The supreme motive of our actions, which is that of heavenly love, has\nthis sovereign property, that being most pure, it makes the actions which\nproceed from it most pure; so that the Angels and Saints of Heaven love\nabsolutely nothing for any other end whatever than that of the love of the\nDivine goodness, and from the motive of desiring to please God. They all,\nindeed, love one another most ardently; they also love us, they love the\nvirtues, but all this only to please God. They follow and practise virtues,\nnot inasmuch as these virtues are fair and attractive to them; but inasmuch\nas they are agreeable to God. They love their own felicity, not because it\nis theirs, but because it pleases God. Yea, they love the very love with\nwhich they love God, not because it is in them, but because it tends to\nGod; not because they have and possess it, but because God gives it to\nthem, and takes His good pleasure in it.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: _De Justificat_, cap. 12.]\n[Footnote 2: Matt. vi. 22.]\n[Footnote 3: Bk. xi. 13.]\n\n\nCONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nThere are some gloomy minds which imagine that when the motive of charity\nand disinterested love is insisted upon all other motives are thereby\ndepreciated, and that it is wished to do away with them. But does he who\npraises one Saint blame the others? If we extol the Seraphim, do we on that\naccount despise all the lower orders of Angels? Does the man who considers\ngold more precious than silver say that silver is nothing at all? Are we\ninsulting the stars when we admire and praise the sun? And do we despise\nmarriage because we put celibacy above it?\n\nIt is true that, as the Apostle says, charity is the greatest of all\nvirtues, without which the others have neither life nor soul; but that does\nnot prevent these others from being virtues, and most desirable as good\nhabits. In doing virtuous actions the motive of charity is, indeed, the\nking of all motives; but blessed also are all those inferior motives which\nare subject to it. We may truly say of them what the Queen of Sheba said of\nthe courtiers of Solomon: _Happy are thy men who always stand before thee\nand hear thy wisdom._[1]\n\nNay, even servile and mercenary motives, although interested, may yet\nbe good, provided they have nothing in them that cannot be referred to\nGod. They are good in those who have not charity, preparing them for the\nreception of justifying grace. They are also good in the regenerate, and\nare compatible with charity, like servants and slaves in the service and\nhouseholds of the great. For it is right, however regenerate we may be, to\nabstain from sin, not only for fear of displeasing God, but also for fear\nof losing our souls. The Council of Trent tells us that we are not doing\nill when we perform good works primarily in order to glorify God; and also,\nas an accessory, with a view to the eternal reward which God promises to\nthose who shall do such in His love and for His love. In great temptations,\nfor fear of succumbing, the just may with advantage call to their aid the\nthought of hell, thereby to save themselves from eternal damnation and the\nloss of Paradise. But the first principles of the doctrine of salvation\nteach us that, to avoid evil and do good, simply from the motive of pure\nand disinterested love of God, is the most perfect and meritorious mode of\naction.\n\nWhat! say some:--Must we cease to fear God and to hope in Him? What, then,\nbecomes of acts of holy fear, and of the virtue of hope? If a mother were\nto abuse the doctor who had restored her child to life, would it not excite\na strong suspicion that it was she herself who had attempted to smother it?\nDid not she who said to Solomon: _Let it be divided_,[2] show herself to be\nthe false mother? They who are so much attached to servile fear can have no\nreal desire to attain to that holy, pure, loving, reverent fear which leads\nto everlasting rest, and which the Saints and Angels practise through all\neternity.\n\nLet us listen to what Blessed Francis further says on this subject.\n\n\"When we were little children, how eagerly and busily we used to collect\ntiny scraps of cloth, bits of wood, handfuls of clay, to build houses and\nmake little boats! And if any one destroyed these wonderful erections, how\nunhappy we were; how bitterly we cried! But now we smile when we think how\ntrivial it all was.\n\n\"Well,\" he goes on to say, \"let us, since we are but children, be pardoned\nif we act as such; but, at the same time, do not let us grow cold and dull\nin our work. If any one knocks over our little houses, and spoils our small\nplans, do not let us now be unhappy or give way altogether on that account.\nThe less so because when the evening comes, and we need a roof, I mean when\ndeath is at hand, these poor little buildings of ours will be quite unfit\nto shelter us. We must then be safely housed in our Father's Mansion, which\nis the Kingdom of His well-beloved Son.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Paral. ix. 7.]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Kings iii. 26.]\n\n\nGOD SHOULD SUFFICE FOR US ALL.\n\nA person of some consideration, and one who made much profession of living\na devout life, was overtaken by sudden misfortune, which deprived her of\nalmost all her wealth and left her plunged in grief. Her distress of mind\nwas so inconsolable that it led her to complain of the Providence of God,\nwho appeared, she said, to have forgotten her. All her faithful service and\nthe purity of her life seemed to have been in vain.\n\nBlessed Francis, full of compassionate sympathy for her misfortunes, and\nanxious to turn her thoughts from the contemplation of herself and of\nearthly things, to fix them on God, asked her if He was not more to her\nthan anything; nay, if, in fact, God was not Himself everything to her;\nand if, having loved Him when He had given her many things, she was not\nnow ready to love Him, though she received nothing from Him. She, however,\nreplying that such language was more speculative than practical, and\neasier to speak than to carry into effect, he wound up by saying, with St.\nAugustine: _Too avaricious is that heart to which God does not suffice._\n\"Assuredly, he who is not satisfied with God is covetous indeed.\" This word\n_covetous_ produced a powerful effect upon the heart of one who, in the\ndays of her prosperity, had always hated avarice, and had been most lavish\nin her expenditure, both on her own needs and pleasures and on works of\nmercy. It seemed as if suddenly the eyes of her soul were opened, and she\nsaw how admirable, how infinitely worthy of love God ever remained, whether\nwith those things she had possessed or without them. So, by degrees, she\nforgot herself and her crosses; grace prevailed, and she knew and confessed\nthat God was all in all to her. Such efficacy have a Saint's words, even if\nunpremeditated.\n\n\nCHARITY THE SHORT ROAD TO PERFECTION.\n\nBlessed Francis, in speaking of perfection, often remarked that, although\nhe heard very many people talking about it, he met with very few who\npractised it. \"Many, indeed,\" he would say, \"are so mistaken in their\nestimate of what perfection is, that they take effects for the cause, the\nrivulet for the spring, the branches for the root, the accessories for the\nprinciple, and often even the shadow for the substance.\"\n\nFor myself, I know of no Christian perfection other than to love God with\nour whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves. All other perfection is\nfalsely so entitled: it is sham gold that does not stand testing.\n\nCharity is the only bond between Christians, the only virtue which unites\nus absolutely to God, and our neighbour.\n\nIn charity lies the end of every perfection and the perfection of every\nend. I know that mortification, prayer, and the other exercises of virtue,\nare all means to perfection, provided that they are practised in charity,\nand from the motive of charity. But we must never regard any of these means\ntowards attaining perfection as being in themselves perfection. This would\nbe to stop short on the road, and in the middle of the race, instead of\nreaching the goal.\n\nThe Apostle exhorts us, indeed, to run, but so as to carry off the\nprize[1], which is for those only who have breath enough to reach the end\nof the course.\n\nIn a word, all our actions must be done in charity if we wish to walk in\na manner, as says St. Paul, worthy of God; that is to say, to hasten on\ntowards perfection.\n\nCharity is the way of true life; it is the truth of the living way; it is\nthe life of the way of truth. All virtue is dead without it: it is the very\nlife of virtue. No one can reach the last and supreme end, God Himself,\nwithout charity; it is the way to Him. There is no true virtue without\ncharity, says St. Thomas; it is the very truth of virtue.\n\nIn conclusion, and in answer to my repeated question as to how we were to\ngo to work in order to attain to this perfection, this supreme love of God\nand of our neighbour, our Blessed Father said that we must use exactly the\nsame method as we should in mastering any ordinary art or accomplishment.\n\"We learn,\" he said, \"to study by studying, to play on the lute by playing,\nto dance by dancing, to swim by swimming. So also we learn to love God and\nour neighbour _by loving_ them, and those who attempt any other method are\nmistaken.\"\n\nYou ask me, my sisters, how we can discover whether or not we are making\nany progress towards perfection. I cannot do better than consult our\noracle, Blessed Francis, and answer you in his own words, taken from his\neighth Conference. \"We can never know what perfection we have reached, for\nwe are like those who are at sea; they do not know whether they are making\nprogress or not, but the pilot knows, knowing the course. So we cannot\nestimate our own advancement, though we may that of others, for we dare\nnot assure ourselves when we have done a good action that we have done it\nperfectly--humility forbids us to do so. Nay, even were we able to judge of\nthe virtues of others, we must never determine in our minds that one person\nis better than another, because appearances are deceitful, and those who\nseem very virtuous outwardly and in the eyes of creatures, may be less so\nin the sight of God than others who appear much more imperfect.\"\n\nI have often heard him say that the multiplicity of means proposed for\nadvancement towards perfection frequently delays the progress of souls.\nThey are like travellers uncertain of the way, and who seeing many roads\nbranching off in different directions stay and waste their time by\nenquiring here and there which of them they ought to take in order to\nreach their journey's end. He advised people to confine themselves rather\nto some special spiritual exercise or virtue, or to some well-chosen\nbook of piety--for example, to the exercise of the presence of God, or\nof submission to His will, or to purity of intention, or some similar\nexercise.\n\nAmong books, he recommended chiefly, _The Spiritual Combat_, _The Imitation\nof Jesus Christ_, _The Method of Serving God_, _Grenada_, _Blosius_,\nand such like. Among the virtues, as you know well, his favourites\nwere gentleness and humility, charity--without which others are of no\nvalue--being always pre-supposed.\n\nOn this subject of advancement towards perfection, he speaks thus in the\nninth of his Conferences:\n\n\"If you ask me, 'What can I do to acquire the love of God?' I answer,\n_Will_; i.e., _try_ to love Him; and instead of setting to work to find out\nhow you can unite your soul to God, put the thing in practice by a frequent\napplication of your mind to Him. I assure you that you will arrive much\nmore quickly at your end by this means than in any other way.\n\n\"For the more we pour ourselves out the less recollected we shall be, and\nthe less capable of union with the Divine Majesty, who would have all we\nare without reserve.\"\n\nHe continues: \"One actually finds souls who are so busy in thinking how\nthey shall do a thing that they have no time to do it. And yet, in what\nconcerns our perfection, which consists in the union of our soul with the\nDivine Goodness, there is no question of knowing much; but only of doing.\"\n\nAgain, in the same Conference, he says: \"It seems to me that those of whom\nwe ask the road to Heaven are very right in answering us as those do who\ntell us that, in order to reach such a place, we must just go on putting\none foot before the other, and that by this means we shall arrive where we\ndesire. Walk ever, we say to these souls so desirous of their perfection,\nwalk in the way of your vocation with simplicity, more intent on doing than\non desiring. That is the shortest road.\" \"And,\" he adds, \"in aspiring to\nunion with the Beloved, there is no other secret than to do what we aspire\nto--that is, to labour faithfully in the exercise of Divine love.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. ix. 24.]\n\n\nUPON WHAT IT IS TO LOVE GOD TRULY.\n\nIn connection with this subject of the love of God and of our neighbour,\nI asked our Blessed Father what _loving_ in this sense of the word really\nwas. He replied: \"Love is the primary passion of our emotional desires,\nand a primary element in that emotional faculty which is the will. So that\nto will is nothing more than to love what is good, and love is the willing\nor desiring what is good. If we desire good for ourselves we have what\nis called self-love; if we desire good for another we have the love of\nfriendship.\"\n\nTo love God and our neighbour, then, with the love of charity, which is\nthe love of friendship, is to desire good to God for Himself, and to our\nneighbour in God and for the love of God. We can desire two sorts of good\nfor God: that which He has, rejoicing that He is what He is, and that\nnothing can be added to the greatness and to the infinity of His inward\nperfection; and that which He has not, by wishing it for Him, either\neffectively, if it is in our power to give it to Him, or by loving and\nlonging, if it is not in our power to give it. For, indeed, there is a good\nwhich God desires and which is not His as it should be in perfection. That\nexternal good, as it is called, is the good which proceeds from the honour\nand glory rendered to Him by His creatures, especially by those among\nthem endowed with reason. This is the good which David wishes to God in\nso many of his Psalms. Among others, in the _Praise ye the Lord from the\nheavens_,[1] and in the _Bless the Lord, O my soul_.[2]\n\nThe three children also in the fiery furnace wish this good to God by their\ncanticle: _All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord._[3]\n\nIf we truly love God we shall try to bring this good to Him through\nourselves, surrendering our whole being to Him, and doing all our actions,\nthe indifferent as well as the good, for His glory.\n\nNot content with that, we shall also strive with all our might to make our\nneighbour serve and love God, so that by all and in all things God may be\nhonoured.\n\nTo love our neighbour in God is to rejoice in the good which our neighbour\npossesses, provided, indeed, that he makes use of it for the divine glory;\nto render him in his need all the assistance which lies within our power;\nto be zealous for the welfare of his soul, and to work for it as we do\nfor our own, because God wills and desires it. That is to have true and\nunfeigned charity, and to love God sincerely and steadfastly for His own\nsake and our neighbour for the love of Him.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxlviii. 1.]\n[Footnote 2: Id. ciii. 1.]\n[Footnote 3: Dan. iii. 57.]\n\n\nUPON THE LOVE OF GOD IN GENERAL.\n\nA whole mountain of virtues, if destitute of this living, reigning, and\ntriumphant love, was to Blessed Francis but as a petty heap of stones. He\nwas never weary of inculcating love of God as the supreme motive of every\naction.\n\nThe whole of his Theotimus (_The Treatise on the Love of God_) breathes\nthis sentiment, and he often told me that it was impossible to insist upon\nit too strongly in our teaching and advice to our people. \"For, in fact,\"\nhe used to say, \"what is the use of running a race if we do not reach the\ngoal, or of drawing the bow if we do not hit the target?\" Oh! how many good\nworks are useless as regards the glory of God and the salvation of souls,\nfor want of this motive of charity! And yet, this is the last thing people\nthink of, as if the intention were not the very soul of a good action, and\nas if God had ever promised to reward works not done for His glory, and not\napplied to His honour.\n\n\nALL FOR LOVE OF GOD.\n\nYou know very well how Blessed Francis valued charity, but I will give you,\nnevertheless, some more of his teaching on this great subject.\n\nTo a holy soul who had placed herself under his direction, he said: \"We\nmust do all things from love, and nothing from constraint. We must love\nobedience rather than fear disobedience. I leave you the spirit of liberty:\nnot such as excludes obedience, for that is the liberty of the flesh, but\nsuch as excludes constraint, scruples, and over-eagerness. However much you\nmay love obedience and submission, I wish you to suspend for the moment the\nwork in which obedience has engaged you whenever any just or charitable\noccasion for so doing occurs. This omission will be a species of obedience.\nFill up its measure by charity.\"\n\nFrom this spirit of holy and Christian liberty originated the saying so\noften to be met with in his letters: \"Keep your heart in peace.\" That is to\nsay: Beware of hurry, anxiety, and bitterness of heart. These he called the\nruin of devotion. He was even unwilling that people should meditate upon\nthe great truths of Death, Judgment and Hell, unless they at the same time\nreassured themselves by the remembrance of God's love for them. Speaking to\na holy soul, he says: \"Meditation on the four last things will be useful to\nyou provided that you always end with an act of confidence in God. Never\nrepresent to yourself Death or Hell on the one side unless the Cross is on\nthe other; so that when your fears have been excited by the one you may\nwith confidence turn for help to the other.\" The one point on which he\nchiefly insisted was that we must fear God from love, not love God from\nfear. \"To love Him from fear,\" he used to say, \"is to put gall into our\nfood and to quench our thirst with vinegar; but to fear Him from love is to\nsweeten aloes and wormwood.\"\n\nAssuredly, our own experience convinces us that it is difficult to love\nthose whom we fear, and that it is impossible not to fear with a filial and\nreverent fear those whom we love.\n\nYou find some difficulty, it seems, my sisters, in understanding how all\nthings, as St. Paul says,[1] whether good, bad, or indifferent, can in the\nend work together for good to those who love God.\n\nTo satisfy you, I quote the words of Blessed Francis on this subject in one\nof his letters. \"Since,\" he says, \"God can bring good out of evil, will He\nnot surely do so for those who have given themselves unreservedly to Him?\nYes; even sins, from which may God in His goodness keep us, are by His\nDivine Providence, when we repent of them, changed into good for those who\nare His. Never would David have been so bowed down with humility if he had\nnot sinned, nor would Magdalene have loved her Saviour so fervently had He\nnot forgiven her so many sins. But He could not have forgiven them had she\nnot committed them.\"\n\nAgain: \"Consider, my dear daughter, this great Artificer of mercy, who\nchanges our miseries into graces, and out of the poison of our iniquities\ncompounds a wholesome medicine for our souls. Tell me, then, I beseech\nyou, if God works such wonders with our sins, what will He not effect with\nour afflictions, with our labours, with the persecutions which we have to\nendure? No matter what trouble befalls you, nor from what direction it may\ncome, let your soul be at peace, certain that if you truly love God all\nwill turn to good. And though you cannot see the springs which work this\nmarvellous change, rest assured that it will take place.\n\n\"If the hand of God touches your eyes with the clay of shame and reproach,\nit is only to give you clearer sight, and to cause you to be honoured.\n\n\"If He should cast you to the ground, as He did St. Paul, it will only be\nto raise you up again to glory.\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. viii. 28.]\n[Footnote 2: Rom. viii. 28.]\n\n\nTHE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\n\n\"All by love, nothing by constraint.\" This was his favourite motto, and the\nmainspring of his direction of others. He has often said to me that those\nwho try to force the human will are exercising a tyranny which is hateful\nto God and man. This was why he had such a horror of those masterful and\ndominant spirits which insist on being obeyed, _bon gr\u00e9 mal gr\u00e9_, and would\nhave every one give way to them. \"Those,\" he often said, \"who love to make\nthemselves feared, fear to make themselves loved; and they themselves are\nmore fearful than anyone else: for others only fear _them_, but they are\nafraid of every one.\"\n\nI have often heard him say these striking words: \"In the royal galley of\ndivine love there is no galley-slave; all the oarsmen are volunteers.\" And\nhe expresses the same sentiment in Theotimus, when he says: \"Divine love\ngoverns the soul with an incomparable sweetness; for no one of the slaves\nof love is made such by force, but love brings all things under its rule,\nwith a constraint so delightful, that as nothing is so strong as love,\nnothing also is so sweet as its strength.\"[1] And in another part of the\nsame book he makes a soul, attracted by the delicious perfume shed by the\ndivine Bridegroom on his path, say:\n\n\"Let no one think that Thou draggest me after Thee like an unwilling\nslave or a lifeless load. Ah! no. Thou drawest me by the _odour of Thine\nointments_; though I follow Thee, it is not that Thou draggest me, but that\nThou enticest me. Thy drawing is mighty, but not violent, since its whole\nforce lies in its sweetness. Perfumes draw me to follow them in virtue\nonly of their sweetness. And sweetness, how can it attract but sweetly and\npleasantly?\"[2] Following out this principle, he never gave a command even\nto those who were bound to obey him, whether his servants or his clergy,\nsave in the form of a request or suggestion. He held in special veneration,\nand often inculcated upon me the command of St. Peter: _Feed the flock of\nGod which is among you, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy\nlucre's sake, neither as lording it over the clergy, but being made a\npattern of virtue to the flock._[3]\n\nAnd here, my sisters, I feel that if will be for your profit, although the\nstory is not to my own credit, to relate a circumstance which occurred in\nthe early years of my episcopate. I was young, impetuous, and impatient;\neager to reform the abuses and disorders which from time to time I met with\nin my pastoral visitations. Often, too, I know, I was bitter and harsh when\ndiscouraged.\n\nOnce in a despairing mood because of the many failures I noticed in myself,\nand others, I poured forth my lamentations and self-accusations to our\nBlessed Father, who said: \"What a masterful spirit you have! You want\nto walk upon the wings of the wind. You let yourself be carried away by\nyour zeal, which, like a will-of-the-wisp, will surely lead you over a\nprecipice. Have you forgotten the warning of your patron, St. Peter, _not\nto think you can walk in burning heat?_[4] Would you do more than God, and\nrestrain the liberty of the creatures whom God has made free? You decide\nmatters, as if the wills of your subjects were all in your own hands. God,\nWho holds all hearts in His and Who searches the reins and the hearts, does\nnot act thus. He puts up with resistance, rebellion against His light,\nkicking against the goad, opposition to His inspirations, even though His\nSpirit be grieved thereby. He does, indeed, suffer those to perish who\nthrough the hardness of their impenitent hearts have heaped to themselves\nwrath in the day of vengeance. Yet He never wearies of calling them to Him,\nhowever often they reject His offers and say to Him, _Depart from us, we\nwill not follow Thy ways_.[5]\n\n\"In this our Angel Guardians follow His example, and although we may\nforsake God by our iniquities, they will not forsake us as long as there is\nbreath in our body, even though we may have fallen into sin. Do you want\nbetter examples for regulating your conduct?\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Book i. 6.]\n[Footnote 2: Book ii. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Peter v. 2, 3.]\n[Footnote 4: 1 Peter iv. 12.]\n[Footnote 5: Job xxi. 14.]\n\n\nUPON THE LOVE OF GOD, CALLED LOVE OF BENEVOLENCE.\n\nYou ask me what I have to say as regards the love of benevolence towards\nGod. What good thing can we possibly wish for God which He has not already,\nWhat can we desire for Him which He does not possess far more fully than we\ncan desire Him to have it?\n\nWhat good can we do to Him to Whom all our goods belong, and Who has all\ngood in Himself; or, rather, Who is Himself all good?\n\nI reply to this question as I have done to others, that there are many\nspiritual persons, and some even of the most gifted, who are greatly\nmistaken in their view of this matter.\n\nWe must distinguish in God two sorts of good, the one interior, the\nother exterior. The first is Himself; for His goodness, like His other\nattributes, is one and the same thing with His essence or being.\n\nNow this good, being infinite, can neither be augmented by our serving God\nand by our honouring Him, nor can it be diminished by our rebelling against\nHim and by our working against Him.\n\nIt is of it that the Psalmist speaks when he says that our goods are\nnothing unto Him.\n\nBut there is another kind of good which is exterior; and this, though it\nbelongs to God, is not in Him, but in His creatures, just as the moneys of\nthe king are, indeed, his, but they are in the coffers of his treasurers\nand officials.\n\nThis exterior good consists in the honours, obedience, service, and homage\nwhich His creatures owe and render to Him: creatures of whom each one\nhas of necessity His glory as the final end and aim of its creation. And\nthis good it is which we can, with the grace of God, desire for Him, and\nourselves give to Him, and which we can either by our good works increase\nor by our sins take from.\n\nIn regard to this exterior good, we can practise towards God the love of\nbenevolence by doing all things, and all good works in our power, in order\nto increase His honour, or by having the intention to bless, glorify, and\nexalt Him in all our actions; and much more by refraining from any action\nwhich might tarnish God's glory and displease Him, Whose will is our\ninviolable law.\n\nThe love of benevolence towards God does not stop here. For, because\ncharity obliges us to love our neighbour as ourselves from love of God, we\ntry to urge on our fellow-men to promote this Divine glory, each one as far\nas he can. We incite them to do all sorts of good, so as thereby to magnify\nGod the more. Thus the Psalmist said to his brethren, _O magnify the Lord\nwith me, and let us extol His name together_.[1]\n\nThis same ardour incites and presses us also (_urget_ is the word used by\nSt. Paul) to do our utmost to aid our neighbour to rise from sin, which\nrenders him displeasing to God, and to prevent sin by which the Divine\nGoodness is offended. This is what is properly called zeal, the zeal which\nconsumed the Psalmist when he saw how the wicked forget God, and which\ncaused him to cry out: _My zeal has made me pine away, because my enemies\nforgot thy words_.[2] And again, _The zeal of thy house hath eaten me\nup_.[3]\n\nYou ask if this love of benevolence might not also be exercised towards God\nin respect of that interior and infinite good which He possesses and which\nis Himself. I reply, with our Blessed Father in his Theotimus, that we can\nwish Him to have this good, by rejoicing in the fact that He has it, and\nthat He is what He is; hence that vehement outburst of David, _Know ye,\nthat the Lord he is God_.[4] And again, _A great King above all gods_.\n\nMoreover, the mystical elevations and the ecstasies of the Saints were acts\nof the love of God in which they wished Him all good and rejoiced in His\npossessing it. Our imagination, too, may help us, as it did St. Augustine,\nof whom our Blessed Father writes:\n\n\"This desire, then, of God, by imagination of impossibilities, may be\nsometimes profitably practised in moments of great and extraordinary\nfeelings and fervours. We are told that the great St. Augustine often made\nsuch acts, pouring out in an excess of love these words: 'Ah! Lord, I am\nAugustine, and Thou art God; but still, if that which neither is nor can be\nwere, that I were God, and thou Augustine, I would, changing my condition\nwith Thee, become Augustine to the end that Thou mightest be God.'\"[5]\n\nWe can again wish Him the same good by rejoicing in the knowledge that we\ncould never, even by desiring it, add anything to the incomprehensible\ninfinity and infinite incomprehensibility of His greatness and perfection.\nHoly, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy\nglory: Praise to God in the highest. Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xxxiii. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm cxviii. 139.]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm lxviii. 10.]\n[Footnote 4: Psalm xciv. 3.]\n[Footnote 5: Book v. c. 6.]\n\n\nDISINTERESTED LOVE OF GOD.\n\nYou know that among the Saints for whom our Blessed Father had a special\ndevotion, St. Louis of France held a very prominent position.\n\nNow, in the life of the holy King, written by the Sieur de Joinville,\nthere is a little story which our Blessed Father used to say contained the\nsummary of all Christian perfection; and, indeed, its beauty and excellence\nhave made it so well known that we find it told or alluded to in most books\nof devotion.\n\nIt is that of the holy woman--whose name, though written in the Book of\nLife, is not recorded in history--who presented herself to Brother Yves,\na Breton, of the Order of St. Dominic, whom King Louis, being in the Holy\nLand, had sent as an ambassador to the Caliph of Syria. She was holding in\none hand a lighted torch, and in the other a pitcher of water filled to the\nbrim.\n\nAddressing the good Dominican, she told him that her intention was to burn\nup Paradise with the one and to put out the fire of Hell with the other,\nin order that henceforth God might be served with a holy and unfeigned\ncharity. That is to say, with a true and disinterested love, for love of\nHimself alone, not from a servile and mercenary spirit; _i.e._, from fear\nof punishment or hope of reward.\n\nOur Blessed Father told me that he should have liked this story to be told\non all possible occasions, and to have had engravings of the subject for\ndistribution, so that by so beautiful an example many might be taught to\nlove and serve God with true charity, and to have no other end in view than\nHis Divine glory; for true charity seeks not her own advantage, but only\nthe honour of her Beloved.\n\n\nUPON THE CHARACTER OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN.\n\nA Salamander, according to the fable, is a creature hatched in the chilling\nwaters of Arctic regions, and is consequently by nature so cold that it\ndelights in the burning heat of a furnace. Fire, said the ancients, cannot\nconsume it nor even scorch it.\n\n\"Just so is it with the Christian,\" said Blessed Francis. \"He is born in a\nregion far away from God, and is altogether alien from Him. He is conceived\nin iniquity and brought forth in sin, and sin is far removed from the way\nof salvation. Man is condemned before his very birth. _Damnatus antequam\nnatus_, says St. Bernard. He is born in the darkness of original sin and in\nthe region of the shadow of death. But, being born again in the waters of\nBaptism, in which he is clothed with the habit of charity, the fire of the\nholy love of God is enkindled in him. Henceforth his real life, the life of\ngrace and of spiritual growth, depends absolutely upon his abiding in that\nlove; for he who loves not thus is dead; while, on the other hand, by this\nlove man is called back from death to life.\"\n\n\"Charity,\" he continued, \"is like a fire and a devouring flame. The little\ncharity which we possess in this life is liable to be extinguished by the\nviolent temptations which urge us, or, to speak more truly, precipitate us\ninto mortal sin; but that of the life to come is a flame all-embracing and\nall-conquering--it can neither fail nor flicker.\n\n\"On earth charity, like fire, needs fuel to nourish it and keep it alive;\nbut in its proper sphere, which is Heaven, it feeds upon its own inherent\nheat, nor needs other nourishment. It is of vital importance here below\nto feed our charity with the fuel of good works, for charity is a habit\nso disposed to action that it unceasingly urges on those in whom the Holy\nSpirit has shed it abroad to perform such works. This the Apostle expresses\nvery aptly: _The charity of Christ presseth us_.[1]\n\n\"St. Gregory adds that the proof of true, unfeigned love is action, the\ndoing of works seen and known to be good. For, if faith is manifested by\ngood works, how much more charity, which is the root, the foundation, the\nsoul, the life, and the form of every good and perfect work.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. v. 14.]\n\n\nUPON NOT PUTTING LIMITS TO OUR LOVE OF GOD.\n\nBlessed Francis used to say that those who narrow their charity, limiting\nit to the performance of certain duties and offices, beyond which they\nwould not take a single step, are base and cowardly souls, who seem as\nthough they wished to enclose in their own hands the mighty Spirit of God.\nSeeing that God is greater than our heart, what folly it is to try to shut\nHim up within so small a circle.\n\nOn this subject of the immeasurable greatness of the love which we should\nbear to God, he uttered these remarkable words: \"To remain long in a\nsettled, unchanging condition is impossible: in this traffic he who does\nnot gain, loses; he who does not mount this ladder, steps down; he who\nis not conqueror in this combat, is vanquished. We live in the midst of\nbattles in which our enemies are always engaging us. If we do not fight\nwe perish; but we cannot fight without overcoming, nor overcome without\nvictory, followed by a triumph and a crown.\"\n\n\nUPON THE LAW AND THE JUST MAN.\n\nYou ask me the meaning of the Apostle's saying that _the law is not made\nfor the just man_.[1] Can any man be just unless he accommodate his actions\nto the rule of the law? Is it not in the observance of the law that true\njustice consists?\n\nOur Blessed Father explains this passage so clearly and delicately in his\nTheotimus that I will quote his words for you. He says: \"In truth the just\nman is not just, save inasmuch as he has love. And if he have love, there\nis no need to threaten him by the rigour of the law, love being the most\ninsistent of all teachers, and ever urging the heart which it possesses to\nobey the will and the intention of the beloved. Love is a magistrate who\nexercises his authority without noise and without police. Its instrument is\nmutual complacency, by which, as we find pleasure in God, so also we desire\nto please Him.\"[2]\n\nPermit me to add to these excellent words a reminder which ought not, I\nthink, to be unprofitable to you. Some imagine that it is enough to observe\nthe law of God in order to save our souls, obeying the command of our\nLord: _Do this_, that is to say, the law, _and you shall live_,[3] without\nattempting to determine the motive which impels them to observe the law.\n\nNow the truth is that some observe the law of God from a servile spirit,\nand only for fear of losing their souls. Others chiefly from a mercenary\nspirit for the sake of the reward promised to those who keep it, and,\nas our Blessed Father says very happily: \"Many keep the Commandments as\nmedicines are taken, rather that they may escape eternal death than that\nthey may live so as to please our Saviour.\" One of his favourite sayings\nwas: \"It is better to fear God from love than to love Him from fear.\"\n\nHe says also: \"There are people who, however pleasant a medicament may\nbe, feel a repugnance when required to take it, simply from the fact of\nits being medicine. So also there are souls which conceive an absolute\nantipathy to anything they are commanded to do, only because they are so\ncommanded.\" As soon, however, as the love of God is shed forth in the heart\nby the Holy Spirit, then the burden of the law becomes sweet, and its yoke\nlight, because of the extreme desire of that heart to please God by the\nobservance of His precepts. \"There is no labour,\" he goes on to say, \"where\nlove is, or if there be any, it is a labour of love. Labour mingled with\nlove is a certain _bitter-sweet_, more pleasant to the palate than that\nwhich is merely sweet. Thus then does heavenly love conform us to the will\nof God and make us carefully observe His commandments, this being the will\nof His Divine Majesty, Whom we desire to please. So that this complacency\nwith its sweet and amiable violence anticipates the necessity of obeying\nwhich the law imposes upon us, converting that necessity into the virtue of\nlove, and every difficulty into delight.\"[4]\n\n[Footnote 1: Tim. i. 9.]\n[Footnote 2: Book viii. c. 1.]\n[Footnote 3: Luke x. 28.]\n[Footnote 4: Cf. _Treatise on the Love of God_. Book viii. c. 5.]\n\n\nUPON DESIRES.\n\nTo desire to love God is to love to desire God, and consequently to love\nHim: for love is the root of all desires.\n\nSt. Paul says: _The charity of God presses us_.[1] And how does it press us\nif not by urging us to desire God. This longing for God is as a spur to the\nheart, causing it to leap forward on its way to God. The desire of glory\nincites the soldier to run all risks, and he desires glory because he\nloves it for its own sake, and deems it a blessing more precious than life\nitself.\n\nA sick man has not always an appetite for food, however much he may wish\nfor it as a sign of returning health. Nor can he by wishing for it obtain\nit, because the animal powers of our nature do not always obey the rational\nfaculties.\n\nLove and desire, however, being the offspring of one and the same faculty,\nwhoever desires, loves, and whoever desires from the motive of charity is\nable to love from the same motive. But how, you ask, shall we know whether\nor not we have this true desire for the love of God, and having it, whether\nit proceeds from the motions of grace or from nature?\n\nIt is rather difficult, my dear sisters, to give reasons for principles\nwhich are themselves their own reason. If you ask me why the fire is hot\nyou must not take it amiss if I simply answer because it is not cold.\n\nBut you wish to know what we have to do in order to obtain this most\ndesirable desire to love God. Our Blessed Father tells us that we must\nrenounce all useless, or less necessary desires, because the soul wastes\nher power when she spreads herself out in over many desires, like the river\nwhich when divided by the army of a Persian King into many channels lost\nitself altogether. \"This,\" he said, \"is why the Saints used to retire into\nsolitary places, so that being freed from earthly cares they might with\nmore fervour give themselves up wholly and entirely to divine love. This is\nwhy the spouse in the Canticles is represented with one eye closed, and all\nthe power of vision concentrated in the other, thus enabling her to gaze\nmore intently into the very depths of the heart of her Beloved, piercing it\nwith love.\n\n\"This is why she even winds all her tresses into one single braid, using it\nas a chain to bind and hold captive the heart of her Bridegroom, making Him\nher slave by love! Souls which sincerely desire to love God, close their\nunderstanding to all worldly things, so as to employ it the more fully in\nmeditating upon things Divine.\n\n\"All the aspirations of our nature have to be summed up in the one single\nintention of loving God, and Him alone: for to desire anything otherwise\nthan for God is to desire God the less.\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. v. 14.]\n[Footnote 2: Cf. _Treatise on the Love of God_. Book xii. 3.]\n\n\nHOW CHARITY EXCELS BOTH FAITH AND HOPE.\n\nNot only did Blessed Francis consider it intolerable that moral virtues\nshould be held to be comparable to Charity, but he was even unwilling\nthat Faith and Hope, excellent, supernatural, and divinely infused though\nthey be, should be reckoned to be of value without Charity, or even when\ncompared with it. In this he only echoed the thought and words of the great\nApostle St. Paul, who in his first Epistle to the Corinthians writes:\n_Faith, Hope, and Charity_ are three precious gifts, _but the greatest of\nthese is Charity_.\n\nFaith, it is true, is love, \"a love of the mind for the beautiful in the\ndivine Mysteries,\" as our Blessed Father says in his _Treatise on the\nLove of God_,[1] but \"the motions of love which forerun the act of faith\nrequired from our justification are either not love properly speaking, or\nbut a beginning and imperfect love,\" which inclines the soul to acquiesce\nin the truths proposed for its acceptance.\n\nHope, too, is love, \"a love for the useful in the goods which are promised\nin the other life.\"[2] \"It goes, indeed, to God but it returns to us; its\nsight is turned upon the divine goodness, yet with some respect to our own\nprofit.\"\n\n\"In Hope love is imperfect because it does not tend to God's infinite\ngoodness as being such in itself, but only because it is so to us.... In\nreal truth no one is able by virtue of this love either to keep God's\ncommandments or obtain life everlasting, because it is a love that yields\nmore affection than effect when it is not accompanied by Charity.\"[3]\n\nBut the perfect love of God, which is only to be found in Charity, is a\ndisinterested love, which loves the sovereign goodness of God in Himself\nand for His sake only, without any aim except that He may be that which He\nis, eternally loved, glorified, and adored, because He deserves to be so,\nas St. Thomas says. And it is in the fact that it attains more perfectly\nits final end that its pre-eminence consists. This is very clearly shown by\nBlessed Francis in the same Treatise where he tells us that Eternal life or\nSalvation is shown to Faith, and is prepared for Hope, but is given only\nto Charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of\ncloud and of fire, that is, light and dark; Hope feeds us with its manna of\nsweetness, but Charity actually introduces us into it, like the Ark of the\nCovenant, which leads us dry-shod through the Jordan, that is, through the\njudgment, and which shall remain amidst the people in the heavenly land\npromised to the true Israelites, where neither the pillar of Faith serves\nas a guide, nor the manna of Hope is needed as food.[4]\n\nThat which an ancient writer said of poverty, that it was a great good, yet\nvery little known as such, can be said with far more reason of Charity.\nIt is a hidden treasure, a pearl shut up in its shell, and of which few\nknow the value. The heretics of the present day profess themselves content\nwith a dead Faith, to which they attribute all their justice and their\nsalvation. There are also catholics who appear to limit themselves to that\ninterested love which is in Hope, and who serve God as mercenaries, more\nfor their own interest than for His. There are few who love God as He ought\nto be loved, that is to say, with the disinterested love of Charity. Yet,\nwithout this wedding garment, without this oil which fed the lamps of the\nwise Virgins, there is no admittance to the Marriage of the Lamb.\n\nIt is here that we may sing with the Psalmist: _The Lord hath looked down\nfrom Heaven upon the children of men to see if there be any that understand\nand seek God_, that is, to know how He wishes to be served. _They are all\ngone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doeth\ngood, no, not one_.[5] This means that there is not one who doth good\nin spirit and in truth. Yet, what is serving Him in spirit and in truth\nbut resolving to honour and obey Him, for the love of Himself, without\nadmixture of private self-interest?\n\nBut whoever has learnt to serve God after the pattern of those His beloved\nones, who worship Him in spirit and in truth, in burning Faith and Hope,\nanimated by Charity, may be said to be of the number of the holy nation,\nthe royal Priesthood, the chosen people, and to have entered into the\nsanctuary of true and Christian holiness, of which our Blessed Father\nspeaks thus: \"In the sanctuary was kept the ark of the covenant, and near\nit the tables of the law, manna in a golden vessel, and Aaron's rod, which\nin one night bore flowers and fruit. And in the highest point of the\nsoul are found: 1\u00b0. The light of Faith, figured by the manna hidden in\nits vessel, by which we recognize the truth of the mysteries we do not\nunderstand. 2\u00b0. The utility of Hope, represented by Aaron's flowering and\nfruitful rod, by which we acquiesce in the promises of the goods which\nwe see not. 3\u00b0. The sweetness of holy Charity, represented by God's\ncommandments, the keeping of which it includes, by which we acquiesce in\nthe union of our spirit with God's, though yet are hardly, if at all,\nconscious of this our happiness.\"[6]\n\n[Footnote 1: Book ii. 13.]\n[Footnote 2: Book i. c. 5.]\n[Footnote 3: Book ii. 17.]\n[Footnote 4: Book i. 6.]\n[Footnote 5: Psalm xiii. 2, 3.]\n[Footnote 6: Book i. 12.]\n\n\nSOME THOUGHTS OF BLESSED FRANCIS ON THE PASSION.\n\nOur Blessed Father considered that no thought is of such avail to urge us\nforward towards the perfection of divine love as the consideration of the\nPassion and Death of the Son of God. This he called the sweetest, and yet\nthe most constraining of all motives of piety.\n\nAnd when I asked him how he could possibly mention gentleness and\nconstraint or violence in the same breath, he answered, \"I can do so in\nthe sense in which the Apostle says that the Charity of God presses us,\nconstrains us, impels us, draws us, for such is the meaning of the word\n_Urget_.[1] In the same sense as that in which the Holy Ghost in the\nCanticle of Canticles tells us that _Love is as strong as death and fierce\nas hell_.\"\n\n\"We cannot deny,\" he added, \"that love is the very essence of sweetness,\nand the sweetener of all bitterness, yet see how it is compared to what\nis most irresistible, namely, death and hell. The reason of this is that\nas there is nothing so strong as the sweetness of love, so also there is\nnothing more sweet and more lovable than its strength. Oil and honey are\neach smooth and sweet, but when boiling nothing is to be compared with the\nheat they give out.\n\n\"The bee when not interfered with is the most harmless of insects;\nirritated its sting is the sharpest of all.\n\n\"Jesus Crucified is the Lion of the tribe of Judah--He is the answer to\nSamson's riddle, for in His wounds is found the honeycomb of the strongest\ncharity, and from this strength proceeds the sweetness of our greatest\nconsolation. And certainly since our Lord's dying for us, as all Scripture\ntestifies, is the climax of his love, it ought also to be the strongest of\nall our motives for loving Him.\n\n\"This it is which made St. Bernard exclaim: 'Oh, my Lord, I entreat Thee\nto grant that my whole heart may be so absorbed and, as it were, consumed\nin the burning strength and honeyed sweetness of Thy crucified love, that\nI may die for the love of Thy love, O Redeemer of my soul, as Thou hast\ndeigned to die for the love of my love.'\n\n\"It is this excess of love, which on the hill of Calvary drained the last\ndrop of life-blood from the Sacred Heart of the Lover of our Souls; it is\nof this love that Moses and Elias spoke on Mount Thabor amid the glory of\nthe Transfiguration.\n\n\"They spoke of it to teach us that even in the glory of Heaven, of which\nthe Transfiguration was only a glimpse, after the vision of the goodness\nof God contemplated and loved in itself, and for itself, there will be no\nmore powerful incentive towards the love of our Divine Saviour than the\nremembrance of His Death and Passion.\n\n\"We have a signal testimony to this truth in the Apocalypse, where the\nSaints and Angels chant these words before the throne of Him that liveth\nfor ever and ever: _Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and\ndivinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction\nfrom every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth._\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. v. 14.]\n[Footnote 2: Apoc. v. 12, 18.]\n\n\nUPON THE VANITY OF HEATHEN PHILOSOPHY.\n\nI was speaking on one occasion of the writings of Seneca and of Plutarch,\npraising them highly and saying that they had been my delight when young,\nour Blessed Father replied: \"After having tasted the manna of the Fathers\nand Theologians, this is to hanker for the leeks and garlic of Egypt.\" When\nI rejoined that these above mentioned writers furnished me with all that I\ncould desire for instruction in morals, and that Seneca seemed to me more\nlike a christian author than a pagan, he said: \"There I differ from you\nentirely. I consider that no spirit is more absolutely opposed to the\nspirit of christianity than that of Seneca, and no more dangerous reading\nfor a soul aiming at true piety can be found than his works.\"\n\nBeing much surprised at this opinion, and asking for an explanation, he\nwent on to say: \"This opposition between the two spirits comes from the\nfact that Seneca would have us look for perfection within ourselves,\nwhereas we must seek it outside ourselves, in God, that is to say, in\nthe grace which God pours into our souls through the Holy Ghost. _Not I,\nbut the grace of God with me_.[1] By this grace we are what we are. The\nspirit of Seneca inflates the soul and puffs it up with pride, that of\nChristianity rejects the knowledge which puffs up in order to embrace the\ncharity which edifies. In short, there is the same difference between the\nspirit of Seneca and the christian spirit that there is between virtues\nacquired by us, which are, therefore, dead, and virtues that are infused\nby God, which are, therefore, living. Indeed, how could this philosopher,\nbeing destitute of the true Faith, possess charity? And yet well we know\nthat without charity all acquired virtues are unable to save us.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. xv. 10.]\n\n\nUPON THE PURE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR.\n\nOur Blessed Father, in his Twelfth Conference, teaches how to love one's\nneighbour, for whom his own love was so pure and so unfeigned.\n\n\"We must look upon all the souls of men as resting in the Heart of our\nSaviour. Alas! they who regard their fellow-men in any other way run the\nrisk of not loving them with purity, constancy, or impartiality. But\nbeholding them in that divine resting place, who can do otherwise than love\nthem, bear with them, and be patient with their imperfections? Who dare\ncall them irritating or troublesome? Yes, my daughters, your neighbour is\nthere in the Heart of the Saviour, and there so beloved and lovable that\nthe Divine Lover dies for love of him.\"\n\nA truly charitable love of our neighbour is a rarer thing than one would\nthink. It is like the few particles of gold which are found on the shores\nof the Tagus, among masses of sand.\n\nHear what he says on this subject in the eighth of his Spiritual\nConferences:\n\n\"There are certain kinds of affection which appear very elevated and very\nperfect in the eyes of creatures, but which in the sight of God are of low\ndegree and valueless. Such are all friendships based, not only on true\ncharity, which is God, but only on natural inclinations and human motives.\n\n\"On the other hand, there are friendships which in the eyes of the world\nappear mean and despicable, but which in the sight of God have every\nexcellence, because they are built up in God, and for God, without\nadmixture of human interests. Now acts of charity which are performed for\nthose whom we love in this way are truly noble in their nature, and are,\nindeed, perfect acts, inasmuch as they tend purely to God, while the\nservices which we render to those whom we love from natural inclination are\nof far less merit. Generally speaking, we do these more for the sake of the\ngreat delight and satisfaction they cause us than for the love of God.\" He\ngoes on to say: \"The former kind of friendship is likewise inferior to the\nlatter in that it is not lasting. Its motive is so weak that when slighted\nor not responded to it easily grows cold, and finally disappears. Far\notherwise that affection which has its foundation in God, and therefore a\nmotive which above all others is solid and abiding.\n\n\"Human affection is founded on the possession by the person we love of\nqualities which may be lost. It can, therefore, never be very secure. On\nthe contrary, he who loves in God, and only in God, need fear no change,\nbecause God is always Himself.\" Again, speaking on this subject, our\nBlessed Father says: \"All the other bonds which link hearts one to\nanother are of glass, or jet; but the chain of holy charity is of gold\nand diamonds.\" In another place he remarks: \"St. Catherine of Sienna\nillustrates the subject by means of a beautiful simile. 'If,' she says,\n'you take a glass and fill it from a spring, and if while drinking from\nthis glass you do not remove it from the spring, you may drink as much as\nyou please without ever emptying the glass.' So it is with friendships: if\nwe never withdraw them from their source they never dry up.\"\n\n\nUPON BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER.\n\nHe laid great stress at all times on the duty of bearing with our\nneighbour, and thus obeying the commands of Holy Scripture, _Bear ye one\nanother's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ_,[1] and the\ncounsels of the Apostle who so emphatically recommends this mutual support.\n\"To-day mine, to-morrow thine.\" If to-day we put up with the ill-temper of\nour brother, to-morrow he will bear with our imperfections. We must in this\nlife do like those who, walking on ice, give their hands to one another, so\nthat if one slips, the other who has a firm foothold may support him.\n\nSt. John the Evangelist, towards the close of his life, exhorted his\nbrethren not to deny one another this support, but to foster mutual\ncharity, which prompts the Christian to help his neighbour, and is one of\nthe chiefest precepts of Jesus Christ, Who, true Lamb of God, endured, and\ncarried on His shoulders, and on the wood of the Cross, all our sins--an\ninfinitely heavy burden, nor to be borne by any but Him. The value set by\nour Blessed Father on this mutual support was marvellous, and he went so\nfar as to look upon it as the crown of our perfection.\n\nHe says on the subject to one who was very dear to him: \"It is a great part\nof our perfection to bear with one another in our imperfections; for there\nis no better way of showing our own love for our neighbour.\"\n\nGod will, in His mercy, bear with him who has mercifully borne with the\ndefects of his neighbour.\n\n_Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you.\nGood measure of_ blessings, _and pressed down, and shaken together, and\nrunning over shall they give into your bosom_.[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: Gal. vi. 2.]\n[Footnote 2: St. Luke vi. 37, 38.]\n\n\nUPON FRATERNAL CORRECTION.\n\nSpeaking, my dear sisters, as he often did, on the important subject\nof brotherly or friendly reproof, our Blessed Father made use of words\nprofitable to us all, but especially to those who are in authority, and\nhave therefore to rule and guide others.\n\nHe said: \"Truth which is not charitable proceeds from a charity which is\nnot true.\"\n\nWhen I asked him how we could feel certain that our reproofs were given out\nof sincere charity, he answered:\n\n\"When we speak the truth only for the love of God, and for the good of our\nneighbour, whom we are reproving.\"\n\nHe added: \"We must follow the counsels of the great Apostle St. Paul, when\nhe bids us reprove in a spirit of meekness.[1]\n\n\"Indeed gentleness is the intimate friend of charity and its inseparable\ncompanion.\" This is what St. Paul means when he says that charity is\n_kind_, and _beareth all things_, and _endureth all things_.[2] God, who\nis Charity, guides the mild in judgment and teaches the meek. His way, His\nSpirit, is not in the whirlwind, nor in the storm, nor in the tempest, nor\nin the voice of many waters; but in a gentle and whispering wind. _Mildness\nis come upon us_, says the Royal Psalmist, _and we shall be corrected_.[3]\n\nAgain Blessed Francis advised us to imitate the Good Samaritan, who poured\noil and wine into the wounds of the poor wayfarer fallen among thieves.[4]\nHe used to say that \"to make a good salad you want more oil than either\nvinegar or salt.\"\n\nI will give you some more of his memorable sayings on this subject. Many\na time I have heard them from his own lips: \"Always be as gentle as you\ncan, and remember that more flies are caught with a spoonful of honey than\nwith a hundred barrels of vinegar. If we _must_ err in one direction or\nthe other, let it be in that of gentleness. No sauce was ever spoilt by\ntoo much sugar. The human mind is so constituted that it rebels against\nharshness, but becomes perfectly tractable under gentle treatment. A mild\nword cools the heat of anger, as water extinguishes fire. There is no soil\nso ungrateful as not to bear fruit when a kindly hand cultivates it. To\ntell our neighbour wholesome truths tenderly is to throw red roses rather\nthan red-hot coals in his face. How could we be angry with any one who\npelted us with pearls or deluged us with rose water! There is nothing more\nbitter than a green walnut, but when preserved in sugar there is nothing\nsweeter or more digestible. Reproof is by nature harsh and biting, but\nconfectioned in sweetness and warmed through and through in the fire of\ncharity, it becomes salutary, pleasant, and even delightful. _The just\nwill correct me with mercy, and the oil of the flatterer shall not anoint\nmy head_.[5] _Better are the wounds of a friend than the kisses of the\nhypocrite_;[6] if the sharpness of the friend's tongue pierce me it is only\nas the lancet of the surgeon, which probes the abscess and lacerates in\norder to heal.\"\n\n\"But (I replied) truth is always truth in whatever language it may be\ncouched, and in whatever sense it may be taken.\" In support of this\nassertion I quoted the words spoken by St. Paul to Timothy:\n\n_Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season, reprove, entreat,\nrebuke in all patience and doctrine; but, according to their own desires,\nthey will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and will,\nindeed, turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned into\nfables._[7]\n\nOur Blessed Father replied: \"The whole force of that apostolic lesson lies\nin the phrase: _In all patience and doctrine_. Doctrine signifies truth,\nand this truth must be spoken with patience. When I use the word patience,\nI am trying to put before you an attitude of mind which is not one of\nconfident expectation, that truth will always meet with a hearty welcome,\nand even some degree of acclamation; but an attitude of mind which is on\nthe contrary prepared to meet with repulse, reprobation, rejection.\n\n\"Surely, seeing that the Son of God was set for a sign of contradiction, we\ncannot be surprised if His doctrine, which is the truth, is marked with the\nsame seal! Surprised! Nay, of necessity it must be so.\n\n\"Consider the many false constructions and murmurings to which the sacred\ntruths preached by our Saviour during His life on earth were exposed!\n\n\"Was not this one of the reproaches addressed by Him to the Jews: _If I say\nthe truth you believe me not._\n\n\"Was not our Lord Himself looked upon as an impostor, a seditious person,\na blasphemer, one possessed by the devil? Did they not even take up stones\nto cast at him? Yet, He cursed not those who cursed Him; but repaid their\nmaledictions with blessings, possessing His soul in patience.\"\n\nBlessed Francis wrote to me on this same subject a letter, which has since\nbeen printed among his works, in which he expressed himself as follows:\n\n\"Everyone who wishes to instruct others in the way of holiness must be\nprepared to bear with their injustice and unreasonableness, and to be\nrewarded with ingratitude. Oh! how happy will you be when men slander you,\nand say all manner of evil of you, hating the truth which you offer them.\nRejoice with much joy, for so much the greater is your reward in Heaven. It\nis a royal thing to be calumniated for having done well, and to be stoned\nin a good cause.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Gal. vi. 1.]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 7.]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm lxxxix. 10]\n[Footnote 4: St. Luke x. 34.]\n[Footnote 5: Psalm cxl. 5.]\n[Footnote 6: Prov. xxvii. 6.]\n[Footnote 7: Tim. iv. 2, 4.]\n\n\nUPON FINDING EXCUSES FOR THE FAULTS OF OUR FELLOW-MEN.\n\nI was one day complaining to him of certain small land-owners, who having\nnothing but their gentle birth to boast of, and being as poor as Job, yet\nset up as great noblemen, and even as princes, boasting of their high\nbirth, of their genealogy, and of the glorious deeds of their ancestors. I\nquoted the saying of the wise man, that he hated, among other things, with\na perfect hatred the poor proud man, adding that I entirely agreed with\nhim.\n\nTo boast in the multitude of our riches is natural, but to be vain in our\npoverty is beyond understanding.\n\nHe answered me thus: \"What would you have? Do you want these poor people to\nbe doubly poor, like sick physicians, who, the more they know about their\ndisease the more disconsolate they are? At all events, if they are rich in\nhonours they will think the less of their poverty, and will behave perhaps\nlike that young Athenian, who in his madness considered himself the richest\nperson in his neighbourhood, and being cured of his mental weakness through\nthe kind intervention of his friends, had them arraigned before the judges,\nand condemned to give him back his pleasant illusion. What would you have,\nI repeat? It is in the very nature of nobility to meet the rebuffs of\nfortune with a cheerful courage; like the palm-tree which lifts itself up\nunder its burden. Would to God they had no greater failing than this! It is\nagainst that wretched and detestable habit of fighting duels that we ought\nto raise our voice.\" Saying this, he gave a profound sigh.\n\nA certain lady had been guilty of a most serious fault, committed, indeed,\nthrough mere weakness of character, but none the less scandalous in the\nextreme. Our Blessed Father, being informed of what had happened, and\nhaving every kind of vehement invective against the unfortunate person\npoured into his ears, only said: \"Human misery! human misery!\" And again,\n\"Ah! how we are encompassed with infirmity! What can we do of ourselves,\nbut fail? We should, perhaps, do worse than this if God did not hold us by\nthe right hand, and guide us to His will.\" At last, weary of fencing thus,\nhe faced the battle, and the comments on this unhappy fall becoming ever\nsharper and more emphatic, exclaimed: \"Oh! happy fault, of what great good\nwill it not be the cause![1] This lady's soul would have perished with many\nothers had she not lost herself. Her loss will be her gain, and the gain of\nmany others.\"\n\nSome of those who heard this prediction merely shrugged their shoulders.\nNevertheless, it was verified. The sinning soul returned to give glory to\nGod, and the community which she had scandalized was greatly edified by her\nconversion and subsequent good example.\n\nThis story reminds me of the words used by the Church in one of her\noffices. Words in which she calls the sin of Adam thrice happy, since\nbecause of it the Redeemer came down to our earth--a fortunate malady,\nsince it brought us the visit of so great a Physician.\n\n\"Even sins,\" says our Blessed Father, in one of his letters, \"work together\nfor good to those who truly repent of them.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Office for Holy Saturday.]\n\n\nUPON NOT JUDGING OTHERS.\n\nMen see the exterior; God alone sees the heart, and knows the inmost\nthoughts of all. Our Blessed Father used to say that the soul of our\nneighbour was that tree of the knowledge of good and evil which we are\nforbidden to touch under pain of severe chastisement; because God has\nreserved to Himself the judgment of each individual soul. _Who art thou_,\nsays Sacred Scripture, _who judgest thy brother?_ Knowest thou that\n_wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself_?[1]\n\nWho has given thee the hardihood to take upon thyself the office of Him\nWho has received from the Eternal Father all judgment? That is to say, all\npower of judging in Heaven and on earth? He observed that a want of balance\nof mind, very common among men, leads them to judge of what they do not\nknow, and not to judge of what they do know. They, as St. Jude declares,\n_blaspheme in what they know not, and corrupt themselves in what\nthey know_.[2] They are blind to what passes in their own homes, but\npreternaturally clear-sighted to all happening in the houses of others.\n\nNow what is this that a man knows not at all? Surely, the heart; the secret\nthoughts of his neighbour. And yet how eager is he to dip the fingers of\nhis curiosity in this covered dish reserved for the Great Master. And what\nis it that a man knows best of all, or at least ought to know? Surely,\nhis own heart; his own secret thoughts. Nevertheless, he fears to enter\ninto himself, and to stand in his own presence as a criminal before his\njudge. He dreads above aught besides the implacable tribunal of his own\nconscience, itself alone more surely convicting than a thousand witnesses.\n\nOur Blessed Father pictures very vividly this kind of injustice in his\nPhilothea, where he says: \"It is equally necessary in order to escape being\njudged that we both judge ourselves, and that we refrain from judging\nothers. Our Lord forbids the latter[3] and His Apostle commands the former.\nIf we would judge ourselves we should not be judged.[4] Our way is the very\nreverse. What is forbidden to us we are continually doing. Judging our\nneighbour on all possible occasions, and what is commanded us, namely, to\njudge ourselves, that the last thing we think of.\"[5]\n\n\"A certain woman\" (Blessed Francis continued with a smile), \"all her life\nlong had on principle done exactly the contrary to what her husband wanted\nher to do. In the end she fell into a river and was drowned. Her husband\ntried to recover the body, but was found fault with for going up the\nstream, since she must, necessarily, float down with the current. 'And\ndo you really imagine,' he exclaimed, 'that even her dead body could do\nanything else but contradict me?' We are, most of us, very like that\nwoman,\" said the Saint. \"Yet it is written: _Judge not, and you shall not\nbe judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned._\"[6]\n\nHow, then, you will say, is it lawful to have judges and courts of justice,\nsince man may not judge our neighbour? I answer this objection in Blessed\nFrancis' own words:\n\n\"But may we, then, under no circumstances judge our neighbour? Under no\ncircumstances whatever--for in a court of justice it is God, Philothea, not\nman, who judges and pronounces sentence. It is true that He makes use of\nthe voice of the magistrate, but only to render His own sentence audible\nto us. Earthly judges are His spokesmen and interpreters, nor ought they\nto decide anything but as they have learnt from Him of Whom they are\nthe oracles. It is when they do otherwise, and follow the lead of their\nown passions, that they, and not God, judge, and that consequently they\nthemselves will be judged. In fact, it is forbidden to men, _as_ men, to\njudge others.[7] This is why Scripture gives the name of gods[8] to judges,\nbecause when judging they hold the place of God, and Moses for that reason\nis called the god of Pharaoh.\"[9]\n\nYou ask if we are forbidden to entertain doubts about our neighbour when\nfounded on good and strong reasons. I answer we are not so forbidden,\nbecause to suspend judgment is not to judge, but only to take a step\ntowards it. We must, nevertheless, beware of being thereby hurried on\nto form a hasty judgment, for that is the rock on which so many make\nshipwreck; that is the flare of the torch in which so many thoughtless\nmoths singe their tiny wings.\n\nIn order that we may avoid this danger he gives us an excellent maxim, one\nwhich is not only useful, but necessary to us. It is that, however many\naspects an action may have, the one we should dwell upon should be that\nwhich is the best.\n\nIf it is impossible to excuse an action, we can at least modify our blame\nof it by excusing the intention, or we may lay the blame on the violence\nof the temptation, or impute it to ignorance, or to the being taken by\nsurprise, or to human weakness, so as at least to try to lessen the scandal\nof it. If you are told that by doing this you are blessing the unrighteous\nand seeking excuses for sin, you may reply that without either praising or\nexcusing his sin you can be merciful to the sinner.\n\nYou may add that judgment without mercy will be the lot of those who have\nno pity for the misfortunes or the infirmities of their brother, and who\nin him despise their own flesh. We all are brethren, all of one flesh.\nIn fact, as says our Blessed Father, those who look well after their own\nconsciences rarely fall into the sin of rash judgment. To judge rashly is\nproper to slothful souls, which, because they never busy themselves with\ntheir own concerns, have leisure to devote their energies to finding fault\nwith others.\n\nAn ancient writer expresses this well. Men who are curious in their\ninquiries into the lives of others are mostly careless about correcting\ntheir own faults. The virtuous man is like the sky, of which the stars are,\nas it were, the eyes turned in upon itself.\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. ii. 1.]\n[Footnote 2: St. Jude 10.]\n[Footnote 3: St. Matt. vii. 1.]\n[Footnote 4: 1 Cor. xi. 31.]\n[Footnote 5: _The Devout Life_, Part iii. 28.]\n[Footnote 6: St. Luke vi. 37.]\n[Footnote 7: _The Devout Life_, Part iii. 28.]\n[Footnote 8: Psalm lxxxi. 1, 6.]\n[Footnote 9: Exod. vii. 1.]\n\n\nUPON JUDGING OURSELVES.\n\n\"We do,\" as Blessed Francis has said, \"exactly the reverse of what the\nGospel bids us do. The Gospel commands us to judge ourselves severely\nand exactly, while it forbids us to judge our brethren. If we did judge\nourselves, we should not be judged by God, because, forestalling His\njudgment and confessing our faults, we should escape His condemnation. On\nthe other hand, who are we that we should judge our brethren, the servants\nof another? To their own Master they rise or fall.\n\n\"Let us not judge before the time until the Lord shall reveal what is\nhidden in darkness and pierce the wall of the temple to show what passes\ntherein. Man judges by appearances only. God alone sees the heart; and it\nis by that which is within that true judgment is made of that which is\nwithout.\n\n\"So rash are we in our judgments that we as often as not seize the\nfirebrand by the burning end; that is, we condemn ourselves while in the\nvery act of rebuking others. The reproach of the Gospel, _Physician, heal\nthyself_,[1] we may take to ourselves. So also that other, _Why seest thou\nthe mote that is in thy brother's eye, and seest not the beam that is in\nthy own eye_?[2] To notice which way we are going is the first condition\nof our walking in the right way, according to the words of David, _I have\nthought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies_.[3] So, on\nthe other hand, we go astray if we do not pay attention to the path we are\nfollowing. Judge not others and you will not be judged; judge yourselves,\nand God will have mercy on you.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: St. Luke iv. 23]\n[Footnote 2: St. Matt. vii. 3]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm cxviii. 59]\n\n\nUPON SLANDER AND DETRACTION.\n\nThere is a difference between uttering a falsehood and making a\nmistake--for to lie is to say what one knows or believes to be false; but\nto mistake is to say, indeed, what is false, but what one nevertheless\nthinks in good faith to be true. Similarly, there is a great difference\nbetween slandering our neighbour and recounting his evil deeds. The wrong\ndoing of our neighbour may be spoken of either with a good or with a bad\nintention. The intention is good when the faults of our neighbour are\nreported to one who can remedy them, or whose business it is to correct the\nwrong-doer, whether for the public good or for the sinner's own.\n\nAgain, there is no harm in speaking among friends of harm done, provided it\nbe from friendliness, benevolence, or compassion; and this more especially\nwhen the fault is public and notorious.\n\nWe slander our neighbour, then, only when, whether true or false, we\nrecount his misdeeds with intention to harm him, or out of hatred, envy,\nanger, contempt, and from a wish to take away his fair name.\n\nWe slander our neighbour when we make known his faults, though neither\nobliged so to do nor having in view his good nor the good of others. The\nsin of slander is mortal or venial according to the measure of the wrong we\nmay thereby have done to our neighbour.\n\nOur Blessed Father used to say that to do away with slander would be to\ndo away with most of the sins of mankind. He was right, for of sins of\nthought, word, and deed, the most frequent and often the most hurtful in\ntheir effects are those committed with the tongue. And this for several\nreasons.\n\nFirstly, sins of thought are only hurtful to him who commits them. They are\nneither occasion for scandal, nor do they annoy anyone, nor give anyone bad\nexample. God alone knows them, and it is He alone who is offended by them.\nThen, too, a return to God by loving repentance effaces them in a moment,\nand heals the wound which they have inflicted on the heart.\n\nSins of the tongue, on the other hand, are not so readily got rid of. A\nharmful word can only be recalled by retracting it, and even then the minds\nof our hearers mostly remain infected with the poison we poured in through\nthe ears; and this, in spite of our humbling ourselves to recall what we\nhave said.\n\nSecondly, sins of deed, when they are publicly known, are followed by\npunishment. This renders them rarer, because fear of the penalty acts as a\ncurb on even the basest of mankind.\n\nBut slander (except the calumny be of the most atrocious and aggravated\nkind) is not, generally speaking, such as comes before the eye of the law.\nOn the contrary, if in the guise of bantering it is ingenious and subtle it\npasses current for gallantry and wit.\n\nThis is why so many people fall into this evil; for, says an ancient\nwriter: \"Impunity is a dainty allurement to sin.\"\n\nThirdly, slandering finds encouragement in the very small amount of\nrestitution and reparation made for this fault. Indeed, in my opinion,\nthose who direct souls in the tribunal of penance are a little too\nindulgent, not to say lax, in this matter.\n\nIf anyone has inflicted a bodily injury on another see how severely\nthe justice of the law punishes the outrage. In olden days the law of\nretaliation demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If a man\nstole the goods of another he was condemned to the galleys, or even to\nthe gibbet. But in the case of slander, unless, as I have said, it be of\nthe most highly aggravated kind, there is scarcely a thought of making\nreparation, even by a courteous apology. Yet those who sit in high places\nvalue their reputation much more than riches, or life itself, seeing that\namong all natural blessings, honour undoubtedly holds the first rank.\nSince, then, we cannot gain admittance into heaven without having restored\nthat which belongs to another, let the slanderer consider how he can\npossibly hope for an entrance there unless he re-establishes his\nneighbour's reputation, which he tried to destroy by detraction.\n\n\nUPON HASTY JUDGMENTS.\n\nOur Blessed Father insisted most earnestly upon the difference which exists\nbetween a vice and sin, reproving those who spoke of a person who had\ncommitted one or more grave faults as vicious.\n\n\"Virtuous habits,\" he would say, \"not being destroyed by one act contrary\nto them, a man cannot be branded as intemperate because he has once been\nguilty of intemperance.\"\n\nThus when he heard anyone condemned as bad because he had committed a bad\nact, he took pains with his accustomed gentleness to modify the charge by\nmaking a distinction between _vice_ and _sin_, the former being a habit,\nthe latter an isolated act.\n\n\"Vice,\" he said, \"is a habit, sin, the outcome of that habit; and just\nas one swallow does not make a summer, so one act of sin does not make a\nperson vicious. That is to say, it does not render him a sinner in the\nsense of being steeped in and wholly given over to the dominion of the\nparticular vice, the act of which he has committed once, or even more than\nonce.\"\n\nBeing asked whether in conformity with this principle it would not be\nequally wrong to praise anyone for a single act of virtue, as if that\nvirtue were his or her constant habit, he replied: \"You must remember that\nwe are forbidden to judge our neighbour in the matter of the evil which he\nmay appear to do, but not in the good. On the contrary, we may and should\nsuppose that he has the good habit from which the act seen by us naturally\nsprings. Nor can we err in such a supposition, since the very perfection\nof charity consists in its excess. But when we judge evil of others, our\ntongue is like the lancet in the surgeon's hand, and you know how careful\nhe must be not to pierce an artery in opening a vein. We must only judge\nfrom what we see. We may say that a man has blasphemed and sworn, if we\nhave heard him do so; but we may not in that account alone say that he is\na blasphemer; that is, that he has contracted the habit of blasphemy,\nsubstituting the vice for the sin.\"\n\nThe objection was raised that it would follow that we must never attempt to\njudge whether a person is or is not in a state of grace, however holy his\nlife may seem to be; since no one knows whether he is worthy of love or of\nhate, and least of all we, who know our neighbour far less intimately than\nhe knows himself. To this he replied, that if faith, according to St.\nJames, is known by its works,[1] much more is charity so known, since it is\na more active virtue, its works being the sparks from seeing which we learn\nthat its fire is still burning somewhere. And though when we saw a sin,\nwhich is undoubtedly mortal, being committed, we might have said that the\nsinner was no longer in a state of grace, how do we know that a moment\nafterwards God may not have touched his heart, and that he may not have\nbeen converted from his evil ways by an act of contrition? This is why we\nmust always fear to judge evil of others, but as regards judging well, we\nare free to do so as much as we please. Charity grows more and more by\nhoping all good of its neighbour, by thinking no evil, by rejoicing in\ntruth and goodness, but not in iniquity.\n\n[Footnote 1: St. James ii. 17, 26.]\n\n\nUPON RIDICULING ONE'S NEIGHBOUR.\n\nWhen in company he heard anyone being turned into ridicule, he always\nshowed by his countenance that the conversation displeased him, and would\ntry to turn the subject by introducing some other. When unsuccessful in\nthis he would give the signal to cease, as is done in tournaments when the\ncombatants are becoming too heated, and thus put a stop to the combat,\ncrying: \"This is too much! This is trampling too violently on the good man!\nThis is altogether going beyond bounds! Who gives us the right to amuse\nourselves thus at the expense of another? How should we like to be talked\nabout like this, and to have our little weaknesses brought out, just to\namuse anybody who may chance to hear? To put up with our neighbour and his\nimperfections is a great perfection, but it is a great imperfection to\nlaugh at him and his short-comings.\"\n\nHe expresses himself to Philothea on the same subject as follows:\n\n\"A tendency to ridicule and mock at others is one of the worst possible\nconditions of mind. God hates this vice exceedingly, as He has often shown\nby the strange punishments which have awaited it. Nothing is so contrary\nto charity, and still more so to devotion, as contempt and disparagement\nof our neighbour. Now derision and ridicule are always simply contempt, so\nthat the learned are justified in saying that to mock at our neighbour is\nthe worst kind of injury that we can by mere word inflict on him; because\nall other words of disparagement are compatible with some degree of esteem\nfor the person injured, but ridicule is essentially the expression of\ncontempt and disdain.\"[1]\n\nNow Holy Scripture pronounces woe upon those who despise others, and\nthreatens them with being despised themselves. God always takes the part\nof the despised against the despiser. Our Lord says: _He who despises you,\ndespises Me_;[2] and speaking of little children, _Take heed that you\ndespise not one of them_.[3] And Almighty God in comforting Moses for an\ninsult offered to the great law-giver by the Children of Israel, says:\n_They have not despised you, but Me_.\n\nOn one occasion when Blessed Francis was present some young lady in the\ncompany was ridiculing another who was conspicuously ill-favoured. Defects\nborn with her were what were being laughed over. He gently reminded the\nspeaker that it is God Who has made us and not we ourselves and that all\nHis works are perfect. But the latter assertion only making her jeer the\nmore, he ended by saying: \"Believe me, I know for a fact her soul is more\nupright, more beautiful, and better formed than you can possibly have any\nconception of.\" This silenced her and sent her away abashed.\n\nOn another occasion he heard some people laughing at a poor hump-back who\nwas absent at the time. Our Blessed Father instantly took up his defence,\nquoting again those words of Scripture: _The works of God are perfect_.\n\"What!\" exclaimed one of the company. \"Perfect! and yet deformed!\" Blessed\nFrancis replied pleasantly: \"And do you really think that there cannot be\nperfect hunchbacks, just as much as others are perfect because gracefully\nmade and straight as a dart!\" In fine, when they tried to make him explain\nwhat perfection he meant, whether outward or inward, he said: \"Enough. What\nI tell you is true; let us talk of something better.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: _The Devout Life_, Part iii. c. 27.]\n[Footnote 2: Luke x. 16.]\n[Footnote 3: Matt. xviii. 10.]\n\n\nUPON CONTRADICTING OTHERS.\n\nThere is no kind of disposition more displeasing to men than one which is\nobstinate and contradictory. People of this sort are pests of conversation,\nfirebrands in social intercourse, sowers of discord. Like hedgehogs and\nhorse-chestnuts, they have prickles all over them, and cannot be handled.\nOn the other hand, a gentle, pliable, condescending disposition, which is\nready to give way to others, is a living charm. It is like the honeycomb\nwhich attracts every sort of fly; it becomes everybody's master, because it\nmakes itself everybody's servant; being all things to all men, it wins them\nall.\n\nPeople of a peevish, morose disposition soon find themselves left alone\nin a mighty solitude; they are avoided like thistles which prick whoever\ntouches them. Our Blessed Father always spoke with the highest praise of\nthe dictum of St. Louis, that we should never speak evil of anyone, unless\nwhen by our silence we should seem to hold with him in his wrong-doing, and\nso give scandal to others.\n\nThe holy King did not inculcate this from motives of worldly prudence,\nwhich he detested; nor was he following the maxim of that pagan Emperor,\nwho declared that no one, in quitting the presence of his Sovereign, should\never be suffered to go away dissatisfied, a saying dictated by cunning and\nwith the object of teaching his fellow-potentates to win men by fair words.\nNo, St. Louis was travelling by a very different road, and spoke in a truly\nChristian spirit, desiring only to hinder disputes and contentions, and to\nfollow the advice of St. Paul, who wishes that we should _avoid contentions\nand strivings_.[1] But if, when it is in our power to do so, we do not\nopenly condemn the fault or error of another, will not that be a sort of\nconnivance at, and consequently a participation in, the wrong-doing? Our\nBlessed Father answers that difficulty thus: \"When it is a question of\ncontradicting another, and of setting your opinion against his, it must\nbe done with the utmost gentleness and tact, and without any desire to\nwound the feelings of the other; for nothing is gained by taking things\nill-temperedly.\"\n\nIf you irritate a horse by teasing him he will, if he has any mettle, take\nthe bit between his teeth and carry you just where he pleases. But when you\nslacken the rein he stops and becomes tractable.\n\nSo it is with the mind of another; if you force it to assent, you humble\nit; if you humble it, you irritate it; if you irritate it, you utterly lose\nhold of it. The mind may be persuaded; it cannot be constrained; to force\nit to believe is to force it from all belief. _Is mildness come upon us_?\nsays David; _then are we corrected_.[2] The Spirit of God, gentle and\nsweet, is in the soft refreshing zephyrs, not in the whirlwind, nor in\nthe tempest. It is God's enemy, the devil, who is called a spirit of\ncontradiction; and such human beings as imitate him share his title.\n\n[Footnote 1: Titus iii. 9.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm lxxxix. 10.]\n\n\nUPON LOVING OUR ENEMIES.\n\nSome one having complained to Blessed Francis of the difficulty he found\nin obeying the christian precept commanding us to love our enemies, he\nreplied: \"As for me, I know not how my heart is made, or how it happens\nthat God seems to have been pleased to give me lately altogether a new\none. Certain it is that I not only find no difficulty in practising this\nprecept; but I take such pleasure in doing it, and experience so peculiar\nand delightful a sweetness in it, that if God had forbidden me to love my\nenemies I should have had great difficulty in obeying Him.\n\n\"It seems to me that the very contradiction and opposition we meet with\nfrom our fellow-men, ought to rouse our spirit to love them more, for they\nserve as a whetstone to sharpen our virtue.\n\n\"Aloes make honey seem sweeter; and wine has a more delicious flavour if we\ndrink it after having eaten bitter almonds. It is true that mostly a little\nconflict and struggle goes on in our minds: but in the end it will surely\ncome to pass with us what the Psalmist commands when he says: _Be angry and\nsin not._[1]\n\n\"What! Shall we not bear with those whom God Himself bears with? We who\nhave ever before our eyes the great example of Jesus Christ on the Cross\npraying for His enemies. And then, too, our enemies have not crucified us;\nthey have not persecuted us, even to death; we have not yet resisted unto\nblood.\n\n\"Again, who would not love this dear enemy for whom Jesus Christ prayed?\nFor whom He died? For, mark it well, He prayed not only for those who\ncrucified Him, but also for those who persecute us, and Him in us. As He\ntestified to Saul when He cried out to Him: _Why persecutest thou Me_?[2]\nThat is to say, Me in My members.\n\n\"We are not, indeed, obliged to love the vices of our enemy; his hatred of\ngood, the enmity which he bears us; for all these things are displeasing to\nGod, Whom they offend; but we must separate the sin from the sinner, the\nprecious from the vile, if we desire to be like our Saviour.\"\n\nHe did not admit the maxim of the world: \"We must not trust a reconciled\nenemy.\" In his opinion the exact contrary of this dictum is more in\naccordance with truth.\n\nHe used to say that \"fallings out\" in the case of friends only serve\nto draw the bonds of friendship closer, just as the smith makes use of\nwater to increase the heat of his fire. He added, as a well-known fact in\nsurgery, that the callosity which forms over a fractured bone is so dense\nthat the limb will never break again at that particular place.\n\nIndeed, when a reconciliation has taken place between two persons hitherto\nat variance, it is almost certain that each will set to work, perhaps even\nunconsciously, to make the newly-cemented friendship firmer. The offender\nby avoiding further offence, and atoning as far as possible for what is\npast, and the offended person by endeavouring in a truly generous spirit to\nbury that past in oblivion.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm iv. 5.]\n[Footnote 2: Acts ix. 4.]\n\n\nUPON FORGIVING OUR ENEMIES.\n\nOn the subject of the forgiveness of enemies, Blessed Francis told me of\nan incident which occurred at Padua (possibly at the time that he was\nstudying there). It appears that certain of the students at that university\nhad a bad habit of prowling about the streets at night, pistol in hand,\nchallenging passers-by with the cry of \"Who goes there?\" and firing if they\ndid not receive a humble and civil answer.\n\nOne of the gang having one night challenged a fellow-student and received\nno answer, fired, and took such good aim that the poor young man fell dead\non the pavement. Horrified and amazed at the fatal result of his mad prank,\nthe student fled, hoping to hide from justice.\n\nThe first open door that he saw was that of the dwelling of a good widow,\nwhose son was his friend and fellow-student. Hastily entering, he implored\nher to hide him in some safe place, confessing what he had done, and that,\nshould he be taken, all was over with him.\n\nThe good woman shut him into a little room, secret and safe, and there\nleft him. Not many minutes had elapsed before a melancholy procession\napproached, and the dead body of her son was brought into the house, the\nbearers telling the distracted mother in what manner he had been killed,\nand after a little questioning, giving the name of the youth who had shot\nher child.\n\nWeeping and broken-hearted, she hurried to the place where she had hidden\nthe wretched homicide, and it was from her lips that he learned who it was\nthat he had deprived of life.\n\nIn an agony of shame and grief, tearing his hair, and calling upon death to\nstrike him down, too, he threw himself on his knees before the poor mother;\nnot, indeed, to ask her pardon, but to entreat her to give him up to\njustice, wishing to expiate publicly a crime so barbarous.\n\nThe widow, a most devout and merciful woman, was deeply touched by the\nyouth's repentance, and saw clearly that it was thoughtlessness and not\nmalicious intent that had been the moving spring of the deed. She then\nassured him that, provided he would ask pardon of God and change his way\nof life, she would keep her promise and help him to escape. This she did,\nand by so doing imitated the gentle kindness of the prophet who spared the\nlives of the Syrian soldiers who had come to murder him, he having them in\nhis power in the midst of Samaria.[1]\n\nSo pleasing to God was this poor widow's clemency and forgiveness that He\npermitted the soul of her murdered son to appear to her, revealing to\nher that her pardon, granted so readily and sweetly to the man who had\nunintentionally been his murderer, had obtained for his soul deliverance\nfrom Purgatory, in which place he would otherwise have been long detained.\n\nHow blessed are the merciful! They shall obtain mercy both for themselves\nand for others!\n\n[Footnote 1: 4 Reg. vi. 12. 23]\n\n\nUPON THE VIRTUE OF CONDESCENSION.\n\nI will give you our Blessed Father's views on this subject, first reminding\nyou how unfailingly patient he was with the humours of others, how gentle\nand forbearing at all times towards his neighbour, and how perseveringly he\ninculcated the practice of this virtue, not only upon the Daughters of the\nVisitation, but upon all his spiritual children.\n\nHe often said to me: \"Oh, how much better it would be to accommodate\nourselves to others rather than to want to bend every one to our own ways\nand opinions! The human mind is like pulp, which takes readily any colour\nmixed with it. The great thing is to take care that it be not like the\nchameleon, which, one after the other, takes every colour except white.\nCondescension, if unaccompanied by frankness and purity, is dangerous, and\nmuch to be avoided.\n\n\"It is right to take compassion upon sinners, but it must be with the\nintention of extricating them from the mire, not of slothfully leaving them\nto rot and perish in it. It is a perverted sort of mercy to look at our\nneighbour, sunk in the misery of sin, and not venture to extend to him the\nhelping hand of a gentle but out-spoken remonstrance. We must condescend in\neverything, but only up to the altar steps; that is to say, not beyond the\npoint at which condescension would be a sin, and undeserving of its name.\nI do not say that we must at every instant reprove the sinner. Charitable\nprudence demands that we rather wait the moment when he is capable of\nassimilating the remedies suitable for his malady, and till God shall _give\nto his hearing joy and gladness, and the bones that have been humbled shall\nrejoice_.[1] Turbulent zeal, zeal that is neither moderate nor wise, pulls\ndown in place of building up. There are some who do no good at all, because\nthey wish to do things too well, and who spoil everything they try to\nmend. We must make haste slowly, as the ancient proverb says. He who walks\nhurriedly is apt to fall. We must be prudent both in reproving others and\nin condescending to them. _The King's honour loveth judgment._\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm l. 10.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm xcviii. 4.]\n\n\nHOW BLESSED FRANCIS ADAPTED HIMSELF TO TIMES, PLACES, AND CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\nWhen the Chablais was restored to the Duke of Savoy, Bishop de Granier,\nthe predecessor of our Holy Founder, eager to further the design of His\nHighness to bring back into the bosom of the Roman Church the population\nthat had been led astray, sent to it a number of labourers to gather in\nthe harvest. Among these, one of the first to be chosen was our Saint,\nat that time Provost of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in Geneva, and\nconsequently next in dignity to the Bishop.\n\nWith him were sent some Canons, Parish Priests, and others. Several members\nof various Religious Orders also presented themselves, eager to be employed\nin this onerous, if honourable, mission.[1]\n\nIt would be impossible to give a just idea of the labours of these\nmissionaries, or of the obstacles which they encountered at the outset of\ntheir holy enterprise. The spirit of Blessed Francis was, however, most\nflexible and accommodating, and greatly tended to further the work of the\npeople's conversion.\n\nHe was like the manna which assimilated itself to the palate of whoever\ntasted it: he made himself all things to all men that he might gain all for\nJesus Christ.\n\nIn his ordinary mode of conversation and in his dress, which was mean and\ncommon, he produced a much less jarring effect upon the minds and eyes of\nthese people than did the members of Religious Orders with their various\nhabits and diversities.\n\nHe, as well as the secular Priests who worked under him, sometimes even\ncondescended so far as to wear the short cloaks and high boots usual in the\ncountry, so as more easily to gain access to private houses, and not to\noffend the eyes of the people by the sight of the cassock, which they were\nunaccustomed to. To this pious stratagem the members of Religious Orders\nwere unwilling to have recourse, their distinctive habit being, in their\nopinion, almost essential to their profession, or at least so fitting that\nit might never lawfully be laid aside.\n\nOur Blessed Father went on quite a different tack, and caught more flies\nwith a spoonful of the honey which he was so much in the habit of using,\nthan did all the others with their harsher methods.\n\nEverything about him, whether external or internal, breathed the spirit of\nconciliation; all his words, gestures, and ways were those of kindliness.\n\nSome wished to make themselves feared; but he desired only to be loved, and\nto enter men's hearts through the doorway of affection. On this account,\nwhether he spoke in public or in private, he was always more attentively\nlistened to than anyone else.\n\nHowever much the Protestants might attack him and purposely provoke him,\nhe, on his side, ever dealt with them in a spirit absolutely free from\ncontention, abstaining from anything likely to give offence, having often\non his lips those beautiful words of the Apostle: _If any man seem to be\ncontentious, we have no such custom, nor the Church of God._[2]\n\nTo come now to the particulars which I promised you, let me tell you how\nour Blessed Father, having read in St. Augustine's works and in those of\nother ancient Fathers that in the early centuries Christian Priests, in\naddressing heretics and schismatics, did not hesitate to call them their\nbrethren, inferred that he might quite lawfully follow so great an example.\n\nBy doing so he conciliated these people to such an extent that they flocked\nto hear him, and were charmed with the sweetness and gentleness of his\ndiscourses, the outcome of his overflowing kindliness of heart. This mode\nof expression was, however, so offensive to preachers who were in the\nhabit of speaking of heretics as rebels against the light, uncircumcised\nof heart, etc., that they called a meeting, in which they resolved to\nremonstrate with the Provost (Blessed Francis), and to represent to\nhim that, though he meant well, he was in reality ruining the cause of\nCatholics.\n\nThey insisted that he was flattering the pride so inherent in heresy, that\nhe was lulling the people to sleep in their errors by sewing pillows to\ntheir elbows; that it was better to correct them in mercy and justice than\nto pour on their heads the oil of wheedling, as they called the kindliness\nof our Saint.\n\nHe received their remonstrances pleasantly, and even respectfully, without\ndefending himself in any way, but, on the contrary, appearing to yield\nto their zeal, albeit somewhat sadly and unwillingly. Finding, however,\nthat he did not begin to act upon their suggestions, as they had promised\nthemselves he would do, some of them sent a written appeal to the Bishop,\nrepresenting to him that he would have to recall the Provost and his\ncompanion missioners, who with their unwise and affected levity ruined in\none day more souls than they themselves could convert in a month.\n\nThey went on to compare the labour of the missioners to Penelope's web: to\nsay that our Saint preached more like a Huguenot pastor than a Catholic\nPriest, and, in fine, that he went so far as to call the heretics his\nbrethren, a thing so scandalous that the Protestants had already conceived\ngreat hope of bringing him over to their own party.\n\nThe good Bishop, however, better informed as to the real state of the case,\npaid little heed to this appeal, dictated by a bitter zeal, rather than by\nthe true science of the Saints. He merely exhorted each one to persevere,\nand to remember that every spirit should praise the Lord according to the\ntalents committed to it by God.\n\nOur Blessed Father, being informed of these complaints made against him\nto his Bishop, would not defend himself, but commended his cause to the\njudgment of God, and, silently but hopefully, awaited the result. Nor was\nhis expectation disappointed, for experience soon showed that the too\nardent eagerness of these zealots was more likely to delay than to advance\nthe work.\n\nTo crown all this, the preachers who had objected to his method had ere\nlong themselves to be set aside as unfit.\n\nOn one occasion when I was talking with him and had turned the conversation\non this subject, he said to me: \"These good people looked through coloured\nspectacles. They saw all things of the same hue as their own glasses. My\npredecessor soon found out who were the real hindrances to the conversion\nof the Protestant Cantons.\"\n\nOn my asking him how he could in reason apply the term \"brethren\" to\npersons who certainly are not such, since no one can have God for his\nFather who has not the Catholic Church for his mother, and since,\ntherefore, those who are not in her bosom cannot be our brethren, he said\nto me: \"Ah! but I never call them brethren without adding the epithet\n_erring_, a word which marks the distinction with sufficient clearness.\n\n\"Besides, they are in fact our brethren by Baptism, which they duly\nadminister and receive. Moreover, they are our brethren according to the\nflesh, for are we not all children of Adam? Then, too, we are fellow\ncitizens, and subjects of the same earthly prince. Is not that enough to\nconstitute a kind of fraternity between us?\n\n\"Lastly, I look upon them as children of the Church, at least in\ndisposition, since they are willing to be instructed; and as my brethren\nin hope, since they also are called to inherit eternal life. In the early\ndays of the Church it was customary to give the title of brethren to\ncatechumens, even before their baptism.\"\n\nThese reasons satisfied me and made me esteem highly the ingenious method\nsuggested to him by the Holy Spirit to render these unruly and untaught\nsouls docile and tractable.\n\n[Footnote 1: M. Camus must have been misinformed. St. Francis had but few\nfellow-workers in the early years of his mission in the Chablais. [Ed.]]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Cor. xi. 16.]\n\n\nUPON THE DEFERENCE DUE TO OUR INFERIORS AND DEPENDENTS.\n\nBlessed Francis not only taught, but practised deference and a certain\nobedience towards his inferiors; towards his flock, towards his fellow\ncitizens, and even towards his servants. He obeyed his body servant in what\nconcerned his rising, his going to bed, and his toilet, as if he himself\nhad been the valet and the other the master.\n\nWhen he sat up far into the night either to study or to write letters, he\nwould beg his servant to go to bed, for fear of tiring him by keeping him\nup. The man would grumble at his request, as if he were being taken for\na lazy, sleepy-headed fellow. Our Blessed Father patiently put up with\ngrumblings of the sort, but would complete what he had in hand as quickly\nas possible, so as not to keep the man waiting.\n\nOne summer morning Blessed Francis awoke very early, and, having some\nimportant matter on his mind, called this servant to bring him some\nnecessaries for his toilet. The man, however, was too sound asleep to be\nroused by his master's voice. The good Prelate therefore, on rising, looked\ninto the adjoining room, thinking that the man must have left it, but\nfinding him fast asleep, and fearing to do him harm by waking him suddenly,\ndressed without his assistance and betook himself to his prayers, studies,\nand writing. Later the servant awoke, and dressed, and, coming to his\nmaster's room, to his surprise found him deep in his studies. The man asked\nhim abruptly how he had managed without him. \"I fetched everything myself,\"\nreplied the holy Prelate. \"Am I not old enough and strong enough for that?\"\n\"Would it have been too much trouble to call me?\" said the man grumblingly.\n\"No, indeed, my child,\" said Blessed Francis, \"and I assure you that I did\ncall you several times; but at last, thinking that you must have gone out,\nI got up to see where you were, and, finding you sleeping profoundly, I had\nnot the heart to wake you.\" \"You have the heart, it seems, to turn me into\nridicule,\" retorted the man. \"Oh, no, my friend,\" said Francis. \"I was\nonly telling you what happened, without a thought of either blaming you or\nmaking fun of you. Come, I promise you that for the future I will never\nstop calling you till you awake.\"\n\n\nUPON THE WAY TO TREAT SERVANTS.\n\nHis opinion was that masters, as a rule, commit many grave faults with\nregard to their servants, by treating them with harshness and severity.\nSuch conduct is quite unworthy of christians, and, in them, worse even than\nthe behaviour of pagans in olden times to their slaves.\n\nHe himself never uttered an angry or threatening word to any one of his\ndomestics. When they committed a fault, he corrected them so mildly that\nthey were ready at once to make amends and to do better, out of love to\ntheir good master rather than from fear of him.\n\nOnce, when I was talking to him on this subject, I quoted the saying\nthat \"Familiarity breeds contempt, and contempt hatred.\" \"Yes,\" he\nsaid, \"improper familiarity, but never civil, cordial, kindly, virtuous\nfamiliarity; for as that proceeds from love, love engenders its like, and\ntrue love is never without esteem, nor, consequently, without respect for\nthe object loved, seeing that love is founded wholly on the estimation\nin which the thing or person beloved is held. You know the saying of the\nancient tyrant: _Let them hate me, provided that they fear me_. Speaking on\nthis subject, we may well reverse the motto and say: _Let them despise me,\nprovided only that they love me_. For if this contempt produces love, love\nafter a while will stifle contempt, and sooner or later will in its place\nput respect; since there is no one that one reverences more, or has a\ngreater fear of offending, than a person whom one loves in truth and\nsincerity of heart.\"\n\nWith regard to this, he told me a story, which he alludes to in his\nPhilothea. Blessed Elz\u00e9ar, Comte d'Arian, in Provence, was so exceedingly\ngentle in his treatment of his servants that they looked upon him as a\nperson positively deficient in understanding, and behaved in his presence\nwith the greatest incivility and insolence, knowing well his persevering\ntolerance of injuries and his boundless patience. His wife, the saintly\nDelphina, feeling more acutely than he the disrespectful conduct of their\nservants, complained of it to him, saying that the menials absolutely\nlaughed in his face. \"And if they do,\" he answered, \"why should I be put\nout by these little familiarities, pleasantries, and bursts of merriment,\nseeing that I am quite certain they do not hate me? They have not yet\nstruck me, spat in my face, or offered me any of those indignities which\nJesus Christ our Lord suffered at the hands of the high priest's servants,\nand not alone from those who scourged Him, derided Him, and crucified\nHim. Is it fitting that I, who glory in being the servant of Jesus Christ\ncrucified, should desire to be better treated than my Master? Does it\nbecome a member to complain of any hardship under a Head wearing no crown\nbut one of thorns? All that you tell me is but a mere jest compared with\nthe insults heaped upon our divine Lord. The contempt of my servants--if,\nindeed, they do despise me--is a splendid lesson, teaching me to despise\nmyself. How shall we practise humility if not on such occasions as these?\"\n\nOur Blessed Father went on to say: \"I have proposed this example rather for\nyour admiration than for your imitation, and that you may see of what means\nholy love makes use, in the hearts which are its own, in order to lead them\nto find rest in the very things which trouble those who are less devout.\nWhat I would say on the subject of servants is this; that, after all, they\nare our fellow-men and our humble brethren, whom charity obliges us to\nlove as ourselves. Come, then, let us love them as ourselves, these dear\nyoke-fellows, who are so closely bound to us, who live under the same roof,\nand eat and drink of our substance. Let us treat them like ourselves, or\nas we should wish to be treated if we were in their place, and of their\ncondition in life. That is the best way to deal with servants.\"\n\n\nANOTHER INSTANCE OF BLESSED FRANCIS' GENTLENESS WITH HIS OWN SERVANTS.\n\nLike master, like man. Not only were all our Blessed Father's servants\nvirtuous (he would not have suffered any who were not, to form part of his\nhousehold), but, following their master's example, they were all singularly\ngentle and obliging in their manners and behaviour.\n\nOne of them, a young man, handsome, virtuous, and pious, was greatly sought\nafter by many of the citizens, who thought he would prove a most desirable\nson-in-law, and to this end they encouraged his intercourse with their\ndaughters. About the several advantageous matches proposed to him he always\nused to tell the Bishop. One day the latter said to him, \"My dear son, your\nsoul is as dear to me as my own, and there is no sort of advantage that I\ndo not desire for you and would not procure for you if I could. That you\nknow very well, and you know, too, that it is possibly only your youth that\ndazzles the eyes of certain young girls and makes them want you for their\nhusband; but I am of opinion that more age and experience is needed before\nyou take upon yourself the cares of a family. Think well over the matter,\nfor when once embarked it will be too late to repent of what you have done.\n\n\"Marriage is an Order in which the profession must be made before the\nnovitiate; if there were a year's probation, as there is in the cloister,\nthere would be very few professions. After all, what have I done to you to\nmake you wish to leave me? I am old, I shall soon die, and then you can\ndispose of yourself as you please. I shall bequeath you to my brother, who\nwill provide for you quite as advantageously as these proposed matches\nwould have done.\"\n\nHe said this with tears in his eyes, which so distressed the young man that\nhe threw himself at the Bishop's feet, asking his pardon for having even\nthought of quitting him, and renewing his protestations of fidelity and of\ndetermination to serve him in life and death.\n\n\"No, no, my son,\" he replied; \"I have no wish to interfere with your\nliberty. I would, on the contrary, purchase it, like St. Paul, at the cost\nof my own. But I am giving you friendly advice, such as I would offer to my\nown brother were he of your age.\" And in very truth he treated the members\nof his household; not as servants, but as his brothers and children. He was\ntheir elder brother or their father, rather than their master.\n\n\nTHE HOLY BISHOP NEVER REFUSED WHAT WAS ASKED OF HIM.\n\nHe practised to the letter the divine precept: _Give to him who asketh of\nthee_,[1] though, indeed, he possessed so few earthly goods that it was a\nstanding marvel to me how he could give away as much as he did! Truly, I\nbelieve that God often multiplied the little which was really in his hands.\n\nAs regards heavenly goods, he was lavish of them to all who came to him\nas petitioners. He never refused spiritual consolation or advice either\nin public or in private, and his readiness to supply abundantly and\nspontaneously this mystical bread of life and wisdom was surprising. His\nalertness when requested to preach was also peculiarly remarkable, as\nhis action was naturally heavy, and his habit of thought, as well as his\nenunciation, somewhat slow.\n\nOn one occasion, in Paris, he was asked to preach on a certain day, and\nreadily consented to do so. One of his attendants then reminded him that he\nwas engaged to preach elsewhere on the same day. \"No matter,\" the Bishop\nreplied, \"God will give us grace to multiply our bread. _He is rich towards\nall who invoke Him._\"[2] His servant next remarked that some care was\nsurely due to his health. \"What!\" exclaimed Blessed Francis, \"do you think\nthat if God gives us the grace to find matter for preaching, He will not\nat the same time take care of the body, the organ by means of which His\ndoctrine is proclaimed? Let us put our trust in Him, and He will give us\nall the strength we need.\"\n\n\"But,\" objected the other, \"does God forbid us to take care of our health?\"\n\n\"By no means,\" answered the Bishop; \"but He does forbid a want of\nconfidence in His goodness ... and,\" he added seriously and firmly, \"were I\nrequested to preach a third sermon on that same day, it would cost me less\nboth in mind and body to consent than to refuse. Should we not be ready to\nsacrifice, and even, as it were, to obliterate ourselves, body and soul,\nfor the benefit of that dear neighbour of ours whom our Lord loved so much\nas even to die for him?\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. v. 43.]\n[Footnote 2: Rom. x. 12.]\n\n\nUPON ALMSGIVING.\n\nOur Blessed Father had, as we know, so high an idea of the virtue of\ncharity, which, indeed, he said was only christian perfection under another\nname, that he disliked to hear almsgiving called charity. It was, he said,\nlike putting a royal crown on the head of a village maiden.\n\nIn answer to my objection that this was actually the case with Esther, who,\nthough only a slave, was chosen by Assuerus to be his queen, and crowned by\nhis royal hand, he replied: \"You only strengthen my argument, for Esther\nwould have remained in her state of servitude had she not become the spouse\nof Assuerus, and, queen though she was, she only wore her crown dependently\non his will and pleasure. So almsgiving is only pleasing to God, and worthy\nof its reward, the heavenly crown of justice, in as far as it proceeds\nfrom charity, and is animated by that royal gift which converts it into\nan infused and supernatural virtue, which may be called either almsgiving\nin charity, of charitable almsgiving. But, just as the two natures, the\ndivine and the human, were not merged in one another in the mystery of the\nIncarnation, although joined in the unity of the hypostasis of the Word,\nso this conjunction of charity with almsgiving, or this subordination of\nalmsgiving to charity, does not change the one into the other, the object\nof each being as different as is the Creator from the creature. For the\nobject of almsgiving is the misery of the needy which it tries as far as\npossible to relieve, and that of charity is God, Who is the sovereign Good,\nworthy to be loved above all things for His own sake.\" \"But,\" I said,\n\"when almsgiving is practised for the love of God, can we not then call\nit charity?\" \"No,\" he replied, \"not any more than you can call Esther\nAssuerus, and Assuerus Esther. But you can, as I have said above, call it\nalms given in charity, or charitable almsgiving.\n\n\"Almsgiving and charity are quite different, for not only may alms be given\nwithout charity, but even against charity, as when they are given knowing\nthey will lead to sin.\"\n\nIn a remarkable passage in Theotimus the Saint asks: \"Were there not\nheretics, who, to exalt charity towards the poor, deprecated charity\ntowards God, ascribing man's whole salvation to almsdeeds, as St. Augustine\nwitnesses?\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Love of God. B. xi. c. 14.]\n\n\nOUR SAINT'S HOPEFULNESS IN REGARD TO THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS.\n\nOur Blessed Father was always full of tenderness, compassion, and\ngentleness towards sinners, but he regarded and treated them in different\nways according to their various dispositions.\n\nA sinner who had grown old in evil, who clung obstinately to his wicked\nways, who laughed to scorn all remonstrances, and gloried in his shame,\nformed a spectacle so heart-breaking and so appalling to the holy Bishop,\nthat he shrank from contemplating it. When he had succeeded in turning his\nthoughts to some other subject, on their being suddenly recalled to it, he\nwould shudder as if a secret wound had been touched, and utter some devout\nand fervent ejaculation such as this: \"Ah! Lord, command that this blind\nman see! Speak the word only, and he shall be healed! Oh, my God, those who\nforsake Thee shall be forsaken; convert him, and he shall be converted!\"\n\nWith obstinate sinners of this class his patience was unwearied. For such,\nhe said, God Himself waited patiently, even until the eleventh hour;\nadding that impatience was more likely to embitter them and retard their\nconversion than remonstrance to edify them.\n\nFor the sinner who was more open to conviction, and was not so obstinate\nin his malice, for him who had, that is to say, lucid intervals in his\nmadness, Blessed Francis had the most tender affection, regarding him as a\npoor paralytic waiting on the edge of the pool of healing for some helping\nhand to plunge him into it. To such he behaved as did the good shepherd of\nthe Gospel, Who left the ninety-nine sheep in the desert to seek after the\nhundredth which had gone astray.\n\nBut towards the sinner when once converted, how describe his attitude of\nmind! He regarded him not as a brand snatched from the burning, not as a\nbruised reed, not as an extinguished taper that was still smoking, but as\na sacred vessel filled with the oil of grace, as one of those trees which\nthe ancients looked upon as holy because they had been struck by fire from\nHeaven. It was marvellous to observe the honour which he paid to such a\none, the esteem in which he held him, the praises which he bestowed upon\nhim.\n\nHe always considered that souls delivered by God from the mouth of\nthe roaring lion were in consequence likely to be more vigilant, more\ncourageous in resisting temptation, and more careful in guarding against\nrelapses.\n\nHe did all he could to cover the faults of others, his goodness of heart\nbeing so great that he never allowed himself to think ill even of the\nwicked. He attributed their sinfulness to the violence of temptation and\nthe infirmity of human nature. When faults were public and so manifest that\nthey could not be excused, he would say: \"Who knows but that the unhappy\nsoul will be converted? The greatest sinners often become the greatest\npenitents, as we see in the case of David. And who are we that we should\njudge our brother? Were it not for the grace of God we should perhaps do\nworse than he.\"\n\nHe never allowed the conversion of a sinner to be despaired of, hoping on\ntill death. \"This life,\" he said, \"is our pilgrim way, in which those who\nnow stand may fall, and those who have fallen may, by grace, be set on\ntheir feet again.\" Nor even after death would he tolerate an unfavourable\njudgment being passed on any.\n\nHis reason for this was that as the original grace of justification was not\ngiven by way of merit, so neither could the grace of final perseverance be\nmerited.\n\nWith regard to this subject he related to me an amusing incident which\noccurred whilst he was a missioner in the Chablais. Amongst the Priests and\nReligious who were sent to help him was one of a humorous temperament, and\nwho did not hesitate to show that he was so, even in the pulpit. One day,\nwhen preaching before our Blessed Prelate against the heresiarch[1] who\nhad raised the standard of revolt in Geneva, he said that we should never\ncondemn any one as lost after death, except such as are by Scripture\ndenounced; no, not even the said heresiarch who had caused so much evil\nby his errors. \"For,\" he went on to say, \"who knows but that God may have\ntouched his heart at the last moment and converted him? It is true that out\nof the Church and without the true faith there is no salvation; but who can\nsay that he did not at the moment of death wish to be reunited with the\nCatholic Church, from which he had separated himself, and acknowledge in\nhis heart the truth of the belief he had combated, and that thus he did not\ndie sincerely repentant?\"\n\nAfter having surprised the congregation by these remarks, he most\nunexpectedly concluded by saying: \"We must certainly entertain sentiments\nof boundless confidence in the goodness of God, Who is infinite in mercy to\nthose who invoke Him. Jesus Christ even offered His peace, His love, and\nHis salvation to the traitor Judas, who betrayed Him by a kiss. Why, then,\nmay He not have offered the same favour to this unhappy heresiarch? Is the\narm of God shortened?\n\n\"Yet, my brethren,\" he continued, \"believe me, and I assure you I lie not,\nif this man is not damned he has had the narrowest escape man ever had; and\nif he has been saved from eternal wreck, he owes to God _the handsomest\nvotive candle that a person of his condition ever offered!_\"\n\nAs you may imagine, this _finale_ did not draw many tears from the\naudience!\n\n[Footnote 1: Calvin.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' SOLICITUDE FOR MALEFACTORS CONDEMNED TO DEATH.\n\nHe often went to carry consolation to prisoners, and sometimes accompanied\ncondemned criminals to the place of execution, that he might help them to\nmake a good death.\n\nAt such times, too, he kept to the methods we have already described as\nused by him in his visiting of the rest of the dying. After having made\nthem unburden their conscience, he left them a little breathing space, and\nthen at intervals suggested to them acts of faith, hope, and charity, of\nrepentance, of resignation to the Will of God, and of abandonment to His\nmercy; not adding to their sufferings by importunity, long harangues, or\nendless exhortations.\n\nSo happily did the Blessed Prelate succeed in this method of treatment,\nthat sometimes the poor criminals whom he accompanied to their execution\nwent to it as to a marriage feast, with joy and peace, such as they had\nnever experienced in the whole course of their lawless and sinful lives,\nhappier far so to die than to live on as they had done. \"It is,\" he would\nsay to them, \"by lovingly kissing the feet of God's justice that we most\nsurely reach the embrace of His tender mercy.\n\n\"Above all things, we must be confident that they who trust in Him shall\nnever be confounded.\"\n\n\nUPON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE ELECT.\n\nBlessed Francis' extreme gentleness always led him to lean towards\nindulgent judgment, however slight in a particular case the apparent\njustification might be.\n\nOn one occasion there was a discussion in his presence as to the meaning of\nthose terrible words in the Gospel: _Many are called, but few chosen_.[1]\nSome one said that the chosen were called a little flock, whereas the\nunwise or reprobates were spoken of as many in number, and so on. He\nreplied that, in his opinion, there would be very few Christians (meaning,\nof course, those who are in the true Church, outside which there is no\nsalvation) who would be lost, \"because,\" he said, \"having the root of the\ntrue faith, the tree that springs from it would sooner or later bear its\nfruit, which is salvation, and awakening, as it were, from death to life,\nthey would become, through charity, active and rich in good works.\"\n\nWhen asked what, then, was the meaning of the statement in the Gospel as to\nthe small number of the elect, he replied that in comparison with the rest\nof the world, and with infidel nations, the number of Christians was very\nsmall, but that of that small number very few would be lost, in conformity\nto that striking text, _There is no condemnation for those that are in\nChrist Jesus_.[2] Which really means that justifying grace is always being\noffered them, and this grace is inseparable from a lively faith and a\nburning charity. Add to this that He who begins the work in us is He who\nlikewise perfects it. We may believe that the call to christianity, which\nis the work of God, is always a perfect work, and therefore leads of itself\nto the end of all perfection, which is heavenly glory.\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. XX. 16.]\n[Footnote 2: Rom. viii. 1.]\n\n\nTO LOVE TO BE HATED, AND TO HATE TO BE LOVED.\n\nThis maxim of our Blessed Father's seems strange and altogether contrary to\nhis sweet and affectionate nature.\n\nIf, however, we look closely into it, we shall find that it is full of the\npurest and most subtle love of God.\n\nWhen he said that we ought to love to be hated, and hate to be loved, he\nwas referring in the one case to the love which is in and for God alone,\nand in the other to that merely human love, which is full of danger, which\nrobs God of His due, and of which, therefore, we should hate to be the\nobject. He expresses himself thus:\n\n\"Those who have nothing naturally attractive about them are very fortunate,\nfor they are well assured that the love which one bears them is excellent,\nbeing all for God's sake alone.\"\n\n\nUPON OBEDIENCE.\n\nBlessed Francis always said that the excellence of obedience consists not\nin doing the will of a gentle, courteous superior, who commands rather by\nentreaty than as one having authority, but in bowing the neck beneath the\nyoke of one who is harsh, stern, imperious, severe. He was, it is true,\ndesirous that those who had to judge and direct souls should do so as\nfathers rather than as masters, as, indeed, he did himself, but at the same\ntime he wished those in authority to be somewhat strict, and those subject\nto them to be less sensitive and selfish, and consequently less impatient,\nless refractory, and less given to grumbling than most men are.\n\nHe used also to say that a rough file takes off more rust and polishes iron\nbetter than a smooth and less biting one, and that very many and very heavy\nblows of the hammer are needed to temper a keen sword blade.\n\n\"But,\" I said to him, when discussing this subject, \"as the most perfect\nobedience is that which springs from love, ought not the command to be\ngiven lovingly, so as to incite the subordinate to a loving obedience?\" He\nanswered: \"There is a great deal of difference between the excellence of\nobedience and its perfection.\n\n\"The excellence of a virtue has to do with its nature; its perfection with\nthe grace, or charity, in which it is clothed. Now, here I am not speaking\nof the supernatural perfection of obedience which emanates most assuredly\nfrom the love of God; but of its natural excellence, which is better tested\nby harsh than by gentle commands.\n\n\"Excessive indulgence on the part of parents and superiors is only too\noften the cause of many disorders.\n\n\"More than this, even as regards the supernatural perfection of obedience,\nit is very probable that the harshness of the command given helps its\ngrowth, and renders our love of God, which is our motive in obeying,\nstronger, firmer, and more generous. When a superior commands with\nover-much gentleness and circumspection, besides the fact that he\ncompromises his authority and causes it to be slighted, he so attracts and\nattaches his inferior to himself that often unconsciously he robs God of\nthe devotedness which is His due. The result is that the inferior obeys the\nman whom he loves, and because he loves him, rather than God in the man,\nand for the love of God alone.\n\n\"On the other hand, harshness tests far better the fidelity of a heart\nwhich loves God sincerely. For, finding nothing pleasing in the command\nexcept the sweetness of divine love, to which alone it yields obedience,\nthe perfection of that obedience becomes the greater, since the intention\nis purer, more direct, and more immediately turned to God. It was in this\nspirit that David said that, _for the sake of the words_ of God--that is,\nof His law--he had _kept hard ways_.\"[1] Our Blessed Father added this\nsimile to explain his meaning further:\n\n\"Obeying a harsh, irritating, and vexatious superior is like drawing clear\nwater from a spring which flows through the jaws of a lion of bronze. It\nis like the riddle of Samson, _Out of the eater came forth meat_; it is\nhearing God's voice, and seeing God's will alone in that of a superior,\neven if the command be, as in the case of St. Peter, _Kill and eat_;[2] it\nis to say with Job, _Although He should kill me, I will trust in Him._\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xvi. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: Acts x. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Job xiii. 15.]\n\n\nUPON THE OBEDIENCE THAT MAY BE PRACTISED BY SUPERIORS.\n\nAsking him one day if it was possible for persons in authority, whether\nin the world or in the cloister, to practise the virtue of obedience,\nhe replied: \"Certainly, and they can do so far more perfectly and more\nheroically than their subjects.\"\n\nThen, seeing my astonishment at this apparent paradox, he went on to\nexplain it in the following manner: \"Those who are obliged, either by\nprecept or by vow, which takes the place of precept, to practise obedience,\nare, as a rule, subject only to one superior. Those, on the other hand,\nwho are in authority, are free to obey more widely, and to obey even in\ncommanding, because if they consider that it is God Who puts them over the\nheads of the others, and Who commands them to command those others, who\ndoes not see that even their commanding is an act of obedience? This kind\nof obedience may even be practised by princes who have none but God set\nover them, and who have to render an account of their actions to Him alone.\nI may add that there is no power on earth so sublime as not to have, at\nleast in some respects, another set over it. Christian kings render filial\nobedience to the Roman Pontiff, and the sovereign Pontiff himself submits\nto his confessor in the Sacrament of Penance. But there is a still higher\ndegree of obedience which even Prelates and the greatest among men may\npractise. It is that which the Apostle counsels when he says: _Be ye\nsubject to every human creature for God's sake_.[1] Who for love of us\nnot only became subject to the Blessed Virgin and to St. Joseph, but made\nHimself obedient to death and to the death of the Cross, submitting Himself\nin His Passion to the most sinful and degraded of the earth, uttering not a\ncry, even as a lamb under the hand of him who shears it and slays it. It is\nby this universal obedience to every creature that we become all things to\nall men in order that we may win all to Jesus Christ. It is by this that we\ntake our neighbour, whoever he may be, for our superior, becoming servants\nfor our Lord's sake.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Peter ii. 13.]\n\n\nAN INSTANCE OF OUR SAINT'S OBEDIENCE.\n\nOn one occasion, when the Duke of Savoy, being pressed by many urgent\npublic needs, had obtained from the Pope a Brief empowering him to levy\ncontributions on the Church property in his dominions, Blessed Francis,\nfinding some slackness and unwillingness on the part of the beneficed\nclergy of the diocese to yield obedience to this order, when he had called\nthem together to settle what was to be done, spoke with just indignation.\n\"What! gentlemen,\" he cried, \"is it for us to question and reason when two\nsovereigns concur in issuing the same command? Is it for us, I say, to\nscrutinize their counsels, and ask, Why are you acting thus? Not only to\nthe decrees of sovereign courts, but even to the sentence of the most\ninsignificant judges appointed by God to decide differences in our affairs,\nwe yield deference so far as not to enquire into the motive of their\ndecisions. And here, where two oracles who have only to render account to\nGod of what orders they give, speak, we set to work to enquire into their\nmotives and reasons as if we were charged to investigate their conduct.\nAssuredly, I will take no part in such doings. Our virtue, indeed, lags\nsadly behind that of those christians--only lay people too--of whom St.\nPaul said that being wise themselves they _gladly suffered bondage,\nstripes, every sort of ill-usage from the foolish_,[1] and of whom, in\nanother place, he says that they _took with joy the being stripped of their\nown goods_, knowing that they had _a better and a lasting substance_.[2]\nAnd the Apostle, as you know, is speaking to men who had been unjustly\ndespoiled of their whole property by robbers and tyrants, whereas you will\nnot give up a small fraction of yours to assist in the public need of our\ngood Prince, to whose zeal we owe the re-establishment of the Catholic\nreligion in the three divisions of the Chablais, and whose enemies are the\nadversaries of our faith! Is not our Order the first of the three estates\nin a christian kingdom? Is there anything more just than to contribute of\nour wealth, together with our prayers, towards the defence of our altars,\nof our lives, and of our peace? The people are lavishing their substance\nand the nobility their blood for the same cause. Remember the late wars,\nand tremble lest your ingratitude and disobedience should plunge you again\ninto similar troubles.\"\n\nAdding example to precept, he paid so heavy a tax upon a part of his own\nrevenue that none could say he did not practise what he preached, and\nall those who had ventured to oppose him in the matter were not only\neffectually silenced, but covered with confusion and put to a just shame.\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. xi. 19, 20.]\n[Footnote 2: Heb. x. 34.]\n\n\nUPON THE LOVE OF HOLY POVERTY.\n\n_Godliness with contentment_, says Holy Scripture, _is great gain_.[1]\n\nSo content was the godliness of Blessed Francis that, although deprived of\nthe greater part of his episcopal revenues, he was fully satisfied with the\nlittle that was left to him.\n\nAfter all, he would say, are not twelve hundred crowns a handsome income\nfor a Bishop? The Apostles, who were far better Bishops than we are, had\nnothing like that sum. It is not for us to fix our own pay for serving God.\n\nHis love of poverty was truly striking. At Annecy he lodged in a hired\nhouse, which was both handsome and roomy, and in which the apartments\nassigned to him as Bishop were very elegantly furnished. He, however, took\nup his abode in an uncomfortable little room, where there was hardly any\nlight at all, so that he could truly say with Job: _I have made my bed in\ndarkness_;[2] or with David: _Night shall be my light in my pleasures_;[3]\nor again, _I am like a night raven in the house, or as a sparrow all alone\non the housetop_.[4]\n\nHe called this little room, or, to speak more truly, this sepulchre of a\nliving man, Francis' chamber, while to that in which he received visitors,\nor gave audience, he gave the name of the Bishop's chamber.\n\nTruly, the lover of holy poverty can always find a means of practising it,\neven in the midst of riches.\n\nBlessed Francis, indeed, always welcomed poverty with a smiling\ncountenance, though naturally it be apt to cast a gloom and melancholy upon\nthe faces both of those who endure it and of those who only dread it.\n\nInvoluntary poverty is surly and discontented, for it is forced and\nagainst the will. Voluntary poverty, on the contrary, is joyous, free, and\nlight-hearted. To show you how cheerfully and pleasantly he talked on this\nsubject, I will give you one or two of his remarks.\n\nOnce, showing me a coat which had been patched up for him, and which he\nwore under his cassock, he said: \"My people really work little miracles;\nfor out of an old garment they have made me this perfectly new coat. Am I\nnot well-dressed?\"\n\nAgain, when his steward was complaining of down-right distress, and of\nthere being no money left, he said: \"What are you troubling yourself about?\nWe are now more like our Master, Who had not even where to lay His head,\nthough as yet we are not reduced to such extremity as that.\" \"But what are\nwe to do?\" persisted the steward. \"My son,\" the Bishop answered, \"we must\nlive as we can, on whatever goods we have, that is all.\" \"Truly,\" replied\nthe other, \"it is all very well to talk of living on our goods when there\nare none left to live upon!\" \"You do not understand me,\" returned the\nBishop; \"we must sell or pledge some of our furniture in order to live.\nWill not that, my good M.R.,[5] be living on our goods?\"\n\nIt was in this fashion that the Saint was accustomed to meet cheerfully\nmoney troubles, so unbearable to weaker characters.\n\nOn one occasion I expressed my admiration at his being able to make so good\na show on his small means. \"It is God,\" he said, \"Who multiplies the five\nloaves.\" On my pressing him to tell me how it was done, \"Why, it would not\nbe a miracle,\" he answered, with a smile, \"if we knew that. Are we not most\nfortunate to live on only by help of miracles? _It is the mercy of God that\nwe are not consumed_.\" \"You go quite beyond me,\" I said, \"by taking that\nground. I am not so transcendently wise.\"\n\n\"Listen,\" he replied. \"Riches are truly thorns, as the Gospel teaches us.\nThey prick us with a thousand troubles in acquiring them, with more cares\nin preserving them, and with yet more anxieties in spending them; and, most\nof all, with vexations in losing them.\n\n\"After all, we are only managers and stewards, especially if it is a\nquestion of the riches of the Church, which are the true patrimony of\nthe poor. The important matter is to find faithful dispensers. Having\nsufficient to feed and clothe ourselves suitably, what more do we want?\nAssuredly, _that which is over and above these is of evil_.[6]\n\n\"Shall I tell you what my own feeling is? Well and good, but I must do so\nin your ear. I know very well how to spend what I have; but if I had more\nI should be in difficulty as to what to do with it. Am I not happy to live\nlike a child without care? _Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof_.\nThe more any one has to manage the longer the account he has to render. We\nmust make use of this world as though we were making no use of it at all.\nWe must possess riches as though we had them not, and deal with the things\nof earth like the dogs on the banks of the Nile, who, for fear of the\ncrocodiles, lap up the water of the river as they run along its banks. If,\nas the wise man tells us, _he that addeth knowledge addeth also labour_;\nmuch more is this the case with the man who heaps up riches. He is like\nthe giants in the fable who piled up mountains, and then buried themselves\nunder them. Remember the miserable man who, as the Gospel tells us, thought\nthat he had many years before him in which to live at his ease, but to whom\nthe heavenly voice said: _Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of\nthee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided_? In truth\nhappy is he only who lays up imperishable treasures in Heaven.\"\n\nHe would never allow himself to be called _poor_; saying, that any one who\nhad a revenue sufficient to live upon without being obliged to labour with\nhead or hands to support himself should be called _rich_; and such, he\nsaid, was the case with us both.\n\nTo my objection that our revenues were nevertheless so very small that we\nmust be really considered poor, for little, indeed, must we be working if\nour labour was not worth what we got from our bishoprics, he replied: \"If\nyou take it in this way you are not so far wrong, for who is there who\nlabours in a vineyard and does not live upon its produce? What shepherd\nfeeds his flock and does not drink its milk and clothe himself with its\nwool? So, too, may he who sows spiritual seed justly reap the small harvest\nwhich he needs for his temporal sustenance. If then he is poor who lives by\nwork, and who eats the fruit of his labour, we may very well be reckoned\nas such; but if we regard the degree of poverty in which our Lord and\nHis Apostles lived, we must perforce consider ourselves rich. After all,\npossessing honestly all that is necessary for food and clothing, ought\nwe not to be content? Whatever is more than this is only evil, care,\nsuperfluity, wanting which we shall have less of an account to render.\nHappy is poverty, said a stoic, if it is cheerful poverty; and if it is\nthat, it is really not poverty at all, or only poverty of a kind that is\nfar preferable to the riches of the most wealthy, which are amassed with\ndifficulty, preserved with solicitude, and lost with regret.\"\n\nOur Saint used to say that, as for the cravings of nature, he who is not\nsatisfied with what is really enough will never be satisfied. I wish that\nI could give any just idea of his extraordinary moderation even in the use\nof the necessaries of life. He told me once that when the time came for him\nto lay down the burden of his episcopal duties and to retire into solitude,\nthere to pass the rest of his life in contemplation and study, he should\nconsider five hundred crowns a year great wealth; in fact, he would not\nreserve more from either his patrimony or his Bishop's revenue, adding\nthese words of St. Paul: _Having food, and wherewith to be covered, let us_\n(priests) _be content_.[7] He gave this as his reason. \"The Church,\" he\nsaid, \"which is the kingdom of Jesus Christ, is established on foundations\ndirectly opposed to those of the world, of which our Saviour said His\nkingdom was not. Now, on what is the kingdom of this world founded? Listen\nto St. John: All that is in the world is the _concupiscence of the flesh,\nor of the eyes, and the pride of life_; that is to say, the pleasures\nof the senses, avarice, and vanity. The Church then will be founded on\nmortification of the flesh, poverty, and humility. Pleasures and honours\nfollow in the train of wealth; but poverty puts an axe to the roots of\npride and sensual enjoyments. Some, says David, blaming them, glory in the\nmultitude of their riches; and St. Paul exhorts the rich of this world not\nto be high-minded.\n\n\"It is a perilous thing for humility and mortification to take up their\nabode with wealth.\" This is why he wished for nothing but bare necessaries,\nfearing that superfluity might lead him into some excess.\n\nWhen I reminded him that if we had this superfluity we might give alms out\nof it, as it is written, _Of what remaineth give to the poor_, he replied,\nthat we knew well enough what: we ought to do; but that we did not know\nwhat we should do, and that it was always a species of presumption to\nimagine ourselves able to handle live coals without burning ourselves,\nseeing that even the Angel in the vision of the Prophet took them up with\ntongs!\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Tim. vi. 6.]\n[Footnote 2: Job. xvii. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Ps. cxxxviii. 11.]\n[Footnote 4: Ps. ci. 8.]\n[Footnote 5: Georges Roland.]\n[Footnote 6: Matt. v. 37.]\n[Footnote 7: Tim. vi. 8.]\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nOur Blessed Father was so absolutely indifferent to the goods of this world\nthat I never heard him so much as once complain of the loss of almost all\nhis episcopal revenue, confiscated by the city of Geneva. He used to say\nthat it was very much with the wealth of the Church as with a man's beard,\nthe more closely it was clipped the stronger and the thicker it grew\nagain. When the Apostles had nothing they possessed all things, and when\necclesiastics wish to possess too much, that too much is reduced to\nnothing.\n\nHis one hunger and thirst was for the conversion of souls, living in wilful\nblindness to the light of truth which shines only in the one true Church.\nSometimes, he exclaimed, sighing heavily: \"Give me souls, and the rest take\nto Thyself.\" Speaking of Geneva, to which city, in spite of its rebellion,\nhe always applied terms of compassion and affection, such as \"my dear\nGeneva,\" or \"my poor Geneva,\" he said to me more than once: \"Would to\nGod that these gentlemen had taken such small remains of my revenue as\nthey have left to me, and that we had only as small a foothold in that\ndeplorable city as the Catholics have in La Rochelle, namely, a little\nchapel in which to say Mass and perform the functions of our religion! You\nwould then soon see all these apostates come back to their senses, and we\nshould rejoice over the return to the Church of these poor Sunamites, who\nare so forgetful of their duty.\"[1] This fond hope he always nourished in\nhis breast.\n\nHe used to say that Henry VIII. of England, who at the beginning of his\nreign was so zealous for the Catholic faith, and wrote so splendidly\nagainst the errors of Luther, that he acquired for that reason the glorious\ntitle of Defender of the Faith, having, by yielding to his passion, caused\nso great a schism in his kingdom, even had he desired at the close of\nhis life to return to the bosom of the Church which he had so miserably\nabandoned, would, on setting to work to attain this most happy end, have\nfound the impossibility of recovering for the clergy and restoring to them\nthe property and wealth which he had divided among his nobles, a serious\ndifficulty.\n\n\"Alas!\" our Blessed Father exclaimed, commenting upon this fact, \"to think\nthat a handful of dust should rob Heaven of so many souls! The business of\nevery christian, and especially of the clergy, is the keeping of God's law.\nThe Lord is the portion of their inheritance and of their cup. He would\nhave made to them an abundant restitution of all that had been theirs, by\ngentle but effective means. They whose thoughts are fixed upon the Lord\nwill be nourished by Him. The just are never forsaken nor reduced to beg\ntheir bread; they have only to lift their eyes and their hopes to God and\nHe will give them meat in due season; for it is He who gives food to all\nflesh. Moreover, it is much easier to suffer hunger with patience than to\npreserve virtue in the midst of plenty. It is not every one who can say\nwith the Apostle: _I know how to abound, and I know how to suffer need_.[2]\nA thousand fall on the left hand of adversity, but ten thousand on the\nright hand of prosperity; for iniquity is the outcome of luxury, and the\nsin of the cities of the plain had its origin in a superabundance of bread;\nthat is to say, in their wealth. To be frugal and devout is to possess a\ngreat treasure.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Cantic. vi. 12.]\n[Footnote 2: Philipp. iv. 12.]\n\n\nUPON POVERTY OF SPIRIT.\n\nThree virtues, he said, were necessary to constitute poverty of spirit:\nsimplicity, humility, and christian poverty. Simplicity consists in that\nsingleness of aim which looks only to God, referring to Him alone those\ninnumerable opportunities which come to us from objects other than Himself.\nHumility is that conviction of our own inferiority and destitution which\nmakes the truly humble man regard himself as always an unprofitable\nservant. Christian poverty is of three kinds. First, that which is\naffective, but not effective. This can be practised in the midst of wealth,\nas in the case of Abraham, David, St. Louis, and many other holy persons,\nwho, though rich in this world's goods, were ready in a moment to accept\npoverty with cheerfulness and thankfulness if it should please God to send\nit to them.\n\nSecond, effective but not affective poverty, which is a very unhappy\ncondition. Those who are weighed down by it feel all its distressing\nconsequences and are miserable because they cannot possess the many things\nwhich they ardently desire.\n\nThird, affective, united with effective poverty, which is recommended in\nthe Gospels, and which may happen to be our lot, either from birth or from\nsome reverse of fortune.\n\nIf we are reconciled to our condition in life, however humble, and bless\nGod Who has placed us in it, then we tread in the footsteps of Jesus\nChrist, of His holy Mother, and of the Apostles, who all lived a life of\npoverty.\n\nAnother way of practising this poverty is to follow the counsels of Jesus\nChrist, Who bids us _sell all that we have and give it to the poor_,\nimitating our divine Master in that poverty which He embraced for us,\nthat we, through it, might be made rich. And never is this command more\npractically and worthily obeyed than when the man who has abandoned all his\nworldly goods for the sake of Christ, labours, not only in order to sustain\nhis own life, but that he may have the wherewithal to give alms.\n\nThus did the Apostle glory when he said: _For such things as were needful\nfor me, and them that are with me, these hands have furnished_.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Acts xx. 34.]\n\n\nFRANCIS' LOVE OF THE POOR.\n\nTo love our neighbour is not only to wish him well, but also to do him\nall the good that it is in our power to do. If we fall short of this, we\ndeserve the reproach of St. James, addressed to those who, though they have\nample means for giving material aid to the poor, content themselves with\nbare words of comfort.\n\nThe love of Blessed Francis for the poor was so intense that in their case\nhe seemed to become a respecter of persons, preferring them to the rich,\nboth in spiritual and in temporal matters. He was like a good physician who\nin visiting the sick shows the most tender solicitude for those afflicted\nwith the most terrible diseases and lingers longest by their bedsides.\n\nOne day I had to wait my turn to go to confession to him for a very\nlong time, he being engaged in hearing a poor blind beggar woman. When\nI afterwards expressed my surprise at the length of her confession, he\nsaid: \"Ah! She sees far more clearly the way to go to God than many whose\neyesight is otherwise perfect.\"\n\nOn another occasion, sailing with him on the lake of Geneva, I heard\nthe boatman calling him \"Father,\" and addressing him with corresponding\nfamiliarity. \"Listen,\" he said to me, \"to those good people. They are\ncalling me their Father; and, indeed, I do believe they love me as such.\nOh! how much more real happiness they give me than those who call me 'My\nLord.'\"\n\n\nUPON THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF POVERTY.\n\nOn one occasion I quoted that saying of Seneca: \"He is truly great who\ndines off earthenware as contentedly as if it were silver; but he is\ngreater still who dines off silver with as much indifference as if it were\nearthenware.\"\n\n\"The philosopher,\" he said, \"is right in his judgment; for the first feasts\non mere fancy, leading to vanity; but the second shows that he is superior\nto wealth, since he cares no more for a precious metal than for clay.\n\n\"Yet, Oh! how ridiculous; how empty is all mere human philosophy! This same\nphilosopher who speaks so eloquently again and again of the contempt of\nriches, was all his life immersed in them; and at his death left thousands\nbehind him. Does it not seem to you that, this being his own case, his\ntalking about poverty makes him like a cleric expatiating on the art of\nwar? We had far better listen to St. Paul, who speaks as a past master on\nthe subject of poverty, since he practised it so thoroughly that he chose\nrather to live on what he could earn by the labour of his hands than on\nwhat the preaching of the Gospel might bring in to him, as to the other\nApostles. Yes, we must needs listen to and believe St. Paul when he says\nthat he esteems all things as dung in comparison with the service of Jesus\nChrist, counting as loss what he once held as gain.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Philipp. iii, 8.]\n\n\nUPON PROSPERITY.\n\nBlessed Francis objected strongly to the use of the word _fortune_,\nconsidering it unworthy of utterance by christian lips. The expressions\n\"fortunate,\" \"by good fortune,\" \"children of fortune,\" all common enough,\nwere repugnant to him. \"I am astonished,\" he said once, \"that Fortune, the\nmost pagan of idols, should have been left standing, when christianity so\ncompletely demolished all the rest! God forbid that any who ought to be the\nchildren of God's providence alone become children of fortune! and that\nthose whose only hope should be in Him put their trust in the uncertainty\nof riches!\"\n\nHe spoke yet more strongly of such as professing to be nailed with Jesus\nChrist to the Cross and to glory only in His reproaches and sufferings, yet\nwere eager in heaping up riches, and, when amassed, in clinging fondly to\nthem. \"For,\" he said, \"the Gospel makes christian blessedness to consist\nin poverty, contempt, pain, weeping, and persecutions; and even philosophy\nteaches us that prosperity is the stepmother of true virtue, adversity its\nmother!\"\n\nI asked him once how it was that we are so ready to have recourse to\nGod when the thorn of affliction pierces us, and so eager in asking for\ndeliverance from sickness, calumny, famine, and such like misfortunes. \"It\nis,\" he said, \"our weakness which thus cries out for help, and it is a\nproof of the infirmity which encompasses us; for as the best and firmest\nfish feed in the salt waters of the open sea, those which are caught in\nfresh water being less pleasing to the taste, so the most generous natures\nfind their element in crosses and afflictions, while meaner spirits are\nonly happy in prosperity.\n\n\"Moreover,\" he continued, \"it is much easier to love God perfectly in\nadversity than in prosperity. For tribulation having nothing in itself\nthat is lovable, save that it is God's gift, it is much easier to go by it\nstraight to the will of God, and to unite ourselves to His good pleasure.\nEasier, I say, than by prosperity, which has attractions of its own that\ncaptivate our senses, and, like Dalila, lull them to sleep, working in us\na subtle change, so that we begin insensibly to love for its own sake the\nprosperity which God sends us, instead of bestowing all our grateful love\non God Who sends it, and to Whom all thanks and praise are due!\"\n\n\nUPON CHARITY AND CHASTITY.\n\nFeeling at one time troubled and perplexed in mind as to the bearing\nof these two virtues upon one another, and as to the right manner of\npractising each, so that one should never run counter to the other, I\ncarried my difficulties to our Blessed Father, who settled them at once in\nthe following words; \"We must,\" he said, \"in this matter draw a careful\ndistinction between persons who occupy positions of dignity and authority,\nand have the care of others, and those private individuals who have no one\nto look after but themselves. The former must deliver their chastity into\nthe keeping of their charity; and if that charity is real and true it will\nnot fail them, but will serve as a strong wall of defence, both without and\nwithin, to their chastity. On the other hand, private individual's will do\nbetter to surrender the guardianship of their charity to their chastity,\nand to walk with the greatest circumspection and self-restraint. The reason\nof this is that those in authority are obliged by the very nature of their\nduties, to expose themselves to the dangers inseparable from occasions: in\nwhich, however, they are assisted by grace, seeing they are not tempting\nGod by any rashness.\n\n\"Contrariwise, those private individuals who expose themselves to danger\nwithout any legitimate excuse run great risk of tempting God and losing His\ngrace; since it is written that _he that loveth danger_ (still more he that\nseeketh it) _shall perish in it_.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Eccles. iii. 27]\n\n\nUPON PURITY OF HEART.\n\nI can never express to you, or convey a right idea, of the high esteem in\nwhich he held purity of heart. He said that chastity of body was common\nenough even among unbelievers and among persons addicted to other vices;\nbut that very few people could truly say, my heart is pure.\n\nI do not say that by this purity of heart he meant the never being troubled\nby sinful desires, for that would be making the virtue of chastity to\nconsist in insensibility; and what do those who are not tempted know about\nthe matter?\n\nNo; he placed it in never yielding to unlawful affections. To these we\nshould rather give the name of _infections_, since they infect the will,\nand interfere with the safe custody of the heart, which is the well-spring\nof the spiritual life.\n\n\nUPON CHASTITY AND HUMILITY.\n\nSpeaking of the humility and chastity of the Blessed Virgin the holy\nPrelate said: \"These two virtues, although they have to be continually\npractised, should be spoken of so rarely that this rarity of speech may\nrank as silence. The reason is that it is difficult to mention these\nvirtues or to praise them either in themselves or in any individual who\npossesses them, without in some way sullying their brightness.\n\n\"1. There is, in my opinion, no human tongue which can rightly express\ntheir value, and to praise them inadequately is in a way to disparage them.\n\n\"2. To praise humility is to cause it to be desired from a secret self-love\nand to invite people to enter its domain through the wrong door.\n\n\"3. To praise humility in any individual is to tempt him to vanity and to\nflatter him dangerously; for the more he thinks himself humble the less\nhe will really be so; and possibly when he sees that others consider him\nhumble he will think that he must be so.\n\n\"4. As regards chastity, to praise it in itself is to leave on the mind a\nsecret and almost imperceptible image of the contrary vice, and therefore\nto expose the mind to some danger of temptation. There is a sting hidden in\nthe honey of such praise.\n\n\"5. To praise it in any individual is in a measure to expose him to the\ndanger of falling. It is to put a stumbling-block In his way. It is\nto inflate that pride which under a fair disguise may lure him over a\nprecipice.\n\n\"6. We must never be content to rely upon our hitherto untarnished purity\nof life, but must always fear, since innocence is a treasure which we carry\nin a vessel of glass, easily broken.\n\n\"7. In a word, the virtues of humility and chastity always seem to me like\nthose subtle essences which evaporate if they are not kept very tightly\ncorked.\n\n\"8. However, although I consider it wise very seldom to speak of these two\nvirtues, it is wise to practise them unceasingly, humility being one of the\nmost excellent virtues of the soul, and purity that fair white adornment of\nthe body which is its honour, and which, like a lily growing among thorns,\nbrings forth a wonderful flower, whose fruit is honour and riches.\n\n\"9. Nevertheless, I do not mean that we are to be so scrupulous as _never_\nto dare to speak of these virtues; not even to praise them when occasion\nwarrants or demands our doing so. No, indeed. In one sense they can never\nbe sufficiently praised, nor ever sufficiently valued and cultivated. What\nI mean is that we gain little by praising them. Our words in praise of a\nvirtue are of little account in comparison with the smallest fruit; that\nis, with the least of the acts of a virtue.\n\n\"I add this because I know you attach too much importance to my words, and\ntake them as literally as if they were oracles.\"\n\n\nUPON MODESTY.\n\nOur Blessed Father, speaking of the virtue of modesty, and dilating upon\none of its chief properties, namely, its extraordinary sensitiveness to\nthe slightest injurious influence, made use of two beautiful comparisons:\n\"However pure, transparent, and polished the surface of a mirror may be,\nthe faintest breath is sufficient to make it so dull and misty that it is\nunable to reflect any image. So it is with the reputation of the virtuous.\nHowever high and well established it may be, according the words of\nwisdom: _Oh! how beautiful is the chaste generation!_ [1] a thoughtless,\nunrestrained glance or gesture is quite sufficient to give occasion to a\nslanderous tongue to infect that reputation with the serpent's venom,\nand to hide its lustre from the eyes of the world, as clouds hide the\nbrightness of the sun.\n\n\"Again, look at this beautiful lily. It is the symbol of purity; it\npreserves its whiteness and sweetness, amid all the blackness and\nruggedness of the encircling thorns. As long as it remains untouched its\nperfume is delicious and its dazzling beauty of form and colour charms\nevery passer-by; but, as soon as it is culled, the scent is so strong as\nto be overpowering, and should you touch the petals they lose their satin\nsmoothness as well as all their pure and white loveliness.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Wisd. iv. I.]\n\n\nTHE CONTEMPT HE FELT FOR HIS BODY.\n\nSince our Blessed Father was not, like the martyrs, privileged to offer his\nbody, both by living and dying, as a victim for God, he found out, with the\ningenuity of love, a method of self-humiliation and self-sacrifice to be\ncarried out after his death.\n\nWhen quite young and still pursuing his studies at Padua, falling\ndangerously ill, and his life being despaired of, he begged his tutor to\nsee that when he was dead his body should be given into the hands of the\nsurgeons for dissection. \"Having been of so little use to my neighbour in\nlife,\" he said, \"I shall thus at least, after my death, be able to render\nhim some small service.\"\n\nHappily for us, God in His great mercy spared this precious life, being\ncontented, as in the case of the sacrifice of Isaac, with the offering of\nHis faithful servant's will and with his generous contempt for his own\nflesh.\n\nA motive which urged Blessed Francis to the above resolution, besides his\ndesire of self-humiliation and immolation, was the hope of putting an end\nto the scandalous practice then prevailing among the surgical and medical\nstudents at Padua of secretly by night going to the cemeteries to disinter\nnewly-buried bodies. This they did when they had failed to obtain those\nof criminals from the officers of justice. Innumerable evils, quarrels,\nand even murders resulted from this practice, and the indignation of the\nrelatives and friends of the deceased persons whose corpses were stolen may\nbe imagined. By setting the example of a voluntary surrender of his own\nbody for dissection our Blessed Father hoped to diminish such orders.\n\n\nUPON OUR SAINT'S HUMILITY.\n\nIt was of course impossible for Blessed Francis to be ignorant of the high\nesteem in which his piety was held, not only by his own people, but by\nall who knew him. This knowledge was, however, as may well be believed,\na source of pain to him, and often covered him with confusion. He seldom\nspoke on the subject, for true humility rarely speaks, even humbly, of\nitself. Yet on one occasion, when more than usually worried by hearing\nhimself praised, he allowed these words to fall from his lips: \"The truth\nis that these good people with all their eulogiums, and expressions of\nesteem, are sowing the seed of a bitter fruit for me to gather in the end.\nWhen I am dead, imagining that my poor soul has gone straight to Heaven,\nthey will not pray for it, and will leave me languishing in Purgatory. Of\nwhat avail then will this high reputation be to me? They are treating me\nlike those animals which suffocate their young by their close pressure and\ncaresses, or like the ivy which drags down the wall it seems to crown with\nverdure.\"\n\nI will now give you some examples of his humility. He was sometimes told\nthat people had spoken ill of him. Instead of excusing or defending\nhimself, he would say cheerfully, \"Do they say no more than that?\nCertainly, they cannot know all, they flatter me, they spare me: I see very\nwell that they rather pity than envy me, and that they wish me to be better\nthan I am. Well! God be praised for this, I must correct my faults, for if\nI do not deserve reproof in this particular matter, I do in some other. It\nis really a mercy that the correction is given so kindly.\" If anyone took\nup his defence and declared that the whole accusation was false, \"Ah!\nwell,\" he would say, \"it is a warning to make me careful not to justify\nit, for surely they are doing me a kindness by calling my attention to the\ndangers of this rock ahead.\"\n\nThen, noticing how indignant we all were with the slanderers, \"What,\" he\nwould exclaim, \"have I given you leave to fly into a passion on my account?\nLet them talk--it is but a storm in a teacup, a tempest of words that will\ndie away and be forgotten. We must be sensitive indeed if we cannot bear\nthe buzzing of a fly! Who has told us that we are blameless? Possibly these\npeople see our faults better than we see them ourselves, and better\nthan those who love us do. When truths displease us, we often call them\nslanders. What harm do others do us by having a bad opinion of us? We ought\nto have a bad opinion of ourselves. Such persons are not our adversaries,\nbut rather our allies, since they enlist themselves on our side in the\nbattle against our self-love. Why be angry with those who come to our aid\nagainst so powerful an enemy?\"\n\nIt happened once that a certain simple-minded woman told our saint bluntly\nthat what she had heard of him had caused her to loose all esteem for\nhim. Blessed Francis replied quietly that her straightforward words only\nincreased his fatherly affection for her, as they were an evidence of great\ncandour, a virtue he highly respected.\n\nThe woman proceeded to declare that the reason she was so greatly\ndisappointed in him was because she had been told that he had taken her\nadversary's part in a law-suit instead of acting as the father of all and\nsiding with none. \"Nay,\" rejoined the Saint, \"do not fathers interfere in\nthe quarrels of their children, judging between right and wrong? Besides,\nthe verdict of the court should have convinced you that you were in the\nwrong, since it was given against you; and had I been one of the judges I\nmust have decided as they did.\"\n\nThe woman protested that injustice had been done to her, but the Saint\nquietly and patiently reasoned with her and assured her that although it\nwas natural that she should feel angry at first, yet, when the bandage of\npassion had fallen from her eyes, she would thank God for having deprived\nher of that which in justice she could not have retained.\n\nThis person finally admitted that she had been in the wrong, but enquired\nif Blessed Francis was really not annoyed at her having lost her high\nopinion of him, having formerly regarded him as a Saint. He assured her she\nwas wrong in having done so, and that, far from being annoyed, his esteem\nfor her was all the greater on account of this, her correct judgment.\n\"Believe me,\" he went on to say, \"I am speaking from a sense of truth, and\nnot out of false humility, when I maintain that my friends over-rate me.\nThe fact is, they try to persuade themselves that I really am what they so\nardently desire me to be. They expose me to the danger of losing my soul\nby pride and presumption. You, on the contrary, are giving me a practical\nlesson in humility, and are thus leading me in the way of salvation, for it\nis written, _God will save the humble of heart._\"\n\n\nUPON MERE HUMBLENESS OF SPEECH.\n\nHe disliked expressions of humility unless they clearly came from the\nheart, and said that words of this kind were the flower, the cream, and the\nquintessence of the most subtle pride, subtle inasmuch as it was hidden\neven from him who spoke them. He compared such language to a certain\nsublimated and penetrating poison, which to the eye seems merely a mist.\n\nThose who speak this language of false humility are lifted up on high,\nwhilst in thoughts and motives they remain mean and low. He considered\nsimilar fashions of speech to be even more intolerable than the words of\nvain persons who are the sport of their hearers, and whose empty boasting\nmakes them to be like balloons, the plaything of everybody. A mocking laugh\nis sufficient to let all the wind which puffs them out escape. Words of\nhumility coming merely from the lips, and not from the heart, lead surely\nto vanity, though by what seems the wrong road. Those who utter them are\nlike people who take their salary gladly enough, but insist on first making\na show of refusing and of saying that they want nothing.\n\nEven excuses proffered in this manner accuse and betray the person who\noffers them. The truly humble of heart do not wish, to _appear_ humble, but\nto _be_ humble. Humility is so delicate a virtue that it is afraid of its\nown shadow, and cannot hear its own name uttered without running the risk\nof extinction.\n\n\nUPON VARIOUS DEGREES OF HUMILITY.\n\nBlessed Francis set the highest value upon the virtue of humility, which he\ncalled the foundation of all moral virtues, and together with charity, the\nsolid basis of true piety.\n\nHe used to say that there was no moral excellence more literally christian\nthan humility, because it was not known even by name to the heathen of old.\nEven of the most renowned among ancient philosophers, such virtues as they\npossessed were inflated with pride and self-love.\n\nNot every kind of humility pleased him. He was not willing to accept any as\ntrue metal until he had put it to many a test and trial.\n\n1. He required in the first place that there should be genuine\nself-knowledge. To be truly humble we must recognise the fact that we\ncome from nothing, that we are nothing, that we can do nothing, that we\nare worth nothing, and in fine that we are idle do-nothings, unprofitable\nservants, incapable of even forming a single good thought, as of ourselves.\nYet self-knowledge, he said, if it stood alone, however praiseworthy in\nitself, would only render those who possessed it the more guilty if they\ndid not act up to it, in order to become better; because moral virtue being\nin the will, and mere knowledge only in the understanding, the latter alone\ncannot in any way pass current as true virtue.\n\n2. He even had some doubt of humility though residing in the will, because\nit is quite possible to misuse it, and to turn humility itself into vanity.\nTake for instance those who, having been invited to a banquet, take at\nonce possession of the very lowest place, or of one which they know to\nbe inferior to that due to their rank. They may do this on purpose to be\ninvited to go higher amidst the applause of the company, and with advantage\nto themselves. He called this a veritable entering into vanity, and through\nthe wrong door: for the truly humble do not wish to appear humble, but only\nvile and lowly. They love to be considered as of no accounts and, as such,\nto be despised and rebuffed.\n\n3. Even this did not satisfy him. He was not content with mere natural\nvirtue, but insisted that humility must be Christian, given birth to,\nand animated by charity. Otherwise he held it in small esteem, refusing\nto admit that among christians it suffices to practise virtues in pagan\nfashion. But what is this infused and supernatural humility? It is to love\nand delight in one's own humiliation, for the reason that by its means we\nare able to give glory to God, Who accepts the humility of His servants,\nbut puts far away from His heart the proud in spirit.\n\n4. Again, our Saint taught that in striving to please God by bearing\nhumiliations, we should aim at accepting such as are not of our own choice\nrather than those that are voluntary. He used to say that the crosses\nfashioned by us for ourselves are always of the lightest and slenderest,\nand that he valued an ounce of resignation to suffering above pounds'\nweight of painful toil, good though it might be in itself, undertaken of\none's own accord.\n\n5. Quiet endurance of reproaches, contempt, or depreciation, was, in his\nopinion, the true touch-stone of humility, because it renders us more\nlike to Jesus Christ, the Prototype of all solid virtue, Who humbled\nand annihilated Himself, making Himself obedient unto death, even the\nignominious death of the Cross.\n\n6. He commended voluntary seeking after humiliations, yet he insisted upon\ngreat discretion being practised in this search, since it easily happens\nthat self-love may subtly and imperceptibly insinuate itself therein.\n\n7. Next he considered that the highest, or more properly speaking,\ndeepest degree of humility is that of taking pleasure and even delight in\nhumiliations, reputing them to be in truth the greatest of honours, and\nof being just as much ill-content with honours as vain persons are with\ncontempt and contumely.\n\nIn illustration of this he would quote Moses, who preferred the reproach of\nIsrael to the glories of a kingdom offered to him by Pharaoh's daughter; of\nEsther, who hated the splendid ornaments with which they decked her to make\nher pleasing in the eyes of Assuerus; of the Apostles, whose greatest joy\nwas to suffer shame and reproach for the name of Jesus; and of David, who\ndanced before the Ark amid a crowd of buffoons and mountebanks, and who\nexulted in thus making himself appear contemptible in the eyes of Michol,\nhis wife.\n\n8. Blessed Francis called humility a descending charity, and charity an\nascending humility. The former he compared to those streams which come down\nfrom the heights and flow down into the valleys. The latter to the slender\ncolumn of smoke spoken of in the Canticle[1] which rises up towards Heaven,\nand is composed of all the sweet essences of the perfumer.\n\n9. The Saint next gives a rare lesson on the measure or means of gauging\nhumility. Obedience is to be its source and touch-stone. This teaching he\ngrounded on the saying of St. Paul: that our Lord _humbled Himself, making\nHimself obedient_.[2] \"Do you see,\" he would say, \"by what scale humility\nmust be measured? By obedience. If you obey promptly, frankly, cheerfully,\nwithout murmuring, expostulating, or replying, you are truly humble. Nor\nwithout humility can one be easily and really obedient, for obedience\ndemands submission of the heart, and only the truly humble look upon\nthemselves as inferior to all and as subject to every creature for the love\nof Jesus Christ. They ever regard their fellow-men as their superiors, they\nconsider themselves to be the scorn of men and the off-scouring of the\nworld. Thus these two virtues, like two pieces of iron, by friction one\nwith the other, enhance each other's brightness and polish. We are humble\nonly in as far as we are obedient, and in fine we are pleasing to God only\nin as far as we have charity.\"\n\n10. He recommended all to endeavour to steep their every action in the\nspirit of humility, as the swan steeps in water each morsel she swallows,\nand how can this be done except by hiding our good works as much as we can\nfrom the eyes of men, and by desiring that they may be seen only by Him\nto Whom all things are open, and from Whom nothing can be hid. Our Saint\nhimself, urged by this spirit, said that he would have wished, had there\nbeen any goodness in him, that it might have been hidden from himself as\nwell as from all others until the Judgment Day, when the secrets of all\nhearts will be revealed. The Gospel itself exhorts us to observe this\nsecrecy, for it warns us to serve God in secret, and by hiding our virtues,\nour prayers, our almsgiving, fittingly to worship Him, Who is a hidden God.\n\n11. Blessed Francis did not, however, desire that we should put ourselves\nto the constraint and discomfort of avoiding good actions simply because of\ntheir being praiseworthy in the eyes of others. What he approved of was a\nnoble, generous, courageous humility, not that which is mean, timid, and\ncowardly. True, he would not that anything should be done for so low a\nmotive as to win the praise of men, but at the same time he would not have\nan undertaking abandoned for fear of its success being appreciated and\napplauded. \"It is only very weak heads,\" he said, \"that are made to ache by\nthe scent of roses.\"\n\n12. Above all things, he recommended people not to speak either in praise\nor blame of themselves save when doing so is absolutely necessary, and\nthen with great reticence. It was his opinion (as it was Aristotle's) that\nboth self-praise and self-blame spring from the same root of vanity and\nfoolishness. \"As for boasting, it is,\" he said, \"so ridiculous a weakness\nthat it is hissed down by even the vulgar crowd. Its one fitting place is\nin the mouth of a swaggering comedian. In like manner words of contempt\nspoken of ourselves _by_ ourselves, unless they are absolutely heartfelt\nand come from a mind thoroughly convinced of the fact of its own misery,\nare truly the very acme of pride, and a flower of the most subtle vanity;\nfor it rarely happens that he who utters them either believes them himself\nor really wishes others to believe them: on the contrary, the speaker\nis mostly only anxious rather to be considered humble, and consequently\nvirtuous, and seeks that his self-blame should redound to his honour.\nSelf-dispraise in general is no more than a tricky kind of boasting. It\nreminds me of oarsmen who turn their backs on the very place which with all\nthe strength of their arms they are striving to reach.\"\n\nThe above sentiments of Blessed Francis with regard to humility are very\nstriking, but it is much more worthy of note that he himself carried his\nprinciples strictly into practice. His actions were so many model lessons\nand living precepts on the subject. O God! how pleasing must the sacrifice\nof his humility have been in Thine eyes which look down so closely upon the\nhumble, but regard the proud only from afar.\n\n[Footnote 1: Cant. iii. 6.]\n[Footnote 2: Philipp. ii. 8.]\n\n\nUPON HUMILIATION.\n\nThe great lesson which on all possible occasions Blessed Francis inculcated\non those who were fortunate enough to come into contact with him, and to\ntreat with him concerning their soul's welfare, was that which our Saviour\nteaches. _Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart._[1] Not,\nhowever, that he attached the meaning to the words meek, and humble, often,\nbut very erroneously, given to them.\n\nBy meekness he did not understand a kind of honeyed sweetness, too often\nmixed with a good deal of affectation and pretention. A wolf's heart may\nbe hidden under the fleece and gentle seeming of a lamb, and underneath an\noutside covering of humility may lurk secret arrogance, such that while\nappearing to lie down to be trodden under men's feet, those humble after\nthis fashion may by pride in their own pretended state of perfection be\nputting all men under their own feet. Our Lord's words, _If any man will\ncome after Me, let him deny himself take up his cross, and follow Me_,\nBlessed Francis, in one of his letters, explained as follows:\n\n\"It is to walk side by side with our crucified Bridegroom, to abase\nourselves, to humble ourselves, to despise ourselves even to the death of\nall our passions; yea, I say, even to the death of the Cross. But observe,\nmy dear daughter, that this abasement, this humility, this contempt of\nourselves, must, as I have told you before, be practised gently, quietly,\npersistently, and not only sweetly, but gladly and joyously.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. xi. 20.]\n\n\nHUMILITY WITH REGARD TO PERFECTION.\n\nWhatever perfection the just man may recognize in himself, he is like the\npalm tree, which, says the Psalmist, the higher it rears its lofty head the\ndeeper down in the earth it casts its roots.\n\nAnd certainly, since all our perfection comes from God, since we have no\ngood or perfect gift which we have not received from the Father of Lights,\nwe have no reason to glorify ourselves.\n\nTruly, we can do nothing of ourselves as of ourselves, all our sufficiency,\nin good, proceeding from God. Our vanity is such that as soon as we begin\nto suspect we are not guilty, we regard ourselves as innocent, forgetting\nthat if we do not fail in one direction we do in another, and that, as St.\nGregory says, our perfection, in proportion to its advancement, makes us\nthe better perceive our imperfections.\n\nWithout purity how should we recognise impurity? It is light which makes\nus understand what darkness is. Many people not discerning in themselves\ncertain particular vices think that they possess the opposite virtues, and\nare deceived.\n\nAgain, seeing themselves freed from some earthly passions they imagine\nthemselves to be clothed in heavenly affections; and thus their ill-advised\nheart is darkened, they feed upon wind, and walk on in the vanity of their\nthoughts.\n\nOur Blessed Father, reflecting one day upon the condition of his soul\nand feeling it to be enjoying great peace owing to its detachment from\ncreatures, made his own the sentiments of the great Apostle, who, though\nnot feeling himself guilty of anything, yet did not therefore consider\nhimself justified, and who forgetting the past pressed on always\nfarther and farther, never thinking that he had yet reached the goal of\nperfection.[1]\n\nI must read you the passage in which he expresses this view of himself:--\n\n\"I find my soul a little more to my liking than usual, because I see\nnothing in it which keeps it attached to this world, and because it is more\nalive to the things of the next, to its eternal joys. Ah! if I were but as\nclosely and consciously united to God as I am dissevered and alienated from\nthe world, how happy I should be! And you, too, my daughter, how rejoiced\nyou would be! But I am speaking of my feelings, and my inward self; as\nregards the exterior, and, worst of all, as regards my deportment and\nbehaviour, they are full of all sorts of contradictory imperfections. The\ngood which I wish to do, I do not do; but nevertheless I know well that\ntruly and with no pretence, I do wish to do it, and with a most unchanging\nwill. But, my Daughter, how can it be that out of such a will so many\nimperfections show themselves as are continually springing up within me?\nCertainly, they are not of my will, though they be _in_ my will, and _on_\nmy will. They are like the mistletoe which grows and appears on a tree and\nin a tree, although it is not of the tree, nor out of the tree.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Philipp. iii. 13.]\n\n\nUPON EXCUSES.\n\nAlthough to excuse ourselves for our faults is in many circumstances\nblameworthy, whilst in general to accuse ourselves of them is laudable,\nstill when self-accusation is carried too far, it is apt to run into\naffectation, making us wish to pass for something different from what we\nreally are, or, with scrupulosity, making us persuade ourselves that we are\nwhat we describe ourselves to be.\n\nIt is true that the just man is his own accuser and that, knowing his\nfaults, he declares them simply, in order to be cured of them by wholesome\ncorrections. It is also true that it is a bad thing to excuse oneself, an\nexcuse being always worse than the fault committed, inasmuch as it shows\nthat we think we were right in committing the fault; a persuasion which is\ncontrary to truth.\n\nIf our first parents had not excused themselves, the man throwing the blame\non the woman, the woman on the serpent, and if, on the contrary, confessing\ntheir sin, they had repented, they would have crushed the serpent while in\nthe act of wounding them, and God, who had invited them to this repentance\nby His loving rebuke, _Adam, where art thou?_ would in His mercy, have\nsurely pardoned them.\n\nThis was what made David pray that God would set a watch before his mouth,\nand on his lips, lest he should be led to utter evil words. By evil words\nhe means excuses which we invent to cover our sins.[1]\n\nOur Blessed Father advises us as follows: \"Be just, and without mature\nconsideration, neither excuse nor accuse your poor soul, lest if you excuse\nit when you should not, you make it insolent, and if you accuse it lightly,\nyou discourage it and make it cowardly. Walk simply and you will walk\nsecurely.\" I once heard him utter these striking words: \"He who excuses\nhimself unjustly, and affectedly, accuses himself openly and truly; and he\nwho accuses himself simply and humbly, deserves to be excused kindly and to\nbe pardoned lovingly.\"\n\nThere is a confession which brings confusion, and another which brings\nglory. Confession, says St. Ambrose, is the true medicine for sin to him\nwho repents of wrong doing.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxl. 3, 4.]\n\n\nUPON OUR GOOD NAME.\n\nIt is hardly likely that Blessed Francis could have been ambitious of the\nempty honours attached to an office at court since he did not even trouble\nhimself to keep up his own reputation, except in as far as it might serve\nto advance the glory of God, which was not only the great but the one\npassion of his heart.\n\nWhen a very serious accusation against him was carried to the court, he\ntells us: \"I remained humble and silent, not even saying what I might have\nsaid in my defence, but contenting myself with bearing my suffering in my\nheart. The effect of this patience has been to kindle in my soul a more\nardent love of God, and also to light up the fire of meditation. I said to\nGod: Thou art my Protector, and my Refuge in this tribulation, it is for\nThee to deliver me out of it. O God of truth, redeem me from the calumny of\nmen!\"\n\nHe wrote as follows on the same subject to a holy soul who was far more\nkeenly interested in what concerned him than in what affected herself:\n\"After all, Providence knows the exact amount of reputation which is\nnecessary to me, in order that I may rightly discharge the duties of the\nservice to which I have been called, and I desire neither more nor less\nthan it pleases that good Providence to let me have.\"\n\n\nUPON DESPISING THE ESTEEM OF MEN.\n\nHe had no desire that we should make light of our reputation, or be\ncareless about it, but he wished us to guard it for the service of God\nrather than for our own honour; and more to avoid scandal than to glorify\nourselves.\n\nHe used to compare reputation to snuff, which may be beneficial if used\noccasionally and moderately, but which clouds and injures the brain when\nused in excess; and to the mandrake which is soothing when smelt at a\ndistance, but if brought too close, induces drowsiness and lethargy.\n\nIn his Philothea he devotes one chapter to the subject of guarding our\nreputation, while at the same time practising humility.[1] He did not,\nhowever, content himself with teaching by precept; he went much further,\nand continually impressed his lesson on others by his example. On one\noccasion, writing to me about some slanderous reports which had been spread\nin Paris against him, on account of conscientious and holy advice which he\nhad given to virtuous people who had sought counsel of him, he expressed\nhimself in these words: \"I am told that they are cutting my reputation to\npieces in Paris, but I hope that God will build it up again, stronger than\never, if that is necessary for His service. Certainly I do not want it\nexcept for that purpose, for, provided that God be served, what matters\nwhether it be by good or evil report, by the exaltation, or by the\ndefamation of our good name?\"\n\n\"Ah,\" he said to me one day, \"what is a man's reputation, that so many\nshould sacrifice themselves to this idol? After all,--it is nothing but\na dream, a phantom, an opinion, so much smoke; praise of which the very\nremembrance perishes with its utterance; an estimate which is often so\nfalse that people are secretly amused to hear themselves extolled for\nvirtues, whose contrary vices they know to be dominating them, and blamed\nfor faults from which they are happily quite free. Surely those who\ncomplain of being slandered are over-sensitive! Their little cross, made of\nwords, is so light that a breath of wind carries it away. The expression,\n'stung me,' meaning 'abused me,' is one that I have never liked, for\nthere is a great deal of difference between the humming of a bee, and its\nstinging us! We must indeed have sensitive ears, if mere buzzing stings\nthem!\n\n\"Truly, those were clever people who invented the proverb: 'A good name is\nbetter than riches'; preferring reputation to wealth, or, in other words,\nvanity to avarice. Oh, my God! how far removed is this from the spirit\nof faith! Was there ever any reputation more torn to pieces than that of\nJesus Christ? With what insults was He not overwhelmed? With what calumnies\nwas He not loaded? And yet the Father has given Him a name which is above\nevery name, and exalted Him the more, the more he was humbled. Did not the\nApostles also come forth rejoicing from the presence of the Council where\nthey had received affronts--for the name of Jesus?\n\n\"Oh, it is a glorious thing to suffer in so worthy a cause! But too often\nwe will have none but open persecutions, so that our light may shine in the\nmidst of darkness, and that our vanity may be gratified by a display of our\nsufferings. We should like to be crucified gloriously in the midst of an\nadmiring crowd. What! think you that the martyrs when they were suffering\ntheir cruel tortures, were praised by the spectators for their patience? On\nthe contrary, they were reviled and held up to execration. Ah! there are\nvery few who are willing to trample under foot their own reputation, if so\nbe, they may thereby advance the glory of Him Who died an ignominious death\nupon the Cross, to bring us to a glory which has no end.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Part iii. chap. vii.]\n\n\nUPON THE VIRTUES WE SHOULD PRACTISE WHEN CALUMNIATED.\n\nBlessed Francis was once asked if we ought not to oppose calumny with the\nweapons of truth, and if it was not as much our duty to keep, for God's\nsake, our good name, as our bodily strength. He answered that on such\noccasions many virtues were called into exercise, each claiming precedence\nover the other.\n\nThe first is _truth_ to which the love of God and of ourselves in God,\ncompels us to bear testimony. Nevertheless that testimony has to be calm,\ngentle, kindly, given without Irritation or vehemence, and with no anxiety\nabout consequences. Our Saviour, when He was accused of having a devil,\nanswered quite simply, \"_I have not a devil._\"[1]\n\nIf you should be blamed for any scandalous fault, of which, however, you\nknow you are not guilty, say candidly and quietly that, by the grace\nof God, you are innocent of such a sin. But, if you are not believed,\n_humility_ now claims her right and bids you say that you have indeed many\ngreater faults unknown to the world, that you are in every way miserable\nand that if God did not sustain you in your weakness, you would commit far\ngreater crimes than you are accused of.\n\nThis sort of humility is in no way prejudicial to truth, for was it not\nfrom the depths of true humility that David cried out saying, that if God\nhad not aided him his soul would have dwelt in hell.[2]\n\nShould the tempest of evil speaking continue, _silence_ steps to the front,\nand offers her calm resistance to the storm, following the teaching of\nthe Royal Prophet, who says: _And I became as a dumb man not opening his\nmouth._[3]\n\nAnswering is the oil which feeds the lamp of calumny, silence is the water\nwhich extinguishes it. If silence is unavailing, then _patience_ reminds\nyou that it is her turn to act, and, coming forward; shelters you with her\nimpenetrable shield; patience, as Holy Scripture tells us, makes our work\nperfect.\n\nIf we be still assailed, we must call to our aid _constancy_, which is a\nkind of double-lined buckler of patience, impervious to the most violent\nthrusts.\n\nBut should evil tongues, growing yet sharper and keener, cut to the very\nquick, _longanimity_, which is an unfailing, undying patience, is ready to\nenter the lists, and eager to help us. For when persecution, instead of\nyielding to our patience, is only the more irritated thereby, like a fire\nwhich burns more fiercely in frosty weather, then is the time for us to\npractise the virtue of longanimity.\n\nAnd last of all comes _perseverance_, which goes with us to the very end\nand without which the whole network of virtues would fall to pieces; for\n_it is the end which crowns the work_, and _he who perseveres to the end\nshall be saved_.\n\nIndeed, who can say how many more virtues claim a place in this bright\nchoir? Prudence, gentleness, modesty of speech, and many another, circle\nround their queen, holy charity, who is indeed the life and soul of them\nall. Charity it is which bids us bless those who curse us, and pray for\nthose who persecute us; and this same charity not unfrequently transforms\nour persecutors into protectors and changes slanderous tongues into\ntrumpets to sound our praise.\n\n[Footnote 1: John viii. 49.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm xciii. 17.]\n[Footnote 3: Id. xxxvii. 14.]\n\n\nUPON SOME SPIRITUAL MAXIMS.\n\nOn one occasion somebody quoted in his presence the maxims of a very great\nand very holy person (St. Teresa) on the way to attain perfection.\n\n  Despise the world. Despise no man.\n  Despise yourself. Despise being despised.\n\n\"Be it so,\" observed our Blessed Father, \"as regards the three first\nsayings, but, in regard to the fourth, to my mind, the very highest degree\nof humility consists in loving and cherishing contempt, and in being glad\nto be despised. David so acted, when he showed himself pleased to be\ndespised as a buffoon by his own wife Michol. St. Paul, too, gloried in\nhaving been scourged, stoned, and looked upon as a fool, the off-scouring\nand very refuse of the world. The Apostles came forth rejoicing from the\npresence of the Councils in which, for the love of Jesus, they had been\nloaded with opprobrium, contumely, and contempt. A really humble man\ndespising himself, is only too glad to find others ready to agree with him,\nand to help him to humble himself. He receives reproaches as God's good\ngift, and deems himself unworthy of aught else.\"\n\nHe had something, too, to say about the first three maxims. Taking the\nworld in the sense of the universe, it is, he said, a great stage, on\nwhich are shown the wonders of Almighty God, all of Whose works are very\ngood--nay, are perfect. But, even taking the word \"world\" in the sense in\nwhich it is mostly used in Scripture, meaning the company of the wicked, he\nsaid, that we should indeed despise their vices, yet not themselves; for\nwho knows but that they will in the end, be converted? How many vessels of\ncontempt have been, by the change of the right hand of God, transformed\ninto vessels of honour?\n\nTo despise no one, which is the second dictum, seems at first sight to\ncontradict the first, if, by \"the world\" be meant the vicious and not\nmerely their vices. It is certainly very right to despise no one, but it\nis still more reasonable and more advantageous to ourselves, who wish to\nadvance in perfection, to value and esteem all men, because created by God\nto His image, and because fitted for partaking of His grace and of His\nglory.\n\nThe third maxim, which tells us to despise ourselves, also needs some\nexplanation. We ought not under pretence of humility to slight and despise\nthe graces which God has given us. To do so would be to throw ourselves\nover the precipice of ingratitude in order to avoid perishing in the\npitfall of vanity, \"Nothing,\" said he, \"can so humble us before the mercy\nof God, as the multitude of his benefits; nothing can so abase us before\nthe throne of His justice, as the countless number of our misdeeds. We need\nnever fear that the good things God has given us will feed our pride, as\nlong as we remember that whatever there may be _in_ us that is good, it is\nnot _of_ us.\"\n\n\nUPON PATIENCE.\n\nI was complaining to him one day of a great injury which had been done to\nme. He answered, \"To anybody but you I should try to apply some soothing\nbalm of consolation, but your circumstances, and the pure love which I bear\nto you, dispense me from this act of courtesy. I have no oil to pour into\nyour wound, and, indeed, were I to affect to sympathise with you, it might\nonly increase the pain of the wound you have received. I have nothing but\nvinegar and cleansing salt to pour in, and I must simply put in practice\nthe command of the Apostle: _Reprove, entreat_.[1] You finished your\ncomplaint by saying that great and tried patience was needful to enable a\nman to bear such attacks in silence. Certainly, your patience is not of so\nhigh a stamp, since you reserve to yourself the privilege of lamentation!\"\n\n\"But, Father,\" I replied, \"you see it is only into your heart that I pour\nout my sorrow. When a child is troubled to whom should it turn if not to\nits kind father?\" \"You, a child, indeed; and for how long do you mean to\ngo on clinging to your childhood? Is it right that one who is the father\nof others, one to whom God has given the rank of a Bishop in His Church,\nshould play the child? When we are children, says St. Paul, we may speak as\nchildren, but not when we are become men. The lisping which pleases us in a\nbaby is altogether unsuitable for a sturdy boy. Do you wish me to give you\nmilk and pap instead of solid food? Am I like a nurse to breathe softly on\nyour hurt? Are not your teeth strong enough to masticate bread, the hard\nbread of suffering? Have you forgotten how to eat bread? Are your teeth\nset on edge by eating sour grapes? It is a fine thing, indeed, for you to\ncomplain to an earthly father, you, who ought to be saying with David to\nyour heavenly Father: _I was dumb and I opened not my mouth, because thou\nhast done it_.[2]\n\n\"'But,' you will say, 'it is not God but wicked men who have done this to\nme!'\n\n\"Ah, indeed! and do you forget that it is what is called the permissive\nwill of God which makes use of the malice of men, either to correct you or\nto exercise you in virtue? Job says: _The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken\naway_. [3] He does not say: The devil and the thieves took my goods and my\ndear ones from me: he sees only the hand of God which does all these things\nby such instruments as it pleases Him to use. You seem unfortunately to\nhave no wish to rank yourself with him who said that the rod and staff with\nwhich God struck him brought him consolation; [4] and that he was like a\nman helpless and abandoned, yet, nevertheless, free from the dead;[5] that\nhe was as one deaf and dumb, who paid no heed to the insults poured into\nhis ears; [6] that he was humbled in the dust, and kept silence even from\ngood words, which might have served to justify him and to defend his\ninnocence.\n\n\"'But, Father,' you continue, 'how is it that you have become so harsh, and\nhave changed your gentleness, as Job says to Almighty God, into cruelty?\nWhere is your unfailing compassion?' I answer, my compassion is as great\nand as sincere as ever; for God knows how much I love you, since I love you\nmore than myself, and how I should reproach myself if I allowed my heart to\nbe hardened against you. It is, however, too clear that the injury you have\nreceived is resented by you, since you complain of it. We do not usually\ncomplain of what pleases us, quite the reverse, we are glad and rejoice and\nexpect to be congratulated, not pitied. Witness the great parables of the\nfinding of the lost sheep and the lost groat.'\n\n\"'Well,' you reply, 'and do you really want me to tell you that black looks\nexhilarate me, and that I can bear smoke puffed in my face without even\nsneezing?'\n\n\"O man of little faith and of most limited patience! What then of our\nGospel maxims as to giving our cheek to the smiter, and our beard to those\nwho pluck it out; what of the beatitude of the persecuted; of the giving\nour coat to him who takes away our cloak; of blessing those who curse us;\nof a cordial and hearty love of our enemies? Are these sayings, think you,\nonly curiosities to be put in a cabinet; are they not rather those seals of\nthe Spouse, which He desires us to set upon our hearts and our arms, on our\nthoughts and on our works?\n\n\"Well, well, I pardon you from indulgence, to use the expression of the\nApostle, but, on condition that you will be more courageous for the future,\nand that you will shut up tightly in the casket of silence all like favours\nwhich God sends to you, so as not to let their perfume escape, and that\nyou will render thanks in your heart to our Father in Heaven, Who deigns\nto bestow upon you a tiny splinter from the Cross of His Son. What! you\ndelight in wearing a heavy cross of gold upon your breast, and you cannot\nbear the weight of one light as is your own upon your heart, but must needs\ntry to rid yourself of it by complaining! Then, again, even when it is\ngone, you must needs talk about what you have put up with, and would like\nme to consider you patient merely because you do not openly resent the\nwrong done you. As if the great virtue of patience consisted only in the\nnot revenging yourself, and not much more, as it really does, in uttering\nno word of complaint.\n\n\"Moreover, it appears to me that you are quite wrong in so much as talking\nabout being _patient_ under injuries such as you have suffered. Patience is\ntoo distinguished a virtue to be needed for so trivial an act--the lesser\ngood qualities of moderation, forbearance, and silence would amply suffice.\n_In silence and In hope shall your strength be_.\"[7] So he dismissed me,\nashamed of myself, it is true, but, like the giant of fable, strengthened\nby having fallen. On leaving him I felt as if all the insults in the world\nwould henceforth fail to make me utter one single word of complaint. I was\nmuch consoled afterwards by coming across, in one of his letters, the same\nremark about moderation and forbearance as he had then addressed to me.\nHe writes: \"Nothing can have a more tranquillizing effect upon us in this\nworld than the frequent consideration of the afflictions, necessities,\ncontempts, calumnies, insults, and humiliations which our Lord suffered\nfrom His birth to His most painful death. When we contemplate such a\nweight of bitterness as this, are we not wrong in giving to the trifling\nmisfortunes which befall us, even the names of adversities and injuries?\nAre we not ashamed to ask a share of His divine patience to help us to bear\nsuch trifles as these, seeing that the smallest modicum of moderation and\nhumility would suffice to make us bear calmly the insults offered to us?\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Tim. iv. 2]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm xxxviii. 10.]\n[Footnote 3: Job i. 21.]\n[Footnote 4: Psalm xxii. 4.]\n[Footnote 5: Psalm lxxxvii. 5, 6.]\n[Footnote 6: Psalm xxxvii. 15.]\n[Footnote 7: Isaiah xxx. 15.]\n\n\nHOW TO PROFIT BY BEARING WITH INSULTS.\n\nHe used to say that a harvest of virtues could be gathered in from a crop\nof affronts and injuries, because they offer us in abundance opportunities\nof making such acts as the following:\n\n1. Of _justice_; for who is there that has not sinned and consequently has\nnot deserved punishment? Has anyone offended you? Well, think how often\nyou have offended God! Surely, therefore, it is meet that creatures, the\ninstruments of His justice, should punish you.\n\n2. But perhaps you were justly accused? Well, if so, simply acknowledge\nyour fault, asking pardon of God as well as of men, and be grateful to\nthose who have accused you, even though they have done it in such a manner\nas to add unnecessary bitterness to your suffering. Remember that medicines\nare none the less salutary for being nauseous.\n\n3. But may-be you were accused falsely? If so, calmly and quietly,\nbut without hesitation, bear witness to the truth. We owe this to our\nneighbours, who might, if we were silent, believe the charge brought\nagainst us, and thus be greatly disedified.\n\n4. Yet, if, after this, people persist in blaming you, abandon any further\ndefence of yourself, and conquer by silence, modesty, and patience.\n\n5. _Prudence_ has its own part to play in the conflict; for there is no\nbetter way of dealing with insults than by treating them with contempt.\nHe who gives way to anger looks as if he acknowledged the truth of the\naccusation.\n\n6. _Discretion_, too, comes to the aid of prudence by counselling\ntoleration.\n\n7. _Courage_ in all its power and grandeur raises you above yourself.\n\n8. _Temperance_ bridles your passions and curbs them into submission.\n\n9. _Humility_ will make you love and value your humiliation.\n\n10. _Faith_ will, as St. Paul says, stop the mouths of lions, and more than\nthis, it will, he says, set before our eyes for our loving contemplation\nand imitation Jesus Christ Himself, overwhelmed with insults and calumnies,\nyet silent, unmoved, as one who hears not and is dumb.\n\n11. _Hope_ will hold out before you an imperishable crown, the reward of\nyour trials and sufferings which endure but for a moment.\n\n12. _Charity_, last of all, will come to you and abide with you--charity,\npatient and sweet, benign and yielding, believing all, hoping all, enduring\nall, ready and willing to suffer all.\n\nThe more we value our eternal salvation the more heartily shall we welcome\nsuffering.\n\n\nUPON BEARING WITH IMPORTUNITIES.\n\nBlessed Francis laid great stress upon the necessity of patience when\nwe are importuned. \"Yet,\" he would say, \"patience seems almost too\ngreat a power to invoke in this matter. In reality a little gentleness,\nforbearance, and self-control ought to suffice. Still, when we speak of\npatience it must not be as if it were to be employed only in the endurance\nof really great evils, for, while we are waiting for these notable\noccasions that occur rarely in a lifetime, we neglect the lesser ones. We\nimagine that our patience is capable of putting up with great sufferings\nand affronts, and we give way to impatience under the sting or bite of an\ninsect. We fancy that we could help, wait upon, and relieve our neighbour\nin long or severe sickness, and yet we cannot bear that same neighbour's\nill-bred manner, and irritating moods, his awkwardness and incivility,\nand above all his _importunity_, especially if he comes just at the\nwrong moment to talk to us about matters which seem to us frivolous and\nunimportant.\n\n\"We triumphantly excuse ourselves for our impatience on these occasions by\nalleging our deeps sense of the value of time; that one only thing, says an\nancient writer, with regard to which avarice is laudable.\n\n\"But we fail to see that we employ this precious time in doing many things\nfar more vain and idle than in the satisfying the claims of our neighbour,\nand possibly less important than those about which he talks to us,\noccasioning what we call loss of time.\n\n\"When we are conversing with others we should try to please them and to\nshow that their conversation is agreeable to us, and when we are alone we\nshould take pleasure in solitude. Unfortunately, however, our minds are\nso inconsistent that we are always looking behind us, like Lot's wife. In\ncompany we sigh for solitude, and in solitude, instead of enjoying its\nsweets, we hanker after the company of others.\"\n\n\nTHAT HE WHO COMPLAINS SINS.\n\nOne of Blessed Francis' most frequent sayings was: He who complains, seldom\ndoes so without sinning. Now, you are anxious to know what exactly he\nmeant by this, and if it is not allowable to complain to superiors of\nwrongs which have been done us, and when we are ill, to seek relief from\nsuffering, by describing our pains to the physician, so that he may apply\nto them the proper remedies.\n\nTo put this interpretation on the words of Blessed Francis is to overstrain\ntheir meaning. The letter killeth, and needs to be interpreted by the\nspirit that quickeneth, that is, to be taken gently and sweetly.\n\nOur Blessed Father condemns complaining when it borders upon murmuring. He\nused to say that those who thus complained sinned, because our self-love\nalways magnifies unduly any wrongs done to ourselves, weighing them in the\nmost deceitful of balances, and applying the most extravagant epithets to\nthings which if done by us to others we should pass over as not worth a\nthought.\n\nHe did not consider it at all wrong to claim from a court of justice,\nquietly, calmly, and dispassionately, reparation of injuries done to our\nproperty, person, or honour. He has, indeed, devoted a whole chapter in his\nPhilothea[1] to demonstrating that we may, without failing in humility or\ncharity, do what is necessary for the preservation of our good name. But\nhuman weakness is such that it is difficult even in a court of justice to\nkeep our temper and retain a proper equanimity: hence the proverb that, in\na hundred-weight of law, there is not so much as an ounce of good nature.\n\nIt was also his wish that when sick we should state what ails us quite\nsimply and straightforwardly to those who can relieve us, always\nremembering that God commands us to honour the physician.[2] To Philothea\nhe says: \"When you are ill offer your sufferings, pains, and weakness to\nthe service of our Lord, and entreat Him to unite them to the torments\nwhich He endured for you. Obey the physician; take medicine, food, and\nother remedies for the love of God; remembering the gall which He accepted\nfor love of you. Desire to recover your health that you may serve Him, but,\nif He so will, do not refuse to linger long upon your bed of pain, so as to\nobey Him; in fine, be ready to die if that is His pleasure, that you may\npraise and enjoy Him.\"[3]\n\nIt was his opinion that when we complain, however justly, a certain amount\nof self-love is always at the bottom of the complaint, and that a habit of\ngrumbling is a positive proof of our being too tender of ourselves and too\ncowardly.\n\nAfter all, of what use are complaints? They do but beat the air and serve\nto prove that if we suffer wrong it is with regret, with sadness, and not\nwithout some desire of revenging ourselves. An ungreased wheel makes the\nmost noise in turning, and in like manner, he who has the least patience is\nthe first to grumble.\n\nWe must remember, however, that all men deceive themselves. Those who\ncomplain do not mean to be considered impatient. On the contrary, they\ntell you that if it were not this particular thing, they would speak and\nact differently; but that, as it is, if God did not forbid vengeance they\nwould assuredly take it in the most signal manner. Poor Israelites! really\nbrought out of Egypt, but yet still hankering after the leeks and garlic of\nthat miserable country! Truly such feebleness of mind is pitiable, and most\nunworthy of a soul avowedly consecrated to the service of the Cross of\nJesus Christ.\n\nIt is not that we are absolutely forbidden to complain under great\nsufferings of body or mind, or under great losses. Job, the mirror of the\npatient, uttered many complaints, yet without prejudice to that virtue\nwhich made him so highly esteemed by God, and renders him famous in all\nages. It would not only be unwise, but possibly a sin, so to conceal bodily\nsuffering--under the pretext of being resolved not to complain--as to\nrefuse to have recourse to either physician or remedies, and thereby to\nrisk bringing ourselves down to the gates of the grave.\n\nEven God, the All-Perfect, does not refrain from pouring forth His\ncomplaints against sinners, as we know from many parts of Holy Scripture.\nWe must then in this matter preserve a just medium, and although it behoves\nus sometimes to suffer in silence, yet at other times we must make known\nour sufferings, since _that suffering is truly the most wretched which,\namid torments, has no voice_.[4]\n\nThe Son of God, the pattern of all perfection, wept and cried aloud at the\ngrave of Lazarus and on the Cross, showing that He pities our sufferings\nand shares our griefs. The measure of our complainings must be fixed by\ndiscretion, which St. Anthony calls the regent and ruler of the kingdom of\nvirtues, appointed to guard it from the encroachments of sin, ever striving\nto gain dominion there.\n\nOur Blessed Father gives us the following lesson on the subject: \"We must,\"\nhe says, \"abstain from a but little noticed, yet most hurtful imperfection,\nagainst which few people guard themselves. This is, that when we are\ncompelled to blame our neighbour or to complain of his conduct, which\nshould be as seldom as possible, we never seem to get done with the matter,\nbut go on perpetually repeating our complaints and lamentations; a sure\nsign of irritation and peevishness and of a heart as yet destitute of true\ncharity. Great and powerful minds only make mourning about great matters,\nand even these they dismiss as quickly as possible, never giving way to\npassion or fretfulness.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Part iii. chap. vii.]\n[Footnote 2: Eccles. xxxviii. 1, 12.]\n[Footnote 3: Part iii. chap. 3.]\n[Footnote 4: Virgil, \u00c6neid I.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' CALMNESS IN TRIBULATION.\n\nThe similitude of the nest of the halcyon or kingfisher, supposed to float\non the sea, which our Saint describes so well and applies so exquisitely in\none of his letters, was the true picture of his own heart. The great stoic,\nSeneca, says that it is easy to guide a vessel on a smooth sea and aided by\nfavourable winds, but that it is in the midst of tempests and hurricanes\nthat the skill of the pilot is shown.[1]\n\nSo it is with the soul, whose fidelity and loyalty towards the Divine Lover\nis well tested by sufferings and sorrows.\n\nThe more he was crossed, the more he was upset, and, like the palm tree,\nthe more violently the winds beat against him, the deeper and stronger\nroots he threw out. His own words express this truth so perfectly as to\nleave no doubt on the subject. He says: \"For some time past the many secret\ncontradictions and oppositions which have invaded my tranquil life have\nbrought with them so calm and sweet a peace that nothing can be compared to\nit. Indeed, I cannot help thinking that they foretell the near approach of\nthat entire union of my soul with God, which is not only the greatest but\nthe sole ambition and passion of my heart.\"\n\nOh! blessed servant of Jesus Christ, how absolutely you practised that\nteaching which you impress so strongly on us in your Theotimus, in the\nwords of blessed Brother Giles.\n\n\"One to one! one soul to one only love! one heart to one only God!\"\n\nTo that only God, the King eternal, Immortal, invisible, be honour and\nglory for ever and ever! Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: _Senec, De Providentia_, cap. iv.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' TEST OF PATIENCE IN SUFFERING.\n\nOne day he was visiting a sick person who, in the midst of intense\nsuffering, not only showed great patience in all her words and actions,\nbut plainly had the virtue deeply rooted in her heart. \"Happy woman,\" said\nBlessed Francis, \"who has found the honey-comb in the jaws of the lion!\"\n\nWishing, however, to make more certain that the patience she showed was\nsolid and real, rooted and grounded in Christian charity, and such as to\nmake her endure her sufferings for the love and for the glory of God alone,\nhe determined to try her. He began to praise her constancy, to enlarge upon\nher sufferings, to express admiration at her courage, her silence, her good\nexample, knowing that in this way he would draw from her lips the true\nlanguage of her heart.\n\nNor was he deceived, for she, sincere and absolutely patient Christian that\nshe was, answered him: \"Ah! Father, you do not see the rebellious struggles\nof all my senses and feelings. In the lower region of my soul everything is\nin confusion and disorder, and if the grace and fear of God were not to\nus as a tower of strength I should long ago have altogether given way and\nrebelled against God. Picture me to yourself as like the Prophet whom the\nAngel carried by one hair of his head; my patience, as it were, hangs on a\nsingle thread, and were it not for the mighty help God is to me I should\nlong ere now have been in hell.\n\n\"It is not then my virtue but the grace of God in me which makes me show\nso much courage. My own part in the matter is but pretence and hypocrisy.\nWere I to follow my own impulses I should moan, struggle, break out into\npassionate and bitter words, but God restrains my lips with bit and bridle,\nso that I dare not murmur under the blows dealt by His hand which I have\nlearnt through His grace to love and honour.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father, on leaving her sick-room, said to those who were with\nhim, \"She has, indeed, true and Christian patience. Instead of pitying her\nfor her sufferings we ought rather to rejoice over them, for this high\nvirtue is only made perfect in infirmity. But do you notice how God hides\nfrom her own eyes the perfection which He is giving her? Her patience is\nnot only courageous, but loving and humble; like pure balm, which, when\nunadulterated, sinks to the bottom of the water into which it is cast. Be\ncareful, however, not to repeat to her what I have just said to you lest,\nby doing so, you should excite in her movements of vanity, and spoil the\nwhole work of grace, whose waters only flow through the valley of humility.\n\n\"Let her peacefully possess her soul in patience, for she is at peace even\nin this extremity of bitterness.\"\n\n\nUPON LONG ILLNESSES.\n\nViolent sicknesses either pass quickly or they carry us to the grave; slow\nmaladies drag wearily on and exercise the patience of the sufferers, nor\nless that of those who tend them.\n\nOur Blessed Father says on the subject: \"Long sicknesses are good schools\nof mercy for those who wait upon the sick and of loving patience for those\nwho suffer.\n\n\"They who wait upon the sick are at the foot of the Cross with our Lady and\nSt. John, whose compassion they imitate; the sick man himself is on the\nCross with our Saviour, Whose Passion he imitates.\n\n\"But how can we imitate either this compassion or this Passion if we do\nnot suffer from the motive of the love of God? For the Blessed Virgin and\nSt. John, the beloved Disciple, were moved by a compassion as much more\nsorrowful than ours, as their love for the Crucified, their own dearest\nLord, was greater than ours can be. It was at the foot of the Cross that\nthe sword of grief pierced Mary's soul, and it was there that the beloved\ndisciple drank that chalice of bitterness, which, after permitting him to\nshare the glories of Thabor, the Saviour predicted should be his.\"\n\nThe whole life of a true Christian is one long period of suffering. Those\nwho endure not with Jesus Christ, are not fit to reign with Him. \"O soul\nin grace,\" says our Blessed Father, \"thou art not yet the spouse of Jesus\nglorified, but of Jesus crucified. This is why the rings, necklaces, and\nother ornaments which He gives you, and with which He is pleased to adorn\nyou, are crosses, nails, and thorns; and the marriage feast He sets before\nyou gall, hyssop, and vinegar. It is in Heaven we shall possess the rubies,\ndiamonds, and emeralds, the wine, the manna, and the honey.\" The world is a\nvast quarry in which are hewn out and shaped those living stones which are\nto build up the heavenly Jerusalem, as the Church sings:\n\n   _Tunsionibus, pressuris,\n      Expoliti lapides\n    Suis cooptantur locis,\n     Per manus Artificis:\n   Disponuntur permansuri\n      Sacris \u00e6dificiis._[1]\n\n  Thou too, O Church, which here we see,\n    No easy task hath builded thee.\n  Long did the chisels ring around!\n    Long did the mallet's blows rebound!\n  Long worked the head, and toiled the hand!\n    Ere stood thy stones as now they stand.\n\n[Footnote 1: Office of the Dedication of a Church.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' HOLY INDIFFERENCE IN ILLNESS.\n\nAs regards our Blessed Father's patience in time of sickness, I myself was\nwith him in one only of his illnesses, but others, who saw him in many\nand were frequent witnesses of his patience, gentleness, and absolute\nindifference to suffering, tell us marvels on that subject.\n\nFor my part, on the one occasion when I saw him stretched upon his bed,\nsuffering with so much endurance and sweetness, the sight at once recalled\nto me what St. Catherine of Genoa tells us of a certain soul in Purgatory.\nThis poor soul she represented as so perfectly united to God by charity\nthat it was physically unable to utter the slightest complaint, or to have\nthe faintest shadow of a desire, which was not absolutely in conformity\nwith the divine will. Such souls, she says, wish to be in Purgatory exactly\nas long as God shall please, and this, with a will so contented and so\nconstant, that for nothing in the whole world would they be elsewhere\nunless it were His will. This is exactly how our Blessed Father suffered,\nwithout in any way losing heart, because of the services which he might\nhave been able to render to God and his neighbour had he been in health. He\nwished to suffer because to do so was the good pleasure of God, Who held\nthe keys of his life and of his death, of his health and of his sickness,\nand of his whole destiny.\n\nIf he was asked whether he would take this or that, physic or food, whether\nhe would be bled or blistered, or the like, he had but one answer to give:\n\"Do with the patient what you please, God has put me at the disposal of the\ndoctors.\" Nothing could be more simple or obedient than his behaviour, for\nhe honoured God in the physicians, and in their remedies, as He Himself has\ncommanded us all to do.\n\nHe always told the doctors and attendants exactly what was the matter\nwith him, neither exaggerating his malady by undue complaints, nor making\nhis suffering appear less than it really was by a forced and unnatural\ncomposure. The first he said was cowardice, the second dissimulation.\nEven although the inferior and sensible part of his soul might be under\nthe pressure of intense pain, there always flashed out from his face, and\nespecially from, his eyes, rays of that calm light which illumined the\nsuperior and reasonable part of his nature, shining through the dark clouds\nof bodily affliction. Hence the weaker his body, the stronger became his\nspirit, enabling him to say with the Apostle:\n\n  _Gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities,\n  That the power of Christ may dwell in me._[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. xii. 9.]\n\n\nUPON THE SHAPE OF THE CROSS.\n\n\"The Cross,\" Blessed Francis says, \"is composed of two pieces of wood,\nwhich represent to us two excellent virtues, necessary to those who desire\nto be fastened to it with Jesus Christ, and on it to live a dying life, and\non it to die the death which is life. These two great virtues most due to\nChristians are humility and patience.\"\n\nHe wished, however, that those two virtues should be rooted and grounded\nin charity, that is to say, not only be practised in charity, that is, in\na state of grace, without which they are of no value for Heaven, but also\nfrom the motive of charity. This is how he expresses himself:--\n\n\"Divine love will teach you that in imitation of the great Lover we must be\non the Cross in company with humility, deeming ourselves unworthy to endure\nanything for Him Who endured so much for us; and in company with patience,\nso as not to wish to come down from the Cross, not even all our life long\nif so it pleases the Eternal Father.\n\n\"The motto of Blessed Teresa was, To suffer or to die; for divine love had\nattached this faithful servant of Jesus crucified so closely to the Cross\nthat she wished not to live, save that she might have opportunities of\nsuffering for Him.\n\n\"The great and seraphic St. Francis considered that God had forgotten\nhim and lovingly complained when he had passed a day untouched by any\nsuffering; and just as he called poverty his mistress, so he called pain\nhis sister.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father's motto was \"To love or to die.\" In his Treatise on the\nLove of God he cries out: \"To love, or to die! To die and to love! To die\nto all other love in order to live to Jesus' love, that we may not die\neternally, but that living in Thy eternal love, O Saviour of our souls, we\nmay eternally sing, Vive Jesus, Live Jesus. I love Jesus. Live Jesus, Whom\nI love! I love Jesus, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Book xii, c. 13.]\n\n\nA DIAMOND CROSS.\n\nIt was one day reported very seriously to Blessed Francis as though it\nwere some misdemeanor, that one of his penitents who was accustomed to wear\non her breast a rich diamond ornament, had had the diamonds made up into\na cross which she wore in the same manner as before, and that this was a\ncause of scandal to certain persons. \"Ah! he cried, how true it is that the\nCross is an occasion of scandal to some, and of edification to others! I do\nnot know who advised this lady to do what she has done, but for my part I\nam much edified, and only wish that all the gew-gaws and trinkets worn by\nwomen could be altered in the same holy manner. That would indeed be to\nmake vessels of the Tabernacle out of their mirrors.\"[1]\n\nAmong his letters I came across lately and with much pleasure, one which\nI think must have been written to this very lady. In it he says: \"When I\nlast had the pleasure of seeing you, dear madam, you were wearing outwardly\non your heart a cross; love it fervently, I beseech you. It is all gold if\nyou look at it with loving eyes. On one side it is true that you see the\nBeloved of your heart, dead, crucified amid nails and thorns; but on the\nother side you will find a cluster of precious stones ready to adorn the\ncrown of glory which awaits you, if only, meanwhile, you wear lovingly the\ncrown of thorns with your King who willed to suffer so much that He might\nenter into His joy.\"\n\nTo a lady advanced in years and distinguished by her piety, who was\nliving in my diocese, and whom, out of reverence and affection, he used\nto call his mother, he wrote as follows, when the infirmities of old\nage were pressing heavily upon her: \"I see very plainly that you must\nfrom henceforth accustom yourself to the maladies and infirmities which\ndeclining years bring with them. Ah, dear Lord! What happiness for a soul\ndedicated to God, to be much tried by suffering, before quitting this life!\nMy dearest mother, how can we learn the lesson of generous and fervent love\nsave amid thorns, crosses, languor, and faintness, and more especially\nwhen these sufferings are prolonged and lingering. Our dear Saviour showed\nus the measure of His boundless love by that of His labours, and of His\nsufferings. Show, my dear mother, your love to the Bridegroom of your heart\non the bed of pain; for it was on that bed that He fashioned your heart,\neven before it came into existence, He beholding it as yet only in His\ndivine plan. Ah! this Divine Saviour has reckoned up all your pains, all\nyour sorrows, and has paid with His Precious Blood for all the patience\nand the love which you need in order rightly to direct your labours to His\nglory and to your own salvation. Content yourself with calmly desiring to\nbe all that God wills you to be.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Exod. xxxviii. 8.]\n\n\nHOLY MAGDALEN AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS.\n\nOur Blessed Father had a special reverence for the picture of Magdalen at\nthe foot of the Cross, calling it sometimes the library of his thoughts.\nPerhaps this representation was before his mind's eye, when just before he\nrendered up his soul to God he murmured these words: _Wash me yet more from\nmy iniquity and cleanse me from my sin_.[1] \"Oh!\" he exclaimed, when he was\nlooking one day at this picture in my house at Belley, \"how happy, and how\nprofitable an exchange this penitent made! She bestowed tears on the Feet\nof Jesus Christ, and in return those Feet gave back to her Blood, but Blood\nthat washed away all her sins, for Christ has cleansed us from every stain\nin His Blood, and by the sprinkling of this hyssop has made us, coal-black\nthough we were, white as snow! Oh, gracious rain made by God to fall upon\nHis inheritance, how sweet, how much to be desired thou art!\"\n\n\"Magdalen seeks our Saviour while she holds Him. She demands Him of\nHimself. She does not see Him in the form she looked for: therefore,\nunsatisfied, she seeks Him away from Himself.\n\n\"She expected to see Him in His robe of glory, not in the poor garb of a\ngardener; nevertheless she knew that it was He when He uttered her name\n_Mary_.[2]\n\n\"My dear sister, my daughter, it is our Lord in the clothing of a gardener\nwhom you meet every day in one place or another, and in the various\nmortifications which present themselves to you.\n\n\"You wish He would offer you grander mortifications. Oh! my God! the\ngrandest are not the best. Do you not believe that He says to you also\n_Mary, Mary?_ Ah! before you see Him in His glory, He wishes to plant in\nyour garden many flowers, small and lowly indeed, but such as He loves.\nThat is why He wears a gardener's dress.\n\n\"May our hearts be for ever united to His Heart, and our wills to His good\npleasure.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm l. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: John xx. 16.]\n\n\nUPON THE POWER OF GENTLENESS AND PATIENCE.\n\nAn ecclesiastic in Blessed Francis' diocese, had, because of his vicious\nand scandalous life, been sent to prison. After a few days' sojourn there\nhe testified the deepest repentance, and with tears and promises of\namendment entreated the officers of the prison to allow him to be taken to\nthe Holy Prelate, who had already pardoned many of his offences, that he\nmight at his feet plead again for forgiveness.\n\nThis request was at first refused, as the officers considered that his\nscandalous life deserved punishment, if only as an example to others,\nand they knew that with Blessed Francis, to see a sinner was to pity and\nforgive him.\n\nAt last, however, they yielded to the priest's passionate entreaties, and\nhe was taken before his Bishop. Throwing himself on his knees before the\nHoly Man, he implored mercy, declaring that he would lead a new life,\nand set an example of all that was edifying, whereas before he had given\nnothing but scandal. Blessed Francis on his part knelt down before the\nculprit, and with many tears, addressed these remarkable words to him; \"I,\ntoo,\" he said, \"ask you to have pity upon me, and upon all of us who are\npriests in this diocese, upon the Church, and upon the Catholic, Apostolic,\nand Roman religion, the honour of which you are ruining by your scandalous\nlife. For that life gives occasion to the adversaries of our Faith, who\nare always on the watch like dragons to detect our slightest failings, to\ncondemn us. For a priest to sin, I tell you, is to give occasion to devils\nto mock at the lives of our clergy, and to blaspheme our Holy Faith, I\nask you also to have pity on yourself, and on your own soul which you are\nlosing for all eternity, and to seek anew God's favour, I exhort you in the\nname of Jesus Christ to return to God by a true repentance, I conjure you\nto do this by all that is most holy, and sacred in Heaven, or on earth, by\nthe Blood of Jesus Christ which you profane, by the loving-kindness of the\nSaviour, whom you crucify afresh, by the Spirit of Grace against whom you\nare rebelling.\" These remonstrances, or rather the Spirit of God speaking\nby the mouth of this zealous Pastor, had such effect that the guilty man\nwas by this change of the Right Hand of the Most High converted into a\nperfectly different being, and became as notable an example of virtue as\nhe had been an occasion of scandal.\n\nAgain--There was in his diocese a certain ecclesiastic who for very grave\nfaults, and for the scandal occasioned by them, was not only imprisoned and\ntreated while in prison with the greatest severity, but moreover, after\nregaining his liberty, remained for six months suspended from all\necclesiastical functions.\n\nOur Blessed Father most unwillingly yielded to the entreaties of the\nofficers of justice not in any way to interfere in the matter, but to let\nthe law take its course, and to leave the offender in their hands to be\ntreated with exceptional rigour.\n\nSo little, however, did this mode of dealing with the criminal answer,\nthat, though while in prison he had been tractable, humble, lavish of\npromises of amendment, and apparently penitent, when once he had shaken off\nhis fetters he relapsed into all his old evil habits, and passed from bad\nto worse. The authorities were in fine constrained to deprive him of his\nbenefice, and to banish him from the diocese.\n\nA few years later a very similar case occurred in which the officers showed\nthe same unwillingness to permit the intervention of Blessed Francis, and\nthis from no want of respect or love for him, but, as before, from a fear\nlest his gentleness and charity should hinder the course of justice.\n\nIn this case, however, the holy Bishop was firm. \"If,\" he said, \"you forbid\nhim to appear before me, you will not forbid me to appear before him. You\ndo not wish him to come out of prison, suffer me then to go to prison with\nhim, and to be the companion of his captivity. We must comfort this poor\nbrother, who entreats us for help. I promise you that he shall not leave\nthe prison except with your leave.\"\n\nAccompanied by the officers of justice he then proceeded to the prison.\nNo sooner did he see the poor man kneeling humbly before his Bishop, and\naccusing himself of his sins, than the holy Prelate embraced him tenderly,\nand turning to his gaolers said: \"Is it possible that you do not see that\nGod has already pardoned this man? Is there any condemnation for one who is\nin Christ Jesus? If God justifies him, who shall condemn him? Certainly not\nI.\"\n\nThen, turning to the culprit, he said: \"Go in peace, my brother, and sin no\nmore, I know that you are truly penitent.\"\n\nThe officials protested that the man was a hypocrite, and like that other\nsuspended priest would himself soon show that they were right. \"It is,\nhowever, possible,\" replied the Saint, \"that had you treated that other\npriest with lenity, he, too, would have truly repented; beware, then, lest\nhis soul should one day be required at your hands. For my part, if you will\naccept me as this man's bail, I am ready to pledge my word for his good\nbehaviour. I am certain that he is sincerely repentant, and even if he is\ndeceiving me, he will do more injury to himself than to me, or others.\"\n\nThe guilty man, bursting into tears, declared himself willing to undergo\nany penance that might be imposed upon him, and even to give up his\nbenefice of his own accord, if the Bishop should judge this to be the\nproper course.\n\n\"I should be much grieved if you were to take that step,\" replied Blessed\nFrancis, \"the more so as I hope that, just as the steeple in falling\ncrushed the church, so now being set up again it will make it more\nbeautiful than before.\"\n\nThe officials gave way, the prison doors were thrown open, and after a\nmonth's suspension, _a divinis_, the penitent resumed all the duties of his\nsacred office. Thenceforth he lived so holy and exemplary a life as fully\nto verify the predictions of his holy Bishop, who, when these two memorable\ninstances, one of perversion and the other of conversion, were once\nafterwards discussed before him, said: \"It is better by gentleness to make\npenitents than by severity to make hypocrites.\"\n\nI will now relate some other instances of Blessed Francis' extraordinary\ngentleness and of its softening effect upon others.\n\nHe had made himself surety for a considerable sum of money for one of his\nfriends, who, at the time when payment was due, happened to be in Piedmont\nlevying troops for the service of His Highness the Duke of Savoy.\n\nThe creditor becoming impatient for the discharge of the debt, applied to\nthe good Bishop, and insisted upon his making the money good, paying no\nattention whatever either to his gentle remonstrances, or to his assurances\nthat the debtor, though unable at present to leave his troops, would do so\nas soon as was consistent with his duty to his Prince and his country, and\nthat meantime his regular payment of the interest, and the knowledge that\nhe was worth a hundred times more than the sum owing, ought surely to\nsatisfy the creditor.\n\nBlessed Francis remained perfectly calm and unmoved amid the storm of\ninvectives and reproaches that followed this remonstrance, and which were\naccompanied by furious demands reiterated again and again, that he himself\nas surety should repay the money.\n\nAt last, speaking with incredible gentleness, the Saint said: \"Son, I am\nyour Pastor. Can you as one of my flock, have the heart to take the bread\nout of my mouth in place of helping to feed me? You know that I am much\nstraitened in circumstances, and have really only barely enough for my\nmaintenance. I have never had in my possession the sum which you demand of\nme, but for which, out of charity, I made myself surety: do you wish to\nseize for it my goods, rather than those of the real debtor? Well, if so,\nI have some patrimony. I give it up to you: there is my furniture. Turn it\nall out into the public square, and sell it. I put myself absolutely into\nyour hands to do as you please. I only ask of you to love me for God's\nsake, and not to offend Him in any way by anger, hatred, or scandal. If you\nwill do this I am content.\"\n\nThe only reply to this was a fresh outburst of furious invectives and\naccusations, to which our Blessed Father replied with unalterable serenity:\n\"Sir, since my indiscretion in making myself surety for my friend is the\ncause of your anger, I will with all the haste possible do what I can to\nsatisfy you. At the same time, I wish you to know that had you plucked\nout one of my eyes, I would have looked as affectionately at you with the\nother, as at the dearest friend I have in the world.\"\n\nThe creditor retired, covered indeed with confusion, but still muttering\ninjurious words, and calling the holy Bishop a hypocrite, a bigot, and the\nlike. Blessed Francis immediately sent an account of the affair to the real\ndebtor, who came as quickly as was possible and at once discharged the\ndebt. The creditor, full of shame and repentance, hastened to ask pardon of\nour Blessed Father, and he, receiving the prodigal with open arms, treated\nhim ever afterwards with special tenderness, calling him his _friend\nregained_.\n\nAgain, when he was in Paris in 1619, having gone there with the Cardinal of\nSavoy, who wished to be present at the marriage of his brother, the Prince\nof Piedmont, with Madame Christine of France, the King's sister, our\nBlessed Father was told that a man of tolerably good position professing\nthe so-called Reformed Religion wished to see him.\n\nIntroduced into the Bishop's apartment, the Protestant, without the\nsmallest sign of reverence, or even courtesy, addressed him in these words:\n\n\"Are you what they call the Bishop of Geneva?\"\n\n\"Sir,\" replied our holy Prelate, \"that is my title, though in that city\nI am not so much in request as I am in the other parts of the diocese\ncommitted to my charge.\"\n\n\"Well, I should just like to know from you, who are regarded everywhere as\nan apostolic man, whether the Apostles were in the habit of going about in\ncarriages?\"\n\nOur Blessed Father, in telling me this story, owned that he was somewhat\ntaken aback by the suddenness of this attack! Collecting his thoughts,\nhowever, and remembering the case of St. Philip the Deacon, who, though not\nthe Apostle of that name, was undoubtedly an apostolic man, and who went\nup into the chariot of Queen Candace's eunuch, he answered quietly that\nthey did so when convenience required it, and the occasion for doing so\npresented itself.\n\n\"I should be very glad,\" replied the man, scornfully, \"if you could show me\nthat in Scripture.\" The Bishop quoted the instance to which we have just\nreferred. His opponent, not noticing the fact of this not being St. Philip\nthe Apostle, retorted, \"But this carriage was not his own, it belonged\nto the eunuch, who invited him to come up into it,\" \"I never told you,\"\nanswered Francis, \"that the carriage was his own. I only said that when\nthe occasion presented itself the first preachers of the Gospel rode in\ncarriages.\" \"But not in gilded coaches such as yours, sir,\" returned the\nProtestant, \"nor drawn by such splendid horses, nor driven by a coachman in\nsuch superb livery. Why, the King himself has nothing better! This is what\nI complain of; and this it is in you which scandalizes me. And you, above\nall, who play the Saint, and whom the papists look upon as such. Fine\nSaints, forsooth, who go to Paradise so much at their ease!\"\n\nBlessed Francis, seeing at once where the shoe pinched, answered gently,\n\"Alas, sir, the people of Geneva who have seized upon the property\nbelonging to my See have cut me down so close as regards money that I have\nbarely enough to live upon in the most frugal way. As to a carriage, I have\nnever had one, nor money enough to buy one.\" \"Then that splendid carriage,\nwhich is, so to speak, regal, in which I see you every day driving about\nthe city is not your own?\" rejoined the antagonist. \"Certainly not,\"\nreplied the Bishop, \"and you are quite right in calling it regal, for it\nbelongs to His Majesty, and is one of those set apart by him for people\nwho, like myself, are mere attendants of the Princes of Savoy. The royal\nlivery worn by the servants ought to have shown you this!\" \"Now, indeed,\"\nsaid the Protestant, \"I am satisfied, and I esteem you. I see that you\nare in the right, and that, notwithstanding, you are humble.\" After some\nfurther remarks he put some questions as to the birth and manner of life of\nthe Saint, and was so perfectly contented with his replies that he quitted\nhim with expressions of esteem and affection, and ever afterwards held him\nin the highest respect.\n\nAgain, preaching during an Advent and Lent at Grenoble, not only a great\nconcourse of Catholics flocked to hear him, but also such numbers of\nProtestants of the Geneva following that their ministers became alarmed and\nheld meetings to decide what measures should be taken to avert a storm,\nwhich threatened desolation to their strongholds and was fast emptying\ntheir conventicles. They decided at last on a personal conflict with their\nopponent, choosing one of their most furious pastors, a man of violent\ntemper and bitter tongue, to argue with Blessed Francis, and, as they\nexpected, to worst him in a controversy. The holy Bishop, who had already\nhad much practice and success in this kind of warfare at Thonon, Ternier,\nand Gaillard, the bailiwicks of his diocese which he had brought back into\nthe bosom of the True Church, cheerfully agreed to the proposal. In answer\nto the remonstrances of his friends, and especially of one gentleman of\nBelley, a man of the greatest probity and piety, who painted the Protestant\nministers in the blackest colours, and told the Bishop that insults would\nliterally be heaped upon him, he replied, \"Well, that is exactly what we\nwant; this contempt is just what I ask. For how great is the glory to\nHimself that God will derive from my confusion!\" On his friends reminding\nhim that he would be exposing his sacred office to derision, \"What of\nthat?\" replied the Bishop, \"did not our Saviour suffer shame for us--were\nnot insults heaped upon Him?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the other, \"you aim too high.\" \"To tell you the truth,\" said\nour Saint, \"I am hoping that God will give me the grace to endure insults\nwithout end, for when we are finely humbled He will be gloriously exalted.\nYou will see conversion upon conversion following the train of this affair,\na thousand falling on the left hand and ten thousand on the right, God is\nwont at all times to make our infamy redound to His honour. Did not the\nApostles come forth rejoicing from those assemblies in which they had\nsuffered contumely for the name of Jesus? Take courage, God will help us;\nthose who hope in Him never lack any good thing and are never confounded.\"\n\nWas it possible to carry patience further than this? Doubtless, had the\nmeeting taken place, the envenomed darts of heresy would have glanced aside\nfrom the spotless, shining shield of Faith carried by Blessed Francis, but\nthe devil, fearing to be worsted in the fight, suggested so many prudent\nreasons to the Protestant Minister's friends, who, in reality, had their\ndoubts about both his virtue and his capacity for conducting the conference\nthat they got it forbidden by the Lieutenant of the King, though himself at\nthat time a heretic.\n\nAnother striking example of patience. A person of some influence and\nconsideration once applied to Blessed Francis asking him to obtain an\necclesiastical preferment for a certain Priest. The Bishop replied that\nin the matter of conferring benefices he had, of his free will, tied his\nown hands, having left the choosing of fitting subjects to the decision\nof a board of examiners, who were to recommend the person to be appointed\nafter due examination of the merits and talents of the candidates. As for\nhimself, he said, he simply presided over the meeting. Should, however, the\ngentleman's friend present himself as a candidate, he, the Bishop, would\npromise to bear the recommendation in mind. The petitioner felt piqued at\nthis answer, and quite losing his temper, replied to the Bishop in the most\ndisrespectful and even insulting manner. The gentle firmness with which\nhis anger was met only infuriated him the more, and he eventually lost all\ncommand over himself. It was in vain that the Bishop tried to soothe him by\nproposing to examine the claimant privately. This had no effect.\n\nThe Saint then said gently but gravely: \"Do you then wish me to give the\ncharge of my sheep blindfolded and to the first comer? Ask yourself if\nthere is reasonableness in such a request as you are making?\"\n\nBut not even this appeal to his reason turned the flood of the man's wrath,\nand he quitted the Bishop's presence in a passion of disrespect impossible\nto describe. A most excellent Priest who had been in the room all through\nthe interview asked the Bishop, after the departure of his impudent\nvisitor, how he could bear such treatment with the patience he showed.\n\"Well,\" he answered, \"it was not he himself that spoke, it was his passion.\nAfter all he is one of my best friends, and you will see that my silence on\nthis occasion will only make our friendship the stronger.\n\n\"More than this. Has not God from all eternity foreseen that these insults\nwould be offered to me to-day, and foreseen, too, that He would bestow\non me such grace as would enable me to bear them joyfully? Should I not\ndrain the chalice held to my lips by the hands of so loving a Father? Oh!\nhow sweet is this inebriating cup, offered to me by a hand which from my\ninfancy I have learnt to adore.\" \"But,\" returned the Priest, \"were not your\nfeelings stirred at all by this treatment?\"\n\n\"Well,\" replied the Bishop, \"I tried to overcome them by fixing my thoughts\non the good qualities of the man whose friendship I have so long and so\nhappily enjoyed. Then, too, I hope that when this storm in a tea-cup has\nsubsided and the clouds of passion have lifted, my friend will come back to\nme with peace in his heart and serenity on his countenance.\"\n\nNor was the Saint's expectation disappointed. His friend did come back, and\nwith many tears begged his forgiveness; a forgiveness which was, you may be\nsure, granted so fully and with such loving readiness as to increase the\nfervour and sincerity of their old and mutual affection.\n\n\nA REJOINDER BOTH STRIKING AND INSTRUCTIVE.\n\nIn the course of his long mission in the Chablais, he one day preached on\nthat text which commands us to offer the right cheek to him who smites\nus on the left. As he came down from the pulpit he was accosted by a\nProtestant who asked him if he felt that he could practise what he had just\npreached, or whether he was not rather one of those who preach but do not\npractise.\n\nThe Saint replied: \"My dear brother, I am but a weak man and beset by\ninfirmities. At the same time, miserable though I feel myself to be, God\nteaches me what I ought to do. I cannot tell you what I should actually do,\nbecause though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. At the same time\nwe know, that while without grace we can do nothing, with its aid we can do\neverything; a reed in the hand of grace becomes a mighty staff that cannot\nbe broken. If we are told to be willing to give our life itself in defence\nof our faith, how much more does it behove us to endure some small affront\nfor the maintenance of charity! Moreover, were I to be such a recreant to\nthe grace of God as not to bear an insult of this kind patiently, let me\nremind you that the same Gospel which reproves those who preach but do not\npractise, warns us against following the example of such teachers, though\nit bids us do what they tell us to do.\"\n\n\"Yet,\" resumed the other, \"our Saviour never presented the other cheek to\nthe servant of the High Priest who struck Him; on the contrary He resented\nthe act.\"\n\n\"What!\" cried the holy Bishop, \"you place our Lord on a level with those\nwho preach but do not practise! That is blasphemy! As for us, we entertain\nmore reverent feelings towards that Model of all perfection. It is not\nfor us to comment on the actions of Him who, as we firmly believe, could\nnot act otherwise than most perfectly. Neither is it for us to dare to\nsay: 'Why hast Thou done thus?' Yet we may well remember His zeal for\nthe salvation of that impious man's soul, and the remonstrances which He\ndeigned to use in order to bring him to repentance. Nay, did He not offer\nnot only His cheek to the smiter, but His whole sacred Body to the cruel\nscourging which covered Him with wounds from Head to Foot?\"\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' FAVOURITE BEATITUDE.\n\nHe was once asked which, in his opinion, was the most perfect of the eight\nBeatitudes. It was thought that he would answer: \"The second, Blessed\nare the meek,\" but it was not so; he gave the preference to the eighth:\n_Blessed are they that suffer for justice' sake_. He explained his\npreference by saying that \"the life of those who are persecuted for\njustice' sake is hidden in God with Jesus Christ, and becomes conformable\nto His image; for was not He persecuted all through His earthly life for\njustice' sake, although He fulfilled it in all its perfection? Such persons\nare, as it were, shrouded by the veil which hides the countenance of God.\nThey appear sinful, but they are just; dead, but they live; fools, but they\nare wise; in a word, though despised in the sight of men, they are dear to\nGod with whom they live for ever.\n\n\"Should God have given me one particle of justice, enabling me thereby to\ndo some little good, it would be my wish that in the Day of Judgment, when\nall secrets are revealed, God alone should know my righteousness, and that\nmy sinful actions should be proclaimed to all creatures.\"\n\n\nHIS GRAVITY AND AFFABILITY.\n\nGrace produced in him that wonderful and perfectly harmonious blending\nof gravity and affability, which was perhaps his most distinguishing\ncharacteristic. There was in his whole demeanour and in the very expression\nof his face a lofty and dignified beauty which inspired reverence and even\na sort of fear--that is, such fear as engenders respect and makes any undue\nfamiliarity impossible. Yet, at the same time he displayed such sweetness\nand gentleness as to encourage all who approached him. No one, however\nconscious of his own want of attractiveness, feared a repulse from the holy\nBishop, and all, feeling sure of a welcome, were only eager to please and\nsatisfy him.\n\nFor my own part I must confess that when I succeeded in doing anything\nwhich he was able to praise, and which consequently gave him pleasure, I\nwas so happy and elated that I felt as if I were raised to the seventh\nheaven! Indeed, had he not taught me to refer everything to God, many of\nmy actions would, I fear, have stopped half-way thither. People of high\nstanding in society, accustomed even to come into close contact with\nroyalty itself, have assured me that, in the presence of our Saint, they\nfelt a subtle influence guarding, restraining, elevating them as no other\ncompanionship, however noble and distinguished, could ever do. It was as\nthough in him they saw some reflection of the all-penetrating intelligence\nof God Himself, lighting up the inmost recesses of their heart, and laying\nbare its mysteries.\n\nYet his affability was no less marvellous, making itself felt the instant\nyou came in contact with him. It was not like a quality or grace acquired;\nit was not in any way apart from his own personality, it was as if he were\naffability personified. Hence that power of winning over others, of making\nhimself all things to all men, of gaining the support of so many in his\nplans and schemes, all of which had but one aim and object, namely, the\nincrease of the glory of God and the promotion of the salvation of souls.\n\n\nHOW BLESSED FRANCIS DEALT WITH A CRIMINAL WHO DESPAIRED OF SALVATION.\n\nHe was once asked to visit in prison a poor criminal already condemned to\ndeath, but who could not be induced to make his confession. The unhappy man\nhad committed crimes so terrible that he despaired of the forgiveness even\nof God, and having often during his lifetime met death face to face in\nbattle and in duels, he appeared to be quite ready again to meet it boldly;\nnay, so hardened was he by the devil that he even spoke calmly of hell, as\nof the abode destined for him for eternity.\n\nOur Blessed Father finding him in this frame of mind, and altogether cold,\nhard, and reckless, proclaiming himself the prey of Satan and a victim\nprepared for hell, thus addressed him: \"My brother, would you not rather be\nthe prey of God and a victim of the Cross of Jesus Christ?\" \"What,\" cried\nthe criminal, \"do you think that God would have anything to do with a\nvictim as repulsive as I am?\"\n\n\"Oh, God!\" was the silent prayer of Blessed Francis, \"remember Thine\nancient mercies and the promise which Thou hast made never to quench\nutterly the smoking flax nor wholly to break the bruised reed. Thou who\nwiliest not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should be converted\nand live, make happy the last moments of this poor soul.\"\n\nThen he spoke aloud replying to the despairing words of the poor wretch,\nfor, horrifying though they were, they had proved to the skilled workman\nthat there was something left to work upon, that faith in God was not yet\nwholly dead in that poor heart. \"At any rate, would you not rather abandon\nyourself to God than to the evil one?\" \"Most assuredly,\" replied the\ncriminal, \"but it is a likely thing indeed that' God would have anything\nto do with a man like me!\" \"It was for men like you,\" returned the Bishop,\n\"that the Eternal Father sent His Son into the world, nay for worse than\nyou, even for Judas and for the miscreants who crucified Him. Jesus Christ\ncame to save not the just, but sinners.\"\n\n\"But,\" cried the other, \"can you assure me that it would not be presumption\non my part to have recourse to His mercy?\" \"It would be great presumption,\"\nreplied our Saint, \"to think that His mercy was not infinite, far above all\nsins not only possible but conceivable, and that His redemption was not so\nplentiful, but that it could make grace superabound where sin had poured\nforth a flood of evils. On the contrary, His mercy, which is over all His\nworks, and which always overrides His justice, becomes so much the greater\nthe greater the mountain of our sins.\n\n\"Upon that very mountain he sets up the throne of His mercy.\" With words\nsuch as these, kindling, or rather re-animating the spark of faith not yet\nwholly dead in the soul of the wretched man, he relighted the flame of\nhope, which up to that moment was quite extinguished, and little by little\nsoftened and tamed the man's natural temper, rendered savage by despair. He\nled him on at last to resignation, and persuaded him to cast himself into\nthe arms of God for death and for life; to deal with him according to His\nown good pleasure, for his whole future in this world, or in the next.\n\n\"But He will damn me,\" said the man, \"for He is just.\" \"No, He will pardon\nyou,\" replied Blessed Francis, \"if you cry to Him for mercy, for He is\nmerciful and has promised forgiveness to whoever implores it of Him with a\nhumble and contrite heart.\" \"Well,\" replied the criminal, \"let Him damn me\nif he pleases--I am His. He can do with me what the potter does with his\nclay.\" \"Nay,\" replied the holy Bishop, \"say rather with David, _I am Thine,\nO Lord, save me_.\" Not to make the story too long, I may tell you that the\nholy Bishop brought this man to confession, repentance, and contrition, and\nthat he died with great constancy, sincerely acknowledging his sins and\nabandoning himself entirely to the most holy will of God. The last words\nwhich our Blessed Father made him utter were these: \"O Jesus, I give myself\nup to Thee--I abandon myself wholly to Thee.\"\n\n\nUPON MORTIFICATION.\n\nIt is far better to mortify the body through the spirit than the spirit\nthrough the body. To deaden and beat down the body instead of trying to\nreduce the swelling of an inflated spirit is like pulling back a horse by\nits tail. It is behaving like Balaam, who beat the ass which carried him,\ninstead of taking heed to the peril which threatened him and which the poor\nbeast was miraculously warning him to avoid.\n\nOne of the three first Postulants who entered the Convent of the\nVisitation, established by me at Belley, left it before taking the novices'\nhabit being unable to understand how Religious could be holy in an Order in\nwhich she saw so few austerities practised. She has since then, however,\nbeen disabused of her error, and has repented of it.\n\nAt that time she was under the guidance of those who considered that\nholiness consisted in mortifications in respect of food and clothing: as if\nthe stings of the flesh cease to be felt when you no longer eat of it,\nand as if you could not be temperate over partridges and gluttonous over\ncabbages.\n\nOur Blessed Father, writing to a novice in one of his convents who was\nperplexed on this subject, says: \"The devil does not trouble himself much\nabout us if, while macerating our bodies, we are at the same time doing our\nown will, for he does not fear austerity but obedience.\n\n\"What greater austerity can there be than to keep our will in subjection\nand In continual obedience, Reassure yourself then, O lover of voluntary\npenance, if, indeed, the works of self-love deserve to be called penances!\nWhen you took the habit after many prayers and much consideration, it was\nthought good that you should enter the school of obedience and renunciation\nof your own will rather than remain the sport of your own judgment and of\nyourself.\n\n\"Do not then let yourself be shaken, but remain where our Lord has placed\nyou. It is true that there you suffer great mortifications of heart, seeing\nyourself so imperfect and so deserving of reproof and correction, but is\nnot this the very thing you ought to seeks mortification of heart and\na continual sense of your own misery? Yet, you say, you cannot do such\npenance as you would. My dear daughter, tell me what better penance can be\ngiven to an erring heart than to bear a continual cross and to be always\nrenouncing self-love?\"\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nBlessed Francis was no great friend of unusual mortifications, and did\nnot wish them to be practised except in the pressing necessity of violent\ntemptations.\n\nIn such cases it was his desire that those so assailed should try to repel\nforce by force, employing that holy violence which takes heaven by storm,\nfor, as by cutting and burning health is restored to the body, so also by\nthese caustic remedies holiness is often preserved in the soul.\n\nHe used to say that to those who made all kinds of exterior austerities\ntheir custom, the custom in time becomes a second nature;[1] that those who\nhad hardened their skin no longer felt any inconvenience from cold, from\nhard couches, or coarse garments, and that when the flame of concupiscence\nkindled this dry wood they possessed no remedy which they could apply to\nextinguish the fire.\n\nThey are like the pagan king, who had so accustomed himself to feed upon\npoison that when he wished to end his miseries with his life by taking it,\nhe was obliged to live on against his will, and to serve as a sport to his\nenemies.\n\nThe devil cares very little about our body being laid low so long as he can\nhold on to us by the vices of the soul; and so cunning is he that often out\nof bodily mortifications, he extracts matter for vanity.\n\nOur holy Bishop wrote as follows to a person who regretted that her health\nprevented her from continuing her accustomed austerities:\n\n\"Since you do not find yourself any longer able to practise corporal\nmortifications and the severities of penance, and since it is not at\nall expedient that you should think of doing so, on which point we are\nperfectly agreed, keep your heart calm and recollected in the presence of\nits Saviour; and as far as possible do what you may have to do solely to\nplease God, and suffer whatever you may have to suffer according to His\ndisposal of events in this life with the same intention. Thus God will\npossess you wholly and will graciously allow you to possess Him one day\neternally.\"\n\nWith regard to the various kinds of mortification, that which is inward and\nhidden is far more excellent than that which is exterior, the former\nnot being compatible, as is the latter, with hypocrisy, vanity, or\nindiscretion.\n\nAgain, those mortifications which come upon us from without, either\ndirectly from God or through men by His permission, are always superior to\nthose which depend upon our own choice and which are the offspring of our\nwill.\n\nMany, however, find here a stumbling block, being very eager to embrace\nmortifications suggested by their own inclinations, which, after all,\nhowever apparently severe, are really easy because they are what nature\nitself wants.\n\nOn the other hand, mortifications which come to them from without and\nthrough others, however light they may be, they find insupportable. For\nexample, a person will eagerly make use of disciplines, hair-shirts, and\nfasting, and yet will be so tender of his reputation that if once in a way\nlaughed at or spoken against, he will become almost beside himself, robbed\nof his rest and even sometimes of his reason; and will perhaps in the end\nbe driven to the most deplorable extremities.\n\nAnother will throw himself with ardour into the practice of prayer,\npenance, silence, and such like devotions, but will break out into a fury\nof impatience and complain indignantly and unrestrainedly at the loss of a\nlaw-suit, or at the slightest damage done to his property.\n\nAnother will give alms liberally and make magnificent foundations for the\nrelief of the poor and sick, but will groan and tremble with fear when\nhimself threatened with infirmity or sickness, however slightly; and upon\nexperiencing the least possible bodily pain, will give vent to interminable\nlamentations.\n\nIn proportion as people are more or less attached to honours, gain, or mere\npleasures, they bear with less or more patience the hindrances to them; nor\ndo the majority of men seriously consider that it is the hand of God which\ngives and which takes away, which kills and which makes alive, which exalts\nand which casts down, as it pleases Him.\n\nIn order to heal this spiritual malady in a certain person our Blessed\nFather wrote to her: \"Often and with all your heart kiss the crosses which\nGod has laid upon your shoulders. Do not consider whether they are of\nprecious and sweet-scented wood or not. And, indeed, they are more truly\ncrosses when they are of coarse, common, ill-smelling wood. It is strange,\nbut one particular chant keeps ever coming back to my mind, and it is the\nonly one I know. It is the canticle of the divine Lamb; sad, indeed, but at\nthe same time harmonious and beautiful--_Father, not my will, but Thine be\ndone_.\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: It is not to be inferred that Saint Francis countenanced\nself-indulgence. He only wished to remove the idea common in his day,\nthat devotion must be accompanied by austerity.--[Ed.]]\n[Footnote 2: Luke xxii. 42.]\n\n\nUPON FASTING.[1]\n\nOne day when we were talking about that holy liberty of spirit of which\nhe thought so highly, as being one of the great aids to charity, Blessed\nFrancis told me the following anecdote, which is a most practical\nillustration of his feelings on the subject.\n\nHe had been visited by a Prelate, whom, with his accustomed hospitality\nand kindness, he pressed to remain with him for several days. When Friday\nevening came, our Blessed Father went to the Prelate's room inviting him to\ncome to supper, which was quite ready.\n\n\"Supper!\" cried his guest. \"This is not a day for supper! Surely, the least\none can do is to fast once a week!\" Our holy Bishop at once left him to do\nas he pleased, desiring the servants to take his collation to his room,\nwhile he himself joined the chaplains of the Prelate and his own household\nat the supper table.\n\nThe chaplains told him that this Prelate was so exact and punctilious in\ndischarging all his religious exercises, of prayer, fasting, and such like,\nthat he never abated one of them, whatever company he might have. Not\nthat he refused to sit down to table with his visitors on fast days, but\nthat he ate nothing but what was permitted by the rule he had imposed on\nhimself. Our Blessed Father, after telling me this, went on to say that\ncondescension was the daughter of charity, just as fasting is the sister of\nobedience; and that where obedience did not impose the sacrifice, he would\nhave no difficulty in preferring condescension and hospitality to fasting.\nThe lives of the Saints furnish frequent examples of this. Above all,\nScripture assures us, that by hospitality some have merited to receive\nAngels; from which declaration St. Paul takes occasion to exhort the\nfaithful not to forget liberality and hospitality, as sacrifices well\npleasing to God.[2]\n\n\"Remember,\" he said, \"that we must not be so deeply attached to our\nreligious exercises, however pious, as not to be ready sometimes to give\nthem up. For, if we cling to them too tightly, under the pretext of\nfidelity and steadfastness, a subtle self-love will glide in among them,\nmaking us forget the end in the means, and then, instead of pressing on,\nnor resting till we rest in God Himself, we shall stop short at the means\nwhich lead to Him.\n\n\"As regards the occurrence of which I have been telling you, one Friday's\nfast, thus interrupted, would have concealed many others; and to conceal\nsuch virtues is no less a virtue than those which are so concealed. God is\na hidden God, who loves to be served, prayed to, and adored in secret, as\nthe Gospel testifies.[3] You know what happened to that unthinking king\nof Israel, who, for having displayed his treasures to the ambassadors of\na barbarian prince, was deprived of them all, when that same heathen king\ndescended upon him with a powerful army.\n\n\"The practice of the virtue of condescension or affability may often with\nprofit be substituted for fasting. I except, however, the case of a vow,\nfor in that we must be faithful even to death, and care nothing about what\nmen may say, provided that God is served. _They that please men have been\nconfounded, because God hath despised them._\"[4]\n\nHe asked me one day if it was easy for me to fast. I answered that it was\nperfectly easy, as it was a rare thing for me to sit down to table with any\nappetite. \"Then,\" he rejoined, \"do not fast at all.\" On my expressing great\nastonishment at these words, and venturing to remind our Blessed Father\nthat it was a mortification, strongly recommended to us by God Himself.\n\n\"Yes,\" he replied, \"but for those who have better appetites than you have.\nDo some other good work, and keep your body in subjection by some other\nmode of discipline.\" He went on, however, to say that fasting was, indeed,\nthe greatest of all corporal austerities, since it puts the axe to the root\nof the tree. The others only touch the bark lightly; they only scrape or\nprune it. Whereas when the body waxes fat it often kicks, and from this\nsort of fatness sin is likely to proceed.\n\n\"Those who are naturally sober, temperate, and self-restrained have a great\nadvantage over others in the matter of study and spiritual things. They\nare like horses that have been well broken in, horses which have a strong\nbridle, holding them in to their duty.\"\n\nHe was no friend to immoderate fasting, and never encouraged it in his\npenitents, as we see in his \"Introduction to a Devout Life,\" where he gives\nthis reason against the practice: \"When the body is over-fed, the mind\ncannot support its weight; but when the body is weak and wasted. It cannot\nsupport the mind.\" He liked the one and the other to be dealt with in\na well-balanced manner, and said that God wished to be served with a\nreasonable service; adding--that it was always easy to bring down and\nreduce the bodily forces, but that it was not so easy a matter to build\nthem up again when thus brought low. It is easy to wound, but not to heal.\nThe mind should treat the body as its child, correcting without crushing\nit: only when it revolts must it be treated as a rebellious subject,\naccording to the words of the Apostle: _I chastise my body and bring it\ninto subjection_.[Footnote 5]\n\n[Footnote 1: The Saint is here speaking of fasts of devotion, not of\nthose of obligation.--[Ed.]]\n[Footnote 2: Heb. xiii. 2, 16.]\n[Footnote 3: Matt. vi. 6.]\n[Footnote 4: Psalm lii. 6.]\n[Footnote 5: 1 Cor. ix. 27.]\n\n\nDOUBTS SOLVED AS TO SOLDIERS FASTING.\n\nI was so young when called to the episcopate that I lived in a state of\ncontinual mistrust and uncertainty; doubtful about this, scrupulous about\nthat; ignorance being the grandmother of scruples, as servile fear is their\nmother.\n\nAt the time of which I am going to speak, the residences of our Blessed\nFather and myself were only eight leagues apart, and in all my perplexities\nand difficulties I had recourse to his judgment and counsel. I kept a\nlittle foot-boy in my service, almost entirely employed in running to and\nfro between Belley and Annecy, carrying my letters to him and bringing\nback his replies. These replies were to me absolute decrees; nay, I should\nrather say oracles, so manifestly did God speak by the mouth and pen of\nthat holy man.\n\nOn one occasion it happened that the captains of some troops--then\nstationed in garrison on the borders of Savoy and France, on account of a\nmisunderstanding which had arisen between the two countries--came to me\nat the beginning of Lent to ask permission for their men to eat eggs and\ncheese during that season. This was a permission which I had never given\nexcept to the weak and sickly. I learned from the men themselves that they\nwere exceedingly robust and hearty, and only weak and reduced as regarded\ntheir purses, their pay being so small that it barely supplied them with\nfood. Nevertheless, I did not consider this poor pay a sufficient reason\nfor granting a dispensation, especially in a district where Lent is so\nstrictly kept that the peasants are scandalized when told that on certain\ndays they may eat butter.\n\nIn my difficulty I despatched a letter at once to our Blessed Father, whose\nreply was full of sweetness and kindness. He said that he honoured the\nfaith and piety of the good centurions, who had presented this request,\nwhich, indeed, deserved to be granted, seeing that it edified, not the\nSynagogue, but the Church. He added that I ought not only to grant it, but\nto extend it, and instead of eggs, to permit them to eat oxen, and instead\nof cheese, the cows of whose milk it is made.\n\n\"Truly,\" he went on to say, \"you are a wise person to consult me as to what\nsoldiers shall eat in Lent, as if the laws of war and necessity did not\nover-ride all others without exception! Is it not a great thing that these\ngood men submit themselves to the Church, and so defer to her as to ask her\npermission and blessing? God grant that they may do nothing worse than eat\neggs, cheese, or beef; if they were guilty of nothing more heinous than\nthat, there would not be so many complaints against them.\"\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN MEAN IN DISPENSATIONS.\n\n\"It is quite true,\" said our Blessed Father, on one occasion, \"that there\nare certain matters in which we are meant to use our own judgment, and in\nwhich, if we judge ourselves, we shall not be chastised by God. But there\nare others in which, with the eye of our soul, that is, with our judgment,\nit is as with the eye of the body, which sees all things excepting itself.\nWe need a mirror. Now, this mirror, as regards interior things, is the\nperson to whom we manifest our conscience, and who is its judge in the\nplace of God.\"\n\nHe went on to say that in the matter of granting dispensations to his\nflock, he had told a certain Prelate, who had consulted him on the subject,\nthat the best rule to give to others, or to take for oneself in such\nquestions, is to love one's neighbour as oneself, and oneself as others, in\nGod and for God. \"If,\" he continued, addressing the Prelate, \"you now take\nmore trouble about granting these necessary dispensations to others than in\ngetting them for yourself, the time will come when you will be generous,\neasy, and indulgent towards others, and severe and rigorous towards\nyourself. Perhaps you imagine that this second line of conduct is better\nthan the other. It is not, and you will find the repose and peace of your\nsoul only in the golden mean, which is the one wholesome atmosphere for the\nnourishing of virtue.\"\n\n\nUPON THE WORDS, \"EAT OF ANYTHING THAT IS SET BEFORE YOU.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father held in great esteem the Gospel maxim, _Eat such things\nas are set before you_.[1] He deemed it a much higher and stronger degree\nof mortification to accommodate the tastes and appetite to any food,\nwhether pleasant or otherwise, which may be offered, than always to choose\nthe most inferior and coarsest kinds. For it not seldom happens that the\ngreatest delicacies--or those at least which are esteemed to be such by\nepicures--are not to our taste, and therefore to partake of them without\nshowing the least sign of dislike is by no means so small a matter as may\nbe thought. It incommodes no one but the person who so mortifies himself,\nand it is a little act of self-restraint so secret, so securely hidden from\nothers, that the rest of the company imagine something quite different from\nthe real truth.\n\nHe also considered that it was a species of incivility when seated at a\nmeal to ask for some dish which was at the other end of the table, instead\nof taking what was close at hand. He said that such practices were evidence\nof a mind too keen about viands, sauces, and condiments; too much absorbed\nin mere eating and drinking. If, he added, this careful picking out of\ndishes is not done from greediness or gluttony, but from a desire to choose\nthe worst food, it smacks of affectation, which is as inseparable from\nostentation as smoke from fire. The conduct of people who do this is not\nunlike that of guests who take the lowest seats at the table, in order\nthat they may, with the greater _\u00e9clat_, be summoned to the higher places.\nThe following incident will show his own indifference. One day poached\neggs were served to him, and when he had eaten them, he continued to dip\nhis bread in the water in which they had been cooked, apparently without\nnoticing what he was doing. The guests were all smiling. Upon discovering\nthe cause of their amusement, he told them it was too bad of them to\nundeceive him, as he was taking the sauce with much relish, verifying the\nproverb that \"Hunger is the best sauce\"!\n\n[Footnote 1: Luc. x. 8.]\n\n\nUPON THE STATE OF PERFECTION.\n\nThe degree of perfection to which our Blessed Father brought his Religious\nhe makes manifest to us in one of his letters.\n\n\"Do you know,\" he says, \"what the cloister is? It is the school of exact\ncorrection, in which each individual soul must learn the lesson of allowing\nitself to be so disciplined, planed, and polished that at length, being\nquite smooth and even, it may be fit to be joined, united, and absolutely\nassimilated with the Will of God.\n\n\"To wish to be corrected is an evident sign of perfection, for the\nprincipal point of humility is realizing our need of it.\n\n\"A convent is a hospital for the spiritually sick. The sick wish to be\ncured, and, therefore, they willingly submit to be lanced, probed, cut,\ncauterized, and subjected to any and every pain and discomfort which\nmedicine or surgery may suggest.\n\n\"In the early days of the Church, religious were called by a name which\nsignifies healers. Oh! my daughter, be truly your own healer, and pay no\nheed to what self-love may whisper to the contrary. Say to yourself, since\nI do not wish to die spiritually, I will be healed, and in order to be\nhealed I will submit to treatment and correction, and I will entreat the\ndoctors to spare me nothing which may be required to effect my cure.\"\n\n\nMARKS OF PROGRESS IN PERFECTION.\n\nOur Blessed Father, who did not like people to be too introspective and\nself-tormenting, said that they should, however, walk as it is written of\nthe Maccabees, _Caute et ordinate_;[1] that is, with circumspection and\norder, or, to use a common expression, \"bridle in hand.\" And one of the\nbest proofs of our advancement in virtue is, he said, a love of correction\nand reproof; for it is a sign of a good digestion easily to assimilate\ntough and coarse food. In the same way it is a mark of spiritual health\nand inward vigour to be able to say with the Psalmist, _The just man shall\ncorrect me in mercy and shall reprove me._[2]\n\nIt is a great proof of our hating vice, and of the faults which we commit,\nproceeding rather from inadvertence and frailty, than from malice and\ndeliberate intention, that we welcome the warnings which make us think on\nour ways, and turn back our feet (that is to say, our affections) into the\ntestimonies of God, by which is meant the divine law.\n\nAn old philosopher said that to want to get well is part of the sick man's\ncure. The desire to keep well is a sign of health. He who loves correction\nnecessarily desires the virtue contrary to the fault for which he is\nreproved, and therefore profits by the warnings given him to escape the\nvice from which his fault proceeded.\n\nA sick person who is really anxious to recover his health takes without\nhesitation the remedies prescribed by the physician, however sharp, bitter,\nand painful they may be. He who aims at perfection, which is the full\nhealth, and true holiness of the soul, finds nothing difficult that helps\nhim to arrive at that end. Justice and judgment, that is to say correction,\nestablish in him the seat of perfect wisdom. In a word, _better are the\nwounds of a friend_ (like those of a surgeon who probes only to heal) _than\nthe deceitful kisses of a_ flatterer, _an enemy_.[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Mach. vi. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm cxl. 5.]\n[Footnote 3: Prov. xxvii. 6.]\n\n\nUPON THE PERFECTION AIMED AT IN RELIGIOUS HOUSES.\n\nOur Blessed Father was speaking to me one day on the subject of exterior\nperfection, and on the discontent expressed by certain Religions, who, in\ntheir particular order, had not found the strictness and severity of rule\nthey desired. He said: \"These good people seem to me to be knocking their\nheads against a stone wall. Christian perfection does not consist in\neating fish, wearing serge, sleeping on straw, stripping oneself of one's\npossessions, keeping strict vigils, and such like austerities. For, were\nthis so, pagans would be the more perfect than Christians, since many of\nthem voluntarily sleep on the bare ground, do not eat a morsel of meat\nthroughout the whole year, are ragged, naked, shivering, living for the\nmost part only on bread and water, and on that bread of suffering, too,\nwhich is far harder and heavier than the blackest of crusts. If perfection\nconsisted in exterior observances such as these, they would have to go back\nin perfection were they to enter even the most strictly reformed of our\nReligious Houses, for in none is a life led nearly so austere as theirs.\n\n\"The question then is in what does the essential perfection of a Christian\nlife consist? It must surely in the first place include the assiduous\npractice of charity, for exterior mortifications without charity are of no\naccount. St. Paul, we know, reckons martyrdom itself as nothing, unless\nquickened by charity.\n\n\"I do not exactly know what standard of perfection they who insist so much\nupon exterior mortification wish to set up.\n\n\"Surely the greater or lesser degree of charity is the true measure of\nsanctity and the measure also of the excellence of religious rule. Now, in\nwhat rule is charity, the queen of the virtues, more recommended that in\nthat of St. Augustine? which seems to be nothing but one long discourse on\ncharity.\n\n\"However, it is not a question of comparing one rule with another, it is\nrather of noticing which rule is as a matter of fact best observed. For\neven had other rules, in regard to the exterior perfectness of the life\nthey prescribe, every advantage over that of St. Augustine, who does\nnot know that it is safer to enter a community in which a rule of less\nexcellence is exactly observed, rather than another where a higher kind\nof rule is preached but not kept? Of what use are laws if they are not\nobserved?\n\n\"The consequence, in my opinion, of the mistake made by those who put\nover-much stress on esteem of mortification, is, that even Religious get\naccustomed to make use in their judgments of those lying balances of which\nthe Psalmist speaks,[1] and that the simple-minded are forced to trust to\nthe guidance of blind leaders. Hence it has come to pass that true and\nessential perfection is not what the majority of people think it to be, nor\nis it reached by the road along which the many travel. May God have pity on\nus, and bless us with the light of His countenance, so that we may know His\nway upon the earth, and may declare His salvation to all nations, and may\nHe turn aside from us in this our day, that which He once threatened to\nthose who thought themselves wise: _Let them alone, they are blind leaders\nof the blind._\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm lxi. 10.]\n[Footnote 2: Matt. xv. 14.]\n\n\nUPON FRUGALITY.\n\nThe following notable example of frugality and economy was related to me by\nour Blessed Father himself.\n\nMonseigneur Vespasian Grimaldi, who was Piedmontese by birth, made a\ntolerably large fortune in France as an ecclesiastic, during the regency of\nCatherine de Medicis. He was raised to the dignity of Archbishop of Vienne\nin Dauphin\u00e9, and held several other benefices which brought him in a large\nrevenue. Having amassed all these riches at court, his desire was to live\nthere in great pomp and splendour, but whether it was that God did not\nbless his designs, or that he was too much addicted to extravagance and\ndisplay, certain it is that he was always in difficulties, not only about\nmoney, but even about his health.\n\nWeary at last of dragging on a life so troubled and so wretched, he\nresolved to quit the court, and to retire into a peaceful solitude. He had\noften in past days remarked the extraordinary beauty of the banks of Lake\nLeman, where nature seems to scatter her richest gifts with lavish hand,\nand there he resolved to fix his abode in a district subject to his own\nsovereign, the Duke of Savoy, and settling down in that quiet spot to spend\nthe remainder of his days in peace. He selected for this purpose the little\nvillage and market town of Evian, so called because of the abundance and\nclearness of its lovely streams and fountains. The little town is situated\non the very margin of the lake, and backed by an outlying stretch of\ncountry is as charming to, the eye as it is rich and fertile.\n\nThere, having given up his archbishopric and all his benefices, reserving\nonly to himself a pension of two thousand crowns, he established a retreat\ninto which he was accompanied by only three or four servants.\n\nHe was at this time sixty-five years old, but weighed down by physical\ninfirmities much more than by the burden of his years. He had chosen this\nparticular spot purposely because there was no approach to it from the high\nroad, and there was little fear of visits from that great world of which he\nwas now so weary, in the crush and tumult of which he had spent so large a\nportion of his life in consequence of his position at court.\n\nAnother reason for his choosing Evian was that the little township being\nin the diocese of Geneva, which is included in the province of Vienne in\nDauphin\u00e9, in settling there he was not leaving his own province.\n\nLiving then in this calm retreat, free from all bustle and all burdens of\noffice, with no show and state to keep up, having nothing to attend to but\nthe sanctification of his soul and the restoration of his bodily health, a\nmarvellous change was soon observed in him. Inward peace gave back to him\nhealth so vigorous and settled that those who had known him in the days of\nhis infirmity declared him to be absolutely rejuvenated, and truly he did\nfeel in his soul a renewal of strength like that of the eagle. This he\nattributed to exercises of the contemplative life to which he now devoted\nhimself with fervour.\n\nWe see thus how true is the divine oracle which tells us that to those who\nseek first the Kingdom of God and His justice all temporal things necessary\nshall be given,[1] for God prospered this good Prelate in even his worldly\naffairs.\n\nThe small sum of money which he had reserved for himself, and which he\nspent in the most frugal and judicious manner possible, so increased that\nwhen he died at the age of a hundred and two or a hundred and three years,\nhe left behind him more than 6,000 crowns.\n\nBy his will he ordered the whole to be distributed in benefactions and alms\nthroughout the neighbourhood, and in fact it relieved every necessitous\nperson to be found round about.\n\nIt was this very Mgr. Vespasian Grimaldi who, assisted by the Bishops\nof Saint-Paul-Trois-Ch\u00e2teaux, and of Damascus, conferred episcopal\nconsecration upon Blessed Francis in the Church of Thorens, in the diocese\nof Geneva, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, December\n8th, 1602.\n\nFrom this notable example we may easily gather:\n\n1. That for Prelates the atmosphere of Courts is not to be recommended.\n\n2. That it is favourable neither to the growth of holiness nor the\nmaintenance of physical health.\n\n3. That great fortunes entail great slavery and great anxieties.\n\n4. A peaceful, tranquil, and hidden life, even from the point of view of\ncommon sense and of the dictates of nature, is the happiest.\n\n5. That much more is this so when looked at in the light of grace and of\nthe soul's welfare.\n\n6. That the old saying is quite true that there is no surer way to increase\none's income than that of frugality and judicious economy.\n\n7. That one never has money enough to meet all the claims of worldly show\nand vain ostentation.\n\n8. That he who lives in the style the world expects of him is never rich,\nwhile he who regulates his expenditure simply by his natural needs is never\npoor.\n\n9. That almsdeeds is an investment which multiplies itself a hundredfold\neven in this present life and ensures the fruit of a blessed eternity in\nthe next, provided only they have been given in the love, and for the love\nof God.\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. vi. 33.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' ESTEEM OF THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY.\n\nOur Blessed Father had the highest possible esteem for the virtue of\nsimplicity. Indeed, my sisters, you know what a prominent place he gives to\nit in his letters, his Spiritual Conferences, and elsewhere. Whenever he\nmet with an example of it he rejoiced and openly expressed his delight. I\nwill here give you one instance which he told me, as it were exulting over\nit. After having preached the Advent and Lent at Grenoble, he paid a visit\nto La Grande Chartreuse, that centre of wonderful devotion and austerity,\nthe surroundings of which are so wild, solitary, and almost terrible in\ntheir ruggedness, that St. Bernard called it _locus horroris et vast\u00e6\nsolitudinis_.\n\nAt the time of his visit, the Prior General of the whole Order was Dom\nBruno d'Affringues, a native of St. Omer, a man of profound learning and of\nstill more profound humility and simplicity. I knew him well, and can bear\nwitness to the beauty of his character, which in its extreme sweetness and\nsimplicity had something in it not of this earth.\n\nHe received Blessed Francis on his arrival with his usual delightful\ncourtesy and sincerity. After having conducted him to a guest chamber\nsuited to his rank, and having talked with him on many lofty and sublime\nsubjects, he suddenly remembered that it was some feast day of the Order.\nHe therefore took leave of the Bishop, saying that he would gladly have\nstayed with him much longer, but that he knew his honoured guest would\nprefer obedience to everything else, and that he must retire to his cell\nto prepare for Matins, it being the feast of one of their great Saints.\n\nOur Saint approved highly of this exact observance of rule, and they\nseparated with mutual expressions of respect and regard.\n\nOn his way to his cell, however, the Prior was met by the Procurator of\nthe Monastery, who asked him where he was going and where he had left his\nLordship, the Bishop of Geneva. \"I have left Him,\" the Prior answered, \"in\nhis own chamber, and I took leave of him that I might go to our cell and\nbe ready to say Matins to-night in choir because of to-morrow's feast.\"\n\"Truly, Reverend Father,\" said the Procurator, \"you are well up in the\nceremonies of the world indeed! Why, it is only a feast of our own Order!\nDo we, out in this desert, have every day for our guests Prelates of such\ndistinction? Do you not know that God takes pleasure when for a sacrifice\nto Him we offer hospitality and kindliness? You will always have leisure to\nsing the praises of God; you will have plenty of other opportunities for\nsaying Matins; but who can entertain such a Prelate better than you? What\na disgrace to the house that you should leave him thus alone!\" \"My son,\"\nreplied the Reverend Father, \"I see that you are quite right and that I\nhave certainly done wrong.\" So saying he at once retraced his steps to\nthe Bishop of Geneva's apartment, and finding him, there said humbly: \"My\nLord, on leaving you I met one of our brethren who told me that I had been\nguilty of discourtesy in leaving you thus all alone; that I should have an\nopportunity at another time of making up for my absence from Matins, but\nthat we do not every day have a Bishop of Geneva under our roof. I see that\nhe is in the right and I have come back at once to ask your pardon, and to\nbeg you to excuse my apparent rudeness, for I assure you truthfully that\n_it was done in ignorance_.\"\n\nBlessed Francis was enraptured with this straightforwardness, candour, and\nsimplicity, and told me that he was more delighted with it than if he had\nseen the good Prior work a miracle.\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS' LOVE OF EXACTITUDE.\n\nThis same Dom Bruno was remarkable for his exactitude and punctuality,\nvirtues which our Blessed Father always both admired and praised. He was\nso exact in the observance of the smallest monastic detail that no novice\ncould have surpassed him in carefulness. At the same time he never allowed\nhimself to be carried away by indiscreet fervour, beyond the line laid down\nin his rule, knowing how much harm would be done to his inferiors by his\nnot preserving a calm and even tenor of life, making himself all things to\nmen, that he might win them and keep them for Jesus Christ.\n\nHe would never allow the smallest austerities to be practised beyond those\nprescribed by the Constitutions of the Order. Though rigorous towards\nhimself he was marvellously indulgent towards those whom he governed in\nthe monastery. For himself he had the heart of a judge, for them that of a\nmother.\n\nOur holy Bishop, drawing a comparison between him and his predecessor, who\nwas addicted to such excessive austerities that it seemed as if he had\neither no body at all, or one of iron, said: \"The late Prior was like those\nunskilful physicians who by their treatment fill up our cemeteries: for\nmany who desired to imitate his mortified life, and through a zeal without\nknowledge, tried to do what was beyond their strength, ended by falling\ninto the pit. On the other hand, the actual Prior of the Grand Chartreuse,\nby his gentleness and moderation, maintains among his monks, peace and\nhumility of soul, together with health of body, making them preserve their\nstrength for God, that is to say, so as to serve Him longer and with\ngreater earnestness in those exercises which tend to His glory. In doing\nthis he follows the example of the Patriarch Jacob, who, on his return\nfrom Mesopotamia, could have reached his father's house much sooner had he\naccepted the offer of camels made by his brother Esau, when he came to meet\nhim. But Jacob preferred to accommodate his pace to that of his little\nones, of his children, and even of the lambs of his flock, rather than\nto press on at the risk of throwing his household and followers into\ndisorder.\" This example was a favourite one with our Blessed Father, and I\nam reminded of another of the same kind, which he valued almost as much.\n\"Have you read,\" he once said to me, \"the life of Blessed Aloysius Gonzaga\nof the Society of Jesus? If you have, perhaps you have remarked what it was\nthat made that young prince so quickly become holy, and almost perfect. It\nwas his extreme exactitude and punctuality, and his faithful observance of\nthe constitutions of his Order. This was such that he refused to put one\nfoot before the other, so to speak, or draw back a single step in order\nto gratify himself. This, not of course in regard to things commanded, or\nforbidden, for the law of God leaves us in no doubt about such, but in\nthose indifferent matters which, being neither commanded nor forbidden,\noften make correct discernment difficult.\" There are some who imagine that\nthis way of discerning the will of God is impracticable for persons in the\nworld, and that it is only out of the world, as they call the cloistered\nlife, that one can have recourse to it. Now, although we do not deny that\nin the well-regulated and holy life of a convent by means of obedience,\nand through the medium of superiors, the knowledge of God's will in things\nindifferent can be more perfectly ascertained, and more readily acted upon,\nthan in any other state of life, still we venture to maintain that even in\nthe world it is easier to ascertain God's will, even in things indifferent,\nthan might at first sight appear.\"\n\nIt was one of Blessed Francis' common maxims that great fidelity towards\nGod may be practised even in the most indifferent actions, and he\nconsidered that to be a lower degree of fidelity which is only available\nfor great and striking occasions. He who is careful with farthings, how\nmuch more so will he be with crowns?\n\nNot that he loved scrupulous minds, those, namely, which are troubled and\nanxious about every trifle. No, indeed, but he desired that God should\nbe loved by all with a vigilant and attentive love, exact, punctual, and\nfaithful in the smallest matters, pictured to us by the rod the Prophet\nused when watching the boiling caldron, to remove all the scum as it rose\nto the surface.[1]\n\nAnd you may be sure that what he taught by word, he himself was the first\nto practise. He was the most punctual man I ever knew, the most exact,\nthough without fussiness or worry. He was not only most accurate in all\ndetails of the service of the altar and of the choir, but, even when\nreciting his office in private, he never failed to observe all minuti\u00e6 of\nceremonial in every way, bowing his head, genuflecting, etc., as if he were\nengaged in a solemn public function. In his intercourse with the world he\nwas just as exact; he omitted no detail required by courtesy, he spared no\npains to avoid giving inconvenience or annoyance to anyone. People who were\nold fashioned in their punctilious civilities, and tedious and lengthy in\ntheir ceremonious discourse, he treated with the most sweet and gracious\nforbearance, letting them say all they had to say, before he replied, and\nthen answering as his duty and the laws of politeness required.\n\nAll his actions were regular as clockwork, and the holy presence of God was\nthe loadstar of his soul. One day I was complaining to him of the too great\ndeference which he paid me. \"And for how much then do you,\" he answered,\n\"account Jesus Christ, whom I honour in your person?\" \"Oh!\" I replied, \"if\nyou take that ground, you ought to speak to me on your knees!\"\n\nOnce two persons happened to be playing a game of skill when Blessed\nFrancis was in the room. One was cheating the other. Our holy Prelate,\nindignant at this, remonstrated at once. \"Oh,\" was the careless reply,\n\"we are only playing for farthings.\" And \"supposing you were playing for\nguineas,\" returned Francis, \"how would it be then? He, who despises small\nfaults will fall into great ones, but he who is faithful and honest in\nsmall matters will also be honest in great ones. He who fears to steal a\npin will certainly not take a guinea. In fine, he who is faithful over a\nlittle shall be set over much.\"\n\nI should like while I am on this subject to add a short saying which was\noften on the lips of this Blessed Father. \"Fidelity towards God consists in\nabstaining from even the slightest faults, for great ones are so repulsive\nin themselves that often enough nature deters us from committing them.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Jer. i. 11, 13.]\n\n\nA TEST OF RELIGIOUS VOCATION.\n\nHere I will relate a pleasant little incident which befell Dom Bruno, of\nwhom I have spoken above. Our Blessed Father often quoted it as an example\nfor others.\n\nThe Germans, particularly those on the banks of the Rhine, have a special\ndevotion to St. Bruno, who was a native of Cologne, in which city he is\nhighly honoured.\n\nA young man, a native of the same place, had a most ardent desire to enter\nthe Carthusian Order, but his parents, influential people of the city,\nprevented his being received into the Chartreuse of Cologne, or into any\nother Carthusian monastery in the neighbourhood.\n\nThe youth, greatly distressed at this repulse, left the city in haste, and\ntook refuge among the holy mountains where St. Bruno and his companions\nmade their first retreat. Presenting himself at the Grande Chartreuse\nhe asked to see the Rev. Fr. Prior, and throwing himself at his feet,\nentreated that he might be clothed with the habit of the Order, concealing\nnothing from him, neither his birth, nor his place of residence, nor\nthe circumstances of his vocation, etc. The Prior, observing that he\nwas fragile in appearance and of an apparently delicate constitution,\nremonstrated, pointing out to him how great were the austerities of the\nOrder, and reminding him of the bleakness of the hills amidst which the\nmonastery was situated, and of the perpetual winter which reigns there.\nThe young man replied insisting that he knew all this, and had counted the\ncost, but that God would be his strength, and enable him by His grace to\novercome all obstacles. \"Even though,\" said he, \"_I should walk in the\nshadow of death I shall fear no evil provided that God be with me_.\" Then\nthe Prior took a more serious tone. Determined to test to the utmost the\ncourage and resolution of the postulant, he asked him sharply if he knew\nall that was required of those who aspire to enter the Carthusian Order.\n\"Are you aware,\" he said, \"that in the first place we require him to work\nat least one miracle? Can you do that?\" \"I cannot,\" replied the young\nman, \"but the power of God within me can. I trust myself entirely to His\ngoodness. I am certain that having called me to serve Him in this vocation,\nand implanted in me a thorough disgust for the things of the world, He will\nnot permit me to look back, nor to return to that corrupt society which,\nwith all my heart and soul, I have renounced. Ask of me whatever sign you\nwill, I am convinced that God will work a miracle, even through me, in\ntestimony of this truth.\"\n\nAs he spoke the blood mounted to his forehead, his eyes shone like stars,\nhis whole visage seemed on fire with enthusiasm.\n\nDom Bruno, astonished at the vehemence of his words, opened his arms, and\nclasping him to his heart received him at once among his children. Then\nturning to those who stood around him, \"My brothers,\" he said, \"his is an\nundeniable vocation. May God of His clemency often send such labourers\ninto the harvest of the Chartreuse.\" And to the young postulant, \"Have\nconfidence, my son, God will help you, and will love you, and you will love\nHim, and will serve Him among us. This is the miracle we expect you to\nwork.\"\n\nYou will ask me, perhaps, what use our Blessed Father could make of this\nexample. I will tell you. When he was admitting any young girl into your\ncongregation, my sisters, he invariably referred to it. He used to speak\nto her only of Calvary, of the nails, the thorns, the crosses, of inward\nmortification, of surrender of will, and crucifixion of private judgment,\nof dying wholly to self, in order to live only with God, in God, and for\nGod: in fine, of living no longer according to natural inclinations and\nfeelings, but absolutely according to the spirit of faith, and of your\ncongregation.\n\nDid anyone object that your Order was not so rigorous, or severe, as he\nmade it out to be; but that, on the contrary, the life led by its members\nwas easy, without many outward austerities, as was proved by the fact that\neven the infirm and sickly were admitted into it, and attained to the same\nsanctity as the rest, he replied: \"Believe me, that if the body is there\npreserved as if it were a vessel of election, the spirit is there tested\nand tried in all possible ways, since the spirit that fails to stand every\npossible trial is no stone fit for the building up of this congregation.\"\n\nHe went on to quote from the life of St. Bernard. Against that holy man it\nwas once urged that the austerities and bodily macerations practised in\nhis Order frightened away young men, and deterred them from entering it,\n\"Many,\" said the Saint, \"see our crosses, but see not how well we are able\nto carry them. It happens to our crosses, as it does to those which are\npainted on the walls of a church when the Bishop in consecrating it makes a\nsecond cross upon them with holy oil. The people see the cross made by the\npainter, but they do not see that with which the Bishop has covered it. Our\ncrosses, so plainly visible, are softened by very many inward consolations,\nwhich are concealed from the eyes of worldlings because they understand\nnot the spiritual things of God, nor see how we can find peace in this\nbitterness which so repels those whose only thought is of themselves, and\nof their own pleasures. In very truth,\" our Blessed Father continued, \"the\nworldling may notice in the rosebed of religion only the loveliness of\nthe flowers, and the sweetness of their perfume, but these conceal many\na thorn. The crosses of community life are hidden because the sisters of\nthis congregation have by _interior_ mortification to make up for what is\nlacking in external austerities.\n\n\"This law of your Institute has been established out of consideration for\nthe weak and infirm, who may be admitted among you, and to whose service\nthe stronger members have to devote themselves. This is the reason why all\nwho purpose to enter the Order have to resolve to make war to the death\nagainst their private judgment, and still more against their self-will\nand self-love. This is why all ought to mortify all their passions and\naffections, and absolutely to bend their understanding under the yoke of\nobedience, to live, in short, no longer according to the old man, but\nentirely according to the new man, in holiness and in justice. So to live\nas to bear a continual cross even until death, and dying upon it, with the\nSon of God, to say, _With Christ I am nailed to the Cross_, and _I live,\nnow not I, but Christ liveth in me._\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Gal. ii. 19, 20.]\n\n\nUPON FOLLOWING THE COMMON LIFE.\n\nHe always praised _common_ life very highly. His exalted opinion of its\nmerits made him refuse to allow the Sisters of the Visitation to practise\nextraordinary austerities in respect to dress or food. For these matters\nhe prescribed rules such as can easily be observed by anyone who wishes to\nlead a christian life in the world. His spiritual daughters, following this\ndirection, imitate the example of Jesus Christ, of His Blessed Mother, and\nof the disciples of our Lord, who led no other kind of life. For the rest,\nthey have at all times to submit themselves to the discretion and judgment\nof their superiors, whose duty it is to decide for them on the expediency\nof extraordinary mortifications after hearing the circumstances of the case\nof any individual sister.\n\nOur Saint himself often, indeed, practised bodily mortifications, but\nalways with judgment and prudence, for he knew full well that the object of\nsuch austerities is the preservation of purity of soul, not the destruction\nof bodily health.\n\nIn one word, he practically set the life of Jesus Christ before that of St.\nJohn the Baptist.\n\n\nUPON THE JUDGING OF VOCATIONS.\n\nAlthough our Blessed Father has given you the fullest possible instructions\non this subject, in his seventeenth Conference, entitled, _On voting in a\nCommunity_, I see that you are not quite satisfied in the matter.\n\nI know very well that your dissatisfaction does not arise from any unworthy\nmotive, but only from a conscientious desire to do your duty to God, and\nto the sisters whom you have in a way to judge. To relieve your minds of\ndoubt, I am about to supplement the teaching of that Conference with a few\nthoughts suggested to me at various times by Blessed Francis himself, which\nI put before you in words of my own.\n\nIn the first place, we must be careful never to confuse the terms\n_vocation_ and _avocation_, for their meaning is very different.\n\nAn _avocation_ is the condition of life in which we serve God.\n\nA _vocation_ is His call to that condition of life. When we call a servant\nto command him to do something, the calling him is one thing, his obeying\nand employing himself as directed quite another; and this, even if he do\nthe work precisely as he is told, and no more. Now, there are two sorts of\nvocation. The first is the call to faith or grace; the second, the call to\na particular avocation in life.\n\nTo follow the first vocation, viz., to Faith, is necessary for salvation,\nsince he who refuses to listen to this call and to obey its voice risks\nthe loss of his immortal soul. A pagan or heretic called by God to embrace\nChristianity or to submit to the Catholic Church, and to the end neglecting\nthis call, must needs be lost, for out of the true Church there is no\nsalvation. Again, if a member of the true Church who is spiritually dead in\nmortal sin, refuse to listen to the call, or vocation, of preventing grace\nwhich bids him return to God by confession, or by contrition of heart, he\nis in a state of damnation.\n\nNot so, however, with the second kind of call or vocation. As this is only\nto some particular condition of life in the world or the cloister, although\nwe must not neglect it, but must listen with respect to what it may please\nGod to say to our heart, yet essentially it is not of vital importance to\nthe welfare of our soul that we should follow such a call, since, at the\nmost, it is but an inward counsel, which may be acted upon or not according\nto our choice.\n\nAnd now remember that the counsels given in Holy Scripture are not\nprecepts.[1] Our Blessed Father has often said that it would be not only\nan error, but a heresy, to maintain that there is any kind of legitimate\ncalling or avocation in which it is impossible to save one's soul. On the\ncontrary, in each, grace is offered, by means of which we may safely walk\nbefore God in holiness and justice all the days of our life.\n\nTo deny this would be to cut off from the hope of salvation, not thousands\nonly, but millions of men and women, those, namely, who are engaged all\ntheir lives long in occupations which they have undertaken, not only\nwithout a vocation from God, but sometimes even against their own\ninclination.\n\nThis is the teaching of this Blessed Father in his Philothea, where he\nsays, \"It is an error, nay, a heresy, to wish to exclude the highest\nholiness of life from the soldier's barrack, the mechanic's workshop, the\ncourts of princes, or the household of married people.\"\n\nHe used to say that it is not sufficient merely to love our calling, but\nthat our most earnest endeavours as true and faithful Christians should be\nto strive to attain perfection in that same calling.\n\nHe remarked, too, that we do wrong to waste time in arguing as to what that\nperfection consists in. The glory of God should be the one aim of every\ndevout soul.\n\nOnly by the practice of virtue can that final end be reached, and no virtue\nunaccompanied by charity avails to attain to it. Therefore, charity is the\nbond of all perfection, nay, itself is all perfection.\n\nHe attached much more importance to the spirit in which a vocation is\nfollowed out, than to the mere fact of its being embraced.\n\nAnd this because the salvation of our souls, which we shall owe to God's\ngrace, does not depend so much on the nature of our particular vocation or\ncalling, but on our own persevering faithful submission to the will of God,\nwhich will of God is the salvation of us all.\n\nNow, as we can save our souls, so we can also lose them in any calling\nwhatsoever.\n\nWould you desire a more unmistakable vocation than that of King Saul, or\none more glorious than that of Judas? Yet both were lost. Where will you\nfind one more troubled, and more interrupted by sin, than that of King\nDavid? Yet in spite of all that happened to him, how happy was its issue.\n\nThe vocation of a certain young lady who resolved upon taking the veil, but\nonly out of a sort of despair, and because irritated against her family,\nwas nevertheless approved by our Blessed Father, who to justify his\napproval gave the following explanation.\n\n\"As regards the vocation of this young lady, I consider it good, mingled\nthough it be in her mind with imperfections and desirable though it would\nhave been that she should have come to God simply and solely for the sake\nof the happiness of being wholly His. Remember that those whom God calls to\nHimself are not all drawn by Him with the same kind, or degree, of motives.\n\n\"There are but few who give themselves absolutely to His service from the\none only desire to be His, and to serve Him alone.\n\n\"Among the women whose conversion the Gospel has made famous, Magdalen\nalone came through love, and with love.\n\n\"The adulteress came through public shame, the woman of Samaria from\nprivate and individual self-reproach, the woman of Canaan in order to\nbe healed of bodily infirmity. Again, among the saints, St. Paul, the\nfirst hermit, at the age of fifteen, took refuge in his cave to escape\npersecution. St. Ignatius Loyola came through distress and suffering, and\nso on with hundreds of others. We must not expect all to begin by being\nperfect. It matters little how we commence, provided only that we are\nfirmly resolved to go on well, and to end well. Certainly Leah intruded\nwith scant courtesy into Rachel's promised place, as the wife of Jacob, yet\nshe afterwards conducted herself so irreproachably, and behaved with such\nmodesty and sweetness, that to her rather than to Rachel was vouchsafed the\nblessing of being an ancestress of our Lord.\n\n\"Those who were compelled to come into the marriage feast in the Gospel,\nate, and drank of the best, nor, had they been the guests for whom the\nbanquet was prepared, could they have fared better. If, then, we would have\na pledge of their good living and perseverance, we must lock at the good\ndispositions of those who enter Religion rather than at the motives which\nimpel them: for there are many souls who would not have entered the convent\nat all if the world had smiled upon them, and whom we nevertheless may find\nto be resolute in trampling under their feet the vanities of that same\nworld.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. vii.]\n\n\nUPON PRUDENCE AND SIMPLICITY.\n\n\"I know not,\" said our Blessed Father, on one occasion, \"what this poor\nvirtue of prudence has done to me that I find it so difficult to love it:\nif I do so at all, it is only because I have no choice in the matter,\nseeing that it is the very salt of life, and a light to show us the way out\nof its difficulties.\n\n\"On the other hand, the beauty of simplicity charms me. I would rather\npossess the harmlessness of one dove than the wisdom of a hundred serpents.\nI know that a combination of wisdom and simplicity is useful, and that the\nGospel recommends it to us;[1] but I am of opinion that in this matter it\nshould be as it is with certain medicines, in which a minute dose of poison\nis mixed with many wholesome drugs. If the doses, of serpent and dove were\nequal, I would not trust the medicine; the serpent can kill the dove, the\ndove cannot kill the serpent. Besides, there is a sort of prudence that is\nhuman and worldly which Scripture calls carnal wisdom,[2] as it is only\nused for wrong-doing, and is so dangerous and so subtle that those who\npossess it are unconscious of their own danger. They deceive others, yet\nare the first to be themselves deceived.\n\n\"I am told that in an age so crafty as our own prudence is necessary, if\nonly to prevent our being wronged. I say nothing against this dictum, but\nI do believe that more in harmony with the mind of the Gospel is that\nwhich teaches us that it is great wisdom in the sight of God to suffer\nmen to devour us, and to take away our goods,[3] bearing the loss of them\njoyfully, knowing that a better and a more secure substance awaits us. In\na word, a good Christian should always choose rather to be the anvil than\nthe hammer, the robbed than the robber, the victim than the murderer, the\nmartyr than the tyrant. Let the world rage, let the prudence of so-called\nphilosophy stand aghast, let the flesh despair; it is better to be good and\nsimple than clever and wicked.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. x. 16.]\n[Footnote 2: Rom. viii. 6.]\n[Footnote 3: 2 Cor. xi. 20.]\n\n\nTHE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\n\nSome of the friends of our Saint, actuated by this spirit of worldly\nprudence, having seen the flattering reception given by the public to\nhis Philothea, which had at once been translated into various languages,\nadvised him not to write any more books, as it was impossible that any\nother work from his pen should meet with equal success.\n\nThese remarks were unwelcome to our Blessed Father, who afterwards said to\nme: \"These good people no doubt love me, and their love makes them speak\nas they do, out of the abundance of their hearts; but if they will only be\nso good as to turn their eyes for a moment from me, vile and wretched as I\nam, and fix them upon God, they will soon change their note; for if it has\npleased Him to give His blessing to that first little book of mine, why\nshould He deny it to my next? And if from little Philothea He made His\nglory to shine forth, as He brought forth the light from darkness,[1] and\nthe sacred fire from the clay[2], is His arm thereby shortened, or His\npower diminished? Can He not make living and thirst-quenching water flow\nforth from the jaw-bone of an ass? But these good people do not dwell upon\nsuch considerations; they think solely of my personal glory, as if we ought\nto desire credit for ourselves, and not rather ascribe all to God, who\nworks in us whatever good seems to emanate from us.\n\n\"Now, according to the spirit of the Gospel, so far from its being right to\ndepend upon the applause of the world, St. Paul declares that if we please\nmen, we are not the servants of God,[3] the friendship of the world being\nenmity with God. If then that little book has brought to me some vain\nand unmerited praise, it would be well worth my while to build upon its\nfoundation some inferior work, so as to beat down the smoke of this\nincense, and earn that contempt from men which makes us so much the more\npleasing to God, because we are thereby more and more crucified to the\nworld.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Gen. i. 2, 3.]\n[Footnote 2: Mach. i. 19, 22.]\n[Footnote 3: Gal. i. 10.]\n\n\nUPON MENTAL PRAYER.\n\nI once asked our Blessed Father if it was not better to take one single\npoint for mental prayer, and to draw from this point one single affection\nand resolution, as I thought that by taking three points and deducing from\nthem very many affections and resolutions great confusion and perplexity\nof mind were occasioned. He replied that unity and simplicity in all\nthings, but especially in spiritual exercises, must always be preferred to\nmultiplicity and complexity, but that to beginners, and to those little\nskilled in this exercise, several points should be proposed so as fully to\noccupy their minds.\n\nI enquired whether, supposing that a single point were taken, it would not\nbe better to dwell likewise upon only one affection and resolution rather\nthan upon several. He answered that when Spring is richest in flowers, bees\nmake the least honey, because they are so delighted to flutter from flower\nto flower that they do not give themselves time to extract the essence and\nspirit of which they form their combs. Drones make a great deal of noise\nand produce a very small result. And to the question whether it was not\nbetter often to repeat and dwell upon the same affection and resolution,\nrather than to develop and expand it by thinking it out, he replied that we\nought to imitate painters and sculptors, who work by repeating again and\nagain the strokes of their brush and chisel, and that in order to make a\ndeep impression on the heart it is often necessary to go over the same\nthing many times.\n\nHe added that as those sink, who in swimming move their legs and arms too\nrapidly, it being necessary to stretch them leisurely and easily, so also\nthose who are too eager in mental prayer, faint away in their thoughts,\ntheir distracted meditations causing them only pain and dissatisfaction.\n\nI am asked to explain that saying attributed by our Blessed Father to the\ngreat St. Anthony, that he who prays ought to have his mind so fixed upon\nGod, as even to forget that he is praying. Here is the explanation in our\nSaint's own words. He says in one of his Conferences: \"The soul must be\nkept steadfastly in this path (that, namely, of love and confidence in God)\nwithout allowing it to waste its powers in continually trying to ascertain\nwhat precisely it is doing and whether its work is satisfactory. Alas! our\nsatisfactions and consolations do not always satisfy God: they only feed\nthat miserable love and care of ourselves which has to do neither with God\nnor with the thought of God. Certainly, children whom our Lord has set\nbefore us as models of the perfection to be aimed at by us are, generally\nspeaking, especially in the presence of their parents, quite untroubled\nabout what is to happen. They cling to them without a thought of providing\nfor themselves. The pleasures their parents procure them they accept in\ngood faith and enjoy in simplicity, without any curiosity whatever as to\ntheir causes or effects. The love they feel for their parents and their\nreliance upon them is all they need. Those whose one desire is to please\nthe Divine Lover have neither inclination nor leisure to turn back upon\nthemselves, for their minds tend continually in the direction whither love\ncarries them.\"[1]\n\nThere is a saying of Tauler's, that holy man who wrote a book on mystic\ntheology, which our Blessed Francis held in high esteem, and was never\nweary of inculcating upon those of his disciples who were anxious to lead a\ndevout life, or who, having already entered upon it, needed encouragement\nto make progress in it. Tauler was asked where he, who was so great a\ncontemplative, and who held such close and familiar communication with God,\nhad found God. He answered, \"Where I found myself.\" On being further asked\nwhere he had found himself, he said, \"Where I forgot myself in God.\"\n\nHe went on to say, \"We must lose ourselves in order to find ourselves in\nGod, as it is written: _He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that\nhateth his life in this--world keepeth it unto life eternal._[2] _No man\ncan serve two masters, God and mammon._[3] To follow one you must of\nnecessity quit the other. _There is no fellowship between light and\ndarkness or between Christ and Belial._[4]\n\n\"The two lovers who built, one the City of Jerusalem, the other the City of\nBabylon, of whom St. Augustine speaks, have nothing in common. It is the\nstruggle of Esau and Jacob over again.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Conf. xii.]\n[Footnote 2: John xii. 25.]\n[Footnote 3: St. Matt. 24.]\n[Footnote 4: Cor. vi. 14, 15.]\n\n\nUPON ASPIRATIONS.\n\nAs the Saint's own ordinary and favourite spiritual exercise was the\npractice of the presence of God, so he advised those whom he directed in\nthe ways of holiness to devote themselves most earnestly to recollection,\nand to the use of frequent aspirations or ejaculatory prayers.\n\nOn one occasion I asked him whether there would be more spiritual loss in\nomitting the exercise of mental prayer or in omitting that of recollection\nand aspirations. He answered that the omission of mental prayer might be\nrepaired during the day or night by frequent withdrawal of the mind into\nGod and by aspirations to Him, but that mental prayer unaccompanied by\naspirations was, in his estimation, like a bird with clipped wings. He went\non to say that: \"by recollection we retire into God, and draw God into\nourselves, as it is written: _I opened my mouth, and panted, because I\nlonged for Thy commandments_,[1] by which is meant the mouth of the heart\nto which God always graciously inclines His ear. In the Canticle the bride\nsays that her Beloved led her into His _cellar of wine, he set in order\ncharity in me_.[2] Or, as another version has it, _He enrolled me under the\nbanner of His love_. Just as wine is stored up in vaults or cellars, and\nas soldiers gather under their standards or banners; so all the faculties\nof our soul gather together around the goodness and love of God by short\nspiritual retreats, made from time to time throughout the day. But when are\nthey made, and in what place? At any moment, and in any place, and there\nis no meal, or company, or employment, or occupation of any sort which can\nhinder them, just as they on their part neither hinder nor interfere with\nanything that has to be done. On the contrary, this is a salt which seasons\nevery kind of food, or rather a sugar which never spoils any sauce. It\nconsists only in inward glances from ourselves and from God, from ourselves\ninto God, and from God into ourselves, without pictures or speech, or any\noutward aid; and the simpler this recollection is the better it is. As\nregards aspirations, they also are short but swift dartings of the soul\ninto God, and can be made by a simple mental glance cast towards Him. _Cast\nthy care_, or thoughts, _upon the Lord_,[3] says David. The more vigorously\nan arrow is shot from the bow the more swift is its flight. The more\nvehement and loving is an aspiration, the more truly is it a spiritual\nlightning-flash. These transports or aspirations, of which we have so many\nformulas, are the better the shorter they are. One of St. Bruno seems to me\nexcellent on account of its brevity: _O goodness of God_; that also of St.\nFrancis, _My God and my all_! and that of St. Augustine, _Oh! to love, to\ngo forward, to die to self, to reach God_!\"\n\nOur Blessed Father treats excellently of these two exercises in his\nPhilothea, and recommends them strongly, saying that they hold to one\nanother, as did Jacob and Esau at their birth, and follow one another,\nas do respiration and aspiration. And just as in respiration we draw the\nfresh outer air into our lungs, and by aspiration drive out that into which\nthe heat of our bodies has entered, so by the breath of recollection we\ndraw God into ourselves, or retire into God, and by aspirations we cast\nourselves into the arms of His goodness.\n\nHappy the soul that often thus breathes, and thus aspires, for she abides\nin God and God in her.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxviii, 131.]\n[Footnote 2: Cant. ii. 4.]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm liv. 23.]\n\n\nUPON INTERIOR RECOLLECTION AND EJACULATORY PRAYERS.\n\nThe two exercises which he especially recommended to his penitents were\ninterior recollection and ejaculatory aspirations and prayers. By them, he\nsaid, the defects of all other spiritual exercises might be remedied, and\nwithout them those others were saltless, that is, without savour. He called\ninterior recollection the collecting or gathering up of all the powers of\nthe soul into the heart, there to hold communion with God, alone with Him,\nheart to heart.\n\nThis Blessed Francis could do in all places and at all hours without being\nhindered by any company or occupations. This recollection of God and of\nourselves was the favourite exercise of the great St. Augustine, who so\noften exclaimed: \"Lord, let me know Thee, and know myself!\" and of the\ngreat St. Francis, who cried out: \"Who art Thou, my God and my Lord? and\nwho am I, poor dust and a worm of the earth?\" This frequent looking up to\nGod and then down upon ourselves keeps us wonderfully to our duties, and\neither prevents us from falling, or helps us to raise ourselves quickly\nfrom our falls, as the Psalmist says: _I set the Lord always in my sight:\nfor He is at my right hand, that I be not moved_.[1]\n\n_Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by Thy will thou hast conducted\nme, and with Thy glory Thou hast received me_.[2] He teaches us how to\npractise this exercise in his Philothea, where, dealing with the subject of\naspirations or ejaculatory prayers, he says: \"In this exercise of spiritual\nretreat and ejaculatory prayers lies the great work of devotion. We may\nmake up for the deficiency of all other prayers, but failure in this can\nscarcely ever be repaired. Without it we cannot well lead the contemplative\nlife, and can only lead the active life very imperfectly; without it repose\nis idleness, and labour only vexation. This is why I conjure you to embrace\nit with your whole heart, and never to lay it aside.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xv. 8.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm lxxii. 24.]\n[Footnote 3: Part ii. c. xii. and xiii.]\n\n\nUPON DOING AND ENDURING.\n\nHis opinion was that one ounce of suffering was worth more than a pound of\naction; but then it must be of suffering sent by God, and not self-chosen.\nIndeed, to endure pain which is of our own choosing is rather to do than\nto suffer, and, speaking in general, our having chosen it spoils our good\nwork, because self-love has insinuated itself into our motives. We wish to\nserve God in one way, while He desires to be served in another; we wish\n_what_ He wishes, but not _as_ He wishes it. We do not submit ourselves\nwholly and as we should do to His will.\n\nA person who was very devout and who was accustomed to spend much time\nin mental prayer, being attacked with severe headache, was forbidden by\nher doctor to practise this devotion, as it increased her suffering and\nprevented her recovery. The patient much distressed at this prohibition\nwrote to consult our Blessed Father on the subject, and this is his reply:\n\n\"As regards meditation,\" he says, \"the doctors are right. While you are\nso weak, you must abstain from it; but to make up you must double your\nejaculatory prayers, and offer them all to God as an act of acquiescence\nin His good pleasure, which, though preventing you from meditating, in no\nway separates you from Himself, but, on the contrary, enables you to unite\nyourself more closely to Him by the practice of calm and holy resignation.\nWhat matters it how or by what means we are united to God? Truly, since\nwe seek Him alone, and since we find Him no less in mortification than in\nprayer, especially when He visits us with sickness, the one ought to be as\nwelcome to us as the other. Moreover, ejaculatory prayers and the silent\nlifting of the heart to God, are really a continued meditation, and the\npatient endurance of pain and distress is the worthiest offering we can\npossibly make to Him who saved us through suffering. Read also occasionally\nsome good book that will fill up what is wanting to you of food for the\nspirit.\"\n\n\nUPON MORTIFICATION AND PRAYER.\n\nOur Blessed Father considered that mortification without prayer is like a\nbody without a soul; and prayer without mortification like a soul without\na body. He desired that the two should never be separated, but that, like\nMartha and Mary, they should without disputing, nay, in perfect harmony,\nunite in serving our Lord. He compared them to the scales in a balance, one\nof which goes down when the other goes up. In order to raise the soul by\nprayer, we must lower the body by mortification, otherwise the flesh will\nweigh down the soul and hinder it from rising up to God, whose spirit will\nnot dwell with a man sunk in gross material delights or cares.\n\nThe lily and the rose of prayer and contemplation can only grow and\nflourish among the thorns of mortification. We cannot reach the hill of\nincense, the symbol of prayer, except by the steep ascent on which we\nfind the myrrh of mortification, needed to preserve our bodies from the\ncorruption of sin.\n\nJust as incense, which in Scripture represents prayer, does not give forth\nits perfume until it is burned, neither can prayer ascend to Heaven unless\nit proceeds from a mortified heart. Mortification averts temptations, and\nprayer becomes easy when we are sheltered under the protecting wings of\nmortification. When we are dead to ourselves and to our passions we begin\nto live to God. He begins to feed us in prayer with the bread of life and\nunderstanding, and with the manna of His inspirations. In fine, we become\nlike that pillar of aromatic smoke to which the Bride is compared,\ncompounded of all the spices of the perfumer.[1]\n\nOur Blessed Father's maxim on this subject was that: \"We ought to live in\nthis world as if our soul were in heaven and our body in the tomb.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Cant. iii. 6.]\n\n\nUPON THE PRESENCE OF GOD.\n\nThe practice of recollection of the presence of God was so much insisted\nupon by our Blessed Father that, as you know, my sisters, he recommended it\nto your Congregation to be the daily bread and constant nourishment of your\nsouls.\n\nHe used to say that to be recollected in God is the occupation of the\nblessed; nay, more, the very essence of their blessedness. Our Lord in\nthe Gospel says that the angels see continually, without interruption\nor intermission, the face of their Father in heavens and is it not life\neternal to see God and to be always in His most holy presence, like the\nangels, who are called the supporters of His throne.\n\nYou know that whenever you are gathered together for recreation, one of\nyou is always appointed as a sort of sentinel to watch over the proper\nobservance of this holy practice, pronouncing from time to time, aloud,\nthese words: \"Sisters, we remind your Charities of the holy presence of\nGod,\" adding, if it has been a day of general communion, \"and of the holy\ncommunion of to-day.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father on this subject says in his _Devout Life_: \"Begin all\nyour prayers, whether mental or vocal, by an act of the presence of God,\nAdhere strictly to this rule, the value of which you will soon realize.\"[1]\n\nAnd again: \"Most of the failures of good people in the discharge of their\nduty come to pass because they do not keep themselves sufficiently in the\npresence of God.\"\n\nIf you desire more instruction on the matter, read again what he has\nwritten about it in the same book.\n\n[Footnote 1: Part ii. chap. 1.]\n\n\nHIS UNITY OF SPIRIT WITH GOD.\n\n_He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit_,[1] says St. Paul.\n\nOur Blessed Father had arrived at that degree of union with God which is in\nsome sort a unity, because the will of God in it becomes the soul of our\nwill, that is, its life and moving principle, even as our soul is the life\nand the moving principle of our body. Hence his rapturous ejaculation:\n\"Oh! how good a thing it is to live only in God, to labour only in God, to\nrejoice only in God!\"\n\nAgain, he expresses this sentiment even more forcibly in the following\nwords: \"Henceforth, with the help of God's grace, I will no longer desire\nto be anything to any one, or that any one be anything to me, save in God,\nand for God only. I hope to attain to this when I shall have abased myself\nutterly before Him. Blessed be God! It seems to me that all things are\nindeed as nothing to me now, except in Him, for whom and in whom I love\nevery soul more and more tenderly.\"\n\nElsewhere he says: \"Ah! when will this poor human love of attentions,\ncourtesies, responsiveness, sympathy, and favours be purified and brought\ninto perfect accordance with the all pure love of the Divine will? When\nwill our self-love cease to desire outward tokens of God's nearness and\nrest content with the changeless and abiding assurance which He gives to\nus of His eternity? What can sensible presence add to a love which God has\nmade, which He supports, and which He maintains? What marks can be lacking\nof perseverance in a unity which God has created? Neither presence nor\nabsence can add anything to a love formed by God Himself.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. vi. 17.]\n\n\nHIS GRATITUDE TO GOD FOR SPIRITUAL CONSOLATIONS.\n\nIn one of his letters written to a person both virtuous and honourable, in\nwhom he had great confidence, he says: \"If you only knew how God deals with\nmy heart, you would thank Him for His goodness to me, and entreat Him to\ngive me the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, so that I may rightly act\nupon the inspirations of wisdom and understanding which He communicates to\nme.\" He often expressed the same thought to me in different words. \"Ah!\" he\nwould say, \"how good must not the God of Israel be to such as are upright\nof heart, since He is so gracious to those even who have a heart like mine,\nmiserable, heedless of His graces, and earth-bound! Oh! how sweet is His\nspirit to the souls that love Him and seek Him with all their might! Truly,\nHis name is as balm, and it is no wonder that so many ardent spirits follow\nHim with enthusiastic devotion, eagerly and joyously hastening to Him, led\nby the sweetness of His attractions. Oh! what great things we are taught\nby the unction of divine goodness! Being at the same time illumined by\nso soft and calm a light that we can scarcely tell whether the sweetness\nis more grateful than the light, or the light than the sweetness! Truly,\nthe breasts of the Spouse are better than wine, and sweeter than all the\nperfumes of Arabia.[1]\n\n\"Sometimes I tremble for fear that God may be giving me my Paradise in this\nworld! I do not really know what adversity is; I have never looked poverty\nin the face; the pains which I have experienced have been mere scratches,\njust grazing the skin; the calumnies spoken against me are nothing but\na gust of wind, and the remembrance of them dies away with the sound of\nthe voice which utters them. It is not only that I am free from the ills\nof life, I am, as it were, choked with good things, both temporal and\nspiritual. Yet in the midst of all I remain ungrateful and insensible to\nHis goodness. Oh! for pity's sake, help me sometimes to thank God, and to\npray Him not to let me have all my reward at once!\n\n\"He, indeed, shows that He knows my weakness and my misery by treating me\nthus like a child, and feeding me with sweetmeats and milk, rather than\nwith more solid food. But oh, when will He give me the grace, after having\nbasked in the sunshine of His favours, to sigh and groan a little under the\nburden of His Cross, since to reign with Him, we must suffer with Him, and\nto live with Him, we must die together with Him? Assuredly we must either\nlove or die, or rather we must die that we may love Him; that is to say,\ndie to all other love to live only for His love, and live only for Him who\ndied that we may live eternally in the embrace of His divine goodness.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Cantic. i. 1, 2.]\n\n\nUPON THE SHEDDING OF TEARS.\n\nAlthough he was himself very easily moved to tears, he did not set any\nspecially high value on what is called the gift of tears, except when it\nproceeds, not from nature, but directly from the Father of light, who sends\nHis rain upon the earth from the clouds. He told me once that, just as\nit would be contrary to physical laws for rain, in place of falling from\nheaven to earth, to rise from earth to heaven; so it was against all order\nthat sensible devotion should produce that which is supernatural. For this\nwould be for nature to produce grace. He compared tears shed, in moments of\nmental excitement, by persons gifted with a strong power of imagination,\nto hot rains which fall during the most sultry days of summer, and which\nscorch rather than refresh vegetation. But when supernatural devotion,\nseated in the higher powers of the soul, breaking down all restraining\nbanks, spreads itself over the whole being of man, he compared the tears\nit causes him to shed to a mighty, irresistible and fertilising torrent,\nmaking glad the City of God. Tears of this sort, he thought much to be\ndesired, seeing that they give great glory to God and profit to the soul.\nOf those who shed such tears, he said, the Gospel Beatitude speaks when it\ntells us that: _Blessed are they that weep_.[1]\n\nIn one of his letters he writes as follows: \"I say nothing, my good\ndaughter, about your imagining yourself hard of heart, because you have no\ntears to shed. No, my child, your heart has nothing to do with this. Your\nlack of tears proceeds not from any want of affectionate resolve to love,\nGod, but from the absence of sensible devotion, which does not depend at\nall upon our heart, but upon our natural temperament, which we are unable\nto change. For just as in this world it is impossible for us to make rain\nto fall when we want it, or to stop it at our own good pleasure, so also it\nis not in our power to weep from a feeling of devotion when we want to do\nso, or, on the other hand, not to weep when carried away by our emotion.\nOur remaining unmoved at prayer and meditation proceeds, not from any fault\nof ours, but from the providence of God, who wishes us to travel by land,\nand often by desert land, rather than by water, and who wills to accustom\nus to labour and hardship in our spiritual life.\" On this same subject\nI once heard him make one of his delightful remarks: \"What!\" he cried,\n\"are not dry sweetmeats quite as good as sweet drinks? Indeed they have\none special advantage. You can carry them about with you in your pocket,\nwhereas the sweet drink must be disposed of on the spot. It is childish\nto refuse to eat your food when none other is to be had, because it is\nquite dry. The sea is God's, for He made it, but His hands also laid the\nfoundations of the dry land, that is to say, of the earth. We are land\nanimals, not fish. One goes to heaven by land as easily as by water. God\ndoes not send the deluge every day. Great floods are not less to be feared\nthan great droughts!\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. v. 5.]\n\n\nUPON JOY AND SADNESS.\n\nAs the blessedness of the life to come is called joy in Scripture, _Good\nand faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord_, so also--it is in\njoy that the happiness of this present life consists. Not, however, in all\nkinds of joy, for the _joy of the hypocrite_ is _but for a moment_,[1] that\nis to say, lasts but for a moment.\n\nIt is said of the wicked that they _spend their days in wealth, and in a\nmoment go down to hell_,[2] and that _mourning taketh hold of the end of\nfalse joy._[3]\n\nTrue, joy can only proceed from inward peace, and this peace from the\ntestimony of a good conscience, which is called _a continual feast_.[4]\n\nThis is that joy of the Lord, and in the Lord, which the Apostle recommends\nso strongly, provided it be accompanied by charity and modesty.\n\nOur Blessed Father thought so highly of this joyous peace and peaceful joy\nthat he looked upon it as constituting the only true happiness possible in\nthis life. Indeed he put this belief of his into such constant practice\nthat a great servant of God, one of his most intimate friends, declared him\nto be the possessor of an imperturbable and unalterable peace.\n\nOn the other hand, he was as great an enemy to sadness, trouble, and undue\nhurry and eagerness, as he was a friend to peace and joy. Besides all that\nhe says on the subject in his Philothea and his Theotimus, he writes thus\nto a soul who, under the pretext of austerity and penance, had abandoned\nherself to disquietude and grief: Be at peace, and nourish your heart with\nthe sweetness of heavenly love, without which man's heart is without life,\nand man's life without happiness. Never give way to sadness, that enemy of\ndevotion. What is there that should be able to sadden the servant of Him\nwho will be our joy through all eternity? Surely sin, and sin only, should\ncast us down and grieve us. If we have sinned, when once our act of sorrow\nat having sinned has been made, there ought to follow in its train joy and\nholy consolation.\n\n[Footnote 1: Job xx. 5.]\n[Footnote 2: Job xxi. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Prov. xiv. 13.]\n[Footnote 4: Ibid. xv. 15.]\n\n\nUPON THE DEGREES OF TRUE DEVOTION.\n\nLoving devotion, or devout love, has three degrees, which are: 1. When we\nperform those exercises which relate to the service of God, but with some\nsluggishness. 2. When we betake ourselves to them with readiness. 3. When\nwe run and even fly to execute them with joy and with eagerness.\n\nOur Blessed Father illustrates this by two very apt comparisons.\n\n\"Ostriches never fly, barn door fowls fly heavily, close to the ground, and\nbut seldom; eagles, doves, and swallows fly often, swiftly and high. Thus\nsinners never fly to God, but keep to the ground, nor so much as look up to\nHim.\n\n\"Those who are in God's grace but have not yet attained to devotion, fly\nto God by their good actions rarely, slowly, and very heavily; but devout\nsouls fly to God frequently and promptly and soar high above the earth.\"[1]\nHis second comparison is this:\n\n\"Just as a man when convalescent from an illness walks as much as is\nnecessary, but slowly and wearily, so the sinner being healed from his\niniquity walks as much as God commands him to do, but still only slowly and\nheavily, until he attains to devotion. Then, like a man in robust health,\nhe runs and bounds along the way of God's commandments; and, more than\nthat, he passes swiftly into the paths of the counsels and of heavenly\ninspirations. In fact, charity and supernatural devotion are not more\ndifferent from one another than flame from fire, seeing that charity is\na spiritual fire, and when its flame burns fiercely is called devotion.\nThus devotion adds nothing to the fire of charity except the flame, which\nrenders charity prompt, active, and diligent, not only in observing the\ncommandments of God, but also in the practice of the counsels and heavenly\ninspirations.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: _The Devout Life_. Part i. c. i.]\n\n\nTHE TEST OF TRUE DEVOTION.\n\nIt was his opinion that the touchstone of true devotion is the regulation\nof exercises of piety according to one's state of life. He often compared\ndevotion to a liquid which takes the form of the vessel into which it is\nput. Here are his words to Philothea on the subject [1]: \"Devotion,\" he\nsays, \"must be differently practised by a gentleman, by an artisan, by a\nservant, by a prince, by a widow, by a maiden, by a wife, and not only\nmust the practice of devotion be different, but it must in measure and in\ndegree be accommodated to the strength, occupations, and duties of each\nindividual. I ask you, Philothea, would it be proper for a Bishop to wish\nto lead the solitary life of a Carthusian monk? If a father of a family\nwere as heedless of heaping up riches as a Capuchin; if an artisan spent\nthe whole day in church like a monk; if a monk, like a Bishop, were\nconstantly in contact with the world in the service of his neighbour,\nwould not the devotion of each of these be misplaced, ill-regulated, and\nlaughable? Yet this mistake is very often made, and the world, which cannot\nor will not distinguish between devotion and indiscretion in those who\nthink themselves devout, murmurs against and blames piety in general,\nthough in reality piety has nothing to do with mistakes such as these.\"\n\nHe goes on to say: \"When creating them, God commanded the plants to bring\nforth their fruits, each according to its kind; so He commands christians,\nwho are the living plants of His Church, to produce fruits of devotion,\neach according to his state of life and calling.\"\n\nAt the close of the same chapter, our Blessed Father says: \"Devotion or\npiety, when it is real, spoils nothing, but on the contrary perfects\neverything. Whenever it clashes with the legitimate calling of those who\nprofess it, you may be quite certain that such devotion is spurious. 'The\nbee,' says Aristotle, 'draws her honey from a flower, without injuring that\nflower in the least, and leaves it fresh and intact as she found it.'\"\n\n[Footnote 1: _The Devout Life_. Part i. c, 3.]\n\n\nWHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SERVANT OF GOD.\n\nSome think that they are not making any progress in the service of God\nunless they feel sensible devotion and interior joy continually, forgetting\nthat the road to heaven is not carpeted with rose leaves but rather\nbristling with thorns. Does not the divine oracle tell us that through much\ntribulation we must enter the Kingdom of Heaven? And that it is only taken\nby those who do violence to themselves? Our Blessed Father writes thus to a\nsoul that was making the above mistake:\n\n\"Live wholly for God, and for the sake of the love which He has borne to\nyou, do you bear with yourself in all your miseries. In fact, the being a\ngood servant of God does not mean the being always spiritually consoled,\nthe always feeling sweet and calm, the never feeling aversion or repugnance\nto what is good. If this were so, neither St. Paul, nor St. Angela, nor St.\nCatherine of Siena, could have served God well. To be a servant of God is\nto be charitable towards our neighbour, to have, in the superior part of\nour soul, an unswerving resolution to follow the will of God, joined to\nthe deepest humility and a simple confidence in Him; however many times we\nfall, always to rise up again; in fine, to be patient with ourselves in our\nmiseries, and with others in their imperfections.\"\n\nAnother error into which good people fall is that of always wanting to find\nout whether or not they are in a state of grace. If you tranquillize them\non this point, then they begin to torment themselves as to the exact amount\nof progress they have made, and are actually making, in this happy state of\ngrace, as though their progress were in any way their own work. They quite\nforget that though one may plant and another water, it is God who gives the\nincrease.\n\nIn order to cure this spiritual malady, which borders very closely upon\npresumption, he gives in another of his letters the following wise counsel:\n\n\"Remember that all that is past is nothing, and that every day we should\nsay with David: Now only am I beginning to love my God truly. Do much for\nGod, and do nothing without love, let this be your aim, eat and drink for\nthis.\"\n\n\nTHAT DEVOTION DOES NOT ALWAYS SPRING FROM CHARITY.\n\n\"Do not deceive yourself,\" he once said to me, \"people may be very devout,\nand at the same time very wicked.\" \"But,\" I said, \"they are then surely\nnot devout, but hypocrites!\" \"No, no,\" he answered, \"I am speaking of true\ndevotion.\" As I was quite unable to solve this riddle, I begged him to\nexplain it to me, which he did most kindly, and, if I can trust my memory,\nmore or less as follows:\n\n\"Devotion is of itself and of its own nature a moral and acquired virtue,\nnot one that is supernatural and infused, otherwise it would be a\ntheological virtue, which it is not. It is then a virtue, subordinate to\nthat which is called Religion, and according to some is only one of its\nacts;[1] as religion again is subordinate to one of the four cardinal\nvirtues, namely justice. Now you know that all the moral virtues, and even\nthe theological ones of faith and hope, are compatible with mortal sin,\nalthough become, as it were, shapeless and dead, being without charity,\nwhich is their form, their soul, their very life. For, if one can have\nfaith so great as to be able to move mountains, without charity, and yet,\nprecisely because charity is absent, be utterly worthless and wicked; if it\nis possible to be a true prophet and yet a bad man, as were Saul, Balaam,\nand Caiphas; to work miracles as Judas is believed to have done, and yet to\nbe sinful as he was; if we can give all our goods to the poor, and suffer\nmartyrdom by fire, without having charity, much more may we be devout\nwithout being charitable, since devotion is a virtue less estimable in\nits nature than those which we have mentioned. You must not then think it\nstrange when I tell you that it is possible to be devout and yet wicked,\nsince we may have faith, mercy, patience, and constancy to the extent of\nwhich I have spoken, and yet, with all that be stained with many deadly\nvices, such as pride, envy, hatred, intemperance, and the like.\"\n\n\"What then,\" I asked, \"is a truly devout man?\" He answered: \"I tell you\nagain that, though in sin, one may be truly devout. But such devotion,\nthough a virtue, is dead, not living,\" I rejoined: \"But how can this dead\ndevotion be real?\" \"In the same way,\" he replied, \"as a dead body is a real\nbody, soulless though it be.\" I rejoined: \"But a dead body is not really a\nman.\" He answered: \"It is not a true man, whole and perfect, but it is the\ntrue body of a man, and the body of a true man though dead. Thus, devotion\nwithout charity is true, though dead and imperfect. It is true devotion\ndead and shapeless, but not true devotion living and fully formed. It\nis only necessary to draw a distinction between the words, _true_, and\n_complete_ or _perfect_, which is done so clearly by St. Thomas,[2] in\norder to find the solution of your difficulty. He who possesses devotion\nwithout charity has _true_, but not _perfect_ or _complete_ devotion; in\nhim who has charity, devotion is not only true but perfect. By charity he\nbecomes good, and by devotion devout; losing charity he loses supernatural\ngoodness and becomes sinful or bad, but does not necessarily cease to be\ndevout. This is why I told you that one could be devout and yet wicked.\nSo also by mortal sin we do not necessarily lose faith or hope, except we\ndeliberately make an act of unbelief or of despair.\"\n\nHe had expressed a somewhat similar idea in the first chapter of his\nPhilothea, though I had not then noticed it. These are his words:\n\n\"Devotion is nothing more than a spiritual agility and vivacity, helped\nby which charity acts more readily; or better, helped by which we more\nreadily elicit acts of charity. It belongs to charity to make us keep God's\ncommandments, but it belongs to devotion to make us keep them promptly and\ndiligently. This is why he who does not observe all the commandments of God\ncannot be considered either good or supernaturally devout, since in order\nto be good we must have charity, and to be devout we must have besides\ncharity great alertness and promptitude in doing charitable actions.\"[3]\n\nIn another of his books, speaking to Theotimus, he says:\n\n\"All true lovers of God are equal in this, that all give their heart to\nGod, and with all their strength; but they are unequal in this, that they\ngive it diversely and in different manners, whence some give all their\nheart, with all their strength, but less perfectly than others. This\none gives it all by martyrdom; this, all by virginity; this, all by the\npastoral office; and whilst all give it all by the observance of the\ncommandments, yet some give it with less perfection than others.\"[4]\n\nWe must remember that true devotion cannot be restricted to the practice of\none virtue only; we must employ all our powers in the worship and service\nof God. One of the chief maxims of Blessed Francis was that the sort of\ndevotion which is not only not a hindrance but actually a help to us in our\nlegitimate calling is the only true one for us, and that any other is false\nfor us. He illustrates this teaching to Philothea by saying that devotion\nis like a liquid which takes the shape of the vessel into which it is put.\nHe even went further, boldly declaring that it was not simply an error but\na heresy to exclude devotion from any calling whatever, provided it be a\njust and legitimate one. This shows the mistake of those who imagine that\nwe cannot save our souls in the world, as if salvation were only for the\nPharisee, and not for the Publican, nor for the house of Zaccheus. This\nerror which approaches very nearly to that of Pelagius, makes salvation to\nbe dependent on certain callings, as though the saving of our souls were\nthe work of nature rather than of grace. Our Blessed Father supports his\nteaching in this matter by many examples, proving that in every condition\nof life we may be holy and may consequently save our souls, and arrive at a\nvery high degree of glory.\n\nHe concludes by saying: \"Some even have been known to lose perfection\nin solitude, which is often so helpful for its attainment, and to have\nregained it in a busy city life which seems to be so unfavourable to it.\nWherever we are, we can and ought to aspire to the perfect life.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: S. Thomas 2a, 2ae, Quaest, lxxxi., art. 2.]\n[Footnote 2: 2a, 2ae, Quaest, lxxxii. to lxxxviii.]\n[Footnote 3: _The Devout Life_, Part i., chap. 1.]\n[Footnote 4: Book x., chap. 3.]\n\n\nUPON PERFECT CONTENTMENT IN THE PRIVATION OF ALL CONTENT.\n\nIt is true that the devout life, which is nothing but an intense and\nfervent love of God, is an angelic life and full of contentment and of\nextraordinary consolation. It is, however, also true that those who submit\nthemselves to the discipline of God, even while experiencing the sweetness\nof this divine love, must prepare their soul for temptation. The path\nwhich leads to the Land of Promise is beset with difficulties--dryness,\nsadness, desolation, and faint-hearted fears--and would end in bewildering\ndiscouragement, did not Faith and Hope, like Joshua and Caleb, show us the\nfair fruits of this much to be desired country, and thus animate us to\nperseverance.\n\nBut He who brings light out of darkness, and roses out of thorns, who helps\nus in all our tribulations, and performs wonders in heaven and earth, makes\nthe happy souls whom He leads through His will to His glory to find perfect\ncontent in the loss of all content, both corporal and spiritual when once\nthey recognize that it is the will of God that they should go to Him by the\nway of darkness, perplexity, crosses, and anguish.\n\nIn saying this I am putting into my own words the thoughts of our Blessed\nFather as expressed in the eleventh chapter of the sixth book of his\n_Treatise on the Love of God_.\n\n\nUPON THE WILL OF GOD.\n\nMeditating this morning on that passage of Holy Scripture which tells us\nthat the life of man is in the good will of God,[1] I reflected that to\nlive according to the will of the flesh, that is, according to the human\nwill, is not really life, since the prudence of the flesh is death; but\nthat to live according to the will of God is the true life of the soul,\nsince the grace attached to that divine will imparts a life to our soul far\nhigher than the life our soul imparts to our body.\n\nThe divine will is our sanctification, and this sanctification is the gate\nof eternal life; of that true life in comparison with which the life which\nwe lead on earth is more truly a death. To live in God, in whom is true\nlife, is to live according to His will.\n\nOur life, then, is to do His will. This made St. Paul say that he lived,\nyet not he himself, but that Jesus Christ lived in him,[2] because he had\nonly one will and one mind with Jesus Christ, I was rejoiced to find that\nunconsciously my thoughts on this subject had followed closely in the\ntrack of our Blessed Father's when he meditated on the same passage. This\nI discovered on reading these words in one of his letters:\n\n\"This morning, being alone for a few moments, I made an act of\nextraordinary resignation which I cannot put on paper, but reserve until\nGod permits me to see you, when you shall know it by word of mouth. Oh! how\nblessed are the souls who live on the will of God alone. Ah! if even to\ntaste a little of that blessedness in a passing meditation is so sweet to\nthe heart which accepts that holy will with all the crosses it offers, what\nmust the happiness be of a soul all steeped in that will? Oh! my God, what\na blessed thing is it not to bring all our affections into a humble and\nabsolute subjection to the divine love! This we have said, this we have\nresolved to do, and our hearts have taken the greatest glory of the love of\nGod for their sovereign law. Now the glory of this holy love consists in\nits power of burning and consuming all that is not itself, that all may be\nresolved and changed into it. God exalts Himself upon our annihilation of\nourselves and reigns upon the throne of our voluntary servitude.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xxix. 6.]\n[Footnote 2: Gal. ii. 20.]\n\n\nHIS RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD.\n\nIt happened that Blessed Francis fell ill at the very time when his\npredecessor in the Bishopric of Geneva was imploring the Holy See to\nappoint him as his coadjutor.\n\nThe illness was so serious that the physicians despaired of his life,\nand this our Blessed Father was told. He received the announcement quite\ncalmly, and even joyfully, as though he saw the heavens open and ready to\nreceive him, and being entirely resigned to the will of God both in life\nand in death, said only:\n\n\"I belong, to God, let Him do with me according to His good pleasure.\"\n\nWhen someone in his presence said that he ought to wish to live if not\nfor the service of God at least that he might do penance for his sins,\nhe answered thus: \"It is certain that sooner or later we must die, and\nwhenever it may be, we shall always have need of the great mercy of God: we\nmay as well fall into His pitiful hands to-day as to-morrow. He is at all\ntimes the same, full of kindness, and rich in mercy to all those who call\nupon Him: and we are always evil, conceived in iniquity, and subject to sin\neven from our mother's womb. He who finishes his course earlier than others\nhas less of an account to render. I can see that there is a design afoot to\nlay upon me a burden not less formidable to me than death itself. Between\nthe two I should find it hard to choose. It is far better to submit myself\nto the care of Providence: far better to sleep upon the breast of Jesus\nChrist than anywhere else. God loves us. He knows better than we do what is\ngood for us. _Whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's._[1]\n_He has the keys of life, and of death._[2] _They who hope in Him are never\nconfounded._[3] _Let us also go, and die with Him._\" And when someone\nsaid it was a pity he should die in the flower of his age (he was only\nthirty-five), he answered: \"Our Lord was still younger when He died. The\nnumber of our days is before Him, He can gather the fruits which belong\nto Him at any season. Do not let us waste our time and thoughts over\ncircumstances; let us consider only His most holy will. Let that be our\nguiding star; it will lead us to Jesus Christ whether in the cribs or on\nCalvary. Whoever follows Him shall not walk in darkness but shall have the\nlight of eternal life, and shall be no more subject to death.\"\n\nThese were the words, this was the perfect resignation, of our Blessed\nFather. Who can say we have not here the cause of the prolongation of his\ndays, even as a like resignation led to the prolonging of those of King\nEzechias.\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. xiv. 8]\n[Footnote 2: Apoc. i. 18.]\n[Footnote 3: Psalm xxiv. 3.]\n\n\nTHAT WE MUST ALWAYS SUBMIT OURSELVES TO GOD'S HOLY WILL.\n\nIn 1619, when our Saint was in Paris with the Prince of Savoy, a gentleman\nof the court fell dangerously ill. He sent for Blessed Francis, who, when\nvisiting him, remarked with some surprise that, although he bore his\nphysical sufferings with great patience, he fretted grievously about other\ntroubles seemingly of very small moment. He was distressed at the thought\nof dying away from home, at being unable to give his family his last\nblessing, at not having his accustomed physician by his side, etc. Then he\nwould begin to worry about the details of his funeral, the inscription on\nhis tombstone, and so on. Nothing was right in his surroundings; the sky of\nParis, his doctors and nurses, his servants, his bed, his rooms, all were\nmatters of complaint. \"Strange inconsistency!\" exclaimed the holy Bishop.\n\"Here is a brave soldier and a great statesman, fretted by the merest\ntrifles, and unhappy because he cannot die in exactly the circumstances\nwhich he would have chosen for himself.\" I am glad to be able to add that\nin spite of all this the poor man made a holy and a happy end.\n\nBut Blessed Francis afterwards said to me: \"It is not enough to will what\nGod wills, we must also desire that all should be exactly, even in the\nminutest detail and particular, as God wills it to be. For instance, in\nregard to sickness we should be willing to be sick because it pleases God\nthat we should be so; and sick of that very sickness which God sends us,\nnot of one of a different character; and sick at such time, and in such\nplace, and surrounded by such attendants, as it may please God to appoint.\nIn short, we must in all things take for our law the most holy will of\nGod.\"\n\n\nHIS SUBLIME THOUGHTS ON HOLY INDIFFERENCE.\n\nMany of the saints, and especially St. Catherine of Siena, St. Philip Neri,\nand St. Ignatius Loyola, have spoken in the most beautiful and elevated\nlanguage of that holy indifference which, springing from the love of God,\nmakes life or death and all the circumstances of the one or the other\nequally acceptable to the soul which realizes that all is ordered by the\nwill of God.\n\nLet us hear what our Blessed Father says on this subject in his _Treatise\non the Love of God_.\n\n\"God's will is the sovereign object of the indifferent soul; wheresoever\nshe sees it she runs after the odour of its perfumes, directing her course\never thither where it most appears, without considering anything else. She\nis conducted by the divine will, as by a beloved chain; which way soever it\ngoes she follows it: she would prize hell with God's will more than heaven\nwithout it; nay, she would even prefer hell before heaven if she perceived\nonly a little more of God's good-pleasure in that than in this, so that\nif--to suppose what is impossible--she should know that her damnation would\nbe more agreeable to God than her salvation, she would quit her salvation\nand run to her damnation.\"[1]\n\nThis is, indeed, a bold and daring proposition, but to convince you\nhow tenaciously he clung to it I would remind you of his words in the\nConferences;[2] on the same subject: \"The saints who are in heaven are so\nclosely united to the will of God that if there were even a little more of\nHis good-pleasure in hell than in paradise they would quit paradise to go\nthere.\" And again in the same Conference: \"Whether the malady conquers the\nremedies or the remedies get the better of the malady should be a matter\nof perfect indifference. So much so that if sickness and health were put\nbefore us and our Lord were to say to us: 'If thou choose health I will not\ndeprive thee of a single particle of my grace, if thou choose sickness I\nshall not in any degree increase that grace, but in the choice of sickness\nthere is a little more of my good-pleasure,' the soul which has wholly\nforsaken herself and abandoned herself into the hands of our Lord will\nundoubtedly choose sickness solely because it is more pleasing to God. Nay,\nthough this might mean a whole lifetime spent on her couch in constant\nsuffering, she would not for any earthly consideration desire to be in any\nother condition than this.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Bk. ix., c. 5.]\n[Footnote 2: Conf. ii.]\n\n\nNOTHING, SAVE SIN, HAPPENS TO US BUT BY THE WILL OF GOD.\n\n\"Nothing happens to us,\" Blessed Francis was accustomed to say, \"whether of\ngood or of evil, sin alone excepted, but by the will of God.\" Good, because\nGod is the source of all good. _Every best gift and every perfect gift is\nfrom above, coming down from the Father of lights_.[1] Evil, for, _Shall\nthere be evil in the city which the Lord hath not done_?[2] The evil here\nspoken of is that of pain or trouble, seeing that God cannot will the evil\nof crime, which is sin, though he permits it, allowing the human will to\nact according to the natural liberty which He has given to it. Properly\nspeaking, sin cannot be said to happen to us, because what happens to\nus must come from without, and sin, on the contrary, comes from within,\nproceeding from our hearts, as holy Scripture expressly states, telling us\nalso that _iniquity comes from our fatness_,[3] that is to say, from our\nease and luxury.\n\nOh, what a happiness it would be for our souls if we accustomed ourselves\nto receive all things from the fatherly hand of Him who, in opening it,\nfills all things living with blessing! What unction should we not draw\nfrom this in our adversities! What honey from the rock, what oil from the\nstones! And with how much moderation should we not behave in prosperity,\nsince God sends us both the one and the other, that we may use both to the\npraise and glory of His grace.\n\n[Footnote I: St. James i. 17.]\n[Footnote II: Amos iii. 6.]\n[Footnote III: Psalm lxxii. 7.]\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nI must confess to you, my sisters, that I was astonished to read in one of\nour Saint's letters that our Lord Jesus Christ did not possess the quality\nof indifference in the sensitive part of His nature.\n\nI will give the exact words in which this wonderful fact is stated. \"This\nvirtue of indifference,\" he says, \"is so excellent that our old Adam, and\nthe sensitive part of our human nature, so far as its natural powers go,\nis not capable of it, no, not even in our Lord, who, as a child of Adam,\nalthough exempt from all sin, and from everything pertaining to sin, yet in\nthe sensitive part of his nature and as regards his human faculties was in\nno way indifferent, but desired not to die upon the Cross. Indifference,\nand the exercise of it, is entirely reserved for the spirit, for the\nsupreme portion of our nature, for faculties set on fire by grace, and in\nfine for Himself personally, inasmuch as He is divine and human, the New\nMan. How, then, can we complain when as far as this lower portion of our\nnature is concerned we find ourselves unable to be indifferent to life,\nand to death, to health, and to sickness, to honour and to ignominy, to\npleasure and to pain, to comfort and to discomfort, when, in a word, we\nfeel in ourselves that conflict going on which the vessel of election\nexperienced in such a manner as to make him exclaim: _Unhappy man that I\nam, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?_\"[1]\n\nThe love of ourselves is so deeply rooted in our nature that it is\nimpossible wholly to rid ourselves of it. Even grace does not do away with\nour self-love, but only reduces it to the service of divine charity.\n\nBy the love of self I mean a natural, just, and legitimate love, so\nlegitimate indeed as to be commanded by the law of God which bids us love\nour neighbour as ourselves; that is to say, according to God's will, which\nis not only the one way in which we can rightly love our neighbour, but\nalso the one way in which we are commanded to love ourselves.\n\nNevertheless, this love of ourselves, however just and reasonable it may\nbe, turns only too easily, and too imperceptibly, into a self-love, which\nis unlawful and forbidden, but into which even persons the most earnest and\nthe most spiritual are at times surprised.\n\nWe often think we love someone, or something in God, and for God, when it\nis really only in ourselves, and for ourselves, that we do so. We think\nsometimes that we have only an eye to the interests of God, which is His\nglory, when it is really our own glory which we are seeking in our work.\nThis is when we stop short voluntarily at the creature to the prejudice\nof the Creator; as comes to pass in all sin, whether mortal or venial. We\nmust therefore watch and be constantly on our guard lest we fall into this\nsnare. From it we must snatch our soul as we would a bird from the snare\nof the fowler. We shall be safe if we remember that every just and lawful\nlove in us is always either in actual touch with the love of God, or can be\nbrought into such touch, whilst self-love is never in such touch, nor can\never be brought into it.\n\nThis is the test by which we can detect the false coin that is mixed up\nwith the true.\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. vii. 24.]\n\n\nUPON ABANDONING OURSELVES TO GOD.\n\nI cannot tell you, my sisters, how great a point our Blessed Father made\nof self-abandonment, _i.e._, self-surrender into the hands of God. In one\nplace he speaks of it as: \"The cream of charity, the odour of humility, the\nflower of patience, and the fruit of perseverance. Great,\" he says, \"is\nthis virtue, and worthy of being practised by the best beloved children\nof God.\"[1] And again, \"Our Lord loves with a most tender love those\nwho are so happy as to abandon themselves wholly to His fatherly care,\nletting themselves be governed by His divine Providence without any idle\nspeculations as to whether the workings of this Providence will be useful\nto them to their profit, or painful to their loss, and this because they\nare well assured that nothing can be sent, nothing permitted by this\npaternal and most loving Heart, which will not be a source of good and\nprofit to them. All that is required is that they should place all their\nconfidence in Him, and say from their heart, _Into Thy hands I commend my\nspirit_, my soul, my body, and all that I have, to do with them as it shall\nplease Thee.\"[2]\n\nYou are inclined, my sisters, to say that we are not all of us capable of\nsuch entire self-renunciation, that so supreme an act of self-abandonment\nis beyond our strength. Hear then, too, what our Blessed Father goes on to\nsay. These are his words in the same Conference: \"Never are we reduced to\nsuch an extremity that we cannot pour forth before the divine majesty the\nperfume of a holy submission to His most holy will, and of a continual\npromise never wilfully to offend Him.\"\n\n[Footnotes 1, 2: Conf. 2.]\n\n\nUPON INTERIOR DESOLATION.\n\nAs there are, more thorns than roses in our earthly life, and more dull\ndays than sunny ones, so also in our spiritual life our souls are more\nfrequently clouded by a sense of desolation, dryness, and gloom, than\nirradiated by heavenly consolations and brightness.\n\nYet our Blessed Father says that \"those are mistaken who think that, even\nin Christians, whose conscience does not accuse them of sins unconfessed,\nbut on the contrary bears good witness for them, a heavy heart and\nsorrow-laden mind is a proof of God's displeasure.\n\n\"Has God not said that He is with us in tribulation, and is not His Cross\nthe mark of the chosen? At the birth of Jesus, while the shepherds were\nsurrounded by the light which shone from heaven and their ears filled with\nthe songs of angels, Mary and Joseph were in the stable in the darkness of\nnight, the silence only broken by the weeping of the Holy Child. Yet who\nwould not rather be with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in that shadowy gloom\nthan with the shepherds even in their ecstasy of heavenly joy? St. Peter,\nindeed, amid the glories of Thabor said: _It is good to be here, let us\nmake here three tabernacles_.[1] But Holy Scripture adds: _Not knowing what\nhe said_.\n\n\"The faithful soul loves Jesus covered with wounds and disfigurements on\nCalvary, amid the darkness, the blood, the crosses, the nails, the thorns,\nand the horror of death: loves Him, I say, as dearly, as fervently as in\nHis triumph, and cries out from a full heart amid all this desolation:\n\n\"Let us make here three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for His holy\nMother, and one for His beloved disciple.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Luke ix, 33.]\n\n\nUPON THE PRESENCE IN OUR SOULS OF THE GRACE OF GOD.\n\nThere is, I think, no greater temptation than one which assails many good\npeople, namely, the desire to know for certain whether or not they are in a\nstate of grace.\n\nTo a poor soul entangled in a perfect spider's web of doubt and mistrust,\nour Blessed Father wrote the following consoling words: \"To try and\ndiscover whether or not your heart is pleasing to God is a thing you must\nnot do, though you may undoubtedly try to make sure that His Heart is\npleasing to you. Now, if you meditate upon His Heart it will be impossible\nbut that it should be well pleasing to you, so sweet is it, so gentle, so\ncondescending, so loving towards those of His poor creatures who do but\nacknowledge their wretchedness: so gracious to the unhappy, so good to the\npenitent. Ah! who would not love this royal Heart, which to us is as the\nheart both of a father and of a mother?\"\n\nAs regards interior desolation there are some souls who seem to think\nthat no devotion is worthy of the name which is not sensible and full of\nemotion.\n\nTo one who complained to our Blessed Father of having lost all relish for\nexercises of piety, he wrote in the following words: \"The love of God\nconsists neither in consolations nor in tenderness--otherwise our Lord\nwould not have loved His father when He was sorrowful unto death, nor when\nHe cried out, _My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?_[1] That is to\nsay, then, when He performed the greatest act of love that it is possible\nto imagine.\n\n\"The truth is, we are always hungering after consolation, for a little\nsugar to be added to our spiritual food; in other words, we always want to\nexperience our feelings of love and tenderness, and thereby to be cheered\nand comforted.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. xxvii. 46.]\n\n\nUPON OUR DESIRE TO SAVE OUR SOUL.\n\nFaith teaches us, by means of the Holy Scriptures, that God ardently\ndesires that we should be saved,[1] and that none should perish. His will\nis our sanctification, that is to say, He wishes us to be holy. Moreover,\nto prove that His desire is neither barren nor unhelpful, He gives us in\nHis holy Church all the graces necessary for our salvation, so that if we\nare lost it will only be because of our own wilful malice.\n\nUnfortunately, however, though it may be that all desire to save their\nsouls, all are not willing to accept the means offered them for so doing.\nHence the disorders which we see in the world around us and the truth,\nthat, while many are called few are chosen. On this subject our Blessed\nFather speaks as follows in his Theotimus:\n\n\"We are,\" he says, \"to will our salvation in such sort as God wills it;\nnow He wills it by way of desire, and we also must incessantly desire it,\nin conformity with His desire. Nor does He will it only, but, in effect,\ngives us all necessary means to attain to it. We then, in fulfilment of the\ndesire we have to be saved, must not only wish to be saved, but, in effect,\nmust accept all the graces which He has provided for us, and offers us.\nWith regard to salvation itself, it is enough to say: I desire to be saved.\nBut, with regard to the means of salvation, it is not enough to say: I\ndesire them. We must, with an absolute resolution, will and embrace the\ngraces which God presents to us; for our will must correspond with God's\nwill. And, inasmuch as He gives us the means of salvation, we ought to\navail ourselves of such means, just as we ought to desire salvation in such\nsort as God desires it for us, and because He desires it.\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Tim. ii. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: _The Love of God_. Bk. viii. 4.]\n\n\nUPON GOOD NATURAL INCLINATIONS.\n\nBlessed Francis always impressed upon us the necessity of making use for\nthe glory of God of any good inclinations natural to us. \"If you possess\nsuch,\" he would say, \"remember that they are gifts, of which you will have\nto render an account. Take care, then, to employ them in the service of Him\nwho gave them to you. Engraft upon this wild stock the shoots of eternal\nlove which God is ready to bestow upon you, if, by an act of perfect\nself-renunciation, you prepare yourself to receive them.\"\n\nThere are people who are naturally inclined to certain moral virtues,\nsuch as silence, sobriety, modesty, chastity, humility, patience, and\nthe like, and who, however little they may cultivate these virtues, make\ngreat progress in them. This was the case with many of the great pagan\nphilosophers as we know, and it is quite true, that with all of us, the\nbent and inclination of the mind towards the acquisition of any kind of\nexcellence, whether moral or physical, is an immense assistance. Still, we\nmust bear in mind the fact that the acquiring of every moral virtue and\nevery physical power, nay, of the whole world itself, is nothing, if, in\ngaining them, we should lose our own soul. St. Paul tells us this,[1] and\nfor the same reason, our Blessed Father warns us not to keep our talents\nwrapped up in a napkin, not to hide their light under the bushel of nature,\nbut to trade with them according to the intention of Him who is their\nauthor and distributor. He reminds us that this divine Giver who bestowed\nthem on us in order thereby to increase His exterior glory, promises us\na reward if we use them as He means us to do, and threatens us with\npunishment if we are careless in the matter.\n\nYou ask me how we are to deal with these inclinations and manage these\ntalents or virtues? Well, you have the answer to that question in the words\nof our Blessed Father which I quoted: \"Engraft on the wild stock of natural\ninclination shoots of divine charity.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 3.]\n\n\nHOW TO SPEAK OF GOD.\n\nSt. Francis loved those words of St. Peter: _If any man speak, let him\nspeak as the words of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the\npower which God administreth_,[1] and of St. Paul: _All things whatsoever\nyou do, whether in word or in work, do them in the name_ (that is to say,\nto the honour and glory) _of our Lord Jesus Christ_.[2]\n\nThat we may carry out this excellent precept in our actions, our Blessed\nFather gives us some remarkable teaching. In one of his letters he says:\n\"We must never speak of God or of things relating to His worship, that\nis, of religion, carelessly, and in the way of ordinary conversation, but\nalways with great respect, esteem, and devotion.\"\n\nThis advice applies to those who speak of God, and of religious matters\nas they would of any ordinary topics of conversation, without taking into\naccount the circumstances of time, place, or persons. St. Jerome complained\nof this abuse, saying that whilst there are masters and experts in every\nart and science, only on matters of theology and Holy Scripture, the\nfoundations of all arts and sciences, can few be found to speak well. Yet\nquestions relating to them are discussed most flippantly at table, and in\npublic places; the hare-brained youth, the uneducated labourer, and the\ndotard, give their opinions freely on the highest mysteries of the Faith.\n\nAgain, Blessed Francis says: \"Always speak of God as of God, that is to\nsay, reverently and devoutly, not in a self-sufficient, preaching spirit,\nbut with gentleness, charity, and humility.\"[3]\n\nIn the same book he gives his advice to Philothea in the following words:\n\"Never, then, speak of God or of religion for form's sake, or to make\nconversation, but always with attention and devotion. I tell you this,\nthat you may not be guilty of an extraordinary sort of vanity, which is\nobservable in many who profess to be devout. These people, on all possible\noccasions, throw in expressions of piety and fervour without the least\nthought of what they are saying, and, having uttered these phrases, imagine\nthat they themselves are such, as their words would indicate, which is not\nat all the case.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 St. Peter iv. 11.]\n[Footnote 2: Col. iii 17.]\n[Footnote 3: Part iii., chap. 26.]\n\n\nUPON ECCENTRICITIES IN DEVOTION.\n\nBlessed Francis had a great dislike of any kind of affectation or\nsingularity practised by devout persons, whether in Religious houses or in\nthe world. He went so far as to say that it rendered their piety not merely\noffensive, but ridiculous.\n\nHe wished every one to conform as far as possible to the way of life proper\nto his or her calling, without affecting any peculiarity. He gave as his\nauthority for this desire the example of our Lord, who, in the days of His\nflesh, condescended to make Himself like to His brethren in all things\nexcepting sin.\n\nThe holy Bishop inculcated this lesson upon his penitents, not only by\nword, but much more by his example. Never during the whole fourteen years\nwhich, happily for me, I spent under his direction studying most closely\nall his actions, his very gestures, his words, and his teaching; never, I\nsay, did I observe in him the faintest shadow of singularity.\n\nI must confess to having, in order to find out exactly what he was,\npractised a _ruse_, which some might think inexcusable or impertinent.\nEvery year he paid me a week's visit, and before he came I took care to\nhave some holes pierced in the doors or boarding of his rooms, that I might\nclosely observe his behaviour when quite alone. Well, I can truly say that\nwhatever he did, whether he prayed, read, meditated, or wrote, in his lying\ndown and in his rising up, at all times and in all circumstances, he was\nthe same--calm, unaffected, simple--his outward demeanour corresponding\nwith the interior beauty of his soul. Francis quite alone was the very same\nas Francis in company. I think, myself, that this was the result of his\ncontinual attention to the presence of God, a practice which he recommended\nso strongly to all who were under his direction.\n\nWhen he prayed, it was as though he saw the angels and the saints gathered\nround him. He remained for hours calm, motionless as a statue, and\nchangeless in expression.\n\nNever, even when alone, did he for the sake of greater comfort sit or stand\nor assume attitudes other than those he permitted himself when in public.\nHe never so much as crossed his legs, or rested his head on his hand. The\nunvarying but easy gravity of his demeanour naturally inspired an unfailing\nlove and respect.\n\nHe said that our exterior deportment should be like water which, the better\nit is, the more is it tasteless.\n\nI was much pleased on hearing a very famous and devout person,[1] whom\nI met in Paris, say this to me about our Saint. That nothing brought so\nvividly to his mind what the conversation of our Lord Jesus Christ must\nhave been among men, as the presence and angelic deportment of the holy\nBishop, of whom one might truly say that he was not only clothed with, but\nabsolutely full of, Jesus Christ. Nor will this appear strange to us if we\nremember that the just soul, that is to say, the soul which is in a state\nof grace, is said to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, and is\ncalled a participator of the divine nature.\n\n[Footnote 1: St. Vincent de Paul.]\n\n\nUPON CONFRATERNITIES.\n\nHe advised devout people to give in their names boldly, and without much\nconsultation, to the confraternities which they happened to meet with, so\nas to become by this means participators of grace with all those who fear\nGod and live according to His law. He pitied the scruples of those good\nsouls who fear to enrol themselves, lest, as they ignorantly imagine, they\nshould sin by not fulfilling certain duties laid down in the rules given\nfor the guidance and discipline of these confraternities, but which are\nrather recommended than commanded.\n\n\"For,\" he said, \"if the rules of Religious Orders are not in themselves\nbinding under pain of either mortal or venial sin, how much less so are the\nstatutes of confraternities?\n\n\"The following out of the recommendations given to their members to do\ncertain things, to recite certain prayers, to take part in certain meetings\nor processions, is a matter of counsel, and not of precept. To those who\nperform such pious actions, Indulgences are granted, which those who do not\npractise them fail to gain; but such failure, even if wilful, is not a sin.\nThere is much to gain, and nothing to lose.\"\n\nOn this subject he speaks thus to Philothea:\n\n\"Enter readily into the confraternities of the place in which you are\nliving, and specially into those whose exercises are the most fruitful and\nedifying. In doing this, you will be practising a kind of obedience which\nis very pleasing to God, and the more so because although the joining\nconfraternities is not commanded, yet it is recommended by the Church, who,\nto show that she desires Catholics to enrol themselves therein, grants\nIndulgences and other privileges to their members. Then, too, it is always\na charitable thing to concur and co-operate with others in their good\nworks. And although it may be that we should make quite as good exercises\nby ourselves as we do in common with our fellow-members, yet we promote the\nglory of God better by uniting ourselves with our brethren and neighbours,\nand sharing our good deeds with them.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Part ii., chap. 15.]\n\n\nUPON INTERCOURSE WITH THE WORLD.\n\nThere are some good people whose zeal not being sufficiently tempered\nwith knowledge, as soon as they desire to give themselves up to a devout\nlife, fly from society and from intercourse with others as owls shun the\ncompany of birds that fly by day. Their morose and unsociable conduct\ncauses a dislike to be taken to devotion instead of rendering it sweet\nand attractive to all. Our Blessed Father was altogether opposed to such\nmoroseness, wishing His devout children to be by their example a light to\nthe world, and the salt of the earth, so as to impart a flavour to piety\nwhich might tempt the appetite of those who would otherwise surely turn\nfrom it with disgust. To a good soul who asked him whether Christians who\nwished to live with some sort of perfection should see company and mix\nin society, he answers thus: \"Perfection, my dear lady, does not lie in\navoiding our fellow-men, but it does lie in not over-relishing social\npleasures and in not taking undue delight in them. There is danger for us\nin all that we see in a sinful world, for we run the risk of fixing our\naffections upon things worldly; at the same time to those who are steadfast\nand resolute, the mere sight of the things of this world will do no harm.\nIn a word, the perfection of charity is the perfection of life, for the\nlife of our soul is charity. The early Christians, who were in the world in\ntheir body though not in their heart, undoubtedly were very perfect.\"[1]\n\nAs regards the world's opinion of us, and the estimation in which we are\nheld by others, it is not well to be too sensitive. At the same time, to\nbe altogether indifferent about our reputation is blameworthy. Our Blessed\nPrelate teaches his Philothea exactly what we have to do:\n\n\"If,\" he says, \"the world despises us, let us rejoice, for it is right--we\nsee for ourselves that we are very contemptible. If it esteems us, let us\ndespise its esteem and its judgment, for it is blind. Trouble yourself\nvery little about what the world thinks; do not ask or even care to know.\nDespise equally its appreciation and its contempt, and let it say what\nit will, good or evil. I do not approve of doing what is not right, that\npeople may have a bad opinion of us. Transgressing is always transgressing,\nand we are thereby making our neighbour transgress likewise. On the\ncontrary, I desire that, keeping our eyes always fixed upon our Lord, we do\nwhat we have to do without regarding what the world thinks of us, or its\nbehaviour towards us. We need not endeavour to give others a good opinion\nof ourselves, yet neither have we to try to give a bad one, and especially\nmust we be careful not to do wrong with this intent.\n\n\"But we can never stand quite well with the world; it is far too exacting.\nIf out of compliance we yield to it, and play and dance with it, it will be\nscandalized; and if we do not, it will accuse us of hypocrisy and gloom;\nif we are well-dressed it will impute to us some bad motive; and if we are\nill-dressed it will call us mean; it will style our gaiety dissoluteness\nand our mortification gloom. It will exaggerate our failings and publish\nour faults; and if it cannot find fault with our actions it will attack our\nmotives. Whatever we do the world will find fault. If we spend a long time\nat confession it will ask what we can have to say; if we take but a short\ntime, it will say that we do not tell everything. If one little cross word\nescape us it will pronounce our temper unbearable; it will denounce our\nprudence as avarice, our gentleness as folly. Spiders invariably spoil the\nbees' labour. Therefore, do not mind what opinion the world has of you,\ngood or bad; do not distress yourself about it, whichever it be. To say\nthat we are not what the world thinks, when it speaks well of us, is wise,\nfor the world, like a quack doctor, always exaggerates.\"\n\nYou question me, regarding the contempt which we should feel for the world\nand the world's opinion of us; in other words you want to know exactly\nwhat St. Paul means when he says that, being crucified to the world and\nthe world to us, we should glory only in the Cross of our Saviour Jesus\nChrist.[2]\n\nThis seems to you a paradox; light evolved from darkness, and glory from\nshame. Let me remind you that the Christian religion is full of such\nparadoxes, and that we belong to an all-powerful God, who has given life to\nus by His death; who has healed us by His wounds, and who makes us rich by\nHis poverty. I cannot, however, explain the difficulty to you better than\nby quoting the words of our Blessed Father in one of his letters. He says:\n\"In this alone lies our glory, that our divine Saviour died for us, the\nMaster for His slaves, the just for the unjust.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Cf. _The Devout Life_. Part iv., c. 7.]\n[Footnote 2: Galat. vi. 14.]\n\n\nAGAINST OVER-EAGERNESS.\n\nBlessed Francis advised his penitents to avoid above all things, excessive\neagerness, which, in his view, is the mortal foe of true devotion. He says:\n\"It is far better to do a few things well than to undertake many good works\nand leave them half done.\"\n\nThis was the mistake of the man in the Gospel who began to build and was\nnot able to finish because he had not counted the cost beforehand. There\nare some who think they are never doing well unless they are doing much.\nThey are like the Pharisees who considered the perfection of prayer to\nconsist in its length. Our Lord reproves them for this and much more for\ndevouring widows' houses with their long prayers. In one of his Conferences\nthe Saint speaks thus: \"It is not by the multiplicity of things we do that\nwe acquire perfection, but by the perfection and purity of intention with\nwhich we do them.\"\n\nAnd this is what he says on the subject in his Theotimus: \"To do few\nactions but with great purity of intention and with a firm will to please\nGod, is to do excellently. Such greatly sanctify us. Some men eat much, and\nyet are ever lean, thin, and delicate, because their digestive power is\nnot good; there are others who eat little, and yet are always in excellent\nhealth and vigorous, because their stomach is good. Even so, there are\nsome souls that do many good works and yet increase but little in charity,\nbecause they do those good works either coldly and negligently, or have\nundertaken them rather from natural instinct and inclination than because\nGod so willed and with heaven-given fervour. On the contrary, others\nthere are who get through little work, but do it with so holy a will; and\ninclination, that they make a wonderful advancement in charity; they have\nlittle talent, but they husband it so faithfully that the Lord largely;\nrewards them for it.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: _Love of God_. B. xii., c. 7.]\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nOur Blessed Father always insisted on the necessity of discretion as\nwell as charity in our devotion, and warned us against that want of\nself-restraint and calmness, which he called eagerness. This, he said, is,\nindeed, the _remora_ of true devotion, and its worst enemy, the more so\nbecause it decks itself in the livery of devotion, in order more easily\nto entrap the unwary and to make them mistake zeal without knowledge for\ngenuine fervour.\n\nHe was very fond of that saying of an ancient Emperor: \"Make haste\nslowly,\" and of another: \"Soon enough, if well enough.\" He would rather\nhave a little done thoroughly well, than a great deal undertaken with\nover-eagerness. One of his favourite maxims was \"Little and good.\" In order\nto persuade us that he was right, he used to warn us against thinking that\nperfection depends on the number of our good works, exterior or interior.\nWhen asked what then became of that insatiable love of which the masters of\nthe spiritual life speak, that love which never thinks that it has reached\nthe goal, but is always pressing on farther and farther, spanning the whole\nextent of heaven with giant strides, he answered: \"The tree of that love\nmust grow at the roots, rather than by the branches.\" He explained his\nmeaning thus: To grow by the branches is to wish to perform a great number\nof good works, of which many are imperfect, others superfluous like the\nuseless leaves which overload the vine, and have to be nipped off before\nthe grapes can grow to any proper size. On the other hand we grow at the\nroots when we do only a few good works, but those few most perfectly, that\nis to say, with a great love of God, in which all the perfection of the\nChristian consists. It is to this that the Apostle exhorts us when he bids\nus be rooted and grounded in charity if we would comprehend the surpassing\ncharity of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. True devotion, he used to say,\nshould be gentle, tranquil, and discreet, whereas eagerness is indiscreet,\ntempestuous, and turbulent.\n\nEspecially he found fault with the eagerness which attempts to do several\nthings at once. He said it was like trying to thread more than one needle\nat a time. One of his favourite mottos was: \"Sufficient to the day is the\nlabour thereof.\"\n\nWhen he was reproached, as he sometimes was, with bestowing such earnest\nand undivided attention on the most trivial concerns of the people who came\nto him for sympathy and advice, he answered: \"These troubles appear great\nto them, and, therefore, they must be consoled, as if they really were so.\nGod knows, too, that I do not want any great employment. It is perfectly\nindifferent to me what my occupation is so long as it is a serving of Him.\nTo do these small works is all that is, at the time being, asked of me. Is\nnot doing the will of God a work great enough for anyone? We turn little\nactions into great ones when we perform them with a supreme desire to\nplease God, who measures our services, not by the excellence of the work we\ndo, but by the love which accompanies it, and that love by its purity, and\nthat purity by the singleness of its intention.\"\n\n\nUPON LIBERTY OF SPIRIT.\n\nHe was a great enemy to every sort of spiritual restriction and constraint,\nand was fond of quoting the words of St. Paul: _Where the spirit of God is,\nthere is liberty_.[1] And again: _You are redeemed with a great price, do\nnot make yourselves slaves again_.[2] He had advised a lady of rank to work\nwith her own hands, in order to avoid sloth, and, as she was well to do,\nhe suggested to her to devote her manual labour to the adornment of altars\nor to the service of the poor, following the advice of the Apostle, who\ncounsels us to labour with our hands to provide for the wants of the needy.\nThis lady, who always followed his suggestions to the very letter as if\nthey were commands, having done some little piece of work for herself, felt\na scruple about the matter, as though she had failed in the exact obedience\nwhich she had resolved to yield, not only to the commands of the holy\nPrelate, but even to his opinions. She therefore, asked him if she ought\nto give in alms exactly what a piece of work she had done for herself was\nworth. Moreover, having been advised to fast on Fridays she wished, she\nsaid, in order to gain more merit to make a vow that she would always\npractise this mortification.\n\nHere is his reply: \"I approve of your Friday fasts, but not that you should\nmake any vow to keep them, nor that you should tie yourself down, tightly\nin such matters. Still more do I approve of your working with your hands,\nspinning and so forth, at times when nothing greater or more important\nclaims your attention, and that what you make should be destined either for\nthe altar or for the poor, I should not, however, like you to keep to this\nso strictly, that if it should happen that you do something for yourself or\nfor your family you should feel obliged to give the poor the value of your\nwork. For, holy liberty and freedom must reign, and we must have no other\nlaw than love, which, when it bids us to do some kind of work for our own\nfamily or friends, must not be looked upon as if it had led us to do wrong.\nStill less does it require us to make amends, as you wished to do seeing\nthat whatever it invites us to take in hand, whether for the rich or for\nthe poor, is equally pleasing to our Lord.\" What do you think of this\ndoctrine, you who go by rule and measure in valuing an act of virtue? Is\nliberality displayed towards the rich, in your opinion, worth as much as\nalms given to the poor? See now, this holy Bishop follows a very different\nrule, and measuring the one action and the other by the golden standard of\ncharity, esteems them as equal, provided both be done with equal charity.\n\n[Footnote 1: II. Cor. iii. 17.]\n[Footnote 2: Cor. vii. 23]\n\n\nUPON NATURE AND GRACE.\n\nIn certain minds there seems always to lurk some remains of Pelagianism, a\nhydra from which though bruised and crushed by the Church--the pillar and\nbulwark of the Truth--new heads are ever springing forth.\n\nMany, as I am willing to believe, from lack of consideration, ascribe too\nmuch to nature, and too little to grace, making too great capital of the\nmatter of moral virtues, and too little of the manner in which they are\npractised. These people forget that in our works God does not regard how\nmuch we do, but with how much love we do it, _non quantum, sed ex quanta_,\nin the language of the schools.\n\nOn this subject our Blessed Father gives the following excellent advice to\na pious person who, because she had to devote the greater part of her time\nto household affairs and to mix a good deal in society was discouraged, and\nthought it almost impossible for her to lead a devout life.\n\n\"Do not,\" he says, \"look at all at the substance of the things which you\ndo, but rather, poor though they be, at the honour by which they are\nennobled, that of being willed by God, ordered by His Providence, and\narranged by His wisdom, in a word, that of being pleasing to God. And\nif they please Him, whom can they reasonably offend? Strive, my dearest\ndaughter, to become every day more pure in heart.\n\n\"This purity of heart consists in setting on all things their true value,\nand in weighing them in the balance of the sanctuary, which balance is only\nanother name for the wilt of God.\" In the same way in his Theotimus he\nteaches that acts of the lesser virtues are often more pleasing to God, and\nconsequently more meritorious, because done with great love, than the most\nsplendid virtues when practised with less of heavenly charity. Charity is\nthe pure gold which makes us rich in immortal wealth.\n\n\nUPON EXAGGERATED INTROSPECTION.\n\nBlessed Francis was not at all fond of too much self-introspection, or of\nthe habit of turning an unimportant matter over and over a hundred times in\nthe mind. He called this pernicious hair-splitting; or, with the Psalmist:\n\"Spinning spiders' webs.\"[1] People given to it he used to say are like the\nsilkworm, which imprisons and entangles itself in its own cocoon. In his\ntwelfth Conference he speaks further on this subject.\n\n\"The soul,\" he says, \"which is wholly bent on pleasing its divine Lover,\nhas neither desire nor leisure to fall back upon itself. It presses on\ncontinually (or should do so) along the one straight path which has that\nlove for its aim, not allowing itself to waste its powers in continual\nself-inspection for the purpose of seeing what it is doing or if it is\nsatisfied. Alas! our own satisfactions and consolations do not satisfy God,\nthey only feed that miserable love and care of ourselves which is quite\napart from God and the thought of Him.\"\n\nA great deal of time is wasted in these useless considerations which would\nbe far better employed in doing good works.\n\nBy over considering whether we do right, we may actually do wrong.\n\nSt. Anthony was once asked how we might know if we prayed properly. \"By not\nknowing it at all,\" he answered. He certainly prays well who is so taken up\nwith God that he does not know he is praying. The traveller who is always\ncounting his steps will not make much headway.\n\n[Footnote 1: Cf. Ps. lxxxix. 10.]\n\n\nUPON INTERIOR REFORMATION.\n\nOur Blessed Father used to say that, generally speaking, grace worked as\nnature, and not as art, does. Art only reproduces what appears outwardly as\nin painting and sculpture, but nature begins her work from within, so that\nin a living creature the internal organs are formed before the skin, whence\nthe saying that the heart is the first living part of man.\n\nWhen, therefore, he wished to lead souls on from a worldly to a devout\nlife, he did not at first suggest changes in the exterior, in the dressing\nof the hair, in the fashion of garments, and so on. No, he spoke only to\nthe heart, and of the heart, knowing that when once that stronghold is\ngained, nothing else can resist.\n\n\"When a house is on fire, said he, see how all the furniture is thrown out\nof the window! So is it when the heart is possessed by true love of God,\nall that is not of God seems then to it of no moment at all. _If a man_,\nsays the Canticle of Canticles _give all his riches for love he will think\nthat he has done nothing_.\"[1]\n\nI will give you a trifling illustration of this teaching which may be\nuseful to you. A lady of high rank, having placed herself under the\ndirection of the holy Prelate, became more and more assiduous in attending\nthe services of the Church, spending much time in prayer and meditation,\nand, in what leisure was left her from her household cares, visiting the\nsick and poor. Her friends and acquaintances, however, observed with\nsurprise that she made no change at all in external matters, that her\ndress was as rich as ever, and that she laid aside none of her magnificent\nornaments.\n\nThis so scandalized them that they began to murmur openly, not only against\nher, but also against her director. They even went so far as to accuse her\nof hypocrisy, forgetting that a hypocrite always tries to appear better in\nthe eyes of others than he really is, whereas she, in spite of interior\namendment, remained quite unchanged in her exterior.\n\nThe truth was that she did not in the least care for her ornaments, but as\nit was her husband's will that she should dress as before, she followed\nthe example of Esther, who, though she detested all vain pomp and show, to\nplease Assuerus, decked herself out with magnificence.\n\nOn one occasion some busybody told our Blessed Father that this lady,\ndevout though she was, had not even given up wearing ear-rings, and\nexpressed great surprise that he who was so good a confessor had not\nadvised her to have done with the like vanities. To all this Francis\nreplied with his accustomed gentleness, and with a touch of humour: \"I\nassure you, I do not know that she has got ears, much less ear-rings in\nthem. She always comes to confession with her head so completely enveloped\nin a great hood or scarf that I cannot see so much as its shape. Then, too,\nlet us remember that the saintly Rebecca of old, who was quite as virtuous\nas this lady, lost nothing of her sanctity by wearing the ear-rings which\nEleazer presented to her as the gift of his master Isaac!\"\n\nThus did our Blessed Father deal with matters which are a stumbling-block\nto the weak and foolish, showing how true it is that all things work\ntogether for good to those who are good, and that to the pure all things\nare pure.\n\n[Footnote 1: Cant. viii. 7.]\n\n\nHIS VISION OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY.\n\nAll Christians ought to be not only devout but absolutely devoted to the\nmost Blessed Trinity. It is the most august and fundamental of all our\nmysteries; it is that to which we are consecrated by our entrance into the\nholy Church, for we are baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and\nof the Holy Ghost.\n\nBut you, my sisters, ought in an especial manner to be devoted to this\ngreat and ineffable mystery, remembering the wonderful vision which our\nBlessed Father, your founder, had on the day of his episcopal consecration.\nIn that sublime vision Almighty God showed him most clearly and\nintelligibly that the three adorable Persons of the most Holy Trinity were\noperating in his soul, producing there special graces which were to aid him\nin his pastoral office, at the very moment that the three Bishops who were\nconsecrating him, blessed him, and performed all the holy ceremonies which\nrender this action so great and so solemn. Thenceforth he always regarded\nhimself as consecrated to the ever-Blessed Trinity and as a vessel of\nhonour and sanctification.\n\nThen, too, in the year 1610, he both founded and opened your Institute\non the day dedicated by the Church to the memory and adoration of that\nincomprehensible mystery. Trinity Sunday that year happening to fall on the\nFeast of St. Claude, he gave you that saint as your special intercessor\nwith the most Holy Trinity.\n\nAgain, you Congregation began with three members only, and this of set\npurpose, in order to honour the Blessed Trinity as well as to accomplish\nwhat is written in the Gospel, that when two or three are gathered together\nin the name, that is to say, for the glory of God, He will be in the midst\nof them, and will animate and govern them by His spirit; the spirit of\nlove, unity, and concord, which makes us keep the unity of the spirit in\nthe bond of peace, and renders us one through love, as the Father, the Son,\nand the Holy Ghost are one only, in nature, essence, and substance. It is\nthis peace of God, passing all understanding, which has up to the present\ntime kept all the convents of your Order in unity. Woe to him who shall\nbreak down this defence and rampart! May the ever-Blessed Trinity avert\nthis misery, and both regard and preserve you always, as adopted daughters\nof the Father, adopted sisters of the Son, and spouses of the Holy Ghost!\nAmen.\n\n\nHIS DEVOTION TO OUR BLESSED LADY.\n\nAstrologers, as you know, make a great point of observing what star is\nrising on the horizon at the moment of a person's birth. They call it the\nascendant, and it forms, as it were, the apex of their horoscope. Well,\nthis is an idle fancy, but we may draw from it a useful suggestion. It\nwould be good for us to notice what star was in the ascendant in the\nheavens, that is to say, what blessed Saint's feast day illumined the\nheaven of the Church militant at the moment of our birth. I cannot tell you\nhow much this knowledge has helped many a soul.\n\nAh! how bright and glorious an ascendant our Blessed Father had! seeing\nthat he was born under the very sign and protection of the Mother of God,\non one of the days in the Octave of her Assumption, August 21st, 1567.\n\nNo wonder that he always had a special devotion to her and showed it\nin every possible way; among others, in giving her name to many of the\nconfraternities and congregations established by him in the Church. No\nwonder either that he had so great a love of purity, and that under the\nprotection, and with the assistance of the Queen of Virgins, he should have\nconsecrated himself to God in holy virginity and continence.\n\nYou know that it was on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception that he\nreceived episcopal consecration, and at the same time that inward unction\nwhich we learn so much of from the history of his life.\n\nHe also dedicated his Theotimus[1] to the Queen of Sovereign Charity, and\npreached continually and with extraordinary sweetness and fervour upon the\nperfections and greatness of that divine Mother.\n\nFinally, my dear sisters, there was nothing that he recommended so much to\nhis spiritual children as this devotion to the Blessed Virgin. You, indeed,\nmore than all others, ought to bear witness to this, seeing that he made\nyou daughters of holy Mary, under the title of the Visitation, marked\nthereby to distinguish you from so many other congregations consecrated to\nthe honour and service of God under the title of Our Lady.\n\nHis devotion to our Blessed Lady was, indeed, as might have been expected\nfrom one so single-minded and sincere as he, eminently practical, From his\nearliest youth he sought her protection and aid in all difficulties and\ntemptations. When he was pursuing his studies while at college in Paris,\nthe evil spirit was permitted by God to insinuate into his mind the\nterrible idea that he was one of the number of the damned. This delusion\ntook such possession of his soul that he lost his appetite, was unable to\nsleep, and day by day grew more and more wasted and languid. His tutor\nand director noticing how his health was affected and how pale, listless,\nand joyless he had become, often questioned him as to the cause of his\ndejection and evident suffering, but his tormentor who had filled his mind\nwith this delusion, being what is called a dumb devil, the poor youth could\ngive no explanation.\n\nFor one whole month he suffered this mental torture, this agony of soul. He\nhad lost all the sweetness of divine love, but not, happily, his fidelity\nto it. He looked back with bitter tears to the happy time when he was, as\nit were, inebriated with that sweetness, nor did any ray of hope illumine\nthe darkness of that night of despair.\n\nAt last, led by a divine inspiration, he entered a church to pray that this\nagony might pass.\n\nOn his knees before a statue of the Blessed Virgin he implored the\nassistance of the Mother of Mercy with tears and sighs, and the most\nfervent devotion.\n\nHe ended by reciting the _Memorare_, that devout prayer attributed to St.\nAugustine or St. Bernard, and which was such a favourite with our Blessed\nFather and taught by him to all his penitents.\n\nI may here mention that it was from his lips that I first learnt that\nprayer, that I wrote it down in the beginning of my breviary, and have made\nconstant use of it in all my necessities.\n\nBut, to return to my story. No sooner had he finished this appeal to the\nMother of Mercy than he began to experience the power of her intercession.\nHe seemed to hear the voice of God within him saying: \"I am thy salvation:\nOh! man of little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt? Thou art mine and I\nwill save thee; have confidence; I am He who has overcome the world.\"\n\nThen, in a moment, the devil departed from him; the delusions with which\nthat wicked one had filled his mind vanished; joy and consolation took\ntheir place; where darkness had reigned light assumed the empire, and\nFrancis felt he could never sufficiently thank God for this deliverance.\n\nCan you wonder that after such a battle and such a victory won through\nthe intercession of the Mother of God he always advised those who were\nundergoing temptation to have recourse to her powerful aid? She is indeed\n_terrible_--to our foes--_as an army in battle array, and a tower of\nstrength against the face of our enemies_; and what marvel seeing that it\nis she who has crushed the serpent's head?\n\n[Footnote 1: _The Treatise on the Love of God_.]\n\n\nHIS DEVOTION TO THE HOLY WINDING SHEET OF TURIN.\n\nWith regard to our Blessed Father's explanation of his special devotion\nto the Holy Winding Sheet, as connected with circumstances preceding his\nbirth, I may here say a few words.\n\nHe was born, as you know, on the 21st of August, 1567. His mother was\nthen very young, not quite fifteen, and frail and delicate in health. It\nhappened that at that very time the Holy Winding Sheet, then in the Chapel\nof Chambery, was, by command of His Highness of Savoy, and at the request\nof the Princess Anne d'Este, wife, by her second marriage, of James of\nSavoy, Duke of Nemours and Prince of Geneva, brought to Annecy. Charles,\nCardinal of Lorraine, and Louis, Cardinal of Guise, were at the time at\nAnnecy, where the sacred relic was displayed with great solemnity and\nexposed to the veneration of the multitudes who flocked to the place from\nall parts.\n\nAmong these crowds came the father and mother of Blessed Francis, and we\nmay well believe that God made use of this holy relic to imprint upon both\nthe mother and the unborn child some special influence of grace.\n\nThere is another winding sheet at Besancon (for our Lord was buried\nin two, Holy Scripture itself suggesting this by the use of the word\n_linteamina_,[1] linen cloths), that city being the metropolis of the\necclesiastical province, in which the Bishopric of Belley is situated.\n\nOne day when our Blessed Father was passing by the place the authorities\nhad the relic exposed in his honour, and begged him to preach upon the\nsubject. He did so, with tears of emotion and such a torrent of vehement\neloquence, as went straight to the hearts of all who listened to him.\n\nIn his own diocese he took care to have the feast of the Holy Winding Sheet\nkept in all the churches. He generally himself preached on that day, and\nalways with much feeling and devotion.\n\nHe had a most special devotion to the Holy Winding Sheet, as it is to be\nseen at Turin. He had it copied or represented in all sorts of different\nways, or, I should rather say, by all sorts of different arts; in\nembroidery, in oil painting, in copperplate, in coloured engraving, in\nminiature, in demi-relief, in etching. He had it in his chamber, his\nchapel, his oratory, his study, his refectory; in a word, everywhere.\n\nOn one occasion I asked him the reason of this. He answered: \"It is the\ngreat treasure of the House of Savoy, the defence of the country; it is our\ngreat relic; more than this, it is the miraculous picture of the sufferings\nof Jesus Christ, traced with His own blood. And then, too, I have a special\nreason for my devotion to this holy relic, seeing that before I was born my\nmother dedicated me to our Lord, while contemplating this sacred standard\nof salvation.\n\n\"It is said that he who carries the standard into battle, rather than\nsurrender it to the enemy, should wrap its folds round his body and glory\nin so dying. Ah! What a happiness it would he if we could thus fold round\nabout us the Holy Winding Sheet, buried with Jesus Christ for love of Him,\nin whom we are buried by baptism.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Luke xxiv. 12.]\n\n\nUPON MERIT.\n\nEvery good work can, as you know, have four qualities: it can be\nmeritorious, satisfactory, consolatory, or impetratory.\n\nIn order to have the two first qualities it must be performed when we are\nin a state of grace; that is to say, through the motive of charity, or, at\nleast, in charity.\n\nBut the two last it can have, although imperfectly, without charity; for\nhow many sinners there are who feel consolation in doing works which are\nmorally good, and how many who in praying impetrate graces and favours from\nthe mercy of God.\n\nBetween the two first qualities of good works there is this difference,\nthat the first abides with and belongs wholly and entirely to the\nperson who performs the work, and cannot be communicated; that power of\ncommunication being reserved solely for the merits of Jesus Christ our\nLord, which do not stop short, as it were, and end in Him, but can be, and,\nin fact, are, communicated to us. Neither the saints in heaven nor those on\nearth have power to communicate to us one tittle of their merits; not the\nformer, because in glory they are rewarded far beyond their deserving;\nnot the latter, because they have not yet reached the goal, and whatever\nsanctity they may possess, they may, through sin, fall away from it, and\nall have need of the grace and mercy of God to keep them from so falling.\n\nThe second quality, however, is communicable, because we can share in the\nnecessities of one another, and can make satisfaction one for another;\nspiritual riches being no less communicable than temporal ones, and the\nabundance of some being able to relieve the starvation of others. Hear what\nour Blessed Father says on this subject in his eighteenth Conference: \"We\nmust never think that by going to Holy Communion for others, or by praying\nfor them, we lose anything. We need not fear that by offering to God this\ncommunion or prayer in satisfaction for the sins of others we shall not\nmake spiritual profit for ourselves. The merit of the communion and of the\nprayer will remain with us, for we cannot merit grace for one another; it\nis our Lord alone who can do that. We can beg for graces for others, but we\ncan never merit them.\"\n\n\nUPON GOOD WILL AND GOOD DESIRES.\n\nGood will being of so great importance, you ask me of what use it is, if it\ndoes not manifest itself by its works.\n\nAnd St. Gregory tells us that where there are no works there can be no love\nat all, or at least none that is sincere. Our Blessed Father will give the\nbest possible answer to your question. These are his words:\n\n\"The angel who proclaimed the birth of our infant Saviour sang glory to\nGod, announcing that he published joy, peace, and happiness to men of good\nwill. This was done in order that no one might be ignorant that to receive\nthis Child all that is needed is to be of good will, even though as yet\none may have effected nothing of good, for Christ comes to bless all good\nwills, and, little by little, He will render them fruitful and of good\neffect, provided we allow Him to govern them.\n\n\"With regard to good desires, it is, indeed, marvellous that they should so\noften come to nothing, and that such magnificent blossoms should produce so\nlittle fruit.\n\n\"He gives, however, a reason for this, which pleases me very much.\n\n\"God knows, he says, why He permits so many good desires to require such\nlength of time and such severe effort to bring them to action, nay, more\nthan this, why sometimes they are never actuated at all.\n\n\"Yet if there were no other profit from them than that resulting from the\nmortification of a soul which loves God, that would be much.\n\n\"In fact, we must not desire evil things at all; good things we must desire\nonly in moderation; but desire supremely, and in a limitless degree, that\none only divine Good, God Himself.\"\n\n\nAGAINST THE MAKING OF RASH VOWS.\n\nA certain person of my acquaintance[1] having learnt on good authority that\nBlessed Francis had in his early youth made a vow to say his rosary every\nday, wished to imitate him in this work of piety, and yet did not like to\nmake the vow without first consulting him.\n\nHe received the answer: \"Beware of doing so.\" My friend replying: \"Why do\nyou refuse to others the advice which you took for yourself in your youth?\"\nBlessed Francis continued: \"The very word _youth_ decides the question,\nbecause I made the vow at that time with less reflection, but now that I am\nolder I say to you, Do not do it. I do not tell you not to say your rosary;\non the contrary, I advise you as earnestly as I can, and even conjure you\nnot to allow a single day to pass without reciting that prayer, which is\nmost pleasing to God, and to the Blessed Virgin. But do it from a firm and\nfixed purpose, rather than from a vow, so that if you should happen to omit\nit either from weariness or forgetfulness, or any other circumstance, you\nmay not be perplexed by scruples, and run the risk of offending God. For it\nis not enough to vow, we must also pay our vow, and that under pain of\nsin, which is no small matter. I assure you that this vow has often been a\nhindrance to me, and many a time I have been on the point of asking to be\ndispensed, and set free from it, or at least of having it changed into some\nother work of equal worth, which might interfere less with the discharge of\nmy duties.\"\n\n\"But,\" rejoined this person, \"is not what is done by vow more meritorious\nthan what is done only from a firm and settled purpose?\" \"I suspected that\nwas it,\" replied Blessed Francis; \"in that case who do you wish should\nprofit by what you do?\" \"A fine question,\" cried the other, \"my neighbour,\ndo you think? No, certainly, I want to gain it for myself.\" \"Then there\nis nothing more to be said,\" replied Blessed Francis. \"I see I have been\nmaking a mistake, I imagined, of course, that you wished to make your vow\nto God, for God, and for His sake, and so by your vow to merit or gain\nsomething for God. What! Are we to talk of our merits and graces as if He\nneeded them, and were not Himself absolute merit and infinite goodness and\nperfection?\"\n\nOur Blessed Father loved to see this bird beating its wings against the\nbars of its cage. At last to let him fly, he said: 'But what then is merit,\nbut a work pleasing to God, and a work done in His grace, and by His help,\nand for His love--a work which He rewards with increase of grace and\nglory?' \"Certainly,\" said the other, \"that is how I, too, understood it.\"\n\"Well, then,\" replied he, \"if you understand it thus, why do you contend\nagainst your understanding and your conscience? Are we not meriting for\nGod, when we do a good work in a state of grace and for the love of God?\nAnd ought not the love of God which seeks nothing but His interests,\nthat is to say, His glory, to be the chief end and final aim of all our\ngood works, rather than the reward we thereby merit, which is merely an\naccessory?\"\n\n\"And of what use to God are the merits and good works of men?\" continued\nthe other. \"For one thing,\" replied he, \"God thereby saves you from taking\na false step. You are standing on the brink of a precipice, and you have\nyour eyes shut. Let me give you a helping hand.\"\n\n\"In very truth, no good works of ours, though done in a state of grace and\nfor the love of God, can increase His interior and essential glory. The\nreason is that this glory, being God Himself and consequently infinite,\ncan neither be increased by our good actions nor diminished by our sins;\nand it is in this sense that David says that God is God and has no need of\nour goods.[2] It is not thus, however, with the exterior glory which is\nrendered to Him by creatures, and for the obtaining of which He drew them\nforth out of nothingness into existence. This is finite, by reason of its\nsubject, God's creature, and therefore can be increased by our good works\ndone in and for the love of God, or, on the other hand, diminished by our\nevil actions, by which we dishonour God, and rob Him of His glory, though\nonly of glory which is exterior and outside of the divine nature.\n\n\"Now that we do increase the exterior glory of God by our good works, done\nas I have said, is evident from the testimony of the Apostle, when he calls\nthe man who is purified from sin by justifying grace: _A vessel unto honour\nsanctified and profitable to the Lord prepared unto every good work._[3]\n\n\"Indeed, it is the very fact that a work done in grace increases the\nexterior glory of God, which makes it meritorious, His goodness being\npledged by His promise to glorify those who glorify Him, and to give the\ncrown of justice to those who fight the good fight, and who do, or endure,\nanything for the glory of His name. This is why I said that we must merit\nfor God, that is to say, we should refer our actions to the glory of God,\nand act out of love for Him. So we shall merit eternal life, provided\nalways we be free from mortal sin, since God is not pledged to give the\nglories of heaven to any but those who shall labour in His grace.\n\n\"If, on the other hand, we wish to merit for ourselves, that is to say,\nif we positively intend that the whole aim of our labour be the reward of\ngrace, or glory, which we hope for: and if we do not, in performing our\ngood works seek first and chiefly the glory of God; then we really merit\nnothing for ourselves, since we do nothing for God. The reason of this is\nthat there is so close a relationship between merit and reward (the two\nLatin names for them, _meritum_ and _merces_, having the same root and\nmeaning), that one cannot exist without the other any more than a mountain\nwithout a valley, or paternity without sonship.\n\n\"You see now that in the theory you have unwittingly adopted you entirely\ndestroy the nature of true merit, and are in danger of being shipwrecked\non the same rock as those heretics of our day who hold that good works are\nunprofitable for salvation. I am convinced, as you may well believe, that\nyou are as far from wishing to run the risk with them as you are from\nsharing their belief.\n\n\"Remember this, that in order to do a good work in true charity you must\nnot make your own interest your ultimate aim, but God's interest, which is\nnothing else but His exterior glory. The more, too, that you think of God's\ninterest the more He will think of yours, and the less you trouble yourself\nabout reward, the greater will your reward be in heaven, because pure love,\nnever mercenary, looks only to the good of the beloved one, not to its own.\nThis is the end and aim of the sacred teaching that we must seek first the\n_Kingdom of God_, that is to say, His glory, knowing assuredly that in\nseeking this all good things will be added unto us.\n\n\"He who only wishes to merit for himself does nothing for God and merits\nnothing for himself: but, on the other hand, he who does everything for God\nand for His honour merits much for himself.\n\n\"In this game he who loses, wins; and he who thinks only of winning for\nhimself, plays a losing game. His good works are, as it were, hollow, and\nweigh too lightly in the divine balance. He falls asleep on his pile; of\nimaginary spiritual wealth, and awakening finds he has nothing in his\nhands. He has laboured for himself, not for God, and therefore receives\nhis reward from himself and not from God. Like a moth, he singes his wings\nin the flame of a merit which is truly imaginary, no work being really\nmeritorious except that which is done in a state of grace, and with God for\nits last end.\"\n\n\"All this,\" replied the person, \"does not at all satisfy me on the point\nwhich I brought forward, namely, as to whether work done by vow is not more\nmeritorious than that which is done without it, seeing that to the action\nof the particular virtue which is vowed is added that of the virtue of\nreligion which is the vow.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" replied our Blessed Father, \"as regards the question whether\nit is more meritorious to say the Rosary by vow rather than of one's free\nchoice, it is undoubtedly, as you say, adding one act of virtue to another\nto do so in discharge of one's vow, for is not prayer the highest of all\nreligious actions? Again, if I pray with devotion and fervour, am I not\nadding to prayer another religious action, which is devotion? If I offer to\nGod this prayer, as incense, or a spiritual sacrifice, or as an oblation,\nare not sacrifice and oblation two religious actions? Moreover, if by this\nprayer I desire to praise God, is not divine praise a religious act? If in\npraying I adore God, is not adoration one also?\n\n\"And if I pray thus with devotion, adoration, sacrifice, oblation, and\npraise, have we not here five acts of the virtue of religion added by me to\nthe sixth, which is prayer?\"\n\n\"But,\" rejoined the other, \"the vow is more than all that.\" \"If,\" replied\nBlessed Francis, \"you say that the act of making a vow is in itself more\nthan all these six together, you must really bring me some proof of its\nbeing so.\"\n\n\"I mean,\" said the other, \"than each of these acts taken separately,\"\n\"That,\" returned our Blessed Father, \"is not the opinion of the Angelical\nDoctor,[4] who, when enumerating the eleven acts of religion, places the\nmaking a vow only in the eighth rank, with seven preceding it, namely,\nprayer, devotion, adoration, sacrifice, oblation, the paying of tithes, and\nfirst-fruits; and three after it: the praise of God, the taking of lawful\noaths, and the adjuring of creatures in God.\n\n\"It is not that the act of making a vow is not an excellent thing; but we\nhave no right to set it above other virtues which surpass it in excellence,\nand other good works of greater worth. We must leave everything in its\nplace, going neither against the order of reason nor against that of divine\ncharity. A man who boasts too much of his noble birth provokes scrutiny\ninto the genuineness of his claim and risks its being disallowed.\"\n\n\"All the same,\" persisted this person, \"I maintain that a good work done by\nvow is more meritorious than one done without it, charity, of course, being\ntaken for granted.\" \"It is not enough,\" replied Francis, \"to take charity\nfor granted. We must also suppose it to be greater in the man who does the\naction with a vow than in the one who does it without; for if he who says\nsome particular prayer, because bound by vow, has less charity than he who\nsays the same without being so bound, he, doubtless, has, and you will not\ndeny it, less merit than the other, because merit is not in proportion to\nthe vow made, but to the charity which accompanies it, and without which it\nhas neither life nor value.\"\n\n\"And supposing equal charity, vow, or no vow,\" resumed the person, \"will\nnot the action done by vow have greater merit than the other?\" \"It will\nonly have the same eternal glory for its reward,\" replied our Blessed\nFather, \"in so far as it has the same amount of charity, and thus each will\nreceive the same reward of eternal life.\n\n\"But as regards accidental glory, supposing that there were a special halo\nfor the vow which would add a fourth to the three of which schoolmen treat,\nor, if you wish, that there should be as many special and accidental halos\nof glory as there are kinds of virtue, they will be unequal in accidental\nglory.\n\n\"But then we should have to prove that this multiplicity of halos, or\naccidental glories, exists, in addition to the three of which the schoolmen\nspeak. This I would ask you now to do, though I am doubtful as to the\nresult.\"\n\n\"Of what then does it avail you,\" said the other, \"to have made that vow\nabout which I have been consulting you?\"\n\n\"It renders me,\" replied our Blessed Father, \"more careful, diligent, and\nattentive in keeping my word to God, in binding myself closer to Him,\nin strengthening me to keep my promise (for I do not deny that there is\nsomething more stable in the vow than in mere purpose and resolution), in\nkeeping myself from the sin I might incur, if I should fail in what I have\nvowed, in stimulating me to do better, and to make use of this means to\nfurther my progress in the love of God,\" \"You do not then pretend to merit\nmore on account of it?\" said the other. \"I leave all that to God,\" replied\nFrancis, \"He knows the measure of grace which He gives, or wishes to give\nme. I desire no more, and only as much as it may please Him to bestow on me\nfor His glory. Love is not eager to serve its own interests, it leaves the\ncare of them to its Beloved, who will know how to reward those who love Him\nwith a pure and disinterested love.\"\n\nI close this subject with two extracts from the writings of our Blessed\nFather. In the first he says: \"I do not like to hear people say, We must do\n_this_, or _that_, because there is more merit in it. There is more merit\nin saying, 'We must do all for the glory of God.' If we could serve God\nwithout merit--which cannot be done--we ought to wish to do so. It is to be\nfeared that by always trying to discover what is most meritorious we may\nmiss our way, like hounds, which when the scent is crossed, easily lose it\naltogether.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Undoubtedly M. Camus himself. Note.--It is considered by\ncritics that M. Camus puts much of his own into the month of St. Francis\nin this section.--[Ed.]]\n[Footnote 2: Psal. xv. 2.]\n[Footnote 3: 2 Tim. ii. 21.]\n[Footnote 4: S. Thom. 2a, 2ae, Quaest, xxiii. art. vii.]\n\n\nUPON THE PRO-PASSIONS OF OUR LORD.\n\nI have been asked whether our Lord Jesus Christ had passions. I cannot do\nbetter than answer in the exact words of our Blessed Father, taken from his\nTheotimus. He says:\n\n\"Jesus Christ feared, desired, grieved, and rejoiced. He even wept, grew\npale, trembled, and sweated blood, although in Him these effects were not\ncaused by passions like to ours. Therefore the great St. Jerome, and,\nfollowing his example, the Schools of Theology, out of reverence for\nthe divine Person in whom they existed, do not dare to give the name of\npassions to them, but call them reverently pro-passions, to show that in\nour Lord these sensible emotions, though not passions, took the place\nof passions. Moreover, He suffered nothing whatever on account of them,\nexcepting what seemed good to Him, governing and controlling them at His\nwill. This, we who are sinners do not do, for we suffer and groan under\nthese disorderly emotions, which, against our will, and to the great\nprejudice of our spiritual peace and welfare, disturb our souls.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Book I. chap. 3.]\n\n\nHIS VICTORY OVER THE PASSIONS OF LOVE AND ANGER.\n\nBlessed Francis candidly owned that the two passions which it cost him the\nmost to conquer were \"love of creatures and anger.\" The former overcame by\nskill, the latter by violence, or as he himself was wont to say, \"by taking\nhold of his heart with both hands.\"\n\nThe strategy by which he conquered love of creatures was this. He gave his\naffections an altogether new object to feed upon and to live for, an object\nabsolutely pure and holy, the Creator. The soul, we know, cannot live\nwithout love, therefore all depends on providing it with an object worthy\nof its love. Our will is like our love. \"We become earthly,\" says St.\nAugustine, \"if we love the earth, but heavenly if we love heaven. Nay\nmore, if we love God, we actually, by participation, become godlike. Osee,\nspeaking of idolaters, says: _They became abominable as those things were\nwhich they loved_\".[1] All our Saint's writings breathe love, but a love\nso holy, pure, and beautiful as to justify itself in every expression of\nit:--_Pure words ... justified in themselves ... sweeter than honey and the\nhoneycomb._\n\nAs regards the passion of anger, which was very strong in him, he fought\nagainst it, face to face, with such persevering force and success that\nmeekness and gentleness are considered his chief characteristics.\n\n[Footnote 1: Osee ix. 10.]\n\n\nUPON OUR PASSIONS AND EMOTIONS.\n\nOne day, at a time when I was writing a treatise on the subject of\nthe human passions--which treatise was afterwards published among my\nMiscellaneous Works--I went to him to be enlightened upon several points.\n\nAfter having answered my questions, and satisfied my mind, he asked me:\n\"And what will you say about the affections?\" I must confess that this\nquestion surprised me, for though I am quite aware of the distinction\nbetween the reasonable and the sensitive appetite, I had no idea that there\nwas such a difference between the passions and the affections, as he told\nme existed. I imagined that when the passions were governed by reason, they\nwere called affections, but he explained to me that this was not so at\nall. He said that our sensitive appetite was divided into two parts: the\nconcupiscent and the irascible....\n\nThe reasonable appetite is also divided, like the sensitive, into the\nconcupiscent and the irascible, but it makes use of the mind as its\ninstrument.\n\nThe sensitive concupiscent appetite is again subdivided into six passions:\n1, love; 2, hate; 3, desire; 4, aversion; 5, joy; 6, sadness. The irascible\ncomprises five passions: 1, anger; 2, hope; 3, despair; 4, fear; 5,\ncourage.\n\nThe reasonable appetite, which is the will, has just as many affections,\nand they bear the same names. There is, however, this difference between\nthe passions and the affections. We possess the passions in common with\nthe irrational brute creation, which, as we see, is moved by love,\nhate, desire, aversion, joy, sadness, anger, hope, despair, fear, and\nfearlessness, but without the faculty of reason to guide and regulate the\nimpulse of the senses.\n\nThe carnal man, that is to say, he who allows himself to be carried away\nby the impetuosity of his feelings, is, says the Psalmist: _compared to\nsenseless beasts and is become like to them_.[1]\n\nHe, however who makes use of his reason, directs his affections uprightly\nand well, employing them in the service of the reasonable appetite, only in\nas far as they are guided by the light and teaching of natural reason. As\nthis, however, is faulty and liable to deceptions and illusions, mistakes\nare often made which are called by philosophers disorders of mind.\n\nBut when the regenerate, that is to say, the Christian who possesses both\ngrace and charity, makes use of the passions of his sensitive appetite,\nas well as of the affections of his reason, for the glory of God, and for\nthe love of Him alone, this does not happen. Then he loves what he ought\nto love, he hates what he ought to hate, he desires what God wills that\nhe should desire, he flies from what displeases God, he is saddened by\noffences done against God, he rejoices and takes delight in the things\nwhich are pleasing to God. Then his zeal fills him with anger and\nindignation against all that detracts from the honour due to God; he hopes\nin God and not in the creature, he fears nothing save to offend God, he is\nfearless in God's service. Thus, the Psalmist, a man after God's own heart,\nwas able to say that his flesh, that is, the passions seated in his senses,\nand his heart, namely, the affections rooted in his mind, _rejoiced in the\nliving God_.[2]\n\nThe winds, which, as some of the ancients held, come forth from the caverns\nand hollows of the earth, produce two very different effects upon the sea.\nWithout winds we cannot sail, and yet through them tempests and shipwrecks\nhappen. The passions and affections shut up in the two caverns of the\nconcupiscent and the irascible appetite are so many inward impulses which\nurge us on to evil if they are rebellious, disorderly, and irregular, but\nif directed by reason and charity, lead us into the haven of rest, the port\nof life eternal.\n\nThis is what our Blessed Father taught me, and if you desire any more\ninformation on the subject you will find it in his _Treatise on the Love\nof God_.[3] His words did indeed open my eyes! They were of the greatest\nassistance to me in writing the book I alluded to.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psal. xlviii. 13.]\n[Footnote 2: Psal. lxxxiii. 3.]\n[Footnote 3: Book 1. chap. 5.]\n\n\nHOW HE CAME TO WRITE HIS PHILOTHEA.\n\nThere is something remarkable about the origin of this book, _An\nIntroduction to the Devout Life_, addressed by him to Philothea, that\nis, to every soul which desires to love and serve God, and especially\nto persons living in the world. One peculiarity about it is that it was\ncomposed two years before its author had thought of writing any book at\nall. He says on this subject in his preface:\n\n\"It was by no choice or desire of mine that this _Introduction_ saw the\nlight. Some time ago, a soul[1] richly endowed with honourable and virtuous\nqualities, having received from God the grace to aspire to the devout life,\ndesired my special assistance in the matter. I, on my part, having had\nmuch to do with her in spiritual concerns, and having for a long time past\nobserved in her a great aptitude for such a life, took great pains in\ninstructing her. I not only led her through all the exercises suitable to\nher condition and aspirations, but I also gave her some written notes,\nto which she might refer when necessary. Later on she showed these to a\nlearned and devout Religious man, who, considering that they might be of\nuse to many, strongly urged me to publish them, which he easily persuaded\nme to do, because his friendship had great power over me, and because I\nvalued his judgment very highly.\"\n\nI am able to give some further details. This soul richly endowed with\nhonourable and virtuous qualities, as our Blessed Father described her to\nbe, was a lady from Normandy of good family, who had married a gentleman of\nnote in Savoy. His estates were partly in the diocese of Geneva, where he\nmostly resided, and he was nearly related to our Blessed Father. The lady,\nwho was of a most pious disposition, decided that she could not possibly\nchoose a better guide in the devout life than our Saint, her Bishop, and\nher relative by marriage.\n\nBlessed Francis instructed her carefully both by word of mouth and also by\nwritten lessons, which she not only kept and treasured up, but sorted and\narranged according to their various subjects, so as to be able to find in a\nmoment the counsel she wanted.\n\nFor two years she went on steadily collecting and amassing these precious\ndocuments as one by one he wrote them for her. At the end of that time,\nowing to the disturbed state of the country, a great change came over her\nlife. Her husband served his Prince, the Duke of Savoy, in the war in\nPiedmont, and was obliged to leave the management of all his affairs and\nof his property to his wife, who was as skilful in such matters as she was\ndevout.\n\nThe business of a great lawsuit in which her husband was concerned obliged\nher to take up her residence for more than six months at Chambery, where\nthe senate or parliament was held.\n\nDuring her stay in this place she took for her director P\u00e8re Jean Ferrier,\nthe Rector of the Jesuit College, and confessor to our Blessed Father. In\nher difficulties she applied to this Father for advice, and he willingly\ngave it.\n\nSometimes it agreed with what Blessed Francis had said to her on similar\noccasions, sometimes it differed. When it differed, in order to prove that\nshe was not speaking at random, and that she had something stronger than\nher own memory to rely upon, she would show him some of the written\nmemoranda of which I have spoken.\n\nThe good Priest, who was deeply versed in all spiritual matters, found so\nmuch in them that was profitable and delightful, that on one occasion he\nasked her if she had many more of the same sort.\n\n\"So many, Father,\" she replied, \"that if they were arranged in proper order\nthey would make a good-sized volume.\"\n\nThe Father at once expressed his wish to see them all, and after having\nslowly and thoughtfully perused them, begged as a further favour that he\nmight have several copies made of them.\n\nThis being readily granted, he distributed the said copies among the\nFathers of the College, who fully appreciated the gift, and treasured it\nmost carefully.\n\nWhen this lady returned to Geneva, the Father Rector wrote a letter by her\nto our Blessed Father, praising her many virtues and her business talents,\nand begging him to continue to guide and counsel a soul so rich in all\nChristian graces and heavenly dispositions. He then went on to extol in the\nhighest terms the written teaching with which he (Francis) had assisted\nher. Our Blessed Father read P\u00e8re Ferrier's first letter, he has told me,\nwithout giving a thought to the matter of his own writings. But when this\nwas followed by letter upon letter urging and imploring him not to keep\nsuch a treasure buried, but to allow other souls to be enlightened and\nguided in the way of salvation by his teaching, our Blessed Father was\npuzzled. He wrote to P\u00e8re Ferrier saying that his present charge was so\nonerous, and engrossing, that he had no leisure for writing, and moreover\nthat he had no talent for it, and could not imagine why people wanted him\nto attempt to do so. P\u00e8re Ferrier replied, saying that if his Lordship\ndid not publish the excellent instructions which he had given in writing\nto this lady he would be keeping back truth unlawfully, depriving souls\nof great advantages, and God of great glory. Our Blessed Father, much\nsurprised, showed the letter to the lady, begging her to explain it. She\nreplied that P\u00e8re Ferrier had made the same request to her, entreating her\nto have the memoranda, given her for her private direction, published.\n\n\"What memoranda?\" said Blessed Francis. \"Oh! Father,\" replied the lady, \"do\nyou not remember all those little written notes on various subjects which\nyou gave me to help my memory?\" \"And pray what could be done with those\nnotes?\" he enquired. \"Possibly you might make a sort of Almanack out of\nthem, a sentence for every day in the year.\" \"An Almanack!\" cried the lady.\n\"Why, Father, do you know that there are enough of them to fill a big book!\nLittle by little the pile has grown larger than you would think! Many\nfeathers make a pound, and many strokes of the pen make a book. You had\nbetter see the papers, and judge for yourself. The Father Rector has had\nthem copied, and they make a thick volume.\" \"What!\" cried Blessed Francis,\n\"has the good Father really had the patience to read through all these poor\nlittle compositions, put together for the use of an unenlightened woman!\nYou have done us both a great honour, indeed, by giving the learned doctor\nsuch a trifle to amuse himself with, and by showing him these precious\nproductions of mine!\" \"Yet he values them so much,\" replied the lady, \"that\nhe persists in assuring me that he has never come across any writings more\nuseful, or more edifying; and he goes on to say that this is the general\nfeeling of all the Fathers of his house, who are all eager to possess\ncopies. If you refuse to take the matter in hand, they will themselves see\nthat this light is not left much longer under a bushel.\" \"Really,\" said our\nBlessed Father, \"it is amazing that people should want me to believe that\nI have written a book without meaning it. However, let us examine these\nprecious pearls of which so much is thought.\"\n\nThe lady then brought to him all the bundles of notes which she had shown\nto P\u00e8re Ferrier. Our Blessed Father was astonished to see how many there\nwere, and wondered at the care which the lady had taken to collect and\npreserve them. He asked to be allowed to look them through again, and\nbegged P\u00e8re Ferrier not to attempt to send to the press disconnected and\ndetached fragments which he had never for a moment thought of publishing.\nHe added, however, that if on examination he thought that what had been\nwritten for the consolation of one soul might prove useful to others, he\nwould not fail to put them into good order, and to add what was necessary\nto make them acceptable to those who might take the trouble to read them.\n\nThis he did, and the result was the _Introduction_,[2] which we are\ntherefore justified in saying was composed two years before its author\nthought of writing it!\n\nThe simplicity, beauty, and usefulness of this book is well known. It\nshowed the possibility of living a holy life in any station, amid the\ntumult of worldly cares, the seductions of prosperity, or the temptations\nof poverty. It brought new light to devout souls, and encouragement to all,\nwhether high or low, who were desirous of finding and following Jesus.\n\nBut, alas! there is a reverse side to the picture. I mean the\nmisrepresentations and calumnies which our Blessed Father had to endure\nfrom those who pretended that the principles on which the book was\nbased were absurd, and that it inculcated a degree of devotion quite\nimpracticable in ordinary life.\n\nI can hardly speak calmly about this matter, and so content myself with\nremarking that in spite of bitter opposition the book has already, in my\nown time, passed through thirty editions in French, and has been translated\nnot only into Latin, but into Italian, Spanish, German, English, in short,\ninto most European languages.\n\nIn order that you may not think, however, that I have exaggerated in what I\nhave said of the opposition which it excited, I will close the subject with\nour Blessed Father's own calm and gentle words of lament. In his preface to\nthe _Treatise on the Love of God_, he says:\n\n\"Three or four years afterwards I published the _Introduction to a Devout\nLife_ upon the occasion, and in the manner which I have put down in the\npreface thereof: regarding which I have nothing to say to you, dear reader,\nsave only that, though this little book has in general had a gracious and\nkind acceptance, yes, even amongst the gravest Prelates and Doctors of the\nChurch, yet it has not escaped the rude censure of some who have not merely\nblamed me but bitterly and publicly attacked me, because I tell Philothea\nthat dancing is an action indifferent in itself, and that for recreation's\nsake one may make puns and jokes. Knowing the quality of these censors, I\npraise their intention, which I think was good. I should have desired them,\nhowever, to please to consider that the first proposition is drawn from\nthe common and true doctrine of the most holy and learned divines; that\nI was writing for such as live in the world, and at court; that withal I\ncarefully point out the extreme dangers which are found in dancing; and\nthat as to the second proposition, it is not mine but St. Louis', that\nadmirable King, a Doctor worthy to be followed in the art of rightly\nconducting courtiers to a devout life. For, I believe, if they had weighed\nthis, their charity and discretion would never have permitted their zeal,\nhow vigorous, and austere soever, to arm their indignation against me.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Madame de Charmoisy, n\u00e9e Louise Dutchatel. [Ed.]]\n[Footnote 2: The Saint added advice given by him to his mother and\nothers. [Ed.]]\n\n\nUPON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAINTS.\n\nGod said to Moses: _Look, and make it_ (the tabernacle) _according to the\npattern that was shewn thee in the mount_,[1] and he did so. The ancient\nphilosopher was right when he described the art of imitating as the\nmistress of all others, because it is by making copies that we learn how to\ndraw originals, \"The way of precept is long,\" said the Stoics, \"but example\nmakes it short and efficacious.\" Seneca, treating of the best method of\nstudying philosophy, says that it is to nourish and clothe ourselves with\nthe maxims of eminently philosophical minds.\n\nBlessed Francis always inculcated this practice of imitating others in\nvirtue. Hence his choice of spiritual books to be read and followed. With\nrespect to the Lives of the Saints, he advised the reading by preference of\nthose of holy men and women whose vocation has either been identical with\nor very much like our own, in order that we may put before ourselves models\nwe can copy more closely.\n\nOn one occasion, however, when I was telling him how I had taken him for my\npattern, and how closely I watched his conduct and ways, trying thereon to\nmodel my own, and that he must be careful not to do anything less perfect,\nfor if he did, I should certainly imitate it as a most exalted virtue, he\nsaid: \"It is unfortunate that friendship, like love, should have its eyes\nbandaged and hinder us from distinguishing between the defects and the good\nqualities of the person to whom we are attached. What a pity it is that you\nshould force me to live among you as if I were in an enemy's country, and\nthat I have to be as suspicious of your eyes and ears as if you were spies!\n\n\"Still I am glad that you have spoken to me as you have done, for a man\nwarned is a man armed, and I seem to hear a voice saying: 'Child of earth,\nbe on thy guard, and always walk circumspectly, since God and men are\nwatching thee!' Our enemies are constantly on the alert to find fault and\ninjure us by talking against us; our friends ought to observe us just as\nnarrowly but for a very different reason, in order, namely, that they may\nbe able to warn us of our failings, and kindly to help us to get rid of\nthem.\n\n\"_The just man_, says the Psalmist, _shall correct me in mercy, and shall\nreprove me, but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head_. By the oil\nof the sinner is meant flattery. Do not be offended with me if I assure you\nthat you are still more cruel to me, for you not only refuse to give me a\nhelping hand to aid me in getting rid of my faults, which you might do by\nwholesome and charitable warnings, but you seem by your unfair copying of\nmy faults to wish, to make me an accomplice in your own wrong doings!\n\n\"As for me, the affection God has given me for you is very different. My\njealousy for God's honour makes me long so ardently to see you walk in His\nways that your slightest failing is intolerable to me, and so far am I from\nwishing to imitate your faults, that, if I seem to overlook them for a\ntime, I am, believe me, doing violence to myself, by waiting with patience\nfor a fitting opportunity to warn you of them.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Exod. xxv. 40.]\n\n\nUPON THE LOVE OF GOD'S WORD.\n\nBlessed Francis considered--as indeed I have already told you in another\nplace--that to love to listen to God, speaking to us, either by the living\nvoice of His Priests, or in pious books, which are often the voice of His\nSaints, was one of the strongest marks of predestination.\n\nBut he also insisted on the folly and uselessness of listening to, or\nreading, without putting in practice the lessons so conveyed to us. This,\nhe said, was like beholding our faces in a glass, then going our way, and\nforgetting what we are like. It is to learn the will of our Master and not\nto take pains to fulfil His commands.\n\nIn his Philothea he says:\n\n\"Be devoted to the word of God, whether it comes to you in familiar\nconversation with your spiritual friends, or in listening to sermons.\nAlways hear it with attention and reverence, profit by it as much as\npossible, and never permit it to fall to the ground. Receive it into your\nheart as a precious balm, following the example of the Blessed Virgin, who\nkept carefully in her heart every word that was spoken in praise of her\ndivine Child. Do not forget that our Lord gathers up the words which we\nspeak to Him in our prayers, in proportion to the diligence with which we\ngather up those He addresses to us by the mouth of His preachers.\"\n\nAs regards spiritual reading, he recommended it most strongly as being food\nfor the soul, which we could always keep at hand, at all times and in all\nplaces. He said that we might be where we could not always hear sermons, or\neasily have recourse to a spiritual director and guide, and that our memory\nmight not always serve us to recall what we had been taught, either by\npreachers, or by those who had instructed us specially and individually\nin the way of salvation. He therefore desired those who aspired to lead a\ndevout life to provide themselves with pious books which would kindle in\ntheir hearts the flame of divine love, and not to let a single day pass\nwithout using them. He wished them to be read with great respect and\ndevotion, saying that we should regard them as missives \"sent to us by the\nSaints from heaven, to show us the way thither, and to give us courage to\npersevere in it.\"\n\n\nHIS LOVE OF RETIREMENT.\n\nIt is well known that if our Blessed Father had lived to return from Lyons,\nhis intention was to retire from the world and its activities in which he\nhad so long taken a part, and to lead henceforth a purely contemplative\nlife.\n\nWith this intention he had, some years before his death, caused a little\nhermitage to be built in a most suitable and sequestered spot on the shores\nof the beautiful lake of Annecy. This, however, he had had done quite\nquietly without giving any idea of the real purpose for which it was\ndestined.\n\nOn this same shore there is a Benedictine Monastery called Taloire,\neasily accessible, as it is built on the slope of the Hill. Into it he\nhad introduced some salutary reforms, and he was on terms of the most\naffectionate intimacy with the holy men who lived a hidden life in its\nquiet seclusion.\n\nAt the top of a neighbouring spur of this same mountain, on a gentle and\nsmooth rising ground, surrounded by rich vineyards and delightful shrubs of\nvarious kinds, watered by clear streams, stood an old chapel, dedicated to\nGod, under the name of St. Germain, a Saint who had been one of the first\nmonks in the Monastery and who is greatly honoured in that part of the\ncountry. Blessed Francis secretly gave the necessary funds for repairing\nand decorating this chapel, and for building round it five or six cells\npleasantly enclosed. This hermitage, the Superior said, would be most\nuseful to his monks, enabling them to make their spiritual retreats in\nquiet solitude. Indeed, from time to time he sent them there for this\npurpose, in accordance with the rule of St. Benedict, which so greatly\nrecommends solitude, a rule practised to the letter in the hermitages of\nMontserrat in Spain.\n\nHere, then, in this quiet and lonely retreat, it was the intention of\nBlessed Francis to spend the last years of his life, and when he spoke upon\nthe subject in private to the good Prior, he expressed himself in these\nwords: \"When I get to our hermitage I will serve God with my breviary, my\nrosary, and my pen. Then I shall have plenty of happy and holy leisure,\nwhich I can spend in putting on paper, for the glory of God and the\ninstruction of souls, thoughts which have been surging through my mind for\nthe last thirty years and which have been useful to me in my sermons, in my\ninstructions, and in my own private meditations. My memory is crowded with\nthese, but I hope, besides, that God will inspire me with others, and that\nideas will fall upon me from heaven thick and fast as the snowflakes which\nin winter whiten all our mountains. Oh! who will give me the wings of a\ndove, that I may fly to this holy resting place, and draw breath for a\nlittle while beneath the shadow of the Cross? _I expect until my change\ncome!_\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Job xiv. 14.]\n\n\nHOW HE SANCTIFIED HIS RECREATIONS.\n\nBlessed Francis, gentle and indulgent to others as regards recreation, was\nsevere towards himself in this matter. He never had a garden in either of\nthe two houses which he occupied during the time of his episcopate, and\nonly took walks when the presence of guests made them necessary, or when\nhis physician prescribed them for his health, for he obeyed him faithfully.\n\nBut he acted otherwise with his friends and neighbours. He approved of\nagreeable conversation after meals, never showing weariness, or making them\nfeel ill at ease. When I went to visit him, he took pains to amuse me after\nthe fatigue of preaching, either by a row on the beautiful lake of Annecy,\nor by delightful walks in the fine gardens on its banks. He did not refuse\nsimilar recreations which I offered him when he came to see me, but he\nnever asked for or sought them for himself. Although he found no fault\nwith those who talked enthusiastically of architecture, pictures, music,\ngardening, botany, and the like, and who devoted themselves to these\nstudies or amusements, he desired that they should use them as mystical\nladders by means of which the soul may rise to God, and by his own example\nhe showed how this might be done.\n\nIf any one pointed out to him rich orchards filled with well-grown fruit\ntrees: \"We,\" he would say, \"are the agriculture and husbandry of God.\" If\nbuildings of just proportion and symmetry: \"We,\" he would say, \"are the\nedifice of God.\" If some magnificent and beautifully decorated church: \"We\nare the living temples of the living God. Why are not our souls as richly\nadorned with virtues?\" If flowers: \"Ah! when will our flowers give fruits,\nand, indeed, be themselves fruits of honour and integrity?\"\n\nWhen there was any talk of budding and grafting, he would say: \"When shall\nwe be rightly grafted? When shall we yield fruits both plentiful and well\nflavoured to the heavenly Husbandman, who cultivates us with so much care\nand toil?\" When rare and exquisite pictures were shown to him: \"There is\nnothing,\" he would say, \"so beautiful as the soul which is made to the\nimage and likeness of God.\"\n\nWhen he was taken into a garden, he would exclaim: \"Ah! when will the\ngarden of our soul be planted with flowers and plants, well cultivated,\nall in perfect order, sealed and shut away from all that can displease the\nheavenly Gardener, who appeared under that form to Magdalen!\" At the sight\nof fountains: \"When will fountains of living water spring up in our hearts\nto life eternal? How long shall we continue to dig for ourselves miserable\ncisterns, turning our backs upon the pure source of the water of life? Ah!\nwhen shall we draw freely from the Saviour's fountains! When shall we bless\nGod for the rivers of Israel!\"\n\nAnd so on with mountains, lakes, and rivers. He saw God in all things and\nall things in God.\n\n\nWHAT HE DREW FROM SOME LINES OF POETRY.\n\nOne day we went together into the cell of a certain Carthusian monk, a man\nwhose rare beauty of mind, and extraordinary piety, drew many to visit him,\nand in later days have taken his candlestick from under its bushel and set\nit up on high as one of the lights of the French Church.\n\nHe had written in capital letters round the walls of his cell these two\nbeautiful lines of an old Latin poet:\n\n  _Tu mihi curarum requies, tu nocte vel atra\n  Lumen, et in solis tu mihi turba locis._[1]\n\n    Thou art my rest in grief and care,\n      My light in blackest gloom;\n    In solitude which thou dost share,\n      For crowds there is no room.\n\nOur Blessed Father read and re-read these lines several times, thinking\nthem so beautiful that he wished to engrave them on his memory, believing\nthat they had been written by some Christian poet, perhaps Prudentius.\nFinding, however, that they were composedly a pagan, and on a profane\nsubject, he said it was indeed a pity that so brilliant a burst of light\nshould only have flashed out from the gross darkness of heathenism.\n\"However,\" he continued, \"this good Father has made the vessels of the\nEgyptians into a tabernacle, lining it with the steel mirrors which had\nlent themselves to feminine vanity. Thus it is that to the pure all\nthings are pure. This, indeed, is quite a different thing from the way of\nacting of those who make light of the holy words of Scripture, using them\ncarelessly and even jestingly in idle conversation, a practice intolerable\namong Christians who profess to reverence these oracles of salvation.\"\n\nWe then began to analyse these beautiful lines, taking them in the sense in\nwhich the holy monk had taken them when he wrote them on his walls, namely,\nas addressed to God. Our Blessed Father said that God alone was the repose\nof those who had quitted the world and its cares to listen to His voice\nspeaking to their hearts in solitude, and that without this attentive\nhearkening, solitude would be a long martyrdom, and a source of anxiety in\nplace of a centre of tranquillity.\n\nAt the same time he said that those who were burdened with Martha's busy\nanxieties would not fail to enjoy in the very midst of their hearts the\ndeep peace of Mary's better part, provided they carried all their cares to\nGod.\n\nWe saw afterwards another inscription containing these words of the\nPsalmist:\n\n  _This is my rest for ever and ever:\n  Here will I dwell for I have chosen it._[2]\n\n\"It is in God,\" said our Blessed Father, \"rather than in a cell, that we\nshould choose our abode, never to change it. Oh! happy and blessed are they\nwho dwell in that house, which is not only the house of the Lord, but the\nLord Himself. Happy, indeed, for they shall praise Him for ever and ever.\"\n\nThen we came upon another inscription, bearing these words: _One thing I\nhave asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may see the delight\nof the Lord and visit His Temple._[3]\n\n\"This true dwelling of the Lord,\" said he, \"is His holy will; which is\nsignified by the word delight; i.e., pleasure. Since in God there is no\npleasure that is not good, what difference can there be between the _good\npleasure_ and the _will_ of God? The will of God never tends but towards\ngoodness.\"\n\nWe then went back to the second part of the Latin distich: _Tu nocte vel\natra, lumen: my light in blackest gloom._\n\n\"Yes, truly,\" he said, \"Jesus born in Bethlehem brought a glorious day-dawn\ninto the midst of night; and by His Incarnation did He not come to\nenlighten those who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death? He\nis, indeed, our Light and our Salvation; when we walk through the valley of\nthe shadow of death we need fear nothing if He is at our side. He is the\nLight of the world; He dwells in light inaccessible, light that no darkness\ncan overtake. He alone can lighten our darkness.\"\n\nUpon the last clause of the beautiful verse:\n\n  _Et in solis tu mihi turba locis.\n  In solitude which thou dost share, For crowds there is no room._\n\nhe said: \"Yes, communion with God in solitude is worth a thousandfold\nthe pleasantest converse with the gay crowds who throng the doors of the\nwealthy; for the rich man can only maintain his splendour by dint of much\ntoil, and is worn out by his cares and by the importunity of others.\nMiserable, indeed, are riches acquired at so great cost, retained with so\nmuch trouble, and yet lost with such painful regret.\"\n\nThis was one of his favourite sayings: \"We must find our pleasure in\nourselves when we are alone, and in our neighbour as in ourselves when we\nare in his company. Yet, wherever we may be, we must primarily find our\npleasure in God alone, who is the maker of both solitude and society. He\nwho does otherwise will find all places wearisome and unsatisfying; for\nsolitude without God is death, and the society of men without God is more\nharmful than desirable. Wherever we may be, if God is there, all is well:\nwhere He is not, nothing is well: without Him we can do nothing that has\nany worth.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Tibul iv., Eleg xiii. ii. 12.]\n[Footnote 2: Psal. cxxxi. 14.]\n[Footnote 3: Psal. xxvi. 4.]\n\n\nUPON BEING CONTENT WITH OUR POSITION IN LIFE.\n\nPerhaps there is nothing of which men are more apt to complain than of\ntheir own condition in life. This temptation to discontent and unhappiness\nis a favourite device of the enemy of souls. The holy Bishop used to say:\n\"Away with such thoughts! Do not sow wishes in other people's gardens; do\nnot desire to be what you are not, but rather try most earnestly to be the\nbest of what you are. Try with all your might to perfect yourself in the\nstate in which God has placed you, and bear manfully whatever crosses,\nheavy or light, may be laid upon your shoulders. Believe me, this is the\nfundamental principle of the spiritual life; and yet, of all principles\nit is the least well understood. Every one follows the bent of his own\ntaste and desires; very few find their sole happiness in doing their duty\naccording to the pleasure of our Lord. What is the use of building castles\nin Spain, when we have to live in France!\n\n\"This, as you remember, is old teaching of mine, and by this time you ought\nto have mastered it thoroughly.\"\n\n\nUPON SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND CONTENTEDNESS.\n\nThere is one kind of self-sufficiency which is blameworthy and another\nwhich is laudable. The former is a form of pride and vanity, and those whom\nit dominates are termed conceited. Holy Scripture says of them that they\ntrust in themselves. This vanity is so absurd that it seems more deserving\nof contempt and ridicule than of grave blame.\n\nBut to turn to good and rational contentedness. Of it the ancient stoic\nsaid that what is sufficient is always at our command, and that what we\nlabour for is superfluous; and again, that if we live according to the laws\nof nature we shall never be poor, but if we want to live according to our\nfancies we shall never be rich.\n\nTo be contented with what really suffices, and to persuade ourselves that\nwhat is more than this Is either evil or leading to evil, is the true means\nof leading a tranquil, and therefore a happy, life.\n\nThis is not only my own opinion, but it is also that of our Blessed Father,\nwho congratulates a pious soul on being contented with the sufficiency she\nhad. \"God be praised for your contentment with the sufficiency which He has\ngiven you. Persevere in thanking Him for it. It is, indeed, the beatitude\nof this poor earthly life to be contented with what is sufficient, because\nthose who are not contented when they have enough will never be contented,\nhow much soever they may acquire. In the words of your book--since you call\nit your book--Nothing will ever content those who are not contented when\nthey have enough.\"\n\n\nTHE REVERENCE OF BLESSED FRANCIS FOR THE SICK.\n\nIf the poor, by reason of their poverty, are members of Jesus Christ, the\nsick are also such by reason of their sickness. Our Saviour Himself has\ntold us so: _I was sick, and you visited Me_.[1] For if the great Apostle\nSt. Paul said that with the weak he was weak,[2] how much more the divine\nExemplar, whom he but copied?\n\nOur Blessed Father expressed as follows his feelings of respect and honour\ntowards a sick person to whom he was writing. \"While I think of you sick\nand suffering in your bed, I regard you with special reverence, and as\nworthy of being singularly honoured as a creature visited by God, clothed\nin His apparel, His favoured spouse. When our Lord was on the Cross He was\nproclaimed King even by His enemies, and souls who are bearing the cross\n(of suffering) are declared to be queens. Do you know why the angels envy\nus? Assuredly, because we can suffer for our Lord, whilst they have never\nsuffered anything for His sake. St. Paul, who had been raised to heaven and\nhad tasted the joys of Paradise, considered himself happy only because of\nhis infirmities, and of his bearing the Cross of our Lord.\"\n\nFarther on he entreats her, as a person signed with the Cross, and a sharer\nin the sufferings of Jesus Christ, to commend to God, though in an agony\nof pain, an affair of much importance which concerned the glory of God. He\nheld that in a condition such as hers was, prayer would be more readily\nheard, just as our Saviour, praying fervently on the Cross, was heard for\nHis reverence. The Psalmist was of the same opinion, saying that God heard\nhim willingly when he cried to Him in the midst of his tribulation, and\nthat it was in his afflictions that God was nearest to him.\n\nOur Blessed Father believed that prayers offered by those who are in\nsuffering, though they be short, are more efficacious than any others. He\nsays: \"I entreat you to be so kind as to recommend to God a good work which\nI greatly desire to see accomplished, and especially to pray about it when\nyou are suffering most acutely: for then it is that your prayers, however\nshort, if they are heartfelt, will be infinitely well received. Ask God at\nthat time also for the virtues which you need the most.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. xxv. 36.]\n[Footnote 2: Cor. xi. 29.]\n\n\nUPON THE CARE OF THE SICK.\n\nOne day we went together to visit a very aged lady in her last illness. Her\npiety, which was of no ordinary kind, made her look forward calmly to the\napproach of death, for which she had prepared by the reception of the\nSacraments of Penance and of the Blessed Eucharist. She only awaited the\nvisit of her doctor before asking for that of Extreme Unction.\n\nAll her worldly affairs were in perfect order, and but one thing troubled\nher, namely, that her children who had all assembled round her, on hearing\nof her danger, were too indefatigable in their attendance upon her, and\nthis, as she thought, to the detriment of their own health. Our Blessed\nFather wishing to comfort her, said tenderly: \"Do you know that I, on the\ncontrary, when I am ill, am never so happy as when I see my relatives and\nservants all busy about me, tiring themselves out on my behalf. You are\nastonished, and ask me why I feel like this. Well, it is because I know\nthat God will repay them generously for all these services. For if a cup of\ncold water given to a poor man in the love and for the love of God receives\nsuch a reward as eternal life; if our least labours undertaken for the love\nof God work in us the weight of a supreme glory, why should we pity those\nwhom we see thus occupied, since we are not ill-disposed towards them, nor\nenvious of their advantages? _For unto you it is given_, said St. Paul to\nthe christians of his day, _not only to believe in Christ, but also to\nsuffer for Him_.\n\n\"The reapers and vintagers are never happier than when they are heavily\nladen, because that proves the harvest, or the vintage, to have been\nplentiful. In truth, if those who wait on us, whether in health or in\nsickness, are only considering us, and not God, and are only seeking to\nplease us, they make so bad a use of their toil that it is right they\nshould suffer for it. He who serves the prophet for the love of the prophet\nshall receive the reward of the prophet. But, if they serve us for the\nlove of God they are more to be envied than pitied; for he who serves the\nprophet in consideration of Him who sends him shall receive the reward of\nGod, a reward which passes all imagination, which is beyond price, and\nwhich no words can express.\"\n\nIn his visiting of the sick when on their death-bed our Blessed Father was\ntruly an angel of peace and consolation. He treated the sick person with\nthe utmost sweetness and gentleness, speaking from time to time a few words\nsuited to his condition and frame of mind, sometimes uttering very short\nejaculatory prayers, or aspirations for him, sometimes leading the sufferer\nto utter them himself, either audibly, or, if speech was painful to him,\nsecretly in his heart; and then allowing him to struggle undisturbed with\nthe mortal pains which were assailing him.\n\nHe could not bear to see the dying tormented with long exhortations. That\nwas not the time, he would say, for preaching, or even for long prayers;\nall that was needed was to keep the soul sustained in the atmosphere of the\ndivine will, which was to be its eternal element in heaven, to keep it up,\nI say, by short beatings of the wings, like birds, who in this way save\nthemselves from falling to the earth.\n\n\nUPON SPEAKING WELL OF THE DEAD.\n\nWhen any of his friends or relatives died he never tired of speaking well\nof them nor of recommending their souls to the prayers of others. He used\nto say: \"We do not remember our dead, our dear ones who have left us,\nnearly enough; and the proof that we do not remember them enough is that we\nspeak of them too seldom. We turn away conversation from that subject as\nthough it were a painful one; we let the dead bury their dead, their memory\ndie out in us with the sound of the funeral knell, seeming to forget that\na friendship which can end even with death can never have been a true one.\nHoly Scripture itself tells us that true charity, that is, divine and\nsupernatural love, is stronger than death! It seems to me that as a burning\ncoal not only remains alive but burns more intensely when buried under\nashes, so sincere and pure love ought to be made stronger by death, and to\nimpel us to more fervent prayers for our deceased friends and relatives\nthan to supplications for those who are yet living.\n\n\"For thus we look upon the dead more absolutely as in God, since, having\ndied in Him, as we piously believe, they rest upon the bosom of His mercy.\nThen, praise can no longer be suspected of flattery, and, as it is a kind\nof impiety to tear to pieces the reputation of the dead, like wild beasts\ndigging up a corpse to devour it; so it is a mark of piety to rehearse and\nextol the good qualities of the departed, since our doing so incites us to\nimitate them: nothing affecting us so deeply and so strongly as the example\nof those with whom we come in close and frequent contact.\"\n\nIn order to encourage people to pray for the dead he used to represent\nto them that in this one single work of mercy all the other thirteen are\nincluded, explaining his statement in the following manner. \"Are we not,\"\nhe would say, \"in some sort visiting the sick when we obtain by our prayers\nrelief or refreshment for the poor Souls in purgatory?\n\n\"Are we not giving drink to the thirsty and feeding the hungry when we\nbestow the cool, refreshing dew of our prayers upon those who, plunged in\nthe midst of its burning flames, are all athirst and hungering for the\nvision of God? When we help on their deliverance by the means which Faith\nsuggests, are we not most truly ransoming prisoners? Are we not clothing\nthe naked when we procure for souls a garment of light, the light of glory?\n\n\"Is it not an act of the most princely hospitality to obtain for them an\nentrance into the heavenly Jerusalem, and to make them fellow-citizens with\nthe saints and servants of God in the eternal Zion?\n\n\"Then, as regards the spiritual works of mercy. Is it not the most splendid\nthing imaginable to counsel the doubtful, to convert the sinner, to\nforgive injuries, to bear wrongs patiently? And yet, what is the greatest\nconsolation we can give to the afflicted in this life compared to the\nsolace our prayers bring to the poor souls who are in such grievous\nsuffering?\"\n\n\nUPON DEATH.\n\nStrictly speaking, the sojourn which we make on earth, in the days of our\nflesh and which we call life, is rather death than life, since \"every\nmoment leads us from the cradle to the grave.\"\n\nThis made an ancient philosopher say that we are dying every day of our\nlives, that every day some portion of our being falls away, and that what\nwe call life is truly death.[1]\n\nHence the beautiful saying of the wise woman of Thecua: _We all die, and\nlike waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth._[2]\n\nNature has imprinted in the hearts of all men a horror of death. Our\nSaviour, even, taking upon Himself our flesh and making Himself like to His\nbrethren, sin only excepted, would not be exempted from this infirmity,\nalthough He knew that the passage into another world would set Him free\nfrom all miseries and transport Him into a glory which He already possessed\nas regarded His soul. Seneca says that death ought not to be considered an\nevil when it has been preceded by a good life.\n\nWhat makes death so formidable is that which follows upon it. We have,\nhowever, the shield of a most blessed hope to protect us against the\nterrors that arise from fear of the divine judgments. This hope makes us\nput our trust, not in our own virtue, but solely in the mercy of God, and\nassures us that those who trust in His goodness are never confounded.\n\nBut, you say, I have committed many faults. True, but who is so foolish as\nto think that he can commit more sins than God can pardon? Who would dare\nto compare the greatness of his guilt with the immensity of that infinite\nmercy which drowns his sins in the depths of the sea of oblivion each time\nwe repent of them for love of Him? It belongs only to those who despair\nlike Cain to say that their sin is so great that there is no pardon for\nthem,[3] for _with God there is mercy and plentiful redemption, and He\nshall redeem Israel from all his iniquities_.[4]\n\nListen to the words of holy consolation which were addressed by our Blessed\nFather to a soul encompassed and assaulted by the terrors of death and of\nthe judgment to follow. They are to be found in one of his letters. \"Yes,\"\nhe says, \"death is hideous indeed, that is most true, but the life which is\nbeyond, and which the mercy of God will give to us, is much to be desired.\nThere must be no mistrust in your mind, for, miserable though we may be,\nwe are not half so miserable as God is merciful to those who desire to\nlove Him, and have fixed their hope in Him. When St. Charles Borromeo was\nat the point of death he had the crucifix brought to him, that by the\ncontemplation of his Saviour's death he might soften the bitterness of\nhis last agony. The best remedy of all against an unreasonable dread is\nmeditation upon the death of Him who is our life; we should never think of\nour own death without going on to reflect upon that of Christ.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Senec. Epist. 24.]\n[Footnote 2: Kings xiv. 14.]\n[Footnote 3: Gen. iv. 13.]\n[Footnote 4: Psal. cxxix. 7-8.]\n\n\nUPON WISHING TO DIE.\n\nYou ask me if we are permitted to wish for death rather than offend God any\nmore? I will tell you a thought which I believe was suggested to me by our\nBlessed Father, but I cannot distinctly remember on what occasion.\n\n\"It is always dangerous to wish for death, because this desire, generally\nspeaking, is only to be met with in those who have arrived at a very high\npitch of perfection, which we dare not think we have reached, or else in\npersons of a morose and melancholy temperament, and but seldom in those of\nordinary disposition like ourselves.\"\n\nIt is alleged that David, St. Paul, and other saints expressed their\nlonging to be delivered from the burden of this body so that they might\nappear before God and be satisfied with the vision of His glory. But we\nmust remember that it would be presumptuous to speak the language of\nSaints, not having their sanctity, and to imagine that we had it would\nbe inexcusable vanity. To entertain such a wish because of sadness,\ndisappointment, or dejection is akin to despair.\n\nBut, you say, it is that you may no longer offend God. This, no doubt,\nshows great hatred of sin, but the Saints longed for death, more that\nthey might glorify God. Whatever we may pretend, I believe it to be very\ndifficult to have only this one end in view, in our desire to die. Usually\nit will be found that we are simply discontented with life. To get to\nheaven we must not only not sin, but we must do good. If we refrain from\nsin we shall escape punishment, but more is required to deserve heaven.\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nThere are some who imagine that St. Paul desired to die in order only that\nhe might sin no more when he said that he felt in himself a contradiction\nbetween the law of his senses and of his reason; and, feeling this, cried\nout: _Oh! unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this\ndeath?_[1] These people, therefore, as though they were so many little\nApostles, when they are, by some trifle, goaded to impatience, instantly\nsay that they desire to die, and pretend that their only wish is to be in\na condition in which they cannot possibly offend God. This is, indeed, to\ncover up mere impatience and irritation with a fine cloak! But what is\nstill worse, it is to wrench and distort the words of the Apostle and apply\nthem in a sense of which he never thought. Our Blessed Father, in one of\nhis letters, gives an explanation of this passage which is so clear and so\nexcellent that I am sure if will be useful to you. He speaks thus: \"_Oh,\nunhappy man that I am_, said the great Apostle, _who shall deliver me from\nthe body of this death?_ He felt within himself, as it were, an armed host\nof ill humours, antipathies, bad habits, and natural inclinations which\nconspired to bring about his spiritual death; and because he fears them he\ndeclares that he hates them, and because he hates them he cannot support\nthem without pain, and his grief makes him burst out into the exclamation\nwhich he himself answers in these words: _The grace of God by Jesus\nChrist_. This will deliver him not from the death of the body with its\nterrors, not from the last combat, but from defeat in the struggle, and\nwill preserve him from being overcome.\n\n\"You see how far the Apostle is from invoking death, although elsewhere\nhe desires to be set free from the prison of the body that he may be with\nJesus Christ. He calls the mass of temptations which urge and incite him\nto sin a body of death, sin being the true death of the soul. Grace is the\ndeath of this death and the devourer of this abortion of hell, for where\nsin abounded grace superabounds.\n\n\"Grace, which has been merited for us by Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom\nbe honour and glory for ever and ever.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. vii. 24.]\n\n\nUPON THE DESIRE OF HEAVEN.\n\nHere is a little village story to show how often true and solid piety is to\nbe found among the lowly and ignorant, of whom the world thinks not at all.\nI had it from the lips of our Blessed Father, who loved to tell it.\n\nWhile visiting his diocese, passing through a little country town, he was\ntold that a well-to-do inhabitant was very ill and desired to see him, and\nto receive his blessing before he died. Our Blessed Father hastened to his\nbedside and found him at the point of death, yet in full possession of all\nhis faculties. When he saw the Bishop the good farmer exclaimed: \"Oh! my\nLord, I thank God for permitting me to receive your blessing before I die.\"\n\nThen the room being cleared of all his relations and friends, and he being\nleft quite alone with the holy Prelate, he made his confession and received\nabsolution. His next question was, \"My Lord, shall I die?\" The Bishop,\nunwilling to alarm him unnecessarily, answered quietly and reassuringly\nthat he had seen people far more ill than he recover, but that he must\nplace all his trust in God, the Master of life and death, who knows the\nnumber of our days, which cannot be even one more than he has decreed.\n\n\"But, my Lord,\" returned the man, \"do you really yourself think that I\nshall die?\" \"My son,\" replied the good Prelate, \"a physician could answer\nthat question better than I can. All I can tell you is that I know your\nsoul to be just now in a very excellent state of preparation for death, and\nthat perhaps were you summoned at any other time, you might not be so fit\nto go. The best thing you can do is to put aside all desire of living and\nall care about the matter, and to abandon yourself wholly to the providence\nand mercy of God, that He may do with you according to His good pleasure,\nwhich will be undoubtedly that very thing which is best for you.\"\n\n\"Oh, my Lord,\" cried the sick man, \"it is not because I fear to die that\nI ask you this, but rather because I fear I shall not die, for I can't\nreconcile myself to the idea of recovering from this sickness.\"\n\nFrancis was greatly surprised at hearing him speak in this manner, for\nhe knew that a longing to die is generally either a grace given to very\nperfect souls such as David, Elias, St. Paul, and the like; or, on the\ncontrary, in sinners a prelude to despair, or an outcome of melancholy.\n\nHe therefore asked the man if he would really be sorry to live, and, if so,\nwhy such disgust for life, the love of which is natural in all men.\n\n\"My Lord,\" answered the good man, \"this world appears to me to be of so\nsmall account that I cannot think why so many people care for nothing\nbeyond what it has to give. If God had not commanded us to remain here\nbelow until He calls us by death I should have quitted it long ago.\"\n\nThe Bishop, imagining that the man had something on his mind, or that\nthe bodily pain he was enduring was too much for him, asked him what his\ntrouble was--perhaps something about money?\n\n\"Not at all,\" replied he, \"I have up to the present time, and I am seventy,\nenjoyed excellent health, and have abundant means. Indeed, I do not, thank\nGod, know what poverty is.\"\n\nFrancis questioned him as to his wife and children, asking him if any one\nof them was an anxiety to him. \"They are each one a comfort and a delight\nto me,\" he answered, \"Indeed, if I had any regret in quitting this world it\nwould be that I shall have to part from them.\"\n\nMore and more surprised, and unable to understand the man's distaste for\nlife, the Bishop said: \"Then, my brother, why do you so long for death?\"\n\n\"My Lord,\" replied he, \"it is because I have heard in sermons so much about\nthe joys of Paradise that this world seems to me a mere prison.\" Then,\nspeaking out of the fullness of his heart, and giving vent to his thoughts,\nhe uttered marvellous words concerning the Vision of God in Heaven, and the\nlove kindled by it in the souls of the blessed.\n\nHe entered into so many details respecting the rapturous joys of Eternity\nthat the good Bishop shed tears of delight, feeling that the good man\nhad been taught by God in these things, and that flesh and blood had not\nrevealed them to him, but the Holy Spirit.\n\nAfter this, descending from those high and heavenly speculations, the poor\nfarmer depicted the grandeur, the wealth, and the choicest pleasures of the\nworld in their true colours, showing their intrinsic vileness, and how in\nreality they are vanity and vexation of spirit, so as to inspire Blessed\nFrancis himself with increased contempt for them. The Saint, nevertheless,\ndid no more than silently acquiesce in the good man's feelings, and to calm\nthe excitement under which he saw that he was labouring, desired him to\nmake acts of resignation, and indifference as to living or dying. He told\nhim to follow the example set by St. Paul, and by St. Martin, and to make\nhis own the words of the Psalmist: _For what have I in heaven? And besides\nThee what do I desire upon earth?_[1]\n\nA few hours later, having received Extreme Unction from the hands of the\nholy Bishop, the man quietly, and apparently without suffering, passed from\nthis world. So likewise may we when our last hour comes fall gently asleep.\n_Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!_\n\nAnother story told me by our Blessed Father relates to himself and a man\nwith whom he came in contact.\n\nWhen he was at Paris in the year 1619, this gentleman, who was not only\nrich in this world's goods but also in piety and charity, came to consult\nhim on matters of conscience, and began thus: \"Father, I am much afraid\nthat I shall not save my soul, and therefore I have come to you to beg you\nto put me in the right way.\"\n\nThe Bishop asked him what was the cause of this fear. He answered: \"My\nbeing too rich. You know Scripture makes the salvation of the rich a matter\nof such difficulty that, in my case, I fear it is an impossibility.\"\n\nFrancis, thinking that perhaps he had made his money dishonestly, and that\non that account his conscience was now pricking him, questioned him as to\nthis.\n\n\"Not at all,\" he answered, \"My parents, who were excellent people, left\nme no ill-gotten goods, and what I have added to my inheritance has been\namassed by my own frugality and honest work, God preserve me from the sin\nof appropriating what belongs to my neighbour! No, my conscience does not\nreproach me in that respect.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the Bishop, \"have you made a bad use of this wealth?\"\n\n\"I live,\" he replied, \"in such a manner as becomes my rank and position,\nbut I am afraid that I do not give enough to the poor, and you know that we\nshall be one day judged on this point.\"\n\n\"Have you any children?\" asked Francis.\n\n\"Yes,\" he replied; \"but they are all well provided for, and can easily do\nwithout me.\"\n\n\"Really,\" said the Bishop, \"I do not see whence your scruples can arise;\nyou are the first man I have ever met who has complained to me of having\ntoo much money; most people never have enough.\"\n\nIt was easy to set this good soul at rest, so docile was he in following\nthe Bishop's advice. The latter told me afterwards that he found upon\nenquiry that the man had formerly held high appointments, discharging his\nduties in them most faithfully, but had retired from all in order to devote\nhimself to works of piety and mercy. Moreover, he passed all his time in\nchurches or hospitals, or in the houses of the uncomplaining poor, upon\nwhom he spent more than half his income. By his will, after his many pious\nlegacies were paid, it was found that our Lord Himself was his real heir,\nfor he gave to the town hospital a sum of money equal to that which was\ndivided among his children. I may add that a life so holy and devoted was\ncrowned by a most happy death. Truly, _Blessed are the merciful, for they\nshall obtain mercy!_\n\n[Footnote 1: Psal. lxxii. 25.]\n\n\nWHAT IT IS TO DIE IN GOD.\n\nOn one occasion Blessed Francis was asked what it was to die in God; what\nwas the meaning of those words: _Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,\nthat they may rest from their labours, for their works follow them._[1]\n\nHe replied that to die in God was to die in the grace of God, because God\nand His grace are as inseparable as the sun and its rays. He was asked\nagain, if to die in God meant to die while in habitual grace, or to die in\nthe exercise of charity, that is to say, whilst impelled by actual grace.\nHe answered that in order to be saved it was enough to die in habitual or\nsanctifying grace, that is to say, in habitual charity; seeing that those\nwho die in this state, as for instance newly-baptized infants, though they\nmay never have performed a single act of charity, obtain Paradise by right\nof inheritance, habitual charity making them children of God by adoption.\nThose, however, who die, not only in the holy and supernatural state of\nhabitual charity, but whilst actually engaged in works of charity, come\ninto the possession of heaven by a double title, that of inheritance and\nthat of reward; therefore is it written that _their works follow them_.\nThe crown of justice is promised by the just Judge to those who shall have\nfought a good fight and finished their course with perseverance, even to\nthe end.\n\nGoing on to explain what is meant by man's dying in actual grace, he\nsaid that it was to die while making acts of lively faith and hope, of\ncontrition, resignation, and conformity to the will of God. He added these\nwords, which have always remained deeply impressed on my mind: \"Although\nGod is all-powerful, it is impossible for Him to condemn to eternal\nperdition a soul whose will, at the moment of its leaving the body, is\nsubject to, and united with, His own.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Apoc. xiv. 13.]\n\n\nUPON LENGTH OF LIFE.\n\nJudging from outward appearances, from the vigour of his frame, from his\nsound constitution, and from the temperate simplicity of his manner of\nlife, it seemed probable that Blessed Francis would live to an advanced\nage.\n\nOne day I said as much to him, he being at that time about forty-two or\nforty-three years old. \"Ah!\" he replied with a sigh, \"the longest life is\nnot always the best. The best is that which has been best spent in the\nservice of God,\" adding these words of David: _Woe is me that my sojourning\nis prolonged; I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar, my soul hath\nbeen long a sojourner._[1] I thought he was secretly grieving over his\nbanishment from his See, his beloved Geneva (he always called it thus),\nwrapped in the darkness of error, and I quoted to him the words: _Upon the\nrivers of Babylon there we sat, and wept._[2]\n\n\"Oh! no,\" he answered, \"it is not that exile which troubles me. I am only\ntoo well off in our city of refuge, this dear Annecy. I meant the exile of\nthis life on earth. As long as we are here below are we not exiled from\nGod? _While we are in the body we are absent from the Lord._[3] _Unhappy\nman that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace\nof God by Jesus Christ._\"[4]\n\nI ventured in reply to remind him how much he had to make his life happy:\nhow his friends esteemed him, how even the very enemies of religion\nhonoured him, how all who came in contact with him delighted in his\nsociety.\n\n\"All that,\" he answered, \"is beneath contempt. Those who had sung Hosanna\nto the Son of God three days later cried out _Crucifige_. Such things\ndo not make my life any dearer to me. If I were told that I should live\nas long again as I have already done, and that without pain, without\nlaw-suits, without trouble, or inconveniences of any kind, but with all\nthe content and prosperity men desire in life, I should be sadly disturbed\nin mind! Of what small account are not the things of time to him who is\nlooking forward to a blessed Eternity! I have always praised the words of\nthe Blessed Ignatius de Loyola, 'Oh! how vile and mean earth appears to me\nwhen I meditate upon and look up to heaven.'\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxix.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm cxxxvi. 1.]\n[Footnote 3: Cor. v. 6.]\n[Footnote 4: Rom. vii. 24-35.]\n\n\nUPON PURGATORY.\n\nConcerning Purgatory, St. Francis used to say that in the controversy\nwith Protestants there was no point on which the Church could support her\ndoctrine by so many proofs, drawn both from the Scriptures and from the\nFathers and Councils, as on this. He blamed those who oppose the doctrine\nfor their lack of piety towards the dead. On the other hand, he reproved\nthose Catholic preachers who, when speaking of Purgatory and of the pains\nand torments suffered there by the holy souls, do not at the same time\nenlarge upon their perfect love of God, and consequent entire satisfaction\nin the accomplishment of His will, with which their own will is so\nindissolubly united, that they cannot possibly feel the slightest movement\nof impatience or irritation. Nor can they desire to be anywhere but where\nthey are, were it even till the consummation of all things, if such should\nbe God's good pleasure.\n\nOn this subject he recommended the careful study of the _Treatise on\nPurgatory_, written by blessed Catherine of Genoa. By his advice I read the\nbook with attention, and have often re-read it, always with fresh relish\nand profit. I have even invited Protestants to read if, and they have been\nquite satisfied by it. One young convert admitted that had he seen this\nTreatise before his conversion it would have helped him more than all the\ndiscussions into which the subject had led him.\n\nSt. Francis was of opinion that the thought of Purgatory ought rather to\ncomfort than to terrify. \"The majority of those,\" he used to say, \"who\ndread Purgatory do so in view of their own interests, and out of self-love,\nrather than for God's interests. The cause of this is that those who preach\non the subject are in the habit of depicting only the pains of that prison,\nand say not a word on the joy and peace which the souls therein detained\nenjoy. It is true that the torments of Purgatory are so great that the most\nacute sufferings of this life cannot be compared with them; but, then, on\nthe other hand, the inward satisfaction of the sufferers is such that no\namount of earthly prosperity or contentment can equal it. 1\u00b0. The souls who\nare waiting there enjoy a continual union with God. 2\u00b0. Their wills are in\nperfect subjection to His will; or, to speak more correctly, their wills\nare so absolutely transformed into the will of God that they cannot will\nanything but what He wills. 3\u00b0. If Paradise were open to them, they would\nrather cast themselves down into hell than appear before God stained and\ndenied as they see themselves still to be. 4\u00b0. They accept their Purgatory\nlovingly and willingly, because it is the good pleasure of God. 5\u00b0. They\nwish to be there, in the manner in which it pleases God that they should\nbe, and for as long as He wills. 6\u00b0. They cannot sin. 7\u00b0. They cannot feel\nthe slightest movement of impatience. 8\u00b0. Nor be guilty of the smallest\nimperfection. 9\u00b0. They love God more than themselves and more than any\nother creature, and with a perfect, pure, and disinterested love, 10\u00b0. They\nare in Purgatory consoled by the angels. 11\u00b0. They are secure of their\nsalvation. 12\u00b0. They are in a state of hope, which cannot but be realized.\n13\u00b0. Their grief is holy and calm. 14\u00b0. In short, if Purgatory is a species\nof hell as regards suffering, it is a species of Paradise as regards\ncharity. The charity which quickens those holy souls is stronger than\ndeath, more powerful than hell; its lamps are all of fire and flame.\nNeither servile fear nor mercenary hope has any part in their pure\naffection. Purgatory is a happy state, more to be desired than dreaded,\nfor all its flames are flames of love and sweetness. Yet still it is to\nbe dreaded, since it delays the end of all perfection, which consists in\nseeing God, and therefore fully loving Him, and by this sight and by this\nlove praising and glorifying Him through all eternity.\"\n\n\nUPON PENANCE.\n\nHe compared penance to an almond tree, not only in allusion to the word\n_amendment_ and the expression, amend your ways, both of which in the\nFrench language resemble in sound the word _almond_, but by a very\ningenious comparison.\n\n\"The almond tree,\" he said, \"has its blossom of five petals, which as\nregards number bear some resemblance to the five fingers of the hand, its\nleaves are in the shape of a tongue, and its fruit of a heart. Thus the\nSacrament of Penance has three parts which make up its whole. The first\nwhich concerns the heart is _contrition_, of which David says that God\nheals those who are contrite of heart,[1] and that He does not despise the\nhumble and contrite heart.[2]\n\n\"The second, which concerns the tongue, is _confession_. The third,\nwhich regards the hand, that is to say, the doing of good works, is\n_satisfaction_. Moreover,\" he went on to say, \"as there are almonds of two\nkinds, the one sweet, the other bitter, which being mixed make a pleasant\nflavour, agreeable to the palate, so also in penance there is a certain\nblending of sweetness and bitterness, of consolation and pain, of love and\nregret, resembling in taste the pomegranate, which has a certain sharp\nsweetness and a certain sweet sharpness far more agreeable than either\nsharpness or sweetness separately. Penance which had only the sweetness\nof consolation would not be a cleansing hyssop, powerful to purge away\nthe stains of iniquity. Nor, if it had only the bitterness of regret and\nsorrow, without the sweetness of love, could it ever lead us to that\njustification which is only perfected by a loving displeasure at having\noffended the Eternal, Supreme, and Sovereign Goodness.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father treats of this mingling of love and sorrow proper to\ntrue penitence with so much grace and gravity in his Theotimus that I think\nnothing grander or sweeter could be written on the subject. Here is an\nextract. \"Amidst the tribulation and remorse of a lively repentance God\noften kindles at the bottom of our heart the sacred fire of His love; this\nlove is converted into the water of tears, then by a second change into\nanother and greater fire of love. Thus the penitent Magdalen, the great\nlover, first loved her Saviour; her love was converted into tears, and\nthese tears into an excellent love; whence our Saviour told her that many\nsins were pardoned her because _she had loved much_. The beginning of\nperfect love not only follows upon penitence, but clings to it and knits\nitself to it; in one word, this beginning of love mingles itself with the\nend of penitence, and in this moment of mingling penitence and contrition\nmerit life everlasting.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxlvi. 3.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm l. 19.]\n[Footnote 3: _Love of God_, Book II, c. 20.]\n\n\nUPON PENITENT CONFUSION.\n\nOur Blessed Father had a wonderful aptitude for distinguishing between what\nwas real and genuine and what was false in the shame manifested by his\npenitents. He used to say that when this confusion was full of trouble and\nagitation it proceeded from self-love, from vexation and shame at having\nto own our sins and imperfections, not from the spirit of God. This he\nexpresses in his second Conference in these words:\n\n\"We must never suffer our confusion to be attended with sadness and\ndisquietude; that kind of confusion proceeds from self-love, because we\nare troubled at not being perfect, not so; much for the love of God as for\nlove of ourselves.\" An extract from Theotimus will close this subject most\nsuitably:\n\n\"Remorse which positively excludes the love of God is infernal, it is like\nthat of the lost. Repentance which does not regret the love of God, even\nthough as yet it is without it, is good and desirable, but imperfect: it\ncan never save us until it attains to love, and is mingled with it. So\nthat, as the great Apostle said, even if he gave his body to be burned, and\nall his goods to the poor, and had not charity it would all be of no avail;\nwe, too, may say with truth, that, however great our penitence may be, even\nthough it make our eyes overflow with tears of sorrow, and our hearts to\nbreak with remorse, still if we have not the holy love of God it will serve\nus nothing as regards eternal life.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Book ii. c. 19.]\n\n\nUPON INTERIOR PEACE AMIDST ANXIETIES.\n\nIt is a great mistake when souls, in other respects good and pious, imagine\nthat it is impossible to preserve inward peace amid bustle and turmoil.\nThere are some even, strange to say, who though dedicated to God by\ntheir holy calling, complain if they are employed by their community in\nlaborious and troublesome offices, calling them distracting functions and\noccupations. Assuredly, these good people know not what they say, any more\nthan did St. Peter on Mount Thabor.\n\nWhat do they mean by distracting occupations? Possibly those which separate\nus from God? I know nothing which can separate us from His love except\nsin, which is that labour in brick and clay in which the infernal Pharaoh,\ntyrant of souls, and king over the children of pride, employs his unhappy\nsubjects. These are the strange gods who give no rest either by night or by\nday. But with that exception, I know of no legitimate occupation which can\neither separate us from God, or, still more, which cannot serve as a means\nto unite us to Him. This may be said of all callings, of those of soldiers,\nlawyers, merchants, artisans.\n\nOur Blessed Father devotes two chapters in his Theotimus to this subject,\nbut he speaks even more explicitly upon it in one of his letters, in\nwhich he says: \"Let us all belong wholly to God, even amid the tumult and\ndisturbance stirred up round about us by the diversity of human affairs.\nWhen can we give better proof of our fidelity than amid contrarieties,\nAlas! my dearest daughter, my sister, solitude has its assaults, the world\nhas its disorder and uproar; yet in either we must be of good heart, since\neverywhere heaven is close to those who have confidence in God, and who\nwith humility and gentleness implore His fatherly assistance. Beware of\nletting your carefulness degenerate into trouble and anxiety.\"\n\n\"Tossed about upon the waves and amid the winds of many a tumult, always\nlook up to heaven, and say to our Lord: 'O God, it is for Thee that I set\nmy sails and plough the seas; be Thou my guide and my pilot!' And then\nconsole yourself by remembering that when we are in port the joys which\nwill be ours will blot out all remembrance of our toils and struggles to\nreach it. We are now voyaging thither in the midst of all these storms, and\nshall safely reach our harbour if only we have an upright heart, a good\nintention, firm courage, eyes fixed on God, and place all our confidence\nin Him. If the violence of the tempest makes our head dizzy, and we feel\nshaken and sick, do not let us be surprised, but, as quickly as we can, let\nus take breath again, and encourage ourselves to do better. I feel quite\nsure that you are not forgetful of your good resolutions as you pursue your\nway; do not then distress yourself about these little attacks of anxiety,\nand vexation, caused by the multiplicity of domestic affairs. Nay, my dear\ndaughter, all this tumult gives you opportunities of practising the dearest\nand most lovable of the virtues recommended to you by our Lord. Believe me,\ntrue virtue is not nourished in external calm any more than are good fish\nfound in the stagnant waters of the marshes.\"\n\n\nUPON DISCOURAGEMENT.\n\nOur Blessed Father used to say that the most cowardly of all temptations\nwas discouragement. When the enemy of our salvation makes us lose hope\nof ever advancing in virtue he has gained a great advantage over us, and\nmay very soon succeed in thrusting us down into the abyss of vice. Those\nwho fly into a passion at the sight of their own imperfections are like\npeople who want to strike and bruise their own faces, because they are not\nhandsome enough to please their self-love. They only hurt themselves the\nmore.\n\nThe holy Bishop wishing to correct this fault in one of his penitents said\nto her: \"Have patience with every one, but especially with yourself. I\nmean, do not be over-troubled about your imperfections, but always have\ncourage enough at once to rise up again when you fall into any of them. I\nam very glad to hear that you begin afresh every day. There is no better\nmeans for persevering in the spiritual life than continually to be\nbeginning again, and never to think that one has done enough.\"\n\nOn these words we may make the following reflections:\n\n1. How shall we patiently suffer the faults of our neighbour if we are\nimpatient over our own?\n\n2. How shall we reprove others in a spirit of gentleness if we correct\nourselves with irritation, with disgust, and with unreasonable sharpness?\nWhat can come out of a bag but what is in it?\n\n3. Those who fret impatiently over their own imperfections will never\ncorrect themselves of them, for correction, if it is to be of use, must\nproceed from a tranquil, restful mind. _Cowardice_, says David, _is the\ncompanion of trouble and tempest_.\n\n4. He who has lost courage has lost everything, he who has thrown up the\ngame can never win, nor can the soldier who has thrown away his arms return\nto the fight, however much he may want to do.\n\n5. David said: _I waited for him that saved me from pusillanimity and a\nstorm_. He who believes himself to be far advanced in the ways of God has\nnot yet even made a good beginning.\n\n6. St. Paul, who had been raised to the third heaven, who had fought so\nmany good fights, run so many splendid races, and had kept the Faith\ninviolate, in spite of all, never thought that he had finished his work,\nor reached the goal, but always pressed forward as though he had but just\nbegun.[1]\n\n7. This mortal life is but a road leading to heaven. It is a road to which\nwe must steadily keep. He who stops short in it runs the risk of not\nreaching safely the presence of God in which it ends. He who says, I have\nenough, thereby shows that he has not enough; for in spiritual things\nsufficiency implies the desire for more.\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4.]\n\n\nUPON RISING AFTER A FALL.\n\nOur Blessed Father was a great enemy to hurry and over-eagerness, even in\nrising up again after a fall.\n\nHe used to say that if our act of contrition is more hurried than humble we\nare very likely to fall again soon, and that this second fall will be worse\nthan the first.\n\nAs he considered our penitence incomplete without an act of the love of\nGod, so also he maintained recovery from a fall to be imperfect if not\naccompanied by tranquillity and peace. He wished us to correct ourselves,\nas well as others, in a spirit of sweetness. Here is the advice which he\ngives on the subject.\n\n\"When we happen to fall from some sudden outburst of self-love, or of\npassion, let us as soon as possible prostrate ourselves in spirit before\nGod, saying, with confidence and humility: Have mercy on me, for I am weak.\nLet us rise again with peace and tranquillity and knot up again our network\nof holy indifference, then go on with our work. When we discover that\nour lute is out of tune, we must neither break the strings nor throw the\ninstrument aside; but listen attentively to find out what is the cause of\nthe discord, and then gently tighten or slacken the strings, according to\nwhat is required.\"\n\nTo those who replied to him that we ought to judge ourselves with severity,\nhe said: \"It is true that with regard to ourselves we ought to have the\nheart of a judge, but as the judge who hastily, or under the influence of\npassion, pronounces sentence, runs the risk of committing an injustice,\nbut not so when reason is master of his actions and behaviour, we must, in\norder to judge ourselves with equity, do so with a gentle, peaceful mind,\nnot in a fit of anger, nor when so troubled as hardly to know what we are\ndoing.\"\n\n\nUPON KINDLINESS TOWARDS OURSELVES.\n\nSince the measure and the model of the love which God commands us to bear\ntowards our neighbour ought to be the just and Christian love which we\nshould bear towards ourselves, and as charity, which is patient and kind,\nobliges us to correct our neighbours' faults with gentleness and sweetness,\nour Blessed Father did not consider it right that we should correct\nourselves in a manner different from this, nor be harsh and severe with\nourselves because of our falls and ill-doings. In one of his letters he\nwrote as follows: \"When we have committed a fault, let us at once examine\nour heart and ask it whether it does not still preserve living and entire\nthe resolution to serve God. It will, I hope, answer yes, and that it would\nrather die a thousand deaths than give up this resolution. Let us go on to\nask it further. Why, then, are you stumbling now? Why are you so cowardly?\nIt will reply: I was taken by surprise: I know not how; but I am tolerably\nfirm now. Ah! my dear daughter, we must pardon it; it was not from\ninfidelity, but from infirmity that it failed. We must then correct\nourselves gently and quietly, and not irritate and disturb ourselves still\nmore. Rise up, my heart, my friend, we should say to ourselves, and lift up\nour thoughts to our Help, and our God.\n\n\"Yes, my dear daughter, we must be charitable to our own soul, and not\nrebuke it over harshly when we see that the fault it has committed was not\nfully wilful.\"\n\nMoreover, he would not have us accuse ourselves over-vehemently and\nexaggerate our faults. At the same time, he had no desire that in regard to\nourselves we should err on the side of leniency. He wanted us to embrace\nthe happy medium, by humiliating without discouraging ourselves, and by\nencouraging ourselves with humility. In another letter he says: \"Be just,\nneither accuse nor excuse your poor soul, except after much consideration,\nfor fear lest if you excuse yourself when you should not, you become\ncareless, and if you accuse yourself without cause, you discourage yourself\nand become cowardly. Walk simply and you will walk securely.\"\n\n\nUPON IMPERFECTIONS.\n\n\"Some people have so high an opinion of their own perfection that should\nthey discover any failings or imperfections in themselves they are thrown\ninto despair. They are like people so anxious about their health that the\nslightest illness alarms them, and who take so many precautions to preserve\nthis precious health that in the end they ruin it.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father wished us to profit, not only by our tribulations, but\nalso by our imperfections, and that these latter should serve to establish\nand settle us in a courageous humility, and make us hope, even against\nhope, and in spite of the most discouraging appearances. \"In this way,\" he\nsaid, \"we draw our healing and help from the very hand of our adversaries.\"\nTo a person who was troubled at her imperfections, he wrote thus: \"We\nshould, indeed, like to be without imperfections, but, my dearest daughter,\nwe must submit patiently to the trial of having a human, rather than an\nangelic, nature. Our imperfections ought not, indeed, to please us; on the\ncontrary, we should say with the holy Apostle: _Unhappy man, that I am, who\nshall deliver me from the body of this death!_[1] But, at the same time,\nthey ought not to astonish us, nor to discourage us: we should draw from\nthem submission, humility, and mistrust of ourselves; never discouragement\nand loss of heart, far less distrust of God's love for us; for though He\nloves not our imperfections and venial sins, He loves us, in spite of them.\n\n\"The weakness and backwardness of a child displeases its mother, but she\ndoes not for that reason love it less. On the contrary, she loves it more\nfondly, because she compassionates it. So, too, is it with God, who cannot,\nas I have said, love our imperfections and venial sins, but never ceases to\nlove us, so that David with reason cries out to Him: _Have mercy on me, O\nLord, for I am weak._\"[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. vii. 24.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm vi. 3.]\n\n\nTHE JUST MAN FALLS SEVEN TIMES IN THE DAY.\n\nA good man meditating upon this passage, and taking it too literally, fell\ninto a perfect agony, saying to himself: \"Alas! how many times a day, then,\nmust not I, who am _not_ just, fall?\" Yet during his evening examination of\nconscience, however closely and carefully he searched, and however much\nhe was on the watch during the day to observe his failings and faults, he\nsometimes could not make up the number. Greatly troubled and perplexed\nabout this, he carried his difficulties to our Blessed Father, who settled\nthem in this way:\n\n\"In the passage which you have quoted,\" he said, \"we are not told that the\njust man sees or feels himself fall seven times a day, but only that he\ndoes fall seven times, and that he raises himself up again without paying\nany heed to his so doing. Do not then distress yourself; humbly and frankly\nconfess what you have observed of faulty in yourself, and what you do not\nsee, leave to the sweet mercy of Him who puts out His hand to prevent those\nwho fall without malice, from being jarred or bruised against the hard\nground; and who raises them up again so quickly and gently that they never\nnotice it nor are conscious of having so much as fallen.\"\n\nThe great imperfection of most of us proceeds from want of reflection, but,\non the other hand, there are many who think overmuch, who fall into the\nmistake of too close self-inspection, and who are perpetually fretting over\ntheir failings and weaknesses.\n\nBlessed Francis writes again on the subject: \"It is quite certain that as\nlong as we are imprisoned in this heavy and corruptible body there will\nalways be something wanting in us. I do not know whether I have already\ntold you that we must have patience with every one; and, first of all, with\nourselves. For since we have learnt to distinguish between the old Adam\nand the new, between the outward man and the inward, we are really more\ntroublesome to ourselves than any of our neighbours.\"\n\n\nUPON THE PURGATIVE WAY.\n\nOf the three ways leading to perfection the first is called the purgative,\nand consists in the purifying of the soul; from which, as from a piece\nof waste ground, we must take away the brambles and thorns of sin before\nplanting there trees which shall bear good fruit. This purgation has,\nhowever, two different stages; that which precedes the justification of the\nsoul, and that which follows it. This latter may again be subdivided into\ntwo parts. There is not only the freeing of the soul from sin, whether\nmortal or venial, but there is also its purgation from any inclination or\nattachment to either the one or the other.\n\nIt is not enough to be purged from deadly sin; we must labour incessantly\nto rid ourselves of any love, however slight, of the sin from which we have\nbeen cleansed, otherwise we shall be only too likely to fall back into it\nagain. It is the same as regards venial sins. Our Blessed Father speaks of\nthis purgative way in his Philothea as follows:\n\n\"We can never be wholly pure from venial sins, at least, never for any\ncontinuous length of time, but we can and may get rid of any sort of\naffection for these lesser faults. Assuredly it is one thing to tell\nfalsehoods once or twice, lightly and thoughtlessly, and in matters of\nsmall importance; and another to take delight in lying and to cling fondly\nto this sort of sin.\"[1]\n\nBesides venial sins, there are certain natural propensities and\ninclinations which are called imperfections, since they tend towards\nevil, and, if unchecked, lead to excesses of various kinds. They are not,\nproperly speaking, sins, either mortal or venial; nevertheless they are\ntrue failings and defects of which we must endeavour to correct ourselves,\ninasmuch as they are displeasing both to God and man. Such are propensities\nto anger, grief, joy, excessive laughter, flattery, favouritism, self-pity,\nsuspicion, over-eagerness, precipitancy, and vain affections. We must\nstrive to rid ourselves of those defects which, like weeds, spring up\nwithout being sown in the soil of our corrupt nature, and incline us to\nevil from our birth.\n\nThe means of getting rid of all these evils, whether mortal sins, venial\nones, imperfections, or attachment to any or all of these, you will find\nmost clearly set forth by our Blessed Father in the same book.[2]\n\nI once asked him what was the true difference between venial sin and\nimperfection, and I will try to recall his teaching on the subject that\nI may impart it to you. Every venial sin is an imperfection, but every\nimperfection is not a venial sin. In sin there is always malice, and malice\nis in the will, hence the maxim that nothing involuntary is sin; and\naccording to the degree of this malice, whether great or small, and\naccording to the matter on which it is exercised, the sin is either mortal\nor venial.\n\nYou ask me if imperfections are matters sufficient for confession, as well\nas venial sin. Our Blessed Father considered that it was well to accuse\nourselves of them in order to learn from the confessor how to correct\nourselves of and get rid of them. He did not, however, think them\nsufficient matter for the Sacrament, and for this reason when his penitents\nonly told him of imperfections he would make them add some venial sin\ncommitted in the past, so as to furnish sufficient matter for absolution, I\nsay sufficient, but not absolutely necessary matter, for it is only mortal\nsin that has these two qualities.\n\n[Footnote 1: Part i. chap. 22.]\n[Footnote 2: Part i. chaps. 6, 7, 22, 23, 24.]\n\n\nUPON VENIAL SIN.\n\nHe compares venial sin to the diamond which was thought by its presence to\nprevent the loadstone from attracting iron. A soul attached to venial sin\nis retarded in its progress in the path of justice, but when the hindrance\nis removed God dilates the heart and makes it to run in the way of His\ncommandments.\n\nYou ask me if a great number of venial sins can ever make up a mortal one,\nand consequently cause us to lose the grace of God.\n\nNo, indeed! Not all the venial sins which ever existed could make one\nmortal sin: but nevertheless, not many venial sins are needed to dispose\nus to commit a mortal one, as it is written that _he that contemneth small\nthings shall fall by little and little,[1] and that he who loves danger\nshall perish in it_.[2]\n\nFor, according to the maxim of St. Bernard, received by all spiritual\nwriters, not to advance in the way of God is to fall back, not to sow with\nHim is to scatter, not to gather up is to lose, not to build is to pull\ndown, not to be for God is to be against Him, not to reap with Him is to\nlay waste. Now to commit a venial sin is essentially a not working with\nGod, though it may not be a positive working against Him.\n\n\"Charity,\" says our Blessed Father, \"being an active quality cannot be long\nwithout either acting or dying: it is, say the early Fathers, symbolized\nby Rachel. _Give me children_, she said to her husband, _otherwise I shall\ndie_.[3] Thus charity urges the heart which she has espoused to make her\nfertile in good works; otherwise she will perish.\"\n\nVenial sin, especially when the soul clings to it, makes us run the risk of\nlosing charity, because it exposes us to the danger of committing mortal\nsin, by which alone charity is driven forth and banished from the soul. On\nthis subject our Blessed Father, in the chapter from which we have already\nquoted, speaks as follows: \"Neither venial sin, nor even the affection to\nit, is contrary to the essential resolution of charity, which is to prefer\nGod before all things; because by this sin we love something outside reason\nbut not against reason. We make too much and more than is fit of creatures,\nyet we do not positively prefer them before the Creator. We occupy\nourselves more than we ought in earthly things; yet we do not, for all\nthat, forsake heavenly things.\n\n\"In fine, venial sin impedes us in the way of charity, but does not put us\nout of it, and, therefore, venial sin, not being contrary to charity, never\ndestroys charity either wholly or partially.\"\n\nFurther on he says: \"However, venial sin is sin, and consequently it\ntroubles charity, not as a thing that is contrary to charity itself, but as\nbeing contrary to its operations and progress and even to its intention.\nFor, as this intention is that we should direct all our actions to God, it\nis violated by venial sin, which is the referring of an action to something\noutside of God and of the divine will.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Eccle. iii. 27.]\n[Footnote 2: Id. iii. 27.]\n[Footnote 3: _The Love of God_. Book iv. chap. 2.]\n\n\nUPON COMPLICITY IN THE SINS OF ANOTHER.\n\nThere are some scrupulous minds which are perplexed by everything and\nfrightened at shadows. In conversation, and in mixing with others, a faulty\nword which they may hear or a reprehensible action they may witness,\nhowever much they may in their secret hearts detest it, is at once charged\nupon their own conscience as a partaking in the sins of others.\n\nThey are also troubled with doubts, and are uncertain whether it is their\nduty or not to denounce the faults of their neighbour, to express their\nown disapproval, and to rebuke the offender. To a soul perplexed on this\nsubject our Blessed Father gives the following wholesome advice: \"As\nregards conversation, my dear daughter, do not worry about anything said\nor done by others. If good, you can praise God for it, if evil, it will\nfurnish you with an opportunity of serving God by turning away your\nthoughts from it, showing neither surprise nor irritation, since you are\nnot a person of sufficient importance to be able to put a stop to bad or\nidle talk. Indeed, any attempt on your part to do so would make things\nworse. Acting as as I bid you to do you will remain unharmed amid the\nhissing of serpents and, like the strawberry, will not assimilate their\npoison even though licked by their venomous tongues.\"\n\n\nUPON EQUIVOCATING.\n\nOur Saint used to say that to equivocate was, in his opinion, to canonize\nlying, and that simplicity was, after all, the best kind of shrewdness. The\nchildren of darkness, he said, use cunning and artifice in their dealings\nwith one another, but the children of God should take for their motto the\nwords: He that walketh sincerely walketh confidently.\n\nDuplicity, simulation, insincerity always betray a low mind. If, in the\nlanguage of the wise man, _the lips that lie kill the soul_, what can be\nthe effect of the conversation of one who habitually speaks with a _double\nheart_?[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xii. 3.]\n\n\nUPON SOLITUDE.\n\nSome one was praising country life, and calling it holy and innocent.\n\nBlessed Francis replied that country life has drawbacks just as city life\nhas, and that as there is both good and bad company, so there is also good\nand bad solitude. Good, when God calls us into it, as He says by a prophet,\n_I will lead her into the wilderness and I will speak to her heart_.[1]\nBad, when it is of that kind of which it is written, _Woe to him that is\nalone_.[2]\n\nAs regards holiness and innocence, he said that country folk were certainly\nfar from being, as a matter of course, endowed with these good qualities.\n\nAs for temptations and occasions of sin, he said: \"There are evil spirits\nwho go to and fro in desert places quite as much as in cities; if grace\ndoes not hold us up everywhere, everywhere we may stumble. Lot, who in the\nmost wicked of all cities was holy and just, when in solitude fell into\nthe most dreadful of sins. Men carry themselves about with them and find\nthemselves everywhere, and frailty can no more be got rid of by them than\ncan the shadow by the body that casts it.\n\n\"Many deceive themselves greatly and become their own seducers by imagining\nthat they possess those virtues, the sins contrary to which they do not\ncommit. The absence of a vice and the possession of its contrary virtue are\nvery different things.\n\n\"To be without folly is, indeed, to have the beginning of wisdom, but it is\na beginning so feeble as by itself scarcely to deserve the name of wisdom.\n\n\"Abstaining from evil is a very different thing from doing good, although\nthis abstaining is of itself a species of good: it is like the plan of a\nbuilding compared with the building itself. Virtue does not consist so much\nin habit as in action. Habit is in itself an indolent sort of quality,\nwhich, indeed, inclines us to do good, but does no more, unless inclination\nbe followed by action.\n\n\"How shall he who has no one in command set over him learn obedience? He\nwho is never contradicted, patience? He who has no superior, humility? And\nhow shall he who, like a misanthrope, flies from intercourse with other\nmen, notwithstanding that he is obliged to love them as himself, how shall\nhe, I say, learn brotherly love?\n\n\"There are many virtues which cannot be practised in solitude; above all,\nmercy, upon the exercise of which we shall be questioned and judged at the\nlast day; and of which it is said: _Blessed are the merciful, for they\nshall obtain mercy_.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Osee ii. 14.]\n[Footnote 2: Eccle. iv. 10.]\n[Footnote 3: Matt. v. 7.]\n\n\nUPON VANITY.\n\nIt is a vanity of the understanding to think ourselves more than we really\nare; but it is a far more dangerous vanity of the will to aspire to a\ncondition higher than our own, and to persuade ourselves that we are\ndeserving of it. He who thinks himself to be more than he is has in his\nmind some picture of content and satisfaction, and consequently some sort\nof tranquillity like one who finds his peace and repose in his riches.\n\nBut he who aspires to a condition more exalted than his own is in a\nconstant state of disquietude, like the needle of the compass which\ntrembles incessantly until it points to the north. An ancient proverb makes\nthe happiness of this life to consist in wishing to be what we are and\nnothing more.\n\n  _Quod sis esse velis, nihilque malis._\n\nBlessed Francis who, in his own opinion, had already risen too high in\nthe hierarchy of the Church, turned his thoughts rather to giving up his\ndignities than to seeking promotion. He looked forward to the calm retreat\nof solitude rather than the dignity of illustrious offices.\n\nHe was even apprehensive of the high esteem in which he knew that he\nwas held, dreading lest he should be less the servant of God for thus\ndelighting men.\n\nOn one occasion some worthy soul having warned him to keep humble amid\nthe praises and acclamations bestowed on him, he answered: \"You please me\ngreatly by recommending holy humility to me, for, do you know, when the\nwind gets imprisoned in our valleys, among our mountains, even the little\nflowers are beaten down and the trees are uprooted. I am situated rather\nhigh up and, in my post of Bishop, am tossed about most of all. O Lord!\nsave us: command these winds of vanity to cease to blow and there will be a\ngreat calm. Stand firm, O my soul, and clasp very tightly the foot of our\nSaviour's holy Cross: the rain which falls there in plenteous showers on\nall sides stills the wind, however violent it may be.\n\n\"When I am there, O my God, as I sometimes am, how sheltered is my soul,\nand how refreshed by that crimson dew! but no sooner have I moved a single\nstep away than the wind again takes me off my feet!\"\n\n\nUPON THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH PUFFS UP.\n\nYou wish to know what St. Paul means when he says that _knowledge puffs up_\nand that _charity edifies_.[1] I imagine he means by the knowledge which\npuffs up, that which is destitute of charity and which consequently tends\nonly to vanity. _All those are vain_, say the sacred Scriptures, _who have\nnot the knowledge of God_;[2] and what is this knowledge of God if not\nthe knowledge of His ways and of His will? It is the God of knowledge who\nteaches this knowledge to men; the science of the saints, the science which\nmakes saints, the science of salvation, a science without which all else is\nabsolute ignorance. He who thinks that he knows something and does not know\nhow to save his soul, does not yet know what it is most important to know.\nThose who know many things without knowing themselves, and without knowing\nGod in the manner in which even in this present life he can be known\nand desires to be known, resemble the giants in the fable, who piled up\nmountains and then buried themselves beneath them.\n\nDo not, however, think for a moment that, in order to save our souls, or to\nbe truly devout, we must be ignorant; for, as sugar spoils no sauce,\ntrue knowledge is in no wise opposed to devotion. On the contrary, by\nenlightening the understanding it contributes much to fervour in the will.\nListen to what our Blessed Father says on this subject in his Theotimus:\n\"Knowledge is not of itself contrary, but very useful to devotion. Meeting,\nthey should marvellously assist one another; though it too often happens\nthrough our misery that knowledge hinders the birth of devotion, because\n_knowledge puffeth up_ and makes us proud, and pride, which is contrary\nto all virtue, ruins all devotion. Without doubt, the eminent science\nof a Cyprian, an Augustine, a Hilary, a Chrysostom, a Basil, a Gregory,\na Bonaventure, a Thomas, not only taught these Saints to value, but\ngreatly enhanced their devotion; as again, their devotion not only\nsupernaturalized, but eminently perfected their knowledge.\"[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. viii. 1.]\n[Footnote 2: Sap. xiii. 1.]\n[Footnote 3: Book vi. chap. 4.]\n\n\nUPON SCRUPLES.\n\nIt was Blessed Francis' opinion that scruples have their origin in a\n_cunning_ self-esteem. I call it _cunning_ because it is so subtle and\ncrafty as to deceive even those who are troubled by it. As a proof of this\nassertion he evidenced the fact that \"those who suffer from this malady\nwill not acquiesce in the judgment of their directors, however discreet and\nenlightened in the ways of God they may be; obstinately clinging to their\nown opinions instead of, by humble submission, accepting the remedies\nand consequent peace offered to them. Who can wonder at the prolonged\nsufferings of the sick man who resolutely refuses every salutary remedy\nwhich he is entreated to take? Who will pity one who suffers himself to die\nof hunger and thirst, although everything that could satisfy the one and\nquench the other be placed within his reach?\n\n\"Holy Scripture teaches us that the crime of disobedience is equal in\nguilt to that of idolatry and witchcraft. But what shall we say of the\ndisobedience of the scrupulous, who so idolize their own opinions as to be\nabsolutely slaves to them, and whom no sort of remonstrance or reasoning\nwill convince of the idleness of their unfounded fears.\n\n\"They will tell you, in answer to your judicious and soothing arguments,\nthat you are only flattering them, that they are misunderstood, that they\ndo not explain themselves clearly, and so on.\n\n\"This is, indeed, a malady difficult of cure, because, like jealousy,\nits fires are fed by everything with which it comes in contact. May God\npreserve you from this lingering and sad disease, which I regard as the\nquartan fever or jaundice of the soul.\"\n\n\nUPON TEMPTATIONS.\n\n\"If we only knew how to make a good use of temptations,\" said our Blessed\nFather, \"instead of dreading, we should welcome them--I had almost said\ndesire them. But because our weakness and our cowardice are only too well\nknown to us, from our long experience, and from many sorrowful falls, we\nhave good reason to say, _Lead us not into temptation_.\n\n\"If to this just mistrust of ourselves we united confidence in God, who is\nstronger to deliver us from temptation than we are weak in falling into it,\nour hopes would rise in proportion to the lessening of our fears. _For by\nThee I shall be delivered from temptation, and through my God I shall go\nover a wall._\"[1]\n\nWith such a support can we not boldly tread upon the asp and the basilisk,\nand trample under foot the lion and the dragon?[2] As it is in temptation\nthat we learn to know the greatness of our courage and of our fidelity to\nGod, so it is by suffering temptation that we make progress in strength of\nheart, and that we learn to wield the weapons of our warfare, which are\nspiritual against the spiritual malice of our invisible enemies. Then it is\nthat our soul, clothed in the panoply of grace, appears terrible to them as\nan army in battle array, and as the hosts of the Lord.\n\nSome think that all is lost when they are tormented by thoughts of\nblasphemy and impiety, and fancy that their faith is gone. Yet as long as\nthese thoughts merely distress them and they are resisted, they cannot harm\nthem, and such stormy winds only serve to make souls become more deeply\nrooted in faith. As much has to be said of temptations against purity and\nother virtues, for the maxim is quite a general one.\n\nThere is no good Christian who is not tempted. The angel said to Tobias:\n_Because thou wast acceptable to God it was necessary that temptation,\nshould prove thee._[3]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xxvi. 30.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm xc. 13.]\n[Footnote 3: Job xii. 13.]\n\n\nUPON THE SAME SUBJECT.\n\nYou ask me why God permits the enemy of our salvation to afflict us with so\nmany temptations, which put us into such great danger of offending God and\nlosing our soul. I might answer you in words from Holy Scripture, but I\nwill give you our Blessed Father's teaching on the subject, which is only\nan interpretation of what St. Paul and St. James tell us in their epistles:\n\"Do you know,\" he says, \"what God does in temptation?\"\n\nHe permits the evil one to furbish up his wares and to offer them to us for\nsale, so that by the contempt with which we look upon them we may show our\naffection for divine things.\n\nMust you then, my dear sister, my dearest daughter, because of this\ntemptation, fret and disquiet yourself and change your manner of thought?\n\nOh, no! by no means, it is the devil who prowls round about your soul,\npeeping and prying to see if he can find an open door. He did this with\nJob, with St. Anthony, with St. Catherine of Siena, and with an infinity of\ngood souls whom I know, as well as with my own, which is good-for-nothing,\nand which I do not know. And have you, my good daughter, to distress\nyourself about what the devil attempts? Let him wait outside and keep all\nthe avenues of your soul fast shut. In the end he will be tired out, or if\nnot God will force him to raise the siege.\n\nRemember what I think I have told you before. It is a good sign when the\ndevil stirs up such a tumult outside the fortress of your will, for it\nshows he is not inside it.\n\nOne cause of our interior trouble and mental disturbance is the difficulty\nwe experience in discerning whether a temptation comes from within or from\nwithout, whether it is from our own heart or from the enemy, who takes up\nhis position as a besieger before that heart? You may apply the following\ntest in order to find out.\n\nDoes the temptation please or displease you? One of the ancient Fathers\nsays that sins which displease us cannot harm us. How much less then\ndispleasing temptations!\n\nNotice that, as long as the temptation displeases you there is nothing to\nfear, for why should it displease if not because your will does not consent\nto it?\"\n\n\"But,\" you say, \"if I, as it were, dally with the temptation, either from\ninadvertence or torpor, or slothful unwillingness to reject and repel it,\nis not that in a way taking pleasure in it?\" \"The evil of temptation is\nnot measured by its duration: it may be working against us all our life\nlong, but while it displeases us it cannot make us fail into sin; on the\ncontrary, being repulsive to us, this very antipathy not only preserves\nus from being infected by its venom, but adds strength to our virtue and\njewels to our crown.\"\n\n\"But I am so much afraid of taking pleasure in it!\"\n\n\"That very fear is a proof that it displeases you, for we are not afraid of\nthat which pleases us. We are not terrified except by what displeases us,\njust as we can only enjoy what is good or has the appearance of being good.\n\n\"If you were able all the time to look upon temptation as an evil it cannot\nhave pleased you.\"\n\n\"Still, is it wrong to find pleasure in thinking of what is sinful?\" \"If\nthis pleasure is felt before we reflect that the thing is evil it is of no\nconsequence, since voluntary malice and consent are needed to make this\npleasure a sin.\"\n\n\"How shall we know whether or not we have yielded this consent?\"\n\"Assuredly, it is difficult to define the nature of voluntary consent. This\ndifficulty gave rise to the saying of the Psalmist, _Who can understand\nsins?_[1]\n\n\"This, too, is why he prays to be delivered from his secret faults, that is\nto say, from sins which he cannot easily discern.\"\n\nI will, however, on this subject give you another excellent lesson which I\nlearned from our Blessed Father.\n\n\"When you are doubtful,\" he said to me, \"whether or not you have consented\nto evil, always take the doubt for a negative, and for this reason. A true\nand full consent of the will is necessary to form a real grave sin, there\nbeing no sin in what is not voluntary. Now full consent is so clear that\nthere can never be left in the mind a shadow of doubt about its having\ntaken place.\"\n\nThis plain teaching surely cuts the gordian knot of our perplexities.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xviii. 13.]\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON THE INCARNATION.\n\nThere are two opinions held by theologians on the subject of the\nIncarnation. Some hold that had Adam never sinned the Son of God would not\nhave become incarnate, others that the Incarnation would have taken place\neven had our first parents remained in the state of innocence and original\njustice in which they were created. For, as they urge, the Word was made\nflesh, not to merely be a redeemer and restorer of the human race, but that\nthrough Him God might be glorified. Our Blessed Father held this second\nopinion, which he advanced, not only in familiar conversation and in the\npulpit, but also in his writings. In his Theotimus he expresses himself\nthus: \"God knew from all eternity that He could create an innumerable\nmultitude of beings with divers perfections and qualities, to whom He\nmight communicate Himself. And considering that amongst all the different\ncommunications which were possible, none was so excellent as that of\nuniting Himself to some created nature, in such sort that the creature\nmight be engrafted and implanted in the Divinity, and become one single\nperson with it: His infinite goodness, which of itself and by itself tends\ntowards communication, resolved and determined to communicate Himself in\nthis manner. So that, as eternally there is an essential communication in\nGod, by which the Father communicates all His infinite and indivisible\ndivinity to the Son in producing Him, and the Father and the Son together\nproducing the Holy Ghost, communicate to Him also their own singular\ndivinity; so this sovereign sweetness was so perfectly communicated\nexternally to a creature that the created nature and the divinity retaining\neach of them its own properties were, notwithstanding so united together\nthat they were but one same person. Now of all the creatures which that\nSovereign Omnipotence could produce, He thought good to make choice of\nhuman nature which afterwards in effect was united to the person of God\nthe Son, He created it, and to it He destined the incomparable honour of\npersonal union with His divine majesty, to the end that for all eternity it\nmight enjoy above all others the treasures of His infinite glory.\"[1]\n\nThis thought has always pleased me exceedingly; this thought, I mean, of\nthe communication of God, in the worthiest manner possible, namely, through\nthe mystery of the Incarnation. But ah! What shall we then say of the\nmystery of the most holy Eucharist, which is, as it were, an extension of\nthe Incarnation! In the holy Eucharist the Son of God, in His overflowing\nmercy, not content with having made Himself the Son of Man, a sharer in\nour humanity and our Brother, has invented a wondrous way of communicating\nHimself to each one of us in particular. By this He incorporates Himself in\nus, and us in Him. He dwells in us, and makes us dwell in Him, becoming\nour food and support, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, by a grace\nwhich surpasses every other grace, since it contains in itself the author\nof all grace! Truly, we possess in this divine mystery, though veiled and\nhidden under the sacramental species, Him whom the angels desire to see,\neven while they see Him continually. Nor is there any difference between\ntheir possession and ours, except in the manner in which it is effected.\nFor if they have the advantage of sight, we have that of a closer intimacy,\nseeing that He is only before them as the Beatific Vision, while He\nis actually within us, as the living and life-giving bread, a bread\nstrengthening our heart, or, rather, the very heart of our heart, or the\nsoul of our heart, or the heart of our soul. And if the heart of the\ndisciples of Emmaus burned within them when He only spoke to them on their\nway, what ardour should be kindled in our breasts by the receiving of Him\nwho came to bring the fire of divine love upon earth, that it might inflame\nand kindle all hearts!\n\nYou ask me whether we are happier in having been redeemed from that state\nof original sin into which our first parents fell than had we been born in\nthe innocence which was theirs at their creation.\n\nAt first sight it would seem that never to have been bound by the chain of\nmisery and evil with which the first sin of Adam fettered us would surely\nhave been more desirable than even to be loosed from it by the divine\ngoodness! This, however, is a merely human judgment, revealed to us by\nflesh and blood. The light of faith, far brighter and more ennobling,\nteaches us a sublimer lesson. This is what our Blessed Father says on the\nsubject:\n\n\"Who can doubt of the abundance of the means of salvation, since we have\nso great a Saviour, for the sake of whom we have been made, and by whose\nmerits we have been ransomed. For He died, for all, because all were dead,\nand His mercy was more far-reaching when He built up anew the race of men\nthan Adam's misery when he ruined it.\n\n\"Indeed, Adam's sin was so far from quenching God's love for mankind, that,\non the contrary, it stirred it up, and invited it. So that by a most sweet\nand loving re-action, love was quickened by the presence of sin, and as if\nre-collecting its forces for victory over evil, made _grace to superabound\nwhere sin had abounded_.[2] Whence, Holy Church, in an excess of devout\nwonder, cries out (upon Easter-eve), 'O truly necessary sin of Adam, which\nwas blotted out by the death of Jesus Christ! O happy fault which merited\nto have such and so great a Redeemer!' Truly, Theotimus, we may say, as did\nhe of old, 'We were ruined, had we not been undone; that is, ruin brought\nus profit, since in effect human nature, through being redeemed by its\nSaviour, has received more graces than ever it would have received if Adam\nhad remained innocent.'\"[3]\n\nOne of the marvels of divine Omnipotence is that it knows by a secret\npower, reserved to itself alone, how to draw good from evil, the contrary\nfrom the contrary; water from, fire, as in the furnace of the three\nchildren[4] and fire from water, as in the sacred fire which was found in a\nwell, the thick water of which was changed into fire. By this secret power\nHe makes all things work together for good to those who love Him.\n\n\"Truly,\" says our Blessed Father, in the same place, \"as the rainbow\ntouching the thorn _aspalathus_, makes it more odoriferous than the\nlily, so our Saviour's Redemption, touching our miseries makes them more\nbeneficial and worthy of love than original innocence could ever have been.\n\n\"_I say to you_, says our Saviour, _there shall be joy in Heaven upon one\nsinner that doth penance; more than upon ninety-nine just, who need not\npenance_,[5] and so the state of redemption is a hundred times better than\nthat of innocence.\n\n\"Verily, by the watering of our Saviour's Blood, made with the hyssop\nof the Cross, we have been re-clothed in a whiteness incomparably more\nexcellent than the snowy robe of innocence. We come out, like Naaman, from\nthe stream of salvation more pure and clean than if we had never been\nleprous, to the end that the divine majesty, as He has ordained also for\nus, should not be _overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good_,[6] _that\nmercy_ (as a sacred oil) should keep _itself above judgment_,[7] and _God's\ntender mercies be over all His works_.\"[8]\n\n[Footnote 1: Book ii. chap. 4.]\n[Footnote 2: Col. i. 16.]\n[Footnote 3: _The Love of God_. Book ii, c. 5.]\n[Footnote 4: Daniel iii. 50.]\n[Footnote 5: Luke xv. 7.]\n[Footnote 6: Rom. xii.]\n[Footnote 7: James ii. 13.]\n[Footnote 8: Psalm cxliv. 9.]\n\n\nUPON CONFESSION AND COMMUNION.\n\nThese two Sacraments were styled by Blessed Francis the two poles of the\nchristian life, because around them that life ever revolves. One purifies\nthe soul, the other sanctifies it. He greatly admired the saying of St.\nBernard that all the spiritual good which we possess is derived from the\nfrequent use of the Sacraments. He would say that those who neglect the\nSacraments are not unlike the people in the Parable, who would not accept\nthe invitation to the Marriage Feast, and who thus incurred the wrath of\nthe Lord who had prepared it. Some plead as their excuse that they \"are not\ngood enough\"; but how are they to become good if they keep aloof from the\nsource of all goodness? Others say: \"We are too weak\"; but is not this the\nBread of the strong? Others; \"We are infirm\"; but in this Sacrament have\nyou not the Good Physician Himself? Others: \"We are not worthy\"; but does\nnot the Church direct that even the holiest of men should not approach\nthe Feast without having on his lips the words: _Lord! I am not worthy\nthat Thou shouldst enter under my roof?_ To those who plead that they are\noverwhelmed with cares and with the business of this life, He cries: _Come\nto me all you that labour and are burdened and I will refresh you._[1] If\nany fear to come lest they should incur condemnation, are they not in yet\ngreater danger of being condemned for keeping away? Indeed, the plea of\nhumility is as false as that of Achaz, who detracted from the glory of God\nwhen he feigned to be afraid of tempting Him. What better way of learning\nto receive Him well can there be than receiving Him often? Is it not so\nwith other acts which are perfected by frequent repetition?\n\nHe extolled highly the precept of St. Augustine on this subject. It was his\ndesire that any person (he was speaking of the laity) free from mortal sin,\nand without any affection for it, should communicate confidently yet humbly\nevery Sunday,[2] if not advised by his confessors to do so oftener. He does\nnot say \"anyone who is without venial sin,\" for from that who is exempt?\n\nHis sentiments with regard to Holy Communion were most sweet and so\ntempered by divine love, that reverent fear was in no way prejudicial to\nconfidence, neither was confidence to reverence. He fervently desired that\nwe should annihilate ourselves when receiving the Blessed Sacrament, as\nour Lord annihilated Himself in order to communicate Himself to us, bowing\ndown the heaven of His greatness to accommodate and unite Himself with our\nlowness.\n\nBut you will be better satisfied to hear his feelings expressed in his own\nwords.\n\nThey were addressed, not directly, but through the medium of another, to a\nperson, who from a false idea of humility dared not approach this divine\nmystery, and who, in the words but not in the spirit of St. Peter,\nentreated her Saviour to depart from her.\n\n\"Tell her,\" he says, \"to communicate fearlessly, calmly, yet with all\nhumility, in order to correspond with the action of that Spouse who in\norder to unite Himself with us annihilated Himself and lovingly abased\nHimself to the extent even of becoming our food and our pasturage;\ncondescending thus to us who are the food and pasturage of worms. Oh! my\ndaughter, those who communicate according to the spirit of the Heavenly\nBridegroom, annihilate themselves and say to our Lord: feed on me, change\nme, annihilate me, convert me into Thyself. There is nothing, I think,\nin the world of which we have more absolute possession, or over which we\nhave more entire dominion, than over the food which, for our own\nself-preservation, we annihilate.\n\n\"Well, our Lord has condescended to this excess of love, namely, to give\nHimself to us for our food; and as for us, what ought not we to do in order\nthat He may possess us, that He may feed on us, that He may make us what He\npleases?\"\n\nRead what is said on this subject in the \"Devout life\" and the\n\"Conferences.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Matt. xi. 28.]\n[Footnote 2: By the recent Decree of Pope Pius X., His Holiness\ndesires that, with such dispositions, it should be daily.--[Ed.]]\n\n\nUPON CONFESSION.\n\nOur Blessed Father thought so much of frankness, candour and ingenuousness\nin Confession, that when he met with these virtues in his penitents he was\nfilled with joy and satisfaction.\n\nIt happened one day that he received a letter from one of his spiritual\ndaughters telling him that she had been betrayed into the sin of malicious\nenvy (by which she meant jealousy) of one of her sisters. He answered her\nletter as follows: \"I tell you with truth that your letter has filled my\nsoul with so sweet a perfume, that I can affirm that I have not for a long\ntime read any thing so consoling. I repeat, my dear daughter, that this\nletter awakens in me such fresh ardour of love towards God who is so good,\nand towards you whom He desires to make so good, that I can only make an\nact of thanksgiving for this to His divine Providence. Thus it is, my\ndaughter, that we must always without a moment's hesitation thrust our\nhands into the secret recesses of our hearts to tear out the foul growths\nwhich have sprung up there, from the mingling of our self-love with our\nhumours, inclinations, and antipathies. Oh, my God! What satisfaction for\nthe heart of a most loving Father to hear a beloved daughter protest that\nshe has been envious and malicious! How blessed is this envy, since it is\nfollowed by so frank a confession! Your hand in writing your letter made a\nstroke more valiant than ever did that of Alexander!\"\n\n\nUPON A CHANGE OF CONFESSOR.\n\nI have told you by word of mouth, and now I repeat in writing, so that you\nmay better remember it, that the scruple of scruples is not to dare to\nchange one's Confessor. The Priest who should put this scruple into your\nhead deserves to be left, as himself scrupulous, and unsafe. Virtue, like\ntruth, is always to be found half way between two faulty extremes. To be\nalways changing one's Confessor, and never to dare to do so, or sooner to\nomit Confession than to confess to any one but our usual Confessor, are two\nblame-worthy extremes.\n\nIn the one case we show ourselves volatile and ill-balanced; in the other\nwe are cowardly. If you ask me which of the two is the more to be avoided\nI should say the second, and this because it seems to me to indicate a low\ntone of mind, human respect, attachment to the creature, and in general\na slavish spirit which is quite contrary to the spirit of God, who only\ndwells there, where there is perfect liberty.\n\nSt. Paul tells us that being redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ\nwe ought not to make ourselves slaves of men.\n\nPossibly, however, you would more readily submit your judgment to that of\nour Blessed Father than to mine.\n\nI remind you then how highly he thought of this holy christian liberty. You\nmay be quite sure that he inculcated it on persons like yourself living in\nthe world since, as I am going to show you, he made a great point of it\nwith his Religious.\n\nThe Holy Council of Trent having decreed that three or four times a year\nall nuns should have extra-ordinary Confessors given to them to relieve\nthem from the yoke and constraint which might ensue from being always under\nthe direction of one and the same ordinary Confessor, our Blessed Father\ndecreed that every three months, in the four Ember weeks the Sisters of the\nVisitation, of which Order he was the Founder, should have an Extraordinary\nConfessor, carefully recommending to the Superiors to ask for one even\noftener for any Sisters who might desire or really need his help.\n\nBlessed Teresa[1] was also very careful to ensure to her Sisters this holy\nand reasonable liberty, which renders the yoke of the Saviour sweet and\nlight as it should be, and her daughters, the Carmelites, still value their\nprivilege as she did.\n\nOur Blessed Father used, moreover, to say that Religious men to whom\nthe direction of nuns was entrusted, and all convents subject to their\njurisdiction, would do well to observe the excellent rule and custom\nsome of them have of never leaving a Confessor for more than a year in a\nconvent.\n\nHe added that Superiors should reserve to themselves the power of\nwithdrawing Confessors even before the time for which they were appointed\nhad expired, and indeed whenever it may please them, and should not keep\nany Confessor longer than the time for which he was appointed, unless for\nsome very urgent reason or pressing necessity.\n\nTo show you that it was not only to me that our Blessed Father expressed\nhis opinion on this point, this is how he wrote about it to a Superior of\nthe Visitation.\n\n\"We ought not to be so fickle as to wish without any substantial reason to\nchange our Confessor, but, on the other hand, we should not be immovable\nand persistent when legitimate causes make such a change desirable, and\nBishops should not so tie their own hands as to be unable to effect the\nchange when expedient, and especially when either the Sisters or the\nSpiritual Father desire it.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: St. Teresa was not then canonised. [Ed.]]\n\n\nUPON DIFFERENT METHODS OF DIRECTION.\n\nIn the year 1619 our Blessed Father went to Paris where he remained for\neight or nine months. I was there at the same time, having been summoned\nfor the Advent and Lent sermons.\n\nMany pious persons came to consult him on their spiritual concerns, and\nthus gave him the opportunity of observing the variety of methods employed\nby God to draw souls to Himself, and also the different ways in which His\nPriests guide and direct these same souls.\n\nAmong others, he told me of two priests celebrated for their preaching, and\nwho also applied themselves most zealously to the administration of the\nSacrament of Penance. Both were faithful servants of God and exemplary in\nthe discharge of their functions, but yet so different in their methods of\ndirection, that they almost seemed to oppose one another, though both had\nthe one single aim in view, namely, to promote the service and the glory of\nGod, \"One of them,\" said the Saint, \"is severe and almost terrible in his\npreaching. He proclaims the judgments of God like the very trump of doom.\nIn his special devotions, too, he speaks of nothing but mortifications,\nausterities, constant self-examination and such like exercises. Thus,\nby the wholesome fears with which he fills the minds of his penitents,\nhe leads them to an exact observance of God's law, and to an anxious\nsolicitude for their own salvation. He does not harass them with scruples,\nand yet keeps them in a marvellous state of subjection.\n\n\"The effect of his direction is that God is greatly feared and dreaded by\nthem, that they fly from sin as from a serpent, and that they earnestly\npractise virtue. This divine fear is coupled with a high esteem for their\nDirector, and a friendship for him, holy indeed, but so strong and vehement\nthat it seems to these souls as though, were they to lose their guide, they\nmust needs go astray.\n\n\"The other Director leads souls to God by quite a different path. His\nsermons are always on the love of God. He inculcates the study of virtue\nrather than the hatred of vice. He makes his penitents love virtue more\nbecause it pleases God, than because it is itself worthy of love, and he\nmakes them hate vice more because it displeases God than because of the\nsufferings which it brings upon those who are slaves to it.\n\n\"The effect of this direction is to make souls conceive a love for God\nthat is great, pure and disinterested; also a great affection for their\nneighbour for the love of God; while, as for their sentiments towards their\nDirector, they approach him with reverential awe, beholding God in him and\nhim in God, having no affection for his person beyond that due to all our\nfellow-men.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father never told me the name of this Director, nor even gave\nme the slightest hint as to who he was, and I therefore sought no further\nexplanation, contenting myself with admiring the ways of God and His\nvarious desires for the good of the souls whom He calls to His service. I\nbecame penetrated, too, with the conviction that by many different routes\nwe can reach one and the same goal. _Let every spirit praise the Lord_.\n\n\nADVICE UPON HAVING A DIRECTOR.\n\nI asked him one day who was his Director. Taking from his pocket the\n_Spiritual Combat_, he said: \"You see my Director in this book, which,\nfrom my earliest youth, has, with the help of God, taught me and been my\nmaster in spiritual matters and in the interior life. When I was a student\nat Padua, a Theatine Father instructed and gave me advice from it, and\nfollowing its directions all has been well with me. It was written by a\nvery holy member of that celebrated congregation, the author concealing his\nown name under that of his Orders which makes use of the book almost in the\nsame way as the Jesuits make use of the Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.\"\n\nI reminded him that in his Philothea[1] he recommends people to have a\nliving Director. \"That is true,\" he answered, \"but have you not noticed\nthat I say he must be chosen out of ten thousand?[2] Because there is\nscarcely one in a thousand to be found having all the qualities necessary\nfor this office, or who, if he has them, displays them constantly and\nperseveringly; men being so variable that they never remain in one state,\nas Holy Scripture assures us.\"[3]\n\nI asked him if we must then run uncertainly and pursue our way without\nguidance. He answered: \"We must seek it among the dead; among those who are\nno longer subject to passion or change, and who have ceased to be swayed\nby human interests. As an Emperor of old said that his most faithful\ncounsellors were the dead, meaning books, so we may say that our safest\nspiritual directors are books of piety.\"\n\n\"But what,\" I asked, \"are those who cannot read to do?\" \"They,\" he replied,\n\"must have good books read to them by people in whom they can have absolute\nconfidence. Besides, such simple souls as these do not, as a rule, trouble\nthemselves much about methods of devotion, or, if they do, God for the most\npart bestows on them such graces as to make it plain that He Himself is\ntheir Teacher, and that they are truly _Theodidacts, or taught by God_.\"\n\n\"Must we then,\" I asked, \"give up all spiritual guides?\" \"By no means,\" he\nanswered, \"for besides the fact that we are bound to obey the law of God\ncoming to us through our Superiors, both spiritual and temporal, we must\nalso defer most humbly to our Confessors, to whom we lay bare the secrets\nof our conscience. Then, when we find difficulties in the books which we\nhave chosen for our guidance, difficulties which, as we read, we cannot\nsettle to our satisfaction, we must consult those who are well versed in\nmystic language, or rather, I should say, in spiritual matters, and listen\nhumbly to their opinion. We must not, however, always consult the same man;\nfor, besides the fact that Holy Scripture warns us that _there is safety\nwhere there is much counsel_,[4] we must remember that if we always\nconsulted the same living oracle, he would in time become superior to the\ndead one; that he would make himself a supplanter, a second Jacob, pushing\naside the book which we had chosen for our guide, and assuming dominion and\nmastery over both dead and living, that is, over the book and the reader\nwho had chosen it for his direction. To prevent this encroachment, I had\nalmost said this unfelt and imperceptibly increasing tyranny, it is well\nwhen we meet with difficulties to consult several persons, following the\nadvice given by the Holy Ghost through the Apostle St. Paul not to make\nourselves the slaves of men, having been delivered and redeemed at so great\na price, even that of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.\"[5]\n\nIn answer to my remark that I very much preferred as a book _The Imitation\nof Christ_ to the _Spiritual Combat_, he said that they were both the works\nof writers truly animated by the Spirit of God, that they were indeed\ndifferent in many respects, but that it might be said of each of them as it\nis of the Saints: _There was not found the like to him._[6]\n\nHe added that in such matters comparisons were always more or less odious;\nthat beauty, however it might vary, was always beauty; that the book of\n_the Imitation_ had in some respects great advantages over _the Combat_,\nbut that the latter had also some advantages over _the Imitation_. Among\nthese he mentioned with special commendation its arrangement and that it\ngoes deeper into things and more thoroughly to the root of the matter. He\nconcluded by saying that we should do well to read the one and not neglect\nthe other, for that both books were so short that to do this would not put\nus to much expenditure of time or trouble.\n\nHe valued _the Imitation_, he said, greatly for its brevity and conciseness\nas an aid to prayer and contemplation, but _the Combat_ as a help in active\nand practical life.\n\n[Footnote 1: Book 1. c. 10.]\n[Footnote 2: This hyperbole of St. Francis is sometimes pushed to excess,\nIt is a question, too, if M. Camus always understood him rightly. [ED.]]\n[Footnote 3: Job xiv. 2.]\n[Footnote 4: Prov. xi. 14.]\n[Footnote 5: 1 Cor. vii. 23.]\n[Footnote 6: Eccle. xliv. 20.]\n\n\nUPON TRUE AND MISTAKEN ZEAL.\n\nZeal was a virtue which Blessed Francis ever regarded with a certain amount\nof suspicion, \"It is,\" he used to say, \"generally speaking, impetuous, and\nalthough it strives to exterminate vice by reproving sinners, it is apt, if\nnot guided by moderation and prudence, to produce most disastrous effects.\n\n\"There is a zeal so bitter and fierce that it pardons nothing, exaggerates\nthe smallest faults, and, like an unskilful physician, only makes the\ndisease of the soul more serious. There is zeal of another kind, which is\nso lax and weakly tender, that it forgives everything, thinking in so doing\nto practise charity, which is patient and kind, seeks not her own, and\nbears all wrongs done to her even joyfully; but such zeal, too, is quite\nmistaken, for true charity cannot endure without grief any wrong done to\nGod, that is to say, anything contrary to His honour and glory.\n\n\"True zeal must be accompanied by knowledge and judgment. It pardons\ncertain things, or, at least, winks at them, until the right time and place\nare come for correcting them; it reproves others when it sees there is\nhope of amendment, leaving no stone unturned when it thinks there is a\npossibility of preserving or advancing the glory of God.\n\n\"It is certain that zeal tempered with gentleness is far more efficacious\nthan that which is turbulent and boisterous. This is why the Prophet,\nwishing to demonstrate the power of the Messiah to bring the whole universe\nunder the sweet yoke of obedience to Him, does not speak of Him as the Lion\nof the Tribe of Juda, but as the Lamb, the Ruler of the Earth. The Psalmist\nsays the very same thing in a few words: _Mildness is come upon us, and we\nshall be corrected._\"\n\nI was complaining one day to our Saint of injuries which I had suffered\nthrough the mistaken zeal of some persons of eminent virtue, and he replied\nthus: \"Do you not know that the best honey is made by the bees which have\nthe sharpest sting?\" It is true, indeed, that nothing hurts us so much as\nwrong done by those on whose support we reckoned, as David knew well when\nhe said: \"_For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with\nit, and if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would\nperhaps have hidden myself from him, but thou, a man of one mind, my guide,\nand my familiar--who together didst take sweet meats with me: in the house\nof God we walked with consent._\"[1]\n\n\"Consider,\" the Saint went on to say, \"by whom Jesus Christ was betrayed.\"\nListen to the words spoken by him through the mouth of His Prophet, spoken\nmoreover of His most sacred wounds, \"_With these I was wounded in the house\nof them that loved me._\"[2]\n\nAnd, after all, is not hope always at the bottom of Pandora's box? Virtuous\npeople carried away by this mistaken zeal, will, directly their eyes are\nopened, only too gladly recognise the truth, and will love you more than\never. Pray to God to enlighten them and to deliver you from the attacks of\ncalumny. And if the worst comes to the worst, is it not the duty of a true\nChristian to bless those who curse him, to pray for those who persecute\nhim, and to render good for evil, provided he really wishes to be a\nfaithful child of the Heavenly Father, who makes His sun to shine, and His\nrain to fall, on the wicked as well as on the good.[3]\n\nLet your sighs and lamentations be breathed softly into the ear of God\nalone, saying to Him:\n\n\"_They will curse, and Thou wilt bless, and they that look to Thee shall\nnot be confounded._\"[4]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm liv. 13-16.]\n[Footnote 2: Zach. xiii. 6.]\n[Footnote 3: Matt. v. 44-45.]\n[Footnote 4: Psalm cviii. 28.]\n\n\nUPON THE INSTITUTION OF THE VISITATION ORDER.\n\nWhen he instituted the Congregation of the Visitation of Holy Mary in the\ntown of Annecy, where he resided, he had no intention either of multiplying\nReligious Houses or of forming a new Order or Institute with vows, of which\nhe said there were already enough in the Church. His idea was to form an\nassembly of devout widows and maidens, free and unbound either by monastic\nvows or enclosure, who should, in their house, occupy themselves with\nprayer and manual labour, only going out for two objects, namely, to\ndischarge their own domestic duties or to perform works of mercy done for\ntheir neighbour to the glory of God. Those who embraced this mode of life\npractised it with such success that not only the town of Annecy, but all\nthe country round felt the influence of their holy life, and was greatly\nedified by their example; while the sick and poor, whom they visited in\ntheir distress, were both consoled and relieved by them.\n\nLater on, these holy women formed a little settlement at Lyons, but not\nto the satisfaction of the then Archbishop, afterwards Cardinal, de\nMarquemont. This Prelate, although a person of much excellence, having\nlived the greater part of his life in Rome, where he was Auditor to the\nRota, was so thoroughly imbued with all the Italian maxims as to the\nmanagement of women that he could not endure their living thus without\nvows or enclosure. He therefore not only advised, but even urged our\nBlessed Father to insist upon their choosing some one of the monastic\nRules approved by the Church, and upon their taking perpetual vows, and\npreserving an inviolable enclosure. Our Blessed Father, who was extremely\npliable, condescending, and ready to yield to the will of others, allowed\nhimself to be persuaded by this great Prelate.\n\nThe Archbishop then promised that he would submit to the approbation of\nRome the Constitutions which the holy Bishop had prepared for the guidance\nof this simple community, provided that they were in accordance with the\nRule of St. Augustine.\n\nOur Blessed Father also induced his dear daughters to lay aside their\noriginal manner of life in order to embrace this second, which took the\nshape of an Order properly so called, having perpetual vows.\n\nSince this change he has often told me that the Congregation owed its\nestablishment simply to the providence and ordering of God, Whose Spirit\nbreathes where He wills, and Who effects changes with His own right hand\nwhen it pleases Him; and Whose own perfection it is which makes His works\nadmirable in our eyes.\n\n\"As for me,\" he once said to me, \"I am filled with astonishment when I\nreflect that, alone and unaided, but with extraordinary calmness of mind, I\nhave done what I wished to undo, and undone what I wished to do.\"\n\n\"What do you mean by that?\" I asked. And he replied: \"I never thought for a\nmoment of forming a Religious Order, being of opinion that their number is\nalready amply sufficient. No, I only intended to gather together a little\ncompany of maidens and widows without solemn vows and without enclosure,\nhaving no wealth, but that of holy charity, which is indeed all silk and\ngold, and is the great bond which unites all Christians, the true bond\nof all perfection, the bond of the Spirit of God, the spirit of holy and\nabsolute liberty.\" He went on to say that their occupation had hitherto\nbeen, as I have already told you, prayer, manual labour, and visiting the\nsick and destitute. \"I fear,\" he added, \"that there will be quite an uproar\nin the little town when, under the new system, their vows and enclosure\noblige them to abandon their works of mercy. Indeed, I gave their Order the\ntitle of the Visitation of Holy Mary that they might take for their pattern\nin their visits to the sick, that visit which the Blessed Virgin paid to\nher cousin St. Elizabeth, with whom she dwelt for three months, to help\nher and to wait upon her. Now that they are enclosed, they will be rather\nvisited than visitors; but since the holy providence of God so orders it,\nmay that providence be for ever blessed.\" All that I have just told you is\nclearly expressed in the letter written by him on the subject of the change\nto Cardinal Bellarmine, which can be seen in the volume of his letters. In\nremembrance, as it were, of his first design, he expresses his desire to\nobtain from the Holy See, through the intervention of the great Cardinal,\nthree privileges for this Institution. The first, that it should only be\nobliged to recite the office of the Blessed Virgin. The second, that widows\nshould be allowed to be received and to live there, wearing their secular\ndress, without taking any vows, and with power to come out if at any time\nthe necessity of their affairs should oblige them to do so. The third, that\neven married women should be allowed to enter, and to remain for a short\ntime with the permission of their husbands and of the Spiritual Father,\nwithout being either Benefactresses or Foundresses. The letter justifies\nall this, and is full of beautiful and sensible reasons for it. I know also\nthat during his lifetime, when the twelve first Houses of the Order were\nestablished, he saw that in them all those rules were carried out.\n\nI cannot here refrain from quoting for you a passage from Cardinal\nBellarmine's reply to the letter written to him by our Blessed Father\non this subject. It shows very plainly how highly that good and learned\nPrelate approved of the first design for the constitution of this Order,\nand how little he favoured the change of plan, which has, nevertheless, we\nmust admit, redounded greatly to the glory of God and to the edification of\nthe whole Church.\n\nThe Cardinal says in this letter: \"I will give you the same advice as I\nshould take for myself were I in similar circumstances. I should then keep\nthese maidens and widows exactly as they are at present, not making any\nchange in a state of things which is so admirable. For, before the time of\nBoniface VIII. there were consecrated persons in the Church, the Eastern\nas well as the Western, mentioned by the Fathers. Among the Latins, St.\nCyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine; among the Greeks, St.\nAthanasius, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, and many others; but they were not\nenclosed in their convents in such a manner that they could not come out of\nthem when, necessary. And your most Reverend Lordship is aware that simple\nvows are no less binding and are of no less merit in the sight of God\nthan solemn ones. Indeed, the solemnizing of vows, as well as the rule of\nEnclosure, was originated by an ecclesiastical decree of the said Boniface\nVIII. Even at the present day, the convent of noble ladies, founded by St.\nFrances of Rome, nourishes in that city, although without any enclosure or\nsolemn profession. Therefore, if in your country maidens and widows live in\nso holy a manner, without being either cloistered or enclosed, and are able\nthus to be of use to those in the world, I do not see why their mode of\nliving should be changed.\"\n\nWhat our Blessed Father dreaded for the Institute was what happens to those\nInstitutes which fail in exactitude of observance. And he often quoted\nSaint Bernard's saying that though devotion had given birth to riches,\nthese unnatural daughters had stifled their mother. Whenever he heard of\nany House established in his time beginning to complain of want of comforts\nor conveniences he would say: \"One day they will have only too many.\"\nAll his letters are full of exhortations to put up with discomforts, and\nto lean upon Providence, casting all care upon God, Who feeds the young\nravens, satisfies the hunger of all flesh, and fills every living creature\nwith blessings. Wealth, not poverty, was what he feared for his Order. This\nis what he says in the Constitutions: \"For the more perfect observance of\nthe holy virtue of poverty, when once the buildings of the convents are\nfinished, the revenues shall be limited according to the place where each\nconvent is situated, to the end that even in this a proper mean may be\nkept, and that there be no superfluity of goods in the Community, but only\na fair sufficiency, and when this is once attained nothing further shall\nbe taken for the reception of the Sisters coming to it, but what shall\nbe requisite to keep up and maintain well the just competency of the\nconvent.\"[1]\n\nAnd in the letter which he wrote to the most Serene Infanta, Margaret of\nSovoy, Dowager Duchess of Mantua, to invite her to take this Congregation\nunder her protection, he says:\n\n\"This Congregation does not solicit alms, but is established in such a\nmanner that the ladies who enter it give a dowry in order to maintain\nthe buildings, the sacristy, the chaplain, and to defray the expenses of\nillness, etc., either by means of a regular and perpetual income, or by\nsome other way which cannot injure anyone or interfere in any possible\nmanner with the payment of the taxes and subsidies due to his most Serene\nHighness the Duke. I hope also that the above-mentioned Congregation will\nin a few years' time be endowed with revenues sufficient for the support\nof the Community, Thus widows without children, and young girls who desire\nto serve God in chastity, obedience, and poverty, will have every facility\nfor entering it, since they will be received without any other payment than\nthat of a dowry or pension provided by their family for their support.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Constitution 5.]\n\n\nHIS DEFENCE OF HIS NEW CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION.\n\nOn one occasion, some one speaking to him, my Sisters, of your\n\"Congregation,\" said: \"But what do you mean to do with all this crowd of\nwomen and maidens? Of what use will they be to the Church of God? Are there\nnot already enough of such institutions into which these applicants might\nbe drafted? Would you not be doing better if you were to establish some\nCollege for the training and education of Priests, and spend your time on\nthem instead of on these persons to whom one must repeat a thing a hundred\ntimes before they can retain it? And then, after all, if they do, it is a\ntreasure buried, a candlestick under a bushel. Is it not a case of painting\non water and sowing on sand?\"\n\nOur Blessed Father, smiling graciously, answered with his extraordinary\nserenity and sweetness: \"It is not for me to work with costly materials;\ngoldsmiths handle the precious metals, potters only clay. Believe me, God\nis a skilled workman; with poor tools He can accomplish wonderful work. He\nis wont to choose weak things to confound the strong; ignorance to confound\nknowledge, and that which is nothing to confound that which seems to be\nsomething. What did He not do with a rod in the hand of Moses? With the\njaw-bone of an ass in that of Samson? With what did He vanquish Holofernes?\nWas it not by the hand of a woman? When He willed to create the world, out\nof what did He form it, save nothingness? Believe me, great fires are often\nkindled from small sparks. Where was the sacred fire found when the Jews\nreturned from their captivity among the Medes? In a little mud!\n\n\"This weaker sex is deserving of being treated with great tenderness; we\nmust take much more care of it than we do of the stronger one. St. Bernard\nsays that the charge of souls is for the weak far more than for the strong.\nOur Lord never refused His assistance to women. He was generally followed\nby several of them, and they did not forsake Him on the Cross, where he was\nabandoned by all His disciples excepting His beloved John. The Church\nwho gives the title of devout to this sex does not hold it in such low\nestimation as you do.\n\n\"Besides, do you reckon as nothing the good example which they may set\nwherever God calls them? Is it unimportant in your opinion to be a sweet\nodour in Jesus Christ, an odour of life eternal? Of the two requisites for\na good pastor, precept and example, which think you is the most estimable?\nFor my part I think more of an ounce of example than of a hundred pounds'\nweight of precept. Without a good life doctrine turns into scandal; it is\nlike a church bell, it calls others, but itself never goes in; hence the\nreproach: _Physician, heal thyself_.\n\n\"Even if holy women only served as perfumes for the Church they would not\nbe useless. A great deal of incense is employed by her in her ceremonies!\n\n\"It is true that there are, as you say, a great many other Congregations\nalready in the Church, into which some of those who are enrolled in this\nnew one might enter; but there are, besides, many in the Visitation who,\non account of their age or infirmities, or because of their feebleness\nof constitution, though they be young, are quite incapable of enduring\nthe bodily austerities imposed by other Orders, and therefore cannot be\nadmitted into them. If we receive into this one some who are strong and\nhealthy, it is that they may wait upon the weak and delicate, for whom this\nCongregation has chiefly been instituted, and to put in practice that holy\ncommand: _Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of\nChrist._[1]\n\n\"As for your exhortation to me to think about forming a Congregation of\nPriests, do you not see that that is already planned by M. de Berulle, a\ngreat and faithful servant of God, who has far more capacity for the work,\nand much more leisure also, than I can get? Remember how heavily burdened\nI am with the charge of a diocese, in which is situated such a place as\nGeneva, the very fountain-head of the errors which are troubling the whole\nChurch. In conclusion, let us leave great designs to great workmen. God\nwill do what He pleases with my little plan.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Gal. vi. 2.]\n\n\nUPON THE ODOUR OF SANCTITY.\n\nOur Blessed Father held in the very highest esteem the odour of sanctity,\nand revered those who by their good example shed it abroad through the\nworld, not for their own glory, but for the glory of God.\n\nOn another occasion when some morose and captious person was finding fault\nwith the Visitation Order, and after taking exception to it because of its\nnewness, wound up by saying to Blessed Francis, \"And then of what use will\nit be to the Church?\" The holy Prelate answered pleasantly: \"To play the\npart of the Queen of Sheba.\" \"And what part is that?\" returned the man, \"To\nrender homage to Him who is greater than Solomon, and to fill the whole\nmilitant Jerusalem with perfumes and sweet odours.\"\n\nIn one of his Conferences he expresses the same thought as follows: \"In\nmy opinion the divine Majesty has made choice of you to go forth as\nperfume-bearers, seeing that He has commissioned you to go and scatter far\nand wide the sweet odours of the virtues of your Institute. And as young\nmaidens love sweet odours (for the Bride in the Canticle of Canticles says\nthat the name of her Beloved is _as oil_, or balm, shedding on all sides\nthe sweetest perfumes, and _therefore_, she adds, the _young maidens_\nhave followed Him, attracted by His divine perfumes), so do you, my dear\nsisters, as perfume-bearers of the Divine Goodness, go forth, shedding\nall around the incomparable sweetness of sincere humility, gentleness,\nand charity, so that many young maidens may be attracted thereby, and may\nembrace your manner of life, and that they may even in this world enjoy,\nlike you, a holy loving peace and tranquillity of soul, and in the world to\ncome eternal happiness.\"\n\n\nHE REBUKES PHARISAISM.\n\nOn one occasion when the Sisters of the Visitation had made a foundation\nin a city famous for the piety of its inhabitants and in which there\nwere already a number of Religious Houses highly esteemed for external\nausterities and severe discipline, they met with much criticism and even\nharsh treatment on account of their own gentler and apparently easier rule.\n\nIn the end, they made known to Blessed Francis what they had to put up\nwith.\n\nI ought, perhaps, to say that, among other ill-natured remarks, they had\nbeen reproached with having strewn a path of roses to lead them to Heaven,\nand with having brought our Saviour down from the Cross; meaning that they\ndid not practise many corporal austerities. Those who said this quite\nforgot the fact that this Order of the Visitation was founded for the\nreception and consolation largely of women, whether young or old, weak in\nbodily health, though strong and healthy in mind, whose feeble frames could\nnot support the external rigour demanded by other Communities.\n\nOur Blessed Father, as I told you, having heard from letters addressed to\nhim by the Superior, of the harsh treatment and sufferings of his poor\ndaughters, wrote to her several times on the subject. The following words\nof his are especially remarkable for their beauty:\n\n\"Beware, my daughter, of replying in any way whatever to these good\nSisters, or to their friends in the world, unless, indeed, you do so\nwith unalterable humility, gentleness, and sweetness. Do not defend\nyourselves,[1] for such is the express command of the Holy Ghost. If they\ndespise your Order because it appears to them inferior to theirs, they\nviolate the law of charity, which does not permit the strong to despise the\nweak, or the great the small. Granted that they are superior to you, do the\nSeraphim despise the little Angels, or the great Saints in Paradise, those\nof inferior, nay, of the lowest rank? Oh, my dear daughter, whoever loves\nGod the most will be the most loved by Him, and will be the most glorious\nup in Heaven. Do not distress yourself, the prize is awarded to those who\nlove.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. xii. 19.]\n\n\nUPON RELIGIOUS SUPERIORS.\n\nSpeaking of Superiors, I may tell you that Blessed Francis divided them\ninto four classes. \"First,\" he said, \"there are those who are very\nindulgent to others, and also to themselves. Secondly, there are those who\nare severe to others, and equally so to themselves. Thirdly, there are some\nwho are indulgent to their subordinates and rigid to themselves. Fourthly,\nthere are those who are indulgent to themselves and rigorous to others.\"\n\nHe condemned the first as careless and criminal persons, heedless of their\nduties: they abandon the ship they should pilot, to the mercy of the waves.\n\nA Superior of the second kind often spoils everything precisely because he\nwishes to do too much, and falls into those exaggerations which have lent\ntruth to the saying, \"Absolute right is absolute injustice.\" \"He who would\nrule well,\" runs an ancient aphorism, \"must rule with a slack hand.\" We\nmust not hold our horse's bridle over tightly, for though we may save him\nfrom stumbling we hinder him even from walking.\n\nSuperiors of the third class are better because they put a kindly\nconstruction upon the faults and infirmities of others less known to them,\nas they necessarily are, than their own. This is the reason why they are\nsevere to themselves and indulgent to others--a line of conduct which\ngenerally meets with the approval of their subjects. The latter are the\nmore edified because they see their Superiors observing those very laws\nfrom which they have dispensed them. It is just so with the laity: they are\nmostly more anxious about the morals of their clergy than they are about\ntheir own.\n\nSuperiors of the fourth and last kind are truly unfaithful servants. They\nresemble those Pharisees who _laid on the shoulders of other men heavy\nburdens which_ they themselves would not touch with the tip of their\nfinger.\n\nOur Blessed Father wished that all these four classes could be merged in\na fifth, that of which the watchword should be holy equality according to\nthat precept both of nature and of the Gospel: \"Do to others as you would\nbe done by; treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and\ntreat yourself as you know you ought to be treated.\" In fact, since each\nman is to himself his nearest neighbour, we all recognise the injustice\nof demanding in the life of others what we do not practise in our own. To\ncommand others to do what we do not ourselves do is to be like Urias, who\ncarried his own condemnation and death-warrant in his bosom.\n\nOne day, in his presence, I was praising a certain Superior for his extreme\ngoodness, gentleness, patience, and condescension, which attracted all\nhearts to him, just as flies are attracted to a honeycomb. He answered,\n\"Goodness is not good when it puts up with evil; on the contrary, it is bad\nwhen it allows evils to go on which it can, and should, prevent. Gentleness\nin such a case is not gentleness, but weakness and cowardice. Patience in\nsuch a case is not patience, but absolute stupidity.\n\n\"When we suffer evil which we could prevent, we do not merely tolerate but\nbecome accomplices in wrong-doing. I am of opinion that subjects are made\ngood by bad, I mean, by harsh and disagreeable Superiors. The severity of\na mother is more wholesome for a child than the petting of an indulgent\nnurse, and the firmness of a father is always more useful to his children\nthan their mother's tenderness. The rougher the file the better it smoothes\nthe iron, and the more rust it rubs off; the hotter the iron, the better\nthe surface it gives to the cloth.\" He related with regard to this subject\nan anecdote which will both please and profit you.\n\nThe head of a certain Religious Order, which was at the time undergoing\na vigorous reform, had, with the consent of the Provincial Chapter,\nestablished a Novitiate House which was to serve as the one only Seminary\nfor the whole province. It was decided that no novice should be clothed\nuntil he had been examined by three Fathers of the Order appointed for that\npurpose. The first was to enquire into the birth and condition of those\nwho presented themselves for examination, the second into their literary\ncapacity, and the third into their manner of life and vocation. This last,\nin order to get a firm grip on the pulse of the postulants, and to sound\ntheir vocation to the very quick almost always asked them if they would\nhave courage and patience enough to put up with bad Superiors, bad in the\nextreme, cruel, rude, peevish, choleric, melancholy, captious, pitiless,\nthose, in a word, whom they would find it impossible to please or satisfy.\n\nSome, evading the question, replied that there could be none such in the\nOrder, or, at least, would not be suffered to remain in office, seeing that\nit was governed with so much gentleness and benignity, and that its yoke\nwas so sweet and desirable. The examiner, who did not like evasive and\nambiguous replies of this sort, determined to get an answer that should\nbe straight-forward and to the point. Taking a much sterner tone, he\nrepresented a Superior to them as a sort of slave-driver: a man who would\ngovern his subjects by blows and stripes, and who yet would expect them to\ndrink this chalice of bitterness as if offered to their lips by the hand of\nGod.\n\nSome of the postulants fearing the test, became pale or crimson with\nagitation, and either answered nothing, showing by their silence that they\ncould not swallow the pill, or, if they answered at all, declared that\nthey could not believe he was speaking seriously, and that they were not\ngalley-slaves.\n\nThese he dismissed at once as unfit to be received into the Order.\n\nOthers, however, full of courage and constancy, still answered, that they\nwere prepared for any ill-treatment, and that nothing could deter them from\ncarrying out their God-inspiring resolution. That no creature, however\ncruel and however unfeeling, could separate them from the love of Jesus\nChrist, nor from His service. These the examining Father received with open\narms into the bosom of the Order.\n\nYou may judge from this how skilful was this master of novices in hewing,\nhammering, and cutting the stones he was endeavouring to fit for the\nspiritual edifice of the Order. Our Blessed Father himself, in spite of all\nthe sweetness and gentleness of his natural disposition, did not fail to\nfollow this plan to a certain extent, representing to all who came to him,\ndesiring to enter into religion, the interior and spiritual crosses which\nthey must resolve to carry all their life long, not the least heavy of\nwhich, and at the same time not the least useful in helping them to make\ngreat advance in perfection would perhaps be the severity of Superiors.\n\n\nUPON UNLEARNED SUPERIORS.\n\nA certain community having had their Superior taken from them on account of\ntheir complaints of the severity of his rule, and having a new one set over\nthem in his place, came to Blessed Francis to pour out their grievances on\nthe subject of their recently appointed head. They declared that he was an\nignorant man. \"What is to be done with you?\" cried our Blessed Father, \"you\nremind me of the frogs to whom Jupiter could not give a king who was to\ntheir taste. We ought certainly to wish to have good and capable Superiors,\nbut still whatever they may be we must put up with them.\" One of the\ncomplainers was so wanting in discretion as to say that their one-eyed\nhorse had been changed into a blind one. Blessed Francis suffered this jest\nto pass, merely frowning slightly, but his modest silence only unchained\nthe tongue of another scoffer who presumed to say that an ass had been\ngiven to them instead of a horse. Then Blessed Francis spoke, and, rebuking\nthis last speech, added in a tone of gentle remonstrance, that the first\nremark, though far from being respectful, was more endurable because it was\na proverb and implied that a Superior had been given to them who was less\ncapable than his predecessor, and that this was expressed in figurative\nterms, as David speaks of himself in relation to Almighty God in one of\nthe Psalms when he says: _I am become as a beast before Thee._[1] \"The\nsecond sarcasm, however,\" he added, \"has nothing figurative in it, and is\nabsolutely and grossly insulting. We must never speak of our Superiors in\nsuch a manner, however worthless they may be. Remember that God would have\nus obey even the vicious and froward,[2] and he that _resisteth the power\nresisteth the ordinance of God_.\"\n\nThen taking up the defence of this much-abused Superior, \"Do you imagine,\"\nhe said, \"that it is not within the power of God to exalt in a moment one\nwho is poor in spirit by bestowing on him the gift of intelligence? Is not\nHe the God of knowledge? Is it not He who imparts it to men? Are not all\nthe faithful taught of God?\n\n\"The science of the Saints is the science of Salvation, and this is a\nknowledge more frequently given to those who are destitute of the knowledge\nwhich puffs up. In what condition think you was Saul when God raised him to\nthe throne of Israel?\n\n\"He was keeping his father's asses. On what did Jesus Christ ride\ntriumphant on Palm Sunday? Was it not upon an ass?\"\n\nAgain, in his eleventh Conference, he says: \"If Balaam was well instructed\nby an ass, we may with greater reason believe that God, Who gave you this\nSuperior, will enable him to teach you according to His will, though it may\nnot be according to your own.\"\n\nHe wound up his remarks on the subject of the new Superior by saying: \"I\nunderstand that this good man is most gentle and kind, and that if he does\nnot know much he does none the less well, so that his example makes up for\nany deficiency in his teaching. It is far better to have a Superior who\ndoes the good which he fails in teaching, than one who tells us what we\nought to do, but does not himself practise it.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Peter ii. 18.]\n[Footnote 2: Rom. xiii. 2.]\n\n\nUPON THE FOUNDING OF CONVENTS.\n\nYou know, my Sisters, with what circumspection and prudence our Blessed\nFather moved in the matter of foundations. During the last thirteen years\nof his life, in which he established your Congregation, he only accepted\ntwelve convents and refused three times as many, saying, as was his wont,\n\"Few and good.\" He was always very particular about the Superiors to whom\nhe committed the charge of monastic houses, knowing the immense importance\nof such choice and its influence upon all the members of a Religious\nfamily.\n\nHe was fond of comparing a convent to a beehive, and in one of his\nConferences applies this comparison to your own Order as follows:--\"Your\nCongregation,\" he says, \"is like a bee-hive which has already sent forth\nvarious swarms: but with this difference, that when bees go forth to\nsettle in another hive and to begin a new household each swarm chooses a\nparticular queen under whom they live and dwell apart.\n\n\"You, my dear souls, though you may go into a new hive, that is, begin\na new house of your Order, have always only one and the same King, our\ncrucified Lord, under Whose authority you will live secure and safe\nwherever you may be. Do not fear that anything will be wanting to you, for,\nas long as you do not choose any other King He will ever be with you;\nonly take great care to grow in love and fidelity to His divine goodness,\nkeeping as close to Him as possible. Thus all will be well with you. Learn\nfrom Him all that you will have to do; do nothing without His counsel, for\nHe is the faithful Friend who will guide you and govern you and take care\nof you, as with all my heart I beseech Him to do.\"[1]\n\nVery often I urged him to consent to certain foundations which it was\nproposed to make, but He always gave me some good reason for refusing.\n\nIt was not without trouble and difficulty that we obtained a little colony\nfor Belley. He often said to me: \"The Sisters are as yet but novices in\npiety, they must be left to grow a little stronger; have patience, for we\nshall be doing quite enough if the little we do is what pleases our divine\nMaster. It is better for them to grow at the roots by virtue rather than\nin the branches by forming new houses. Will they, do you think, be more\nperfect because they have more convents?\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Conf. 6.]\n\n\nUPON RECEIVING THE INFIRM INTO COMMUNITIES.\n\nRegarding the reception of the infirm, he might have exclaimed with St.\nPaul: _Who is weak and I am not weak_? Blessed Francis shared largely in\nthis spirit, so much did he love the infirm, whether of body or of mind. He\nloved the poor in spirit; poor, that is, whether in earthly goods or in the\nwisdom of the world, and he used to say that their simplicity was a soil\nsuitable for the planting of all sorts of virtues, that it would yield much\nfruit in due season. He was of opinion that during the year of Novitiate\nestablished in all communities preparatory to the embracing of religious\nlife, too much attention was paid to the consideration of infirmities, both\nspiritual and corporal, just as if convents were not in reality so many\nhospitals for healing the diseases of body and mind. Hence, he added, came\nthe name of _Therapeutes_, that is, curers, healers, or operators, formerly\ngiven to Monks.\n\nIt is true that there are certain bodily diseases which from the fact of\ntheir being infectious necessitate the separation of such as are afflicted\nwith them from the healthy. So also there are spiritual maladies, such as\nincompatibility of temper and incorrigibility of defects, which may make\nit proper to refuse those who are thus disqualified for entering Religion,\njust as in former days, persons suffering from these disabilities could be\ndismissed even after Profession.\n\nIn one of his letters he thus expresses his feeling for the infirm: \"I am,\"\nhe says, \"a great partisan of the infirm and am always afraid lest the\ninconveniences to which they must naturally put the Community should excite\na spirit of human prudence in our convents and banish the spirit of charity\nin which our Congregation was founded, and which is our safest guide in\nselecting our Sisters. I take, then, the side of your infirm applicant,\nand provided that she be humble and ready to recognise and appreciate your\ncharity, you must receive the poor girl; it will be a constant opportunity\nfor the Sisters to practise the holy virtue of loving-kindness.\"\n\n\nUPON SELF-PITY.\n\nGentle and compassionate as his disposition was, full of tenderness, and\nsympathy for the feeble and the frail, Blessed Francis was nevertheless\nstrict and severe in his dealings with those whom he knew to be too lenient\nto themselves, either in temporal or spiritual matters.\n\nHe who practised so much severity in his own case, assuredly had the right\nto advise others to do as much, and especially, like him, to refrain\nfrom complaining at the inconveniences and sufferings endured in time of\nsickness. He succeeded in inspiring his Daughters of the Visitation with\nhis spirit, teaching them that true Christian patience, which is neither\napathy nor insensibility, nor the dull stupid endurance of the Stoics; but\na sweet and reasonable submission to the Will of God, coupled with cheerful\nobedience to the physician whom He commands us to honour, and a grateful\nacceptance of the remedies prescribed for us.\n\n\nUPON THE GOVERNMENT OF NUNS BY RELIGIOUS MEN.\n\nIt was never his opinion that nuns should be under the jurisdiction and\nguidance of other Religious, especially of those of their own Order.\n\nFor this he alleged several very weighty reasons, which I have been careful\nto bear in mind that I may impart them to you at the right time and place.\n\nFor the present, however, I will content myself with reading you one of his\nletters, and with afterwards making a little comment upon it.\n\n\"I observe,\" he says, \"that many influential people are inclined to think\nthat Religious Houses should be under the authority of the Ordinaries,\naccording to the old rule revived lately throughout almost the whole of\nItaly; whilst others would have them to be under Superiors of their own\nOrder, conformably to a custom introduced about four or five hundred years\nago, and almost universally observed in France. For my own part, I confess\nthat I cannot bring myself to adopt the view of those who desire that\nconvents of women should be placed under the guidance of Religious men,\nstill less of the Fathers of their own Order. And in this I feel that I am\nof the same mind as the Holy See, which always, where it can be reasonably\nbrought about, opposes itself to the government of nuns by Regulars.\n\n\"I do not say that such government is not sometimes advantageous, even at\nthe present day, but I do say that it would be far better if in general it\nwere done away with. And this for many reasons.\n\n\"It seems to me that it is no more difficult for the Pope to exempt the\nnuns of any Order from the jurisdiction of the Fathers of that same Order,\nthan it is for him to exempt monasteries from the jurisdiction of their\nOrdinary, a procedure inspired no doubt by the most excellent motives, and\nthat has been carried out successfully for so many centuries.\n\n\"The Pope has, as a matter of fact, kept our own nuns in France under the\nrule of the Bishops, and it appears to me that these same good nuns do\nnot know what is good for them when they seek to be transferred to the\njurisdiction of a Religious Order, seeing that Regular Superiors are apt\nto be a little rigorous in the exercise of their authority, and to deprive\nthose under them of holy liberty of spirit.\"\n\nI would call your attention to the fact mentioned by our Blessed Father\nthat almost everywhere in Italy the nuns are under the guidance and\njurisdiction of the Bishops. Of this I was myself an eye-witness, and I\nnoticed at Florence, that out of fifty convents, only four are not under\nthe jurisdiction and direction of the Archbishop.\n\nI would also remind you that the Holy Apostolic See has, as far as\npossible, and for many reasons, revived this ancient form of government of\nnuns. That these reasons exist it is well to bear in mind, though it may\nnot always be prudent to urge them in public.\n\nAgain, if in former times it was thought advisable to exempt nuns from the\nguidance and jurisdiction of their Ordinaries, or Diocesan Pastors, at the\npresent day there are far more weighty reasons for replacing them under the\nauthority of the Bishops, and for taking from the Regulars this exceptional\njurisdiction.\n\nThis is exactly what our Blessed Father thought about the matter. Remember\nthen always that to put convents under the Bishops is to bring things back\nto their first and purest state, for as regards exemption we can assuredly\nsay that _from the beginning it was not so_.\n\nIt seems, too, to me, that nuns who desire the guidance of Monks,\nespecially of Fathers of their own Order, are true daughters of Zebedee;\nthey know not what they ask, nor what they want, nor what they are doing.\n\n\nTHAT WE MUST NOT BE WEDDED TO OUR OWN PLANS.\n\nOur Blessed Father used to praise very highly the conduct of Blessed\nJohn of Avila as having been prompted by great strength of mind, and\nextraordinary forgetfulness of self in that his zeal made him not only\nlove his neighbour as himself but even more than himself. I will give you\nan instance of this in Francis' own words, addressed to Theotimus: \"The\nBlessed Ignatius of Loyola, having with such pains set up the company of\nJesus, which he saw produced many fair fruits, and foresaw many more that\nwould ripen in time to come, had, nevertheless, the nobleness of soul\nto resolve that, though he should see it dissolved (which would be the\nbitterest pain which could befall him) within half an hour afterwards,\nhe would be stayed and tranquil in the Will of God. John of Avila, that\nholy and learned preacher of Andalusia, having a design to form a company\nof reformed Priests for the advancement of God's glory, and having\nalready made good progress in the matter, as soon as he saw the Jesuits\nin the field, thinking they were enough for that time, immediately, with\nincomparable meekness and humility, renounced his own undertaking. Oh, how\nblessed are such souls, bold and strong in the undertakings God proposes\nto them, and withal tractable and facile in giving them up when God so\ndisposes. It is a mark of a most perfect Indifference to leave off doing a\ngood work when God pleases, and to return, our journey half accomplished\nwhen God's Will, which is our guide, so ordains.\"[1] I may tell you, my\nSisters, that you have only to change the name of John of Avila into that\nof the Blessed Francis de Sales, and you can apply to an event in his life\nthese very words. I know that he had in his mind a scheme of forming a\nCongregation of Priests, not bound by monastic vows, something on the\npattern of your Order of the Visitation in its beginning; but, of course,\nconformable to the calling of the Priesthood. Hearing, however, that\nPierre de Berulle, that faithful servant of God, afterwards a Cardinal,\nhad established the Congregation of the French Oratory, now so greatly\ndistinguished for its piety and learning, he abandoned his enterprise,\nrejoicing that God should have given this holy commission to one less busy\nthan himself, and therefore more capable of ordering all things in this\nholy Society, and thus promoting the glory of God. I have said, that he\nmeant to take the Visitation as a model of this projected Congregation of\nPriests, intending them to develop, and to prosper side by side. I must\nadd, however, that even before the formation of your Congregation he had\nmade an attempt in the same direction by drawing together a little company\nof hermits on the gloomy but holy mountain of Notre Dame de Voiron, and\npreparing for them laws and constitutions in the observance of which they\nhave lived with great sanctity ever since.\n\nYou know also that his zeal was so condescending in its nature, and that he\nwas so little wedded to his own opinions, that, though the Visitation had\nflourished for four or five years with great edification to others as well\nas to itself, yet as soon as His Grace the Archbishop of Lyons, afterwards\nCardinal de Marquemont, had represented to him that it would better for\nit to be re-constructed with vows and enclosures like other Orders, he\nconsented to change its whole constitution.\n\nSpeaking of great works undertaken for the glory of God, which, owing to\nthe illness or death of their founder or head, sometimes seem in danger of\nfalling to the ground, Blessed Francis said: \"There are some undertakings\nwhich God wishes to be begun indeed by us, but completed by others. Thus\nDavid gathered together materials for the temple which his son Solomon\nbuilt, St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius Loyola, sighed for the grace\nof martyrdom, and sought for it by all possible means; yet God would not\ncrown them with it, contenting Himself with the offering of their will.\n\n\"To submit ourselves simply and cheerfully to the Will of God in the\nfailure of undertakings which concern His glory is an act of no small\nresignation.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Book ix. chap. 6.]\n\n\nHIS VIEWS REGARDING ECCLESIASTICAL DIGNITIES.\n\nIt is certain that two great Pontiffs, Clement VIII. and Paul V., held\nBlessed Francis in the highest possible esteem. Paul V. more than once when\nspeaking to me dwelt upon his merit, and said how suitable and indeed how\nnecessary such a Bishop was for a diocese like that of Geneva.\n\nWe know, too, that the same Pope often thought of raising him to the\ndignity of Cardinal. Our Blessed Father was himself well aware of this, and\nmentioned it in letters written to his confidential friends, some of which\nhave since been published.\n\nIt is probable that the fact that this honour was never conferred upon him\nwas owing to the political difficulties which beset the Supreme Pontiff in\nthese matters.\n\nPuzzled at his not receiving the hat, I one day expressed to him my great\nsurprise at the delay. \"Why,\" he answered, \"can you really think this\ndignity would in any way conduce to my serving our Lord and His Church\nbetter than I can now do? Would Rome, which would be the place of my\nresidence, afford me more opportunities for so doing, than this post in\nwhich God has placed me? Should I have more work there, more enemies to\nfight against, more souls to direct, more cares, more pious exercises, more\nvisits to make, or more pastoral functions to discharge?\"\n\n\"You would enter,\" I replied, \"into the solicitude of all the churches; and\nfrom the direction of one particular Church you would be promoted to share\nin the care of the Universal Church, becoming, as it were, the co-assessor\nof the Holy See.\" \"Nevertheless,\" he replied, \"you see Cardinals of our\nown day, who when they were Bishops and had dioceses were distinguished\nfor their piety, quit their residence at Rome, which is only theirs by a\npositive and ecclesiastical law, in order to return to their flocks among\nwhich the law of God has fixed their homes, bidding them watch over these\nflocks and feed and guide the souls entrusted to them.\"\n\nHe then told me a memorable circumstance concerning the great Cardinal\nBellarmine of saintly memory. That Prelate was promoted to the dignity,\nunknown to himself and against his will, by Clement VIII. Under the\npontificate of Paul V., who succeeded Leo XI., he was promoted to the\nArchbishopric of Capua, again contrary to his own wishes, but by the desire\nof the Pope. He bowed beneath this yoke, but not until he had remonstrated\nwith the Holy Father, who, in reply, simply commanded him to take upon\nhimself the episcopal charge.\n\nImmediately after his consecration he prepared to take up his residence at\nCapua. The Pope, who desired his services at Rome, sent for him, and asked\nhim if he was quite resolved to live in his diocese. The Cardinal replied\nthat he was, because unwillingly as he had accepted this charge he had done\nso with the conviction that his Holiness felt he could dispense with his\nservices at Rome, nor would otherwise have placed him over the diocese of\nCapua. The Pope replied that he would dispense him from residing in his\ndiocese. \"Holy Father,\" he answered, \"that is not what I have been teaching\nin the schools all my life. I have always held that the residence of\nBishops in their diocese is commanded by the law of God, and that therefore\nthey cannot be dispensed from observing it.\" \"At least,\" returned the Pope,\n\"give us half the year.\" \"And during those six months,\" replied Bellarmine,\n\"at whose hands will the blood of the lost sheep of my flock be required?\"\n\"Then, at least, three months,\" pleaded the Pope. The Cardinal gave the\nsame answer as he had given about the six, and, in fact, soon took his\ndeparture for Capua, where he remained in uninterrupted residence for three\nyears, in the course of which time, as a relaxation from the labours of his\noffice, he wrote his beautiful Commentary on the Psalms.\n\nSuch was the high value set by the holy Cardinal upon the residence of a\nBishop among his flock: and St. Charles Borromeo, and more recently his\nworthy successor, Cardinal Borromeo, have been as uncompromising as\nBellarmine was. As for our Blessed Father, he only valued the Honours and\ndignities of the Church and of the world in proportion as they afford means\nfor serving God and advancing His glory. This was the golden standard with\nwhich he measured the holy City of Jerusalem.\n\n\nHIS PROMOTION TO THE BISHOPRIC OF GENEVA AND HIS REFUSAL OF THE\nARCHBISHOPRIC OF PARIS.\n\nAlthough in the life of our Blessed Father his promotion to the Bishopric\nof Geneva is described at great length, yet, in my opinion, the subject has\nbeen treated very superficially, and no attempt has been made to give a\nfull account of the matter.\n\nThe truth is that the Saint had all his life but one aim in regard to the\nfollowing out of his holy vocation, namely, to serve God in whatever sacred\noffice he might be called to fill. He had passed through all the various\necclesiastical offices of Canon, Parish Priest, Provost, Dean of the\nCathedral Church, Preacher, Confessor, and Missionary, when M. de Granier,\nat that time Bishop of Geneva, inspired by God, desired to make him his\nsuccessor. In this, as in all other matters, our Saint recognised the\ninspiration, and with a single eye, that saw God only, committed himself\nentirely to His providence.\n\nHe did nothing at all either to hinder or to further the design, leaving\nit all to M. de Granier, who obtained the consent of the Duke of Savoy\nto propose Francis to his Holiness. It was, however, a condition that he\nshould at once present himself at Rome to be examined in full Consistory.\nHe was therefore obliged to undertake the journey thither. This journey,\nas we know, is fairly well described by the writers of his life. They tell\nalso of his success, and of the approval bestowed upon him by Pope Clement,\nwho used the inspired words: _Drink water out of thine own cistern, and the\nstreams of thine own well. Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the\nstreets divide thy waters._[1] From so excellent a vocation what but good\nresults could be expected? A good tree cannot bear evil fruit. We know well\nhow worthily Blessed Francis walked in the vocation to which he had been\ncalled, and how the light of his holy life, like the dawn of morning, shone\nmore and more unto the perfect day.\n\nIn the year 1619, having come to Paris with the Princes of Savoy, he\nremained there for eight months, during which time it is impossible to give\nany idea of all that he did for the glory of God and the good of souls. The\neyes of all men in this great theatre were turned upon him, as were those\nof the Romans upon Cato, when one day he showed himself in their assembly.\n\nIt was not only by the people of Paris that he was thought so much of, but\nalso by their pastor, the Cardinal de Retz (Peter de Gondi), a Prelate of\nincomparable gentleness, benignity, liberality, modesty, and every other\ndelightful quality. The sweet attractive grace of Blessed Francis' manners\nand conversation produced such an effect upon him that he at once desired\nto make him his coadjutor, with right of succession.\n\nNot expecting any opposition from the holy Bishop, and having gained the\nconsent of the King, he thought that nothing remained to be done but to\ncarry out the formalities prescribed by the Roman Congregations. Francis,\nhowever, with marvellous adroitness, warded off the blow, leaving the\ngreat Cardinal penetrated with admiration of his virtue if without the\nsatisfaction of gaining his compliance.\n\nAmong the various reasons for this refusal which are to be found in his\nletters, one or two please me especially. For instance, he said that he did\nnot think he ought to change a poor wife for a rich one; and again, that if\nhe did ever quit his spouse it would not be to take another, but in order\nnot to have one at all, following the Apostolic counsel: _Art thou bound,\nto a wife, seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife, seek not a\nwife_.[2]\n\nIt is true that honours and dignities are but trifles; yet to despise\nand refuse them is not a trifling thing. It is easy to disdain them from\na distance, but difficult to deal with them face to face, and either to\nquit them when we possess them, or to refuse them when they are offered.\n_Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish, and that hath not\ngone after gold nor put his trust in money, nor in treasures. Who is he?\nand we will praise him, for he hath done wonderful things in his life._[3]\n\nSuch a one, my Sisters, believe me, was your Father and mine, my preserver\nand your Founder, Blessed Francis de Sales.\n\n[Footnote 1: Prov. v. 15, 16.]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Cor. vii. 27.]\n[Footnote 3: Eccle. xxxi. 8, 9.]\n\n\nA BISHOP'S CARE FOR HIS FLOCK.\n\nGood digestions assimilate all kinds of food, and convert it into wholesome\nnourishment, and so in like manner holy souls turn all that they meet with\ninto material for instruction and into help towards their eternal profit.\nThus, the great St. Anthony, saw the Creator on every page of the book\nof nature and in all living creatures. The tiniest flower, growing and\nblossoming at his feet, raised his thoughts to Him Who is the Flower of the\nField and the Lily of the Valley, the Blossom springing from the root of\nJesse.\n\nThose who are smitten by some passionate human love are so absolutely\npossessed by it that they think of nothing else, and since their tongue\nspeaks out of the abundance of their heart this is their one subject of\nconversation, all others being distasteful to them. They write the name of\nthe beloved object on rocks and trees, and wherever they can they leave\nbehind them some carved token or emblem of their affection.\n\nJust so was it with our Blessed Father. His delight was to make all\nsubjects of conversation, all incidents that might occur, further in one\nway or another the glory of God, and kindle His divine love in the hearts\nof others. On one occasion, when he was visiting that part of his diocese\nwhich lies among the lofty and bleak mountains of Faucigny, where it is\nalways winter, he heard that a poor cowherd had lost his life by falling\nover a steep precipice while trying to save one of his herd. From this\nincident he drew a marvellous lesson upon the care which a Bishop ought to\ntake of the flock entrusted to his charge by God, showing that he ought to\nbe ready to sacrifice even life itself for its salvation. He thus relates\nthe incident, and gives his comments on it in one of his letters.\n\n\"During the past few days I have seen mountains, terrible in their\ngrandeur, covered with ice ten or twelve inches thick; and the inhabitants\nof the neighbouring valleys told me that a herdsman going out to try and\nrecover a cow which had strayed away fell over a precipice from a height of\nthirty feet, and was found frozen to death at the bottom. Oh, God! I cried,\nand was the ardour of this poor herdsman in his search for the beast that\nhad strayed, so burning that even the cold of those frozen heights could\nnot chill it? Why, then, am I so slothful and lax in the quest after my\nwandering sheep? This thought filled my heart with grief, yet in no wise\nmelted its frozen surface. I saw in this region many wonderful sights. The\nvalleys were full of happy homesteads, the mountains coated with ice and\nsnow. Like the fertile and smiling valleys, the village mothers play their\nhomely part, while a Bishop, raised to such a lofty eminence in the Church\nof God, remains ice-bound as the mountains. Ah! will there never rise a sun\nwith rays powerful enough to melt this ice which freezes me!\" What zeal for\nsouls, what humility, what holy fervour breathe in these words!\n\n\nON THE FIRST DUTY OF BISHOPS.\n\n\"Being a Bishop,\" he used to say to me, \"you are at the same time a\nsuperintendent, sentinel, and overseer in the House of God, for this is\nwhat the word Bishop means. It is then your part to watch over and guard\nyour whole diocese, making continual supplications, crying aloud day and\nnight like a watchman on the walls, as the prophet bids you do, knowing\nthat you have to render an account to the great Father of the family of all\nthe souls committed to your care.\n\n\"But especially you ought to watch over two classes of people who are the\nheads of all the others, namely, the Parish Priests and the fathers of\nfamilies, for they are the source of most of the good and of most of the\nevil which is to be found in parishes or households.\n\n\"From the instruction and good example given by Parish Priests, who are the\nshepherds of the flock, proceeds all the advance of that flock in knowledge\nand virtue. They are like the rods of which Jacob made use to give the\ncolours he wanted to the fleeces of the lambs. Teaching does much, but\nexample does incomparably more. It is the same with fathers and mothers of\nfamilies: on their words, but still more on their conduct, depends all the\nwelfare of their households.\n\n\"As Bishop you are the master-builder, the superintendent. It is your duty\nthen to watch over the leaders of your flock and over those who, like Saul,\nare a head taller than the rest. Through them healing and blessing flows\ndown upon others, even as Aaron's ointment descended from his head to the\nvery hem of his garment.\n\n\"This is why you ought continually to exhort and instruct, in season and\nout of season, for you are the Parish Priest of all Parish Priests, and the\nFather of all Fathers of families.\"\n\n\nUPON THE PASTORAL CHARGE.\n\nOn one occasion I was complaining to him of the difficulties which I met\nwith in the discharge; of my episcopal duties. He replied that on entering\nthe service of God we must prepare ourselves for temptation, since no one\ncould follow Jesus Christ or be of the number of His true disciples except\nby bearing His Cross, nor could anyone enter Heaven except by the path and\nthrough the gate of suffering. \"Remember,\" he said, \"that our first father\neven in the state of innocence was put into the earthly Paradise to work in\nit and to keep it. Do you imagine that he was banished from it in order to\ndo nothing? Consider how God condemned him and all his posterity to labour,\nand to till an ungrateful earth which produced of itself nothing but\nthorns and thistles. There is much more toil and difficulty in weeding and\ncultivating souls than any earthly soil, rough, stony, and barren though\nit may be. The art of arts is the direction of souls, it is of no use to\nundertake it unless we have made up our minds to innumerable labours and\ndisappointments.\n\n\"The Son of God being a sign of contradiction, can we wonder if His work is\nexposed to the same; and if He had so much difficulty in winning souls,\nis it likely that his coadjutors and those who labour with Him will have\nless?\"\n\nThen fearing to depress me by the enumeration of so many difficulties, he\nwent on to cheer me with the example of the Prince of Pastors, the Bishop\nof our souls, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who preferred shame and\ntoil to joy, that He might further the work of oar salvation.\n\nHe added that of the Apostles, and other Pastors of the Church, reminding\nme that if we think much of the honour of being their successors we\nmust, with the inheritance, accept its burdens, nor shelter ourselves\nby, in legal phrase, _disclaiming liability for debts beyond the assets_\ninherited. Otherwise, he said, we should be like that kinsman of Ruth who\nwished to have the inheritance of the first husband, but not to marry the\nwidow and raise up to him an heir.\n\nHe generally wound up his remarks with some reminder of that love which\nmakes all that is bitter to be sweet: sometimes quoting to me those words\nof St. Augustine, \"Where we love, there is no labour, or if there is any we\nlove the labour itself, for he who labours in loving, loves to labour for\nthe beloved object.\"\n\n\nUPON THE CARE OF SOULS.\n\nA Priest once complained to Blessed Francis of the thorns besetting his\npath in life, of the difficulties of his holy calling, of the anxieties\ninseparable from it, but chiefly of the intractableness of stiff-necked\nChristians, who refuse to submit to the easy yoke of Jesus Christ, and to\ndo what their duty requires. The Bishop replied that their obstinacy was\nnot so much to be wondered at as the weakness of their Pastors who were so\neasily discouraged and impatient, just because they saw that the seed sown\nby their labours did not forthwith produce the plentiful harvest they\ndesired.\n\n\"The peasant is not blamed for failing to reap an abundant harvest, but\nonly for not carefully cultivating his field, and for not doing all that\nis necessary to make his land productive. Discouragement is a mark of\nexcessive love of self and of zeal unaccompanied by knowledge.\n\n\"The best lesson for those who have the care of souls, is that which the\nApostle gives to all in the person of one: _Preach the word: be instant\nin season and out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and\ndoctrine._[1]\n\n\"In this text the word _patience_ is the key to the whole mystery, for\npatience has its perfect work when it is accompanied by charity, which is\npatient, kind, and is the virtue by which we possess our souls in peace.\"\n\nThe charge of souls means having to bear with the weak, for the strong\nare able to go on by themselves in their progress towards what is good.\nOur holy Bishop explained this by two beautiful similitudes: \"The plumage\nof birds is heavy, and yet without this load they could neither raise\nthemselves from the ground nor hover in the air. The burden borne by holy\nsouls is like a load of cinnamon, which, by its perfume invigorates him who\ncarries it. So souls which are weak serve to make their Pastors, who bear\nthe burden of them, rise on wings towards Heaven, and on earth to run in\nthe way of God's commandments.\"\n\nThe other comparison Is this: \"Notice,\" he said, \"a shepherd driving a\nflock of sheep: if one of them breaks a leg the shepherd at once takes\nit on his shoulders to carry it back to the fold, and this single one\nis certainly a heavier load than all the rest together, who go along of\nthemselves. In like manner souls which of themselves advance in the way\nof God afford little occasion for their Pastors to exercise care and\nvigilance. It is of the faulty and intractable they have chiefly to think,\nSt. Bernard says that the care of souls is not a care of the strong, but of\nthe infirm, for if any one helps thee more than he is helped by thee, know\nthat thou art not his father but his equal.\"\n\nEven the prophets complain of men of obstinate and rebellious hearts. To\nwork among them is to go down to the sea in ships and to do our business in\ngreat waters, for these waters are God's people with whom we have to deal.\n\n[Footnote 1: 2 Tim. iv. 2.]\n\n\nUPON LEARNING AND PIETY.\n\nBy rights, the more learned a man becomes the more pious should he be. This\ndoes not, however, always happen, and if we must choose between the two,\nthere is no doubt that it is better to be uneducated but pious, rather than\nto be learned without being religious-minded.\n\nBlessed Francis remarked one day when we were speaking of a Parish Priest\nwhose holy life was highly praised, but with whose defects as a teacher\ngreat fault was found: \"It is quite true that knowledge and piety are, as\nit were, the two eyes of a Priest; still, as a man can, by dispensation,\nreceive Holy Orders even though he has only one eye, so also it is quite\npossible for a Parish Priest to be a most faithful servant in his ministry\nby simply leading a zealous, exemplary, and well-regulated life. The\nfunction of teaching may be discharged by others, who, as St. Paul says,\nare instructors but not fathers.[1] But no one can be a pattern to others\nexcept by giving good example, and this cannot be done by proxy.\"\n\nBesides, the Gospel tells us that we are to pluck out the eye which\noffends. It is better to enter heaven with one eye, than to be cast into\nhell-fire with two.[2] \"There is, indeed,\" he continued, \"a degree of\nignorance so gross as to be inexcusable and to render him who is plunged\ninto it in very truth a blind leader of the blind. When, however, a man is\nin good repute for his piety he surely has within him that true light which\nleads him to Jesus Christ and enables him to show light to others. It is as\nthough he said to them, like Gideon, _Do as I do_, or with St. Paul, _Be ye\nfollowers of me, as I also am of Christ_.[3] Such a one does not walk in\ndarkness and those who follow him are sure to reach the haven. Though he\nhas not talents of learning and erudition such as would make him shine in\nthe pulpit, yet he has enough if he can, as the Apostle says, _exhort in\nsound doctrine and convince the gainsayers_.[4] Remark,\" he added, \"how\nGod taught Balaam by the mouth of his ass.\" Thus, his charity dexterously\ncovered the defects of his neighbour, and by this lesson he taught us to\nvalue an ounce of piety more than many pounds of empty learning.\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Cor. iv. 15.]\n[Footnote 2: Matt. xviii. 9.]\n[Footnote 3: 1 Cor. iv. 16.]\n[Footnote 4: Tit. i. 9.]\n\n\nADVICE TO BISHOP CAMUS AS TO RESIGNING HIS SEE.\n\nWhen I was consulting him once as to whether or not I should follow the\nbent of my own inclination in the matter of retiring into a private and\nsolitary life, he, wishing to ascertain by what spirit I was led, answered\nme in the beautiful words of St. Augustine: _Otium sanctum diligit charitas\nveritatis, et negotium justum suscipit veritas charitatis_.[1] Charity, the\nholy love of eternal truth, draws us into retirement, that we may in that\ncalm leisure contemplate things divine; but when our hearts are filled with\ntrue charity we are none the less urged to undertake good works in order to\nadvance the glory of God by serving our neighbour.\n\nAlthough he esteemed Mary's part--called in the Gospel \"the better\npart\"--much more highly than Martha's, yet it was his opinion that\nMartha's, undertaken purely for the love of God, was more suitable to\nthis present life, and that Mary's had more in common with that of a\nblessed eternity. He only made an exception as regards some special and\nextraordinary vocations, some irresistible and most powerful attractions,\nacting upon the soul, and in the case of those who do not possess the\ntalents requisite for serving as Martha served, and have only those\nsuitable for a purely contemplative life. Also those who, having expended,\nall their physical strength in the service of the Church, withdraw into\nsolitude towards the close of their life, there to prepare for that last\njourney which is ordained for all flesh.\n\nFor this reason he repulsed and silenced me--not indeed harshly, for his\nincomparable sweetness was incompatible with harshness--but firmly and\ndecidedly whenever I spoke to him of quitting my post and of resigning the\nhelm into the hand of some more skilful pilot. He called my desire to do so\na temptation, and in the end closed the discussion so peremptorily that,\nduring his lifetime, I never ventured to revive it with anyone.\n\nHe dealt in almost exactly the same manner with that virtuous soul[2] the\ncorner-stone of the spiritual edifice of the Congregation of the Visitation\nwhich he founded, for he kept her in the world for more than seven years,\nbringing up and educating the children whom God had given her and affording\nspiritual help to her father and father-in-law. He kept her back, I say,\nfor this long period, before permitting her to retire into the solitude of\nthe cloister; so exact was he in himself following, and in leading those\nwho were under his direction to follow, the holy light of faith rather than\nthe false and lurid glimmers of their natural inclinations.\n\nOn a previous occasion a certain Bishop whom I knew well asked him whether\nin his opinion it would be allowable for him to give up his Bishopric with\nits heavy burdens and retire into private life, bringing forward as an\nexample St. Gregory of Nazianzen, surnamed the Theologian, the oracle of\nhis time, who gave up the charge of three Bishoprics, Sozima, Nazianzen,\nand the Patriarchate of Constantinople, that he might go and end his days\nIn rural life, on his paternal estate of Arianzen.\n\nOur Blessed Father replied that we must presume that these great Saints\nnever did anything without being moved to do it by the Spirit of God, and\nthat we must not judge of their actions by outward appearances. He added\nthat St. Gregory in quitting Constantinople was only yielding to pressure\nand violence, as is proved by the manner in which he said his last Mass in\npublic, and which brought tears into the eyes of all who heard him.\n\nThis same Bishop replying that the greatness of his own charge terrified\nhim, and that he was overpowered by the thought of having to answer for\nso many souls: \"Alas!\" said Blessed Francis, \"what would you say, or do,\nif you had such a burden as mine on your shoulders? And yet that must not\nlessen my confidence in the mercy of God.\"\n\nThe Bishop still complaining and declaring that he was like a candle which\nconsumes itself in order to give light to others, and that he was so much\ntaken up with the service of his neighbour that he had scarcely any leisure\nto think of himself and to look after the welfare of his own soul, our\nBlessed Father replied: \"Well, considering that the eternal welfare of your\nneighbour is a part, and so large a part, of your own, are you not securing\nthe latter by attending to the former? And how, indeed, could you possibly\nwork out your own salvation except by furthering that of others, seeing\nthat you have been called to do so precisely in this manner?\"\n\nThe Bishop still objecting and saying that he was like a whetstone which is\nworn out by the mere sharpening of blades, and that while trying to lead\nothers to holiness he ran the risk of losing his own soul, our Holy Prelate\nrejoined: \"Read the history of the Church and the lives of the Saints,\nand you will find more Saints among Bishops than in any other Order or\navocation, there being no other position in the Church of God which\nfurnishes such abundant means of sanctification and perfection. For\nremember that the best means of making progress in perfection is the\nteaching others both by word and example. Bishops are by their very office\ncompelled to do this and to strive with all their heart and soul to be a\npattern and model to their flocks. The whole life of a Christian on earth\nis a warfare, and should be one unceasing progress towards the goal of\nperfection. Were you to do as you propose it would be in a manner to look\nbehind you, and to imitate the children of Ephraim, who turned back when\nthey should have faced the enemy. You were going on so well, who is it who\nis holding you back? Stay in the ship in which God has placed you to make\nthe voyage of life; the passage is so short that it is not worth while\nchanging the boat. For, indeed, if you feel giddy in a large vessel, how\nmuch more so will you in a slight skiff tossed by every motion of the\nwaves! A lower condition of life, though less busy and apparently more\ntranquil, is none the less equally subject to temptation.\"\n\nThis reasoning so convinced the Bishop[3] that he remained faithful to his\npost in the army of Holy Church.\n\n[Footnote 1: De Civit. Dei. Lib. 19. cap 19.]\n[Footnote 2: St. Jane Frances de Chantal.]\n[Footnote 3: This Bishop was evidently M. Camus himself. [Ed.]]\n\n\nTHE JOYOUS SPIRIT OF BLESSED FRANCIS.\n\nSo light-hearted and gay was he, so truly did his happy face express the\nserenity and peace of his soul that it was almost impossible to remain for\nany time in his company without catching something of this joyous spirit.\n\nI feel sure that only those of dull and gloomy temperament can take\nexception to what I am going to relate in order to illustrate our Blessed\nFather's delightful gift of pleasantry in conversation.\n\nOn one occasion when I was paying a visit to him at Annecy two young girls,\nsisters, and both most virtuous and most devout, were professed in one of\nthe convents, he performing the ceremony, and I, by his desire, giving\nthe exhortation. While preaching, although I said nothing to my mind very\nheart-stirring, I noticed that a venerable Priest who was present was so\nmuch affected as to attract the attention of everyone. After the ceremony,\nwhen we were breakfasting with the holy Bishop, the Priest being also at\ntable, I asked Blessed Francis what had been the cause of such emotion. He\nreplied that it was not to be wondered at seeing that this good Priest had\nlost his aureola, and had been reduced from the high rank of a martyr to\nthe lowly one of a Confessor!\n\nHe went on to explain that the Priest had been married, but that on the\ndeath of his wife, who was a most saintly woman, he had become a Priest,\nand that all the children of that happy marriage had been so piously\nbrought up that every one of them had devoted himself or herself to the\nservice of the Altar, the young girls just professed being of the number.\n\nThe tears shed by the Priest were therefore of joy, not of sorrow, for he\nsaw his most ardent desire fulfilled, and that his daughters were now the\nBrides of the Lamb. \"But,\" I cried, \"what did you mean by saying that a man\nmarried to such a wife as that was a Martyr? That may be the case when a\nman has a bad wife, but it cannot be true in his case.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father's manner changed at once from gaiety to seriousness.\n\"Take care,\" he said to me in a low voice, \"that the same thing does not\nhappen to you; I will tell you how, by-and-by, in private.\"\n\nWhen we were alone afterwards I reminded him of his promise. \"Take care,\"\nhe said again with some severity of aspect, \"lest if you yield to the\ntemptation which is now assailing you something worse does not befall you.\"\nHe was alluding to my desire to give up the burden of my Bishopric and to\nretire into more private life.\n\n\"Your wife,\" he went on to say, meaning the Church, whose ring when he\nconsecrated me he had put on my finger, \"is far more holy, far more able\nto make you holy than was that good man's faithful wife, whose memory is\nblessed. It is true that the many spiritual children whom she lays in your\narms are a cause of so much anxiety that your whole life is a species\nof martyrdom, but remember that in this most bitter bitterness you will\nfind peace for your soul, the peace of God which is beyond all thought\nor imagination. If you quit your place in order to seek repose, possibly\nGod will permit your pretended tranquillity to be disturbed by as many\nvexations as the good brother Leone's, who, amid all his household cares in\nthe monastery, was often visited by heavenly consolations. Of these he was\ndeprived when, by permission extorted from his Superior, he had retired\ninto his cell in order, as he said, to give himself up more absolutely to\ncontemplation. Know (Oh! how deeply these words are engraven on my memory)\nthat God hates the peace of those whom He had destined for war.\n\n\"He is the God of armies and of battles, as well as of peace, and he\ncompares the Sulamite, the peaceful soul, to an army drawn up in battle\narray and in that formation terrible to its enemies.\" I may add that our\nBlessed Father's predictions were perfectly verified, and after his death\nwhen the very things he had spoken of happened to me I remembered his words\nwith tears.\n\nAs I write I call to mind another instance of his delightful manner which\nyou will like to hear.\n\nYoung as I was when consecrated a Bishop, it was his desire that I should\ndischarge all the duties of my holy office without leaving out any single\none of them, although I was inclined to make one exception, that of hearing\nconfessions. I considered myself too young for this most responsible work,\nand wanting in that prudence and wisdom which are born of experience.\n\nOur Blessed Father, however, thought differently in the matter, and I,\nholding this judgment in so much higher esteem than my own, gave way, bent\nmy neck under the yokes and took my place in the confessional. There I\nwas besieged by penitents, who scarcely allowed me any time for rest or\nrefreshment.\n\nOne day, worn out with this labour, I wrote to St. Francis, saying, among\nother things, that intending to make a Confessor he had really made a\nMartyr.\n\nIn answering my letter he said that he knew well that the vehemence of\nmy spirit suffered the pangs of a woman in travail, but then I must take\ncourage and remember that it is written, _a woman when she is in labour\nhath sorrow because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the\nchild she remembereth no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into\nthe world_.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: John xvi. 21.]\n\n\nUPON DAILY MASS. HIS ADVICE TO A YOUNG PRIEST.[1]\n\nTo a Priest whom I know well, and whom our Blessed Father loved much in Our\nLord, he gave most excellent advice, and in a very kindly manner, conveyed\nit to him by means of an ingenious artifice.\n\nThe Priest was young, and owing to his extreme youth, although he was a\nParish Priest, he dreaded saying Mass often, contenting himself with doing\nso on Sundays and holidays.\n\nOur Blessed Father, wishing to lead him to say his Mass every day, devised\nthis plan. He presented him with a little box covered with crimson satin,\nembroidered in gold and silver and studded with pearls and garnets. Before\nhe actually put it into his hands, however, he said to him, \"I have a\nfavour to ask of you which I am sure you will not refuse me, since it only\nconcerns the glory of God, which I know you have so much at heart.\" \"I am\nat your command,\" replied the Priest. \"Oh, no,\" said the Bishop, \"I am not\nspeaking to you as one who commands, but as one who requests, and I make\nthis request in the name and for the love of God, which is our common\nwatchword.\" After that, what could the Priest possibly refuse him? His\nsilence testified his readiness to obey, better than any words could have\ndone.\n\nBlessed Francis then opening the box showed him that it was quite full of\nunconsecrated hosts, and said, \"You are a Priest, God has called you to\nthat vocation, and also to the Pastoral Office in His Church. Would it be\nthe right thing if an artisan, a magistrate, or a doctor only worked at his\nprofession one or two days in the week? You have the power to say Holy Mass\nevery day. Why do you not avail yourself of it?\n\n\"Consider that the action of saying Mass is the loftiest, the most august,\nof all the functions of religion, the one which renders more glory to God\nand more solace to the living and the dead than any other.\n\n\"I conjure you, then, by the glory of Him in whom we live and move and have\nour being, to approach the Altar every day, and never, except under extreme\nnecessity, to fail to do so.\n\n\"There is nothing, thank God, to prevent your doing this. I know your\nsoul as well as a soul can be known, and of this you are yourself quite\naware, you who have so frankly unfolded to me the inmost recesses of\nyour conscience. Far from seeing any impediment, I see that everything\ninvites you to do what I ask, and that you may so use the daily and\nsupersubstantial Bread I make you this present, entreating you not to\nforget at the holy Altar him who makes you this prayer on the part of God\nHimself.\"\n\nThe young Priest was somewhat surprised, and without attempting to evade\nthe implied rebuke contented himself with submitting to the judgment of the\nholy Bishop his secret unworthiness, his youth, his unmortified passions,\nhis fear of misusing so divine a mystery by not living as they should live\nwho each day offer it up.\n\n\"All this excusing yourself, replied our Blessed Father, is only so much\nself-accusing as would appear if I chose to examine your reasons in detail\nand weigh them in the scales of the sanctuary. But without entering into\nany discussion of them let it suffice that you refer the matter to my\njudgment. I tell you then, and in this I think that I have the Spirit of\nGod, that all the reasons which you bring forward to dispense yourself\nfrom so profitable an exercise of piety are really those which oblige you\nto practise it. This holy exercise will ripen your youth, moderate your\npassions, weaken your temptations, strengthen your weakness, illuminate\nyour path, and the very act of practising it will teach you to do so with\ngreater perfection. Moreover, if the sense of your unworthiness would make\nyou abstain from it out of humility, as happened to St. Bonaventure, and if\nyour own unfitness makes the custom of daily celebrating productive in your\nsoul of less fruit than it should, consider that you are a public person,\nand that your flock and your Church have need of your daily Mass. More than\nthat, you ought to be stimulated and spurred on by the thought that every\nday on which you refrain from celebrating you deprive the exterior glory\nof God of increase, the Angels of their delight, and the Blessed of a most\nspecial happiness.\"\n\nThe young Priest deferred to this counsel, saying \"_Fiat, fiat_,\" and from\nthat time for a space of thirty years has never failed to say Mass daily,\neven when on long journeys through France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and in\nheretical countries. He never failed, I repeat, even under conditions which\nseemed to make the saying of Mass impossible.\n\nSuch power have remonstrances when tempered with kindness and prudence.\n\n[Footnote 1: Possibly M. Camus himself. [Ed.]]\n\n\nA PRIEST SAYING MASS SHOULD BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS.\n\nHe was told that I was very lengthy in my preparation for saying Holy Mass,\nand that this was a cause of inconvenience to many who either wished to\nbe present at it or to speak to me afterwards. I was accustomed, by his\norders, to say daily Mass at a fixed hour, and not in the private chapel\nof the Bishop's house, unless I happened to be ill, but in a large chapel\nadjoining the Cathedral Church, where synods, ordinations, and similar\npastoral functions were held. The bell rang for this Mass always at a few\nminutes before the appointed hour, but those who knew the length of my\npreparation in the sacristy did not hurry to come to it, and those who did\nnot know lost patience, and in winter time often got chilled to the bone.\n\nOur Blessed Father, wishing to correct this fault in me, waited quietly\ntill the right moment came for doing so. He was paying me one of his annual\nvisits at Belley, when it chanced that one morning he was detained very\nlate in his room writing some letters which he had to send off without loss\nof time. When eleven o'clock drew near, his servants, knowing that he never\nfailed to say Mass unless hindered by illness or some real impediment, came\nto remind him that he had not yet done so.\n\nThe Altar in the private Chapel had been prepared for him. He came out of\nhis room, wearing as usual his rochet and mosetta, and after saluting those\nwho had come to see him and to hear his Mass, said a short prayer at the\nfoot of the Altar, then vested and celebrated the holy sacrifice. Mass\nended, he knelt down again, and, after another short prayer, joined us with\na face of angelic serenity. Having greeted each of us affectionately, he\nentered into conversation with us, until we were called, as we soon were,\nto table. I, who watched his actions most closely and ever found them\nregular and harmonious as a stave of music, was amazed at the brevity of\nthis preparation and thanksgiving. In the evening, therefore, when we were\nalone together, I said, using the filial privilege which I knew was mine,\n\"Father, it seemed to me this morning that your preparation for Mass and\nyour thanksgiving were very hasty and short.\"\n\nHe turned suddenly, and, embracing me, exclaimed, \"Oh, how delighted I am\nthat you are so straightforward in telling me home truths! For three or\nfour days I have been wanting to do the same thing to you, but did not know\nhow to begin! Now, tell me what do you say as to that lengthiness of yours\nwhich inconveniences everybody? All complain, and quite openly, though\npossibly these complaints have not yet reached your ears, so few dare speak\nthe truth to Bishops. Doubtless it is because no one loves you as I do that\nI have been asked to speak about this. My commission is quite authentic,\nthough I do not show you the signatures. A little of your superfluity\nhanded over to me would do us both good, by making you go more quickly and,\nme more slowly.\n\n\"Do you think,\" he continued, \"that the people who are so anxious to assist\nat your Mass have any sympathy with your long preparation before-hand in\nthe sacristy? Still less those who are waiting to speak to you after Mass,\nwith your interminable thanksgiving.\n\n\"Many of these people come from a distance, and have business engagements\nin the town.\"\n\n\"But, Father,\" I said, \"how ought we to make our preparation? Scripture\nsays, _Before prayer prepare thy soul, and be not as a man that tempteth\nGod_.[1] How much more, then, must we prepare with all care for the\nstupendous act of celebrating Mass, before which, in the words of the\nPreface, the powers of Heaven tremble? How can one play on a lute without\ntuning it?\" \"Why do you not make this preparation earlier, in your morning\nexercise, which I know, or at least I think, you never neglect?\" \"I rise at\nfour o'clock in the summer, sometimes sooner,\" I replied, \"and I do not\ngo to the Altar till about nine or ten o'clock.\" \"And do you suppose,\" he\nreturned, \"that the interval from four to nine is very great to Him, in\n_Whose sight a thousand years are as yesterday?_\"[2]\n\nThis passage, so well applied, was like a sudden illumination to me. \"And\nwhat about the thanksgiving?\" I said. \"Wait till your evening exercise to\nmake it,\" he answered; \"you make your examination of conscience, surely\nso great an act will have its weight; and is not thanksgiving one of the\npoints of self-examination? Both these acts can be made more at leisure and\nmore calmly in the morning and evening: no one will be inconvenienced by\nthem, and they will interfere with none of your ordinary duties.\" \"But,\"\nI objected, \"will it not be a cause of disedification to others to see me\nso quick over things? _God should not be adored hurriedly_.\" \"We may hurry\nas much as we like,\" he replied; \"God goes faster than we do. He is as the\nlightning which comes forth from the east and the next moment flashes in\nthe west. All things are present to Him; with Him there is neither past nor\nfuture. How can we escape from His spirit?\" I acquiesced, and since then\nall has gone well in this matter.\n\n[Footnote 1: Eccle. xviii. 23.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm lxxxix. 4.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS ENCOURAGES THE BISHOP OF BELLEY.\n\nOwing to the fact that the See of Belley had been vacant for four years,\na dispensation was obtained from the Bishop enabling me, at the age of\ntwenty-five, to be consecrated Bishop, and at the same time to be put in\npossession of that See to which the King, Henry IV., had already appointed\nme.\n\nBlessed Francis Himself consecrated me, in my own Cathedral Church of\nBelley, August 30th, 1609.\n\nAfter a while scruples began to disturb my mind on account of this\nconsecration, seemingly so premature. I had, as it were, been made a\ncaptain when I had scarcely enlisted as a soldier. I carried my troubles to\nthe director of my conscience, this Blessed Father who consoled and cheered\nme by suggesting many excellent reasons for this unusual state of things.\nThe necessities of the diocese, the testimony to my character of so many\npersons of dignity and piety, the judgment of Henry the Great, whose memory\nhe held in high honour, and, last of all, and above all, the command of His\nHoliness. He concluded by urging me not to look back, but rather to stretch\nforward to the things which were before me, following the advice of St.\nPaul.\n\n\"You have come to the vineyard,\" he went on to say, \"in the first hour of\nyour day. Beware lest you labour there so slothfully, that those who enter\nat the eleventh hour outstrip you both in the work and in reward.\"\n\nOne day I said jestingly to him: \"Father, virtuous and exemplary as you are\nconsidered to be, you have committed one fault in your life, that of having\nconsecrated me too early.\"\n\nHe answered me with a laugh which opened a heaven of joy to me. \"It is\ncertainly true,\" he said, \"that I have committed that sin, but I am much\nafraid God will never forgive me for it, for up to the present moment I\nhave never been able to repent of it. I conjure you by the bowels of our\ncommon Master to live in such a manner that you may never give me cause for\nregret in this matter and rather, often to stir up in yourself the grace\nwhich was bestowed upon you from on high by the imposition of my hands. I\nhave, you must know, been called to the consecration of other Bishops, but\nonly as assistant. I have never consecrated any one but you: you are my\nonly one, my apprenticeship work.\n\n\"Take courage. God will help us.\n\n\"_He is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear? He is the\nProtector of our life, of whom shall we be afraid?_\"\n\n\nUPON A COMPASSIONATE MIND.\n\nAlthough his soul was one of the strongest and most well-balanced possible,\nyet it was capable of the tenderest and most compassionate feelings for the\nsorrows of others. He did not repine over the miseries and infirmities of\nhuman nature, he only desired that all souls should be strengthened by\ngrace.\n\nTo a lady who was heart-broken at the death of a sister whom she\npassionately loved, he wrote:\n\n\"I will not say to you, do not weep, for, on the contrary, it is just\nand reasonable that you should weep a little--but only a little--my dear\ndaughter, as a proof of the sincere affection which you bore her, following\nthe example of our dear Master, who shed a few tears over His friend\nLazarus, but not many, as do those whose thoughts, being bounded by the\nmoments of this miserable life, forget that we, too, are on our way to\nEternity, in which if we live well in this life we shall be reunited to our\nbeloved dead, nor ever be parted from them again. We cannot prevent our\npoor hearts from being affected by the changes of this life, and by the\nloss of those who have been our pleasant companions in it. Still never must\nwe be false to our solemn promise to unite our will inseparably to the Will\nof God.\"\n\nAgain, let me remind you how tenderly he expresses himself on the sorrowful\noccasions of the death of his dearest relatives and friends. \"Indeed,\" he\nsays, \"at times like these I myself weep much. Then my heart, hard as a\nstone with regard to heavenly things, breaks and pours forth rivers of\ntears. But God be praised! They are always gentle tears, and, speaking to\nyou as to my own dear daughter, I never shed them without a loving grateful\nthought of the providence of God. For, since our Saviour loved death and\ngave His death to be the object of our love, I cannot feel any bitterness,\nor grudge against it, whether it be that of my sisters or of anyone else,\nprovided it be in union with the holy death of my Saviour.\"\n\nAnd in another place he says:\n\n\"I must say just one word in confidence to you. There is not a man living\nwho has a heart more tender and more open to friendship than mine, or who\nfeels more keenly than I do the pain of separation from those I love;\nnevertheless. I hold so cheap this poor earthly life which we lead that I\nnever turn back to God with a more ardent affection than when He has dealt\nme some blow of the kind or permitted one to be dealt me.\"\n\n\nUPON DOING ONE'S DUTY, WITHOUT RESPECT OF PERSONS.\n\nAfter I had preached several Advents and Lents in various towns of my\ndiocese of Belley, he thought it well that I should do so in my own native\ncity, Paris.\n\nWell knowing, as he did, the various views and judgments of the great world\nwhich rules there, he wished to teach me to care very little what people\nsaid about me, and he impressed the lesson upon me by relating to me the\nfollowing story of an aged Priest and the college clock.\n\nA good Father being incapacitated by infirmities even more than by age from\nfulfilling the duty of teaching binding on his Order, and yet being anxious\nto have some little useful employment, was entrusted by his Superior with\nthe winding and regulating the college clock.\n\nVery soon, however, he came to complain of the difficulty and almost\nimpossibility of his work; not, he said, that it was at all beyond his\nstrength, but that it was quite beyond him to satisfy everyone. When the\nclock was a little slow, he said, the young men who had difficult and\ntroublesome work to do indoors, complained, declaring that the town clocks\nwere much faster, and to please them he would put it on a little. As soon\nas this was done complaints burst forth from those whose work lay outside\nthe college, in visiting the sick and prisoners, or providing for the needs\nof the household in the city. They came back declaring that the town clocks\nwere much slower, and reproaching me for having put theirs on.\n\nThe Superior settled the matter by telling the good Father to let the\nclock take its own course, but always to use soft words to those who might\ncomplain, and to assure each one of them that he would do his best to keep\nthe clock right if possible. \"So let it be with you,\" concluded our Blessed\nFather. \"You are going to be exposed to the criticism of many; if you\nattend to all that they say of you, your work, like Penelope's, will never\nbe done, but every day you will have to begin it over again.\n\n\"Even some of your friends will in perfect good faith give you suggestions\non matters which seem to them important, but which in reality are not so at\nall.\n\n\"One will tell you that you speak too fast, another that you gesticulate\ntoo much, a third that you speak too slowly, and don't move enough--one\nwill want quotations, another will dislike them; one will prefer doctrinal,\nanother moral lessons; some one thing, some another.\n\n\"They will be like drones who do nothing but disturb the working bees, and\nwho, though they can sting, yet make no honey.\"\n\n\"Well! what is to be done in all this?\"\n\n\"Why, you must always answer gently, promising to try and correct yourself\nof your faults whatever they may be, for there is nothing which pleases\nthese counsellors so much as to see that their suggestions are accepted\nas judicious, and, at least, worthy of consideration. In the meantime go\nyour own way, follow the best of your own character, pay no heed to such\ncriticisms, which are often contradictory one of the other.\n\n\"Keep God before your eyes, abandon yourself to the guidance of the spirit\nof grace, and say often with the Apostle, 'If I yet pleased men I should\nnot be the servant of Christ,' who said of Himself that He was not of this\nworld. Neither, indeed, were His Apostles, for the friendship of the world\nis enmity with God.\n\n\"It is no small matter for a steersman in the midst of a storm to keep\nthe rudder straight. Of little consequence ought it to be to us that we\nare judged by men. God is our only true judge, and it is He Who sees the\nsecrets of our hearts, and all that is hidden in darkness.\"\n\n\nTHE HONOUR DUE TO VIRTUE.\n\nHonour is like thyme which the pagans thought ought only to be burnt on the\nAltar of Virtue. In ancient Rome the Temple of Honour could only be entered\nthrough the Temple of Virtue.\n\nThe virtue of Blessed Francis de Sales was so generally recognized by\nboth Catholics and Protestants that he may be truly said to have been\nuniversally reverenced.\n\nA remarkable instance of this occurred at Grenoble, the chief town of\nDauphin\u00e9, in the year in which he went there to preach during Advent and\nLent. Monsieur de Lesdigiu\u00e8res, the King's Viceroy at Grenoble, and Marshal\nof France, was not yet converted to the Catholic Faith. He, however,\nreceived the Bishop with affectionate warmth, and paid him extraordinary\nhonours. He frequently invited him to his table, and often visited him\nin his house, sometimes even being present at his sermons, for he really\nvalued the teaching of the holy Bishop, and thought most highly of his\nvirtue. The Protestants of Grenoble took fright at this, more particularly\nbecause of the long, private interviews which took place between the\nMagistrate and the holy Bishop.\n\nWherever he went the King's representative spoke of Blessed Francis in the\nhighest terms, and invariably made a point of giving him his title, Bishop\nof Geneva. In short, he paid him such deference as excited universal\nastonishment.\n\nIn vain did the Huguenot clergy storm and rage, in vain did they threaten\nto excommunicate anyone having dealings with the Bishop. They could not\nprevent the majority of their congregations from pressing every day to hear\nthe Saint's sermons, which created a great sensation amongst them.\n\nThe Huguenot preachers, far from gaining fresh adherents, saw their flock\nsteadily dwindling away.\n\nAt last, in despair, the Consistory determined to send a deputation to\nremonstrate with M. de Lesdigiu\u00e8res on the warm welcome he was giving the\nholy Bishop, and on his own behaviour in scandalizing the whole Protestant\nparty by attending Blessed Francis' sermons.\n\nThe deputation, formed of the elders and most notable men of the sect,\nreached the Marshal's house early in the morning, so that he was not even\ndressed when their request for an interview was brought to him.\n\nBeing a man who would not be dictated to, he sent down word to the\nHuguenots that if they came to visit him as friends, or to communicate any\nmatter of business to him, he would receive them gladly, but if they meant\nto remonstrate with him, in the name of the Consistory or ministers, on the\npoliteness he was showing to the Bishop of Geneva, they might rest assured\nthat they would go out through the window faster than they had come in by\nthe door!\n\nThis message was enough. The deputation broke up at once; but with how many\nlamentations over this unexpected reception, given by one whom they had\nreckoned upon as the chief stay and prop of their sect.\n\nTheir next plan was to send one of the principal noblemen of the province,\na Protestant like themselves, upon the same errand as before. He, however,\nfared no better than the deputation.\n\nTell those gentlemen (said M. de Lesdigiu\u00e8res) that I am old enough to know\nthe rules of politeness.\n\nUp to the age of thirty I was myself a Roman Catholic. I know how Roman\nCatholics treat their Bishops, and with what respect these Bishops are\ntreated by Kings and Princes. They hold a rank altogether different from\nthat of our ministers, who, even the highest among them, are only Parish\nPriests, since they themselves deny the very existence of the order of\nBishop, however good a foundation for it there may seem to be in the\nteaching of Holy Scripture. As for me, my belief is that they will in the\nend be sorry they have given up this distinction of rank. \"Tell M. B. (he\nwas a minister of low birth, had formerly been M. de Lesdigiu\u00e8res' servant,\nand owed to him his actual position in the so-called Reformed Church of\nGrenoble) that when I see among Huguenot ministers, sons and brothers of\nsovereign Princes, as I do among Roman Catholic Bishops, Archbishops, and\nCardinals, I will perhaps change my mind as to how to treat them socially.\n\n\"As regards the Bishop of Geneva, I can only say that if I were in his\nplace and were, as he is, sovereign Prince of this city, I would see that I\nwas properly obeyed, and that my authority was duly recognised. I know what\nare his rights and titles better than B ... or any of his colleagues can\npossibly do; it is for me to give them a lesson on the subject, and for\nthem, if they are wise, to listen. It is not for young, uneducated men to\npresume to show a man of my age and rank how to behave himself.\"\n\nAfter this the Viceroy redoubled his attentions to the holy Bishop, to whom\nhe paid every honour in his power.\n\nOn the other hand, he himself received such good impressions of our\nreligion from what he saw of the Bishop that they greatly facilitated his\nconversion, which took place after he had been promoted to the rank of\nConstable.\n\nHe died an excellent Catholic, and most happily.\n\n\nUPON MEMORY AND JUDGMENT.\n\nOn one occasion Blessed Francis was complaining to me of the shortness of\nhis memory. I tried to console him by reminding him that even if it were\ntrue, there was no lack in him of judgment, for in that he always excelled.\n\nIn reply, he said that it was certainly unusual to find a good memory and\nexcellent judgment united, although the two qualities might be possessed\ntogether by some in a moderate degree. He added that there were of course\nexceptions to the rule, but such exceptions were mostly of rare and\nextraordinary merit.\n\nHe gave as an instance one of his most intimate friends, the great Anthony\nFavre, first President of Savoy, and one of the most celebrated lawyers of\nhis time, who united in his own person remarkable keenness of judgment with\na marvellous memory. \"In truth,\" he went on to say, \"these two qualities\nare so different in their nature, that it is not difficult for one to push\nthe other out. One is the outcome of vivacity and alertness, the other is\nnot unfrequently characteristic of the slow and leaden-footed.\"\n\nAfter some more conversation with me on this subject, in which I deplored\nmy want of judgment, he concluded with these words: \"It is a common thing\nfor people to complain of their defective memory, and even of the malice\nand worthlessness of their will, but nobody ever deplores his poverty of\nspirit, i.e., of judgment. In spite of the Beatitude, everyone rejects such\na thought as a doing an injustice to themselves. Well, courage! advancing\nyears will bring you plenty of judgment: it is one of the fruits of\nexperience and old age.\n\n\"But as for memory, its failure is one of the undoubted defects of old\npeople. That is why I have little hope of the improvement of my own;\nbut provided I have enough to remember God that is all I want.[1] _I\nremembered, O Lord, Thy judgments of old: and I was comforted._\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm cxviii. 52.]\n\n\nA PRIEST SHOULD NOT AIM AT IMITATING IN HIS SERMONS ANY PARTICULAR\nPREACHER.\n\nI esteemed him so highly, and not without reason, that all his ways\ndelighted me. Among others, I thought that I should like to imitate his\nstyle of preaching. Can it be said that I chose a bad model or was wanting\nin taste?\n\nDo not, however, imagine for a moment that I have ever aimed at reproducing\nhis lofty and deep thoughts and teaching, the eloquent sweetness of his\nlanguage, the marvellous power which swayed the hearts of his audience. No,\nI have always felt that to be beyond my powers, and I have only tried to\nmould my action, gestures, and intonation after the pattern set by him.\nNow, as it happened, that owing to his constitution and temperament his\nspeech was always slow and deliberate, not to say prosy, and my own quite\nthe opposite, I became so strangely changed that my dear people at Belley\n(where the above incident occurred) almost failed to recognise me. They\nthought a changeling had been foisted upon them in the place of their own\nBishop, whose vehement action and passionate words they dearly loved, even\nthough sometimes they had found his discourses hard to follow. In fact, I\nhad ceased to be myself; I was now nothing more than a wretched copy with\nnothing in it really recalling the original.\n\nOur Blessed Father heard of this, and being eager to apply a remedy chose\nhis opportunity, and one day, when we were talking about sermons, quietly\nremarked that he was told I had taken it into my head to imitate the Bishop\nof Geneva in my preaching. I replied that it was so, and asked if I had\nchosen a bad model, and if he did not preach better than I did.\n\n\"Ah,\" he replied, \"this is a chance for attacking his reputation! But, no,\nhe does not preach so badly, only the worst of it is that they tell me you\nimitate him so badly that his style is not recognisable: that you have\nspoiled the Bishop of Belley yet have not at all succeeded in reproducing\nthe Bishop of Geneva. You had better, like the artist who was forced to put\nthe name of his subject under every portrait he painted, give out that you\nare only copying me.\" \"Well, be it so,\" I replied, \"in good time you will\nsee that little by little from being a pupil I have become a master, and in\nthe end my copies will be taken for originals.\"\n\n\"Jesting apart,\" he continued, \"you are spoiling yourself, ruining your\npreaching, and pulling down a splendid building to re-fashion it into one\nwhich sins against the rules of nature and art. You must remember, too,\nthat if at your age, like a piece of cloth, you have taken a wrong fold, it\nwill not be easy to smooth it out.\"\n\n\"Ah! if manners could be changed, what would I not give for such as yours?\nI do what I can to stir myself up, I do not spare the spur, but the more I\nurge myself on, the less I advance. I have difficulty in getting my words\nout, and still more in pronouncing them. I am heavier than a block, I can\nneither excite my own emotions, nor those of others. You have more fire in\nthe tip of your fingers than I have in my whole body. Where you fly like\na bird, I crawl like a tortoise. And now they tell me that you, who are\nnaturally so rapid, so lively, so powerful in your preaching, are weighing\nyour words, counting your periods, drooping your wings, dragging yourself\non, and making your audience as tired as yourself. Is this the beautiful\nNoemi of bygone days? the city of perfect loveliness, the joy of the whole\nearth?\"\n\nWhy should I dwell more on his reproof? Sufficient to say that he cured me\nof my error, and I returned to my former style of preaching, God grant that\nit may be for His glory!\n\n\nUPON SHORT SERMONS.\n\nHe highly approved of brevity in preaching, and used to say that the chief\nfault of the preachers of the day was lengthiness.\n\nI ventured to ask how that could be a fault, and how he could speak of\nabundance as if it were famine?\n\nHe answered: \"When the vine is thick in leaves it always bears less fruit,\nmultiplicity of words does not produce great results. You will find that a\npowerful and spirited horse will always start off promptly, and as promptly\npull up. A poor post hack, on the contrary, will go on several paces after\nhis rider has reined him in. Why is that? Because he is weak. So it is\nwith the mind and intellect. He who is strong leaves off speaking when\nhe pleases, because he has great control over himself, and readiness of\njudgment. A weak-minded man speaks much, but loses himself in his own\nthoughts, nor thinks of finishing what he has to say. Look at all the\nhomilies and sermons of the ancient Fathers and observe how short they\nwere, yet how much more efficacious than our lengthy ones! Wise St.\nFrancis of Assisi, in his Rule, prescribes that the preachers of his Order\nshall preach the Gospel with brevity, and gives an excellent reason:\n'Remembering,' he says, 'that: _a short word shall the Lord make upon the\nearth_.'[1] The more you say, the less your hearers will retain. The less\nyou say, the more they will profit. Believe me in this, for I speak from\nexperience. By overloading the memory of a hearer we destroy it, just as\nlamps are put out when they are filled too full of oil, and plants are\nspoilt by being too abundantly watered. When a discourse is too long, by\nthe time the end is reached, the middle is forgotten, and by the time the\nmiddle is reached the beginning has been lost. Moderately good preachers\nare accepted, provided they are brief, and the best become tiresome when\nthey are too lengthy. There is no more disagreeable quality in a preacher\nthan prolixity.\"\n\nOur Blessed Father sometimes surprised me by saying that we ought to be\npleased if, when going up into the pulpit to preach, we saw before us a\nsmall and scattered audience. \"Thirty years of experience,\" he said, \"have\nmade me speak thus: I have always seen greater results from the sermons\nwhich I have preached to small congregations than from those which I have\ndelivered in crowded churches. An occurrence which I am going to relate\nwill justify what I say.\n\n\"When I was Provost, or rather Dean, of my church, my predecessor in this\ndiocese, sent me, in company with some other Priests, to instruct in the\nFaith the inhabitants of the three bailiwicks of the Chablais, namely,\nThonon, Ternier, and Gaillard. The towns being full at that time of\nHuguenots, we had no access to them, and could only say Mass and give\ninstruction in some scattered and rather distant chapels.\n\n\"One Sunday, when the weather was very bad, there were only seven persons\nat my Mass, and these few suggested to some one to tell me that I ought\nnot to take the trouble of preaching after Mass, as it was the custom then\nto do, the number of hearers being so small. I replied that neither did a\nlarge audience encourage me, nor a scanty one discourage me; provided only\nthat I could edify one single person, that would be enough for me.\n\n\"I went up; therefore, into the pulpit, and I remember that the subject\nof my sermon was praying to the Saints, I treated it very simply and\ncatechetically, not at all controversially, as you know that is neither my\nstyle nor is the doing so to my taste. I said nothing pathetic, and put\nnothing very forcibly, yet one of my small audience began to weep bitterly,\nsobbing and giving vent to audible sighs. I thought that he was ill, and\nbegged him not to put any constraint upon himself, as I was quite ready to\nbreak off my sermon, and to give him any help he needed. He replied that he\nwas perfectly well in body, and he begged me to go on speaking boldly, for\nso I should be administering the needful healing to the wound.\n\n\"The sermon, which was very short, being ended, he hurried up to me, and\nthrowing himself at my feet cried out: 'Reverend sir, you have given me\nlife, you have saved my soul to-day. Oh, blessed the hour in which I came\nhere and listened to your words! This hour will be worth a whole eternity\nto me.'\n\n\"And then, being asked to do so, he related openly before the little\ncongregation, that, having conferred with some ministers on this very same\nsubject of praying to the Saints, which they made out to be sheer idolatry,\nhe had decided on the following Thursday to return to their ranks (he was a\nrecent convert to Catholicism), and to abjure the Catholic religion. But,\nhe added, that the sermon which he had just heard had instructed him so\nwell, and had so fully dispersed all his doubts, that he took back with his\nwhole heart the promise he had given them, and vowed new obedience to the\nRoman Church.\n\n\"I cannot tell you what an impression this great example, taking place in\nso small a congregation, made throughout the country, or how docile and\nresponsive to the words of life and of truth it made all hearts. I could\nallege other similar instances, some even more remarkable.\"\n\nFor myself I now prefer small congregations, and am never so well pleased\nas when I see only a little group of people listening to my preaching.\nSeneca once said to his friend Lucillus that they themselves formed a\ntheatre wide enough for the communication of their philosophy, and,\nspeaking of those who came to hear his teaching, he says: _Satis sunt\npauci, satis est alter, satis est unus. A few are enough--two are\nenough--nay, one is enough._ Why should not a Christian Philosopher be\ncontent with what was enough for this Stoic?\n\n[Footnote 1: Rom. ix. 28.]\n\n\nUPON PREACHING AND PREACHERS.\n\nOn the subject of preaching, Blessed Francis had very definite and weighty\nthoughts. He considered that it was not sufficient for a preacher to teach\nthe ways of God to the unrighteous, and by converting the wicked, to build\nup by his words the walls of Jerusalem, that is, of holy Church, while\nmaking known to God's people the ways of divine providence. He wanted more\nthan this, and said that every sermon ought to have some special plan,\nwith always for its end the giving glory to God and the converting and\ninstructing of those who were to hear it. Sometimes this would be the\nsetting forth of a mystery, sometimes the clearing up of some point of\nfaith, sometimes the denouncing of a particular vice, sometimes the\nendeavouring to plant some virtue in the hearts of the hearers.\n\n\"No one,\" he said, \"can sufficiently lay to heart the importance of having\na definite aim in preaching; for want of it many carefully studied sermons\nare without fruit. Some preachers are content to explain their text with\nall the painstaking and mental effort that they can bring to bear upon the\nsubject. Others give themselves up to elaborate and exhaustive research\nand excite the admiration of their hearers, either by their scientific\nreasonings, their eloquence, the studied grace of their gestures, or\nby their perfect diction. Others add to all this beautiful and useful\nteaching, but so that it only slips in here and there, as it were, by\nchance, and is not expressly dwelt upon. But when we have only one aim, and\nwhen all our reasonings and all our movements tend towards it and gather\nround it, as the radii of a circle round the unity of its centre, then the\nimpression made is infinitely more powerful. Such speaking has the force\nof a mighty river which leaves its mark upon the hardest of the stones it\nflows over.\n\n\"Drones visit every flower, yet gather no honey from any. The working\nbee does otherwise: it settles down upon each flower just as long as is\nnecessary for it to suck in enough sweetness to make its one honeycomb. So\nthose who follow my method will preach profitable sermons, and will deserve\nto be accounted faithful dispensers of the divine mysteries; prudent\nadministrators of the word of life and of eternal life.\"\n\nWhen our Blessed Father heard a certain preacher praised up to the skies,\nhe asked in what virtues he excelled; whether in humility, mortification,\ngentleness, courage, devotion or what? When told that he was said to preach\nvery well, he replied: \"That is speaking, not acting: the former is far\neasier than the latter. There are many who speak and yet act not, and who\ndestroy by their bad example what they build up with their tongue. A man\nwhose tongue is longer than his arm, is he not a monstrosity?\"\n\nOn one occasion, of some one who had delighted all his hearers by a sermon\nhe had preached, it was said: \"To-day he literally did wonders.\" The Saint\nreplied: \"If he did that he must be one of those absolutely blameless men\nof whom Scripture says 'they have not sought after gold, nor hoped for\ntreasures of gold and silver.'\" Another time he was told that this same\npreacher had on a particular day surpassed himself. \"Ah!\" he said, \"what\nnew act of self-renunciation has he made? What injury has he borne? For it\nis only after overcoming ourselves in this way that we surpass ourselves.\"\n\n\"Do you wish to know,\" he continued, \"how I test the excellence and value\nof a preacher? It is by assuring myself that those who have been listening\nto him come away striking their breasts and saying: 'I will, do better';\nnot by their saying: 'Oh how well he spoke, what beautiful things he said!'\nFor to say beautiful things in fluent and well-chosen words shows indeed\nthe learning and eloquence of a man; but the conversion of sinners and\ntheir departing from their evil ways is the sure sign that God has spoken\nby the mouth of the preacher, that he possesses the true power of speech,\nwhich is inspired by the science of the Saints, and that he proclaims\nworthily in the name of Almighty God that perfect law which is the\nsalvation of souls.\n\n\"The true fruit of preaching is the destruction of sin and the\nestablishment of the kingdom of justice upon earth.[1] By this justice, of\nwhich the prophet speaks, is meant justification and sanctification. For\nthis, God sends his preachers, as Jesus Christ sent His Apostles, that\nthey may bring forth fruit, and that this fruit may remain,[2] and by\nconsequence that they may labour for a meat which perishes not, but which\nendures unto life everlasting.\"[3]\n\nWhen I was in residence in my diocese I never failed to preach on every\npossible day in Advent and Lent, besides doing so on all Sundays and\nholidays. Some good people who set themselves up as judges in such matters,\nfull of worldly prudence said that I was making myself too common, and\nbringing the holy function of preaching into contempt.\n\nThis came to the ears of our Blessed Father, and he, despising such poor\nearthly wisdom, observed, that to blame a husbandman or vinedresser for\ncultivating his land too well was really to praise him. Speaking to me on\nthe subject, and fearing that all that had been said might discourage me,\nhe related to me what follows: \"I had,\" he said, the best father in the\nworld, but as he had spent a great part of his life at court and in the\ncamp, he knew the maxims that hold in those conditions of life far better\nthan he did the principles of holy living.\n\n\"While I was Provost,\" he continued, \"I preached on all possible occasions,\nwhether in the Chablais, where I was busy for many years uprooting heresy,\nor, on my return, in the Cathedral, in parish churches, and even in the\nchapels of the most obscure Confraternities. While at Annecy I never\nrefused any invitation whencesoever it came to preach. One day my good\nfather took me aside and said to me: 'Provost, you preach too often. Even\non week days I am always hearing the bell ringing for sermons, and when I\nask who is preaching I invariably get the same answer: \"The Provost, the\nProvost.\" In my time, it was not so; sermons were rare, but then they\n_were_ sermons! They were learned and well studied, more Greek and Latin\nwas quoted in one of them than in ten of yours; people were delighted and\nedified, they crowded to hear them, just as they would have crowded to\ngather up manna. Now, you make preaching so common that no one thinks much\nof it, and you yourself are held in far less esteem.'\n\n\"You see my good father spoke according to his lights and quite sincerely.\nYou may be sure he was not wishing me ill, but he was guided by the maxims\nof the world in which he had been brought up.\n\n\"Yet what folly in the sight of God are all the principles of human wisdom!\nIf we pleased men we should not be the servants of Jesus Christ, He\nHimself, the model of all preachers, did not use all this circumspection,\nneither did the Apostles who followed in His footsteps. _Preach the word:\nbe instant in season out of season._[4]\n\n\"Believe me, we can never preach enough, especially in this border-land of\nheresy, heresy which is only kept alive by sermons, and which will never be\ndestroyed except by that very breath of God which is holy preaching.\n\n\"If you will take my advice, therefore, you will shut your eyes against the\ncounsels of your worldly-wise monitors and listen rather to St. Paul, who\nsays to you: _But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an\nevangelist, fulfil thy ministry._[5]\n\n\"Moreover, when the Apostle continues, _Be sober_, he refers to temperance\nin eating and drinking, not to sobriety or restraint in the discharge of\npastoral duties. Blessed is the pastor who shall be found watching and\nfeeding his flock! I tell you that the divine Master will set him over all\nhis goods. And when the Prince of Pastors shall come he will receive from\nHis hand a crown of glory which can never fade.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Dan. ix 24.]\n[Footnote 2: John xv. 16.]\n[Footnote 3: Id. vi. 27.]\n[Footnote 4: 2 Tim. iv. 2, 3.]\n[Footnote 5: 2 Tim. iv. 5.]\n\n\nBLESSED FRANCIS AND THE BISHOP OF BELLEY'S SERMON.\n\nOne day I was to preach at the Visitation Convent at Annecy, the first\nestablished convent of the Order, and I knew that our Blessed Father, as\nwell as a great congregation, would be present. I had, to tell the truth,\ntaken extra pains in the consideration of my subject, and intended to do my\nvery best. I had chosen for text a passage in the Canticle of Canticles,\nand this I turned and twisted into every possible form, applying it to the\nVisitation vocation which I extolled far too extravagantly to please the\ngood Bishop.\n\nWhen he and I were alone together afterwards, he told me that, though my\nhearers had been delighted with me, and could not say enough in praise of\nmy sermon, there was one solitary exception, one individual who was not\npleased with it. On my expressing surprise and much curiosity to know whom\nI could have hurt or distressed by my words, he answered quietly that I\nsaw the person now before me. I looked around--there was no one present\nbut himself. \"Alas!\" I cried, \"this is indeed a wet blanket thrown upon\nmy success. I had rather have had your approbation than that of a whole\nprovince! However, God be praised! I have fallen into the hands of a\nsurgeon who wounds only to heal.\n\n\"What more have you to say, for I know you do not intend to spare me?\"\n\n\"I love you too much,\" he replied, \"either to spare or to flatter you,\nand had you loved our Sisters in the same way, you would not have wasted\nwords in puffing them up in place of edifying them, and in praising their\nvocation, of which they have already quite a sufficiently high opinion.\n\n\"You would have dealt out to them more salutary doctrine, in proportion as\nit would have been more humiliating. Always remember that the whole object\nof preaching is to root out sin, and to plant justice in its stead.\"\n\nOn my replying to this that those whom I addressed were already delivered\nfrom the hands of their enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, and\nwere serving God securely in holiness and justice, \"Then,\" he said, \"since\nthey are standing, you should teach them to take heed lest they fall, and\nto work out their salvation with fear and trembling.\n\n\"It is right, indeed, for you to encourage them to persevere in their holy\nundertaking, but you must do so without exposing them to the danger of\npresumption and vanity. Enough said; I know that for the future you will be\ncareful in this matter.\"\n\nThe next day he sent me to preach in a convent of Poor Clares, an Order\nrenowned for the exemplary life of its members and for their extraordinary\nausterities. I took good care to avoid the rock on which I had struck\nthe day before, and against which he had warned me. There was as large a\ncongregation as before, but I confined myself to plain and simple language,\nwithout a thought of studied rhetoric.\n\nI did not praise the austerities of the good nuns, nor did I labour to\nplease any of my hearers, their edification was my sole object.\n\nOn our return to the house, our Blessed Father said, embracing me tenderly,\nthat though most of those present were dissatisfied, and compared my sermon\nmost unfavourably with that of the preceding day, yet, that he, on the\ncontrary, who had then found fault with me, was now perfectly contented and\npleased, and that he believed that God was pleased also. \"As for your past\nfaults,\" he continued, \"I give you a plenary indulgence for them all.\n\n\"If you continue to preach as you have just done, whatever the world may\nsay, you will be doing much service for the Master of the Vineyard, and\nwill become a fitting servant of His Testament.\"\n\nOne day I was preaching before him at Annecy in the church which he used\nas his cathedral. He was surrounded by all his canons, who, with the whole\nChapter, attended him to the bench where he was in the habit of sitting to\nhear sermons.\n\nThis particular one of mine pleased him as regarded its matter and\ndelivery, but I suffered an allusion to escape me referring to his own name\nof Sales, and implying, or rather affirming, that he was the salt (_Sal\nes_) with which the whole mass of the people was seasoned.\n\nThis praise was so distasteful to him that, on our return from the church,\nhe took me to task for it, in a tone and with a manner as severe as was\npossible to his gentle nature. \"You were going on so well,\" he said. \"What\ncould have induced you to play these pranks? Do you know that you spoilt\nyour sermon by them? Truly, I am a fine sort of salt, fit only to be thrown\ninto the street and trampled under foot by the people. For certainly you\nmust have said what you did say in order to put me to shame--you have found\nout the right way to do that--but, at least, spare your own friends.\"\n\nI tried to excuse myself, alleging that what the Bishop of Saluces once\nsaid to him had suddenly come into my heads and that, quite without\npremeditation, the very same words escaped my lips, \"But,\" he replied, \"in\nthe pulpit such things must not escape our lips. I am quite aware that\nthis time they really did escape you, but you must not allow it to happen\nagain.\"\n\nI may here explain, for your benefit, what I meant by this reference to a\nsaying of the Bishop of Saluces. That holy prelate, who died in the odour\nof sanctity, and who was a disciple of Sr. Philip Neri, was an intimate\nfriend of our Blessed Father's.\n\nOn one occasion, when the latter was passing through Saluces on his way\nto the shrine of Our Lady of Montdeay, the good Bishop received him with\nevery mark of respect, and begged him to preach in his cathedral. After\nthe sermon, he said to him, \"My Lord, truly _tu Sal es; at ego, neque sal,\nneque lux_.\" That is to say, \"You are a true salt (_Sal es_), and I am\nneither salt nor light,\" alluding to the word Saluces (_Sal lux_), his\ndiocese.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: NOTE.--Another version says that it was St. Francis who\nanswered: \"On the contrary, _tu sal et lux_.\" See \"Vies de S. F. de Sales.\"\nby his nephew, Charles Auguste de Sales and Hamon. Also the life of Blessed\nJuvenal Ancina, the said Bishop of Saluces. [Ed.]]\n\n\nUPON CONTROVERSY.\n\nThe gentleness of his disposition made Blessed Francis averse to disputing,\neither in private or public, in matters of religion. Rather, he loved to\nhold informal and kindly conferences with any who had wandered from the\nright way; and by this means he brought back countless souls into the\nCatholic Church. His usual method of proceeding was this. He first of all\nlistened readily to all that his opponents had to say about their religion,\nnot showing any sign of weariness or contempt, however tired he might be\nof the subject. By this means he sought to incline them to give him in his\nturn some little attention. When, if only out of mere civility, he was\ngiven in his turn an opportunity of speaking, he did not lose a moment of\nthe precious time, but at once took up the subject treated by the heretic,\nor perhaps another which he considered more useful, and deduced from it\nbriefly, clearly, and very simply the truth of the Catholic belief, and\nthis without any air of contending, without a word which breathed of\ncontroversy, but neither more nor less than as if dealing in a catechetical\ninstruction with an Article of the Faith.\n\nIf interrupted by outcries and contemptuous expressions, he bore the\nannoyance with incredible patience, and, without showing himself disturbed\nin the least, continued his discourse as soon as ever an opportunity was\ngiven to him.\n\n\"You would never believe,\" he said, \"how beautiful the truths of our holy\nFaith appear to those who consider them calmly. We smother them when we\ntry to dress them up, and we hide them when we aim at rendering them too\nconspicuous. Faith is an infused, not a natural, knowledge; it is not a\nhuman science, but a divine light, by means of which we see things which,\nin the natural order, art invisible to us. If we try to teach it as human\nsciences are taught, by ocular demonstrations and by natural evidence, we\ndeceive ourselves; Faith is not to be found where human reason tries only\nto support itself by the experience of the senses.\n\n\"All the external proofs which can be brought to bear upon our opponents\nare weak, unless the Holy Spirit is at work in their soul's, teaching them\nto recognise the ways of God. All that has to be done is to propose to\nthem simply the truths of our Faith. To propose these truths is to compel\nmen to accept them, unless, indeed, they resist the Holy Spirit, either\nthrough dullness of understanding, or through uncircumcision of the heart.\nThe attaching over much importance to the light of natural reason is a\nquenching of the Spirit of God. Faith is not an acquired, but an infused\nvirtue; it must be treated with accordingly, and in instructing heretics we\nmust beware of taking to ourselves any part of the glory which belongs to\nGod alone.\n\n\"One of the greatest misfortunes of heretics is that their ministers in\ntheir discourses travesty our Faith, representing it as something quite\ndifferent from what it really is. For example, they pretend that we have\nno regard for Holy Scripture; that we worship the Pope as God; that we\nregard the Saints as divinities; that we hold the Blessed Virgin as being\nmore than Jesus Christ; that we pay divine worship to images and pictures;\nthat we believe souls in Purgatory to be suffering the selfsame agony and\ndespair as those in Hell; that we deprive the laity of participation in\nthe Blood of Jesus Christ; that we adore bread in the Eucharist; that we\ndespise the merits of Jesus Christ, attributing our salvation solely to the\nmerit of our good works; that auricular confession is mental torture; and\nso on, endeavouring by calumnies of this sort to discredit our religion\nand to render the very thought of it odious to those who are so thoroughly\nmisinformed as to its nature. When, on the contrary, they are made\nacquainted with our real belief on any of these points, the scales fall\nfrom their eyes, and they see that the fascination and cajolery of their\npreachers has hidden from them the truth as to God's goodness and the\nbeauty of God's truth, and has put darkness before them in the place of\nlight.\n\n\"It is true that at first they may shrug their shoulders, and laugh us to\nscorn; but when they have left us, and, being alone, reflect a little on\nwhat we have told them, you will see them flutter back like decoyed birds,\nsaying to us, 'We should like to hear you speak again about those things\nwhich you brought before us the other day.' Then they fall, some on the\nright hand, others on the left, and Truth, victorious on all sides, brings\nthem by different paths to know it as it really is.\"\n\nHe gave me many instances of conversions he had himself made in this manner\nduring his five years' mission in the Chablais.\n\nHe gave them to show how useful this mode of proceeding was, and how far\nmore helpful to souls than mere controversy can be.\n\n\nTHE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\n\nBlessed Francis did not approve of controversial sermons,[1] \"The Christian\npulpit,\" he used to say, \"is a place for improving of morals, not for\nwrangling about them, for instructing the faithful in the truth of their\nbelief, rather than for convincing of their error those who have separated\nthemselves from the Church. An experience of thirty years in the work of\nevangelising makes me speak thus. We made some trial of the controversial\nmethod, when God through us led back the Chablais to the Catholic Faith,\nbut when I attempted to throw my treating of controversial subjects in the\npulpit into the form of a discussion, it was never successful. In place\nof reclaiming our separated brethren, this method scares them away; when\nthey see that we are of set purpose attacking them, they instantly put\nthemselves on their guard; when we bring the lamp too close to their eyes,\nthey start back from the light. Nor have I ever observed that any of my\nfellow labourers in this work of the Lord were more successful in following\nout this plan, of fencing, as I may more justly call it, even though\nthey engaged in it with the utmost enthusiasm, and in a place where the\ncongregation all sang hymns together, and each one in his turn acted the\npreacher, each saying exactly what he liked, and no one taking any kind of\nofficial lead among them.\n\n\"But, in truth, this fencing was what St. Paul calls beating the air.[2] I\ndo not mean that we must not prove Catholic truths, and refute the contrary\nerrors; for the weapons of the spiritual armoury and of the Word of God are\npowerful to destroy all false teaching which rears itself up against the\ntruth, and to condemn disobedience to God; but we must not slash with our\nwords as desperate fencers do, but rather manage them dexterously, as does\na surgeon when using his lancet--he probes skilfully, so as to wound the\npatient as little as possible.\"\n\nAnd, indeed, Blessed Francis' way of dealing with this branch of theology,\nbristling with thorns as it does at every point, was so sweet and pleasant\nas to make it, as it were, blossom into roses. I could relate many\ninstances of the success of his preaching, without employing controversy,\nin bringing back wanderers from the fold, equally with other sinners, into\nthe Church.\n\nHe accomplished this by simply stating great truths, and bringing them home\nto his hearers. One of the most remarkable instances, perhaps, is that of\nthe Protestant lady, who hearing him preach on the Last Judgment at Paris\nin the year 1619, having been attracted more by curiosity than by any good\nmotive to listen to the sermon, there received that first flash of light\nwhich afterwards guided her into the bosom of the true Church, into which\nlater she was followed by all the members of her noble family, one that\nhas since given us many celebrated divines and preachers. This incident,\nhowever, with many more of the same kind, is fully related in the life of\nour Blessed Father. So successful was he with Protestants that Cardinal\ndu Perron used to say that if it were only a question of confounding the\nheretics, he thought he had found out the secret, but to convert them he\nfelt obliged to send for the Bishop of Geneva.\n\n[Footnote 1: Note.--It is more correct to say that St. Francis preferred\nmoral sermons to controversy.]\n[Footnote 2: 1 Cor. ix. 26.]\n\n\nUPON REASON AND REASONING.\n\nHe used to say that reason never deceives, but reasoning often does. When a\nperson went to him with some complaint, or about some troublesome business,\nhe would always listen most patiently and attentively to any reasons which\nwere put before him, and, being full of prudence and good judgment, he\ncould always discern between what had any bearing on the matter and what\nwas foreign to it. When, therefore, people began obstinately to defend\ntheir opinions by reasons, which, plausible though they might appear,\nreally carried no weight sufficient to secure a judgment, he would\nsometimes say very gently, \"Yes, I know quite well that these are your\nreasons, but do you know that all reasons are not reasonable?\" Someone on\none occasion having retorted that he might as well assert that heat was not\nwarm, he replied seriously, \"Reason and reasoning are two different things:\nreasoning is only the path leading to reason.\" Thus he would endeavour to\nbring the person who had strayed away from truth back to it. Truth and\nreason can never be separated, because they are one and the same thing.\n\n\nUPON QUOTING HOLY SCRIPTURE.\n\nSt. Charles Borromeo never read the Scriptures except on his knees, just\nas if he were listening to God speaking on Mount Sinai in thunder and\nlightning.\n\nBlessed Francis also would not allow the Bible to be treated with anything\nbut the most extreme reverence, whether in public speaking, in writing, or\nin private reading.\n\nHe was especially averse to that habit which some preachers have of\nplunging into the mystical meaning of a passage, whether allegorical or\nfigurative, before they have explained its literal sense. \"To do this,\" he\nsaid, \"is to build the roof of a house before laying the foundation. Holy\nScripture must be treated with more reverence and more consistency--it is\nnot material to be cut according to our fancy, and made into ornamental\ngarments such as fashion suggests.\"\n\n\nUPON POLITICAL DIPLOMACY.\n\nOn one occasion I expressed my surprise to our Blessed Father that his\nSerene Highness Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, who was one of the most\nexcellent Princes and foremost politicians of his age, should never have\nemployed him in his affairs, especially in those which regarded France,\nwhere they did not prosper.\n\nAs may be supposed, I explained the reason of my surprise, insisting that\nhis gentleness, patience, skill, and probity were certain to bring about\nthe desired result.\n\nHe listened in silence, and then answered with a seriousness and\nearnestness which put me to shame, \"You say too much, you exaggerate: you\nimagine that others esteem me as you do, you who are always looking at me\nthrough a magnifying glass. However, let us put that aside. As regards our\nPrince, my feeling is very different from yours, for in this very matter I\nconsider that he shows the excellence of his judgment.\n\n\"I will tell you why I speak and think this. In the first place, I have\nnot all that skill and prudence in the management of affairs with which\nyou credit me. Is it likely I should have? The mere words, human prudence,\nbusiness, politics, terrify me. That is not all. To speak frankly, I know\nnothing of the art of lying, dissimulating, or pretence, which latter is\nthe chief instrument and the mainspring of political manoeuvring; the art\nof arts in all matters of human prudence and of civil administration.\n\n\"Not for all the provinces of Savoy, of France, nay, not for the whole\nempire, would I connive at deceit. I deal with others frankly, in good\nfaith, and very simply; the words of my lips are the outcome of the\nthoughts of my heart. I cannot carry two faces under one hood; I hate\nduplicity with a mortal hatred, knowing that God holds the deceitful man in\nabomination. There are very few who, knowing me, do not at least discern\nthis much of my character. They therefore judge very wisely that I am by no\nmeans fit for an office in which you have to speak peace to your neighbour\nwhilst you are plotting mischief against him in your heart. Moreover, I\nhave always followed, as a heavenly, supreme, and divine maxim, those great\nwords of the Apostle: _No man being a soldier to God entangleth himself\nwith secular business that he may please Him to whom he hath engaged\nhimself._\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Tim. ii, 4.]\n\n\nUPON AMBITION.\n\nSt. Francis was truly like Aaron called to the pastoral charge by God\nalone, without his having used artifices or other means to procure himself\nsuch honour. This plainly appears from his life written by so many worthy\npersons.\n\nHis Bishopric was, indeed, no sinecure, being a most onerous burden. He\nsays of it himself in one of his letters:\n\n\"The affairs of this diocese are not streams, they are torrents which\ncannot be forded.\" Alluding to the words of the prophet: _And, it was a\ntorrent which I could not pass over_.[1]\n\nTowards the close of his life, when Madame Christina of France, the King's\nsister,[2] married His Serene Highness the Prince of Piedmont, heir to the\nDuke of Savoy, she wished to have Blessed Francis in some official position\nclose to her person, and, to effect this, proposed to make him her Grand\nAlmoner. Certain prelates who had been themselves hoping to obtain this\noffice, seeing their design thus frustrated, murmured bitterly, bursting\nforth into angry invectives against the Saint, as if by cabals, and\nintrigue, according to the custom of the world, he had succeeded in gaining\nthe post for himself. St. Francis, however, was merely amused by what he\ncalled the buzzing of flies, and wrote to one in whom he could confide:\n\n\"Her Highness and the Prince of Piedmont wish me to become the Princess's\nGrand Almoner, but you will believe me readily enough, I am sure, when I\ntell you that I neither, directly nor indirectly, have shown any wish to\nobtain this office. No, truly, my dearest Mother, I have no ambition save\nthat of being able to employ the remainder of my days usefully in the\nservice and to the honour of our Lord. Indeed, I hold courts in sovereign\ncontempt, because they are centres of the power of this world, which I\nabhor each day more and more--itself, its spirit, its maxims, and all its\nfollies.\"\n\n[Footnote 1: Ezech. xlvii. 5.]\n[Footnote 2: Louis XIII.]\n\n\nUPON COURTS AND COURTIERS.\n\nBlessed Francis did not hold the opinion of many that the courts of Princes\nare places the very atmosphere of which is so tainted as to infect all who\nfrequent them, and to be invariably prejudicial to the health and holiness\nof the soul.\n\nThose who describe a court in terms of this sort are usually very ignorant\non the subject. They speak of what they have never seen nor heard about\nfrom competent witnesses. A soul which has received the grace of God, and\npreserves it, can work out its salvation anywhere, nor is there any harmful\nintercourse so disease-laden that it cannot be overcome by this heavenly\nantidote, \"David, and after him St. Louis,\" says our Holy Bishop, \"in the\npress of the perils, toils, and travails which they endured, as well in\npeace as in war, did not cease to sing in truth: '_What have I in Heaven,\nand, besides Thee, what do I desire upon earth?_'\"[1]\n\n\"St. Bernard lost none of the ground which he desired to gain in this holy\nlove by passing much time in the courts and armies of great Princes where\nhe laboured to guide matters of state to the advancement of God's glory.\nHe changed his habitation, but he changed not his heart, nor did his\nheart change its love, nor his love its object; in fine, to speak his own\nlanguage, changes were made round about him, but not in him.\n\n\"His employments were different, yet he was indifferent to all employment,\nand different from them all, his soul not taking its colour from his\naffairs and conversations, as the chameleon does from the places where it\nis, but remaining ever wholly united to God, ever white in purity, ever red\nwith charity, and ever full of humility.\n\n\"I am not ignorant, Theotimus, of that wise man's counsel,\n\n  He ever flies the Court and legal strife\n  Who seeks to sow the seeds of holy life:\n  Rarely do camps effect the soul's increase,\n  Virtue and faith are daughters unto peace.\n\n\"And the Israelites had good reason to excuse themselves to the\nBabylonians, who urged them to sing the sacred Canticles of Sion: _How\nshall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?_[2] But do not forget\nthat those poor people were not only among the Babylonians, but were also\ntheir captives, and whoever is intent only on winning the favours of\nprinces, dignities, military honours, alas! he is lost, he cannot sing the\nhymn of heavenly love. But he who is at Court, in the army, at the bar,\nonly because it is his duty, God helps him, and heavenly sweetness is an\n_Epithem_ on his heart, to preserve him from the plague which rages round\nabout him.\n\n\"There are some kinds of fish, such as salmon, and the like, which, instead\nof losing their flavour, become better and more agreeable to the taste when\nthey forsake the salt water of the sea for the sweet water of rivers.\n\n\"Roses smell sweeter when planted near garlic, and in like manner there are\nsouls which grow more fervent in places where libertinism and irreligion\nseem to drag all virtue at their chariot wheels.\"[3]\n\nOur Blessed Father's piety was of this sort, for, knowing that he who is\nconsecrated to God should not entangle himself in the intrigues of the\nworld.[4] he speaks thus to one in whom he confided: \"I must confess that,\nas regards business, especially that of a worldly nature, I feel myself\nmore than ever to be nothing but a poor priest, having, thank God, learnt\nat court to be more simple and less worldly.\"\n\nTruly, we may say here with the wise man: _Who is he and we will praise\nhim? for he hath done wonderful things in his life._[5]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm lxxii. 25.]\n[Footnote 2: Psalm cxxxvi. 4.]\n[Footnote 3: _Love of God_. Book xii. c. 4.]\n[Footnote 4: 2 Tim. ii. 4.]\n[Footnote 5: Eccles. xxxi. 9.]\n\n\nUPON THE CARNIVAL.\n\nHis sad time each year was the Carnival, those days of disorder and licence\nwhich, like a torrent, carry away into excesses of one sort or another even\nthe staunchest and most fervent in their piety. He felt, indeed, like Job\nof old, who offered sacrifices and prayers, and afflicted both body and\nsoul with fasts and mortifications, while his children were passing their\ntime in revellings and banquetings.\n\nAs our Blessed Father was all things to all men, and weak with the weak, so\nhe also burned with the scandalised; and who would not be scandalised to\nsee the Pagan festival of the Bacchanalia celebrated among Christians? For\nthis very reason, as we know, the name of God is blasphemed by many, and\nthe Catholic religion unjustly blamed, as if it permitted what it cannot\nprevent, as if it commanded what it tolerates with reluctance, as if it\nordered what it detests and declaims against by the mouth of its preachers.\nPerhaps you would like to hear the words in which our Blessed Father pours\nforth his lamentations over this period of the year, so full of disorder\nand confusion.\n\n\"I must tell you,\" he says, \"that now I have come to my sorrowful time.\nFrom the Epiphany even to Lent my heart is full of strange sensations.\nMiserable and detestable as I am, I am weighed down with grief to see the\nloss of so much devotion, I mean the falling off of so many souls. These\ntwo last Sundays I have found our communions diminished by one-half. That\nhas grieved me very much, for even if those who made them do not give way\nto sin, why, and for what, do they now omit them? For nothing at all--out\nof mere vanity, it is that which grieves me.\"\n\n\nAN INSTANCE OF HIS COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS.\n\nThe Church inculcates on the Clergy perfect gentleness and kindness. This\nis why they may never take any part in anything involving bloodshed. His\nhaving shed the blood of a fellow man, even when required by the interests\nof justice, is considered a canonical irregularity, and deprives a Priest\nof the right to celebrate Holy Mass.\n\nBlessed Francis was remarkable for his gentleness and tender-heartedness\ntowards all creatures. I will give you a little instance of this.\n\nOne day he was at my house, when a nobleman of distinction called upon us.\nThis gentleman was at the head of a hunting party, and seeing in my orchard\na roebuck which had been given to me and which was peacefully feeding, he\nproposed, as he said, to amuse our Blessed Father by setting his dogs upon\nthe poor animal, and to confine the hunt to my orchard.\n\nThe good Bishop's remonstrances were in vain. But though he refused to go\nto the orchard, he could not avoid being a witness, however unwillingly, of\nwhat took place, as his room overlooked the ground. Great numbers of people\ncame to enjoy the spectacle; the horns were blown, the dogs barked, while\nthe poor roebuck, as if it knew who would fain have been its deliverer,\nbounding towards the window near which the Bishop was seated, seemed, like\na suppliant, to be imploring his help.\n\nBlessed Francis drew back, and begged as earnestly that the hunt might be\ngiven up as if he had been asking pardon for a criminal.\n\nHe did not see the end, for the animal was at once brought to bay and\ndespatched. They wanted him to see it when dead, but he did not deign so\nmuch as to look at it, and when the venison was served at table, he most\nunwillingly partook of the dish. \"Alas,\" he exclaimed, \"what hellish\npleasure! This is just how infuriated demons pursue poor souls by\ntemptations to sin, so as to precipitate them into the abyss of everlasting\ndeath, yet of that no one thinks.\"\n\n\nUPON HUNTING.\n\nBlessed Francis was sometimes taxed with over much good nature and\ngentleness, and was told that this was the cause of many disorders which\nwould not have occurred had he been more wholesomely severe. He, however,\nanswered calmly and sweetly that he had always in his mind the words of\nthe great St. Anselm, the glory of our Alps, among which he was born.\nThat Saint, he observed, was in the habit of saying that if he had to be\npunished either for being too indulgent or being over-rigorous, he would\nfar rather it should be for the former. He gave as his reason that judgment\nwith mercy would be meted out to the merciful, and that God would always\nhave more pity on the pitiful than on the rigorous. He went on to recall\nthat most sound maxim: Sovereign right is only sovereign injustice, and\nremarked that in Holy Scripture those pastors who were over-severe were\ninvariably blamed.\n\nOur Saint used always to say that sugar never yet spoilt any sauce, but\nthat too much salt or vinegar often did.\n\nHis speaking of St. Anselm's gentleness reminds me of the story told of the\nsame Saint by Blessed Francis in his Philothea. \"One day,\" he says, \"as he,\nSt. Anselm, was travelling, a hare, being closely run by the hounds which\npursued it, took refuge between his horse's feet, and the dogs remained\nyelping around unable to molest their prey in this its strange sanctuary.\nHis followers were highly entertained at so novel a spectacle, but Saint\nAnselm groaned and wept. 'Even thus,' said he, 'do the enemies of the soul\npursue it and drive it into all manner of sins, until at the last they can\nkill and devour it, and whilst the terrified soul seeks for some refuge and\nhelp, its enemies mock and laugh if it finds none.'\"[1]\n\nOur Blessed Father, following the example of the holy Archbishop, was\ninvariably kind and gentle, even with the brute creation. He not only\nhimself never did them harm, but he prevented, as far as he could, any\nbeing done to them by others, for he believed that those who thus inflict\npain on innocent creatures often, even at the risk of their own lives,\ndisplay a cruel and malevolent kind of courage. He went so far as to regard\nit as a venial sin to injure creatures for the sole pleasure of harming\nthem where no advantage of any sort would accrue to ourselves; his reason\nbeing that we in this way deprive them of the joy to be found in mere\nexistence bestowed upon them by God.\n\n\"What, then,\" he was asked, \"do you say to the chase, and to the killing\nof animals for the food of man?\" \"As regards the food of man,\" he replied,\n\"the very words you use justify the act, and it is that end which justifies\nthe chase.\" From this we may conclude that the mere pleasure of the chase\nwas not sufficient, in his opinion, to render lawful the indulging in it.\n\nAlthough he blamed the superstition of the Turks, who think that they\nacquire merit in the sight of God by lavishing kindness on senseless\nbrutes, even the most savage and cruel, such as wolves and lions, still he\nused to say that this pity had a good natural source, and that those who\nwere so compassionate to animals were likely to be no otherwise to men,\nnature teaching us not to despise our own flesh. In spite of these\nfeelings, he was very far from falling into those mistakes which casuists\nenumerate as the result of excess in gentleness and kindness.\n\nThe various writers of the life of Blessed Francis tell us how it was\ncommonly remarked that all animals by natural instinct seemed to recognise\nhis tender, compassionate feelings for them, and that when hunted and\npursued, they at once took refuge with him, witness the pigeons, which at\ndifferent times when he was saying the Divine Office, flew for safety and\nshelter into his very hands.\n\n[Footnote 1: _Devout Life_. Part II. c. 13.]\n\n\nUPON THE FEAR OF GHOSTS.\n\nFear is a natural passion, which, like all the others, is in itself neither\nbad nor good, but bad when it is excessive and disquieting, good when it\nis subordinate to reason. There are some who, because naturally timid and\napprehensive, would never dare to speak in public. Others are so afraid\nof thunder and lightning that they faint in a storm. Others are afraid of\nnoises at night, and have a horror of darkness and solitude. Others, again,\nhave so great a fear of ghosts and apparitions that they dare not sleep\nalone in a room.\n\nI have been told, on good authority, that one of our Bravest and most\ndistinguished Generals, who went to battle as gaily and confidently as he\nwould go to a marriage, declared that he could never suffer his valet,\nafter settling him for the night, to leave his sleeping apartment, it being\nquite impossible for him to sleep when left alone at night. Our Blessed\nFather writes in the following consoling manner to a pious person who\nsuffered from the weakness of being afraid of ghosts:\n\n\"I am told,\" he says, \"that you are afraid of spirits. The Sovereign Spirit\nof our God is everywhere, and without His Will or permission no other\nspirit dare stir. Those who fear this Divine Spirit ought not to fear\nany other. You are beneath His wings, like a little chicken under those\nof its mother; what do you fear? In my youth I, too, was a prey to these\nimaginations, and in order to get the better of them I forced myself\nwhen quite a child to go alone into places which my fancy had peopled\nwith fantastic terrors. I went alone, I say, but my heart was armed with\nconfidence in God. Now I am grown so strong in this confidence that\ndarkness and the solitude of the night are delightful to me, since in\nsolitude I realise better the all-embracing Presence of God. The good\nangels are there round about us like a company of soldiers on guard. _The\ntruth of God_, says the Psalmist, _shall compass thee with a shield; thou\nshall not be afraid of the terror of night_.[1]\n\n\"This feeling of safety you will acquire little by little, in proportion\nas the grace of God grows in you: for grace engenders confidence, and\nconfidence is never confounded.\"\n\nSee how, with this timid, fearful soul, he makes himself weak and infirm.\nIf I may be permitted to add to this great example my own poor and\nworthless experience, I would say that when I was young I was greatly\nafflicted with this weakness. It was indeed, perhaps, the chief impediment\nto my entering the Order of St. Bruno, which is, in my opinion, the\nholiest, as it certainly is the most retired and the most steadfast of all\nthe religious orders. I, however, lost this infirmity as soon as I had\nreceived the imposition of hands from the Blessed Francis de Sales, and I\nmay add that Almighty God permitted me to succeed, in the episcopal chair,\nthree Saints of that order which I revered so much, namely, Saints Artauld,\nAudace, and Anthelme.[2]\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xi. 5.]\n[Footnote 2: Six Carthusians occupied the See of Belley: Ponce de\nBalmay, St. Anthelme, Raynauld, St. Arthaut, Bernard, and Bd. Boniface\nof Savoy. (_Tr\u00e9sor de Chronologie, Chez Palm\u00e9, Paris, 1880_).\nAudace, first Bp. of Belley, was not canonised, nor was he a Carthusian.]\n\n\nHIS PORTRAIT.\n\nI have known great servants of God who would not on any account allow their\nportraits to be painted, imagining that their doing so must involve some\ndegree of vanity and dangerous self-complacency. Our Blessed Father was not\nof this opinion, but, making himself all things to all men that he might\nwin all to Jesus Christ, he made no objection to having his portrait taken\nwhen asked to do so. He gave as his reason that since we are obliged by the\nlaw of holy charity to communicate to our neighbour the representation of\nour mind, imparting to him without dissimulation or jealousy what we have\nlearnt concerning the science of salvation, so we ought to be still less\nniggardly in pleasing our friends by placing before their eyes the picture\nof our outward self which they so earnestly desire to have.\n\nIf we see, not only without annoyance, but even with pleasure, our books,\nwhich are the portraits of our minds, in the hands of our fellow men, why\ngrudge them the picture of our countenance, if it contribute anything to\ntheir satisfaction. On this subject he expresses himself as follows in one\nof his letters: \"Here, then, is the picture of the earthly man, for I am\nunwilling to refuse you anything which you desire.\n\n\"I am told that my portrait has never been really well painted. That, I\nthink, matters very little, _surely man passeth as an image. Yea, and he is\ndisquieted in vain._[1]\n\n\"I borrowed it in order to send it to you, for I have not myself got my\nown portrait. Ah! if the image of my Creator were imprinted in all its\nsplendour on my soul, how gladly would I let you see it!\n\n  \"_O Jesu, tuo lumine, luo redemptos sanguine,\n  sana, refove, perfice, tibi conformes, effice. Amen._\"\n\nThus did he turn every subject into an occasion of elevating the soul to\nGod.\n\n[Footnote 1: Psalm xxxviii. 7]\n\n\nUPON BLESSED FRANCIS' TRUE CHARITY.\n\nSince charity was the animating motive of all that our Holy Bishop thought,\nsaid, or did, and since it was in truth his very spirit, we cannot better\nclose these reminiscences of that saintly spirit than by quoting the words\nof the Prince of the Apostles: _Before all things have a constant charity\namong yourselves, for charity covers a multitude of sins. Let every one\nbehave himself according to the dispensation of grace. If any man speak,\nlet him speak as the words of God. If any man minister, let him do it as\nof the power which God administers, that in all things God may be honoured\nthrough Jesus Christ, to whom is glory and empire for ever and ever.\nAmen._[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: 1 Peter iv. 8, 10, 11.]\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":143903}