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3o«6 2.  CULL.  GHftlSTI  SEGiS  S / 

BIB. 


DIRECTORIUM    ASCETICUMj 

OR, 

,4 
GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE, 


*»•  \i 


THE 


DlRECTORIUM    ASCETICUM; 

OR, 

GUIDE   TO   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE. 


BY 

JOHN  BAPTIST  SCARAMELLI,  S.J. 


Ihtblisfub  in  Italian,    'Cntnslfticb  anb  (Ebitcb  at 
«St.  @tnm'*  (Holiest,  &orth 


WITH  PREFACE 

BY 

HIS  EMINENCE  THE  MOST  REV. 
CARDINAL    ARCHBISHOP    MANNING. 

COLL  CHRIST!  REGIS  S.J. 
BIB.  MAJOR 


IN     FOUR    VOLUMES. 
VOL.  I. 


9  5  T6  v     i 

R.  &  T.  WASHBOURNE, 
4    PATERNOSTER     ROW,     LONDON. 

BENZIGER  BROS.  :    NEW  YORK,    CINCINNATI   AND    CHICAGO. 
1902. 


NOTICE    BY  THE   EDITOR. 


JOHN  BAPTIST  SCARAMELLI  was  born  at  Rome  in  the 
year  1688.  Having  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  he  was 
employed  for  more  than  thirty  years  in  the  apostolic 
ministry,  and  was  everywhere  distinguished  for  his  great 
zeal,  and  for  the  profound  knowledge  he  displayed  of  the 
ways  of  the  interior  life.  He  died  at  Macerata  in  1752. 

The  works  of  Father  Scaramelli  on  spiritual  subjects  are 
widely  known,  and  maintain  the  reputation  which  their 
author  enjoyed  during  his  life.  In  particular,  his  "  Diret- 
torio  Ascetico "  has  been  more  than  once  reprinted  in 
Italian  within  the  last  few  years,  and  has  been  translated 
into  French,  German,  and  Spanish.  The  present  is  the 
first  English  version  that  has  been  published  of  this  cele 
brated  work. 

The  "  Guide  to  the  Spiritual  Life,"  as  it  is  called  in  this 
edition,  although  more  immediately  addressed  to  Directors 
of  souls,  may  be  used  with  advantage  by  all  Christians 
who  aspire  to  perfection.  The  author  himself  makes  this 
remark  in  his  Preface  or  Introduction.  It  is  essentially  a 
practical  work,  being  intended  to  supply  a  defect  which 
the  author  observed  in  the  treatises  of  previous  writers. 


VI  NOTICE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 

These  had  indeed  delivered  excellent  maxims  of  perfec 
tion,  but  not  in  such  a  form  as  to  be  immediately  applicable 
to  the  wants  of  individual  souls.  Father  Scaramelli  has  not 
failed  to  set  forth  the  scientific  or  theological  basis  of  each 
branch  of  his  subject,  following  in  the  main  the  doctrine  of 
St.  Thomas  ;  but  he  has  always  kept  before  his  eyes  the 
needs  of  those  priests  who  desire  to  have  some  assistance 
in  directing  souls  called  to  something  higher  than  the 
ordinary  Christian  life. 

One  of  the  objects  carefully  kept  in  view  in  the  pre 
paration  of  this  edition,  has  been  to  preserve  the  theological 
exactness  of  the  author.  But  fidelity  to  the  original,  even 
in  the  minuter  details,  has  been  studied  throughout.  Many 
reasons,  it  is  true,  suggested  themselves,  why  numerous,  if 
not  important,  alterations  should  be  made.  Scaramelli's 
writings  partake  of  the  peculiarities — it  may  not  be  too 
bold  to  say  the  defects — of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
Some  oil  the  stories,  told  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
spiritual  writers  of  his  time,  in  illustration  of  the  principles 
laid  down,  are  taken  from  authors  whose  want  of  criticism 
is  as  undeniable  as  their  piety  is  beyond  dispute.  Anec 
dotes,  too,  are  related  with  a  diffuseness  of  style  popular 
when  Scaramelli  lived,  and  useful  enough  to  fix  his  teach 
ing  in  the  minds  of  general  readers,  but  which,  owing  to  the 
hurry  and  high  pressure  of  modern  life,  sometimes  severely 
tries  the  patience  of  those  who  have  little  leisure.  Again, 
the  references  given  to  Fathers  of  the  Church  and  other 
writers  are  often  inexact,  and  works  are  attributed  to  per 
sons  who  are  now  universally  considered  not  to  be  their 
authors.  The  editions,  also,  of  St.  Thomas  which  the  Jesuit 
Father  had  at  his  command,  were  such  only  as  the  poverty 


NOTICE  BY  THE  EDITOR.  Vli 

of  the  house  or  College  of  the  Society  in  which  he  hap 
pened  to  reside  could  place  at  his  disposal.  Hence  his 
quotations  from  the  Angelic  Doctor— as  he  intimates  in  his 
Preface — are  clumsily  given :  double  references  being 
occasionally  made  when  one  would  have  sufficed. 

For  these  reasons  it  was  at  first  intended  to  omit  or 
abbreviate  some  of  the  stories,  to  give  some  critical  re 
marks  in  foot-notes  concerning  spurious  quotations,  and 
to  cite  St.  Thomas  from  the  most  approved  editions.  It 
has,  however,  on  maturer  consideration,  been  thought 
better  and  more  honest  to  present  Scaramelli's  work  in  the 
form  in  which  it  issued  from  his  hands,  so  that  all  who 
cannot  read  the  Italian  original  may  know  it  in  the 
English  translation,  as  it  is,  with  all  its  excellences  and 
all  its  faults. 


PREFACE. 

BY  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  WESTMINSTER 
(NOW    CARDINAL  MANNING). 


OF  all  the  names  which  the  Son  of  God  assumed  with  our 
Manhood,  none  is  more  full  of  love,  patience,  and  tender 
ness  than  the  name  of  the  "  Good  Shepherd."  It  implies 
more  than  Kinsman,  Brother,  or  Friend.  These  express 
His  relations  of  consanguinity  and  love  to  us.  But  the 
name  of  "  Shepherd  "  implies  care,  oversight,  guidance,  and 
protection.  And  the  "  Good  Shepherd  "  implies  a  special 
and  singular  generosity  and  fidelity  in  this  office  of  divine 
charity.  The  Shepherd  is  the  Physician  also  of  His  Flock. 
He  provides  it  not  only  with  pasture,  but  with  healing. 
Such  He  intends  His  Pastors  to  be  to  His  universal  Flock. 
Our  Divine  Lord,  by  the  great  commission  given  to  St. 
Peter  in  the  words,  Feed  My  Sheep— feed  My  Lambs,  in 
vested  him  also  with  the  office  of  the  "  Good  Shepherd." 
He  made  St.  Peter  the  Pastor  of  the  World  ;  and  intrusted 
all  redeemed  souls  to  his  care.  This  charge  gave  to  the 
Apostle  two  divine  gifts, — the  power  of  jurisdiction  and 
the  grace  of  the  pastoral  office  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  cure  of 
souls  and  the  science  for  its' discharge.  From  this  one 


Preface. 

Supreme  Fountain  the  pastoral  office  and  the  cure  of  souls 
spreads  throughout  the  Church.  It  is  the  highest  trust 
ever  committed  to  man.  The  supreme  power  of  civil 
government — including  the  power  of  life  and  death — is  of 
an  order  inferior  to  the  spiritual  government  of  souls  and 
to  the  power  of  the  Keys.  To  bear  authority  over  souls  ; 
to  be  guides  of  the  intelligence,  directors  of  the  conscience, 
supporters  of  the  will  of  men  ;  to  have  the  power  of  bind, 
ing  and  of  loosing,  and,  to  that  end,  of  discerning  and  of 
judging  the  state  of  souls  before  God  ;  to  sit  in  the  tribunal 
of  Penance,  and,  as  in  God's  stead,  to  know  the  inmost  heart ; 
all  this  constitutes  a  charge  which  transcends  all  authority 
on  earth,  as  the  soul  in  worth  transcends  the  body,  as 
eternity  transcends  time.  Such,  then,  is  the  pastoral  office. 
It  is  laid  first  and  in  chief  upon  the  Successor  of  Peter, 
and  through  him  upon  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  :  by  these 
it  is  distributed  to  such  as,  under  them,  have  the  cure  of 
souls ;  that  is,  the  responsibility  to  give  account  of  them 
by  number  and  by  name  to  the  Great  Shepherd  of  the 
Christian  Fold.  It  is  of  faith  that,  for  the  discharge  of 
such  an  office,  a  proportionate  grace  is  given,  of  light,  and 
of  charity.  Our  Lord  has  provided  for  the  Pastors  of  the 
Church  a  special  discernment  and  direction.  Besides  the 
sacramental  grace  of  the  Priesthood,  which  is  ever  fresh 
and  present  in  all  the  duties  and  trials  of  the  sacerdotal 
life,  there  is  a  gratia  status  for  those  who,  together  with 
the  Priesthood,  are  invested  with  pastoral  care.  This  grace 
contains  a  special  exercise  of  the  Seven  Gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  which  the  intellect  and  the  will  are  made  per 
fect  :  for  a  Pastor  has  need  above  all  men  of  holy  fear, 
piety,  and  fortitude  in  the  will ;  and  for  the  intelligence,  of 


Preface.  xi 

the  speculative  gifts  of  intellect  and  wisdom,  and  of  the 
practical  gifts  of  knowledge  and  of  counsel.  It  is  certain 
that  all  grace  proportionate  to  the  difficulty  and  the  danger 
of  the  office  of  watching  over  the  souls  of  men,  is  given  to 
us  by  our  Divine  Master.  But  this  grace  demands  of  us  a 
diligent  and  conscientious  cultivation.  We  must  know  the 
Science  of  God,  His  laws  and  operations  in  the  spiritual 
life  of  souls.  St.  Gregory  begins  his  book  on  the  Pastoral 
Care  by  these  words  : — "  No  one  presumes  to  teach  an  art 
unless  he  have  first  learned  it  by  intent  application.  It  is 
a  great  temerity,  for  Pastors  who  are  unskilled,  to  assume 
the  pastoral  office,  for  the  government  of  souls  is  the  Art 
of  Arts."* 

The  Physician  and  the  Priest  who  venture  to  deal  with 
the  diseases  of  body  or  soul  without  adequate  knowledge, 
sin  mortally.  The  words  "  Medice,  cura  teipsum  "  ought  to 
be  always  in  our  ears.  This  may  well  inspire  those  who 
have  the  care  of  souls  with  fear  and  self-mistrust.  How 
shall  they  heal  the  maladies  of  others,  if  they  do  not  know 
how  to  discern  the  symptoms  of  disease,  nor  what  remedies 
to  apply  ?  In  the  endless  variety  of  spiritual  ailments,  it 
needs  a  practical  discernment  to  distinguish  between  lep 
rosy  and  leprosy.  But  a  Pastor  has  a  harder  task  than 
this.  He  must  be  the  guide  and  counsellor  of  those  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  calling  to  perfection.  How  shall  he 
fulfil  this  duty  if  he  be  not,  both  by  science  and  by  ex 
perience,  able  to  discern  the  workings  and  the  will  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  ?  For  all  this,  not  only  study  and  science 
but  an  interior  spirit  and  a  practised  touch  are  needed.  It 
is  a  fearful  thought,  that  we  are  to  some  an  odour  of  life 

*  S.  Greg.,  Reg.  Pastor.  Offic.  c.  I. 


-xii  Preface. 

unto  life,  and  to  others  an  odour  of  death  unto  death  ;*  and 
for  these  things  who  is  sufficient  ?  But  sufficiency ',  as  the 
Apostle  says,  is  of  God.  He  that  had  compassion  on  the 
multitude  because  they  had  nothing  to  eat,  still  stands  in  the 
wilderness,  breaking,  blessing,  and  multiplying  the  few 
loaves  which  we  in  our  scantiness  bring  to  Him.  But  He 
makes  them  enough  and  to  spare.  The  bread  of  life  never 
fails,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  simplest  Pastor,  who  seeks  it 
from  his  Master's  hand,  all  that  is  needed  for  the  life, 
health,  perfection  of  His  flock,  is  given  abundantly.  The 
"  Good  Shepherd  "  gives  to  His  Pastors  all  that  His  sheep 
require.  The  humblest  Pastor,  if  he  keep  close  to  the 
Great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  shall  never  fail  to  give  all 
that  his  flock  can  need. 

The  science  by  which  we  are  directed  in  this  Art  of 
Arts,  has  three  chief  divisions, — Moral,  Ascetical,  and 
Mystical.  Moral  Theology  is  the  exposition  of  the  Divine 
Law,  in  its  relation  to  conscience.  Ascetical  Theology 
treats  of  the  earlier  stages  of  spiritual  life,  namely,  penance 
and  mortification  ;  and  Mystical  Theology,  of  the  higher 
and  more  perfect,  that  is,  union  with  God  by  prayer  and 
contemplation.  This  threefold  division  is  rough,  and  not 
precise ;  for  in  some  degree  all  these  three  parts  of 
Theology  apply  to  all  the  stages,  and  are  mingled  together 
in  direction  at  every  period  of  the  spiritual  life.  Never 
theless,  they  have  each  a  special  application,  and  a  peculiar 
ascendency  in  the  three  successive  states  of  the  soul, 
which  may  be  described  as  its  purification,  illumination, 
and  union  with  God.  Scaramelli's  Ascetical  and  Mystical 
Directories  treat,  with  great  clearness  and  detail,  of  the 

*  2  Cor,  ii.  16. 


Preface.  xiii 

higher  stages  of  the  spiritual  life ;  yet  they  are  of  a  kind 
so  practical,  as  to  be  a  benefit  to  all  persons  who  will 
diligently  study  them.  They  are  admirably  fitted  for 
Seminaries,  and  once  well  mastered,  they  will  supply  our 
pastoral  clergy  with  a  copious  store  of  rules,  maxims,  and 
counsels,  for  the  instruction  and  guidance  of  their  flocks. 

It  only  remains  to  give  thanks  to  those  members  of  St. 
Beuno's  College  who  have  helped  to  translate  the  Ascetical 
Directory,  especially  to  the  Rev.  Father  Eyre,  to  whose 
careful  editing  the  present  volume  owes  its  completeness 
and  accuracy ;  and  heartily  to  commend  this  book  to  our 
Seminaries,  and  to  our  Clergy  at  large. 

HENRY  EDWARD, 
Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

October  8,  1869, 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.   I. 


FAGS 

INTRODUCTION I 

SECTION  I. 
MEANS  TO  ARRIVE  AT  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION. 

ARTICLE    I. 

ESSENTIAL  PERFECTION,  AND  INSTRUMENTAL  PERFECTION — 
IN  WHAT  THEY  CONSIST — VARIOUS  DEGREES  OF  CHRIS 
TIAN  PERFECTION— DIVISION  OF  THE  WORK. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE     ESSENCE     OF     CHRISTIAN     PERFECTION   CONSISTS     IN    CHARITY 

TOWARDS   GOD  AND   OUR  NEIGHBOUR  ,  4  7 

CHAPTER  II. 

CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION  IS  CONSTITUTED  BY  THE  MORAL  VIRTUES 
AND  THE  COUNSELS  ;  WHENCE  IS  DEDUCED  THE  ORDER  AND 
ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  WORK ,  l6 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PERFECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  WHICH  HAS  BEEN  DESCRIBED 
IS  DIVIDED  INTO  THREE  GRADES — THESE  FORM  THREE  STATES 
OF  PERFECTION — FULLER  LIGHT  IS  THROWN  UPON  THE  DOC 
TRINE  AND  DIVISION  GIVEN  IN  THE  PRECEDING  CHAPTERS  .  29 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

FAGB 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS    TO   DIRECTORS    ON    THE   SUBJECT   OF   THE 

PRECEDING    CHAPTERS •  35 


ARTICLE  II. 

THE  DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  IS  THE  FIRST  MEANS  FOR  ITS 
ATTAINMENT;  AND  THIS  DESIRE  MUST  NEVER  RELAX, 
BUT  TEND  ALWAYS  TO  HIGHER  PERFECTION — THE 
MOTIVES  WHICH  EXCITE  AND  INCREASE  SUCH  DESIRE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  THE  DESIRE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION  IS  THE  MOST  NECES 
SARY  MEANS  FOB  ITS  ATTAINMENT  40 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE     FIRST     MOTIVE     TO    EXCITE    A    DESIRE    OF  PERFECTION— THE 

OBLIGATION  ALL  ARE  UNDER  TO  BECOME  PERFECT  .  .  45 

CHAPTER  III. 

SECOND  MOTIVE  TO  INCITE  DESIRES  OF  PERFECTION — THE  NECES 
SITY  OF  STRIVING  AFTER  IT,  AS  A  MEANS  NOT  ONLY  OF 
PERFECTION,  BUT  ALSO  OF  SALVATION 54 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY  FOR  ITS  ATTAINMENT — WE  MUST 
NEVER  RELAX,  BUT  STRIVE  CONSTANTLY  AFTER  HIGHER  PER 
FECTION  60 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    MEANS    OF   MAINTAINING    AND    INCREASING    OUR    DESIRES    OF 

PERFECTION 7O 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS    TO     DIRECTORS     TOUCHING     THE     FIRS'*, 

SECOND,    AND   THIRD    CHAPTERS   OF  THIS   ARTICLE     ...  77 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

CHAPTER  VII.  I>AGE 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TOUCHING  THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CHAP- 

TERS  OF  THIS  ARTICLE •  8$ 


ARTICLE  III. 

THE   SECOND   MEANS  TO  ACQUIRE  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION 
IS  THE  CHOICE  OF  A  GOOD  DIRECTOR. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE  IN  ORDER  TO  WALK  WITH  SECURITY  ON 
THE  ROAD  TO  PERFECTION,  SHOWN  FROM  SCRIPTURE  AND  THE 
HOLY  FATHERS  93 

CHAPTER  II. 

REASONS  SHOWING  THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE,  THAT  WE  MAY  WALK 

SAFELY  IN  THE  ROAD  TO  PERFECTION IO2 

CHAPTER  III. 

FOR  WHAT   GIFTS   THE   PERSON  AIMING  AT  PERFECTION   MUST  LOOK 

IN  A  DIRECTOR,    IF  HE  WISH   TO   MAKE  A  GOOD   CHOICE   .  .         IO9 

CHAPTER  IV. 

WITH  WHAT  CANDOUR  AND    OPENNESS    OF    SOUL   WE  MUST  CONFER 

WITH  OUR   DIRECTOR ,114 

CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS    FOR    THE    DIRECTOR    AS  TO   HIS  DEALINGS 

WITH  SUCH  AS  PLACE  THEMSELVES    UNDER  HIS   DIRECTION         .         123 


ARTICLE    IV. 

THIRD  MEANS  OF  ACQUIRING  PERFECTION— THE  READING 
OF  SPIRITUAL  BOOKS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  READING   SPIRITUAL   BOOKS    PROVED   FROM   THS 

AUTHORITY  OF  THE  HOLY  FATHERS      .          .          .          ,          .  .133 

b 


*viii  COiN  TENTS. 

PADS 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  SPIRITUAL  READING,  SHOWN  MORE  IN  PARTI 
CULAR,  BOTH  AT  THE  ENTRANCE  ON  THE  PATH  OF  PERFECTION 
AND  AFTER  SOME  PROGRESS  HAS  BEEN  MADE  ....  139 

CHAPTER  III. 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  ON  THE  METHOD  TO  BE  PURSUED  IN 
SPIRITUAL  READING,  IN  ORDER  THAT  WE  MAY  DRAW  FROM  IT 
THE  GREATEST 'SPIRITUAL  PROFIT  .  .  .  ,  •  .  146 


ARTICLE    V. 

FOURTH  MEANS  OF  ACQUIRING  PERFECTION— MEDITATION 
ON  THE  MAXIMS  OF  OUR   FAITH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  MEDITATION  IS  A  MEANS  OF  GREAT  IMPORTANCE  FOR  THE 
KEEPING  OF  GOD'S  COMMANDMENTS  IN  THEIR  SUBSTANCE,  AND 
ABSOLUTELY  NECESSARY  FOR  THEIR  PERFECT  OBSERVANCE  .  151 

CHAPTER  II. 

PREPARATION  FOR  MEDITATION  .,  .          •  t  ..163 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  PORTION   OF   MEDITATION   WHICH  IMMEDIATELY   FOLLOWS  THE 

PREPARATION I7O 

CHAPTER   IV. 

SOME  DIFFICULTIES  REMOVED  WHICH  PREVENT  MANY  FROM  TAKING 
UP,  AND  OTHERS  FROM  CONTINUING,  THE  PRACTICE  OF  MEDI 
TATION  ......  177 

CHAPTER  V. 

TWO    OTHER    DIFFICULTIES    WHICH    LEAD    MANY   TO    GIVE   UP    THE 

PRACTICE  OF  MEDITATION iSj 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS    TO    THE   DIRECTOR   ON    THE   FIRST    THREE 

CHAPTERS  OF  THE  PRESENT  ARTICLE  .  •  •        IQ2 

CHAPTER   VII. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  THE  DIRECTOR  ON  THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH 
CHAPTERS,  INASMUCH  AS  THEY  RELATE  TO  DRYNESS  AND  CON 
SOLATION  IN  PRAYER  ......  •  203 


CONTENTS.  xix 

PAGE 

ARTICLE    VI. 

FIFTH    MEANS    OF     ACQUIRING     CHRISTIAN   PERFECTION- 
MENTAL  AND   VOCAL  PRAYER. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  WITHOUT  PRAYER  IT  IS    IMPOSSIBLE  TO  ATTAIN   TO    ETERNAL 

SALVATION,  AND  MUCH  LESS  TO  PERFECTION  ....         2O/ 

CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT  THINGS  SHOULD  FORM  THE  OBJECTS  OF  OUR  PRAYER  .  .217 

CHAPTER   III. 
HOW   MUCH    THE    PRAYER    OF    PETITION    AVAILS    TO    OBTAIN    FROM 

GOD  WHAT  WE  DESIRE  ........         22$ 

CHAPTER;  iv. 

THE   CONDITIONS    THAT    MUST    ACCOMPANY   PRAYER   IN  ORDER  THAT 

IT  MAY  HAVE  THE  EFFICACY  EXPLAINED  ABOVE   ....         231 

CHAPTER  V. 

ON  VOCAL  PRAYER — HOW  FAR  IT  IS  OF  OBLIGATION— IN  WHAT 
MANNER  IT  SHOULD  BE  MADE  IN  ORDER  THAT  IT  MAY  BEAR 
FRUIT 241 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THREE  SORTS  OF  ATTENTION  SUITABLE  IN  PRAYER       .  •  .  .         245 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO   DIRECTORS   ON   THE  SUBJECT  OF  VOCAL 

PRAYER 250 


ARTICLE  VII. 

ON  THE   PRESENCE  OF  GOD. 

CHAPTER  I. 

SCRIPTURE  PROOFS  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN  EFFICACY  OF  THE  SENSE  OF 
GOD'S  PRESENCE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  SPEEDILY  ATTAINING  TO  PER 
FECTION — GENERAL  REASONS  FOR  THIS  .....  256 

CHAPTER   II. 

PARTICULAR  ARGUMENTS  TO  PROVE  THE   GREAT  EFFICACY   OF   GOD'S 

PRESENCE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING  PERFECTION         .  .  .         26l 


xx  CONTENTS. 

MM 

CHAPTER  III. 

OTHER  REASONS  TO  PROVE  THE  EFFICACY  OF  THE  DIVINE  PRESENCE 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING  PERFECTION 267 

CHAPTER  IV. 

VARIOUS    METHODS    OF  DEVOUTLY    AND  PROFITABLY    CULTIVATING 

THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD ,  .        272 

CHAPTER  V. 

CERTAIN  METHODS  FOR  RENDERING  MORE  EASY  THE  EXERCISE  OF 
GOD'S  PRESENCE  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  OUR  EXTERIOR  EMPLOY' 
MENTS 278 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO    DIRECTORS  ON    THE    SUBJECT    OF    THE 

EXERCISE  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD     ......        284 


ARTICLE   VIII. 

SEVENTH  MEANS  FOR  ATTAINING  TO  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION 
— SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION  MADE  FREQUENTLY  AND 
WITH  DUE  DISPOSITIONS. 

CHAPTER   I. 
THAT    SACRAMENTAL    CONFESSION     MADE    FREQUENTLY   IS   A    MOST 

EFFECTUAL  MEANS  OF  SPEEDILY  ATTAINING  TO  PERFECTION          .        2QO 

CHAPTER  II. 

C.ONDITIONS  REQUIRED  FOR  SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION  IN  ORDER 
THAT  IT  MAY  PRODUCE  THAT  CLEANNESS  OF  HEART  WHICH  IS 
THE  PROXIMATE  DISPOSITION  TO  PERFECTION — EXPLANATION 
OF  THE  FIRST  CONDITION 296 

CHAPTER  III. 

SECOND   AND   THIRD    CONDITIONS   REQUIRED   FOR  CONFESSION,  THAT 

IT  MAY  BRING  TO  THE  SOUL  THE  DESIRED  DEGREE  OF  PURITY      .         302 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CONDITIONS  REQUIRED  IN  ORDER  THAT 
CONFESSION  MAY  LEAD  TO  PERFECTION  THROUGH  EXQUISITE 
PURITY  OF  SOUL 306 


CONTENTS,  xxi 

PACK 

CHAPTER  V. 

WHETHER  GENERAL  CONFESSIONS  HELP  US  TO  ACQUIRE  CLEANNESS 

OF  HEART,   AND  CONSEQUENTLY  TO  ATTAIN  TO  PERFECTION      .        312 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  DIRECTORS  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  FORE 
GOING  CHAPTERS 318 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CERTAIN  DIFFICULTIES  WHICH  DETER  PRIESTS  FROM  UNDERTAKING 
THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEARING  CONFESSIONS,  OR  WHICH  MAKE 
THEM  WITHDRAW  FROM  IT  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  324 


ARTICLE    IX. 

EIGHTH    MEANS    OF    ATTAINING   TO  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION- 
DAILY  EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

CHAPTER   I. 

THAT  DAILY  EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE  IS  A  MOST  IMPORTANT 
MEANS  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION,  IS  SHOWN  FROM  THE 
AUTHORITY  OF  THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  CHURCH  .  .  .  334 

CHAPTER  II. 

REASONS  WHICH  MADE  THE  SAINTS  LOOK  UPON  DAILY  EXAMINA 
TION  OF  CONSCIENCE  AS  MOST  NECESSARY 339 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  MANNER  OF  MAKING  THE  DAILY  EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE 

EXPLAINED 348 

CHAPTER  IV. 

ON    THE     PARTICULAR    EXAMINATION — ITS    ADVANTAGES    FOR    THE 

ATTAINING  OF  PERFECTION — THE    METHOD   OF  MAKING  IT          .         355 

CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL   HINTS  TO   DIRECTORS   ON   THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  PRESENT 

ARTICLE 360 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

ARTICLE    X. 

NINTH  MEANS  FOR  ATTAINING  PERFECTION- 
FREQUENT    COMMUNION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HOLY  COMMUNION   THE    CHIEF    MEANS    FOR  ATTAINING    CHRISTIAN 

PERFECTION 365 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  SALUTARY  EFFECTS  PRODUCED  BY  HOLY  COMMUNION  FURTHER 
DEMONSTRATE  THAT  IT  IS  THE  CHIEF  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING 
PERFECTION 371 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE     PROXIMATE     DISPOSITIONS    WITH    WHICH    THE    DEVOUT    SOUL 

SHOULD   PREPARE  FOR  HOLY  COMMUNION 380 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HOW  FREQUENTLY  THE  FAITHFUL  SHOULD  GO  TO  HOLY  COM 
MUNION,  AND  WHETHER,  IN  THE  CASE  OF  .SECULARS,  THIS 
FREQUENCY  MAY  BE  EXTENDED  TO  DAILY  COMMUNION.  .  387 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE   PRACTICAL    RESULTS    OF    THE    DOCTRINE    DEVELOPED    IN    THE 

FOREGOING    CHAPTER    CONCERNING    DAILY    COMMUNION     .  .         393 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PARTICULAR  RULES  AND  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  DIRECTORS 
IN  FIXING  THE  FREQUENCY  OF  COMMUNION  TO  BE  ALLOWED 
TO  THEIR  PENITENTS 397 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A  BRIEF  TREATISE. ON  SPIRITUAL  COMMUNION,  BY  WHICH  DEVOUT 
PERSONS  MAY  SUPPLY  THE  WANT  OF  SACRAMENTAL  COM- 
MUNION 404 


CONTENTS.  xxiii 

PAQB 

ARTICLE    XL 

TENTH  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION— DE 
VOTION  TO  THE  SAINTS,  AND  ESPECIALLY  TO  THE 
BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  A  MOST  EFFICACIOUS  MEANS, 
AND,  MORALLY  SPEAKING,  NECESSARY  FOR  THE  ATTAINMENT 
OF  ETERNAL  SALVATION  EVEN  IN  ITS  LOWEST  DEGREE  .  .  409 

CHAPTER  II. 

REASONS  ACCOUNTING  FOR  THE   EFFICACY  ASCRIBED  BY  THE  SAINTS 

TO   DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN 414 

CHAPTER  III. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  A  MOST  EFFECTUAL  MEANS,  AND, 
MORALLY  SPEAKING,  NECESSARY  TO  ATTAIN  SALVATION  IN  ITS 
PERFECTION 42O 

CHAPTER   IV. 

A  FURTHER  REASON  TO  SHOW  THE  NECESSITY  OF  DEVOTION  TO  THE 

BLESSED  VIRGIN  IN  ORDER  TO  ATTAIN  PERFECTION        .  .  .         425 

CHAPTER    V. 

NATURE  OF  THAT  TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  WHICH 
PRODUCES  THE  FRUITS  OF  SALVATION  DESCRIBED  IN  THE 
FOREGOING  CHAPTERS 430 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  MEANS  SUITABLE  FOR  ACQUIRING  THIS  DEVOTION         .  ,  .        438 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PRACTICAL      SUGGESTIONS     TO      DIRECTORS      ON      THE      FOREGOING 

CHAPTERS  »•«•••••»•        443 


INTRODUCTION. 


EVERY  one  surely  would  consider  that  master  of  a  vessel  to  be 
out  of  his  mind,  who,  without  oars,  without  mast,  without  sails, 
without  anchors,  and  without  provisions,  should  believe  himself 
able  safely  to  carry  passengers  and  crew  across  the  open  sea  to 
the  place  of  their  destination ;  as  all  are  aware  that  such  appoint 
ments  and  supplies  are  the  necessary  condition  of  gaining  the 
harbour  of  rest,  in  defiance  of  contrary  winds,  and  in  despite  oi 
furious  storms.  In  the  same  way  every  one  would  look  upoa 
that  general  as  bereft  of  reason,  who,  without  arms,  without 
artillery,  without  the  engines  and  the  implements  of  war,  should 
think  to  conquer  provinces  and  empires,  and  to  subject  them  t# 
the  rule  of  his  sovereign  •  as  it  is  obvious  to  each  of  us  that  to  be 
provided  with  military  stores  is  perfectly  essential  to  the  success 
of  such  undertakings.  Just  so  it  seems  to  me,  we  ought  to  judge 
that  Director  to  be  utterly  wanting  in  sense,  who,  without  knowing^ 
or  without  employing  the  proper  means,  should  hope  to  bring  to  3. 
successful  issue  the  great  enterprise  of  leading  to  perfection  the 
souls  confided  to  his  care,  and  should,  without  such  means,  pre 
sume  to  guide  them  through  the  stormy  sea  of  this  life,  amidst 
the  tempests  of  so  many  passions,  the  troubled  waters  of  so  many 
temptations,  the  rocks  of  so  many  dangerous  occasions,  and  expect 
to  lead  them  to  the  port  of  Christian  perfection,  from  which  a  safe 
passage  may  be  made  to  the  most  blessed  harbour  of  eternal  happi 
ness.  And  therefore  having,  in  the  work  which  I  now  undertake, 
proposed  to  myself  to  give  Directors  a  true  idea  of  Christian  per 
fection,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  suggest  to  them  practical 

VOL.    I.  I 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

methods  by  which  they  may  gradually  instil  this  perfection  into 
the  souls  intrusted  to  their  keeping,  it  seems  necessary,  in  the 
first  place  (and  to  this,  accordingly,  I  shall  devote  the  whole  of 
the  present  treatise),  to  lay  down  the  means  to  be  employed  for 
the  successful  attainment  of  that  object.  Indeed,  to  arrive  at  the 
desired  perfection,  without  such  means,  is  no  less  impossible  than 
it  would  be  impracticable  for  a  traveller  to  reach  the  end  of  his 
journey  without  first  passing  along  the  roads  that  lead  him  to  it. 

2.  But  as  in  the  first  Article  of  the  first  Section  of  this  work  I 
am  going  to  treat  more  diffusely  and  thoroughly  oi  the  entire 
scope  of  the  work,  I  trust  that  the  devout  reader  will  allow  me 
just  now  to  detain  him  for  a  little  space,  while  I  set  forth  the 
motives  which  have  induced  me  to  undertake  a  task  so  laborious, 
and  so  far  surpassing  my  feeble  powers.     In  the  course,  then,  of 
my  holy  duties,  when  engaged  in  giving  missions,  in  which  I  have 
spent  a  great  portion  of  my  Ihe,  it  has  often  happened  to  me  to  come 
in  contact  with  pious  and  docile  persons,  disposed  alike  by  natural 
inclination,  and  by  the  impulse  of  grace,  to  make  rapid  progress 
in  Christian  perfection,  had  they  only  been  so  fortunate  as  to  meet 
with  an  experienced  Director  to  be  their  guide  in  a  journey  of  so 
much  difficulty  and  of  so  much   danger.     Hence  the  thought 
struck  me  that  it  would  contribute  greatly  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  souls,  if  a  Guide  to  the  Spiritual  Life  were  published, 
which,  leaving  unnoticed  the  extraordinary  paths  of  sublime  con 
templation  along  which  God  occasionally  leads  some  favoured 
persons,  should  point  out  to  Directors  the  method  of  guiding  their 
penitents  along  the  easy  and  beaten  paths  of  ordinary  grace — by 
which  the  greater  number  of  devout  souls  are  wont  to  travel — 
ever,  however,  combining  with  theory  some  practical  instructions 
for  the  safe  and  profitable  rule  of  conduct  of  such  souls.     Because 
it  seemed  to  me  that,  if  Confessors  were  provided  with  full  and 
clear  information  concerning  all  the  roads  by  which  perfection  is 
reached,  they  would  be  able,  with  great  ease,  to  help  forward  on 
their  journey  persons  of  whatever  character  who  might  present 
themselves  in  the  sacred  tribunal ;  always  supposing  such  persons 
to  be  already  set  free  from  the  slavery  of  mortal  sin. 

3.  I  was  occupied  with  these  reflections,  and  was  already  turning 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

over  in  my  mind  the  plan  of  this  new  edifice — I  was  already,  indeed, 
•collecting  materials,  and  was  on  the  very  point  of  beginning  the 
work  of  building — when  an  unforeseen  occurrence  strongly  con 
firmed  me  in  the  resolution  I  had  formed.  A  Priest  charged  with 
the  care  of  souls  came  to  me  for  advice.  He  set  before  me  the 
state  of  soul  of  a  young  girl,  a  penitent  of  his,  poor  in  the  gifts  of 
fortune  as  she  was  rich  in  innocence  and  virginal  purity,  and  he 
begged  me  to  suggest  to  him  the  measures  to  be  adopted,  in  order 
to  bring  to  perfect  fertility  a  soil  which  seemed  to  him  so  worthy  of 
cultivation.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  he  made  a  remark  to 
me  which  left  a  deep  impression  on  my  mind.  He  had,  he  said, 
perused  various  works,  all  treating  of  spiritual  perfection  (and  he 
mentioned  one  of  very  high  authority) ;  he  admired  the  sublimity 
and  usefulness  of  their  teaching,  but  he  had  been  quite  unable  to 
reduce  it  to  practice  :  he  was  at  a  loss  where  to  begin,  how  to  go 
•on,  or  how  judiciously  to  apply  the  rules  given  to  the  particular 
case  before  him.  It  seemed  to  him,  in  short,  that  these  authors 
had  offered  to  him  the  richest  materials  of  embroidery — thread  of 
gold,  jewels  and  gems  of  great  price — but  had  never  taught  him 
the  way  to  work  out  the  beauteous  pattern  of  perfection  which  he 
longed  to  trace  in  the  soul  of  his  youthful  penitent.  On  hearing 
this,  I  told  him  that  he  was  putting  to  me  a  question  which  I  could 
not  satisfactorily  answer  in  any  other  way  than  by  referring  him  to 
two  works  which  I  was  myself  preparing  to  write  ;*  because  to  ask 
the  method  of  guiding  a  soul  to  perfection  was  the  same  thing  as 
to  make  inquiry  how  to  form  an  accomplished  architect  or  a  first- 
rate  artist :  things  that  require  a  long  course  of  study  and  experi 
mental  teaching.  In  conclusion,  after  I  had  given  him  a  short 
instruction  as  to  the  best  way  of  beginning  his  work  of  grace,  I 
bade  him  farewell 

4.  In  this  interview  I  saw  in  practice,  as  I  had  before  recog 
nised  in  theory,  how  very  useful  it  would  have  been  if  I  had  pre 
pared  for  use  a  clear  and  methodical  exposition  of  the  ways  of 
Christian  perfection;  explaining,  in  the  first  place,  one  after  another, 
its  commencement,  progress,  advanced  stages,  and  final  state ; 
continually  and  systematically  joining  with  speculative  teaching 
*  The  author  alludes  to  his  Directorium  Asceticum  and  Directorium  Mysticum* 

I 2 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

rules  drawn  from  experience,  which,  more  than  anything  else,  con 
tribute  to  the  safe  accomplishment  of  the  soul's  journey ;  so  that 
a  Director  might  see  at  a  glance  the  path  which  his  penitent  has 
to  traverse,  and  be  able  to  give  him  opportune  warning  of  the 
dangers  which  he  may  have  to  encounter.  Of  all  this,  as  I  have 
said,  I  was  abundantly  convinced,  and  had  already  made  up  my 
mind  to  frame  the  whole  work  upon  this  idea.  But  the  incident 
I  have  just  related  strengthened  me  more  than  ever  in  my  resolu 
tion.  And  with  the  grace  of  our  Blessed  Lord  (for  from  a  foun 
tain  of  evil,  such  as  I  know  myself  full  well  to  be,  no  real  good 
can  spring),  I  hope  that  this  my  undertaking  may  prove  very- 
serviceable  to  Directors  in  their  sacred  ministry,  and  most  profit 
able  to  the  souls  which  are  guided  by  their  direction. 

5.  I  shall  divide  the  entire  work  into  four  Sections,  in  which  I 
shall  comprise  the  whole  extent  of  Christian  perfection,  and  each 
Section  shall  be  subdivided  into  several  Articles.     In  the   first 
chapter  of  each  Article  I  shall  discuss  the  points  of  doctrine  which 
are  indicated  in  the  title  of  the  Article  ;   and  since  I  address 
myself  to  guides  in  the  spiritual  life,  who  should  be  thoroughly 
grounded  in  the  science  of  their  profession,  I  shall  establish  the 
truths  enunciated,  not  alone  by  arguments  taken  from  reason,  but 
likewise  by  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and 
very  often  by  that  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  who  subjected  their 
teaching  to  the  rigorous  analysis  of  the  Schools,  especially  in  his 
Summa,  of  which  I  have  availed  myself  a  good  deal,  using  such 
editions  as  were  at  hand  when  I  was  composing  my  book. 

6.  As  I  wish  my  work  to  be  useful  to  such  of  the  laity  also  as 
may  not  understand  Latin,  I  shall  always  translate  the  passages 
quoted   from    Scripture   and   the  Fathers.     The  last  chapter  of 
each  Article  I  shall  reserve  for  practical  advice  on  the  subjects  of 
the  preceding  chapters,  and  I  hope  thus  to  preserve  Directors  from 
all  risk  of  misunderstanding  the  teaching  previously  conveyed.     In 
the  chapters  of  instruction  I  shall  direct  my  discourse  to  all  readers 
without  exception,  though  such  chapters  are  intended  more  par 
ticularly  for  the  use  of  Directors.     In  the  chapters  of  practical 
advice  I  shall  address  myself  to  Directors  exclusively,  though  all 
Christians  may  be  able  to  reap  benefit  from  them. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

7.  I  shall  endeavour  to  vary  the  instruction  with  moral  stories 
and  examples  taken  from  ecclesiastical  history,  or  from  accredited 
and  trustworthy  authors ;  and  this  for  two  reasons  :  in  the  first 
place,  to  make  the  matter  more  interesting,  or,  at  all  events,  less 
uninviting ;  in  the  second  place,  to  render  it  more  profitable  to 
the  reader.     The  saying  of  St.  Gregory  has  ever  been  impressed 
on  my  mind  :  that  no  small  portion  of  mankind  are  more  moved 
to  the  desire  of  heavenly  things  by  example  than  by  argument* 
The  reason  is  a  simple  one  :  by  the  way  of  authority  and  argument 
we  come  to  know  the  truth  confusedly,  and  in  the  abstract  only;  but 
by  the  light  of  example  we  see  it  clearly  and  in  action  :  reason  and 
authority  prove  that  virtue  ought  to  be  practised  ;  but  facts  show 
that  it  is  really  practised  :  and  this  is  why  examples  have  more  power 
than  reasons  to  move  our  souls.    One  thing,  at  least,  is  certain,  that 
the  one  and  the  other  combined,  are  more  efficacious  than  either 
singly,  to  excite  our  will  to  the  performance  of  good  works. 

8.  And  here  I  foresee  that  a  serious  objection  relating  to  myselt 
personally  will  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  pious  reader,  which  he 
will  probably,  out  of  delicacy,  be  unwilling  to  express,  but  which 
I  ought  not  to  refuse  to  make  public  to  my  own  confusion.     The 
difficulty  which  so  much  redounds  to  my  shame  is  this :  that  no 
one  ought  to  assume  the  office  of  a  teacher  of  the  spiritual  life, 
who  has  not  yet  taken  his  place  as  a  learner  in  the  school  of  the 
spirit,  nor  should  any  one  give  lessons  to  others  in  that  perfection 
which  he  has  himself  never  carried  into  practice.     This  objection, 
I  own,  not  only  comes  home  to  me,  but  pierces  my  heart  through 
and  through ;  nor  can  I  give  any  other  answer  than  that  which 
many  times  I  have  given  to  my  guilty  conscience,  which  itself 
suggested   the    objection    to  me,  namely,  that  my  trust   is   in 
God.     I  have  clear  and  repeated  proof  that  the  Almighty  wishes 
me   to  compile    this  work,  disproportioned  as  it  is  to  my  poor 
ability.     I  must  consequently  trust  in  Him,  and  make  an  act  of 
faith,  that  this  is  one  of  those  occasions  in  which  Almighty  God 
makes  use  of  feeble    instruments  for  the  performance  of  great 
works,  that  so  His  glory  may  shine  forth  the  more.     And  hence 

*  Sunt  nonnulli,  quos  ad  amorem  patrias  coelestis  plus  exempla  quam  prae- 
dicamenta  succendunt.     Dial.  lib.  i.  cap.  I. 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

it  behoves  me  now  to  say  of  myself  in  simple  truth,  what  St. 
Gregory  said  in  his  humility,  when,  as  he  was  about  to  under 
take  his  explanation  of  the  Book  of  Job,  he  felt  discouraged  at 
the  arduousness  of  the  task  :  "  I  am  out  of  heart,  seeing  my  own 
inability,  but  am  made  stronger  by  my  very  weakness.  I  am 
buoyed  up  with  confidence  in  that  God,  Who  gives  speech  to  the 
dumb,  Who  makes  eloquent  the  tongues  of  little  ones,  and  has 
even  moved  to  utterance  the  tongue  of  a  brute.  And  why  have 
not  I  sufficient  grounds  for  hope  that  God  will  infuse  into  my 
dull  mind  the  gift  of  understanding,  if,  when  His  glory  require  it, 
He  knows  how  to  put  words  of  truth  into  the  mouth  of  even 
irrational  creatures  ?  Encouraged  by  this  consideration,  I  am  no 
longer  in  alarm  concerning  the  success  of  my  work,  much  as  I 
stand  in  dread  of  myself ;  and  now  I  boldly  put  my  hand  to  the 
work."  * 

9.  No  other  recompense  do  I  desire  to  reap  from  this  my 
labour,  save  the  glory  of  God  and  the  spiritual  advantage  of  my 
fellow-men,  who  may  be  helped  along  the  path  of  Christian  per" 
fection  to  their  heavenly  country ;  the  which  if  peradventure  I  am 
fortunate  enough  to  compass  in  the  case  of  any  one  person,  I  shall 
be  able  to  say  what  Lactantius  said,  when  consoling  himself  during 
the  mental  toil  of  his  works.  His  words  are  as  follows  :  "  I  shall 
believe  myself  to  have  spent  my  life  well,  since  we  can  have  no 
motive  more  pure  and  holy  for  desiring  life  than  the  wish  to  spend 
it  in  the  service  of  our  neighbour."  t 


*  Fore  quippe  idoneum  me  ad  ista  desperavi ;  sed  ipsa  mea  desperatione 
robustior,  ad  ilium  spem  protinus  erexi,  per  quern  aperta  est  lingua  mutorum  ; 
qui  linguas  infantium  fecit  disertas  ;  qui  immensos,  brutosque  asinae  ruditus 
per  sensatos  humani  eloquii  distinxit  modos.  Quid  igitur  minim,  si  intellectum 
stulto  homini  praebeat,  qui  veritatem  suam,  cum  voluerit,  etiam  per  ora  jumen- 
torumnarrat?  Hujus  ergo  robore  cogitationis  accinctus,  ariditatem  meam  ad 
indagandum  fontem  tantse  profunditatis  excitavi.  In  Epist.  ad  Leand.  Episc. 
In  exposit.  lib.  Job. 

t  Quod  si  vita  est  optanda  sapienti,  profecto  nullam  aliam  ob  causam  vivere 
optaverim,  quam  ut  aliquod  officium,  quod  vita  dignum  sit,  et  quod  utilitatern 
legenlibus,  etsi  non  ad  eloquentiam,  quia  tenuis  in  nobis  facundise  rivus  est,  ad 
vivendum  tamen  conferat,  quod  est  maxime  necessarium.  Quo  perfecto,  satis 
me  vixisse  arbitrabor,  et  officium  hominis  implesse,  si  labor  meus  aliquot 
homines  ab  erroribus  liberans,  ad  iter  direxerit.  Opif.  Dei.  cap.  20. 


GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE, 


SECTION  I. 

MEANS  TO  ARRIVE  AT  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION. 


ARTICLE    I. 

Essential  Perfection,  and  Instrumental  Perfection.  In  what  they 
consist.  Various  degrees  of  Christian  Perfection.  Division  of 
the  work. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    ESSENCE     OF    CHRISTIAN    PERFECTION    CONSISTS   IN   CHARITY 
TOWARDS    GOD    AND    OUR   NEIGHBOUR. 

io.  THERE  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  our  present  life  we  can  never 
reach  absolute  perfection ;  because  no  sojourner  in  this  vale  of 
tears  can  possess  that  perfect  stainlessness,  which  is  exempt  from 
every,  even  the  slightest  fault.  It  was  an  error  of  the  Beguards  and 
Beguines,  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Vienne,  to  maintain  that 
mortal  man  can  arrive  at  so  great  perfection  as  to  become  impec 
cable,  and  that  he  can  attain  to  so  great  an  elevation  as  not  to  be 
able  to  wing  his  flight  to  a  yet  higher  region  of  perfection.*  It  was 
a  dream  of  the  Illuminati,  dispelled  by  the  holy  tribunal  of  the 

*  Quod  homo  in  vita  praesenti  tantum  et  talem  perfectionis  gradum  potest 
acquirere,  quo  reddetur  penitus  impeccabilis,  et  amplius  in  gratia  proiicere  nou 
valebit.  Cone.  Gen,  Vienn.  In  Clement.  Error,  I. 


3  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Inquisition  in  Spain,  that  in  this  life  a  perfection  so  snblime  may 
be  reached  that  its  limits  once  attained,  it  is  impossible  to  retrace 
the  path."  These  are  the  idle  conceits  of  blinded  souls.  The 
truth  is,  that  so  long  as  we  live  in  this  vale  of  misery  and  weeping, 
the  sting  of  concupiscence  cannot  be  removed,  nor  are  all  the 
restraints  -of  divine  grace,  how  strong  and  sweet  soever  they  be, 
sufficient  to  bind  it  so  that  its  lusts  shall  never  more  wanton,  and 
its  wild  desires  never  again  rage.  Hence  it  follows,  that  although 
with  the  aid  of  grace  and  the  use  of  our  own  industry  we  may 
make  opposition  in  each  individual  instance,  we  cannot,  never 
theless,  in  the  whole  course  of  life,  avoid  showing  some  occasional 
little  condescension  to  our  disordered  inclinations,  nor  help  in 
curring  the  stain  of  some  slight  transgression.  This  is  a  truth 
defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  pronounced  anathema 
against  such  as  should  dare  to  affirm  that  the  just  man  can  avoid 
all  sin,  even  venial,  except  by  a  special  privilege  from  God,  which 
the  holy  Council  recognises  in  none  other  save  in  the  Queen  of 
Heaven. t  In  short,  it  is  not  given  to  any  one  who  lives  amid  the 
corruptions  of  this  earth  never  to  contract  any  stain  of  sin  :  this 
is  the  boast  of  Him  alone  Who  has  His  dwelling  above  the  stars  in 
the  heavens.  If,  then,  we  cannot  say  that  linen  is  perfectly  white 
when  it  is  ever  so  slightly  stained,  nor  crystal  perfectly  clear  if  it 
have  within  it  any  speck  or  flaw  to  dim  its  brightness ; '  how  can  we 
call  any  one  living  on  this  earth  absolutely  perfect,  even  though 
lie  may  outshine  all  others  with  the  lustre  of  his  sanctity,  so  long 
as  he  is  defiled  with  those  venial  faults  and  imperfections  of  the 
soul,  which  mar  its  beauty  ? 

ii.  We  may  add  to  this  that  charity— in  which,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  the  perfection  of  every  rational  creature  consists — 
can  indeed  attain  its  highest  excellence  and  power  in  heaven, 
But  not  upon  this  earth  ;  both  because  the  Orient  from  on  High, 
seen  by  us  through  the  veil  of  cr--':ain  images,  which  are  incapable 
of  fitly  representing  it,  has  not  strength  enough  to  light  up  in  our 

*  Quod  possit  homo  ad  eum  perfectionis  gradum  pervenire,  ut  gratia  anirnae 
facilitates  submergat,  nee  possit  omnino  vel  progredi,  vel  regredi.  Sattelles, 
tern.  ii.  De  Trib.  Inquis.  Regul.  325. 

f  Possit  in  tota  vita  peccata  omnia  etiam  venialia  vitare,  nisi  ex  special. 
Dei  privilegio.  Sess.  vj.  can.  23. 


ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  9 

souls  that  fire  of  Divine  life  with  which  it  inflames  the  blessed 
in  heaven,  who  behold  it  unclouded  and  unveiled  ;  and  because 
our  materialising  occupations  hinder  us  from  perpetually  contem 
plating  and  loving  that  Sun  of  heavenly  beauty,  as  the  blessed  do 
in  heaven  :  whence  it  happens  that  our  charity  cannot  be  fully 
perfect  as  is  theirs.  This  is  the  teaching  of  St.  Thomas.*  And 
hence  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  hit,  so  to  say,  the  exact  mark, 
when,  in  speaking  of  perfection  in  this  life,  he  called  it  the  perfec 
tion  of  a  child ;  and  speaking  of  perfection  in  the  next  life,  he 
called  it  full-grown,  manly  perfection. t  And  these  words  are 
very  properly  interpreted  by  St.  Thomas  in  harmony  with  the  idea 
I  have  above  expressed.  The  Apostle,  says  the  Angelic  Doctor, 
compares  the  perfection  of  our  present  life  to  the  age  of  youth, 
which  is  feeble  and  imperfect ;  and  he  likens  the  perfection  of  the 
life  of  blessedness  to  the  state  of  manhood,  which  has  already 
reached  its  perfection  of  strength  and  vigour  : — to  give  us  to  under 
stand  how  imperfect  is  our  perfection,  which,  like  a  child,  is 
always  in  a  state  of  growth  and  advancement ;  and  how  complete 
is  the  perfection  of  the  blessed,  which,  like  a  full-grown  man,  has 
already  attained  its  perfect  stature.  J  Let  us  then  sum  up  by 
understanding  clearly  what  we  are  to  hold.  The  perfection  of  us 
mortal  men,  compared  with  the  perfection  of  the  immortal  spirits 
now  reigning  in  their  heavenly  country,  is,  on  many  accounts, 
ever  wanting,  and  must  be  spoken  of  as  a  defective  and  imperfect 
perfection.  But  if  we  compare  it  with  the  state  of  this  our 
present  life,  and  with  the  capabilities  of  our  feeble  forces,  we  may 
and  must  speak  of  it  as  true  perfection.  Nay,  when  it  increases 
much  and  attains,  if  we  may  so  speak,  a  greater  finish,  it  may 

*  Alia  est  perfectio,  quse  attenditur  secundum  totalitatem  abso'utam  ex  parto 
diligentis,  prout  scilicet  affectus,  secundum  totum  suum  posse,  semper  actua- 
liter  tendit  in  Deum  ;  et  talis  perfectio  non  est  possibilis  in  vi&,  sed  erit  in 
patria.  2.  2.  qu.  84,  art.  2. 

t  Cum  venerit  quod  perfectum  est,  evacuabitur  quod  ex  parte  est.  Cum 
•essem  parvulus,  loquebar  ut  parvulus,  sapiebam  ut  parvulus :  quando  autem 
factus  sum  vir,  evacuavi  quse  erant  parvuli.  I  Cor.  xiii.  10. 

J  Et  est  attendendum,  quod  hie  Apostolus  comparat  statum  prsesentem, 
pueritise,  propter  imperfectionem  ;  statum  autem  futurae  gloriae,  propter  per- 
fectionem,  virili  setati.  Lect.  3,  in  verba  Apostoli. 


io  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

be  termed  great  perfection,  heroic  perfection,  sublime  perfection. 
Now,  it  is  of  this  perfection  that  we  are  to  treat  throughout  the 
present  work,  and  we  will  begin  at  once  by  an  inquiry  into  what 
constitutes  its  essence. 

12.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church,  speaking  of  Christian  perfec 
tion,  do  not  agree  in  the  definition  they  give  oi  its  substance  :  at 
least,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  some  of  them  appear  to  make  it 
consist  in  one  particular  virtue,  while  others,  it  may  be  thought, 
assign  an  entirely  different  virtue.  St.  Thomas,  applying  his 
angelic  mind  to  the  examination  of  this  point,  unhesitatingly  de 
cides  that  the  whole  essence  of  Christian  perfection  consists  in 
the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour ;  with  this  distinction,  how 
ever,  that  the  love  of  God  must  hold  the  first  place,  the  love  of 
our  neighbour  the  second.*  This  most  authoritative  opinion  is 
founded  on  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  who  encourages  us  to  aim 
at  the  acquisition  of  this  divine  love,  putting  before  us  the  grand 
motive  that  this  is  the  very  pith  and  quintessence,  as  it  were,  of 
our  perfect!  on. t  It  is  based,  likewise,  upon  those  other  words  of 
St.  Paul,  that  the  complete  and  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  Christian 
law  is  holy  love,  which,  consequently,  is  the  essential  perfection 
of  all  who  make  profession  of  that  law.  J  It  is  admitted  by  all, 
that  the  end  of  every  law  is  to  promote  some  special  perfection 
in  that  community  for  which  it  has  been  enacted.  Thus  the  civil 
laws  have  in  view  the  formation  of  a  perfect  state;  rules  of 
military  discipline  have  for  their  scope  the  organisation  of  a  per 
fect  army ;  the  laws  or  rules  of  monastic  life  are  framed  to  establish 
a  religious  order  which  shall  be  pre-eminently  perfect  in  some 
particular  virtue.  So,  too,  God  Almighty,  in  giving  us  His  law, 
had  for  His  sole  aim  to  form  us  into  perfect  Christians.  Thus  all 
our  perfection  should  consist  in  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  God's 
laws,  and,  consequently,  in  charity,  which,  according  to  the 
Apostle,  is  the  fulfilment  of  all  God's  laws.  Plenitudo  legis  est 

*  Per  se  quidem,  et  essentialiter  consistit  perfectio  Christianas  vita;  in  caritate  ; 
principaliter  quidem  secundum  dilectionem  Dei,  secundario  autem  secundum, 
dilectionem  proximi.  2.  2.  qu.  184,  art.  3,  in  corp. 

t  Super  omnia  caritatem  habete,  quod  est  vinculum  perfectionis.  Coloss. 
ill.  14. 

J  Plenitudo  legis  est  dilectio.     Ad  Rom.  xiii.  io. 


ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  u 

dilectio.  Whence  St.  Gregory  was  moved  to  say,  with  reference  to 
this  subject,  that  all  observance  of  the  precepts  of  God  attains 
solidity  and  perfection  in  love  alone.*  This  sound  and  solid  teach 
ing  has  also  the  support  of  the  authority  of  St.  Augustine,  who,  long 
before  the  Angel  of  the  Schools,  had  published  it  for  the  instruction 
of  the  faithful.  "  Love  that  is  newly  bom,"  he  says,  "  is  perfection 
in  its  infancy ;  love  that  is  on  the  increase  is  mature  perfection  ; 
great  love  is  great  perfection  ;  perfect  love  is  entire  and  complete 
perfection,  "t  Consequently,  I  infer,  if  the  perfection  of  a  Christian 
increases  in  proportion  as  his  charity  is  greater  or  less,  more 
or  less  sublime,  we  have  a  proof  that  no  distinction  can  be  made 
between  perfection  and  charity,  but  that  they  are,  in  their  essence, 
one  and  the  same  thing. 

13.  Reason  joins  itself  with  authority,  and  concurs  in  urging 
the  belief  of  this  important  truth.  The  perfection  of  everything 
created  most  certainly  consists  in  the  attainment  of  the  end 
peculiar  to  itself ;  thus  we  say  that  an  eye  is  perfect  when  it  sees 
objects  distinctly,  because  the  end  for  which  the  eye  was  made  is 
to  see ;  we  call  an  ear  perfect  when  it  distinguishes  voices  and 
words  with  accuracy,  for  the  ear  was  made  to  hear  with  ;  we  call 
a  light  perfect  when  it  shows  us  everything  clearly  and  well-de 
fined,  since  the  object  of  the  light  is  to  enlighten;  we  call  a  fire 
perfect  when  it  burns  most  actively,  for  the  end  of  a  fire  is  to  in 
flame  and  consume.  Thus,  too,  speaking  of  the  fine  arts,  we 
consider  a  brush  perfect,  if  it  is  well  adapted  for  painting,  and  a 
pen,  if  well  suited  for  writing ;  because  the  end  of  the  former  is  to 
paint,  of  the  latter  to  write.  To  determine,  therefore,  in  what 
man's  perfection  consists,  it  suffices  to  know  what  that  thing  is 
which  unites  us  to  our  last  end, — I  mean  to  God,  Who  alone 
created  us,  and  Who  alone  now  rules  us,  and  preserves  us  in  life. 
But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  thing  is  charity,  since  the  Be 
loved  Disciple  lays  it  down  in  such  plain  terms,  "  He  that  abideth 
in  charity  abideth  in  God,  and  God  in  him."{  And  again,  in  his 

*  Quidquid  prsecipitur,  in  sola  caritate  solidatur.     Horn.  27,  in  Evang. 

t  Inchoata  caritas,  inchoata  justitia  est ;  provecta  caritas,  provecta  justitia 
est ;  magna  caritas,  magna  justitia  est ;  perfecta  caritas,  perfecta  justitia  est. 
Lib.  de  Nat.  et  Grat. 

J  Qui  manet  in  caritate,  in  Deo  manet  et  Deus  in  eo.     I.  Epist.  iv.  16 


12  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Gospel,  the  same  Apostle  repeats  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  If 
any  man  love  Me,  My  Father  will  love  him,  and  We  will  both 
come  down  to  him  and  will  dwell  in  his  soul,  and  make  Our  fixed 
arid  permanent  abode  with  him."*  Hence  St.  Paul  infers  that 
charity  unites  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  spirit  of  man  with  the  bond 
of  divine  love,  and  of  the  two  forms  one  spiritt  No  wonder, 
then,  that  he  calls  charity  the  bond  of  perfection^  since  charity, 
which  unites  us  with  our  last  end,  alone  can  make  us  perfect, 
and  alone  can  constitute  the  whole  essence  of  our  perfection. 

14.  Throughout  this  well-grounded  train  of  reasoning,  we  have 
always  been  following  the  path  traced  for  us  by  St.  Augustine,  in 
his  Commentary  upon  the  Psalms.     "Jesus  Christ  is  our  end  ;  by 
Him,  then,  we  are  made  perfect :  for  all  our  perfection  is  to  tend 
towards  Him,  not,  of  course,  by  a  bodily  movement,  but  by  affec 
tions  of  the  heart,  and,  therefore,  by  a  close  union  with  Him  in  the 
sweet  bond  of  charity. "§     In  following  St.  Augustine,  we  have  kept 
close  to  our  guide,  St.  Thomas,  though  he  explains  in  a  few  words 
what  we  have  expressed  in  a  great  many.  || 

15.  The  thought  of  this  great  truth  pierced  to  the  quick  the 
soul  of  that  blessed  youth,  who,  coming  from  a  distant  country  to 
the  city  of  Paris,  there  to  study  the  sacred  sciences,  entered  a  school 
of  theology  over  which  an  eminent  professor  presided  as  teacher. 
Seated  on  a  bench  with  the  other  students,  he  listened  attentively 
to  the  first  lecture,  which,  happily  for  him,  chanced  on  that  day 
to  be  upon  the  words  of  St.  Matthew,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
j$y  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  allthysoul^  The  lecture  ended, 

*  Si  quis  diligit  me,  sermonem  meum  servabit,  et  Pater  meus  diliget  eum,  et 
ad  eum  veniemus,  et  mansionem  apud  eum  faciemus.  Jo.  xiv.  23. 

+  Qui  adhseret  Deo,  unus  spiritus  est.     I.  ad  Cor.  vi.  17. 

%  Caritatem  habete,  quod  est  vinculum  perfectionis. 

§  Finis  est  Christus.  Quare  dictus  est  finis  :  non  quia  consumit ;  sed  quia 
consummat :  consumere  enim  perdere  est ;  consummare  perficere.  .  .  .  Finis 
ergo  propositi  nostri,  Christus  est :  quia  quantumlibet  conemui-,  in  illo  perfici- 
mur  et  ab  illo  perficimur  :  et  hsec  est  perfectio  nostra  ad  ilium  pervenire.  Sed 
cum  ad  ilium  pervenis,  ultra  non  quoeris  ;  tuus  finis  est.  In  Ps.  Ivi. 

||  Dicendum,  quod  unumquodque  dicitur  esse  perfectum,  in  quantum  attingit 
proprium  finem,  qui  est  ultima  rei  perfectio  :  caritas  autem  est,  quse  unit  nos 
Deo,  qui  est  ultimus  finis  humanse  mentis.  2.  2.  qu.  184,  art.  2,  in  corp. 

TI  Diliges  Dominum  Deum  tuum  ex  toto  corde  tuo. 


ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  13. 

the  youth  rose  from  his  seat,  turned  his  back  on  the  teacher,  and 
hastened  towards  the  door  with  the  determination  of  leaving  the 
school.  The  students  were  astounded  at  this  behaviour,  and  the 
master,  imagining  himself  to  be  insulted  by  the  newly-arrived 
scholar,  was  bitterly  offended.  "  How  have  I  displeased  you,"  he 
asked,  "  that  having  but  just  entered  my  school,  you  are  about  to 
leave  it  ?  Are  you  tired  already  of  my  teaching ;  do  my  lessons 
appear  so  mean  and  contemptible  in  your  eyes  ?"  "  Far  from  it, 
indeed,"  replied  the  youth;  "it  is  the  sublimity  of  your  doctrine 
which  forces  me  to  leave  your  school.  I  have  already  heard 
quite  enough  of  what  has  to  be  done  in  order  that  I  may  become 
perfect  and  a  saint.  What  need  have  I  to  listen  to  more  ?  The 
time  has  now  come  for  action  and  practice."  Saying  this  he  went 
away  into  the  retirement  of  a  religious  house,  there  to  acquire 
that  perfection  of  which  he  had  already  learned  that  it  was  con 
tained  whole  and  entire  in  the  love  of  God.* 

1 6.  Having  established  the  first  point,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
prove  the  second,  that  after  charity  towards  God,  charity  towards 
our  neighbour  enters  into  the  essence  of  Christian  perfection. 
We  will  again  take  our  argument  from  St.  Thomas,  quoted  just 
now.  He  says  *that  the  habit  of  charity,  by  which  we  love  God, 
is  not  different  in  kind  from  the  habit  of  charity  by  which  we  love 
our  neighbour,  t  Nay  more,  he  teaches  that  even  the  act  of  charity 
by  which  we  love  God  is  not  specifically  different  from  the  act  of 
charity  by  which  we  love  our  neighbour  for  the  love  of  God.;}: 
Indeed,  in  the  act  of  charity  by  which  we  love  our  neighbour  for 
the  love  of  God,  is  included  a  formal  act  of  love  towards  God. 
Nor  should  this  appear  strange  to  us,  since  we  are  witnesses  daily 
of  this  very  thing,  in  the  merely  natural  order,  and  in  social  life. 
The  mother  loves  the  nurse  at  whose  breast  her  infant  is  suckled, 
and  on  that  account  is  fond  of  her,  and  rewards  and  shows  her 
respect ;  but  as  she  loves  the  nurse  for  the  love  of  the  babe,  she 
loves  the  babe  with  the  same  love,  only  more  intensely  than  she 

*  Joan.  Junior,  Dominic.     In  Scala  Coeli. 

f  Habitus  caritatis  non  solum  se  extendit  ad  dilectionem  Dei,  sed  etiam  ad 
dilectionem  proximi.  2.  2.  qu.  25,  art.  i.  in  corp. 

J  Manifestum  est,  quod  idem  specie  actus  est,  quo  diligitur  Deus,  et  quo 
diligitur  proximus.  Eod.  loc. 


C4  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

loves  the  nurse  who  has  care  of  the  child.  The  man  of  learning 
loves  study,  and  on  that  account  shuts  himself  up  all  alone  in  his 
room ;  his  brain  grows  dizzy  over  his  books  ;  his  cheeks  become 
pale  as  he  bends  over  the  pages,  and  by  incessant  application  he 
destroys  sight  and  life  ;  but  as  he  loves  study  for  the  love  of  know 
ledge  to  which  he  is  devoted,  his  affections  must  be  said  to  be 
fixed  upon  knowledge  rather  than  upon  study.  The  sportsman 
loves  the  fatigues,  the  hardships,  the  exhaustion  of  the  chase ; 
and  hence  fearlessly  exposes  himself  to  the  rays  of  a  scorching  sun, 
to  wind,  rain,  and  frost ;  with  fearless  step  he  ranges  over  moun 
tains  and  hills,  through  woods  and  glens,  and  precipitous  paths ; 
sleep  is  a  stranger  to  his  eyes ;  no  food  appeases  his  hunger,  no 
draught  allays  his  thirst ;  but  because  he  loves  these  hardships  and 
fatigues  for  love  of  the  sport  after  which  he  so  eagerly  pursues,  it 
13  a  clear  proof  that  he  loves  the  sport  more  than  he  loves  the  suffer 
ings  and  fatigues  to  which  he  exposes  himself.  Thus  in  the  act  by 
which  we  love  our  neighbour  for  the  love  of  God,  we  love  God 
Himself  more  than  we  love  our  neighbour.  If,  then,  to  love  our 
neighbour  for  God's  sake  is  to  love  God  Himself,  it  is  clear  that 
perfection,  which  consists  essentially  (as  we  have  above  shown)  in 
charity  towards  God,  must  likewise  essentially  consist  in  charity 
towards  our  neighbour. 

17.  St.  Ambrose  relates  the  history  of  a  contest  of  charity  between 
a  soldier  and  a  young  lady  of  rank  at  Antioch,  named  Theodora. 
She  was  discovered  to  be  a  Christian,  and  straightway  was  hurried 
by  the  idolaters,  not  to  a  prison  or  the  scaffold  to  be  deprived  of 
life,  but  to  a  place  of  infamy  to  be  despoiled  first  of  her  virginity, 
and  afterwards  of  her  faith.  A  soldier,  seeing  the  dreadful  danger 
to  which  this  innocent  dove  was  being  exposed,  of  falling  into  the 
claws  of  obscene  vultures,  which  would  soon  be  coming  to  attack 
her,  made  haste  to  visit  her  before  any  one  else  had  gained 
admission  to  where  she  had  been  taken ;  and  the  charity  which 
glowed  in  his  heart  having  made  him  ingenious  in  devising  his 
plan,  he  persuaded  her  to  change  clothing  with  him.  "  In  my 
dress,"  he  said,  "  in  this  uniform,  you  may  pass  the  guards  in 
safety,  without  being  recognised,  and  I,  in  your  woman's  garb, 
shall  be  secure  from  insult  in  this  den  of  iniquity."  The  stratagem 


ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  15 

succeeded.  Scarcely,  however,  had  the  innocent  girl  escaped, 
when  sentence  ot  death  was  passed  upon  her  at  the  tribunal  of 
the  tyrant ;  in  punishment  ot  the  crime  of  being  a  Christian,  she 
was  to  be  conveyed  to  the  place  ot  execution  and  there  beheaded. 
The  officers  ol  justice  having  arrived,  and  finding  the  soldier 
attired  as  a  woman,  supposing  him  to  be  the  young  girl  on  whom 
sentence  01  death  had  been  pronounced,  they  seized  and  bound 
him,  and  led  him  through  the  public  streets  to  the  place  of 
execution.  He  had  already  mounted  the  scaffold,  already  was  the 
executioner  with  drawn  sword  standing  near,  ready  to  strike  the 
blow  which  would  sever  the  head  from  the  body,  and  set  free  the 
happy  soul  from  its  earthly  tabernacle  ;  when  suddenly  the  maiden, 
impelled  by  lively  leelings  oi  gratitude  towards  her  deliverer, 
magnanimously  sprang  upon  the  scaffold,  and  cried  out  with  a 
loud  voice,  "  Stay  your  hand,  executioner,  I  am  Theodora ;  it  is 
I  who  ought  to  suffer  death."  "No!"  exclaimed  the  soldier, 
"  I  am  the  person  doomed  to  die :  the  sentence  of  death  has 
fallen  to  me."  "Not  so,  executioner,"  Theodora  rejoined;  "be 
not  deceived  by  the  borrowed  clothes  which  he  is  now  wearing. 
I  am  Theodora,  whom  the  judge  has  condemned  :  aim  your  blows 
at  me.  See,  my  neck  is  bared,  strike  at  once."  They  continued 
a  long  time  this  contest  of  love.  "  Eventually,"  writes  St.  Am 
brose,  "as  both  had  engaged  in  the  strife,  so  both  came  off 
victorious,  and  the  two  combats  only  multiplied  the  crowns  and 
palms  of  triumph,  for  martyrdom  originated  with  the  one  and  was 
gloriously  consummated  by  the  other."*  A  modern  author,  in  his 
comments  on  this  narrative  of  St.  Ambrose,  observes,  "  The  two 
were  beheaded  in  glorious  martyrdom,  in  order  that  the  sword  of 
the  tyrant  might  not  separate  those  whom  the  love  of  Christ  had 
united  together,  "t  It  may  seem,  perhaps,  that  he  ought  rather  to 
have  said  that  the  sword  divided  not  those  whom  brotherly-love 
and  the  affection  of  a  sincere  charity  towards  their  neighbours 
had  joined  in  one.  But  no,  he  was  right  in  saying  that  the  love 

*  Duo  contenderunt,  et  ambo  vicerunt  :  nee  divisa  est  corona,  sed  addita, 
Ita  sancti  martyres  invicem  s&i  beneficia  conferentes,  altera  principium 
martyrio  dedit,  alter  dedit  effectum.  Lib.  ii.  de  Virg. 

f  Ambo  simul  capitis  obtruncatione  gloriosum  martyrium  peregerunt,  ne 
eos  tyranni  gladius  separaret  quos  junxerat  amor  Christi. 


j6  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  Christ  was  the  bond  of  this  admirable  union  ;  because  the  love 
by  which  we  love  our  neighbour  for  the  sake  of  God,  is,  in  reality, 
the  love  of  God  Himself ;  and  these  two,  loving  each  other  with 
the  love  of  fraternal  charity,  really  loved  each  other  with  one  and 
the  same  love — the  love  of  God.  Consequently  we  must  ac 
knowledge  that  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  was  the  real  bond  of  that 
so  holy  a  union. 


CHAPTER  IL 

CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION  IS  CONSTITUTED  BY  THE  MORAL  VIRTUES 
AND  THE  COUNSELS ;  WHENCE  IS  DEDUCED  THE  ORDER  AND- 
ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  WORK. 

1 8.  IF,  then,  the  essence  of  Christian  perfection  consists  wholly 
in  the  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbour,  what  is  to  be  said  of  the 
moral  virtues,  and,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  cardinal  virtues,  the 
origin  and  source  whence  all  the  other  moral  virtues  spring,  and 
which  make  the  soul  of  him  that  possesses  them  so  bright  and  beau 
tiful  ?  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  Evangelical  Counsels,  which  our 
dear  Redeemer  recommends  so  strongly  in  the  Gospel  ?  As  for 
example  :  to  renounce  all  worldly  possessions ;  to  lead  a  life  of 
celibacy ;  to  subject  ourselves  voluntarily  to  the  will  of  another ; 
to  confer  a  kindness  on  a  friend  when  the  rules  of  charity 
do  not  make  it  of  obligation ;  to  pray  frequently,  even  when 
present  necessities  do  not  force  us  to  pray ;  to  bestow  alms,  not 
only  out  of  our  abundance,  but  also  out  of  that  which  is  suitable 
for  our  maintenance  ;  to  fast  often,  even  when  no  precept  of  the 
Church  enjoins  us  the  practice ;  to  mortify  our  senses,  even  in 
regard  to  lawful  objects ;  to  chastise  our  body  in  various  ways ; 
and  a  thousand  other  things,  which,  though  not  under  rigorous 
precept,  are  nevertheless  demanded  from  us  by  God,  being  by  their 
own  nature  better  than  their  opposites,  and  very  pleasing  to  Him. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  17 

Must  not  all  these  holy  counsels  and  exalted  virtues  have  their 
share  in  carrying  out  the  noble  work  of  our  perfection  ? 

19.  Beyond  all  doubt  these  virtues  concur  powerfully  in  the 
formation  of  perfection,  not  because  they  constitute  its  substance, 
but,  as  the  Angelic  Doctor  teaches,  because  they  are  the  instru 
ments  by  which  perfection  is  elaborated.*  St.  Thomas,  moreover, 
•will  have  itt  that  in  the  words  of  Christ,  "Ifthou  wilt  be  perfect, 
go  and  sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give  it  to  the  poor ',  and  follow  Me, 
the  essence  of  Christian  perfection  is  declared  to  be  found  in  the 
mere  following  of  Christ,  whereby  we  become  united  to  Him 
through  charity  ;|  and  he  supports  his  opinion  by  the  authority 
of  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Ambrose,  both  of  whom  give  this  very  in 
terpretation  of  the  words,  Follow  Me.  The  renouncement  of 
riches  is  mentioned  only  as  an  instrument  of  perfection;  as  a 
means,  that  is,  for  the  acquirement  of  essential  perfection,  which 
•consists  in  following  Christ,  and  in  holy  love  for  Him.  Cassian 
teaches  the  same,  in  clear  and  unmistakable  terms,  in  the  Con 
ference  of  the  Abbot  Moses.  To  deprive  one's  self  of  property 
and  divest  one's  self  of  all  worldly  goods,  is  not  the  pith  and  marrow 
of  Christian  perfection,  but  only  a  means  for  its  attainment.  §  If 
.a  painter  were  to  prepare  brushes  suitable  for  painting,  and  pro 
cure  brilliant  colours,  combining  them  skilfully  and  mixing  them 
with  a  master-hand,  still  no  one  could  call  him  an  accomplished 
artist,  because  these  things  are  not  that  at  which  his  profession  aims, 
but  only  means  thereto.  The  end  proposed  in  the  art  of  painting 
is  to  produce  representations  true  to  life  :  other  things  are  but 
the  means  which  the  artist  makes  use  of  for  this  purpose.  So  in 
the  case  before  us.  The  end  of  the  Christian  life  and  therefore 
its  formal  perfection,  is  charity,  as  we  have  already  shown.  To 

*  Secundario  autem,  et  instrumentaliter  perfectio  consistit  in  consiliis.  2.  2. 
<qu.  184,  art.  3,  in  corp. 

t  Eod.  ait.  in  resp.  ad  I. 

£  Et  ideo  ex  ipso  modo  loquendi  apparet,  quod  consilia  sunt  qusedam 
instrumenta  perveniendi  ad  perfectionem,  dum  dicitur  :  Si  vis  perfectus  esse, 
•vade,  et  vende  omnia  quse  habes,  et  da  pauperibus :  et  veni,  sequere  me. 
JMatth.  xix.  21. 

§  Nuditas,  privatio  omnium  facultatum,  non  perfectio,  sed  perfectionis  in 
strumenta  sunt  :  quia  non  in  illis  consistit  disciplinee  illius  finis,  sed  per  ilia 
pervenitur  ad  finem.  Collat.  I,  cap.  7. 

VOL.  I.  2 


i8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

renounce  all  worldly  possessions,  to  lead  a  life  of  virginity,  to  sub 
ject  one's  self  to  the  will  of  another,  constitute  Christian  perfection, 
and  this  too  in  an  exalted  degree  ;  but  only  as  instruments,  which 
help  to  acquire  divine  charity,  as  any  one  may  clearly  see,  if  he  take 
the  trouble  to  consider  these  things  one  by  one.  For  voluntary 
poverty  leads  us  to  perfection,  not  precisely  because  it  deprives, 
us  of  the  fleeting  and  perishable  goods  of  this  world,  otherwise,  as 
St.  Jerome  observes,  the  philosopher  Crates  would  have  been 
perfect,  and  many  others  who  have  despised  these  things  ;*  but 
because  poverty,  in  depriving  us  of  riches,  at  the  same  time  plucks, 
from  our  heart  all  that  attachment  to  them  which  is  so  great  a 
hindrance  to  the  acquisition  of  holy  love.  Chastity,  too,  is  per 
fection,  but  not  precisely  because  it  cuts  off  even  such  pleasures  of 
sense  as  are  lawful :  else  should  we  have  to  admit  that  those  idolaters 
were  perfect,  of  whom  history  tells  us  that  they  lived  in  entire 
estrangement  to  such  enjoyments  ;  but  because,  irr  depriving  us  of 
vile  bodily  pleasures,  it  disposes  us  to  the  pure  affection  of  super 
human  charity.  Obedience  also  is  a  great  perfection  in  the 
faithful,  yet  not  precisely  because  it  divests  us  of  our  self-will  (for 
in  that  case  soldiers  and  slaves  would  be  perfect,  since  they 
submit  their  will  to  their  officers  and  masters,  and  sometimes  do 
so  in  matters  that  are  hard  and  painful),  but  because,  by  crushing 
the  natural  propensity  of  each  of  us  to  follow  the  lead  of  his  own 
will,  we  are  made  prompt  to  submit  ourselves  to  the  Will  of  God. 
alone,  and  this  submission  is  the  quintessence  of  the  love  of  God. 
20.  And  the  Holy  Fathers  speak  of  these  moral  virtues  in  the 
same  strain.  St.  Thomas,  treating  of  these  virtues,  remarks,  "  A 
thing  may  be  called  perfect  in  two  different  senses  :  first,  as  regards 
what  is  of  the  very  essence  of  its  being ;  which  is  the  case  when 
the  thing  wants  none  of  those  parts  without  which  it  could  not 
exist ;  in  this  sense  a  man  is  perfect  when  he  has  a  body,  a  soul, 
and  that  union  of  the  two  by  which  both  are  made  one.  Secondly, 
we  may  call  a  thing  perfect  as  to  what  belongs  to  the  qualities  only 
of  its  being,  which  consist  n  certain  things  foreign  to  its  essence, 
but  which  serve  either  to  prepare  or  to  embellish  it ;  in  this  sense 

*  Hoc  enim  et  Crates  fecit  philosophus,  et  multi  alii  divitias  contempserunU 
In  Matth.  iii.  19. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  19 

a  man  is  perfect  whose  limbs  are  cast  in  such  or  such  a  mould,  who 
has  a  certain  complexion,  and  particular  constitution."  From 
which  St.  Thomas  wisely  infers,  that  the  substantial  perfection  of 
Christian  life  consists  in  that  charity  which  unites  us  to  God,  our 
last  and  most  blessed  end ;  while,  without  this,  all  perfection  lan 
guishes  and  dies.  The  moral  virtues,  on  the  other  hand,  contain 
nothing  beyond  the  accidental  perfection  of  the  Christian  life, 
in  ismuch  as  they  dispose  a  man  to  the  attainment  and  increase  of 
clarity,  and  are,  so  to  say,  its  jewels.*  St.  Jerome  teaches  the 
sai  le  doctrine  in  many  places,  when  speaking  of  the  mortification 
of  >he  body  by  fasting,  which  is  a  real,  though  not  more  than  a 
ma  'al,  virtue.  For,  writing  to  Celantia,  he  tells  her,  "  Be  on  your 
gua  'd  when  you  begin  to  mortify  your  body  by  abstinence  and 
fasti  ng,  lest  you  imagine  yourself  to  be  perfect  and  a  saint,  for 
perfection  does  not  consist  in  this  virtue  ;  it  is  only  a  help,  a  dis 
position,  a  means— suitable,  certainly— for  the  attainment  of  true 
perfection.''!*  And  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  the  other  moral 
virtues,  for  the  same  reason  holds  good  in  all.  St.  Jerome  gives 
the  like  instruction  to  Demetrias  :  "  Fasting  is  not  perfect  virtue  ; 
that  is,  it  is  not  a  virtue  which  renders  us  perfect,  but  it  con 
stitutes  the  foundation  of  virtue;  it  is  a  ladder  by  which  we 
ascend  to  the  summit  of  that  Christian  perfection  which  dwells  in 
chanty  alone.  Fasting  by  itself  can  never  win  for  a  virgin  her 
crown  of  perfection  and  of  sanctity."^  St.  Jerome,  then,  agrees  in 

*  Dicendum,  quod  dupliciter  potest  dici  aliquis  perfectus.  Uno  modo 
simpliciter,  quae  quidem  perfectio  attenditur  secundum  id  quod  pertinet  ad 
ipsam  rei  naturam  :  puta  si  dicatur  animal  perfectum,  cum  nihil  ei  deficit  de 
dispositione  membrorum,  et  aliis  hujusmodi  quse  requiruntur  ad  vitam  ani- 
malis.  Alio  modo  dicitur  aliquid  perfectum  secundum  quid  ;  quse  quidem 
perfectio  attenditur  secundum  aliquid  exterius  adjacens,  puta  in  albedine,  vel 
in  aliquo  hujusmodi.  Vita  autem  Christiana  specialiter  in  charitate  consistit, 
per  quam  anima  Deo  conjungitur.  Uncle  dicitur,  (loan.  cap.  I  :)  Qui  non 
diligit,  manet  in  morte  :  et  ideo  secundum  caritatem  attenditur  simpliciter  per 
fectio  christianoe  vitse,  sed  secundum  alias  virtutes  secundum  quid.  2.  2.  qu. 
184,  art.  I  ad  2. 

t  Cave,  ne  si  jejunare  cceperis,  putes  te  esse  sanctam.  Hoec  enim  virtus 
adjumentum  est,  non  perfectio  sanctitatis.  Epist.  ad  Celant. 

$  Jejunium  non  perfecta  virtus,  sed  ceterarum  virtutum  fundamentum  est. 
Gradus  proebet  ad  summa  scandentibus  ;  non  tamen  si  solum  fuerit,  virginem 
poterit  coronare.  Idem,  Epist.  ad  Demetr. 

2 2 


20  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

recognising  no  other  perfection  in  the  moral  virtues,  except  that 
accidental  perfection  which  they  contribute,  as  being  helps  and 
instruments  to  the  attainment  of  the  essential  perfection  of 
charity. 

21.  I  am  going  to  confirm  this  truth  by  a  well-known  incident 
related  in  ecclesiastical  history.*  In  the  city  of  Antioch  there 
lived  an  exemplary  priest  named  Sapricius,  who  from  his  earliest 
years  had  contracted  so  close  a  friendship  with  a  certain  layman, 
by  name  Nicephorus,  that  it  seemed  as  though  it  never  could 
change.  However,  Sapricius,  taking  offence  at  something  or 
other,  I  know  not  what,  not  only  broke  the  bond  of  a  friendship 
of  so  long  standing,  but  changed  his  affection  into  a  hatred  so 
implacable  that  he  would  never  see  him,  and  studiously  avoided 
every  occasion  of  meeting.  Again  and  again  Nicephorus  humbled 
himself  before  him,  and  both  by  the  mediation  of  others  and  in 
his  own  person  implored  forgiveness  for  his  fault ;  but  all  had  no 
effect  whatever  in  softening  the  heart  of  Sapricius,  or  in  moving 
him  to  show  the  least  sign  of  peace  and  reconciliation.  Yet  the 
conscience  of  the  priest  was  no  way  troubled  at  all  this  serious 
breach  of  charity,  and  as  usual  he  ceased  not  by  word  and  ex 
ample  to  animate  the  people  to  constancy  in  their  holy  faith, 
amidst  the  storms  of  persecution  which  then  were  raging  against 
the  Christians  in  the  city  of  Antioch.  So  much  so  indeed,  that, 
summoned  before  the  tribunal  of  the  judge  to  render  an  account 
of  his  religion,  and  being  questioned  as  to  his  name  and  profession, 
he  replied  with  a  holy  daring  :  "  I  am  a  follower  and  priest  o 
Jesus  Christ.  I  observe  His  law,  and  try  to  secure  its  observance 
by  the  people.  I  honour  Him,  and  seek  to  forward  His  worship 
in  every  way."  The  tyrant,  on  hearing  words  which  sounded  to 
him  as  bold  beyond  enduring,  burned  with  fury,  and  instantly 
commanded  that  the  resolution  of  the  priest  should  be  tested  by 
frightful  tortures.  Sapricius  remained,  however,  unshaken,  though 
cruelly  scourged  and  bathed  in  his  blood.  Nay,  in  the  midst  of 
his  sufferings  he  even  mocked  at  the  tyrant,  who  was  exercising 
with  such  cruelty  his  barbarous  power  over  the  body,  but  had  no 
power  to  touch  the  soul,  which  more  than  ever,  under  torture, 

*  In  Vita  S.  Niceph.  apud  Surium,  9  Feb.  et  apucl  Lippo,  et  Metaphr. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  21 

kept  true  to  God.  At  length  the  judge,'  overcome  by  his  con. 
stancy,  abandoned  the  design  of  prolonging  his  torments,  and 
condemned  him  to  be  beheaded  on  the  public  scaffold,  as  a  terror 
to  Christians.  Sapricius  had  already  left  the  prison  all  radiant 
with  joy,  more  like  a  conqueror  than  a  criminal,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  entering  the  public  square,  which  was  to  be  the  glorious 
scene  of  his  combat  and  of  his  victory,  when  Nicephorus,  in 
formed  of  his  condemnation,  ran  in  haste,  broke  through  the 
crowd  of  people  assembled  to  witness  the  sad  spectacle,  threw 
himself  again  and  again  at  his  feet,  and  with  tears  in  his 
eyes  repeatedly  begged  pardon  for  his  fault,  for  the  love  of  that 
God  for  Whom  Sapricius  was  about  to  sacrifice  his  life.  Who 
could  have  believed  it  ?  So  many  humiliations,  so  many  prayers, 
and  so  many  tears,  were  unavailing  to  soften  that  stony  heart  5 
for  the  unhappy  man,  turning  away  his  face,  as  though  in  disgust, 
not  only  refused  to  speak  a  single  word,  but  would  not  even 
condescend  to  bestow  one  kind  look.  Soon  the  executioner 
unsheathed  his  sword,  ready  by  a  single  stroke  to  crown  him 
martyr  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  he  merited  not  the  martyr's  crown, 
nay,  he  was  incapable  of  receiving  it,  for  he  had  not  charity ;  and, 
I  will  say  with  St.  Jerome,  all  the  other  virtues  which  he  possessed 
could  never  crown  the  martyr.  Even  had  he  poured  forth  his 
blood  under  the  stroke  of  the  sword,  that  blood,  I  will  add  with 
St.  Cyprian,  would  not  have  washed  away  the  stain  of  his  sin  against 
charity.*  At  the  flashing  of  the  steel  which  glittered  before  his 
eyes,  Sapricius  grew  pale,  trembled,  and  exclaimed  in  a  loud  voice, 
"  Stop  thy  hand,  executioner  ;  tell  me  why  thou  art  about  to  take 
away  my  life."  "  Because,"  was  the  answer,  "  thou  adorest  Jesus 
Christ,  and  despisest  the  gods  and  the  commands  of  Caesar."  "  If 
there  is  no  other  cause  for  which  I  must  die,"  replied  Sapricius,  "  I 
renounce  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  am  ready  to  offer  incense  to  the  image 
of  Jupiter."  These  impious  words  drew '  ears  of  grief  from  the  eyes 
of  all  the  faithful,  and  enkindled  in  rue  heart  of  Nicephorus  a  burn 
ing  zeal  for  that  holy  faith  which  he  saw  thus  publicly  outraged  by 

*  Quam  sibi  pacem  promittunt  inimici  fratrum.  TaJes  etsi  occisi  in  confes- 
sione  nominis  fuerint,  macula  ista  nee  sanguine  abluitur.  Inexpiabiiis  et  gravis 
culpa  discordise  nee  passione  purgatur.  In  lib.  De  Simpl.  Praelat. 


22  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  renegade,  and  leaping  on  the  scaffold,  he  cried  out,  "  I  adore 
that  Christ  Whom  this  wretch  denies;  I  trample  on  the  Jupiter  whom 
he  wickedly  adores  ;  mine  be  that  death  which  this  coward  dreads, 
mine  be  the  palm  which  this  miserable  man  refuses."  On  hearing 
these  words  the  executioner  aimed  at  Nicephorus  the  stroke  which 
he  had  held  suspended  over  the  neck  of  Sapricius,  and  bestowed 
upon  him  the  crown  that  this  unhappy  man  had  forfeited  by  his 
obstinate  spirit  of  rancour.  Now  let  us  reflect  that  Sapricius  was 
not  wanting  in  moral  virtues,  for  he  was  a  priest  of  exemplary  life. 
What  generosity  did  he  not  evince  in  making  open  profession  of 
his  faith  in  presence  of  the  judge  !  What  fortitude  in  enduring 
cruel  tortures  !  What  constancy  in  reproaching  the  tyrant  even 
in  the  midst  of  torments  !  And  yet  all  availed  him  nothing,  for 
he  was  devoid  of  charity.  Hence  the  essence  of  perfection  can 
not  consist  in  the  moral  virtues,  since  these  alone,  unaccompanied 
by  charity,  are  insufficient  to  lead  to  perfection,  nay,  even  to  sal 
vation,  one  who  possesses  them.  No  further  perfection  then  can 
be  ascribed  to  them  than  that  they  form  part  of  the  instrumental 
perfection  of  which  we  have  been  treating.  Let  us,  before  leaving 
the  incident  which  we  have  been  considering,  reflect  further,  with 
Baronius,  that  a  Christian  labours  in  vain  to  accomplish  great 
things  if  he  be  wanting  in  fraternal  charity,  since  for  want  of  this 
admirable  virtue,  neither  wounds  received,  nor  blood  poured 
forth,  nor  torments  bravely  endured,  were  of  any  avail  to  this 
Sapricius.  * 

22.  I  trust,  however,  that  the  reader  will  not  draw  from  the 
solid  doctrine  which  I  have  laid  down  an  unwarranted  inference, 
capable  of  being  a  serious  hindrance  to  that  progress  in  the 
spiritual  life  which  he  desires  to  make.  I  would  not  be  thought 
to  mean  that  because  the  counsels  and  moral  virtues  are  merely 
aids  to  perfection,  and  do  not  constitute  its  essence,  we  must  set 
but  little  store  upon  these  counsels  and  virtues,  and  take  but  little 

*  Perspicuum  tune  plane,  sed  pavendum  editum  est  exemplum,  quo  fideles 
omnes  admonerentur,  frustra  qureque  magna  conari  hominem  christianum,  nisi 
fraternse  caritatis  compage  fuerit  solidalus  :  cum  Sapricius  presbyter,  vita  jam 
oppignorata  martyrio,  quod  odio  flagraret  in  Nicephorum,  ipsum  prope  ictum 
vibrante  carnifice,  Christum  negans,  idolis  sacrificavit.  Annal.  t.  iii.  Ad  an. 
260,  num.  52. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  23 

pains  to  practise  them.  This  would  be  completeb  to  mis- 
.apprehend  my  meaning.  When  I  assert  that  the  counsels  and 
virtues  are  only  helps  to  attain  perfection,  I  wish  it  to  be  under 
stood  that  they  are  so  necessary  for  the  acquirement  of  that 
substantial  perfection  to  which  the  Christian  should  aspire,  that 
without  their  assistance  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  ever  be 
attained.  What  would  you  say  of  a  student  eager  to  perfect  him 
self  in  the  knowledge  of  philosophy,  mathematics,  or  any  other 
branch  of  science,  who  should  tear  up  his  books,  burn  pens  and 
paper,  and  entirely  neglect  all  application,  under  the  foolish  pre 
tence  that  the  knowledge  he  pants  after  does  not  consist  in  books, 
pens,  paper,  and  study  ?  Foolish  man,  you  would  say,  most  true 
is  it  that  mathematics  and  philosophy  do  not  consist  in  these 
things,  but  rather  in  a  deep  understanding  and  thorough  pos 
session  of  the  principles  proper  to  these  sciences ;  still  these  things 
are  the  instruments  and  the  means  necessary  for  acquiring  the 
knowledge  you  covet,  and,  consequently,  without  them  you 
can  never  attain  it.  The  same  may  be  said  on  the  point  in  ques 
tion.  The  evangelical  counsels,  works  of  supererogation,  the 
moral  virtues,  are  means  without  which,  as  a  common  rule, 
perfect  charity  cannot  possibly  be  acquired ;  for  although  Almighty 
God  by  His  absolute  power  could  infuse  perfect  charity  whhout 
these  previous  dispositions,  yet  He  is  not  wont  to  work  such 
miracles.  We  must  then  apply  to  the  practice  of  these  works 
and  virtues  with  the  same  zeal  which  we  use  for  our  advancement 
in  perfection.  But  because  this  is  a  question  of  great  importance, 
and  one  too  upon  which  the  whole  plan  of  this  work  depends,  it 
will  be  well  for  me  to  explain  how  a  person  by  means  of  the  moral 
virtues  and  the  evangelical  counsels  can  attain  to  perfect  charity 
in  which,  as  we  have  so  often  observed,  the  very  essence  of  his 
perfection  must  consist. 

23.  In  all  handicrafts  perfection  is  given  by  one  or  other  of  two 
ways  to  the  articles  manufactured  •  either  by  adding  something 
to,  or  taking  something  away  from,  the  raw  material.  Thus  an 
•embroiderer,  by  weaving  gold  thread  and  silk  into  the  cloth,  pro 
duces  a  piece  of  tapestry.  The  artist,  by  laying  colours  upon  his 
canvas,  completes  his  painting;  contrariwise,  the  carver,  by  re- 


24  GUIDE  TO  -THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

moving  small  portions  of  wood  from  the  rough  trunk  of  a  treej. 
and  the  sculptor  by  cutting  from  the  hard  block  some  portions  of 
stone,  give  perfection  to  their  statues.  The  Christian,  however, 
ought  not  to  be  satisfied  with  either  one  or  the  other  of  these 
methods  singly,  but  should  put  them  both  in  practice  to  finish  the 
work  of  perfecting  his  soul,  and  moulding  it  into  a  graceful 
figure  worthy  of  a  place  of  honour  in  the  heavenly  court.  He 
must,  in  the  first  place,  remove  whatever  may  be  an  impedi 
ment  to  the  infusion  of  perfect  love.  I  mean,  he  must  cut  away 
all  attachments,  curb  disorderly  affections,  pluck  out  evil  in 
clinations, — all  which  are  so  many  obstacles  in  the  way  of  perfect 
charity ;  hindering,  first,  its  entrance  into  the  soul,  and  then  its 
taking  full  and  perfect  possession.  Now,  this  we  bring  about  by 
means  of  the  moral  virtues  and  counsels.  By  voluntary  poverty 
all  attachment  to  worldly  possessions  is  plucked  away  from  the 
heart ;  by  chastity  the  lust  of  pleasure  is  conquered ;  and  by 
obedience  we  root  out  all  adhesion  to  our  own  will.  Hence,  St. 
Paul,  speaking  of  the  life  of  celibacy,  says  that  he  commands  it 
not,  but  only  counsels  it,  forasmuch  as  it  sets  us  free  from  hin 
drances  to  the  service  of  God.*  It  is  by  means  of  the  moral 
virtues,  moreover,  that  we  bridle  those  disorderly  passions  which 
are  the  sworn  enemies  of  holy  love  ;  now  moderating  our  angery 
now  our  pride,  at  one  time  our  sloth,  at  another  gluttony,  or 
again  some  other  unruly  appetite  which  is  predominant  in  us» 
But  when  one  who  is  aiming  at  perfection  sees  that  these 
obstacles  are,  if  not  wholly  at  least  in  great  part,  removed,  he 
must  then  take  pains  to  introduce  the  positive  dispositions  into 
the  soul,  so  that  these  may  prepare  the  way  to  a  more  perfect 
love,  and  make  its  entrance  more  easy.  This  is  accomplished  by 
means  of  these  very  virtues  and  counsels,  because  they  operate 
more  easily  when  the  vices  opposed  to  them  are  overcome ;  they 
root  themselves  more  deeply  in  the  soul,  take  full  possession  of  it, 
and  establish  in  it  a  certain  agreement  between  the  inferior  and 
superior  appetites,  which  are  by  their  very  nature  at  variance  ; 
they  beget  a  certain  peace,  quiet,  repose,  and  purity,  the  immediate 

*  Quod    facultatem    pnebeat     sine     impedimento     Dominum   obsecrandL 
I  Cor.  vii.  35. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  25 

dispositions  for  receiving  from  God  those  lights  and  interior 
movements  of  grace  which  enkindle  the  flame  of  divine  love  in  the 
heart,  and  at  times  cause  its  fire  even  to  consume  the  whole  soul. 

24.  We  may  observe  that  nature  itself  makes  use  of  these  very 
means  in  the  formation  of  natural  substances.     For  example,  if  fire 
is  going  to  produce  in  a  piece  of  wood  another  fire  like  to  itself,  it 
begins  by  driving  away  all  obstacles  to  its  action.     If  the  fuel 
is  cold,  the  flame  of  the  fire  warms  it ;  if  hard,  the  activity  of  the 
fire  softens  it ;  if  wet,  the  heat  causes  the  moisture  gradually  to 
disperse  in  thin  wreaths  of  vapour ;  and  when  the  impediments  are 
in   great   measure   removed,   the   flame   introduces   an    extreme 
dryness  and  a  fervid  heat,  which  are  the  positive  and  immediate 
dispositions  for  burning,  followed  by  the  flames  themselves,  which 
burst  forth  from  the  fuel  and  change  it  into  a  blazing  fire.  It  seems 
then  that  nature  itself  would  teach  us  what  we  must  do  to  kindle  in 
our  hearts  the  fire  oi  heavenly  love.  We  must  first  remove  from  the 
soul,  by  the  practice  of  contrary  virtues,  the  impediments  of  undue 
attachments  and  raging  passions ;  afterwards  introducing  into  it, 
by  means  of  more  solid  virtues,  the  calm,  the  serenity,  and  the 
purity  which  are  the  immediate  dispositions  for  lighting  up  in  it 
the  purest  and  most  glowing  flames  of  charity.     This  teaching  is 
wholly  taken  from  Cassian,  in  the  above-cited  Conference.     All 
our  good  and  virtuous  actions,  he  says,  ought  to  be  directed  to 
purifying  the   heart  from  hurtful  passions,   and  preserving  it  in 
peace ;  for  by  these  steps  we  climb  to  perfection,  which  dwells 
substantially  in  perfect  charity  alone.* 

25.  In  order  to  obtain  a  more  adequate  and  complete  idea  of 
Christian  perfection,  we  must,  with  the  Angelic  Doctor,  make 
another  distinction  of  very  great  importance  to  the  right  under 
standing  of  the  matter  in    hand.       The  Saint  teaches  that  the 
essential  perfection  of  charity  is  not  so  wholly  indivisible  as  to 
have  no  parts.     It  may,  and  even  must,  be  divided  into  three 
degrees,  of  which  one  occupies  the  lowest,  another  the  highest, 

*  Omnia  igitur  hujus  gratia  gerenda,  appetendaque  sunt  nobis.  Pro  hac 
sollicitudo  sectanda  est,  pro  hac  jejunia,  vigilias,  labores,  corporis  nuditatem, 
lectionem  ceterasque,  virtutes  debere  nos  suscipere  noverimus  :  ut  scilicet  per 
illas  ab  universis  passionibus  nostris  illaesum  parare  cor  nostrum,  et  conservars- 
possimus,  et  ad  perfectionem  caritatis  his  gradibus  innitendo,  conscendere. 


26  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and  the  third  an  intermediate  place.    The  lowest  degree  of  charity 
consists  in  loving  nothing  more  than  God,  or  in  opposition  to  God, 
or  equally  with  God  ;  for  to  place  Almighty  God  on  the  level  of,  or 
below  any  created  thing,  is  to  do  Him  a  great  injury,  and  to  com 
mit  a  sin  so  grievous  that  it  is  wholly  destructive  of  charity.  Though 
this  degree,  as  the  holy  Doctor  assures  us,  really  deserves  the  name 
of  charity,  yet  it  does  not  form  the  subject  of  our  present  work,  since 
this  degree  is  to  be  found  even  in  abandoned  women  and  in  high 
way  robbers,  from  the  moment  that  by  a  true  conversion  they  regain 
the  grace  of  God.     The  highest  degree  of  perfect  charity  consists 
in  the  unceasing  and  actual  exercise  of  love,  whereby  the  flame  of 
charity  is  ever  blazing  brightly  in  the  heart  of  him  that  possesses 
it.     We  cannot  have  this  degree  of  perfection  in  our  present  life 
of  misery,  but  it  will  be  ours  in  the  life  to  come ;  for  at  present, 
on  account  of  our  daily  employments,  we   cannot,  like  the  sun 
flower,  keep  our  gaze  ever  fixed  on  the  Sun  of  the  Divinity.     The 
intermediate  degree  consists  in  this,  that  when  all  obstacles  have 
been  removed,  and  the  necessary  dispositions  are  acquired,  the 
soul  is  able  with  ease  and  fervour  to  perform  those  acts  of  divine 
charity  which  are  the  perfection  proper  to  our  life  on  earth,  and 
to  which  we  should  aspire.     Such  will  be  the  subject  of  the  present 
two  books.*     To  understand  the  full  meaning  of  this  passage  it  is 
necessary  to  read  the  whole  of  the  Article  quoted  and  that  which 
precedes  it,  the  principles  of  which  are  here  pre-supposed  ;  but  the 
words   we  have  cited  suffice  to  show  that  the  holy  Doctor  dis 
tinguishes    the    three    grades  which  we  have  mentioned,  in  the 
substantial  perfection  of  charity,  and  this  is  all  that  is   to   our 
present  purpose. 

26.  Hence  I  infer  with  Suarez,  that  absolutely  speaking  the 
perfection  of  Christian  life, — including  both  what  is  essential  to  it, 
and  what  is  merely  instrumental  and  expressive  of  the  practical 

*  Est  autem  infimus  divinse  dilectionis  gradus,  ut  nihil  supra  etim,  aut 
contra  eum,  aut  sequaliter  ei  diligatur  :  a  quo  gradu  perfectionis  qui  deficit, 
nullo  modo  implet  prseceptum.  Est  alius  gradus  perfectse  dilectionis,  qui  non 
potest  impleri  in  via,  ut  dictum  est :  a  quo  qui  deficit  manifestum  est,  quod 
non  est  transgressor  pracepti ;  et  similiter  non  est  transgressor  prsecepti  qui 
non  attingit  medios  perfectionis  gradus,  dummodo  attingat  ad  infimum.  2.  2. 
qu.  184,  art.  3,  ad  2. 


MORAL  VIRTUES  AND  COUNSELS.  27 

mode  of  carrying  it  out  into  action, — consists  in  the  formation  of 
the  habit  of  charity,  and  in  rendering  it  easy,  ready,  and  prompt 
in  the  exercise  of  full  and  fervent  acts  of  love  towards  God  and 
our  neighbour.  By  saying  ease  and  readiness  in  the  performance 
of  these  acts,  instrumental  perfection  is  expressed  ;  for  such  prompti 
tude  is  not  acquired  without  removing  impediments  and  intro 
ducing  the  immediate  dispositions  by  means  of  the  moral  virtues 
and  the  counsels.  Again,  the  habit  of  charity  when  rendered  inclined, 
and  even  disposed,  for  its  acts,  expresses  the  formal  essence  of 
perfection.  *  If  what  we  have  said  be  well  weighed,  all  perfection 
will  thus  be  reduced  to  the  one  great  means  of  charity ;  as  the 
Angelic  Doctor  tells  us  in  the  passage  which  we  have  just  quoted. 
27.  All  this,  however,  is  not  sufficient  for  carrying  out  that 
work  of  perfection  which  we  are  endeavouring  to  sketch.  We 
must,  in  addition,  make  use  of  all  the  means  necessary  to  bring 
it  to  a  proper  end.  To  remove  the  many  hindrances  in  the 
way  of  attaining  holy  and  pure  love ;  to  implant  in  ourselves  the 
positive  dispositions  which  prepare  an  entrance  for  it ;  to  practise 
so  many  moral  virtues  and  so  many  counsels  by  which  both  these 
objects  are  procured  ;  nay,  to  bring  perfect  charity  into  daily 
action, — are,  all  things  hard  difficult  and  painful,  and  cannot  be 
achieved  except  by  the  manifold  aids  of  meditation,  prayer,  the  sac 
raments,  examinations  of  conscience,  devotions  and  the  like.  As 
I  observed  at  the  very  outset,  it  is  impossible  to  attain  any  end 
without  the  employment  of  fitting  means,  as  it  would  be  to  reach 
our  destination  without  passing  along  the  road.  And  if  this  be 
true  even  with  regard  to  objects  which  are  in  themselves  trivial 
and  present  little  difficulty,  how  much  more  true  must  it  be  with 
reference  to  an  end  so  exalted  and  of  such  importance  as  Chris 
tian  perfection, — an  end  which  brings  with  it  so  many  matters  of  a 

*  Perfectio  spirituals  vitse  christiange  requirit  puritatem  et  habilitatem  quan- 
clam  in  ips&met  caritate  ad  prompte  operandum  in  tot&  suS,  materia,  sive 
eliciendo,  sive  imperando  ;  et  ad  cavendum  non  tantum  omnia  contraria,  sed 
ctiam  defectus,  qui  fervorem  ejus  impedire  possunt.  Hie  autem  caritatis  gradus 
sine  adminiculo,  et  consortio  aliarum  perfectionum,  quales  sunt  moderatio 
passionum,  abnegatio  rerum  temporalium,  et  similes,  haberi  non  potest.  Ergo 
liaec  omnia  necessaria  sunt  ad  perfectionem  simpliciter  vitse  Chnstianae.  DC 
Relifj.,  torn.  3,  lib.  I,  c.  4. 


28  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

hard  and  painful  nature  ?  Hence  we  conclude  that  in  order  to 
acquire  this  habit  of  charity,  which  enables  us  easily,  quickly,  and 
willingly  to  elicit  full  and  fervent  acts  of  this  virtue  towards  God 
and  our  neighbour,  (in  which,  as  we  have  often  repeated,  consists 
all  that  is  essential  to  perfection,)  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  use 
the  fitting  means. 

28.  This  solid  teaching  being  pre-supposed,  the  plan  of  the 
work  comes  of  itself,  and  follows  naturally.  It  is  divided  into 
four  Sections.  In  the  first,  we  shall  treat  of  the  means  which 
must  be  taken  in  order  to  acquire  perfection ;  in  the  second,  of 
the  obstacles  to  be  removed ;  in  the  third,  of  the  positive  and 
suitable  dispositions  which  must  be  obtained ;  in  the  fourth,  of 
charity,  in  which  the  lustre  of  perfection  shines  with  pre-eminent 
brightness  as  in  its  essence.  The  means,  of  which  we  are  going 
to  speak  in  the  first  Section,  will  serve  both  to  remove  the  impedi 
ments  and  to  introduce  the  becoming  dispositions,  as  well  as  to 
facilitate  the  practice  of  divine  love  with  great  and  ever-increasing 
fervour.  The  impediments,  of  which  we  shall  make  mention  in  the 
second  Section,  will  be  seen  to  be  all  those  things  which  are  opposed 
to  charity,  and  wage  war  against  it.  The  dispositions,  which  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  third  Section,  are  the  counsels  and  moral 
virtues,  but  considered  as  having  been  already  refined  by  the 
victory  which  has  in  a  great  degree,  if  not  completely,  extirpated 
their  contrary  vices.  The  charity,  which  we  shall  dwell  upon  in 
the  fourth  Section,  will  include  both  love  of  God  and  love  of  our 
neighbour,  according  to  their  different  degrees  of  perfection.  But 
because  charity  is  attended  by  faith  and  hope,  which  are  theo 
logical  virtues,  and  themselves  also  tend  directly  and  immediately 
to  God,  we  must  speak  of  these  likewise  in  the  same  Section. 
Thus  Directors  will  have  the  whole  course  of  Christian  perfection 
here  set  forth  in  a  methodical  manner.  They  will  find  mapped 
out  the  roads  upon  which  they  are  to  conduct  their  penitents ; 
and  from  the  remarks  of  a  practical  character,  which  I  shall  make 
a  point  of  frequently  suggesting,  they  will  learn  what  are  the  errors 
and  perils  to  be  avoided  in  their  direction  of  souls.  I  hope  that 
thus  their  efforts  may  be  crowned  with  success,  and  that  they  may 
lead  many  souls  to  God,  and  to  the  haven  of  eternal  rest. 


THE  PERFECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PERFECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  WHICH  HAS  BEEN  DESCRIBED 
IS  DIVIDED  INTO  THREE  GRADES — THESE  FORM  THREE  STATES 
OF  PERFECTION.  FULLER  LIGHT  IS  THROWN  UPON  THE  DOC 
TRINE  AND  DIVISION  GIVEN  IN  THE  PRECEDING  CHAPTERS. 

29.  BEFORE  commencing  the  present  Chapter,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  make  a  most  important  remark,  which  the  Director  must  bear 
constantly  in  mind  throughout  the  present  work.  We  shall 
have,  in  the  following  Sections,  to  discourse  separately,  first,  on  the 
means  of  perfection,  then  on  its  impediments,  afterwards  on  its 
immediate  dispositions,  and  finally  on  charity,  in  which  it  is  chiefly 
seen  in  all  its  brightness.  Yet  we  are  not  to  look  to  these  different 
points  in  succession  only,  as  they  have  been  treated,  but  the 
spiritual  man  should  exercise  them  all  together  and  in  combina 
tion  ;  for  while  he  uses  the  means  to  raise  himself  to  perfection, 
such  as  prayer,  meditation,  the  sacraments,  and  other  such  helps, 
he  is,  at  the  same  time,  engaged  in  gradually  rooting  up  the  dis 
orderly  passions,  which  are  impediments;  he  is  acquiring  the 
virtues  which  are  the  immediate  dispositions  ;  and  he  is  exercising 
charity  both  in  affection  and  in  act,  which  is  the  end  proposed  in 
all  his  endeavours  and  labours,  and  by  which  his  soul  finally  attains 
perfection.  The  more  vigorously  the  means  are  used,  the  more 
thoroughly  the  obstacles  are  removed ;  the  more  fully  the  disposi 
tions  are  obtained,  the  greater  will  be  the  warmth  of  the  fire  of 
divine  love  in  our  hearts.  For  in  rearing  the  spiritual  edifice, 
that  does  not  happen  which  takes  place  when  an  earthly  palace  is 
to  be  built.  While  the  workmen  are  laying  the  foundations,  the 
roof  is  not  begun ;  and  so  long  as  the  first  storey  is  in  progress, 
the  second  remains  untouched.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  at  the  very 
time  that  we  are  digging  the  foundation  by  removing  impediments 
from  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  the  roof  of  divine  charity  is  already 
commenced  :  when  we  are  still  engaged  in  laying  the  first  stones  of 
holy  dispositions,  some  degree  of  perfection  begins  to  be  visible 
in  every  part  of  the  whole  spiritual  edifice.  In  spite  of  this,  the 


30  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

proper  arrangement  of  our  subject  demands  that  each  of  the  afore 
said  matters  be  treated  separately,  so  that  the  labour  required  in 
setting  up  the  edifice  of  Christian  perfection  may  be  more  easily 
understood  and  more  readily  watched. 

30.  In  Christian  perfection,  then — whether  essential  or  instru 
mental,  as  we  have  explained — the  Holy  Fathers  distinguish  three 
degrees,  which  degrees  place  the  persons  that  profess  it  in  one  or 
other  of  three  very  different  states.  St.  Thomas  attributes  to  charity 
three  stages  of  growth.  The  first  he  calls  incipient  charity,  the  second 
growing  charity,  and  the  third  perfect  :*  whence  it  follows  that  the 
persons  in  whom  charity  resides  are  divided  into  the  three  classes  of 
those  who  are  beginners,  of  those  who  are  advancing,  and  of  those 
who  are  perfect.  He  founds  his  teaching  on  the  words  of  St.  Augus 
tine,  who,  speaking  of  charity,  says,  "  Charity  is  born  expressly  to 
attain  perfection.  After  birth  it  is  nourished  ;  when  nourished,  it 
is  strengthened;  strengthened,  it  is  made  perfect. "t  The  charity, 
which  having  been  born  is  receiving  nourishment,  forms  the 
state  of  beginners ;  the  charity,  which  having  been  nourished  is 
growing  strong,  is  the  state  of  those  who  are  progressing;  the 
charity,  which  having  been  strengthened  becomes  perfect,  consti 
tutes  the  state  of  those  who  are  already  perfect.  What  is  here  said 
of  charity  applies  equally  to  all  other  virtues  ;  for  each  one  has  its 
own  beginnings,  its  own  increase,  and  a  perfection  proper  to  itself. 
And  therefore  each  virtue  may  form  the  three  classes  spoken  of. 
St.  Gregory  affirms  the  same.  Every  virtue,  he  says,  comprises 
certain  degrees  ;  for  its  commencement  is  one  thing,  its  advance 
ment  is  another,  and  its  perfection  is  something  different  from 
both  the  preceding.  |  He  repeats  the  same  remark  in  another 
place. §  Indeed,  the  Angelic  Doctor,  after  applying  the  distinction 
of  grades  and  states  just  mentioned  to  the  theological  virtue  of 
charity  alone,  elsewhere  extends  it  to  the  whole  of  the  spiritual 

*  2.  2.  qu.  24,  art.  9,  in  corp. 

t  Ut  pcrficiatur  nascitur,  cum  fuerit  nata  nutritur,  cum  fuerit  nutrita  robora- 
tur,  cum  fuerit  roborata  perficitur.  Tr.  5,  in  I  Epist.  Joan. 

J  Unaquseque  virtus  quibusdam  gradibus  augetur.  Aliud  namque  sunt  vir- 
tutis  exordia,  aliud  perfectio.  Horn.  15,  in  Ezech. 

§  Tres  modi  sunt  conversorum,  inchoatio,  medietas,  et  perfectio.  Moral, 
Lib.  xxiv.  c.  7. 


THE  PERFECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  31 

life,  and  to  every  faculty  of  man's  soul.  In  every  power  of  man 
there  is,  he  says,  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end.  Hence 
there  is  every  reason  why  these  three  stages  must  be  found  in  the 
spiritual  life  :  a  beginning,  to  which  belongs  the  state  of  beginners  ; 
an  intermediate  state,  which  is  that  of  those  making  an  advance ;. 
arid  an  end,  which  corresponds  to  the  state  of  the  perfect.*  St. 
Bernard,  t  Hugo  of  St.  Victor,!  and  Richard  of  St.  Victor,§  and  in 
general  all  the  Doctors  of  the  Church,  teach  the  same  thing. 

31.  But  before  entering  upon  the  explanation  of  the  difference 
which  exists  between  these  three  states,  we  must  pre-suppose  that 
the  life  of  aspiration  after  perfection  leads  us  to  our  heavenly  country 
by  three  roads,  of  which  the  first  is  called  the  negative  way,  the 
second  the  illuminative,  and  the  third  the  unitive  :  a  very  just  and 
appropriate  distinction,  allowed  by  all  the  masters  of  the  spiritual 
life,  and  not  to  be  rejected  without  sinful  daring,  since   Inno 
cent  XL  condemned  Michael  Molinos  for  daring  to  cast  ridicule 
upon   it.  [|     These  three  ways  correspond  to  the  three  states  of 
which  we  have  spoken.     Every  person  who  is  struggling  to  attain 
to  perfection  must  travel  by  one  or  another  of  these  three  roads  ; 
if  he  be  a  beginner  in  the  spiritual  life,  he  is  in  the  purgative  way ; 
if  he  have  made  some  progress,  he  is  in  the  illuminative ;  and  if  he 
be  perfect,  he  is  in  the  unitive  :  as  we  shall  see  more  clearly  by 
and  by. 

32.  The  state  of  beginners  thus  belongs  to  such  as  are  indeed 
in  a  state  of  grace,  but  whose  passions  are  still  in  full  strength. 
Such  have  need  to  wage  perpetual  war  in  order  to  uphold  charity, 
which  totters  under  the  repeated  assaults  of  their  unsubdued  appe 
tites.     These  have  no  facility  in  the  exercise  of  the  virtues,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  practise  them  with  great  repugnance.     The  purga 
tive   way  corresponds    to    this    state,   being  wholly  employed   in 

*  In  omni  humano  studio  est  invenire  principium,  medium,  et  finem  ;  et  idea 
status  spiritualis  servitutis  et  libertatis  in  tria  distinguitur  :  principium,  ad  quod 
pertinet  status  incipientium ;  medium,  ad  quod  pertinet  status  proficientium  ; 
et  finem,  ad  quern  status  perfectorum  spectat.  2.  2.  qu.  183,  art.  4,  in  corp. 

t  De  Vita  Solit.  Ad  fratr.  de  monte  Dei. 

%  Serm.  I.  §  De  grad.  curai. 

||  Tres  ilke  via?,  purgativa,  illuminativa,  et  unitiva,  est  absurdum  maximum 
quod  dictum  fuit  in  mysticii.  Prop.  xxvi.  inter  damnatas  ab  Innocentio  XI. 


32  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

purifying  the  soul  from  the  sins  which  it  has  committed,  in  cor 
recting  the  evil  habits  which  have  been  formed  during  the  past 
life,  and  in  curbing  the  violence  of  their  as  yet  rebellious  and 
violent  passions.  The  state  of  proficients  is  that  of  such  as  have 
partially  succeeded  in  subduing  the  revolt  of  their  passions,  and 
who  in  consequence  have  no  difficulty  in  keeping  themselves  free 
from  mortal  sin ;  who  persevere  with  courage  in  the  practice  of 
the  moral  and  theological  virtues,  but  who  cannot,  with  the  same 
ease,  avoid  falling  into  venial  sins,  because  their  affections  and 
appetites  are  not  yet  thoroughly  under  control  nor  sufficiently 
repressed.  The  illuminative  way  answers  to  this  state,  which, 
full  of  light,  enables  all  efforts  to  be  directed  to  the  uprooting  of 
the  passions,  and  the  practice  of  real  and  solid  virtue.  The  state 
of  the  perfect  belongs  to  those  who  have  gained  a  complete  vic 
tory  over  their  passions ;  who  refrain  with  ease  from  every  sin, 
both  mortal  and  venial ;  and  who  have  a  readiness  in  performing 
acts  of  all  the  virtues,  especially  of  the  love  of  God.  The  unitive 
way  corresponds  to  this  state,  in  which  the  soul,  being  settled  in  a 
calm  and  peaceful  security,  unites  itself  without  difficulty  to  God 
with  the  bond  of  divine  love.  This  explanation,  which  entirely 
squares  with  our  argument,  is  taken  from  St.  Thomas.* 

33.  The  Angelic  Doctor  illustrates  this  spiritual  progress  by  a 
comparison  with  the  growth  of  the  human  body.  Man  is  born 
an  infant,  and  at  that  imperfect  age  has  not  the  use  of  his  reason, 
nor  even  of  his  limbs,  which  he  knows  not  how  to  employ ;  so 
that  he  is  very  properly  confined  in  swathing  bands.  The 
child,  advancing  in  years,  gradually  acquires  command  of  his 
reason,  and  is  even  able  to  make  good  use  of  his  limbs  and 
senses ;  still,  in  this  stage  of  gro\vth,  something  more  is  wanting  to 

*  Primo  quidem  incumbit  homini  studium  principale  ad  recedendum  a  peo 
cato,  et  ad  resistendum  concupiscentiis  ejus,  quae  in  contrarium  caritatis  movent : 
et  hoc  pertinet  ad  incipientes,  in  quibus  caritas  est  nutrienda,  vel  fovenda,  ne 
corrumpatur.  Secundum  autem  studium  succedit,  ut  homo  principaliter  inten- 
dat  ad  hoc  quod  in  bono  proficiat  :  et  hoc  studium  pertinet  ad  proficientes, 
qui  ad  hoc  principaliter  intendunt,  ut  in  eis  caritas  per  augmentum  roboretur. 
Tertium  autem  studium  est,  ut  homo  ad  hoc  principaliter  intendat  ut  Deo  in- 
hsereat  et  eo  fruatur,  et  hoc  pertinet  ad  perfectos,  qui  cupiunt  dissolvi  et  esse 
cum  Christo.  2.  2.  qu.  24,  art.  9,  in  corp. 


THE  PERFECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  33 

the  perfect  use  of  limbs,  senses,  and  reason.  At  length  he  arrives 
at  manhood  with  all  his  limbs  fully  formed,  and  all  the  powers 
of  his  mind  developed ;  and  now  is  able  to  perform  every  act. 
proper  to  man,  with  full  perfection.  This  development,  the 
Saint  observes,  which  we  see  taking  place  slowly  in  the  body,  takes 
place  imperceptibly  in  the  soul  also,  in  the  manner  explained 
above.  * 

34.  This  will  be  made  more  clear  from  an  example.  St.  Ignatius 
received  into  his  Society,  as  a  lay  brother,  a  young  man,  who,  on 
entering  the  Noviciate,  brought  with  him  a  Crucifix  with  our 
Blessed  Lady  at  the  feet  of  our  Lord.  It  was  quite  a  work  of  art, 
of  great  value,  and  he  held  it  most  dear.  The  Saint  was  well 
aware  that  this  was  not  the  kind  of  thing  for  a  Religious  to  keep, 
more  especially  a  Novice,  who,  in  what  he  is  allowed  for  his 
private  use,  must  not  be  different  from  the  rest  of  the  Community. 
However,  he  made  no  remark,  and  did  not  take  away  the  Crucifix, 
but  in  the  course  of  time,  seeing  him  well  grounded  in  the 
practice  of  every  religious  virtue,  the  Saint  pronounced  those 
memorable  words,  "  Now  that  our  Brother  carries  the  Crucifix  in 
his  heart  it  is  time  to  take  it  out  of  his  hands,  "t  He  did  so,  and 
the  Novice  showed  no  more  concern  than  if  he  had  never  had  it 
in  his  possession.  In  this  instance  we  discern  the  different  states. 
of  a  person  who  aspires  to  perfection,  and  the  different  degrees  of 
spiritual  strength  which  he  possesses.  At  first,  when  the  young 
man  still  clung  to  the  world,  and  was  weak  in  virtue,  the  Saint  did 
not  venture  to  deprive  him  of  the  dearly  treasured  Crucifix  •  for 
he  well  knew  that  in  the  first  state  of  a  beginner,  the  strength 
needed  to  overcome  an  attachment  was  wanting ;  but  when  he 
saw  that  the  heart  of  the  youth  was  disengaged  from  the  world, 
and  trained  in  virtue,  and  that  some  spark  of  the  love  of  God 
was  already  enkindled  in  his  breast,  he  deprived  him  of  the 
Crucifix  without  any  scruple,  and  with  the  happiest  result ;  for 
in  the  stage  of  advancement,  virtue  is  stronger,  and  better  able  to 
bear  the  test  of  trials  and  sacrifices. 

*  Spirituale  augmentum   caritatis  considerari  potest  quantum  ad   aliquid 
simile  corporali  hominis  augmento.     Eod.  loco. 
•|  Virg.  Nolarci,  Vita  di  S.  Ignazio,  cap.  30. 
VOL.  I. 


34  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

35.  With  reference  to  this  subject,  I  should  not  omit  to  notice 
the  different  modes  of  treatment  employed  by  the  same  great  Saint 
towards  Father  Ribadeneira,  when  this  Jesuit  first  started  as  quite 
a  youth  in  the  race  of  religious  perfection,  and  when  in  riper  years 
he  had  reached  the  goal  of  this  perfection.     This  good  Father,  in 
the  early  part  of  his  Noviciate,  was  by  no  means  observant  of  strict 
discipline  ;  and  what  is  worse,  he  was  a  source  of  annoyance  and 
disturbance  to  others  by  his  boyish  tricks.     All  the  Fathers  com 
plained  of  him,  and  all  thought  that  he  deserved  to  be  severely 
punished,  and  even  to  be  dismissed  from  the  Order,  as  giving 
annoyance  to  every  one.     St.  Ignatius,  however,  not  only  would 
never  allow  him  to  be  sent  away,  but  would  not  even  punish  him 
with  the  severity  which  his  childish  follies  seemed  to  call  for.    But 
when  the  same  Father  had  arrived  at  maturity,  not  of  years  only, 
but  of  perfection,  the  Saint  adopted  a  different  course  with  him, 
and  imposed  very  severe   penances   for  the   slightest  faults,   for 
which  perhaps  in  the  sight  of  God  he  was  in  nowise  to  blame.    So 
much  so,  that  when  Ribadeneira  had  gone  on  a  certain  day  some 
distance  out  of  Rome  in  company  of  two  Bishops  of  the  Society, 
who  were  starting  for  Ethiopia,  and  had  returned  home  rather  late, 
the  Saint  imposed  a  fast  on  bread  and  water  as  a  penance  for  this 
breach  of  rule,  although  it  was  committed  in  compliance  with  the 
dictates  of  fraternal  charity.     It  may  be  asked,  why  at  one  time 
so  much  indulgence  was  shown  to  the  very  person  who  at  another 
time  was  treated  with  so  much  rigour.     The  reason  is,  that  the 
Saint  was  well   aware   of  the   inequality  of  spiritual  strength  in 
Novices  just  beginning  to  practise  perfection,  and  in  those  who, 
after  a  lapse   of  years,  had   already  acquired  it ;  hence,  in  the 
government  of  his  subjects,  he  paid  more  attention  to  the  stage 
•of  perfection  which  they  had  attained,  than  to  their  defects.     A 
Director,  then,  who  wishes  to  avoid  .falling  into  serious  mistakes, 
should  take  a  lesson  from  this  Saint  and  learn  how  to  discriminate 
in  the  persons  he  is  training  to  virtue  the  different  states  of  perfec 
tion  which  we  have  above  explained. 

36,.  Before  concluding  this  Chapter,  I  will  point  out  some  in 
ferences,  which  follow  from  what  has  been  said,  and  which  will 
be  of  great  help  to  Directors  in  using  this  book  to  the  ad  vantage  of 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  35 

their  penitents.  This  first  Section  (in  which  I  am  speaking  of  the 
means  of  perfection)  regards  every  person  without  distinction,  in 
whatever  state  of  virtue  he  may  be,  because  the  use  of  prayer  and 
meditation,  the  Sacraments,  the  exercise  of  the  presence  of  God, 
.and  the  like,  are  necessary  to  all,  whether  beginners,  proficients, 
or  perfect,  who  wish  to  make  progress  in  their  own  state.  The 
second  Section  is  intended  more  particularly  for  beginners,  since 
their  special  task  is  to  remove  by  continual  mortification,  all 
hindrances  to  charity,  namely  sins,  evil  habits,  and  disordered 
affections ;  as  St.  Thomas  observes.*  The  third  Section  is  addressed 
principally  to  proficients,  who,  having  in  a  great  measure  subdued 
their  passions,  are  engaged  more  especially,  by  the  practice  of  the 
moral  virtues,  in  acquiring  those  dispositions  which  positively  dis 
pose  the  soul  to  yield  increase  of  divine  love.t  The  fourth 
Section  is  adapted  for  the  perfect,  who,  having  removed  the  ob 
stacles  encountered  by  beginners,  and  having  acquired  the  virtues 
of  proficients,  are  chiefly  engaged  in  keeping  up  an  intimate  union 
with  God  by  means  of  holy  love.J  This  division  will  show  Direc 
tors  that  the  whole  object  of  the  present  work  is  to  conduct  souls 
Ly  due  method  along  the  ordinary  paths  of  grace,  to  the  highest 
summit  of  Christian  perfection. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS   ON   THE   SUEJECT  OF  THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTERS. 

37.  FIRST.  My  plan  has  bd  me  in  the  present  Article  merely  to 
give  an  outline  of  the  three  different  states  of  perfection  which  I 

*  Illis,  in  quibus  caritas  incipit,  quamvis  proficiant,  principalior  cura  imminet, 
ut  resistant  peccatis,  quorum  impugnatione  inquietantur.  2.  2.  qu.  24,  a.  9, 
;ad  2. 

t  Hanc  impugnationem  minus  sentientes  jam  quasi  securius  intendunt  ad 
profectum.  Eod.  loco. 

%  Perfecti  etiam  in  caritate  proficiunt  :  sed  non  est  ad  hoc  principals  eorura 
•cura  ;  sed  etiam  eorum  studium  circa  hoc  maxime  versatur  ut  Deo  inhcereant. 
£od.  art.  ad  3. 

3—2 


56  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

have  shown  to  exist  in  beginners,  in  the  more  advanced,  and  in 
the  perfect.  We  have  seen  that  the  whole  study  of  those  who  are 
in  the  first  stage  must  be  directed  to  subduing  the  passions,  as  yet 
still  strong  and  rebellious  against  reason  ;  and  that  they  must  not 
as  yet  expect  to  feel  readiness  and  alacrity  in  the  practice  of 
virtue.  Nevertheless,  a  Director  will  occasionally  meet  with  be 
ginners  only  who  are  so  fervent  in  prayer,  so  eager  for  corporal 
austerities,  so  zealous  in  obedience  and  mortification,  as  to  make 
it  appear  that  all  vice  is  dead  in  them,  and  the  flame  of  concu 
piscence  quenched.  Let  not,  however,  the  Director  place  too 
much  confidence  in  such  persons,  nor  form  too  high  an  opinion 
of  them,  for  all  is  not  gold  that  glitters.  All  the  willingness  they 
manifest  to  perform  good  works  of  every  kind  is  a  pleasing  make- 
show  of  virtue,  but  it  is  not  real  virtue  ;  for  it  proceeds  solely 
from  the  effect  of  sensible  grace  and  of  spiritual  consolations, 
which  lull  their  passions  to  sleep,  and  give  them  an  impulse 
towards  good.  Now  this  is  not  true  and  solid  virtue,  but  merely 
the  effect  of  a  sweet  and  consoling  grace  working  within  the 
soul.  Genuine  virtue,  I  own,  is  a  readiness  in  the  performance 
of  good  works,  but  a  readiness  acquired  by  their  constant  prac 
tice,  and  it  is  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  soul  as  to  weaken,  or 
even  destroy,  all  contrary  inclinations,  insomuch  that  these 
have  little  or  no  influence — at  least  over  the  will — to  move  it 
from  its  virtuous  course,  both  in  seasons  of  aridity  and  in  time 
of  consolation.  But  all  this  is  acquired  only  amidst  tempta 
tions,  afflictions,  and  contradictions,  and  after  repeated  victories 
over  ourselves.  Hence  true  virtue  cannot  possibly  be  found 
in  beginners,  who  cannot  have  stood  the  test  of  many  and 
serious  conflicts.  We  see  every  day  in  the  Noviciates  of  the 
most  exemplary  Religious  Orders,  young  persons,  fervent  in 
prayer,  cheerfully  exact  in  the  observance  of  every  rule,  and 
prompt  in  the  performance  of  every  act  of  humility,  mortification 
and  charity.  *Yet  we  notice  that  many,  when  they  have  finished 
their  Noviceship,  become  tepid  in  prayer,  negligent  in  the  dis 
charge  of  their  duties,  cold  in  the  practice  of  every  religious  virtue. 
All  this  clearly  proves  that  the  zeal  which  they  showed  in  the 
beginning  of  their  'conversion  was  not  real  virtue,  but  only  the 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  37 

impulse  of  sensible  grace.  A  Director,  then,  must  not  allow  him 
self  to  be  deceived  in  the  opinion  he  forms  of  beginners,  nor  trust 
much  to  the  quickness  of  their  pace  at  starting. 

38.  Secondly.  With  reference  to  proficients,  we  have  remarked 
that  these  have  already  subdued  their  passions  to  a  great  extent, 
and  are  wholly  engaged  in  the  exercise  of  virtue ;  yet  the  Director 
will  meet  with  some  proficients  whose  passions  are  more  violent 
than  those  of  any  beginner,  or  even  than  were  their  own  in  the 
commencement  of  their  conversion.  Such  persons  often  have  a 
great  difficulty  and  even  extreme  repugnance  in  the  exercise  of  each 
single  virtue.  Nor  need  we  be  surprised ;  for  this  conflict  does  not 
usually  arise  from  the  intrinsic  character  of  their  souls,  but  only 
from  the  external  assaults  of  the  devil,  who  envies  their  improve 
ment  ;  and  by  a  special  permission  of  God,  Who  wishes  to  lead 
them  to  higher  perfection.  Hence  a  Director  must  bear  in  mind 
that  there  are  holy  and  thoroughly  devoted  servants  whom  our 
Lord  is  pleased  to  leave  in  that  painful  state  called  "passive 
purgation  of  sense,"  in  order  that  their  virtue  may  be  the  more 
refined.  God  slackens  the  devil's  chain,  and  permits  him  to 
molest  them  with  horrible  temptations  of  various  kinds,  such  as 
the  great  bulk  of  the  faithful  are  not  subject  to.  He  also  permits 
them  to  be  strangely  troubled  by  their  passions  ;  and  His  object 
throughout  is,  that  persons  bravely  battling  amidst  sach  rude 
conflicts,  may  acquire  solid  virtue,  that  by  such  means  they  may 
later  on  reach  a  very  high  perfection,  and  many  of  them  even  some 
degree  of  infused  contemplation.  We  may  learn  from  the  life  of 
St.  Mary  Magdalen  de  Pazzi,  how  much  she  suffered  in  the  "Lion's 
Den  "  in  which  God  placed  her,  this  being  precisely  the  purgation 
of  which  we  are  speaking.  In  this  chosen  soul,  full  of  perfect 
dispositions,  highly  favoured  by  God  with  very  many  ecstasies  and 
sublime  visions,  we  see  so  fierce  a  tempest  of  the  passions,  such 
dreadful  assaults  of  temptations,  that  the  mere  reading  of  them 
moves  us  to  compassion.  Now  all  this  tumult  of  the  passions, 
occasionally  met  with  in  proficients,  and  this  difficulty — or  as 
sometimes  happens,  disgust  felt  in  the  performance  of  good  works 
— have  not  their  origin  in  the  natural  character  of  the  persons 
tempted,  but  are  purely  accidental,  inasmuch  as  they  proceed  from 


38  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

external  causes.  Indeed,  when  the  terrible  combat  with  the  devil 
is  over,  they  return  to  their  natural  state,  with  their  passions  well 
ordered  and  subdued,  and  enjoy  the  sweets  of  peace.  A  Director, 
then,  must  be  careful  not  to  form  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  such 
persons  :  he  must  esteem  them  as  much  as  he  did  before  these 
outbursts  of  passion  began ;  nay  even  more,  on  account  of  the 
great  spiritual  profit  which  is  commonly  derived  from  these 
interior  troubles. 

39.  Thirdly.     With   regard    to    the    perfect  we   have   already 
remarked  that  they  have  subdued  all  their   passions,   that   they 
abstain  from  even  slight  faults,  and  that  they  readily  practise  acts 
of  charity,  and  live  in  union  with  God.     We  must,  however,  have 
a  sound  and  correct  understanding   of  this   statement.     In  the 
preceding  chapters  I  have  established  the  two  following  truths : 
First,  that  in  this  miserable  life,  no  one  can  become  so  perfect  as 
not  occasionally  to  feel  some  excitement  of  the  passions,  some 
slight   rebellion    of  the    sensitive    appetite :     Secondly,  that  no 
spiritual  person  can  reach  such  purity  of  conscience  as  no  longer 
to  be  sullied  by  any  venial  sin.     It  follows  consequently  that  the 
highest  perfection  of  the  saints  here  below  is  reduced  to  this,  that 
their  passions  being  mortified  create  little  disturbance  in  them, 
are  easily  and  quickly  overcome,  and  that  the  venial  sins  which 
they  commit  are  not  fully  deliberate,  and  are  rapidly  effaced  by 
the    good    and    meritorious    works    which  are  familiar  to  them. 
This  is  the  view  of  Suarez*  and  the  teaching  of  St.  Augustine. 
That  man  is  perfect,  says  the  holy  Bishop  of  Hippo,  who  falls 
not  into  the  more  serious  sins — those,   namely,  which  are  com 
mitted  with  full    deliberation — and  who    strives   by    almsgiving 
and  other   good  works  to  purify  his  soul  from  the  sins  he  has. 
committed.t 

40.  Nor,  says  the  Angelic  Doctor,  does  the  perfection  of  our 
present  state  require  that  we  should  be  united  to  God  by  a  con 
tinual  and  uninterrupted  exercise  of  love  :  such  perfection  belongs 

*  De  Relig.  torn,  iij.,  c.  3,  n.  22. 

+  Ingredi  sine  macula  non  absurde  ille  dicitur.  qui  ad  ipsam  perfectionem 
irreprehensibiliter  currit,  carens  criminibus  damnabilibus  ;  atque  ipsa  peccata 
venialia  non  negligens  mundare  eleemosynis.  De  Perfect.  Justit.  lib.  vj. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  39 

to  our  heavenly  country,  not  to  the  slippery  pathway  of  this  life.* 
To  be  perfect  here,  it  suffices  that  we  find  ease  in  the  practice  of 
union  with  God,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  occupations  in 
which  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  we  should  be  engaged  during  our 
present  life. 

41.  Much  less,  however,  is  it  true  that  our  perfection  has  bounds 
which  cannot  be  passed,  how  great  soever  may  be  our  advance 
ment.     It  is  clear  that  every  man  on  earth  is  both  able  and  bound 
to  make  continual  progress  in  perfection.     If  he  be  already  per 
fect,  he  ought  more  ardently  than  ever  to  aspire  to  the  degree  of 
perfection  which  is  still  wanting  to  him ;  because  this  very  aspira 
tion,  as  St.  Bernard  says,  belongs  to  the  perfection  of  his  state. 
An  unwearied  desire  of  further  advance  in  perfection,  and  an 
unceasing  endeavour  to  attain  it,  in  good  truth  are  perfection. t 
To  sum  up  then,  in  a  few  words,  all  that  I  have  said  under  this 
heading,  I  repeat  that  the  perfection  which  belongs  to  the  present 
life  consists  in  this,  that  the  emotions  of  our  appetites  be  moderate, 
seldom  excited,  and  easily  and  quickly  overcome ;   that  no  fully 
deliberate  venial  faults  be  committed ;  and  that,  with  hearts  and 
minds  united  to  God,  without  difficulty,  and  as  uninterruptedly  as 
may  be,  we  aspire  after  a  more  exalted  perfection  with  ever  increas 
ing  earnestness  and  fervour. 

42.  Fourthly.  If  a  Director  is  anxious  that  his  instructions  should 
be  useful  to  the  souls  which  he  has  taken  under  his  care,  he  must 
ever  aim  at  securing  perfection  in  the  particular  state  in  which 
they  are  for  the  time  being ;  and  he  must  not  exact  from  them 
the  perfection  of  any  higher  state.     He  must  know  how  to  be 
compassionate  with  them,  and  to  bear  with  their  defects,   ever 
mindful  that  no  one  can  perform  more  than  his  degree  of  strength 
allows.      This  precept  is  given  by  St.  Bernard,  and  his  words  are 
worthy  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold.    "  Christian  perfection,"  says 
the  mellifluous  Doctor,  "  is  required  of  every  one,  but  not  of  every 

*  Alia  autem  est  perfectio,  quae  attenclitur  secundum  totalitatem  absolutam 
ex  parte  diligentis,  prout  scilicet  affectus  secundum  totum  suum  posse  semper 
actualiter  tendit  in  Deum  :  et  talis  perfectio  non  est  possibilis  in  viS,  sed  erit 
in  patria.  2.  2.  qu.  148,  art.  2,  in  corp. 

t  Indefessum  proficiendi  studium,  etju  is  conatus  ad  perfectionem,  perfectio 
reputatur.  Epist.  253. 


40  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

one  in  the  same  degree.  If  you  are  beginning,  at  least  begin 
perfectly.  If  you  are  already  in  the  path  of  perfection,  go  forward 
perfectly.  If  it  seems  to  you  that  you  have  already  obtained  some 
degree  of  perfection,  examine  yourself,  and  strive  to  advance 
towards  that  which  is  still  wanting  to  you."*  For  this  purpose  I 
have  explained  the  three  states  of  perfection,  and  have  shown  the 
difference  between  them,  in  order  that  a  Director  may  be  able  to 
distinguish  them  in  his  penitents,  and  may  discreetly  and  skilfully 
lead  each  one  to  perfection,  according  to  the  needs  and  powers 
of  his  particular  state. 


ARTICLE  II. 

The  desire  of  perfection  is  the  first  means  for  its  attainment ;  and 
this  desire  must  never  relax,  but  tend  always  to  higher  perfection. 
The  motives  which  excite  and  increase  such  desire. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  THE  DESIRE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION  is  THE  MOST  NECES 
SARY    MEANS    FOR    ITS   ATTAINMENT. 

43.  ST.  AUGUSTINE  says  that  the  life  of  a  good  Christian  is  one 
continued  desire  of  perfection  ;t  because  whosoever  entertains  not 
always  this  holy  longing  in  his  heart,  may  be  in  some  sense  a 
Christian,  but  not  a  good  one ;  for  desires,  as  the  Angelic  Doctor 
teaches,  are  what  dispose  our  souls,  and  tend  to  render  them  fit  and 

*  Ab  omnibus  perfectio  exigitur,  licet  non  uniformis  :  sed  si  incipis,  incipe 
perfecte  :  si  jam  in  profectu  es,  et  hoc  ipsum  perfecte  age  :  si  autem  perfec- 
tionis  aliquid  attigisti,  teipsum  in  teipso  metire  :  et  die  cum  Apostolo  :  Non 
quod  jam  apprehenderim,  aut  jam  perfectus  sim  :  sequor  autem  si  forte  com- 
prehendam,  in  quo  comprehensus  sum,  etc.  De  Vit.  Solit. 

t  Tota  vita  Christiani  boni  sanctum  desiderium  est.  Tract,  xiv.  in  I  Epist. 
Joan. 


DESIRE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  41 

5'eady  to  receive  the  good  which  is  suitable  to  them.*  And  as  no 
man  in  the  world  ever  was  successful  in  acquiring  perfection  in 
any  art,  either  liberal  or  mechanical,  without  first  efficaciously 
desiring  success,  so  there  never  has  been  found,  and  there  never 
will  be  found,  in  the  Church  of  God,  any  soul  attaining  to  Christian 
perfection  without  earnestly  wishing  to  acquire  it. 

44.  But  to  penetrate  in  its  fulness  so  important  a  truth,  we  must 
•examine  into  the  arguments  which  prove  it.      There  are  two  parts 
•of  the  soul,  again  observes  the  same  St.  Thomas,  in  which  desires 
of  spiritual  gifts  have  their  residence ;  these  desires  are  born  in  the 
rational  and  superior  part  of  the  soul ;  but  they  sometimes  overflow, 
so  to  speak,  into  the  animal  and  inferior  part,  filling  it  with  ardour 
for  holy  objects,  insomuch  that  even  the  body  is  moved  to  co 
operate  with  the  soul  in  promoting  its  spiritual  advancement.t 
Holy  desires,  when  they  arise  in  the  superior  and  rational  part,  are 
nothing  else  than  movements  of  the  will  towards  some  spiritual 
excellence  which  it  does  not  as  yet  possess,  but  which  it  knows  to 
be  within  its  reach.     The  reader  must  mark  this  well,  if  he  wishes 
to  make  an  exact  analysis  of  these  desires.     I  repeat,  that  desire 
always  has  reference  to  good  which  we  do  not  as  yet  enjoy;  for  the 
blessings  which  we  already  possess  do  not  excite  desire  in  us,  but 
rather  joy,  content,  and  happiness.  Thus  the  ambitious  man,  when 
he  is  raised  to  the  dignities  and  honours  for  which  he  had  longed, 
desires  them  no  more,  but  is  glad  and  rejoices  in  them.     I  said, 
moreover,  that   desire    regards    the  blessings  which  we  hope  to 
obtain ;   for    good  which  we  cannot  possibly  obtain  excites  not 
desire,  but  despair.       Thus  a  traveller,  impatient    to  reach  his 
native  land,  desires  speed  of  foot,  not  wings  to  his  shoulders  ;  be 
cause  the  one  is  possible,  the  other  is  impossible  of  attainment. 

45.  Let  us  dwell  for  a  moment  on  this  doctrine,  since  it  substan- 

*  Desiderium  quodammodo  facit  desiderantem  aptum,  et  paratum  ad  sus- 
ceptionem  desiderati.  P.  I.  qu.  12,  art.  6,  in  corp. 

t  Appetitus  sapientioe,  vel  aliorum  spiritualium  bonorum  interdum  concu- 
piscentia  nominatur,  vel  propter  similitudinem  quandam,  vel  propter  inten- 
tionem  appetitus  supevioris  partis  :  ex  quo  fit  redundantia  in  inferiorem  appe- 
titum,  ut  simul  etiam  inferior  appetitus  suo  modo  tendat  in  spirituale  bonum, 
consequens  appetitu-m  superiorem,  et  etiam  ipsum  corpus  spiiitualibus  deserviat. 
I.  2.  qu.  30,  art.  I  ad  I. 


42  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

dates  powerfully  the  truth  of  our  proposition.  We  have  said  tha* 
desire  is  an  affection  of  the  will  towards  some  good  which  is  pos 
sible  and  suitable  for  it  to  obtain  and  possess.  Hence  if  a  Chris 
tian  is  not  desirous  of  perfection,  it  is  certain  that  he  moves  no 
act  of  his  will  to  embrace  and  make  it  his  own ;  the  will  remains 
motionless,  indifferent,  languid,  and  inert.  How,  then,  is  it  pos 
sible  that  he  can  ever  attain  perfection  ?  Can  a  person  contend 
ing  for  the  prize  in  a  public  race  ever  reach  the  goal  without 
leaving  the  starting-post?  How,  then,  can  the  will  ever  attain 
perfection  if  it  does  not  move  itself  to  acts  directed  towards  that 
end  ?  And  this  is  the  more  true,  because  perfection  is  a  blessing 
difficult  to  attain,  and  only  to  be  acquired  by  means  which  are  in 
themselves  hard,  and  depend  on  the  deliberate  choice  of  the  will. 
Now,  if  the  will  have  no  desire  of  perfection,  if  it  refuse  to  make 
any  effort  to  acquire  the  same,  how  can  it  overcome  such  diffi 
culties?  How  will  it  be  able  to  choose  with  courage  and  to 
maintain  with  perseverance  a  course  so  full  of  pain  and  hardship  ? 
46.  When  these  holy  desires  pass  from  the  superior  part  of  the 
soul  and  inundate  the  inferior,  they  show  themselves  in  certain 
holy  emotions  tending  towards  the  possession  of  those  same  spiri 
tual  gifts  which  have  been  the  object  of  the  previous  acts  of  the 
will.  It  is  unimaginable  how  much  these  sensible  desires  conduce 
to  rapid  advance  in  perfection  by  developing  the  sensitive  appetite, 
stimulating  and  strengthening  the  will,  and  thus  dilating  the  facul 
ties  of  the  soul,  and  rendering  it  capable  of  great  efforts  for  good. 
St.  Augustine  illustrates  this  by  a  happy  simile.  He  says  that  as 
a  person  who  is  to  receive  a  great  quantity  of  merchandise  en 
larges  his  sacks  and  vessels  to  their  full  extent,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  hold  more  of  the  wares,  so  desires  enlarge  the  heart,  and 
render  it  capable  of  containing  great  stores  of  spiritual  wealth. 
And  he  adduces  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  who  tells  us  that  he 
neglected  the  past,  and  reached  forward  his  desires,  hoping  to 
become  fit  to  receive  that  further  degree  of  perfection  which  yet 
remained  for  him  to  acquire.*  The  holy  Doctor  deduces  from 

*  Desiderando  capax  efficeris,  tit  cum  venerit  quod  videas,  implearis.  Sicut 
enim  si  velis  implcre  aliquem  sinum,  et  nosti  quam  magnum  est  quod  dabitur, 
extendens  sinum  vel  sacci,  vei  utris,  vel  alterius  rei,  nosti  quantum  missu.iAS 


DESIRE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION.  43 

this  the  consequence,  that  the  whole  life  of  a  Christian  must  be 
one  continual  exercise  of  virtue  by  means  of  holy  desires.*  If 
this  be  so,  what  advance  in  perfection  can  we  expect  from  him 
who  has  no  desire  of  it  ?  The  superior  part  of  his  soul  does  not 
move  towards  perfection,  and  the  inferior  part  is  not  inflamed  ; 
his  will  is  inert  and  relaxed,  his  feelings  fettered  and  cramped ; 
in  short,  he  cares  little  for  perfection,  he  values  it  not,  he  lives  in 
entire  forgetfulness  of  it ;  it  is  as  thoroughly  impossible  that  he 
should  advance  a  single  step  in  the  way  of  perfection  as  it  would 
be  for  a  traveller  to  arrive  at  the  end  of  his  journey  by  standing 
still.  A  Director  must  then  ever  bear  in  mind  that  good  desires 
must  be  the  very  foundation-stone  which  it  is  his  duty  to  lay  in 
the  heart  of  those  penitents  in  whom  he  intends  to  raise  the  noble 
edifice  of  Christian  perfection.  Such  desires  are  the  seeds  from 
which  that  tree  is  to  spring  up,  which  is  to  bear  the  fruit  of  every 
virtue,  and,  above  all,  the  golden  apple  of  divi-ne  charity.  Unless 
this  foundation-stone  be  laid,  unless  this  seed  be  sown,  it  is  folly 
to  expect  success  in  the  undertaking. 

47.  In  confirmation  of  this  important  truth,  I  will  cite  the 
example  of  a  certain  young  man,  once  a  votary  of  the  world  and 
its  vanities,  who,  pierced  to  the  heart  with  a  powerful  inspiration 
from  on  high,  conceived  so  burning  a  desire  of  his  eternal  salvation 
and  perfection,  that  he  straightway  determined  to  consecrate  him 
self  wholly  to  God  in  one  of  those  monasteries  which,  far  removed 
from  the  haunts  of  men,  were  enjoying  at  that  time  the  highest 
reputation  for  sanctity.  The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  execution 
of  his  generous  design  arose  neither  from  wealth  nor  from  honours, 
nor  from  the  pleasures  and  vanities  of  the  world  \  for,  made  valiant 
by  the  force  of  his  ardent  longings,  he,  with  great  courage  and 

es  ;  et  si  videas,  quia  angustus  est  sinus,  extendendo  facis  capaciorem  :  sic  Deus 
differendo  exlendit  desiderium,  desiderando  extendit  animum,  extendendo  facit 
capacem.  Desideremus  ergo,  fratres,  quia  implendi  sumus.  Videte  Paulum 
extendentem  sinum,  ut  possit  capere  quod  venturum  est.  Ait  :  Non  quia  jam 
acceperim,  aut  jam  perfectus  sitn,  fratres,  ego  me  non  arbitror  apprehendisse. 
Quid  ergo  agis  in  hac  vita,  si  nondum  apprehendisti  ?  Unum  autem,  quaa 
retro  oblitus,  in  ea,  quae  ante  sunt,  extentus,  secundum  intentionem  sequor  aci 
pa  Imam  supernce  vocationis.  Tract,  iv.  in  I  Epist.  Joan. 
*  Haec  est  vita  nostra,  ut  desiderando  exerceamur. 


44  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

promptitude,  trampled  under  foot  all  these  perishable  things. 
But  he  soon  found  far  greater  difficulty  in  resisting  the  prayers 
and  caresses  of  his  mother.  The  first  weapons  she  employed 
were  tears ;  after  followed  words  broken  by  sobs.  "  Will  you 
then  abandon  me,"  she  exclaimed,  "  in  my  old  age  ?  Will  you 
bring  me  to  my  grave  in  sorrow?'*'  "No,"  replied  the  youth,  "  I 
do  not  wish  to  bring  upon  you  either  sorrow  or  death  ;  all  that  I 
wish  is  to  save  my  own  soul."  "  But,"  rejoined  the  mother,  "  can 
not  you  save  it  in  the  world  ?  Can  you  not  save  it  if  you  live  a 
Christian  life  at  home  ?"  "  I  can,"  answered  the  son,  "  but  I  wish 
not  to  run  any  risk,  and  therefore  I  am  resolved  to  retire  into  the 
desert,  and  lead  a  perfect  and  saintly  life  in  solitude."  "  Then," 
broke  in  the  afflicted  mother,  "  all  the  sacrifices  I  have  made  for 
you,  from  your  infancy  to  the  present  hour,  all  are  thrown  away  ; 
lost  my  tender  care,  my  pains,  my  trouble,  and  I  shall  be  left 
alone  to  bewail  my  unhappy  lot."  "I  have  nothing  further  to 
add,"  answered  the  son ;  "  I  want  to  save  my  soul.  Be  calm,  my 
mother ;  my  heart  is  possessed  by  so  lively  a  desire  of  salvation 
and  sanctification  that  I  cannot  fight  against  it :  I  must  follow  the 
impulse  I  have  received."  His  constancy  at  length  triumphed 
over  even  a  fond  mother's  heart ;  and  full  of  lofty  aspirations,  he 
hurried  to  the  monastery.  There  he  applied  himself  with  great 
fervour  of  spirit  to  penance,  mortification,  prayer,  and  every  reli 
gious  virtue.  But  as  time  went  on,  these  holy  desires  lost  some 
of  their  fervour  ;  then  they  grew  lukewarm,  and  were  'finally  suc 
ceeded  by  a  downright  tepidity.  So  that  he  who,  once  borne  on 
the  wings  of  holy  desires,  seemed  to  soar  to  the  very  gates  of 
paradise,  now  clogged  and  weighed  down  by  the  heavy  chains  of 
tepidity,  was  on  the  verge  of  falling  into  hell  itself;  and  he  would 
most  assuredly  have  fallen  into  the  abyss  had  not  his  mother  ap 
peared  to  him  from  heaven  to  rekindle  in  his  heart  the  fervour 
of  his  former  desires.  The  unhappy  man  being  seized  with  a 
grievous  sickness,  was  carried  in  spirit  before  the  tribunal  of  God  ; 
and  there,  amongst  many  souls  who  were  awaiting  the  sentence 
of  their  final  doom,  he  beheld  his  mother.  On  recognising  him 
she  exclaimed,  "  Do  my  eyes  deceive  me  !  O  my  son,  is  it  pos 
sible  that  I  should  live  to  behold  you  in  this  place  under  sentence 


OBLIGATION  TO  BECOME  PERFECT.  45 

of  eternal  condemnation  ?  What  then  have  become  of  those  holy- 
desires  to  save  your  soul,  and  to  secure  your  salvation  in  the 
austere  life  of  the  cloister  ?"  *  This  reproof  of  his  mother  made 
so  powerful  an  impression  upon  him,  that,  when  he  recovered  the 
use  of  his  senses,  and  was  restored  to  health,  he  shut  himself  up 
in  a  narrow  cell,  and  never  again  leaving  it,  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  weeping  over  his  past  infidelities.  Let  us  ponder 
in  this  fact  the  great  efficacy  of  holy  desires  in  detaching  souls 
from  the  allurements  of  the  world,  and  leading  them  to  the  sub- 
limest  height  of  perfection,  as  well  as  our  extreme  spiritual  weak 
ness  when  not  borne  aloft  by  such  aspirations.  The  mother 
of  this  erring  Religious  herself  could'  find  no  means  of  bringing 
him  back  to  the  path  of  perfection,  or  even  of  salvation,  except 
by  reviving  in  his  heart  his  former  good  desires,  and  bringing 
back  to  his  mind  the  memory  of  his  early  fervour.  Such  then 
must  be  the  commencement  of  a  Director's  labours  on  behalf  of 
the  souls  which  he  designs  to  lead  to  perfection ;  he  should  always 
bear  in  mind  the  axiom  of  St.  Augustine  :  That  the  life  of  a  per 
fect  Christian  is  nothing  else  than  the  going  ever  forward  in  the 
practice  of  virtue  under  the  impulse  of  holy  aspirations. t 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   FIRST   MOTIVE   TO   EXCITE   A   DESIRE    OF   PERFECTION.        THE 
OBLIGATION    ALL   ARE   UNDER    TO    BECOME    PERFECT. 

48.  THE  most  effectual  motive  the  Director  can  suggest  in  order 
to  stir  up  those  lukewarm  souls,  who,  content  with  avoiding 
grievous  falls,  care  not  to  amend  their  lives,  is  assuredly  to  incul 
cate  the  obligation  imposed  by  God  on  each  and  every  one  to 
strive  after  perfection  in  his  respective  state.  Jesus  Christ  speaks 

*  Quid  hoc  est,  fill  ?  Et  tu  in  hunc  locum  condemnation-is  venisti  ?  Ubi 
sunt  sermones  illi,  quos  loquebaris,  dicendo  :  Salvare  volo  animara  meam  ?  In 
Lib.  Doct.  PP.  Lib.  de  Comp.  n.  5. 

t  Hsec  est  vita  nostra.  ut  desiderando  exerceamur. 


46  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

clearly  on  this  point,  and  speaks  to  all.  Our  Redeemer  commands 
us  to  be  perfect,  and  sets  before  us  the  model  which  we  are  to 
strive  to  realise ;  nothing  less  than  the  perfection  of  His  heavenly 
Father.*  St.  James,  the  Apostle,  will  have  us  to  be  wholly  perfect, 
and  in  nothing  deficient,  f  St.  Paul  warns  us  to  stand  ever  armed 
against  the  assaults  of  our  enemies,  and  to  be  in  all  things  perfect.  J 
Not  content  with  the  perfection  of  our  wills,  the  same  Apostle  re 
quires  that  of  our  minds,  which  he  would  have  us  conform  to  the 
views  of  others  by  avoiding  diversities  of  opinions.  §  So  that  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  our  obligation  of  striving  after  the  perfec 
tion  suitable  to  our  station. 

49.  But  since  according  to  the  various  conditions  of  different 
individuals,  the  perfection  varies  to  which  each  must  tend,  the 
Director  must  distinguish,  in  order  to  act  with  method  and  discre 
tion,  between  such  as  are  Religious,  consecrated  to  God  by  holy 
vows,  and  seculars  who  are  free  and  their  own  masters  ;  so  as  neither 
to  heap  burdens  on  some,  nor  exempt  others  from  the  obligations 
which  they  have  contracted.  If  his  penitent  be  a  Religious  man 
or  woman,  he  must  frequently  remind  such  a  one  of  the  teaching 
of  St.  Thomas,  that  though  not  bound  to  be  perfect,  yet  there  is 
obligation  under  grievous  sin,  to  tend  to  and  aspire  after  perfec 
tion.  He  must  warn  penitents  of  this  class  that  having  by 
solemn  engagements  devoted  themselves  to  religion,  they  are  like 
apprentices  who  are  put  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  smith  or  car 
penter  j  and  that  apprentices,  though  not  bound  to  turn  out  per 
fect  specimens  of  work  in  wood  or  iron,  are  yet  obliged  to  perfect 
themselves  in  their  trade  :  and  though  not  worthy  of  blame  for 
the  blunders  they  may  chance  to  make  in  their  handiwork,  still 
they  would  deserve  both  rebuke  and  chastisement  were  they  not 

*  Estote  ergo  perfect!,  sicut  et  Pater  vester  [ccelestis  perfectus  est.  M/atth. 
v.  48. 

t  Patientia  opus  perfectum  habet,  ut  sitis  perfect!,  et  integri,  in  nullo  defv 
cientes.  Jac.  Epist.  c.  i.  4. 

i  Accipite  armaturam  Dei,  ut  possitis  resistere  in  die  malo,  et  in  omnibui 
perfecti  stare.  Ad  Ephes.  vi.  13. 

-  §  Obsecro  autem  vos,  per  nomen  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  ut  idipsunj 
dicatis  omnes,  et  non  sint  in  vobis  schismata  :  sitis  autem  perfecti  in  ecdeai 
sensu.  et  in  eadem  sententia.  I.  ad  Cor.  i.  10. 


OBLIGATION  TO  BECOME  PERFECT.  47 

to  amend  and  to  go  on  improving  day  by  day : — even  so,  God  will 
never  call  a  Religious  to  account  for  not  being  perfect,  since  the 
religious  state  into  which  one  has  entered,  is  not  a  gathering  of 
persons  already  perfect,  but  a  school  of  perfection ;  yet  will  such  a 
one  be  grievously  guilty,  and  deserving  of  punishment,  should  he 
fail  to  strive  after  the  pe?;fection  to  which  he  is  bound  to  aspire 
by  his  religious  profession,  and  to  amend  and  improve  his  life 
and  conversation  by  the  means  his  rule  prescribes.*  What  St. 
Jerome  wrote  to  Heliodorus,  who  had  left  the  army  for  the 
monastic  state,  is  most  suited  to  our  present  purpose  :  "  Helio 
dorus,  bear  in  mind  that  thou  hast  promised  God  to  be  perfect. 
When  having  forsaken  the  army  of  an  earthly  prince,  thou  didst 
vow  in  thy  monastery  perpetual  chastity,  out  of  the  yearning  thou 
didst  feel  for  thy  heavenly  country,  what  else  didst  thou  do  but 
vow  unto  God  to  lead  a  perfect  life?  Now  remember  that  a 
perfect  servant  of  Jesus  Christ  has  nothing  but  Christ  in  his  heart, 
else  is  he  not  a  perfect  servant  of  the  Lord ;  and  if  despite  his 
promise  to  God,  he  be  not  perfect,  he  is  a  liar  in  the  sight  of  the 
Almighty,  and  by  his  lie  has  killed  his  soul."t  As  Suarez  observes 
on  this  passage,  St.  Jerome  does  not  mean  that  Heliodorus  was 
bound  to  have  fully  attained  to  the  sublime  perfection  above 
described,  but  only  that  it  was  his  duty  to  aspire  to  it  in  desire, 
and  to  strive  after  it  in  action.  This  notwithstanding,  his  words 
ire  well  fitted  to  alarm  a  slothful  and  lukewarm  Religious  who  is 
:areless  in  the  service  of  God. 


*  Status  autem  religiosi  est  qusedam  disciplina,  vel  exercitium  ad  perfectionem 
perveniendi  :  ad  quern  qutdem  aliqui  pervenire  nituntur  exercitiis  diversis,  sicut 
ttiam  medicus  ad  sanandum  uti  potest  diversis  medicamentis.  Manifestum  est 
autem,  quod  ille,  qui  operatur  ad  finem,  non  neccsse  convenit  quod  consecutus 
sit  finem,  sed  requiritur,  quod  per  aliquam  viam  tendat  ad  finem  :  et  ideo  qui 
statum  religionis  assumit,  non  tenetur  habere  perfectam  caritatem  j  sed  tenetur 
ad  hoc  tendere,  et  operam  dare,  ut  habeat  caritatem  perfectam.  2.  2.  qutest. 
1 68,  art.  2,  in  corp.  . 

t  Tu  autem  perfectum  te  fore  pollicitus  es  :  nam  cum  derelict^  militi£  te 
castrasti  propter  regna  ccelorum,  quid  aliud  quam  perfectam  secutus  es  vitam  ? 
Perfectus  autem  servus  Christi  nihil  prseter  Christum  habet ;  aut  si  quid  prseter 
Christum  habet  perfectus  non  est.  Et  si  perfectus  non  est,  cum  se  perfectum 
fore  Deo  pollicitus  est,  ante  mentitus  est,  os  autem,  quod  mentitur,  occidit 
animam.  In  Epist.  ad  Heliod. 


48  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

50.  We  may  hence  conclude,  First,  that  every  Religious  is  most 
strictly  bound  to  the  observance  of  the  three  vows  of  poverty,  chas 
tity,  and  obedience,  which  are  the  very  counsels  Jesus  Christ  has 
given  us  in  His  Gospel,  and  which  a  Religious  has  engaged  himself 
by  solemn  oath  to  keep  as  a  means  of  attaining  to  perfection.* 
Secondly,  that  he  is  strictly  held  to  the  observance  of  his  rules,, 
the  means  by  which  he  has  bound  himself  at  his  religious  pro 
fession  to  tend  to  perfection.     Such  is  the  teaching  of  St.  Thomas, 
who  says  :  A  Religious  is  not  bound  to  every  exercise  whereby  per 
fection  may  be  attained,  but  only  to  such  as  are  prescribed  by  the 
rule  he  has  professed. f 

51.  The  Director,  doubtless,  will  have  to  meet  the  objection  of 
which  so  many  Religious  avail  themselves  as  an  excuse  for  careless 
living,  to  wit,  that  their  rule  does  not  bind  under  sin.     To  this  he- 
must  reply  with  St.  Thomas  ;  even  granting  that  the  infraction  of 
this  or  that  rule,  which  is  not  a  strict  precept,  but  only  a  counsel, 
does  not  imply  grievous  sin,  supposing  it  take  place  through  some 
small  yielding  to  passion,  or  to  self  love  ever  jealous  of  its  liberty 
and  averse  to  restraint  and  mortification  (though  in  such  case  the 
Religious  is  not  guiltless  of  venial  sin  on  account  of  the  motives, 
more  or  less  unreasonable  which  impel  him  to  violate  his  rule),  yet, 
if  such  transgressions  proceed  from  contempt  of  the  rule,  they  are 
grievously  sinful.]!     And  this,  as  Cajetan  observes,  because  con 
tempt  of  the  rule  implies  contempt  of  God,  Who  has  specially 
inspired  the  saintly  founders  of  Religious  Orders  to  draw  up  such 
rules,  and  to  impose  them  upon  their  Communities.     This  con 
tempt,  as  we  learn  from  the  holy  Doctor  already  cited,  consists, 
herein,  that  a  Religious  first  refuses  subjection  to  the  rule,  and  soon 
proceeds  to  break  it  boldly  and  defiantly.  §     St.  Bonaventure  is  of 

*  Si  vis  perfectus  esse,  vade,  et  vende  omnia  quse  habes,  et  da  pauperibus  et 
sequere  me. 

f  Similiter  eliam  non  tenetur  ad  omnia  exercitia  quibus  ad  perfectionem  per- 
venitur,  sed  ad  ilia  quae  determinate  sunt  ei  taxata  secundum  regulam,  quairt 
professus  est.  2.  2.  quaest.  186,  art.  2,  in  corp. 

J  Regula  quantum  ad  ea,  qute  excedunt  communiter  necessitatem  prascepti, 
non  obligat  ad  mortale,  nisi  propter  contemptum.  2.  2.  quaest.  186,  art.  9,  in* 
corp. 

§  Dicendum  quod  tune  committit  aliquis,  et  transgreditur  ex  contemptu^. 
quando  voluntas  ejus  subjici  renuit  ordinationi  legis,  vel  regulas,  et  ex  hoc  pro- 


OBLIGATION  TO  BECOME  PERFECT.  49 

the  same  mind,*  as  also  St.  Bernard,t  especially  in  his  Constitu 
tions.  We  must,  however,  remember  that  St.  Thomas,  after  grant 
ing  that  individual  violations  of  certain  rules  not  of  strict  obligation, 
when  committed  without  formal  contempt  of  authority,  are  not  of 
themselves  grievously  sinful,  immediately  adds  that  such  breaches 
of  rule,  when  of  frequent  occurrence,  insensibly  lead  the  Religious 
to  a  real  contempt  of  the  rule  of  his  Order,  to  mortal  sin,  and  con 
sequently,  at  times,  even  to  everlasting  perdition.  J  It  must  further 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  although  a  Religious  who  violates  this  or 
that  rule;,  out  of  undue  compliance  with  his  imperfect  inclinations;, 
is  not  guilty  of  mortal  sin — supposing  always  his  disobedience  do 
not  degenerate  into  contempt — yet  is  he  seriously  bound  to  have, 
in  general  at  least,  mind  and  will  intent  on  the  observance  of  his 
rule ;  for  that,  having  engaged  himself  at  his  profession  to  attain  to 
the  perfection  proper  to  his  Institute,  he  has  thereby  bound  himself 
to  employ  the  necessary  means,  which  most  assuredly  can  be  none 
other  than  his  rules.  The  Director,  then,  must  never  grow  weary 
of  dinning  into  the  ears  of  such  of  his  penitents  as  are  Religious, 
the  strict  obligation  they  are  under  of  tending  to  perfection  by  the 
observance  of  their  rules  and  vows ;  for  so  long  as  the  least  rem 
nant  of  the  fear  of  God  be  left  in  them,  this  alone  will  suffice  to  stir 
up  within  them,  not  only  desires  of  perfection,  but  strenuous  efforts 
to  attain  it.  He  should  have  less  hesitation  in  doing  this,  when  he 
comes  across  Religious  who  are  lukewarm,  remiss  and  slothful,  in 
the  service  of  their  Maker. 

52.  Let  us  come  now  to  the  question :  What  are  we  to  say  to 
persons  living  in  the  world,  about  their  obligation  of  being  perfect  ? 
The  Director  may  rest  assured  that  with  seculars  he  will  have  to 

cedit  ad  faciendum  contra  legem  vel  regulam.  Quando  autem  e  converse, 
propter  aliquam  particularem  causam  (puta  concupiscentiam  vel  iram)  inducitur 
ad  aliquid  faciendum  contra  statutalegis,  vel  regulse,  non  peccatex  contemptu, 
sed  ex  aliqua  aM  caus& :  etsi  frequenter  ex  eadem  caus&,  vel  ex  aM  simili, 
peccatum  iteretur.  In  resp.  ad  3. 

*  In  Pharet.  lib.  ii.,  cap.  44. 

t  In  lib.  De  Praecept.  et  Disp.  et  in  Constitut. 

.  %  Sicut  Augustinus  dicit  in  libro  De  Natura  et  Gratia.,  quod  non  omnia  peccata 
committuntur  ex  contemptu  superbise.  Frequentia  autem  peccati  dispositive 
inducit  ad  contemptum,  secundum  illud  Proverbiorum  xviii.  :  Impius  cum  in. 
£>rofundum  venerit  peccatorum,  contemnit. 

VOL.    I.  4 


50  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

take  very  much  greater  pains  than  with  Religious  in  order  to  arouse 
them  from  their  torpor,  for  they  are  generally  imbued  with  the 
foolish  idea  that  perfection  is  the  business  of  monks  and  nuns 
only,  and  is  no  concern  whatever  of  theirs  ;  that  as  for  themselves. 
it  suffices  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  of  the  Church, 
in  a  lump  as  it  were,  and  without  refining  upon  them ;  and  that 
having  done  thus  much,  they  have  done  their  whole  duty.  Nay, 
some  will  go  so  far  as  to  make  sport  of  those  devout  seculars  who 
frequent  the  sacraments,  devotions,  and  churches,  who  are  constant 
in  prayer,  who  employ  themselves  in  works  of  mercy,  and  whose 
bearing  is  modest  and  retired ;  such  they  will  call  crook-necked, 
hypocrites,  saints,  bigots,  and  other  similar  titles  of  disdain 
unworthy  of  the  mouth  of  any  Christian  who  professes  and 
venerates  the  teaching  of  Christ.  Persons  of  this  stamp  have  to 
be  set  free  from  so  harmful  a  delusion  by  careful  instruction.  For 
this  purpose,  let  them  say  what  they  understand  by  Christian  Per- 
Jection.  If  they  understand  thereby  that  sublime  and  arduous 
perfection  which  is  implied  in  the  three  gospel  counsels,  poverty,, 
chastity,  and  obedience,  they  are  right  in  considering  it  no  concern 
of  theirs  ;  for  not  being  called  by  God  to  the  religious  state,  they 
are  not  bound  to  renounce  their  property,  to  forswear  marriage, 
to  lead  a  life  of  celibacy,  or  to  subject  themselves  to  the  obedience 
of  a  superior  who  has  to  prescribe  and  appoint  their  every  action. 
But  if  by  Christian  perfection  they  understand  certain  other 
counsels,  and  especially  certain  precepts  in  slight  matters  which 
have  been  laid  by  God  on  the  whole  mass  of  the  faithful,  as  for 
instance,  to  live  detached  from  property  and  wealth  though  they 
be  possessed  thereof;  to  make  a  good  use  of  their  means  by 
devoting  a  portion  of  them  to  alms-deeds  and  to  the  divine  ser- 
vioe ;  to  flee  not  only  unlawful  pleasures,  but  such  occasions  and 
incentives,  both  proximate  and  more  or  less  remote,  that  allure 
and  egg  on  thoughtless  people  to  such  gratifications ;  to  behave 
with  due  modesty  and  circumspection  in  their  outward  dealings ; 
to  choose  a  spiritual  guide  for  the  internal  regulation  of  their 
conscience ;  to  despise  the  pomps  and  vanities,  the  splen 
dour  and  pride  of  worldly  life,  and,  if  their  station  require  them 
to  keep  up  certain  appearances,  to  preserve,  amid  the  outward 


OBLIGATION  TO  BECOME  PERFECT.  51 

circumstances  of  rank  and  wealth,  the  inward  humility  and 
lowliness  of  heart  befitting  a  follower  of  Christ;  to  bear  in 
patience  wrongs,  misfortunes,  and  trials  of  all  kinds ;  to  love 
their  enemies,  refraining  not  only  from  yielding  to  inward  acts  of 
resentment,  but  from  all  external  marks  of  enmity;  to  mortify 
their  passions,  withholding  from  them  all  unreasonable  grati 
fications  ;  to  avoid  venial  sins,  especially  such  as  are  deliberate ; 
to  frequent  the  holy  sacraments  ;  to  pray  often ;  to  reflect  from 
time  to  time  on  the  maxims  of  faith  which  avail  so  powerfully  to 
keep  us  in  check,  and  to  make  us  walk  cautiously  amid  the  dangers 
which  surround  us ;  to  do  many  other  things  commanded  of  God 
— even  though  their  omission,  on  account  of  the  slightness  of 
the  matter,  be  not  grievously  sinful — or  merely  counselled  by 
Him,  since  without  precautions  of  the  kind  it  is  morally  impossible 
to  lead  a  well-regulated  life  ;  if,  I  say,  this  is  what  they  understand 
by  Christian  perfection,  and  they  deem  it  no  concern  of  theirs, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  seculars  living  in  the  world,  then  they  are 
woefully  mistaken;  for  to  this  perfection  all  who  glory  in  the  name 
of  Christian  are  most  surely  called.  Let  us  listen  to  what  St 
Thomas  has  to  say  on  this  point,  after  having  examined  it  with  all 
the  rigour  of  the  School :  "All  seculars,  as  well  as  Religious,  are 
bound  within  the  limits  of  discretion  to  do  whatever  good  they 
can ;  as  the  Book  of  Ecclesiasticus  warns  us.  There  is,  indeed,  a 
way  of  fulfilling  this  precept  by  avoiding  sin,  when  a  person  does 
what  he  can  in  the  measure  of  the  requirements  of  his  condition, 
and  is  careful  not  to  harbour  contempt  for  the  greater  good 
which  he  might  perform,  placing  thus  a  hindrance  to  his  spiritual 
progress."  *  Seculars  should  observe  that  in  this  passage  the  holy 
Doctor  speaks  of  "  obligation,"  "  precept,"  and  "  sin  ;"  let  them 
now  say,  if  they  have  the  courage,  that  perfection  is  the  concern  of 
Religious  only. 

*  Omnes,  tarn  religiosi  quam  sseculares,  tenentur  aliqualiter  facere  qiiidquid 
boni  possunt  :  omnibus  enim  communiter  dicitur,  Eccl.  ix. :  Quodcumque  potest 
manus  tua,  instanter  operare.  Est  tamen  aliquis  modus  hoc  prseceptum  im- 
plendi,  quo  peccatum  vitatur,  scilicet  si  homo  faciat  quod  potest,  secundum  quod 
requirit  conditio  sui  status,  dummodo  contemptus  non  adsit  agendi  meliora,  per 
quern  animus  firmatur  contra  spiritualem  profectum.  2.  2.  qusest.  186,  art.  2, 
ad  2, 

J. 2 


52  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

53.  But,  in  truth,  there  is  no  need  of  alleging  the  authority  of 
the  great  Doctor,  for  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  plain  enough  on  this 
head.  Let  us  ask  to  whom  did  St.  James  and  the  Apostle  of  the 
Nations  address  those  Epistles  wherein  they  are  so  earnest  in 
inculcating  perfection  :  whether  to  Religious  only  or  to  the  mass 
of  Christians?  When  Jesus  Christ  exclaimed  with  such  energy, 
Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect ;  when  He 
commanded  self-denial,  to  bear  the  cross  willingly,  to  be  meek  and 
lowly  of  heart  even  as  Himself,  to  whom,  pray,  was  He  speaking  ? 
Was  it  only  to  monks,  to  religious,  to  cloistered  virgins,  or  was  it 
not  rather  to  the  whole  body  of  believers  who  were  desirous  of 
being  His  true  and  faithful  followers.  "Jesus  Christ,"  as  St. 
Augustine  says,  "was  then  speaking  to  all.  Nor  are  these  His 
teachings  to  be  listened  to  by  virgins  only,  but  not  by  married 
women — by  widows,  but  not  by  those  whom  matrimony  still 
holds  in  its  bonds — by  monks,  but  not  by  those  who  have  taken 
to  themselves  wives — by  the  clergy,  but  not  by  the  laity;  no, 
the  whole  Church,  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful  in  their  several 
ranks  and  degrees,  are  to  follow  Christ,  bearing  the  cross  upon 
their  shoulders,  and  none  are  exempted  from  putting  in  practice 
His  most  holy  lessons."  *  St.  John  Chrysostom,  after  having 
recited  many  of  the  admirable  teachings  wherein  our  Blessed  Lord 
exhorts  all  to  a  perfect  life,  makes  the  apposite  reflection  that 
Christ  has  made  no  distinction  between  Religious  and  seculars, 
but  addresses  Himself  indiscriminately  to  each  and  every  one.f 
"  And,"  the  Saint  continues,  "  what  ruins  the  whole  mass  of  man 
kind  is  the  belief  that  Religious  are  bound  to  use  all  diligence  to  lead 
a  perfect  life,  while  seculars  may,  if  they  list,  live  heedlessly  and  re 
missly."  \  "  Not  so,  not  so,"  he  proceeds  to  say,  "  the  same  tenour 
of  life  is  required  of  all ;  I  say  this  with  all  assurance ;  though,  in 

*  Non  enim  hoc  virgines  debent  audire,  et  maritatoe  non  debent ;  aut  viduse 
debent,  et  conjugati  non  debent ;  aut  clerici  debent,  et  laici  non  debent.  Sed 
universa  ecclesia,  universum  corpus,  cuncta  membra  per  officia  propria  distincta 
et  distributa  seqiiuntur  Christum.  Serm.  47,  DeDiv.,  cap.  vii. 

t  Nee  monachi,  nee  ssecularis  nomen  adjecit. 

%  Sed  hoc  plane  est,  quod  evertit  orbem  universum,  quod  summa  vitae  bene 
agendse  diligentia  monachis  opus  esse  arbitramur ;  ceteris  negligenter  vivere 
Jicere. 


OBLIGATION  TO  BECOME  PERFECT.  53 

reality,  it  is  not  I  that  say  it,  but  Christ  Himself,  the  Judge  of  all 
men,  Who  says  it  with  His  own  lips ;"  *  and  then,  after  having 
set  forth  at  full  length  this  most  important  truth,  he  winds  up  as 
follows  :  "  I  do  not  think  that  there  can  be  any  one  so  conten^ 
tious  and  shameless  as  to  deny  that,  as  regards  many  points,  both 
seculars  and  Religious  are  bound  to  tend  to  the  very  highest  per. 
fection."t  A  weighty  authority  indeed  is  this,  which  none  may 
gainsay  without  incurring  the  reproach  of  great  temerity.  The 
Director  may  find  herein  wherewith  to  stir  up  desires  of  perfection 
in  the  torpid  hearts  of  slumbering  seculars,  by  showing  them  how 
strictly  they  are  bound  thereto,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Fathers  and  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  He  will  thus  efface 
from  the  minds  of  such  persons  the  pernicious  delusion  that  per* 
fection  concerns  those  only  who  are  shut  up  in  the  cloister ;  that 
on  such  alone  it  is  incumbent  to  lead  a  devout,  exact,  and  exem 
plary  life ;  while  seculars,  provided  they  keep  clear  of  mortal  sin, 
are  free  to  lead  a  soft,  independent,  and  unmortified  life.  It  is 
false,  it  is  false,  must  he  ever  chime  into  their  ears.  All  Chris 
tians  are  bound  to  perfection,  for  it  is  required  of  all,  and  in  Holy 
Writ  inculcated  upon  all.  Those  assuredly  whose  consciences 
are  not  seared,  and  who  have  some  fear  of  God  left,  some  care 
for  their  eternal  welfare,  will  find  in  this  thought  an  efficacious 
motive  to  exert  themselves  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  life  more 
regular  and  exact. 

54.  But,  the  Director  may  ask,  granting  that  every  Christian  is 
bound  to  strive  after  perfection,  what  is  the  precise  guilt  of  a 
secular  who,  content  with  avoiding  mortal  sin,  makes  no  account 
of  lesser  faults,  and  cares  not  to  do  works  of  charity  and  superero 
gation  ;  in  a  word,  esteems  perfection  a  matter  of  no  importance  ? 
I  reply,  that  if  such  conduct  proceed  from  contempt  of  perfection, 
the  person  has  already  incurred  the  guilt  he  wished  to  avoid.  If, 

*  Non  ita  sane,  non  ita  est ;  sed  eadem  ab  omnibus  philosophise  ratio  requi* 
ritur  :  atque  id  equidem  vehementer  affirmaverim ;  immo  vero  non  ego,  sed 
ipse  judex  omnium  Christus. 

t  Itaque  quod  ad  eandem  vitse  diligentiam  multis  in  rebus,  supremumque  per» 
fectionis  fastigium,  per  divinas  leges  pariter  et  ssecularis  et  monachus  cogantur, 
neminem  jam,  quantumlibet  ille  sit  contentiosus  et  impudens  contradicturunj 
existimo.  Adver.  Vituo.  Vitam  Monast..  lib.  iii. 


54  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

however,  he  entertains  no  such  sentiment,  it  is  the  opinion  of 
Cajetan  that  a  Christian  who  is  heedless  to  this  extent  commits  a 
venial  sin.*  Further,  it  is  the  view  of  Father  della  Reguera,  in 
his  "  Mystical  Theology,"  that  a  Christian  who  takes  no  thought 
for  his  perfection,  is  not  free  from  mortal  sin.  I  must  remark, 
however,  that  this  writer  modifies  his  opinion,  and  puts  various  re 
strictions  on  it.  In  spite  of  all  this,  since  other  authors  of  name 
do  not  hold  so  rigorous  a  view,  I  will  say — and  what  I  here  state  I 
will  prove  in  the  following  Chapter — that  though  a  secular  who 
neglects  to  tend  to  the  perfection  of  his  calling,  may  not  sin  by  the 
very  fact  of  his  will  being  so  perverted  and  badly  disposed,  yet  will 
he  fall  into  mortal  sins  of  another  class  ;  he  will  lead  a  disorderly 
life,  and  will  run  great  risk  of  everlasting  ruin. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SECOND  MOTIVE  TO  EXCITE  DESIRES  OF  PERFECTION.  THE  NECES 
SITY  OF  STRIVING  AFTER  IT,  AS  A  MEANS  NOT  ONLY  OF  PER 
FECTION,  BUT  ALSO  OF  SALVATION. 

55.  THE  reason  why  many  of  the  faithful,  whether  Religious  or 
secular,  care  not  to  acquire  the  perfection  befitting  their  condi 
tion,  is  doubtless  the  conviction  they  entertain  that  by  avoiding 
mortal  sin  they  can  live  in  the  grace  of  God,  and  work  out  their 
salvation  with  less  trouble  and  mortification.  But  they  are  sadly 
mistaken ;  for,  allowing  that  we  may,  without  grievous  sin,  set  at 
naught  that  obligation  of  tending  to  the  perfection  suitable  to  our 
state  which  is  taught  by  the  Scriptures  and  the  Holy  Fathers, 
nevertheless  it  is  most  certain  that  they  who  neglect  to  apply 
themselves  earnestly  to  become  perfect,  will  fall  into  many  other 
sins  which  are  undeniably  mortal,  will  live  with  a  defiled  con- 

*  De  intentione  vero  quS,  quis  intendit  rion  proficere  in  caritate  aut  bonis 
operibus,  sed  solum  prsecepta  divina  servare  communi  modo,  dicendum,  quod 
hujusmodi  intentio  peccatum  est :  quia  firmando  quis  animum  contra  spiritualem 
profectum  ponit,  in  quantum  in  se  est,  obicern  directe  Spiritui  Sancto  :  non  est 
autem  peccatum  mortale.  In  text,  suprac.  D.  Th. 


SECOND  MOTIVE  TO  PERFECTION.  55 

•science,  and  run  a  great  risk  of  eternal  damnation.  Everybody 
knows  that  the  archer  must  aim  higher  than  the  point  he  wishes 
to  strike  with  his  arrow.  Just  so,  all  may  rest  assured  that  no  one 
will  ever  persevere  in  the  observance  of  God's  commandments, 
•even  to  the  extent  of  avoiding  grievous  transgressions,  unless  he 
aim  at  a  somewhat  more  perfect  keeping  of  the  divine  law ;  not 
merely  shunning  slight  breaches  thereof  and  venial  faults,  as  far  as 
is  compatible  with  the  frailty  of  fallen  nature ;  but  moreover,  pro 
posing  to  himself  works  of  supererogation,  which,  though  not  a 
matter  of  strict  precept,  are  yet  of  counsel,  and  no  less  advantageous 
to  us  than  pleasing  to  God.  We  will  now,  as  briefly  as  possible, 
consider  how  this  holds  good,  and  in  the  first  place  with  reference 
to  nutters  which  are  only  of  counsel. 

56,  Gerson  boldly  asserts,  that  it  is  very  rare  indeed  for  a  Chris 
tian  to  keep  all  the  ten  commandments  of  God,  unless  he  perform 
works  of  supererogation  and  follow  the  divine  counsels,  either  by 
applying  to  prayer,  frequenting  the  sacraments,  or  by  mortifying 
his  flesh  with  fasting  or  other  austerities,  alms-deeds,  works  of 
spiritual  and  corporal  mercy,  acts  of  devotion  and  veneration  to 
the  Saints  and  to  Mary  their  Queen,  or  by  doing  other  things  of 
a  like  nature,  which  are  not  strictly  commanded,  but  only  recom 
mended  to  us  by  a  sweet  counsel.*  And  Suarez,  developing  this 
truth  with  scholastic  rigour,  gives  us  his  decision  that  it  is  impos 
sible,  morally  speaking,  for  a  Christian,  though  he  be  a  secular,  to 
maintain  a  steady  and  lasting  purpose  to  avoid  mortal  sin,  unless  he 
also  perform,  and  resolve  ever  to  perform,  many  virtuous  works  that 
are  not  actually  of  precept,  t  This  he  proves  by  the  analogy  of 
nature,  showing  that  natural  substances  cannot  exist  without  the 
co-existence  and  companionship,  so  to  speak,  of  the  accidents  or 
qualities  which  are  proper  to  them.  Thus,  for  instance,  without 
heat  fire  is  quenched  ;  snow  melts  away  as  its  coldness  diminishes ; 
air  without  motion  becomes  unwholesome  ;  still  waters  soon  grow 

*  Raro  fiet  ut  homines  prsecepta  strenue  cornpleant,  quin  quodammodo  supe- 
rerogent,  et  misceantur  consiliis.  Alphab.  68,  part,  ii.,  litt.  2. 

t  Vix  potest  moraliter  contingere  ut  homo  etiam  soecularis  habeat  firmum 
propositum  numquam  peccandi  mortaliter,  quin  consequenter  nonnulla  opera 
•snpererogationis  faciat,  et  habeat  form  ale  vel  virtuale  propositum  ilia  faciecdi. 
De  Relig.,  torn.  iv.  lib.  i.  c.  4,  num.  12. 


56  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

putrid ;  plants,  fruits,  and  all  other  natural  products,  deprived  of 
their  native  qualities,  are  spoiled  and  at  length  corrupt.  Thus, 
too,  he  continues,  the  grace  of  God  and  His  love  dwindle  and 
eventually  perish  without  good  works,  which  are  the  supernatural 
qualities  that  strengthen,  nourish,  protect,  and  develop  them.  So» 
that  a  wretched  soul,  stripped  of  divine  grace  through  its  sloth  and 
listlessness  in  doing  good,  finds  itself  in  great  danger  of  everlasting 
perdition. 

57.  God  Himself  taught  this  very  truth  to  Blessed  Henry  Suso 
in  the  famous  vision  of  the  Nine  Rocks,  which  was  vouchsafed  to* 
him  that  he  might  make  it  known  to  the  whole  world.  Being  rapt 
in  ecstasy,  the  servant  of  God  beheld  a  lofty  mountain,  the  summit 
of  which  reached  the  stars.  Nine  rocks,  each  one  supported  on 
the  top  of  the  one  nearest  to  it,  were  seen  on  the  mountain  side, 
and  in  every  rock  there  were  dwellers ;  more  in  some,  fewer  in 
others.  By  these  nine  rocks  were  signified  the  nine  degrees  of 
perfection  a  man  may  attain  to  in  the  course  of  his  mortal  life- 
Now,  as  the  holy  man  stood  wondering  at  the  height  of  the  moun 
tain,  and  the  situation  of  these  rugged  and  precipitous  rocks,  he 
found  himself  all  at  once  stationed  on  the  summit  of  the  first  of 
these  crags,  whence  he  was  able  to  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
whole  earth,  which  appeared  to  him  to  be  covered  with  an  im 
mense  net.  In  his  astonishment  at  this  sight,  he  besought  our 
Lord  to  make  known  to  him  what  was  meant  by  this  net,  which, 
though  covering  the  whole  earth,  did  not  reach  the  rocks  on  the 
mountain  side.  Christ  answered,  that  these  snares  represented 
those  which  the  demons  lay  for  men,  the  bonds  and  chains  of 
vice  and  evil  habits  wherein  the  most  wicked  one  holds  nearly 
the  whole  world  in  bondage;  that  the  net  reached  not  to  the 
rocks  of  the  mystic  mount  since  those  who  had  climbed  up  to 
them  were  Christians,  who  were  free  from  the  guilt  of  deadly  sin. 
The  holy  man  next  inquired  who  were  those  whom  he  saw  about 
him  on  the  first  rock.  He  was  answered  as  follows  :  These  are 
lukewarm,  cold,  slothful,  and  indolent  men,  who  fancy  not,  nor  aim, 
at  great  actions,  but  are  content  to  live  in  the  resolve  never  to  con 
sent  to  a  mortal  sin,  and  never  to  advance  higher.*  Now  mark  : 
*  B.  Henry  Suso.  The  Book  of  the  Nine  Rocks.  Chap.  x. 


SECOND  MOTIVE  TO  PERFECTION.  57 

it  is  exactly  of  this  class  of  men  that  I  am  now  treating.  The 
servant  of  God  questioned  our  Lord  anew,  asking  whether  such 
as  they  would  be  lost  or  saved,  for  he  saw  them  in  close  neigh 
bourhood  to  the  snares  and  toils.  The  answer  was  given  in  the 
following  words :  If  they  die  with  consciences  clear  from  deadly 
guilt,  they  will  be  saved ;  but  their  danger  is  greater  than  they  are 
aware,  as  they  persuade  themselves  that  they  may  satisfy  both  God 
and  nature — which  is  difficult,  not  to  say  impossible — and  to 
persevere  under  such  circumstances  in  God's  grace  is  by  no  means 
easy.  And,  in  fact,  the  holy  man  saw  many  falling  off  the  first  rock, 
and  seeking  shelter  under  the  net  itself.  He  immediately  asked 
the  meaning  of  this  occurrence,  and  received  for  reply  that  the 
rock  afforded  no  footing  to  such  as  yielded  to  mortal  sin  ;  but  as 
they  who  dwelt  on  it  were  lukewarm  and  slothful,  they  easily  fell, 
and  returned  to  their  lusts  and  vices.  This  vision  needs  no  further 
explanation,  because  our  Lord  shows  by  it  so  very  clearly,  that  cold 
and  lukewarm  Christians,  who  content  themselves  with  avoiding 
mortal  sin,  and  care  not  to  perform  works  of  supererogation,  are 
liable  to  fall  into  those  very  sins  they  purpose  to  avoid,  and  live  in 
great  danger  of  eternal  ruin. 

58.  But  there  is  another  reason  why  it  must  be  morally  impos 
sible  for  persons  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God  in  their 
essentials,  and  have  no  desire  of  perfection ;  for  their  manner  of 
life  leads  them  to  commit  numberless  venial  sins,  which  will  cer 
tainly  pave  the  way  to  those  grievous  transgressions,  against  the 
commandments  which  they  would  fain  avoid.  Hence  the  son 
of  Sirach  says,  He  that  contemneth  small  things  shall  fall  little  by 
little.*  Whence  St.  Thomas  infers  that  those  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  venial  sin  may  be  said  to  despise  small  things  ;t  and  thus  they 
dispose  themselves  by  insensible  degrees  to  a  grievous  fall  from 
grace  :  and  he  accounts  for  this  by  adding,  that  when  people 
take  no  heed  of  slight  breaches  of  God's  commandments,  they 
accustom  their  will  to  disobedience,  and  to  a  very  dangerous 

*  Qui  spernit  modica,  paulatim  decidet.     Ecclus.  xtx.  I. 

t  Ille  qui  peccat  venialiter,  videtur  minima  spernere.  Ergo  paulatim  dis- 
ponitur  ad  hoc,  ut  totaliter  defluat  per  peccatum  mortale.  I.  2.  qusest.  88, 
art.  . 


58  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

freedom,  so  that  it  easily  comes  at  length  to  shake  off  altogether 
the  yoke  of  the  divine  law.*  Facts  of  daily  occurrence  may  be 
appealed  to  in  illustration  of  what  we  here  advance :  let  us  take 
one  from  amongst  a  thousand.  A  young  girl  begins  to  pay  too 
much  attention  to  her  personal  appearance,  with  a  view  to  im 
prove  it,  either  not  to  be  thought  plain,  or  to  make  herself  very 
attractive;  from  vanity  in  dress  she  will  soon  pass  to  allowing 
herself  full  liberty  of  looking  at  any  and  every  object;  this  un 
checked  roving  of  her  eyes  will  some  day  awaken  in  her  heart  an 
affection,  by  no  means  sinful  in  its  beginning,  but  too  tender  and 
dangerous  ;  this  feeling  degenerates  by  degrees,  the  demon  trepans 
her  into  an  intrigue,  and  she  comes  at  length  to  trample  under 
foot  the  flower  of  her  virginity.  Behold  how  from  small  sins  we 
descend,  as  by  so  many  steps,  into  great  ones,  until  we  are  plunged 
into  the  abyss.  St.  Ambrose,  speaking  of  women,  seems  to  allude 
to  a  case  of  this  description.t  Or  again,  a  person  may  be  too  ready 
to  speak  of  his  neighbour's  failings ;  he  next  comes  to  put  an  evil 
interpretation  upon  his  actions,  and  to  speak  publicly  in  his  dis 
praise.  Urged  on  at  length  by  an  itching  desire  of  making  good 
his  accusations,  he  publishes  some  great  sin  of  his  neighbour  which 
had  hitherto  been  secret ;  and  by  a  grievous  sin  of  detraction,  casts 
a  stain  on  his  character.  Thus  it  is  that  men  are  led  on  step  after 
step  from  venial  to  deadly  sin. 

59.  We  may  read  the  same  lesson  in  a  memorable  incident 
recorded  in  Exodus.  Moses  had  scaled  the  summit  of  Mount 
Sinai ;  he  had  penetrated  into  the  thick  clouds  that  capped  the 
peak  of  the  mountain,  and  there  had  held  long  and  familiar  dis 
course  with  his  God,  from  Whose  lips  he  received  the  heavenly 
oracles.  But  what  were  the  Israelites  doing  meanwhile  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  ?  The  sacred  text  informs  us  ;  they  were  all 
waiting  in  idleness  and  indolence  till  their  great  prophet  should 

*  Qui  peccat  venialiter  ex  genere,  prsetermittit  aliquem  ordinem  :  et  ex  hoc 
quod  consuescit  voluntatem  suam  in  minoribus  debito  ordini  non  subjicere,  dis- 
ponitur  ad  hoc  quod  etiara  voluntatem  non  subjiciat  ordini  ultimi  finis,  eligendo 
id,  quod  est  peccatum  mortale  ex  genere. 

t  Hinc  ilia  nascuntur  incentiva  vitiorum,  ut  qusesitis  coloribus  ora  depingant, 
<3um  viris  displicere  formidant ;  ut  de  adulterio  vultus  meditentur  adulterium 
castitatis.  Lib.  de  Virgin. 


SECOND  MOTIVE  TO  PERFECTION.  59 

come  back  to  them.  *  So  far  no  other  harm  was  done  than  a  little 
slothfulness  and  loss  of  time.  Having  nothing  whatever  to  do, 
they  began  to  invite  one  another  to  feasting  and  merry -making,  t 
Friends  and  kinsfolk  met  and  banqueted  together  on  the  green 
sward  :  soon  the  bounds  of  moderation  in  eating  and  drinking  were 
overstepped.  No  great  harm,  one  may  say  ;  only  a  little  gluttony, 
only  a  little  drunkenness.  Being  flushed  with  what  they  had  taken, 
they  rose  up  to  play.  \  Men  and  women,  young  men  and  maidens, 
mingle  in  the  mazes  of  the  dance,  and  swell  their  voices  in  one 
common  chorus.  They  play,  they  laugh,  they  dance,  they  joke, 
but  without  any  evil  feeling.  What  harm  was  there  in  this? 
Perhaps  a  little  too  much  freedom,  some  want  of  modesty ;  hence 
a  lower  depth  in  venial  sin.  On,  then,  on  :  there  is  no  mortal  sin 
as  yet.  At  length,  blinded  by  drink,  and  made  reckless  by  the 
license  they  had  been  allowing  themselves,  the  people  begin  to 
complain  lo  one  another  :  "  God  only  knows  when  Moses  will  come 
down  to  us  from  the  mountain-top,  or  how  long  we  shall  have  to  stay 
in  this  valley.  Why  tarry,  why  wait  any  longer  ?  Let  us  make  to 
ourselves  a  visible  God,  as  they  are  wont  to  do  in  Egypt.  Take, 
Aaron,  take  all  our  ear-rings,  and  gold  ornaments,  and  make  us 
an  image  worthy  to  be  set  up  on  our  altars."  Aaron  yields  to  their 
demand.  A  golden  calf  is  cast  and  put  up  for  the  adoration  of 
the  people,  who  sacrilegiously  burn  incense  before  it,  and  offer 
abominable  sacrifices.  See  now  the  evil  there  may  be  in  a  little 
idleness,  in  some  slight  excess  in  eating  and  drinking,  in  too  great 
freedom  between  the  sexes.  By  such  steps  as  these  the  wretched 
Israelites  came  at  length  to  fall  down  in  abject  idolatry  before  a 
golden  calf.  This  is  not  a  commentary  of  my  own  :  I  am  doing 
nothing  but  quoting  St.  Gregory  :  "  Eating  and  drinking  led  the 
people  -to  revel ;  revelling  drew  them  into  idolatry :  for  if  we 
check  not  ourselves  in  lesser  temptations,  we  shall  soon  fall  into 
some  great  sins,  as  Solomon  declares  in  the  words,  He  that  con- 
temneth  small  things  shall  fall  little  by  little.  And  of  a  truth,  if  we 
are  heedless  in  small  matters,  we  shall  be  gradually  led  astray  by 

*  Sedit  manducare  et  bibere,  et  surrexerunt  ludere.     Exod.  xxxii.  6. 

t  Sedit  manducare  et  bibere. 

£  Sedit  manducare  et  bibere,  et  surrexerunt  ludere. 


60  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

habit  and  by  passion,  and  of  a  surety  fall  into  grievous  sins."* 
Let  those  then  delude  themselves  who  wish  to  save  their  souls, 
and  think  that  they  can  without  the  perfect  keeping  of  God's  com 
mandments  ;  sooner  or  later  they  will  have  their  eyes  opened  by 
a  grievous  fall,  and  God  grant  that  they  may  not  be  undeceived 
only  when  they  find  themselves  in  hel). 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY  FOR  ITS  ATTAINMENT  ;  WE 
MUST  NEVER  RELAX,  BUT  STRIVE  CONSTANTLY  AFTER  HIGHER 
PERFECTION. 

60.  WE  have  hitherto  shown  that  the  foundation  of  the  spiritual 
building  of  Christian  perfection  is  the  earnest  desire  to  attain  it, 
and  we  have  furnished  Directors  with  the  means  of  laying  this 
foundation  in  the  hearts  of  their  penitents ;  in  other  words,  we 
have  suggested  certain  motives  which  may  serve  to  stir  up  these 
holy  desires  within  the  soul.  We  must  next  proceed  to  show  that 
this  foundation  will  be  of  little  use  unless  it  be  firmly  set  and  im 
movably  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  men.  Or,  waiving  all  metaphor,  we 
have  to  prove  that  such  desires,  to  be  effectual,  must  never  slacken 
or  grow  cool ;  but  that  when  one  step  in  perfection  has  been  made 
good,  we  should  aspire  to  a  further  height ;  for,  if  this  be  not  done, 
our  former  labours  will  be  of  no  avail,  and  we  shall  speedily  re 
lapse  into  our  original  lukewarmness. 

6 1.  Before,  however,  bringing  any  authorities  in  support  of  this 
assertion,  we  will  adduce  proofs  from  reason,  to  the  end  that  the 

*  Sedit  populiKi  Kianducare  et  bibere,  et  surrexerunt  ludere.  Esus  quippe 
potusque  ad  lusum  impulit ;  lusus  ad  idololatriam  traxit :  quia  si  vanitatis 
culpa  nequaquam  caute  compescitur,  protinus  ab  iniquitate  mens  incaute 
devoratur,  attestante  Salomone,  qui  ait :  Qui  spernit  modica,  paulatim  decidet. 
Si  enim  curare  parva  negligimus.  insensibiliter  seducti  etiam  majora  perpe* 
tramus. 


DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY.  61 

sayings  of  the  Fathers,  and  the  warnings  of  the  Divine  Scriptures, 
may  not  seem  exaggerated.     Christian  perfection  has   no  deter 
minate  limit  beyond  which  we  may  not  advance — in  the  sense 
that  he  who  has  reached  that  term  is  to  be  spoken  of  as  perfect, 
while  they  who  lag  behind  are  to  be  called  imperfect.     Such  limit 
is  found  in  the  liberal  and  mechanical  arts ;  for,  an  artisan,  an 
architect,  or  a  painter,  if  they  succeed  in  producing  works  in  full 
conformity  with  the  rules  of  their  respective  arts  or  handicrafts, 
may  be  said  to  be  perfect  in  their  line,  and  will  scarcely  have 
any  further  progress  to  make.     But  Christian  perfection  has  no 
such  limits,  as  it  mainly  consists  in  charity,  which   may  increase 
in  the  measure  of  the  goodness  of  God,  which  is  its  formal  object. 
For,  St.  Thomas  observes,  as  the  claims  which  God  has  to  our 
love  are  boundless,   charity  can  ever  add  fresh  ardour  and  in 
definite  intensity  to  its  flames.  *     He  thence  infers  what  we  have 
already  stated,  to  wit,  that  in  this  life  it  can  know  no  bounds. t 
Consequently,  there  can  be  no  limit  whatever  to  our  perfection. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  all  those  means  helping  to  attain  per 
fection,  which   form  instrumental  perfection ;  for  if  we  consider 
this  as  removing  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  charity  by  morti 
fying  our  lusts  and  senses,  it  knows  no  term,  since  our  passions 
can  never  be  wholly  brought  under,   and  must  therefore  be  in 
cessantly  mortified  and  held  in  check.     And  if  we  take  it  on  its 
positive  side,  as  disposing  us  for  an  increase  of  charity  by  the 
perfect  exercise  of  every  virtue,  it  is  plain  that  it  can  never  reach 
its  limits,  as  our  virtues  are  always  susceptible  of  improvement. 
If,  then,  this  be  the  case,  if  our  perfection  can  have  no  limits,  nor 
remain  stationary  in  any  resting-place,  it  follows  of  necessity  that 
it  consists  in  an  unceasing  progress  in  the  moral  virtues,  and  in 
a  constant  increase  of  charity.     Hence  let  no  one  fancy  himself 
perfect  who,  having  reached  a  certain  degree  of  charity,  will  go 
no  farther ;  rather  let  him,  after  he  has  sufficiently  overcome  the 
obstacles  in  the  path  of  charity,  advance  in  virtue,  and  intensify 

*  Semper  caritas  in  via  potest  magis,  et  magis  augerl.  2.  2.  qucest.  24,  art. 
7,  in  corp. 

t  Unde  relinquitur  quod  caritatis  augmento  nullus  terminus  prxngitur  in  h&c 
vita. 


62  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

within  his  heart  the  ardours  of  Divine  love.  My  conclusion,  then, 
is,  that  if  our  desires  of  perfection  are  to  have  their  true  result,  they 
must  never  cool,  but  grow  more  and  more  ardent,  and  ever  aim  at 
higher  flights ;  for,  since  our  perfection  has  no  limits,  we  should 
set  no  bounds  to  our  desires  of  attaining  to  it. 

62.  Solomon  has  this  very  thing  in  view  when  he  tells  us  that 
the  path  of  perfection  wherein  the  just  man  walks  ever  grows  in 
brightness  and  in  the  splendour    of   increasing   virtue,   until  it 
reaches  the  full  noontide  of  the  glories  of  Paradise.*      The  Royal 
Prophet  sets  forth  the  same  idea :  Blessed  is  the  man  who  has 
settled  in  his  heart  to  advance  in  the  way  of  perfection  as  long  as 
he  sojourns  in  this  vale  of  tears  ;  for,  with  the  blessing  and  the 
help  of  the  Lord,  our  Lawgiver,  he  shall  rise  from  virtue  to  virtue, 
until  he  come  to  behold  his  God  face  to  face,  in  the  blessed  Sion 
of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  f     We  may  observe  that  the  Psalmist 
calls  him  blessed  whose  heart  ever  aspires  to  greater  perfection ; 
and  this  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  such  a  one  is  perfect,  for 
in  perfection  does  our  blessedness  here  below  consist,  and  on  it 
depends  our  everlasting  bliss.     Let  him  that  is  just,  says  Christ  in 
the  Apocalypse,    become  justified  still ;  him    that  is  holy,  become 
sanctified  still.  J     So  true  is  it  that  Christian  perfection  knows  no 
halting-place,  and  that  he  is  the  most  perfect  who  ever  aspires  to 
greater  perfection. 

63.  Let  us  now  hearken  to  what  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gen 
tiles  has  to  say  on  this  point.     There  is  no  question  but  that  he 
was  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Saints,  and,  so  to  say,  a  star  of  the  first 
magnitude  in  the  firmament  of  Holy  Church.     What  persecutions, 
what  sufferings,  what  toils  did  he  not  undergo  for  Christ's  sake !  What 
burning  charity  he  had,  what  transports  of  love,  what  zeal  for  the 
honour  of  Jesus!  Who  may  fully  relate  all  his  revelations,  his  visions, 

*  Justorum  autem  semita  quasi  lux  splendens  procedit,  et  crescit  usque  ad 
perfectum  diem.  Prov.  iv.  18. 

t  Beatus  vir  cujus  est  auxilium  abs  te  :  ascensiones  in  corde  suo  disposuit, 
in  valle  lacrymarum,  in  loco  quern  posuit  :  etenim  benedictionem  dabit 
legislator,  ibunt  de  virtute  in  virtutem,  videbitur  Deus  Deorum  in  Sion.  Fs. 
Ixxxiii.  9. 

J  Qui  Justus  est,  justificetur  adhuc,  et  sanctus  sanctificetur  adhuc.  Apoc. 
xxii.  ii. 


DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY.  63 

his  ecstasies ;  his  being  rapt  even  to  the  third  heaven  ?  Yet  the  holy 
Apostle,  though  enriched  with  so  many  virtues  and  so  high  gifts,  did 
not  deem  himself  perfect,  as  he  himself  declares.*  He  tells  us 
how  he  had  been  stoned,  frequently  scourged,  often  shipwrecked 
in  mid  ocean,  tossed  night  and  day  by  the  waves,  t  He  men 
tions  his  many  watchings,  his  frequent  fasts,  the  hunger  and 
thirst,  the  nakedness  and  cold  suffered  by  him  for  the  love  of  our 
Lord.J  He  speaks  of  his  having  been  taken  up  to  the  third  heaven 
while  yet  in  mortal  flesh.  §  He  was  even  able  to  say  that  he  lived 
no  longer  in  himself,  but  wholly  in  Christ,  for  that  he  was 
transformed  into  Him  by  love.||  Yet  with  all  this  he  declares  his 
persuasion  that  he  had  not  reached  perfection.  ^[  But,  O  Doctor 
of  the  Gentiles,  if  all  these  things  suffice  not  to  make  you  perfect, 
to  what  means  do  you  attribute  your  having  acquired  the  perfec 
tion  you  reached — how  did  you  attain  such  a  height  of  sanctity  ? 
Sequor  autem  si  comprehendam,  he  answers.  "  I  go  forward  as  far 
as  I  can  in  the  path  of  perfection  :  I  stretch  forth  ever  by  desires 
and  works  to  what  is  before  me  in  the  race."  The  Gloss  on  this 
passage  makes  an  observation  which  is  quite  to  our  point :  "  Let 
no  Christian,  though  he  may  bethink  him  to  have  made  great 
spiritual  progress,  ever  say,  Enough,  now  I  can  rest ;  for  by 
speaking  thus  he  forsakes  the  way  of  perfection  before  he  has  yet 
arrived  at  the  term  of  everlasting  bliss."** 

64.  Nor  is  St.  Augustine  of  another  mind:  "  The  best — that  is  the 
most  perfect — man,  is  not  he  who,  having  reached  a  certain  degree 
of  perfection,  halts  there,  but  rather  is  he  who  ever  tends  to  God, 
our  unchangeable  Life,  with  the  most  ardent  yearnings  of  his  heart, 


*  Non  quod  jam  acceperim,  aut  jam  perfectus  sim.     Ad  Philip,  iii.  12. 

f  Ter  virgis  csesus  sum,  semel  lapidatus  sum,  ter  naufragium  feci,  nocte  et 
die  in  profundo  maris  fui.  2  Cor.  xi.  25. 

J  In  vigiliis  multis,  in  fame  et  in  siti,  in  jejuniis  multis,  in  frigore  et  in 
nuditate.  Ibid.  27. 

§  Raptus  est  in  paradisum,  et  audivit  arcana  verba,  quse  non  licet  hommj 
loqui.  Ibid.  xii.  14. 

||  Vivo  ego  jam  non  ego  ;  vivit  vero  in  me  Christus.     Ad  Galat.  ii.  2O. 

IF  Non  quod  jam  acceperim,  aut  jam  perfectus  sim.     Ad  Philip.  Hi.  12. 

**  Nemo  ndelium,  etsi  multum  profecerit,  dicat,  Sufficit:  qui  enim  hocdicit 
ie  via  exit  ante  finem. 


64  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and  who  ever  unites  himself  with  God  more  and  more  closely."* 
St.  Bernard  is  still  more  emphatic :  "  Perfection  rightly  understood 
is  nothing  else  than  an  untiring  endeavour  to  improve,  a  ceaseless 
striving  after  perfection.  If  therefore  to  be  perfect  is  one  and  the 
self-same  thing  as  to  tend  with  all  one's  might  to  perfection,  surely 
to  fail  in  seriously  applying  ourselves  to  become  perfect,  is  to  be  want 
ing  in  perfection.  Where,  then,  shall  we  place  those  who  are  wont 
to  say :  '  Enough  :  we  need  not  be  better  than  those  who  have 
gone  before  us '  ?"t 

65.  But  the  reader  may  here  charge  me  with  inconsistency,  since 
in  the  preceding  Chapter  I  have  stated  that  charity  is  the  essence 
of  Christian  perfection,  while  now  I  appear  to  forsake  this  position 
and  to  make  it  consist,  according  to  St.  Paul  and  the  holy  Doctors 
above  quoted,  in  a  continual  progress  in  virtue,  and  in  an  unweary 
ing  desire  of  ever  improving  in  spirit.  But  there  is  no  contradiction 
in  the  two  propositions  :  they  are  not  at  all  incompatible  with  each 
other.  True  it  is  that  our  perfection  consists  essentially  in  charity, 
and  that  the  means  for  attaining  to  it  are  the  moral  virtues  and 
the  counsels.  But  then  our  perfection  requires  as  a  necessary 
condition,  without  which  it  cannot  be  lasting,  that  charity  and  the 
other  virtues  should  go  on  increasing  ever  and  daily  augmenting ; 
for,  unless  they  have  this  fixedness  and  solidity,  perfection  dwindles 
away  and  wholly  vanishes.  To  the  above  reasoning  I  will  add 
another  argument,  which  will  put  the  subject  in  the  clearest  light. 
I  have  already  shown  that,  in  order  to  be  perfect,  it  is  necessary 
that  our  desires  should  always  tend  to  something  higher,  as 
Christian  perfection  has  no  limit :  the  further  reason  I  have  pro 
mised  to  give  is  this  :  not  only  is  there  no  boundary  beyond  which 
perfection  may  not  pass,  but  it  neither  has  nor  can  have  any 
Baiting-place  at  which  it  may  tarry ;  to  destroy  it,  nothing  more  is 
needed  than  to  stand  still  and  cease  to  go  forward. 


*  Tune  quippe  optimus  est  homo,  cum  tota  vita  sua  pergit  in  incommuta- 
bilem  vitam,  et  toto  affectu  inhseret  illi.  In  lib.  De  Doct.  Christ. 

t  Indefessum  proficiendi  studium,  et  jugis  conatus  ad  perfectionem,  per- 
fectio  reputatur.  Quod  si  studere  perfectioni,  esse  perfectum  est,  profecto 
nolle  proficere,  deficere  est.  Ubi  sunt  ergo  qui  dicere  solent :  Sufficit  nobis  i 
nolumus  esse  meliores  quam  patres  nostri  ?  Epist.  253  ad  Abbat.  Garivum. 


DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY.  & 

66.  Who  is  there  that  does  not  know,  that  has  not  felt,  the 
fierce  conflict  which  is  ever  being  waged  within  us  ?  We  have 
as  many  domestic  foes  rising  in  rebellion  against  us,  as  we  have 
passions  that  ruffle  the  calm  of  our  souls,  and  by  their  lawless 
upheaving  incite  us  to  sin,  and  bear  us  towards  never-ending  ruin. 
It  is  hard  to  say  which  are  the  most  impetuous,  which  the  most 
dangerous :  whether  prodigality  or  covetousness,  love  or  hate,, 
presumption  or  despair,  ambition  or  envy.  This  alone  is  certain, 
that,  among  the  several  passions,  that  single  one  which  predo 
minates  within  us  suffices  to  drag  us  from  the  way  of  perfection, 
and  to  hurry  us  down  the  broad  steep  of  perdition  to  irreparable 
ruin.  Nor  are  our  outward  enemies — those  bad  spirits  who  hem 
us  in  on  all  sides — less  to  be  feared  ;  in  every  place  their  tempta 
tions  surround  us ;  wherever  we  have  to  tread  they  have  prepared 
a  snare  for  our  feet  to  make  us  fall.  We  are  thus  compelled  to 
be  ever  on  the  alert,  armed  with  self-denial  and  all  manner  of 
virtue,  and  especially  with  ardent  charity,  so  as  to  be  able. to  beat 
down  the  insurrection  of  our  domestic  enemies,  and  to  repel  the 
attacks  of  foes  from  without.  Hence,  if  it  happen  that  any  one, 
•  impressed  with  the  idea  of  the  progress  he  has  made,  wish  to  rest 
contented  at  the  point  he  has  reached,  and  thus  grows  slack  in 
the  practice  of  virtue,  and  allows  his  charity  to  cool,  it  is  plain 
that  the  assaults  of  such  numerous  enemies  will  be  successful, 
that  he  will  be  pierced  with  many  wounds,  and  driven  far  frorn 
the  path  of  perfection.  If  an  army,  marching  with  a  generous 
enthusiasm  to  the  siege  of  a  fortress  of  which  it  is  resolved  to 
take  possession,  meet  the  enemy  on  its  path,  can  it  halt  without; 
going  either  forward  or  backward  ?  Assuredly  not :  for  in  its 
front  there  are  those  who  attack  and  seek  to  drive  it  back  ;  it  must 
either  put  forth  its  strength  against  the  foe  and  march  bravely 
forward,  or  else  shamefully  turn  its  back  and  flee.  So  too  be 
who  has  begun  to  climb  up  the  mount  of  perfection  cannot  stand 
still  midway,  for  he  has  too  many  foes  who  assail  and  harass  him 
in  a  thousand  ways.  He  must  needs  mount  higher  still,  buoyed 
up  and  made  valiant  by  the  strength  of  his  desires,  else,  should 
these  grow  languid,  he  will  have  to  give  way  to  the  foe  and  beat  a 
retreat. 

VOL.  i.  5 


66  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

67.  It  has  been  well  said  by  St.  Bernard  that,  "to  halt  in  the 
way  of  perfection  is  to  turn  back  :— hence  let  no  one  say  :  '  I  have 
made  sufficient  progress;  I  will  go  no  farther;  enough  for  me  to  be 
what  I  was  yesterday  and  in  times  past.'  "*  And  in  proof  of  this  he 
alludes  to  Jacob's  ladder,  that  lively  symbol  of  Christian  perfection; 
for  on  it  no  one  stood  still,  but  all  were  either  going  up  or  coming 
-down.  Whence  he  infers,  whoever  designs  to  stand  still  on  some 
one  step  of  the  mystic  ladder  of  perfection,  attempts  that  which  is 
impossible,  and  must  fall  to  the  ground.t  But  the  mellifluous 
Doctor  is  still  more  emphatic  in  another  letter  of  his,  written  to  a 
monk  who  had  allowed  the  desire  of  progress  to  slacken  in  his  soul ; 
for  addressing  him  in  the  tone  of  familiar  dialogue,  the  Saint 
proceeds  as  follows  :  "And  so,  O  Monk,  you  refuse  to  go  forward, 
and  desire  no  further  perfection.  You  wish  then  to  turn  back  and 
to  lose  what  you  have  made  good  ? — Assuredly  not.  God  forbid! 
— What  then  do  you  purpose  ?— I  mean  to  live  as  I  am,  and  to 
abide -in  the  degree  of  perfection  I  have  already  reached.  I  in 
tend  to  become  neither  better  nor  worse. — I  can  tell  you  then 
that  what  you  propose  is  a  sheer  impossibility.  Is  there  any  one 
thing  in  this  world  that  ever  abides  unchanged  ?  Does  not  the 
Holy  Ghost  say  of  man  himself  that,  he  fleeth  like  a  shadow  and 
never  continneth  in  the  same  state  ?"$  In  other  passages  of  his 
letters  the  same  holy  Doctor  rallies  those  lukewarm  and  languid 
•souls  whose  desires  of  perfection  grow  less  earnest,  by  contrasting 
them  with  worldlings  who  are  never  satisfied  with  perishable  goods. 
He  tries  in  this  manner  to  shame  and  arouse  the  tepid  by  their 
-example.  "  Did  you  ever  meet  with  an  ambitious  man,"  he 
writes,  "who,  after  attaining  to  one  dignity,  di4  not  hanker 


*  Non  proficere,  sine  dubio  deficere  est.  Nemo  proinde  dicat :  Satis  est : 
sic  volo  manere  :  sufficit  mihi  esse  sicut  heri,  et  nudius  tertius.  Ep.  342. 

f  In  via  residet,  qui  hujusmodi  est.  In  scala  subsistit,  ubi  neminem  patri- 
archa  vidit  non  ascendentem.  aut  non  descendentem.  Dico  ergo  :  qui  se  sesti- 
mat  stare,  videat  ne  cadat. 

J  Monache,  non  vis  proficere?  Non.  Vis  ergo  deficere.  Nequaquam. 
•Quid  ergo?  Sic,  mihi  inquis,  vivere  volo  et  manere,  quo  perveni,  nee  pejor 
fieri  patior,  nee  melior  cupio  Hoc  ergo  vis,  quod  esse  non  polest.  Qui  enim 
fiat  in  hoc  sseculo?  et  certe  de  homine  specialiter  dictum  est:  Fugit  velut 
umbra  et  nunquam  in  eodem  statu  permanet.  Epist.  253  ad  Abbat.  Gaiivum. 


DESIRE  OF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY.  67 

after  one  of  a  higher  grade  ?*  What  shall  I  say  of  the  covetous  ? 
Are  they  not  ever  thirsting  after  increase  of  gain  ?  Are  men  of 
pleasure  ever  sated  with  their  luxury  ?  Do  not  the  vain-glorious 
ever  go  in  quest  of  new  honours  ?  If,  therefore,  the  desires  of 
persons  who  are  bent  on  obtaining  the  trifles  of  earth  be  thus 
insatiable,  should  we  not  blush  to  be  less  eager  after  spiritual 
goods,  less  bent  on  perfection  ?"t  These  convincing  arguments 
and  just  rebukes  may  enable  the  Director  to  awaken  within  him 
self  and  others  desires  of  greater  perfection,  and  not  to  suffer  holy 
aspirations  to  become  less  ardent ;  for  should  this  take  place,  the 
result  is,  that  virtuous  works  cease,  no  progress  is  made,  there  is  a 
•stand-still  in  the  road  of  perfection  ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
•stop  is  to  go  backward,  and  even  sometimes  to  fall  without  hope  of 
recovery. 

68.  I  must  own  that  for  my  part  I  have  always  been  most  deeply 
impressed  by  the  wondrous  arts  employed  by  God  to  keep  alight 
in  the  heart  of  the  celebrated  Paphnutius  those  desires  of  ever- 
increasing  perfection,  whereby  the  Almighty  had  designed  to  lead 
him  to  the  very  highest  sanctity.  J  This  holy  man  dwelt  in  the 
desert  of  Thebais,  and  yielded  to  none  of  the  Solitaries* but  rather 
excelled  them  all,  in  the  austerity  of  his  life,  the  assiduity  of  his 
prayer,  the  purity  of  his  conscience,  and  his  practice  of  every 
virtue.  God,  seeing  that  no  one  in  that  desert  could  spur  him  on 
to  a  greater  perfection  by  the  example  of  superior  virtue,  made  use 
of  other  unwonted  and  extraordinary  means  to  quicken  within  him 
yearnings  for  greater  progress.  He  implanted  in  his  breast  the 
desire  of  knowing  what  man  living  in  the  world  was  his  equal  in 
perfection  :  and  as  he  was  beseeching  the  Lord  to  discover  this  to 
him,  an  Angel  was  sent  from  above  to  answer  his  prayer  with  the 
message  that  he  was  to  go  to  the  neighbouring  town,  where  he 
would  find  an  itinerant  musician  who  was  his  match  in  virtue  and 

*  Quern  ambitiosum  vidimus  aliquando  contentum,  adeptis  dignitatibus,  ad 
alias  non  anhelare?  Ep.  341. 

t  Quern  eorum,  qui  avaritise  serviunt,  aut  amatores  sunt  voluptatum,  seu 
vanas  hominum  sectantur  laudes?  Nonne  et  ipsorum  insati^bilii  cesideria 
•arguunt  nos  negligently,  et  tepiditatis  ?  Pudeat  certe  spiritualium  nos  bono- 
jum  minus  cupidos  inveniri. 

t  Vitas  Patrum.     Vita  S.  Paphnutii. 

5—2 


68  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

holiness.  Astounded  at  the  tidings,  he  seized  his  staff,  hurried 
to  the  town  to  seek  for  the  wandering  minstrel,  and  having 
found  him  in  a  place  of  public  resort  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd 
of  idlers,  he  drew  him  apart  and  asked  him  the  history  of  his 
life.  The  man  replied,  "  I  am  a  great  sinner  ;  I  was  a  robber  by 
profession,  and  now  by  my  playing  and  singing  I  go  about 
amusing  folks,  and  thus  manage  to  gain  an  honest  livelihood."' 
The  Saint,  however,  questioning  him  more  closely,  discovered  that 
the  man  had  performed  many  acts  of  heroic  virtue  at  different 
periods  of  his  life ;  as  for  instance,  his  band  had  one  day 
carried  off  a  virgin  consecrated  to  God,  and  were  on  the  point  of 
robbing  her  not  only  of  her  property,  but  also  of  the  priceless 
treasure  of  her  virginity,  when  he,  rushing  to  the  rescue,  took  her 
from  them  by  main  force  and  brought  her  back  to  her  homer 
unspotted  and  inviolate.  On  another  occasion,  having  in  a  lonely 
place  met  with  a  woman  of  very  prepossessing  appearance,  who 
was  filling  the  solitude  with  her  wailings  and  lamentations,  he 
asked  her  the  cause  of  her  grief.  She  told  him  she  was  driven  to 
despair,  because  her  husband  and  children  had  been  imprisoned 
for  debt,  and  that  she  was  destitute  of  means  to  restore  them  to 
liberty  and  to  support  herself.  On  hearing  her  story,  the  robber 
not  only  refrained  from  insulting  her  modesty,  but  taking  her 
to  his  cave,  gave  her  food  and  sent  her  away  with  three  hundred 
crowns,  wherewith  she  might  release  her  family  from  prison  and 
herself  from  so  many  sorrows.  It  would  be  hard  to  describe  what 
ardent  desires  of  perfection  this  narrative  enkindled  in  the  breast 
of  Paphnutius  :  he  blushed  for  himself,  seeing  that  he  had  been  so 
many  long  years  in  the  desert  and  had  not  yet  been  able  to  equal 
a  common  strolling-player  in  holiness.  He  set  himself  a  higher 
and  more  arduous  task  of  virtue ;  multiplied  his  fasts,  lengthened 
his  night  vigils ;  gave  himself  with  redoubled  earnestness  to 
prayer,  to  the  purification  of  his  conscience,  in  short,  to  the  whole 
business  of  his  spiritual  progress.  After  some  years  spent  in  this 
manner,  God  was  pleased  to  awaken  anew  within  him  the  former 
desire  to  know  whether  he  had  his  equal  in  virtue,  and  he  began 
to  beseech  the  Lord  once  more  with  a  thousand  entreaties.  This 
time  he  received  an  answer  in  the  interior  of  his  soul ;  he  was 


DESIRE  UF  PERFECTION  NECESSARY.  69 

to  go  to  the  neighbouring  town  where  he  would  find  a  married 
man,  his  fellow  in  merit.  He  went  to  test  the  truth  of  what  he 
had  heard,  and  found  a  secular  who  for  thirty  years  had  kept  con 
jugal  chastity  with  his  partner,  and  was  wholly  employed  in  deeds 
of  chanty  to  the  poor  and  to  strangers,  besides  practising  many 
other  virtues.  This  example  of  such  rare  virtue  inflamed  the  ser 
vant  of  God  with  still  greater  desires,  and  led  him  to  devote  him 
self  to  more  arduous  exercises  of  perfection  than  had  hitherto  been 
his  wont ;  he  could  not  but  deem  his  former  endeavours  to  have 
teen  of  no  worth,  since  they  had  barely  enabled  him  to  reach  to  the 
level  of  one  who  was  tramelled  with  worldly  cares.  *  After  another 
interval  of  some  years,  he  again  addressed  to  God  the  same  prayer, 
and  he  received  the  same  answer,  to  wit,  that  his  virtue  did  not 
surpass  that  of  a  certain  merchant  who  had  come  to  visit  him 
in  his  cell ;  and  this  enkindled  in  him  desires  still  more  earnest, 
and  stimulated  him  to  works  of  yet  greater  perfection.  At  length, 
being  made  perfect  in  every  virtue,  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
to  him  once  more,  accompanied  by  the  prophets  and  the  blessed 
spirits,  by  whom  his  soul  was  received  and  borne  to  the  heavenly 
mansions  and  set  upon  a  throne  befitting  his  great  sanctity.  In 
a  word,  in  order  to  raise  Paphnutius  to  a  sublime  degree  of  per 
fection,  God  took  no  other  means  but  that  of  exciting  in  him 
fresh  desires,  fresh  yearnings  after  that  perfection  wherewith  He 
had  purposed  to  endow  him.  Hence  the  Director  may  properly 
use  with  his  penitents  the  saying  of  St.  Antony,  who,  as  St.  Atha- 
iiasius  relates,  was  ever  sounding  in  the  ears  of  his  disciples,  "  to 
look  upon  themselves  as  beginners,  never  to  relax  their  efforts,  but 
always  to  continue  to  aim  at  making  greater  spiritual  progress. "t 
But  as  the  means  employed  by  God  in  the  case  of  St.  Paphnutius 
are  extraordinary,  nor  may  we  make  use  of  them  (as  without  a  very 
special  inspiration  the  prayer  he  so  frequently  made  to  God  were 

*  Seipsum  denuo  majoribus  cxercitiis  dedit,  exiguos  priores  reputans 
labores,  quibus  conferri  poterat  ei,  qui  sseculi  videbatur  actibus  impli- 
catus. 

f  Hoc  sit  primum  cunctis  in  commune  mandatum,  nullum  in  arrepti  pro- 
positi  vigore  lacessere,  sed  quasi  incipientem  augere  semper  debere  quod 
co?perit.  In  Vita  S.  Antonii. 


70  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFh. 

unlawful),  I  will  now  point  out  .the  ordinary  and  usual  means 
which  may  enable  us  to  keep  alive  within  ourselves  these  holy 
desires,  and  ever  to  add  to  them  a  new  intensity. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    MEANS    OF   MAINTAINING   AND    INCREASING'  OUR    DESIRES    OF 

PERFECTION. 

69.  THE  first  means  is  the  frequent  use  of  holy  meditations. 
In  my  meditations,  says  the  Royal  Prophet,  my  heart  is  fired  with 
a  holy  ardour,  which  spurs  me  on  to  virtue  and  perfection.*  And 
in  truth,  it  is  in  meditation  that  we.  must  light  up  in  our  souls  that 
holy  fire  which  makes  our  heart  burn  with  desire  to  go  forward  in 
the  path  of  our  spiritual  advancement ;  for  in  meditation  we  learn 
how  worthy  God  is  of  our  love,  the  greatness  of  his  favour  and  of 
that  loving  kindness  which  is  of  such  efficacy  in  exciting  our  hearts 
to  make  him  a  return  of  love,  our  duty  of  following  Jesus  Christ, 
and  of  becoming  more  and  more  perfect  every  day  of  our  lives 
by  putting  on  His  likeness.  In  meditation  the  beauty  of  virtue 
shines  forth  and  charms  the  soul ;  the  deformity  of  sin,  the  unlove- 
liness  of  our  imperfections,  are  there  discovered  and  inspire  us 
with  loathing.  In  meditation  we  realise  what  are  the  good  things 
in  store  for  us  in  our  heavenly  home,  what  the  punishments  which 
threaten  us  in  the  bottomless  pit ;  so  that  by  the  dread  of  punish 
ment  and  hope  of  reward  the  desire  of  holy  virtue  is  kindled 
in  the  soul.  Meditation,  in  a  word,  is  the  crucible  wherein  the 
human  heart  loses  its  hardness,  is  made  pliant,  is  heated,  and,  as 
it  were,  set  on  fire  with  holy  aspirations.  I  cannot  now  dwell 
upon  this  point,  as  I  shall  shortly  have  to  treat  of  meditations  at  full 
length  in  a  special  Article.  I  shall  content  myself  with  relating  a 
story,  which  is  only  one  among  many  thousands  that  I  might  bring 
to  prove  the  truth  of  what  I  have  said.t  An  unhappy  priest  was 

*  In  meditatione  me§,  exardescet  ignis. 

^  P.  Rosignoli,  Notiz.  rnemor.  degli  Eserc.  cap  v.  sec.  I. 


HOW  TO  MAINTAIN  DESIRES  OF  PERFECTION.      71 

confined  in  the  prison  of  Castile  ;  this  depraved  man  had  apos 
tatised  from  two  religious  orders,  he  had  profaned  the  Sacraments,, 
had  committed  many  other  sacrileges,  was  guilty  of  innumerable 
crimes,  and  deserving  of  death  a  thousand  times.  God's  mercy 
did  not  disdain  to  knock  at  the  door  of  this  abandoned  heart,, 
and  struck  so  loud,  that  the  wretched  man  was  at  length  aroused 
from  his  deadly  torpor,  and  aware  of  the  ruin  that  threatened  him. 
He  immediately  called  for  a  Father  of  the  Society  to  which  I 
belong,  and  having  discovered  to  him  the  hapless  state  of  his  soul, 
he  besought  him  for  advice,  remedy  and  assistance.  Considering 
the  great  and  many  enormities  into  which  this  miserable  man  had 
fallen,  the  Father  judged  that  meditation  on  the  fundamental 
maxims  of  the  Faith  was  the  most  efficacious  means  of  bringing 
him  back  to  the  path  of  salvation — and  even  of  perfection — from 
which  he  had  gradually  strayed.  And  that  these  truths  might 
more  surely  avail  to  penetrate  into  his  heart,  he  set  him  to  medi 
tate  on  them  in  the  order  wherein  they  are  so  fitly  developed  by 
St.  Ignatius  in  the  book  of  his  "  Exercises."  Nor  was  the  good 
Religious  disappointed ;  for  by  the  very  first  meditations  which  the 
poor  man  made,  he  was  moved  to  deep  repentance  ;  he  began  to  fast 
frequently,  and  even  thrice  in  the  week,  on  bread  and  water ;  he 
wore  •  a  rough  hair-shirt  next  to  his  skin,  and  tied  a  galling  rope 
round  his  neck ;  each  night  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour  he  dis 
ciplined  himself  to  blood  ;  in  his  general  confession,  which  he 
made  with  floods  of  tears,  he  protested  that,  however  cruel  and 
ignominious  were  the  death  to  which  human  justice  might  consign 
him,  it  would  be  much  less  than  what  his  crimes  deserved,  and 
that  consequently  he  had  made  up  his  mind  not  LO  use  any  means 
to  escape  from  it.  But  his  fervour  increased  ever  as  he  con 
tinued  his  meditations,  and,  not  content  with  his  own  amendment, 
he  began  to  preach  to  his  fellow-prisoners  ;  and  though  in  the 
beginning  he  had  to  put  up  with  many  taunts  and  insults,  yet  by 
the  power  of  his  words  and  by  the  alms  which  he  gave  out  of  what 
was  supplied  him  for  his  own  maintenance  and  needs,  he  suc 
ceeded  in  converting  many,  in  improving  others,  and  even  in 
inducing  some  to  aim  at  a  certain  degree  of  perfection  by  the 
practice  of  meditation,  the  frequentation  of  the  Sacraments,  and 


ft  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

applying  themselves  to  do  penance  for  their  sins.  The  prison 
that  had  hitherto  been  like  a  den  of  wild  beasts,  was  now  changed 
into  a  monastery  of  penitents,  in  which  blasphemy,  cursing,  and 
obscene  words  were  no  longer  heard,  but  in  their  stead,  hymns, 
rosaries,  litanies,  and  other  devout  prayers.  The  fame  of  this  extra 
ordinary  conversion  was  noised  abroad,  and  soon  reached  the  ears 
of  the  judges,  who  resolved  to  save  the  criminal  from  the  death  he 
had  so  richly  deserved.  But  he  put  in  as  many  petitions  that  he 
might  be  sent  to  the  gallows,  and  that  the  sentence  of  death 
passed  upon  him  might  be  executed,  as  any  other  would  have 
done  to  escape  this  fate.  The  judges,  however,  tempering  justice 
with  mercy,  condemned  him  to  the  galleys,  to  give  him  an  oppor 
tunity  of  repeating  in  another  sphere  the  wonders  he  had  wrought 
m  the  prison.  This  sentence,  however,  could  not  be  carried  into 
effect,  for,  having  been  seized  with  a  violent  fever,  he  was  soon 
brought  to  his  last  hour,  and  peaceably  breathed  forth  his  soul  in 
the  liveliest  sentiments  of  sorrow  for  sin  and  trust  in  God's  mercy. 
Now,  on  this  I  remark,  that  if  the  meditation  of  Christian  truths 
availed  so  powerfully  to  change  a  heart  steeped  in  guilt  of  the 
very  deepest  dye,  and  to  lead  from  a  state  of  damnation  to  a  per 
fect  life,  it  will  assuredly  have  power  to  keep  wary,  watchful,  and 
fervent,  all  such  as  are  truly  desirous  of  perfection  and  really  striving 
after  its  attainment.  Of  this  there  cannot  be  two  opinions.  A 
Director  may  therefore  take  for  granted,  that  the  regular  and  fre 
quent  use  of  meditation  is  the  most  effectual  means  of  maintaining 
and  increasing  the  desire  of  perfection  in  his  penitents. 

70.  Second  means.  Ever  to  renew  the  resolve  to  tend  to  per 
fection  as  though  we  had  just  begun.  Such  resolves  and  renewals 
©f  purpose  keep  the  soul  on  the  alert,  and  hinder  it  from  slumber 
ing  or  wearying  in  the  course  of  perfection.  Such  was  the  advice 
the  Apostle  gave  to  those  neophytes  of  the  early  Church,  who, 
from  the  sacrilegious  worship  of  idols,  had,  by  holy  Baptism, 
been  brought  to  the  true  worship  of  Jesus  Christ  :  Be  renewed  in 
the  spirit  of  your  mind*  But  how,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this 
renewal  of  spirit  to  be  brought  about  by  the  mind  ?  By  ever 
federating  with  mind  and  heart  the  resolution  to  tend  to  perfec- 

*  Renovamini  spiritu  mentis  vestrae.     Ad  Ephes.  iv.  23. 


HOW  TO  MAINTAIN  DESIRES  OF  PERFECTION.      73 

tion,  as  if  a  beginning  had  not  been  yet  made,  nor  hand  put  to 
tso  sublime  an  endeavour ;  and  especially  by  descending  into 
the  detail  of  the  virtues  and  penitential  exercises  which  each 
•one  may  know  to  be  required  for  his  advancement,  purposing  to 
practise  them  courageously.  Thus  was  holy  David  accustomed  to 
•act,  as  we  may  learn  from  himself.*  Whatever  advance  this  holy 
prophet  had  made  towards  the  heights  of  perfection,  still,  as  if  he 
had  been  a  mere  beginner,  he  frequently  said  to  himself,  "  Now  I 
will  begin  to  serve  God ;  from  this  day  forth  I  mean  to  devote 
myself  wholly  to  His  service."  Such  too  was  the  last  lesson  St. 
Antony  gave  his  monks  while  they  were  standing  around  his 
-dying  bed,  as  we  learn  from  St.  Athanasius :  "  My  children,  I  am 
.going  the  way  my  fathers  have  gone  before  me ;  God  is  calling 
me  to  Him,  and  I  myself  yearn  to  be  amid  the  heavenly  choirs. 
Beloved  of  my  heart  (for  thus  was  he  wont  to  call  his  spiritual  off 
spring),  waste  not  in  a  moment  the  labours  you  have  undergone 
•during  so  many  years ;  and,  lest  you  may,  imagine  to  yourselves 
that  each  day  of  your  religious  life  is  the  first  in  which  you  enter 
upon  the  career  of  perfection,  so  that  by  this  renewed  purpose 
your  wills  may  be  strengthened  to  go  forward  ever  and  to  make 
progress  in  virtue."t  The  Director  will  do  well  to  take  this  lesson 
for  himself,  and  to  make  use  of  it  with  his  penitents  if  he  wish  to 
see  them  advancing  in  perfection,  and  especially  if  he  would  (to 
use  the  words  of  the  holy  founder  of  the  monastic  state)  pre 
vent  them  from  losing  in  a  short  time  the  fruit  of  their  past 
labours. 

71.  The  third  means.  Never  to  dwell  in  thought  Oil  the  good 
we  have  done,  but  rather  to  look  forward  to  the  virtues  in  which 
we  are  still  wanting.  This  means  has  been  inculcated  by  St. 
Paul,  both  by  word  and  example  :  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to 
Jiave  apprehended,  to  have  reached  the  goal  of  my  perfection, 


*  Et  dixi,  nunc  coepi.     Ps.  Ixxvi.  II. 

t  Filioli,  secundum  eloquia  scripturarum,  patrum  ingredior  viam.  Jam  enim 
Dominus  me  invitat :  jam  cupio  videre  coelestia.  Sed  vos,  O  viscera  mea,  ad- 
moneo,  ne  tanti  temporis  laborem  repente  perdatis.  Hodie  vos  religiosum 
stadium  arripuisse  arbitremini.  ut  coepta  voiuntatis  fortitude  succrescat.  In 
Vita  S.  Anton. 


74  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

but  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  the  good  I  have 
already  wrought,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are 
before  with  all  the  strength  of  my  soul,  I  press  forward  toward  the 
goal,  to  the  good  I  have  still  to  do,  and  I  continue  to  run  in  the 
course  of  perfection,  that  so  I  may  gain  the  prize  which  God,  by 
calling  me  to  Himself,  has  appointed  unto  me.  And  he  continues  : 
Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  are  perfect  be  of  the  same  mind*  Saint 
John  Chrysostom  has  given  a  development  of  this  text  which  is 
exactly  suited  to  our  discourse.  He  says  that  "  to  dwell  on  the 
good  we  have  done  begets  two  evil  consequences  :  first,  it  fosters 
a  vain  self-complacency  which  will  insensibly  make  us  proud  and 
presumptuous;  and  next,  it  makes  us  slothful  for  good,  because, 
casting  glances  of  self-approval  upon  our  good  deeds  of  past  times, 
we  remain  satisfied  and  contented  with  ourselves,  and  cease  to 
aim  at  further  progress. "t  Whence  he  infers  that  "  if  the  Apostle, 
after  numberless  perils  of  death,  after  toils  and  sufferings,  great 
enough  to  kill  him  many  times  over,  cast  his  former  works  behind 
his  back  without  bestowing  a  thought  on  them,  much  rather 
should  we,  who  are  so  inferior  to  him  in  virtue  and  merit,  do  the 


same."| 


72.  Having,  then,  forgotten  the  past,  continues  the  holy  Doctor, 
we  should  imitate  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  and  look  forward  even 
as  they  that  run  a  race,  who  stay  not  to  measure  the  distance  they 
have  traversed,  but  hurry  on  towards  the  goal,  and  with  thought  of 
it  take  fresh  courage.  The  more  so  because  the  remembrance  of 
the  good  we  have  done  is  of  no  use  whatever,  unless  this  good  be 
completed  and  made  perfect  by  the  fulfilment  of  what  remains  to 
be  done.§ 

*  Fratres,  ego  non  arbitror  comprehendisse.  Unum  autem,  quse  retro  sunt, 
obliviscens,  ad  ea,  qiue  sunt  priora,  extendens  me  ipsum,  ad  destinatum  per- 
sequor,  ad  bravium  supernse  vocationis  Dei  in  Christo  Jesu.  Quicumque  ergo 
perfecti  sumus,  hoc  sentiamus.  Phil.  iii.  13-14- 

f  Nam  duo  mala  parit :  et  segniores  facit,  et  in  arrogantiam  extollit.  Horn. 
II,  in  Epist.  ad  Philippenses. 

%  Si  Paulus  post  mille  mortes,  post  tanta  pericula  istud  arbitratus  est  de  se  ; 

multo  magis  nos Obliviscenda  ergo  et  nobis  recte  facta,  et  a  tergo  re- 

linquenda. 

§  Etcnim  et  qui  currit,  non  reputat  quantum  spatii  confecent,  sed  quantum 
adhuc  desit.  Et  nos  non  quantum  virtutis  impleverimus  reputemus,  sed  quan- 


HOW  TO  MAINTAIN  DESIRES  OF  PERFECTION.      75 

73.  Not  content  with  this  very  apt  exposition  of  these  words 
of  St.  Paul,  he  further  adds  most  pertinent  reflections  in  order  to 
imprint  more  deeply  in  our  souls  this  spiritual  aphorism  which 
has  so  great  might  to  urge  us  forward  in  the  path  of  perfection. 
"  Observe  then,"  says  the  Saint,  "  the  Apostle  does  not  say,  I  value 
not,  I  set  no  store  by  my  past  good  works — I  never  speak  of 
them — but,  I  have  wholly  forgotten  them  ;  for  this  forgetfulness  it 
is  that  makes  us  diligent  and  earnest  in  well-doing,  and  imparts  to 
our  souls  a  certain  alacrity  and  readiness  to  do  what  yet  remains 
to  be  done  in  order  to  attain  to  perfection."*  He  further  observes,, 
on  the  expression,  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before, 
that  by  it  the  Apostle  describes  the  singular  efforts  he  made  to 
mount  ever  to  a  higher  and  more  eminent  degree  of  perfection. 
For  as  he  that  runs  a  race,  in  his  eagerness  to  reach  the  winning 
post,  stretches  forward  his  whole  body,  feet  and  face  and  arms, 
in  order  to  hasten  his  course ;  so  did  this  Saint,  with  a  continually 
increasing  eagerness  of  desire,  stretch  forth  his  spirit,  and  make  it 
tend  to  a  still  greater  perfection  ;  thus  did  he  run  with  great  alacrity 
and  fervour  in  the  way  of  the  Lord  :  thus  too  must  we  also  run  if 
we  seriously  aspire  to  perfection. t  Finally,  let  us  reflect  that  this- 
fargetfulness  of  the  good  we  have  done,  this  stretching  forward  with 
all  the  power  of  our  soul  to  the  good  that  remains  to  be  done,  is 
not  only,  according  to  the  Apostle,  a  means  of  perfection,  but — 
as  we  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  Chapter — it  is  itself  perfection; 
for  St.  Paul  winds  up  by  saying,  that  whoever  is  perfect  adopts  this 
course, \  and  in  this  sense  precisely  St.  Bernard  explains  the  text; 

turn  adhuc  supersit .  Quid  enim  nos  juverit  quod  confcctum  est,  si  quod  deest,. 
adjectum  non  fuerit? 

*  Et  non  dixit,  non  reputans,  neque  memorans ;  sed  obliviscens ;  nam  ita 
demum,  diligentes  et  seduli  reddimur,  quando  omnem  animi  promptitudinem, 
alacritatem  ad  id  quod  adhuc  superest  assequendum  college rimus  et  repa- 
raverimus,  quando  prseteritre  oblivioni  mandaverimus. 

t  Ad  ea  vero,  quse  sunt  priora,  extendens  meipsum.  Enitens  enim  is  est,. 
qui  pedes  quamquam  currentes,  reliquo  corpore  antevertere  studens,  seipsuru 
ad  ea  quse  a  fronte  sunt  extendit,  et  manus  quoque  protendit,  ut  etiam  am- 
plius  quidquam  ultra  cursum  efficiat.  Hoc  vero  fit  ex  mult&  animi  alacritate, 
ex  multo  fervore.  Ita  oportet  currentem  currere,  cum  tanto  studio,  cum  tant<* 
alacritate,  non  pigre. 

£  Quicomque  ergo  perfect!  sumus,  hoc  sentiamus. 


J6  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

41  Whosoever  then  would  be  a  perfect  Christian,  let  him  utterly 
forget  all  the  good  he  has  done  in  time  past,  and  let  him  keep  the 
eyes  of  his  mind  and  the  desire  of  his  soul  ever  fixed  on  the  good 
which  yet  remains  to  be  done  in  the  time  to  come."* 

74.  The  fourth  means.  To  think  often  of  present  defects  and 
past  sins.  I  have  just  said,  that  to  keep  alive  the  desire  of  perfec 
tion  we  should  not  allow  our  thoughts  to  dwell  on  the  good  we  have 
accomplished.  Now  I  go  farther  and  say,  that  we  ought  to  keep 
before  our  mind  the  evil  which  we  have  committed  and  do  daily 
commit,  as  also  the  virtues  in  which  we  are  wanting ;  because  such 
thoughts  as  these  fill  us  with  holy  confusion,  and  stir  up  in  our 
hearts  a  longing  for  the  virtues  of  which  we  feel  the  need,  with  the 
desire  of  mortifying  whatever  we  have  discovered  to  be  faulty  within 
us ;  and  these  thoughts  drive  and  spur  us  onward  to  perfection. 
Let  us  listen  to  St.  Augustine,  speaking  upon  this  subject :  "  My 
Brethren,  if  you  would  make  rapid  progress,  examine  yourselves 
without  deceit  and  without  flattery,  for  there  is  no  one  within  you 
to  put  you  to  the  blush ;  God  is  there,  it  is  true,  but  then  humility 
and  a  lowly  opinion  of  yourself  are  pleasing  to  Him.  Be  ever 
displeased  at  being  what  you  are,  if  you  wish  to  come  to  be 
what  you  are  not.t"  That  is  to  say,  if  you  would  acquire  the  per 
fection  you  do  not  possess,  you  must  never  be  self-satisfied,  but 
you  must  keep  in  mind  your  shortcomings,  your  sins,  your 
mistakes,  your  want  of  virtue,  the  rebellion  of  your  passions,  and 
you  must  entertain  a  kind  of  discontent  with  yourself;  let  this 
however,  be  unobtrusive,  tranquil,  peaceful,  and  full  of  confidence  in 
God  :  for  this  it  is  which  will  rouse  the  feelings  of  your  heart,  and 
light  up  therein  the  desire  of  improvement,  and  of  coming  to  be 
what  as  yet  you  are  not.J  And  immediately  after  he  adds  :  If  in 
any  one  point,  through  imperfect  self-knowledge,  you  feel  well 

*  In  quo  manifeste,  apostolo  docente,  declaratur,  quia  perfecta  eorum,  quse 
retro  sunt,  oblivio,  et  perfecta  in  anteriora  extensio,  ipsa  est  hominis  justi  in 
Me  vit§,  perfectio.  Lib.  De  Vit&  Solit. 

f  Proficite,  fratres  mei,  discutite  vos  semper  sine  dolo,  sine  adulatione,  sine 
palpitatione.  Non  enim  est  aliquis  intus  tecum  cui  ei'ubescas,  et  jactes  te.  Est 
ibi,  sed  cui  placet  humilitas.  .  .  .  Semper  tibi  displiceat  quod  es,  si  vis  perve- 
nire  ad  id  quod  nondum  es.  De  Verbis  Apost.  Ser.  15. 

J  Semper  tibi  displiceat  quod  es,  si  vis  pervenire  ad  id  quod  non  es. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS.         77 

satisfied  with  yourself,  rest  assured  that  in  that  very  thing  there 
will  be  a  halt  in  your  journey,  and  no  kind  of  anxiety  to  ascend  to- 
higher  perfection.*  If,  however,  at  any  time  you  induce  yourself 
to  think  the  perfection  attained  to  be  enough,  you  are  a  lost 
man.t  And  why  ?  Because  (and  I  have  proved  it  just  now)  you 
cannot  stand  still  in  that  stage  of  perfection.  You  will  have, 
whether  you  like  it  or  not,  to  turn  back  and  to  move  down,  step 
by  step  and  unconsciously,  to  your  final  ruin.  March  then,  the 
Saint  says,  ever  forward,  ever  be  adding  something  to  what  you 
already  possess,  ever  profit  more  and  more  ;  pause  not  in  the  path 
of  perfection,  turn  not  aside,  retrace  not  your  steps.  J  And  to 
bring  this  about,  no  other  means  are  at  your  disposal  than  to  keep 
always  alive,  and  constantly  enlarge  your  desires  of  greater  per 
fection,  according  to  the  method  set  forth  in  this  Chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS   TO   DIRECTORS    TOUCHING   THE   FIRST 
SECOND   AND   THIRD    CHAPTERS    OF   THIS   ARTICLE. 

75.  FIRST  suggestion.  In  starting  souls  upon  the  way  of  per 
fection,  the  Director  must  proceed  with  prudence  method  and 
sagacity,  or  he  will  not  attain  his  object.  We  have  said  that  the 
first  thing  for  a  Director  to  do  when  he  wishes  to  lead  a  soul  to 
perfection,  is  to  awaken  the  desire  and  purpose  of  taking  up  the 
matter  in  earnest.  We  have  moreover  suggested  motives  well 
calculated  to  kindle  such  longing,  for  this  is  unquestionably  the 
foundation  from  which  our  building  must  take  its  rise.  He  should 
reflect,  however,  that  not  every  person  is  in  condition  to  be  thus 
wrought  upon.  He  who  is  still  entangled  in  grievous  sin,  or  still 
held  prisoner  in  the  bonds  of  depraved  affections  and  sinful 

*  Nam  ubi  tibi  placuisti,  ibi  remansisti. 
f  Si  autem  dixeris  :  Sufficit,  penisti. 

J  Semper  adde,  semper  ambula,  semper  profice.    Noli  in  vi&  remanere,  noli 
retro  redire,  noli  deviare. 


73  GUIDE  70  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

occasions,  is  assuredly  not  ready  to  be  spoken  to  about  perfection. 
In  such  a  state  of  things  the  first  necessity  is  to  heal  the  grievous 
wounds  of  sin,  and  restore  the  soul  to  a  life  of  grace.  This  done, 
the  next  step  will  be  to  think  of  establishing  it  in  perfect  health ; 
precisely  as  physicians  do,  whose  first  care  always  is  to  free  their 
patients  from  some  dangerous  malady,  and  then,  and  not  before, 
think  of  removing  the  traces  of  disease,  and  strengthening  the 
constitution.  Imitate  Jesus  Christ,  Who  (says  St.  Ambrose)  like  a 
kind  and  wise  physician,  first  heals  the  festering  wounds  of  our 
soul,  cleansing  it  from  all  impurity  and  curing  the  blindness 
caused  by  other  grievous  sins,  and  after  that  by  little  and  little 
leading  it  up  the  steep  ascent  of  perfection.*  But  in  the  case 
of  one  who  has  lived  for  a  long  time  in  innocence,  but  who 
having  unfortunately  come  to  stain  his  soul  with  mortal  guilt,  has 
•returned  to  God  and  feels  sincerely  penitent,  a  Director  should 
strive  to  guide  him  to  higher  perfection,  and  should  be  careful 
to  use  the  means  best  suited  in  that  special  instance  to  help  him 
gently  onward. 

76.  Second  suggestion.  In  the  case  supposed,  where  the  soul 
has  shaken  itself  free  from  the  shackles  of  mortal  sin,  and  is  in 
a.  fit  state  to  move  forward  and  gain  ground  in  the  practice  of 
Christian  virtue,  let  the  Director  carefully  take  note,  whether 
this  soul  feels  itself  urged  by  God  to  higher  perfection,  or,  well 
content  to  remain  in  a  state  of  grace,  has  no  thought  of 
anything  beyond.  If  he  discover  in  it  the  movement  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  Who  with  His  inspirations  is  urging  it  to  a  life  of 
virtue,  he  has  only  to  fan  with  his  counsels  these  first  sparks  in 
order  to  light  up  those  vivid  desires  of  perfection  which  may  in 
their  own  good  time  produce,  as  they  often  have  done,  the  flames 
of  ardent  charity.  If  the  soul  remain  languid  and  benumbed, 
with  no  anxiety  except  to  keep  from  grievous  sin,  then  the 
Director  should  endeavour  by  some  means  or  other,  by  some  little 


*  Primum  unusquisque  sanandus  est,  ut  paulatim,  virtutibus  procedentibus, 
ascend  ere  possit  ad  montem.  Et  fdeo  quemque  in  inferioribus  sanat ;  hoc  est 
a  libidine  revocat ;  injuriam  caecitatis  avertit ;  ad  vulnera  ncstra  descendit, 
lit  usu  quodam,  et  copi&  suse  naturae  comparticipes  nos  faciat  esse  regni  coelestis. 
Horn,  in  c.  6,  Lucae,  lib.  v. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS.         79 

expedient,  to  rouse  it  to  better  things  ;  because  it  may  be  that  God, 
in  thus  holding  Himself  aloof,    wishes  to  employ  His   minister 
to  awaken  holy  desires  in  that  soul.     To  many  men,  a  general 
confession,  made    with    deep    contrition    and  strong  purpose  of 
amendment,  has  been  the  beginning  of  a  high  perfection.    Blessed 
Angela  of  Foligno,  for  instance,   recounts  in  her  autobiography, 
that  only  after  a  general   confession  did  she  consecrate  herself 
unreservedly  to  God ;  we  cannot,  therefore,  refuse  to  believe  that 
the  sublime  sanctity  which  she  in  after  life  attained,  found  in  this 
its   starting-point.       I    have  myself  known  several  persons  who, 
having  long  led  a  dissolute  life,  were  so  completely  changed  after 
making  a  general  confession,  that  they  not  only  passed  at  a  bound 
to  a  state  of  great  perfection,  but  were  even  admitted  to  experience 
some  degrees  of  very  high  contemplation.     To  others  the  Spiritual 
Exercises  have  proved  the  starting-point  of  sanctity,  as  in  the  case 
of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  St.  Francis  Borgia,  and  many  more.     In 
others  perfection  has  taken  its  rise  from  the  reading  of  spiritual 
books,  as  with  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  and  St.  John  Colombino; 
or  from  listening  devoutly  to  preaching,  as  with  St.  Nicholas  of 
Tolentino.     In  the  case  of  others,  Almighty  God  has  attached 
His    blessing    to    some    rebuke  of  a  priest   in  the  confessional, 
uttered  in  pure  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  to  lead  a  soul  to  the  life 
of  perfection.       So  Blessed  Giacinta  Marescotti,  by  the    timely 
reprimand  of  a  zealous  confessor,  was  transformed  from  a  vain 
and  imperfect  nun  into  a  fervent  religious.     So  when  the  Lady 
Sancia  Curriglia,  Maid  of  Honour  to  the  Empress  Isabella,  who 
moved  along  rustling  in  robes  of  silk,  spreading  perfume  as  she 
went,  chanced  to  hear  that  apostolic  man,  Father  John  of  Avila, 
observe  that  scents  of  that  kind  were  the  odours  of  hell,  and  those 
splendid  dresses  the  nets  in  which  souls  were  dragged  thither,  she 
gave  herself  up  to  rigorous  penance,  and  became  a  living  model 
of  all  perfection.     The  more  usual  course,  however,  and  the  one 
which,   to   my   mind,  should    be    most    generally  adopted  by  a 
Director,  is  that  which  I  have  mentioned  in  the  preceding  Chapter, 
and  which  I  mean  to  treat  soon  at  greater  length ;  the  practice, 
namely,  of  holy  meditation.     The   reason    of  this    is    manifest. 
Desires  of  perfection  come  from  God,  and  although  a  Director 


8o  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

should  make  use  of  various  ways  and  means  to  stimulate  them  in 
the  hearts  of  his  penitents,  still  it  is  quite  certain  that  to  God  alone 
belongs  the  power  of  infusing  them  into  our  hearts  by  His  inward 
lights  and  holy  inspirations.  Now  let  us  ask,  What  is  the  most 
natural  and  sure  manner  of  receiving  the  heavenly  lights  and 
spiritual  impulses  which  entice  the  soul  to  works  of  virtue  ?  Who* 
cannot  answer  from  experience  ?  Surely,  meditation  on  the  maxims 
of  our  faith ;  for  the  soul  retired  apart,  brought  face  to  face  with 
God,  and  wholly  fixed  on  the  thought  of  these  high  truths,  discerns 
the  vanity  of  earthly  things,  the  priceless  value  of  eternal  things, 
the  importance  of  salvation  ;  realises  the  enormity  of  sin  ;  comes- 
to  know  how  Almighty  God  deserves  to  be  loved  and  served.  The 
knowledge  thus  acquired  very  naturally  awakens  in  the  soul  the 
desire  of  conforming  in  practice  to  that  which  it  has  already  ac 
knowledged  in  principle ;  or,  to  say  the  same  in  other  wordsy, 
desires  of  true  perfection  are  enkindled  in  the  soul.  Among  the 
other  expedients,  then,  to  which  the  Director  should  have  recourse 
in  bringing  his  penitents  to  reform  their  lives,  let  him  never  omit 
this  ;  for  if  he  can  only  prevail  upon  them  to  take  up,  and  faith 
fully  carry  on,  the  practice  of  meditation,  he  will  without  fail 
behold  them  advanced  from  day  to  day,  not  in  desires  alone  of 
greater  perfection,  but  in  deeds  also. 

77.  Third  suggestion.  When  a  Director  has  a  mind  to  intro 
duce  to  the  spiritual  life  one  of  his  penitents  of  either  sex,  living 
in  the  world,  who  may  seem  sufficiently  disposed,  I  should 
scarcely  advise  him  to  broach  at  once  the  subject  of  perfection, 
because  such  language  is  apt  to  frighten  people  living  in  the 
world ;  whether  it  be  that  they  fancy  that  Christian  perfection- 
appertains  not  to  them,  but  is  the  peculiar  aim  of  monks  and 
recluses,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  or  that  they  picture  it  to 
their  minds  as  a  very  difficult,  dismal,  perplexing  and  heart-corrod 
ing  matter.  And,  therefore,  were  he  to  deal  with  such  persons  too 
abruptly,  he  would  succeed  only  in  convincing  them  of  his  indis 
cretion,  and  would  set  them  against  him.  I  would  advise 
him  rather  to  go  more  cautiously  and  practically  to  work,  andy 
without  ever  naming  perfection,  to  introduce  them  skilfully  to- 
an  acquaintance  therewith,  by  engaging  them  to  perform  some 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS.         8r 

of  the  holy  practices  which  I  have  recommended  above.  Then, 
as  soon  as  he  sees  that  Almighty  God  is  awakening  in  them  holy 
thoughts,  and  is  beginning,  with  the  aid  of  pious  affections,  to 
kindle  desires  of  a  more  virtuous  life,  he  may  throw  off  all  disguise, 
and  lay  before  them  the  duty  which  they,  no  less  than  others,  have 
of  tending  to  a  perfection  suitable  to  their  state,  and  of  taking 
proper  means  to  excite  the  desire  of  it  in  their  hearts.  And  to 
keep  this  conviction  alive  in  his  own  mind,  the  Director  should 
ponder  the  teaching  of  St.  Gregory  in  his  thirty-sixth  Homily,  who 
there  tells  us  that  the  joys  of  earth  have  this  peculiarity,  that  seen 
from  afar  they  are  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  make  men  wish  to  win 
them  ;  but  on  closer  inspection  and  actual  trial  they  prove  insipid, 
and  cause  weariness  and  disgust,  while  spiritual  things,  on  the 
contrary,  when  seen  in  the  distance,  appear  repulsive,  but  when 
narrowly  scrutinised,  and  submitted  to  proof,  are  found  sweet  to 
the  taste,  and  awaken  desire  of  possessing  them.*  The  reason, 
he  says,  why  those  cannot  desire  or  love  spiritual  things  who 
have  not  put  them  to  the  proof  of  experiment,  is  simply  this,  that 
as  things  of  the  spirit  do  not  fall  under  the  perception  of  the 
senses,  he  who  has  not  made  trial  of  them  can  know  nothing  of 
the  sweetness  which  they  possess. t  Let  then  a  Director  do  his 
test  to  enable  his  penitents,  by  the  means  above  set  forth,  to  gain 
some  foretaste  of  how  sweet  is  God,  and  to  feel  some  relish  for 
virtue,  and  some  desire  to  gain  possession  of  it ;  after  which  he 
anay  freely  and  openly  urge  them  on  to  the  acquirement  of  that 
perfection  which  is  suited  to  their  state. 

78.  Fourth  suggestion.  The  Director  should  take  notice  that 
perfection  is  not  the  same  in  all,  and  that  consequently  he  should 
not  force  all  to  travel  by  the  same  way  of  life.  The  perfection  of 
a,  man  living  in  the  world  is  one  thing,  the  perfection  of  a  Religious 
is  another.  One  kind  of  perfection  should  be  looked  for  from  a 

*  Hoc  distare,  fratres  carissimi,  inter  delicias  corporis  et  cordis  solet,  quod 
'corporales  delicise,  cum  non  habentur,  grave  in  se  desiderium  accendunt  :  cu.ii 
vero  habitae  eduntur,  comedentem  protinus  in  fastidium  per  satietatern  vertunt. 
At  contra,  spirituales  delicise,  cum  non  habentur,  in  fastidio  sunt ;  cum  vero 
habentur,  in  desiderio  ;  tantoque  amplius  a  comedente  esuriuntur  quanto  ab 
•esuriente  amplius  comeduntur.  In  Evang. 

t  Et  ideo  non  habitae  amari  non  possunt,  quia  earum  sapor  ignoratur.    Ibid. 

VOL.  I.  6 


82  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

maiden,  who  has  only  herself  to  attend  to ;  another  kind  from  a 
married  woman,  who  is  in  duty  bound  to  take  care  of  her  family, 
and  to  live  in  harmony  with  her  husband.      And  even  in  Religious- 
Orders,  all    do    not  take  the  same  route  to  perfection.     If,  for 
example,  a  Carthusian  wanted  to  convert  souls  by  preaching,  he- 
would  not  be  working  out  the  perfection  of  his  Institute,  which 
prescribes  a  purely  contemplative  life.     Or  if  a  Jesuit  wanted  to- 
remain  always  shut  up  in  his  own  room,  without  ever  seeing  any 
human  being,  he  would  not  carry  out  the  perfection  of  his  rule, 
which  prescribes  a  life  of  combined  contemplation  and  action.     A 
Director  must  therefore  use  caution,  and  induce  his  disciples,  when: 
they  first  undertake  to  live  a  devout  life,  to  fix  their  eyes  steadily 
on  the  peculiar  perfection  belonging  to  their  state,  and  to  guide 
their  desires   to  that  alone,  that  they  may  not  stray  at  the  first 
start,  and  that  it  may  not  be  said  with  truth  of  them,  that  they 
hurried  onward  with  zeal  and  energy,  but  not  in  the  right  direc 
tion.*     And  this  is  the  more  important,  because  wrong  principles, 
taken  up  at  first  starting,  root  themselves  deeply  in  the  mind,  and 
it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  eradicate  them.     Hence  also  arises  the 
duty  of  a  Confessor  to  retrench  all  vague  and  unprofitable  desires, 
even  though  they  be  fixed  upon  things  that  are  holy ;  the  desire, 
for  example,  which  a  beginner  might  form  of  converting  whole- 
nations,  of  bringing  idolaters  to  the  light  of  faith,  with  other  de 
signs    of  a   like  nature,  quite   out  of  keeping  with  his  present 
position ;  for   such  desires  encumber  the  heart  and  dislodge  the- 
more  useful  desire  of  what  is  needed  for  present  progress.     The 
Director  should  remember  what  St.  Francis  of  Sales  says  on  this 
subject :  K  I  cannot  for  a  moment  approve  the  conduct  of  one  who, 
whilst  he  is  bound  by  one  course  of  duty,  or   by  one   line   of 
vocation,  occupies  himself  with  desires  of  some  other  kind  of  life 
which  lies  outside  his  sphere  of  action,  or  who  adopts  practices 
incompatible  with   his  present  state ;  for  this  kind  of  behaviour 
only  wastes  the  affections  of  the  heart,  making  it  feeble  in  the 
performance  of  the  duties  that  are  of  obligation. "t    All  this  must 
be  understood,  however,  of  fixed  and  enduring  desires  which  take.- 

*  Bene  currant,  sed  extra  viam.  f  Devout  Life,  p.  3,  chap.  33. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS.         83 

possession  of  the  heart,  and  not  of  the  holy  desires   which  just 
come  and  go,  and  cannot  do  any  possible  harm. 

79.  Fifth  suggestion.  When  desires  of  perfection  begin  to 
awake  in  the  soul  of  the  penitent,  the  Director  must  take  good 
care  not  to  exact  too  much,  as  though  he  were  anxious  to  make  a. 
saint  in  a  single  day  :  else,  if  he  be  eager  for  too  much,  he  will 
run  the  risk  of  losing  all.  He  would  do  well  to  consider  that  for 
acquiring  the  perfection  belonging  to  any  state  of  life,  there  is  no- 
need  of  employing  all  means  that  are  known  ;  it  is  quite  enough  to 
select  some.  This  is  what  F.  Suarez  teaches  upon  the  authority 
of  St.  Thomas.*  His  proof  is  taken  from  the  example  of  the 
Apostles;  for  they  did  not  all  of  them  embrace  the  counsel  of 
not  receiving  their  support  from  the  Churches  :  St.  Paul  alone 
did  this.  The  same  theologian  argues  also  from  reason,  for  the 
evangelical  counsels  are  not  all  adapted  for  all  states  of  life ; 
voluntary  poverty,  which  is  the  virtue  of  Religious,  belongs  not  to 
persons  living  in  the  world,  who  are  only  obliged  to  make  a  good 
use  of  their  wealth ;  and  the  chastity  which  is  expected  in  monks 
and  nuns,  cannot  be  looked  for  in  the  married  life.  Besides,  it  is 
evident  that  works  of  supererogation  ought  to  be  different  in 
beginners,  proficients,  and  the  perfect ;  because  the  work  to  be 
done  should  bear  proportion  to  the  strength  of  the  workman,  and 
he  that  has  greater  strength  should  of  course  produce  greater 
results.  The  Director  must  in  the  next  place  reflect,  that  those 
particular  counsels  which  are  well  suited  to  his  penitent's  case, 
and  which  he  ought  to  put  in  practice,  cannot,  nevertheless,  be 
performed  with  the  same  completeness  and  precision  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  undertaking  as  in  its  after  stages :  because 
perfection  glides  into  the  soul  by  little  and  little.  A  man  grows 
in  virtue  as  the  body  grows,  by  imperceptible  degrees  ;  or  as  a  tree 
grows  in  the  field — though  no  one  sees  it  growing.  We  cannot  per 
ceive  the  increase  day  by  day,  though  there  is  every  day  some 
increase ;  but  after  a  certain  length  of  time,  we  notice  that  progress, 
has  been  made.  The  Director,  then,  must  be  well  on  his  guard,. 

*  Ad  perfectionem  animi  obtinendam  non  est  necessarium  omnia  consilia 
integre  servare  ;  sedaliqua  interdum  sufficient.  De  Relig.,  torn,  iii.,  lib.  i.,  cap. 
5,  n.  2;  S.  Thorn.  Opusc.  xix.,  cap.  2. 


84  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and  especially  at  first,  in  dealing  with  penitents  of  this  class,  for 
fear  that,  instead  of  fanning  into  a  flame,  he  may  only  extinguish 
altogether  those  first  little  sparks  of  holy  desire  which  have  been 
lighted  up  in  their  hearts  by  Almighty  God. 

80.  St.  Teresa  relates  of  herself  that  when  God  began  to  confer 
great  supernatural  favours  upon  her,  she  desired  to  lay  open — as 
she  really  did  lay  open — her  whole  soul  to  some  great  master 
of  the  spiritual  life,  able  to  give  her  good  and  safe  guidance.  And 
although  the  Director  upon  whom  she  chanced  was  a  saintly  and 
experienced  man,  yet  he  did  not  act  very  discreetly  in  her  case, 
neglecting  to  accommodate  his  advice  to  the  strength  of  spirit  she 
then  possessed.  The  Saint  tells  us  that  if  she  had  been  forced  to 
live  under  his  sole  direction  she  would  never  have  made  any  pro 
gress,  for  his  imprudent  zeal  served  only  to  dishearten  her.  These 
are  her  words  : — "  At  last  I  discovered  that  the  means  which  he 
recommended  were  not  such  as  I  needed  to  set  me  right,  but  were 

better  calculated  for  a  soul  more  advanced  in  perfection 

And  certainly,  if  I  had  been  obliged  to  consult  and  confer  with 
him  alone,  my  soul  would  never  have  made  any  progress,  as  far  as 
I  can  judge ;  for  the  distress  which  I  felt  on  seeing  that  I  had  not 
done,  and  as  it  seemed  to  me  could  not  do,  what  he  set  me  to  do, 
was  quite  enough  to  make  me  lose  all  hope  of  attaining  to  perfect 
abandonment."*  If,  then,  a  Director  is  anxious  to  avoid  mistakes 
in  the  direction  of  his  penitents,  let  him  never  exact  anything 
which  is  beyond  that  degree  of  spiritual  strength  which  is 
actually  communicated  to  them  by  Almighty  God ;  for  in  reality 
it  is  out  of  their  power,  morally  speaking,  to  do  more  than  this.  To 
lay  upon  a  beast  of  burthen  a  heavier  load  than  it  can  bear,  only 
serves  to  weaken  it  when  it  tries  to  carry  the  overpowering  weight ; 
in  like  manner,  to  prescribe  to  penitents  practices  and  mortiti ca 
tions  which  exceed  the  strength  supplied  by  grace,  will  have  no 
other  result  than  to  break  down  their  courage. 

*  Life,  chap.  40. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  CONTINUED.  85 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS   TOUCHING   THE    FOURTH   AND    FIFTH 
CHAPTERS    OF    THIS    ARTICLE. 

8 1.  FIRST  suggestion.  From  what  has  been  said  in  the  fourth 
Chapter,  the  Director  will  have  learned  that  the  chief  object  of  his 
zealous  endeavours  must  be  to  prevent  his  disciples  relenting  in 
their  willingness  and  desire  to  become  perfect,  and  to  make  them 
ever  cherish  and  always  keep  active  their  purpose  of  tending  to 
greater  perfection ;  for  when  this  begins  to  fail,  they  will  fall  back 
step  by  step  into  their  former  torpid  state.  But  to  help  him  to 
apply  a  remedy  to  so  great  an  evil,  if  ever  it  come  to  exist,  I  will 
furnish  some  tests  by  which  he  may  discover  whether  the  peni- 
tent,  after  having  once  been  fervent  and  eager  for  self-improve 
ment,  is  beginning  to  grow  tepid.  I  will  set  down,  I  say,  some 
tests ;  for  were  I  to  attempt  to  give  them  all,  a  more  lengthy 
treatise  would  have  to  be  written. 

82.  The  first  symptom  will  show  itself  to  the  Director  clearly 
and  unmistakably  in  spiritual  duties  ;   for  as  soon  as  ever  the 
penitent's  purpose  begins  to  grow  feeble,  he  will  begin  to  neglect 
his  spiritual  exercises,  meditation,  prayer,  spiritual  reading,  &c.  \ 
or  at  all  events  he  will  cut  them  short  for  slight  reasons :  or  he 
will  go  through  them  with  great  want  of  attention  and  interest, 
and  with   no   real  will — more  from  routine,  in  fact,  or   human 
respect,  than  from  a  desire  duly  to  profit  by  them.     Examinations 
of  conscience,  which  he  made  before  with  so  much  compunction, 
he  will  either  omit  at  seasons,  or  at  least  make  in  a  slovenly  way, 
and  with  no  beneficial  result,  and  will  have  recourse  to  the  Sacra 
ments  with  a  kind  of  reluctance,  less  frequently,  and   without 
drawing  fruit  from  them.     The  inspirations  of  God  and  the  re 
proaches  of  conscience  he  will  meet  with  irresolution,  and  will  put 
off  always  to  some  other  time  the  mending  what  is  wrong  or  the 
doing  what  is  good. 

83.  Let  the  Director,  therefore,  know  well  how  to  distinguish 
between   the   censurable   lukewarmness  which    a    person   brings 


S6  ;      GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

upon  himself,  and  that  usful  dryness  of  soul  which  God  often 
sends  to  spiritual  persons,  either  to  prove  or  to  purify  them. 
In  aridity  and  tepidity  alike,  it  is  true,  every  sensible  affection 
and  all  feeling  and  relish  for  spiritual  things  disappear ;  but  then 
there  is  this  difference,  that  in  aridity,  when  the  sensible  affection 
•ceases,  the  will  never  flags,  and  is  even  more  steady  than  before 
in  fulfilling  every  duty  ;  whilst  in  tepidity  the  will  goes  along  with 
the  feelings,  and  is  careless  and  indifferent  about  spiritual  duties 
and  virtuous  actions ;  so  that  whilst  aridity  carries  no  fault  with 
it,  tepidity  is  attended  by  a  great  crowd  of  imperfections  and 
venial  sins.  All  this  comes  out  clearly  in  the  use  of  prayer  and 
meditation.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  in  aridity,  no  less  than 
in  tepidity,  there  is  a  subtraction  of  that  clear  light  (as  it  were), 
.and  almost  visible  working  of  divine  grace ;  and  in  the  one  and 
the  other  equally  the  soul  remains  parched  and  dry.  But  then 
the  sufferer  from  mere  aridity  does  not  give  up  or  curtail  his 
usual  prayer ;  he  does  not  allow  distractions  to  master  him,  but 
he  keeps  strict  watch  over  his  thoughts  to  turn  them  back  to 
-God  ;  and  if  he  cannot  elicit  acts  of  love  with  emotion  and  from 
the  heart,  he  makes  them — dryly  it  is  true  and  without  unction — by 
the  force  of  his  will.  But  he  who  is  in  the  state  of  tepidity  acts 
far  otherwise  ;  for  finding  no  relish  in  his  prayers,  he  either  quits 
them  altogether  or  shortens  their  length,  surrenders  himself  to  dis 
tractions  or  dismisses  them  feebly,  and  appears  in  God's  presence 
with  his  will  quite  as  unmoved  as  his  heart. 

84.  The  second  symptom  will  be  discovered  by  the  Director  in 
exterior  duties  :  while  previously  his  penitent  was  fond  of  retire 
ment,  now  he  will  be  found  quite  changed  in  this  respect.  The 
Director  will  see  him  spending  himself  upon  external  things,  always 
seeking  in  amusement  and  much  talking  and  unprofitable  curiosity, 
that  consolation  from  without,  which  the  poor  man  can  no  longer 
find  in  the  inner  life  of  piety.  Where  before  he  was  careful  to 
practise  mortification  of  the  senses,  the  Confessor  will  now  with 
grief  behold  him  allowing  his  eyes  to  wander  without  restraint, 
indulging  in  idle  conversation  and  finding  fault  with  everybody.  He, 
will  see  him  beginning  to  treat  himself  over-kindly  in  matters  of 
food,  sleep,  and  delicate  living,  and  readily  excusing  himself  from; 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  CONTINUED.  87 

This  customary  penances  ;  for  it  seems  to  him  now  that  a  day's  fast 
ing  will  bring  on  a  decline,  and  a  discipline  nothing  less  than 
•death  itself.  He  will  perceive  too  well  that,  instead  of  the 
spiritual  man  which  the  penitent  once  was,  he  is  fast  changing 
into  the  carnal  man. 

85.  The  third  symptom  will  be  discerned  by  the  Director  when 
foe  happens  to  converse  with  the  penitent;  he  will  find  no  longer 
that  frankness  and  candour  which  used  to  disclose  to  him  every 
movement,  good  or  bad,  that  went  on  within ;    no  longer  that 
submissiveness  with  which  reproof  was  received ;  no  longer  that 
obedience  with  which   every  particle  of  advice   given  was   ful 
filled.     He  will  discover  a  certain  mutiny  of  the  passions,   no 
longer  blameless,  but  voluntary,  since  it  springs  from  a  culpable 
adhesion  of  the  will.     He  will  find  a  certain  self-complacency 
and  vanity,  which  is  ordinarily  the  main-spring  of  these  lapses 
into   coldness.      And  perhaps — indeed,    very   probably — he  will 
be    conscious   that    the   penitent   is   already   beginning  to   cast 
satisfied  and   even  covetous  glances  at  the   pleasures   and   the 
possessions  of  the  world,  which  once  he  had  forsaken  with  so 
much  generosity. 

86.  Second  suggestion.     If  a  Director  perceive  in  the  penitent 
all  or  any  of  these  symptoms,  he  may  know  for  certain  that  every 
desire  of  perfection  has  grown  cold  in  his  breast.     He  must  en 
deavour,  nevertheless,  to  rescue  the  person  quickly  from  his  state 
of  torpor,  by  setting  before  him  such  motives  as  may  have  power 
to  make  the  smothered  fire  once  more  burn  brightly  in  his  heart. 
The  first  motive  should  be,  I  think,  the  one  I  have  given  above 
—namely,  that  if  anyone  continue,  thus  lukewarm -in  his.  spiritual 

•duties  and  in  the  practice  of  virtue,  he  must  go  backward,  and 
•ever  backward,  whether  he  wish  it  or  not ;  and  must  lose  in  a  short 
time  what  it  took  him  a  long  time  to  acquire.  And  the  Director 
should  push  him  hard  with  the  comparison  which  St.  Gregory  the 
-Great  makes  when  he  likens  our  soul  to  a  little  boat  in  the  mid 
stream  of  a  rapid  river,  which,  if  every  effort  be  not  put  forth  to 
make  headway  against  the  force  of  the  water,  can  never  stand  still 
in  the  middle,  but  is  perforce  carried  back  by  the  violence  of  the 
current.  And  thus  if  the  soul,  says  the  Saint,  does  not  exert  itself 


88  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  advance  in  virtue,  resisting  bravely  the  impetus  of  its  own  bad 
propensities  and  the  shock  of  the  devil's  attacks,  it  can  never 
stand  still  on  the  voyage  of  perfection,  but  will  have  to  go  back 
in  spite  of  itself,  and  to  lose  all  the  way  it  had  made  in  the  whole 
course  of  its  spiritual  voyage.* 

87.  The  second  motive  may  be  one  which  we  have  only  glanced 
at — namely,  that  if  the  lukewarm  person  do  not  rouse  himself 
from  his  tepidity,  and  strive  to  burn  with  desire  of  improving 
himself,  not  only  will  he  lose  all  that  he  has  earned  so  painfully, 
but  by  little  and  little  he  will  come  to  a  fearful  fall,  and  will 
plunge  headlong  into  a  very  abyss  of  mortal  sins ;  so  that  when 
the  servants  of  God,  says  Cassian,  meet  with  deplorable  falls,  the 
blame  is  not  due  to  the  present  circumstances  which  gave  them 
the  last  push,  but  rather  to  those  previous  habits  of  negligence, 
which,  by  weakening  the  hold  of  virtue  in  the  soul,  and  lending 
energy  to  the  passions  and  vicious  inclinations  of  nature,  rendered 
the  miserable  men  unable  to  keep  their  footing.t  How  true  this 
is,  the  wretched  Euprepianus  knows  full  well,  whose  ruin  St. 
Theodore  the  Studite  bewails.  \  He  lived  for  many  years  in  a 
monastery,  and  in  that  sacred  retreat  he  was  a  model  of  every 
religious  virtue — fervent  in  prayer,  unwearied  in  mortification, 
prompt  in  obedience,  most  exact  in  the  observance  of  rule.  Twice 
he  was  imprisoned  for  the  faith,  and  stood  firm  in  spite  of  chains 
and  dungeons.  Twice  he  was  severely  scourged  by  the  idolaters, 
and  he  bore  patiently  rude  stripes,  suffered  cruel  torments,  shed 
his  blood  freely  for  the  love  of  Jesus.  Who,  I  pray,  would  not 
have  been  ready  to  predict  final  perseverance  after  a  life  so 
fervent,  a  virtue  so  unflinching  ?  Who  would  not  have  thought 

*  Si  enim,  quod  videtur  gerendum  sollicit&  intentione  non  crescit,  etiara 
quod  fuerat  bene  gestum  decrescit.  In  hoc  quippe  mundo  humana  anima, 
quasi  more  navis  est  contra  ictum  fluminis  conscendentis ;  uno  in  loco  nequa- 
quam  stare  permittitur  :  quia  ad  ima  relabitur,  nisi  ad  summa  conetur.  Pastoral- 
p.  iii.,  cap.  35. 

t  Lapsus  quis  jam  nequaquam  subitanea  ruina  corruisse  credendus  est ;  sed 
pravae  institution! s  deceptus  exordio,  aut  per  longam  mentis  incuriam,  pau- 
latim,  virtute  animi  decidente,  et  per  hoc  sensim  vitiis  increscentibus,  casu 
miserabili  concidisse.  Ante  contritionem  enim  pnecedit  injuria,  et  ante, 
ruinam  mala  cogitatio.  Collat.  vi.,  cap.  17. 

±  Serm.  ix.  Cath. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  CONTINUED.  89 

that  he  could  see  in  the  future  the  halo  of  the  brightest  sanctity? 
And  yet  Euprepianus  fell  with  infamy.*  Who,  then,  had  power 
to  cast  to  the  ground  this  pillar  of  Holy  Church  which  had  stood 
unmoved  the  rudest  shocks  of  cruel  persecution  ?  It  was  nothing 
but  tepidity.  Dormitans  cecidit — "  he  slumbered  and  fell ;"  in  his. 
sleep  he  fell.  The  desire  of  perfection  had  begun  to  grow  drowsy ; 
he  had  begun  to  slacken  in  his  application  to  prayer,  in  his 
practice  of  virtue;  he  had  begun,  in  a  word,  to  go  back,  and, 
backsliding  step  by  step,  he  fell  at  last  headlong  into  the  gulf  of 
mortal  sin  ;  and,  what  is  sadder  yet,  ended  with  a  bad  death.  Nor 
is  there  cause  for  wonder  here  ;  for,  as  by  a  gradual  loosening  of 
the  foundations,  says  Cassian  (already  quoted),  or  by  a  continual 
though  gentle  dripping  of  water,  the  fall  of  a  noble  building  is 
sometimes  brought  about,  so  a  loosening  of  the  supports  of  the 
soul  and  a  constant  dripping  of  faults  and  wilful  deficiencies  casts 
to  the  ground  the  stateliest  structures  of  Christian  perfection. 
Hence,  Let  him  who  stands  take  heed  lest  he  fall  If  the  penitent, 
grown  tepid,  has  not  so  fallen  as  yet,  the  Director  should  terrify  him 
with  the  picture  of  so  awful  a  danger,  to  make  him  place  himself 
once  more  upon  the  road  of  perfection,  by  calling  back  to  life  the 
desires  which  were  at  the  gasp  of  death. 

88.  The  third  motive,  and  the  most  efficacious  of  all,  will  be 
to  make  him  consider  well  that  a  souj  which  from  a  state  of 
perfection  has  sunk  into  tepidity,  and  from  that  has  passed  to 
mortal  sin,  finds  it  hard  to  regain  the  position  it  has  forfeited. 
St.  Paul  says  that  the  restoration  of  such  souls  is  morally  impos 
sible,  t  Cassian  is  of  opinion  that  a  thorough  worldling  will  be 
converted,  and  mount  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  perfection,  more 
easily  than  a  monk  or  any  one  else  who  has  fallen  from  fervour 
into  tepidity.  J  And  he  gives  for  the  reason  of  this  that  a  sinner 

*  Et  tamen  dormitans  cecidit. 

t  Impossible  enim  est,  eos  qui  semel  sunt  illuminati,  gustaverunt  etiam 

donum  cceleste,  et  participes  facti  sunt  Spiritus  Sancti et  prolapsi  sunt, 

rursus  renovari  ad  pcenitentiam.  Ad  Hebr.,  cap.  vi.,  4  et  6. 

\  Facilius  ad  salutarem  conversionem,  ac  perfections  fastigium  carnalis  quisr 
hoc  est  soecularis,  vel  gentilis  accedit,  quam  is,  qui  professus  monachus,  nee 
tamen  vitam  perfections  arripiens,  secundum  regulam  disciplince  ab  illo  semel 
spirituals  igne  fervoris  discessit.  Collat.  iv.,  cap.  9. 


90  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

at  the  sight  of  his  wickedness  is  more  easily  moved  to  coin 
punction,  more  readily  humbles  himself  and  submits  to  the 
guidance  of  another,  and  so  has  less  difficulty  in  passing  on  from 
repentance  to  self-amendment,  and  in  making  in  the  sequel  ra*pid 
strides  in  the  path  of  the  spiritual  life.  On  the  other  hand,  one 
who  from  the  pursuit  of  perfection  falls  into  lukewarmness  can 
never  bring  himself  to  see  that  he  is  blind  and  wretched,  and  in 
great  need  of  guidance,  for  he  thinks  himself  an  enlightened  man; 
and  hence  his  difficulty  in  retrieving  his  lost  position.*  He  con 
cludes  by  bringing  experience  to  attest  the  undoubted  teaching 
which  he  has. laid  down,  and  observes  that  every  day  we  see  icy 
and  numbed  hearts  warming  gradually  to  fervour,  but  never  one 
tepid  soul  becoming  fervent,  t  While  thinking  of  tepidity,  those 
words  of  God  in  the  Apocalypse  fall  upon  our  ears.  "  It  were 
well  for  thee,"  wrote  the  Apostle  St.  John  to  the  Bishop  of  Laodicea 
by  order  of  the  Almighty — "  it  were  well  for  thee  if  thou  wert 
either  cold  or  hot  in  the  service  of  God ;  but  because  thou  art  luke 
warm  I  will  begin  to  vomit  thee  out  of  My  mouth  ""^  These  words, 
so  say  the  Saints,  tell  us  how  God  forsakes  those  souls  that  cool 
in  their  purpose  and  desire  of  perfection ;  for  as  men  loathe  the 
food  they  have  vomited,  so  Almighty  God  loathes  the  lukewarm 
soul  which  He  has  cast  out  of  His  divine  mouth.  St.  Ignatius 
•once  appeared  to  a  devout  client  of  his,  and  said,  with  good 
reason,  that  could  the  Blessed  in  Heaven  feel  grief  of  heart,  they 
would  clothe  themselves  in  mourning  apparel  and  carry  in  their 
-countenances  every  sign  of  sorrow,  to  testify  the  anguish  they 
feel  whenever  a  soul  that  has  been  fervent  grows  cool  in  the 
service  of  God  ;§  and  this,  no  doubt,  on  account  of  the  danger  to 
which  such  a  soul,  beyond  all  others,  exposes  itself  of  being 

*  In  eo  factus  sreculari  deterior,  quod  nee  misernm  se,  nee  csecum,  nee 
indigere  monitis  alicujus,  aut  institutione  cognoscit.  Ibid. 

•f  Postremo  quid  diutius  immoramur  in  his,  quse  nobis  experimento  satis 
comperta  sunt  ac  probata?  Frequenter  enim  vidimus  de  frigidis  atque  car- 
nalibus,  id  est  de  ssecularibus  atque  paganis,  ad  spiritualem  pervenisse  fervo- 
rern  ;  de  tepid  is  atque  animalibus  omnino  non  vidimus.  Ibid. 

%  Utinam  frigidus  esses,  aut  calidus.  Sed  quia  tepidus  es,  et  nee  frigidus, 
oec  calidus,  incipiam  te  evomere  ex  ore  meo.  Cap.  iii.,  15  et  16. 

§  Nolarci,  Vita,  c.  IQ. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  CONTINUED.  91 

forsaken  by  God  and  of  rushing  to  its  destruction.  Nevertheless, 
if  a  Director  see  that  his  penitent,  moved  by  reasons -so  strong  and 
convincing,  enters  into  himself,  and,  beginning  to  repent  of  his 
lukewarmness,  has  registered  his  resolve  to  return  to  his  former 
state,  let  him  use  all  endeavour  to  rekindle  in  his  soul  the  desire  of 
perfection,  and  to  establish  him  once  again  in  all  his  ancient  fer 
vour,  by  employing  the  means  which  I  am  now  going  to  propose. 

89.  Third  suggestion.  When  a  furnace  has  been  extinguished, 
it  is  rekindled  by  the  same  fire  by  which  it  was  first  lighted.  So 
too  with  desires  of  perfection  :  the  same  means  must  be  employed 
to  revive  them  which  served  first  to  set  them  on  fire.  Let  the 
penitent  who  has  grown  lukewarm  betake  himself  again  to  prayer; 
let  him  have  recourse  once  more  to  the  Sacraments,  to  examina 
tion  of  conscience  and  spiritual  reading  :  let  him  do  this,  however, 
not  with  presumption  nor  by  routine,  but  in  the  right  spirit,  and 
with  an  earnest  desire  of  improvement.  Above  all,  let  him  com 
mend  himself  to  God  with  repeated  and  heartfelt  prayer,  beseech 
ing  Him  to  strengthen  Him  anew  with  His  grace,  and  to  shed  on 
his  soul  once  more  the  light  of  heaven.  And  the  Director  mean 
while  must  try  to  give  him  fresh  courage,  by  assuring  him  that  all 
those  reflections  so  full  of  terror,  which  we  have  recorded  above, 
have  place  only  with  those  tepid  souls  who  are  content  to 
rest  undisturbed  in  their  wretched  state,  but  were  never  meant 
to  apply  to  those  who,  after  having  for  a  time  relaxed  their 
efforts,  are  anxious  to  give  themselves  once  again  to  the  faithful, 
fervent  service  of  Almighty  God.  Nay,  such  souls  are  wel 
comed  by  the  Lord  with  an  especial  love  as  His  old  friends, 
and  as  familiar  attendants  at  His  court.  He  must  keep  on 
repeating  to  the  penitent  those  beautiful  words  of  St.  Bernard : 
"  Let  us  arise,  I  pray  you,  my  children,  from  this  melancholy 
state ;  let  us  put  to  rights  our  poor  souls,  disordered  in  all  her 
acts,  laid  waste  in  all  her  powers ;  let  us  take  courage  anew ;  let 
us  drive  far  from  us  the  tepidity  that  is  working  our  ruin."*  He 
should  say  to  him  with  the  same  Saint,  that  if  the  thought  of  the 

*  Exsurgamus,  obsecro,  quicumque  hujusmedi  simus  (hoc  est,  tepidi),  resar- 
ciamus  animani,  spiritum  recoliigairms,  abjicientes  perniciosam  tepiditatem. 
Senn.  vi.  de  Ascens. 


92  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

serious  losses  and  grievous  risks  mentioned  above,  is  powerless  to 
induce  him  to  make  up  his  mind,  he  should  at  least  do  so  if  only  to 
set  himself  free  from  so  many  scruples  and  so  much  remorse  of 
conscience,  so  many  agitating  doubts  and  straits  of  the  soul,  which 
he  will  have  to  suffer  as  long  as  he  chooses  to  remain  in  a  state  of 
tepidity.*  If  all  this,  however,  do  not  suffice  to  re-awaken 
dormant  desires  of  good,  nothing  remains  for  the  Director  but  to 
pray  for  him. 

90.  Fourth  suggestion.     The  Director  will  meet  with  some  souls 
who  never  lose  sight  of  the  duty  of  progress,  but  are  struggling  to 
make  constant  advance  in  the  path  of  perfection;  who  yet  are 
never  satisfied  with  themselves :  they  fancy  that,  instead  of  gain 
ing  ground,  they  are  falling  back,  that  they  are  one  mass  of  faults 
and  failings  from  head  to  foot.     In  cases  of  this  kind — they  are 
anything  but  rare — the  Director  must  be  on  his  guard,  and  act  with 
due  discrimination,  if  he  wish  to  avoid  mistakes.     If  these  souls 
derive  from  their  convictions  a  sincere  humility  (by  which  I  mean 
a  kind  of  self-abasement,  interior,  quiet,  and  tranquil)  together  with 
a  certain  low  opinion,  or  even,  it  may  be,  a  downright  deprecia 
tion  of  self,  and,  instead  of  at  any  time  losing  their  confidence  in 
God,  only  increase  it  at  the  sight  of  their  wretchedness,  they  are 
in  an  excellent  frame  of  mind  ;  for,  just  as  a  good  deal  of  self- 
approbation  is  the  immediate  cause  of  vanity,  pride,  and  neglect 
of  good  works,  so,  the  being  dissatisfied  with  self — in  the  manner 
just  described — makes  the  soul  pant  with  eager  desire  of  that 
perfection,  the  want  of  which  is  found  to  be  so  grievous.     And  it 
was  this  which  made  St.  Bernard  say  :  "  It  is  a  contrivance  of  God's 
goodness,  that  the  more  we  advance,  the  less  we  think  ourselves 
advancing."t 

91.  But  if  the  result  of  this  dissatisfaction  with  self  be  diffi 
dence,  cowardice,  dismay,  and  loss  of  heart,  then  the  poor  soul  is 
in  a  bad  way ;  unable,  I  mean,  to  make  progress ;  for  discourage- 

*  Etsi  non  quia  periculosa  est,  et  Deo  solet  vomitum  provocare,  certe  quia 
molestissima,  plena  miserise  et  doloris,  et  inferno  plane  proxima  umbra  mortis 
jure  censetur.  Ibid. 

t  Divina  solet  pietas  ordinare,  ut  quanto  quis  plus  profecerit,  minus  se 
reputet  profecisse.  De  Quatuor  Modis  Orandi. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  ^UIDE.  93 

ment  is  a  tight  bond  which  binds  fast  the  spirit,  keeps  it  captive, 
holding  it  back,  cramping  and  stopping  its  onward  movement.  A 
Director  in  this  case  should  help  his  disciple  to  draw  from  the 
sense  of  his  failings  and  miseries,  not  depression  of  spirits  and 
loss  of  energy,  but  honest  humility  full  of  trust  in  God.  Let  such 
a  one  recognise  in  God's  presence  what  he  really  is,  let  him 
acknowledge  his  shortcomings  and  take  shame  to  himself,  but 
without  fretting  :  and  let  him  think  as  hopefully  of  God  as  he 
thinks  poorly  of  himself:  nay,  from  his  very  inefficiency  and 
feebleness,  let  him  gain  fresh  motives  for  surrendering  himself  to 
God  with  the  fullest  confidence.  Let  him  do  what  good  he  can 
with  God's  grace,  and  from  the  succour  he  receives  let  him  gather 
new  courage  and  look  for  yet  larger  graces  from  above,  according 
to  the  teaching  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great.* 


ARTICLE  III. 


The  second  means  to  acquire  Christian  perfection  is  the  choice  of  a 
good  Director. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE  IN  ORDER  TO  WALK  WITH  SECURITY  ON 
THE  ROAD  TO  PERFECTION,  SHOWN  FROM  SCRIPTURE  AND  THE 
HOLY  FATHERS. 

•92.  "As  soon  as  you  have  defeated  the  efforts  and  put  down  the 
opposition  of  your  sworn  enemy  the  devil,  and  have  made  up 
your  mind  to  serve  God  with  the  perfection  He  calls  for,  set 
yourself  with  all  your  heart,"  says  St.  Basil,  "and  with  all  the 

*  Ex  magna  Conditoris  nostri  dispensatione  agltur,  ut  per  minima,  quoe  pe\'« 
cipimus,  sperare  majora  debeamus.     Dialog,  lib.  i.,  cap.  9,  in  fine. 


94  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

prudence  at  your  command,  to  the  work  of  choosing  a  Spiritual 
Father  who  may  be  to  you  a  trusty  guide  and  an  able  leader  in  all 
your  undertakings."*  Thus,  according  to  the  teaching  of  this 
holy  Doctor,  next  after  the  first  desires  of  perfection  and  the  first 
resolves  to  acquire  it,  the  thing  most  needful  to  be  done  in  order 
to  secure  substantial  progress  in  the  spiritual  life,  is  without 
doubt  the  choice  of  a  faithful  guide.  Let  us  then  examine  what 
the  Fathers  of  the  Church  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  teach  us  of 
the  urgency  and  extent  of  this  necessity. 

93.  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  speaking  of  the  Abbot  Honoratus,  a 
man  of  humble  birth,  but  eminent  in  sanctity,  and  the  founder  at 
Fondi  of  a  monastery  of  two  hundred  monks,  whom  by  his  holy 
example  and  wise  training  he  raised  to  high  perfection,  says  that 
this  Abbot  had  no  other  guide  to  perfection  than  God  Himself,  f 
And  he  adds,  that  "  there  are  some  persons,  to  whom,  in  default 
of  all  external  direction,  God  deigns  to  be  Himself  a  teacher, 
leading  them  to  perfection  by  the  inward  guidance  of  His  grace.  "J 
He  adduces  the  instances  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  of  Moses, 
who  had  no  earthly  master  to  instruct  them  ;  and  who  yet,  under 
the  guidance  of  God,  sometimes  in  His  own  Person,  sometimes 
by  the  ministry  of  an  Angel,  rose  rapidly  to  the  height  of  perfec 
tion^  It  would  seem  that  St.  Augustine  acknowledges  the  same, 
when,  commenting  on  the  Psalms,  he  says  that  there  are  some  saints 
whose  spiritual  training  depends,  not  upon  any  mortal  man,  but 
upon  God  alone.  ||  There  cannot,  accordingly,  be  any  doubt  that 

*  Simul  ac  in  primo  luctationis  istius  congressu  adversarium  superaveris  .... 
summa  vigilantiS,  acerrimaque  in  omnes  partes  animi  circumspectione  operam 
dato,  ut  aliquem  tibi  virum  invenias,  quern  in  omnibus  d.einceps  delectse  tibi. 
vitae  studiis  certissimum  ducem  sequaris.  De  Renunt.  sive  Abdicatione. 

|  Nequaquam  hunc  fuisse  alicujus  discipulum  audivi  :  sed  lege  non  constrin- 
gitur  Spiritus  Sancti,  donum.  Dialog,  lib.  L,  cap.  I. 

J  Sed  tamen  sunt  nonnulli,  qui  ita  per  magisterium  Spiritus  intrinsecus- 
docentur,  ut  etsi  eis  exterius  human!  magisterii  disciplina  desit,  Magistri  intimi.' 
censura  non  desit.  Ibid. 

§  Sic  quippe  Joannes  Baptista  magistrum  habuisse  non  legitur  ....  Sic 
Moyses  in  eremo  edoctus  mandatum  ab  angelo  didicit,  quod  per  hominem  non 
cognovit.  Ibid.  '. 

II  Ccelum  cceli  Domino,  qui  erexit  et  sublimavit  quorumdam  sanctorum 
memes  in  tantam,  ut  nulli  hominum,  sed  ipsi  Deo  suo  dociles  fierent.  la 
Ps.  cxiij. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE.  95 

the  case  absolutely  may   occur  in  which  God  Himself  shall  be 
pleased  to  be  sole  master  and  guide  of  some  chosen  soul. 

94.  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  after  having  laid  down  this  doctrine, 
at  once  subjoins  that  these  are  "extraordinary  cases,  and  which 
cannot  form  a  precedent,  lest  it  should  come  to  pass  that  each 
one,  conceiving  himself  to  be  under  the  inward  guidance   of  the 
Holy  Ghost,   should  think  himself  the  scholar  of  God  but  the 
master  of  every  one  else."*     And  he  says,  in  conclusion,  that 
"  this  is  not  a  matter  for  men  to  arrange,  but  for  God  alone  :  a 
thing  to  be  admired  indeed,  honoured  in  some  great  saint,  but  not 
to  be  copied  by  us  who  are  feeble  and  imperfect."t     For  "the 
order  of  God's  usual  p-ovidence  requires  that  no  man  should  make 
himself  or  allow  others  to  set  him  up  as  a  master,  who  has  not 
previously  been  a  scholar,  and  that  no  man  should  exact  obedience 
who  has  never  yielded  it."J 

95.  But  because  this  is  a  very  delicate  matter,  which,  if  not 
properly  understood,  may  easily  lead  into  serious  mistakes,  I  shall 
have  to  show,  at  some   little  length,  what  are  the  circumstances 
which  give  a  just  right  to  expect  special  direction  from  God,  and 
what,  on  the  other  hand,  are  the  circumstances  which  make  it 
impossible  without  presumption  to  expect  so  special  and  direct 
an  intervention  of   the  Most  High,  and  consequently  oblige  us 
perforce  to  betake  ourselves  to  His  creatures,  and  trust  to  their 
guidance  in  spiritual  matters.     Hence,  we  must  consider  some  of 
the  many  situations  in  which  a  person   desirous  of  advancing  in 
virtue  may  happen  to  be  placed.     If  he  be  living  where  no  one 
can  be  found  to  point  out  the  path  of  perfection,  and  to  give 
rules  of  conduct,   I  have  not  any  kind  of  doubt  that  Almighty 
God  will  Himself  act  as  his  guide  and  teacher,  and  with  inner 
lights  and  the  movements  of  grace,  will  show  such  a  one    the 
road  he  must  take  to  arrive  at  perfection,  always  supposing,  of 

*  Quorum  tamen  libertas  vitze  ah  infimis  in  exemplum  non  cst  trahendas  ; 
ne  dum  se  quisque  similiter  Sancto  Spiritu  impletum  prsesumit,  discipulus 
hominis  esse  despiciat,  et  magister  erroris  fiat.  S.  Greg.  Ubi  sup. 

t  Seel  hsec,  ut  praediximus,  infimis  veneranda  sunt,  non  imitanda.     Ibid. 

%  Usus  quidem  rectse  conservations  est,  ut  prseesse  non  audeat,  qui  sub- 
esse  non  didicit,  nee  obedientiam  subjectis  imperet,  quam  prcelatis  non  novit 
exhibere.  Ibid. 


96  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

course,  that  he  fail  not  to  demand  this  help  of  God ;  for  the  Al 
mighty  is  bound  to  make  up  for  the  want  when  the  services  of  His 
minister  cannot  be  secured.  And  such  was  precisely  the  case  in 
the  instances  cited  by  Pope  Gregory  :  it  was  so  in  the  case  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  who,  dwelling  in  the  wilderness  far  away  from 
commerce  with  men,  never  had  the  chance  of  listening  to  our 
Saviour's  discourses,  or  of  being  enlightened  by  His  heavenly 
teaching ;  so,  too,  was  it  in  the  case  of  Moses,  when  living  all  alone 
in  the  desert,  taken  up  with  the  care  of  his  flocks ;  and  so  also 
with  the  holy  Abbot  Honoratus  himself,  who,  having  been  born  in 
a  country  place,  and  brought  up  among  simple  peasant  folk,  had 
no  master  of  the  spiritual  life  to  give  him  lessons  in  perfection. 
But  if  he  who  is  eager  for  perfection  finds  his  lot  cast  in  some  city, 
or  other  place  where  there  is  no  lack  of  priests,  confessors,  learned 
men,  and  ghostly  fathers,  who  can  give  him  counsel  and  direction 
in  all  his  interior  and  exterior  actions ;  in  such  a  case  I  maintain, 
that  for  a  person  to  pretend  to  have  Almighty  God  Himself  for  a 
guide,  whilst  he  rejects  the  guidance  of  God's  ministers,  and  to 
allege  that  the  Almighty  is  speaking  to  his  heart,  he  the  while 
refusing  to  address  himself  to  the  ears  of  him  who  holds  God's 
place,  would  be  an  act  of  great  presumption ;  it  would  not  only 
forfeit  for  such  a  one  all  hope  of  God's  special  guidance,  but 
even  be  the  cause  of  his  being  permitted,  in  punishment  of  so  great 
effrontery,  to  fall  into  grievous  errors,  as  others  have  been  already 
permitted  to  fall.  We  shall  see  more  of  this,  however,  in  the  course 
of  the  present  Article. 

96.  I  will  illustrate  what  I  have  said  by  several  facts  taken 
from  Holy  Scripture.  God  speaks  to  Moses  from  the  midst  of 
the  Burning  Bush,  calling  him  by  his  name,  Moses,  Moses !  and 
shortly  after  He  makes  Himself  known  for  the  Great  God 
Himself;  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.*  God 
speaks  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  in  the  deep  stillness  of  sleep,  to 
the  youthful  Samuel,  calling  him  thrice  by  name,  Samuel,  Samuel, 
Samuel !  but  He  does  not  show  Himself  to  Him,  or  make  Him 
self  known.  Now,  why,  pray,  does  God  deal  so  differently  with 

*  Ego  sum  Deus  patris  tui,  Deus  Abraham,  Deus  Isaac,  Deus  Jacob.  Exod. 
*.  Hi.,  4.  6. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE.  97 

these  two  great  prophets  ?  Why  does  He,  when  speaking  to  the 
one,  reveal  Himself  as  the  God  of  Israel,  and  when  speaking  to 
the  other,  refrain  from  discovering  Himself  in  the  same  manner ; 
so  that,  although  Samuel  heard  the  voice,  he  did  not  know  who 
had  aroused  him  from  sleep  and  summoned  him  to  his  presence  ? 
The  reason  is  most  clear.  Moses  was  in  the  wilderness,  and  had 
no  one  there  to  commune  with  about  the  meaning  of  God's  utter 
ance  :  to  God,  accordingly,  it  belonged  to  make  good  the  defi 
ciency  by  Himself  disclosing  Himself :  Samuel  was  living  in  the 
Temple,  and  there  he  had  the  High  Priest  Heli  ready  at  hand  to 
give  him  useful  counsel ;  it  was  but  fitting  that  he  should  apply 
to  the  Priest  to  learn  who  had  called  him  and  broken  short  his 
rest.  And  from  Heli  in  fact  did  Samuel  receive  the  light  to  under 
stand  that  Almighty  God  had  been  speaking  to  him,  and  by  him 
he  was  advised,  in  case  a  fourth  summons  came,  to  answer,  Speak 
then,  O  Lord,  finish  what  Thou  hast  to  say,  for  Thy  servant 
heareth.  *  From  this  it  is  easy  to  gather  that — as  I  said  a  little 
while  since — Almighty  God  sometimes,  in  default  of  priests,  works 
all  alone  in  our  souls,  and  by  Himself  alone  gives  them  light  and 
instruction.  But  when  His  ministers  are  at  hand,  He  wills  us  to 
have  recourse  to  them,  and  He  chooses  to  enlighten  and  direct  us 
by  their  agency.  This  is  exactly  the  reflection  which  Cassian 
makes  upon  what  occurred  to  Samuel :  "  Almighty  God  did  not 
vouchsafe  Himself  to  instruct  the  child  Samuel,  but  He  would 
have  him  once  and  again,  and  for  a  third  time,  recur  to  the  aged 
Heli  j  that  first,  by  such  submission  to  the  High  Priest,  and 
dependence  upon  him,  trial  might  be  made  of  his  fitness  for  the 
prophetic  mission  to  which  he  had  already  been  destined  :  and 
secondly,  to  give  to  the  young  an  example  of  the  deference  which 
they  owe  to  the  advice  of  their  spiritual  superiors  in  all  their 
undertakings,  t 

97.  Another  instance,  no  less  convincing,  we  find  in  the  Acts 

*  Loquere  Domine,  quia  audit  servus  tuus.     II.  Reg.,  iij.,  9. 

f  Puerum  Samuelem  judicio  Domini  pra>lectum,  sua  nollet  per  semetipsum 
divini  eloquii  disciplina  Dominus  erudire,  sed  recurrere  semel  et  iterum,  pate- 
retur  ad  senem  .  .  .  ut  scilicet  et  illius  qui  ad  divinum  ministerium  vocaba- 
tur,  probaretur  humilitas,  et  junioribus  forma  subjectionis  hujus  proponeretur 
cxemplo.  Collat.  ii.,  cap.  14. 

a 


98  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  the  Apostles  in  the  person  of  the  Doctor  of  the  Gentiles.*  Jesus 
Christ  appears  to  St.  Paul  as,  in  his  headlong  fury,  he  is  draw 
ing  near  to  the  gates  of  Damascus,  vowing  vengeance  against  the 
Christians,  with  his  mind  full  of  dungeons  and  chains,  of  deaths, 
and  stripes  and  blood.  Our  Blessed  Lord  pours  a  flood  of  light 
around  the  future  Apostle,  and  with  the  thunder  of  His  voice 
strikes  him  down  outstretched  upon  the  earth,  all  stunned  and 
trembling  with  fear.  St.  Paul,  when  he  felt  the  stroke  from  heaven, 
surrendered  on  the  spot,  owned  himself  conquered,  and,  changed 
from  a  raging  lion  into  a  gentle  lamb,  threw  himself  into  the 
arms  of  Him  Whom  he  had  till  that  moment  so  cruelly  perse 
cuted,  resolved  now  to  do  His  will  in  all  things  :  Lord,  what  wilt 
Thou  have  me  to  dot  Yet  Almighty  God,  notwithstanding  that  He 
sees  him  so  well  disposed,  does  not  disclose  His  designs.  And  why? 
Because  there  is  in  Damascus  a  priest,  Ananias  by  name,  to  whom 
he  can  make  application.  Go  to  him,  says  our  Lord,  and  learn  from 
his  lips  what  I  will  have  you  to  do.*c  "  And  could  not  Jesus  Christ 
then,"  Cassian  interposes  here,  "  in  His  own  person  instruct  St. 
Paul,  as  He  had  already  single-handed  over-mastered  him  by  the 
power  of  His  grace  ?  He  could  have  done  so,  of  course;  but  He 
chose  rather  to  show  us,  by  this  example,  that  we  must  not  pre- 
bume  upon  gaining  from  God  that  direction  which  we  are  able  to 
procure  from  His  ministers. "J  Nor  is  this  all.  I  will  say  more, 
and  though  what  I  add  may  sound  strange,  it  will  be  found  true. 
St.  Paul  received  the  Gospel  by  divine  revelation :  he  began  to 
preach  to  the  nations  with  the  zeal  of  an  Apostle :  then  he 
paused  in  his  preaching,  and  went  to  lay  his  doctrine  before  St. 
Peter.  But  of  what  was  the  Apostle  afraid,  you  will  ask ;  since 
he  had  his  doctrine  from  the  fountain-head  of  all  truth,  that  is, 
by  revelation  from  God's  own  mouth,  from  which  no  lying  word 
tan  come  ?  I  answer,  that  there  lurked  a  scruple  in  his  heart* 

*  Cap.  ix.  6. 

t  Vade  ad  Ananiam  et  ibi  dicetur  tibi  quid  te  oporteat  facere. 

£  Mittit  itaque  et  hunc  ad  seniorem,  eumque  illius  potius  doctrinS,  quam  sua 
censet  institui,  ne  scilicet,  quod  recte  gestum  fuisset  in  Paulo,  posteris  malum 
preesumptionis  pra'beret  exemplum.  Dum  unusquisque  sibimet  persuaderet, 
Bimili  modo  se  -quoque  debefe  Dei  solius  magisterio,  atque  doctrinU,  potius 
quam  seniorum  institutione  formari.  Collat.  ij.,  cap.  15. 


THE  NECESS11  Y  OF  A  GUIDE.  99 

In  that,  although  there  were  Apostles  still  living  on  the  earth  and 
able  to  pronounce  upon  his  revelations  and  his  teaching,  he  had 
never  yet  submitted  the  one  and  the  other  to  their  judgment. 
This  was  his  sole  anxiety.  Nor  did  he  rest  till  he  had  been  to 
Jerusalem  to  confer  with  St.  Peter,  face  to  face,  about  the  truths 
which  he  was  continually  announcing  to  the  nations,  and  to  submit 
them  to  his  judgment  and  approval ;  and  this,  although  these  truths 
had  been  imparted  to  him  by  Almighty  God.*  So  true  it  is  that, 
in  the  affairs  of  our  soul,  God  would  have  us  to  cherish  ever  a  spirit 
of  candid  and  submissive  dependence  upon  His  ministers,  when 
ever  we  can  avail  ourselves  of  their  assistance. 

98.  But  since  this  truth,  however  abundantly  it  may  be  proved, 

is  very  sparingly  acted  upon  by  many  who  make  profession  of 

leading  spiritual  lives,  I  am  anxious  to  put  it  in  a  still  clearer 

light  by  the  help  of  another  fact  related  by  Cassian,  whom  I  have 

O  Q3ust  quoted. t     Two  monks,  who  lived  in  a  wild  and  lonely  spot 

c  zbeyond  the  Thebaid,  left  their  monastery,  and  without  provisions 

gof  any  kind,  plunged  into  those  vast  solitudes,  resolved  to  touch 

•—no  food  till  God  should  Himself  furnish  it.     While  they,  already 

wasted  with  hunger,  were  wandering  on  through  these  great  deserts, 

they  met  a  man,   who,  when  he  saw  them  so  pale  feeble  and 

emaciated,  offered  them  some  loaves  of  bread  to  restore  them  in 

their  great  need.     One  of  the  two  monks  accepted  some  and  thus 

kept  himself  alive;  the  other,  persisting  in  his  rash  hope  of  being 

fe  i  by  God's  own  hand,  refused  the  offer ;  and  since  the  food 

which  he  foolishly  expected  from  Heaven  never  arrived,  starvation 

soon  brought  him  to  the  end  of  his  days  and  he  died  miserably. 

I  Now,  God  for  many  years  provided  St.  Paul,  the  first  hermit,  with 
bread,  employing  the  service  of  a  raven  to  carry  him  his  daily 
pittance,  and  by  the  hands  of  Angels  sent  food  to  other  servants' 
of  His,  as  we  find  recounted  in  histories  of  the  Church ;  why 
then,  I  ask,  did  He  leave  this  poor  monk  without  any  support 
in  his  most  dire  need?  The  reason  is  obvious.  St.  Paul,  the 
first  hermit — and  the  same  holds  good  of  the  rest — living  in  the 
desert,  to  which  God's  direct  inspiration  had  led  him,  utterly 

*  Ne  forte  in  vacuum  currerem,  aut  cucurrissem.     Ad  Galat.,  ij.,  2. 
f  Collat.  ii.,  cap.  3. 

2—2 


loo  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

severed  from  the  intercourse  of  men,  had  no  chance  of  procuring 
the  necessaries  of  life.  It  was,  therefore,  very  fitting  that  God 
should  come  to  his  assistance,  and  miraculously  provide  with 
food  a  hermit  who  was  himself  unable  to  procure  any.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  monk  above  alluded  to  was  in  no  want  of  food 
in  his  monastery,  which  he  forsook  in  his  headstrong  folly  ;  and 
even  then  might  have  accepted  bread  from  the  hands  of  the  per 
son  who  proffered  it  so  kindly.  Because  he  chose  to  insist  upon 
forcing  God  Himself  to  give  what  it  was  in  his  own  power  to 
procure  from  men,  therefore  was  he  righteously  left  to  grow 
weaker  and  weaker,  and  at  length  to  die  wretchedly.  What  we 
have  been  saying  of  the  material  food  which  nourishes  our  bodies, 
is  equally  true  of  the  spiritual  food  which  sustains  our  souls,  and 
gives  them  vigorous  health  to  run  forward  to  perfection;  the 
parallel  is  complete.  If  any  who  are  called  to  perfection  cannot, 
in  the  given  circumstances  of  time  and  place,  obtain  from  some 
man  the  guidance  requisite,  then  God  will  in  person  come  to  the 
aid  of  such,  or  will  supply  the  needed  direction  by  the  ministry 
of  the  Angels  whom  He  has  appointed  to  guard  us.  But  if  the 
assistance  of  Confessors  and  other  experienced  persons  can  be 
had,  and  any  person  cares  not  to  avail  himself  of  it,  by  opening 
his  whole  conscience  to  them,  expecting  in  his  folly  to  receive 
from  the  Lord  by  unaccustomed  ways  that  direction  which  he  is 
at  no  pains  to  procure  through  the  ordinary  channel,  he  will  be 
left  by  God  to  grow  faint  in  the  way  of  perfection,  and  perhaps 
to  lose  the  life  of  grace,  just  as  that  unhappy  monk  was  left  to 
grow  faint  in  the  desert,  and  die  the  death  of  the  body.  Hence 
we  may  conclude  by  saying  with  Cassian,  that  "  whoso  does  not 
care  to  have  perfection  by  the  way  of  admonition  teaching,  and 
guidance,  is  safe  not  to  have  it  from  God."* 

99.  St.  Jerome,  in  the  same  spirit,  frequently  offers  this  piece 
of  advice  to  those  whom  he  instructs  in  his  letters  :  To  choose 
a  good  Director,  who  may  act  as  their  guide  on  the  road  of  per 
fection.  He  bids  Rusticus  "seek  the  companionship  of  spiritual 

*  Unde  manifestissime  comprobatur,  nee  a  Domino  quidem  viam  perfec- 
tionis  promereri,  qui  habens  unde  valeat  erudiri,  doctrinam  seniorum,  vet 
instituta  c<»^ppserit.  Ibid. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  GUIDE.  ior 

men,  and  place  himself  under  their  direction,  and  by  no  means 
presume  to  be  his  own  master  in  perfection,  or  to  journey  with 
out  some  one  to  show  him  the  way  along  roads  he  has  never  yet 
traversed."*  In  a  letter  to  Demetrias,  he  tells  her,  that  she  must 
"  put  herself  under  the  obedience  of  tried  and  perfect  men,  to 
learn  from  them  what  are  the  ways  of  that  spiritual  life,  the  rules 
of  which  are  given  in  Holy  Writ ;  and,  above  all,  not  to  take  self- 
confidence  for  leader  and  guide  upon  this  journey ;  for  it  would 
be  impossible  to  make  a  worse  choice,  "f  And  the  holy  Doctor  is 
on  this  point  quite  of  one  mind  with  St.  Bernard,  who  says,  that 
"  if  any  one  makes  himself  his  own  master  in  the  spiritual  life,  he 
makes  himself  scholar  to  a  fool.;'|  In  fact,  that  man  is  really  a 
fool  who  is  capable  of  acting  in  so  silly  a  manner.  I  believe 
however  that,  what  St.  Vincent  Ferrer  says  upon  this  particular, 
will  strike  still  more  forcibly  all  who  are  in  earnest  about  their 
own  advancement  in  spirit.  The  Saint  asserts  boldly  that  "  who 
ever  can  have  the  aid  of  a  Director,  and  despises  it,  will  not  be 
assisted  by  Jesus  Christ  with  His  divine  grace,  without  which  we 
can  do  nothing ;  because  obedience  is  the  royal  road  which  leads 
most  securely  to  the  top  of  that  ladder,  the  symbol  of  perfection, 
on  which,  as  the  patriarch  Jacob  saw  in  his  vision,  God  was 
leaning. "§  Such  are  the  expressions  which  the  Saints  and  Holy 
Scripture  use  to  give  us  to  understand  the  necessity  under  which 
we  are  all  placed  of  choosing  some  guide  to  conduct  us  in  safety 
along  the  way  of  perfection.  But  to  imprint  these  sentiments 
more  deeply  on  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  pious  reader,  I  proceed 
to  give  some  of  the  proofs  upon  which  their  assertions  rest. 

*  Mihi  placet,  ut  habeas  sanctorum  contubernium ;  ne  ipse  te  doceas,  ne 
absque  ductore  ingrediaris  viam,  quam  numquam  ingressus  es. 

t  Bonum  est  igitur  obedire  majoribus,  parere  perfectis,  et  post  regulas 
-Scriptural-urn  vitse  suse  tramitem  ab  aliis  discere,  nee  prseceptore  uti  pessimo, 
scilicet  praesumptibne  sua. 

J  Qui  se  sibi  magistrum  constituit,  stulto  se  discipulum  subdit.     Epist.  87. 

§  Christus,  sine  quo  nihil  possumus,  numquam  suam  gratiam  ministrabit 
illi,  qui  cum  habeat  qui  eum  ducat  in  viR  perfectionis,  negligit  ductum  ejus. 
Obedientia  via  est  regia,  quse  homines  inoftenso  pede  ducit  ad  summum  scalse, 
in  qua  Dominus  apparet  innixus.  In  Tract.  De  Vita  S»irit. 


102  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

REASONS    SHOWING   THE    NECESSITY   OF  A  GUIDE,  THAT   WE   MAY- 
WALK    SAFELY    IN    THE    ROAD    TO    PERFECTION. 

ioo.  THE  first  reason  which  proves  this  necessity  is  the  evident 
fact  that  no  art  or  science  or  accomplishment  on  earth  is  acquired 
without  a  master.  I  am  not  here  speaking  of  the  more  sublime 
sciences — philosophy,  for  instance,  or  mathematics,  or  theology — • 
which  no  one  of  course  need  hope  to  make  his  own  without  the 
help  of  a  skilful  tutor.  Nor  yet  do  I  rest  my  observations  upon 
the  higher  kinds  of  art — painting,  for  example,  or  sculpture,  or 
architecture — in  which  no  one  can  promise  himself  success  with 
out  following  the  rules  of  an  expert  teacher.  I  confine  my 
remarks  to  the  more  mechanical  arts — tilling  the  fields,  common 
masonry,  working  in  wood,  iron,  copper,  and  other  metals ;  for 
be  these  handicrafts  as  mean,  abject,  and  inglorious  as  you  will, 
yet,  for  all  that,  they  cannot  be  learned  without  the  instruction 
and  example  of  some  proficient  in  the  art.  Now,  if  the  need 
of  a  master  be  so  much  felt  in  these  external  arts,  which  are 
concerned  with  visible,  tangible  objects,  and  present  no  great 
difficulty  in  their  attainment,  how  much  more  needful  must  be 
the  help  of  a  master  of  the  spiritual  life,  for  the  attainment  of 
Christian  perfection,  which  is  so  exalted  sublime  and  arduous, 
which  we  cannot  see  with  our  eyes  or  touch  with  our  hands,  but 
which  the  mind  alone  can  reach,  and  this  only  when  purified 
and  enlightened  by  the  rays  of  God's  grace  !  Here  we  have  in 
question,  not  a  paltry  manufacture,  but  our  highest  good  or  our 
greatest  loss ;  an  eternity  of  happiness  or  an  eternity  of  woe  hangs,. 
perhaps,  upon  the  balance.  All  must  allow  that  the  parity  is 
striking,  the  reasoning  unanswerable;  and  to  add  to  its  innate 
force  the  sanction  of  authority,  I  may  as  well  say  that  it  is  none  of 
mine,  for  I  have  taken  it  from  Cassian.* 

*  Cum  omnes  artes,  et  discipline  humano  ingenio  repertce,  et  quce  nihil 
amplius,  quam  vitai  hujus  commodis  prosunt,  licet  manu  palpari  qutant,  et> 
oculis  pervideri;  recte  tamen  a  quoquam  sine  instituentis  doctrina  nequeant 


REASONS  SHEWING  NEED  OF  A  GUIDE.          103 

10 1.  St.  Jerome  goes  much  farther,  and  says  that  not  only  men 
can  learn  no  art  without  a  master  to  help  them,  but  even  brute 
beasts,  though  they  have  no  power  of  reason  or  speech,  cannot 
go  through  their  labours  without  some  kind  of  master ;  for  even 
these  have  a  chief  and  guide,  who  sets  them  the  example  in  their 
own  special   line   of  activity.     Sheep   follow   their  leader,  bees 
their  queen,  and  some  wild  fowl  are  seen  to  place  their  captain 
in  front,  and  follow  him  in  two  converging  lines.  *     And  then  the 
Saint  concludes  with  an  exhortation  to  Rusticus  to  live  no  longer 
as  his  own  master,  but  to  withdraw  into  some  monastery;   not 
so  much  thereby  to  quit  a  treacherous  world,  with  its  pomp  and 
fascination,  as  to  set  in  good  order  the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct 
within   and   without,  by  rendering  obedience  to  some  prudent 
superior,  t 

1 02.  This   grand  maxim  of  the   spiritual   life  was   admirably 
understood  by  Paul  surnamed  the  Simple.     After  he  had  deter 
mined  in  his  heart  to  give  himself  up  altogether  to  perfection,  he 
went  to  the  desert,  and  there  having  made  his  way  to  St.  Antony's 
monastery,  he  threw  himself  at  the  holy  Abbot's  feet,  and  then 
put  himself  at  his  disposal,  to  be  by  him  ruled  and  directed  in  all 
things.     The  Saint,  to  test  the  postulant's  sincerity,  at  once  bade 
him  continue  in  prayer  before  the  door  of  the  cell  till  such  time 
as  he  should  come  out.     Paul  knelt  down,  and  began  to  pray; 
and,  in  defiance  of  sun  and  wind  and  inclement  weather,  there 
he  stayed  in  persevering  prayer  for  a  whole  day  and  a  whole 

comprehend! :  quam  ineptum  est  credere,  hnnc  solam  (nempe  artern  perfec- 
donis)  non  egere  doctore,  quse  et  invisibilis  et  occulta  est ;  et  quae  non  nisi 
corde  purissir  o,  per  cujus  oculos  videtur  error,  non  temporale  damnum,  nee 
quod  facile  reparetur,  sed  animse  perditionem  parit,  mortemque  perpetuam  ! 
Collat,  ij.  c.  ii. 

*  Nulla  ars  absque  magisterio  discitur.  Etiam  muta  animalia  et  ferarum 
greges,  ductores  sequuntur  suos.  In  apibus  principes  sunt ;  grues  unara 
sequuntur  ordine  litterato.  Epist.  ad  Rustic. 

t  Per  haec  omnia  ad  illud  tendit  oratio,  ut  doceam  te  non  tuo  arbitrio 
dimittendum  ;  sed  vivere  debere  in  monasterio  sub  unius  discipline  patris.  ... 
non  facias  quod  vis  :  comedas  quod  juberis  :  vestiare  quod  acceperis  :  operis 
tui  pensum  persolvas  :  subjiciaris  cui  non  vis,  lassus  ad  stratum  venias,  ambu- 
lansque  dormites :  et  nondum  expleto  somno,  surgere  compellaris  :  clicas 
psaimos  in  eo  ordine,  in  quo  non  dulcedo  vocis,  sed  mentis  affectus  quaeritur, 
etc. 


104  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

night.     Then  St.  Antony,  knowing  that  the  youth  had  as  truly 
abandoned  himself  to  his  care  as  a  child  to  its  mother's  arms, 
purposing  to  admit  no  other  motive  of  conduct  than  the  com 
mands   his   superior   might   furnish,   built   for  him   a   little  cell 
three  miles  distant,  and  imposed  on  him  a  rule  of  life  austere 
to  the  last  degree  in  all  that  concerned  the  body,  and  minutely 
exact   and  uncompromising  in  the   interior  government  of  the 
soul.     And  perceiving  that  the  young  man  allowed  himself  to  be 
ruled  in  everything  and  paid  exact  obedience  to  every  order,  the 
Saint  was  glad  at  heart.*     Not  quite  satisfied,  however,  with  this 
probation,  the  holy  Abbot  put  the  Novice  to  still  greater  trials, 
and  prescribed  to  him  the  most  unreasonable  actions.     He  ordered 
him  to  make  clothes  and  then  unstitch  them  again;  he  caused 
him  to  plait  baskets  and  then  told  him  to  undo  the  work  immedi 
ately  ;  he  forced  him  to  spend  the  whole  day  in  fetching  water  from 
a  well  and  pouring  it  uselessly  on  the  ground.     The  disciple  did 
all  that  was  told  him  with  a  holy  simplicity,  allowing  himself,  like 
a  child,  to  be  sent  hither  and  thither  by  his  saintly  Director  with 
unreasoning  obedience.     I  must  add  to  this  what  happened  at 
one  of  the  Conferences  which  St.  Antony  used  to  hold  with  his 
monks.     Whilst  the  others  were  submitting  sensible  questions  for 
discussion,   the    simple-minded  Paul   childishly  asked   if  Jesus 
Christ  had  lived  before   the   Prophets.     The   holy  Abbot   felt 
ashamed  at  such  a  question,  anJ  told  the  other  gently  to  hold 
his  tongue  and  to  leave  the  pious  assembly.     Paul  went  out,  and 
observed  so  rigorous  a  silence,  that  for  a  long  time  he  did  not 
speak  a  single  word.      To   be  brief:   by  this  full  and  perfect 
submission  to  the  Spiritual  Father  whom,  from  the  first,  he  had 
taken  for  his  Director  and  guide  in  the  way  of  the  spirit,  Paul 
attained  such  a  height  of  sanctity,  that  he  wrought  more  numer 
ous  and  amazing  miracles  than  Antony  himself,  though  he,  too, 
was  a  great  wonder-worker.     Indeed,  this  holy  Abbot  used  him 
self  to  hold  up  Paul  as  an  example  to  others,  and  to  tell  them  that 
the  surest  way  of  speedily  arriving  at  perfection  was  to  cease  to 
be  their  own  masters,  and,  renouncing  all  will  of  their  own,  as 

*     .       \frequentius  visitans  congratulabatur,  deprehendens  eum  in  his,  quae 
sib.    Gi'        %erant,  tot&  intentione  et  solicitudine  permanentem. 


REASONS  SHOWING  NEED  OF  A  GUIDE.         105 

Paul  had  done,  to  place  themselves  in  all  things  under  the  direc 
tion  of  another.* 

103.  The  second  reason  which  makes  it  advisnble  to  secure  a 
guide  is,  to  defend  ourselves  against  the  wiles  and  illusions  of  the 
devil,  which  are  almost  sure  to  ensnare  the  man  who  is  journeying 
along  the  road  to  heaven  without  the  guardianship  and  govern 
ment  of  a  Spiritual  Father.  "There  is  no  vice,"  says  Cassian, 
"  which  makes  it  so  easy  for  the  devil  to  drag  down  to  death  and 
eternal  ruin,  souls  consecrated  to  God,  as  this  desire  to  shape  our 
own  course  independently,  and  to  dispense  with  the  counsels  of 
enlightened  men."t  He  gives  melancholy  instances  of  some 
who,  having  reached  high  perfection,  afterwards  desiring  to  order 
their  lives  as  their  own  fancy  led  them,  came  to  fall  headlong  into 
abysses  of  crime,  from  which  at  times  they  never  rose.  So  it  befell 
with  the  monk  Hero,  who  lived  fifty  years  in  the  desert  in  great 
austerity,  and  then,  by  the  cunning  of  the  devil,  was  thrown  down 
from  the  height  of  perfection  into  the  depths  of  ruin  ;  and  all 
because  the  wretched  man  had  got  into  the  habit  of  following  the 
dictates  of  his  own  judgment,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  advice  from 
without.  :£  The  enemy  of  man  persuaded  him,  that  if  he  were  to 
throw  himself  into  a  deep  well,  he  would,  by  the  power  of  God, 
escape  unhurt :  and  so,  without  another  thought,  he  forthwith  made 
the  rash  attempt.  Almighty  God,  in  reward,  perhaps,  of  the  holy 
life  he  had  led  for  so  many  years,  so  disposed  that  they  were  able 
to  draw  him  out  of  the  well,  if  not  unhurt,  at  all  events  alive,  that 
he  might  have  time  to  repent  of  so  gross  an  error.  But  since  the 
unhappy  man  had  grown  old  in  the  habit  of  following  his  own 
judgment  without  consulting  others,  the  time  which  God  gave 
him  for  repentance  served  only  to  strengthen  him  in  his  wrong 
principles ;  for,  during  the  three  days  that  he  lived  after  his  fall, 

*  Ex  cujus  exemplo  docebat  beatus  Antonius,  quod  si  quis  vellet  velociter 
ad  perfectionem  venire,  non  sibi  ipse  fieret  magister,  nee  propriis  voluntatibus 
obediret,  etiamsi  rectum  videatur  esse  quod  velit.  In  Vitis  Patrum.  De  Paulo 
Simplici. 

t  Nullo  namque  alio  vitio  tarn  prsecipitem  diabolus  monacnum  pertrah.it,  ac 
terducit  ad  mortem,  quam  cum  eum  neglectis  consiliis  seniorum,  suo  judicio 
j-ersuaserit,  definitionique  confidere.  Collat.  ij.  cap.  II. 

J  Illusione  diabolicct  a  summis  ad  ima  dejectum.     Cap.  5. 


106  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

no  one  was  able  to  convince  him  that  he  had  been  imposed  upor» 
by  the  demon,  nor  to  bring  him  to  express  sorrow  for  his  heinous 
sin ;  so  that  the  unfortunate  man  died  giving  little,  if  any,  hope 
of  his  salvation.  The  same  author  tells  us  of  another  case  very 
similar.*  The  devil  persuaded  another  monk,  that  if  he  killed  his 
son,  whom  he  had  living  with  him  in  the  monastery,  he  would  be 
equal  to  Abraham  in  merit  and  sanctity.  He  had  (as  usual,  with 
out  seeking  advice  of  any  one)  already  sharpened  his  knife ;  he 
had  the  cords  prepared,  and  was  nerving  himself  for  the  unholy 
sacrifice,  and  he  would  assuredly  have  carried  out  his  purpose, 
had  not  the  son,  who  was  the  wiser  of  the  two,  by  a  timely  flight, 
saved  himself  from  impending  death,  and  his  father  from  the 
commission  of  a  dreadful  crime.  After  narrating  these  and  other 
lamentable  falls,  Cassian  recounts  the  course  recommended  by 
the  Abbot  Moses  to  those  who  would  escape  these  and  a  thousand 
other  like  snares,  which  our  arch-enemy  is  constantly  spreading  for 
our  feet.  He  says  that  the  wholesome  prescription  of  that  great 
master  of  the  spiritual  life  was  simply  this,  to  take  a  Director,  and 
to  lay  one's  whole  conscience  open  to  him  with  sincere  humility, 
conforming  to  his  advice  in  all  things.  He  adds  that  a  sure 
sign  of  this  real  humility  will  be,  if  the  penitent  shall  disclose, 
not  only  all  he  does  or  means  to  do,  but  also  every  suggestion 
that  passes  in  his  mind,  and  shall  then  yield  to  him  an  unreserved 
submission.t 

104.  Very  much  to  our  present  purpose  is  the  illustration  used 
by  St.  Ignatius  in  his  Spiritual  Exercises  to  unmask  the  trickery 
by  which  the  devil  tries  to  overreach  the  unwary.  When,  says 
the  Saint,  the  evil  spirit  wishes  to  deceive  us,  he  adopts  the  same 
kind  of  tactics  as  a  young  profligate  who  is  trying  to  seduce  a 
married  woman  or  maiden,  that  he  may  have  his  way  with  her. 
He  fears  nothing  so  much,  he  shrinks  from  nothing  so  much,  as 


•  Cap.  7. 

t  Cujus  humilitatis  non  fictas  hsec  erit  prima  probatio,  si  universa  non  solum 
quae  agenda  sunt,  sed  etiam  quae  cogitantur,  seniorum  reserventur  exarnini,  ut 
nihil  quis  suo  judicio  credens,  illorum  in  omnibus  definitionibus  acquiescat : 
et  quidquid  bonum,  vel  malum  debeat  judicare,  eorum  traditione  cognoscat. 
Cap.  10. 


REASONS  SHOWING  NEED  OF  A  GUIDE.          107 

the  thought  of  disclosure  being  made  to  husband,  or  father,  of  the 
words  and  secret  messages  which  pass  between  himself  and  the 
intended  victim.  If  he  cannot  prevent  this,  he  despairs  of  success. 
Just  so  the  demon,  when  he  would  fain  seduce  a  soul,  uses  every 
artifice  to  prevent  the  unveiling  of  his  sly  schemes  to  a  Confessor 
or  spiritual  adviser ;  for  so  surely  as  his  hidden  devices  are  brought 
to  light,  the  traitor  knows  full  well  that  his  deep-laid  plot  must 
fail.  *  The  only  way,  then,  to  avoid  being  deluded  by  the  machi 
nations  of  the  bad  angel,  is  to  choose  a  Director,  and  act  towards 
him  with  all  due  candour. 

105.  The  third  reason  which  should  lead  us  to  this  mode  of 
conduct,  is  the  thought  of  the  difficulty  which  lies  in  the  way  of 
knowing  and  practising  solid  virtue,  if  a  skilful  Director  be  not  at 
hand  to  satisfy  our  doubts.  Virtue  is  found  midway  between 
two  extremes.  If  there  be  the  slightest  encroachment  upon  the 
confines  of  the  extremes  of  excess  or  defect,  immediately  some 
admixture  of  vice  begins.  Now,  it  is  surely  difficult  to  discern  this 
middle  course,  both  by  reason  of  self-love — so  deeply  rooted  in 
our  souls,  and  so  prompt  to  flatter  us  to  our  ruin — and  by  reason 
of  our  passions  which  darken  the  mind  and  make  us  see  dimly, 
and  which  by  their  hidden  movements  are  for  ever  urging  us  into 
excesses  and  extravagance.  One  and  all  of  us  have  need  of  a  good 
guide  who  can  with  practised  eye  himself  discern  and  point  out 
to  us  the  proper  way,  and  make  us  keep  to  it  in  defiance  of  our 
evil  inclinations.  Add  to  this  the  great  danger  of  travelling, 
without  a  guide  along  the  road  of  perfection ;  because  the  very 
same  virtuous  actions,  which  if  rightly  performed  have  power  to- 
lead  us  towards  perfection,  may  also  take  us  to  the  brink  of  the 

*  Inimicus  noster  morem  insequitur  cujuspiam  amatoris  qui  pnellam  hones- 
torum  parentum  filiam,  vel  uxorem  viri  alicujus  probi  volens  seducere,  sum- 
mopere  procurat,  ut  verba  et  consilia  sua  occulta  sint ;  nihilque  formidat 
magis,  ac  aegre  fert,  quam  si  puella  patri  suo,  vel  uxor  marito  ea  patefaciat ; 
cum  sciat  hoc  pacto  de  votis,  et  conatibus  suis  actum  esse.  Ad  evmdem  mo- 
dum  obnixe  satagit  diabolus,  ut  anima  quam  circumvenire  cupit,  ac  perdere, 
fraudulentas  supgestiorses  teneat  secretas.  Indignatur  vero  et  gravissime  cru- 
ciatur,  si  cui  vel  confessionem  audienti,  vel  spirituali  homini  molimina  sua 
detegantur,  a  quibus  ita  excidere  se  funditus  intelligit.  In  Exerc.  Spirit.  Reg.  3* 
De  Discern.  Spirit. 


lo8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

precipice.  How  many  men  have  lost  themselves  by  indiscreet 
fervour !  How  many  have  been  stranded  on  the  shoals  of 
spiritual  dryness,  and  instead  of  advancing  have  turned  back  to 
their  former  ways,  and  many  of  them  even  to  a  more  abandoned 
life  !  To  how  many  have  even  spiritual  consolations,  God's  very 
choicest  gifts,  but  proved  a  stumbling-block  to  cast  them  down  ! 
To  how  many  have  even  fasting,  watching,  or  bodily  chastise 
ment,  practised  unwisely  and  without  direction,  been  only  a  great 
hindrance  to  that  very  perfection,  as  an  aid  to  which  these  auster 
ities  were  employed !  St.  Jerome  bears  witness  that  he  had 
known  spiritual  persons  of  both  sexes  who  had  lost  all  sense  and 
judgment,  so  as  not  to  know  what  to  do  or  say,  and  when  to 
speak  or  be  silent,  purely  in  consequence  of  the  excessive  ab 
stinence  and  penance  which  they  practised  without  advice.  So 
that  these  wretched  people,  having  lost  all  sense,  were  no  longer 
good  either  for  this  world  or  the  next*  On  this  account  the  holy 
Doctor,  after  having  in  the  passage  lately  quoted,  laid  upon  Rus- 
ticus  an  injunction  to  place  himself  under  the  management  and 
direction  of  some  superior,  and  not  to  think  of  entering  on  a 
journey,  knowing  nothing  of  the  road,  unless  accompanied  by 
some  one  able  to  show  him  the  way,  immediately  adds  the  reason : 
to  the  end  that  you  may  not  come  to  commit  some  extravagance, 
or  fall  into  some  fatal  error  :  to  the  end  that  you  may  not  hurry 
over  too  many  stages  at  once,  or  loiter  behind  unduly  on  the 
road  of  perfection  :  to  the  end  that  you  may  not  by  over-exertion 
exhaust  your  strength,  and  be  unable  to  continue  your  course,  or 
on  the  other  hand  take  things  too  leisurely,  and  not  get  over  half 
the  distance.t  These  are  precisely  the  evils  which  we  have 
enumerated  as  menacing  those  who  apply  themselves  to  a  life  of 
piety  and  perfection  without  caring  for  the  guidance  of  a  spiritual 

*  Novi  ego  in.  utroque  sexu,  per  nimiam  abstinentiam,  cerebri  sanitatem 
fuisse  vexatam,  prsecipue  in  his,  qui  humectis,  et  frigidis  habitavere  cellulis, 
ita  ut  nescirent  quid  agerent,  quave  se  verterent,  quid  loqui,  quid  tacere  da 
berent.  Ep  ad  Demetr. 

t  Stalim  que  inpartem  alteram  declinandum  sit,  et  errori  pateasi  plusque 
vel  minus  ambules  quam  necesse  est,  ne  currens  lasseris,  aut  morarn  faciens 
obdormites.  Epist.  ad  Rustic. 


QUALITIES  NEEDED  IN  A  DIRECTOR.  109, 

adviser.  Our  last  conclusion,  then,  shall  be  that  authority  and 
reason  conspire  to  dictate  to  all  who  aim  at  Christian  perfection 
the  necessity  of  choosing  a  good  guide  for  their  journey. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHAT  GIFTS  THE  PERSON   AIMING  AT  PERFECTION  MUST  LOOK  FOR 
IN  A  DIRECTOR,  IF  HE  WI^H  TO  MAKE  A  GOOD  CHOICE. 

1 06.  DIRECTORS  might  suppose  that  this  Chapter — as  indeed  all 
the  others  in  this  Article — belongs  not  to  them,  but  only  to  their 
clients.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  think  this,  for  Directors  them 
selves  have  need  of  direction,  and  though  they  be  masters  to- 
regulate  the  lives  of  others,  they  must  submit  to  be  learners  in 
the  conduct  of  their  own ;  for  as  no  one  can  be  judge  in  his  own 
cause,  so  no  one  can  regulate  his  own  life.  Moreover,  when  a. 
Confessor,  reading  this  Chapter,  shall  see  noted  down  the  quali 
fications  which  he  ought  to  look  for  in  his  own  Director,  he  will 
be  learning  at  the  same  time  what  are  the  gifts  with  which  he 
should  be  himself  endowed,  in  order  to  exercise  with  proper  fruit 
his  sacred  ministry  of  souls.  Thus,  very  far  from  being  of  no  use 
to  him,  the  present  Chapter  will,  I  hope,  be  doubly  serviceable. 

197.  When  any  one  is  anxious  to  choose  a  ghostly  father  to 
whom  he  may  entrust  the  care  of  his  soul,  let  him  try  to  secure 
one  who  professes  the  three  following  qualifications  which  are 
essential  to  the  good  government  of  souls  : — First,  he  must  be 
learned;  secondly,  he  must  be  virtuous;  thirdly,  he  must  have 
practical  experience  of  spiritual  things.  A  Director  must  be 
learned,  in  order  to  discern  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  not  be 
liable  to  think  that  all  have  to  take  the  same  path  or  to  travel 
with  equal  speed :  in  order  to  be  able  to  recognise  the  errors 
into  which  the  souls  of  the  faithful  may  be  betrayed :  in  order 
to  go  straight  to  the  cause  and  origin  of  the  movements  that  are 
passing  in  the  heart,  and  after  thus  thoroughly  understanding. 


no  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  various  motions  of  the  soul,  to  know  how  to  give  to  each  its 
proper  tendency.  Again,  a  Director  must  be  virtuous,  so  that 
lie  may  be  zealous  for  the  good  of  his  penitents ;  for  no  one  can 
-ever  care  much  for  the  perfection  of  others  who  is  unconcerned 
for  his  own.  And  lastly,  he  must  also  be  experienced,  or  he 
"will  not  know  how  to  apply  to  particular  cases  those  general 
principles  with  which,  supposing  him  to  be  sufficiently  learned, 
he  is  already  acquainted  in  theory.  For  there  are  some  who 
are  well  versed  in  the  principles  of  the  spiritual  life,  but  who 
are  unskilled  in  applying  them  correctly  in  the  particular  cases 
brought  before  them.  When  such  persons  make  a  mistake  in 
the  practical  application,  they  spoil  all  their  work;  just  as  it 
fares  with  a  physician  who  knows  the  virtue  of  every  medicine, 
and  the  character  of  every  disease  that  can  attack  the  human  body, 
but  yet  makes  some  mistake  in  applying  his  science  to  the  sick 
man  under  his  care. 

1 08.  Now,  this  experience  is  gained  in  two  ways :  both  by  the 
personal  practice  of  perfection,  and  by  the  work  of 'directing  the 
souls  of  others.     When  a  Director  is  in  earnest  about  his  own 
sanctification,  and,  moreover,  observes  closely  the  traces  of  God's 
action  on  other  souls  engaged  in  the  same  task,  he  learns  in  prac 
tice  what  are  the  errors  men  commit,  the  false  steps  they  take,  the 
risks  they  run,  the  temptations  they  have  to  endure ;  and  he  has 
ready  the  means  remedies  and  preservatives  appropriate  to  each 
case  as  it  comes.      He  knows  too  by  long  experience  what  in 
clinations  come  from  nature,  what  are  the  suggestions  of  the  bad 
spirit,  and  what  motions  are  due  to  grace.     So  that  he  knows 
with  a  practical   knowledge  what  movements  are    harmful  and 
need  restraint,  what  are  perverse  and  to  be  rejected,  and  what 
are  to  be  encouraged  as  full  of  profit. 

109.  These  are  the  very  three  gifts  to  which  St.  Basil  would 
have  us  attend  in  the  choice  of  a  good  Director.     No  sooner  has 
he  given  us  the  advice  to  place  ourselves  from  the  very  first  under 
the  care  of  a  trusty  guide,  than  he  goes  on  to  mention  the  quali 
ties  which  such  a  guide  ought  to  possess  j  and  he  tells  us  :  That 
the  Director  to  whom  we  entrust  ourselves  should  be  well  versed 
in  Holy  Scripture ;  and  this  is  learning :  That  he  should  be  full 


QUALITIES  NEEDED  IN  A  DIRECTOR.  in 

of  the  love  of  God,  forgiving  of  injuries,  good  to  the  poor,  free 
from  self-seeking,  and  from  taking  part  in  mere  worldly  business, 
pure  in  his  life,  gentle,  unassuming,  grave,  not  fickle ;  here  we 
have  virtue.  He  says  that  he  ought  to  be  ready  to  welcome 
and  instruct  all  who  have  recourse  to  him,  and  to  take  nothing  to 
heart  so  much  as  the  honour  of  God ;  and  this  is  the  experience 
of  which  we  spoke.  It  is  gained  by  the  practice  of  virtue  and  the 
government  of  souls.* 

no.  From  the  works  of  St.  Teresa  we  learn  more  clearly  still 
how  important  it  is  to  have  a  Director  endowed  with  these  three 
qualities.  Speaking  of  the  learning  which  he  ought  to  possess, 
the  Saint  says  :  "  Always  seek  learned  men  as  your  advisers  ;  you 
will  then  safely  distinguish  the  true  road  that  will  lead  you  to 
perfection,  "t  "  However  good  and  pious  a  man  may  seem  to  you 
to  be,  and  may  really  be,  God  preserve  you  from  following  his 
guidance  implicitly  if  he  be  wanting  in  learning.  "J  But  although  the 
Saint  considers  learning  so  indispensable  in  matters  of  the  spiritual 
life,  she  does  not,  for  all  that,  think  it  alone  sufficient  to  ensure  good 
direction,  and  she  would  have  it  accompanied  by  a  virtuous  life. 
If  Directors,  she  says,  are  not  men  of  prayer,  their  learning  will 
avail  little  ;§  for  many  go  astray  by  wishing  to  have  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  their  minds  without  trying  to  possess  it  in  their  hearts.  || 
She  desires,  lastly,  that  to  learning  and  goodness,  experience  should 
be  joined ;  for  this,  in  all  practical  life,  is  the  true  standard  and  rule 
of  our  actions.  "There  is  also"  (I  am  quoting  her  own  words) 
"  great  need  of  a  teacher  who  is  a  man  of  wide  experience;  for  other 
wise  he  might  fall  into  grave  mistakes,  and  undertake  the  guidance 

*  Qui  ornatus  virtutibus  sit,  cujus  universoe  totius  vitse  actiones  testimonio 
sint  caritatem  in  eo  erga  Deum  inesse :  qui  divinarum  litterarum  scientiatn 
habeat,  virum  integrum,  nee  ulli  distractioni  indulgentem,  ab  avariti&  abhor- 
rentem ;  minime  libenter  gerendis  se  negotiis  admiscentem ;  quietum,  aman- 
tera  Deum,  egenlium  studiosum,  minime  iracundum,  injuriarum  immemorem, ' 
natural  propensum  ad  eos  docendos,  qui  ad  ipsum  accedant ;  quern  gloria  inanis 
non  inflet,  superbia  non  extollat,  adulatio  non  frangat ;  severum  atque  constan- 
tem ;  cui  denique  nihil  sit  prcestantius  honore  Dei.  De  Renunt.  et  Abdicat. 

f  Way  of  Perfection,  chap.  37. 

£  Life,  chap.  13. 

§  Foundations,  chap.  3. 

Jl  Life,  chap.  13. 


112  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  a  person  whose  character  he  does  not  at  all  understand,  and 
whom  he  prevents  from  understanding  himself."*  Therefore,  he 
who  desires  to  make  great  and  rapid  progress  in  Christian  perfec 
tion,  must  use  his  best  endeavour  to  secure  a  guide  endowed  with 
these  three  qualities ;  and  he  may  rest  assured,  as  St.  Basil  says, 
that  if  he  succeed  in  his  search,  he  will  be  blessed,  thrice  blessed, 
before  God  and  men :  for,  being  the  child  of  so  worthy  a  Spiritual 
Father,  he  will  at  length  come  to  inherit  all  his  virtues,  t 

in.  I  remember  reading,  in  connection  with  this  subject,:):  that 
when  a  lady  in  Spain  was  being  exorcised,  in  the  lifetime  of  that, 
great  master  of  perfection,  Father  Louis  de  Ponte,  the  priest  con 
strained  the  devil  to  declare  what  it  was  that  most  annoyed  him, 
and  what  delivered  the  greatest  number  of  souls  from  his  tyranny. 
The  demon  shunned  the  subject,  and  used  all  sorts  of  evasions  to- 
avoid  answering.  The  exorcist,  determined  to  conquer  such  obsti 
nacy,  began  to  press  the  evil  spirit  hard  with  questions,  and  asked 
whether  what  displeased  him  most  were  preaching?  When  this 
question  was  put,  the  demon  broke  into  a  loud  laugh,  making 
merry  over  the  vain  and  unfruitful  style  of  preaching  then  in 
vogue.  The  priest  then  went  on  to  ask  if  it  were  confession?' 
The  answer  was  a  sign  of  contempt,  to  signify  that  many  either 
made  bad  confessions,  or,  directly  after  their  confession,  return  to< 
wallow  in  the  same  mire.  At  length  being  forced,  by  the  power 
of  the  exorcisms,  to  disclose  what  it  was  which  he  hated  and 
dreaded  most :  "Woe  to  me  1"  he  cried,  "  when  a  soul  gets  into  the. 
hands  of  that  toothless  and  broken  old  man ;  I  have  lost  my 
prey."  The  old  man  whom  the  devil  so  hated  was  Father  de  Ponte. 
himself,  the  great  Director  of  souls,  who  was  wanting  in  no  one 
of  the  three  gifts  of  which  I  have  been  speaking.  He  had  learn 
ing,  as  we  see  from  the  many  well-known  books  which  he  pub 
lished  ;  he  had  holiness,  as  we  gather  from  the  history  of  his  life, 
which  presents  to  our  admiration  so  many  heroic  examples  of 


•  Way  of  Perfection,  chap.  5. 

•f  Si  te  vero  tradideris  virtutibus  mult  is  instructo,  sine  dubio  omnium  quas- 
•In  ipso  bene  fuerint,  haeres  remanebis,  aeque  et  apud  Deum,  et  apud  homines, 
beatissimus  judicaberis.  S.  Lasil.  ubi  supra. 

J  Cattaneo,  Massime  Eterne,  Lezione  preparat     Punto  4. 


QUALITIES  NEEDED  IN  A  DIRECTOR.  113 

virtue;  he  had  experience,  as  is  proved  by  the  number  of 
souls  whom  he  sanctified,  among  whom  it  is  enough  to  mention 
•Sister  Mary  Diaz,  led  by  him  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  perfec 
tion,  as  we  may  learn  in  her  life,  which  Da  Ponte  himself  wrote 
whilst  he  was  still  her  Director.  And  therefore  it  was  that  the 
devil  was  forced  to  confess,  that  as  sure  as  a  soul  came  into  this 
old  man's  hands,  it  became  entirely  God's,  and  from  that  time 
forward  no  fiend  had  any  part  in  it.  Happy  then,  I  repeat  with 
St.  Basil,  is  he  who  meets  with  such  a  guide,  for  he  has  found  in 
him  a  treasure  of  virtue  and  all  perfection. 

112.  But  if  a  Director  so  richly  endowed  cannot  be  found,  what 
must  be  done  ?     My  answer  is,  that  if  God  is  leading  the  soul  by 
extraordinary  ways — I  mean  by  the  mountain-path  of  divine  con 
templation — the  most  indispensable  quality  to  be  looked  to  in  the 
choice  of  a  Director  is  learning;  for  it  is  not  given  to 'all  to  com 
prehend  certain  exalted  degrees  of  prayer,  or  to  be  acquainted 
•with   certain  narrow  and  perilous  pathways  by  which  the  soul 
must  travel  before  it  can  arrive  at  those  dizzy  heights.     A  man  of 
prayer,  says  St.  Teresa,  who  confers  with  learned  men,  will  be  safe 
from  the  illusions  of  the  devil,  unless  indeed  he  himself  choose 
to  be  deluded.*     But  if  the  person  is  journeying  to  perfection 
along  the  beaten  track  of  grace,  there  is  not  the  same  need  of 
extraordinary   learning  for   safe  guidance  ;  it  is    enough    if  the 
'Director  have  an  ordinary  amount  of  knowledge.     What  is  re 
quired  for  such  a  one,  is  a  Confessor  of  virtue  and  experience,  and 
still  more,  of  burning  zeal,  who  will  have  the  welfare  of  his  peni 
tents  at  heart ;  and  there  should  also  be  found  a  lively  interest 
In   their  progress,    and  a  loving  solicitude   to  secure  a  constant 
advance  in  virtue.     This  is  the  idea  of  the  seraphic  Saint  above 
quoted.     It  is,  observes  St.  Teresa,  of  very  great  importance  that 
a  Director  should  be  a  man  of  good  judgment,   that  is  to  say, 
gifted  with  ability  and  experience ;  but  if  he  be  at  the  same  time, 
a  learned  man,  this  will  be  an  exceeding  great  advantage.     But 
if  all  three  qualifications  cannot  be  found  united,  the  first  two  are 
...of  the  greater  moment. 

113.  The  misfortune,  however,  is,  that  most  men,  when  they 

*  The  Interior  Castle.     Mansion  4,  cap.  I. 
VOL.   I,  8 


114  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

have  to  choose  a  Director,  do  not  care  much  whether  he  be 
possessed  of  any  of  the  above-mentioned  qualities,  but  they  take 
into  consideration  only  whether  he  is  easy-going,  and  ready  to 
make  great  allowance  for  their  failings  and  to  conform  himself  to 
their  character  and  natural  inclinations.  The  very  persons  who 
would  never  dream  of  employing  a  physician  who  was  wanting  in 
learning,  prudence,  or  experience,  to  cure  them  of  some  bodily 
ailment,  do  not  care  for  such  defects  when  they  have  to  choose 
a  spiritual  physician  to  heal  their  souls.  But  what  will  it  profit 
you,  cries  out  St.  Basil,  to  have  abandoned  the  vanities  of  the 
world,  if  the  next  thing  done  by  you  is  to  take  for  your  guide  a  blind 
man,  who,  instead  of  leading  you  on  to  perfection,  can  but  drag 
you  along  with  himself  into  the  ditch,  or  over  the  precipice  ?* 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WITH  WHAT  CANDOUR  AND  OPENNESS  OF  SOUL  WE  MUST  CONFER 
WITH   OUR   DIRECTOR. 

114.  IN  order  that  the  learning,  virtue,  and  experience  of  the 
Director  may  prove  a  really  useful  and  efficacious  means  for  the 
attainment  of  perfection,  the  person  who  is  seeking  after  perfec 
tion  must  be  careful  to  turn  to  account  the  three  great  gifts  men 
tioned  in  the  preceding  Chapter,  by  opening  his  conscience  to  the 
Director  with  great  sincerity,  and  by  carefully  attending  to  the 
wise  counsels  given  ;  because,  if  he  act  in  any  other  way,  the  high 
excellence  of  the  Director  will  be  of  no  more  service  than  is  the 
learning  of  some  eminent  professor  to  a  scholar  who  is  wanting 
in  application. 

115.     Devout  Christians,  however,  who  wish    to    advance    in 

*  Si  vero  quod  cum  tuo  corpore  agere  mitius  volueris,  magistrum  tibi 
aliquem  qusesieris  tecum  se  ad  tua  vitia  demittentem,  vel  ut  verius  dicam, 
tecum  un&  in  eamdem  perniciem  corruentem  :  frustra  mundanis  rebus  nuncium 
remittendi  laborem  suscepisti ;  et  crecum  tibi  ducem  ascivisti,  cujus  ductuni 
secuto  in  foveam  tibi  siti  procidendum.  Loc.  cit. 


OPENNESS  WITH  A  DIRECTOR.  11.; 

virtue  should  here  take  notice,  that  it  is  not  enough  for  true  pro 
gress  in  spirit,  to  disclose  to  their  ghostly  fathers,  in  confession, 
grievous  sins  of  commission  or  omission  into  which  they  may  fall 
through  human  frailty;  but  they  ought,  besides,  to  make  known 
the  passions  of  their  souls,  their  bad  inclinations,  the  thoughts  that 
possess  their  minds,  and  the  disorderly  affections  of  their  hearts, 
in  order  to  receive  right  rules  of  conduct  as  to  the  way  in  which 
they  are  to  bring  under  control  all  these  ill-regulated  interior 
movements.  For,  as  a  sick  man  is  not  satisfied  to  make  known 
to  his  physician  the  general  nature  of  his  malady,  but  recounts 
to  him  all  its  symptoms,  and  all  the  inconveniences  felt  by  him 
as  to  sleep  or  meals,  and  as  to  the  effects  of  the  medicines  pre 
scribed,  so  that  the  physician  may  form  a  correct  judgment  of 
the  case ;  in  like  manner,  he  that  would  gain  true  health  of 
spirit  should  disclose  every  unruly  thought  and  disordered  affec 
tion  that  troubles  his  soul.  Cassian  tells  us  that  the  advice  given 
in  those  early  times  to  the  monks,  who  withdrew  into  the  cloister 
to  lead  a  life  of  perfection,  was  always  this — to  lay  open  at  once 
to  their  Directors  every  thought  that  gave  them  trouble.*  The 
holy  Abbot  Moses,  as  Cassian  again  tells  us,  used  to  give  the 
same  advice,  saying,  that  we  must  overcome  all  repugnance  and 
false  shame,  and  lay  bare  to  our  Spiritual  Father  every  move 
ment  of  our  souls,  t  Abbot  Isaac  went  farther  still,  and  said, 
that  God  will  protect  with  His  special  grace  those  who  do  not 
hide  any  disquieting  thought  from  the  knowledge  of  their  supe 
rior.  J  St.  Basil  maintains  the  same  ;§  St.  Benedict  the  same ;  || 
other  saintly  founders  of  great  religious  orders  still  the  same.  It 
is  related  in  the  life  of  St.  Theodosius  the  Cenobite,  that  after 
devoting  the  night-time  to  spiritual  reading  and  holy  contempla- 


*  Instituuntur,  nullas  penitus  cogitationes  prurientes  in  corde  perniciosal 
confusione  celare ;  sed  confestim,  ut  exortse  fuerint,  eas  suo  patefacere  senior!. 
Institut.  Renunt.,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  9. 

*t*  Semper  seniorum  summit  cautione  sunt  sectanda  vestigia,  atque  ad  eos 
cuncta,  quse  in  nostris  cordibus  oriuntur,  sublato  confusionis  velamine,  defe- 
renda.  Collat.  ij.,  cap.  n. 

£  Aperi  cogitationes  tuas  patribus  tuis,  et  gratia  Dei  proteget  te. 

§  In  Regul.  26. 

||  Suse  Regulse,  cap    7, 

8—2 


ri6  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

tion,  he  would  spend  the  day  in  receiving,  one  by  one,  his  children 
in  religion  who  came  to  consult  him,  and  to  talk  over  all  the 
thoughts  which  disturbed  their  peace  of  mind.*  From  all  this 
I  infer,  that  to  make  known  to  our  Director  all  that  passes  in  our 
minds  and  hearts,  is  a  most  important  rule  of  the  spiritual  life, 
laid  down  by  the  Holy  Fathers,  and  constantly  practised  by 
spiritual  men  from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Church. 

1 1 6.  In  the  second  place,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  whoever 
would  travel  straight,  and  without  wandering,  along  the  road  of 
perfection,  must  further  discover  to  his  guide  every  temptation  of 
the  devil,  no  matter  how  hideous  or  blasphemous,  how  frightful 
or  shameful  soever  it  may  be.     And  this  should  be  done,  not  only 
to  obtain  from  the  Director  the  arms  wherewith  to  fight  and  to 
conquer,  that  is  to  say,  to  procure  from  him  preservatives  against 
temptation,    but  also,    by    this   frank  avowal,    to  take  away  all 
strength  from  our    enemies,  to  disarm  them,  and  put  them  to 
flight :  for  the  devil  is  truly  a  robber,  who  comes  to  plunder  the 
soul,  and  so  he  follows  the  practice  of  robbers,  who  are  no  sooner 
found  out  than  they  run   away.       Devout  souls  experience  the 
truth  of  this  every  day,  when,  on  telling  their  Director  the  sug 
gestions  with  which  their  enemy  attacks  and  harasses  them,  their 
trouble  of  mind  either  at  once  vanishes  altogether,  or  is  to  a  great 
extent  appeased  and  quieted.    St.  Dorotheus  relates  how  St.  Maca- 
rius  one  day  saw  the  devil  going  round  to  his  monks,  and  offering 
them  something  to  drink.     All,  however,  put  it  away  with  signs 
of  contempt  and  disgust     One  alone  put  out  his  hand  and  took 
the  poisoned  cup,  lifted  it  to  his  lips,  and  drank  the  fatal  draught. 
Then  the  holy  Abbot  knew  that  this  man  alone,  of  all  his  monks, 
kept  his  conscience  closed  to  his  Director ;  that  he  was  the  only 
one  who  never  revealed  the  temptations  of  the  enemy,  as  he  pre 
ferred  to  guide  himself :  and  that  he  was  therefore  the  only  one 
whom  the  devil  could  poison  with  his  deadly  potion,  t 

117.  It  will  be  well  suited  to  my  argument  if  I  relate  here  v'lat 


*  Interdiu  autem  ad  eum  accedentes,  qui  erant  ex  spiritu  ei  geniti  filii, 
cum  seorsum  interrogabant  propter  cogitationem,  quce  eis  afferebat  molestiam. 
Metaph.  In  vita  S.  Theod.  Ccenobitae. 

t  Nam  quisquis,  illius  prsesentit  insidias,  accurrit  illico,   excogitationes  suas 


OPENNESS  WITH  A  DIRECTOR.  iiy 

passed  between  St.  Astio  and  his  Spiritual  Father,  St.  Epictetus.* 
One  day  the  holy  youth  was  going  with  his  pitcher  in  his  hand 
to  draw  water  at  the  spring,  when  the  devil,  in  the  disguise  of  a 
brigand,  assaulted  him  in  the  way  with  a  temptation  against  purity, 
and,  what  is  worse,  excited  in  him  such  a  feeling  of  repugnance 
and  shame  at  the  thought  of  manifesting  it  to  the  Saint  his  master, 
that  he  could  not  find  courage  to  tell  him ;  yet  this  notwithstand 
ing,  he  endeavoured  with  all  his  might  to  drive  away  the  unclean 
imagination.  But  when  he  found  that,  after  a  struggle  of  three 
whole  days,  he  had  not  succeeded  in  banishing  this  suggestion  of 
the  devil  from  his  mind  and  heart,  he  began  to  lose  hope,  and 
sank  into  a  deep  melancholy.  St.  Epictetus,  meantime,  noticing 
the  unwonted  cloud  on  the  brow  of  his  young  disciple,  and  his 
dejected  countenance,  asked,  "What  has  happened  to  you,  my 
child?  The  joy  that  usually  shines  in  your  face  seems  overcast 
to-day."  St.  Astio,  throwing  himself  upon  his  knees,  disclosed 
the  temptation  with  all  sincerity.  Who  would  believe  it  ?  No 
sooner  had  Astio  made  the  avowal,  than  he  saw  a  black  and 
hideous  figure  issue  from  his  breast,  bearing  a  lighted  torch,  the 
symbol  of  temptations  of  the  flesh,  and  fly  off,  shrieking  as  he 
went,  "  Your  confession,  Astio,  has  robbed  me  of  all  my  strength, 
and  forced  me  to  take  flight,  "t 

1 1 8.  Something  not  unlike  this  happened  to  Abbot  SerapiorL, 
as  is  related  by  Cassian,  on  the  authority  of  Abbot  Moses.  Sera- 
pion  in  his  youth  used  constantly,  after  taking  his  repast  with  his 
Director  and  Master,  Abbot  Thomas,  to  carry  off  by  stealth  a 
loaf  of  bread,  and  eat  it  in  security  on  the  sly.  He  had  never 
found  courage  to  discover  to  his  superior  this  temptation  to 
gluttony,  to  which  attack  of  the  demon  he  daily  succumbed.  It 
so  happened  that  one  day  there  was  a  Spiritual  Conference  in  the 
Abbot's  cell,  and  the  discussion  turned  upon  the  fearful  risk 
which  those  incur  who  keep  the  temptations  of  our  common 


quascumque  latentes  aperit  Patri,  et  sic  auxilium  invenit  in  tempore  tenta« 
tionis,  et  hac  cle  causa  non  potuit  adversus  eos  iniquus  insidiator.  Infeliceoi 
ilium  unum  invenit,  qui  se  ipsum  regeret  et  instrueret.  Dcctrina  5. 

*  Spec.  Exempl.,  Dist.  8,  Exempl.  21. 

t  Confessio  tua,  Astio,  magnas  meas  contrivit  hodie  vires. 


u8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

enemy  concealed  from  their  Director.  Serapion,  pierced  to  the 
heart  with  remorse,  fell  on  his  knees  before  all  the  assembled 
monks,  and,  with  a  flood  of  tears,  confessed  his  sin,  drew  forth 
and  showed  to  them  all  the  loaf  which,  as  usual,  he  then  had 
with  him  concealed  in  his  bosom.  At  once  the  Abbot  Thomas 
said  to  him,  "  My  child,  fear  nothing  by  exposing  your  enemy ; 
you  have  already  conquered  him.  From  this  time  forward  you 
will  be  free  from  the  temptation  with  which  the  devil  has  so  long 
cruelly  tyrannised  over  you."*  The  holy  old  man  had  scarcely 
finished  speaking,  when  he  saw  issue  from  the  bosom  of  the  youth 
a  lurid  flame,  which  filled  the  cell  with  a  noisome  stench ;  a  sign 
that  the  devil,  disconcerted  and  utterly  routed  by  the  generous 
confession,  was  beating  a  shameful  retreat.  And,  accordingly,  the 
young  man  was  never  again  tormented  by  any  such  temptation. 
In  recounting  these  wonders,  my  object  has  been  to  prove  to  my 
readers  that  nothing  dispirits  the  devil  so  much,  nothing  casts  him 
down  so  utterly,  nothing  has  so  great  power  to  force  him  to  with 
draw,  as  a  full  and  frank  disclosure  made  to  one's  Spiritual  Father. 
No  one  is  more  daring  than  a  robber  as  long  as  he  is  behind 
shelter ;  no  one  is  more  cowardly  than  he  when  driven  from  his 
hiding-place.  The  character  of  the  devil  is  nothing  different. 

119.  For  all  this,  it  is  not  enough  to  lay  open  to  our  Director 
the  movements  of  our  passions  and  the  temptations  of  our  enemy; 
we  must,  moreover,  confer  with  him  about  the  method  which  we 
pursue  in  our  prayers,  the  inspiration  and  lights  we  receive,  the 
mortifications  and  penances  with  which  we  chastise  our  body,  and 
all  our  good  works,  all  the  gifts  and  graces  with  which  God 
Almighty  enriches  us ;  and  we  must  do  this  purely  and  solely 
that  we  may  be  set  right,  if  ever  we  should  swerve  from  the 
straight  path  of  virtue.  St.  Gregory  says  that  even  vices  often 
have  the  semblance  of  virtues.t  It  is  the  business  of  our  Spiritual 

*  Confide,  ait,   O  puer :  absolvit  te  ab  hac  captivitate,   etiam  me  tacente, 

confessio  tua.     Victor  namque  in  adversarium  tuum  hodie  triumphasti,  vali- 

•  dius  tua  confessione  elidens,  quam  ipse  fueras  ab  eo  tua  taciturnitate  dejectua 

.  .  et  ideo  jam  te  post  hanc  publicationem  tuam  nequissimus  spiritus  iste 
nullatenus  inquietabit  ulterius.  Collat.  ij.,  cap.  II. 

f  Plerumque  vitia  virtutes  se  esse  mentiuntur.     Pastoral.,  p.  ij.,  cap.  9. 


OPENNESS  WITH  A  DIRECTOR.  119 

Father,  continues  the  same  holy  writer,  to  discern  by  his  own 
unerring  judgment,  what  is  good  and  what  bad,  what  is  suited 
to  our  wants,  and  the  manner  place  and  time  in  which  our  good 
intentions  should  be  reduced  to  practice.*  Now,  if  you  do  not 
inform  your  Director  of  all  that  you  do,  though  all  be  upright 
and  good  and  pious,  how  can  he  form  this  judgment  regarding 
you  ?  how  can  he  give  you  a  safe  rule  of  conduct  ?  Man,  as 
St.  Augustine  observes,  cannot  penetrate  into  your  conscience  to 
read  what  is  going  on  there  :  for  it  lies  open  to  God  alone,  t 

120.  What  should  give  us  more  cause  to  fear,  is  the  thought 
that  the  devil  does  not  always  tempt  us  by  directly  inciting  us  to 
evil,  but  also  often  tempts  us  by  urging  us  to  good,  although 
when  he  proposes  good  to  us,  he  always  has  in  view  our  ultimate, 
ruin.  The  wicked  one,  as  the  Apostle  says,  transforms  himself 
into  an  angel  of  light  jj  to  some  souls  he  suggests,  in  time  of 
prayer,  good  thoughts  and  affections,  which  in  themselves  lead 
to  God,  and  by  this  false  light  he  lures  them  astray.  Others  he 
pushes  on  to  excessive  penance,  to  make  them  injure  their  health, 
and  so  break  down  in  the  road  to  perfection.  He  kindles  in  many 
souls  an  imprudent  zeal,  in  order  to  stir  up  discord ;  and  in  many 
others  an  ill-ordered  and  indiscreet  charity,  to  make  them  lose 
their  vocation  :  and  he  has  a  thousand  other  devices  at  com 
mand,  which  this  is  not  the  place  to  unfold.  If  then  penitents 
keep  the  good  that  they  are  doing  from  the  knowledge  of  their 
Director,  how  is  the  Confessor  ever  to  detect  all  the  snares  which 
the  foul  fiend  is  spreading  for  them  at  every  step  as  they  move 
along  the  way  of  perfection  ?  To  put  the  pious  reader  on  his 
.guard,  I  am  sure  that  I  need  do  no  more  than  relate  the  unhappy 
lot  of  a  self-willed  monk  who  chose  to  keep  his  own  counsel,  and 
was  hurried  to  his  destruction  by  the  devil  disguised  as  an  angel 
of  light.  §  This  monk  had  been  consecrated  to  God  from  his 

*  Quod  bene  rationale  judicii  vocatur,  quia  debet  rector  semper  subtili 
-examine  bona,  malaque  discernere,  et  quse  vel  quibus,  quando,  vel  qualiter 
congruant  studiose  cogitare.  Ibid. 

+  Neque  enim  homo  pater  tuus,  et  frater  tuus  intrare  potest  conscientiam 
tuam,  quam  novit  Deus.  Serm.  De  Ovibus,  n.  9. 

£  Ipse  enim  satanas  transfigurat  se  in  angelum  lucis.     2  ad  Corinth,  xi.  14. 

§  In  Lib.  Doctr.  Patrum.  Lib.  de  Patient,  et  Fortit.,  a.  29,  30. 


120  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

youth  upward,  in  a  monastery  of  the  greatest  repute  among  the 
ancient  Fathers,  and  led  a  life  of  exact  observance  in  the  practice 
of  all  religious  virtues,  and  in  such  austerity,  that  he  had  restricted 
himself  to  one  meal  a  week,  and  was  sustained  by  the  grace  of 
God  more  than  by  the  material  food  which  he  took  so  seldom,, 
and  in  such  scanty  measure.  The  holy  youth  was  not  only  a 
model  to  all  the  monks,  but  a  marvel  to  the  Abbot  himself,  who 
was  never  tired  of  praising  God  for  the  virtue  which  he  saw 
shining  in  him  with  more  and  more  brightness  every  day.  How 
ever,  the  devil,  not  being  able  to  endure  the  sight  of  such  progress 
in  holiness,  changed  himself  into  an  angel  of  light,  and  began 
to  tempt  the  young  man  under  pretence  of  greater  good.  He  put 
into  his  heart  a  keen  desire  of  burying  himself  in  the  desert,  there 
to  lead  in  solitude  the  life  of  an  angel  rather  than  of  a  human 
being.  The  youth  signified  this  craving  to  the  Superior ;  and 
though  he  was  dissuaded  by  him,  on  the  ground  that  when  he 
should  be  alone  in  the  desert,  with  no  Director  to  help  him,  he 
would  be  unable  to  save  himself  from  the  artifices  of  the  enemy 
of  mankind,  still  he  determined  to  follow  his  own  opinion.  He 
set  out  from  the  monastery,  and  took  his  way  to  an  unfrequented 
spot,  where  he  built  himself  a  little  cell,  and  gave  himself  up 
entirely  to  contemplation,  to  spiritual  reading,  to  fasting,  and 
severest  penance.  After  some  years  spent  in  this  kind  of  life, 
there  one  day  came  to  his  cell  an  Abbot  of  venerable  aspect,  with 
pale,  emaciated  face,  and  long  white  beard.  Now,  this  was  no 
other  than  the  devil,  concealed  all  the  while  under  that  false  garb 
of  sanctity.  At  the  sight,  the  hermit  felt  afraid,  and  fell  on  his 
knees  to  pray.  Then  he  arose.  Be  not  alarmed,  said  the  seeming 
Abbot ;  let  us  both  fall  to  prayer  together.  Their  devotions 
finished,  the  pretended  Abbot  inquired,  How  long  have  you  been 
in  this  desert  ?  Six  years,  he  replied.  Six  years  !  repeated  the 
false  monk,  in  feigned  astonishment ;  why,  I  have  been  serving 
God  eleven  years  in  this  wild  place,  and  I  have  never  even  heard 
of  you,  except  that,  quite  lately,  some  four  days  back,  a  monk 
who  lives  not  far  from  here  brought  me  some  account  of  you ;  and 
I  have  come  with  all  speed  to  find  you  out,  both  that  I  may- 
observe  the  law  of  charity,  and  that  I  may  commune  with  you 


OPENNESS  WITH  A  DIRECTOR.  121 

touching  a  doubt  that  keeps  me  in  continual  trouble  of  mind. 
We  live  all  the  year  round  shut  up  in  our  cells  ;  we  never  go  near  a 
church;  we  never  receive  the  most  Sacred  Body  of  our  Redeemer; 
this  thought  has  caused  me  very  great  anxiety;  now,  therefore, 
since  I  can  have  your  company,  and  you  mine,  I  propose  that  we 
go  every  Sunday  in  quest  of  some  church,  and  there  make  our 
devotions  like  the  rest  of  the  faithful.  The  suggestion  pleased 
the  young  solitary,  and  on  the  next  Sunday,  he  set  off  with 
the  traitor  Abbot ;  after  a  long  journey,  they  arrived  at  a  monas 
tery,  and  addressed  themselves  to  prayer  in  the  church.  Rising 
from  his  prayer,  the  deluded  youth  cast  his  eyes  around,  but 
did  not  see  the  companion  who  was  so  lately  standing  at  his 
side ;  he  left  the  church,  and  sought  him  far  and  wide  without 
finding  him.  He  next  inquired  of  the  monks  who  dwelt  there, 
and  received  answer,  that  when  he  came  to  the  monastery  they 
had  not  seen  any  one  accompany  him.  Then  he  became  aware 
that  this  Abbot,  apparently  so  austere  and  devout,  was  the  devil, 
who,  under  pretext  of  taking  him  to  church,  had  only  wanted  to 
decoy  him  from  his  solitude.  However,  he  was  not  much  dis 
tressed  at  this,  for  he  said  to  himself:  Well,  he  has  not,  at  any 
rate,  taken  me  to  an  abode  of  vice,  nor  even  to  theatres  or 
dances;  at  the  most,  he  has  only  taken  me  to  the  church.  There 
can  be  no  great  harm  in  that.  And  he  went  back,  well  pleased, 
to  his  hermitage.  Not  long  after,  the  devil  came  to  dupe  him 
again — this  time  in  the  guise  of  a  man  of  the  world.  Standing 
at  the  door  of  his  cell,  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  solitary,  and 
scanned  him  closely  from  head  to  foot  This  must  be  the  very 
man,  he  exclaimed;  terribly  altered,  indeed,  by  long  penance; 
but  the  old  features  are  still  there ;  it  is  he,  beyond  all  doubt. 
The  monk,  surprised  at  this  sudden  apparition,  asked  the  visitor 
why  he  looked  so  fixedly,  and  what  he  wanted,  and  who  he  was. 
I  am,  said  the  stranger,  a  young  man  whose  house  is  near  your 
father's  residence ;  tell  me,  are  you  not  So-and-so,  who  left  the 
world  so  many  years  ago  ?  Is  not  your  father's  name  So-and-so  ? 
and  your  mother's  name  So-and-so  ?  You  see  I  know  all  about 
you  and  your  family.  So  then,  since  in  the  course  of  my 
travels  I  have  chanced  upon  you  in  this  forest,  I  have  some 


122  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.       , 

sad  news  to  tell  you.  You  must  know  that  your  mother  is 
dead,  and  your  sister  is  dead,  and  your  father,  only  a  few  days 
ago,  also  followed  them  to  another  life.  At  his  death,  as  he 
had  no  one  to  whom  to  bequeath  his  property,  he  left  it  all  to 
you,  to  be  by  you  distributed  to  the  poor,  and  laid  out  in  pious 
works  for  the  benefit  of  your  own  soul  and  his.  The  monk,  on 
hearing  this,  replied,  I  have  forsaken  the  world,  and  have  no 
intention  of  mixing  myself  up  in  worldly  concerns.  But  bethink 
you.  rejoined  the  other,  of  the  severe  account  you  will  have  to 
render  at  the  tribunal  of  God,  if,  through  fault  of  yours,  all 
this  money,  meant  for  the  support  of  the  poor,  and  the  embellish 
ment  of  churches,  shall  come  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  men  who 
will  waste  it  in  gambling,  extravagance,  riotous  living,  and  de 
bauchery.  And,  besides,  who  is  to  prevent  you,  when  you  have 
distributed  your  inheritance  according  to  your  father's  wishes, 
from  coming  back  to  your  solitary  life  in  the  desert  ?  At  these 
words  the  simple-minded  monk  felt  himself  convinced,  and  deter 
mined  to  go  and  claim  possession  on  behalf  of  the  poor,  and  to 
return  afterwards  to  his  cell  once  more.  He  made  his  way  to  his 
native  country,  when,  lo  and  behold  !  as  he  approached  his 
father's  house,  he  saw  him  all  alive  and  well,  coming  towards 
him.  To  his  inquiries  why  he  had  left  his  solitary  life  and 
returned  home,  he  had  not  the  heart  to  say  that  he  was  coming 
to  claim  his  inheritance  on  the  understanding  that  his  father  was 
dead ;  but  he  answered,  in  the  words  which  the  devil  put  into  his 
mouth  for  the  express  purpose  of  engaging  him  to  stay  in  the 
world,  that  it  was  the  great  love  he  bore  to  his  father  which  had 
brought  him  back.  At  these  words  his  father  threw  his  arms 
round  his  neck  and  kissed  him,  and  welcomed  him  affectionately. 
The  love  of  flesh  and  blood  began  to  revive  in  his  heart.  By 
conversing  with  his  old  friends,  he  began  to  conceive  fresh  affec 
tion  for  them  ;  then  he  became  attached  to  the  comforts  of  life ; 
.and,  to  cut  a  long  story  short,  the  miserable  man  soon  came  to 
fall  into  degrading  sins  of  impurity,  for  which  he  never  made  any 
atonement,  and,  without  ever  a  thought  of  his  monastery  or  of  his 
desert  solitude,  he  lived  a  wretched  Jife  in  the  world.  In  this 
history  we  see  before  our  eyes  in  vivid  colours  the  devil  disguised 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  123 

as  an  angel  of  light,  conducting  to  evil  under  a  show  of  good. 
He  lured  the  poor  man  from  his  monastery  by  suggesting  an 
unwise  desire  of  higher  perfection ;  he  dragged  him  from  his  cell 
under  pretence  of  taking  him  to  church ;  he  carried  him  back  to 
his  native  place  by  conjuring  up  before  him  an  imposing  array  of 
alms-deeds  and  works  of  mercy.  What  the  enemy  of  mankind 
did  then,  appearing  in  visible  shape,  the  same  he  is  doing  every 
day  unseen,  in  the  midst  of  us.  To  that  man  he  spoke  audibly, 
whispering  into  his  ear  pious  but  delusive  thoughts ;  but  he 
introduces  similar  suggestions  straight  into  our  minds  and  hearts. 
Whoever,  therefore,  would  walk  in  safety  along  the  road  of  perfec 
tion,  should  lay  open  to  his  Director,  not  only  all  the  movements 
of  his  passions,  and  all  the  temptations  of  the  bad  angel,  but, 
moreover,  all  the  things  that  he  is  doing,  or  that  he  intends  to  do ; 
and  he  should  submit  all  to  the  guidance  of  his  Confessor. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS    FOR   THE   DIRECTOR  AS  TO  HIS  DEALINGS 
WITH  SUCH  AS  PLACE  THEMSELVES  UNDER  HIS  DIRECTION. 

i2r.  FIRST  suggestion.  I  do  not  mean  to  give  rules  in  this 
Chapter  for  the  discernment  of  various  spirits ;  foi  this  is  not  a 
subject  which  can  be  compressed  into  a  few  pages :  it  would 
want  a  whole  volume  to  itself.  I  propose  now  merely  to  give  a 
few  hints  to  Directors  about  the  manner  of  dealing  with  their 
penitents  so  as  to  be  of  real  service  to  them.  My  first  remark 
shall  be  this — that  a  Director  who  wishes  to  gain  souls  to  God 
must  have  a  heart  overflowing  with  charity.  I  will  say  with  St 
Paul:  Put  on  the  bowels  of  mercy.*  Let  every  Confessor  bear  in 
mind  that  the  first  word  his  penitent  utters  when  kneeling  at  his 
feet  is,  Father !  as  if  to  tell  him  that  he  must  not  be  a  stem  judge 
or  a  pitiless  tyrant,  but  an  affectionate  father.  He  should  call  to 

Induite  vos  viscera  misericordias.     Ad  Coloss.,  cap.  iij,,  12. 


124  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

mind  that  the  human  heart  is  not  allured  by  the  vinegar  and  gall 
of  seventy,  but  by  the  sweet  honey  of  love.  Seventy  may  serve 
for  taming  wild  beasts,  but  affection  alone  can  win  a  human  heart. 
The  Director  should  show  such  kindness  to  those  who  have 
recourse  to  him,  that  they  may  feel  no  difficulty  in  revealing  all 
the  secrets  of  their  hearts ;  that  they  may  be  ready  to  receive,  and 
eager  to  fulfil,  all  his  advice.  This  is  the  teaching  of  St.  Gregory 
the  Great :  a  Spiritual  Father  should  be  of  such  a  character,  that 
his  subjects  may  without  any  false  shame  lay  bare  to  him  all  the 
hidden  depths  of  their  hearts  ;  such,  that  in  time  of  temptation  they 
may  run  to  him  as  into  their  mother's  arms ;  such,  that  when  they 
have  fallen  they  may  find  in  his  words  and  prayers  and  tears  the 
cure  and  the  comfort  they  need.*  No  doubt  it  is  proper  at  times 
to  employ  some  degree  of  severity,  either  to  master  the  obstinate 
heart  of  one  who  will  not  yield  to  gentleness,  or  to  mortify  the 
soul  that  has  virtue  enough  to  bear  up  under  such  trials.  Still, 
kindness  must  ever  be  the  common  rule,  for  experience  goes  to 
show  that  from  it  most  good  is  gained. 

122.  Second  suggestion.  Let  Directors  take  good  heed  never 
to  show  the  least  sign  of  being  shocked  when  their  penitents  are 
declaring  their  temptations,  no  matter  how  loathsome  or  blas 
phemous  or  frightful  these  may  be ;  and  this  both  because  the 
poor  souls  are  not  generally  in  fault,  and  also  because  to  act 
otherwise  would  only  destroy  their  confidence,  close  their  lips, 
and  prevent  them  from  ever  again  venturing  to  avow  .their  weak 
nesses.  In  the  life  of  St.  Bernard  we  find  that  at  first  he  did  not 
make  much  allowance  for  the  involuntary  foibles  to  which  poor 
human  nature  is  ever  liable,  and  from  which  solitaries  of  the 
austerest  life  are  not  exempt ;  and  he  thus  caused  not  a  little 
dissatisfaction  and  trepidation  among  his  monks.  But  when  he 
had  been  admonished  of  this  fault,  he  began  to  compassionate 
and  console  them  with  all  that  gentleness  which  was  so  charac- 

*  Tales  sese,  qui  prsesunt,  exhibeant,  quibus  subject!  occulta  sua  quseque 
pandere  non  erubescant :  ut  cum  tentationum  fluctus  parvuli  tolerant,  ad 
pastoris  mentem,  quasi  ad  sinum  mat.ris  recurrant :  et  hoc  quo  se  inquinari 
pulsantis  culpse  sordibus  praevident,  exhortationis  ejus  solatio  et  lacrymis  ora« 
tionis  la  vent.  Pastoral.,  lib.  ij.,  cap.  5. 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  125 

teristic  of  his  affectionate  heart.  If,  therefore,  a  Director  has 
committed  any  similar  mistake,  let  him  also  endeavour  to  set  him 
self  right,  lest  his  way  of  dealing  with  his  penitents  should  prove 
at  once  distasteful  and  injurious  to  them. 

123.  1  cannot  here  forbear  alluding  to  a  case  recorded  by 
Cassian,  which  gives  much  matter  for  serious  reflection  to  those 
who  easily  fall  into  this  kind  of  indiscretion.  A  young  monk, 
grievously  tormented  with  temptations  of  sense,  and  afflicted 
beyond  measure  thereby,  sought  counsel  of  an  old  monk,  and 
hoped  to  come  away  from  his  interview  consoled  and  even  cured. 
The  old  man  listened  attentively  to  all  that  was  said,  but  instead 
of  imparting  comfort  in  so  deep  distress  and  giving  strength  for 
the  fight,  he  began  to  speak  in  a  loud  tone,  and  called  the  man  a 
wretched  sinner,  unworthy  of  the  religious  state,  and  of  the  very 
name  of  monk.*  The  unfortunate  youth  lost  all  heart,  and  fell 
into  such  deep  despair  that  he  resolved  to  abandon  the  monastery 
and  religious  life,  and  return  to  his  secular  occupations ;  for  he 
said  to  himself,  I  am  not  fit  to  be  a  monk,  therefore  I  will  go 
back  to  the  world,  and  be  what  I  was  before ;  and  so  saying,  he 
directed  his  steps  to  the  city.  Well  was  it  for  him  that  he  met 
on  his  way  that  great  servant  of  God,  Abbot  Apollo,  who,  seeing 
him  sad  and  downhearted,  guessed  from  the  dark  clouds  upon 
his  face  the  fierce  tumult  that  was  raging  in  his  heart;  and  ac 
costing  him  at  once,  inquired  the  cause  of  all  this  melancholy. 
But  as  the  young  man,  overmastered  by  the  strength  of  his  passions, 
made  him  no  answer,  he  went  on  gently  plying  him  with  his  ques 
tions,  till  he  drew  from  him  the  full  account  of  his  misfortunes, 
and  of  his  resolution  to  go  back  to  the  world.  Then  the  wise 
and  zealous  Abbot  strove  to  raise  his  spirits,  and  bade  him  put 
away  his  fear,  for  that  he  himself,  although  in  the  decline  of 
life,  had  to  endure  similar  trials  every  day ;  and  he  exhorted 
him  to  put  his  trust  in  God,  Who  would  never  have  allowed 
him  to  fall,  and  would,  in  His  own  good  time,  set  him  altogether 
free  from  the  affliction  :  he  persuaded  him  in  the  end  to  stay  at 

*  Miserabilem  pronuntians  et  indignum  et  monachi  nomine  et  professione 
censendum,  qui  potuerit  hujusmodi  vitio  et  concupiscent^  titillari.  Collat.  ij.t 
cap.  13. 


126  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

least  another  day  in  his  cell,  and  cherish  the  hope  that  within 
that  space  the  fury  of  the  storm  would  cease.  Having  spoken 
thus,  the  holy  man  went  to  the  monastery  where  the  foolish  old 
monk  was  living ;  and,  before  setting  foot  in  his  cell,  prayed  hard 
that  God  would  let  him  feel  in  his  own  person  that  sting  of  the 
flesh  which  gave  the  young  monk  so  much  pain,  in  order  that  he 
might  learn  by  his  own  experience  to  feel  compassion  for  others. 
The  Abbot  had  scarcely  finished  his  prayer,  when  he  saw  a  black 
figure  engaged  in  hurling  fiery  darts  at  the  monk.  The  unhappy 
man,  with  his  face  all  flushed,  ran  to  and  fro  like  one  distracted  : 
he  went  in  and  out  of  his  cell,  till  at  last  giving  way  to  the  temp 
tation,  he  set  out  for  the  city  to  seek  opportunity  of  satisfying 
the  passion  that  was  consuming  him.  The  Abbot  met  him  :  "  Go 
back,"  he  said,  "go  back  to  your  cell,  and  know  that  the  devil 
has  never  tempted  you  till  now,  perhaps  because  he  did  not 
know  of  your  existence,  or  because  he  made  no  account  of  you, 
and  did  not  reckon  you  among  the  heroes  whom  he  has  to 
conquer  by  force  of  arms,  seeing  that  the  first  suggestion  sufficed 
to  lay  you  low.  Learn,  then,  at  the  cost  of  your  own  experience, 
to  have  pity  for  others,  and  not  to  use  language  that  will  drive 
them  wild  and  throw  them  into  despair,  as  you  did  a  little  while 
ago  with  the  poor  youth  who  came  to  you  for  comfort  and 
advice."  *  This  story  needs  no  comment :  it  shows  clearly 
enough  the  danger  to  which  a  Director  exposes  his  tempted 
and  afflicted  penitents,  if  instead  of  encouraging  and  consoling, 
them,  he  appears  shocked  at  their  temptations,  be  they  what  they 
may. 

1 24.  Third  suggestion.  Again,  if  the  penitent  is  not  merely 
assailed  by  temptation,  but  has  actually  fallen  into  serious  faults, 
or  even  grievous  sin — as  may  sometimes  be  the  case  with  those 
who  are  aiming  at  perfection — it  is  doubly  necessary  that  the 


*  Disce  itaque  tuis  exemplis  laborantibus  condolere,  et  periclitantes  nequa- 
quam  perniciosa-  desperatione  deterrere,  nee  durissimis  sermonibus  asperare ;. 
sed  potius  levi  blandaque  consolatione  resolvere  :  et  secundum  prseceptum, 
sapientissimi  Salomonis,  eruere  eos,  qui  ducuntur  ad  mortem,  et  redimere  eos, 
qui  interficiuntur ;  nostrique  Salvatoris  exemplo  arundinem  quassatam  non. 
conterere  et  linum  fumigans  non  extinguere.  Ibid. 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  127 

Director  should  refrain  from  showing  symptoms  of  surprise,  or 
breaking  out  into  any  angry  exclamation,  or  giving  way  to  intem 
perate  zeal ;  because  persons  of  delicate  conscience,  after  falls  of 
this  kind,  are  commonly  plunged  into  deep  dejection  and  despon 
dency  :  and  they  require  to  be  encouraged  with  gentle  words  and 
to  be  moved  to  confidence.  And  if  ever,  to  their  misfortune,  they 
chance  upon  a  priest  who  causes  their  hearts  to  shrink  within 
them,  such  persons  sink  lower  still,  they  lose  all  their  courage,  and 
run  great  risk  of  forsaking  once  and  for  ever  the  pathway  of 
perfection.  In  these  cases  a  Director  should  follow  St.  Paul's- 
counsel :  he  should  straightway  enter  into  his  own  heart,  and, 
putting  away  all  self-delusion,  acknowledge  that  he  is  himself 
liable  to  similar  falls.  This  done,  let  him  in  the  spirit  of  gentle 
ness  give  what  instruction  is  needed,  informing  his  penitent  cor 
rectly  of  the  extent  of  his  fall,  leading  him  to  calm  acts  of  humility, 
to  thorough  self-distrust  at  the  sight  of  his  sin,  and  to  perfect 
confidence  in  Almighty  God  :  finally,  let  him  suggest  the  remedies 
which  he  judges  best  suited  to  guard  against  a  like  relapse.*  St. 
Augustine,  expounding  the  words  of  Scripture  to  which  we  are 
alluding,  has  some  beautiful  thoughts,  and  I  could  wish  that 
they  were  engraven  deep  on  the  heart  of  every  Confessor  and 
guide  of  souls,  and  on  myj  own  most  of  all  To  know,  says  the 
holy  Doctor,  whether  a  man  be  truly  virtuous,  there  is  no  surer 
test  than  to  see  whether  on  occasion  of  another's  fall,  far  from 
insulting  the  guilty  man,  and  piercing  his  soul  with  sharp  words, 
he  sweetly  strives  to  deliver  him  from  his  evil  state,  and  to  provide 
a  suitable  remedy.t 

125.  St.  John  the  Evangelist  gives  us  the  true  idea  of  this 
gentleness  in  an  act  of  heroic  sweetness  and  charity  which  he 
himself  performed  on  behalf  of  a  person  who  had  fallen  from  a 
state  of  perfection  to  the  lowest  depths  of  misery.  EusebiusJ 

*  Fratres,  si  praeoccupatus  fuerit  homo  in  aliquo  delicto,  vos,  qui  spiritnalcs 
estis,  hujusmodi  instruite  in  spiritu  lenitatis,  considerans  teipsum,  ne  et  tu 
tenteris.  Ad  Gal.,  cap.  vj. 

t  Nihil  sic  probat  spiritualem  virum,  quam  peccati  alien!  tractatio  ;  cum 
liberationem  ejus  potius,  quam  insultationem ;  potius  auxilia,  quam  convicia 
meditatur  :  et  quantum  facultas  tribuitur,  suscipit.  In  verba  cit.  Apost. 

$  Lib.  iij,  cap.  53. 


128  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

relates  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  that  whilst  the  Apostle  was 
traversing  Asia  Minor,  engaged  in  founding  new  Churches,  he  fell 
in  with  a  young  man  of  quick  intelligence  and  lively  disposition, 
and  judging  him  likely  to  make  good  progress  in  Christian  per 
fection,  he  gave  him  a  warm  recommendation  to  the  Bishop  of 
the  city,  whom  he  asked  to  take  good  care  of  him.  The  Bishop, 
carrying  out  this  injunction,  took  the  youth  into  his  own  house, 
baptised  him,  instructed  him,  and  fed  him  with  the  milk  of 
devotion  and  piety.  When  it  seemed  that  he  was  a  really  devout 
and  perfect  Christian,  the  Bishop  began  to  show  great  confidence, 
and  to  relax  something  of  domestic  discipline.  But,  alas  !  how 
weak  is  the  virtue  of  the  young  !  When  the  youth  felt  that  the 
reins  were  thrown  loose  on  his  neck,  he  began,  like  a  colt  just 
escaped  from  the  bridle,  to  run  wild  in  the  ways  of  wickedness, 
and  going  on  from  sin  to  sin,  from  lesser  to  ever  greater  excesses, 
before  long  went  so  far  as  to  commit  robberies,  murders,  and 
other  such  awful  crimes.  Nay,  in  the  end  he  made  himself  cap 
tain  of  a  band  of  brigands,  and,  posting  himself  on  a  hill  near  the 
city,  he  lay  in  wait  for  unfortunate  travellers  to  despoil  them  of 
life  and  goods.  Such  are  the  depths  to  which  men  may  fall  when 
they  begin  to  slide  back  from  the  height  of  perfection.  Mean 
while  the  Beloved  Disciple  returned  to  that  city  to  settle  some 
business  of  the  Church,  and  called  upon  the  Bishop  to  give  an 
account  of  the  youth  who  had  been  confided  to  his  care.  "  He 
is  dead,"  said  the  Bishop,  heaving  a  deep  sigh.  "  How  dead  ?" 
asked  St.  John  : — "  in  soul  or  in  body  ?"  "  In  soul,"  replied  the 
Bishop,  "  and  irrecoverably  too ;  for  the  lost  man  has  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  gang  of  robbers,  and  leads  the  life  of  an  outlaw, 
among  the  fastnesses  of  yonder  mountain."  Hearing  this  the 
Apostle  rent  his  garments  in  sign  of  sorrow,  then  :  "Quick,"  he 
cried,  "find  me  a  horse  and  guide."  Springing  on  the  saddle,  he  set 
out  in  haste  to  seek  the  straying  sheep.  As  soon  as  he  reached 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  he  was  surrounded  and  taken  prisoner 
by  the  robbers  who  were  mounting  guard.  "  This  is  the  very 
thing  I  wanted,"  said  the  Saint  to  the  brigands ;  "  I  wanted  to 
fall  into  your  hands  :  quick !  lead  me  to  your  captain.  Either 
I  must  be  his  prisoner  or  he  must  be  mine."  But  the  young 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  129 

robber  came  of  his  own  accord,  with  arms  in  his  hands,  with  his 
brows  knit,  and  heart  full  of  evil  intent.  When  he  caught  sight 
of  the  holy  Apostle  from  afar,  he  knew  him  at  once,  and  feeling 
ashamed  of  himself,  he  turned  and  fled.  The  Saint  set  spurs  t& 
his  horse,  and  pursued  him  at  full  speed  over  hill  and  through 
dale,  just  as  his  Divine  Master  sought  the  lost  sheep  in  the  moun 
tain  denies ;  and,  forgetting  alike  his  dignity  and  his  declining 
years,  he  cried  out  aloud :  "  Stay,  my  son,  stay  !  from  whom  are 
you  flying  ?  from  your  father  ?  Of  whom  are  you  in  fear  ?  Can 
it  be  that  you  are  in  dread  of  a  feeble  old  man,  who  has  no  other 
weapons  to  wound  you  with  than  the  darts  of  his  love  ?  Stay, 
my  child !  fear  not ;  doubt  not  that  there  still  is  hope  of  salva 
tion  for  you.  I  take  all  your  sins  on  my  own  shoulders :  I  engage 
to  answer  for  you  to  God  :  I  will  do  penance  :  I  will  wash  them 
away  with  my  tears  :  I  will  give  my  blood,  my  life  for  you  :  only 
stay,  my  dear  son,  stay !"  The  wretched  youth  was  pierced  to 
the  quick  by  these  arrows  of  love  shot  straight  from  that  tender 
heart.  He  stopped  and  turned,  and  keeping  his  eyes  on  the 
ground,  blushing  for  shame,  threw  away  the  weapons  he  had  with 
him,  and  at  once  putting  off  the  ferocity  which  he  had  cher 
ished  in  his  heart,  ran  and  prostrated  himself  at  the  feet  of 
the  Saint.  Then,  with  sobs  and  groans  and  a  flood  of  tears, 
he  allowed  vent  to  the  grief  to  which  his  tongue  refused  to  give 
utterance.  But  all  the  while,  amid  his  signs  of  deep  repentance, 
he  kept  his  right  hand  buried  in  his  bosom ;  that  guilty  hand, 
stained  with  so  many  deeds  of  death  and  the  blood  of  so  many- 
innocent  persons.  When  the  Apostle  saw  this  contrition,  he 
leaped  down  from  his  horse  and  threw  himself  at  the  murderer's 
feet ;  then  casting  his  arms  round  his  neck,  he  mingled  his  tears 
and  his  sobs  and  groans  with  those  of  the  penitent  sinner.  "  Fear 
not,  my  son  !"  he  said,  "  for  I  solemnly  pledge  myself  to  win  for 
you  from  my  dear  Lord  Jesus  the  pardon  of  your  crimes."  Then 
he  forced  from  his  bosom  that  red  right  hand,  and  in  the  excess 
of  his  tenderness  he  kissed  it  again  and  again  with  his  saintly  lips, 
He  carried  him  back  to  the  Church,  and  by  his  prayers  and  tears 
obtained  the  pardon  of  his  sins.  He  softened  his  heart  with  his 
gentle  words,  he  tamed  him,  restored  his  feet  to  the  right  road  of 

VOL.  I.  9 


130  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Christian  virtue ;  nay,  even  brought  him  to  such  high  perfection 
that  afterwards  he  was  not  only  able,  but  even  willing,  to  make 
him  the  Bishop  of  that  town.  In  this  remarkable  incident 
Directors  may  see  reflected,  as  in  a  mirror,  the  conduct  they 
ought  to  pursue  when  they  wish  to  lead  back  to  God  some  soul 
•which  has  fallen  from  the  state  of  perfection  into  the  gulf  of 
mortal  sin. 

126.  Fourth  suggestion.  But  *if,  despite  the  Director's  best 
endeavours,  the  penitent  remain  incorrigibly  fixed  in  his  evil  state, 
what,  then,  must  be  done?  Must  all  hope  of  his  salvation  and 
perfection  be  abandoned  ?  No  ;  St.  Augustine  says  :  for  the  con 
version  of  the  demons  alone  is  beyond  all  hope,  since  we  know 
for  certain  that  they  have  been  cast  off  by  God  and  condemned 
to  eternal  fire.*  We  have  no  such  sad  assurance  in  the  case  of 
human  beings,  nor  have  we  the  means  of  knowing  whether  bad 
men  will  die  in  their  evil  ways ;  for  it  may  be,  that  Almighty  God, 
by  means  of  His  powerful  grace,  will  some  day  conquer  their 
obstinacy,  and  in  the  end  carry  their  hearts  by  storm.  So  far  I 
have  been  quoting  St.  Augustine. t  And  St.  John  Chrysostom 
likewise  tells  us  never  to  cease  feeling  compassion  for  sinners, 
helping  them  to  the  best  of  our  power,  ever  giving  them  fresh 
counsel,  and  showing  solicitude  for  their  conversion.  He  tells  us 
that  we  ought  to  strive  to  soften  their  hearts  by  our  sighs  and 
tears,  like  some  tender  mother,  who,  though  she  knows  well  that 
the  life  of  her  darling  child  is  despaired  of,  does  not  for  all  that 
forsake  him,  but  keeps  always  close  by  his  side ;  with  sighs  and 
tears,  she  clasps  him  in  her  arms  and  kisses  him ;  she  utters  her 
low  plaint,  never  omitting  to  give  such  aid  as  she  can  while  life 
remains :  and  this  the  more  because  the  poor  woman  cannot, 
with  all  her  wailings,  save  her  son  from  the  death  of  the  body. 
But  we  are  able  to  save  the  souls  of  our  neighbours — even  when 
their  case  seems  most  desperate — from  eternal  death.  %  Such, 

*  Diabolus  et  angeli  ejus  in  Scripturis  Sanctis  manifestati  sunt  nobis,  quod 
ad  ignem  aeternum  sunt  destinati.  Ipsorum  tantum  desperanda  est  correctio. 
In  Ps.  liv. 

|  In  eo  quod  malus  est  quis  eorum,  utrum  usque  ad  finem  perseveratures 
sit,  ignoramus.  Ibid. 

%  An  non  vides  parentes,  quomodo  filiis  suis  licet  desperatis  assident  lacry- 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  131 

then  should  be  the  feelings  of  a  Spiritual  Father.  More  than  all, 
he  should  address  himself  to  prayer,  because,  properly  speaking, 
the  reformation  of  souls  is  not  due  to  any  industry  of  ours,  but  is 
the  work  of  grace.  Grace  must  govern.  The  tongue  of  the 
Director  must  be  guided  by  grace;  the  mind  of  the  penitent 
must  be  illumined  by  grace,  if  he  is  to  feel  the  force  of  the 
Director's  words ;  if  he  is  to  act  upon  them,  it  must  be  after  grace 
has  stimulated  his  will ;  it  is  grace  that  must  give  him  energy  to 
go  through  with  his  undertaking.  Now,  there  is  one  only  way  of 
acquiring  this  grace,  and  it  is  by  fervent  and  repeated  prayer. 

127.  Fifth  suggestion.     Lastly,  let  Directors  observe  that  to 
the  gentleness,  which  we  have  so  far  been  recommending,  there 
must  be  joined  patience  in  bearing  with  the  annoyance  which 
many   penitents   often   cause   to   their   Spiritual   Fathers.     Con 
fessors  will  see  kneeling  before  them  airkinds  of  characters, — 
persons  who    are   melancholy   timid  faint-hearted,  restless   rude 
confused,  wordy  and  tiresome  in  the  stories  they  tell.     In  such 
cases  let  them  call  to  mind  St.  Paul's  advice,  that  to  us,  who  are 
Directors   of  souls,   endowed  with   greater  grasp   of  mind   and 
strength  of  will,  it  pertains  in  a  special  manner  to  have  compassion 
on  the  infirmities  of  these  our  weaker  brethren.  * 

128.  St.  Bernard  says  that  the  whole  task  and  burthen  of  a 
Spiritual  Superior  lies  in  the  patient  endurance  of  the  failings  of 
those  under  his  care ;  for  it  is  not  a  task  or  grievance,  but  rather 
a  relief  and  a  delight,  to   afford  direction  to  virtuous,   highly- 
gifted,  noble  souls.     But  in  this  very  bearing  with  their  weak 
nesses  the  cure  of  faint-hearted   souls  must  mainly  be  sought. 
Let  the  Director,  then,  reflect  that  he  is  the  Father  of  these  timid 
melancholy,  ill-mannered,   querulous  people.     It  is  his  duty  to 


mantes,  exosculantes,  omnia  quse  possunt  admoventes  ad  extremum  usque  ali- 
tum  ?  Hoc  tu  quoque  facito  pro  fratribus.  Et  tamen  illi  non  possunt  lacrymis 
et  lamentis  neque  morbum  depellere,  neque  mortem  imminentem  abigere.  Tu 
vero  frequenter  poteris  animam  deploratam  per  lamenta  revocare,  ac  suscitare. 
Dedisti  consilium,  nee  persuasisti ;  illacryma  ;  punge  frequenter  ;  suspira  pau- 
lulum,  ut  tua  sollicitudo  incutiat  illi  verecundiam,  atque  se  convertat  ad  salu- 
tem.  Cone.  i.  De  Lazar. 

*  Debemus  .  .  ,    nos  firmiores  imbecillitates  infirmorum  sustinere.     Ad 
Rom.  xv.  i. 

9—3 


132  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

comfort  and  exhort  them  lovingly,  and  to  temper  his  reproofs  with 
mildness.* 

129.  It  is  not,  however,  enough  to  say,  that  a  Director  should 
look  on  himself  as  a  Father.     I  ought  to  have  said  with  St.  Ber« 
nard,  that  he  must  feel  in  his  heart  that  he  is  the  Mother  of  his 
penitents.      Laying  aside,  therefore,  all  severity  harshness   and 
rigour,  he  must  bear  in  his  bosom  a  mother's  tenderness,  and 
treat  his  spiritual  children  with  all  the  fondness  of  a  mother's 
love.     "  Learn,"  says  the  Saint  to  Superiors — "  learn  to  be  not 
the  masters,  but  the  mothers,  of  the  souls  entrusted  to  your  care. 
Engage  them  to  love  you  more  than  fear  you  j  and  if  at  times 
you  have  need  to  employ  severity,  be  yours  the  sternness  of  a 
Father,  never  that  of  a  tyrant.     Your  breast  should  be  full  of  the 
milk  of  kindness,  not  swelling  with  the  bitterness  of  disdain. 
Why  make  the  yoke  of  their  subjection  press  heavy  upon  them, 
when  it  is  your  duty  to  lighten  it  by  taking  their  burthens  upon 
your  own  shoulders  ?     And  why  must  your  spiritual  children  fly 
from  you,  when  they  ought  to  run  to  you  as  to  their  mother's 
arms  ?     If  you  be  spiritual  men,  instruct  them  with  all  gentleness, 
reprove  them  with  all  charity,  bearing  in  mind  that  even  you  your 
selves  may  fall  into  the  like  infirmities. "t     Beautiful  words,  well 
worthy  not  only  to  be  once  read,  but  to  be  pondered  most  diligently 
at  our  leisure. 

130.  Directors  should  remark  nevertheless  that  in  dealing  with 
women  they  ought  not  to  make  display  of  this  spiritual  love,  but 
should  keep  it  locked  up  in  their  hearts,  lest  otherwise  a  strong 

*  Hoc  onus  animarum  est  infirmarum.  Nam  quse  sanse  stint,  portari  non 
indigent,  ac  per  hoc  nee  onus  sunt.  Quotiescumque  igitur  de  tuis  inveneris 
tristes,  pusillaninies,  murmuriosos,  ipsorum  te  patrem,  ipsorum  te  noveris  esse- 
abbatem.  Consolando,  exhortando,  increpando  agis  opus  tuum,  portas  onus 
tuum  et  portando  sanas,  quos  sanando  portas.  Epist.  73. 

f  Discite  suhditorum  matres  vos  esse  debere  non  dominos.  Studete  magis 
amari  quam  metui.  Etsi  interdum  severitate  opus  sit,  paterna  sit  non  tyran- 
nica.  Matres  fovendo,  patres  vos  corripiendo,  exhibeatis.  Mansuescite,  ponite 
feritatem  ;  suspendite  verbera,  producite  ubera  :  pectora  lacte  pinguescant,  non 
lympha  turgescant.  Quid  jugum  vestrum  super  eos  aggravatis,  quorum  potius 
onera  portare  debetis?  Cur  morsus  a  serpente  parvulus  fugit  conscientiam 
sacerdotis,  ad  quem  eum  magis  oportuerat,  tamquam  ad  sinum  recurrere  matris  ? 
Si  spirituales  estis,  instruite  hujusmodi  in  spiritu  lenitatis,  considerans  unusquis* 
que  seipsum,  ne  et  ipse  tentetur.  In  Cant. — Serm.  23. 


SPIRITUAL  READING.  133 

attachment  might  grow  up  on  either  side.  It  will  suffice  that 
Confessors  show  women  the  kindness  to  which  they  are  entitled, 
exactly  as  prudent  mothers  do,  who,  in  order  not  to  spoil  their 
children,  take  care  not  to  let  them  see  all  the  affection  which  they 
cherish  in  their  hearts. 


ARTICLE  IV, 

Third  means  of  acquiring  Perfection.     The  reading  of  Spiritual 

Books. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  READING  SPIRITUAL  BOOKS  PROVED  FROM  THE 
AUTHORITY  OF  THE  HOLY  FATHERS. 

131.  ST.  BERNARD,  in  his  "Ladder  fc>r  Religious,"  explains  the 
four  steps  by  which  we  mount  to  God  and  to  perfection  ;  for,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  perfection  essentially  consists  in  union  with 
God,  our  last  end ;  and  he  says  that  the  four  degrees  are  read 
ing  and  meditation,  prayer  and  contemplation.  He  cites  the 
words  of  our  Saviour,  Seek,  and  you  shall  find :  knock,  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you;  and  applying  them  to  the  degrees  or 
means  of  perfection,  he  says  that  by  reading  we  seek  God,  by 
meditation  we  find  Him,  by  prayer  we  knock  at  the  door  of  His 
heart,  and  by  contemplation  we  enter  into  the  theatre  of  His 
divine  beauties,  which  have  been  opened  to  our  mind  by  reading, 
meditation,  and  prayer.*  He  remarks  that  reading  is  nothing 
more  than  the  fixing  our  attentive  gaze  upon  whatever  the  Holy 
Scriptures  or  other  good  books  present  to  our  notice ;  that  medi 
tation  is  an  act  of  the  mind,  by  which,  under  the  guidance  of  our 
own  reflections,  we  follow  the  track  of  the  heavenly  virtues,  which 

*  Salvator  dicit :  "  Quoerite  et  invenietis ;  pulsate  et  aperietur  vobis.* 
!Quserite  legendo  et  invenietis  meditando ;  pulsate  orando  et  aperietur  vobi* 
contemplando.  De  Modo  Orandi. 


134  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

are  themselves  hidden  from  us  ;  that  prayer  is  an  affection  of  the 
will,  by  which  we  win  from  God  release  from  evil  and  acquisition 
of  the  spiritual  treasures  suited  to  our  wants  ;  and  that  contempla 
tion  is  the  repose  of  the  mind  in  God,  by  which  the  soul  is  raised 
to  taste  the  delights  of  heavenly  bliss.*  Reading,  the  Saint  goes 
on,  is  like  spiritual  food  presented  to  the  palate  of  the  soul :  medi 
tation  turns  over  and  masticates  the  same  by  process  of  reason 
ing  ;  in  prayer  its  relish  is  perceived ;  contemplation  is  the  very 
enjoyment  of  this  spiritual  food,  which  restores  strength  to  the 
whole  spirit.  Reading  does  not  go  beyond  the  surface  of  that 
which  is  read  ;  meditation  penetrates  to  the  core  ;  prayer,  by  its 
petitions,  seeks  to  gain  the  fruit ;  contemplation  reposes  in  the 
possession  of  this  fruit,  f 

132.  Of  these  four  steps  by  which  we  mount  to  perfection  and 
to  God,  we  shall  not  now  treat  of  the  one  named  last ;  both  be 
cause  contemplation,  however  useful,  is  not  necessary  for  the  attain 
ment  of  perfection,  and  because  it  is  not  one  of  those  ordinary 
means  belonging  to  all  alike,  of  which  I  propose  to  treat  in  the 
present  work.     Keeping  close,  therefore,  to  the  teaching  of  St 
Bernard,  I  lay  down  three  means  by  which  to  arrive  at  perfec 
tion  ;  they  are  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer.     I  shall  discuss 
the  subject  of  reading  in  this  present  Article,  and  the  two  remain 
ing  means  subsequently.     In  the  Chapter  upon  which  I  am  now 
engaged,  I   shall  show  how  important,  according  to  the  Holy 
Fathers,  is  the  reading  of  spiritual  books  to  those  who  would  make 
progress  in  the  spiritual  life. 

133.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  the  esteem  which  St. 
Jerome  entertained  for  the  reading  of  spiritual  books,  and  the 
zeal  with  which  he  urged  its  constant  use  upon  all  whom  he  un- 


*  Lectio  est  sedula  Scripturarum  cum  animi  intentione  inspectio  ;  meditatio 
est  studiosa  mentis  actio  occultss  veritatis  notitiam  ductu  propriss  rationis  in- 
vestigans.  Oratio  est  devota  mentis  intentio  in  Deum  pro  malis  amovendis  et 
bonis  acquirendis.  Contemplatio  est  mentis  in  Deum  suspenses  elevatio,  seter- 
nse  dulcedinis  gaudia  degustans.  Ibid. 

f  Lectio  quasi  solidum  cibum  ori  apponit ;  meditatio  masticat  et  frangit ;, 
oratio  saporem  acquirit ;  contemplatio  est  ipsa  dulcedo,  quse  jucundat  et  reficit. 
Lectio  in  cortice,  meditatio  in  adipe,  oratio  in  desiderii  postulatione,  contem 
platio  in  adeptse  dulcedinis  delectatione.  Ibid, 


SPIRITUAL  READING.  13$ 

dertook  to  help  forward  by  his  letters  in  the  path  of  perfection.  He 
recommends  Salvina  to  have  some  pious  book  ever  in  her  hand  ; 
for  good  books  he  says,  are  a  strong  shield  to  keep  off  all  the 
bad  thoughts  which  wage  war  upon  our  youth.*  And  he  is  right, 
for  the  holy  thoughts  with  which  spiritual  reading  fills  our  minds, 
drive  back  those  other  useless,  idle,  or  depraved  thoughts, 
which  spring  so  abundantly  from  the  rank  soil  of  our  heart.  To 
St.  Paulinus  he  gives  the  same  advice, — Have  always  in  your 
hand  some  holy  book,  to  nourish  your  soul  with  pious  reading,  t 
He  suggests  to  the  widow  Furia  to  read  often  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures,  and  the  works  of  those  men  of  learning  whose  teaching  is 
edifying  and  sound  ;  that  she  may  not  be  wearied  in  picking  the 
golden  atoms  of  wholesome  instruction  from  the  sand  of  their 
poisonous  writings. {  To  Demetrias  he  says — Love  the  reading 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  if  you  wish  the  Divine  Wisdom  to  love  you, 
to  keep  and  to  possess  you.  You  were  wont  to  array  yourself 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  hour ;  precious  gems  once  sparkled 
on  your  bosom,  strings  of  pearls  hung  round  your  neck,  and 
jewelled  pendants  from  your  ears.  For  the  time  to  come,  let 
holy  readings  be  the  jems  and  jewels  that  shall  adorn  your  soul 
with  pious  thoughts  and  generous  aspirations. §  It  is  enough  to 
read  the  letters  of  this  great  Doctor  of  the  Church  to  see  that 
among  the  means  proposed  by  him  for  the  acquirement  of  Chris 
tian  perfection,  this  holds  a  very  high  place. 

134.  St.  Bernard  speaks  his  mind  on  the  same  subject  plainly 
enough,  where  he  says  that  spiritual  reading  is  extremely  neces 
sary  for  our  improvement :  alleging  for  his  reason,  that  we  come 
thereby  to  see  what  we  ought  to  do,  and  what  to  shun,  and  how, 


*  Semper  in  manibus  tuis  sit  divina  lectio,  ut  omnium  cogitationum  sagittce,, 
quibus  adolescentia  percuti  solet,  hujusmodi  clypeo  repellantur.  Epiit.  79, 
cap.  9. 

f  Semper  in  manibus  sacra  lectio.     Epist.  53. 

J  Post  Scripturas  Sacras  doctorum  hominum  tractatus  lege,  et  illorum  dum- 
taxat,  quorum  fides  nota  est.  Non  necesse  habes  aurum  in  luto  quserere. 
Epist.  54,  cap.  ii. 

§  Ama  Scripturas  Sacras  et  amabit  te  sapientia :  dilige  earn,  et  servabit  te  i 
honora  illam,  et  amplexabitur  te.  Hcec  monilia  in  pectore,  et  in  auribus  tuis; 
hserent.  Epist.  130  cap-  20. 


*36  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  set  about  the  attainment  of  the  holy  objects  we  have  in  view. 
It  must  have  been  this  that  the  Royal  Prophet  called  a  lamp  to 
point  out  to  us  the  path  of  perfection,  and  to  guide  our  steps  in 
safety.*  By  reading,  continues  the  Saint,  our  mind  and  con 
science  are  properly  educated ;  since  from  it  we  obtain  light  to 
perform  our  outward  actions  well,  and  to  uplift  our  souls  in  prayer 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  things  of  God.  Hence  this  it  is  that  fits 
Us  both  for  active  and  contemplative  life.t  Then,  descending  to 
details,  he  shows  that  every  supernatural  blessing  has  its  origin  in 
spiritual  reading ;  for,  he  says,  in  reading  and  prayer  we  find  the 
weapons  we  require  for  warring  against  and  overthrowing  the 
enemies  of  our  salvation.  By  reading  and  prayer  all  the  vicious 
habits  of  the  soul  are  destroyed  and  all  its  defects  are  rooted  out : 
we  learn  to  despise  the  vanities  of  earth  and  to  cultivate  all  the 
virtues.  In  a  word  these  are  the  means  appointed  to  lead  us 
safely  to  -the  possession  of  eternal  happiness.  {  It  would  seem 
impossible  to  say  more  than  this  in  praise  of  spiritual  reading. 

135.  St.  Gregory  illustrates  the  same  truth  by  the  example  of  a 
looking-glass.  Spiritual  books  are  a  mirror  which  Almighty  God 
places  before  our  eyes  on  purpose  that,  viewing  ourselves  therein, 
We  may  correct  what  is  amiss,  and  adorn  ourselves  with  every 
virtue.  And  as  vain  women  often  go  to  the  glass,  and  remove  any 
little  speck  from  the  face,  or  adjust  their  tresses  and  deck  them 
selves  out  with  a  thousand  devices  to  make  themselves  lovely  in 
the  eyes  of  others ;  so  should  the  Christian  set  before  him  good 
books,  that  he  may  discover  in  them  the  defects  he  must  remove, 
and  the  virtues  with  which  he  must  adorn  himself  in  order  to 
become  pleasing  in  the  eyes  of  his  God.§ 

*  Valde  nobis  est  necessaria  lectio  divina  :  nam  per  lectionem  discimus  quid 
facere,  quid  cavere,  quo  tendere  debeamus.  Unde  dicitur  :  Lucerna  pedibus 
flieis  verbum  tuum,  et  lumen  semitis  meis.  Serm.  50,  De  Modo  Vivendi. 

t  Per  lectionem  sensus  et  intellectus  augetur.  Lectio  nos  ad  orationem  in- 
Struit  et  ad  operationem;  lectio  nos  informat  ad  activam  et  ad  contemplativam 
titam.  Ibid. 

$  Lectio  et  oratio  sunt  arma,  quibus  diabolus  expugnatur.  Haec  sunt  in- 
Strumenta,  quibus  seterna  beatitudo  acquiritur.  Per  orationem  et  lectionem  vitia 
destruuntur  et  virtutes  in  anim&  nutriuntur.  Lectio  demit  errorem  vitse,  sub- 
frahit  hominem  a  vanitate  mundi.  Ibid. 

§  Sacra   Scriptura   mentis   oculis  quasi  quoddam  speculum   opponitur,    ut 


SPIRITUAL  READING.  137 

136.  St.  Augustine  uses  another  illustration,  equally  beautiful, 
to  excite  us  to  the  love  of  spiritual  reading.     He  says  that  pious 
books  are  so  many  letters  addressed  to  us  from  our  heavenly 
country  by  Almighty  God  our  tender  Father,  and  by  the  Saints 
our  loving  brethren.     In  them  they  warn  us  of  the  perils  we  have 
to  encounter  in  our  mournful  pilgrimage ;  they  point  out  to  us  the 
lurking-places  in  which  our  enemies  are  awaiting  us,  the  snares 
set  for  our  feet  in  order  to  deprive  us  of  the  life  of  our  souls,  and 
despoil  us  of  the  priceless  treasure  of  the  divine  grace ;  they  tell 
us  what  provision  of  virtue  we  shall  require  that  we  may  not  faint 
by  the  road-side ;  they  animate  us  to  support  the  labours,  trials, 
and  sufferings  of  this  toilsome  journey  ;  and  they  show  the  direct 
and  secure  road  to  that  happy  country  which  others  like  ourselves 
have  reached.     Whoever  then  wishes  to  arrive  at  that  blessed  land, 
and  to  win  a  place  of  honour  there,  let  him  often  open  and  read 
these  letters  from  Paradise. 

137.  Besides  giving  reasons  to  prove  the  necessity  of  spiritual 
reading  for  the  attainment  of  Christian  perfection,  the  Fathers 
adduce  examples  well  suited  to  awaken  in  us  the  desire  of  it. 
From  these  I  select  one,  which  occurs  in  the  Dialogues  of  St. 
Gregory,*  and  again  in  his  Homilies,t  hoping  that  it  may  encour 
age  us  likewise  to  adopt  so  pious  a  practice.     A  poor  beggar  in 
Rome,  named  Servulus,  used  to  lie  in  the  porch  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Clement.     He  was  completely  paralysed,  and 
was  not  only  unable  to  stand  upright,  but  was  even  deprived  of 
all  power  of  turning  himself  from  side  to  side,  or  of  raising  his 
hand  to  his  mouth  to  take  the  necessary  food.     Of  the  alms  he 
received,  he  spent  part  upon  his  own  support,  and  part  he  laid 
aside  for  providing  food  and  shelter  for  the  poor  pilgrims  whom 
he  lodged   in  his  own  miserable   abode.     He  was   most   eager 
always  to  acquire  spiritual  books ;  and  he  had  procured  a  good 
number  by  the  outlay  of  money  bestowed  upon  him  in  alms  : 
for   he  took  from  the  food  that    supports   the   body  to   supply 

interna  nostra  facies  in  ipsi  videatur.  Ibi  etenim  foeda,  ibi  pulchra  nostra 
cognoscimus.  Ibi  senUmus  quantum  proficimus,  ibi  a  profectu  quam  longe 
distamus.  Moral.  Lib.  ij.  cap.  I 

*  Lib.  iv.  cap.  14.  f  Homil.  15. 


138  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

his  spirit  with  the  nourishment  of  pious  reading.  And  as  the  poor 
man  could  not  read  himself,  he  made  his  lodgers  read  to  him. 
By  means  of  these  pious  readings,  though  he  was  obliged  to  use 
another's  mouth,  he  gathered  an  extensive  knowledge  of  spiritual 
things,  and  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  Holy  Scripture,  on  which 
he  used  to  discourse  with  great  judgment,  to  the  astonishment  of 
all  who  heard  him.  But  better  far  than  this,  he  had  acquired  an 
unconquerable  patience,  and,  in  the  midst  of  his  severe  sufferings, 
he  was  always  thanking  God,  and  singing  hymns  of  praise. 
Feeling  that  the  end  of  his  life  was  drawing  near,  he  summoned 
some  of  his  friends,  and  begged  them  to  recite  some  psalms  with 
him.  Whilst  this  was  going  on,  he  suddenly  made  a  sign  to 
them  to  stop,  and  said, — "  Hark  !  Do  you  not  hear  how  heaven 
is  all  ringing  with  music  and  song?"  and,  with  these  words,  he 
gently  breathed  his  last.  After  his  death,  that  lowly  dwelling 
place  was  filled  with  a  fragrance  so  heavenly,  that  visitors  were 
at  a  loss  to  describe  the  sweetness  they  perceived.  The  Holy 
Doctor  ends  his  narrative  by  saying,  that  a  monk  of  his  monas 
tery  had  been  present  at  the  death  of  this  saintly  poor  "man,  and 
that  he  could  not  help  shedding  tears  of  tenderness  in  relating 
what  he  had  seen.*  The  great  eagerness  which  this  holy  sufferer 
had  for  spiritual  reading  is  worthy  of  remark ;  as  also  the  excel 
lent  fruits  of  sanctity  which  he  procured  from  it,  and  the  blessed 
death  to  which  by  its  use  he  finally  attained.  Hence  we  may 
learn  how  great  a  help  it  is  to  the  acquiring  of  Christian  per 
fection. 

*  Cui  rei  monachus  noster  interfuit  qui  nunc  usque  vivit,  et  cum  magno 
fletu  attestari  solet :  quia  quousque  corpus  ejus  sepulturse  traderent,  ab  eorum 
naribus  odoris  illius  fragrantia  non  recessit.  Ibid. 


SPIRITUAL  READING  SUITABLE  TO  ALL. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  SPIRITUAL  READING,  SHOWN  MORE  IN  PARTI- 
CULAR,  BOTH  AT  THE  ENTRANCE  ON  THE  PATH  OF  PERFEC 
TION  AND  AFTER  SOME  PROGRESS  HAS  BEEN  MADE. 

138.  RELIGIOUS  truth,  says  St.  Bernard,  like  a  well-provided 
table,  presents  a  variety  of  food  adapted  to  the  wants  of  each.* 
At  this  banquet  may  be  found  dishes  specially  prepared  for  sin 
ners,  and  having  power  to  lead  them  back  to  a  life  of  grace. 
There  are  other  kinds  of  food  intended  for  the  just,  and  able  to 
impart  the  strength  required  for  the  due  increase  and  develop 
ment  of  the  life  of  grace  which  such  possess  within  them.  Here, 
too,  pious  but  untutored  guests,  incapable  of  meditation,  find 
their  food  suitably  prepared  for  giving  nourishment  to  their  simple 
souls.  And  here,  also,  those  more  highly  trained,  who,  even 
apart  from  this  hospitable  board,  have  spiritual  stores  supplied  to 
them  in  their  fervent  prayers,  may  yet  find  strengthening  nourish 
ment,  and  may  carry  away  from  the  feast  which  pious  reading  sets 
before  them,  some  good  wholesome  food,  to  which  they  can  help 
themselves  more  at  their  leisure,  and  which  they  can  ruminate 
during  their  meditation.  By  partaking  of  the  good  things  that  are 
served  at  this  table,  men  of  the  world  change,  as  it  were,  their 
character  and  become  spiritual ;  whilst  those  who  are  already 
spiritual,  attain  the  perfection  of  their  state,  and  raise  themselves 
to  holiness.  In  one  word,  we  have  a  repast  prepared  here,  to  give 
life  and  health  and  strength  of  soul  to  all  the  guests. 

139.  If  you  would  bring  home  to  yourself  the  power  that  pious 
reading  has  to  bring  men  of  the  world  to  change  their  ways  and  to 
enter  on  the  path  of  perfection,  it  is  enough  to  think  of  the  conver 
sion  of  St.  Augustine.  Every  one  knows  the  extreme  repugnance 
which  the  Saint  felt  in  his  soul  at  the  thought  of  parting  with  the 
false  pleasures  of  sense,  and  surrendering  himself  in  full  to  the  ser 
vice  of  Christ.  What  a  terrible  war,  what  fierce  attacks  were  made 

*  In  Catholics  doctrinse  mensa  juxta  modum  intelligentias  sufficientes  sin- 
gulis  epulse  apponuntur.  Serm.  4,  Ex.  Brev. 


140  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

against  him  within  his  poor  heart.  We  are  moved  to  pity  when 
we  read  the  description  he  gives.  He  tells  us  that  he  groaned 
as  he  felt  his  own  will  like  a  heavy  chain  holding  him  fast,  and 
that  the  enemy  of  man  kept  even  the  power  of  willing  shackled 
by  a  kind  of  cruel  necessity.*  He  went  through  an  agony  of 
death  in  shaking  himself  free  from  his  habits  of  vice.t  Just  on 
the  verge  of  resolving,  the  old  fascinations  and  false  delights 
dragged  him  back  from  his  purpose  of  amendment,  and  he  heard 
low  voices  murmur :  "  Do  you  mean  to  forsake  us  ?  From  this 
moment  forth  are  we  never,  never  more  to  be  with  you  ?" J  But 
what  was  it  which  in  the  end,  after  so  determined  and  fierce  a 
struggle,  subdued  the  heart  of  the  Saint  ?  what  was  it  that  won 
that  heroic  soul  to  God  ?  The  final  victory  was  due,  not  to  the 
mother  with  her  tears,  nor  to  Ambrose  with  his  lofty  eloquence, 
but  to  the  reading  of  a  pious  book.  To  this  it  was  that  Almighty 
God  reserved  the  glory  of  gaining  to  the  .Church  so  renowned  a 
Doctor,  destined  to  illuminate  it  by  the  splendour  of  his  sublime 
genius  and  by  his  admirable  writings.  The  saintly  Archbishop 
and  the  fond  mother  were  able  indeed  powerfully  to  move  his 
soul,  but  pious  reading  alone  had  power  to  work  a  lasting  change. 
For  it  happened  that  as  St.  Augustine  was  fighting  with  the  wild 
tumultuous  thoughts  that  filled  his  breast,  he  heard  a  voice  which 
said  to  him:  "  Take  and  read."  He  obeyed,  and  taking  up  a  book 
which  lay  near  him,  he  read  a  chapter  from  St.  Paul,  and  shortly 
after  the  dark  clouds  melted  from  his  mind,  the  hardness  of  his 
heart  gave  way,  and  peace  and  perfect  calm  took  possession  of 
his  spirit. §  And  when  once  his  chains  were  broken,  and  the 


*  Suspirabam  ligatus  non  ferro  alieno,  sed  me£  ferret  voluntate.  Velle 
meum  tenebat  inimicus  et  inde  mihi  catenam  fecerat,  et  constrinxerat  me. 
Confess.,  lib.  viii.,  cap.  10. 

t  Quasi  mortem  reformidabat  (voluntas  mea)  restringi  a  fluxu  consuetudinis 
quo  tabescebat  in  mortem.  Ibid.,  cap.  18. 

%  Retinebant  me  nugse  nugarum  et  vanitates  vanitatum  antiques  amicse  ;  et 
.succ^tiebant  vestem  meam  carneam  et  murmurabant :  dimittis  nos  ?  et  a  mo- 
mento  isto  non  erimus  tecum  ultra  in  seternum  ?  .  .  ,  Quas  sordes  suggere- 
"bant?  quse  dedecora?  Ibid.,  cap.  26. 

§  Quasi  luce  serenitatis  infus&  cordi  meo,  omnes  dubitationis  tenebrae  dif* 
fugerunt.  Ibid.,  cap.  29. 


SPIRITUAL  READING  SUITABLE  TO  ALL.         141 

bonds  of  bad  habits  were  snapped  asunder,  he  gave  himself  up 
without  reserve  to  God,  and  became  the  great  Saint  who  is 
admired  by  all  the  world  and  revered  upon  the  altars  of  the 
Church.  So  great  is  the  power  of  pious  reading  to  triumph  over 
even  hard  hearts,  to  wean  them  from  earth  and  make  them 
spiritual  and  holy. 

140.  Here  I  might  also  cite  the  example  of  St.  Ignatius  of 
Loyola,  who,  by  reading  on  one  single  occasion,  and  that  too  not 
out  of  devotion,  but  merely  for  the  sake  of  driving  away  the  tedium 
of  a  distressing  illness,  was  converted  from  being  a  soldier  of  an 
earthly  king,  and  after  becoming  a  soldier  of  the  King  of  Heaven, 
gathered  to  the  same  standard  a  goodly  company  of  warriors. 
Or  I  might  speak  of  St.  John  Colombino,  who  by  the  perusal  of 
a  pious  book,  though  only  at  suggestion  of  his  wife,  and  with  a 
bad  grace,  felt  so  thorough  a  change  of  heart  that  he  turned  his 
back  upon  the  world,  surrendered  himself  entirely  to  God's  service, 
and,  like  St.  Ignatius,  became  the  leader  of  a  great  troop  of 
religious  men,  who  enrolled  themselves  under  the  banner  of  the 
Crucified.  But  I  will  not  pause  over  these  and  other  similar 
examples.  When  I  began  to  discuss  this  point,  I  quoted  some 
words  of  St.  Augustine,  and  with  some  words  of  the  same  Saint 
will  I  conclude.  In  the  very  book  in  which  the  holy  Doctor 
relate?  his  own  conversion,  he  also  gives  an  account  of  the  con 
version  from  worldly  life  to  perfection,  of  two  gentlemen  attached 
to  the  Court  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  who  were  led  in  a  like 
manner  to  a  better  life  by  the  perusal  of  a  spiritual  book.* 
Whilst  the  Emperor  was  absorbed  in  the  games  of  the  amphi 
theatre  in  Treves,  these  two  gentlemen,  weary  of  the  noise  and 
bustle  of  the  court,  strolled  out  into  the  country  to  breathe  a 
calmer  atmosphere.  Now,  as  they  sauntered  on,  wandering  as 
chance  led  them,  they  lighted  on  a  house  where  some  good 
monks  were  living,  and,  passing  the  entrance-gate,  they  walked 
slowly  forward,  feeling  a  sort  of  fascination  as  they  marked  the 
poverty,  simplicity,  silence,  and  peace  that  reigned  in  the  holy 
abode,  and  vvere  never  wearied  with  admiring  the  unaffected 
look  of  happiness  which  shone  in  the  faces  of  the  religious.  As 
*  Conf.,  lib,  viij.  cap.  15, 


142  CJIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

they  went  along,  one  of  the  courtiers  found  in  a  monk's  cell  a 
copy  of  the  life  of  St.  Antony,  and  out  of  curiosity  began  to  read 
it.  As  he  read  on,  by  little  and  little  he  felt  his  admiration 
aroused  by  the  deeds  of  that  holy  hermit,  and  in  course  of  time 
he  was  fired  with  desire  to  follow  his  example.  Finally,  he 
resolved  to  engage  himself  in  a  like  course  of  life,  and  to  leave 
the  world  for  the  sake  of  giving  himself  up  unreservedly  to  the 
service  of  God.*  Mark  well,  I  pray  you,  the  happy  effects  of 
pious  reading.  Then  (continues  the  Saint)  carried  away  by  the 
ardent  zeal  of  these  holy  emotions,  the  courtier  fixed  his  eyes  on 
the  face  of  his  friend,  and  exclaimed,  "  What  is  it  that  we  hope 
to  win  by  the  labours  in  which  we  are  spending  our  lives  ?  Can 
we  hope  to  do  more  than  secure  the  friendship  of  Csesar?  And 
even  in  this  how  doubtful  is  our  success  ?  How  many  risks  do 
we  run?  But  if  I  wish  to  become  God's  friend,  in  the  act  of 
forming  my  wish,  I  at  once  gain  it."  t  Saying  this,  he  fell  to 
reading  again,  and  as  he  read,  St.  Augustine  says,  he  felt  himself 
deeply  moved  and  his  whole  soul  changed  :  he  became  conscious 
that  the  love  of  earth  and  of  earthly  things  was  departing  from 
his  heart.  At  length,  heaving  a  long  and  deep-drawn  sigh :  "  O 
my  friend,"  he  cried,  "  I  have  now  broken  the  chain  which,  with 
its  multitudinous  links  of  petty  hopes,  bound  me  to  the  Imperial 
Court.  From  this  moment  I  make  up  my  mind  to  serve  God 
alone ;  and  that  you  may  believe  how  fully  I  am  telling  the  truth, 
this  very  hour,  on  this  hallowed  spot,  I  shall  begin  to  put  my  resolve 
in  execution.  If  however  you  do  not  like  to  follow  my  example, 
I  beseech  you  do  not  interfere  with  my  design."{  On  hearing 
this,  the  other  felt  his  own  heart  respond  to  the  holy  emotions 
which  his  friend  had  experienced,  and  eagerly  offered  to  follow 
him ;  and  the  two  that  very  day,  without  any  interval  of  prepara 
tion,  consecrated  themselves  to  God  in  that  sacred  cloister. 
These  young  courtiers,  moreover,  were  affianced  to  two  noble 

*  Mirari  et  accendi,  et  inter  legendum  meditari  ampere  talem  vitam,  et 
relicta  militia  sseculari,  servire  Tibi.  Ibid. 

t  Amicus  autem  Dei,  si  voluero,  ecce  nunc  fio.     Ibid. 

%  Ego  jam  abripui  me  ab  ilia  spe  nostr&,  et  Deo  servire  statui ;  et  hoc  ex 
hora  hac,  et  in  hoc  loco  aggredior.  Ibid. 


SPIRITUAL  READING  SUITABLE  TO  ALL.         143 

ladies,  and  though  they  loved  them  with  sincere  affection,  yet 
this  had  no  power  to  shake  their  generous  resolve ;  nay,  their 
example  made  such  an  impression  on  the  hearts  of  their  intended 
brides,  that  it  led  them  also  to  consecrate  themselves  to  God  by 
a  vow  of  perpetual  virginity.  So  many  souls  did  the  reading  of 
one  spiritual  book  draw  from  a  worldly  life  to  place  them  in  the 
pathway  of  perfection. 

141.  But  if  pious  reading  has   such   force  to  set  poor  stray 
worldlings  upon  the  road  of  perfection,  how  much  more  effica 
cious  will  it  be  to  make  those  who  have  already  started  on  that 
way  of  life,  run  forward  with  great  energy — never  staying,  never 
flagging  in  the  race  ?     St.  Augustine,  addressing  himself  to  souls 
that  are  aiming  at  perfection  and  constant  union  with  God,  tells 
them  that  they  must  frequently  betake  themselves  either  to  pray 
ing  or  to  reading;  and   he   gives  them,  moreover,  the  reason, 
because  "  when  we  pray,  we  speak  to  God ;  and  when  we  read 
good  books,  God  speaks  to  us."*     St.  Ambrose,  instructing  eccle 
siastics  already  set  apart  for  the  service  of  God,  insists  on  the 
same  thing,  and  bids  them,  when  they  have  ended  their  prayers 
in  the  church,  give  themselves  to  spiritual  reading ;  because  in 
prayer  we  discourse  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  while  we  read,  we 
listen  to  Jesus  Christ  speaking  to  our  heart. "t     If  then,  prayer, 
as  the  Saints  agree  and  as  we  mean  to  prove  in  the  following 
Article,  is  so  necessary  for  our  progress  in  spirit,  we  must  admit 
that  spiritual  reading  is  equally  useful,  seeing  that  for  advance 
ment  in  perfection  it  is  of  the  like  importance  that  we  should 
speak  to  God,  and  that  Almighty  God  should  speak  to  us,  and 
should  urge  us  by  His  interior  lights  and  the  whispers  of  His 
grace  to  the  performance  of  every  virtue. 

142.  To  prove  how  efficacious  is  the  reading  ot  spiritual  books 


*  Qui  vult  cum  Deo  semper  esse,  frequenter  debet  orare  et  legere,  nam 
cum  oramus,  ipsi  cum  Deo  loquimur  ;  cum  vero  legimus,  Deus  nobiscum  lo 
quitur.  Serm.  12,  De  Tern. 

•}*  Cur  non  ilia  tempora,  quibus  ab  ecclesia  vacas,  lectioni  impendas  ?  Cur 
lion  Christum  revisas?  Christum  alloquaris?  Christum  audias  ?  Ilium  allo- 
quimur,  cum  oramus  ;  ilium  audimus,  cum  divina  legimus  oracula.  Lib.  i., 
Omc.v  cap.  20. 


144  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  change  worldly  men  into  servants  of  God,  I  have  adduced  the 
example  of  a  Doctor  of  the  Holy  Church.  To  prove  the  power 
of  the  same  to  lead  those  who  are  already  faithful  servants  of  God 
to  higher  perfection,  I  will  take  the  example  of  another  Doctor  of 
the  Church,  the  great  St.  Jerome.  He  tells  us  of  himself  that, 
when  he  had  forsaken  the  pomp  and  pride  of  Rome,  he  withdrew 
to  lead  a  hermit's  life  in  the  holy  places  of  Palestine.  Here  he 
spent  his  days  and  nights  in  watching  and  prayer,  in  weeping, 
fasting,  and  doing  severe  penance.  Yet,  amid  the  holy  rigours  of 
a  life  so  fervent  and  penitential,  he  had  clung  to  one  defect  which 
greatly  impeded  his  spiritual  advancement,  and  this  was  an  over 
weening  passion  for  profane  literature,  and  a  kind  of  aversion  for 
the  reading  of  the  sacred  writings,  on  account  of  what  seemed  to 
him  their  unpolished  style ;  for  he  attributed  to  the  sun — as  he 
confesses  with  great  self-reproach — what  was  in  very  truth  nothing 
but  the  fault  of  his  own  eyes.*  Almighty  God,  meanwhile,  fore 
seeing  that  without  the  aid  of  holy  books  the  Saint  would  never 
reach  that  height  of  sanctity  for  which  he  was  destined,  adminis 
tered  a  remedy,  very  harsh,  no  doubt,  but  well  adapted  to  make 
him  aware  of  his  fault.  He  sent  a  grievous  sickness  which  soon 
brought  the  solitary  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  As  he  was  lying 
at  the  verge  of  death,  God  called  him  in  spirit  before  His  tribunal. 
The  Saint  being  present,  heard  the  Judge  ask  him  who  he  was. 
He  answered,  unhesitatingly,  "I  am  a  Christian ;  I  hold  no- 
other  faith  than  Thine,  my  Lord,  my  Judge."  "  Thou  liest,"  said 
the  Judge ;  "  thou  art  a  Ciceronian ;  for  where  thy  treasure  is- 
there  thy  heart  is  also."t  He  then  ordered  him  to  be  severely 
scourged.  The  servant  of  God  shrieked  with  pain  as  he  felt  the 
blows,  and  begged  for  mercy,  repeating  with  a  loud  voice  :  Have 
mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me.  Meanwhile,  they 
who  stood  round  the  throne  of  that  angry  Judge,  falling  on  their 
faces  before  Him,  began  to  plead  on  behalf  of  the  culprit,  implored 

*  Si  quando  in  me  ipsum  reversus  prophetas  legere  ccepissem,  sermo  hor- 
rebat  incultus,  et  quia  lumen  csecis  oculis  non  videbam,  nee  oculorum  puta- 
bam  culpam  esse,  ?ed  soils.  Epist.  ad  Eustoch. 

f  Et  ille  qui  prresidebat :  "  Mentiris,  ait:  Ciceronianus  es,  non  Christianus: 
ubi  enim  thesaurus  tuus,  ibi  et  cor  tuum."  Ibid. 


SPIRITUAL  READING  SUITABLE  TO  ALL.         145 

compassion  for  his  youth,  and  promised  in  his  name  that  his  fault 
should  be  corrected.  Then  St.  Jerome,  smarting  as  he  was  with 
the  pain  of  the  hard  strokes  that  he  had  received,  and  who  would 
gladly  have  pledged  much  greater  things,  began  to  promise  and 
to  swear  with  all  the  ardour  of  his  soul,  that  never  again  would 
he  open  profane  and  worldly  books,  but  that  he  would  read 
spiritual  books  only.  As  he  uttered  these  words  he  returned  to 
his  senses,  to  the  amazement  of  the  bystanders,  who  had  believed 
him  to  be  already  deceased.  The  holy  Doctor  concludes  the 
narration  of  this  sad  history  with  these  words :  Let  no  one  fancy 
that  it  was  an  idle  dream,  like  to  those  which  come  to  cheat  our 
minds  in  the  dead  of  night.  I  call  to  witness  that  dread  tribunal 
before  which  I  lay  prostrate,  that  it  was  no  dream,  but  a  true 
representation  of  a  real  occurrence ;  for  when  I  returned  to 
imyself  I  found  my  eyes  swimming  with  tears,  and  my  shoulders 
livid  and  bruised  with  those  cruel  blows.*  He  tells  us,  finally, 
that  after  this  warning  he  devoted  himself  to  the  reading  of  spiri 
tual  books  with  the  same  diligence  and  zeal  which  he  had  before 
'bestowed  upon  the  works  of  profane  writers,  t  It  was  thus  that 
Almighty  God  induced  him  to  apply  to  that  study  of  divine  things, 
which  was  so  essential  to  his  own  perfection,  and  destined  to  do  so 
much  good  to  the  whole  Christian  world. 

143.  It  should  be  remarked  that  when  these  things  happened 
to  St.  Jerome,  he  was  not  living — as  worldly  people  live — in  utter  for- 
getfulness  of  perfection,  nor  did  he  stand  in  need  of  good  books  to 
rouse  his  soul  to  some  desire  of  self-improvement.  As  I  have  men 
tioned  above,  he  was  actually  leading  a  very  austere  and  fervent 
life.  He  says,  no  doubt,  that  he  used  to  read  with  pleasure  the 
Comedies  of  Plautus ;  but  then  this  was  only  after  he  had  spent 
•whole  nights  in  bitterly  bewailing  the  sins  of  his  past  life ;  and  it 
•was  simply  and  solely  to  give  a  little  relief  to  his  mind,  exhausted 


*  Nee  vero  sopor  ille  fuerat,  aut  vana  somnia,  quibus  ssepe  deludimur. 
Testis  judicium  triste,  quod  timui :  ita  mihi  nunquam  contingat  in  talem  inci- 
dere  qusestionem.  Liventes,  fateor,  habuisse  me  scapulas,  plagas  sensisse. 
Jbid. 

t  Et  tanto  me  dehinc  studio  divina  legisse,  quanto  antea  mortalia  legeram. 
Ibid. 

VOL.  I.  I0 


146  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

by  long  praying,  and  weakened  by  the  many  tears  he  was  constantly 
shedding.*  Yet  even  all  this  was  not  enough  to  carry  him  for 
ward  in  perfection,  so  long  as  he  did  not  add  to  an  austere  life 
and  assiduous  prayer,  the  reading  of  good  books.  We  may,  then, 
fairly  conclude  that  spiritual  reading  is  an  indispensable  means, 
not  only  to  start  worldly  men  on  the  career  of  perfection,  but  ta 
add  fresh  speed  to  those  who  are  already  on  the  road. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  ON  THE  METHOD  TO  BE  PURSUED  Itt 
SPIRITUAL  READING,  IN  ORDER  THAT  WE  MAY  DRAW  FROM 
IT  THE  GREATEST  SPIRITUAL  PROFIT. 

144.  FIRST  suggestion.  Directors  must  bear  in  mind  that  to  make 
a  study  of  spiritual  books  is  one  thing,  and  to  read  holy  books 
spiritually  is  an  entirely  different  thing.  When  we  study,  our 
object  is  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  truths  we  read :  in  our 
spiritual  reading  we  aim  at  gaining  love  for  these  same  truths,  and 
penetrating  ourselves  thoroughly  with  them,  in  order,  afterwards, 
to  reduce  them  to  practice.  Study  aims  at  enlightening  the  mind, 
spiritual  reading  is  intended  to  give  perfection  to  the  will  by 
means  of  pious  affections,  and  to  spur  it  on  to  put  these  affections 
into  practical  shape.  St.  Augustine  says,  to  the  same  purpose : 
Feed  your  soul  with  the  reading  of  the  sacred  books ;  they  will 
furnish  a  wholesome  repast  to  your  spirit,  t  St.  Bonaventure  says 
the  same :  that  we  must  provide  our  souls  with  the  nourishing 
food  of  pious  reading,  if  we  would  have  them  firm  and  vigorous 
in  the  performance  of  virtuous  actions.  J  But  to  appreciate  more 
fully  the  meaning  which  these  holy  Doctors  attached  to  their 

*  Post  noctium  crebras  vigilias,  post  lacrymas,  quas  mihi  prseteritorum  re- 
cordatio  peccatorum  ex  imis  visceribus  eruebat,  Plautus  sumebaturin  manibus. 

t  Nutri  animam  tuam  lectionibus  divinis  :  parabis  enim  tibi  mensam  spiri« 
tualem.  Lib.  de  Opere  Monast. 

%  Lectionibus  divinis  est  anima  nutrienda.     In  Speculo,  Par.  I,  cap.  13. 


METHOD  OF  SPIRITUAL  READING.  147 

remarks,  we  may  consider,  that  were  a  man  to  sit  down  to  table, 
and  content  himself  with  scrutinising  the  nature  of  the  various 
dishes  and  with  carefully  inspecting  their  different  seasonings,  and 
were  then  to  pronounce  his  judgment  upon  them  severally,  as 
wholesome  or  injurious,  palatable  or  otherwise,  he  would  not  be 
eating  his  meal,  or  deriving  any  nourishment  whatever  from  the 
dainties  prepared  for  him.  If  the  food  is  to  be  of  service  to  those 
present  at  the  repast,  it  must  be  lifted  to  the  lips  and  subjected 
to  the  action  of  the  teeth,  tasted  by  the  palate,  transmitted  to 
the  stomach,  and  by  the  process  of  digestion  assimilated  to  the 
system.  And  precisely  in  the  same  manner  (as  the  Saints  teach 
us)  in  order  that  the  holy  maxims  which,  in  spiritual  reading  as 
at  a  dainty  banquet,  are  served  up  for  the  nourishment  of  our 
souls,  may  have  their  due  effect  and  impart  spiritual  life,  it  will 
never  suffice  to  content  ourselves  with  turning  the  eyes  of  our 
mind  toward  these  truths,  and  then  pronouncing  judgment  upon 
the  style,  the  arrangement  and  division,  the  learning,  the  clearness 
with  which  such  truths  are  set  forth  by  the  author ;  but  we  must 
bring  them  into  contact  with  our  will,  that  it  may  taste  them,  and 
dwell  upon  them  and  assimilate  them,  by  proceeding  to  put  them 
in  practice.  This  makes  St.  Bernard  say :  Whoever  sets  himself 
to  read  pious  books,  should  try  not  so  much  to  acquire  the  '.mean 
ing  as  the  relish  of  the  divine  truths  which  he  reads.*  This  will 
show  us  why  so  many  persons,  after  spending  half  an  hour,  or  even 
a  good  hour,  at  this  holy  repast  of  spiritual  reading,  leave  off  with 
their  hearts  all  parched  and  dry,  void  of  good  desires,  and  dying 
of  spiritual  starvation,  to  use  the  words  of  Pope  St.  Gregory.t 
From  this,  too,  we  may  gather  why  some  learned  men,  though  they 
have  the  Holy  Scripture  ever  before  their  eyes,  and  the  writings 
of  the  Fathers  and  Saints  in  their  hands,  for  all  that,  have  not 
in  their  hearts  as  much  devotion  and  inclination  for  spiritual 
things  as,  possibly,  some  poor  old  woman.  These  me'n  in  their 
readings  seek  after  nothing  but  the  meaning,  and  not  the  relish  ; 
pluck  no  fruit,  but  leaves  only;  and  consequently, — albeit  they 

*  Si  quis  ad  legendum  accedat,  non  tarn  qucerat  scientiam,  quam  saporera. 
In  Spec.  Monach, 

t  Multi  legunt,  et  ab  »pca  lectione  jejuni  sunt.     Horn.  10  in  Ezech. 

10 — 2 


148  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

derive  from  this  food  some  solace  for  the  mind — yet  do  they  find 
in  it  nothing  to  nourish  their  spirit. 

145.  Second  suggestion.     In  order,  then,  that  the  devout  person 
may  receive  the  nourishment  of  which  we  have  spoken,  in  his 
spiritual  reading,  he  must  act  as  follows  :  before  beginning  let 
him  raise  his  mind  to  God,  and  protest  that  he  reads  from  no 
curious   craving  for  knowledge,  but   from  the  simple  desire  of 
improvement.     But  as  this  improvement  is  due  to  supernatural 
light,  and  to  a  holy  impulse  imparted  to  the  will,  which  does  not 
spring  from  our  own  nature,  but  is  the  free  gift  of  God's  grace, 
he  must  pray  to  God  for  light  and  impulse.     In  this  book,  O  Lord, 
Thy  own  divine  words  are  written  :  it  is  a  letter  addressed  to  me 
from  Heaven  to  make  known  to  me  Thy  holy  will :  speak  to  me, 
then,  by  means  of  it ; — to  my  mind  by  Thy  illuminating  grace,  to 
my  heart  by  Thy  heavenly  inspirations,  and  I  promise  to  lend  an 
attentive  ear.* 

146.  We  are  told  in  the  life  of  that  glorious  patriarch,  St. 
Dominic,  that  while  he  was  yet  a  novice  following  the  Institute 
of  the  Canons  Regular,  he  derived,  from  reading  the  Conferences 
of  the  Fathers,  a  great  purity  of  heart,  a  profound  humility,  a 
sincere*  contempt  of  self,  a  special  veneration  for  all  his  brethren 
in  religion ;  and  was  by  the  same  reading  introduced  to  a  know 
ledge  of  contemplation,  and  to  perfection  in  all  the  virtues.     But 
how  was  it  that  he  drew  so  much  profit  from  the  reading  of  a 
single  book  ?     His  biographer  tells  us  the  reason ;  namely,  that 
the  Saint  set  himself  to  read  the  work  with  the  pure  intention  of 
feasting  his  affections  upon  the  holy  teachings  which  it  contained, 
and  of  carrying  resolutely  into  practice  all  its  salutary  counsels,  t 
Hence  all  who  would  gather  from    spiritual  books  the  like  fruits 
of  holy  life,  should  set  about  the  reading  of  them  in  the  same 
spirit,  and  with  the  like  purity  of  intention. 

147.  Third  suggestion.     A  Director  should  warn  his  penitents 

*  Loquere  Domine,  quia  audit  servus  tuus. 

t  Librum  ilium  qui  Collationes  Patrum  inscribitur,  studiose  legendum 
luscepit,  deditque  operain,  ut  rect£  intelligentia  comprehenderet,  affectu 
sentiret,  effectu,  et  re  ipsa  fortiter  exequeretur.  Didicit  enim  ex  eo  puritatem 
,wuis,  &c.  Theodoricus  de  Appoldia,  lib.  i,  Vitse  S.  Domin,,  cap.  4, 


METHOD  OF  SPIRITUAL  READING.  149 

against  reading  in  haste,  and  skimming  over  the  words  with  eyes 
or  mind ;  recommending  them  to  read  with  attention,  steadiness, 
and  reflection,  and  without  hurry ;  so  that  the  desired  result  may 
be  produced  in  their  souls  The  aromatic  leaves  of  certain  plants 
need  to  be  deliberately  crushed  with  the  finger  before  they  will 
give  out  their  sweet  odour.  And  in  the  same  way,  spiritual  read 
ing  should  be  pondered  at  leisure,  in  order  that  the  soul  may 
catch  the  rich  perfume  of  Christian  virtue. 

148.  For  this  end  St.  Ephrem  would  have  the  reader  sometimes 
turn  back,  and  go  over  the  same  passage  two  or  three  times,  to 
enable  the  soul  to  take  in  the  thought  in  its  fulness.     And  this 
rule  applies  especially  to  those  passages  which  treat  of  important 
things,  and  which  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 
pious  reader.*     Mark  well  the  words  of  the  Saint :  "  When  you 
read,  do  not  try  how  fast  you  can  turn  over  the  leaves."     They 
are  directed  against  the  fault  of  those  who,  whatever  book  they 
take  into  their  hand,  devour  it  rather  than  read  it,  and  think  that 
they  cannot  get  to  the  end  of  it  soon  enough.     Their  reading  is 
like  a  summer-storm,  which  breaks  out  with  much  violence,  and 
sweeps  by  with  great  rapidity,  giving  the  land  no  time  to  drink  in 
the  rain,  and,  in  consequence,  doing  it  little  or  no  good.     Spiritual 
reading  should  be  like  those  gentle  showers  which  fall  gently  and 
quietly,  sinking  deep  into  the  soil  and  fertilising  the  bosom  of  the 
earth.     There  is  little  use  in  reading  much,  if  we  do  not  read  well 
and  to  some  purpose. 

149.  Theodore,  a  physician  at  Constantinople,  sent  a  large  sum 
of  money  to  St.  Gregory  the  Great  to  be  spent  in  ransoming  the 
poor  slaves  from  the  cruel  bondage  under  which  they  groaned. 
The  holy  Pope,  in  his  answer,  thanked  the  donor  for  his  generous 
alms,  and  spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest  praise  of  his  great  charity 
towards  those  unfortunate  men.     Then  he  went  on  to  find  fault 
with  Theodore,  because,  when  he  read  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  ran 
over  the  pages  with  a  hasty  and  careless  eye,  without  any  warmth 
of  devotion.    And  among  other  remarks  the  Pope  made  the  follow- 

*  Dum  legis,  non  studeas  dumtaxat  libri  folia  evolvere  ;  sed  non  pigeat  bis 
terque  ac  saepius  eundem  repetere  sensum,  ut  vim  orationis  intelligas.  Lib.  de 
Patient,  et  Consum.  hujus  Sae^uli. 


ISO  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

ing  :  "  The  Lord  of  Heaven,  the  King  of  Angels  and  of  men,  in 
furtherance  of  your  salvation,  condescends  to  write  letters  to  you 
with  His  own  hand :  is  it  possible,  then,  that  you  can  read  them 
without  emotion?  What  else  are  the  Holy  Scriptures  than  so 
many  letters  of  Almighty  God  to  us  who  are  His  poor  lowly 
creatures  ?"*  Directors  must,  therefore,  understand  the  import 
ance  of  reading  pious  books  with  due  deliberation  and  devout 
attention ;  both  for  the  reverence  these  deserve,  and  for  the  good 
they  have  power  to  impart. 

150.  Fourth  suggestion.     St.   Bernard  recommends  us,  in  our 
spiritual  reading,  to  select  some  pious  thought  to  carry  away  with 
us,  so  that  we  may  recall  it  to  memory  from  time  to  time  throughout 
the  day,  and  by  its  help  keep  ourselves  recollected  in  God  ;t  just  as 
a  man,  after  strolling  in  a  pleasant  garden,  and  enjoying  to  the  full 
the  scented  breeze  and  the  lawns  studded  with  beauteous  plants, 
might  make  a  nosegay  of  flowers,  and  take  them  away  with  him, 
in  order  to  delight  in  their  fragrance.     St.  Ephrem  gives  the  same 
advice,  and  sets  the  matter  in  a  clear  light  by  a  very  pretty  simile. 
He  bids  us  observe  how  the  bee  lights  on  flower  after  flower, 
extracting  sweet  juices  from  them,  which  it  carries  to  its  little 
cell  to  form  honey.     And  thus,  we  ourselves,  from  the  multitude 
of  thoughts,  which  like  spiritual  flowers  strew  our  holy  books, 
should  strive  to  extract  sweet  juices  to  serve  for  remedies  against 
the  ailments  of  our  soul.  J   Therefore  let  the  Director  suggest  to  his 
penitents,  that  when  they  have  finished  reading,  they  should  thank 
Almighty  God  for  the  lights  and  graces  He  has  given  them ;  and 
then  select  some  thought  which  has  especially  struck  them,  in 
order  to  ponder  it  during  the  day,  and  to  consider  it  more  care 
fully,  and  search  into  it  more  deeply,  in  their  pious  meditations. 

151.  Fifth  suggestion.     A  Director  should  engage  his  penitents 

*  Imperator  Coeli,  Dominus  Angelorum  et  hominum,  pro  vit&  tuS,  tibi 
epistolas  suas  transmisit,  et  tu  illas  ardenter  legere  negligis?  Quid  est  enim 
Scriptura  Sacra,  nisi  qusedam  epistola  Omnipotentis  Dei  ad  creaturam  suam  ? 
Lib.  iv.,  Epist.  31. 

f  Ad  Fratres  de  Monte  Dei. 

J  Si  lectioni  incumbas,  instar  sapientis  apiculse,  mel  ex  floribus  sibi  colli- 
gentis,  fructura  ex  iis,  quae  legis,  pro  anitni  raede  desumito.  De  Recta 
Vivendi  Ratione,  cap.  36. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  M EDIT  A  TION.  15 1 

to  read  books  that  will  do  them  good  and  are  suited  to  their 
wants.  Books  that  will  do  them  good ;  for  some  books  are  of 
great  bulk  but  of  small  substance,  whilst  others  are  better 
adapted  for  feeding  the  intellect  than  for  working  upon  the  will. 
Books  that  are  suited  to  their  wants ;  for  some  books  are  useful 
to  beginners,  others  to  proficients,  and  others  again  to  those  who 
are  rapidly  gaining  the  lofty  heights  of  perfection.  Some  books 
are  good  for  those  whose  ruling  or  predominant  passion  is  of  one 
kind,  and  some  for  those  who  are  under  the  sway  of  another 
passion.  Some  persons  are  most  impressed  by  historical  works, 
which  therefore  are  the  most  useful  to  them ;  doctrinal  treatises 
suit  others  better,  and  therefore  succeed  better  with  them.  The 
Director  will  do  well  then,  to  point  out  to  each  the  books  proper 
for  him  to  read.  But  most  of  all — and  I  have  insisted  upon  this 
above — he  must  try  to  persuade  all  to  make  this  reading  with 
.great  attention  and  devotion,  and  desire  of  improvement ;  for,  if 
they  read  in  this  spirit,  the  Holy  Ghost  will  help  them  with  His 
illuminating  grace,  and  they  will  reap  great  fruit  ;*  as  St.  John 
•Chrysostom  assures  us. 


ARTICLE  V. 

Fourth  means  of  acquiring  perfection.      Meditation  on  the  maxims 
of  our  faith. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  MEDITATION  IS  A  MEANS  OF  GREAT  IMPORTANCE  FOR  THE 
KEEPING  OF  GOD'S  COMMANDMENTS  IN  THEIR  SUBSTANCE,  AND 
ABSOLUTELY  NECESSARY  FOR  THEIR  PERFECT  OBSERVANCE. 

152.  IN  the  ladder  which  St.  Bernard  constructed  for  spiritual 
persons  who  are  desirous  of  reaching  to  the  summit  of  perfection, 

*  Igitur  lectioni  vacemus  cum  magna  pietate  et  attentione,  ut  possimus  a 
Spiritu  Sancto  ad  scriptorum  intelligentiam  duci,  et  multum  indc  fructum  per. 
cipere.  Homil.  35  in  Genes. 


152  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  first  step  (as  we  saw  at  the  beginning  of  the  preceding  Article) 
is  the  reading  of  good  books,  and  the  second  is  meditation  on 
the  maxims  of  our  faith ;  for  from  the  one  step  we  mount  in  due 
course  to  the  other.  When  reading  pious  books,  the  soul  fills 
itself  with  certain  of  the  divine  truths,  and  then  afterwards  thinks 
them  over  at  the  foot  of  the  Crucifix,  ponders  them  deeply,  and' 
by  the  help  of  this  pondering,  becomes  enkindled  with  the  flame 
of  holy  feelings,  and  with  the  desires  of  higher  perfection.  And 
thus  it  is  that  from  reading  we  pass  very  naturally  to  meditation, 
in  which  our  knowledge  of  revealed  truths  deepens  and  is  made 
more  real,  and  the  movement  of  the  will  becomes  more  fixed  and 
fervent.  Having  then  surmounted  the  first  step,  we  mean  through 
out  the  whole  of  this  Article  to  take  our  stand  upon  the  second, 
and  to  show  how  important  and  even  essential  it  is  to  mount  thus- 
far,  in  order  that  we  may  find  the  support  we  need  for  the  attain 
ment  of  that  perfection  to  which  we  aspire  with  our  hopes. 

153.  Before  however  going  any  further,  we  must  observe  that 
mental  prayer  is  divided  into  meditation  and  contemplation. 
Meditation  consists  in  certain  acts  of  the  mind  when  it  reasons, 
which  acts  tend  to  elicit  various  pious  emotions.  Contempla 
tion  consists  in  the  simple,  steady  gaze  of  the  intellect,  in  admira 
tion  and  sweet  love  of  some  divine  truth.  Of  mental  prayer, 
when  it  passes  into  contemplation — although  in  reality  it  belongs 
to  the  fourth  step  of  St.  Bernard's  ladder — we  have  nothing  to 
say  in  the  present  work  ;  because,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  mere  and 
strict  contemplation  of  divine  things,  it  is  the  object  of  Mystic 
Theology.  I  shall  treat  of  mental  prayer  only  in  so  far  as  it  is 
meditation,  considered  from  its  practical  side.  I  append  this 
limitation,  because  a  supernatural  truth  can  be  the  subject  of  our 
meditations  in  two  ways,  speculatively  and  practically.  Our 
meditation  is  speculative,  when  we  apply  the  powers  of  our  mind 
to  some  article  of  our  faith,  with  no  other  design  than  to  arrive 
at  the  truth,  as  scholastic  theologians  do  when  they  inquire  into 
the  being  and  attributes  of  God,  the  incarnation  of  the  Divine 
Word,  the  nature  of  grace,  and  other  such  subjects,  in  which  they 
have  no  other  view  than  to  gain  or  communicate  knowledge. 
We  are  not  speaking  of  this  method  now,  for  it  does  not  concern* 


IMPORTANCE  OF  M EDIT  A  TION.  1 53 

us.  The  meditation  we  how  have  to  do  with,  is  of  the  second 
kind,  in  which  we  apply  the  powers  of  our  mind  to  some  principle 
of  faith,  in  order  to  move  our  will  to  feelings  that  correspond  to  it. 
And  it  is  of  this  meditation  that  we  propose  to  treat  in  this  place, 
since  it  is  really  a  conducive  means  for  securing  the  moral  and 
supernatural  perfection  of  Christian  souls ;  and  this  is  the  one  sole 
object  of  our  treatise.  In  this  first  Chapter  I  shall  try  to  prevail 
upon  my  reader  to  apply  to  this  holy  exercise  of  meditation,  by 
showing  him  that  meditation  such  as  practically  influences  our 
character  and  conduct,  is  a  most  important  aid  to  the  observance 
of  the  divine  law  in  its  substance,  and  is  indispensably  required 
for  its  perfect  observance. 

154.  It  is  a  remark  commonly  enough  made,  that  a  large  pro 
portion  of  Christians  transgress  the  law  of  God  without  restraint 
and  lead  licentious  lives,  because  faith  has  become  extinct  in  their 
souls ;   that  everywhere  interest   reigns   supreme ;  that  ambition 
lords  it  over  all;  and  that  impurity,  passing  the   bounds  of  all 
decency,  rages  at  will  over  every  meadow,  trampling  down  every 
flower  :  all  because  the  faithful  no  longer  believe.     But  in  reality, 
I  do  not  think  that  this  is  the  cause  of  all  the  evil ;  for,  as  far  as 
the  substance  goes,  there  is  faith  :  and  if  we  sound  the  mind  and 
heart  of  any  Catholic,  no  matter  how  loose  his  life  may  be,  we 
shall  find  that  there  is  not  one  article  of  our  faith,  though  ever  so 
abstruse  or  difficult,  which  he  does  not  firmly  hold.     The  whole 
ruin  of  souls  then,  which  we  deplore  in  the  Catholic  Church,  pro 
ceeds,  not  from  want  of  faith,  but  from  want  of  thought  upon  the 
truths  taught  by  faith.     No  one  principle  of  faith  meets  with  dis 
belief,  but  then,  no  one  principle  of  faith  meets  with  consideration- 
nowadays  among  worldlings ;  and  therefore  it  -is  that,  whilst  they 
believe,    they   live    as   though    they    did   not  .  believe :  because 
whether  we  do  not  believe  in  Catholic  truths,  or  do  not  give  them 
any  serious  thought,  our  will  is  equally,  in  either  case,  disinclined 
to  good,  and  prone  to  evil.     For,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other, 
it  is  removed  from  the  presence  of  those  objects  which  have  power 
to  hold  it  back  from  what  is  bad,  and  to  spur  it  on  to  what  is 
good. 

155.  But  this  truth  must  be  sifted  to  the  bottom,  so  as  to  be 


154  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

made  clear  and  evident  to  the  mind  of  each  one  of  our  pious 
readers.  Our  will,  as  philosophy  teaches,  is  a  blind  power  which 
cannot  have  its  affections  excited,  unless  the  intellect  goes  before, 
shedding  the  light  of  its  perceptions.  A  condemned  felon,  before 
he  receives  the  gloomy  tidings  of  the  sentence  of  death  that  has 
been  passed  upon  him,  is  not  cast  down  or  panic-stricken,  nor  does 
he  burst  into  sobs  and  groans;  because  the  great  evil  which  is  already 
hanging  over  his  head  has  not  yet  been  brought  home  to  him  by  his 
understanding.  So,  too,  with  a  person  who  has  lately  been  raised 
to  some  high  post  of  honour,  and  yet  feels  no  flush  of  joy  until 
he  receives  tidings  of  the  glad  event ;  because  his  understanding 
has  not  as  yet  presented  to  the  will  the  picture  of  his  good  fortune. 
But  when  the  emotions  of  our  will  begin  to  bestir  themselves,  they 
are,  as  a  general  rule,  measured  by  the  pictures  which  the  mind 
paints  of  the  various  objects.  If  the  intellect  presents  to  the 
will  some  object  worthy  of  love,  straightway  the  will  is  moved  to 
embrace  it;  if  something  hateful,  then  the  will  is  moved  to  fly 
from  it  with  horror.  If  the  intellect  points  out  evils  threaten 
ing  in  the  distance,  the  will  at  once  feels  fear ;  if  near  at  hand,  the 
will  at  once  feels  sadness.  If  the  intellect  makes  some  object 
seem  to  harmonise  with  our  nature,  the  will  is  forthwith  deter 
mined  to  seek  after  it ;  if  again,  it  represents  something  as  out  of 
harmony  with  our  being,  no  resolution  is  taken  by  the  will. 
Thus  the  affections  of  our  will,  generally  speaking,  take  their  form 
from  the  reflections  made  by  our  understanding  upon  any  given 
present  object.  If  this  be  so,  what  does  it  matter,  I  ask,  or  how 
does  it  avail  us,  that  the  truths  of  our  faith  have  in  themselves  a 
sovereign  efficacy  to  remove  from  us  every  vice,  to  keep  us  far 
from  every  mortal  sin  ;  if  the  Christian,  believing  in  these  truths, 
does  not  fix  his  mind  upon  them,  never  gives  them  any  real  atten 
tion,  never  brings  them  into  contact  with  his  will,  by  seriously 
pondering  over  them  ?  Assuredly,  so  long  as  they  are  thus  for- 
gotten,  they  never  can  detach  the  will  from  sin,  though  of  them 
selves  they  have  ample  power  to  produce  this  effect.  A  fire  can 
burn  wood  when  it  is  perfectly  dry  :  but  unless  the  fire  be  brought 
near,  it  will  never  cause  the  wood  to  burn.  Exactly  in  the  same 
manner  the  truths  of  faith,  both  in  their  terrors  and  their  charms, 


IMPORTANCE  OF  M EDIT  A  TION.  1 5  5 

have  full  power  to  wean  our  will,  ill-disposed  as  it  may  be,  from 
every  kind  of  mortal  sin ;  but  if  we  never  bring  them  by  the  aid 
of  serious  reflection  to  act  upon  the  will,  they  will  never  work  such 
an  effect  upon  it.  There  is  a  hell,  and  no  Catholic  thinks  of 
calling  it  into  doubt :  but  if  no  one  ever  turns  his  thoughts  upon 
hell,  to  try  to  move  himself  to  holy  fear,  it  might  as  well  not 
exist  at  all.  Death  must  come  to  all  of  us  ;  no  Catholic  but  ex 
pects  to  be  mowed  down  by  the  stroke  of  its  fatal  scythe  :  but  if 
people  never  think  of  death,  to  try  to  wean  themselves  from  the 
love  of  perishable  things,  it  is  just  as  if  no  such  thing  were  coming. 
Mortal  sin  is  the  most  fearful  monster  that  has  ever  appeared 
in  the  world ;  and,  once  more,  you  will  not  find  a  Catholic  who 
does  not  acknowledge  as  much ;  but  if  sin  be  never  contemplated 
under  its  true  form,  in  order  that  a  feeling  of  dread  and  hate 
of  it  may  be  impressed  upon  our  hearts,  sin  might  as  well  have 
nothing  hideous  about  it.  Whence  I  infer,  that  the  ruin  of  us 
Christians,  comes  not  from  disbelieving,  but  from  not  reflecting, 
not  meditating,  upon  what  we  do  believe.  And  this  is  what  the 
prophet  Jeremias  declares  to  us  :  with  desolation  is  all  the  land 
made  desolate  /*  every  flower  of  virtue  is  plucked  up  by  the  roots, 
and  nothing  is  to  be  seen  growing  on  all  sides  but  the  thistles  and 
thorns  of  sin  and  iniquity.  What  then  must  be  the  cause  of  so 
wide-spread  an  evil  ?  Must  we  account  for  it  by  saying  that  the 
true  faith  has  been  entirely  banished  from  the  world  ?  Certainly 
not.  The  cause  is  simply  this,  that  the  serious  thought  and  the 
careful  study  of  the  truths  of  faith  has  been  banished ;  because, 
there  is  no  one  that  considereth  in  the  heart.  Few  indeed  are  they 
who  enter  into  themselves  and  ponder  attentively  how  things 
stand  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  how  altogether  different  they  are 
from  what  they  seem  to  the  feeble  eyes  of  this  our  body. 

156.  Let  us  then  confess  the  truth.  What  Christian  would 
dare  to  commit  a  mortal  sin,  if  every  day  he  were  to  think 
of  the  strict  account  which  sometime  he  will  have  to  give 
before  the  awful  tribunal  of  God,  his  judge ;  or  of  the  eternal 
joys  which  he  forfeits,  and  of  the  terrible  and  never-ending 

*  Desolatione  desolata  est  omnis  terra,  quia  nullus  est  qui  recogitet  corde. 
Jerem.  c.  xii.  12. 


156  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

pains  which  he  deserves,  by  one  single  mortal  sin  ?  Who  would 
ever  fall  into  mortal  sin  if  he  were  to  reflect  upon  the  infinite 
majesty  and  loveliness  of  the  God  he  outrages  so  grievously? 
or  of  the  insults,  the  injuries,  the  contumely,  the  sorrows,  the 
torments,  the  shameful  death  to  which  the  same  great  God  sub 
mitted  Himself  in  hatred  of  such  sin  ?  I  might  say  the  same  of 
a  thousand  other  motives  suggested  by  our  holy  faith  :  motives 
which  have  the  fullest  power  to  hold  our  will  in  allegiance,  and 
keep  it  from  transgressing  the  commandments  of  the  divine  law. 
It  is,  then,  from  not  meditating  upon  things  which  are  indeed 
only  known  too  well  and  which  are  believed  too  unmistakably, 
that  all  evil  comes  into  the  world.  So  true  is  this,  that  a  single 
meditation,  even  reluctantly  undertaken  and  with  a  bad  grace,  has 
sometimes  sufficed  to  lead  back  to  the  right  road  of  virtue  a 
person  that  had  gone  astray.  From  numberless  instances  I  will 
select  one  by  which  this  truth  may  be  made  clear,  and  by  which 
all  the  teaching  lately  propounded  may  be  confirmed  by  ex 
perience. 

157.  Sister  Mary  Bonaventure,  a  nun  in  the  well-known 
convent  of  Torre  de'  Specchi  in  Rome,  had  been  endowed  by 
God  with  all  the  gifts  fitted  to  adorn,  I  should  say  the  grand 
lady  of  fashion  that  she  was,  rather  than  the  good  religious  that 
she  professed  to  be  :  for  to  nobility  of  birth,  to  personal  beauty,  to- 
quickness  of  wit  and  charm  of  manner,  together  with  elevation  of 
mind,  she  added  the  lustre  of  learning  acquired  by  a  well-directed 
and  wide  study  of  literature.  But  alas  !  she  failed  to  join  to  all 
these  gifts  of  nature  those  which  more  properly  belong  to  a  nun — 
recollection,  devotion,  piety,  observance  of  rule ;  so  all  her 
treasures  lay  unused  and  unhonoured,  like  jewels  without  their 
setting.  It  happened  that  when  the  community  were  anxious  to 
go  into  retreat  for  some  days,  to  meditate  on  the  chief  truths  of 
faith  in  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius,  Sister  Bonaventure, 
as  one  entirely  estranged  from  all  such  devotional  exercises,  made 
merry  about  the  whole  affair,  turning  it  into  joke,  and  bidding 
them  to  go  into  retreat  by  all  means,  and  to  betake  themselves  to, 
the  wilderness.  "  For  me,"  she  said,  "  it  is  enough  to  have  made 
myself  a  nun;  I  have  no  mind  to  make  myself  a  hermit.  Get 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MEDITATION.  157 

yourselves  canonised ;  spend  your  time  in  ecstasies,  disembodied 
spirits  that  you  are  !  I,  who  am  made  of  flesh  and  blood,  choose 
to  remain  on  earth,  and  to  busy  myself  with  my  ordinary  occupa 
tions."  However,  by  the  inspiration  of  God  she  went  to  the  first 
meditation  given,  which  was  upon  the  end  for  which  man  had 
been  created  by  God  ;  and  with  all  the  attention  of  her  mind  she 
set  herself  to  think  out  this  great  truth.  So  deep  was  the  im 
pression  made  upon  her  soul  by  this  meditation,  that  she  sought 
out  her  Director  at  once,  and  kneeling  at  his  feet,  uttered  these 
few  but  weighty  words  :  "  Father,  it  will  not  do  to  trifle  with 
God  any  longer.  I  have  now  clearly  learnt  what  that  is  in  me 
which  excites  the  grievous  displeasure  of  Almighty  God  and 
what  it  is  that  He  demands  of  me.  I  mean  to  make  myself  a 
Saint.  But  that  is  saying  too  little.  I  mean  to  make  myself  a 
great  Saint,  and  to  make  myself  one  without  further  delay."  She 
would  have  said  more,  but  was  forced  to  give  outlet  to  her  tears. 
She  spoke  no  more  with  her  lips,  but  she  began  to  speak  by  her 
actions  :  withdrawing  to  her  own  room,  she  wrote  out,  and  laid 
.at  the  foot  of  the  Crucifix,  an  unreserved  offering  of  her  whole 
self.  Then  she  put  away  all  her  vain  ornaments,  she  banished 
from  her  room  whatever  was  superfluous,  and  gave  herself  up 
to  a  recollected,  devout,  mortified,  exemplary  and  penitential 
life,  in  which  she  persevered  till  the  time  of  her  death.* 
Now,  I  have  one  question  to  ask.  Before  this  nun  made  that 
meditation,  did  she  or  did  she  not  know  that  man  had  been 
created  only  to  serve  God?  Who  can  have  a  doubt  on  the 
matter?  Why,  this  is  an  article  of  faith  known  to  every  child 
that  has  just  arrived  at  the  use  of  reason.  How  happened  it 
then,  that  this  great  truth  was  for  so  many  years  powerless  to  set 
that  nun  free  from  a  tepidity  so  ruinous,  and  to  restore  her  to 
the  pathway  of  perfection  ?  The  reason  is  obvious  to  any  one. 
It  was  because  she  had  never  before  reflected  seriously  upon  the 
truth ;  never  made  it  the  subject  of  careful  meditation.  If,  there 
fore,  people  of  the  world  would  every  day  direct  their  thoughts 
to  some  single  one  of  all  those  many  truths  of  Christianity, 
which  they  do  indeed  hold  with  unwavering  faith,  we  should  no 

*  Lancisius.  Opusc.  vi.,  cap.  2. 


158  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

longer  see  so  much  licentiousness  in  their  manner  of  living,  nor  so 
much  depravity  in  their  moral  character.  And  hence  it  seems  to 
me  the  honest  truth,  that  all  the  desolation  of  spirit  which  we 
notice  amongst  persons  living  a  worldly  life,  has  its  origin  in  lack 
of  meditation  :  because  there  is  no  one  that  considereth  in  the  heart. 

158.  Now  if  meditation  be  so  important  an  aid  to  the  keeping 
of  God's  law  in  the  substance  of  its  precepts,  we  must  own  in 
addition  that  it  is  altogether  indispensable  for  keeping  that  law 
in  the  perfection  of  its  precepts  and  its  counsels ;  considering 
how  much  harder  it  is  to  do  this,  and  how  painful  a  struggle  it 
involves.  But  to  tread  upon  safe  ground  in  a  matter  of  such 
moment,  we  must  first  make  good  this  truth,  that  true  Christian 
perfection  consists  in  devotion  to  God ;  understanding  devotion, 
of  course,  in  the  sense  intended  by  Saint  Thomas  of  Aquin,  not 
in  the  sense  it  more  commonly  bears  among  Catholics.  Most 
are  apt  to  suppose  that  devotion  is  only  a  sort  of  sensible  emotion, 
or  tenderness  of  feeling,  experienced  by  spiritual  people  at  their 
prayers.  But  in  good  truth  they  err  greatly  who  think  thus  : 
both  because  all  this  may  be  merely  the  effect  of  a  yielding  and 
soft  character,  which  readily  takes  pleasing  impressions  from  what 
is  presented  to  the  mind  :  and  because,  even  where  such  feelings 
spring  from  grace,  they  still  are  but  the  accidents,  and  by  no 
means  the  substance,  of  devotion.  Devotion,  St.  Thomas  says — - 
and  we  shall  see  the  full  explanation  in  its  proper  place — con 
sists  in  a  readiness  of  will  to  carry  out  all  that  belongs  to  obeying, 
serving,  and  pleasing  God.  In  this  readiness  of  the  will  to  perform 
acts  of  service  and  love,  however  devoid  they  may  be  of  sensible 
fervour,  the  whole  substance  of  real  devotion  really  consists. 
Nor  is  this  at  variance  with  what  we  laid  down  in  the  beginning 
of  this  treatise,  namely,  that  perfection  consists  in  charity;  for 
this  same  charity  is  incomplete  if  it  be  not  united  to  devotion  :  I 
mean  incomplete,  if  it  be  not  prompt  to  love  the  Sovereign  Good, 
prompt  to  execute  His  will  in  all  things,  prompt  to  yield  Him 
homage,  prompt  to  pay  Him  worship,  prompt  to  give  Him  every 
pledge  of  holy  love. 

159.  Having  now  laid  the  foundation,  I  assert  with  the  Angelic 
Doctor  that  in  order  to  the  acquisition  of  this  devotion,  which 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MEDITATION.  159 

gives  birth  to  an  eager  and  active  charity  (and  consequently  to 
perfection),  meditation  is  an  essential  means.  Here  are  the 
words  of  St.  Thomas  himself :  "  To  produce  devotion  there  must 
necessarily  be  meditation,  as  the  instrumental  and  remote  cause ; 
inasmuch  as  man,  by  means  of  meditation,  conceives  a  certain 
readiness  of  will  to  consecrate  himself  entirely  to  the  service  of 
God.  And  this  for  two  reasons  :  First,  because  he  who  meditates- 
much,  considers  how  great  is  the  goodness  of  God,  and  how 
countless  the  benefits  which  the  Almighty  has  bestowed  upon 
him  :  secondly,  because  he  who  meditates  much,  has  his  attention 
called  to  his  own  defects,  and  dwells  upon  the  thought  of  his  own 
miseries.  By  the  consideration  of  God's  goodness  and  benefits, 
there  is  lighted  up  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  meditate,  that  holy  love 
which  wakes  devotion  and  renders  them  alert  and  active  in  every 
thing  that  concerns  the  service  of  God.  By  the  knowledge  of 
their  own  weaknesses  all  presumption  is  kept  away  and  humility 
is  engendered, — that  lowly  opinion  of  self,  I  mean,  which  makes 
us  submissive  to  God,  and  prepares  us  to  receive  the  gift  of  holy 
love,  and  to  attain  true  devotion  to  the  Almighty.*  Thus  charity, 
eager  and  active,  is  found  to  be  the  proximate,  and  meditation 
the  remote,  cause  of  devotion.  This  teaching  of  the  Angel  of  the 
Schools  rests  upon  another  maxim  of  St.  Augustine,  or  at  least  of 
some  writer  who  goes  by  his  name,  which  no  way  differs  from  the 
former : — "  Of  meditation  devotion  is  born  ;  for  by  the  considera 
tion  of  our  own  miseries,  humility  and  compunction  are  produced 
in  our  souls  :  by  the  consideration  of  God's  goodness  there  is 
begotten  within  us  a  feeling  of  piety  and  love,  which  (as  St.  Thomas 


*  Necesse  est,  quod  meditatio  sit  devotionis  causa,  in  quantum,  scilicet, 
homo  per  meditationem  concipit,  quod  se  tradat  divino  obsequio ;  ad  quod 
quidem  inducit  duplex  consideratio  :  una  quidem,  quse  est  ex  parte  divinae 
bonitatis,  et  beneficiorum  ipsius,  secundum  illud  Psalmi  62  :  Mihi  adhcerere 
Deo  bonum  est,  et  ponere  in  Domino  Deo  spcm  meant ;  et  haec  consideratio 
excitat  dilectionem,  quae  est  proxima  devotionis  causa.  Alia  vero  ex  parte 
hominis  considerantis  suos  defectus,  ex  quibus  indiget  ut  Deo  innitatur,  secun 
dum  illud  Psalmi  120:  Levavi  oculos  meos  in  monies,  unde  veniet  auxilium  mihi: 
Auxilium  nieum  a  Domino,  qui  fait  cesium  et  terrain.  Et  hsec  consideratio 
excludit  prsesumptionem,  per  quam  aliquis  impeditur  ne  Deo  se  subjiciat,  dum 
suce  virtuti  innititur.  2,  2,  q,.  82,  art.  3.  in  corp. 


160  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

tells  us,  and  reason  itself  shows)  makes  easy  to  us  whatever  is 
connected  with  the  service  of  God."*  From  this  we  gather 
demonstrably  that  for  obtaining  a  humble  knowledge  of  ourselves, 
for  arriving  at  great  love  of  God,  and  readiness  to  serve  Him  in 
the  practice  of  solid  virtues, — in  one  word,  for  acquiring  true 
devotion,  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  perfect  charity  and  of  all  the 
virtues,  the  use  of  holy  meditation  is  absolutely  necessary. 

1 60.  This  is  so  true  that  Cajetan,  commenting  upon  the  above 
quoted  passage  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  does  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  spiritual  persons,  whether  in  religion  or  in  the  world,  who  do 
not  devote  a  fixed  time  every  day  to  meditating  upon  some  truth 
of  faith,  to  the  exclusion  of  an  unwise  accumulation  of  vocal  prayers 
to  which  they  may  be  addicted,  do  not  deserve  to  be  called,  far 
less  to  be  thought  in  reality  to  be,  religious  or  spiritual  persons. 
He  founds  this  assertion  upon  the  teaching  of  St.  Thomas,  cited 
above,  that   meditation   is    the    cause    on    which    depends    the 
acquirement  of  devotion,  and,  as  a  consequence,  of  every  other 
virtue.     So  that,  to  hope  for  perfection  without  practising  medita 
tion,  is  the  same  thing,  in  his  idea,  as  to  look  for  an  effect  without 
its  cause,  an  end  without  the  means;  or,  to  use  his  very  words, 
to  make  sure  of  arriving  in  port  without  setting  sail  and  leaving 
landt 

1 6 1.  And  lest  the  reader  should  be  tempted  to  think  that  the 
words   of  this   great  theologian   are   somewhat   exaggerated,  he 
must  know  that  the  ancient  Fathers  entertained  the  same  opinion 
of  the  necessity  which  all  those  are  under  who  strive  after  per 
fection,  of  consecrating  some  time,  at  least,  every  day,  to  the 


*  Meditatio  parit  scientiam,  scientia  compunctionem,  compunctio  devotionem, 
devotio  perficit  orationem.  .  .  .  Devotio  est  plus  et  humilis  affectus  in  Deum  ; 
humilis  ex  conscientift  infirmitatis  proprise,  plus  ex  consideratione  divinse 
dementia?.  In  Lib.  de  Spir.  et  Anima,  cap.  50. 

f  Ex  hujusmodi  namque  meditationibus,  quse  quotidians  esse  debent  reli- 
giosis  et  spiritualibus  personis,  omisso  vocalium  orationum  multiloquio,  devotio, 
aliseque  consequenter  gignuntur  virtutes  :  nee  religiosi,  aut  religiosse,  seu  spi- 
ritalis  etiam  nomine  vocari  potest,  qui  saltern  semel  in  die  ad  hujusmodi  se 
non  transfert.  Quomodo  namque  effectus  absque  causa,  finis  absque  medio, 
insularis  portus  absque  navigatione  haberi  nequit  ;  sic  religio  in  actu  absque 
frequentibus  actibus  harum  causarum,  mediorum,  ac  vehiculorum. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  M EDIT  A  TION.  161 

practice  of  holy  meditation.  St.  Jerome,  writing  to  Celantia,  tells 
her  that  she  must  put  aside  in  her  palace  some  inner  rooms,  to 
which,  as  to  some  haven  of  repose,  she  can  every  day  betake 
herself,  and  escape  from  the  tossing  waves  of  household  cares , 
there,  with  the  consideration  of  eternal  truths,  she  is  to  soothe  her 
troubled  soul  and  restore  it  to  deep  calm ;  and  there  also  by  the 
light  of  meditation,  she  has  to  settle  with  herself  what  line  of 
conduct  to  adopt  with  the  members  of  her  household  in  various 
contingencies,  that  being  thus  helped,  she  may  go  through  her 
daily  duties  with  all  fitting  perfection.  * 

162.  An  explanation  may  now  be  given  of  two  important 
facts :  the  first,  that  our  Blessed  Lord  often  withdrew  all 
alone  to  some  high  mountain,  and  there,  at  the  dead  hour  of 
night,  gave  Himself  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  things,  t 
What  need  had  He  of  this  retirement,  this  silence  and  solitude  ? 
For  even  while  He  was  yet  a  mortal  man,  He  enjoyed  the 
Beatific  Vision,  and  with  one  single  glance  of  His  mind  could  take 
in  all  the  power  and  truth  of  God.  Most  certainly  He  could 
have  had  no  need  for  Himself ;  for  us,  however,  He  had  need. 
Yes,  it  must  have  been  that  we  might  understand  how  great  is 
the  want  we  have  of  withdrawing,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  to 
some  lonely  place,  to  meditate  on  those  eternal  truths  which  do 
not  manifest  themselves  to  us  unless  we  take  the  pains  to  think 
of  them.  The  second  fact  is,  that  the  Saints  were  much  given 
to  the  practice  of  meditation ;  for  we  shall  more  easily  find  in 
history  a  soldier  unaccustomed  to  the  use  of  his  weapons,  than  a 
holy  Confessor  unused  to  the  meditation  or  the  contemplation  of 
supernatural  and  heavenly  things.  In  the  Life  of  St.  Bernardine  of 

*  Ita  habeto  sollicitudinem  domus,  ut  aliquam  tamen  vacationem  animse 
tribuas.  Eligatur  tibi  opportunus  et  aliquantum  a  familioe  strepitu  remotus 
locus,  in  quern  veluti  in  portum,  quasi  ex  multa-  tempestate  curarum  te 
recipias,  et  excitatos  fori  cogitationum  fluctus  secreti  tranquillitate  componas. 
Tantum  sit  divinae  legis  studium,  tarn  crebrse  cogitationum  vices,  tarn  firma 
et  pressa  de  futuris  cogitatio,  ut  reliqui  temporis  occupationes  facile  hae 
vacatione  compenses.  Nee  hoc  ideo  dico,  quod  te  retraham  a  tuis ;  immo  id 
agimus,  ut  ibi  discas,  ibique  mediteris,  qualem  tuis  prsebere  te  debeas. 

t  Ascendit  in  montem  solus  orare.  Exiit  in  montera  orare  et  erat  per» 
noctans  in  oratione  Dei.  Matth.  xiv.  23 ;  vi.  12. 

VOL.  I.  II 


i62  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Sienna  we  read  that  he  was  so  scrupulous  in  every  day  spending 
some  time.with  God  in  holy  and  fruitful  contemplation,  that  at 
the  stated  time  he  would  let  no  one  come  to  see  him,  and  was 
like  a  man  who  did  not  belong  to  this  world.*  I  am  still  more 
struck  by  the  high  esteem  of  mental  prayer  which  made  the 
learned  Father  Suarez  often  say,  that  sooner  than  forego  one  hour 
of  his  accustomed  meditations,  he  would  gladly  renounce  all  his 
learning,  though  gained  at  the  cost  of  such  deep  study.  These 
great  servants  of  God  had  fully  mastered  the  grand  idea  of  St. 
Thomas,  that  from  meditation,  as  from  its  own  fountain-head, 
must  spring  that  true  devotion  which  has  power  to  make  us 
prompt  to  serve,  and  in  all  things  to  seek  to  please,  our  good 
and  loving  God.  And  therefore  they  were  no  less  scrupulously 
exact  in  the  performance  of  it,  than  they  were  resolute  never  to 
omit  their  wonted  practice.  That  man  truly  may  give  up  all  hope 
of  making  progress  in  Christian  perfection  who  neglects,  or  does 
not  take  the  trouble  to  use  this  necessary  means  of  advance  in 
Christian  holiness. 

163.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  when,  upon  the 
authority  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  I  lay  down  the  principle  that 
meditation  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  perfection, 
I  by  no  means  wish  to  say  that  this  necessity  exists  in  every  case,  or 
that  there  is,  in  the  language  of  the  schools,  any  absolute  necessity, 
whether  physical  or  metaphysical ;  because  I  am  of  opinion  that 
illiterate  persons,  incapable  of  working  out  a  train  of  thought  for 
themselves,  are  assisted  by  Almighty  God,  either  through  the  in 
strumentality  of  spiritual  reading,  if  they  can  read,  or  of  vocal 
prayer  practised  at  greater  length  than  is  usual.  By  these  means, 
I  feel  sure,  God  communicates  to  them  those  interior  lights  and 
impulses  which  make  them  eager  to  serve  Him  and  to  do  His  will. 
All  I  mean  to  say  is,  that  meditation  is  of  mere  moral  necessity, 
and  for  those  only  who  are  able  to  use  it.  Of  these  alone  is  it 
true  that  it  is  most  difficult  and  morally  impossible  to  acquire 
perfection  without  the  daily  use  of  meditation. 

*  Quotidie  una  hora  vacabat  suse  devotion!,  acque  interim  nulli  patebat 
accessus,  neque  principi,  neque  regi,  sed  cogebat  exspectare  omnes.  Surius  in 
Vita,  cap.  31. 


PREPARA  TION  FOR  MEDITA  TION.  163 

CHAPTER  II. 

PREPARATION    FOR   MEDITATION. 

164.  THERE  are  two  'kinds  of  preparation  which  devout  persons 
should  ordinarily  make  before  meditating  :  of  these  one  is  remote, 
and  consists  in  having  our  passions  under  control,  and  preserving 
purity  of  heart  and  interior  recollection  in  the  midst  of  exterior 
and  distracting  occupations.     Of  this,  however,  we  have  not  to 
speak  at  present,  for  it  will  form  the  subject  of  several  Articles  in 
the  course  of  our  work.     The  other  kind  of  preparation  is  immedi- 
•ate,  and  consists  of  certain  acts  by  which  a  person  predisposes  him 
self  at  the  beginning  of  the  meditation  to  make  it  well.     For,  if 
the  laws  of  prudence  will  not  allow  us  to  undertake  any  great 
enterprise  without  first  making  due  preparation ;  how  much  less 
right  have  we  to  enter  upon    familiar  intercourse  with    God  in 
meditation,  without  disposing  ourselves  beforehand  by  fitting  pre 
paration,  considering  that  it  is  a  matter  of  so  high  importance? 
And  if  no  subject  could  be  found  so  devoid  of  courtesy  that, 
before  seeking  audience  of  his  king,  he  would  not  make  himself 
neat  and  clean,  and  pay  minute  attention  to  his  dress,  in  order  to 
make  a  creditable  appearance  before  his  Sovereign ;  how  much 
more  should  we  not  always,  when  seeking  audience  with  the  King 
of  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  about  to  spend  some  time  with  Him 
in  familiar  conversation,  previously  deck  and  trim  our  soul  with 
various  acts  of  virtue,  so  to  become  pleasing  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Divine  Majesty  ?     And  this  the  more  because,  if  we  usher  our 
selves    into  God's    presence  without    the    due    preparation,  we 
cannot  hope  to  win  from  the  Almighty  the  aid  we  need  for  the 
good  success  of  our  meditations :  rather  should  we  seem  to  be 
tempting  God,  and  to  be  guilty  of  an  act  of  temerity.*     Of  this 
immediate  preparation,  therefore,  which  must  always  be  made  at 
the  beginning  of  meditation,  I  will  speak  in  this  Chapter,  setting 
forth  the  three  acts  of  which  it  consists ;  namely  :  first,   putting 

*  Ante  orationem  praepara  animam  tuain,  et  noli  esse  quasi  homo  qui  ten- 
tat  Deum.     Ecclus.  xviij.  23, 

II — 2 


164  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

ourselves  in  the  presence  of  God ;  secondly,  imploring  His  help ; 
thirdly,  making  the  "  composition  of  place,"  according  to  the  par 
ticular  mysteries  proposed  for  meditation.  Let  us  begin  with  the 
first  of  these. 

165.  The  putting  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  God  consists  in 
making  an  act  of  faith  that  Almighty  God  is  present  to  us,  seeing 
us  and  watching  us,  not  only  as  to  our  external  posture,  but  also 
as  to  the  interior  movements  of  our  mind  and  heart.  This  act 
of  the  presence  of  God  may  be  assisted  by  some  material  and 
sensible  image,  to  give  a  lively  idea  of  it ;  though  it  can  also 
be  made  without  any  such  gross  imaginings  of  our  soul.  This 
second  manner  of  putting  ourselves  in  God's  presence  has  place 
when  we  make  an  act  of  faith  that  God  is  present  indeed,  but 
without  conceiving  of  Him  under  any  bodily  shape  or  appear 
ance,  and  only  under  the  general  notion  of  the  Infinite  Good,  the 
Infinite  Love,  the  Infinite  Greatness,  the  Infinite  Beauty,  the 
Infinite  Majesty,  which  we  know  to  be  surrounding  us  on  every 
side,  penetrating  our  inmost  being,  as  a  sponge  plunged  into  the 
sea  is  soaked  through  and  through  and  enveloped  on  all  sides 
with  water.  This  way  of  conceiving  the  presence  of  God  is  more 
perfect  and  secure,  because  it  addresses  itself  more  directly  to 
the  intellect,  and  is  founded  on  faith  alone.  It  belongs,  there 
fore,  to  such  as  are  already  somewhat  versed  in  the  art  of  medi 
tating.  It  addresses  itself,  I  have  said,  to  the  intellect :  and  yet 
in  reality  this  conception  of  God,  though  it  be  so  very  general 
and  free  from  material  images,  is  not,  for  all  that,  quite  unaccom 
panied  by  some  kind  of  phantasms ;  for  our  intellect,  so  long  as  it  is 
tied  down  by  this  wretched  body,  cannot  exercise  its  own  spiritual 
acts  without  some -concurrent  working  of  the  imaginative  faculty; 
(if,  that  is,  we  except  the  highest  kind  of  contemplation,  which 
does  not  enter  into  our  present  subject,  and  must  not  be  treated 
of  now) :  still,  the  imagery  which  finds  place  in  such  a  conception 
of  the  presence  of  God  is  far  from  being  of  a  gross  and  material 
kind,  and  is  less  out  of  harmony  with  the  divine  object  itself. 

1 66.  The  first  mode  of  picturing  to  ourselves  the  presence  of 
God  comes  into  use  when,  at  the  very  outset  of  our  prayer,  the 
mind  represents  Almighty  God  under  some  material  and  bodily 


PREPARA  TION  FOR  M EDIT  A  TION.  165 

shape :  as  for  instance  under  the  form  of  unclouded  light,  which, 
pervades  every  part  of  the  universe,  brightening  and  vivifying  all 
things  with  its  radiance  :  or  as  He  is  seen  in  heaven,  seated  on  a 
dazzling  throne  of  glory  encircled  by  the  Angelic  Hosts ;  or  under 
some  similar  representation.  The  idea  of  the  presence  of  God, 
formed  in  this  manner  by  the  aid  of  the  imagination,  conduces 
much  to  excite  a  feeling  of  reverence  and  awe,  and  of  humble  self- 
recollection.  For  when  we  poor  wretched  mortals  see  ourselves, 
who  lie  like  reptiles  all  the  days  of  our  lives  in  the  marshy  waste  of 
this  earth,  suddenly  standing  before  the  throne  of  God's  majesty 
in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  the  whole  court  of  heaven,  we 
cannot  choose  but  feel  a  certain  reverential  fear  and  deep  humility, 
which  help  much  to  fix  our  attention  during  our  meditation. 

167.  This  act  of  the  presence  of  God,  as  conceived  by  the  aid 
of  the  imagination,  though  it  be  very  good  and  useful,  is  notwith 
standing  less  perfect  than  the  other,  which  rests  upon  faith  alone ; 
both  because  it  has  less  of  the  action  of  the  intellect,  and  because 
it  is  farther  from  the  truth  in  its  mode  of  representing  the  object 
and  is  more  exposed  to  illusion.     Still,  St.  Augustine  is  of  opinion 
that  for  beginners  and  imperfect  souls,  who,  on    the   one  hand, 
cannot  take  in  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  and  incorporeal  essence  in 
God,  and  are,  on  the  other  hand,  very  sensible  to  the  impressions 
of  exterior  beauty,  it  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  picture  the  divine  pre 
sence  under  some  corporeal  shape :  and  instead  of  representing 
•God  as  on  earth,  to  imagine   Him  in  heaven,  high-throned  in 
His  majesty  and  glory.*     And  therefore,  should  the  Director  per 
ceive  that,  from  the  thought  of  the  presence  of  God  as  conceived 
with  the  aid  of  some  sensible  image,  a  penitent  (especially  if  a 
beginner)  is  moved  to  submission,  reverence,  and  recollection  of 
.soul,  he  may  recommend  it  to  him  as  a  useful  practice. 

1 6 8.  He  should,  however,  tell  the  penitent  to  correct  these 


*  Convenit  etiam  gradibus  religionis  et  plurimum  expedit,  ut  omnium  sen- 
•sibus  et  parvulorum  et  niagnorum  bene  sentiatur  de  Deo ;  et  ideo,  qui  visibili- 
ims  adhuc  pulchritudinibus  dediti  sunt,  nee  possunt  aliquid  incorporeum  cogi- 
tare,  quoniam.  necesse  est  ut  ccelum  praeferant  terrae,  tolerabilior  est  opinio 
eorum,  si  Deum,  quern  adhuc  corporaliter  cogitant,  in  coelo  potius  credant 
•esse  quam  in 'terra.  De  Serm.  Dom.  in  Monte,  lib.  ij.,  cap.  5. 


166  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

imaginations  as  soon  as  they  have  produced  the  desired  effect,  by 
considering  within  himself  how  God  is  a  Being  of  majesty,  beauty, 
and  power,  far  surpassing  anything  which  he  has  been  able  to- 
picture  to  himself  by  any  poor  endeavours  of  his  mind.  And  two 
reasons  may  be  adduced  for  this.  The  first,  because  the  Director 
will  thus  enhance  his  penitent's  opinion  and  esteem  of  the  greatness 
of  God,  and  will  strengthen  his  feelings  of  interior  reverence  and 
compunction.  The  second,  because  by  this  counsel  penitents  will 
avoid  the  error  of  the  Anthropomorphite  heretics,  which  entrapped 
many  monks  in  ancient  times,  and  from  which  even  now  ignorant 
people  are  not  safe — the  error,  namely,  of  giving  to  God  a  certain 
form  and  figure ;  a  thing  altogether  incompatible  with  that  most 
pure  essence  which  belongs  to  our  great  God  :  as  is  well  remarked 
by  Cassian.* 

169.  I  must  be  allowed  to  mention  here  what  the  same  Cassian 
relates  of  Serapion,  a  monk  of  consummate  virtue,  and  very 
highly  esteemed  among  the  ancient  Fathers  of  his  time ;  for  the 
anecdote  is  calculated  to  make  Directors  very  cautious,  t  This 
Serapion  was  a  great  servant  of  God,  and  it  was  through  pure 
simplicity  and  ignorance  that  he  fell  into  the  above-named  error. 
Believing  that  Almighty  God  was  like  material  things,  and  had 
a  definite  shape,  the  image  he  had  formed  of  the  Almighty  was 
ever  before  him,  deeply  graven  upon  his  soul.  The  erroneous 
notion  of  giving  God  a  shape  had  spread  widely  among  the  mon 
asteries  of  Egypt,  and  neither  the  letters  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  nor  the  admonition  of  Paphnutius,  who  was  both  monk 
and  priest,  were  able  to  remove  it  from  Serapion's  mind.  But  in 
the  end,  Almighty  God,  moved  to  pity  by  the  fifty  years  of  austere 
and  holy  life  passed  in  those  deserts,  caused  Serapion  to  surrender  to 
the  arguments  of  a  monk  named  Phosimus,  acknowledge  his  error, 
and  retract  it  in  presence  of  the  other  monks.  Whilst  all,  prostrate 

*  Incomprehensibilem  et  ineffabilem  veri  Numinis  majestatem  sub  circum- 
*criptione  alicujus  sestimant  imaginis  adorandam,  nihil  se  tenere  credentes,  si 
propositam  non  habuerint  imaginem  quamdam,  quam  in  supplicatione  positi 
jugiter  interpellent,  eamque  circumferant  mente,  et  oculis  teneant  semper 
dffixam.  Coll.  x.,  cap.  4, 

1*  Ibid.,  cap.  2. 


PREP  A  RA  TION  FOR  MED  IT  A  TION,  167 

in  prayer,  were  thanking  God  that  a  man  of  such  high  virtue  had 
come  at  last  to  recognise,  and  sincerely  put  away  from  his  mind, 
this  false  notion,  Serapion  too  joined  with  them;  but  not  finding 
God,  as  before,  in  his  prayer,  deprived  as  it  now  was  of  those 
corporeal  images  under  which  he  had  been  used  to  represent 
the  Divinity,  he  broke  into  affectionate  complaint,  and  sighing 
deeply,  cried  out  before  them  all :  "  Woe  is  me  !  they  have  taken 
away  my  God  ;  I  am  left  without  support ;  I  have  no  one  to  cling 
to  in  my  prayer ;  I  know  not  Whom  I  must  adore,  nor  to  Whom 
my  petitions  are  to  be  addressed-"*  From  which  we  may  most 
clearly  perceive  that  the  servant  of  God  gave  firm  credence  to 
those  imaginations  by  which  he  pictured  God  quite  other  than 
what  He  really  is,  and  was  strongly  attached  to  the  feelings  of 
sensible  devotion  which  sprang  from  those  fanciful  creations  of  his 
brain.  Hence  let  the  Director  hold  fast  the  truth,  that  it  is  safer 
to  establish  the  presence  of  God  by  simple  acts  of  faith  ;  and  that 
if  recourse  be  had  to  some  sensible  image  to  serve  as  a  support 
to  the  mind  and  awaken  in  the  heart  a  feeling  of  reverence  for 
God,  this  should  afterwards  be  corrected  in  the  manner  above 
mentioned.  After  steeping  ourselves  in  an  atmosphere  of  faith, 
we  should  next  prostrate  ourselves  before  God  in  an  act  of  deep 
adoration  ;  and  it  were  well  and  wise  to  add  an  act  of  contrition 
for  clearing  away  every  stain  and  acquiring  grace  and  favour  in 
the  sight  of  the  All-Holy. 

170.  Placed  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  having  made  an  act 
of  profound  adoration,  the  devout  soul  should  now  proceed  to 
beg,  in  fervent  and  humble  prayer,  light  to  penetrate  deeply 
the  truths  to  be  considered,  and  a  corresponding  grace  to  move 
the  will.t  This  should  be  done  without  fail  at  the  commence 
ment  of  every  meditation ;  for  it  is  essential  to  the  good  success 
of  the  prayer.  The  reason  need  not  be  sought  far ;  because 

*  Heu  me  miserum  !  tulerunt  a  me  Deum,  et  quern  nunc  teneam  non  habeo ; 
vel  quern  adorem,  aut  interpellem  jam  nescio. 

+  Loquere   Domine,   qui  audit  servus  tuus.     2    Reg.,  iij.  9.     Anima   mea 
sicut  terra  sine  aqua  tibi.     Velociter  exaudi  me  Domine.     Fs.  clxij.  6,  7. 
Veni  Sancte  Spiritus, 
Et  emitte  coelitus, 
Lucis  tuee  radium. 


168  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

although  meditation  requires  industry  on  our  part  in  examining 
into  the  subject  and  reasoning  upon  it,  still  the  effect  of  meditat 
ing  depends  upon  God's  grace,  which  gives  light  to  the  mind  and 
warmth  to  the  heart  And  in  fact,  experience  teaches  us  that 
sometimes  an  untaught  girl  will  make  a  better  meditation  than 
a  theologian  of  high  mental  powers,  simply  because  God's  grace 
works  more  powerfully  upon  her  soul  than  upon  his.  Nor  is 
there  any  other  way  of  winning  this  grace  than  to  ask  it  with 
great  humility  and  much  faith.  Almighty  God  is  easily  gained 
over  by  humble  and  trustful  prayer  to  grant  His  help  in  great 
abundance. 

171.  Lastly,  the  composition  of  place  must  be  formed  in  the 
mind.  If  the  mystery  proposed  for  meditation  contain  truths 
that  fall  under  the  senses,  as  in  the  life  and  sufferings  of  our 
Saviour,  or  in  the  great  truths  of  Death,  Judgment,  Hell, 
Eternity,  and  the  like ;  these  things  should  be  pictured  to  the 
mind  as  though  we  saw  them  present,  and  were  in  the  midst 
of  them,  looking  upon  them  as  they  actually  did  happen  or 
will  one  day  happen.  To  this  vivid  representation  of  the  differ 
ent  mysteries,  St.  Bonaventure  ascribes  a  large  share  of  the 
good  to  be  gained  from  meditation  on  these  subjects.  "  If,"  he 
says,  "  you  would  derive  much  fruit  from  the  words  and  actions 
of  Jesus  Christ,  lay  aside  all  thought  of  worldly  cares,  and  think 
of  Him  as  if  really  present  before  you;  as  though  with  your 
ears  you  heard  Him  speaking,  with  your  eyes  beheld  Him  labour 
ing  or  suffering  for  love  of  you ;  and  with  much  feeling  hold  long 
and  loving  converse  with  Him."*  The  Saint  lays  so  much  stress 
upon  these  representations,  that  in  another  place  he  does  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  on  these  depends  in  some  sort  all  the  good 
effect  of  our  meditations,  f  It  should  be  remarked,  however, 

*  Tu  si  ex  his,  quae  per  Dominum  Jesum  dicta  et  facta  narrantur,  fructum 
sum  ere  cupis ;  ita  te  prassentem  exhibeas,  ac  si  tuis  auribus  et  oculis  ea 
•videres,  toto  mentis  affectu,  diligenter,  delectabiliter  et  morose,  omnibus  aliis 
curis  et  sollicitudinibus  tune  omissis.  In  Prolog.  Medit.  Vitas  Christi. 

t  Rem  per  Dominum  Jesum  Christum  gestam,  vel  dictam  ante  oculos  mentis 
ponas,  ut  cum  eo  converseris,  et  familiaris  fias :  nam  in  hoc  videtur  haberi 
major  dulcedo,  et  devotio  efficacior,  et  quasi  totus  fructus  meditationis  con- 
sistere.  Idem,  in  Medit.,  cap.  18. 


PREPARA  TION  FOR  MED  IT  A  TION.  169 

that  beginners  must  dwell  upon  these  representations  more  than 
proficients  or  the  perfect ;  because  beginners  have  less  under 
standing  of  holy  things,  and  consequently  more  need  of  help  from 
the  imagination  to  fix  their  thoughts  and  to  excite  warmth  of 
feeling  towards  these  sacred  objects.  But  the  more  advanced, 
who  can  use  their  minds  with  greater  freedom  and  fulness,  after 
having  spent  a  short  time  in  forming  some  such  image,  may  pass 
at  once  to  loftier  considerations,  and  to  acts  of  the  will  which  are 
more  pure  and  more  perfect. 

172.  But  if  the  subjects  for  meditation  be  some  truths  apart 
from  all  material  things,  as  for  example,  the  goodness  of  God, 
His  beauty,  His  greatness,  &c.  ;  or  the  excellence  and  loveliness 
of  virtue,  and  the  like ;  it  will  then  be  better  not  to  construct  such 
sensible  images,  which  would  be  too  far  from  the  truth — 
exception  must  be  made,  however,  even  here  for  the  case  of 
beginners,  who  are  so  material  in  all  things  that  concern  the 
spirit  that  they  cannot  dispense  with  something  material  on 
which  to  rest  their  thoughts — but  we  should  proceed  to  discuss 
the  matter  by  the  double  light  of  our  understanding  and  our 
faith.  On  the  other  hand,  the  more  perfect,  on  noticing,  as  the 
meditation  advances,  that  their  soul  is  absorbed  in  recollection, 
must  divest  themselves,  as  St.  Gregory  the  Great  tells  us,  as  far 
as  ever  they  can,  of  all  sensible  images  and  phantasms  of  the 
mind,  for  fear  of  impeding  the  action  of  unmixed  intelligence  and 
love.* 

*  Perfectam  scilicet  animam  ista  compunctio  afficere  familiarius  solet,  qu£ 
omnes  imaginationes  corporeas  insolenter  sibi  obviantes  discutit,  et  cordis 
oculos  figere  in  ipso  radio  incircumscriptae  lucis  intendit.  Has  quippe  cor- 
poralium  figurarum  species,  ad  se  intus  ex  infirmitate  corporis  traxit.  Sed 
perfecte  compuncta  hie  summopere  vigilat,  ne  cum  veritatem  quserit,  earn 
imaginatio  circumscriptse  visionis  illudat;  cunctasque  obviantes  imagines 
respuit.  Moral.  Lib.  xxiij.  cap.  13. 


1 70  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   PORTION  OF  MEDITATION  WHICH   IMMEDIATELY  FOLLOWS  THE 
PREPARATION. 

173.  AFTER  the  three  preparatory  acts  above  explained  have 
been  duly  performed,  the  next  thing  is  to  begin  the  meditation 
itself,  which  should  have  been  thought  over  beforehand  and 
arranged  under  several  heads  or  points.  If  this  has  not  been 
done,  the  subject-matter  should  at  least  be  kept  before  the  eyes 
in  some  book  in  which  it  is  developed,  and  it  should  be  carefully 
perused  and  pondered.  This  method  of  meditating  is  simply 
the  applying  the  two  powers  of  our  soul,  the  intellect  and  the 
will,  to  the  mystery  or  truth  proposed  for  consideration.  As 
soon  as  a  mystery,  or  a  principle  of  faith,  has  been  presented  to 
the  imagination,  after  the  manner  mentioned  above,  the  person 
meditating  should  endeavour  to  master  some  truth  of  religion, 
and  to  this  end  should  discourse  upon  it  with  his  mind,  now  re 
flecting  upon  it,  now  dwelling  upon  it  with  continuous  thought, 
now  making  use  of  comparisons,  similes,  and  examples,  till  the 
soul  have  realised  the  truth  in  a  lively  manner,  and  we  have 
become  thoroughly  convinced  of  its  importance  :  for  St.  Augustine 
tells  us  that  "to  meditate  is  nothing  but  to  examine  carefully 
into  some  hidden  truth."*  It  must  be  observed,  moreover,  that 
our  reasonings  and  reflections  ought  not  to  be  dry  and  specula 
tive,  and  directed  to  obtaining  a  simple  understanding  of  the 
truth;  but  rather  they  should  be  practical,  calculated  to  rouse 
the  will,  and  to  fire  it  with  the  love  of  God  and  of  solid  virtue. 
Otherwise,  we  shall  not  be  meditating,  but  studying;  and  we 
shall  succeed,  possibly  enough,  in  knowing  the  meaning  of  the 
truths  of  our  faith,  but  not  in  regulating  our  conduct  in  harmony 
with  them :  we  shall  come  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  if  you  will, 
but  certainly  not  to  His  fear  or  love.  To  sum  up  :  all  the  reason 
ing  and  reflection  which  we  employ  in  meditation  should  be 

*  Meditatio  est  occultte  veritatis  studiosa  investigatio.     Lib.   De   Spir.  et 
Anima,  cap.  30. 


ENTR  Y  ON  MED  IT  A  TION.  1 7 1 

of  such  a  nature  as  to  move  the  will  toward  the  sacred  object 
placed  before  us,  and  to  make  it  approach  so  near  as  that  we 
shall  become  enamoured  of  it.  As  St.  Augustine  says  in  the 
passage  already  quoted,  "  Meditation  should  have  force  to  make 
the  spirit  leap  up  to  God,  and  to  draw  it  so  thoroughly  from  earth 
that  God  may  Himself  come  down  and  set  it  all  on  fire  with  the 
inspirations  of  His  grace.*  In  this  manner  holy  David  used  to 
meditate,  and  therefore  he  could  say  that  "  In  his  meditations 
his  heart  was  kindled  with  the  fire  of  love."t 

174.  When   the  mind   has  deeply  penetrated  and  fully  per 
suaded  itself  of  the  truth  proposed  for  its  consideration,  the  will,, 
as  a  consequence,  is  moved  and  softened ;  this  is  the  time  for 
giving  free  play  to  the  affections  of  the  heart,  which  form  the 
entire  fruit  of  holy  meditation.     These  affections  are  as  various- 
as  the  subjects  which  we  can  choose  for  meditation :  they  may 
take  the  form  of  repentance,  grief,  hatred,  loathing,  gratitude, 
shame,  self-contempt :    of  fear,   love,  desire,  gladness,  joy,   pity> 
resolves,  petitions,  thankful  acknowledgments,  and  the  like.     The 
affections  however,   which  (as  most  conducive  to  reformation  of 
life   and  self-improvement)  should  never  be  omitted,  unless  in 
exceptional  cases,  are,  the  recognition  of  our  past  sins,  accom 
panied  by  repentance  and  humiliation ;  firm  purpose  of  amend 
ment  for  the  time  to  come ;  and  prayers  to  obtain  of  God  grace 
to  carry  out  these  purposes. 

175.  We  can  make   all  this  clear   by  a  practical  illustration. 
We  will  suppose  that  a  person  wishes  to  meditate  on  the  scourging 
of  our  Saviour,  and  that  the  fruit  he  desires  to  obtain  is  patience 
in  trouble  and  meekness  under  insult.     After  placing  himself  in 
the  presence  of  God,  and  begging  aid  from  on  high,  he  should 
represent  to  his  imagination  the  court-yard  which  was  the  scene  of 
the  execution :  he  should  behold  with  the  eye  of  his  mind  our 
Saviour  covered  with  shame,  exposed  naked  in  the  sight  of  all 
the    people,    and    around    Him    His    tormentors,    with    terrible 
scourges  in  their  hands,  with  scowling  brows  and  faces   flushed 

*   Spiritus   meditatione  et  contemplatione  ad  Ueum   ascendit  \   Dcus   vero 
revelatione,  atque  divina  inspiratione  ad  earn  descendit. 
•f  In  meditatione  men,  exardescet  ignis.     Ps.  xxxviij.  4. 


172  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

with  wrath  and  fury :  he  should  fancy  that  he  hears  the  noise  of 
the  blows,  and  the  whistling  of  the  lashes,  re-echoing  through  the 
whole  court.  Having  formed  thus  his  composition  of  place,  he 
should  dwell  in  detail  upon  the  chief  reasons  and  circumstances 
which  show  the  bitterness  of  the  suffering  endured  by  our  Lord 
in  this  scourging,  as  well  as  the  admirable  patience  with  which  He 
underwent  it  all  for  love  of  us.  He  should  ponder  in  his  mind  upon 
the  various  kinds  of  scourges  that  were  used ;  all  most  horrible; 
upon  the  barbarous  manner  in  which  the  executioners  plied 
them,  upon  the  exceeding  delicacy  of  the  body  of  Jesus,  and 
upon  the  great  number  of  stripes  which  the  merciless  wretches 
showered  so  pitilessly  upon  that  sacred  body.  Thus  he  will  be 
able  to  infer  how  dreadful  must  have  been  the  torture  of  that  most 
sacred  flesh,  how  immense  the  agony  of  our  dear  Lord.  Then, 
when  he  sees  that,  in  all  that  storm  of  cruel  stripes,  Christ  stands 
meek  as  a  lamb  under  the  shears  of  the  shearer — as  the  prophet 
says — without  giving  way  to  a  single  lament,  without  uttering  one 
complaint,  or  breathing  forth  one  sigh ;  he  should  set  himself  to 
consider  who  it  is  that  is  suffering  such  bitter  pangs,  and  sub 
mitting  to  such  untold  outrages :  he  should  pass  in  review  the 
infinite  Majesty,  the  infinite  Greatness,  the  infinite  Power,  with 
which  Jesus  could  in  a  moment  have  destroyed  and  hurled  back 
into  nothingness  those  hard-hearted  miscreants :  and  yet  He  not  only 
did  not  revenge  Himself  upon  them,  but,  tenderly  loving  them, 
He  continued  to  offer  to  His  eternal  Father  the  very  blows 
which  He  was  receiving  at  their  hands,  that  thus  He  might  win  their 
salvation.  The  gentleness  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  should  be 
studied,  which  was  burning  with  love  for  those  unfeeling  men  at 
the  very  time  that  they  were  burning  with  hatred  of  Him  :  that 
Heart  which  was  consuming  itself  with  fond  affection  for  those 
sinners,  who,  more  cruel  than  the  executioners,  would  renew  again 
and  again  with  the  scourges  of  their  sinful  actions  that  painful 
tragedy.  After  considerations  and  reflections  such  as  these,  the 
will  should  give  free  scope  to  feelings  of  compassion  for  so 
grievous  pains  ;  of  love  for  so  great  goodness ;  of  gratitude  for  so 
great  a  benefit :  but  most  of  all,  the  will  should  dwell  upon  the 
three  affections  which  I  have  before  mentioned  as  being  most 


ENTR  Y  ON  M  EDIT  A  TION.  1 73 

profitable.  He  who  is  making  this  meditation  should  consider 
how  he  has  in  time  past  borne  himself  when  in  the  midst  of 
troubles  and  contradictions,  persecution,  insults,  and  outrages ; 
and  seeing  himself  so  unlike  his  Lord,  he  ought  to  conceive  a 
lively  sorrow,  and  to  fill  himself  with  deep  shame  and  confusion. 
He  ought  then  to  form  his  resolution  never  again  to  seek  revenge, 
to  keep  down  all  risings  of  resentment,  to  make  an  offering  to  our 
Blessed  Lord  of  whatever  may  give  him  annoyance ;  nay,  going 
further  still,  he  ought,  in  imitation  of  Jesus,  to  wish  to  return  love 
for  hate  and  kindness  for  wrong.  In  conclusion,  knowirg  too 
well  his  own  weakness,  and  the  inconstancy  of  his  will  in  carrying 
out  the  resolutions  he  has  made,  he  ought  to  beg  of  God  with 
fervent  prayer  to  come  to  his  aid,  and  enable  him  to  be  faithful  to 
his  purposes  when  the  hour  of  trial  comes. 

176.  With  reference  to  these  resolutions,  which  are  the  most 
important  of  all  the  acts  of  the  will,  it  should  be  remarked  that  it 
is  not  enough  to  make  them  in  some  vague  and  abstract  form ; 
but  there  should  be  a  distinct  coming  down  to  details,  and 
making  application  to  particular  cases  which  have  happened 
before,  and  may  easily  happen  again  :  and  it  is  about  these  that 
resolutions  should  be  most  carefully  taken.  As  to  resolutions  con 
ceived  in  a  general  manner — for  instance  :  I  will  never  more  seek 
revenge  for  any  injury  whatever :  I  will  never  give  way  to  passion 
again — resolutions  such  as  these,  I  say,  will  be  of  almost  as  little 
advantage,  for  all  practical  purposes,  as  none  at  all.  Cassian, 
speaking  on  this  very  subject  of  preparing  ourselves  to  endure 
injuries  and  misfortunes  with  equanimity,  remarks ;  that  in  our 
meditations  we  should  often  put  before  our  eyes,  one  by  one,  all 
the  affronts  and  outrages  which  we  can  suffer  at  the  hands  of  our 
neighbour,  and  accustom  ourselves  to  the  thought  of  submitting 
to  them  with  all  humility,  even  going  so  far  as  turn  over  in  our 
minds  how  to  receive  such  with  all  the  gentleness  of  our  heart.* 


*  Propositis  sibi  multimodis  injuriarum,  dispendiorumque  generibus,  velut 
ab  alio  sibimet  irrogatis,  assuefaciat  mentem  suam,  omnibus  quse  inferre  im- 
probitas  potest,  perfect!  humilitate  succumbere  :  atque  aspera  sibi  quseque,  et 
intolerabilia  frequenter  opponens,  quanta  eis  occurrere  debeat  lenitate,  omni 
jugiter  cordis  contritione  meditetur.  Coll.  xix.,  cap.  14. 


174  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

In  this  spirit  acted  a  good  Brother  of  our  Society,  John  Ximenes 
by  name,  who  was  accustomed  to  work  the  whole  day  at  the  farm, 
and  when  returning  to  the  College  at  Saragossa  in  the  evening, 
would  walk  along,  his  mind  all  recollected  in  God,  forecasting  in 
detail  all  the  most  disagreeable  things  that  could  befall  him  on  his 
arrival,  and  accepting  them  severally  with  great  readiness  of  will. 
"  What  would  you  do,"  he  used  to  say  to  himself  on  the  way,  "  if 
the  moment  you  reach  the  College  to  rest  yourself,  after  your 
labour,  your  Superior  ordered  you  to  do  this  or  that  piece  of 
work  ?"  "  Your  Superior  "  (self-love  interposed  quickly)  "  see 
ing  you  so  tired,  never  would  give  you  so  unwise  an  order." 
"  But  supposing  that  he  were  to  do  so,"  the  Brother  would  answer 
back,  "  how  should  you  act  ?"  "  How  should  I  act  ?  I  should 
accept  it,  O  Lord,  most  willingly  for  love  of  Thee.  Yes,  dear 
Lord,  yes ;  grant  that  he  may  give  me  the  order,  that  I  may  have 
a  chance  of  giving  Thee  some  little  proof  of  my  faithfulness  and 
love."  When  accordingly  he  met  with  any  of  these  vexations, 
so  trying  to  nature,  he  went  through  the  ordeal  with  the  most 
perfect  dispositions ;  because  his  mind  was  already  prepared  for 
them,  and  was  even  expecting  them.* 

177.  But  what  is  told  in  the  Life  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  is  of 
more  weight.t  The  holy  Patriarch,  finding  himself  cne  day  all 
on  fire  with  holy  love,  began  to  prepare  himself  to  receive  all 
possible  injuries  and  insults  with  heroic  patience  and  meekness: 
he  disposed  himself,  I  mean,  to  accept  such  and  such  an  affront, 
not  only  with  resignation  and  calmness,  but  even  with  joy  and 
jubilee  of  mind  :  for  this  exactly  it  is  that  constitutes  the  heroism 
of  these  virtues.  Conversing  on  the  way  with  his  companion, 
Brother  Leo,  he  cried  out,  with  great  fervour  :  "  Listen  to  me, 
Brother  :  what,  if  on  arriving  at  the  Convent  of  Our  Lady  of  the 
Angels,  tired  out  with  our  long  journey,  dripping  wet,  stiff  with 
cold,  splashed  with  mud,  and  dying  of  hunger,  we  were  to  knock 
at  the  door,  and  the  Porter  were  to  come  to  us  in  an  angry  mood, 
and  ask,  who  are  you  ?  and  if  on  our  telling  him  that  we  were 
two  Friars  Minor,  he  were  to  say :  '  No  !  you  are  not  of  our 
Order.  1  am  inclined  to  think  you  are  two  good-for-nothing 

*  In  Vit&  Balthass.  Alvarez,  cap.  45.  t  Cap.  46. 


ENTR  V  ON  MED  IT  A  TION.  i  75, 

fellows,  a  couple  of  tramps  who  go  roaming  over  the  country, 
taking  the  bread  out  of  poor  people's  mouths  :'  and  if,  having 
said  this,  he  were  to  slam  the  door  in  our  faces,  and  leave  us  there 
to  ourselves,  wet  through,  and  half-dead  with  cold  and  weariness, 
standing  out  in  the  cold  wind,  without  giving  us  any  assistance ; 
and  if  we,  treated  thus,  were  to  endure  all,  and  relish  all,  for  the 
love  of  God,  depend  upon  it,  Brother  Leo,  in  this  is  perfect  joy/' 
The  meaning  of  the  Saint  was,  that  in  this  consists  heroic  meek 
ness,  which  is  nothing  but  perfect  joy  in  the  midst  of  insults. 
Then  conjuring  up  other  possible  cases  of  still  greater  contumely, 
he  went  on  :  "  And  what  if,  under  force  of  necessity,  we  were  to 
knock  again  at  the  door,  and  the  Brother  Porter  were  to  come 
out  in  a  rage,  and  say :  *  You  pair  of  scoundrels,  you  impudent, 
pestering,  unmannerly  knaves,  be  off  with  you  this  very  instant ; 
go  to  the  hospital,  for  there  is  no  lodging  here  for  such  as  you  !' 
and  if  we  were  to  put  up  with  this  abuse  and  ill-treatment  joy 
ously,  from  our  hearts  forgiving  it ;  depend  upon  it,  Brother 
Leo,  this  is  perfect  joy.  And  if,  as  the  night  went  on,  finding 
ourselves  sore  pressed,  and  suffering  in  every  way,  we  were  to 
knock  at  the  door  once  again,  and  with  tears  in  our  eyes  crave 
shelter  for  the  love  of  God ;  and  the  man,  made  savage,  coming 
out  with  a  stick  in  his  hand,  were  to  heap  reproaches  and  blows 
upon  us,  and  seizing  hold  of  us  were  to  throw  us  down  into  the 
mire,  and  we  bore  these  outrages  with  real  jubilee  of  heart : 
depend  upon  it,  Brother  Leo,  this  is  perfect  joy." 

178.  In  this  anecdote  remark,  that  St.  Francis,  when,  in  the 
fervour  of  his  soul,  he  was  exciting  himself  and  his  companion 
to  heroic  patience,  did  not  propose  in  general,  that  they  should 
resolve  to  endure  joyfully  all  the  hardships  and  insults  that  might 
happen,  but  he  came  down  to  particular  cases,  and  pictured 
them  to  himself  in  their  special,  individual,  and  minutest  details : 
because  good  desires  and  holy  resolves  then  only  attain  their 
object,  and  become  really  useful  to  us,  when  they  are  formed  after 
the  above  fashion.  Therefore,  in  our  own  meditations,  we  shall 
do  well  to  make  our  resolutions  in  the  same  manner ;  and  by  thus 
overcoming,  again  and  again,  in  the  light  of  the  eternal  truths, 
those  dislikes  which  present  themselves  at  the  thought  of  suffer- 


176  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

ing  that  we  have  conjured  up,  we  shall  dispose  ourselves  for 
victory  in  the  presence  of  suffering  that  is  real.  We  shall,  more 
over,  in  the  various  incidents  of  life,  find  ready  to  our  hand  the 
means  and  ways  of  self-conquest,  and  the  motives  for  striving  after 
it,  if  in  our  mental  prayer  we  have  thought  them  out,  and  solidly 
established  them  beforehand  in  our  souls  ;  and  having  grown  ex 
pert  in  the  sham  battles  of  our  own  imaginings,  like  a  man  who- 
fences  for  his  amusement,  we  shall  be  skilful  in  conquering 
ourselves  when  it  comes  to  engaging  in  combats  that  are  reaL 
The  Director  should  nevertheless  be  apprised  that  when  he  meets 
with  weak  characters,  without  spirit  enough  to  apply  to  this  work 
of  calling  up  disagreeable  pictures  before  the  mind,  he  must  not 
expose  them  to  the  ordeal  of  such  imaginations,  but  it  will  be 
quite  enough  if  he  propose  to  them  to  do,  with  God's  help,  when: 
the  time  comes,  all  that  shall  be  in  their  power. 

179.  In  the  last  place,  the  meditation  should  close  with  a 
Colloquy,  which  consists  of  fervent  acts  of  the  will,  appropriate 
to  the  subject  of  the  meditation  which  has  just  been  made,  but 
more  especially  of  prayers,  petitions,  and  entreaties — as  humble, 
confiding,  and  ardent  as  the  strength  of  our  souls  can  make 
them — to  gain  the  aids  we  need,  and  chiefly  for  carrying  out  the 
resolutions  formed.  Then,  as  Jacob,  after  wrestling  with  God  on 
that  well-known  night,  declared,  /  will  not  let  Thee  go  until  Thou 
bless  me,*  so  we,  after  holding  converse  with  God  all  the  time 
of  our  meditation,  must  not  let  Him  go  till  we  have  won  from 
Him  by  many  prayers  a  plentiful  blessing  of  graces,  aids,  and 
very  special  helps  for  the  amendment  of  our  life. 

*  Non  dimittam  te,  nisi  benedixeris  mihi.     Genes,  xxxij.  26. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  M EDIT  A  TION.  177 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SOME  DIFFICULTIES  REMOVED  WHICH  PREVENT  MANY  FROM 
TAKING  UP,  AND  OTHERS  FROM  CONTINUING,  THE  PRACTICE 
OF  MEDITATION. 

1 80.  MANY  people  in  the  world  live  on  without  ever  making  the 
slightest  use  of  holy  meditation,  under  the  impression  that  it 
is  a  practice  belonging  exclusively  to  monks  and  nuns,  or  else 
to  men  of  learning  and  high  mental  endowments.  This  is  a 
mistaken  notion,  utterly  at  variance  with  experience  and  reason 
alike.  Meditation  consists  in  the  exercise  of  the  three  powers 
of  the  rational  soul — memory,  understanding,  and  will;  and 
he,  therefore,  who  has  the  free  use  of  these  powers,  can  laudably 
apply  himself  to  the  work  of  meditating.  Is  there  any  one  so 
deficient  that  he  cannot  employ  these  three  powers  on  the  daily 
concerns  of  life  ?  Who  is  there  that  cannot,  if  there  be  question 
of  furthering  his  temporal  interests,  adduce  his  good  reasons,  urge 
them  with  argument,  illustrate  them  by  examples,  and  make  them 
plausible  by  fitting  reflections  ?  Now,  why  cannot  he  do  as  much 
when  his  object  is  something  spiritual  ?  It  is  true  that  such  objects 
are  removed  from  the  sphere  of  the  senses  :  but  then  it  is  also  true 
that  God,  by  the  light  of  grace,  brings  them  home  to  the  under 
standing,  and  makes  them  clearly  visible,  thus  enabling  the  mind 
to  form  practically  useful  and  advantageous  reflections.  At  the 
same  time  He,  with  secret  inspirations,  stirs  up  the  will  to  elicit 
affectionate  desires,  in  order  that  it  may  entertain  itself  upon 
objects  of  the  kind  with  all  ease  and  holy  satisfaction.  Tell  me, 
what  learning  had  Catherine  of  Sienna,  Teresa  of  Jesus,  Rose 
of  Lima,  Magdalene  de'  Pazzi,  and  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  pure  virgins,  who  had  made  no  other  studies  in  all  their  lives 
than  those  which  taught  them  to  handle  the  needle  and  the 
•distaff  ?  What  learning  did  St.  Francis  of  Paula  possess  ?  or  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  or  St.  Didacus,  the  Franciscan  lay-brother  ?  oi 
so  many  more  who  had  scarcely  ever  set  foot  inside  a  school  in 
search  after  human  knowledge?  And  yet,  in  the  practice  of 
VOL.  i.  I2 


i?8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

mental  prayer,  they  surpassed  men  of  most  exalted  talent  and 
of  the  greatest  literary  fame  :  they  even  soared  beyond  the  limits 
of  simple  meditation,  and  rose  to  the  highest  flight  of  heavenly 
contemplation.  And  the  reason  is  this,  that  the  good  success  of 
meditation  depends  upon  the  grace  of  God ;  for  gaining  which, 
goodwill  is  of  more  avail  than  subtle  intellect  or  depth  of 
learning ;  and,  to  use  St.  Teresa's  own  words,  it  is  not  strength 
of  muscle  that  is  needed  here,  but  of  love  alone/"  Let  no  one,. 
then,  for  lack  of  knowledge  or  of  natural  talent,  refrain  from 
meditating  every  day  upon  some  truth  of  faith.  Of  course,  I  am 
speaking  of  those  who  are  not  absolutely  illiterate ;  for  to  theser 
as  I  have  before  remarked,  God  supplies  all  deficiencies,  with  the 
power  of  His  grace,  by  their  vocal  prayer.  Let  all  present  them 
selves  before  God  with  deep  humility  and  lively  confidence,  and  the 
Almighty,  coming  to  their  help,  will  enable  them  to  do  what  their 
own  unaided  ignorance  could  never  have  achieved. 

1 8 1.  There  are  others,  again,  who  adopt  the  practice  of  medi 
tating  daily  on  the  Four  Last  Things,  or  on  the  Passion  of 
Our  Saviour,  or  on  some  other  supernatural  truth — and  what  is 
the  result  ?  Finding  in  this  method  of  prayer  many  and  constant 
distractions  and  habitual  unsteadiness  of  mind,  they  are  dis 
heartened,  lose  courage,  and,  thinking  this  holy  exercise  beyond 
their  ability,  soon  come  to  abandon  it.  To  disabuse  such 
persons  of  their  error,  they  must  be  made  to  see  where  their 
fallacy  lies.  To  this  end  they  must  learn  to  distinguish  between 
two  kinds  of  distraction  which  may  occur  in  time  of  meditation. 
Some  distractions  are  voluntary  and  wrong;  others  involuntary 
and  free  from  fault.  If  their  distractions  spring  from  a  flighty 
imagination,  or  from  the  malice  of  the  demon,  who  puts  un 
reasonable  fancies  into  their  mind  expressly  to  disturb  their 
peace  and  to  hinder  the  fruit  of  their  prayers ;  and  if  distractions 
are  not  desired,  and  not  acquiesced  in  when  they  come  unsought, 
there  is  no  reason  at  all  for  discouragement :  because,  as  St. 
Thomas  says,  such  distractions  can  never  destroy  the  spiritual 
character  of  meditation,  or  prevent  its  being  a  holy  and  rneri~ 

*  Foundations,  chap.  14. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  M EDIT  A  TION.  1 79 

torious  exercise.*  St.  Augustine  assures  us  that  these  involuntary 
distractions  do  not  take  away  from  our  prayer  the  fruit  which  is 
sough t.t  Cassian,  moreover,  for  the  comfort  of  these  afflicted 
souls,  goes  so  far  as  to  assert,  that  there  is  no  one  so  fervent  and 
so  high  in  perfection  as  not  to  be  at  times  assailed  by  these  vain 
imaginations,  and  whose  thoughts  are  not  carried  off  from  the 
things  of  heaven  to  the  things  of  earth.  J  And  St.  Augustine  goes 
still  further,  and  says,  that  not  even  holy  David,  though  he  en 
joyed  such  wonderful  intercourse  with  God  in  prayer,  was  free 
from  distractions ;  since  he  himself  tells  us  that  he  was  forced  to 
go  in  search  of  his  own  truant  heart,  that  he  might  lead  it 
back  to  God  after  it  had  escaped  from  him  in  time  of  prayer.  § 
Hence,  if  distractions  encountered  in  meditation — no  matter  how 
frequent  they  be — are  not  wilful,  why  should  any  one  lose  heart, 
grow  discouraged,  and  give  up  so  holy,  so  very  useful  and  pious  a 
practice,  seeing  that  these  involuntary  thoughts  do  not  displease 
God,  do  not  deprive  prayer  of  merit,  do  not  destroy  its  fruit,  and 
are  experienced  by  even  the  holiest  and  the  most  sublimely  gifted 
persons  ? 

182.  'And  even  if  the  distractions  be  voluntary  and  sinful  (as 
is  the  case  with  those  who  in  time  of  meditation  try  to  find  in 
such  thoughts  relief  from  weariness,  or  entertain  them  when  they 
come  unsought,  and  dwell  upon  them,  deliberately  feeding 
themselves  upon  vain  and  idle  fancies),  not  even  in  such  case 

*  Dicendum,  quod  in  spiritu  et  veritate  orat,  qui  ex  instinctu  spiritus  ad 
orandum  accedit,  etiamsi  ex  aliqua-  infirmitate  mens  postea  evagetur.  2,  2 
Qusest.  85,  art.  13,  ad.  I. 

f  Psalmis  et  hymnis,  cum  oras  Deum,  hoc  versetur  in  corde,  quod  profertur 
in  ore  ;  evagatio  vero  mentis,  quse  fit  praeter  propositum,  orationis  fructura 
non  tollit.  In  Regula  3. 

J  Quis  tantum  spiritus  potuit  unquam  Vetinere  fervorem,  ut  non  interdum 
lubricis  cogitationibus  ab  ipsa-  quoque  orationis  intentione  translatus,  repente 
a  ccelestibus  ad  lerrena  corruerit?  Coll.  xxiii.,  cap.  7. 

§  Diceret  unusquisque  sibi  contingere  et  alter!  non  contingere,  hoc  est  pat! 
mentis  distractiones  orando,  nisi  inveniremus  in  Scripturis  Dei  David  orantem 
quodam  loco  et  dicentem  :  Quoniam  inveni,  Domine,  cor  meum  ut  orarem  ad 
te.  Invenire  se  dixit  cor  suum,  quasi  soleret  ab  eo  fugere,  et  ille  sequi  quasi 
fugitivum,  et  non  posse  comprehendere ;  et  clamare  ad  Dominum  :  Quoniam 
cor  nieum  dereliquit  me.  In  Psalm,  85. 

12 — 2 


i8o  GUiDL  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

ought  persons  to  renounce  their  wonted  meditations,  but  rather 
to  set  right  what  is  amiss,  and  go  forward  on  their  course  with 
constancy.  And  as  one  who  in  eating  and  drinking  is  habituated 
to  commit  sins  of  wilful  intemperance,  ought  not  for  all  that  to 
stop  eating  and  drinking,  to  the  loss  of  his  life,  or  the  damage  of 
his  health,  but  should  attain  the  mastery  over  his  fault,  and  take 
the  necessary  food  at  fitting  times,  as  others  do  :  so  he  who  in 
time  of  prayer  fails  in  his  duty  by  deliberately  yielding  to  wander 
ings  of  the  mind,  ought  not  to  abandon  meditation,  to  the  great 
injury  of  his  spiritual  life,  but  should  dismiss  those  distracting 
thoughts,  and  apply  himself,  for  the  future,  more  carefully  to  the 
steady  consideration  of  the  great  truths  of  eternity. 

183.  Both  these  kinds  of  distraction  were,  for  our  instruction 
and  the  ordering  of  our  behaviour,  shown  in  a  vision  to  Abbot 
Macarius,  as  we  read  in  the  lives  of  the  Fathers.*  One  night  the 
devil,  in  the  disguise  of  a  monk,  came  to  the  cell  of  this  servant 
of  God,  and  knocking  at  the  door,  cried  out :  "  Get  up,  Macarius, 
and  come  to  the  church,  where  the  monks  are  already  assem 
bling  for  prayer."  The  holy  man  knew  by  the  light  of  God 
that  his  visitor  was  not  what  he  pretended  to  be,  but  that  the 
demon  was  in  reality  hiding  himself  under  the  assumed  appear 
ance  of  a  monk.  So,  raising  his  voice,  he  exclaimed,  "  Im 
postor,  and  foul  liar !  what  have  you  to  do  with  prayer  ? 
What  concern  have  you  with  the  meetings  of  holy  servants  of  the 
Most  High  ?"  "  Are  you  unaware,"  the  devil  made  answer, 
"  that  the  monks  never  pray  without  me  ?  If  you  know  it  not, 
you  shall  see  it  now  with  your  own  eyes."  Then  the  holy  Abbot 
repaired  to  the  church,  for  it  was  in  fact  the  time  when  the 
monks  were  met  to  pass  the  remainder  of  the  night  in  singing 
psalms  and  in  pious  contemplation.  On  his  arrival,  Macarius  set 
himself  to  pray,  and  began  to  entreat  the  Almighty  to  let  him 
know  if  there  was  any  truth  whatever  in  the  devil's  boast  about 
the  prayer  made  by  the  monks.  On  a  sudden  he  saw  the  whole 
church  crowded  with  little  black  imps,  hurrying  to  and  fro 
like  rats  and  mice.  When  the  chanting  began  in  choir,  he  saw 
some  of  these  imps  put  a  finger  into  the  mouth  of  one  or  other  of 

*  Ex  Lib.  Sentent   Patrum.  s.  39. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  MEDITATION.  181 

the  monks,  who  straightway  would  open  his  mouth  and  yawn^ 
others  he  saw  lay  their  fingers  on  the  eyes  of  certain  monks — 
these  at  once  closed  their  eyelids,  dropped  their  heads,  and  went 
off  in  a  doze  ;  while  the  demons  befooled  the  rest  in  divers  other 
ways,  all  having  for  object  to  disturb  the  sacred  chant.  When 
at  last  the  psalmody  was  completed,  all  the  monks  applied  them 
selves  to  mental  prayer.  And  then  St.  Macarius  saw  how  some 
of  these  devils  assumed  the  shape  of  women  trying  to  court 
admiration;  some  took  the  appearance  of  masons  engaged  in 
building  a  house  ;  some  made  themselves  look  like  travellers 
equipped  for  a  journey ;  and  others  put  on  different  other  strange 
forms  ;  and  he  saw  them,  thus  variously  disguised,  presenting 
themselves  to  the  monks  during  their  meditations,  in  order  to 
provoke  their  curiosity  under  these  fantastic  shapes.  He'  ob 
served,  however,  that  there  were  certain  monks  to  whom  these 
annoying  images  were  no  sooner  presented  by  the  tempters,  than 
they  fled  away  in  haste,  and  dared  not  attack  them  any  more,  or 
even  so  much  as  pass  near  them.  With  others  of  the  religious, 
on  the  contrary,  they  took  time  at  will,  and  went  on  presenting 
these  fancies,  jumping  upon  them,  dancing  around  them,  and 
scornfully  turning  them  to  sport.  When  the  prayer  was  ended, 
Macarius  called  the  monks  to  him,  and  asked  them,  one  by  one, 
what  had  been  passing  through  their  minds  in  the  time  of  medi 
tation  ;  and  he  found  that  all  the  things  which  he  had  seen  done 
externally  by  the  devils,  had  also  made  an  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  recluses,  and  that  the  demons  had  fled  headlong 
from  all  those  who  had  put  away  promptly  their  idle  suggestions, 
while  they  tarried  long  to  mock  and  lead  into  delusion  those  alone 
who  had  voluntarily  allowed  their  minds  to  dwell  on  the  unseemly 
images  and  distracting  thoughts. 

184.  From  this  we  may  learn  how  truly  Cassian  says  that 
our  minds  cannot  keep  free  from  all  distractions  in  our  prayer ; 
since  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  prevent  the  devil  from  entering 
into  our  imagination,  'and  setting  our  thoughts  in  movement 
by  presenting  this  or  that  phantasm.  But  it  is  well  within  our 
power  to  drive  away  these  images  after  they  have  been  intro 
duced,  and  we  can  accomplish  this  so  thoroughly,  that  they  will 


182  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

do  us  no  harm  nor  interfere  with  the  merit  and  the  fruit  of  our 
meditations.*  Therefore,  no  one  should  despond,  no  one  give  up 
the  practice  of  meditating,  however  incessant  and  vexatious  may  be 
the  distracting  thoughts  which  lead  his  attention  away  from  God  ; 
as  he  should  know  full  well  that,  if  only  true  to  himself,  all  these 
annoyances  can  never  deprive  him  of  the  fruit  which  he  hopes  to 
win  from  so  pious  an  exercise. 

185.  One  thing  which  may  help  very  much  to  save  devout 
persons  from  the  trouble  of  these  distractions,  is  an  act  of  the 
presence  of  God,  made  with  all  the  determination,  and  all  the 
vividness  of  faith  at  their  command  :  for,  if  in  the  presence  of 
their  King  they  would  not  dare  (this  remark  is  made  by  St.  Basil) 
to  stare  about  them  on  this  side  and  on  that,  but  would  conduct 
themselves  when  in  his  sight  with  all  due  modesty  and  a  fitting 
respectful  behaviour,  how  much  more  will  any  one  shrink  from 
allowing  his  thoughts  to  wander  off  to  earthly  things,  who  believes 
with  an  earnest  faith  that  he  is  standing  in  the  presence  of  that 
great  God  Who  reads  with  His  glance  all  that  passes  in  our  mind 
and  heart  ?t 

1 86.  But  if,  in  despite  of  all  such  precautions,  the  devil  puts 
into  the  mind  suggestions  of  worldly  concerns,  those  who  meditate 
must  have  recourse  at  once  to  the  thought  of  God's  presence,  and 
take  shame  to  themselves  for  their  disrespect,  involuntary  though 
it  be ;  and  in  this  way,  like  holy  David,  they  must  bring  back 
their  wayward  and  wandering  hearts  to  God.     And  as  Abraham, 
according  to  the  observation  of  Pope  St.  Gregory,  drove  away  at 
once  those  birds  of  prey  which  settled  upon  the  victim  whilst  he 
was  in  the  act  of  immolating  it  to  the  Most  frigh  God ;  so,  when 
in  time  of  mental  prayer,  we  perceive  flitting  across  our  mind 
unholy  thoughts  with  which  the  devil  fain  would  rob  us  of  some 

*  Mentem  quidem  non  interpellari  cogitationibus  impossibile  est ;  suscipere 
vcro  eas,  sive?  respuere,  omni  student!  possibile  est.  Quernadmodum  igitur 
ortus  earum  non  omnimodo  pendet  a  nobis,  ita  reprobatio  et  ejectio  consistit 
in  nobis.  Coll.  j.,  cap.  17. 

t  Si  enirn  principem  aliquis,  aut  proesidem  intuens  et  cum  eo  loquens,  oculos 
ab  eo  dimovere  non  solet :  qui  non  tandem  credibilius  est  intentam  mentem 
habiturum  ilium,  qui  Deo  preces  adhibeat,  in  eum,  qui  scrutatur  corda  et 
cogitationes?  In  Regul.  Brevior. 


FURTHER  DIFFICULTIES  EXPLAINED.  183 

portion  of  the  sacrifice  we  are  making  of  our  own  hearts  to  God, 
we  should  instantly  drive  them  away,  by  placing  ourselves  anew 
in  the  presence  of  God  Almighty,  to  Whom  we  are  offering  the 
holocaust  of  our  desires.*  And  if  our  thoughts  go  wandering  off 
a  hundred  times  in  the  course  of  one  single  meditation,  a  hundred 
times  we  should  recall  them  without  the  smallest  discouragement, 
and,  placing  ourselves  humbly  before  God,  resume  the  thread  of 
our  devout  reflections.  Thus  will  our  mental  prayer,  in  defiance 
of  all  distractions,  be  very  pleasing  to  the  Lord,  and  also  greatly 
advantageous  to  our  own  spiritual  welfare. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TWO   OTHER   DIFFICULTIES   WHICH    LEAD    MANY   TO   GIVE   UP   THE 
PRACTICE    OF    MEDITATION. 

187.  THERE  are  some  pious  persons  so  weak  in  character,  that 
whenever  they  find  in  their  meditations  a  certain  sweetness  and 
relish,  they  are  for  making  them  frequently  and  spending  a  long 
time  over  them ;  and  these  would  wish  never  to  take  their  minds 
off  the  ideas  which  produce  in  their  hearts  a  feeling  of  devotion 
which  they  find  so  agreeable.  But  whenever  God  dries  up  the 
source  of  these  sensible  consolations,  and  leaves  them  in  aridity 
of  heart  and  darkness,  in  gloom  and  desolation  of  spirit,  they 
lose  all  esteem  and  affection  for  mental  prayer ;  under  the  idea 
that  these  prayers,  made  without  feeling  and  without  any  sensible 
devotion  to  nourish  the  soul,  are  of  no  value  in  the  eyes  of  God 
and  of  no  help  to  their  own  progress  :  from  this  they  pass  to  the 

*  Nam  ssepe  in  ipso  orationis  sacrificio  importunse  se  cogitationes  ingerunt, 
•quse  hoc  rapere,  vel  maculare  valeant,  quod  in  nobis  Deo  flentes  immolamus. 
Unde  Abraham,  cum  ad  occasum  solis  sacrificium  offerret,  insistentes  aves  per- 
tulit,  quas  studiose,  ne  oblatum  sacrificium  raperent,  abegit ;  sic  nos  cum  in 
ara  cordis  holocaustum  Deo  ofierimus,  ab  immundis  hoc  volucribus  custodia- 
mus,  ne  maligni  spiritus  et  perversse  cogitationes  rapiant,  quod  meris  nostra 
offcrre  se  Domino  utiliter  sperat.  Moral.,  lib.  xvi.,  cap.  19. 


184  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

belief  that  such  arid  and  dry  meditation  is  sheer  waste  of  time, 
and  that  they  can  employ  themselves  in  something  better  with 
greater  profit.  Misled  by  these  false  notions,  they  either  abandon 
this  holy  exercise,  or  shorten  it,  or  go  through  it  with  the  greatest 
carelessness.  Such  persons  will  do  well  to  call  to  mind  what  I 
said  on  the  authority  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  in  the  first  Chapter 
of  the  present  Article,  namely,  that  the  substance  of  true  devotion 
does  not  consist  in  sentiment  or  feeling,  but  in  the  promptness  of 
the  will  to  yield  obedience,  homage,  and  faithful  service  to  God. 
The  sensible  emotions  of  sweetness,  which,  taking  their  rise  from 
these  acts  of  a  devoted  will,  on  some  occasions  overflow  into  the 
lower  part  of  the  soul,  filling  it  also  with  sweetness,  are  merely 
accidental  to  devotion,  the  presence  or  absence  of  which  is  of 
no  importance.  The  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane  was  dry  and  arid  to  the  last  degree ;  nay,  full  even 
of  weariness,  melancholy,  and  deadly  languor ;  yet  it  was  the 
holiest  and  the  most  meritorious  prayer  ever  made  on  earth; 
because  our  Saviour,  praying  in  His  Father's  presence,  though 
no  sensible  devotion  came  to  cheer  Him,  nevertheless  submitted 
Himself  promptly  to  the  will  of  His  Eternal  Father,  offering 
Himself  a  voluntary  victim  to  suffer  and  to  die  for  the  redemption 
of  mankind.  So  that  if  any  one  finds  himself  as  dry  in  prayer  as 
the  desert  sand,  he  has  but  to  resign  himself  to  God's  will,  and, 
humbling  himself  in  God's  presence,  to  persevere  without  flinch 
ing,  and  in  the  midst  of  dryness  still  form  the  resolutions,  the 
petitions,  the  desires,  which  he  was  wont  to  make  with  much 
feeling  in  former  sweet  and  delightful  meditations.  This  is  the 
time  of  real  and  solid  devotion,  though  we  may  think  ourselves 
entirely  bereft  of  it.  Indeed,  these  dry  meditations  are  more  full 
of  merit,  generally  speaking,  if  only  we  do  our  duty,  than  many 
others  made  with  great  unction,  and  filled  to  the  brim  with 
spiritual  consolations 4  because,  to  submit  in  painful  prayer  to 
the  will  of  God,  to  make  acts  of  real  humility  and  self-oblation, 
to  pray  earnestly  and  perseveringly,  conjuring  the  Almighty  Lordy 
and  using  many  industries  of  supplication,  is  of  necessity  to  do 
great  violence  to  self  in  the  struggle  to  overcome  the  repugnance 
of  nature  when  left  in  aridity  and  desolation.  Now  this  it  is  which 


FURTHER  DIFFICULTIES  EXPLAINED.  185 

truly  makes  the  acts  of  the  will  (in  which  resides  the  marrow 
of  merit  and  of  devotion  alike)  grow  in  strength,  intensity,  and 
merit.  And  thus,  in  the  meditations  we  make  in  seasons  of 
aridity,  the  soul  waxes  strong,  even  if  the  body  grow  weak  :  and 
if  the  animal  man  be  exhausted,  the  spirit  of  man  finds  new  vigour 
fresh  increase  of  power. 

1 88.  In  confirmation  of  this  teaching,  I  will  quote  the  words, 
as  given  by  Blosius,  which  Almighty  God  addressed  to  the 
holy  virgin  St.  Gertrude  :  "  I  would  that  My  elect  ones  were  per 
suaded  of  this  truth — that  their  prayers  and  their  good  works  are 
very  pleasing  to  Me,  when  they  serve  Me  at  their  own  expense. 
Serving  Me  at  their  own  expense  consists  in  this ;  that  when  they 
experience  no  feeling  nor  relish  whatever  in  their  devotions,  they  go 
on  notwithstanding,  faithfully  performing  their  prayers  and  spiritual 
exercises  to  the  best  of  their  power,  trusting  that  My  goodness  will 
accept  them  all  in  good  part."  *  Then  our  Lord  added  these 
memorable  words  :  "  Know,  Gertrude,  that,  with  the  greater  number 
of  pious  souls,  if  I  were  to  give  them  sensible  devotion  and  spiritual 
consolation,  it  would  not  be  of  service  to  their  salvation ;  indeed, 
instead  of  enhancing  their  merit,  I  should  be  doing  much  to 
lessen  it."t  How  true  this  is,  the  experience  of  every  day  shows 
us  but  too  well;  for  we  see  that  pious  persons  most  commonly 
avail  themselves  of  the  consolations  which  God  sends  them,  either 
to  feed  their  own  self-love  by  clinging  to  them,  or  to  keep  alive 
some  vain  complacency — fancying  that  they  have  made  great  pro 
gress  in  the  virtues  which  they  practise,  not  indeed  because  they 
have  gained  a  habit  of  the  virtue,  but  owing  to  the  impulse  of 
sensible  grace  : — or  else  such  persons  make  use  of  consolations 
to  supply  fresh  incentive  to  their  pride,  giving  themselves  the  pre 
ference  over  those  who  ostensibly  do  not  act  with  the  same 
fervour.  And  hence  this  sensible  devotion,  engendered  though 

•  % 

*  Vellem  electis  meis  persuasum  esse,  quod  eorum  bona  exercitia  et  opera, 
omnino  placent,  quando  ipsi  serviunt  expensis  suis.  Illi  autem  expensis  suis- 
mihi  servitium  prsestant,  qui  licet  saporem  devotionis  minime  sentiant,  fideliter 
tamen,  ut  possunt,  orationes  et  alia  pia  exercitia  sua  peragunt,  confidentes  de 
pietate  me&,  quod  ego  libenter  et  grate  suscipiam.  Monit.  Spirit.,  c.  iij.  s.  3. 

t  Plerique  sunt,  quibus  si  sapor  et  consolatio  interna  concederetur,  non  eis 
prodesset  ad  salutem,  et  meritum  ipsorum  valde  minueretur.  Ibid. 


1 86  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

it  be  by  God's  grace  in  their  hearts,  is  by  their  fault  very  fre 
quently  turned  into  a  serious  injury.  Let,  therefore,  none  make 
light  of  dry,  distasteful,  wearisome  and  gloomy  meditations,  nor 
think  of  leaving  off  the  exercise  as  of  no  use  or  benefit,  seeing 
that  not  unfrequently  they  are  more  useful,  more  secure,  and  more 
meritorious,  than  meditations  which  surpass  them  in  delight. 

189.  Then  there  are  other  persons,  who,  from  the  aridity  they 
•experience  at  their  meditations,  draw  the  silly  inference  that  they 
are  forsaken  by  God  ;  because  when  they  no  longer  feel  His  pre 
sence  in  their  heart,  they  make  up  their  minds  that  He  has  with 
drawn  Himself  completely  from  them,  and  even,  so  to  speak, 
turned  His  back  upon  them.  And  thus  these  also  are  easily 
brought  to  neglect  their  accustomed  meditations.  I  have  myself 
fallen  in  with  persons  whom  I  found  cast  down  into  the  depths  of 
•absolute  despair  by  this  most  foolish  motive.  So  far  are  these 
persons  from  having  the  true  idea  of  their  state,  that  their  very 
trials,  dryness,  desolation,  darkness  and  gloom,  are  more  often 
than  not  the  signs  of  a  special  love  borne  them  by  God,  since  by 
these  means  He  wishes  to  raise  them  to  a  higher  level  of  perfec 
tion,  and  sometimes  to  the  gift  of  a  very  sublime  and  privileged 
prayer.  To  the  end  that  we  may  understand  the  manner  in  which 
this  comes  to  pass,  we  must  know  that  Almighty  God  is  wont  to 
-deal  with  souls  after  the  following  fashion.  At  the  outset  of  their 
spiritual  journey  He  imparts  many  sensible  consolations  and  many 
-spiritual  delights,  to  the  end  that  He  may  thus  draw  them  to  His 
holy  service  by  these  sweetnesses,  to  wean  them  from  worldly 
pleasures,  and  to  animate  them  to  prayer  and  the  practice  of 
Christian  virtue,  as  St.  Paul  did  with  the  Corinthians :  As 
little  ones  in  Jesus  Christ,  he  says,  I  fed  you  with  milk,  and 
not  with  strong  meat ;  for  you  were  young  in  spiritual  life,  and  in 
capable  of  taking  solid  food,  and  indeed  you  are  so  even  yet.* 
But  when,  later  on,  Almighty  God  sees  that  the  soul  is  well 
grounded  in  the  firm  resolve  to  serve  Him,  and  cannot  easily  be 
turned  away  to  hanker  after  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt,  then  He  with- 

*  Tamquam  parvulis  in  Christo  lac  vobis  potum  dedi,  non  escain,  nondum 
•enim  poteratis  :  sed  nee  nunc  quidem  potestis  :  adhuc  enim  carnales  estis. 
I  Cor.  iij.  i,  2. 


FURTHER  DIFFICULTIES  EXPLAINED.  187 

draws  the  sweetness  of  His  grace,  and  deprives  us  of  the  relish  and 
sensible  warmth  which  we  had  before  felt  in  our  devotions ;  and 
this  in  order  that,  being  now  detached  from  the  pleasures  of  sense, 
we  may  detach  ourselves  also  from  spiritual  joys,  and  begin  to 
practise  virtue,  not  for  any  self-satisfaction,  but  for  its  own 
sake  alone.  And  the  Almighty  has  a  further  object  in  view, 
namely,  to  make  our  meditations  themselves  more  perfect,  raising 
us  by  means  of  this  painful  and  distressing  desolation  of  soul  from 
a  spiritual  sweetness  of  sense,  to  a  sublime  penetration  of  spirit; 
according  to  the  word  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  :  "  To  whom  shall  the 
Lord  give  knowledge  and  understanding  of  divine  things  if  it  be 
not  to  those  who  are  taken  from  the  breast,  and  weaned  from  the 
milk  of  sensible  consolations  ?"*  It  would  in  fact  be  hard  to  find 
any  really  holy  person  who  has  not  been  put  in  the  crucible  of 
long-continued  dryness  in  prayer,  and  who,  by  means  of  this  re 
fining  process,  has  not  been  purified  by  Almighty  God,  and  lifted 
up  at  the  same  time  to  a  higher  grade  of  prayer. 

190.  The  following  very  consoling  vision  will  explain  what  I 
have  just  been  saying.t  A  pious  matron  was  assisting  at  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  in  company  with  three  devout  maidens. 
After  the  consecration  and  elevation  of  the  Sacred  Host,  she  saw 
the  Child  Jesus  on  the  altar,  with  His  face  all  radiant  with  glory. 
Soon  she  saw  Him  descend  from  the  altar,  and  hurry  to  the  spot 
where  the  three  young  ladies  were  kneeling.  He  was  no  sooner 
there  than  He  threw  His  arms  round  the  neck  of  one  of  them, 
and  pressing  her  lovingly  to  His  heart,  kissed  her  and  heaped 
caresses  upon  her.  Going  to  another  He  raised  the  veil  from 
her  face,  just  enough  to  allow  her  to  see  Him,  and  to  gaze 
lovingly  upon  Him.  Then  approaching  the  third,  He  seized  her 
with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  began  to  strike  her  in  the  face. 
After  acting  thus,  the  Divine  Infant  returned  to  the  altar,  and  as 
soon  as  He  had  reached  it  the  vision  disappeared.  The  holy 
matron  was  filled  with  wonder  at  the  sight,  and  desired  to  know 
the  meaning  of  the  different  treatment  which  Jesus  Christ  had 

*  Quern  docebit  scientiam  ?  quern  intelligere  faciet  auditum  ?     Ablactatos  a 
lacte,  avulsos  ab  uberibus.     Cap.  xxij,  9. 
t  Specul.  Exempl.,  Dist.  ix.,  Exempl.  202. 


1 88  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

shown  to  these  pious  girls.  The  Lord  gave  heed  to  her  holy 
wishes,  and  with  an  interior  voice,  clear  and  unmistakable,  told 
her,  that  the  first  of  the  young  ladies  was  of  a  weak  and  fickle 
character,  and  that  He  caressed  her  with  many  endearments 
during  her  prayer,  for  without  this  she  would  soon  have  turned 
away  from  Him  and  returned  to  the  pleasures  of  the  world : 
that  the  second  was  less  weak,  and  therefore  to  retain  her  in 
His  service  it  was  enough  if  He  imparted  to  her  some  degree 
of  clear  knowledge  of  Himself,  and  some  little  encouragement  of 
sensible  feeling  at  her  accustomed  devotions — but  that  the  third 
was  His  own  beloved  spouse ;  because,  in  spite  of  all  the  bitter 
desolations  and  severe  trials  with  which  He  afflicted  her,  she  was 
ever  constant  in  His  service,  ever  faithful  in  His  love. 

191.  Who,  on  first  hearing  of  the  above  vision,  would  not  have 
imagined  that  the  first  of  these  virgins,  so  fondly  caressed  by  the 
Sacred  Child,    was  a  chosen  soul ;  that  the  second,  treated  so 
kindly,  was  a  soul  far  advanced  in  perfection ;  and  that  the  third, 
so  harshly  dealt   with,  was  a  soul  hardened  in  sin  and  already 
cast  off  by  the  Infant  Saviour?  Yet  it  was  not  so.    Nay,  those 
who  received  marks  of  favour  were  the  less  perfect,  and  the  one 
who  suffered   bitterness  of  soul  was  a  real  saint.     So  true  is  it 
that  the  aridities  we  suffer  in  prayer  are  very  commonly  tokens 
of  the  love  which  God  bears  to  our  souls,  not  of  His  having  for 
saken  us,  as  some  foolishly  try  to  make  out.     For  our  Lord,  by 
these  painful  visitations,  so  hard  to  bear,  designs  to  lead  souls  to 
a  higher  degree  of  perfection,  and  peradventure  even  of  contem 
plation.     Hence  let  no  one  give  way  to  distrust,  let  no  one  lose 
heart  or  begin  to  despair,  by  reason  of  these  attacks  of  desolation, 
or  allow  himself  ever,  on  their  account,    to  forego  his   ordinary 
meditations ;  but  let  each  one,  in  these  seasons  of  dryness,  strive 
to  keep  on  his   way  with  resignation  and  humility,  calmly  and 
with   perseverance,    knowing   the  great  good  which   may  accrue 
from  such  visitations. 

192.  The  other  difficulty,  which  keeps  some  from  persevering 
in  the  practice  of  holy  meditation,  is  the  assault  of  temptations. 
There   is   no  single  thing  which  so  vexes  the  devil  as  to  see  a 
person   devoted  to  mental  prayer;   for  right  well  he  knows  the 


FURTHER  DIFFICULTIES  EXPLAINED.  189 

good  that  flows  therefrom :  for  perseverance  in  meditation  is 
enough  of  itself  to  deprive  the  wicked  one  of  all  hope  of  en 
tangling  the  prey  in  his  net.  Therefore  in  time  of  prayer  he 
suggests  to  the  mind  a  thousand  vile  thoughts,  and  he  makes  use 
of  a  thousand  wiles  and  a  thousand  crafty  schemes,  to  draw  us 
aside  from  so  holy  an  exercise.  Some  who  wish  to  recollect  them 
selves  in  God,  he  tries  to  overthrow  by  putting  impure  images  be 
fore  their  mind ;  to  others  he  suggests  thoughts  against  faith ;  in 
others  he  awakens  the  spirit  of  blasphemy  ;  in  others,  scruples,  or 
distrust,  or  tumultuous  thoughts  and  restless  movements  of  passion. 
But  St.  Basil  tells  us  that  servants  of  God  ought  not  to  let 
themselves  be  cast  down  by  troubles  of  this  sort,  and  much 
less  to  give  over  their  meditation,  as  though  their  difficulties 
sprang  from  this  exercise  :  they  ought,  on  the  contrary,  to  do 
battle  bravely  for  the  love  of  that  God  in  Whose  presence  they 
are ;  till  the  Lord,  well  pleased  at  the  sight  of  their  constancy 
and  taking  compassion  upon  them,  with  one  ray  of  His  light 
disperse  the  devilish  darkness  and  storms  which  were  sweeping 
over  both  mind  and  heart.* 

193.  St.  Bridget  being  one  day  molested  by  grievous  tempta 
tions  in  time  of  prayer,  the  Blessed  Virgin  appeared,  and  addressed 
her  in  these  words,  as  recorded  by  the  above-mentioned  Blosius  : 
"  The  devil,  envious  of  the  good  of  others,  is  always  going  round 
about,  seeking  to  hinder  the  prayers  of  just  souls.  Thou,  there 
fore,  my  daughter,  however  fiercely  the  devils  may  rage  around 
thee  with  their  temptations,  remain  firm  with  great  constancy,  in 
thy  goodwill  and  desire  of  prayer,  and  make  every  effort  to  do 
what  thou  canst;  because  this  very  desire  of  praying,  the  very 
effort  made,  the  very  use  of  the  various  expedients  adopted  by 
thee  to  secure  devout  attention,  will  be  the  fruit  that  springs  from 
thy  prayer.  And  though  thou  mayest  not  succeed  in  driving  away 
the  foul  and  loathsome  thoughts  which  the  devil  puts  into  thy 


*  Quod  si  flagitiosarum  cogitationum  vis  vehementior  insurgat,  nee  sic 
quidem  dejiciendus  est  animus,  neque  suscepta  certamina  ex  dimidia  parte 
confecta  derelinquenda,  sed  eo  usque  obfirmate  perdurandum,  quoad  Deus, 
perspecta  constantia,  gratia^  Spiritus  Sancti  nobis  effulgeat.  In  Coiist.it, 
Monast.,  cap.  18. 


190  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE, 

heart ;  yet,  for  the  strong  endeavour  thou  hast  made  -to  banish 
them,  and  to  keep  thyself  in  God's  presence,  thou  shalt  receive  a 
crown  of  never-fading  glory  in  Heaven.  Thus,  the  very  annoy 
ance  of  the  temptations  which  come  to  assail  thee  in  prayer  will 
only  prove  a  fresh  assistance  to  thee,  provided  thou  yield  no  con 
sent  to  them,  and  they  give  nothing  but  displeasure  to  thee."* 
He,  then,  who  is  tempted  by  temptations  in  prayer-time,  should 
meditate  seriously  on  these  words,  and,  from  the  instruction  im 
parted  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  to  her  dearly-beloved  servant 
Bridget,  he  may  renew  his  courage,  and  find  therein  a  rule  of 
conduct  to  enable  him  to  keep  ever  true  to  God  in  the  midst  of 
these  so  rude  encounters. 

194.  Not  content  with  annoying  devout  souls  by  inward  sug 
gestions,  in  order  to  deter  them  from  mental  prayer,  the  devil 
strives,  moreover,  at  times,  to  alarm  them  by  outward  noises  and 
phantoms  of  frightful  shape,  in  order  that,  in  their  fright,  they  may 
cut  short  the  thread  of  their  pious  considerations  and  lose  the 
fruit  which  they  were  on  the  point  of  gathering.  Let  him  who- 
may  be  thus  assailed  take  heed  not  to  give  way  to  the  enemy  by 
withdrawing  from  prayer  panic-stricken  at  harmless  apparitions; 
or  else,  finding  that  he  has  gained  a  victory,  he  will  often  again 
use  the  same  means  of  annoyance.  Let  such  persons  take  a  lesson 
from  the  Saints,  who,  when  assailed  by  their  infernal  enemies 
in  a  thousand  frightful  shapes,  persevered  with  dauntless  con 
stancy  in  their  devout  meditations,  and  thus  forced  the  devil  to 
fly  in  shame  and  confusion.  We  read  of  St.  Dominic  t  that  while 
he  was  one  day  praying  in  the  church,  the  devil,  in  a  fit  of  envy, 
cast  from  a  great  height  a  large  stone,  which  made  the  holy 
place  re-echo  with  its  fall,  and  passed  so  near  the  Saint  as  to- 

*  Diabolus  explorator  invidus  quoerit  impedire  bonos,  dum  orant.  Tu  vero,. 
filia,  quantumcumque  tentatione  pulseris  inter  orandum,  persiste  in  desiderio, 
vel  bon&  voluntate  et  conatu  sancto,  sicut  commode  potes ;  quia  desideriuni 
et  conatus  tuus  pius  reputabitur  pro  effectu  orationis.  Eliamsi  pravas  et 
sordidas  cogitationes,  quas  cordi  tuo  incidunt,  ejicere  non  poteris,  tamen  pro 
illo  conatu  coronam  in  coelis  recipies  :  ita  tibi  proderit  ilia  molestia,  mod* 
non  consentias  tentationi,  sed  tibi  displiceat  quod  indecens  est.  Monit.  Spin, 
cap.  iij.  s.  4. 

t  Theod.  de  Appol.     In  Vita,  cap.  12. 


FURTHER  DIFFICULTIES  EXPLAINED.  191 

touch  his  hair.  But  the  religious  took  no  more  notice  of  what 
had  happened  than  a  stone 'would,  if  another  fell  close  to  it.  The 
devil,  confounded  by  so  great  courage,  fled  from  the  church  dis 
comfited.  St.  Bonaventure  relates  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi*  that 
the  enemy,  in  order  to  disturb  his  contemplation  and  to  make 
him  leave  the  place,  caused  horrible  noises  to  be  heard  some 
times,  on  the  roof  of  the  church  or  cell  where  he  was  praying,  in 
such  sort  that  the  building  seemed  to  him  to  resound  with  the 
bellowing  of  bulls,  the  roaring  of  lions,  the  growls  of  bears,  and 
the  bowlings  of  wolves ;  but  the  Saint,  all  unconcerned,  was  wont 
to  say  :  "  Come  on,  come  on,  strike  me,  and  put  me  to  cruel 
torture  if  you  have  the  permission."  But  St.  Nilus  relates  some 
thing  far  more  wondroust  of  a  monk  whom  the  devil  tossed  about 
in  the  air  like  a  tennis-ball,  and  yet  the  holy  man  interrupted  not 
his  prayer  until  he  had  entirely  finished  it.  Equally  wonderful  is 
what  we  read  in  the  history  of  our  own  Society,  of  a  religious, 
Bernard  by  name,  who  persevered  in  prayer,  though  the  devil,  in 
the  shape  of  a  loathsome  serpent,  creeping  up  his  habit,  as  far  as 
the  neck,  slipped  in  between  the  under  garment  and  the  skin,  and 
winding  round  his  body,  girdled  his  waist.  Were  I  to  relate  all 
the  horrid  appearances  under  which  the  devil  has  shown  himself 
to  God's  servants  in  time  of  prayer,  I  should  never  have  done ; 
as  the  lives  of  the  saints  are  full  of  such  frightful  apparitions.  I 
confine  myself  to  what  St.  Jerome  recounts  in  his  Life  of  St. 
Hilarion.J  While  St.  Hilarion  was  at  prayer,  the  devil  appeared 
to  him,  sometimes  as  a  howling  wolf,  sometimes  as  a  fox  bark 
ing,  and  once  set  before  him  the  awful  spectacle  of  a  band  of  gladi 
ators  ;  one  of  whom,  it  seemed  to  him,  having  received  a 
death-wound,  fell  at  his  feet  imploring  the  rites  of  burial. 
Another  time,  while  the  Saint  was  praying  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  some  distraction  or  other  passed  through  his  mind. 
The  devil,  taking  this  opportunity,  sat  astride  on  his  back,  and 
driving  spurs  into  his  sides,  and  whipping  him  on  the  head, 
exclaimed,  "Come,  come;  why  art  thou  so  sleepy?"  As  the 
servant  of  God  grew  faint  under  the  weight  and  blows,  the  demon 

*  In  Vita,  cap.  5.  t  E>e  Orat.,  cap.  103. 

t  Part.  4,  lib.  j.  n.  139, 


192  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

began  to  scoff  and  deride  him,  saying,  *  Would  you  like  a  little 
corn  to  restore  your  strength  ?"  * 

195.  I  have  alluded  to  these  few  examples  among  many 
others  that  might  be  alleged,  that  the  reader  may  see  with 
what  constancy  we  should  struggle  and  persevere  in  mental 
prayer  when  the  devil  comes  to  assail  us  either  with  inward  sug 
gestions  or  outward  terrors.  Let  me  now  conclude  in  the  words 
of  St.  Cyprian  :  "  In  the  time  of  prayer,  let  the  heart  be  opened 
to  God  but  closed  against  the  devil,  so  as  to  leave  him  not  even 
the  least  aperture  by  which  he  may  enter ;  for  this  deceiver  uses 
a  thousand  wiles  to  effect  a  stealthy  entrance,  and  having  made 
good  his  position,  deludes  us  and  hinders  our  praying  to  God."t 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS    TO   THE   DIRECTOR    ON   THE  FIRST  THREE 
CHAPTERS    OF    THE    PRESENT   ARTICLE. 

196.  FIRST  suggestion.  From  what  has  been  said  throughout  the 
present  Article,  the  Director  will  have  clearly  understood,  that  if 
he  desire  to  lead  any  one  to  Christian  perfection,  it  is  imperative 
for  him  to  induce  the  person  to  devote  a  certain  time  every  day  to 
meditation  on  some  one  of  the  most  weighty  maxims  of  our  faith. 
By  pious  exhortations,  it  is  true,  he  may  succeed  in  uprooting 
from  the  hearts  of  his  penitents  certain  defects,  and  in  plucking 
out  one  or  two  bad  habits ;  but  his  words  will  not  avail  to  im- 

*  Interdum  orantem  lupus  ululans,  vel  vulpecula  ganniens  transilivit, 
psallentique  gladiatorum  pugna  spectaculum  prsebuit,  et  unus  quasi  interfectus, 
et  ante  pedes  ejus  corruens,  sepulturam  rogavit.  Oravit  semel  fixo  in  terram 
capite,  et  ut  natura  fert  hominum,  abducta  ab  oratione  mens  nescio  quid  aliud. 
cogitabat.  Insiliit  dorso  ejus  festinus  gladiator  et  latera  ejus  calcaribus, 
cervicem  fiagello  verberans  :  Eia,  inquit,  cur  dormis  ?  Cachinnansque  desuper 
cum  defecisset,  an  hordeum  vellet  accipere,  sciscitabatur.  Ibid. 

t  Claudatur  contra  adversarium  pectus,  et  soli  Deo  pateat  :  nee  ad  se  hostern 
Dei  tempore  orationis  adire  patiatur  ;  obrepit  enim  frequenter  et  penetrat ;  et 
subtiliter  fallens,  preces  nostras  a  Deo  avocat  De  Orat.  Domin.,  Serm.  6. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  193 

plant  in  their  hearts  that  frequent  and  almost  continual  practice 
of  mortification  and  virtue  which  is  so  essential  to  the  acquire 
ment  of  perfection.  For  this  depends  upon  a  great  fear  and  love 
of  God,  which,  as  is  proved  by  the  passage  quoted  from  the  Angelic 
Doctor  and  by  our  own  daily  experience,  can  hardly  take  root  in 
the  heart  without  the  practice  of  mental  prayer.  I  do  not  mean 
that  the  Director  should  counsel  the  use  of  meditation  to  peasants 
and  artisans  who  are  busied  with  manual  labour-  from  morning  to 
night,  and  have  neither  time  nor  capacity  to  occupy  themselves 
in  this  laudable  exercise.  What  I  mean  is  simply  that  he  should 
endeavour  to  induce  those  who  are  free,  to  consecrate  of  their 
own  accord  some  small  portion  of  the  day  to  this  holy  employ 
ment  ;  especially  such  as  are  innocent  and  well-disposed,  for  in  them 
divine  grace  produces  great  effects  by  reason  of  their  good  dis 
positions,  and  such,  consequently,  make  rapid  progress.  Besides 
these,  there  are  others  to  whom  God,  on  the  occasion  of  some 
sermon,  or  mission,  or  general  confession,  has  vouchsafed  the 
grace  of  a  singular  compunction,  and  of  a-  firm  resolve  to  amend 
their  lives.  In  such,  the  above-mentioned  grace,  if  sedulously 
cultivated  by  meditation,  will  vigorously  forward  the  work  which 
God  has  begun.  But  it  is  to  the  Clergy  and  members  of  Religious 
Communities  that  this  exercise  should  be  specially  recommended, 
as  they  more  than  others  are  bound,  by  their  state,  to  strive  after 
perfection,  and  hence  to  make  use  of  meditation,  which  St.  John 
Chrysostom  calls  "  the  root  and  foundation  of  every  virtue  ;"* 
and  in  another  place  "  the  head  and  source  from  which  all  virtues 
flow."t 

197.  At  the  time  when  the  Court  of  Spain  resided  at  Madrid, 
one  of  the  nobles  addressed  himself  to  F.  Peter  Favre,  a  most 
saintly  man,  and  the  first  of  the  nine  companions  whom  St.  Ignatius 
made  use  of  when  laying  the  foundation  of  his  Order.  This 
nobleman  asked  F.  Favre  for  some  directions  which  might  be 
serviceable  in  putting  his  life  in  order  and  making  his  salvation  sure. 
The  Father's  first  impulse  was  to  propose  to  him  the  practice  of 

*   Basis  et  radix  omnis  virtutis.     De  Orando  Deum,  lib.  i. 
t  Omnis  virtutis  caput.     Ibid.,  lib.  ij. 
VOL.   I.  1.3 


194  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

meditation,  as  the  most  effectual  means  of  ensuring  the  salvation 
and  perfection  of  any  one  possessed  of  the  two-fold  light  of  reason 
and  faith.     But  seeing  that  he  wore  so  rich  a  dress,  and  that  he 
was   all   smelling   of  perfume,  he   rightly  deemed   that  to   one 
brought  up  amid  the  luxuries  and  splendours  of  a  court,  the  word 
"meditation"   would  have  a  very  barbarous   sound.     The   holy 
Director   found   means,   nevertheless,  to  lead   the  nobleman  to 
meditate  without  so  much  as  mentioning  the  word.     "  You  will 
do  as  follows,"  he  said:  "Think  over,  now  and  then,  these  words — 
Christ  poor,  and  I  rich;    Christ  fasting,  and  I  feasting;    Christ 
naked,  and  I  well  clad ;   Christ  in  suffering,  and  I  surrounded 
with  every  comfort  and  pleasure."     Having  said  thus  much,  he 
held  his  peace.     The  nobleman  thanked  him  for  the  good  advice 
and  took  his  leave,  feeling,  however,  anything  but  pleased  that 
one  who  was  so  highly  spoken  of  as  a  great  master  of  the  spiritual 
life  should  have  set  him  so  elementary  a  lesson,  which  he,  who 
had  not  as  yet  begun  to  study  in  the  school  of  the  Spirit,  could 
have  given  just  as  well,  not  to  say  much  better.     He  complied, 
notwithstanding,  with  the  counsel  he  had  received,  and  at  divers 
times  thought  over  the  words  which  F.  Favre  had  suggested,  though 
without  any  feeling  whatever  of  devotion ;  being  inclined  rather 
to  mock  at  the  Jesuit  for  his  simplicity,  than  to  call  himself  to 
account  for  his  want  of  mortification.     Being  present  one  day  at  a 
sumptuous  banquet,  at  which  the  most  delicious  viands  and  most 
exquisite  wines  were  served,  he  set  himself  seriously  to  reflect  on 
the  above  words,  and  to  consider  how  glaring  and  unseemly  was 
the  contrast;  and  as  he  turned  it  over,  again  and  again,  in  his  mind, 
he  felt  such  emotion  that  he  began  to  sob  and  weep  so  abun 
dantly  as  to  be  obliged  to  retire,  in  order  to  give  vent  to  the  floods 
of  tears  that  burst  from  his  heart.     He  afterwards  called  on  F. 
Favre,  and  told  him  what  had  happened ;   and  the  good  Jesuit, 
finding    him  duly    disposed,   exhorted  him,  in  plain    terms,    to 
adopt   the   practice  of  meditating  daily  on   some   fundamental 
truth  of  faith,  and  gave  the  requisite  instructions  for  the  profitable 
performance  of  this  holy  exercise :    thus  leading  him  to  a  more 
godly  mode  of  life.*     This  story  may  suggest  the  following  reflec- 

*  Bartoli,  Grandezze  di  Cristo,  cap.  x. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  195 

tion  to  Directors.  If  the  mere  consideration  of  a  Gospel  truth, 
taken  up  without  any  intention  of  meditating  upon  it,  was  so 
efficacious  as  to  soften  the  heart  of  this  nobleman,  what  will  not 
be  the  power  of  the  practice  of  daily  meditation  on  the  Four  Last 
Things,  our  Blessed  Saviour's  Life  and  Sufferings,  or  on  any  other 
such  truths  of  religion  ?  The  result  then  should  be,  that  the  Director 
ought  to  persuade,  if  he  can,  every  one  of  his  penitents  in  whom  he 
discovers  a  sufficient  capacity,  to  take  up  so  wholesome  a  practice. 
198.  Second  suggestion.  The  Director  must  be  careful  that 
such  of  his  penitents  as  have  begun  the  custom  of  daily  medita 
tion,  do  not  get  into  the  habit  of  forsaking  it  for  slight  motives ; 
and  still  less,  as  I  have  observed  above,  on  account  of  distrac 
tions,  weariness,  dryness,  and  such  temptations  as  may  assail 
them  while  conversing  with  God  in  mental  prayer :  for  should 
the  devil  prevail  over  them  on  one  or  two  occasions,  they  run 
great  risk  that  he  will  succeed  in  persuading  them  to  give  it  up 
altogether.  St.  Edmund  was  wont  to  meditate  every  day,  and  he 
chose  for  his  subject  the  sorrowful  Passion  of  our  dear  Lord.* 
It  happened  one  day,  that  being  absorbed  in  his  studies,  and 
engaged  in  important  business,  he  omitted  his  usual  meditation. 
As  he  was  on  the  point  of  retiring  to  rest,  he  beheld  the  demon 
before  him,  taking  various  frightful  shapes.  He  at  once  raised 
his  right  hand,  in  order  to  arm  himself  with  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
But  the  fiend,  seizing  it,  hindered  him  from  completing  the  sign 
which  is  so  formidable  to  the  demons.  The  Saint  then  lifted  up 
his  left  hand,  that  at  least  he  might  sigh  himself  with  that ;  but 
the  devil  seized  the  left  hand  also,  and  held  him  fast.  The  holy 
servant  of  God  seeing  himself  thus  outwardly  disarmed,  had  re 
course  to  the  interior  weapon  of  prayer  against  his  assailant 
The  enemy,  unable  to  withstand  this,  fell,  exhausted  and  dis 
comfited,  between  the  bed  and  the  wall.  Then  St.  Edmund, 
perceiving  his  advantage,  began  himself  to  attack  his  opponent, 
laid  hold  of  him,  and  grasping  him  by  the  throat,  said,  "  I  com 
mand  thee  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  to  tell  me  with  what 
weapon  I  may  do  thee  most  injury,  and  restrain  thy  power  the 
most."  The  demon  made  answer,  that  this  weapon  was  precisely 

*  Vincent.  Bellovacens.  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  xxxj.,  cap.  76. 

13—2 


196  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

that  Precious  Blood  by  which  he  had  been  adjured.  And,  of  a 
truth,  the  wicked  one  had  already  shown  by  his  acts  how  very 
true  was  this :  because,  as  the  Saint  had  omitted  his  usual  medi 
tation  on  the  Blood  and  Passion  of  our  Redeemer  that  same 
morning,  the  foul  fiend  had  the  daring  and  strength  to  assail  him 
so  fiercely.  The  Director  will  not  seldom  see  the  like  befall 
those  under  his  care,  unless  he  take  heed.  I  mean,  he  will  experi 
ence  that  on  days  upon  which  they  have  neglected  their  wonted 
meditation,  the  devil  prevails  over  them,  and  makes  them  fall 
into  some  notable  fault ;  and  should  this  happen  often,  he  will 
see  them  at  length  wholly  abandon  mental  prayer,  to  their  immense 
loss.  Let  him  then  see  to  it,  that  so  great  an  evil  do  not  happen 
to  them. 

199.  Third  suggestion.  The  matter  of  meditation  which  the 
Director  will  prescribe  to  those  whom  he  guides  should  be 
adapted  to  the  state  of  each  one.  Beginners,  who  are  in  the 
purgative  way,  are  best  suited  by  such  meditations  as  stir  up  a 
holy  fear,  and  a  lively  sorrow  for  their  sins ;  as,  for  instance,  those 
on  Death,  Judgment,  Hell,  Eternity,  the  deformity  of  sin,  and 
other  like  topics.  To  proficients,  who  are  in  the  illuminative 
way,  meditations  on  the  Life  and  Passion  of  our  Saviour  are  the 
most  adapted,  as  these  will  encourage  them  to  acquire  the  various 
virtues.  For  the  perfect,  who  are  in  the  unitive  way,  meditations 
on  the  Perfections  and  Attributes  of  God  are  the  most  fitted,  as 
being  the  best  calculated  to  enkindle  within  them  that  perfect 
love  which  will  unite  them  to  God.  This  distribution  does  not 
imply  that  each  one  may  not,  or  should  not,  occasionally,  take 
meditations  belonging  to  one  of  the  other  classes,  especially  such 
as  relate  to  the  Life  of  Christ  and  to  His  most  holy  Passion,  which 
none,  whatever  their  state,  should  ever  entirely  give  up;  for  as 
St  Augustine  excellently  observes,*  "The  Son  of  God,  Who. 

*  Filius  Dei,  qui  semper  in  Patre  Veritas  et  Vita  est,  assumendo  hominem 
factus  est  Via.  Ambula  per  hominem  et  pervenis  ad  Deum.  Per  ipsum  vadis, 
ad  ipsum  vadis.  Noli  quaerere,  qu£  ad  ipsum  pervenias  prseter  ipsum.  Si  enim 
via  ipse  esse  noluisset,  semper  erraremus.  Factus  ergo  est  via,  quavenias.  Norv 
tibi  dico,  quserere  viam  ;  ipsa  via  ad  te  venit  :  surge  et  ambula.  Ambula  mori- 
bus,  non  pedibus.  Serm.  Iv.  De  Verb.  Dora. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  197 

eternally  is  Truth  and  Life  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  is  become 
the  Way,  by  taking  to  Himself  our  manhood.  Take  His  man 
hood  as  the  path,  and  thou  comest  unto  God.  Through  Him 
dost  thou  go,  to  Him  shalt  thou  go.  Seek  no  other  way  to 
attain  unto  Him  but  Himself.  Had  He  not  chosen  to  be  Him 
self  the  Way,  we  should  have  wandered  everlastingly.  And, 
therefore,  He  became  the  Way  by  which  thou  mayest  reach  thy 
destination.  I  say  not,  that  thou  shouldst  seek  the  Way,  for 
the  Way  itself  has  come  to  thee.  Arise,  then,  and  walk.  Walk 
by  thy  conduct,  not  with  thy  feet." 

200.  Blosius  relates,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  very  frequently 
revealed   to   His   well-beloved    spouses,     SS.    Gertrude,  Bridget, 
Mechtildis,  and  Catharine  of  Sienna,  how  acceptable  it  was  to 
Him  and  advantageous  to  men,  to  meditate  with  attention  and 
devotion  on  the  pains  He  suffered  during  His  most  bitter  Passion  : 
a  lesson  these  holy  women  took  to  heart;  for  the  Passion  of 
Christ — which,  though  never    so  bitter  and    cruel,  yet  is  filled 
with  the  sweetness  of  divine  love — was  so  deeply  imprinted  in 
their  innermost  souls,  they  were  wont  to  meditate  upon  it  with 
50  ardent  and  sweet  an  affection,  that  to  them  it  became  honey 
in  the  mouth,  melody  in  the  ear,  jubilee  within  the  heart*     None, 
then,   however   uplifted  in  the  contemplation  of  the  Godhead, 
should  dispense  themselves  from  meditating  on  Christ's  Passion, 
both  because  He  is  our  sure  Way,  from  which  we  may  not  depart, 
and  such  is  the  path  which  has  ever  been  taken  by  the  greatest 
contemplatives  of  Holy  Church. 

201.  Fourth  suggestion.     With  regard  to  the  time  a  Director 
should  advise  his  penitents  to  devote  to  meditation,  two  points 
should  be  considered  : — First,  the  occupation  of  the  penitent ; 
Second,  the  capacity  of  his  mind.     If  we  cast  an  eye  on  the 

*  Frequentissime  Dominus  Jesus  revelavit  carissimis  suis  sponsis  Gertrudi, 
Birgittae,  Mechthildi,  Catharinae,  quam  sit  sibi  acceptum,  et  homini  fructuosum, 
recolere  passionem  Christi,  pia,  humili  et  sincerS,  attentione,  vel  devotione, 
-Quod  et  ipsoe  devotissime  fecerunt  :  nam  et  eamdem  Domini  Jesu  passionem 
(quse  licet  amarissima,  acerbissirnaque  fuerit,  tota  tamen  caritatis  dulcedine 
plena  est),  adeo  profunde  visceribus  animarum  suarum  infixerant,  et  tarn  ardenti, 
suavique  affectu,  ruminare  solebant,  ut  ilia  eis  esset  mel  in  ore,  melos  in  aure, 
jubilus  in  corde.  Monil.  Spirit.,  cap.  2. 


198  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

examples  left  us  by  the  Saints  in  this  particular,  we  shall  find 
them  to  have  been  indefatigable  in  the  exercise  of  mental  prayer. 
St.  Bernard  spent  whole  days  and  nights,  standing,  in  meditation 
and  contemplation  of  heavenly  things ;  insomuch,  that  his  legs  all 
swelling  out,  from  having  remained  so  long  in  the  same  position, 
he  was  unable  to  support  himself  on  his  feet.  In  the  monastery 
of  the  Abbot  Apollo,  there  lived  an  aged  monk,  who,  as  the 
Abbot  John,  quoted  by  Sophronius,  tells  us,  was  so  given  to  con 
templation,  that  he  had  worn  a  cavity  about  a  hand-breadth  deep 
in  the  board  on  which  he  was  accustomed  to  kneel :  as  the  nar 
rator  declares  to  have  seen  with  his  own  eyes.*  St.  Gregory  the 
Great  relates  of  his  aunt  Tharsilla,  that  "when  her  corpse  was 
stripped,  in  order  to  be  washed,  as  is  usual  with  the  dead,  it  was 
discovered  that,  from  her  assiduity  in  prayer,  her  knees  and  elbows 
had  become  hard  like  the  knees  of  a  camel ;  whereby  her  mortal 
remains  bore  witness  to  what  had  been  her  soul's  constant  occu 
pation  during  life."t  St.  Paul,  the  first  Hermit,  as  St.  Jerome  in 
forms  us  in  his  life  which  he  wrote,  was  so  addicted  to  mental 
prayer,  "  that  even  the  body  of  the  Saint,  after  his  death,  by  its 
posture,  seemed  to  pray  to  the  God  to  Whom  all  things  live ;  for 
he  was  found  by  St.  Antony  with  his  face  and  hands  upturned  to 
heaven,  so  that  the  holy  man  did  not  at  first  believe  that  life  had 
fled,  but  rather  that  sense  was  absorbed  in  deep  contemplation. 
But  he  soon  discovered  that  it  was  not  St.  Paul,  but  only  his 
corpse,  which  retained  the  devout  attitude  of  prayer  in  which  the 
Saint  was  when  death  came  upon  him.J  From  these  and  innu 
merable  other  instances  which  we  may  gather  from  ecclesi 
astical  history,  let  us  learn,  that  the  measure  which  the  Saints 
observed  in  their  mental  prayer  was  to  pray  without  measure. 
Nor  did  this  ill  become  them ;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  they  by  no 
means  neglected  the  duties  of  their  respective  callings,  and  on  the 

*  Practic.  Spirit,  cap.  184. 

'f'  Cumque  corpus  ejus  ad  lavandum  ex  more  mortuorum  esset  nudatum, 
longo  orationis  usu  in  cubitis  ejus,  ac  genibus  camelorum  more  inventa  est  ob- 
durata  cutis  excrevisse  ;  et  quid  vivens  spiritus  ejus  semper  egisset,  cai'O  mortua 
testabatur.  Dialog.,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  16. 

*  Quod  etiam  cadaver  sancti,  Deum,  cui  omnia  vivunt,   officioso  gestu  pre- 
cabatur.     In  ejusdem  vit&. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  199 

other,  prayer  was  never  burdensome  to  them,  as  the  fountain  of 
devotion  was,  so  to  say,  ever  flowing  in  their  hearts. 

202.  But  to  speak  of  the  common  run  of  men,  a  fixed  space  of 
time  must  be  prescribed  to  each,  to  which  they  may  usually  limit 
themselves,  in  order  to  avoid  the  opposite  extremes  of  excess  and 
defect.  This  limit  must,  in  the  first  place,  be  determined  by  the 
nature  of  each  one's  occupations  :  in  other  words,  the  daily  medi 
tations  should  not  be  so  long  as  to  interfere  with  the  duties  of 
ordinary  life,  to  fatigue  the  head,  or  overtask  bodily  strength  ;  in 
short,  to  do  any  serious  injury  to  the  health.  It  must,  in  the  next 
place,  be  proportioned  to  the  mental  powers  of  each,  for,  as  St. 
Thomas  teaches,  "  The  quantity  of  each  thing  should  be  deter 
mined  by  the  end  to  be  attained,  as  the  quantity  of  a  dose  of 
medicine  is  measured  by  the  requirements  of  health ;  hence  it  is 
that  prayer  should  continue  as  long  as  it  serves  to  kindle  the 
fervour  of  inward  affection.  When  it  exceeds  this  measure,  so 
that  we  cannot  persevere  in  it  without  weariness,  it  should  not 
proceed  -further."  *  But  as  it  may  easily  happen  that,  through 
tepidity,  some  may  deem  themselves  unfit  to  carry  on  meditation, 
when  they  might  do  so  with  advantage,  whilst  others,  out  of  an 
indiscreet  fervour,  continue  it  beyond  what  their  strength  and 
the  calls  upon  them  allow,  it  would  be  well  to  supplement  this 
general  rule  by  the  following  regulation  : — Each  one  should  make 
up  his  mind  to  devote  an  hour,  or  at  least  half  an  hour,  every  day 
to  meditation,  despite  whatever  dryness  may  chance  to  supervene, 
with  the  understanding,  that  they  may  prolong  it,  or  even  make  a 
second  during  the  day,  if  their  health  and  engagements  allow, 
whenever  the  inspiration  of  God's  grace  incline  them  to  do  so. 
Such  was  the  custom  of  St.  Bernardine  of  Sienna  mentioned  above  ; 
and  others  have  in  like  manner  set  apart  for  meditation  a  time 
which  was  in  no  case  to  be  altered.  With  persons  of  leisure,  or 
such  as  lead  a  purely  contemplative  life,  the  Director  may  be  less 

*  Uniuscujusque  autem  rei  quantitas  debet  esse  proportionata  fini,  sic  v.t 
quantitas  potionis  sanitati ;  unde  et  conveniens  est,  ut  oratio  tantum  duret, 
quantum  est  utile  ad  excitandam  interioris  desiderii  fervorem.  Cum  vero  hanc 
mensurain  excedit,  ita  quod  sine  taedio  durare  non  possit,  non  est  ulterius  pro- 
tendenda.  2,  2,  qu.  83,  art.  14,  in  corp. 


200  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

sparing,  and  allow  them  a  longer  time  for  mental  prayer,  as  it  is 
an  exercise  in  every  way  befitting  their  condition. 

203.  Three  parts  of  the  day  are  best  suited  to  the  meditation  of 
eternal  truths  :  midnight,  morning,  and  evening.  The  Psalmist 
makes  especial  mention  of  them,  thus  :  At  midnight  do  I  rise  to 
sing  Thy  praise,  O  God.*  At  dawn  of  day  will  2  meditate  upon 
Thee."\  "  May  my  hands ,  lifted  up  in  firayer,  be  as  the  evening  sacri- 
fice.%  But  if  we  choose  to  meditate  once  only  in  the  day,  the  morn 
ing  is  unquestionably  the  fittest  time,  the  head  being  less  clouded 
after  sleep,  and  consequently  more  disposed  for  mental  work ;  and 
the  mind  being  less  encumbered  with  distracting  images  and  fan 
cies,  since  the  business  of  the  day  has  not  yet  been  taken  in  hand. 
And  further,  when  a  man  begins  his  day  with  the  consideration  of 
the  eternal  truths,  he  strengthens  himself  beforehand,  to  use  the 
expression  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  and  arms  himself  against 
temptation.  "We  want  arms,"  he  said  when  preaching  to  the 
people  of  Antioch.  "  Now  prayer  is  a  mighty  weapon.  We  re 
quire  favourable  wind,  we  have  to  forecast  every  danger,  if  we  would 
pass  the  day  without  shipwreck  and  wounds.  For  daily  do  we 
meet  with  many  rocks,  and  our  bark  frequently  strikes  upon  them 
and  sinks.  Hence  our  need  of  prayer,  especially  in  the  morning 
and  at  night-time."  §  "  Give,  therefore,  to  God,"  says  St.  John 
Climacus,  "  the  first-fruits  of  the  day,  as  the  day  will  belong  to  him 
who  has  first  taken  possession  of  it."  ||  And  he  adds,  what  a  very 
spiritual  person  was  wont  to  say  of  himself:  "From  what  the 
morning  meditation  has  been,  I  can  judge  how  the  remainder  of 
the  day  will  pass."  ^[  If,  however,  we  desire  to  pay  to  God  twice 


*  Medii  nocte,  surgebam  ad  confitendum  tibi.     Ps.  cxviij.  62. 

t  In  matutinis  meditabor  in  te.     Ps.  Ixij.  7. 

%  Elevatio  manuum  mearum  sacrificium  vespertinum.     Ps.  cxl.  2. 

§  Armis  nobis  opus  est.  Magna  ergo  armatura  oratio.  Opus  est  ventis  a 
puppi,  opus  omnia  discere,  ut  diei  spatium  absque  naufragiis  et  vulneribus 
transigamus.  Multi  namque  per  singulos  dies  scopuli ;  et  frequenter  illiditur 
scapha,  atque  submergitur.  Propterea  nobis  opus  est  oratione,  matutina  prse- 
sertim  et  nocturna.  Horn.  41,  ad  Popul.  Antioch. 

||  Da  Domino  primitias  diei  tuse  ;  erit  enim  tota  ejus,  qui  prior  occupaverit. 
Gradus  xvj. 

TJ  Ab  ipso  matutino  tempore  cursum  totum  meum  diei  scio. 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  201 

in  the  day  the  holy  tribute  of  our  meditations,  the  evening  will 
present  another  very  fitting  time,  as  St.  Cyprian  observes.  This, 
however,  in  case  that  the  person  has  not  courage  enough  to  inter 
rupt  his  slumbers  by  rising  at  midnight  to  make  his  prayer,  which 
would  be  the  fittest  time  of  all.* 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  THE  DIRECTOR  ON  THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH 
CHAPTERS,  INASMUCH  AS  THEY  RELATE  TO  DRYNESS  AND 
CONSOLATION  IN  PRAYER. 

204.  FIRST  suggestion.  When  the  penitent  begins  to  taste 
spiritual  consolation  in  mental  prayer,  the  Director  must  learn 
how  to  guide  him,  so  that  such  helps  turn  not  to  his  spiritual  loss 
instead  of  his  advantage.  God  bestows  consolation  upon  us, 
especially  in  the  beginning,  with  a  view  to  our  profit,  intending 
to  encourage  us  by  means  of  these  enticements  to  the  practice  of 
solid  virtue.  Many,  however,  misuse  them,  and  thus  make,  as  we 
sometimes  say,  a  poison  out  of  a  medicine.  An  attachment 
springs  up  to  this  sweetness,  and  meditation  is  no  longer  sought 
out  of  the  desire  to  please  God,  but  rather  with  a  view  to  the 
spiritual  gratification  which  is  experienced.  Hence,  it  results,  that 
when  these  accustomed  consolations  fail,  anxiety,  gloom,  diffidence 
and  blameworthy  alarm,  gain  an  entrance.  Others  there  are  who 
place  the  whole  essence  of  the  spiritual  life  in  these  emotions ;  so 
that  when  they  find  themselves  full  of  tender  sentiments,  they 
fancy  that  they  are  receiving  much  profit  from  them  :  but  if  after 
a  time  these  feelings  vanish,  it  seems  to  them  that  they  are  lost 
for  ever.  The  Director  should  forestall  all  these  inconveniences, 
as  being  highly  prejudicial  to  any  true  progress  in  perfection ; 

*  Recedente  item  sole  et  die  cessante,  necessario  rursum  orandum  est.     De 
Orat.  Domin.,  Serm.  6. 


202  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and  so  soon  as  the  penitent  begins  to  feel  the  effects  of  sweetness, 
consolation,  and  fervour,  must  din  into  his  ears  this  grand  truth, 
that  perfection  does  not  consist  in  these  feelings,  but  in  self-denial, 
both  inward  and  outward,  and  in  the  practice  of  true  virtue :  that 
if  he  neglect  this,  he  will  be  by  so  much  the  more  guilty  in  the 
sight  of  God,  as  he  has  received  more  favours  at  His  hands.  He 
should  tell  him  that  these  sensible  consolations  are  a  token  of 
weakness,  and  that,  on  this  account,  they  are  usually  bestowed  on 
beginners,  who  are  still  babes  in  the  spiritual  life.  Let  him  give 
warning  that  such  consolations  cannot  last  for  ever,  nor  can  we 
be  sure  when  they  will  return  again,  and  that  they  will  soon  be 
changed  into  darkness  and  aridity ;  so  that  being  forewarned  the 
penitent  may  make  timely  preparation,  and  not  yield,  when  the 
trial  comes  upon  him,  to  sadness  or  despair.  St.  Bernard  excel 
lently  observes :  "If  God  gives  you  the  grace  of  consolation,  re 
ceive  it  not  as  if  you  thought  that  it  was  to  be  your  lasting  pos 
session,  belonging  to  you  by  an  hereditary  right,  nor  esteem  that 
you  can  keep  and  retain  it,  as  though  it  could  never  be  taken 
from  you  :  lest,  when  the  time  comes  that  God  withdraws  His 
hand  and  gift,  you  lose  heart  and  fall  into  undue  gloom  and 
sadness."  "Rather  will  you  take  heed,"  he  continues,  "if  you 
savour  the  counsel  of  the  Wise  Man,  to  be  mindful  in  evil  days 
of  happier  ones,  and  in  happy  days  to  forecast  the  days  of 
evil  Be  not,  therefore,  over-confident  in  the  days  of  your 
strength,  but  with  the  Prophet  cry  unto  God,  When  my  strength 
shall  fail  me,  forsake  me  not"*  And  the  Saint  will  have  us  promise 
God  not  to  forsake  prayer,  nor  to  relax  in  our  resolve  to  exercise 
ourselves  in  virtue  with  the  same  readiness  when  the  time  of  dry- 
ness  shall  come.t 

*  Sic  autem,  quamdiu  adest  gratia,  delectare  in  ea,  ut  non  te  sestimes 
donum  Dei  iure  hsereditario  possidere ;  ita  videlicet  securus  de  eo,  quasi 
numquam  perdere  possis,  ne  subito,  cum  forte  retraxerit  manum  et  subtrax- 
erit  donum,  tu  animo  concidas  et  tristior  quam  oportet  fias.  Serm.  21,  In 
Cant. 

•f*  Curabis  potius,  si  sapis  pro  consilio  sapientis,  in  die  malorum  ncn  imme- 
mor  esse  bonorum  ;  atque  in  die  bonorum  non  immemor  esse  malorum.  Ergo 
in  die  virtutis  tuse  noli  esse  securus  ;  sed  clama  ad  Deum  cum  prophet^  et  die  : 
Cum  defecerit  virtus  mea,  ne  derelinquas  me. 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  203 

205.  The  Director  must  further  take  care  that  in  times  of  con 
solation  the  soul  stand  before  God  in  much  humility  and  great 
awe.     I  say  this,  as  spiritual  prosperity  begets  in  some  an  indis 
creet  confidence  which  renders  them  too  forward  and,  so  to  speak, 
too   daring  in   their   converse  with  God.!    When  the  penitent  is 
carried  away  with  the  relish,  consolation,  and  fervour  of  his  devo 
tions,  let  him  be  advised  not  to  give  himself  immoderately  to 
prayer,  watchings,  fasts  and  penances,  so  as  to  injure  his  head  or 
chest,  or  weaken  bodily  strength  and  damage  his  health ;  as  many 
often  do,  to  very  serious  loss  in  their  spiritual  life,  since  they  thus 
unfit  themselves  to  continue  the  course  upon  which  they  have 
entered.     The  Confessor  should  therefore  require  of  the  penitent 
that  he  be  entirely  open,  and  submit  himself  in  all  things  to  the 
direction  of  his  guide. 

206.  Second  suggestion.     If  the  penitent  find  himself  dry  and 
desolate  in  his  meditations,  the  Director  should  endeavour  to  trace 
the  origin  of  such  desolation.     According  to  Cassian,  desolation 
has  three  sources  : — First,    our    own    negligence ;    Second,    the 
assaults  of  the  devil ;  Third,  the  dealings  of  God  with  us,  for  the 
trial  or  purification  of  the  soul.*     With  regard  to  the  first  of  these 
causes,  the  Director  must  examine  whether  the  darkness  of  the 
mind  and  the  barrenness  of  the  heart  which  he  discovers  in  the 
person  under  his  direction,  have  their  origin  in  notable  negligence 
or   fault,  into  which  the  penitent  may  have  fallen  with  unusual 
frequency,  or  in  some  extraordinary  dissipation  of  mind,  especially 
in   self-complacency,  vanity,   or   pride  :    for,  as    St.  Bernard   has 
it,  this  is  the  usual  reason   why  God  withholds   sensible  graces. 
The  Saint's  words  are,  "Pride  has  been  found  in  me,  and  the  Lord 
has  turned  away  in  anger  from  His  servant.     Hence  this  barren 
ness  of  soul,  this  want  of  devotion,  from  which  I  am  suffering.     I 
cannot  be  moved  to  tears,  so  great  is  the  hardness  of  my  heart. 
The  Psalms  please  me  no  longer ;  I  care  not  to  read ;  I  take  no 
delight  in  prayer,  my  accustomed  meditations  come  back  to  me  no- 
more.     Where  is  that  intoxication  of  spirit,  that  serenity  of  soul, 

*  Tripartita  nobis  super  hac,  quam  dicitis,  sterilitate  mentis,  tradita  ratio 
est.  Aut  enim  de  negligentia.  nostra-,  aut  de  impugnatione  diaboli,  aut  de 
4isoensatione  Dei,  ac  probatione,  descendit.  Coll.  iv.,  cap.  3. 


204  GUIDk  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

that  joy  and  peace,  which  I  have  felt  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Com 
forter  ?"  * 

207.  If,  then,  the  Director  find  in  his  penitent  such  faults  as 
make  God  hide  His  face,  he  must  set  about  procuring  their  effect 
ual  amendment.     Thus,  if  he  discover  that  pride  is  the  occasion, 
or  vanity,  he  should  give  his  penitent  the  knowledge  of  self  as  sub 
ject  of  meditation,  and  make  him  continue  it  until  he  has  formed 
a  low  estimate  of  himself  and  has  attained  a  true  feeling  of  humi 
lity.     For  this  purpose  he  will  find  much  assistance  in  the  medi 
tations  developed   by  F.   Pinamonti,  in   his   golden   little   book, 
entitled  "  The  Mirror  that  deceives  not."      For  there  is  in  fact 
only  too  much  truth  in  what  is  said  by  the  Saint  whom  we  but 
just   now   quoted.      "  My  own   experience   has   taught   me  that 
there  is  no  means  so  effectual  for  earning  the  grace  of  consolation, 
for  preserving  it  when  gained,  for  recovering  it  when  lost,  as  to 
stand  before  God  with  head  bowed  down,  and  to  be  ever  fearful  for 
oneself.     Blessed  is  the  man  that  ever  feareth.     Fear  then,  when 
grace  shall  smile  upon  thee  ;   fear  when  it  departs ;  fear  when  it 
shall  return  anew  :  this  indeed  is  to  be  ever  in  fear."t 

208.  As  to  the  second  cause,  search  must  be  made  whether 
the  penitent   is   depressed   with   empty  fears,  or    afflicted    with 
scruples,    or  cast  down   with   diffidence,   troubled  with   baseless 
apprehensions,  assailed   with   impure  temptations,  or  agitated  by 
other  inward  troubles  ;  for  if  this  be  the  case,  the  aridity  must  be 
ascribed   to   the   devil.      For    the    wicked    one,  darkening  the 
mind  and  disturbing  the  heart  with  such  vile  suggestions,  indis 
poses  the  soul  to  receive  the  peaceful,  calm,  and  sweet  impres 
sions  of  divine  grace.     In  such  cases  the  Director  will  employ 

*  Superbia  inventa  est  in  me,  et  Dominus  declinavit  in  ir£  a  servo  suo.  Hinc 
ista  sterilitas  animse  meae  et  devotionis  inopia,  quam  patior  .  .  .  Non  com- 
pungi  ad  lacrymas  queo,  tanta  est  duritia  cordis :  non  sapit  psalmus ;  non 
legere  libet ;  non  ovare  delectat ;  meditationes  solitas  non  invenio.  Ubi  ilia 
inebriatio  spiritus  ?  ubi  mentis  serenitas,  et  gaudium  et  pax  in  Spiritu  Sancto  ? 
Serai.  54,  In  Cant. 

t  In  veritate  didici  nihil  seque  efficax  esse  ad  gratiam  promerendam,  reti- 
nendam,  recuperandam,  quam  si  omni  tempore  coram  Deo  inveniaris,  non 
altum  sapere,  sed  tiniere  ;  Beatus  homo,  qui  semper  est  pavidus.  Time  ergo, 
cum  arriserit  gratia ;  time  cum  abierit ;  time  cum  denuo  revertetur ;  et  hoc 
est  semper  pavidum  esse.  S.  Bern.,  Loco  supracit. 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  205 

the  remedies  usually  adopted  as  fittest  to  meet  the  suggestions  of 
the  enemy. 

209.  But  if  he  discover  in  his  penitent  neither  serious  faults 
of  vain   self-complacency,    nor   the   disturbance    occasioned    by 
diabolical  suggestions,  he  must  ascribe  the  withdrawal  of  sensible 
devotion  to  God,  Who,  in  order  to  purify  the   soul,   frequently 
casts   it   into   a   state   of  painful   dryness.      Nor  is   this   to   be 
wondered   at,    since  by   means   of  this   darkness   of  mind   and 
hardness  of  heart,  the  soul  becomes  detached  from  all  spiritual 
consolations,  and  accustoms  itself  to  serve  God,  not  for  the  gra 
tification  it  finds  in  His  service,  but  out  of  pure  love  for  Him; 
in  short,  forms  the  habit  of  serving  God  alone ;  and  in  this,  if  we 
consider  it  aright,  pure  and  really  unselfish  love  consists.     Fur 
ther,  during  this  time  of  trial,  the  soul,  if  it  remains  faithful,  grows 
in  solid  virtues,  since  under  such  circumstances  acts  of  patience, 
mortification,  humility,   obedience  and  the  like,  do  not  proceed 
from  the  heart  urged  on  by  certain  sensible  affections — the  fruits 
that   spring  from   grace — but   solely  from  the  motive  proper  to 
such  virtues.     Hence,  at  such  times  of  aridity,  those  good  habits 
are   formed   which  remain  permanently  rooted  in  the  soul,  and 
enable   the   person   to   act    virtuously,  under  all  circumstances, 
whether  of  prosperity  or  adversity. 

210.  The  Director  will  take  special  care  not  to  allow  a  peni 
tent  suffering  from  aridity  to  be  troubled,  to  lose  heart,  and,  least 
of  all,  to  omit  his  usual  meditations.     Let  him  engage  the  suf 
ferer  to  humble  himself  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  calmly 
acknowledging   and  confessing,  with  all  simplicity  of  heart,  his 
own  helplessness   and   misery,  and  firmly  cleaving  to  the  belief 
that  God  works  all  things  for  his  good ;  so  'that  he  may  be  resigned 
to  the  divine  will,  and  offer  himself  readily  to  remain  in- this  state 
even  throughout  his  life,  should  it  seem  good  to  God  so  to  dis 
pose  for  His  own  glory  and  the  profit  of  His  creature.     Let  the 
sufferer  have  firm  trust  that  the  divine  goodness  will  never  for 
sake  him,  unless  he  first  forsake  God  ;  and  on  this  account  let 
him  rest  assured  that  although  the  Lord  no  longer,  as  in  the 
beginning,  gives  him  tokens  of  His  presence,  yet  He  secretly 
assists,  protects  and  defends  him,  and  even  looks  upon  him  with 


206  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  eye  of  a  Father.  The  Director  must  further  bear  in  mind  that 
these  same  acts  should  be  made,  when  dryness  and  darkness  visit 
us  for  either  of  the  two  other  reasons  above  mentioned;  since 
such  desolation  which  proceeds  from  our  own  failings  and  the 
.assaults  of  the  devil,  is  intended  by  God,  if  not  as  a  punish 
ment,  at  least  as  a  purification  of  the  soul :  hence,  when  suf 
fering  for  such  reasons  from  aridity,  we  should  humble  our 
selves  before  God,  conform  ourselves  to  His  will,  and  trust 
implicitly  in  Him. 

211.  The  Director  will  often  hear  complaints  from  persons  who 
suffer  from  desolation,  that,  in  time  of  prayer,  they  are  like  statues, 
or  mere  blocks  of  stone  ;  that  they  seem  to  themselves  not  to  be 
praying  at   all,   but   to  be   on  their  knees  staring  at   the  walls. 
He  will  reply,  that  they  should  be  glad  to   be  as  statues  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  to  give  Him  pleasure  even  in  this  form. 
He  should  tell  them  to  rejoice  that  they  are  admitted  to  be  as 
stones   in   the  sight   of  the  Lord,    remembering  that  He  takes 
pleasure  in  the  very  want  of  feeling  of  which  they  complain,  if 
only  it  be  accompanied  by  due  conformity  to  His  will.     Let  them 
Temain,  then,  gazing  at  the  wall,  like  soldiers  standing  on  guard 
in  obedience  to  their  king,  so  long  as  they  bear  in  mind  that  God 
sees  them  when  they  are  kneeling  before  Him,  and  so  long  as 
they  cease  not  to  turn  towards  Him  by  acts  of  their  will,  as  well 
as  they  are  able,  however  such  acts  may  seem  to  them  dry,  con 
strained  and  valueless.     I  say  seem  to  them,  for  these  forced  acts, 
made  by  the  will  in  such  circumstances,  are  often  more  precious 
in   God's   eyes   than   certain   fervid,  sweet  and  ardent  emotions 
which,    at    other   times,    are   felt   in   the   sensitive  part   of  the 
soul. 

212.  Palladius,  a  bishop  of  Cappadocia,  in  the  life  which  he 
ivrote  of  St.  Macarius  of  Alexandria,  relates,  that  he  went   one 
clay,  all  full  of  faint-heartedness  and  alarm,  to  visit  this  saintly 
recluse,  and  said  to  him,  "How  am  I  to  act,  holy  Father,  when 
my  thoughts  continually  torment  me,  seeming  to  say,  *  What  are 
you  doing  in  this  cell  ?     You  waste  your  time  in  this  desert ;    go 
and  associate  with  the  rest  of  mankind '  ?"     St.  Macarius  replied, 
^  When  such   thoughts  return,  answer  them  thus  :   For  Christ's 


FURTHER  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  207 

sake  I  keep  guard  over  the  walls  of  this  cell."*  The  Di 
rector  may  give  the  like  answer  to  his  penitents  who  tell  him 
that  they  cannot  do  anything  in  time  of  meditation ;  that  they  only 
stare  at  the  walls,  and  lose  their  time  ;  that  it  would  be  better  for 
them  to  take  up  some  other  occupation  :  and  the  like.  Let  him 
tell  them  to  answer  these  suggestions  of  their  self-love,  or  of  the 
evil  one,  thus  :  "  We  are  here  looking  at  these  walls  for  Christ's 
sake."  At  the  same  time  they  should  lift  up  their  souls  to  God 
in  lowly  resignation,  performing  some  act  of  prayer,  a  thing 
which  no  dryness,  however  great  it  be,  can  hinder  them  from 
doing. 


ARTICLE  VI. 

Fifth  means  of  acquiring  Christian  Perfection.     Mental  and  vocal 

Prayer. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THAT  WITHOUT  PRAYER   IT  IS    IMPOSSIBLE  TO   ATTAIN  TO  ETERNAL 
SALVATION,  AND  MUCH  LESS  TO  PERFECTION. 

213.  WE  have  now  ascended  two  steps  of  the  ladder  which  St 
Bernard  made  to  lead  souls  to  perfection  and  to  God;  and 
these  steps  are  spiritual  reading  and  the  meditation  of  divine  things. 
It  remains  now  to  mount  to  the  third  round,  which  is  the  prayer  of 
supplication  and  petition,  in  which  is  most  strictly  fulfilled  the 
well-known  saying  of  St.  John  Damascene,  that  prayer  is  the 
begging  of  God  for  that  which  is  suitable  for  us.t  St.  Bernard 
says  :  "  Meditation  shows  us  with  its  light  what  we  stand  in  need 
of;  the  prayer  of  petition  obtains  it.  The  former  prepares  the 
road  of  perfection ;  the  latter  leads  us  safely  along  our  road.  By 

*  Ille  respondit :  Die  ipsis  cogitationibus  tuis  :  Propter  Christum  parietes 
cellar  istius  custodio.     Apud  Surium,  torn.  I. 
t  Oratio  est  petitio  decentium  a  Deo. 


208  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

meditation  we  become  aware  of  the  dangers  that  threaten  us ;  by 
prayer  we  escape  them.*  By  which  is  meant  that  meditation  is 
necessary  to  us  in  so  far  as,  making  us  aware  of  our  needs,  it 
moves  us  to  ask  and  obtain  of  God  whatever  is  necessary. 
Having  treated  of  mental  prayer  in  the  foregoing  Article,  we 
have  now  to  speak  of  the  prayer  of  petition,  since  without  this  the 
former  would  not  be  an  effectual  means  of  attaining  to  the  per 
fection  on  which  we  are  bent.  But  since  we  may  implore 
God's  mercies  both  by  the  mind  and  heart  without  moving  the 
tongue,  and  also  by  spoken  words — as  is  customary  with  all  good 
Christians — it  is  necessary  for  us  to  consider  these  two  ways  of 
praying  and  setting  forth  our  needs  to  Almighty  God.  Beginning 
then  with  the  first-named  method,  we  will  show,  in  the  present 
Chapter,  that  without  the  prayer  of  petition  it  is  impossible  to 
attain  to  salvation,  and  still  more  so  to  attain  to  it  with  that 
perfection  which  belongs  to  the  special  subject  of  our  book. 

214.  This  is  the  express  teaching  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  whose 
words  we  now  quote  :  "  After  Baptism"  (and  the  same  holds  good 
of  Confession,  whereby  we  recover  the  baptismal  gift),  "  man  stands 
in  need  of  constant  prayer,  in  order  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  for,  though  by  baptism  sins  are  washed  away,  there  yet 
remains  the  incentive  to  sin  which  attacks  us  from  within,  while 
the  devil  and  the  world  assail  us  from  without.  Hence  it  is  ex 
pressly  noted  in  St.  Luke,  that  while  Jesus  was  praying,  after  having 
been  baptized,  the  heavens  were  immediately  opened,  that  we 
might  understand  how  necessary  to  the  baptized  is  that  prayer 
which  opens  to  us  also  the  gates  of  heaven,  and  prepares  for  us  an 
entrance  into  that  blessed  country."  The  holy  Doctor  teaches 
this  same  truth  in  another  place,  when  he  observes,  that  after  a 

*  Meditatio  docet  quid  desit ;  oratio,  ne  desit,  obtinet.  Ilia  viam  ostendit,, 
ista  deducit ;  meditatione  denique  cognoscimus  imminentia  nobis  pericula,  ora- 
tione  evadimus.  Semi.  2,  In  Festo  S.  Andrese. 

t  Post  baptismum  autem  necessaria  est  hominis  jugis  oratio,  ad  hoc  quod 
coelutn  introeat :  licet  enim  per  baptismum  remittantur  peccata,  remanet  fomes. 
peccati,  nos  impugnans  interius  ;  et  mundus  et  dcemones,  qui  impugnant  exte- 
rms.  Et  ideo  signanter  dicitur  Lucse  iij,  quod  Jesu  baptizato,  et  orante, 
apertum  est  ccelum  ;  quia  scilicet  fidelibus  necessaria  est  oratio  post  baptis 
mum.  3  part,  q.  39,  art.  5,  incorp. 


PRA  YER  OF  PETITION  NECESSA R  K  209 

man  has  been  justified  by  the  gift  of  grace,  he  must,  of  necessity, 
ever  pray  and  beg  the  gift  of  perseverance^  to  the  end  that  God 
may  keep  him  from  the  evil  of  sin  to  the  very  end  of  his  days.* 

215.  To  be  fully  convinced  of  this  firmly-established  doctrine, 
•we  must  next  lay  bare  the  foundations,  and  examine  whether  they 
have  a  solid  support.  The  foundation-stones  are  the  two  follow 
ing  truths,  which  are  no  less  certain  than  important  to  be  known. 
The  first  truth  is,  that  apart  from  God's  special  assistance,  we  can 
not  continue  long  in  His  friendship,  free  from  deadly  sin  of  any 
kind ;  for  so  many  are  the  internal  impulses  of  our  passions  in 
citing  us  to  evil,  so  great  is  the  attraction  and  fascination  by 
which  outward  objects  allure  us  to  what  is  wrong,  so  many  are 
the  attacks  which  our  hellish  foes  bring  to  bear  upon  us  in  order 
to  hurl  us  into  sin,  that  the  brittle  clay  of  which  we  are  formed 
cannot  withstand  all  these  shocks ;  and  unless  the  almighty  hand 
of  God  protect  us  with  His  grace,  we  must  necessarily  fall  into 
some  grievous  offence.  And,  furthermore,  to  remain  in  God's 
friendship,  we  are  obliged  to  perform  various  good  and  holy 
works  which  His  law  commands  us  to  perform.  Now,  unless  we 
mean  to  partake  in  the  abominable  heresy  of  the  Pelagians,  we 
are  bound  to  own  that  this  is  possible  to  us  only  by  special  assist 
ance  of  divine  grace.  If  ever  we  have  observed  a  boat  in  the 
middle  of  a  strong  and  rapid  current,  we  must  have  noticed  what 
great  strength  of  arm,  and  what  exertion  on  the  part  of  the 
rowers,  are  needed  to  carry  it  against  the  stream  to  its  destina 
tion  ;  but,  that  it  may  be  borne  away  and  swamped  by  the 
current,  all  that  the  boatmen  have  to  do  is,  to  cease  plying  their 
oars.  And  exactly  in  the  same  manner,  in  order  to  make  for 
the  port  of  everlasting  bliss,  against  the  stream  of  our  passions, 
the  allurements  of  the  world,  the  temptations  of  the  devil,  how 
much  striving  on  our  part,  and  grace  on  the  side  of  God,  are 
needed  by  us  !  But  to  drift  into  sin  and  perdition,  we  have  only 
to  be  forsaken  of  grace,  and  left  to  the  weakness  of  our  own  frail 
nature.  All  this  is  a  simple  truth  of  the  Catholic  faith,  defined 

*  Postquam  aliquis  est  justificatus  per  gratiam,  necesse  habet  a  Deo  petere 
pcrseverantiae  donum,  ut  scilicet  custocliatur  a  malo  usque  ad  finem  vitas.       I 
2   qu.  199,  art.  10,  in  corp. 

VOL.  I.  14 


210  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

by  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent,  when  it  teaches  that,  in  order  to 
gain  the  grace  of  God  and  to  persevere  in  it,  we  must  be  helped  by 
His  special  assistance.  * 

216.  The  second  truth  we  have  to  establish  is  this:  that  the 
above-mentioned  grace  and  aid,  so  necessary  to  maintain  us  in 
God's  favour,  and  to  help  us  to  the  possession  of  everlasting  life,, 
towards  which  all  our  desires  tend,  are  usually  withheld  from  him 
who  seeks  it  not  in  prayer.     Such  is  the  express  teaching  of  St. 
Augustine  :  "  We  believe  that  none  can  start  upon  the  road  to- 
salvation,  unless  invited  by  the  prevenient  grace  of  God ;  that  na 
one   pursues  the  path  and  works  out  his  salvation,  unless  en 
couraged  by  the  helping  grace  of  God ;  that  no  one  can  merit 
or  receive  such  graces  and  such  helps,  except  by  means  of  suppli 
cation  and  constant  petition. "t 

217.  Divines  infer  from  this,  that  we  3re  all  under  a  grave 
obligation  to  pray,  especially  in  times  of  grievous  temptation,  and 
in  circumstances  of  danger.     Indeed,  they  further  add,  we  are 
bound  to  this,  not  only  by  the  divine  positive  precept,  but  by  the 
natural  law  itself;  because,  presupposing  that  we  have  the  light 
of  faith,  reason  itself  dictates  that  we  are  bound  to  make  use  of 
the  means  necessary  to  save  ourselves  from  everlasting  ruin.     But 
it  must  be  plain  to  every  one  that  the  chief  of  these  means  is  to 
beseech  and  obtain  the  help  of  God. 

218.  The  Angelic  Doctor  is,  of  all  divines,  the  most  emphatic 
in  his  assertion  and  proof  of  the  gravity  of  this  obligation  of  pray 
ing  for  necessary  aid.     He  affirms  as  certain   in  several  of  his 
works,  that  "every  one  is  obliged  to  use  the  prayer  of  petition, 
for  the  very  reason  that  every  one  is  bound  to  gain  for  himself 
those  spiritual  gifts  which  can  be  given  by  no  one  but  God  alone, 
nor  obtained  from  Him  except  by  way  of  earnest  petition.  "J     And 
in  his  answer  to  the  third  objection  which  he  makes  to  himself,. 

*  Sess.  vj.  De  Justif.,  can.  I,  2  et  22. 

f  Nullum  credimus  ad  salutem,  nisi  Deo  invitante,  venire ;  nullum  invita- 
tum  salutem  suam,  nisi  Deo  auxiliante,  operari ;  nullum,  nisi  orantem,  auxilium 
promereri.  Lib.  De  Eccles.  Dogm.,  cap.  57. 

•£  Ad  orationem  quilibet  homo  tenetur  ex  hoc  ipso,  quod  tenetur  ad  bona 
suiritualia  sic  procuranda,  quse  nonnisi  divinitus  dantur  :  unde  alio  modo  pro- 
curari  non  possunt,  nisi  ab  ipso  petantur-  Tn  iv.  Sent.  Dist.  15,  art.  I.  q.  3. 


PRA  YER  OF  PETITION  NECESSARY.  211 

he  implies  the  same  truth :  "  Prayer  is  necessary,  and  even  of  strict 
obligation,  in  regard  to  whatever  the  will  is  bound  to  perform  in 
order  that  we  may  attain  our  last  end."* 

219.  St.  John  Chrysostom  illustrates  by  a  striking  and  most 
apt  comparison,  the  grave  obligation  we  all  lie  under,  of  unceas 
ingly  begging  God  to  help  us.     "  Take  a  fish  out  of  the  water," 
says  the  Saint,    "  and  shortly  you  will  see  it  expire  under  your 
very  eyes.     In  the  same  manner,  cease,  yourself,  from  prayer,  you 
too  will  soon  die  to  grace  and  to  God ;  for  what  water  is  to  the 
bodily  life  of  a  fish,  that  prayer  is  to  man's  spiritual  life."t    Now, 
as  a  fish,  if  endowed  with  faith  and  reason,  would  be  under  a 
grave  obligation  not  to  leave  the  element  which  is  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  its  life ;  so,  a  Christian  is  bound  not  to  for 
sake  prayers,  supplications,  and  petitions,  on  which  depend  both 
the  life  of  grace  in  this  world,  and  that  of  a  glorious  immortality 
in  the  world  to  come. 

220.  To  the  arguments  of  reason  and  the  authority  of  the  holy 
Fathers,  I  am  anxious  to  add  the  irrefragable  authority  of  Holy 
Scripture,   which,  in   frequent   passages,   recommends  to  us  the 
practice  of  prayer,  and  shows  clearly  how  urgent  is  the  need  which 
all  have  of  it,  giving  us  to  understand,  in  the  most  urgent  and  ex 
pressive  terms,  how  great  is  our  obligation  to  be  exceedingly  ready 
to  adopt  it.     Our  Blessed  Lord,  in  His  Holy  Gospel,  proclaims 
most  unmistakably  that  we  must  pray  always,  without  ceasing.^ 
St.  John  Chrysostom,  commenting  on  the  word  oportet  (we  must), 
says  that  it  implies  necessity,  and  signifies  that  whosoever  would 
be  saved,  must  persist  in  prayer.  §     Our  dear  Lord  returns  to  this 
point  in  another  place,  warning  us  that  we  must  watch  and  pray,  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  circumstances.  ||     And  in  St.   Matthew,  He 

*  Oratio  necessaria  est,  et  sub  prsecepto  cadens  respectu  eorum,  quorum 
voluntas  sub  necessitate  pnedicta  cadit. 

f  Quod  si  teipsum  destitueris  precatione,  perinde  feceris,  ac  si  piscem  ex 
aquis  extraxeris  :  ut  enim  pisci  vita  est  aqua,  ita  tibi  precatio.  Lib.  ij.  De 
Orando  Deum. 

%  Oportet  semper  orare  et  non  deficere.     Lucse  xviij.  I. 

§  Uum  oportet  dicit,  necessitatem  inducit.     Tom.  I.  Serm.  de  Moyse. 

j|  Vigilate,  omni  tempore  orontes-     I.ucse  xxj.  36. 

14— 2 


212  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

again  repeats,  Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation.*  In 
like  terms  does  the  Apostle  of  the  nations  recommend  persever 
ing  prayer  :  Pray  without  ceasing ;  at  all  times  give  thanks,  for 
such  is  the  will  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  for  all  of  youX  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  he  tells  them,  Take  the  helmet  of  salva 
tion  and  the  sword  of  the  spirit  (which  is  the  word  of  God)  ;  beseech 
ing  always  with  prayer  and  supplication  from  the  heart.  \  To  the 
Colossians  he  says,  Be  instant  in  prayer.^  St.  Peter,  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles,  inculcates  the  same  lesson  :  Be  prudent  and  watch 
in  prayer.\  And  the  author  of  Ecclesiasticus  warns  us,  Let 
nothing  hinder  theefrom  praying  always^  and  delay  not  until  death 
to  be  justified.*^ 

221.  Now,  who  can  doubt  that  a  thing  inculcated  in  the  Divine 
Scriptures,  at  so  many  times,  in  so  many  ways,  and  in  so  urgent 
a  manner,  is  imposed  upon  us  by  the  rigorous  command  of 
God?  Who  can  question  that  prayer  is  an  instrument  of  the 
highest  necessity  and  indispensable  to  eternal  salvation,  when 
God  wills  that  we  should  employ  it  with  such  frequency,  so  per- 
severingly,  and  without  any  notable  intermission  of  time?  We 
must  needs  conclude,  then,  with  St.  John  Chrysostom,  that  "  It  is 
a  most  clear  proof  of  folly  not  to  be  sensible  of  the  greatness  of 
the  honour  of  converse  with  Almighty  God,  not  to  love  the  prac 
tice  of  prayer,  not  to  be  persuaded  that  to  neglect  prostrating  our 
selves  frequently  before  God  and  asking  His  aid,  is  to  bring  upon 
ourselves  death  to  grace  in  this  life,  and  eternal  death  in  the  life 
to  come."** 

*  Vigilitate  et  orate,  ut  non  intretis  in  tentationem.     Cap.  xxvj.  41. 

+  Sine  intermissione  orate.  In  omnibus  gratias  agite  :  hsec  enim  est  volun. 
tas  Dei  in  Christo  Jesu  in  omnibus  vobis.  Thessal.  I,  v.  17,  18. 

%  Galeam  salutis  assumite,  et  gladium  spiritus  (quod  est  verbum  Dei),  per 
omnem  orationem,  et  obsecrationem  orantes  omni  tempore  in  spiritu.  Cap. 
vj.  18. 

§  Orationi  instate.     Cap.  iv.  2. 

||  Estote  prudentes,  et  vigilate  in  orationibus.     Cap.  iv.  7. 

II  Non  impediaris  orare  semper,  et  non  verearis  usque  ad  mortem  justificari. 
Eccli.  xviij.  22. 

**  Evidentissimum  est  amentice  argumentum,  non  intelligere  magnitudinem 
hujus  honoris,  nee  amare  deprecandi  studium,  nee  hoc  habere  persuasum,  quod 
animse  mors  sit,  non  provolvi  ad  Dei  genua.  Lib  i,  De  Orando  Deum. 


PR  A  YER  OF  PETITION  NECESSAR  Y.  213 

222.  From  this  the  reader  may  easily  understand  why  the  devil 
has  such  a  hatred  of  prayer,  and  uses  so  many  artifices  and  strata* 
gems  to  alienate  the  minds  of  the  faithful  from  it,  by  exciting,  in 
some  persons,  thoughts  of  vanity,  and  in  others,  filthy  imaginings;  by 
inspiring  some  with  annoyance  and  disgust,  others  with  diffidence, 
scruples  and  groundless  alarms.  The  wicked  one  knows  full  well 
that  prayer  is  the  main  remedy  for  all  our  spiritual  disorders.  He 
knows  that  herein  lies  our  only  security  for  the  attainment  of 
eternal  blessings.  He  knows  that  as  they  who  are  constant  in 
prayer  are  morally  certain  of  their  salvation,  so  there  is  a  moral 
certainty  of  the  final  ruin  of  such  as  live  in  the  constant  neglect  of 
it ;  and  therefore  he  spares  no  effort  to  destroy  the  habit,  and 
uses  every  evil  stratagem  to  render  it  burdensome,  disagreeable, 
and  all  but  insupportable  to  the  faithful.  St.  Gregory  relates  that 
in  one  of  the  monasteries  founded  by  the  Blessed  Patriarch  Bene^ 
diet,  there  was  a  monk  who  never  could  remain  quiet  and  fixed  in 
prayer.  He  had  scarce  knelt  down  with  the  brethren  to  pray, 
before  he  got  up  and  went  out  of  the  Church  or  .Choir,  wearied  to 
death,  and  went  sauntering  about,  with  eyes  and  mind  alike  wan 
dering  upon  any  and  every  object.  This  great  fault  was  at  length 
reported  to  St.  Benedict  by  Pompeianus,  the  Abbot  of  the  monas 
tery,  and  the  monk  was  severely  reprimanded,  but  without  any 
good  coming  of  the  reproof,  since,  after  a  couple  of  days,  he  began 
again  to  leave  the  Church  and  Oratory,  and  like  a  stray  sheep  to 
wander  about,  far  from  the  devout  pasture-land  of  holy  prayer.  St. 
Benedict  being  informed  of  this  wilful  disobedience,  came  in  person 
in  order  to  put  an  effectual  remedy  to  so  grievous  a  scandal ;  and 
when  the  office  had  been  sung  in  choir,  and  the  other  monks 
were  applying  themselves  to  prayer,  he  saw  the  devil,  in  the  shape 
of  a  black  and  deformed  man,  lay  hold  of  the  skirt  of  this  monk's 
habit  and  draw  him  out  of  the  choir.  "  Do  you  not  see,"  said 
the  Saint,  to  the  Abbot  and  to  Maurus,  his  favourite  disciple, 
"who  it  is  that  withdraws  our  unhappy  brother  from  prayer  ?" 
"  No,"  they  replied,  "we  see  nothing."  Then  the  three  had  re 
course  to  prayer,  after  which  God  gave  St.  Maurus  also  the  power 
to  see  the  fiend  under  the  above-mentioned  horrible  form,  holding 
on  to  the  clothes  of  the  unhappy  religious.  The  following  day, 


214  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

St.  Benedict,  meeting  the  monk  out  of  the  choir,  as  usual,  in  time 
of  prayer,  chastised  him  severely,  striking  him  with  a  rod. 
These  strokes  put  the  enemy  to  flight,  nor  did  he  return  to  molest 
the  monk ;  as  if  (St.  Gregory  observes)  the  fiend  himself  had  been 
smitten  by  these  saintly  hands.*  It  pleased  God  that,  in  this 
case,  St.  Benedict  should  behold  in  visible  form  what  the  devil  is 
every  day  working  invisibly  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  and  should 
see  how  he  withdraws  them  from  prayer  and  supplication  by  a  thou 
sand  artifices  and  a  thousand  unseen  contrivances,  with  which  he 
influences  their  minds. 

223.  But  what  Csesarius  relatest  has  made  a  more  lasting  im 
pression  on  my  mind,  showing  as  it  does  the  abhorrence  in  which 
our  common  enemy  holds  prayer,  and  what  lengths  he  will  go  to 
hinder  it.  The  devil  having  appeared  to  a  military  man,  in  the 
shape  of  a  comely,  handsome  youth,  and  having  offered  to  be  his 
servant,  was  received  by  him  into  his  house,  and  began  to  wait 
upon  him  with  so  much  punctuality,  faithfulness,  promptitude  and 
cheerfulness,  that  the  master  was  as  much  astonished  as  pleased 
with  the  servant.  The  officer  chanced  once  to  be  surrounded 
by  a  body  of  the  enemy's  troops,  in  a  place  which  left  no  means 
of  escape,  and  the  newly-engaged  servant  extricated  him  by 
showing  him  a  ford  across  the  bed  of  a  very  deep  river.  His 
wife,  having  fallen  grievously  ill,  and  having  been  given  up  by  the 
physicians,  who  despaired  of  her  life,  the  pretended  servant  said 
to  his  master,  "Put  the  case  into  my  hands;  I  will  soon  find  a 
remedy  that  shall  cure  her  immediately."  He  set  out,  and  in  an 
hour's  time  returned,  bringing  a  supply  of  milk  from  a  lioness. 
His  master,  wondering,  inquired  where  he  could  have  found  so 
rare  a  draught  within  so  brief  a  space  of  time.  "I  went,"  said  the 
attendant,  "  to  the  mountains  of  Arabia,  and  entering  one  of  the 
dens  where  these  animals  dwell,  I  obtained  it  in  this  manner." 
Hereupon  the  master  conceived  a  grave  suspicion  that  all  was 
not  right,  and  said  with  determination,  "  You  must  let  me  know 
who  you  are."  The  devil,  not  wanting  to  discover  himself,  tried 

Sicque,  antiquus  hostis  dominari  non  est  ausus  in  ejus  cogitatione,  ac  si 
ipse  percussus  esset  ex  verbere.     Dial.,  Lib.  ij.,  cap.  3. 
f  Miracul.,  lib.  v.,  cap.  36. 


PRAYER  OF  PETITION  NECESSARY.  215 

to  evade  the  question,  but  being  further  pressed  by  the  officer's 
repeated  interrogations,  at  length  answered  that  he  was  one  of 
those  unhappy  spirits  who  with  Lucifer  were  hurled  down  from 
heaven.  Horror-struck  at  these  words,  the  officer  said,  "If  you  are 
the  devil,  depart  at  once  from  me  and  from  this  house.  Your  service 
is  good,  but  you  do  not  suit  me."  "I  will  go,"  said  the  deceitful  spirit, 
"but  I  want  you  to  pay  me  my  wages  for  my  long  service ;"  and  then 
he  asked  for  five  pieces  only  of  silver  money.  The  officer  handed 
them  to  him  directly,  thinking  that  it  was  but  a  very  poor  com 
pensation  for  the  service  performed.  The  demon  took  them,  and 
returning  one  piece,  begged  him  to  lay  it  out  on  a  bell  to  be  hung 
in  the  tower  of  a  certain  country  church,  to  call  the  people  to 
Mass,  and  other  divine  offices  on  Sundays  and  festivals.  I  fancy 
I  can  see  the  bewilderment  of  the  reader,  who  will  be  puzzled 
how  to  account  for  so  much  zeal  for  God's  glory  on  the  part  of  a 
declared  enemy.  But  let  him  wait  awhile,  and  he  will  be  con 
vinced  that  the  devil's  implacable  hatred  for  prayer,  and  not  zeal 
for  God's  honour,  was  the  motive  which  induced  him  to  make 
such  a  request ;  because,  before  the  bell  was  put  up,  the  villagers, 
fearful  of  losing  Mass,  used  to  go  betimes  to  church,  and  to  spend 
the  interval  of  waiting  in  prayer ;  but  after  it  was  hung  in  its 
place,  they  came  only  when  they  heard  the  signal.  Thus,  though 
the  demon  is  the  father  of  pride,  he  was  content  to  spend  many 
years  in  humble,  toilsome  service,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  stop 
to  the  few  additional  prayers  which  these  peasants  were  accustomed 
to  recite.  If  such  are  his  endeavours  to  hinder  the  faithful  from 
prayer,  it  is  a  sign  that  he  clearly  sees  how  necessary  a  means 
is  prayer  to  eternal  salvation,  and  how  the  neglect  of  it  leads  to 
•everlasting  ruin. 

224.  Without  going  further,  I  think  I  have  sufficiently  proved 
the  second  part  of  the  assertion  with  which  I  began  the  present 
Chapter, — namely,  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  attain  to  Chris 
tian  perfection  without  prayer ;  for  perfection  requires  us  to  keep 
not  only  the  commandments,  but  also  the  counsels  ;  not  merely  to 
.avoid  grievous  sin,  but  even  lesser  faults.  And  what  is  more  to 
the  purpose,  it  supposes  us  to  aim  at  uprooting  every  vice  or  evil 
habit,  to  moderate  our  passions,  to  acquire  the  moral  virtues, 


2i6  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and,  above  all,  to  gain  charity,  wherein  perfection  mainly  consists  , 
the  which  being  very  difficult,  requires  a  special  aid  of  divine  grace, 
and  consequently  that  we  apply  ourselves  unceasingly  to  prayer 
and  supplication.  Let  the  reader  listen  to  St.  John  Chrysostom, 
who  says  expressly,  "  I  deem  it  plain  to  every  one,  that  it  is 
absolutely  impossible,  without  the  help  of  prayer,  to  live  virtu 
ously,,  and  thus  to  persevere  in  goodness  throughout  our  life. 
For,  how  can  any  one  lead  a  virtuous  life  unless  he  continually 
draw  nigh  to,  and  suppliantly  call  upon,  Him,  Who  alone  can  im 
part  goodness  to  man  ?"* 

225.  In  another  passage,  the  holy  Doctor  sets  forth  the  same- 
impossibility  by  a  very  apt  comparison.  He  says,  "If  any  one 
would  assert  that  prayer  and  devout  supplication  are  to  the  soul 
what  the  sinews  are  to  the  body,  I  would  go  with  him.  For  as 
our  bodily  frame  is  made  up  of  the  sinews,  and  by  them  knit  to 
gether,  and  moved,  and  made  suitable  for  all  the  operations  that 
constitute  our  life ;  so,  in  the  same  way,  all  the  vigour  and  activity 
of  the  soul  is  founded  on  prayer.  In  prayer  the  soul  receives 
strength  for  acts  of  virtue,  and  is  enabled  to  run  with  speed  along 
the  road  of  piety  and  perfection.  And,  as  it  suffices  that  but  one 
sinew  should  be  cut,  to  destroy  the  frame-work  of  the  body,  so 
that  nothing  but  a  helpless  trunk  should  remain ;  in  like  manner, 
when  deprived  of  prayer,  the  SOul  loses  its  balance,  strays  from 
the  path  of  virtue,  and  becomes  incapable  of  doing  good."t  Let 
no  one,  therefore,  hope  for  salvation,  still  less  for  perfection,  who  is 
not  determined  to  be  constant  in  the  frequent  exercise  of  prayer, 
of  petition,  and  of  repeated  supplication,  for  every  need  of  his 
soul. 


*  Arbitror  cunctis  esse  manifestum,  quod  simpliciter  impossibile  sit,  absque 
precationis  prsesidio,  cum  virtute  degere,  cumque  hac  hujus  vitse  cursum  per- 
agere.  Etenim  qui  fiat,  ut  quis  virtutem  exerceat,  nisi  continenter  adeat,  et 
supplex  ad  genua  accedat  ei,  qui  virtutem  omnem  suppeditat,  et  largitur 
hominibus?  Lib.  I,  De  Orando  Deum. 

t  Jam  vero  si  quis  dicat,  animse  nervos  esse  deprecationem,  mea  quidem 
sententia  videtur  verum  dicere.  Quemadmodum  enim  corpus  nervis  cohceret, 
currit,  vivit,  stat,  et  compactum  est ;  adeo  ut  si  nervos  incideris  universam 
corporis  harmoniam  dissolvis ;  itidem  animse  per  sanctas  preces  sibi  con 
stant  et  compinguntur,  ac  pietatis  cursum  facile  peragunt.  Lib.  ij.  De  Orando 
Deuin. 


OBJECTS  OF  PR  A  YER.  217 

CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT  THINGS    SHOULD    FORM  THE  OBJECTS  OF  OUR    PRAYER. 

226.  THE  principal  objects  of  our  prayer,  says  St  Thomas,* 
are  spiritual  benefits,  which  are  the  only  real  good  of  the  soul, 
making  us  absolutely  good,  and  leading  us  to  the  highest  good, 
that  is  to  everlasting  happiness.  To  these  spiritual  benefits,  then, 
should  our  desires,  and  with  them  our  petitions,  be  mainly  directed. 
St.  Bernard,  treating  of  the  things  that  we  should  at  all  times  and 
unceasingly  ask  for,  with  all  the  strength  and  affection  of  our  hearts 
— of  such  things,  in  a  word,  as  ought  to  form  the  main  purpose  of 
our  petitions — names  none  but  such  as  are  supernatural  and  divine; 
as,  for  instance,  to  live  in  the  grace  of  God,  to  be  pleasing  in  His 
sight,  to  enjoy  His  glory  for  evermore,  to  live  and  to  die  with  Him. 
Such  too  are  the  demands  Tobias  taught  his  beloved  son  to  make 
continually  and  on  every  occasion  :  My  son,  said  he,  bless  God  at 
all  times,  and  desire  of  Him  to  direct  thy  ways,  and  that  all  thy 
counsels  may  abide  in  Him.\  And  indeed  such  should  be  the  peti 
tions  addressed  to  God  by  every  Christian  soul,  especially  by  such 
as  aspire  to  perfection,  for  on  this  depends  all  our  progress.  In 
all  our  prayers,  embarrassments,  perils  and  needs,  these  are  the 
things  for  which  we  should  pray,  absolutely,  and  without  any 
limitation  or  condition ;  as  they  are  goods  which  we  cannot  mis 
use,  and  from  which  we  need  not  fear  that  evil  will  result.  This 
observation  we  borrow  from  St.  Thomas.J 

227.  Temporal  blessings  may  also  form  the  object  of  our  prayer, 
but,  as  St.  Thomas  again  teaches,  in  a  secondary  and  subordinate 
manner, §  for  Christ  says  expressly,  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of 

*  2,  2,  q.  83,  a.  6,  in  corp. 

t  Omni  tempore  benedic  Deum,  et  pete  ab  eo,  ut  vias  tuas  dirigat,  et  omnia 
consilia  tua  in  ipso  permaneant.  Tob.,  iv.  20. 

J  Sunt  tanien  qusedam  bona,  quibus  homo  male  uti  non  potest,  quae  sci 
licet  malum  eventum  habere  non  possunt.  Msec  autem  sunt,  quibus  beatifi- 
camur,  et  quibus  beatitudinem  meremur,  quoe  quidem  Sancti  orando  absolute 
petunt.  2,  2,  q.  84,  art.  5,  in  corp. 

§   Art.  6  suprac. 


2i8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

God  and  His  justice,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  yon* 
As  much  as  to  say,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  and  all  that  stands 
in  connection  with  it,  must  be  our  first  aim  in  our  devotions,  and 
that  all  else  must  be  sought  for  as  merely  accessory  to  this  supreme 
end.  This  meaning  is  given  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great  to  the  text  just 
quoted.  "  For  in  that  He  does  not  say  shall  be  given,  but  shall 
be  added  to  you,  He  plainly  shows  that  what  is  given  as  principal, 
is  one  thing,  and  what  is  added  over  and  above,  is  another.  For 
while  we  use  time,  we  ought  to  aim  at  eternity.  Eternity  is  pro 
mised,  and  time  is  given  in  addition. "t  St.  Augustine  explains  the 
text  as  follows':  "  In  saying  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  to  be 
sought  for  in  the  first  place,  He  means  that  temporal  goods  are  to 
be  asked  in  order  of  dignity,  not  of  time.  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  our  chiefest  good ;  temporal  blessings  are  necessary — 
necessary  that  is,  to  secure  our  chiefest  good.":}:  And  hence  we 
may,  without  any  imperfection,  pray  for  temporal  blessings,  but 
.as  secondary  and  subordinate;  blessings  accessory  to  those 
spiritual  gifts  which  alone  are  closely  connected  with  our  super 
natural  end,  which  is  life  everlasting.  It  was  thus  that  Isaac 
prayed  unto  the  Lord  for  his  wife,  who  was  barren  ;  and  the  Lord 
hearkened  to  him,  and  Rebecca  conceived.  §  So,  too,  did  Anna, 
the  childless  wife  of  Elcana,  entreat  God,  and  obtain  from  Him  a 
son.  1|  And  King  Ezechias,  when  sick  unto  death,  and  forbidden 
by  a  divine  message  to  harbour  any  hope  of  life,  besought  the 

*  Primum  quserite  regnum  Dei,  et  justitiam  ejus  ;  et  hoec  omnia  adjicientur 
vobis.  Matt.  vj.  33. 

f  Qui  enim  non  ait  dabuntur,  sed  adjicientur,  profecto  indicat  aliud  esse 
quod  principaliter  datur,  aliud  quod  superadditur.  Quia  enim  nobis  in  inten- 
tione  seternitas,  in  usu  vero  temporalitas  esse  debet,  et.  illud  datur,  et  hoc 
nimirum  ex  abundant!  superadditur.  Moral.  13,  c.  47. 

J  Cum  dixit  illud  primo  (qitarendum  esse,  scilicet  regnum  Dei),  significavit 
quia  hoc  posterius  quserendum  est :  non  tempore,  sed  dignitate  :  illud  tam- 
<juam  bonum  nostrum,  hoc  tamquam  necessarium  nostrum  :  necessarium  autem 
propter  illud  bonum.  De  Serm.  Dom.  in  Monte,  c.  16. 

§  Ueprecatusque  est  Isaac  Dominum  pro  uxore  sua,  eo  quod  esset  sterilis  : 
qui  exaudivit  eum,  et  dedit  conceptum  Rebeccee.  Gen.  xxv.  21. 

II  Pro  puero  isto  oravi,  et  dedit  mini  Dominus  petitionem  meam,  quam 
jpostulavi  eum.  I.  Reg.  i.  27. 


O  EJECTS  OF  PR  A  YER.  2 1 9 

Lord  for  health,  and  recovered.*  And  the  Holy  Scriptures 
abound  with  innumerable  instances  of  persons  seeking  for  and 
obtaining  temporal  blessings  from  the  goodness  of  the  Almighty. 

228.  But  whatsoever  is  incompatible  with  our  soul's  health,  or 
the  honour  due  to  God,  cannot,  on  any  account,  be   the   lawful 
object  of  our  prayers ;  since  such    prayers  are,  in  God's   sight,  a 
mere  tempting  of  Him,  and,  far  from  awakening  pity,  only  pro 
voke  wrath.     Hence   St.  Augustine   says,  that   there   are   certain 
things   which   it   would   be   a   mercy  to  withhold,  for   they   are 
injurious,  but  God  sometimes  grants  them  in  vengeance,  irritated 
at  our  rashness  in  having  petitioned  for  them.t      We  read  in  the 
life  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  that  a  certain  lady,  desirous  of 
having  peculiarly  bright  eyes,  in  order  to  be  more  attractive  and 
handsome,  vowed  to  go  barefooted  to  the  tomb  of  the  Saint,  to 
obtain,  by  his  means,  so  silly  a  favour.     She  fulfilled  her  vow, 
and  falling  prostrate  before  the  shrine  of  the  Saint,  set  forth  her 
petition ;  but  on  arising  from   her  ridiculous  prayer  found   that 
she  had  entirely  lost  her  sight  :  nor  was  it  without  many  suppli 
cations  that  she  was  able  to  return  to  her  home  with  that  eyesight 
which  she  brought  to  the  tomb  of  the  holy  martyr  :J — a  meet  pun 
ishment  indeed  for  such  foolish  hardihood. 

229.  Hence  we  may  learn,  that  as  we  cannot  tell  whether  the 
temporal  favours  we  ask  for,  will  be  advantageous  or  prejudicial 
to  our  souls,  whether  they  will  redound  to  the  glory  of  God,  or 
turn    to    His    dishonour,  it  behoves  us  to  pray  for  them  under 
condition  of  their  being  expedient  both  to  our  own  welfare  and 
to  the  honour  of  our  Maker.    Such  is  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas.  $ 
For  God  is  the   physician  of  our  souls,  and   it   belongs   to   the 
physician,  rather  than  to  the  patient,  to  determine  what  will  best 
promote  health.     Hence  God,  acting  in  virtue  of  His  foreknow 
ledge,  may  be  dealing  mercifully  with  us  in  granting  our  requests, 

*  Hoec  dicit  Dominus  Deus  David  patris  tui.  Audivi  orationem  tuam,  et 
lacrymas  tuas,  et  ecce  sanavi  te.  IV.  Reg.  xx.  5. 

t  Metuendum  est,  ne,  quod  posset  non  dare  propitius,  det  iratus.  Tract- 
73  in  Joan. 

£  Jacobus  Genuens.     In  VitH. 

§  Eo  tenore  a  Deo  petimus  ipsa,  ut  nobis  concedantur  secundum  quod  expe- 
diunt  ad  salutem.  2,  2,  q.  83,  art.  6.  ad.  4. 


220  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

or  be  treating  us  with  still  greater  mercy  in  rejecting  them.  So, 
in  order  not  to  go  astray,  we  should  make  such  demands  condi 
tionally,  casting  ourselves  with  indifference  and  resignation  of 
heart  upon  His  loving  care  for  us  :  nor  ought  this  prayer  for 
such  blessings  to  be  as  fervent  and  earnest  as  that  which  we  make 
for  spiritual  goods,  as  though  we  had  more  esteem  for  ouf  temporal 
than  for  our  eternal  interests.  Thus,  according  to  Surius,  the 
holy  martyr  St.  Fulgentius,  whenever  he  prayed  for  the  sick,  the 
afflicted,  or  those  weighed  down  by  bodily  ills,  used  always  to 
add  this  limitation,  "However,  Thou  knowest,  O  Lord,  what  is- 
most  advantageous  to  the  welfare  of  our  souls."* 

230.  We   have   now  to   examine  whether   the   needs   of  our 
neighbours  should  be  the  object  of  our  prayers ;  in  other  words, 
whether  we  ought  to  pray  not  only  for  our  own  wants,  but    for 
those  of  others.     The  answer  is  plain.     There  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  we  are  bound  to  pray  for  one  another,  and  by  our  prayers 
to  procure  for  each  other  life  everlasting ;  for  this  is  commanded 
by  the  Apostle  St.  James  :t  Pray  one  Jor  another,  that  ye  may  be 
saved.      St.    John    Chrysostom   indeed   adds    further,    that    the 
prayers  which  we  offer  for  others  are  more  pleasing  to  God,  and 
therefore   gain   more   merit   for   ourselves,  than  those  which  we 
make  on  our  own  behalf,  as  they  receive   a   special   lustre  and 
price,  gilded  as  they  are  with  fraternal  chanty.     "  We  are  com 
pelled,"  he  says,  "  by  necessity  to  pray  for  ourselves  ;    but  the  love 
of  our   brethren    engages   us  to  pray  for  others  also.     Now,  far 
more  acceptable  to  God  is  the  prayer  that  proceeds  not  from  the 
pressure  of  our  wants,  but  from  the  love  of  our  neighbour."  | 

231.  There  is  one  only  difficulty  which  has  the  power  to  lessen 
the  fervour  of  such  prayers,  and  it  is,  that  we  are  not  so  certain 
to  obtain  what  we  ask  for,  when  we  pray  for  others,  as  when  we 
pray  for   ourselves;  because  we  cannot  be  sure,  as    St.  Thomas 


*  Preces  suas  sub  Me  conditione  fundebat :  Scis,  Domine,  quid  animarum 
nostrarum  saluti  conveniat.  Tom.  I,  Die  I,  Mens.  Januar. 

t  Orate  pro  invicem  ut  salvemini.     Jac.  v.  1 6. 

£  Pro  se  orare  necessitas  cogit ;  pro  altero  autem  caritas  fraternitatis  hor- 
tatur.  Dulcior  autem  ante  Deum  est  oratio,  non  quam  necessitas  transmittit, 
sed  quam  caritas  fraternitatis  commendat.  Homil.  14,  in  Matth. 


OBJECTS  OF  PRA  YER.  221 

holds,  that  he  for  whom  we  intercede  will  not  put  some  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  effect  of  our  petitions,  and  will  not 
thus  render  them  fruitless.*  But  this  should  not  make  us  at  all 
less  ready  to  pray  for  our  neighbours,  or  in  any  way  cool  the 
fervour  of  our  charity.  First,  because,  though  the  want  of  proper 
dispositions,  and  the  obstacles  which  this  places  in  the  way  of  the 
good  effect  of  our  prayer,  may  prevent  our  petitions  being  of  use 
to  them,  our  supplications  on  their  behalf  are  nevertheless  very 
meritorious  in  our  own  case,  nor  shall  we  lose  the  reward  of  the 
charitable  acts  which  we  have  performed  for  their  benefit.  Thus, 
St.  Thomas,  commenting  on  the  words  of  the  Psalm,  And  my 
prayer  shall  return  into  my  own  bosom^  says,  "  that  is,  though  it 
avail  others  nothing,  I  myself  shall  not  be  deprived  of  my  reward."t 
232.  The  second  reason  is  this,  that  if  we  are  constant  in  our 
intercession  for  our  neighbour,  however  indisposed  he  may  be, 
our  prayers  will,  at  length,  clear  away  the  obstacles  which  are 
being  placed  in  the  way  of  their  fulfilment,  and  thus  we  shall 
dispose  the  person  to  receive  the  graces  we  are  anxious  to  obtain 
from  God,  and  shall  accomplish  our  purpose  to  the  full.  Number 
less  instances  might  be  alleged  in  proof  of  this  truth ;  but,  among 
the  great  number  that  occur  to  me,  I  select  two,  which  in  my 
opinion  are  most  apposite  and  most  authentic.^  Henry,  brother 
of  the  King  of  France,  went  to  Clairvaux  to  consult  St.  Bernard 
on  some  secular  business.  He  had  scarcely  entered  the  sacred 
enclosure,  before  the  calm  of  the  solitude,  the  unaffected  cheerful 
ness  which  shone  on  the  countenances  of  the  monks,  the  sweet 
ness  of  the  words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  saintly  Abbot  and 
his  companions,  made  such  an  impression  upon  him,  that, 
spurning  the  court,  palace,  and  princely  splendour,  he  begged  to 
be  admitted  to  the  habit,  which  he  put  on  without  a  moment's 

*  Pro  se  orare  ponitur  conditio  orationis,  non  quidem  necessaria  ad  effectum 
merendi,  sed  sicut  necessaria  ad  effectum  impetrandi.  Contingit  enim  quando- 
que,  quod  oratio  pro  alio  facta  non  impetret,  etiamsi  fiat  pie,  perseveranter,  et 
de  pertinentibus  ad  salutem,  propter  impedimentum,  quod  est  ex  parte  ejus  pro 
quo  oratur.  2,  2,  q.  83,  a.  7,  ad  7. 

"t"  Oratio  mea  in  sinu  meo  convertetur  :  id  est,  etsi  eis  non  prosit,  e^o  tamen 
non  sum  frustrates  mea  mercede.  In  Psalm,  xxxiv.  13. 

J  Ccesarius,  Lib.  i.,  cap.  19. 


222  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

delay.  A  change  so  extraordinary  and  unforeseen  astounded  all 
the  gentlemen  cf  his  train,  and  they  began  with  loud  cries  and 
lamentations  to  mourn  for  their  master  as  for  one  dead.  And  in 
truth  he  was  dead  to  the  world.  Among  their  number  was  a 
Parisian,  Andrew  by  name,  who,  being  well-nigh  bereft  of  his 
senses  on  account  of  the  vehemence  of  his  grief,  burst  into  a 
frenzy  of  passion,  and  called  his  master  drunkard,  fool,  madman  ; 
sparing  neither  curses  nor  abuse.  Henry,  seeing  that  he  was  more 
agitated  than  the  rest,  begged  St.  Bernard  to  pray,  and  obtain  his 
conversion.  "  Doubt  not,"  replied  the  Saint,  "  but  that  one  day 
he  too  will  be  one  of  ourselves ;"  and  as  he  repeated  several  times 
this  assurance,  even  before  Andrew,  the  latter,  foaming  with  rage 
and  aversion  for  St.  Bernard,  said  within  himself  (as  he  afterwards 
bore  witness),  "  Now  I  know  you  are  no  prophet,  but  an  impostor, 
for  I  am  fully  certain  that  I  shall  never  put  on  the  religious  habit 
as  you  predict."  Then  he  took  his  leave,  calling  upon  heaven 
to  make  the  monastery  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  send  forth  lightnings 
to  destroy  the  inmates.  Now,  I  ask  the  reader,  could  a  soul  be 
less  disposed  for  the  grace  of  vocation  and  admission  to  the 
religious  state  ?  Assuredly  not.  But  behold  the  power  of  prayer, 
although  offered  for  others,  and  not  for  self.  That  night  St. 
Bernard  and  his  monks  prayed  for  this  unhappy  man,  and  as  they 
were  praying,  the  darkness  that  was  spread  over  the  mind  of  the 
courtier  began  gradually  to  vanish,  and  his  hard  heart  to  soften  : 
then  he  began  to  love  what  he  had  hitherto  hated,  and  to  long  to 
gain  for  himself  the  very  thing  that  he  had  so  abhorred  in  others ; 
till,  unable  to  withstand  the  violence  of  the  struggle  which  was 
taking  place  in  his  heart,  he  ran  when  morning  dawned,  to  Clairvaux, 
and  falling  at  the  feet  of  St.  Bernard  besought  him,  to  the  astonish 
ment  of  all,  to  be  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  community.  To 
his  great  delight,  his  request  was  granted.  Thus  do  prayers  in 
behalf  of  others,  even  though  ill-disposed,  surmount  the  hindrances 
put  in  the  way  of  grace,  and  at  length  bring  about  the  desired 
effects. 

233.  The  other  instance  of  the  power  of  prayer  for  our  neigh 
bour  is  related  by  St.  Gregory  in  his  Dialogues.  A  certain  youth, 
called  Theodore,  had  been  placed  for  his  education  in  the 


OBJECTS  OF  PRA  YER.  223 

monastery  over  which  the  Saint  presided ;  but  with  so  bad  a 
result,  that,  fax  from  giving  any  sign  of  piety,  he  detested  it,  and 
was  in  the  habit  of  turning  it  into  ridicule.  Having  been  struck 
down,  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  by  the  plague  which  was  then 
devastating  Rome,  he  was  soon  reduced  to  the  last  extremity 
While  the  monks  were  standing  around  his  bed,  in  order  to  assist 
him  in  his  last  moments,  he  began  to  cry  out,  "  Away  with  you ; 
all  of  you  depart  hence  immediately.  I  am  already  given  over 
to  the  infernal  serpent  to  be  devoured  by  him.  My  head  is  even 
now  within  his  jaws.  Hence  !  make  haste,  that  he  may  finish  what 
he  has  begun,  and  may  no  longer  torture  me  with  his  fiery  breath." 
At  these  words,  the  monks  began  to  admonish  him  :  "  What  are 
you  saying,  brother  ?  Arm  yourself  against  the  enemy  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross."  "  I  cannot,"  he  cried  out,  "  for  the  serpent 
crushes  me  with  his  scaly  folds.  I  cannot  lift  my  arm."  The 
monks  then  knelt  down  in  prayer,  and  with  sighs  and  tears,  and 
striking  of  breasts,  they  besought  mercy  for  the  unhappy  youth. 
Hereupon  Theodore,  growing  more  calm,  began  to  exclaim, 
"  Thank  God  !  the  hellish  serpent,  terrified  by  your  prayers,  has 
taken  to  flight.  I  wish  to  be  converted,  and  abandon  the  life  of 
the  world.  Henceforth  I  mean  to  lead  a  life  of  holiness."  He 
kept  his  word  ;  for  God  having  allowed  him  to  recover,  he  mended 
his  ways,  and  having  been  tried  in  the  furnace  of  affliction,  died 
a  very  holy  death.*  Let  us  tarry  awhile  to  reflect  upon  this 
history.  No  soul  could  have  been  less  disposed  for  entering  into 
life  everlasting.  The  unhappy  man  had  been  given  up  as  beyond 
all  hope ;  the  devil  had  already  laid  hold  of  him,  and  had,  so  to 
say,  begun  to  devour  him.  Yet  prayer  cleared  away  every  obstacle 
to  salvation,  drove  away  the  demon,  softened  the  hard  heart  of  a 
great  sinner,  disposed  him  to  a  true  repentance,  and  won  for  him 
the  desired  end  of  eternal  salvation. 

234.  We  should,  therefore,  never  weary  of  praying  one  for 
another,  nor  let  our  prayer  be  rendered  lukewarm  by  the  fear  of 
the  obstacles  that  are  placed  in  the  way  of  our  petitions.  For 

*  Reservatus  ad  vitam,  toto  ad  Deum  corde  conversus  est ;  et  postquam 
mutatus  in  mentem,  diu  est  flagellis  attritus,  tune  ejus  anima  came  solut.a  est. 
Lib.  iv.,  cap.  38. 


224  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

prayer  overcomes  every  obstacle,  and,  as  it  is  said  by  St.  Ambrose 
in  commenting  on  those  words  of  the  Apostle,  /  beseech  you, 
brethren,  that  you  help  me  with  your  prayers  for  me  to  God*  it  is 
impossible  that  the  prayers  of  many  united  together,  however 
lowly  and  imperfect  they  may  be,  should  not  eventually  obtain 
from  the  Divine  Goodness  whatever  may  lawfully  be  asked  for  at 
the  throne  of  grace,  t 

235.  The  reader  will  bear  with  me  while  I  pass  from  consider 
ing  the  object  of  our  prayers  to  a  few  short  reflections  upon  the 
subject — that  is,  the  person  who  offers  them.  This  shall  be  done 
with  the  utmost  brevity.  He  who  prays  should,  of  course,  be  in 
a  state  of  grace,  in  the  friendship  and  favour  of  God ;  as  in  this 
happy  state  he  is  better  disposed  to  receive  favours  at  the 
munificent  hand  of  the  Almighty :  but  should  any  one,  to  his 
most  sad  misfortune,  have  fallen  away  from  the  grace  of  God,  on 
account  of  some  mortal  sin,  he  must  not  for  this  reason  abstain 
from  prayer,  and  frequent  prayer  too,  since,  whenever  the  favours 
for  which  he  asks  have  reference  to  eternal  salvation,  and  he 
pray  for  them  with  due  dispositions,  he  will  surely  be  heard  ;  not 
indeed  as  a  matter  of  right,  as  the  Angelic  Doctor  rightly  teaches ; 
for,  having  fallen  from  grace,  and  being  incapable  of  meriting,  a 
person  in  mortal  sin  cannot  exact  anything  of  God  as  a  matter  of 
right ;  nevertheless  he  will  be  heard  in  pure  mercy.J  The  reason 
of  this  is,  as  we  learn  from  the  same  St.  Thomas,  that  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  rests  not  on  the  worthiness  of  him  that  prays,  but  on  the 
goodness  of  God,  on  His  word,  on  His  promises.§  Hence,  although 
the  person  praying  be  unworthy  to  be  heard,  yet  shall  his  prayer 
avail  him,  provided  that  the  things  for  which  he  asks  be  to  his  ad 
vantage,  and  that  he  pray  as  he  ought.  We  may  infer  from  this  that 
no  one  should  think  himself  exempted  from  the  duty  of  prayer, 

*  Adjuvetis  me  in  orationibus  vestris.     Ad  Rom.  xv.  30. 

£  Multi  enim  minimi,  dum  congregantur  unanimes,  fiunt  magis  ;  et  multorum 
preces  impossibile  est  quod  non  impetrent.  In  Comment,  ad  Ep.  ad  Rom. 

%  Orationem  peccatoris,  ex  bono  naturae  desiderio  procedentern,  Deus  audit, 
non  quasi  ex  justitia,  quia  peccator  hoc  non  meretur,  sed  ex  pur&  miscvicordia, 
2,  2,  q.  83,  a.  1 6  in  corp. 

§  Oratio  in  impetrando,  non  innititur  meritis  nostris,  sed  soli  divinae  miseri- 
cordiae.  Ibid.  q.  7.  art.  5. 


THE  POWER  OF  PETITION.  22$ 

whether  he  be  in  sin  or  in  a  state  of  grace,  in  the  way  of  per 
fection  or  far  from  it,  since  prayer  is  a  means  adapted  to,  and 
necessary  for,  the  wants  of  each  and  all. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOW   MUCfc.   THE   PRAYER   OF   PETITION   AVAILS   TO  OBTAIN    FROM 
GOD    WHAT   WE    DESIRE. 

236.  THERE  is  no  exaggeration  in  the  remark  of  St.  John  Climacus, 
that  prayer  offers  a  pleasing  violence  to  the  heart  of  God,*  for 
God  is  not  ashamed  to  declare  Himself  forced  to  yield  to  out 
petitions.  So  much  so,  that,  constrained  by  the  fervent  pleadings 
of  Moses,  He  said,  "  Let  Me  alone,  withhold  Me  not,  for  My  will 
is  to  let  loose  my  wrath  against  this  rebellious  people  of  Mine.  I 
am  determined  to  destroy  them."t  And  conscious  of  the  great 
power  of  the  prayer  of  Jeremias  over  His  compassionate  heart, 
the  Almighty  said  to  the  Prophet  :  "  Therefore,  pray  thou  not  for 
this  guilty  people  on  whom  I  mean  to  wreak  My  vengeance  :  nor 
withstand  Me  by  thy  petitions."!  St.  Jerome,  commenting  on 
these  two  texts,  remarks,  that  the  words  which  the  Lord  spake  to 
the  Prophet,  "  Withstand  Me  not,"  and  to  Moses,  "  Leave  Me," 
show  clearly  that  prayer  has  power  to  appease  the  divine  wrath, 
and  to  force  God  to  grant  us  pe*ce  and  pardon.  § 

237.  Should  the  reader  now  make  inquiry,  who  has  endowed 
prayer  with  the  insuperable  force  which  holds  back  the  full  torrent 
of  the  anger  of  the  Most  High,  and  constrains  even  the  power  of 
the  Almighty  to  impart  to  us  every  blessing,  provided  only  it  be 

*  Oratio  pia  Deo  vim  infert. 

t  Dimitte  me,  ut  irascatur  furor  meus  contra  eos,  et  deleam  eos.  Exod.  c. 
xxxij.  10. 

%  Ergo  noli  orare  pro  populo  hoc,  nee  assumas  pro  eis  laudem  et  orationem, 
et  non  obsistas  mlhi.  Jerem.  vij.  16. 

§  Quod  autem  dicit :  Non  obsistas  mihi,  illud  ostendit,  quod  sanctorum 
preces  irae  Dei  possunt  resistere ;  unde  et  Dominus  loquitur  ad  Moysen.: 
Dimitte  me. 

VOL.  I.  15 


226  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

fitting  and  just  ?  I  will  reply :  that  it  is  God  Himself,  who  has 
bound  Himself  by  His  own  word  to  grant  us  every  favour  which 
we  beseech  Him  to  bestow.  Setting  aside  the  promises  so  often 
repeated  in  the  Old  Testament,  I  confine  myself  to  those  which 
the  Word  made  flesh  has  so  frequently  uttered  in  the  New. 
Ask,  says  our  Blessed  Lord,  and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek,  and 
you  shall  find:  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you.  For  every  one 
that  asketh,  receiveth  ;  and  he  that  seeketh,  findeth  ;  and  to  him  that 
knocketh,  it  shall  be  opened*  Surely  no  promise  could  possibly 
be  made  in  clearer  or  more  express  terms.  All  whatsoever  you 
shall  ask  in  prayer,  believe  that  you  shall  obtain  it,  and  it  shall  be 
done  unto  you.  Of  a  certainty,  Christ  could  not  have  pledged  His 
word  with  greater  clearness,  t  Amen,  I  say  unto  you,  if  you  ask  the 
Father  anything  in  My  name,  He  will  give  it  to  you.  %  Whereby 
Christ,  not  content,  so  to  speak,  with  having  pledged  His  own 
word,  obliges  Himself  to  fulfil  it  by  giving  His  Eternal  Father  as 
an  additional  security. 

238.  Having  thus  bound  Himself  to  give  the  graces  we 
ask  for  at  His  hands,  our  most  loving  Redeemer  proceeds  to  ex 
plain  the  reasons  which  urge  Him  to  be  thus  gracious.  All  know 
the  boundless  extent  of  the  mercy,  the  liberality,  the  goodness,  the 
beneficence  of  our  God;  His  longing  to  pour  forth  and  impart  to 
His  creatures  those  immense  treasures  which  He,  as  being  the 
well-spring  and  fountain-head  of  every  good  gift,  contains  within 
Himself.  So  great  is  it,  indeed,  that  St.  Augustine  believes  it  far 
to  surpass  all  our  desires,  all  our  yearnings,  hopes,  and  expecta 
tions  ;  for  God  is  more  anxious  to  give  than  we  are  to  receive,  and 
He  is  much  more  desirous  of  showing  mercy,  than  we  are  to  be 
freed  from  our  misery.  §  And  this  is  the  very  reason  alleged  by 

*  Petite,  et  dabitur  vobis  ;  quaerite,  et  invenietis  ;  pulsate,  et  aperietur  vobis. 
Omnis  enim  qui  petit,  accipit ;  et  qui  quserit,  invenit ;  et  pulsanti  aperietur. 
Luc.  xj.  9,  10. 

t  Omnia  qusecumque  orantes  petitis,  credite,  quia  accipietis,  et  evenient 
vobis.  Marc.  xj.  24. 

%  Amen  dico  vobis,  si  quid  Patrem  petieritis  in  nomine  meo,  dabit  vobis. 
Jo.  xvj.  23. 

§  Plus  vult  ille  dare,  quam  nos  accipere ;  plus  vult  misereri,  quam  nos  a 
miseri&  liberari.  Serm.  19,  De  Verb.  Domini. 


THE  POWER  OF  PETITION.  227 

our  Lord,  when  accounting  for  the  influence  of  prayer  on  the 
heart  of  God.  And  which  of  you,  if  he  ask  his  father  bread,  will  he 
give  him  a  stone  ?  or  a  fish,  will  he  for  a  fish  give  him  a  serpent  ?  or 
if  he  shall  ask  an  egg,  will  he  g:w  him  a  scorpion  ?  If  you,  then, 
•being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more 
wilt  your  Father  from  Heaven  give  the  good  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
Him  !*  Truly,  an  overwhelming  argument,  fitted  to  bring  home, 
even  to  the  darkest  mind,  the  conviction  that  it  cannot  be  other 
wise  than  that  God  will  hearken  to  our  requests  concerning  our 
soul's  salvation  and  due  degree  of  perfection,  if  only  we  present 
•our  petitions  in  a  fit  and  proper  manner. 

239.  Can  we  think  that  Jesus  Christ  will  deceive  us,  or  will 
break  His  Word,  and  be  faithless  to  His  promises?  By  no 
means,  says  the  Holy  Ghost :  For  God  is  not  as  man,  that  He 
-should  lie,  nor  as  the  son  of  man,  that  he  should  be  changed.  Hath 
He  said  then,  and  shall  he  not  do  ?  hath  He  spoken,  and  shall  He  not 
fulfil?  t  Hence  it  is  no  less  certain  that  whosoever  shall  ask  of 
•God  what  is  expedient  to  salvation,  and  shall  proffer  his  petition 
in  a  becoming  manner,  shall  be  heard,  than  it  is  beyond  question 
that  the  Word  made  flesh  cannot  be  false  to  His  promises,  or  fail 
to  make  good  that  to  which  He  has  pledged  Himself.  Resting  on 
this  immovable  foundation,  St.  John  Chrysostom  plainly  asserts, 
that  "  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  a  man  who  prays  in  a  fitting 
attitude  of  mind,  and  who  perseveres  in  prayer  to  God,  ever  to  fall 
into  sin."{  The  learned  Father  Suarez,  examining  this  assertion, 
and  weighing  it  in  the  exact  balance  of  theological  accuracy,  has  no 
hesitation  in  saying :  "  If  any  one  pray  constantly  for  persever 
ance  in  grace,  he  will  most  surely  obtain  it."  This  too,  though 
it  be  a  gratuitous  gift,  which  cannot  be  a  matter  of  strict  merit. 
And  he  continues,  "  Hence  we  assert  that  a  just  man,  by  duly  per 
severing  in  earnest,  frequent  prayer,  can  infallibly  obtain  final  per- 

*  Si  vos,  cum  sitis  mali,  nostis  bona  data  dare  filiis  vestris ;  quanto  magis 
Pater  vester,  qui  in  coelis  est,  dabit  bona  petentibus  se?  Matth.  vij.  11. 

f  Non  est  Deus,  quasi  homo,  ut  mentiatur,  nee  ut  films  hominis,  ut  mutetur. 
Dixit  ergo,  et  non  faciet?  locutus  est,  et  non  implebit?  Num.  xxiij.  19. 

%  Impossible  est  hominem  congruo  precantem  studio,  Deoque  continue  sup- 
plicantem,  umcmam  peccare.  Homil.  Contra  concur,  ad  Theatra,  &c. 

'5—2 


228  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

severance."*  Nor  should  we  wonder  at  this,  since  it  is  plain  that 
prayer  is  the  appointed  channel  by  which  every  spiritual  blessing, 
and  consequently,  in  the  end,  final  perseverance  itself,  flows  to 
us.  Nor  can  there  be  any  delusion  in  this,  because,  as  St. 
Augustine  says,  "  The  Eternal  Father  has  assured  us  of  it  by  His 
own  mouth.  Ask,  and  you  shall  receive.  Such  is  the  promise  of 
God ;  and  who  shall  fear  to  be  deceived,  when  Truth  itself  gives 
us  the  assurance  ?  "t 

240.  That  wicked  apostate  and  traitorous  persecutor  of  the 
Church,  the  Emperor  Julian,  made  proof  to  his  cost  of  this  great 
power  of  prayer.  During  his  war  with  the  Persians,  he  wanted  to 
know  how  matters  stood  in  the  West,  so  as  to  shape  his  plans 
by  intelligence  received  with  a  speed  beyond  the  power  of  man. 
For  this  purpose  he  sent  one  of  the  evil  spirits  with  whom  in  his 
wickedness  he  had  intimate  dealings,  with  pressing  orders  to  use 
all  haste  and  to  watch  and  baffle  any  conspiracies  which  might 
be  hatching  against  his  imperial  dignity.  The  spirit  started  011 
his  errand  with  all  expedition,  but  coming  to  a  place  where  dwelt 
a  holy  solitary,  Publius  by  name,  he  found  himself  stopped  by  the 
fervent  and  devout  prayers  of  the  hermit,  and  was  wholly  unable 
to  proceed  further.  The  demon  remained  in  this  place  for  ten 
days  together,  which  he  wasted  in  unavailing  efforts  to  surmount 
the  obstacle  placed  in  his  way  by  the  prayers  of  the  holy  monk. 
At  length,  having  striven  in  vain,  he  returned  in  confusion  to  the 
apostate  Emperor,  who  inquired  why  he  had  tarried  so  long  before 
bringing  him  the  report  which  he  had  been  so  anxious  to  receive 
immediately.  Hearing  that  a  ragged  monk  had  baffled  all  his 
plans  by  prayer,  Julian  fell  into  a  towering  passion,  and  vowed 
that  he  would  be  cruelly  avenged.  But  the  wretched  man  was 
unaware  that  upon  himself  the  vengeance  was  to  fall ;  as  in  this 
very  campaign  he  was  struck  by  St.  Martial  with  a  dart,  and 

*  Dico,  si  quis  oret  perseveranter,  petendo  perseverantiam  in  gratia,  infalli- 
biliter  earn  esse  impetraturum.  Atque  ita  dicimus  justum,  perse vevando  de- 
bito  modo  in  orationis  instantiA,,  et  frequentia,  posse  successive  infallibiliter 
obtinere  perseverantiam  usque  ad  mortem.  Tom.  3,  DeGrat.,  Lib.  xij.,  c.  38, 
n.  1 6. 

t  Petite,  et  accipietis.  Promissa  tua  sunt.  Et  quis  falli  metuat,  cum  pro 
mittit  veritas?  De  Civit.  Dei,  Lib.  xxij.,  cap.  8. 


THE  POWER  OF  PETITION.  229 

perished  miserably.  One  of  the  courtiers  who  was  present  at  this 
interview,  hearing  thus  from  the  demon  himself  of  the  marvellous 
efficacy  of  prayer,  distributed  all  his  wealth  in  alms  to  the  poor, 
and  went  to  the  wilderness  in  search  of  Publius,  in  order  to  spend 
his  life  in  devout  prayer :  and,  under  the  training  of  this  holy 
monk,  he  too  became  a  great  servant  of  God.* 

241.  But  how  can  we  wonder  that  fervent  prayer  avails  thus 
*o  fetter  the  very  demons,  and  to  rob  them  entirely  of  all  their 
power  and  influence,  since,  as  was  seen  above,  it  is  able  to  offer  an 
agreeable  violence  to  God  Himself,  to  snatch  from  His  hand  the 
scourge  already  uplifted  for  our  chastisement,  and  to  force  Him 
to  impart  grace  which  our  evil  deserts  have  made  Him  desirous 
•of  withholding  from  us  ?  This  He  was  Himself  pleased  to  show, 
in  a  vision  to  St.  Macarius,  while  this  holy  man  was  in  prayer 
with  two  solitaries.t  These  had  left  the  world  in  order  to  offer 
themselves  to  him  as  companions  and  followers  of  his  saintly  life ; 
but  the  holy  Abbot,  seeing  them  to  be,  as  yet,  mere  youths,  and 
delicately  brought  up,  did  not  think  that  they  had  strength  enough 
to  bear  so  great  a  weight.  However,  not  to  give  offence,  he  sup 
plied  them  with  tools,  that  they  might  build  themselves  a  poor  cell 
in  a  neighbouring  spot ;  and  having  furnished  some  instructions 
concerning  the  course  of  life  they  were  to  lead  in  solitude,  he 
himself  returned  to  his  cell.  The  novices,  guiding  themselves 
partly  by  the  rules  which  the  holy  Abbot  had  supplied,  partly,  too, 
by  the  inward  direction  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  spent  three 
entire  years  without  being  seen  among  men.  After  which,  St. 
Macarius  thought  good  to  go  and  visit  them,  to  examine  into  the 
progress  they  had  made.  But  before  going,  he  passed  an  entire 
week  in  fasting  and  prayer ,  begging  from  God  the  light  necessary 
to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  their  state.  He  then  went  to  them, 
and  after  a  frugal  repast  taken  together,  and  some  short  repose, 
he  beheld  that,  as  the  two  monks  began  to  pray,  the  roof  of  the 
cell  opened,  and  there  descended  a  light  that  was  able  to  rival 
the  noonday  sun ;  and  as  the  three  together  began  to  recite  their 
Psalms,  he  saw  that  at  each  verse  said  by  his  companions  there 

*  Ex  Lib.  Doct.  Patrum,  Lib.  de  Sign,  et  Mirac.,  n.  9.   Baron.,  ad  an.  363. 
t  Ibid.,  n.  3. 


230  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

flashed  from  the  mouth  of  one  a  flame,  which  darted  up  to  heaven 
quicker  than  lightning,  while  from  the  other  there  ascended  to 
the  skies,  swift  as  a  ray  of  light,  what  seemed  a  rope  of  fire.  The 
holy  man  knew  from  this  vision  how  pleasing  to  God  were  these 
two  souls,  and  further  learned  the  violence  done  to  Him  by  fervent 
prayer,  inasmuch  as,  like  fiery  cords,  it  binds  the  hands  of  the 
Almighty,  hindering  God  from  inflicting  the  strokes  of  His 
chastisements,  or,  like  a  flaming  arrow,  pierces  His  heart,  con 
straining  Him  to  grant  whatever  we  desire  and  ask  for. 

242.  Hence,  if  we  find  ourselves  unstable  in  the  observance  of 
the  divine  law,  or  slothful  and  lukewarm  in  the  way  of  perfection  ; 
if  we  fall  frequently  into  sin,  whether  mortal  or  venial ;  we 
may  attribute  the  cause  to  our  neglect  of  asking  and  beseeching 
God,  and  of  recommending  ourselves  to  Him  in  prayer.  For  were 
we  to  pray  often  for  our  spiritual  needs,  and  in  the  way  in  which 
God  would  have  us  make  our  supplications,  we  should  most  surely 
obtain  all  we  ask,  since  God's  promise  cannot  be  rendered  void. 
Let  us  imagine  a  most  compassionate  king,  who,  being  moved  to 
pity  by  the  sufferings  of  the  needy  found  within  his  dominions, 
should  wish  to  provide  for  them  all  at  his  own  cost,  and,  with 
this  end  in  view,  should  authorise  the  several  rulers  and  magis 
trates  to  supply  the  poor  with  clothes,  food,  and  lodging,  at  the 
charge  of  the  royal  treasury  j  and  let  us  further  suppose,  that  this 
intention  of  the  king  were  made  known  by  a  public  proclamation 
in  the  squares  of  all  the  cities  in  the  realm  : — if,  in  such  a  country 
one  should  fall  in  with  a  beggar-man,  clothed  in  rags,  shivering 
with  cold,  faint  with  hunger,  who  being  asked  why  he  did  not 
avail  himself  of  the  liberality  of  the  prince,  should  reply  that  he 
found  it  too  troublesome  to  ask  for  relief,  what  would  be  said  to 
him  ?  Surely  all  would  remind  him  that  his  own  laziness  was  the 
cause  of  his  starving  with  hunger  and  perishing  with  cold.  The 
very  same  applies  to  each  one  of  us.  The  King  of  heaven  has 
pledged  Himself  to  supply  all  we  need  for  the  salvation  and  per 
fection  of  our  souls  ;  this  promise  is  published  to  the  whole  world 
in  the  four  Holy  Gospels.  Each  one  of  us  is  that  needy  person 
of  whom  we  have  just  now  spoken,  naked  as  to  the  Christian 
virtues,  cold  in  God's  service,  weak,  faint,  and  liable  to  fall  into 


THE  POWER  OF  PETITION.  231 

deadly  sin,  and  all  because  we  care  not  to  take  the  trouble  to 
call,  without  ceasing,  and  with  our  whole  hearts,  for  help  from 
above.  To  us,  then,  may  it  justly  be  said,  that  ours  is  the  blame 
if  we  advance  not  in  the  path  of  perfection,  or  (as  it  may  even 
happen),  if  we  are  sliding  backwards,  and  are  in  imminent  danger 
of  a  disastrous  fall. 

243.  Ask  then  incessantly — ask  in  all  your  prayers,  in  all  your 
temptations,  in  all  your  perplexities,  in  all  the  interior  truths  of  your 
soul — being  always  mindful  of  what  St.  Augustine  says  in  his  com 
ments  on  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  Blessed  be  God,  Who  has  not 
turned  away  my  prayer,  nor  His  loving-kindness  from  me:  "Be  sure 
that  so  long  as  you  slacken  not  in  prayer,  God's  mercy  shall  never 
fail  to  uphold  you  with  His  most  mighty  help."* 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CONDITIONS  THAT  MUST  ACCOMPANY  PRAYER  IN  ORDER  THAT 
IT  MAY  HAVE  THE  EFFICACY  EXPLAINED  ABOVE. 

244.  I  HAVE  now  shown  that  prayer  cannot  fail  of  its  effects,  and 
I  have  grounded  this  truth  on  the  infallibility  of  a  faith  which  rests 
on  the  omnipotence  and  unchangeable  truth  of  that  God  Who 
is  ever  able  and  ever  most  willing  to  make  good  what  He  has 
promised  us  with  his  own  lips.  But  the  devout  reader  may  here 
object,  that  this  view  of  mine  is  not  borne  out  by  his  own  experi 
ence,  seeing  that  more  than  once,  indeed,  on  very  many  occasions, 
he  has  asked  certain  favours  of  God  without  obtaining  them  from 
the  divine  goodness.  I  reply,  Most  true  :  I  have  undoubtedly  at 
tributed  to  prayer  an  infallible  efficacy;  but  then  I  have  always  made 
certain  reservations.  I  have  said,  that  it  will  obtain  everything 
from  God,  with  a  certainty  which  is  none  other  than  the  certainty 

*  Benedictus  Deus,  qui  non  amovit  oralionem  meant,  et  misericordiam  suam 
0  me.  Cum  videris  non  a  te  amotam  deprecationem  tuam,  securus  esto,  quia 
non  est  a  me  amota  misericordia  mea.  In  Ps.  Ixv.  20. 


332  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  faith ;  but  I  have  always  added,  that  prayer  should  be  duly  and 
properly  made,  and  in  compliance  with  the  conditions  which 
God  requires  in  our  supplications.  "  The  reason  why  you  have 
not  been  heard  when  you  pray,"  says  St.  James,  "  is  that  you  have 
not  learnt  how  to  pray. "  You  ask  and  you  obtain  not,  because  you 
ask  amiss  ;*  that  is,  you  have  failed  in  some  one  of  the  necessary 
conditions.  These  conditions  must  now  be  mentioned.  Let  me 
claim  your  attention,  as  I  am  going  to  place  in  your  hands  the  key 
with  which  you  may  open  at  pleasure  the  exhaustless  store  of  the 
divine  goodness,  and  enrich  yourselves  with  gifts  suitable  to  your 
every  want. 

245.  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  lays  down  four  conditions  necessary 
in  order  that  our  prayers  may  be  efficacious.     First,  that  we  pray 
for  our  own  wants.     Secondly,  that  we  ask  for  things  necessary  to 
our  salvation.     Thirdly,  that  we  ask  in  faith.     Fourthly,  that  we 
pray  with  perse verance.f     The  holy  Doctor  had  already  men 
tioned  another  condition  as  necessary  for  the  obtaining  the  favours 
we  desire;  this  is  humility  in  prayer. J     Thus  we  may  say,  that 
the  conditions  indispensably  requisite  in  prayer  in  order  that  it 
may  prevail  at  the  throne  of  God,  can  be  reduced  to  five  :  we  must 
pray  for  ourselves,  we  must  pray  for  things  conducive  to  our  sal 
vation,  we  must  pray  with  faith,  humility,  and  perseverance.     We 
have  already  sufficiently  explained  the  first  and  second  of  these 
conditions  in  a  former  Chapter,  and  have  shown  in  what  sense 
they  are  to  be  understood.     It  remains  now  to  treat  of  the  three 
others,  which  are  the  most  important,  as  it  is  usually  owing  to  our 
failing  in  them  that  our  prayer  is  of  no  avail.     We  will  therefore 
speak  of  the  faith,  humility,  and  perseverance  with  which  we 
should  pray,  if  we  truly  desire  to  be  heard. 

246.  The  Angelic  Doctor,  whom  we  have  just  quoted,  tells  us, 
that  the  power  of  prayer  to  obtain  what  we  ask,  has  its  root  in 

*  Petitis,  et  non  accipitis,  eo  quod  male  petatis.    Jac.  iv.  4. 

•f  Ideo  ponuntur  quatuor  conditiones,  quibus  concurrentibus  semper  aliquis 
impetrat  quod  petit :  ut  scilicet  pro  se  petat,  necessaria  ad  salutem,  pie,  et 
perseveranter.  2,  2,  qu.  83,  art.  15  ad  2. 

I  Fides  est  necessaria  ex  parte  Dei,  quern  oramus,  ut  scilicet  credamus,  ab 
eo  nos  posse  obtinere  quod  petimus ;  humilitas  autem  est  necessaria  ex  parte 
ipsius  petentis,  qui  suam  indigentiam  recognoscit.  Eod.  art.,  in  corp. 


CONDITIONS  OF  EFFICACIOUS  PR  A  YER.          233 

the  faith  of  him  who  prays,  while  its  merit  depends  mainly  on 
charity  ;  *  for  Christ  has  promised  to  grant  us  the  graces  we  beg 
of  Him,  on  condition,  however,  that  we  ask  with  faith.  Thus, 
in  St.  Matthew,  He  says,  All  things  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  in 
prayer,  believing,  you  shall  receive.^  And  in  St.  Mark,  All  things 
whatsoever  you  ask  when  you  pray,  believe  that  you  shall  receive  ; 
and  they  shall  come  unto  you.%  And  again,  in  the  same  Gospel, 
Christ  says,  All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believes.  §  Even, 
as  He  adds  further  on,  If  a  man  shall  say  to  this  mountain,  Be 
ihou  removed,  and  be  cast  into  the  sea,  and  shall  not  stagger  in  his 
heart,  but  believe  that  whatsoever  he  saith  shall  be  done,  it  shall  be 
done  unto  him.  St.  James,  trained  in  the  school  of  Christ,  sets 
forth  his  Master's  teaching  in  words  still  more  forcible ;  If 
any  one  want  wisdom  .  .  .  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  wavering; 
as  if  to  say,  undoubtingly,  without  fear  lest  he  should  fail  to 
obtain  what  he  asks  for  ;  for  he  that  waver eth  like  a  wave  of  the 
sea  which  is  moved  and  carried  about  by  the  wind,  let  not  that  man 
think  that  he  shall  receive  anything  of  the  Lcrd.\\  Could  anything 
be  put  more  clearly  ? 

247.  But  in  order  not  to  go  astray  in  a  matter  of  such  moment, 
it  is  necessary  to  determine  what  is  this  faith — or,  to  speak  more 
accurately,  this  confidence — failing  which  God  declares  that  He  will 
withhold  His  gifts  from  us.  I  will  state  briefly,  that  it  is  a  virtue 
which  resides  partly  in  the  understanding,  and  partly  in  the  will. 
In  the  understanding,  inasmuch  as  the  suppliant  believes  most 
firmly  that  God,  impelled  thereto  by  His  sovereign  goodness, 
and  bound  as  He  is  by  His  oft-repeated  promises,  will  assuredly 


*  Dicendum,  quod  oratio  innititur  principaliter  fidei,  non  quantum  ad 
efficaciam  merendi,  quia  sic  innititur  principaliter  caritati ;  sed  quantum  ad 
efficaciam  impetrandi.  Q.  83,  art.  15,  ad  3. 

t  Omnia  qurecumque  petieritis  in  oratione  credentes,  accipietis.  Mattli. 
xxj.  22. 

£  Quascumque  orantes  petitis,  credits  quia  accipietis,  et  evenient  vobis. 
Marc.  xj.  24. 

§  Omnia  possibilia  sunt  credenti.     Marc.  ix.  22. 

||  Postulet  autem  in  fide  nihil  haesitans  :  qui  enim  hsesitat,  similis  est  fluctui 
maris,  qui  a  vento  movetur,  et  circumfertur.  Non  ergo  sestimet  homo  ille, 
quod  accipiat  aliquid  a  Domino.  Jac.  i.  6. 


234  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

grant  the  graces  for  which  we  ask.  In  the  will,  because,  adhering 
to  a  belief  so  solidly  grounded,  this  power  undoubtingly  and  un 
hesitatingly  trusts,  as  St.  James  requires,  that  these  favours  will 
be  obtained ;  and  encouraged  and  animated  by  such  hope,  prays 
with  fervour  of  spirit,  with  great  earnestness,  and  with  a  sort  of 
holy  importunity.  The  firmer  this  hope,  grounded  on  the  faith 
described  above,  the  greater  certainty  the  suppliant  has  that  his 
petition  will  be  favourably  accepted  at  the  throne  of  mercy  and 
grace.  Thus  St.  Bernard,  in  his  comments  on  the  passage  in 
Deuteronomy,  Every  place  that  your  foot  shall  tread  upon  shall 
be  yours*  writes  :  "  The  feet  of  our  soul  are  our  hopes,  and  we 
shall  be  so  much  the  surer  to  attain  what  we  seek  for,  as  we  shall 
allow  our  desires  to  expand ;  yet  so  that  our  hopes,  by  means  of 
faith,  be  firmly  rooted  in  nothing  but  the  goodness  and  unfailing 
truthfulness  of  God.  "t  St.  Mechtildis  was  taught  the  same  doctrine, 
from  above,  in  the  following  words  :  "  In  the  degree,"  said  our 
Lord  to  her,  "  that  each  one  shall  believe  in  Me,  and  rely  upon 
My  goodness,  shall  he  obtain  what  he  asks  for ;  yea,  and  im 
measurably  more.  For  it  cannot  be  that  I  should  withhold  what 
is  besought  of  Me  in  holy  faith  and  implicit  confidence.";}:  A 
faith,  that  is,  in  the  sovereign  goodness  and  inviolable  promises 
of  God.  Hence,  as  St.  Augustine  says,  "  If  confidence  fail, 
prayer  disappears ;  it  is  without  soul,  vigour,  force,  efficacy  :  it 
languishes,  it  dies."§ 

248.  The  same  holy  Doctor  has  left  on  record  a  wondrous 
instance  of  the  power  of  prayer  when  made  with  a  lively  trust  in 
God.  ||  There  lived  in  Carthage  a  certain  man,  Innocent  by 
name,  at  whose  house  the  Saint  used  to  lodge,  and  to  whom  he 
was  much  attached.  This  poor  man  was  confined  to  his  bed  by 
a  very  painful  illness ;  and  unable  to  endure  any  longer  what  was 

*  Omnis  locus,  quern  calcaverit  pes  vaster,  vester,  erit.     Deuter.  xj.  24. 

•f  Pes  vester  utique  spes  vestra  est,  quantumque  ilia  processerit,  obtinebit; 
si  tamen  in  Deo  tota  figatur,  ut  firma  sit,  et  non  titubet. 

J  Quantum  quis  mihi  credere,  et  de  bonitate  me&  prassumere  potest,  tantum, 
et  in  infinitum  amplius  obtinebit.  Quia  impossibile  est  hominem  non  perci- 
pere,  quod  sancte  credidit,  et  speravit.  Bios.,  Monil.  Spirit.,  cap.  II,  s.  6. 

§  Si  fides  deficit,  oratio  perit      Serm.  36. 

||  De  Civit.  Dei,  lib.  xxij.  cap.  8. 


CONDITIONS  OF  EFFICACIOUS  PRA  YER.          235 

little  less  than  a  constant  martyrdom,  he  underwent  an  operation  ; 
but  with  little  benefit ;  for  one  seat  of  the  disease  escaped  the  oper 
ator's  eye  and  knife.     For  which  reason,   hardly  had  the  wounds 
made  by  the  surgeon  healed,  than  the  invalid  had   to  face  the 
same   tortures   a   second   time.      So   that   when   the   physicians, 
announced  one  day  that  another  operation  would  be  necessary^ 
the  sick  man,  as  the  holy  Doctor  relates,  trembled,  grew  deadly 
pale  and  wept  bitterly.*    He  begged  the  holy  Bishop  Aurelius,  who 
had  come  with  some  of  his  Clergy  and  with  St.  Augustine  himself,, 
on  a  visit  to  him,  to  return  on  the  morrow,  to  assist  at  his  death     • 
rather  than  at  his  sufferings,  for  he  was  quite  convinced  that  he 
would   die  under  the  surgeons'  hands.     They  all  showed  much 
sympathy  with   the   sufferer  in   this  terrible  trial,  and  exhorted 
him  to  patience  and  conformity  to  the  will  of  God ;  then  kneel 
ing  down,  they  began  to  pray  for  him.     St.  Augustine  observes,, 
that   the  sainted  Bishop  "  prostrated  himself  in  prayer  with  so- 
lively  a  faith,  accompanied  by  so  many  tears,  that  whether  the 
others    joined    in    prayer   I   knew   not.      For   my   part   I   was 
wholly  unable  to  pray.     I  could  but  inwardly  repeat  these  words, 
'  Lord,  whose  prayers  wilt  Thou  hear,  if  Thou  hearken  not  to 
his  ?'  "t     The  surgeons  came  on  the  following  day,  and  having 
made   ?11   things   ready,    they   went   to   the  patient,  and  having 
undone   his   bandages,    examined    the   diseased   part,   when,    to> 
their  unspeakable  wonder,  they  found  it  entirely  healed.     At  so 
unmistakable  a  miracle,  all  of  them  broke  out  into  exclamations 
of  joy  and  gladness,   and  gave  to  God  the  whole  glory  of  the 
cure :  St.  Augustine  especially,  who  beheld  in  it  a  confirmation  of 
what   he   had   said   in   his   heart   the  day  before,   namely,  that 
prayers  such  as  those  of  Bishop  Aurelius  must  needs  be  answered. 
If,  then,  any  one  desire  to  obtain  some  favour  from  God,  let  him 
beseech  in  all  confidence.     While  presenting  his  petitions  to  the 
Almighty,  let  him  bear  in  mind  that  sovereign  goodness  which 
urges  God  to  be  favourable  to  us ;   those  oft-repeated,  unfailing 

*  Expavit,  et  expalluit  nimio  timore  correptus.     Ibid. 

t  Utrum  orarent  alii,  et  in  hoc  eorum  verteretur  intentio,  nesciebarn.  Ego 
prorsus  orare  non  poteram.  Hoc  tantummodo  breviter  in  corde  meo  dixi  r 
Domine,  quas  tuorum  preces  audis,  si  has  non  exaudis  ?  Ibid. 


236  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

promises  which  He  has  made  to  us.  This  will  help  to  excite  an 
unwavering  trust,  which  will  preclude  any  doubt  that  might  be 
suggested  by  faint-heartedness ;  and  in  this  hope,  let  him  ask, 
and  unwaveringly  persevere  in  asking,  for  what  he  shall  most 
assuredly  obtain  by  so  doing 

249.  The  next  condition  required,  in  order  that   our  prayers 
may  avail  with  God,  is  humility.     He  that  prays  must  have  one 
eye  fixed  on  himself  and  on  his  own  miseries,  that  the  sight  may 
humble  him  and  fill  him  with  confusion,   by  bringing  home  to 
him  his  unworthiness  to  receive  any  favour ;  the  other  eye  must 
rest  upon  God's  mercy,   His  liberality  and  His  promises,  so  as 
to  make  the  heart  expand  with  a  lively  hope  of  receiving  every 
.good   and   perfect   gift.     Humility  and   confidence  are   the  two 
wings  on  which  prayer  soars  aloft  to  God ;  the  two  arms  which 
force  His  hands  to  shed  every  blessing.      Thus  did  the  Prophet 
Daniel   pray  :  Incline \   O  my  God,   Thy  ear,    and  hearken ;  open 
Thine  eyes,  and  behold  our  desolation,  and  the  city  upon  which  Thy 
name  is  called :  for  it  is  not  for  our  righteous  deeds  that  we  pre 
sent  our  prayers   before  Thy  face,  but  for  the  multitude  of  Thy 
tender  mercies*     Here  we  have  self-diffidence,  along  with  trust  in 
God,  whereby  the  Lord  was  moved  speedily  to  hear  the  prophet 
and  to   send   the  Archangel  Gabriel  to  show  him  what  was  to 
come  to  pass.t 

250.  True  it  is,  as  St.  Thomas  says,  that  prayer  is  grounded 
principally  upon  confidence ;   but  such  confidence,  in  order  to  be 
pleasing  in  God's  sight,  must  be  accompanied  by  sincere  humility, 
without  which  it  cannot  avail  to  touch  the  heart  of  God,  Who  says 
by  Isaias :   To  whom  shall  J  have  respect  but  to  him  that  is  poor 
and  little,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  that  trembleth  at  My  word.  J 

*  Inclina  Deus  meus  aurem  tuam,  et  audi  :  aperi  oculos  tuos,  et  vide  desola- 
tionem  nostram,  et  civitatem  supra  quam  invocatum  est  nomen  tuum  :  neque 
enim  in  justificationibus  nostris  prosternimus  preces  ante  faciem  tuam,  sed  in 
miserationibus  tuis  multis.  Dan.  ix.  18. 

t  Adhuc  me  loquente  in  oratione,  ecce  vir  Gabriel,  quern  videram  in  visione 
a  principio,  cito  volans,  tetigit  me  in  tempore  sacrincii  vespertini.  Et  docuit 
me,  et  locutus  est  mihi.  Ibid.  ix.  21,  22. 

%  Ad  quern  respiciam,  nisi  ad  pauperculum,  et  contritum  spiritu,  et  tre- 
menlem  sermones  meos  ?  Isai.  Ixvj.  2. 


CONDITIONS  OF  EFFICACIOUS  PRA  YER.          237 

That  the  ocean  may  cover  the  shore  with  its  waves,  the  shore  needs 
but  to  be  lowered ;  and  just  so,  the  soul  needs  but  to  humble 
itself  before  God  in  lowly  self-knowledge,  for  the  Almighty  to- 
hasten  and  fill  it  to  overflowing  with  the  fulness  of  His  gifts. 
Call  to  mind  the  prayer  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican. 
The  former  prayed  with  a  heart  puffed  up  with  pride,  relying  on 
the  merits  of  his  fasts  and  offerings :  the  latter,  in  all  lowliness 
of  spirit,  acknowledging  himself  a  sinner,  striking  his  breast,  and 
not  daring  so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven.  We  need  not 
to  be  told  what  was  the  result  of  these  two  prayers,  made  with 
such  opposite  dispositions.  The  prayer  of  the  one  was  rejected, 
that  of  the  other  accepted.  The  proud  Pharisee  met  with  his- 
condemnation;  the  lowly  Publican  obtained,  by  his  humility, 
forgiveness  and  justification.  Hence  I  will  conclude  with  St 
Bernard  :  "  Let  our  prayers  for  life  everlasting  be  made  in  all 
humility  and  perfect  distrust  of  our  own  merits,  and  with  that 
complete  confidence,  which  becomes  us,  in  the  mercy  alone  of 
God."* 

251.  A  third  condition  which  our  prayers  must  have,  in  order 
to  move  effectually  the  heart  of  God,  is,  perseverance  in  asking. 
So  important  is  it,  that  St.  Hilary  makes  all  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
to  consist  solely  in  this.  "  The  only  secret  for  obtaining  favour 
from  God,"  says  the  Saint,  "is  to  persevere  in  prayer. "t  For 
although  God  has  promised  to  grant  us  the  favours  we  seek  at 
His  hands,  provided  they  help  us  to  attain  to  our  last  end,  eternal 
life,  He  has  not  promised  to  grant  them  immediately,  nor  even 
soon.  To  some,  He  grants  what  is  asked  at  the  outset ;  but 
others  are  kept  praying  and  waiting  for  weeks  and  months,  nay, 
for  years  together.  Some  obtain  whatever  they  ask  for  without 
any  delay;  others  only  insensibly  and  by  slow  degrees.  All 
this  happens  through  the  hidden  and  unsearchable  counsels  of 
the  providence  of  God,  which  we  cannot  pretend  to  fathom. 
Suffice  it  for  us  to  know,  that  in  this  diversity  of  conduct  God 
has  no  other  end  but  our  greater  advantage,  and  His  own  greater 

*  Sit  oratio,  quse  fit  pro  aeterna  vita,  in  omni  humilitate,  praesumens  de  sol;t, 
ut  dignum  est,  miseratione  diving.     Serm.  5  in  Quad  rag. 
t  Obtinere  in  sola  prccum  mora  est.     Can.  6.  in  Matth. 


23S  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

glory.  Certain  is  it,  however,  that  if  we  continue  to  pray,  we  shall, 
sooner  or  later,  obtain  all  that  is  not  prejudicial  to  our  final  happi 
ness  j  for  the  promise  of  God  can  in  nowise  fail. 

252.  Hence  St.  Gregory  the  Great  has  well  said  :  "  If  you  are 
not  heard  the  first  time  you  make  your  petition,  do  not   cease 
praying,  but  rather  be  earnest  in  supplication  and  in  lifting  up 
your  voice  to  God.     For  the  Lord  wishes  to  be  entreated ;  to  have 
violence  done  to  Him ;  to  be  conquered  ever  by  a  kind  of  holy 
importunity."*     St.  Jerome  alleges,  in  support  of  this  teaching, 
the  example  of  that  blind  man  who  sat  on  the  roadside  on  the 
way  to  Jericho,  and  who  cried  aloud  to  Jesus  for  mercy.     He  was 
told  not  to  cry  so  loud,  and  to  hold  his  peace  ;  but  he  only  cried 
the  louder,  Jesus,  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.^     "  This,"  says 
the  holy  Doctor,  "  should  be  the  conduct  of  every  one  who  desires 
by  prayer  to  obtain  of  God  what  he  stands  in  need  of ;  he  should 
on  no  account  cease  from  praying,  nor  hold  his  peace,  but  rather, 
the  less  his  supplications  seem  to  avail,  the  more  should  he  persist 
therein,  and  the  more  should  he  cry  to  God  in  all  the  earnestness 
of  his  heart. "J 

253.  But  St.    John    Chrysostom   is   still   more    emphatic    in 
urging  us  to  this  perseverance  in  prayer  and  supplication.     He 
sets  before  us  the  paralytic  man  in  the  Gospel,  who  had  lain  for 
thirty-eight  years  by  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  trembling  on  its  brink 
even  as  the  reed  trembles  on  the  river  bank.     Then,  all  on  fire 
with  a  holy  zeal,  the  Saint  exclaims  :  "  Shame  upon  us  !  shame 
upon  us,  dearly  beloved  !  let  us  mourn  over  our  incredible  sloth. 
For  eight-and-thirty   years  did  this  man  stricken  with  paralysis 
wait  by  the  side  of  the  pool,  anxiously  expecting  the  moment 


*  Habes  in  hoc  perseverantise  documentum,  ut  si  prima  non  exaudiris,  ab 
oratione  non  deficias  :  imo  precibus,  et  clamori  insistas.  Vult  Deus  rogari, 
vult  cogi,  vult  quaclam  importunitate  vinci.  In  Psalm.  Pcenit.,  vj.  I. 

f  Miserere  mei,  fili  David.     Marc.  x.  47. 

£  Qui  ad  cupita  pervenire  voluerit,  reflectere  mentem  a  studio  orationis 
non  debet,  sed  magis  perseverare  in  intentione  crepta  ilium  oportet.  Hinc 
in  evangelic  coecus  ille,  qui  in  Jericho  transeuntem  Jesum  audierat,  mise- 
reri  sibi  ab  eo  petebat ;  sed  cum  a  praetereuntibus  sibi  juberetur  ut  taceret, 
ipse  multo  magis  clamabat,  dicens  :  Miserere  mei,  fill  David.  In  Lament.  Jer.,  ^ 
cap.  3. 


CONDITIONS  OF  EFFICACIOUS  PR  A  YER.          239 

when  he  should  be  healed,  and  disappointed  of  his  hope  (not 
indeed  through  his  own  neglect,  but  because  others  got  in  before 
him) :  he  did  not,  for  all  that,  lose  heart,  nor  was  he  wearied  of  wait 
ing,  nor  did  he  for  one  moment  despair  of  gaining  his  wish.  Yet  we, 
if  we  persevere  for  ten  days  in  prayer,  and  do  not  see  that  we  are 
heard,  straightway  grow  slack  at  our  prayer,  are  discouraged,  and 
abandon  it  altogether."*  In  order,  then,  not  to  fall  into  this  fault 
of  inconstancy,  so  prejudicial  to  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  causing  it 
more  frequently *than  not  to  remain  without  result,  let  us  call  to 
mind  these  three  points,  and  reason  within  ourselves.  This  grace 
which  I  am  now  asking  of  God,  is,  as  I  believe,  expedient  to  my 
salvation ;  hence,  God  cannot  refuse  to  grant  it.  Heaven  and 
earth  may  change,  not  so  the  promises  made  by  God  Almighty. t 
I  am  determined,  therefore,  to  persist  with  the  utmost  constancy 
in  praying  for  it,  without  ever  allowing  myself  to  be  disheartened  : 
for  by  such  perseverance  in  asking  I  am  sure  eventually  to 
obtain  it,  either  sooner  or  later ;  either  all  at  once,  or  shortly,  and 
by  degrees  :  God  is  faithful,  says  the  Apostle,  and  cannot  contradict 
Himself.% 

254.  It  would  be  impossible  almost  to  find  a  more  noble 
example  of  faith,  humility  and  perseverance  in  prayer,  than  that 
given  us  by  the  woman  of  Canaan.  §  She  presented  herself 
before  our  Blessed  Lord,  and  begged  Him  to  have  compassion 
upon  one  of  her  daughters  who  was  cruelly  tormented  by  the 
devil.  But  Jesus  turned  away  His  face,  and  did  not  even  con 
descend  to  make  answer.  She  was  not  dispirited  at  meeting  with 
so  unpromising  a  reception ;  but,  lifting  up  her  voice,  she  began 
to  importune  our  dear  Lord  with  cries  so  loud,  that  the  Apostles 
entreated  their  divine  Master  to  send  away  the  woman,  for  she 

*  Pudeat  nos,  pudeat,  dilectissimi,  et  incredibilem  socordiam  nostram  de- 
ploremus.  Octo  et  triginta  anno  paralyticus  ad  piscinam  expectaverat,  ex- 
pectabatque,  neque  ejus  impletum  est  desiderium  :  neque  negligentia  sua  non 
sanabatur,  sed  praeventus  ab  aliis  :  neque  propterea  desperavit.  Nos  autem 
si  vel  decem  dies  orationibus  invigilantes,  non  exaudimur,  jam  tepescimus. 
Horn.  35  in  cap.  v.  Joan. 

t  Coslum  et  terra  transibunt ;  verba  autem  mea  non  prseteribunt.  Matth. 
xxiv.  35. 

J  Fidelis  permanet ;  non  potest  negare  se  ipsum.     2  Tim.  ij.  13. 

§  Matth.  xv.  22. 


240  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

was  annoying  them  with  her  clamours.*  Jesus  answered  them  r 
/  was  not  sent  to  any  but  to  the  sheep  that  are  lost  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  The  Canaanitish  woman,  hearing  that  she  was  excluded? 
from  the  number  of  those  whom  Christ  had  come  to  benefit,  did 
not  lose  heart ;  but  confiding  more  than  ever  in  His  goodness,  she 
ran  and  threw  herself  at  His  feet,  imploring  help.  Our  Blessed 
Lord  made  no  sign  of  being  touched  by  this  act  of  reverence  and 
homage,  and  said  :  //  is  not  good  to  take  the  bread  of  the  children, 
and  to  cast  it  to  the  dogs.  And  yet,  in  spite  of 'this  very  severe 
answer,  the  woman  was  not  put  out,  but  immediately  replied  : 
Yea,  Lord,  for  the  whelps  also  eat  of  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the- 
table  of  their  master.  Then  Jesus  made  her  this  answer :  O' 
woman,  great  is  thy  faith :  be  it  done  unto  thee  according  as  thou 
wilt.\  Great  was  the  faith  with  which  this  woman  prayed., 
since  so  many  rebuffs  failed  to  make  her  lose  confidence.  Great,, 
too,  was  her  humility ;  for  though  treated  as  an  unclean  animal,, 
she  not  only  did  not  show  resentment,  but  acknowledging  herself 
for  one,  she  sought,  on  this  very  account,  to  be  favourably  heard 
by  the  Redeemer.  Great  was  her  perseverance  ;  for  despite  the 
opposition  of  the  Apostles,  who  would  have  driven  her  away,, 
despite  the  repeated  rebuffs  she  received  from  Christ,  she  ceased: 
not  from  praying.  Let  us  then  copy  her  faith,  her  humility  and 
her  perseverance,  when  we  pray  to  God.  If,  in  order  to  try  our 
constancy,  Christ  seems  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  us,  as  He  did 
to  this  Canaanean  woman,  let  us  lift  up  our  voices,  and  pray 
the  more  earnestly  ;  let  us  fall  prostrate  in  His  sight  with  the  more 
fervour,  in  fullest  assurance  that  although  He  may  delay  granting 
us  what  we  ask  for  in  such  wise,  never  can  He  refuse  it  to  us 
altogether. 

*  Rogabant  eum,  dicentes  :  Dimitte  earn,  quia  clamat  post  nos.  Matth.  xv,  23> 
t  O  mulier,  magna  est  fides  tua  :  fiat  tibi  sicut  vis.     Ibid.  28. 


ON  VOCAL  PRA  YER.  241 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  VOCAL  PRAYER.  HOW  FAR  IT  IS  OF  OBLIGATION.  IN  WHAT 
MANNER  IT  SHOULD  EE  MADE  IN  ORDER  THAT  IT  MAY  BEAR 
FRUIT. 

255.  WE  have  hitherto  been  considering  prayer  in  so  far  as  It  is 
the  silent  supplication  of  our  hearts ;  we  have  now  to  treat  of  it 
inasmuch  as  it  finds  expression  in  speech,  and  is  called  Vocal 
Prayer.  In  order  to  determine  whether  this  be  obligatory,  we 
must  distinguish  between  two  kinds  of  Vocal  Prayer,  one  of  which 
as  called  public,  and  the  other  private,  prayer.  Public,  or  com 
mon  prayer,  is  that  which  is  offered  to  God  by  the  ministers  of 
Holy  Church,  who  in  their  own  persons,  represent  the  whole 
Christian  community.  We  may  exemplify  this  by  the  instance  of 
the  prayers  said  by  the  priest  during  the  celebration  of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  "  Such  prayers,"  says  St.  Thomas,  "  must 
needs  be  vocal,  in  order  to  be  heard  by  the  people  for  whom  they 
are  offered."*  Indeed,  adds  the  holy  Doctor,  it  is  the  intention 
«of  the  Church  that  these  prayers  be  said  aloud,  in  order  to  be 
heard  by  all  and  understood  by  all,  since  they  are  common  to  all. 
Private  prayer  is  offered  by  the  individual,  whether  for  himself  or 
for  others  for  whom  he  is  moved  to  pray  by  an  impulse  of  special 
affection,  and  the  Saint  is  of  opinion  that  it  need  not  be  vocal,  but 
it  suffices  that  it  be  made  to  God  by  the  mind.t 

256.  Other  Theologians,  however,  are  of  opinion,  that  we  are 
obliged  to  Vocal  Prayer,  both  because  such  has  been  the  custom 
of  Holy  Church  from  the  beginning,  and  on  account  of  the 
example  set  us  by  Christ  Himself,  Who  often  prayed  vocally ; 
and  further,  because  all  the  Saints  have  used  it:  lastly,  because 
our  Lord,  when  asked  by  His  apostles  to  teach  them  how  to  pray, 
made  answer  :  When  you  pray,  say;  Father •,  hallowed  be  Thy 

*  Et  ideo  oportet,  quod  tails  oratio  innotescat  toti  populo,  pro  quo  profer- 
tur ;  quod  non  posset  fieri,  nisi  esset  vocalis.  2,  2,  qu.  65,  a.  12,  in  corp. 

f  Oratio  vero  singularis  est  quse  offertur  a  singular!  persona  cujuscumque, 
sive  pro  se,  sive  pro  aliis,  orantis  :  et  de  hujusmodi  orationis  necessitate  non 
est  quod  sit  vocalis.  Ibid. 

VOL.    I.  x$ 


242  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

name,  &c.*  St.  Augustine  seems  to  be  of  this  mind ;  for,  in  his 
explanation  of  those  words  of  the  Beloved  Disciple,  Jesus,  lifting 
up  His  eyes  to  Heaven,  said :  Father ;  the  hour  is  come,  glorify  Thy 
Son,  that  Thy  Son  may  glorify  Thee,"^  he  discourses  as  follows : 
"  Our  Lord,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  and  co-eternal  with 
Him,  might,  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  as  being  subject,  have 
prayed  in  silence  if  there  had  been  need ;  but  when  He  drew  near 
to  His  Father  as  a  suppliant,  He  remembered  ever  that  He  was 
our  Master  and  Teacher.  Hence  He  would  also  make  known  to  us 
the  prayer  which  He  offered  on  our  behalf :  so  that  not  only  the 
lessons  of  so  great  a  Master,  but  His  very  prayer  to  His  Father 
might  serve  for  the  edification  of  His  disciples."  J 

257.  But  whichever  opinion  we  may  prefer  to  adopt,  certain  it 
is,  that  vocal  prayer  is  most  useful,  and  should  not  be  neglected 
by  any  true  Christian,  for  the  three  following  reasons,  which  are 
mentioned  by  the  Angelic  Doctor.  §  First,  then,  it  stirs  up  the 
inward  devotion  of  our  heart;  and  is  a  great  help  to  the  mind  to  raise 
itself  to  God.  As  long  as  our  soul  remains  united  to  the  body,  it 
must  depend  on  the  bodily  senses  in  its  spiritual  operations  ;  and 
hence,  as  St.  Augustine  teaches,  the  soul  finds  a  great  assistance 
in  words  and  gestures  for  enkindling  within  itself  holy  desires  and 
affections.il  Nay,  the  same  Saint  tells  us  of  himself,  that  at  the 
beginning  of  his  conversion  he  was  moved  to  shed  tears  in  abund 
ance  by  the  hymns,  chants,  and  devout  prayers  of  the  Divine  Office. 
Secondly,  it  is  most  fitting  that  we  should  worship  God  not  only  with 
the  inward  powers  of  the  soul  (the  intellect  and  the  will),  but  with 

*  Doce  nos  orare.  Cum  oratis  dicite  :  Pater  noster,  qui  es  in  coelis,  &c. 
Luc.  xj.  2. 

f  Sublatis  Jesus  oculis  in  coelum  dixit :  Pater,  venit  hora,  clarifica  filium 
tuum.  Jo.  xvij.  I. 

J  Poterat  dominus  noster,  Unigenitus,  et  coseternus  Patris,  in  forma  servi  et 
ex  forma  servi  (si  hoc  opus  esset),  orare  silentio  :  sed  ita  Patri  se  exhibere 
voluit  precatorem,  ut  meminisset  se  esse  nostrum  doctorem.  Proinde  earn 
quam  fecit  orationem  pro  nobis,  notam  fecit  et  nobis :  quoniam  tanti  magistri 
non  solum  ad  ipsos  sermocinatio,  sed  etiam  pro  ipsis  ad  Patrem  oratio,  discip- 
ulorum  esset  sedificatio.  Tract.  104,  in  xvij.  Joan.  §  Ut  supra. 

j|  Verbis  rogamus  Deum,  ut  illis  rerum  signis  nos  ipsos  admoneamus  .  .  .. 
«t  ad  augendum  desiderium  sanctum  nosmetipsos  acrius  excitemus.  Epist. 
121.,  Ad  Probam,  cap.  9. 


ON  VOCAL  PRAYER.  243 

those  of  the  body,  and  consequently,  also,  with  the  tongue;  as 
both  the  senses  of  our  body  and  the  faculties  of  our  soul  are 
gifts  received  from  His  bounteous  hand.  Wherefore  the  Prophet 
Osee  says  that  we  ought  to  offer  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  our  lips ; 
which  can  mean  nothing  but  vocal  prayer.  *  Thirdly,  vocal  prayer 
gives  a  kind  of  vent  to  the  devout  affections  which  inflame  our 
hearts,  and  thus  the  ardours  of  divine  charity  are  increased  by  this 
breathing  forth  of  our  heart's  love.  Hence  the  Royal  Prophet^ 
after  singing  in  his  fifteenth  Psalm,  Therefore  my  heart  hath  been 
glad,  quickly  adds,  and  my  tongue  hath  rejoiced,  that  is,  broke  forth 
in  cries  of  joy.  t 

258.  There  is  no  need,  however,  of  proving  at  length  the 
necessity  and  advantages  of  vocal  prayer ;  for  scarcely  any  Chris 
tian  neglects  it  who  takes  the  slightest  heed  of  his  eternal  welfare, 
or  fails  to  repeat  several  times  each  day  that  most  beautiful  of  all 
vocal  prayers,  taught  us  by  Divine  Wisdom  itself,  I  mean  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  But  what  we  must  especially  bear  in  mind  is,  that 
such  prayers  are  not  to  be  said  merely  with  the  tongue,  as  is 
done  by  a  large  majority  of  the  faithful,  but  should  be  accom 
panied  with  attention  of  mind  and  affection  of  heart ;  other 
wise  they  will  be  displeasing  to  God,  and  of  no  advantage  to 
him  that  recites  them.  This  the  Apostle  Paul  plainly  tells  us : 
If  I  pray  with  the  tongue,  my  spirit  prays,  but  my  understanding  is 
without  fruit :  that  is,  without  any  merit,  and  unworthy  to  obtain 
anything  from  the  divine  bounty.^  Nay  rather,  on  prayers  such 
as  these  must  fall  the  rebuke  which  the  Lord  addressed  by  the 
mouth  of  Isaias  to  the  children  of  Israel  on  account  of  their  in 
attention  and  distractions  in  prayer :  This  people  with  their  lips 
glorify  Me,  but  their  heart  is  far  from  Me$  If  then  we  would  have 
our  prayers  of  much  avail,  of  great  merit,  and  very  pleasing  to 
God,  besides  praying  with  the  tongue,  we  must  be  careful  to  pray 
with  the  mind,  with  the  spirit,  and  with  the  heart,  as  St.  Paul  warns 

*  Omnem  aufer  iniquitatem,  et  accipe  bonum,  et  reddemus  vitulum  labiorum 
nostrorum.  Osee  xiy.  3. 

t  Laetatum  est  cor  meum,  et  exultavit  lingua  mea.     Ps.  xv.  9. 

J  Si  orem  linguH  .  .  .  mens  autem  mea  sine  fructu  est.     I  Cor.  xiv.  14. 

§  Populus  hie  labiis  me  honorat :  cor  autem  eorum  longe  est  a  me.  Isai. 
xxix.  13. 


244  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

us.*  Hence,  in  beginning  the  Divine  Office,  the  Rosary,  the 
Our  Father,  the  Hail  Mary,  or  other  vocal  prayers,  we  should 
place  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  God ;  and  while  our  lips  and 
tongue  are  moving,  our  heart  also  should  speak  to  God,  as  was 
the  case  when  Anna,  the  wife  of  Elcanah,  prayed  in  the  temple.t 
In  brief,  I  would  wish  that  the  following  words  of  St.  Gregory  were 
deeply  engraven  on  the  hearts  of  my  readers,  so  aptly  do  they  ex 
press  the  necessity  of  this  attention  in  vocal  prayer  in  order  that 
it  may  be  fruitful  and  of  use.  "  True  prayer,"  says  this  great 
Doctor  of  Holy  Church,  "consists,  not  in  the  words  shaped  by  the 
mouth,  but  in  the  interior  attention  of  the  heart ;  for  the  sounds 
which  sink  into  the  ears  of  God  are  not  the  words  which  fall  from 
our  lips,  but  the  holy  desires  and  aspirations  of  our  hearts.  If, 
when  begging  of  our  Lord  life  everlasting,  our  lips  alone  move 
and  our  heart  is  void  of  desire,  though  we  may  cry  out  with  a  loud 
voice  we  shall  be  as  though  silent,  and  saying  much  shall  remain 
in  the  sight  of  God  as  though  mute  and  dumb."! 

259.  Father  Martin  del  Rio  relates,§  that  St.  Robert  the  Abbot 
beheld,  while  his  monks  were  at  prayer  in  Choir,  the  devil  entering 
among  them  in  the  guise  of  a  labouring  man,  with  a  huge  pitchfork 
in  his  hands,  and  a  basket  hanging  upon  his  shoulder.  He  at  once 
began  to  make  the  round  of  the  stalls,  and  with  neck  stretched  out, 
and  eyes  all  intent,  to  take  note  of  the  faults  each  one  committed 
in  praying  and  singing  the  Office.  If  he  found  any  one  asleep, 
he  burst  out  into  loud  laughter  and  mocked  him,  jeering  rudely. 
When  he  came  across  one  whose  distractions  were  voluntary,  he 
made  every  demonstration  of  joy.  At  length  he  met  with  a  novice 
whose  mind  was  taken  up  with  evil  thoughts,  and  who  was  even  then 
planning  his  escape  from  the  monastery.  Overwhelmed  with  glee, 

*  Orabo  spiritu,  orabo  et  mente  ;  psallam  spiritu,  psallam  et  mente.  I  Cor. 
xiv.  15. 

f  Anna  loquebatur  in  corde  suo  ad  Dominum,  tantumque  labia  illius  move- 
bantur,  et  vox  penitus  non  audiebatur.  I  Reg.  i.  13. 

%  Vera  quippe  postulatio,  non  in  oris  est  vocibus  sed  in  cogitationibus 
cordis.  Valentiores  namque  voces  apud  secretissimas  aures  Dei  non  faciunt 
verba  nostra,  sed  deslderia.  yEternam  enim  vitam  si  ore  petimus,  nee  tamen 
eorde  desideramus,  clamantes  tacemus.  Moral.,  Lib.  xxij.  c.  12. 

§  Disquis.  Magic.,  torn,  i.,  lib.  ij.,  qusest.  38,  sect.  3. 


A  TTENTION  IN  VOCAL  PRA  YER.  245 

the  demon  took  him  up  with  his  pitchfork,  flung  him  into  hie 
basket,  and,  joyful  beyond  measure  at  the  capture,  fled  in  haste. 
And  indeed  the  wretched  man  left  the  cloister  that  very  night, 
then,  after  an  infamous  life,  met  with  a  miserable  death.  We  may 
hence  learn  that  psalmody  and  other  prayer,  made  distractedly 
and  in  a  sleepy  manner,  pleases  the  devil  rather  than  Almighty 
God ;  and,  that  instead  of  earning  for  us  crowns  in  paradise,  it 
heaps  up  fuel  to  feed  the  fire  of  purgatory,  or  even  at  times  the  un 
quenchable  flames  of  hell ;  as  was  the  case  with  this  unhappy 
novice.  St.  Cyprian  is  therefore  quite  right  in  exclaiming,  "What 
sloth  and  strange  neglect  to  be  distracted  while  praying  to  the 
Lord,  and  to  allow  ourselves  to  be  led  away  by  profane  and  idle 
thoughts  and  fancies  !  as  if  any  thoughts  were  more  important 
than  to  consider  that  in  time  of  prayer  we  are  speaking  to  God. 
This  is  not  to  guard  ourselves  from  the  devil  who  tempts  us, 
but  rather  to  give  him  pleasure.  This  is  to  offend  the  Divine 
Majesty  at  the  very  time  we  are  seeking  to  propitiate  the  Almighty 
by  our  supplications."*  Let  us  then  be  careful  lest  our  vocal 
prayers  fail  in  the  attention  which  is  their  very  life,  without  which 
they  are  as  a  soulless  corpse ;  for,  even  as  a  dead  body  is  an  ob 
ject  of  horror  to  our  eyes,  so  too,  prayers  said  without  attention 
are  not  true  prayers  at  all,  but  in  the  sight  of  God  are  the  mere 
dead  body  of  prayer. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THREE   SORTS   OF   ATTENTION    SUITABLE   IN   PRAYER. 

260.   ST.  THOMAS  says  that  the  attention  which  we  may  have  in 
our  vocal  prayers  is  threefold,  f      The  first  kind  is  that  which  we 

*  Quae  autem  segnitia  est,  alienari,  et  capi  ineptis  cogitationibus  et  profanis, 
cum  Dominum  precaris ;  quasi  sit  aliud,  quod  debeas  magis  cogitare,  quam. 
quod  cum  Deo  loquaris  ?  ...  Hoc  est  ab  hoste  in  tutum  non  cavere  :  hoc  est, 
quando  oras  Dominum,  majestatem  Dei  negligentia  orationis  olfendere.  Da 
Orat.  Dom. 

•\  Dicendum,  quod  triplex  est  attentio,  quae  orationi  vocali  potest  adhiberi ; 


246  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

pay  to  the  words,  as  in  the  recitation  of  the  Divine  Office,  during 
which  we  are  bound  to  read  the  words  carefully,  and  to  pronounce 
them  distinctly,  so  as  to  avoid  making  mistakes  in  the  exact  pro 
nunciation  of  the  prescribed  words.  But  that  this  attention  may 
be  of  real  advantage,  the  person  must  have  begun  by  placing  himself 
in  God's  presence  with  the  purpose  to  pray  by  the  recital  of  this 
particular  form  of  prayer.  The  second  kind  of  attention  is  that 
paid  to  the  meaning  of  the  words  uttered,  as  when  those  reciting 
the  Psalms,  the  Our  Father,  Hail  Mary,  or  other  like  prayers,  all 
of  which  abound  with  devout  affections,  reflect  meanwhile  on  the 
sense  of  what  they  say,  and  unite  to  the  verbal  recitation  the 
devout  feelings  of  their  hearts.  If  the  person  making  use  of  such 
prayer,  instead  of  going  always  forward — as  is  done  when  reciting 
the  Canonical  Hours — prefer  to  stop  at  every  verse  and  make 
devout  reflections,  nourishing  his  mind  with  the  various  meanings 
which  occur ;  then  the  prayer  will  be  something  more  than  merely 
vocal ;  it  will  be  mingled  with  Mental  Prayer,  and  may  be  styled  (to 
use  the  expression  of  St.  Ignatius  in  his  Spiritual  Exercises)  the 
"  Second  Method  "  of  prayer.  The  third  kind  of  attention  is  that 
given  not  to  the  words  merely,  nor  to  their  import  only,  but  to  God 
Himself,  to  Whom  all  prayer  is  addressed  directly  or  indirectly,  as 
when,  in  prayer,  we  keep  ourselves  recollected  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  adore,  love,  and  thank  Him,  or  entreat  Him  in  our  hearts 
to  grant  us  the  graces  of  which  He  sees  us  to  stand  in  need.  The 
first  sort  of  attention  suffices  ;  the  second  is  good,  and  may  be  very 
profitable;  the  third  is  the  best,  and  may  become  most  advantage 
ous  to  such  as  earnestly  apply  to  it.  And  we  may  here  observe, 
that  St.  Thomas  calls  this  last-mentioned  application  of  the  mind 
most  necessary,  especially  to  such  as  by  their  ignorance  of  the 
Latin  language  are  unable  to  enter  into  the  sense  of  the  Psalms, 
the  Pater  Noster,  or  other  prayers  approved  by  Holy  Church;* 
for  thus,  while  with  their  tongues  they  recite  words  which  they 


una  quidem,  qua  attenditur  ad  verba,  ne  aliquis  in  eis  erret.  Secunda,  quS 
attenditur  ad  sensum  verborum.  Tertia  qua  attenditur  ad  finem  orationis, 
scilicet  ad  Deum,  et  ad  rem  pro  qua  oratur.  2,  2  qusest.  83,  art.  3.  in  corp. 

*  Quse  quidem  est  maxima  necessaria  :  et  hanc  etiam  possunt  habere  idiotse. 
Ibid. 


ATTENTION  IN  VOCAL  PR  A  YER.  247 

understand  not,  instead  of  allowing  their  thoughts  to  wander  in 
•every  direction,  they  can  and  should  fix  their  minds  on  God,  and 
occupy  themselves  with  devout  and  profitable  affections. 

261.  There  is  a  well-known  instance  of  this  in  the  Chronicles 
of  the  Cistercian  Choir.      St.  Bernard,  while  at  choir  one  night 
with  his  monks,  had  the  following  vision  :  He  beheld,  by  the  side 
of  each  of  the  religious,  an  Angel  with  pen  and  paper  in  hand, 
taking   down   every  psalm,    verse,   and   word   that  was   recited. 
There  was  this  difference,  nevertheless,  that  some  Angels  wrote 
in  letters  of  gold,  others  of  silver ;  others  again  used  ink,  others 
dipped  their  pens  in  water ;  while  some  stood  holding  their  pens 
in  their  hands,  without  taking  down  anything.     While  the  Saint 
was   beholding  this   spectacle   with  the  eyes  of  his  body,  God 
Almighty  opened   those  of  his   mind,  and,  by  a  ray  of  heavenly 
light,  caused  him  to  seize  the  true  meaning  of  this  vision.     He 
now  understood  that  the  letters  of  gold  signified  fervour  of  spirit, 
the  inward  charity  that  animated  the  prayers  of  some ;  those  of 
silver  denoted  devotion,  sincere  in  itself,  but  joined  with  a  less 
degree  of  fervour.     The  letters  in  ink  indicated  the  scrupulous 
exactness  wherewith  some  recited  the  words  of  the  psalms,  but 
with   very  little   devotional  feeling.      The   prayers   written   with 
water  indicated  the  negligence  of  such  as,  overcome  with  drowsi 
ness,  indolence,  or  idle  thoughts,  did  not  give  careful  attention  to 
what   they  were   reciting  with  their  tongue.      The  Angels  who 
wrote  nothing  represented  the  indolence  and  malice  of  those  who 
were  asleep  or  voluntarily  distracted.     We  may  gather  from  this 
legend  that  our  Guardian  Angels  will  write  down  our  vocal  prayers 
in  divers  characters,  according  to  the  measure  of  the  attention,  fer 
vour,  and  devotion,  with  which  we  pronounce  the  words. 

262.  But  the  reader  may  wish  to  know  who  takes  note  of  the 
prayers  which  the  Angels  do  not  register,  and  whether  they  are 
wholly  forgotten,  and  left  both  unrewarded  and  unpunished.     I 
may  direct  them  for  an  answer  to  another  vision,  from  which  it 
appears   that   such   prayers   are   written  by  the  demons  in  dark 
characters,    indicative   of  the   severe   punishment   in  store.*     A 
holy  Priest,  after  having  celebrated  Mass  for  the  people,  beheld 

*  Joan.  Junior.      In  lib.  Scala  Coeli. 


248  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

standing  by  the  altar,  a  demon,  who,  with  pen  and  large  skin  of 
parchment  in  hand,  was  busily  writing.  The  servant  of  God, 
without  feeling  any  fear,  commanded  him,  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  show  what  he  was  so  carefully  noting  down.  The 
fiend  replied,  "I  am  taking  note  of  all  the  sins  committed  by  the 
people  while  assisting  at  Mass."  Upon  this  the  Priest,  with  a 
courage  befitting  his  calling,  snatched  the  long  scroll  from  the 
enemy's  hands,  and  read  out  before  all  the  people  the  list  of  the 
faults  each  one  had  committed  that  morning  at  Mass.  On  hearing 
themselves  thus  publicly  convicted  of  all  the  acts  of  immodesty 
and  irreverence  of  which  they  had  been  guilty  in  Church,  in  time 
of  prayer  and  during  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  they  conceived  a  great 
sorrow,  and  hastened  to  confess  with  sincere  contrition.  When  the 
Confessions  were  concluded,  all  trace  of  the  infernal  handwriting 
had  vanished  from  the  parchment ;  a  sure  token  of  the  pardon 
God  had  granted.  We  shall  then  do  well,  when  we  begin  to  say 
our  beads,  the  Office,  or  other  pious  prayers,  to  figure  to  ourselves 
our  Guardian  Angel  standing  on  one  side  ready  to  note  down  our 
prayer  in  the  Book  of  Life,  if  it  be  worthy  of  reward  ;  and  on  the 
other  side,  the  devil  ready  to  mark  it  in  the  Book  of  Death,  if  it 
deserve  punishment.  And  that  we  may  gain  merit  and  not  incur 
chastisements  from  our  prayers,  I  will  say  with  St.  Cyprian  :  "  When 
we  are  at  prayer,  dearly  beloved,  let  us  be  watchful  and  apply  our 
selves  with  all  the  earnestness  of  our  hearts.  Far  from  us,  at  that 
time,  be  every  worldly  and  carnal  thought.  The  mind  should  then- 
be  intent  upon  nothing  save  upon  the  matter  of  our  prayer 
alone."*  The  same  holy  martyr  proceeds  to  inculcate  such  atten 
tion  by  the  words  of  the  Priest,  who,  at  the  Preface  of  the  Mass,, 
says  to  the  people,  "Lift  up  your  hearts:"  to  which  all  used  to 
reply,  "We  have  them  lifted  up  to  the  Lord."  Whereby  we  are 
reminded  that  in  time  of  prayer,  our  thoughts  must  be  wholly 
fixed  on  God  alone. f 

*  Quando  stamus  ad  orationem,  fratres  dilectissimi,  vigilare,  et  incumbere 
ad  preces  toto  corde  debemus.  Cogitatio  omnis  srecularis,  et  carnalis  abscedat,. 
nee  quidquam  tune  animus  quam  id  solum  cogitet,  quod  precatur.  De  Ora 
tion.  Dom.,  Serm.  6. 

t  Ideo   et    sacerdos  ante  orationem,  pnefatione  prsamissa,   parat   fratrun* 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  ON  VOCAL  PRAYER.          249 

263.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  what  has  hitherto 
been  said  applies  only  to  wilful  distractions  either  purposely 
sought  for  the  sake  of  amusement,  or  admitted  with  advertence ; 
whether  these  proceed  from  the  inconstancy  of  our  fancy,  or  from 
the  suggestions  of  the  enemy  of  all  good.  Distractions  such  as 
these  are  alone  sinful,  St.  Thomas  teaches,  and  alone  deprive  our 
prayer  of  all  fruit.  *  But  in  no  sense  do  I  allude  to  those  involuntary 
wanderings  which  may  happen  to  any  pious  person  quite  against 
his  will,  when,  in  placing  himself  before  God  in  order  to  implore 
help  with  all  earnestness,  he  finds  himself  transported  elsewhere 
by  importunate  imaginings;  provided  these  be  driven  away 
directly,  and  the  sense  of  God's  presence  be  renewed.  Such 
distractions,  as  we  learn  from  the  same  holy  Doctor,  though  they 
return  a  hundred  times,  are  by  no  means  incompatible  with  true 
prayer.t  Nay,  he  further  adds,  for  the  encouragement  of  certain 
timorous  consciences,  that  even  persons  raised  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  contemplation,  are,  at  times,  borne  down  by  human 
frailty  to  thoughts  of  earth,  by  the  involuntary  wanderings  of  the 
mind.J  Those,  then,  who  are  in  earnest  about  their  spiritual  pro 
gress,  must  in  time  of  vocal  prayer  keep  strict  guard  over  their 
minds  and  hearts,  and  they  must  take  heed  not  deliberately  to 
admit  any  thought  foreign  to  prayer.  When  they  do  this,  they 
need  be  under  no  alarm  that  their  petitions  will  be  advantageous 
to  themselves  and  very  pleasing  to  God. 

mentes,  dicendo  :  Sursum  corda  ;  ut  dum  respondet  plebs  :  Habemus  ad  Domi- 
num,  admoneantur,  nihil  aliud  se,  quam  Domiuum  cogitare  debere.  Ibid. 

*  Si  quis  ex  proposito  in  oratione  mente  vagatur,  hoc  peccatum  est,  et  im« 
pedit  orationis  fructum.  Art.  Suprac.  ad.  3. 

t  Dicendum,  quod  in  spiritu,  et  in  veritate  orat,  qui  ex  instinctu  spiritus  ad 
orandum  accedit ;  etiamsi  ex  aliqua  infirmitate  mens  postmodum  evagetur. 
Eod.  art.,  ad  i. 

:£  Mens  humana,  propter  infirmitatem  naturoe,  diu  stare  in  alto  non  potest. 
Pondere  enim  infirmitatis  humanse  deprimitur  anima  ad  inferiora.  Ed  ideo 
contingit,  quod  cum  mens  orantis  ascendit  in  Deum  per  contemplationem,  subito 
evagatur  ex  quadam  infirmitate.  Eod.  art.,  ad.  2. 


250  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  TO  DIRECTORS  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 
VOCAL  PRAYER. 

264.  FIRST  suggestion.  From  what  has  been  stated  in  the  fore 
going  Chapters,  a  Director  will  have  perceived  that  the  first  remedy 
to  be  prescribed  to  penitents  against  every  spiritual  ailment — the 
chief  means  for  acquiring  every  virtue  and  spiritual  gift — is  the 
prayer  of  petition  and  the  having  recourse  to  God.  As  we  have 
heretofore  shown,  the  avoidance  of  evil,  and  the  attainment  of 
every  kind  of  supernatural  good,  are,  of  necessity,  the  effects  of 
divine  grace ;  and  according  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  God's  provi 
dence,  in  the  present  dispensation,  these  necessary  gifts  are  vouch 
safed  only  to  those  who  ask  for  them.  If,  then,  the  penitent  be  frail 
and  weak  of  purpose,  and  hence  frequently  fall  into  the  same 
disorders,  he  should  be  told  to  recommend  himself  to  God  in 
prayer.  If  he  be  assailed  by  temptation,  or  hurried  away  by  the 
violence  of  his  appetites,  he  must  be  ordered  to  beg  help  of  God, 
at  the  first  outburst  of  passion  or  the  first  motion  of  evil  sugges 
tion.  If  he  be  backward  in  the  exercise  of  any  virtue,  he  should 
be  exhorted  to  ask  God  for  strength.  If  he  be  in  distress,  per 
secuted,  perplexed,  or  in  doubt,  the  Director  must  bid  him  have 
recourse  to  prayer — to  be  diligent  in  vocal  and  mental  prayer,  in 
time  of  Holy  Communion,  in  the  morning  and  the  evening ;  in 
a  word,  at  all  times.  This  is  the  chief  and  surest  means  of 
spiritual  progress,  for,  as  was  seen  above,  constant  prayer  must 
obtain  its  effect  sooner  or  later. 

265.  Second  suggestion.  The  Director  will  meet  with  certain 
pusillanimous  people,  who,  after  having  recommended  their  case 
to  God  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  whether  it  be  with  the  object 
of  ridding  themselves  of  some  vice,  or  of  acquiring  some  virtue, 
eventually  lose  heart  and  say  to  themselves,  and  at  times  to 
others  also,  that  God  does  not  hear  them,  that  the  Saints  will 
not  listen  to  them  ;  and  as  they  fear  lest  by  such  sentiments  they 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  ON  VOCAL  PRAYER.  251 

may  be  disparaging  God's  goodness,  they  add,  that  they  mean 
not  by  such  language  to  charge  the  goodness  of  God  with  being 
unwilling  to  do  them  favours,  but  they  will  have  it  that  their  sins 
and  their  wickedness  render  them  unworthy  to  be  heard.  And 
the  worst  of  it  is,  that  they  believe  such  vile  faint-heartedness  to 
be  true  humility.  The  Director  must  open  the  eyes  of  these 
blind  persons,  and  show  them  that  this  depression  of  spirit  is  not 
humility,  but  its  poisonous  counterfeit,  which  the  devil  puts 
into  their  minds  in  order  to  disgust  them  with  prayer,  or 
at  all  events  to  render  their  prayers  ineffectual  with  God.  True 
humility,  which  comes  from  above,  has  this  property,  that  the 
more  it  lowers  us  in  our  own  estimation  by  the  knowledge 
it  gives  us  of  our  own  misery,  the  more  does  it  raise  us  to 
confidence  in  God  by  the  knowledge  it  brings  us  of  His  goodness 
and  promises.  Thus,  any  feeling  that  contracts  our  hearts  and 
diminishes  hope,  is  not  humility,  but  pusillanimity  and  diffidence , 
which  rob  prayer  of  its  power  and  leave  it  without  fruit.  Let 
the  Director,  therefore,  see  to  it,  that  these  persons  realise  this 
truth  ;  then  he  may  fix  them  immovably  in  faith,  reminding  them 
of  the  teaching  of  St.  Thomas,  alleged  above  :  namely,  that  the 
Almighty  sheds  abroad  His  graces  on  account  of  His  goodness, 
mercy  and  promises,  not  in  view  of  our  merits ;  and  that  when 
we  fail  not  in  a  firm  and  steady  trust  in  God,  our  very  sins  cannot 
be  an  obstacle  to  the  attainment  of  His  benefits.  "  Hope  alone," 
says  St.  Bernard,  "  can  avail  to  obtain  Thy  mercy,  O  my  God ; 
nor  dost  Thou  pour  the  balm  of  Thy  loving-kindness  into  any 
other  vessel  but  one  of  trust ;  that  is  to  say,  into  any  souls  save 
such  as  confide  in  Thee  alone."  * 

266.  Third  suggestion.  With  regard  to  vocal  prayers,  the 
Director  must  permit  them  in  greater  quantity  to  such  as  are  not 
well  fitted  to  unite  themselves  to  God  in  mental  prayer ;  while 
he  will  pursue  a  contrary  course  with  those  who  are  able  to  attain 
to  interior  recollection  by  discourse  of  the  mind ;  for  as  St. 
Thomas  says,  "Vocal  prayer  is  not  intended  to  manifest  to  God 
something  which  is  unknown  to  Him,  but  to  raise  to  God  the 
*  Sola  spes  apud  te,  Domine,  miserationis  obtinet  locum  ;  nee  oleum  miseri- 
icordiae  ponis,  nisi  in  vase  fiducioe.  Serm.  3.,  De  Annunc. 


252  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

mind  of  the  person  praying,  or  that  of  his  hearers."  *  It  thus  sup 
plies  a  stimulus  which  is  needed  by  minds  subject  to  distractions, 
rather  than  by  such  as  are  devout ;  these,  as  it  were,  of  them 
selves,  and  by  their  own  reflections,  are  able  to  stir,  raise  aloft, 
and  recollect  their  souls  in  God ;  as  the  same  holy  Doctor 
observes,  t  The  Director  will  then  appoint  a  greater  number  of 
vocal  prayers  for  such  as  are  not  able  or  accustomed  to  meditate, 
and  a  larger  measure  of  mental  prayer  for  those  who  are  exercised 
in  meditation  and  find  therein  an  aliment  for  their  devotion.  He 
will  thus  adapt  himself  to  the  capacity,  inclination  and  progress 
of  each  one  of  his  penitents. 

267.  Fourth  suggestion.  There  are  some  persons  who  recite 
a  great  number  of  vocal  prayers,  but  with  little  attention  and  less 
affection.  Such  as  these  speak  much  with  God,  but  pray  little; 
to  them  may  be  applied  the  words  in  St.  Matthew,  And  when  you 
are  praying,  speak  not  much,  like  the  heathen.  J  For  as  St.  Augustine 
remarks  upon  this  passage :  To  pray  much  is  not  to  speak  much, 
but  it  is  to  say  what  is  said  with  deep  affection.  The  excess  our 
Lord  here  rebukes  consists  not  in  praying  for  a  long  time,  and 
reciting  a  great  number  of  prayers,  if  this  be  done  with  inward 
affection  and  a  devout  spirit ;  but  rather  in  saying  much  with  the 
tongue,  and  praying  little  with  the  heart.  Prayer,  whether  mental 
or  vocal,  is  a  business  in  which  more  is  done  by  sighs  than  by 
words,  with  tears  than  with  the  tongue.  "§  Cassian  relates  that 
the  Egyptian  monks  did  not  approve  of  a  multitude  of  vocal 
prayers,  but  preferred  to  recite  their  prayers  with  great  attention 

*  Vocalis  oratio  non  profertur  ad  hoc,  quod  aliquid  ignotum  Deo  manifes- 
tetur :  sed  ad  hoc,  quod  mens  orantis,  vel  aliorum  excitetur  in  Deum.  2,  2, 
qu.  83,  art.  12,  ad  primum. 

t  Verba  significant^  aliquid  ad  devotionem  pertinens  excitant  mentes  prze- 
cipue  minus  devotas.  In  eod.  art.,  ad  2. 

J  Orantes  nolite  multum  loqui.     Matth.  vj.  7. 

§  Non  est  hoc  orare  in  multiloquio,  si  diutius  oretur.  Aliud  est  sermo  mul- 
tus,  aliud  diuturnus  affectus.  .  .  .  Absit  ab  oratione  multa  locutio  :  sed  non 
desit  multa  precatio.  Nam,  multum  loqui,  est,  in  orando,  rem  necessarian! 
superfluis  agere  verbis ;  multum  autem  precuri,  est,  ad  eum,  quern  precamur 
diuturna  ac  pi&  cordis  excitatione  pulsare.  Nam  plerumque  hoc  negotium  plus 
gemitibus,  quam  sermonibus  agitur,  plus  fletu,  quam  affatu.  Ad  Probam,  Ep. 
121,  C.  10. 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  ON  VOCAL  PRA  YER.  253 

and  penetration  of  their  meaning.  Hence  they  considered  that  it 
was  more  profitable  to  recite  ten  verses  only  of  a  psalm  with  feel 
ings  of  devotion  and  at  leisure,  than  the  whole  of  it  with  hurry  of 
the  tongue  and  distraction  of  the  mind.*  Should  the  Director, 
then,  meet  with  persons  who  have  burdened  themselves  with  a 
huge  weight  of  prayers— which  they  recite  hurriedly,  without  at 
tention  or  feeling,  caring  much  more  for  the  completion  of  their 
self-imposed  task  than  for  the  interior  devotion  of  the  heart — he 
must  correct  this  extravagance  and  reduce  the  prayers  to  a  third, 
fourth,  or  even  fifth  part,  as  he  shall  judge  expedient.  But  he 
must  remind  them,  meanwhile,  to  make  up  for  number  by  the 
strictness  of  their  attention,  to  recite  the  prayers  appointed  for 
them  at  full  leisure,  with  application  of  mind  and  with  frequent 
pauses,  in  order  to  relish  the  affections  which  the  prayers  express, 
not  as  something  learned  by  rote,  but  as  the  expression  of  a  feeling 
proceeding  from  the  heart  and  made  vocal  by  the  tongue. 

268.  He  shall  be  careful,  after  having  thus  reduced  the  number 
of  their  prayers  to  reasonable  bounds,  never  to  allow  penitents  to 
omit  their  religious  exercises  except  fora  sufficient  reason;  for  con 
stancy  and  faithfulness  in  paying  the  homage  which  we  have 
undertaken  to  render,  are  most  pleasing  to  God,  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  and  to  the  Saints.  We  may  here  recall  what  befell  Thomas 
'a  Kempis  in  his  youth,  when  attending  the  schools  of  human  and 
divine  science. t  He  began  to  omit  now  one,  now  another  of  the 
prayers  which  it  had  been  his  custom  daily  to  recite  in  honour  of 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  by  this  artifice  of  the  Devil,  he  was  led 
at  last  to  give  them  up  all  together.  Our  Blessed  Lady,  who  loved 
him  tenderly  on  account  of  his  innocence,  resolved  to  warn  him  how 
mistaken  he  was,  and  to  this  end  made  use  of  a  vision  which  she 
vouchsafed  to  him  in  the  depth  of  his  sleep.  He  saw  himself  at 
school  in  the  company  of  his  class-fellows.  Suddenly  the  Blessed 
Virgin  appeared  among  them  surrounded  with  rays  of  glory,  and 
with  the  beauty  which  constitutes  one  of  the  joys  of  Paradise. 

*  Non  multitudine  versuum,  sed  mentis  intelligentiH  delectantur,  illud  tot£ 
virtute  sectantes  :  Psallam  spiritu,  psallam  el  mente.  Ideoque  utilius  habent 
•decetn  versus  cum  rational) ill  assignatione  cantari,  quam  totum  psalmum  cum 
confusione  mentis  effundi,  quae  nonnumquam  pronunciantis  festinatione  gener- 
atur.  De  Institut,  lib.  ij.  en  p.  n. 

f  Specul.  Exempl.,  Dist.  x.1,  Exempl.  7. 


254  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Passing  through  the  school,  she  tenderly  embraced  and  pressed  to 
her  bosom  one  after  another  of  his  companions.  Thomas  was 
anxiously  awaiting  his  turn  for  this  sweet  embrace,  the  token  of  the 
tenderness  of  his  Heavenly  Mother.  But  his  hopes  were  doomed 
to  disappointment ;  for  when  the  Blessed  Virgin  came  to  him,  she 
glanced  at  him  with  a  look  of  displeasure  saying,  "  In  vain  do  you 
expect  caresses  from  me,  since  you  have  proved  unfaithful  to  me. 
Where  are  the  prayers  you  once  so  devoutly  addressed  to  me? 
Where  the  homage  you  once  so  lovingly  paid?  How  soon  has 
your  fervour  in  honouring  me  grown  cold  !"  With  these  words  she 
disappeared,  leaving  him  overwhelmed  with  anguish  of  heart.  The 
Director  may  avail  himself  of  this  instance  to  stimulate  his  penitents 
to  constancy  in  the  devout  exercises  they  have  discreetly  adopted. 
269.  Fifth  suggestion.  But  the  Director,  besides  inculcating 
attention,  interior  devotion,  and  constancy  in  vocal  prayer,  must 
further  insist  on  a  becoming  exterior  deportment.  Hence  he 
should  advise  his  penitents  to  recite  their  prayers  kneeling,  and  if 
this  cannot  be  done  to  choose,  at  least,  some  seemly  posture ; 
avoiding  that  immodest  bearing  which  so  much  displeases  the 
Divine  Majesty  of  Him  whom  they  are  addressing  in  time  of  prayer. 
Two  monks  were  once  reciting  matins  sitting,  or  indeed,  I  might 
say  reclining,  on  their  beds,  when  on  a  sudden  a  demon  appeared 
in  the  room  bringing  with  him  an  abominable  stench,  which,  as  he 
said  in  raillery  of  so  unbecoming  a  posture  during  intercourse 
with  God,  was  fit  incense  for  such  sort  of  prayer.*  The  Director 
should,  moreover,  rebuke  his  penitents  when,  in  time  of  vocal 
prayer,  they  employ  themselves  in  any  kind  of  external  work  ;  as 
all  occupation  should  be  reputed  very  unbecoming  at  a  time  when 
we  are  speaking  to  God.t  The  holy  Bishop  Ludger  being  once 
on  a  journey  accompanied  by  some  of  his  clerics,  was  one  morning 
reciting  the  Divine  Office  with  them  before  the  fire.  One  of 
his  attendants,  seeing  that  the  smoke  was  blowing  into  the  bishop's 
face,  bent  down,  moved  the  burning  logs,  and  then  blowing  upon 
them,  caused  the  flames  to  blaze  forth.  After  the  Office,  the 

*  Ad  talem  orationem  tale  debetur  incensum.    Jordan,  de  SaxoniiL  In  Vitis 
Fratrum  Eremit.,  lib.  ij.,  c.  15. 

t  In  Vit£  S.  Ludg.  Episc.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  31-     Apud  Surium. 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  ON  VOCAL  PRAYER.          255 

Saint,  calling  aside  the  Priest,  rebuked  him  sharply  for  having 
meddled  with  the  fire  while  saying  his  Office,  and  gave  him  a 
penance  of  some  days'  duration  for  this  fault.  So  anxious  are  the 
Saints  that,  while  at  prayer,  nothing  should  be  done  by  us  which 
can  withdraw  our  minds  from  God. 

270.  We  must,  however,  here  distinguish  between  two  different 
ways  in  which  our  vocal  prayers  can  be  said.     At  times  we  may 
begin  to  recite  certain  vocal  prayers  with  the  direct  purpose  of 
praying,  as  when  we  say  the  Office,  the  Rosary,  or  the  like.     But 
we  may  also,  while  occupied  in  manual  labour,  or  other  outward 
occupations,  say  certain  prayers,  as  a  means  of  keeping  our  minds 
devoutly  employed,  as  the  ancient  solitaries  used  to  do ;   for,  while 
weaving  mats,  or  baskets,  of  the  leaves   of  the   palm-tree,    they 
very  commonly  recited  psalms  and  hymns,  to  ward  off  dissipation 
of  mind  during  these  distracting  labours.     The  observations  we 
have  made  concerning  external  work  in  time  of  prayer,  apply  to 
such  prayer  as  we  have  first  mentioned.     But  let  the  Director  be 
particular   in   rebuking   penitents   who   are  slothful,  careless  and 
drowsy  in  time  of  prayer ;    as  is  the  case  with  many  Christians 
who  put  off  their  religious  exercises  till  night-time,  and  then  hurry 
through  them  as  fast  as  they  can,  while  half  asleep  and  half  awake. 
Such  prayers  are  less  acceptable  to  God  than  to  the  devil,  who 
purposely  causes  this  heaviness  in  order  to  deprive  our  prayers  of 
their  efficacy.     A  servant  of  God  once  saw  a  black  and  hideous 
serpent  gliding  over  the  shoulders  of  a  monk  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  dozing  in  choir,  and  it  was  given  to  him  to  understand  that  this 
was  the  devil  who  oppressed  the  unhappy  man  with  sleep.*     The 
Director  will  not  fail,  then,  to  point  out  suitable  remedies  which 
may  render  persons  of  this  class  diligent,  earnest  and   wakeful 
during  their  customary  devotions. 

271.  Sixth  suggestion.     For  the  sake  of  such  as  are  blessed 
with  a  special  gift  of  prayer,  we  will  add,  by  way  of  conclusion, 
that   should   it   happen  to  them  while  they  are  engaged  in  this 
exercise,  to  find  that  their  soul  is  raised  and  wrapped  in  God,  and 
that  vocal  prayer  would  prove  a  hindrance  to  this  interior  recol 
lection,  they  should  discontinue  it ;  always  supposing  the  prayer 

*  Csesarius,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  32. 


256  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

not  to  be  of  obligation.  St.  Thomas  recommends  this  ;  alleging 
for  his  reason,  that  the  object  of  vocal  prayer  is  to  raise  the  mind 
and  heart  to  God :  if,  then,  far  from  bringing  about,  it  be  an 
obstacle  to,  this  result,  it  should  not  be  continued* 


ARTICLE  VII. 
On  the  Presence  of  God. 

CHAPTER  I. 

SCRIPTURE  PROOFS  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN  EFFICACY  OF  THE  SENSE 
OF  GOD'S  PRESENCE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  SPEEDILY  ATTAINING 
TO  PERFECTION.  GENERAL  REASONS  FOR  THIS. 

272.  THE  exercise  of  God's  presence  amid  the  distractions  con 
tinually  soliciting  our  attention,  is  so  closely  connected  with  that 
prayer,  whether  mental  or  vocal,  to  which  both  the  foregoing 
Articles  have  been  devoted,  that  mental  prayer  may  be  truly  said 
to  consist  essentially  in  a  person's  keeping  himself  in  God's  pre 
sence  by  an  effort  of  the  mind  alone ;  and  further,  that  prayer  of 
petition  is  nothing  else  than  keeping  the  presence  of  God  before 
ourselves,  and  by  an  act  of  the  mind  breaking  forth  into  fervent 
petition.  But  more  than  this,  nothing  so  effectually  helps  us  to 
acquit  ourselves  well  of  prayer,  whether  mental  or  vocal  (to  make 
which,  we  withdraw  from  every  other  occupation,  at  stated  hours, 
that  we  may  be  quite  alone  with  God),  as  to  have  kept  in  the 
presence  of  God  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  day  •  for  as 
a  log  of  wood,  if  thoroughly  dry — and  thus  in  some  sort  prepared 

kindles  as  soon  as  laid  upon  the  fire,  so  a  spiritual  man,  who  has 

maintained  throughout  the  day  by  the  exercise  of  God's  presence, 

*  In  singular!  oratione  tantum  est  vocibus,  et  hujusmodi  signis  utendum, 
quantum  proficit  ad  excitandum  interius  mentem.-  Si  vero  mens  per  hoc  dis- 
trahatur,  vel  qualitercumque  impediatur,  est  a  talibus  cessandum.  2,  2  qu.  83, 
art.  12,  in  corp. 


THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  257 

a  certain  degree  of  fervour,  no  sooner  applies  to  prayer,  which  is 
the  furnace,  so  to  say,  of  divine  love,  than  his  fervour  become? 
more  intense  and  the  flames  of  charity  burst  forth  within  his 
heart.  Hence,  it  will  not  be  foreign  to  the  matter  we  have  just 
been  treating,  if  we  speak  in  the  present  Article  of  that  sense  of 
God's  presence  which  we  should  ever  strive  to  keep  in  the  midst 
of  indifferent  or  distracting  pursuits.  The  object,  then,  of  the 
present  Chapter  will  be  to  show,  by  Scripture  proofs,  and  by 
general  reasons,  that  the  realising  of  the  divine  presence  is  one  of 
the  most  effectual  means  of  speedily  attaining  to  Christian  per 
fection  :  in  the  following  Chapters  we  will  touch  on  some  special 
reasons  illustrating  the  same  point. 

273.  God  is  ever  present  to  us,  since  He  abides  in  all  things 
by  His  essence,  His  presence,  and  His  power;   but  we  cease 
to  be  present  to  Him,  at  least  with  our  minds,  when,  forgetful 
of  His  Divine  Majesty,  we  allow  them  to  be   filled  with  vain 
fancies>  or  to  be  absorbed  in  the  shadows  of  earth.     Hence  it  has 
been  well  said  by  St.  Bernard,  in  his  treatise  "  On  Consideration  " 
addressed  to  Pope   Eugenius :    "Bear  in  mind,   High  Priest  of 
God,  that  so  often  as  you  give  yourself  to  the  contemplation  of 
things  visible  and  earthly,  so  often  do  you  withdraw  from  God."* 
Whence  it  follows,  that  the  presence  of  God,  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  is  nothing  else  than  the  thought  and  remembrance  of 
God ;  by  which,  in  every  place,  and  in  every  occupation,  we  con 
sider  Him  as  present  to  us  and  turn  to  Him  with  the  affections 
of  our  soul 

274.  This  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  is  so  effectual  a  means 
of  acquiring  perfection  that,  of  itself  alone,  as  we  may  gather  from 
the  teachings  and  examples  recorded  in  Holy  Writ,  it  would  seem 
sufficient  to  lead  to  the  loftiest  summit  of  perfection.     God  said 
to  Abraham,    Walk  before  Me  and  be  perfect^  as  if  to  say :    I, 
being  Almighty,  thou  hast  but  to  remain  in  union  with  Me,  and  I, 
by  My  Almighty  power,  will  overcome  every  obstacle  in  the  path 

*  Hoc  velim  solerter  advertas,  quia  toties  peregrinatur  consideratio,  quoties 
ab  illis  rebus  (divinis),  ad  ista  deflectitur  infei'iora,  et  visibilia.  De  Consid. 

f  Ego  Dominus  omnipotens.  Ambula  coram  me,  et  esto  perfectus.  Gen. 
xvij.  i. 

VOL.    I.  IJ 


258  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  perfection.  And  indeed,  what  else  can  be  required  of  a  man, 
in  order  that  he  fall  not  short  of  the  perfection  suitable  to  his  state 
of  life,  but  that  he  do  each  of  his  actions  as  it  should  be  done  ? 
Now  Solomon  says,  that  the  man  will  attain  to  this  who  keeps 
God  ever  present  to  his  mind,  because  the  Lord  will  then  take 
care  to  guide  his  every  action  so  that  it  may  not  fail  of  its  due 
perfection.*  Hence,  too,  the  Royal  Psalmist  tells  us  that  to  be 
firm  and  constant  in  well-doing  we  must  always  seek  the  face  of 
the  Lord.t  Now  St.  Augustine  in  his  commentary  on  this  verse 
interprets  the  face  of  God  to  mean  His  presence.  %  In  short,  God 
declares  most  unequivocally,  by  the  mouth  of  the  Prophet 
Micheas,  that  our  goodness  and  perfection  depend  upon  walking 
in  His  presence.  I  will  show  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good  and  what 
the  Lord  requires  of  thee :  Verily  to  do  judgment,  and  to  love  mercy, 
and  to  be  careful  to  walk  with  thy  God.$  And  observe  the  expres 
sion  to  be  careful,  whereby  we  are  warned  that  the  divine  presence 
is  to  be  sought  after  with  great  diligence  and  earnestness,  as  that 
one  thing  upon  which  our  progress  in  virtue  and  our  perfection 
mainly  depend. 

275.  And  if  the  reader  desire  to  be  further  persuaded  of  this 
truth,  let  him  observe  that,  with  reference  to  those  great  servants 
of  God,  praised  by  the  Holy  Ghost  Himself  for  their  eminent  holi 
ness,  frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  Old  Testament  of  their 
having  spent  all  their  lives  in  God's  presence.  We  have  but 
lately  seen  how,  in  order  to  train  him  to  perfection,  Abraham  was 
directed,  by  God  Himself,  to  walk  in  His  presence.  That  Isaac, 
too,  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  saintly  father  and  walked 


*  In  omnibus  viis  tuis  cogita  ilium,  (nempe  Deum),  et  ipse  diriget  gressus 
tuos.  Prov.  iij.  6. 

t  Quserite  Dominum,  et  confirmamini :  quserite  faciem  ejus  semper.  Ps. 
civ.  4. 

%  Quse  est  fades  Domini,  nisi  prsesentia  Dei  ?  sicut  facies  venti,  facies  ionis. 
Dictum  est  enim  :  Sicut  stipulam  ante  faciem  venti:  Siciit  fluit  cera  a  facie 
ignis :  et  multa  alia  ponit  Scriptura,  nihil  aliud,  quam  earum  rerum  preesentiam 
volens  intelligi,  quarum  nominat  faciem. 

§  Indicabo  tibi,  o  homo,  quid  sit  bonum,  et  quid  Dominus  requirat  a  te. 
Utique  facere  judicium,  et  diligere  misericordiam,  et  sollicite  ambulare  cum 
Deo  tuo.  Mich.  vj.  8. 


THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  259 

in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is  clearly  stated  in  the  sacred  text.* 
Josephus,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,"  tells  us 
that  the  guileless  Abel  made  use  of  this  very  means  to  tend  to 
perfection,  and  that  by  keeping  God  before  his  eyes  in  all  his 
doings  he  manfully  practised  all  kind  of  virtue.t  Of  Noah  we 
are  told  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  was  a  just  and  perfect  man  in 
his  generation.  %  And  this  is  accounted  for  immediately  after ;  for 
the  Scripture  adds,  that  he  walked  with  God,  that  is,  never  lost 
God  from  his  sight. §  Tobias,  in  his  instructions  to  his  much- 
loved  son,  lays  down,  as  a  most  important  precept,  to  have 
the  remembrance  of  God  ever  in  his  mind  :  My  son,  all  the  days 
of  thy  life  have  God  in  thy  mmd.\\  He  who  left  so  magnificent  a 
spiritual  legacy  to  his  son,  and  who,  in  order  that  the  memory  of 
it  might  last  throughout  life,  wished  that,  of  all  the  admonitions 
.given,  this  one  should  hold  the  first  place  in  importance,  must 
certainly  himself  have  always  acted  up  to  it.  The  pious  king 
Ezechias,  while  striving  to  touch  the  heart  of  God  by  prayer 
.and  to  move  Him  to  restore  his  former  health,  urges,  as  that 
claim  which  seemed  to  him  the  greatest  he  possessed  to  the 
favour  of  the  Almighty,  that  he  had  ever  walked  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord  :  /  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  remember  how  I  have  walked 
before  Thee  in  truth  *&  It  were  folly  to  doubt  that  the  holy  King 
David  lived  continually  in  the  exercise  of  the  divine  presence,  as 
lie  himself  repeatedly  witnesses  to  the  fact  in  many  of  his  Psalms  j 
for  instance  :  /  set  the  Lord  always  in  my  sight**  And  again: 
Mine  eyes  are  ever  towards  the  Lord.\\  It  must,  then,  of  necessity, 
be  inferred  that  until  God  point  out  another  road  to  perfection, 
it  behoves  us  also  to  walk  in  His  divine  presence,  if  we  too 

*  Deus  in  cujus  conspectu  ambulaverunt  patres  nostri  Abraham  et  Isaac, 
benedicat  pueris  istis,  etc.  Gen.  xlviij.  15. 

t  Abel  justitiam  colebat,  et  in  omnibus  actionibus  suis  Deum  preesentem 
ratus,  virtuti  operam  dabat.  Antiquit.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  3. 

%  Noe  vir  Justus,  atque  perfectus  in  generationibus  suis.     Gen.  vj.  9. 

§  Cum  Deo  ambulavit.     Ibid. 

||  Omnibus  diebus  vitae  tuse,  in  mente  habeto  Deum.     Tob.  iv.  9. 

*[  Obsecro,  Domine,  memento  quaeso,  quomodo  ambulaverim  coram  te  in 
Veritate.  Isa.  xxxviij.  3. 

**  Providebam  Dorninum  in  conspectu  meo  semper.     Ps.  xv.  8. 

ft  Oculi  mei  semper  ad  Dominum.     Ps.  xxiv,  15. 


26o  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

desire  to  be  perfect ;  for  this  is  the  path  trodden  by  the  Saints  of 
the  Old  Law,  and  by  those  especially  whom  God  has  placed  upon 
this  earth  to  be  models,  teachers,  and  guides  in  all  that  concerns- 
the  perfect  life,  to  all  mankind. 

276.  And  the  reason  why  God's  presence  should  be  a  source 
of  every  spiritual  grace  is  most  evident.  Everything  is  by  so- 
much  the  more  perfect  as  it  approaches  nearer  to  the  principle 
and  source  of  its  being.  Thus,  that  water  is  the  clearest  which  is 
drawn  at  the  fountain-head.  That  heat  is  th6  most  intense  which 
is  nearest  to  the  fire  by  which  it  is  produced.  The  closer  a  ray 
is  to  the  sun  from  which  it  proceeds,  the  brighter  does  it  shine. 
And  on  the  contrary,  the  further  water  is  from  the  well-spring 
the  more  troubled  it  becomes ;  the  intensity  of  heat  is  diminished 
just  as  its  distance  from  the  fire  is  increased ;  the  ray  becomes 
dimmer  and  ever  dimmer  in  proportion  to  its  remoteness  from  the 
sun.  Nor  is  it  otherwise  with  us  when  we  draw  nigh  unto  God ; 
not  indeed  physically— for  in  Him  we  live,  move,  and  have  our 
Icing — but  morally,  by  making  Him  present  to  our  minds  through 
our  holy  thoughts  and  devout  affections.  The  closer  our  union 
with  Him,  the  more  do  we  advance  in  perfection ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  further  our  minds  and  hearts  wander  from  Him, 
the  more  imperfect  and  wretched  do  we  become.  A  branch 
must  remain  united  to  its  trunk  in  order  to  bear  fruit.  The  body, 
to  produce  vital  acts,  must  be  united  with  the  soul :  for,  what  the 
.runk  is  to  the  branch,  that  is  the  soul  to  the  body,  inasmuch  as 
the  soul  is  the  source  and  cause  of  the  operations  of  our  body. 
Thus  too,  if  the  Christian  would  produce  perfect  works  and  bear 
fruits  of  life  eternal,  he  must,  as  far  as  in  him  lies,  remain  united 
to  God  by  his  mind  and  have  God  ever  present  in  his  thoughts ; 
since  God  alone  is  the  primary  and  main  cause  of  all  our 
spiritual  progress.  This  reasoning  and  the  accompanying  com 
parisons  are  all  borrowed  from  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus,*  whor 
taking  his  stand  on  this  solid  foundation,  goes  so  far  as  to  say 

*  Ut  corpus  animce,  rami  arboris  trunco,  solares  radii  soli  uniti,  ut  ab  illis 
virtutem  suam  trahant,  esse  debent ;  ita  mente  Deo  uniti  esse  debemus. 
Accedite  ad  eum,  ait  Propheta,  et  ilhiminamini,  el  fades  vestrce  non  confun- 
dentur.  In  Orat.  De  Cura  Pauperibus  Prsestanda. 


THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  261 

that  we  should  think  of  God  as  often  as  we  draw  our  breath.* 
He  concludes  by  affirming  that  when  we  have  acquired  this 
habit,  we  have,  as  it  were,  done  all,  and  our  perfection  is,  in  a 
manner,  placed  out  of  the  reach  of  danger,  t 

277.  St.  Dorotheus  relates  that  the  first  lesson  he  gave  to  his 
disciple  Dositheus,  and  which  he  besought  him  to  engrave  upon 
his  mind  in  letters  of  gold,  was  this  :  "  Never  let  thy  heart  lose 
sight  of  God,  or  forget  that  He  is  ever  present  to  thee,  and  that 
thou  standest  always  in  His  sight."  %  Dositheus  obeyed,  and  in 
his  journeys,  at  his  meals,  in  his  daily  toil,  ever  kept  before  his 
mind's  eye  this  divine  presence,  nor  did  he  lose  sight  of  it  in  the 
many  serious  and  very  dangerous  illnesses  which  he  went  through 
in  the  course  of  his  religious  life.  And  by  this  means  (Saint  Doro 
theus  adds)  from  being  a  dissolute  soldier  and  debauched  youth, 
covered  with  vices  and  lost  in  the  pursuit  of  the  vanities  of  the 
world,  he  became  in  the  short  space  of  the  five  years  which  he 
spent  in  the  cloister,  a  saintly  young  man  and  a  perfect  religious  : 
so  much  so,  indeed,  that  after  his  death  he  was  seen  enthroned  in 
heavenly  glory  amid  the  ranks  of  the  most  illustrious  anchorites. 
So  true  is  it — again  to  quote  St.  Gregory — that  an  assiduous  and 
constant  use  of  this  means  alone  will  suffice  of  itself  to  make  us 
perfect  men  and  even  saints.  § 


CHAPTER    II. 

PARTICULAR  ARGUMENTS  TO  PROVE  THE  GREAT  EFFICACY  OF  GOD'S 
PRESENCE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING  PERFECTION. 

278.  THE  first  special  reason  which  shows  what  great  power  the 
thought  of  God's  presence  has  to  draw  to  perfection  all  those  who 

*  Nee  enim  tarn  scepe  spiritum  ducere,  quam  Dei  meminisse  debemus. 

*  Immo,  si  dici  potest,   aliud  nihil,  quam  hoc  faciendum.     Idem,  in  Or.  I 
<ie  Theod. 

•£  Numquam  corde  tuo  Deus  excidat ;  cogita  semper  Deum  tibi  prsesentem, 
«t  te  coram  illo  stare.     In  Vitft  Dosithei. 

§  Immo  si  dici  potest,  aliud  nihil,  quam  hoc  faciendum.     Ubi  supra. 


262  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

are  really  desirous  of  acquiring  it,  is  this :  whosoever  abides  in 
God's  presence  will  never  commit  any  wilful  sin.  All  experience 
shows  this.  On  this  very  account  it  was  that  the  Royal  Prophet 
took  care  to  keep  himself  unceasingly  in  the  sight  of  God. 
Mine  eyes  are  ever  towards  the  Lord^  for  He  shall  pluck  wy  feet  out 
of  the  net*  And  elsewhere  the  holy  Prophet,  examining  into  the 
reason  why  some  walk  in  the  filthy  paths  of  sin  without  ever 
leaving  them,  gives  as  the  chief  that  they  have  not  God 
present  to  them.  They  keep  not  God  before  their  eyes ;  their  ways 
are  ever  defiled.*?  St.  Basil,  asking  why  some  are  so  quick  to  angerv 
others  so  greedy  of  praise  ? — why  some  waste  their  time  in  idle 
and  objectless  going  to  and  fro  ? — others  again  are  negligent  in 
their  spiritual  exercises,  and  others  distracted  at  their  devotions  ? 
gives  but  one  answer  to  all  these  questions,  which  is,  that  they 
forget  how  God  is  ever  present  to  them,  watching  all  their  actions ; 
for  this  thought  alone  (he  continues)  were  it  only  constantly 
borne  in  mind,  would  be  a  sufficient  remedy  against  every  vice,  and 
would  prevent  even  every  failing.  % 

279.  And  assuredly  the  holy  Doctor  is  in  the  right ;  for  as  no- 
subject  would  be  daring  enough  to  break  the  law  under  the  very 
eyes  of  his  king ;  as  no  criminal,  however  bold,  would  venture  to 
do  wrong  in  the  presence  of  his  judge;  so  no  Christian  is  so- 
abandoned  as  knowingly  to  violate  the  laws  of  God,  his  Sovereign 
Lord,  and  King,  and  Judge,  while  conscious  of  being  in  His 
immediate  presence.  The  sole  remembrance  of  God  present, 
suffices,  says  St.  Ephrem,  to  cool  down  the  most  violent  heat  of 
passion,  to  enable  us  to  preserve  our  souls  ever  spotless,  and  to 
fit  ourselves  by  this  alone  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  On  the  other  hand,  the  forgetfulness  of  God's  presence  is 
enough  to  make  us  capable  of  every  guilty  excess,  in  suchwise  that 
our  souls  may  become  sinks  of  filth  and  darkness.  Thus,  he  adds, 

*  Oculi  mei  semper  ad  Dominum,  quoniam  ipse  evellet  de  laqueo  pedes 
meos.  Ps.  xxiv.  15. 

"T  Non  est  Deus  in  conspectu  ejus,  inquinatse  sunt  vise  illus  in  omni  tempore. 
Ps.  x.  5. 

£  H?ec  enim  recordatio,  si  assidua  esset,  contra  omnia  vitia  sufficiens  re- 
medium  esse  posset.  In  Qusestionibus  Fuse  Explic.,  qu.  30. 


SPECIAL  USES  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.      263 

there  can  be  no  question  that  nothing  is  worse  than  to  forget  God 
and  t0  lose  sight  of  His  presence.* 

280.  The  Saint  proceeds  to  illustrate  his  teaching  by  a  very 
practical  and  memorable  instance,  which  may  find  place  here, 
although  it  be  well  known,  since  it  is  excellently  well  calculated 
to  impress  this  most  important  truths  on  our  minds. t  While  St. 
Ephrem  was  living  ia  Edessa,  a  shameless  public  woman,  accus 
tomed  to  lay  snares  for  the  virtue  of  her  neighbours,  feared  not 
to  assail  the  heroic  purity  of  the  Saint.  He  listened  to  her 
iniamous^  solicitations,  seemingly  unmoved,  and  replied  that  he 
was  ready  to  agree  to  her  proposals,  if  she  were  but  willing  to 
accompany  him  to  the  spot  which  he  had  already  chosen  for  the 
perpetration  of  the  crime.  The  woman  answered  that  she  was 
willing  to  go  wherever  he  might  wish.  "  Well,"  said  St.  Ephrem, 
"  let  us  go  at  once  into  the  thick  of  the  town,  and  commit  sin 
there,  where  the  people  are  most  numerous  and  the  crowd 
greatest."  Astounded  at  this  proposal,  the  wretched  woman 
objected  that  it  would  be  too  shameful  to  commit  such  excesses 
under  the  public  eye.  Then  the  Saint,  all  burning  with  a  holy 
indignation,  exclaimed  with  a  loud  voice,  "How  much  more 
shameful  will  it  not  be  to  commit  this  excess  in  the  sight  of  the 
God  of  infinite  majesty,  Who  is  in  every  place,  and  beholds  every 
thing  that  is  done  !"  The  heart  of  the  abandoned  woman  was 
pierced  by  these  words  as  by  a  barbed  arrow,  and  casting  her 
eyes  upon  the  ground,  she  began  to  shed  tears  and  to  sob  aloud. 
Then  falling  at  the  Saint's  feet,  overwhelmed  with  contrition  and 
shame,  she  craved  his  pardon,  and  besought  him  to  guide  her 
back  to  the  path  of  eternal  life,  whence  she  had  so  miserably 
strayed.  The  Saint,  overjoyed  at  having  made  capture  of  her  who 
meant  to  entrap  him  in  her  snares,  took  her  to  a  convent  of  holy 
women,  where  for  the  remainder  of  her  days  she  mourned  bitterly 

*  Nihil  pejus  graviusque  est,  quam  ipsius  Dei  oblivionem  capere ;  continu& 
enim  Dei  recordatione  turpes  animse  passiones  recedunt,  instar  inaleficorum, 
nnetore  accedente  :  unde  et  mundum .  Spirittis  Sancti  habitaculum  efficitur. 
Ubi  vero  memoria  Dei  abest,  ibi  tenebrae  cum  fsetore  dominantur,  omnisque 
res  improba  exercetur.  De  Virtut.,  torn,  ii.,  cap.  10. 

t  Metaphrast.     In  Vita  S.  Ephrem. 


264  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE, 

over  her  past  evil  courses.  So  great  is  the  power  which  the 
thought  of  God's  presence  possesses  to  make  us  refrain  from  evil 
281.  A  story  somewhat  similar  to  the  foregoing  is  related  oi 
Thai's,  once  a  notorious  courtesan,  afterwards  a  renowned  peni 
tent  ;  but  in  her  case,  it  was  not  the  woman  who  began  an  assault 
against  a  servant  of  God,  but  she  herself,  for  her  good  fortune, 
was  the  person  assaulted.*  The  holy  Abbot  Paphnutius  went  to 
seek  out  this  sinful  creature,  being  determined  to  overcome  the 
hardness  of  her  heart  with  the  resistless  weapon  of  the  divine  pre 
sence.  The  servant  of  God  pretending  to  be  overwhelmed  with 
confusion,  and  trembling  with  fright  in  every  limb,  accosted  the 
infamous  woman,  and  in  a  faltering  voice  inquired  whether  there 
was  any  chance  whatever  of  their  being  seen  if  they  sinned  together 
there  and  then.  The  woman,  in  order  to  relieve  his  fears  and  con 
fusion,  boldly  answered,  "There  is  no  fear  of  any  one  in  the  world 
seeing  us  here  ;  except  God,  of  course  :  He  sees  and  knows  every 
thing."  On  receiving  this  reply,  Paphnutius,  changing  his  pre 
tended  fear  for  a  genuine  zeal,  exclaimed  :  "  What,  then,  you 
believe  that  God  sees  you,  and  yet  you  have  the  audacity  to  sin 
in  His  presence  ?t  You  believe  that  you  are  standing  before  your 
Judge,  Who  will  punish  every  single  crime  that  you  commit,  and 
you  are  not  frightened  of  provoking  His  wrath  ?"  At  the  sound 
of  these  words,  at  the  brightness  of  the  divine  presence  which  flashed 
like  lightning  into  her  mind  on  the  very  spot,  Thai's  was  most 
deeply  touched.  She  did  not  speak,  for  her  sighs  and  tears  choked 
up  the  channel  of  her  words ;  but  although  her  tongue  was  silent, 
her  actions  spoke.  She  gathered  together  all  that  she  had  earned 
by  her  infamous  profession — her  silks,  her  ribbons,  her  shawls, 
jewels,  bracelets,  rings — her  sumptuous  and  expensive  dresses ; 
then  she  burned  them  all  in  a  heap,  in  a  public  square  of  the 
city,  most  justly  devoting  to  the  flames  the  vain  gauds  which  had 
too  often  served  to  light  up  the  fire  of  impure  desires  in  so  many 
hearts.  She  then  withdrew  at  once  into  a  convent,  and  by  direc 
tion  of  Paphnutius,  remained  for  three  whole  years  confined  to  her 
cell,  without  ever  leaving  it,  with  no  other  sustenance  than  bread 

*  Sabellic.     Lib.  v.  Exempl.,  cap.  2. 

t  Credis  Deutn  nihil  latere,  et  coram  illo  peccare  non  erubescis  ? 


SPECIAL  USES  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.      265 

and  water  :  her  only  prayer  during  this  long  interval  being  to  re 
peat  with  mournful  voice  and  heartfelt  sorrow,  "  O  Lord  !  Thou 
that  hast  created  me,  have  pity  on  me!"*  In  the  meantime, 
Paul,  a  disciple  of  the  holy  Abbot  Antony,  beheld  in  a  vision  a 
resplendent  throne  in  heaven,  having  the  form  of  a  couch,  all 
ornamented  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  wrought  with  most 
cunning  skill.  Enraptured  at  the  sight,  the  holy  man  asked  if  this 
bright  and  glorious  throne  was  destined  for  his  master,  the  great 
Saint  Antony  ?  It  was  answered,  "  No,  not  for  Antony  ;  but  for 
Thai's,  the  sinner."  The  sequel  confirmed  the  vision,  for  having 
at  length  been  taken  out  of  this  cell — or  dungeon  perhaps  I  ought 
to  say — immured  in  which  she  had  spent  three  years  together,  she 
died  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  and  went  to  her  rest  on  that  splen 
did  couch  which  she  had  prepared  by  her  course  of  penitential 
exercises. 

282.  Now,  if  a  momentary  glance  at  the  presence  of  God,  could 
thus  avail  to  draw  abandoned  women  out  of  the  slough  of  sin  in 
which  they  were  buried,  and  in  an  instant  to  burst  asunder  the 
fetters  with  which  their  guilty  loves  and  impure  delights  had  held 
them  fast-bound,  can  we  imagine  that  pious  and  well-disposed 
souls  will  not  find  in  the  thought  of  God's  presence,  especially  if 
frequently  renewed,  a  most  effectual  preservative,  not  only  against 
grievous  falls,  but  more  than  this,  against  even  venial  sins  ?  St.  John 
Chrysostom  assures  us  most  positively  that  if  anything  can  secure 
us  from  saying,  or  doing,  or  so  much  as  thinking,  aught  that  is  evil, 
it  is  the  reflection  that  God  is  present  to  us,  and  not  only  beholds 
our  outward  actions,  but  searches  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  our 
hearts.t  "  Tell  me,"  continues  the  Saint,  "  if  you  had  to  abide 
always  in  the  presence  of  your  Sovereign,  with  what  circumspection 
and  caution,  with  what  reverential  awe,  would  you  not  behave? 
Whether  then  you  eat,  or  drink,  or  sleep,  or  amuse  yourself,  when 
you  are  tempted  to  anger,  or  whatever  else  happens  to  you,  think 

*  Qui  plasmasti  me,  miserere  mei. 

t  Si  cogitavenmus,  Deum  ubique  praesentem  esse,  omnia  audire,  omnia 
videre,  non  solum  qvue  opere  fiunt  et  qua?  dicuntur,  sed  et  quae  in  corde  sunt 
omnia,  et  quae  in  profundo  suntanimi,  judex  enim  est  cogitationum  et  consilio- 
rum  cordis.  Si  ita  nos  ipsos  disposuerimus,  nihil  mali  faciemus,  nihil  mail 
dicemus,  nihil  mali  co^itabimus.  Homil.  8,  ad  Phil.  ij. 


266  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

that  God  is  close  at  hand,  and  be  assured  that  this  thought  will  so 
restrain  you,  that  you  will  never  give  way  to  any  unseemly  mirth, 
nor  even  to  a  single  act  of  impatience  or  anger."* 

283.  A  mere  Pagan,  such  as  was  Seneca,  knew  how  efficacious  a 
preservative  from  sin  it  would  be  to  imagine  oneself  ever  in  the 
presence  of  some  person  of  authority,  who  is  witness  of  all  our 
actions.  But  deprived  as  he  was  ol  the  light  oi  faith,  and  pos 
sessing  no  other  knowledge  of  God  than  the  imperfect  notions 
supplied  by  nature,  he  advised  his  friend  Lucillus  to  keep  ever 
before  his  eyes  some  good  and  virtuous  man,  and  to  imagine  that 
this  person  was  continually  looking  at  him ;  and  Seneca  assured 
his  friend,  that  by  means  of  this  imaginary  witness  ot  his  actions, 
he  would  avoid  the  great  majority  of  his  sinful  doings. t  Now  if 
the  mere  fancy  that  some  one  is  present  to  us,  who,  in  reality,  is 
absent,  appeared  to  this  philosopher  an  all-sufficient  means  to 
preserve  us  from  most  of  our  ordinary  faults  ;  who  can  doubt  but 
that  the  very  true  and  most  real  presence  of  a  God  oi  infinite 
might  and  of  infinite  majesty,  will  avail  with  exceeding  great  power 
to  keep  us  from  all  sin,  either  mortal  or  venial,  and  to  preserve  our 
conscience  in  perfect  purity  and  stainlessness  ?  We  are  told  that 
the  mere  look  of  St.  Romuald,  mild  and  gentle  as  he  was,  sufficed 
to  curb  the  pride  of  Roger,  the  Marquis  of  Tuscany,  to  such  an  ex 
tent,  that  the  colour  fled  from  his  cheeks  and  he  could  scarce  find 
breath  to  speak  a  word  in  his  own  defence.  J  How  much  more, 
then,  will  not  the  presence  of  the  all-pure,  thrice-holy  God,  avail 
to  restrain  our  lust,  and  check  the  violence  and  rage  of  our  pas 
sions,  so  as  to  keep  us  from  transgressing,  whether  in  things  great 
or  small,  the  bounds  of  what  is  right  and  just. 

*  Die  mihi,  si  tibi  semper  prope  principem  standum  esset,  non  cum  timore 
adstares?  Quando  comedis,  cogita  prsesentem  Deum,  adest  enim.  Quando 
dormiturus  es ;  quando  irasceris ;  quando  deliciaris,  et  quidquid  tandem 
feceris  :  cogita  adesse  Deum  j  nunquam  in  risum  incides,  nunquam  ad  iram 
accenderis. 

t  Aliquis  vir  bonus  nobis  eligendus  est ;  et  semper  ante  oculos  habendus  ; 
nt  sic,  tamquam  illo  spectante,  vivamus,  et  omnia  tamquam  illo  vidente  faci- 
amus.  Hoc,  mi  Lucilli,  Epicurus  prsecepit :  custooem  nobis  et  paedagogum 
dedit ;  nee  immerito  :  maxima  pars  peccatorum  tollitur,  si  peccaturis  testis  as- 
sistat.  Epist.  n. 

±  In  Yit&  S.  Romualdi.  Surius,  torn.  iii. 


EFFICACY  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  COD.  267 

284.  The  more  so  as  our  God,  Whose  holiness  and  purity  are  so- 
great,  is  our  Judge  also,  and  as  such  observes  all  our  doings,  notes 
down  our  every  word,  considers  attentively  our  every  thought,  in 
order  to  call  us  at  the  appointed  time  to  a  rigorous  account,  and 
to  execute  strict  justice  for  every  transgression,  however  slight. 
Hence  it  would  seem  impossible  for  us  to  be  conscious  of  the  gaze 
of  this  most  pure  Eye  ever  fixed  upon  us,  and  to  do  in  sight  of  the 
Lord  what  is  displeasing  to  Him  and  what  makes  us  liable  to  the 
penalties  and  chastisements  which  His  incorruptible  justice  will 
inflict.  St.,  Peter  Damian  has  left  on  record*  that  a  certain  man, 
much  given  to  charitable  deeds,  was  tempted  successfully  by  our 
common  enemy,  who  is  ever  on  the  watch  for  our  spiritual  ruin,  to 
commit  a  grievous  theft.  Shortly  after  our  Blessed  Lord  ap 
peared  to  him  in  the  guise  of  a  beggar,  with  his  hair  strangely  long, 
and  frightfully  in  disorder.  At  the  sight  of  the  wretched  object,  he 
was  moved  to  pity,  and  taking  the  beggar  aside,  he  began  to  cut  his 
hair  for  him.  While  occupied  in  this  work  of  charity,  he  beheld  at 
the  back  of  the  man's  head  two  most  bright-shining  eyes.  At  this 
sight,  the  scissors  dropped  from  his  hands  out  of  very  fear,  and,  terri 
fied  to  death,  he  began  to  tremble  from  head  to  foot.  The  beggar 
then  said  to  him,  "  I  am  Jesus  Christ.  I  behold  everything  :  and 
with  these  My  eyes  have  witnessed  the  theft  which  thou  hast  com 
mitted."  Having  said  these  words,  He  vanished  out  of  sight. 
The  reader  should  then  ever  bear  in  mind  that  the  eyes  of  God 
are  always  looking*upon  him,  and  he  may  rest  assured  that  thus 
he  will  secure  himself  against  any  wilful  fall  into  grievous  sin. 


CHAPTER  III. 

OTHER    REASONS   TO    PROVE   THE    EFFICACY   OF    THE   DIVINE 
PRESENCE    AS    A    MEANS    OF   ATTAINING   PERFECTION. 

285.   IT  is  as  difficult  to  walk  in  God's  presence  without  acquiring 
solid  virtue,  and  feeling  enkindled  within  us,  little   by  little,  the 


Epist.  8,  cap.  8. 


268  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

nrdours  of  divine  love,  as  it  would  be  to  stand  always  before  the 
fire  and  not  to  feel  warmth ;  inasmuch  as  the  soul,  basking  con 
tinually,  or  frequently,  in  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Justice,  gains  light 
to  know  the  beauty  of  Christian  virtue,  and  soon  grows  enamoured 
of  it,  and  readily  practises  it.  At  the  sight  of  those  divine 
charms  to  which  our  mind's  eye  turns  amid  its  several  occupations, 
we  soon  begin  to  love  them  and  to  be  set  on  fire  with  the  con 
suming  flames  of  divine  charity.  Whatever  light  the  planets 
shed  on  this  earth  of  ours,  they  have  it  not  of  themselves,  nor  is 
it  evolved  from  their  own  substance,  but  they  receive  it  all  from 
the  sun.  Although  they  shine  so  brilliantly  in  the  firmament,  they 
are  indebted  for  all  their  splendour  to  that  mighty  orb  by  which 
they  are  enkindled.  Imagine  for  a  moment  that,  by  an  impossi 
bility,  the  -planets  could  flee  from  the  presence  of  the  sun  and  hide 
themselves  away  from  its  radiance ;  they  would  at  once  become 
darker  than  is  our  earth  in  the  thick  of  the  blackest  night.  In  the 
same  way,  all  those  servants  of  God  who  shine  as  stars  in  the  fir 
mament  of  the  Church  by  the  lustre  of  their  virtues,  have  all  the 
light  and  fervour  whereby  they  are  enabled  to  do  virtuous  actions 
imparted  to  them  by  the  Divine  Sun  in  whose  glorious  presence  they 
ever  dwell.  This  it  is  which  enkindled  in  their  hearts  the  fire  of 
divine  charity  :  for  as,  to  warm  ourselves,  there  is  no  other  means 
than  to  stand  in  the  sunshine  or  before  a  fire;  so  too,  the  most 
effectual  means  to  obtain  the  heat  of  charity  is  ever  to  stand  as  much 
as  possible  in  the  radiance  of  that  sun  of  beauty  and  of  that  fire  of 
love.*  Hence  St.  Laurence  Justinian  observes,  "  I  am  not  aware 
of  the  existence  of  any  means  so  effectual  for  curbing  the  rebellion 
of  the  flesh,  for  gaining  purity  of  heart,  and  for  scaling  rapidly 
the  heights  of  Christian  virtue,  as  the  frequent  remembrance  of 
our  ever  being  under  the  eye  of  that  Divine  Judge  Who  beholds 
all  things,  "t  St.  Basil  sees  in  this  exercise  a  kind  of  mutual 
action  and  reaction  which  makes  us  steadily  advance  in  the  path 


*  Deus  caritas  est. 

+  Nihil  reor  sic  efficax  ad  internam  adipiscendam  munditiem,  et  ad  virtutum 
•arcem  consequendam,  necnon  ad  conterendas  carnis  delectationes,  quse  ad  versus 
anirnam  militare  noscuntur,  quemadmodum  cogitare,  se  adstare  semper  ante 
oculos  judicis  cuncta  cernentis.  Lib.  de  Grad.  Perfect.,  cap.  6. 


EFFICACY  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  269 

of  perfection.  For  the  thought  of  God's  presence  naturally 
awakens  within  us  those  feelings  of  charity  and  love  which  render 
us  careful  and  anxious  to  keep  His  commandments  most  exactly. 
Now,  the  careful  and  exact  observance  of  God's  precepts,  in  its 
turn,  increases  this  chanty  in  the  soul,  fosters  it,  fixes  and 
makes  it  lasting.  For  this  reason  the  Saint  would  have  us  ever 
bear  the  thought  of  God's  presence  indelibly  graven  upon  the 
tablets  of  our  hearts.*  But  if  it  be  true  that  the  thought  of  God's 
presence  affords  such  valuable  help  towards  the  speedy  acquisi 
tion  of  every  virtue — and  of  charity  in  particular,  from  which  the 
other  virtues  borrow  all  their  lustre,  and  by  which  they  are 
ennobled — it  follows  that  it  is  also  a  most  effectual  means  of  be 
coming  perfect  in  a  short  time. 

286.  It  may  further  be  observed  that  no  other  thing  is  so  well 
calculated  to  strengthen  us  against  the  seductions  of  our  fellow- 
men,  the  persecutions  of  our  enemies,  and  the  assaults  of  the 
devil,  as  to  preserve  in  our  minds  the  lively  remembrance  of  our 
God  being  always  present  to  us.  What  was  it  that  made  Susanna 
so  courageous  during  the  wanton  solicitations  and  violent  threats  of 
the  impure  judges  in  Israel  ?  What  kept  her  firm  in  so  terrible  a 
crisis  ?  The  presence  of  God.  These  two  elders  assailed  her  with 
cunning  speeches,  saying,  Behold  the  doors  of  the  orchard  are  shut, 
and  nobody  seeth  us.\  On  hearing  these  words,  the  heroic  woman 
heaved  a  deep  sigh  and  said,  "  God  sees  us.  No  evil  can  be  so 
great  as  to  sin  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord" I  Again,  what  was  it  that 
rendered  the  Machabees  invincible  against  the  assaults  of  their 
most  formidable  enemies  ?  What  made  them  superior  to  the  count 
less  hosts  that  were  brought  against  them  ?  Once  more  the  same 
answer :  the  thought  of  God's  presence.  For  Judas  Machabeus  with 
his  warrior  band,  seeing  the  formidable  army  of  their  enemies  ad- 

*  Impressam  in  animis  nostris  piam  de  Deo  cogitationem,  velut  indelebile  ali- 
quod  signum  circumferamus.  Siquidem  hsec  est  oratio,  per  quam  acquiri  cari- 
tas  consuevit,  quse  simul  cum  ad  observanda  ipsa  Dei  mandata  nos  excitet,  turn 
vicissim  quoque  ab  iisdem  ipsa  ad  perpetuitatem  stabilis  conservetur.  In  Reg. 
Fusius  Disp.,  Qusest.  5. 

•f  Ecce  ostia  pomarii  clausa  sunt,  et  nemo  nos  videt.     Daniel  xiij.  20. 

J  Ingemuit  Susanna,  et  ait.  .  .  .  Melius  est  mini  absque  opere  incidere  in 
manus  vestras,  quam  peccare  in  conspectu  Domini.  Ibid.  22,  23. 


2;o  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

vancing  full  of  fury  to  put  them  to  the  sword,  merely  lifted  up  their 
minds  to  God  and  rushed  to  the  attack.  They  fought  with  their 
arms  in  their  hands  and  with  the  thought  of  God  in  their  hearts. 
Their  countenances  showed  fury  but,  as  the  sacred  text  tells  us, 
they  cherished  in  their  souls  a  feeling  oi  marvellous  delight  in  the 
presence  of  that  God  Who  was  vouchsafing  to  them  so  many 
favours.  And  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  they  left  no  less  than 
five-and-thirty-thousand  of  the  enemy  slain  on  the  battle-field.* 
So  too,  may  it  be  in  our  own  case.  Our  enemies  may  come  with 
persecutions,  they  may  make  us  a  by-word  on  account  of  their 
slanders,  they  may  overwhelm  us  with  their  outrages,  scofis,  and 
derision ;  but  if  we  keep  ourselves  ever  in  God's  presence  we 
shall  surely  carry  away  the  palm  of  victory.  God  will  give  us 
the  shield  of  long-suffering,  the  breastplate  of  meekness,  the  hel 
met  of  courage,  wherewith  we  shall  be  able  to  parry  their  every 
blow,  to  bear  with  all  in  peace ;  nor  shall  their  arrows  find  their 
way  to  our  hearts.  Rather  from  these  great  conflicts  shall  we 
derive  a  lively  satisfaction ;  for  God  will  strengthen  us  with  His 
gracious  help,  and  we  shall  pass  through  the  serried  ranks  of  our 
adversaries,  greatly  cheered  with  the  presence  of  God. 

287.  As  to  the  assaults  of  evil  spirits,  this  divine  presence,  if 
we  bear  it  constantly  in  mind,  will  render  us  not  only  strong  to 
withstand  them,  but  invincible,  impregnable  to  all  their  attacks. 
Holy  Job,  who  had  been  so  sorely  exercised  in  these  conflicts 
with  the  powers  of  hell,  says,  "  Lord,  place  me  by  Thee,  that  I 
may  be  aware  of  Thy  presence,  and  though  all  hell  wreak  its  fury 
upon  me,  I  shall  in  nowise  be  afraid."  t  Nor  was  it  without  a 
cause  that  this  most  valiant  athlete  spoke  such  language ;  for  if 
soldier  so  craven  cannot  be  found  but  would  feel  courage  arise  in 
his  heart  when  he  does  battle  in  presence  of  his  general  or  his 
king,  and  this,  moreover,  that  he  may  gain  a  fading  and  corrupt 
ible  crown,%  how  much  more  will  not  a  Christian,  with  the  pro- 

*  Judas  et  qui  cum  eo  erant,  Invocato  Deo,  per  orationes  congi'essi  sunt, 
manu  quidem  pugnantes,  sed  Dominum  cordihus  orantes,  prostraverunt  non 
minus  triginta  quinque  millia,  praesentia  Dei  magnifice  delectati.  2  Machab. 
xv.  25. 

t  Pone  me  juxta  te ;  et  cujusvis  manus  pugnet  contra  me.     Job  xvij.  3. 

J  Et  illi  quidem  ut  corruptibilem  coronam  accipiant.     I  Cor.  vi.  25. 


EFFICACY  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  271 

spect  of  an  immortal  and  never-fading  diadem,  bravely  withstand 
the  assaults  of  his  hellish  foes,  if  only  he  bear  in  mind  that  he  is 
seen  by  the  eye  of  that  God  Who  is  helping  and  supporting  him 
in  all  his  struggles  ?  St.  Athanasius  informs  us  that  the  holy 
Abbot  Antony*  had,  on  a  certain  day,  suffered  very  fearful  assaults 
from  some  evil  spirits.  These  infernal  fiends  had  so  cruelly  torn 
him  with  scourges,  and  so  mercilessly  beaten  him  with  clubs,  that 
the  Saint  was  left  bleeding  and  well-nigh  lifeless  under  their  blows. 
In  the  midst  of  these  dread  tortures  nothing  troubled  the  holy 
man  so  much  as  the  thought  that  God  had  abandoned  him  to  the 
fury  of  his  enemies.  When  lo  !  on  a  sudden,  he  beheld  the  roof 
of  his  cell  open,  and  a  bright  light  descend  therein,  which  in  the 
depth  of  the  midnight  darkness  made  the  humble  abode  shine 
with  the  glories  of  paradise.  Then,  in  the  midst  of  the  glory,  he 
quickly  perceived  the  resplendent  majesty  of  his  loving  and 
beloved  Redeemer.  At  this  sight  the  holy  Abbot  exclaimed, 
"Where  wert  Thou  then,  all  this  time,  O  good  Lord  Jesus? 
Where  wert  Thou  while  the  demons  were  beating  me  so  bar 
barously  ?  Why  didst  Thou  not  come  to  the  rescue  at  the  begin 
ning  of  so  terrible  an  assault  ?t  Jesus  answered  as  follows  : 
"Antony,  I  was  here,  and  though  hidden  from  thy  sight  I 
beheld  thy  conflict :  I  it  was  who  gave  thee  courage  to  withstand 
the  attacks  of  thy  foes,  strength  to  bear  with  their  taunts,  and  my 
delight  was  to  be  a  witness  of  thy  constancy."!  At  this  appari 
tion  of  Christ  the  demons  straightway  vanished,  as  the  mists  of 
night  disperse  before  the  rising  sun ;  the  heart  of  the  Saint  was 
freed  from  all  trouble  and  alarm,  his  bruises  were  healed  at  once, 
and  he  felt  himself  so  inwardly  strengthened  and  so  full  of 
courage,  that  he  would  gladly  have  exposed  himself  to  the  like, 
and  even  to  more  dreadful  combats.  Happy,  then,  the  man  who 
has  taught  himself  to  walk  with  a  lively  faith  in  the  presence 
of  his  God ;  for  at  what  time  his  infernal  foes  shall  pursue  him 
with  their  evil  suggestions,  he  will  find  himself  fully  equipped  for 


*  In  Vita  S.  Antonii. 

f  Ubi  eras,  bone  Jesu,  ubi  eras?     Quare  non  a  principle  affuisti,  ut  sanares 
Vulncra  mea  ? 

$  Antoni,  hie  eram,  et  exspectabam  videre  certamen  tuum. 


272  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  struggle ;  because  the  assurance  that  the  Almighty  is  close  at 
hand  will,  in  like  manner,  encourage  him  to  withstand  their 
attacks  ;  and  he  too  will  thus  be  enabled  to  say  with  the  Psalmist,, 
I  fear  none  of  the  temptations  that  the  devil  may  have  the  power 
to  excite  in  my  mind  or  heart,  for  Thou,  O  God,  art  always  with 
me,  and  I  am  ever  with  Thee.* 


CHAPTER  IV. 

VARIOUS  METHODS  OF  DEVOUTLY  AND  PROFITABLY  CULTIVATING 
THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD. 

288.  THE  first  way  in  which  we  may  commendably  bear  in  mind 
the  presence  of  God  while  occupied  in  our  worldly  business,  is  by 
the  aid  of  the  imagination.  But  as  God  cannot  be  truthfully  re 
presented  as  He  is  in  Himself,  by  this  faculty  of  our  soul — for 
He  has  neither  body,  nor  shape,  nor  figure,  nor  other  thing  that 
can  be  imaged  in  the  fancy — it  will  be  necessary  for  such  as 
employ  this  means  of  keeping  themselves  in  tha  presence  of  God, 
to  picture  Him  to  their  minds  as  He  was  upon  earth.  They  must 
consequently  set  before  their  mind's  eye  our  loving  Saviour  in- 
such  form  as  may  be  the  most  favourable  to  their  devotion  and  re 
collection  of  spirit.  Some  there  are  whom  the  sight  of  the  Infant 
Jesus  greatly  moves ;  others  again  are  more  touched  at  the  view 
of  Jesus  as  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  chiefly  during  His  Passion  ;  while 
others  are  to  be  found  who  prefer  the  thought  of  Jesus  risen  and 
glorified.  On  this  account  many  have  a  great  facility  of  keeping 
our  Blessed  Lord  before  them  on  the  bosom  of  His  dear  Mother ; 
others  have  the  same  ease  in  representing  Him  to  themselves  in  a 
piteous  aspect  as  upon  the  Cross,  or  when  being  scourged  at  the 
pillar,  all  dripping  with  His  sacred  blood ;  others  love  to  behold 
Him  in  His  risen  Majesty,  to  figure  Him  to  themselves  as  He  is 
on  high,  crowned  with  rays  of  glory,  clad  in  brightness,  dwelling 

*  Non  timebo  mala,  quoniam  tu  mecum  es.     Ps.  xxij.  4. 


METHODS  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  273 

In  light  inaccessible*  and  they  entertain  themselves  with  Him  in 
this  state,  giving  place  to  the  various  feelings  of  love,  oblation, 
petition,  compassion,  joy,  and  such  other  affections  as  their  devo 
tion  may  suggest.  "  In  this,"  says  Thomas  a  Kempis,  "  consists 
the  true  love  of  Christ ;  to  keep  Him  ever  present  to  our  minds ; 
never  to  suffer  His  image  (as  far  at  least  as  we  are  able)  to  fade 
from  our  imagination ;  to  direct  all  our  actions  to  Him  ;  to  refer 
to  Him  whatever  we  read,  or  hear,  or  do ;  in  all  things  to  seek  to 
work  out  His  will ;  and  never  to  prefer  any  single  thing  to  His 
holy  love."  t 

289.  St.  Teresa  in  her  works  speaks  very  strongly  in  commenda 
tion  of  this  pious  exercise,  and  is  earnest  in  counselling  persons 
who  have  the  spirit  of  prayer  to  engage  themselves  in  this  sweet 
conversation  with  God,  as  a  very  effectual  means  of  speedily  at 
taining  purity  of  conscience  and  of  scaling  the  heights  of  a  lofty 
•contemplation.  However,  we  should  add  two  things  by  way  of 
caution  : — First,  that  they  who  thus  keep  Christ  ever  present  to 
them  must  not  care  to  go  into  all  the  details  of  feature,  gesture, 
countenance,  colour  and  such  like  peculiarities ;  as  attention  to 
these  unimportant  particulars  would  only  have  the  effect  of  fatigu 
ing  the  brain.  But  having  set  before  the  mind  a  sort  of  general 
representation  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer,  and  giving,  as  it  were,  a 
passing  glance  at  His  Godhead,  we  should  without  delay  stir  up 
our  affections  ;  for  this  can  be  done  without  effort  or  any  straining 
of  the  bodily  organs.  The  next  thing  which  it  is  necessary  for  us 
to  bear  in  mind  is,  that  this  mode  of  keeping  ourselves  in  God's 
presence*  (by  aid  of  the  imagination)  is  better  suited  to  such  as 
•have  the  gift  of  prayer  than  to  those  who  are  not  so  gifted ;  for  the 
•supernatural  light  with  which  the  former  abound  enables  them 
to  move  easily,  and  without  labouring,  their  imagination  and 

*  Qui  lucem  inhnbitat  inaccessibilem.     I  Cor.  vj.  16. 

1*  Disce  ergo,  O  homo,  ad  ejus  amorem  et  honorem  cuncta  exercitia  tua  tra- 
Tiere  et  ordinare ;  et  tamquam  preesentem  Jesum,  in  omni  loco  et  tempore  at- 
tendere  .  .  .  Hoc  est  Christum  per  fidem  et  dilectionem  habitare  in  corde  tuo, 
oculos  mentis  ab  ejus  imaginatione  nunquam  avertere,  ad  ejus  beneplacitum 
temper  tendere,  et  nihil  ejus  amori  prseponere  ;  sed  quidquid  boni  audieris,  vel 
legeris,  vel  feceris,  ad  ipsum  totaliter  reducere  et  finaliter  referre.  Lib.  De 
Discip.  Claustrali,  cap.  13. 

VOL.  I.  1 8 


274  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

affections ;  and  hence  they  can  persevere  in  the  presence  of  the 
Redeemer  without  overtasking  the  brain  :  while  those  who  have 
not  the  gift  of  prayer  are  unable  to  do  this  without  much  effort, 
so  that  it  were  hardly  possible  that,  in  course  of  time,  they 
should  not  weaken  their  head,  to  the  serious  detriment  both  of 
body  and  mind.  Such  persons  should  be  advised,  in  preference, 
to  keep  in  God's  presence  by  faith,  in  the  way  which  I  shall  now 
explain. 

290.  The  second  mode  of  remaining  in  the  divine  presence  is- 
by  faith  alone,  independently  of  any  particular  effort  of  the  ima 
gination  ;  and  it  is  practised  by  making  acts  of  lively  faith,  that 
God  is  very  close  to  each  one  of  us ;  that  He  hems  us  in  on  all 
sides ;  and  that  His  all-searching  eye  is  looking  upon  us,  and 
taking  note  of  our  every  action.  As  a  bird  in  its  flight  is  wholly 
surrounded  by  the  air;  as  an  atom  dancing  in  a  sunbeam  is 
penetrated  by  the  light ;  as  a  fish  gliding  about  in  the  depths  of 
the  ocean  has  the  sea  around  it  on  every  side  :  so  too  are  we, 
whithersoever  we  may  go,  wheresoever  we  may  stay,  surrounded 
by  the  omnipresence  of  the  Lord.  If  we  turn  to  the  right,  we 
find  God  :  if  to  the  left,  He  is  there  :  if  we  soar  aloft,  still  there  is. 
God :  if  we  go  down  to  the  uttermost  depths,  we  ever  find  God 
present.  And,  as  St.  Augustine  observes,  God  cannot  help  seeing 
our  every  movement,  every  step  that  we  take,  every  action  how 
ever  unimportant,  that  we  perform  : — just  as  though,  having 
banished  the  rest  of  the  world  from  His  mind,  He  were  wholly 
absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  each  one  of  us  alone.  And  in 
very  truth,  the  infinite  and  incommunicable  light  of  God's  coun 
tenance  knows  no  waning  nor  increase,  whether  He  cast  His 
eyes  on  the  innumerable  hosts  of  created  beings,  or  confine  them 
to  the  consideration  of  a  single  one.*  "  And,"  continues  the  holy 
Doctor,  "  as  nothing  can  escape  God's  sight,  for  He  beholds  all  we 

*  Sic  gressus  meos  semitasque  consideras,  et  die  noctuque  super  custodiam 
meam  vigilas,  omnes  semitas  meas  diligenter  notans,  speculator  perpetuus  ;  et 
veluti  si  totius  creature  tuae,  cceli,  terreque  oblitus,  tantum  me  solum  consideres, 
et  nihil  sit  tibi  curse  de  aliis.  Neque  enim  tibi  crescit  lux  incommutabilis 
visionis  tuee,  si  tantum  unum  aspicias :  neque  minuitur,  si  innumera  videas  et 
diversa.  Soliloq.  c.  14. 


METHODS  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.          275 

do,  and  hears  everything  that  we  say ;  all  is  marked,  all  is  taken 
down,  all  is  written  in  the  book  of  His  judgments :  in  order  to  assign, 
when  the  time  comes,  the  reward  which  our  works  have  merited,  or 
the  chastisement  which  they  have  deserved,"*  This  mode  of  keep 
ing  God  present  to  us  cannot  tire  the  mind,  nor  can  it  weaken  the 
organ  of  the  brain  ;  for  in  order  to  have  God  present  to  us,  accord 
ing  to  this  method,  nothing  further  is  required  than  that  we  should 
bear  in  mind  what  faith  teaches  us  of  God's  immensity,  and  then 
yield  to  a  simple  and  loving  consent ;  besides  which,  it  is  useful 
in  the  highest  degree,  since  it  maintains  the  soul  in  filial  love  and 
fear,  and  renders  us  careful,  cautious  and  much  upon  our  guard, 
lest  in  any  of  our  actions  we  offend  that  most  High  God,  Whose 
watchful  eye  is  always  looking  at  us,  without  ever,  for  a  moment, 
averting  from  us  its  penetrating  glance. 

291.  Akin  to  the  presence  of  God,  thus  considered  as  external  to 
us,  is  a  very  advantageous  practice  ;  that  of  beholding  God  in  the 
divers  creatures  which  come  before  us  in  the  course  of  our  daily 
occupations.  Some  at  one  time  consider  God  in  the  flowers,  at 
another  in  the  verdure  ;  now  in  the  plants,  now  in  the  stars  ;  one 
day  in  the  planets,  another  day  in  the  firmament ;  again  in  the  pro 
perties  of  the  several  kinds  of  animals  ;  or  again  in  the  actions  of 
their  fellow-men  ;  or,  once  more,  in  the  divers  events,  whether  pros 
perous  or  untoward,  that  are  daily  brought  before  our  notice.  And 
in  all  of  these  they  admire,  sometimes  the  power,  sometimes  the 
beauty,  sometimes  the  grandeur,  sometimes  the  providence,  some 
times  the  loving-kindness  of  their  God ;  and  with  pious  reflections 
such  as  these  they  fan  the  flame  of  divine  love  which  burns  within 
their  heart.  Thus,  for  instance,  did  Simon  Salo,  in  his  country 
walks,  at  the  sight  of  the  green  meadows  and  pleasant  hills,  lift  up 
his  thoughts  to  the  contemplation  of  the  divine  perfections,  and 
striking  the  flowers  and  plants  with  his  stick,  "Be  still  !  be  still  !" 
he  would  say  to  them,  "  you  speak  to  my  heart,  and  tell  me  to 
love  the  God  Who  is  the  author  of  all  your  many  charms.  Be  still ! 

*  Quidquid  cogito  et  in  quocumque  delector,  tu  vides,  aures  tuse  audiunt, 
oculi  tui  vident  et  considerant ;  signas,  attendis,  notas,  et  scribis  in  libro  tuo 
sive  bonum  fuerit,  sive  malum,  ut  reddas  postea,  pro  bono  proemia,  et  pro  malo 
supplicia.  Soliloq.  c.  14. 

18—2 


276  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

My  heart  knows  what  you  mean,  and  is  already  on  fire  with  the 
love  of  God."     Thus  too,  St.  Augustine,  considering  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  with  the  countless  creatures  that  make  them  so  beau 
teous  and  enchanting,  heard  a  voice  in  his  heart  saying  to  him, 
"  Love  Him  Who  is  the  first  cause  of  so  many  beautiful  creations."* 
292.  There   is   a   third  way  of  forming  the  presence  of  God 
within  us.     St.  Paul  tells  us  that  we  are  God's  temples  and  the 
dwelling-place  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Know  you  not  that  you  are  the 
temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?t  The  kings 
of  this  earth  have  for  their  residences,  it  is  true,  the  whole  of  the 
royal  palace  ;  but  there  is  an  apartment  in  which  they  dwell  in  a  par 
ticular  manner — a  presence-chamber,  where  seated  on  a  splendid 
throne  they  give  audience,  receive  petitions,  dispense  favours,  and 
show  special  marks  of  their  sovereign  dominion.     So  too,  although 
God  Almighty  is  present  everywhere,  and  in  every  place,  He  has  set 
up  His  throne  in  our  souls  and  abides  therein,  as  in  His  temple, 
to  receive  the  tribute  of  our  special  homage.     It  is  there  that  He 
hearkens  to  our  prayers  ;  there  He  wills  that  we  should  entertain 
ourselves  with  Him ;   there  deigns  to  accept  the  tribute  of  our 
affections ;  there  holds  more  immediate  intercourse  with  our  souls ; 
and    there    scatters  His    graces   upon   us   with  a   more   lavish 
hand.     Why,  then,  seek  God  outside  of  ourselves  and  far  from  us, 
if  He  be  within  us,  within  our  innermost  soul,  within  the  very 
centre  of  our  being ;   and  with  a  presence  moreover  which,  to  us 
at  least,  is  more  special  than  with  anything  else  ?     We  may  then 
say  with  St.  Basil,  "  Let  every  soul  that  would  be  a  spouse  of  Christ, 
and  that  would  hold  sweet  and  loving  converse  with  Him,  retire 
within  itself;  withdraw  to  its  innermost  recesses  amid  the  divers 
workings  of  its  outward  senses  :  there  let  it  unite  itself  to  God 
with  a  love  as  unintermittent  as  may  be ;  and  there  let  it  entertain 
itself  in  His  company  with  loving  colloquy  of  the  heart,  and  de 
vout  reflections  of  the  understanding."  J 

*  Coelum  et  terra  clamant,  Domine,  ut  amem  te. 

t  Nescitis,  quia,  templum  Dei  estis;  et  Spiritus  Dei  habitat  in  vobis? 
1  Cor.  iij.  1 6. 

£  Cum  enim  cseteris,  qui  bead  esse  student,  turn  sponsos  Christi  in  primis 
Convenit,  operationes  animse,  qu?e  per  sensus  fiunt,  ab  exterioribus  ad  interiora 
c  vertere,  et  sponso  in  intimis  thalamis,  ut  Deo,  Dei  verbo  perpetua  dilec- 


METHODS  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  277 

293.  St.  Catherine  of  Sienna  knew  well  how  to  put  this  teaching 
of  St.  Basil  into  practice,  trained  as  she  was  in  the  school  of  her 
Spouse,  Christ  Jesus.*     She  had  been  purposely  deprived  by  her 
parents  of  all  opportunity  of  withdrawing  to  her  own  private  room 
for  the  purpose  of  recollecting  herself  in  devout  prayer  to  God ; 
but  she  built    for  herself  another    private  chamber  in  her  own 
interior,  in  which,    during   her  daily  toil,  she  ever   remained  in 
retirement  conversing  lovingly  with  the  God  of  her  heart.     Thus 
she   received    no    spiritual    detriment    from    the    persecution  of 
those    of  her  own  household,  and   from    the    snares  which  the 
devil  set  for  her  by  their  means ;    on    the   contrary  she   reaped 
great  spiritual  profit  from  them  all ;  since  if  she  was  compelled 
at   times,  before   this  happened,  to   leave  her  room  in  order  to 
attend  to  her  various  domestic  duties,  she  afterwards  never  with 
drew  from   the  new  cell  which  she   had  built  up  in  her  heart, 
but  dwelt  in  it  without  interruption,  calmly  recollected  in   her 
God.     And  so  great  was  the   profit    accruing  to   her   from   this 
retirement,  that  she  used  frequently  to  exhort  her  Confessor,  the 
Blessed  Raymond  of  Capua  (as  he  relates  in  her  lite)  to  make 
within  himself  a  like  dwelling,  to  which,  in  the  midst  of  his  various 
occupations,  he  might  retire  apart  with  God. 

294.  St.  Teresa  elsewhere  commends  in  the  highest  terms  this 
manner  of  cultivating  God's  presence  in  our  souls,  saying  that  it 
greatly  disposes  to  infused  recollection  of  spirit,  which  is  itself  a 
degree  of  contemplation.     She  remarks  that  if  we  will  but  get  the 
habit  of  retiring  with  God  into  the  little  heaven  of  the  soul,  with 
out  allowing  outward  objects  to  distract  us,  we  shall  walk  by  a 
most  excellent  way,  which  soon  will  lead  us  to  refresh  ourselves 
with  the    living  waters  of   contemplation  at  the  fountain  of  the 
Godhead ;  for  by  this  means  a  long  journey  is  swiftly  made,  and 
the  soul  is  borne  to  the  harbour  of  union  with  God,  with  sails 
full-spread.     To  quote  her  very  words  :  "  They,  who  in  this  wise, 
are  able  to  shut  themselves  up  in  this  little  heaven  of  the  soul,  in 
which  abides  the  God  Who  has  made  the  earth,  and  is  our  Maker 

tione  sociari,  cum  eo  colloqui,  et  in  ejus,   die  noctuque,  lege  mcditari.     De 
Virginit. 

*  Surius.     In  Vita  S.  Cath.  Senen. 


278  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

too, — if  they  but  train  themselves  not  to  gaze  upon,  nor  remain 
amid,  the  distractions  of  the  outward  senses — may  be  assured 
that  they  have  taken  a  most  excellent  way,  which  must  lead  them 
to  drink  the  waters  of  life  at  the  fountain-head  ;  for  in  a  short  time 
they  will  make  much  way,  even  as  one  sailing  in  a  ship  accompanied 
with  favourable  winds  soon  reaches  the  port  to  which  he  is  bound."* 
I  therefore  exhort  the  reader  to  adopt  this  third  method  of  living 
in  the  presence  of  God,  as  the  most  useful  and  profitable  of  the 
three  described  above  ;  and  amid  his  daily  occupations,  often  to 
retire  within  himself,  there  to  converse  with  God,  giving  way  to 
supplication,  or  desires,  or  acts  of  self-oblation  ;  of  love,  or  thanks 
giving,  or  praise  ;  as  he  may  feel  himself  inwardly  moved  by  the 
spirit  of  grace.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  us  yt  how,  then, 
can  it  serve  our  purpose  to  seek  it  elsewhere  ? 


CHAPTER    V. 

CERTAIN  METHODS  FOR  RENDERING  MORE  EASY  THE  EXERCISE  OF 
GOD'S  PRESENCE  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  OUR  EXTERIOR  EMPLOY 
MENTS. 

295.  To  dwell  continually  in  the  presence  of  God,  with  the  mind 
ever  fixed  upon  Him,  is  a  happiness  reserved  for  our  heavenly 
home  and  to  which  we  may  not  pretend  in  this  life.  The  divers 
affairs  which  necessarily  claim  our  attention  withdraw  our  minds 
from  God ;  the  objects  presented  to  us  by  our  senses  entice,  be 
witch,  and  estrange  us  from  Him ;  our  natural  bent  or  turn  of 
character,  by  inclining  us  to  the  things  of  sense,  withdraws  ouf 
thoughts  and  affections  from  the  Supreme  Good.  So  that  it  is 
morally  impossible  to  keep  God's  presence  always  in  our  minds, 
without  any  kind  of  interruption.  What  can  be  done,  and  what 
it  behoves  every  one  aspiring  to  perfection  to  aim  at  in  all  earnest 
ness,  is  to  render  this  presence  as  continual  as  our  natural  powers, 
and  those  bestowed  upon  us  by  grace,  can  make  it.  But  as  this 

*  Way  of  Perfection,  chap.  28. 

t  Regnum  Dei  intra  nos  est.     Luc.  xvij.  21. 


MEANS  TO  PRESERVE  GOD'S  PRESENCE.         279 

is  to  be  done  without  any  anxiety  or  trouble  of  mind,  and  without 
any  undue  effort  of  the  brain,  but  gently  and  peacefully  (else  it  could 
not  be  lasting)  we  will  now  set  forth  three  methods  which  may 
render  easy  so  devout  and  profitable  an  exercise. 

296.  The  first  method  of  remaining  always  in  the  presence  of 
•God  with  great  ease  to  ourselves,  is  frequently  to  raise  our  hearts 
to  Him  by  fervent  ejaculatory  prayers.  As  is  well  known,  these 
prayers  are  nothing  more  than  short  but  fervent  acts  of  devout 
.affection,  shot  forth  like  arrows  in  order  to  strike  at  once  the  heart  of 
God  and  inflame  the  heart  of  him  who  produces  them.  St.  Augustine 
in  a  letter  to  a  devout  lady,  Proba  by  name,  exhorting  her  to  the 
frequent  practice  of  these  ejaculations,  alleges  the  example  of  the 
Egyptian  solitaries,  who  used  during  their  manual  works  to  lift  up 
their  hearts  to  God  by  fervent  aspirations  of  this  nature.*  Now, 
as  is  plain,  these  acts  may  be  practised  with  the  greatest  ease  at 
.all  times  and  in  all  places,  by  all  who  are  really  concerned  for 
their  perfection ;  whether  we  be  walking  in  the  public  streets  or 
•dealing  with  our  neighbours,  or  occupied  with  any  kind  of  handi 
work,  or  taking  our  meals,  or  rising  in  the  morning ;  in  every 
petty  detail,  in  fact,  of  our  daily  round  of  duty.  And  why  should 
not  the  devout  Christian  in  every  possible  circumstance  of  life 
lift  up  his  mind  to  God  and  implore  His  help,  with  that  beautiful 
prayer  of  holy  David  which  the  early  monks  had  ever  in  their 
mouths,  O  God,  come  to  my  assistance  !  O  Lord,  make  haste  to  help 
me  ?  t  or  again,  to  ask  for  cleanness  of  heart,  Create  a  clean  heart 
in  me,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me  ?  J  or  to  mani 
fest  to  God  our  desire  of  possessing  Him,  As  the  hart  pants  after 
the  fountains  of  water,  so  my  soulpanteth  after  thee,  O  God?§  or  to 


*  Dicuntur  fratres  in  yEgypto  crebras  quidem  habere  orationes,  sed  eas 
tamen  brevissimas,  et  raptim  quodammodo  jaculatas,  ne  ilia  vigilanter  erecta, 
quse  oranti  plurimum  necessaria  est,  per  productiores  moras  evanescat,  neque 
hebetetur  intentio.  Epist.  cxxj.  Ad  Probam,  cap.  10. 

t  Deus,  in  adjutorium  meum  intende.  Domine,  ad  adjuvandum  me  festina. 
Ps.  Ixix.  2. 

J  Cor  mundum  crea  in  me,  Deus,  et  spiritum  rectum  innova  in  visceribus 
ineis.  Ps.  1.  12. 

§  Quemadmodum  desiderat  cervus  ad  foutss  aquarum,  ita  desiderat  anima 
mea  ad  te,  Deus.  Ps.  xlj.  I. 


280  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

make  Him  an  unreserved  offering  of  ourselves,  My  Beloved  to  mev 
and  I  to  Him  ?  *  or  to  return  Him  grateful  thanks  for  the  mani 
fold  blessings  which  He  bestows  upon  us  at  every  moment,  What 
shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  the  things  that  He  hath  rendered 
to  me?^  or  to  crave  forgiveness  for  all  the  offences  by  which  we 
daily  displease  Him,  Have  mercy  iipon  me,  O  God,  according  to 
Thy  great  mercy?],  or  to  declare  the  conformity  of  our  wills- 
with  that  of  God,  in  whatever  may  befall  us,  Teach  me  to  do  Thy 
will,  for  Thou  art  my  God ;§  Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done;\\ 
Not  as  I  itill,  but  as  Thou  wilt  ?1T  All  this  may  be  done  by  each 
and  every  one  who  wishes  in  any  way  to  advance  in  spirit,  and  to 
lift  himself  above  himself,  that  he  may  live  with  God. 

297.  On  the  other  hand,  this  method  of  keeping  in  the  presence- 
of  God  throughout  the  day  is  equally  safe  and  advantageous.     It 
is  safe  and  prudent,  since  it  enables  those  who  are  spiritually  in 
clined,  to  keep  in  God's  presence  without  strain  on  the  mind  or 
injury  to  the  bodily  organs,  by  the  use  of  such  passing  acts,  fre 
quently  renewed.     It  is  profitable,  for  the  necessary  result  of  such 
acts   is   to   foster  within  us  the  fervour  of  that  devotion  which 
renders  us  quick  to  do  good,  but  slow  to  do  evil  though  quick  to 
shun    it.      But    what   is   more    than   all   besides   (as   St.   John 
Chrysostom   observes)  it  shuts  the  door  against  the  devil,  who, 
on  seeing  a  man  in  close  company  with  God  and  far  beyond  all 
danger  of  consenting  to   sin,  does   not   venture  on  an  attempt 
to  effect  an  entry  into   his  heart  by  means  of  his  wicked  sug 
gestions.** 

298.  The  same  Saint  sets  forth,  by  a  very  apt  and  fitting  com 
parison  the   advantages  accruing  to   devout  persons  from  these 
fervent   ejaculations.     As  it  is  not  sufficient,  if  we  would  keep 

*  Dilectus  meus  mihi,  et  ego  illi.     Cant.  ij.  16. 

t  Quid  retribuam  Domino  pro  omnibus  quse  retribuit  mihi?     Ps.  cxv.  12. 

J  Miserere  mei,  Deus,  secundum  magnam  misericordiam  tuam.     Ps.  1.  I. 

§  Doce  me  facere  voluntatem  tuam,  quia  Deus  meus  es  tu.     Ps.  cxli.  9. 

||  Non  mea,  sed  tua  voluntas  fiat.     Luc.  xxij.  42. 

U  Non  sicut  ego  volo  sed  sicut  tu.     Matth.  xxvj.  39. 

'*  Si  per  intervalla  crebris  precationibus  te  ipsum  accendas,  non  dabis. 
occasionem  diabolo,  et  ullum  ad  suas  cogitationes  aditum.  Horn.  4.  De  Fide 
Annee. 


MEANS  TO  PRESERVE  GOUS  PRESENCE.          281 

water  warm,  to  put  it  on  the  fire  once  only,  but  it  needs  to  be 
kept  there,  else  little  by  little  it  loses  its  heat  and  becomes  cold 
as  heretofore ;  so  neither  does  it  suffice  in  order  to  become 
fervent  and  spiritual  that  we  enkindle  holy  affections  within  us 
early  in  the  morning  by  an  attentive  and  prolonged  meditation, 
but  we  must  frequently  during  the  course  of  the  day,  by  these 
ejaculations,  draw  nigh  to  the  fire  of  divine  love,  that  is  to  God 
Himself,  if  we  would  wish  to  keep  up  the  heat  of  the  fervour 
which  was  kindled  in  the  morning;  otherwise  we  should  soon  relapse 
into  our  natural  coldness  and  torpor.* 

299.  Another  method  we  may  suggest,  of  remaining  in  the 
presence  of  God  during  the  distracting  occupations  of  the  day,  is 
to  offer  them  all  to  God  with  the  pure  intention  of  doing  His 
most  holy  will  and  of  pleasing  Him  in  all.  At  the  beginning  of 
each  duty,  whether  of  great  or  little  importance,  spiritual  persons 
should  lift  up  their  "minds  to  God,  protesting  with  all  sincerity 
that  in  the  occupation,  whatever  it  may  be — study,  business, 
labour — we  seek  not  our  own  pleasure,  our  own  interest,  our  own 
reputation,  or  any  other  private  end,  but  merely  to  fufil  His  holy 
will  and  to  be  well-pleasing  in  His  sight.  And  in  the  progress 
of  our  actions,  we  should  frequently  renew  this  holy  and  loving 
intention,  and  continue  what  we  are  doing  with  an  unaffected 
desire  of  pleasing  God  in  all  we  do.  In  this  manner,  even  our 
most  trivial  and  animal  actions,  such  as  our  meals,  our  sleep,  our 
labour,  when  accompanied  with  this  intention,  will  be  changed,  by 
a  sort  of  heavenly  alchemy,  into  the  gold  of  sanctifying  and 
meritorious  works  ;  since  thus  they  will  have  been  directed  to  a 
supernatural  end,  and  will  earn  for  us  an  eternal  reward,  a  never- 
fading  crown  in  our  heavenly  country.  To  perform  our  daily 
actions  in  this  manner,  implies  a  continual  exercise  of  charity ; 
as  thus  they  are  done  for  the  sake  of  God,  and  purely  for  His 
love.  And  further,  by  this  means,  the  advantage  of  keeping  God 
ever  before  us  will  be  obtained  without  wearying  the  brain  by 

*  Quemadmodum  in  apparando  prandio,  quoties  calido  potu  opus  est,  si 
aqua  parum  calet,  ad  focum  admotam  recalefacimus  :  ita  et  hie  faciendum  est ; 
et  os  nostrum  ad  precationes,  quasi  ad  prunas  admovendum,  ut  hoc  pacto  mens 
ad  pietatem  rursus  accendatur. 


282  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

forced  reflections ;  inasmuch  as  the  very  intention  of  pleasing  God 
in  our  actions  kept  up  constantly,  or  at  least  renewed  frequently, 
is  of  itself  a  loving  remembrance  of  God,  and  therefore  a  true 
and  very  real  act  of  His  presence.  St.  Basil  makes  this  plain  by 
the  comparison  of  a  smith,  or  other  artisan,  who  has  been  charged 
to  produce  a  work  belonging  to  his  handicraft.  The  workman 
ever  bears  in  mind  the  person  who  has  given  him  the  order,  and 
executes  it  according  to  the  plans  and  directions  which  he  has 
received.  Thus,  continues  the  Saint,  provided  that  in  the  per 
formance  of  our  outward  actions  we  try  to  carry  out  the  will  of 
God,  Who  requires  us  to  do  them,  and  that  we  have  in  view,  not 
our  own  private  ends,  but  His  good  pleasure  alone,  not  only  will 
our  works  be  perfect,  but  we  shall  thus  be  enabled  ever  to  keep 
God  before  us,  and  to  say  in  truth,  with  the  Royal  Prophet,  / 
have  set  the  Lord  ahvays  in  my  sight* 

300.  A  third  method  of  easily  realising  the  presence  of  God, 
is  to  arrange  for  ourselves  a  time  and  occasion  of  retirement 
during  the  course  of  the  day,  suitable  to  our  duties  and  state  of 
life.  Religious  enjoy  in  this  respect  a  great  advantage,  as  they 
are  shut  out  from  the  turmoil  and  bustle  of  the  world,  and  being 
free  from  the  embarrassment  of  worldly  ties  and  cares,  they  can 
withdraw  to  their  cells,  in  which,  though  working  with  their  hands, 
they  can  easily  recollect  themselves  with  God  in  heart.  But 
seculars,  especially  women,  are  not  wholly  debarred  from  this 
practice  :  even  they  can  find  some  place  of  retirement  within  their 
•own  homes,  while  they  occupy  themselves  in  their  household 
duties;  and  if  they  will  but  provide  and  make  use  of  such  a 
retreat,  it  will  be  easy  for  them  in  the  midst  of  their  ordinary 
occupations  to  lift  up  their  hearts  to  God,  and  to  enter  into 


*  Ut  enim  faber  ferrarius  verbi  grati&  ;  quandocumque  dolabram  aliquam, 
sive  asciam  cudit,  si  assidue  illius  niemor  sit,  unde  instrumentum  illud  facien 
dum  ex  pacto  acceperit ;  et  prsescriptam  ab  illo  sibi  formam  et  magnitudinem 
animo  versat,  et  ejus  voluntatem  qui  condixit  opus,  dirigit  quod  facit  ...  sic 
•christianus,  si  actiones  suas  omnes,  sive  majores,  sive  minores,  an  Dei  volun 
tatem  direxerit;  is  sine  controversial  et  egregie  illud  opus  perficit,  et  simul 
.assiduam  in  animo  sibi  memoriam  conservat,  a  quo  id  jussus  est  facere; 
vere  illud  dicere  poterit :  Providebam  Domimim  in  conspectu  meo  semper  j 
quoniam  a  dextris  est  mihi  ne  commovear.  In  Regul.  Fusius  Explic.  Qusest.  5» 


MEANS  TO  PRESERVE  GO  US  PRESENCE.         283 

mutual  converse  with  Him ;  for,  as  He  declares,  then  does  He 
communicate  Himself  to  our  hearts  when  He  sees  that  we  are 
alone.  I  will  lead  him  into  the  wilderness,  or  solitude,  and  there, 
as  in  a  fitting  place,  /  will  speak  to  his  heart.*  St.  Eucherius 
relatest  that  a  certain  man,  desirous  of  advancing  in  perfec 
tion,  betook  himself  to  a  great  servant  of  God  and  asked  where 
he  should  be  able  to  find  God.  At  this  question  the  holy  man 
said  "  Come  with  me ;"  and  he  led  him  by  the  hand  to  a  desert 
and  solitary  spot,  where  not  a  single  human  being  was  living. 
On  arriving  there  he  said,  "  This  is  the  place  where  God  may 
be  found ; "  then  turning  homewards,  he  left  the  man  in  that 
solitude.  So  then,  if  any  one  would  wish  to  converse  with  God 
during  the  day,  he  knows  where  God  is  to  be  looked  for, 
and  where  He  will  most  certainly  be  found. 

301.  But   if  our  avocations  compel  us  to  remain   in   public, 
amid   the  hum  of  the   busy  world   or   in   the   company  of  the 
members  of  our  own  families,  God  will  not  fail  to  communicate 
Himself  inwardly  to  us,  if  we  on  our  part  have  any  real  wish  to 
be  with  Him,  and  continue  to  seek  Him  in  all  our  actions  ;   and 
this,  though  they  be  performed  in  the  presence  of  others  :  so  long 
as  we  do  them  with  an  upright  intention,  and  turn  often  to  Him 
by  ejaculations    shot   forth  from  our  innermost    heart.     I    have 
known  a  tradesman  who  stood  behind  his  counter  from  morning 
till  night,  in  a  shop  in  which  many  sorts  of  goodp,  were  on  sale, 
and  which   on   that   account    was  always  crowded   with  persons 
coining  to  make  purchase  of  different  wares  :  and  though  the  man 
was  constantly  engaged  in  selling,  and  very  diligent  in  attending 
to   the   various   wants   of  his  customers,  still  he  never  lost  the 
sweet  calm  and  loving  sense  of  God's  presence.     So  true  is  it 
that   our   God   can   be    found   in   the   midst    of  the  turmoil  of 
business,  by  those  who  have  not  the  means  of  seeking  Him  in 
the  silence  of  solitude. 

302.  Metaphrastes   relates   that   St.   Gregory,  Bishop  of  Agri- 
gentum,  when  making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  spent  a 
whole    Lent  in  a  monastery  of  Palestine.     He  found    much  to 

*  Ducam  eum  in  solitudinem,  et  loquar  ad  cor  ejus.     Osee.  ij.  14. 
t  In  Epist,  ad  S.  Hilarium. 


284  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIPE. 

admire  in  the  holy  recluses ;  for  in  time  of  prayer,  some  were 
rapt  in  ecstasy;  others  were  overwhelmed  with  a  profusion  of 
sweetly-flowing  tears ;  others  had  the  appearance  of  men  who 
were  quite  worn  out  by  the  austerities  of  their  penitential 
exercises,  while  some  led  so  perfect  a  life,  that  they  seemed  to  be 
angels  in  the  flesh  rather  than  men.  So  that  the  saintly  Bishop 
found  plenty  of  matter  for  self-condemnation,  as  in  his  humility 
he  believed  himself  to  be  very  unlike  those  with  whom  he  was 
staying.  The  Abbot  perceiving  his  trouble,  and  thinking  that  he 
was  sorrowing  on  account  of  the  distance  which  parted  him  from 
his  friends  and  relatives,  said  to  him,  "  Have  patience,  my  son, 
and  trust  in  God.  You  will  soon  go  back  to  your  native  land." 
"  Father,"  replied  the  Saint,  "  this  is  not  the  cause  of  the  grief 
which  you  notice.  The  presence  of  God  alone  would  suffice  to 
make  me  happy  in  every  place,  to  banish  all  sadness  from  my 
breast,  and  to  fill  me  with  unspeakable  joy.  But  one  thing  only 
grieves  me;  that  I  find  myself  so  much  below  these  holy 
Religious  in  perfection."  The  Abbot  then  perceived  that  far  from 
this  Bishop  needing  comfort,  he  was  able  to  impart  consolation 
to  others,  since,  by  the  exercise  of  the  divine  presence,  he  had 
attained  to  that  entire  peace  of  soul  which  is  the  summit  of 
Christian  perfection.  Let  this  example,  then,  encourage  us  to 
make  use  of  the  simple  and  easy  means  which  I  have  suggested 
of  living  in  God's  presence  ;  for  we  have  the  same  power  of  thus 
speedily  advancing  to  a  high  state  of  perfection. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

PRACTICAL    SUGGESTIONS  TO   DIRECTORS    ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE 
EXERCISE    OF   THE    PRESENCE    OF    GOD. 

303.  FIRST  suggestion.  The  Director  must  set  great  store  upon 
the  exercise  of  God's  presence,  and  with  all  earnestness  en 
courage  such  of  his  penitents  as  are  anxious  to  make  progress 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  DIRECTORS.  285 

to  adopt  it;  for  it  is  no  less  necessary  than  meditation,  the 
importance  of  which,  to  those  especially  who  aspire  to  perfection, 
can  be  seen  in  our  fifth  Article.  Nay  it  is,  in  a  certain  sense, 
even  more  necessary,  for  meditation  may,  and  at  times  must,  be 
laid  aside  :  as  for  instance,  during  periods  of  illness,  or  when 
we  are  overwhelmed  with  grave  and  pressing  business  which 
leaves  no  leisure  for  this  salutary  exercise.  But  the  exercise  of 
•God's  presence  under  the  form  of  ejaculatory  prayers,  or  of  offer 
ing  to  God  our  crosses  and  sufferings,  and  frequently  renewing  the 
purity  of  our  intention  while  actually  engaged  in  business,  should 
never  be  interrupted  ;  but  rather  be  more  frequent  and  continuous 
in  times  of  sickness  or  of  absorbing  care,  so  as  to  supply  the 
loss  of  meditation,  which  in  these  cases  is  unavoidably  omitted. 
Palladius  relates*  that  having  gone  with  one  of  his  companions  to 
•a  certain  solitary,  a  great  servant  of  God,  Diocles  by  name,  he  re 
ceived  from  him  the  following  lesson  amongst  others :  "  A  spiritual 
person  who  neglects  the  presence  of  God,  will  soon  become  either 
a  demon  or  a  brute.  He  will  become  a  brute  if,  going  astray  from 
•God  he  allow  himself  to  gratify  the  animal  cravings  of  his  appe 
tites.  He  will  become  a  demon  if  he  begin  to  give  way  to 
thoughts  of  vanity,  presumption  and  arrogance ;  vices  that  cha 
racterise  the  proud  spirits  that  have  their  abode  in  the  depths  of 
"hell."  The  Director  may  gather  from  this,  that  to  keep  souls 
•diligent  in  the  practice  of  God's  presence  is  nothing  less  than  to 
lead  them  on  to  perfection  itself. 

304.  So  true  is  this,  that  the  ancient  Fathers  laid — we  may 
almost  say — more  stress  on  these  frequent  liftings  up  of  the  soul 
to  God,  than  even  on  prolonged  prayers  ;  because,  they  said,  the 
•soul,  by  such  fervent  and  frequently-repeated  acts,  unites  itself  the 
more  closely  with  God,  inasmuch  as  these  ejaculations  are  not  ex- 
posed  to  the  distractions  which  commonly  abound  when  prayer  is 
lengthened  out,  nor  are  they  beset  with  the  temptations  with  which 
the  devil  usually  assaults  us  during  a  long  meditation.  Cassian  bears 
witness  to  this  truth.t  St.  John  Chrysostom  takes  the  same 

*  In  Hist  Lausiac.  cap.  98. 

f  Utilius  censent  breves  quidem  orationes,  sed  creberrimas  fieri :  illud  qui- 
,  ut  frequentius  Dominum  deprecantes  jugiter  eidem  cohserere  possimus' 


286  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

view.*  He  speaks  as  if  he  preferred  these  short  ejaculations 
(provided  they  be  frequently  made  and  at  brief  intervals)  to  long 
prayers,  as  they  are  not  so  liable  to  be  marred  by  distractions, 
negligence,  weariness,  and  the  attacks  of  our  insidious  enemies, 
who,  on  beholding  us  in  converse  with  God,  delay  not  to  ply  their 
utmost  endeavours.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  we 
should  leave  off  meditation,  wherein  the  soul  nourishes  itself  with 
holy  considerations,  at  leisure  and  for  a  long  time  together,  in 
the  divine  presence.  The  necessity  of  meditation  is  most 
manifest,  as  we  have  already  shown.  But  the  true  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  what  has  been  said  above  is,  that  the  presence  of 
God,  continued  during  the  day  by  frequent  ejaculations,  is  not 
less  necessary  for  perfection  than  mental  prayer ;  and  hence  that 
Directors  must  be  most  careful  in  seeing  that  their  penitents  fail 
not  to  raise  their  thoughts  and  lift  up  their  hearts  to  Almighty 
God  during  their  daily  occupations. 

305.  Second  suggestion.  The  Director  will  need  directions  in 
choosing  the  way  whereby  to  guide  souls  to  practise  the  presence 
of  God,  and  therefore  must  not  require  of  them  a  continuance 
and  intensity  of  acts  so  great  as  to  overtask  the  powers  of  nature 
or  of  grace.  He  must  see  how  they  stand  as  to  prayer,  and  must 
keep  this  in  sight  when  he  prescribes  to  them  the  degree  in  which 
they  should  exercise  themselves  in  the  presence  of  God.  If  a 
person  have  the  gift  of  contemplation,  the  Confessor  may  require 
of  him  to  abide  constantly  (morally  speaking)  in  God's  presence ; 
for  such  souls,  even  out  of  times  of  prayer,  have  before  them 
almost  always  that  contemplative  light  which  renders  the  exercise 
of  God's  presence  easy  and  agreeable  to  them,  so  that  they  can 
continue  it  without  any  injury  to  their  bodily  health.  Thus,  we 


hoc  vero,  ut  insidiantis  diaboli  jacula,  quse  infigere  nobis  tune  prsecipue,  cum 
oramus,  insistit,  succinct^  brevitate  vitemus.  Instit.  Monast.,  lib.  ij.,  cap.  10. 
*  Breves,  sed  frequentes  orationes  fieri,  Christus  et  Paulus  praeceperunt 
parvis  ex  intervallis.  Nam  si  sermonem  in  longuin  extenderis,  in  negligentiam 
frequenter  lapsus,  multum  subrependi  diabolo  facultatem  dederis  et  supplan- 
tandi,  et  cogitationem  abducendi  ab  his,  quse  dicuntur.  Si  vero  continuas  et 
crebras  orationes  facias,  totumque  tempus  interpolans  frequentin  facile  poteris 
molestiam  coliibere,  et  ipsas  orationes  multa  facies  solerti&.  Horn.  De  Fide 
Anne. 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  DIRECTORS.  287 

are  told  of  St.  Bernard,  in  his  life,  that  while  at  manual  work  he 
prayed  continually  without  finding  bodily  toil  any  hindrance  to 
him,  so  that  his  labour  did  not  in  any  measure  diminish  the 
interior  sweetness  which  he  experienced.  *  But  if  a  penitent  have 
not  the  gift  of  prayer,  but  finds  difficulties  therein,  especially  if  it 
be  to  him  a  time  of  dryness  and  desolation,  he  will  surely  be 
unable  to  bide  uninterruptedly  in  the  presence  of  God  without 
so  great  a  strain  as  to  endanger  his  health  and  unfit  him  for  every 
kind  of  devotional  exercise.  With  persons  of  this  class  discre 
tion  must  be  observed  in  fixing  the  numbers  of  acts  to  be  pre 
scribed.  The  number  must  be  large  enough  to  rouse  the  torpid 
spirit  from  time  to  time,  and  make  it  yearn  after  God ;  but  must 
not  exceed  this.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  no  one  should 
neglect  to  make  a  practice  of  offering  to  God,  from  time  to  time,  the 
several  outward  works  which  he  undertakes,  with  a  sincere  desire 
to  comply  with  God's  will  and  to  be  pleasing  to  Him ;  and  even 
of  pouring  forth  occasional  ejaculations,  especially  cries  for  help  : 
for  this  cannot  prove  of  injury  to  any  one,  even  if  an  invalid,  and 
weighed  down  by  most  serious  illness.  And  this  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  the  meaning  of  St.  John  Chrysostom  in  one  of  his 
Homilies  to  the  people  of  Antioch,  when,  inflamed  with  a  holy 
zeal,  he  said,  "  Let  no  one  tell  me  that  a  layman  overwhelmed 
with  the  cares  of  business  cannot  pray  continually.  He  can,  and 
that  easily.  Know  then,  that  wherever  thou  art,  thou  mayest 
raise  an  altar.  Though  thou  bend  not  the  knee  nor  stretch  forth 
thy  hand  to  heaven,  if  thou  but  lift  up  thy  mind  in  fervent  sup 
plication,  thou  hast  made  a  perfect  prayer.  Mind  not  the  place  : 
if  thou  be  at  the  baths,  pray;  pray  wherever  thou  mayest  be. 
Thou  thyself  art  the  temple  of  God.  God  Himself  continually 
dwells  in  thee.  Pray  then  to  Him  in  every  place,  "t  Now  it  is 

*  Laboris  tempore  et  intus  orabat  absque  intermissione  exterioris  laboris,  et 
exterius  laborabat  sine  jacturS,  interioris  suavitatis.  Vita  S.  Bern.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  4. 

t  Nee  quisquam  mihi  dicat  quod  nequit  homo  soecularis  affixus  foro,  con 
tinue  per  diem  orare.  Potest  enim  et  quam  facillime.  Ubicumque  sis,  potes 
altare  tuum  constituere.  Licet  genua  non  flectas,  nee  in  ccelum  manus  extendas  ; 
si  mentem  tantum  ferventem  exhibeas,  orationis  perfectionem  consummaveris. 
Licet  in  balneo  sis,  ora :  ubicumque  sis,  ora.  Templum  es,  ne  locum  quseras. 
Deus  .semper  prope  est.  Homil.  79,  Ad  Populum  Antiochen. 


288  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

not  likely  that  the  Saint  would  have  required  shopkeepers,  arti 
sans,  lawyers,  and  delicate  women,  to  pray  uninterruptedly  from 
morning  to  night,  with  sustained  fervour  and  minds  ever  fixed 
on  God ;  for  this  is  not  to  be  expected  from  the  mass  of  the 
imperfect,  absorbed  as  they  are  in  so  many  and  most  distracting 
occupations.  The  holy  preacher  then  must  have" meant  what  has 
been  said  above  ;  namely,  that  amid  their  toils  and  pleasures, 
all  should  lift  up  their  minds  to  God,  by  some  devout  act  espe 
cially  of  petition ;  that  all  should  constantly  direct  to  God  their 
intention  in  everything  that  they  do ;  this  being  a  very  true  mode 
of  prayer  and  a  very  real  act  of  the  presence  of  God,  suitable  to 
each  and  every  one,  whatever  his  state  of  life  or  disposition  of 
soul.  The  Director,  however,  must  bear  in  mind  the  caution 
given  in  the  fourth  Chapter  as  to  the  danger  of  persons  of  weak 
imagination,  women  especially,  cultivating  the  presence  of  God 
by  the  fancy ;  both  because  the  imagination  may  receive  thereby 
permanent  injury,  and  because  the  persons  themselves  may  become 
dreamers  and  visionaries  by  being  too  much  occupied  with  sen 
sible  representations. 

306.  Third  suggestion.  Should  the  penitent  be  liable  to  dis 
tractions  and  thus  easily  lose  the  sense  of  God's  presence,  the 
Director  will  employ  divers  means  for  bringing  back  to  his  mind 
this  divine  presence,  which  is  so  advantageous  to  all.  He  may 
prescribe  to  the  penitent  to  lift  up  his  mind  to  God  by  some  aspira 
tion  or  petition  every  time  that  the  clock  chimes  the  quarters ; 
never  to  begin  any  work  without  first  offering  it  up  to  God  with 
a  sincere  purpose  of  doing  it  to  please  Him ;  to  keep  in  the  places 
in  which  he  usually  transacts  business  some  representation  of  the 
Crucified  Saviour,  or  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which,  by  meeting  his 
-eyes,  may  stir  up  within  him  the  remembrance  of  God.  We  are  told 
by  Surius  that  St.  Edmund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  made  use  of 
this  expedient.  He  had  the  habit  of  carrying  about  on  his  person 
a  small  ivory  figure,  on  which  were  engraven  the  several  mysteries  of 
our  Saviour's  Life  and  Passion,  in  order  to  keep  the  memory  thereof 
fresh  amidst  his  multifarious  occupations.  And  God  Himself 
employed  the  like  means  to  maintain  among  the  Israelites  a  lively 

*  In  Vita  S.  Edmundi. 


PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  DIRECTORS.  289 

remembrance  of  Himself  and  His  commandments.  He  bade 
Moses  speak  to  the  children  of  Israel,  ordering  them  to  make 
fringes  in  the  borders  of  their  garments,  and  to  put  on  the  fringe 
of  the  border  a  ribbon  of  a  blue  colour,  so  that  they  might  be 
reminded  of  His  commandments  as  often  as  it  met  their  eyes.* 
Expedients  of  this  nature  are  unquestionably  most  excellent, 
since  they  have  been  prescribed  by  the  Director  of  Directors,  even 
by  God  Himself. 

307.  Fourth  suggestion.  If,  however,  the  Director  fail  to  ob 
tain  of  his  penitent  some  kind  of  turning  of  the  heart  to  God 
during  the  ordinary  occupations  of  the  day,  it  is  a  clear  and  un 
mistakable  sign  that  no  spark  of  divine  love  is  as  yet  enkindled 
within  the  soul,  nor  any  desire  of  spiritual  advancement :  for  if  we 
really  love,  we  must  perforce  think  often  of  the  object  beloved ; 
and  when  we  desire  some  end,  we  naturally  make  use  of  the  means 
which  help  to  its  attainment.  What  will  not  merchants  do  to 
compass  the  gains  they  so  earnestly  desire  ?  They  think  of  no 
thing  else  in  their  waking  moments,  and  the  same  thought  haunts 
their  very  dreams.  See  the  student  and  the  man  of  letters  en 
gaged  in  their  earnest  pursuit  of  knowledge.  They  imprison 
themselves  in  a  narrow  chamber  and  waste  the  flower  of  their 
youth  over  their  books,  and  by  excessive  study  often  shorten 
their  lives.  Further,  this  will  be  an  unmistakable  sign  that  such 
a  one  seeks  himself  only  in  what  he  does — his  own  caprices,  his 
own  aims,  his  own  interests,  his  own  good  name;  and  so  is  unable 
to  lift  up  his  mind  to  God,  being  borne  down  and  blinded  by  the 
mire  of  these  earthly  desires.  In  a  case  like  this,  nothing  is  left  but 
to  awaken  in  the  person  a  love  of  God  and  an  earnest  desire  of 
perfection,  by  inducing  him  to  practise  the'  methods  we  have  here 
tofore  explained,  and  those  also  which  we  shall  explain  in  the 
sequel  of  the  present  Section. 

*  Loquere  filiis  Israel,  et  dices  ad  eos,  ut  faciant  sibi  fimbrias  per  angulos 
palliorum,  ponentes  in  eis  vittas  hyacinthinas  ;  quas  cum  viderint,  recordentur 
omnium  mandatorum  Domini.  Num.  xv.  38,  39. 


VOL.  I.  10 


290  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFF. 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

Seventh  means  for  attaining  to  Christian  Perfection.     Sacramental 
Confession  made  frequently  and  with  due  dispositions* 


CHAPTER  I. 

THAT   SACRAMENTAL    CONFESSION    MADE    FREQUENTLY    IS    A   MOST 
EFFECTUAL  MEANS  OF   SPEEDILY  ATTAINING  TO  PERFECTION. 

308.  BLOSIUS  has  left  on  record  that  our  Blessed  Saviour  said 
one  day  to  St.  Bridget,  that  to  acquire  His  spirit  and  preserve  the 
same  when  acquired,  she  should  often  confess  her  sins,  omissions 
and  imperfections,  to  some  lawfully-approved  Priest.*  To  acquire 
this  spirit  of  Christ  is  one  and  the  same  thing  as  to  acquire  Chris 
tian  perfection.  The  two  expressions  mean  one  and  the  same 
thing.  For  Christian  perfection,  considered  either  in  itself  (essen 
tial  perfection)  or  as  a  means  (instrumental  perfection)  consists 
exclusively  in  the  imitation  of  our  Saviour's  life  and  in  acquiring 
His  spirit.  For  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  being  God  from  ever 
lasting  and  immortal,  He  became  man  and  mortal  to  teach  by 
His  own  example  what  is  the  most  perfect  life  we  mortals  can 
lead.  It  clearly  follows  then,  that  frequent  Confession,  being  an 
effectual  means  of  acquiring  the  spirit  of  Christ,  as  He  Himself 
has  said,  it  is  at  the  same  time  an  effectual  means  of  attaining  to 
Christian  perfection. 

309.  We  have  then,  nothing  to  do  but  to  develop  the  grounds 
of  this  assertion,  so  that  it  may  take  a  firmer  hold  on  the  minds 
of  our  readers,  and  enhance  their  esteem  for  a  practice  on 
which  their  progress  in  spirit  so  greatly  depends.  Cassian,  speak 
ing  of  purity  of  conscience — not  merely  of  the  virtue  which  is 

*  Et  qui  spiritum,  et  gratiam  meam  adipisci,  et  retinere  desiderat,  utile  est, 
crebro  peccata  et  negligentias  suas  coram  sacerdote  confiteri,  ut  expurgentur, 
Monil.  Spir.,  cap.  5. 


SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION.  291 

tarnished  by  lust,  but  of  that  general  purity  which  is  incompatible 
with  all  transgression  and  all  that  may  defile  the  soul — Cassian,  I 
•say,  speaking  of  purity  of  conscience  in  this  wider  sense,  says  that 
we  should  aspire  to  it  with  all  earnestness  ;  that  it  should  be  the 
•end  of  all  our  endeavours  and  of  all  we  have  to  bear  with  when 
travelling  on  the  path  of  perfection ;  in  a  word,  that  this  is  the 
virtue  for  the  sake  of  which  we  have  left  country,  kindred,  station, 
wealth,  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  and  have  offered  to  God  the 
unreserved  sacrifice  of  our  will.*  He  alleges  as  the  reason  of  the 
primary  importance  of  this  unblemished  purity,  that  it  is  the  last 
step  we  have  to  take  before  we  enter  into  the  furnace  of  divine 
love,  which  is  the  essence  of  our  perfection.t  God  bestows  the 
gift  of  consummate  charity  in  Heaven,  on  those  souls  alone  who 
have  been  purified,  like  gold  in  the  crucible,  by  the  pains  of  pur 
gatory,  and  who  purged  of  their  imperfections  have  attained  to 
an  unblemished  purity.  For  the  same  reason  He  will  withhold, 
in  this  life,  the  gift  of  perfect  charity  from  all  save  from  those  who 
are  free  from  stain  and  who  have  become  spotless  and  pure  in 
His  sight.  Now,  the  greater  this  purity,  the  more  unalloyed  is  the 
gift  of  charity  which  He  deigns  to  impart  to  us.  This  is  precisely 
the  reason  why  frequent  Confession  is  so  effectual  a  means  of 
speedily  attaining  to  perfection ;  since,  of  its  very  nature,  it  helps 
us  to  acquire  that  cleanness  of  heart  which  is  the  crowning  dis 
position  for  receiving  the  gift  of  divine  love. 

310.  But,  for  the  better  understanding  of  this  doctrine,  we  will 
now  show  wherein  consists  the  cleanness  of  heart  to  which  we 
who  live  amid  the  defilements  of  this  miserable  world  may  hope 
to  attain,  with  the  help  of  God.  It  consists  not,  as  some  have 
falsely  imagined,  in  an  entire  freedom  from  all  sin  and  all  imper 
fection  whatsoever;  for,  since  the  time  of  Christ  and  His  ever- 

*  Quidquid  ergo  ad  hunc  scopum,  idest  puritatem  cordis,  potest  dirigere, 
tota  virtute  sectandum  est :  quidquid  autem  ab  hac  retrahit,  ut  periculosum,  et 
noxium  devitandum.  '  Pro  hac  enim  universa  toleramus  et  agimus ;  pro  hac 
parentes,  et  patria,  dignitates,  divitise,  delicira  hujus  mundi,  et  voluptas  universa 
contemnitur ;  ut  scilicet  puritas  cordis  perpetua  retineatur.  Coll.  i.,  cap.  5. 

f  Ut  scilicet  per  has  ab  universis  passionibus  noxiis  illsesum  parare  cor 
,  nostrum,  et  conservare  possimus ;  et  ad  perfectionem  caritatis  istis  gradibus 
innitendo  conscendere.  It) id.,  cap.  7. 

19—2 


292  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Virgin  Mother,  no  ermine  has  been  seen  in  this  polluted  world  so 
spotless  as  not  to  have  contracted  some  stain.  For,  as  St.  James 
says,  In  many  things  we  all  offend  ;*  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinasr 
discoursing  on  this  very  point,  asserts,  that  we  can  avoid  each 
particular  venial  sin,  but  not  all  in  general. t  And  St.  Leo  the 
Great,  when  making  special  mention  of  persons  wholly  devoted 
to  God's  service,  says,  that  owing  to  the  frailty  of  our  nature,  not 
even  such  as  these  are  free  from  the  dust  of  trivial  transgressions.  % 
Since  then,  cleanness  of  heart  cannot  mean  an  entire  freedom 
from  sin,  it  must  imply  two  things  : — First,  an  exact  custody  of  our 
hearts  and  a  strict  watchfulness  over  our  outward  actions,  in  order 
to  avoid,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  committing  a  single  fault.  And  the 
stricter  the  watch  which  a  person  keeps  over  his  actions,  and  the 
more  successful  he  is  in  diminishing  the  number  of  his  failings,  the 
more  unblemished  will  be  his  purity.  Secondly,  since  in  spite  of 
all  the  caution  we  can  take,  we  shall  be  ever  contracting  some  slight 
defilement  of  soul,  it  will  be  necessary  to  be  assiduously  carefal  in 
cleansing  our  hearts  from  the  impurities  which  accumulate  through 
the  more  trivial  faults  into  which  we  so  frequently  fall.  The 
cleanliness  of  a  fine  hall  or  splendid  chamber  does  not  imply  that 
no  grain  of  dust  shall  ever  fall  upon  the  floor,  walls,  paintings, 
and  furniture.  Such  cleanliness  as  this  may  not  be  looked  for 
even  in  royal  residences  and  in  the  private  chambers  of  kings. 
It  supposes  only  that  the  palace  and  its  precincts  be  kept  free 
from  all  accumulations  of  dirt,  that  all  be  often  swept  and  dusted, 
and  that  everything  opposed  to  cleanliness  be  removed.  A  lady, 
however  particular  on  the  point  of  cleanliness,  does  not  require 
that  her  garments  should  preserve  their  first  whiteness,  for  she 
knows  that  is  impossible ;  but  she  is  careful  to  keep  them  from  all 
stain,  and  to  have  them  frequently  washed  and  cleansed  from, 
such  stains  as  they  may  have  contracted.  The  same  holds  good  o 

*  In  multis  offendimus  omnes.     Jac.  iij.  2. 

t  Dicendum,  quod  homo  in  grati&  constitutes,  potest  vitare  omnia  peccata 
mortalia  et  singula ;  potest  etiam  vitare  singula  peccata  venialia;  sed  non 
omnia.  3  p.,  q.  28,  al.  86,  a.  I,  ad  I. 

t  Dum  carnis  fragilitate  austerior  observantia  relaxatur,  dumque  per  varias 
actiones  vitse  hujus  solicitude  distenditur,  necesse  est  de  humano  pulvere  etiam. 
religiosa  corda  sordescere.  Serm.  4.  De  Quadr. 


SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION.  293 

purity  of  heart,  which  cannot,  of  course,  consist  in  entire  freedom 
from  faults  of  every  kind,  but  in  carefully  watching  over  self,  in 
guarding  against  any  defilement,  and  in  frequently  purifying  the 
•conscience. 

311.  Now  these  are  precisely  the  two  effects  which  frequent 
Confession  produces  in  the  soul.     Hence  we  attain  by  this,  more 
•speedily  than  by  any  other  means,  to  that  purity  of  soul  which  is 
the  crowning  disposition  for  receiving  divine  love.     No  detergent 
in  the  world  can  cleanse  our  soiled  garments  so  completely  as 
Sacramental  Confession  can  purify  our  souls  from  every  stain. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in  this  Sacrament  the  soul  is  all  plunged  into 
SL  bath  of  Christ's  Blood,  which  has   a  boundless   efficacy  for 
removing   its  every  stain,  for  taking  from  it  all  that  makes  it 
hideous,  and  for  rendering  it  whiter  than  the  lily,  purer  than  the 
driven  snow.     This  is  what  the  Apostle  St.  John  assures  us  of, 
when  he  says,  If  we  confess  our sins •,  God  is  faithful  and  just,  to  for 
give  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  iniquity* 

312.  This  truth  of  the  Catholic  faith  is  wondrously  illustrated 
by  what  may  be   read   in   the   fourth   step   of  the.  well-known 
*'  Ladder  of  Perfection,"  by  St.  John  Climacus.     A  most  aban 
doned  youth,  having  been  awakened  by  the  voice  of  God  speaking 
loudly  to  his  heart,  went  to  one  of  the  monasteries  most  famous 
for  the  holiness  of  its  inmates,  and,  falling  at  the  feet  of  the 
Superior,  asked  him  for  the  religious  habit.     The  Abbot,  hearing 
from   the  youth  how  disorderly  a  life  he  had  led,  asked  him 
"whether  he  would  have  the  courage  to  make  his  General  Confes 
sion  in  presence  of  the  whole  Community.     The  young  man, 
penetrated  with  compunction,  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  make 
his  Confession,  if  necessary,  in  presence  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  of  Alexandria.     The  following  Sunday,  when  the  monks,  to 
the  number  of  two  hundred  and  thirty,  were  gathered  together  in 
the  Church,  the  Abbot  brought  in  the  young  man,  with  ashes 
sprinkled  on  his  head,   clad  in  sackcloth,  with  his   hands  tied 
behind  his  back,  and  surrounded  by  some  of  the  brethren,  who 
were   scourging   him   as  severely  as  his  weakness  allowed.     At 

*  Si  confiteamur  peccata  nostra,  fidelis  est  (Deus)  et  Justus,  ut  remittat  nobia 
gpeccata  nostra,  et  emundet  nos  ab  omni  iniquitate.     I  Jo.  i.  9. 


294  GLIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

this,  so  moving  a  sight,  there  arose  throughout  the  entire  assembly 
of  the  Religious  a  devout  murmur  and  a  cry  of  compassion.  But 
when  the  young  man,  prostrate  in  the  middle  of  the  Church, 
began,  with  a  flood  of  tears,  to  make  public  confession  of  all  his 
enormities,  to  unfold  the  tale  of  his  disorders,  distinguishing  both 
their  number  and  kind  ;  when  he  proceeded  to  accuse  himself  of 
all  the  murders  he  had  committed,  of  his  many  robberies,  and 
repeated  sacrileges  ; — the  monks  were  thunder-stricken,  partly  on 
account  of  the  horror  such  unheard-of  misdeeds  inspired,  partly- 
through  being  wondrously  edified  at  the  sight  of  a  penitence  so 
rarely  witnessed.  Meanwhile  a  holy  monk  saw  some  one,  of 
majestic  and  awful  appearance,  standing  with  a  large  scroll  and  a 
bottle  of  ink  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  hand  a  pen.  He  ob 
served,  too,  that  as  each  sin  was  confessed,  the  man  crossed  it  out 
with  his  pen ;  so  that  when  the  confession  was  ended  all  the 
sins  were  cancelled  from  the  paper  and ,  the  soul  of  the  peni 
tent  alike.  Now,  what  was  thus  visibly  shown  in  the  case  of  that 
repentant  youth,  happens  to  us  in  an  invisible  manner  whenever 
we  confess  any  sin,  failing,  or  imperfection;  for  all  are  blotted 
out  at  once  from  the  book  in  which  our  life  is  written  by  God,  and 
from  the  book  of  our  soul  which  then  regains  its  former  unsullied 
purity.  And  hence  to  attain  to  cleanness  of  heart,  so  far  as  this 
implies  a  constant  care  to  remove  the  stains  we  may  have  con 
tracted,  no  better  or  more  effectual  means  exists  than  the  frequent 
practice  of  Confession.  This  truth  must  be  plain  to  every  one. 

313.  But  further,  there  is  no  better  means  than  Confession  for 
rendering  the  soul  careful  and  watchful  lest  it  relapse  into  its 
former  failings.  The  great  Apostle  teaches  that  the  supernatural 
sorrow,  which  is  from  above,  works  lasting  fruits  of  salvation,  and 
hence  of  perfection  also.*  Now,  this  comes  to  the  same  as  saying 
that  penance,  when  duly  performed,  produces  a  lasting  amend 
ment.  Various  reasons  can  be  given  for  this.  In  the  first  place,, 
the  very  disowning  our  faults,  and  the  good  purposes  of  serious 
amendment  which  accompany  a  well-made  Confession,  detach 
the  soul  from  all  affection  for  its  past  sins,  and  render  it  careful 

*  Quse  enim  secvmdum  Deum  tristitia  est,  psenitentiam  in  salutem 
operatur.     2  Cor.  vij.  10. 


SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION.  29$ 

not  to  fall  into  them  any  more.  Then  again,  the  special  grace 
bestowed  in  this  Sacrament  strengthens  the  will  in  its  conflict 
with  our  disordered  inclinations  and  the  deceitful  suggestions  of 
our  hellish  foes.  So  that  we  may  well  say  with  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  that  penance  is  a  virtue  whose  «pecial  effect  is  to  uproot 
sin ;  to  such  an  extent,  at  least,  that  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  sin  shall 
never  again  grow  rank  within  our  hearts.*  In  the  third  place, 
the  Confessor  himself,  to  whom  we  disclose  our  faults,  under 
standing  our  state,  is  better  able  to  help  us  to  get  rid  of  them,  by 
suggesting  appropriate  means  and  remedies,  which  may  be  of  the 
greatest  use  in  bringing  about  our  amendment.  So  that,  frequent 
recourse  to  this  Sacrament  not  only  cleanses  us  from  past  failings, 
but  makes  us  more  watchful  and  careful  not  to  commit  them 
again.  And  Confession,  in  this  manner,  helps  us  to  acquire  great 
purity  of  conscience  ;  which,  as  we  have  said,  is  most  closely 
connected  with  the  gift  of  perfect  charity. 

314.  St.  Bernard,  in  his  history  of  St.  Malachy,  relates,  that  there 
was  a  woman  so  subject  to  fits  of  anger,  rage,  and  fury,  that  she 
seemed  herself  like  a  fury  from  the  bottomless  pit  sent  to  torment 
every  one  who  came  into  contact  with  her.  Wherever  she  stayed 
her  venomous  tongue  stirred  up  hatred  and  quarrelling,  brawls 
and  strife;  so  that  she  became  unbearable,  not  only  to  her  own 
kindred  and  more  immediate  neighbours,  but  even  to  her  very 
children,  who,  unable  to  live  with  her,  had  purposed  to  leave  her 
and  to  go  elsewhere.  But,  as  a  last  endeavour,  they  took  her  to 
the  holy  Bishop  Malachy,  to  see  whether  he  would  be  able  to 
tame  the  ungovernable  temper  of  their  mother.  St.  Malachy  con 
fined  himself  to  the  inquiry  whether  she  had  ever  confessed  all 
her  outbursts  of  passion,  her  many  outrageous  words,  and  the 
numberless  brawls  she  had  provoked  with  her  unruly  tongue. 
She  replied  that  she  had  not.  "  Well  then,"  continued  he, 
"confess  them  now  to  me."  She  did  so,  and  after  her  Confession 
he  gave  her  some  loving  counsel,  pointing  out  suitable  remedies  ; 
and,  having  imposed  a  penance,  absolved  her  from  her  sins. 
After  this  Confession  the  woman,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  who 

*  In  pcenitentia  invenitur  specialiter  ratio  actus  laudabilis  ;  scilicet  operari 
ad  destnictionem  peccati  prseteriti.  3  part.,  q.  25,  alias  85,  a.  2,  in  corp. 


296  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

knew  her,  appeared  changed  from  the  fierce  lioness  she  had  been, 
into  a  meek  lamb.  St.  Bernard  concludes  his  narration  by  the 
following  words : — "  It  is  said  that  the  woman  is  still  living, 
and  that  she,  whose  tongue  had  up  to  that  time  outraged  and 
exasperated  everybody,  now  seems  to  be  unable  to  resent  the 
injuries,  the  insults,  the  mishaps  which  daily  fell  to  her  lot."* 
Behold,  then,  how  a  Confession,  made  with  the  fitting  disposi 
tions,  has  power  to  cleanse  the  soul  from  past  defilement  and 
to  preserve  it  from  falling  again ;  and,  partly  by  remedying  the 
past,  partly  by  providing  for  the  future,  brings  the  devout  person 
to  perfect  stainlessness  of  conscience.  We  ought,  therefore,  to 
conceive  a  high  esteem  of  this  Sacrament  if  we  care  to  make  any 
progress  in  perfection,  and  should  remember  that,  as  bodily 
medicine,  if  very  sparingly  used,  gives  relief,  it  is  true,  while, 
if  frequently  applied,  it  mostly  restores  health ;  thus  too  Confes 
sion,  if  made  even  but  seldom,  produces  saving  effects  in  the 
soul,  while,  if  made  frequently,  it  begets  in  it  the  fulness  of  per 
fection. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CONDITIONS  REQUIRED  FOR  SACRAMENTAL  CONFESSION  IN  ORDER 
THAT  IT  MAY  PRODUCE  THAT  CLEANNESS  OF  HEART  WHICH  IS 
THE  PROXIMATE  DISPOSITION  TO  PERFECTION.  EXPLANATION 
OF  THE  FIRST  CONDITION. 

315.  IT  will  be  seen  that  in  the  present  Article  we  are  not  speak 
ing  of  those  requisites  of  Sacramental  Confession  without  which 
it  would  be  invalid,  and  would  fail  to  impart  sanctifying  grace. 
We  are  considering  Confession  inasmuch  as  it  is  an  efficacious 
means  for  attaining  perfection,  by  imparting  great  purity  of 
soul  to  such  as  make  frequent  use  thereof.  Hence  it  is  necessary 

*  Fertur  adhuc  hodie  vivere,  et  tantse  esse  patientias  et  lenitatis,  ut  quse 
omnes  exasperare  solebat,  nullis  modis  exasperari  damnis,  contumeliis,  afflic- 
tionibus  queat.  S.  Bern.,  in  Vit&  S.  Malaeh. 


CONDITIONS  OF  CONFESSION.  297 

that  we  should  set  forth  the  conditions  needed  by  this  Sacrament, 
not  only  in  order  to  its  valid  reception,  but  as  a  means  of  en 
abling  devout  persons  to  attain  to  purity  of  conscience.  The  first 
condition  (to  the  explanation  of  which  we  will  confine  ourselves 
in  this  Chapter)  is  well  known,  not  only  to  the  more  devout,  but 
even  to  the  carnal  minded,  and  to  quite  young  children :  and  it 
is  that  Confession  must  be  accompanied  with  sorrow.  But  since 
this  is  a  truth  which  is  as  seldom  acted  upon  as  it  is  generally 
known — sometimes  too  even  by  those  who  make  profession  of 
devotion  and  piety — it  will  not  be  superfluous  to  call  to  it  the 
attention  of  the  reader. 

316.  It  is  well  known  by  all,  that  a  heartfelt  and  supernatural 
sorrow  is  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  Confession.     By  super 
natural  sorrow  we  mean  a  sorrow  inspired  by  motives  which  are 
superior  to  nature.     The  reason  of  which  is  that  God  never  has 
pardoned,  and  by  an  unchangeable  decree  has  bound  Himself 
never  to  pardon  any  one,  unless  the  person  first  repent  of  his  mis 
deeds  for  motives  of  this  character.     Suffice  it  to  observe,  that  Bap 
tism,  itself,  which  is  endowed  with  efficacy  to  impart  a  new  life  to 
souls  which  are  not  only  dead,  but  which  have  become  corrupt  in 
>every  vice,  requires  (as  St.  Thomas  teaches)  for  a  previous  dispos 
ing  of  the  soul  to  its  reception,  some  sorrow  for  sins  committed. 
Hence  it  has  been  said  by  St.  Ambrose,  "  that  repentance  is  as 
needful  for  him  that  confesses,  as  the  surgeon's  art  is  for  a  wounded 
man."*     And  he  infers  that  "  since  after  Baptism  we  have  no 
other  remedy  left  us  for  our  sins  but  repentance,  as  all  are  con 
vinced,  we  should  strive  after  it  with  all  our  might,  whatever  it 
may  cost  us  of  trouble  and  painstaking,  "f 

317.  Yet  Directors  will  not  seldom  fall  in  with  spiritual  persons, 
who  appear  to  think  that  the  whole  efficacy  of  this  Sacrament  de 
pends  on  lengthy  details,  and  in  saying  in  many  words  what  could 
be  all  said  in  very  few.     Besides  the  want  of  reverence,  of  which 

*  Poenitudo  necessaria  est,  sicut  vulnerato  sunt  necessaria  medicamenta. 

"f  Cum  haec  certa  fide,  sicut  est,  animo  conceperis,  quia  necesse  est  prcevari- 
catricem  animam  tartareis  poenis  et  gehennse  ignibus  tradi,  nee  aliud  remedium 
constitutum  esse  post  baptismum,  quam  poenitentiae  solatium  ;  quantamvis 
afflictionem,  quantumvis  laborem  et  indecorum  subire  esto  contenta,  dummodo 
ab  infernalibus  prenis  libereris.  Ad  Virg.  Lapsam,  cap.  7. 


298  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

such  as  these  are  guilty,  by  speaking  useless  words  in  Confession— 
in  which,  according  to  St.  Thomas,  we  should  confine  ourselves  to 
explaining  the  number  and  species  of  our  sins* — they  further  show 
that  they  are  ignorant  of  what  Confession  is ;  for,  as  St.  Gregory 
states  most  positively,  "  the  sign  of  a  good,  valid  and  fruitful  Con 
fession  is  not  the  multitude  of  words  spoken  by  the  tongue,  but 
the  sorrow  that  comes  from  the  heart ;  and  him  alone  may  we 
judge  to  be  converted  and  to  have  made  a  good  Confession,  who 
strives  to  blot  out  by  heartfelt  sorrow  those  sins  of  which  his 
tongue  makes  the  outward  avowal."t  And  commenting  on  the 
warning  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  pen 
ance^  the  same  holy  Doctor  observes,  that  in  Confession  words 
are  but  as  shoots  and  leaves,  but  that  the  fruit  consists  in  sorrow 
of  the  soul ;  that  the  verbal  confession  of  sin  is  to  be  valued  only 
inasmuch  as  it  is  the  expression  of  a  true  and  heartfelt  repentance. 
He  further  adds,  that  as  our  Blessed  Lord  cursed  the  barren 
fig-tree,  which,  though  having  much  load  of  branches  and  leaves, 
yet  bore  no  fruit,  so  does  He  likewise  reject  and  abhor  such  Con 
fessions  as  abound  in  the  foliage,  so  to  speak,  of  unnecessary 
words,  but  are  barren  of  the  fruit  of  efficacious  contrition.§  Sor 
row,  and  great  sorrow,  is  what  is  needed,  not  long  explanations 
and  needless  details,  if  Confession  is  to  restore  the  sinner  to 
grace,  and  if  devout  persons  (to  whom  we  are  now  expressly  ad 
dressing  ourselves)  are  to  acquire  by  its  means  that  purity  of  heart 

*  Non  recitet  (scilicet  pcenitens)  in  confessione,  nisi  quod  ad  quantitatem 
peccati  pertinet.  Suppl.  3  part.,  q.  9,  art.  4,  in  corp. 

f  Signum  verre  confessionis  non  est  in  oris  confessione,  sed  in  afflictione 
pcenitentioe.  Tune  namque  bene  conversum  peccatorem  cernimus,  cum  digna 
afflictionis  austeritate  delere  nititur,  quod  loquendo  confitetur.  Lib.  vj.  in  I 
Regum,  cap.  15. 

%  Facite  ergo  fructum  dignum  pnenitentiae.     Matth.  viij.  8. 

§  Unde  Joannes  Baptista  male  converses  Judseos  ad  se  confluentes  increpans 
ait:  Genimina  viperarum,  quis  ostendit  vobis  fugere  a  venturd  ird  ?  Facite  ergo 
fructus  dignos  pcenitentice.  In  fructu  ergo,  non  in  foliis  aut  ramis  pcenitentia 
cognoscenda  est ;  quasi  arbor  quippe  bona  voluntas  est.  Confessionis  ergo  verba 
quid  sunt  aliud,  nisi  folia?  Non  ergo  nobis  folia  propter  se  ipsa,  sed  propter 
fructum  expetenda  sunt  :  quia  idcirco  omnis  confessio  peccatorum  recipitur, 
ut  fructus  poenitentise  subsequatur.  Unde  et  Dominus  arborem  foliis  decoram, 
fructu  sterilem  maledixit,  quia  confessionis  ornamentum  non  recipit  sine  fructu 
afflictionis. 


CONDITIONS  OF  CONFESSION.  299 

which   is   so   necessary  for  the  attainment  of  Christian  perfec 
tion. 

318.  The  truth  of  what  I  say  is  confirmed  by  the  following  in 
cident.  Cesarius  relates,*  "that  a  young  student  at  Paris,  having 
fallen  into  many  very  serious  sins,  betook  himself  to  the  monas 
tery  of  St.  Victor,  and,  calling  the  Prior,  fell  at  his  feet  in  order  to 
accuse  himself  of  them.  Scarce  had  he  begun  to  open  his  lips, 
when  his  contrition  became  so  vehement,  that  his  utterance  was. 
checked,  and  his  Confession  hindered  by  his  tears,  groans,  and 
convulsive  sobs.  The  Confessor,  seeing  that  the  youth  was  un 
able,  from  excessive  grief,  to  say  another  word,  bade  him  write 
down  his  sins  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  come  back  again  when  he 
had  done  so ;  hoping  that,  by  this  means,  the  young  man  would 
find  it  easier  to  make  a  Confession  of  all  his  crimes.  He  com 
plied,  and  returned  to  the  same  Priest,  but  no  sooner  did  he  begin 
to  read  from  his  paper,  than  overcome  anew  with  sorrow  and  tears, 
he  was  unable  to  proceed.  The  Confessor  then  asked  him  for  the 
paper,  and  as  in  reading  it,  a  doubt  arose  in  his  mind  on  some 
point,  he  begged  the  penitent's  leave  to  show  his  Confession  to- 
the  Abbot,  in  order  to  get  his  opinion.  The  contrite  youth  wil 
lingly  consented,  and  forthwith  the  Prior,  bearing  the  paper  with 
him,  went  to  look  for  the  Abbot,  and  put  it  into  his  hands.  The 
latter  on  opening  it,  found  nothing  but  a  blank  sheet,  without  so- 
much  as  a  single  stroke  of  the  pen  upon  the  page.  'How  now/ 
he  said,  '  do  you  want  me  to  read  what  is  not  written  ?'  '  But/ 
replied  the  Prior,  '  I  have  this  moment  read  on  that  very  paper 
the  full  Confession  of  this  my  penitent.'  Then  both  began  to 
examine  the  paper  afresh,  and  found  that  the  sins  had  been  blotted 
out  of  it,  even  as  they  were  already  blotted  out  of  the  conscience 
of  the  sorrowing  youth."  We  may  observe,  that  this  young 
student  had  not  yet  made  his  Confession,  and  still  had  already 
received  a  full  pardon ;  for  though  he  had  said  nothing  with  his 
tongue,  he  had  spoken  much  with  his  heart.  To  use  the  expres 
sion  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  he  had  not  as  yet  put  forth  leaves,, 
but  as  he  detested  his  misdeeds  from  his  heart,  he  had  already 
gathered  in  the  fruit  of  pardon,  and  nothing  now  remained  for  him 
*  Ilistor.,  lib.  v.  Mirac.,  cap.  10. 


3PO  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  do,  save  to  fulfil  the  obligation  of  subjecting  them  to  the  sacra 
mental  absolution.  Those  who  in  their  Confessions  are  so  taken 
up  with  what  they  have  to  tell  that  they  scarcely  attend  to  the 
solid  fruit  of  repentance,  may  hereby  learn  a  useful  lesson. 

319.  It  must  further  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  repentance 
must  be  effectual,  if  it  is  to  produce  in  the  soul  that  purity  which 
Confession  is  calculated  to  impart.  Eficctual  or  efficacious 
repentance  is  that  which  is  accompanied  by  a  serious  and  firm 
resolve  not  to  fall  again  into  the  same  faults ;  for,  as  Lactantius 
has  it,  "To  do  penance  is  simply  and  solely  to  protest  our 
resolution  of  sinning  no  more."*  And  St.  Gregory,  combining 
with  greater  accuracy  the  two  essentials  of  true  repentance,  says : 
"  That  to  repent  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  to  grieve'  over  the 
evil  we  have  done,  and  not  to  do  again  the  evil  that  we  grieve 
over.  Forasmuch  as  he  that  mourns  over  his  sins,  yet  continues 
to  commit  them,  either  knows  not  what  repentance  really  is,  or 
else  acts  as  if  he  did  not  know."t  These  pithy  and  practical  say 
ings  may  well  furnish  grave  matter  of  doubt  to  certain  pious  people, 
who  come  again  and  again  to  Confession  with  the  self-same  sins, 
although  these  may  not,  perhaps,  be  wholly  voluntary.  Such 
persons  should  consider  that  if  their  sorrow  were  as  efficacious 
as  it  should  be,  it  would  naturally  have  a  strong  tendency  to 
diminish  the  future  number  of  these  faults ;  it  would  strengthen 
and  steady  their  wills ;  and  it  would  (at  least  in  course  of  time) 
bear  witness  to  itself  by  a  certain  amendment,  so  as  to  bring 
them  at  length  to  the  unblemished  purity  after  which  they  should 
aspire  by  means  of  this  great  Sacrament.  It  has  been  well  said 
by  St.  Ambrose  :  "  in  order  that  our  past  sins  be  not  imputed  to  us, 
and  that  we  be  considered  as  innocent  of  them,  sorrow  and  tears 
are  not  enough ;  amendment  also  must  be  required. "J 

*  Agere  pcenitentiam  nihil  aliud  est,  quam  profiteri  et  affirmare,  se  ulterius 
non  peccaturum.  Inst.it.,  cap.  15. 

t  Pcenitentiam  agere,  est,  perpetrata  mala  plangere,  et  plangenda  non  per- 
petrave  :  nam  qui  sic  alia  deplorat,  ut  tamen  alia  committal,  adhuc  poenitentiam 
agere  aut  dissimulat,  aut  ignorat.  Homil  34,  in  Evang. 

%  Qui  agit  pcenitentiam,  non  solum  diluere  lacrymis  debet  peccatum  suum  ; 
sed  etiam  emendatioribus  factis  operire  et  tegere  delicata  superiora,  ut  ei  nou 
imputetur  peccatum.  De  Pcenit.  lib.  ij. 


CONDITIONS  OF  CONFESSION.  301 

320.  The  same  Cesarius  relates  an  awful  occurrence  which 
took  place  at  Paris  shortly  before  he  published  the  narration  in 
his  writings.*  There  was  in  this  great  metropolis  a  Canon  of  the 
Church  of  Notre-Dame,  who  was  a  Priest  in  name,  it  is  true,  but 
certainly  not  in  the  practice  of  the  virtues  becoming  his  holy 
state.  This  Canon  being  at  the  point  of  death,  entered  into 
himseli,  acknowledged  the  wretched  state  of  his  soul,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  really  penitent  and  wholly  changed  man.  Having  sum 
moned  his  Confessor,  he  accused  himself,  with  abundant  tears, 
of  all  his  sins,  and  received  the  Holy  Viaticum  and  Extreme 
Unction  with  every  outward  token  of  piety.  He  then  gently 
breathed  out  his  soul  in  peace.  After  his  decease,  a  magnificent 
burial  service  was  prepared,  and  the  day  appointed  for  it  was  so- 
fine,  that  it  looked  as  if  heaven  and  earth  were  leagued  together 
in  order  to  enhance  the  pomp  of  the  funeral  obsequies.  Every 
one  deemed  him  the  happiest  man  that  had  ever  appeared  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  since,  after  having  enjoyed  this  world  to  the 
lull,  he  had  secured  for  himself  the  glory  of  Paradise  by  so  happy 
a  death.  Such  was  the  common  talk;  for  man  sees  what  is 
outside,  but  God  beholds  what  lies  hid  within. t  In  a  few  days 
time  the  unhappy  Canon  appeared  to  a  servant  of  God,  and 
brought  him  the  sad  news  that  he  was  damned.  "  But  how  so  ?" 
asked  the  holy  man,  quite  astounded ;  "  you  confessed  with 
sorrow  and  tears,  and  received  the  holy  Sacraments  with  devo 
tion !"  "True,"  said  the  lost  soul,  "I  did  confess,  and  I  was- 
sorry,  yet  not  with  an  efficacious  sorrow,  since  my  will,  in  the 
very  act  of  repenting,  felt  itself  spurred  on  to  sin  afresh ;  and  I 
thought  it  quite  impossible  that,  if  restored  to  health,  I  should 
not  return  to  that  which  I  so  dearly  loved.  So  that,  while  I 
detested  the  evil  I  had  committed,  I  had  no  earnest  and  firra 
purpose  of  renouncing  it."  Having  said  this,  he  disappeared. 
It  is  not  our  intention  to  carry  dismay  into  the  minds  of  our 
readers  by  recording  this  event,  for  as  we  suppose  them  to  be 
devout  and  spiritual  persons,  they  doubtless  lead  lives  free  from.' 

*  Lib.  ii.,  Mirac.,  cap.  15. 

t  Homo  videt  ea,  quoe  parent ;   Dominus   autem  intuetur  cor.     I   Reg.,, 
xvi.  7. 


302  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

mortal  sin,  and  are  far  removed  from  all  danger  of  losing  their 
souls  through  bad  Confessions.  We  would  only  remind  them 
that  their  frequent  confession  of  slight  faults,  unless  accompanied 
with  an  efficacious  repentance,  joined  to  a  firm  and  earnest 
purpose  of  amendment,  will  not  avail  to  cleanse  their  souls  of 
these  stains,  nor  produce  reform  of  life ;  nor  will  it  help  them  to 
acquire  that  purity  of  conscience  which  is  so  necessary  for  such 
as  would  make  progress  in  Christian  perfection.  St.  Augustine  is 
most  explicit  on  this  point.  He  says  that  without  true  repentance, 
there  never  can  be  a  real  change  of  life,  whether  the  sins  we  com 
mit  be  great  or  small.* 


CHAPTER  III. 

SECOND  AND  THIRD  CONDITIONS  REQUIRED  FOR  CONFESSION, 
THAT  IT  MAY  BRING  TO  THE  SOUL  THE  DESIRED  DEGREE 
OF  PURITY. 

321.  IN  order  that  the  repentance  of  which  we  are  speaking  may 
avail  to  cleanse  the  soul  thoroughly  of  all  its  stains,  it  must  be  ac 
companied  by  a  sincere  humility ;  for  God  will  never  despise  a  con 
trite  heart,  when  He  sees  that  it  is  humbled. t  Hence  St.  Thomas 
teaches  that  Confession  should  be  humble,  as  it  should  ever  result 
in  a  sense  of  self-abasement  at  the  sight  of  our  faults,  making  us 
own  that  we  are  full  of  weakness,  infirmity,  and  wretchedness.  J 
Let  the  penitent  consider  the  confession  of  the  Publican,  and  in 
it  he  will  find  an  exact  model  of  the  humility  and  lowliness  of 
mind  required  by  this  Sacrament.  The  Publican  looked  upon 
himself  as  one  of  the  greatest  sinners  in  the  world.  §  He  durst  not 

*  Nee  quemquam  putes  ab  errore  ad  veritatem,  vel  a  quocumque  suo  magno, 
vel  parvo  peccato,  ad  correctionem,  sine  pcenitenti§,  posse  transire.  Ep.  ad 
Vincentium.  In  fine. 

t  Cor  contritum  et  humiliatum  Deus  non  despicies.     Psal.  1.  19. 

%  In  abjectione  sui  terminatur  (scilicet  confessio) ;  et  quantum  ad  hoc  debet 
esse  humilis,  ut  se  miserum  confiteatur  et  infirmum.  Sup.  3  part.  q.  9.  art.  4. 

§  Domine,  propitius  esto  mihi  peccatori.     Luc.  xviij.  13. 


SECOND  AND  THIRD  CONDITIONS.  303 

so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  but  held  them  downcast,  and, 
with  shame  on  his  countenance,  fixed  them  on  the  ground.  He 
.smote  his  breast,  and  thus  moved  God  to  compassion,  appeased 
His  wrath  and  obtained  His  pardon.  Such  are  the  sentiments 
wherewith  we  should  approach  the  holy  tribunal  of  penance  ;  for, 
as  St.  Augustine  says,  the  inward  shame  which  we  feel  at  the 
sight  of  our  offences  has  a  large  share  in  obtaining  our  pardon ; 
and  it  is  out  of  mercy  to  us  that  God  has  decreed,  that  in  order 
to  obtain  forgiveness,  it  should  not  be  enough  to  repent  in  secret, 
and  be  seen  by  Him  alone  ;  but  that  we  must  express  our  sorrow 
at  the  feet  of  the  Priest,  and  thus  be  covered  with  that  most 
wholesome  confusion,  which  is  of  so  great  avail  to  obtain  pardon 
for  our  sins.* 

322.  St.  John  Chrysostom  observes  that  this  inward  humility 
springs  naturally,  as  it  were,  from  Confession,  if  only  it  be  duly 
made.t  The  reason  of  this  is  plain ;  as,  in  confessing  our  sins  in 
a  fitting  manner,  we  acknowledge  before  God  the  evil  we  have 
done  in  sinning,  the  greatness  of  the  God  whom  we  have  offended, 
and  our  own  vileness  and  audacity  in  daring  to  insult  a  God  of 
so  great  majesty.  Hence  the  soul,  like  a  criminal  in  the  presence 
of  an  offended  Sovereign,  humbles  itself  before  the  Lord,  owns 
its  abjection,  is  filled  with  confusion,  and,  detesting  its  misdeeds, 
implores  forgiveness.  The  soul  thus  humbled  before  God,  pre 
sents  so  touching  an  object  in  His  sight,  that  instantly  He  is 
roused  to  compassionate  pity,  forgives  the  transgressions  of  the 
culprit,  and  hastens  in  all  tenderness  to  clasp  him  lovingly  to 
His  bosom,  to  treat  him  not  as  a  criminal,  nor  as  one  who  has 
ever  been  guilty,  but  as  a  darling  child.  {  With  such  humble 
contrition,  with  sorrowing  confusion,  then,  should  the  spiritual 
man  draw  nigh  to  the  laver  of  Confession;  and  he  should  rest 

*  Qui  per  vos  peccastis,  per  vos  erubescatis.  Erubescentia  enim  ipsa  partem 
habet  remissionis.  Ex  misericordia  enim  hoc  praecepit  Dominus  ut  neminem 
poeniteret  in  occulto  :  in  hoc  enim,  quod  per  seipsutn  dicit  sacerdoti,  et  eru- 
bescentiam  vincit  timore  offensi,  fit  venia  criminis.  De  Vera  et  Falsa  Pcenit., 
cap.  10. 

t  Si  confessus  fueris  peccatum  tuum,  sicut  oportet  confiteri,  humiliatur  anima, 
Horn.  9  in  Ep.  ad  Hebr. 

J  Cor  contritum  et  humiliatum,  Dens,  non  despicies.     Psal.  I.  19. 


304  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

assured  that  our  Redeemer,  beholding  us  to  be  in  these  good  dis 
positions,  will  shower  down  His  precious  blood  in  such  abund 
ance,  as  to  cleanse  us  from  all  stain,  and  render  us  whiter  and 
purer  than  the  lily  or  the  hyacinth. 

323.  But  here  let  us  observe  that  the  humility,  which  should 
ever  accompany  sorrow  for  sin,  is  not  a  false  humility  :  this,  far 
from  obtaining,  would  only  hinder,  the  pardon  of  our  sins.  Now,, 
humility  is  false,  whenever  it  is  not  joined  with  a  strong  and  firm 
hope  of  obtaining  forgiveness.  But  to  avoid  all  mistake,  let  us- 
proceed  with  method.  There  are,  then,  two  sorts  of  humility ; 
one  is  the  gift  of  the  bountiful  hands  of  God,  the  other  comes- 
from  the  crafty  hands  of  the  devil.  The  humility  which  is  God's- 
gift  brings  with  it,  indeed,  a  knowledge  of  our  sins  and  miseries,, 
but  has  this  property,  that  while  it  lowers  the  soul  in  its  own  esti 
mation,  it  raises  it  to  hope,  and  finally  leaves  it  in  great  calm,  and 
reposing  within  the  arms  of  the  Divine  Goodness.  The  humility, 
however,  which  is  counterfeit  and  from  the  devil,  brings  with  it,  irt 
like  manner,  a  knowledge  of  our  own  sins  and  weakness  ;  but  it 
has  this  most  injurious  quality,  that  while  it  bends  low  the  soul, 
it  takes  away  hope,  or  at  least  diminishes  it,  and  leaves  us  full  of 
cowardice,  diffidence  and  discouragement.  The  humility  which 
is  God's  gift,  is  holy.  That  which  comes  from  the  devil,  is  wicked. 
The  former  disposes  us  for  pardon ;  the  latter  prevents  forgive 
ness.  Hence  a  third  condition  which  our  Confessions  should 
have  is  that  they  be  made  in  a  spirit  of  faith  and  hope :  they 
should  be  accompanied  with  a  sorrow  not  only  humble,  but  full1 
of  faith  and  trust  in  God.  "Let  thy  Confessions,"  says  St.  Bernard,. 
"  be  faithful,  that  so  thou  mayest  confess  in  hope  without  any  dis 
trust  of  forgiveness."*  Without  such  hope  we  should  never  obtain 
pardon,  were  we  to  seek  it  for  all  eternity;  because  sorrow  for 
sin  unaccompanied  by  hope  of  forgiveness,  so  far  from  appeasing, 
only  irritates  Divine  mercy.  Cain  repented  him  of  his  crime  after 
he  had  murdered  his  own  brother,  but  because  he  did  not  trust 
in  the  Divine  Goodness,  his  sorrow  availed  him  not :  My  iniquity,, 

*  Sit  autem  et  fidelis  confessio,  ut  confitearis  in  spe,  de  indulgentia  penituft 
non  diffidens.      Serm.  16  in  Cantic. 


SECOND  AND  THIRD  CONDITIONS.  305 

he  said  in  his  folly,  is  greater  than  may  deserve  pardon*  Judas 
Iscariot,  in  like  manner,  repented,  and  exclaimed,  with  the  tears 
flowing  down  his  cheeks,  I  have  sinned  in  betraying  innocent  bloodA 
And  further,  he  made  restitution  of  the  money  for  which  he  had 
bartered  away  the  precious  life  of  his  Divine  Master.  But  what 
•did  all  this  profit  him?  Nothing  whatever.  His  sorrow  was 
-devoid  of  any  gleam  of  hope ;  and  giving  himself  up  for  lost,  he 
•went  and  hanged  himself  on  a  tree. 

324.  Of  such  a  nature  is  the  repentance  of  certain  devout  per 
sons,  who,  after  falling  into  some  serious  fault,  or  seeing  that  they 
relapse  constantly  into  the  same  sins,  are  filled  with  bitterness, 
•distrust,  and  false  humility,  and  say  to  themselves,  "  God  will  not 
pardon  me ;  I  think  He  has  turned  His  back  upon  me,  for  my 
wickedness  is  beyond  endurance,  and  -I  am  continually  yielding 
to  the  same  faults."     This  is  the  contrition  of  Judas  and  of  Cain, 
devoid  of  all  trust  in  God's  goodness.  J 

325.  The  devil  appeared  once  to  Faverius,  a  disciple  of  St. 
Bruno,  and  monk  of  singular  goodness,  who  was  lying  dangerously 
ill  on  his  sick-bed,  and,  after  terrifying  him  in  other  ways,  began 
to  remind  him  of  his  sins,  and  to  throw  them  in  his  face  with 
Impudent  assurance.     The  Servant  of  God  replied  that  he  had 
already  confessed  these  sins  and  received  absolution,  and  there 
fore  had  every  cause  to  trust  that  God  had  pardoned  him.     "Con 
fessed  your  sins  !  Confessed  your  sins  !"  replied  the  fiend.    "  You 
have  not  told  all ;  you  have  not  made  a  proper  Confession ;  you 
have  not  explained  the  circumstances  of  your  sins.     Your  Con 
fessions  are  all  invalid;   they  are  good  for  nothing;   they  will 
serve  only  to  make  your  judgment  the  heavier."     The  holy  monk, 
thus  reminded  of  faults  shown  to  him  by  the  fiend  in  that  accursed 
light  which  makes  us  see  things  in  a  false  medium,  and  which 
represents  God  as  always  using  fire  and  the  knife  in  His  treat 
ment  of  sick  souls,  was  greatly  alarmed  and  began  to  be  tor 
tured  with  the  most  agonising  scruples ;  being  so  horror-stricken 
and  full  of  dismay  that  he  was  on  the  point  of  falling  headlong 

*  Major  est  iniquitas  mea,  quam  ut  veniam  merear.     Gen.  iv.  13. 
f  Peccavi,  tradens  sanguinem  justum.     Matth.  xvij.  4. 
%  Major  est  iniquitas  mea,  quam  ut  veniam  merear.     Gen.  iv.  13. 

20 


306  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

into  the  abyss  of  despair.  But  the  Blessed  Virgin,  ever  the  true 
Mother  of  Mercy,  who  forsakes  not  such  as  are  really  devoted  to 
her,  appeared  to  him  most  opportunely  at  this  terrible  moment, 
with  her  Divine  Infant  in  her  arms,  and  addressed  him  as  follows  : 
"  What  fearest  thou,  Faverius  ?  wherefore  lose  heart  ?  Hope,  and 
be  of  good  cheer ;  thou  hast  all  but  reached  the  port.  All  thy 
sins  have  been  forgiven  thee  by  my  most  winning  Child.  Of  this 
I  give  thee  my  assurance."*  At  these  words  the  racking  and 
craven  anguish  felt  by  the  dying  man  at  the  thought  of  his  sinsr 
gave  place  to  a  humble,  confiding,  peaceful  sorrow ;  and  shortly 
after  he  breathed  his  last  in  great  calm  of  soul.  The  reader  may 
hence  perceive  the  difference  there  is  between  contrition  which 
is  God's  gift,  and  that  which  comes  from  the  devil.  This  latter  is 
a  sorrow  full  of  diffidence  and  disquiet,  the  former  is  a  trusting 
and  peaceful  repentance.  Let  all,  then,  ever  strive  after  it,  and 
take  care  to  possess  it  whenever  they  go  to  Confession ;  it  alone 
appeases  God,  obtains  pardon  for  sin,  and  leads  the  soul  to  perfect 
purity. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CONDITIONS  REQUIRED  IN  ORDER  THAT 
CONFESSION  MAY  LEAD  TO  PERFECTION  THROUGH  EXQUISITE 
PURITY  OF  SOUL. 

326.  BESIDES  the  conditions  we  have  just  explained,  in  order  that 
Confession  may  produce  in  the  soul  the  purity  we  have  already 
mentioned  and  dispose  it  to  perfection,  it  must  further  be  entire 
and  simple.  Integrity  of  Confession  requires,  says  the  Angelic 
Doctor,  that  no  sin  be  omitted  with  advertence.t  If  the  sin  be 
mortal,  such  integrity  is  necessary  for  eternal  salvation ;  for  any 
deadly  sin  purposely  omitted  will  never  be  blotted  out  of  the 

*  Quid  times,  animumque  despondes?  in  portu  navigas.  Omnia  tibi  ah- 
hoc  pulcherrimo  puero  peccata  condonantur,  tibique  esse  remissa  confirmo. 
Ex  Annal.  Carthus. — Henr.  Granius,  In  Prato  Exemp. 

i  Ut  non  subtrahatur  aliquid  de  his,  quse  manifestanda  sunt ;  et  contra  hoc 
dicitur  integra.  Ut  supra. 


FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CONDITIONS.  307 

soul.  If  the  sin  be  venial  it  is  necessary  to  confess  it,  if  we 
would  make  that  true  and  rapid  advance  in  perfection  of  which 
we  are  at  present  speaking.  Should  a  dastardly  fear  and  a  mis 
placed  shame  withhold  any  one  from  making  known  to  his  Con 
fessor  a  single  mortal  sin,  he  will,  on  this  account  alone,  remain 
under  God's  displeasure  and  in  danger  of  eternal  perdition.  If 
these  same  feelings  keep  a  devout  soul  from  manifesting  to  the 
Priest  some  venial  fault,  or  particular  imperfection,  they  will  be 
the  cause  of  slow  progress,  and  of  remissness  in  the  path  of  the 
perfect  life.  Hence,  devout  persons  must  aim,  in  their  Confes 
sions,  not  only  at  such  integrity  as  is  of  precept  and  essential  to 
salvation,  but  also  at  that  which  is  of  mere  counsel  and  regards 
perfection ;  if,  that  is,  they  be  truly  desirous  of  making  real  pro 
gress  in  the  spiritual  life. 

327.  St.  Augustine,  treating  of  Confession,  says  :  "  How  shall 
the  physician  heal  a  sore  if  the  patient  refuse  to  show  it  ?*  And 
how  can  your  Confessor,  who  is  your  soul's  physician,  heal  you 
of  the  sins  which  you  are  continually  committing,  unless  you  dis 
cover  them  to  him  ?  How  can  he  free  you  from  those  passions 
to  which  you  are  subject,  if  you  hide  them  from  him  ?  how 
defend  you  from  the  temptations  with  which  the  devil  assails  you, 
and  urges  you  forward  to  the  precipice  down  which  he  strives  to 
cast  you,  if  you  will  not  lay  them  bare  before  him  ?"  "  What 
weakness  is  this,"  says  the  same  Saint  in  another  place,  "  to  be 
ashamed  to  tell  what  you  are  not  ashamed  to  do  ?t  Is  it  not  far 
better  to  suffer  now,  in  the  presence  of  one  man  only,  some  slight 
confusion,  which  will  save  you  from  the  overwhelming  shame  that 
will  fall  to  your  lot,  when,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  so  many 
myriads  and  myriads  will  be  made  to  know  all  your  sinfulness  ?"J 
"  The  more  so,"  adds  the  Saint,  "  since,  by  now  concealing  your 
faults  through  a  misplaced  shame,  and  by  omitting  to  confess  them 
even  for  the  sake  of  saving  your  soul,  you  will  one  day  have  for 

*  Quomodo  potest  medicus  sanare  vulnus,  quod  segrotus  ostendere  nequit? 
Serm.  66,  De  Tempore. 

t  Heu  cur  erubescis  confiteri,  quse  facere  nunquam  erubuisti?  Lib.  ij.,  De 
Visit.  Infirmorum,  cap.  5. 

£  Melius  est  coram  uno  aliquantulum  ruboris  tolerare,  quam  in  die  judicii, 
coram  tot  millibus  hominum  gravi  compulsa  notatum  tabescere. 


3o8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Judge  and  Avenger  of  these  very  sins  no  less  a  person  than  God 
Himself."* 

328.  It  may  be  further  observed,  that  if  we  form  the  habit  of 
concealing  faults,  venial  though  they  be,  we  expose  ourselves  to 
the  danger  of  having,  at  the  hour  of  death,  to  withstand  the  fierce 
assaults  of  our  hellish  foes,  who,  at  that  last  moment,  avail 
themselves  of  every  slight  advantage,  and  bring  up  against  us  all 
our  sins,  mortal  or  venial,  to  throw  our  poor  soul  into  consterna 
tion  ;  and  if  they  chance  to  find  sins  not  confessed,  even  though 
these  be  not  looked  upon  by  us  as  mortal,  they  exaggerate  and 
magnify  them  in  their  baleful  light,  and  make  them  appear  greater 
than  they  really  are,  in  order  to  force  the  sinner  into  discour 
agement,  dejection,  and  despair  of  God's  goodness.  Venerable 
Bede  relatest  that  a  certain  soldier,  who  was  a  great  favourite  of 
king  Coered,  was  often  exhorted  by  him  to  go  to  Confession,  as 
the  king  was  aware  of  the  ungodly  life  the  man  was  leading,  and 
with  how  many  sins  he  was  defiled.  But  the  soldier  parried  all 
the  pious  king's  endeavours  by  promising  to  fulfil  his  duty  at  some 
more  convenient  season.  Being  at  length  seized  with  a  danger 
ous  disease,  the  king,  for  the  love  he  bore  him,  went  in  person  to 
visit  him,  and  profited  by  the  occasion  to  exhort  him  anew  to 
settle  his  accounts  with  God  by  an  exact  Confession.  The  sick 
man  replied  that  he  meant  to  confess  on  his  recovery,  because 
he  feared  that  if  he  should  confess  before  getting  well,  his  friends 
might  say  he  did  it  out  of  the  fear  of  death.  The  king  most 
graciously  returned  to  pay  him  a  second  visit,  and  on  his  entering 
the  room  the  invalid  began  to  exclaim,  "  Sire,  what  do  you  want 
with  me  now  ?  you  can  give  me  no  help  !"  "  What  folly  is  this  ?" 
replied  the  king  in  an  indignant  tone.  "  No  folly,"  replied  the 
dying  man,  "but  the  very  truth.  Know  then  that  but  a  few 
minutes  ago  there  came  into  the  room  two  youths  of  most  engag 
ing  appearance,  who  presented  me  with  a  book,  beautiful  indeed 
to  look  at,  but  very,  very  small  in  size.  In  it  I  saw  the  list  of  my 
good  deeds  registered ;  but,  good  God  !  how  few  and  how  trifling 

*  Qui  peccata  stia  occultat,  et  erubescit  salubriter  confiteri,  Deum,  quern 
judicem  habebit,  habebit  et  ultorem.     Serm.  66,  De  Tempore. 
f  Lib.  v.    Hist.  Eccl.,  cap.  id. 


FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CONDITIONS.  309 

they  are !  Behind  these  youths  appeared  a  group  of  infernal 
spirits,  horrible  to  behold,  one  of  whom  bore  on  his  shoulders  a 
vast  volume,  of  great  weight,  which  contained  the  list  of  my  sins 
written  in  dread  characters.*  I  read  there  not  only  my  grievous, 
but  even  my  most  trivial  offences — those  which  I  committed  in 
passing  thoughtt  At  the  first  appearance  of  this  frightful  vision 
the  chief  of  the  infernal  crew  said  to  these  two  angelic  youths, 
*  Whai  are  you  staying  here  for,  since  you  have  neither  part  nor 
lot  in  this  man,  who  is  already  our  prey?'  Take  him,  then, 
replied  the  latter,  'and  lead  him  whither  the  burden  of  his 
iniquities  is  weighing  him  down.'  At  these  words  they  dis. 
appeared.  Then  one  demon  dealt  me  a  thrust  with  a  fork  on  the 
head,  another  on  the  feet,  making  me  suffer  fearful  torments, 
and  I  now  feel  them  creeping  into  my  very  vitals,  whence  they 
will  soon  tear  out  my  wretched  soul."  Having  said  this,  he 
breathed  his  last  most  miserably.  The  reader  should  mark  well 
that  the  devils  reproached  this  wrenched  man  with  the  sins  he  had 
committed  by  passing  thoughts,  J  although  they  were  well  aware 
that  he  was  laden  with  a  multitude  of  the  most  grievous  sins, 
which  would  have  sufficed  for  his  damnation.  Think,  then,  what 
he  will  do  to  devout  persons,  to  whom  he  can  recall  only  their 
venial  sins,  should  they  suffer  an  idle  fear  to  close  their  lips  in  the 
sacred  tribunal !  He  will  surely  exaggerate  them,  and  triumph  on 
account  of  them.  Certain  it  is  that  the  enemy  has  often  made 
use  of  venial  sins,  at  the  hour  of  death,  as  powerful  engines  of 
war,  for  the  undoing  of  the  servants  of  God.  Ecclesiastical 
history  bears  witness  to  the  truth  of  this  statement.  The  devout 
person  should  then  open  out  his  several  failings  as  often  as  he 
goes  to  Confession,  and  subduing  all  repugnance  or  shame  by 
which  the  devil  seeks  to  dishearten  him,  should  wash  away  all 
his  faults  in  the  Blood  of  Christ.  Nay,  more,  as  I  have  remarked 
so  lately,  he  should  discover  to  his  Confessor  all  the  temptations 
of  the  demon,  and  all  his  own  evil  inclinations.  Then,  indeed, 

*  Proferens  codicem  horrendse  visionis,   et  magnitudinis  enormis,   et  pon- 
deris  pcene  importabilis. 

f  Quern   cum  legissem,   inveni  omnia  scelera,  non  solum  quse   verbo,    et 
opere,  sed  etiam  quae  tenuissima  cogitatione  peccavi. 

*  Quse  tenuissima  cogitatione  peccaverat. 


310  GUIDE  TO   THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

will  he  go  forth  from  this  sacred  laver  pure  and  white  as  is  the 
snow. 

329.  Finally,  Confession  must  be  simple,  without  duplicity,  or 
excuses,  or  cloaking  our  failings.  This  is  the  fifth  condition  we 
have  purposed  to  explain.  "Confession  should  be  made  with 
simplicity,"  says  St.  Bernard ;  "  hence  we  must  not  excuse  the  evil 
intent  whereby  we  have  sinned,  for  to  do  this  is  not  to  confess, 
but  rather  to  hide  and  excuse  faults.  This  is  not  to  appease,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  to  irritate  the  Divine  Majesty."  And  the  holy 
Abbot  adds  further,  that  we  must  not  wander  from  the  sin  con 
fessed  :  in  other  words,  we  should  not  strive  to  excuse  our  sin,  or 
to  give  it  another  face ;  either  alleging  that  we  have  been  led  into 
it  by  the  persuasion  of  others  who  have  urged  us  on  to  do  evil, 
or  else  by  enlarging  on  the  occasions  which  have  tempted  us  to 
transgress :  as  it  is  not,  of  course,  possible  that  any  man  should 
fall  into  sin  against  his  will.  To  act  thus  would  show  want  of 
gratitude  for  God's  goodness,  since,  despite  His  readiness  to  for 
give  every  transgression,  we  behave  towards  Him  with  insincerity 
and  duplicity.  *  Women,  even  those  who  are  devout,  are  too  apt 
to  commit  this  fault  in  their  Confessions  :  they  like  to  tell  long 
stories,  into  which  they  interweave  the  history  of  their  sins  at  full 
length ;  the  upshot  of  which  is,  that  they  lay  the  blame  on  their 
neighbours,  or  on  such  of  their  household,  servants,  or  other 
people,  as  may  have  given  occasion  to  their  transgressions.  At 
times,  too,  it  happens  that — overcome  by  a  certain  shame  which 
they  feel  more  than  others — though  unable  to  gloss  over  the  mis 
deed  in  itself,  they  excuse  their  intention,  giving  it  some  colour 
of  goodness,  or  at  least  making  it  appear  less  bad  than  it  really 
was.  The  Director  should  warn  them,  for  God's  sake,  to  be  on 
their  guard  against  such  double  dealing,  as  this  mode  of  confess 
ing  sins  is  an  excusing,  rather  than  accusing,  themselves  of  their 
faults.  In  this  manner  of  confessing  sins  they  run  great  risk  of 

*  Oportet  confessionem  esse  simplicem.  Non  intentionem  (forte  quia  latet 
homines)  excusare  delectet,  si  sit  rea  :  nee  Isevigare  culpam,  quse  gravis  est ; 
nee  alieno  adumbrare  suasu,  cum  invitum  nemo  coegerit.  Primum  illud  non 
confessio  est,  sed  defensio ;  nee  placat,  sed  provocat.  Sequens  monstrat  in- 
gratitudinem.  Ex  quo  minor  reputatur  culpa,  eo  minuitur  et  gloria  indultoris. 
Serin.  16,  In  Cant. 


FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CONDITIONS.  311 

not  receiving  pardon  at  all,  or  at  least  of  not  gaming  from 
this  Sacrament  that  purity  of  conscience  which  they  hoped  tc 
receive. 

330.  To  conclude,  then.  The  devout  soul  should  approach 
this  Sacrament  with  an  efficacious  sorrow  for  sin,  to  which  must 
be  joined  a  profound  humility  and  an  unshaken  trust  in  God's 
mercy.  All  should  declare,  with  great  simplicity,  and  without 
palliation  or  excuse,  every  single  sin,  as  well  as  every  evil  dispo 
sition  which  generally  gives  rise  to  sins.  By  doing  this 
frequently,  especially  when  burdened  with  some  notable  trans 
gression,  not  only  shall  we  be  wholly  cleansed,  but  we  shall 
moreover  gain  strength  against  similar  falls  for  the  future.  Thus, 
by  means  of  this  holy  sacrament,  will  be  obtained  that  purity  of 
heart  which  is  the  ultimate  disposition  to  the  love  of  God  and  to 
our  own  perfection ;  as  we  have  already  shown  in  the  first  Chapter. 
To  this  may  be  added  another  most  important  reflection;  it  is 
this:  that  Confession  made  frequently,  and  in  the  way  specified 
above,  is  a  most  effectual  means  of  disarming  our  ghostly  enemy, 
and  thus  disabling  him  from  doing  us  injury,  and  hindering  our 
spiritual  progress.  It  is  easy  to  account  for  this,  since  all  the 
power  which  the  enemy  has  over  us  comes  from  the  sins  that  we 
commit.  If  these  be  mortal,  they  put  him  in  full  possession  of 
our  souls ;  if  venial,  though  they  do  not  confer  a  dominion  on 
him,  still  they  embolden  him  to  attack  us  with  greater  vigour.  It 
thence  follows,  that  if  we  confess  duly  and  frequently,  the  soul 
will  be  habitually  free  from  sin ;  and  thus  the  devil  will  be  deprived 
of  all  dominion  over  us  and  will  have  no  courage  or  power  to 
harm  us;  so  that  we  shall  be  more  free  and  unshackled  in  our 
course  towards  perfection.  Cesarius  relates,*  that  a  theologian 
of  blameless  life,  being  about  to  die,  beheld  the  devil  lurking  in 
a  corner  of  his  room ;  and  he  addressed  the  fiend  in  the  words  of 
St.  Martin,  "What  art  thou  doing  here,  thou  cruel  beast ?"t  He 
then,  by  virtue  of  his  priestly  power,  commanded  the  evil  spirit 
to  declare  what  it  was  that  most  injured  him  and  his  fellow" 
in  this  world.  Though  thus  adjured,  the  devil  remained  silent, 
•and  gave  no  answer.  Not  allowing  himself  to  be  baffled,  the 

*  Lib.  ij.  Mir.,  cap.  38.  t  Qaid  hie  adstas,  cruenta  bestia? 


312  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Priest  conjured  the  demon,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  answer  him,, 
and  answer  with  truth.  The  fiend  thereupon  made  this  reply  i 
"  There  is  nothing  in  the  Church  which  does  us  so  much  harm, 
which  so  unnerves  our  power,  as  frequent  Confession."*  Hence, 
whoever  aspires  to  perfection,  should  confess  often,  and  see  that 
his  Confessions  are  good. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HOW   FAR  GENERAL  CONFESSIONS  HELP  US  TO  ACQUIRE   CLEANNESS 
OF    HEART,    AND    CONSEQUENTLY   TO   ATTAIN    TO    PERFECTION. 

331.  As  regards  General  Confession,  the  Director  will  bear  in. 
mind  the  following  maxim,  laid  down  by  most  theologians :  that 
to  some  it  is  necessary ;  to  others  it  is  injurious ;  and  to  some  again, 
advantageous.  It  is  necessary  to  all  who  in  their  former  Confes 
sions  have  failed  in  any  essential  point  of  the  Sacrament;  for 
instance,  by  wilfully  concealing  mortal  sins,  or  approaching  the 
sacred  tribunal  without  the  requisite  dispositions  of  sorrow  and 
good  purpose.  There  is  no  question  but  that  such  as  these  are 
bound  to  make  a  General  Confession,  at  least  for  the  time  over 
which  their  sacrilegious  Confessions  extend ;  for,  far  from  receiving, 
the  Sacrament,  they  have  done  it  great  injury  by  their  omissions, 
and  wilful  want  of  due  disposition.  And  hence,  as  their  sins  are 
nowise  blotted  out,  they  must  needs  be  submitted  anew  to  the 
judgment  of  the  Priest,  that  they  may  be  washed  away  in  the 
Blood  of  our  Saviour.  To  such,  a  General  Confession  is  a. 
means  without  which  they  cannot  be  saved.  But  we  are  con 
sidering  the  case  of  spiritual  persons  who  have  not  been  guilty  of 
these  sacrileges ;  hence  we  will  not  discuss  this  point.  To  some, 
General  Confession  would  be  prejudicial.  There  are  certaia 
timid  and  scrupulous  souls  who  have  already,  and  sufficiently, 
made  this  general  review  of  their  consciences;  who  have  even 
done  much  more  than  duty  required  of  them  on  this  head,  and 

*  Nihil  est  in  ecclesisl,  quod  tantum  nobis  noceat,  quod  sic  virtutes  nostras 
enervet,  quam  frequens  confessio. 


GENERAL  CONFESSION. 


313 


yet  they  cannot  be  at  rest.  They  wish  to  recommence  their  Con. 
fessions  from  the  beginning,  and  to  go  again  over  the  same  story, 
hoping  thus  to  calm  the  fears  and  alarms  that  agitate  their  hearts. 
The  Director  must  not  listen  to  these  people,  since,  in  their  case, 
to  repeat  a  General  Confession  is  much  the  same  thing  as  stir 
ring  up  a  hornets'  nest,  and  would  result  in  their  being  stung  more 
than  ever  with  thousands  of  scruples,  and  wounded  all  over  with 
fears  and  troubles  of  spirit.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  the  alarms 
and  terrors  which  agitate  these  scrupulous  souls  are  not  grounded 
on  solid  reasons,  but  on  baseless  apprehensions,  which  the  remem 
brance  of  past  sins  can  serve  only  to  encourage,  and  to  quicken 
so  as  to  double  the  disturbance  in  the  mind.  Hence  it  happens 
that  the  more  these  people  seek  to  attain  to  peace  by  means 
of  Confessions  repeated  over  and  over  again,  the  further  are 
they  from  finding  that  peace.  The  only  way  of  calming  the 
troubled  mind  of  such  penitents,  is  to  command  them  most  im 
peratively  never  more  to  mention  their  past  sins,  and  to  compel 
them  to  submit  in  obedience  to  the  decision  of  him  who  holds 
the  place  of  God. 

332.  The  thought  that  agitates  these  poor  souls,  and  by  its, 
continual  recurrence  inflicts  on  them  a  kind  of  martyrdom,  mostly 
takes  the  following  shape  : — "  If  in  my  General  or  Particular 
Confessions  I  have  omitted  some  one  mortal  sin,  what  will 
become  of  me  ?"  Hence,  the  Director  must  see  that  this  empty 
phantom  be  banished  from  their  minds,  and  must  drive  from 
their  hearts  these  groundless  fears  by  quoting  the  teaching  of  St. 
Thomas  (with  which  all  theologians  agree)  that  mortal  sins 
omitted  in  Confession,  through  forgetfulness,  after  a  reasonable 
diligence  in  the  examination  of  conscience,  are  indirectly  re 
mitted  by  means  of  sacramental  absolution,  as  it  is  impossible 
to  blot  out  one  mortal  sin  without  blotting  out  all  the  others. 
Light  and  darkness  are  not  more  incompatible  than  are  sanctify 
ing  grace  and  mortal  sin.  And  as  the  sunbeams  cannot  partly 
chase  away,  and  partly  blend  with,  the  mists  of  night,  which  must 
vanish  as  soon  as  the  sun  is  seen  on  the  horizon ;  so  too,  sane 
tifying  grace,  when  it  enters  into  the  soul,  is  incompatible  with 
grievous  sins :  it  cannot  drive  out  some  and  leave  others  un- 


314  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

affected ;  but  must  needs  make  all  vanish  from  before  it.  Hence 
the  sinner  having  been  restored  to  grace  by  means  of  a  proper 
Confession,  all  his  mortal  sins  whatsoever,  whether  he  have 
mentioned  them  or  forgotten  them,  are  wholly  cancelled.  Thus 
the  Director  will  tell  such  penitents  to  be  of  good  cheer,  for  sup 
posing  what  causes  them  such  alarm  to  have  really  happened, 
—granting,  namely,  that  their  memory  may  have  failed  to 
retain  such  and  such  sins,  which  have  slipped  from  among  the 
crowd  of  many  others, — still  they  are  forgiven ;  and  in  spite  of  this 
failing  of  the  memory  the  penitent  is  in  God's  grace  and  on  the 
path  of  salvation.  With  the  assurance  that  this  is  the  case,  the 
Confessor  will  restore  peace  and  calm.* 

333.  Lastly,  some  there  are  for  whom  it  is  highly  useful  to 
make  a  General  Confession.  For  instance,  such  as  have  not  yet 
made  one  in  all  their  lives ;  and,  as  a  general  rule,  it  will  be 
found  a  great  help  to  devout  persons  to  make  one  every  year, 
beginning  from  the  last  they  have  made.  Some  recent  authors, 
I  am  aware,  have  disapproved  of  this  praiseworthy  usage,  but 
without  sufficient  grounds ;  as  the  rule  of  the  venerable  Order  of 
Citeaux  (sanctioned  as  it  is  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs)  obliges  all 
those  who  follow  it  to  make  an  annual  General  Confession.  St. 
Ignatius,  too,  has  prescribed  it  in  his  Constitutions  to  his  children ; 
and  St.  Bonaventure  recommends  the  practice  to  his  Religious,  t 
St.  Thomas,  discussing  with  the  strictest  logical  method  this  very 
point,  approves  of  the  practice  highly.J  And  Benedict  XL 
enjoins  Confessors  of  Religious  Orders  to  advise  their  penitents 
to  make  this  yearly  General  Confession  to  their  Parish  Priests, 
not  as  a  matter  of  duty,  but  of  counsel  merely.  §  Lastly,  we  may 
allege  in  favour  of  this  holy  custom  the  example  of  so  many 
Saints,  who  have  not  only  commended  it  in  others,  but  have 
themselves  practised  it.  Thus  we  read  of  the  holy  Bishop 

*  Ille  qui  confitetur,  veniam  consequitur,  nisi  sit  fictus.  Sed  ille  qui  con- 
fitetur  omnia  peccata,  quee  in  memoria  habet,  aliqucrum  oblitus,  non  ex  hoc 
est  fictus,  quia  ignorantiam  facti  patitur,  quae  a  peccato  excusat.  Ergo  veniam 
consequitur.  Et  sic  peccata,  quae  oblita  sunt,  relaxantur  j  cum  impium  sit 
climidiam  sperare  veniam.  Suppl.  3  part.,  q.  10,  art.  5. 

t  In  Regul.  Novit.,  cap.  3.  J  Dist.  4,  17,  q.  3.  art.  4. 

§  In  Extravag.,  Inter  cunctas,  s.  Ceterum. 


GENERAL  CONFESSION.  315 

Eligius,  that,  desirous  of  more  exact  purity  of  conscience,  he  made 
a  General  Confession  to  a  Priest  of  all  the  sins  he  had  committed 
from  his  earliest  childhood,  after  which  he  began  to  advance 
with  greater  earnestness  and  fervour  of  spirit  in  the  way  of  per 
fection.*  It  is  related  in  the  life  of  St.  Engelbert,  that  having 
retired  to  his  domestic  Oratory  in  company  with  another  Bishop, 
he  accused  himself  before  him  of  all  the  sins  he  had  committed, 
with  such  a  profusion  of  tears  that  they  flowed  down  copiously 
over  his  breast;  so  that  his  Confessor  was  no  less  edified  than 
astonished  at  the  heartiness  and  intensity  of  his  repentance.  The 
next  morning,  he  resumed  the  confession  of  certain  other  of  his 
failings  with  a  like  abundance  of  tears,  t  But  the  lives  of  the 
Saints  are  full  of  such  instances,  so  that  it  is  needless  to  relate 
more  of  the  same  description. 

334.  The  reason  for  which  the  Saints  so  highly  commended  this 
general  accusation,  not  only  of  all  the  sins  of  our  life,  but  of  those 
which  we  continue  to  commit  during  the  course  of  each  succeed 
ing  year,  is  precisely  that  which  has  been  so  fully  insisted  upon 
in  the  present  Article.  I  mean  to  say  that  a  General  Confession 
is  a  most  sure  means  of  acquiring  purity  of  heart  and  conscience, 
and  consequently  helps  much  to  the  attainment  of  perfection. 
For,  beholding  at  a  glance  all  the  faults  into  which  we  have  fallen, 
whether  during  our  whole  lives  or  in  the  course  of  the  past  year, 
we  must  needs  be  stirred  up  to  a  more  lively  contrition  than  can 
be  excited  by  the  recollection  of  those  ordinary  failings  which 
usually  form  the  matter  of  the  Confessions  which  are  called 
Particular,  as  contradistinguished  from  General.  Far  different, 
indeed,  is  the  confusion  and  humility  which  fills  the  mind 
at  the  sight  of  a  whole  legion  of  sins,  from  that  which  is 
occasioned  by  the  consciousness  of  some  single  fault  into  which 
we  have  been  but  lately  betrayed.  One  or  two  regiments  cannot 
have  that  power  against  the  enemy  which  is  possessed  by  the 
vast  serried  mass  of  the  battalions  of  which  an  army  consists. 
Exactly  thus,  one  or  two  faults  of  which  we  accuse  ourselves  in 
our  ordinary  Confessions,  cannot  have  the  force  which  the  whole 
host  of  our  failings  possess  to  subdue  our  hearts,  to  soften 
*  Surius.  In  Vita  S.  Eligii.  t  Idem.  In  Vita  S. 


316  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

them  into  perfect  contrition,  and  to  bring  us  to  a  deep  sense  of 
humility  and  inward  self-abasement.  The  good  King  Ezechias 
set  before  his  eyes  the  sins  he  had  committed  during  all  the  years 
of  his  life,  and  made  a  General  Confession  of  them  unto  God  ; 
and  by  so  doing  stirred  up  within  himself  a  great  bitterness  of 
soul ;  that  is,  a  great  sorrow  and  feeling  of  repentance.*  It  is 
plain  that  this  more  lively  repentance,  this  deeper,  inward,  and 
most  real  humility,  must  needs  have  more  power  to  cleanse  the 
soul  and  help  it  to  attain  more  speedily  to  purity  of  heart ;  and 
this  all  the  more,  as  the  purpose  of  amendment  is  commonly 
efficacious  in  the  exact  ratio  of  the  sorrow  we  conceive  for  sin, 
and  of  the  assistance  given  by  the  grace  of  God,  enabling  us  to  carry 
out  our  resolution  of  amendment.  Hence,  purity  of  conscience 
is  insured  not  only  as  regards  the  past,  but  the  future  also.  To- 
this  may  be  added,  that  the  Confessor  obtains  a  clearer  insight 
into  the  state  of  his  penitent.  He  can  appreciate  his  spiritual 
loss  and  gain.  He  sees  which  are  his  dominant  passions,  in  what 
virtues  he  fails  the  most,  and  to  what  faults  he  is  most  liable. 
He  is  thus  enabled  to  prescribe  more  special  means,  to  give 
advice  better  suited  to  the  particular  case,  to  suggest  remedies 
more  adapted  to  the  peculiar  needs  of  each  one.  Hence  we  may 
justly  infer  that  such  Confessions  are  a  most  effectual  means  to 
the  purification  and  consequent  perfection  of  the  soul. 

335.  Christ  Himself  has  been  pleased  to  give  us  a  striking 
illustration  of  this  doctrine  in  the  instance  of  that  well-known 
penitent,  Saint  Margaret  of  Cortona.t  Beholding  the  fervent 
conversion  of  this  once  sinful  woman,  our  Blessed  Lord  began  to 
instruct  and  encourage  her  in  divers  ways,  showing  Himself  to 
her,  overflowing  with  love  and  tender  compassion,  and  often  ad 
dressing  her  as  His  "  Poor  little  one  /"  One  day  the  holy  penitent, 
in  a  transport  of  that  confidence  which  is  the  natural  fruit  of  filial 
love,  said  to  Him,  "O  my  Lord,  Thou  always  callest  me  Thy 
'  poor  little  one.'  Am  I  ever  to  have  the  happiness  of  hearing 
Thy  divine  lips  call  me  by  the  sweet  name  of  'My  daughter?" 

*  Recogitabo  tibi  omnes  annos  meos,  in  amaritudine  animae  meee.  Isai. 
xxxv iij.  25. 

t  Francesco  Marchese.     Vita  di  S.  Margherita  da  Cortona,  cap.  7. 


GENERAL  CONFESSION.  317 

"Thou  art  not  yet  worthy  of  it,"  replied  our  Blessed  Saviour. 
"Before  thou  canst  receive  the  treatment  and  the  name  of  'Daugh 
ter,'  thou  must  more  thoroughly  cleanse  thy  soul  by  a  general 
accusation  of  all  thy  faults."  On  hearing  this,  Margaret  applied 
herself  to  searching  into  her  conscience ;  and  during  eight  days 
consecutively,  disclosed  her  sins  to  a  Priest,  by  means  of  sobs  and 
tears  rather  than  of  words.  After  her  Confession,  she  took  off  her 
veil,  put  a  rope  round  her  neck,  and  in  this  humble  attire  went 
to  receive  the  most  Holy  Body  of  the  Lord.  Scarce  had  she  par 
taken,  when  she  heard  most  clearly  in  her  inmost  soul  the  word 
<l  Daughter."  At  this  most  sweet  name,  to  hear  which  she  had 
longed  so  ardently,  she  was  rapt  at  once  in  an  ecstasy,  and  re 
mained  immersed,  as  it  were,  in  an  ocean  of  gladness  and  delight. 
On  recovering  from  her  most  happy  trance  she  began  to  exclaim, 
as  one  beside  herself,  "  Oh  !  sweet  word,  *  Daughter  !'  Oh  ! 
loving  name  !  Oh  !  word  full  of  joy !  Oh  !  sound  replete  with 
assurance,  '  Daughter  !' "  The  reader  may  thus  perceive  how 
much  a  General  Confession,  and  the  preparation  it  implies,  avails 
to  cleanse,  purify,  and  make  beautiful  the  soul;  since  by  its  means 
this  holy  woman  rose  from  the  vile  condition  of  a  servant,  in 
which  she  was  at  the  beginning  of  her  conversion,  to  the  honour 
able  rank  of  a  well-beloved  daughter.  So  that,  she  who  was  at  first 
gazed  upon  by  the  Redeemer's  pitying  glances,  was  afterwards 
contemplated  by  Him  with  love  and  most  tender  complacency. 
Therefore  devout  souls  will  do  well  to  confess  at  the  close  of  each 
year  the  sins  of  which  they  have  already  accused  themselves,  and 
Directors  should  require  annual  Confession  of  such  of  their  peni 
tents  as  aspire  to  a  spiritual  life.  For  persons  making  these 
yearly  Confessions,  with  sentiments  of  contrition  and  with  an  ear 
nest  desire  of  advancement,  cannot  but  attain  through  them  to  a 
greater  wakefulness  of  spiritual  faculties  and  to  a  more  undented 
purity  of  conscience. 

336.  I  remember  once  reading  that  a  Dominican  novice,  having 
one  night  fallen  asleep  near  the  altar,  heard  a  voice  calling  to 
him,  "  Go,  and  have  thy  tonsure  renewed."*  On  awaking,  the 

*  Vade,  et  iterum  rade  caput  tuura.  In  Vitis  Patrum  Prasdicatorum,  Part. 
iv.  c.  7. 


3i8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

youth  understood  how  God,  by  that  voice,  would  have  him  confess 
his  sins  again.  He  went  directly  to  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  St. 
Dominic,  and  repeated  his  last  Confession  with  greater  care,  and 
with  more  searching  accuracy  and  diligence.  Shortly  after,  he  re 
tired  to  rest.  In  the  midst  of  his  slumbers,  he  beheld  an  Angel 
coming  down  from  heaven,  bearing  in  his  hands  a  golden  crown, 
all  set  with  priceless  gems ;  and  the  Angel  winging  his  flight 
towards  him,  placed  this  crown  upon  his  head,  as  an  ornament  to 
his  brows.  Every  Director  may  give  the  like  warning  to  devout 
penitents.  They  too,  he  may  tell  them,  should  take  occasion  of 
the  approach  of  some  special  day  or  great  festival.  Let  him  say 
to  each  one  of  them,  "  *  Renew  thy  tonsure ;'  prepare  for  a  yearly 
Confession  which  may  cleanse  thy  soul,  and  render  it  wholly  fair 
and  bright  and  pure  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."  Then  let  him  help 
them  in  all  charity,  prescribing  such  remedies  and  giving  such 
warnings,  as  he  may  know  to  be  suitable  to  their  needs.  Thus  he 
will  have  the  consolation  of  seeing  them  crowned,  not  indeed  in  this 
life  but  in  the  next,  with  a  brilliant  crown  of  resplendent  stars. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PRACTICAL   HINTS   TO   DIRECTORS    ON   THE    SUBJECT   OF  THE 
FOREGOING   CHAPTERS. 

337.  FIRST  suggestion.  As  regards  the  doctrine  set  forth  in  the 
first  Chapter  of  this  Article,  it  must  be  observed  that  the  excessive 
reluctance  felt  by  some  Confessors  in  giving  absolution  to  certain 
excellent  persons  who  live  in  great  purity  of  conscience,  is  by 
no  means  to  be  commended.  I  have  chanced  to  meet  with  one 
who,  for  six  months  together,  had  withheld  absolution  from  a 
penitent  of  most  innocent  life,  though  this  Confessor  meanwhile 
permitted  frequent  Communion.  And  I  have  also  met  with 
another  case  of  a  Confessor,  who,  while  often  allowing  all  the 
nuns  of  a  convent  to  approach  constantly  to  the  Lord's  table,  in 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  31^ 

order  to  feed  on  the  Bread  of  Angels,  seldom  gave  them  absolu 
tion  when  they  made  their  Confessions.  It  is  hard  to  say  how 
these  Priests  found  heart  to  withhold  from  their  penitents  a 
spiritual  gift  so  precious  as  that  which  is  imparted  in  the  sacred 
tribunal  by  means  of  holy  absolution.  It  is  unquestionable  that 
thereby  the  soul  recovers  grace  if  lost,  or  receives  an  increase  of 
grace,  if  it  has  not  been  lost.  Thus  we  gain  at  least  an  additional 
degree  of  sanctifying  grace ;  in  other  words,  what  of  itself  would 
suffice  to  render  us  eternally  happy  in  heaven  above.  And 
further,  this  Sacrament  imparts  strength  and  remedies  against 
relapses  into  our  customary  faults,  an  effect  which,  according  to- 
the  Angelic  Doctor,  is  common  to  all  and  each  of  the  Sacra 
ments.*  Wherefore,  then,  deprive  souls  of  treasures  so  priceless, 
with  which  they  would  have  been  enriched,  had  the  Priest  only 
been  willing  to  exercise  on  their  behalf  the  power  committed  to 
him  for  their  spiritual  good  ? 

338.  These  Confessors  may  answer,  that  they  withhold  absolu 
tion  for  two  reasons  : — First,  because  in  the  Confessions  which 
such  penitents  make,  they  cannot  find  certain  matter  for  abso 
lution.  Secondly,  because  the  faults  of  which  these  persons 
accuse  themselves  are  trivial,  and  not  easily  corrected,  being 
rooted  in  their  temperament  and  natural  inclinations.  Hence 
they  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  presence  of  the  dispositions  requisite 
for  the  due  reception  of  the  Sacrament,  that  is,  of  real  sorrow  and 
efficacious  purpose  of  amendment,  both  of  which  are  required 
in  these  Confessions  as  well  as  in  others.  But  objections  of  this 
nature  are  wholly  groundless.  The  first  has  no  foundation,  since 
all  theologians  are  agreed  that  a  sin  may  furnish  matter  for 
repeated  absolutions;  so  that  by  repenting  of,  and  confessing,  some 
sin  of  their  past  life  (as  may  easily  be  suggested  to  them  by  their 
Confessors),  they  furnish  a  matter  suitable  and  amply  sufficient  for 
valid  absolution.  We  know  that  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  St.  Ignatius 
of  Loyola,  St.  Francis  Borgia,  and  other  great  Servants  of  God, 
confessed  daily,  and  daily  received  absolution.  Now,  it  is  quite 

*  Est  autem  omnibus  sacramentis  commune,  quod  per  ea  exhibeatur  aliquod 
remedium  contra  peccatum,  per  hoc  quod  gratiam  conferunt.  3  p.,  qu.  4,  alias 
63,  art.  6,  in  corp. 


320  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

certain  that  they  could  not  have  supplied  matter  for  absolution  in 
the  faults  committed  every  day  of  their  lives.  But  by  mentioning 
some  one  sin  of  fofmer  years,  they  ensured  the  validity  of  the  ab 
solution,  and  at  the  same  time  cleansed  their  consciences  of  those 
slight  stains  which,  being  men  as  the  rest  of  us,  they  could  not  but 
daily  contract.  Such  are  the  ideas  which  a  Director  should  adopt 
concerning  the  administration  of  this  Sacrament. 

339.  Neither  is  the  second  objection  which  is  made  at  all  more 
valid ;  for  Divines  teach,  that  if  a  penitent,  confessing  venial  sins, 
repents  efficaciously  of  some,  but  not  so  of  others  (on  account  of 
his  sense  of  the  great  danger  of  a  relapse  into  them),  the  Confes 
sion  is  good,  and  the  absolution  valid.  Because  lesser  sins,  of 
which  we  duly  repent,  supply  a  sufficient  matter  for  absolution ; 
and  those  of  which  we  do  not  sufficiently  repent  offer  no  obstacle. 
.For,  as  we  are  under  no  grievous  obligation  to  confess  such  sins, 
neither  can  we  be  strictly  bound  to  have  sorrow  for  them.  The 
Director  will  therefore  engage  his  penitents  of  this  class  to  make 
a  point  of  always  mentioning  some  one  or  other  of  the  sins  of 
their  former  life,  especially  such  as  they  hold  in  detestation,  and 
are  not  likely  to  fall  into  again.  Following  this  plan,  there  can 
never  be  question  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  contrition  for  these 
faults ;  and  so,  granting  that  on  the  score  of  sorrow  for  their  daily 
slight  transgressions  their  dispositions  be  doubtful,  they  may 
be  absolved  without  any  danger  of  exposing  the  Sacrament  to 
invalidity.  St.  Bonaventure  was  fully  aware  that  novices,  occupied 
as  they  are  in  devout  exercises,  with  no  thought  but  of  their 
perfection,  are  not  wont  to  commit  even  venial  sins  that  are 
deliberate,  though  they  frequently  fall  into  failings  which,  being 
rooted  in  the  natural  character,  are  difficult  to  correct.  Yet  he 
counsels  them  to  go  to  Confession  every  day.*  Hence  we  both 
may  and  should  absolve  those  who  present  nothing  in  Confession 
but  defects  of  this  nature,  provided  the  above-named  precautions 
be  taken  by  the  penitents.  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  that  when  a 
penitent  is  to  communicate  upon  several  days  in  succession,  that 
he  should  confess  on  every  single  day  (supposing  him,  of  course, 
to  have  no  need  of  Confession) ;  nor  do  I  mean  that  absolution 
*  In  Regul.  Novitior.,  c.  3. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  321 

should  be  given  every  time  that  Confession  is  made.  I  say  only, 
that  when  an  interval  of  a  few  days  occurs  between  one  Confes 
sion  and  another,  absolution  should  not  be  refused  when  it  is 
wished  for ;  that  thus  the  penitent  may  not  be  deprived  of  the 
increase  of  sanctifying  grace,  and  of  the  additional  help  conferred 
in  this  Sacrament  for  the  correction  of  his  faults. 

340.  Second  suggestion.  As  for  the  sorrow  of  which  we 
treated  in  the  second  Chapter,  the  Director  will  beware  of  giving 
too  much  credit  to  the  complaint  of  certain  timorous  souls,  who 
think  themselves  unable  to  conceive  real  sorrow  for  their  sins, 
and  on  that  account  are  much  pained,  and  experience  even  great 
agony  of  mind,  whenever  they  approach  the  sacred  tribunal  in 
order  to  be  cleansed  from  their  faults.  With  such  persons  we 
must  bear  in  rnind  the  teaching  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  which  is 
followed  by  all  Divines.  He  distinguishes  in  contrition  a  twofold 
sorrow,  one  which  he  calls  essential,  and  which  resides  entirely  in 
the  will,  that  is  in  the  spiritual  part  of  the  soul.  By  this  kind 
of  sorrow  we  disavow  the  evil  we  have  done,  and  repent  of  it  by 
an  act  which  is  not  sensibly  felt,  because  it  is  entirely  spiritual, 
like  the  power  of  the  soul  from  which  it  proceeds.  *  The  other 
kind  of  sorrow  has  its  seat  in  the  emotional  part  of  the  soul,  and 
is  only  an  overflow  of  the  act  of  the  will ;  the  emotion  which 
arises  from  it  in  the  sensitive  part,  so  to  say,  of  the  soul ;  that  is 
in  the  affections.t  Now  we  should  ever  remember  that  everything 
belonging  to  the  essence  of  contrition  proceeds  from  the  will. 
It  is  not  a  feeling  in  the  sensitive  part  of  our  nature.  And  sorrow 
of  the  will,  not  mere  emotion  of  the  feelings,  is  required  for  Con 
fession.  The  feeling  of  sorrow  is  only  a  sympathetic  correspond 
ence  of  the  regret  or  disavowal  of  the  will,  and  it  does  not 
depend  upon  us  to  feel  it  or  not,  since  it  affects  the  sensitive 
appetite ;  which  power,  as  the  Angelic  Doctor  observes,  at 
times  obeys,  and  as  frequently  disobeys  the  superior  part  of  the 

*  In  contritione  est  duplex  dolor :  unus  est  in  ipsa  voluntate,  qui  est  es- 
sentialiter  ipsa  contritio,  quae  nihil  aliud  est,  quam  displicentia  peccati  pne- 
teriti. 

t  Alius  dolor  est  in  parte  sensitive,  qui  causatur  ex  ipso  dolore,  vel  ex  ne 
cessitate  naturse,  secundum  quod  vires  inferiores  sequuntur  motum  supe« 
riorum.  Suppl.  3  part.,  q.  3,  a.  I,  in  corp. 

^OL.  I.  21 


322  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

soul.*  Thus,  it  may  frequently  happen  that  the  will  is  sincerely 
repentant,  without  making  any  corresponding  impression  on  the 
emotional  part  of  the  soul ;  so  that  one  who  is  really  penitent  may 
appear  to  himself  not  to  have  any  contrition  at  all. 

341.  If,  then,  the  Director  find  that  his  penitent  asks  of  God 
the   necessary  sorrow,  and   uses  all  his  endeavours  to  stir  it  up 
at  least  in  his  will,  and  is  further  resolved  to  sin  no  more,  he 
may  relieve  that  penitent's  mind  from  all  scruple,  and  remove  all 
anxiety,  by  assuring  him  that  he  has  the  requisite  sorrow,  even 
though  he  feel  it  not,  and  though  his  heart  be  harder  than  flint. 
He  should  especially  insist  on  these  timorous  souls  making  their 
acts  of  sorrow  in  calmness  and  peace,  without  effort  or  straining ; 
for  this  would  only  have  the  effect  of  disquieting  the  soul,  and  of 
preventing  the  motions  of  the  will  from  producing  any  impression 
on  the  heart.     And  the  more  we  strive  after  sensible  affections, 
the  less  do  we  feel  them.     So  much  the  more,  too,  as  this  weary 
ing  anxiety  prevents   such   acts  from  being  perfectly  performed 
by  the  will,  inasmuch  as  it  hinders  the  light  and  inward  motion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  does  not  usually  work  on  souls  that  are 
not  in  calm  and  at  peace. 

342.  Third  suggestion.     When  we  spoke  in  the  fourth  Chapter 
of  that   integrity   of  Confession   which   most   conduces   to  per 
fection,  we  said  that  it  ought  to  extend  to  everything,  even  to  the 
smallest  and  slightest  faults.     But  still,  in  this  avowal  of  sin,  a 
certain  reserve  and  discretion  must  be  used  to  avoid  falling  into 
excess.     There  are  certain  pious  persons  who  feel  such  sorrow  for 
their  past  sins  that  they  are  never  contented,  but  wish  to  renew  the 
accusation  of  them  over  and  over  again,  and  would,  if  allowed, 
confess  them  afresh  every  day.     These  good  persons  need  to  be 
taught  that  this  is  not  the  proper  penance  for  their  former  trans 
gressions.     St.  Thomas  distinguishes  two  sorts  of  penitence,  the 
6ne  internal,  the  other  external.     The  former  consists  in  sorrow 
and  regret  for  the  faults  we  have  committed ;  and  this,  says  the 
Saint,  ought   to   be   unceasing,  and   should   never  be  laid  aside 

*  Nofi  obedit  affectus  inferior  superior!  ad  nutum,  ut  tanta,  et  talis  passio 
sequatur  in  inferiori  appetitu,  qualem  ordinat  superior. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  323 

throughout  our  life.*  St.  John  Chrysostom,  treating  of  this  in 
ward  penitence,  expresses  the  same  opinion.  lie  teaches  that  it 
should  be  lasting;  as  it  is  a  mark  of  great  humility  to  keep  ever  in 
mind,  and  to  mourn  over,  our  past  sins.  This  he  proves  by  the 
example  of  St.  Paul,  who,  when  his  present  life  was  free  from 
sins,  kept  ever  in  mind  the  sins  of  his  former  life,  even  though 
they  had  long  since  been  washed  away  by  the  waters  of  baptism, 
for  he  knew  that  to  have  former  sins  constantly  before  the  mind 
gives  birth  to  sorrow,  regret,  tears,  and  compunction  of  heart,  t 
St.  Augustine,  in  like  manner,  says,  that  we  should  be  sorry  all 
our  life  long  for  our  faults  ;  for,  when  we  cease  to  grieve  over  them, 
penitence  wholly  fails,  as  it  consists  chiefly  in  sorrow.  J 

343.  Outward  penitence,  as  St.  Thomas  goes  on  to  observe, 
consists  in  the  accusation  we  make  of  our  sins  to  a  Confessor. 
But,  he  says,  this  need  not  be  continual,  as  interior  penitence 
must  be ;  but  should  cease  when  all  has  been  done  which  God's 
-commandment  and  the  needs  of  the  soul  require.  §  The  Director 
will  be  guided  by  these  instructions ;  and  when  he  meets  with 
some  person  full  of  deep  rep  cntance  of  his  faults,  and  eager  to 
confess  them  again  and  again  m  order  the  better  to  blot  them 
out,  he  will  exhort  him  rather  to  repent  of  them,  and  to  confess 
them  before  God  alone  at  the  foot  of  the  Crucifix,  to  renew  his 
sorrow  for  them  in  his  meditations  and  private  devotions,  to  con 
ceive  an  inward  shame  on  their  account,  with  sentiments  of  deep 

*  Interior  quidem  poenitentia  est,  qu&  quis  dolet  de  peccato  commisso.  Et 
talis  poenitentia  debet  durare  usque  ad  finem  vitae  :  semper  enim  debet  homim 
displicere,  quod  peccavit.  3  part.,  q.  25,  alias  84,  art.  8,  in  corp. 

t  Tantum  boni  confert  meminisse  frequentius  hominem  peccati  sui,  ut 
etiam  Paulum  Apostolum  videamus  ea,  quse  jam  oblita  fuerant,  et  deleta, 
adducere  in  medium.  Et  cum  culpam  de  prsesentibus  non  haberet,  quoniam 
recordationem  peccatorum,  et  luctum,  gemitumque,  sciebat  animse  prodesse, 
etiam  ilia  commemorat,  quce  per  ignorantiam  commissa,  gratia  Baptismi,  et 
confessio  fidei  absolverat.  Lib.  ij.,  De  Compunct.  Cordis. 

£  Quid  restat  nobis,  nisi  semper  dolere  in  vita  ?  Ubi  enim  dolor  finitur, 
'deficit  pcenitentia.  Lib.  de  Vera  et  Fals&  Pcenit.,  c.  13. 

§  Pcenitentia  vero  exterior  est,  qua-  quis  exteriora  signa  doloris  ostendit,  et 
verbo  tenus  peccata  sua  confitetur  sacerdoti  absolventi :  et  juxta  ejus  arbit- 
Tium  satisfacit.  Et  talis  pcenitentia  non  oportet  quod  duret  usque  ad  finem 
vitae,  sed  usque  ad  determinatum  tempus,  secundum  mensuram  peccati.  Loco 
•sjupracitato. 


324  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

humility  and  heartfelt  compunction  ;  but  to  forbear  mentioning 
them  in  Confession  (supposing  always  the  requirements  of  duty 
to  have  been  complied  with),  as  the  inward,  not  the  outward, 
penitence  is  now  more  suitable,  more  advantageous,  and  better 
adapted  to  ensure  the  pardon  of  the  past 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CERTAIN  DIFFICULTIES  WHICH  DETER  PRIESTS  FROM  UNDERTAKING 
THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEARING  CONFESSIONS,  OR  WHICH  MAKE 
THEM  WITHDRAW  FROM  IT. 

344.  IN  the  preceding  Chapter,  we  have  given  Directors  some 
advice,  which  they  will  find  useful  in  instructing  their  penitents 
how  to  make  their  Confessions.  It  will  not  be  amiss  to  add  a 
few  considerations  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Confessors  should 
undertake  the  holy  duty  of  hearing  Confessions,  and  never  with 
draw  from  it :  and  we  will,  moreover,  remove  certain  difficulties 
which  might  deter  them  from  so  laborious  a  ministry.  Some 
Priests  who,  in  other  respects,  are  well  fitted  for  the  Confessional, 
refuse  to  accept  this  charge,  or  retire  from  it  after  a  certain  in 
terval  of  time,  because  they  think  themselves  unable  to  give  cor 
rect  decisions  upon  the  numerous  cases  presented  in  the  sacred 
tribunal,  in  difficult  and  delicate  matters,  by  persons  of  every 
class,  state  of  life,  habits,  and  natural  gifts ;  and  because  they  de 
spair  of  success  in  remedying  diseases  so  serious  and  sometimes  so- 
incurable  as  those  to  which  our  poor  nature  is  subject.  If  such 
Priests  are  considered  to  be  fit  for  this  sacred  ministry  by  those 
set  over  them  (who  are  the  most  competent  judges  in  this  matter), 
they  should  take  heart ;  for  God  assists  in  a  special  manner  those. 
Priests  who  administer  this  Sacrament  with  an  upright  intention,  and 
He  enlightens  them  to  determine  and  judge  correctly  cases  which 
are  in  themselves  most  difficult ;  suggesting  suitable  remedies  for 
even  those  extraordinary  spiritual  diseases  with  which  they  would 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  CONFESSORS.  325 

be  wholly  unable  to  cope  were  they  not  engaged  in  the  holy 
ministry.  Let  them  hearken  to  the  encouragement  given  them 
by  St.  Augustine,  who  quotes  his  own  experience.  "  I  can  bear 
witness  to  myself,"  says  this  great  Doctor,  "  that  I  am  moved  in 
•quite  a  different  way  when  an  educated  man  comes  to  receive 
instruction,  or  one  who  is  wholly  ignorant;  a  neighbour,  or  a 
stranger ;  a  rich  man,  or  a  poor  man ;  one  whose  life  is  private, 
or  one  who  holds  some  office  in  the  state.  I  am  variously 
affected  by  differences  of  nation,  sex,  age,  or  of  the  errors  with 
which  persons  have  been  imbued ;  and  what  I  say  to  each  one 
is  suited  to  each,  being  begun,  continued,  and  ended  in  accordance 
with  this  interior  motion."* 

345.  See   how   God   supplies    His   ministers   with   knowledge 
befitting  the  condition  and  needs  of  those  who  throw  themselves 
at  their  feet  to  ask  for  spiritual  help.     Nor  let  any  one  object 
that  these  lights  were  given  to  St.  Augustine  because  he  was  a 
saint,  but  that  he  himself  does  not  deserve  such  a  gift  because  he  is 
a  sinful  man.     This  objection  ignores  the  fact  that  the  assistances 
granted  by  God  to  His  ministers  for  the  spiritual  advantage  of 
their  neighbour  are  mostly  to  be  classed  with  the  gratia  gratis 
data,  which,  according  to  St.  Thomas  and  the  common  teaching 
of  Theologians,  do  not  presuppose  any  special  deserts  on  the  part 
of  him  who  receives  them,  as  they  are  not  bestowed  with  refer 
ence  chiefly  to  himself,  but  for  the  sole  advantage  and  benefit  of 
others.     So  that,  whatever  his  own  demerits  may  be,  a  Director 
need   not  fear  that  God  will  refuse  him  the  necessary  light  for 
his  own  guidance  and  the  direction  of  others,  whenever  it  be 
wanted. 

346.  St.  Augustine  .goes  on  to  say  that,  besides  these  lights  and 
inward  motions  with  which  God  directs  those  who  have  the  direc 
tion  of  souls,  charity  itself  becomes  their  instructress  and  guide, 
and  suggests  the  remedies  suited  to  the  needs  of  each  penitent. 

*  De  me  ipso  tibi  testis  sum,  aliter  et  aliter  me  moveri,  cum  ante  me  cate- 
chizandum  video  eruditum,  inertem,  civem,  peregrinum,  divitem,  pauperem, 
privatum,  honoratum,  in  potestate  aliqua  constitutum,  illius  et  illius  gentis 
hominem  ;  illius,  aut  illius  setatis,  aut  sexfis,  et  ilia,  aut  ilia  secta ;  ex  illo,  vel 
alio  errore  venientem  :  ac  pro  diversitate  motus  mei  sermo  ipse  procedit,  ct 
progreditur,  et  finitur.  Lib.  de  Catechiz.  Rudib.,  cap.  15. 


326  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

The  Saint  says,  "that  though  the  Director  should  have  charity 
towards  every  one,  yet  this  charity  should  not  prescribe  the  same 
remedies  to  all  indiscriminately ;  because  charity  begets  some 
souls  unto  God,  with  others  it  deals  affably  and  compassionately ; 
some  it  seeks  to  edify,  others  it  fears  to  shock ;  it  lowers  itself 
down  to  some,  and  raises  itself  above  others;  with  some  it  is 
mild,  with  others  severe ;  but  it  is  the  enemy  of  no  one,  and  a 
mother  to  each  and  every  one."*  The  Saint,  by  these  words, 
means  to  show  that  charity  supplies  God's  ministers  with  a  pure 
inward  rule,  which  enables  them  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  con 
dition,  station,  character,  habits,  needs  and  inclinations  of  each 
one,  so  as  to  be  useful  to  each  and  all.  Hence  a  priest  who  has 
been  pronounced  competent  to  undertake  the  cure  of  souls,  must 
not  lose  heart ;  he  has  only  to  trust  in  God  and  to  put  on  the 
bowels  of  charity,  to  be  justified  in  hoping  that  he  may  exercise 
this  sacred  ministry  with  profit  to  others  and  merit  to  himself. 

347.  Some  Priests  retire  from  this  holy  employment,  because 
they  fear  lest  in  hearing  and  searching  into  the  temptations  and 
frailties  of  their  penitents,  the  defilement  of  others  should  stick 
to  their  own  souls ;  hence  they  refuse  to  help  their  neighbours 
at  so  dear  a  cost  to  themselves.  "  But,"  as  St.  Gregory  observes,. 
"  far  from  a  pastor's  heart  be  so  empty  a  fear ;  for  not  only  will 
God  never  allow  that  the  temptations  which  may  arise  from  hear 
ing  Confessions  turn  to  the  spiritual  harm  of  Directors,  but  He 
will  so  dispose  matters,  that  they  be  less  liable  to  their  own  pecu 
liar  temptations  the  more  charitably  they  devote  themselves  to  the 
remedy  of  their  neighbours'  infirmity,  "t  The  Priest  has  but  to- 
keep  the  eye  of  a  pure  intention  steadily  fixed  on  the  glory  of 

*  Et  quia  cum  eadem  omnibus  debeatur  caritas,  non  eadem  est  omnibus 
adhibenda  medicina  :  ipsa  item  caritas  alios  parturit,  cum  alii?  infirrnatur  ;  a]ios 
curat  sedificare,  alios  contremiscit  offendere  ;  ad  alios  se  inclinat,  ad  alios  se 
erigit ;  aliis  blanda,  aliis  severa,  nulli  inimica,  omnibus  mater.  Ibid. 

f  Fit  plerumque,  ut  dum  rectoris  animus  aliena  tentamenta  condescendendo 
cognoscit,  auditis  tentationibus  etiam  ipse  pulsetur  ;  quia  hsec  eadem.  per 
quam  populi  multitudo  diluitur,  aqua,  procul  dubio,  luto  inquinatur.  Nam 
dum  sordes  diluentium  suscipit,  quasi  suae  munditise  serenitatem  perdit.  Sed 
hzec  nequaquam  pastori  timenda  sunt  :  quia  Deo  subtiliter  cuncta  pensante, 
4anto  facilius  a  sua  eripitur,  quanto  misericordius  ex  aliena  tentatione  fatigatur.. 
Pastor.,  Par.  ij.,  cap.  5. 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  CONFESSORS.  327 

God,  and  his  penitent's  spiritual  good;  he  has  only  to  observe 
due  caution;  and  he  will  have  no  reason  to  fear  any  evil  what 
ever.  God  will  arrange  so  that  the  turbid  waters  of  the  temptations 
and  frailties  of  others  shall  be  changed  into  a  bath,  wherein  the 
Confessor's  own  soul  will  be  cleansed  and  rendered  brighter 
and  fairer  in  His  sight :  for  of  a  truth  no  one  has  ever  damned 
himself  in  labouring  to  save  others  from  damnation. 

348.  Certain  Priests  are  very  diligent  at  first  in  hearing  Con 
fessions  ;  but  after  a  time,  perceiving  that  their  words  and  counsels, 
their   pious   industries   and  various   efforts,  fail  to  produce   the 
desired  result — because  their  penitents  ever  relapse  into  the  same 
sins,  expose  themselves  to  the  same  occasions,  give  way  to  the 
same  foibles — they  get  discouraged,  lose  heart,  and  feeling  their 
employment  an  irksome  task,  come  at  last  to  give  it  up  alto 
gether.     These    should   be   convinced   that   the   correction   and 
amendment   of  their  penitents  depends  primarily  not  on   their 
own  efforts,  but  on  the  workings  of  divine  grace ;  that  they  ought 
to  rouse  firm  trust  and  ground  it  on  God,  in  the  fixed  persuasion 
that  there  is  no  person,  however  far  he  may  have  wandered  from 
the  right  path,  but  may  be  recalled  by  the  might  of  God's  grace, 
and   brought   back   to   the  way  of  salvation;    and*  may,    should 
it   so  please  the  Almighty,  become  even  eminent  in   holiness.* 
Hence   the   Confessor   must  never  despair,  nor  cease   to   warn, 
admonish,   advise,  rebuke,  entreat,  try  new  means,  use  new  ex 
pedients,  and,  above  all,  pray  that  God  would  soften  the   hard 
hearts   of    these   incorrigible   sinners.     St.    Augustine   illustrates 
this  by  the  following  beautiful  comparison.     He  says  we  should 
deal  with  souls  thus  fallen  asleep  in  vice,  as  a  loving  son  treats 
his  aged   father  who   has  fallen  into   a   deadly   stupor,   and   is 
given   over  by  the   physicians.     Although  he   sees  plainly  that 
this  baleful  lethargy  is  the  forerunner  of  death,  he  never  tires 
of    calling    to    his   father,    of    shaking    him,    of    being    kindly 
cruel  with  him ;  so  that,  though  die  he  must,  he  may  die  as  late 
as  possible.t     The  holy  Doctor  draws  this  important  conclusion, 

*  Potens  est  Deus  de  lapidibus  istis  suscitare  filios  Abrahte.     Luc.,  v.  8.     , 
f  Plerumque  istum  caritatis  affectum  exhibet  etiam  filius   seni   patri   jam 
jamque  morituro  post  paucos  dies.    Jam  utique,  astate  fiaita,  si  lethargicum 


328  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

that  if  natural  affection  prompt  us  thus  to  be  importunate  with 
our  parents  and  others  dear  to  us,  in  order  to  prolong  the  tem 
poral  life  of  the  body  here  below,  how  much  more  meet  is  it 
that  we  should  deal  in  like  manner  with  our  spiritual  friends  (I 
mean  our  neighbours),  with  a  view  to  gain  for  them  everlasting 
life;  so  as  never  to  be  disgusted,  however  low  they  may  have 
sunk,  nor  weary  of  holding  out  to  them  a  helping  hand.  * 

349.  But  granting  that  the  toil  and  trouble  of  the  Confessor 
fail  of  obtaining  any  change  for  the  better,  wherefore  should  he 
lose  heart  ?     Why  should  he  give  up  the  administration  of  this 
Sacrament  ?     His  own  reward  and  guerdon  are  secure,  for  God 
does  not  recompense  His  ministers  only  for  the  actual  conversion 
of  souls  (which  depends  not  on  them,  but  on  Himself  alone),  but 
rather  for  the  labours  gone  through  by  them  in  the  endeavour  to 
promote  it.     Nay  more,  it  often  happens,  that  the  less  the  fruit  of 
our  labours,  the  richer  our  crown;  if  only  the  earnestness,  the 
patience,  the  zeal  and  charity,  wherewith  we  have  striven  for  it, 
have  been   great.     The   Director  thus  being  insured  against  all 
personal  loss  in  this  exercise  of  charity,  has  no  cause  for  faint 
heartedness  or  discouragement;  no  kind  of  excuse  for  giving  it 
up. 

350.  There  are  other  Priests  who  get  weary  and  disgusted  at 
having  to  listen  ever  to  the  same  sins,  especially  when  the  same 
penitents  have  continual  recourse  to  them ;  there  is  the  old  story, 
the  identical  particulars;  and  they  are  tired  of  being  obliged  to  repeat 
over  and  over  again  the  same  warnings,  the  same  counsels,  the  same 
rebukes ;  of  having  to  employ  the  same  means,  and  applying  the 
same  remedies.     The  more  so,  as  some  penitents  are  rough  and 
rude,  and  cannot  express  their  meaning  properly ;  others  are  dull 
and  stupid,  and  do  not  understand  the  Priest;  others  stubborn 
and  hard  to  move  :  all  which  ends  by  making  Confessors  feel  abhor 
rence  for  this  sacred  ministry,  so  that  they  exercise  it  with  disgust, 

videt,  et  lethargico  morbo  premi  a  medico  agnoscit,  dicente  sibi :  excita  patrem 
tuum,  noli  eum  permittere  dormire,  si  vis  ut  vivat :  adest  puer  seni,  pulsat 
vellicat,  pungit,  pietate  molestus  est :  nee  mori  cito  permittit,  cito  moriturum. 
De  Verb.  Dom.,  Senn.,  59,  c.  12. 

*  Quanto  majores  nos  caritate  amicis   nostris  molesti  esse  debemus,  cum 
non  paucos  in  hoc  mundo  dies,  sed  apud  Deum  in  sternum  vivamus  ? 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  CONFESSORS.  329 

and,  at  length,  either  wholly  abandon  it,  or  continue  it  with  but 
small  interest.  Such  as  these  should  lay  to  heart  the  words  of  St. 
Augustine  when  speaking  of  the  annoyance  we  feel  while  instruct 
ing  children  of  a  tender  age  and  of  little  capacity  for  learning,  and 
we  have  to  repeat  the  same  things  a  hundred  times.  What  is  said 
of  teaching  children,  applies  no  less  to  the  weariness  which  we 
cannot  but  feel  at  having  to  deal  ever  with  the  same  matters,  and 
with  the  self-same  persons,  often,  too,  quite  uneducated,  in  the 
sacred  tribunal  of  Confession.  "  When  you  feel  wearied,"  says  the 
Saint,  "of  repeating  always  the  same  advice,  and  dealing  always  with 
the  same  petty  details,  stir  up  within  your  breast  a  father's  love  and 
a  mother's  gentle  tenderness.  Love  will  knit  your  heart  with  that 
of  your  pupil,  and  will  give  novelty  and  interest  to  the  very  things 
which  you  are  obliged  to  repeat  so  constantly.  Compassionating 
love  causes  us  to  dwell  in  the  soul  of  him  who  is  listening  to  us, 
and  makes  him  dwell  within  our  soul;  so  that,  while  he  is  listening 
he  seems  as  if  he  spoke  through  us ;  and  we,  when  teaching  him, 
seem  in  a  manner  to  be  taught  by  him."*  The  Saint  goes  on  to 
illustrate  this  by  a  very  apt  simile.  "  Imagine,"  he  says,  "  that  a 
dear  friend  comes  to  visit  you  from  far-off  countries.  You  take 
him  through  the  city,  you  show  him  the  palaces,  the  churches,  the 
parks  and  gardens,  the  public  buildings,  which  you  have  seen  a 
thousand  times,  and  which,  were  it  not  for  his  sake,  you  would 
never  care  to  look  at :  you  entertain  him  speaking  of  these  objects 
that  have  lost  all  interest  for  you,  to  which,  at  any  other  time,  you 
would  not  give  a  thought :  and  this  because  your  love  for  your  friend, 
with  your  desire  of  giving  him  pleasure,  lends  novelty  and  interest 
to  things  with  which  you  have  been  long  since  familiar."  Thus  too, 
in  our  case  : — the  Director  has  but  to  feel  love  for  his  penitents, 
and  this  spiritual  and  holy  affection  will  hinder  him  from  noticing 
the  sameness  in  his  several  relations  with  them  as  he  instructs, 

*  Jam  vero  si  usitata,  et  parvulis  congruentia,  ssepe  repetere  fastidimus, 
congruamus  eis  per  fraternum,  paternum,  maternumque  amorem,  et  copulatis 
nobis  cordi  eorum  etiam  nova  videbuntur.  Tantum  enim  valet  animi  com- 
patientis  affectus,  ut  cum  illi  afficiuntur  nobis  loquentibus,  et  nos  illis  dis- 
centibus,  habitemus  in  invicem :  atque  ita  et  illi  quse  audiunt,  quasi 
loquantur  in  nobis,  et  nos  in  illis  discamus  auodammodo,  quae  docemus.  Lib. 
de  Catech.  Rudib.,  c.  12. 


330  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

reproves,  advises,  suggests  remedies,  tries  new  expedients ;  though 
he  have  done  all  this  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  times ;  nor  will  he 
be  wearied  with  hearing  and  saying  the  same  things  even  thousands 
and  thousands  of  times,  since  these  old  things  will  borrow  novelty 
and  a  savour  of  spirituality  from  the  holy  tenderness  which  he 
bears  to  them  in  his  heart. 

351.  To  sum  up  :  it  is  but  too  true,  that  the  fitting  and  steady 
exercise  of  this  part  of  the  sacred  ministry  presupposes  that  the 
Priest  undertakes  it  with  a  heart  inflamed  with  charity  ;  for  charity, 
as  we  learn  from  the  Apostle,  is  kind,  is  patient,  bears  with  all, 
endures  everything,  and  makes  all  things  sweet  with  its  own  in 
herent  sweetness.*     St.  Ambrose  was  full  of  this  tender  charity, 
as  we  are  told  by  Paulinus,  his  biographer.     In  hearing  the  con 
fessions  of  sinners,  he  used  to  burst  into  tears  of  compassion, 
which  forced  the  guilty  persons  themselves  to  weep,  and  made  the 
holy  Bishop  appear  as  if  he,  no  less  than  they,  was  overwhelmed  with 
the  burden  of  their  offences.t     St  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Grenoble,  is 
another  instance  of  this  charity.     When  hearing  Confessions  he 
wept  so  abundantly  on  account  of  the  pity  which  he  felt  for  the 
sins  of  others,  that  his  penitents  could  not  help  bursting  into  tears. 
Walter   Celesius  relates  that   having   been  to  Confession  to  the 
good  Bishop  in  early  life,  the  Saint  poured  on  his  head  so  copious 
a  flood  of  tears,  that  they  streamed  in  torrents  down  his  cheeks. 
If  the  Director  possess  a  mere  spark  of  this  charity,  he  need  not 
be  frightened  of  weariness  at  having  always  to  listen  to  the  same 
things,  and  at  being  obliged  always  to  say  the  same  things,  be 
cause  what  we  do  out  of  love  is  ever  new  and  ever  pleasing. 

352.  But  above  all,  let  him  take  heed  exceedingly,  lest  at  any 
•time  he  drive  away  from  him  any  sinner,  however  badly  disposed 
he  may  be,  by  harsh,  and  indeed  I  might  say  inhuman,  treatment, 
such   as  angrily  slamming  the  grate  of  the  Confessional  in  his 
face,   as   some  imprudent  Priests  have  been  known   to   do;   or 

*  Caritas  benigna  est,  patiens  est,  omnia  suffert,  omnia  sustinet.  I.  Cor. 
xiij.  4. 

f  Quotiescumque  illi  aliquis,  ad  percipiendam  pcenitentiam,  lapsus  suos 
confessus  esset :  ita  flebat,  ut  et  ilium  flere  compelleret  :  videbatur  etiam  sibi 
cum  jacent  jacere.  S.  Pauliuus.  In  Vitft  S.  Ambrpsii. 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  CONFESSORS.  331 

speaking  to  the  penitent  in  rough  and  insulting  language,  saying 
to  him,  for  instance,  "  Go  away  !  you  are  a  lost  man  "  (as  I  have 
myself  more  than  once  heard  Priests  say) :  for  this  is  not  charity 
but  anger — not  zeal,  but  pride.  I  have  ever  felt  deeply  impressed 
by  what  I  have  read  in  a  letter  which  St.  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite,  a  disciple  of  St.  Paul,  wrote  to  a  certain  monk  whose 
name  was  Demophilus.  This  monk  had  dismissed  without  absolu 
tion  and  with  hard  treatment  some  Priest  or  other,  who,  prostrate  at 
his  feet,  had  been  accusing  himself  of  his  sins.  After  setting  before 
his  eyes  the  long-suffering  of  our  most  loving  Saviour  in  seek 
ing  the  lost  sheep,  and  in  bearing  it  back  to  the  fold  on  His 
shoulders,  the  Saint  rebukes  the  Religious  in  the  following  terms  : 
"Not  only  hast  thou  felt  no  horror  at  rejecting  one  who 
came  to  implore  thee  to  apply  balm  to  his  wounded  spirit,  but 
thou  hast  dared  to  reproach  him  with  injurious  words,  calling 
him  a  wretch,  and  at  length  bidding  him  to  go  away  along  with 
his  fellows  !  "*  Then  he  adds  these  memorable  words :  "  And, 
what  may  not  be  told  without  horror,  after  having  been  so 
grievously  wanting  in  charity,  thou  hast  entered  the  Holy  Place 
and  defiled  it  with  thy  presence  !  "t  This  stern  rebuke,  addressed 
by  a  saint  of  such  authority  to  one  who  had  harshly  driven  away 
a  sinner,  should  teach  Directors  the  greatness  of  such  an  evil,  and 
make  them  guard  themselves  against  the  like  excesses.  If  Con 
fessors  chance  to  meet  with  some  person  who  is  ill-disposed,  they 
should  endeavour  in  all  charity  to  bring  him  to  the  proper  disposi 
tions.  If  the  unhappy  individual  still  remain  impenitent,  they  must 
refuse  absolution,  of  course,  but  in  a  proper  manner,  so  as  to  show 
that  this  refusal  results  not  from  anger  but  from  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  and  that  it  costs  Priests  much  to  withhold  absolution ;  at 
the  same  time  manifesting  all  readiness  to  receive  the  person 
lovingly  whenever  he  may  wish  to  return  repentant,  contrite,  and 
better  disposed  for  the  grace  of  the  Sacrament.  In  a  word. 


*  Ille  quidem  rogabat,  seque  medtcinse  peccatorum  causa  venisse  fatebatur  t 
tu  autem  non  modo  non  exhorruisti,  insuper  et  bonum  sacerdotem  maledictis 
vexasti,  miserum  eum  appellans  .  .  .  et  ad  extremum  :  Exi,  sacerdoti  dixisti, 
cum  tuis  similibus.  Epist.  8,  Ad  Demophilum. 

t  Quodque  nefas  est,  in  adyta  ingvessus  es,  et  sancta  sanctorum  violasti. 


332  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Directors  must  put  on  the  bowels  of  charity,  for  this  will  help 
them  to  exercise  this  sacred  ministry  not  only  with  gentleness,  but 
also  as  justice  requires,  and  so  as  to  avoid  any  kind  of  excess. 

353.  Lastly,  some  Priests  knowing  from  experience  that  hear 
ing  confessions,  especially  for  many  hours  consecutively,  tasks 
their  powers,  tires  their  head,  and  wears  out  their  strength,  with 
draw  themselves  by  degrees  from  the  weight  of  this  burden,  and 
finally  shake  off  the  yoke  altogether  if  it  be  at  all  possible  to  do  so. 
Confessors  of  this  kind  should  take  courage  to  undergo  willingly 
the  inconveniences  of  this  toilsome  ministry,  from  the  thought 
of  the  labours,  the  endurance,  the  sufferings  of  our  Blessed  Re 
deemer,  and  of  the  sweat  and  blood  that  He  spent  as  the  price  of 
our  souls.  Doing  this,  they  will  conceive  an  ardent  zeal  to  take 
some  share  themselves  in  the  divine  work  of  saving  souls  ;  being 
assured  that  as  nothing  is  dearer  than  this  to  the  heart  of  Jesus, 
so  nothing  can  render  them  more  acceptable  in  His  sight.  Such 
holy  zeal  will  inflame  them  with  an  ardour  that  will  make  them 
willing  and  ready  to  undergo  every  toil,  to  brave  all  the  sufferings, 
to  think  nothing  of  all  the  inconveniences,  which  must  neces 
sarily  be  undergone  in  the  exercise  of  this  sacred  ministry.  They 
will  do  well  further  to  reflect  that  though  the  body  suffer  some 
what  from  a  long  confinement  in  the  Confessional,  the  spirit  is 
much  recruited  :  as,  in  the  administration  of  the  holy  sacrament 
of  Penance,  every  one  of  the  virtues  is  brought  into  play.  Thus 
charity  may  be  practised  in  a  very  high  degree ;  sometimes  by 
instructing,  sometimes  by  giving  counsel :  at  one  time  by  bring 
ing  back  to  the  path  of  salvation  persons  who  have  gone  astray, 
at  another  by  guiding  the  devout  along  the  road  of  perfection. 
We  may  exercise  our  zeal  for  God's  honour  by  hindering  people 
from  offending  the  Divine  Majesty.  Mortification,  too,  is  shown, 
by  overcoming  the  repugnance  which  a  ministry  of  its  own 
nature  so  irksome  must  needs  inspire.  Humility,  again,  is 
exercised  when  we  see  in  the  falls  of  others  what  we  ourselves 
would  have  been  were  it  not  for  the  grace  of  God.  The  rude 
and  ignorant  will  try  our  patience,  the  weak  will  stir  up  our  com 
passion,  sinners  will  call  out  our  loving-kindness.  In  a  word,  a  Priest 
may  become  a  saint  by  hearing  confessions  sooner  than  by  any 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  CONPESSORS.  333 

other  religious  exercise.  Directors  should  therefore  keep  an  eye 
to  these  spiritual  advantages,  and  be  encouraged  by  the  thought 
of  them  to  bear  generously  with  all  the  fatigues  and  all  the  incon 
veniences  which  are  attendant  on  their  ministry ;  even  as  trades 
men  and  artisans  are  stimulated  by  the  prospect  of  gain  to  over 
come  weariness  and  to  remain  constant  in  their  laborious  occu 
pations. 

354.  A  certain  Master  in  Theology,  John  de  Nivelle  by  name, 
a  truly  apostolic  man,  wholly  occupied  in  winning  souls  to  God 
by  his  preaching  and  his  assiduous  attendance  in  the  Confessional, 
was  about  to  die,  when  a  beggar  man,  whose  nakedness  was  but 
half  covered  by  his  rags,  presented  himself  at  his  monastery,  and 
earnestly  asked  for  him  to  hear  his  Confession.    The  lay-brothers, 
aware  that  the  Priest  was  at  the  point  of  death,  sent  away  the  man, 
saying  that  the  Father  was  not  in  a  fit  state  to  listen  to  him. 
The  dying  man  having  been  informed  of  this,  ordered  them  to  re 
call  the  mendicant ;  and  with  the  little  breath  that  yet  remained, 
heard  his  Confession,  and  gave  him  absolution,  declaring  after 
wards,  that  not  for  a  thousand  crowns  of  gold  would  he  have 
refused  him  the  slight  charity  of  listening  to  his  tale :  and  a  few 
hours  later,  he  himself  breathed  his  last.     It  happened  to  the 
same  Religious,  some  years  previously,  that  a  famous  physician 
offered  to  cure  him,  free  of  charge,  of  the  gout  which  cruelly 
tormented  him,  and  guaranteed  a  complete  restoration  to  health, 
if  only  he  would  take  good  care  of  himself  for  a  certain  time. 
"  For  how  long,"  replied  the  patient,  "  shall  I  be  obliged  to  lie 
by  in  my  cell  ?"     "  For  three  months  at  the  very  least,"  answered 
the   doctor.     "  Three   months !"    exclaimed   the  astounded  Re 
ligious,  "I  should  not  have  the  heart  to  spend  even  three  weeks 
over  the  cure  of  this  wretched  carcass  without  gaining  souls  which 
cost  Jesus  Christ  all  His  precious  blood."*     If  the  Director  will 
but  enkindle  within  his  heart  the  like  zeal,  I  can  assure  him  that, 
far  from  feeling  the  labours  of  the  Confessional  irksome,  he  will 
find  them,  on  the  contrary,  very  light  and  agreeable. 

•  Th.  Cantiprat.  Apum.,  lib.  ij.  c.  34. 


334  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


ARTICLE  IX. 

Eighth  means  of  attaining  to  Christian  Perfection. — Daily 
Examination  of  Conscience. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  DAILY  EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE  IS  A  MOST  IMPORTANT 
MEANS  OF  CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION,  IS  SHOWN  FROM  THE 
AUTHORITY  OF  THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

355.  THERE  are  two  kinds  of  Confession  whereby  a  devout 
person  may  cancel  the  sins  which  sully  his  conscience :  the  first 
is  Sacramental,  and  is  made  at  the  feet  of  a  Confessor ;  the  other 
is  wholly  secret,  and  takes  place  between  God  and  the  soul,  to  the 
exclusion  of  every  other  person ;  and  this  is  called  the  Daily 
Examination  of  Conscience,  because  it  is  generally  practised 
every  day  by  such  as  aim  at  purity  of  heart  and  progress  in  per 
fection.  In  both  these  kinds  of  Confession,  search  after  sin,  and 
humble  sorrow,  with  an  efficacious  purpose  of  amendment,  are 
required.  In  both,  we  have  to  accuse  ourselves  of  our  sins  :  in  the 
first,  to  the  ears  of  the  Priest,  in  the  second,  in  the  presence  of  God. 
If  our  repentance  in  this  solitary  accusation  of  ourselves  reach 
to  perfect  contrition,  both  one  and  the  other  kind  of  confession 
avail  to  obtain  pardon  and  to  restore  to  the  soul  its  former  purity. 
There  is,  however,  this  difference,  that  when  any  one  is  guilty  of 
grievous  sin,  he  is  under  a  grave  obligation  to  make  it  known  in 
Sacramental  Confession,  else  he  would  fall  back  again  under  God's 
displeasure  by  his  neglect  of  a  most  weighty  divine  commandment. 
But  when  any  one  is  conscious  of  slighter  faults  only,  it  is  still  a 
matter  of  counsel  to  disclose  them  in  sacramental  confession,  and 
even  necessary,  as  we  have  seen  above,  if  the  person  would  aspire 
to  perfection,  in  order  that  he  may  be  able  to  gain  that  purity  of  con- 


EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE.  335 

science  which,  more  than  any  other  thing,  disposes  us  to  the  per 
fect  love  of  God.  This  notwithstanding,  the  confession  we  make 
to  God  alone  has  certain  advantages  which  sacramental  confes 
sion  does  not  possess :  for  we  can  make  it  in  any  place,  at  any 
hour,  at  any  moment ;  in  fact,  whenever  we  choose  :  which  is  not 
the  case  with  sacramental  confession,  where  a  Priest  is  needed 
•as  the  minister,  and  a  fixed  place  and  time  must  be  chosen. 
Having  then  in  the  foregoing  Article  spoken  of  sacramental  con 
fession,  which  we  make  to  the  ministers  of  holy  Church,  it  will  not 
be  out  of  place  to  treat  now  of  this  other  kind  of  confession,  which, 
without  the  intervention  of  any  minister,  is  made  before  God,  and 
is  none  other  than  the  daily  examination  of  conscience.  And 
we  shall  treat  of  this  subject  the  more  willingly,  as  it,  too,  is  a  most 
important  means  of  acquiring  purity  of  heart,  and  consequently  of 
attaining  to  perfection.  This  will  be  shown  in  the  present  Chapter, 
from  the  authority  of  the  holy  Fathers,  and  in  the  following  one, 
by  intrinsic  proofs. 

356.  St.  Basil  says:  "At  the  close  of  each  day,  when  all  our 
labours,  both  of  body  and  mind,  are  brought  to  an  end,  each  one, 
before  retiring  to  rest,  should  set  himself  to  an  attentive  examina 
tion  of  his  conscience,  in  order  to  discover  the  faults  which  he 
has  committed  during  the  past  day."*  St.  Ephrem,  a  writer  of 
great  authority  in  the  early  Church,  explains  this  by  the  parity  of 
a.  merchant  who,  morning  and  night,  balances  his  accounts,  and, 
because  he  is  anxious  that  his  business  should  flourish,  examines 
diligently  what  are  his  gains  and  what  his  losses.  And  thus 
.should  we  also,  says  the  Saint,  if  we  desire  to  advance  in 
Christian  perfection,  both  morning  and  evening  look  into  the 
state  of  our  accounts,  and  examine  into  the  spiritual  traffic  which 
we  are  carrying  on  with  God.t  Then  coming  down  to  particulars 
he  writes:  "At  night-time,  withdrawing  into  the  closet  of  thy 


*  Complete  jam  die,  omnique  opere  cum  corporis,  turn  spiritus  etiam,  abso- 
luto,  praeclare  fiet,  si  diligenter  unusquisque  antequam  cubitum  eat,  cum 
animo  suo  conscientiam  suam  exquirat.  Serm.,  i,  De  Institut.  Monachor. 

f  Diebus  singulis,  vespere,  et  mane  diligenter  considera,  quo  pacto  se 
habeat  negotiatio  tua,  ac  mercimonii  ratio.  Tom.  iij.,  Serin.  Ascetic.  De 
Vita  Religios. 


336  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

heart,  thou  shouldst  question  thyself,  saying,  'Have  I  this  day 
offended  my  God  in  any  one  point  ?  Have  I  spoken  idle  words  ? 
Have  I  through  neglect  or  contempt  omitted  to  do  any  good 
action?  Have  I  wounded  in  any  particular  my  neighbour's 
feelings  ?  Has  my  tongue  given  way  to  any  kind  of  detraction  ?' 
&c.*  And  when  morning  comes,  examine  again  how  thy  business 
and  thy  spiritual  merchandise  have  proceeded  during  the  past 
night.  '  Have  I  had  any  bad  thoughts,  have  I  been  negligent 
in  dwelling  upon  them  ?'  "  &c.t  He  finishes  by  saying,  that  if  we 
discover  any  sin  or  failing,  it  must  be  blotted  out  by  repentance, 
and  washed  away  with  tears  of  contrition. 

357.  Have  you  ever  observed  with  what  exactness  and  diligence 
the  master  of  a  house  regulates  his  domestic  concerns  ?  Every 
day  he  calls  in  his  steward,  takes  account  of  his  expenditure, 
insisting  upon  an  accurate  statement  of  all;  he  examines  .dili 
gently,  to  see  whether  the  said  expenditure  has  been  superfluous 
or  extravagant,  or  whether,  on  the  contrary,  it  has  been  too- 
limited  and  insufficient.  And  this  he  does  in  order  that  he  may 
neither  go  beyond,  nor  yet  fall  below,  what  is  necessary  and  suit 
able  for  the  proper  support  of  his  family.  In  like  manner  should 
we  act  in  regulating  our  own  selves.  In  the  little  world  which  we 
all  have  within  us,  reason  is  the  mistress  that  commands,  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  and  the  senses  of  our  body  are  the  servants 
from  whom  it  has  to  claim  obedience  and  submission.  Let  then  the 
reason  summon  the  powers  of  the  soul  to  give  account  daily  of 
what  they  have  been  doing.  Let  it  call  on  the  understanding  for 
an  account  of  its  thoughts,  and  examine  whether  these  have  been 
vain,  proud,  resentful,  unchaste,  contrary  to  brotherly  love,  and  if 
they  have  wilfully  or  even  carelessly  dwelt  on  such  objects.  Let 

*  Vespere  quidem  ingressus  cubiculum  cordis  tui,  examina  te  ipsum,  et 
dicito  :  Putasne  hodie  in  aliquo  Deum  exacerbavi?  Numquid  verba  otiosa 
protuli  ?  Num  per  contemptum,  negligentiamque  peccavi  ?  Num  in  re  aliqua 
fratrem  irritavi  ?  Num  alicujus  famam  detractionibus  laceravi  ?  &c. 

f  Facto  jam  diluculo,  rursus  eadem  tecum  meditare,  et  dicito  :  Quomodo 
putas,  ista  mihi  nox  praeteriit  ?  Lucratus  sum  in  e&  mercimonium  meum  ?• 
Numquid  improbae,  et  sordidse  cogitationes  invaserunt  me,  atque  illis  libenter 
immoratus  sum  ?  &c. 


EXAMINA  TION  OF  CONSCIENCE.  337 

£t  summon  the  will  to  give  account  of  its  affections,  whether  they 
have  been  sinful  or  imperfect,  and  whether  or  not  it  has  in  any 
manner  consented  thereunto.  Let  it  strictly  cross-question  all  the 
senses  of  the  body.  The  eyes  must  be  examined  whether  they  have 
•been  over-inquisitive,  immodest,  or  too  free  and  wanton.  The 
tongue  must  be  questioned  as  to  its  words ;  have  they  been  offensive, 
unchaste,  angry,  idle,  contrary  to  charity  ?  The  ears,  the  touch,  the 
taste,  the  hands,  must  be  called  to  give  an  exact  account  of  all  they 
have  done.  Next,  by  a  lively  repentance  we  must  correct  whatever 
•we  shall  discover  to  have  been  inordinate  and  sinful,  and  everything 
must  be  set  in  order  anew  by  a  firm  and  resolute  purpose  of 
amendment.  By  this  daily  search  into  our  every  action,  the 
reason  will  be  enabled  to  regulate  all  with  justice  and  exactitude, 
and  we  shall  make  easy,  rapid,  and  safe  progress  towards  the 
perfection  to  which  we  are  called.  This  comparison  is  borrowed 
entirely  from  St.  John  Chrysostom,  who  employs  it  in  order  to 
show  the  importance  of  this  daily  self-examination,  and  who 
exhorts  us  to  the  practice  thereof.* 

358.  St.  Gregory  the  Great  says,  that  whoever  fails  to  examine 
•daily  into  all  that  he  has  done,  said,  and  thought,  is  not  at  home 
with,  and  present  to,  himself,  but  lives  an  outside  and  chance  life, 
and  is  consequently  losing  sight  altogether  of  his  perfection."! 
St.  Bernard  assures  us  that  if  we  will  but  examine  ourselves  morning 
and  night,  and  prescribe  to  ourselves,  early  and  late,  the  rule  of 

*  Idem  facere  oportet  in  peccatis,  quod  in  pecuniarum  sumptibus  :  statim 
•cum  surreximus  a  lecto,  priusquam  progrediamur  in  forum,  vel  priusquam 
aggrediamur  opus  vel  privatum,  vel  publicum,  vocato  ministro,  rationemsump- 
tuum  petimus,  ut  sciamus,  quidnam  male,  quid  bene  expenderit.  .  .  Faciamus 
igitur  hoc  et  in  operibus  nostris,  vocat£  conscientia  nostrS,.  Faciamus 
similiter  rationem  verborum,  operum,  cogitationum  ;  et  scrutemur,  quid  utiliter 
insumptum  sit,  et  quid  in  perniciem  nostram.  Quis  sermo  male  expensus  in 
<onvicia,  in  sales,  in  turpiloquia  :  quae  concupiscentia  oculorum  in  intem- 
perantiam  provocavit :  quse  cogitatio  cum  damno  nostro  in  opus  prodierit,  vel 
per  manus,  vel  per  linguam,  vel  per  cogitationes  ipsas.  Serm.  de  Pcenit.  et 
€onf. 

t  Quisque  vitse  suse  custodiatn  negligit  discutere,  quae  agit,  quae  loquitur, 
quse  cogitat,  aut  despicit,  aut  nescit ;  coram  se  ipse  non  ambulat :  quia  qualis 
•sit  in  suis  moribus,  vel  in  actibus,  ignorat.  Nee  sibimetipsi  prsesens  est,  qui 
•semetipsum  quotidie  exquirere,  aut  cognoscere  solicitus  non  est.  Homil.  4. 
In  Ezech. 

VOL.   I.  " 


338  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

our  life,  we  shall  never  fall  into  any  serious  fault*  And  not  to 
weary  our  kind  reader  by  multiplied  and  lengthy  texts  which 
might  easily  be  accumulated,  I  will  only  add  that  St.  Dorotheus, 
though  one  of  the  early  Fathers,  while  recommending  examina 
tion  of  conscience  as  a  most  sure  means  of  keeping  the  soul  pure 
and  unblemished,  says,  that  this  lesson  had  been  handed  down  at 
his  time  from  his  forefathers  and  their  predecessors.  It  is  there 
fore  unquestionable  that  from  the  very  first  ages  of  the  Church, 
the  saints  looked  upon  daily  examination  of  conscience  as  a 
most  powerful  means  of  speedily  attaining  to  purity  of  heart,  and 
through  this  to  Christian  perfection,  t 

359.  Nor  have  the  saints  recommended  this  Examination  of 
Conscience  by  their  teachings  only,  they  have  further  encouraged 
us  to  the  assiduous  practice  of  the  same  by  their  example ;  for, 
indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  a  single  holy  Confessor 
who  has  not  made  use  of  it  as  of  a  ladder  by  which  to  climb  to 
the  summit  of  perfection.  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  %  not  content 
with  examining  his  conscience  twice  a  day,  conformably  with  the 
instructions  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  never  let  a  single  hour  pass 
by  without  recollecting  himself,  and  searching  minutely  into  all 
his  thoughts,  words,  and  actions,  during  that  brief  space  of  time ; 
repenting  of  every  slight  imperfection  which  the  pure  eye  of  his 
mind  could  discover,  and  renewing  the  spirit  within  him  by  a 
freshly-formed  purpose  of  spending  the  coming  hour  in  a  more 
faultless  manner.  He  was  unable  even  to  understand  how  any  one 
could  aspire  to  sanctity  and  not  keep  constant  watch  over  his 
heart  by  examining  all  its  movements.  Hence,  one  who  had  been 
a  close  observer  of  the  course  of  his  whole  life,  was  able  to  say 
that  the  life  of  St.  Ignatius  was  one  uninterrupted  examination  of 

*  Mane  prateritse  noctis  fac  a  temetipso  exactionem,  et  venturse  diei  tibi 
indicito  cautionem.  Sic  districto  nequaquam  tibi  aliquando  lascivire  vacabit. 
Ad  Fratres  de  Monte  Dei. 

t  Quo  pacto  per  singulos  dies  nosmetipsos  purgare,  et  propemodum  expiare 
debeamus,  exactissime  docuerunt  majores,  et  patres  nostri  :  nempe  ut  vesperi 
sedulo  quisque  perquirat,  et  investiget,  quomodo  pertransierit  diem  ilium. 
Rursus  mane  examinet,  quomodo  exegerit  noctem  illam  :  et  poenitentiam  agaty 
et  resipiscat  cum  Deo.  Doct.  n,  de  Vita  Recte  et  Pie  InstituendiL 

%  Nolarci,  Vita  di  S.  Ignazio,  cap.  24. 


NECESSITY  OF  THE  SAME. 


339 


conscience.  It  will  not  be  foreign  to  the  present  subject  if  I 
relate  an  expression  of  wonder  on  the  part  of  the  Saint  which 
renders  him  worthy  of  greater  wonder  on  our  part ;  for  having 
one  day  chanced  to  meet  one  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society,  he 
asked  him  familiarly  how  often  he  had  entered  into  himself  for 
the  purpose  of  self-examination  up  to  that  hour.  "  Seven  times," 
replied  the  latter.  "  Ah,  me  !  so  seldom  !"  answered  the  Saint, 
quite  astonished.  And  it  was  not  yet  evening  when  this 
happened ;  but  some  hours  of  the  day  were  still  to  come.  St. 
Francis  Borgia  was  also  in  the  habit  of  taking  account  of  himself 
at  least  once  in  every  hour :  indeed,  St.  Dorotheus  recommends 
the  practice  to  all  devout  persons  as  most  advantageous  to  the 
soul.*  We  may  hence  infer,  that  as  the  saints  have  so  earnestly 
inculcated,  and  so  diligently  practised,  this  daily  Examination  o 
Conscience,  it  must  needs  be  a  most  necessary  means  for  the 
attainment  of  perfection. 


CHAPTER   II. 

REASONS   WHICH    MADE    THE    SAINTS  LOOK  UPON  DAILY  EXAMINA 
TION  OF  CONSCIENCE  AS  MOST  NECESSARY. 

360.  THE  principal  reason  why  the  saints  so  earnestly  exhort  us 
to  watch  over  our  every  action  by  means  of  daily  self-examina 
tion,  is  based  on  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  proceeding  from 
the  sin  of  our  first  parent,  on  account  of  which  the  same  failings 
ever  tend  to  shoot  forth  anew  within  us,  the  same  sins  to  reappear, 
and  the  same  passions  to  rage  within  our  hearts.  Hence  it  is 
necessary  to  observe,  at  least  once  a  day,  what  poisonous  weeds 
have  sprung  up  within  our  hearts,  in  order  that  we  may  prune 
them  with  the  knife  of  a  true  contrition.  How  unwise  would 
not  that  gardener  be,  who,  having  once  cleared  the  ground  of 

*  Sane  cum  adtnodum  delinquamus,  obliviscamurque  delicta  nostra,  opus 
est  nobis  ad  horas  diligenti  examinatione  :  quo  pacto  scilicet  ambulemus  id 
moment!,  et  temporis,  et  in  quo  deliquissemus.  Doct.  n,  Supradict. 

22—  2 


340  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

weeds,  were  never  to  do  so  more  !  seeing  that  the  soil  will  always 
begin  again  and  again  to  put  forth  useless  and  noxious  plants  which 
stifle  the  growth  of  such  as  have  value.  A  vine-dresser  would 
surely  be  thought  to  have  lost  his  senses,  and  very  justly  too,  if, 
sifter  having  once  removed  from  the  trees  and  vines  all  super 
fluous  branches  and  tendrils,  he  were  never  again  to  perform  the 
-like  operation ;  for  vines  and  trees  are  ever  putting  forth  a  fresh  and 
undue  luxuriance  of  branches,  shoots,  and  leaves.  No  less  folly 
would  it  be  in  a  Christian,  if  having  by  some  one  good  Confession 
uprooted  in  his  heart  the  poisonous  growth  of  his  faults,  and 
pruned  the  wasteful  luxuriance  of  his  feelings,  he  were  to  neglect 
to  do  the  same  thing  day  by  day,  through  a  diligent  Examination 
of  Conscience  :  being  fully  aware,  as  he  must  be,  that  some  evil 
weed  or  other  springs  up  every  day ;  that  some  branch  of  sin  puts 
forth  its  shoots  ;  that  some  one  passion  awakens  ;  and  that  without 
constant  pruning  the  beauteous  garden  of  the  soul  would  soon 
become  a  hideous  tangle  of  sin.  But  let  us  hear  St.  Bernard  on 
this  point :  "  Who  is  there,"  he  says,  "  in  this  world,  who  has  so 
perfectly  cut  away  from  within  himself  all  vain  and  superfluous 
attachments,  as  to  have  no  need  to  cut  or  prune  away  anything 
more  ?  Believe  me,  the  evils  that  have  been  cut  down  will  put 
forth  new  shoots ;  after  having  been  driven  forth,  they  will  surely 
come  back;  when  quenched  they  will  once  more  burst  into 
flame ;  and  though  now  they  are  lying  dormant,  soon  will  they 
awake  anew.  Hence,  it  avails  little  to  have  used  the  pruning- 
knife  once ;  we  must  use  it  often,  and,  inasmuch  as  may  be 
possible,  never  let  it  out  of  our  hands  ;  because,  unless  we  want 
to  hoodwink  and  blind  ourselves,  we  shall  always  be  rinding 
something  in  ourselves  that  needs  cutting  away."*  The  same  Saint 
then  adds  :  "  As  long  as  you  dwell  in  this  mortal  body,  whatever 
may  be  your  strivings  after  progress  in  spiritual  life,  you  deceive 
yourself  if  you  fancy  that  your  lusts  and  vices  are  dead,  and  not 

*  Quis  enim  ita  ad  unguem  omnia  a  se  superflua  resecavit,  ut  nihil  se  habere 
putet  putatione  dignum  ?  Credite  mihi,  et  putata  repullulant,  et  effugata 
redeunt,  et  reaccenduntur  extincta,  et  sopita  denuo  excitantur.  Parum  est 
ergo  semel  putasse,  saepe  putandum  est,  imo,  si  fieri  potest,  semper  :  quia 
semper,  quod  putari  oporteat,  si  non  dissimulas,  invenis.  In  Cantic.,  Serm. 
52. 


NECESSITY  OF  THE  SAME.  34, 

rather  forcibly  kept  under  for  the  time."*  Never  therefore  must  we 
let  ourselves  be  lulled  into  a  false  security,  but  we  must  keep  a  daily 
watch  and  ward  over  our  vicious  tendencies  by  frequently  examin 
ing  our  conscience,  and  must  strike  them  down,  when  they  make 
their  appearance,  by  repeated  blows  of  contrition. 

361.  If  a  King  were  to  learn  for  certain  that  within  the  limits  of 
his  realm  his  foes  were  lurking,  hidden  among  the  woods  and 
thickets,  he  certainly  would  not  fail  to  pursue  them  vigorously. 
And  when  he  had  found  them,  think  you  that  he  would  let  them 
remain  there  at  large  ?  Undoubtedly  not.  After  having  tracked 
them  out  with  the  greatest  diligence,  he  would  put  them  all  to 
the  sword,  and  make  a  wholesale  slaughter  of  them,  'as  soon  as 
they  were  fully  discovered.  "Now,  remember,"  St.  Bernard 
continues,  "  that  you  have  within  you  an  enemy  whom  you  may 
overcome  and  subdue,  but  whom  you  cannot  exterminate ; 
whether  you  will  it  or  not,  this  enemy  will  ever  be  living  within 
you,  and  will  ever  carry  on  an  implacable  war  against  you.  Who, 
then,  is  this  great,  undying  enemy,  or  rather,  who  are  these  many 
enemies  who  can  only  die  when  you  die  yourself?  I  answer :  your 
own  passions,  your  own  vices,  and  the  weaknesses  which  your 
passions  and  vices  beget. "t  Seek  them  out,  then,  every  day  by  the 
Examination  of  Conscience;  and  having,  through  a  diligent 
search,  discovered  them,  slay  them  with  the  sword  of  a  true 
sorrow ;  hew  them  down  by  the  earnestness  of  your  resolve ;  so  that 
they  may  be  left  on  the  field,  not  indeed  dead,  as  that  cannot  be, 
but  so  wounded  and  disabled  that  they  may  no  longer  be  able  to 
hinder  your  progress  in  the  way  of  perfection. 

362.  Tell  me,  pray,  have  you  ever  heard  of  a  shipwright  who 
succeeded  in  framing  a  ship  so  strongly  that  neither  the  beating 
of  the  waves  nor  the  violence  of  the  winds  could  ever  spring  the 
slightest  leak?  You  answer,  that  this  would  be  impossible, 
because  a  ship  is  made  up  of  so  many  beams,  so  many  planks, 
so  many  joints,  all  fastened  together,  that,  hourly  beaten  as  it  is 
by  the  buffeting  of  wind  and  water,  it  must  sooner  or  later  loosen 

*  Quantumlibet  in  hoc  corpore  manens  profeceris,  erras,  si  vitia  putas  emor- 
tua,  et  non  magis  suppressa. 

t  Intra  fines  tuos  habitat  Jebusasus :  subjugari  potest,  sed  non  exterminari. 


342  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

some  of  them.  What  then  can  be  done  to  hinder  the  poor 
vessel  which  is  constantly  taking  in  water,  drop  by  drop  though 
it  may  be,  from  eventually  sinking,  and  being  swamped  in  the 
midst  of  the  ocean  ?  There  is  but  one  remedy  :  it  is  to  work  the 
pumps  regularly,  in  order  to  prevent  the  water  accumulating  in 
the  hold.  Now  man,  in  the  ocean  of  misery  in  which  we  are 
constrained  to  sail,  is  very  like  a  tempest-tost  ship,  being  made 
up,  so  to  speak,  of  enfeebled  powers,  of  weak  senses,  of  passions 
always  ready  to  betray ;  nor  is  it  to  be  expected  that,  amid  the 
shock  of  so  many  temptations,  having  to  encounter  so  many 
occasions  and  dangers  of  evil,  he  will  not  leave  some  small 
opening  by  which  venial  sins,  at  least,  and  trivial  faults  will  find 
their  way  into  the  soul,  and  by  their  accumulation  bring  about  in 
course  of  time  that  shipwreck  which  we  call  mortal  sin ;  or,  if  not 
this,  at  all  events  hinder  him  from  reaching  in  safety  the  port 
which  he  is  desirous  of  making, — I  mean,  from  attaining  perfection. 
What  then  is  to  be  done  to  hinder  this  dreadful  misfortune 
from  coming  upon  us  by  slow  degrees?  What,  but  daily  to 
empty  the  conscience  of  the  faults  we  have  committed,  by  a  serious 
examination  of  ourselves  ?  to  cast  them  out  by  contrition,  to  close 
up  the  rifts  through  which  they  find  an  entrance,  by  our  firm 
purposes  and  constantly-renewed  resolutions  to  amend?  This 
simile  I  have  borrowed  from  St.  Augustine.*  "  The  troubled  waters 
of  venial  offences,"  says  the  holy  Doctor,  "  rise  daily  in  the  hold 
of  our  hearts ;  whoever,  then,  wishes  not  to  perish,  let  him  empty 
it  out  every  day,  as  sailors  do  the  hold  of  a  ship,  by  a  careful  and 
contrite  examination  of  conscience." 

363.  From  this  argument  another  may  be  deduced  which  proves 
to  demonstration  that  it  is  idle  to  dream  of  attaining  Christian 
perfection  without  examining  our  conscience ;  for,  if  what  we  have 
heretofore  proved  be  true ;  if,  that  is,  without  a  daily  scrutiny  of 
our  hearts  we  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  the  vices,  sins,  and  failings 
to  which  we  are  so  prone,  it  is  equally  demonstrable  that  without 

*  Non  contemnantur  vel  minora  (scilicet  peccata).  Per  angustas  rimulas 
navis  insudat  aqua,  impletur  sentina  :  si  contemnatur  sentina,  mergitur  navis. 
Sed  non  cessatur  a  nautis  :  ambulant  manus,  ambulant,  ut  quotidie  sentiime 
exhauriantur.  Sic  et  tuae  manus  ambulent,  ut  quotidie  sentines.  Horn.  42, 
Lib.  Quinquag.  Homil.,  c.  9. 


NECESSITY  OF  THE  SAME.  343 

this  examination,  virtue  can  have  no  growth  whatever  within  us ; 
still  less  can  the  divine  flower  of  charity  blossom  forth  in  our 
hearts.  In  order  that  the  grain  may  grow  in  the  field,  the  ground 
must  first -of  all  be  cleared  of  briars  and  brambles  :  we  must  first 
•cart  away  the  stones  which  encumber  the  soil,  otherwise,  as  we 
read  in  the  Gospel  parable,  the  thorns  will  choke  the  seed,  and 
the  stones  will  deprive  it  of  the  moisture  necessary.*  So  too,  the 
chosen  seed  of  virtue  cannot  spring  up  and  flourish  in  the  soil  of 
our  hearts,  unless  they  be  first  cleared  of  the  roots  of  vices  and  of 
bad  passions ;  unless  they  be  previously  cleansed  of  those  daily 
faults,  which,  little  by  little,  harden  it  and  make  it  as  impervious 
as  a  rock.  All  this  is  admirably  expressed  in  the  sweet  language 
of  St.  Bernard.  "  Virtue,"  he  writes,  "  cannot  grow  in  the  company 
•of  vice.  If  the  one  is  to  flourish,  the  other  must  perish.  Clear 
.away,  then,  what  is  superfluous  and  vicious,  and  that  which  is 
wholesome  and  virtuous  will  at  once  spring  up.  Whatever  you 
withhold  from  your  lusts  will  turn  to  the  profit  and  advantage  of 
your  spiritual  life."  "Therefore,"  concludes  the  holy  Doctor, 
"let  us  take  heed  to  cut  down  by  a  diligent  self-examination  the 
noxious  growth  of  faults,  vices,  and  defects,  if  we  wish  to  see  the 
flowers  of  every  virtue  bloom  forth  in  the  garden  of  our  souls. "t 

364.  St.  Augustine,  treating  especially  of  charity,  which,  as  we 
have  so  frequently  said,  is  the  very  sap  of  our  perfection,  states 
positively,  that  it  will  increase  in  the  measure  of  our  efforts  to 
keep  down  the  lusts  of  our  disorderly  passions,  and  that  charity 
will  be  perfect  in  him  who  has  entirely  mortified  and  extinguished 
his  selfish  lusts.  J  As  a  vessel  full  of  water  will  gradually  become 
full  of  air  when  the  liquid  is  being  drawn  off,  and,  when  all  the 
water  is  emptied  out,  will  contain  nothing  else  but  air ;  so,  and 
much  more,  says  St.  Augustine,  will  our  hearts  fill  with  divine  love 
in  proportion  as  they  are  emptied  of  selfish  desires,  and  then  only 

*  Et  aliud  cecidit  super  petram.  Natum  aruit,  quia  non  habebat  humorem. 
Luc.  viij. 

t  Non  potest  virtus  pariter  crescere.  Ergo  ut  ilia  vigeat,  ista  crescere  non 
.s'.natur.  Tolle  superflua,  ut  salubria  surgant.  Utilitati  accedit  quidquid  cupi- 
^itati  demis.  Demus  operam  putationi.  Serm.  48,  In  Cant. 

J  Augmentum  enim  caritatis  est  diminutio  cupiditatis  ;  perfectio  vero,  nulla 
cupiditas.  Lib.  83,  qq. 


344  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

will  they  be  full  of  love  when  they  are  perfectly  emptied  of  every 
disorderly  inclination.  St.  Paul  accounts  for  this  in  these  words  : 
"  The  end  of  all  the  commandments  " — and  by  strict  consequence,, 
the  crowning  of  the  edifice  of  our  perfection — *'  is  charity."  But 
this  flower  of  paradise  blooms  only  in  pure  hearts,  in  consciences 
cleansed  from  all  evil  lusts.*  Now,  to  bring  the  heart  to  this 
stainless  purity,  no  means  can  be  more  effectual  than  the  frequent 
use  of  self-examination;  than  an  exact  care  to  cleanse  it  of  its 
defilements  by  sorrow  for  our  faults,  to  provide  against  future 
stains  by  good  purposes,  and  never  to  let  a  day  pass  without 
thus  cultivating  the  soul.  He,  then,  who  desires  to  see  the  red 
rose  of  charity,  the  white  lilies  of  purity,  the  purple  violet  of 
humility  and  penance,  indeed  the  flowers  of  every  virtue, 
blossoming  in  his  heart,  must  apply  himself  frequently  to  this- 
holy  exercise,  and  thus  his  soul  will  become  perfect,  lovely,  and 
beautiful  to  behold,  and  the  King  of  Heaven  will  come  down  to 
take  His  pleasure  in  it  as  in  a  Paradise  of  delights. 

365.  It  will  appear  to  no  one  an  extraordinary  matter  to  set 
apart  a  few  minutes  daily  for  examining  and  purifying  our 
heart,  if  he  calls  to  mind  that  the  sages  of  old,  pagan  though 
they  were,  thought  that  this  daily  self-examination  was  necessary 
for  the  bettering  of  their  life,  and  made  use  of  it  for  that 
purpose.  Pythagoras  prescribes  it  to  his  disciples,  many  of  whom 
were  in  the  habit  of  searching  into  themselves  regularly  every 
evening.  Cicero  tells  us  of  himself,  that  always  at  the  close 
of  each  day  he  called  himself  to  account  for  everything  that  he 
had  spoken,  heard,  and  done  during  the  whole  course  of  that  day.t 
Seneca  tells  us  that  every  night  he  sat  thus  in  judgment  over  his- 
own  actions.  "  Each  night,"  he  writes,  "  when  the  lamp  is  put 
out  in  my  chamber,  and  my  wife,  aware  of  my  custom,  keeps 
silence,  I  examine  into  the  whole  course  of  the  past  day.  I  think, 
over  all  I  have  said  and  done,  concealing  nothing  from  myself, 
passing  over  nothing.  If  I  discover  anything  amiss,  I  say  to. 

*  Finis  praecepti  est  caritas  de  corde  puro,  et  conscienti£  bon£,  et  fide  non. 
ficta.  I  Tim.  i.  5. 

t  Pythagoreorum  more,  exercendse  memorise  gratici,  quid  quotidie  dixerim,. 
audierim,  egerim,  commemoro  vesperi.  De  Senect. 


NECESSITY  OF  THE  SAME.  345 

myself,  « I  forgive  thee  this  time,  but  do  so  no  more.'  "*  Now, 
if  heathens,  out  of  the  desire  they  had  for  wisdom,  made  daily 
use  of  this  self-examination,  how  much  rather  should  it  not  be 
practised  by  Christians  out  of  a  desire  of  becoming  pleasing  to 
God  by  cleanness  of  heart,  of  attaining  supernatural  perfection, 
and  of  arriving  at  the  possession  of  those  surpassing  good  things 
which  are  in  store  for  the  perfect  beyond  the  stars. 

366.  I  may  allege  a  further  reason,  which,  as  it  escaped  the 
sages  of  old,  should  be  better  known  to  us  who  are  gifted  with 
the  light  of  faith.     It  is  this  :  that  by  frequently  and  searchingly 
looking   into   ourselves,   not   in  a  superficial   manner,   but  with 
inward  compunction  of  spirit,  we  escape  the  severe  and  rigorous 
judgment  that  otherwise  awaits  us  before  the  tribunal  of  God; 
for,  as  St.  Paul  says,  If  we  judge  ourselves  we  shall  not  be  judged. ,t 
Cornelius  k  Lapide  applies  these  words  to  our  subject  in  this  very 
sense,  and  in  the  following  terms  : — "  If  we  examine  and  search 
into  our  conscience,  submitting  it  to  a  rigorous  trial,  and  if,  when 
we  discover  any  sins,  we  wash  them  away  with  tears  of  contrition, 
we  shall  not  be  judged  by  God ;  in  other  words,  we  shall  escape 
punishment  at  His  awful  judgment."! 

367.  Such  being  the  case,  the  reader  will  do  well  to  reflect  on 
the  terrors  of  God's  judgment-day,  on  the  searching  examination 
which  will  then  be  made  into  his  faults ;  to  think  how  inexorable 
the  Judge  will  show  Himself;  how  severe  the  punishment  which 
will  then  be  awarded  by  an  irrevocable  sentence  :  he  may  then 
be  quite  sure  that  he  will  feel  glad  to  examine  his  conscience,  not 
only  once,  but  several  times  a  day,  in  order  to  escape  so  awful  a 
judgment.     A  Religious  of  godly  life  appeared  after  his  death,  clad 
in  sable  garb,  with  a  downcast  and  melancholy  countenance,  to 

*  Utor  hac  potestate,  et  quotidie  apud  me  causam  dico.  Cum  ablatum  est 
e  conspectu  lumen,  et  conticuit  uxor,  moris  jam  mei  conscia,  totum  diem 
mecum  scrutor ;  facta,  et  dicta  remetior.  Nihil  mihil  abscondo :  nihil  transeo. 
Quare  enim  quidquam  ex  erroribus  meis  timeam,  cum  possim  mihi  ipsi  dicere  : 
Vide  istud  amplius  facias  :  nunc  tibi  ignosco.  De  Ir§,. 

t  Quod  si  nosmetipsos  dijudicaremus,  non  utique  judicaremur.   I  Cor.  xj.  31. 

J  Quod  si  nosmetipsos  dijudicaremus,  probaremus,  examinaremus,  discute- 
remus,  ut  si  quid  peccati  inveniamus,  illud  contritione,  et  confessione  expie- 
mur  :  non  utique  judicaremur,  non  in  judicio  divino  puniremur. 


346  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

one  of  his  brethren,  a  former  friend  of  his.  His  friend  asked 
him  why  he  appeared  in  such  a  mournful  aspect.  The  dead  man 
answered,  "It  is  beyond  belief!  it  is  beyond  belief!"*  "But 
what,"  replied  the  friend,  "what  is  it  that  is  beyond  belief?" 
"  It  is,"  rejoined  the  dead  man,  "  the  rigour  of  God's  judgment, 
and  the  severity  of  His  chastisements. "t  At  these  words  he 
vanished,  leaving  his  friend  more  dead  than  alive  from  very 
terror. } 

368.  It  pleased  God  to  give  a  specimen  of  the  rigour  of  the 
divine  judgment  to  St.  Mary  Magdalen  de  Pazzi  during  her  life 
time,  in  order  that  her  example  might  inspire  us  with  a  wholesome 
dread.  §  Having  one  evening  knelt  down  to  her  usual  Examin 
ation  of  Conscience,  she  was  suddenly  rapt  in  ecstasy  and  borne 
up  to  God's  presence.  Then  our  Lord,  with  a  beam  of  His  most 
pure  light,  penetrated  her  with  such  a  sense  of  the  malice  of  each 
of  her  faults,  that  those  who  heard  her  make  her  Examination  aloud, 
while  the  ecstasy  lasted,  were  struck  with  horror  no  less  than 
herself.  The  first  fault  she  mentioned  was  having  omitted,  on 
awaking  in  the  morning,  to  direct  her  earliest  thoughts  to  God, 
being  busy  with  the  care  of  calling  up  the  sisters,  in  order  that 
they  might  get  ready  to  praise  God,  as  she  was  fearful  lest  she 
might  be  late.  This  omission,  which  many  of  us  would  doubtless 
account  an  act  of  holy  zeal,  appeared  so  heinous  to  the  Saint, 
that  she  implored  God's  mercy,  declaring  meanwhile  that  she  was 
unworthy  of  it,  and  deserving  of  a  thousand  hells.  Next  she 
accused  herself  that,  while  standing  in  Choir,  instead  of  being 
wholly  absorbed  in  God's  praise,  she  had  felt  some  annoyance  at 
seeing  the  prescribed  inclinations  of  the  head  and  other  ceremonies 
omitted.  Here  again  she  craved  mercy  for  what  we  should 
consider  zeal  for  God's  honour.  She  then  accused  herself,  as  she 
had  already  done  in  Confession  that  very  day,  of  having  rebuked 
one  of  her  novices  with  an  expression  not  quite  gentle  and  sweet. 
She  besought  God  to  pardon  her,  and  in  order  to  obtain  forgive- 

*  Nemo  credit,  nemo  credit,  nemo  credit. 

t  Quam  distncte  judicet  Deus,  et  quam  severe  puniat. 

£  Doct.  Jac.  de  Paradiso.     In  Lib.  de  Pecc.  Mental,  et  Criminal. 

§  Vincenzo  Puccini.     Nella  sua  Vita,  cap.  76. 


NECESSITY  OF  THE  SAME.  347 

ness,  pleaded  the  merits  of  His  most  bitter  Passion.  That  same 
day,  while  conversing  at  the  grille  with  an  aunt  of  hers,  she  had 
been  rapt  in  ecstasy,  and  carried  forcibly  from  herself  by  the 
power  of  God.  Feeling  the  inward  motion  of  God's  spirit,  she 
had  signalled  to  the  nuns  to  take  her  away,  lest  she  should  be  seen 
in  this  condition  by  a  secular  person.  The  nuns,  however,  did 
not  understand  what  she  wished  to  convey  by  these  signals,  so 
that  she  fell  into  ecstasy  in  public,  without  being  able  to  help  it. 
Now,  for  this,  in  which  none  of  us  could  discover  even  the 
shadow  of  a  fault,  she  blamed  herself  bitterly,  calling  it  great 
hypocrisy,  since  she  had  appeared  better  than  she  was, — craving 
God's  pardon,  and  protesting  that  if  He  cast  her  into  hell,  she 
deserved  to  be  under  the  feet  of  Judas.  She  continued  to  accuse 
herself  of  such  slight  defects  as  these,  with  the  like  expressions  of 
contrition,  and  at  length  concluded  in  words  which  would  befit  a 
repentant  adulterer  or  murderer,  whom  the  enormity  of  his 
crimes  had  well-nigh  driven  to  despair  of  God's  mercy,  saying, 
"  O  God,  as  I  have  so  often  offended  Thee  to-day,  I  will  not  add 
to  my  other  sins  the  crowning  offence  of  despairing  of  Thy 
mercy.  Full  well  I  know,  O  Lord,  that  I  am  unworthy  of 
pardon,  but  the  blood  that  Thou  hast  shed  for  me  emboldens  me 
to  look  for  forgiveness."  On  another  occasion  God  showed  the 
Saint,  while  she  was  in  an  ecstasy,  all  the  sins  she  had  committed 
in  her  past  life.  On  beholding  "them,  she  sobbed  bitterly,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Willingly  would  I  go  to  hell,  if  only  by  so  doing  I 
could  bring  about  that  I  had  never  offended  Thee."  Yet  it  is 
well  known  how  blamelessly  this  Saint  had  lived,  even  from  her 
tenderest  years.  So  much  does  the  weight  of  our  faults  increase 
when  God  takes  upon  Himself  the  examination  of  them,  and 
shows  them  to  the  soul  as  they  really  are  in  themselves.  What 
then  will  be  our  state  at  God's  judgment-seat,  on  beholding  our 
crimes  in  a  light  much  clearer  and  far  more  penetrating  than  that 
in  which  this  holy  virgin  saw  her  slight  failings  ?  Truly,  disem 
bodied  souls  see  things  in  a  far  different  light  from  that  in  which 
we  behold  the  same  while  yet  in  the  bonds  of  the  flesh  !  What 
dread,  what  horror  will  one  day  be  ours  !  I  am  sure  that  if  the 
sicrht  of  our  faults  could  cause  death  in  the  next  world,  we  should 


348  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

die  a  thousand  times  from  sheer  fright.  But  what  remedy  is 
there  for  this  ?  None  other  than  reliance  on  the  counsel  of  the 
Apostle  :  to  sit  in  judgment  now  upon  ourselves.  If  we  judge 
ourselves  we  shall  not  be  judged*  None  other  than  to  call  our  con 
sciences  to  account  at  least  once  in  the  day ;  to  search  into  various 
movements;  to  examine  them  all  with  a  critical  and  observant 
eye ;  and  on  discovering  anything  amiss,  to  blot  it  out  by  acts  of 
lively  contrition  and  firm  purposes  of  amendment ;  bearing  in 
mind  that,  as  St.  Augustine  says,  "  God  loves  to  pardon  those 
who  confess  their  faults  to  Him  with  lowly  repentance,  and 
forbears  from  judging  those  severely  who,  with  a  contrite  heart, 
do  judgment  upon  themselves. "t 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  MANNER  OF  MAKING  THE  DAILY  EXAMINATION  OF  CONSCIENCE 

EXPLAINED. 

369.  ACCORDING  to  the  plan  laid  down  by  St.  Ignatius  in  the  book 
of  his  Spiritual  Exercises,  this  devout  practice  should  consist  of 
five  parts.  In  the  first  place,  we  put  ourselves  in  the  presence  of 
God  by  an  act  of  faith  and  profound  adoration,  and  give  Him 
thanks  for  all  the  favours  we  have  received  from  the  divine  bounty, 
but  especially  on  that  particular  day.  St.  Bernard  warns  us  to  be 
very  much  indeed  on  our  guard  not  to  be  backward  in  giving  God 
the  thanks  so  due  for  the  benefits  which  He  imparts  to  us  :  since 
gratitude  dictates  that  we  should  duly  render  thanks  to  the 
"  giver  of  all  good  gifts,"  for  every  favour,  whether  ordinary,  or 
great,  or  small.  \  Now,  the  time  of  Examination  of  Conscience 

*  Si  nosmetipsos  dijudicaremus,  non  utique  judicarernur. 
f  Amat  Deus  confitentibus  parcere,  et  eos  qui  se  judicant,  non  judicare, 
%  Disce  in  referendo  gratiam  non  esse  tardus,  aut  segnis.     Disce  ad  singula 
dona  gratias  agere.      Diligenter  considera,    quse  tibi   apponuntur,    ut    nulla 
videlicet  Dei  dona,  debita  gratiarum  actione  frustrentur ;   non  grandia,  non 
mediocria,  non  pusilla.     Serm.  51,  In  Cant. 


METHOD  OF  EXAMINATION.  349 

is  most  suitable  for  this  purpose,  as  then  it  is  that  the  soul  strikes 
a  balance  between  what  it  has  received  from  God,  and  the  return 
it  has  made  to  Him.  So  much  the  more,  too,  as  gratitude  for 
favours  received  disposes  the  soul  to  that  sorrow  which  will  have 
to  follow  upon  the  thought  of  the  ingratitude  we  have  shown  by 
our  sins. 

370.  In  the  second  place,  we  must  ask  God  to  give  us  light  to 
know  our  sins  and  negligences.     This  prayer  is  most  necessary, 
for,    as   St.  Gregory  the   Great  says,    "  Self-love  deludes  us  and 
blinds  the  eye  of  our  mind  so  that  we  fail  to  perceive  our  faults, 
or  they  appear  much  less  grievous  than  they  really  are,  and  thus  we 
make  less  account  of  them  than  we  ought."*     Hence  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  for  us  to  ask  God  to  dispel  the  darkness  which 
self-love  sheds  over  our  minds,  that,  the  eye  of  our  soul  being 
cleared  and  purified,  we  may  be  able  to  discover  all  our  sins, 
penetrate  their  malice,  and  estimate  it  at  its  proper  weight.     The 
more   so   because,  failing  this   self-knowledge,  we   cannot  have 
a   true  repentance  for  our  sins;   since  as  the  same  holy  Pope 
remarks,  "  God  does  not  bestow  the  grace  of  compunction  until 
He  have  previously  made  us  conscious  of  the  enormity  of  our 
faults,  "t 

371.  In  the  third  place,  we  must  make  a  diligent  search  into 
all  the  sins  or  imperfections  into  which  we  have  fallen  during  the 
past  day  or  during  the   preceding   night.     "  Set  up  a  tribunal 
within  thyself,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "and  judge  the  cause  of  the 
life  thou  hast  this  day  led.     Let  thy  thoughts  go  in  search  of  thy 
sins,  and  let  them  accuse  thee  before  God.     Let  thy  conscience 
stand  as  witness  against  thee.     Let  the  fear  and  love  of  God  be 
the  holy  executioners  to  slay  thy  sins  with  the  sword  of  repent 
ance.  "I     Very  different  from  the  judgments  of  earthly  tribunals, 

*  Multa  sunt  peccata,  quae  committimus  :  sed  idcirco  gravia  nobis  non 
videntur,  quia  privato  nos  amore  diligentes,  clausis  nobis  oculis  in  nostril 
deceptione  blandimur.  Et  scimus,  quia  vehementer  claudit  oculum  cord  is 
privatus  amor.  Horn.  4.  In  Ezech. 

t  Compunctionis  gratia  menti  non  infunditur,  nisi  prius  ipsa  ei  peccati 
magnitudo  monstretur.  Lib.  v.  in  I  Reg.,  cap.  II. 

J  Ascendat  homo  adversum  se  tribunal  mentis  suae.  .  .  .  Et  constitute*  in 
•corde  judicio,  adsit  accu'atrlx  cognitio,  testis  coiiscientia,  carnifex  titnor.  Horn. 
<jo,  ex.  Quinquag.  Homil.,  cap.  6. 


350  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

— which  usually  end  with  the  condemnation  of  the  accused, — this 
inward  judgment  will  secure  thy  acquittal  and  the  pardon  of  thy 
sins.  "  But  to  attain  this  end,"  says  St.  John  Chrysostom,  "  thou 
must  proceed  against  thyself  with  rigour  and  exactness.  Thou 
must  carefully  examine  all  the  thoughts  that  have  passed  through 
thy  mind,  all  the  words  that  have  issued  from  thy  mouth,  and  all 
the  actions  that  thou  hast  done  ;  nor  will  any  time  be  better  suited 
for  doing  this  than  at  eventide,  when  thou  art  about  to  lay  thee 
down  upon  thy  bed."*  "  But  remember,"  continues  the  Saint, 
"  that  this  examination  is  not  to  be  made  upon  thy  life  in  the 
gross,  passing  over  slight  faults  as  of  little  moment;  for  thou 
shouldst  take  strict  account  even  of  these,  as  doing  this  thou 
wilt  guard  thyself  from  more  grievous  faults. "t  This  latter  caution 
should  be  borne  in  mind  especially  by  such  as  are  somewhat  ad 
vanced  in  the  way  of  perfection,  and  who  may  be  looked  upon  as 
already  being  among  the  proficients,  or  the  perfect ;  for  in  such 
persons  every  fault  increases  in  magnitude;  and,  as  St.  Isidore 
observes,  that  which  might  be  termed  a  slight  fault  and  of  small 
moment  in  a  mere  beginner,  can  no  longer  be  called  a  small  sin 
in  one  who  has  advanced  on  the  way  to  perfection ;  in  such  a  one 
every  fault  should  be  accounted  as  serious.  J  If  a  boy  at  school 
be  guilty  of  a  barbarism  in  language,  he  is  to  be  pitied ;  but  if 
his  teacher  be  guilty  of  the  same,  he  deserves  no  compassion  :  be 
cause  he  is  bound  to  be  perfect,  or  nearly  perfect,  in  his  own  pro 
fession.  The  same  holds  good  of  spiritual  persons.  Hence,  they 
should  proceed  in  their  self-examination  with  attentive  and  all- 

*  Quando  accubueris  supra  stratum  tuum,  et  neminem  infestum  patieris, 
antequam  veniat  tibi  somnus,  prefer  in  medium  codicem  conscientiam  tuam  ; 
et  reminiscere  peccata  tua,  si  quid  in  verbo,  seu  in  facto,  seu  in  cogitatione 
peccasti.  In  Ps.  1.,  Horn.  2. 

f  Itaque  lectum,  atque  quietem  petiturus,  hoc  judicium  ineas.  .  .  .  Nee  res. 
parvas  contemne ;  sed  magnas  etiam  earum  rationes  repete.  Hoc  modo  magna 
facilius  evitabis  delicta.  Horn.  43  in  Matth. 

J  Peccata,  quse  incipientibus  levia  sunt,  perfectis  viris  gravia  reputantur : 
tanto  enim  majus  cognoscitur  esse  peccatum,  quanto  major,  qui  peccat,  ha- 
betur.  Crescit  enim  delicti  cumulus  juxta  ordinem  meritorum  :  et  ssepe  quod 
minoribus  ignoscitur,  majoribus  imputatur.  Lib.  xxj.  De  Summo  Bono, 
cap.  18. 


METHOD  OF  EXAMINA  TION.  35 1 

observing  eye,  taking  account  of  every  defect ;  and,  as  St.  Isidore 
says,  considering  that  nothing  can  be  of  slight  importance  -in  the 
state  to  which  they  have  attained. 

372.  In  the  fourth  place,  the  Examination  must  be  followed  by 
an  act  of  sorrow  and  contrition  for  the  sins  we  have  committed 
"If  thou  find,"  says  St.  John  Chrysostom,  "  that  in  the  course  01" 
the  day  thou  hast  done  some  good  action,  give  loving  thanks  to 
God ;  for  by  His  gift  hast  thou  been  able  to  do  it.     But  if  thou 
discover  faults  and  sins,  blot  them  out  with  penitential  tears."* 
This   sorrow  must,   as   far  as  possible,  be  heartfelt,  and  full  of 
inward   confusion   and  humility,  as   we  have   seen  above  while 
treating  of  Confession.     The  offender,  under  the  sense  of  his  faults 
and  of  his  infidelity  to  God,  must  present  himself  in  the  sight  of  the 
Almighty  as  a  perverse  and  ungrateful  son  would  present  himself 
before  an  affectionate  father,  and  with  heartfelt  confusion  should 
say  in  the  words  of  St.  Bernard,  "  How  can  I  be  so  bold  as  to  raise 
my  eyes  to  the  countenance  of  so  kind  a  Father,  being,  as  I  am, 
so  undutiful  a  son  ?     I  blush  for  having  done  things  unworthy  of 
my  station,  for  having  proved  myself  the  degenerate  son  of  so  good 
a  Father.     Let  rivers  of  tears  flow  down  from  mine  eyes  ;  let  my 
face   be   covered   with   confusion,  my  countenance  redden  with 
shame,  and  my  soul  be  overshadowed  with   deep   humiliation,  "t 
The  reader  may  be  sure  that  the  more  this  sorrow  is  humble  and 
sincere,   the  more  will  it  avail  to  purge  the  soul  of  all  defile 
ment. 

373.  The  saints  further  counsel  a  devout  person  who  discovers 
on  examination  some  notable  defect,  to  impose  some  penance 
upon  himself  in  reparation  of  the  fault  he  has  committed,  and  as  a 
precaution  against  future  relapses.  St.  John  Chrysostom  says, 
"  Let  thy  mind  and  thy  thoughts  sit  in  judgment  over  thy  soul  and 


*  Expendimus  diem,  O  anima.  Quid  boni  fecimus?  Quid  mali  operati 
sumus?  Si  quid  boni  fecisti  gratias  age  Deo  :  si  quid  mali,  de  cetero  ne 
facias,  et  reminiscens  peccatorum  tuorum,  effunde  lacrymas  ;  et  poteris  in  lec- 
tulo  tuo  positus  ea  delere.  In  Ps.  1 ,  Horn.  2. 

t  Quanam  fronte  attollo  jam  oculos  ad  vultum  patris  tarn  boni  tarn  malus 
films  ?  pudet  indigna  gessisse  genere  meo  :  pudet  tanto  patri  vixisse  degene- 
rem.  Exitus  aquarum  deducite  oculi  mei :  operiat  confusio  faciem  meam  :  vul« 
turn  meum  pudor  suffundat,  occupetque  caligo.  Serm.  16.  In  Cant. 


352  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

conscience.  Look  into  thy  doings,  cast  out  all  thy  faults,  and  to 
each  of  them  assign  a  fitting  chastisement  and  a  proportionate 
penance."*  In  connection  with  this  subject,  Theodoret  relates,t 
that  a  certain  monk,  Eusebius  by  name,  happened  during  the 
reading  of  the  Holy  Gospel,  to  allow  his  eyes  and  mind  to  wander 
and  dwell  upon  some  peasants  who  were  at  work  in  the  neighbour 
ing  fields.  On  recalling  this  negligence  in  his  Examination  of 
Conscience,  he  imposed  on  himself,  for  the  fault  he  had  committed 
the  penance,  not  only  of  never  looking  at  the  field  that  had  been 
the  guilty  occasion  of  his  distraction,  but  of  never  again  raising  his 
eyes  to  heaven.  But  having  marked  out  for  himself  a  straight 
path,  just  broad  enough  to  admit  of  passage,  he  always  went  by  it 
to  the  chapel,  and  returned  by  it  to  his  cell,  without  ever  setting 
foot  outside  that  narrow  alley.  And  fearing  lest,  by  raising  his 
head,  he  might  accidentally  glance  at  the  objects  which  he  had 
forbidden  his  eyes  to  look  upon, — what  did  he  do,  but  fix  an  iron 
girdle  around  his  loins,  and  an  iron  collar  round  his  neck,  and 
having  fastened  both  together  with  a  short  chain,  he  was  thus 
forced  to  remain  always  with  his  head  bent  down  towards  the 
ground,  so  as  to  be  quite  unable  to  see  either  the  fields  or  the 
sky.  Theodoret  ends  his  narrative  by  observing,  that  in  punish 
ment  of  this  curiosity  and  distraction,  the  monk  persevered 
in  his  great  mortification  during  the  forty  years  that  he 
survived.  % 

374.  I  have  not  mentioned  this  fact  because  I  hold  the  opinion 
that  such  extraordinary  penances  are  to  be  imitated,  but  only  to 
show  that  it  was  ever  the  custom  of  God's  saints  to  impose  upon 
themselves  some  mortification  in  punishment  for  the  faults  into 
which  they  happen  to  fall.  Of  course,  in  the  use  of  such  penances, 
each  one  has  to  consult  his  bodily  and  spiritual  strength,  and  to 
choose,  by  the  counsel  of  his  Director,  such  as  may,  without 
unduly  tasking  his  powers,  help  to  restrain  and  deter  him  from 

*  Sedeat  mens,  atque  cogitatio  tua,  judex  in  animam,  atque  conscientiam 
tuam.  Educas  omnia  delicta  tua  in  medium.  Scrutare,  quse  ammo  com- 
misisti :  et  pone  dignas  singulorum  pcenas.  Horn.  43  in  Matth. 

f  Hist.  Eccles.,  cap.  4. 

%  Has  ipse  de  se  exegit  pcenas,  quod  illos  esset  contemplatus  agricolas : 
continuavitque  totos  quadraginta  annos,  quibus  postea  vixit. 


1 


METHOD  OF  EXAMINA  TION.  353 

falling  anew.  St.  John  Chrysostom  suggests  many  such  discreet 
penances ;  as,  for  instance,  for  the  faults  of  the  tongue,  to  recite 
some  prayers ;  for  unguarded  looks,  to  give  some  alms,  or  observe 
some  fast ;  for  foolish  expenditure,  the  compensation  of  a  greater 
parsimony.*  And  elsewhere,  he  advises  the  use  of  stripes  in 
chastisement  of  our  faults,  assuring  us  that  far  from  dying  under 
this  infliction,  we  shall  be  helped  to  escape  death.  Such  was  the 
practice  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  de'  Pazzi,  who,  after  bewailing 
her  faults  in  the  ecstasy  we  have  so  lately  mentioned,  withdrew 
into  a  cell  apart,  and  there  tore  her  body  with  a  frightful 
discipline,  t  Should  it  happen,  however,  that  any  one  find 
himself  unable  to  inflict  stripes  upon  himself  on  each  occasion, 
on  account  of  the  frequency  of  his  falls,  he  may,  at  least,  in  his 
usual  disciplines,  add  some  few  additional  strokes,  in  proportion  to 
the  faults  which  he  may  have  committed.  If  unable  to  fast,  he 
may  deny  himself  somewhat  at  his  accustomed  meals  in  punishment 
of  his  transgressions :  he  may  mortify  his  unbridled  tongue  by 
making  with  it  the  sign  of  the  cross  so  many  times  upon  the 
floor :  he  may  accompany  his  prayers  with  the  mortification  of 
reciting  them  with  his  hands  under  his  knees,  or  with  his  arms  out 
stretched  in  the  form  of  a  cross ;  and  such  other  penances  accord 
ing  as  the  devotion  and  compunction  of  each  one  may  suggest. 

375.  In  the  fifth  place,  we  must  make  a  firm  purpose  not  to 
offend  God  any  more.  This  purpose,  as  St.  John  Chrysostom — 
frequently  quoted  by  us — observes,  should  be  so  efficacious  as  to 
instil  into  the  soul  a  holy  fear  of  ever  again  relapsing  into  sin  ;  so 
that,  like  a  guilty  person  who  has  been  severely  rebuked,  we  may 
not  venture  to  lift  up  our  heads  for  shame,  but  ever  bear  in  mind 
the  reproach  administered.  J  In  order  to  be  of  any  real  use, 

*  Pro  semel  male  insumptis  aliud  reponamus  lucrum  :  pro  verbis  temere 
prolatis  sanctas  preces  :  pro  visu  intemperate  facto  eleemosynas,  jejunia.  In 
Serin,  de  Poenit.  et  Confess. 

•\  Deinde  si  causam  suam  dicere  non  possit  (nempe  conscientia),  sed  balbu- 
tiat,  atque  stupescat :  quasi  superbam  ancillam,  et  de  fornicatione  corruptam, 
csede  verberibus,  et  flagellis  dilania.  Hoc  judicium  quotidie  sibi  diligenter 
constituatur.  .  .  .  Non  enim  morietur  percussa,  sed  mortem  effugiet.  HomiL 
43  in  Matth. 

J  Increpemus  mentem,  et  conscientiam  tanto  impetu,  ut  non  audeat  ultra 
cxsurgere,  et  in  idem  peccatorum  profundum  nos  inducere,  memor  vespertinae 
plagse.  Serm.  de  Poenit.  et  Confess. 

YOU  I.  «3 


354  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

this  purpose  of  amendment  must  descend  to  particulars.  That 
passion  or  disordered  affection  which  has  led  you  astray,  is  to  be 
put  to  the  torture;  that  is  the  one  to  be  racked  with  contrition;  that 
is  precisely  the  one  you  must  strike  down  by  good  resolves,  so 
that  it  may  no  more  venture  to  assail  you,  or  may,  at  least, 
attack  you  with  diminished  strength.  For  it  is  by  particular,  and 
not  by  general,  resolutions,  that  our  vices  are  usually  overcome, 
as,  by  taking  in  hand  sometimes  this  and  sometimes  that  one  of 
our  faults,  we  strengthen  the  will  in  a  generous  and  constant 
resistance,  first  to  one  and  then  to  another  of  our  failings,  and 
thus,  at  length,  by  slow  degrees,  we  get  rid  of  each  and  all  of 
them. 

376.  And  furthermore  we  must  look  into  the  origin  of  our 
faults ;  we  must  go  down  to  the  depths  of  our  soul,  to  find  out  the 
root  of  these  evil  weeds,  so  as  to  be  able  to  pull  them  up  out 
of  our  hearts.  What  use  is  there  in  shaking  off  the  leaves,  or 
clipping  the  branches  of  a  tree  that  never  bears  fruit,  and  does 
nothing  but  cast  a  hurtful  shade  upon  the  ground  ?  Unless  the 
root  be  destroyed,  all  avails  nothing ;  the  tree  will  soon  be 
covered  with  foliage  in  greater  luxuriance  than  ever.  Thus  too, 
our  resolutions  will  be  to  little  purpose  so  long  as  we  cut  not  off 
the  occasions  and  origin  of  our  faults  :  and  our  defects  will 
continually  return  to  defile  our  souls,  however  much  we  may 
resolve  not  to  be  guilty  of  them  in  future.  Lastly,  the  Examina 
tion  of  Conscience  should  end  with  an  Our  Father  and  Hail 
Mary,  and  a  fervent  prayer  to  God  for  grace  never  to  offend 
Him  more,  and  to  carry  out  in  practice  all  that  we  have  promised 
to  do  :  remembering  that  we  can  do  nothing  without  the  help  of 
God. 


PARTICULAR  EXAMINATION.  355 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ON  THE   PARTICULAR    EXAMINATION.       ITS    ADVANTAGES    FOR   THE 
ATTAINING  OF  PERFECTION.       THE  METHOD  OF  MAKING  IT. 

377.  IT  is  impossible  to  overcome  all  at  once  the  passions  which 
domineer  over  us  :  to  uproot  by  one  effort  all  the  vices  implanted 
in  our  souls;  and  at  one  and  the  same  time  to  bring  about  a 
complete  amendment  of  our  conduct.  Hence  Cassian,  with  all 
the  other  masters  of  the  spiritual  life,  teaches  that  in  correct 
ing  our  evil  habits,  we  must  proceed  methodically.  We  must 
specially  keep  in  view  our  predominant  passion  or  vice,  and  bf- 
determined  to  fight  against  it  with  all  the  might  of  our  soul.* 
Against  this  vice  or  passion,  continues  Cassian,  as  against  oui 
chief  enemy,  we  must  use  all  our  weapons ;  that  is,  all  our  medi 
tations,  bur  good  resolutions,  our  prayers,  our  fasts,  our  tears  :  all 
•our  efforts,  in  short,  in  order  to  conquer  it,  to  beat  it  down,  and 
take  it  by  storm. t  Now,  what  is  all  this  but  to  make  the  Par 
ticular  Examination  of  which  we  are  now  speaking;  since  this 
consists  in  nothing  else  than  discovering  what  is  our  predominant 
passion,  and  what  the  faults  to  which  we  are  most  liable,  and  then 
setting  to  work  to  uproot  them,  by  particular  examinations  and 
special  pious  devices,  as  we  are  now  going  to  show. 

378.  As  soon  as  we  shall  have  succeeded  in  overcoming  some 
one  passion,  or  in  correcting  ourselves  of  some  particular  fault, 
we  should  take  another,  and  then  another,  in  hand ;  thus,  little 
by  little,  this  spiritual  industry  will  help  us  to  ascend  to  the  height 
of  perfection.  The  top  of  a  high  tower  is  not  reached  by  means 

*  Adversus  vitia  arripienda  sunt  prselia,  ut  unusquisque  vitium,  quo  maxime 
infestatur,  explorans,  adversus  illud  arripiat  principale  certamen,  omnem  curam 
mentis,  ac  solicitudinem  erga  illius  impugnationem,  observationemque  defigens. 
Collat.  v.,  cap.  24. 

f  Adversus  illud  quotidiana  jejuniorum  dirigens  spicula  :  contra  illud  cunctis 
momentis  cordis  suspiria,  crebraque  gemituum  tela  contorquens,  adversus  illud 
vigiliarum  labores,  ac  meditationes  sui  cordis  intendens,  indesinenter  quoque 
orationum  ad  Deum  fletus  fundens,  et  impugnationis  suse  extinctionem  ab  illo 
specialiter,  et  jugiter  poscens.  Ibid. 


23 — 2 


356  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  wings,  but  by  means  of  steps.  When  any  one  wishes  to  ascend 
to  the  top,  he  takes  the  first  step  of  the  staircase,  beginning  to 
leave  the  ground  below  him  and  to  approach  the  summit.  He 
then  takes  the  second,  the  third,  the  fourth  step,  and  so  on ;  and 
the  more  he  increases  his  distance  from  the  level  ground,  the 
more  he  nears  the  lofty  summit ;  and  the  higher  he  mounts — the 
further  continually  he  leaves  behind  him  the  base  of  the  tower — the 
more  does  he  approach  the  top  of  the  building.  Thus  too,  may 
we,  by  means  of  the  Particular  Examination,  rid  ourselves  this 
month  of  one  sin,  in  the  next  subdue  some  passion,  and,  after  six 
months'  striving,  uproot  altogether  some  vicious  habit ;  proceed 
ing  further  and  further  from  the  low  and  grovelling  state  of  the 
imperfect,  and  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  summit  of 
perfection.  This  comparison  is  borrowed  from  St.  John  Chrysos- 
tom,  who  perceives  a  figure  of  this  gradual  advance  in  perfection 
(by  means  of  the  correction  of  some  fault  and  the  acquirement 
of  some  virtue)  in  the  well-known  ladder  of  Jacob's  dream,  which 
reached  from  earth  to  heaven ;  for  we  too,  by  the  steps  of  pro 
gressive  improvement,  mount  up  towards  Paradise.* 

379.  And,  what  is  truly  admirable,  even  the  pagan  philoso 
phers — whether  for  our  instruction  or  confusion  I  hardly  know — 
have  adopted  practices  similar  to  those  which  I  am  now  explain 
ing,  with  a  view  to  their  own  amendment.  Listen  to  what  Plu 
tarch  relates  of  himself:  "  Being  a  lover  of  meekness  no  less  than 
of  wisdom,  I  determined  within  myself  to  spend  some  days  with 
out  yielding  to  anger;  just  as  I  might  have  bound  myself  to 
abstain  from  drunkenness  and  wine,  as  is  the  custom  in  certain 
feasts,  where  the  use  of  this  drink  is  forbidden.  I  next  continued 
to  exert  special  efforts  for  one  or  two  months,  and  made  short 
trials  of  my  strength.  Thus,  in  course  of  time,  I  came  to  bear 
with  greater  troubles  and  annoyances,  being  able  to  maintain  my 
mastery  over  myself,  so  as  to  remain  calm,  gentle,  and  devoid  of 

*  Vitia  nostra  recensentes,  ea  tempore  corrigamus ;  et  hoc  mense  unum,  alio 
aliud,  et  ita  subsequenter  meliores  efficiamur.  Sic  enim  tamquam  per  gradus 
.quosdam  ascendentes,  per  scalam  Jacob  in  coelum  perveniemus.  Etenim  scalae 
illae  mihi,  per  illam  visionem,  paulatim  per  virtutes  ascensum  significare 
videntur,  per  quern  a  terrli  ad  coelum  ascendere  nobis  licet,  non  gradibus  sensi- 
bilibus,  sed  morum  incremento  et  correctione.  Homil.  82  in  Joan. 


PARTICULAR  EXAMINATION.  357 

all  anger.  By  these  means  I  kept  myself  unstained  by  evil  v/ords, 
debasing  actions,  and  the  shameless  lusts  which,  for  a  passing 
gratification,  leave  the  soul  pierced  through  and  through  with 
deep  remorse  and  poignant  regrets."*  Now,  these  contrivances, 
if  we  reflect  upon  them  a  little,  are  precisely  what  is  implied  in 
the  Particular  Examination  of  which  we  are  now  discoursing,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  curb  our  passions,  uproot  our  vices,  and  im 
plant  within  the  soul  Christian  perfection ;  as  will  be  more  plainly 
set  forth  in  the  following  paragraph.  And  if  a  philosopher,  by 
the  sole  light  of  his  natural  reason,  was  able  to  discover  the  effi 
cacy  of  this  means  in  order  to  the  amendment  of  his  life,  and 
practised  it  with  such  constancy,  how  much  more  willingly  should 
it  not  be  embraced  by  a  Christian,  who  has  the  light  of  faith,  and 
the  example  of  so  many  saints  and  spiritual  persons  that  walked 
by  this  road,  and  by  it  attained  perfection ;  by  a  Christian,  I  say, 
who  is  more  strictly  bound  than  the  heathens  to  aim  at  procuring 
the  amendment  of  his  life  ! 

380.  We  come  now  to  the  practical  part  of  this  most  useful 
exercise.  It  comprises,  as  we  may  learn  from  that  golden  book, 
the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius,  five  distinct  acts.  First :  On 
rising  in  the  morning,  we  are  to  make  a  firm,  strong  purpose  to 
avoid  the  fault  of  which  we  intend  to  correct  ourselves  by  means 
of  the  Particular  Examination ;  and  this  purpose  must  be  earnestly 
renewed  in  time  of  meditation ;  for,  as  Thomas  a  Kempis  says, 
"Our  spiritual  progress  is  proportioned  to  our  good  purposes. "t 
Secondly  :  If  we  happen  to  fall  during  the  day,  we  must  lay  our 
hands  on  our  hearts,  and  make  an  act  of  sorrow,  with  a  determina- 

*  Deinde  hisce  rebus  instruebam  animum  meum,  ut  qui  non  minus  ama- 
pietatem,  quam  philosophiam,  ut  primum  aliquos  dies  sacros  sine  irascendo 
transigerem,  veluti  absque  temulentia,  vinoque,  non  aliter  quam  si  celebrassem 
Nephaila,  aut  Melisponda,  in  quibus  vinum  attingere,  et  luxui  indulgere  nefas 
•est.  Deinde  faciebam  idem  mensem  unum,  aut  duos,  paulatim  mei  ipsius 
periculum  faciens.  Sic  tempore  proficiebam  ad  ulteriorum  malorum  toleran- 
tiam,  diligenter  attendens,  et  conservans  me  ipsum  placidum,  ineque  vacuum  ; 
purum  et  a  dictis  improbis,  et  a  factis  absurdis,  et  a  cupiditate,  quae  ob  volup- 
tatem  exiguam,  et  invenustam,  turn  curas  ingentes,  et  poenitentiam  turpissi- 
mam  adduceret.  De  Cohibenda  Ira. 

t  Secundum  propositum  nostrum  cursus  profectus  nostri,  De  Imit.  Christi* 
lib.  L,  cap.  19. 


358  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

tion  to  be  more  careful  for  the  future.  It  was  the  custom  of  the 
monks  of  olden  times  to  note  down  their  faults  as  soon  as  they 
had  committed  them.  St.  John  Climacus  relates,  that  having 
visited  a  monastery  of  most  strict  and  austere  observance,  he  saw 
that  the  monk  who  was  in  charge  of  the  refectory,  had  a  small 
book  hanging  at  his  girdle,  and  on  asking  him  to  what  use  the 
book  was  put,  the  monk  answered  that  it  served  for  him  to  note 
down  the  thoughts  that  passed  through  his  mind ;  and,  adds 
the  Saint,  from  what  I  witnessed  among  the  rest  of  the  brother 
hood,  I  perceived  that  this  was  the  custom  of  the  greater  num 
ber.*  He  concludes  with  these  remarkable  words  :  "  He  is  a  good 
spiritual  banker  who,  every  night,  strikes  the  balance  of  each  day's 
losses  and  gains.  But  that  this  may  be  done  with  accuracy,  it  is 
required  that  we  should  take  note,  hour  by  hour,  of  the  profit  and 
loss  which  is  the  result  of  our  daily  spiritual  traffic,  "t  Some,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  keep  this  account  more  easily  and  regularly, 
carry  about  with  them,  but  concealed  from  sight,  a  string  of  beads, 
on  which  they  register  their  faults  as  soon  as  ever  they  happen  to 
fall  into  them.  By  which  means  they  are  enabled  to  keep  an 
exact  account  of  their  failings  without  attracting  the  least  notice  of 
others,  or  having  to  draw  upon  their  own  memory. 

381.  Thirdly  :  At  night,  when  we  are  making  the  general 
examination  of  the  whole  day,  we  should  take  special  notice  of  the 
fault  we  have  set  ourselves  to  uproot  by  means  of  the  Particular  Ex 
amination  ;  making  special  acts  of  contrition  for  our  failings  under 
this  head,  and  renewing  our  good  purposes  with  greater  earnest 
ness  :  we  should  then  mark  them  down  on  a  small  piece  of  paper, 
or  in  a  little  book.  St.  Ignatius  gives  a  model  of  these  entries. 
He  tells  us  to  draw  on  a  sheet  of  paper  certain  lines  of  unequal 
length,  each  rather  longer  than  the  following  :  on  the  longer  ones- 
we  are  to  note  down  the  faults  committed  on  the  earlier  days  of 
the  week  :  the  lines  which  correspond  to  the  following  days 

*  Non  solum  autem  ilium,  sed  et  alios  quamplures  id  facere  ibidem  per- 
spexi.  Gvadu  4. 

f  Optimus  ille  trapezita  est,  qui  quotidie  vespere  lucrum,  ac  detrimentum 
omnino  computat.  Quod  scire  manifestius  non  potest,  nisi  horis  singulis  ia 
tabulis  omnia  denotet :  nam  cum  calculi  singulis  horis  ponuntur,  totius  diei 
ratio  postmodum  clarius  agnoscitur. 


PARTICULAR  EXAMINATION.  359 

gradually  shorten ;  because  it  may  be  supposed  that  we  are  im 
proving,  and  consequently  diminishing  daily  the  number  of  our 
faults. 

382.  Fourthly :  After  a  few  weeks  have  passed,  we  should  examine 
our  paper  or  book,  to  see  the  number  of  times  we  have  fallen  in 
each   day,  comparing  day  with  day,  week  with   week,  and  care 
fully  taking  account  of  our  progress  or  determination :  as  St.  John 
Chrysostom  teaches.*     If  we  find  that  there  has  been  improve 
ment,  we  must  give  thanks  to  God,  and  take  heart  to  strive  more 
earnestly  after  our  full  and  complete  amendment.     Should  we, 
however,  discover  that  no  amendment  has  been  made,  and  that 
we  have  perhaps  even  gone  back,  we  must  determine  to  employ 
additional  means  ;  such  as,  for  instance,  to  be  more  watchful  over 
ourselves,  to  have  more  frequent  recourse  to  God  in  prayer,  to 
make  use  of  some  bodily  penance ;  so  that  we  may  move  the 
heart  of  God  to  grant  such  more  powerful  and  efficacious  assist 
ance  as  may  help  us  to  overcome  our  weakness  :  and  other  things 
of  this  description. 

383.  Fifthly:  We  should  further  impose  some  mortification  on 
ourselves,  in  the  measure  of  the  frequency  of  our  failings.     It  has 
been  already  observed,  that  this  remedy  should  be  applied  to 
every  notable  transgression  ;  and  it  may  now  be  added,  that  it  is 
especially  suitable  to  use  such  penance  for  the  uprooting  of  the 
faults  upon  which  the  Particular  Examination  is  made,  as  the  cor^ 
rection  of  this  should  be  our  main  object.     We  may  allege,  by  way 
of  conclusion,  the  example  of  St.  Ignatius,  that  great  master  of 
the   spiritual  life.     Failing  in   health,  on  account  of  advancing 
years,  having  been  long  enriched  by  God  with  so  many  super 
natural  gifts,  and  being,  as  it  were,  consummate  in  all  perfection, 
he  still  always  made  his  Particular  Examination,  and  kept  by  him 
a  little  book  in  which  he  noted  down  his  failings  ;  nor  did  he, 
even  to  his  latest  breath,  omit  this  holy  and  useful  practice ;  for, 
after  his  death,  this  book  was  found  under  his  pillow,  left  there  as 

*  Scrutemur  nostram  quique  conscientiam,  et  rationem  examinemus,^  et  con- 
sideremus,  quidnam  in  h&c  hebdomada  probe  actum  sit,  quid  in  alia  ;  et  quale 
augrneutum  fecerimus  ad  sequentem,  quas  in  nobis  affectiones  correxerimus, 
Horn.  II  in  Genes.  5. 


360  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

if  it  were  his  dying  recommendation  to  all  devout  persons  never 
to  neglect  a  practice  of  such  great  efficacy  for  the  amendment 
of  their  lives,  and  for  the  attainment  of  perfection.* 


CHAPTER    V. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS  TO  DIRECTORS  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  PRESENT 

ARTICLE. 

384.  FIRST  suggestion.  Concerning  the  use  of  daily  examination 
of  conscience,  two  reflections  will  occur  to  every  Director  :  First, 
that  this  exercise  may  be  taken  up  by  any  one,  even  by  those  who 
are  incapacitated  by  want  of  education  from  the  use  of  other 
religious  practices,  such  as  meditating,  and  reading  spiritual  books. 
Every  one  is  able  to  go  to  Confession,  and  therefore  able  also  to 
examine  his  conscience  every  day,  and  grieve  over  his  faults. 
Secondly,  that  no  single  person  should  ever  dispense  himself  from 
making  this  examination.  I  am  not  speaking  merely  of  such  as 
aspire  to  perfection,  but  even  of  those  who  neither  profess  it,  nor 
trouble  themselves  about  it ;  because  this  is  an  important  means 
not  merely  for  securing  the  perfection,  but  the  very  salvation  of 
our  souls.  Nor  will  the  Director  be  slow  to  believe  this  truth,  if 
he  will  only  reflect  that  it  is  the  natural  tendency  of  all  human 
things  to  deteriorate  and  eventually  to  perish  and  come  to 
nothing  unless  they  be  repaired.  A  building  is  ever  getting  out 
of  order  in  some  one  of  its  parts ;  and  if  it  be  not  frequently  put 
in  repair,  it  will  at  length  tumble  down  and  be  reduced  to  a  heap 
of  bricks.  A  farm  is  ever  tending  to  deteriorate,  and,  if  the  soil 
be  not  generously  enriched,  all  will  finally  become  an  uncultivated 
waste.  A  garment  is  injured  a  little  every  day  by  wearing,  and, 
unless  it  be  mended,  will  soon  be  a  collection  of  rags.  Now, 
these  are  but  so  many  types  of  our  souls.  Such  is  the  violence 

*  Alvarez  de  Paz,  lib.  iii.,  part.  3,  c.  n.  De  Adept.  Virtut. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  361 

with  which  our  passions  incline  us  to  evil ;  so  powerful  are  the 
incitements  of  the  devil  urging  us  to  what  is  wrong ;  so  numerous 
are  the  dangerous  occasions  which  allure  us  to  sin;  that  it  is 
impossible  for  our  souls— exposed  as  they  are  to  so  many  assaults 
— not  to  fall  at  times,  not  to  yield  occasionally  to  so  many  fasci 
nations,  and  not  to  descend  gradually  on  the  downward  path,  to 
the  great  ruin  of  our  souls.  If  such  losses  are  not  daily  made 
good  by  the  Examination  of  Conscience,  by  repentance  and 
renewal  of  good  purposes,  it  cannot  be  but  that  we  shall  become 
disorganised  to  such  an  extent  as  at  length  to  perish  miserably, 
as  is  indeed  the  case  every  day  with  those  careless  Christians  who 
do  not  avail  themselves  of  these  means.  The  Director  will,  there 
fore,  strive  with  a  holy  effort  to  inculcate  this  so  advantageous  a 
practice  on  all  his  penitents  of  whatever  class  they  may  be  com 
posed. 

385.  St.  Gregory  the  Great  explains,  by  a  comparison  drawn 
from  our  bodily  life,  the  decay  which  daily  takes  place  in  our 
souls,  and  the  need  there  is  of  making  it  good  by  self-examination, 
repentance  and  tears.  "  Our  bodies,"  he  writes,  "  develop  and 
decay  insensibly,  without  our  perceiving  it.  Who  has  ever 
watched  the  gradual  lengthening  and  growth  of  the  body  of  a 
young  child  ?  Who  has  ever  seen  the  limbs  of  a  decrepit  old 
man  contract  and  become  shrunken  ?  Who  was  ever  conscious 
of  the  growth  or  decay  of  his  own  body  ?  By  slow  and  imper 
ceptible  degrees  the  hair  grows  white,  the  flesh  gathers  into 
wrinkles,  the  limbs  wither,  the  body  becomes  bent,  and  the  frame, 
without  our  perceiving  it,  slowly  wastes  away.  Thus,  too,"  goes  on 
the  holy  Doctor,  "  does  the  spirit  within  us  grow  and  decay  with 
out  our  being  conscious  of  it ;  and  even  as  devout  persons,  when 
diligent,  advance  in  virtue  unawares,  so  do  the  souls  of  the  negligent 
and  slothful,  who  will  not  take  daily  account  of  their  improve 
ment  or  deterioration,  continue  to  sink  downwards  and  to  get 
•more  and  more  out  of  order,  without  their  perceiving  it.  Hence," 
the  same  holy  Pontiff  concludes,  "we  must  frequently  look  into  our 
selves  ;  often  search  our  own  consciences,  and  by  repentance  strive 
to  renew  ourselves  and  regain  our  former  state."*  I  repeat,  then, 

*  Sicut  etiam  non  sentimus,  quando  crescunt  membra,  prcficit  corpus,  mu 


362  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

if  a  Director  have  any  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  persons 
who  have  placed  themselves  under  his  care,  he  will  not  fail  to 
inculcate  the  use  of  daily  examination  of  conscience. 

386.  Second  suggestion.  The  teaching  of  the  saints,  as  was 
pointed  out  in  the  preceding  Chapters,  is  that  this  examination 
of  conscience  should  be  made  twice  daily,  morning  and  even 
ing.  In  proof  whereof  we  alleged  St.  Ephrem,  St.  Dorotheus,  St. 
Bernard  ;  nor  are  there  wanting  founders  of  Religious  Orders  who, 
following  the  teachings  of  the  saints,  have  imposed  it  as  a  rule 
binding  on  all  their  subjects.  But,  as  the  Director  may  be  unable 
to  obtain  this  double  examination  of  conscience  from  every  one, 
he  must  at  least  take  care  that  none  of  his  penitents  omit  it  before 
lying  down  to  rest,  as  the  end  of  the  day  is  the  most  suitable 
time  for  taking  account  of  our  conscience  and  of  all  that  we  have 
done ;  because  the  darkness  itself  and  the  quiet  of  night  time  are 
favourable  both  to  attention  and  recollection,  and  consequently 
to  repentance  for  our  faults.  Should,  however,  the  penitent  be 
so  tepid  as  not  to  afford  hope  of  a  careful  and  diligent  exami 
nation,  we  must  strive  to  obtain  from  him  that  he  will  at  least 
cast  his  eyes  over  the  past  day,  see  what  are  those  more  grievous 
failings  which  present  themselves  at  once  to  the  mind,  and 
afterwards  blot  them  out  by  an  act  of  contrition.  This  will 
serve  not  only  to  cleanse  once  more  his  conscience  of  its  stains, 
but  to  render  him  more  guarded  on  the  day  following.  He  thus 
will  avoid  a  fate  which  is  but  too  common  to  many  of  the  faithful, 
who  having  once  started  on  the  wrong  path,  throw  the  reins — so 
to  speak — on  the  neck  of  their  passions,  and  go  deeper  and 
deeper  into  sin,  without  restraint  as  without  remorse.  If  the 
penitent  refuse  to  do  even  this  trifle,  he  must  acknowledge  that 
he  cares  very  little  indeed  for  his  eternal  salvation.  Just  as  a 
tradesman,  who  can  never  bring  himself  to  strike  the  balance  of 

tatur  species,  nigredo  capillorum  albescit  in  canis  (base  enim  omnia,  nobis 
nescientibus,  aguntur  in  nobis)  :  ita  mens  nostra  per  momenta  vivendi  ipso 
curarum  usu  a  se  ips&  permutatur,  et  non  cognoscimus  nisi  vigilanti  custodijl 
ad  interiora  nostra  residentes,  profectus  nostros  quotidie,  defeciusque  pen- 
semus.  .  .  .  Cum  vero  (anima)  semetipsam  quserit,  et  subtiliter  poenitendo  se 
discutit,  ab  ipsa  sua  vetustate  suis  lota  lacrymis,  et  moerore  incensa  renovatur. 
Moral.,  lib.  xxv.,  cap.  6. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  363 

his  receipts  and  expenses,  gives  a  clear  sign  that  he  is  indifferent 
whether  he  be  making  money  or  losing  it. 

387.  Third  suggestion.  The  Particular  Examination  may  be  pro 
posed  to  such  persons  as,  being  freed  from  the  bonds  of  grievous 
sin,  begin  to  aspire  to  perfection ;  this  being  a  most  effectual  help 
to  its  attainment.  To  ensure  this  result,  however,  the  Director 
must  assign  the  subject-matter  about  which  the  Examination  should 
be  made.  Let  him  also  observe,  in  the  account  of  conscience 
received  from  penitents,  what  is  the  predominant  passion  of  each, 
what  the  most  frequent  fault,  and  what  the  greatest  hindrance 
in  the  way  of  his  progress  in  spirit ;  and  let  him  direct  each  to 
make  his  Particular  Examination  upon  that  point,  first  instructing 
every  one  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  making  it  according  to 
the  method  we  have  detailed  above.  However,  let  him  bear  in 
mind,  that  among  the  several  defects  he  may  notice,  it  is  better 
to  begin  with  the  correction  of  such  as  are  outward,  both  because 
these  are  commonly  occasions  of  scandal,  or  at  least  of  disedifica- 
tion,  to  our  neighbour,  and  because  they  are  more  easily  corrected 
than  inward  defects,  which  are  rooted  in  our  souls,  and  are,  as  it 
were,  a  part  of  our  nature.  Common  prudence  dictates  that  it  is 
better  to  begin  with  more  easy  tasks,  and  to  make  these  a  stepping- 
stone  to  more  difficult  and  arduous  undertakings. 

388.  Fourth  suggestion.  The  Director  should  engage  his  peni 
tents  to  give  an  account  of  the  progress  made  in  the  matter  of  their 
Particular  Examination.  He  should  himself  impose  the  mortifica 
tions  and  penances  to  be  performed  in  expiation  of  the  faults  which 
each  one  may  commit,  and  should  suggest  the  means  to  be  em 
ployed  in  order  to  secure  a  more  generous  victory.  But  if  he  dis 
cover  any  notable  deterioration  or  carelessness,  he  may,  at  times, 
in  punishment  of  the  negligence,  deprive  the  penitent  of  Holy 
Communion ;  that  is,  of  course,  if  the  person  have  sufficient  virtue 
to  bear  the  privation  with  -  calmness  and  humility.  Dranelius 
relates,  that  among  certain  Indian  nations,  the  masters  of  those 
youths  who  were  applying  themselves  to  the  acquisition  of  wis 
dom,  used  at  night,  before  the  pupils  sat  down  to  their  meal,  to 
exact  an  accurate  account  of  their  good  actions  during  the  day, 
and  when  they  found  that  they  had  been  careless  about  making 


364  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

progress,  they  sent  them  to  bed  fasting,  in  order  that  the  next  day 
they  might  be  more  diligent  in  the  pursuit  of  virtue.  A  similar, 
but  spiritual,  fast,  may  at  times  be  imposed  on  our  penitents 
when  we  perceive  that  they  are  careless  about  making  progress, 
and  especially  about  amending  that  fault  to  which  the  Particular 
Examination  would  help  them  with  ease  to  attend. 

389.  The  Director  must  further  take  heed  lest,  instead  of  being 
to  his  penitents  a  means  of  improvement,  the  Particular  Examina 
tion  become  for  them  a  very  injurious  source  of  disquiet,  as  fre 
quently  happens  in  the  case  of  women,  who  are  by  nature  timid, 
and  more  especially  when  to  this  natural  timidity  are  added  the 
suggestions  of  the  devil.  For,  seeing  that,  in  spite  of  their  so  fre 
quent  examinations  they  advance  but  little  (at  least  in  comparison 
of  what  they  would  desire),  and  that  they  are  always  falling  again 
into  the  same  faults,  they  lose  heart  and  begin  to  think  that  per 
fection  for  them  is  out  of  the  question.  The  Director  will  drive 
these  vain  alarms  from  their  minds.  He  will  teach  them  to  humble 
themselves  in  peace,  not  to  lose  courage  at  the  sight  of  their 
frailty,  but  to  put  all  their  trust  in  God.  He  will  remind  them 
that  God  allows  these  relapses,  and  permits  the  same  passions  to 
prevail  over  them,  in  order  that  they  may  know  and  feel  how 
great  is  their  own  misery, — may  acknowledge  it  in  all  humility,  be 
self-diffident,  look  to  God  for  their  deliverance,  and  implore  it  of 
Him  with  fullest  trust.  He  will  give  them  to  understand  that 
though  we  have  to  do  our  part  in  all  earnestness  towards  uproot 
ing  our  defects  and  overcoming  our  passions,  yet  the  victory  is  the 
gift  of  God,  and  must  be  bestowed  by  His  bountiful  arms  : — that 
He  will  withhold  it  from  such  as  lose  heart  and  get  discouraged, 
and  grant  it  to  such  only  as  distrust  themselves  and  place  all  their 
trust  in  Him  alone. 


HOLY  COMMUNION. 


365 


ARTICLE    X. 
Ninth    means  for   attaining   Perfection— Frequent    Communion. 


CHAPTER     I. 

HOLY    COMMUNION   THE   CHIEF    MEANS    FOR   ATTAINING    CHRISTIAN 
PERFECTION. 

390.  I  GROUND  my  teaching  upon  that  of  the  Angelic  Doctor,  when 
I  say  that  Holy  Communion  is  the  chief  means  for  attaining  perfec 
tion.  The  Saint  says  that  Baptism  is  the  source  of  spiritual  life  ; 
that  the  other  sacraments  are  its  development,  inasmuch  as  they 
are  designed  to  prepare  the  soul,  and  to  dispose  it,  through  the 
sanctification  they  effect,  to  the  reception  of  the  Holy  Eucharist : 
and  that  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  end  and  complement  of  all 
the  other  sacraments,  by  which  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Christian 
is  crowned  and  perfected.*  If,  then,  our  spiritual  life  takes  its 
origin  in  Baptism,  its  increase  from  the  other  sacraments,  its  ful 
filment  and  perfection  from  the  Holy  Eucharist,  it  is  plain  that 
the  reception  of  this  last  is  the  chief  means  for  attaining  the 
perfection  of  our  souls.  But  that  so  important  a  truth  may  sink 
the  deeper  into  the  reader's  mind,  it  is  necessary  to  allege  the 
reasons  why  this  Divine  Sacrament  is  a  perennial  fountain  of 
sanctification  and  perfection  for  the  souls  of  the  faithful 

391.  As  was  said  at  the  beginning  of  this  Section,  our  per 
fection  is,  in  substance,  nothing  else  than  our  union  with  our  Last 
End  :  for  as  a  stone  may  be  considered  to  have  attained  its  per 
fection  when  it  rests  in  its  centre,  to  which  all  its  motion  tends  ; 

*  Baptismus  est  principium  vitre  spirituals,  et  janua  Sacramentorum. 
Eucharistia  vero  est  quasi  consummatio  vitse  spirituals,  et  omnium  Sacramen 
torum  finis,  ut  supra  dictum  est.  Per  sanctificationem  enim  omnium  Sacramen 
torum  fit  preparatio  ad  suscipiendam,  vel  consecrandam  Eucharistiam.  Et 
ideo  perceptio  Baptismi  est  necessaria  ad  inchoandam  spiritualem  vitam  ;  per- 
ceptio  vero  Eucharistiae  est  necessaria  ad  consummandam  ipsam.  3  p.,  qu.  14, 
al.  73,  art.  3,  in  corp. 


366  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

and  as  a  flame  may  be  called  perfect  when  it  has  reached,  the 
sphere  to  which  it  is  always  tending,  so  too  is  the  soul  perfect 
when  united  with  God,  Who  is  the  end  for  which  it  was  created ; 
and  the  closer  it  is  knit  to  God  by  the  bond  of  charity,  the  greater 
is  its  perfection.  Now  this,  says  St.  Thomas,  is  precisely  the 
fruit  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  wherein  the  passion  of  Christ  is  com 
memorated.  It  perfects  our  souls  by  uniting  them  with  the  crucified 
Saviour,  very  God  and  very  Man.  *  And  he  again  insists  on  what 
he  had  said,  that  as  Baptism  is  called  the  Sacrament  of  Faith, 
the  fundamental  virtue  of  Christian  life,  which  thence  draws 
its  origin,  so  too  is  the  Eucharist  called  the  Sacrament  of  Charity, 
since,  by  uniting  the  soul  to  God  in  the  bonds  of  love,  it  gives 
consummation  to  the  spiritual  life.t  In  the  succeeding  Ques 
tions,  he  says,  "  Christ  could  not  bring  Himself  to  leave  us 
deprived  of  His  divine  presence  during  this  unhappy  pilgrimage, 
but  He  joins  us  to  Himself  by  means  of  his  true  Body  and 
Blood,  as  may  be  read  in  the  sixth  Chapter  of  St.  John.  Hence 
this  Sacrament  is  a  clear  sign  of  the  love  that  unites  God  to  the 
soul,  and  the  soul  to  God.J'J 

392.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  earthly  food  and  this 
Bread  of  Heaven ;  and  it  is,  that  the  former,  when  eaten,  is,  by  pro 
cess  of  digestion,  changed  into  our  own  substance,  and  so  repairs 
the  losses  which  our  bodies  daily  suffer.  But  this  Bread  of  Heaven, 
by  the  supernatural  heat  of  the  charity  which  it  kindles  within  our 
hearts,  changes  us  into  its  own  divine  substance ;  so  that  from 
miserable  men  that  we  are,  we  become  deified  by  the  union  it 
effects  between  us  and  the  Word  made  flesh.  This  thought  is 
•entirely  from  St.  Augustine.  §  Have  you  ever  observed  the  effect 

*  Eucharistia  est  Sacramentum  passionis  Christi,  prout  homo  perficitur  in 
iinione  ad  Christum  passum.  In  eod.  art.  ad  3. 

f  Unde  sicut  Baptismus  dicitur  Sacramentum  fidei,  quse  est  fundamentum 
spiritualis  vitoe  ;  ita  Eucharistia  dicitur  Sacramentum  Caritatis. 

£  Interim  tarnen  nee  sua  present!;!  corporali  nos  in  hac  peregrinatione 
destituit,  per  sed  veritatem  Corporis  et  Sanguinis  sui,  nos  sibi  conjungit  in 
hoc  Sacramento.  Unde  ipse  dicit  Joannis  vj.  :  Qui  manducat  in  earn  carnem, 
(t  bibit  me.um  san%mnemt  in  me  manet,  et  ego  in  eo.  Unde  hoc  Sacramentum  est 
maximse  caritatis  signum.  Qucest.  16,  alias  73,  art.  I,  in  corp. 

§  Cibus  sum  grandium  :  cresce,  et  manducabis  me  ;  nee  tu  me  mutabis  iri 
te  sicut  cibumcarnis  tuce  ;  sed  tu  mutaberis  in  me.  Confess.,  lib.  vij.  c.  10. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  367 

of  fire  on  a  log  of  wood?  First  it  heats,  and  then  inflames, 
and,  driving  out  the  opposite  qualities  of  coldness,  dampness,  and 
hardness,  it  at  length  changes  the  wood  into  itself,  making  it  to  be 
come  a  fire  like  unto  that  by  which  it  is  consumed.  Such,  says  St 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  is  the  working  of  Christ  in  the  most 
Holy  Sacrament.  He  first  warms  our  souls  with  the  genial  heat 
of  His  divine  love,  then,  dispelling  by  degrees  the  contrary 
qualities  of  venial  sins  and  earthly  attachments,  He  kindles  charity 
within  us,  and  deifies  us  by  the  force  of  love.* 

393.  In  proof  of  this,  we  may  point  to  St.  Mary  Magdalen  de' 
Pazzi,  St.  Catharine  of  Sienna,  St.  Teresa  of  Jesus,  St.  Philip  Neri, 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  and  thousands  of  other  holy  souls,  who,  by  ap 
proaching  to  this  divine  Sacrament  as  to  a  furnace  of  love,  quickly 
burst  out  into  the  most  ardent  flames  of  charity.  And  what  were 
the  absorption  of  mind,  loss  of  sense,  rapture,  ecstasy,  endured 
by  these  blessed  souls  when  receiving  Holy  Communion,  but  the 
flames  of  love  enkindled  within  them  by  this  Heavenly  Bread, 
whereby,  lost  to  themselves,  they  were  transformed  into  their 
Lord  concealed  beneath  the  sacramental  veils,  through  the  close 
union  effected  between  them  and  their  hidden  God  ?  And  those 
tears  of  sweetness  that  flow  from  the  eyes  of  so  many  of  God's 
servants  when  approaching  the  Holy  Table,  what  are  they  but 
drops  distilled  through  the  fire  of  love  which  this  Food  of  Angels 
lights  up  within  their  breasts  ?  Well  then  might  St.  Dionysius  say, 
that  in  this  Sacrament  Christ  is  a  fire  of  love  that  inflames  and 
consumes  all  who  approach  Him,  and  transforms  them  into  fur 
naces  of  charity  like  Himself.  Well  might  St.  Augustine  affirm, 
that  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  a  food  which  transforms  him  who  par 
takes  of  it  into  itself,  making  the  recipient,  by  union  with  the 
Godhead,  become  himself  divine,  sharing  as  he  does  the  life  of 
God.  But  as  these  ecstatic  and  exceptional  transformations  are 
rather  to  be  admired  than  sought  after,  I  will  give  an  example  of 


*  Quern admodum  ignis  ea,  quibus  insederit,  in  suum  traducit  officium,  om- 
nibusque,  quomodolibet  sibi  propinquantibus,  sui  consortium  tradit ;  haud 
aliter  Dominus  noster,  et  Deus,  qui  i^nis  consumens  est,  nos  per  cibum  hunc 
sacratissimum  in  sui  traducit  effigiem,  deiformesque  reddit.  De  Ccelesti  Hier- 
archia. 


368  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

another  transformation  of  love,  proper  to  this  Sacrament,  which 
may  be  lawfully  desired  by  all,  for  it  is  within  the  reach  of  all. 

394.  St.  Lidwina,  in  the  beginning  of  her  grievous  illnesses, 
showed  herself  to  be  as  weak  in  heart,  in  bearing  her  sufferings,  as 
she  was  infirm  in  body.*  God  so  disposing,  she  was  visited  by 
John  For,  a  great  servant  of  His ;  he,  finding  that  she  was  not 
perfectly  resigned  to  her  painful  situation,  exhorted  her  to  frequent 
meditation  on  the  Passion  of  our  Saviour,  as  a  means  of  encour 
aging  herself  to  patience,  by  the  memory  of  what  Christ  Him 
self  underwent.  She  promised  to  comply  with  this  advice,  but  the 
thought  of  Jesus  suffering  afforded  her  no  spiritual  sustenance 
whatever ;  all  her  meditations  were  insipid  and  distasteful  to  her, 
and  she  could  not  find  the  slightest  consolation  in  them :  so  she 
fell  back  on  her  former  lamentations  and  complaints.  The  same 
holy  man  came  a  second  time  to  visit  her,  and  inquired  how  she 
felt  while  meditating  on  Christ's  Passion,  and  what  profit  she  had 
derived  from  thinking  of  it  ?  The  invalid  made  answer,  "  Father, 
the  advice  you  gave  me  was  excellent,  but  the  sharpness  of  my 
pains  hinders  me  from  finding  any  relish  or  support  in  the  con 
templation  of  what  Christ  has  suffered  for  us."  The  holy  man 
repeated,  notwithstanding,  his  former  prescription,  as  being  the 
proper  remedy,  and,  as  it  were,  specific,  for  her  pitiful  case ;  and 
*his  time  not  without  a  certain  success.  But  the  zealous  Director 
not  finding  that  she  profited  from  his  counsel  as  much  as  he 
wished,  and  as  much  as  her  perfection  required,  had  recourse  to< 
another  plan.  At  his  next  visit  he  brought  to  her,  as  to  one  whom 
sickness  prevented  going  to  church,  the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  and 
after  having  given  her  Holy  Communion,  he  addressed  her  as 
follows :  "  Hitherto  you  have  been  exhorted  by  me  to  consider 
constantly  your  Saviour's  Passion  as  a  suitable  remedy  for  your 
evils :  now  listen  to  the  exhortation  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself  in 
person."  Wonderful  to  relate,  hardly  had  Lidwina  swallowed  the 
Sacred  Particle,  than  there  was  enkindled  in  her  breast  so  lively  a 
sense  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  so  ardent  a  desire  to  imitate  Him 
in  His  sorrows,  that  she  burst  into  abundant  weeping,  which  con 
tinued  throughout  a  whole  fortnight,  without  her  being  able  to 
*  Surius,  14  April.  In  Vit£  Lidwinae,  part  i.  cap.  4, 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  369 

stay  the  course  of  her  tears.  So  deeply  was  she  impressed  with 
her  Saviour's  sufferings,  that  day  and  night  they  were  present  to 
her  mind,  inspiring  her  with  courage  to  suffer  patiently  for  the  love 
of  Him  Who  had  been  pleased  to  undergo  so  much  for  the  sake  of 
her  salvation.  In  course  of  time  sores  began  to  spread  themselves 
•over  her  whole  body ;  it  swarmed  with  worms ;  and  all  her  inward 
parts  began  to  putrefy,  with  most  excruciating  and  all  but  insup 
portable  sufferings.  Animated,  nevertheless,  and  strengthened  by 
•Christ's  Passion,  which  was  ever  before  her  mind,  she  gave  thanks 
and  praise  to  God  for  her  sufferings,  and  yearned  to  suffer  yet 
more.  She  came  at  last  to  be  able  to  say,  that  it  seemed  to  her 
.that  it  was  not  herself  who  suffered,  but  Christ  Who  was  suffering 
in  her.*  The  reader  may  observe  how  truly  St.  Thomas  has  said 
that  the  Eucharist  perfects  man  by  uniting  him  with  Christ  suffer 
ing,  t  Lidwina,  by  this  union  with  Jesus  in  Holy  Communion, 
became  a  great  saint,  and,  in  particular,  one  of  the  greatest  ex 
amples  of  patience  that  has  ever  adorned  the  Church  of  God :  at 
least  we  may  safely  assert  that  her  sanctity  took  its  beginning  in 
the  Communion  of  which  we  have  spoken.  Who,  then,  can  doubt 
that  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  a  very  chief  means  for  attaining  per 
fection,  as  it  unites  us  not  only  through  a  sensible  love,  but  by  an 
-earnest  desire  of  imitation,  to  our  Last  End  ? 

395.  But  St.  John  Chrysostom  is  not  content  with  merely  stating 
that  in  Holy  Communion  the  faithful  soul  is  united  to  the  Re- 
•deemer  and  transformed  into  Him  by  love ;  he  goes  still  further, 
and  asserts  that  these  vile  bodies  of  ours  are  united  to  the  Saviour's 
adorable  Body  in  such  manner,  that  from  the  two  bodies  one 
•body  alone  is  formed ;  and  as,  if  a  head  could  be  joined  to  the 
neck  of  a  decapitated  person,  the  trunk  and  the  head  thus  joined 
together  would  form  one  whole,  entire,  and  perfect  body,  so  too, 
:says  the  Saint,  in  Holy  Communion,  by  uniting  ourselves  as  mem 
bers  to  our  Head,  who  is  the  Saviour,  of  the  two  bodies  but  one  body 
is  formed.  |  In  another  homily  the  Holy  Bishop  says  that  in  this 

*  Ex  ardenti  passionis  Christi  meditatione,  adeo  infiammata  fuit,  ut  non  se, 
:sed  Christum  Dominum  in  se  pati  diceret. 

f  Homo  perficitur  in  unione  ad  Christum  passum. 

%  Ut  non  solum  per  dilectionem,  sed  re  ipsd  in  illam  carnem  convertamur, 
per  cibum  id  efficitur,  quem  nobis  largitus  est.  Cum  enim  suum  in  nos  amo* 
VOL.  I.  24 


370  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Sacrament  Christ  blends,  so  to  speak,  His  adorable  Flesh  with 
our  vile  bodies,  and  so  forms  of  both  one  body,  harmoniously 
fitted  to  its  Head ;  and  this  He  does  in  token  of  the  ardent  love 
which  He  bears  towards  us.* 

396.  It  would  seem  that  no  stronger  words  could  be  used  to 
express  the  intimate  union  which  is  effected  in  this  most  august 
Sacrament  between  mortal  man  and  the  Word  made  flesh;  yet 
the  language  of  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  is  still  stronger.  "  If  you 
take,"  he  observes,  "  a  piece  of  wax  and  place  it  near  the  fire,  it  will 
melt  with  the  force  of  the  heat, — let  another  piece  be  taken,  and  the 
same  effect  will  be  produced  :  now  let  the  two  portions  of  liquid 
wax  run  together,  and  they  will  mix,  so  that  no  one  will  be  able  to 
distinguish  one  from  the  other,  or  to  separate  them  again."  Thus, 
says  this  holy  Doctor,  does  the  Redeemer,  in  coming  to  us,  "  mingle 
His  glorified  flesh  with  our  sinful  flesh,  and,  like  two  drops  of 
melted  wax,  form  thereof  but  one  substance.  So  that  we  are 
united  with  Christ  not  only  in  spirit  and  by  the  ties  of  love,  but 
with  His  flesh  by  a  certain  natural  participation,  "t  Well  may  the 
reader  exclaim,  in  astonishment  and  amazement  with  St.  Augus 
tine — "  Oh,  Sacrament  of  loving-kindness  !  oh,  sign  of  union  I 
oh,  bond  of  perfect  charity  !  whereby  we  are  so  closely  united  in 
body  and  in  soul  with  our  loving  Redeemer  !"J  And  we  may 
further  see  how  truly  the  Angelic  Doctor  has  said  that  in  this 
Sacrament  the  Christian's  spiritual  life  is  consummated  and  per 
fected  as  in  its  ultimate  term,  and  that  hence  it  is  the  chief  means- 
of  reaching  to  the  sublimest  heights  of  perfection. 

rem  indicate  vellet,  per  corpus  suum  se  nobis  commiscuit,  et  in  unum  nobis- 
cum  redegit;  ut  corpus  capiti  uniretur.  Hoc  enim  amantium  maxime  est. 
Horn.  45  in  Joan. 

*  Propterea  semetipsum  nobis  immiscuit,  et  corpus  suum  in  nos  contem- 
peravit,  ut  unum  quid  simus,  tamquam  corpus  capiti  cooptatum  :  ardenter 
enim  amantium  hoc  est.  Horn.  61,  Ad  Populum  Antiochen. 

t  Considerandum  est,  non  habitudine  solum,  quse  per  caritatem  intelligitur, 
Christum  in  nobis  esse,  verum  etiam  et  participatione  naturali.  Nam  quem- 
admodum  si  igne  liquefactam  ceram  alise  cerse  liquefactse  ita  miscueris,  et 
unum  quid  ex  utriusque  mixtione  factum  videatur,  sic  communione  Corporis- 
et  Sanguinis  Christi,  ipse  in  nobis  est,  et  nos  in  ipso.  Lib.  x.  in  Joan.  c.  13. 

£  O  sacramentum  pietatis  !  O  signum  unitatis  !  O  vinculum  caritatis.  Tract- 
xxvuj.  in  Joan. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  37r 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  SALUTARY  EFFECTS  PRODUCED  BY  HOLY  COMMUNION  FURTHER 
DEMONSTRATE  THAT  IT  IS  THE  CHIEF  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING 
PERFECTION. 

397.  IF,  as  we  have  shown,  we  are  so  closely  united  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  both  in  body  and  soul,  to  Jesus  Christ,  Who  is  our  true 
life,  it  follows  of  necesaity  that  the  frequent  partaking  of  this 
heavenly  food  must  needs  produce  within  us  the  fruits  of  a  perfect 
spiritual  life.  St.  Thomas,  in  enumerating  them,  uses  the  parity 
of  the  effects  which  our  daily  food  produces  in  our  bodily  frames. 
This  Sacrament,  he  says,  is  given  under  the  form  of  food  and 
drink,  whence  it  produces  in  the  soul  the  same  effects  as  meat 
and  drink  produce  in  our  bodies ;  and  as  by  our  food  the  life  of 
the  body  is  sustained,  increased,  and  made  glad,  and  the  wasting 
effects  of  all  that  tends  to  destroy  it  are  repaired,  so,  too,  does 
the  Holy  Eucharist  work  the  same  results  in  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  soul.*  Hence,  according  to  the  Angelic  Doctor,  this  Divine 
Sacrament  produces  within  us  these  four  salutary  effects  :  it  sup 
ports  the  life  of  the  soul  lest  it  fail ;  it  fortifies  it  against  whatever 
might  prove  hurtful  and  tend  to  its  destruction ;  it  brings  to  it 
growth  and  increase ;  it  causes  it  pleasure.  Let  us  examine  these 
effects  one  by  one. 

398.  The  first  effect  of  Holy  Communion  is  to  maintain  and 
support  spiritual  life  lest  it  waste  away.  This  has  been  defined 
by  the  Council  of  Trent.  Our  Blessed  Saviour  willed  that  we 
should  partake  of  this  Sacrament  as  of  a  food  which  nourishes 
our  souls  and  strengthens  us  to  live  with  the  life  of  Him  who  has 
said,  He  that  eats  Me,  the  same  shall  live  by  Me. -.t  And  for  this 

*  Tertio  consideratur  effectus  hujus  Sacramenti  ex  modo  quo  traditur  hoc 
Sacramentum,  quod  traditur  per  modum  cibi  et  potus ;  et  ideo  omnem  effeo 
tum,  quern  cibus  et  potus  materialis  facit,  quantum  ad  vitam  corporalem  — 
quod  scilicet  sustentat,  auget,  separat,  delectat — hoc  totum  facit  hoc  Sacra 
mentum,  quantum  ad  vitam  spiritualem.  3  part.  q.  20,  alias  79,  art.  I,  ia 
corp. 

t  Sumi  autem  voluit  Salvator  noster  Sacramentum  hoc,  tamquam-  spirit- 

24—  2 


372  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

there  are  two  reasons — First :  The  Eucharist  keeps  the  soul  far 
removed  from  deadly  sin,  which  is  the  true  death  of  the  spirit,  just 
as  earthly  food  preserves  our  bodies  from  that  death  to  which, 
Without  it,  they  would  soon  fall  victims.  In  like  manner  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  keeps  the  soul  free  from  the  death  of 
grievous  sin.  Secondly  :  It  preserves  us  from  lesser  offences,  which 
are  the  immediate  proximate  disposition  to  this  most  lamentable 
death.  The  Sacrament  of  the  Altar,  says  St.  Bernard,  produces 
within  us  these  two  effects — it  removes -far  from  us  all  danger  of 
yielding  to  mortal  sin,  and  diminishes  in  us  the  tendency  and 
proneness  to  lesser  faults,*  so  that  we  abstain  from  them  more 
easily,  and  fall  into  them  less  frequently.  And  St.  Cyril  of  Alex 
andria  teaches  in  like  manner,  that  this  blessed  Sacrament  not 
only  drives  darkness  away  from  the  soul,  but  expels  all  our 
spiritual  diseases  ;  for  venial  sins  are  to  the  soul,  not  indeed  death, 
but  maladies  which  weaken  it,  and  render  it  languishing  and  pre 
disposed  to  die.t 

399.  But  what  wonder  that  this  heavenly  food  should  sustain 
the  life  of  the  soul,  when  it  has  so  frequently  been  the  staff  and 
Support  of  even  the  life  of  the  body  ?  Every  one  knows  that  St. 
Catharine  of  Sienna  fasted  a  whole  Lent  without  any  other  susten 
ance  than  that  which  she  received  at  the  Holy  Table.  J  A  Roman 
virgin,  Felice,  happy  alike  by  name  and  by  holiness  of  life,  passed 
five  entire  Lents  nourished  by  the  Bread  of  Angels  alone.  §  In 
Switzerland,  a  holy  hermit  called  Nicholas  Vanderflue,  for  fifteen 
years  took  no  other  nourishment  than  that  which  was  supplied 
him  by  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  Sacrament. ||  St.  Liberalis. 
Bishop  of  Athens,  was  accustomed  to  receive  every  Sunday  the 


talem  animarum  cibum,  quo  alantur,  et  confortentur  viventes   vitSl  illius  qui 
dixit,  Qui  manducat  me,  et  ipse  vivet  propter  me.     Sess.  xiij.  c.  2. 

*  Duo  illud  Sacramentum  operatur  in  nobis,  ut  videlicet  sensum  minuat  in 
minimis,  et  in  gravioribus  peccatis  tollat  omnino  consensum.  Serm.  de  Bapt. 
in  Coena  Dom. 

t  Quse  (nempe  communio)  mihi  crede,  non  mortem  solum,  verum  etiaiu 
morbos  omnes  depellit.  Lib.  iv.  in  Joan.,  cap.  17. 

%  Apud  Surium,  29  Aprilis. 

§  Apud  Cacciaguerra. 
Sim.  Majol.  Dierum  Canicul.,  coll.  4. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  375 

Flesh  and  most  precious  Blood  of  our  Saviour  at  the  holy  Altar, 
and  then  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  week  fasting ;  yet  he  continued 
hale  and  hearty,  nourished  by  this  sacred  aliment  alone  *  We 
find  many  similar  instances  in  Church  History,  by  which  our 
Blessed  Lord  has  intended  to  teach  us,  that  if  this  Sacrament 
avails  thus,  at  times,  to  sustain  our  bodily  life,  though  it  be  not 
its  fitting  and  natural  food,  it  will  sustain  far  more  effectually  the 
life  of  the  soul,  this  being  the  special  object  for  which  it  was 
ordained. 

400.  The  next  effect  is  to  preserve  the  soul  from  all  that  can 
be  detrimental  to  it.     Now,  the  enemies  of  our  spiritual  life  may 
be  divided  into  two  classes  :  first,  our  unruly  passions,  with  their 
disordered  motions  and  impulses ;  and,  secondly,  the  devils  with 
their   suggestions   and  tempting.     And   both  are  repressed  and 
kept  from  injuring  us  by  frequent  Communion.     Concerning  the 
extinguishing  of  our  lusts,  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  whom  we  have 
more  than  once  quoted,  teaches  that  Christ  abiding  within  us 
quenches  the  lusts  of  our  souls,  quiets  the  irregular  motions  of 
our  members  which  domineer  over  the  spirit,  and   strengthens 
within  us  piety  and  devotion. t     The  Angelic  Doctor  examines 
this  assertion  with  theological  precision,  and  affirms  that  though 
this  Sacrament  be  not  expressly  ordained  for  the  extinction  or 
lessening  of  our  lusts,  yet  it  does  temper  and  weaken  them  by 
kindling  fervour,  by  exciting  devotion,  and  by  increasing  the  ardour 
of  charity 4" 

401.  A  traveller  journeying  under  the  rays  of  the  noonday  sun, 
feeling  his  vitals  burnt  up  with  a  raging  thirst,  if  he  chance  to 
meet  with   some  sparkling  fountain,   moistens  his  parched  lips 
with  the  cooling  draught,  and  by  it  slakes  his   thirst.     In   the 
same  manner,  when  a  man  is  inflamed  with  anger,  hatred,  lust, 
envy,  covetousness,  or  any  other  inordinate  affection,  if  he  often 
approach  to  the  waters  of  life,  of  which  this  Sacrament  is  the 

«  P.  Nat.,  lib.  iv.,  Cat.  Sanct.,  cap.  93. 

t  Sedat,  cum  in  nobis  manet  Christus,  scevientem  membrorum  nostrorura 
legem  :  pietatem  corroborat,  perturbationes  animi  extinguit. 

%  Dicendum,  quod  licet  hoc  Sacramentum  non  directe  ordinetur  ad  dimi- 
nutionem  fomitis,  diminuit  tamen  fomitem  ex  quadam  consequent,  in  quan 
tum  auget  caritatem.  3  part.,  quaest.  20,  alias  76,  art.  6,  ad  3. 


374  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

source,  ana  drink  of  its  limpid  streams,  little  by  little  the  ardour 
of  his  passions  will  be  tempered,  the  fever  of  ill-regulated  desire 
will  abate,  and  soon  his  disordered  affections  will  be  reduced  to 
a  proper  moderation.  Hence  St.  Bernard  said  to  his  monks,  "  If 
any  among  you  feel  that  the  motions  of  anger,  envy,  lust  or  of 
other  appetites,  have  grown  less  violent  than  they  have  been,  let 
him  give  thanks  for  this  grace  to  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  he  has  received  at  the  Eucharistic  Table ;  for  in  him 
the  work  of  this  Divine  Sacrament  is  clearly  being  manifested."* 

402.  The  holy  Abbot  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  a  practical 
illustration  of  this,  his  constant  teaching  to  his  monks,  in  the  case 
of  a  layman  of  depraved  habits.  The  story  is  told  by  Cesarius.t 
A  soldier  was  blinded  by  so  strong  a  passion  for  one  of  his 
kindred,  that  nothing  availed  to  draw  him  back  to  a  sense  of 
decency.  The  reproaches  of  his  relatives,  the  remonstrances  of 
the  Priests,  the  censures  of  his  Bishop,  the  public  disgrace  which 
resulted  from  so  scandalous  a  connection,  were  all  equally  un 
heeded.  He  fell  dangerously  ill,  and  was  soon  at  death's  door. 
Terrified  at  the  near  approach  of  his  death,  the  unhappy  man 
called  in  a  Priest  and  begged  for  the  last  Sacraments.  A  Priest 
came,  bringing  with  him  the  Holy  Eucharist ;  but  before  giving 
Communion,  he  admonished  the  sick  man  to  renounce  his  criminal 
affection,  dismiss  the  partner  of  his  guilt,  and  make  his  peace 
with  God  by  an  exact  Confession.  Blinded  as  he  was  by  his 
passion,  the  soldier  answered  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
part  with  the  woman.  The  Priest,  seeing  that  the  man  was 
unworthy  of  the  Sacrament,  left  the  house  to  return  to  his  own 
Church.  By  a  special  providence,  the  saintly  Abbot  of  Clairvaux 
happened  to  be  journeying  that  way,  and  to  hear  of  this  deplor 
able  occurrence  ;  whereupon  he  told  the  Priest  to  turn  back  and 
accompany  him.  Entering  into  the  chamber  of  the  poor  dying 
person,  his  sweet  and  moving  address  had  such  power  to  make 
him  renounce  this  guilty  attachment,  that  at  length  he  judged 

*  Si  quis  vestrum  non  tarn  saspe,  modo,  non  tarn  acerbos  sentit  iracundiee 
motus,  invidise,  luxurise,  aut  ceterorum  hujusfnodi,  gratias  agat  Corpori,  et 
Sanguini  Domini,  quoniam  virtus  Sacramenti  operatur  in  eo.  Serm.  de  Baptis. 
in  Coena  Domini. 

t  Lib.  ij.  Mirac.,  cap.  17. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  375 

him  to  be  sufficiently  disposed  to  receive  the  Sacraments,  and 
therefore  ordered  the  Priest  to  administer  them.  Strange  to  say, 
the  penitent  had  no  sooner  taken  the  Holy  Viaticum,  than  he 
felt  all  his  affection  for  the  wicked  woman  uprooted  from  his 
heart,  and  his  love  turned  to  hate ;  so  that,  with  sighs  and  tears 
he  told  the  holy  Abbot  that  sooner  would  he  behold  the  coun 
tenance  of  any  wild  and  ferocious  beast,  or  of  the  most  frightful 
monster  that  can  be  imagined,  than  that  of  the  woman  of  whom 
he  had  been  so  madly  enamoured ;  and  then,  with  thanks  on  his 
lips  to  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  for  this  sudden  change  of 
heart,  he  died,  still  shedding  copious  tears  of  perfect  contrition. 
See,  from  this  fact,  how  great  is  the  power  of  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Eucharist  for  laying  low  and  subduing  any  passion,  however 
deeply-rooted  in  our  hearts.  And  if  a  single  Communion  can 
thus  avail,  though  received  by  a  person  who  had  previously  lived  so 
disorderly  a  life,  what  effect  will  not  a  regular  and  devout  frequenta- 
tion  of  this  Sacrament  produce  in  the  soul  of  a  pious  person  ? 

403.  The  other  impediment  to  the  spiritual  life  of  our  souls, 
from  which  Holy  Communion  sets  us  free,  is  found  in  the  tempta 
tions  of  the  devils,  who  beholding  us  united  with  Christ,  and  we 
may  even  say  having  one  body  with  our  Head  and  victorious  Cap 
tain,  are  filled  with  fear  and  trembling,  fly  away  and  venture  not  to 
molest  us  with  their  suggestions.  So  St.  Thomas  remarks  while 
treating  of  this  Sacrament.  If,  however,  they  do  continue  to 
.assail  us,  their  temptations  have  no  power,  or  very  little,  against 
us.*  In  short,  the  demons  act  with  us  as  a  general  of  an  army 
with  the  enemy ;  if  he  sees  that  we  are  weak,  he  is  encouraged  to 
attack  us ;  but  if  he  sees  us  in  close  alliance  with  a  leader  stronger 
than  himself,  at  the  head  of  a  mightier  host  than  his  own,  he  takes 
alarm  and  withdraws,  and  if  precluded  from  retiring,  attacks  the 
enemy,  indeed,  but  with  little  spirit.  "  The  Blood  of  Christ," 
says  St.  John  Chrysostom,  "  drives  the  devils  far  from  us,  calls  the 
Angels  and  the  Lord  of  Angels  to  our  side ;  for  when  the  Blood 
of  our  Redeemer  is  seen  within  us,  the  wicked  spirits  take  to 
flight  and  the  Angels  hasten  to  our  defence. "t  Hence  the  same 

*  Repellit  omnem  dsemonu     impugnationem.     Loco  citato.     In  corp. 

^  Hie  mysticus  sanguis  deemones  procul  pellit,  angelos  et  angelorum  Do- 


376  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Saint  would  have  us  leave  this  Holy  Table  with  the  spirit  of  lions; 
full  of  holy  courage,  so  that,  far  from  the  devils  being  terrible  to  us^ 
we  may  ourselves  be  formidable  to  the  very  powers  of  hell.* 

404.  Thomas  Cantipratanus  relatest  that  a  heretic,  purposing 
lo  lead  astray  a  Friar  of  the  venerable  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  said 
to  him — "  If  I  should  show  you  Jesus  Christ,  His  most  Blessed 
Mother,  and  all  the  Court  of  Heaven,  in  proof  of  what  I  propose 
to  your  belief,  would  you  embrace  my  teaching?"  The  Friar,, 
well  aware  that  this  promise  could  never  be  fulfilled,  pledged 
himself,  as  requested,  that  he  would  believe ;  just  to  see  what  the 
heretic  would  really  do  in  order  to  gain  credence  for  his  errors. 
For  this  purpose  the  Religious  set  out  in  company  with  the  other, 
but  secretly  carried  with  him  under  his  habit  a  pyx  containing 
the  Blessed  Sacrament.  The  heretic  led  the  way  to  a  deep  and 
gloomy  cavern,  through  which  they  passed  into  a  spacious  and 
pleasant  spot,  where  there  stood  a  lofty  palace  all  beaming  with 
vivid  light.  On  entering  it  they  beheld,  seated  on  a  stately  throne 
covered  with  precious  stones,  a  King  in  majestic  attire,  whose 
countenance  also  shone  with  exceeding  brightness.  At  his  side 
a  Queen  of  rare  beauty  was  seen.  On  either  hand,  on  golden 
thrones,  were  comely  and  venerable  personages,  who  seemed  to- 
be  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  apostles.  All  around  these  were 
hovering  a  multitude  of  angels,  of  bright  and  ravishing  form. 
The  heretic  fell  prostrate  to  worship  these  phantoms,  and  bade 
the  Friar  do  likewise.  He,  however,  without  bowing  his  body  irr 
the  least,  approached  the  throne  of  the  Queen,  and,  bringing 
forth  the  sacred  pyx,  said — "  If  thou  be  the  Mother  of  God, 
behold  thy  Son,  adore  Him,  and  then  will  I  worship  thee  as  His. 
Mother."  At  the  appearance  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  the  whole 
scene — palace  and  King  and  Queen,  and  angels  and  elders — - 
vanished  like  the  mists  of  the  night  at  sunrise,  and  he  found 
himself  with  his  companion  at  the  bottom  of  a  gloomy  cavernr 


minum  ad  nos  allicit  :  dsemones  enim  cum  dominicum  sanguinem  in  nobis- 
vident,  in  fugam  vertuntur,  angeli  autem  currant.  Horn.  45,  in  Joann. 

*  Tamquam  leones  igitur  ignem  spirantes  ab  ilia  mens£  surgamus,  diabolo 
formidabiles.  Idem.  E£d.  Horn. 

i  Apuni,  lib.  ij.,  cap.  37,  p.  23. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  377 

enveloped  in  darkness,  so  that  they  had  much  ado  to  grope  their 
way  back  to  the  true  light  of  the  sun.  Now  we  may  draw  this 
moral  from  the  story  just  related.  If  the  Blessed  Sacrament  con 
tained  in  a  pyx  had  the  virtue  of  dissipating  the  illusions  conjured 
up  in  the  eyes  of  these  two  beholders  by  the  devil,  and  to  put 
to  flight  both  himself  and  all  his  host,  may  we  not  believe  that 
the  same  Sacrament  received  within  our  breasts  will  cause  the 
noxious  images  which  the  devil  imprints  on  our  minds  to  vanish, 
and  will  extinguish  the  lustful  motions  which  he  stirs  up  in 
our  hearts  for  our  ruin ;  and,  above  all,  by  its  indwelling,  will 
drive  our  foes  far,  far  from  us  ?  For  it  is  impossible  that  Christ, 
hidden  beneath  the  sacramental  veils,  should  have  more  power  to 
help  us  when  seen  to  be  by  our  side,  than  when  united  and  incor 
porated  with  us,  and  become,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  our  very  selves. 
405.  The  third  effect  of  frequent  Communion  is  to  give  growth 
and  increase  to  our  spiritual  life.  For,  just  as  our  bodily  frame, 
by  fatigue  and  outward  occupations,  and  even  by  application  to 
mental  labour,  gradually  wastes  away  and  is  consumed,  and  as 
the  particles  of  which  our  body  is  formed  are  insensibly  carried 
off  in  manifold  ways  by  the  very  wear  and  tear  of  life,  so  that, 
unless  this  constant  loss  were  restored  by  food,  little  by  little  we 
should  cease  to  exist ;  so  too  our  souls,  with  the  distractions  of 
daily  business,  by  slow  degrees  lose  the  heat  of  charity;  the 
feeling  of  our  devotion  tends  to  diminish;  unperceived  by  us, 
our  interior  spirit  becomes  dissipated ;  and,  were  there  not  a 
remedy  provided  for  these  losses,  we  must  at  length  come  to  our 
ruin.  But  God  be  thanked,  Who  has  given  us  this  Bread  from 
Heaven,  wherewith  our  distracted  mind  may  recollect  itself,  our 
cooling  fervour  may  be  rekindled,  the  flame  of  our  charity  be 
lit  up  anew,  and  the  life  of  our  soul  rendered  more  hale  and  strong 
than  ever,  so  that  we  may  run  with  fresh  vigour  in  the  way  of 
Christian  perfection.  This  has  been  aptly  put  by  St.  Cyprian, 
who  attributes  our  progress  in  perfection  to  the  frequent  use  of 
this  Divine  Sacrament  He  says  :  "  How  excellent  is  that  chalice, 
how  agreeable  to  piety  is  it  to  be  intoxicated  by  this  draught, 
whereby  we  are  guilty  of  a  holy  excess  for  God's  sake,  and, 
forgetting  those  things  that  are  behind,  stretch  forward  to  that  which 


378  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

is  before  us : — whereby  we  come  to  feel  no  pleasure  in  worldly 
delight,  but  to  despise  the  riches  of  such  as  are  clad  in  purple,  and 
to  cling  to  the  Cross  alone."* 

406.  As  is  well  known,  the  life  of  the  soul  consists  in  Sancti 
fying  Grace,  as  thereby  we  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine 
nature,  and  begin  to  live  the  life  of  God  in  the  supernatural  order. 
Now,  according  to  the  teaching  of  theology,  it  is  in  the  sacra 
ments  of  Baptism  and  of  Penance  that  this  grace  is  imparted  for 
the  first  time  to  such  as  are  deprived  of  it.     The  other  sacraments, 
presupposing  the  existence  of  this  grace  in  those  who  receive 
them,  give  an  increase  of  the  same  priceless  treasure.     But  in  no 
other  sacrament  is  this  increase  so  great  as  in  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
for  in  this  Christ  Himself  comes  in  person  to  impart  grace  to  us ; 
and  thus  it  is  fitting  that  He  should  bestow  it  in  greater  plenty 
and,  so  to  speak,  with  open  hands ;  even  as  a  monarch,  when  he 
bestows  an   alms   in  person,  is  necessarily  more  generous  and 
munificent  than  when  the  distribution  is  made  by  the  hands  of 
his  servants.     From  this  I  would  infer  that  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Altar  not  only  strengthens  the  life  of  the  soul — as  was  shown  in 
the  foregoing  paragraph — but  increases  and  augments  it  beyond 
measure,  in  proportion  to  the  grace  which  in  each  fresh  Com 
munion  is  newly  imparted  to  the  soul. 

407.  The  fourth  effect  of  this  Heavenly  Food  is  to  fill  the  soul 
with  those  delights  which  are  proper  to  the  spirit.     This  is  the 
teaching  of  St.  Thomas,  who  asserts  that  this  great  Sacrament  has 
the  special  property  of  giving  a  delight  which  is  felt  by  the  souls  of 
devout  receivers ;  even  as  bodily  food  gives  pleasure  to  the  palate 
of  him  that  partakes  of  it.t     St.  Cyprian  adds,  that  the  pleasure 
which  the  soul  receives  from  this  Bread  of  Angels  is  so  intense  as 
to  alienate  and  detach  it  from  all  worldly  gratifications.     Hence, 
what  is  written  concerning  the  Manna  from  Heaven  which  was 
rained  upon  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  will  apply  yet 

*  Quam  praeclarus  est  calix  iste,  quam  religiosa  est  hujus  potus  ebrietas,  per 
•quam  excedimus  Deo,  et  quse  retro  sunt,  obliti,  ad  anteriora  extendimur,  non 
habentes  sensum  hujus  mundi,  sed  divitis  purpurati  divitias  contemnentes,  cruci 
hseremus.  Serm.  in  Ccena  Domini. 

t  Hoc  autem  Sacramentum  est  spiritualis  manducatio,  quse  habet  actualem 
clelectationem.  3  part.,  q.  20,  alias  79,  art.  8,  ad  2. 


HOLY  COMMUNION.  379 

more  strongly  to  this  true  Heavenly  Manna;  for  although  that 
which  was  given  in  the  wilderness  had  every  kind  of  delicious 
taste,  yet  it  did  not  fully  satisfy  or  content  the  children  of  Israel 
who  used  it  for  their  food,  nor  did  it  prevent  their  hankering  after 
the  flesh-pots  and  onions  of  Egypt.  But  this  Bread  from  Heaven 
fills  devout  and  duly-disposed  souls  with  such  delight  as  to  detach 
them  from,  and  disgust  them  with,  all  carnal  pleasures  whatever.* 

408.  We  may  go  yet  further :  the  delight  which  this  Celestial 
Food  imparts  to  devout  souls  is  so  great  that  it  sometimes  over 
flows  and  inundates  the  outer  senses,  causing  the  palate  to  savour 
a  sweetness  that  neither  honey,  nor  milk,  nor  the  nectar  of  the 
poets,  nor  any  other  most  dainty  thing  can  vie  with :  pouring 
forth  goodly  odours,  compared  with  which  the  perfumes  of  the 
violet,  of  the  rose,  of  the  lily,  of  frankincense,  and  of  every  choicest 
spice  and  gum,  have  no  charm  :  as,  both  in  ages  now  past,  and  in 
these  our  own  days,  has  been  experienced  by  so  many  servants  of 
God  in  the  act  of  receiving  this  Heavenly  Food.     It  must,  how 
ever,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Holy  Communion  does  not  invariably 
affect  the  soul,  and  much  less  the  body,  in  this  sensible  manner : 
still,  it  never  fails  to  leave  in  devout  and  well-prepared  persons  a 
sense  of  spiritual  refreshment — that  is,  a  certain  peace,  a  serene, 
light,  an  inclination  to  good,  a  greater  readiness  for  the  practice 
of  virtue — all  which  are  more  profitable  far,  and  far  more  to  be 
desired  by  such  as  are  solicitous  for  the  solid  advancement  of 
their  souls. 

409.  Hence  we  may  conclude,  that  the  effects  of  the  Eucharistic 
Banquet  are  the  four  enumerated  by  St.  Thomas.     This  Blessed 
Sacrament  supports  our  spiritual  life ;  it  wards  off  from  it  what 
ever  would  be  prejudicial  and  tend  to  its  destruction ;  it  gives 
growth  and  increase ;  and  it  fills  with  delight.     So  that,  as  this 
holy  Doctor  observes,  the  Christian's  spiritual  life  is  perfected  in 
this   most  Holy  Sacrament,  to  which  therefore  we  should  have 
recourse  as  to  the  main  instrument  of  our  spiritual  perfection.     If, 

*  Panis  iste  Angelorum  omne  ddectamentum  habens,  virtute  r.  irifica  omni 
bus,  qui  digne,  et  devote  sumunt,  secundum  suum  desiderium  sapit,  et  amplius 
quam  manna  illud  eremi  implet  et  satiat  edentium  appetitus  ;  et  omnium  car- 
nalium  saporum  irritamenta,  et  omnium  superat  dulcedmum  voluptates.  Serin, 
in  Ccena  Domini. 


380  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

then,  the  reader  be  desirous  of  amending  his  life,  and  of  advancing 
in  the  path  of  spiritual  perfection,  he  should  approach  Holy  Com 
munion  as  frequently  as  possible,  following,  however,  always  the 
advice  and  guidance  of  his  Director. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    PROXIMATE    DISPOSITIONS   WITH   WHICH    THE    DEVOUT    SOUL 
SHOULD    PREPARE    FOR    HOLY    COMMUNION. 

410.  I  AM  now  going  to  treat  of  the  proximate  dispositions  for 
Holy  Communion,  omitting  all  mention  of  the  remote  preparation, 
which  should  have  been  made  long  before,  and  which  consists  in 
great  perfection  and  sanctity  of  life;  this  being,  of  course,  in 
dispensable  for  such  as  would  receive  within  their  breasts  the  King 
of  Heaven.  I  have  in  view,  then,  those  dispositions  only  which 
all  ought  to  secure  in  themselves  shortly  before  approaching  the 
Altar,  as  being  necessary  for  the  acquirement  of  that  increase  of 
perfection  which,  in  preceding  Chapters,  we  showed  to  result  from 
this  Heavenly  Banquet. 

411.  For  a  vine-branch  to  bear  fruit  in  plenty,  it  is  not  enough 
that  it  be  set  in  the  vine-stock  and  be  supported  by  it,  but,  further, 
it  must  be  neither  withered  nor  dead,  and  must,  moreover,  possess 
a  sufficiency  of  sap  to  enable  it  to  bring  forth  in  abundance  its 
sweet  fruits.  In  like  manner,  for  a  person  to  obtain  from  Holy 
Communion  the  above-mentioned  effects,  it  will  not  suffice  for 
him  to  be  in  mere  material  union  with  Christ,  our  true  stay,  but 
he  must,  in  addition,  be  in  a  state  of  grace ;  for  if  he  be  like  a  dry 
and  sapless  branch  joined  to  the  Tree  of  Life,  that  is,  to  our 
Blessed  Saviour,  he  will  of  a  surety  fail  to  produce  fruits  of  life 
everlasting.  While  St.  Piamon  was  celebrating  Mass,  he  saw 
beside  the  Altar  an  Angel  of  majestic  appearance,  holding  a 
golden  book,  in  which  he  was  taking  down  the  names  of  the 
monks  as  they  approached  the  Sanctuary  to  receive  the  glorified 
Body  of  our  Redeemer.  He  further  observed,  that  when  certain 


DISPOSITIONS  FOR  COMMUNION.  381 

monks  drew  near  to  the  altar,  the  Angel  kept  his  pen  uplifted, 
and  did  not  write  down  their  names.  At  the  end  of  the  function) 
the  Saint  summoned  the  monks  whose  names  the  Angel  had  not 
registered,  and  requiring  of  each  an  exact  account  of  conscience, 
he  discovered  that  every  one  of  them  was  defiled  with  grievous 
sin.  He  brought  them  to  a  true  repentance ;  and,  on  next  offer 
ing  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  he  saw  the  Angel  inscribing  their  names 
also  in  the  Book  of  Life.*  It  is  to  be  noticed,  that  although 
these  unhappy  monks  united  themselves,  like  their  companions, 
bodily  to  Jesus  Christ,  yet,  as  withered  branches  and  destitute  of 
the  life  of  grace,  they  were  incapable  of  receiving  from  this  life- 
giving  Flesh  the  fruits  of  everlasting  life ;  hence  their  names  were 
not  registered  by  the  Angel  in  the  Book  of  Life. 

412.  But  further,    the    Communicant  must  not  approach   the 
Holy  Table  with  a  distracted  and  wandering  mind,  but  must  be 
full  of  the  sap  of  devotion  ;  else,  like  a  vine-branch,  living,  indeed, 
but  barren,  he  will  be  incapable  of  receiving  from  union  with 
Jesus    Christ  those  plenteous  fruits  of  salvation  and   perfection, 
which,  as  St.  Thomas  teaches,  are  the  immediate  effects  of  this 
Divine  Sacrament :  a  Sacrament  which  not  only  increases  sancti 
fying  or  habitual  grace,  but  gives  a  certain  spiritual  comfort  that 
refreshes  the  soul  and  strengthens  it  to  advance  in  the  path  of 
virtue  and  perfection. t     But,  he  adds,  this  latter  effect  is  prevented 
when  any  one  receives  with  a  distracted  mind,  with  indevotion, 
and  carelessness  about  venial  faults. 

413.  Now,  the  devotion  which  should  be  the  ultimate  prepara 
tion  for  receiving   this    Bread   of  Angels,   consists   mainly,  if  I 
mistake  not,  in   the   three   following  classes  of  acts : — First,   in 
acts  of  lively  faith,  Secondly,  in    acts  of  deepest  humility  and 
reverence ;  Thirdly,  in  acts  of  fervent  desire.     Before  any  one 
approaches  this  Holy  Table,  let  him  quicken  his  faith  within  him, 
and  believe  that  in  the  Sacred  Particle,  little  as  it  is  in  outward 
seeming,  there  is  hidden  the  very  God  in  the  flesh,  Who  reigns 

*  In  Vitis  Patrum,  Vita  31,  S.  Piamonis. 

t  Effectus  hujus  Sacrarnenti  non  solum  est  adeptio  habitualis  gratia?,  et 
caritatis,  sed  etiam  qwedam  actualis  refectio  spiritualis  dulcedinis  :  quae 
quidem  impeditur  si  aliquis  accedat  ad  hoc  Sacramentum  per  peccata  venialia 
znente  distractus.  3  p.,  qucest.  20,  alias  79,  art  8,  in  corp. 


382  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

above  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  Everlasting,  and  Who  with 
the  shining  of  His  countenance  fills  all  heaven  with  joy  and 
delight.  Let  him  believe  this  more  firmly  than  if  he  beheld  with 
his  eyes  and  handled  with  his  hands  this  glorified  Flesh.  Such 
was  the  faith  of  St.  Louis,  King  of  France,  in  this  adorable  Sacra 
ment*  It  happened  one  day  that,  during  the  celebration  of 
Mass  in  the  King's  Chapel,  and  at  the  elevation  of  the  Host, 
Christ  appeared  to  the  eyes  of  all  those  present  under  the  form 
of  a  resplendent  and  beauteous  infant.  The  Celebrant  was  re 
quested  not  to  move  his  hand  until  the  King,  being  made 
acquainted  with  the  prodigy,  might  have  the  consolation  of 
beholding  with  his  own  eyes  so  glorious  a  spectacle.  The  courtiers 
hastened  with  the  news  to  his  apartment.  The  holy  King  replied 
— "Let  those  persons  run  to  such  sights  who  do  not  believe 
Christ  to  be  truly  present  in  the  consecrated  host,  of  which  I 
am  more  certain  than  if  I  beheld  Him  with  my  own  eyes."  Nor 
would  he  stir  from  his  cabinet.  Such  also  should  be  the  faith  of 
every  devout  soul,  as  it  will  insure  great  fruits  of  holiness  at  every 
Communion  that  is  made. 

414.  Faith  must  be  accompanied  by  humility,  reverence,  and 
a  holy  awe  of  the  majesty  and  greatness  of  the  God  Whom  we 
are  about  to  receive.  For  this  purpose  we  may,  with  St.  John 
Chrysostom,  imagine  that,  while  the  Celebrant  is  at  the  Altar  on 
which  Jesus  is  reposing  in  the  Sacrament,  we  see  Him  surrounded 
by  a  host  of  Angels ;  that  we  behold  them  descend  in  thousands 
from  Heaven  to  do  honour  to  their  King  by  their  canticles  and 
their  lowly  adoration,  t  Or  with  St.  Gregory  the  Great  we  may,  at 
the  time  of  the  Unbloody  Sacrifice,  figure  to  ourselves  the  heavens 
opening,  and  Christ  compassed  about  by  the  angelic  choirs, 
descending  with  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  which  befits  His 
Majesty.^  Thus  turning  our  thoughts  to  our  own  misery,  and 

*  Thorn.  Bozius,  1.  xiv.,  De  Sign.  Eccles.,  cap.  7,  n.  5  et  alii. 

t  Per  id  tempus  et  Angeli  sacerdoti  assident  et  ccelestium  potestatum  uni- 
versus  ordo  clamores  excitat,  -et  locus  altari  vicinus  in  illius  honorem,  qui  im- 
molatur,  Angelorum  choris  plenus  est :  id  quod  credere  abunde  licet  vel  ex 
tanto  illo  Sacrificio,  quod  tune  peragitur.  Lib.  De  Sacerd. 

J  Quis  fidelium  habere  dubium  possit  in  ips&  immolationis  hora  ad  sacer- 
dotis  vocem  ccelos  aperiri,  in  illo  Jesu  Christi  ministerio  Angelorum  chores 


DISPOSITIONS  FOR  COMMUNION.  383 

setting  this  in  contrast  with  such  immense  grandeur  and  glory, 
we  may  humble  ourselves  in  sentiments  of  lowly-mindedness,  of 
reverence,  veneration,  of  godly  fear,  according  to  the  warning 
which  Origen  gave  to  the  faithful  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
Church  :  "  When  thou  receivest,"  he  writes,  "  this  sacred  food, 
this  meat  of  incorruption,  this  bread  and  drink  of  true  life,  and 
thou  partakest  of  thy  Saviour's  Body  and  Blood,  then  does  God 
Himself  enter  under  thy  roof :  do  thou  then  humble  thyself,  and 
with  the  centurion  say,  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  that  Thou  shouldsf 
enter  under  my  roof.* 

415.  That  illustrious  Doctor  of  the  Church,  St.  Jerome,  when 
at  the  point  of  death,  asked  for  the  Holy  Viaticum  to  be  brought 
to  him.  As  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  approaching  his  cell,  he 
had  himself  laid  on  the  bare  ground,  and  gathering  up  what 
remnant  of  strength  was  left  to  him  in  his  extremity,  he  raised 
himself  to  kneel  on  the  pavement,  bowing  down  most  low ;  and, 
striking  his  breast,  received  in  this  position  the  sacred  Body  of 
our  Saviour,  t  St.  William,  an  Archbishop  of  the  Cistercian  Order, 
being  about  to  die,  asked  with  great  earnestness  for  the  Blessed 
Sacrament ;  and  though  he  was  so  reduced  as  to  be  unable  to  turn 
in  his  bed,  or  even  to  swallow  a  drop  of  water,  when  the  Body  of 
our  Lord  was  brought  in,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the 
bystanders,  he  sprang  suddenly  from  his  couch,  and,  like  an 
expiring  flame  that  flickers  up  before  ks  final  extinction,  went 
forward  to  meet  his  Saviour,  bending  his  knees,  often  bowing 
down  low  to  do  homage  to  Him,  and  amid  these  acts  of  reverence 
received  his  Lord.|  The  dying  efforts  of  these  illustrious  ser 
vants  of  God  witness  to  their  heartfelt  veneration  for  this  Divine 
Sacrament,  and  to  the  humility  and  reverence  with  which  .they 


adesse ;  summis  ima  sociari ;  terrena  coelestibus  jungi  :  unumque  ex  visibilibus 
et  invisibilibus  fieri.  Dialog.,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  50. 

*  Quando  sacrum  cibiun  ilium,  illudque  incorruptibile  accipis  epnhmi, 
quando  vitae  pane  et  poculo  frueris,  manducas  Corpus  et  Sanguinem  Domini, 
tune  Dominus  sub  tectum  tuum  ingreditur.  Et  tu  ergo  humilians  teipsum, 
imitare  hunc  Centurionem,  et  dicito  :  Domine,  non  sum  dignus  ut  intres  sub 
tectutn  meuin.  Homil.  5. 

t  Mar.  Marul.,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  12. 

J  In  Vita.  Apud  Surimn,  10  Jan. 


384  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

had    always    approached    it   in   the   days   of  their   health   and 
strength. 

416.  But   what   we  read   concerning   the   infamous   apostate, 
and  obstinate  rebel  against  God's  Church,  Henry  VIII.,  is  calcu 
lated  to  make  a  still  deeper  impression  upon  our  mind.     After 
having  renounced  the  Catholic  faith,  having  violated  all  laws, 
both  human  and  divine,  having  laid  aside  every  feeling  of  de 
cency  and  piety,  he  still  preserved  some  sense  of  veneration  for 
this  most  Holy  Sacrament.     The  wretched  man,  being  about  to 
<lie,  asked  for  Holy  Communion,  and,  before  receiving,  he  rose 
from  the  seat  on  which  he  was  sitting,  and  fell  prostrate  on  the 
.ground ;   for  his  sickness  did  not  allow  him  to  lie  on  a  bed.     The 
heretics  of  the  sect  of  Zwingli,  who  surrounded  him,  begged  him 
to  remain  seated,  as  his  illness  was  a  sufficient  excuse  for  this 
posture.     He  replied,  "  Were  I  to  cast  myself  not  only  on,  but 
beneath  the  ground,  I  should  not  think  that  I  was  doing  sufficient 
honour  to  this  most  Holy  Sacrament."     The  historian  from  whom 
we  have  borrowed  this  anecdote  concludes  it  thus  : — "  Would  to 
•God  that  in  all  other  things  his  mind  had  been  the  same !     And 
•doubtless  it  would  have  been,  were  it  not  that  the  king  yielded 
too  readily  to  the  counsels  of  wicked  men,  and  to  the  promptings 
of  his  own  passions."*     Now,  if  this  sworn  enemy  of  the  faith 
behaved  so  reverently  toward  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  at  the 
moment  of  receiving  it,  when  in  unworthy  dispositions,  what  may 
•we   not   expect  from  a  Catholic  who   has  the  true  faith?  what 
from  a  devout  person,  in  whom  this  light  burns  yet  more  brightly? 
With  what  heartfelt  humility,  with  what  reverence,  with  what  awe, 
should  not  such  approach  the  Table  of  the  Lord,  in  order  to 
refresh  their  spirit  with  this  bread  of  Heaven  ? 

417.  The  devout  communicant  should,  however,  bear  in  mind 
that,  in  his  immediate  preparation,  he  must  not  confine  himself  to 
acts  of  humility,  reverence  and  holy  fear  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
become  reluctant  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Body ;  but  after  having 

•  exercised  himself  in  these  acts,  he  should  next  strive  to  stir  up  in 
his  breast   an  ardent  love,  so  as  to  enkindle  within  himself  an 

*  Utinam  in  omnibus  talis  !     Et  fuisset  indubie,    nisi  perditorum  consiliis. 
ac  propriis  conscientiis  nimium  acauievisset.    Sanderus,  De  Schism.  Anglic. 


HOL  Y  COMMUNION.  3gs 

earnest  desire  of  receiving   the  Divine  Guest  within  his  heart 
This  is  the  third  affection  whereby  we  should  endeavour  to  dis 
pose  ourselves  for  the  reception  of  the  most  Holy  Sacrament.     The 
soul  should  therefore  plunge  into  the  consideration  of  the  immense 
love  and  sovereign  goodness  of  God,  both  which  shine  forth  so 
wondrously   in  this    great  mystery.     We  should  reflect  how,  ir> 
spite   of  His   immense  greatness  and  our  extreme  vileness,  He 
deigns  to  descend  into  our  breasts,  to  mingle  His  Flesh  with  our 
miserable  flesh,  thus  to  unite  Himself  most  closely  with  our  spirit 
We  may  in  this  manner  inflame  ourselves  with  love  for  such  bound- 
less  goodness,  and  excite  our  hearts  to  love  Him  Who  has  so  loved 
us.     Hence,  by  natural  consequence,  will  arise  ardent  desires  to  be 
united  to  the  object  of  our  love.  As  St.  John  Chrysostom  says,  "Let 
none  approach  with  languor  or  hesitation,  but  let  all  be  fervent,  in 
flamed  with  lively  desire.*     Do  you  not  see,"  he  continues,  "  how 
eagerly  infants  press  with  their  lips  their  mothers'  breasts  ?     With 
like  eagerness  ought  we  to  yearn  for  this  Heavenly  Table  and  for 
the   spiritual   breasts  of  this  Divine  Cup;   with  the  same,  yea, 
rather,  with  more  ardent  desire,  should  we,  like  sucklings,  pant 
after  the  breasts  of  our  loving  parent  Jesus,  that  we  may  draw 
therefrom   the  milk  of  His  grace.     Our  only  trouble,  our  only 
sorrow,  should  be  to  see  ourselves  deprived  of  this  Food  of  our 
Souls."  t     To  kindle  within  us,  before  the  time  of  Communion, 
these  burning  desires,  we  may  contemplate  our  Divine  Saviour 
under  divers  aspects,  each  of  which  is  suitable  to  His  immense 
loving-kindness.     We  may  consider  Him  either  as  a  loving  Spouse 
who  wishes  to  unite  Himself  to  our  souls,  or  as  a  trusty  Friend 
who  comes  to  comfort  our  hearts  ;  as  a  loving  Father,  who  awaits 
us  with  open  arms  to  press  us  to  His  bosom  ;  as  a  compassionate 
Physician,  who  comes  with  the  balm  of  His  grace  to  heal  the 
wounds  of  our  soul,  and  to  cure  it  of  its  diseases ;  as  a  tender 

*  Nemo,  igitur,  nauseans  accedat,  nemo  irresolutus  :  sed  incensi,  ac  ferventej 
omnes  accedant.  Horn.  83,  In  Matth. 

t  Non  videtis,  quant&  infantes  animi  alacritate  mamillas  arripiunt,  quft 
pressione  papillis  infigunt  labia  ?  Non  minor!  cupiditate  nos  quoque  ad  hanc 
mensam,  et  ad  hujus  calicis  spiritualern  accedamus  papillam  :  immo  vera 
major!  desiderio,  quasi  lactantes  pueri  gratiam  Christi  sugamus.  Unus  sijt 
nobis  dolor,  una  maestitia  si  hoc  alimento  spiritual!  privamur.  Ubi  supra. 

VOL.  l  25 


386  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Shepherd,  who  comes  to  feed  us,  His  poor  flock,  with  His  own , 
Flesh,  and  to  quench  our  thirst  with  His  Blood ;  as  a  faithful 
Guide,  who  comes  to  lead  us  by  His  light  along  the  path  of  per 
fection,  to  strengthen  us  by  His  inward  inspirations,  that  we  may 
make  swift  advance  :  above  all,  must  we  behold  in  Him  our 
highest  and  only  Good,  who  comes  to  fill  us  with  all  manner  of 
heavenly  gifts  and  blessings.  With  these  devout  reflections,  let 
us,  as  St.  John  Damascene  exhorts,  approach  with  ardent  desire, 
and,  with  our  hands  crossed,  receive  the  God  who,  for  our  sakes, 
died  upon  the  Cross.* 

418.  The  more  exactly  we  make  this  preparation  for  receiving 
our  dear  Lord's  most  adorable  Body,  the  more  plenteous  will  be 
the  fruits  which  we  shall  derive  from  Holy  Communion ;  the 
greater,  too,  its  efficacy  as  a  means  to  the  perfecting  of  spiritual 
life  within  our  souls.  St.  Catharine  of  Sienna  aptly  explains 
this  by  the  comparison  of  several  lighted  torches ;  when  many 
of  these  are  lighted,  each  and  every  one  receives  light  and  heat, 
but  yet  each  in  proportion  to  its  size,  while  that  one  receives  most 
light  which  is  itself  largest.  Thus,  too,  in  Holy  Communion,  every 
one  receives  grace,  of  which  more  or  less  is  received  according  to 
the  measure  of  the  dispositions  and  capacity  of  the  recipient.t  The 
same  truth  may  be  further  illustrated  by  the  case  of  one  who  goes 
to  draw  water  at  the  well ;  he  takes  away  with  him  a  greater  or 
less  quantity  according  to  the  measure  of  the  vessel  that  he  brings 
with  him.  Hence,  the  more  we  expand  the  bosom  of  our  souls,  by 
faith,  humility,  and  reverence, — by  inflamed  and  loving  desires, — 
the  more  plentiful  the  grace,  the  more  effectual  the  help  to  attain 
perfection,  which  we  shall  draw  from  this  well-spring  of  heavenly 
blessings.^  We  read  in  the  Chronicles  of  the  Cistercian  Order, 
that  it  happened  always  to  a  certain  holy  monk,  after  communi 
cating,  to  taste  in  his  mouth  an  unspeakable  sweetness,  which 
lasted  for  a  single  day,  sometimes  for  three  days,  and  sometimes 
for  a  whole  week.  The  good  man  had  occasion  to  rebuke  a, 

*  Acceclamus  ardenti  cupiditate  ad  earn,  adeamus,  manibusque  in  crucis' 
formam  compositis,  Christ!  corpus  suscipiamus.  Lib.  iv.  Orthodoxse  Fidei, 
cap.  4. 

t  Dial.  10.  J  Specul.  Exempl,  Dist,  iij.,  Exempl.  35. 


FREQUENCY  OF  COMMUNION.  387 

friend  of  his,  for  I  know  not  what  failing  into  which  he  had  fallen, 
and  in  administering  the  correction  overstepped  somewhat  the 
bounds  of  moderation  and  Christian  charity.  Making  no  account 
of  his  fault,  and  attributing  it  to  the  impulse  of  a  godly  zeal,  he 
went  to  Holy  Communion  according  to  his  custom.  But  this 
time  the  sacred  particle,  which  had  hitherto  tasted  sweeter  than 
nectar  and  honey,  seemed  to  him  more  bitter  than  wormwood  and 
more  nauseous  than  gall.  Horrified  at  this  ominous  and  unlocked 
for  occurrence,  and  reflecting  that  it  could  have  been  caused  by 
nothing  but  his  want  of  meekness  and  charity  when  dealing  with 
his  neighbour,  he  imposed  on  himself  a  severe  penance.  The 
reader  may  learn  hereby  that  the  Sacrament  works  in  us  according 
to  the  good  or  bad  dispositions  which  are  found  in  us ;  he  must 
therefore  make  his  preparation  as  we  have  set  forth  above,  if  he 
would  gain  from  it  fruits  of  holiness  and  perfection. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

HOW  FREQUENTLY  THE  FAITHFUL  SHOULD  GO  TO  HOLY  COM 
MUNION,  AND  WHETHER,  IN  THE  CASE  OF  SECULARS,  THIS 
FREQUENCY  MAY  BE  EXTENDED  TO  DAILY  COMMUNION. 

419.  THIS  is  a  point  on  which  Directors  differ.  Some  incline 
to  frequent  Communion,  and  advise  those  under  their  care  to 
approach  often  the  Holy  Table,  in  order  to  partake  of  this 
Heavenly  Food.  Others  are  averse  to  this  frequency,  as  they 
judge  it  more  becoming  that  their  penitents  should  draw  nigh 
only  at  longer  intervals  to  this  Divine  Banquet.  It  is  thus  neces 
sary  to  determine,  by  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Fathers  and  the 
dictates  of  prudence,  what  should  be  our  practice  in  so  important 
a  matter.  But  as  the  main  point  in  dispute  is  daily  Communion, 
which  many  consider  unsuited  to  lay  people,  who  are  not  specially 
set  apart  for  God's  worship,  it  will  be  well  to  sift  this  question 
thoroughly,  and  to  search  into  its  very  foundations. 

420.  It  is  undeniable  that  in  the  early  Church  all  the  faithful, 
-of  whatever  condition,  whether  married  or  unmarried,  whether  lay 

25—2 


388  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

or  ecclesiastics,  communicated  daily.  St.  Luke  says  as  much  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.*  We  read  there  that  the  first  believers 
were  constantly  persevering  in  the  communication  of  the  break 
ing  of  bread.  And  a  little  further  on  it  is  said  that  the  bread  was 
daily  broken  from  house  to  house,  a\id  partaken  of  with  gladness, 
in  singleness  of  heart,  and  with  hymns  of  praise  to  God.  The 
Commentators  by  this  bread  understand  the  consecrated  bread  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist ;  and  with  the  more  foundation  as  the  ancient 
Syriac  version  has  the  "blessed  or  consecrated  gift."f  But  if 
there  could  yet  remain  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  true  interpre 
tation,  it  would  vanish  at  the  statement  of  St.  Dionysius  the  Are- 
opagite,  from  whom  we  learn  that,  in  the  early  Church,  as  many 
communicated  as  were  present  at  the  consecration.  J  Among  the 
decretals  registered  by  Gratian  is  one,  ascribed  to  Pope  St.  Ana- 
cletus,  ordering  Daily  Communion  to  the  faithful,  alleging,  as  a 
reason,  the  commands  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  unvarying  practice 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  down  to  his  time.§ 

421.  This  praiseworthy  usage  endured  for  many  centuries  in 
the  Church  of  God,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  passing  remarks 
of  the  Holy  Fathers.  St.  Cyprian  speaks  as  follows  : — "  All 
Christians  daily  partake  of  the  Eucharistic  Bread,  as  of  the  Food 
of  Life  Everlasting ;"  and  he  adds,  that  "  by  the  words  give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread,  they  begged  to  be  guarded  from  the  faults 
which  might  hinder  this  daily  Communion,  and  which  might 
debar  them  from  partaking  of  the  Body  of  their  Saviour.  "||  St. 


*  Erant  autem  perseverantes  in  doctrinal  apostolorum  et  communicatione 
fractionis  panis.  Quotidie  quoque  perdurantes  unanimiter  in  templo  et  fran- 
gentes  circa  domos  panem,  sumebant  cibum  cum  exultatione  et  simplicitate 
cordis  collaudantes  Deum  et  habentes  gratiam  ad  omnem  plebem.  Act.  ij. 
42,  46. 

t  Frangentes  munus  benedictum. 

t  In  prima  ecclesia  quotquot  inerant  consecrationi  Eucharistia?,  communi- 
cabant  eidem.  Hierar.  Eccles.,  cap.  13. 

§  Peracta  communione,  omnes  communicent,  qui  noluerint  ecclesiasticis 
carere  liminibus.  Sic  enim  et  Apostoli  statuerunt  et  Sancta  Romana  tenet 
Ecclesia.  Apud  Gratian.  De  Consid.,  Dis.  2,  cap.  Peracta. 

||  Panem  quotidianum  da  nobis  hodie.  Hunc  panem  dari  nobis  quotidie 
postulamus,  ne  qui  in  Christo  sumus,  et  Eucharistiam  quotidie  ad  cibum  salutis 
mccipimus,  intercedente  aliquo  graviore  delicto,  dum  abstenti  et  non  communi* 


FREQUENCY  OF  COMMUNION.  389 

Jerome,  writing  to  Lucian,  says  that,  in  his  days,  the  praiseworthy 
custom  of  daily  Communion  was  still  in  vigour  in  the  Churches  of 
Rome  and  of  Spain.*  Then,  frankly  expressing  his  own  view,  he 
approves  of  this  frequency  of  Communion,  which  gives  us,  in  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist,  to  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  sweet,  pro 
vided  only  conscience  reproach  us  with  no  fault  which  may  hinder 
or  interrupt  this  divine  converse,  t  In  his  letter  to  Pammachius 
he  repeats  his  witness  as  to  the  practice  of  daily  Communion 
being  still  kept  up  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  J 

422.  St.   Basil   states  that  to  communicate  daily,  to  partake 
every  day  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus,  is  good  and  whole 
some,  as  Christ  Himself  has  said,  Whoso  eats  My  flesh  and  drinks 
My  blood  shall  have  everlasting  life.\     St.  Ambrose,  treating  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  would  have  us  receive  it  daily.     "  Receive  daily 
this  Sacred  Food,  that  it  may  daily  strengthen  thee.     Live  so, 
however,  as   to  deserve  to  receive  it  every  day."     He   further 
observes,  that  if  a  person  be  not  worthy  to  partake  of  the  Sacra 
ment  daily,  neither  will  he  be  worthy  after  the  lapse  of  a  year.|| 

423.  St.  Augustine  too  wishes,  as  far  as  depends  on  himself,  that 
the  faithful  should  daily  receive  Holy  Communion;  and  he  expresses 
this  desire  most  unmistakably  in  these  words,  "  This  Eucharistic 
Bread  is  our  daily  bread ;  partake  then  of  it  every  day,  so  that  it 

•cantes  a  ccelesti  pane  prohibemur,  a  Christ!  corpore  separemur.  Serm.  6  de 
Orat.  Dominic. 

*  De  sabbato  quod  quseris,  utrum  jejunandum  sit ;  et  de  Eucharistia,  an 
accipicnda  quotidie,  quod  Romance  Ecclesiae  et  Hispanicae  observare  perhi- 
bentur;  scripsit  quidem  Hippolytus  vir  disertissimus  et  carptim  diversi  scrip- 
tores  e  variis  auctoribus  edidere. 

t  Eucharistiam  quoque  (puto)  absque  condemnatione  nostri,  et  pungente 
conscientia,  semper  accipere,  psalmistam  audire  dicentem  :  Gustate  et  viddc 
quoniam  suavis  est  Dominns. 

I  Scio  Romse  hanc  esse  consuetudinem,  ut  fideles  semper  Christi  corpus 
accipiant. 

§  Communicare  per  singulos  dies,  et  participare  de  sacro  corpore  et  sanguine 
Christi,  pulchrum  est,  et  valde  utile  ipso  manifeste  dicente  :  Qui  manducat 
.meam  carnem  et  bibit  tncum  sanguinem,  habet  vitam  ceternam.  Epist.  ad 
Caesariam  Patritiam. 

||  Accipe  quotidie,  quod  quotidie  tibi  prosit.  Sic  vive,  ut  quotidie  merearis 
.accipere.  Qui  non  meretur  quotidie  accipere,  non  meretur  post  annum  acci 
pere.  Lib.  v.  De  Sacramentis,  cap.  4. 


390  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

may  help  thee  every  day."*  It  is  true  that  in  a  letter  to  Januarius 
the  holy  Doctor  says  that  this  praiseworthy  usage  was  already  be 
ginning  to  cease  in  several  parts  of  Africa,  where  some  approached 
the  Lord's  Table  daily,  while  others  abstained.  And  he  relates  the 
reasons  given  by  both  for  their  conduct  in  this  respect.  And  this, 
I  believe,  is  the  real  cause  why  he  should  have  expressed  himself 
in  these  memorable  words  :  "  I  neither  approve  nor  condemn  daily 
Communion. "t  For  while  he  desired,  as  he  had  already  declared, 
that  the  faithful  should  daily  feed  on  the  Body  of  our  Blessed 
Lord,  as  he  was  aware  that  some  were  opposed  to  so  holy  a  usage, 
he  did  not  wish  openly  to  impugn  their  way  of  thinking. 

424.  Having  set  forth  these  authorities,  we  come  to  our  con 
clusion.     We  say,  then,  that  daily  Communion,  introduced  as  it 
was  by  the  Apostles  in  the  infancy  of  the  Church,  practised  for  many 
centuries  in  the  Universal  Church,  and  recommended  and  promoted 
by  so  many  of  the  gravest  Fathers,  if  considered  in  itself,  and 
apart  from  the  dispositions  of  individual  receivers,  is  not  unbe 
coming,  and  may  not,  without  rashness,  be  condemned  in  any 
description  or  class  of  persons ;  for,  were  it  in  itself  deserving  of 
blame,  it  could  neither  be  practised  praiseworthily,  nor  have  been 
advised  at  any  period  of  history. 

425.  It  is  true  that  in  course  of  time  the  custom  of  daily  Com 
munion  gradually  disappeared  throughout  Christendom.     Hence 
it  was  necessary  that  Pope  Fabian  should  command  the  faithful 
to  communicate  thrice  a  year — at  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Pente 
cost.     Finally,  things  came  to  such  a  pass  that  Innocent  III.,  in 
the  Fourth  Lateran  Council,  decreed  that  all  the  faithful  should 
approach  Holy  Communion  at  least  once  a  year,  at  Easter   or 
thereabouts,  and  that  the  transgressors  of  this  precept,  in  punish 
ment  of  their  contumacy,  should  be  interdicted  from  entering  the 
church.  %     Such  is  the  account  given  by  St.  Thomas.  §     The  holy 

*  Iste  panis  quotidianus  est  :  accipe  quotidie  ut  quotidie  tibi  prosit.  De 
Verb.  Dorn.  Serm.  28. 

t  Quotidie  Eucharistice  communionem  percipere  nee  laudo,  nee  reprehendo. 
In  Lib.  de  Eccles.  Dogm. 

%  Cap.  2T. 

§  In  primitive  ecclesia,  quanda  magna  vigebat  devotio  fidei  christianse,  statu- 
tum  fuit,  ut  quotidie  fideles  communicarent.  Unde  Anacletus  papa  dicit  : 


FREQUENCY  OF  COMMUNION.  391 

Council  of  Trent  renewed  the  same  decree.*  The  falling  away 
of  this  practice  by  no  means  proves  that,  of  itself,  daily  Com 
munion  is  not  as  praiseworthy  and  commendable  as  it  ever  was, 
but  only  that  we  have  degenerated  from  the  piety  of  earlier  days, 
and  that  the  fervour  of  charity  has  grown  cold.  This  may  be 
plainly  seen  by  a  most  convincing  comparison.  Nowadays, 
Christians  do  not  part  with  their  goods,  or  strip  themselves 
of  their  possessions  and  put  them  into  a  common  stock,  as 
was  the  custom  of  those  first  fervent  believers.  Neither  are  the 
faithful  knit  together  now  by  the  bond  of  so  tender  a  love,  that  it 
may  be  said  of  them  They  have  but  one  heart  and  one  soul,  as  is 
recorded  of  the  faithful  of  those  happy  days.  Now,  what  conclusion 
is  to  be  drawn  from  this  ?  Is  it  that  such  heroic  renouncement  of 
wealth  and  this  so  excellent  charity,  are  not  to  be  accounted  as 
great  virtues,  or  should  not  be  greatly  commended  in  those  who 
would  practise  them  nowadays  ?  Assuredly  not.  All  that  we  can 
infer  is,  that  the  ancient  fervour  has  waxed  cold,  and  the  earnest 
desire  of  perfection  which  animated  the  early  Christians  has  been 
extinguished  within  us.  The  same,  too,  may  be  said  of  daily 
Communion  :  what  holds  good  in  respect  of  the  former  point 
holds  good  in  this  too. 

426.  And  the  truth  of  what  we  say  is  plainly  shown  by  the 
decisions  of  Holy  Church  in  these  latter  times  concerning  daily 
Communion.  The  holy  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  held  in 
days  very  like  our  own,  not  only  commended  daily  Communion, 
but  expressed  its  desire  to  see  it  become  general  among  the 
faithful.  Mark  well  its  exact  words :  "  The  Holy  Synod  would 
indeed  wish  that  at  each  Mass  the  faithful  who  are  present  should 


Peracta  consecratione,  omnes  communicent,  qui  noluerint  ecclesiasticis  carere 
liminibus  :  sic  enim  et  Apostoli  statuerunt,  et  sancta  Romana  tenet  Ecclesia. 
Postmodum  vero,  diminuto  fidei  fervore,  Fabianus  papa  indulsit  ut  si  non 
frequent  ius,  saltern  ter  in  anno,  omnes  communicent,  scilicet  in  Pascha,  Pente- 
coste  et  Natali  Domini.  Soter  etiam  papa  in  coen&  Domini  dicit  esse  commu- 
nicandum,  ut  habetur  in  decretis  de  cons.  dis.  2.  Postmodum  propter  iniqui- 
tatis  abundantiam,  refrigescente  caritate  multoi'um,  statuit  Innocentius  III.  ut 
saltern  semel  in  anno,  scilicet  Pascha,  fideles,  communicent.  3  part,  quae^t.  21, 
alias  80,  art.  10,  ad  5. 
*  Sess.  xiij.,  Can.  9. 


392  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

communicate,  not  only  spiritually  and  in  desire,  but  really  and 
sacramentally,  in  order  to  obtain  the  fruits  of  this  most  holy  Sacri 
fice."  *  In  the  Roman  Catechism,  which  the  same  Council 
©rdered  to  be  drawn  up,  and  which  was  published  by  order  of  St. 
Pius  V.,  daily  Communion  is  not  only  approved  of,  but  pastors  of 
souls  are  commanded  to  propagate  it  among  their  flocks.  "It  will 
be  the  duty  of  the  Parish  Priest,"  says  the  Catechism,  "  frequently 
to  exhort  the  faithful,  that  as  they  know  it  to  be  necessary  daily  to 
supply  their  bodies  with  food,  so  must  they  not  be  careless  of  daily 
feeding  and  nourishing  their  souls  with  this  Sacrament,  "t 

427.  In  proof  of  what  we  advance,  Cardinal  de  Lugo  quotes  a 
declaration  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Council  of  Trent,{ 
©f  A.D.  1597,  in  the  month  of  January,  occasioned  by  a  Bishop 
who  was  thinking  of  forbidding  his  Curates  to  administer  Com 
munion  to  the  people  more  than  three  times  a  week,  namely 
©n  Sundays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  with  a  view  to  inculcate 
greater  reverence  for  the  Sacrament,  and  to  hinder  its  too  familiar 
use.  The  Congregation  decided  against  his  taking  this  step,  on 
the  ground  that  in  early  times,  every  one  partook  of  Holy  Com 
munion  after  Consecration,  and  that  hence  daily  Communion 
could  not  be  deemed  unlawful.  §  The  learned  Cardinal  infers 
from  this,  that  there  is  no  question  but  that  of  itself  Communion 
day  by  day  is  most  praiseworthy,  and  to  be  preferred  to  a  less 
frequent  use.  He  adds,  that  this  is  a  truth  of  which  no  Catholic 
can  reasonably  entertain  a  doubt.  ||  We  may  hence  conclude,  that 

•  Optaret  quidem  Sacrosanta  Synodus,  ut  in  singulis  missis  fideles  adstantes, 
flon  solum  spirituali  affectu,  sed  sacramentali  etiam  Eucharistiae  perceptione 
communicarent,  quo  ad  eos  sanctissimi  hujus  Sacrificii  fructus  perveniret. 
Sess.  xxij.,  cap.  6. 

t  Parochi  partes  erunt,  fideles  crebro  adhortari,  ut  quemadmodum  corpori 
SMigulis  diebus  alimentum  ministrare  necessarium  putant ;  ita  etiam  quotidie 
hoc  Sacramento  alendse  et  nutriendx  animse  curam  non  abjiciant.  De 
Euchar.,  num.  9. 

£  De  Euchar.  Dis.  xvii.,  sect.  I. 

§  Obstare,  quia  antiquo  tempore  peractS,  consecratione,  omnes  adstantes 
Eucharistiam  sumebant :  et  ideo  licitum  est  quotidie  Eucharistiam  sumere. 

||  Non  dubitari  an  usus  quotidianus  Eucharistise  de  se  laudabilis  sit,  et 
perf  3Ctior,  quam  usus  rarior,  atque  ideo  curandum  omnibus  esse,  ad  ilium 
j)^j  venire,  si  possint.  Hoc  enim  sub  his  terminis  adeo  certum  est,  ut  nemo 


DAILY  COMMUNION.  393 

Communion  on  each  successive  morning,  considered  in  itself,  is 
most  commendable,  not  only  in  Religious,  but  in  seculars  ;  and 
that  the  authority  of  the  early  Fathers,  the  practice  of  the  primi 
tive  Church,  and  the  mind  of  the  modern  Church,  render  it  im 
possible  to  blame  it  without  incurring  the  note  of  temerity. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   PRACTICAL   RESULTS   OF   THE   DOCTRINE   DEVELOPED    IN    THE 
FOREGOING   CHAPTER   CONCERNING   DAILY    COMMUNION. 

428.  'DIRECTORS  of  souls  might  perhaps  object :  If,  as  you 
assert,  daily  Communion  be  so  profitable  and  to  be  recom 
mended  to  the  faithful  of  either  sex,  we  ought  to  admit  daily 
to  the  Lord's  Table  both  men  and  women,  married  and  single, 
tradespeople,  artisans,  labourers,  and  all  who  attend  at  the  Holy 
Sacrifice.  But  what  disorders  would  result  therefrom,  what  abuses, 
Avhat  indecencies,  nay,  what  profanation  of  this  Divine  Sacrament ! 
To  this  we  reply,  that  such  is  in  no  way  our  meaning.  It  is  one 
thing  to  assert  that  daily  Communion  is  praiseworthy  and  desirable 
for  every  one,  and  quite  another  thing  to  urge  its  practical  adop 
tion  on  all  indiscriminately.  And  here  we  may  allege  the  Angelic 
Doctor,  who  clears  up  this  point,  and  sets  forth  in  a  practical 
aspect  the  solid  and  well-grounded  principles  which  we  have 
•so  far  been  developing.  He  says,  that  Holy  Communion  may  be 
considered  in  two  ways,  either  as  regards  the  sacrament  received, 
or  as  regards  the  person  receiving.  Under  the  former  point  of 
view,  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  it  is  most  praiseworthy  to 
receive  it  daily,  were  it  only  for  the  great  advantages  that  will 
result  therefrom  to  pious  souls.  And  in  this  sense  it  is  that  we 
have  all  along  recommended  daily  Communion.  In  the  latter 
point  of  view,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  communicant,  it  is 

Catholicorum  possit  de  hoc  dubitare.  Non  expedit  prohibere  omnes  fideles 
absolute  a  Communione  quotidiana.  Hoc  esset  prohibere  illos  ab  omni  eo, 
quod  est  perfectius  et  utilius. 


394  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

not  fitting  that  all  should  receive  daily,  as  to  do  so  presupposes 
great  purity  of  heart,  great  reverence  and  devotion ;  dispositions 
which  are  not  invariably  to  be  met  with  in  all  by  reason  of  the 
several  weaknesses  of  mind  and  body  to  which  our  poor  human 
nature  is  liable.  * 

429.  But  as  no  one  is  judge  in  his  own  case,  so  no  one  can 
determine  for  himself  the  frequency  wherewith  he  should  com 
municate,  whether  daily,  weekly,  or  after  longer  periods  of  time. 
This  point  ought  to  be  settled  by  the  advice  of  his  Confessor, 
who,  being  better  acquainted  with  his  inward  state,   can  decide 
this  question  with  less  chance  of  error.     And  this  is  precisely  the 
import  of  a  decree  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  promulgated  according  to  the  mind  of  Pope  Innocent  XL, 
which  contains  these  two  prohibitions  : — First,  that  of  impugning 
daily   Communion  :  Secondly,  that   of  limiting   Communion   in 
general  to  certain  determinate  days.t     He  proceeds  to  say  that 
the   decision  of  the  question   as  to  whether  daily   Communion 
should  or  should  not  be  allowed,  whether  Communion  should  be 
permitted  with  greater  or  less  frequency,  is  to  be  left  to  the  pastors 
of  souls  who,  knowing  each  one's  dispositions,  may  and  should 
be  safely  guided  in  their  decisions  by  this  knowledge.     Lastly, 
all  are  exhorted  to  favour  daily  Communion,  provided  it  be  duly 
made,   and  to  thank  God  when  they  see  that   it  is  frequented 
with  devotion,  with  decorum,  and  with  good  results. 

430.  And  here  the  answer  made  by  St.   Catharine  of  Siena, 

*  Circa  usum  hujus  Sacramenti  duo  possunt  considerari.  Unum  quidem  ex 
parte  ipsius  Sacramenti,  cujus  virtus  est  hominibus  salutaris :  et  ideo  utile 
est  quotidie  ipsum  sumere,  ut  homo  quotidie  ejus  fructum  percipiat.  .  .  .  Alio 
modo  potest  considerari  ex  parte  sumentis,  in  quo  requiritur,  ut  magnet  de- 
votione  et  reverentia,  ad  hoc  Sacramentum  accedat.  ,  .  .  Unde  Augustinus 
cum  dixisset :  Accipe,  quod  quotidie  tibi  prosit,  subjungit :  Sic  vive,  ut  quotidie 
merearis  accipere.  Sed  quia  multoties  in  pluribus  hominum  nvulta  impedimenta 
hujus  devotionis  occurrunt,  propter  corporis  indispositionem,  vel  animse ;  non 
est  utile  omnibus  hominibus  quotidie  ad  hoc  Sacramentum  accedere  ;  sed  quo- 
tiescumque  se  adillud  homo  invenerit  prseparatum.  3  p.,  q.  21,  alias  80,  a. 
10,  in  corp. 

f  Non  ut  a  frequenti,  aut  quotidiana-  sacrae  Communionis  sumptione,  untca 
pnecepti  formula  aliqui  deterreantur :  aut  sumendi  dies  generaliter  consti- 
tuantur.  Cong.  Interp.  Concil.,  22  Feb.  Ann.  1679. 


DAIL  Y  COMMUNION.  39  5 

to  one  who  took  upon  himself  to  reproach  her  with  the  frequency 
of  her  Communions,  is  much  to  our  purpose.  The  public  rumour 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  Saint  approached  the  Altar  daily,  to  re 
ceive  the  Spouse  of  her  soul ;  which  to  some  afforded  edification, 
while  others  murmured  thereat,  as  is  usual  in  like  cases.  One 
day  a  Bishop  called  upon  her  at  her  home,  and  set  about  rebuking 
her,  with  but  little  discretion,  for  the  frequency  of  her  Commu 
nions.  And  alleging  the  words  of  St.  Augustine,  wherein  he  says 
that  he  neither  reproves  nor  commends  daily  Communion,  the 
Bishop  sought  to  wean  her  from  her  holy  practice  by  the  autho 
rity  of  this  illustrious  Doctor  of  the  Church.  The  Saint  replied, 
"  But,  Right  Reverend  Father,  if  St.  Augustine  does  not  reprove 
my  frequent  Communion,  why  should  you  ?"  To  this  wise  and 
convincing  reply  the  Prelate  had  nothing  to  answer,  and  was 
obliged  to  swallow  his  confusion  in  silence.*  This  is  related  by 
St.  Antoninus.  What  the  Saint  implied  by  her  answer  was,  "If  St. 
Augustine  neither  praises  nor  blames  daily  Communion,  inas 
much  as  such  frequency  wholly  depends  on  the  dispositions  of 
each  individual "  (the  appreciation  whereof,  as  that  saint  was  well 
aware,  concerns  Directors),  "wherefore  does  your  Lordship, 
without  the  least  insight  into  my  conscience,  thus  reprove  me  ?" 

431.  From  all  that  has  been  hitherto  said  we  may  draw  these 
three  conclusions — First ;  That  both  daily,  and  frequent  though  not 
daily,  Communion,  are  in  themselves  most  praiseworthy  :  Secondly; 
That  such  a  frequency  requires  proportionate  dispositions  in  the 
soul :  Thirdly  ;  That  the  Confessor,  and  he  alone,  can  form  a  right 
judgment  as  to  these  dispositions  and  the  consequent  frequency 
of  Holy  Communion  to  be  prescribed — that  to  him  alone  it  be 
longs  to  settle  this  point.  I  would,  however,  beg  Spiritual 
Directors  not  to  yield  to  groundless  fears  or  to  be  misled  by 
shallow  views,  so  as  to  debar  those  of  their  penitents  whom  they 
may  find  disposed  from  frequently  partaking  of  this  Divine  Food ; 
for,  by  such  a  course,  they  deprive  them  of  the  inexhaustible 
treasures  therein  contained,  of  the  increase  of  sanctifying  grace, 

*  Respondit  virgo  sacra  in  pnesenti&  plurium  :  Ex  quo  Augustinus  non  me 
vituperat  in  dictis  suis,  quare  tu,  Reverendissime,  me  vituperas?  Sicque  con- 
fusus  tacuit.  2  p.  Hist.,  tit.  xxiij.,  cap.  14,  sec.  8. 


396  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

of  the  powerful  help  imparted  in  this  Sacrament  to  advanca 
in  virtue ;  and  further,  they  grieve  the  heart  of  Jesus,  whose 
chief  delight  is  to  unite  Himself  to  the  souls  that  love  Him,  as 
He  declared  to  St.  Gertrude,  to  whom  He  complained  of  those 
-who,  without  just  cause,  keep  such  away  from  this  intercourse  with 
God.  "  If,"  said  He,  "I  have  made  it  My  delight  to  converse 
with  the  children  of  men ;  if,  carried  away  by  My  love,  I  have  in 
stituted  this  Divine  Sacrament  in  order  to  abide  with  them  to  the 
end  of  time ;  judge  how  I  must  feel  offended  with  those  who 
dissuade  persons  from  frequently  receiving  Me,  with  those  who 
debar  the  faithful  from  union  with  Me,  and  who  envy  Me  those 
merciful  delights  which  I  so  earnestly  seek  for  in  the  hearts  of 
men."  * 

432.  I  further  add,  that  a  Director,  by  acting  in  this  matter 
with  excessive  and  ill-judged  rigour,  may  justly  fear  some 
chastisement  for  the  injury  he  works  upon  souls,  and  the  offence 
lie  does  to  Christ,  their  most  tender  Father.  We  read  in  the 
Life  of  St.  Lutgarde  that  this  once  happened  to  certain  nuns 
In  her  convent.t  The  Abbess  forbade  this  saint  to  go  to  Holy 
Communion  every  Sunday,  as  was  her  habit.  The  Saint  replied 
that  she  would  have  obeyed  the  order  cheerfully  enough,  but  that 
•she  foresaw  most  surely  the  chastisement  that  Christ  would  not 
fail  to  inflict  upon  the  Abbess,  for  the  offence  she  would  thereby 
give  to  Him.  The  Abbess,  making  no  account  of  the  warning 
which  God  gave  her  by  the  mouth  of  His  favoured  Spouse,  per 
sisted  in  her  prohibition,  but  to  her  cost :  for  it  was  not  long  be 
fore  she  felt  the  effects  of  it.  She  was  suddenly  seized  with  an 
acute  sickness  that  went  on  increasing  every  moment  without 
stopping,  until,  made  wiser  by  suffering,  she  had  withdrawn  her 
unreasonable  command,  and  left  the  servant  of  God  free  access  to 

*  Cum  deliciae  meae  sint  esse  cum  filiis  hominum,  et  ego  hoc  Sacramentum 
cum  summS,  caritate  in  meam  commemorationem  fidelibus  suscipiendum  reli- 
querim,  atque  etiam  per  illud  cum  eis  usque  ad  consummationem  sseculi 
remanere  velim  :  quicumque  aliquos  mortali  peccato  immunes,  verbis,  vel  sua- 
sionibus,  ab  ejus  perceptione  retrahat,  is  quodammcdo  impedit,  et  interrumpit 
idelicias  meas,  quas  cum  illishabere  possein.  Lud.  Blosii,  Monil.  Spirit.,  cap. 
O,  sec.  i. 

t  Apud  Surium.,  6  Junii,  cap.  12. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  397 

her  Spouse  veiled  beneath  the  Sacrament.  Those  of  the  Com- 
munity  who  had  molested  the  Saint,  on  their  repentance  and 
humble  acknowledgment  of  their  fault,  were  exempt  from  all 
suffering,  while  such  as  continued  to  annoy  her,  soon  died  an 
early  death.  So  true  is  it  that  imprudently  to  keep  away  per 
sons  who  are  sufficiently  prepared  from  Holy  Communion,  is  to 
wound  Jesus  Christ  in  the  apple  of  His  eye.  But  as  it  is  not 
easy  to  determine  what  frequency  of  Communion  is  advisable  in 
every  case,  we  will  lay  down  a  few  rules  founded  on  the  authority 
of  the  saints,  and  on  reason  itself,  which  may  enable  the  Director 
to  deal  suitably  with  his  penitents  in  this  regard. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PARTICULAR  RULES  AND  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  DIRECTORS 
IN  FIXING  THE  FREQUENCY  OF  COMMUNION  TO  BE  ALLOWED- 
TO  THEIR  PENITENTS. 

433.  FIRST  suggestion.  As  a  general  rule  the  Director  may, 
and  should,  allow  weekly  Communion  to  all  persons  who  have  the 
dispositions  necessary  for  absolution  in  Confession.  This  is  the 
general  opinion  of  all  masters  of  the  spiritual  life,  and  it  seems  to 
be  the  present  practice  of  Holy  Church.  The  reason  is  plain. 
Either  the  penitent  lives  habitually  in  the  grace  of  God,  or  falls 
now  and  then  into  some  grievous  sin. — I  am  not  now  speaking  of 
persons  of  abandoned  life,  who  do  without  hesitation  whatever  they 
find  a  will  to,  for  such  as  these  come  to  Confession  but  seldom  ; 
and  the  Confessor  therefore  could  not,  even  if  he  would,  allow  them 
frequent  Communion. — If  the  person  be  living  in  God's  grace 
he  should  not  be  debarred  from  receiving  Communion,  and  its 
benefits,  once  in  each  week,  besides  the  principal  festivals  of  the 
Church,  as  he  is  duly  prepared  for  receiving ;  unless,  indeed,  the 
Confessor  see  fit  to  impose  on  his  penitent  this  privation  from 
time  to  time  either  for  his  humiliation  or  mortification,  or  to  try 
him,  or  else  to  whet  his  appetite  for  this  sacred  banquet.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  penitent  be  one  who  goes  on  defiling  his  con- 


398  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

science  with  some  mortal  sin,  but  yet  comes  to  Confession  with 
such  contrition  as  fits  him  for  absolution,  he  should  still  be  ad 
mitted  to  Holy  Communion  in  order  to  draw  from  it  strength  and 
vigour  against  further  relapses  ;  this  being  one  of  the  proper  and 
saving  effects  of  the  Bread  of  Heaven.  Indeed  St.  Ambrose  even 
says  that  the  fact  of  our  falling  into  sin  is  a  reason  for  our  fre 
quently  communicating ;  for  being  sick,  we  must  have  frequent 
recourse  to  the  medicine  which  strengthens  us  against  the  recur 
rence  of  our  habitual  infirmities.*  St.  Hilary  goes  so  far  as  to  say, 
that  if  our  sins  are  not  such  as  to  cut  us  off  from  communion 
with  the  faithful — or  to  come  nearer  to  our  present  subject, 
do  not  render  a  penitent  unfit  for  sacramental  absolution — he 
should  not  be  debarred  of  the  healing  medicine  of  our  Saviour's 
Body  and  Blood  ;  for,  deprived  of  it,  he  might  even  be  put  in  peril 
of  his  eternal  salvation.t 

434.  Another  reason  for  counselling  weekly  Communion  to 
these  feeble  souls  is  the  following  :  this  practice  unnerves  the 
strength  of  the  devil,  as  was  explained  above,  so  that  he  no  longer 
molests  them,  or  else  he  makes  his  onslaughts  with  less  fury; 
thus  they  gain  fresh  strength  to  stand  firm  in  proportion  as  the 
might  of  him  who  seeks  to  overthrow  them  is  diminished.  And 
this  is  the  very  motive  that  the  holy  Martyr  Ignatius,  a  disciple  of 
the  Apostles,  sets  forth  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  to  encourage 
them  to  frequent  Communion  :  "  Be  careful,"  says  the  blessed 
Martyr,  "to  meet  frequently  together  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Eucharist,  for  by  so  doing  you  will  weaken  the  power  of  Satan, 
and  ward  off  the  darts  of  his  temptations."  J  Palladius  relates  § 

*  Quotiescumque  Sanguis  Christ!  in  remissionempeccatorumfunditur,  debeo 
ilium  semper  accipere,  ut  semper  mihi  peccata  dimittantur  ;  qui  semper  pecco, 
debeo  semper  habere  medicinam.  'Lib.  iv.  De  Sacram.  cap.  6. 

t  Si  non  sunt  tanta  peccata,  ut  excommunicetur  quis,  non  debet  se  a  medi- 
cina  corporis  et  sanguinis  Domini  separare.  Unde  timendum  est,  ne  diu 
abstractus  a  Corpore  Christi,  alienus  remaneat  a  salute.  Apud  Gratian.,  De 
Consecrat.,  Dist.  2. 

%  Date  operam,  ut  crebro  congregemini  ad  Eucharistiam,  et  gloriam  Dei. 
Qtiarido  enim  saepius  in  id  loci  convenitis,  labefactantur  vires  satanos,  et  ignita 
illius  ad  peccandum  jacula  irrita  resiliunt. 

§  In  Histor.  Lausiac.,  sect,  xvij.,  cap.  19.     In  Vita  Macariu 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  399 

that  a  certain  woman  was  transformed  by  a  wizard  into  the  like 
ness  of  a  horse,  by  means  of  incantations.     Her  husband,  afflicted 
beyond  measure  at  so  wonderful  a  change— the  more  so  as  the 
poor  woman  refused  all  food,  whether  of  man  or  of  animals— took 
his  wife  to  St.   Macarius,  in  order  to  discover  the  cause  of  this 
melancholy   event,   and  to   receive  at  his   hands   some   suitable 
remedy.     The   Saint,  who  had  been  already  instructed   in   the 
whole  affair  by  a  divine  revelation,  had  communicated  it  to  his 
monks    before    having   received   any   notice   from    the    persons 
concerned.     When   the   unhappy  woman  was   brought   into   the 
presence  of  the  holy  Abbot,  he  sprinkled  her  with  holy  water,  and 
restored   her   to   her   former   shape.       He   then   addressed    this 
warning  to  her :  "  Never  more  leave  the  church,  and  abstain  no 
more   from  Holy  Communion,  for  this   great    evil   has   befallen 
thee   because  thou  hast  passed  five  weeks  without  approaching 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar."     The  Director   may  learn   hereby 
how  daring   the   devil  becomes  with  such   as   keep   away  from 
the  Eucharistic  Banquet,  and  thus  may  avoid  being  too  niggardly 
in   allowing  Communion  to  his  weakly  penitents,  provided  only 
he  find  them  sufficiently  contrite.     I  except,  however,  the  case 
of  a   penitent   having   fallen   into   grievous   sin   that   very   day, 
or   the   preceding  night;    for  then,   however   great   may  be   his 
contrition,   it  is   more  seemly  that  he  should  abstain  from   this 
Divine  Food. 

435.  Second  suggestion.  If  the  penitent  not  only  live  habitu 
ally  in  the  grace  of  God,  but  further  take  great  care  to  avoid  all 
venial  sin ;  if  he  have  no  affection  to  any  sin ;  if  he  be  fond  of 
penance ;  if  he  take  heed  to  mortify  his  passions  ;  if  he  be  given 
to  the  practice  of  devout  meditation,  have  an  earnest  desire  of 
Holy  Communion,  and  derive  from  it  strength  and  courage  to  go 
forward  in  the  path  of  virtue,  he  may  be  allowed  Communion 
thrice,  or  even  four  or  five  times  a  week,  according  as  he  is  found 
to  be  more  or  less  advanced  in  perfection,  and  in  the  measure  of 
the  greater  or  less  profit  which  he  draws  from  this  Divine  Banquet. 
Pope  Gregory  VII.,  writing  to  the  Countess  Matilda,  a  lady  of 
excellent  character  and  natural  dispositions,  spiritually-minded  and 
devout,  proposes  frequent  Communion  as  the  very  chiefest  means 


400  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIPE. 

of  making  progress  in  perfection.*  And  he  adds,  "We  ought, 
my  daughter,  to  have  frequent  recourse  to  this  great  Sacrament, 
as  to  our  most  special  remedy."t  The  Director  need  not,  then, 
fear  to  be  too  liberal  in  allowing  Communion  when  he  deals  with 
souls  such  as  these,  for  such  was  the  conduct  of  saints  of  the 
greatest  authority  in  the  Church. 

436.  If  the  penitent  have  attained  great  perfection,  and  have 
already  overcome  his  passions  and  evil  inclinations  (mark,  we  say 
overcome,  not  merely  lulled  them  with  the  opiate  of  sensible  con 
solations,  as  is  often  the  case  with  beginners),  if  he  have  acquired, 
especially  by  the  use  of  this  Sacrament,  a  great  intimacy  in  con 
versing  with  God,  which  is  a  mark  of  the  delight  which  Jesus  feels 
in   entertaining   Himself  with  such  a   soul,  he  may  be   allowed 
Communion  every  day,  as  St.  Francis  of  Sales  observes,  saying,f 
that  for  daily  Communion,  we  must  have  already  overcome  the 
greater  part  of  our  evil  propensities,  and  that  leave  should   be 
obtained  from  our  spiritual  adviser.     Palladius  relates,  that  the 
ancient  Fathers,  in  whom   such  dispositions  may  reasonably  be 
presumed,  were  sometimes  compelled,  even  by  the  orders  of  their 
Superiors,  to  partake  daily  of  this  sacred  nourishment.  § 

437.  The  Director  must  not  be  deterred  from  so  just  and  rea 
sonable  a  frequency  by  the  pretexts  some  allege  against  it,  which 
is  that  too  common  a  use  of  this  Divine  Sacrament  engenders  a 
familiarity  which  will,  in   its  turn,  breed  contempt.     I  say  this 
because   persons   who   are  endowed  with   the   qualities   already 
enumerated,  will  approach  this  Sacred  Banquet  with  due  prepara 
tion,  and,  far  from  diminishing,  will  daily  increase  in  reverence 
for  it.    For  there  is  this  difference  between  familiarity  with  earthly 
persons  and  with  the  Saints  of  Heaven,  that  intercourse  with  the 

*  Inter  csetera,  quse  tibi  contra  principem  mundi  arma,  Deo  favente,  contuli. 
quod  potissimum  est,  ut  corpus  Christ!  frequenter  accipias. 

t  Debemus,  O  Filia,  ad  hoc  singulare  confugere  Sacramentum,  singulare 
appetere  medicamentum.  Apud  Baron.,  An.  1074,  n.  12,  13. 

£  Introduction  to  a  Devout  Life,  p.  2,  chap.  19. 

§  Quod  oportet  nonnunquam  cogere  fratres  ad  refectionem,  a  Loth  accepi- 
mus,  qui  coegit  angelos  :  eo  quod  oportet,  si  fieri  potest,  monachos  quotidie 
communicare  sacramentis.  Qui  enim  se  ab  eis  procul  amovet,  Deus  quoque 
procul  ab  eo  recedit.  Qui  autem  hoc  facit  assiduo,  assidue  suscipit  Servatorem. 
Hist.  Lausiac.,  c.  52.  In  Vita,  Apoll.  Abb. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  4or 

former  makes  us  discover  more  and  more  of  their  shortcomings, 
while  it  enables  us  to  penetrate  more  deeply  into  the  excellences 
of  the  latter ;  so  that  while  familiarity,  little  by  little,  undermines 
•esteem  and  respect  with  the  former,  it  increases  them  with  the 
latter.  And  if  the  Director  has  any  doubt  on  this  point,  let  him 
but  cast  a  glance  first  at  the  heart  of  one  who  receives  not  oftener 
than  once  or  twice  a  year,  and  then  at  one  who  goes  to  Communior 
several  times  a  week.  The  latter  he  will  find  to  be  full  of  awe, 
while  the  former  will  be  as  destitute  of  taste  or  relish  as  if,  instead 
•of  the  Bread  of  Angels,  he  were  going  to  partake  of  his  daily  food. 
Thus  it  is  the  unfrequency,  not  the  frequentation,  of  Communion, 
which  destroys  reverence  and  awe  for  this  Divine  Sacrament. 

438.  Third  suggestion.  The  Director  will  further  bear  in  mind 
that  the  rules  laid  down  above  are  open  to  many  exceptions,  on 
account  of  the  various  circumstances  in  which  people  may  be 
placed.  Thus,  for  instance,  a  nun  of  high  virtue  and  perfection 
might  be  well  fit  for  daily  Communion,  but  yet  not  be  allowed  it, 
"because,  as  her  companions  are  in  the  habit  of  receiving  twice  only 
in  the  week,  such  a  distinction  in  her  case  would  be  a  singularity, 
and  might  be  an  occasion  of  vain-glorious  thoughts,  or  of  murmurs 
and  complaints.  With  tradesmen  or  artisans  of  advanced  perfec 
tion,  a  certain  measure  must  be  kept,  as  their  many  and  absorb 
ing  occupations  hinder  them  from  recollecting  themselves  during 
the  week  as  much  as  would  be  proper  to  prepare  a  fitting  reception 
for  the  King  of  Heaven.  Neither  should  we  allow  the  same 
frequency  of  Communion  to  married  persons  as  to  an  unmarried 
youth,  or  to  a  devout  girl,  though  the  perfection  in  each  case  be 
equal ;  for,  while  it  is  quite  true  that  the  fulfilment  of  the  obliga 
tions  of  marriage  is  of  itself  no  obstacle  to  Holy  Communion, 
still  it  may  occasion  a  certain  unfitness,  as,  through  human  frailty, 
it  is  usually  accompanied  by  imperfections,  defects,  and  slight 
sins.  But,  as  it  will  not  be  suitable  to  dwell  on  so  delicate  a 
matter,  I  will  cite  the  authority  of  St.  Jerome,  and  leave  the 
Director  himself  to  ponder  in  silence  on  the  words  of  the  Saint. 
After  having  quoted  St.  Paul's  words,  Defraud  ye  not  one  the  other 
except  it  be  with  consent  for  a  time,  that  ye  may  give  yourselves  to 
grayer,  he  adds  a  few  reflections  in  defence  of  what  he  had 

VOL.  I.  26 


402  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

written  elsewhere  against  Jovinian.*  To  the  authority  of  St. 
Jerome,  we  may  add  that  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  who,  resting  on 
the  words  just  quoted,  and  on  a  passage  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great, 
decides  this  question  in  terms  given  below,  t 

439.  The  Director  must  take  care,  however,  not  to  misunder 
stand  these  maxims.  The  payment  of  a  debt  to  one  who  has  a. 
full  right  to  exact  it,  cannot,  it  seems,  be  incompatible  with  Holy 

*  Paulus  apostolus  dicit,  quando  coimus  cum  uxoribus  nos  orare  non  posse. 
Si  per  coitum  quod  minus  est  impeditur,  idest  orare,  quanto  plus  quod  majus. 
est,  idest  corpus  Christi,  prohibetur  accipere  ?  Petrus  ad  continentiam  horta- 
tur,  ne  impediantur  orationes  nostrse.  Quod  hie,  quseso,  peccatum  meum 
est?  quid  commerui?  quid  deliqui?  Si  turbidae  et  nebulosae  aquae  fluunt, 
non  est  alvei  culpa  sed  fontis.  An  idcirco  arguor,  quod  de  meo  ausus  sum 
adjicere  :  quale  illud  bonum  est,  quod  corpus  Christi  accipere  non  permittit  ? 
Ad  hoc  breviter  respondebo,  quid  est  majus,  orare,  an  corpus  Christi  accipere  ? 
Utique  accipere  corpus  Christi.  Si  per  coitum  quod  minus  est  impeditur, 
multo  magis  quod  majus  est.  Diximus  in  eodem  volumine  :  Panes  propositionis- 
ex  lege  non  potuisse  comedere  David  et  socios  ejus,  nisi  se  triduo  mundos 
a  mulieribus  respondissent  :  non  utique  a  meretricibus,  quod  damnabatur  a 
lege,  sed  ab  uxoribus,  quibus  licite  jungebantur.  Populum  quoque,  quando 
accepturus  erat  legem  in  monte  Sinai,  tribus  diebus  jussum  esse  ab  uxoribus 
abstinere.  Scio  Romae  hanc  esse  consuetudinem,  ut  fideles  semper  Christi 
corpus  accipiant ;  quod  nee  reprehendo,  nee  probo.  Unusquisque  in  suo  sensu 
abundet.  Sed  ipsorum  conscientiam  convenio,  qui  eodem  die  post  coitum  com 
municant.  Probet  se  unusquisque,  et  sic  ad  corpus  Christi  accedat.  Non 
quod  dilatse  communionis  unus  dies,  aut  biduum,  sanctiorem  faciat  christianum 
ut  quod  hodie  non  merui,  eras,  vel  perinde  merear  :  sed  quod  dum  doleo  me 
non  communic&sse  corpori  Christi,  abstineam  me  paulisper  ab  uxoris  amplexu, 
ut  amori  conjugis  amorem  Christi  prseferam.  Epist.  ad  Pammach.,  pro  Libro 
advers.  Jovin. 

t  Dicendum  quod  coitus  conjugalis,  si  sit  sine  peccato  (puta  si  fiat  caus&. 
prolis  procreandae,  vel  causa  reddendi  debitum)  non  ali&  ratione  impedit  sump- 
tionem  hujus  Sacramenti,  nisi  sicut  dictum  est  de  pollutione  nocturna,  quse 
accidit  sine  peccato,  scilicet  propter  immunditiam  corporalem  et  mentis  di- 
stractionem  ;  ratione  cujus  Hieronymus  dicit  super  Matthseum  :  Si  panes  pro- 
positionis  ab  his,  qui  uxores  tetigerant,  comedi  non  poterant,  quanto  magis 
ille  panis  qui  de  ccelo  descend  it,  non  potest  ab  his  qui  conjugalibus  paulo- 
ante  haesere  complexibus,  violari  et  contingi?  Non  quod  nuptias  condemne- 
mus,  sed  quod  eo  tempore,  quo  carnes  Agni  manducaturi  sumus,  vacare  a 
carnalibus  operibus  debemus.  Sed  quia  hoc  secundum  congruitatem  est  intel- 
ligendum,  Gregorius  dicit,  quod  talis  est  judicio  suo  relinquendus.  Si  vero  non 
amor  procreandae  prolis,  sed  voluptas  dominatur  in  opere  (ut  ibidem  Gregorius. 
usbdit)  tune  prohiberi  debet  ne  accedat  ad  hoc  Sacramentum.  3  part.,  quaesU 
21,  al.  89,  art,  7,  ad  2. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  403 

Communion,  when  the  payment  is  made  with  the  pure  intention 
of  complying  with  God's  will,  which  is  manifested  in  the  fulfilment 
of  the  obligations  of  our  state.  But  to  exact  even  what  we  have  in 
strictness  a  right  to  demand,  may  give  rise  to  some  unseemliness, 
and  in  fact  does  so,  especially  when  the  claim  is  urged  without 
necessity,  without  moderation,  or  a  due  uprightness  of  intention. 
Directors  will  now  easily  understand  what  I  wish  to  convey  in 
terms  which  are  necessarily  a  little  obscure.  As  a  general  rule, 
then,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  certain,  that  as  regards  Holy  Com 
munion  we  should  be  more  open-handed  with  the  unmarried  than 
with  the  married ;  for,  as  the  state  of  the  former  is  more  perfect, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle,  so  does  their  stainless- 
ness  usually  render  them  more  acceptable  to  Jesus  in  His  Sacra 
ment ;  while  they,  on  their  part,  through  the  splendour  of 
original  purity  kept  undefiled,  are  better  disposed  for  union 
with  the  beauteous  Lily  of  the  Valleys,  even  our  most  loving 
Redeemer. 

440.  Fourth  suggestion.  Directors  occasionally  meet  with 
persons  fitted  to  receive  frequently  this  Heavenly  Food,  but  who 
refrain,  out  of  humility,  through  a  sense  of  their  vileness  and  imper 
fection.  Such  as  these  should  be  warned  that  humility  is  indeed 
necessary  for  one  who  would  approach  to  this  Divine  Banquet, 
but  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  reverential  awe  which  springs  from 
humility  must  be  overcome  by  love,  in  order  that  they  may  not 
remain  deprived  of  those  fruits  of  salvation  which  this  Tree  of 
Life  produces  in  our  souls.  Hence  such  persons  may  and  ought 
to  consider  their  unworthiness,  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  must 
go  further;  they  must  pass  on  to  contemplate  the  unspeakable 
loving-kindness  of  which  our  Redeemer  gives  proof  in  the  Most 
Holy  Eucharist ;  the  singular  love  which  He  bears  them ;  and  His 
burning  desire  to  be  united  with  their  souls :  thus  will  a  mutual 
affection  be  kindled,  which  will  embolden  them  to  approach  Him 
with  a  holy  courage.  And  so  much  the  more  (as  St.  Thomas  does 
not  hesitate  to  affirm),  because,  this  sacrament  being  the  food  of  the 
soul,  it  is  praiseworthy  to  partake  of  it  every  day ;  understanding, 
of  course,  the  conditions  mentioned  by  him  in  the  same  Article, 
and  which  are  those  enumerated  by  us  in  the  preceding  Chapter 

26—2 


404  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

n.  419.*  We  read  in  the  life  of  St.  Bonaventure,  that  having 
forborne  one  morning  to  celebrate  Mass,  out  of  excessive  rever 
ence,  he  was  content  to  be  present  at  the  Sacrifice  in  devout 
meditation  on  Christ's  Passion.  An  Angel  took  a  particle  of  the 
Host  from  the  altar  and  laid  it  on  his  lips.  From  this  the  Saint 
learned  that  it  was  more  pleasing  to  God  to  approach  the  Euchar- 
istic  Table  with  loving  awe,  than  to  abstain  out  of  excessive  fear. 
As  Blosius  well  puts  it,  it  is  by  no  means  blameworthy,  when  we 
abstain  at  times  from  this  Bread  of  Heaven,  out  of  a  certain 
holy  fear  and  humble  reverence ;  but  it  is  far  better,  and  more 
worthy  of  praise,  to  receive  it  frequently,  under  the  impulse  of 
love  and  devotion,  t 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A  BRIEF  TREATISE  ON  SPIRITUAL  COMMUNION,  BY  WHICH  DEVOUT 
PERSONS  MAY  SUPPLY  THE  WANT  OF  SACRAMENTAL  COM 
MUNION. 

441.  THERE  being  but  few,  as  I  have  just  now  said,  to  whom  the 
daily  sacramental  reception  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
under  the  species  of  bread,  may  be  allowed,  all  should  endeavour 
at  least  to  receive  it  in  the  way  that  is  styled  Spiritual  Communion ; 
which,  as  St.  Thomas  defines  it,  consists  in  a  lively  desire  of  par 
taking  of  this  most  Holy  Sacrament.:]:  "  To  eat  spiritually  of  Jesus 
Christ,  concealed  under  the  sacramental  veils,  is  to  believe  in 

*  Hoc  Sacramentum  est  cibus  spiritualis  :  unde  sicut  cibus  corporalis  quo- 
tidie  sumitur,  ita  hoc  Sacramentum  quotidie  sumere,  laudabile  est.  2,  2,  q.  80. 
art.  49,  ad  i. 

t  Laudabile  quidem  'est  interdum  ex  humilitate,  ac  sancto  timore,  seu  re- 
Terentia,  abstinere  a  sacramental!  perceptione  Eucharistias  ;  sed  multo  melius 
est  ex  charitate,  et  divinse  laudis,  bonique  communis  desiderio,  sive  ex  spe 
cial!  devotione,  frequenter  ipsam  sacram  Eucharistiam  accipere.  Monil.  Spir., 
cap.  6,  s.  8. 

%  Dicuntur  baptizari,  et  communicari  spiritualiter,  et  non  sacramentaliter, 
illi,  qui  desiderant  hzec  Sacramenta  jam  instituta  sumere.  3  p.  q.  21,  alias  80, 
an.  i,  ad  3. 


SPIRITUAL  COMMUNION.  405 

Christ  with  earnest  desire  of  receiving  Him  in  this  Sacrament."* 
And  this  is  not  merely  a  spiritual  partaking  of  Christ,  but  a  spiritual 
receiving  of  the  sacrament  itself.  When  such  desires  are  very 
earnest  and  very  fervid,  a  Communion  thus  made  in  spirit  will 
sometimes  be  more  acceptable  to  God,  and  more  profitable,  than 
many  sacramental  Communions  made  lukewarmly ;  and  this  not 
through  any  defect  in  the  sacrament  itself,  but  on  account  of  the 
want  of  fervour  of  the  recipient.  St.  Catharine  of  Siena,  as  we 
read  in  her  life,  was  so  desirous  to  be  united  with  her  Spouse  in 
this  Sacrament,  that  the  ardour  of  her  desire  threw  her  at  times 
into  sweet  ecstasies  ;  and  she  used  to  beg  her  Confessor,  the  Blessed 
Raymond,  to  give  her  Holy  Communion  at  early  dawn,  fearing 
lest  the  intensity  of  her  longings  should  produce  death.  These 
loving  yearnings  of  the  devout  young  virgin  were  so  pleasing  to 
our  Lord,  that  one  day,  while  Blessed  Raymond,  celebrating  Mass, 
was  in  the  act  of  breaking  the  Sacred  Host,  a  particle  of  it  flew 
away  from  his  hand  and  placed  itself  on  the  tongue  of  the  Saint, 
who  was  present  at  the  Sacrifice.  And  in  this  manner  did  our 
Lord  satisfy  the  ardent  desire  of  His  spouse,  t  The  like  also 
befell  a  certain  nun  at  Venice,  who  was  longing  for  Holy  Com 
munion.  J  Not  being  able  to  receive  on  the  feast  of  Corpus 
Christi,  she  sent  word  to  the  great  Patriarch  St.  Lawrence  Justinian 
to  signify  her  desire,  and  to  beg  him  at  least  to  remember  her  at 
the  holy  altar.  While  the  Saint  was  celebrating  in  the  public 
church  before  all  the  people,  this  nun  saw  him  come  into  her 
cell  with  the  adorable  Eucharist,  and  present  to  her  with  his  own 
hands  the  Body  of  the  Lord.  Whether  this  is  to  be  explained  by 
the  bilocation  of  the  Saint,  or  by  his  appearing  within  the  monas 
tery  in  spirit,  cannot  be  affirmed.  Two  points  only  are  certain  \ 
— first,  that  the  Saint  remained  at  the  altar  during  the  whole 
celebration,  and  after  the  elevation  was  seen  to  be  rapt  in 
ecstasy  for  a  long  time;  secondly,  that  when  questioned  as  to 

*  Contingit  spiritualiter  rnanducare  Christum,  prout  est  sub  speciebus  hujus 
sacramenti,  in  quantum  scilicet  aliquis  credit  in  Christum,  cum  desiderio 
sumendi  hoc  sacramentum.  In  corp. 

t  S.  Anton,  3  p.  chron.,  tit.  23,  c.  14,  s.  8. 

J  Ber.  Just.,  In  ejus  Vita,  c.  8. 


406  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  matter,  he  did  not  deny  the  fact,  but  only  imposed  a  rigorous 
silence  on  those  to  whose  knowledge  it  had  come.  I  have  cited 
these  examples  in  order  to  show  how  agreeable  to  Christ  are  these 
spiritual  Communions,  since,  at  times,  He  works  miracles  to  unite 
Himself  really  with  the  souls  of  those  who  have  an  ardent  desire 
for  this  union. 

442.  These  spiritual  Communions  may  be  frequently  repeated, 
even  a  hundred  times  a  day,  and  that  too  with  great  fruit,  as  the 
devout  soul  may  often  cast  itself  in  affection  on  Jesus  in  the 
sacrament,  and  desire  to  receive  Him  and  to  be  engrafted  upon 
His  most  sacred  Body.  The  holy  Martyr  Ignatius,  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  writes  as  follows  : — "  I  desire  not  the  vain  and 
passing  pleasures  of  this  world.  I  yearn  only  for  the  Bread  of 
Heaven,  the  Bread  of  God,  the  Bread  of  Life,  which  is  the  Flesh 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  I  thirst  only  for  the 
Blood  which  is  Love  Incorruptible  and  Life  Everlasting."  *  In 
like  manner  may  a  devout  person  go  through  the  day,  saying,  while 
his  eyes  meet  the  frail  objects  of  this  visible  world,  delightful  and 
enchanting  as  they  are  in  outward  appearance,  "  I  care  not  for  the 
pleasures,  the  riches,  the  beauties,  which  this  world  offers  to  its 
votaries ;  t  my  sole  desire  is  to  receive  my  Saviour,  Who  is  the 
joy  of  the  Angels,  an  inexhaustible  store  of  riches,  the  flower  of 
all  loveliness  :  I  have  no  other  desire  but  to  partake  of  that 
glorified  Body  which  gladdens  Paradise  with  its  brightness,  of 
the  Blood  shed  for  me,  of  the  Soul  breathed  out  for  me  on  the 
Cross,  of  the  Godhead  which  is  the  well-spring  of  every  blessing. 
As  St.  Bernard  says,  '  Let  my  meat  be  Jesus,  and  let  me  be  His 
meat.'  J  For  He  yearns  to  become  one  body  with  me  in  this 
most  Holy  Sacrament,  and  I  with  Him."  Such  desires  will  enable 
us  continually  to  make  our  spiritual  Communions  again  and  again ; 
and  they  will  be  the  more  perfect  and  profitable  as  the  fervour  of 
our  longings  for  Jesus  in  this  sacrament  increases. 

*  Non  voluptates  hujus  mundi  desidero  ;  sed  panem  Dei,  panem  ccelestem, 
panem  vitae,  qui  est  caro  Jesu  Christ!  Filii  Dei  vivi ;  et  potum  volo  sanguinem 
ejus,  qui  est  dilectio  incorruptibilis,  et  vita  geterna. 

t  Non  voluptates  hujus  mundi  desidero,  sed  panem  Dji,  panem  coelestcm, 
panem  vitne. 

£  Cibus  meus  Christus  est,  et  ego  ejus.     Serm.  71  in  Cant. 


SPIRITUAL  COMMUNION.  4O? 

443-    It   is,    however,   advisable   to  make  the  spiritual  Com 
inimion  once  in  each  day,  at  leisure,  without  hurry,  and  with  special 
preparation;  in  order  that,  being  made  with  greater  devotion  and 
fruit,  it  may  to  a  certain  extent  compensate  for  the  want  of  sacra 
mental  Communion.     Now,  no  time  can  be  better  suited  for  this 
purpose  than  while  we  are  hearing  Mass;   for  then  we  can  unite 
ourselves  with  the  person  of  the  Priest,  that  we  may  thus  receive  in 
desire  the  Divine  Food  which  he  is  receiving  in  reality.    We  should, 
then,  begin  with  an  act  of  contrition,  and  thus  cleanse  the  chamber 
of  our  hearts,  where,  as  we  hope,  our  dear  Lord  is  about  to  take  His 
rest     Next,  we  should  renew  our  faith   in  the  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  this  all-holy  sacrament.     Then  we  come  (as  was  said 
above  in  treating  of  preparation  for  sacramental  Communion)  to 
the  consideration  of  the  greatness  and  majesty  of  Him  who  lies 
concealed  under  the  veil  of  the  accidents  :  we  ponder  the  love, 
the  unspeakable  goodness  which  disdains  not,  but  ever  yearns,  to 
be  united  with  us;  and  we  cast  an  eye  upon  our  own  misery  and  vile- 
ness.  Hence  will  flow  mingled  sentiments  of  humility  and  desire: 

of  humility,  at  the  sense  of  our  own  vileness ;  of  desire,  in  behold 
ing  the  infinite  loveliness  of  our  Lord.  Next,  as  this  morning  we 
are  hindered  from  uniting  ourselves  really  with  Him  by  means  of 
sacramental  Communion,  we  abandon  ourselves  in  heart  to  Him, 
and  link  ourselves  to  Him  with  the  bonds  of  a  calm  and  tranquil 
love.  Lastly,  we  break  out  into  affections  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise  :  for  though  Christ  has  not  entered  bodily  within  our  heart, 
yet  the  hindrance  was  not  on  His  side.  He  for  His  part  was  ready, 
and  even  longed  intensely,  for  this  loving  union.  We  next  beg 
the  grace  of  which  we  feel  ourselves  to  have  need,  and  go  through 
the  other  acts  which  are  usual  after  Communion.  In  addition  to 
the  immediate  benefits  which  we  are  sure  to  gain  on  the  spot 
from  such  spiritual  Communions,  this  further  advantage  will  re 
sult,  that  we  shall  be  better  prepared  to  be  inflamed  with  devotion 
whenever  occasion  offers  of  approaching  the  Eucharistic  Table, 
to  feed  in  reality  on  the  Redeemer's  Body  and  Blood.  For 
even  as  a  log  of  wood  kept  constantly  in  a  heated  atmosphere, 
is  always  ready  to  be  kindled  when  fire  is  applied ;  so,  too,  a 
heart  which  keeps  up  the  ardour  of  its  love  for  Jesus  in  the 


408  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

Eucharist,  is  always  ready  to  burst  forth  into  flames  of  charity  on 
drawing  nigh  to  that  furnace  of  love  which  is  ever  burning  in  this, 
most  Holy  Sacrament. 

444.  I  will  here  subjoin  a  narrative  which  will  serve  to  show- 
how  acceptable  to  our  Lord  are  these  spiritual  Communions,  and 
will  also  indicate  how  we  should  dispose  ourselves  for  them,  so- 
that  they  may  be  more  pleasing  to  Him.  Father  Master  John 
Nider,  of  the  venerable  Order  of  Preachers,  relates*  that  in  the: 
city  of  Nuremberg  there  was  a  man  of  low  condition  but 
blameless  life,  of  single-hearted  character,  with  pious  inclinations; 
and  habits  of  meditation  on  the  sufferings  of  our  Lord,  and  fami 
liar  with  works  of  charity  and  mortification  of  his  body.  He  felt 
an  ardent  longing  for  Holy  Communion  ;  but  as  in  his  town  it  was, 
not  usual  for  men  to  frequent  the  sacraments,  he  kept  back  from, 
the  Holy  Table  in  order  not  to  be  singular  and  to  avoid  general 
notice.  Being  meanwhile  fully  aware  that  God  accepts  not  only- 
our  good  deeds,  but  also  our  good  will,  he  sought  to  make  up  for 
sacramental  Communion,  by  the  spiritual  practice  of  holy  desires*. 
As  the  day  upon  which  he  wished  to  receive  came  near,  he  pre 
pared  himself  beforehand  by  fasting.  He  spent  the  morning  in 
holy  meditations,  and  in  the  course  of  his  prayer  became  inflamed, 
with  desire  of  this  Heavenly  Banquet ;  he  cleansed  his  conscience 
by  an  exact  Confession  of  his  minutest  failings ;  and  lastly,  hear 
ing  Mass,  he  united  himself  so  firmly  with  the  Priest,  that  at 
the  moment  of  the  Communion,  just  as  though  he  were  himself 
about  to  communicate,  he  bowed  down  his  head,  struck  his  breast,. 
and  opened  his  mouth,  as  if  to  receive  the  sacred  particle. 
What  is  truly  wondrous,  as  he  opened  his  mouth,  he  felt  the 
sacred  Host  placed  on  his  tongue,  and  at  the  same  time  an  un 
speakable  sweetness  filled  his  whole  soul.  Thus  did  God  reward 
the  lively  faith,  and  satisfy  the  holy  cravings,  of  His  faithful  ser 
vant.  One  morning,  however,  not  trusting  his  own  feelings,  the 
good  man  put  his  finger  into  his  mouth  in  order  to  prove,  by  the 
touch  of  his  hand,  the  reality  of  what  he  had  so  often  felt  both* 
with  his  tongue,  and  with  the  inward  delight  of  his  soul ;  and  the 
sacred  particle  remained  attached  to  the  finger.  Thus  still  more. 

*  In  Formic.,  lib.  I. 


DEVOTlOh    TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN.  409 

certified  of  the  truth,  he  reverently  replaced  and  devoutly  con 
sumed  it.  This  act,  however,  so  unbecoming  in  a  layman,  and 
the  want  of  faith  which  he  had  shown  by  it,  being  displeasing  to 
God,  our  Lord  did  not  again  come  to  visit  him,  as  He  had  pre 
viously  done  with  such  marvellous  condescension  ;  although  there 
was  no  lessening  of  reverence  and  devotion  for  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  although  the  person  continued  to  persevere  con 
stantly  in  the  same  holy  life.  Our  readers  may  learn  by  instances 
such  as  these,  the  esteem  in  which  spiritual  Communion  should  be 
held,  and  to  prepare  themselves  carefully  for  it  at  least  once  a  day ; 
so  that  they  may  make  this  exercise  in  a  manner  at  once  more 
acceptable  to  our  Lord  and  more  profitable  to  themselves.  Direc 
tors,  too,  may  be  urged  to  teach  this  method  to  their  penitents, 
and  to  satisfy  by  this  means  the  cravings  of  those  who  would  wish 
to  approach  the  Holy  Table  more  frequently  than  is  expedient. 


ARTICLE  XI. 

Tenth   means  of  attaining  Christian  Perfection. — Devotion  to  the 
Saints,  and  especially  to  the  Blessed  Virgin. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  A  MOST  EFFICACIOUS  MEANS, 
AND,  MORALLY  SPEAKING,  NECESSARY,  FOR  THE  ATTAIN 
MENT  OF  ETERNAL  SALVATION  EVEN  IN  ITS  LOWEST  DEGREE. 

445.  WHAT  will  be  said  of  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in 
this  Article,  will,  in  its  measure,  apply  to  devotion  to  the  other 
saints,  and  serve  to  promote  it ;  for,  although  the  saints  cannot 
prevail  so  much  on  our  behalf  with  our  Lord  as  His  own  Mother, 
they  still  possess  a  great  influence  with  Him,  in  proportion  to 
their  dignity  and  merits.  Concerning  this  devotion  we  may 


410  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

venture  to  assert,  that  it  is  a  means  most  efficacious,  and,  in  the 
usual  course  of  things,  even  necessary,  not  only  for  attaining 
salvation  by  a  Christian  life,  but  still  more  for  making  great  pro 
gress  in  the  perfection  of  a  Christian.  Because,  the  self-same 
reasons  which  holy  writers  adduce  to  show  that  devotion  to  the 
Queen  of  Heaven  is  an  efficacious  means  to  gain  eternal  salva 
tion,  also  prove  clearly  that  this  devotion  is  a  most  powerful 
instrument  for  securing  salvation  in  its  perfection ;  that  is  to  say, 
for  obtaining  a  great  increase  of  grace  and  of  charity,  and  a  high 
degree  of  glory  in  Heaven.  The  present  Chapter  will  be  occu 
pied  with  the  consideration  of  Devotion  to  Mary  as  an  effectual 
means  of  obtaining  life  everlasting  in  itself.  In  the  following 
Chapters  we  shall  show  its  efficacy  as  a  means  of  reaching  eternal 
life  .in  its  perfection,  which  is  the  main  object  of  the  present  work. 
446.  It  is  the  general  opinion  of  holy  Doctors  that  devo 
tion  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  a  special  drawing  to  her,  are 
a  clear  sign  and  mark  of  predestination  to  glory,  with  which  those 
are  sealed  who  are  one  day  to  enter  into  possession  of  ever 
lasting  bliss.  It  is  to  be  compared  to  the  seal  with  which  the 
Angels  sealed  the  foreheads  of  the  elect,  according  to  the  vision 
granted  to  St.  John  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos.*  I  do  not  say  that 
the  predestination  of  such  as  make  profession  of  devotion  to  our 
Lady  precisely  consists  in  this  devotion ;  I  say  only,  that  it  is  a 
mark  or  token  which  indicates  this  predestination,  and  usually 
accompanies  it,  according  to  the  remark  of  St.  Bonaventure : 
41  Whoever  wins  Mary's  favour  by  means  of  a  genuine  devotion  to 
her  shall  be  recognised  amidst  the  hosts  of  the  heavenly  citizens."t 
But  this  mark  of  devotion,  he  continues,  "will  cause  him  who 
bears  it  to  be  enrolled  in  the  book  of  life."  In  this  sense  is  such 
•devotion  a  mark  of  predestination,  that  it  leads  to  it,  and  it 
usually  goes  along  with  it. 

*  Ecce  ego  Joannes  vidi  alterum  angelum  ascendentem  ab  ortu  soils,  ha- 
foentem  signum  Dei  vivi,  et  clamavit  voce  magna  quatuor  angelis,  quibus 
datum  est  nocere  terrse  et  mari,  dicens  :  Nolite  nocere  terrae  et  mari,  neque 
arboribus,  quoadusque  signemus  servos  Dei  nostri  in  frontibus  eorum.  Apoc. 
vij.  i. 

t  Qui  acquirunt  gratiam  Marias,  cognoscuntur  a  civibus  paradisi ;  et  qui 
liabuerit  hunc  characterem,  adnotabitur  in  libro  vitse.  In  Psalterio. 


DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED   VIRGIN.  4II 

447-  It  would  seem  that  the  Holy  Ghost  Himself  invites  us  to 
embrace  this  belief,  by  those  words  which  are  applied  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  not  only  by  Commentators,  but  even  by  Holy 
Church  herself  on  her  greater  solemnities.  "  He  who  finds  me 
by  means  of  sincere  devotion  to  me,"  are  the  words  put  into  the 
mouth  of  our  Lady,  "  finds  not  gold  nor  perishable  diamonds,  but 
rather  an  inestimable  treasure  ;"*  finds  the  glory  of  paradise,  which 
is  an  immortal  delight,  as  Cornelius  a  Lapide  explains  it.t  To 
Mary,  rather  than  to  Eve,  is  due  the  title  of  Mother  of  the  Living, 
says  St.  Anastasius ;  for  if  to  our  first  luckless  Mother  so  great  a 
name  was  given,  for  having  imparted  to  us  a  mortal  life,  much 
more  should  this  illustrious  title  be  given  to  Mary,  the  Second  Eve, 
and  our  most  happy  Mother  who  obtains  for  those  devoted  to 
her  the  life  of  grace  and  of  glory,  and  is  to  them  an  assured 
pledge  of  predestination  to  everlasting  bliss.} 

448.  From  this  sublime  function,  which  belongs  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  of  procuring  to  such  as  honour  her  with  filial  affection 
the  life  of  grace  and  of  glory,  the  holy  Doctors  infer  the  follow 
ing  consequences,  which  are  most  consoling  for  such  as  are 
truly  devout  to  her.  St.  Anselm,  quoted  by  St  Bonaventurei 
after  saying  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  be  saved 
from  whom  Mary  averts  her  face,  as  being  destitute  of  devo 
tion  to  her,  goes  on  to  assure  us  that  it  is  likewise  impossible 
for  any  one  to  be  lost  who  lives  under  her  protection,  and  is 
regarded  by  her  with  a  favourable  eye.§  This  assertion  of 
the  saintly  Doctor  may  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison  drawn 
from  St.  Epiphanius,  which  is  applicable  to  our  purpose.  ||  The 
Saint  mentions  a  certain  bird,  called  the  "  Caradin,"  which,  when 
in  presence  of  a  man  sick  unto  death,  turns  aside  its  head  and 

*  Qui  me  invenerit,  inveniet  vitam,  et  hauriet  salutem  a  Domino.  Prov. 
viii.  55- 

t  Qui  me  invenerit,  inveniet  viiam :  hoc  est,  inveniet  vitam  gratia?  et  glorise 

J  Beata  Virgo,  nova  Eva,  Mater  Vitas  appellata,  permanet  ad  primitias  vitze 
immortalis  omnium  viventium.  Serin,  de  Deipara. 

§  Sicut,  O  beatissima  Virgo,  omnis  a  te  aversus,  et  a  te  despectus,  necesse 
est  ut  intereat  :  ita  omnis  ad  te  conversus,  et  a  te  respectus,  impossibile  estut 
l??reat.  In  Specul.,  c.  3. 

(I   Physiologor.,  cap.  25. 


412  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

looks  away  from  him ;  while,  if  the  patient  be  in  a  fair  way  of 
recovery,  the  bird  fixes  its  eyes  complacently  upon  him.  Thus 
a  look  from  this  animal  is  a  presage  of  life  to  the  sick  person, 
while,  if  the  look  be  refused,  it  is  an  omen  of  impending  death. 
Whether  or  not  any  such  bird  exists,  certain  it  is,  as  St.  Anselm  says, 
that  it  is  the  property  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  give  life  to  those 
on  whom  she  looks  with  a  favourable  eye,  and  to  foreshow  the 
eternal  doom  of  those  from  whom  she  withdraws  her  loving  gaze. 
Nor  is  St.  Anselm  alone  in  thus  declaring  to  Mary's  devout 
clients  their  singular  good  fortune,  or  in  foretelling  the  dire  lot 
of  those  who  neglect  her  service.  Other  saints  are  of  the  same 
mind,  especially  St.  Antoninus,  who  states  as  much  in  the  self 
same  words.*  And  thus  we  may  gather  from  his  lips  an  awful 
denunciation  of  the  woes  awaiting  such  as  are  not  devout  to  Mary, 
from  whom  she  averts  her  kindly  gaze,  and  further,  we  may  gather 
an  assurance  of  glory  for  her  devout  servants,  on  whom  she  casts 
her  eyes  beaming  with  tenderness. 

449.  Nor  should  the  reader  look  upon  these  sayings  of  the 
saints  as  mere  pious  exaggerations,  and  unreal  hyperboles;  they 
were  uttered  with  calm  consideration,  and  a  solid  conviction  of' 
their  truth.  For  the  propositions  set  forth  above,  if  rightly  under 
stood,  are  strictly  true ;  as  shown  by  Mendoza.t  Not  that  they 
are  to  be  taken  as  meaning  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  will  save  by 
her  protection  those  slothful  and  base  souls  who  refuse  to  be  at  the 
pains  of  working  out  their  own  salvation.  For  it  is  plain  that,  as  a 
ship,  with  favourable  winds  driving  it  into  the  haven  for  which  it 
is  destined,  may  possibly  not  avail  itself  of  them,  and  may  be 
dashed  on  the  rocks,  or  be  grounded  on  quicksands,  or  be  sunk 
through  the  violence  of  the  storm ;  so  too  may  any  one  turn  to  an 
evil  use  the  favours  he  receives  at  the  hands  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and,  despite  her  protection,  suffer  shipwreck  in  an  ocean  of  flames. 
What  the  saints  mean  is  only  this:  that  the  Blessed  Virgin 
obtains  efficacious  help  for  such  as  are  devout  to  her,  by  means  of 

*  Sicut  impossible  est,  quod  illi  a  quibus  Maria  oculos  suse  misericordiae 
avertit,  salventur,  ita  necessartum  est,  ut  hi,  ad  quos  convertit  oculos  pro  eis 
advocans,  glorificentur.  4  part.,  tit.  15,  cap.  14,  s.  7. 

•J-  Lib.  ij.,  Virid.  Frivil. 


DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN.  413 

which  they  do  in  fact  remain  in  grace,  or  speedily  recover  it  when 
lost,  and  at  length  die  in  this  happy  state ;  so  that  by  her  favour 
they  prosperously  reach  the  haven  of  everlasting  bliss.  The 
saints,  therefore,  presuppose  a  constant  co-operation  with  divine 
grace,  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  obtains  for  her  clients  the  strength  to 
correspond ;  on  this  it  is  that  they  ground  the  asserted  impossibility 
of  those  losing  their  souls  who  are  devout  to  her ;  this  is  why  they 
regard  devotion  to  Mary  as  an  assured  pledge  of  salvation,  an 
unmistakable  token  of  predestination  in  all  who  abide  under  the 
mantle  of  her  most  faithful  protection. 

450.  This  view  receives  a  striking  confirmation  from  a  vision 
vouchsafed  to  Brother  Leo,  a  familiar  companion  of  St.  Francis ;  as 
may  be  read  in  the  chronicles  of  the  Friars  Minor.*  The  Servant 
of  God  beheld  himself  placed,  all  of  a  sudden,  in  the  middle  of  a 
vast  plain,  in  which  there  was  what  had  the  semblance  of  the 
Judgment  to  be  held  at  that  very  time  and  place.  Angels  were 
flying  to  and  fro,  sounding  their  trumpets,  and  gathering  together 
countless  multitudes  of  people.  On  this  vast  field  were  to  be  seen 
two  high  ladders,  the  one  white,  the  other  red,  which  reached 
from  earth  to  the  skies.  At  the  top  of  the  red  ladder  stood  Jesus 
Christ,  with  a  countenance  full  of  wrath  and  of  just  indignation.  On 
one  of  the  steps,  somewhat  lower,  stood  the  holy  patriarch  Francis, 
who  cried  aloud,  turning  to  his  brethren  assembled  in  great  num 
bers  on  the  plain  below,  "  Come  hither,  brethren ;  come  without 
fear;  hasten  to  Christ  who  is  calling  you;  have  faith,  and  fear 
not."t  Encouraged  by  these  words  of  their  holy  Father,  the 
Religious  crowded  round  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and  began  to 
mount.  But  lo  !  some  reached  the  third  step,  and  others  the 
tenth;  some  advanced  to  the  middle;  but  all  sooner  or  later 
lost  their  footing,  and  fell  wretchedly  to  the  ground.  St.  Francis, 
beholding  so  deplorable  a  fall,  turned  to  our  Lord,  and  earnestly 
besought  Him  to  grant  salvation  to  his  children.  But  the  Re 
deemer,  showing  Himself  inclined  rather  to  justice  than  to  mercy, 
yielded  not  to  the  prayers  of  the  Saint.  Then  the  holy  Patriarch 

*  Lib.  vj.  cap.  17. 

t  Venite,  fratres,  venite  :  ascendite  ad  Dommum,  qui  vocat  vos  :  con    ite, 

iie  timeatis :  venite. 


4I4  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

went  down  a  few  steps,  and  drawing  nigh  to  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder,  began  to  say,  with  great  fervour,  "  Do  not  despair,  brethren 
of  mine ;  run  to  the  white  ladder,  and  mount  it  with  great  cour 
age;  fear  not,  by  it  you  will  enter  into  Paradise."  Whilst  he  was 
thus  speaking,  the  Blessed  Virgin  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  white 
ladder,  crowned  with  glory,  and  beaming  wich  gentleness ;  and 
the  Friars,  mounting  the  ladder,  by  favour  of  Mary  made  their  way, 
and  all  happily  entered  into  the  glories  of  Paradise.  We  may  learn 
from  this  how  true  was  the  sentiment  of  St.  Ignatius  the  Martyr, 
that  the  mercy  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  saves  those  whom 
God's  justice  does  not  save  ;*  and  that  hence  there  is  no  more 
efficacious  means  than  that  of  devotion  to  her  for  attaining  to 
everlasting  bliss. 


CHAPTER    II. 

REASONS  ACCOUNTING  FOR  THE  EFFICACY  ASCRIBED  BY  THE  SAINTS 
TO    DEVOTION    TO   THE    BLESSED    VIRGIN. 

451.  WE  have  now  to  go  back  to  the  well-spring  of  that  inex 
haustible  outpouring  of  grace  by  which  the  Blessed  Virgin  ensures 
the  salvation  of  such  as  are  truly  devoted  to  her ;  so  that  the  reader 
may  be  convinced  that  it  is  not  without  grounds  that  the  saints 
have  attributed  such  efficacy  to  devotion  to  our  Lady.  To  this 
end,  we  will  begin  by  laying  down  the  two  following  principles, 
which  are  no  less  certain  than  important  to  be  known : — 
First,  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  can  obtain  from  God  every  grace 
that  concerns  our  everlasting  welfare  :  Secondly,  that  she  is  in 
very  deed  willing  to  exercise  this  power  on  behalf  of  her  devout 
clients.  Once  we  have  proved  these  two  points,  no  doubt  can 
possibly  remain  but  that  devotion  to  God's  most  Holy  Mother  is 
a  most  effectual  means  of  salvation,  and  may  be  likened  to  that 
favourable  wind  which  wafts  our  bark  into  the  haven  of  never- 
ending  delights.  We  will  begin  by  the  first  mentioned. 

452.  St.  Bernard  teaches  that  Christ,  out  of  the  singular  rever- 

*  Quos  non  salvat  Dei  justitia,  sal  vat  sua  intercessione  Maries  misericordia. 


GROUNDS  OF  DE VO TIQN  TO  MA RY.  415 

ence  and  respect  which  He  professes  for  His  Mother,  can  deny  her 
no  grace,  but  is  most  ready  to  hear  her,  whatever  petition  she 
makes  on  behalf  of  us,  or  of  any  person  in  the  world.*  This  is  the 
difference  which  exists  between  the  patronage  of  the  saints  and 
that  of  their  Queen  j  their  prayers  are  grounded  only  on  their 
trust  in  the  mercy  and  loving-kindness  of  God,  Who  has  the 
greatest  inclination  to  show  them  favour,  while  her  prayers  are 
further  based  on  a  sort  of  right  which  she  has  in  herself  to  obtain 
what  she  asks  ;  for  being  Mother  of  God,  she  may,  in  a  manner, 
by  virtue  of  the  claims  which  we  may  consider  her  to  have  upon 
her  Divine  Son,  obtain  whatever  she  demands  in  favour  of  her 
devout  clients.  This  is  the  precise  teaching  of  St.  Antoninus. t 
The  other  saints,  says  St.  Peter  Damian,  prostrate  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  being  no  more  than  servants,  ask  suppliantly  whatever  they 
desire  for  our  advantage  ;  but  the  Blessed  Virgin  presents  herself 
before  the  throne  of  Christ  as  His  own  Mother,  not  as  a  handmaid, 
and  she  may,  so  to  speak,  command  Him  as  having  authority.  \  St. 
Antoninus,  whom  we  have  just  now  quoted,  adds,  that  Christ  can 
not  do  less  than  hearken  to  His  Mother,  not  only  on  account  of 
the  reverence  due  to  her  from  Him,  but,  moreover,  because  He 
has  pledged  His  word  to  her — having,  in  the  person  of  Solomon, 
said,  Ask)  Mother,  whatsoever  thou  desirest,  for  I  must  not  reject 
thy  petition.^ 

453.  To  these  authorities  from  the  writings  of  the  saints,  may  be 
added  an  authentic  revelation  of  St.  Bridget,  which  bears  witness 
to  the  solidity  of  this  teaching.  ||  This  holy  woman  had  a  son  of 
the  name  of  Charles,  boyish  alike  in  years  and  disposition.  Having 

*  Exaudita  est  pro  sua  reverentia  in  caustl  tua,  et  totius  generis  humani. 
Serm.  3  in  Vigil.  Nativ. 

t  Oratio  Sanctorum  non  innititur  alicui  rei  ex  parte  sui,  sed  tantum  miseri- 
cordue  ex  parte  Dei.  Oratio  autem  Virginis  innititur  gratiae  Dei  jure  natu- 
rali,  et  justitise  evangeiii.  Nam  films  non  tantum  tenetur  honorare  matrem, 
sed  obedire,  quod  est  dejure  naturae.  4  part.,  tit.  17,  s.  5. 

%  Accedit  ad  aureum  reconciliations  altare  non  rogans,  sed  imperans ;  do- 
mina,  non  ancilla.  Serm.  35  De  Nativit. 

§  Impossibile  est  Deiparam  non  exaudiri,  juxta  illud,  quod  in  figurS,  ejus 
dixit  Salomon  matri  suse  :  Pete,  mater  mea :  neque  enim  fas  est,  ut  avertam 
faciem  tiiam.  Ubi  supra. 

|{  Apud  Joan.  Osor.,  Tom  iv.  Concion. 


416  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

in  the  flower  of  his  youth  adopted  the  military  profession,  he 
soon  met  his  death  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  Saint,  reflecting 
on  the  dangerous  time  of  life  in  which  her  son  had  died,  the  occa 
sion,  the  place,  the  time,  and  other  circumstances  of  his  death, 
was  filled  with  fear  and  great  anxiety  about  his  eternal  lot.  But 
God,  Who  loved  her  tenderly,  delayed  not  to  comfort  her  by  the 
following  vision  : — She  was  led  in  spirit  to  the  judgment-seat  of 
the  Eternal  Judge,  where  she  beheld,  seated  on  a  lofty  throne,  the 
Saviour  Himself,  with  the  Blessed  Virgin,  as  Mother  and  Queen, 
at  His  side.  No  sooner  had  she  appeared  before  the  divine 
tribunal,  than  Satan  came  forward,  and,  with  a  troubled  and 
disappointed  air,  began  boldly  to  speak  as  follows  : — "  Thou,  O 
Judge,  art  so  righteous  in  Thy  decrees,  that  I  trust  I  shall 
obtain  the  whole  of  what  I  ask ;  even  though  I  be  Thine  enemy, 
and  though  Thy  Mother  plead  against  me.  Thy  Mother  wronged 
me  in  two  points  on  occasion  of  the  death  of  Charles.  The  first 
is  this.  On  the  last  day  of  the  life  of  the  young  man,  she  entered 
his  chamber  and  remained  there  until  he  expired,  driving  me 
away,  and  keeping  me  far  off,  so  that  I  was  unable  to  approach 
the  bed,  and  ply  him  with  my  temptations.  This  was  a  manifest 
injustice,  for  I  have  received  a  grant  of  the  right  to  tempt  men, 
•especially  in  their  last  moments,  on  which  depends  the  loss  or 
gain  of  the  souls  which  I  so  much  long  to  make  my  own.  Give 
orders,  then,  O  just  Judge,  that  his  soul  return  to  his  body,  that 
I  may  have  yet  an  opportunity  of  doing  what  I  can,  and  of  tempt 
ing  him  at  least  for  the  space  of  one  day  before  he  die.  If  he  resist 
courageously,  let  him  go  free ;  if  he  yield  to  my  efforts,  he  must 
remain  under  my  power.  The  other  wrong  which  I  have  suffered 
from  Thy  Mother  is,  that  when  the  Soul  of  Charles  had  quitted 
the  body,  she  took  it  in  her  arms,  and  herself  brought  it  before 
Thy  Tribunal;  nor  would  she  allow  me  to  enter  and  lay  my 
charges  before  Thee,  although  it  is  my  office  to  prove  the  guilt  ot 
departed  souls.  The  judgment  pronounced  was,  therefore,  in 
valid,  for  one  of  the  parties  remained  unheard ;  and  this  is  against 
.all  the  laws  of  God,  and  even  of  men."  The  blessed  Virgin 
made  reply  to  this  complaint,  that  although  Satan  be  the  Father 
of  Lies,  yet  on  this  occasion,  speaking  in  presence  of  the  everlasting 


GROUNDS  OF  DEVOTION  TO  MARY.  417 

Truth,  he  had  stated  what  was  correct ;  but  that  she  had  shown 
extraordinary  favour  to  the  soul  of  Charles  because  he  had  loved 
her  tenderly,  and  had  every  day  recommended  himself  to  her 
protection ;  because,  too,  he  had  always  rejoiced  when  he  thought 
of  her  greatness,  and  had  ever  been  most  ready  to  give  his  life  for 
her  honour. 

454.  In  the  end,  the  Divine  Judge  pronounced  sentence  as 
follows  :— "  The  Blessed  Virgin  rules  in  My  Kingdom,  not  as  the 
other  saints,  but  as  My  Mother,  as  Queen  and  Mistress;  and 
hence  to  her  it  is  granted  to  dispense  with  general  laws  as  often  as 
there  is  a  just  cause.  There  was  a  most  just  reason  for  dispensing 
with  the  soul  of  Charles,  for  it  was  right  that  one  who  had  in  his 
lifetime  so  honoured  and  loved  her  should  be  honoured  and 
favoured  at  his  death."  Saying  this,  He  imposed  on  the  demon  a 
perpetual  silence  as  to  this  case.  *  From  this  St.  Bridget  under 
stood  that  her  son  had  attained  the  bliss  of  Paradise;  and  the 
reader,  too,  may  learn  what  good  grounds  the  saints  have  for 
acknowledging  in  the  Virgin  a  peculiar  privilege  which  is  not 
shared  by  the  other  saints,  and  for  regarding  it  as  infallibly  certain 
that  she  will  receive  from  her  Son  every  grace  which  she  asks  of 
Him  on  our  behalf,  especially  in  all  that  concerns  our  salvation. 

455.  But  if  our  Blessed  Lady  be  thus  able  to  obtain  all  things 
from  her  Divine  Son,  who  can  call  in  doubt  that  she  will  employ  this 
great  privilege  for  the  spiritual  advantage  of  such  as  are  devout  to 
her?  She  loves  them  with  a  mother's  tenderness.  She  stood 
by  and  beheld  her  Son  suffering,  racked  with  anguish,  and  breath 
ing  out  His  soul  for  our  salvation.  She  saw  Him  bathed  in  His 
own  gore,  at  the  pillar  where  He  was  scourged;  she  saw  Him 
shed  that  blood  to  the  last  drop,  on  the  Cross  to  which  He  was 
so  cruelly  nailed.  She  beheld  Him  torn  with  scourges  for  our 
salvation,  crowned  with  thorns,  and  bleeding  away  His  life  on 
,  Calvary.  Think,  then,  how  dear  to  her  our  souls  must  be ;  how 

*  Mater  mea  in  regno  meo  principatur,  non  ut  electi,  sed  tamquam  Mater, 
Regina,  et  Domina  :  et  proinde  potest  dtspensare  in  legibus  a  me  latis,  cum 
justa  intercesserit  causa.  Justissima  vero  fuit  causa,  ut  cum  anima  Caroli  dispen- 
saret.  Sic  enim  honorandus  erat,  qui  matrem  meam  tanto  dilexisset  affectu, 
et  e&  erat  morte  donandus.  Quare  super  hac  caus4  perpetuum  silentium 
dcemoni  indicium  est. 

VOL.  I.  27 


4i8  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

she  must  yearn  for  the  salvation  of  those  for  whom  her  beloved 
and  only-begotten  Son  laid  down  His  life;  and  especially,  with 
what  tenderness  she  must  cherish  the  souls  of  such  as  devoutly 
honour  her,  place  their  trust  in  her,  put  no  hindrance  in  the  way  of 
her  intercession,  but,  with  fervent  prayers,  beseech  her  to  secure 
for  them,  at  the  hands  of  her  Divine  Son,  that  which  she  herself 
so  earnestly  desires.  Think  how  her  heart  must  melt  when  she 
beholds  them  in  supplication  at  her  feet.  Can  she  refuse  to 
exert  her  immense  influence  on  their  behalf?  To  question  this 
would  be  to  do  a  grievous  wrong  to  her  most  loving  heart. 
Hence,  as  is  well  said  to  us  by  that  wise  writer  who  goes  under 
the  name  of  Idiota,  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  not  only  able  to  help, 
but  she  does  in  very  deed  help  in  this  mortal  life  all  who  are 
devout  to  her,  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good ;  provided  only  that 
they  have  the  will  to  amend  their  lives,  and  to  become  good. 
The  good  she  helps  by  maintaining  them  in  grace ;  the  bad  by 
mercifully  leading  them  back  to  grace.  She  assists  both  at  the 
hour  of  death,  by  protecting  them  from  the  deceits  and  snares  of 
their  hellish  foes.  She  aids  both  good  and  bad,  after  death,  by 
receiving  their  souls  into  the  heavenly  country.*  All  which  the 
author  whom  we  are  quoting  proves  by  these  words  of  Holy 
Church  :  "  Mary,  Mother  of  Grace,  Mother  of  Mercy,  do  thou 
defend  us  from  our  foes,  and  receive  us  at  the  hour  of  death." 
And  certainly  these  words  bear  out  the  above  doctrine. 

456.  The  Blessed  Virgin  has  at  times  been  pleased  to  show 
forth,  as  in  a  picture,  the  efficacy  of  her  pleadings  in  the  heavenly 
court  on  behalf  of  such  as  are  devout  to  her,  in  order  to  convince 
us  that  she  does  not  allow  this  sublime  prerogative  to  lie  idle, 
but  makes  use  of  it  for  the  advantage  of  those  who  honour  her. 
This  may  be  seen  in  the  case  of  the  young  nobleman  mentioned 
by  Caesarius.t  This  unhappy  youth,  after  the  death  of  his 

*  Adjuvat  in  vit&  present!  tarn  bonos,  quam  males':  bonos  in  gratia  conser- 
vando,  unde  canimus  :  "  Maria  mater  gratise  ;  "  malos  ad  misericordiam  redu- 
cendo,  et  ideo  dicitur :  "Mater  misericordiae."  Adjuvat  etiam  in  morte  ab 
insidiis  diaboli  protegendo  ;  et  ideo  dicitur  :  "  Tu  nos  abhoste  protege."  Ad 
juvat  etiam  post  mortem,  animas  cuscipiendo ;  et  ideo  dicitur :  "  Et  hora  mortis 
suscipe."  In  Contemp.  Virg. 

t  Lib.  ij.  Miracul.,  cap.  12. 


GROUNDS  OF  DEVOTION  TO  MARY.  4ig 

father,  not  content  with  wasting  his  goods  over  theatrical  repre 
sentations,  tournaments,  and  debauchery  of  every  kind,  went  on 
to  part  with  his  estates,  which  he  disposed  of  to  a  wealthy  officer 
who  lived  near  him ;  and  thus  he  was  soon  reduced  to  the  direst 
need.     Having  no  means  to  support  life  and  to  procure  common 
necessaries,  he  determined,  at  the  instigation  of  a  wicked  servant, 
to  have  recourse  to  the  devil,  in  order  by  this  means  to  regain  the 
possession  of  his  former  property.     The  devil  being  invoked  by 
the  wicked  domestic,  delayed  not  to  make  his  appearance ;  he 
promised  everything,  but  on  condition  that  the  wretched  youth 
should  deny  God.     Hearing  these  words,  the  young  man  trembled 
and   started   back  with  horror;   but  the  persuasion  of  his  de 
praved  menial  induced  him  to  pronounce  the  words   of  blas 
phemy.     "  Now,"  continued  the  demon,  "  you  have  denied  God  ; 
but  you  must  go  on  to  deny  the  great  Mother  of  God."     "  Oh, 
not  that,"  replied  the  nobleman;  I  will  never  do  that,  never; 
rather  would  I  beg  from  door  to  door,  feed  on  wild  roots,  or 
die  of  starvation,  than  consent  to  renounce  my  great  advocate, 
my  dear  Mother."     Indignant  at  such  a  reply,  the  devil  took  to 
flight,  and  the  two  poor  wretches  left  the  wood  where  this  hellish 
bargaining  had  been  carried  on,  without  having  obtained  their 
desire.     At  the  first  dawn  of  day  they  chanced   to  pass  by  a 
church,  the  door  of  which  had  been  carelessly  left  open.     The 
young  man  dismounted,  and  leaving  his  horse  in  charge  of  the 
servant,  went  to  the  high  altar,  where  there  stood  an  image  of  our 
Lady  with  her  Divine  Infant  in  her  arms.     There,  reflecting  on 
the  wickedness  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  he  began  to  weep  so 
bitterly  that  the  whole  church  re-echoed  with  his  sobs  and  cries. 
And  as  he  feared  to  call  upon  the  majesty  of  God,  Whom  he  had 
so   grievously  offended,  he   besought,  with    scalding  tears,  the 
Blessed  Virgin  to  plead  on  his  behalf.     While  he  was  thus  recom 
mending  himself,  he  beheld  the  Mother  of  God  turning  to  her 
Son,  and  interposing  her  prayers  on  his  behalf,  while  her  Son,  in 
wrath,  turned  away  His  face.     Notwithstanding  this,  our  Lady 
repeated  her  supplications,   but  the   Divine  Child,  turning  His 
face  to  her  once  more,  said,  "  What  wouldst  thou  have  Me  to  do 
with  one  who  has  so  shamefully  denied  Me  ?"     At  these  words, 


27— a 


420  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  Blessed  Virgin  rose  from  her  place,  and  laying  her  Son  on  the 
altar,  fell  prostrate  before  Him  saying,  "  Pardon  him,  dear  Son, 
for  love  of  me ;  he  does  not  deserve  this  grace,  I  know  it  well, 
for  he  has  outraged  Thee  too  grievously;  but  I,  Thy  Mother, 
deserve  it  at  Thy  hands."  Then  Christ,  taking  her  by  the  hand, 
replied,  "  Arise,  dear  Mother,  I  have  never  refused  thee  anything, 
nor  will  I  refuse  thee  now.  For  the  love  of  thee,  I  forgive  him." 
This  scene,  which  passed  under  the  eyes  of  this  unhappy  young 
man,  who  had  kept  up  a  certain  respect  for  the  Mother  of  God  and 
preserved  some  shadow  of  devotion  towards  her,  is  but  a  figure  of 
what  she  is  daily  doing  in  Heaven  on  behalf  of  her  devout  clients, 
and  of  the  great  power  wherewith  she  intercedes  at  the  throne  of 
grace  for  their  eternal  salvation.  So  that,  as  our  Lady  is  both 
able  and  willing  to  obtain  for  us  every  grace  that  concerns  the 
everlasting  welfare  of  our  soul,  we  must  be  convinced  that 
devotion  to  her  is  among  the  most  powerful  and  effectual  means 
of  salvation  which  we  have  at  our  command. 


CHAPTER    III. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  A  MOST  EFFECTUAL  MEANS,  AND, 
MORALLY  SPEAKING,  NECESSARY  TO  ATTAIN  SALVATION  IN  ITS 
PERFECTION. 

457.  NOT  only  does  the  Blessed  Virgin  obtain,  as  we  have  just 
now  shown,  eternal  salvation  for  those  who  are  devout  to  her,  but 
she  obtains  it  in  such  perfection  that  these  happy  souls  enter 
Paradise  with  a  great  abundance  of  merits,  and  an  eminent  degree 
of  glory  ;  provided  that  they  have  the  will  to  apply  themselves  to 
the  business  of  their  salvation,  and  r.re  fully  resolved  to  practise 
the  necessary  means.  For  the  difference  between  being  saved, 
and  attaining  to  the  perfection  of  salvation,  consists  in  this,  that 
for  the  former  it  is  only  necessary  to  live  in  grace,  and  to  perse 
vere  to  the  end  ;  while  perfection  requires,  in  addition,  a  constant 
increase  of  grace,  an  unceasing  growth  in  all  those  virtues, 
whether  moral  or  theological,  which  form,  as  it  were,  a  splendid 


THIS  DEVOTION  A  MEANS  OF  PERFECTION.     421 

train  accompanying  this  grace;  and  especially  an  increase  of 
chanty,  in  which,  as  we  saw  at  the  very  outset,  our  perfection 
principally  consists. 

458.  Now,  this  growth  in  spiritual  life  is  precisely  what  the 
Blessed  Virgin  obtains  for  such  of  her  devout  clients  as  are 
already  in  the  state  of  grace ;  since,  whether  she  have  regard  to 
her  dear  Son,  or  to  these  just  souls,  she  feels  herself  moved 
powerfully  to  forward  their  perfection.  For  if  she  raise  her  eyes 
to  her  only-begotton  Son,  she  must,  for  the  great  love  which  she 
bears  Him,  desire  that  He  be  served  faithfully  and  ardently 
loved,  especially  by  those  who  more  than  others  are  well-disposed 
for  this  love  and  service.  And  if  she  cast  a  glance  upon  souls 
such  as  these,  she  cannot,  on  account  of  the  singular  love  which 
she  bears  them — seeing  them  already  adopted  by  her  Son  as  His 
daughters  and  His  spouses— fail  earnestly  to  desire  their  spiritual 
advancement  in  all  respects.  Hence  it  may  be  said,  that  if  the 
eyes  of  our  Lady  beam  with  tenderness  for  all,  they  have  a  peculiar 
tenderness  for  souls  in  grace,  so  as  to  procure  for  them  an  increase 
of  virtue  and  merits  here,  and  of  glory  hereafter.  She  herself  re 
vealed  this  to  St.  Gertrude.  For,  as  this  Saint  was  one  day  in  church 
during  the  chant  of  the  "  Salve  Regina,"  at  the  passage,  "  Turn 
upon  us  thine  eyes  full  of  pity,"  she  heard  Mary  address  to  her 
the  following  beautiful  words  :  Behold  these  mine  eyes,  so  fuU  of 
mercy,  which  I  turn  upon  all  that  devoutly  invoke  me  ;  bringing 
to  them  salvation,  and  procuring  them  plenteous  fruits  of  life  ever 
lasting—that  is,  a  large  increase  of  grace  and  glory.*  Hence  St. 
Bernard  was  led  to  say  that  God  has  placed  in  Mary's  hand  the 
fulness  of  spiritual  treasures,  to  the  end  that  we  might  honour  her 
with  a  deep  and  earnest  devotion,  in  the  conviction  that  all 
increase  of  grace  and  glory  must  come  to  us  through  her  hands.* 
In  another  passage  he  goes  so  far  as  to  say,  that  there  is  no 

*  Hi  sunt  misericordiosissimi  oculi  mei,  quos  ad  omnes  me  invocantes 
possum  salubriter  inclinare  :  unde  et  uberrimum  fructum  consequantur  vitas 
seternae  Lib.  iv.  De  Revelat.  S.  Geltr.,  cap.  55. 

t  Intuemini,   quanta  devotionis  affectu  a  nobis  Mariam  voluent  honoran, 
nui  totius  plenitudinem  boni  posuit  in  Maria,  ut  proinde,  si  quid  spei  m  nob 
T,  si  quid  gratis,   si  quid  salutis,  ab  e&  noverimus  redundare.      De  Aqu*- 
ductu.     In  Nativit.  M.  Virginis. 


422  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

splendid  or  lustrous  virtue  in  the  world  but  what  proceeds  from  the 
Virgin  Mary.*  So  that  to  her  we  may  aptly  apply  the  words  of 
Wisdom,  that  through  her  hands,  as  through  their  proper  channel, 
every  perfect  gift  and  every  spiritual  blessing  must  flow  into  our 
souls,  t 

459.  But  that  this  truth  may  sink  the  deeper  into  our  hearts,, 
and  stir  up  within  them  an  ardent  devotion  to  this  so  noble  a 
Mistress,  I  will  copy  St.  Bernard  when  making  the  following  most 
apt  reflection.  Every  one  knows  what  great  servants  of  God 
were  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  Daniel  and  David,  and  others 
whose  names  are  recorded  among  the  worthies  of  the  Old  Law. 
Yet  must  it  be  owned  that,  as  a  general  rule,  we  do  not  discern 
among  God's  chosen  people  that  splendour  of  perfection  which  is 
now  seen  in  Holy  Church.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  those  ancient 
times,  the  lily  of  virginal  purity  had  scarcely  put  forth  a  single 
blossom  ;  while  at  present  we  see  it  flourish  not  only  in  cloisters, 
but  even  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  unfavourable  as  this  soil  is  to 
so  lovely  a  growth.  Whom  do  we  find  in  the  elder  dispensation 
despoiling  himself  generously  of  all  his  wealth  in  order  to  be  more 
free,  and  to  run  with  less  hindrance  the  race  of  perfection  !  While 
nowadays  we  can  scarce  count  those  who  flock  to  religious 
houses,  after  having  stripped  themselves  of  all  worldly  possessions, 
and  who  glory  in  the  poverty  they  have  chosen,  more  than  others 
boast  of  their  riches.  It  was  once  very  rarely  that  a  modest  violet 
was  found  with  head  bowed  down,  suffering  in  silence  the  outrages 
of  those  who  trampled  it  under  foot ;  while  in  our  time  we  behold 
many  who  forgive  from  their  hearts  the  offences  committed  against 
them,  suffer  insults  with  unconquerable  patience,  and  even  em 
brace  with  love  the  very  persons  who  insult  them.  Faith  is  now 
more  lively,  as  it  is  more  fully  established,  in  the  hearts  of  believers ; 
the  homage  of  religious  worship  is  more  constantly  paid,  charity  is 
more  fervent,  zeal  for  God's  honour  is  warmer ;  because  the  grace 
of  God  which  fell,  drop  by  drop,  on  the  heads  of  the  elder  Church, 

*  Ex  te  procedit  omnis  armatura  fortium  ;  quia  nihil  est  virtutis,  quod  ex 
te  non  resplendeat.  Super  Salve. 

t  Venerunt  mihi  omnia  bona  pariter  cum  ilia,  et  innumerabilis  honestas  pe» 
manus  illius.  Sap.  vij.  n. 


THIS  DEVOTION  £  MEANS  OF  PERFECTION.      423 

is  now  showered  down  in  torrents  on  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  raining  in  floods  to  render  her  fertile  in  every  virtue.  But 
why,  then,  is  God,  Who  was  so  sparing  with  His  chosen  people, 
now  so  liberal  towards  us  ?  The  Blessed  Virgin  is  the  cause 
assigned  by  St.  Bernard.  The  streams  of  grace  did  not  of  old 
flow  down  on  mankind,  for  the  heavenly  channel  which  was  to 
draw  them  down  to  man  by  intercession  was  wanting.*  Jesus, 
it  is  true,  is  the  fountain-head  of  these  waters  of  life  which  spring 
from  His  most  sacred  Wounds  ;  but  yet  it  is  also  true  that  Mary 
is  the  channel  by  which  these  streams  flow ;  for  Christ  has  re 
solved  not  to  impart  them  to  the  faithful,  save  by  the  means  of 
His  ever-blessed  Mother,  as  the  same  holy  Doctor  teaches. t  If, 
then,  the  Church  of  God  shines  with  such  splendour  of  virtue, 
with  such  lustre  of  perfection,  if  there  be  in  it  such  glory  of  holiness, 
it  is  due  to  Mary  ;  she  being  the  beneficent  channel  whereby  the 
grace  that  renders  us  holy  and  perfect  is  communicated  from 
above. 

460.  And  further,  it  has  been  truly  observed  that  there  has 
perhaps  never  yet  been  a  holy  Confessor  who  did  not  profess  a 
most  special  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  and  such  of  the 
saints  as  tower  above  the  rest  by  eminent  holiness,  are  also  distin 
guished  by  the  tenderness  of  their  love  for  the  Queen  of  Heaven. 
We  have  but  to  read  the  lives  of  St.  Bernard,  of  St.  Dominic,  of 
St.  Philip  Neri,  of  St.  Bernardine  of  Siena,  of  hundreds  whom  we 
might  name,  among  the  heroes  of  Holy  Church,  to  be  struck  with 
admiration  at  the  mutual  love  existing  between  our  Blessed  Lady 
and  these  saintly  souls  ;  to  notice  how  they  on  their  parts  honoured 
her  in  a  thousand  different  ways,  while  she,  on  her  side,  over 
whelmed  them  with  favours,  and  ever  sought  to  raise  them  to  an 
eminent  degree  of  holiness.  A  plain  proof  that  to  make  spiritual 
progress,  and  to  scale  the  height  of  sublime  perfection,  we  must 
needs  have  recourse  to  this  channel  of  God's  gifts,  in  order  that 
she  may  fertilise  our  souls,  and  dispose  them  to  the  practice  of 
every  virtue. 

*  Propterea  tanto  tempore  humano  generi  fluenla  gratis  defuisse,  quod 
nondum  intercederet,  de  quo  loquimur,  tarn  desiderabilis  aquseductus.  De 
Aqused.  In  Nat.  Mar.  Virg. 

t  Totum  nos  Deus  habere  voluit  per  Mariam.     Eod.  Serm. 


424  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

461.  Of  all  the  saints  who,  by  favour  of  our  Lady,  attained  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  of  perfection,  none,  I  suppose,  was  more 
privileged  than  St.  Mary  of  Egypt,  who,  through  her  devotion  to 
Our  Lady,  began,  continued,  and  brought  to  a  happy  term,  the 
career  of  her  perfection ;  and  by  this  one  and  the  same  means, 
emerged  from  the  abyss  of  degradation  in  which  she  lay,  and  rose 
to  the  sublimest  heights  of  sanctity.  She  was,  as  is  well  known, 
before  her  conversion,  a  snare  which  entrapped  every  heart  to 
enslave  it  to  sin  and  to  the  devil ;  a  net  of  which  the  demon  made 
use  to  capture  souls,  and  to  people  hell.  Being  one  day  moved 
by  a  powerful  impulse  from  above,  she  went  to  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  famous  for  the  relic  of  the 
true  Cross,  there  exposed  to  veneration.  On  reaching  the  threshold, 
she  felt  herself  driven  back  by  some  inward  force.  She  returned 
twice  or  thrice  to  the  sacred  portal,  and  renewed  her  efforts  to 
enter,  but  felt  herself  as  often  repelled.  The  wretched  woman 
was  amazed  and  embarrassed  by  so  strange  an  occurrence,  not 
knowing  whether  it  was  God  Who  rejected  her  as  unworthy  to 
stand  before  His  Holy  Altar,  or  the  devil  who  was  striving  to 
hinder  her  entrance  into  the  sacred  precincts  for  fear  of  losing 
his  hold  over  her.  In  this  turmoil  of  conflicting  feelings  and 
doubts,  she  went  and  prostrated  herself  before  a  picture  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  placed  near  the  church-porch,  and,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  Acts  of  the  Second  Council  of  Nicaaa,  began 
to  pray  as  follows  : — "  Since  the  God  Whom  thou  didst  bear 
became  Man  to  bring  sinners  to  repentance,  help,  O  Mother  of 
God,  a  wretched  sinner,  who,  forsaken  by  all,  has  none  to  assist 
her."*  She  then  promised  that,  if  she  were  permitted  to  enter 
into  the  church  and  make  her  peace  with  God,  she  would  for 
ever  abandon  her  guilty  pleasures  and  vanities,  and  wholly  change 
her  life.  Having  put  up  this  prayer,  she  again  approached  the 
door  of  the  church,  and  was  happily  able  to  go  in.  Her  experi 
ence  of  the  tenderness  and  promptitude  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's 

*  Quandoquidem,  ut  audivi,  propter  hoc  Deus,  quern  genuisti,  Homo  factus 
est,  ut  peccatores  ad  pnenitentiam  vocaret,  auxiliare  mihi  soli,  et  non  habenti 
qui  mihi  suppetias  lerat,  etc.  Petr.  Canis.,  Lib.  v.  De  Deip.,  cap.  20,  citans 
Paul.  Diac.  et  Cone.  Nicien.  II. 


FURTHER  REASONS.  425 

help  inspired  her  with  a  lively  trust  in  her  protection.  She  went 
therefore  again  and  again  to  throw  herself  at  the  feet  of  this  good 
Mother,  and  to  cast  herself  on  her  bosom ;  she  took  Mary  for  her 
advocate,  her  mother,  her  guide ;  and  on  her  part  the  ever-blessed 
Virgin  clasped  her  in  her  arms,  and  covered  her  with  the  mantle 
of  her  protection.  The  Angels,  who  kept  her  company  in  the 
desert,  may  tell  of  the  progress  made  by  her  under  the  patronage 
of  the  Queen  of  Heaven  ;  they  who  kept  account  of  every  step  she 
took  over  its  pathless  sands,  of  every  sigh  with  which  her  bosom 
heaved,  of  every  tear  that  dropped  from  her  eyes.  We  can  say  no 
more  than  that  in  the  penitential  and  austere  life  led  by  her  in 
this  solitude,  she  had  no  other  teacher,  no  other  guide,  than  the 
all-holy  Virgin,  to  whom  she  ever  had  recourse  as  to  her  sole 
teacher ;  that  under  Mary's  guidance  she  prevailed  over  the  most 
fearful  temptations  and  the  most  violent  assaults  that  hell  could 
make  against  her;  that  she  overcame  all  feeling  of  weariness, 
trampled  under  foot  the  repugnance  of  poor  weak  nature,  and 
persevered  constantly  for  forty- seven  years,  leaving  to  the  world 
an  ideal  of  perfect  penance,  a  pattern  of  the  most  eminent  sanctity  : 
and — what  is  more  to  our  purpose — a  most  convincing  proof  that 
there  is  no  means  more  effectual  and  important  than  devotion  to 
Mary  to  raise  up  any  soul,  however  guilty  and  full  of  sin,  to  the 
summit  of  Christian  perfection. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  FURTHER  REASON  TO  SHOW  THE  NECESSITY  OF  DEVOTION  TO  THE 
BLESSED    VIRGIN    IN    ORDER    TO    ATTAIN    PERFECTION. 

462.  THE  greatest  obstacles  that  spiritual  persons  have  to  en 
counter  in  the  path  of  virtue,  are  doubtless  the  many  deceits  and 
temptations  whereby  the  devil,  inflamed  with  envy,  seeks  to  stay 
(heir  progress.  St.  Gregory  says  that  the  demons  lurk  on  the  road 


426  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

to  >  perfection  like  brigands  and  assassins.*  They  there  lie  in 
wait,  and  rush  out  upon  devout  souls,  and  by  their  assaults  do 
grievous  harm  to  many ;  for  some,  mastered  by  their  formidable 
attacks,  turn  back,  others  go  astray  from  the  right  path,  and  others 
again  fall  down  the  precipice.  There  is  a  vision  related  of  St. 
Antony,  which  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  what  St.  Gregory  has  just 
affirmed.  The  Egyptian  solitary  saw  the  whole  world  covered  with 
snares  set  by  our  hellish  foes  to  entrap  unwary  souls.  Nor  can  we 
question  but  that  the  greater  part  of  these  snares  are  set  for  per 
sons  of  good  will  who  are  aspiring  to  perfection,  since,  as  the 
prophet  Habacuc  says,  "  Such  souls  are  the  prey  after  which  the 
fiends  hunt  with  the  greatest  avidity,  "t  So  that  these  poor  crea 
tures,  surrounded  as  they  are  on  every  side  by  such  formidable 
foes,  are  exposed  at  every  step  to  fall  by  acts  of  diffidence,  or 
presumption,  or  vain-glory,  or  pride,  or  anger,  or  hatred,  or  lust, 
or  despair;  with  the  danger  of  losing  not  only  perfection,  but 
salvation  itself. 

463.  Now  who  shall  guide  these  willing  souls  along  a  path  so 
beset  with  obstacles  and  perils  to  the  mount  of  Christian  per 
fection  ?  St.  Germanus  replies :  "It  is  Mary,  who,  when  her 
holy  name  is  invoked,  will  drive  far  from  us  the  assaults  of  the 
devils,  and  protect  us  from  their  formidable  attacks.  "J  Mary  it 
is  who  puts  them  all  to  flight  whenever  they  band  together  to 
assail  us.  Mary  it  is  who  can  set  at  naught  the  snares  which  they 
secretly  spread  for  us,  and  who,  becoming  our  guide,  leads  us  in 
safety  through  the  midst  of  their  toils  to  the  height  of  perfection. 
And  should  the  reader  inquire  how  this  illustrious  office  is  in  a 
special  manner  peculiar  to  Mary,  why  she  should  have  it  given  to 
her  to  discomfit  all  the  enemies  of  our  salvation  and  our  perfection, 
we  have  not  far  to  seek  for  a  reply,  for  she  is  that  valiant  woman 
foreshown  by  God  from  the  beginning,  who  is  to  be  our  defender 


*  In  prsesenti  vitft,  quasi  in  vi&  sumus,  qua  ad  patriam  pergimus.  Maligni 
autem  spiritus  iter  nostrum,  quasi  quidam  latrunculi,  obsident.  Horn,  1 1 .  In 
Evang. 

"!*  Cibus  ejus  electus.     Habac.  i.  16. 

$  Ilia,  nequissimi  hostis  in  conserves  suos  invasiones,  solS,  nominis  sanclissimi 
invocations  repellens,  tutos,  et  incolumes  reddit.  In  ZonS,  Virginis. 


FURTHER  REASONS.  42/ 

against  all  the  assaults  of  our  foes.  "I  will  set  an  implacable 
enmity,"  said  God  to  the  serpent  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  "  between 
thee  and  the  woman,  between  her  Seed  and  thine.  She  shall 
crush  thy  head."*  But  who,  then,  is  the  valiant  woman  that, 
fearless  of  the  serpent's  lying  in  wait,  heedless  of  his  venom,  shall 
crush  his  head.  Who  is  the  serpent  that  shall  be  thus  trampled 
under  foot  by  this  unconquered  woman  ?  «  The  serpent  is  none 
other  but  the  devil,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "  while  the  woman  is  Mary 
the  Mother  of  God."t 

464-  To  overcome,  then,  all  the  obstacles  that  the  devils  put 
in  the  way  of  our  spiritual  progress,  there  is  no  means  more  effec 
tual  than  devotion  to  Mary,  and  a  continual  recourse  to  her  in 
all  the  assaults  and  shocks  which  we  sustain  from  their  tempta 
tions;  for  if  Mary  but  take  upon  herself  our  defence— as  she  most 
surely  will— her  protection  alone  will  be  to  us  an  impenetrable 
buckler  against  all  the  darts  of  our  foes  ;  of  herself  she  will  suffice 
to  put  them  all  to  flight,  nor  will  hell  banded  together  against  us 
be  able  to  put  the  slightest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  our  advance  in 
the  spiritual  life.     To  this  valiant  champion  is  reserved  the  dis 
comfiture  of  all  our  enemies ;  if  only  she  will  do  battle  for  us, 
our  victory  is  certain.      Hence  St.  John  Damascene  could  say  : 
"  Having  placed  all  my  trust  in  thee,  great  Mother  of  God,  I  shall 
be  protected  by  thee.     Overshadowed  by  thee  I  will  not  fear,  and 
armed  as  with  a  breastplate  by  thy  protection  and  all-availing  help, 
I  will  wage  war  on  mine  enemies  and  put  them  all  to  rout     For 
to  be  devoted  to  thee  is  that  mighty  weapon  which  God  puts  into 
the  hands  of  such  as  He  wills  to  love,  so  that  by  it  they  may  attain 
eternal  glory.  "J 

465.  In  proof  of  this,   we  may   add  the  following  wondrous 

*  Inimicitias  ponam  inter  te,  et  mulierem,  inter  semen  tuum,  et  semen 
illius.  Ipsa  conteret  caput  tuum.  Gen.  iij.  15. 

t  Ipsa  Virgo  est,  quondam  a  Deo  promissa  mulier,  serpentis  antiqui  caput 
virtutis  pede  contritura.  Serm.  de  Virg.  Maria.  Super  verb.  Apocal. 

J  Spem  tuam  habens,  o  Deipara,  servabor ;  defensionem  tuam  possidens, 
non  timebo.  Persequar  inimicos  meos,  et  in  fugam  convertam,  habens  ut 
thoracem  protectionem  tuam,  auxilium  tuum.  Nam  devotum  tibi  esse,  est 
arma  quasdam  snlntis,  quce  Deus  iis  dat,  quos  vult  salvos  fieri.  Serm.  de 
Anmincirtt. 


428  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

event,  which  will  serve  to  set  before  the  eyes  of  the  devout  reader 
how  terrible  to  devils  is  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  what  care  she 
takes  to  defend  from  their  snares  all  those  who  are  devoted  to 
her.*  A  military  man,  it  is  said,  had  obtained  by  the  favour  of 
the  demon,  a  rich  store  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  on 
condition  that,  on  the  day  appointed,  and  to  a  place  agreed  upon, 
he  should  bring  with  him  his  wife,  who  was  a  lady  of  most  blame 
less  life,  and  most  devout  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  The  soldier, 
beside  himself  with  joy  at  gaining  so  much  wealth,  ordered  his 
wife  to  make  ready  to  start  on  a  journey  which  she  was  to  make 
in  his  company.  Not  daring  to  question  his  wishes,  the  lady 
decked  herself  in  her  best  attire,  got  on  horseback,  praying  mean 
while  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  be  her  companion  in  this  journey,  for 
she  was  full  of  anxiety  whither  it  would  lead  her.  On  their  way 
they  chanced  to  pass  a  church,  dedicated  to  the  name  of  the  ever 
blessed  Virgin.  The  lady,  touched  with  a  sentiment  of  devotion, 
dismounted,  and,  entering,  fell  prostrate  before  the  image  of 
Mary,  and  began  to  beseech  her  to  grant  assistance  in  a  journey 
which  filled  her  with  so  much  anxiety;  for,  perhaps,  through  some 
suspicions  of  her  husband's  character,  she  feared  that  it  would 
turn  to  her  misfortune.  While  thus  praying,  she  was  overtaken  by 
a  sweet  and  sound  sleep,  losing  the  use  of  all  her  senses ;  so  that 
she  remained  motionless  on  the  spot  where  she  was  kneeling. 
But,  behold  !  a  very  wondrous  thing  came  to  pass.  The  Blessed 
Virgin  herself,  having  assumed  the  outward  appearance  of  the 
lady,  went  forth  from  the  church,  and  without  the  soldier's  being 
able  to  perceive  the  change,  mounted  the  horse  and  continued 
the  journey  in  his  company.  On  their  arrival  at  the  place  ap 
pointed,  the  devil  appeared,  at  the  adjuration  of  the  wicked  soldier, 
under  the  form  he  had  assumed  at  their  first  meeting.  At  sight 
of  the  Lady  who  accompanied  him,  he  began  to  howl,  to  gnash 
his  teeth,  and  to  tremble  from  head  to  foot.  Turning  to  the 
soldier,  he  cried,  "  Ah  !  perfidious  traitor,  instead  of  bringing  me 
thy  wife,  on  whom  I  wanted  to  avenge  the  injuries  she  has  done 
me,  thou  hast  brought  me  my  great  enemy,  even  the  great  Mother 
of  God."  "  Peace,  foul  fiend  1"  replied  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

*  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  Archiepisc.  Geruensis.     In  Festo  Assumpt.  B.M.  V 


FURTHER  REASONS.  42g 

"How  hast  thou  dared  to  think  of  harming  one  of  my  devoted 
clients?     Peace!  thy  outrageous    daring    shall    not    go   unpun- 
ed.      Go  back  at  once  into  the  depths  of  hell,   nor  attempt 
>  harm  one  who  devoutly  honours  me,  who  faithfully  calls  upon 
me,  and  who  lives  under  the  mantle  of  my  protection."     At  these 
*ords,  the  devil  vanished,  howling  fearfully,  and  went  to  undergo 
the  penalty  of  his  audacious  attempt.     Our  Lady  then  sharply 
rebuked  the  officer,  and  bade  him  return  to  his  wife,  who  was  still 
fast  asleep  in  the  church.     He  went  trembling,  and  aroused  her 
from  her  sweet  slumber,  and  himself  from  the  deadly  torpor  of 
sin  wherein  he  was  plunged.     The  reader  may  learn   from  this 
incident  how  formidable  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  to  the  devils,  and 
how  ready  to  defend  from  their  snares  those  who  love  her;  'since 
she  shrank  not  from  shrouding  her  glory  under  the  outward  sem 
blance  of  this  lady,  in  order  to  deliver  her  from  the  pitfalls  in 
which  the  fiend  had  sought  to  entrap  her  with  such  malignant- 
skill. 

466.  As  a  crown  to  the  doctrine  set  forth  in  this  and  the  pre 
ceding  Chapters,  we  may  conclude  with  a  most  devout  sentiment 
of  St.  Bonaventure.  The  Saint  says,  "  that  if  we  would  gain  the 
haven  of  everlasting  bliss,  amid  the  storms  of  the  ocean  of  this 
life,  there  are  two  safe  ways,  the  imitation  of  Christ  portrayed  to 
us  upon  the  Cross,  and  the  example  of  Mary  shadowed  forth  in 
the  Star.  Whosoever  sails  under  this  ensign,  and  follows  the 
guidance  of  this  Star,  shall  surely  reach  Heaven  and  attain  a  high 
degree  of  glory."  * 

*  Quibus  auxiliis  possunt  naves  inter  tot  pericula  pertransire  usque  ad  litus  ? 
Certe  per  duo  :  per  lignum,  et  stellam :  idest  per  fidem  crucis,  et  per  vir- 
tutem  lucis,  quam  pepeiit  nobis  Maria  Stella.  In  Specul.,  cap.  3. 


430  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


CHAPTER   V. 

NATURE  OF  THAT  TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  WHICH 
PRODUCES  THE  FRUITS  OF  SALVATION  DESCRIBED  IN  THE 
FOREGOING  CHAPTERS. 

467.  As  among  coins  those  which  are  of  greatest  value  are  the 
.nost  exposed  to  adulteration ;  and  among  gems  the  most  precious 
are  most  in  danger  of  being  counterfeited;  so  too,  devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  being  one  of  the  most  precious  of  the  moral  vir 
tues,  and  the  most  advantageous  for  our  spiritual  progress  (as  we 
have  seen  above),  is  most  liable  to  be  counterfeited ;  whether  by 
the  malice  of  men,  who  form  to  themselves  an  idea  of  this  devo 
tion  which  is  wholly  foreign  to  the  real  character  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  though  in  strict  conformity  with  their  evil  inclinations  ;  or 
by  the  craft  of  the  devils,  who,  with  a  view  to  hinder  its  bearing 
fruit,  suggest  a  wholly  false  and  distorted  notion  of  it.  On  this 
account  it  is  necessary  to  explain  what  is  the  true  nature  of  that 
devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  which  produces  the  precious  results 
of  which  we  have  treated  above. 

468.  St.  Thomas,  speaking  of  devotion  to  God  (as  will  be  seen 
more  fully  in  the  third  Treatise),  says  that  it  consists  in  a  ready 
willingness  to  do  whatever  appertains  to  the  service,  the  worship, 
and  honour  of  God.*  This  definition  proves  how  great  a  mistake 
it  is  to  suppose  that  devotion  can  consist  in  a  mere  tenderness  of 
sentiment  utterly  barren  of  good  works,  which  usually  proceeds 
from  the  natural  temperament  more  than  from  grace;  though 
many  live  on  in  contented  delusion,  satisfying  their  spiritual 
appetite  and  nourishing  themselves  with  this  counterfeit.  Now, 
to  apply  this  doctrine  with  due  proportion  to  our  present  subject, 
we  may  say  that  devotion  to  Mary  consists  in  a  ready  will  to  do 
her  service  and  to  pay  her  homage.  Observe,  the  service  for 
which  this  devotion  gives  us  a  readiness  and  a  taste  is  twofold. 
It  may  be  either  negative  or  positive,  as  we  shall  proceed  to 
explain. 

*  Devotio  nihil  aliud  esse  videtur,  quam  voluntas  quaedam  prompte  tradendi 
se  ad  ea,  quse  pertinent  ad  Dei  famulatum.  2,  2,  qu.  82.  art.  I. 


TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  OUR  LADY.  431 

469.  Negative  service,  or  homage,  may  be  described  as  con 
sisting  in  the  avoidance  of  whatever  may  grievously  displease  this 
Queen  of  Heaven  as  being  a  serious  offence  against  her  Divine 
Son.     For,  as  it  would  be  useless  to  pretend  to  be  a  loyal  servant 
of  a  Queen,  and  at  the  same  time  to  wound  her  deeply  by  con 
spiring  against  the  life  of  her  son,  so  also  no  one  can  lay  claim  to 
the  title  of  devout  client  of  Mary  who  falls  under  her  displeasure 
by  renewing  the  death  of  her  Son  Jesus  Christ,  through  the  com 
mission  of  deadly  sin.  Holy  David  gave  this  command  to  the  sol 
diers  that  marched  against  his  son  Absalom,  who  had  risen  against 
him,  and  sought  to  rob  him  of  his  crown  :  "  Go  forth,  go  forth, 
my  friends  :  fight  like  courageous  warriors  since  you  are  such ; 
slay,  slaughter,  put  all  my  enemies  to  the  sword.     But  beware  of 
injuring,  of  touching  even  with  your  weapons,  my  dear  son  Ab 
salom.     He  is  a  rebel,  I  know ;  he  is  a  traitor  :  but  he  is  my  own 
son."*     With  the  like  words,  and  with  far  greater  reason,  might 
the  Virgin  declare  to  one  who  would  seek  to  be  enrolled  among 
her  devout  clients,  that  the  first  homage  which  she  requires  at  their 
hands  is  to  abstain  from  outraging  her  dear  and  only  Son.     "  If 
you  love  me,  my  Christian  friends,"  our  heavenly  Mother  seems  to 
say,  "  if  you  aspire  to  be  my  devoted  servants,  my  faithful  clients, 
do  not  insult  my  Son  Jesus  by  mortal  sin.     He  is  the  fruit  of  my 
womb,  the  love  of  my  heart.     Every  offence  you  commit  against 
Him  touches  me  to  the  quick.      Forbear  then  from  offending 
Him,  for  the  love  which  you  owe  Him,  and  for  that  which  you 
bear  to  me,  who  am  His  Mother."t   With  such  words  the  Blessed 
Virgin  declares  that  the  first  homage  for  which  she  looks  at  the 
hands  of  her  devout  clients  is,  that  they  most  carefully  avoid  every 
mortal  sin.    Failing  this,  no  one  can  claim  to  be  considered  dut.ful 
to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  hence  no  one  can  be  called  her  d 

vout  servant. 

470.  What  we  have  been  saying  is  illustrated  by  what  happened 
to  Hugh,  a  Tuscan  nobleman,  of  the  princely  race  of  Ottoni.} 
Having  been  piously  educated  by  his  mother,  Virilla,  he  spent 

•  Servate  mihi  puerum  Absalon. 
f  Servate  mihi  puerum  Jesum. 
±  Pucen.  In  Viia. 


432  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

the  early  years  of  his  youth  in  stainless  innocence,  to  maintain 
which,  the  tender  devotion  that  he  cherished  toward  the  Blessed 
Virgin  much  helped  him,  together  with  the  many  devout  practices 
of  which  he  made  use  in  the  hope  of  securing  her  patronage.  But 
the  virtues  of  youth  are  like  the  earliest  ears  of  corn,  or  the  grapes 
of  autumn,  which,  being  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather 
or  the  storms  of  heaven,  fall  off  or  wither  before  they  have  reached 
maturity ;  so  this  young  man,  on  being  exposed  to  the  dangers  of 
the  court,  to  the  occasions  of  sin,  and  the  assaults  of  various- 
temptations,  fell  miserably  into  grievous  crime,  and  sullied  the 
white  robe  of  his  virginal  purity.  Once  allured  by  the  poisonous 
sweetness  of  pleasure,  he  lost  all  relish  for  virtue,  and  quickly  fell- 
headlong  into  every  kind  of  youthful  excess.  While  leading  so 
foul  a  life,  he  felt  certain  pangs  of  remorse,  whereby  his  Mother  in 
Heaven  sought  to  rouse  him  from  the  deadly  torpor  of  vice  into 
which  he  was  plunged.  "  What  art  thou  doing,  Hugh  ?  what  art 
thou  doing?"  Such  were  the  words  which  he  heard  whispered  in 
his  heart.  "  Thou  art  hastening  along  the  road  to  hell  !  If  thou 
wert  to  die,  what  would  become  of  thee  ?  What  art  thou  doing> 
Hugh  ?  what  art  thou  doing  ?"  To  these  inward  rebukes  the 
young  man  replied,  with  a  sigh  :  "  I  am  a  sinner,  true ;  but  still  I 
am  devout  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  I  have  never  omitted  my  prayers, 
nor  neglected  the  pious  practices  that  I  am  accustomed  to  per 
form  every  day  in  her  honour.  This  Refuge  of  Sinners  will  not 
fail  me." 

471.  The  Refuge  of  Sinners  did  not  fail  him.  She  came  to 
his  assistance  in  the  following  manner,  which  makes  much  for  our 
purpose.  Having  gone  to  hunt  in  the  Vale  of  the  Arno,  he  spent 
the  greater  part  of  the  day  following  the  game  through  the  plains, 
over  the  hills,  in  the  woods,  and  in  the  forests.  Towards  midday, 
exhausted  with  fatigue,  and  fevered  with  the  heat,  he  set  out  in 
search  of  some  clear  fountain  where  he  might  slake  his  burning 
thirst.  Suddenly  he  saw  appear  before  him  a  charming  country- 
girl,  holding  a  basket  filled  with  the  most  delicious  fruit,  but  so 
covered  with  filth  that  it  was  sickening  to  look  at  them.  The 
youth,  burning  with  thirst,  at  the  sight  of  this  fresh,  ripe  fruit, 
could  not  refrain  from  stretching  forth  his  hand  to  take  some ; 


TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  OUR  LADY.  433 

but  seeing  the  filth  with  which  it  was  covered,  he  left  it  untouched, 
and,  withdrawing  his  hand,  said,  "  How  foolish  to  put  such  deli 
cious  fruit  into  so  filthy  a  basket !"  Then  the  country  girl,  dis 
covering  herself  to  him  as  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  said,  "Just  such 
is  thy  devotion,  such  the  homage  which  thou  payest  me;  of 
themselves  good  and  excellent,  they  are  all  soiled  by  thy  evil 
conscience,  defiled  by  thy  wicked  life.  What  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do  with  them  ?  Hugh,  if  thou  wouldst  truly  be  pleasing  in 
my  most  pure  sight,  change  thy  manners."  At  these  words  the 
Blessed  Virgin  disappeared,  leaving  to  us,  no  less  than  to  him,  a 
lesson  that  we  should  do  well  to  ponder :  namely,  that  if  we  wish 
to  be  truly  devout  to  Mary,  the  positive  homage  we  pay  her,  which 
consists  mostly  in  prayers  and  divers  acts  of  virtue  done  in  her 
honour,  does  not  suffice ;  but  first  and  before  all  we  must  render 
her  that  negative  homage  which  consists  in  freedom  from  every 
grievous  sin. 

472.  "  If  this  be  so,"  you  may  object,  "  then  every  one  who  falls 
into  deadly  sin  is  directly  struck  off  the  roll  of  the  devout  clients 
of  Our  Lady.  And  how  can  she  be  called  the  Mother  of  sinners, 
if  she  holds  them  in  such  abhorrence  as  to  cast  them  from  the  em 
brace  of  her  motherly  arms  as  soon  as  she  sees  them  defiled  with 
sin  ?  To  this  I  reply  that  there  are  various  classes  of  sinners.  Some 
commit  sin,  and  are  so  attached  to  their  sin  that  they  have  no  wish 
to  renounce  it.  Others  sin,  it  is  true,  but  yet  in  a  certain  sense 
hate  the  sin  into  which  they  fall ;  for  even  while  committing  it 
they  are,  in  a  manner,  overcome  by  the  vehemence  of  their  pas 
sions  and  the  force  of  the  temptation  by  which  the  enemy  assails 
them,  so  that  they  in  a  certain  measure  abhor  it,  and  would  wish 
not  to  commit  it ;  they  desire  to  amend,  and  therefore  frequently 
have  recourse  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  obtain  strength  to  burst 
.asunder  the  chains  by  which  they  are  dragged  into  sin.  The  for 
mer  neither  are  nor  can  be  devout  clients  of  Mary,  since  by  retain 
ing  their  affection  for  grievous  sin,  they  are  rooted  in  enmity  to 
wards  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who  is  the  sworn  foe  of  sin.  The  other 
class  do  not  deserve  by  any  merit  of  their  own  to  be  considered 
-devout  clients  of  Mary,  but  by  the  prayers  which  they  address  to 
her,  and  by  the  homage  which  they  render  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 

VOL.    I.  28 


434  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

deliverance  from  their  bondage  to  sin,  they  will,  through  mer.:y 

and  grace,  become  her  true  clients. 

473.  This  may  be  made  plain  by  the  teaching  of  St.  Thomas. 
The  holy  Doctor  is  inquiring  whether  God  hearkens  to  the  prayers 
of  sinners  who  live  out  of  His  grace ;  and  he  answers  as  follows : 
— God  does  not  hear  their  prayers  for  any  merit  of  their  own,  or 
out  of  any  consideration  of  justice,  for  as  they  are  deprived  of 
His  grace,  they  are  incapable  of  meriting  any  blessing  at  God's 
hand,  nor  have  they  any  claim  on  Him  grounded  in  justice.  Yet, 
adds  the  same  Saint,  God  does  hear  their  prayers  out  of  pure 
mercy.*  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  case  before  us.  A  Chris 
tian,  defiled  by  grievous  sin,  cannot  claim  as  a  matter  of  right  the 
title  of  a  devout  client  of  Mary  :  for  his  state  is  sueh,  that  not  only 
is  he  incapable  of  meriting  so  great  a  privilege,  but  he  is  positively 
unworthy  of  it  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  if  he  continue 
to  honour  her,  and  if  he  hope  by  such  practices  to  obtain  his  own 
amendment,  the  Blessed  Virgin  will  take  his  good  will  into  account, 
and  admit  him  among  her  devout  servants-;  she  will  help  him  as  a 
tender  mother  would  do ;  she  will  raise  him  up  with  her  gentle 
hand  from  the  sink  of  iniquity  in  which  he  lies,  and  will  place 
him  on  the  path  not  only  of  salvation,  but  even  of  perfection,  if 
he  only  choose  to  walk  therein.  This  is  so  true  that  Our  Lady 
herself  declared  it  with  her  own  lips  to  her  favourite  daughter 
St.  Bridget,  in  the  following  words  : — "  I  am  not,  my  child, 
the  mother  of  those  obstinate  sinners  who  are  determined  to 
persevere  in  their  sins,  and  yet  fondly  expect  that  I  will  save  them 
in  spite  of  the  disorder  of  their  life.  Of  such  wretches  I  am 
neither  patroness  nor  mother.  I  am  truly  the  Mother  of  those 
sinners  who  desire  to  amend  their  ways,  and  who  have  recourse  to 
me,  and  with  fervent  prayers  recommend  their  conversion  to  me.'?t 
These,  then,  are  the  sinners  to  whom  the  Blessed  Virgin  does 
not  disdain  to  be  a  Mother;  such,  I  mean,  as  desire  to  amend, 


*  Orationem  peccatoris  ex  bono  naturae  procedentem  Deus  audit  non  quasi 
ex  justitia.  quia  peccator  hoc  non  nieretur,  sed  ex  pur<i  misericordici.  2,  2,  q. 
83,  art.  1 6. 

t  Ego  sum  mater  omnium  peccatorum,  se  volentium,  erne1  dare.  Lib.  iv, 
Kcvel.,  cap.  138. 


TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  OUR  LADY.  435 

and  who  make  use  of  their  devotion  as  a  means  of  rising  from  their 
falls,  not  as  an  assurance  of  impunity  in  sin.  Such  as  these  the/ 
Blessed  Virgin  loves  tenderly,  even  as  the  surgeon  loves  the  dis 
eased  limb  which  he  seeks  to  heal ;  and  as  the  sculptor  loves  the 
rough  block  which  his  hand  will  change  into  a  majestic  statue. 

474.  But  further,  in  order  that  a  Christian  may  have  a  right  to 
call  himself  a  devout  client  of  Mary,  besides  this  negative  kind  of 
homage,  of  which  we  have  so  far  been  speaking,  he  must  make  use 
of  positive  acts.     A  vassal  who  pays  his  prince  no  other  honour 
than  that  of  abstaining  from  offering  him  insult,  can  by  no  means 
be  called  a  devoted  subject  of  his  sovereign.     To  attain  so  honour 
able  a  title  he  must  further  render  him  special  and  frequent  ser 
vices.     So,  too,  if  we  are  to  be  really  devoted  to  Mary,  it  is  not 
enough  to  abstain  from  offering  to  her  grievous  offence  by  outraging 
her  Son ;  we  must  also  honour  her  with  frequent  acts  of  homage. 
But  these  being  numerous  as  are  the  acts  by  which  we   render 
worship,  honour,  and  homage  to  so  illustrious  a  Lady,  it  is  impos 
sible  to  specify  them  all  in  this  short  Chapter;  it  will  suffice  if  we 
indicate  such  as  occur  to  our  mind. 

475.  Among  the  acts  of  positive  homage  which  may  found  a 
claim  to  be  accounted  among  the  devout  clients  of  Mary,  we  must 
set  in  the  foremost  rank  the  devotion   of  choosing  her  as  our 
Mother,  which  must  be  done  with  a  certain  solemnity,  and  at  the 
termination  of  a  fervent  novena ;   and  our  self-dedication  to  her 
should  be  frequently  renewed  with  filial  affection.     Thus  St.  Philip 
Neri  used  no  other  title  for  the  Blessed  Virgin  than  the  tender  name 
of  "  Dearest  Mother  ;"  and  many  other  saints  have  used  similar 
expressions,  betokening  a  tender  and  childlike  love.    And  this  was 
on  account  of  the  real  and  heartfelt  manner  in  which  they  had 
chosen  her  to  be  their  Mother.     Secondly  ;  the  daily  and  attentive 
recitation  of  her  Office.     The  monks  of  the  monastery  of  Gamuga 
were  visited  with  grievous  misfortunes  in  punishment  of  having 
neglected  this  Office ;  but  were  delivered  on  resuming  it  at  the 
persuasion  of  St.   Peter  Damian.*     This  incident  affords  a  clear 
sign  of  the  pleasure  taken  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  such   prayers. 
Thirdly ;  to  say  every  day  the  Rosary,  or  at  least  five  Decades. 

*  Baron.,  Anno  H59' 

28—2 


436  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

The  favours  obtained  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  those  who  have 
been  assiduous  in  reciting  the  Rosary  are  beyond  number.  I  will 
fiere  only  relate  what  happened  one  day  to  St.  Gertrude.  On 
finishing  the  Rosary  the  Saint  beheld  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  many  grains  of  gold  as  she  had  uttered  words ;  and  she  saw 
our  Saviour  place  these  precious  particles  in  the  hand  of  His 
Mother,  who  put  them  into  her  bosom,  saying  that  she  would,  in 
return,  do  for  Gertrude  the  same  number  of  favours.  Fourthly  ;  to 
make  frequent  if  not  daily  visits  to  some  image  of  Our  Lady.  This 
was  the  habit  of  Fr.  Thomas  Sanchez,  a  man  no  less  illustrious  for 
holiness  of  life  than  for  extraordinary  learning.  He  never  went 
out  of  doors  without  sanctifying  his  walk  by  a  visit  to  some  church 
dedicated  under  the  invocation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 
Fifthly ;  to  prepare  ourselves  devoutly  for  her  festivals.  St 
Gertrude  saw  under  Our  Lady's  mantle  a  company  of  most  lovely 
children,  on  whom  she  was  gazing  with  a  look  of  unspeakable 
tenderness.  The  reason  of  her  love  was,  that  they  had  prepared 
themselves  with  particular  devotion  to  solemnise  the  Feast  of  the 
Assumption.  Especially  we  ought,  on  the  eve  of  the  solemnity, 
to  prepare  ourselves  by  some  fast  or  bodily  affliction  more  rigor 
ous  than  usual.  Thus  we  read  of  Cardinal  Alexander  Orsini 
that  he  was  accustomed  on  such  days  to  take  the  discipline  unto 
blood.  Sixthly ;  to  exert  ourselves  to  propagate  this  devotion 
among  friends,  family,  and  dependents.  So  acceptable  is  this  care 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  that  she  herself  recommended  it  to  St. 
Bridget — "  Strive,  Bridget,  that  thy  children  may  also  be  children 
of  mine."  *  Seventhly ;  to  mortify  ourselves  frequently  for  her 
sake,  especially  by  guarding  against  our  accustomed  faults.  Other 
such  practices  may  be  added,  as  each  one's  own  devotion  may 
suggest. 

476.  Among  these  positive  acts  of  homage  the  most  preferable 
are  those  which  are  performed  inwardly ;  since  it  is  from  the  heart 
that  the  outward  acts  enumerated  above  derive  their  value  ;  so  that 
if  any  one  desire  to  be  a  devout  client  of  Mary,  he  should  insist  much 
en  these  interior  exercises.  Among  the  first  is  to  be  numbered 
the  cherishing  of  a  truly  filial  affection  towards  her.  Such  was 

*  Labora  ut  filii  lui  sint  etiam  filii  mei. 


TRUE  DEVOTION  TO  OUR  LADY.  4$ 

the  love  borne  her  by  that  truly  angelic  youth,  John  Berchmans, 
of  whom  it  is  related  that  nothing  is  so  frequently  repeated  in  his 
writings  or  notes  as  "I  am  resolved  to  love  Mary."  Secondly; 
to  love  her  more  than  one's  own  life,  after  the  example  of  St 
Brynoth,  Bishop  of  Scara,  in  Sweden,  concerning  whom  the 
Blessed  Virgin  told  St.  Bridget,  that  while  he  lived,  he  held  her 
dearer  than  his  own  life.*  Thirdly;  to  rejoice  in  heart,  and 
to  congratulate  Our  Lady  upon  her  sublime  prerogatives.  For 
nothing  is  so  characteristic  of  love  as  to  rejoice  in  the  good  of 
the  beloved  object.  Thus  when  St.  Mechtildis  felt  herself  filled 
with  the  desire  of  doing  something  very  pleasing  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  she  heard  the  voice  of  her  heavenly  Mother,  saying, 
"Rejoice  in  the  privileges  which  I  have  received."  Fourthly.; 
to  thank  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  for  the  high  gifts  which  the 
divine  bounty  has  conferred  on  the  Mother  of  God.  Such  9. 
sentiment  cannot  but  be  most  acceptable  to  the  Queen  of 
Angels;  for  he  who  makes  this  act,  shows  that  he  esteems 
Mary's  greatness  as  his  own;  since  he  thanks  God  for  it  as 
for  his  own.  Fifthly;  to  feel  deep  compassion  for  the  sorrows 
which  Our  Lady  suffered  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  It  is  no  less  * 
sign  of  love  to  rejoice  in  the  good  of  the  beloved  person,  than 
to  grieve  for  his  sorrows,  and  to  suffer  when  the  loved  one 
is  afflicted.  Hence  the  Blessed  Virgin  might  well  complain 
of  Christians  to  St.  Bridget,  saying  that  few  loved  her  from 
their  hearts,  since  so  few  compassionated  her  in  her  sorrows. 
Sixthly;  to  put  all  one's  trust,  next  to  God,  in  Mary,  to  have 
ready  recourse  to  her  in  all  necessities  of  soul  or  body ;  this  was 
the  habit  of  St.  Bernard,  that  true  lover  of  Mary.  "  Mary,"  said 
he,  "  is  the  ladder  for  sinners  to  mount  to  God.  Mary  is  all  my 
hope,  all  my  trust,  "t 

477.  Let  us  then  have  a  ready  will  to  honour  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  by  forbearing  from  whatever  may  be  a  grievous  dishonour 
to  her  Son  or  to  herself;  and  by  offering  to  her  such  acts  of 
homage,  whether  inward  or  outward,  as  are  most  pleasing  to  her; 

•  Hie  est,  qui  me,  dum  vixit,  vita  habuit  cariorem. 
f  Hsec,    filioli,    est    peccatorum  scala :    hwc  tota  mea  fi 
ratio  pp 


438  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  UFE. 

and  thus  shall  we  be  gathered  under  the  mantle  of  her  protection, 
and  be  numbered  among  her  truly  devout  clients. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    MEANS    SUITABLE    FOR    ACQUIRING   THIS    DEVOTION. 

478.  Two  things  render  us  devoted  to  the  great  ones  of  this 
world,  and  ready  to  do  them  homage  and  service.  One  is  the 
esteem  in  which  we  see  reason  to  hold  them;  the  other  is  the 
love  which  we  bear  to  their  persons.  Now  these  are  precisely  the 
motives  which  may  urge  our  wills  to  a  ready  service  of  the  Queen 
of  Heaven,  and  so  inspire  us  with  devotion  towards  her.  And  as 
the  only  way  of  lighting  a  log  of  wood  is  to  put  it  close  to 
fire ;  so,  to  enkindle  this  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  within  us, 
no  other  means  exists  than  frequently  to  present  to  our  wills, 
by  holy  meditation  and  devout  reading,  the  motives  fittest  to 
awaken  within  us  a  great  esteem  a  ad  tender  love  for  a  Lady 
endowed  with  such  admirable  qualities.  If  only  we  frequently 
consider  and  ponder  the  great  dignity  resulting  from  her  quality 
as  Mother  of  God — a  dignity  which,  as  St.  Thomas  says,*  has 
something  of  the  infinite, — it  is  impossible  that  we  should  fail  to 
form  an  exalted  notion  of  her  merit.  If,  further,  we  reflect  in  our 
meditations  on  the  lofty  rank  which  she  holds  in  Heaven,  as  Queen 
of  the  Angels  and  Empress  of  the  world ;  if  we  frequently  contem 
plate  the  fulness  of  the  grace  vouchsafed  to  her,  the  eminence  of 
her  glory,  her  wonderful  exemption  from  all  sin,  whether  original 
or  actual,  her  miraculous  virginity  coupled  with  her  maternity, 
and  her  innumerable  other  high  endowments :  this  esteem,  and 
this  high  idea,  will  grow  in  us,  and  ever  render  us  more  ready  to 
pay  her  the  tribute  of  our  homage  and  service. 

479.  The  same  course  of  meditation  and  reading  will  enkindle 
in  us  that  tender  love  of  Mary,  the  immediate  effect  of  which  is 
to  make  us  serve,  and  in  all  things  seek  to  please,  the  person 

*  Beata  Virgo,  ex  hoc  quod  est  mater  Dei,  habet  dignitatem  quamdam  in- 
finitam  ex  bono  infinite,  quod  est  Deus.  (i  p.,  quaest.  25,  art.  6., 


MEANS  TO  GAIN  THIS  DEVOTION.  439 

whom  we  love.  And,  in  truth,  nothing  here  below  so  fires  the 
hearts  of  subjects  with  love  for  their  Queen,  as  to  see  that  she  is 
of  a  feeling  and  compassionate  disposition  ;  indulgent  to  those 
that  transgress,  ready  to  plead  for  their  pardon  with  the  King,  and 
of  avail  to  obtain  mercy  for  every  crime.  Now,  these  are  just 
the  qualities  which  form  Mary's  dowry,  and,  if  we  only  meditate 
upon  them  attentively,  they  will  have  great  power  to  stir  up  within 
us  an  affectionate  love  of  her.  St.  Antoninus  says,  that  Mary  is  that 
rainbow,  the  simple  appearance  of  which  appeases  God  when  He 
is  provoked  by  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  is  ready  to  overwhelm 
it  in  a  flood  of  evils ;  the  bow  which  calms  Him  and  staves  off 
His  chastisements.*  St.  Bernard  expresses  the  same  idea,  saying 
that  "  Mary  is  the  rainbow  of  everlasting  peace,  which  withholds 
the  wrath  of  God  from  destroying  the  whole  of  mankind."  t  The 
same  doctrine  is  also  taught  by  St.  Ephrem.  "  Mary,"  he  says,  "is 
peace  between  God  and  man,  for  she  obtains  peace  for  the  faith 
ful,  by  gaining  for  them  the  pardon  of  their  sins."J  No  motive 
can  avail  so  powerfully  to  inflame  us  with  love  for  Mary,  and  so  en 
gage  us  to  devote  ourselves  to  her  service,  as  the  frequent  thought 
of  the  gentle  compassion  and  mercy  with  which  she  interposes 
hctween  us  and  her  Son's  anger,  and  stays  His  hands  from 
r^.astising  us. 

480.  Of  no  less  efficacy  for  stirring  in  us  sentiments  of  loving 
devotion  to  Mary,  will  be  the  motive  set  forth  in  the  foregoing 
Chapters ;  that  is,  the  moral  certainty  of  salvation,  and  also  of 
perfection,  which  every  one  has  who  earns  a  claim  to  her  pro 
tection  by  rendering  to  her  the  service  which  is  her  due.  St. 
Augustine  says,  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  the  ladder  by  which 
God  came  down  to  man,  and  by  which  also  man  ascends  to  God.§ 

*  Ego  sum  juxta  Filium  meum,  ut  cum  Deus  peccatis  hominum  diluvio 
flagellorum  minatus  fuerit  terram  subvertere,  ego  ut  arcus  appaream  in  oon- 
spectu  ejus  :  et  cum  recordatus  sit  foederis,  repropitietur  eisdem,  ne  terram 
dissipet.  Part,  iv.,  Titulus  15,  c.  4,  §  Ultim. 

t  Ipsa  est  arcus  foederis  sempiterni,  ut  non  interriciatur  omms  caro. 
De  Laud.  Virg. 

%  Ipsa  est  foedus,  pacemque  fidelibus  impetrans.     Serm.  E 

§  Per  ipsam  Deus  descenJ.it  in  terram,   et  per  ipsam  homines  asct 
merentur  in  coelum.     Serm.  de  Nativitate. 


440  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

St.  Fulgentius  employs  another  beautiful  figure  to  set  forth  the 
same  idea.  Mary  is  the  bridge  over  which  God  passed  to 
live  with  men,  and  over  which  men  must  pass  to  reach  to 
God,  that  they  may  live  with  Him  in  everlasting  bliss.*  St. 
Bernard  says,  that  Mary  was  foreshown  in  the  ark  of  Noah,  for, 
as  all  who  took  shelter  in  the  ark  escaped  the  waters  of  the  flood, 
in  like  manner  all  who  take  refuge  in  Mary's  bosom  will  surely 
be  saved  from  the  shipwreck  of  sin,  and  be  led  by  her  to  rest  in 
the  haven  of  everlasting  bliss.t  But  St.  Anselm  makes  use  of  a 
yet  more  striking  expression,  when  he  says  that  often  salvation 
is  more  speedily  attained  by  recourse  to  Mary  than  to  Jesus 
Himself.  J  Not — as  every  one  knows — that  she  can  save  by  her  own 
power,  but  through  the  power  of  her  Son,  Who,  to  honour  His 
Mother,  imparts  to  her  so  great  an  influence  :  just  as  the  moon 
illumines  the  earth,  not  with  its  own  light,  but  with  that  which  it  re 
ceives  from  the  sun.  But,  at  all  events,  it  is  plain  how  well  grounded 
is  the  hope,  nay,  even  the  moral  certainty,  of  salvation  possessed  by 
a  truly  devout  client  of  Mary,  who  is  assiduous  in  honouring  her 
by  the  practices  set  forth  above. 

481.  But  if  all  this  be  true  :  if  Our  Lady  be  so  compassionate, 
so  kind,  so  merciful  to  us,  and  so  anxious  for  our  eternal  welfare, 
how  comes  it  to  pass  that  so  few  of  the  faithful  who  number 
themselves  among  her  loving  subjects  can  be  accounted  the 
devout  clients  of  so  great  and  so  kind  a  Lady?  The  reason 
is,  that  they  do  not  meditate,  that  they  never  reflect  on  these 
qualities  \  or  at  least  (speaking  of  those  who  are  incapable  of 
meditation)  they  never  read  books  in  which  her  qualities  are 
set  forth.  For  if  every  Christian  would  even  occasionally  consider 
the  splendid  gifts  bestowed  on  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  reflect 

*  Sicut  beatissima  Virgo  pons  est,  per  quern  Deus  ad  homines  descendit ; 
ita  pons  est,  per  quern  homines  ascendunt  ad  Deum.  Serm.  de  Nativ. 
Domini. 

t  Area  Noe  significavit  excellentiam  Mariae.  Sicut  enim  per  illam  omnes 
evaserunt  diluvium,  sic  per  istam  peccati  naufragium.  Illam  Noe,  ut  diluvium 
evaderet,  fabricavit  :  istam  Christus,  ut  humanum  genus  redimeret,  prsepa- 
ravit.  Per  illam  octo  tantum  animse  salvantur  :  per  istam  omnes  ad  vitam 
aeternam  vocantur.  Serm.  de  B.  Maria. 

J  Velocior  est  nonnumquam  salus,  memorato  nomine  Marine,  quam  invocato 
nomine  Domini  Jesu.  Lib.  De  Excellent.  Virg.,  c.  6. 


MEANS  TO  GAIN  THIS  DEVOTION.  44, 

how  advantageous  to  them  the  favour  of  so  great  a  Queen  would 
be,  they  would  most  certainly  conceive  a  great  affection  for  her, 
and  wholly  devote  themselves  to  her  service.  And  hence,  as  we 
said  in  the  opening,  we  may  assign,  as  the  chief  means  of  acquiring 
devotion  to  Mary,  frequent  meditation  upon,  or,  at  least,  reading 
about,  the  great  prerogatives  and  sublime  gifts  with  which  she  is 
adorned. 

482.  I  cannot  refrain  from  relating  a  wonderful  event,  vouched 
by  grave  authors,  which  shows  practically  what  has  been  advanced 
by  the  saints  concerning  the  tenderness  of  Our  Lady,  and  the  care 
which  she  takes  of  our  salvation.*  In  the  year  1200,  a  certain  nun 
called  Beatrice,  of  attractive  appearance,  most  fervent  in  spirit, 
and  most  devout  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  began  to  grow  tepid  by 
neglecting  due  caution  at  the  grate  of  her  monastery,  in  which  she 
was  doorkeeper,  and  passing  from  one  fault  to  another,  from  one  sin 
to  another,  came  at  last  to  have  nothing  of  the  religious  character 
except  the  habit  which  she  wore,  and  even  this  she  determined 
to  cast  off,  and  to  flee  from  the  monastery  with  a  young  ecclesiastic  ; 
so  blinded  was  she  by  her  passion.  But  before  putting  into  exe 
cution  her  sacrilegious  plan,  she  went  to  an  image  of  Our  Lady, 
and  laid  at  her  feet  her  habit  and  her  keys.  "  Mary,"  said  she, 
"  though  I  leave  and  forsake  thee,  do  not  thou  forsake  me,  but  re 
member  the  homage  which  I  have  paid  thee  in  this  hallowed  place. 
Do  thou  take  care  of  these  holy  maidens  ;  be  thou  their  keeper. 
Adieu,  Mary,  I  leave  thee."  Having  said  this,  she  took  her  flight 
and  left  the  sacred  cloister.  Let  us  leave  for  awhile  this  mis 
guided  maiden ;  we  shall  soon  meet  with  her  again.  The  Blessed 
Virgin  took  a  form  like  that  of  Beatrice  in  every  point — in  ges 
ture,  figure,  stature,  complexion,  and  tone  of  voice  ;  insomuch  that 
between  her  and  the  real  Beatrice  no  difference  was  found,  except 
that,  while  the  latter  was  wholly  undisciplined  and  dissipated,  Our 
Lady,  under  the  semblance  of  Beatrice,  seemed  the  very  picture  of 
modesty  and  reserve.  To  render  the  likeness  the  more  complete, 
Our  Lady  dressed  herself  in  the  very  habit  Beatrice  had  cast  off, 
nung  the  keys  at  her  side,  and  began  to  do  duty  as  doorkeeper  in 
ner  stead.  The  community  knowing  nothing  of  so  great  a  prodigy, 

*  Miracul.,  Lib.  vij.,  cap.  35.     Theophilus  Rainaudus.  et  alii. 


442  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

nor  having  the  slightest  suspicion  of  anything  of  the  kind,  wondered 
at  the  sudden  amendment  in  the  conduct  of  Beatrice.  Who  could 
have  wrought  so  speedy  a  change  in  her  ?  Who  could  have  altered 
those  looks  which  were  so  free,  that  language  so  thoughtless,  that 
deportment  more  befitting  a  secular  than  a  Religious  ?  One  ac 
counted  for  all  this  change  in  one  way,  another  in  another.  But 
not  one  guessed  the  real  truth,  that  it  was  not  Beatrice  herself, 
but  the  Blessed  Virgin  who  had  assumed  the  appearance  of 
the  guilty  Religious.  Meanwhile,  what  befell  Beatrice?  She 
was  cast  off  by  her  companion  ;  and  being  ashamed  to  return 
to  her  monastery,  the  unhappy  woman  went  headlong  into  the 
abyss  of  sin,  leading  an  abandoned  life  for  fifteen  entire  years. 

483.  In  the  meantime,  she  chanced  to  hear  that  there  was  in 
her  monastery  a  nun  famed  for  great  sanctity,  who  was  called  by 
her  own  name.     Moved  by  curiosity  (God  so  disposing  it  for  her 
rescue),  she  resolved  to  go  in  disguise,  and  to  discover  who  this 
Religious  was  that  was  like  her  in  name,  -but  so  unlike  in  her 
course  of  life.     She  therefore  went  secretly,  reached  the  convent 
gate,  and  at  it  saw  a  nun  exactly  like  herself.     Beatrice  grew  pale 
at  the  sight,  and  was  unable  to  utter  a  syllable.     The  Blessed 
Virgin   was   the   first   to    break   silence.     "Do   you   know   me, 
Beatrice?"  said  she.— "No,"  replied   the   other  in   a   tremulous 
voice,    "I   do   not   know  you.J;— " Truly   spoken,"   replied  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  "  for  you  have  forgotten  both  me  and  my  Divine 
Son.     To  whom,  then,  did  you  leave  your  habit  and  the  convent 
keys   when   you   fled  from   this  holy  place?" — "To  the  Virgin 
Mary,"  replied  the  other,  astounded  at  the  question.—"  I  am  she," 
said  Our  Lady.     "  To  conceal  your  infamous  flight,  I  have  stayed 
fifteen  years  doing  your  work  in  this  place,  hidden  under  your 
likeness ;  and  while  you  were  leading  a  life  of  sin,  I  have  earned 
for  you  a  reputation  for  holiness.     Come  into  the  convent,  and 
do  penance  for  your  grievous  sins."     At  these  words  the  Blessed 
Virgin  disappeared,  leaving  behind  her  the  habit,  which  Beatrice 
resumed  at  once,  and  went  to  join  the  other  nuns.     Her  flight 
was  never  discovered,  so  perfect  was  the  resemblance  borne  to  her 
by  her  heavenly  Mother,  who  had  filled  her  place  during  the  whole 
of  her  absence.     She  did  severe  penance  for  her  faults;  and  at 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  443 

her  death  enjoined  her  Confessor  to  publish  this  wondrous  talc- 
to  the  glory  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

484-  This  relation  speaks  for  itself,  and  shows  what  is  the  tender 
ness,  the  loving-kindness  of  Mary,  what  her  anxiety  to  bring  back 
to  God,  and  to  place  in  safety  souls  that  have  strayed ;  since  she 
could  take  such  trouble  to  lead  back  to  the  fold  of  Christ  this  lost 
lamb,  as  even  to  assume  her  appearance,  and  to  remain  thus  for 
so  long  a  period  in  the  convent  from  which  the  unhappy  nun  had 
fled.  This  immense  mercy  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  this  great  kind 
ness,  and  her  concern  for  our  salvation,  should  be  frequently 
pondered  by  the  pious  reader,  who  should  also  meditate  on  her 
other  high  prerogatives ;  and  he  may  rest  assured  that  such  con 
siderations  will  help  him  to  conceive  a  high  esteem  of  her,  and 
to  acquire  that  tender  affection  which  will  make  him  ever  ready 
to  do  her  homage,  and  thus  raise  him  to  the  condition  of  her 
devout  client. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS   TO   DIRECTORS,    ON   THE   FOREGOING 
CHAPTERS. 

485.  FIRST  suggestion.  If  a  Director  really  be  desirous  that 
devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  should  enable  his  penitents  to 
attain  salvation  or  perfection,  he  must  take  care  that  all  the 
acts  of  piety  done  by  them  in  her  honour  be  directed  to  these 
objects.  I  say  this,  because  there  are  many  persons  who  say  long 
prayers  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  but  only  with  a  view  to  some  tem 
poral  interest,  or  at  least  without  much  concern  for  their  spiritual 
profit.  Such  as  these  fail  to  derive  from  this  devotion  the  saving 
effects  which  it  is  calculated  to  produce  ;  for,  although  it  be  true 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  ready  to  enrich  her  devout  clients  witli 
supernatural  gifts,  yet  she  wishes  to  be  entreated,  to  be  supplicated, 
and  sets  great  store  by  our  earnest  persevering  prayers,  our  long 
ings  and  tears.  Should  then  the  Director  find  that  his  penitent 


444  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

is  one  who  falls  into  deadly  sin,  he  must  order  him  to  direct  the 
various  penances  and  fasts  which  he  undertakes  in  honour  of 
Mary,  to  the  uprooting  of  his  evil  habit.  If  he  recite  the  Rosary, 
the  Office,  or  other  such  prayers,  he  must  be  commanded,  while 
reciting  the  words  with  his  lips,  in  his  heart  to  implore  deliver 
ance  from  his  vices.  The  penitent  will  thus  obtain  amendment 
of  life ;  for,  as  St.  Bernard  says,  the  Virgin  does  not  despise 
these  polluted  souls,  but  rather  glories  in  raising  them  from  the 
filth  of  their  sins,  provided  they  persevere  in  importuning  her  with 
constant  prayer.  "Thou,  O  tenderest  Mother,  shrinkest  not 
from  any  sinner,  however  loathsome ;  if  only  he  sigh  at  thy  feet, 
and  implore  thy  prayers,  thou  cherishest  and  protectest  him  until 
thou  hast  reconciled  him  with  the  Divine  Judge."* 

486.  But  if  the  penitent  be  free  from  all  deadly  sin,   and  be 
walking  in  the  path  of  perfection,  the  Director  must  take  notice  of 
what   virtues   are  wanting   to    him,    what   passions    and   defects 
most   hinder   his    spiritual   progress;    and   then  require  him,  in 
all  his  prayers  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  to  beg  for  the  extirpation  of 
the  latter,  and  the  acquisition  of  the  former ;  and  to  direct  to  this 
end  the  homage  which  he  daily  renders  to  her.     This  is  the  teach 
ing  of  the  mellifluous  Doctor  whom  we  lately  quoted.     He  says 
that  by  recommending  ourselves   to  Mar}7,  by  having  her  name 
ever  on  our  tongues,  ever  in  our  hearts,  we  shall    not  miss  the 
path  to  perfection,  but  reach  joyfully  the  end  proposed.t 

487.  Second  suggestion.     But  that  this  devotion  may  serve  as  a 
stay  to  the  frailty  of  such  as  are  still  liable  to  grievous  falls,  that 
it  may  enable  those  who  are  free  from  mortal  sin  to  avoid  delib 
erate  venial  faults,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  recommend  one's  self  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin  in  time  of  prayer  only,  but  further,  we  must  have 
a  prompt  recourse  to  her  whenever  the  danger  of  sin  arises.      For 
if  the  penitent  be  assailed  by  the  temptations  of  devils,  at  the 

*  Tu  peccatorem  quantumlibet  foedum  non  horres,  non  despicis,  si  ad  te 
suspiraverit,  tuumqiie  interventum  pcenitenti  corde  flagitaverit.  Tu  ilium  a 
desperationis  barathro,  pia  mater,  retrahis,  foves,  non  despicis,  quousque  hor- 
rendo  judici  miserum  reconcilies.  In  Deprecatione  ad  Virginem. 

f  Mariana  cogita,  Mariam  invoca  :  non  recedat  ab  ore,  non  recedat  a  corde. 
Ipsam  sequens  non  devias,  ipsam  cogitans  non  erras  :  ipscl  duce  non  fatigaris, 
ips&  propitia  pervenis.  Horn.  2,  Super  Missus. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS.  445 

invocation  of  Mary,  as  Bonaventure  tells  us,*  they  will  tremble 
and  be  put  to  flight.     "  If,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "thou  art  beset  by 
thine  own  passions,   there  is  no  more  powerful  remedy  against 
their  violence  than  to  have  recourse  to  Mary ;  if  thou  art  threat 
ened  with  drowning  by  the  billows  of  pride,  ambition  or  detraction, 
make  haste  and  call  upon  Mary.     If  the  bark  of  thy  soul  be  beaten 
with  the  waves  of  anger,  of  covetousness,  of  fleshly  lusts,  call 
upon  Mary.     If  shocked  at  the  enormity  of  thy  crimes,  thou  feel 
thyself  sinking  into  the  abyss  of  melancholy,  cast  thyself  at  once 
upon  the  bosom  of  Mary."t     The  Director   should   constantly 
inculcate  this  teaching  upon  his  penitents,  and  take  care  that  at 
the  first  outburst  of  passion,  at  the  first  onslaught  of  temptation, 
they  lift  up  their  hearts  to  Mary,  and  cry  to  her  for  aid  :  thus  they 
cannot  fail  to  be  secured  against  every  fall,  whether  mortal  or 
venial ;  for,  as  St.  John  Damascene  writes,  "  Mary  is  a  city  of 
refuge  which  gives  safety  to  all  who  flee  to  it."| 

488.  Third  suggestion.  If  the  Director  would  wish  these  acts 
of  recourse  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  be  effectual  for  removing 
defects  and  implanting  virtues,  let  him  take  care  that  they  be 
made  in  that  fulness  of  trust  which  a  child  has  for  the  mother 
in  whose  tenderness  he  has  confidence ;  for  besides  the  encour 
agement  which  such  hope  gives  to  fight  manfully  and  to  act  stren 
uously,  such  prayers  will  be  of  greater  avail  to  obtain  assistance 
from  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  as  nothing  is  so  capable  as  lively  faith 
of  prevailing  with  the  Heart  of  God  and  that  of  His  Blessed 
Mother.  The  Confessor  will  therefore  strive  to  impress  his  peni 
tents  with  a  strong  conviction,  that,  in  Mary's  bosom,  as  St.  Bernard 
ssures  us,  all  may  find  refuge,  remedy,  healing,  comfort ;  grace, 
forgiveness,  and  life  everlasting.  § 

*  Ab  invocatione  nominis  tui  trepidat  spiritus  malignus.     In  Psalterio. 

f  Si  jactaris  superbise  undis,  si  ambitionis,  si  detractionis,  si  simulationis, 
Mariam  invoca.  Si  iracundia,  aut  avaritia,  aut  carnis  illecebra  naviculum  cona- 
cusserit  mentis,  respice  Mariam.  Si  criminum  immanitate  iurbatus,  barathro 
coeperis  absorbed  tristitias,  cogita  Mariam.  Super  Missus,  Horn.  2. 

£  Mariam  evasisse  civitatem  refugii  omnibus  confugientibus  ad  earn.  Orat 
de  Dormit. 

§  Captivus  redemptionem,  seger  curationem,  tristis  consolationem,  justut 
gi-aUam,  et  peccator  veniam.  De  Virg.  Maria,  Super  verba  Apocal. 


446  GUIDE  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

489.  Fourth  suggestion.  Above  all  things,  the  Director  must 
be  careful  to  caution  his  penitents  never  to  omit  the  pious  prac 
tices  which,  by  his  advice,  they  have  adopted  in  honour  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  There  are  some  who,  on  falling  into  sin,  lose 
heart,  and  omit  their  customary  prayers,  thinking  that  these  arc 
no  longer  acceptable  to  our  Blessed  Lady.  The  Director  must 
undeceive  these  persons,  for  if  they  offer  up  prayers  for  their  own 
conversion,  such  prayers  will  be  most  pleasing  to  Mary,  who, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  with  her  own  lips  told  St.  Bridget,  "  I 
am  the  Mother  of  all  sinners  who  wish  to  amend."* 

Let  the  sinner  remember  too,  what  befell  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
who  saw  the  Virgin  distribute  to  his  companions  a  nectar  of  Para 
dise,  while  on  coming  to  him,  she  looked  at  him  coldly,  and  passed 
on  without  bestowing  upon  him  the  like  favour  :  the  reason  was 
that  he  had  omitted  some  of  his  accustomed  prayers  in  her  honour. 
Nothing  is  so  pleasing  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  fidelity  and  con 
stancy  in  the  honour  which  we  render  to  her. 

*  Ego  sum  mater  omnium  peccatorum  se  emendare  volentium. 


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