How to walk before God, or, The holy exercise of the presence of God

i To WALK BEFORE GOD

VAUBERT

k

HOW TO WALK BEFORE GOD

OR

THK HOLY EXERCISE

OF THE

PRESENCE OF GOD.

IN THREE PARTS.

/?*

Translated from the French

OF

T. F. VAUBERT:
OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS,

REVISED EDITION.

Ambula coram me et esto perfectus.
Walk before me, and be perfect.

Genesis, xvii, 1.

B. HERDER
17 SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. Louis, Mo.

AND

68, GREAT RUSSELL ST., LONDON, W. C.
COL11917

BI8. MAJOR
TUKUiYIO

N1HIL OBSTAT.
Sti. Ludovici, die 1. Sept. 1910.

F. G. HOLWECK,

Censor Theologians.

IMPRIMATUR.
Sti. Ludovici, die 1. Sept. 1910.

>J« JOANNES J. GLENNON,

Archiepiscopus Sti. Liidovici.

-BECKTOLD-

PRINTING AND BOOK MFG. CO.
ST. LOUIS, MO.

TO THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,

THAT HEART FULL OF GRACE,
THE DELIGHT OF THE HOLY TRINITY,

THE PALACE OF DIVINE LOVE,

THE MODEL OF THE INTERIOR LIFE,

THE SEAT OF ALL VIRTUES,

"THE GOLDEN ALTAR,"

WHENCE CONTINUALLY ASCENDS THE

INCENSE OF THE PUREST PRAISE,

IS THIS TRANSLATION

MOST HUMBLY DEDICATED,

BY THE LAST AND LEAST WORTHY OF

HER SERVANTS.

PREFACE.

The following little treatise on the
manner of exercising the presence of
God, selected from three authors greatly
esteemed for their piety , will, it is hoped,
be found very useful to such as desire
to be instructed in their obligations re
garding this holy practice, whatever be
their state or condition, as well as to
those who are charged by their ministry
to teach and instruct them. Without a
lively sense of the divine presence the
mind languishes in the meditation of
truths the most essential and affecting.
A lively conviction of the presence of
God is the soul of all good works.

vi. Preface.

Without it the Christian, like the hypo
critical Jew, honors God with his lips
whilst his heart is far from Him, and
thus, so far from drawing down, by the
holy exercise of prayer, some drops of
the celestial dew of grace, he therein
experiences disgust and dissatisfaction.

Whence comes it that the Royal
Prophet prays with so much fervor, and
that the Holy Ghost has instructed so
many by the truths contained in his
psalms, but because he had God always
present, I have, said he, God ever be
fore my eyes. (Ps. xv. 8.) It is the
exercise of the divine presence which
has formed so many holy bishops and
confessors, so many solitaries and re
cluses, and sanctified so many others in
all the bustle of active life ; it was what
made holy Job tremble, and rendered

Preface. vii.

him so circumspect in all he did. I
feared all my works, said he.

Meditate on this great truth, Christian
soul ; it is, alas ! one that is too little
attended to. To the shame of our age
be it said, we live as if the all-seeing
eye of the Omnipotent were closed upon
our ways. Let your faith, on the con
trary, be practical ; by exercising it
you will soon learn its advantages, and
your advancement in piety and devotion
will be so evident as to convince all that
he who walks before God will assuredly
become perfect. (Gen. xvii. 1.)

THE HOLY EXERCISE

OK QOD.

PART I.

CHAPTEK I.

God every where present.
God is every where present. He is
in Heaven, on the throne of His glory,
where He forms the delight of the
blessed; He is on earth, not only by
His knowledge of what passes there, or
as the sun by his rays and influences, or
as a king who is in every part of his do
minions at one and the same moment by
his authority, as some have erroneously
imagined; but He is there by His es
sence, by His presence, by His power ;
ruling, preserving, governing all things.
To this divine truth the greater part of
Christians pay little or no attention.

iO Presence of God.

Children are taught in their infancy —
it is one of the first truths to be met in
the Christian doctrine ; but as they re
peat it without understanding it, it
makes no impression on their minds,
and has no influence on their after con
duct.

The prophet Jeremy, at the dictation
of the Holy Ghost, declares to us that
the Lord fills Heaven and earth. His
immensity being essentially without lim
its, it follows, by a necessary conse
quence, that His being is intimately
present in all beings — that is, that there
is nothing between God and them ; that
He absorbs us in Himself, environs us,
fills us, is more intimately united to us
than we are to ourselves ; that we are
in Him, that we live in Him, that we
perform all our actions in Him. As St.
Paul says, "The Lord is not far from
any one of us, for in Him we live, move
and have our being." (Actsxvii. 28.)
Oh, how little is this consoling truth

Presence of God. 11

known, how few reflect on it. With
what reason might we not reproach
Christians, as St. John the Baptist re
proached the Jews — "There is one in
the midst of you whom you know not,"
and whose presence you forget to honor
and reverence, infinitely adorable though
it be. ( John i. 26.)

Convinced of our blindness, let us
humbly ask of God, with the blind man
in the gospel, to enlighten us: Lord,
grant that I may see. (Luke xviii. 41.)
Let us say with the Psalmist, where
shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy face? If I ascend
to Heaven, thou art there ; if I descend
to Hell, thou art there also. (Ps.
cxxxviii. 7.) As the birds wherever
they fly meet the air, and as the fishes
wheresoever they swim meet the water,
so whithersoever we go we continually
find God, and find him, as St. Augustine
says, more present to us than we are to
ourselves.

12 Presence of God.

CHAPTER II.

God is every where with all His Greatness.

God, being infinitely perfect, is not
composed of parts ; He is incapable of
division, and, therefore, must be entire
in every place. If whole and entire in
all places, He is in all places with His
divine perfections in all their excellence.
In the least grain of sand as in the
highest heaven, He is no less adorable,
no less worthy of our respect and praise.
His presence, then, demands our atten
tion in all places ; His greatness de
serves our praise, His omnipotence our
respect, His beauty our admiration, His
goodness our love, His mercy our confi
dence, His liberality our gratitude, His
justice our fear, His providence an en
tire abandonment of ourselves into His
adorable hands. It is this last sacred
attribute that particularly claims our
homage. In effect how is it possible
not to confide in this Divine Providence

Presence of God. 13

since God permits, nay wishes, us to re
gard Him as a Father, whose love
infinitely surpasses that of all the fathers
and mothers on earth put together: A
father infinitely rich in mercies, always
ready to forget our sins when we detest
them, always present in our wants,
overwhelming with His benefits those
who fear Him ; covering them with His
wings as an eagle does her young,
writing them in His hands (Isaiah xlix.
16,) and keeping an account even of
the number of the hairs of their head.
(Luke xii. 7.) How happy should we
be, if our eyes were opened to so many
wonders, and if, profiting by the light
of faith, we were every where, and par
ticularly within ourselves, contemplat
ing the three divine persons of the Ador
able Trinity, with all their glory and
wonderful attributes. The earth would
then become a paradise, and nothing
would be capable of disturbing our
repose ; even amid the strangest events

14 Presence of God.

and unforeseen accidents we should still
remain in peace, conscious of being sur
rounded on all sides by the power
and goodness of an Omnipotent God,
to whom all creatures on earth and in
hell are subject and equally bound to
obey.

CHAPTER III.

God being every where, we should remember His
Divine presence in all places and at all times.

If it be the property of great and won
derful things so to attract our attention
and occupy our minds that extreme vio
lence would be necessary to withdraw
our attention from them, how is it pos
sible that we think so seldom of God,
before whom honor is but a phantom,
and beauty but a name? How can it be
that this divine being, who during all
eternity will be the admiration of the
blessed, should be thus consigned to
forgetfulness and every where entirely
forgotten. O blindness of the human

Presence of God. 16

mind, how incomprehensible thou art!
Entirely occupied with the earth, we
seek all our support in creatures ; God
alone is neglected. Though near, He is
not seen ; we think as little of Him as
if every thing were in our power and
that nothing depended on him.

The great St. Theresa, a seraphic
soul, penetrated deeply with a sense of
the divine greatness, declared that after
having contemplated the majesty of
God the most perfect creatures appeared
in her eyes as so many atoms, and that
she was covered with confusion at the
idea that she could still occupy her
mind with, and was yet in danger of
fixing her affections on them.

If we reflect on the occupation of the
greater part of mankind, we shall find
that it is confined to earthly things:
houses, gardens, lands, horses, fnrniture
equipage, dress, honors, pleasures, and
other temporal things take up all their
attention. It would seem, as St. Augus-

{6 Presence of God.

•

tine says, that man is become all flesh,
for he thinks of nothing but what falls
under the observation of his senses.
He passes all his life, alas ! in the for-
getfulness of a God present, who alone
can constitute his happiness, and who
alone deserves the thoughts of his mind
and the affections of his heart. Strange
corruption ! unfortunate blindness !
which, withdrawing man from his princi
pal and only duty , enslaves him to sensible
things. Infamous dominition of the an
imal part, which, abasing man below
the brutes, renders him the most unfor
tunate and contemptible of all God's
creatures.

Can we be amazed, that after these
reflections a person should joyfully pre
fer solitude, which affords him the
peaceful enjoyment of the company of
the three Divine Persons of the most
Holy Trinity, to the most agreeable
earthly society, in which he can scarce
ly have a single word or idea of spiritual

Presence of God. 17

things ! This is what formerly peopled
the deserts with anchorets and the mon
asteries with religious. Having no other
company, no other pleasure than God
alone, they possessed that solid peace of
which the world is ignorant, and thus,
leading an angelic life, already tasted
by anticipation the delights of Paradise.
Let no one, then, complain of loneli
ness, since we have, in all places, that
divine company which constitutes the
bliss of the elect. Oh, that religious
persons thought of this truth ! their sol
itude would no longer appear weari
some ; on the contrary, they would
regard it as one of the truest sources
of their happiness. Oh, that the poor
and abandoned would reflect thereon!
it would afford them the truest consola
tion. Oh, that all persons recognized
this gift of God! they would soon
clearly see how easy it is to dispense
with the creature when we have the

Creator.

2

18 Presence of God.

If we but knew the honor conferred
on us by being allowed to entertain our
selves with the Divine Majesty, there is
nothing which we would not do to enjoy
so divine a gift. A soul enlightened by
the spirit of God clearly sees that to
enjoy this happiness but for a single
moment, it would not be too much to
labor and suffer during her whole life.
We can enjoy this inestimable honor
whensoever we please, yet we slight
and neglect it. Woe to us if we make
of it such small account. Woe to thee,
O world, which, having God present
every where, in thy blindness regardest
Him no where ; who art wearied with
His blessed remembrance, and tired with
the least word which is said of Him,
preferring to Him the vilest interest and
the most contemptible pleasure.

But whence does this deplorable
blindness proceed, if not from attach
ment to earthly things ; or because the
eyes of the soul, being obscured by sin,

Presence of God. 19

are incapable of beholding the divine
light, and of contemplating spiritual
things. Oh, "blessed are the clean of
heart," for they shall see God. It is
to such He manifests himself with
such indescribable love ; it is on such
He confers the favor of His divine
presence.

Purity of heart is, indeed, the best
disposition for obtaining this precious
gift; for though it be true that those
who seek God sincerely will find Him,
and hence, that those who, from time to
time, apply themselves to the practice
of His divine presence, will gradually,
with His holy aid, acquire a habit of it,
yet it is certain that He will manifest
Himself much more perfectly to those
who serve Him by a perfect renuncia
tion of the world, themselves and all
things else.

20 Presence of God.

CHAPTER IV.

God being present every where, demands in all
places our interior and exterior homage.

Let us learn from the adorable Jesus,
our divine master and model, what re
spect we should render to the supreme
majesty of God. This blessed Lord,
who is equal to His Father, desires, in
consequence of the profound respect He
entertains for Him, to annihilate Him
self before him in the adorable Euchar
ist. Now, if He who is all, reduce
Himself to such a state of abjection, to
what should the creature, which is noth
ing, reduce itself? Poor mortals as we
are, shall there be henceforth anything
too humbling for us ; or rather, shall we
be able to find sufficient means to hum
ble ourselves? It is no wonder that the
saints have always lived in a spirit of
sacrifice ; that they have made them
selves living victims, immolating them
selves continually to the greatness of
God, by the destruction of their pas-

Presence of God. 21

sions, their self-will and self-love ; that
they have endeavored to avoid the atten
tion of men, and to have no part in their
esteem or friendship, believing that it
would be criminal to enter into compe
tition with God, by dividing with him
those minds and hearts which should be
occupied only with him. It is extraor
dinary what means this sentiment in
duced them to adopt in order to be hid
den from the creature and forgotten by
men.

The interior respect which we owe
the divine presence i-s a state of perpet
ual annihilation, which induces us to
sacrifice continually to God all that we
do, all that we suffer, and in fine, all
that we are, and all that we may be,
with regard to the rest of the world. In
this state, regarding self no longer, one
sees but God, and does all the good
the divine majesty requires ; then the
ways which conduct to Him, and which
in the beginning appear most difficult,

22 Presence of God.

become smooth, and the heart, being
lightened, runs, as it were, *'in the
path of perfection." (Ps. cxviii. 32.)

Moreover, a person not only does
good, but he does it in a manner exempt
from an infinity of defects, which often
destroy the merits of our best actions,
while we are feeding ourselves with the
notion of having done wonders and
made a great progress in virtue. The
presence of God sanctifies our most 'in
different actions, as eating, drinking,
sleeping, necessary recreation, and
makes the Christian act as a Christian
in all cases, being always animated by
supernatural motives.

As to the exterior respect we should
render to the adorable presence of God,
it is easy to conceive a just idea of it
when we are persuaded that He sees us
and attentively observes all our actions.
If the presence of the great ones of the
world, who are as nothing before God,
inspires us with respect; if those who

Presence of . God. 23

are toying and amusing themselves, in
stantly cease and regulate their exterior
at the appearance of a person of quality,
is there any place or any occasion
in which our exterior should not be
modest and respectful, since God is
more intimately present to us in all
places than we are to ourselves. This
is what induced St. Paul to exhort us
to great modesty, "Let your modesty
be known to all men," said he, "for
the Lord is nigh." (Philip iv. 5. ) The
illustrious Bishop of Bellay, John de
Camius, relates that having often
watched St. Francis de Sales in his
chamber, to see how he acted when alone,
he always observed the greatest modesty
and decorum in the holy prelate, because
he never lost sight of the majesty of
God.

As Christians, we are bound to imi
tate him. Animated by faith in this
holy truth, we should put on the new
man, separate our hearts from earthly

24 Presence of God.

things, and live in a continual attention
and application to God, as far as is con
sistent with our weakness. We should,
as the Apostle says, live as children of
light, and not as children of darkness,
whose obscurity proceeds from their
ignorance of divine things and this want
of attention to the divine presence.
(Eph. v. 8.)

He who does evil, says our blessed
Lord, shuns the light — that is, he turns
away from the remembrance of the
presence of God, lest in its brightness
he should perceive his own shame ; but
those who walk in the divine presence
do not act so, for they never do any
thing when alone which they would
fear to do before the greatest personage
on earth. If they speak, it is like per
sons who are heard by God; if they
walk, or eat, or drink, it is as becomes
those who are seen by God. In every
place and time they observe a Christian
moderation, and avoid the least excess ;

Presence of God. 25

they take recreation as children before
a good and infinitely perfect parent who
requires them to imitate Him. David,
in the midst of the embarrassments at
tendant on his kingly dignity, says that
his "eyes were always on the Lord,"
that he had Him always in his sight.
(Ps. xxiv. 15.) The idea of the pres
ence of God, has made so deep an im
pression on some enlightened souls,
that they have been often found pros
trate when alone and almost annihilated
before His supreme greatness. The holy
Baron de Renty and Gregory Lopez,
went continually with their heads bare,
sometimes exposed to rain and sun,
through respect for the divine pres
ence.

But the principal effect which this di
vine truth should produce, in us is to de
ter us from committing sin. O that our
faith in it were but sufficiently anima
ted ; nothing could be more efficacious
in preventing us from falling into sin

26 Presence of God.

than this great truth, GOD CONTINUALLY
BEHOLDS us. What is most surprising
of all is, that the sinner not only com
mits sin in the presence of God, but
even in God himself, His immensity
filling all things. Several holy persons
say that God is more present in us than
our own soul — that it is in Him we live,
move and have our being ; and if this
be so, and that He is the principle of our
every movement, it follows that when
we sin, we, by an execrable audacity,
take advantage of the concurrence of
our Creator, to offend and outrage Him
by the bad use of the faculties, whether
of mind or body, He has given us. Af
ter such a horrible atrocity we should
cease to wonder that sin is punished
with eternal flames.

It is an incontestable truth that God
beholds us as attentively as if we were
alone in the universe. He weighs our
least thoughts, our slightest words and
actions, and yet there are many of them

Presence of God. 27

that we would blush to have known to
the humblest individual on earth. With
much more reason should we be
ashamed of their being known to this
Divine Being. St. Theresa assures us
that she was seized with such fear and
terror when she reflected on the fright
ful appearance a soul in sin made in
the presence of God that it almost de
prived her of life. Oh that all were
filled with her sentiments !

CHAPTER V.

God being every where present, every where de
mands our love.

As God's being is a consuming fire,
according to St. Paul (Heb. xii. 29),
and charity itself, according to the be
loved disciple (John iv. 16), and as this
Divine Being fills all things and is more
present within us than we are to our
selves, it follows that we are surround
ed by Him on all sides, that we live in

28 Presence of God.

love itself. How comes it, then, to pass
that we are so cold, that we have an im
mense fire within us, and yet do not
burn? If we considered deeply these
words of our Divine Master, "I am
come to cast fire upon earth, and what
will I but that it be kindled" (Luke xii.
49) ; if we entered into the designs of this
God of love, we would neither labor for
nor think of aught, but how to increase
this conflagration, and to light up this
divine fire where it does not yet burn.
Such would be the object of our most
ardent desires. Yes, we could not
avoid crying out, according to the ex
ample of a certain saint, Let us love,
let us truly love this God alone in three
persons. Let us, then, love God alone,
whatever happens, and whatever it may
cost us, and let us not be so unfortunate
as to divide our hearts and affections.
Let us love him in all His creatures, in
all our actions, in all our sufferings, in
all that we are ; let us love Him unceas-

Presence of God. 29

ingly, in all places and times, during
our life, and at our death, that lov
ing him may be our occupation for eter
nity.

He who loves God possesses Him,
and, consequently, enjoys a sovereign
and infinite God, which renders him
perfectly happy, though he were the
poorest and most abandoned of men,
and loaded with all kinds of misery.
We ought to reflect profoundly that God
is the element of our souls, that He is
the divine place of their habitation ; be
cause immediately proceeding from God
as their principle, they tend toward Him
as to their centre and end. A fish
would perish if taken out of its element,
though it were placed in a basin of gold,
ornamented with precious stones ; so
will man, if he seeks out of God his
consolation and repose.

May the Lord be blessed for giving
us a knowledge of these truths. The
royal Prophet says he set the Lord al-

30 Presence of God.

ways before him, and that, therefore,
his "heart was glad," his "tongue
sang for joy," and, moreover, his "flesh
reposed in hope." (Ps. xv. 9.) And
afterwards he adds, that this is the way
of life, that "the sight of God fills" him
"with joy," and that "the delights it
inspires have no end." (Ps. xv. ii.)
Oh, how delightful, how glorious to
preserve one's self continually in the
presence of so good a Master.

A PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY
TRINITY.

O my God! Father, Son and Holy
Ghost, who penetrate our hearts, who
fill the universe by the immensity of
your being, and bear us in your bosom,
as the most tender of parents; spirit
infinitely perfect, first principle of all
things, in whom and by whom I exist,
who are my centre and my only support,
how blind have I not been in living so

Presence of God. 31

long without scarcely thinking of you,
although continually in the presence of
your Divine Majesty. You were in all
the places in which I was, O Lord ;
you heard all my words, you witnessed
all my actions, you penetrated my most
secret thoughts, you saw my heart, and
I reflected not thereon. I walked, I
spoke, I acted, I did all those things
without remembering you, without a
feeling of respecter love for you, as if I
had not known, or had forgotten that
you had given me a soul which can, at
all times and at all places, enjoy you in
secret by tending to you alone, and by
giving to external occupations only the
attention which it can not refuse them.
What a happiness is not this, my God !
but how little is it known by the greater
part of men. So much occupied and
denied are they by their affection to crea
tures that there is no place left for you
in their minds or hearts. For my part,
O my adorable Creator, I shall render

32 Presence of God.

you henceforward the love and respect
which I owe you, and will apply myself
seriously to the practice of your holy
presence. I desire to renounce this
sensual, carnal, exterior life, in order to
live the life of the spirit — that interior,
supernatural and all divine life which
your blessed Son came to communicate
to men. Through His merits grant
this grace to me, and to all who shall
employ the means laid down for that
purpose in this work, that being by
them filled with your grace and spirit
here, we may one day glorify you in
Him and by Him in heaven. Amen.

Presence of God.

PART II.

CHAPTER I.

In what the exercise of the presence of God consists.

The holy exercise of the presence of
God, so much recommended by the
Sacred Scriptures and by the Fathers of
the Church, consists in a simple but
affectionate remembrance of God pres
ent within us. I say a simple idea or re
membrance, for it does not require any
representation or image, any reasoning
or effort of the mind, or labor of the
imagination, which might injure the
head or cause other inconvenience. So
far from this view of God being a hin
drance to our occupations, it must, on
the contrary, render them more easy
and more agreeable, as would the pres
ence of a good father, a kind friend, a
beneficent king, for whom we would be

obliged to labor, and whom alone we
3

34 Presence of God.

would wish to please. And, then, since
as Christians we should do all, even
our most indifferent actions, for God,
and as nothing can be done worthy of
Him, or which can merit heaven, with
out a particular grace, why is it that,
knowing that God continually beholds
us and is always ready to succor us, we
are so slothful or so negligent as not to
interrupt for some moments, our com
merce with creatures to turn our minds
to Him, and thus, insensibly acquire,
like many holy souls, a facility in walk
ing always in his presence, without
being distracted from it by the most em
barrassing occupations?

This remembrance of God is not only
simple, but amorous and affectionate ;
not because it consists in forming par
ticular acts of love of God, but because
it is. always accompanied with a secret
desire to please Him, to adore Him, to
serve Him, which is nothing else, after
all, but a mark of our love and of our anx-

Presence of God. 35

iety to unite and to attach ourselves to
Him ; and, also, with a resolute will to
remain so faithful to Him as to be able
to say with the apostle, "Neither trib
ulation, nor distress, nor famine nor per
secution shall ever separate me from
the charity of Christ." (Rom. viii.
35.)

1. We have said, in the definition
of this exercise, that it was a simple
remembrance of God present within us ;
not that we may not consider Him as
present in all places, but because to
regard Him as present within ourselves
induces more recollection and has been
greatly esteemed by many saints.

2. The exercise of the presence of
God is, also, a simple regard which
elevates, applies and unites us to God.
St. Paul expresses it in these terms,
"our conversation is in heaven." (Phil,
iii. 20.) This regard or this look upon
God, should be accompanied with
peace and sweetness, the ordinary effect

36 Presence of God.

of our confidence in the goodness of
this amiable Father, ever attentive to our
necessities. So far, then, from employ
ing in this exercise a violent applica
tion, which would only render it diffi
cult, it suffices to cast the eye of the
soul frequently on this adorable object,
in humble hope that He himself will
render our attention to Him continual ;
and, after having done what depends on
us, to turn to him gently from time
to time, saying in ourselves, O my
soul, how hast thou been able to remain
so long without thinking of God !

3. The exercise of the presence of
God is, also, a secret invocation of His
help and assistance. We might say it
consists in often recurring to God, to
induce Him to act with us, to fill us
with His spirit, to be our light in dark
ness, our strength in weakness, our con
solation in trouble, our all in all, saying
with the royal Prophet, «'O God, in
cline unto my aid ; O Lord, make haste

Presence of God. 37

to help me." (Ps. Ixix.) This holy
being, as he tells us, sought in God
what the world unsuccessfully seeks in
creatures: "I set the Lord always in
my sight,'' says he, "for He is at my
right hand that I be not moved. There
fore my heart hath been glad, and my
tongue hath rejoiced; moreover, my
flesh also, shall rest in hope." (Ps.
xv. 8, 9.)

4. The exercise of the presence of
God is, again, a respectful silence be
fore the majesty of a God present, so
that, penetrated with the sentiments of
the same holy prophet, we exclaim,
"Lord, I am as nothing before thee."
(Ps. xxxvi. 7.) At other times the soul
holds itself in that profound silence be
fore God which St. Dionysius says is
the praise most suited to His infinite
majesty. It was the practice of this
great saint, in his most intense ardors,
as well as of other eminent servants of
God, having no words to testify their

38 Presence of God.

gratitude, or to express what they saw of
the greatness of God, to content them
selves with admiring and adoring it,
in the disposition to do all they could to
acknowledge His goodness, and thus
enter into that profound annihilation in
His divine presence which was a true
and real sacrifice of their minds and
hearts. Such is that interior worship,
that adoration "in spirit and truth,"
which our Lord speaks of in St. John
(iv. 24) ; this respectful silence being
nothing but the calm of the mind and
heart from that agitation to which the
greater part of Christians are never
more subject than in time of prayer,
and from which they cannot be freed
without the practice of the divine pres
ence.

What an error, then, is it not to make
devotion consist in a multitude of pray
ers, often recited without attention to
what we say, or to whom we speak,
and without listening to what He

Presence of God. 39

speaks in us. St. Theresa says it is a
great mistake, and that we lose consid
erable in being so anxious to say much
to God as to neglect hearkening to what
he says to us. "Do you think," says
she, "that God is silent when we speak
to Him?" No, indeed. He speaks to
our hearts every time that we address
Him from our hearts.

St. Augustine thus explains this com
munication between God and us. The
eternal Word and the soul have their
particular language, by means of which
they hold mutual intercourse. The lan
guage of the Word is that goodness
which induces Him to communicate
Himself to the soul who speaks to
Him. The language of the soul is that
desire and that fervor which leads her
to speak to and hear God. All this is
effected in an admirable manner, and
almost instantaneously, by its respectful
silence.

5. The exercise of the presence of

40 Presence of God.

God is, moreover, an interior abandon
ment which the soul makes of itself
and its interests to the good pleasure of
this Sovereign Master, in whom she
places all her confidence, saying with
David, "my lots, O Lord, are in thy
hands." (Ps. xxx. 16.)

We are convinced by faith that we
are always in the hands of God, the
apostle having said that "it is in Him
we live, move and have our being,"
&c. (Acts xvii. 28) ; and our Lord
having declared that without His
knowledge not a single hair falls from
our head (Luke xxi. 18) ; yet we live
as if we depended solely on ourselves,
and, by a detestable ingratitude, we
pass almost our whole life without
thinking of that 'providential hand
from which we receive so many gifts.

The exercise of which we speak Is
the remedy for this evil. A soul who
remembers the presence of God is full
of gratitude and confidence, and offers

Presence of God. 41

herself unceasingly to God, with all her
interests and concerns, by this single
word which she pronounces interiorly.
All is yours, my God ; I wish for noth
ing but you ; you are my treasure and
my all ; or by any other words which
grace inspires ; and little as this seems,
it helps to withdraw her from creatures
and makes her repose in God.

6. The exercise of the presence of
God may also be said to consist in a
perfect submission of will to His, as
our Lord himself teaches us in this
petition of His own prayer, "Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven."
(Luke xxii. 42). One such act can re
call a soul from its wanderings among
creatures, and subject and elevate it to
God, provided it be faithful enough to
repeat it as often as He inspires ; and
thus we may insensibly acquire the
happy disposition of doing without
pain the will of God in all things.

7. In fine, the exercise of the pres-

42 Presence of God.

ence of God may he termed a supple
ment to the sight of God, and it should
produce in the soul who practices it
something like to what the vision of
God produces in the blessed. O my
Lord and my God, what a consolation
would it not be for us in our exile if we
thought of you. And if, like Cain, we
are fugitives from your presence and
exiles from your heart, what reason
have we not to fear, lest we become the
prey of our passions, which are our
most dangerous enemies.

But those who are faithful to this
holy exercise do not content themselves
with merely regarding God, they apply
themselves carefully to hear His orders,
in order to execute them like the holy
Psalmist, who says, "To thee have I
lifted up my eyes who dwellest in the
heavens. As the eyes of the servants
are on the hands of their masters, so
are our eyes to our Lord God, until He
have mercy on us." (Ps. cxxiii.)

Presence of God. 43

Among the foregoing ideas of this
holy exercise each one can select that
which suits him best, and attach him
self to its practice with perseverance,
despite of the difficulties which he may
meet at the outset. It should be re
marked, according to F. Gonnelieu, of
our Society, there is a presence of God
for the mind, and another for the heart,
as David says, "My heart, O Lord,
hath spoken to you, my spirit hath
sought 3rou."

The presence of God for the mind is
an actual, reiterated and continued view
of God, looking upon and residing
within us, which view animates us to
regulate the movements of our hearts,
to vanquish our passions, repress our
humor, purify our intentions, and sepa
rate ourselves from all that can remove
us from God. It is a recollection of
the mind in God which attracts His
graces and benefits, supports us in
temptations, consoles us in afflictions,

44 Presence of God.

renders our actions supernatural, our
days full of merits, and our life worthy
of God.

This holy practice is the proper em
ployment of a Christian, except love in
God and for God ; according to St.
Augustine, he can no more live a super
natural life than his body could live a
natural one without respiration. Hence,
it is plain that a general act of the divine
presence, formed in the morning, does
not continue except it be frequently re
newed, the lightness of our minds and
the inclination of our hearts being
proofs sufficiently strong of the facility
with which we may pass from seeking
God to seeking ourselves, and from
ourselves to our passions.

But, to resume our definition of the
presence of God for the mind, it is an
attending to the designs of God, to en
ter on them with courage ; to His de
sires, to content them with eagerness ;
to His graces, to correspond to them

Presence of God. 45

with fidelity. It is a forgetfulness of
all that has no reference to God, a
separation from all that gratifies the
heart and the senses against the com
mands of God, a continual death to all
human and irregular satisfactions; to
find no pleasures but in what pleases
God, as David says: "My soul refused
to be comforted ; I remembered God
and was delighted." (Ps. Ixxvi. 4.)
It is an interior homage which the mind
renders to God, a divine commerce
which enriches us with the gifts of His
grace and obtains for us those of His
glory; which, by uniting us to God,
renders us participators in His pleni
tude, makes His love our ruling pas
sion, and, in fine, makes us act in lov
ing, and love in acting, and makes us
die as we have lived, in thinking of and
loving God.

That Christian who has forgotten his
Creator and his Saviour during his life
must find himself in a lamentable state

46 Presence of God.

at death. It is a frightful thing to ap
pear before a God whom he has little
known and scarcely at all loved. Pre
serve me, O Lord, from this misfortune.
No, I shall never be tired of renewing
the remembrance of your adorable pres
ence, in order to elevate myself to you
by confidence, and to attach myself to
you by love.

But the presence of God in the mind
is not enough ; the heart must be fixed
and riveted in Him by perpetually tend
ing to Him, and by constant vigilance in
obeying and loving Him. This is that
continual prayer recommended in the
Gospel, for we can not be always actu
ally thinking of or speaking to God,
but we can, and we should hold our
hearts always turned toward Him, by a
constant will to please and love Him.
To do always what He wishes, to enter
into all His designs, to make His good
pleasure a law to one's self, is to pray
always, to love always, to preserve al-

Presence of God. . 47

ways the presence of God. But as we
have said that the presence of God to
the mind must be often renewed, so
also must this of the heart ; otherwise,
it would soon be diverted from him by
the artifices of self-love.

After all, this tendency of the heart
to God is the more necessary, as it
alone helps to fix the mind in Him.
The reason why we think so rarely of
this divine Being is because we have
him so seldom present to our minds,
and that our hearts are empty of Him
and attached to creatures. As Magda
len did not allow herself to be so taken
with the dazzling appearance of the
angels who appeared at the sepulchre
as to give up the search of "Him whom
her soul loved," so a heart which sin
cerely tends to God stops not, nor
attaches itself to any thing created —
nothing supplying to it in any degree
the place of God.

The fire of divine love is ever in mo-

48 Presence of God.

tion, always carrying the heart toward
heaven, purifying it from its irregular
attachments, and disposing it to enter
into the possession of the heart of God
Himself ; hence the necessity of light
ing up this sacred fire every morning,
and of nourishing it during the day by
frequent elevations of the soul, never
suffering it to be extinguished by sin, or
cooled by negligence or tepidity. By
this means, the heart, ceasing to be it
self, feels transported into God, and
continues under the empire of His good
pleasure. If a person perceive that he
has withdrawn himself from this holy
dominion by voluntary infidelities, he
should at once detest them, and, despite
of his repugnance, submit himself to
it anew, with a purpose never again to
withdraw from it.

After having spoken of the practice
of holy recollection of the mind and
heart in God, it is necessary for a
Christian who intends to sanctify him-

Presence of God. 49

self to be convinced of its necessity.
The first proof is these words of our
Lord, "God is a spirit, and they who
adore Him should adore Him in spirit
and in truth," for to adore God in spirit
is to recollect one's self in His pres
ence, to render Him internal homage, to
join to one's prayers attention of mind
and devotion of heart, to make frequent
aspirations to heaven, and to frequently
elevate one's thoughts to God; in fine,
it is to devote one's mind and heart to
render to this divine Being that interior
worship and adoration which Jesus
Christ requires from all Christians in
these other words, used on the same
occasion, "The hour cometh, and now
is, when the true adorers shall adore
the Father in spirit and in truth."
(Johniv. 23.)

The second proof is what our Lord
said of the Jews, "This people honor
me with their lips, while their heart is
far from me." (Matt. xv. 18.) For

50 Presence of God.

these words at once convince us that a
purely external worship is an abomina
tion before God.

Exercises of piety, then, in order to
be sanctifying, should be performed with
a mind recollected in the presence of
God and a heart occupied solely with
the desire of pleasing Him. It is very
difficult to succeed without studying
Jesus Christ, the perfect model of the
interior life, without applying one's
mind to know Him, and one's heart to
love Him. It is thus alone we can
form Him in our hearts, be animated
by His spirit, and live by His life.

But address yourself to this divine
Master, with all the fervor of which
you are capable, for the graces neces
sary for this end, and endeavor to con
ceive, by all He has done for you, what
you should endeavor to do for Him.

Presence of God. 51

PRAYER TO THE INCARNATE WORD
IN THE WOMB OF MARY.

Adorable Jesus! who didst remain
during nine months in the womb of
your blessed Mother, hidden from and
unknown to the world ; I regard you in
this state as the model of the interior
life of a Christian, a life despised by
men, but honored by angels, and form
ing even angels on earth by the wonder
ful changes it operates. O infinite love
of my God, how incomprehensible are
you, and how frightful is our blindness.
You have espoused or weakness and
miseries to gain our hearts, and we re
fuse to conceal, to hide, to lose our
selves happily in you, thereby to get rid
of our evils and enrich ourselves with
your treasure. Yes, my Saviour! it is
in those who love this interior life that

52 Presence of God.

you continually consummate the work
of redemption, and it is in them you in
carnate yourself in some sort every day
in a spiritual manner, and thus, whilst
they lodge you in their hearts, you live
in theirs that hidden life which you
lived on earth.

Ah, my Saviour! may I ask one
favor? It is that I, and all who read
this work, may enter at once on the
practice of this interior life, and faith
fully persevere in it. May we, for this
purpose, renounce ourselves and all
creatures, and die to the carnal and sen
sual life of worldlings, to live hidden
with Christ in God. Amen.

CHAPTER II.

On the Excellence and Utility of this Holy Exer
cise of the Presence of God.

Fidelity to grace is not so much a
particular virtue as the efficient cause,
the mother, nurse, spirit and life of all

Presence of God. 53

virtues : it is the effect of good desires,
the increase of holy resolutions, the ap
plication of all the means of salvation,
the pledge of perseverance, and the seal
of predestination. It is this fidelity
which makes saints ; no one has ever
become perfect without obeying the in
spirations of the Holy Ghost.

But how have they acquired this fi
delity, except by often remembering,
and being attentive to the presence of
God. The greater part of Christians
lead a life wholly exterior, employing
themselves in gratifying the senses and
passions, and never entering into them
selves to hear the voice of God, or to
observe the movements of His grace ;
but, on the contrary, are deaf to the
one, and despise and reject the other.
This was the precise cause of the de
struction of Jerusalem, and the repro
bation of the Jewish people. "All
these evils shall come upon you," said
our Lord, when weeping over the un-

54 Presence of God.

happy city, "because you have not
known the time of your visitation."
The same cause still produces the same
unhappy effects — "With desolation is
all the earth made desolate, because
there is no one who thinks in his
heart." (Jerem. xii. 11.) Few recol
lect themselves in the presence of God ;
few reflect on the truths of holy faith.
Almost all Christians, after a few vocal
prayers, said with precipitation, and,
perhaps, a mass heard without attention
or devotion, give themselves full liberty
the rest of the day to think, and say,
and desire, and do what their inclina
tions prompt, without regarding God
more than if He did not exist for them ;
without restraining or renouncing them
selves in any thing. To give nothing
to God or their salvation, which may
cost them any pain or difficulty, is the
description of devotion practiced by
most Christians, and which is, indeed,
the way of perdition.

Presence of God. 55

This life, wholly sensual, and more
Pagan than Christian, is directly op
posed to that which is led by the true
servants of God, who, as David says,
"have their eyes always fixed on their
Master, to know His divine will." It
appears that this holy being, who had
the happiness of being according to
God's own heart, was in this happy
disposition, that he held himself always
in the presence of God, and often re
curred to Him by those lively and ardent
effusions of faith and confidence which
we admire in his Psalms.

1, But let us consider the advan
tages of this holy exercise. St. Am
brose says it is a sovereign means to
avoid sin ; and St. Thomas affirms that
it would be impossible for us to offend
God deliberately if we remembered that
His eyes are always fixed on us.

2. The presence of God is, also,
according to St. Basil, a powerful sup
port in time of temptation. Remem-

56 Presence of God.

ber, says St. Augustine, that God re
gards you as a captain regards his
troops in the field of battle, holding in
one hand graces to help and assist you
in your recurring to Him, and in the
other, crowns to recompense you for
the victories gained over His and your
enemies.

The same saint also says that the
most efficacious means to destroy in
ourselves the empire of sin and satan,
is joy of heart in the divine presence,
because a person may find paradise in
all places, provided the heart be united
to God.

The pious author of the Imitation
of Jesus Christ says, that "he to whom
all things are one, who sees all things
in one, that is, in God, can be always
content;" and elsewhere he says, "to
walk with God within one's self, and
not to be entangled with any external
affections, is the mark of an interior
and spiritual man."

Presence of God. 57

3. The exercise of the presence of
God is, if faithfully practiced, the short
est way to attain perfection. When
God is present, says a holy doctor, every
thing else disappears, and the soul re
mains alone with Him. What a happi
ness for this soul ! Those who are en
lightened by grace know by happy ex
perience that one quarter of an hour
spent thus is better than whole days
employed in external affairs, which are
useful only inasmuch as they lead us to
God. O that all Christians, as the de
vout De Bernierres, the author of the
Interior Christians, used to say, were
deeply penetrated with this truth.

Some say, he adds, they have nothing
to employ them. But how can this be
true, since they have always labor
through which they may unite them
selves to God, and make Jesus Christ
dwell in them permanently by the life
of faith? A Christian should say, I,
indeed, have much to do ; God is with-

58 Presence of God.

in me, and I must entertain Him ; He
tills me, I must embrace Him, and
unite myself to him, sirice He permits
me this high, this unspeakable favor.

Elsewhere the same holy man says,
God is in all creatures, and the soul can
find and unite herself to Him in them ;
but He is present in the bottom of her
heart as in a sacred temple, where he
resides with complacency, if she be
faithful to Him. It is there he makes
himself be enjoyed by his creature in a
manner which astonishes the angels.

This is what the author of the Imita
tion expresses in those charming words,
which deserve to be engraved on all
hearts: "Turn yourself to God with
your whole heart, forsake this miserable
world, and your soul shall find rest.
Learn to despise exterior things, and
to give yourself to the interior, and you
will see that the kingdom of God is
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, which
is not given to the wicked. Jesus Christ

Presence of God. 59

will come unto you and show you His
divine sweetness if you prepare Him
a worthy mansion within you. All the
glory and beauty which the celestial
Spouse loves is in the interior of the
soul, and it is there He takes His de
light. He Himself saj's, 'If any one
love me, he will keep my words, and
we will come unto him, and take up
our abode with him.' ( John xiv. 23.)
Open, then, your heart to Jesus, and
deny admittance to all others. When
you possess Jesus, you are rich, and He
alone suffices. He himself will take
care of all that concerns you, and not
disdain to act in your regard as a faith
ful friend and a vigilant guardian, with
out your being obliged to depend on
men, who are always inefficient and
powerless, if God make not use of them
to succor you."

4. The exercise of the presence of
God wonderfully augments our faith,
fortifies our hope and inflames our love.

60 Presence of God.

The best means to acquire a lively faith
being to think often of God ; to in
crease our hope, to regard Him often as
our Father, and to remember that we
are not only formed by Him, but that
we are continually in His essence and
in the bosom of His Providence ; to
inflame our love, to turn our eyes often
toward Him, because we thus attract
on us His divine looks, which, like so
many burning sparks, enkindle within
us the fire of his charity.

5. This holy exercise, moreover, im
parts a wonderful facility in the prac
tice of the different virtues, for it can
be said with truth that a soul who holds
herself in the presence of God with re
spect and love, at one and the same
moment adores Him, loves Him,
thanks Him, abandons herself to and
humbles herself before Him. This is
what made St. Basil say, if you wish to
do well what you perform, persuade
yourself that God beholds you.

Presence of God. 61

6. If we want another proof of the
sovereign excellence of this exercise, we
have it in the words spoken by the Lord
Himself to Abraham: "Walk before
me and be perfect," which are equiv
alent to His saying, keep yourself in my
presence and you will be a saint. In
deed, a person who does so, thereby lives
with God, in God, and by God, in which
perfection consists. He lives with God
by an almost unceasing conversation
with him ; he lives in God, seeking in
Him alone His peace and repose ; he
lives by God, since this interior and
familiar intercourse renders God the
food and life of his mind and heart.

As a certain holy person exclaims,
what a happiness to be always in God,
but, alas, how little is this happiness
known! He is a sun who shines day
and night over us and within us, and
we will not open our eyes to regard or
look upon Him ; in the splendor of His
light we are buried in darkness, and

62 Presence of God.

amid the fire and flames of His love we
are frozen with cold.

But, to animate you more powerfully
to this holy exercise, consider the
effects it produces in souls who faith
fully practice it. They know God and
themselves faT differently from what
they previously did. Having their eyes
always fixed on God, they see them
selves in Him as in a resplendent mir
ror, in which all their deformity is man
ifested. The purity of God shows
them their least defilement ; the sanc
tity of God their smallest imperfection ;
the fidelity of God their least infidelity.
They become firmly persuaded that all
that the world esteems is but vanity,
and merits not a single thought. They
say, in all sincerity and with the
strongest conviction, God is all, the
creature is nothing.

These happy souls are remarkable
for a great simplicity, which causes
them to regard God purely in all

Presence of God. 63

things. They have that "simple eye,"
that purity of intention, spoken of in the
Gospel — those eyes of the dove, for
which the spouse is praised in the Can
ticles. They seek not their own inter
est, or pleasure, or satisfaction even in
this holy exercise, their sole object
being to attach and unite themselves to
God. Their affections are like so many
magnets, which, being turned from
their centre by violence, are in contin
ual motion until they regain it. These
souls do not occupy themselves unnec
essarily with the things of earth. Every
thing but God appears insipid and dis
tasteful to them, as well as to St. Paul,
who says that "he counted all things as
loss that he might gain Jesus Christ."
(Phil. iii. 8.)

The faithful practice of this exercise
for a considerable time renders a per
son quite spiritual. By force of think
ing of God and tending toward Him
the soul becomes, as it were, divine and

64 Presence of God.

is rendered like to Him; for if we
adopt the manners and sentiments of
those with whom we often converse, if
a painter who attentively regards an
original, produces a perfect copy, and
if, in fine, the continual sight of snow
renders some animals perfectly white,
why should not a soul who applies her
self continually to look upon and love
God, become as like to Him as human
weakness can permit. A person can
not remain long in a place filled with
perfumes without retaining their odor ;
nor can iron, if put in a burning fur
nace, fail, however black and heavy of
its own nature, to take the color and
qualities of fire ; how, then, can we re
main continually in the presence of God
without participating in His divine
qualities and being inflamed with His
love?

A soul who has firmly resolved to
remember God frequently, and to walk
always in His sight, regards Him in the

Presence of God. 65

bottom of her heart as her centre and
true repose. She feels that out of Him
she is in a state of violence, like a fish
out of its element, or a bone out of its
place ; and as an experimental knowl
edge of the truth of these words of St.
Augustine, "Thou hast made us, O
Lord, for thyself, and our hearts are un
quiet till they rest in thee."

What we have said of the great ad
vantages accruing from this exercise
should suffice to stir up the most indif
ferent to devote themselves to it ; but
lest any thing withhold them, we shall,
in the next place, show the futility of
the excuses which some allege, to dis
pense themselves from it, having first
implored of God, through the interces
sion of the Holy Virgin, the grace to
relish these holy truths.

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

O Holy Virgin! who, always occu
pied with the Divine Presence, have
5

66 Presence of God.

merited to be saluted by an angel as full
of grace ; and who from that moment
were filled with the Holy Ghost, and
made the habitation of the Incarnate
Word, obtain for me of my Adorable
Saviour a great facility in thinking of
Him frequently, and of constantly pre
serving His holy presence, that I may
be one of those who worship Him in
spirit and truth. Beg for me, also, O
incomparable Virgin! a love of recol
lection, in order to imitate, as much as
possible, that interior and hidden life
which you led upon earth, and that con
tinual union which you had with your
Divine Son.

You were like Him continually pene
trated with the view of the Eternal
Father ; you constantly adored and
loved Him ; your heart, while you
abode on earth, was an interior heaven
in which He took His delight.

Ask for me once more, and for all
who may read this little book, the love

Presence of God. 67

and fidelity necessary to enter on and
persevere in this holy practice, in order
that becoming your faithful imitators
and true children on earth we may par
ticipate in your glory in heaven.
Amen.

CHAPTER III.

A refutation of the false objections made to this
holy exercise.

The first objection which we shall
notice of those alleged against the pres
ence of God is, that this practice is not
for every one. To this we reply, that
it is true some have more facility than
others in keeping themselves in the
Divine Presence ; yet we would be
strangely deluded in giving it up for
such a pretext. Being sent into the
world for no other end than to know,
love and serve God, how can we acquit
ourselves of these duties without fre
quently thinking of Him, and how can
we think of Him without remembering

68 Presence of God.

His presence? Why do the greater
portion of mankind live in as profound
a forgetfulness of God, as if they had
no knowledge of His absolute dominion
over them, the obligations they lie under
to Him, and that He is present in all
places, but because they do not take the
trouble of reflecting on it attentively.

And, then, God is present to all with
out exception ; therefore no one is ex
empt from the obligation of attending
to Him and paying Him that tribute of
respect and love which His majesty de
serves and demands.

Second objection: TJiis exercise is
too troublesome and too difficult. A
Christian ought to blush and be
ashamed at making this objection. Is
it, then, difficult to remember a God
whom we find everywhere, who is in
cessantly doing us good, who holds in
our regard the place of father, mother,
brother, friend and spouse? What
child would presume to say he could

Presence of God. 69

not remember his father while he abode
in his house, and need only raise his
eyes to behold him? Should he not, on
the contrary, say that he could not for
get him? To be sure, it may be diffi
cult to think without intermission of
God, and to preserve continually His
holy presence. We are ready to admit
that this is a favor He does not grant
to all ; but to remember Him as often
as possible, obdurate sinners alone can
refuse to do, they having some partici
pation already in the state of the
damned in hell, who cannot bear the
presence of an irritated God, from
whom they can expect no mercy. But
to sinners who wish to be converted,
there is no object that can more power
fully lead them to the way of salvation
than a God present. With much more
reason may we say the just can have no
more powerful stimulus to advance in
grace and virtue.

Third objection : It is sloth and lazi-

70 Presence of God.

ness which engage persons in practices
of this sort. Nothing so false, nothing
more unfounded than this objection,
though sometimes put forward by per
sons making professions of virtue, but
who have never properly understood
what recollection is, and who believe
they do nothing when they cease to act
externally. In opposition to them we
may say, with a holy servant of God,
Divine idleness! little known by men
who always wish to make a noise.
Happy void! which makes us see our
nothingness. Marvelous art! to die
always to one's self, in order to live to
Jesus Christ. Eloquent silence ! where
the soul speaks incessantly by the hom
age it renders to the Divinity. Charm
ing empire over the passions! where
the senses no longer occupy us. Tran
quil desert! where we deprive our
selves of all to find all, and where we
are never less alone than when we are
by ourselves.

Presence of God. 71

In effect, how can any one say that
to adore God interiorly, annihilate one's
self before His majesty, to abandon
one's self to His holy will, to evince the
desire of pleasing and loving Him more
and more, can be idleness and loss of
time? And yet it is in this the exercise
of the divine presence consists. If there
be any who, under pretense of practic
ing it, dispense themselves from the du
ties- or their state, the fault lies with
them, and not with this exercise, which
by no means authorizes or inspires any
deviation from duty; and, after all,
these persons, though apparently recol
lected without, may be, and generally
are, all dissipation within.

Nor does this exercise hinder ; on the
contrary, it helps us to make our
prayer well — attention to the adorable
Object whom we then address being
one of the best dispositions we can
bring to it. Those who are not accus
tomed to remember the presence of

72 Presence of God.

God can have no recollection at prayer ;
and if, with much struggle, they en
deavor to preserve themselves from
yielding to willful distractions, they will
not be able to preserve the advantages
of it without attending to this holy ex
ercise. It should, then, precede, ac
company and follow our prayer.

Fourth objection: The practice of the
divine presence inspires vanity and
presumption. It is very easy to prove
the sophistry of this argument. It is
true, persons may be vain of this exer
cise ; but can they not also draw mo
tives of vanity from the holy commu
nion, yet who will venture to say that
it is communion which generates this
vicious sentiment? And, then, it is by
no means true that this exercise leads
to self-esteem ; on the contrary, it in
spires humility, nothing being more
efficacious for that end than the sight of
the divine perfections and our compara
tive nothingness and misery. If any

Presence of God. 73

thing were to be feared, it is that the
soul might fall into discouragement,
seeing its own innate corruption and
the essential holiness and sanctity of
the divine majesty.

Besides, & soul who practices this
exercise becomes so holy that she can
not fall into the least sin without at once
perceiving and being interiorly reproved
for it — without being immediately
pressed to repair it by humbling herself
before the divine majesty, just as a per
son blushes for, and regrets a little word
he has inadvertently said against another
whom he respects, when he thinks it
will be related to him.

To show still more clearly how un
founded this objection is, we should
remember that humility is a virtue more
than human, and one which Jesus
Christ alone may be strictly said to
have practiced — glory and honor being
essentially the Creator's due, abjection
the portion of the creature, however

74 Presence of God.

holy, in consequence of its intrinsic
nothingness. It follows, that this virtue
can only be learned by frequenting His
school and uniting ourselves to Him,
and thus acquiring His spirit and love
which is formally opposed to the irreg
ular love of ourselves, the source of our
pride, as well as of our other irregular
ities. This can not be without keeping
ourselves in His presence; and hence,
instead of inspiring vanity and pre
sumption, this holy practice leads to
true humility.

Fifth objection: Too much business
and many embarrassments, instead of
being a reason against, is, on the con
trary, a powerful one to devote one's
self to the exercise of the divine pres
ence. Having much to do, you want
more grace and strength than those who
have little ; and then you should not
abandon the care of your salvation,
which is, after all, "the one thing nec
essary," above any other care, however

Presence of God. 75

important. If your occupations be in
the order of God, and of such a nature
as not to allow you to think as often of
Him as others who have more leisure,
He will be satisfied with your good
will, for He is so good that He is will
ing to make allowances for our busi
ness, and accommodates Himself to the
duties which engage us. Provided, we
turn our minds and hearts from time to
time to Him, He is always ready to re
ceive us, and takes a singular pleasure
in beholding us leave the creature in
spirit, though we do not forsake them
exteriorly.

God has some true adorers in the
world as well as in the cloister, and it
depends on ourselves to be of the num
ber. And though we may not succeed
in this point in our state for several
years, as others do in a much shorter
time, it matters nothing, provided it be
not our own fault. Our merits will be
not less abundant, since the violence we

76 Presence of God.

do ourselves will be the measure of our
recompense.

The opposition arising from our oc
cupations is no pretext for dispensing
ourselves from this exercise. And,
after all, is not the great God whom we
adore, the author and approver of these
occupations? And if so, why should
they exclude His remembrance? Is it
not in difficulties and distractions that
we have a greater want of His light and
assistance, as being then in more danger
of offending Him ?

Such are our answers to the objec
tions raised by some to authorize their
sloth, their self-love and pusillanimity in
the practice of this exercise. If they be
not satisfactory, if all we have said of
its advantages be still insufficient to in
duce them to it, let them at least desire
this happiness ; let them humbly ask it
of God, bewailing often before Him the
dissipation in which they live, and ac
knowledging that it arises solely from

Presence of God. 77

their own negligence, and let them
raise their hearts to him as often as
possible. By this means God, blessing
their desires, will, finally, overcome by
His grace and mercy the obduracy of
their hearts, and will bind them so by
the chains of His love, that they will
ultimately find their greatest joy and
delight in thinking of and reposing in
Him alone.

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH.

O great saint ! nursing father to Jesus
Christ, admirable model and patron of
the interior and hidden life to which I
aspire, and which is the particular char
acter of your sanctity, obtain for me of
my divine Saviour the strength and
vigilance necessary to establish n^self
solidly therein, that in imitating your
fidelity in living unknown to the world,
and being strictly united with Christ,
I may reign eternally with you in
heaven. Amen.

78 Presence of God.

CHAPTER IV.

Means of acquiring the habit of preserving one's
self in the presence of God.

The first means of acquiring a facility
in preserving one's self in the divine
presence is, a firm resolution to give
one's self entirely to God, and to pro
test to Him often that we wish to be
long to him without reserve. St. Fran
cis de Sales, the great master of the
Devout Life, required this of those
whom he directed: "You do not for
get your good purpose," he used to say
to them, "Continue firm; we belong to
God, and He is ours ; our Lord is our
true and faithful friend, and what more
do we look for?" And truly did this
great saint speak thus, for whatever
privation of life or consolation we en
dure, if our Lord remains with us, we
shall suffer nothing, since He is the
author of grace and good, and one who
will never forsake us, unless we compel
Him by abandoning Him.

Presence of God. 79

The second means is, to try to per
form our actions in the divine pres
ence. But this should be with sweet
ness and humility, in order to avoid a
certain eagerness which spoils all, ac
cording to St. Francis, by casting us
into trouble, nourishing confidence in
ourselves, and producing so many de
sires that they stifle one another and re
main unproductive. Besides, a person
who would wish to acquire at once this
holy habit, and who would do violence
to his imagination, would become an
annoyance to himself and to others.
We should, then, content ourselves with
humbly persevering in desiring and
adopting the means conducive thereto,
and leave the success entirely to God,
who will be perfectly satisfied with our
good will.

The third means is, on falling into
sin and imperfection, to present one's
self before God to ask mercy and for
giveness, and not imitate those whom

80 Presence of God.

self-love renders miserable on falling
into a defect, until they can recur to
their confessors, and who are not after
having done so one whit better. Our
faults themselves should not remove us
from the presence of God by chagrin
or inquietude ; they should rather con
tribute to unite us more closely to Him,
by prompting us to cast ourselves into
His arms, and cling to Him more
firmly, like a little child who, after
making a false step, attaches himself
more earnestly to the bosom of his
father.

The fourth means, and one which
very much facilitates this exercise is,
after the example of the saints, to enter
into and seek God simply within our
selves. St. Augustine says in his Man
ual: "Fly, then, O man, for a little
time, thy vain occupations, and re
nounce the importunate wanderings of
thy mind ; disengage thyself from thy
solicitudes, and at thy leisure think of

Presence of God. 81

and take thy repose in God. Enter
into the cabinet of thy heart, and expell
ing all but thy Creator, and that which
can help thee to find Him, close the
door and say to Him, with all thy soul,
'My heart hath said to thee, my face
hath sought thee;' thy face, O Lord,
will I still seek. 'Teach, then, my
poor heart, O my amiable Master, how
I can find you. Tell me if you are not
within it, whither shall I go to seek you. ' ' '
St. Theresa, in her work entitled,
"The Way of Perfection," regarding
her soul as an interior heaven, in which
Jesus Christ takes His delight and
makes Himself known and loved, says :
"Let those who are able to shut them
selves up in the little heaven of their
souls, where He resides who has made
it, and created the world, believe that
they are in an excellent way, and will ul
timately drink at the fountain of life, for
they get over much ground in a short
time."

82 Presence of God.

St. Catherine, of Sienna, considered
her heart as an oratory in which God
dwelt: she remained there with Him
amid the embarrassment and dissipat
ing business with which her parents
overwhelmed her, to prevent her attend
ing to spiritual exercises, and thereby
changed her particular devotions into a
continual prayer.

To facilitate this recollection, a per
son may still make use of the following
ideas : to hold himself in silence before
the divine majesty, immolating himself
to this God present in us, either as a
spouse lovingly regarding Jesus Christ,
or as a statue placed in a niche merely
to please its owner, or as a penitent
Magdalen at the foot of the cross, or a
Mary listening at the feet of Jesus to
His divine lessons.

What, asks St. Francis de Sales, did
St. Mary Magdalen at the feet of her
Master? She listened to His divine
work in profound tranquility ; she

Presence of God. 83

spoke not, wept not, prayed not, sighed
not, acted not. What, then, did she
do? She received the words of Jesus,
she collected from his lips the myrrh of
sweetness, which distilled from them
drop by drop ; and this Divine Spouse,
pleased with the amorous repose of His
beloved, reproved Martha who wished
to awake her, saying, in her defense,
that "she had chosen the better part,
and that it should not be taken from
her."

It may often happen that, however
desirous we may be to remain in the
presence of God, we shall be wearied
with distraction, and even sometimes
annoyed with disgusts ; but this can not
injure our design to remain there only
to please Him, and sacrifice ourselves
to Him, and not to gratify our self-love,
which wishes to feel satisfaction in
works of piety, as well as in other things
unconnected with it.

The fifth means of preserving the

84 Presence of God.

divine presence is, to call it to mind in
the morning on awakening; in open
ing the eyes of the body to open those
of the mind, to behold God present
with us and adore him interiorly, and
to preserve this view until we com
mence our prayer, making use of the
following or similar words to arrest the
vivacity of our minds: "My eyes are
opened, O Lord, only to contemplate
your adorable face. How good you are
to those who seek you. I value one
glance of yours more than all the goods
and honors of the earth. Woe is me
that my sojourning is prolonged: I
shall be satisfied only when thy glory
shall appear."

The sixth means is, never to com
mence a prayer without placing one's
self in the presence of God, and ador
ing Him interiorly with profound
respect, saying, with Jacob: "The
Lord is here ; how awful is this place ;"
or, with Abraham, "I will, who am

Presence of God. 85

but dust and ashes, speak to my Lord ;"
or, with Samuel, * 'Speak, Lord, for
thy servant heareth;" or, with David,
"Lord, I am as a beast before you ;"
or, with the Publican, "Lord, be raer-
ciful to me a sinner." If this were
attended to, persons would not speak to
God, either in private or public, with
that ridiculous precipitation, which be
ing remarked by heretics — particularly
in boys who undertake to serve Mass —
is made by them a subject of- raillery
and derision.

How opposite to such conduct was
that of a holy religious man whom St.
John Climacus speaks of. "Observing
one day," writes this saint, "that one
of the monks was more attentive than
the rest in chanting the office, and that
he seemed, particularly on commenc
ing the hymns, by the change of his
countenance, as if speaking to some
one ; I asked him the cause." To which
he replied, "At the commencement of

86 Presence of God.

the office, Father, I am accustomed to
call my heart, and mind, and thoughts
before me, and say to them earnestly,
'Come, let us adore and fall down be
fore the Lord who made us, because
He is the Lord our God, we are His
people, and the sheep of his pasture.' "
(Ps. xciv. 6, 7.)

St. Chrysostom says, When you go
to prayer, imagine that you enter the
celestial court where the King of Glory
is seated on a throne glittering with
stars, and encompassed with myriads of
angels who all have their eyes fixed on
you ; for, as St. Paul says, we are made
a spectacle to the world, and to angels,
and to men. (I Cor. iv. 9.)

St. Bernard gives us this important
advice, which he supported by his own
advice. When you enter the church, or
go to prayer, say in yourself, stay out
side, ye vain thoughts and irregular
affections, and thou, my soul, enter into

Presence of God. 87

the joy of thy Lord that thou mayest
know and accomplish His will.

The seventh means of preserving the
presence of God is, to represent to
one's self that our Lord prays with
us, and to endeavor to pray with Him
and by Him. This can be easily done,
particularly when reciting the Pater
Noster, our Lord himself having pro
nounced this prayer with us in the per
son of His disciples. This was St.
Theresa's custom, and experiencing its
utility, she recommends it to all.

The eighth means is, frequently dur
ing the day to make some pious aspira
tion, either to preserve or regain the
presence of God.

St. Bonaventure thus speaks of this
holy practice : "The acts by which we
should raise our hearts to God in the
holy exercise of His presence are, cer
tain inflamed desires of our hearts,
ardent and loving sighs by which we
invoke God, tender and pious move-

88 Presence of God.

meats of the will by which, as with
spiritual wings, we fly to and reach
God ; and (continues this saint) just
as we breathe, quite indeliberately,
thus sometimes, almost imperceptibly,
the soul forms these acts which unite
it to God and bind it more strictly to
Him."

The ninth means is, when lying down
at night to endeavor to withdraw the
heart and thought from creatures,
and make them repose in God, saying,
with the royal prophet, "In peace, in
the self-same, I will sleep and will
rest." (Ps. iv. 9); or, Lord, into thy
hands I commend my spirit. My God,
protect me under the shadow of thy
wings ; may my flesh, O Lord, so sleep
in thee that my mind may ever watch
to thee.

The tenth means is, often to read
authors who treat of the presence of
God, and of the interior life, as St.
Theresa, St. Francis de Sales, De Ber-

Presence of God. 89

niere's Interior Christian, and many
others, who have spoken of it with
great attention and after much experi
ence.

All these means will wonderfully
assist us in recollecting our minds in
God, and making them turn to Him
when they have strayed. And they are
necessary, for though we may easily
form the resolution of keeping our
selves in the divine presence, and
though at first sight it appears easy, yet
our great habit of allowing ourselves to
be carried away by the first object that
presents itself, our natural love of lib
erty and the gratification of the senses,
form great obstacles to this holy prac
tice, and compel us to say, with the
apostle, "I feel in my body another law
contradicting the law of my mind."
(Rom. vii. 23.) We should, then,
strive to gain insensibly what we can
not attain all at once, expecting more
from the fidelity we evince in adopting

90 Presence of God.

these little means than from great reso
lutions; confidently hoping that God
will enable us to preserve His presence
after we shall have sought it with per
severance. Then what at first gave us
much pain by the restraint it required,
will be the subject of our joy and con
solation.

But, as according to St. Theresa, it
is necessary to employ continually a
holy modesty, to recall our minds from
their wanderings, and to re-establish
them in sweet intercourse with our
God, it remains for us to speak of cer
tain little daily practices which succeed
with many. For example, to recite
some short prayer with a great deal of
recollection and fervor when the clock
strikes. If a person be in the country,
or where there is no clock, he could
stick a pin in his sleeve, or place some
other mark before him, to remind him
of God's holy presence. The sight of
an image or picture, or church, can also

Presence of God. 91

serve to raise the mind to God ; and
here let us observe that on passing the
latter no Christian should omit saluting
our Lord Jesus, who is really present
there in the most holy sacrament. The
verdure of the fields, the brightness of
the sun, the lustre of the stars, should also
remind one of Him that created them.
When a person finds himself in a nu
merous assembly, he could salute the
angel guardian of those present, and
unite with them in rendering to God
His homage and adoration; on awak
ing in the night it would be well to
remember Him "who dwells in light
inaccessible," and unite with so many
religious persons who are then em
ployed in singing His praises, or with
the angels who are adoring Him in
heaven, or with our Lord in the holy
sacrament, who by His condition of vic
tim continually renders to His Father
that honor which is worthy of Him.
Another useful practice, and one

92 Presence of God.

adopted in some religious communities,
and even in some families, is to kneel
at every hour to adore the most sacred
Trinity every where present. The
Chartreuse Fathers, a religious order
founded by St. Bruno, on receiving a
visit, commence the conversation by
prayer; such was, also, the practice of
the primitive Christians. Woe to us
who have so much degenerated from
their spirit and fervor.

Some may think these little practices
too great a restraint, but it is so great
an honor for such as we are to be
allowed to regard and entertain our
God, and there is nothing we ought not
to do to render ourselves worthy of it.
We should withdraw our minds from
creature whose presence deprives us of
that of our Creator; renounce those
attachments which engage our hearts
and hinder them from ascending freely
to God, and resolve to bear with pa
tience the importunity arising from dis-

Presence of God. 93

tractions, and the annoyance proceed
ing from the privation of sensible con
solation, to which we may be subjected,
as it often happens that in time the di
vine presence ceases to be so percepti
ble as at first. But faith should suffice
us ; and then, if we consider the assi
duity with which courtiers labor to ob
tain a favorable look or gracious word
from their sovereign, we shall find that
our pains in preserving the presence of
God are nothing in comparison.

We shall now see the obstacles which
generally hinder us from profiting by
this exercise, after having first implored
the intercession of a great patroness of
the interior life.

PRAYER TO ST. THERESA.

O great saint, who hast had so much
zeal for our progress in the science of
prayer, and who has left us thereon such
excellent advice, in my sincere desire to
advance in it, and that holy exercise

94 Presence of God.

which mainly contributes to it, I turn
to thee and beseech thee to obtain for
me by thy prayers the light and grace I
stand in need of to persevere in practic
ing it. Beg of that Divine Master who
has so abundantly filled thee with the
spirit of this holy exercise, and who has,
through thy writings, manifested its
necessity and advantages to the world,
that all who read this little work may
devote themselves to its practice with
such fidelity and love as to become His
adorers in spirit and truth, and thereby
be participators in thy happiness. Amen.

CHAPTER V.

Obstacles to the practice of the Divine Presence.

After having spoken of the means of
advancing in the holy exercise of the
presence of God, it is now time to treat
of its principal impediments, which
are pride, self-love, attachment to crea
tures, immortification of the mind,

Presence of God. 95

heart and senses, fondness for talking,
curiosity, and involving ourselves in
useless or unnecessary business. But
let us speak of them in detail :

1st. Pride, the first impediment, be
ing a revolt of the creature against the
Creator, and a rapine which we commit
on what belongs solely to God, removes
us from His light, and produces in our
souls that strange blindness which hin
ders us, though we have eyes, from see
ing, greatly obscures our understand
ing, and prevents God from manifesting
Himself to us.

2d. The irregular love of ourselves
renders us the slaves of our passions and
petty interests, and is not only the
source of all our vices, because it in
spires us to gratify self at the expense of
the obedience we owe to God, but be
cause it also leads us to banish Him
from our minds and hearts, in order to
follow with less restraint the inclination
of corrupt nature. It is, besides, di-

96 Presence of God.

rectly opposed to true charity, which
tends to strip us of ourselves, in order
to dispose us for an intimate union with
God.

3d. Attachments to creatures is one of
the greatest impediments ; for, binding
us to and retaining us among sensible
objects, it absolutely hinders us from
raising our minds to invisible things,
and thereby hinders our flight toward
God.

4th. Immortification of the mind,
and heart, and senses, enslaves us to
our irregular appetites, hinders us from
reigning over ourselves, and from labor
ing as we should without relaxation "to
subject the flesh to the spirit, and the
spirit to God." Indeed, it is impossible
that he who does himself no violence to
overcome his passions can be master of
himself, and be able to assure himself
that he can arrest at pleasure the torrent
of his perverse inclination, in order to
fix his thoughts and affections on God.

Presence of God. 97

5th. Fondness for talking without
necessity so engages the powers of the
soul that it can no longer preserve atten
tion to God. As we cannot speak with
out occupying our memory and imag
ination with the species or images of
what we have seen or heard, in order to
enable our understanding to reason
upon them, it follows that all the
powers of the soul are thus engaged by
the tongue, and on terrestrial things
only ; the same happens to it as to a
vessel of water which ceases to be clear
and transparent as soon as one stirs up
the sediment which lies at the bottom.
Silence has always been the mark of an
interior soul ; and as much as this vir
tue helps to preserve purity of mind
and calm of heart, so much does the
contrary vice produce darkness and
trouble in both.

6th. Curiosity, or a desire to know
what does not concern us and to pry
into the actions of others, turns us
7

98 Presence of God.

from the attention we ought to give to
ourselves and our own defects, enter
tains lightness of mind, and favors self-
love by exposing us to a vain compla
cency for ourselves and a criminal con
tempt for our neighbor. Moreover,
directing us to every thing but God, it
deprives us of the means of uniting our
selves to Him, and of having with Him
that divine intercourse which is to
those who enjoy it a source of the purest
delights.

7th. In fine, useless and unnecessary
occupation, leading us to diffuse our
selves on creatures, retaining us in dis
sipation, and robbing us of that time
which should be employed in our du
ties, causes in our souls disorder and
confusion, and destroys that peace and
tranquil ity so necessary for conversing
with God and preserving His holy
presence.

Presence of God. 99

PART III.

CHAPTER I.

Method and practice of conversing with God.

Conversation with those about us is
one of the duties most ordinary and
indispensable in human life. It is,
however, subject to two inconveniences :
the first, that those with whom we
treat often disagree with us in humor
or opinion ; the other, that when inter
course with them pleases us most, it is
dangerous or criminal.

Conversation with God is exempt
from these dangers : there is not to be
found in it either sin or weariness, in
nocence and joy being its usual ac
companiments. If you wish to know
it by your own experience, do with re
gard to it what the Holy Ghost in the
sacred Scriptures teaches you.

1. God loves you ; do you love Him?..,.

100 Presence of God.

His delight is to be with you, let yours
consist in being with Him, thus pass
ing your time as you hope to pass your
eternity, in His amiable company.

Accustom 3'ourself to speak to Him
confidently as to your friend, never sup
posing that you should appear before
Him as a hireling or a slave, who only
thinks of flying from his master's pres
ence to seek elsewhere his consolation
and comfort.

Why has God created us to His own
image and likeness, and authorized us
to call Him Father, if He be not will
ing that we act toward Him as chil
dren? Why has He given us His own
Son to be our mediator and the price
of our ransom, but in order that we
may become one with Him? Why, in
fine, has this blessed Son given us His
own flesh and blood in the holy sacra
ment of the altar, and promised to
abide with us if we would remain in
Him, but in order to banish from our

Presence of God. 101

hearts slavish and servile fear, and to
induce us to serve Him with love and
confidence ?

2. God, who is the most powerful
and formidable of masters when He
commands, wishes to be the most fa
miliar of friends when He loves. In
His private conversations with those
souls who seek to please Him, His im
mensity proportions itself to the least as
well as to the noblest and most exalted.
Be not withheld, then, from communi
cating to Him your projects, your busi
ness, your fears, your hopes, and all
that regards you, and this simply and
confidentially, without quitting what
you are employed in, just as you would
to a tried friend when in his company.
No doubt, God should be always
treated with reverence and respect ; but
in the circumstances we are consider
ing, that is, when He reminds us of, or
makes His presence sensible by some
interior movement, the best return and

102 Presence of God.

the greatest tribute of respect we can
pay Him is to speak to Him with all
that confidence and affection which His
own condescension inspires. To act
otherwise would betray that false hu
mility which St. Theresa condemns.

3. The prophet tells us that the Lord
hears the desires of the poor, and that
His ears hear the preparation of their
hearts. (Ps. x. 17.)

Yes, without waiting till you go to
Him, as soon as you sigh for His pres
ence, this Divine Being presents Him
self to you, bearing in His sacred hands
graces and remedies proper for the
miseries under which you labor. And
here let us remark, that though present
everywhere by His immensity, yet
there are two places in which He par
ticularly resides ; the one is the empyr
eal heaven, where He communicates
His glory to the angels and saints ; the
other the hearts of the just, in which He
is present by His grace and the opera-

Presence of God. 103

tions of His spirit, thus making of their
solitudes a new terrestrial Paradise.
Nor can we be astonished if God pre
fers for his habitation a soul in grace to
all other places, since, after the angels,
it is the masterpiece of His omnipo
tence, the purest and noblest emanation
of His divinity, to which it is conse
quently less disproportioned. This was
what made St. Bernard exclaim, "O
Christian soul, see and acknowledge thy
dignity!" and which made holy Job
regret those happy years when God
was in the secret part of his tabernacle
and the Most High was with Him.
(Job xxix. 4.)

And this happy society knows no in
terruption, God being of all friends the
most faithful and inseparable. Others
have their hours for separating ; He
never quits you. When the sun goes
down He does not withdraw, says the
wise man, but stands by your pillow to
entertain you in the silence of night

104 Presence of God.

with His inspirations, and to enable
you to take a holy repose amid the
celestial sweets of this interior conver
sation. He is present there in the morn
ing, expecting to hear from you a word
of confidence, and to be made the de
positary of your first thoughts and de
signs.

Such being His care, fail not to ac
knowledge it. The moment you awake
turn your mind and heart toward Him,
saying with a holy prophet, "Lord,
my soul hath desired thee in the night
(Isaiah xxvi. 9) ; or you can not doubt,
Lord, that I am yours without reserve,
seeing that the first movement of my
heart on awakening is one of joy and
gratitude that you still love me, and have
not forsaken me as my infidelities de
serve."

4. You should be convinced that
God regards as unknown to Him such
matters as are not communicated to
Him wjtb confidence, or referred to

Presence of God.

105

Him by love. As there are tears shed
before Him by hypocritical penitents
which He does not see, and persons,
obdurate sinners, whom He declares
He ''knows not" (Matt. xxv. 12),
so there are affairs of which we may in
some manner say He is ignorant, as not
being communicated to Him. Tell
Him, then, all that regards your family,
your joys and your sorrows ; the virtues
you want to acquire and the vices you
wish to correct; in fine, tell Him all
your wants, and those of your neighbor
with which you may have become
acquainted. It is true He knows these
things already by His omniscience, from
which nothing is hidden, but He wishes

to Tsnow them from

you,

in order to

regard them as affairs in which His
love for you is particularly interested. If
you do not consult Him on matters in
which you are in doubt, you are likely
to fall into the same difficulty with the
Israelites who lost a great battle,

106 Presence of God.

because as the Scripture says, they had
not interrogated the mouth of the Lord.
(Joshua ix. 14.)

5. And do not say that God would
deem it unworthy of Him to attend to
the detail of what passes in a family, or
in the soul of a poor creature. It is
true, as St. Chrysostom says, that the
employment of the Most High on His
throne is to think of the designs of His
wisdom and sanctity; but with you,
His only care is to think of you ; His
providence and love are only applied to
your particular interests, and in those
places where you are alone with Him
He seems to be God but for you alone
—to be omnipotent only to assist you,
and infinitely amiable only to be loved
by you. When, then, any strange
accident has befallen you, observe not a
gloomy silence in His regard, but come
and make your complaints to Him with
humility and respect ; and if your confi
dence be great, this suffices to obtain a

Presence of God. 107

deliverance from, or support under,
your miseries. He is delighted on such
occasions to hear you say: uSee, O
Lord, because I am troubled and full of
bitterness (Thren. i. 20), all my de
sires are before thee, and my groaning
is not hidden from thee." (Ps. xxxvii.
10.)

This Lord is pleased in seeing you
cast yourself into His arms, and com
plain of the insufficiency or ingratitude
of creatures, as holy Job did when he
said, "My friends are full of words, my
eye poureth out tears to God." (Job
xvi. 21.)

6. Another mark of confidence very
pleasing to the Almighty, is to confess
your faults to Him on their commission.
When you have fallen, defer not till
you approach the tribunal of penance to
declare to this amiable confident the
misfortune which has happened you.
Say to Him with David, "I have sinned,
Lord, very much in what I have done

108 Presence of God.

I have done exceedingly foolish." (II
Kings xxiv. 10.) My God, I have just
said an indiscreet word or done an
action unworthy of my high destiny. I
know not how I was so deluded, but I
am sincerely sorry, and truly afflicted,
because you have been thereb}7 offended.
However, if I have been less negligent
and faithful than I should, you are not
less merciful, but are still what your
prophet describes you to be, "sweet and
mild and plenteous in mercy."

As I know you do not wish me to
abandon myself to dejection and sadness,
I can only humble myself for my fault,
and bewail it in your presence.

7. As to trivial faults, which occur
almost every hour, do not disturb your
self for them ; only beseech God to
remember that He "alone is holy," and
that you are by nature a sinner, and
subject like a child to continual falls,
which, as they arise from weakness,
or inadvertence, it becomes His bounty

Presence of God. 109

not to remember. Great God, might
you say, when I fall, be mindful only of
what you are by love. I acknowledge
that you have much reason to complain
of me, who, despite of so many graces,
commit so many offenses ; but it is my
part to sigh and bewail them, and yours
to raise me up, and take me into your
arms, to dissipate my fears, and calm
my disquietudes, by assuring me that
you still love me, and have not ceased
to be my God.

However, I should be wrong if I ex
pected that my sins should not displease
your infinite sanctity. They displease
myself, and I entertain for them a
sincere sorrow ; but to excite your com
passion, and to appease your wrath,
consider, I beseech you, the state of
your beloved Son on Calvary, and
regard me sprinkled with the blood
which He so copiously shed, and then I
am sure you will have mercy on me,
however great my demerits.

110 Presence of God.

8. It is of the highest importance,
Christian soul, to have recourse to this
infinitely enlightened and faithful friend
when embarrassed by some difficulty or
obscured by some doubt. Say with
Judith on these occasions, Lord, give
words to my mouth, and counsel to my
heart (ix. 18). Tell my soul what it
should say, or what I should do : which
of all the advices given and means pro
posed I should follow in this instance.
Make known to me your will, and
incline my heart to follow it. "I shall
not err when your lamp shines over my
head, and I walk by your light in dark
ness." (Job xxix. 3.)

9. Fear not, on finding yourself
plunged in some adversity, to make to
this Lord some tender reproaches.
Complain to his love that He seems to
abandon you, and despises your sighs
and tears, saying with the holy psalmist,
How long, O Lord, wilt thou depart
far off from me ; or, with Job, I cry to

Presence of God. Ill

thee, and thou hearest me not ; I stand
up and thou dost not regard me. Thou
art changed to be cruel toward me, and
in the hardness of thy heart thou art
against me. But, ceasing these com
plaints, return again to sentiments of
humility and confidence, exclaiming
with the same, "Thou stretchest not
forth thy hand, notwithstanding their
consumption." Whatever you do with
me, Lord, I know you do not intend to
destroy me ; it is your goodness which
makes me suffer for my greater good.
I submit, then, to your providence,
which only entertains for me thoughts
of peace and designs of love.

10. Do not occupy yourself so much
with 3rour own miseries as to become
insensible to those of your neighbor.
Tell your Lord what you know of them,
and endeavor to draw from His sacred
heart some grace and mercy for the
relief of the afflicted or the conversion
of sinners. I can not go any where, my

112 Presence of God.

dear Master, might you say, without
meeting persons in trouble, and my in
ability to succor them is to me a source
of affliction. Many pious persons go to
the rich to collect alms for the sick
poor; and I address myself to you, O
God, who art rich in mercy, "who
openest thy hand, and fillest every living
thing with benedictions" (in behalf of
those poor sufferers) ; do not send me
away without giving me some relief for
their misery. You have said that what
ever we do for the least of our brethren
you will consider as done for yourself ;
enable me now to do what }TOU com
mand, and command what you please ;
give me the succors you wish me to
bestow on them, and permit me not any
longer to behold you suffering in their
persons without being able to console
you.

11. It is not so common to forget to
recur to God in adversity as in pros
perity, and yet it is strange that when

Presence of God. 113

our affairs succeed, when all goes well
with us, we neglect to speak of them to
God, and thus lose the sweetest conso
lation we can enjoy on earth — that of
entertaining ourselves with our amiable
benefactor. As soon, then, as you re
ceive any pleasing news, or that any
thing advantageous happens to you,
hasten, as fidelity and friendship re
quire, to acquaint Him with it, adding,
that what augments your joy is that you
know your prosperity proceeds from the
charitable hand of His providence. By
this means your joy will increase, and
will be more pure and more lasting.

Like the Sunamite, the holy spouse
of whom Solomon sings, declare to your
Lord the multitude of His benefits, and
the extent of His liberalities. Say with
her, "In our gates all hath budded ; the
new and the old, my beloved, I have
kept for thee. You, my dear Spouse,
are the donor of these numberless bene
fits which contribute to my comfort. I
8

114 Presence of God.

accept them from your hand to share
them with you in the persons of your
poor, and to testify to you my gratitude
and love. If I love your benefits, O
Lord, it is only for the sake of the bene
factor; you alone will be always the
God of my heart, my portion and in
heritance for ever." (Ps. Ixxii. 26.)

12. Although the Providence of God
consoles the Christian in interior pains,
which are of all others the most difficult
to be supported, yet they hinder us from
recurring to Him present in us, by
retaining us buried as it were in our
miseries, and giving rise to an infinity
of desolating reflections. The soul,
taking what she suffers for the effects
of the divine wrath, instead of regard
ing it, with the prophet, as the effect of a
sanctifying indignation, is thus kept
back rather than encouraged to recur
to Him.

The course to be pursued in these
painful circumstances is, first, to omit

Presence of God. 115

nothing that God commands, whether
with regard to our essential duties or
our ordinary exercises of piety; how
ever difficult and distasteful they appear,
they will always be done well when
done for God, and in spite of our own
natural repugnance.

Second. To assure one's self that God
will give at death consolation for all
that we do without consolation during
life, and to submit to His will, enter
into His designs and abandon one's self
to His providence.

Third. To hope against hope that
He will derive glory from our miseries,
and work our salvation by what seems
capable of retarding it ; provided we
resist temptations, particularly those
arising from discouragement or impa
tience.

Fourth. To call to mind the favors
received from the divine bounty, as well
as those passages of Scripture calculated
to excite our confidence — thus, God is

116 Presence of God.

faithful and will not permit us to be
tempted above what we are able. (I
Cor. x. 13.) The Lord is nigh to all
who are in tribulation, and He will save
the humble of spirit. (Ps. xxxix. 19.)
Because thou wast acceptable to God,
it was necessary that temptation should
prove thee. (Tob. xii. 13.) The best
means of honoring God is, to consecrate
ourselves to His service, and immolate
ourselves to His glory. It is but just to
please God in time, that he may be our
consolation in eternity.

It must, however, be confessed, that
however reasonable and solid these sen
timents are, they make not always a
consoling impression, such as an afflicted
soul would desire ; but to sanctify her
pains it is quite enough to humble her
self before the Lord, and to submit to
His good pleasure. When, then, Chris
tian soul, you experience those disgusts,
dryness, distractions or discouragements
too frequent in the spiritual life, and of

Presence of God. 117

which you are not able to trace the
cause, address yourself to God with
holy Job, saying: Now my soul fadeth
within myself, and the days of affliction
possess me. (Job. xxx. 16.) I can not
tell you, my Lord, how I feel. My
soul is disgusted with everything ; noth
ing pleases it, not even yourself. My
prayers are tepid and distracted ; I can
not preserve in your presence the atten
tion I owe you; "my strength faileth
me, and the light of my eyes itself is
not with me." (Ps. xxxvii. 11.) I
know not whence proceeds this ill
humor, this perverse inclination to trans
gress your laws. I can not conceive
how my ancient weakness has returned ;
passions which I thought overcome,
strong and vigorous ; habits which I
thought destroyed, as rooted to all ap
pearances as ever. All I know is, that
you have my cure in your own hands,
and that you have only to speak the
word and the tempest shall be appeased.

118 Presence of God.

Remember, Lord, that I am misery
itself. To whom shall I go but to thee,
"who art my strength and my support,
my refuge in every tribulation?"

13. Nothing is more common than to
be shaken by contradictions and un
pleasant accidents, because they are
either unexpected or we think them
unjust and unreasonable. Regard those
trying circumstances, for which man
kind have so much disrelish, as precious
occasions sent expressly by Providence
to teach you to overcome yourself, and
to confirm you in patience. Do the
same with those corrupt infirmities,
which St. Gregory styles merciful pun
ishments, the justice of God acting on
those occasions under the influence of
His paternal bounty. Submitting to the
hand which strikes you, will render
your sufferings less insupportable and
more meritorious.

Your resignation, however, need not
prevent you from applying to him for

Presence of God. 119

your cure. You can say without danger
of offending God, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean; say but the
ward and my disease shall be removed.
I shall not say, with the poor woman in
the Gospel, "If I can but touch the
hem of your garment, I shall be healed,"
but if I am happy enough to receive
you in the adorable sacrament of your
love, I shall fear no evils of soul or
body. I ask health of you, O Lord, to
employ it in loving and serving you,
and to procure your glory and the sal
vation of my neighbor; but if you
foresee I will not make this use of it,
burn, cut, chastise this body of sin for
the expiation of past crimes, and as a
preventive against future ones. Let
me suffer as long as you please, provided
I suffer with patience.

14. In those troubles which are not
less contrary than the foregoing to your
design of ever preserving your soul in
peace, and of remaining always united

120 Presence of God.

to God, so that you can no longer
remain with Mary at the feet of Jesus,
but look after an infinity of affairs with
Martha, do not say you can no longer
hear His word or enjoy the sweetness
of His divine conversation. You must
know, faithful soul, that it would be an
inexcusable error to believe that the
occupations of your state, commanded
as they are by God, should oblige you
to forget Him ; and, surely, you will
acknowledge that your labors do not
preclude your speaking to the persons
who chance to come in your way, with
out, at the same time, ceasing or dimin
ishing your attention. Now could you
not as easily speak of them to God,
who is really interested for you, and
who will listen to all you have to say ?
Could you not say, when about to com
mence them, with the Holy Spouse,
4 'Let us get up early to the vineyards:
let us see if the vineyards nourish, if the
flowers be ready to bring forth fruit, if

Presence of God. 121

the pomegranates flourish?" (Cant. vii.
12.) It is time to labor and apply to
business, my beloved ; leave me not to
myself amidst its embarrassments. I do
not fear them, provided they do not
separate me from you, and that while I
labor, my eyes and my heart may be
still with you.

When a person speaks to God whije
at work, labor is no longer a distraction,
but a devotion of great merit ; its fatigue,
too, is thereby considerably lessened. If
Mary has more consolation than Martha,
she has not more merit. A person who
would preserve a spirit of recollection
in the midst of a crowded market, or in
the hurry of business, would undoubt
edly, please God more than one who
would allow his mind to be dissipated
while he remained in his oratory.

15. Those who imagine that to speak
so freely to God is to trangress against
the respect due to His Divine Majesty,
are greatly deceived ; they know little of

122 Presence of God.

the greatness of G-od. His immensity
infinitely surpasses all that we can con
ceive of it, because at the same time that
it is more unbounded than the earth, it is
as limited as the smallest creature, and
is found as entire in a flower as in the
empyreal heaven.

And this should convince us that He
is the true and only object worthy of
our love, since we find in Him alone
the two qualities which more power
fully claim our affections — superiority
and equality ; that is, a supreme great
ness which raises Him infinitely above
us, and an infinite bounty which abases
Him to us. He is our master, and, at
the same time, He is, in some manner,
our equal. Of Him alone it is we can
say with truth, "My beloved to me, and
I to Him." (Can. ii. 16.) Though He
is all, and I am nothing, He has placed
Himself on a level with me. His
wisdom has taken upon Him my
misery, and rendered my. littleness ca-

Presence of God. 123

pable of containing His immensity.

16. You are free, Christian soul, to
humble and annihilate yourself in the
temple of this great God, and, above
all, at the time of sacrifice, when His
Divine Son is immolated to His glory ;
but at those periods which we have in
dicated you are culpable of great ingrat
itude, if you use not the respectable
freedom of a spouse who tenderly loves
her spouse, and who has no other lan
guage than the language of love. It is
in these happy moments that He calls
you His well-beloved, and forbids you
to call Him Lord or Master.

Call me, does He say, call me the
God of your heart, the God of your con
solation, the Father of mercies, the
sweetest object of your hopes and de
sires, the most desirable, the most
amiable, and the most perfect friend —
your all, in fine, whose heart is but one
with yours, and whose grace and love
are the life of your soul.

124 Presence of God.

But in these transports of tenderness,
do not confine yourself to what merely
relates to yourself ; speak to Him also
of what concerns Himself, as His felicity,
His greatness, His works, His attributes ;
speak of them as the saints have done,
by sighs and ejaculations, in which they
displayed all their eloquence. O Lord,
Our Lord, says David, how wonderful is
thy name in all the earth. How lovely
are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom
and of the knowledge of God! Thy
power and thy justice, O God, even to
the highest, great things thou hast done
O God, who is like to thee ? (Ps. Ixx. 19. )

Omit not, also, to entertain Him with
the greatest of all miracles — the Incar
nation of the Word, and the redemption
of the human race by His sufferings and
death. Repeat to him all that you
have heard or read of His sacred Pas
sion, interspersing it with acts of faith
and love, gratitude and confidence.

Presence of God. 125

Tell Him sometimes, with sentiments
of compunction, that you see not less
clearly on the cross the extraordinary
effects of divine justice, than the wicked
ness of your own criminal life, and the
many motives you have to humble and
annihilate yourself. Beg of Him to
pardon the sins of your past life. Sa}T
with the Psalmist: "The sins of my
youth and my ignorances, remember
not, O Lord ; I am afflicted that my
heart is incapable of feeling all the
sorrow they deserve. I wish I had all
the contrition that has ever been expe
rienced, that I might bewail them in
some manner proportioned to their enor
mity."

This desire is very pleasing to God,
as is seen in David, Peter, Magdalen,
and many others who, in the excess of
their grief, wished, after bewailing their
sins for years, for a fountain of tears
wherein to efface them. Imitate these
holy penitents. Sometimes exclaim,

126 Presence of God.

"Why can not I, my God, intermingle
torrents of tears with the torrents of
blood which you shed for me in your
passion? I am inconsolable when I
reflect that though in your great mercy
you have pardoned me my sins, yet —
that it will be always true — that there
was a time in which I was an object of
indignation in your divine presence.
My only consolation is, that you have
promised by your prophet to "cast all
our sins into the depths of the sea,
because you delight in mercy." (Mich,
vii. 19.)

17. If ever you chance to be troubled
by the fear of being guilty of some
secret sin, or that God may have
determined to rank you with the rep
robate,, be quite ashamed of this dis
quietude, considering it a fault more
displeasing to His goodness and mercy
than any other of which you may have
been guilty. In the same manner, if
you feel discouraged at the considera-

Presence of God. 127

tion of your weakness, or if your imag
ination be disturbed by chimerical fears
of the power of men or the malice of
devils, take heed of indulging them;
think that you are unworthy of the pro
tection of the Most High, extended
as it is over you, when you entertain
such unfounded apprehension.

Say to God on these occasions,
Whence, O Lord, arises this anxiety, so
injurious to your love? It is true, I am
a vile sinner, but you are the Savior of
sinners. I hear you say to me in accents
of love and mercy: Little worm as
thou art, worthy of being trampled on
by all, console thyself; fear nothing,
since I am thy Creator, thy beloved, thy
faithful friend — one who has sworn that
the world should pass away rather than
I should suffer thee to perish.

These, my God, are consoling truths.
Your prophet, moreover, assures me
that you bear me in your arms as your
cherished child, who knows not how to

128 Presence of God.

walk, and that even to old age you will
not abandon me. (Ps. xlvi. 4.)

I shall not fear, then, with so many
motives of confidence, and I heartily
regret my past disquietudes.

To fortify this confidence, and open
your heart more fully to peace and con
solation, often call to mind the particular
favors you have received from God, and
the special proofs you have had of His
goodness toward you. This is one of
the subjects He is most pleased to hear
you speak of. Say, then, to Him
occasionally: It is you, O Lord, who
hast stretched forth your hand, who
hast delivered me from death, who hast
dried up my tears, broken my chains,
pardoned my ingratitudes, cured my
maladies, strengthened my weakness,
" crowned me with glory and honor,
and make me a little less than the
angels." "What shall I render to thee,
O Lord, for all thou hast done for me?
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all

Presence of God. 129

that is within me praise His holy name."

18. What is the most advantageous in
this holy conversation with God is, that
though He seems not to speak to you,
He has a certain language, which is
peculiar to Himself, whereby He en
graves in your soul, in an extraordinary
manner, those truths which His love
prompts Him to communicate. Some
times it is by inspiring almost imper
ceptibly certain things which console
you, by shedding lights which illumine
you, by reflections which discover what
you should do, and which point out to
3*ou the best means of succeeding in
your undertakings. However, it may
please Him to reply to you, it is certain
that, provided you address Him with
that holy freedom and confidence of
what we have been speaking, He will
not fail to do so — not in words, but in a
spiritual manner which faithful souls
will understand,

19. We have faithful souls, because

130 Presence of God.

to understand it requires detachment
from earthly things and the practice of
the interior life ; and from this we may
infer the necessity all Christians are
under of being interior men. To be
more fully convinced of it, it is quite
sufficient to reflect on these words of
our Lord already quoted: "The hour
cometh, and now is, when the true
adorers will adore the Father in spirit
and in truth. ' ' If the true adorers adore
in spirit, they must be false adorers who
do not. And, alas! how numerous are
they not! Some cannot refrain from
manifesting wrath and indignation if
spoken to of being interior and spiritual,
as if they deem it unworthy of them and
the way of life they profess ; others, as
if they imagined themselves incapable
of attaining it, or were willing to think
so, because they know it will cost them
very dear : both because they persuade
themselves that the interior life is not
essential to salvation, as if the whole

Presence of God. 131

tendency of the Gospel was not to form
it in the hearts of Christians. But to
do away with the objections of those
two classes, the interior life has been
that led by Christ Jesus, our divine
model, and that of all those who have
sanctified themselves by His imitation,
and whose sanctity ever has been es
teemed in the Church in proportion as
their lives have been interior. And
then, so far from this holy practice
being wearisome and disagreeable, as
they suppose who know it not by ex
perience, it has ever been found by
those who have embraced it to be the
truest source of peace and consolation.

The only question now is, in what
does this life consist, and how all Chris
tians can and should aspire to it?

20. By the corporal life, two things
may be understood — its principle, which
is the union of the body and soul ; and
the actual exercise of this life, which is
to see, hear and speak; or, in fine,

132 Presence of God.

employ any of the corporal organs.
The interior life, also, consists in two
things : the union of the soul with God,
and the actual exercise of this all-divine
life, as to contemplate God, to speak to
God, to listen to God, and to do all that
is calculated to entertain that happy com
merce a Christian soul can have with
God. We do not mean to explain here
that union with God which is called
habitual, and which consists in being
in his grace and friendship, and exempt
from mortal sin, but the means of enter
taining and preserving this union, which
is no other than the practice of the in
terior life. If we examine why so many
Christians separate themselves from
God by mortal sin, after contracting
with Him an union which should be
eternal, we shall find it to proceed from
their negligence in regarding God pres
ent, and from their want of fidelity in
listening and speaking to Him. They
content themselves with thinking of

Presence of God. 133

Him for a moment, and lightly, at
prayer or when they approach the sac
raments, but this scarcely without any
interruption of their habit of thinking
of and occupying themselves incessantly
with creatures. There is no reason,
then, to be astonished that they so ill
observe the promises made to God and
to His minister in the holy tribunal, nor
at their abuse of the sacraments.

But they are not sinners alone who
fall into this blindness. Many poor
souls who live exempt from crime make
no progress in virtue, for want of culti
vating the interior life. They are like
those deaf and dumb persons who
enjoy not the principal advantages of
existence ; for must not that soul be
blind, indeed, who knows and firmly
believes that God is always present with
her and in her, and yet who passes
whole days without once beholding
Him? Must she not be deaf when she
scarcely knows what it is to hear His

134 Presence of God.

voice? Must she not, in fine, be dumb,
when she is ignorant of the manner of
conversing with this God? Thus it is,
that living with this God as though He
were remote from them, they always
continue in their imperfections ; are
always as full of self-love, as weak, as
unfaithful, as attached to the things of
earth, after many years of a pretended
devout life, as if they only commenced
yesterday.

And let them not allege, by way of
excuse, that the interior life is not for
every one, and that all are not capable
of it. For, after all, to become interior
we have only to change the objects on
which the powers of our soul act — that
is, to substitute God for the creature, to
accustom ourselves to recollect in Him
our minds, which are incessantly dissi
pated on creatures, and to keep our
hearts closely united to Him by love
and affection ; to enter into ourselves,
and keep ourselves retired in the sol-

Presence of God. 135

itude of the heart as much as we can,
and there to speak to, look at, and listen
to God.

Our Lord invites us to this practice
when He says, "Come to me all ye
who labor and are burdened, and I will
refresh you." (Matt. xi. 28.) Recol
lect your wandering thoughts, return
from your dissipation, relinquish your
frivolous and vain affections, and I will
console you ; I will make you taste
those delights which they enjoy who are
always with me. He solicits us again-
to it in these words of the Apocalypse :
"Behold, I stand at the gate and knock :
if any man shall hear my voice, and
open to me the door, I will come unto
him and sup with him, and he with
me." (iii. 20.)

This mysterious supper is that holy
commerce which God wishes to have
with us in prayer, which is the true
good of the soul, and the delicious ban
quet after which we ought to hunger,

136 Presence of God.

ki order to be of the number of those of
whom our Lord says, "Not in bread
alone does man live, but in every word
that proceedeth from the mouth of
God." (Mat. iv. 4.) But to be nour
ished by and reap advantage from this
blessed food, we should be truly humble.
Our Lord in His prayer the night be
fore His passion, thanks His eternal
Father for having concealed His secrets
from the proud and revealed them to
the humble and simple, which shows
us that humility and contempt of self
are necessary, in order to advance in the
holy science of prayer and the interior
life.

In fine, as a last proof of our obliga
tion to become interior, if we would be
true Christians, we should attend to
these other words of our Lord: "The
kingdom of God is within you" (Luke
xvii. 21), for they tell us plainly that it
is in the heart God wishes to establish
his throne ? and that it is in the secret of

Presence of God. 137

the soul He desires to be loved and
adored, which certainly can never be
effected without prayer and recollection.
These words, too, insinuate the obli
gation we are under of reigning over
ourselves, and of subjecting our pas
sions. But without the spirit of prayer
and recollection this can not be done,
the practice of the interior life being the
only means of enabling us to say with
the prophet: "I have run in the way of
your commandments when you have
dilated my heart." (Ps. cxviii. 32.) A
man of prayer not only runs, but even
flies in the path of virtue ; it being im
possible to apply to this holy exercise,
even for a short time, without experi
encing a great facility in all that re
gards the service of God, and making
great advances towards Christian perfec
tion. Once more, it is absolutely nec
essary for it. As the new man is
brought forth by the destruction of the
old through salutary renunciation ; as

138 Presence of God.

the first duty of a Christian is to know
and imitate Jesus Christ ; as the virtues
proper of a Christian are humility, dis
engagement, patience, sweetness, mor
tification and penance, it is certain that
one can not better do all this, which is
so contrary to human inclination, than
by having his heart penetrated by a
frequent, lively and respectful view of
the Divine Majesty, together w.ith the
practice of meditation, which, after con
vincing us of the necessity of these
virtues, inspires us with resolution to
practice them.

Thus we avoid the misfortune of
those who appear to do neither great
good nor great evil : persons who might
be called good pagans, but bad Chris
tians ; men who are full of human sense,
but have little faith and no piety.

We have often said before in the
course of this work that the holy exer
cise of prayer and recollection was the
way by which God conducted all His

Presence of God. 139

servants. St. Paul says of Moses, that
he bore all adversities as seeing the
Invisible ; and God himself says, by the
mouth of the Psalmist, that He will
give understanding and teach us the
way by which we should go, having
his eyes upon us, and engaging us to
fix ours on Him. (Ps. xxxi. 8.)

21. Since recollection is so advan
tageous and so essential to a Christian
that he can never attain the science of
prayer without it, it is extremely desir
able that all persons should employ
therein some portion of each day. It
is the true menns of fixing the incon
stancy and lightness of the human mind,
which, having contracted the habit of
incessantly running from one object to
another, to seek its repose and satisfac
tion, can not bear the shadow of restraint.
As a person can not read without having
first learned to spell, so no one can pre
serve himself long in the presence of
God, amidst the cares and embarrass-

140 Presence of God.

ments of business, except he has accus
tomed himself to it by the practice of
prayer.

As the only end a person proposes
to himself in this holy exercise, is to
occupy himself with God alone on what
regards his salvation, this alone, if faith
fully practiced, disposes to recollection
during the day.

It is not to those who begin to exercise
the holy presence of God that prayer is
necessary — those who have long prac
ticed it require it, too — because the
facility of preserving it diminishes with
time, and is opposed by the attention
and care necessary for external occupa
tions. But some may say that they
find it as hard to be recollected at
prayer as at any other time ; and as this
often arises from not knowing in what
prayer consists, we shall give an idea
of it in a few words borrowed from St.
Theresa, so experienced in this holy
science: "Prayer, or meditation," says

Presence of God. 141

this saint, "is nothing else, in my
opinion, than the means of engaging
ourselves to depend absolutely as slaves
on the will of Him who has testified for
us so much love ; it is an interior con
versation of the soul with God, in which
she testifies her love for Him, and her
confidence that He reciprocally loves
her."

According to this definition, when we
undertake to meditate we should call to
mind the presence of Him to whom we
are going to speak, and endeavor to
retain our minds and hearts in that holy
slavery, which St. Paul calls "the true
liberty of the children of God" — our
minds, by withdrawing them from all
other occupation, banishing all other
ideas but those which lead us to God ;
our hearts, by emptying them of every
other feeling but that of praising, hon
oring and serving Him. If we feel dis
couraged at the difficulty we experience
in doing this, we should console our-

142 Presence of God.

selves by the assurance given us by the
same saint that the sole effort to pre
serve ourselves in the Divine Presence
is in itself a prayer. It is true, nature
does not find its account in this, and
hence tempts us to abandon it at once,
under pretense of remaining idle and
doing nothing therein ; but if we reflect
that God invites and solicits us to re
main with Him, if we consider that it
is sufficient that He well knows that we
remain with Him purely for His love,
though we feel no satisfaction in doing
so, we would never think of abandon
ing, but rather faithfully persevere in it.

22. Here some will reply: All that
is very good for faithful souls who have
been a long time serving God, but how
can I, who have so much offended Him,
and done nothing for Him, hope that
He loves me? How can I testify how
much I love Him, when I feel not a
sentiment of His love?

To this we reply, that to separate

Presence of God. 143

one's self from the rest of mankind,
whom "God has so much loved," that,
as the Apostle says, "He spared not
even His own Son, but delivered Him
up for them" (John iii. 16), would be
in itself a fatal error. And, then, what
has not this divine Son done to prove
His love? He has given His life and
blood, and even gives His sacred flesh
in the most holy sacrament of the altar
for this end.

Such are a few of the general marks
of His love. Are they insufficient to
convince you of it? Could you require
stronger and more authentic? As for
the particular ones, you can not deny
that they are beyond number; and,
surely, you can not, without extreme
ingratitude, forget them, or cease to say
with David (after having acknowledged
with Jeremy, that it is owing to the
mercy of the Lord that you have not
been consumed), "the mercies of the
Lord I will sing for ever." (Ps. Ixxxviii.)

144 Presence of God.

These are the sentiments St. Theresa
says we should entertain on approaching
God in prayer ; and they may be followed
by the greatest sinners, provided they
have a sincere desire to be converted.

As to the other part of the definition
of prayer given us by the saint — that it
is nothing else than testifying to God
how much we love Him — it signifies
that to prove to God how much we love
Him, by using a holy violence in detach
ing ourselves from creatures, and being
occupied by him alone at a stated time
every day, is prayer, because this is one
of the things for which we should par
ticularly pray, and we can acquit our
selves of it perfectly, though without
any lively or sensible feeling of love.
Indeed, it is giving him a stronger
proof of attachment to remain in prayer
when we are bereft of consolation, for
then, as St. Theresa says, a person
serves God at one's own expense, and
acquires considerable merit.

Presence of God. 145

The third idea of prayer is, that it
consists of thinking of and understand
ing what we say, and to whom we say
it. In this manner, for example : Alas !
who am I, who have the boldness to
converse with so great Majesty? This,
and similar thoughts, says this enlight
ened soul, are, properly speaking, mental
prayer. Do not, then, allow the name
to terrify you, as if it included or meant
some incomprehensible mystery. Such
is not the case.

This is very consoling for those who
find meditation or mental prayer diffi
cult, since it shows that to perform this
exercise does not require much reason
ing or studied thoughts, but rather in
considering the greatness of Him in
whose presence we are, and our own
unworthiness. There is nothing easier,
and, at the same time, more necessary
for all Christians, for prayer unac
companied by these considerations, and

10

146 Presence of God.

which consists only in words, can not
be truly called prayer.

If this be the case, some one may here
ask, can not I meditate while reciting
vocal prayers ? Without doubt you can,
and you should, since vocal prayer is
not a true prayer, if unaccompanied
by application of the mind and heart ;
if, as St. Theresa says, we do not " think
of what we say, and to whom we
speak," and, in fine, if our souls are
not animated by sentiments of love,
gratitude, confidence and humility.

Another manner of mental prayer is,
to reflect seriously before God on the
importance of salvation, the different
means of succeeding in it, and the
various obstacles which oppose them
selves to it, whether on the part of the
world or our own passions.

And now, after all that has been said
in this little work, in recommendation
of the practice of the presence of God,
of the excellence and utility of mental

Presence of God. 147

prayer, of recollection and retirement
within one's self, by which man can ac
quire and preserve a life all spiritual,
all holy, and, in some manner, all divine,
it were deplorable that persons should
be found who, obstinately bent on
adhering to creatures, would remain in
their dissipation without troubling them
selves to call to mind often the presence
of God, or making serious reflections
from time to time on their duties and
obligations towards His Divine Majesty,
and on all that can contribute to aug
ment their faith, hope and charity.
Christians of this character, so far from
making any progress in virtue, would
be, on the contrary, in great danger of
finding themselves at death in the broad
road of perdition, having all their lives
rejected what was most capable of
securely conducting them in the narrow
path which leads to God.

In conclusion, may the most holy and
adorable Trinity ever penetrate our

148 Presence of God.

hearts with respect for its supreme
greatness, admiration and love for its
incomprehensible perfections, and grat
itude for its innumerable benefits, that
every moment of our life, being ani
mated and sanctified by sentiments of
His fear and love, we may be able to ren
der Him one day, in union with the holy
angels, the eternal praise and thanks
due to His infinite goodness. Amen.
Amen.

OX THE USE OF THE CRUCIFIX.

The Crucifix, or image of Jesus cru
cified, is not intended to be useless to
us — it is not set before us to look at
with indifference. It is the image of
images, there being none more holy,
none more amiable.

When alone with God often take up
this sign of salvation and victory, and,
regarding it earnestly, prostrate your
self before it, kiss its wounds, give
yourself its benediction, entertain your-

Presence of God. 149

self with all confidence with this pre
cious pledge of love, this instrument of
grace, and you will soon feel what
wonders can be effected by it.
. The image of Jesus crucified is the
foundation of the interior edifice, the
repeller of distractions, the scourge of
devils, the antidote against temptations,
the death of nature, the source of
prayer, the life of the spirit, the gate of
contemplation.

There is not a more powerful means
of recollecting our senses and recalling
our minds from their wanderings than
to lead them to Calvary and enchain
them to the foot of the cross. There,
empty of all things, they will become
full of Jesus crucified, and our souls,
with all their powers concentrated, as
it were, and mixed up in His Passion.

THE END.

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