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tTbougbts on the IReligious
Xife
REFLECTWUS.:_ .;
On the General Principles of the Religious Life,;, on Perfect Charity
the End of the Religiou5^t.ife^ on- Vocation, the Vows,
the Rules, the Cloister Virtues "and: the Main
Devotton^ bf the* Church .
WITH AN APP^NDiX OF |
Maxifns and Counsels of Saints and Spiritual Writers
il
EDITED BY
IRev* jf. f ♦ Xasance
Author of '"''Prayer-book for Religious^'''' ''"Visits to Jesus
in the TahernacUy etc, etc.
New York, Cincinnati, Chicago
Benslaer Brotbere
Printers to the Holy Apostolic See
1907
SdX4ZlO
.33
mfbll ©batat
REMY LAFORT,
Censor Librorum.
U8RARY of CONGRESS
Two Oootes Hacelved
NOV 4 xmf
Copyngfh! Ditiy
CLASS ^ XXCm No.
OOPY B.
Ifmprtmatun
New York, August 27, 1907.
4^ JNO. M. FARLEY,
Archbishot of New York,
Copyright, 1907, by Benziger Brothers.
Ad Major em Dei Gloriam.
3focewor&*
Thoughts on the Religious Life is primarily
intended as a book of spiritual reading for all our
Sisterhoods without exception. We love them all and
offer them this work as a tribute of our profound
admiration and respect, in the hope that it may prove
a source of encouragement and helpfulness to them
in their life of sacrifice and sublime self-immolation
on the altar of divine and fraternal charity.
The first volume of Basso's Vollkommene Klos-
terfrau, which treats of the religious life in general,
forms the basis of the present work. On this basis
we have built a superstructure consisting of a com-
pilation of papers from various Catholic magazines,
and articles from many books, relating to the spir-
itual life, the virtues and devotions belonging to the
cloister. Basso's second volume, which treats spe-
cifically and in detail of the religious promise, the
vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, may some
day be utilized by us for the construction of a sequel
to Reflections for Religious.
It is over two hundred years since Basso's excel-
lent work on The Perfect Religious was first trans-
lated from the original Italian into German. The
basis of the present English adaptation is an im-
proved German edition of the work published in
1867, the preface of which reads as follows :
''The Perfect Religious, or True Virtues of the
Cloister, by the Very Reverend Charles Andrew
Basso, Provost of Trezzo, embodies, in language
vi Foreword,
clear and simple, a full exposition of the fundamental
principles of holy Mother Church and the luminous
teachings of her most approved spiritual writers on
the cloistered life and the perfection to which a
Religious is bound to aim; and therefore we deem
it not a superfluous task to place it in the hands of
German readers. It has been enlarged by the addi-
tion of some practical points of the interior life,
taken from the writhigs of experienced spiritual
directors.
''Although written ostensibly for female Re-
ligious, its pages, with very few exceptions, apply
equally to the other sex, and even devout persons in
the secular life may find instruction and edification
in its perusal. The virtues are treated clearly and
practically, and in a manner that incites the soul to
their exercise.
'/Confessors, whether intrusted with the guidance
of souls leading the Christian life in the way of the
Commandments, or of those under the holy vows of
Religion, may find in Provost Basso's work ample
direction for the wise execution of their difliicult task.
"May Almighty God bless this work! May it
prove an encouragement to zealous Religious to new
and persevering efforts in the work of self-sanctifi-
cation, and may it reawaken in tepid hearts their
first love, that love which urged them in their early
years to adopt the perfect life !"
Basso's work is certainly on a level with and
perhaps a little above other well-known, popular
spiritual books of its class. It is evidently from the
pen of a spiritual man of wide experience ; it reveals
the author as one who speaks from intimate knowl-
edge of the religious life ; it makes no effort save
to enlighten souls called to the state of perfection
along the safe and sure road of humility 'and self-
Foreword. vii
denial. We have, however, excluded from the pres-
ent adaptation a large amount of illustrative ma-
terial, such as anecdotes from the Fathers, tales of
marvelous visions and legends from the Lives of
the Saints, which, though doubtless pleasing to
pious souls, we deemed unsuited to the trend of the
day, and incapable of standing in the searchlight of
Bollandist criticism. It is regrettable that in the
works of so many hagiologists, especially of the
biographies of saints written in the Middle Ages,
there is an overflow of the marvelous without any
essay at criticism. As Giraud says in his Life of St,
Dominic: "The historian should beware of exag-
geration. Without denying the marvelous or the
miraculous, it is his duty to weigh evidence, and,
even though it should be necessary to set aside
poetic and attractive legends, to accept that only
which appears to be authentic.''
The wTiter of spiritual books of any kind, as well
as the biographer, should heed this admonition and
carefully exclude what seems absurd and unau-
thentic.
We take this opportunity of expressing our sin-
cere thanks to the editors, authors, and publishers,
whose courtesy and generosity enabled us to em-
body in this work the articles credited to them.*
We trust .that by gathering these instructive and
interesting articles from so many eminent sources
and adjusting them in the present setting, like
precious stones from many lands, shaped and set in
*We thank, in particular, the reverend editors of The
American Ecclesiastical Review ^ The Sentinel of the
Blessed Sacrament, and Emmanuel, for the most generous
concessions. We are, however, under the heaviest obliga-
tion to a Visitandine of Georgetown, D. C, who prepared
the first draft of that part of the present work which is an
adaptation from Basso.
viii Foreword.
2L mosaic, we have done Religious a real service.
In regard to both the compilation and the adapta-
tion, which we regard as equally important features
of the book, we confess that we have allowed our-
selves great liberties in the choice of material and
in the shaping of the same to suit our plan and pur-
pose. Though intended primarily and principally
for female Religious, this work is suited also to
monks and to the various congregations of men that
are bound by the religious promise.
We cherish the hope, moreover, and pray that
since there seems to be a dearth of postulants in
many of our convents, this book may fall into the
hands of many young women, and, by the grace of
God, be instrumental in rousing some from spiritual
torpidity due to the blandishments of the world ; in
opening their eyes to the grandeur of the religious
life, and the beauty of that enclosed garden of the
Lord, where the fairest flowers of virtue — above all,
the rose of charity — ^bloom in unsurpassed abun-
dance and splendor of development ; and in attract-
ing them to that school of sanctity, where, as St.
Bernard says, ''Men lead a purer life, fall into sin
less frequently, rise again more easily, walk more
cautiously, rest more tranquilly, die more happily,
and reap a richer reward for eternity/' Where, like
Mary, the soul may nestle securely in sweetest con-
templation at the feet of Jesus, and, again, like
Martha, be active in serving the Master's interests,
in seeking to satisfy His thirst for souls by minis-
tering to the temporal and spiritual needs of her
neighbor, in imitation of His own example while He
was on earth, when it was said of Him that He did
all things well and went about doing good to all.
F. X. L.
Feast of St. Paul, First Hermit.
1907.
Contents*
part !♦
VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS LIFE.
PAGE
Foreword v
Chapter i. — The Words Monk and Nun . . i
Chapter ii. — The Essential Characteristic of a
Perfect Religious Consists in a Truly Spirit-
ual Life 4
Chapter hi. — The Name Religious — Self-Re-
nunciation — Mortification — The Terms Re-
ligion, Religious, the Convent, Laura, Ascetae,
Monk, Nun, Religious Orders 9
Chapter iv. — The Grace of Vocation to the
Religious State 34
Chapter v. — Means of Salvation in the Re-
ligious State 37
Chapter vi. — Advantages of the Religious State 43
Chapter vii. — The Religious Truly a Bride of
Christ — The Religious Profession the Nup-
tials with Our Lord . . . . . . .47
Chapter viii. — State of Perfection : How to
Recognize Vocation to the Religious Life . 55
Chapter ix. — The Question of a Vocation to
the Religious State 61
Chapter x. — The Love of God .... 72
X Contents.
PAGE
Chapter xi. — The Vows — The Rules — Divinely
Appointed Means for Helping the Soul On-
wards, Day by Day, to Its Life of Perfect
Charity 8o
Chapter xii. — The Religious Promise . . 86
Chapter xiii. — General Principles of the Re-
ligious Life • • 95
Chapter xiv. — The Renewal of Vows . . loi
Chapter xv. — Christian Asceticism and Com-
mon Sense . . io8
Chapter xvi. — Was Christ an Ascetic? . .117
Chapter xvii. — The Duties of a Religious
Toward God — A Religious Should Belong
Entirely to God 127
Chapter xviii. — The Essence of Perfection —
The Union of All Virtues in Charity . .138
Chapter xix. — The Love of a Religious for
Jesus Christ 158
Chapter xx. — Conformity with the Divine
Will — Abandonment 164
Chapter xxi. — The Exercise of the Presence
of God an Aid to the Practice of Perfect Con-
formity with the Divine Will — Of Recalling
the Presence of God by Means of the Under-
standing— ^Of Recalling the Presence of God
by Means of the Will ....... 183
Chapter xxii. — The Presence of God Consid-
ered in the Hidden Life 194
Chapter xxiit. — Humility and Its Advantages 198
Chapter xxiv. — Humility of the Understand-
ing 206
Contents. xi
PAGE
Chapter xxv. — Humility of the Will . . .214
Chapter xxvi. — Purity of Intention . . . 237
Chapter xxvii. — The Necessity of a Spiritual •
Father, or Director, and of Obedience to Him 250
Chapter xxviii. — On the Duties of Religious
Toward Their Superiors and Spiritual Direct-
ors— On the Importance of Candor and Sin-
cerity Toward Superiors 263
Chapter xxix. — Counsels and Reflections for
Superiors 274
Chapter xxx. — The Contemplative Life — The
Contemplative Vocation — The Contemplative
Apostolate 287
Chapter xxxi. — Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Par-
ticular .... 308
Chapter xxxii. — Mental Prayer or Meditation 323
Chapter xxxiii. — The Importance of Medita-
tion—Books and Methods of Meditation . 334
Chapter xxxiv. — On Continual Prayer . . 350
Chapter xxxv. — The Breviary — The Divine
Office 361
Chapter xxxvi. — The Spirit of the Divine
Office 382
Chapter xxxvii. — Mortification — The Neces-
sity of Mortification and in What It Consists 392
Chapter xxxviii. — Interior and Exterior Mor-
tification 396
Chapter xxxix. — Mortification of the Senses
and Human Suffering — Human Suffering as
a Source of Merit and Blessings . . . 414
xii Contents,
PAGE
Chapter xl. — Silence ....... 432
Chapter xli. — Fraternal Charity — Of the Ne-
. cessity of Mutual Love and Union . . . 441
Chapter xlii. — Faith and Humor .... 458
Chapter xliii. — Cheerfulness 465
Chapter xliv.- — The Apostleship of Kindness 481
Chapter xlv. — Reflections on Happiness . 486
Chapter xlvi. — The Sweetness of the Heart
of Jesus in His Manner of Teaching . . 491
Chapter xlvii. — The Perfection of the Relig-
ious Teacher 497
part irir*
THOUGHTS ON CERTAIN DEVOTIONS
AND PIOUS PRACTICES PERTAIN-
ING TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
Chapter xlviii. — The Holy Trinity — I. God
the Father. 11. God the Son. HI. God the
Holy Ghost 515
Chapter xlix. — The Holy Ghost and Religious
Orders — Call to the Religious State a Special
Grace of the Holy Ghost 523
Chapter l. — The Indwelling of the Holy
Spirit — How to Live by the Spirit . . . 526
Chapter li. — Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth
and the Life, Whom We Must Follow . . 536
Contents. xiii
PAGE
Chapter lii. — The Three Degrees of Humility
the Way to Christian Perfection .... 553
Chapter liii. — The Blessed Sacrament — The
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass — The Mysteries of
Our Lord's Life and Passion Reproduced in
the Mysteries of the Altar — Holy Sacrifice of
the Altar — -Daily Visits to the Most Blessed
Sacrament 559
Chapter liv. — Emmanuel 589
Chapter lv. — The Hour of Adoration before
the Blessed Sacrament — The Method of
Adoration by Means of the Four Ends of the
Sacrifice 594
Chapter lvi. — The Relation of Devotion to the
Sacred Heart and to the Blessed Sacrament 607
Chapter lvii. — The Love of the Sacred Heart
for the Eternal Father — The Apostleship of
Prayer — The Twofold Devotion to the Sacred
Heart — The Apostleship of Prayer the Per-
petuation of the Work of the Incarnation —
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is Twofold,
Reparatory and Apostolic 625
Chapter lviii. — Pious Practices in Honor of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus 641
Chapter lix. — The Promises of Our Divine
Redeemer to Those Who Venerate His
Sacred Heart — The Twelfth Promise in Par-
ticular 648
Chapter lx. — The Heart of Jesus in Prayer 656
Chapter lxi. — The Meekness of the Heart
of Jesus 661
xiv Contents,
PAGE
Chapter lxii. — Pontifical Decrees Concerning
Daily Communion — ''Why Art Thou
Afraid?" 671
Chapter lxiii. — Communion for Religious . 692
Chapter lxiv. — Commentary on the Decree of
the Sacred Congregation of the Council Re-
garding Daily Communion . . . . . 701
Chapter lxv. — Sanctifying Grace .... 723
Chapter lxvi. — Devotion to the Passion of
Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ . . 727
Chapter lxvii. — Observations Concerning the
Meditations on the Passion of Christ — Re-
flections on the Passion of Our Lord . . 733
Chapter lxviii. — Devotion to the Blessed' Vir-
gin— Mary's Love for Religious — Mary's De-
sire to Help Her Children . . . . . . 742
Chapter lxix. — Mary, Our Mother: How to
Honor Her — The Most Holy Rosary: Other
Devotions and Pious Practices — The Mass
and the Rosary 750
Chapter lxx. — Mary, the Model of Holy Vir-
ginity 765
Chapter lxxi. — The Imitation of Mary in Her
Obedience and in Her Poverty — The Obedi-
ence of Mary — The Poverty of Mary . . 774
Chapter lxxii. — Mary, the Holv Mother of
God \ ... 781
Chapter lxxiii. — Our Lady of the Blessed
Sacrament 794
Chapter lxxiv. — ^^Mary Immaculate — The Im-
maculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin 804
Contents. xv
PAGE
Chapter lxxv. — Mater Dolorosa — Our Blessed
Mother of Sorrows 8i8
Chapter lxxvi. — Our Lady's Day — Saturday
Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception . 839
Chapter lxxvii. — The Blessed Sacrament and
St. Joseph 843
Chapter lxxviii. — On Devotion to St. Joseph,
the Spouse of the Most Blessed Virgin . 847
Appendix. — Maxims and Counsels of Saints
and Spiritual Writers 853
Addenda 909
PART I.
location to tbe IReUgious %lfc.
CHAPTER I.
Zbc TimorD0 /Ronk auD Vinn.
QfouLS called to perfection can not fulfil their
i^ vocation unless they understand the duties
and obligations of that vocation. Although the
meritorious works of a Religious must flow from
the will, yet it is for the understanding, as its true
guide, to direct the will in the choice of good and the
avoidance of evil. The will, accordingly, chooses
only after the understanding has shown it that an
action is good or bad. The Royal Prophet prayed
to know the divine law when he said : ''Give me un-
derstanding, and I will search Thy law ; and I will
keep it with my whole hearf' (Ps. cxviii. 34).
God's revelation of Himself on Mount Sinai (Ex.
xxxiv. ) shows how necessary it is to know what He
requires of us when calling us to His service and to
the fulfilment of His holy will. All spiritual writers
teach that, to attain perfection, besides setting high
value on it, we must ardently desire it and spare no
effort to attain it. But how can anything be valued
at its real worth unless its worth is known?
Precious stones are little prized by him who does
not understand their value.
God says by the mouth of the Royal Prophet :
*'For I am the Lord, thy God, who brought thee out
of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I
will fill it'' (Ps. Ixxx. 11). The Psalmist signifies
by these words that if the Israelites praise and serve
2 The Words Monk and Nun.
the Lord in thankful acknowledgment of His bene-
fits, they will become worthy of new favors. They
may also be applied to the Religious whom God
has led out of Egypt — out of the snares of the world,
so that she may devote herself wholly to Him who
is to be her full inheritance.
A convent may very aptly be compared to the
workshop of a goldsmith or jeweler. The Religious
is a merchant in the business of the spiritual life.
He, above all, must know the worth of his jewels.
Ignorance would injure his business and reduce him
to poverty. A man may be well-versed in rhetoric,
physics, or any other branch of science ; but if he is
ignorant of the technicalities of his own special call-
ing, the world will call him a fool. This holds good
in respect to the spiritual life. Ignorance of its
duties must lead to dire results. Dorotheus insin-
uated this to his disciple Dositheus, who was prid-
ing himself on the well-arranged beds of the sick
of whom he had charge. He even hinted that none
other could do these as well as himself. '*Yes,
brother," said Dorotheus, ''the beds are done in
masterly style. In case of necessity you would make
an admirable valet. But it takes more than that to
make a good Religious.'' And so a nun may be a
good worker, a brilliant teacher, a skilful cook, a
discreet portress, though she has not yet mounted
the first round of the ladder of perfection. But if
she understands her duties she will aim at the
simple observance of the Rules and customs of her
Order. Her very name, monacha, or nun, imposes
the obligation of treading the way of perfection.
The word monacha, or mm, is derived from
monachus, or monk. . The ancients applied this
term to a man who had forsaken all intercourse with
the world in order to lead a solitary life. It became
The Words Monk and Nun. 3
customary among Christians, therefore, to designate
as monachi, or monks, those that buried themselves
in distant solitudes for undisturbed communion
with God. Their abodes were called monasteria,
that is, dwellings of solitaries. Although later
these solitaries lived together in greater numbers
and under the guidance of an abbot (which word,
in Syriac, means father), they still retained the
name of monachi, or monks, and their dwellings
were called cenohia, places in which many dwell to-
gether in community, or monasteria, abodes for a
solitary life. Philo says of the Egyptian monks that
they led indeed a community life, but retired, morti-
fied, and heavenly. Hence it follows that the name
monacha, or nun, means a woman living retired
from the world, which she has forsaken not only from
love for the cloistered life, but also through the de-
sire to live in community and devote herself entirely
to God. The names of those who enter a cloister are
changed, the hair is cut, and the religious habit is
substituted for the secular dress — all of which sym-
bolize absolute detachment from the world.
From the foregoing, a nun may readily under-
stand the nature of her duties and the proper regula-
tion of her life. If inclined to harbor distracting
thoughts she should ask herself: ''How can you en-
courage thoughts of the world — you who have for-
saken it to consecrate yourself to God ?" The words
of St. Basil will form a fitting conclusion to this
chapter : ''A nun must be like a slave after she has
become the property of her purchaser. She must
no longer allow her thoughts to dwell on past free-
dom ; all her efiforts must tend to the punctual fulfil-
ment of her Master's will." Happy the nun who
serves God in this way, for thus to serve is to reign !
CHAPTER 11.
Zbc iBBBcntM Cbaracter(0ttc ot a ©ertect IRellgioua
Conaiata in a Zvnl^ Spiritual %itc.
IF even the word nun carries with it weighty
obligations, that Religious is indeed foolish
who imagines that the mere name and habit of Re-
ligion, without the discharge of the duties they im-
pose, give her a right to eternal salvation.
St. Bernard says on this subject that many Chris-
tians glory in their name, and yet they will not be
recognized by God as Catholic Christians, because
their life does not correspond to the name they
bear. If they do not fulfil the duties of Catholic
Christians, their hope is vain. ''I fear,'' says the
holy Doctor, ''that God will say to many Christians,
'You honor Me with your lips, but your heart is
far from Me.' *' And he continues : "Follow the will
of Jesus Christ, and He will number you among
His own." Truly spiritual are those Religious who
are not content with assuming the habit and the
vows, but keep the promises they have made and
live in accordance with their state. That person
can not be called spiritual whose morals and man-
ners are not in accord with the name and the habit
of a Religious. Entrance into Religion is a change
from an imperfect to a perfect state. This change
must not be of external appearance only. Interior
conversion must precede it, as God teaches by the
Prophet : "Be converted to Me with all your heart,
in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning. And
rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn
to the Lord your God" (Joel ii. 12, 13). St.
Essential Characteristic of a Perfect Religious. 5
Bernard remarks on these words : "God says not
only, 'Be converted to Me, and change a silken robe
for a rough habit, a costly girdle for a leathern or a
hempen one, worldly titles for a modest religious
name;' but He demands an interior change, a true
conversion of heart/' The outward change is of
little worth if not accompanied by the inward con-
version.
Holy Scripture corroborates this statement,
(i Kings X.) After Samuel had, with all the accus-
tomed ceremonies, anointed Saul king over the
Israelites, he reminded him that, although the crown
and scepter were his, God did not yet dwell in him.
That distinction was not yet his. "The Spirit of the
Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt be
changed into another man,'' said Samuel to him.
Neither the title nor the scepter nor the crown con-
ferred the regal dignity, but only his own change of
life and compliance with the inspirations of the
Holy Spirit. So, too, neither by the habit nor
by any ceremonies can a nun become a perfect
Religious. Her perfection depends on her fidelity to
the voice of the Holy Ghost and to her obligations.
St. Augustine says : "The place does not make the
saint, but an innocent life sanctifies both us and the
place." What place is more holy than heaven? And
yet many of the angels in heaven sinned and were
cast into hell. Next to heaven, what place was
holier than the earthly paradise in which so much
happiness and so many blessings were prepared for
our first parents? But despite the hoHness of the
place, they disobeyed God's command and sinned.
A nun must not think her salvation secure because
she has been received into a religious house.
A fur-lined cloak, no matter how rich and elegant,
will not keep out the cold unless the body is warmed
6 Essential Characteristic of a Perfect Religious.
by the natural heat of the wearer. Then it not only
retains, but also increases that heat. No amount of
clothing will warm a dead body, since its natural
heat has departed with life. So the holiest religious
habit will not help to salvation, unless she who
wxars it is glowing with the fire of God's love.
Those Religious who are satisfied with the name
and habit are a hindrance to others striving after
perfection. It is impossible for them to long hide
the love of the world which still lurks in their
heart. The Spirit of God will not be overcome by
that of the Avorld. As David could not move freely
in the armor of Saul to which he was unaccustomed,
neither can such Religious perform spiritual works,
and their bad example disturbs the other Sisters.
They are like the ape spoken of by Lucian. Some
children had dressed it up in their own clothes, and
taught it to dance so well that many did not know
at first that it was a monkey. But when one of the
children began to dance with it, and accidentally
allowed it to see some nuts, pausing in the dance it
seized upon them, thus manifesting its true charac-
ter. And so it is with the Religious of whom we
have spoken. They wear the religious habit, say the
Office in choir, follow the conventual exercises like
the others, and are sometimes considered to be as
virtuous as they. But because they do not possess
the religious spirit, their hypocritical piety is soon
discovered. They violate the Rule on every oc-
casion, they are sensitive and disobedient, and, be-
ing actuated by w^orldly thoughts and sentiments,
they find more consolation everywhere than in di-
vine things. Can such Religious expect eternal life
merely because they wear the habit of St. Augustine,
St. Clare, or St. Teresa? In the pure love of God,
in the true spiritual life, and in the practice of the
Essential Characteristic of a Perfect Religious. 7
duties of her vocation, lies the essential character of
a perfect nun. God is not blind. He can not be de-
ceived. He will judge us according to our deeds.
St. Lawrence Justinian says: ''The eternal Judge
will judge every one, not according to his outward
honors and distinctions, but according to his works.
He will examine Religious on their fidelity to the
Rules of their Order, and according to that He will
pass sentence."
Her name, her religious habit, the very walls of the
cloister will cry to heaven for vengeance against
that nun who has not lived in conformity with her
vocation. Surely a sick man whose evil condition
the best remedies and the most skilful physicians
only aggravate would be pronounced incurable.
Now, every Order approved by the Holy See may be
likened to a pharmacy filled with spiritual remedies,
not only for the cure of sick souls, but for the
strengthening of healthy ones in the grace of God.
Some of those spiritual remedies are: The frequent
reception of the holy sacraments, the religious exer-
cises, the innumerable opportunities for the practice
of virtue, the watchful guidance of Superiors, the
Rules and customs of the Order, and the good ex-
ample of others. If, among all this abundance of
remedies, a nun continues spiritually sick, gainmg
from the religious life nothing but the name and
garb, she may rest assured that these will procure
her only greater anguish and more severe punish-
ment.
St. Augustine declared after his conversion that
he never knew more virtuous souls than those that
served God in religion with their whole heart; but,
on the contrary, none worse than they who sinned
in the religious life. The truth of his remark is
clear. The greater the obligation and the oppor-
8 Essential Characteristic of a Perfect Religious.
tunity to do good the graver the fault of omis-
sion.
What fear and confusion will seize the insincere
and faithless Religious when Almighty God, at the
moment of death, will call her to account for her
reprehensible life!
CHAPTER III.
Zbc Iftamc *'1Relt0tou0/'— Selts:lRenunclattom—
/DSortiticatton*
Y^ HE name and title of Religious is given to one
^^ who is specially pledged to the practice of the
virtue of religion. Religion, in the sense in which
it is here used, may be regarded from two several
points of view, that is to say, either in particular, as
a virtue distinct from the other virtues, or in gen-
eral, as a virtue comprising all other virtues.
Inasmuch as it is a particular virtue, it is thus
defined by St. Thomas : Religion is an interior and
supernatural habit of the soul which inclines us to
render to God the worship due to Him. Regarded
as a general virtue, it comprises the theological and
at the same time the moral virtues. The teaching of
the Angelic Doctor is expressed in these precise
terms : '^Religion is a profession of faith, hope, and
charity, by means of which man is brought primarily
into relationship wath God ; and it calls into exercise
all the other virtues, such as mercy and temper-
ance." According to these words of St. James :
*' Religion clean and undefiled before God and the
Father is this : to visit the fatherless and widows in
their tribulation, and to keep one's self unspotted
from this world" (James i. 2^).
Religion, understood in this latter sense, takes in
the whole Christian life, either because it directs the
intention of all moral virtue to God, its rightful end ;
or because the acts proper to religion, the worship of
God in truth and verity, necessitate many funda-
mental virtues such as faith, hope, charity, humility,
10 The Name Religious.
etc. Hence, it results, as a natural consequence, that
every Christian really worthy of the name, that is to
say, one who conscientiously keeps the Command-
ments, and who, therefore, practices the Christian
virtues in the degree required of him, may justly be
called a Religious. He has, in all truth and justice,
every right to this title. It seems, however, more
natural to apply this appellation exclusively to those
persons who aim at the attainment of Christian per-
fection. As St. Thomas wisely remarks: "If any-
thing may be predicated of many persons, those in-
dividuals have the principal claims to it who possess
it in the highest degree, or who practice it in its per-
fection."
This remark clearly demonstrates how rightly the
name of Religious is given to those persons who are
so happy as to have consecrated themselves to God
in an Order or Congregation approved by the
Church ; it also explains why entering an Order or
Congregation thus approved is termed "going into
Religion.'' Thus we say of the member of an Or-
der, he or she has been so many years in Religion,
his or her name in Religion is this or that.
But if we keep to the strict sense of the word as
denoting a special and distinct virtue, we shall find
another reason, and a more weighty one, perhaps,
for acknowledging that persons who are consecrated
to God by vows may legitimately be entitled Re-
ligious.
Religion, as we have already said, is the virtue that
induces us to pay to God the homage due to Him.
Now^ there is one act which, as Father de Condren
asserts, corresponds to all that God is ; and that is
the act of sacrifice. Therefore sacrifice is preemi-
nently the act appertaining to the virtue of religion.
"By sacrifice," says the illustrious General of the
The Name Religious, ii
Oratorians, "we acknowledge God as the Supreme
Being. We acknowledge Him, in His essential and
incomprehensible grandeur and perfection, as being
in very truth above all adoration, all love/' In this
consists the sublimity, the perfection of the act of
sacrifice ; consequently it comprises in itself all the
duty man owes to God. For this reason Our Lord,
when He came among us to be Our Redeemer, our
pattern, was above all and before all a living sacri-
fice before His heavenly Father — that is to say, a
victim and an eternal holocaust to His glory.
Now, every soul consecrated to God is also, in
union with Our Lord, a victim, a holocaust before
God. '*You are now," St. Francis de Sales said to a
young nun, after her profession in the Visitation,
''you are now laid upon the sacred altar to be con-
sumed as a whole burnt-ofifering."
Consequently, in this state, and by the dispositions
befitting this state, the soul consecrated to God by
vows truly fulfils, in so far as in her lies, all the du-
ties of the virtue of religion. Thus her rightful
name, the title that best answers to her state and
vocation, is the name, the title of Religious.
It may perchance strike the young novice that we
are somewhat premature in dealing with a subject
which in itself seems to imply a certain degree of
perfection. In one sense, it is true, self-renunciation
is peculiarly a characteristic of the perfect; it may
almost be said that in one respect it actually is per-
fection. But this virtue, like every other, is only
acquired by degrees, little by little, and it will be
so with us. And since Our Lord said to all men — as
St. Luke expressly states : ''Dicebat autem ad
omnes/' ''He said to all" — "If any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself" (Luke ix. 23), thus
specifying renunciation and self-denial as the first
12 The Name Religious.
condition of walking in His steps, it is only natural
that we should treat of it in the commencement of
the instructions we address to novices,''' who have
every right to be regarded as those happy disciples
of Our Lord,who,having abandoned the world, walk
con amove in the footsteps of their divine Master.
Here there are three things that must be atten-
tively considered and thoroughly apprehended in or-
der to form a correct idea of the virtue of self-re-
nunciation. First of all, it is essential to know what
is understood by this self, this ego, which has to be
renounced ; in the second place, to ascertain accu-
rately what are the distinctive characteristics by
which it makes its presence manifest within us ;
finally, to learn the way whereby to give it its death-
blow, and that is by the practice of the virtue of self-
denial.
Let the young novice, therefore, pay close atten-
tion to this subject; it is one of very great impor-
tance. It is utterly impossible to advance a single
step in the spiritual life without the knowledge of
w^hat we are about to expound, without love for the
means which we are about to point out for the ac-
quisition of so indispensable a virtue. In fact, with-
out self-renunciation what would be the meaning of
that title of victim which we bear in virtue of our
oblation? It would only be a great, a grievous
mockery.
*Father Surin, writing to the Mistress of Novices, says:
''They must be early accustomed to give up their own will,
to die to their passions, to raise their hearts above creatures,
and made to feel ashamed of all the instincts of nature.
This renunciation will lead direct to charity, and render
them obedient to the impulses of grace, for there is no
shorter route whereby to arrive at the love of Our Lord
than the mortification of all our natural propensities, our
desires, our tastes, our pleasures."
The Name Religious. 13
I. What is the self which we are bound to re-
nounce? The word self signifies a certain Hfe with-
in us which is, to some extent, a part of ourselves,
and which we ought to exterminate. Let us explain
this.
In every man and woman there are three several
lives : the natural life, the supernatural life, the life
of self. The natural life is the life of the senses, by
which we come and go, we see the objects around
us, etc. ; it is also the life of the intellect, inasmuch
as its faculties (such as the understanding, will,
judgment, resolution, etc.) are employed in a wholly
natural manner, apart from the supernatural succor
of grace. It is called the natural life because it per-
forms the acts proper to it by the natural means
wherewith God has endowed us, i, ^., the organs of
sense and the faculties of the mind. We possess
this life when we are born into the world. It is
needless to say that our natural life is not that which
we are bound to destroy, for to do so would be to
commit the grievous crime of suicide.
There is within us a second life as real and actual
as the first, but the existence of which can not be
verified by the testimony of the senses ; it is the
supernatural life, which w^e received at our baptism
and which is also called sanctifying grace, or the
life of Christ in our souls. Our Lord referred to
this life when He said : 'T am come that they may
have life, and may have it more abundantly''
(John X. 10). St. Paul speaks of it frequently to
the faithful in his epistles ; we can not attempt to
quote the numerous passages. Of himself he says :
*T live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. ii.
20). This divine life, which St. Peter designates as
^'fellowship with God," is, therefore, really within
us, if we have preserved our baptismal grace, or if,
14 The Name Religious.
having lost it by mortal sin, we have recovered it
by the Sacrament of Penance. And as life of every
kind makes its existence known by inward move-
ments and outward acts, so the life of grace, the life
of Jesus Christ within us, manifests itself by inward
desires, an attraction for matters of faith, the max-
ims of the Gospel, Christian virtues, and outward
supernatural acts in keeping with those inward in-
clinations.
Happy the souls who live by this holy and divine
life in unbroken continuity ! All their actions are
meritorious and worthy of Him who died that we
might have life, this supernatural life of which we
speak. It would be absurd, nay impious, to say
that this most excellent life is the one which must
be destroyed in us. We do destroy it if we have
the misfortune to commit mortal sin, and this is so
stupendous a misfortune that no physical affliction
that could befall us on earth is to be compared
to it.
Finally, there is within us a third life, an evil life,
the source and principle of bad inclinations and
bad deeds. St. Paul alludes to this life when he
congratulates the faithful on having extinguished it
within them. ''You are dead,'' he says — that is, dead
to the life of sin — ''and your life [the new life of
grace] is hid with Christ in God" (Col. iii. 3). And
elsewhere he says : "For we that are dead to sin,
how shall we live any longer therein?'' (Rom. vi.
2.) Again he speaks of it under different designa-
tions ; he calls it the "law of our members," because
being utterly corrupt this life seems to act princi-
pally through the instrumentality of the flesh ; he
calls it the "old man" because it exists within us pre-
vious to our baptism and has its germ in original
sin. This is the reason why this baneful life is also
The Name Religious, 15
Spoken of as the life of Adam, as the supernatural
life is termed the life of Jesus Christ.
All this is unquestionably true. Baptism has set
us free from original sin, but it has not taken from
us the tendency to evil which is one consequence of
original sin, and this proneness to evil is precisely
what reveals the existence within us of this third
life which struggles against the life of grace, ever
striving to subdue and annihilate it, whereas it is
itself that must be destroyed and extirpated, if possi-
ble, with the help of divine grace.
But why is this evil life, which we are bound to
destroy, this life of sin (if it may be so called on
account of the work it produces), this fatal life, why
is it called the life of self?
The reason is this. Because just as the life of
grace which was imparted to us in baptism leads us
to make God our center and final end, so that all our
actions are directed to His good pleasure and His
glory, in like manner the life of sin, the life of the
old man, the life of Adam, leads us to make- our-
selves our center and our end, and in all things to
seek our own gratification and glory. But this will
be more fully explained by what follows.
2. The general characteristics of the life of self
which we ought to renounce.
These general characteristics are self-love, self-
will, and attachment to one's own opinion. This
means that the life of Adam within us makes its
presence known by three propensities which it
creates in us. It leads us to love ourselves, to desire
nothing but what pleases us, and to cling obstinately
to our own opinions and our own judgments.
The first destructive characteristic is self-love.
Self-love induces us to conceive a high esteem of
ourselves, to think all that we do is right, to desire
i6 The Name Religious.
the good opinion of others, and do all we can to
avoid lessening that good opinion ; to give way to
sadness and dejection when we encounter the hu-
miliations inevitable in this life, etc. It also leads
us to seek our own gratification in everything : in
our thoughts, in giving free play to our imagina-
tions, our recollections ; in our occupations, our
likes and disHkes, our relation to others, etc. It is
self, always self, on which our thoughts are cen-
tered, and which we seek to satisfy and gratify.
The second characteristic is self-will. This in-
spires us with a habitual abhorrence of restraint, an
inherent aversion to all authority. If we love our
Superiors, we love them for what they are in them-
selves, their pleasing qualities, their virtues ; we do
not love the authority with which they are invested.
If we like some particular Rule or the practice of
•some mortification, we do so — perhaps uncon-
sciously to ourselves — because it is self-chosen;
those that are imposed upon us are far more difficult
to accept ; sometimes we find them intolerable.
The third characteristic is attachment to one's
own opinion. The intellect is the highest part of
man, it may be said to be the citadel of self. It will
stand out when all else surrenders. We submit our
external actions to the government of others ; we
give up our will, but the mind retains its indepen-
dence. This is the point which must be attacked by
fire and sword, for if this fortress is carried, the vic-
tory will be complete, and divine grace will reign
in us and dominate all its foes. This destruction,
this death, will be our triumph, and we shall be en-
abled to say with St. Paul : '*For to me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain'' (Phil. i. 21).
3. How to efifect this complete death of the ego,
which is perfect self-abnegation.
The Name Religious. 17
It must be acknowledged that this is the work of
a lifetime. Every one has heard what St. Francis
de Sales said concerning self-love : ''We ought to
consider ourselves very fortunate if it dies a quar-
ter of an hour before we do." Oh, what prolonged,
what painful exertion is required to eventually com-
pass this death ! It is a long, an arduous task, and
must, at the same time, be carried on without cessa-
tion or intermission. It is more easy than one would
think to lose in a single moment all that has been
gained in long months of earnest endeavor. Now,
more than at any time, the Religious appears in the
light of a victim continually dying, and in virtue of
the generosity, the persistency of his self-immola-
tion, enabled to say with St. Paul : '1 die daily''
(i Cor. XV. 31).
Mortification is the usual means whereby we
attain to the death of self. The word mortification
is derived from the Latin mors, death, and, in the
sense in which we employ it, mortification is syn-
onymous with renunciation.
But the virtue of renunciation calls to her aid, in
accomplishing this conquest, several other virtues,
by means of which she attains the perfection pe-
culiar to her, which answer to the general charac-
teristics of this self which we pointed out, viz.: self-
love, self-will, and attachment to one's own judg-
ment. Thus humility is instrumental in destroying
self-love, obedience effects the death of self-will, and
simplicity that of attachment to our own judgment.
Cultivate these virtues, and then your life will be
truly one of self-immolation and consequently most
pleasing to your divine Spouse. We must die to
self, and live again to God, in order that we may at-
tain to true happiness.
In the eleventh instruction of Thomas a Kempis
l8 The Name Religious.
to his novices, he takes as his text these words:
Lord, ''for Thy sake we are killed all the day long ;
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter'' (Ps.
xHii. 22), and expounds them as follows:
'Tay great heed, my dear brethren, to the words
you have just heard. Although they were uttered
by the prophetic lips of the Psalmist long before you
were born, they are none the less intended to afford
you, at the present time, most salutary instruction.
''O my dear brethren, you who are in Religion,
who live under the rule of obedience, if you fulfil
your vows faithfully you are martyrs, or at any rate
you may become martyrs through the sufferings of
each day. As many times as you devote your
powers to the performance of your daily work, so
many times a fresh crown is allotted you as the re-
ward of your labor. And if, stripped of all self-
will, you offer staunch resistance to your sensual in-
clinations, God will give you abundant consolation.
''A Religious living under obedience, resolved to
break his own will, endeavoring to execute the will
of his Superior in all humility, will become, in a
spiritual sense, a real martyr, although he is not
called upon to bare his neck to the executioner's
blade. And he who every day of his life seeks to
be perfectly mortified, practicing obedience with
simplicity of heart, imitates the example of Abra-
ham, who raised no objection when commanded to
bind his only son Isaac, to slay him and offer him
as a burnt-offering.
''We read of the holy martyrs that it was through
various kinds of tortures that they reached the king-
dom of heaven. The option as to the sort of death
or torture they were to suffer was not even left to
them, yet ^ with perfect resignation to the decrees of
divine Providence they offered themselves body and
The Name Religious. 19
soul to their Creator, ready to endure any and every
kind of torment. Thus, when any one of you re-
ceives from his Superior's Hps a command diametri-
cally opposed to his own will, and nevertheless pre-
pares to obey that command implicitly, from the
moment when he forces himself to do violence to
himself, and suppresses, stifles the murmur that
rises to his lips, he sacrifices to God, upon the altar
of his own heart, a victim which is well pleasing to
Him. Conquering himself, he gains a triumphant
victory over the enemy after the same manner as
did the martyrs.
''You have often read in the Acts of those glori-
ous confessors an account of the bodily torments in-
flicted on them. They yielded their members to the
most cruel tortures. And it behooves you likewise
to chastise your body by fasting, vigils, silence, and
manual labor.
''When any one has got so far as to regard as
sweet what is bitter, to accept contumely as honor,
to bear affliction as something pleasurable, then in-
deed does one truly share with the martyrs Our
Lord's chalice; then need one no longer dread the
scathing flames of a future life ; then may one enter-
tain the hope, the firm and blissful hope, of being
one day admitted to the company of the saints.
'Tt was by meditating upon the everlasting pains
of hell that the martyrs obtained courage to bear the
keenest torture as if it were a thing of little moment,
and made choice of the strait and narrow gate
through which to pass into the boundless realms of
the kingdom of heaven. (And this is what fervent
Religious do who are really worthy of the name
they bear.)
"Each one, in his own Order, may gain the mar-
tyr's palm by a devout and pious life. He will sue-
20 The Name Religious.
ceed in doing so if he generousl}^ resists his evil pro-
pensities, prays for his enemies, displays sufficient
constancy to preserve inviolate the fair flower of
chastity; if, following Our Lord's example, he is
obedient even unto death ; if in everything he seeks
the good pleasure of God and sacrifices his own
will ; if, finally, he desires always to have less rather
than more of the good things of the world, and that
which is needful for the support of this present life.
"In fact, holy poverty, voluntary poverty, is
looked upon in the light' of a martyrdom. To the
poor in spirit, even as to the martyr, the kingdom
of heaven is promised, is given by Our Lord.
"In like manner, when silence is imposed upon a
tongue that loves to speak, when one forbids it to
address a word either to one of one's fellow-Re-
ligious or to externes, it is equivalent to binding it
tightly wnth a cord, a species of torture which many
a martyr had to endure.
"And when a subject who is fond of walking, and
likes to go hither and thither, is forbidden to leave
the monastery, when he is even told to remain
quietly in his cell, it is the same as if, with holy vio-
lence, his feet were made fast in the stocks, another
torture inflicted on the martyrs.
"When a Religious who is prone to curiosity
closes his eyes that he may not behold the vain
things of time and sense, he will receive the same
recompense as the saints whose eyes were torn out
by order of the cruel tyrants. And when one who
has a tendency to indolence and loves to be at rest is
made to work hard, if he obeys the orders given him
in a docile spirit, he will receive the reward given
to the holy martyrs, whose wrists were laden with
chains and their limbs stretched upon the rack.
"A virtuous and obedient brother ought therefore
The Name Religious. 21
to consider that his bodily powers are no longer his
own to dispose of as he lists ; they are in the power
of the Superior, to whom he has voluntarily sub-
jected himself for the love of God, promising to
conform in everything, even in his every undertak-
ing, his every act, to w^hatever his Superior may or-
dain for the good of his soul. By thus doing he will
rank with the martyrs, he will receive the palm his
patience has merited, and the crown of eternal life
through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.''
Thus the devout a Kempis exhorts his novices.
So excellent an instruction might well be enough
for us ; but we can not forego the advantage of hear-
ing what St. Francis de Sales says on this subject.
The nuns who formed the first community of the
Visitation have handed down to us in writing the
following words from the lips of their holy founder :
''My desire for you, my dear daughters, is that
you should be mortified; that you should live day
and night in the spirit of interior sacrifice and com-
plete abandonment to the will of God, which will
serve you in the stead of disciplines, fasts, and hair-
shirts.
'The martyrs drank the sacred chalice of the Pas-
sion at one draught; some in a single hour, others
in two or three days, others again in the course of
a month. As for ourselves, we may be martyrs and
drink that chalice, not indeed in two or three days,
but throughout the whole course of our life, by con-
tinually mortifying ourselves as all monks and nuns
do, as it behooves those to do whom God has called
to enter Religion with the intention of bearing His
cross, of being crucified with Him. Is not this, in
very deed, the greatest of martyrdoms — ^never to do
one's own will, constantly to submit one's own judg-
22 The Name Religious.
ment to that of others, to flay one's heart, to empty
it of all manner of impure affections, of all that is
not God; to live, not in accordance with one's own
fancies and inclinations, but in accordance with rea-
son, in accordance with the divine will? That is a
martyrdom which is all the more meritorious be-
cause it is a slow, a lifelong martyrdom. But if we
persevere, and are faithful to our vocation, when it
is ended we shall obtain a glorious crown after hav-
ing crucified ourselves with Our Lord by the un-
flinching suppression of all within us which might
be displeasing in His sight; and in order to stimu-
late us to this, to encourage us in it. He vouchsafes
to prove to us that He died for love of us. While
still hanging on the cross, He permitted a soldier
to wound His side with a spear, and pierce His
Sacred Heart, so that it might be seen that He was
really dead, and that He died of love, the love of His
Sacred Heart for man."
Such are St. Francis' words. We do not know
of any other founder of an Order who laid so much
stress on the necessity of life as a victim in the re-
ligious state as did the saintly founder of the Visita-
tion. His spiritual daughters know this ; and they
do not forget that the subject which he proposed in
the Book of Customs for their meditation on the
eve of their profession is this : ''The Flaying Alive
of the Victim." What rigor this displays, united
to what incomparable gentleness !*
*From The Spirit of Sacrifice,
The Name Religious. 23
E\it Sierms Heli'sfon, JEleliflious, tjc €:onbent, Haura, ^scetae»
if^onfe, Kun, a£leliflfous <!^ttrets»
RELIGION — RELIGIOUS.
Y^ HE word ''religion'' is often used in a technical
^^ sense by Catholic writers, to denote the virtue
which deals with giving to God the honor which is
His due. St. Xhomas looks upon it as a part of the
virtue of justice. God is the supreme Lord of all;
all other beings are entirely dependent upon Him.
Man, by his reason, can know this dignity of God
and his own dependence upon God. He is there-
fore bound to acknowledge this dignity and depen-
dence; to adore, praise, and thank his Creator, and
to ask Him for all that he stands in need of. These
acts of homage are paid chiefly by prayer and
sacrifice.
Religion is sometimes used in a still narrower
sense to designate the state of those who have en-
tirely devoted themselves to God by the three vows
of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Hence the vari-
ous Religious Orders are styled ''Religious/'
Trench"*" infers from this use of the word that monks
and nuns are the only "religious" people among
Catholics. St. Thomas long ago met this objection
in a way that should commend itself to a writer on
language. "A name common to many things is
sometimes appropriated to that one to which it emi-
nently belongs ; as, for example, Rome is often
called 'the city.' Now, religion is the virtue by
which a man does something for the service and
worship of God. And, therefore, they are said, by
antonomasia, to be Religious who have devoted
themselves entirely to the service of God, offering,
as it were, a holocaust to Him."
"^Study of Words, p. 9.
24 The Name Religious.
THE CONVENT '^LAURAS."
The hermitages and "lauras" of the first ages
gradually gave place to the cenobite mode of life;
only in the Orders of Chartreuse and Camaldoli has
the solitary life been partially retained to this day.
Monachism was firmly planted in Western Europe
by St. Benedict of Aniane in the ninth century, and
from that time the name conventus — -Applied alike to
comrriunities of men and women living under a Rule
and practicing the evangelical counsels — came into
common use.
Different Orders preferred different sites for
their convents. The Culdees of lona chose islands
or lonely spots, removed from the beaten tracks of
trade and travel; this pious instinct is attested by
the position of lona, Lindisfarne, and old Melrose.
The Benedictines were said to prefer hillsides ; the
Cistercians chose quiet valleys ; the mendicant Or-
ders, who depended on alms, and made preaching
one of the great aims of their institution, repaired
to the cities and towns. The Society of Jesus, as a
rule, is found in cities :
Bernardiis valles, montes Benedictus amabat,
Oppida Franciscus, magnas Ignatius urbes.
The parts of a convent are: i. The church; 2,
The choir, viz.^ that portion of the church in which
the members say the daily Office; 3, The chapter-
house, a place of meeting in which the Rule is read,
elections made, and community busmess discussed;
4, The cells; 5, The refectory (in old English,
fraitoiir^ or f rater) ; 6, The dormitory ; 7, The in-
firmary ; 8, The parlor, for the reception of visitors ;
9, The library; 10, The treasury; 11, The cloister;
12, The crypt.
The legislation on convents forms a large and im-
The Name Religious. 25
portant section of canon law. Among the chief
regulations is the law of enclosure, which ''separates
the convent from the world by the prohibition or
restriction of intercourse from without."
The ''laura'' (Greek Xavpa), properly an alley
or lane, was an aggregation of separate cells, ten-
anted by monks, "under the not very strongly de-
fined control of a Superior." * Usually each monk
had a cell to himself, but in the ''laura" of
Pachomius one cell was assigned to three monks.
For five days in the week the tenants of the ''laura"
remained in their cells, living on bread and water,
and working at basket-making, or some similar em-
ployment; on the Saturday and Sunday they took
their meals together in the common refectory, and
worshiped God in the common church. The dis-
cipline of the ''laura" was a kind of intermediate
stage between the eremitical life of St. Antony and
the monasticism founded by St. Basil and St. Bene-
dict. It flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries
in the desert country near the Jordan; St. Euthy-
mius, St. Sabbas, and the abbot Gerasimus were its
chief types and promoters. St. Euthymius lived to
be ninety-six years old; just before he died he told
the person whom the monks had designated as his
successor that it was the will of God that the
"laura" should be turned into a monastery, as if
foreseeing that this was the discipline of the future
for the more perfect souls.f
THE ASCET^.
In regard to the '"ascetse" (Greek dcXKeoj^
daKrfTTi^) it was the belief that through bodily
"^Dictionary of Christian Antiq.
tFleury, livr. xxviii., xxix., xxx. ; Smith and Cheetham.
26 The Name Religious.
"exercise/' and a strict discipline imposed on the
senses, it was in the power of man to perfect his
moral nature and rise to spiritual heights not other-
wise attainable. This belief had been common
both among the Jews and pagans for some time be-
fore the coming of Christ. Philo's account of the
Essenes is well known — a Jewish sect of mystical
and ascetic tenets, much diffused in Palestine in the
first century before Christ, with its initiations,
grades, and secrets, living in villages because of
the luxury and immorality of the towns, renouncing
marriage, and following rules of strict temperance
in regard to food, sleep, and whatever else nature
craves. The Therapeutae in Egypt were a similar
sect. Their name and that of the Essenes is said to
have the same meaning, signifying healing, for they
believed that their discipline healed the concretam
labem of the soul's impurity.
In the pagan world similar doctrines were widely
held by the Stoics. Both among them and the Es-
senes the doctrine of the two principles, the per-
suasion that matter was essentially evil, and that he
was most perfect who was freest from the blasting-
touch of animal existence, colored largely both their
theories and their practices. The Christian ascetes
could not so deem of that fleshly nature of which
Christ, their divine Lord, had deigned to be a par-
taker : to master the lower nature was their aim,
not to eradicate it; desire and fear, joy and grief,
they did not regard as in themselves evil, but as to
be brought by discipline into a strict subordination
to the true end of man, which is to know and love
God, and to do His will. The means which they
employed were voluntary chastity, fasting, perse-
verance in prayer, voluntary poverty, and macera-
The Name Religious. 27
tion of the flesh. In the Apostolical Constitutions*
the '"ascetse" are mentioned as an intermediate order
of Christians between the clergy and the laity. As
a general rule, they did not go out of the world,
like anchorites and monks, but strove to live a
perfect Hfe in the world. Abuses after a time
appeared, particularly in regard to the yvvaltce^
avveiaatcroiy women who lived under the same
roof with ascetes for the benefit of their instructions
and example.
Modern life, especial!}' when permeated with
Baconian ideas respecting the true task of man in
the world, is pointedly unascetic. If we turn over a
series of pictures of eminent modern men, there is
one common feature w^hich we can not fail to no-
tice, whether the subject of the picture be artist,
literary man, or man of action, and whatever intelli-
gence, power, or benevolence may breathe from the
face — namely, the absence of an expression of self-
mastery.
MONK AND NUN.
The ascetics of the first Christian age have been
described ('"ascetse"). They did not, as a rule,
separate themselves from men, but practiced a rigid
mortification in the world, and aimed at fulfilling the
counsels of perfection. ]\Ionachism commenced in
Egypt. In the middle of the third century the per-
secution of Decius caused 'many fervent Christians
to leave the cities and flee into the deserts, there to
find that freedom in the divine service which human
laws denied them. For a long time they lived apart,
each in his own cell, supporting themselves by daily
labor. Thus the term monk (Anglo-Saxon mtmuc,
through the Latin monachus, Greek ^ovax^^)
''solitary"). The anchorites or hermits were those
*Krau5, p. 96.
28 The Name Religious.
who specially desired solitude ; of these St. Paul was
the founder. St. Antony, whose life embraces more
than a hundred years (250-356), chose for a time
absolute solitude, but in his later years he allowed a
number of disciples to gather round him, who,
though living each apart, were eager to profit by the
depth and wisdom of his advice, and ready to prac-
tice whatever rules he might impose. Thus St. An-
tony was the founder of monachism, although the
cenobitic life, which has been a characteristic of
nearly all the monks of later times, had not yet ap-
peared. Of this, St. Pachomius is regarded as the
originator, who, about a,d. 315, built monasteries in
the Thebaid. It is easy to conceive how the com-
mon life should appear, under given conditions,
more suitable as a road to perfection than the sepa-
rate life. How one might pass into the other may
be seen from a passage in the ''Orations'' of St.
Gregory Nazianzen.'*' Speaking of St. Athanasius
taking refuge with the contemplatives of Egypt,
who, ''withdrawing themselves from the world, and
embracing the wilderness, live to God,'' he says that,
of these, "some, practicing a life absolutely solitary
and unsocial, converse with themselves and God
alone, knowing no more of the world than they can
become acquainted with in the deserts; others, lov-
ing the law of charity by way of intercourse, at once
men of solitude and men of society, while dead to all
other men and to worldly affairs in general . . .
are a world to one another, and by comparison and
contact sharpen one another's virtue." Hilarion, a
disciple of St. Antony, is said to have been the first
to introduce communities of monks in Palestine ;
Eustathius of Sebaste, in Armenia; St. Basil, in
Cappadocia. St. Athanasius, by making known at
*0r. 21.
The Name Religious, ' 29
Rome the story of the wonderful Hfe of St. Antony,
is said to have caused a great movement toward
monasticism. In the time of St. Jerome the city had
many monasteries both of monks and nuns. St.
Martin was a strenuous upholder of the cenobitic
life ; two celebrated French monasteries, Marmou-
tier, near Tours, and Liguge, near Poitiers, were of
his foundation. The Rule of St. Augustine was
perhaps rather designed for regular clerks than for
monks, who for a long time after their institution
were all laymen. At first it was nearly true that
every monastery followed its own Rule; gradually,
however, the Rule of St. Basil (BasiHans) obtained
a preference, and, after its translation into Latin by
Rufinus of Aquileia, was largely adopted in the
West. Monachism languished in Italy in the fifth
century, owing to the irruptions of the barbarians ;
in the sixth (529) the strong but gentle hand of St.
Benedict of Nursia raised it to a pedestal from
which it has never since been dethroned (Bene-
dictines). The Benedictine Rule gradually swal-
lowed up all the others, being found more suitable
than any to the conditions of life in Western Eu-
rope. For several centuries no other Rule was
heard of. In the tenth and eleventh centuries the
Orders of Cluny, Camaldoli, the Chartreuse, and
Citeaux, branched off from the parent stem. In the
thirteenth century appeared the friars, Franciscans,
Dominicans ; in the sixteenth, the Jesuits, Theatines,
and other regular clerks ; followed down to our own
day by the various congregations of both sexes, the
members of which, under their several institutes, de-
vote themselves to the glory of God and the good of
their neighbor.
A nun (Latin nonna) is a maid or widow who
has consecrated herself to God by the three vows of
30 The Name Religious.
poverty, chastity, and obedience, and bound herself
to live in a convent under a certain Rule. From the
fifth century nonnus and nonna occur pretty fre-
quently m relation to monks and nuns, a sense of
quasi-filial respect being attached to the words.
Compare the Greek vdvva, aunt, and the Italian
nonno and it onna/ grandfather and grandmother.
It may be stated as a general fact, applicable to
nearly all the great Orders of men, that, soon after
the foundation of each, an Order of women, subject
to or in connection with it, was established, in which
the Rule and statutes of the founder were, so far as
the difference of sex permitted, punctually observed.
Even the Society of Jesus is not an exception, for
although the founder obtained a prohibition from
the Pope against the company's undertaking the di-
rection of nuns, the ''Dames Anglaises," and several
more recent institutes, though not otherwise con-
nected with the Society, follow the Rule of St.
Ignatius.
If we consider the four principal monastic Rules
separately, we find that :
a. The Rule of St. Basil (Basilians) was the ba-
sis of that framed by Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem,
for the Order of Mount Carmel (Carmelites), and
adopted in its original rigor by St. Teresa for the
Order of Discalced Carmelites w^hich she founded
in 1562.
b. The Rule of St. Augustine is followed by
communities of nuns annexed to every Congrega-
tion of Augustine canons and hermits; also by
Dominican nuns and the Ursulines. All, or nearly
all, the communities of women founded since the
Council of Trent follow the Rule of St. Augus-
tine but have in addition a body of constitutions
or customs suited to their special end and spirit,
The Name Religious. 31
and, in some cases, taken from the Rule of St.
Ignatius.
c. The Rule of St. Benedict is followed by the
nuns of Camaldoli, Vallombrosa, and Fontevrault.'*'
d. The Rule of St. Francis of Assisi is embraced
by the Order of nuns called Poor Clares, founded
by St. Clare ; this is the second order of St. Francis.
The nuns of St. Jerome follow a Rule found in
the works of that doctor ; the nuns of the Visitation
(1610), one given them by St. Francis de Sales; it
is the Rule of St. Augustine with a number of slight
modifications.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
The conception of Orders of monks did not arise
so long as every monastery was an independent en-
tity, managing its own affairs without reference to
any other authority but the general law of the
Church. Beda speaks of monasteries following the
Rule of St. Benedict, but he never speaks of the
Order of St. Benedict. It was only when, com-
mencing in the tenth century, separate communities,
such as those of Cluny, Citeaux, and the Chartreuse,
were formed within the great Benedictine brother-
hood, and these communities, however widely scat-
tered, submitted to the rule of a single superior
(usually the abbot of the mother house), and met
periodically in order to settle their common affairs,
that the term ''Order'' came into use. A completely
new Order — the Trinitarians — was founded by St.
John of Matha toward the close of the twelfth cen-
tury for the redemption of Christians held in cap-
tivity by the infidels. The institution of Our Lady
of Mercy, founded (12 18) by St. Peter Nolasco as
an order of chivalry, but afterward transformed into
*See Helvot.
32 The Name Religious,
a religious order, had the same end in view. Early
in the thirteenth century the mendicant Orders —
Franciscan, Dominican, and Carmelite friars — were
either founded or came into distinct prominence ;
in the second half of the century they were joined by
the Augustinian friars. These four Orders, having
no landed property, but subsisting on alms, preached
in all parts of Europe — but especially in cities,
where luxury and civic pride were beginning to
show themselves — the humbling and fortifying
doctrines of the cross. The Servites, founded by
seven merchants of Florence and propagated by St.
Philip Beniti, after a struggling existence of more
than two centuries, were recognized by Innocent
VIII. (1487) as a fifth mendicant Order, with privi-
leges in all respects equal to those of the other four.
The Jeronymites and Brigittines were founded in
the fourteenth century. The founder of the Minims
(1473), a fiUation of the Order of St. Francis, was
St. Francis of Paula.
The movement of the Reformation, of which the
mainspring was the rebellion of man's lower, against
the restraints imposed upon it by his higher, nature,
was met on the Catholic side partly by direct antag-
onism, partly by argument, and partly by the reas-
sertion, under new forms adapted to the altered cir-
cumstances of the time, of the unchanging Christian
ideal of the moral and religious end of man. And
since the spirit of the Church is most clearly seen
in the Religious Orders, it was to be expected that
the conflict with Protestantism would fall to a large
extent into the hands of men bound by the three
vows. The Society of Jesus (1540) opposed to the
indiscipline and license of Protestantism a more
rigid and unquestioning obedience to authority than
had yet been known in the Church. The Theatines
The Name Religious. 33
(1524), Capuchins (1528), and Barnabites (1533)
were founded in order to wage war against the cor-
ruption of morals which prevailed, and to promote
the religious education of the people. The Dis-
calced Carmelites, men and women (1580, 1563),
practiced the full austerities prescribed by the origi-
nal Rule. In the following century an austere re-
form of the Cistercian Order was established in the
monastery of La Trappe (Trappists) by Dom
Armand de Rancy (1662).
In the Middle Ages, when the power of law was
still weak, and society was often agitated by un-
punished acts of turbulence and injustice, the sight
of the peaceful and orderly life of a monastery,
spent in a round of ceaseless prayer, praise, and
study, was by very contrast deeply refreshing and
stimulative to the higher characters among the laity.
But when in process of time the *'reign of law'' was
firmly established, this contrast lost much of its
sharpness and, so far as immunity from illegal vio-
lence was concerned, ceased to exist. It was there-
fore fitting that religious society, in order to main-
tain its ground in advance of civil, and not only
"allure to brighter worlds," but also ''lead the way,"
should produce new manifestations of the old en-
deavor after perfection. Coming forth from the
cloister into the world, but still not of the world, the
religious life has sanctified and embraced all those
varied activities which have the relief of human suf-
fering, and the dispelling of that ignorance which is
an obstacle to salvation, as their end. Hence has
arisen the multitude of Congregations which adorn
the Catholic Church of our own day.*
*From The Catholic Dictionary,
CHAPTER IV.
^be (Brace ot IDocatfon to tbe IReltgfoua State*
'T^ eligious may praise the Lord in the words
'^-\3 of the IsraeHtes when, freed from the tyranny
of Pharao, they departed from Egypt: ''In Thy
mercy Thou hast been a leader to the people which
Thou hast redeemed : and in Thy strength Thou
hast carried them to Thy holy habitation" (Exod.
XV. 13). As the Jews in the Old Law were the be-
loved people of God, and thus distinguished from
the Egyptians, so in the New Law Religious are dis-
tinguished from people of the world. As the Jews
were led out of Egypt, a land of discord and slav-
ery, in which God was not known, so have ReHgious
abandoned the world in which God is so little
known, and which rewards its servants with sorrow
and misery. As the Jews were led by a pillar of
fire into the Promised Land, so Religious are guided
by the light of the Holy Ghost into that blessed
state, which is a foretaste of the heavenly country.
The supereminent advantages of the religious
state are well set forth by St. Bernard when he ex-
claims : 'Ts it not in the holy religious state that one
lives more purely, falls less frequently, rises more
easily, walks more securely, is more plentifully en-
dowed with grace, dies more confidently, is purified
more quickly, and is rewarded more richly?''
That the Religious may clearly understand her
obligation to thank God for the grace of her voca-
tion, we shall enumerate some of the benefits at-
tached to it. Of the verse : '*When he came out of
the land of Egypt, he heard a tongue which he knew
not. He removed his back from the burdens''
The Grace of Vocation to the Religious State. 35
(Ps. Ixxx. 6), St. Jerome says: ''The great grace
signified is that which the Lord gave to the Re-
Hgious whom He freed from Egypt, that is, from
the world/' St. Augustine refers to the sacrifice
of Abraham as a symbol of the complete self-immo-
lation to which Religious are called in the service of
God and in the imitation of Christ. Abraham's ob-
lation consisted of a cow, a she-goat, a ram, a turtle-
dove, and a pigeon. The four-footed animals,
beasts chained to the earth and typifying the sensual
and the worldly, he divided and cut into many
pieces. ''But the birds he divided not" (Gen. xv.
10), but offered them whole in sacrifice. By the
turtle-doves, those gentle and harmless creatures,
are signified spiritual men. Religious, who love soli-
tude and live apart from intercourse with others.
By the pigeons also are symbolized those who
strive after perfection, although they pursue piety
in the midst of men and of worldly occupations.
The doves that are sacrificed to the Lord are not
divided. Religious dedicate themselves whole and
entire to the service of God. To this they are called
by divine grace. They make an absolute sacrifice
of themselves to God. They are pure holocausts.
They have only to aim, day by day, at following the
Lord more closely.
"Behold, now, bless ye the Lord, all the servants
of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in
the courts of the house of our God" (Ps. cxxxiii. i).
In relation to these words St. Jerome says that a
worldly master has many who serve him, though
in very different ways. Some are always around
him in the house, others are occupied outdoors. So
the Lord our God has different servants. Some stay
in His house before His eyes and serve Him, but
others are outside in the busy world. Religious are
36 The Grace of Vocation to the Religious State.
they who are always in the house of the Lord.
They stand before His face and may converse with
Him quite freely. They are God's domestics; they
who live in the world are His field-servants.
The Lord bestows an exceedingly great grace in
taking a soul from the world, and placing her in
religious solitude. But very blind are they who
imagine that everything is done when they leave the
world and enter Religion. They have, indeed, re-
ceived a magnificent grace from God, for which they
are bound to be ever grateful ; but that is only the
beginning of a long chain of graces with which they
must cooperate by serving Him with love and ardor.
They have not chosen God ; He has chosen them
without any merit of theirs, yes, in spite of their
actual demerits.
A true Religious must give herself entirely to
God, strive after solid virtue and perfection, and
never consider herself safe from the attacks of the
evil one.
CHAPTER V.
/Reane ot Salvation In tbe l?cligiou0 State.
"7^ HAT the Religious may better understand the
^^ great grace of vocation, we shall touch upon
the manifold advantages by which she may easily
and quickly reach the highest perfection.
Among the means of salvation afforded by the re-
ligious life may be mentioned first of all its sweet
solitude, its silence and retirement; then the holi-
ness of its occupations, its written Rules, its sacred
customs, its poverty, chastity, and obedience, the
good example, which stimulates emulation, the pious
practices, the nameless graces that flow from these,
the numerous spiritual exhortations and instruc-
tions, the zeal of Superiors which spurs all on — -
in one word, everything in the cloister tends to for-
ward the salvation and perfection of all those shel-
tered within its sacred precincts.
First, consider the silence and solitude of the
cloister. Not in the throngs of men, not in the tur-
moil of the world, will God treat with His chosen
souls, open their spiritual eyes, fill them with heav-
enly light, and gladden them with His special favors.
No, God chooses solitude for this. 'T will lead her
into solitude, and I will speak to her heart" (Osee ii.
14), says the Lord. The solitude for which Al-
mighty God has special preference is that of the
cloister, the gate of salvation. Here reigns un-
broken peace. Here the angry waves of earthly
cares are never heard. Here is the school of holy
instruction, in which the Lord Himself is the
Teacher. Here in silence and retirement He builds
38 Means of Salvation in the Religious State,
up and strengthens His beloved ones. The cloister
is the chosen place into which God gathers His souls
of predilection in order to unite Himself to them
most tenderly. It is a lovely paradise, like to that
of our first parents. It is even superior to it, be-
cause in that an innocent man became sinful, where-
as the cloister makes the sinful innocent and holy.
It is the center, the element of holy souls. There
they taste heavenly delights, and commune with
their God in peace and love.
The second means of salvation in the religious
state consists in the holiness of its occupations.
From a religious community all low and worldly
pursuits are banished. All self-seeking, all terres-
trial gains are subordinated to the goods of eternity
and charity. Here a man is, indeed, engrossed in
labor and prayer, but his thoughts and aims are far
from those of the children of the world, whose ener-
gies are directed and expended in the anxious quest
of honor, wealth, and pleasure. Traffic is unknown
here. There is no disquietude about outside affairs
and social demands. No vexing family cares, no
anxious thoughts in regard to one's support and
one's environment are engendered in the cloister.
In short, all is holy, all tends to the majesty of the
Lord who is served therein. The soul abandons
itself to His dominion, meditates on His adorable
grandeur and power, sings His praises, thanks Him
for His benefits, averts the divine anger from sin-
ners, casts itself without care into His arms and on
His Heart, and hopes, in His mercy, to be eternally
united to Him. The cloister reproduces the life of
the saints in heaven. The cloister is the paradise of
earth.
The third means of salvation in the religious life
lies in the established Rules of the Order. Bv the
Means of Salvation in the Religious State. 3q
Rules of an Order one aims at two things, namely,
the choosing of good and the rejection of evil.
Man, constantly influenced by his passions, easily
forgets duties irksome to depraved nature. It is,
therefore, most necessary for him to be reminded of
them, spurred on, and encouraged to their fulfil-
ment.
This is done by the conventual Rules, kept in full
vigor by the watchfulness of Superiors. There is
not one of them that does not continually place some
duty before the eyes of the Religious. The holy
Fathers compare the Rules to the wings of birds
and to the wheels of a chariot. The wings, they say,
are no burden, no hindrance to the bird ; on the con-
trary, they help it to rise in the air and fly. Neither
do wheels retard the chariot by their weight. They
serve to set it in motion and to keep it moving.
They lighten and facilitate the labor of the horses
harnessed to it. Without wheels, they would not be
able to draw one-half the weight, but with' them
their work becomes play. So is it wnth the Rules.
Far from being a burden or a hindrance to Re-
ligious, they are wings by which they rise to heaven ;
they are the wheels which help them to carry the
yoke of the Lord with admirable facility, that sweet
yoke w^hich worldlings drag with sighs and groans.
The religious Rules are, moreover, a powerful
protection against sin. The Rule guards the Reli-
gious in all his ways, w^atches over the gates of the
senses, moderates the desires, restrains excesses, bars
the avenues to evil suggestions, and protects the soul
from the attacks of the demon. The holy Fathers
compare the Rule to a fortification. A city, they
say, is in the best state of defence when outer forti-
fications correspond wath inner means of security.
By them the enemy will be kept ofif and his power
40 Means of Salvation in the Religious State.
nullified. So, too, Religious are protected by their
holy Rules. By them they are able to resist the
attacks of the devil, because they accord with the
Commandments of God and those of the Church.
The power of the evil one is weakened by the Rules,
for they disrupt the union which exists between him
and the passions.
The fourth means of salvation in the religious life
is contained in poverty, chastity, obedience, morti-
fication, and self-denial. Riches are the greatest
hindrance to salvation. The rich man is occupied
with self and engrossed in selfish pursuits. Forget-
ful of heaven and eternity, he shuns neither trouble
nor labor to increase his riches. His heart is divided
between God and creatures, and most often do the
latter entirely possess it. The Saviour Himself has
declared with what difficulty a rich man enters the
kingdom of heaven. Poverty of spirit confines the
wants and the desires of man to the most necessary
things, subjugates concupiscence, moderates the
yearning after perishable goods, makes it easy for
the heart to adhere to God exclusively, and to hope
in Him for assistance in every trial.
Chastity frees the soul from the servitude of the
senses, leads to its undivided sacrifice to God, and
renders its flight to Him swift and delightful.
Obedience binds irrevocably to God, and makes man
an inexpressibly pleasing holocaust to heaven.
Lastly, mortification masters concupiscence and
creates man, so to say, to a new life full of holi-
ness and perfection.
The fifth means is found in the good example af-
forded by the religious life. There are in the clois-
ter none of those scandals which in the world insin-
uate their secret poison into the soul through the
eyes and the ears, and deposit therein the germ of
Means of Salvation in the Religious State. 41
death. No, in the peaceful seclusion of the cloister,
the eyes and the ears may open fearlessly. They
rest only on the most beautiful examples of virtue,
they hear only what is elevating, peaceful, and holy.
As there is nothing more injurious than scandal, so
there is nothing more beneficial than good example.
How many thousands among the first Christians
were converted from their worship of idols by the
example of the saints ! Did not Jesus Christ and
His apostles, by their example, produce an impres-
sion that prepared the way for their preaching?
The cloister is full of examples that lead to sanctity.
The sixth means may be summed up in the holy
practices and pious exercises of the convent. How
many such exercises and customs form the daily
routine of the religious life ! Pious meditations in
which, absorbed in the eternal truths, and nestling
in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Religious lovingly
evokes the holiest affections and the most generous
resolutions. Therein the soul is enlightened by
heavenly inspirations, strengthened by the grace of
God and inflamed with His love. Walking with
God in this earthly paradise, and conversing almost
uninterruptedly with Him, places her duties before
her in their full extent, helps her faithfully to fulfil
them, and animates her to unflagging progress.
Her heartfelt repentance washes away her faults,
and prepares her for new and richer graces. By
frequent confession she is purified from sin, receives
wise instruction, prudent direction in the way of
perfection, and new courage to struggle against the
enemy of her soul. In the almost daily holy com-
munion she is intimately united with her divine
Bridegroom, strengthened against her own weak-
ness, urged on to greater fervor and sanctity, in-
tmdated with sweetest consolation, and blessed with
42 Means of Salvation in the Religious State.
the pledge of immortality. In the holy sacrifice of
the Mass she takes part in the work of Redemption
there daily renewed. Lastly, by means of daily
spiritual reading, her mind is provided with whole-
some lessons in piety and asceticism, while her heart
is inflamed with charity by the sublime examples of
sanctity that are held up to her as models, so that
she may easily and securely reach perfection.
If we add to the foregoing the counsels of en-
lightened directors and the wise admonitions of Su-
periors, we must conclude that the religious state
ofifers, in abundance, all means necessary for per-
fection.
CHAPTER VI.
aovantages ot tbe IReli^lous State.
/^ioD abundantly dispenses His richest graces to
^^ the ReHgioiis. Obstacles to her sanctification
are thereby easily removed, and she is endued with
special strength and joy to persevere in her efforts
after virtue and perfection. If all this were fully
comprehended, religious obedience would not ap-
pear so difficult, and greater numbers would aban-
don the world in the desire of possessing the
precious advantages of the cloister. Yes, those rich
graces which God pours upon the Religious not only
extract all bitterness from her life, but impart to it
singular sweetness.
Divine Providence never ceases to supply man
wath the grace and strength to fulfil the duties of his
vocation. Here we find an essential difference be-
tween God and worldly rulers. While the latter
grant their favorites offices and employments with-
out regard to their requirements and qualifications
for them, yea, sometimes even despite th^ir known
unworthiness. Almighty God is ever mindful of
bestowing the necessary graces for the state and
work to which He has called a soul. When the
Lord called Peter and Andrew from their fishing-
nets to the priestly office of the apostolate. He said
to them : ''Come ye after Me, and I will make you
to be fishers of men'' (Matt. iv. 19), which means :
I will give you the grace necessary for your calling.
In like manner did God act toward Moses when He
sent him to Pharao to demand permission to lead
the chosen people out of Egypt. Moses hesitated to
44 Advantages of the Religious State.
discharge the commission, and said : ''Who am I
that I should go to Pharao, and should bring
forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? They
will not believe me when I say : The Lord has ap-
peared to me/' 'T will be with thee/' answered the
Lord. Moses again objected: ''Lord, I am not elo-
quent, and I have a slow tongue/' But the Lord
replied : "Behold I have appointed thee the God of
Pharao" (Exod. vii. i). Moses' power over
Pharao was such as God Himself possessed.
Grace is always proportioned to the importance and
sublimity of the duties imposed.
What sight more sublime than that of a soul,
called by Almighty God, turning her back on the
wgrld and seeking the cloister, there to serve the
Lord forever in the spirit of self-sacrifice? Such a
sight merits greater admiration and commendation
than that of a general leading armies to the assault
and conquest of strong cities. Great indeed is the
victory of those who enter Religion. In both body
and soul do the wonderful effects of divine grace
appear. In Egypt the first-born were slain. In the
soul of the Religious are slain, by the sword of mor-
tification and obedience, all the first-born, namely,
self-will, self-love, and all other inordinate incHna-
tions. In the sea of self-sacrificing pursuits and
penitential works are buried love of parents and
relatives and the longing after the honors and
pleasures of the world. In respect to the body, it
is well-known that many who, while in the world,
suffered almost constantly from physical ailments,
were, on their retreat into the cloister, freed from
all sickness. They who once were satisfied with
none but choice and dainty dishes, now wish noth-
ing better than the poor and simple food of the con-
vent. Such are the effects of the grace which the
Advantages of the Religious State. 45
Lord bountifully bestows on Religious. To it alone
must be ascribed the change that the soul expe-
riences on leaving the world to enter the cloister.
We have called the cloister an earthly paradise,
and St. Augustine agrees with us in his explanation
of the following passage of Holy Scripture : ''And
the Lord God took man, and put him into the para-
dise of pleasure, to dress it and to keep if' (Gen. ii.
15). What does the Holy Scripture mean by these
words? asks the saint. And he answers that God
placed man in paradise to fulfil the commands
which the Lord Himself had given him. By such
obedience he would have retained the possession of
that lovely abode, instead of losing it. Applying
this to the religious life, ask yourself : Why has Al-
mighty God put you in this paradise? That you
should fulfil His commands and the evangelical
counsels which the Rule makes a law for you. By
your fidelity you are to guard and keep this paradise,
which many have lost through folly and negligence.
When a soul devotes herself to the spiritual state,
we may justly say that she is born anew. She be-
gins a better life when she forsakes the world to
serve God. Therefore the Fathers call the taking
of the vows a new birth, a spiritual regeneration,
by which Almighty God gives to the soul His
powerful grace, as He gave Eve to Adam for his
helpmate in paradise. To this grace the soul must
unreservedly' deliver herself, determined to corre-
spond to the designs of divine Providence in her.
Another reason why God lavishes His priceless
graces on Religious is found in the words of Jesus
to His disciples : ''Where there are two or three
gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them'' (Matt, xviii. 20). All religious
communities are gathered together in the name of
46 Advantages of the Religions State.
the Lord, because their manner of Ufe comes from
God and is approved by the Holy See ; confirmed by
the bond of mutual love, with the service of God
alone for end and aim. In the midst of such souls,
God is found with His special graces. If Jesus has
promised His presence to two or three gathered to-
gether in His name, what will He do where so many
in community life have, as it were, but one heart
and one soul? Truly, Religious are favored plants
set in a fruitful soil upon which the heavenly dew
is constantly falling.
The innumerable graces of the religious life af-
ford, as the saints say, a foretaste of heaven.
Father Charles of Lothringen, a holy Jesuit of royal
birth, used to say that one moment of the God-given
peace which he tasted in his cell richly repaid him
for all that he had left in the world. The joy that
inundated his soul in that little cell was at times so
great that he was forced to leap in the exuberance
of his joy. The Blessed Seraphine of Ascol, a Ca-
puchin, declared that he would not exchange one
inch of his hempen girdle for all the kingdoms of
the world. When Arnulph, the Cistercian, com-
pared the riches and honors of the court which he
had forsaken with the consolation tasted in the
cloister, he used to cry out : 'Tt is true, my Jesus !
Thou dost surely give the hundredfold which Thou
dost promise to those that forsake all for Thee.''
CHAPTER VII.
Zbc IRellaious Zvnl^ a JBriDe of Qbtiet : Zbc IRcliQiowB
Iproteasiou tbe IRupiials mtb Qm XorD*
IT would be difficult to enumerate all the gifts
and graces that Almighty God lavishes on a
true Religious. She is, as David says, that queen at
the right hand of the Most High, ''clothed with a
robe of gold set round with variety." She is, in-
deed, richly adorned with proofs of the divine favor,
but her highest prerogative consists in her title of
bride of Christ. When a soul forsakes the world
and consecrates herself to God she becomes a bride
of the Redeemer, and may truly exclaim : ''God
alone is my treasure, my only good!" The Re-
ligious, on the day on which she is clothed with the
holy habit, changes her name, thereby proclaiming
that she is dead to the world, to live for Jesus alone,
who died for her. The venerable Sister Frances
Farnese knew no better means to urge on her Re-
ligious than by reminding them that they were the
brides of Jesus Christ. ''It is certain," said she,
"that each of you has been chosen by God to become
a saint, since He has honored you by making you
His brides."
St. Augustine says to souls consecrated to God :
"If you do not yet recognize your happiness, reflect
on vv^hat the saints have said on that subject. Re-
member that you have a Bridegroom who is more
beautiful than anything in heaven or on earth.
What a proof of His love He has given you in
choosing you to be His brides ! From this you
should understand how you ought to respond to His
48 The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ.
love/' St Bernard says : "O beloved bride of
Jesus Christ, think no more of self nor of the world !
Thou art no longer thine own, thou dost belong no
more to the world, but to thy God, to whom thou
hast consecrated thyself. Forget all else, and think
only of pleasing and serving more faithfully the
Bridegroom w^ho has chosen thee in preference to
so many others/'
When the world with its blandishments seeks to
ensnare thy heart, O beloved of Jesus Christ, answer
in the words of St. Agnes : ''Depart from me ; my
heart belongs to God entirely and forever. Thou
desirest my love, but I can love none other than
Jesus Christ, my God, who first loved me." A Re-
ligious speaks in the same strain on the day of her
profession when the Bishop presents to her the veil :
"My Bridegroom has covered my face with this veil
that, neither seeing nor seen, I may suffer no other
love to enter my heart save that of my Bridegroom
Jesus Christ."
Praising and exulting in the Lord, say to Him :
'T have found Him whom my soul loveth. I will
embrace Him with my love, and will never let Him
go. My Beloved has given Himself entirely to me,
and it is just that I should give myself entirely to
Him." "My Beloved to me and I to Him"
(Cant. ii. i6).
The children of the world are accustomed to
make grand preparations for a wedding, which they
celebrate with magnificent ceremonies. At the nup-
tials of the heavenly Bridegroom with the Religious,
that is, at the solemnity of the religious vows, we
behold similar preparations. In both cases we find,
first, the irrevocable consent, given in presence of
ecclesiastics and witnesses ; secondly, the mutual
surrender of the two parties, one to the other;
The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ. 49
thirdly, the indissoluble bond and the sealed con-
tract; fourthly, the separation and departure from
parents and relatives.
First, the irrevocable consent. A Religious
chooses Christ for her Bridegroom when, in pres-
ence of God's representative and her fellow-Sisters,
she vows before the Lord to love none other than
Him. And as in worldly marriages the contract is
sealed by the expression : 'T will," so the Religious
unites herself to Jesus Christ by the words : "I
promise," or "I vow." Her consent is not forced,
but voluntary; for, prior to admission to holy pro-
fession, the novice is well instructed in the Rules
and Constitutions according to which she makes her
vows; she understands their extent and conse-
quences even in the least details. At the end of her
probation, she is perfectly free to choose between
the religious state or that of the world.
As regards the consent of the heavenly Bride-
groom there can be not the least doubt. Tell me who
called you to the religious state? Who chose you
for the bride of Christ? Was it because of your
prudence, your distinguished family, or your engag-
ing manners ? O no ! The grace of God, regardless
of your want of merit, descended upon you; God
chose you for His bride in preference to many
worthy souls. From God came those interior
movements that urged you to forsake the world and
give yourself to Him. That sermon which im-
pelled you to the execution of your project; those
salutary admonitions of your confessor, by which
Almighty God offered you the dignity of the heav-
enly nuptials; that interior strength and courage
which you felt for the accomplishing of your good
resolutions; that special light and consolation by
which you tasted in advance the blissful union with
50 The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ.
your Beloved — all these came from on high. Do
you ask for further signs and proofs of Almighty
God's acceptance of your promise? Be assured that
He was present at your profession, that He heard
your vows as clearly as you can perceive His voice
in your soul. If you still doubt His acceptance of
your promises, recall the reward that He has
promised those that choose Him instead of parents
and brethren and all other things. ''Every one that
hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, of children, or lands for My
name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and
shall possess life everlasting'' (Matt. xix. 29). God
Himself, eternal beatitude, is promised to those
who, after their entrance into the cloister, live only
for Christ our Lord.
Secondly, the mutual surrender and acceptance.
It follows from this agreement, or mutual consent,
that Almighty God does actually take possession of
the Religious, body and soul. St. Augustine, there-
fore, calls religious profession a marriage which
Christ celebrates with the soul, while she, by the
vow of chastity, resigns to Him her person. This
was the thought of that pious Religious who, when
tempted by the impure spirit, used to say : ''Never
more shall I open the gates to you. The citadel is
already in the hands of another. I have given it
over to God. I no longer have any command over
it." St. John, in his Apocalypse, describes the joys
in store for virgins : "No one can sing the canticle
except those hundred and forty-four thousand who
were purchased from the earth. The brides of the
Lamb bear His name and His Father's name written
on their forehead, and they follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goes" (Apoc. xiv. i et seq.).
Why do those virgins bear the name of the Lamb
The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ. 51
on their forehead ? To proclaim that Almighty God
is their only Master. O how joyfully should a Re-
ligious submit to her heavenly Bridegroom, ex-
claiming with all her heart : 'T belong to God alone.
He is my only Lord and Master !'' The spouse in
the Canticles says : "Our bed is flourishing"
(Cant. i. 15). The weary find their sweetest rest
on their peaceful bed. And the Lord rests nowhere
with greater delight than in the heart of His beloved
bride whose only Lord He is. Jesus, the heavenly
Bridegroom, the Lover of souls that surrender and
sacrifice themselves to Him entirely, will not allow
Himself to be outdone in generosity and devoted-
ness ; He will not fail, on His part, to be their faith-
ful defender and protector, to reward them with
sweetest consolation and manifold graces for their
self-sacrificing labors, to aid and encourage them in
striving after perfection, to enrich them with His
blessings, and finally to receive them into the man-
sions of His heavenly Father, where they shall en-
joy with Him that everlasting peace and happiness,
of which the Apostle writes : ''Eye hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither hath ijt entered into the heart
of man, what things God hath prepared for them
that love Him" (i Cor. ii. 9).
Thirdly, the irrevocable contract of union. The
Religious, by her profession, forms a contract with
Almighty God that can not be dissolved. The bond
of marriage is loosened only by death, as says St.
Paul : ''A woman is bound by the law as long as her
husband liveth : but if her husband die, she is at
liberty" (i Cor. vii. 39). But the bond of love be-
tween Christ and the soul is, on the contrary, not
broken by death, but intensified and rendered infi-
nitely sweeter by the blessed vision of the Beloved in
heaven. The Prophet Osee foretold this : 'T will
52 The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ.
betroth thee to Me forever" (Osee ii. 19). The fol-
lowing words of Holy Scripture apply very beau-
tifully to the three vows of religion: ''A threefold
cord is not easily broken" (Eccles. iv. 12). The
soul is most intimately united to her Redeemer by
the threefold cord of poverty, chastity, and obedi-
ence. Well may she call that day blessed on which
she laid the foundation of the religious life. She
is bound by a lasting obligation. She can not aban-
don the state into which she has entered by the
vows. As long as life lasts, the tender union of love
between her and her Beloved must remain uninter-
rupted, and in heaven its sweetest fruits shall be
enjoyed.
Fourthly, the separation and departure from
parents and relatives. The spouse of Christ volun-
tarily abandons riches, social pleasures, worldly
honors, home and relatives, in order to follow her
Lord and to serve Him in the seclusion of the
cloister, "in the courts of the house of our God."
To the brides of Christ in particular may be applied
the words of the Psalmist : ''Behold now bless ye
the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, who stand in
the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of
our God" (Ps. cxxxiii. i). All God's servants are
here called upon to praise Him : they who actually
live in His house. His chosen ones, the elect of
heaven, as also those that are standing in His courts.
Religious souls, though not yet admitted to the
celestial paradise, stand near to it. They are in the
outer courts, and are privileged to receive the sweet-
est heavenly favors. They live in constant union
with their heavenly Bridegroom, although they are
not yet actual residents of His celestial palace. To
be more sure of being eternally united to Him, they
have left father and mother, home and friends, and
The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ. 53
all that was nearest and dearest to them in the
world.
Perfect abandonment to the will of God is the
characteristic of .the ideal Rehgious — the faithful
spouse of Christ. Not alone with the mouth, but
truly with her heart, must she utter the prayer :
Fiat voluntas tiia! Let her make these reflections
with Fra da Bergamo: ''The perfection at which I
should aim is this : to keep the inclinations of sense
within me subject to reason, and my human reason
subject to the will of God. This one point gained
embraces all ; therefore this shall be the object of my
care.'' With Thomas a Kempis let her pray : ''O
Lord, grant me always to will and desire that which
is most acceptable to Thee and which pleaseth Thee
best; let Thy will be mine, and let my will always
follow Thine, and agree perfectly with it. Grant
that I may die to all things that are in the. world,
for Thy sake love to be despised and to be unknown
in the world. Grant that I may rest in Thee, and
that my heart may be at peace in Thee.''
Our Lord said one day to St. Mechtildis of her
sister St. Gertrude : "I have united My heart so in-
timately with hers, through the attractions of My
mercy, that she has become one with Me. On this
account she obeys Me so readily that the relation
and harmony which exist between the members of
the body and the will can not be more intimate than
that which exists between Gertrude's soul and Mine.
As the hands move without delay on the first im-
pulse of the will, because they are entirely submis-
sive to the dictates of the soul, and as the eyes open
at once to obey, so does Gertrude attend to My pres-
ence, that she may comply with My every purpose."
O my Jesus, make me another St. Gertrude ! AH the
powers of my soul long for Thee and desire nothing
54 The Religious Truly a Bride of Christ.
but Thee. All my desires fade into this one — to pos-
sess Thee and shelter Thee in a loyal heart. Come,
oh, come and dwell in Thy poor servant ! She longs
for no other service, no other labor, than the unceas-
ing occupation of living united with Thee and doing
Thy adorable will. She implores Thee to deal with
her as Thou hast done with Thy bride St. Gertrude,
that her poor heart also, when once Thy throne and
dwelling-place, may, in modest measure, be a place
of rest and joy to Thee.
O dear St. Gertrude! perfect spouse of Jesus
Christ, remember the promise thou hast made to
those who confide in thee. Pray that the love and
the grace of God may always be with me.
CHAPTER VIII.
State ot pertectton : f)ow to 1Reco0nl3e location
to tbe IRelicjioue %itc.
^^^HE members of the Church have each and all
^^ a work to do for God, but not every member
of the Church has a vocation. A vocation is a call
to a state of perfection. A state is a permanent
position, by which one stands on a different footing
from one's fellows in regard to liberty and right.
The word is a term of the Roman lawyers. Perfec-
tion is the love of God, and is not necessarily
annexed to any state. The collier who loves God
better is more perfect than the monk who loves Him
less. But one state is more perfect than another
state, inasmuch as it carries with it more engage-
ments and more practices that either help to the love
of God (as does the obligation of reciting the Divine
Office), or remove obstacles to that love (as does
the vow of poverty). A vocation is never obligatory
under pain of sin to take up and accept ; it is the
voice of God, not commanding, but counseling.
''He that can take, let him take," says Our Lord
in the nineteenth chapter of St. Matthew, which
chapter is the authority in the Gospels for the doc-
trine of vocation. All who enter on a state of per-
fection enter uncommanded and unconstrained. The
special militia of the Church, consisting of the
priesthood and the regular Orders, is a volunteer
army: there is no conscription; but volunteers have
never failed, and never will : the love of Christ cruci-
fied and of the Eucharistic Jesus is a motive upon
the hearts of some of the youth of every generation.
56 State of Perfection.
In this the New Law differs from the Old: the
Levites in the Old Law, by the mere fact of their
being born of the tribe of Levi, were obliged to
dedicate themselves to the service of the altar
(Exod. ii. I ; iv. 14; Numb. iii. 5-12) : in the New
Law it is not a question of birth, but of personal
choice. A vocation is well described by St. Ignatius :
*'A11 who have judgment and reason will offer them-
selves entirely to labor : but they who shall wish to
show greater loyalty, and to signalize themselves in
the perfect service of their eternal King and univer-
sal Lord, will not only offer themselves entirely to
labor, . . . but will make offerings of greater value
and greater moment.''* A vocation, then, is a special
call from God to a state of higher perfection than
that of ordinary Christians. This special call,
wherever it takes effect, involves two things : a wish
to follow the call, and fitness to follow it. The
call is heard in the inward sanjctuary of the heart.
The wish is not a desire of flesh and blood, but a
grace from our "Father who is in heaven,'' often
quite against the natural liking (Matt. xvi. 17, 23,
24). At the first breathings of a vocation the young
soul of the recipient is ''troubled at the speech," as
was Mary at the voice of the angel : then it is bidden
*'not to fear," for it has ''found grace with God" ;
and that child is ''blessed" among all its playmates
(Luke i. 28, 29, 30). Of fitness the person called is
not the judge, but ecclesiastical and religious superi-
ors, to whom he submits himself for probation and
trial. It is a piece of Protestantism to scoff at voca-
tions : we should at least praise God's gift, though
not offered to ourselves. It is the glory of a large
and happy Catholic family to produce a vocation.
*Strictly, St. Ignatius is not describing a vocation here,
but the readiness to accept a vocation, if giveti.
State of Perfection. 57
A sound Catholic is glad to have brother or sister,
uncle or aunt or cousin, or child, who has ''pleased
God, and is found no more" in the ordinary walks
of life, ''because the Lord hath taken and translated
him" to something higher and better (Gen. v. 24).
As regards vocation to the religious life, ''though
all in general who worship God may be called re-
ligious," says St. Thomas, "the name is specially
given to such as dedicate their entire lives to the
worship of God; as the name of contemplatives is
bestow^ed not simply on persons who contemplate,
but on such as devote their whole lives to contem-
plation."
A Religious is one who devotes his whole life
to God under a rule approved by the Church. Such
a rule includes the three vows of poverty, chastity,
and obedience ; and beyond that each several Order
has its own prescribed way of life.
This is the first benefit of a religious vocation,
that one knows what to do with one's self, and has
a regular method of living for God. "I do not won-
der," said Dr. Johnson in the year 1761, "that where
the monastic life is permitted, every Order finds
votaries and every monastery inhabitants. Men will
submit to any rule by which they may be exempted
from the tyranny of caprice and of chance." Caprice
and chance, it may be added, are the undoing of all
efforts after piety. A second advantage is that, like
Alpine climbers, religious men are roped together, so
that every man is supported by the rest; and they
have guides. In a religious house one is not lonely,
not without counsel and direction. Nothing shows
better how dear the Religious are to the heart of
God than this, that to them above other men has
gone down the legacy which Christ bequeathed to
His disciples : "Ye shall be hated of all men for My
58 State of Perfection.
name's sake" ( Matt. x. 22). Whenever tyrants begin
to persecute the Church of God, they strike first at
the ReHgious Orders : them they fear and detest be-
yond the rest. What Satan so abominates, our divine
Saviour correspondingly loves. When Jesus ''looks
upon" a young man ''and loves him," we can not be
surprised if He calls him to the religious life (Mark
X. 21), or to the priesthood (Matt. iv. 19), or to
both together. "But every one hath his proper gift
from God, one after this manner, and another after
that. . . . But as the Lord hath distributed to every
one, as God hath called every one, so let him walk"
(i Cor. vii. 7, 17).
Father Humphrey, in his Elements of the Reli-
gious Life, writes on vocation : "He who enters the
religious state must do so with full deliberation and
sufficient knowledge. This knowledge must be not
merely general and speculative, but particular and
practical, and such as is arrived at by prudent judg-
ment. The religious state must be considered with
special relation to this particular person, taking into
account his powers and capabilities, and other both
intrinsic and extrinsic conditions. It is not true that
everything which is best in itself is best for every
individual.
"Counsel should be sought of good men who are
of sound judgment with regard to what constitutes
and concerns holy and religious life, and, if pos-
sible, of men who have themselves had experience of
religious life. There should be taken into account
not merely the person's own unaided powers, but
along with these the divine assistance.
"Desire for the religious state is itself, as a rule,
from the Holy Ghost, and this desire is to be enter-
tained as coming from Him. The Holy Ghost may,
however, cause the desire of a thing the accomplish-
State of Perfection. 59
ment of which He does not will. He sometimes
instils the desire as a means of merit, even if the
desire is never to be fulfilled, and even if it is not
expedient that it should be fulfilled. Hence, even
if it is morally clear to a Religious Superior that a
particular person has been moved by the Holy Ghost
to ask for the religious habit, he will nevertheless
rightly refuse him if it is not expedient for the Order
that he should be received. The desire is given for
this end chiefly that a man should deliberate, take
counsel, and test his motives. ... If escape from
temporal annoyances should remain in reality the one
and only motive for leaving the world, it will not
suffice as a reason for entrance into Religion. There
would in that case be no prompt will to aim at the
perfection which is the proper end of the religious
state, no alacrity to bear its burdens, and no confi-
dence in looking for and begging the necessary suc-
cors of divine grace. The man would either not
persevere, or he would not make progress. Re-
ligious life would be to him not a sweet yoke, but a
grievous burden.
'Tt is not to be supposed that all, or that the
greater number of bad Religious, had never been
called. It is one thing to be called and it is another
to follow the calling and constantly to persevere
therein by faithful cooperation with the direction of
the divine grace.
''The common and sufficient signs of true vocation
to the religious life are two in number. These are
found when a man is fitted for the state, being en-
dowed with those qualities which that state demands,
and when at the same time, keeping steadfastly in
view the end for which he was created, he, in serious
deliberation, constantly finds that the religious state
commends itself to him, and he forms a judgment
6o State of Perfection.
that, with the aid of God, he will easily in that
state attain his end. It is in this way that God
is wont to call men to the religious state, by inspiring
both inclination and trustful confidence, there being
always supposed any special fitness which may be
required/'
The points to be considered are fitness, pure in-
tention, internal inspiration, earnest desire, counsel,
serious deliberation.
To recognize and to follow one's vocation, prayer
is important ; humble, persistent, trustful prayer for
light, direction, and strength. God lends a ready ear
to prayer that is characterized by humility, sincerity,
fervor and childlike confidence. "Ask, and it shall
be given you ; seek, and you shall find ; knock, and
it shall be opened to you'' (Luke xi. 9). Let the
aspirant to the religious life constantly exclaim
with young Samuel : ''Speak, Lord ; show me what
Thou hast in store for me ; I am ready to hearken
to Thy call and to do Thy will," or with the Royal
Psalmist : ''Make the way known to me wherein I
should walk, for I have lifted up my soul to Thee,
O my God!"*
*Father Rickaby, SJ. Ye Are Christ's.
CHAPTER IX.
Zbc (aueetton of a IDocatton to tbe 1RcUgion& State.
y^HE question of vocations to the religious state
^^ is sufficiently important to engage the most
careful study of confessors. I distinguish between a
general and a special vocation to the religious life.
By general vocation I understand the invitation of
Our Lord extended to all Christians to follow Him
in the practice of the evangelical counsels. The
special vocation is an act of divine Providence, by
which God calls certain individuals, prompting
them, fortiter et constanter, to embrace the religious
state. In both vocations God gives the necessary,
even superabundant graces, to fulfil the obligations
of the religious state, and to secure eternal salvation.
The general vocation, however, does not of itself
furnish the means to practice the evangelical coun-
sels, nor does it impose the obligation to enter the
religious state ; but the necessary graces are to be
obtained by pra3^er. And it assures an easier way to
be saved than in the world. A special vocation gives
us the necessary graces for the performance of cer-
tain duties, and at the same time imposes a strict ob-
ligation to obey the divine summons, a neglect Df
which would endanger our eternal salvation.
Speaking of this special vocation, St. Alphonsus re-
marks : ''He who, neglecting a divine vocation to
the religious state, remains in the world, will hardly
be saved, because God will refuse to give him in
the world those abundant helps which He had pre-
pared for him in Religion; and although (absolutely
speaking) he could be saved without these helps, yet
without them he will not in fact be saved."
62 . The Question of a Vocation.
Could a person having good motives and barred
by no serious obstacles enter the religious state,
without any special vocation, but merely following
the general invitation of Christ which says : ''If thou
wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast . . . and
come, and follow Me"? (Matt. xix. 21.) Most cer-
tainly ; for Our Lord places no restrictions ; His in-
vitations as well as His promise of eternal reward to
those who heed His invitation are universal,
Christ invited all to the practice of the counsels ;
He specifies a good will as the only condition: ''If
thou 'wilt be perfect.'/ But did He not likewise say :
"All men take not this word, but they to whom it
is given . . . He that can take, let him take it"?
(Matt. xix. II, 12.) Our Lord here refers to the
vow of chastity, which requires self-denial ; yet this,
like . the practice of mortification, is possible for
all. The Fathers of the Church, commenting on the
Qui capere potest, capiat, give to it this meaning:
He that is willing to take this counsel, let him take it
courageously, and God will give him sufficient
strength to keep it. Cornelius a Lapide sums up the
patristic explanation when he writes : "Here the
evangelical counsel of celibacy is promulgated by
Christ, and proposed to all, nay even counseled, but
not commanded ; for St. Jerome and St. Chrysos'tom
maintain that the words : 'He that can take, let him
take it,' are the words of one exhorting and animat-
ing to celibacy. Moreover, it is signified that, as~
Christ gives this counsel, it is in our power to fulfil
it if we invoke the grace of God and earnestly co-
operate with it. Nor does the expression 'He that
can take,' do away with the force of this ; for all
that this means is, that continence is a difficult
thing; and he who is willing to put restraint on
himself, let such a one embrace continence, let him
The Question of a Vocation. 63
take it. It must be assumed, therefore, that all the
faithful have power of continence,' not proximately,
but remotely/'
Christ invited all to the practice of the evangelical
counsels, as the Fathers and Doctors of the Church
explain, by imposing upon themselves the obliga-
tion of a vow (per nioditm voti) ; for He asks a
complete renunciation of self and earthly goods of
those who wish to follow Him closely. One who
retains the faculty (right) to marry, to possess
property and personal independence, can not be said
to have left all things to follow Christ. To the prac-
tice of the counsels a person is bound only by vow,
that is, by embracing the religious state. It is this
religious state, and no other, to which Our Lord in-
vites all. 'Tf any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me"
(Matt. xvi. 24). Si qitis vtdt^ St. John Chrysostom
explains, ''Sive mtilier sive vir, sive princeps sive
subdiUis, hanc ingrediatur viam/' And every one
that follows the- divine invitation shall receive his re-
ward. ''And every one that hath left home . . .
for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall possess life everlasting" (Matt. xix. 29).
But does not St. Paul write to the Corinthians :
''Every one has his proper gift from God, one after
this manner and another after that"? (i Cor. vii.
17.) Yes, and in the preceding verse he recom-
mends to all Christians the single life, that is, one
consecrated to God : "I would that all men were
even as I mvself." He counsels such a life
for every one of the faithful. How could he ad-
vise it, if it were not in the power and good
pleasure of every one who asks for the necessary
help from above? The general invitation to em-
brace the religious state is a desire of the Lord ex-
64 The Question of a Vocation.
pressed to all men, a blessing offered to all ; yet He
foresees that th*e majority will pursue another
course, that ''not all will take this word, but they
to whom it is given" (Matt. xix. ii). Christ does
not mean to say that it is given to some and not to
others ; but He shows that unless we receive the help
of grace, we have no power at all of ourselves. But
grace is not refused to those who desire it ; for Our
Lord says : ''Ask and you shall receive.'' The gen-
eral vocation does not of itself give the immediate
power to follow the evangelical counsels, as a special
vocation does, soliciting the will by an interior
grace ; but every one has the power to obtain it by
prayer and good works. Commenting on the words
of St. Paul, "Every one has his proper gift,'' St.
Ambrose says pointedly : ''Elige statum quemvis, et
Dens dabit tibi gratiam competentem et propriam
ut in illo staUi decenier et sancte vivas/' All the
faithful have the "proper gift" and may follow the
counsels — in actii primo — if they earnestly ask the
grace of God and use the proper means ; yet in actu
secundo, all do not make use of it, but prefer an-
other state of life. It is possible for all to keep the
Religious vows. To deny this possibility would
seem to favor the doctrine of Calvinism. The re-
ligious state is accessible to all, and as St. Thomas
of Aquin remarks, "it is a coat of mail which fits
not Saul alone, but is adapted to all ; with it, all may
conquer and obtain the crown of eternal life."
It is certain, however, that God ofifers to some a
special vocation to the religious state. Those who
receive such a call can not refuse to heed it without
offending God. and risking their eternal salvation.
Suppose a man in high station and with ample
means extends a general invitation to his friends to
meet him at dinner ; to a few he sends a special ure-
The Question of a Vocation. 65
ing by adding a postscript to the printed invitation :
''I want you to be present without fail ;" to some
others he sends a carriage to bring them to his
house. While all are welcome at the table, the par-
ticularly invited guests are especially expected;
their absence would be an insult to the host, and
nothing short of a moral or physical impossibility
would excuse them.
Now there are souls who clearly bear the signs of
a special vocation to the higher life. The interior
voice, which is God's own voice, has been telling
them, since the days of childhood, that they would
do better to enter the religious state and thereby fol-
low more closely in the footsteps of Our Saviour.
In the midst -of worldly pleasure and excitement
they feel an aching void in their hearts; the voice
is whispering that they should renounce all and fol-
low Him. To others a special vocation comes sud-
denly, like a flash of lightning ; a sermon, a mission,
the reading of a book, a serious illness, the death
of a dear one, an unexpected misfortune, or a sting-
ing disappointment, is directing the mind and heart
to Christ and His kingdom ; and the serious reflec-
tions thus aroused are sometimes fostered and il-
lumined by divine grace, and produce the solemn
resolve to live for God alone. If the will remains
firm and the motives pure, the marks of a special
vocation are unmistakable. A confessor, though
young in years and without the proverbial ''expe-
rience,'' will have no difliiculty in deciding it, pro-
vided there be none of the particular impediments
by which the Canon Law of the Church safeguards
the sanctity of the religious profession.
The question may arise, whether, under such cir-
cumstances, a person would be obliged to follow
without delay the divine voice urging the embrac-
66 The Question of a Vocation.
ing of the religious state. Some writers on the sub-
ject caution against haste in so grave a matter; they
advise long and serious deHberation to make sure of
the heavenly call. They have in mind the injunction
of St. John : ''Believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits if they be of God'' (i John iv. i). But he
who believes the spirit calling him to a religious
state, believes in the spirit of God ; for evil spirits
will hardly induce any person to the practice of the
counsels.
Still, Our Lord Himself seems to insist on careful
deliberation. For does He not say in reference to
this higher state : ''Which of you having a mind to
build a tower, doth not first sit down and reckon
the charges that are necessary, whether he have
wherewithal to finish it?'' (Luke xiv. 28.) Yes, the
building of a tower here signifies Christian perfec-
tion; the charges necessary are, according to St.
Thomas, renunciation of self and earthly goods.
Although there is no need of deliberation about the
means (which are to renounce all things), if one de-
sires to follow Christ, yet the important question is
whether the person who experiences the divine call
is willing to renounce all, one's personal will in-
cluded, in order to follow Christ. Is there in the
particular case a firm will to practice the counsels?
When Christ said to the youth in the Gospel, "Fol-
low Me," the latter answered : "Lord, suffer me first
to go and bury my father." This was a simple and
apparently just request. But Our Lord allowed him
no delay whatever : "Let the dead bury their dead."
Nor would He permit another to "take leave of them
that were at his house." He sternly said : "No
man putting his hand to the plow and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God." The blessed
Master would bear with no delay when He called
The Question of a Vocation. 67
His apostles; they followed Him continuo — statim.
A fortiori, there is less delay necessary in a voca-
tion to a religious life.
The Fathers and Doctors teach the necessity of
following promptly a special calling from God. St.
Jerome uses strong words when he urges Helio-
dorus to break away from his family and friends :
''Make haste! What are you doing under the pa-
ternal roof, effeminate soldier? . . . Even if your
father were to throw himself across the threshold of
your house, per calcatiim perge patrem ; siccis octilis
ad vexillum cnicis evola. Sohtm pietatis genus est
in hac re esse erudelem/' He congratulated a cer-
tain Paulinus who had promptly obeyed the call of
God, in the following beautiful words, which I dare
not translate for fear of marring their beautiful
force : ''Tu, audita sententia Salvatoris, 'Si vis per-
fectus esse, vade et vende omnia qiice habes, et da
pauperibus et veni, seqnere me f verba vertis in
opera, et nitdain cruceni nudtis sequens, expeditior
et levior scandis scalam laeob/' Again the great
Doctor says : ''Make haste, and rather cut than
loosen the rope by w^hich your bark is bound fast
to the shore." "^ The Angelic Doctor treats this ques-
tion ex professo: ''Utrum sit laiidabile quod aliquis
religionem ingrediatur absque mitltortim consilio et
diiiturna deliberatione prcecedente/'\ He answers
in his masterly way : "Long deliberation and the ad-
vice of many are required in great and doubtful
matters, but in those things that are certain and de-
termined, no counsel is required. With regard to
entering the religious state, three things may be con-
sidered : First, as to the question itself, it is cer-
^Festina, quceso te, et hcerentis in solo naviculce funem
magis prcescinda quam solve.
til 2 qu. 189, a. 10.
68 The Question of a Vocation.
tain that to enter the rehgious state is better than
not to enter it; and he who doubts this, gives the
lie to Christ who has given this counsel. Hence, St.
Augustine remarks : 'Christ calls you, but you pre-
fer to listen to mortal man subject to error.' Sec-
ondly, the strength of him who is about to enter the
religious life is to be considered. Here again there
is no room for doubt, because they who enter Re-
ligion do not rely on their own strength, but on di-
vine assistance, according to the words of Isaias,
'They that hope in the Lord shall renew their
strength, they shall take wings as eagles ; the}^ shall
run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint'
(xl. 31). If, however, some special impediment
exists, such as corporal infirmity, debts, or the like,
there should be deliberation, and advice should be
taken from those who are favorable to your cause,
and who will not oppose it. Thirdly, the special
Order which one may desire to enter should be con-
sidered. In this case counsel may be sought from
those who do not oppose such a holy project.'' St.
Thomas clearly teaches that a special vocation to a
religious life is to be followed without delay or long
deliberation. ''Nescit tarda molimina Spiritns
Sancti gratia/' It is a very strange thing, St. Al-
phonsus remarks after reading St. Thomas, that
when there is question of entering the religious
state in order to lead a more perfect life, and to be
more secure against the dangers of the world, people
pretend that you should have to move slowly, de-
liberate a long time, etc. ; but when there is ques-
tion of accepting a higher dignity, for instance, a
bishopric, where there is danger of losing one's soul,
they do not urge delay or inquiry into the reasons
for taking it. We may safely say with the Psalm-
ist to those who have a special vocation : ''To-day if
The Question of a Vocation. 69
you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts."
The Master is calling ; hasten to follow Him. Trust
in His all-powerful help.
The priest, be he young or old, who exhorts young
people to enter the religious state is likely to please
God, and merit a great reward in heaven. Inducing
people to quit the world and give themselves to God
by the practice of the evangelical counsels is an act
of supreme charity. 'Tf we knew," remarks St:
John Chrysostom, "that a place was unhealthy and
subject to pestilence, would we not withdraw our
children from it, without being stopped by the riches
that they might heap up in it? . . . This is why
we seek to draw as many as we can to the religious
life." Let us follow the example of the great Doc-
tor, and gladden the Sacred Heart of the Redeemer
by exhorting willing souls to follow Him in the con-
secrated state. ''Adduceiitiir Regi virgines post
earn: proximcc ejus afferentiir tibi. Afferentiir in
Icetitia et exiiltatione: addncentiir in temphtm
Regis.'' Frequent instructions on the religious life,
and private admonition, wall turn young hearts to
the great Lover of souls. It is a false and danger-
ous principle that young people should first get a
taste of "real life" and mingle with the world before
entering a convent. "He that loveth the danger
shall perish in it." Experience of the world is often
gained at the expense of a real vocation. The flower
should be culled before its leaves begin to fade or
the insects to devour its beauty. Hearts should be
consecrated in the springtime of love. The Council
of Trent permits young persons to take vows in the
religious state at the age of sixteen, after making at
least one year's novitiate. Youth is the best time to
offer vows unto the Lord, and the prophet says : "It
is good for a man when he has borne the yoke from
his youth."
70 The Question of a Vocation.
On the other hand, all those who either directly or
indirectly keep persons from embracing the religions
state injure both their own souls and the souls of
others. St. Alphonsus teaches that parents and others
who, without a j ust and certain cause, prevent persons
from entering the religious state, can not be excused
from mortal sin. The Fathers of the Council of
Trent pronounce anathema against any one who,
without a just cause, prevents young people from
embracing the religious state.
In certain cases, however, it is not only allowable
to advise persons against entering the religious life,
but it is the positive duty of the confessor or spirit-
ual director to keep people from a state for which
they have no aptitude, where they evidently will not
persevere, or from which they are debarred by some
canonical impediment. Moralists, and canonists es-
pecially, give a list of such legitimate impediments
to entrance into Religion. The principal of these
are: defect of mind (unbalanced), ill-health, un-
suitable age, indebtedness, public infamy, necessity
of supporting parents. Some of these are juris
divini; others are jitris ecclesiastici. They are all
learnedly discussed and fully explained in the work
on Canon Law for Regulars by Father Piat, the
eminent Capuchin canonist."^
The limitations and restrictions placed by the
Church upon entering the convent will, when rightly
observed, prevent an increasing number of ex-Re-
ligious. If persons leave a convent, it is not a proof
in itself that they had no vocation for the religious
life ; it generally proves that they neglected to pray
fervently for the grace of perseverance, or preferred
a life of ease and comfort to the penitential prac-
"^Prcelectiones Juris Regularis, auctore F. Plato Montensi.
Tornaci: H. & L. Castermann.
The Question of a Vocation. 71
tices of Religion, or sought their own will rather
than the will of God. There was nothing lacking
on the part of God, but they failed in the spirit of
sacrifice so essential to the religious life, and they
omitted to implore it from the Giver of all good
things. Such defections, however, will not dispar-
age the superior claims of a religious life, which St.
Bernard sketched accurately centuries ago : ''Re-
ligious live more purely ; they fall more rarely ; they
rise more speedily ; they are aided more powerfully ;
they live more peacefully; they die more securely,
and they are rewarded more abundantly."'''
^Bishop Stang in The American Ecclesiastical Review,
September, 1902.
CHAPTER X.
Zbc %ovc ot (5ob.
'Tch ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Lord thy God with thy
^^ whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and
with all thy strength, and with all thy mind" (Matt.
xxii. 37). The love of God, and of our fellow-men
for God's sake, is, as we all know, ''the great Com-
mandment of the law/' ''Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with thy whole heart," and the rest. This
is, in substance, a precept the observance of which
(with repentance for past sin, which it virtually in-
cludes) is essential to salvation. On the other hand,
the highest sanctity can not reach beyond the per-
fect realization of the ideal expressed in the precept.
The most ordinary Christian is bound, in a very true
sense, to love God "with his whole heart;" and the
greatest saint that ever lived could do no more than
to love God "with his whole heart."
It is plain, then, that the love of God admits of
degrees ; and since all our spiritual progress may be
reduced to advancement in the love of God, it is
useful to strive to form some definite notions on the
subject.
I. "If ye love Me," said Our Lord to His disciples,
"keep My Commandments." This, which we may
call "effective love," is the foundation of all. Re-
ligion does not consist, principally and fundamen-
tally, in words, and feelings, and outward observ-
ances (though these have their place, and are
necessary as helps), but in the interior obedience of
the heart, in the resolute submission of the will to
God's law. "Not every one that saith to Me : Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he
The Love of God. y2f
that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." This obedi-
ence must be entire. It will not do to say that wx
will keep eight or nine of the Commandments, and
reserve to ourselves the right of transgressing the
other one or two ; or to observe the precepts of the
Decalogue, and to neglect the Commandments of
the Church. And again, our obedience, as a rule or
principle of conduct, must be supreme. It will not
do to say that we will obey the Commandments un-
less it hurts too much to do so, or that we will not
break them unless some one should make it well
worth our while. The martyrs suffered death rather
than offend God; and in doing so they were only
acting up to a principle which Our Lord Himself
had repeatedly and most explicitly laid down. Now
it is plain that a man who habitually lives in the dis-
position that for no consideration whatever would
he offend God grievously, can truly be said to love
God with his whole heart. And this degree or kind
of love is necessary for salvation.
2. But we ordinarily associate with the word
''love" some degree of feeling and emotion. And
although feelings and emotions are not of the
essence of religion, and would not of themselves
(any more than mere words) be sufficient to secure
our salvation, yet it is well that our feelings too
should be enlisted in the service of God. And un-
less they are so enlisted, at least to some extent, our
obedience is apt to fail under the stress and strain
of temptation. Moreover, it is plain that God wishes
to be loved not only with the effective love of the
will, but with the "affective love" of the heart.
Already, in the Old Testament, we find expressions
which point to this affective love. ''Taste and see
how sweet the Lord is," cries the Psalmist, and (not
74 The Love of God.
to multiply examples) the chosen people of the Jews
are repeatedly spoken of as the spouse or bride of
God Himself. Indeed, we may say with confidence
that this desire of God for our heart's love was one
of the reasons why the eternal Word not only be-
came man, but chose to live such a life and to die
such a death as we know Him to have lived and
died. He knew how difficult it is for us to form an
idea of God, as God, and of His attributes ; how
almost impossible to keep such an idea before our
minds ; how difficult, again, to love with the love
of affection a Being of whom we can not think
except by means of abstract notions. The efifort to
do so is like trying to speak a language with which
we are imperfectly acquainted. But God in His
condescension would, as it were, translate His attri-
butes into the language of human life and action.
He. would be born of a human mother ; and who
does not know how much of tender devotion and
piety among Christians is due to this blessed choice ?
He would take a human Heart to love us with. Not
content with telling us that the lot of the poor
and the mourner is blessed. He would enroll Him-
self formally in the ranks of the poor, and would be
Himself a Man of sorrows. He would be born in
a wayside stable, that all might have easy access
to Him. He would lie as an infant in His crib, that
children might learn to love Him. And then, after
all the moving events and incidents of His life here
on earth. He would die hanging aloft upon the cross,
that He might draw all hearts to Himself. Truly,
in the words of Bishop Hedley, ''J^sus Christ makes
worship easy'' ; and one of the ways in which He
makes worship easy is by providing great abun-
dance of fuel wherewith to kindle the flame of affec-
tive love.
The Love of God. 75
3. But there is a higher kind of love than this,
and the recognition of the possibihty of this higher
kind of love, even for us, may have a most impor-
tant bearing on our choice of a state of life. The
cross of Christ is not so limited in its power that
it can merely arrest attention, or evoke reverent
and affectionate sympathy, or awaken feelings
of compunction. From the crib to the cross Jesus
was engaged in doing a great work : a work
which is still going forward in the world. Now,
friendship or love, if it rises beyond the level
of mediocrity, is not content with avoiding of-
fence to the person loved, or with affectionate
and tender feelings. It leads us to interest our-
selves in the undertakings of our friends, and
this in no merely speculative and platonic fashion,
but in such practical sort as to desire, if it be possible,
to share in those undertakings, and to help with all
our power in carrying them through. And, in fact,
Our Lord does invite men to share in His great
work, and He has made it possible for us to help Him
in carrying it through. 'Tf you love Me,'' He says
in effect to St. Peter, ''feed My sheep.'' And quite
apart from the dogmatic bearing of these words, as
pointing to the unique position which St. Peter was
to hold in the Church, they express a principle which
is in some degree applicable to all of us, and is
appHcable in a special sense to a favored few. 'Tf
you love Me, feed My sheep." The test of love, of
the higher grades of love, is readiness to cooperate
in His great work for the salvation of mankind.
Are we ready? Are we willing? This is a point
which many persons do not consider half seriously
enough.
But some one may say : ''Oh, that is all very well
for people who have vocations to the priesthood ; but
76 The Love of God.
I have no vocation." Perhaps not ; and he would be
a very fooHsh director or adviser who should attempt
to induce any one to take up so grave a responsi-
bility as that of the priesthood or the religious life
if he had no vocation for it. But what, after all, is
a vocation? The terms of Our Lord's invitation
would seem to be general: ''If thou wilt be perfect,
go sell all thou hast and give to the poor, and come,
follow Me." And again, when He speaks of the
counsel of holy chastity, He says : "Qui potest capere,
capiat'' — "Let him take it who can." We must not
wait for an express messenger from heaven, or a
special invitation sounding audibly in our ear. Fit-
ness for the work is the main thing; and (assuming
the absence of insurmountable obstacles) fitness for
the work and a genuine desire to undertake the
work are in ordinary cases the two elements that
go to the making of a vocation ; and the desire may
be regarded as the special and particular sign of the
working of divine grace in the soul, assuring one,
who is otherwise fit, of God's call to himself indi-
vidually. Now from what has been said it is plain
that a vocation does not ahvays come to a man, as it
were, ready made. It is not like a parcel tied up,
and addressed, and laid on our table. Rather it is
like a delicate and tender seedling which, if we tend
it carefully, will grow^ to maturity, but if we neglect
it, will wither away and die. It is plain that one
who is not yet fit may render himself fit ; and, on the
other hand, that one who has all the promise of fit-
ness, may, by wasting his time, by indulging frivo-
lous habits, or by yielding to grosser temptations,
very efifectively spoil his own character, and quite
disqualify himself for the work of the priesthood.
And so, too, as regards the desire to serve God
in the priesthood or in the religious state, It may
The Love of God. 77
be neglected and allowed to languish till it dies away
altogether; or it may be cultivated by meditation
and prayer till it matures into a firm determination.
And by the same means it may often be acquired
where not even the germ of it might have been
previously detected. Practically, the course to be
followed when we are considering the question of
our state of life is, first, to pray earnestly, and seri-
ously to consider the true end and purpose of human
life ; secondly, to write down our reasons on either
side, and carefully to ponder them ; then to form
our decision, at least provisionally, and again com-
mend it to God in prayer ; and finally, to ask advice.
And it is to be observed that the stage at which
advice is, ordinarily speaking, most likely to be
profitable comes after and not before we have taken
the trouble to think the matter out for ourselves ;
and — be it repeated — in thinking the matter out for
ourselves, we should by no means grudge the use
of pen and paper. ''Writing," says Bacon, ''maketh
an exact man ;" and it will not unf requently be found
that reasons which had loomed large in our im-
agination shrivel up into very modest dimensions
and look rather foolish when the attempt is made
deliberately to write them down.
It may seem that we have wandered a long way
from the subject with which w^e started, viz,, the
love of God. Yet it is not so if it be true — as it
unquestionably is — that the supreme test of love is
generosity toward Him whom we love; and if the
best kind of generosity is willingness to give up all
things, including our own liberty, for His sake, in
order that we may follow Him — if He should be
pleased to allow us so to do — even in much labor,
and in many privations and sufferings, until death.
For of this we may be sure, that a desire for the
78 The Love of God.
priesthood or the religious life is not quite genuine —
or, at best, not quite fully mature — unless it includes
a determination to face, for Christ's sake, a good
deal that is unpleasant to nature and contrary to our
inclinations. But we may be sure of this, too, that,
notwithstanding all hardships, disappointments, or
drudgery incident to his condition, there is no happi-
ness in this world like that of the man who knows
that from morning till night and from year's end to
year's end he is engaged in carrying out, to the best
of his ability, the work which Christ our Lord came
on earth to do.
But it w^ould be a very great mistake to suppose
that this higher kind of the love of God, which
manifests itself in a desire to imitate Our Lord as
closely as possible, and to share His work, is to be
found only among priests and Religious, or that it
is not attainable in its degree by every one of us.
Many circumstances may concur to make it clear
that any particular person is not called to the priest-
hood, or to the religious state. He may have the
duty of supporting, or helping to support, his parents
or other members of his family ; he may be physically
unfit, or unsuited by natural disposition, for the
duties of a priest. But no disability, financial, physi-
cal, intellectual, or moral, can hinder him from lov-
ing Our Lord with all his heart. No obstacle can
prevent him from taking, as his rule of conduct, not
the law of parsimony, the principle of the man who
asks : ''How little can I do — what is the least that
I must do — in order to save my soul ?" but the law
of generosity, the principle of the man whose ques-
tion is always : ''Is there anything more that I can
do to please Our Lord better, and to follow Him
more closely than I have hitherto done?" There is
plenty of work for God and the Church to be done
The Love of God. 79
by laymen ; and the law of generosity is aptly ex-
pressed by our Stonyhurst motto: Quant je puis:
"As much as I can/' Whether we be priests or
whether we be laymen, in generosity toward God,
at whatsoever apparent or momentary cost to our-
selves, lies the secret of true joy and peace. Quant
je puis; not ''as little as I am obliged," but ''as much
as I can." "^^
*From Rev. Herbert Lucas, S.J., In the Morning of
Life, second revised edition.
CHAPTER XL
Zhc \)ovoe.—Zbc IRxxlce.
Hibmela? ^ppointetr l^eans for 5^elpma tje Soul ©ntoartrs,
liaj bg JBag, to Its Hife of J^erfect illtfiaritj.
^?J^HOSE who dedicate themselves to God in the
^^ religious Ufe do not thereby change the end of
their creation. That remains forever the same, in
every state of Hfe. Union with God is the common
end of all : and charity, as the mutual love between
the soul and God, is the only bond of union. As,
therefore, charity unites with God, even in this life,
so the perfect union with God in the future life is
attained by perfect charity. Consequently, it is per-
fect charity that brings us at once to our end and
our perfection. What the religious life does for us,
over and above the Christian life, is to supply us
with the perfect means for gaining the end, binding
us through life here below to the use of these means.
This is why it is called a state of perfection ; because
it binds us always to tend to perfect charity, and
gives us the perfect means for doing so. These
means are found in the three vows of the religious
life, which are instrumental to perfect charity by
removing from the soul three distinct impediments
thereto. These impediments to perfect charity are :
1. The love of earthly possessions.
2. The love of carnal pleasures.
3. The love of our own will.
The vow of poverty removes the impediments to
perfect charity which arise from afifection to
external things.
Divinely Appointed Means. 8r
The vow of chastity removes the impediments to
perfect charity which arise from fleshly pleasures
and creature loves.
The vow of obedience removes the impediments to
perfect charity which arise from our own self-wilL
In this way we see how the three vows are means
to the end — or, in other words, the instruments to
perfect charity. This is the distinct and repeated
teaching of the Angelic Doctor.^
We all know how the view of the end, and the
constant desire to attain it, moves any one to use
the proper means thereto. An artisan, bent on pro-
ducing a richly adorned cabinet, must have his
hammer, chisel, nails, and all other needful tools.
A scholar wants his books and masters ; a husband-
man his plow and horses ; a housewife her needle
and thread. It is the same with us in Religion. Our
work is the formation of perfect charity to God and
to our neighbor ; and for this work the vows are the
instruments in hand. Let every Religious, there-
fore, see that he uses his vows in reference to this
end.
The view of this most desirable of all ends will
constantly show him the need of, and spur him on
to the practice of, poverty and detachment of spirit.
For his great aim is to have his heart free for the
life of love with God. But how can he be free if he
is held by affections for, and attachments to, the
things of earth ? How will an eagle fly if its foot be
chained ? ''Behold we have left all things, and fol-
lowed Thee." Let them all go. By a single stroke
the vow of poverty cuts them away from the soul.
"^''Patet quod consilia ad vitce perfectionem pertinent, non
quia in cis principaliter consistit perfectio, sed quia sunt
via qucedam vel instrumenta ad perfectionem caritatis
hahendam." — Opusc, ''Cont. Retrah.," 6.
82 Divinely Appointed Means.
How freely now the soul, disengaged from things
of earth, turns to the divine Lover ! And as its work
is to progress in love, so, day by day, it keeps itself
poor — ''poor in things, but poorer still in affection to
things.""^ Thus it is that poverty is instrumental to
perfect charity ; and we practice it in all its details,
that by its help the soul may go on and on, day by
day, more and more, to perfect love. For as we are
set on gaining the end, so we are set on using the
means. If w^e deflect from the practice of poverty,
we thereby deflect from the way to the end.
But when external possessions are given up for
whole-hearted love, fleshly love is there to engage
the soul. Here comes in the vow of chastity, and all
for the same end, to clear the heart's affections of
lower love — to remove the hindrances to the divine
light and love that rise from fleshly passion — that
the heart being thus free and empty, the divine
Lover may Himself engage it, and gradually purify,
illuminate, and perfect it. Thus chastity is seen as
instrumental to the main work of our perfection by
perfect charity. Nor is it hard to part with human
loves and lovers, to gain the divine love and the
divine Lover.
But even wnth poverty and chastity, God's love
within can not get full possession of the soul as long
as self-will is the manager of things. The soul,
therefore, bent on getting to perfect charity, finds it
necessary to remove the impediments thereto arising
from its own self-moving principle. As long as it
moves even to good things by self-love and self-will,
it moves not by love to God. And therefore its
charity is far from perfection. A change of prin-
ciple is needed. Obedience it is that supplies this
change, by giving us the will of God to be done.
*Blosius, Spec, Monach. C. de Mortif.
Divinely Appointed Means. 83
And therefore the loving soul takes it as its third
vow, by which to clear away the remaining hin-
drances to perfect love, arising so plentifully from
its own natural will and selfish love.
As the civil power is from God, so is the spiritual
power. Hence we yield our obedience to every
rightly constituted Superior, both in the temporal
and the spiritual order, since the divine authority
is represented in both.
Thus in Religious life the local Superior repre-
sents the higher Superior, such as the Provincial or
General of the Order. The General represents the
Holy Father, and the Holy Father Our Lord's own
presence and authority.
This is why our vow of obedience is taken directly
to God Himself — Promitto Obedientiam Deo — the
living Superiors representing the divine authority.
This it is that gives us in Religion the ever-priceless
assurance that every obedience to Rule and the
living Superior is the distinct fulfilment of the
divine v/ill — and this doing of the divine will
is a direct exercise of divine charity, which
ever moves us to do the will of the Beloved.
And as in Religion we are moving from obedi-
ence every hour of the day ; we see how the
divine will and love are thus brought directly to
the soul, giving to us the divinely appointed means
of progressing day by day in the life of charity,
which always remains the essential perfection of the
soul.
Over and above the vows, which appertain to
religious life in general, each Order holds certain
other instrumental means of perfection in hand, in
the Rules proper to its own Institute.
Let it be well remembered at the outset, that these
Rules are, in addition to the three vows, the divinely
84 Divinely Appointed Means.
appointed means for helping the soul onward,
day by day, to its life of perfect charity.
We have seen how the three vows serve their
purpose as means to this end, by removing three
sets of impediments thereto. Now, the Rules, as
St. Thomas tells us, are arranged in order to help
us effectually to the keeping of our vow^s. Thus
the vows and the Rules are all meant to serve the
main purpose of helping us on to the life of perfect
love v/ith God and with our neighbor."^ Who that
lives in Religion will not feel the truth of this?
"Thou art called a Religious," says Blosius. "See
that thou art truly what thou art called."
We all know the difference between the pro-
fession of a religious life and the practice of it.
We make our profession; we have the habit; we
live in a religious house ; we are called in name after
the Order we profess ; we follow the daily routine
of the house. But are we inwardly and practically
true religious men and women?
The meaning of the word religious is "bound
again" — that is, bound again to God. A Christian
is bound to God by faith, hope, and charity. A
Religious is bound again to Him by the bond of
special love, by which He, the divine Friend, Father,
and Lover, lives a life of friendship and union with
the soul of His choice ; and this, by the additional
triple bond of the three vows — and these well
secured by the daily observances of regular life.
All this being understood, why should we not
give ourselves, heart and soul, to the duties of our
profession? Much will depend upon our keeping
^"Votum religionis ordinatur sicnt in Unem ad perfec-
tionem caritatis: et omnes alice Religionum ohservanticu
ordinantur ad tria votaf — St. Thorn., 2, 2, Q. 186, Art. 7
ad I & 2.
Divinely Appointed Means. 85
the main work steadily in view. The children of
the world do all this in the business of life. Their
main work is clearly before them. They want posi-
tion, science, art, or gain : they know the means to
the end, and know how to use them thereto; and
right well do they use them. Reason, instinct, tell
them to do it. Why are we not as wise in spirituals
as they are in temporals? Our end is union with
God by perfect love. Our means to this end, the
vows and Rules. Do we love our poverty, chastity,
and obedience? Do we love our Rules? And are
we, by their means, constantly progressing toward
the life of perfect love with God? The plan is
simple enough; it just requires that amount of
earnestness that people of the world give to their
temporal concerns.
Who, then, will be found to say, "The Rules are
small — and not binding under sin" ?
Small, perhaps, just considered in themselves.
But the point is, they are means to the great end — •
means, too, given us by the Church, representing
Our Lord's authority and will — and when carried
out in view to perfect love, they assuredly become,
every one of them, distinct acts of love, gradually
forming the corresponding habit. And, after all, the
spiritual life is the formation of a habit, and the
habit of love is formed by its acts. Each act may be
small ; but the repetition of acts makes the habit, and
the habit makes the character.
Therefore let us mind what we are about. In
divine things nothing is small. The value is from
the Spirit of God, and from the progress to the
end. God does not regard just how much we do,
but with how much love we do it. As The Imitation
says : ''He does much, who loves much.''*
'^From Rev. H. Reginald Buckler's A Few First Princi-
ples of the Religions Life.
CHAPTER XII.
XLbc 1Rellgtou0 iproml0e»
IN the life of a Religious there is nothing more
important, more truly serious, than the promise
he has made to God in taking up the obligations
of the religious state. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi
used to say that it was the "greatest grace, after
baptism, that God could bestow." If a Religious
fails in his religious obligations, he fails utterly ;
if he is faithful to them, he is God's faithful
servant.
Let us consider that the religious state is a means
to an end, not an end in itself. It is a means
adopted in order to love God zvith the whole heart.
There are those who have been, in a sense, driven
into Religion by the thought of their obligation to
love God with all their strength, mind, and heart;
and by the conviction that, being such as they were,
they could not fulfil this terrible obligation in the
world. There are others who, without feeling so
deeply or so acutely as this, have entered Religion
because they longed to love God more intensely and
more continuously. ''Blessed are they that dwell in
Thy house, O Lord ; they shall praise Thee forever
and ever" (Ps. Ixxxiii. 5).
Everything that tends to keep the heart from crea-
tures, and to diminish the power of temptation, is
a means to love God more perfectly. But the re-
ligious state has the advantage of being more than
an isolated attempt, or an unconnected series of
The Religioifs Promise. 87
attempts, in this direction ; it is what is called a state.
That is to say, it sets up a stable condition of things,
such as is adapted of itself, to keep off all that would
interfere with God's love. Thus it is a state of per-
fection ; for it is a state which, by its very existence,
necessitates to a great extent the absence of tempta-
tion and makes detachment permanent — these two
conditions being conditions which, as a rule, ensure
the perfect love of God. A soul not bound by re-
ligious vows may be personally more perfect than a
Religious, if it loves God more ; but the Religious is
in a more perfect ''state/' Happy is he if he lives
up to it! He dwells in a ''House" with a roof over
his head against the elements, and strong walls
against hostile attack ; but the house itself with all
its bolts and barriers will not make him holy unless
he loves it.
Reflect, then, that God's love has drawn thee into
this holy state ; where, as St. Bernard says, we fall
more rarely, we rise more quickl}^, we live with
greater restraint, and we arrive at detachment more
rapidly."^ Nothing but His love has drawn thee.
In childhood, thou wert as others ; perhaps more in-
different, more intemperate, more sensual. Or if,
by God's grace, thou didst awake early to His call,
yet it was He w^ho called, and no other. It w^as He
who whispered in thine ear when thy head was bent
dowm in recollection before the altar where thou
hadst first received thy Saviour. It was He who
led thee to directors who made thy way plain before
thee. It was He who breathed generosity into thy
young heart, urging thee to mortification and de-
tachment. Or, perhaps, it was otherwise with thee —
and it was He who lifted thee from the slough of
*"Cadit rarius, surgit velociiis, vivit parciiis, purgatur
citius/'
88 The Religious Promise,
to'
thy sins, to conversion and to the knowledge of thy
Redeemer. However it was, it v/as not for any
merits of thine that He drew thee to Himself.
Nothing can account for it except His love. ''I have
loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore have
I drawn thee, taking pity on thee" (Jer. xxxi. 3).
Can any thought be better adapted than this to make
thee feel that thou hast a Father in heaven ? ^
Reflect, again, that that with which He inspired
thee, and which was in thy thoughts when thou
didst utter thy vows, was nothing less than a total
and absohite sacrifice of thyself to His love and ser-
vice. It is called ''total and absolute," because what is
given up by the vows of poverty, chastity, and
obedience goes very far indeed to cover everything
which could be given up. True, it is impossible to
miake vows which shall literally include every pos-
session and every liberty. But, substantially, we do
make a total renunciation; and, what is more, we
wish and intend, as far as human weakness permits
and the grace of the Holy Spirit enables us, to give
up to God's love really and truly everything. The
vow of poverty covers every item of worldly prop-
erty which we have or shall ever have. The vow of
chastity not only detaches us from a life which
would have been sure to make us, to a greater or less
degree, neglect ''the things of the Lord," but it
places a double restraint upon us, in a thousand
matters which the infirmity of human nature makes
exceedingly dangerous to our sovereign love of God.
And the vow of obedience aflfects the very well-
spring of our self-love, with all its innumerable
streams and channels. Thus, we have made a sac-
rifice of freedom, power, afifection, proprietorship,
ease, and enjoyment. "With burnt-ofiferings" God
has declared He "will not be delighted" (Ps. 1. 18),
The Religious Promise. 89
that is, with the burnt-offerings of the ceremonial
law ; but there is a kind of holocaust on which He
will look with divine approval. He will not despise
"a contrite and humbled heart." This is the offer-
ing of the Religious — a heart which is ''broken" by
the renunciation of pleasure, and ''humbled'' by
parting with that which is dearest to man — the sense
of being one's own master.
It is not difficult to understand how a life of this
kind tends to intensify the act of charity. First of
all, it is a life of sharp pangs of endurance ; and, all
pain, lovingly accepted, intensifies our love of God
and our adherence to Him. How mistaken, there-
fore, art thou, O religious man, if thou dreadest, or
triest to avoid, the rough things of thy religious life !
For it is just these things which thou camest to Re-
ligion to find. To be a Religious, and to spend one's
days in avoiding all that is irksome to the flesh or
annoying to the spirit, is to be foolish and incon-
sistent to the last degree. Far better not to have
left the world. The same may be said of him. who
seeks to weaken religious discipline, or to escape
from rule and routine; for rule and discipHne, en-
closure, silence, and separation from the world, are
the necessary consequences of the vows ; they are
the vows reduced to practice. Now, the object of
the vows, as we have seen, is to put barriers between
ourselves and the first shock of temptation. Who-
ever, therefore, withdraws himself from regularity,
withdraws himself from the beneficent influence of
his vows, and to that extent weakens the bulwarks
which he himself erected with his own hand in or-
der to be more constantly near to his God. ''Redde
Altissimo vota tuaT Pay thy vows, O Religious!
Remember thy vows ! Mock not thy God ! Thou
hast promised, and even in thy tepidity thou wouldst
90 The Religions Promise.
not wish to unsay thy promise. Shake off thy
tepidity, then, and understand that the Hfe of him
who schemes to escape rule is the Hfe of one who is
in the way to be unfaithful to his vows.
Ah ! when thou didst make those holy promises
how filled with horror would thy soul have been
hadst thou foreseen the indifference and the sloth
that were to come! For thou madest that promise
in thy fervent youth; nay, perhaps thou hadst vir-
tually made it from thy childhood, and it had led
thee on, like the pillar of the Lord, to the land of
milk and honey, the land of the rehgious life.
Thou didst make that promise in the fear of God,
filled with the awe of thy Creator, impressed by the
inevitableness of His power, and by the majesty of
His immensity. Thou didst make it with the
thought of thy deathbed before thee, and of what
thou wouldst wish thy life to have been when thou
earnest to be stretched thereon. Thou didst make it
in the fervent love of God above all things, with
the feeling of His beauty and the conviction that He
was thy only good, thy last end, and thy all. Thou
didst make it in the joyousness of divine grace, in
the impulse of the Holy Spirit, in the magnanimity
of His sovereign gifts, looking forward to the fu-
ture as one looks forward to a pleasant journey.
Thou didst make it in the hatred of sin, the loathing
of its filthiness, the dread of its contamination ;
feeling that nothing could be sweeter or more de-
lightful than to live pure and innocent all thy days.
Thou didst make it in the ardor of the desire of per-
fection ; in the fervor of the emulation of the saints.
Thou didst make it with the anticipation of thy
heavenly country, where for endless ages the base
and trivial things thou didst trample upon would
be repaid thee with inconceivable bliss.
The Religious Promise. 91
At first, perhaps, these impulses continued and
grew stronger. The sweetness of divine love led
thee on — the fervor of a beginner made burdens
light and the rough way smooth. But by degrees
unfaithfulness crept upon thee. When the impulse
of fervor was wanting, thy efforts grew slack.
Having trusted, perhaps, more to thyself than to
the grace of thy heavenly Father, thou didst fall —
fall in little things, perhaps in greater. Thou didst
begin to keep things back from thy sacrifice. Thou
didst allow thyself to scrutinize, and hesitate, and
even refuse. The holy strictness of the Rule began
to displease thee. Thou didst not accept, as here-
tofore, the common life, the common food, the lodg-
ing, the work ; thou didst fail in loving all persons
equally for Christ's sake ; thou didst try to cheat thy
Saviour in those things which are intended to make
the Religious like unto Him who bore the cross.
Perhaps thy vows at that time were little before
thy mind. For from renewing them with a warm
heart every day, thou didst hardly remxmber to re-
call them at weekly or even monthly intervals.
More than once thy conscience has surprised thee in
dislike of thy vows. There were temptations to re-
gret having made them ; temptations which were not
rejected, but allowed to lie in the heart and poison
its life. Dangerous thoughts, of instability — even
of apostasy — were not by any means strange to thee
in thy hours of sadness or of sloth. Thou didst
come to neglect the observances and ''little things"
of thy community life. Thou didst grow to be slow,
unpunctual, lax, and self-seeking; to love distrac-
tions and outside work or recreation ; to disturb thy
brethren by singularity, by the seeking of exemp-
tions, the contempt of observances, the criticisms of
Superiors, and general discontent with the religious
92 The Religious Promise.
life. Whither does all this lead? Canst thou doubt
it ? It leads to the abandonment of the religious life ;
and, therefore — since it seems that God intends thee
to save thy soul by the religious life — to thy eternal
ruin. Even if this thought should shock thee, and
thou shouldst refuse to allow thy apostasy to be in-
ferred from thy laxity, there is another considera-
tion. Such a Hf e as is here described leads to the
abandonment of the desire of perfection. Nay, it is
the abandonment of that desire and purpose. No
one can be relaxed, unmortified, and lazy and at the
same time desire to love God with such a whole
heart as thou didst once long to do, and as every
Religious ought to long to do. But this is a miser-
able and lamentable condition to be in. Those who
are in the world, though they be not fervent, yet as
long as they keep from mortal sin fail in fervor
chiefly through their lawful occupations, their want
of thought, their deficiency in spiritual instruction,
and their low standard of supernatural aims. But
it can not be so with the Religious. He has lei-
sure for thought ; he has been drawn into the sanc-
tuary of God ; and he has taken upon himself obliga-
tions grounded precisely on his appreciation of the
supernatural. He has understood that nothing on
earth is equal in value to one step of greater near-
ness to Christ. He has not only understood this,
but has, to some extent, lived and acted up to it ; so
that if he abandons the desire of perfection, he aban-
dons it through sloth, selfishness, and dehberate
choice. To do this, and to continue to wear the
habit and tread the cloister, is to be a cheat and a
liar. No true and genuine heart could long endure
to be in such a condition. There must be con-
version, or there will be desertion. O my Lord and
Saviour ! Thou who didst inspire me to pronounce
The Religious Promise. 93
my vows before Thy altar, give me light and the
force of Thy powerful grace, that I may understand
how contemptible and pitiable a thing is a Religious
who makes no effort to live up to the life of
Religion !
Every Religious, then, is bound to aspire to per-
fection. Nor need this thought disturb any anxious
heart. What he is bound to aspire to is not perfec-
tion in any absolute or transcendental sense; but
such perfection as is naturally attainable by those
who employ the means placed at their disposal by
the religious life. That life, by its vowed renuncia-
tions, and by its consequent practical course — its
prayer, its humility, its subordination of act and will,
and its holy occupations — is quite certain to estab-
lish in the heart a progressive state, which may,
without exaggeration, be called perfection ; that is,
a remarkably close union with God, throvigh Jesus
Christ. This the Religious is bound to desire; for
such a desire is implied in the acceptance of religious
obligations ; because, if a Religious really accepts
the obligations of his state, he either does so with
the object of making himself perfect — as just ex-
plained— or he accepts them out of mere supersti-
tion, as a Stoic might have done, or even an Indian
fakir. In order, therefore, to be sure that thou dost
aim at perfection, thou needest to do no more than
live with exactness thy religious life.
But it is to be feared that many Religious fail to
make the most of that holy life to which they have
had the grace to be called. There is, in their habit-
ual way of living, a want of intention, a want of ap-
preciation— in other words, a want of solicitude,
about their love of their Father in heaven. The
vows and the practices of Religion are helpful and
salutary — but only to those who put some energy
94 The Religious Promise.
into their use. They are divinely adapted to in-
tensify the acts of the heart toward God, but only
if the Religious thinks of it. They are most valu-
able in making our life one continuous lifting up
of the soul toward its Creator — O happy condition !
— but only if each hour is consciously used, and each
act and hardship separately infused with spiritual
intention. The Religious who lives his life mechani-
cally is losing his time, and squandering precious
moments which might merit for him the highest
and the innermost heavens. My Father! open my
eyes, that I may see light ! Grant me, that from the
morning, when I am summoned to prayer, till the
evening, when I lay down my head in prayer to
rest, I may use to the full every moment of prayer,
every word of reading, every slightest Rule, every
order of my Superior, every encounter with my
brethren, every step in the cloister, every touch of
the outward world, every vicissitude of my spirit
and my flesh, every visitation of the cross — to draw
me to the lifting up of my heart, and to greater
nearness to Thee !*
• *From Bishop Hedley's Retreat.
CHAPTER XIII.
©eneral ©tlnclples of tbe IReligioue %itc.
I . "y^'ou have been so fortunate as to heed the voice
h of Jesus ; you have manfully overcome the
obstacles that faced you on your entrance into the
sacred enclosure of the monastery ; you were burning
with zeal to embrace the religious exercises there
practiced. But remember, it is not enough to have
begun well : you must also persevere and end well ;
otherwise you will expose yourself to great danger
and will merit greater disgrace than the man we
read of in the Gospel, who, after he had successfully
laid the foundation of a grand edifice, had not the
perseverance to finish it. ''He that perseveres to the
end shall be saved/'
2. Often consider what singular grace God be-
stowed on you in choosing you from among thou-
sands who were much more zealous in His service
than you, and who had not offended Him so often,
in order that He might lead you out of -the world,
as He led His chosen people out of Egypt, and might
conduct you into a God-fearing community as into
the Promised Land. Thank Him from your heart
for the great things He has done to you ; thank all
those who have assisted you ; above all, be thankful
to God's Virgin Mother. How grateful you would
be to those who had saved you from shipwreck and
had brought you safely to land ! The Religious
who does not thank God daily for the grace of voca-
tion shows that he does not know its value, and no
longer deserves it.
3. In all your actions keep in sight the purpose
96 General Principles of the Religious Life.
for which you entered the Order. You took this
step because you did not wish to rest satisfied with a
common grade of virtue acquired by faithfully keep-
ing God's Commandment — this grade of perfection
is common to many people out in the world — but you
desired to become a truly devout Religious, aiming
after the highest perfection attainable here below.
With the assistance of grace your soul desires to
enter into close union with God. Encourage your-
self in this, then, as St. Bernard used to do, by ask-
ing yourself with deepest recollection of soul as he
did: "Bernard, why did you come here? Why did
you choose this kind of life?'' Unless you take
close aim you will shoot wide of the mark.
4. This intimate union of the soul with God is
interior rather than exterior, and is reached by fre-
quent interior acts of faith, hope, and charity, and
similar acts of virtue, joined to praise, adoration,
and humility. You must do what Jesus Christ has
done, and all the saints after Him : namely, per-
form all your exterior actions with perfect interior
recollection of soul, with devout intention, and with
entire conformity of your will to the divine will.
Union with God, who is a pure spirit, can take place
only with a perfectly purified soul.
5. Learn from Jesus Himself the way to become
truly interior. ''Deny yourself," He says; that is,
combat the cravings of nature which, however harm-
less and pardonable in appearance, are still punish-
able and tainted with self-love, unless they are
purified by a good intention. ''Take up your cross"
- — that is, overcome your natural heaviness and dis-
like, so as to maintain yourself in the practice of the
duties to which your newly-chosen state obliges
you ; "and follow Me" — that is, strive always to do,
not your will, but His. Self-will and unmortified ap-
General Principles of the Religious Life. 97
petites as truly hinder perfection as the broad and
pleasant way prevents entrance into everlasting life.
6. If perfection, as I have pictured it, appears
difficult — and it is difficult, indeed, if measured only
by your strength — then excite yourself to confidence
in the goodness and power of God, who in His
mercy called you. He will never let you want the
strength necessary to accomplish what He requires
of you. See how many have happily reached the
goal who were weaker than you are and had less
assistance. Therefore, do not invent excuses to
defend your timidity : on the Day of Judgment no
excuses will be accepted. He that does his best and
trusts in God always attains the end in view.
7. It is a painful surprise to meet Religious who
have spent ten and twenty years in a monastery and
still cling to the w^orld, are still slaves to their whims,
touchy under the slightest difficulties, more luke-
warm in their devotions and unsteady in their habits
than people out in the world. Alas ! to lead such
lives — is it not to abuse the vocation we profess?
Is not this, in very truth, making sport of Religion,
and deceiving one's fellow-man ? In such a pass are
we not in danger of losing our souls ? Our Saviour,
though meekness itself, called down a terrible curse
upon the barren fig-tree. Think you He will not
pass a much more severe sentence on souls who in
the sacred habit of Religion fail to practice the genu-
ine virtues of Religion ? Therefore I feel compelled
to cry out with Moses (Deut. xxxii. 29), Oh, that
persons favored by God in so extraordinary a man-
ner would be wise and would understand ! Would
that they understood the singular grace which God
bestowed upon them by inviting them to His divine
espousals. Merciful God, grant them the grace that
henceforth they prepare themselves with scrupulous
98 General Principles of the Religious Life.
care for the strict account which Thou wilt require
of them on Judgment Day for all the graces which
Thou hast conferred upon them. Not change of
dress, but change of manners, constitutes true re-
ligious life.
According to Father Dirkink, S.J., a perfect
novice, who in time will -become a true Religious,
may be known by the following signs :
1. He never commits a venial sin with full delib-
eration.
2. He conceals nothing from his Superiors, nor
does he wish that they should remain in ignorance
of anything about him whatever.
3. He bears it without bitterness if upbraided for
his faults.
4. He cheerfully does penance for failings which
scarcely deserve a punishment.
5. He takes advantage of every chance to deny
and mortify himself.
6. He always speaks of matters that are in keep-
ing with his vocation.
7. He keeps so close a guard over his external
conduct that a searching eye finds hardly anything
to blame.
8. Books that excite virtuous resolutions he reads
with greater fervor and relish than those which
merely satisfy curiosity and engage the mind.
9. He entertains no special friendship that rests
on purely natural grounds.
10. He steadily combats self-love by undertaking,
with the consent of his Superiors, whatever he dis-
likes.
11. He struggles with success against weariness
at prayer, reading, and other spiritual exercises.
12. He estimates the practical value of meditation
not by the consolations he experiences, but by the
General Principles of the Religious Life. 99
amount of love he acquires for virtue and the care
he takes to avoid wilful imperfections.
13. He longs for perfection, not to benefit self,
but to please God.
14. He avoids the smallest violation against the
Rule and holds nothing unimportant that bears on
perfection.
15. He frequently consults his novice-master and
submits to his guidance to the intent :
(a) That he may be protected against the danger
of mortally offending God, and lessen the number of
venial sins and imperfections.
(h) That he may practice virtue with safety.
{c) That he may learn to perform his interior
and exterior actions more perfectly from day to
day.
16. Of several good works he aims to choose the
more perfect.
17. He shows no preference for any occupation,
office, or place, but simply accommodates himself to
every situation and circumstance.
18. He is always satisfied and cheerful, never ill-
humored or self-willed.
19. He is not easily worried about anything, and
construes matters in the best light; but things that
may injure the community, a wrong-doer, or a
neighbor, he does not fail to report.
20. A novice fashioned in this mould and rooted
in solid virtue leaves the novitiate with such a dread
of sin and imperfection, and such a love of virtue
and perfection, that all alone and without fear of re-
proof he will lead a life as virtuous, pure, and
guarded, as if he were constantly under the ob-
serving eye of a most venerated Superior.
I conclude with the short advice, ''Do this and
thou shalt live." Yes, you will live in your com-
100 General Principles of the Religious Life,
munity with pleasure, your life will be blameless,
godly, and perfect, as becomes a true follower of
Christ. I entreat you, only make a brave start ; for
''well begun is half done/' "When you begin," says
St. Bernard, "begin well ; if you do, you will soon
reach the end." And when, like the angels ascend-
ing, you have mounted, as up a Jacob's ladder, the
rounds of virtue, you will find the Lord leaning
upon the topmost round, and you will be clasped in
the blessed outstretched arms of your God."^
Perseverance in prayer is a means to perseverance
in one's vocation. The novice must have frequent
recourse to God, imploring the grace of persever-
ance, for that grace, says St. Augustine, is not ob-
tained without prayer. But the novice tempted to
leave the Order into which God has lovingly intro-
duced her, ought not to be satisfied with saying:
"O God, enlighten me, that I may know what I
must do !" No, let her pray with confidence in this
way : "After giving me the vocation, O my God,
give me also the strength to persevere in it!"
Let her pray that God may confirm her in her voca-
tion, that she may ever know and love God, and
that she may, to the end of life, abide in His grace.
Let her be very candid with her Superiors in regard
to her interior struggles, and humbly submissive to
their directions. Childlike obedience will bring peace
to her soul in connection with the divine Master's
prayer : Fiat voltmtas Tua.
*From Verheyen's General Principles of the Religious
Life.
CHAPTER XIV.
XLbc IRenewal ot Vovce.
^TT's we read in Father Humphrey's Elements of
<^J^ the Religious Life: "St. Thomas attributes to
religious profession, and as an effect of religious
profession, remission of all punishment which is due
for sin, and this as it were ex opere operato. He
does so on the ground that if a man by means of
some alms can satisfy for his past sins, that man
can satisfy for all his past sins who gives himself
wholly and without reserve to the service of God.
Such an offering exceeds every kind of satisfaction,
or even of public penance, in the same way as a
holocaust exceeds a sacrifice.
''Religious profession is, according to St. Thomas,
an act which is so excellent that, if it is made in an
ordinary way from an affection of charity, even if
without extraordinary fervor, it suffices, as a rule,
to satisfy for all sins of the past. This effect, there-
fore, would follow, not from extrinsic privilege, but
from the perfection of an act which is such as is
religious profession. Besides this, however, there
has been granted to some Orders, by concession of
the Sovereign Pontiff, a plenary indulgence at en-
trance into the Order, and another at the hour of
death."
Religious profession is called a second baptism by
St. Jerome, St. Cyprian, and St. Bernard, and be-
cause the act of consecrating one's self entirely to
God by the three vows of poverty, obedience, and
chastity is so noble and heroic, the saints also com-
pare the religious life to martyrdom. The religious
102 The Renezval of Vows.
life is indeed one long, incessant martyrdom. At
first glance, as St. Bernard observes, nothing ap-
pears to us so frightful as those early martyrdoms
by fire and sword, rack and cross, and other instru-
ments of torture. But the martyrdom of the Re-
ligious, in respect to its duration at least, is much
more severe and painful. The martyrdom of those
heroic witnesses to Christ often ended with one
stroke of the sword. The suffering of the Religious
ends not with one blow. Day after day and year
upon year she is kept upon the rack of humiliation
and mortification; her own will and judgment are
consumed by the fire of obedience ; she must die to
self-love by the crucifixion of the spirit. The mar-
tyrs, according to the saints and Councils of the
Church, obtained pardon of all their sins by their
martyrdom, and straightway entered heaven without
passing through purgatory; for martyrdom is a
supereminently excellent and heroic act, as Christ
Himself tells us: ''Greater love than this no man
hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends''
(John XV. 13). More than his life a man can
not give. The giving of one's life to God in a
Religious Order, the absolute and complete sacrifice
of one's self by the perpetual vows, is a work so
excellent and so heroic that a man by it gives to
the Lord all that he has, all that he is, and all that
he can give. By that act, saints and theologians
teach us, he obtains pardon and exemption from the
punishment due his sins. He stands before God
very much like one newly baptized or as a martyr.
Hence the profession of the vows is likened to bap-
tism and martyrdom.
From the excellence and perfection of the religious
profession we can understand how very advan-
tageous it is frequently to renew the holy vows.
The Renewal of Vows. 103
New obligations are not assumed by this renewal,
but what has already been undertaken is commem-
orated and confirmed. By the renewal of her vows,
the Religious gives expression to her gratitude, her
joy and exultation. She proclaims by it that she
does not find the religious life a burden, and that
she does not regret having assumed it.
The vows should be renewed, first, to increase de-
votion, an end to which the renewal very powerfully
contributes, as is the experience of all who do so
with fervor and sincerity. It should be made to
recall the obligations taken to God. It should tend
to keep constantly before one's eyes the promises
made on the day of profession, and to reanimate
one's zeal in striving after virtue and perfection.
Lastly, the renewal of the vows should be made as a
protection against temptation, especially that which
leads the soul to become weary, disheartened,
gloomy, and fretful.
This renewal of vows should be made especially
on the anniversary of profession. On that day the
Religious should seriously remind herself of the
offering that she made to Almighty God ; she should
reflect on His design in calling her to the religious
vocation, and with new zeal pursue the work of her
sanctification. What the Lord wished the Israelites
especially to lay to heart on their departure from
the land of Egypt was the memory of the day on
which He had shown them so great mercy. So
earnest was He on this point that He commanded
them to celebrate an annual festival of eight days in
remembrance of it. They were to eat on that day
with festive ceremonies a lamb in memory of the
lamb which had been slaughtered w^hen they were
freed from captivity. God ordained this in memory
of their liberation from corporal captivity, though
104 The Renewal of Vozvs.
they were not thereby made spiritually better. How
much more reason has the Religious to celebrate that
day on which the mighty and merciful hand of God
liberated her from the bondage of the world, the
captivity of the soul, and led her on the way not
to the earthly but to the heavenly land of promise !
But this renewal of vows should be made, according
to the exhortation of St. Francis Xavier, not only
on the anniversary of profession, but daily. This
great and zealous apostle says : "There is scarcely
any means so efficacious, any weapon so powerful
for Religious in their combats against the tempta-
tions of the devil and the flesh, as the renewal of
the vows." He advised us to arm ourselves against
the enemy of our soul by making this renewal every
morning after prayer and meditation. It is a very
excellent devotion in connection with Mass and holy
communion.
The renew^al of vows should be made, moreover,
in gratitude to Almighty God for the grace of voca-
tion and for all other favors and blessings. The
Church annually solemnizes the dedication of her
material temples ; and it is expedient that you
should celebrate the feast of the consecration of your
soul, that living temple of God. Gratitude expressed
by works is the best. This renewal, therefore, must
be very pleasing to God, provided that it is made
with the intention of confirming one's vows and
gaining strength to observe them more perfectly in
the future. The Apostle Paul admonishes to this
when he says : ''Be renewed in the spirit of your
mind'' (Ephes. iv. 23). The renew^al must be not
only verbal, but spiritual. Recall the zeal, the fer-
vor of your first day in the novitiate. Begin anew
with the same zeal, the same firm resolves. That is
really a renewal, a self -renewal, highly pleasing to
The Renewal of Vows, 105
God, and an excellent act of thanksgiving for graces
received.
Sigh with holy Job : ''Who will grant me that I
might be according to the months past, according to
the days in which God kept me? When His lamp
shined over my head, and I walked by His light in
darkness?" (Job xxix. 2, 3.) Are you troubled and
disheartened? Think of the magnificent recom-
pense in store for you. *'Lose not your confidence,"
savs St. Paul, 'Svhich hath a great reward" (Heb. x.
35)-
The evil one is apt to tempt and torture young
Religious when they are in a state of desolation.
''Do you not see," he says, "that you have no peace
in this house? You have lost all devotion. Every-
thing inspires you with disgust — prayer, spiritual
reading, holy communion, yes, even the community
recreations. Is not this a sign that God does not
want you here?" Ah, how dangerous is such a
temptation, especially in the beginning of the noviti-
ate, when the poor soul has had no experience ! To
emerge victorious from the struggle, let the novice
reflect in what true joy of heart consists here on
earth, where she is to lay up treasures of merit by
much suffering. It consists in absolute conformity
of one's will with the will of God. In this, also, is
found the highest peace. Whether God leaves the
soul in darkness, or whether He gives it consola-
tion, peace is found only in perfect submission to
His holy will. With Thomas a Kempis let the novice
say : ''Lord, Thou knowest what is best. Do with me
as Thou knowest, and as best pleaseth Thee, and is
most for Thy honor. Put me where Thou wilt, and
do with me in all things according to Thy will. I
am in Thy hand ; turn me hither and thither as
Thou choosest. Lo, I am Thy servant, ready for all
io6 The Renewal of Vozvs.
things ; for I do not desire to live for myself, but for
Thee. Oh, that I could do so in a worthy and per-
fect manner!
''Grant me Thy grace, most merciful Jesus, that it
may be with me, and labor with me, and continue
with me unto the end. Grant me always to will and
desire that which is most acceptable to Thee, and
which pleaseth Thee best. Grant that I may die to
all things that are in the world, and for Thy sake
love to be despised, and to be unknown in this w^orld.
Grant unto me, above all things to be desired, that
I may rest in Thee, and that my heart may be at
peace in Thee."
Evidently one of the favorite prayers of a fervent
Religious should be the Suscipe of St. Ignatius :
''Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my mem-
ory, my understanding, and my whole will. Thou
hast given me all that I am and all that I possess ;
I surrender it all to Thee, that Thou mayest dispose
of it according to Thy will. Give me only Thy love
and Thy grace ; with these I will be rich enough, and
will have no more to desire."
In The Folloiving of Christ the Lord admonishes
the soul thus : "The purer the eye of thy intention is,
with so much greater constancy wilt thou pass
through the storms of life. Direct thy whole atten-
tion to this, that thou mayest please Me alone, and
neither desire nor seek anything out of Me. But
never to feel any grief at all, nor to suffer any
trouble of heart or body, is not the state of this
present life, but of everlasting rest.
"Think not, therefore, that thou hast found true
peace if thou feel no burden ; nor that then all is
well, if thou have no adversary ; nor that thou hast
attained to perfection if all things be done accord-
ing to thy inclination.
The Renewal of Vows. 107
"Neither do thou conceive a great notion of thy-
self, nor imagine thyself to be especially beloved if
thou experience great devotion and sweetness ; for
it is not in such things as these that a true lover of
virtue is known. The progress and perfection of
a man do not consist in these things."
'In what, then, O Lord?"
"In offering thyself with thy whole heart to the
divine will, so that with the same equal countenance
thou continue giving thanks both in prosperity and in
adversity." In other words, liberty of spirit should
be the aim of a Religious, and this she achieves by
doing all things simply Ad majorem Dei gloriam.
CHAPTER XV.
Cbtiattan Bacetlctem anD Common Settee^
^'*T^.ET US bring common sense to bear upon re-
r^—^ ligion as upon other departments of life."
This is a piece of advice, excellent as far as it
goes, which we read the other day in a Catholic
publication, and made a note of, though indeed we
rather think we have heard something like it before.
Common sense is a valuable gift, or an equally valu-
able acquirement. To lack common sense were in-
deed a misfortune; to possess it, and habitually to
use it, is to have laid a foundation on which a whole
edifice of good qualities and habits, psychological
and moral, may be reared.
But the foundation of a house is not the peak of
its roof, the basement is not the topmost story ; na-
ture is not grace ; and common sense is not heroism.
A hero may be, and ought to be, a man of common
sense; but it is not common sense that makes a
hero. And when some one proclaims that religion
ought to be characterized by common sense, we do
Vv^ell to be on the alert lest perchance he should
quietly proceed from this sound principle to the
mischievous assumption that in matters of religion
plain common sense — or what he understands to be
such — is to have the last word. Any account of vir-
tue that seems to bring its soaring heights down to
the modest level of our own eyes is more or less
gratifying to our self-love.
''Let us bring common sense to bear upon re-
ligion." By all means, if by this be meant — let us
Christian Asceticism and Common Sense. 109
take care that our religion at least does not fall short
(as it may easily do) of the common sense stan-
dard. *'The children of this world are wiser in their
generation than the children of light." The chil-
dren of this world go about their worldly business in
a common sense fashion, adapting means to ends,
and taking care not to let opportunities slip ; and
we do well to look to it that in religious matters we
at least reach this degree of practical wisdom. But
if by ''bringing common sense to bear upon re-
ligion," it is meant that common sense is to pre-
scribe limits to religious perfection, then the exhor-
tation seems to smack of a kind of rationalism, and
is hardly in harmony with the lives and teachings
of the saints. Of course it may be said that all de-
pends on your definition of terms ; and if the mean-
ing of ''common sense" be so stretched and en-
larged as to include, or at least to imply, faith, hope,
and charity in their highest manifestations, no one
could wish for a more perfect test by which to try
any kind or form of religious exercise. But such
is not the usual connotation of the term, and prac-
tically the stickler for common sense in religion will
often be found to be one who would damp enthusi-
asm, pour cold w^ater on zeal, and set bounds — un-
intentionally, of course — to heroism.
These remarks are suggested, not merely by the
few words which we have selected as a kind of peg
on which to hang them, but still more by the con-
text in which the words occur. The writer who
pleads for the application of common sense to re-
ligion does so by way of clinching an argument, or
of putting beyond dispute the truth of a theory
which he has just been expounding, concerning the
true principles of Christian asceticism. And the
theory is worth discussion, because it is one which
no Christian Asceticism and Common Sense,
is, we fear, gaining ground, even among Catholics,
at the present day. The writer's view of asceticism
is a common sense view, and so far is good. It is
too exclusively a common sense view, and so far is
inadequate, and unless supplemented by further
considerations tends to become mischievous, and all
the more mischievous by reason of its specious ap-
pearance, and the somewhat oracular tone with
which it is put forward. /'The Christian fasts,'' we
are told, ''not to appease an angry Deity by suffer-
ing; this were a relic of heathen superstition, dis-
honoring to God and degrading to man ; but that
the whole man, body and soul together, may be more
active in the service of God and his neighbor, his
thoughts quicker, his hand stronger." And again :
'Tt is temperance, not abstinence, the state of the
trained athlete, tense, alert, vigorous, not that of
the sickly starveling, faint for w^ant of food," that
"the Fathers of the Church . . . commend." And
once more : "What is important is that people should
be in what is called a state of training: the means
are of less moment, so long as the end is attained."
The writer further illustrates his principle by ob-
serving that "the cold bath, the dumb-bells and the
bicycle are remedies against vice and incentives to
virtue (?), as efficacious, perhaps, as the haircloth
and the scourge."
Now, apart from the offensive words about ap-
peasing "an angry Deity by suffering," to w^hich we
shall hereafter recur, there is much that is true in
the remarks we have quoted; much that belongs to
the legitimate domain of common sense brought to
bear on religion. There are plenty of people for
whom under ordinary circumstances, and apart
from what the Church prescribes, no higher kind of
Christian Asceticism and Common Sense. in
asceticism is reasonably feasible, so far as external
acts are concerned, than ''the cold bath, the dumb-
bells, and the bicycle," coupled with the intention to
use them for the purposes of keeping a sound mind
in a sound body for the service of God and of man
for God's sake. But here a distinction must be ob-
served. It is quite true that, in a well-known pas-
sage of the first epistle to the Corinthians ( i Cor.
ix. 24 seq.), St. Paul compares Christian asceticism
to the training of the athlete. This training, how-
ever, is to fit the Christian athlete for the exercise
not merely of head and hand, but more especially of
the heart ; it is a training for the exercise not merely
of natural faculties, but of supernatural virtues.
Still, the same degree of training is not exacted of
all ; and the devout bicyclist, faithful to his morning
prayers, and also to his morning tub, is a type of
Christian not by any means to be despised. He is
doing his best according to his light ; and very com-
mendably makes use of natural means to keep out
of mischief. But he is hardly a saint, and makes no
pretence to exhibit in his more or less blameless life
the highest ideal of Christian perfection.
To return, however, to the subject of fasting.
Fasting and other austerities are, indeed, primarily
intended to keep under control the passions and the
animal impulses of man's composite nature. This is
undoubtedly the purpose which is most frequently
insisted on in the Collects of the Lenten Masses in
the Roman Missal. And unless this primary pur-
pose be achieved, there is abundant room for self-
delusion in asceticism. Moreover, this particular
lesson is one which always needs to be enforced,
and at no time more than now. We are told (by the
same writer from wdiom we have already quoted)
112 Christian Asceticism and Common Sense.
that ''the dressing-gown-and-slippers idea of Hfe is
gaining ground among us ;'' and, with every allow-
ance for epigrammatic exaggeration, the im.putation
may be admitted at least to this extent, that peace
and prosperity necessarily bring with them more or
less of danger lest men should settle down to such
a bourgeois standard. In all ages, not excluding
our own, men need the warning to keep them-
selves ''in what is called a state of training." And
provided the "state of training" be rightly under-
stood, vi^., as having reference to distinctively re-
ligious activities, nothing more than this can be
either required or expected from the great majority
of Christians.
But the laudable desire to keep one's self "in what
is called a state of training" is far from being the
only motive which has led the saints of God's
Ghurch to engage in penitential exercises. The no-
tion of "a state of training" is one which of itself
involves no special relation to the central mysteries
of the Christian faith, the Incarnation and death of
Christ our Lord. Again and again throughout the
New Testament men are either bidden or encour-
aged to take up the cross and follow Our Lord and
to rejoice that they are privileged to 'share in His
sufferings. It is true that suffering is not put forward
as an end in itself, and no sound system of asceti-
cism could represent it as such. But although it is
not an end in itself, it is, or may rightly be called,
a means in itself. That is to say, the endurance of
pain or privation is not merely a means whereby a
man may fit himself to perform certain actions which
are meritorious of life everlasting. It is a means
whereby — without the intervention of any ulterior
means — merit may be gained, provided, of course,
that the pain or the privation is endured, and volun-
Christian Asceticism and Common Sense. 113
tarily assumed, with a right motive.* That this is
the case with sufferings encountered in the pursuit
of duty, or under stress of persecution, or as the re-
sult of works of charity, zeal, and the like, needs
no proof for a Catholic. But, as in the case of these
sufferings, this special motive is set before Chris-
tians, that in undergoing them they are made par-
takers in the sufferings of Christ, so this same mo-
tive has in all ages led the saints, and thousands of
fervent Christians who have not been saints, to de-
sire to be as far as possible "made conformable to
the likeness" of Christ suffering. To take only a
few instances, which ought indeed to be superfluous,
we read that St. Vincent Ferrer, from his earliest
youth, practiced certain austerities "in order to
bring the flesh into subjection and in memory of the
Passion of Christ f' and w^e are told that the Blessed
Henry Suso "was vehemently led on by his desire
to bear in his body some sensible mark of his com-
passion {condolentice) with the most bitter Passion
of Christ. "t ''The violence of persecution has
ceased," says St. Peter Damian in effect ; ''why
should I therefore be defrauded of the pains which
I desire to undergo for the love of Christ?":!: And
he speaks of the "sweet punishment" which is borne
for His love. "Christ," says Gretser, "bound to the
pillar and nailed to the cross, invites all to consider
and contemplate the pains which He thus endured."
And who, he asks, will better bring home to himself
the bitterness of those pains than he who voluntarily
"^"Deus qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, menfem
elevas, virtutem largiris et prcBmia." — Prcef. Missce temp,
quadrag. Cf. Gretser, Opera IV., i, 55.
tGretser, ihid., p. 20.
iEpistola ad Petrum Cerebrosum, fnonachum, apud Gret-
ser, loc. cit., p. 69.
114 Christian Asceticism and Common Sense.
inflicts pain upon himself?* Now this desire to
partake, in however small a degree, in the sufiferings
of Christ, and the penitential acts whereby this de-
sire is in a measure fulfilled, are plainly meritorious.
Nor are they meritorious alone, but they are also
available for expiation. Even antecedently to any
explicit knowledge of a coming Redeemer, the fast-
ing and the sackcloth of the Ninivites were pleasing
to God and moved Him to forgiveness. Not, of
course, that God (or ''an angry Deity") takes de-
light in suffering as such. But that He is appeased
by acts of penance, whereby man forestalls, as it
were, the punishment due to his sins, is the plain
teaching of Holy Scripture. f It is not the pain as
such which pleases Him, but the dispositions with
which the pain is endured. And without the pain
the dispositions would at least be less intensely real-
ized or actuated.
It is true, of course, that asceticism, like other
good things, may be carried to excess. Neither the
Fathers of the Church, nor any other sensible per-
son, would commend ''the state ... of the sickly
starveling, faint for the want of food." But, in the
sentence from which we have taken these words,
there lurks a fallacy, unless, indeed, it ought rather
to be said that the fallacy obtrudes itself on the no-
tice of the attentive reader. It lies in the calm as-
sumption that no middle term can be found between
"the state of the trained athlete" (fresh from his
*Gretser, loc. cit., p. 62; similarly, p. 201.
Y'Quod si rernuum et abstirdum est credere illud pocni-
tenticE genus Deum in aMictione nostra despicere quod in
semetipso dignatus est pro nostra salute perferre, quid
mirum, si puniendo conimissa suimet se exhiheat homo
tortorem, et ad evadendum judicium sibi se constituat
judicem." — Gretser, p. 6y.
Christian Asceticism and Common Sense. 115
tub, or his dumb-bells, or a spin on his bicycle) and
that of the ''sickly starveling'' ; or, rather, that no
third or intermediate condition can be worthy of
commendation. And yet there undoubtedly is such
an intermediate condition. It is that of those who,
without in any degree incapacitating themselves for
the work which it is their duty or their vocation
to perform, yet seek to share as far as may be the
pains of their suffering Saviour, and who, in so
doing, pass far beyond the limits of anything that
could reasonably be called mere spiritual ''training."
"I do not know," wrote Father Thurston a few
years since, in reply to a distinguished Anglican di-
vine, ''if Archdeacon Farrar chances to be ac-
quainted with the life of St. Francis of Assisi, or
of St. Peter Claver, or of St. Vincent of Paul, or
the countless other Lives in the annals of Christian
charity. Probably he looks upon these apostles as
drones in the world's hive, 'half-dazed Spanish friars'
exulting in the unnatural, self-macerating misery of
convitlsionnaires. Yet these were men who gave
their days to toiling for their fellow-men, and their
nights to meditating upon their crucifix, inflicting
pain upon themselves" [not merely that they might
keep themselves "in what is called a state of train-
ing," but] "that they might resemble their Saviour
more closely.""^ And, to borrow another illustra-
tion from the article we have just quoted, the pro-
tracted fast of those Christians, both residents and
pilgrims, whose Holy Week devotions are so graphi-
cally described in the Peregrinatio Sihice, was as-
suredly no mere exercise of spiritual drill. It was
a spontaneous act of loving devotion, born of the
*Thurston, Archdeacon Farrar on the Observance of
Good Friday, in The Month, May, 1895 (subsequently re-
published by the C. T. S.), p. 91.
ii6 Christian Asceticism and Common Sense.
desire to keep company with Jesus, as closely as
possible, during the days'of His Passion. "^^
It may indeed be alleged that the penitential prac-
tices of the saints should be regarded as, in their
case, a means toward the kindling and keeping alive
of the flame of charity ; that, without such practices
in some shape or form, that passionate love of Christ
crucified, which is the distinguishing mark of Chris-
tian holiness, can hardly be maintained, unless un-
der circumstances in which persecution or the call
to extraordinary .labors abundantly supplies the
place of self-inflicted pain and privation. But peni-
tential practices are not merely means toward the
attainment of divine charity ; they are also the fruits
of that virtue, and when informed thereby, they are
not m,erely useful as part of a course of spiritual
athletics, but are in themselves in the highest degree
expiatory and meritorious.f
^Thurston, loc. cit., pp. 98 ff.
tFrom Christian Asceticism and Common Sense, by
Rev. Herbert Lucas, S.J., in The American Ecclesiastical
Rez'iezv, March, 1901.
CHAPTER XVI.
TlClaa Gbri0t an Ueccticl*
IN a charming and commendable work from the
pen of a scholarly Catholic priest there is one
passage which has given rise to some misgiving.
In a meditation on the words, ''Let your moderation
be known to all men," the clever writer says :
''Our Lord was no ascetic ; His great Apostle,
Paul, who has best interpreted His spirit to the
Western world, was no ascetic, though he chas-
tised his body and brought it into servitude to the
reasonableness of the New Law. Asceticism serves
a purpose in the Church, and may be said, without
exaggeration, to have been baptized by her spirit ;
yet of itself it is no essential part of the soul of
genuine reHgion, and does not necessarily reveal the
lineaments of the truer Christ, who in His earthly
career was at once manly and tender above all His
saints' imaginings of Him, and who had, moreover,
a curiously every-day note about His exterior con-
duct that rebuked the intolerant austerity of the
Pharisees and formalists of the towns, as well as the
aloofness of the dwellers in the desert. And yet
asceticism has played a large part in the history of
the Church, and has, if possible, a graver role to ful-
fil in an age which threatens to be emasculately
enamored of the material comforts of existence. But
its functions will ever be remedial and transitional.
Certain types of temperament will be saved by it as
long as the Gospel will be preached."
*For reasons that seemed good to him, the introductory-
sentences of this article were changed by the Editor.
ii8 Was Christ an Ascetic f
About seven years ago there appeared in The
Spectator an article containing a passage remark-
ably like the one just quoted. It runs thus r
''Asceticism is neither the cause nor the effect of
holiness, nor even its proof and sign. . . . Per se
and in its essentials, Christianity has nothing to
do with asceticism. Our Lord was not an ascetic,
and showed no special favor to ascetics. Indeed, He
may be said by His teaching and example to have
put a curb on the tendency of the Hebrews (like all
other Asiatics) to overrate asceticism, and to con-
sider those who ran into extravagances of bodily
mortification as especially holy. . . . The ascetic
is not necessarily a Christian, or the Christian an
ascetic ; but for all that, the ascetic habit has a good
deal to be said for it.''
Now, while granting that these statements contain
much truth, we are bound to say fhat we think that
both their substance and their tone are apt to sug-
gest what is not truth. In warning us of one danger
we fear the writers have incurred the opposite
danger. Let us, then, try to discuss the matter in-
telligently ; and even if we do not arrive at cer-
tainty, w^e may help somewhat to clear the atmos-
phere.
To go to the root-meaning of asceticism : it is
daneoD, to practice or to exercise ; aattrjan, exer-
cise or training; daKr}rr\z, an athlete. From time
immemorial, and among all classes of people, bodily
exercise and discipline have ever been held and felt
to be a means of acquiring moral and spiritual per-
fection. Among various classes of men there have
been varying degrees of strictness in this self-dis-
cipline, ranging from those who sought nothing
more than mere tem.perance to those who inflicted
t'-f^mselves with extremest austerities. So, too, have
Was Christ an Ascetic f ii9
men carried on this discipline from motives of the
widest diversity — the saint, the stoic, the athlete, or
the fakir. But always the general and prim.ary end
in view was to subdue the material to the spiritual.
In the early Church there was a body of fervent
Christians known as the Ascetes. According to the
apostolic canons they were placed as a class between
the clergy and the laity. They did not leave the
world, like monks or hermits, but tried to carry
on their lives of self-discipline in the world, using as
means thereto fasting, prayer, chastity, and casti-
gation of the body. The predominant idea of their
exercise and training seems to have been simply the
subduing of their lower nature. Here we have the
embryo of asceticism. Along with the development
of the Christian religion the ascetical idea and prac-
tice developed also. The ulterior miotive for sub-
duing the lower nature was love of God. When
once the line of mere temperance had been passed,
the motive of love of God would naturally seek other
means to express itself. Thus the motives of expia-
tion of sin and of obtaining favors from God became
more and more explicit. But as bodily pain, whether
of renunciation or of endurance, had come to be
acknowledged as the ordinary means of expressing
love for God, it thus became the recognized means
not only of subduing the lowxr nature, but also of
atoning for past sin and of supplicating for future
needs. This, then, was the development and the
scope of Christian ascetics.
We confess at the outset that we know of no
intrinsic reason why suffering should be a necessary
companion of love. We merely state the fact that
it is so ; and we appeal to the whole of human ex-
perience to support the assertion. It may be that
the renunciation and endurance necessary for the
120 Was Christ an Ascetic f
due observance of the natural law and the ten Com-
mandments fostered the conviction that pain was the
companion of love ; it may be that the human soul,
since it was naturally Christian from the beginning,
sought to anticipate the Christian doctrine of love
and suffering ; it also may have been part of a divine
primitive revelation. Our first parent, indeed, seems
to have needed to pass through the fires of violent
temptation and renunciation before he could be estab-
lished in his eternal joy. But whatever may have
been the origin of the law, a law it is, and a law
which all must recognize. It is the very foundation
of asceticism, and once clearly apprehended, it saves
us from the Scylla of superstitious pain-worship on
the one hand, and the Charybdis of hedonistic indul-
gence on the other.
We must recognize at once that our present life
is complex in the extreme, and cramful of conflicting
interests. The Christian doctrine of the effects of
original sin asserts and accounts for all this. If one
interest must be followed, another must be aban-
doned ; and it is the wrench from the interest which
must be abandoned which causes pain. The more
interests that have to be cut away, the stronger is
the attachment to the interests that remain. The
process is one of concentration of will-strength by
the destruction of the dissipations of will-strength.
Hence the man who has thus exercised himself in a
high degree is to be admired, not so much for the
amount of suffering he has undergone, but for the
amount of will-strength that he has acquired. The
essential and per se element in the process is the
will-power or love put forth ; the pain caused by
detachment is what we may call an ''inseparable
accident."
With this important distinction before our minds,
Was Christ an Ascetic f 121
then, it is easy to see how self-inflicted suffering is
effectual both in subduing rebellious nature and in
obtaining forgiveness of past sins and in pleading
for future favors. It is not that Almighty God
derives any pleasure at the sight of suffering; that
would show Him to be the most cruel of all beings.
No; God dislikes and hates the suffering as much
as any one, but He allows it because, from the na-
ture of the case, it is necessary for the generation,
the strengthening, and the perfection of love. The
perverse promptings of lower nature are obstacles
to the free exercise of love ; sin is the actual with-
holding of love; the request for future favors is
merely asking for more love ; therefore it is that Al-
mighty God, while regretting the contingent suffer-
ing, allows it for the sake of the love of which it is
the condition, the measure, and the expression.
The neglect of this distinction is the source of
false asceticism ; while much of the unpopularity of
true asceticism is traceable to the same cause. But
the Church has ever been on her guard lest a per-
verted system should obtain wathin her fold. The
history of the Flagellants in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries suffices to show us the mind
and attitude of the Church with regard to self-in-
flicted suffering. These misguided zealots in their
bodily mortifications were not doing more than the
saints had done, but their motives were wTong, and
so they brought upon themselves the condemnation
of Pope Clement VI.
Asceticism of this kind is nothing else but a su-
perstitious pain-worship. On the part of the suf-
ferer the motive is pride; on the part of the on-
looker, morbid curiosity. It was an asceticism
something like this which Our Lord rebuked in
the intolerant austeritv of the Pharisees and formal-
122 Was Christ an Ascetic?
ists of the towns as well as in the aloofness of the
dwellers in the desert. It was also an asceticism
something like this to which Our Lord showed no
special favor, the exaggerated asceticism on which
Our Lord may be said by His teaching and example
to have put a curb, the overrated asceticism to which
the Hebrews (like all other Asiatics) have a ten-
dency, and which considers those who run into
extravagances of bodily mortification as especially
holy. It was not fasting that Our Lord rebuked,
but the perverted motive of fasting. ''And when
you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they
disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men
to fast." Hence, too, when Christ was asked :
''Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees
fast, but Thy disciples do not fast?" He replied:
"Can the children of the marriage fast as long as the
Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have
the Bridegroom with them, they can not fast. But
the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be
taken away from them, and then they shall fast in
those days." It would be, perhaps, more true to
say that it was a sense of proportion that Our Lord
insisted upon rather than a sense of moderation ;
for occasions might arise in which very extreme
mortification w^ould be necessary : "If thy right eye
scandalize thee, pluck it out . . . and if thy right
hand scandalize thee, cut it off."
Indeed, if Our Lord had looked upon suffering
as something good, beautiful, or admirable in itself.
He would not have exercised His divine power so
often in relieving and destroying it. It was always
with Him a means subordinated to an end, and in
so far as its infliction was good for the perfection of
a soul, He counseled it; but also in so far as its
removal was good for a soul, He removed it. Thus,
IVas Christ an Ascetic f 123
in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves,
Our Lord would have compassion on the multitude
and would not send them away fasting, lest they
should faint by the way. But He made the oc-
casion an opportunity of showing His power over
the physical laws of bread, and so prepared the
minds of the people for His teaching on the Holy
Eucharist. Similarly He healed the man at the
pool Probatica, to illustrate His power to give spir-
itual health and strength. Likewise He healed the
man born blind, to manifest His office as the Light
of the world.
No. Health or sickness, joy or sorrow, suffering
or pleasure may be equally efficient as means of sal-
vation. They are all God's gifts and must be used
so far, and only so far, as they are helpful to salva-
tion. This sounds something like the teaching of St.
Ignatius, and also, we trust, not unlike the teaching
of St. Paul.
When w^e take up a spiritual book we naturally
expect to find theological terms used in their true
meaning. Having in view, then, the sense of the
word ''asceticism" as we have tried to define and
explain it, we venture to say that the expression
"Our Lord was no ascetic" is decidedly misleading.
Our Lord surely was, par excellence, the great
Ascetic, the Model of all ascetics.
The very reason of His assuming human flesh was
to raise human nature from the depths into which
it had fallen through Adam's sin. The crucifixion
was the great act by which the sins of all time wxre
atoned for. The sacrifice of the cross was the one
act by which all divine graces and favors were to be
applied to the souls of men. And not only in these
final and more prominent acts of His life did Our
Lord show Himself to be the great x\scetic, but also
124 ^^^ Christ an Ascetic f
in the daily acts of His life. We are told expressly
that He fasted forty days and forty nights. "And
He ate nothing in those days ; and when they were
ended He was hungry.'' True, we do not read that
Our Lord scourged Himself, or wounded Himself,
or crucified Himself. But, according to the theology
of St. Thomas, Our Lord was at least the indirect
cause of all these sufferings, in so far as He could
have hindered them and did not do so. Our Lord
had the power to frustrate the efforts of His perse-
cutors, first, by rendering them unable or unwilling
to kill Him, secondly by rendering His own body
impassible. However, as He did not choose to use
this power. He is said to be the indirect cause of
His own Passion and death. This aspect of His
life is especially marked in the fourth Gospel. Our
Lord, of His own accord, goes to Gethsemane be-
cause He knows that Judas will come there to seek
Him. He will not allow St. Peter to do anything to
hinder His sufferings : "The chalice which My
Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" He
allows the charges of being a blasphemer and false
prophet to fall through, because He wishes to escape
death by stoning, in order to obtain the more painful
death by crucifixion. Indeed, He expressly claims
this office of self-immolation when to Pilate He
says: ''Thou shouldst not have any power against
Me, unless it were given thee from above." And so
He carries out His design from the moment when
He spontaneously sets forth on the Via Dolorosa,
to the moment when He deliberately bows His head
and gives up the ghost. Surely all this is but asceti-
cism, in the sense we have here set forth. And
surely the life of St. Paul, who has best interpreted
the spirit of Christ to the Western world, exhibits but
the same principles. Indeed, have not the saints of
Was Christ an Ascetic f 125
all ages since Our Lord been merely endeavoring
to walk in His footsteps and imitate His Passion?
And what is this but the ascetic life ? The real differ-
ence between the asceticism of those saints who prac-
ticed great austerities and that of the ordinary Chris-
tian is not one of kind, but of degree. The objects
and motives are the same ; only the manner and
extent are different.
Herein, perhaps, we may recognize the truth which
the writer aims at. We are living in an age which
is not attracted by the methods of an Antony, a
Stylite, or a Benedict Joseph Labre. The life of a
pillar-saint excites no emulation in a people pos-
sessed of a strong devotion to hygiene and cleanli-
ness. Therefore it is that, while insisting on the
motives which give the essence to asceticism, we
counsel and practice a modified form of it. ''Quid-
quid recipitur, recipitiir secundum modum re dpi-
entis/' What is moderate in one age is excessive
in another; and we venture to think that the mod-
eration taught by St. Ignatius in the sixteenth cen-
tury would scarcely pass as such in the twentieth ;
for instance, where the saint advises that, in affixing
the catenella care should be taken that it pierce not
to the bone, and in taking the discipline that no
bones be broken. The principle, however, of St. Ig-
natius is the only key to life's problem and must
eventually prevail.
A recent writer"^' has drawn a striking compari-
son between the saint of Loyola and Count Leo
Tolstoi. The two men stand for the two predom-
inant theories of life which are now struggling for
the ascendancy. -The asceticism of Tolstoi is
Buddhistic. His ideal is the extinction of the race.
*Mrs. Craigie (John Oliver Hobbes) in The Science of
Life.
126 Was Christ an Ascetic f
''He entreats the minister of state, the man of learn-
ing, the doctor, the lawyer, the professor, the artist,
the clerk — not to think, not to argue, not to analyze,
but to dig in the fields. . . . Tolstoi is a disillusioned
man. There is disillusion in every line of his
masterly novels, and it is disillusion which even the
saddest of us can not always accept.'' His exaggera-
tions may be said to culminate in his views on mar-
riage, the very substance of which he regards as so
much unchastity. The asceticism of St. Ignatius is
Catholic. His ideal is the perfection of the race.
The intelligence and will are to be used, developed
to their fullest capacity, and directed to the service
of God. Man is to cultivate an indifference so that
he wish no more for health than for sickness, for
riches than for poverty, for a long life than for a
short one. To acquire this indifference, d(Diirj(jii>
is absolutely necessary. From the days of John the
Baptist until now, "the kingdom of heaven sufifereth
violence and the violent bear it aw^ay." These are
the words of Christ. Asceticism certainly has a
grave role to fulfil in this age, and there is not much
danger of its value being over-estimated either in
England or America. 'Tts functions will ever be
remedial and transitional.'' Yes; remedial just in
so far as the whole of this life is remedial of sin
and sinful inclination; transitional in so far, and
only in so far, as this whole miserable life of ours
is transitional.*
*Rev. Thomas J. Gerrard, in American Ecclesiastical
Review, September, 1904.
CHAPTER XVII.
Zbc Butiea ot a IRelt^ious toward ©oD.— B IRelt^tous
SboulD JBelong Bntlreli^ to ©oD»
^T^LUTARCH tells US that in ancient Rome, when
'-^ a bride entered the house of her spouse, she
spoke these words : ''Where Caius is, there is Caia,"
as if to say : ''Where thy will is, O my bridegroom,
there is mine." Jesus Christ demands the same of a
soul whom He has chosen for His spouse : "Son,
give Me thy heart" (Prov. xxiii. 26). My daugh-
ter, My spouse, all that I ask of you is your heart,
your will. When God created our first parents,
He turned His eyes not on their hands, but on their
hearts : "He set His eye upon their hearts" (Ecclus.
xvii. 7), because exterior works, if they do not
spring from the heart, if they are not animated by
love, are of no value in His sight. The sanctity of a
spouse of Christ consists in the union of her heart
with the Heart of God. All her beauty is within.
St. Bernard says that Almighty God wills to be
feared as our King, honored as our Father, and
loved as our Spouse. Hence, it follows that, frorn
a consecrated virgin. His spouse. He will bear any
shortcoming rather than a defect of love, that is, the
cherishing of any inclination not for Him. This is
what is meant at the profession of the vows when
the Bishop gives the blessed veil, saying: "Receive
this veil, that henceforth you look no more upon
creatures, and banish from your heart every inclina-
tion and desire that has not God for its object."
The human heart can not exist without love. It
must love either God or creatures. Detached from
128 The Duties of a Religious tozvard God.
creatures, the soul will love God. The Holy Ghost
admonishes us, therefore, to keep our heart free
from every inclination not for God : ''With all
watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out
from if (Prov. iv. 23). To become holy, the soul
must banish from the heart whatever is not God.
She should pray with David : "Create a clean heart
in me, O God!" (Ps. 1. 12.) Give me a heart that
is empty of all inclinations to creatures. ''Woe to
them that are of a double heart!" (Ecclus. ii. 14)
says God in Holy Scripture. In The Imitation we
are admonished: "Son, if thou placest thy peace in
any person,, for thy own gratification, thou shalt be
unsettled and entangled. In Me the love of thy
friend ought to stand, and for Me is he to be loved.
How little soever it be, if anything be inordinately
loved and regarded, it keepeth thee back from the
sovereign good, and corrupteth the soul."
God can not reign perfectly in a heart as long as
even a spark of inordinate desire is habitually cher-
ished therein. The least earthly attachment hinders
the creature from belonging entirely to the Creator.
As long as St. Teresa kept a little disorderly affec-
tion in her heart for one of her relatives, she could
not belong wholly to God ; but after she had re-
nounced every inordinate inclination to creatures,
and consecrated her heart solely to God, she became
worthy to hear the following words from the Lord :
"Teresa, now art thou wholly Mine; now am I
wholly thine !" Our one heart and our one soul
ought to be given whole and entire to Him who
alone deserves all our love, who has done and suf-
fered so much to gain that love. "One to One !"
exclaims St. Egidius. God wishes all men to love
Him with their whole hearts. His command is ad-
dressed to all : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
The Duties of a Religious toward God. 129
with thy whole heart'' (Matt. xxii. 37). But espe-
cially is this command directed to those souls that
have chosen the religious life. A Brother once told
St. Joseph of the Cross that he had become a Re-
ligious in order to save his soul. "No, my son," re-
plied the saint, ''you have come to the convent not
only to save your soul, but also to become a saint ;
for it ought to be the aim of a Religious to love God
as much as possible.'' Ah ! if the Religious does not
love God with her whole heart, if she does not be-
long entirely to Him, where shall He look for one
who has given her whole heart to Him? ''This is
the generation of them that seek Him, of them that
seek the face of the God of Jacob" (Ps. xxiii. 6).
Forget everything else, and think only of keeping
your whole heart for that Lord who has chosen you
from among so many, and indeed, only that you
may love Him. Yes, love Him with your whole
heart, for Jesus wills that His spouse should be "a
garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up" (Cant. iv.
12) ; a garden whose entrance is closed to all but
the heavenly Bridegroom, a sealed fountain, for this
Bridegroom is jealous of the love of His bride. He
commands her : "Put Me as a seal upon thy heart,
as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death"
(Cant. viii. 6). O religious soul, do not divide your
heart ! Belong entirely to Him who alone deserves
an infinite love. Say with the Psalmist : "What
have I in heaven? and besides Thee what do I de-
sire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart,
and my portion forever!" (Ps. Ixxii. 25, 26.)
A Religious whose aim is to become a saint, and
who loves God above all things and with her whole
heart, will not be found wanting in fraternal char-
ity ; for the Lord Himself has given the command :
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
130 The Duties of a Religious toward God.
The saints love God. Nobody doubts that fact,
but there is a tendency to exaggerate it and to say
that the saints love nobody but God. We read in
The Psychology of the Saints:"^ ''On the day after
her clothing, a nun wrote as follows : 'In obedience
to the rule of the Novitiate I have dropped all my
correspondence. Sacrifices of the heart and uni-
versal detachment are what God chiefly requires of
us, poor women, who have nothing left on this earth
(having relinquished all — country, home, parents,
friends).' Having got that far, she pulls herself up
and continues without even beginning a fresh sen-
tence : 'Or rather, I ought to say, the whole world is
ours; for, according to St. Vincent de Paul, our
love embraces the entire world.'
"This young Religious was speaking in the lan-
guage of the saints. Before St. Vincent de Paul,
St. Catharine of Sienna used to say : 'The reason
why God's servants love creatures so much is that
they see how much Christ loves them, and it is one
of the properties of love to love what is loved by the
persons we love.' Many other saints, whose lives
and actions were more hidden than hers, have said
the same thing, that when Christ crucified takes pos-
session of a soul. He inspires it with a very great
tenderness for the humanity for which He died.
Sanctity demands complete detachment from all
pleasures 'which are derived from self-love. This
is a rule which admits of no exception, and it applies
to spiritual as well as earthly consolations. Ac-
cording to the great mystics, the end, the chief use
of dryness and aridities is to detach the soul, not
from spiritual benefits, but from a selfish and
sensible love of them. Once self-love is destroyed,
the barrier is done away with, and not only is there
Wide Henri Joli, The Psychology of the Saints, p. 159 ff-
The Duties of a Religious toward God. 131
no law of detachment from all things, but the soul
is enjoined to love everything, provided that it does
so 'for the love of God/
''I foresee an objection. I shall be told that loving
the whole world really means loving no one, and
that this universal love is precisely what kills the
natural affections. But is it loving no one to do as
the saints did when they deprived themselves of
food and clothing for the sake of the poor; when
they nursed the sick and even kissed their wounds ;
when they entertained pilgrims and strangers gra-
tuitously ; when they founded homes for orphans
and children ; when they braved the contagion of
lepers and the plague-stricken with no other pro-
tection than faith and prayer ; when they freed cap-
tives at the price of their own liberty, and enfran-
chised slaves ; when they defended negroes against
the tyranny of their masters, and, like St, Catharine
of Sienna, assisted convicts at the hour of death ;
when they founded refuges for young girls whose
poverty exposed them to evil, and opened their arms
to the afflicted and to sinners, for whom they felt
all Christ's passionate pity and mercy? There is no
priest, no apostle worthy of the name, who ought
not to be able to cry out at every hour of the day
with St. Paul : 'Who is weak and I am not weak,
who is scandalized and I am not on fire?' Who
suffers in any way, and I do not suffer with him ?
"Some people will say : How about the saints, who
left their families and the world? I answ^er that
they broke their dearest ties only in order to renew
them in a different manner, and that this renewal
was voluntary on their part and in obedience to a
want of their very nature. St. Catharine of Sienna
tells us emphatically that nothing has so great an
influence over the heart of man as love, 'for man
1^2 The Duties of a Religious toward God.
was created by love and therefore it is his nature to
love. Man was created body and soul by love, for
out of love God created him to His own image
and likeness, and out of love his parents gave
him being.' Most of those who have left father
and mother could re-echo these words of St. Teresa :
T am only telling the truth, for I remember it dis-
tinctly, that when I left my father's house I felt pain
like that which one feels in one's agony, and I do
not believe that death itself can be more painful. I
felt as if all my bones were being torn apart.'
''The great Carmelite saint followed the fortunes
of her brothers and sisters from the seclusion
of her cell, took interest in their lives, and gave them
^ood advice. If faith does not loosen family ties
with the ordinary believer who know^s that they will
be continued in the next world, how could it do so
with a saint like Teresa, who lets us into the secrets
of her heart when she tells us : T was carried up to
heaven, and the first persons I saw there were my
father and mother.'
''Souls like hers are convinced that not only can
'no one have too much intelligence,' but also that
'no one can have too much heart, and that if only
the intention is pure we should love every creature
on this earth.'
"The friendships of the saints are no matter for
astonishment. Neither is it surprising that 'in the
history of most of those saints who have re-formed
or founded religious institutions, we find that the love
and devotedness of a holy woman exercised a great
influence over their lives and work.' St. Paula
stands beside St. Jerome, the Countess Matilda be-
side St. Gregory VII., St. Clare beside St. Francis
of Assisi, St. Teresa beside St. John of the Cross,
St. Jane de Chantal beside St. Francis de Sales."
The Duties of a Religious toward God. 133
The author of The Imitation says : ''By two
wings is man Hfted above earthly things, namely,,
by simplicity and purity. Simplicity must be in the
intention, purity in the affection. Simplicity aimeth
at God, purity apprehendeth Him and tasteth Him.
No good work will be a hindrance to thee provided
thou be free interiorly from all inordinate affec-
tion. If thou aim at and seek after nothing else
but the will of God and thy neighbor's benefit, then
shalt thou enjoy interior liberty. If only thy heart
were right, then every created thing would be to
thee a mirror of life and a book of holy teaching.
There is no creature so little and so vile that it show-
eth not forth the goodness of God.'' Simplicity
and liberty of spirit are characteristic of the ideal
Religious, who loves God above all things and with
her whole heart.
These virtues are praised most highly by St.
Francis de Sales, as we read in The Spiritual Di-
rector: ''Liberty of spirit consists in keeping the
heart totally disengaged from every created thing,
that it may follow^ the known will of God. The
soul which has attained this liberty seeks only that
the name of God should be sanctified, that His maj-
esty reign in us, and that His will be done. The
first mark of this liberty of spirit is not to be at-
tached to any consolation whatever, but, having
done our duty, to remain indifferent to everything
else. Another mark is, that we do not upon any
account lose our joy and content of mind; for the
loss of nothing can make him sad who is not fondly
addicted to anything. The effects of this liberty of
spirit are a great sweetness of temper, a gentle com-
plaisance and condescension to whatever is not sin,
and a disposition easily moved to all actions of vir-
tue and charity.
134 The Duties of a Religious toward God.
"Simplicity is an act of pure charity which has only
one end, which is to acquire in a perfect manner the
love of God ; and our souls have obtained this sim-
plicity, when we have no other object in all we do
but that. It is an act of refined and immixed char-
ity. It is that imiim necessarinm, that one thing
necessary recommended by Our Saviour. Lastly,
it is an inseparable companion of charity, since it
aims directly at God, and is inconsistent with any
mixture of self-interest, for in that case it were
rather to be called duplicity, which looks two ways,
than simplicity, which confines and rivets its whole
view on one only ; that is, it so looks to God, that it
lends not a glance to any creature.
"Simplicity quite banishes out of the soul that care
and solicitude with which many perplex themselves
unprofitably, in seeking out a great number of
exercises, and (as they call them) means how they
may come to love God ; and they imagine that unless
they do all that the saints have done before them,
they can never think they have done enough to ob-
tain it. Poor souls ! they torment themselves to
find, out a kind of art how to come at the love of
God, and do not consider that there is no such art
— -we have merely to love Him ; they imagine that
there is a kind of mysterious method of gaining this
love, when plain and artless simplicity alone does
the whole business.
"After a soul endowed with simplicity has done
any action which she judges it is her duty to do, she
thinks no more of it ; and if it slip into her thoughts
what others will say or think of her, she endeavors
to repress that thought and stop the progress of it,
because she can not endure that anything should
impede her aim, which is to keep an attentive
eye to her God, and to increase the love of Him in
The Duties of a Religious toward God. 135
her heart. The consideration of creatures is the
least part of her motive, because she reserves all to
her Creator. If she see it expedient to do this or
that, she sets about it, let what God pleases be the
success of it. Having once done her duty, all her
care is over; yet, notwithstanding all this, she may
perhaps feel some kind of trouble, but let her not
fear it, nor regard it. It is only in the inferior part
of her soul, nor ought it to shock us as long as we
do not deliberately consent to the suggestion."
The Blessed Mother Julie Billiart, foundress of
the Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame, possessed
this simplicity and spiritual liberty in a remarkable
degree. This liberty of spirit in the blessed ser-
vant of God is one of the points to which Mere St.
Joseph, in her Memoirs, calls special attention :
"Our Mother," she writes, ''was by nature exceed-
ingly ardent and active, full of life and fire ; she suf-
fered, moreover, from an afifection of the nerves
wdiich generally gives rise to reverie and imagina-
tions ; yet she was absolutely free from such influ-
ences ; her mind w^as clear, accurate and singularly
free. She was never preoccupied, never lost in her
thoughts. No matter at what moment you accosted
her, you were sure to find her at liberty ; the busi-
ness on hand was always welcomed by her, if it re-
lated to God's interests. The lively faith which ani-
mated her filled her with sentiments of the deep-
est respect and veneration for bishops and priests,
but the simplicity of her soul never allowed her to
give way to bustle or anxiety when she was treating
with prelates or the great ones of this world. How
often have I seen her on such occasions keeping her
mind fixed on God, awaiting the favorable moment,
as peaceful under contradiction as though all had
gone well with her. And if she were obliged to
is6 The Duties of a Religious toward God.
offer some explanation, it was easy to see by her
limpid and facile language, and by the very expres-
sions she used, that she had but one object in view —
the glory of God and the salvation of souls."
As her biographer writes : "Her solid faith and
her ardent charity were the basis of her unshaken
confidence. Neither the sufferings of a long and
cruel infirmity, nor the privations of poverty, nor
the unjust treatment of those who ought to have
been her friends and protectors, could trouble the
peace of her soul, or shake for an instant the trust
she had placed in God alone.''
We read in The Imitation: ''Some there are that
resign themselves, but it is with some exception;
for they do not wholly trust in God and therefore
are busy in providing for themselves. Some also
at first oft'er all, but afterwards, being assailed by
temptation, they return again to what they had left,
and therefore make no progress in virtue. These
shall neither attain to the true liberty of a pure heart,
nor to the grace of a delightful familiarity with Me,
unless they first entirely resign themselves and offer
themselves a daily sacrifice to Me, without which
union of fruition neither is nor shall subsist. For-
sake thyself, resign thyself, and thou shalt enjoy a
great inward peace. Give all for all ; seek nothing ;
call nothing back ; stand purely and with a full con-
fidence before Me, and thou shalt possess Me. Thou
shalt be free in heart, and the darkness shall not
weigh thee down. Aim at this, pray for this, de-
sire this, that thou mayest be divested of all self-
seeking; that thou mayest die to thyself, and eter-
nally live to Me.
''O Lord, true glory and holy exultation are to
glory in Thee and not in one's self ; to rejoice in Thy
name, not in one's own strength ; to find pleasure
The Duties of a Religious toward God. 137
in no creature, save only for Thy sake. Let
Thy name be praised, not mine ; let Thy work
be magnified, not mine. Thou art my glory ; Thou
art the exultation of my heart. In Thee will I glory
and rejoice all the day; but for myself, I will glory
in nothing save in my infirmities.''
CHAPTER XVIII.
XLbc iBBBcncc ot iperfection — tTbc TDlnton ot all
IDlrtues in Cbariti^^
^Tt. Catharine of Sienna says in her Dialogue
J^~^ on Consummated Perfection:
''I saw that many say many things, and speak
differently of the virtues by which God is to be
worthily served. And yet man's capacity is but
small, his understanding dull, his memory weak.
So that he can not comprehend many things, or
retain those he is able to perceive. And hence,
although many set themselves to learn perfection,
few are found to reach it."
Truly, when the soul is still young and unformed
in spirit — having withal many duties to attend to
that divide its attention, yet aspiring to the best
things — it is apt to turn with anxious heart to the
masters of spiritual life, and would fain know from
them in one brief sentence the work it has to do 'for
God. ''Vidi ninltos miilta dicere/' Many authors
say many things. Who will give me in one word
the essence of perfection? I have not time to read
long treatises with the care which they require ; yet
my mind wants a principle, a light within, by which
to see my way, to judge, to order and regulate the
works of life.
Sometimes it seems that the will of God will suffice
for everything, and that conformity and abandon-
ment thereto will carry me through all duties and
difficulties. But grave authors speak of the restora-
tion of the divine image and resemblance in the
soul as bringing to man the reformation and perfec-
The Essence of Perfection. 139
tion of his nature."^ Then there is the principle of
conformity to Christ our Lord, as the model of per-
fection. Again, St. Paul seems to make the work of
spiritual life consist in putting off the ''old man'' and
putting on the ''new man," by mortifying the life of
the flesh, and living according to the Spirit (Eph. iv.
22). St. Augustine's view of Christian virtue is that
love is everything, and the other virtues but different
forms of the one love. Accordingly he defines virtue
as being simply "the order of love."t St. Thomas
and St. Bonaventure place our perfection radically
and essentially in charity, as being the bond of divine
union and the principle of supernatural action.:}:
Lallemant considers purity of heart and the guidance
of the Holy Spirit as "the two poles of all spiritu-
ality, by means of which souls attain to perfection,"§
while Rodriguez places perfection in the ordinary
actions of life.|[
Are all of these right together, or are there differ-
ent plans of perfection ? How much should I like to
see, as on a target, the one point to aim at and to
gain!
Thus might a young soul, high in its aspirations,
ardent in its affections, hungering and thirsting for
spiritual life, say w^hen it first turns itself in earnest
to higher things, and seeks with a kind of avidity
*Albert Mag., ''de adhcer. Deo," C. 3; Denis Carthus.,
*'de laude Vitce Solit." A. i ; Walter Hilton, The Scale of
Perfection, B. i., P. 3, C. 2 & 3, etc.
Y'Virtus est ordo amoris." — St. Aug., ''de Civ. Dei,"
L. XV., C. 22. See also St. Aug., ''de Morib. Eccles." L.
i., C. 15, and ''de doctrina Christiana," L. iii., C. 10.
tSt. Thomas, 2 2, Q. 184, Art. 3, and Quode, ''de Carit./'
Art. II, ad. 5. St. Bonav., ''Apol. paup." R. i., C. 3, and
'Tentiloq.;' P. 3, S. 40.
§Lallemant, Spir. Doctrine, P. 4, C. 2.
tiRodriguez, Christian Perf., Vol. i., T. ii., C. i.
140 The Essence of Perfection.
to satisfy its desires, by drawing from the rich and
varied stores deposited by the saints and holy writers
in the treasury of the Church.
Without doubt there is a central point in spiritual
life to be aimed at and to be gained, wherein con-
sists the essence of our perfection. And however
much spiritual writers may develop their principles,
and draw out the manifold operations of the Chris-
tian and religious virtues, unquestionably they point
to the same center, and that center is undoubtedly the
love of God, or divine charity."^ All the great prin-
ciples tend to this or emanate from it. Virtues either
lead to divine love or proceed from it. Charity is
the central sun that attracts and quickens them.
^'What the root is to the tree, what the soul is
to the body, what the sun is to the world, all this
is charity to the Christian heart,'' says Lewis of
Granada, f
For instance, it must needs be true that all our
perfection is found in the divine will. For nothing
is good or desirable apart from the will of God ; and
the will of man must necessarily derive its perfec-
tion from union therewith, since "none is good but
God alone" (Luke xviii. 19), and we are the recipi-
ents of His goodness. But the question at once
occurs. Where is the divine will to be found? The
answer is, in charity. There can be no doubt of this.
The v/ill of God is either expressed in His Com-
mandments or signified by His good pleasure. But in
either way it is embraced and perfectly fulfilled by
charity alone. For certain it is that charity itself
is the greatest and first of all the Commandments .
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole
heart and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole
*St. Aelred, Spec. Caritatis, L. i., C. 16.
tLewis de Gran., ''de perf. amor. Dei," C. i.
The Essence of Perfection. 141
mind. This is the greatest and the first Command-
ment" (Matt. xxii. 37). Further, Our Lord declares
that the keeping of the Commandments is the result
of our love ; so that by rightly loving Him we do
the divine will, and we deflect from that divine will
when we fail in our love. 'Tf any one love Me, he
will keep My word. . . . He that loveth Me not,
keepeth not My words" (John xiv. 23, 24). Hence
''all the Law and the Prophets depend upon the law
of love" (Matt. xxii. 40) ; that is, the teaching of
the Prophets and the details of the Law are ordained
to the love of God and of our neighbor, which is
charity; or when this is perfect, they proceed from
its principle, and become so many different opera-
tions of the one love. And the words of the Master
are echoed by the disciple. St. Paul declares charity
to be the fulfilment of the Law. ''All the Law is
fulfilled in one word" (Gal. v. 14). "Love is the
fulfilling of the Law" (Rom. xiii. 10) ; the reason
of which is that love is the spring of our actions ;
and if it is only rightly ordered love it moves us to
the observance of every law. Who is more obedient
to the law than a loving soul? Its love it is that
moves it to obey. So well did St. Augustine under-
stand this that he hesitates not to say, ''Love, and
do what you will,""^ being persuaded that we shall
not be moved to act wrongly while our love, which
is the spring of action, is right. Moreover, "the
end of the Commandment is charity" (i Tim. i. 5) ;
which tells us that the various declarations of God's
will all point to divine charity as their one object.
If we consider the w^ill of God as signified by His
good pleasure in the occurrences of daily life, what
is it but charity that brings us into prompt, easy,
'^"Dilige, et fac quod vis." — St. Aug., Tract 7 in Ep.
Joan.
142 The Essence of Perfection.
and sweet compliance with this holy will? Who
seeks to please the Beloved more than a loving soul ?
It is the "true lover," as St. Teresa says, who "loves
everywhere" r and it is this very love that leads it
to seek the divine will, and to embrace it in what-
ever way it comes. For "love spurs us on to do
great things, and makes all that is bitter sweet and
savory."f Let us listen again to the teaching of
St. Catharine of Sienna. Seeing that many teachers
say many things, she humbly asks of God that she
may receive some brief instruction in the way of
perfection that will embrace in a few words the
doctrine of the inspired books and holy writers, and
so help her to serve God worthily, and thus attain
to eternal happiness. The divine Teacher then ad-
dresses her : "Know that the salvation and perfection
of My servants stand in this one thing, that they
do My will alone, ever striving to fulfil it in all
things ; that they attend to Me, and serve Me every
moment of their lives. The more diligently they
apply themselves to this, the nearer they approach
perfection, since thus they are in union with Perfec-
tion itself. ".i:
She then ardently desires to do the divine will ;
but knows not clearly in what things it may be found,
and therefore beseeches that she may be informed of
this also ; in answer to which it is said to her : 'Tf
thou seekest to know My will, that thou may est per-
fectly fulfil it, behold in one word that which it is :
that thou shouldst love Me to the utmost of thy
power without ceasing; that thou shouldst love Me
with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy
strength. C3n the fulfilment of this precept thy per-
*St. Teresa, Foundat., C. 5.
"^The Imitation, B. iii., C. 5.
JSt. Cath. Sien., Dial, on Consuin. Perfection.
The Essence of Perfection. 143
fection depends ; and therefore it is written that 'the
end of the Commandment is charity/ and 'love is the
fulfilHng of the Law/ ''*
Understanding from this that the divine will and
her own perfection are to be found in the perfect
love of God, she desires, in the ardor of her soul,
to give herself to this perfect love. She is then
instructed in the means of attaining to the perfection
of charity, by entire mortification, purity of heart,
and total abandonment to God. Enlightened by this
heavenly doctrine, she acknowledges that which is
the practical point in spiritual science, namely, "By
how much the more a man dies to himself, by so
much more he lives to God/'f 'This is the ''game
of love/'t
If, again, we place perfection — as we must — in
conformity to Jesus Christ our Lord, as the model
of perfection, we are at once led to inquire by what
means we are to attain to this conformity. When
Our Lord says, "Learn of Me,'' "He that followeth
Me walketh not in darkness,'' the question immedi-
ately arises, How are we to follow Christ? The
answer is, that Our Lord's way is the way of perfect
love. He is the divine Lover of God and of men.
For the love of God and of men He became incar-
nate, lived on earth, taught the law of love and
the life of love, suffered for love, and died for love ;
sent down the Spirit of His love upon the Church,
to be the ruling power of our lives and actions, by
"the charity of God poured forth in our hearts"
(Rom. V. 5), and left us the marvelous gift of Him-
self to the end of the world, in the mystery of love
on the altar, wherein He dwells as the divine Lover
*St. Cath. Sien., Dial, on Consum. Perfection.
■flbid.
tSuso, Etern. Wisd., C. 9.
144 The Essence of Perfection.
in the midst of those He loves — working with us,
nourishing and perfecting His Hfe of love in the
souls of men. When, therefore, Our Lord says,
''F'ollow Me," it is not with the steps of the body,
but with the love of the soul, that He desires to be
follow^ed, as St. Ambrose tells us.''' As St. Paul had
also said, "Be ye followers of God, and walk in love,
as most dear children" (Eph. v. 2). Truly, Our
Lord, in His sacred humanity, is the perfect model
of perfect love : whether we consider Him in His
joyful, sorrowful, or glorious mysteries, perfect
charity reigns throughout all. The faculties of His
human soul ever maintain themselves by the power
of the love that governs them, in subjection to the
Divinity; so that in all their operations the love of
God is their ruling principle. This, indeed, is the
life of charity — for God's will and love to govern
the human will and love. His light to illumine the
intelligence. His remembrance to fill the memory,
and then for the operations of the entire man to
proceed under the influence and guidance of the
Divine Spirit : so that thus the creature becomes the
recipient of God's life, light, love, and movement,
and is made a sharer in His blessedness, and a fit
instrument in His hands for the good of others.
Happy the life which is thus pervaded in all its
parts by the Spirit of God. ''Whosoever are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"
(Rom. viii. 14). Thus it is by charity that we fol-
low Our Lord in the way of perfection. 'T in
them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made
perfect in one" (John xvii. 23). 'Tf you speak to
Christ," says St. Catharine of Sienna, writing of
a good Religious, "and say, 'Who is this soul?' He
"^''Sequi jubet, non corporis gressu, sed mentis affectuf*
St. Amb., in Lucani, C. 5, v. 27.
The Essence of Perfection. 145
will answer, 'It is another Myself, made so by per-
fect love/ "*
If, again, we take perfection as shown forth by
a full and faithful exercise of the Christian virtues
and counsels, so that the life of a man is seen to
be justly balanced, rightly ordered, and adorned with
Christ-like virtues, each in its proper time and
place, we are obliged to own that the supernatural
beauty of such a life is the effect and consequence
of a vivifying charity within the soul. Charity is
to be reckoned as the motive-cause of all such
virtues, in so far as they are w^orthy of God and
heaven. As St. Thomas says, "Charity, aiming at
the ultimate end as its object, moves the other virtues
to action. For the virtue which regards the ultimate
end always commands the virtues which have regard
to the means. And therefore the merit of eternal
life first belongs to charity, then to the other virtues,
according as their acts are prompted by charity.
Hence charity is the principle of all good works
referred to the last end."
It is true, indeed, that the natural virtues may
exist apart from charity, at least in an imperfect
degree ; but we are considering ourselves now in the
supernatural order of the Christian life, incorporated
with Christ, participating, therefore, in His Spirit,
and living in reference to our ultimate end. As
such, charity becomes "soul of our soul," "life of our
life," and consequently the principle and form of
the soul's virtues, when wx are true, that is, to the
supernatural principle ; for the natural principle still
lives, and often hinders the force of charity by mov-
ing prcBter iinem. But if, as true Christians, we
move by the Spirit of Christ (Gal. v.) ''in ordine
ad finem/' charity hereby beco'mes our moving-prin-
*St. Cath. Sien., Letter, 129.
146 The Essence of Perfection.
ciple, the life and soul of our actions. The reason of
this is that God is our ultimate end ; and the love of
Him as such moves us to acts of virtue, as means
by which we may advance to Him. This love is
charity. "By charity/' says St. Thomas, ''the acts
of all other virtues are ordered to their last end ; in
virtue of which charity becomes the form of the
other virtues, extending itself as the ruling power
to all the actions of human life.''
It would seem, however, that, ordinarily speak-
ing, years of faithful practice of the moral virtues
as opportunities occur would be required before
charity holds them as with reins in her hand,
governing thereby the whole man, and moving him
to action promptly, easily, and sweetly. And there-
fore the majority of those who exhibit in a fair
measure the Christian virtues in daily life would
perhaps rather be tending, by the practice of these
virtues, tow^ard the perfection of charity than enjoy-
ing their exercise as the results of such charity, in
calm and sweet possession of the soul. This agrees
with the teaching of the Abbot Moses to Cassian :
'Tasting, watching, meditation, privation, are not
themselves perfection, but the instruments by which
we may acquire perfection. They are not the object
of our profession, but the means by which we may
obtain it. It becomes us, therefore, to use these
means with reference to our end, which is charity.
What will it avail us to perform with punctuality our
ordinary exercises if the main purpose for which we
perform them is eluded? To this end, therefore,
should be referred our solitude, our fasts, our daily
employments — yea, every penitential exercise, and
every virtue, that by these means our hearts may be
preserved in calm, and thus we may ascend to the
perfection of charity/'
The Essence of Perfection. 147
St. Thomas also points to this in his teaching on
the active and contemplative life; taking now with
St. Gregory the contemplative life for the loving
adherence of the soul to God by charity, and the
active life for the exercise of- the moral virtues."^
The Angelic Doctor says : ''The active life is a
preparation to the contemplative; and therefore
until one has attained to perfection in active life he
can not reach to the contemplative, except in its
commencement, and imperfectly. For as long as a
man has difficulty in practicing the moral virtues,
his attention is anxiously engaged with them, which
hinders his devotedness to contemplation. But
when his active life is perfect, then, having the
moral virtues in command, he is able without im-
pediment to give himself to contemplation. And in
proportion to his perfection in active life he is able
to unite both action and contemplation together.''!
'Tn this way we proceed from the active life to the
contemplative ; and from the contemplative life we
return to the active, that action may be directed by
contemplation. "t Hence St. Gregory says that ''he
who desires to gain the citadel of contemplation
must first prove himself in the field of action. ''§
From this we see that charity, while yet im-
perfect, mioves us to the exercise of the Christian
virtues, in order to gain her own perfection ; and
when she has attained to the repose of contem-
plative love, she returns to the domain of activity in
calm and sweet possession of the soul, to animate,
direct, sustain, and govern the occupations of the
active life. Thus she brings to man both his essential
*St Thorn., 2 2, Q. 181, Art. i.
^Ihicl, 3 Sen.. D. 35. A.rt. 3, q. 3.
tlhid., 2 2, Q. 182, Art. 4 ad 2.
§St. Greg., Moral., Lib. vi., C. 17.
148 The Essence of Perfection.
and accidental perfection, and the beginning of his
future beatitude in heaven. ''GodHness is profitable
to all things ; having promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come" (i Tim. iv. 8).
Happy is the soul which thus attains to the habitual
union of its powers in God ! ''They now unite to pro-
duce one harmonious sound," says St. Catharine of
Sienna, ''like the chords of a musical instrument. The
powers of the soul are the great chords, the senses
of the body the smaller ones. And when all these
are used to the praise of God, and in the service of
our neighbor, they produce one sound, like that of
a harmonious organ. All the saints have touched
this organ, and drawn forth musical tones. The
first who sounded it was the sweet and loving
Word, whose humanity, united to His Divinity,
made sweet music on the wood of the cross, and
all His servants have learned of Him, as of their
Master, to give forth simiilar music, some in one
way and some in another, divine Providence giving
all the instruments on which to play."*
What, now, shall we say to Rodriguez when he
places our perfection in the ordinary actions of life ?
It is clear when he says this that he speaks of the
material of our perfection, and that he presupposes
charity in our actions as their form or animating
spirit. "All our actions," says he, "be nothing else
but the effects of the divine love that animates us.
And as in the Temple of Solomon there was nothing
but what was of gold, or covered with gold, so let
there be nothing in you which is not either an act or
an effect of the love of God."f
Further, as already said, charity as a habit, being
our animating principle, has for the gaining of its
*St. Cath. Sien., Dial, C. 147.
tRodriguez, Christian Perf., Vol. i., T. iii., C. 8.
The Essence of Perfection. 149
own perfection to put itself forth to action; and
if it act not, it is not true charity. The perfection
of virtue is not its habit, but its act.* The habit is
ordained to its act, as the sword to its use. A man is
virtuous not because he can act virtuously, but be-
cause he does so. And the habit of virtue, to insure
its perfection, must produce its acts as readily and
perfectly as possible. Rightly, therefore, does Rodri-
guez make perfection reside in our ordinary actions,
as the form resides in the matter, the soul in the
body, and the kernel in the shell. But the essential
constituent of perfection ever remains in the inherent
habit of habits, disposed to its acts, viz., charity
uniting with God, and proceeding to action from its
principle of love. This is the assimilation of the
creature to the Creator, apart from which there
can be no perfection. The ordinary works of life
are thus the divinely appointed means and ways by
which and in which the habit of love energizes and
reduces itself to act, thus exercising and expanding
its life and power, intensively and extensively, and so
enabling the soul by repeated acts to develop the
habit of love, by means of which it advances to
and finally attains its perfection.
Although, therefore, perfection is to be found in
our ordinary actions, they depend for this perfection
on the charity that animates them ; and without
this it is certain that they are worthless, so far as
supematwral worth and merit are concerned. Who
teaches this more emphatically than the inspired^
Apostle? "If I speak with the tongues of men and
of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I
should have prophecy, and should know all mys-
teries, and all knowledge ; and if I should have all
*St. Thorn., I 2, Q. 3, Art. 2.
150 The Essence of Perfection.
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have
not charity, I am nothing. And if I should dis-
tribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should
deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity,
it profiteth me nothing" (i Cor. xiii. i). Here we
see that not only ordinary actions, but those the
most exalted, reckon for nothing apart from charity,
that is, in supernatural worth and merit; which is
not difficult to understand, for an action without love
is a body without a soul. Hence St. Augustine said
that "where there is no love, no good work is im-
puted, nor is a work rightly called good'' ;'^ as on the
other hand he says, "Love, and do what you will;
keep to the root of love ; from this nought but good
springs forth. "f St. Gregory also tells us that it is
not the outer substance of our actions that God
regards, but the inner love that animates them.
"God regards the heart rather than the external
work. Nor does He consider how much a man
does, but with how much love he does it.''$ The
Imitation says the same, in the self -same words. §
St. Thomas enters carefully into the consideration
of this point, and teaches that the merit of our out-
ward actions wholly depends on the charity they
contain ; speaking always of supernatural merit, in
reference to the rewards of heaven.f It is the
*St. Aug., de Gratia Christi, C. 26.
tSt. Aug., Tract 7 in Epist. Joan.
tSt. Greg., Horn. 5 in Evang.
%The Imitation, B. i., C. 15.
^''Radix merendi est Caritas." — St. Thorn., 2 2, Q. 182,
Art. 2. The influx of charity into our actions varies in-
definitely in degree, according as the habit of charity is
more or less developed and disposed to its acts. In general
the influx may be actual or virtual. Actual, when we are di-
rectly prompted by divine love, as our principle and our end ;
virtual, when charity's virtue continues in our actions from
The Essence of Perfection. 151
inward spirit which is the test and measure of merit
in the outward act. So that the active or the con-
templative Hfe respectively will be the more meri-
torious according to the degree of charity either
may contain. A small action done with great charity
is more meritorious than a great action done with
small charity; and the degrees of glory in heaven
will be according to the degrees of charity on earth.
Therefore if a man's life and actions are to be
accounted truly great, and worthy of God and
heaven, whatever their outward appearance may be,
they must proceed from a heart animated by the
principle of divine charity."^ The love of God is to
be the soul of our actions. As the soul moves the
body, so divine charity is to move the soul. Is it
not the inward love of the heart that God requires
before all things? ''Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul,
and w4th thy whole strength.'' And even in His
servants . of the Old Law, was it not the ''perfect
heart" that He looked for? Thus we read that King
Amasias "did what was good in the sight of the
Lord, yet not with a perfect heart" (2 Paralip. xxv.
2). And again: "Solomon's heart was not perfect
with the Lord" (3 Kings xi. 4). But "the heart of
x\sa was perfect with the Lord all his days" (3 Kings
XV. 14). Let us not imagine, then, that God will
the force of its previous act, and practically influences them
from its habitual power in the mind and heart. Then, al-
though not adverted to, charity enters into our actions by
a virtual inflow, and is therefore still our principle and
our end. vSo it remains until revoked by some subsequent
act incompatible with it such as a venial sin, which substi-
tutes a natural principle and end for charity; which princi-
ple is cupidity, or self-love, the antagonistic principle to
charity in the soul.
*St. Thom., 3 Sent, D. 29. Q. i, A. 2.
152 * The Essence of Perfection.
be satisfied with any amount of customable external
service, if we withhold that which He desires more
than all. ''My son, give Me thy heart" (Prov. xxiii.
26). How could it be otherwise? Why should
God be expected to reward actions which are not
done for Him — which flow from a simply human
principle? For natural actions there are natural
rewards. But if we aim at supernatural rewards,
then our principle of action must be in proportion
thereto.* This supernatural principle we have in
charity, as giving us a participation of God's own
holy spirit and love. And as we act by it, it com-
municates its divine virtue to our actions. Thus
God enters into them, and makes them good, and
worthy of Him,self ; since He is the only Good, and
we are the recipients of His goodness.
If, then, we live in charity, let us see that we act
by it. "Without actual exercise all virtue vanishes,
and only a self-pleasing conceit remains.'' f ''If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit"
(Gal. V. 25).^- Let us learn to separate the precious
from the vile. If the higher principle of divine love
has been planted within us, how can we turn from
it to follow instead the biddings of natural and
fleshly love? We ought to beware of withdrawing
ourselves from the action of God and betaking our-
selves to independent movements of our own. For
''every plant which My Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up" (Matt. xv. 13). We ought to
fear lest, having received so great a power, we neg-
lect to use it; remembering Our Lord's impressive
teaching and warning in the parable of the talents,
and the condemnation of the servant who neglected
*St Thorn., 3 Sent., D. 18, Art. 2.
tBalduke, Kingdom of God within the Soul. — Prsef.
JSt. Thorn., in Pauli Epist. ad Galat. 5.
The Essence of Perfection. 153
to turn his talent to account. "Lord, Thou didst
deliver to me five talents ; behold, I have gained
other five'' (Matt. xxv. 20). Grace must gain more
grace ; light more light ; love must advance to higher
love ; strength get greater strength ; and progress
serve to further progress. Everything must move
according to its nature. Every power must put
forth its proper operation : the mind by thinking,
the eye by seeing, the hand by working, the foot by
walking. See in like manner the vast power of
charity : the power of loving God and doing great
things for Him ; the power of governing our souls,
our lives, our actions, according to Him. Do we use
this power of love as rightly and readily as our in-
ferior powers ? Does it operate ? Does it put forth
its acts, governing us, leading us on, and moving us
according to God? "What more could I do to My
vineyard that I have not done to it?" After all that
Our Lord has done to give us His love ; after plant-
ing us in His choice vineyard of Religion : tending,
training, nourishing, cultivating our souls, so fitting
them to yield to Him sweetly and abundantly the
fruits of pure charity — are we to be found now
bringing forth the "wild grapes" of our own
"fleshly loves and fears"?
The power of charit}^ is for the act of charity, since
every power is for its proper act."^ "A good man,
out of a good treasure, bringeth forth good things"
(Matt. xii. 35). Ought we not, then, fromx the di-
vine treasure of charity to bring forth divine things,
viz., charity's own proper, full, and perfect acts?
Thus perfection resides in the ordinary actions of
life, in so far as they are animated, prompted, and
regulated by the principle of charity. And when
in due time, by great fidelity to the lights and
*St. Thorn., I 2, Q. 49, Art. 3.
154 The Essence of Perfection.
movements of the Holy Spirit, charity has attained
her full sway within the soul, and moves the facul-
ties and bodily powers to act promptly, easily, and
swxetly, then is brought about that happy harmony
within, whereby the natural man is subdued to the
spiritual, and the spirit is subdued to God, and we
live and act no longer according to man, but accord-
ing to God. Then shine forth the gifts and the
fruits of the Holy Spirit in the soul wherein the
divine image is now restored. It has given "all
for all ;'' and God delights to manifest again the
life of Christ in mortal flesh.
Thus whites the illustrious and erudite Domini-
can, Father Reginald Buckler, in his luminous
treatise on The Perfection of Man by Charity."^
On this same subject Basso says: ''Since God
loves us so intensely, He wills that we should love
Him in return with our whole heart, with all our
love." "What doth the Lord thy God require of
thee but that thou love Him and serve Him with thy
whole heart?" says Moses (Deut. x. 12). He prom-
ises to be Himself our reward if we love Him: "I
am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great''
(Gen. XV. i). The princes of this world reward
their faithful servants with honors and estates ; but
Our God bestows on them that love Him nothing less
than Himself. If we had no other reward to expect,
would it not be enough for us to know that we shall
be loved by God in return for the love that we give
Him? We are assured in many passages of Holy
Scripture that God loves those that love Him: "I
love them that love Me" (Prov. viii. 17). Again,
*'He.that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God
*By special permission of Father Reginald Buckler, this
chapter on "Charity: The Essence of Perfection," has been
inserted here.
The Essence of Perfection. 155
in him'' (i John iv. 16). And again Our Lord
promises : ''He that loveth Me shall be loved of My
Father, and I will love him" (John xiv. 21).
Our whole perfection consists in the love of God,
for love is that virtue which unites us to God. As
St. Augustine says : ''Love is the bond that unites
to God." All other virtues avail nothing if not
accompanied by love. "Love is the fulfilling of the
Law" (Rom. xiii. 10). St. Augustine is safe, there-
fore, in saying : "Love, and then do w^hat you will."
We must observe that perfect love consists in loving
God for Himself. The love that is given to God
because of the happiness that is in store for us
on account of it is a selfish love. It is not love,
properly speaking ; rather does it belong to the virtue
of hope. But the love of God for God Himself,
because He is the everlasting Good, is the love of
benevolence, and that is the true love of God. A
story is told in the lives of the Fathers of two broth-
ers w^ho lived as hermits in the desert. The evil
spirit inspired one of them with the thought that
his brother was condemned by God. The simple
man believed it, and he was so distressed that the
other asked him the cause of his trouble. On hear-
ing it, the humble brother replied : "God be praised,
if such be His holy will ! But I shall, notwithstand-
ing, love Him as tenderly as I can in this life, for I
do not love Him through fear of hell or hope of
heaven, but purely because He deserves to be loved
above all things." Not long after an angel appeared
to the deluded hermit, and told him that his brother
w^as, indeed, among the number of the elect.
We, too, must love God for Himself, and because
He deserves our love. If we recall the tokens of
His great love for us, we must, at least, love Him
out of gratitude. "I have," says He to every one
156 The Essence of Perfection.
of us, ''loved thee from all eternity, and out of love
have I created thee." ''Yea, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love" (Jerem. xxxi. 3). With an
everlasting love! A love as old as God Himself!
And through love for us He has created so many
beautiful things, the heavens with all their glories
by day and by night, the mountains and seas in
their sublimity, hill and dale, forest and field, fruits
and flowers, and all the beauties of the vegetable
kingdom. But all these magnificent gifts could not
exhaust His love and kindness — He must needs give
us Himself ! St. Paul says : "He hath loved us, and
hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a
sacrifice to God" (Eph. v. 2). The chance to make
that offering of Himself for us was afforded Him by
the ruin into which sin had hurled us. It had robbed
us of divine grace, excluded us from heaven, and
made us slaves of hell. Almighty God could have
freed us from these evils in a very different manner.
But such was His love that only by coming on earth
Himself, by taking the form of man, by suffering
and death, could it be satisfied. It w^as that love
which urged Him to free us from eternal death,
to restore us to the friendship of God, and to the
heaven that sin had lost. "He emptied Himself, tak-
ing the form of a servant, being made in the likeness
of men, and in habit found as a man" (Phil. ii. 7).
Infinitel}^ great must have been the love that led a
God to clothe Himself with our flesh! "And the
Word was made flesh" (John i. 14).
Still greater must be our amazement when we
consider what the Son of God has done and suffered
for us, miserable worms of the earth. He would
not only redeem us, but, by magnificent proofs of
His love, He would strive to win our love in return.
For this He chose to lead a poor and despised life, to
The Essence of Perfection. 157
die a bitter and shameful death. *'He humbled Him-
self, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death
of the cross" (Phil. ii. 8).
Recall the special graces, denied to many others,
that have been imparted to you by His loving provi-
dence. To you He gave the grace to be born in the
bosom of the true Church. He has chosen you for
His bride, thus withdrawing you from the dangers
to salvation to which so many others remain exposed.
And now that you are in the blessed asylum of holy
Religion, does He forget you, does He neglect you ?
Ah, no ! How kindly, how generously He provides
for you ! He is constantly encouraging and strength-
ening you by His interior lights and inspirations, by
the sacraments, the counsels and admonitions of
Superiors, the good and edifying example of your
fellows-Religious, and by many other means of sal-
vation. Hesitate no longer to sacrifice yourself com-
pletely, but say with all your heart : ''Thee alone
w^ill I love, my God and my all ! Do Thou assist me,
and in Thy mercy grant that I may love Thee per-
fectly!'' A good watchword is that of St. Francis
of Assisi : ''Dens mens et omnia T "My God and my
all !"
CHAPTER XIX.
Zbc %ovc ot a 1Relialou6 tor Scene Cbtiat
/^|"e read in the Franciscan chronicles that the
^^^^ saintly Brother Egidius once said to St.
Bonaventure, General of the Order : "To you, wise
and learned ones, God has granted many graces with
which you can serve and glorify Him. But what
can we, ignorant and unlettered, do to please the
Lord?'' St. Bonaventure answered: ''Had Our
Lord given you no other grace than to be able
to love Him, that would be sufficient. By love
we can render Him far greater service than by
all other gifts." Then Brother Egidius askea,
"'Can an ignorant man love Our Lord Jesus as much
as a learned one?" The saint answered: ''A poor,
simple, old woman may love Our Lord far more
devotedly than a master of theology." Inflamed
with holy zeal. Brother Egidius ran to that part of
the garden which lay nearest the city and cried in
a loud voice : "Come, poor, ignorant, simple one !
Love your Lord Jesus Christ, and you may attain
to a higher degree of sanctity and happiness than
Brother Bonaventure with all his learning!" Then
suddenly falling into ecstasy, he did not stir from
that spot for three hours.
The Religious above all others must hearken to
this call of Brother Egidius to love the Lord. God
desires to be especially loved by those whom He
has chosen for His spouses and whom He has
favored with so many graces and privileges. The
first means to acquire the love of Jesus Christ is to
desire most fervently that your heart may belong
The Love of a Religious for Jesus Christ. 159
to Him alone. Desires are the wings by which the
saints mount to perfect union with God in holy
love. St. Teresa left to her daughters several beauti-
ful instructions on this subject. ''Our thoughts
ought to be great and magnanimous, for on them
depends our spiritual advancement.'' Again she
says : ''Our desires must not fly low. We must place
all our confidence in God. If we use force with our-
selves, we shall gradually reach the point to which
the saints attained." She tells us, from her own
experience, that she had never seen a timid soul ad-
vance as far in many years as a magnanimous one
in a few days, for Almighty God, as she says, is as
much pleased with our desires as with their ful-
filment. St. Gregory says that the soul that longs
for God with her whole heart already possesses Him.
A w^hole heart means a heart that is emptied of all
earthly things, of all earthly love.
The second means to acquire the perfect love of
God is to renounce all love that has not God for its
object. God wishes the sole ownership of our heart
— He can not brook a rival. St. Augustine relates
that the Roman Senate, after recognizing three thou-
sand gods, refused adoration to the God of the
Christians; for, as they said: "He is a proud God,
who alone wants to be adored, and who sufifers no
god but Himself.'' Our God has a right to demand
our whole heart. He is the only true God. He is
Our Lord, Our Creator, who has loved us from
eternity, and desires our perfect happiness. To love
God with our whole heart we must banish from
our heart every inclination that has not God for its
object. St. Francis de Sales, so inflamed with the
love of God, says : 'Tf I knew that in my heart there
was a single fiber not for God, I would immediately
pluck it out." The love of God can find no entrance
i6o The Love of a Religious for Jesus Christ.
into a heart trammeled by earthly desires. But, on
the contrary, in a heart perfectly free from worldly
influences the fire of divine love constantly burns
more brightly. St. Teresa exclaims : ''Tear your
heart from all creatures, seek God and you will find
Him."' Remember, beloved soul, that you espoused
yourself to Jesus Christ at your holy profession.
You then said : ''The kingdom of this world and all
temporal treasures I despise for the love of my
Lord Jesus Christ, whom I recognize as the most
lovable and adorable of bridegrooms. I have, there-
fore, given Him all my love ; in Him I have placed
all my hope ; in Him I believe, and Him I love above
all things.'' If creatures try to enter your heart,
drive them back with the words : "It belongs to
Jesus. There is no room for you." Divine love
makes of the cloister a place diametrically opposed
to the world. In it we hate what the world loves,
and love what it hates. To love Jesus above all
things and with our whole heart we must deny our-
selves ; that is, we must willingly accept all that is
contrary to self-love, and mortify it in all its de-
mands. Once when St. Teresa was sick they offered
her some nourishment, or rather some delicacy,
which the saint did not wish to accept. To per-
suade her to eat of it the nurse assured her that it
was very good and well prepared. The saint re-
plied : "Just because it is good I will not eat it."
And so we too must resign what pleases us just be-
cause it does please us. We must break off all
earthly attachments and desires, convinced that no
one on earth is more content than he who despises
earthly goods and pleasures and longs only for God.
In this spirit of renunciation be mindful, beloved
soul, to renew every day the vows of poverty, chas-
tity, and obedience. These three vows remove the
The Love of a Religions for Jesus Christ. i6i
impediments to perfect charity and union with God,
which arise ( i ) from affection to external things ;
(2) from carnal pleasures and creature loves; and
(3) from the love of our own self-will.
To know God means to love Him. To know our-
selves means to despise ourselves. Whatever is good
in us belongs to God, but nothingness, misery, and
sin belong to ourselves. Charity rests on humility.
Humility of mind leads to humility of heart, which,
as Father Buckler says, ''Moves us ever to be
humble before God, being well content with our
littleness and nothingness, that He may be our all ;
and which further moves us to be humble before
others, when the right occasions come. Then it is,
when we are humbled, that w^e have to act vipon our
humilitv of mind, and humble what is of ourself
*'
m us, to what is of God in the other. This twofold
knowledge — the knowledge of God and the knowl-
edge of ourselves — helps gradually to breed and
form within us the two blessed habits of humility
and charity, humility forming the safe foundation
for charity; humility the groundwork and charity
the lifelong work.''
To love God, then, means to be truly humble, to
love prayer and mortification, to be faithful to the
vows and the Rules, to be exact, i. e., very conscien-
tious in the performance of every duty. If you love
God truly, prove your love by your actions. Let
3'^our w^atchword be, ''xA.ll for Jesus !"
The third means to obtain the perfect love of
Jesus Christ is frequent meditation on His sacred
Fassion. St. Magdalene of Pazzi says: "A Religions
who has consecrated herself entirely to the love of
her crucified Saviour ought in every action to glance
at the cross, that the thought of the everlasting love
which He has borne her mav never be absent from
i62 The Love of a Religious for Jesus Christ,
her mind.'' It seems that our divine Saviour willed
to endure so many different kinds of suffering and
outrages — chains and blows, scourging and thorns,
spitting, reviling, and the crucifixion — in order that
His beloved ones should have various mysteries for
their meditation. In pondering upon the Passion of
Our Lord we should not seek spiritual consolation
and sweetness, but only a more ardent love for Jesus.
The fruit of such meditations should be the
resolution to suffer everything for love of Him
who suffered so many and so bitter things for love
of us.
The fourth means to obtain the perfect love of
God consists in frequent acts of that virtue. As fire
is fed by fuel, so is love by acts of love. By day
and by night, express your love for your crucified
Saviour by fervent aspirations like these : 'T give
•myself entirely to Thee, my God ! I will all that Thou
dost will. Do with me what -Thou pleasest. I desire
nothing but Thee !" "My God, I love Thee !" "My
love, my All !" Yes, a loving sigh, an elevation of
the heart, an aspiration with a glance toward heaven,
on the Blessed Sacramicnt, or on a crucifix, ascends
as an odor of sweet incense to the throne of God.
These loving acts are, perhaps, the very best because
more easily made. They can be more frequently
renewed, and they are generally pronounced with
greater fervor. One of your favorite aspirations
should be : "Heart of Jesus, inflamed with love
of us, inflame our hearts with love of Thee." Make
frequent use also of the following antiphon, with
its versicle and response from the Little Office of
the Sacred Heart:
Antiphon. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, full of lov-
ing kindness for those who love Thee, may our
flesh and our heart be absorbed in Thee, that Thou
The Love of a Religious for Jesus Christ. 163
mayest be the love of our heart and our portion
forever.
V. My heart is ready, O God of my heart, to do
Thy will.
R, My God, I have willed it, that Thy law be ever
in the midst of my heart.
O Religious soul ! love your divine Spouse not
only in word and in sentiment, but in deed and in
truth.
CHAPTER XX.
Contormlt^ witb tbe Divine TOill — BbanC)onment.
^^ T. Chrysostom holds that the perfect love of
J"^ man for God consists in conformity with the
divine will. The Wise Man says : '*They that
are faithful in love shall rest in Him" (Wisd. iii. 9).
Souls that love God truly rest in Him ; they desire all
that He wills. The sacrifice of self-will is the most
agreeable offering that can be made to God, since
nothing is dearer and sweeter than one's own will
Blessed Henry Suso says : ''That you are inundated
w^ith spiritual light and consolation does not honor
God so much as your submission to His divine will."
The heinousness of sin consists in willing what
God does not will. Samuel told Saul that it was a
species of idolatry for a man to resist the will of
God, because in that case he adores his own instead
of the divine will. As the wickedness of the creature
lies in his opposition to his Creator, so his perfec-
tion consists in conformity with His will. He who
tries to conform to the will of God is a man accord-
ing to the Heart of God, as He Himself says : "I
have found a man according to My own Heart, who
does all My will." He says the same of a soul who
abandons herself to His will : ''Thou shalt be called
My pleasure in her'' (Isaias Ixii. 4). Happy she
who with the bride in the Canticles can say: "My
soul melted when my Beloved spoke" (Cant. v. 6).
Why does she say melted f Because melted things
no longer retain their former shape. They take the
form of the vessel into which they have been poured.
So loving souls no longer preserve their own will,
but resign themselves to whatever their Beloved
Conformity with the Divine Will. 165
wills. All that they do for the good pleasure of
God is an evidence of their perfect submission to
His holy will, quite unlike those who oppose their
own obstinate will to His. An instrument is good
only when it serves the workman. Of what other
use is it? If, for example, the brush would resist
the hand of the artist, of what good would it be to
him ? Would he not cast it away ?
When all things go according to their v/ill, men
resign themselves to the divine will, but in contradic-
tions they rebel. This is folly. To act in this
manner is to suffer doubly and without merit, be-
cause the will of God, w^hether wq like it or not,
must be accomplished. God takes His delight in
those who, in the time of trouble, say with David :
*T was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because
Thou hast done it" (Ps. xxxviii. 10). Many things
appear to us evil, and we call them misfortunes ; but
if we knew God's- designs in them we should see
clearly that they are blessings in disguise. Manasses,
deprived of his kingdom and led into captivity by
the Assyrians, certainly regarded it as a great mis-
fortune ; and yet it was for him the greatest advan-
tage, for he turned to his God and did penance :
''And after that he was in distress, he prayed to
the Lord his God, and did penance exceedingly be-
fore the God of his fathers" (2 ParaHp. xxxiii. 12).
No one is more solicitous for our wxU-being for
time and eternity than the great, good God. To
make us understand this truth. He compares Him-
self to a shepherd seeking the lost lamb in the desert,
and again to a mother, w^ho can never forget her
child : ''Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to
have pity on the son of her w^omb? and if she
should forget, yet will not I forget thee" (Isaias
xlix. 15). Again, He compares Himself to a hen
1 66 Conformity with the Divine Will.
which shelters her young under her wings : ''Jerusa-
lem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered together thy children as the
hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and
thou wouldst not!" (Matt, xxiii. 37.) God en-
compasses us, as David says, in order to turn away
from us every danger on the part of our enemies :
''O Lord, Thou hast crowned us as with a shield
of Thy good wnll" (Ps. v. 13). Ah ! why do we not
abandon ourselves entirely to the guidance of so
good a father? Happy are they who allow them-
selves to be led by Almighty God as He wills and
where He wills ! Father Saint- Jure tells us of a
young man who greatly desired to enter the Society
of Jesus. But owing to the fact that he had lost an
eye he was rejected. Who would not look upon
this as a grievous misfortune for that young man?
And yet it was the cause of his supreme happiness,
for he was at last received into the Society on con-
dition that he would preach the Gospel in India. He
went to that heathen country, and there died a martyr
for the Faith. Like the blind man in the Gospel,
let us allow ourselves to be led by God, being firmly
convinced that only in this manner can we attain eter-
nal salvation. Everything comes from God : ''Good
things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches,
are from God" (Ecclus. xi. 14)-. God permits the
actions directed against you by your persecutors,
though He does not will the sin that accompanies
them.. But of you He expects patience in suffering
and persecution ; for it is He who sends these trials.
When Job was robbed of all his herds God did not
will the sin of theft, but He did will that Job should
bear his loss patiently. He did so, as we are told by
his own words in Holy Scripture : "The Lord gave,
Conformity zvith the Divine Will. 167
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord!*' (Job. i. 21.) St. Augustine, com-
menting on this passage, says : ''Job did not say,
'The Lord gave, and the devil hath taken away.'
No, he said, 'The Lord hath taken away/ '' In like
manner God did not will the sin of the Jews when
they crucified the Saviour. And did not Jesus Christ
say to Peter : "The chalice which my Father hath
given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John xviii. 11.)
By these words Christ gives us to understand that
although the Jews would indeed kill Him, yet it was
His heavenly Father who had prepared that chalice
for Him. In every contradiction we should behold
the hand of God, and submit to His holy will.
St. Teresa says : "We deceive ourselves greatly if
we think that union with God consists in ecstasies,
ravishments, and spiritual consolations. It consists
alone in thinking, saying, doing that which is in con-
formity to the will of God. This union is perfect
when our will is detached from everything, attached
but to God in such a manner that it breathes but His
pure will. This is the true and essential union that
I ardently desire, and continually ask of Our Lord.''
St. Francis de Sales never ceased to admire in
St. John the Baptist his perfect conformity to the
will of God. "The holy precursor," said he, "dwelt
twenty-four years in the desert, and God alone knew
the great love he had for the Saviour from the time
he was sanctified in his mother's womb, and the
longing he had to enjoy His presence; nevertheless,
he remained so devoted to his work, doing the will
of God, that he quitted it but once to see Him. Hav-
ing baptized Him, he did not remain among His
followers, but continued to exercise the ministry con-
fided to him. O God, what is this, if it be not to
hold one's spirit detached from all, and attached to
i68 Conformity with the Divine Will.
the will of God alone! This example delights me,
overwhelms me with its grandeur/'"*"
The wife of St. Francis Borgia, who was very-
dear to him, being dangerously ill, Our Saviour gave
the saint the choice of her life or death. He replied,
"Lord, why leave to me a choice which is in Thy
power alone ? That which I desire most is to do in
all things Thy will ; Thou alone knowest what is best
for me. Do, then, as pleases Thee best, not only
with my wife, but with my children and myself.
Fiat vohintas Tua/'
St. Vincent de'Paul tells us: ''One act of resig-
nation to the divine will in that which is contrary
to our inclination is of more value than ten thousand
words of thanks for that which conforms to our
taste.'' St. Vincent showed by the sweetness of
his words and the serenity of his countenance that he
looked upon all the events of life with equal indiffer-
ence. He never lost sight of his great maxim,
"Nothing happens in the world but by the order
of divine Providence." Into the arms of Providence
he threw himself and abandoned himself entirely.
A worthy prelate, who was struck with admiration
at his constant sweetness, which nothing could
disturb, said, "Father Vincent is always Father
Vincent."
The saint, learning that a suit was about to be
commenced to deprive several houses of his Congre-
gation of some land, replied to those who spoke
of it : "Whatever is pleasing to God will take place ;
He is Master of all we possess ; may He dispose of
it as He wills."
The prayer of St. Gertrude to God must have been
agreeable to Him. She said with greatest fervor:
"Lord, I beg Thee have no regard for my will, but
"^The Spiritual Director.
Conformity with the Divine Will. 169
only for Thine. Do with me what Thou knowest
will tend most to Thy glory and to my good. I
have no other desire but to be and to do what Thou
wilt. Non mea, sed Tua voluntas fiat, Jesu aman-
tissime/'
As conformity with the divine will is a sure means
for attaining perfection, we must exercise it at every
opportunity. We shall say a few words on its prac-
tice, that is, in what events, and in what manner we
ought to conform to it.
We should be submissive to the divine will espe-
cially in the time of sickness, for sickness, as well
as health, comes from the hand of God. He sends
it for our correction and amendment and as a means
to our sanctification. It may be a source of much
merit and great blessings. The Wise Man says :
*'A grievous sickness maketh the soul sober''
(Ecclus. xxxi. 2). In sickness as in health we must
preserve the same conformity to the will of God.
Does it please the Lord our God to afflict us with
some bodily ills, we must receive them from His
hand with equanimity. St. Francis de Sales says :
"There are many who say to God, T give myself to
Thee without any reserve,' but there are few who
practice this abandonment. It consists in re-
ceiving from the hands of God with a certain indif-
ference all things according to the order of His
providence."
In the life of St. Clare, by Surius, we read that
for thirty-two years she endured the most grievous
maladies ; yet in all that time she was never heard
to utter a single word of complaint. Expressions
of thanksgiving were always on her lips. In the
life of St. Lidwina also we have a rare and most
wonderful example of patient endurance. From it
the sick may gain courage and consolation. For
170 Conformity with the Divine Will.
thirty-eight years, without intermission, this saint
endured a compHcation of the most severe and ex-
traordinary pains and afflictions. For thirty of
these years she could not rise from her couch nor
stand on her feet ; but in all that time Almighty God
showered on her the most signal graces. Her sub-
lime and perfect abandonment to the divine will was
a source of great merit to herself and of constant
edification to others. Now some Religious may
say : ''I would not be troubled about my sickness
if I were not such' a burden to the community.'' A
complaint like this is not becoming to a Religious,
for it reflects upon Superiors as if they were want-
ing in charity. Superiors, as well as their subjects,
are striving after perfection. They, too, are obliged
to receive things as coming from the hand oi God,
and resign themselves to His will. God wills that
you should be sick, and that others should undertake
the care of you. It is your duty to bear the cross of
sickness with quiet resignation, and it is the duty of
your Sisters and Superiors to accept their share of
the cross with patience and cheerful submission.
Again it may be said : 'T acknowledge the great
charity that reigns in the convent. What troubles
me is this, that I can not, on account of my illness,
be of any use to the community." To this the vener-
able Father Avila replies : "Do not think of what
you would do if you wxre well, but of how much
you will please God if you are contented in your
sickness. If you seek only the will of God what
matters it whether you are sick or well ? His will is
our highest good." Another, perhaps, owing to a
chronic affliction or on account of long and tedious
illness, finds it difficult to follow the community in
many points of the common life. She requires many
exemptions and special favors; this saddens her.
Conformity with the Divine Will. 171
and makes her feel as if she were not a real Re-
ligious like her fellow-Sisters; she fears also that
others may be dissatisfied at seeing her so well
cared for and particularly favored. This fear may
not be without foundation if the sickness does not
show itself exteriorly, if it is known only to God
and the poor sufiferer, while the exemptions and
favors are observed by all. But you must not
give up conformity with the will of God. Your
merit will be double. Be resigned in all your ills,
great or little, as it is God's will that you should
endure them ; on the other hand, as to what regards
the common life, do with exactitude what in you
lies, and regret that you can not do more. You
will then gain the merit of patient conformity
in sickness, and you will share, also, in the
merits of your companions who fulfil all other
obligations.
What has been said of sickness refers, also, to all
its attendant circumstances. St. Basil gives an ex-
emplary lesson to the sick. He says : ''We must
use physicians and remedies, but without placing
our whole confidence in them. Holy Scripture
blames this in King Asa, of whom it says : 'In his
illness he did not seek the Lord, but rather trusted
in the skill of physicians'" (2 Paralip. xvi. 12).
We should place all our confidence in God, who
sometimes restores to health by means of medicines,
and sometimes does not. The Gospel tells us that
Our Lord Jesus Christ often cured by His will
alone, as in the case of that leper who implored his
cure in these words : "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou
canst make me clean." Our Lord replied: 'T will.
Be thou made clean" (Matt. viii. 2, 3). Again, He
sometimes accompanied His words with action, as
when He mixed clay with His spittle, anointed the
172 Conformity with the Divine Will,
eyes of the blind man, and sent him to wash them in
the pool of Siloe (John ix. ii).
Just so does Almighty God act in our own day.
Some He cures by means of medicines, others by
His will. Many, despite their efforts and their
numerous methods of treatment, are left in misery
that they may learn to place their confidence only in
God. Do not, then, complain of physicians and
remedies when they avail you nothing. Accept
your condition as coming from the good God.
Endure it with- joy and conformity to His
blessed will in your regard. Forget yourself.
Remain in peace, and leave yourself absolutely to
the disposition of your Superiors and attendants.
Bear in mind the words of St. Paul : ''We know that
to them that love God, all things work together unto
good, to such as, according to His purpose, are
called to be saints" (i Rom. viii. 28). In his
preface to the highly commendable work of the
Rev. J. P. De Caussade, S.J. on Abandonment
or Absolute Surrender to DiiAne Providence y
Father Ramiere accentuates three principles which
form the basis of the virtue of abandonment :
First Principle: Nothing is done, nothing hap-
pens, either in the material or in the moral world,
which God has not foreseen from all eternity and
which He has not willed or at least permitted.
Second Principle: God can will nothing, He can
permit nothing, but in view of the end He proposed
to Himself in creating the world, namely, in view of
His glory and the glory of the Man-God, Jesus
Christ, His only Son.
Third Principle: As long as man lives upon earth,
God desires to be glorified through the happiness
of this privileged creature, and consequently in
God's designs the interest of man's sanctification
Conformity with the Divine Will. 173
and happiness is inseparable from the interest of
the divine glory.
If we do not lose sight of these principles, which
no Christian can question, we shall understand that
our confidence in the providence of Our Father in
heaven can not be too great, too absolute, too child-
like. If nothing but what He permits happens, and
if He can permit nothing but what is for our happi-
ness, then we have nothing to fear, except not being
sufficiently submissive to God. As long as .we keep
ourselves united with Him and we walk after His
designs, were all creatures to turn against us they
could not harm us. He who relies upon God be-
comes by this very reliance as powerful and as in-
vincible as God, and created powers can no more
prevail against him than against God Himself.
This confidence in the fatherly providence of God
can not, evidently, dispense us from doing all that
is in our power to accomplish His designs ; but after
having done all that depends upon our efiforts we
will abandon ourselves completely to God for the
rest.
This abandonment should extend, in fact, to
everything — to the past, to the present, to the fu-
ture ; to the body and all its conditions ; to the soul
and all its miseries, as well as all its qualities ; to
blessings ; to afflictions ; to the good will of men^ and
to their malice ; to the vicissitudes of the material,
and the revolutions of the moral, world ; to life and
to death.
I. Among all the dispositions to which our aban-
donment can be applied, there are, first, those which
depend solely upon God, where human liberty has
no part either in producing or averting them.
Such are, for example, certain scourges and vicissi-
tudes of the atmosphere ; certain accidents impossi-
174 Conformity with the Divine Will.
ble to foresee, certain natural defects of body or
soul.
In regard to facts of this order, whether of the
past, present, or future, it is evident that our aban-
donment can not be too absolute. There is nothing
to do here but to passively and lovingly endure all
that God sends us ; to blindly accept in advance all
that it may please Him to send us in the future.
Resistance would be useless, and only serve to make
us unhappy ; a loving and frequently renewed accept-
ance, on the contrary, w^ould make these inevitable
sufferings very meritorious.
2. There are other sufferings which come to us
through the malice of creatures : persecutions,
calumnies, ill-treatment, neglect, injustice, and of-
fenses of every kind. What are we to do when we
find ourselves exposed to vexatious things of this
sort?
" 1st. We evidently can not like the offense against
God with which they are accompanied ; we should,
on the contrary, deplore and detest it, not because it
wounds our self-love, but because it is an offense
against the divine rights, and compromises the sal-
vation of the offending souls.
2d. As for that which concerns us, on the con-
trary, we should regard as a blessing that which is
in itself an evil ; and to do this we need only recall
the principles previously laid down : not to look only
at the creature who is the immediate cause of our
sufferings, but to raise our eyes higher and behold
God, who has foreseen and permitted them from
all eternity, and who in permitting them had only
our happiness in view. This thought will be suffi-
cient to dissipate the bitterness and trouble which
would take possession of our hearts were we to look
only at the injustice of which we are the victims.
Conformity with the Divine Will. 175
3cl. In regard to the effects of this injustice al-
ready consummated and irreparable, we have only
to resign ourselves as lovingly as possible, and care-
fully gather their precious fruits. It is frequently
not difficult to divine the spiritual fruits God des-
tined for us in exposing us to temporal evils, z'is.:
to detach us from creatures, to deliver us from in-
ordinate affections, from our pride, from our tepid-
ity— veritable maladies of the soul, of which the
heavenly Physician wishes to cure us, using the mal-
ice of our neighbor as a sharp instrument.
4th. If it is in our pov/er to avert the conse-
quences of malice and injustice, and if in our true
interest, and in the interest of the divine glory, we
deem it necessary to take any measures to this end,
let us do so without departing from the practice of
the holy virtue of abandonment. Let us commit the
success of our efforts to God, and be ready to accept
failure if God judges it more suitable to His de-
signs and more profitable to our souls. We are so
blind that we always have reason to fear being de-
ceived ; but God can not be deceived, and we may be
certain, in advance, that what He determines will be
best. Therefore we can not do better than abandon
with fullest confidence the result of our efforts to
Him.
3. Should this abandonment extend equally to
our acts of imprudence, to our faults, and all the
annoyances of every kind in w^hich they may result?
It is important to distinguish here two things
which self-love tends to confound. In the fault
itself we must distinguish what is culpable and what
is humiliating. Likewise in its consequences we
must distinguish what is detrimental to the divine
glory and the confusion inflicted on our self-love.
Evidently we can not hate too much the fault, prop-
176 Conformity with the Divine Will.
erly so called ; nor regret too keenly the injury done
to the divine glory. But as for our humiliation, and
the confusion inflicted on our self-love, we should
rejoice, and acquiesce in it with complete abandon-
ment. The practice of abandonment well under-
stood should deliver us from that impatience which
makes us wish to at once attain the summit of per-
fection, and which serves to keep us from it by
turning us from the only path which leads to per-
fection. This path is humility, and the impatience
which we are censuring is another form of pride.
Let us make every effort to correct our faults ; but
let us be resigned to not seeing them all disappear
in a day. Let us earnestly, and with the most filial
confidence, ask God to grant us that decisive grace
which will completely wrest us from ourselves, to
make us live only in Him ; but let us leave to Him,
Vv^ith an equally filial abandonment, the care of de-
termining the day and hour in which this grace
shall be given us.
With still greater reason should we abandon to
God the determining of the degree of sanctity which
we shall attain upon earth, the extraordinary graces
which will accompany this sanctity here below, and
the glory with which it will be crowned in heaven.
In as far as it depends upon us, we should leave
nothing undone to increase this sanctity and this
glory, in order not to fall short of the degree God
has marked for us ; but if we must earnestly devote
ourselves to realizing His designs we must not de-
sire to have them other than they are. If our love
for God is what it should be, we will thank Him for
having granted other souls favors that He has re-
fused us, and we will praise Him no less for our
poverty than for our riches.
4. Regarding life and death, time and eternity,
Conformity with the Divine Will. 177
that which perfect abandonment asks is that we ob-
serve in our desires the order of God's designs.
God created all things for His glory first; and sec-
ondly, but inseparably, for our happiness. Let us
do as He does : let us never separate the interest of
His glory from that of our happiness, but let us
always make the second subordinate to the first.
Let us love God as the object of our beatitude, but
let us love Him above all for His infinite goodness.
Let us desire and hope for our eternal happiness ;
but since this happiness, when we shall enjoy it,
must result from the love of God for Himself, let us
begin now to seek it as it must be when we realize
it, and refer the desire of it, as we will one day refer
its enjoyment, to the glory of this great God who
desires to be all in all things.
Thus, at one and the same time, we can practice
charity and hope, seek the glory of God and our.
own happiness, fill the designs of Our Creator, and
satisfy the deepest and most imperative needs of
our nature.
The saints did not do otherwise ; and Father Caus-
sade, in one of his letters, proves very clearly that
the formulas of apparent despair that they have
sometimes used in the transports of their cruel suf-
ferings contained in reality acts of the most meri-
torious confidence. Elsewhere he also shows most
perfectly how ill-founded is this even hypothetic
separation betw^een God's interests and our true in-
terests; and he justly concludes therefrom that per-
fection can not consist in supposing this separation
and sacrificing the interest of our eternal happiness
to that of the divine glory.
Let us consider what the saints say on submis-
sion and abandonment to the will of God. St.
Teresa says : "As God knows what is good and
178 Conformity with the Divine Will.
useful for us, He gives to each of us what will tend
most to His glory, to our own salvation, and to the
good of our neighbor. We deceive ourselves, then,
and consult our own interests but little, if we do
not abandon ourselves entirely to His good
pleasure/'
Blessed Henry Suso tells us : ''A soul that is truly
submissive to the will of God is not attached to any-
thing created : it knows that all that is not God is
vanity and nothingness ; accordingly it has no other
object, no other end, but to die to self, to be re-
signed always and in all things. The angels find so
much satisfaction in doing the will of God that if
He asked one of them to come down upon this earth
and employ himself in separating good grain from
the bad, or in pulling out weeds from a field, he
would instantly leave heaven and apply himself will-
ingly and with all his heart to that which God re-
quired of him.''
He who spoke thus ardently desired to do the
will of God. He would prefer, he said, to be the
last of creatures, if it were the will of God, rather
than be a seraph, and follow his own will.
St. Francis de Sales admonishes us in these
words : ''You have not attained that purity which
you should have, so long as you are not constantly,
entirely, and joyously submissive to the will of God
in all things, even in those the most repugnant.
How beautiful it is to see one divested of all attach-
ments, ready to practice every virtue, to be chari-
table, sweet with every one, equally calm in consola-
tions or in tribulations, always satisfied if the will
of God be done. If you give yourself to the exercise
of holy abandonment you will make much progress.
It will be with you as with those out at sea with a
Conformity with the Divine Will, 179
favorable wind, abandoning themselves to the guid-
ance of a good pilot."
The Congregation of St. Vincent de Paul having
met with a considerable loss, the saint wrote as fol-
lows to one of his friends : *'Being one of our most
intimate friends, I must acquaint you with a loss
with which we have recently met: it is not an evil
that has befallen us, but a favor which we have re-
ceived from God, and for which you will help us to
return thanks to Him. I call the afflictions which
He sends us favors and benefits, particularly when
they are well received. It is in His infinite goodness
that He has ordered this loss, and He gives us grace
to accept it with perfect and entire resignation — I
may say with the same joy we would have felt had
He sent some great prosperity."
On another occasion St. Vincent wrote regarding
the serious illness of one of his companions and the
great loss his death would entail to the congre-
gation :
''It appears that Our Lord wishes to take His
share of our little Society. It is all His : therefore
He has the best right to do as He pleases with it.
As for me, my greatest desire is to desire nothing
but the accomplishment of His divine will." In the
many infirmities with which the saint was visited,
particularly during the last year of his life, when he
felt his end approaching, he was always the same,
perfectly indifferent to consolations, sufferings, or
death. He desired above all that the will of God
be accomplished in him.
St. John Chrysostom repeated these words so
frequently that they might be regarded as his motto :
''Lord, glory belongs to Thee for all," Gloria tibi,
Domine, propter omnia.
i8o Conformity with the Divine Will.
While St. Magdalene of Pazzi was a novice, her
mistress, knowing her great love for prayer, per-
mitted her fo retire to pray at different times while
the others were employed in some manual labor.
But she did not make use of the privilege. "In per-
forming the same exercises as the others through
obedience,'' she said, ''I am sure to do the will of
God ; in doing anything else, I am rather following
my own will, no matter how holv the exercise mav
be." ^ ^ "
Abandonment to divine Providence should extend
to the circumstances of our death, as St. Alphonsus
Liguori says : 'It is necessary that we should be al-
ways in such dispositions as to be willing to die at
the time and in the rnanner that God wills.''
One day St. Gertrude in ascending a hill fell.
Meeting nothing to arrest her fall, she soon reached
the bottom of the hill. Providence miraculously
preserved her life, and she was not even injured.
Her companions asked her whether she had not
been afraid of dying without the last sacraments.
''No," replied she. "I desire certainly to receive the
last sacraments before death, but I desire more
ardently that the will of God be accomplished. This
is the best disposition in which to be found at the
hour of death."
A good, simple, little prayer for a happy death is
this : "My God, I desire to die the death that Thou
wiliest I should die ; let me die in Thy love."
Bossuet writes as follows on perfect abandon-
ment:
"When we are truly abandoned to God's will, v/e
are ready for all that may come to us : we suppose the
worst that can be supposed, and we cast ourselves
blindly on the bosom of God. We forget ourselves,
we lose ourselves : and this entire forgetfulness of
Conformity zvifh the Divine Will. i8i
self is the most perfect penance we can perform ; for
all conversion consists only in truly renouncing and
forgetting ourselves, to be occupied with God and
filled with Him. This forgetfulness of self is the
martyrdom of self-love ; it is its death, and an anni-
hilation which leaves it without resources; then the
heart dilates and is enlarged. We are relieved by
casting from us the dangerous weight of self which
formerly overwhelmed us. We look upon God as a
good Father who leads us, as it were, by the
hand in the present moment; and all our rest is in
humble and firm confidence in His fatherly good-
ness.
"If anything is capable of making a heart free and
unrestrained, it is perfect abandonment to God and
His holv will : this abandonment fills the heart with
a divine peace. If anything can render a mind
serene, dissipate the keenest anxieties, soften the
bitterest pains, it is assuredly this perfect simplicity"
and liberty of a heart wholly abandoned to the
hands of God. The unction of abandonment gives a
certain vigor to all the actions, and spreads the joy
of the Holy Spirit even over the countenance and
words. I will place all my strength, therefore, in
this perfect abandonment to God's hands, through
Jesus Christ, and He will be jny conclusion in all
things in virtue of the Holy Spirit."
ACT OF ABANDONMENT.
By Venerable Father Pignatelli,
O my God, I know not what shall come to me to-
day; but I am certain that nothing can happen to
me which Thou hast not foreseen and ordained from
all eternity : that is sufficient for me. I adore Thy
impenetrable and eternal designs, to which I sub-
i82 Conformity with the Divine Will.
mit with all my heart; I desire, I accept them all,
and I unite my sacrifice to that of Jesus Christ, my
divine Saviour ; I ask in His name, and through His
infinite merits, patience in my trials, and perfect and
entire submission to all that comes to me by Thy
good pleasure. Amen.
Prayer.
My God, I abandon myself to Thee, I give Thee
my will. Let Thy will be done in me, by me, over
nje, in all things and forever.
CHAPTER XXI.
ttbe lEicxciec of tbe preeence ot ©oD an SID to tbe
practice ot ipertect Gontotmiti? wttb
tbe mvinc Wii\l
^THTn excellent means to attain conformity with the
(vA-^ will of God is the exercise of the presence of
God. Conformity with the divine will includes three
things, namely, the avoidance of sin, the practice of
virtue, and union with God. But these three things
are effected by the exercise of the presence of God ;
for it keeps the soul free from sin ; it leads her on
to the virtues ; and finally, by holy love, procures her
union with God.
I. As regards the avoidance of sin, there is no
more powerful means for bridling the passions and
overcoming temptations than the thought of God's
holy presence. St. Thomas says : 'Tf at all times
we were mindful of the presence of God we would
displease Him very seldom." And St. Jerome re-
marks that the thought of the presence of God closes
the door to sin. St. Teresa says that all our faults
arise from not thinking of God as present to us, but
imagining Him far away. Long before David recog-
nized this truth. He says : "God is not before his
(the sinner's) eyes: his ways are filthy at all times"
(Ps. ix. 26). The Abbot Diodes remarks that he
who does not think on the presence of God will
become either a brute or a devil. The Abbot is right,
for such a man will soon be tormented either by
sensual or by diabolical desires, which he will not
have the strength to resist. The thought of the
omnipresence of the Almighty God infused into the
184 The Exercise of the Presence of God.
souls of the saints strength and courage to overcome
all such attacks. It was this that made the chaste
Susanna so courageous against the vile suggestions
of the lecherous old men. Although threatened with
death, she answered them boldly: "It is better for
me to fall into your hands without sin than to sin
in the sight of the Lord" (Dan. xiii. 22^). The
thought of the divine presence converted a miserable
woman who had the effrontery to tempt St. Ephrem
to sin. In answer to her wicked suggestions the
saint told her that if she wanted to sin it should
be in the open market-place. "What!" she ex-
claimed, "sin in the presence of so many people?"
The saint replied : "And how could you propose to
sin in the presence of God, who beholds us every-
where?" When the poor creature heard this admo-
nition she shed tears, fell on her knees and implored
the saint's pardon. Then she begged him to show
Her how to work out her salvation. The saint,
touched by her tears and earnest entreaties, placed
her in a convent, where she led a most edifying
life, never ceasing to bemoan her past. Something
similar happened to the holy Abbot Paphnutius. A
certain notorious sinner, named Thais, tempted him
to sin, assuring him that they were alone, that none
but God could see them. The saint addressed her
in an earnest tone : "What ! You believe that God
sees you, and yet you are willing to sin !" Struck
by the saint's tone and words, Thais entered into
herself, and began to conceive intense hatred for her
past disorder. Yielding to the impulse of grace, she
gathered together her fine clothes, her jewels, and
all the treasures gained by her evil way of living,
made a fire of them in a public place, and retired into
a convent. There she lived for three years, fasting
on bread and water, and constantly repeating this
The Exercise of the Presence of God. 185
prayer: "O Thou who hast created me, have mercy
on me!" At the end of that thne she died a holy
death. Soon afterward it was revealed to a disciple
of St. Antony that the happy penitent had won a
splendid throne of glory among the saints.
By these examples we see how powerful is the
thought of the presence of God against sin. Let us
pray with holy Job : 'Deliver me, O Lord, and set
me beside Thee, and let any man's hand fight against
me" (Job xvii. 3). O my God, do Thou Thyself
henceforth remind m^ of Thy presence ! Remind me
that Thou seest me, and when my enemies rage
against me, I shall overcome them all.
2. The remembrance of the presence of God is
also a powerful incentive to the practice of the Chris-
tian virtues. How valiantly the soldiers fight in the
presence of their king ! The mere thought that their
prince, who can reward or punish, is watching them
inspires heroism. And when you yourself are in
the presence of your vSuperiors how attentive you are
to your work, with what modesty you behave toward
your companions, how^ puncttially you observe the
least prescription of obedience ! Ah ! if you were
deeply impressed by the thought that everyvv^here and
at all times the eyes of God are upon you, you would
certainly act with the purest intention, you would
fly human respect, and you would seek in all your
actions only His good pleasure. They who walk in
the presence of their Creator think only of pleasing
Him, regardless of the creature.
3. The exercise of the presence of God certainly
effects an intimate union of the soul with God, since
the presence of the beloved always increases love.
We know this from experience with our friends,
although intimate communication with them often
discovers many faults. But how different is the re-
i86 The Exercise of the Presence of God.
suit of close intercourse with God ! The longer we
know Him, and the more constantly we keep our-
selves in His presence, the more beauty and loveli-
ness do we discover in Him, and the more powerfully
are we drawn to Him. To establish intimate union
with the Supreme Good it is not enough to say our
morning and evening prayers; for, as St. Chrysos-
tom remarks, boiling water soon regains a low tem-
perature when removed from the fire. Just so is it
with the spiritual heat of the soul. Its fervor must
be kept alive by frequent remembrance of the pres-
ence of God and by ejaculations of love. David tells
us that he was filled with joy and consolation when
he thought of God: 'T remembered God, and was
delighted'' (Ps. Ixxvi. 4).. However great may be
the sadness and dejection of the soul, the loving
thought of God will surely disperse all clouds. Souls
that love God taste uninterrupted peace. Like the
sunflower, which turns always toward the sun, they
aim at living and acting always in the presence of
the glorious Sun of justice. They heed the injunc-
tion of the Lord : ''Walk before Me and be perfect"
(Gen. xvii. i). This means that they live in perfect
conformity with the will of God and labor solely for
the glorv of God. ''He is a true lover," says St.
Teresa, ''who thinks ever of the beloved."
<!^f l^ecallitiQ tt)e JBresence of ®^otr ftg l^eans of
tf)e Sintierstantiins.
The Exercise of the Presence of God calls into
play both the understanding and the zvill.
We must, by the understandings imagine God be-
fore us. In many different ways we can, by the
operation of the mind, place ourselves in His divine
presence. We may in the first place represent our
The Exercise of the Presence of God. 187
divine Saviour Jesus Christ as present to us, accom-
panying us, and observing all our actions. We may
imagine Him sometimes in this, sometimes in that,
mystery of His life. St. Teresa greatly favors this
way of practicing the presence of God. The second
manner of recalling the presence of God is perhaps
safer and more profitable to the soul. It consists
in beholding God with the eyes of faith as present
everywhere, constantly beside us, observing all that
we do. What matters it that we do not see Him
with our corporal eyes ? We can not see the atmos-
phere, and yet we know for a certainty that it sur-
rounds us on all sides. Without it we could neither
live nor breathe. We can not see God with the eyes
of the body, because He is a pure spirit ; but holy
faith teaches us that He is constantly present to us.
''Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see
him, saith the Lord ? Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord?" (Jer. xxiii. 24.) As a sponge in
the sea is saturated with water and surrounded by
it, so, says St. Paul, we live in God, we have all our
being in God : ''For in Him v^^e live and move and
are" (Acts xvii. 28). "God," says St. Augustine,
"observes every action, every word, every thought
of each one of us, and that with as great attention
as if He had forgotten all other creatures to look at
us alone. But as He sees all that we do, say, and
think. He takes note of all, in order, at the Day of
Judgment, to call us to account, then to reward or
punish us." To recall the presence of God accord-
ing to this second way, it is sufficient to make an
act of faith with one's whole heart, and to exclaim :
"O my God, I firmly believe that Thou art here pres-
ent !" This may be followed by acts of love, submis-
sion to His holy will, some good resolution, etc.
The third means of recalling the presence of God
i88 The Exercise of the Presence of God.
is to behold Him in all creatures. They have their
being from Him, and they are destined for our ser-
vice; therefore we should accustom ourselves to
look at God in them. His power and goodness shine
forth from them. As we gaze upon them we should
make acts of love, gratitude, and thanksgiving to
Him, remembering that, from all eternity. He
thought of calling so many beings into existence for
us to win our love. ''Learn,'' says St. Augustine,
''to love your Creator in the creature. Do not be-
come attached to those objects that God has created,
that you may not lose Him who created them."
When St. Teresa looked at the meadows, the woods,
the sea, the mountains, the brooks, the flowers, or
other beauties of creation, she thought she heard
them all reproaching her with her ingratitude to God.
St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, also, when holding a
lovely fl.ower or some fruit in her hand, used to
be inflamed with the love of God, and would cry.
out: "From all eternity God has thought of creating
this flower, this apple, for love of me, to give me a
proof of His love.''
The fourth means of never losing sight of God
is to behold Him in ourselves. God is present in us
in a way that far transcends His presence in the rest
of creation. The Lord dwells in us as in His temple,
in His place of abode. "Know you not that
you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you?" (i Cor. iii. i6.)
Therefore, our divine Saviour declared that
with the Father and the Holy Ghost He would
enter into the soul that loves Him, not for a
passing visit, but to take up His dwelling in her:
"If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My
Father will love him, and we will come to him, and
will make our abode with him" (John xiv. 23).
The Exercise of the Presence of God. 189
God dwells in a special manner in our soul, and
abides in us with singular joy, as He declares to us
by the Apostle: ''I will dwell in them, and walk
among them, and I will be their God" (2 Cor. vi.
16). There He wills to be loved and adored by us.
We ought, therefore, to strive to excite faith in His
holy presence, both to humble ourselves before His
divine majesty, and to make acts of confidence, self-
oblation, and love.
St. Teresa teaches us that the soul should be con-
sidered as an interior world, in which the good God
deigns to dwell as in another heaven. Speaking of
the presence of God in the heart, the saint says : 'T
think that they who can inclose themselves in the
little heaven of their own soul, where is found the Al-
mighty One who created it, have taken an admirable
way to perfection, because in a short time they will
run a long course." The saints by practicing the
presence of God in this way acquired great merit.
It was to it the Royal Psalmist referred when he
said : 'T set the Lord always in my sight, for He is
at my right hand that I be not moved" (Ps. xv. 8).
Blessed Henry Suso was so attentive to this prac-
tice that he performed all his actions in the presence
of God, arriving at so great a degree of union that
tender aspirations of love were alw^ays on his lips.
St. Gertrude, also, performed this exercise so per-
fectly that Our Saviour said of her to St. Mech-
tildis : ''This soul so dear to me walks constantly in
My presence. She is always careful to do My will,
and to perform all her actions for My greater
glory." The same may be said of St. Teresa. No
matter with what she might be occupied she never
lost sight of her beloved Lord.
Keep yourself constantly in the presence of God.
The Lord said to the patriarch Abraham : ''Walk
igo The Exercise of the Presence of God.
before Me, and be perfect" (Gen. xvii. i). That
means, if you walk always in My presence, you will
be perfect. Tobias gave his son the same instruc-
tion : '*A11 the days of thy life have God in thy
mind" (Tob. iv. 6). The Prophet Micheas admon-
ishes us : ''I will show thee, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord requireth of thee ... to walk
carefully with thy God" (Mich. vi. 8).
©f Hecalliufl tSe l^xtntntz of 6;^otr ibg J^eans of
tje jmm.
Having explained the exercise of the understand-
ing, we shall now discuss that of the will in recall-
ing the presence of God. Let us remark in the first
place that the happiness of the blessed consists in
this, that they uninterruptedly fix their understand-
ing on God, and always remain before Him. But
oh earth it is humanly impossible to preserve with-
out intermission the remembrance of God's pres-
ence ; we should, however, make every effort in our
power to enjoy the sweetness of God's presence,
tranquilly and peacefully, without anxiety or im-
moderate effort of the understanding. We may, in
a threefold manner, maintain the will attentive to
the divine presence.
The first way is to raise the heart to God frequently
by fervent little aspirations or sighs of love. This
may be done everywhere and at all times, at work,
at table, or at recreation. These aspirations may con-
sist in acts of love, desire, longing for God, aban-
donment, self-oblation, thanksgiving, humility, con-
trition, hope, and confidence. Though fully occu-
pied, nothing can prevent your raising your heart
from time to time, and saying to God : ''O my God,
I desire Thee alone !" 'T wish to belong en-
The Exercise of the Presence of God. 191
tirely to Thee !'' 'T give myself entirely to Thee !" ''I
renounce all for Thy love!" 'T thank Thee for
all the graces which Thou hast bestowed on
me!" "Give me Thy holy love!" "O that all
hearts would love Thee!" ''My God and mv all!"
"Blessed be God!" "Blessed be His holy name!"
''Ad Majorem Dei Gloriamf 'Tn Thee, my God,
I place all my confidence!" "Thy will be done for-
ever !" The ancient Fathers set great value on
these short aspirations, since they are better adapted
to keeping the soul in the presence of God than long
prayers. St. Chrysostom says that he who fre-
quently uses them closes the door to the devil so
that he can not torment him with bad thoughts.
At stated times, we should awaken our faith in the
presence of God, whose immensity fills all space.
In the morning, when we awake, our first words
should be, "My God, I adore thee; I believe that
Thou art everywhere ! Wherever I may go to-day,
Thou wilt be near me. Protect me, I beseech Thee,
and permit me not to offend in Thy sight." Again,
recall the divine presence at the beginning of all
your prayers, whether mental or vocal. This act of
faith will prevent distractions. In every tempta-
tion to impatience, or to any other fault, we must
recur instantly to the thought of God present
and ask His help. This will bring us strength
and courage, for there is no more urgent incen-
tive to victory at such moments than the thought
that God sees us. David made use of this
means to battle against temptation : "My eyes
are ever toward the Lord : for He shall pluck my feet
out of the snare" (Ps. xxiv. 15). This thought will
nerve us, also, to the performance of any difficult act
of virtue that may come in our way, as it did the
heroic Judith. Having unsheathed the sword, and
192 The Exercise of the Presence of God.
grasped the hair of the sleeping Holofernes, before
giving the death-blow, she raised her eyes to God,
saying: ''Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this
hour!'' (Jud. xiii. 9.)
The second way to preserve the presence of God
by acts of the will consists in renewing the good
intention during distracting occupations, aiming at
doing everything purely to please God. St. John
Climacus says that, visiting a certain convent, he
met in the cloister one of the monks who had a great
deal of work to do. He was the cook, and, exclu-
sive of guests, some of whom were always present,
he had to prepare the meals for two hundred and
thirty Religious. In the fatigue and hurry conse-
quent on his duty, this good monk maintained re-
markable interior recollection ; he had, besides, re-
ceived the gift of tears. Astonished at the sight,
the saint asked him how he managed to fulfil so well
his onerous charge. The Brother was at first un-
willing to speak of himself. But yielding, at last,
to St. John's importunities, he answered : 'T never
think that I am serving men, but God, and I esteem
myself unworthy of rest and quiet. The sight of
the material fire moves me to tears, since it suggests
the dreadful torments of the eternal flames of hell,
the purity of God, and the heinousness of sin." So,
too, must you serve God alone in everything. At
the beginning of every action, when you take any
work in hand, say : ''Lord, I desire only to do Thy
holy will." From time to time during the progress
of the work, be mindful to exclaim : "My God, all
for Thy glory!" or, "For Thee, my God, through
Christ our Lord !" This is a very easy way of keep-
ing yourself in the presence of God without
fatiguing the mind, for even the desire to please
God is a loving remembrance of His presence. A
The Exercise of the Presence of God. 193
third way to recall the divine presence is to retire to
the choir, or to one's cell, or to some quiet place,
whenever during the day we perceive that distract-
ing affairs have occupied the mind to the exclusion
of the thought of God. When a person feels weak
from fatigue or fasting, he is careful to take some
refreshment in order to regain strength for his la-
bor. How much more should a Religious refresh
his soul and recruit his strength by a little recollec-
tion in God when he finds that he has grown cold
and languid from too much attention to outside af-
fairs ! Father Avila used to say that a Religious who
does not love and practice prayer is like a fish out
of water, out of its natural element. After spend-
ing a long time in business or other distractions,
you must retire as soon as possible into solitude,
there to take breath, as it were, and by loving aspira-
tions again to recollect yourself in God. The bless-
edness of heaven consists in the love and contem-
plation of God ; hence we conclude that the happi-
ness of a Christian on earth must be found in lov-
ing and contemplating God, not face to face, but by
holy faith while w^alking in His presence. In this
way is begun, even here in this valley of tears, the
life of the blessed in heaven.
Truly the exercise of the presence of God by
means of the understanding and the will is an excel-
lent method of attaining conformity with the divine
will.
CHAPTER XXII.
Zbc ipreaence ot ©oD ConglDeteD in tbe
IbtDDen %itc.
IF there is one exercise which conduces more effi-
caciously than another to our sanctification, it
is assuredly that of the presence of God. If one
means be more conducive than another to attain that
holy exercise, it would seem to be a true and solid
devotion to the Heart of Jesus. His most holy soul,
being united to the Word, never lost the view of
the Beatific Vision, although the beatitude and the
joy of that Vision were b}^ a miracle withheld from
overflowing into the lower functions of His soul, in
order that He might be able to suffer in His
humanity.
The nearest resemblance to Our Lord which some
of the saints have attained in this respect may be
found in such transient glimpses of the divine
beauty as we find revealed in their lives. With those
extraordinary ways by which God sometimes vouch-
safes to visit a few favored souls we have nothing
to do at present. When we speak, therefore, in this
meditation, of the habitual presence of God, we re-
fer but to that union of the soul with Him which
was ordinary in the saints, and which may be at-
tained, in more or less degree, by faithful corre-
spondence with grace.
Our faculty in maintaining the divine presence
will be measured by the extent of our knowledge of
God, since in proportion to our knowledge of Him will
be our love, and it is love that keeps us in recollec-
The Presence of God. 195
tion of His presence, and that impels us to think of
Him and of all that relates to Him. This the Heart
of Jesus teaches us. His soul saw God. It knew
Him with a knowledge that no other soul but His
could have supported. His love equalled His
knowledge, and it was in the mysterious light of
such knowledge and such love that He walked on
earth — never alone, even in the midst of the most
cruel abandonment on the part of creatures — and
He was never forsaken, even when given up to the
pangs of supreme agony and dereliction.
That which proved the consolation of the human
Heart of Jesus, and after Him of all His saints, may
be the same in the case of each one of us. Let us
apply ourselves to know God's beauty and to hear
His voice, and our hearts will quickly learn to turn
toward Him, to seek His face, and delight in His
presence. The consciousness of that presence will
then become an abiding source of tranquil devotion
and of peace of heart, if not of sensible joy. It will
greet us, at our first awakening, with encourage-
ment to commence another day of trial ; it will fol-
low us amid our occupations, console us in our sor-
rows, support us in our temptations, until we shall
sink to rest, when the day is over, in the bosom of
that Father whom we have felt so near to us, and
whose presence will be our last thought, lulling us
to sleep in the calm consciousness of His protection.
As the appreciation of the excellence of this holy
exercise increases, the soul finds more facility and
more charm in occupying itself wath God, and be-
comes, by degrees, more familiar with the thoughts
of Him. It \N\\\ love to recall the Gospel narratives
of the life of our blessed Lord. It will in time learn
to feel at home, as it were, among them, and thus it
will be enabled to make for itself a solitude, a hid-
196 The Presence of God.
den life apart from the material life which externally
surrounds it. This habit the Sacred Scripture calls
''walking with God," for by it we make Him our
companion here below. It is of this habitual dwell-
ing in the divine presence that Jesus affords us so
perfect a model in the holy house of Nazareth.
Let us now consider the fruits of constant atten-
tion to the divine presence, which are first produced
in the heart, and from thence reflected throughout
the whole life.
The soul of Jesus looked ever upon the Father's
face, and as He looked the flames of love rose ever
higher within His Sacred Heart. This is the testi-
mony which He gives of Himself : "He that sent Me
is with Me, and He hath not left Me alone ; for I do
always the things that please Him.''
If a servant, from the motive of fear, performs
with care and attention those things which please
his master when he is conscious of that master's
presence, how much more will the faithful souls
do this from a motive of love in the presence of Our
Father in heaven ! Such will be the first result of
this holy exercise. The more habitually it is prac-
ticed, the more constant also will be the practice of
virtue, since the soul's first desire will be to "do al-
ways the things that please" the divine object of its
love, of whose presence it is so conscious.
It must be remarked, however, that the actions
which flow from this holy recollection in God have
in them nothing forced, nothing constrained.
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
The heart and mind are really where their treasure
is, that is, in God and in those things which refer
to His honor and glory; and this is true recollec-
tion, widely dift'erent from that studied and simply
external modesty which is often exaggerated, which
The Presence of God. 197
is maintained with effort, and which is perhaps
sometimes assumed through spiritual vanity. When
the interior eye has been really attracted by the di-
vine beauty, exterior objects lose their charm, and
are held in regard only so far as duty and charity
demand. When the inward ear habitually listens
to the divine whisper, silence is then a joy and no
longer a constraint. Habitual reverence will mani-
fest itself in the whole exterior — a gentle, spon-
taneous, and unconscious reverence flowing from
the union of the soul with God, and from the tran-
quil happiness which it experiences in the presence
of its treasure.
Let us, then, beg a lively faith in the divine pres-
ence, and the grace to acquire the sanctifying habit
of walking in it continually, so that with truth we
may say to God, ''I am always with Thee." Then
will virtues flourish in our souls beneath that genial
influence, like flowers beneath the sun. Thus shall
we grow in likeness to Jesus and make advance in
our union with His Sacred Heart.*
*From The Heart of Jesus of Nazareth.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Ibumtltt^ anD tte B^vanta^es.
'XJ'n important and indispensable virtue in the
<v^--"^ religions life is humility. It is deemed by
the saints the foundation and the safeguard of all
the other virtues. Although holy humility may not
be called the most distinguished among the virtues,
yet, as St. Thomas says, it takes the first place,
inasmuch as it is the foundation of the others.
St. Augustine says that humility must accompany
all our actions; must be with us everywhere ; for as
soon as we glory in our good works they are of no
further value to our advancement in virtue.
Before the advent of Jesus Christ upon earth the
beautiful virtue of humility was little known and
little loved. It was even despised, because pride,
the first cause of man's fall, dominated all. The
Son of God, therefore, came dow^n from heaven to
teach it, not only by word, but also by His example.
St. Basil, contemplating the life of the divine
Saviour, shows that every moment of it, from His
birth to His death, teaches us this particular virtue.
He willed to be born in a stable, of a poor mother, to
be wrapped in swaddling bands, to be laid in a
manger. Like a sinner. He submitted to circum-
cision ; like one unable to defend Himself, He fled
into Egypt ; He willed to be baptized among sinners
and publicans as one of them. Later on, when His
followers sought to honor Him by proclaiming Him
king. He hid Himself. When He knew that scorn
and insult would be heaped upon Him, He appeared
in public. The multitude extoi His power, the
Humility and its Advantages. 199
demons themselves publish His praise by the mouth
of the possessed — He commands them to be silent.
They load Him with dishonor and ignominy — He
utters not a word. And as if to commend humility
to us, as if by a last testament, He washes the feet
of His disciples. All these examples of humility He
crowned by His ignominious death on the cross. Let
us hear His words to us: "I have given you an
example, that as I have done to you, so you do also"
(John xiii. 15). By these words He appears to say:
''My children, I have willingly borne humiliation and
insult that you may learn of Me. Do not despise My
example." St. Augustine, speaking of the humility
of Jesus, says : "If His humility does not free us
from pride, I know of no other remedy." Writing
to Dioscorus, he says : ''Would you know, my friend,
which is the virtue that makes vis true disciples of
Jesus Christ, and unites us intimately with God?
Most emphatically I say it is humility. And as
often as you ask me I shall tell you the same."
''Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord"
(Prov. xvi. 5), for the proud man is blind; he is,
moreover, a thief and a liar, since he arrogates to
himself what belongs to God. St. Paul says : ''What
hast thou that thou hast not received?" (i Cor. iv.
7.) Could a horse, if it had the gift of reason, boast
of its splendid trappings, knowing that, at a sign
from its master, they could be stripped from him?
The proud man is blind, as was said to the bishop
in the Apocalypse : "Thou sayest : I am rich, and
made wealthy, and have need of nothing ; and know-
est not that thou art wretched and miserable and
poor and blind and naked" (Apoc. iii. 17). What
have we of ourselves but nothingness and sin? If
we closely examine ourselves we shall find how
faulty and imperfect is the little good that we may
200 Humility and its Advantages.
do. All the gifts that man possesses, whether of
nature, as health, understanding, beauty, skill ; or
of grace, as good desires, etc., come from God, the
Giver of all. This led St. Paul to say : "By the
grace of God I am what I am'' (i Cor. xv. lo). It
is certain, as the same Apostle declares, that we
can not conceive even a good thought of ourselves :
''We are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves,
as of ourselves" (2 Cor. iii. 5).
How poor is the proud soul! As long as pride
reigns in the heart the Spirit of God can not enter ;
the evil one can do what he pleases therein. To
free His servants from pride God sometimes per-
mits them to be assailed by the most shameful temp-
tations, and seems not to hear their prayer for de-
liverance. St. Paul himself is an instance of the
point in question. We find him writing to the Corin-
thians : ''There was given me a sting of my flesh, an
angel of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing thrice
I besought the Lord, that it might depart from me.
And He said to me : My grace is sufficient for thee"
(2 Cor. xii. 7). ''The Lord," says St. Jerome,
"would not deliver St. Paul from the sting of that
temptation, in order that he might remain humble."
Yes, God even permits a man to fall into sin against
purity, that he may keep him humble in his own eyes.
This happened to King David, who acknowledges
that he fell because he had not been humble : "Be-
fore I was humbled, I offended" (Ps. cxviii. 67).
St. Augustine says : "If you humble yourself, God
stoops to unite Himself to you ; if you are proud,
He turns away from you." In the same strain the
Royal Prophet exclaims : "The Lord looketh on the
low, and the high He knoweth afar off" (Ps.
cxxxvii. 6). The Lord bends loving eyes upon the
humble, but sees the proud, as it were, only from a
Humility and its Advantages. 201
distance. As we look at some one far off, not recog-
nizing him, so God seems to say to the proud : ''I do
not know you." The proud fare badly with God.
The proud ang'els are scarcely a moment in heaven,
and behold the Almighty Creator thrusting them
into hell then and there prepared for them. God's
word can not deceive : ''Whosoever shall exalt him-
self shall be humbled" (Matt, xxiii. 12). ''God re-
sisteth the proud, and giveth His grace to the hum-
ble" (James iv. 6). He has promised to hear every
one that prays to Him : "Every one that asketh, re-
ceiveth" (Luke xi. 10). But the proud are excluded
from this gracious promise. St. James assures us
that He resists the proud, resists their petitions. To
the humble, on the contrary. He is lavish. He opens
His hands, pours out His grace on them, gives them
whatever they desire. "Humble thyself to God, and
wait for His hands" (Ecclus. xiii. 9), says the Holy
Spirit. These words made St. Augustine cry out :
"Lord, give me the treasure of humility !" This vir-
tue is, indeed, a treasure, since it attracts the grace
of God upon the aoul. The heart filled with
thoughts of self can not receive divine gifts. It
must first be emptied by the knowledge of its own
nothingness. David says : "Thou sendest forth
springs in the vales ; between the midst of the hills
the waters shall pass" (Ps. ciii. 10). God pours
out the waters of His grace on the valleys, that is,
on humble souls ; but the mountains, the proud. He
overlooks. Hear the lowly Virgin Mother of God
extolling the wonders of His goodness to her : "He
hath regarded the humility of His handmaid. . . .
He that is mighty hath done great things to me"
(Luke i. 48). He hath regarded my lowliness, that
is, the knowledge of my own nothingness, says the
sweet Mother. St. Teresa tells us of herself that
202 Humility and its Advantages.
she received the greatest graces when she humbled
herself before God in prayer. ''The prayer of him
that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds, and he
will not depart till the Most High behold'' (Ecclus.
XXXV. 21 ). Judith, holy and humble, clothed in a
hair-shirt, her head strewn with ashes, prayed pros-
trate on the floor of her chamber : ''The prayer of
the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee"
(Jud. ix. i6). And again the Royal Prophet says:
"He hath regard to the prayer of the humble, and
He hath not despised their petition'' (Ps. ci. i8).
The humble shall receive from God all that they
desire. They must not fear being sent away empty-
handed and unconsoled. While St. Francis Borgia
was still in the world, a very pious man told him
that if he wished to advance in the way of perfec-
tion he should let no day pass without reflecting on
something that would fill him with holy shame and
contempt of self. St. Francis followed this advice
most faithfully and all that he heard or read
or saw he turned to his own confusion. Nor was
he satisfied with this. Every morning on rising, he
knelt down and kissed the floor three times, remind-
ing himself that he was only dust and that to dust
he would return. The example of holiness and hu-
mility that he has left us testifies to the fruit he
derived from this practice. Let us follow the same
counsel. Let us allow no day to pass without re-
flecting upon what can lead to contempt of self.
Let us not desist from this practice until the soul
is deeply penetrated with the knowledge of its own
poverty and weakness, and filled before God with
holy shame and confusion.
St. Gregory used to say : "As pride is a mark of
perdition, so is humility an evident sign of predes-
tination." In a word, if we do not obey the teach-
Humility and its Advantages. 203
ing of Our Lord, if we do not become as little chil-
dren in simplicity and humility, we shall not be
numbered among the blessed. ''Unless you become
as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of
heaven'' (Matt, xviii. 3).
To the poor, the despised, the persecuted, heaven
is promised. ''Blessed are ye when they shall revile
you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil
against you . . . your reward is very great in
heaven" (Matt. v. 11). Observe, it is not only in
the life to come that the humble are declared blessed,
but also in the present one. "Learn of Me," says
our divine Saviour, "because I am meek and humble
of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls" (Matt,
xi. 29). Thomas a Kempis says: "Continual peace
is with the humble, but vexation and unrest in the
heart of the proud." The peace of the humble is
best appreciated by a comparison of their state with
the restlessness and discontent of the proud. Holy
Scripture abounds in passages proving that sinners
have no peace. "There is no peace to the wicked,
saith the Lord" (Is. xlviii. 22). "Saying: Peace,
peace, and there was no peace" (Jer. vi. 14). "De-
struction and unhappiness are in their ways ; and
the way of peace they have not known" (Ps. xiii. 3).
Their conscience is never free from trouble and, if
they have a taste of peace, it is not unmixed with
bitterness. "Behold in peace is my bitterness most
bitter" (Is. xxxviii. 17). This refers to sinners in
general, but especially to the proud. They are al-
ways uneasy, and St. Augustine explains the reason.
"Pride," says he, "is always accompanied by envy.
It is by reason of these two evils, namely, pride and
envy, that the devil is a devil." Hence, we may con-
clude what efifect these vices produce in man, since
^hey wrought such woe for the most noble of the
204 Humility and its Advantages.
angelic spirits. A man domineered by those in-
separable companions, pride and envy, vainly seek-
ing to be honored by all, and having the morti-
fication of seeing others more honored than he, must
of necessity bear in his breast a heart filled with gall
and bitterness. He lives in a state of continual agi-
tation and unrest. The proud m.an is chagrined, de-
pressed, utterly miserable when he sees himself
despised, and another exalted.
Holy Scripture gives an excellent picture of the
nature and efi'ects of pride in the person of Aman.
He was a favorite of King Assuerus, who bestowed
great possessions on him, and raised him above all
the nobles of his kingdom. He was honored by
all, and there seemed nothing left for him to desire.
But his happiness was not perfect as long as Mardo-
chai did not rise up to do him honor, did not greet
him as he passed. This deprived him of peace, as
he owned to his wife and friends. After he had re-
counted to them his fortunate position, his high of-
fice, and all the favors showered upon him by the
king, he said : ''And whereas I have all these things,
I think I have nothing so long as I see Mardochai,
the Jew, sitting before the king's gate" (Esther v.
13). And so it is with a proud Religious. She can
not bear to be less esteemed than her neighbor, or to
have this or that office given to another while she is
passed by. Such trifles frequently cause more grief
and uneasiness to Religious than more serious in-
juries do to worldlings. That they have even lost
their vocation from such a cause is not unheard
of. Imagining that they could remain no longer
where so little consideration was shown them,
and prating about self-respect demanding its due,
more than one has rashly imperilled her eternal sal-
vation by returning to the world. How justly did
Humility and its Advantages. 205
St. Francis Xavier exclaim : "O honor and esteem
of the world, you have given rise to how much evil !
To how much evil you will continue to give rfse !''
The humble man is always satisfied. What honor
is conferred upon him he considers far above his
desert. Is he slighted or injured in any way, he
thinks that his sins deserve far worse, and he says
with Job : 'T have sinned, and indeed I have of-
fended, and I have not received what I have de-
served" (Job xxxiii. 27). St. Francis Borgia, while
on a journey, happened to meet one of his former
noble friends. The latter seeing him destitute of
the comforts he had once possessed in abundance,
pitied him and begged him to take a little more care
of himself. The saint responded with a smile : ''Do
not be anxious about me. I am not so badly ofif as
you think. I have a courier who goes before me,
and makes everything ready for me." The man
asked: ''And who is that courier?" "That courier,"
answered the saint, "is self-knowledge and the
thought of the punishment of hell, which my sins
have deserved. With this knowledge, no matter
how badly lodged I may be at the inn on my w^ay, I
alw^ays find my surroundings better than I deserve."
Let us pray for humility to that model of humility,
St. Francis Borgia. Let us bear in mind that the
perfection of the ancient Fathers consisted, as we
are told, in loving God, despising self, and judging
none.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Ibumlltt^ ot tbe innDeratanMng.
*TTrFTER studying the advantages of humility, we
(yJ<^ shall now treat of its exercise, and the means
of attaining this holy and necessary virtue. 'There
are two kinds of humility," says St. Bernard, "that
of the mind or understanding, by which, reflecting
on his own misery and baseness, a man comes to
despise himself, and esteem himself worthy of be-
ing despised ; and that of the will, by virtue of which
he desires to be despised and humbled by every
one." Without humility of the understanding, that
of the will can not be acquired.
. Humility of the understanding consists in hav-
ing a poor opinion of self, in esteeming one's self as
wretched and as sinful as one really is. A true self-
knowledge begets humility. St. Teresa says that
humility is truth ; consequently, the Lord loves the
humble so much because they love the truth. It is,
indeed, true that we are nothing. Of ourselves we
possess nothing but sin, hence we are more despi-
cable than nothingness. All the good that we have,
or effect, comes from God and belongs to God. The
humble man keeps this truth ever before his eyes,
and therefore does not praise or glorify himself.
He is convinced that he deserves contempt ; he can
not endure that others should attribute to him merit
that he has not, and rejoices when he is despised and
treated as he deserves. God is well pleased with the
humble. The more a man despises himself, the
more exalted he wnll be in the sight of God, says St.
Gregory. St. Magdalene of Pazzi used to teach her
Humility of the Understanding. 207
Sisters that there are two foundations of perfection,
love of God and contempt of self. She added,
moreover, that they who have been more humble on
earth will see God more clearly in heaven. St.
Augustine says : ''Two cities have been formed by
two loves : the earthly by the love of self, even to
the contempt of God ; the heavenly by the love of
God, even to the contempt of self."
We should constantly pray with St. Augustine :
''Lord, grant that I may know Thee and know my-
self ; that I may love Thee and despise myself !"
Thou art the Supreme Good, and I am poverty it-
self. The Wise Man says: 'Tie [God] is honored
by the humble" (Ecclus. iii. 21), because only the
humble recognize Him as the one Supreme Good.
If you would honor God, you must keep your misery
ever before your eyes, and be ready to accept from
the hand of God whatever He ordains.
The first practice of humility should be never to
pride one's self on one's good works. Consider the
heroic deeds of the saints and their profound humil-
ity ! A frequent reading of their lives will disabuse
us of egotism. There, at least, pride suffers,
on beholding what great things the saints did
for God, while we have done so little. How can we
glory when we remember that if there is any good
in us, any virtue, it is a gift of God ? ''Who would
not smile," says St. Bernard, "if the clouds gloried
in pouring down their rain?" And so should we
deserve to be laughed at if we gloried in the little
good that we do.
St. Augustine says : '*If a man enumerates his ser-
vices to Thee, O Lord, what is it that he numbers
but Thine own gifts?" When St. Teresa performed
a good work, or saw one performed by another, she
began at once to praise God for it, knowing that all
2o8 Humility of the Understanding.
good comes from Him alone. The saint, moreover,
makes the judicious remark that humility in no wise
prevents us from recognizing the special graces
which God, perhaps, more lavishly bestows on us
than on others. This is not pride, she says. Such
knowledge helps to humility and gratitude, since it
makes us see that, although less deserving, we are
more highly favored. ''A soul,'' continues the saint,
''who does not know that she has received great
graces from God will never resolve to do great
things for God. We must carefully distinguish be-
tween what comes from God and what comes from
self." St. Paul shrinks not from saying that he la-
bored more for Jesus Christ than all the other
apostles : 'T have labored more abundantly than all
they'' (i Cor. xv. lo). But he immediately adds
that all that he has done is the work of divine grace
assisting him, ''Yet not I, but the grace of God with
me" {ibid.).
We read in Father Huguet's Month of the Sacred
Heart that St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society
of Jesus, alvv^ays practiced in a heroic manner the
rules for humility which he gave to his followers.
"He was hungry and thirsty for the humility of the
Heart of Jesus. The opprobrium which he sought
and accepted with thanksgiving attested that he
would, at every cost, practice the most perfect hu-
mility. Nevertheless what did he do w^hen, accused
of being a corrupter of youth, he was condemned to
submit to an infamous flogging in presence of the
students of the University of Paris? Although he
desired ardently to satisfy his thirst for ignominy,
according to the example of his divine Master, one
consideration arrested him.
"He had gained to Jesus Christ some distinguished
young men, who would make His Holy Name known
Humility of the Understanding. . 209
and His Sacred Heart adored ; but if he allowed
himself to be beaten publicly, these young men
would look upon him with horror, and Ignatius,
disgraced, would no longer be able to keep them
under the banner of this King; therefore the
glory of God and the salvation of souls pre-
vailed over his love for humiliations, and he
defended and justified himself. Consequently, at
the moment when they expected to see him
flogged and disgraced at the feet of the rector
of the University, they saw, on the contrary, and
with utter astonishment, the venerable Superior fall
at his feet and ask pardon for having too easily be-
lieved the calumnious reports, and then proclaim
openly, before the w^hole University, Loyola to be a
model of virtue, and a saint."
Secondly, as you know that without Almighty
God you can do nothing, you should never rely on
your own strength, but, like St. Philip Neri, mis-
trust self. Owing to the fact that the proud rely on
their own strength they fall. Consider what hap-
pened to St. Peter. He declared that neither suf-
ferings nor death would be able to separate him
from his divine Master: "Yea, though I should die
with Thee, I will not deny Thee" (Matt. xxvi. 35).
Because he uttered these words in a spirit of self-
confidence, he had the misfortune to deny his blaster
almost as soon as he entered the house of the high
priest. Let us profit by his sad example, and guard
carefully against trusting to our good resolutions,
our good will ; let us place all our confidence in God,
frequently repeating: 'T can do all things in Him
who strengtheneth me" (Phil. iv. 13).
Yes, I can do all things, but not of myself. I can
do them only in God, who is my strength. Then
you may hope to do great things, for Isaias says :
210 • Humility of the Understanding.
'*They that hope in the Lord shall renew their
strength" (Is. xl. 31). The humble draw new
strength from their confidence in the Lord. By dis
trusting themselves they become strong with the
strength of the Almighty One. He who desires that
God should make use of him for great things
should become the most humble. If the enemy seeks
to tempt you by assuring you that you can rely on
yourself in all circumstances, that you are safe, that
you will not fall, say with David : ''In thee, O Lord,
have I hoped, let me never be confounded" (Ps.
XXX. 2). I have placed all my hope in Thee, my
God. Suffer me not to be brought to shame. Let
me not lose Thy grace and become a slave of hell.
Thirdly, if you fall into sin, be not discouraged,
but humble yourself, lament your fall, and as you
now more plainly see your own weakness turn with
still greater confidence to your God. To be impa-
tient with yourself would proclaim a want of hu-
mility ; surprise at your fall would indicate pride and
conceit. It is at the time of temptation and sin that
you must trust more fully in the goodness and com-
passion of God. Your infidelity must be a new in-
centive to still greater hope in His mercy. This is
what the Apostle wishes to teach us when he says :
•'To them that love God, all things work together
unto good" (Rom. viii. 28). Under "all things,"
St. Augustine includes even sins, inasmuch as they
lead to contrition and humility. One day Our Lord
said to St. Gertrude : 'Tf a person soils his hand, he
washes it, and then it is cleaner than before. And
so with the soul after sin. If she purifies herself
by true contrition, she will be more pleasing to Me
than before." God sometimes allows souls that are
not well grounded in humility to fall into faults, that
they may acquire distrust of self, and place all their
Humility of the Understanding. 211
hope in His assistance. Have you committed some
fault? Rise up by an act of love and contrition,
firmly resolved to do better and to confide in God
alone.
Fourthly, should you hear that another has fallen
into grievous sin, do not express wonder, but com-
passion, and tremble for yourself. Never glory in
your freedom from the faults that you remark in
others. As a punishment, the Lord might permit
you to commit similar transgressions. The i\postle
Paul warns his disciples never to treat a sinner
wath disdain, and before correcting any one to re-
flect that they, too, might very easily fall into
the same, if not greater, sins. ''Brethren, if a man
be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual,
instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, con-
sidering th3^self, lest thou also be tempted"
(Gal. vi. i).
The Abbot Machetes, as Cassian relates, humbly
acknowledged, on a certain occasion, that he had
fallen most shamefully into three particular faults
which he had censured impatiently and with undue
severity in his brethren. Truly humble souls, en-
lightened from above, recognize better than others
not only the perfection of God, but also their own
poverty and sinfulness. The saints, therefore, al-
though leading lives so devout, so different from
those of others, considered themselves the vilest sin-
ners on earth, St. Francis of Assisi, for example,
called himself the greatest of sinners. St. Thomas
of Villanova was in continual anguish of mind at the
thought of having to render an account to God of
his sinful life, as he called it. St. Gertrude w^as
amazed that the earth did not open under her feet
and swallow her up on account of her sins. St. Paul
the Hermit cried out with tears, ''Woe to me, poor
212 Humility of the Understanding.
sinner! I do not deserve to bear the name of
monk!'' Father Avila relates something similar of
a very devout person, who begged God to allow her
to see the state of her soul. Her prayer was granted.
Although she had never committed a mortal sin,
her soul appeared to her so hideous and abominable
that she exclaimed : ''O ni}^ God, for Thy mercy's
sake, take from my sight this monster !"
Another excellent practice of humility is never to
prefer one's self to another. Let us think of
our own sins, of our own weaknesses, and abase
ourselves. We know for certain the sins that we
have committed, while we do not know those of
others. x\gain, we do not know how many hidden
virtues may belong to him whom we despise. We
must reflect, also, that if we had made good use of
our measure of light and graces we should be saints.
Had Almighty God given those graces to an in-
fidel, he might now% perhaps, be a seraph of sanctity,
v/hile w^e are still so imperfect. The thought of our
ingratitude should urge us to humble ourselves un-
der all circumstances, for St. Thomas says : ''Sin
becomes great in proportion to the ingratitude of the
sinner." A single sin, therefore, that one man may
commit, may be more grievous in the sight of God
than a hundred committed by another favored with
fewer graces. God's gifts have been lavished on
you, and you well know how many are your sins.
Your whole life has been an unbroken chain of
voluntary faults, and your good works, if you have
any, are, perhaps, so full of self-love and imperfec-
tion, that they deserve more punishment than
reward.
From the foregoing considerations, you ought, as
St. Magdalene of Pazzi recommends to all Religious,
esteem yourself unworthy even to kiss the ground
Humility of the Understanding. 213
on which others walk. From the depths of your
nothingness, therefore, raise your voice to God, and
exclaim : "O God, come to my assistance ! O Lord,
make haste to help me !" Help me, or I perish !
Help me, or I shall offend Thee more grievously
than all others ! Repeat this aspiration frequently.
Let us conclude wath the celebrated words of St.
Bernard : ''The soul has nothing to fear from hu-
miliation, however great it may be; but she must
carefully shun the least pride, for it might plunge
her into the depths of misery."
CHAPTER XXV.
IbumiUt^ ot tbe TimtlL
*T=^UMiLiTY of the understanding, as has been said,
<-■-& consists in being convinced that we are de-
serving of contempt. But humiHty of the will is
greater and more meritorious. It consists in the
desire to be despised by others, and in rejoicing in
contempt. St. Bernard says of humility of the will :
*'The first degree of humility consists in this, that
one has no desire to be placed over others ; the
second, that he desires to be subject to others ; the
third, that in a state of subjection he bears in a tran-
quil manner every offence that may be heaped upon
him." This is properly the humility of heart which
Jesus Christ teaches when He says: ''Learn of Me,
that I am meek and humble of Heart !" In one of
his May sermons on Ma^y Magnifying God, Father
William Humphrey, S.J., says : Humility is not self-
depreciation, or a making one's self out to be less
than one is, or worse than one is. Humility is
simply the clear, conscious knowledge, the abiding
and vivid recollection, the practical recognition and
confession, that one is a creature, and, as such, has
a Creator, from whom depends, not only all that one
has, but also all that one is. The virtue of humility
is, in other words, the first article of the Creed, "I
believe in God,'' carried out into practice. We can
not move hand or foot, or draw a breath, or conceive
an idea, or utter a word, without concurrent action
and direct cooperation on the part of Our Creator.
In all things we are entirely and absolutely depen-
dent on the triune God — on the Almighty, who
Humility of the Will, 215
made us. *'In Him we live and move and are"
(Acts xvii. 28).
"In order to be humble, this knowledge by the
creature of its dependence upon its Creator must
be not merely speculative but practical. It must be
not merely possessed by and abiding in the intellect,
but acting on and moving the will. It must be not
merely an idea, but an idea carried out into action.
The fruit of humility is obedience. There is no
living humility without obedience. God is a spirit
with an intelligence and a will ; and of that will He
has given an external expression in a law ; and by
means of that law His uncreated will presses on the
will of His rational creatures ; and when the rational
creature submits beneath that pressure and obeys,
it thereby confesses its created nature, and so per-
forms an act of humility."
This humility has many degrees, and especially
three. "The first degree of humility," as Father
Vercruysse says in his Meditations, "consists in the
habitual disposition of losing all things, possessions,
reputation, health, life itself, and to suffer all
things rather than commit a mortal sin. This first
degree is necessary for all Christians. The second
degree consists in the habitual disposition of losing
all and suffering all rather than commit a deliberate
venial sin. Every true Religious ought to strive to
attain it ; otherwise ( i ) he will keep in the first de-
gree only with difficulty, or rather he will not do it.
'He that contemneth small things shall fall by little
and little' (Ecclus. xix. i) ; (2) he can not imagine
he is fulfilling the obligation he has contracted be-
fore God .of tending to perfection ; for nothing
is more opposed to perfection than venial sin; (3)
he can never enjoy true peace of heart because he is
resisting God's designs upon him : 'Who hath re-
2i6 Humility of the Will.
sisted Him, and hath had peace?' (Job ix. 4) ; (4)
he will never be fit to do great things for the salva-
tion of souls.
''The third degree consists in the disposition of
rather being poor with Jesus Christ in His poverty
than in abundance ; of rather being forgotten and
despised with Jesus Christ, who was humiliated and
injured, than to live in honor; rather to be on the
cross with Jesus crucified than to enjoy the con-
solations and delights of this life, in order that we
may have a greater resemblance to Jesus, our divine
Model, and be better able to prove our love. This
habitual disposition, or third degree of humility, is
not impossible to human weakness sustained by
grace. It is the perfect imitation of Jesus Christ;
it gives peace and joy of heart in the midst of tribu-
lations, an abundance of divine blessings, the assur-
ance of salvation and the pledge of greater glory in
heaven."
The ideal Religious will make every effort to at-
tain this third degree of humility, which is the high-
est degree of Christian perfection, containing in it-
self all that is most heroic in virtue, and produc-
ing a most intimate union, as well as resemblance
with Jesus Christ, who for love of us willingly em-
braced the ignominy of the cross: "Having joy set
before Him, endured the cross, despising the
shame'' (Heb- xii. 2), and who communicates Him-
self fully to those souls who give themselves entirely
to Him. It is the most meritorious way of salva-
tion, because it implies the greatest love and an un-
interrupted course of sacrifices. Let us pray with
fervor and constancy : "Jesus, meek and humble of
heart, make my heart like unto Thine !"
As Father Huguet says in The Month of the
Sacred Heart: "Humility is the characteristic and
Humility of the Will. 217
distinctive virtue of the Heart of Jesus, the virtue
that He loved above all the others, and recom-
mended in His discourses ; the virtue that He sup-
ported by His own example, inspired His friends to
practice and recompensed in His saints. He was
humble of heart, for His humility was one of choice,
a sincere humility and one accompanied with the
interior dispositions conformable to the state of a
voluntary victim of sin.
''What a part humility plays in the life of Jesus!
It animates His acts, and all His mysteries are its
manifestations. The humility of the Heart of Jesus
causes Him to descend from heaven to earth, and
becomes the law^ of His Incarnation. Humility held
Him concealed for nine months in Mary ; humility
placed Him in a crib; humihty made Him fly into
Egypt, live obscure and obedient in Nazareth, peni-
tent in the desert, and covered with confusion under
the ignominious clothing of our crimes. Humility
directs the words and actions of His public life.
Humility becomes His well-beloved spouse, and He
loved it even to excess, even to a sort of delirium,
in the later mysteries of His mortal life ! . . . And
yet He finds the secret of surpassing all these prodi-
gies of humility, and of perpetuating them in the
Blessed Eucharist !
''The humility of Our Lord was of another nature,
and much more profound than ours. He had quite a
different and more eminent knowledge of the infinite
distance there is between the greatness of God exist-
ing by Himself and the baseness of His creatures
drawm from nothing; and as He united in His own
person these two extremes His soul was continually
plunged into the most lively and profound senti-
ments of the divine mystery and of His own base-
ness. Jfesus, humble Jesus, give me humility, teach
2i8 Humility of the Will.
me humility! I know that if I possess humiHty I
possess with it all graces, as God refuses nothing to
the humble. I know that by humility I can glorify
Thy name, and please Thy Heart. 'Thou wilt save
the humble people,' said David. 'Thou hast re-
garded the humility of thy handmaid,' said the holy
Virgin.
''O Saviour, abject and humble! give me the
science of the saints, self-knowledge, and the desire
of self-contempt. O good Jesus ! who hast suffered
for love of me so rnuch opprobrium and humiliation,
impress in my heart esteem for it and make me de-
sire to practice it.''
But by what means can one attain this humility?
By the total abandonment of one's self to God's holy
will, by placing one's self without reserve into the
hands of our good Lord and Master to be disposed
of according to His pleasure. We can give our-
selves. When this gift is made entirely and forever,
God fulfils His designs upon us, and gives us all
that of which we have need to cooperate in their
execution. The first light that we receive from
Heaven should produce in us humility, which will
finally merit for us all the others. Genuine humility
leads to perfection. Humility means sanctity. A
heavenly treasure indeed is that profound humility
which is generous, peaceable, and unchangeable;
which, on one side, places us in the quality of sin-
ners, beneath nothingness, and on the other elevates
lis above the world, the demon and ourselves, and
renders us great with the greatness of God, strong
with the strength of God, and holy with the holiness
of God.
The more purely one loves, the more perfect is his
humility. Pure charity despoils man of himself; it
Humility of the Will. 219
clothes him with Jesus Christ: and in that consists
true humiHty. It causes us to Hve no longer in our-
selves; it causes Jesus Christ to live in us. "I live,
now not I, but Christ liveth in me/' says St. Paul
(I Gal. ii. 20).
St. Augustine's beautiful and sublime prayer,
''D online Jesti! Noverim me, Noverim Te," com-
mends itself to every Religious. ''His Holiness
Pope Leo XHI.," as the Nezv Raccolta tells us, "by
a Brief of September 25, 1883, granted to all the
faithful who with a contrite heart and devotion shall
recite this petition, an indulgence of fifty days, once
a day."
DoMiNE Jesu, noverim me, noverim te,
Nee aliquid cupiam nisi te.
Oderim me et amem te ;
Omnia agam propter te.
Humiliem me, exaltem te ;
Nihil cogitem nisi te.
Mortificem me et vivam in te:
Qnaecumque eveniant accipiam a te.
Perseqnar me, sequar te.
Semperqne optem sequi te.
Fugiam me, confiigiam ad te,
Ut merear defendi a te.
Timeam mihi, timeam te^
Et sim inter electos a te.
Diffidam mihi, fidam in te,
Obedire velim propter te.
Ad nihil afficiar nisi ad te,
Et pauper sim propter te.
Aspice me, ut diligam te.
Voca me, ut videam te
Et in seternum fruar te. Amen.
Lord Jesus, let me know myself, let me know Thee,
And desire nothing else but Thee.
Let me hate myself and love Thee;
And do all things for the sake of Thee.
Let me humble mvself, and exalt Thee.
220 Humility of the Will.
And think of nothing but only of Thee.
Let me die to myself, and live in Thee,
And take whatever happens as coming from Thee*
Let me forsake myself and walk after Thee;
And ever desire to follow Thee.
Let me flee from myself, and turn to Thee;
That so I may merit to be defended by Thee.
Let me fear for myself, let me fear Thee;
And be among those who are chosen by Thee.
Let me distrust myself, and trust in Thee,
And ever obey for the love of Thee.
Let me cleave to nothing but only to Thee,
And ever be poor for the sake of Thee.
Look upon me, that I may love Thee;
Call me, that I may see Thee
And forever possess Thee. Amen.
Genuine humility keeps the mind serene and the
heart unruffled in the midst of persecution. Com-
menting upon these words of Job: '1 have sinned,
and indeed I have offended, and I have not received
what I have deserved" (Job xxxiii. 2y), St.
Gregory says : *'Many express contempt of them-
selves with their lips, but can not bear to be told
aught disparaging." If they talk of themselves
slightingly, they do not speak, as Job did, in a spirit
of truth, nor as they think in their inmost soul.
Their humility is not sincere, not genuine ; it is as-
sum.ed. They desire to be esteemed humble,
though they are not humble. If they had genuine
humiHty they would not be so sensitive to criticism,
they would not excuse and defend themselves so
strenuously, they would not become so excited and
confused. Cassian tells a story of a monk of this
kind, who once visited the Abbot Serapion. In
speech and bearing he was most humble. He de-
clared himself the greatest sinner, and was con-
stantly vilifying himself. He did not deserve to
breathe the air, he was unworthy that the earth
Humility of the Will. 221
should bear him, such were his words. He would
sit only on the ground, and suffer no one to wash
his feet. After their meal, the abbot began a con-
versation on some points of the spiritual life, and
gave his guest a little good advice. Among other
things, he told him very gently that, as he was still
young and strong, it would be more to the purpose
to work for his living as did the other monks, in-
stead of roaming from cell to cell. The monk took
the advice badly and showed his anger in his coun-
tenance. Then the abbot said to him : "How is this,
4iiy son? Just now you spoke contemptuously of
yourself, and yet you can not take, without anger
and resentment, a little advice given in all gentle-
ness and love. Did you, perhaps, expect me to ap-
ply to you the words of the Wise Man: The just
is first accuser of himself (Prov. xviii. 17), since
3^ou said so much that was bad of yourself, and did
3'ou merely seek by an appearance of self-contempt
to win praise ?''
Alas ! how often the same thing happens in many
convents ! A Religious acknowledges that she is
the most sinful person in the world, that she has de-
served hell a thousand times, but let the Superior or
one of her Sisters gently remind her of a fault, or
call attention in general terms to her tepidity and
bad example, and she at once defends herself, and
inquires in an angry voice : ''What have you re-
marked in me? What is amiss? Keep your ad-
monitions for such and such a one, who do far
worse than I." But how is this? You have often
said that you deserved hell a thousand times, and
now you can not bear a word ! Ah ! such humility is
on the lips ; it is not of the heart. It is very far
from the humility that Jesus Christ has commanded.
''Woe to us!" exclaimed St. Gregory; "by our
222 Humility of the Will.
hypocrisy and dissimulation we angle for the esteem
of the world. What appears humility in us is really
the grossest pride. VVe bow down before men that
they may praise and esteem us. If this is not so,
why do you say of yourself that which you do not
want others to believe? Did you speak from the
heart, and to witness to the truth, you would wish
to be believed. But if you do not wish to be be-
lieved, it is a sign that your apparent humility is
only a bait to gain the esteem of men." The Holy
Spirit teaches us the same : "There is one that hum-
bleth himself wickedly, and his interior is full of
deceit'' (Ecclus. xix. 23). Could there be greater
deceit, greater dissimulation than to lower and abase
one's self in order to gain the esteem of men?
Could there be greater pride than to wish to appear
humble? "To strive after the honor of humility
by aping humility is no virtue," says St. Bernard,
"but the subversion of virtue." St. Ambrose in-
veighed against such hypocrisy : "Many have t?ie
appearance, but not the virtufe of humility. They
display it outwardly, despise it inwardly."
Pride and craving after esteem are so immoder-
ately great in some that they find a thousand ways
to gratify their vanity. Whether in a straightfor-
ward or indirect way, they seek honor. "The
proud," says St. Gregory, "fancy all they do well
done. Generally they beg to be told of their faults,
being persuaded that they will hear themselves
praised. The request to be shown their faults ap-
])ears to spring from humility. But they have no
humility ; they have no other end in view than to be
praised. Others, again, begin by declaring them-
selves and all that they do w^orthy of blame. They
express dissatisfaction with their work only to court
approbation, and to have the pleasure of hear-
Humility of the IV ill. 223
ing it said that it could not have been done better.
Spiritual writers call such humility "Humility with
a hook/' As a fisherman uses line and hook to draw
in what he can not reach himself, so the proud em-
ploy false humility to secure the praise which can
not be otherwise obtained. St. Vincent de Paul says
that humility looks most beautiful to all who merely
gaze at it, but its exercise is most repellent to na-
ture; for true humility consists in the love of one's
own abjection. St. John Climacus remarks that he
who calls himself a great sinner is not thereby
humble, unless he sincerely wishes others to credit
what he says and to treat him accordingly. ''It is all
very well," says the saint, ''to use vilifying terms
of one's self, but it is better still to receive with
serenity the ill that others say about us, and even to
rejoice at it."
All teachers of the spiritual life admonish us not
to say anything that could redound to our praise.
This advice is similar to that which Tobias gave his
son : ''Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind or in
thy words" (Tob. iv. 14). The Apostle Paul has
taught us the same by his example. After enu-
merating, for the edification of the faithful and the
honor of God, the great things he had accom-
plished, having been rapt even to the third heaven,
he says : "1 forbear, lest any man should think of me
above that which he seeth in me, or anything he
heareth from me" (2 Cor. xii. 6). "How nobly,"
says St. Bernard, speaking of this passage, "does
the Apostle say : 'I forbear !' The arrogant do not
forbear, the proud do not forbear, neither does he
who prides himself on his works, nor he who tries
to pass for that which he is not. Only the truly
himible man forbears for the sake of his own soul ;
he loves to remain unknown and esteemed as noth-
224 Humility of the Will.
ing." ''And this/' says The Imitation^ ''is the high-
est science, the most profitable lesson, truly to know
and despise ourselves/'
St. Arsenius was the tutor of Arcadius and
Honorius, the sons of the Emperor Theodosius,
whom they succeeded on the imperial throne. He
had held high positions in the world, and he was
distinguished for profound learning. After be-
coming a monk, no word ever escaped his lips that
smacked of pride or gave the faintest hint of his
great knowledge. -He used to apply to the most
simple of the monks for lessons in the spiritual Hfe,
declaring that he was not worthy to be their scholar
in so subHme a study. In his conduct toward his
brethren he was frank and cordial, simple and un-
assuming. We are told in the life of St. Jerome
that he was descended from a noble family, and yet
in all his works we find not the least hint of it. Set
no value on what you were or were not in the world.
Virtue and especially humility are prized in a Re-
ligious.
If you would be truly humble, never praise your-
self in any way, as has been said above. Be silent
on your general conduct, your talents, your good
works, your distinguished descent, your relatives.
''Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth,"
says the Wise Man (Prov. xxvii. 2). Remember
the proverb : "Self-praise is no recommendation.''
If you find it necessary sometimes to speak of your-
self and your afifairs, try rather to depreciate than
to elevate yourself. "In humbling yourself, you
have nothing to fear," says St. Bernard ; "but in
elevating yourself even at the smallest expense of
truth, you may do yourself great harm." He who,
in passing through a low doorway, stoops more
than is necessary, receives no injury; but he who
Humility of the Will. 225
does not lower his head sufficiently, were it only by
a finger's breadth, wall be sure to hurt himself. If
you must recount your deeds, choose rather to make
known your faults than those actions that may have
some little appearance of virtue. But the best way
of all is to say neither good nor bad of yourself.
St. Bonaventure, in an excellent argument, says :
*'Be assured your good qualities are perceived by
others ; if you yourself are silent in regard to them,
they will love you all the more, and double praise
will be yours : first, for the good qualities, and
secondly, for the fact of your hiding them. But if
3^ou try to show them off, you will be ridiculed. In
the same degree as they before esteemed you, they
will now despise you, and in the same proportion
that you once edified, you will now disedify."
If others praise you, humble yourself interiorly,
and cast a glance on your manifold faults. St.
Gregory says: 'The proud rejoice in false praise;
the humble, on the contrary, are saddened and mor-
tified even by well-deserved praise. They are like
David, who said of himself : T am poor and in la-
bors from my youth ; and being exalted, have been
humbled and troubled''' (Ps. Ixxxvii. 16). The
saint means that the humble man is sad on hearing
himself praised, because he does not attribute to
himself the qualifications ascribed to him, and be-
cause he dreads to lose, by self-complacency, what-
ever merit he may have acquired in the sight of
God. It grieves him to think that it might be said
to him : ''Thou didst receive good things in thy life-
time" (Luke xvi. 25). You have gloried in your
pride, and so received your recompense. The praise
that elates the proud abashes the humble. The Wise
Man teaches this when he says : ''As silver is tried
in the fining-pot, and gold in the furnace, so a man
226 Humility of the Will.
is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth'' (Prov.
xxvii. 21 ). Is the gold or silver pure? The fire
cleanses it, and all that is impure in it is consumed
by the flames. Praise, says the Wise Man, produces
the same effect. If it puffs a man up, he is not pure
gold or silver, for he does not stand the assay of the
tongue. But if he humbles himself when praised,
he is pure gold, since the fire of the tongue does riot
consume him. He is, on the contrary, refined and
purified by it. The humble man keeps his peace in
the midst of humiliations.
Bear in mind the words of St. Francis of Assisi :
*T am only what I am in the sight of God.''
Do you think that God values you more highly be-
cause man esteems you more? Understand that
if you take pleasure in the praise of men, and there-
by become haughty and exalt yourself above others.
He will instantly repulse you, though men may con-
tinue to praise. Be assured that human laudation
makes you no better than you are. St. Augustine
says ; "Just as insults and invectives do not deprive us
of the merit of virtue, so the praise of others does
not make us better than we really are/'
If you must guard against complacency in the
praise you may receive, still more cautious must you
be with regard to honors and dignities. Never aim
at such things in the convent. According to the
advice of St. Magdalene of Pazzi, fly from what-
ever makes a show, for in it pride is surely con-
cealed. Yes, it is not enough to fly from it — you
must conceive aversion for it. St. Hilarius main-
tains that all the honors of the world are baits of
the devil, by vv'^hich he gains souls for hell. If vain-
glory is productive of so much unhappiness in the
world, it is far more ruinous in convents, St. Leo
says that the Church of God is greatly injured and
Humility of the Will. 227
dishonored by the contentions of ambitious Re-
Hgious and vainglorious priests, who ought to be
examples of humility. St. Teresa, speaking of Re-
ligious, says, ''The Spirit of God can never reign
where vainglory dwells. We must regard the con-
vent as lost whose inmates strive after honor and
precedence. I would rather see the convent reduced
to ashes than that vainglory should find entrance in-
to it." St. Jane de Chantal said the same : 'T would
rather see my convent swallowxd up by the earth
than that vainglory and desire for office should creep
into it." St. Francis Xavier says : *Tt is unworthy
of a Christian, who ought to have the shame of
Jesus Christ constantly before his eyes, to desire
worldly honors or rejoice in them." How much
more shameful is it in a Religious, who has conse-
crated herself entirely to Jesus Christ, our blessed
Saviour, who spent so many years on earth un-
known and despised ! St. Magdalene of Pazzi says :
''The honor of a Religious consists in placing her-
self beneath every one, consequently, she dislikes
being placed above or preferred to any one." St.
Thomas of Villanova warned his brethren : "Vie
with one another as to w^ho shall be the more hum-
ble, and therefore the more pleasing to Jesus
Christ." Cry out with David: 'T have chosen to be
an abject in the house of my God rather than to
dwell in the tabernacles of sinners" (Ps. Ixxxiii,
11). I prefer to lead a humble life in the house of
my God rather than enjoy the honors and distinc-
tions of the world. Banish the thought of its vani-
ties by reflecting on the words of St. Bonaventure :
"Would you be holy? Then desire nothing more
than to remain unknown, and to be counted as
nought." ,
Do not envy those Religious who have more in-
228 Humility of the Will.
telligence, more ability, or who are more esteemed
and honored than yourself; on the contrary, feel a
holy jealousy only for those whom Almighty God
loves better, who are more humble than you. Hu-
miliation is worth more than all the honors, all the
applause of the world. The most sublime science
of a Religious consists in knowing, loving, and
glorifying God ; in humbling herself, in esteeming
herself as nothing, in rejoicing when she finds her-
self despised and neglected. Perhaps God has
Avithheld distinguished talents from you because, in
His divine foresight. He saw that they would lead
you to destruction. Be satisfied w^ith your more
ordinary or less brilliant gifts, embrace the little
opportunities that they afi^ord you to practice hu-
mility, which is the surest, yes, the only way to holi-
ness and peace in this world and eternal salvation
in the next. Does your neighbor understand better
than you how to discharge business affairs, and how
to procure general esteem? Then let all your care
be to surpass her in virtue, and especially in humil-
ity, according to the admonition of the Apostle : 'Tn
humility let each esteem others better than himself'
(Phil. ii. 3). He who has the honor of the first
place has, also, the risk of becoming vain, and is in
danger of losing sight of heavenly things, as David
says : ''And man, when he was in honor, did not
understand : he is compared to senseless beasts, and
is become like to them" (Ps. xlviii. 13). If you
would walk securely, fly honor, and willingly em-
brace those occupations that are held in low esteem.
The Religious who earnestly desires self-sanctifica-
tionwill ahvays seek the very lowest offices in the con-
vent ; she will rejoice in performing the most menial
services, congratulating herself on being allowed to
do what others shun. The spouse in the Canticles
Humility of the Will. 229
is compared sometimes to a solitary, sometimes to a
warrior, and again to a vine-dresser. But in all
these different characters, she is always the beloved
of the sacred Spouse. The Religious, in like man-
ner, should do all that she does through love for the
Saviour, and in all her occupations appear as the
beloved of Jesus Christ. Animated by this spirit,
no service should appear to her unw^orthy of her ac-
ceptance. The duties esteemed lowest and most
degrading by worldlings are the highest and most
honorable in the convent, the most desired by the
saints, since Jesus Christ takes most pleasure in
them.
St. Augustine says : 'Tn our humility consists our
perfection." Since we are so imperfect in the ex-
ercise of the different virtues, we should, at least,
be perfect in the art of humbling ourselves. If an
occasion presents itself to practice a little act of hu-
mility, as, for instance, when we receive some cor-
rection while attending to our duties, we should
rejoice and accept it as desirable. If blamed justly,,
let us offer our shame and our blushes to God in
satisfaction for the fault that we have committed.
As regards all accusations, both the true and J:he false,
it is very meritorious to refrain from any defense of
ourselves. St. Teresa says: ''A Religious gains
more by neither defending nor excusing her-
self when accused of a fault than by hearing ten
sermons." It may be necessary, however, in excep-
tional cases to defend one's self, in order to prevent
a public scandal or an injury to a good cause.
Again, beloved soul, if you wish to attain perfect
humility, you must be ready to bear patiently what-
ever contempt and bad treatment you may encoun-
ter. He who sincerely deems himself worthy of con-
tempt on account of his sins, meekly bears it when it
230 Humility of the Will.
comes. Humiliation is the touchstone of the saints.
St. Chrysostom says: ''Meekness under injuries is
the surest sign of humihty." And St. Francis of
Assisi, speaking on the same subject, says: ''Many
place their holiness in multiplied prayers and the
performance of other good works, but they can not
bear the least affront. They do not understand that
the endurance of contempt is much more meritori-
ous." It is better to bear an injury than to fast ten
days on bread and water. If, for instance, some-
thing is granted to one of your Sisters that is denied
to you ; if others are listened to and you are ridi-
culed ; if others are praised for all that they do, and
are chosen for honorable offices, while no notice is
taken of you ; yes, if in all things and on every occa-
sion you are put down, and your neighbor exalted,
then will it be seen, says St. Dorotheus, that you are
truly humble, if you accept all with tranquillity and
satisfaction. Pray for those who wound you most ;
they are truly the physicians appointed by God to
cure your pride, that dreadful sickness which might
■cause your death.
When we voluntarily take upon ourselves certain
acts of humility, we do well; but the very best hu-
miliations are those that come to us unsought. If,
for instance, som.e one reproves us, complains of us,
injures us, derides us, and we receive it patiently
as from the hand of God, and bear it for the love of
Jesus Christ mocked and derided, then do we prac-
tice true humility. Let us remember the words of
the Holy Ghost: "Gold and silver are tried in the
fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humilia-
tion" (Ecclus. ii. 5). "Virtue without trial is no
virtue," says St. Magdalene of Pazzi. Whoever does
not bear contempt can never attain perfection. "My
spikenard sent forth the odor thereof" (Cant. i. ii),
Humility of the Will. 231
says the spouse in the Canticles. The spikenard is
an aromatic plant, which gives forth its perfume
only when crushed. O the delicious perfume the
humble soul sends up to God when she receives con-
tempt patiently and rejoices at being ill-treated and
little esteemed ! When the holy monk Zacharias
w^as asked what one should do to attain true humil-
ity, he took his cowl, threw it on the ground, and
stamping on it, said: ''He who rejoices in being
treated as I treat this cowl is truly humble." How
happy is the death of the Religious w^ho has led a
despised life in the cloister, who has borne con-
tempt w^th patience! Such souls do not hate their
persecutors. Ah, no ! At their dying hour they will
thank and bless them. St. John Climacus tells of a
monk who, for fifteen years, was looked upon as of
no account, and treated with contempt by his breth-
ren. When Albarius, such was his name, lay on
his deathbed, he thanked them heartily for the love
they had always show^n him by keeping him in holy
humility, and soon after expired in the peace of
heaven. St. Magdalene of Pazzi says that the tender-
est caresses the heavenly Bridegroom bestows on
His beloved souls are usually crosses and vexations.
Let us keep the words of Our Lord ever before our
minds : ''Blessed shall you be when men shall hate
you, and when tliey shall separate you, and shall re-
proach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the
Son of man's sake" (Luke vi. 22). St. Peter says
on this point : 'Tf you be reproached for the name
of Christ, you shall be blessed ; for that which is of
the honor, glory, and power of God, and that which
is His Spirit, resteth upon you" (i Pet. iv. 14).
The saints became saints not by approbation and
honor, but by contempt and humiliation. The holy
martyr Ignatius, who was highly esteemed by all
232 Humility of the Will.
who knew him, was led to Rome as a criminal, to be
thrown to the wild beasts. On the journey the
guard overwhelmed him with every kind of insult,
but in the joy of his heart Ignatius exclaimed:
"Now I begin to be a disciple of Christ !''
What did not St. Jane Frances do, during the
seven years that she lived with her father-in-law, to
gain the heart of a servant who was insolent and
who treated her with continual contempt ! She en-
deavored to please her in all she could imagine that
would be agreeable to her. On seeing the Baroness
de Chantal thus humble herself to one who became
more impertinent the more kindness she received,
some one remarked : ''You but lose your time if you
strive to win her by such treatment." The saint
replied: ''That might be if I thought of her alone;
but what is done for God can not be lost, and in
proportion that men are ungrateful God is more
liberal.'' "When your father-in-law dies, you will
no doubt free yourself from such a wicked crea-
ture,'' some one remarked. "No, I will arm myself
then to defend her," she said. "God makes use of
her to give me a cross ; why should I do her harm ?"
It was also said to her that she and not this servant
should have the government of the house. "God
has regulated it thus for my benefit," she replied ;
"for now I have more time to give to my exercises
of piety."
St. Francis Xavier, while preaching at Macao in
the presence of a great number of infidels, was in-
sulted by the people, who threw stones at him,
in order to silence him. The saint continued, seem-
ingly unconscious of them ; which so touched their
hearts that they were more moved by his patience
and meekness than by what he was saying, and
manv became converted.
Humility of the Will. 233
"You are astonished because I suffer with tran-
quillity this insolent attack/' said St. Francis de
Sales to a Religious who had heard injurious
language addressed to him. ''Do you not see that
God has ordained, from all eternity, the grace He
has given me to support voluntarily this oppro-
brium ? Should I not drink the chalice which has
been prepared by the hands of so good a Father?''
Many persons visited St. Francis Xavier solely
for the purpose of witnessing his admirable sweet-
ness and self-control. St. Ignatius Loyola, passing
one day with some of his companions near a field
where some men were at work, was ridiculed by
them, and called names. The saint stopped a mo-
ment, looked at them with a smiling face, then
turned and gave them his blessing ; which so discon-
certed them that, struck with admiration, they ex-
claimed: 'Tt is a saint! it must be a saint!" The
calm endurance of contempt is both meritorious and
edifying. ''The meek," says St. John Chrysostom,
*Vho peaceably bear injury, benefit both themselves
and all around them ; for nothing so edifies others as
the gentle endurance of ill-treatment." Father Maffei
relates of a certain Jesuit missionary in Japan that
one day as he was preaching a malicious man ap-
proached and spat in his face. The Father quietly
wiped the filth away with his handkerchief, and
went on with his sermon as if nothing had hap-
pened. One of his hearers, impressed by the action,
was immediately converted to Christianity. ''A re-
ligion," he said, ''that teaches such humility must
of necessity be true and from God." St. Francis de
Sales also converted many heretics by his patient en-
durance of insult. St. Bernard was one day speak-
ing of a Religious who was looked upon as a saint.
"I think that he is a holy person," said the saint,
234 Humility of the Will,
''but the best is still wanting to him — and that is per-
secution and opprobrium/'
Let us remember that persecution and humilia-
tions are the treasures of the saints. St. Paul
writes : ''All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution'' (2 Tim. iii. 12). Our
Saviour Himself declares : 'Tf they have perse-
cuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John xv.
20). Smarting under persecution, some one may
cry out: 'T do my duty, I injure no one, I try
to be good to all ; why do they treat me so?" O be-
loved soul, remember that all the saints bore perse-
cution, that Jesus Christ, the Leader of all the saints,
deigned to suffer persecution. And you can not en-
dure it? ''Can God bestow upon us a greater
grace," says St. Teresa, "than to allow us to
be treated in the same manner as His well-beloved
Son?" If you are despised and, as it were»
trodden under foot, rejoice and thank your di-
vine Spouse for admitting you to share the
treatment that He received here on earth. At
prayer imagine all kinds of contempt, contradiction^
and persecution that could possibly happen to you ;
then, when you have thoroughly weighed them, of-
fer yourself to God to suffer all for the love of
Jesus. In this way you will more readily accept
them, with the help of God, should they really come
upon you.
The Saints received contempt not only with meek-
ness and resignation but also with joy and satisfac-
tion. The venerable Father Louis da Ponte could
not in the beginning comprehend how one could re-
joice at being contemned. But when he had arrived
at greater perfection, he imderstood it very well
from his own experience. We can not, indeed, at-
tain such a state of detachment from self by our
Humility of the Will. 235
own strength, but we can do so by the grace of
God, as the Apostle tells us : ''They, indeed, went
from the presence of the council rejoicing that they
w^ere accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the
name of Jesus" (Acts v. 41). Many suffer contempt^
but few rejoice in it. On a certain occasion St. Ig-
natius of Loyola appeared to St. Magdalene of Paz-
7A and said : ''True humility consists in rejoicing in
all that can serve to humble us." Worldlings do not
rejoice so much over honors as the saints do over
contempt and contumely. When the holy Francis-
can, Brother Juniper, was insulted in any way, he
used to hold up his habit as if he were gatherings
precious stones in it. When St. Francis Regis was
ridiculed by his brethren, he rejoiced, and tried to
prolong the laugh against him. The saints were con-
tent and even desired to be forgotten and despised
by men. They longed to suffer and to be contemned
for Jesus Christ. Our Saviour with a crown of
thorns upon His head and a heavy cross upon His
shoulder once appeared to St. John of the Cross and
said to him: ''John, what do you ask of Me?
What do you desire?" The saint answered: "Lord,
to suffer and to be despised for Thee," as if he would
say : "Lord, my Saviour, if I see Thee through Thy
love for me enduring such pain and ignominy, what
else could I ask of Thee but suffering and con-
tempt?" St. Thomas Aquinas says : "When you
see one who desires honors and flees abjection, and
who when meeting persecution or contempt is
troubled and complains, be assured that even should
he w^ork miracles, he is far from perfection ; his vir-
tue is v/ithout foundation." The Angelic Doctor
abhorred honors and praise. Clement IV. offered
him the Archbishopric of Naples. He not only de-
clined the honor, but obtained the favor from the
236 Humility of the Will.
same Pontiff that he would never offer him any other
dignity. It was through pure obedience that he took
the degree of Doctor. He rejoiced when in college
that one, whose master he might have been, but who
had been given to him as a teacher, called him the
diiinb ox, attributing his silence to ignorance and
want of talent. One day, while reading publicly
during dinner, he was ordered to pronounce a word
in a different manner. He repeated the word im-
mediately as he was told, though he was sure it was
wrong. "It matters little," said he afterward to one
of his companions, "to make a syllable long or short;
but it is of extreme importance to be humble and
obedient.*' St. Angela of Foligno once received this
instruction from Our Lord : ''The surest proof that
the light or inspiration a soul receives comes from
God, is the great desire she has to suffer humilia-
tions for the love of Jesus." In His Sermon on the
Mount Our Blessed Saviour teaches us not to be
troubled at contempt and persecution, but, on the
contrary, to exult in the thought of the reward laid
np for us in heaven on that account : ''Blessed are ye
when they shall revile you and persecute you, and
speak all that is evil against you untruly for My
sake. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very
great in heaven" (Matt. v. 11).
CHAPTER XXVI.
Ipurtti^ ot IFntentton,
'T^ URiTY of intention consists in doing all things
'-*— with the sole desire of pleasing God. The
intention and the end give to every work its real
value, as the Holy Scriptures say: 'The light of
thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole
body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be darksome" (Matt. vi. 22). By
the eye, the saints understand the intention with
Vvhich an act is performed, and by the body, the ac-
tion that follows the intention, as the body follows
the eyes that lead it. The divine Saviour intimates
by these words that the intention gives light and
luster to the action, hence the action will be good
or bad according as the intention is good or bad.
'Tf the root be holy, so are the branches" (Rom. xi.
16). As the root, so the tree, so the fruit. What
can be expected from a decayed root and a sapless
trunk but tasteless, worm-eaten fruit? But if the
root is sound the whole tree will be beautiful, the
fruit good. So the goodness and perfection of our
works depend on purity of intention, which is, as
it were, the root. The purer and more direct the
intention, the better, the more perfect the action.
Men value actions according to their outw^ard ap-
pearance, but God regards the intention with which
they are performed. Holy Scripture assures us that
Almighty God, unlike men, looks at the heart, that
is, at the intention with which we act. "Man seeth
those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the
heart" (i Kings xvi. 7). Is there anything more
238 Purity of Intention.
sublime than the death of a martyr who sacrifices
his hfe for the true faith ? But St. Paul says : ''If
I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not
charity, it profiteth me nothing" (i Cor. xiii. 3).
To give one's body to the flames, and not to do it for
God, would be of no use. The Holy Fathers say
not the pain, not the death, makes the martyr, but the
cause, the reason of their suffering. The Royal
Prophet says : 'T will offer up to Thee holocausts
full of marrow" (Ps. Ixv. 15). The sacrifices of
some are without marrow, that is, without the in-
tention of pleasing God alone. Such sacrifices He
does not accept. St. Magdalene of Pazzi says that
God rewards our works according to the measure of
their purity, or in proportion to the purity of our in-
tention. It is said of the spouse in the Canticles :
''Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar
of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frank-
incense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?"
(Cant. iii. 6.) By myrrh is understood mortifica-
tion, by incense, prayer, by spices, all the other vir-
tues. The spouse is praised for them all, for, like
a cloud of sweet-smelling incense, her daily actions
ascend straight to God, because her only intention
in all that she does is to please her divine Bride-
groom.
St. Magdalene of Pazzi often said to her nuns :
"In all that you do, never seek self." Do you know
what you do, asks the Prophet Aggeus, when you
seek self in your actions? You imitate him who
puts the money received for his labor into a bag
full of holes : ''He that hath earned wages, put
them into a bag with holes" (Aggeus i. 6) : that is,
he loses the fruit of his toil. Our Lord warns us :
'Take heed that you do not your justice before men,
to be seen by them" (Matt. vi. i), for if you do, I
Purity of Intention. 239
shall, when you ask for your recompense, say to
you : "You have received your reward. You have
gained the praise that you sought. What more can
you desire of Me?''
Let us now consider the signs by which it may be
known whether our works are done for God or for
self. The first sign is not being chagrined when
our undertakings do not turn out well. Peace of
soul attends every act done with a pure intention,
that is, for God alone. We may know that we work
for God if, when we find that He permits our fail-
ure, we at once submit tranquilly to His holy will.
He will not consider the success of our w^ork, but
only w^hether we have sought to please Him. Another
sign of a good intention is, that we rejoice as much
over the good done by others as if it were done by
ourselves. He who seeks only the glory of God
cares not by whom it is promoted. But if we do
not rejoice at the good effected by our neighbor, if
there arises in our heart a feeling of uneasiness or
envy, it is an incontestable sign that we do not
purely seek God's honor. St. James expressly says :
"If you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in
your hearts . . . this is not wisdom, descending
from above, but earthly, sensual, devilish" (James
iii. 14). Such zeal, such anxiety, are not for the
glory of God, but only for one's own glory, for
honor, and esteem.
It is, also, a sign that one labors for God alone if
he has no preference for this or that office or em-
ployment, but contents himself with what obedience
imposes. The source of this indifference and equa-
nimity of soul is found in the resolution to see only
the will of God in all things. If you do not under-
take a fatiguing office with as much readiness as an
honorable and less laborious one, you plainly show
240 Purity of Intention.
that self, and not God, is in view. ''If God were al-
ways the pure end of our desires, we would not so
easily become confused by the resistance of our
senses," says Thomas a Kempis.
A fourth sign is whether you wish your Superiors
to notice what you do, to thank you for the
trouble you take in the discharge of your duties.
Do you desire to be praised by them or to re-
ceive proofs of their satisfaction? Do you become
disheartened if you do not get them ? If this is the
case, take it as a sure sign that the love of God is
not the principle of your actions, and that human
motives tmderlie them. Did you act purely for God's
sake, you would care nothing for such praise. On
the contrary, convinced that your Superiors express
satisfaction through compassion for your imperfec-
tion and weakness, you would be ashamed of your-
self, you would bemoan yourself, saying : ''Ah ! I
am so weak that my Superiors have to treat me in
this indulgent manner. Am I, indeed, so ignorant,
so little advanced in virtue, that I have to be urged
on by such means?''
In The Spiritual Meadow it is related of Abbot
John the Younger, of Thebes, a scholar of wSt.
Amon, that for twelve years he served an old sick
Father. During all that time he performed his duty
carefully and charitably, but never received one kind
word from the invalid. He was, on the contrary,
treated very harshly. When the old Father lay at
the point of death, he called the young man who
had served him so long and with so much patience
and humility, pressed his hand, and said to him :
"May God bless and protect you!" Then, turning
to the hermits, who were present, he commended
him. to them, saying: "Love him; for he is worthy
of vour esteem and affection. For twelve years he
Purity of Intention. 241
has served me in my sickness. Never did he re-
ceive from my lips a friendly word, and yet never
has he ceased to serve me with love and fidelity."
If, on hearing yourself praised, vainglorious
thoughts arise, bidding you rejoice in the commen-
dation, do not be troubled ; simply give them no heed.
Do as Father Avila recommends — say to them :
'*You come too late ; all is already consecrated
to God." If you undertake some good work, or if
you observe your Rule and perform your spiritual
exercises very conscientiously, be not restrained by
fear of praise on account of the good example you
give, but persevere in such acts, doing them solely
for the love of God. God is pleased that others
should behold our good actions that they may be
encouraged to imitate and glorify Him in all
their works : ''Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. v. 16). All
depends on our acting with a good intention. If
vainglory tries to insinuate itself, let us say with
St. Bernard, who w^as tempted in this way once
when he was preaching : ''I did not begin for you,
and I shall not stop for you." We must, indeed, be
deaf to the praise of men, but we must not omit
our good works through fear of vainglory. St.
Teresa says : "If we seek to please God alone. He
will supply us with the strength to vanquish vain-
glory."
The more we forget self in the good that we
do, the more God loves us and the more grace
He bestows upon us. He Himself revealed this to
St. Catharine of Sienna : ''My daughter, think of Me,
and I will think of thee." Think only of pleasing
Me, He meant to say, and I shall take care that you
increase in virtue, that you gain the victory over
242 Purity of Intention.
your enemies, that you attain perfection in this Hfe
and the joy of the blessed in the other. The spouse
in the Canticles says : ''I to my Beloved, and His
turning is toward me" (Cant. vii. lo).
Would that all Religious were animated by the
spirit of that woman whom a certain Dominican
Father in the retinue of St. Louis, king of France,
happened to meet in the Holy Land. In one hand
she carried a pail of water; in the other, a lighted
torch. When asked what she meant by it, she an-
swered: 'This water is to extinguish the fires of
hell, and this torch is to burn up heaven, that hence-
forth neither the fear of the one nor the hope of the
other may lead men to serve God, but that they may
do all things simply for love of Him, to please Him
alone." This is truly to imitate the blessed in
heaven, who seek naught but the good pleasure of
God. As St. Thomas says, they rejoice more over
the felicity of God than over their own happiness.
This is that ''entering into the joy of the Lord,"
the fulfilment of those blessed words which will be
addressed to every soul on its entrance into heaven :
"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt. xxv.
21 ). St. Bernard says that a soul acts perfectly
only when she forgets self entirely, and thinks of
pleasing God alone in everything she does. It was
in this spirit that he prayed : "Lord, grant that I
may love Thee not for mvself, but only to please
Thee, and to fulfil Thy most holy will!" Well
known is St. Francis Xavier's hymn of love :
"O DetiS, Ego amo Te'\'
My God, I love Thee, not because
I hope for Heav'n thereby:
Nor because they, who love Thee not,
Must burn eternally.
Purity of Intention. 243
''Souls that love God/' says St. Francis de Sales,
''purify and adorn themselves not to be beautiful,
but only to please their divine Spouse. The con-
fidence which they place in the goodness of their
Beloved frees them from all unrest and solicitude
as to whether they are beautiful enough, and it
makes them satisfied with a sincere and constant
effort to please Him." Let us imitate the divine
Saviour, when He exclaimed: ''Father, into Thy
hands I commend My spirit" (Luke xxiii. 46).
After that there remains but to die the death
of love. Let us die to self that Jesus alone may live
in us. Let us pray with St. Francis- of Assisi :
'*0 Jesus, grant that I may die to self for love of
Thee, who hast vouchsafed to die for love of Me."
If we strive simply to do the will of God, if we aim
only at His good pleasure, we shall not fail in any
work. We can not in any way give more honor to
God than by doing His will. This was what our
divine Saviour always did. He constantly fulfilled
the will of His eternal Father, as He Himself fre-
quently testified : "I seek not My own will, but the
will of Him that sent Me" (John v. 30). And again :
"I do always the things that please Him" (John viii.
29). Justlv, therefore, may it be said of Jesus:
•'He hath done alf things w^ell" (Mark vii. 37). "K
we act in the same way," says St. Chrysostom, "and
succeed in pleasing our good God, what more can
we ask ?" God does not demand great things of His
creatures, but only that the little they can do be of-
fered to Him with a pure intention. If you are
closely occupied with the duties of your state of life,
you must not be troubled at not being able to spend
much time in prayer. When Father Balthazar Al-
varez, being very much engaged one day, was
longing to give himself up to prayer, he heard an in-
244 Purity of Intention.
terior voice saying to him : ''If thou canst not stay
near Me, let it suffice that I make use of thee."
It is recorded of one of the Fathers of the desert,
that before every action he was wont to pause an
instant. When asked the reason, he answered :
"Every action not performed with a good intention
is vahieless. When an archer shoots at a target, he
pauses to take aim before he discharges his arrow.
So, at the beginning of my work, I direct my inten-
tion to God, who ought to be the only end of all
we do. It is for this that I pause a little before all
my actions." We must do the same. As the archer,
in taking aim at the center of the target, closes the
left and opens the right eye, that his gaze, being
concentrated, may not stray to other objects, so we,
too, must close the left eye, that is, have no worldly
intention, and open the right to look only on God.
In this way we shall not miss the mark, we shall
strike the Heart of God. ''Thou hast wounded My
heart. My sister. My spouse : thou hast wounded My
heart with one of thine eyes" (Cant. iv. 9).
On rising in the morning, we ought to offer to
God all our thoughts, words, and actions of the day,
begging His grace that we may do all for His
greater honor and glory. Then, if vainglory
should insinuate itself, we may truthfully say : "You
have come too late. The work has been given to
another." But this first offering must not be the
only one that we make. We must, as much as possi-
ble, accustom ourselves to begin no work until we
have actually referred it to the glory of God. As a
mason applies the rule and the square to every stone
that he puts in place, so at each of our actions we
should apply the rule of the divine will, and offer
it for the glory of God. And as a skilful workman
is not satisfied with applying the rule only once, but
Purity of Intention. 245
frequently makes use of the same test, until the
stone lies perfectly square, so we must not think it
sufficient to offer an action to God only in the be-
ginning, but during its whole continuance we should
make frequent little aspirations such as : ''Lord, I do
this for Thy sake, because Thou dost command it,
because Thou dost desire it!''
The masters of the spiritual Hfe make use of the
following very apt comparison to explain how our
works may be performed in the most perfect man-
ner. As the mathematician, they say, looks only at
the size and shape of bodies, regardless of the mat-
ter of which they are composed, for that is to him a
question of indifference, so must a true servant of
God, in all he does, regard only the divine will. Of
the matter he must take no notice — that is, he must
look neither at the office nor occupation assigned
him. Perfection does not consist in that, but only
in accomplishing the will of God, and seeking only
His glory in all that we do. This is the doctrine of
the great St. Basil, and it is founded on that of the
Apostle. The life and actions of a Christian have
only one aim, namely, the honor of God ; for
''whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you
do, do all to the glory of God" (i Cor. x. 31).
One day the divine Saviour, tired and exhausted,
was sitting at Jacob's well and conversing with a
Samaritan woman, who had come to draw water.
His disciples had in the meantime gone to the
town to buy food. On their return they urged
the Lord to refresh His strength by taking
some of the viands they had procured. But He re-
plied : 'T have meat to eat which you know not"
(John iv. 32). Then the disciples said to one an-
other: "Hath any man brought Him to eat?" Jesus
said to them: "My meat is to do the will of Him
246 Purity of Intention.
that sent me" (ibid.). That must be our food in all
our actions, the satisfaction of doing the will of God,
in the work assigned to us. The food of the portress
and the infirmarian is not different from that of the
Superior and the mistress of novices. We must be
as contented in our lowly office, whatever it may be,
as they are supposed to be in theirs. The fulfilling
of the divine wdll ought to be the principle of all our
actions ; therefore, we must not think of the great-
ness nor the insignificance of our work, but only of
fulfilling the will of God. We must attend only
to what God demands of us. Let the following
ejaculation be constantly in our heart and on
our lips: "O Lord, I do this for Thee, for Thy
honor, and because Thou dost will it !'' By the con-
tinued practice of this exercise, we shall at last
perform all our actions as the Apostle enjoins :
"With a good will serving, as to the Lord, and not
to men" (Eph. vi. 7). Purity of intention is the
true alchemy which changes the basest metals into
the finest gold. However insignificant our work
may be in itself, it will, by being performed with
the intention of doing the will of God, become of
the highest value. Since this can be done so easily
let us try to transmute everything we do into pure
gold — the gold of merit, the effect of divine charity.
Whoever performs his actions for God will Ha^c
full days, according to the expression of David :
"And full days shall be found in them'' (Ps. Ixxii.
10). By full days are understood those that are en-
tirely consecrated to the good pleasure of God. All
other days are empty, and it is to them that the
Psalmist refers when he says that sinners die in the
midst of their days. Yes, they do not reach ev^en the
midst of them, because they have allowed their years
to pass uselessly. "Bloody and deceitful men shall
Purity of Intention. 247
not live out half their days" (Ps. liv. 24). On the
same principle the Holy Scripture calls the sinner a
child of a hundred years because he lives not like
a man, but like a child : "For the child shall die a
hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred
years old shall be accursed" (Is. Ixv. 20). The
wicked will be overtaken by death and snatched
away unprepared, hence, their lamentations w^hen
death appears, their complaints that it comes too
soon, their supplications for delay. Ah! then they
want time to do penance. The same may be said of
the tepid and negligent Religious. The days of
their religious life are very few, long though they
may have worn the habit.
The Franciscan annals tell us of an old monk
who, to the question how long he had been in the
Order, answered: "Not a day, perhaps!" As his
interrogator expressed astonishment at so incom-
prehensible an answer, the mxonk replied : "I have,
indeed, worn the habit five and sixty years, but,
computing time by my works, I do not know how
long T have really been a Religious." God grant
that no Religious will have to say of himself in truth
what that good old monk said in his humility ! It
matters little that a soul has been a long time in a
Religious Order, that she has grown old in it. All
consists in having lived well in it. What profit to
count many years since the day of conversion if no
virtues have been acquired? A few days of a pure
and holy life are worth more than many years of a
tepid and negligent one. Before God, not the days
of life, but the days of a good life will be numbered ;
not the years that have been spent in Religion, but
those that have been spent as a good Religious.
Holy Scripture afifords us a striking example of this
in the first baok of Kings, when it speaks of Saul :
248 Purity of Intention.
''Saul was a child of one year when he began to
reign, and he reigned two years over Israel"
i I Kings xiii. i ) . And yet we know that he reigned
forty years, as St. Paul expressly tells us in the
Acts of the Apostles : "And after that they desired
a king: and God gave them Saul, the son of Cis, a
man of the tribe of Benjamin, forty years'' (Acts
xiii. 21). Why, then, does the Book of Kings make
mention of only two years ? Because in the records
of God only those years are counted that are lived
well. The whole of Saul's reign was reckoned in
Scripture but two years, because it was only during
that short time that he reigned as a just and true
king. The holy Gospel tells us that they who went
last into the vineyard and worked therein but one
hour received exactly the same recompense as they
who had labored the whole day. And who can say
that it was unjust, since the former by their dili-
gence had in a short time earned as much as the lat-
ter in their long day. Let us pause here and reckon
up our years in Religion.
Eusebius of Emesa treated this subject very beau-
tifully when he said : ''We are accustomed to reckon
our present life by years and periods. But do not
be deceived, whoever 3^ou are, by the number of
days you may have spent here since you left the
world. Count those only on which you have denied
yourself, on which you have resisted evil desires,
on which you have taken up your cross and followed
Christ, which you have spent without trespassing
any rule. Reckon only those that were illumined by
the light of religious simplicity, purity, and holy
meditation. . Of such days, if you can, form your
years, and in that way measure the period of your
whole life. Tremble lest you hear the reproof given
to the Bishop of Sardes : 'And to the. angel of the
Purity of Intention. 249
church of Sardes write : . . . I know thy works,
that thoii hast the name of being ahve, and thou art
dead. Be watchful, for I find not thy works full be-
fore my God' (Apoc. iii. I, 2). Think not that
anything is hidden from the eyes of God. He be-
holds in you what men do not discover. They think
you living, and you are dead. You bear the name
and the habit of a Religious ; you do not possess the
character of a Religious. Your works are empty be-
fore God — or rather they are full, but only of self.
You seek only your ow^n comfort, your own honor
and esteem. Begin at once to watch that your works
may be full works, your days full days, that you
may live a long life in a short time, and lay up merit
before God."
CHAPTER XXVII.
Zbc Wiccc6Bit>^ ot a Spiritual jFatber, or Director,
auD ot ©bcDience to Dim.
^r OME Religious are under the impression that
J^-' they can dispense with a spiritual director.
Having their Rules and Superiors, they deem these
all-sufficient. In this they err. It is of the
highest importance that they should have a spir-
itual director, as well for their interior guidance as
for their exterior. 'Tt is true," says St. Gregory,
*'that some saints have been led directly by the
Spirit of God, but such examples are much more to
be admired than imitated, lest he who scorns to be
the disciple of a man may become a teacher of er-
ror.'' All virtue is found in the golden mean. As
in the spiritual life, inertness is a vice, so is too great
zeal harmful. It is the duty of the confessor to put
both the one and the other in order and, therefore,
his guidance is necessary. But should it happen
that a soul can find no such director, God Himself
takes the case in hand. Nevertheless, it is certain
that the soul who refuses the guidance of God's ser-
vant when she can have it acts presumptuously, and
God will permit her to make many mistakes. Al-
mighty God could, indeed, lead us Himself, but He
wills, for the sake of holy humility, that we submit
to His servants.
Cassian tells us of a certain hermit who, dying of
hunger in " the desert, refused the food charitably
offered him, in the thought that God Himself would
send him food miraculously. He died in his vain
hope and obstinacy. But why, it may be asked, did
The Necessity -of a Spiritual Father. 251
God for so many years send bread by a raven to the
hermit Paul, and yet neglect the need of that poor
monk ? The reason is evident. St. Paul was utterly
destitute of food, while the other would not accept
what was offered him, therefore God abandoned
him. What is here said of food for the body may
equally be applied to the nourishment of the soul.
He who despises the guidance of the wise does not
deserve to be guided by God. Obey your confessor,
or spiritual guide, and never deviate a finger's
breadth from what he permits or forbids, however
good your own contrary desires may seem to you.
We read in the ancient Fathers of a youth who had
made great progress in virtue. Against the advice
of his spiritual director he determined to abandon
community life, and become a hermit in the desert.
But what happened ? After leading his new life for
some time, he conceived the idea of visiting his rela-
tives. He did so, and not only entirely forgot his
solitude, but even gave himself up to sin. We find
many similar examples in the writings of Cas-
sian and St. John Climacus. Spiritual men, much
given to prayer, even far advanced in years, were
wofully misled by confiding in their own judgment,
and fell into many follies and excesses by allowing
it to guide and govern them.
Obedience and submission of judgment will safe-
guard you against excessive zeal and evil inspira-
tions. If restrained in your inclination for penance
and mortification, you will lose nothing by obeying
your spiritual director. On the contrary you will
increase your merit twofold, for you will have
that of your good desire and that of holy obedience.
The latter is often greater than the former, on ac-
count of the self-denial practiced. This was made
known to St. Bridget, who had an extraordinary
252 The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
love for penance. Her health being somewhat im-
paired, her director forbade for a time some of her
austerities. The saint obeyed, though not without
regret, fearing that her spiritual life might suffer
some loss in consequence. One day, while indulg-
ing such thoughts, the Blessed Virgin appeared to
her and said: ''See, my daughter! Suppose two
men desire to fast on a certain day through devo-
tion. One of them, being free, really does so ; but
the other, living under obedience, does not, because
he has been forbidden by his Superior. The latter
receives a double recompense : one for his desire to
fast, the other for his obedience.''
But suppose your director has guided you badly
— indeed, you have been assured of it by other di-
rectors. We reply: You can not easily go astray if
you are obedient. If things have turned out badly,
as you say, it is perhaps because you have been obe-
dient in some points, and not in others. God is not
bound to bless so faulty an obedience. You should
leave yourself entirely to the guidance of your direc-
tor, firmly resolved to obey him in all things. Then
God will not permit you to wander in the wrong road.
If your director fails in knowledge, God will supply
for it. It is impossible for a soul earnestly sighing
after perfection, a soul who trusts in God, to go
astray if she steadfastly perseveres in obedience to
the director He has given her.
A great servant of God was accustomed to say :
''Every confessor is alike to me, for every one ap-
plies to the wounds of my soul the precious blood of
Jesus Christ.'' A devout Religious once said to her
fellow- Sisters : ''Be convinced that no confessor
can render you holy if you are not resolved to mor-
tify your own will and passions."
Be verv candid with vour confessor and let him
The Necessity of a Spiritual Father. 253
look deep into your heart, so that he may direct you
aright and help you to advance in the way of per-
fection. He will put himself to any trouble to help
you, in return for the confidence you repose in him.
Useless talk ought not to find an entrance into the
sacred precincts of the confessional. To what end
does it serve to talk so much of one's little aches, an-
noyances, and disappointments ? If these details were
omJtted, confession would occupy but one-half the
time, and there would be a more earnest striving
after perfection. Some regularly take about seven
and a half minutes repeating the same old tale : 'T
accuse myself of having little love for God, of not
rightly fulfilling my duties, of not loving my neigh-
bor as I should," and so on. Such accusations are
to little purpose. They are pure loss of time.
Guard against saying anything derogatory of the
confessor. Such expressions are as harmful to
yourself as to him. Religious should honor their
spiritual guides as their greatest benefactors, but
at the same time they should absolutely suppress any
special liking for him. They should speak to him
only of matters of conscience. ''The proper love for
a confessor," says a certain saint, ''consists in com-
mending him to God in prayer." St. Teresa gave
the following advice to her Sisters : "After you have
confessed your sins, received absolution, and lis-
tened to the counsel given by the confessor for the
good of your soul, leave the confessional at once,
since it may easily happen that, by long conversa-
tions, an inclination for the confessor takes posses-
sion of the heart, which, if not actually bad, is not
perfectly good." Business affairs, temporal con-
cerns, family discussions, should be absolutely ex-
cluded. As to gifts of any kind they ought to be
utterly abolished. If once or twice a year some ac-
254 The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
knowledgment is given the confessor in the name of
all, that ought to be quite sufficient. No word
should ever pass between confessor and penitent ex-
pressive of special liking on either side.
It may be alleged that there is nothing to fear,
since the confessor is a very holy man. Let us
hearken to St. Thomas Aquinas : ''The more holy
the persons for whom we feel special attachment,
the more must we be on our guard, for the great re-
gard we have for their sanctity wall inspire us all the
more to love them. A spiritual friendship may
easily degenerate into sensual affection."
If a Religious has a true desire for greater per-
fection, let her apply herself more earnestly to
spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, the more de-
vout reception of holy communion, the observance
of the Rules and other regulations of the com-
munity.
In an article on the ordinary confessor of nuns,"^
Father McNicholas, O.P., says: "In the convents of
Sisters the confessional should not be placed in their
sacristy nor in any room of the house ; but in the
church of said convent or monastery. If the Sisters
have merely a private chapel, that is, a large room in
the interior of the house, as are most of the Sisters'
chapels in the United States, the confessional
should be placed in the chapel proper. Sisters who
do not wish to submit to this prescription may have
their confessions interdicted.
''Only one ordinary confessor is to be appointed
for a community. This is a wise provision. Were
there several regular confessors, it would mean
various ideas of direction in the same community,
thus causing comparisons to be made, giving rise to
reports and theories and trifling difficulties which
"^American Ecclesiastical Review, October, igo^.
The Necessity of a Spiritual Father. 255
would tend to disturb the consciences of the Sisters,
mihtate against the unity of the community and
thereby interfere with the exercise of the Superior's
authority. While uniformity of direction is to be
desired, it is not to be overestimated. Were all ad-
vanced in the way of perfection and superior to hu-
man considerations, especially the personality of
confessors, the Church would probably msist abso-
lutely on one regular confessor. But she takes into
account human weakness, and, guided by facts, she
knows the difficulty so frequently experienced by
.Sisters of making always a clear manifestation of
conscience to the regular confessor. To obviate this
difficulty she prudently does not appoint a second or
third regular confessor who may come to the con-
vent to hear confessions, but she institutes two other
classes of confessors to whom the Sisters may have
access, viz.j the special and the extraordinary confes-
sor. The confessor should not concern himself
about the temporal administration of the convent.
He may of course give advice V\'hen asked. On the
other hand, he should not allow the Superior to give
him directions for the guidance of the Sisters in
matters of confession. The confessor should re-
ceive a stipend according to the custom of the coun-
try or place. But other presents he should not
accept."
Let us add a few reflections on scruples. A
scruple is but a vain fear of sinning, a consequence
of false imaginations that have no reasonable foun-
dation. Such scruples are often very useful in the
beginning of conversion. They purify the soul, and
at the same time make her careful to flee from real
sins. They serve, also, to humble the soul, so that,
no longer trusting her own judgment, she submits
to the guidance of her spiritual director. St. Fran-
256 The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
cis de Sales says : ''The fear that scruples bring to
those that have only lately abandoned sin, is an in-
fallible sign of future purity of conscience." On the
contrary, scruples are hurtful to those already
striving after perfection, and who have for some
time given themselves to God. ''To such souls,"
says St. Teresa, "scruples will be the occasion of
folly, since they present to them all kinds of pre-
posterous fancies, which put them into such a state
that they can take not one step in the path of per-
fection." St. Francis de Sales teaches the same when
he says : "Labor with care at your perfection, but
guard against uneasiness; for there is nothing that
so hinders the soul in her advancement toward
God."
Some discrimination must, however, be observed
with regard to anxiety of conscience. Many Re-
ligious pride themselves on having an easy con-
science. They are anything but scrupulous ; they are
careless in their dealings with others, they give and
take presents without troubling themselves about
permission, they set little value on their Rules, de-
claring that they are obsolete, and they give full
freedom to eyes, ears, and tongue. They think little
of mortification, and condemn those that aim at
death to self. The low voice and downcast eye they
brand as affectation and singularity ; and they read-
ily associate with the lax and imperfect, finding
pleasure in their vain satisfactions. Such souls
must not pride themselves on their liberty of con-
science. They are tepid, imperfect, undisciplined.
Would to God that they had a timid, that is, a tender,
delicate conscience, such as every good Christian
should have. Let them be on their guard lest they
be numbered among those of whom David says that
The Necessity of a Spiritual Father. 257
they will one day be in hell with their wretched com-
panions, whose bad example they followed like
sheep. She who will not waste her time by gossip-
ing in the parlor, who will not speak unnecessarily
in the choir, who observes silence at the times and in
the places marked for it, who scorns a falsehood,
does not give signs of a scrupulous, but only of a
tender conscience ; and this Almighty God demands
of every Religious.
The marks of a scrupulous conscience are as fol-
low^s : First when, in confession, the penitent always
fears a want of true contrition and firm resolution.
Secondly, if the penitent, on vain and insufficient
reasons, fears sin in everything he does ; as, for in-
stance, when he imagines every bad thought or evil
suggestion a voluntary transgression of God's holy
law. Thirdly, if in his doubts he is changeable,
looking upon the same action sometimes as allow-
able, again as forbidden, and that wnth great fear
and anxiety. Fourthly, disobedience to the confessor
based on the pretext of being misunderstood. The
scrupulous love to follow their own w^ll.
It does not belong to the penitent, but to the con-
fessor, to determine whether or not the former is
suffering from scrupulosity; for all scrupulous per-
sons declare their scruples no scruples, . but real
doubts and sins. Were they to recognize them as
scruples, they would make no account of them.
They grope alone in the dark, not knowing the
state of their conscience. The confessor, viewing
things from an independent standpoint, knows it
very well ; consequently, the penitent should follow
his counsel. As Father Alvarez de Paz says, "he
should mistrust himself, renounce the direction of
his own conscience, and confide himself to better
258 The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
hands, as the sick man leaves to the physician all the
vv^isdom, judgment, and foresight necessary for his
case/'
The devil is accustomed to harass souls walking
the path of perfection by scruples and anxiety of
conscience. As a result, in many cases the spiritual
life becomes distasteful, tepidity follows, and from
scruples they lapse into great sins. A scrupulous
person must obey simply and blindly when the con-
fessor commands something to be done or left un-
done. Disobedience in such cases is sinful for two
reasons : First, because the soul that disobeys does
herself much harm, inasmuch as she renders herself
unfit to advance in the spiritual life; and secondly,
because she runs the risk of losing her health or
her mind, or by a vicious life her soul itself.
The teachers of the spiritual life give various
remedies for scruples, but all may be summed up in
this, the chief, yes, the only remedy, submission and
blind obedience to the confessor united with entire
distrust of self-judgment. To refuse assent to the
directions of the confessor shows pride and a want
of faith. Jesus Christ has declared that whoever
hears His priests, hears Him, and he who despises
His minister, despises Him : ''He that heareth you,
heareth Me : and he that despiseth vou, despiseth
Me" (Lukex. 16).
Almighty God demands no account of what is
done in obedience. St. Philip Neri inculcated this
on his penitents when he said : ''He who would
make progress in the way of perfection must submit
unreservedly to a pious and learned confessor, and
obey him as the representative of God. Whoever
does so may be sure that he will not have to render
an account to God of his actions.'' A blind man
needs a faithful guide, and the scrupulous soul, in
The Necessity of a Spiritual Father. 259
her state of darkness and perplexity, must follow
the guide whom the Lord has given her; she must
allow herself to be led by the hand of obedience.
He who obeys can not err. It was in obedience
that the saints found their security. St. Augustine
gave his friend St. Paulinus, who had communi-
cated to him some of his doubts, the following ad-
vice: "In your doubts consult a pious casuist, and
what the Lord makes known to you through him,
communicate to me." We see by these words that
St. Augustine held for certain that God would speak
to St. Paulinus by the mouth of a spiritual guide,
and thus make known to him His divine will. St.
Antony tells us that a certain disciple of St. Bernard
was so tormented by scruples that he was afraid to
say holy Mass. In his distress he went to his saintly
director for advice. The latter answered him in
few words: ''Go, my son, and say holy Mass at my
peril.'' The ReUgious obeyed, and from that mo-
ment all his scruples vanished.
Beloved soul, do not reply: ''Yes, if I had a St.
Bernard for confessor, I, too, would obey blindly.
I should love to do so. But my confessor is not a
St. Bernard." No, he is not, perhaps, a St. Bernard,
but for you he is more than St. Bernard. He
is the representative of God. Hear what the learned
Gerson replies to such an objection: "You err when
you so speak. You have not intrusted yourself
to the guidance of a human being because he
is holy or learned, but because God Himself has
appointed him your guide. You must not obey
him as a man, but as God Himself. Then you
may be sure that you will never go wrong."
St. Ignatius of Loyola, in the beginning of his con-
version, was so troubled by darkness and scruples
that he could find no rest. But firmly confiding in
26o The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
the word of the Lord : ''He who hears you, hears
Me/' he exclaimed, full of confidence : "Show me, O
Lord, the way by which I should go ; I shall obey
the guide whom Thou wilt give me ; I promise
henceforth to follow him faithfully/' And so it
happened that the saint, on account of his faithful
obedience to his spiritual guide, was entirely freed
from scruples, and became so excellent a master for
the conduct of others. St. Teresa says : ''The soul
must give herself up to the guidance of her confes-
sor, firmly resolved to think no more of her own af-
fairs, but to rely on the words of the Lord, 'He that
hears you, hears Me.' " Should the confessor hap-
pen to err, the penitent does not err in obeying. Her
obedience is always secure. There is, moreover, no
need to question the learning of the confessor. It
should be enough for the penitent to know that he
has been approved by his Bishop. He holds, there-
fore, the place of God, and the penitent can not err
in obeying his injunctions.
The penitent should, also, obey without further
reflection on a case discussed with her confessor
after it has been settled by him. The more a scrupu-
lous soul reflects on her trouble, the more perplexed
will she become. She must be satisfied to walk in
darkness, keeping St. Francis de Sales' beautiful
words in her mind : "It is sufficient that the confes-
sor assures us that we are in a good way, even if we
do not recognize it." And this other : "It is best to
walk blindly under the protection of God's provi-
dence through the dark and devious windings of this
life." A third maxim for the consolation of the soul
is : "A truly obedient soul can never be lost." "We
must, however," the saint continues, "do everything
from love, and not through constraint. We must
love obedience more than we fear disobedience."
The Necessity of a Spiritual Father. 261
As we read in De Lehen's The Way of In-
terior Peace: "Scrupulosity is not perfection, it is
a failing. It is a weakness for which the soul, far
from glorying, should humble herself before the
Lord. To wade in conjectures, and to discover sin
where sin does not exist, is a mental defect wholly
irrational. Such a fault is as fatal as it is ridic-
ulous, and is justly numbered among the greatest
dangers to which a soul can be exposed. 'A nar-
row, scrupulous conscience,' says Gerson, 'has of-
ten worse consequences than one that is too broad ;
for it is a way without an end, it wearies without
leading to the desired term — eternal salvation ! Dis-
couragement, and too often despair, are its result.'
''The celebrated Archbishop of Cambray adds :
'Woe to those trifling, self-entangled souls that are
always in fear, whom fear leaves no time to love and
make generous progress ! O my God, I know it is
Thy will that the heart which loves Thee should be
broad and free ! Therefore, I shall act with confi-
dence, as the child playing in the arms of its mother.
I shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall seek to make
others rejoice. I shall enlarge my heart in the as-
sembly of the children of God, and I shall strive to
acquire the childlike sincerity, innocence, and joy of
the Holy Spirit. Far from me, O my God, that
miserable and over-solicitous knowledge which is
ever consumed with self, ever holding the balance
in hand to weigh every atom ! Such lack of simplic-
ity in the soul's dealings with Thee is truly an out-
rage against Thee. Such rigor imputed to Thee is
unworthy of Thy paternal heart.' "
We close this chapter, repeating: "Obey! Obey!
and do not make God a tyrant!" God truly hates
sin, but He can not hate a soul that heartily detests
her sins, and that would rather die a thousand times
262 The Necessity of a Spiritual Father.
than again commit them. God is good; God loves
you ; O how gentle He is toward a soul of good
will ! It was this thought that made David ex-
claim : ''How good is God to Israel, to them that are
of a right heart!" (Ps. Ixxii. i.) And the Prophet
Jeremias declares in the same strain : ''The Lord is
good to the soul that seeketh Him" (Lam. iii. 25).
Our. Lord once said to St. Margaret of Cortona :
''Margaret, seekest thou Me? Know that I seek
thee far more than thou seekest Me." Imagine God
saying the same to you in proportion to your love
for Him, your earnestness in seeking Him. Cast
yourself into His arms as the Psalmist exhorts you
to do ; abandon to Him all the care of your soul, and
be convinced that He will protect you, and extricate
you from all your troubles. "Cast thy care upon
the Lord, and He shall sustain thee : He shall not
suffer the just to weaver forever" (Ps. liv. 23).
Obey, and banish every fear. Obey and become a
saint. The way of obedience is the safe, short road
to heaven.*
*For other considerations on this important matter, see
Addenda on page 909.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
tbe Duties ot IReliglous toward tbctr Superiors
and Spiritual Directors.
0n tje Kmportance ot Cantiot anti Smcetitj totoartr
Superiors.
^OrLL Religious are familiar with the Decree
<vA-^ ''Queniadmodiim/' of December 17, 1890,
regarding the manifestation of conscience. It for-
bids Superiors (as we read in paragraph II), "from
endeavoring directly or indirectly, by command,
counsel, fear, threats, or blandishments, to induce
their subjects to make to them any such manifesta-
tion of conscience" — a thing referred to in the pre-
am.ble as ''reserved exclusively to the Sacrament of
Penance."
''This, however, in nowise hinders subjects" (as
we read in paragraph III) "from freely and of their
own accord opening their hearts to their Superiors,
for the purpose of obtaining from their prudence
counsel and direction in doubts and perplexities, in
order to aid them in acquiring virtues and advancing
in perfection."
Father de Langogne, O.M.Cap., commenting on
this Decree says : "After, as before, the existence of
this Decree, the Superior of the community has a
mission and a duty to direct his subjects in regard
to the exterior observance of the Rules and usages,
and in regard to the employment given to each of
them. He can, therefore, for this purpose, watch,
inform himself, question, provide, and correct. In
this regard the Decree has not changed an iota. On
264 Duties of Religious toward their Superiors.
the other hand, the Superior ought not to question,
but Hsten to his subject, who freely and sponta-
neously desires to open his heart and make known
his doubts and inquietudes with a view to his spiri-
tual progress. The Superior, we say, ought to listen
to his subjects who come to ask advice from him. In
fact, the inferior is free to recur to his Superior or
not. But the Superior is not, therefore, free to lis-
ten or send him away. He is Superior, he is di-
rector, to aid, to console and enlighten. A sys-
tematic refusal on his part would be at once a seri-
ous negligence in his office and a lack of charity.'' ^
The better a Superior knows a subject, by being
permitted to look deeply into her heart, the more
carefully and lovingly can she guide, console, and
encourage her ; she can w^ard off many dangers and
troubles from her soul by not placing her in such
positions or giving her such charges as would ex-
pose her. Knowing a Sister's inclinations, weak-
nesses, and affections, she can better give her a
mother's care ; she will then impose nothing that
surpasses her strength ; she will apportion to her the
duty suited to her ability ; she will help her to culti-
vate self-control and sustain her in her failures.
Contented and happy is the Religious who is per-
fectly honest and candid with her Superior. The re-
lations between them should be those of mother and
child; then there would be mutual love, confidence,
and helpfulness. To make another comparison, a
Religious ought to approach her Superior as one
goes to a true and faithful friend, to open one's
heart, to unburden one's soul, to tell one's dangers
and perplexities, to seek protection from one's own
weaknesses, to find consolation and strength in
the trials of life. A Superior can not act as a
^Manifestation of Conscience, pp. 78. 79.
Duties of Religious toward their Superiors. 265
friend toward a subject who is not candid and sin-
cere ; she can not thoroughly sympathize with her,
help her, counsel her, guide her.
But a Superior should be a friend to her subjects.
Was not Christ the friend of His disciples? Did
He not say very plainly to them : ''Jam non dicam
vos servos. . . . Vos aittem dixi amicosf '^I will
not now call you servants. . . . But I have called
you friends'' (John xv. 15). Was not Christ even
the servant of His disciples? Did He not say to
them at the Last Supper : ''You call Me Master and
Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If then I, be-
ing your Lord and Master, have w^ashed your feet,
you also ought to wash one another's feet. The
servant is not greater than his lord ; neither is the
apostle greater than He that sent him" (John
xiii. 13-16).
Is not a Superior ''servits servoruin Dei,'' ''the
servant of the servants of Christ"? Is not a Su-
perior ''alter Christus/' ''another Christ" in relation
to his subjects?
Religious should recognize in the Superior the
person of Christ. This does not mean that a Re-
ligious is merely the consecrated slave of an absolute
and irresistible dictator. No; it means, as St. Paul
says : serving from the heart, as to the Lord and not
to men. These are the express words of the great
Apostle, writing to his converts, the Colossians :
''Obey in all things your masters, not serving to the
eye, as pleasing to men, but in simplicity of heart,
fearing God. Whatsoever you do, do it from the
heart as to the Lord, and not to men : knowing that
you shall receive of the Lord the reward of in-
heritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ" (Col. iii.
22-24).
A Superior who is truly Christlike, a servant to
266 Duties of Religious toward their Superiors.
the servants of God, a self-sacrificing and unselfish
friend to those whom the Lord has committed to her
care, will be approached by her subjects at all times
and in all circumstances with love, candor, sincerity,
and confidence. Incalculably great is the good that
follows when a Religious acts with candor and sin-
cerity toward her Superior, and looks upon her as a
faithful friend to whom she may go with simplicity
of heart and perfect trust. The Wise Man declares :
''A faithful friend is the medicine of life and im-
mortality" (Ecclus. vi. i6). No remedy is so quick
to heal the wounds of the body as is a faithful friend
to console in trouble, to counsel in doubt, to rejoice
in success, to compassionate in misfortune. ''A
faithful friend is a strong defence : and he that hath
found him, hath found a treasure. Nothing can be
compared to a faithful friend, and no weight of gold
and silver is able to countervail the goodness of his
fidelity" (ibid. 14, 15). Blessed indeed is the Re-
ligious who possesses such a friend in her Superior.
Such a Superior has the heart of a mother who truly
compassionates her children. Confidently have re-
course to her, according to the advice given us by
the Holy Ghost : ''And if thou see a man of under-
standing, go to him early in the morning, and let thy
foot wear the steps of his doors" (ibid. 36). It is
a relief, a consolation, to tell everything to the phy-
sician ; and so, also, to the Religious, is it a solace
and alleviation to share her interior trials and deso-
lation with the one whom God has provided for that
special purpose.
One of the best means for driving sadness from
the heart is to confide the cause of it to another.
The ancient Fathers recommended this remedy. As
long as men shut up within themselves the bur-
den of temptation and trial, they live in sad-
Duties of Religious tozvard their Superiors. 267
ness and perplexity, in desolation and discour-
agement. But when the burden has been shared by
another, the heart grows light, and heavenly peace
returns. St. Dorotheus says, that by revealing his
interior sufferings to his spiritual Father, he gained
such peace and joy of heart that he began to fear
that all was not well with him. He was troubled
when he recalled the words of the Apostle :
* 'Through many tribulations we must enter into
the kingdom of God" (Acts xiv. 21), and he felt
doubtful as to whether he was really on the road to
heaven. He consulted his master, the Abbot John,
who told him not to fear, for he was now enjoying
that joy and peace promised to those who deal
openly with their spiritual directors. Act with sim-
plicity toward your Superiors, for there is question
not of temporal interests, which are secondary, but
of vour sanctification and eternal salvation. It be-
hooves all Religious, whether Superiors or subjects,
to cultivate the spirit of Christ. When subjects talk
of rights tow^ard Superiors, they must at the same
time speak of obligations ; for both go together.
It is the obligation of a Religious to follow Christ,
to be moved by His spirit, to be, like Him, meek and
humble of heart, to be poor in spirit, to be detached
from creatures, to avoid .particular friendships,
above all to be obedient, ay, obedient even unto the
death of the cross, to obey, with a good heart
and cheerfully, even a Superior who is not
gentle and amiable, solely and simply for the
love of God, not through inclination, esteem, or
natural affection. As regards obedience under the
yoke of one who is severe and commands in a
haughty manner, there may be much suffering, but
there is then also much merit. It is then that the
virtue of holy obedience shines forth in all its
268 Duties of Religious toward their Superiors.
glory. "Where there is less of the creature there
is more of the Creator," says St. Jane Frances de
Chantal. A fervent Religious, one who is inflamed
with the love of God and eager to advance in holi-
ness, sees in each command, nay, in the slightest
wish of her Superior, a step by which she can mount
higher toward the summit of perfection. After the
example of her divine Spouse, whose meat it was to
do the will of His heavenly Father, she offers her-
self with joy as a living holocaust to God, as a vic-
tim of perpetual sacrifice, crucified every moment of
her life on the cross of obedience. Having fol-
lowed Jesus crucified, she shall hereafter follow
Him triumphant. This is her hope ; this is her con-
solation. "Our seed has fallen in submission," says
St. Cyril ; ''it will rise in glory."
In the little book, General Principles of the Re-
'ligious Life (Meer-Verheyen), w^e find the follow-
ing admirable reflections and admonitions on the
conduct of Religious toward their Superiors :
I. When the Superior has been elected, do not re-
gard him as one subject to imperfections, but as
God's representative. God intends to supply the de-
fects of those whom He appoints in His stead, and
He will reward all Religious who honor Him in
their Superiors as if the reverence they show their
Superiors had been directly shown to His Godhead.
On the other hand, He will visit with severity those
who fail in reverence to Superiors, and will regard
offences thus committed as if they directly con-
cerned His majesty. All history, ancient and mod-
ern, proves that this is God's uniform way of
dealing. ''The disrespect shown to a country's
representative is referred to the commonwealth he
represents, and the law stamps the act as high
treason."
Duties of Religious toward their Superiors. 269
2. Always be prompt and cheerful in obeying
your Superior. Do not obey him because of his
wisdom and prudence — this is the obedience of hu-
man policy, which in a Religious is disgraceful ; not
because of family prestige — this is the obedience of
a low, servile instinct, whose highest aim is to flat-
ter ; not because he has the power to force you —
this is the abject obedience of a slave, who fears
the lash; nor yet because he humors you and im-
poses agreeable tasks — this is the obedience of a
capricious child, that deserves a frequent switching.
No, obey your Superior simply because he holds the
place of Him to whom you have made the sacrifice
of vour will. This is true monastic obedience, and
the only obedience on the part of a Religious that
meets with God's approval. The truly obedient
have their eyes fixed only on God.
3. Have great confidence in your Superior. Let
your relations with him be cordial and your deal-
ings sincere. In your common necessities, there-
fore, go to your Superior with as much confidence
as a child goes to its parent; look upon everything
he orders as well done, though it run counter to
your feelings, unless you plainly recognize it to be
a sin. To live thus is to live the life of a true Re-
ligious, whose way to heaven is straight. That rule
of life is unerring for the truth of which God gives
the pledge of His infallible word.
4. Take it in good part if your Superior makes
you aware of your shortcomings ; and that he may
admonish you the more readily, beg him earnestly
to do so, and love him most who does you this favor
most freely. You would certainly have more
affection for a parent who could not bear to
see the least speck on you without making you
aware of it, than for one who neglects to draw
270 Duties of Religious toward their Superiors.
your attention to the filthy stains with which
you are covered. A ReHgious who takes kindly
to correction will soon be perfect; but he that
hates it will never get out of the ruts of his evil
habits. Take care not to complain of your Su-
periors, and do not listen to those who are given to
grumbling about them. To grumble would be a sad
misfortune. Had Eve turned a deaf ear to the
tempter's wily speech when in her presence he criti-
cized God's command not to eat of the forbidden
fruit, she would have had less to suffer, and not
have plunged us into the danger of losing our soul.
It is God's wish that you should try to please
your Superior more than others, mindful of Him
whose place he holds; but God expressly forbids
you to flatter him, studiously to endear yourself,
with a view to be welcome in his company, and to
insinuate yourself into his good graces by fawning,
informing, or uncharitable tale-bearing. What a
disgrace it is to meet certain persons in the monas-
tery who make it their business to court the favor of
their Superior, thrusting themselves into his pres-
ence, prying into his leanings, to satisfy them in
everything, thus to obtain the more easily what they
are after ! Alas, that sordid egotism can not content
itself with its myriads of slaves out in the world,
but must recruit its selfish horde in monasteries,
where the freedom of the children of God alone
should hold empire !
5. Hold in grateful remembrance all that have
once been your Superiors, and, though they are no
longer in office, retain a special veneration for them.
But you must not let it interfere with the confidence
you owe your present Superior, through whose
means God now confers His grace on you, as before
He bestowed it through another. If you observe
Duties of Religious toward their Superiors. 271
another course of action and allow yourself to be di-
rected by those no longer in office, you adopt a
course that will divide you against yourself, bring
on a thousand complications, and ruin the Order.
A two-headed body is a short-Hved nondescript.
6. If with God's permission you happen on a Su-
perior who, from caprice, suspicion, or false report,
makes it a point to humble you on every occasion^
do not fail on that account to show him the respect
due to his office. Think of Him for whose love you
accepted the yoke of obedience. Be your aversion
what it may, overcome it bravely, calling to mind the
terrible sufferings of Jesus Christ, when He saw
Himself so shamefully maltreated by the Jews, for-
saken by His apostles, condemned to death, and so
utterly abandoned by His Father; and do not give
way to the slightest misgiving as to God's powerful
aid. *'You are they who have continued with Me in
My temptations ; and I dispose to you, as My Father
hath disposed to Me, a kingdom" (Luke xxii. 28).
7. Flave compassion on Superiors who, on the
one hand, have to assist their subjects all they can,
and, on the other, have to give an account to God
for their perfection. Pray for them, that God may
give them the strength and prudence necessary to
fulfil their arduous duties well, and do not make
their responsible position more burdensome by
heaping upon it the additional dead weight of your
irregularities and evil propensities. It is a cold and
cruel heart that can bear to see a parent bending un-
der a heavy burden, dragging himself along wearily,
with groans and tottering steps, without moving
even a finger to relieve the crushing strain.
8. God's best gift to an Order is good Superiors.
Since the welfare of an Order depends chiefly on the
Superiors, be careful, when there is question of elec-
2/2 Duties of Religious toward their Superiors.
tion, that you do not be influenced by personal mo-
tives or the suggestions of weak human nature. On
the contrary, invoke the Holy Ghost that He may
enlighten you, implore the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin, of the founder of your Order, of the guard-
ian angel of your monastery, of all its former mem-
bers who are now in heaven, that you may choose
the one who is fitted to promote the sanctification of
souls in 3^our community. ''The good shepherd giv-
eth his life for his sheep'' (John x. it).
9. As to the qualities which should guide you in
the choice of a Superior, give your vote, ist. To the
one who is most humble, and least desires the of-
fice; 2d, To the one who is in closest union with
God, and takes least notice of himself ; 3d, To the
one wdio shows most love for the members of the
Order in general, and little if any private friend-
ship ; 4th, To the one who displays the most zeal for
the Order, and gives minutest attention to all the
community exercises ; 5th, To the one who is most
prudent in the management of business affairs, and
is least inclined to have intercourse with people in
the world. All these qualities may not be found
united in a single person ; choose, then, the one
who has most of them.
10. Look upon your Order as a wise and merciful
arrangement of the Holy Ghost to lead souls to per-
fection. Often speak of the special favors it has
received from heaven, and of the excellent services
it has rendered to God and man by the prayers and
labors of so many of its saintly members, who ended
their days happily within its pale. Encourage your-
self to imitate their example. A child that stains the
luster of his family name, or squanders the estate,
deserves to be held up to lasting reproach.
11. If you notice an abuse creeping into your
Duties of Religious toward their Superiors. 273
community, do not complain of it, or speak of it
to such as are helpless in the matter, but report the
case to those who can provide a remedy. If, for
some reason, you can not act, take refuge with God.
Be the matter what it may. He is much concerned
about it, because the community is His creation, and
He can preserve it if He wills it. The blame of a
conflagration rests with him who does not hasten
to extinguish the first spark.
'12, Daily implore the divine mercy to bless your
Order by keeping its members in their first fervor,
and directing to its fold such as will maintain and
transmit the primitive fervor in its full vigor.
Prayer for the maintenance of primitive fervor is
the best proof of worthy membership.
Reflection.
Why is it that a number of houses, once zealous
and well established, little by little fell into decay?
The calamity must be ascribed chiefly to three
causes : the want of vigilance on the part of Su-
periors, the neglect of mortification, and free inter-
course with the outside world.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Gouneels anD IRetlectlone tor Supertore,
^rnpN exceedingly heavy and perilous cross is laid
fJ^ upon Superiors along with the dignity of
their office. A very holy ecclesiastic once wrote to
his sister after she had become Superior of a con-
vent : ^'My dear sister, I most fervently beg God
to help you, that you may not succumb under so
many crosses, that you may not become a martyr
without merit or crown.'' Reflect that you must
give an account before God if, through your negli-
gence, irregularity creeps in, or if the Rules are not
observed. A good old Carthusian used to say that
the Religious Orders decayed more from headache
than from gout, that is, more from faults of the
head than from those of the feet, since faults come
more often from Superiors than from subjects, be-
cause those in authority close their eyes to disorders
and irregularities. Before entering on your office,
thank your Sisters for the honor and confidence
shown you. Then tell them openly that you accept
the office only to render them service, but in no way
to risk your own soul. Tell them courageously
that you are resolved to permit nothing, or to con-
nive at nothing by which your conscience might be
wounded. Such a declaration will prevent subjects
from asking anything unreasonable or unsuitable,
and will pave the way for a refusal in case such de-
mands are made. By pursuing this course you will
be able to discharge your duties with greater free-
dom of conscience.
Pay strict attention to the observance of the
Counsels atid Reflections for Superiors. 275
Rules, and try in every possible manner to abolish
disorders which, if once introduced into the com-
munity, can rarely be rooted out. Father P^ancis,
a Discalced Carmelite, relates that an abbess ap-
peared after death to one of her fellow-Sisters, and
told her that she was suffering untold pains in pur-
gatory on account of her carelessness in regard to
the observance of the Rules, and her neglect of cer-
tain orders given her by the prelate of the diocese.
A Superior, moreover, is obliged to visit the differ-
ent parts of the convent, diligently looking after
everything and seeing that her orders are executed,
for of what use are orders if not carried out? It is
better, consequently, to give few orders, and have
them attended to, than many and allow them to be
neglected. Be solicitous that every one fulfils the
duties in her charge, but avoid meddling too much
in the offices of others. Another point to engage
your constant watchfulness is to guard against par-
ticular friendships springing up between the Re-
ligious themselves, or betw^een them and seculars.
Long sermons are not necessary, but duty obliges
you to speak earnestly against faults committed in
the community. That your subjects may keep
the Rule exactly, you must lead the way by your
owm good example. St. Joseph Calasanctius says :
''Woe to the Superior w^ho urges on her subjects in
beautiful discourses, but who draws them dowm by
her bad example !" Be most diligent in assisting at
all the exercises of the community, especially at the
community prayer, since you are more in need of
prayer than all the rest. You need a double portion
of celestial nourishment, since you have to provide
not only for your own soul, but for the souls of your
subjects. Try always to be present in choir and in
the refectory, for disorders easily creep in. Take
276 Counsels and Reflections for Superiors.
particular care never to permit yourself anything
extra either in food or clothing. Direct the officers
to take no more care of you than of the least in the
convent. Govern your community with a firm hand,
but ever bear in mind the meekness of our divine
Master toward His chosen companions. He has told
us Himself of His manner of treating them : "You
know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it
over them, and they that are the greater exer-
cise power upon them ; it shall not be so among
you, but whosoever shall be the greater among
you, let him be your minister and he that will
be first among you shall be your servant. Even
as the Son of man is not come to be ministered
unto, but to minister. I am in the midst of you as
he that serveth.'' There you see the whole conduct
of your divine Saviour. He was as a servant wait-
ing on those whom He had chosen.
Avoid favoritism. In the distribution of the
offices of the convent, guard especially against
human respect or natural inclination, and let
Christian prudence mark your conduct, for you
will have to render a strict account to Almighty
God for the disorders that arise through your fault.
Be cordial and humble toward all. Do not forget
that you have been made Superior to be the servant
of ail. By humility and sweetness, and not by
haughtiness and arrogance will you gain the hearts
of others, and then your admonitions and correc-
tions will be taken in good part. If the Superior
is not gentle and affable in her bearing, subjects
lose confidence in her. They can not communicate
to her their wants and sufferings, they cease to ask
the permissions prescribed, and they do not make
known, perhaps, certain little disorders in the com-
munity. The government of such a Superior would
Counsels and Reflections for Superiors. 277
be a failure. Do not say : "My heart is good ; I mean
well." If you treat others roughly, you will be
avoided. You must lend a friendly and patient ear
to ail that come to you ; otherwise many a little dis-
order will exist in the convent, which (not having
cognizance of it) you can not remedy. Does some
Sister shun you? Encourage her to confide in you
by showing her some special attention. If you
have to distribute offices, impose tasks, or prohibit
something, do not command under obedience, unless
in some great necessity, and that rarely happens.
Avoid intemperate peremptoriness, also too loud a
tone. Say what you have to say graciously and in
the manner of a request, as, for instance, "I beg you
to do so and so,'' "Do me the kindness," "Grant me
the favor," etc. In short, try to be more loved
than feared. "As you would that men should do
to you, do you also to them in like manner" (Luke
^^- 31)..
Especially in administering correction, you must
be exceedingly mild. St. Ambrose says : "A kind
correction, which simply calls attention to the fault,
is more profitable than a violent reproof which ex-
cites anger." St. Chrysostom says : "Are you
really desirous of your brother's amendment? O
then beseech him, admonish him with tears ! Cast
yourself at his feet — be not ashamed even to kiss his
feet if you sincerely desire to see him cured." Ad-
minister corrections, especially the first, with mild-
ness and in private. But if the fault deserves and
demands public punishment because publicly com-
mitted, even then admonish the delinquent first in
private. Begin by praising her good qualities, and
then proceed to show her the fault of which you
complain ; and lastly, beg her not to be discouraged
even if you are obliged, for the good of the com-
278 Counsels and Reflections for Superiors.
munity, to give a public correction. O how far
more efficacious are admonitions given in this way
than those marked by brusqueness and severity ! If
the Superior is mild and gentle, she can
lead her subjects by a silken thread. They will
be absolutely devoted to her, and they will fol-
low her with the most cheerful alacrity. Your
Sisters look upon you as their mother. You must
associate with them as a good mother does with her
children. The aged and the infirm deserve special
consideration. Entreat them in a gentle manner to
correct their faults. You could say to them, for in-
stance : "You know that I think a great deal of you,
and I beg you to be more careful in the observance
of such or such a Rule. The old must give good
example to the young," etc. Sometimes you must
watch your chance for days and even weeks to catch
a suitable opportunity to give a correction with
greater profit. Medicine, administered at the right
time, restores health to the sick ; while the same
given at the wrong time brings death. Many
things must be left to Almighty God, and recourse
must be had to prayer that He may remedy the evil.
If, however, certain faults of individuals have evil
consequences in respect to the community, if, for in-
stance, they disedify others, annoy and burden them,
or detract in any way from the observance of the
Rule, then, indeed, the Superior must speak plainly
and act energetically. In regard to certain evils, such
as particular friendships or enmities, there must be
no delay. The remedy must be applied promptly, for
the longer such disorders last, the more difficult is it
to banish them. Corrections must, indeed, be given
with great mildness, but what can not be cured by
gentleness must be attacked rigorously and severely.
As the Apostle says: ''Reprove, entreat, rebuke!"
Counsels and Reflections for Superiors. 279
(2 Tim. iv. 2). The Rule of St. Augustine says the
Superior ought to command both fear and love : love
in the humble and docile, fear in the haughty and
obstinate. A certain pious writer says that there
are some who have hearts enclosed in leather armor.
They are insensible to everything but the thrust of
the lance. Neither kind nor harsh words effect any-
thing. Sharp penances must be inflicted on them if
they have committed grave faults. Not to fail in the
delicate and difficult task of correction, you must
go to work cautiously. Severe penances are like red-
hot iron, burning out that which can not be removed
in any other way. Furthermore, you must follow the
rule of prudence, which forbids your acting in the
matter before you have commended yourself to God
in prayer, and taken counsel of others. Take care not
to impose penances or to give severe reproofs when
in a state of excitement. A penance would be of no
avail if the subject performed it in anger. You
must wait till passion has subsided on both sides.
If the reproof must of necessity be severe, mingle
a little oil with the vinegar, by telling the de-
linquent that you love her and act only for her
good. If a report has been lodged against any
one, do not at once resort to reproofs and punish-
ment. Inquire into the affair, listen to w^hat the ac-
cused has to say, and weigh both sides maturely.
Only after such deliberation should a Superior act.
Things the most innocent are often seen in a very
false light, and little infractions are sometimes re-
ported as great faults. Some Superiors, unfortu-
nately, believe all that is told them, and act like blun-
dering physicians, who fail to make a careful diag-
nosis before they apply their remedies. They act
hastily ; they cut without necessity. Much pain and
trouble may arise from such ill-advised precipita-
28o Counsels mid Reflections for Superiors.
.tion. May God preserve Superiors, during their
government, from exercising revenge on any Sister
who has opposed their election, and from being un-
kind to those for whom they feel a natural antip-
athy. As regards requests for special favors and
exemptions, weigh the permissions that you are
called upon to grant, and resolutely reject all human
motives, such as friendship, gratitude, etc. To give
permission for wdiat would be injurious to a soul
would be folly and not charity.
With regard to food and clothing, be as generous
as the Rule allows. If the convent is poor and
able to supply but little, see that that little is well
prepared. It is better to provide the Sisters with
abundant clothing, a generous and wholesome diet,
and sanitary surroundings, for the preservation of
their health and strength, than to erect a stately
marble chapel or an imposing convent for the grati-
fication of vanity. Let special care be taken of the
sick. Let them be well served with medicine and
nourishment and all the reliefs that can be pro-
cured for them. Our Lord commanded St. Te-
resa in very precise terms to nurse the sick well.
The infirmarian ought to be a trained nurse and
well informed with regard to modern hygiene,
therapeutics, and surgical methods. In many cases
of sickness, good nursing is of greater importance
than medicine. Let the Superior visit the sick Sis-
ters frequently, but let her not appear before them
with a lugubrious countenance. A Superior com-
ing to the infirmary with a bright face, a cheerful
greeting, and a word of sympathy, exerts a healthful
and invigorating influence on those who are sick
and depressed. Cheerfulness is a better tonic than
medicine.
The foregoing kindly counsels are amplified and
Counsels and Reflections for Superiors. 281
reinforced by the following practical reflections
from General Principles of the Religious Life:
It would betray a most lamentable ignorance of
your duties if you did not know that you ought to
have even more care for your subjects than for
yourself. Now that you stand to them in the place
of Providence, you are bound to provide for all their
wants in proportion as they have disowned self, re-
nounced everything, and resigned themselves into
the hands of God, their Heavenly Father. In respect
to bodily health and the sanctification of their souls,
you must assist them as you would your brothers
and sisters, love them as if they were your children,
and honor them as specially devoted servants of
Jesus Christ, Who has given them in your charge,
and w^ll one day exact a close reckoning from you
on their account. The shepherd's reward, the
welfare of his flock, and the owner's profits —
all depend on the shepherd's care and watchful-
ness.
Consider that the three most excellent of persons
that ever had charge of the children of God — Moses,
Jesus Christ, and St. Peter — displayed very extraor-
dinary affection. Be guided by great gentleness.
When you have an order to give, do so in an hum-
ble tone of voice, v/hich strikes the ear more like a
request than a command. If you grant favors, do it
with kindness. In case of a refusal, let the peti-
tioner feel that you are sorry not to be able to oblige
him. And as to reprimand, let it be administered
without arrogance, harshness, or other passion.
The meekness of a Superior sweetens the bitterness
of a command.
Keep before your mind that terrible vision in
which the Superiors of a celebrated Order appeared
in fire, and acknowledged that they had all been con-
.282 Counsels and Rejections for Superiors,
demned to that punishment because of their unfor-
tunate, yielding temper. They had, in fact, left
the discipline of the monastery to the discretion of
the Religious, and in order to please the members
had let the body go to ruin. Therefore never toler-
ate the violation of a Rule or sacred custom. If you
notice that gentleness does not avail to keep a Re-
ligious well up to his duty, season gentleness with
severity. Jesus, the mildest of men, once gave St.
Peter a stern rebuke ; He often censured His
apostles with emphasis and even rigor, and never
recalled the severe strictures which He uttered
against the Pharisees. Besides plenty of healing
salves, a good shepherd must have a little caustic
handy for use in case of need.
A Superior's most necessary virtue is prudence —
not the criminal prudence of time-serving policy, of
which St. James speaks, the sole aim of which is
to ingratiate itself and to let the term of office pass
by pleasantly without thought of the future, but that
supernatural virtue under the guidance of which a
Superior employs every available means to make his
subjects better, examines the character of each, and
takes into consideration each one's necessities. Like
a skilful physician, this kind of prudence prescribes
remedies in accordance with the patient's disposi-
tion and the nature of the ailment : always ready,
when necessary, rather to cut off a gangrened mem-
ber than to let the whole body become infected. Of-
ten ask Heaven for this virtue, for it is not a growth
of earth. Prudence is as necessary for a Superior
in managing his community as a rudder is for a
seaman in guiding his ship.
In distributing the various offices, keep your eye
'fixed, not so much on satisfying the expectations of
the members, as on promoting the welfare of the
Counsels and Reflections for Superiors. 283
commnnity. Before assigning the offices pray that
the Holy Ghost may enhghten you to know who are
best quahfied to assume them and will best fulfil
their duties. When you have made the choice as
God directed you, examine from time to time how
the places are filled. In this particular imitate the
example of a prudent field-officer, who does not de-
pend on his guards and subordinate officers to the
extent that he does not at times make personal in-
spection to see if every one is faithful in his duties.
While a Superior may not appear suspicious, he
must not relax in vigilance. One scabby sheep is
sufficient to infect a whole flock.
As to the reception of visitors, this should take
place only in the reception room or parlor ; but you
must be fully satisfied that the visitor is not an
objectionable person, and that he makes but short
and infrequent calls. The Religious who receives
such calls must not in consequence of them become
less punctual and obedient, nor less charitable to his
fellow-Religious, nor fall a prey to spiritual de-
moralization. If, however, the visitor is a stranger
to you, calls too frequently, or protracts his stay
longer than necessary and the Religious becomes re-
miss in God's service, obeys less promptly, is less
restrained in his ordinary intercourse, becomes
haughty and overbearing, then do not hesitate a mo-
ment, but cut off these visits without delay. He is a
bad shepherd who does not beat off a prowling wolf.
A Superior would be guilty of a very fatal mis-
take if he allowed himself to l3e biased by a first re-
port. He must incline to no decision till he has
heard all the evidence in a case necessary to arrive
at the truth. It is a most severe trial for an inferior
to find his Superior's mind so prepossessed as to
make it useless for him to present a statement.
284 Counsels and Reflections for Superiors.
Without doubt the most painful strain on a guiltless
person is found in just such a state of things, and it
requires more than common grace to bear it cheer-
fully. Therefore, hold judgment in abeyance; and
before you come to any definite conclusion endeavor
quietly to obtain a complete knowledge of the facts
in the case. A judge who takes the evidence of one
side only will seldom give a just decision.
You will surely direct your community with suc-
cess if you possess the respect, love, and confidence
of your subjects. You will gain their respect if
your virtues correspond to your position ; if you first
lay hand to difficulties and burden yourself with
what is most repugnant to nature. You can cer-
tainly rely on their love if they see that you have
equal solicitude for all, but especially for the sick,
the aged, and those who have little concern for
themselves or their affairs. You will enjoy their
fullest confidence if you manifest a sincere affection
for them and maintain a scrupulous silence on mat-
ters that they intrust to you. Respect, love, and
confidence are the ties that firmly bind subjects to
their Superiors.
If all your Religious feel satisfied under your
management — a case possible only when all are
earnestly striving after perfection — thank God for
the happy condition, but give Him alone the glory.
If, however, you have discontented Religious under
you, console yourself with the thought that even St.
Benedict, though filled with the spirit of all the just,
had to live with brethren who could not bear him ;
that his great disciple St. Bernard had a secretary,
a Religious named Nicolas, who persecuted and
calumniated him ; that St. Francis Assisi was
greatly worried on account of Brother Elias ; nay,
that Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the very ideal
Counsels and ReUections for Superiors. 285
of a perfect Superior, had to bear with the traitor
Judas, who injured Him more than any one can pos-
sibly injure you. Consider that a cross-grained,
discontented ReHgious acts the part of a rasp in
the hands of a goldsmith, with which he scrapes off
the slag from the nuggets of gold, or serves the pur-
pose of a besom which rids the house of rubbish and
dirt. A humble and zealous Religious is an edifica-
tion for the members of a community ; while a proud
and unstable member offers both his Superiors and
fellow-members frequent opportunities to practice
virtue and to lay up an abundance of rare merits.
Have the names of all your Religious handy, and
pray for them daily, particularly for such as stand in
need of special assistance. Be on the alert for new
ways and means which may do good service for
their improvement, and never give up the hope of
their ultimate amendment. Interest yourself in
them and give them such aid and encouragement
as from time to time they may require. Sincere and
affectionate concern on the part of the Superior
soothes interior anguish and diffuses bright sun-
• shine in a clouded soul.
Final Reflection.
The office of a Religious Superior is a more diffi-
cult one than that of an army commander ; for it is
harder to direct men's interior than their exterior.
It is, moreover, so much the more dangerous as it
is a greater evil to let the soul go to ruin than the
body. For that reason, too, the saints were always
afraid of an office, and many fled from it as from a
dangerous reef on which they might suffer miser-
able shipwreck. Others accepted an office only by
sheer force, and lived in constant dread of damna-
tion ; for they knew but too well that God would call
286 Counsels and Rejections for Superiors,
them to account, not only for their own shortcom-
ings, but also for those of their subjects which they
might have prevented; however those who assume
the Superiorship under constraint may not on that
account wish themselves joy, since the responsibility
remains the same, whether the office was accepted
freely or under compulsion. Nothing in the world
presses upon the sou! with such utter dead weight
as the knowledge of having to account and atone for
others ; nevertheless the Apostle writing to the
Philippians (iv. 6, 13) says: ''Be nothing solicitous;
but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to
God. I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth
me." A Religious — a man in authority and of great
experience — once said to the Editor of this book :
"Go where you please, out in the turmoil of the
world or into the solitude of the cloister, and
you will find that everywhere Superiors must
contend with recalcitrant subjects. There is al-
ways some one who carries a knife in his sleeve.
Even the most prudent, the kindest Superior will
meet with malcontents and chronic grumblers.'' To
this we say Amen. Therefore it behooves a Su-
perior to cultivate liberty of spirit ; to perform her
duty with a pure intention, and to remain calm, self-
possessed, and patient when God permits things to
happen contrary to her inclinations, her efforts, and
her expectations. A soul endowed with liberty of
spirit seeks only to please God, desires but His love
and His grace. Her actions correspond with her
prayer to the heavenly Father : ''Hallowed be Thy
name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.'' Hav-
ing done her duty, she is not anxious as regards re-
suits. She trusts in God. Her watchword is : Ad
major em Dei gloriam.
CHAPTER XXX.
Cbe Contemplative %\tc.
2ri)e ilfDontemplatibe Uocation.
IT happened once, thousands of years ago, that
while a tribe of escaped slaves, untrained in
war, poorly armed, and encumbered with women,
children, and flocks, was marching through a
granite-walled valley toward the region selected as
its future home, the vanguard was suddenly set
upon by a fierce band of natives. During the
bloody battle which ensued, the leader of the wan-
dering tribe went aside from the field to the summit
of a neighboring hill. To look for the approach of
reinforcements? Or to forecast the issue of the
conflict? Or in order better to direct the move-
ments of his fighting men ? No ! He went merely
to stand upon the hilltop, and to beg w^ith out-
stretched arms for the help of the God of battles.
His prayer was heard. ''And when Moses lifted up
his hands, Israel overcame ; but if he let them down
a little, Amalec overcame. . . . And it came to pass
that his hands wxre not weary until sunset, and
Israel put Amalec and his people to flight by the
edge of the sword.''
As a proof of the power of prayer, this incident,
recorded by the sacred chronicler in the book of
Exodus, possesses perhaps no special significance
beyond many another instance equally well au-
thenticated; yet, as symbolizing the role of contem-
plation in the Christian life, it serves peculiarly well
to illustrate a spiritual principle of the first impor-
288 The Contemplative Life.
tance. That prayer possesses a certain practical
efficacy and should be employed by every individual
laboring to attain an honest end is, of course, a
truth admitted by all who recognize the existence of
an omnipotent and benevolent God. Yet in its in-
tegrity the utility of prayer seems not to be appre-
ciated by all theists, or even by all Christians; and
indeed we may assert that the principle of prayer,
with all its consequences and imphcations, is ac-
cepted only by those who give definite public sanc-
tion to the state of life known as the contemplative.
These are a very limited number. For while in
theory, and according to the rules of rigid reason-
ing, approval of the contemplative vocation should
invariably accompany sincere profession of belief in
the efficacy of prayer, yet, in fact, such approval
is a thing distinctively Catholic.
That to commune with God is a most valuable aid
to human striving is so palpably evident that no
Christian would, or could, ignore it. Setting aside
the value which is traceable to the subjective results
of prayer, to the psychological stimulus of ardent
petition, to the enthusiasm born of concentrated in-
tention— setting this aside, we perceive that man's
labors are rendered doubly efficacious when joined
with prayer. There is an invisible divine power
strengthening the arm that has been lifted in suppli-
cation, rounding and deepening the tones of the
voice that, a moment ago, was silenced during the
heart's still worship. There is a new force, sustain-
ing and cooperating with the man of prayer as he
goes about his work, a force that subdues opposition,
and wins over the many who held aloof until the
irresistible secret stirrings of God's Spirit impelled
them to listen and respond. So declare all
Christians. Can they speak differently merely
The Contemplative Life. 289
because the question concerns society instead of
individuals ?
Assuredly not ! If prayer is efficacious at all, it
avails the community as well as the individual ; it
possesses social as well as private value ; it should
be regarded not simply as a general privilege, but
rather as a public function also.
In speaking of the social utility of prayer, we
mean to insist not on the ethical and esthetic better-
ment that results from a widespread veneration of
holy persons and things, but on the claim of prayer
to be accorded an honorable rank as a supernatural
yet very real force contributing to the success of
every legitimate social enterprise and to the fulfil-
ment of every lofty human aspiration. Our mean-
ing may be best realized, perhaps, by considering
the role assigned to the Christian's private daily
prayer, commonly regarded as an element multiply-
ing the fruit of labor an hundredfold, steeling the
frame against fatigue, averting danger, and open-
ing up manifold new opportunities. In short, be-
lievers generally concede that by prayer a man is
certain to render his life far safer, far nobler, and
far richer than it could possibly be otherwise.
Were this principle not true, it would be hard to
differentiate Providence from blind fate, or from
the deist's apathetic God ; it would be hard to see
how the normal mental attitude of the Christian
could be, as it is, one of simple faith and trust in the
ever ready help of the Almighty. On the other
hand, if the principle is true ; if prayer really is a
powerful social force ; then it should be taken ac-
count of, and should be employed, in just such
fashion as the Catholic Church proposes.
Who that is a Christian can fairly contend against
the Catholic ideal or the Catholic practice ? Has not
290 The Contemplative Life.
society, too, its function of prayer? Will not a di-
viner power be at hand to assist that community
whose labors are mingled constantly with strong
cries that go forth to the listening God? Has the
race no need for deep recesses of worship, for hid-
den caverns of faith and hope and love hollowed out
in the depths of the social heart ; for sweet, cooling
springs of grace to slake the thirst of the multitudes
that struggle in the heat of the day? And what
more apt than that certain souls be set apart to fulfil
just this purpose; to be the ''praying ones'' of the
community by way of eminence ; to besiege heaven
violently by word and deed ; to relinquish every
other duty that this may be accomplished constantly
and well ?
Here, then, we find suggested a vindication of the
Catholic teaching upon the contemplative life, the
teaching, namely, that it is lawful and meritorious
for some to give themselves over exclusively to lives
of prayer. In the case of the souls who are encour-
aged actually to embrace this state of life, tendency
and aptitude have first indicated the nature of their
gifts ; and then, possessed of a sublime faith in the
value of converse with God, they have petitioned,
and the Church has allowed, that their time and
energy be wholly dedicated to the invisible ministry
of the spirit; and the broad seal of divine approval
so often stamped upon the career of the royal war-
riors is now set with unmistakable impress upon the
lives of those
"Who only stand and wait."
The student of religions should note that the con-
templative vocation is something which no other
society — at least no other Christian body — has ever
had the sublime audacity to sanction. Yet one can
The Contemplative Life. 291
not resist the conviction that the Catholic ideal is
alone consistent, and that the Catholic practice is the
intelligent working out of the Gospel's deepest
truths. This should be seen all the more clearly by
a generation that boasts of its grasp on the luminous
conception of society as an organism. For surely
society has religious as well as political, economic,
and educational functions ; and for the carrying on
of each of these activities individuals ought to be
chosen and groups formed from among those whose
talents reveal peculiar adaptability and promise
special success in this or that career.
Specialization, of course, does not imply that any
single group will absorb the whole of the particular
activity for which it has been declared the most fit.
Living organs are not constructed on strict me-
chanical lines. As eye and hand and heart have cer-
tain functions in common ; so, too, the duties of
family and school and state to some extent overlap
and trespass upon one another. It remains true,
nevertheless, that the energy of each is applied
mainly to a particular and specific end, and that pri-
vate as well as public interests are best consulted
when the division of labor is nicely and thoroughly
made.
Now, quite in accord with this is the Catholic
conception of the contemplative life as a vocation
apart, as the state of those who are called to conse-
crate themselves to a life of exclusive prayer, thus
enriching the store of spiritual experience and
energy upon which the community may draw,
though never in any sense relieving the active labor-
ers of their personal necessity of private and public
communion with God. True, under certain aspects,
this likening of the contemplative to a specialist may
seem more strained than is lawful even for a simile.
292 The Contemplative Life.
Admittedly, it will not throw light upon every case.
Still, let us not be too hasty in rejecting it as there-
fore completely uninstructive. Though exceptions
and variations are to be looked for in any order,
whether of nature or of grace ; though here, as else-
where, geniuses may arise to transcend our classi-
fications and to baffle our powers of analysis ; yet
this does not invalidate the assertion that Christian
philosophy should recognize the social use of con-
templatives. Let vis repeat our belief boldly and
plainly : the naturally and universally conceived con-
cept of the ideal Christian commonwealth logically
dictates the institution of what Catholics call con-
templative communities.
Some, perhaps, will feel repelled at the notion that
the intercession of others may gain for them what
they themselves have not prayed well enough to ob-
tain. But such a notion should startle none who are
accustomed to think of Christianity as a media-
torial religion ; least of all nowadays, when the
newly roused sense of human solidarity forcibly in-
clines men toward that idea of atonement funda-
mental in the Catholic interpretation of revealed
truth. For truly the principle of vicarious substitu-
tion gains new breadth and grandeur when the
cloister is looked upon as a divinely efficacious efe-
ment in the warfare against evil and in the building
up of the kingdom of God. Our age has awakened
to a new comprehension of the oneness of humanity.
We begin now to perceive that the very constitution
of the race demands just such a principle of com-
mon responsibility, guilt, punishment, and redemp-
tion, as that assured by Catholic dogma. We see
how not only the first head of the race, x\dam, and
the second head, Christ, but men in every land and
age wield tremendous, far-reaching, and long-lived
The Contemplative Life. 293
influence for good or evil ; how, in truth, each one
of us incessantly plays the alternate roles of debtor
and creditor in a universal, never-ending give-and-
take. Hence we realize that each must be appor-
tioned merit or demerit ; each must of necessity par-
take of the general reward or general punishment.
As men struggle up from savagery into civilization ;
as knowledge and reverence replace ignorance and
craven fear ; as we move onward by the thousand
paths of culture toward purer light and higher life ;
it is the inahenable. prerogative of every human be-
ing to share, if he will, in the glory of our common
success. The thought is one which wins from us a
willing acceptance of weighty responsibilities, and
softens our souls with the sense of a new emotion,
the glad consciousness of human solidarity.
Will it be denied that in the religious order a
corresponding instinct impels the recognition of a
corresponding truth ? Surely no ! And how will
this noble aspiration of ours be better satisfied than
by the acceptance of the deep-reaching spiritual
truth which Christianity formulates in its doctrine
of the communion of saints ? When fully fathomed,
this teaching discloses to us a ceaseless interchange
of spiritual energy and merit even here on earth be-
tween the members of the Church militant; it tells
how the sinner is saved by the prayer of the saint;
how the apostolate is Hnked wnth the priesthood sac-
rificing at the altar ; how the labors of the mission-
ary in city slum or African jungle reap fruit a hun-
dredfold because united with the pleading cry that
goes up from cell and choir whither sinner and
stranger alike are forbidden to approach. It reveals
to us likewise an explanation of those penitential
usages so inevitably dominant in the homes of con-
templatives ; and again our sense of human unity is
294 The Contemplative Life.
pathetically renewed and deepened as we reflect that
the measure of what is lacking to us — the callous,
the ungenerous, the cowardly members of the race —
is perhaps filled up by the pain that scourge and fast
and sackcloth inflict upon those innocent, tender
souls who thirst as Christ thirsted to pay the un-
satisfied debts of their fellow-creatures.
It may be concluded, then, that all who have any
belief whatever in the power of prayer should recog-
nize the contemplative vocation as a valid and so-
cially useful state of life. Some special emphasis
might w^ell be laid on the close connection between
such recognition and the religious spirit ; for we may
say that esteem — though not necessarily adoption —
of the contemplative vocation is a fairly reliable test
of the purity and depth of our religion. And if it be
true that those of reverent spirit will esteem this
state, it is equally true that none others can esteem
it as it deserves. No amount of rationalizing will
ever suffice to reveal its full beauty and worth. To
be sure, there are certain characteristics of the con-
templative life which favor its appeal to the mind
of our age. For instance, it is unlikely, nowadays,
that a claim to immense power will be disallowed
simply because of the claimant's unpretentious ap-
pearance. The moderns have learned better than
that from their study of the wonder-working electric
current and of the infinitesimal bacilli that rule the
lives of men and cities. Then, again, the realization
of solidarity and the tendency to specialization may,
as we have tried to show, predispose minds to a
more kindly view of the cloistered life. Yet when
all is said, the question remains as to whether or not
prayer really has any efficacy at all. Only the spir-
itual-minded man will answer that it has ; and the
spiritual-minded man will necessarily answer that it
The Contemplative Life. 295
has. Indeed, his valuation of prayer, and conse-
quently of the contemplative vocation in its own or-
der, will vary in an ascending or descending scale ac-
cordingly as his religious sentiment is or is not lively
and fervent and deep. x\nd all this serves as one more
illustration of the striking harmony of Catholic doc-
trine, whose every detail supports, and is in turn
supported by, all the others. If there be truth at all
in Catholicity, therefore, this also is true — that the
work of the missionary is made fruitful not only by
the hours he himself has spent in prayer, but by the
countless holy aspirations that stream up to Heaven
daily and nightly from the worshiping hearts of soli-
tary contemplatives.
The reader need expect no attempt on our part,
as indeed there is no desire, to prove the views pre-
sented any further than they are already established
in virtue of necessary connection with truths uni-
versally accepted by the Christian consciousness.
The starting-point of any vindication of the con-
templative vocation must of course consist of a
great assumption, namely, the utility of prayer. Ex-
cept thus imperfectly and by a process devoid of
all appearance of finality, the truth in hand admits
of no argument, as being of an order outside the
narrow circle of what can be proven or disproven.
But what can be put forward w4th all assurance is
the affirmation that the Catholic estimate of the con-
templative vocation is in perfect harmony with the
most fundamental truths of supernatural religion;
that it is involved in them ; that it is the implicit or
expressed tradition of the Christian centuries ; and
finally, that if it be false, then an overwhelming
majority, if not all, of our religious beliefs must be
altered, scouted, perhaps utterly rejected.
296 The Contemplative Life.
We CfTontemplatibe ^postolate.
The foregoing leads us to a point far too seldom
taken into account in the consideration of the sub-
ject before us. This is the sense of contemplatives
themselves as to the real purpose of their being.
It is commonly thought and sometimes plainly
stated that the primary impulse of the contemplative
must needs be selfish ; that, since he or she flies from
the world purely or mainly in the interest of per-
sonal salvation and perfection, this action must be
prompted by inordinate self-interest, by an egotistic
anti-social instinct quite incompatible with the high
conception of life as a consecration of self to the
betterment of humanity.
Now, as a matter of fact, the charge is based upon
an utter misapprehension of the main issue. The
contemplative ideal centers around, the conception
of prayer as a very real means of serving mankind
at large. Just as no man embarks upon the stormy
career of a missionary chiefly for his own immediate
benefit, so no true contemplative enters the silent
cloister mainly for his or her own sake. In the one
case as in the other it is thirst for souls that forms
the great motive. That this statement may not be
regarded as an unwarranted exaggeration, let refer-
ence be made to a work"^ written by a Carthusian
for the purpose of recalling the significance of their
vocation to contemplative Religious, and of exposing
the attractive ideal of this life to those souls who
are fitted to undertake the task of converting sinners
and of perfecting saints by the sole ministry of
*La Vie Contemplative: Son Role Apostolique. Par Un
Religieux Chartreux.
The Contemplative Life. 297
prayer. This book lends the whole weight of its
authority to the notion just advanced, and says ex-
pHcitly that zeal for souls rather than any immediate
personal benefit mtist be the motive of a contem-
plative vocation. The author protests vigorously
against the supposition that persons enter the
cloister to rest with folded arms, to obtain salva-
tion sweetly and peacefully, sheltered from wind
and sun, and totally indifferent to the souls that per-
ish outside the convent walls. After reading his
exposition, or honestly examining the professed aim
and faithful practice of the Orders in question, one
grows indignant that people who could easily ac-
quire correct information on the matter should per-
sist in covert insinuations against the motives that
draw souls to the cloister. The cynical distrust of
the unbelieving, who scoff at all things holy, would
scarcely be worthy of our indignation. Far more
painful is it when those of the household indulge in
open or veiled criticism of the inactive Orders ; ques-
tion their earnestness, their judgment, or their
utility ; and speak as if to be drawn toward the clois-
ter were to be tempted to loiter in the sweets of con-
templation at the cost of giving aid to suffering
mankind. Is it true that the contemplative is a
weakling seeking shelter? Is it true that the cloister
is a more comfortable home than the mission house ?
Is it right to assume that sufferers are helped by
those who labor and not by those who pray? Is it
fair to contrast the active and the contemplative Re-
ligious by saying that it is easier to pray or to imag-
ine one is praying than to tend the plague-stricken in
hospitals ? Yet one can not be blind to the fact that,
in some measure, precisely these misapprehensions
affect some of the faithful, some of the priesthood,
and even some Religious vowed to a state of life
298 The Contemplative Life.
meant to be incompatible with so low a notion of
the worth of simple prayer.
Unless the whole Christian concept of life is
wrong, then much fruit must come of fervent prayer
directed toward supplying the needs of the apostle
and of the sinners for whom he is laboring. And
to this end, as has been said, do the contemplatives
really direct their vigils. Were we seeking for
practical confirmation of this, for an illustration of
the fact that contemplatives really and seriously con-
ceive of their vocation as an auxiliary apostolate^
we might well turn to the Carmelites, who, as our
author says, ''are before all an apostolic Order."
Their very motto tells us this : ''With zeal am I con-
sumed for the Lord God of hosts" — ''Zelo zelatiis
sum pro Domino Deo exercitinunf' This has air-
ways been a characteristic of Carmel from the be-
ginning ; and St. Teresa's reform emphasized it. In
the opening chapter of the IVay of Perfection, she
states very plainly that she founded the monastery
of St. Joseph in Avila, and founded it in special aus-
terity, because of her desire to relieve the Church's
miseries and to stem the tide of heresy. How care-
fully does she teach her nuns that they would be
recreant to their duty if they were to lose their time
in praying for anything else than what immediately
concerned the salvation of souls. "This is your
vocation," she says ; "this is to be your employment
and your desire ; to this your tears, to this your
petitions tend."
A recent occurrence will serve admirably to evi-
dence both the apostolic ambition of contemplatives
and the popular failure to appreciate it. Those of
our readers who are familiar with the life of Sister
Therese, The Little Flower of Jesus, will recall
how the closing chapter of her autobiography sets
The Contemplative Life. 299
forth her intensest longing to cooperate by prayer in
the work of the apostolic priesthood. Among the
many lovely pages in her volume, one of the most
beautiful is that which records her inexpressible de-
light at having been chosen to unite her prayers with
the labor of a missionary priest. In still another pas-
sage her apostolic yearning for souls rings out into
this chant of holy aspiration :*
'To be Thy spouse, a Carmelite nun, the mother
of souls : should not that more than suffice me ? Yet
I feel that I have other vocations besides. I would
be Thy warrior, Thy priest. Thy apostle, a teacher
of Thy law, a martyr for Thee. . . . Like the
prophets, like the doctors, I would enlighten the
world, traveling in every land, preaching Thy name,
O my Beloved, and raising the standard of Thy
cross in every heathen place. For one mission
would not suffice ; I would spread the Gospel every-
where, even to the farthest ends of the earth, and
work thus not for a few vears onlv, but from the
beginning to the end of time.'' She wished for mar-
tyrdom, too, to be scourged and crucified like
Christ, flayed like Bartholomew, plunged like John
into boiling oil, ground by the teeth of wild beasts
like Ignatius of Antioch, beheaded like Agnes and
Cecilia, burned at the stake like Joan of Arc. These
unsatisfied cravings tortured her with the sense of
helplessness ; she could not actually endure all these
things, and she suffered at the thought. But at last
the real significance of her vocation flashed upon her
and in a moment she understood that the Church
''must pray and love as well as work ;" that, besides
external organs, it must possess a heart ; and that
*T/x^ Little Flower of Jesus: Being the Autobiography
of vScEur Therese of the Child Jesus. Translated from the
French by Michael Henry Dziewicki.
300 The Contemplative Life.
this heart must be filled with love, for "should that
fail, no more apostles would preach, no more mar-
tyrs bleed." Immediately her soul found peace.
Beside herself with joy at having found this clue to
the meaning of her life, she cried out : "O Jesus ! I
have now discovered that my vocation is — to love !
I have found the place which Thou Thyself hast
given to me in the Church. Within its heart I shall
be love — and thus I shall be all ; and what I dreamed
shall be realized. . . . All I ask for is love. Let
that, O Jesus, be my all. Great deeds are not for
me; I can not spread the Gospel, nor shed my
blood. No matter ! My brothers* labor for me, and
I, at the foot of Thy throne, love for them. ... I
love Thee, Jesus ; I love Mother Church and know
that the least thing done out of pure love is more to
her than all other works together.'" A picture more
faithful, a revelation more beautiful of the contem-
plative's apostolic sense could scarcely be obtained.
And now a word on the common conception or
rather misconception of this sublime ideal that re-
veals itself in the heart of the Little Flower as a
vision of appealing beauty firing mind and will with
sympathy and ardent inspiration. It happens that
a reviewer of Sister Therese's autobiography has
taken occasion, of the very passages now under con-
sideration, to draw out a lengthy comparison of the
active and the contemplative vocations. Alongside
the Little Flower's account of her dreams and
aspirations, he places a narrative of the labors un-
dertaken and the privations endured by a Sister en-
gaged upon the foreign missions. ''There seems to
be a lesson,'' is his comment, ''in this contrast of
*Her ''brothers" were two young missionaries in union
with whose labors her prayers were offered to God by the
direction of her Superior.
The Contemplative Life. 301
two maidens, one of whom is dreaming in her clois-
ter, while the other is laboring under the African
sun, amid the snow^s of the Rocky Mountains, or in
a Chinese mission station about to be set fire to by
the Boxers. Why should I not communicate that
lesson to young girls resolved to give themselves to
God, yet hesitating between the two vocations ? . . .
With Bossuet, I believe that the perfection of the
Christian life does not require one to enter a
hermetically sealed cloister."
Now it is but fair to state that in other places
this writer has shown that his purpose is rather to
praise the active communities than to disparage the
contemplatives ; and he does indeed profess that
Carmel is a lofty, beautiful ideal, worthy of the gen-
erosity of pure and ardent souls. It may be, too,
that in France there is some danger of the contem-
plative state being unduly exalted, of its being
represented as "the ideal toward which the elite of
humanity always tends." If this be the case, then
our critic's aim is thus far legitimate, and his words,
from this point of view, are beyond reproach. Yet
one can not ignore his recurring insistence on the
superiority of the missionary career as the actual
realization of what to the contemplative can never
be more than a dream. Against this representation
the Christian instinct rises at once in protest. The
contemplative apostolate is more than a dream ; it
is divinely real ; it is a mighty force perfectly objec-
tive, wonderfully efficacious ; and if there be any
wisdom in the Gospel counsel, any harmony in the
teachings of faith, any sincerity in Christ's invita-
tion to prayer, then purely a soul that enters Carmel
may be a most precious factor in the continuing of
the ministry of Jesus, in the building up of the king-
dom of God.
302 The Contemplative Life.
However it may be in France, in our own land, at
any rate, it is good occasionally to insist on this as-
pect of the matter, and to remind Catholics not of
the limitations, but of the divine worth of contem-
plative Orders. Ours is an age and a people con-
stitutionally impatient of any ideal that excludes
practical heroism and lacks visible fruit. Even
those who concede, as it were reluctantly, that re-
ligion has a higher function than the service of the
widow and the fatherless, even these are not content
that a state prohibitive of external ministrations
should be held up as an ideal for aspiring souls. We
are apt to be told over and over that whatever is
estimable in the life of the Carmelite or the Poor
Clare can be found in union with new treasures in
the career marked out for Sisters of Mercy, or of
Charity, or of The Foreign Missions ; to be warned
persistently, almost incessantly, against a too con-
fiding and a too excessive sympathy with the mystic
visions that draw souls to Carmel and La Trappe.
No doubt, as long as man remains man, each hu-
man being will tend to exalt his or her vocation to
the disparagement of others. The hermit will be
prone to include his solitude and the missionary his
ministry of sacrifice and reconciliation among the
necessary conditions of the most perfect state. Dis-
pute on the question will give little satisfaction and
no edification ; and neither side of such a contro-
versy will be defended here. Nevertheless, it seems
not wholly vain to say something by way of com-
ment upon that state of life which those who might
be called its natural defenders have so little oppor-
tunity to explain.
When we consider the comparative rarity of the
contemplative vocation ; when we enumerate the
common normal obstacles to the choosing and fer-
The Contemplative Life. 303
vent practicing of the cloister-rule; when we real-
ize what peculiar and constant graces are needed for
perseverance to the very end; then few of us will
be ready to assert that to be a contemplative is easier
than to visit prisons and hospitals.
For the more hidden life there is required so won-
drous a combination of natural and supernatural
gifts that the consideration of them might well dis-
may the bravest of souls. To the eye of faith all this
is at once evident ; and one is tempted to believe that
there must always be a subtle rationalism underly-
ing the tendency to present as the nobler elements of
the religious life those external activities which may
be undertaken, and in some measure have been suc-
cessfully achieved, by mere philanthropists ; and, on
the other hand, to regard as a lesser thing the prac-
tice of that loving communion which is absolutely
beyond the reach of the most arduous human striv-
ing. A soul filled w4th faith would employ a very
different scale of values. To conceive of the con-
templative occupation as a mere luxurious idling in
spiritual delights is possible only to a mind so far
tainted with materialism as to be out of tune with
the sweet harmonies of the divine love-song and
densely impervious to the vision of the obstacles
against which the soaring spirit of man must
struggle incessantly.
It is understood, of course, that the claim for
peerless and universal excellence is not going to be
transferred from the active to the contemplative Or-
ders. Comparisons have always been invidious ; and
they become more so every day. Men are gradually
rising above that stage of mental immaturity in
which they used dogmatically to declare that what
loomed largest to them was the biggest and bright-
est thing in the universe. A fair mind will instantly
304 The Contemplative Life.
recognize the inutility and loolishness of declaring
that the contemplative life is *'the ideal state;" but
equally useless and foolish would be the declaration
that it is not. The real concern of each soul that
strives to imitate God must be to discover and to
embrace the mode of life best adapted to produce in
itself a perfect conformity with the divine design.
Only of secondary importance, if any, is it for a
soul to know where the greatest perfection lies
technically and in the abstract; since the one prac-
tical and indispensable requisite is a correct discern-
ment and adoption of the means whereby it person-
ally can become what the Creator destined it to be.
Hence it is ungracious and misleading critically
to contrast the vocations of Mary and Martha, and
to dwell upon the ostensible superiority of the latter
in variety of trials and in fulness of achievement.
Such contrast necessarily implies the mistake of
venturing to measure hardships by very human and
therefore very uncertain standards ; for, unless
saints and spiritual writers in general be given the
lie, then far more exquisite than the torments of
martyrdom is the pain endured in the processes of
purification and refinement through which souls pass
in their ascent to the sacred heights of prayer.
And as to achievements, the same caution is to be
observed. If the spirit of faith sanctions anything,
surely it guarantees the belief that man's labors are
in a sense for the benefit of man rather than of God
— since God at wish can send legions of angels to
enhance each success, or to retrieve each failure of
His servants. Every lesson draw^n from the life of
the Incarnate God, every observation of our own
and our neighbors' lives, forces us to conclude that
the efficacy of prayer is beyond all proportion
greater than the efficacy of work ; and that although
The Contemplative Life. 305
external labor must be undertaken when God so
wills, yet it forms no predominant, and even no es-
sential, part of holy living. It is the instinct of the
deeply religious heart, as it is the spirit of the
Church's practice, to assume that an unmeasured
and immeasurable amount of good is effected by
souls who do nothing else than pray. In fact this
truth, as we have seen, follows close upon one of
the most fundamental and most significant of Catho-
lic doctrines, namely, that all are members one of
another, that all partake of the life vivifying Christ's
mystical body, and that, in a very real cooperation,
we all are striving by common effort to attain a com-
mon end. So as the hand may not say to the heart,
**I have no need of thee," the active shall not say to
the contemplative Religious, ''I have done more than
thou."
True, Sister Therese could name no list of souls
saved by her ministrations, yet we dare say the
young priest whose auxiliary she became could tell
of many a marvelous success, many a striking vic-
tory of missionary zeal attributed to her interces-
sion; just as the nuns and missionaries of Africa
and Oceanica no doubt could relate many an un-
looked-for favor referable only to the invisible as-
sisting powers. Of course the connection could not
be traced in these cases ; nor can the efficacy of such
cooperation ever be proven ; yet not on that account
will the truth of it be less evident to minds appre-
ciative of the fine, mysterious workings of grace, nor
will any remain insensible to its appeal except per-
sons by temperament indisposed to all belief in
the mystical vocation. But go to the missionary
whose voice has been ringing through crowded
churches up and down the land these twenty years,
and whose hand has set the seal of pardon on thou-
3o6 The Contemplative Life.
sands after thousands of repentant sinners ; speak
with the friend of the vagrant, the wayward,
the degenerate ; question the priest or the nun whose
days are spent with Indians, or Negroes, or Chi-
nese, and see if these heroic members of the
Christian apostolate have nothing to say of mes-
sage or letter or visit that is repeated periodi-
cally, testifying to their dependence on the cloister,
breathing their faith in the apostolate of contempla-
tion, binding them in closest ties of love and grati-
tude with Carmelite and Dominican, with Visitan-
dine and Poor Clare.
Here are we striving for the conversion of Amer-
ica, with a vigorous army of priests that patrols the
continent from end to end, and God is rewarding
their efiforts with unprecedented success. Oh, for
the further blessing to be gained by a keener sense
of what prayer can do, by a deeper insight into the
significance of the contemplative apostolate ! It is
told of Mgr. Lefebvre that when, having been made
a Bishop in Cochin-China, he proclaimed that his
very first action would be the founding of a Car-
melite monastery at Saigon, some one ventured to
comment upon this by saying :
''Necessaries ought to precede luxuries in the
building up of a diocese. '^
The Bishop replied :
''What you consider a luxury, is to me the first
necessity of the Christian ministry. Ten nuns who
pray will help me more than twenty missionaries
who preach.''
Nothing but a perfectly sublime faith could dic-
tate a response like that. Let similar faith be in the
souls of every one of us, of us who have set hearts
and hopes upon the Catholicization of our country.
When we are beseeching the Lord of the harvest to
The Contemplative 'Life. 307
send laborers into the whitened fields, at the same
time let us beg that He will increase the number of
those choice spirits, His precious vessels of grace,
who are set apart to spread the light of faith by
means of prayer—
**Sonls high on Carmel's hill,
Yet spent for brothers on the plain below."
To-day our country has a few contemplative
houses, a pusilhts grex. But while nations in Eu-
rope are driving forth their Religious into exile, let
this land of liberty receive them, let America's arms
be opened wide to them in welcome. Then through
the length and breadth of the land, and in the depths
of each Catholic heart, will be spread the fragrance
of fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit, of prayer."^
*Rev. Joseph McSorley, C.S.P., in The American Ec-
clesiastical Review, November, 1902: — "The Contemplative
Vocation and The Contemplative Apostolate."
CHAPTER XXXL
Ipra^cr—lDocal prater In iparttculan
y^ HE grace of prayer is a universal grace, granted
^^ to all men; it is also a sufficient grace, for by
it we can obtain every other grace necessary for sal-
vation ; it is a grace that is in every man's power ; it
is also a grace which every man must use if he
wishes to be saved — in a word, prayer is the prin-
cipal sufficient grace granted to all men for their
salvation.
Prayer is a real grace, for the power of calling on
God' for supernatural help is truly a gift of God
in the supernatural order, a real help of salvation.
Prayer is a universal grace, because it is in the
power of every man who has attained the age of rea-
son and enjoys its use. Prayer is in everybody!s
power, for prayer is so easy that no one can reason-
ably pretend that he is unable to pray. Every man
can pray, be he rich or poor, learned or illiterate,
healthy or sick, strong or weak, young or old, busy
or at leisure. ''In speaking with God or praying,'"
says St. Teresa, "we need not use many words or
choice phrases ; all that is requisite is that we remain
deeply recollected in His presence, simply stating to
Him our wants in our own words, or merely in our
thoughts without uttering a single word, and
reminding Him of His promise to help us."
Prayer is, indeed, so easy that every one can pray
whenever he wishes, not only in health, but even in
sickness and in the agony of death ; for, as long as
the dying retain consciousness, they are able to raise
their hearts to God in prayer. Moses burdened with
the cares of an immense multitude of an unruly
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular: 309
people, Daniel in the lions' den, the three young men
in the midst of the fiery furnace, St. Joseph in his
workshop, St. Paul in his dungeon, St. Isidore at the
plow and caring for his flock — found time to pray
and delighted in doing so. We can, if we wish, imi-
tate them amid our daily occupations, however la-
borious and distracting they may be in themselves.
The grace of prayer is a constant grace, for every
one can pray at all times ; during the day and at
night, as the early Christians used to do, according
to the testimony of Tertullian. We can pray early
and late, in all places, at home and in church, on land
and on sea, in private and in public, in all occupa-
tions, whether mental or corporal ; in all positions,
even in walking and in lying down. God is every-
where present, and is ever ready to listen to our peti-
tions for His help.
Prayer, if well made, is infallible in its results.
We can, of ourselves, do nothing for our salvation,
for Christ says : ''Without Me you can do nothing"
(John XV. 5). Since God wills that we should at-
tain a destiny beyond the reach of our natural
powers. He must necessarily be willing to grant us
His help to attain it, whenever we earnestly pray for
it. In fact, says St. Augustine, ''God is more will-
ing to grant us favors than we are to receive them."
"God is always ready," says St. John Chrysostom,
"to hear the voice of His servants praying to Him ;
He has never yet neglected to hear it when
called upon as He should be." The prophet
Isaias (xxx. 19) had already said the same
thing : "God will surely have pity on thee ; at the
voice of thy cry, as soon as He shall hear, He will
answer thee." "The Lord," says the Royal Prophet,
"is nigh to all them that call upon Him in truth;
He will do the will of them that fear Him ; He will
310 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
hear their prayer, and save them" (Ps. cxliv. i8,
19).
We have the formal and solemn promise of Our
Lord Jesus Christ that God will hear our prayers
and grant us all we ask, for He says expressly :
''Amen, amen, I say to 3^ou, if you ask the Father
anything in My name, He will give it you. . . . Ask,
and you shall receive'' (John xvi. 23, 26). ''You
shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done
unto you" (John xv. 7). God is faithful and just,
and will, therefore, surely keep His promise to grant
us the graces we need, because we have a claim to
them. They are the price of the blood and merits of
Jesus Christ, for He died to save us. His merits
are, then, ours ; and, w^hen we claim by our prayers
a share in them or in their fruits, God can not refuse
to grant us what we ask.
The Holy Scriptures are full of examples of the
efificacy of prayer as a means of obtaining whatever
we need to secure our salvation. It was by his
prayer that the publican was justified, by her prayer
that the Samaritan woman was converted ; it was by
his prayer that David obtained the forgiveness of
his sin, and that the good thief on the cross was
converted and received the promise of paradise. We
find in Holy Writ also many examples of prayer as
an efficacious means of obtaining even temporal fa-
vors. It was by prayer that Moses obtained the vic-
tory over the Amalecites ; Elias obtained rain after
a three years' drought ; Manassas, his deliverance
from prison and his restoration to his kingdom ;
Ezechias, the prolongation of his life ; Solomon, wis-
dom ; Susanna, the proof of her innocence ; Daniel,
his deliverance from the lions ; the blind man, his
sight; and the Church, St. Peter's deliverance from
prison and death. When we pray, God in some
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 311
manner obeys our will, as He obeyed that of Josue
when by his prayer he commanded the sun to stand
still : "The Lord," says Scripture, ''obeying the
voice of a man" (Jos. x. 14).
Prayer is, as the Wise Man says, ''a shield where-
with to oppose the divine wrath." God is almighty ;
and yet to this question of the Psalmist, *'Thou art
terrible, O God, and who shall resist Thee?" (Ps.
Ixxv. 8) we can answer: "Prayer!" because prayer
also is almighty, and in some sense capable of over-
coming God Himself. We have a most remarkable
example of this in Moses. Holy Scripture thus re-
lates the fact : ''The people, seeing that Moses de-
layed to come down from the mount [Sinai], gath-
ering together against Aaron, said : Arise, make us
gods, that may go before us ; for, as to this Moses,
we know not what has befallen him. And Aaron
said to them : Take the golden earrings from the
ears of your wives and your sons and daughters, and
bring them to me. And the people did what he had
commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron. And
when he had received them, he made of them a
molten calf ; and they said : These are thy gods, O
Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt. And Aaron built an altar before it. And
rising in the morning, the people offered holocausts
and peace-victims, and sat down to eat and drink,
and they rose up to play. And the Lord spoke to
Moses : Thy people hath sinned. Let Me alone, that
My wrath may be kindled against them, and that I
may destroy them" (Exod. xxxii. i-io). Why
should God, who is almighty and irresistible, ask
Moses to 'iet Him alone" — that is, not to interfere
Avith His design of destroying the idolatrous Israel-
ites? What could Moses effect against God? But
Moses could pray ; and, taking the hint, he did inter-
312 Prayer— Vocal Prayer in Particular.
fere, saying: "Why, O Lord, is Thy indignation en-
kindled against Thy people? Let Thy anger cease,
and be appeased upon the wickedness of Thy
people/' His prayer met with perfect success, for
it appeased God's wrath, compelling Him, as it
were, to show mercy. "And the Lord was appeased
from doing the evil He had threatened against His
people."
Prayer is, then, in a certain sense, almighty, able
to overcome God Himself; it is unfailing in its ef-
fects, and at the same time so easy as to be in the
power of every adult whenever he wishes. "All
excuse," says St. Alphonsus, "is taken away from
those sinners who pretend that they have not the
strength to overcome their temptations, because, if
they had recourse to prayer and made use of this
ordinary grace bestowed on all men, they would ob-
tain all the strength they need to overcome tempta-
tion and save their souls. No one is damned for
the original sin of Adam, but solely for his own
fault, because God refuses to no one the grace of
prayer whereby he may obtain His assistance to
overcome every passion, every temptation."
"He w^ho prays," says St. Alphonsus, in another
place, "is certainly saved ; he who prays not is cer-
tainly lost. All the blessed (except infants) have
been saved by prayer. All the damned have been
lost by not praying ; had they prayed, they would not
have been lost. And this is and will be their greatest
torment in hell, to think how easily they might have
been saved, had they only prayed to God for His
grace; but that is now too late — for the time of
prayer is now over for them." We have just seen
how effective prayer is, because it is the infallible
means of gaining heaven. St. Augustine is, then,
right in calling prayer "the key of heaven."
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 313
The necessity of prayer is twofold, viz., as a pre-
cept of God and as an indispensable means of salva-
tion. First, as a precept. God repeatedly com-
mands us in the Old Testament to have recourse to
prayer: *'Cry to Me'' (Jer. xxxiii. 3) ; ''Call on Me"
(Ps. xlix. 15). In the New Testament Jesus Christ
expressly commands us to pray. ''Ask," He says,
"and you shall receive ; seek, and you shall find ;
knock, and it shall be opened to you" (Matt. vii. 7;
Mark xi. 24; Luke xi. 9). ''Pray, lest you enter into
temptation" (Luke xxii. 40 and 46). "It behooveth
always to pray" (Luke xviii. i).
Prayer is necessary for all men as a means of sal-
vation. Even were there no special commandment
to pray, we should be obliged to pray in order to
obtain the graces and means necessary for our salva-
tion. We need God's grace for every thought and
act pertaining to salvation; we are naturally weak
and prone to evil, and can not of ourselves keep all
the commandments of God. For this we need His
special assistance, which, in the ordinary course of
His providence, He grants only to those who pray
for it, because He will not force His graces on the
unwilling, and those who really want them will
surely ask for them.
Prayer is necessary for the good, for the just, as
well as for the sinner. "After baptism," says St.
Thomas, "continual prayer is necessary for man
that he may enter heaven." The just man can not
practice virtue without prayer, for, says St. John
Climacus, "prayer is the source of all virtue ; it is
the channel through which flow to us all Christ's
graces and all divine gifts ; it is the best and most
indispensable means of advancing in virtue."
The just man, although he is in the grace of God,
is nevertheless naturally weak, prone to evil, and be-
314 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
set with many temptations from the world and the
devil, and especially from his own passions. He can
not escape temptation, and without God's assistance
he can not overcome it. St. John Chrysostom says :
''As water is required to keep plants from withering,
so also prayer is necessary to preserve us from de-
struction. As fire is quenched by water, so are our
passions extinguished by prayer."
The same misfortune will befall the just man who
neglects to pray in time of temptation as befell St.
Peter when he failed to pray according to Our
Saviour's injunction. St. Peter loved Our Lord
truly and dearly, and, we may say, with a greater
love than that of any of the other apostles. And
nevertheless he basely denied his divine Master
thrice, and not only did he deny Him, but he even
swore with fearful imprecations that he knew Him
not. How came it that he fell so low, so deeply ? It
was because he neglected prayer.
At the Last Supper our divine Saviour foretold
to His apostles that they would all abandon Him
that night, saying: "You will all be scandalized in
My regard to-night.'' "But Peter saith to Him :
Although all shall be scandalized in Thee, yet not L
And Jesus saith to him : Amen I say to thee, to-day,
even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny Me thrice. But Peter spoke the more
vehemently : Although I should die together with
Thee, I will not deny Thee" (Mark xiv. 27-31) . St.
Peter was very sincere in his resolution to die with
Jesus rather than deny Him. But he was weak,
very weak of himself ; he was warned of this in the
Garden of Olives, when, not having heeded the in-
junction of Jesus to watch and pray with Him, he
was thus spoken to by the loving Saviour : "Watch
ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation [that
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 315
is, that ye yield not to temptation] ; the spirit, in-
deed, is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. xxvi.
41). St. Peter did not heed this warning; he failed
to pray, and when the temptation came he was de-
servedly left to his own weakness and helplessness,
and denied Our Lord in the most cowardly and
shocking manner. A sad experience records the fall
of many formerly holy personages into degrading
vices, because of their neglect of prayer in time of
temptation. Had St. Peter prayed, had they prayed,
God would have given them most efficacious graces
to cope victoriously wath temptation. The same
misfortune will happen to us, if we, too, neglect
prayer in temptation.
Prayer is also absolutely necessary to obtain the
most excellent and necessary grace of final perse-
verance. What will all other graces avail us, if we
do not obtain that of final perseverance? But we
need, says the Council of Trent, a special grace of
God to persevere finally in His friendship and die a
good death. But this grace can not be merited even
by the greatest saints. No one can claim a right to
it. This is a terrible truth ; for many who had a
long time led a holy life and edified the whole
Church did not persevere, but fell into sin and died
in sin ! But that grace of graces — final perseverance,
which WT can not merit or lay claim to on account
of previous good w^orks, we can surely obtain, says
St. Augustine, "by daily prayer." But 'Sve must
pray for it daily," says St. Alphonsus, "that we may
obtain it for that day." If we neglect prayer a sin-
gle day we may fail to obtain it, and may then fall
into sin and die in sin. But if we pray daily for
perseverance, v^^ shall most assuredly obtain it, ac-
cording to the Saviour's promise.
"All the reprobate," says St. Alphonsus, "have
3i6 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
been lost in consequence of their neglect of prayer ;
and all the saints have become saints by prayer ; had
they neglected prayer, they could not have become
saints and should not even be saved. I would wish
to do nothing else than write and speak always on
this great means of prayer ; for, on the one hand, I
see that the Scriptures, the Old as well as the New
Testament, exhort us so often to pray, to ask and
cry out if we wish for the divine graces. 'Cry to
Me, and I will hear thee' (Jer. xxxiii. 3). 'Call on
Me, and I will deliver thee' (Ps. xlix. 15). 'All
things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe
that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you'
(Mark xi. 24). 'You shall ask whatever you will,
and it shall be done unto you' (John xv. 7). 'If you
shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do'
(John xiv. 14). There are a thousand similar pas-
sages. I know not how the Lord could better de-
clare His desire to bestow His graces upon us, or
the necessity we are under of asking them if we wish
to obtain them. The holy Fathers also continually
exhort us to pray. And to speak the truth, 1 com-
plain of preachers, of confessors and spiritual
writers, because I see that neither preachers, nor
confessors, nor spiritual writers speak as much as
they ought of the great means of prayer. I have,
therefore, written at length on this subject in so
many of my little works ; and when I preach I do
nothing else than say and repeat : Pray ! pray ! if you
wish to be saved."
Prayer, as we have seen, is both easy and effec-
tive ; and, nevertheless, numerous are the complaints
that our prayers are not heard. St. James thus an-
swers these complaints : "You ask and receive not,
because you ask amiss" (James iv. 3). St. Augus-
tine says that there are three principal reasons why
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 317
our prayers are not granted by God. Some people,
he says, are unfit to be heard when they pray, be-
cause, far from being agreeable to God, they are
hateful to Him. Others are refused what they pray
for, because they ask for unsuitable and even for
dangerous things. Others, finally, are not heard be-
cause their prayers lack some of the qualities of a
good prayer. We should pray for temporal favors
conditionally — that is, under the condition that they
either promote our salvation, or at least do not inter-
fere with it ; for we should never lose sight of this
saying of Our Lord : "What doth it profit a man, if
he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his
soul?'' (Matt. xvi. 26.)
''God,'' says St. Alphonsus, speaking on this sub-
ject, ''has pledged Himself to grant us, not temporal,
but spiritual goods, goods necessary or conducive to
our salvation ; for we can not ask 'in the name of
Jesus' for what is or may prove hurtful to our salva-
tion. God does not and can not grant it. Why?
Because He loves us. A physician who has any re-
gard for his patient will not permit him things which
he knows will prove injurious to him. Many people
ask for health or riches, but God does not give them,
because He foresees that they will be an occasion of
sin or of tepidity in His service. When we ask for
temporal favors, we ought always to add this condi-
tion— if they are profitable to our souls. And when
we see that God does not give them, let us rest as-
sured that He refuses them only because He loves
us, and because He sees that w^hat we ask would, if
He were to give them to us, redound to our spiritual
injury."
The prayers of many persons are not heard be-
cause they are wanting in some of the necessary
qualities of a good prayer, namely, attention, sincer-
3i8 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
ity, humility, confidence, perseverance, and earnest-
ness. Our confidence in God should be boundless.
He is our most generous benefactor, our most lov-
ing Father. He has already conferred numberless
benefits on us without any merit or prayer of ours.
Every moment of our life is marked by His renewed
favors toward us. He loves us with a love greater
than that of a loving mother for her own darling
child, for He says : *'Can a woman forget her in-
fant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?
And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee"
(Is. xlix. 15). God has solemnly promised to grant
us whatsoever graces we ask; and, being almighty,
He is able to grant us all, and even far more than we
can ask. He is so willing to bestow His favors on
us that He complains of our not asking Him for
them : ''Hitherto,'' He says, 'Sou have not asked
anything in My name ; ask, and you shall receive,
that your joy may be full" (John xvi. 24). God
even commands us to ask Him for His favors : ''Ask,
and you shall receive."
As a pledge of His love for us, God has gone so
far as to give us His own beloved Son. "He that
spared not even His own Son," says St. Paul, "but
delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also
with Him given us all things?" (Rom. viii. 32.)
"In prayer," says St. Anselm, "we speak with God.
How attentively and reverentially should we speak
with the Lord of lords! How humbly with the Su-
preme Judge, and how confidently with our best
Friend and Benefactor !" "We have every reason
to pray with confidence," says St. Peter Chrysolo-
gus ; "for what will not God give to those who ask
Him, since He already gives so much to those who
do not ask Him?" "Our confidence," says St. Ber-
nard, "is the measure of the graces which we obtain
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 319
in prayer. If our confidence in God is great, we
shall receive great graces; if it is little, we shall
receive but little." If God has hitherto sparingly
bestowed His graces on us, it was owing in a great
measure to our little confidence in Him during
prayer. Our prayer must be persevering. ''God,''
says St. Gregory the Great, "wishes us so to pray to
Him as to overcome Him by our importunities." He
usually defers granting our prayers, first, that we
may the better prove our confidence in Him by per-
severing in our request; secondly, that we may de-
sire His favors more earnestly and appreciate them
so much the more ; and thirdly, that we may not for-
get Him, for were He to grant at once what we ask,
we should be liable not to pray any more to Him un-
til we want some other favor. ''God defers hearing
our prayers," says St. John Chrysostom, "not be-
cause He rejects them, but because He wishes to
contrive to draw us to Him. Do not leave ofif
praying until you are heard."
When He had taught the "Our Father," our di-
vine Saviour related the following parable : "Which
of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at
midnight, and shall say to him : Friend, lend me
three loaves ; because a friend of mine is come off
bis journey to me, and I have not what to set before
him. And he from within should answer and say :
Trouble me not ; the door is now shut, and my chil-
dren are with me in bed; I can not rise and give
thee. Yet, if he shall continue knocking, I say to
you, although he w411 not rise and give him because
he is his friend, yet, because of his importunity, he
will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And
I say to you : x\sk, and it shall be given you ; seek,
and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened to
you ; for every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he
320 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened'' (Luke xi. 5-10). The greater and
more intense our desire to obtain a thing, the more
persistent we shall be in our efforts to secure it.
We have a beautiful illustration of this in the Gos-
pel. ''Jesus departed/' says the Evangelist, ''into
the confines of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a
woman of Chanaan who came out of those parts,
said to Him : Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son
of David ; my daughter is grievously troubled by a
devil. But He atiswered her not a word." But she
was not discouraged, for she followed Our Lord,
persevering in her prayer, so much so as to cause
the apostles displeasure by her importunity. "And
His disciples came and besought Him, saying : Send
her away, for she crieth after us. And He answer-
ing, said : I was not sent but to the sheep that are
lost of the house of Israel." But the woman per-
sisted, for "she came and worshiped Him, saying:
Lord, help me. But He answered and said : It is
not good to take the bread of the children, and to
cast it to the dogs." This severe rebuke of Our
Lord did not discourage her, for "she said : Yea,
Lord, for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall
from the table of their masters." Her confidence
and her earnest perseverance in spite of so many re-
buffs were at last rewarded, for "Jesus answering,
said to her : O woman, great is thy faith ; be it done
to thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured
from that hour" (Matt. xv. 21-28). If we also per-
severe in prayer as she did, we also shall be favor-
ably heard by God in His own good time.
A lack of perseverance in prayer argues a lack of
earnest desire. God, by deferring to hear us, does
not refuse our prayers, but will even grant us far
more than we ask. Speaking on this subject, St.
Jerome says : "God, knowing the weight and meas-
Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular. 321
ure of His goodness, sometimes appears insensible
to our prayers, in order to try us, to urge us to pray
more earnestly, and to make us more holy through
constant prayer." *
In regard to vocal prayer, as distinct from mental
prayer. Father Girardey writes if ''Although in itself
vocal prayer is not so excellent as mental prayer, we
should, nevertheless, beware of underrating its use-
fulness or necessity. All true Christians frequently
recite vocal prayers, such as . the 'Our Father,'
the 'Hail Mary,' the 'Apostles' Creed,' the acts of
faith, hope, charity, and contrition. The Church
prescribes vocal prayer very strictly to her priests
and her Religious, in the Mass, in the liturgy, and
in the Divine Office. She has enriched many vocal
prayers with numerous indulgences, and has ap-
proved of many prayer-books filled with prayers
suited to every want and devotion. Vocal prayer,
then, is both useful and necessary for all men with-
out exception — even for those who are soaring in
the heights of contemplation. In reciting vocal
prayers, we should strive to attend to the meaning
of the words, appropriating it to ourselves with all
possible fervor and earnestness. A few short vocal
prayers well said are far more acceptable to God
than a great many long ones recited without atten-
tion or fervor.
"One of the best forms of vocal prayer is the fre-
quent recitation during the day of some favorite as-
piration or ejaculatory prayer, especially if we do so
in time of trial and temptation. This commendable
practice gradually imparts a habit of recollection,
and renders all other prayers comparatively easy
and free from distraction. We should, as far as
practicable, prefer reciting those vocal prayers
*From Popular Instructions on Prayer, by Rev. Ferreol
Girardey, C.SS.R. ^Ihid.
322 Prayer — Vocal Prayer in Particular.
which the Church has enriched with indulgences, for
we thereby gain a twofold advantage — the benefit
of the beautiful and devout prayers themselves, and
the indulgences, which help us to acquit ourselves
of the great temporal debt which we have contracted
toward the divine justice on account of our numer-
ous sins. Or we may also apply said indulgences,
when so applicable, to the souls in purgatory, who
will be relieved thereby and will not fail to intercede
for us in our wants.
''It would be well to join, to a certain extent, men-
tal prayer with our vocal prayers, for the merit of
the latter would be thereby greatly increased. We
may do so in this wise. During the recitation of our
vocal prayers we pause at short intervals to reflect
either on their meaning or on some supernatural
truth ; or, without at all pausing, we reflect thereon
while actually pronouncing the prayers with our
lips. The Rosary is the most common and readily
understood example of this manner of praying.
While we are reciting the 'Our Father' and the
'Hail Marys' of each decade of the Rosary, we medi-
tate or reflect on some mystery connected with the
life of Jesus Christ or of His blessed Mother.
'Tt is also useful, in using the prayers of our
prayer-book, to read them slowly and deliberately,
making in the meantime practical reflections on
their contents, or pausing from time to time to medi-
tate a little and apply the words of the prayers to
our own wants. If we accustom ourselves to recite
our vocal prayers in this way, we shall not only
make them our own and pray well, but we shall also
acquire the habit of making mental prayer, which
tends to unite us more closely to God, and, through
the practical imitation of our divine Saviour's vir-
tues, to render us conformable to Him."
CHAPTER XXXII.
Cental prai^er or /iReOitatioiu
j^ HE life of a Religious should be one of continual
^^ prayer. It is very difficult, yes, it is even im-
possible for one who does not practice mental prayer
to be a good Religious. If we behold a tepid Re-
ligious, we may confidently ascribe her tepidity to
the want of mental prayer. A soul that does not
practice mental prayer is, in the first place, without
light, without illumination of the understanding.
"He who shuts his eyes," says St. Augustine, "can
not find the way home." The eternal truths are en-
tirely spiritual. They can not be discerned by the
eyes of the body, but by those of the mind, that is,
by the application of the soul to meditation. He
who does not meditate does not see, therefore does
not understand the importance of eternal salvation,
nor embrace the means that lead thereto. Ah, how
many are lost because they neglect to meditate upon
the great business of life here in this exile, upon the
"one thing necessary," as our blessed Lord termed
it! "With desolation is all the land made desolate:
because there is none that considereth in the heart"
Qer. xii. ii). The Holy Ghost says, on the con-
trary, that he who has the truths of faith before his
eyes, namely, death, judgment, hell, and heaven, will
never sin : "In all thy works remember thy last end,
and thou shalt never sin" (Ecclus. vii. 40). ''Come
ye to Him, and be enlightened," says the Psalmist,
"and your faces shall not be confounded" (Ps.
xxxiii. 6). And again, our divine Saviour admon-
ishes us : ''Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning
324 Mental Prayer or Meditation.
in your hands'' (Luke xii. 35). These lamps, ac-
cording to St. Bonaventure's interpretation, are the
lamps of holy meditation. Prayer illumines the in-
tellect. God speaks to the soul in prayer, and His
words are light and strength wherein we securely
walk in the narrow path that leads to eternal life.
''Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my
paths'' (Ps. cxviii. 105).
St. Bonaventure compares meditation to a mir-
ror reflecting all the stains of the soul. St. Teresa
wrote to the Bishop of Ostia : "We may, indeed, flat-
ter ourselves that we have no imperfections ; but O
how quickly do we discover them when God opens
the eyes. of the soul, as He is accustomed to do in
meditation !" He who does not meditate does not
know his faults, and consequently does not hate
them, as St. Bernard remarks : *'He has no fear for
himself, since he is not aware of his danger.'*
Meditation discovers faults and the dangers conse-
quent on them, and with such knowledge comes the
eager desire of overcoming them. The thought of
eternity animated King David to the practice of vir-
tue and to the cleansing of his soul from vice. 'T
thought upon the days of old, and I had in my mind
the eternal years. And I meditated in the night with
my own heart ; and I was exercised, and I swept my
spirit" (Ps. Ixxvi. 6, 7). The Bridegroom exclaims
in the Canticles : *'The flowers have appeared in our
land, the time of pruning is come ; the voice of the
turtle is heard" (Cant. ii. 12). When the soul re-
tires into recollection, and speaks to God in prayer,
in the prayer of the heart, then the flowers of good
desires spring forth ; harvest-time follows, the cut-
ting down of the faults which she has discovered by
her earnest prayer. ''You may think," says St. Ber-
nard, ''that the harvest has come when it has been
Mental Prayer or Meditation. 325
preceded by holy meditation; for meditation puts
our inclinations in order, guides our actions, and re-
pairs what has been amiss."
Secondly, without interior prayer the soul has no
power to resist her enemies, the powers of darkness,
or to practice the Christian virtues. Meditation is
to the soul what fire is to iron. As iron, when cold,
can not be forged, so the soul without the heat
of divine love, which is generated by prayer, can
not be inclined toward God. Subject the iron to the
fiery furnace and it will soon become malleable and
may be shaped as the smith pleases. The strokes
of the hammer make impression on it only when it
is glowing with heat. To observe the commands
and counsels of Almighty God the heart must be
docile and pliable, open to heavenly inspirations, and
ready to execute them. It was this that King Solo-
mon begged of God : "Give to Thy servant an un-
derstanding heart'' (3Kingsiii.9). Man's heart, since
the fall of our first parents, is dull and hard, inclined
to sensual pleasures, and opposed to the law of the
spirit, as the Apostle laments : ''But I see another
law in my members, fighting against the law of my
mind" (Rom. vii. 23). By prayer, by meditation,
man becomes enlightened. Divine grace finds him
ready. His heart becomes softened, obstinacy and
disobedience disappear, and he is saved. ''A hard
heart shall fear evil at the last; and he that loveth
danger shall perish in it" (Ecclus. iii. 27). After
Eugenius had become Pope, St. Bernard admon-
ished him never, for the sake of business afifairs, to
neglect his meditation. 'T fear very much for you,
my Eugenius, that, if you neglect meditation, the
number of your exterior afifairs may harden your
heart, which then would become insensible to divine
inspirations."
326 Mental Prayer or Meditation.
Many may think prolonged prayer a loss of time,
which might be put to greater profit in good works,
in deeds of charity. But let them reflect that it
is only in prayer that the soul gains strength to con-
quer vice and to practice virtue. ''From such
leisure comes strength," says St. Bernard. The
Lord Himself ordered that His spouse should not be
roused from her slumbers. 'T adjure you, O
daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of
the fields, that you stir not up, nor wake My be-
loved, till she please" (Cant. iii. 5). Rouse her not
until she herself wills it ; for the holy rest, or sleep,
that the soul tastes in mental prayer, although quite
voluntary, is necessary to the spiritual life. Loss
of sleep produces loss of strength. Without sleep a
man can neither labor nor travel far. He will fall by
the wayside. The soul that does not rest in prayer
and, consequently, draw her strength from it, will
not be in a state to do good or to resist temptation.
She will soon fall in the way. St. Teresa, that great
authority on mental prayer, says : "He who gives up
mental prayer needs no devil to cast him into hell ;
for he plunges himself into it."
Almighty God does not give us His grace unless
we ask for it ; and without the help of that grace we
can not keep the commandments. Full of this
thought, St. Paul admonishes his disciples : 'Tray
without ceasing" (i Thess. v. 17). We are poor
beggars. "But I am a beggar and poor; the Lord
is careful for me" (Ps. xxxix. 18). The income of
the poor depends on the alms of the rich. Our spir-
itual income, that is, the gifts and graces of our
good God, must be obtained by frequent and hum-
ble supplication. St. Chrysostom assures us that
without prayer it is absolutely impossible to live a
virtuous life. God desires nothing more than to lav-
Mental Prayer or Meditation. 327
ish upon us His graces, but He must be petitioned
for them. He must, as it were, be forced to give
them to us by our prayer.
From this indispensable necessity of prayer
springs the moral necessity for meditation. The
man who never reflects, who lives constantly dis-
tracted by the diverse affairs of this world, can
scarcely be alive* to his spiritual needs and the dan-
gers that threaten his soul. He is, consequently,
ignorant of what means to employ to overcome
temptation. As he does not know the necessity of
prayer, he does not exercise it; and without prayer
he will infallibly be lost. To this some one may re-
ply : *T do not make meditation, it is true, but I say
many vocal prayers." To such a one St. Augustine
makes answ^er : "We must petition for grace not
only with the lips, but also with the heart.'/ On
these words of David, 'T cried to the Lord with my
voice : with my voice I made supplication to the
Lord" (Ps. cxli. 2), the saint remarks: ''Many cry
to the Lord wnth the voice of the lips, but not with
that of the heart. Your thoughts are a cry to the
Lord. Cry interiorly, for God hears you." It is to
this that the Apostle admonishes us when he says :
''By all prayer and supplication, praying at all times
in the spirit" (Ephes. vi. 18). Vocal prayer is
generally full of distractions when performed by
one unaccustomed to meditation, and' when it lasts
long. God does not hear such prayer, and the
favors it asks are rarely granted. A man may recite
the Rosary, or the Little Office of the Blessed
Virgin, or perform many other devotions, and yet
continue in the state of mortal sin. But for one
who meditates it is utterly impossible to perse-
vere in sin, because he must of necessity give up
either prayer or sin. "Meditation and sin can not
328 Mental Prayer or Meditation.
exist together/' says a great servant of God. Expe-
rience teaches this. The soul that diligently medi-
tates rarely falls into disgrace with Almighty God.
Should she be so unhappy as to do so, she will soon
rise and return again to God, provided she does not
relax in her meditation. St. Teresa says that the Lord
will surely pilot the soul that has become negligent
into the haven of salvation, if she cfnly perseveres in
mental prayer. In one word, it was by such prayer
that all the saints sanctified themselves. It is the
blessed furnace in which souls are inflamed by di-
vine love. ''My heart grew hot within me : and in
my meditation a fire shall flame out" (Ps. xxxviii.
4). He to whom the soul speaks in mental prayer
is Almighty God Himself. 'T will lead her into the
wilderness : and I will speak to her heart'' (Osee ii.
14) . She who does not practice interior prayer is not
imited to God. It will not be hard for Satan to win
her for his own, since he finds her alone and without
help against his machinations. How can the love of
God live in the soul that neglects to commune with
Him in prayer? Where, except in meditation, in
mental prayer, were the saints inflamed with divine
love ? St. Peter of Alcantara was so filled with love
during his interior communing with God that he
once sprang into the icy waters of a pond to cool the
ardor of the fire that was consuming him. St.
Aloysius Gonzaga was so inflamed with divine love
when he made his meditation that his countenance
appeared to be on fire, and his throbbing heart
seemed about to leap from his breast. ''Meditation,"
writes St. Laurence Justinian, "puts the tempter to
flight, drives away sadness, restores lost virtue, en-
kindles devotion, intensifies divine charity." Very
true is the saying of St. Aloysius Gonzaga that
without frequent and earnest meditation or men-
Mental Prayer or Meditation. 329
tal prayer one will never attain a high degree of
virtue.
The soul that practices meditation, according to
the Royal Prophet, is like a tree planted by the run-
ning water. It flourishes and brings forth fruit in
due time. ''Blessed is the man who hath not walked
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way
of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. But his
will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall
meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree
which is planted near the running waters, which
shall bring forth its fruit in due season. And his
leaf shall not fall oflf : and all whatsoever he shall do,
shall prosper" (Ps. i. 1-3). Let us mark the words :
"It brings forth its fruit in due time,'' which means
at the time that he has some trial, some sorrow,
some contempt to endure. St. Chrysostom com-
pares meditation to a fountain gushing in the midst
of a garden. Just as a garden that is freely watered
brings forth an abundance of flowers and foliage, so
does the soul that meditates present to the eyes of
God the pleasing sight of ever increasing virtues.
Her holy desires and aspirations are constantly as-
cending like a sweet odor to heaven. But whence
has she received the first seeds of good? From
meditation, which daily sheds fruitful dew on
her heart. ''Thy plants are a paradise of pome-
granates with the fruits of the orchard. . . .
The fountain of gardens, the well of living waters,
which run with a strong stream from Libanus''
(Cant. iv. 13-15). If the fountains of the garden
were to dry up, the flowers and foliage would soon
wither for lack of water.
So it is with the soul. As long as it meditates, we
find in it charity, modesty, humility, and mortifica-
tion. But let mental prayer be neglected, and vanity,
330 Mental Prayer or Meditation.
frivolity, love of ease and worldly pleasures, want of
recollection and devotion, neglect of mortification —
all these are the result. Water is w^anting, the spirit
is dried up. ''My soul is as earth without water unto
thee" (Ps. cxlii. 6). The poor soul has forsaken
mental prayer, and the garden of her heart is
parched. It grows dryer and harder day by day.
St. Chrysostom looks upon such a soul as not only
sick, but even lifeless. ''He who no longer prays to
God," he says, "who no longer desires constant com-
munion with Him, is dead." When the soul ceases
to kneel in prayer before God, she dies.
"Meditation," says the same holy teacher, "is the
root of the fruit-bearing vine." "Meditation," St.
John Climacus writes, "is a bulwark against tribu-
lation, a fountain of virtues, a channel of divine
grace." Rufinus maintains that all the advance-
ment of a soul comes from mental prayer, and
Gerson declares that he who does not make in-
terior prayer can not, without a miracle on the
part of Almighty God, lead a Christian life. St.
Ignatius of Loyola says, "Meditation is the shortest
road to perfection." He who makes great progress
in mental prayer makes great progress, also, in per-
fection. It is in the time of meditation that the soul
is replenished with holy thoughts, devout aspira-
tions and desires, good resolutions, and most fervent
love of God. It is then that she lays on the altar of
sacrifice all her passions, all her sinful thoughts, her
lingering attachments to the world, all that flatters
self-love. We can, moreover, in our meditation,
gain the merit of many good desires though they
never be carried into effect ; for God rewards every
good desire just as He punishes every evil one.
Let us remark, above all, that we must not medi-
tate with the design of receiving sweetness and con-
Mental Prayer or Meditation, 331
solation, but only to please God, and to learn from
Him how best to love and serve Him. Father
Alvarez says that the love of God does not consist
m consolation, but in the faithful and disinterested
fulfilment of His commands. He adds that divine
comfort is like the refreshment which the traveler
takes on his journey, not to delay his progress, but
that he may go forward more briskly. If we suffer
from want of consolation in prayer, and yet perse-
vere in it bravely, although against our inclination,
we may be sure that we are very pleasing to the
Saviour, and that we are accumulating merit. ''O
my good Jesus,'' we may cry out in our desolation,
'Svhy dost Thou act thus toward me? Thou hast
deprived me of all things, of my possessions, my
relatives, my acquaintances, and my will, so dear
to me. I have not hesitated to bid adieu to them
all in order to gain Thee. But why dost Thou
deprive me of the consolation of feeling that Thou
art near me?'' Let us address Him in this way, but
in the spirit of humility and resignation, for He will
then make us understand that all that He does is for
love of us, that He wills what is best for us.
We must not neglect prayer if in it we are
tortured by all kinds of thoughts and temptations.
We must remember that it is at just such times, and
under just such pretences of inability to pray, that
tepidity and indolence slip in. Such thoughts must
be banished as the Patriarch Abraham drove away
the birds that settled over the sacrifice (Gen. xv.
11). We must do simply what lies in our power,
and then trouble ourselves no further. Our blessed
Lady once appeared to St. Bridget when the latter
was quite worn out by the temptations that had as-
sailed her in the time of prayer, and thus addressed
her: ''The devil, envious of man's welfare, tries to
33^ Mental Prayer or Meditation.
raise all kinds of hindrances to his prayer. But you,
my daughter, when tortured by even the most
abominable temptations, when you think yourself
unable to free yourself from them, persevere firmly
in your good will and holy desires. That will
render your prayer excellent and very meritorious
before God." On the other hand, ''when,'' as
St. Jane Frances says, ''in prayer, we find ourselves
touched with some holy afifection, it is not the time
to multiply reflections, but to stop, address one's
self to God in words of compunction, of love,
of abandonment, according as the inclination may
move us. This is the best kind of prayer."
St. Cyril shows by comparison how one should
meditate. "How does one act who would strike a
light ? He takes a flint and strikes the stone with a
steel until the fire ignites whatever he wishes it to fall
upon. In like manner he who meditates should seek
by considerations and reflections to touch the heart
and to inflame it with the fire of divine charity."
St. Teresa says : "It is very salutary to occupy
one's self during prayer in making acts of praise and
of the love of God ; to form a desire and a firm pur-
pose to please Him in all things; to rejoice in His
goodness because He is sovereign perfection ; to
wish that all would render Him the honor and glory
He deserves ; to recommend one's self to His mercy ;
to place one's self simply before Him, admiring His
grandeur, humbling one's self at the sight of one's
miseries, then to be indififerent as to what He sends
us, be it consolations or dryness, convinced that He
knows what is best for us. Holy aflfections should
be excited in us. The great point is to love much."
St. Francis de Sales says : "Those souls who are
not solidly established in piety walk bravely and are
content when Our Lord gives them consolations
Mental Prayer or Meditation. 2)3tZ
during prayer; but if He deprives them of these,
they are discontented — like little children who thank
their mother when she gives them. sweets, and cry
when she takes them away, not knowing they are
dangerous when taken in large quantities. Sensi-
ble consolations engender complacency. This com-
placency gives birth to pride, which is the poison of
the soul and corrupts every good work. Our
Saviour lavishes spiritual consolations when we en-
ter the way of piety in order to attract us to Him ;
afterwards He deprives us of them to try us and
lest they might become hurtful to us. Ought we
not thank Him as well when He takes them from us
as when He gives them to us V
St. John Berchmans experienced at times, while
in prayer, inexpressible sweetness ; but he had also
days on which his soul was plunged in the greatest
dryness. He never lost courage nor became dis-
quieted when in this state. ''The whole care of
those who give themselves to the exercise of
prayer,'' says St. Teresa, ''should be to conform
their will to that of God. In this consists the great-
est perfection we can acquire here below." To con-
form in all things to the will of God w^as the prin-
cipal object of all the prayers of this great saint.
St. Bernard addressed himiself to God in the be-
ginning of all his prayers as follows : "My God, I
offer Thee this prayer that I may know how to
please Thee in all things ; that I may know and do
Thy holy will !'' As these saints have prayed,
so let us pray : Lord, grant that I may know and
do Thy will. It is not sweetness I seek, but Thy
good pleasure. Dispose of me as Thou pleasest.
Give me but Thy love and Thy grace; I desire
nothing more.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
XLbc Ifmportance of /ifteMtatlon*
ISoofes antr il^et!)ot»s at il^etritatfon,
*''~p^APPY is the man/' says the Royal Prophet,
'-'^^ ''who meditates day and night upon the
law of the Lord. He shall be like a tree that is
planted by the river side, which brings forth its fruit
in season." In meditation the Religious walks with
God ; by means of meditation she is filled with
Christ, and by contemplating Him in her own soul
she is made capable of communicating Him to other
souls. Sanctifying herself she is able to sanctify
others, and to do the work of God in union with the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Paul, writing to
Timothy, says: ''Attend unto reading; neglect not
the grace that is in thee. Meditate upon these
things, be wholly in these things, that thy profit-
ing may be manifest to alF' (i Tim. iv. 13,
"Meditation/' says St. Augustine, "is the begin-
ning and end of all good," and if this be true of a
Christian generally, how much more must it be true
of the Religious? The Lord is the portion of the
Religious, the Lord is her inheritance, and in order
that the value of that inheritance may be appreciated
it must be known. Our divine Lord repeatedly in-
vites us to acquire this knowledge of Him. "Taste
and see that the Lord is sweet." "Take My yoke
upon you, for My yoke is sweet and My burden
The Importance of Meditation. 335
light." ''Come to Me, all you that labor and are
heavily burdened, and I will refresh you." ''Medi-
tation," writes Father Godwin, *'alone can make God
known to us. In meditation we come to learn what
God is in Himself and in what relation v/e stand to
Him. We acquire a knowledge of the divine attri-
butes, and that knowledge excites in us deep feelings
of awe and admiration for the divine majesty.
Prayer of adoration follows spontaneously on these
sentiments. We learn how good God is in Him-
self, and how He has manifested His goodness
toward us. Creation, the Incarnation of the Son of
God, and all the sacred mysteries connected with it,
Redemption, grace, the eternal bliss of heaven, are
evidences of the divine bounty. In the contempla-
tion of these great truths we live and walk with God,
and are always with Him. Prayers of praise, of
gratitude, of love flow naturally from our souls de-
lighted with the vision of God which we attain in
His contemplation.
"From this picture we turn to another, and here
at once very different feelings are aroused within
us. We look upon ourselves, and in the light of
God's majesty and greatness we are overwhelmed
at the sight of our own contemptible littleness ; we
behold our many infirmities ; we see the terrible
heinousness of our continual offences committed
against the Infinite God. At first an awful fear
seizes upon us ; but under the benign influence of
grace that servile fear changes into a heartfelt sor-
row, and this sorrow breaks forth into a prayer for
pardon, and as, suing for pardon, we lift our eyes
again to the former vision of God, there steals into
our hearts a firm feeling of assurance, and this as-
surance displays itself in a prayer of hope and con-
fidence. Closely upon this prayer follows the prayer
336 The Importance of Meditation,
of trust in God by which, full of diffidence in our-
selves, we cast all our care on Him, who alone hath
care of us. Resignation to God's holy will is the
fruit of that prayer and completes the union of the
soul with God, and sets right our relations with
Him."
Who shall calculate the importance to the Re-
ligious of the faithful performance of this duty?
Her sacred calling demands of her a corresponding
degree of sanctity. The prayer of meditation is the
response we make to our divine Master's loving in-
vitation : ''Come to Me, all you that labor and are
heavily burdened, and I will refresh you !" The in-
vitation perpetually perseveres. If the Religious
daily responds to it ; if day by day she reverts to one
or other of the considerations mentioned above, grad-
ually going through them all, and repeating year by
year the cycle of meditations from God to herself,
and from herself again back to God, her soul will
be refreshed, the supernatural life will be vigorous
in her, and wull impart its vigor to all the
prayers and actions of the day. Meditation will not
be restricted to the half-hour devoted directly to it ;
it will quicken to life all the spiritual exercises. The
holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be heard with greater
recollection and a deeper sense of the presence of
God, for she will kneel before the altar with her
soul steeped in that presence. The recital of the
Divine Office will not be open to that bitter com-
plaint of the Almighty to His prophet : ''This people
honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far
from Me." Spontaneously the thoughts of the Re-
ligious will turn toward God and the things of God.
Her life will show that which Archbishop Ulla-
thorne calls the chief feature of the supernatural
life, namely, that she is always with God. As the
The Importance of Meditation. 2i2>7
Royal Psalmist says : ''I remembered the days of
old, I meditated on all Thy works : I mused upon
the works of Thy hands. Cause me to hear Thy
mercy in the morning; for in Thee have I hoped.
Make the way known to me wherein I should walk ;
for I have Hfted up my soul to Thee" ( Ps. cxlii. 5, 8) .
As we read in The Crown of Jesus: "We can medi-
tate when we sit in the house ; when we walk on the
way ; when we lie down ; when we rise up. We can
mxcditate by considering all earthly things as types
of holy truths. In trees, the wood of the cross, our
Redemption ; in dust, our origin. In the sky, heaven
our reward. In the stars, the heavenly mansions of
those who by their glorious deeds have brought
many to justice. In the moon, the Queen of heaven.
In the sun, the Son of justice. In the sea, the ocean
of eternity. In the waves, the progress of time. In
the seashore covered with the waters, our mortality.
In the footmarks on the sand erased, fame. In the
sudden darkness, mortal sin. In the bright light,
God's grace. In the gentle wind, the breath of the
Holy Ghost the Comforter. In bread, the Blessed
Sacrament, the true Bread of life. In water, the
cleansing grace of baptism. In oil, the anointing of
the young and of the sick. In the sound of the
clock, the irrevocable progress of time.
''We can meditate by adoring the presence of God
all around us, as we walk in the midst of Him, or as
causing by His Presence in each object we behold,
its continued existence and its qualities of good.
We can adore God in the center of our heart, dwell-
ing there as in a temple, and by a spiritual union
uniting to Himself the soul in grace.
"We meditate by reading slowly , devoutly , a spirit-
ual book, with pious affections and practical reso-
lutions. We meditate by contemplating with true
S3^ The Importance of Meditation.
dispositions the image of the crucifix, or the taber-
nacle over the altar where, in His sacramental pres-
ence, our sweetest Jesus reposes. We meditate by
hearing the holy Mass, uniting ourselves with Jesus
in His sacrifice. We meditate while we devoutly
make the stations of the cross, or recite the holy
Rosary in honor of the mysteries. We meditate
when we interiorly consider and apply to our soul's
need each petition of the 'Pater/ or other prayer.
We meditate when we reverently contemplate in
others the type of God's mercy or power."
Meditation in general, and mental prayer in the
morning especially, is a duty incumbent on the Re-
ligious, the importance of which can not be exag-
gerated. St. Alphonsus Liguori admonishes us :
"Take care to make half an hour's meditation as
soon as possible in the day. For though meditation
is not absolutely necessary, it is morally necessary,
in order to obtain the grace of perseverance. Those
who neglect it will find great difficulty in perse-
vering in the grace of God. The reasons for this
are twofold : the first is, because the eternal truths
can not be seen by the eyes of the flesh, but only by
the eye of the understanding, which is reflection.
Hence he does not perceive them who does not medi-
tate ; and for want of perceiving them he will hardly
arrive at a due appreciation of the importance of
salvation, of the means which secure it, and of the
obstacles which hinder it ; so that his salvation will
be placed in imminent risk. The second reason is,
because the soul that does not practice meditation
will also be backward in practicing prayer. Now,
prayer is necessary not merely as a precept, but as a
means to observe the commandments, since, as a
general rule, and speaking of adults, God only gives
His grace to those who ask for it. But without
The Importance of Meditation. 339
meditation a person has a very faint notion of his
own spiritual wants, and he is, moreover, but
sHghtly impressed with the necessity of praying, in
order to overcome temptations and to save his soul :
thus he is led to pray but little or not at all, and for
want of prayer is eventually lost/' St. Teresa de-
clares that it is hardly possible for one who prays
to remain long in sin ; he will either forsake prayer
6v forsake sin; prayer and sin are incompatible.
Father Godwin continues : ''The principle of the
spiritual life that 'unless we go forward we shall go
backward' applies especially to prayer. Almighty
God does not call all men to equal heights of prayer
and contemplation, but from those to whom more is
given, more wnll be expected. Now assuredly the
priest (or the Religious) is bound to acknowledge
that many talents have been given to him, and he is
bound in consequence to recognize the duty of trad-
ing with those talents and of increasing them.
'Tt is not of course necessary, nor would it be ad-
visable, to endeavor to measure with mathematical
precision our progress in meditation, but every man
w^ho is faithful to that duty will be able to discern
this much, that he is not going back, that he is at-
taining greater control over his wandering imagina-
tion, that acts of soul flow more spontaneously and
more fervently upon the pious considerations made ;
in one word, that mental prayer is generally easier.
'T say 'generally easier,' because periods of spirit-
ual desolation, due to ill health, to some infidelity, or
to a trial from God, will at times seem to cast us
back upon the stage of our earliest efforts. These
exceptional periods must be carefully distinguished
from our usual habits of prayer, when, in our ex-
amination of conscience, w^e apply to ourselves the
ascetical principle of continued progress.
340 The Importance of Meditation.
"1 have said that continued fidelity to the duty of
meditation makes that prayer easier. I will go fur-
ther. Under the influence of divine grace, the very
character of that prayer is changed, and according
to the natural tendency and disposition of souls it is
raised to higher levels of prayer. One soul is ar-
rested in its glance at truth, and dimly resembles
in its calm repose the cherubim who stand in silent
contemplation before the throne of God. The truth
penetrates through and through the soul and is
gradually assimilated by it, and lives with its life.
Another soul, like to the burning seraphim before
the great white throne, is made aglow with the heat
of divine love that is excited in it by one glance at
the ravishing beauty of the divine truth contem-
plated. Both begin by the prayer of meditation,
and ascetical writers counsel them always so to be-
gin, but the one is soon raised to the sublime prayer
of contemplation, the other is carried away by his
thought; he ceases to contemplate, and continues to
pour out the most fervent acts from his burning
soul. The latter is called affective prayer.
"It follows naturally from this that such gifted
souls will choose for their mental prayer subjects
that are congruous to their advanced spiritual state.
It will not be necessary for them to confine them-
selves with the major et segnior pars to subjects
proper to the purgative and elementary illuminative
way. Theirs is the advanced illuminative and ele-
mentary unitive way, and they must be guided by
this knowledge in the choice of subjects for mental
prayer.
'The above will suffice as a description of the
principal forms of higher mental prayer. We will
now proceed to the consideration of the act of medi-
tation properly so called.
The Importance of Meditation. 341
''Meditation is the lowest form of mental prayer.
It calls into play the three powers of the soul, and,
to some extent, the senses also. The work of the
senses and of the memory is, however, prelimi-
nary ; the essential acts are those of the intellect and
the will. The intellect ponders the truth or the sub-
ject of the meditation, whatever it may be, not for
the mere purpose of study or speculation, but with
a view to stirring the will to acts corresponding to
the nature of the contemplation. 'Contemplatio in
affectum terjninatttr/ says St. Thomas. The two
are essential, but the acts of the will form the more
important element. The pondering is a means to an
end, and as soon as that end is attained and as long
as that end perseveres, so long must the pondering
be discarded, and only resumed when it is necessary
to arouse again the flagging energy of the will.
Many distractions at prayer arise from the some-
times fascinating desire to carry a truth to its far-
ofif logical conclusion, or to solve a deep problem
that thrusts itself before our notice. If we indulge
these inclinations, we at once cease meditation and
commence study.
''From this it follows that that system of medita-
tion will be the best to adopt which furnishes con-
siderations that will most easily captivate the atten-
tion of the mind, and that at the same time are not so
engrossing as to hinder the speedy and spontaneous
breaking forth of the will into appropriate acts.
"The Venerable Louis of Grenada in his treatise
on meditation counsels the use of some method for
that prayer. He, however, leaves each one free to
adopt the method which suits him best, and which
will best prevent him from becoming mechanical.
Let him take some prayer — say, the 'Lord's Prayer,'
or the 'Hail Mary ;' let him go through it phrase by
342 The Importance of Meditation.
phrase, dwelling on those words into which the
Spirit of God gives him an insight. Or, let him take
any three consecutive points, or events ; ponder each
one, until he feels his heart glow within him ; let him
then cease to think, but give expression in acts to
the feelings of his heart. There will be no necessity
to pass on to the other points of the meditation so
long as the first remains sufficient incentive to these
acts of the soul. In the use of this simple method it
is quite a mistake to regard the consideration of all
three points as at all necessary to the completeness
of the meditation.
'Tn times of special personal need or distress, or
on the recurrence of some feast toward which we
may have special devotion, this method will be of
great practical utility. In the preparation of our
meditation we shall easilv be able to discover for
,ourselves three aspects of the virtue or grace
needed, or of the feasts tow^ard which we have
special devotion ; whereas we might find it impos-
sible to meet with any book or treatment of the sub-
ject that we could so readily adopt, and so easily
apply to ourselves.
''The Ignatian method prescribes the use of all
the three powers of the soul, and also of the imagi-
nation. This latter faculty is employed in setting
before us a realistic picture or scene for the com-
position of place ; for example, the stable at Bethle-
hem, the scene at Christ's baptism in the Jordan, the
bleak wilderness where He was tempted : the shores
of the lake of Genesareth, etc. The memory recalls
the events which took place, the persons present,
their actions, words, etc. ; the intellect ponders each
in turn ; and the w411 breaks forth into the different
acts that the contemplation calls forth. This system
differs only in the elaborateness of its setting forth
The Importance of Meditation. 343
from that last mentioned. Its very elaborateness
makes it most useful to some orderly and methodi-
cal minds, helping them to avoid distractions and
a general vagueness and want of point in their
meditation.
"The golden rule to follow is to find out by expe-
rience that method of meditation which suits us best,
and adopt it. Nevertheless, it will be well from
time to time, and especially after several futile at-
tempts at meditation according to our fixed method,
to make trial of some other approved one.'' — In the
Prayer-Book for Religions the Ignatian, the Sul-
pician, and Bishop Bellord's methods of meditation
are fully explained.
St. Alphonsus Liguori renders the practice of
mental prayer exceedingly simple, clear, easy, and
fruitful. The meditation has three parts : Prepara-
tion, Consideration and Conclusion. In the prepara-
tion must be made three acts: i, An act of faith in
the presence of God; 2, An act of humility and
contrition ; 3, An act of petition for light.
Say a ''Hail Mary" to the divine Mother, and
a ''Glory be to the Father" in honor of our angel
guardian and of our holy patron. Then read a point
of the meditation, and be sure to meditate, at least
occasionally, on the Passion of Jesus Christ. While
reading, stop at the passages which strike you the
most. It must also be understood that the fruit of
prayer does not so much consist in meditating, but
rather in producing: i. Affections, for instance of
humility, confidence, love, sorrow, offering, resigna-
tion, etc. ; 2, Prayers, and especially prayers to obtain
God's holy love and the grace of perseverance ;
3, Resolutions to avoid some particular sin and to
practice some particular virtue. Three points are
generally considered. The conclusion is made thus :
344 ^^^^ Importance of Meditation.
1. I thank Thee, O God, for the Hghts Thou hast
given me.
2. I purpose to keep the resolutions I have
made.
3. I beg Thy grace to fulfil them.
Nor must we ever forget to recommend to God
the holy souls in purgatory, and all poor sinners.
Recommend yourself to the Blessed Virgin, the
saints and your guardian angel. Select an ejacula-
tion and holy thought for the day.
"There is no doubt," as Fra Gaetano da Bergamo
says in the preface to his beautiful work, Thoughts
and Affections on the Passion of Jesus Christ,
*'that meditation, if rightly understood, means some-
thing more than thinking; for we say of our
mind that it thinks even when it wanders and is
distracted, and apprehends objects present to it but
•superficially ; while it can not be said to meditate un-
less with mature deliberation it ruminates and pene-
trates things, so as to arrive, under the guidance of
reason, at a knowledge of some truth. Meditation
always requires labor and study. We must observe
that meditation, to bear fruit, must be accompanied
with prayer. Therefore it is important to correct
the mistake of those who imagine that meditation
and mental prayer are identical. In meditation we
exercise the understanding ; in prayer, the will. In
meditation the soul is recollected in itself ; in prayer
it is lifted up to God. In meditation the mind is
occupied with thoughts ; in prayer the heart is ex-
cited to affections. You may meditate as long as
you please and upon the most sublime subjects; but
such meditation will be of small profit if you do not
proceed to prayer by producing afifections suitable
to your thoughts. Meditation is necessary as a
preparation for prayer, since it is by means of
The Importance of Meditation. 345
thoughts that the affections are awakened and in-
flamed. On the other hand, prayer is requisite to
give to meditation its efficacy and fruit. This is the
end of meditation, that the will should be moved,
then the affections, so that the truth may not only
be known, but loved. Hence the errors of those
heretics who dared assert that there was no neces-
sity either to apply our thoughts to the Passion of
Jesus Christ, or to exercise our affections upon it,
have been condemned.
''What, then, is the proper definition of prayer?
Simply this : As meditation is to think seriously on
the things of God, so prayer is the devout turning
of one's self to God by pious and humble affections.
Praising, admiring, adoring God; fearing and lov-
ing God; trusting and hoping in God; humbHng
and resigning one's self to God ; delighting in God ;
grieving over the offences committed against God;
compassionating the Man-God in His pains and
ignominies ; endeavoring to imitate Him. All this
is prayer, because it is a turning of one's self to God
by the affections of the will. And as meditation no
less than prayer should be directed to the well-
ordering of our Hfe, which consists in shunning evil
and adhering to good ; so, in a general way, we may
say of affections that they are various movements
of the will — loving, desiring, seeking, and resolving
either to acquire some virtue or to correct or avoid
some vice. We can never work enough, and we
shall never work in vain, at eradicating vice and ac-
quiring virtue."
Among vices we should endeavor especially to
attack and mortify pride, which is nothing else than
an inordinate love of self, and the mother and source
of all vices.
Among virtues we should endeavor to cultivate
34^ The Importance of Meditation.
especially humility and charity : the former being
the groundwork and foundation of all virtues ; the
latter, their crown and perfection.
''Many books of meditation obviate for us the dif-
ficulty of choice of subject. They distribute appro-
priate subjects throughout the year conformably to
the liturgical character of the time. The books of
the Sacred Scripture are a perennial source of sub-
jects for meditation. Not a book of meditation that
has ever been issued but is built upon them. The
very extensiveness, however, of the field there open
to us presents a great difficulty in the choice of a
definite subject, and for that very reason good and
pious men have committed to paper the results of
their own research, and have given to us systems of
meditations drawn from the same divine source.''
We could give a long list of these books. Father
Clare of the Society of Jesus has published an ex-
cellent work on The Science of the Spiritual Life,
which is an amplification of the Exercises of St.
Ignatius. For Religious communities in general,
the following works are perhaps most serviceable
and commendable.
I. Meditations on the Life, the Teaching, and the
Passion of Jesns Christ. For every day of the
ecclesiastical year, with an appendix of meditations
for the festivals of the various saints. By Rev.
Augustine Maria Ilg, O.S.F.C. ; translated from the
latest German edition ; edited by Rev. Richard F.
Clarke, S.J. Competent critics are very generous
in their laudations of this work. Right Rev. Bishop
Maes, for instance, says : 'The Ilg-Clarke Medi-
tations are good, and may, for the reason that
they are so discursive, suit the majority of readers
the better. They will be all the more welcome to
those who complain of the dryness of their imagina-
The Importance of Meditation. 347
tion and who like plenty of suggestion whereon to
place practical resolutions/'
2. Meditations for Every Day in the Year, on the
Life of Our Lord. By the Rev. B. Vercruysse, S.J.
The meditations are methodical, short and thor-
oughly practical.
3. Meditations for All the Days of the Year.
For the use of priests, Religious, and the laity. By
Rev. M. Hamon, S.S. ; from the French by Mrs.
Anne R. Bennett-Gladstone. This work of the
learned and saintly cure of St. Sulpice is certainly
worthy of the highest praise.
4. Growth in the Knowledge of Our Lord. Medi-
tations for every day of the year ; adapted from the
original of the Abbe de Brandt, by Sister Mary
Fidelis. ''An unusually valuable addition to devo-
tional literature, not only spiritual, but sensible,''
says a reviewer.
5. Manna of the Soul. Meditations for every day
of the year. By Rev. Paul Segneri, S.J. This book
is praised by saintly and scholarly men.
6. Meditations for Every Day in the Year.
Edited by Rev. Roger Baxter, S.J., of Georgetown
College. This excellent work is remarkable for
its apt quotations from the Bible ; moreover, the
exposition and practical application of these scrip-
tural citations are terse, to the point,* and very
forceful.
7. Meditations on the Life and Passion of Our
Lord Jesus Christ for Every Day in the Year. By
Rev. J. Nouet, S.J. To which are added medita-
tions on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Father
Borgo of the Society of Jesus. This work presents
a digest of the Gospel truths in concise yet meaty
meditations, combining what is touching in senti-
ment with what is practical for the reformation of
348 The Importance of Meditation.
conduct ; appealing equally to the understanding and
the heart.
The Abbe Chaignon's Meditations deserve to
be mentioned here; also Bishop Bellord's Medita-
tions on Christian Doctrine, and Outlines of Medita-
tions, Cardinal Newman's Book of Meditations
treats a number of particular questions only. Chal-
loner's Meditations are well known and need no
recommendation. A book entitled Meditations on
the Ditties of Religious, by a Superior of the Ur-
sulines of Montargis, is intended especially for those
devoted to the instruction of youth. For private
meditation on the Passion of Our Lord throughout
the year we recommend most earnestly Thoughts
and Affections on the Passion of Jesus Christ, by
the Rev. Gaetano da Bergamo, Capuchin, and, of
course. Father Gallwey's Watches of the Passion.
For the hour of adoration. Father Tesniere's
books, The Eucharistic Christ and The Adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament, are excellent. The method
according to the four ends of sacrifice is followed
in the meditations of both books in this order :
I, Adoration; 2, Thanksgiving; 3, Reparation; 4,
Prayer. The Rev. A. Tesniere, S.S.S., a member of
the Order^ founded by Pere Eymard, is a dis-
tinguished theologian as well as a ferveut adorer of
the Blessed Sacrament. Variety of considerations
in the hour of adoration is strongly advocated by
Pere Eymard. Contemplating the infancy and the
Passion of Our Lord as reproduced in the mysteries
of the altar, considering Our Saviour in His various
characteristics, and viewing Him under all the rela-
tions which He sustained in His mortal life from
Bethlehem to Calvary, from the crib to the cross —
this exercises all our faculties, helps to banish dis-
tractions, evokes pious affections, suggests practical
The Importance of Meditation. 349
resolutions, in a word, makes the hour of adoration
very profitable and fruitful. In Father Tesniere's
books, especially in The Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament^ this idea of the "apostle of the Holy
Eucharist" is carried out in a masterly manner.
These meditations or adorations reveal the grandeur
of the mystery of the altar, the infinite love and
condescension of Our Emmanuel, the tender solici-
tude and loving kindness of our Good Shepherd, our
divine Friend in the Holy Eucharist, where He
dwells all days in our midst, to sw^eeten our exile, to
strengthen us in our struggles, to comfort us in our
sorrows, to respond to all our joys, to lift us when
we fail, and to keep us in the way that leads to
our heavenly Father's home.*
*This article is an adaptation and amplification of a
paper published in The American Ecclesiastical Review,
December, 1903, on The Importance of Meditation for the
Missionary Priest, by the Rev. E. Godwin, Ph.D.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Qn Continual ipia^ei\
i?^ HE chapter on continual prayer requires, both on
^^ account of the subject as well as the conse-
quences resulting from it, to be treated with care,
and read with great attention. The Gospel says :
''We must always pray and not faint" (Luke xviii.
t). Let us weigh the words: ''We must." It is a
precept, not a counsel ; a matter of obligation, not a
degree of perfection. If we fail in it we sin more
or less grievously.
We must ; it is a universal duty, and concerns all
Christians. It does not concern only the priests of
God's Church, or persons consecrated to His ser-
vice by religious vows, but all w^ho profess to be-
lieve in the Gospel and follow it as their rule of life,
whether they live in the retirement of the cloister or
in the busy world. We must pray always ; not only
must we have a stated time for prayer, and never
let a day pass without praying, but make of it a
continual exercise that nothing should put aside nor
interrupt.
The w^ords that follow^ ''pray always and not faint,"
clearly show us it is thus they are to be understood.
First the Gospel ordains that prayer sh?^ll be con-
tinual, and then forbids its cessation ; inculcating
thus the precept in tvv^o different ways. There is
not to be found in the Holy Scripture any other pre-
cept expressed in stronger or more explicit terms;
yet when taken either as vocal or mental prayer un-
der the name of meditation, it is plainly impracti-
cable. And for this reason those who know of no
On Continual Prayer. 351
Other kind of prayer believe themselves authorized
to restrict this obligation to certain fixed times. No
doubt they would be right if God could only be ad-
dressed by word of mouth or intense application of
the mind.
But the words of the Gospel lead us further, and
they ought to have opened our eyes to see the neces-
sity of another kind of prayer, which is of such a na-
ture that every Christian can apply himself to it
continually. And what is this prayer? It is the
most essential, the most absolutely necessary part of
prayer, that which alone draws God's attention on
us, that which gives value to all the rest; in one
word, it is the prayer of the heart. This can be
made without any interruption. No other can. So
it is evidently this that is of precept, and there is
no need of making any restriction of w^hich the
words do not seem to admit. It is the prayer of
the heart, unknown to the Jews, for wdiich Jesus
Christ upbraids them, and that God, through His
prophet, foretold should be the privilege of the New
Law : 'Tn that day," says He, 'T will pour out upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of prayers"
(Zach. xii. 10), a spirit of grace that will urge them
to pray without ceasing, and a spirit of prayer that
will incessantly draw down on them fresh graces ;
a double spirit that will keep up a constant com-
munication between our heavenly Father and His
children. It is this prayer of the heart to which the
Apostle St. Paul alludes when he exhorts the faith-
ful to ''pray without ceasing" (i Thess. v. 17), and
when he assures them that he continually remem-
bered them in his prayers.
But, you will say, how can the prayer of the
heart be continual ? I ask you, how can it be other-
352 On Continual Prayer.
wise ? We are agreed that it is the Holy Ghost who
dictates this prayer of the heart, whether He al-
ready dwells in the heart, or whether He is about to
do so. Now as soon as the Holy Ghost begins to
pray in the heart. His intention is to pray there
without ceasing, and it is our fault if He does not,
as it all depends on our corresponding to grace, by
the entire subjection of our will to His ; just as when
He wishes to take possession of our heart our re-
sistance alone prevents Him from doing so, and once
admitted He will remain there always, if we do not
chase Him away. The Holy Ghost dwelling in the
heart would never be idle if He had full liberty to
act. And what would He do therein, if not the
special w^ork of the Spirit of grace and prayer, and
of the Spirit who sanctifies us. He would keep the
heart in a continual state of adoration, of thanks-
giving, of sorrow for past sins, of supplication for
help never to sin again. This does not mean that
the heart would, at every moment, be making these
special acts, for this is not possible ; but we should
be always ready to make them when it pleased the
Holy Ghost to draw them forth, and the seed of
prayer w^ould always be in us, ready at any moment
to germinate. This persevering habit of the soul is
what I call continual prayer, and it can not be denied
that this may, and should be the disposition of every
Christian heart. It is the immediate result of char-
ity. Actual prayer is charity put into practice ;
habitual prayer is the proximate disposition for this.
It is just as easy and quite as natural to the heart
to pray without ceasing as to love always. We can
always love God, though we are not always think-
ing of Him nor always telling Him we love Him. It
suffices that we should be resolved at all times, not
only never to do anything contrary to this love, but
On Continual Prayer. 353
be ready to give to God on every occasion proof of
this by actions inspired by grace. Is it not thus that
a mother loves her children, a wife her husband, a
friend his friend? The cherished object never
comes to our mind without calling forth a feeling
of love ; we would like never to lose sight of it, and
if the mind is at times drawn off by other objects
the heart never is. Just so is it with prayer. We
have the merit to be always praying when we wish
so to be, when at every moment we are ready to fol-
low the movements of grace. It would be quite a
mistake to im.agine that the avocations of life are an
obstacle to this prayer. On the contrary, they are,
or at least may be, an exercise of it, and there is a
prayer that is correctly called the prayer of action.
Every action done for God, as being His will, and
in the w^ay in which God wills, is a prayer, better
even than an actual prayer that might be made at
this time. It is not necessary that the action be good
and holy in itself ; an indifferent act is no less a
prayer in virtue of the intention with which we do it.
Thus the Apostle virtually enjoins the faithful to
pray always when he says : ''All whatsoever you do
in word or in work, all things do you in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and
the Father by Him" (Col. iii. 17). And again :
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you
do, do all to the glory of God" (i Cor. x. 31). If
an animal or physical action, such as eating or
drinking, does not interrupt prayer, much less would
labor, whether of the body or of the mind, or details
of housekeeping, domestic duties, or the occupa-
tions of one's state of life. In all this, nothing of
itself distracts the heart from union with God ;
nothing stops the action of the Holy Ghost and the
soul's cooperation with it. This is saying little, for
354 On Continual Prayer.
every action helps to unite us more closely to God,
and to entertain the secret intercourse of the soul
with the Holy Ghost. We are always praying if
we are doing our dutv, and are doing it to please
God.
I rank among the actions that take the place of
prayer : visits of politeness and convenience, friendly
conversations, relaxations of the body and mind,
provided they are seemly and within the limits of
Christian morality. None of these things are in-
compatible with unceasing prayer ; and with the ex-
ception of what is bad, unbecoming, or useless, there
is nothing that the Holy Ghost may not claim and
sanctify and that irs not under the dominion of
prayer. The agapce, or love-feasts of the first Chris-
tians, instituted by the Apostles, were they not holy,
and seasoned with spiritual joy? Did they weaken
in them the spirit of grace and prayer? or rather
did they not promote fraternal charity? Why
should it not be the same with our meals and recrea-
tions, if we resembled the primitive Christians?
What I find so admirable in our religion is that it
teaches us to honor God in everything, to pray to
Him at all times, and to practice virtue on every
occasion, and that there is nothing indifferent or
useless in the Christian life.
As there is a prayer of action, so is there also a
prayer of suffering, and this is the most excellent
and pleasing to God. It is a very common thing
for us to complain of not being able to pray because
we are ill, are suffering acute pain, or are in a state
of weakness or languor. Did not our blessed Lord
pray on the cross, and the martyrs on the scaffold?
Actual prayer at such a time is impossible, unless
it be at intervals, and by short aspirations ; neither is
it expected. But suffer for God; suffer with sub-
On Continual Prayer. 355
mission and patience; suffer in union with Jesus
Christ, and you will be praying exceedingly well.
Thus it is that a truly Christian heart can and
ought to pray unceasingly, partly by consecrating
a fixed time for prayer, partly by acting, and partly
also by suffering. And if we take notice we shall
find that continual prayer is but the outcome of all
the precepts of Christian morality. It is indispen-
sable for the perfect observance of these precepts,
it makes it easy, and without prayer their practice
would be impossible. Thus is everything held to-
gether, the connecting hnk unbroken, and the one
leads to the other.
There is also nothing which makes us better feel
the necessity of being interior, that is, as St. Paul
explains it, of being moved by the Spirit of God,
than the obligation of continual prayer. For we
can not fulfil this obligation if we are not in a state
of grace, or if we willingly entertain thoughts con-
trary or irrelevant to those which God wishes should
at all times occupy us, or if we give ourselves up to
affections which at least divide the heart, and de-
prive God of a part of it. As soon as we become
interior men, then the Holy Ghost takes possession
of the soul and reigns there as He pleases. His first
inspiration is an attraction to continual prayer ; He
makes the soul find in this practice a most entranc-
ing pleasure that fills her with a loathing for the
things of earth and draws her from them, so that
her conversation is henceforth in heaven.
All this may seem a vain imagination and exag-
gerated piety to ordinary Christians, who, through
their own faults, have never tasted this heavenly
gift, nor felt any attraction for what is interior. "It
is quite enough," say they, ''to pray at stated times ;
beyond that, it is quite admissible that we give free
356 On Continual Prayer.
play to our minds, provided we do not entertain
bad thoughts. There are also many innocent in-
clinations and tastes that we may indulge without
scruple. What tedium, what slavery to regulate
one's life always according to the interior action of
grace ! However it may be explained, this continual
prayer is an intolerable bondage.'' Thus speak half-
hearted Christians who find it wearisome to be re-
minded of God, and to whom prayer is a heavy ob-
ligation. They interpret the Gospel according to
their own dispositions. They like to deceive them-
selves, and they speak evil of what is unknown to
them, so as to give themselves the right to live in
a careless way and give some freedom to nature.
But these lax sentim.ents will never prevail against
the doctrine of Jesus Christ; they will always find
therein their own condemnation, as well as in the
maxims and examples of the saints. Besides it is
not true that the practice of continual prayer is la-
borious to the degree they would make out. If we
believed them, it deprives man. of all liberty or free-
dom of mind to attend to business ; it does not al-
low him to give his mind to the intercourse of life ;
in conversation he is heavy, always inattentive, ab-
sorbed in the thought of heavenly things ; alone or
in society he always feels obliged to be serious and
to forbid himself every kind of amusement. Human
weakness could not endure such an exalted state.
In any case to be able to lead such a life one would
have to live like an anchorite.
All this is pure exaggeration. I admit that con-
tinual prayer is a restraint on the senses, on the
imagination of the sensual man; and there is not a
single point in the moral precepts of the Gospel that
does not impose a like restraint on nature. But far
from impeding man in the discharge of his duties,
On Continual Prayer. 357
it helps him ; far from fettering his talents, it teaches
him to make that use of them for which God gave
them to him ; he becomes more assiduous in his busi-
ness ; he bears more lightly its burden ; and he suc-
ceeds better in it. If it deprives him of a. false lib-
erty, to which he pays a sort of worship, and of
which he makes an ill-use to his own ruin, it brings
him into the true liberty of the children of God. It
does not forbid him to mix in society, according to
the exigency or claims of his position in life ; on the
contrary it makes him more easy of access, more af-
fable, more obliging. It makes him take his full
share in the conversation, authorizes him to exert
his conversational powers without any affectation,
to be interested and animated in speech; it makes
him speak and listen to the purpose, and behave in
such a manner that he pleases every one. At the
same time it is obvious that he chooses his society,
and that, when occasion offers, no human respect
ever makes him wound charity, or be wanting in his
respect for God or his neighbor.
Continual prayer, as I have explained it, being but
a certain disposition of the heart, turns habitually
toward God; it does not require a strain on the
mind, which is always free to apply itself to what
God wishes of it, or allows it at every moment ; but
its application is such that it is not enthralled by it,
and at any given moment it passes with equal free-
dom to another subject. We pray without thinking of
it, without reflecting, without any one being aware of
it, or suffering from it. In short, wherever our
heart turns, there our prayer turns also ; sleep only
interrupts it ; yet still it may be truly s^id with the
spouse in the Canticles : ''I sleep and my heart
watcheth" (Cant. v. 2). I do not see how a prayer
like this can have any tedium for one's self or for
358 On Continual Prayer.
others. On the contrary it is most dehghtful to him
who makes it, and it can never inconvenience our
neighbor, who will gain great profit by frequenting
the society of those who devote themselves to it.
Besides, whether it be tedious or not, it is a precept,
and every Christian must try to practice it.
How are w^e to do this ? We must love God with
our whole heart, with our whole mind, refer all our
actions to Him, and have no other intention or desire
but to please Him. We must wish to be entirely in
His grace, and must contract the easy habit of lis-
tening to that gentle, interior voice, of being docile
to its warnings, and reproving ourselves for the
slightest infidelity. We must also be firmly re-
solved to renounce our own will, wage war against
our self-love, keep a watch over our natural inclina-
tions, and refuse them whatever they crave if it
prejudice what we owe to God. That is, we must be
Christians according to the maxims of the Gospel,
seriously and efficaciously ; we must go once for all
to the school of Christ and become the disciples of
the Holy Ghost. When you have taken this resolu-
tion, and the necessary steps to put it into execution,
3^ou will pray, or it will not be long before you will
pray, continually, because the Holy Ghost will at
once take possession of you, and you will make rapid
strides in union with God. If you have not yet taken
this resolution, but have only the desire to do so,
nourish and cultivate this desire by frequent as-
pirations, by pious readings, and salutary reflections.
''Ask, and you shall receive ; seek, and you shall
find ; knock, and it shall be opened to you.'' It is
unheard of that any one who desired to pray con-
tinually, who with fervor solicited this grace, and
who in order to obtain it did all that God inspired
him to do — it is, I say, unheard of that such a one
On Continual Prayer. 359
did not attain to this happy state. It would indeed
be a contradiction in terms. From whom does this
desire come? Certainly from God Himself. Does
He give it without a purpose? That can not be.
He places this desire for prayer within you in order
to bestow that gift on you ; He will infallibly give it
to you if you ask for it as you ought; and He in-
vites you and presses you and helps you to use the
following language : I have never known what con-
tinual prayer is, and I have been far from knowing
it. But, O my God, what I have just been reading
gives at the same time the idea and the desire of
it. I see it is a precept on which all others depend,
and without which I can not fulfil them, since it is
the only means to carry them out. There is no mid-
dle course : either I must renounce the practice of
evangelical perfection, or adopt that of continual
prayer. Can I for a moment waver? And even
were Thy glory not at stake, should I risk my own
salvation in renouncing the efifort to be a perfect
Christian ?
O Holy Spirit ! I give my heart to Thee without
reserve and forever. Enkindle therein a fire of love,
whence shall ascend, like incense, a prayer rising in-
cessantly toward heaven, which will draw down
without ceasing all the graces I need. If Thy
heart, O my God ! is always occupied with me, is it
not just that mine should be entirely devoted to
Thee? O perfect beauty! O infinite goodness!
Canst Thou be an object less interesting to me than I
am to Thee ! Thy delight is to be with the children
of men and to converse with them, and should not
mine be to hold communion with Thee ! Unceasing
adoration, uninterrupted love, are the portion of the
blessed ; why should I not make this my lot on earth,
and thus have a foretaste of the happiness of
360 On Continual Prayer.
heaven? Shall I always be my own enemy — always
opposed to my true happiness ? No, my God ! I will
begin to pray without interruption in time, that I
may continue to do so in eternity."^
*From How to Pray, by Abbe Grou, S J.
CHAPTER XXXV.
tTbe 3Btcvmt^.—Zbe Divine ©ffice*
JJ^HE breviary is a formulary of prayers and
^^ sacred reading which priests recite daily.
Formerly the psalms, hymns, orations, and spiritual
selections, which all priests and Religious were
obliged to recite, were of considerable length.
Pope St. Gregory VII. abridged this ^'Office,"
for those of his pontifical court who were un-
der the obHgation of saying it. This abridgment
soon became of common use throughout the Church,
under the name of ''Roman Breviary.'' According
to some authors it takes its name from the fact of
its forming, as it were, a summary of religion, a com-
pendium of Christian teaching. According to Bene-
dict XIV., breviary signifies a short, brief order of
the Divine Office. It was also called ''OMcmm
divinmn; Opus Dei,'' because its recitation is a
sacred work which has God for its object. ''Pensum
servittitis/' because it is a debt, a duty to be paid
to God by those who are in a special manner
consecrated to Him. ''Ctirstis/' because it should be
said, in its different parts, according to the hours of
the day. ''HorcB Canonicce/' either because the
sacred canons ordain its recitation or because it
obliges the regular Canons in particular. ''Synaxis''
or ''Collecta;' because in m^onasteries it is recited in
common.
The breviary contains the Divine Office, or the
formal prayers which the Church puts into the
362 The Breviary, — The Divine OMce.
mouths of her priests and Religious. It is composed
of seven parts, called canonical hours, viz., Matins,
Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and
Compline. The part called Matins, which are said
toward the break of day, is also called Nocturn or
Vigils, because formerly it was chanted during the
night. Lauds are said after Matins. The custom
to-day is to recite these parts on the eve of the feast
or feria to which they belong. There are yet cer-
tain Religious Orders which recite them during the
night, beginning at 2 a.m. Prime is said at sunrise ;
Terce, at the third hour, or 9 a.m. ; Sext, at the sixth
hour, or noon ; None, at the ninth hour, or three
o'clock in the afternoon. The general custom to-
day is to recite these ''little hours," as they are
called, in the morning. Vespers followed by Com-
pline form the evening prayers. This division of the
.Divine Office is not an obligatory one. The Church
has made these divisions in order to imitate David,
who sang the praises of God seven times a'day. A
reform being found necessary, the Council of Trent
made it the object of a special decree. The breviary
was restored to its primitive purity, and thus first
edited by Pope Pius V., and then by Urban VIIL,
who prescribed the new edition for the entire
Church. However, the Churches of the Oriental
rite, as also the dioceses of Milan, Italy, and
Toledo, in Spain, w^ere exempted by the papal re-
script from the use of this edition. In the United
States the Roman Breviary is obligatory.*
2r!)e JBibine <!^tRce,
If we enter some great factory, and watch the
hundreds of whirring, clattering looms w^hich are
*From the Ecclesiastical Dictionary.
The Breviary. — The Divine OfUce. 363
rapidly producing costly materials, we can not un-
derstand what it is that regulates and sets in motion
all this machinery unless we have been shown the
motive power. So now, let us examine what an-
swers to the steam or the electricity, /. e., the crea-
tive, m.otive principle of all monastic life and activ-
ity. It is prayer, prayer in common, the solemn Di-
vine Office in choir, of which our holy father St.
Benedict says, ''Operi Dei nihil prc^ponatur/' *'Let
nothing be preferred to the w^ork of God.'' Thus
does our legislator term the worship of God in
community, because in a most true sense it is, both
corporally and spiritually, work for God and with
God. To it nihil, nothing, is to be preferred, neither
private prayer and contemplation, nor manual la-
bor, nor study, nor active work for souls, preaching,
instructing, giving missions, or anything else ;
nihil prceponatiir, there is nothing more important,
more holy, more efficacious for a monk than the
praise of God.
Is this the case nowadays? Is not our century
one of action, of restless, unwearying activity, and
not of quiet, contemplative prayer? And, indeed,
is not all comprehension of such a life of prayer
well-nigh lost? When a Religious community is
mentioned, one is asked first and foremost : What do
they do? What is their occupation? as if they were
manufacturers. Once when I informed a friend in
the world of my intentions of entering the cloister,
he said, 'T can understand that ; it is so grand, so
glorious, to give one's self entirely to the service of
God, but don't go into a contemplative Order. In
these days work is needed ; the question is, what is
most for the common good? They say, of course,
that they pray for all of us, but what do we get by
that ? We want to see them work and labor to make
364 The Breviary. — The Divine Office.
themselves useful." This is the opinion of a wide
circle, but it is one suggested by a very superficial
faith. St. Benedict's declaration, that nothing is to
be preferred before the work of God, is it then no
longer true? Have we outlived it? Is God
changed, or have we, nowadays, less need of Him?
Can human activity supply the place of divine grace,
and is it not solely by prayer that this is called down
upon us?
When Israel fought against Amalec, Moses on the
mountain was raising his hands in prayer ; it was
not the fighting warriors that were victorious, but
the power of prayer that vanquished the enemy, for
as often as Moses let fall his hands it was Amalec
that got the upper hand. This type has often been
used in favor of the Church suppliant as compared
with the Church militant, and very justly; and at
this present time, as much as ever, nay, more than
ever, do we stand in need of prayer, and of the
solemn prayer in common of the Divine Office. But
as the conception of this has well-nigh faded from
men's minds let us be permitted to set it forth in
all its real significance, as regards itself, the monks,
and finally, the Church and mankind in general. . . .
The worship of God is the first and most important
duty of the human race. Man is a rational being, is
created to praise God, says St. John Chrysostom, to
offer to God the worship of the whole creation.
Nor is it sufficient that each individual should com-
ply with this duty by his own prayers. The relation
of God to man, of the Creator to the creature, of the
King of kings to His subjects, demands a solemn
common worship, sacrifice and prayer, such service
as holy Church offers to God. The human race
must offer to God socially, either as a united body or
by due representation, its tribute of adoration,
The Breviary. — The Divine OMee. 365
praise, and thanksgiving. If each individual mem-
ber of a corporation or of a parliament were to offer
his homage to the king in private, this would by no
means have the same significance as if all did so in
common, or by special and solemn deputation. And
this is what God requires, for it is written, ''Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God ;" ''All the earth
doth worship Thee ;" "All the nations that Thou hast
made shall come and adore before Thee, O Lord ;''
'Traise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye
peoples ;" "Let all the earth bless the Lord, let it
praise and exalt Him above all forever.'' The great
significance of this official praise of God may be
recognized also by its sublimity. Next to the holy
sacrifice of the Mass, in which the work and fruit of
our Redemption are continually renewed and per-
petuated, the Divine Office gives the greatest glory
to God, and it is most closely united and intimately
connected with that sacrifice.
The holy Mass is often called the sun of the
spiritual life and the Choir Office is compared to the
rays which surround it. Without the sun, which is
Christ Himself, there would be no rays, but on the
other hand the rays announce and spread far. and
wide the glory of the sun, and it is by their means
that we receive its beneficial light and heat. The
Choir Office possesses a grandeur beyond all that is
merely human, for it is divine, divine in its origin
and source, divine in the Object of its praise, and
divine in its form, which is of no human invention.
The Holy Spirit lives, works, and speaks in the
Church, and we have to thank Him for its con-
tents, its arrangement, and its words, which He has
inspired. It is the official prayer of the Church, and
as she is the mystical body of Christ every breath
in her body belongs to Him. He is her head, and
366 The Breviary. — The Divine OMce.
her prayer, her language, her voice are His, and
therefore divine. ''Laudat ipse seipsum Deus/' ''He
Himself praises Himself," says St. Augustine. The
due celebration of this worship is a supernatural of-
fice, it is the service of angels, and will be our
blessed occupation for all eternity.
The sublimity of this solemn praise of God im-
plies also its efficacy. Our divine Lord Himself has
said : ''Wheresoever two or three are united in My
name, there am I in the midst of them," and again,
^'Whatsoever you shall ask in My name, I will give
it to you." "Thy prayer," says St. John Chrysos-
tom, ''is not of such efficacy when thou prayest
alone as when thou prayest with thy brethren," for,
as St, Ambrose observes, "if many souls unite they
become powder ful, and God can not despise the
prayers of a multitude."
They who sing psalms thus together, as a
well-ordered army in battle array, do violence to
heaven, a violence most pleasing to God, ''Hcec vis
Deo grata est.'' Individuals are as drops borne on
by the force of the stream. Devotion in common
arouses, vivifies, enkindles ; it overcomes, to a cer-
tain extent, the tepid distractions of the individual,
and unites him in the sonorous harmony of the
choir, and thus the common prayer and praise re-
sound like one voice rich and full-toned, well pleas-
ing to God. It is the voice of the Church, of His
Son, to w^hich He can not but listen, ''to tins
Ecclesice vox una,'' "the one voice of the whole
Church." This solemn praise of God has at all
times been offered to Him by mankind. The an-
cient patriarchs offered sacrifice, and prayed sur-
rounded by their families or their tribe. Moses
regulated the service of God before the tabernacle,
appointed to the priests their office, which was
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 367
shared by the tribe of Levi. Levites were the
chosen singers, who interceded for the people.
David's first care when, after glorious victories, he
had established his kingdom, was to order a be-
coming worship for the sanctuary of the Lord. He
chose out four thousand singers from among the
Levites, whom he divided into twenty-four choirs ;
and he himself, the hero king, with golden harp in
hand, intoned the festal hymns and psalms at the
head of the grand choir of priests. "As often as the
sun rose in the east on Jerusalem, or sank behind
the mountains of Sion, psalms and musical instru-
ments accompanied the morning and evening sacri-
fice." And when his son, the wise King Solomon,
had completed the building of the magnificent Tem-
ple, he stood in the presence of the whole people of
Israel, before the altar of the Lord, and stretched
forth his hands toward heaven. Then, kneeling on
both knees, he offered a solemn prayer of consecra-
tion. He praised, gave thanks, and prayed, and the
whole people joined in adoration with him, and in
sacrifice to the Lord. And under the New Cove-
nant, of which the Old was but a shadow and a
type, should not this adoring worship of God find a
yet grander and more glorious expression? The
Church has entered on the heritage of the Syna-
gogue ; has received from it the precious treasure
of Holy Scripture; what were but dark, prophetic
sayings have become the accomplished works of
God, in the fulfilment of which she rejoices to-day.
At the birth of the world's Redeemer angelic choirs
intoned their hymns of praise, the poor shepherds
joined in them, and now they resound, without in-
terruption, throughout the whole w^orld. Christ,
the divine King and Priest, not only offered to His
heavenly Father a sacrifice such as alone was worthy
368 The Breviary. — The Divine OMce.
of Him, but He worshiped Him also, with the
choir of His apostles, by psalms and hymns,
and so He still worships Him wherever Chris-
tians are gathered together in His name, for
He is with them and in them till time shall be no
more.
When the psalmody died away in the desecrated
Temple, it awoke in the joyful choirs of the early
Christian congregations, and following in the foot-
steps of the apostolic missionaries it spread
throughout Asia Minor and Greece, extended all
along the coast of the Mediterranean, and found an
echo in the deserts of Egypt. The subterranean
vaults of the catacombs resounded with the Chris-
tian hymns ; and when the spell of heathen domina-
tion was broken there sprang up gorgeous temples
and grand cathedrals, in which the praises of God
were sung with all solemnity by priests and faith-
ful. Soon the Church was reckoned no more by
congregations, but by nations ; it became no longer
possible for all the faithful to assemble together
daily for the praise of God, and they intrusted this
duty to the priesthood. For them, therefore, this
Divine Office, or recitation of the breviary, becam.e
the first and most important duty. All the thou-
sands of priests who, the wide world round, daily-
nay, from the differences of time, ceaselessly — re-
cite their hours in the name of holy Church, form,
as it were, one single choir, one sounding harp, in
unison with the never-ceasing intercession and praise
of the divine High Priest. The whole intention, the
construction and arrangement of the Divine Office,
indicates the element of community ; it is founded on
alternation of singing, and on the united action of
the clergy and the people, as is distinctly expressed
even in the Holy Sacrifice itself; ''piiblica est nobis
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 369
et communis oratio/' "we have a public and com-
mon worship/'
in the Holy Sacrifice, however, this union is
purely spiritual. Priests and people meet together,
it is true, wherever it is possible, for prayer in com-
mon, and it is still kept up in the cathedrals and
collegiate churches of Catholic lands, but this does
not satisfy the Church, who desires that God should
be honored by united, solemn, uninterrupted choral
worship, and for this purpose a special order of
men is required. It is true that the evangelical
counsels are practiced by the priesthood, inasmuch
as they have embraced poverty (at least in spirit),
promised obedience to their bishop, and vowed per-
petual chastity, but even this is not enough, The
endeavor to attain perfection, which has been con-
firmed by the three vows, must find its due represen-
tation in a special state of life, or holy Church would
be deprived of her choicest blossoms, her most de-
licious fruits.
Thus arose the necessity for the religious state,
the members of which, both men and women, should
be consecrated in an especial manner to God, and be-
long to Him alone. They are the follow^ers of the
early Christian communities, of which it was said,
"they were all together and had all things in com-
mon . . . continuing daily with one accord in the
temple . . . praising God." This early Christian
community life in poverty, obedience, and continual
prayer was never to cease throughout the Church as
she grew and spread over all the earth, and it con-
tinued its existence in the cloister. There, above all,
should the inextinguishable flame of the divine
praise be fed, there be found the mouthpiece and
the harp of holy Church. The cloister is not only a
rallying point for all Christian people, a model of
370 The Breviary. — The Divine OMce.
Christian life, but also a glowing flame of fervent
prayer, the perpetual lamp ever burning to the glory
of God. This then was the first and chief task, the
reason for community life, the element of union
among its members, so that we could expect them
rather to pray together without living together,
than ever to give up prayer in common, as, in fact,
Carthusians live in separate dwellings, and hermits
dwell in cells apart from one another, yet all meet
'together for choral prayer.
This call to prayer was understood of old by the
dwellers in the Eastern ''lauras," and the fathers of
'the Egyptian deserts, as well as by the monks of the
early monasteries in Italy and Gaul, but it was first
brought out in its full beauty and significance by our
holy father, St. Benedict. He grasped the idea of
the liturgical life with all the ardor and strength of
a heart devoted to God ; he carried it out with the
talent for organization of a Roman patrician, and
he made his Order the herald of this scheme for the
solemn worship of God, the representation of the
prayer of the Church. Thirteen chapters of his
holy Rule treat of the Divine Office, and we may
well say the end and aim of it is to make each in-
dividual monk, who for his own sanctification has
sought to become a member of the monastic family,
so utterly give himself up to it as to be but one more
voice in the harmonious choir of the brotherhood
who have undertaken to represent upon earth the
adoration that Jesus Christ Himself ever pays to
His heavenly Father. All turns upon this, the
glorious ceremonies, the splendid vestments, the
lofty vaulted temples, and the sonorous chant which
resounds within them. The Benedictine monk
rarely goes out into the world ; his task is to glorify
God in the temple of His majesty, and in so doing
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 371
to sanctify himself. Well, therefore, could the great
legislator say, ''Nihil prceponatur/' ''Nothing shall
be preferred before the work of God," and for this
reason it should be looked for as a sign of true voca-
tion, whether the newcomer *'be zealous for the ser-
vice of God, ''Si sollicihis sit ad opus Dei/'
Wholly engrossed in the dignity and grandeur of
this service, the choir monk lives but for this sacred
obligation. Not single days from time to time, but
the entire year becomes a prolonged and varied fes-
tival, which has for him an ever newer and deeper
meaning. Penetrating more and more into the mys-
tical depths of the liturgical prayers and ceremonial,
he thus sanctifies both his outer and inner man, and,
like the angels, who in the presence of the Most
Holy Trinity sing unceasingly their glorious
Trisagion, so does he wholly devote himself, with
all his powers and faculties, to the service of
the Most High. Like them, he never leaves his
place before the ever present God ; the choir stall is
his home. His constant employment forms him into
a man of God, into an instrument of God, apt and
ready at once for every task, for every charge ; and
there is no labor from which he would withdraw
himself if it were imposed upon him by obedience.
These most glorious occupations, which take him
into the heavenly courts and number him among the
chamberlains of his sovereign Lord, ennoble his
whole being, and give to him that quiet dignity, that
refined simplicity, that humble recollectedness, that
fervent self-devotion, which the service of the King
of kings demands. O happy and blessed vocation !
O gracious choice! "Beatus qtiem elegisti et as-
siimpsisti/' "Blessed is he whom Thou hast chosen
and taken to Thee.''
But the Divine Office is not alone a school of
Zy2. The Breviary. — The Divine Ofhce.
sanctification for each individual monk, it is the
very marrow and heart of the Order. As the saints
of God, so the different Orders in the Church have
each their pecuhar mission in the divine economy.
Our holy father St. Benedict first brought into set-
tled form the Day Office of the Church, which, hav-
ing been in use ever since the time of the apostles,
had been continually developing into greater com-
pleteness. He arranged the psalms, lections, and
prayers, especially for his own monks, but always
according to the spirit and the decrees of the
Church of Rome, ''sicut psallit Ecclesia Romana/'
^'as the Roman Church sings.'' The Church sup-
ported his work by her authority, and illustrious
Popes, like St. Gregory the Great (himself a son of
St. Benedict), regulated by it the Divine Office of
the whole Church. The diffusion of the solemn
praise and worship of God was thus the lifelong task
of the Benedictine Order, and at the same time the
cause of its development and rapid extension. The
Order stands and falls with the Choir Office ; its
source of fertility is in the liturgical life, with the
decline of which its own goes hand in hand. It is
the chosen representative of the Church, in her
quality of worshiper of God. Not only have
priests found in our abbeys a place for spiritual
recollection suited to the work of their vocation, but
the people also, as children of the Church, have
drawn from this common source devotion and grace.
Thousands of monasteries, cities of God, fortresses
of holy Church, made the whole of Europe a garden
of the Lord. They were as the salt of the earth dur-
ing the Middle Ages, so long as they remained true
to their vocation. They were models alike for the
family and the state, nurseries of the arts and
sciences, but only so long as these were planted on
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 373
the soil of the Htiirgical Hfe. In those ages of holy
zeal men wished to offer Almighty God a perpetual
adoration, and to this end there were monasteries in
which three choirs followed one another in unbroken
succession. At Bangor and lona, in the monastery
of St. Boniface at Fulda, at Meissen, and many more
in Saxony, the latis perennis resounded uninter-
ruptedly by day and night. In the last-named mon-
astery it was thus continued during three centuries.
Later on, as a crown of stately abbeys began to
encircle the earth, each took up the task from the
other, at the call of the rising day-star, and thus w^as
their adoration truly perpetual. Then other Orders
came to join in the great song of praise, Augustin-
ians, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and thus
was perfected a harmony most pleasing to God,
w^hich rose ever before His throne as a sacrifice of
sweet savor.
It may well be said that the history of the Middle
Ages was materially influenced by the cloister, that
the well-being or the evil lot of nations, their
triumphs or their defeats, their peaceful development
or their internal disquietude, were closely bound
up with the ebb and flow of their religious life, and
especially with the condition of their monasteries.
And this is why princes were often the founders,
benefactors, and supporters of the abbeys of their
country, from whence they looked for the help of
prayer in life and death, and in which it was their
earnest desire that their bodies might one day be
laid to rest, so that even in death they might reap
their share of blessing from the choral prayer which
re-echoed round their tomb.
In order to understand aright this mysterious ac-
tion, this power which guides the fate of nations,
as well as of individuals, it is necessary to have a
374 The Breviary. — The Divine OMce.
true and lively faith in the power of prayer. It was
the monks who, by their intimate union with the
Church triumphant, drew down the blessing of
Heaven on the Church militant. They were the
most faithful sons of the vicegerents of Christ,
whose authority they upheld ; the support of the
bishops, who were mostly nominated from their
ranks; the counsellors of princes, the friends and
benefactors of the people. When, once upon a time,
the Emperor Charles V, was overtaken with his fleet
on the African coast by a violent storm, and it was
feared that the ships would be lost, he suddenly
asked what time it was. ''Midnight,'' was the reply.
*'Oh, then the danger is past,'' said the Emperor,
*'for at this hour in Spain all the monks and nuns
rise for prayer."
When this faith grew dim, when false philosophy
and revolutionary movements, shaking both altar
and throne, undermined the very foundations of
Christian belief, when all these distressing novelties
penetrated even into the cloister, then indeed these
citadels of God's glory, attacked by foes both within
and without, could not but fall. That sense of spir-
itual joy which makes the glad heart sing psalms
was lost; with its loss the bonds of discipline and
childlike obedience were relaxed. In many counx
tries the Religious Orders thus degenerate were no
longer worthy of their high calling, and the confusion
within the Church, the diminution of faith, and the
increasing licentiousness of the people, demanded
new and different instruments of divine grace. The
time of tranquil possession was at an end, and was
succeeded by a period of struggle after the highest
good. The Church, recognizing at all times the
needs of the age, brought forth, in her maternal
fecundity, men of action and of holy zeal, who,
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 375
banding themselves together into new Orders and
Congregations, threw themselves into the breach to
reconquer and to save the threatened liberty of the
Church. They had no time for the Choir Office;
work was their watchword, consuming zeal for souls
made them forgetful of themselves, and their mis-
sion required a freedom of action which chafed at
the confinement of the quiet cloister.
Were the monks then set aside forever? Is it
true that the Choir has become superfluous, that it
has no longer any power, any significance? No,
indeed ! Instruction, education, missions, care of
souls in all its phases, are not in themselves sufficient
to uphold and increase the kingdom of God on
earth; all these require the support of prayer, of
united prayer, which is a bond of union between
heaven and earth. This prayer is not only one of the
adornments of the Church, but also one of her most
powerful weapons, of which she stands even more
and more in need. Of what use is the courage, the
contempt of death of the warriors of Israel, if
Moses keeps not his hands uplifted in prayer? By
prayer men obtain not only the aid of Heaven, a su-
pernatural strength in their struggles, but instruc-
tion and direction for their moral life. ''Wherever
this public and ceremonious worship of God has
been abolished, there,'' says a French theologian, ''as
a natural consequence, the people fall back into a
state of awful barbarism and the most unheeding
ignorance of all natural and social duties."
By the sympathy of a people with the liturgical
worship of God we may estimate their moral and
religious state. This was the case even in the classic
days of paganism, and it continued to be so during
the palmiest days of Christendom. St. Jerome re-
lates that the inhabitants of Palestine used to sing
376 The Breviary. — The Divine Office.
verses of the psalms alternately during their labor
in the fields, and St. Ambrose tells us that people of
all ranks, both men and women, were in the habit
of assisting at Matins on Sundays and festivals in
the monastery church. This pious custom still con-
tinued in the days of faith, and rich were the bless-
ings it drew down upon the Christian family and
the community at large. We remember how Mabel,
the mother of St. Edmund of Canterbury, used to
rise every night, with her little son to assist at
Matins in the abbey church of Abingdon, and how
English monarchs like Canute, St. Edward, and
Henry VI. loved to assist at the Choir Office in the
monasteries of Ely, Westminster, and Bury. St. Csesa-
rius of Aries used to exhort his people to go at night
to Matins, and many ancient canons required that
the faithful should attend Vespers as well as Mass;
several synods in the time of Charlemagne ordained
that they should join in the psalms and responsories.
King Alfred the Great always carried a breviary
about with him : 'Traise the Lord, kings of the
earth, and all people, princes, and all judges of the
earth." Nowadays, this true appreciation of the
Choir Office has been lost, and it is no longer the
custom to take part in it ; hence the great and de-
plorable ignorance on ecclesiastical subjects that
exists among the people generally, and which ex-
tends often to highly cultured circles. Few can un-
derstand the Latin prayers of holy Mass, and yet
every educated person ought to be sufficiently in-
structed in the language of the Church to be able
to follow the liturgy. In the Middle Ages it was
familiar to all educated people, and even the peasants
and townsfolk knew many psalms by heart. *'The
psalms are easily remembered when they are often
sung/' said Bishop Nicetius. In Italy and France
The Breviary. — The Divine OMce. 377
even now we find the people singing the psalms at
Vespers, but in England the practice is well-nigh
lost, the glorious chant is all but forgotten. And
yet, once upon a time, when the civil power sought
to root it out, the people even used force to preserve
it. The men of Devon and Cornwall rose in the time
of Edward VL, clamoring for the restoration of
Matins, Mass, Evensong, and Litany, the ancient
services they had learned to love. They were, in-
deed, but echoing the demand of the heroes of the
pilgrimage of grace. Their pious outcries were only
stifled by the violence of foreign mercenaries. How
much of lively emotion, of ennobling sentiment, and
of heavenly consolation is lost to a family and to
every member of it, when they can not understand
the prayers of the Church, no longer care to follow
the liturgical offices, and for the most part fall back
upon the sickly and enervating food of the senti-
mental books of devotion which crowd the book-
market by the dozen.
With a growing faith, its outward expression will
again come to life. Instead of the empty, cold ser-
vices of a so-called "enlightened age'' our churches
will once more array themselves in warmer cloth-
ing, and through their richly decked naves will
again resound the time-honored prayers and chants
of a Christian past, full of the Holy Spirit of God.
Already there are many pious souls who not only
use the Missal for their daily Mass, but also rejoice
to assist at the day Office of the Church whenever
circumstances will permit. Moreover, there ' are
now many highly cultured men and women who
have applied themselves with pious industry to the
due understanding of the liturgy, and who delight
in its rich perfum.e. The founder of a glorious ab-
bey in Belgium is present every day with his family
S7^ The Breviary. — The Divine Oihce.
at conventual Mass and Vespers, and gentlemen
' oi all ranks, even officers in uniform, are often to be
seen among the guests in our foreign abbeys fol-
lowing the prayers of the choir, and we are ac-
quainted with a great manufacturer, with two thou-
sand workmen in his employ, who says regularly
every day the Roman Breviary.
Interest in the liturgy is rapidly growing and
spreading. Zealous priests and good books, such as
Dom Gueranger's well-known work, help people to
comprehend it. But, before all else, this is the task
of the abbey, to enhance once more the grandeur of
the liturgical offices. The Benedictine Order must
be ever more and more conscious of this, its great
mission, and setting aside as secondary all other
exterior work, must give the first place to the solemn
Office of the Choir, and by furthering with holy zeal
the solemn service of the altar show itself once more
worthy of its great forefathers. This is felt even in
the world, as is proved very clearly by the desire for
such centers of prayer and praise, the demand for
monasteries, and the lively interest taken in the di-
vine worship and the increasing appreciation of it,
wherever they have sprung up. From far and near
the people flock to them to listen to the sacred chant,
to delight in the splendor and dignity of the divine
worship, and to feel their hearts borne up toward
God by the sounds of jubilant and supplicating
prayer.
What are the psalms which form the principal
part of the ecclesiastical worship? Composed three
thousand years ago, they were used by the Syna-
gogue, which looked forward with eager longing to
the coming of Him of whom they spoke in mystic
and prophetic utterance. In the fulness of time
Christ came ; He, also, used the psalms from the
The Breviary. — The Divine Office. 379
crib to the cross, and since then His Church con-
tinues by them her glorious hymn of praise, adora-
tion, and thanksgiving. They rise as the outward
flame of the inward fire which the Redeemer would
fain enkindle in all hearts, as the earthly echo of
that celestial harmony which is unceasingly heard
around the throne of the Most High. The psalms
are the work of the Holy Ghost, but in order to
make them known God chose out a man after His
own heart, and placed a harp in his hand that he
might evoke their unearthly strains. This was
David the king. Rarely had mortal man such vast
experience of the vicissitudes of life as had the
Psalmist. There is no joy that he did not taste, no
sorrow by which his soul was not wrung; his life
comprised within its course every emotion which the
human heart can feel. Raised from the lowly con-
dition of a shepherd boy to the high station of a
great king, he tasted all the joys and sorrows of life,
and having fallen into the abyss of grievous sin he
rose once more to the loftiest heights of virtue and
of sanctity. Thus, if he experienced all the anguish
of penance, he learned also all the rapture of the
most fervent love of God, and so every emotion of
the human heart passed through his great and noble
soul, and found expression in those divinely inspired
canticles, the psalms. There is no sentiment, no
frame of mincl that they do not portray and turn
again toward God. Their w^ords are ever fresh, ever
new, a poetry of undying beauty.
And these psalms, given to us by the Spirit of
God, were on the lips of the child Jesus during His
hidden life with Mary and Joseph at Nazareth. He
sang them with His disciples. He made use of them
in His Passion and in His last heartrending words
upon the cross : ''My God, My God, why hast Thou
380 The Breviary. — The Divine OfUce.
forsaken Me? Into Thy hands I commend My
spirit/' So the psalms continued to be the prayer,
the voice of holy Church ; by them her children im-
plore light and consolation, medicine in all their
maladies, weapons and defense against every need;
for their mystical depths contain the most consol-
ing secrets of our faith. Our forefathers recited
these psalms, the saints pondered over them, and the
martyrs were strengthened by them. Oh, if only
Christian people would as of old value these
treasures aright, how greatly would they serve to
promote a true spirit of faith.
There was once a monk of Citeaux, around whose
head a flame was seen to play while he was singing
the BenedictuSj and when questioned, he replied : 'T
was thinking that if I were in heaven, it is thus I
would desire forever to praise God with all the an-
gels.'' Blessed Stephen of Tournay says of the
same monastery of Citeaux : "They celebrate the di-
vine worship there with such dignity and devotion
that one could believe one heard angels' voices in
their choir ; by their psalms and h3^mns and spiritual
canticles they constrain one to praise God in imita-
tion of the angels."
In the early days of monastic life, no manuals of
meditation were required ; the Divine Office sufficed
the brethren, and afforded them material for rap-
turous contemplation.
In this contemplation our fathers used to pene-
trate deeply into the mysteries of the sacred word,
and they were wont to draw forth from it ever new
treasures of light and grace, which caused their
hearts to overflow with holy enthusiasm and delight.
The Divine Office, the prayer of the choir, is not
only the lifelong duty of the monk; it is also his
school of sanctity, and of the interior life. A mon-
The Breviary. — The Divine Ofdce. 381
astery in which the Divine Office is kept up accord-
ing to the spirit of our holy father must needs flour-
ish, and bring fruits of virtue to maturity. But it is
work, and hard work. Prayer is work, honorable,
useful and necessary, requiring the exercise of all
our powers, for it directs both body and soul in the
service of God. ''And let us so stand to sing in the
choir," says the holy Rule, ''that mind and voice
may accord together/' "Let us so stand;" that is,
place ourselves in such a posture as may further
recollection of spirit; the whole man must pray.
And this is why the Divine Office in choir has some-
what of the dramatic about it. It affords little scope
for individuality — it is an official prayer offered in
common. The whole choir turn, bend, kneel, rise up
as one man, with a rhythmic regularity inspired by
the most lively devotion. The intensity of this de-
votion will differ, no doubt, in various souls. St.
Bernard once saw an angel writing down the
prayers of the monks, some with letters of gold,
some of silver, others of black ink, or colorless
w^ater, according as they differed in value before
God. But it is always a consolation for the weak
and faltering to know that their prayer, united with
and borne up by the strong, will reach the ear of
God; just as their voices, chiming in with the rest,
are wafted upwards in one common harmony. It
is as when the eagle bears its young ones aloft upon
its outstretched wings to accustom them by degrees
to behold the sun. — From A Day in the Cloister, by
Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Zbc Spirit ot tbe Bivim ©ffice.
^^ HE subject of this paper presents a double as-
^^ pect. We may consider the spirit in which
the Office has been conceived or composed, and we
draw thence certain conclusions regarding the spirit
in which it should be recited.
I. The Office is, as its name denotes, divine, for
it is the work of God, opus Dei, compiled from the
inspired utterances of the Holy Ghost. By far the
greatest part of our breviary consists of the Sacred
Scripture — the Psalms, Canticles, lessons of the Old
aiid New Testaments ; while the remainder, written
mostly by saintly Doctors of God's Church, comes
to us under the sanction of an authority guided
by the Divine Spirit. Thus writes the eminent
Cardinal Manning:
''The Divine Office is a part of the divine tra-
dition. It has been wrought together by the hands
of men, but those men were saints, and their
work was under the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
The framing of the ritual may have been the
work of human hands, but the materials of which
it is composed are the words of the Spirit of
God." It is directly divine in its origin, principle,
and object, while in form it has indirectly the divine
sanction.
From the beginning God appointed two forms by
which man was publicly to recognize and worship
Him ; namely, by sacrifice and by prayer, by act and
by zvord. In the Mosaic Law this worship was
The Spirit of the Divine OMce. 383
chiefly sacrificial, but public and official prayer by
the ministers of God also had its due place. The
Patriarchs were the recognized representatives in
this regard, and Moses also, as we read, taught the
people the use of hymns and canticles.
In the days of Samuel there would seem to have
existed in the Temple a choir-office, while in David's
time various psalms were composed which were set
to a special chant and choirs of Levites and musi-
cians were appointed to sing them. Thus the ''sacri-
ftciiim laudis," through vocal offices, was constituted
by the ordinance of God, as the Royal Prophet
avows : 'T will sacrifice to Thee the sacrifice of
praise, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. I
will pay my vows to the Lord, in the sight of all His
people, in the courts of the house of the Lord'' (Ps.
cxv. 17-19).
In the synagogues the same offices were carried
out, and we may readily assume that Our Lord often
joined in them at Jerusalem or Capharnaum and
elsewhere, thus by His sacred presence sanctify-
ing and consecrating these hours and forms of
prayer.
Thence they were transferred by the apostles to
the Christian Church for her zvord worship. So we
find both in the Acts of the Apostles and in the
Epistles repeated mention of "the Prophets and
Scriptures" being read in the Temple, of the faithful
assembling there to unite in prayer and the "sing-
ing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles." We
need not therefore wonder at the Church's love and
veneration for the Psalter, "which has led her to
make it permeate and kindle every part of her lit-
urgy, and has so transferred it from the worship of
the synagogue to her own, that, to use a medieval
metaphor, the trumpets of the tabernacle have given
384 The Spirit of the Divine OMce,
place to the psaltery and song of the Christian
ritual."' *
The origin of the Office is then divine — its words
are inspired, not indeed all in the same degree, but
they are all, as St. Bernard calls them, ^^voces
Spifihis Sanctif'
The object of the Office is also divine ; not only in
that it makes for our sanctification, but also because
its chief and primary aim is God and to Him it is
immediately directed. Nor is it simply in the nature
of a prayer that we must regard the Office. Prayer
it is indeed, but much more — it is a special act of
divine worship, not only in that God is served and
honored by it; but in a deeper sense it is the work
of His ordinance, the words of His Spirit, by which
the Divinity, using human instruments, concentrates
divine worship within Himself. As He has ordained
the one great act worship, the clean oblation to be
offered to His name from the rising to the setting of
the sun, in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, so has He
ordained that the word worship, the sacrifice of
praise, should, through His Church, be perpetually
oft'ered to Him on high. St. Paul expresses this
clearly when he says : "By Him therefore let us offer
the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say,
the fruit of lips confessing to His name'' (Heb. xiii.
By the offering of the holy Mas.s, which is laid as
a charge upon the Church, she adequately and fully
pays the fourfold debt mankind owes its Maker and
Sovereign Lord. In like manner by the holy Office
she fulfils the same four ends of glorifying God,
rendering Him thanks, appeasing Him, and asking
graces needful for the world. Charged as she is
with the duty of praise, thanksgiving, and supplica-
*Dr. Neale, Notes on the Divine OMce.
The Spirit of the Divine OfHce, 385
tion to God, for and on behalf of all men, she has
endowed her ministers with the privilege and duty
of reciting the liturgical Office, emphasizing the im-
portance of it, as well as her earnestness in the ful-
filment of this duty, by enjoining under pain of sin
that this alone of all their duties must be satisfied
every day, and day by day. Such is the solemn duty
of all those consecrated to her ministry. Her
priests, in fulfilling their obligation, by this means
become as the soul and voice of creation, or as ''the
angel with golden censer offering up the prayers of
all the saints upon the golden altar which is before
the throne of God." They form the choir which
voices creation's praises in a grand concert of har-
mony, everywhere in the identical form and accents
of worship from the rising to the setting of the sun.
Thus, without ceasing, the sacrifice of praise is
joined to the sacrifice of the Eucharist, celebrating
the perfections and benefits of the Divine Majesty,
''Dies diei enictat verbum, et nox nocti indicat
scientiam/'
The liturgy is the collective utterance to God of
the mystical body of Christ. It is not merely a pri-
vate prayer, for the whole Church is the sanctuary,
and "as we offer this prayer we are never alone,"
says St. Peter Damian, but united in worship with
the whole choir of God's Church. We pray with
and for the Church, speaking in union with
the Incarnate Word. This is expressed in the
preparatory prayer, ''Domine, in unione illius
divince intentionis qua ipse in terris laudes Deo
persolvisti/'
Christ came on earth to unite man to God, to be
the type and model of perfection, which the creature
might imitate, to pray in the highest sense of prayer.
He came, the second Adam, to be the representative
386 The Spirit of the Divine Office.
of the children of the first Adam in a perpetual wor-
ship of God, and it is for the human race to unite
itself with Him in this constant prayer. For this
Christ fitted to Himself the mystic body of His
Church, upon which, therefore, is the duty of per-
petual, public, official prayer offered through her
ministers.
The chief object, then, of the Divine Office and
its excellence appears in this, ''that it is from God,
and puts us in communication with God. It is the
sacred formula of those conversations with Heaven
which are authorized by our ministry. It is the au-
thentic and complete expression of praise, thanks-
giving, and petition which we offer in the name of
the faithful." *
2. From this idea of the sacred Office we may gather
the spirit which must properly animate us in its
recitation. We go before God as the organ of Jesus
Christ, as the representatives of His Church charged
with a sublime embassy, to treat of interests most
precious, or to make reparation to the oft'ended
majesty of God, to make supplication for the graces
of which the world is in need, or to offer praise
to the Creator, and thanksgiving for infinite favors.
What a spirit of piety, earnestness and fervor does
not this object call for! Still more must we realize
this if we recollect that we deliver our message in
the words of His own Son ; "for,'' writes the Abbe
Gay, "we repeat the very prayers which Christ our
Lord used in His pilgrimage on earth, which He
uttered on His own behalf and ours, for the Psalter
was His book of prayer." The Psalms indeed are
in various ways the sentiments and expressions of
Christ, who as the Messias was prefigured in the
person of David, to whom, most of these prayers are
*Father Kirwan, in The Tablet.
The Spirit of the Divine OfUce. 2>^y
directly ascribed ; and some of them were, we know,
actually recited by the Son of God in the flesh, and
uttered from the fulness of His Sacred Heart. A
deep devotion and reverence for these sublime words
but fitly characterizes our daily repetition of them.
''If we keep vigil in the Church, David comes first,
midst, and last. If early in the morning we seek for
the melody of hymns, first, last, midst is David
again. If we are occupied with the funeral solemni-
ties of the dead, David is first, last, and midst. And
not in the cities and churches alone, but in the
forum, in the wilderness, and in the uninhabitable
regions it is he who again utters the praise of God.
In monasteries, among tho^e holy choirs of angelic
chanters, David is first, midst, and last. In the con-
vents of virgins, where dwell the bands of those who
imitate Mary ; in the desert, where are men crucified
to the world, and having their conversation with
God, first, midst, and last is David. Others at night
yield to the demands of sleep ; David alone is active,
and, congregating the servants of God into angelic
choirs, turns earth into heaven and men into angels.''
The true spirit in which our breviary should be re-
cited is shown in the following extract from an
admonition of Abbot Cisneros (A. D, 1500) to his
monks : ''What are we about to do, brethren, at the
time of the Divine Office, unless it is to appear be-
fore the face of God and His holy angels, in the
company of our just and holy brethren — 'in conciliis
justofum et congregationef '' Then, after urging
the necessity of prayer as an immediate preparation
for the holy Office, he concludes, ''Now at the sound
of the bell, rising from prayer, we should say. This
is the sign of the great King, let us go and seek His
face, and offer Him gold, incense, and myrrh — the
gold of devotion, the incense of reverent attention,
388 The Spirit of the Divine OMce.
and the myrrh of manly and respectful demeanor/'
The holy Office unites us to Jesus Christ in a way
that no other prayer can do. It breathes the spirit
of holiness, because of this union, and therefore
must make for holiness if rightly performed, for as
the Psalmist says : ''The sacrifice of praise shall glor-
ify me, and there is the way by which I will show
him salvation" (Ps. xlix. 23). In his Mirror for
Monks Blosius warns his brethren : "In the holy
Office have a care to pronounce and hear the holy
words reverently, that you may taste how sweet the
Lord is, and may feel that the word of God hath in-
comprehensible delight and power. For whatsoever
the Holy Ghost hath dicftated is indeed life-procur-
ing food.'' Similarly, in Hilton's Scale of Perfec-
tion wx read regarding the Office: "Said from a
burning heart it giveth forth a fragrant smell before
the face of the Lord Jesus, and before all the court
of heaven it yieldeth grace unto Jesus, and receiveth
grace in turn from Him ; it maketh the soul familiar,
and, as it were, companion with Jesus. Use it who-
soever can, the work is good and grace-bestowing of
itself ; it is a rich offering and filled with all the
fatness of devotion." For the production of such
effects in the soul there is need of deep appreciation
and piety ; for where the Spirit of prayer is wanting,
the soul does not perceive "those things which are
of the Spirit of God." The mouth indeed speaks,
but the heart is silent — ''taciti, dum clamarem tota
die'' (Ps. xxxi.). And the pity of it is that we
should so often spoil this grand prayer by enter-
taining sentiments directly opposed to it. We cry
out with our lips that our souls thirst after God's
presence, and find rest only in the sanctuary, and yet
we come before Him with reluctance, and remain in
His tabernacle only so long as our external ministry
The Spirit of the Divine Office. 389
obliges us to do so. Each day we proclaim those
among us blessed who meditate on His law and sing
His praises, yet we hurry through the Office with-
out thought, and frequently our desire at the be-
ginning of it is that we might have reached the end.
The admonition which Holy Writ gives as to prayer
in general is especially applicable to the Divine Of-
fice : ''Ne sit cor tuum velox ad proferendum ser-
monem coram Deo; Deus enim est in coelo, et tu
super terram/'
The old Saxon Saint, ^Ifric, in his quaint style
gives us the following lesson : ''When we hear the
bell ring calling us to Matins, we ought anon as true
God's knights arise quickly and arm ourselves with
prayer, haste us to the church, and there we ought
to lift up the long spear of fervent desire of our
heart to God, and draw out the sharp sword of the
word of God, in His holy service, and smite great
strokes of devout singing and saying thereof,
whereby our enemies shall be rebuked, and we be
kept in godly praisings under the banner of His pro-
tection.'' Such is indeed the character of the exer-
cise to which our clerical profession calls us daily,
and by which we are enabled to renew within us the
spirit awakened by the innate virtue of the conse-
crated prayer of which Bishop Hedley writes with
characteristic fervor : ''O blessed words of the
Psalms, which have been consecrated by the lips of
the Saviour, which the apostles and martyrs
have used, and in w^hich the saints of all ages
have lifted up their hearts to God! Blessed
and fruitful words, which are continually resound-
ing day and night all the world over, in emula-
tion of the ever-increasing song of fhe angels and
the blessed !"
To the worthy performance of our duty and privi-
390 The Spirit of the Divine Office.
lege in reciting the Divine Office, may we not fitly
apply the words of St. Paul : ''You are come to
Mount Sion, to the city of the living God, the heav-
enly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thou-
sands of angels and to the spirits of the just made
perfect''? (Heb. xii. 22.)
To discharge our duty well in the recitation of
the Divine Office it is of the utmost importance to
attend to the presence of God, *'to begin the Office,"
as Bishop Hedley says, ''to continue it, and end it,
as if we w^ere always in the sight of God and His
angels.'' In the Office, attention is nearly sure to
bring with it devotion. St. Charles Borromeo used
to urge his priests to concentrate their attention
carefully at the beginning of the Divine Office. He
himself was accustomed to spend a quarter of an
hour in mental prayer before beginning Matins and
Lauds ; and he advised all to renew their attention
every time they said ''Dens in adjvttoritcm/^ It will
help us much if we accustom ourselves to make an
effective act of the presence of God whenever we
begin to recite the Office.
For the purpose of keeping up attention during
the progress of the recitation we may make use of
various means.
We are not to be scrupulous about minute atten-
tion. If we read the words reverently, place and
circumstances being such as to subject us to no un-
necessary distraction, and our thoughts being gently
constrained to union with God, it is enough to satis-
fy obligation. But the more actual devotion we can
put into it the better. Thus we may take the words,
or the general sense, of psalm and respsnsory, and
apply them to the feast or the mystery of the day;
or to Our Lord's Passion ; or to God, our Father ;
or to our last end; or to the Blessed Sacrament; or
The Spirit of the Divine OMce. 391
to Our Lady or the saint of the day ; or to our sins,
our wants, our resolutions.
Imagine how the Angel of the Schools must have
lifted up his heart, while reciting the Divine Office.
Hearken to St. Augustine in his Confessions: ''Oh,
how fervently I uttered my service to Thee, O my
God, when I read the Psalms of David — those songs
of faith, those breathings of piety ! How I was set
on fire by them, and how I burned to have them
recited throughout the world, that they might bring
the human spirit to Thy feet ! How I wept over
Thy hymns and canticles ! The words of them
streamed into my ears, and with them came the
truth into my heart ; and piety grew warm within
me, and tears flowed, and it was very well with me
then !"^
"^From The Spirit of the Divine OiHce, by C. A. Wheatley,
Kidderminster, England, in The American Ecclesiastical
Review, June, 1904.
CHAPTER XXXVIL
/IRortification^— a:be Viccceeit^ ot /iRottillcatton, mt>
in mbat (t donaiata*
*^^ HE saints and all teachers of the spiritual life are
^^ unanimous in declaring that mortification is
the preparation for obtaining the gift of prayer, and
the means necessary thereto. As parchment is not
fit to be written upon unless thoroughly clean,
neither is the soul ready to receive the impression
of Divine wisdom and of heavenly graces, before all
sensual inclinations are rooted out. One of the ancient
Fathers says : ''As one can not see his face in muddy
water, so the heart that is not purified from those
earthly inclinations which constantly disquiet it, the
heart in which vain and unseemly cares are not yet
silenced can not possibly behold the face of God in
prayer, that is, can not penetrate into the depths of
His mysteries, and Almighty God will not reveal
Himself to such a one." ''The soul is like down,''
says one of the Fathers. "If it is perfectly dry and
nothing clings to it, if it is free from dirt, it
rises from the earth on the lightest current of air,
it soars upward and floats on the breeze. But if it
is wet or clogged by dirt its weight will not allow
it to rise on high. It remains on the earth, sunk in
the mud. It is the same with our soul. If pure and
clean, it mounts on the sweet and gentle zephyrs of
reflection and meditation. But if it clings with
love to earthly things, if it is weighed down by pas-
sion and irregular desires, which prevent its rising
heavenward, prayer becomes an impossibility." The
Abbot Nilus says : "If it was forbidden to Moses to
Mortification. 393
approach the thorn-bush before having laid off his
shoes, how can you attain to the sight of God and
fainihar communing with Him while you are full
of those passions and inclinations that bring death
to the soul ?''
Mortification is, moreover, the fruit to be gained
from prayer. The prayer that has not mortification
for its sister and companion is looked upon by the
saints as of doubtful value. As, in shaping iron, it
is not sufficient to soften it in the fiery flames of the
furnace, but blows of the hammer are necessary to
give it the desired form ; so, too, is it insufficient to
soften the heart by prayer and devotion if the ham-
mer of mortification, also, is not employed to free it
from what is objectionable, and to impress the vir-
tues upon it. The sweetness of prayer and the rap-
ture of divine love serve to mitigate the pains of
mortification, thus strengthening us to deny our own
will and conquer the irregular emotions of nature.
On the wings of mortification and prayer the soul
soars heavenward.
Mortification consists in regulating and ruling our
passions, our evil inclinations, and our disorderly self-
love. 'Tf any man will come after Me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me''
(Luke ix. 23). He who once lived riotously but
now lives chastely and honorably is denying himself
and taking up his cross. He who once knew no
measure in self-gratification, who set no bounds to
his indulgence, but now lives temperately, has taken
up his cross to follow Christ. He who was formerly
frail and fickle is now strong and constant, because
he is taking up his cross daily. To deny one's self
means to become another man. St. Basil calls atten-
tion to the fact that Our Lord begins His counsel
with the words : Deny thyself, and, then only, follow
394 Mortification.
Me. We do the first by crushing self-will, by giving
the deathblow to our bad inclinations and evil de-
sires. If we wish to follow Christ we must prepare
the way by means of mortification. As our Lord
intimates, mortification is the foundation of the
spiritual life. ''Always bearing about in our body
the mortification of Jesus'' (2 Cor. iv. 10). This
is the cross that we must daily take upon our
shoulders if we wish to follow Christ. Job says
most truly : ''The life of man upon earth is a
warfare'' (Job vii. i), and the Apostle Paul de-
clares : "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and
the spirit against the flesh : for these are contrary
one to another, so that you do not the things that
you would" (Gal, v. 17). This is the continual war
which every Christian, and especially every Re-
ligious, has to wage against self. To overcome self,
to bridle one's senses, to master one's passions, is far
greater than subduing others to our will. On this
point the Wise Man says : "The patient man is better
than the valiant : and he that ruleth his spirit than
he that taketh cities" (Prov. xvi. 32). As saints and
spiritual writers declare : "All our progress, all our
perfection consists in mortification." St. Jerome
says : "In just the measure that you overcome self,
will you advance in perfection." When some one
was praising another in the presence of St. Francis
Borgia, and declaring that he was a perfect man, the
saint remarked : "That is true if he is mortified."
Blosius compares a mortified servant of God to mag-
nificent grapes perfectly ripe and sweet ; but the un-
mortified to unripe fruit, green, hard, bitter, and un-
palatable, as is said in Isaias : "I looked that it
should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild
grapes" (Is. v. 4). The difiference between the
children of God and the children of the world is that
Mortification. 395
the latter always allow themselves to be governed by
their senses, and do not trouble themselves to prac-
tice mortification ; but ''they who are Christ's have
crucified their flesh with the vices and con-
cupiscences" (Gal. V. 24). They are not ruled and
guided by the flesh, but by the spirit and by reason.
I
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Kntctiot auD Ejterior jfflbortitlcatlon.
^?^HERE are two kinds of self-love, one good, the
^^ other bad. The good is that by which we aim
at the end for w^hich God created us, namely, eternal
life ; the bad is that by which we try to procure for
ourselves the goods of this world to the injury of
our immortal soul and the dishonor of God. ''The
heavenly city," says St. Augustine, ''is formed by
the love of God, even to the contempt of self; the
earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of
God." And Jesus Christ Himself has said : "If any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself"
(Matt. xvi. 24). The perfection of the soul consists
in self-denial. He that does not deny himself can
not follow Jesus Christ. Love becomes great as
concupiscence grows less. Love is perfect when
concupiscence dies ; that is, the less man desires to
satisfy his own inclinations, so much the more does
he love God. But when he desires nothing outside
of God, then he loves God perfectly. In the present
state of our nature, tainted by sin, it is impossible to
be entirely free from the temptations of self-love. The
saints had to contend with their passions. A Re-
ligious, therefore, must be very watchful to regu-
late the disorderly emotions of self-love. This is
done by the practice of interior mortification, which,
as St. Augustine teaches, puts in order the move-
ments of the soul.
How wretched is the soul that permits herself to
be ruled by her passions ! St. Bernard says that it
is the enemv in one's own household who hurts
Interior and Exterior MortiUcation. 397
most. Satan and the world are our bitter enemies,
but worse than either is our own self-love. St.
Mary Magdalene of Pazzi says: ''Self-love in the
soul is like a worm gnawing at the roots of plants.
It robs them not only of fruit, but also of life."
With the Wise Man we must constantly pray
to the Lord: ''Give me not over to a shameless
and foolish mind" (Ecclus. xxiii. 6). O my God^
do not abandon me to my . foolish passions, which
will rob me of Thy holy fear, yea, even of my
reason !
Our whole life must be a continued struggle.
But he who faces the enemy should always be armed
for self-defense. Let him discard his armor only
for one day, and on that day will he be overcome.
So it |s with the soul. She must never cease to
struggle against her evil inclinations, no matter how
often she has gained a victory over them. Man's
passions, frequently conquered though they be, never
die. "Believe me," writes St. Bernard, "they spring
up as often as cut down ; and even if apparently
rooted out, they grow again." All that we can obtain
in the war with our passions is that their attacks be-
come less violent, less frequent, and that by degrees
we come .to conquer them more easily. A monk once
complained to the Abbot Theodore that, although
he had combated his evil inclinations nearly eight
years, he had not succeeded in entirely destroying
them. The Abbot answered: "O my son, you are
lamenting over a w^ar of eight years ! I have spent
sixty years in solitude, and in all that time no day
has passed on which I have not felt the resistance
of my passions." Yes, our passions will always
make themselves felt, but as St. Gregory says, it is
something quite different merely to see the wild ani-
mals around us and to hear their roaring, from
39^ Interior and Exterior Mortification.
keeping them in the house and indulging them to our
own destruction.
Our heart is a garden in which wild and poison-
ous weeds are always springing up ; consequently,
we must have ever in hand the knife of holy morti-
fication to cut them ofif, and root them out. If we
neglect this, we shall soon find our soul overrun
with noxious tares and thorns. "Conquer self!"
this was the word that .St. Ignatius of Loyola con-
stantly repeated in his admonitions to his brethren.
Conquer self-love, break your own will, for, as he
used to say, "the principal reason that so few who
practice mental prayer arrive at Christian perfection
is because they take no care to conquer self." The
saint placed more value on one act of mortification of
self-will than an hour's prayer abounding in spiritual
consolation. St. Francis Borgia used to say that
prayer introduced divine love into the heart, but it
was mortification that prepared an abode for it, by
removing all earthly dross that could prevent its
entrance. He who would draw water from a well
must use an empty vessel, free from sand and dirt ;
else he would bring up no water, but mud. To
make for our sanctification, prayer must be accom-
panied by mortification.
iJnterfor if^ortifi'cation.
There are Religious who are given to a multiplic-
ity of spiritual exercises. They communicate fre-
quently, make long prayers, perform fasts and other
penitential works ; but they neglect to conquer cer-
tain little passions, rising anger, for instance, aver-
sion, curiosity, dangerous attachments, etc. They
do not rule over themselves. They exercise but
little self-control. They can not endure any kind
of contradiction, they can not separate from certain
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 399
persons, they are not cheerfully obedient to all Su-
periors alike, nor peacefully submissive to the mani-
fest will of God. What progress can such souls make
in perfection ? They wander far from the right path,
they are always sunk in their own misery. If for
every Christian it is a fault to seek only his own satis-
faction in his actions, is it not a far greater one for
a Religious since he has, in a very special manner,
consecrated himself to the mortified, the perfect life ?
"God," says Lactantius, ''leads man by mortification
to life eternal." The devil, on the contrary, entices
him to eternal death by the gratification of his in-
clinations. Even the holiest things must be under-
taken without attachment of heart, so that if our
cherished plans do not succeed, or if they are disap-
proved by obedience, we must be willing to resign
them tranquilly. Every species of self-love hinders
perfect union with God ; therefore, we must be firmly
resolved to combat our evil inclinations that they
may not gain the victory over us. Exterior, as well
as interior^ mortification is necessary for perfection,
though with this difterence, that while the former
is to be practiced with moderation, the latter requires
no limitation. Of what advantage in the spiritual
life is the mortification of the body if unattended
by that of the interior passions? ''What profit,"
says St. Jerome, "to castigate the body by severe
fasts, if one is puffed up with pride — unable to brook
an insult or a refusal?" Of w^hat use is it to ab-
stain from wine, and yet be intoxicated with anger
against those that trouble or contradict us? With
good reason does St. Bernard bemoan those Re-
ligious who are humble exteriorly, but who inte-
riorly nourish their passions. They do not eradicate
their vices ; they only cover them up under the out-
ward signs of penance.
400 Interior and Exterior Mortification.
If, on the contrary, we zealously practice morti-
fication of self-love, we shall become saints in a
short time without endangering health, without haz-
arding humility, because God alone is the witness of
our interior acts. O what a beautiful harvest of vir-
tues and merits might we gather if we suppressed
self-will, curiosity, bitterness of heart, natural in-
clinations, levity, idle jests, etc. Provided no injury
to the honor and glory of God is to be feared, we
should readily yield in time of contradiction. In
many ways we can daily practice interior mortifica-
tion. A Religious receives a letter, for instance.
The desire to read it instantly arises in the mind.
Let him mortify that desire, that cry of nature, and
postpone the gratification for a short time. A
happy little jest rises to the tongue, a beautiful
flower tempts the hand to pluck it, the eyes are at-
tracted by some curious sight — be silent, refrain,
turn away ! A thousand such acts may easily be
made each day.
Let us consider now a little more in detail how in-
terior mortification may be practiced. The first step
is to examine what passion reigns in the heart and
frequently leads to a fall, that we may exert every
effort to conquer it. St. Gregory says we must em-
ploy the same artifices to conquer Satan that he uses
against us. He is constantly on the watch to in-
flame that particular passion to which we are most
inclined. In like manner should we be on the alert
to combat that same passion. When the ruling pas-
sion is overcome, all the others will surrender. But
let that predominant passion remain master of the
heart and perfection will never be attained. ''Of
what use are his powerful wings to the eagle if his
feet are bound by a cord?'' says St. Ephrem. Oh,
how many ReHgious are there who, like the eagle,
Interior and Exterior Mortiiieation. 401
would soar heavenward were they not tied down by
earthly attachments ! They can not advance in per-
fection, they are fettered to the earth. St. John of the
Cross says that the least thread of attachment is
sufficient to prevent the soul from rising to God.
Not only does he who is ruled by passion make
no progress in the spiritual life ; but, what is far
more deplorable, he runs the danger of being
eternally damned. It is, therefore, a pressing
necessity for Religious to control their predomi-
nant passions. Without that all other forms of mor-
tification will be of little avail to their sanctification.
Let us resolve, then, to fight against, to subdue the
passion that has the greatest empire over us. A
resolute will can, with God's help, which is never
wanting to us, effect whatever it takes in hand. St.
Francis de Sales was very much inclined to anger ;
but by the self-control that he faithfully practiced
he became a model of kindness, patience, and
meekness. His sweetness has won for him the title
of ''The rose among the saints." Almighty God fur-
nished him with numerous occasions for the prac-
tice of meekness and humility by allowing him to be
attacked by calumnies, insults, and contempt. Then
it was that he manfully overcame himself, and put to
death his ruling passion of anger. When the chief of
our interior enemies is laid low we must turn our
weapons against the others : for a single one con-
tinuing to hold sway in the soul might cause its
ruin.
Another important consideration is the necessity
of w^aging war against our passions while they are
still in their infancy, as it were, for if they become
strong by long indulgence it will be very hard to
overcome them. It may happen on the occasion of
some slight offence that we feel tempted to reply
402 Interior and Exterior MortiUcation.
by a cutting word or contemptuous gesture. The
inclination must be restrained at once ; from a little
wound neglected is soon formed an abscess which
can not be healed. St. Dorotheus relates the follow-
ing anecdote of a good old monk. He commanded
one of his disciples to pull up a tender young cypress
by the roots. The youth accomplished the task with
great ease. Then the old man ordered him to pull
up a larger one. But for this his most strenuous
efforts were in vain. Seeing this, the monk thus
addressed his young disciple: ''Know that it is just
so with our passions. It is easy to root them out in
the beginning, but very difficult when they have, by
long indulgence, sunk deep in the soil of our heart.''
Consider the mortification of self-will in particu-
lar. Nothing is more injurious to Religious who
have consecrated their will to Jesus Christ than to
follow their own will and inclinations. It is against
self-will, the arch-enemy of the spiritual life, that
they have fortified themselves by the vow of obedi-
ence. No one can separate us from Almighty God,
neither our fellow-beings on earth nor the demons
in hell. But what creatures outside of us can not do,
our own self-will can effect. ''Self-will destroys vir-
tue," says St. Peter Damian, and St. Anselm re-
marks that as the will of God is the source of all
good, so the will of man begets all evil. How^ can
things go well with him w^ho confides in a master
devoid of reason? St. Bernard says: "Whoever
constitutes himself his own master and simply follows
the dictates of self-love submits to a fool." Self-love,
according to the Abbot Antony, is a wine that in-
toxicates, so that we recognize neither the worth of
virtue nor the deformity of vice.
St. Augustine remarks that the devil became such
only by his own will. The devil makes use chiefly
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 403
of self-will in order to plunge Religious into eternal
ruin. Cassian relates that the holy Abbot Achilles
was asked one day by a disciple with what weapons
Satan fought against Religious. He answered :
*'The evil one employs against the great ones of the
world, pride ; against merchants and business men,
avarice; against the young, the temptations of the
flesh ; but against Religious, his most effective
weapon is self-will. It is by this that he generally
conquers." The Abbot Pastor used to say, as Ru-
finus relates, that if w^e follow our own will the devil
no longer struggles with us, for self-will has itself
become a devil more mahcious than all others. St.
John Climacus declares that a Religious who, in-
stead of obeying, despises the guidance of Superiors,
a Religious who is bent on guiding herselt, needs
no devil to tempt her, since she exercises toward
herself the office of the tempter.
The Holy Ghost admonishes us on this point : "Go
not after thy lusts, but turn away from thy own
will" (Ecclus. xviii. 30). This admonition princi-
pally applies to Religious w^ho have sacrificed self-
will to God by vowing obedience to Superiors and
the Rule. As God ought to be the only object of
the love of a Religious, so is obedience the only way
to obtain that love. The actions of a Religious
derive their greatest value from being performed in
obedience. On the contrary, the greatest faults in
the actions of such persons are the offspring of
self-will. Trithemius insists that the devil hates
nothing more than the practice of obedience.
When St. Francis de Sales was drawing up the
Constitutions for his Religious of the Visitation,
some one suggested to him that it would be
advisable to let his daughters go barefoot. The
saint replied with a smile : "You may begin with the
404 Interior and Exterior MortiUcation.
feet, but I shall begin with the head.'' St. Philip
Neri, laying four fingers on his forehead, used to
say to his penitents: "All holiness is cornprised in
the breadth of four fingers." The saint meant to
imply that sanctity consists in the miortification of
self-will. St. Jerome wrote : ''Thy virtue will in-
crease in proportion as self-will declines." St. Mary
Magdalene of Pazzi was accustomed to say that, to
insure a blessed death, we must permit ourselves to
be guided simply by Superiors. Mortification of
self-will should be the chief aim of everv Relis^ious.
He that is unmindful of this point deserves not to
be called a Religious, but a sacrilegious person. Can
there be in truth a greater sacrilege than to take
back the will once dedicated to Almighty God ? St.
Bernard's words corroborate this assertion. He
says : ''There is no greater sacrilege than to snatch
from God the wall once sacrificed to Him." The
Holy Ghost tells us by the mouth of Samuel that it
is a species of idolatry to prefer self-will to obe-
dience : 'Tt is like the sin of witchcraft to rebel ; and
like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey" ( i Kings
XV. 23). St. Gregory applies these words espe-
cially to disobedient Religious when he says : "Those
Religious who trust in their own self-love, who
follow it, and who resist the commands of Superiors^
in a certain way commit the crime of idolatry, for
they adore their own will as their God." St. Paul,
therefore, orders those monks who are self-willed
to be separated from the community like lepers, be-
cause their bad example is infectious.
The Religious who w^ant to become holy accord-
ing to their own ideas are they who, as Isaias tells
us, will say to Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment :
"Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not re-
garded?" (Is. Iviii. 3.) We have fasted, we have
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 405
performed penitential works, and Thou hast no re-
gard to them. What answer will they receive from
the just Judge? Ah! He will tell them that they
need hope for no reward for such works, since they
were performed, not according to the will of God,
but merely by their own caprice. "Behold on the
day of your fast your own will is found" (ibid.).
*'0 what an evil is self-will !" exclaims St. Bernard.
''What is good becomes evil, if performed from self-
w^ill, and contrary to obedience." On the other hand,
the strongest assurance that a soul can have
that her actions are pleasing to God comes from
their being performed in obedience. Nicephorus
relates that the Superior of Simon Stylites, who led
so extraordinary and penitential a life, standing day
and night on a pillar under the open sky, wished to
convince himself whether his manner of life was
pleasing to God. To what test did he put him? He
commanded the saint to come down, at once, from
his pillar, and live like the other monks. As soon
as St. Sim.on heard the order, he began to de-
scend from his pillar. Then were addressed to
him the w^ords : "Father, remain where you are, for
now we know that it is God's will for you to perse-
vere in your penitential exercise." We, too, must
desire holy things, but without attachment to self-
will. Let us recall the saying of St. Francis de
Sales : "I desire little, and that little I desire very
little." By these words the saint gives us to under-
stand that he did not desire anything through self-
love, but only for the good pleasure of Almighty
God. He was prepared to resign any undertaking
as soon as he saw that it was not in accord with the
holy will of God. St. Peter Damian writes : "He
casts aside a heavy burden who renounces self-will."
"'What tyrant," continues the saint, "is so cruel
4o6 Interior and Exterior Mortification.
toward Religious as the self-will by which they are
ruled ? Their desires can not be gratified in the con-
vent ; therefore those unhappy souls are restless and
dissatisfied, often experiencing in themselves a little
hell." St. Eutychius says : ''Of what use are ex-
terior silence and retirement if the heart is a theater
in which the passions are engaged in a fierce
struggle? Outwardly there is peace, but inwardly
raging storms."
''Whence proceeds our unrest," asks St. Bernard,
"but from attachment to our own will?" The an-
cient Fathers were accustomed to say that a monk
who knows not how to overcome self-will can never
persevere in the religious life ; or if he should perse-
vere, it would be without interior peace and without
progress in virtue. Attachment to self-will is the
secret of unhappiness among so many Religious.
Let us hear w^hat St. Magdalene of Pazzi said in one
of her ecstasies when speaking of the damage in-
flicted by self-will on Religious. 'T see," said she,
"a crowd of souls. I see one who, when she receives
Thee,0 sweet, Eternal Word, is interiorly recollected.
But within an hour she has lost her peace of soul, her
serenity of mind, if things do not go in accordance
with her desires. I see another all on fire with holy
love during Mass ; but soon after, if told of a fault,
she loudly proclaims her innocence and in so doing
displays pride and self-love. I see another who, it
would seem, wishes to rival St. Antony in austerity
of life. But should obedience forbid her penitential
works, she becomes obstinate, she will not submit.
Another appears grave and mortified in the refec-
tory, but she takes complacency in her mortifica-
tions. She would love to be looked upon as better
than her neighbors. If she is treated with some
little consideration, she savs her Sisters are too in-
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 407
diligent; but if she feels the lack of anything she
looks upon herself as neglected. Another is ever on
the watch to display her learning. One might think
that she excelled St. Augustine in knowledge. Her
speech is full of subtlety, by which she hopes to
make her perfection shine forth. Another is
always ready to renounce her own comfort in the
service of her Sisters; but then she wants to be
praised and flattered for it.'' It was of such souls
that Our Lord said to the saint : ''They desire My
Spirit, but they desire it in such a way as is pleasing
to themselves. They thereby become incapable of
ever receiving it."
They who wish to become saints and to enjoy true
peace must earnestly strive to renounce self-will at
every turn, and to be faithful to every iota of the
Rule. This is what they do who aim at perfection —
nothing for their own sake, but all to please God.
In this way they put aside their vain desires and in-
clinations. Worldlings are ever on the alert to
gratify self-will, but the saints watch to mortify it.
Yes, they seek opportunities to deny themselves.
St. Andrew Avellino, as we read in the breviary,
made a vow^ always to resist self-will. Let us, at
least, daily practice a certain number of acts of self-
denial. Let us reflect that in the practice of obedi-
ence we gain more than from many penitential
works and pious exercises prompted by self-w^ill.
St. John Climacus says : ''Let no day go by with-
out trampling under foot your own will. The
day upon which you are not faithful to this ad-
vice will be a day in which you are not a Re-
ligious." St. Magdalene of Pazzi looked upon as lost
the day on which she had not conquered in some
way her own will. St. Catharine of Sienna heard
these words from Our Lord : "Think of Me, and I
4o8 Interior and Exterior Mortification.
will think of thee; think of doing My will, and I
will think of what is for thy good/'
Lord, give me courage to break my will in all
things, to trample upon my own desires. In all that
I do I will think only of doing Thy will.
IBrUxiox il^ortification.
There is no escape for us. We, poor children
of Adam, must wage a continual war till death
— "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh" (Gal. v. 17). Either the
soul will rule the body, or the body the soul. We
must, therefore, treat our body as a rider his un-
manageable horse. He holds it in curb constantly,
that it may not throw him. To those sensual men
who ridicule the servants of God for mortifying the
body, St. Bernard makes reply : ''We are cruel only
to our body when we torment it with works of pen-
ance ; but you are far more cruel to yourselves when
you satisfy the concupiscence of the body, in that
you doom it, with the soul, to everlasting pains in
eternity.'' A very pious hermit who practiced num-
berless penitential exercises gave a wise answer, as
Father Rodriguez tells us, to those who asked him
why he so persistently mortified his body: *T tor-
ture that which tortures me." Similar to this was
the reply of the Abbot Moses to him who censured
his severity : ''When my passions rest, then shall I,
also, rest. When my flesh no longer torments me,
then I shall cease to torment it."
The objection that perfection is not attained by
the castigation of the body, but by the mortification
of the will, is irrelevant. Although of a very
delicate constitution, St. Aloysius had so great
a desire for corporal mortification that he eagerly
sought after penitential works. Some one re-
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 409
marked to him one day that sanctification does not
consist in such austere exercises, but in the denial
of self-will. The young saint wisely replied to the
objection in the words of the Gospel: ''These things
you ought to have done, and not to leave those un-
done" (Matt, xxiii. 23). The saint wished to say:
''Yes, it is necessary to mortify self-will, but the
body, also, must be mortified in order to restrain it
and subject it to reason.'' It is in this spirit that
the Apostle cries out: "I chastise my body, and
bring it into subjection'' (i Cor. ix. 2y) . St. John
of the Cross says of those that are enemies to
penitential works, of those that even assume the
guidance of souls, though despising mortification of
the body and advising their penitents against it :
"Believe not those teachers that cry out against
mortification of the flesh. Believe them not, even
if they should corroborate their teaching by
miracles."
St. Peter of Alcantara often addressed his body
in these words : "Rest assured, my body, that in
this life T shall give thee no peace. Here on earth
thou must expect only sufferings and torments from
me. But if we get to heaven, thou shalt enjoy a rest
that will know no end." The Lives of the Saints
abound with anecdotes regarding the penitential
works performed by the heroic champions whose
deeds they record. In view of what the Saints
have done, we ought to be ashamed of our reluct-
ance to mortify ourselves, our tenderness toward
our rebellious flesh. We read in the lives of the
fathers of the desert of a famous monastery whose
inmates never tasted meat, nor fruit, nor wine :
some took food only every evening, others only after
a severe fast of two or three days. All were
clothed in garbs of penance, in which they even
410 Interior and Exterior Mortification,
took their rest at night. We can not, indeed, de-
mand such austerity of the ReHgious of our day.
But would it be too much for Rehgious to make
use of the disciphne once a week ? To wear a httle
penitential cord? To abstain occasionally from
fruit and sweetmeats? To fast every Saturday on
bread and water, or, at least, through devotion to
Mary, to be satisfied with one dish?
''But," it may be objected, 'T am sick, and my
confessor has forbidden me works of penance.''
Very well ! Be obedient, but accept patiently the
sufferings and inconveniences connected with your
sickness, and support cheerfully the discomforts of
the weather, of excessive heat or cold. If you
can not chastise the body with self-imposed pen-
ances, refuse it, at least, some lawful satisfaction
from time to time. When St. Francis Borgia went
hunting with his falcon, we are told that, at the mo-
ment it seized its prey, the saint cast down his eyes,
thus depriving himself of the satisfaction the sight
would have given him. St. Aloysius, also, con-
demned himself not to glance around when present
at court festivals. Why can we not perform similar
little acts of mortification? If the body is refused
lawful gratification, it will never demand the unlaw-
ful. They, on the contrary, who seek after all law^-
ful enjoyments, will not be slow in allowing them-
selves some that may be unlawful. Forbidden joys
will rise up to tempt them; will the}^ be strong
enough to reject them?
We must be careful, while curing bodily ills, not
to become sick in soul. He will alw^ays be sick who
does not mortify the flesh. St. Bernard says : 'T
compassionate the mxaladies of the body, but far
more those of the soul." O how often does some
trifling indisposition serve as an excuse for a self-
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 411
indulgence in no wise necessary! St. Teresa very
earnestly exhorted her Religious on this point. She
says : ''One day we absent ourselves from the Office
because we have a headache ; the next, because we
have had it; and the third, for fear that it may re-
turn. We have not entered the convent to indulge
ourselves, but to die for Jesus Christ." St. Bernard
severely censured those that take inordinate care of
their health. "They are the scholars of Galen and
Hippocrates," he said, ''and not the disciples of
Jesus Christ. It is far better for the peace of your
soul that you shun all singularity not absolutely
necessary, and follow the community." St. Basil,
also, admonished his Religious to be as much as
possible content with the common life.
To be satisfied with the ordinary fare and not to
ask for exemptions from the Rule is far better than
long fasts and severe disciplines. It is an incon-
gruity to practice such penance and then to demand
special privileges in regard to food and clothing.
It is just in this way that tepidity enters into many
religious houses. O let us be on our guard not to
jeopardize health of soul and even the crown of life
by being too solicitous for the welfare of the body.
Let us resolve, also, to bear sickness patiently, for
otherwise we shall derive little or no profit from it.
Accept with equanimity, also, the mistakes or
the carelessness of physicians and nurses. Do
not complain, do not find fault. We read in
the life of the Abbot Stephen, one of the
fathers of the desert, that, being sick on one occa-
sion, his attendant made him a cake. But instead of
using the proper oil in its preparation, he took lin-
seed oil by mistake, which is very bitter. The Abbot
took the cake presented him, ate a piece, and said not
a w^ord. Again the Brother made a cake and with
412 Interior and Exterior Mortification.
the same oil. When the Brother perceived that the
Abbot merely tasted it, he said : ''Father, do eat the
cake. It is good,'' and, to encourage him, he took a
morsel himself. But finding how bitter it was, he
almost lost his senses from fright, and cried out:
''Lord, have mercy on me! What have I done!''
The good Abbot tried to pacify him, saying: "Be
not troubled, my son ! it was God's will that you
should make this mistake. No harm will come from
it." Let us, then, patiently accept sickness. It will
lead us to spiritual perfection far more surely than
any voluntary works of penance.
The mortification of the flesh keeps it from revolt-
ing, as the Wise Man says : "He that nourisheth his
servant delicately from his childhood, afterwards
shall find him stubborn" (Prov. xxix. 21). O how
conducive to the welfare of the soul are restraints
imposed upon the body and its senses. They
prevent sensual joys, which wound, and often
kill, the soul. "The wounds of love," says Origen,
"often prevent those of the body from being felt."
By mortification here on earth we can atone for our
sins, and discharge the temporal punishment due to
them. He who has offended God must, even after
the remission of his sins, satisfy Him by temporal
punishment ; and he who fails to make such satis^-
faction in this life must do so in the next by endur-
ing the pains of purgatory, whose intensity is in-
finitely greater than any that can be imagined on
earth. "They . . . shall be in very great tribula-
tion, except they do penance from their deeds"
(Apoc. ii. 22). When suffering of any kind comes
upon us, let us endure it patiently, if not joyfully.
Let us imagine that it is going to be prolonged fif-
teen or twenty years, and let us encourage our-
selves with the thought: "This is my purgatory.
Interior and Exterior Mortification. 413
Not the body, but the spirit shall be victorious."
Finally let us act in accordance with the following
suggestion of St. Francis de Sales : ''The mortifi-
cations which come to us from God, or from men
by His permission, are more precious than those
which are the ofifspring of our own will. Hold it as a
rule, that the less we do from choice or our own
taste, the more we shall find in our actions of good-
ness, of solidity, of devotion, and of profit."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
/llbortltKcation ot tbe Senses auD Ibuman SnttctirxQ*
^^ HE following conference of Pere Eymard was
^^ addressed to his Religious, the Fathers of the
Blessed Sacrament. On account of its forceful
thoughts on mortification, it recommends itself to
all Religious, in particular at the opening of the
Lenten season :
We have said that it is necessary to give one's
heart to God, that He demands it absolutely for
Himself ; but, that this gift of the heart may be un-
remitting, a constant attitude of soul must be main-
tained of offering one's self to Him by a love of
generosity and sacrifice. This love is the spirit of
penance, the mortification of love. It is the true
road to holiness. All without that is trifling, ways
more or less flowery made only to amuse. All other
means are child's play in the service of God.
I. Now, in order to belong entirely to Our Lord,
it is absolutely necessary to dedicate to Him our body
and our senses, and to do that w^e must be their mas-
ters. Cost what it may, we must have in our own
keeping the keys of our house ; we must hold our
body under the empire of duty, of the will, and of
the grace of God.
The body has neither intelligence nor faith ; there-
fore the will must rule and lead it. It is a beast,
which yields only to blows. It does not know
sobriety and honor, it cares not for virtue, and of its
own disorderly nature it obstinately tends to its
own satisfactions. It seeks the sensible good, its
own good, and with all its strength it rushes to the
Mortification of the Senses. 415
gratification of its own desires. If reason opposes
it, it tries to elude it and attain the object of its
concupiscence in spite of remonstrances. It is a
hard struggle, and if, unhappily, the spirit connives
with it, we are lost. This is the reason that interior
mortification is not sufficient.
The body must be kept in subjection that it may
not betray us. One with a very strong will backed
by a very great love might, perhaps, reach sanctity
without great bodily mortification ; but, as a general
rule, the soul is safer behind closed gates and well-
guarded ramparts.
The, evil man ought to be continually repressed,
kept down, mortified, because he has only brutal
instincts. The spirit ought to be directed, elevated
to God; the body subjected and mortified. It is not
necessary to constrain the spirit, to stifle it by fear,
but to direct it constantly to God.
The will, which is the royalty of man, should
have for only end the will of God, and be constantly
united with and submissive to Him. The will
should be the mistress of both the mind and the
heart. It is the sovereign, and it can do all with
the grace of God. The Christian will is admirable.
Clothed with the strength of God Himself, it knows
no obstacle ; for God is with the will to conquer
when the will is with God to be submissive to Him.
In all his epistles, St. Paul inculcates the cruci-
fixion of the flesh, of the senses, of the old man. It
must be reduced to slavery. He will never be a man
of virtue who has not gained the entire mastery over
it. In that consists the exterior exercise and the
proof of the virtue of mortification.
2. There is rampant in the world a heresy that
works serious ravages with morality. It teaches
that there is no such thing as original sin. The body
4i6 MortiUcation of the Senses.
as well as the soul, it says, is in its natural rectitude.
All their instincts are, then, good, and they must be
gratified. Thus does this heresy legitimatize the
most deplorable excesses. If there was no fall, what
need of reparation ? Thus it denies the necessity of
Christian mortification. This error has glided even
into piety. It has invaded the direction of souls,
veiling itself a little, of course, and not exposing its
principles so openly as to arouse distrust. We read
in books and we hear certain confessors say that ex-
terior mortification is not necessary. To this we
reply : Mildness belongs to Almighty God. It is for
Him to insinuate His sweetness into the soul. in or-
der to encourage and recompense ; but it is for man
to cooperate by mortifying and crucifying himself.
He has been condemned to eat his bread by the sweat
of his brow. The earth is accursed for him, crea-
tures are a continual occasion of sin for him. He
must separate from them in order not to rest in
them and prefer them to God. How can he reach
this point without the mortification of the senses?
Let us remark that man is constantly drawn down
by the body. The vices of the soul are materialized,
as it were, in the senses, and become more tenacious
and culpable. If we gave them not that exterior
life, they would more quickly die.
Thus pride which is not allowed to manifest itself
by vanity, by seeking the first places and honors,
soon disappears. By rejecting praise and the ex-
terior marks of vanity, we stifle pride in itself.
What shall we say of the other vices, of anger,
sloth, and above all, of the shameful vice? Do they
not seek to make their seat, their center, in the
senses? The body is their pleasure-ground. They
feed on it, live on its sensations. They cast in it
their deep roots.
Mortification of the Senses. 417
Hear St. Paul calling for the chastisement of its
members, chastising his body, that body of death :
^'Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?" "I see another law
in my members fighting against the law of my
mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is
in my members" (Rom. vii. 23, 24). ''But I chas-
tise my body and bring it into subjection" (i Cor.
ix. 2y). The great Apostle gives this beau-
tiful definition of the Christian : ''He is a
man crucified in his flesh, and living of the virtue
of the love of God." This speaks of corporal
mortification for all men. It is an echo of the Pre-
cursor of Our Lord — "Do penance and turn from
your evil ways ! Bring forth fruits worthy of pen-
ance"— ^that is, expiate by humiliation, by fasting,
sackcloth and ashes, the sins of your senses. As
guilt has appeared, so let these fruits of penance ap-
pear. The Church, inspired by Our Lord, exacts
corporal penance — fasts, public prayers, solemn ex-
piation. This authority speaks loudly against the
doctors of sensualistic piety. Conversing with a
visitor in the parlor, we tarry some minutes after
the bell has rung in order not to appear rude, or to
show more respect and deference to our friend.
But the good God who calls us ! Ah, well. He will
wait.
Again, we want to be treated like princes. Noth-
ing must be wanting to us. We must be served
promptly, and comfortably cared for. The religious
life is a Calvary, a school of suflfering, but some
wish to make it a bed of sloth. As soon as anything
is wanting, they become impatient, they murmur.
They proclaim their rights. They have them al-
ways in hand like a buckler. Were we so well off
before entering Religion that we never wanted for
4i8 Mortification of the Senses.
anything? Perhaps we sprang from a laboring
family. In our childhood we had to work hard to
help gain bread for the rest. Have we entered re-
ligion to fare better than in our own home? Better
a hundred times had we remained where we were!
Let us persevere. The religious life is a death,
but a death that leads to life. Let us look upon it as
such, and may the love that crucified Our Lord
fasten us to the cross with Him !
3. Corporal mortification is, then, lawful and even
necessary. It is for all times and all persons. Let
us practice it, for we have need of it. We shall ad-
duce some fresh motives. Our body is evil, infected
by sin, and full of wicked instincts. It. must be puri-
fied and restored to health by a tempest of blows,
just as the sick are purged to carry off violently the
bad humors gathered in them.
We have sinned not only in our origin, but actu-
ally by our actions, by our senses. We must, then,
renew them in the mortification of Jesus Christ, for
we have corrupted an already vitiated nature.
Every sin deserves a punishment equal to its mal-
ice. The voluntary reparation ought, then, to be
equivalent to the punishment that justice demands.
If we have committed one single mortal sin, we have
deserved hell. How shall we indemnify for our es-
cape from hell?
Should we have only venial sins, how shall we
compensate for the flames of purgatory?
God has pardoned us, it is true ; and we are
restored at once to the joy of the angels as if we had
never sinned. But the satisfaction — who will make
that ?
We ought to have our sins always before our
eyes, to do penance for them; for true conversion
consists not only in never again sinning, but in re-
MortiUcation of the Senses. 419
pairing the evil we have done. Let us purify our-
selves, or God will purify us by His chastisements
either in this life or in the other. Because w^e fail to
do penance He Himself often puts His hand to the
work. Look, we say, at such a person! How
greatly he suffers, how much he is persecuted ! He
does not deserve it. It is indeed possible that his
afflictions may be a test of his love, but frequently
they are the expiation of his sins. God is making
him do penance because he forgets his debt to His
justice.
Temptations assail us, and we suffer. They are
long and wearying; they are a real torture, we say.
But have we never consented, never committed sin ?
Let us expiate now. God ic inflicting the chastise-
ment that we have not had the courage to inflict on
ourselves. But is it well to have temptations?
Yes ; it redeems the past and keeps us humble. It
makes us do penance and forces us to struggle when
w^e would rather rest.
There is, above all, a kind of trial that brings
much suffering, namely, persecutions and calumnies
that come from good people. Nothing gives so
much pain. God sometimes permits the very best
people to make a mistake in their judgments, and
persecute us in spite of our innocence in order to
purify us more perfectly.
Sickness and physical sufferings are another form
of corporal expiation which God imposes. We do
not seek them any more than temptations and perse-
cutions. But if they come we must thank the mercy
of God for them. He is making us do penance now
that He may spare us later.
Lastly, it is not sufficient to embrace works of cor-
poral mortification because we have sinned. That
is simple justice. That is not enough. If we want
420 Mortification of the Senses.
to do only that, it was hardly worth our while to en-
ter Religion. And, besides, this penance is all for
ourselves. It is to make us escape future pains and
procure our salvation.
We must have the mortification of Jesus Christ,
who chose suffering not through necessity, but
through love, because He saw in it the means of
demonstrating more clearly His love for His Father
and for us. This mortification should be considered
a virtue to be acquired. We should say : "Even had
I no sin to expiate, I wish to mortify myself, be-
cause Jesus Christ has given me the example. He
w^as scourged and crucified. He endured hunger and
thirst, cold and nakedness with joy for the love of
God His Father. I wish to do as He did.''
This is the true, the beautiful motive of mortifi-
cation. Let us embrace it. Let us clothe ourselves
w^ith the garments of Jesus Christ, in which alone
shall we be pleasing to the heavenly Father, that is,
the robes of mortification and crucifixion.
4. How shall we practice this virtue? By never
seeking enjoyment; by depriving our body of all that
in which it would take pleasure ; by never seeking
our own satisfaction, neither in self nor in creatures ;
by never desiring the praise of men ; by mortifying
our appetite, not so much in the quantity as in the
quaHty of our food ; by embracing, with permission,
the corporal mortifications and humiliations so loved
by the saints. We may do all that without falling
sick, we may be sure.
Let us do it, then. Without it, all our professions
of love for God are but illusions; and were it not
that God knows our ignorance they would be
insults.
Some say that it is hard to mortify one's self con-
tinually. We know it. But we must carry our cross
M or M cation of the Senses. 421
daily, we must constantly have our sword in hand.
Our debts can not be paid with sentiments and
words of love, but with penance. That is the money
of Calvary.
In the first place, we must perform all the mortifi-
cations of our state of life. They oblige before all
others, and it would be wrong to neglect them for
others. After that we must be on the lookout for
penance. We must be ingenious in punishing self,
in immolating our body to God by sacrifices inces-
santly renewed.
Supplementary extracts from other spiritual
writers are here appended for the reader's reflec-
tion on the subject of
?^uman Sufferins as a Source of ^zxlt antr iSlessings.
Father Cuthbert, O.S.F.C., in De Torrente, says:
"The right view of suffering is that of an expia-
tion, not only for our own sin, but for the world's
sin too. It is an expiation and a redemption, where-
by the effects of sin are wiped away, and the crea-
tion is again to become a kingdom of God. All suf-
fering centers in the supreme tragedy of Calvary,
and when borne in a Christian spirit may be called
a continuation of that divine sacrifice whereby the
world is cleansed of its stain.
''Wherefore as regards those who suffer : if they
rebel against their lot, they are as those who deny
their corporate responsibility and shirk their burden ;
they are traitors not only to the divine Redeemer,
but to all suffering humanity. But if they accept the
chalice of pain as Christ accepted it, they become
truly compeers wuth Christ in the new kingdom of
God, 'sitting at His right hand and at His left,' ac-
422 Mortification of the Senses.
cording to their merit. These are truly the co-
workers of Our Saviour in the regeneration of the
world. The innocent babe that dies in agony gains
something of the martyr's glory ; its suffering is the
payment of a debt not its own, and yet its own be-
cause it is one of mankind; and it becomes more
closely allied to Christ because of its suffering. The
man or woman consciously accepting the cross, with
perhaps its nameless horrors, becomes thereby a
leader among men, because bearing willingly the
burden of men ; and according to the simplicity of
their acceptance is the degree of their eternal glory.
No wonder then that so many Christians have re-
garded it as a privilege to suffer, and have envied
those who suffered, not from morbid sentiment, but
from a healthy recognition of Christian principles.
'These are they who have washed their garments in
the blood of the Lamb. Their youth is renewed
like that of the eagle ; as the lily shall they flourish in
the city of the Lord.' "
Commenting on the words of Jesus to His disci-
ples: "My chalice indeed you shall drink," Father
Gallwey, S.J., writes in The Watches of the Passion:
''To His chosen ones, to those to whom He after-
wards said, T will not now call you servants, but I
have called you friends,' the grand and special
promise that He makes is this : 'You shall, I promise
you, before you die, drink of My chalice.' To His
own most blessed Mother, as they conversed to-
gether in Nazareth, this, doubtless, was the assur-
ance that He often repeated in order to console her,
that she should be with Him to the end, and share
His bitter chalice to the dregs. His golden promise
afterwards to St. Paul was, T will show him how
great things he must suffer for My name's sake'
(Acts ix. i6).
Mortification of the Senses. 423
''How blind, then, are we if we believe that every
suffering is a calamity and a proof of God's wrath,
and that prosperity is a sure sign of His favor !
"(a) He sends suffering in His mercy to atone
here for past sin, to do here quickly the slow work
of purgatory ;
''(b) He sends suffering also to prevent sin, and
to draw us out of sin, as suffering brought the
prodigal hom.e to Him ;
''(c) Lastly, He sends suffering to His chosen
ones as to St. Paul ; and these chosen ones then be-
come, like Himself, Saviours unto many."
Commenting on the words of Jesus regarding the
illness of Lazarus : ''This sickness is not unto death,
but for the glory of God ; that the Son of God may
be glorified by it," the same author writes : ''He said
to the messengers from Mary and Martha, 'This
sickness is for the glory of God.' The sick and the
sorrowful and the suffering so often jump to the
conclusion : 'This trouble is sent me as a chastise-
ment'— and they despond. So, too, we are apt to
judge of other sufferers. Thus, when the disciples
saw the man born blind, they at once asked : 'Rabbi,
who hath sinned, this man or his father, that he
should be born blind ? ' (John ix. 2.) We come into
the world with a disease upon us, which inclines us
to believe without doubting that poverty, sickness,
pain, and disgrace are always curses, and a chastise-
ment of sin. It takes a long time and much labor
and a strong grace to convince us that if, for Him-
self and His Mother, Our Lord selected poverty and
pain and the bitter chalice, these things must surely
be something better than curses. 'This sickness is
not unto death, but for the glory of God.' What a
golden lesson for the sick ! This sickness is sent
that the Son of God may be glorified in you. You
424 Mortification of the Senses.
would prefer health, but you will give great glory
to your Creator and your Father in heaven if you
reverently say : 'Father, not my will, but Thine be
done !' Fix well in your mind how very much Our
Lord is glorified by the patience of the sick and the
charity of those who nurse."
St. Francis de Sales says, in The Mystical Flora
(translated by Clara Mulholland) : ''As the juice of
the vine, if left in the grape too long, corrupts and
is spoiled, so the soul of man, if left in its pleasures,
in its desires and longings, becomes corrupted ; but
if crushed by tribulation, it gives forth a sweet bev-
erage of penance and love.
"Lilies that grow among thorns are the whitest;
roses near a stream smell the sweetest, and get the
scent of musk. 'What doth he know that hath not
been tried?' (Ecclus. xxxiv. 9.)
"This life is such that we must eat more worm-
wood than honey. But He for whom we have re-
solved to cherish holy patience in the midst of all
our troubles will give us the consolation of His Holy
Spirit in His own time.
"The crown of the bride ought not to be softer
than that of the bridegroom. 'As the lily is among
thorns, so is My beloved . among the daughters'
(Cant. ii. 2). It is the natural place for this flower;
it is the fittest also for the spouse.
"It is a good omen for this soul that she has suf-
fered many afflictions ; for, having been crowned
with thorns, we must believe that she will be
crowned with roses.
"How blessed are those who rejoice in afflictions,
and who change wormwood into honey ! When
persecutions and contradictions threaten us we
must retire with our affections under the shadow of
the holy cross, by a true confidence 'that to them
Mortification of the Senses. 425
that love God, all things work together unto
good/ "
Father Joseph Egger, SJ., in God and Human
Suffering, tells us : ''As a strong antiseptic prevents
the growth of germs of disease, so suffering checks
the taint of base and selfish feelings, w^hich so easily
insinuate themselves into our hearts, and impair the
purity of our motives and intentions. Suffering
chastens the soul and its aspirations, the mind and
its views, the heart and its affections. Whatever
tends to free us from selfish motives must help to
increase the merit of our thoughts, words, and
actions.
"Suffering increases merit by insuring not only
greater purity, but also greater earnestness of mo-
tive. It has a bracing influence upon the will, and
gives tone and vigor to its exercise. DiflSculties and
sufferings bring out manliness and strength of will
and nobility of soul. They try earnestness of pur-
pose. They are an unmistakable test of solid virtue.
There is beauty and merit in each least aspiration
of virtue breathed on the playful wing of joy, but
there is greater and more solid merit in the depth
and vigor of determination evinced in the practice
of virtue under difficulties, temptations and trials.
There is no trial, temptation, or suffering which can
not be turned into a blessing by the will of a con-
scious sufferer."
Bishop Hedley says, in his Retreat: ''As we learn
from the saints, suffering gives a certain kind of in-
tensity to acts of the will which nothing else can
give. It is this which recommended it especially to
a Heart desirous of proving to men the reality and
the depth of its love. 'The first cause of the Passion'
[of our Lord], says St. Thomas Aquinas, 'was that
He wished it to be known how much God loved
426 Mortification of the Senses.
man.' It is not difficult to understand the connec-
tion. An act of the will, or, as we say, of the heart,
may be strong and intense ; but unless it is done un-
der stress of pain, it is wanting in a certain species
of intensity. There are numbers of pious hearts
who have been turned away from God by suffering.
Self and its claims to attention have been too strong ;
and then piety has given way to self-pity, to mur-
muring, to resistance, to bitterness. It is thus with
many who have to undergo punishment, with many
of the young, unless their punishment is judiciously
managed, and they are induced to accept it.
''Punishment and pain in general, far too fre-
quently, embitter the heart, turn it from its last end,
and harden it in perversity. But if a man under suf-
fering have the light and the grace to accept it in
submission, in resignation, and with a closer move-
ment to the bosom of our heavenly Father, then
never, never has his love of that Father in heaven
been more thorough, more effective, and more in-
tense. It need not be added that this mysterious ele-
ment of suffering with which Jesus willed to raise to
a whiter heat the acts of His Sacred Heart, is also
marvelously adapted to draw to Him the hearts of
all men.''
Our Blessed Saviour knew that sorrow, suffer-
ings, and tribulations would come to some extent
into every man's life ; He knew that there was love
and wisdom in all of God's dispensations, though
hidden at times under rude appearances ; He came
in His love to suffer for our salvation, but also to
give us an example how to bear our sufferings, how
to view them and how to profit by them ; He came
in His love to show us how to weave, with our bleed-
ing fingers, out of the thorns which sin has sown
on earth a crown of eternal glory for ourselves.
MortiUcation of the Senses. 427
Thomas a Kempis, in The Follozving of Christ,
says in reference to ''the royal way of the cross" :.
''To many this seems a hard saying: 'Deny thyself,
take up thy cross, and follow Jesus' (Matt. xvi. 24).
"But it will be much harder to hear that last
word : 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire' (Matt. xxv. 41).
"For they that at present willingly hear and fol~
low the word of the cross shall not then be afraid of
eternal condemnation.
"Take up, therefore, thy cross and follow Jesus,
and thou shalt go into life everlasting.
"He is gone before thee carrying His own cross ;
and He died for thee upon the cross that thou
mayst also bear thy cross and love to die on the
cross.
"Because if thou die with Him thou shalt also
Hve with Him, and if thou art His companion in
suffering thou shalt also partake in His glory (2
Cor. i. 7).
"Behold the cross is all, and in dying to thyself
all consists, and there is no other way to life and to
true internal peace but the holy way of the cross
and of daily mortification.
"Go where thou wilt, seek what thou wilt, and
thou shalt not find a higher way above, nor a safer
way below than the way of the holy cross.
"Dispose and order all things according to thy
will and as seems best to thee, and thou wilt still
find something to suffer, either willingly or unwill-
ingly, and so thou shalt still find the cross. For
either thou shalt feel pain in thy body or sustain in
thy soul tribulation of spirit. Sometimes thou shalt
feel abandoned bv God, at other times thou shalt
be afflicted by thy neighbor, and what is more,
thou shalt often be a trouble to thvself. Nor
428 Mortification of the Senses.
canst thou be released or relieved by any remedy
or comfort, but needs must bear it as long as
God wills.
''For God would have thee learn to suffer tribu-
lation without comfort, and wholly submit thyself
to Him, and to become more humble by tribulation.
''No man hath so lively a feeling of the Passion of
Christ as he who hath happened to suffer such like
things.
"The cross, therefore, is always ready and every-
where waits for thee.
"Thou canst not escape it, whithersoever thou
runnest; for whithersoever thou goest thou carriest
thyself with thee and shalt always find thyself.
"Turn thyself upwards, or turn thyself down-
wards ; turn thyself without, or turn thyself within
thee, and everywhere thou shalt find the cross.
"And everywhere thou must of necessity have pa-
tience; if thou desirest inward peace and wouldst
merit an eternal crown.
"If thou carry the cross willingly, it will carry
thee and bring thee to thy desired end — to that place
where there will be an end of suffering, though here
there will be no end. If thou carry it unwillingly,
thou makest it a burden to thee, and loadest thyself
the more, and nevertheless thou must bear it. If
thou fling away one cross, without doubt thou shalt
find another and perhaps a heavier.
"Dost thou think to escape that which no mortal
ever could avoid? What saint was there ever in
the world without his cross and affliction? Our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself was not for one hour of
His life without the anguish of His Passion. 'It
behooved,' said He, 'that Christ should suffer, and
rise from the dead, and so enter into His glory.'
"And how dost thou seek another way than this
MortHication of the Senses. 429
royal way, which is the way of the holy cross?
The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyr-
dom, and dost thou seek rest and joy?
'Thou errest, thou errest, if thou seekest any
other thing than to suffer tribulations ; for this whole
mortal life is full of miseries and beset on all sides
with crosses.
''And the higher a person is advanced in spirit,,
the heavier crosses shall he often meet with, be-
cause the pain of ^his banishment increases in
proportion to his love.
"Yet this man, thus many ways afflicted, is not
without some allay of comfort, because he is sensible
of the great profit which he reaps by bearing the
cross.
"For while he willingly resigns himself to it, all
the burden of tribulation is converted into an as-
sured hope of comfort from God.
"And the more the flesh is brought down by af-
fliction, the more the spirit is strengthened by in-
ward grace. And sometimes he gains such strength
through affection to tribulation and adversity, by his
love of conformity to the cross of Christ, as not to be
willing to be without suffering and affliction ; be-
cause such a one believes himself to be so much the
more acceptable to God the more grievous and
greater things he shall have endured for His sake.
This is not man's power but the grace of Christ,
which can and does effect such great things in frail
flesh, that what it naturally abhors and evades it
now, through fervor of spirit, embraces and loves.
"To bear the cro«s, to love the cross, to chastise
the body, and bring it under subjection; to fly
honors, to be wilHng to suffer reproaches, to despise
one's self and wish to be despised ; to bear all adver-
sities and losses, and to desire no prosperity in this
430 Mortification of the Senses.
world, are not according to man's natural inclina-
tion.
"If thou look upon thyself, thou canst do noth-
ing of this of thyself.
''But if thou confide in the Lord, strength will be
given thee from heaven and the world and the flesh
shall be made subject to thee.
''Neither shalt thou fear thine enemy, the devil,
if thou be armed with faith and signed with the cross
of Christ.
"Set thyself then like a good and faithful servant
of Christ, to bear manfully the cross of thy Lord,
crucified for the love of thee.
"Prepare thyself to suffer many adversities and
divers evils in this miserable Hfe ; for so it will be
with thee wherever thou art, and so indeed wilt thou
find it wheresoever thou mayst hide thyself.
"It must be so, and there is no remedy against the
tribulation of evil and sorrow but to bear them
patiently.
"Drink of the chalice of thy Lord lovingly if thou
desire to be His friend and to have part with Him
(Matt. XX. 22),
"Leave consolations to God, to do with them as
best pleaseth Him.
"But prepare thou thyself to bear tribulations, and
account them the greatest consolations ; for the suf-
ferings of this life bear no proportion to the glory
to come (Rom. viii. 18), although thou alone
couldst suffer them all.
"Know for certain that thou must lead a dying
life, and the more a man dies •to himself the more
he begins to Hve to God.
"No man is fit to comprehend heavenly things
who has not resigned himself to suffer adversities
for Christ.
Mortification of the Senses. 431
"Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more
wholesome for thee in this world than to suffer will-
ingly for Christ.
''And if thou wert to choose, thou oughtst to wish
rather to suffer adversities for Christ than to be de-
lighted with many comforts, because thou wouldst
thus be more like unto Christ and more conform-
able to all the saints.
''For our merit and the advancement of our state
consist, not in having many sweetnesses and conso-
lations, but rather in bearing great afflictions and
tribulations.
"Ifj indeed, there had been anything better and
more beneficial to man's salvation than suffering,
Christ certainly would have showed it by word and
example.
''For He manfully exhorts both His disciples that
followed Him and all that desire to follow Him to
bear the cross, saying : 'If any man will come after
Ale, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow Me' (Luke ix. 23).
"So that when we have read and searched all let
this be the final conclusion, that 'through many
tribulations we must enter mto the kingdom of God'
(Acts xiv. 21)."
CHAPTER XL.
Silence,
*T^OTHiNG makes a deeper impression upon out-
^6 siders visiting a monastery or a religious
house than the silence that prevails within its sacred
precincts. The silence of its halls and corridors,
even of its courtyards and gardens, fills them with
awe and edification. Seculars coming to a convent
are so impressed with this silence that they feel as if
they were breathing the atmosphere of another
world, as if they were inhaling a fragrance wafted
from heaven. A high value has been placed on the
conscientious observance of silence in accordance
with the holy Rule by the saints and founders of
Religious Orders.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis de Sales, and
other Saints have remarked that if silence is ob-
served in a convent you may rest assured that relig-
ious discipline is flourishing there. Furthermore,
they state that if the reform of a religious com-
munity is desired, one of the most important things
to be insisted on is the strict observance of silence.
Silence is prescribed in religious houses because with-
out it the proper discipline can not be maintained,
and because it is necessary as a preparation for
prayer and meditation. Silence preserves peace.
Silence fosters recollection and devotion and dis-
poses the soul to a more intimate union with God.
Conscientious observance of silence makes a Relig-
ious eloquent in conversation with God. In his ex-
cellent work, The Spirit of Sacrifice, Father Giraud
makes the following reflections and practical sug-
gestions on regular silence :
Silence. 433
Regular silence, as its name indicates, is that
which is enjoined by the Rule. Different names are
given to it. There is the strict or great silence and
habitual silence ; silence in word and silence in move-
ments. In the same way there are some special places
where, in their different degrees, silence must be
kept more rigorously than in others ; for instance,
the church, the choir, the refectory. We shall now
proceed to speak of exterior silence, viewed under
these different aspects.
I. The great silence. This is the silence enjoined
on the Religious during the closing hours of the
day, the whole of the night, and the next morning
until after the meditation or after holy Mass, if
Mass follows immediately upon the meditation. It
is called the great silence because it must not be
broken without a good reason, and the strict silence
because it must only be infringed for a serious mat-
ter. It is also called sacred because it is closely al-
lied to mental prayer, St. Jerome expresses this
in the wording of his Rule : *'The holy hermits
who dwell in the desert keep the sacred silences
(sancta silentia) most scrupulously on account
of their being the source and parent of holy
contemplation.''
There is something solemn in the strokes of the
bell which gives the signal in religious houses for
the commencement of the great silence. From the
moment it is heard not a sound breaks the stillness
of the monastery; its inmates move about with a
grave, composed demeanor, the doors are opened
and shut carefully and noiselessly. It is as if the
spirit of God, penetrating and taking possession of
the heart of each one, verified in a striking, nay, a
visible manner the words of Elias on Mount Carmel :
"The Lord is not in the earthquake." ''The Lord
434 Silence.
will bless His people with peace'' (3 Kings xix. 11 ;
Ps. xxviii. 11).
These tranquil evening hours and still watches of
the night are seasons of special benediction. The
rest which the body takes is emblematic of the soul's
repose, when she detaches herself more fully from
created things and gives herself more completely to
God, saying with the Psalmist : 'Tn peace in the self-
same I will sleep, and I will rest" in my God (Ps. iv.
9). The night prayers or the Psalms recited in
Compline are specially conducive to recollection ; the
points of meditation which are given to the com-
munity or read by each one individually, according
to the custom of the house, furnish the soul with
holy thoughts, and the Religious retires to rest, his
mind still dwelling on the salutary truths he has just
heard. The morning's meditation may be said to be
commenced overnight. He says with the spouse in
the Canticles : 'T sleep and my heart watcheth." On
awakening in the morning his first thought is of the
presence of God. The silence observed by the whole
community acts as a safeguard against temptation
to voluntary distractions, and when all are as-
sembled in the choir for the first common prayer of
the day, one might imagine that heaven had come
down to earth to ofifer to the God of infinite majesty
the praise and thanksgiving which are His due.
Let us always entertain the greatest respect for
the silence which is truly sacred, the time for which
is filled up with occupations of a heavenly nature.
Some fervent Religious have been known to perform
acts of heroic patience to avoid breaking that silence.
Every monastery records some instance of this kind.
It is said that a Visitation nun who fractured her
arm just after the great silence commenced pre-
ferred to sufifer excruciating pain rather than call
Silence. 435
one of the Sisters to her assistance. This is some-
what overstrained ; we must admire and not imitate
as St. Francis de Sales would have said. In fact no
one could fail to admire fortitude and endurance of
so high a degree, nor can one help admiring Mere
Emilie, who on hearing one of her daughters groan-
ing at night in acute pain went to her and sat beside
her several hours, endeavoring to soothe her and
divert her from her suffering by reciting edifying
and interesting anecdotes. Toward a novice who
wilfully violated the Rule Mere Emilie acted very
differently. A young novice, only sixteen years old,
forgot herself so far as to say something calculated
to make the others laugh, while feigning sleep. She
was obliged to confess her fault in the refectory.
''Sister," the Mother Superior said to her, '"you are
partly to be excused on account of your youth and
your ignorance. Had you fully realized what you
were doing, you would have deserved a severe pun-
ishment. I hope this will be the last as it is the
first time so thoughtless an act occurs in our monas-
tery. In reparation, you will eat your dinner on
your knees for a fortnight, and meanwhile pray God
to give you a sense of your duties, to make you love
and respect silence, and respect your fellow-Re-
ligious, too.'' No virtue is at variance with the
others ; charity and silence can go hand in hand.
2. Habitual silence. This consists in not speak-
ing without necessity except at recreation. The
Rule which enjoins this practice also indirectly pro-
hibits any noise calculated to disturb the quiet of
the monastery.
If this silence is scrupulously kept, the monastery
is like a holy temple where the presence of God is
felt. The venerable foundress whose words and ex-
ample we delight in quoting speaks thus of her first
436 Silence.
companions in the infancy of her Congregation: ''It
was really touching to see how scrupulously they
kept the Rule of silence ; even in sickness they
avoided breaking it, asking as far as possible by
signs for whatever they might want. Such pro-
found stillness reigned throughout the whole house
that when M. TAbbe Marty, our spiritual Father,
crossed the threshold, he stopped short, and struck
with admiration, said under his breath : 'This is an
earthly paradise ! All lips are silent, all e3^es cast
down/ "
There are, however, circumstances when it is pos-
sible, even necessary to speak; when duty, charity,
courtesy, or some pressing want obliges us to break
silence. On such occasions the following rules
should be followed :
I. Never speak without permission, if it is possi-
ble to ask it.
. 2. If we have not time, or are otherwise unable to
go and ask for this permission, let us not take it for
granted without good and solid reasons.
- 3. Let us do our utmost to postpone until recrea-
tion-time w^hat at first seemed necessary to say at
once. Some persons, not excepting Religious, are so
unable to restrain their tongue that they mistake for
motives of necessity, good breeding, or charity, what
is in reality want of mortification and levity.
4. It must not be forgotten that the Rule of
silence is no less obligatory in our intercourse with
our Superior than with the other members of the
Community ; that is to say, in either case one must
have a proper reason for breaking the silence.
5. When such a reason exists, let us be brief.
More urbanity of manner and fewer words would
be a double advantage; charity and silence would
both gain thereby. Garrulity impoverishes the soul.
Silence. 437
If we knew how pernicious this is, we should try to
be laconic in our speech and only say what was
necessary.
6. Not only let us be sparing in words, but speak
in a low tone. If it is true that a hallowed silence
ought to prevail in the monastery the habit some
people have of raising their voices seems almost a
desecration of the religious tranquillity which is so
pleasing to God.
7. In any case let us be very careful not to cause
disedification to any one. St. Paul says : "All things
are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;
all things are lawful for me, but all things do not
edify'' (i Cor. vi. 12; x. 23).
8. We are sometimes advised to make use of
signs instead of words if a sign will answer our pur-
pose. This advice is good, as it often serves to pre-
vent an infraction of the Rule. At La Trappe, as is
well known, the monks employ no other method of
communication. But it is obvious that the sign
must express our meaning if it is to be of any use.
Here we shall do well to recall St. Chantal's wise
remark : ''Never make use of signs to the Sisters in
the time of silence which are not intelligible. It is
much better to say a few words, if necessity requires,
than to make a number of signs which fail to con-
vey your meaning and perhaps only confuse the Sis-
ters and cause them great distractions.''
Such are the rules which it will be found useful
to follow for the perfect observance of exterior si-
lence. But besides the silence in word, there is the
silence in our movements. The rules that provide
for this are the same as the rules of religious
modesty ; yet we think it wise to remind the reader
of them, lest anything essential to the practice of
regular silence should be omitted.
438 Silence.
I. In your general deportment avoid a hurried
manner, which m.ay have a disturbing efifect on those
around you. I will give a few details on this point
which those who are really in earnest will not con-
sider too minute. There is a way of walking, a way
even of using one's handkerchief which does not
correspond with the tranquillity of the monastery.
There are certain expressions of the countenance
and restless movements of the body which are any-
thing but signs of recollection of heart, and are a
fertile source of distractions to those who witness
them. Can you imagine Our Lord or His blessed
Mother behaving thus?
2. Open and shut doors and windows with simple,
calm, attentive care, to avoid making a noise. Do
not push or pull tables and chairs, or any piece of
furniture you want to move, but lift them, or get
somebody to help you place them elsewhere. By
this holy poverty will be the gainer as well as
silence.
3. If a doctor, a man of business, or workmen
have to be admitted into the house, you will find
there is a simple, unaffected way of behaving, decor-
ous and courteous withal, which, without actually
asking them to be quiet, will make outsiders feel
that they must be careful not to disturb the tran-
quillity of the monastery m.ore than need be. How
greatly it is to be desired that every Religious
should be imbued with profound respect for the
silence of the Rule !
Silence ought to be more strictly observed in some
places than in others : the church, the chapter-room,
the dormitory, the refectory. We will say a few
words on this point.
I. The church, the choir, and, in a lesser degree,
the sacristy. Is it necessary to explain why silence
Silence, 439
is to be especially kept in those places? Certainly
not. Cassian praises the monks of Egypt for their
strict observance of this rule ; for in all this numer-
ous assembly of men, he says, one would think there
was but one present, the one who, standing in the
middle of the choir, sings the psalm. No one
•coughs, no one heaves a sigh ; and a severe punish-
ment is inflicted on any one who breaks the silence.
2. The dormitory. We have already said enough
on the reason why silence is enjoined in the dormi-
tory, w^hen speaking of the great or strict silence.
3. The chapter-room. This has always been held
in respect by religious communities, for it is there
that they receive counsels, encouragements, salutary
reproofs which keep them up to the standard of
their vocation ; there by self-accusation and the
penances given them they expiate their offenses, un-
happily only too numerous, against the Rule.
4. The refectory. The refectory of a religious
house might almost be regarded as a temple, since
in it the Religious offers to God a great number of
sacrifices by the mortifications he practices, and the
penances, self-imposed or otherwise, which it is cus-
tomary in most monasteries to perform there. • The
monks of old were strict observers of silence in the
refectory. An ancient writer thus describes the
manner in which the Egyptian cenobites held their
repasts : "The silence that reigns in the refectory is
so profound that among all the monks present —
and they are a goodly company — not one is found
who ventures to speak a word to his neighbor, or in-
deed to make any noise whatsoever. When a dish is
to be brought in or removed, the monk who presides
at the table intimates this by a gentle rap ; his voice
is rarely heard." The rule of silence at table is re-
spected in all fervent communities, unless it is set
440 Silence,
aside for an adequate reason or by some provision
of the Rule itself.
The manuals of direction usually enjoin the care-
ful observance of silence in the corridors and on the
stairs, for the sake of the general edification.
Finally, in regard to keeping silence in the in-
firmary, we will quote the following wise remarks
which breathe the spirit of faith : ''Permission to go
to the infirmary must be asked for the sake of visit-
ing the sick out of kindness, and saying a few words
to them about holy things. The infirmary is in a
certain sense sacred; Our Lord often hallows it by
His presence. It might justly be called the ante-
chamber of heaven, for so many of our Sisters have
departed thence to enter upon eternity; thence they
have winged their flight, as we confidently hope, to
the realms of everlasting bliss. Could we allow idle
or frivolous conversation in such a place? No, let
all we say in the infirmary be on some pious theme.
Unless we are on our guard, it may easily become
a snare to us, the source of irregularity and sins of
the tongue. Alas ! we know what St. James says :
Tf any man offend not in word, the same is a
perfect man' (iii. 2)/'
CHAPTER XLI.
JFraternal Gbarttg.
^i tSe Wecessitg oC ij^utual ILobe antr Union.
yJl|o love God without loving one's neighbor is an
^^ impossibility. The same commandment en-
joins both the one and the other. ''And this com-
mandment we have from God, that he, who loveth
God, love also his brother'' ( i John iv. 21 ) . But why
must we love our neighbor? Because our neighbor
is loved by God. Therefore did the holy Apostle
declare : "If any man say I love God, and hateth his
brother, he is a liar.'' Jesus Christ says that He
looks upon the love we bear to the least of His
brethren as given to Himself. Now, these brethren
of Our Lord are our fellow-men, our neighbors.
''Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of
these My least brethren, you did it to Me" (Matt.
XXV. 40).
But this gracious daughter of God, holy love,, be-
ing disowned by worldlings, seeks a refuge in the
cloister. How sad were it even unable to find an
asylum there ! As hatred alone reigns in hell, so
love alone reigns in heaven. There the saints all
love one another; each rejoices over the happiness
of the others as over his own. • And the convent m
which love holds sovereign sway — what a beautiful
heaven! It is the object of the divine complacency.
"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for breth-
ren to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. cxxxii. i.)
Almighty God looks down with pleasure on those
houses in which He sees the Religious living to-
442 Fraternal Charity.
gether in peace and harmony, having but one end in
view, namely, to serve God, and all lovingly helping
one another on to eternal salvation. How can we
hope to be united in Our Father's house after this
exile, if we now live in disunion? Fraternal
charity was the principal fruit of the Redemption
foretold by the prophet Isaias. ''The wolf shall
dwell with the lamb : and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid. . . . They shall not hurt, nor
shall they kill" (Is. xi. 6). The Prophet means by
those words that the followers of Christ, no matter
how varied their character, inclinations, and na-
tionality, will live together in peace, since every one
will support his neighbor in charity. What does the
word community signify, if not that the same de-
sires and inclinations animate its members ? Love is
the common bond of union. Love makes them bear
with one another, yield to one another; and love is
strong as death, as the Holy Scriptures tell us.
Religious call one another by the endearing title
of brother or sister. Though not related by the ties
of blood, they are truly brothers or sisters by the in-
timate love that ought to bind them together. All
founders and foundresses of Religious Orders have
on their death-bed so earnestly enjoined fraternal
charity on their sons and daughters, because they
knew that where union does not reign God is not
found.
St. Augustine says : ''When you see that the ma-
terials of which a house is built, the stone and mor-
tar, etc., are holding together fast, you enter that
house without fear of its falling. But if the walls
are crumbling, you do not venture to set foot in it.''
The saint wishes to imply by these words that
blessed is the religious house in which all are united
in holy love, but unhappiness dwells in that which is
Fraternal Charity. 443
the home of discord and disunion. Such a convent
may be called a hell on earth. It is no longer a house
of God, for Satan is its master; no longer a house
of salvation, but a home of perdition. What advan-
tage is it for a convent to be rich and powerful, for
it to possess a magnificent church, to be surrounded
by gardens and orchards, if love and union have fled
from its precincts? Such a convent is surely not a
haven of rest. If discord has crept into your con-
vent, bemoan it before God with tears, and beg Him
to stretch forth His almighty hand for the removal
of the evil ! That almighty hand is required to put
down factions and remove dissensions that have
once sprung up in a religious community. Let us
do all in our power to remedy the evil ; let us spare
ourselves no trouble. But if it is altogether beyond
our control, let us, at least, keep our own soul in
peace. Let us refrain from taking part in so great
an evil to the general welfare, yes, let us turn away
from it as we would from an atmosphere of pesti-
lence.
Those Religious who burn with zeal for the
maintenance of the holy Rule and religious disci-
pline are surely not to blame. Such zeal for
the good of the community marks the followers of
Jesus Christ the adherents of His party. The
spirit of Christ breeds zeal for religious discipline,
zeal for the glory of the house of God. If some
violation of Rule has slipped in, let us not hesi-
tate to unite with the zealous lovers of holy disci-
pline to root it out. Even should others forsake us,
even should we stand alone, we must defend the
cause of God. The Lord will certainly reward what
is done to keep up strict observance of Rule. To
be careless and indifferent in this regard is not a
mark of virtue. It is not humility, but cowardice;
444 Fraternal Charity.
it is a want of virtue and the love of God. When
we speak of factions, we refer to those that are
formed from interested motives, such as, one's own
advancement in position, particular friendships, the
humbling of some, especially those in authority,
whom we do not care for, or even the avenging of
punishment formerly received, and similar so-called
injuries. Factions of this nature must be shunned
as the bane, not only of the religious, but also of
the Christian life. Self-interest ought never to
domineer in the heart of a Religious, for charity and
the general good demands its total sacrifice. When
St. Gregory of Nazianzen saw the Bishops wrang-
ling on his account, some being in favor of his
becoming their Patriarch, others not, he thus
addressed them : ''My dear brothers, I desire that
you live in peace with one another. If otherwise
peace and concord can not be established among
you, I will resign my bishopric." The saint
actually carried out his determination. He left his
see of Constantinople, and withdrew to a hermitage,
where he closed his days in peace.
To symbolize the order and union that should
reign in a convent, the ancient Fathers made use of
a lyre with many strings. If all are tuned in unison,
if all are in accord, they form sweet melody, they
give forth harmonious sounds. But let one of the
strings that span the lyre be tuned too high or too
low, harmony becomes discord, melody ceases. So
it is in a religious community. One single member
not in union, not in harmony with the Superior, is
sufficient to destroy the unanimity, the peace, of the
whole body. Reflecting on this symbol of the lyre,
some spiritual writers have said : ''Concord is derived
from chorda, the string of a musical instrument.'^
But more correctly, and more to our purpose, may
Fraternal Charity, 445
we say that it comes from cor, the heart ; for in con-
cord (concordia) all have but one heart, as we read
in the Acts of the Apostles : /'And the multitude of
believers had but one heart and one souF' (Acts
iv. 32).
Let us be very careful to preserve mutual love and
union, for on them depends the safety of the Or-
der. St. Bernard says : ''As into a vessel at sea the
water enters either because the boards are loose or
but thinly pitched, so does a Religious Order go to
destruction if its members are not firmly bound to-
gether by the cords of holy charity.'' On the night
before His Passion, our dear Redeemer, in the
prayer that He made to His Eternal Father, peti-
tioned for us this union as necessary for our
eternal welfare. ''Holy Father, keep them in
Thy name whom Thou hast given Me : that they
may be one as we also are'' (John xvii. 11).
One of the means by which a Religious may
maintain peace and charity with all the members of
her community is that which the Apostle most
earnestly enjoined on his disciples in these few
words : "Put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity,
humility, modesty, patience" (Col. iii. 12). * He
says : "Put ye on," that is, clothe yourselves with
charity; for as a Religious always wears the habit
of her Order, as it covers her entirely, so must she
in all her actions show forth holy charity, must, as
it were, be entirely clothed with it. The Apostle
further enjoins : "Put ye on the bowels of mercy."
The Religious must not only be clothed with charity,
but she must be animated by a real and heartfelt
compassion for her neighbor. She must bear
toward every member of her community a love most
tender, as if specially attracted to that one. Behold
446 Fraternal Charity.
the passionate lover! How does he think and
speak of the beloved one? Does he not rejoice
in the welfare, is he not troubled at the misfortune,
of the one so dear to his heart ? Does he not make
both her joys and her sorrows his very own? If the
object of his affection should commit some little in-
discretion, with what warmth does he not defend, or
at least excuse, it ! If, on the contrary, his beloved
achieves some great work, performs some noble
deed, how loud the praise with which he exalts her
to the skies ! The passion of natural love effects all
that. Now, what passion does for others must,
among Religious, be the result of holy fraternal
charity.
Let us cultivate mutual charity in thought, as
well as in word and deed. As regards thought, let
us reject every suspicion, every mistrust, every
rash judgment. We can not look into the heart.
Appearances frequently deceive us. The holy Gos-
pel warns us : "J^^ge not, and you shall not be
judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be con-
demned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven"
(Luke vi. 37). God alone knows the secret and
hidden things of the heart. He commands us,
therefore, not to presume to judge such things.
St. Paul admonishes us in these words : ''Who art
thou that judgest another man's servant? To his
own lord he standeth or falleth" (Rom. xiv. 4).
''Do you not judge within yourselves and are be-
come judges of unjust thoughts?" asks the Apostle
James (ii. 4), and the Wise Man says of those rash
judges: "Like a soothsayer and diviner, he thinketh
that which he knoweth not" (Prov. xxiii. 7).
"Charity thinketh no evil" (i Cor. xiii. 5), says
the Apostle. St. Jane de Chantal used to say : "We
must look for the good, not for the evil, in our
Fraternal Charity. 447
neighbor." St. Augustine remarks : ''Should you
be deceived and disappointed in your neighbor,
should you take something for good that in reality
is bad, be not troubled about such errors, for
charity is not vexed when she finds herself de-
ceived ; she rejoices in having harbored kind
thoughts even of the wicked." We should be very
reserved, also, in searching into the actions and
faults of others. Above all, let us never imitate
those who want to know all that is said about them.
This gives rise to suspicion, which soon turns into
bitterness, and ends in dislike for others. Things
repeated are generally distorted and falsely related.
Should we hear, perchance, that some one has
spoken of our faults, let us give it no thought, much
less ask who has said it. Let us act conscientiously
and always conduct ourselves in such manner that
only good can be said of us, and then let the censori-
ous talk as they will. If we hear that they unjustly
attribute some fault to us, we can accept the remark
with silence, or we may simply say: "God will
judge me on that point!"
Beware of nursing any spiteful joy at the
mishaps of your neighbor ; suppress every unkind
feeling that arises ; be noble and generous in
thought as well as in deed. We must also rejoice
at the prosperity of our neighbor, allowing no feel-
ing of envy to lurk in our heart, even if his good
fortune stands in the way of our own.
What is said by the author of General Principles
of the Religious Life on the conduct of monks
toward the fellow-members of their Order is equally
applicable to the members of a religious sisterhood :
I. The lives of Religious in a community should
resemble the lives of the saints in heaven. These all
view and honor each other in God. Look upon all
44^ Fraternal Charity.
with whom you are living as you would upon the
saints if they came down to you from heaven. You
will thus find nothing in your neighbor to criticise ;
on the contrary, everything will seem good, despite
unfavorable appearances. As often as you feel
yourself disturbed by a grave suspicion, take care
not to consent to it, but turn your eye upon yourself,
humble yourself before God, in the remembrance of
your own faults, and cry out from the depth of your
soul : O God ! be merciful to my proud, sinful soul,
that has every reason to cast herself at the feet of
those whose judge she would presume to be.
2. Speak of your fellow-Religious respectfully,
and let it never occur to you to indulge in private
gossip with any one soever, or to listen to evil re-
ports about others. In general, be scrupulously
careful not to spread rumors about the one or the
other, which might rupture the peace of the com-
munity, and diminish the cordial affection among
your brethren. A defamer makes a breach in the
ramparts of the most God-fearing community; a
slanderer undermines the whole edifice ; while he
that spreads discord pulls it down to the very
foundation.
Be warned not to contradict any one except when
evil is approved ; nor persist in defending at the ex-
pense of charity an affair of yours about which there
happens to be question; rather submit your judg-
ment to that of others. If it is necessary to main-
tain your opinion, advance your reasons with mod-
eration, not that your superiority may be acknowl-
edged, but simply that the truth may prevail. A
quarrelsome person is like an ill-natured cur, that
flies at everybody. He is universally shunned for
his pains.
3. If you notice a failing in 3^our fellow-Religious
Fraternal Charity. 449
which the Superior alone can remedy, you are bound
to notify him of it, else you become chargeable with
the fault and its consequences. But take care not to
inform against him with deceitful intention, or from
jealousy, revenge, or other passion. Make sure of
all you want to say, and add nothing untrue, other-
wise you become guilty of the odious sin of calumny
— truly an abomination. A good Religious who,
with a view to the amendment of his fellow-
Religious, informs the Superior of their failings
diminishes rather than magnifies a fault, and ren-
ders valuable service to each of the members and to
the community as a whole. For any one to pursue
a different course would be to disturb religious har-
mony, and to expose his own soul to the danger of
being lost.
4. Try to be as keenly alive to the misfortune and
success of your fellow-Religious as to your own ; be
glad at what gladdens them, grieve at what gives
them pain, and do your best to console and cheer
them. As the monastic family is a body whose head
is Jesus Christ and whose members are the Re-
ligious, it is proper that the brethren share joy and
sorrow in common, and give expression to mutual
sympathy. When one member of the body suffers,
all the other members suffer, unless they are them-
selves diseased or dead.
Shun with care all natural aversions and special
friendships. They are tw^o equally dangerous out-
growths of corrupt nature ; two very catching moral
diseases, all the more dangerous for God-fearing
communities that they force an entrance into the
breast by the most seductive of sensual charms,
against which ordinary care is not a sufficient safe-
guard. It is refreshing to know that a Religious
had the courage to rend the strong ties of flesh and
450 Fraternal Charity,
blood which held him bound to the nearest and dear-
est of kin in order to embrace a life of mortification
and self-denial for Christ's sake; but how sad the
plight if afterward that Religious allows himself to
be enslaved with coward soul by the wretched tyr-
anny of particular friendship ! There is inspiration
in the thought that his ardent soul was not satisfied
with merely the perfection of ordinary Christians,
which prescribes the love of enemies, but that with
holy impatience he generously embraced a life which
calls for the highest perfection attainable. But oh !
the shame to see that once heroic soul turn traitor
to his grand resolve — harboring aversion for a fel-
low-Religious, and loathing the very sight of him !
''The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy moun-
tains. How are the, valiant fallen!'' (2 Kings i. 19).
5. Do not give way to envy if a fellow-Religious
enjoys greater confidence than you and is preferred ;
and give no place to jealousy if he receives greater
marks of respect and affection. Rather suppress the
first emotion of self-love at once ; thank God from
your heart for the graces He bestows on others, and
beg Him to preserve and increase these graces in
them, if it redounds to His glory and their welfare.
What a deep and tender mystery this, to acquire
merits so rare with little risk and labor ! Brotherly
love is that mysterious philosopher's stone which
changes the veriest dross into purest gold; while
envy is that deadly bane which changed the beauti-
ful natures of Lucifer and his lightsome host into
foulest and most loathsome demons.
6. Of the many opportunities that a Religious finds
to practice heroic virtues and lay up great merits for
heaven, one of the commonest is to accommodate
himself to the various characters he has to associate
with in a large community, and to bear with patience
Fraternal Charity, 451
their manifold infirmities — to rejoice with the gay,
to weep with the sad, as far as this is possible with-
out offending God. Cordial sympathy, it is true,
comes harder to a Religious than fasting, the disci-
pline, and similar painful exercises, because of the
steady violence he has to do himself in thus adapt-
ing himself to the characters of others. But for this
very reason the practice is all the more meritorious
and pleasing to the divine majesty. God freely com-
municates Himself to the soul who for love of Him
tries to become all things to all men.
7. It would be a serious defect in a religious
house, and a sure sign of its approaching ruin, if
the younger mem.bers made light of the older and
did not heed their wholesome admonitions. But in
the same way the older members would act very
wrong if they corrected their younger brethren as
if they were children, and treated them as servants.
The younger brethren owe their elders sincere and
profound respect, but the older members owe the
younger brethren tender and respectful affection in
return. Age deserves to be respected on account of
the virtues it has acquired by long and painstaking
labor, and youth deserves an equal measure of af-
fectionate regard because of its exertion to become
perfect.
8. Be on your guard against certain indelicate and
childish familiarities, which pass with the coarse
and uncultured, but are ill-suited to the refined spir-
itual instinct and sensitized conscience of well-disci-
plined religious souls. Of such a nature are address
by given name alone, or by nicknames and pet
names, laying hold of others in a rude way, offen-
sive to religious modesty, indulging in wanton or
endearing speech. Such familiarities never last
long. Besides, they have their seat in fickleness of
452 Fraternal Charity.
character or an untempered cast of soul. When once
they have taken root they are the source of untold
evils. It is an old saying and true, that familiarity
breeds contempt, contempt breeds discord, and dis-
cord breeds destruction.
Do not try to discover Religious who will flatter
you or who would be likely to humor your natural,
undisciplined ways. Make it a point rather to dis-
cover those who will correct you in charity, and will
not bear to see the least imperfections in you with-
out offering you a remedy. Look upon flatterers as
3^our secret enemies, who will some day be the first
to expose and condemn you, as even now they al-
ready condemn you in their heart. Regard those
who correct you as your friends, who love to work
at your sanctification. The difference between
friendship and flattery is this : friendship offers its
services to benefit others, while flattery offers its ser-
vices to benefit self.
9. A Religious worthy of the name, like a harm-
less dove, is a stranger to spite, and never resents an
injury, much less does he entertain ill-will toward
his tormentors. To leave no doubt in their mind of
his kindly feelings toward them, he seems rather to
bear many a wrong from them cheerfully. Such is
his desire to suffer and to imitate the example of his
divine Master. Do you wish to become like this
model Religious? — and why should you not, since
with God's grace, which will not be denied you, you
certainly can become like him. Choke off, then, at
once, all feelings of dislike in the very start, and be
guided in this by lofty motives. When unavoidable
frictions do occur, humble yourself and be the first
to ask pardon, though you are least in fault. Pray
specially for those who by their ill-will give you the
occasion for numerous merits, and make it a special
Fraternal Charity, 453
point often to oblige them and anticipate their
wishes. To return good for evil is pecuHar only to
Jesus and His faithful disciples.
Religious orders flourish and maintain themselves
as long as mutual regard and affection are preserved
intact. It has always been a matter of common be-
lief that God is served best where men love one an-
other best.
The following reflections from Father Lasausse's
charming little volume, A Happy Year, will serve
to emphasize what has been said on fraternal
charity.
''Charity to our neighbor," says St. Vincent de
Paul, ''is a sign of predestination, because it shows
we are true disciples of Jesus Christ. This divine
virtue it was which caused Jesus Christ to lead a
life of poverty and to die naked on a cross. For
this reason, whenever we find an occasion to do
something for charity, we should thank God."' And
St. Teresa says : "Jesus Christ so loved our neigh-
bor as to give His life for him. Our Saviour re-
joices when we sacrifice ourselves to do him good.
Everything we do for our neighbor to please God,
to show our love for Him, is most agreeable to Him.
Oh, if we understood well of what importance is the
virtue of charity to our neighbor, with what zeal
would we not perform acts of this virtue!"
St. Magdalene of Pazzi was accustomed to say
that she considered as lost the day in which she did
not exercise some charity for her neighbor. St. Vin-
cent de Paul lived but for this. He never lost an op-
portunity for practicing this virtue.
Tertullian relates of the first Christians that they
loved one another so perfectly that the pagans were
in admiration, and said : "Consider how the Chris-
tians love one another, how they respect one an-
454 Fraternal Charity.
Other, how attentive to do a service for each other
even to die one for the other/'
St. John the Evangeh'st, according to St. Jerome,
in his old age, being no longer able to walk, was
carried in the arms of the disciples to the assemblies
of the Christians, and from the weakness of his
voice he could not make long discourses. He con-
tented himself with saying : "My little children, love
one another." Some wearied, perhaps, at hearing
the same words, murmured, saying: ''Why do you
always give us this advice?" He made this reply, so
worthy of him : ''It is the precept of the Saviour; if
you observe it, it is enough."
St. Jane Frances, desiring that all the actions of
her daughters might proceed from a spirit of char-
ity, had inscribed upon the walls of the halls through
which they most frequently passed the qualities
which St. Paul gives to this sublime virtue : "Char-
ity is patient, is kind ; charity envieth not ; dealeth
not perversely ; is not puffed up ; is not ambitious ;
seeketh not her own ; is not provoked to anger ;
thinketh no evil." If it happened that one of her
spiritual daughters failed in charity, she sent her to
read this sentence, which she called the mirror of the
monastery. She often read it herself in their pres-
ence, then turning to them with face burning with
love, she would say: "If I should speak with the
tongue of an angel, and have not charity, I am noth-
ing; if I should give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it would profit me nothing."
And again St. Vincent de Paul declares, "It is a
work most agreeable to Our Saviour to visit the
sick and infirm, and to comfort them, as He Himself
recommended this kind of mercy. But to perform it
with greater zeal and merit, you must see Jesus
Christ in the person of the sick, for Jesus Christ says
Fraternal Charity. 455
He will regard as done to Him what we do for the
poor and infirm."
St. Magdalene of Pazzi showed an inexpressible
charity toward all the sick and weak in her monas-
tery. She served them as well as she possibly could,
solely for the love of God, looking upon them some-
times as temples of the Holy Ghost, sometimes as
sisters of the angels, sometimes as Jesus Christ Him-
self.
St. Louis, king of France, served the poor upon
his knees, with head uncovered. He saw in them
members of Jesus Christ, united in their suffer-
ings with Him, and nailed with Him to the cross.
St. John Berchmans found an inexpressible satisfac-
tion in being with the sick. He had the gift of mak-
ing them esteem and love their condition. It was
his custom to read for them something pious, and to
speak to them on subjects that might animate their
devotion toward Mary, the Consoler of the afflicted.
"To have for our neighbor the love that Our
Saviour commands," says St. Francis de Sales, *'our
hearts must be good, kind, complacent, even at
a time w^hen we feel toward him a repugnance on
account of some natural or moral defect. To love
thus is to love for God's sake. The maxim of the
saints was, that in loving and doing good we must
never consider the person to whom we do the ser-
vice but Him for whom it is performed."
St. Jane Frances had a singular affection for those
who by their faults had given her cause to suffer.
"It is well that we have something to suffer," she
said. ''Our Saviour has given us a fundamental
law that we bear with our neighbor ; but if our
neighbor has no fault, or if he does us no wrong, in
what can we bear with him?"
''True love, which alone is meritorious and du-
456 Fraternal Charity,
rable," wrote St. Francis de Sales, ''comes from a
charity which makes us love our neighbor in God
and for God ; that is, because God wills that we love
him, and because our neighbor is dear to God, or
because God is in him. It is not wrong to love him
for other honorable motives, because he has done us
some good, or because we see beautiful qualities in
him, if at the same time we love him more for God
than for these human motives. Nevertheless, the
less we love him for these natural qualities, the more
our love is pure and perfect. This pure love does
not prevent us from loving certain persons more
than others, such as our relatives, our benefactors, or
those who are virtuous, when this preference comes
from their closer resemblance to God, or because
God wills it. Oh, how rare is this kind of love !''
This saint always considered God in his neighbor,
and his neighbor in God. Hence the respect and
love he showed to all, the civility in all his actions.
It might be said that his courtesy to all was an act
of religion. He wrote as follows to the Superior of
a convent : ''Hold yourself well balanced with your
daughters, that you may not distribute your affec-
tions or favors only according to their natural quali-
ties. How many there are who are not to our taste
but who are agreeable to God ! Charity considers
true virtue and the beauty of the soul, and diffuses
itself over all without partiality."
"A Christian ought in a manner to have three
hearts in one,'' are the words of St. Benedict Joseph
Labre, "one for God, another for his neighbor, and
the third for himself."
This great servant of God, of whom it may be
said that the Holy Ghost was his teacher, points out
in a most admirable manner these three objects of
Christian charity — God, our neighbor, and our-
Fraternal Charity. 457
selves. ''It is necessary that the first heart," said he,
'*be for God : pure and sincere, that it direct all its
actions toward Him. that it breathe only with love
for Him and with ardor in His service, that it em-
brace all the crosses it pleases God to send. The
second heart must be for our neighbor : generous,
fearing no labor, no suffering in his service; com-
passionate, praying for the conversion of sinners,
for the souls in purgatory, and for those who are
afflicted. The third heart, which is for himself,
should be firm in its resolutions, abhorring all sin,
giving the body to austerity and penance, and con-
stantly cultivating a life of mortification and sacri-
fice." The saint practiced to the letter what he
taught. Through this means he attained a perfect
charity, after the example of Jesus Christ.
Prayer,
My God, let me have for Thee the heart of a child
who tenderly loves his father. Give me for my
neighbor the heart of the best of mothers. For my-
self, give me the heart of a judge who is most just.
CHAPTER XLII.
jfaltb anD Ibumot^
'T^ OT long ago, in the course of a conversation, a
-"""S person remarked to me : ''But you Catholics
are such gloomy persons !" I tried to refute the
charge by smiling largely — probatiir ridendo. But
my companion subsumed : '*0 ! I don't mean univer-
sally and in every individual case. But your relig-
ion— you know — your attitude, your temper, is se-
vere and forbidding and all that."
This saying seems typical. The days have gone
by when Protestants believed that Catholic priests
had horns and cloven feet ; but the days will hardly
come when Protestants will give up their notion that
Catholicism and gloom are synonymous, and that
the outward badge of our religion is an abiding
frown. Stripping the idea of all that is exaggerated
in it, it does us honor, perhaps more honor than
Catholics individually can in conscience accept; be-
ing a testimony to the serious and wise character of
our lives. For obviously life is no jest to a man who
believes in its purpose and its eternal duration; who
reads its value in the blood of Christ, as our Catho-
lic faith teaches us to do. Indeed there is none of us
but can wish sincerely that w^e merited a little better
the title to somberness in the sense of Catholic seri-
ousness and determination.
But what we are charged with is not, of course,
this right sincerity and purposefulness, but an ex-
cess of seriousness, a depressing solemnity and
heaviness — in a word, a lack of humor. Moreover,
the charge is distinctively put against us, not as men.
Faith and Humor, 459
but as Catholics. We are said to be gloomy by a
necessity flowing from our worship, from our be-
lief. It would further seem that not Protestants
only, but even Catholics themselves occasionally en-
tertain this notion of the harshness and narrowness
and cheerless rigorism of our faith. It may not be
easy to show such as these that in truth our religion
is in reality instinct with the subtlest, deepest, rich-
est humor possible to men. Indeed so essential is
great humor to Catholic faith that the practical pres-
ence or absence of this humor is not a bad test of a
man's vigor or weakness in faith.
Humor is the just appreciation of the incongruous
things of life. That is a part definition, at least ; for
humor is an elusive quality, existing in the concrete,
dealing with the concrete, surrounding living things
and entering into them, as the oxygen of the air
enters into and vivifies our blood. Men feel its pres-
ence and recognize it and honor it and delight in it ;
but can no more analyze it than one can analyze life,
which departs at the touch of the dissecting instru-
ment. One takes up Henry IV., or Alice in Won-
derland, or The Frogs, or Three Men in a Boat, or
Hiidibras, or Mr. Dooley's Philosophy — and grows
mellow with them, and wise, and says : "What humor
may be in the categories, I know not ; but they who
wTote these things are humorists, children of com-
prehension and of wisdom." They compel us, not
to laugh, but to smile. They widen our horizon and
draw out our sympathies. In gentleness and with
great pity and love, we look from end to end of the
earth and are filled with kindly merriment at the
misfits we see.
But we know this, that humor is built on truth
and knowledge. A man who knows only a fraction
of himself and others can not have that plenitude
460 Faith and Humor.
of humor of one who knows the whole. The humor
that is bounded by this world is feeble beside that
humor which draws from earth and heaven, from
time and eternity. As the field of humor broadens,
so itself becomes larger, kindlier, more powerful,
more soothing. That conceited fellow strutting be-
fore me, preening himself ridiculously — if he is a
unit to me, a solitary specimen, I can not smile at
him with half the genial relish that comes from con-
templating him as one of a multitude of his kind, a
concretion of a folly that I know to be general, that
I know to exist in myself also. This vexation,
which I make light of because I know that to-mor-
row I shall not be troubled by it, can make me merry
if I put it with its million tiny fellows in the souls of
all men and set the puny heap of littlenesses against
the background of eternity.
So, also, humor grows in richness and subtle in-
fluence as its source in a man is less fitful, more
steadfast and abiding. What is the momentary flash
of pleasantry, in comparison to that strong persis-
tent flood of humor that has become one with a man,
that ebbs and flows like the sea, but like the sea
never diminishes, never departs ! In truth, those
men only have real humor at all, whose humor is a
part of their lives, pulsing in their every thought
and action, flowing out of their deepest, most en-
during principles. For when we have gone into
the consideration of humor as far as we dare do
without losing our concept of it, we come to a very
wonderful thought. Hilaire Belloc puts it thus :
'Tor I know that we laughers have a gross cousin-
ship with the Most High, and it is this contrast and
perpetual quarrel which feeds a spring of merriment
in the soul of a sane man.''
Can one wonder then at our coupling ''humor and
Faith and Humor. 461
faith" ? For faith is the solution and interpretation
of Hfe, the bestower of knowledge and of wisdom
more than knowledge. Faith widens our limited
days here into endless days, and lays bare men's
souls and the secrets of God, and gives us that mas-
tery of life which is needed to laugh at life, and
shows us the relation of all things and their har-
mony, and what preserves that harmony and is
admirable, and what jars with that harmony and is
laughable. Knowledge and powxr, wisdom and
love, these are at the roots of all right humor and
ring in every laugh that befits the soul of a man.
"Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem'' —
can bring smiles where tears were, and light where
darkness was, and courage and saneness of view
where all was gloomy and distorted by sadness.
''The fashion of this world passeth away'' — and we
alone who know this are the truly light-hearted of
the world. ''You shall take none of these things
with you," says St. Paul; and I have seen a man
smile through his tears beside the grave of his son,
because he knew that afterward he himself would
leave in another grave the heartache begun at this
one.
No, our faith does not lack humor. It abounds
in humor, it is humor; the tenderest, most cheery,
most lasting humor; so tender, so great, so subtle,
that only those who have it can know it for such.
In common occurrence, the drollest remarks are lost
on men who have no drollery in them : so is the hu-
mor of faith an unknow^n thing to all who do not
possess it.
St. Lawrence, directing the roasting of his own
body with the nicety of a cook ; -our Irish peasant
who says, "Thanks be to God, my rheumatism is
much worse to-day ;" our nuns who can be merry in
462 Faith and Humor.
the abode of death ; — these are some instances of the
humor of faith. In its fulness, perhaps only the
saints have it — those serene, large beings, beneath
whose awe-inspiring calmness runs an unbroken
ripple of laughter at the follies and pettinesses that
surround them ; whom no adversity disheartens and
no sufferings sour ; whose eyes are bright with eter-
nal merriment looking on the fashion of this world
which passeth away.
I have before me, while writing, the picture of a
young man clad in cassock and surplice ; a man of
lean ascetic face ; who holds in his hand a crucifix,
and stands by a table on which rest a discarded
coronet and a penitential scourge. Beneath the pic-
ture are the words, ''Quid hoc ad (eternitatemf
The picture is familiar to all of us, and represents
that great saint and universal patron of Catholic
youth, Aloysius Gonzaga. The legend under it is a
pet saying of Aloysius, a pertinent question applied
by him to the thousand and one minutiae of daily
life — ''How does this look in the Hght of eternity?"
We can imagine this boy-saint, as he passed through
the streets of Rome on his way to or from school, or
to some hospital or church. An unbeliever would
be chilled at his constraint and austerity. ''Another
example of monkish, Catholic gloom — a zealot, a
fanatic; a man bereft of all sanity or humaneness,
looking at life in warped, crabbed manner!'' Yet
the unbeliever would be the fanatic, the narrow-
minded man ; and Aloysius the humorist. For if the
gorge of our spectator-friend rose; if he gave ex-
pression to his scorn in words ; if even he spat upon
this Jesuit bigot, Aloysius would have said to him-
self, ''Quid hoc ad ceternitatemf' and would have
gone on his way with a smile, making merry in his
heart.
Faith and Humor. 463
Fancy a man who all day long, in every varying
circumstance, was asking himself, ''Quid hoc ad
ceternitatem?'' What an infinity of laughable
things he would see ! What a wide, kindly, smiHng
view of life he would acquire ! Think of the count-
less occurrences that fret and annoy, that drive a
man into himself and shut up his outlook over the
world which the good God has given him, that make
him petty and irritable and sour — how they would
go down before such a question, as rank weeds be-
fore a scythe ; how they would be lost sight of, as
a swarm of gnats becomes invisible under the full
light of an unclouded noon !
Whatever be the definition of humor— and it mat-
ters exactly nothing what it be — the essence of it is
saneness, balance, breadth ; and complete saneness^
undisturbed balance, infinite breadth, are the gifts
of faith and of faith only. Knowledge stops at the
edge of the earth. Faith goes on beyond the stars,
illimitable, calm, all-comprehending. The wisdom
of the world is a surface wisdom and breeds only a
surface humor. The wisdom of faith reaches from
heaven to hell, into the heart of all living ; and when
it smiles the angels of God smile with it. The hu-
mor of men may be on the lips and in the mind only.
The humor of faith must come from the heart, from
the "understanding heart.''
St. Paul bids us "rejoice in the Lord always:
again, I say, rejoice.'' For ours is the heritage of
joy; since it is given us to know what God knows,
and to love all that He loves, to feel the presence of
His angels round about us, to consider life in its
completeness, and to look forward unavertedly, be-
holding the brightness of eternal peace and the sea
which is about the throne of God, where the world
looks out upon only chaos and the night. Our faith
464 Faith and Humor.
has a higher purpose than merely to make us wise
and patient and kindly. The humor of life is not
its object but it is its true and certain concomitant ;
growing as it grows, waning as it wanes. If it can
with truth be said of us that we lack humor, we
must blame the lack of it not upon our religion, our
faith, but upon our unfaith and our irreligion.*
*William T. Kane, S.J., in The American Ecclesiastical
Review.
1
m^
l«!^ 'SL
%
Jk'^
The Blessed Virgin receives Holy Communion at the
hands of St. John.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Cbecrfulnees,
C5[ T. Paul admonishes us: ''Rejoice in the Lord
^^ always: again, I say, rejoice!'' (Phil. iv. 4.)
And the Prophet Habacuc sings: ''I will rejoice in
the Lord, and I will joy in God my Jesus. The
Lord God is my strength and He will make my
feet like the feet of harts; and He, the Conqueror,
will lead me upon my high places singing psalms*'
(Habac. iii. 18, 19). There is an apostolate of
cheerfulness as well as of prayer and of preaching
by word and example. Like a sweet, fragrant
flower by the roadside, whose bright loveli-
ness is a joy to every one who passes by, our
cheerfulness is a blessing to all with whom we
come in contact. A Religious, merely by being
cheerful, exerts a quiet yet potent influence for
good. Let us bear this in mind that we can be
helpful to souls, that we can encourage them
and strengthen them in good by our cheerful-
ness and amiability. The author of The Art of Be-
ing Happy tells us : 'Tt is well to do our duty, but
sometimes this is not enough for the happiness of
others and our own. We must do our duty with joy,
with eagerness, with love. We must not keep count
of what we do, nor stop strictly and sternly at the
exact limit of duty. Let us learn to devote ourselves
generously, above all when there is question of ful-
filling certain obligations of our state, position, etc.,
by which we do good to our brethren. Let us learn
to show always a smiling face, although our work
is distasteful to us or overwhelms us. And after
466 Cheerfulness.
having worked hard let us take care not to recall in
conversation the pains we have taken, the fatigue
that we have imposed upon ourselves. Then our
duty accomplished will please every one : God first,
then men, and last of all our ow^n poor heart."
Our Lord Himself has said: ''Be of good cheer!''
And He said this substantially many times. Jesus
was indeed a Man of sorrows, but He was not a sad
man. His face must always have reflected the
serenity of His soul. He was meek and humble,
gentle and amiable. ''He went about doing good to
all."
From the Gospel narrative we can . glean that
Jesus possessed a cheerful temper, serenity mingled
with tender seriousness, a most engaging presence,
and a winning personality. Children came to Him
willingly and loved to linger near Him, and how
can any one imagine Him embracing and caressing
little children without a smile of loving kindness?
Men followed Him in crowds, fascinated by His
charm of manner and of speech. And into woman's
heart came the thought : What happiness to be the
mother of such a son!
Among the saints — the close followers of Christ —
St. Francis de Sales pre-eminently commands our
admiration and our love for his Christlike character-
istics of cheerful serenity, meekness, humility, pa-
tience, charity, kindness, sweetness of temper and
suavity of deportment. Like Our Saviour, the
gentle Bishop of Geneva loved to make use of com-
parisons drawn from nature to illustrate his
sermons, which are so replete with good cheer and
helpfulness.
As we read in the introduction to The Mystical
Flora of St. Francis de Sales: "In this he holds a
place peculiarly his own. His images do not recall
Cheerfulness. 467
scenes of Cappadocian gloom, like those of St. Basil,
nor, like St. Jerome's, the harshness of the desert.
But rather, as the clear blue waters of the lakes
of his own Savoy soften without distorting the
rugged outlines of the overhanging hills, which
they reflect bright with sunshine, gay with flowers,
and crowned with teeming vines, so does his gentle
spirit present to our minds the loftiest doctrines in
all the grandeur of truth, and yet clothed in images
of beauty, that charm the fancy while they flash new
light upon the understanding. But most of all is
this true of him as he comes in from the garden with
comparisons gathered from the flowers that bloom
therein," The spiritual comparisons of St. Fran-
cis drawn from plants and flowers make clear to us
*'how one may draw good thoughts and holy aspira-
tions from everything that presents itself in all the
varietv of this mortal life" (Devout Life, Part 11. ,
Ch. XIII.).
Ornsby, in his Life of the saint, says : 'There ap-
pears in the mind of St. Francis de Sales that union
of sweetness and strength, of manly power and femi-
nine delicacy, of profound knowledge and practical
dexterity, w^hich constitutes a character formed at
once to win and subdue minds of almost every type
and age. As the rose among flowers, so is he among
saints. From the thorny, woody fiber of the brier
comes forth that blossom which unites all that can
make a flower lovely and attractive ; and from the
hot and vehement nature of the young Savoyard
came a spiritual bloom, whose beauty and fragrance
were perfect in an extraordinary degree. All things
that command respect and attract love were found in
St. Francis."
And this explains his power as a spiritual guide,
his mighty influence over sinners, his success as a
468 Cheerfulness.
peacemaker, and his helpfulness to all with whom he
came in contact.
As followers of Christ, and in imitation of the
saints, let us cultivate the habit of cheerfulness and
pray for the spirit of gladness, which is rooted in
charity, in the peace of a good conscience, in grati-
tude to God for His blessings, in Christian hope and
confidence, in perfect submission to the divine will;
and let us do this not only for our own good but also
for the happiness and betterment of others.
''Every . life is meant
To help all lives ; each man should live
For all men's betterment/'*
''Serviis servontm Dei'' ''Servant of the servants
of God,'' is one of the titles of the Pope. The Prince
of Wales has borne for his motto '7 serve'' since the
fourteenth century. In a way we are all one
another's servants. St. Thomas Aquinas says :
''That wherein one man excels another man is given
him of God that therewith he may serve other men,"
Our blessed Saviour tells us of Himself : "The Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minis-
ter" (Matt. XX. 28). At the Last Supper He
washed His apostles' feet, saying to them : "I have
given you an example." His example and His
teaching are that the highest must not disdain the
lowest, and that all are to serve all. Now we can
all serve or help others by our cheerfulness and
amiability. A cheerful person creates a wholesome
moral atmosphere arotmd him, and exerts an
invigorating influence upon his environment.
There is great merit also in cheerfulness, when it
is cultivated from a supernatural motive, when it is
the fruit of divine and fraternal charity. It requires
*AIice Gary.
Cheerfulness. 469
self-control and self-denial to maintain cheerfulness
under all circumstances — in sickness, in pain, in sor-
row, in poverty, in misunderstanding, and in un-
pleasant surroundings. Christian cheerfulness im-
plies something more than natural temperament; it
means self-denial — self-control. Natural disposition
should not be offered as an excuse for being morose
and rude. By the grace of God and with an earnest
effort we can overcomie our evil nature. You find
yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful per-
sons ; why not make earnest efforts to be helpful to
others by your own cheerfulness and amiability?
Strew the road with flowers for others, and in turn
your own pathway will be scattered wnth roses.
In Ye Are Chrisfs, we read of a virtue which
Aristotle called by the pretty Greek name of Eutra-
pelia. Father Rickaby, S.J., writes in the above-
mentioned book : ''Eiitrapelia may be defined 'play-
fulness in good taste.' Aristotle himself defines it:
'a chastened love of putting out one's strength upon
others.' There is in every ordinary boy a disposi-
tion to romp, to play the fool, and to destroy prop-
erty ; a disposition which ought to be sternly re-
pressed, subdued, and kept under by those re-
sponsible for the boy's education, beginning with
himself. Otherwise the boy can have no place in
civilized society : he will turn out a young savage.
But though repressed, the disposition should not be
killed within him and extirpated altogether. It is a
defect of character to have no playfulness, no droll-
ery, no love of witnessing or even creating a ridic-
ulous situation. Entrap elia knows exactly when and
how to be funny, and where and when to stop. 'All
things have their season,' says Ecclesiastes (iii. i,
4) , 'a time to weep, and a time to laugh : a time to
mourn, and a time to dance.' A proud and quarrel-
470 Cheerfulness.
some man is never a funny man; and it may be
doubted if ever an heresiarch enjoyed a joke. Did
Calvin, for instance, after he was turned seventeen,
ever laugh except in derision of others, that bitter,
insolent laughter which Holy Scripture 'counts
error,' and calls 'the laughter of a fool' (Eccles. ii.
2; vii. 4-7)? Many a difficulty, many an incipient
quarrel, many a dark temptation is dissipated the
moment one catches sight of some humorous side to
the matter/'
Life is a serious thing, and on that very account
we require some play to set it off. That is why we
find excellent men, saintly men, sometimes talking
nonsense and playing the fool. Sir Thomas More
could at times be very playful. Goethe refers to the
eccentricities of St. PhiHp Neri as ''his whimsical
sallies." "These sallies," as we read in the Psychol-
ogy of the Saints, "were often full of good sense,
as, for instance, when the Pope sent him to visit a
monastery in the neighborhood of Rome in order to
examine into the sanctity of a Religious said to be
favored with revelations and ecstasies. The weather
was abominable, and Philip, who had started on a
mule, arrived at the convent soaked to the skin and
covered with mud. The Sister was brought to him,
and she appeared full of sweetness and unction. By
way of beginning his theological examination, Philip
sat down, held out his leg, and said to her : 'Pull
off my boots.' The Sister drew herself up, scandal-
ized. Philip had seen enough. He seized his hat
and went back to the Vatican, to tell the Holy Father
that a Religious so devoid of humility could not
possibly possess the graces and virtues with which
she was credited. It seems that in our own times a
similar test has been held sufficient. A certain Rose
Tamisier was supposed to be favored with extraor-
Cheerfulness. 471
dinary graces. A prudent ecclesiastic came to see
her. 'You are the saint, aren't you ?' he said to her.
'Yes, Father,' was the answer. The illusion was in-
stantly detected.''
^'Eiitrapeha/' as Father Rickaby says, ''is a blend
of playfulness and earnestness. Without earnest-
ness playfulness degenerates into frivolity. 'O Lord,
give me not over to an irreverent and frivolous
mind' (Ecclus. xxiii. 6)."
In the earliest days of the Society of Jesus, there
was a novice much given to laughing. One day he
met Father Ignatius, and thought that he was in for
a scolding. But St. Ignatius said to him : ''Child, I
want you to laugh and be joyful in the Lord. A
Rehgious has no cause for sadness, but many
reasons for rejoicing; and that you may always be
glad and joyful, be humble always and always
obedient."
A gentle writer urging us to encourage others
with cheerful kindness says : "You w^ould not leave
those plants in your window without water, or re-
fuse to open the shutters that the sunlight might fall
upon them, but you leave some human flower to suf-
fer for want of appreciation or the sunlight of en-
couragement. Utter the kind word when you can.
Give the helping praise when you see that it is
deserved. The thought that 'no one knows and
no one cares' blights many a bud of promise."
It is evident that the Religious who is always
cheerful, always rejoicing in the Lord in the ex-
acting routine of her daily occupations, is a blessing
to her community. She will do her ow^n work w^ell
and lighten the burdens of others. She will attract
souls and draw them with her along the way of per-
fection. Montaigne says : "The most manifest
sign of wisdom is contented cheerfulness, and it is
472 Cheerfulness.
undoubtedly true that a cheerful man has a creative
power which a pessimist never possesses/'
"A merry heart goes all the day;
A sad tires in a mile."
Lew Wallace tells us : ''A man's task is always
light if his heart is light/' and there is wisdom in
the Spanish proverb : ''Who sings in grief procures
relief/'
The presence of a good and cheerful Religious
acts like an invigorating tonic upon all around her.
Nothing disturbs the equanimity of her spirit,
which springs from the peace of God in her heart.
The author of The hnitation says: ''The joy of the
just is from God and in God, and their rejoicing is
in the truth. If there be joy in the world, truly the
man of pure heart possesses it. Rejoice when thou
hast done well."
The path of the Religious is indeed "the King's
highway of the holy cross," the rugged path of pen-
ance and mortification ; but love makes all things
easy, and by the cross the spouse of Christ becomes
like to her divine Lover. In the cross is our life, our
salvation, our resurrection, and by the cross we
attain to peace on earth and to eternal happiness.
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy," but the
practice of mortification should not, and indeed as a
rule does not, make the Religious sad or depressed.
Joy is a gift of the Holy Ghost, one of His precious
fruits, and characterizes the true, faithful spouse of
Christ.
Father Dignam, S.J., says in his Retreats: "All
discouragement comes from pride. Failure has
nothing to do with pleasing God. A soul who fails
and makes her act of contrition twenty times in the
day will probably have given God more glory, and
Cheerfulness, 473
done more for Him, than one who has gone quietly
on all day without failure ; God created some people
(it may be said) to serve Him by failure; for they
give Him glory by their acts of contrition and humil-
iation, while if they had succeeded, their pride would
have made them displeasing to Him.
''A great want in our lives is the spirit of grati-
tude. I reverently believe most firmly the words of St.
Augustine : 'Gratitude is the substance of religious
life.' God is so good; everything that happens,
everything which He either sends or permits, is for
our good, and a true subject of gratitude; if wx do
not see it now, we shall when we come to die.
'^Whenever a thought of sadness occurs to you,
ask yourself what is self-love doing here? What Is
the love of the interests of the Sacred Heart doing ?
Then the sadness will not find the sympathy it has
hitherto found. All sorrow for graces abused which
comes from God, from true contrition, is peaceful
and happy ; it only wonders at God's goodness to it,
after treating Him so badly. Sorrow from wounded
self-love says : 'I might have been so different if I
had not abused those graces, I might have been so
high in the spiritual life, instead of being only just at
the very bottom of the ladder.' It is all self, little or
no thought of God's honor, of God's glory. For the
future, then, true gratitude; and, in consequence,
true peace. Suffer Our Lord to fulfil His words :
Teace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you.' "
Furthermore, the thought of heaven, and of that
blessed time when we shall see God in the fulness of
His beauty, ought to keep our hearts overflowing
with peace and joy. We can be always bright and
cheerful if we keep our eyes directed toward the
eternal shores, to the blessed land of the saints,
where the sky is ever cloudless, where the sun
474 Cheerfulness.
of happiness never sets, where a perfect torrent
of delight inundates the soul, where, as the be-
loved disciple tells us, "God shall wipe away all
tears, and death shall be no more, nor mourning,
nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more; for the
former things are passed away/'
Apropos of this subject. Father Henry Calmer,
S.J., of blessed memory, who for many years filled
the pulpit of St. Xavier Church, Cincinnati, and
held vast audiences spellbound by his eloquence,
wrote the following hitherto unpublished lines while
visiting a Trappist monastery :
ETERNITY.
The silent monks prayed in their oaken stalls;
In the tangled grass by the abbey walls
Bloomed the roses red with their dropping leaves,
And roses pink as the dreams youth weaves,
And roses white as when love deceives ;
How they bloomed and swayed in the garden there,
While the bell tolled out in the warm still air:
''Eternity!"
''Eternity!" the great bell rang.
"Leave life and love and youth," it sang;
And the red rose scattered its petals wide,
And the pink rose dreamed in the sun, and .sighed,
And the white rose pined on its stem and died.
O Life, Love, Youth ! Ye are sweet, ye are strong,
But barren lives shall bloom in a long
Eternity !
Where peace and interior joy abound there also
cheerfulness of mien and manner ought to be found.
And if peace and happiness are not found in the con-
vent, where on earth shall we look for these bless-
ings? Happiness presupposes peace, a threefold
peace: Peace with God, peace with ourselves, and
peace with our neighbor. That man is happy who
lives in peace.
Cheerfulness. 475
In the Holy Night, when Our Saviour was born,
the angels sang: ''On earth, peace!' On the eve of
His Passion, Our Lord said to His disciples in His
touching farewell address : ''Peace I leave with yoii,
My peace I give unto you/' And after the Resur-
rection, He greeted His followers repeatedly with
the words : ''Peace be to you/' Peace must be a
great blessing, a priceless treasure; it is indeed
happiness.
The Church prays for peace daily in the Canon
of the Mass. "Dona nobis pacemT is the third
petition of the "Agnus Dei/' ''Give us peace !''
And in the beautiful prayers before communion the
Church again asks for peace. "Pax huic domuir
''Peace be to this house !" the priest says on enter-
ing a sick-room to administer the Last Sacraments.
"Pax!" is the simple device of the illustrious Order
of St. Benedict, in connection with the watchword :
"Ut in omnibus gloriiicetur Deus!" "That in all
things God may be glorified !" This is substantially
the same as the chant of the angels : "Gloria in ex-
cel sis Deo et in terra pax hominibus 1" "Glory to
God in the highest and peace on earth to men of
good will !" To seek God's glory means peace and
happiness to man. His glory and our happiness are
inseparably united. This is man's destiny, as the
little Catechism teaches : "To know God, to love
Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him for-
ever." This is true philosophy : Man tends natur-
ally to happiness as to his last end, "a state of free-
dom from all evil and enjoyment of every good that
can be desired, joined with the certainty of its ever-
lasting duration."
In this world real happiness consists in the peace
and joys of a good conscience and in the hope of an
eternal reward which springs from a well-spent life.
476 Cheerfulness.
**In the next world," as Archbishop Meurin says iji
his Ethics, ''happiness consists in the fullest knowl-
edge of the infinite truth, which is God Himself, in
the most ardent love of the supreme goodness and
beauty, which again is nothing else but God, and in
the perpetual possession of supreme bliss, which
consists in everlasting friendship and union with
God."
The will of God, then, is this, that in the present
life, in whatever circumstances divine Providence
may place us, we live virtuously, avoiding" evil, and
doing good.
Peace with God implies the state of grace, a good
conscience, submission to and fulfilment of the divine
will. Peace with self implies the mastery over one's
passions, the consciousness of duty well done, the
approval of one's conscience. Peace with one's
neighbor implies the commandment of love, the ob-
servance of the golden rule : ''As you would that
men should do to you, do you also to them in like
manner" (Luke vi. 31). This threefold peace is the
basis of happiness. This happiness can not fail to
be the portion of a true Religious, and the fruit of
this happiness ought to be cheerfulness. A cheer-
ful Religious is a rebuke to the world, whose vo-
taries make it a matter of reproach against religion
that it sends men to learn the solemn lessons of the
grave and casts a blight upon life, that meditation
on the eternal truths tends to stifle endeavor, to par-
alyze our energies, and to sadden our days. Religion
really tends to gladden our hearts and to make our
days calm and tranquil, as we have already pointed
out.
"Rejoice in the Lord always!" applies especially
to Religious. They ought always to be cheerful, and
their joy should find expression in deeds of kindness
Cheerfulness. 477
and helpfulness to all with whom they come in con-
tact. They ought to heed the words of Our Lord to
His followers : ''Be of good cheer !" Life to-day is
so strenuous that there is constant need of relief
from its strain, and a sunny, cheerful, gracious soul
is like a sea-breeze in sultry August or like a
'"draught of cool refreshment drained by fevered
lips."
The author of The Floral Apostles, referring to
the crocus and the primrose as the emblems of cheer-
fulness, says : "Cheerfulness furnishes the best
soil for the growth of goodness and virtue. It is also
the test of moral and mental tonics. 'A glad heart
maketh a cheerful countenance, but by grief of mind
the spirit is cast down' (Prov. xv. 13). 'A joyful
mind maketh age flourishing; a sorrowful spirit
drietli up the bones' (Prov. xvii. 22)."
We can all acquire greater cheerfulness by assum-
ing the right mental attitude toward our environ-
ment and circumstances, by looking habitually at the
bright side of things, by training ourselves persist-
ently to see the good and pleasant things in our com-
mon, daily life.
Some persons seem to have eyes only for the dis-
agreeable things that happen to come into their life ;
they forget or overlook their blessings, and brood
over their trials and misfortunes.
The soothing line in The Rainy Day: ''Behind
the clouds is the sun still shining," does not comfort
them. Stevenson says :
"Two men looked out through their prison bars;
The one saw mud and the other stars."
Let us learn to look ^t life not to find misery and
discomfort in it, but to find goodness, gladness,
and beauty. The author of The Art of Being Happy
478 Cheerfulness.
relates the following anecdote : ''A poet was gazing
one day at a beautiful rose-tree. 'What a pity/ said
he, 'that these roses have thorns !' A man who was
passing by remarked : 'Let us rather thank our good
God for having allowed these thorns to have roses.'
Ah ! how we also ought to thank God for the many
joys and blessings that He grants us in spite of our
sins, instead of complaining about the slight troubles
that He sends us."
"A doctor who has made a specialty of nervous
diseases," so we read, "has found a new remedy for
the blues. His prescription amounts to this : 'Keep
the corners of your mouth turned up ; then you can't
feel blue.' The simple direction is : 'Smile ;
keep on smiling; don't stop smiling.' It sounds
ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, just try turning up the
corners of your mouth, regardless of your mood,
and see how it makes you feel ; then draw the cor-
ners of your mouth down, and note the effect, and
you will be willing to declare 'there's something in
it !' " A good suggestion in regard to any past trouble
or humiliation is this : "Let it go !" "Forget it !" An
optimist writes : "If you had an unfortunate expe-
rience this last year, forget it. If you have made a
failure in your speech, your song, your book, or
your article ; if you have been placed in an embar-
rassing position, if you have been deceived and hurt
by one whom you looked upon as a friend, if you
have been slandered and abused, do not dwell upon
it, do not brood over it ; forget it ! There is not a
single redeeming feature in these memories. Do not
make yourself unhappy by keeping on the walls of
your heart the pictures of vanished joys and faded
hopes. Forget them. County your blessings. Be of
good cheer."
As regards those faults of our neighbors that ir-
Cheerfulness, 479
ritate us, it will help us to be more cheerful and ami-
able if we remember our own shortcomings, which
they have to endure. St. Paul admonishes us:
"Bear ye one another's burdens and so you shall
fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. vi. 2). Do not look
for mistakes or faults to censure in others ; let us
rather look for an excuse for our brethren ; let us
admire their virtues and imitate them. The follow-
ing lines can not be pronounced elegant, but they
contain much wisdom :
''There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it ill behooves any of us
To rail at the faults of the rest of us."
The author of The Art of Being Happy says:
''There is a word which can not be said too often to
every Christian whom God has destined to live, con-
verse and labor in the society of his fellow-crea-
tures : Be indulgent. Yes, be indulgent ; it is neces-
sary for others, and it is necessary for your own
sake. Forget the little troubles that others may
cause you ; keep up no resentment for the incon-
siderate or unfavorable words that may have been
said about you; excuse the mistakes and awkward
blunders of which you are the victim ; always make
out good intentions for those who have done you any
wrong by imprudent acts or speeches ; in a word,
smile at everything, show a pleasant face on all oc-
casions ; maintain an inexhaustible fund of good-
ness, patience, and gentleness. Thus you will be at
peace with all your brethren ; your love for them will
sufifer no alteration, and their love for you w^ill in-
crease day by day. But, above all, you will practice
in an excellent manner Christian charity, which is
impossible without this toleration and indulgence at
every instant."
480 Cheerfulness,
In conclusion, then, let us resolve to be cheerful
and amiable at all times and under all circumstances.
By keeping this resolution we shall glorify God, gain
much merit ourselves, and be a blessing to others.
Cheerfulness makes the daily burden of duty light
and renders one strong for every struggle. It will
be a blessing to ourselves and to all with whom we
come in contact.
A cheerful Religious, in particular, by her buoy-
ancy, geniality, and amiability, will attract souls to
herself and draw them easily under her influence
with a view to their sanctification and salvation. Her
influence on others will be like summer warmth on
field and forest, stirring up and calling forth the best
that is in them, and urging them on to walk more
swiftly, more bravely, more joyously in the way of
perfection. And thus she will serve and please her
Lord and Master, the divine Lover of souls.
CHAPTER XLIV.
tCbe Upoetlcebiv ot •ftinDneea.
^^HERE is a missioner sent from heaven whose
^^ gentle influence is of great importance in the
exercise of our apostleship. Its name is kindness.
We do not beHeve there is a heart on earth, how-
ever hardened in worldliness or long habits of sin,
that is altogether callous to the influence of this
heaven-sent missioner.
We may judge of the beneficial effects of kindness
by the contrary results of its antithesis, unkindness,
which, resembling a withering frost or a biting blast
sweeping over the fair things of earth, scatters de-
struction as it passes.
How many a noble work has been nipped in the
bud by the blast of an unkind judgment; how many
a generous heart has been crushed in its brightest
hopes by a jealous criticism; how many a holy in-
spiration, destined to bear abundant fruit for God
and souls, has been forced back into the poor heart
from whence it had ascended, there to be stifled ut-
terly and forever, leaving that heart, as the poet so
graphically represents it, "like a deserted bird's nest
filled with snow,'' because unkindness had robbed it
of that for which, perhaps, alone it cared to live.
How much, then, \vt may believe has been lost to
the world of all that is good and great and beautiful
through the instrumentality of imkindness ; and if it
be thus, what developments, on the other hand, may
we not expect, in the order of grace as wxll as of
nature, in the hearts and minds of men beneath the
genial sun of kindness ?
482 The Apostleship of Kindness.
Even in the common things of life, and in the
natural order, how striking are the results of the
passage of this heaven-sent missioner, this angel of
light and consolation.
The same sorrow, which perhaps has weighed on
us for years, may be lying on our hearts ; we may be
in the same set of embarrassing circumstances; no
change may have taken place in our material posi-
tion, in our actual trials, but a word, a little word has
been addressed to us, and it has fallen on our weary
and desolate hearts like a voice from the true home
of our souls, or like the harp of David soothing
SauFs troubled spirit. It has been Hke a ray of sun-
shine, penetrating the dark shadow hanging over us,
and calling forth once more the flowers in our hearts
that were drooping there for want of it. That word
of kindness has wrought a work — silently, unob-
trusively— a work whose blessed fruit, perhaps, will
endure throughout eternity.
Let us then be kind if we would promote the inter-
ests of that Heart of which kindness was the special
characteristic. Let it not be in isolated acts — ''few
and far between ;'' this is not the kindness of Jesus'
Heart, the missioner who is to do His work and ad-
vocate His interests in souls. No — it must be like
prayer — a habitual disposition of heart, which is
ready to manifest itself without any effort and al-
most unconsciously, at all seasons and in all circum-
stances, and thus it will be with hearts which are
united to that Heart of love. Kindness will flow from
them, as it were, naturally, just as the flowers give
forth their perfume, the birds their song, and as the
sun shines down alike on good and bad, as it goes on
its daily circuit — because all this is of their very na-
ture. In the most trivial things of daily life the
spirit of kindness should render itself evident. God
The Apostleship of Kindness, 483
is kind in small things as well as in great ones. This
is manifested in the works of creation, but it is
brought much more home to us in the Incarnation of
the Word, in which the loving kindness and con-
siderateness of the Sacred Heart are shown forth so
touchingly in all its dealings with men.
Kindness is as the bloom upon the fruit — it renders
charity and religion attractive and beautiful. With-
out it even charitable works lose their power of win-
ning souls, for without kindness the idea of love of
anything supernatural — in a word, of Jesus, is not
conveyed to the mind by the works performed^^ even
though they be done from a right motive. There is
such a thing as doing certain exterior actions, which
are intended to be charitable, ungraciously. Now,
actions thus performed do not manifest the kindness
of the Heart of Jesus, nor will they be efficacious in
extending the empire of His love or in wanning souls
to His kingdom. The fruit may be sound, but the
bloom is not on it; hence it is uninviting. There-
fore, advisedly have we said that kindness has a mis-
sion to perform on earth which no other agent can
effect. It is a lever specially designed by God to
loosen the hard clods of earth in the hearts of men,
in order that the water beneath those clods might
gush forth again and irrigate the land grown barren
from its hardness ; it is a genial sun lighting on the
frozen snow of hearts, which no other influence could
melt ; it is as the rod of Moses, at whose touch the
waters flowed forth from the arid rock of Horeb ;
for even so does kindness, with magic power, touch
the barren rock of pride, opening up salutary well-
springs in the soul, and causing eyes which had not
wept for long to shed tears of chastening sorrow.
Let us then be kind, since kindness is a missioner
whose apostolate is designed for the obtainment of
484 The Apostleship' of Kindness.
such great things in the interests of the Heart of
Jesus ; and while we exercise this meek apostolate
among those with whom we come into personal con-
tact let us be kind in our thoughts of those whom
we have never seen and probably never shall see here
below\ There are men whose lives are but a tissue of
worldliness, whose souls seem incapable of any aspi-
ration above the material things surrounding them,
or the rationalism which they have adopted for their
creed. Let us be gentle in our thoughts of them.
There may be some among them on whose ears the
voicQ^ of kindness has not fallen for years, on whose
hearts its softening touch has not for many a long
day rested, on whose souls its genial sun has ceased
to shine — perhaps since the days, long past now,
when a mother, now gone to her rest, smiled fondly
on them. All chastening influences are from them,
perhaps, withdrawn, and they stand alone in the
w^orld, surrounded only by associations wholly in-
capable of acting on their better nature. Possibly if
they were but brought within the influence of the
heaven-sent messenger we have been considering,
those men whose lives are now a reproach to Chris-
tianity might be awakened to better things, and,
finally, be opened to the higher influences of
religion.
And, after all, if we reflect upon it, kindness is but
the outcome and exemplar of the divine precept :
''Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." There is
nothing we personally so much appreciate as kind-
ness. We like others to think of us kindly, to speak
to us kindly, and to render us kindly actions and in a
kindly manner. Now, as has been said above, we
should know how to put ourselves in the place of
others, and thus we should testify to them that kind-
liness that we value so much ourselves.
The Apostleship of Kindness. 485
When our divine Lord came down upon earth, He
came not only to save us by shedding His blood for
us, but to teach us by His example how to cooperate
with Him in extending the kingdom of His Father.
And one of the most powerful means which He em-
ployed for this purpose was kindness, gentleness,
and forbearance. ''The goodness and kindness of
God our Saviour appeared/' by which words we
learn that kindness is not altogether synonymous
with goodness, but, as it were, a luster, a bloom, an
attraction superadded to it.
We might regard this sweet reflection from the
Heart of Jesus from many points of view, but it is
especially under one aspect that we have been con-
sidering it; namely, as a powerful weapon in our
hands for the efficacious exercise of our apostolate.
Kindly thoughts of others will be productive of
prayer in their regard, at once fervent and affection-
ate— prayer such as the loving Heart of Jesus will-
ingly listens to; kindly words and deeds will draw
souls to the love of Him whose spirit they behold so
attractively reproduced in His members. As the
wood-violets give forth their perfume from beneath
the brushwood that conceals them from view, tell-
ing us of their unseen nearness, so kindness reveals'
to us the nearness of Jesus, the sweetness of whose
spirit is thus breathed forth.
Such is the kindness which is that great missioner
sent by the Heart of Jesus to exercise an apostolate
of love upon earth, and so to promote the glory of
God and the salvation of souls. To exercise this
apostolate will be the endeavor of all true lovers of
the Divine Heart, and thus they will reproduce and
perpetuate the life of the Heart of Jesus upon earth,
so that it may be said of them : '*The goodness and
kindness of God our Saviour has appeared'' in His
members. — From the Voice of the Sacred Heart.
CHAPTER XLV.
IRetlections on 1bappme00»
I. yTJT'HAT must we do to be happy? The
^^^^^ thing is not hard. Much knowledge
is not necessary for this, nor much talent, but only a
real good will to do one's duty. Happiness, as far
as it can exist here below, consists in peace, in the
joy of a good conscience. Our conscience will be
joyous and peaceful if it know not remorse; it will
not know remorse if we are careful not to offend
God. To fly from sin is, therefore, the chief source
of happiness on earth. If our conscience is pure, our
life will be happy. There are none happier than
saints, for there are none more innocent.
H. 'Tf I could do good around me,'' some one
said, 'T feel that I should be happy." Yes, to do
good and to do it, not through ostentation or self-
interest, but for the love of God, is an infallible
secret for finding happiness. And it is so easy to do
good around one. Here is some poor person whom
you can help ; an ignorant person whom you can in-
struct ; some one in trouble whom you can cheer ; an
accident or a mistake that you can set right, a good
advice that you can give, a service that you can
render, and a thousand things of the sort which oc-
cur from morning till night. Remember those words
of our divine Redeemer: ''Whoever shall give to
drink to one of those little ones a cup of cold water
only, in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you he
shall not lose his reward."
HI. There is no surer or easier means of main-
taining an interior spirit, union with God, purity of
Reflections on Happiness. 487
conscience, and fervor — all of them things which
contribute greatly to make the soul happy — no surer
or easier means than to make it a rule to raise one's
heart toward Jesus and Mary every half hour. A
glance toward heaven, an aspiration, an act of love,
is enough. In making this act, in casting this
glance, we are forced to enter into ourselves ; and if
anything troubles our peace of heart, or exposes us
to fail in our duty, we are immediately warned of it.
Does not the sick man take, every half hour or even
every quarter of an hour, the medicine prescribed
for him by the physician? Well, our poor soul is
sick, and it needs at a fixed interval some moments
of recollection, some short prayer to strengthen it
again and to sustain it. Oh, what progress we should
make in the ways of holiness and true happiness if
we would adopt this practice !
IV. How can disquiet, that mortal enemy of
happiness, find a place in our souls if we reflect well
on what God is with regard to us? God sees all
that happens to us : this is an absolutely certain truth.
God loves us, and desires only our good : another
truth which is not less certain. Therefore if sick-
ness, poverty, adversity fall upon me, ought I not to
say : 'T take refuge with a blind trustfulness in the
bosom of my heavenly Father, for He sees my state
and He loves me"? If envy and calumny pursue
me, ought I not to say : ''Nothing of all this can hurt
me, for God hears the unjust words spoken against
me and He loves me"? Thus in all the crosses
which come to us, if we have absolute confidence in
God, none of these will be able to make us lose our
peace of heart.
V. It often happens that we bring troubles and
annoyances upon ourselves, and fall into many faults,
just through want of reflection. We decide some
488 Reflections on Happiness.
matter too quickly; we utter too quickly a bitter
word ; we follow too quickly the counsel of passion
and self-love; we open too quickly a certain book,
and so forth. We ought to have asked ourselves
first, is what I am going to do praiseworthy, useful,
or even allowed ? What will be the consequences of
it? Shall I repent of having done it? A moment
of recollection, and above all an interior glance
toward our good God, would be enough many times
to open our eyes and would prevent acts that we re-
gret. Let us learn to master our natural eagerness,
and let us observe this rule faithfully if we would
spare ourselves many little miseries and sometimes
even very great ones.
VL Let us always keep before our minds that
word of Our Lord : ''With the same measure that
you mete unto others it shall be meted unto you."
How many salutary reflections this w^ill suggest to
us ! Thus I can say to myself : if I am rude and hard
toward my brethren, God will be harsh toward me ;
if I let nothing pass with them, He will let nothing
pass with me ; if I refuse to speak to them. He will
not let His voice be heard in the depth of my heart,
but will go away far from me ; if I do not pardon the
real or fancied wrongs that have been done me, no
more will He pardon me. Oh, what a fate I am pre-
paring for myself in behaving as I do in my daily
intercourse with those around me ! And if I find that
my good God is not lavish of His graces toward me,
and that He turns a deaf ear when I invoke Him, is
it not because I am niggardly with others and let
myself be entreated twenty times before doing them
some little service? Come, my soul, let us begin to
be wise and understand our own interests. Let us
have a large, generous heart, full of goodness and
thoughtfulness for others. All the good that we do
Reflections on Happiness. 489
for them will be done indirectly for ourselves. In
making them happy we shall make sure of our own
happmess.
VII. How^ sweet and agreeable an occupation it
is to give pleasure to those around us ! It is quite
natural among Christians, but it becomes almost a
duty among the members of a family or a commu-
nity, especially toward persons whom age or rank
places above us. And, to give pleasure, what is ne-
cessary? Things the most insignificant, provided
they be accompanied by amiable manners ; what is
necessary, above all, is to have habitually a smile on
our lips. Oh ! who can tell the power of a smile ?
For ourselves, it is the guardian of kindness, pa-
tience, tolerance, all the virtues that we have occa-
sion to exercise in our relations with our neighbor.
There is in fact no danger of our being rude or
severe as long as a smile rests on our lips. For
others, it is a source of contentment, joy, satisfac-
tion, and encouragement. Without even uttering a
single word we put those around us at their ease ; we
inspire them with a sweet confidence, if we approach
them with a smile. Perhaps you will object that
you can not smile, that you are naturally serious or
even severe. Undeceive yourself : with real good
will you will acquire this empire over yourself, you
will soon do by custom what you at first did by con-
straint; and the interior joy that you taste will rec-
ompense you superabundantly for your trouble and
your efforts.
''There are none so happy in this world as those
who have tranquillity of soul in the midst of the
troubles of life," says the venerable Cure d'Ars.
'They taste the joy of the children of God. All pains
are sweet when we suffer In union with Our Lord.
To suffer — what matter? — it is only a moment. If
490 Rejections on Happiness.
we could go and spend eight days in heaven, we
should understand the worth of this moment of suf-
fering. We should find no cross heavy enough, no
tcial sufficiently bitter.''
VIII. A great secret for preserving peace of
heart is to do nothing with over-eagerness, but to
act always calmly, without trouble or disquiet. We
are not asked to do much but to do well. At the Last
Day God will not examine if we have performed a
multitude of works, but if we have sanctified our
souls in doing them. Now the means of sanctifying
ourselves is to do everything for God and to do per-
fectly whatever we have to do. The works that have
as their motive vanity or selfishness make us neither
better nor happier, and we shall receive no reward
for them.
IX. 'T feel happy," said a holy person, "in pro-
portion as I do my actions well." Let us meditate an
instant on this luminous saying. To do well what one
has to do — here again is the secret of being happy.
Every man, then, can be happy ; and, if we have not
been happy hitherto, it is because we have not put
this lesson into practice. But what is necessary for
this? Oh, very little. To do every action, as we
have already said, with a view of pleasing God ; to
do every action in the manner that God commands,
either through Himself or through those who hold
His place in our regard ; to do every action as if we
had nothing else to do but this, and as if we were to
die after having aone it.*
*Extracts from The Art of Being Happy, a brochure
translated from the French by the Rev. Matthew Russell,
SJ.
CHAPTER XLVL
XLbc Sweetne00 ot tbe Ibeatt ot ^cme
in 1bl0 /nbanner ot Zcacbim.
'TT'mong all the virtues that Our Lord held
(vA-'-. forth while upon earth, and of which He
gave us at the same time the precept and example,
there is one that He recommended most particularly
to His disciples; namely, charity. Charity is the
most universal virtue : it takes the place of all the
others, supposes them and includes them all ;
it is the most efficacious of all virtues, it alone
justifies one before God. One can have faith with-
out being righteous, for the demons believe, and
tremble ; sinners have often clung to hope, yet for
that were not reconciled to God.
Charity is the bond of hearts. A soul entirely be-
longing to God would be no longer dry and contrac-
ted by the inequalities of self-love ; loving only for
God, it would love like God with an admirable love,
for God is love, as St. John has said. x\ccording to
His divine promise His ''bowels of compassion"
were always an inexhaustible source of living water.
Love should bear all, suffer all things, hope all for
one's neighbor ; love should surmount all difficulties ;
from the depths of the heart it should shed itself
through all the senses ; it should be moved to pity
for the afflictions of others, and count its own as
nothing; it should console, it should compassionate,
it should accommodate itself to others, making itself
little to the little ones, and becoming great with the
great; it should weep with those who weep, and
rejoice through condescension with those who re-
492 The Sweetness of the Heart of Jesus,
joice ; it should be all to all, not with a forced ap-
pearance and dry demonstrations, but through the
overflowing of the heart, in which charity should be
a living source of all the tenderest and strongest
sentiments.
What could be more touching than the sweetness
and patience with which the divine Saviour in-
structed His disciples ? He did not dissimulate
but taught them all truth with a goodness quite as-
tonishing to us. He taught them not to cling to
Him except through supernatural motives, not to
expect from His Heart any human advantage, and
to count only upon the goods of heaven. What
must not Jesus have suffered from those minds, so
gross and so little acquainted with spiritual things !
Nevertheless, He always treated them with sweet-
ness and kindness, never becoming discouraged be-
cause He could not succeed in overcoming their
prejudices. He knew that this moment would ar-
rive, and He awaited it patiently. He did not spare
Himself in their instruction, although they drew no
profit from His lessons, and although He foresaw
that they would be unproductive. He explained to
them particularly the meaning of the parables that
He used in speaking to the people ; and if He some-
times reproached them for their want of understand-
ing it was not to wound them nor to show them
that He was shocked on account of it, but to cause
them to elevate their minds and render them more
attentive. His condescension in their regard was
extreme ; and it is inconceivable to us when we
think of the master that He was, and with what dis-
ciples He had to deal. How greatly He was obliged
to humble Himself to place Himself on their level !
How many useless or indiscreet questions He was
obliged to listen to on their part ! What manage-
The Sweetness of the Heart of Jesus. 493
ment not to offend or discourage them ! What per-
severance to repeat ceaselessly the same things,
which many times they understood no better the last
time than the first !
Those charged with the instruction of others are
so much the more exposed to anger and discourage-
ment as they are themselves the more intelligent and
their pupils the more dull of comprehension. We
may, then, judge something of the ineffable indul-
gence of the Heart of Jesus, who, possessing all the
treasures of divine science, was obliged to converse
with men entirely material, and without understand-
ing; yet nevertheless He never repulsed them, and
never neglected any occasion of raising their minds
to the things of God. He only considered Himself
more obliged to communicate to them greater light
and more abundant graces ; He could easily have
disabused them of their prejudices, enlightened their
minds and have given them understanding of the
Holy Scriptures, • but the time had not yet come ;
He awaited submissively the will of His Father,
and expressed no eagerness to see it sooner executed.
There is no virtue more necessary to those who
teach others than sweetness. They are obliged to
combat the defects of mind and character and the
evil dispositions of those to whom they speak, and
if they exhibit any degree of ill-humor, impatience,
haughtiness, or imperiousness, it will be prejudicial
to them and their instructions ; it will alienate the
minds of the pupils ; it will be revolting to them
and they will be disgusted. Let them recall the ex-
ample of Jesus, how He proportioned His instruc-
tions to the capacity of each, how He enlightened
them insensibly and by degrees, always seizing the
most favorable moment, covering and smoothing
over the difficulties that mJght cause those who lis-
494 The Sweetness of the Heart of Jesus.
tened to turn away. St. Peter has st}'led His con-
duct toward men midtiformis, because it assumed a
thousand forms in His manner of bestowing His
graces ; and as Wisdom informs us that each found
in the manna the particular flavor that he reHshed,
so Jesus varied His instructions according to their
several necessities. The nourishment is propor-
tioned to each soul according to its hunger and pres-
ent necessity. Has He not told us that He knows
us each by name? His direction then is different
for soft and weak natures than for formed and firm
characters ; different for the perfect than for those
who are not yet perfect : to each He gives what is
best for him with tender and marvelous goodness.
''For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh," and not alone in the words that it says,
but yet more in the manner which accompanies
them. A humble teacher may teach great things,
but he teaches them with humility ; there is nothing
in his manner nor language that pride or self-suf-
ficiency could resent; he understands how to bring
himself to the level of those to whom he speaks, and
to adapt himself to their limited intelligence. If he
gives weight and authority to his words, it is not
that he may be more esteemed himself, but for the
honor of His name for whom he speaks, and to
make deeper impression upon minds.
Such was our divine Master in His teaching;
there was no affectation in His discourses, no ap-
pearance of eloquence, but a touching and charming
simplicity. It would be impossible to express divine
and sublime things in a more simple manner. His
expressions, without being common, had nothing
therein above the comprehension of the most medi-
ocre minds ; yet nevertheless they contained such
profound meaning that the greatest geniuses com-
The Szveeiness of the Heart of Jesus. 495
prehended them only imperfectly. He borrowed
from the most ordinary objects the comparisons of
which He made use, and His parables contained
nothing that was not simple and familiar. It was
a heart that spoke to heart, and w^hich, full of what
it said, caused the same to pass into the hearts of
those who listened. Read His conversation with
the Samaritan woman ; see how^ He instructed,
touched, and gained her little by little, and led her
by degrees to recognize in Him the Messias. This
was undoubtedly the work of His grace, but His
words were His instrument and He adapted them to
His secret actions.
How pleasant to us is the thought that Jesus has
exercised, in our regard, and without exception, all
the works of mercy ! Let us beg this divine Master
to teach us how to exercise some in regard to our
neighbor, so that having walked in His footsteps in
the practice of these virtues with which His heart
w^as filled we may obtain from Him on that day of
final consummation the special recompense con-
tained in this sacred promise : ''Blessed are the mer-
ciful, for they shall obtain mercy !"
Interior Christians, charged with the instruction
and guidance of others, according to the example
and lessons, of the Heart of Jesus, speak with hu-
mility, because they speak not from themselves.
They enlighten the mind, but they touch the heart
more directly ; they warm it, penetrate it, and fill it
Avith a divine unction.
They are simple, easy, familiar ; yet they combine
a majesty with their simplicity that attracts and
charms. Their persuasive power proceeds from
the grace that inspires and directs them. Charity is
patient, it is not troubled at the crosses of life and
the defects of others ; for charity consists in the
40 The Sweetness of the Heart of Jesus.
love of God, and the love of God acquiesces in the
good pleasure of God, and sees the holy will of God
in all things.
''Resist faithfully your impatience," says St.
Francis de Sales, ''by practicing with reason, and
even against reason, a holy affability and sweetness
toward all and above all toward those who cause
you annoyance." "Watch over yourself that you
become not troubled nor impatient on account of the
defects of others," says St. Bernard.
Patience does not render one blind nor insensible ;
it perceives the imperfections of others and suffers
accordingly ; and if one would follow the dictates of
nature he would exclaim against them. But in the
presence of God he represses all these sallies of na-
ture, and avoids any sign of impatience or bitterness
upon any occasion when the heart is wounded or
self-love offended ; he measures his words, that they
may give token of no contempt or offence, even
toward those with whom he has reason to be dis-
pleased. He preserves on every occasion a civil,
modest, and affable manner ; he makes use of the
greatest condescension in favor of those persons
who, through their imperfection and weakness, are
apt to inspire others with dislike or disgust. Can
there be in the eyes of God a more beautiful sacri-
fice or a more perfect mortification than this?*
*From The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by
Rev. F. Huguet.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Zbc pertection ot tbe IRcligione ^eacber,
'T^ROFESSED Religious who are called to teach
*-■— have their appointment ''by divine grace/' It
is their privilege, and, if rightly taken hold of, it will
be their constant joy to cooperate with God in His
great work of accomplishing and perfecting the
designs of creation. The renewal of the world, its
conservation in a healthy spirit, means nothing else
than a continuous creation through the action of the
Divine Spirit. ''Emitte Spirittim Ttium et creabiin-
tiir, et renovabis faciem terrce/' This is eminently
true of education, which is the training unto perfec-
tion of the highest type of creation — man.
But to cooperate rightly with God in this great
work, the teacher requires special qualifications.
These are, indeed, guaranteed to the members of
the teaching orders — thanks to God's wondrous
goodness — in the fact that He has called them to
this task. Religious teachers may not always be
conscious of the possession or operation of such
qualities, because these were given them in the man-
ner of a germ or seed, to be developed and cultivated
in the soil of a good and faithful heart ; and as it is
often difficult to tell what sort of fruit a small seed
may bring forth, so a teacher may have no clear
conception of what he or she can do, or rather what
God may do in using them as instruments of edu-
cation. Nor is it necessary. Does the lily grow less
fair because it is unconscious of its growth? In
truth, it is very much better for all of us that we
should not trouble ourselves about our talents in
h
498 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
the way of rating them. What we have to do is to
use them, and their use begins by keeping them, Hke
fruitful seed, under ground for a while (humility),
and to gather in this condition a certain amount of
heat (fervor) so that the seed ma^ break (mortifica-
tion) ; and then the little germ, whatever its ultimate
productiveness, will of itself struggle through the
hard crust of the earth to the light. And if after
that it is kept under proper shelter, within the rays
of the divine Sun which warms it, and drinks in the
waters of divine grace which bedew it, and yields
to the care of the gardener appointed by God to tie
and to steady it, giving it a rule lest it grow crooked,
and to prune it, sometimes even unto tears, lest it
spread itself unduly — then that sprout of talent will
bring flowers, and in its season fruits with which we
may safely feed the little ones whom God intrusts
to us for education.
Safely feed the little ones ! We may ; and yet in
our very good-heartedness, which is sometimes a
weakness, we may overfeed them or feed them at the
wrong time, or feed them with a fruit too ripe or
raw, or feed them in a manner too hasty, or in mor-
sels too big for the little throats. In short, our feed-
ing, however good the fruit of our gifts of mind,
instead of preserving life, will produce illness, pain,
mental dyspepsia, cholera, choking, death of mind
and heart ; and we who might have prevented it will
be answerable for the results.
It is on this point, in the long line of a teacher's
qualifications, that I intend chiefly to dwell in these
pages, after briefly stating, for the sake of logical
coherence, what every one knows to be the principal
requisites, natural, intellectual, and moral, for all
those who are called to the very important office of
educating the young.
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 499
I. (i) Among what are termed natural or physi-
cal qualifications, health is obviously counted, inas-
much as it implies the possession of habits of life
which exclude a warping of the judgment and tem-
per of the teacher (mens sana in cor pore sano), or-
the arousing of certain repugnances and prejudices
which offend the sensibilities of the pupil. How-
ever, we know that defects of the body can often be
compensated for by extraordinary gifts of soul.
Among the most efficient educators have been those
who were habitually under the stress of physical
suffering.
(2) Next to health come (in the same natural or-
der) an instinct of propriety, (3) a sense of order,
(4) simplicity of manner. The last two are an
ordinary result of the spirit of holy poverty and
an abiding consciousness of the presence of God. I
say of holy poverty, because that is quite compatible
w4th the neatness and cleanliness w^hich betoken a
regard for our surroundings. "We are to form the
pupils to habits of simplicity, order, economy, and
a taste for the useful," writes the Venerable Madame
Barat, one of the most enlightened educators of the
nineteenth century, and of these things we must
give the example. These are external qualifications.
There are likewise internal gifts of the nat-
ural order requisite for the successful work of
education :
(i) Ordinary insight or penetration into human
nature, and the tact which accompanies that gift ;
(2) the ability to communicate our thoughts;
(3) sufficient inventive power (imagination) to
present knowledge in an interesting form, and elicit
attention; (4) the natural power of enforcing dis-
cipHne; (5) pleasant manner.
Somehow sanctity supplies all these ; but in pro-
500 The Perfection of the Religions Teacher.
portion as sanctity is lacking they must be supplied
from the natural order.
II. In the intellectual order the teacher requires :
(i) Knowledge of the branches or topics to be
taught, and of methods, particularly in certain special
branches. The present training colleges lay consid-
erable stress on this, and teach, under the head
of ''theory and practice of education," psychology,
logic, ethics, the art of teaching, the history of
education, methods for special topics, school hy-
giene, school problems, criticism, elocution."^ I
mention these merely under the head of knowledge
because of the popular demand, and because simi-
lar courses have been adopted by some of the
teaching orders in England, notably in the Normal
Training School of the Sisters of the Holy
Child.
(2) The habit (natural or through training by
mathematics, logic, etc.) of consecutive and logical
thinking. This secures the method which develops
by means of synthesis and analysis.
III. A third category of qualifications belongs
to the moral order. For religious teachers they
may be summed up in the faithful observance
of the spirit and letter of the Rules of their
institute.
This qualification is decidedly of the highest im-
portance, since it supplies both knowledge and
method, because —
(i) Nearness to God opens all the sources of
wisdom and knowledge.f
^Cambridge Course, 1899.
tSt. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, St. Philip Benizi, Suarez,
and other intellectual giants have called the crucifix their
book; and we know what that book taught them even of
human learning.
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 501
(2) Because nearness to God puts us in the right
attitude toward the child; it gives us supernatural
love, which inspires the best method for attracting
and teaching it.
Such are in outline the qualifications which we
must demand of the Christian educator, of whom
the true Religious, apart from the well-informed
parent, is the best type. If I were to set aside all
didactic forms and put the whole matter in a simpler
mold, omitting all that we possess in the principles
of our faith, coupled with the practice of religious
profession, and in. the guidance and protection ac-
corded us by the teaching institute of which we are
members, I would say that our efforts should lay
stress on the perfecting of two virtues, which will
render our work of education not only eminently
satisfactory from the religious point of view, but
infinitely superior to any training that the best efforts
of pedagogical science and art can attain in all the
different orders of study, intellectual or social. The
two virtues to which I refer are courage and justice.
They are the two main hinges on which swings the
gate of the religious educator's efficiency, the gate
which opens the way for the pupil to that sphere
of the child's future usefulness which the education
in the schools over which Religious preside was in-
tended to secure. If we desire confirmation of this
thought we shall find it in the teaching of the Angel
of the Schools, which presents a singular harmony
with the educational maxims to be gleaned in general
from the lives of the founders of the Orders that
have made the training of the young their special
object. Courage (fortitude), one of the essential
requisites in the character of the Christian educator,
is, according to the Angelic Doctor, a virtue which
restrains man within the bounds of right reason,
502 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
while urging him to ^overcome the obstacles opposed
to reason or to its legitimate use."^
There are two ways in which this virtue manifests
itself :
( I ) In sustaining with equanimity and good-will
the hardships imposed upon us by our condition of
life; (2) in facing deliberately new conditions in-
volving hardships and dangers.
The habit of perseverance is the result and per-
fection of courage.f
It is this virtue of fortitude which strikes us so
predominantly in the lives of those saintly and gen-
erous pioneers who came to the New World to teach
the rudiments of Christian faith and civilization to
the natives and to the neglected children of the early
rude settlers. These noble Religious never spoke of
success, yet it is to their seemingly slow progress
that we owe the most valuable results of subsequent
periods in our history of Christian education. The
saintly Madame Duchesne used to say : ''Personally
I have never succeeded, but God gives me grace to
rejoice in the success of others.'' Yet it was to her
that Madame Barat felt impelled to write (Feb-
ruary 16, 1852) : ''Oh, if we had many souls as
zealous and as detached as those who have invaded
your part of the world, foundations would he easy.
Pray, then, dear and good Mother, urgently and fer-
vently that our divine Master may consider the needs
of the souls we ought to save. He will grant the
prayers of my dear old daughter who has so well
"^Summc 11. 23e, qu. 123, art. i. — Cf. Le Pretre Educateur,
Lecuyer, pp. 4 ff.
jCf. I Cor. xiii. 7, where St. Paul shows the twofold
manifestation of courage to be a characteristic of the
fundamental virtue of charity — ''caritas omnia suifert"
— that is, bears in silence ; and "omnia sustinef — that is,
sustains, supports.
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 503
understood the value of souls, and who never stopped
at any obstacle when Jesus called upon her to help
them."^^
But this virtue of courage or fortitude, which we
are to cultivate in ourselves as Christian educators,
must likewise be drawn forth and developed in the
child. I say drawn forth and developed, because its
germ resides in the soul of the child. There is in
every human being a physical and moral force which,
though latent in early years, is capable of being culti-
vated so as to produce this Christian courage which
is the secret of self-denial, of charity, of zeal, even
unto martyrdom, for the salvation of souls. You
will find this germ-virtue in the child's soul mani-
festing itself in three centers of action — intellect,
heart, and will. In every child this moral force dom-
inates in one or other of these faculties, and the
secret of our gaining control of the child consists
in finding the dominant faculty and developing and
utilizing it.
The teacher must love the child and gain its
afifection in order to succeed in training it properly.
But the difficulty is often how to draw out its
afifection ; for we must not forget that love here
spoken of is not a sentiment, not an attachment
w^hich is created by favors, caresses, or flattery.
No ; there are, it is true, children whom we thus
bring to follow us by simply appealing to their
affectionate disposition ; but there are others in
whom intelligence predominates over affection ; and
others in whom the will (self-will) predominates
over both.
To the child that has heart, whose sympathies are
strong and quickly rise to the surface, the educator
need give comparatively Httle special attention,
"^Life, Vol. II., p. 272.
504 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
Such a child will follow its teacher spontaneously,
and it will do whatever is prescribed or even sug-
gested by a superior who can command respect by
his or her personal conduct as a Religious. Indeed,
it is generally to the advantage of such a child if it
be little noticed by the teacher, except in so far as
the common discipline or exceptional sensitiveness,
showing the need of occasional encouragement, may
demand. What the child of heart needs most is the
fostering of independence of character ; and with this
end in view it must become accustomed to stand
alone; thus it is brought gradually to develop the
element of courage latent in its soul. The young
tree shaken by the rude winds and stripped of its
leaves may look quite forlorn at times, and provoke
the pity of the gardener ; but the gardener, too, has
an occasion here for the exercise of courage, by
withholding the expression of sympathy, mindful
only of the fact that the tree much shaken by the
winds lays a stronger hold on the soil, provided the
winds are not without intermission and do not come
always from the same quarter. The natural craving
for the esthetic, the poetic, and sentimental, which
manifests itself in particular friendships, in letter-
writing, and even in pious devotions, is to be curbed
in all children of exceptionally big-hearted disposi-
tion, as a danger which saps that portion of the
material of the soul from which character is to be
built for their future safeguard through life. Even
when it happens that, in the endeavor to repress this
noxious tendency, we seem to wound the sensitive-
ness of the child, so that it droops in apparent help-
lessness, let us remember the nature of the southern
mimosa. The little sensitive plant shrinks and col-
lapses at the touch of the hand as though withered
and broken forever; yet give it a little time and
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 505
sunshine and it rises up gradually, showing no traces
of its former weakness. Hence it is that the wisest
instructors, especially in the case of girls, warn the
teacher against an excessive cultivation of sentiment
among children at the expense of solid principles.
However, while the proverb, ''Trop de siicre dans la
jeimesse, mauvaises dents dans la z'ieillesse/' applies
here, as well as in the physical training of children,
it ought to be remembered that while children of
large sympathies are quite common in some, espe-
cially southern, countries, they are not so many in
America ; and they are becoming fewer day by day
amid the materialistic tendency of modern life, which
is calculated to dry up the sentimental element and
to turn it into self-love of some other kind.
A second class of children referred to are those
in whom the desire to know and the capacity to
understand predominate over the qualities of the
heart or the will. Such children must be reached
through their minds. Although the teacher can fully
control the child only by the attraction of the heart,
yet it is necessary first to find and to open the way
to the heart. In the predominantly intelligent child
this is done by making it understand its deficiency.
Seeing and reflecting to some extent upon its want,
there arises in the young soul a longing for that
w^hich it lacks, to fill the void recognized in its
nature. This longing awakens the operation of the
heart, and gives the educator an opportunity to pre-
sent an attraction by which the child can be led
forward and drawn upward.
It w^ould, therefore, be an error to appeal directly
to the sentiment of affection in a child of this dispo-
sition before we have made it understand the quality
of its weakness and the value of that which it lacks.
This understanding on the part of the child is mostly
5o6 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
brought about by a judicious measure of humilia-
tions in opposition to the things on which the child
naturally prides itself. But such humiliations must
not be imposed ; they must be made to meet the child
spontaneously, must come upon it gradually in the
course of its tasks, and the ingenious teacher will
readily find means to let the young talent try its
strength upon problems just beyond its reach, look-
ing quietly on, as if to say, After all, you are not
so smart, my child, as one might expect. Thus the
child is made to see in itself the cause of its humilia-
tion, instead of inwardly resenting it as an act which
the teacher inflicts upon it as a penalty for, or a
safeguard against, pride.
But here, too, nothing is so much to be recom-
mended as slow proceeding, waiting and watching
until the child is ready to profit by the operation
of our method. 'Tf you make fire with green wood
you will get more smoke than heat."
Finally, we come to the child in whom the will-
power predominates. It must be ruled and cor-
rected by law, by timely command, by regular appli-
cation to work. Yet let me say at once that this
method must not in any way be understood to
weaken the principle that ''a good teacher rules by
influence rather than by coercive restriction.'' The
habit of constantly impressing and enforcing orders
by the use of reproving words is a sure way to fail
in obtaining respect for either the law or the teacher ;
and oft-repeated correction of this kind seriously
injures the child's disposition. Let the teacher who
finds that he or she has to control such children
watch their propensities and ebullitions of self-will
for some time before appearing to notice and there-
fore to punish them, unless there is question of gross
faults which force themselves on our attention.
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 507
Then, having seen what needs correction, let the
announcement be made, as coming from a superior
authority, of certain rules of conduct to be observed
in the class under proportionate penalty. These rules
should, it must be observed, be but few, and such as
can readily be observed under ordinary circum-
stances. If they be sufficiently definite to cover the
more common and disturbing breaches of discipline,
it will give the teacher an excuse to ignore lesser
faults and to use discretion at times toward indul-
gence, until the general improved tone of discipline
in the class allows a further refining. There is harm
in making rules which the teacher foresees, or ought
to foresee, will not or can not be observed. Assum-
ing that a good, well-considered set of rules is made,
the children will, of course, at once test its strength
by violating it. The teacher is sorry and remains
quite amiable ; but there is the inexorable law with
its penalty, w^hich is to blame for all the poutings
and tears that follow. Gradually the child, finding
that it has to fear only the unyielding law, and not
the teacher, who sympathizes with the young, delin-
quent while quietly urging obedience and, by it, an
avoidance of the painful consequences of violating
the rules, begins to observe the latter. Thus
the same force which leads the child to obedience
leads it also to esteem for the teacher, and the
element of courage is developed through the
will, which turns in the direction of order and
docility.
There is one exception to this method of correc-
tion in which the educator maintains a constantly
pleasant manner whilst appealing to the inexorable
demand of the law of order. This exception is the
case of any open violation of the reverence due to
God, or of holy things which are understood to in-
5o8 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
volve directly His honor. A teacher who can make
upon the child the impression that he or she con-
dones everything except offenses against God, at
once elevates the child to a higher plane of view,
and secures absolute authority over the pupil. In
all matters causing faults against order, propriety,
application to scholastic tasks, etc., the child encoun-
ters a more or less definitely foreseen penalty in-
flicted by the existing rules, which process gradually
forces upon the young mind the recognition of the
eternal order of things, and instinctively develops
convictions regarding the intrinsic value of law. In
these cases the teacher has hardly to use any
words. But it is different when there is question of
the honor due to God, and of sin ; then it is well that
the child should meet the well-governed but evident
indignation of the teacher. For in doing so it will
recognize in the teacher the true and consistent
representative of God, a sentiment which elevates
the dignity of the teacher, and supplies those forces
for governing the child that may otherwise be lack-
ing, either by reason of the absence of certain per-
sonal qualities in the teacher or by reason of circum-
stances in which it is particularly difficult to con-
trol the child.
Yet, whatever necessity there may be for applying
correction, whether in matters of mere deportment
and application, or in the more serious cases of sin,
the double rule of moderation and of seeking if pos-
sible a permanent remedy which goes to the core of
the evil holds good throughout the educational
process. Constantly rehearsed correction of faults
is never, on the whole, successful. Take a shrub in
your garden, some root-branch of which bends
across the path. Every time you pass by you beat
it aside or you lift it up; but it comes down each
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher, 509
time, and tires and irritates you in the constant effort
to avoid its straggling annoyance. Is there no
other way ? Yes ; take a string, tie it around the
bush to uphold the forward branch; shortly the
cells in the lower part of the stem contract and ac-
commodate themselves to . the forced position, and
by degrees growing sJ;ronger they will hold the
branch in place, so that when the string is removed
the shrub is orderly by its own developed strength.
Of course you must measure your string and note
the quality ; not bind too tight lest the branch break,
nor use a string too w^eak lest it snap and the re-
laxed branch hurt some passer-by.
We have seen that the quality of courage essential
in a good teacher is developed in the pupil by bring-
ing under control the heart, the mind, and the will —
the operation of the threefold center of action. To
do this effectually it is necessary not only that the
teacher ascertain the disposition or peculiar charac-
ter of the child, but also that she should gauge the
limits of its capacity in the threefold direction be-
fore indicated. This demands in the teacher the vir-
tue of justice, so as to form a proper estimate of
what the child can do, and also to act out the senti-
ments which that estimate inspires. Fortitude or
courage when not balanced by justice becomes a
danger and a temptation, inasmuch as it yields to im-
pulses of zeal, of discouragement after failure, of
haphazard ventures and foolhardy undertakings,
which destroy the previous efforts of better-minded
educators.
Justice, as defined by the scholastics, is the con-
sistent or sustained determination to render to
every one his proper rights. Every one — that is to
say, first to God ; then to those who directly repre-
sent His claims in the Church; next, to those who
510 The Perfection of the Religions Teacher.
represent the civil and social order; and finally, to
our fellow-men, the images of God.
It is important that we recognize the fact that, in
the educational process, justice as a supernatural
virtue is for the most part to be built upon justice
as a natural virtue. And this gives value to the
study of the classics. The pupil learns to recognize
that there is such a thing as natural virtue, and to
look for it, and respect it in those who are not of
the household of the faith. Furthermore, it will es-
cape that insidious view so dangerous in practice,
though defensible in theory, namely, that, because
faith furnishes an antidote to the malice of sin,
therefore Catholics are excusable for neglecting the
external virtues of which non-Catholics, who are,
often falsely, supposed to polish only the outside of
the platter, are as a rule more careful. The child
will learn that truthfulness, charity, purity, are vir-
tues which may be cultivated by those who are not
so fortunate as to be in the fold of Christ, and that
these virtues dispose them for the grace of faith :
and the fact that these gifts are infinitely ennobled
by baptism does not establish a claim of superior
merit, but only one of deeper gratitude, together
with the graver duty of guarding the treasure with
more fidelity. On the other hand, the child will
also be made aware of the fact that the passions are
scars and weaknesses w^hich result from original
sin, and that religious training and the grace of
faith do not so much eradicate the passions, as rather
teach us how to subdue them.
Justice likewise requires that the teacher keep the
pupil alive to a proper estimate of the scientific
studies for which the young mind may feel an at-
traction, or possess special aptitude. The sciences
are disciplines. They aid us in the discovery of
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher. 511
truth ; but it must not be forgotten that they always
rest upon falHble senses and fallible reason. They
can not by their demonstrative power supersede the
facts of revelation, for the truth of which God's
testimony vouches, even when we do not understand
them. Pious legends are not, of course, facts of reve-
lation ; though it must be noted that the temper of
mind which easily rejects or treats with disrespect
the reputed manifestations in the supernatural order
which command the respect of good and intelligent
persons of any age or country is not a healthy one.
Nevertheless, it is a singular fact, due probably to
the^proneness toward wrong ingrafted in human na-
ture by original sin, that the mind will accept as
demonstrated any plausible scientific hypothesis,
while it rejects divine truths which rest upon much
superior motives of credibility. This tendency of
the naturally scientific mind toward skepticism needs
to be guarded against and counteracted in early
life, when the rudiments of the sciences are being
taught ; and it is done by emphasizing the difference
between supernatural and natural causes and effects.
The principle of justice must likewise be steadily
kept sight of in cases w^here the teacher is bound to
punish the pupil. The minister of penalty must
ever preserve the dignity and impartiality of an in-
strument of the Eternal Lawgiver. Thus the ex-
ercise of this virtue forestalls all morbid exaggera-
tion, all manifestation of caprice, of weakness in
temperament, or of preferences based on individual
likes and dislikes.
It may be asked : how^ can a teacher cast off the
natural likes or dislikes called forth by the disposi-
tion of the children ? The answer is that, while it is
impossible to divest one's self of the natural impres-
sion which attractive qualities in the child or their
512 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher,
contraries inspire, we are not forced to manifest or
act upon such impressions ; nay, we are bound, in
justice to our responsibility as educators, to counter-
act the dislikes we may feel toward a child, and
even more the natural attraction, especially when it
is based mainly upon the impression of the senses.
The teacher must keep an eye on the useful rather
than the beautiful qualities of the child's nature.
We may not like iodine in some of its forms, exhibit-
ing ugly grayish color and a pungent repulsive
odor ; but we know its salutary uses as a medicine,
and prefer it so, rather than in the form of the bril-
liant and beautiful purple vapors w^hich it assumes
when heated in a retort. The child's unattractive
qualities are the ones that the educator must work
upon ; they are the steps toward its reform and ulti-
mate salvation ; in time we may be able to spiritual-
ize these homely forms, w^hen they will rise and take
on the brilliant beauty of which they are capable un-
der the influence of supernatural fervor. Thus act-
ing from principle and not upon feelings, the
teacher personally cultivates the virtues of disin-
terestedness, self-denial, and wisdom, which supply
to the soul everything needful for the perfect accom-
plishment of a teacher's important work; for wis-
dom, says the sacred writer (Wis. x. lo), leads
those that are just through the right ways, and
shows them the kingdom of God, and gives them
the knowledge of the holy things, and makes
them honorable in their labors, and completes
all their works for them. ''Justum deduxit Domi-
nus per vias reef as, et ostendit illi regmtm Dei,
ef dedit illi scientiam sanctorum, et honestavit ilhtm
in laboribus, et complevit labores illins!'
There can indeed be no reason for discouragement
in the seemingly toilsome work of the religious
The Perfection of the Religious Teacher, 513
teacher if the rule of justice, which is the rule of the
religious life, be kept before the mind. The child
will pattern itself after the living model before it,
and will reflect the spirit and the action of the
teacher. To be successful educators we have to
strive to express in our conduct what we would
teach to the child : ''Qui aiitem fecerit et docuerit,
hie magniis vocabitur'' (Matt. v. 19). That de-
mands, as we have seen, courage regulated by jus-
tice ; but it also means assured vict-ory in the domain
of true knowledge, true wisdom, which is the great-
est power on earth. ''Et certamen forte dedit illi
lit vineeret, et seiret quoniam omnium potentior est
sapientia" (Wis. x. 12). In other words, if the
vocation of the religious teacher is a call to labor
and self-denial, it is also a call to the noblest victory ;
for He that bade us follow Him in this work "gave
a strong conflict" that we "might overcome, and
know that wisdom is mightier than all.'' And if our
confidence were nevertheless to fail us in the midst
of the struggle, we need but remember that our
teacher's chair is the footstool that leads to the "Seat
of Wisdom," our blessed Lady, whom the language
of the Church identifies with the Wisdom of Holy
Writ. "Venite iilii/' she whispers; "audite me,
timorern Domini docebo vos'' (Ps. xxxiii. 12). She
herself is the model of the perfect religious educator,
and the qualities which I have set forth as requisite
in the latter are beautifully portrayed in the antiphon
with which the Church intones the canticle of the
Magnificat on Our Lady's feast : "Virgo pruden-
tissima, quo progrederis? quasi aurora valde rutilans.
Tota formosa et suavis es, pidchra ut lima, electa
tit sol — (terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata).''
With the inspired seer we ask the Virgin Mother
of Christ what, in her most perfect foresight (Pru-
514 The Perfection of the Religious Teacher.
dentissima) , she points ont as the characteristics of
true progress (quo progrederis). And the answer
is : It is a progress that enHghtens by the gradual
and temperate development of the affection, even as
the blush of the rising sun sends forth its light and
heat {aurora valde rutilans) with a real yet
measured intensity. Tota formosa, that is, well
formed, well instructed in every part. Suavis —
always pleasant. Pulchra ut lima — fair by reason
of the divine Sun, which reflects His light in the
teacher, moved b}^ the forces of a supernatural love.
Electa ut sol — the chosen, the elect of Christ, and
like to Him in the beautiful spirit of charity which
dispenses light and warmth and fostering care to
the young growth that rises toward the heavens.
Nor is this all. Terribilis ut castrorurn acies ordi-
nata marks the Religious above all others as a teacher
of a noble band united like a well-ordered army in
battle array to fight for truth and virtue, an army
which, by its very order, inspires that holy fear and
reverence which is the beginning of wisdom, a wis-
dom on which depends all our success in the sacred
cause of Christian education.*
*A treatise by the Rev. Dr. H. J. Heuser, of Overbrook
Seminary, Philadelphia, from The American Ecclesiastical
Revieiv, January, 1900. For this paper and for other arti-
cles from The American Ecclesiastical Review reprinted
by his permission in this volume, we thank the Rev. Dr.
Heuser, the urbane and scholarly Editor of that superb
publication.
PART II.
Ubouobts on Certain Bevotfons an& pious
practices pertaining to tbe Spiritual Xife.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
£. ^oti t!)e j^atl)er.
1. GOD THE FATHER MADE YOU.
/T^OD made you what you are — a human being, ''a
^^ Httle less than the angels." He ''crowned
you with glory and honor, set you over the works of
His hands, and subjected all things under your
feet." Yet this earth is not a lasting abode. You
are but a pilgrim here. Heaven is to be your true
home. It is there you shall see your God "face to
face," and be happy with Him forevermore.
2. GOD MADE YOU FOR HIMSELF.
God made you ''to His own image and likeness,"
and destined you for union with Himself ; a union to
commence here, but to be perfected in heaven ; a
union far beyond the loftiest conceptions and aspira-
tions of any created being ; a union altogether above
nature ; a union which will make you "a partaker of
the divine nature," give you to live of the life of God
Himself, and share in His own eternal glory and
blessedness. "You shall be as gods," was after all
not said without a deep foundation of truth.
5i6 The Holy Trinity,
3. GOD MADE YOU TO BE HIS CHILD.
To bring about this blissful union, God wills to
raise you up far above your natural condition — to
make you, by adoption, what His own divine Son is
to Him by nature, "a beloved son, well pleasing to
Him ;" so that, enjoying this privilege of sonship,
and living as becomes a son and child of God, you
may, with full confidence, look forward to the in-
heritance of your ^'Father who is in heaven/'
4. GOD ADOPTS YOU THROUGH HIS SON MADE MAN.
As God made all things through His Eternal
Word, ''without whom was made nothing that was
made,'' so also has He been pleased that through the
same Eternal Word you should be enabled to attain
the sublime destiny for which you were created.
Therefore did the Father send on earth His Son,
that, ''the Word being made flesh," through Him all
flesh should be saved.
Ki^, 6i^otr t|)e Son.
I. GOD THE SON REDEEMED YOU.
"The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us." Why this Incarnation of the Son of God?
For your sake. Though God, He became a man like
unto yourself, in order that you, a mere man, might
become like unto Him, and, through Him, like unto
God. He came to draw you to Himself. From
heaven He descended upon earth to lift you up from
earth to heaven.
But there was an obstacle in the way of His mer-
ciful design in your behalf — an obstacle which no
created power could remove. It was sin. "By one
man sin entered into the world." And by that sin
you were made a slave of Satan, doomed to death
The Holy Trinity. 517
and endless misery, and shut out forever from
heaven. What did Christ do ? He, the Son of God,
made man, took upon Himself that sin, and the sins
of all men, in order to atone for them, and blot them
out. He, the ''Lamb of God, took away the sins of
the world.'' He did so by His sufferings and death.
''He was wounded for our iniquities. He was
bruised for our sins, and by His bruises we are
healed." And thus did He become Our Redeemer.
And by His Passion and the painful sacrifice of His
life He not only put away the sins which prevented
your union with God, but also merited for you all
the means necessary to enable you to effect that
happy union.
2. JESUS CHRIST^ THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE
LIFE.
By His example Jesus Christ traced out the right
road from earth to heaven. If you walk in His
footsteps you will assuredly reach one day your true
home above. He is 'the Way.''
By His teaching He made known all truth neces-
sary for salvation. If you believe in His word, it
"will enlighten you," and prove "a lamp to your
feet, and a light to your paths." He is "the Truth."
By His death He obtained for you that sublime
gift of divine grace, which is the spiritual life of
your soul. If your soul be adorned with it, through
life and in death, then will you "live unto God," in
time and in eternity. He is "the Life."
3. JESUS CHRIST ENTRUSTED THE MEANS OF
SALVATION TO HIS CHURCH.
In order to put the means of salvation within easy
reach of you, Jesus Christ founded His Church, and
built it upon a solid foundation, even upon a rock, so
5i8 The Holy Trinity.
that ''the gates of hell itself should never prevail
against it." This Church He endowed with His
own divine power and authority, and enriched with
all the treasures of His grace and truth, so that it
might teach you without error, administer unto you
the life-giving sacraments, and direct you safely and
securely on the road to heaven.
4. THE MEANS OF SALVATION ARE APPLIED TO YOU
BY THE HOLY GHOST.
All that Jesus Christ did, however, was but a prep-
aration for your individual sanctification and salva-
tion. It was through the agency of the Third Person
of the Blessed Trinity that the w^ork was to be com-
pleted and perfected. Therefore was the Holy Ghost
sent to you from above by the Father and the Son.
1. GOD THE HOLY GHOST SANCTIFIES YOU.
God's Holy Spirit came upon you for the first
time in Baptism, when you were "born again of
water and the Holy Ghost." It was then He actually
made you a child of God, pouring forth into your
soul the priceless gift of sanctifying grace, merited
for you by Jesus Christ. And having made you a
child of God, He also provided you with the neces-
sary helps to enable you to conduct yourself as such,
and by due obedience and submission to His will to
reach His home in heaven.
2. THE HOLY GHOST ABIDES WITHIN YOU.
When the Holy Spirit of God first came to you.
He came to stay and abide with you forever. He
took complete possession of your soul, replenishing
it with His choicest gifts, especially with His love
The Holy Trinity. 519
and charity. Your heart became His dweUing-place
and tabernacle, your very body His Hving temple ;
your whole being was sanctified by His divine pres-
ence wnthin you.
3. THE HOLY GHOST IS THE BOND OF UNION BETWEEN
YOU AND GOD.
As the Holy Ghost is the substantial bond of
union between the Father and the Son, so is He also,
through His personal indwelling in your soul, the
bond of union between God and yourself. And hav-
ing once established that ineffable union and divine
alliance He leaves nothing undone to preserve and
strengthen it, till at length it attains its full measure
of perfection in heaven. By the secret workings of
His grace in your heart, and by the outward minis-
trations of the Church, of which He Himself is the
life-giving principle. He labors unceasingly to keep
you ever more closely united to God.
4. THE HOLY GHOST CASTS OFF NO ONE.
Should you at any time have the misfortune to
sever that union by grievous sin, and so expel the
good Spirit from His dwelling-place within you,
yet He will not altogether forsake you, nor entirely
give you up into the hands of your enemies. Just
as a bird that is wantonly driven away from its nest
keeps fluttering and flying about in the near vicinity,
ready to at once return to its home on the departure
of the unfriendly hand that disturbed it, so will this
heavenly Dove, even when most unkindly offended
by you and banished from your soul, still keep hover-
ing around, in the hope of speedily regaining pos-
session of His rightful abode. The still voice of
His grace w^ill w^hisper to you of your soul's sad
condition, bring home to you your guilt, and urge
520 The Holy Trinity.
you to sorrow and repentance. And at the first sign
of a surrender on your part — of a humble acknowl-
edgment of your waywardness and of a desire for
reconciliation — this divine Dove will swiftly ap-
proach you, return to you sweetly on the wings of
love, and make you His own once more, giving back
to you all that you had lost through sin.
5. THE HOLY GHOST IS THE FOUNT OF LIFE AND
STRENGTH.
The divine Spirit is the source and origin of all
that is good within you. He it is who enables you
to see things in their true light, and take a correct
view of them; to think, and speak, and act at all
times in a right way. Every pious thought your
mind conceives ; every holy desire and aspiration
your heart elicits ; every profitable word that passes
your lips ; every noble and meritorious action that
beautifies your life — all these come from the Holy
Ghost, and through Him receive their increase, their
maturity, and their perfection.
It is He who enables you to pray in a manner
pleasing to heaven and beneficial to yourself ; to hear
the word of God so as to keep it; to so worthily
approach the sacraments as to be ready to suffer
everything, even death itself, if needs b'e, rather than
betray your faith and religion.
In a word, it is the Holy Ghost who, by His grace,
enlightens you to know what is good and virtuous,
and strengthens you to act in accordance with that
knowledge by avoiding all that is evil and shunning
every sinful and vicious practice,
6. THE HOLY GHOST IS YOUR COMFORTER.
The Holy Ghost, ''the God of all comfort,'' stands
by you during the whole course of your mortal
The Holy Trinity. 521
career, and after death, until you are safe in your
Father's home. When temptation assails and wearies
you. He is there to lend a helping hand, to bear you
up, lest you become downcast and despondent, and
fall away. In times of sorrow and sadness He pours
into your grief-stricken soul the balm of His
heavenly consolation. In the midst of the troubles,
trials, and contradictions of life He mitigates and
sweetens your sufferings by the unction of His grace,
and fills you with joy and gladness. At any time
that your cross is heavier than usual, and you feel
weak and faint, and are ready to sink beneath the
burden, then, by holding up to your vision the glory
that awaits you at your journey's end. He raises your
drooping spirits and cheers you on to walk patiently
in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. When death is at
hand He shields you against the last attacks of the
Evil One, and smooths your passage to eternity.
And should divine Justice demand that your soul,
when freed from its body of flesh, be for a time
confined to the prison-house of fire, "until you pay
the last farthing," even there will this sweet Spirit
be with you, to soothe the ardor of the torturing
flame and comfort you in your affliction. And He
will also inspire charitable souls on earth to think
of you, and show their sympathy and compassion,
and bring succor and relief to )^ou in your distress.
And when at length your soul shall be thoroughly
cleansed of all its sins and imperfections, and ready
to go to heaven, it is this same Spirit of love that
will bear you aloft, present you to your Father's
embrace, and place you on your throne of glory.
And, finally, it is He, too, who will clothe you again
on the Last Day with your body — a body glorious
and impassible — to shine forever as one of Christ's
saints in His own blessed kingdom above.
522 The Holy Trinity.
7. GOD IS TO BE GLORIFIED FOR ALL HE HAS DONE
FOR YOU.
Give, then, glory to God for all He has done for
you! Glory to the Father, who made you for
heaven! Glory to the Son, who redeemed you in
order to put you on the right road to heaven ! Glory
to the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies you by applying
to your soul the merits of the Redemption purchased
for you, and brings you to your Father who is in
heaven.
8. THE HOLY GHOST TO BE GLORIFIED IN AN
ESPECIAL MANNER.
On the part of God, each of the three divine Per-
sons loves you alike with a love that is infinite and
eternal. Yet, as you, on your part, owe everything,
immediately and directly, to the mysterious opera-
tions of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it
is but right that you should honor Him with a spe-
cial tribute of adoration, thanksgiving, and love."^
*From The Paraclete, by P. Marianus Fiege, O.M.Cap.
CHAPTER XLIX.
XLbc f)0li? ©boat anD TRellgfoua ©r5et0»
<B:all to tte 3£leli3ious State a Special ©^race of tje
J^olj e&t)ost.
IT is to the soul of every Religious that these
words of the Holy Ghost may be applied in a
special manner: '^Behold, I will allure her, and I
will lead her into the wilderness ; and I will speak to
her heart/'
You who are a Religious, tell me, who "allured''
you away from the vanities of a deceitful world?
Who ''led'' you to your abode of sweet seclusion
and retirement? Who first ''spoke to your heart" of
the peaceful service of God in the cloister? Who
encouraged and strengthened you to "leave all
things and follow Christ"? Who enabled you to
consummate the sacrifice, when by the three vows of
poverty, chastity, and obedience, you made of your-
self a whole burnt-offering, and fastened yourself,
so to speak, with Jesus to the cross ? Who has ever
since that moment enabled you to be faithful to the
solemn promises you then made, and to be diligent in
the discharge of the sublime duties of your noble
calling? Who still aids you to lead that life of
prayer and recollection so necessary to you?
Who is the source and fount of the interior
Hfe you now lead — a life utterly unknown to the
lovers of the world? Who gives you strength to
practice the virtues befitting your exalted state?
Who encourages and comforts you amid the many
trials and hardships incident to your mode of life?
524 The Holy Ghost and Religious Orders.
''I will speak and do thou answer me." Is not all
this the special work of the Holy Ghost, who has
singled you out from among the rest of mankind and
called you to this blessed state of life?
RELIGIOUS ORDERS THE SPECIAL WORK OF THE HOLY
GHOST.
Who inspired holy men and women with the idea
of establishing those numerous Religious Orders,
Congregations and Societies, which now exist in the
Church of God, both as an ornament to enhance her
beauty and as a bulwark to defend her against her
enemies? Who aided these holy founders to draw
up the saintly Rules and salutary Constitutions by
which the lives of .their followers were regulated
and sanctified, and which in many instances have all
the outward marks of a special divine inspiration?
Who has raised so many Religious to the very
height of perfection and endowed them with extraor-
dinary gifts, so that they have become renowned
for holiness of life and the fame of miracles, and that
''their memories are held in benediction from genera-
tion to generation"?
''I will speak and do thou answer me." Is not all
this, once more, the work of the divine Spirit, who by
these wonderful institutions proclaims Himself, in a
visible and tangible manner, the Spirit of holiness
and perfection!
EXHORTATION TO RELIGIOUS TO PRACTICE DEVOTION
TO THE HOLY GHOST.
Religious soul ! Can you be conscious of all you
owe to the Holy Ghost, and not be moved to be de-
voted to Him in a very special manner? Can you
feel burning within you the fire of divine love and be
heedless of Him who is the very breath of that fire?
The Holy Ghost and Religious Orders. 525
Ah, then, let the Spirit of God reign entirely in your
hearts, that He may set them yet more on fire. Fire
is what you need. "I came to cast fire on earth and
what will I but that it burn ?" Where there is fire,
there is life, motion, and activity ; there is true zeal
and devotedness ; and thence, too, will shoot forth
into a cold, dismal and dreary world flashes of light
and rays of warmth, by which many a poor soul that
''sitteth in darkness and the shadow of death" shall
be enlightened and set on fire. Then ''be you filled
with the Holy Spirit'' in a very special manner, so as
to live, love, work and suffer for Him alone; and,
being yourself filled with the Holy Spirit, make
known His love and mercy everywhere, so that all
may come under the empire of His love and mercy,
and that God may be ever more glorified.*
*From The Paraclete,
CHAPTER L.
XEbe IfuDvvelling of tbe 1boli^ Spirit.
J^oto to Slibe h^ tl)e Spirit.
^?^HOSE who believe in the indwelHng of the Holy
^^ Ghost are bound to use every means to live by
Him who has given Himself to them. We live by
Him, and w^e must make it manifest that we live by
Him. ''If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit" (Gal. v. 25). In other words, just
as a man's life and career are the result of his char-
acter, endowments, and acquirements, so the result
of this presence within us of the Spirit of Jesus
must be a supernatural activity corresponding with
the divine principle which thus animates us. ''Thou
shalt send forth Thy Spirit," says the Psalmist, "and
they shall be created" (Ps. ciii. 30). Create me, O
Spirit of God ! Leave me not to my nature ! Leave
me not to the earth, to sense, to the flesh, to human
judgment and opinion; but give me other faculties
and higher powers, that I may live in the region of
the spiritual and the supernatural !
The chief effects of the presence of the Holy Spirit
in our soul and heart should be fear, divine love, and
peace. It would seem, perhaps, as if we should add
understanding to these three. But although the
principal office of the Holy Ghost, according to the
words of Our Lord, is to teach, yet the kind of
teaching here meant is not teaching in the ordinary
sense of the word. Intellectual illumination, in the
strict acceptation of the term, is only rarely given
by the Holy Spirit directly. It was given to the
The Indzvelling of the Holy Spirit. 527
apostles because they were the apostles. It is given
to many apostolic men, as the world goes on — to
great doctors and saintly pastors. But ''teaching/'
as it regards the greater number of souls, results
rather in the firm and luminous grasp of conclusions
than in the gift of proving such conclusions. It
means the gift of being right, of loving what is right,
and of enjoying what is right. It means wisdom
rather than understanding. We pray to the Holy
Ghost to ''illuminate our intellect" — but it does not
mean that we ask for learning, but for enlightenment
as a means to piety.
The first manifestation of the indwelling Spirit is
holy fear. In the Scriptures fear is called sometimes
the "beginning of wisdom" (Ecclus. i. 16), and
sometimes wisdom itself (Job xxviii. 28). In the
first chapter of Ecclesiasticus, in which the outpour-
ing of the Holy Spirit is most beautifully described
under the name of Wisdom, fear is first said to be
the beginning of wisdom, and presently the "fulness
of wisdom" {ihid. 20). It miay be called both. For
when we say that the result of the presence of the
Holy Ghost is fear, we refer to a very deep and most
important effect which that presence has upon our
relations with Almighty God. Perhaps there has
been a moment in our lives when we remember
passing to a state of consciousness of God. Our
previous state may have been ignorance, or indif-
ference, or sin, or tepidity, or all of these at once.
But the hour came w^hen we began to feel God —
to fear, reverence, apprehend God — to be anxious
about Him ; to be anxious about ourselves, our
destiny, our career, our whole life from its beginning
to its end. Then we began to understand the awful-
tiess of God's majesty, and the inevitableness of His
power. Then we began to see how our beginning
528 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
and our end were in His hands. We seemed to get
a glimpse of eternity. We stood in the presence of
death. We felt the tremendous anxiety of the Judg-
ment. With these thoughts there came a conscious-
ness of sin. We began to mourn for the commis-
sions and omissions of our youth and ignorance.
We seemed to be standing on the brink of a preci-
pice, with destruction threatening us. All this had
the effect of making us turn to God — of urging, of
driving us to God, as our only hope, our one and
only Friend. It was a great grace. But probably
that grace may have remained with us still. We
have at this moment a habitual attention and rever-
ence for God ; we live in the sight of our last end ;
we meditate on the four last things ; we dread the
defilement of sin, enter into the seriousness of life,
and are on the alert as to its spiritual dangers. We
feel we must belong to God and save our immortal
soul, cost what it may. O happy state of conversion !
O admirable working of the Holy Spirit ! For it is
He who has filled us with this filial and salutary fear.
It is a state and condition entirely opposed to any-
thing which could result from mere human reason,
or from the promptings of sense, of self-love, of
worldly wasdom or of human prudence. The world-
ling possesses it not. His fears, his apprehension,
look in quite another direction. He is blind to judg-
ment, to the certainty of death, to the majesty of
God. He seems to be deficient in some power or
faculty, which the follower of Christ is endowed
with. And this is true. The follower of Christ lives
by the Holy Spirit. O blessed Comforter, give me
grace to remember Thee !
The second effect of the presence of the Spirit in
the spirit of man is divine love. When it is called
the ''second," it is not to be understood that these
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 529
three effects are not simultaneous. Wherever the
Holy Ghost is, there they are, as a habit of the soul,
and there they ought to be as its life and activity.
Divine love manifests itself in the tender, affection-
ate disposition of the heart toward God as a Father
and Friend. Just as the worldling loves other
human beings — relatives, benefactors, congenial
spirits, or perhaps loves no one but himself — so the
spiritual man cares for God. He does not always
feel toward God with the intensity of sensibility
which is m.et with in earthly love and liking. But
his will and reason adhere to his heavenly Father.
And by dint of thought and reflection, by dwelling in
meditation on what God is, by living in His pres-
ence, by arousing and exciting all his being to praise
Him, the time comes when the ''whole" heart
is given to Him. Thus we see in devout per-
sons a tenderness and affectionateness to Almighty
God which keep them in an attitude of con-
stant concern about His interests, as well as in con-
stant certainty that He loves them. They love, also,
for His sake, that stupendous manifestation of Him-
self in the Incarnation. They love the sacred human-
ity in all its mysteries, from Bethlehem to the cross.
They are fondly filial to His blessed Mother, who is
so bound up with all that He Himself is and does.
The holy angels and the saints are dear to them, as
immortal spirits who are the conquest of the precious
blood. Every trace of God on earth is precious to
them. They would die for that Church which He
has acquired by His blood. They glory in the
Blessed Sacrament and in the whole of that seven-
fold dispensation where the precious blood flows.
There is no man or w^oman or child but is the ob-
ject of their deep and warm interest and sympathy,
as being the beloved child of God, destined for the
530 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
beatific vision. Contrast this spirit with that of the
worldly person ! What are his sentiments about the
Church, the saints, the Holy Eucharist, the sacra-
ments, the souls of Christ's little ones? What are
his feelings to God Himself? From the bottom of
your heart give thanks to that Paraclete who has
lifted you to this heavenly love of heavenly things !
Of peace, wdiich is the third effect of the indwell-
ing of the Spirit, little need be said here. To under-
stand what is meant, let us remember that the en-
deavor to live by the Spirit naturally and inevitably
entails a continuous conflict. Our life is a "warfare"
— because fear and love, as set in motion by the
Spirit, are at variance with a score of other propen-
sities and inclinations of our nature. The peace,
therefore, which is here meant, is that deep, funda-
mental, and substantial tranquillity which subsists
in the soul, in spite of innumerable conflicts on the
surface. This is a gift of the indwelling Spirit.
Thus, when we are in anxiety as to what course to
take, or what means to employ, in order to draw
nearer to Christ, such anxiety will not (if the Spirit
acts in us) deprive us of peace. In questions of
vocation, for example, there is a sweet abandonment
to God's will felt through all the troubles and the un-
certainty of the process of decision. Temptations,
again, could never drive the truly spiritual man to
desperation or sting him into recklessness. Our
dealings with others, even when our self-love is
ruffled, or our rights invaded, or our good name in-
jured, will never move our hearts from the attitude
of charity. Nor will any kind of violent, heavy, or
oppressive occupation separate us from God. His
peace, as the Apostle says, ''surpasseth all under-
standing" (Philip, iv. 7) ; that is, no one who engages
in the conflict of life with merely human motives can
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 531
conceive what it is to be at peace even when you are
fighting. This is the peace that we pray for, that we
vv^ish to others, that is expressed so constantly in the
forms of the Church ; it is the special peace of the In-
carnation, brought to the earth by the Prince of
peace, and breathed over all the world by His Spirit.
Keep me faithful, O divine Spirit, to Thy presence,
that I may never lose the tranquillity of Thy opera-
tion ! Anchor my soul deep down in the everlasting
foundations firmly fixed by Thy power and Thy
goodness, that no trial may move me, but that my
fear and my love may grow for evermore in the
supernatural tranquillity of Thy majesty!
For purposes of self-examination, then, and in
order to arouse ourselves to cooperate with the Holy
Spirit of God thus given to us, we may ask our-
selves :
1. Have we a keen feeling for the supernatural?
Do we view things from the point of view of faith ?
Do we value the Mass, the sacraments? Are we
in the habit of putting our eternal interests first?
Are we anxious for the salvation of others ? Or, on
the other hand, are we indifferent in matters of
piety ; careless in spiritual duties ; inclined even to
show contempt for small religious observances ; fond
of the world and its applause?
2. Are we sensitive in regard to sin? Does the
thought of mortal sin in ourselves or others fill us
with horror? Are we easy under our habitual
venial sins ? Do we anxiously avoid unnecessary oc-
casions of danger? Have we the good habit of
making frequent, nay continual, acts of contrition ?
3. Professing as we do to love God above all
things, do we habitually find Him in the ordinary
concerns of life? Do we see Him in superiors? in
our religious brethren or sisters? in our neighbors?
532 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
in those with whom we work? Or, on the other
hand, are we in the habit of dealing with all these
from merely human or natural motives, scarcely
taking pains to purify our intention, or to restrain
our temper, our vanity, or jealousy?
4. Do we undervalue the supernatural life in gen-
eral, and allow ourselves to fall in with those who
talk of ''common-sense" and ''practical views" ? Are
we convinced that we may progress in nearness to
God and in purity of heart ? That such progress can
only be made by attention to our interior life? That,
in a degree, even perfection is within our reach, pro-
vided we study to detach ourselves from creatures,
and watch, with much prayer, the motions of the
Holy Spirit within us? Are we ashamed of the
"folly of the cross," that is, of that external loyalty
to Our Lord Jesus Christ which leads His servants
to profess a spiritual life, and to make much of
everything which is in the slightest degree connected
with the cross ?
Moreover, we must remember that the Holy
Spirit, being a true Paraclete, that is, our true ad-
viser and comforter, may, and will, give us illumi-
nation in those innumerable matters of the interior
life on which our progress depends. It is unneces-
sary to say that there is a certain danger in allowing
ourselves to be directed by what we take to be the
inspirations of the Holy Spirit. That danger, how-
ever, is very small, provided that we remember four
things : Obedience must always overrule what seems
to be an inspiration ; we must always be open with
our director; an inspiration which interferes with
the due carrying out of our state of life can not be
from the Holy Spirit; and, lastly, whatever is un-
usual, extraordinary, or out of the usual way, espe-
cially in things external, must always be suspected.
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 533
Keeping these rules in view, we may humbly expect
guidance in such points as the following :
1. The government of the tongue, and the moder-
ation of doubtfully useful conversation. Most
people lose much time by talking, and yet it is cer-
tain that charity and duty require us to talk. The
Holy Spirit will certainly guide us on this head.
Neither books nor rules nor superiors can do it
adequately, from the nature of the case.
2. The use of mortifications. Practices of pen-
ance, and especially external ones, must never be
adopted except by advice and obedience. What is
meant here is that we require light to know how
much mental pressure we ought to put upon our-
selves at every moment of the day, in the matter of
self-restraint. There are some who are nervously
anxious to be mortifying themselves every minute,
and who fear they commit an infidelity in resisting
this impulse. There are others who are far too lax.
Who shall direct the hesitating heart into the golden
mean ? Who shall keep us equally from foolish fid-
getiness and from sloth? Only the promptings of
the Spirit of Jesus.
3. The question of friendships is one on which
books and superiors can only give general rules. Yet
it is one which intimately concerns the practice of
perfection.
4. When obedience does not speak clearly, it is
difficult to know when to accept an office or employ-
ment, and when to refuse it. It is hard to tell
whether such and such a task will only overload and
distract, or whether our own good and that of our
neighbors requires us to take it up.
5. We are often uncertain whether we ought to
suffer certain inconveniences, or t(5 speak and ob-
tain their removal ; whether we ought or ought not
534 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
to make a complaint against another; to apply for
a change ; to make an appeal.
6. Intellectual occupation, where it is not settled
by rule and obedience, is another difficulty with
those who would live an interior life. Must we study
this and read that? Must we, for example, avoid
newspapers altogether, or to what extent? Must we
keep our thoughts pure from all contact with heresy,
worldliness, and impurity — or must we confide in
God's help, and, for good motives, make ourselves
acquainted with subjects which will defile and dis-
turb our imagination and our intellect?
In all these questions there is a right solution and
a wrong one. To answer them by one's merely nat-
ural light is impossible. Neither is external
guidance possible — for we should require a director
to be as constantly with us as our guardian angel.
There can not be a doubt that the interior Christian
will; if he duly listens, hear a voice of guidance
which will prevent him from going wrong. And we
must not forget that this is a serious matter; for,
as St. Paul says, ''the wisdom of the flesh is death ;
but the wisdom of the Spirit is life and peace" (Rom.
viii. 6). ''As," to quote the words of Father Baltas-
sar Alvarez, "the abundance and perfection of vital
and animal spirits strengthens the limbs and gives
perfection to the functions of life and sense ; and, on
the contrary, the want of such vitality is injurious;
so the frequency and efficacy of the divine impulses
make perfect the operations of the spiritual life, and
carry the soul on to sanctity, while the rareness and
feebleness of such impulses leave it weak and
languid."*
All men who are in sanctifying grace have the
gifts of the Holy Spirit. But, as many who are
*D^ Discretione Spirituiim, lib. v., part 4, cap. i; No. 10.
The Indzuelling of the Holy Spirit. 535
thus endowed do not 'live by the Spirit," let us con-
clude by mentioning three things which may account
for this.
1. The first is the habit of venial sins. There are
certain habitual sins which, though by no means
grave, yet spread such a torpor and coldness over
the soul that the Holy Spirit can not act with His
full powder. Such are sins of vanity, sensuality, dis-
like, disobedience, worldly interests, and bad temper.
If we would live by the Spirit, w^e must fight against
habits of this kind.
2. Habitually low views of spirituality account in
some measure for the w^ant of the light of the Holy
Spirit. There are some who never fully surrender
themselves to a spiritual life ; never own with full
conviction that God and God alone must be their
light and strength. To enter into spiritual views ; to
take the spiritual side in all things ; to be determined
to aim at a complete detachment, genuine mortifica-
tion, and nothing less than Christian perfection —
these dispositions wall effectively level all barriers
between the soul and its divine Sanctifier.
3. A life of worldliness, or of undue occupation,
is an obstacle to the working of the Holy Ghost. A
soul w^hich is filled wdth the petty interests of friv-
olous people is deaf to the whisperings of the Holy
Spirit. Even serious and genuine w^ork may have
the same effect, unless it is carried on in a de-
tached spirit, and unless there are regular times for
prayer and meditation. The cultivation of a retired,
interior, and silent life, enables the Spirit of God to
speak to the heart.*
*From Bishop Hedley's Retreat.
CHAPTER LI.
5e0U0 Cbrt0t tbe OTai^, tbe ^rutb, anD tbe %itc.
tmi^om W&t i^ust iTollotD.
^'^tJoLLOW Me/' This great word is the abridg-
*-*— I ment of the Gospel. The imitation of
Christ is at once the perfection and the essence of
Christianity. It is the perfection of Christianity,
for there can be no hoHer model. Following
Him we shall walk in justice, and holiness, and truth.
We shall walk in the broad daylight of a heaven-
taught wisdom, to which all the wisdom of the
worldly-wise is folly; under His guidance we shall
walk with safety and security toward that complete
beatitude for which we are created, and which under
the guidance of any other we should seek in vain. '1
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'' ''He who
followeth Me walketh not in darkness." It is the es-
sence of Christianity, ''for this end did Christ live
and act among us." 'T have given you an example,
that as I have done, so you also may do." If we do
not imitate Him, we are none of His — "He who fol-
loweth Me not can not be My disciple."
Here then is the occupation of our life, here is our
great study; to meditate upon the life of Jesus
Christ. Let us to-day take a lesson in this school.
It is one of the first and most elementary, but it is
one of the most important, because if it be learned
well all the rest will be learned with great facility —
and it is peculiarly important for us, who are espe-
Jesus Christ the Way. 537
cially bound by our institute to combine the interior
with the exterior life, the rest of Mary with the
soHcitude of Martha.
Come with me to Nazareth. We shall find there
our divine Jesus with Mary and Joseph, preparing
Himself for the great mission by which He was to
redeem the world, that mission in which we, His
priests, are His vicegerents and in which you are
His assistants. By your religious profession you are
solemnly pledged to continue His life on earth, so
that you may be able to say to the world, "be ye imi-
tators of me, as I am of Christ.'' You have also a
large share in the teaching of His doctrine. You
must then adopt the same means for the accomplish-
ment of the same end by entering into the disposi-
tions of Jesus, by imitating as far as possible His
manner of life.
Well, let us go in spirit into the little cottage of
Nazareth and take a view of this poor humble fam-
ily. Let us make ourselves one among them.
The first thing that strikes me vv^ith wonder, and
which with the reason and the thoughts of man I
could never have understood, is that my divine
Saviour remains hidden and obscure in this lonely,
sequestered village for the space of thirty years.
My God! what does this mean? He possessed
from the moment of His conception all the treasures
of wisdom and of knowledge, and He remains thirty
years in solitude before He begins to preach. Dur-
ing that period He would have converted tribe after
tribe, and nation after nation, and He remains in
silence and obscurity. He must be at least deter-
mined to spend a long life after in the preaching of
the Gospel.
No — only three years of missionary labor, and for
these three years of missionary labor thirty years of
538 Jestis Christ the Way.
preparation. The one-eleventh of His Hfe given to
His neighbor, the rest given to Himself and God.
Again, what is the meaning of all this? Oh! 'T
have given you an example, that as I have done so
you also may do." I must learn hence in the first
place to make my own perfection the business, the
great business of my life — that I must give glory to
God by myself, before I get Him glory by others. I
must learn hence, and it is what my Saviour par-
ticularly wishes to inculcate, that I should not be
over-anxious to exercise myself in the external
works of mercy until I am solidly prepared by exer-
cise in the interior life. Jesus, who was the first
great Brother of Mercy, was thirty years a novice
preparing for three years of profession, and I, who
am ignorant and stupid and weak in virtue, will
make a noviceship of two years, preparing for a
profession perhaps of thirty.
Well, be it so, since such is the will of God ! but at
least I shall henceforth regard every wish of neg-
lecting my own perfection and practices of piety, for
the sake of others, every idea that the time I spend
in the practices of the interior life could be better
spent in works of mercy, as a suggestion of the
enemy. My time is not more useful nor more pre-
cious than that of my Saviour. I now see how He
thought fit to portion out His. I must learn also to
love and cherish this holy solitude into which God
has brought me. Peter said upon Thabor, that it
was good for him to be there ; and I will say in this
Nazareth that Jesus has made for me, that it is good
for me to be here. I am here unknown and unheard
of by the world. People may hear of Sisters of
Mercy, but about this or that Sister of Mercy, no
one in the world knows or cares anything. It was
so with my Jesus; the poor villagers of Nazareth
Jesus Christ the Way. 539
knew that there was such a person among them ;
they thought Him a mild, well-conducted young
man, but every one thought as much and a great deal
more about himself. The members of your com-
munity, dear Sister, think you perhaps an edifying
nun, but each thinks herself as good as you. Great
God ! the world was then occupied about kings and
emperors and consuls and conquerors, and the King
of kings and the Lord of lords was among them un-
known and unheeded.
O God ! and is this the Creator of heaven and
earth that I contemplate? Yes, and He is reduced
to this state for me. What a sublime humility ! What
a mockery of all the pride and folly of man !
Oh! will we not love the lowliness of Our Sa-
viour, and will we not love to be lowly with Him?
He could have attracted the attention of mankind by
His supernatural knowledge, by His power over all
nations, and He hides these qualities. He contents
Himself with edifying those who know Him by His
meekness and piety. And w^e wish to show every
talent which God has given us, to make a parade of
it and attract attention ; we even pretend to talents
which we have not; if we receive a little insult we
are instantly on fire, every little humiliation stings
us.
Ah ! we have not as yet studied long enough in
Nazareth. Let us go there to learn this fundamen-
tal virtue of humility, this love of contempt which
is the heroism of Christianity. We shall learn it by
meditating on the humiliations of Jesus, and by
loving to be like Him whom we love. We have the
happiness of being in circumstances like to His, so
that His goodness has rendered the thing easy to
us ; we have only to make a virtue of necessity.
Jesus was poor in Nazareth ; His birth proves it,
540 Jesus Christ the Way.
and He suffered all the inconveniences of poverty.
He was meanly clad, He fed upon coarse food which
He earned by the sweat of His brow — He lived in
a poor humble cottage, a cabin rather. When I con-
template Him walking through the village in His
poor workman's dress, when I contemplate Him at
night eating the poor scanty meal which Mary had
prepared for Him ; when I see Him going to re-
pose His wearied limbs upon a hard and comfort-
less bed, I ask Him, why, having all things at His
disposal. He is thus destitute ? and He answers me
that it is to enrich me with the treasures of heaven.
''For us hath He been made poor, that by His pov-
erty w^e might be rich." He tells me that it is to in-
spire me with a sovereign contempt for the riches of
the world, and to give me the sublime spirit of re-
ligious poverty which says, ''I esteem all things
as dung that I may gain Christ." He tells me that
it is to make me content in privation, by which I re-
semble Him.
Well, we know the happiness of being poor too.
Yes, dearly beloved sisters, blessed be God for it!
we possess nothing in the world. Jesus had not
whereon to lay His head, and the pillow on which we
lay ours is not our own. Praise and thanks to you,
good Jesus, who hast called me to this. What is
better, I have the happiness of enduring many of the
inconveniences of poverty. When cold annoys me,
when I am uncomfortable in my room, I will remem-
ber the indigence of Nazareth, and I will rejoice in
the Lord.
Jesus labored at Nazareth. The prophetic word of
David was fulfilled in Him — He was in ''labors from
His youth." His labor was continuous day after day
— His labor was rude and humiHating. Must I not
love Him when I contemplate Him straining every
Jesus Christ the Way. 541
limb, while the sweat runs down His blessed face,
employed in some dangerous occupation, roofing one
of the houses of the village? And then when I en-
ter into the secrets of His soul, and seek the motive
of all this, I find that every drop of sweat flows for
me, that all this labor is undertaken for me, that at
every instant, whether He works or whether, over-
whelmed with fatigue. He is obliged to rest. His
Heart burning with charity never ceases to offer up
all to His Eternal Father for me.
I must labor too. I am here to labor. I will there-
fore labor generously. I will labor as incessantly as
my strength will permit. . I will labor not at what
pleases my own fancy, but in what God wishes me to
labor, and I will labor in union with Jesus. During
the day, I will offer up my fatigue in union with His
to God, and at night, "in peace together with Him
shall I sleep and rest.''
When Jesus labored. He never met, to be sure,
with any reproaches from Joseph ; but how often
after doing His utmost was He not rebuked by the
rude farmers or villagers of Nazareth ! Even after
He had worked miracles, they attempted to throw
Him from the pinnacle of a mountain. In the same
way after doing my best I will frequently not suc-
ceed in pleasing all. I may be frequently reminded
of my want of capacity — sometimes reproached per-
haps with idleness — sometimes I may receive a rude
rebuff from those to whom I shall offer the sweet
alms of spiritual mercy. So much the better, I will
be the more like to my Saviour. I will say to my
Father, who sees not as man sees : You know, my
God, that what I could do I have done. If I have to
reproach myself with sloth I ask your pardon. If
my defect arises from incapacity I humbly resign
myself into your hands, I am as clever as you wish
542 Jesus Christ the Way.
me to be. If others are not satisfied with me, you
will be. You who see in secret will reward me.
I have now learned from my divine Saviour in
Nazareth the love of obscurity, the love of humility,
the love of poverty, the love of labor. I shall en-
deavor to learn this good lesson by heart, and com-
mit it so to memory that I may never forget it.'^
Another lesson that we must learn from our divine
Master at Nazareth is that of obedience. ''And He
went down with them and came to Nazareth and
was subject to them." Jesus Christ, the uncreated
wisdom of the Father, was obedient to Mary and
Joseph; He renounces His owm judgment, submits
cheerfully to the will of a poor carpenter and his
wife, and is guided by their counsels. "He was
subject to them." This is the record of thirty years
of my Saviour's Hfe. Holy obedience ! How pre-
cious, how meritorious, how great, how sublime
thou must be in the sight of God, since my Lord and
Master spent thirty years in teaching me this one
virtue !
In order that you may be aroused and impelled
to a more perfect imitation of this admirable example
of obedience, which Christ has given you in regard
to your Superiors under whom God has placed you,
or may hereafter place you, reflect on the advan-
tages that are derived from this virtue. Can any-
thing more acceptable be offered to God? As we
read in Father Baxter's Meditations: ''God is ap-
peased with victims and sacrifice as the chief acts
of religious worship ; but He assures us Himself
that obedience is still more acceptable to Him. 'Obe-
dience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken rather
than to offer the fat of rams' ( i Kings xv. 22). And
*From Most Rev. Dr. Moriarty's A Retreat of Eight
Days for Religious: Meditation ''On Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus Christ the Way. 543
with good reason, observes St. Gregory ; for 'in sac-
rifice the flesh of another is offered, but in obedience
our own will is killed and the whole man offered
in sacrifice.'
''There is no safer way to heaven than
the road of obedience. Saints and holy Fathers teach
us that there is nothing more dangerous in a spirit-
ual life than to be our own guide and to follow our
own judgment. Hence St. Bernard observes: 'He
that is his own master has a fool for his scholar' ;
for, as Solomon writes, 'The way of a fool is right
in his own eyes ; but he who is wise hearkeneth unto
counsels' (Prov. xii. 15).
"In the virtue of obedience all other virtues are
included, and therefore by holy Fathers it is called
the guardian of them all. He who is obedient can
not fail to be humble, patient, meek, charitable, and
master of himself ; for, as the Wise Man says, 'An
obedient man shall speak of victory' (Prov. xxi. 28).
Form a growing esteem, then, for this virtue, and
exercise it in imitation of Christ whenever occasions
offer."
"Obedience,^' says St. Catharine of Bologna, "is
without doubt more meritorious than any austerity.
What austerity is greater than to keep the will con-
tinually submissive?" "Obedience," says St. John
of the Cross, "is a penance of the reason ; this is
what renders the sacrifice more agreeable to God
than corporal penance. God loves the least degree
of obedience in you better than all the services you
could render Him."
"A single drop of perfect obedience is of a million
times more value than an entire vase of the most
sublime contemplation," says St. Magdalene of
Pazzi. St. Felix, the Capuchin, always show^ed the
most perfect readiness to execute lovingly the orders
544 Jesus Christ the Way.
of his Superiors, no matter what they might be. He
carried so far his love for obedience that his Superi-
ors were obHged to refrain in his presence from man-
ifesting their incHnations, lest the saint might re-
gard it as a command and hasten to execute it. The
least sign of their will was sufficient to cause him to
obey instantly.
'Tt is more meritorious to pick up a straw through
obedience," declares Rodriguez, ''than to preach, to
fast, or to chastise the body, if in so doing we follow
our own will.'' St. Frances, one day while reciting
the office of the Blessed Virgin, was interrupted
many times in the same anthem by her husband call-
ing her. Our Lord manifested in a most singular
manner that her obedience was most agreeable to
Him.
A holy Religious, desiring to animate herself to
perform all things through obedience, with eyes
upon her crucifix, which she lovingly kissed, would
say to her Saviour : ''Factiis es obediens usque ad
mortem,'' "Thou wast obedient even unto death.''
''Would you know who are true Religious? It is
they who by mortification have so subjugated their
wills that they know not how to will anything but
by the command or advice of their Superior," says
St. Fulgentius. St. Teresa was well persuaded of
this truth. She said if all the angels told her to do a
thmg, and her Superior commanded her to perform
the contrary, she would obey the order of her Supe-
rior. "Obedience to Superiors," added she, "is com-
manded by God in Holy Scripture ! consequently it is
of faith. One can not be deceived in obeying, while
revelations are subject to illusions."
"Every one who enters Religion should leave his
own will outside the door of the monastery," are the
words of St. Francis de Sales, "that he may have no
Jesus Christ the Way. 545
Other will but that of God." When St. Dositheus
consecrated himself to the Lord in the religious life
he divested himself entirely of his own will, and
submitted it entirely to that of his Superior. He
made known to him his temptations, his thoughts ;
and by this entire renouncement of himself, and
great openness of heart, he obtained a peace, a tran-
quillity of soul that nothing could disturb.
''Obedience is the abridgment of perfection and of
all spiritual life,'' says Father Alvarez, ''it is a means
the least painful, the least dangerous, the surest, and
the shortest to enrich one's self in virtue, and to ar-
rive at our desired end, which is eternal life.'' St.
Magdalene of Pazzi,on her death-bed, said that when
she recalled all that had happened during the course
of her life, nothing gave her so much tranquillity as
the thought that she had never been guided in any-
thing by her own will or her own judgment; that
she had always followed the will or judgment of her
Superiors and directors.
"The demon, knowing that there is no other path
which leads so quickly to the summit of perfection
as that of obedience," declares St. Teresa, "turns
many from the practice of this virtue through an ap-
pearance of good." St. Bridget had a great attrac-
tion for corporal penances. She gave herself to
these with, if possible, too much ardor. Her director
perceived this and desired to correct it; in conse-
quence he retrenched a part of the mortifications the
saint had been accustomed to perform. The saint
obeyed, but it was not without much pain lest she
might become unmortified. Our Lord instructed
and consoled her by causing her to hear these words :
"Of two persons desiring to fast, if the one who has
the liberty to do so fasts, and the other, though de-
siring to do so, does not, because he is under obedi-
546 Jesus Christ the Way,
ence and is forbidden to do so, the first receives a
recompense, the second receives two — one for the
desire he had to fast, and another for having
obeyed/'
Besides saying that Christ was obedient to His
parents, the Gospel tells us simply in regard to His
life from His twelfth to His thirtieth year that
He increased in wisdom and age and grace before
God and men. All the followers of Christ ought to
make continual progress in virtue. Not to advance
in the way of virtue is to recede, as all the saints
teach us. St. Bernard observes : ''Not to gain
ground is to lose it ;" this is why you must ultimately
fall again into the hands of your enemies, whom you
wished to escape, if you do not continually advance.
Another motive for continually advancing in vir-
tue is compliance with the will of God. He desires
our progress in purity and holiness. ''Be ye there-
fore perfect,'' says Christ, "as also your heavenly
Father is perfect" (Matt. v. 48). No one can be
perfect or eminent in anything at once, but by de-
grees he must attain perfection. Hence the neces-
sity of continual progress is evident. Furthermore,
a true disciple of Christ will honor His Master by
the progress that he makes in virtue. Again we
read in Baxter's Meditations: " 'The scholar that
makes progress,' says the eloquent St. Bernard, 'is
a glory to his master. Whoever, therefore, fails to
make progress in the school of Christ is unworthy
to have Him for his Master.' How shameful would
it be to have studied philosophy and theology seven
years, and to have made no progress, but to end as
we began ! How much more ought you to blush if
you have become more remiss in prayer, more given
to distractions, a greater lover of yourself, your own
ease and pleasure, than when you first entered the
Jesus Christ the Way, 547
school of virtue! Endeavor, therefore, continually
to advance in the glorious and honorable career of
perfection.
''Many evils result from a neglect of improving
in virtue. This neglect provokes the anger of God ;
and therefore He says to the bishop of Ephesus, in
the Apocalypse, 'Be mindful from whence thou art
fallen, and do penance, and do the first works; or
else I come to thee, and will remove thy candlestick
out of its place' (Apoc. ii. 5). God may have de-
signed you also to give light to many ; take care,
then, that He do not move you from your place in
consequence of your tepidity and indevotion.
"This neglect deprives us of many great spiritual
advantages and rewards. 'The slothful hand hath
wrought poverty,' says the Wise Man (Prov. x. 4).
Oh, what glory should we purchase in heaven, were
we always intent on our spiritual profit, and careful
to seize every occasion of exercising virtue! Be
ashamed of your carelessness, and blush at your
neglect in amassing those everlasting treasures
which God freely offers you.
"This neglect exposes man to final ruin; for it
was said of the servant who neglected to employ his
talents in the service and to the advantage of his
master : 'Take ye away, therefore, the talent from
him, and the unprofitable servant cast ye out into
exterior darkness' (Matt. xxv. 28). Excite your-
self, therefore, to persevere in the way of virtue with
cheerfulness. Examine upon what occasions you
are accustomed to lose courage, and resolve to go
forward with renovated spirit. Christ is your com-
mander, and your reward 'exceeding great.' Doubt-
less Christ spent a great part of His hidden life in
high contemplation and conversation with His heav-
enly Father; for He who could afterward say to
548 Jesus Christ the Way.
Martha that her sister Mary had chosen the better
part, because she loved the exercise of contempla-
tion, must have practiced it Himself most perfectly.
If David 'praised the Lord seven times a day,' and
at midnight rose 'to confess to Him' (Ps. cxviii.
164), with how much more reason may we suppose
that Christ did? Learn, therefore, to become a man
of prayer, and an interior man, both for your own
sake and your neighbor's good, and be convinced
that the frequent exercise of prayer is the first and
the most important duty of a Christian."
Study also the characteristics of Jesus, our blessed
Saviour, in His public life, as regards His exterior.
His dealings with others, His manner of speaking
and His deportment ; then seek sincerely and strive
earnestly to make them your own. Imitate your
divine Master and Model. Let your greatest en-
deavor be to become like to Jesus. The most con-
spicuous virtues of Our Saviour's public Hfe are
submission to the will of His heavenly Father, zeal
for His Father's glory, unbounded charity toward
His neighbor, meekness, humility, patience, forbear-
ance with others' faults and weaknesses, kindness to
sinners, and compassion toward the poor, the sick,
and unfortunate. He strove to become ''all to all ;"
He went about "doing good to all."
Unquestionably our blessed Saviour possessed a
charming exterior, a fascinating personality, a
sweetness of speech, a quiet dignity of deportment,
a gentleness and modesty of manner, that gave Him
a marvelous influence over old and young, over men,
women, and children. "Thou art beautiful," says
the Psalmist, "above the sons of men ; grace is
poured abroad in Thy lips ; with Thy comeliness and
Thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously, and
reign."
Jesus Christ the Way. ♦ 549
He spoke in simple language; yet all wondered
at the words of grace that proceeded from His
mouth. Why did His simple words convey such an
impression? Because with the latent power of di-
vine grace, the ''goodness and kindness of God our
Saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us."
He hated sin, but He was merciful to sinners. The
Prophet Isaias said of Him that He would not be
"sad nor troublesome.'' He had all His senses
under control. His manner and His person were a
reflection of the calm, the peace, the order that
reigned within.
''He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall
any man hear His voice in the streets. The bruised
reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall
not extinguish" (Matt. xii. 19, 20). Jesus is your
Master, your Model. Contemplate the loveliness of
Jesus, and then your own sweetness will be appar-
ent, your own modesty will be known to all, and that
modesty will edify others and preach a powerful
sermon — that modesty will indicate the purity of
your soul ; it will also feed and nourish the spirit
of interior recollection. If we had nothing else to
be guided by in our judgment and appreciation of
the character of Jesus, the first twelve verses of the
fifth chapter of St. Matthew — the Sermon on the
Mount, the discourse on the eight beatitudes —
would be sufficient to convince us that the man who
pronounced it was m^eek and humble ; amiable and
affectionate toward His own ; patient and merciful
with all.
Meditate frequently on the words of the divine
Master: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are
the meek, blessed are they that mourn, -blessed are
the}'' that hunger and thirst after justice, blessed are
the merciful, blessed are the clean of heart, blessed
550 *• Jesus Christ the Way.
are the peacemakers, blessed are they that suffer
persecution for justice' sake. Blessed are ye when
they shall revile you and persecute you, and speak
all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake. Be
glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in
heaven". (Matt. v. 3-12).
This sublime epitome of the Gospel is still further
simplified by our blessed Saviour, when He says :
"Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of
heart, and you shall find rest to your souls" (Matt,
xi. 29).
As the author of Another Handful of Myrrh
says : "Our Lord seems to sum up all Christian per-
fections in these two virtues, meekness and humility,
as though we had nothing else whatever to learn of
Him. He says nothing of faith, hope, and charity ;
nothing of temperance, prudence, justice, and forti-
tude, evidently meaning that they were all com-
prised in some way in these two ; either presup-
posed to them or following on them by natural
consequence, or else actually included in their wide
acceptation."
''Learn of Me,, because I am meek and humble of
heart !" This is the portrait that Our Lord has left
of Himself. It is beautiful. Study it every day of
your life, w4th a view to self-improvement and
greater conformity to the likeness of your divine
Model. Let us bear in mind another thing — a mat-
ter of great importance. In the words of An-
other Handful of Myrrh: "It is our blessed Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ Himself, who is at once
our Master and our most strict Judge, and also our
kind Intercessor and our Friend. And He is now
here in the midst of us, day by day, that we may
make friends with Him.
"We meet Him on everv side, at home and abroad,
Jesus Christ the Way. 551
far and near ; He is never long out of our sight ; we
find Him at one time sick, and we visit Him ; and
the next time we meet Him He is poor, and we re-
Heve Him ; and then He asks us for clothes, and we
take them from our back and give them to Him ; or
He is in trouble and we help Him ; or His character
is being taken away, and we put in a good word for
Him; and He is lost and wandering, and we show
Him the way and lead Him back to His home ; and
He is always getting from one difficulty into an-
other, but we are patient with Him, and not 'weary
in well-doing/ And He seems so ungrateful and
undeserving and repulsive, and yet we bear with
Him, remembering how we, too, before God are un-
grateful and undeserving and repulsive. And He
wrongs us most cruelly and beyond all justification,
and we not only excuse Him where excuse is possi-
ble, but we forgive with a full, free, wide and God-
like heart, even as we hope to be forgiven. And all
this time we do not recognize who He is ; for He is
acting a part, disguising Himself from us; our
eyes are held, so that we know Him not, though our
hearts burn within us as we converse with Him by
the way ; until at last we stand trembling before our
Judge, waiting in terror the word of condemnation ;
our eyes upon the ground in confusion. 'Hath no
man condemned thee?' He says to us at length.
*No rqan. Lord/ 'Neither do I condemn thee;' and
we raise our thankful eyes and see the face of Him
who was aforetime hungry, and thirsty, and naked,
and needy, and slandered, and ill-treated, and un-
grateful, and undeserving, and unjust. And He
says, 'Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these,
you did it to Me. Inasmuch as you fed them, and
clothed them, and harbored them, and defended
them, and pitied them, and bore with them, and for-
552 Jesus Christ the Way.
gave them, you did it to Me. And now I am your
friend, and I will feed you eternally with the Bread
of life ; and refresh you with living water, and clothe
you with glory, and forgive all that is past, and will
receive you into everlasting habitations.' "
CHAPTER LII.
Zbc Cbree Degrees ot IbumiUt^ tbe Mais to
Cbristian pertection*
QTt. Ignatius, in his Spiritual Exercises, points
)^-^ out "three degrees'' of humility. They corre-
spond to the three degrees of Christian perfection,
and these consist, as we read in Manresa: "(i) In
the firm resolution to avoid mortal sin, even at the
risk of life; (2) in the firm resolution to avoid de-
liberate venial sin at any price; (3) in the volun-
tary choice of whatever is most perfect for the ser-
vice of God.
'The three degrees of humility suppose the abase-
ment and, as it were, the annihilation of the old man
within us. The third degree of humility is the high-
est degree of Christian perfection. It consists in
preferring, for the sole love of Jesus Christ, and
from the wish to resemble Him more, poverty to
riches, shame to honor, etc., even if on both sides
your salvation and the glory of God were equally to
be found. To arrive at this third degree of humility,
consider :
''i. Its excellence. It contains all that is most
heroic in virtue, and the perfect imitation of Jesus
Christ, who for love of us willingly embraced the
ignominy of the cross : 'Having joy set before Him,
endured the cross, despising the shame' (Heb. xii.
''2. Its happiness. To this degree is attached (a)
peace of heart, since nothing can trouble him who
professes to love all that nature fears and abhors ;
{b) intimate union with Jesus Christ, who communi-
554 The Three Degrees of Humility.
cates Himself fully to those souls who give them-
selves to Him without reserve; (c) the choice graces
and blessings of God, on all that we undertake for
His glory. 'The foolish things of the world hath
God chosen, that He may confound the wise*
(i Cor. i. 27).
^'3. Its utility. This degree is the most certain
way of salvation, because it snatches us away from
all the dangers inseparable from fortune and honor ;
the shortest way, because it delivers us at once from
sin, and raises us to every virtue ; the most meritori-
ous way, because it is one uninterrupted course of
sacrifices, and consequently of merits for eternity."
It is the highest ambition of the ideal Religious
to arrive at the third degree of humility. As we
read in Chaignon's Meditations for Priests, ''St.
Bernard distinguishes between the truth and the
virtue of humility. The former shows us our noth-
ingness and profound abjection, and the latter
enables us to love this abjection itself, and makes us
cheerfully consent to be nothing so that God may be
all. The truth confounds and terrifies us ; the virtue
elevates and encourages us. The one enlightens and
the other inflames. The knowledge of ourselves is
nothing more than a preparation for true humility,
or at most a preparation for the humility of the
mind. Philosophy has reached thus far, but the
humility which is the result of faith, the one which
Jesus Christ teaches and which St. Gregory calls
'magistra omnium, mater que virtutum' (the mis-
tress and mother of all virtues), this humihty, we
say, has its seat in the heart, and regulates its affec-
tions. 'Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble
of heart.' Humility leads us to sincerely despise
ourselves as being really worthy of naught
but contempt, and to love our abjection as bringing
The Three Degrees of Humility. 555
into clear relief the greatness of God. This is the
first degree. The second consists in this : in desiring
that all men should entertain the same sentiments
concerning us, and should judge us as we judge
ourselves. In the third degree, which is the most
perfect, we are pleased when men act toward us con-
formably to the low opinion of ourselves with which
we have inspired them. He who has attained this
third degree is not content to sufifer reproaches pa-
tiently; he accepts them joyfully and seeks for them
with the ambition of worldlings for distinctions and
honors. We will not say that humiliations are
agreeable in themselves, but they render us like unto
the Son of God humbled for our sake, and at the
same time offer us a means of expressing to Him
our love as well as of deserving His own love."
The fundamental principle of man's conversion
from sin and his advancement to the highest Chris-
tian perfection is found in a thought of St. Augus-
tine : ''Est homini iter ad Deum — per Deiim homi-
nem/'
"Man is a traveler; the starting-point is sin; the
end to be reached is God, and the God-man is the
road which leads to it," we read in the Introduction
to Chaignon ; ''behold three classes of truths per-
fectly distinct.
"In the first place, man is to be purified by being
taught how to fight against and destroy sin both in
itself and in its causes. In the second place, man
converted is led on to God, his last end, along the
very safe road of the examples of Christ. 'Fol-
low Me!' says the Saviour, T am the Way, the
Truth and the Life.' In the third place, man be-
comes intimately united to God by love. This is the
way to perfection ; it is the purgative, the illumi-
native and the unitive life.
556 The Three Degrees of Humility.
''Jesus is a model of perfect humility in His life,
in His Passion, and in His death. 'The Word was
made flesh." The Son of God became man, and in
doing so He did not ch'oose for His condition one of
prominence, of affluence and authority. No; He
preferred the most abject, the most servile, the poor-
est of all conditions. 'He emptied Himself, taking
the form of a servant/ Nor would He come into
the world as a full-grown man, endowed with the
strerigth and beauty of perfect m.anhood. No ; He
came in the form of an infant, weak, helpless, sub-
ject to infirmities. He was born in a stable. His
cradle was a manger. He was circumcised ; by sub-
mitting to the rite of circumcision He took upon
Himself the mark of a sinner. He, the Son of
God, fled into Egypt from the wrath of a tyrant.
He was poor in exile, and He remained poor in
Nazareth. Nearly all His life He labored in a car-
penter's shop, living the Hfe of a poor mechanic. In
His public life He rejected all honors. He continued
to live among the poor, and served them as the low-
liest among them, not disdaining even to wash the
feet of His Apostles. He suffered hunger and cold
and persecution and every kind of human woe.
Finally in His Passion His thirst for humiliations
was fully satiated. Stupendous indeed were Our
Lord's humiliations in His Passion. Truly He then
became as He was foreshown by the prophets. 'The
Man of sorrows, the Man struck by the hand of
God, the last of men, a worm and not a man.' He
hungered after reproaches. 'He shall be filled with
them.'"
You have promised your Saviour, your divine
Master, to follow whithersoever He would go. He
strode like a giant in the path of humiliations, and
did not seek the esteem of men ; on the contrary, He
The Three Degrees of Humility. 557
rejoiced in being despised by them. You admire the
God-man in the abyss of His humihations. Should
not you find lovable whatsoever your Lord and Mas-
ter loved? Bless God for all humiliations. Accept
them with joy in union with Jesus, for the love of
God. The true, loving spouse of Christ follows her
divine Master with generosity of mind and steadi-
ness of resolution even to the cross, ''through honor
and • dishonor, through infamy and good fame"
(2 Cor. vi. 8). She endeavors to conform her ac-
tions in everything to His. She does this out of
love, but she remembers also that her glory in the
next life will be commensurate with the exactness
wherewith she follows Christ through this vale of
tears.
The unitive life has various affections peculiar to
itself, and these ought to be cultivated during our
meditations. ''The chief subjects of these affec-
tions,'' as Father Baxter, S.J., observes, "are :
I. Admiration of the majesty of God and the
divine perfections which w^e contemplate.
"2. Joy and contentment, because God is abso-
lutely perfect in Himself, infinitely good to others,
and admirable in all His works.
"3. Praise and thanksgiving for His favors and
benefits, with a desire of seeing and enjoying Him
in order to honor and obey Him.
"4. Zeal for God's glory and the good of souls,
wishing that all the world may come to the knowl-
edge and love of the Redeemer.
"5. Confidence in the goodness and Providence of
God, united wnth a filial respect, and the fear of be-
ing separated from Him by sin, and a sincere regret
for having ever incurred His just indignation.
*'6. Desire of the heavenly things which we con-
template. Everything on earth ought to appear
558 The Three Degrees of Humility.
trifling to us, when we look up to heaven and say
with the prophet, 'How lovely are Thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth in
the courts of the Lord' (Ps. Ixxxiii. 2). 'As the
hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul
panteth after Thee, O God!' (Ps. xli. 2.)
"By entertaining such affections as these, we
ought to aim at that happy state in which, 'behold-
ing the glor}^ of God with open face, we may be
transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord' (2 Cor. iii. 18).
We should tlius endeavor to become like to Him, by
uniting our wills with His, and by increasing daily
more and more in the knowledge and love of Him,
until at length passing from this dark pilgrimage
of human life we may arrive at our own bright na-
tive country, and enjoy the beatific vision for all
eternity."
k
CHAPTER LIII.
Ebe McsBCb Sacrament.— ^bc *ol^ Sacrifice
of tbe /Ilba60.
Ef}z JHjsteries ot (Buv Horti^s ILiit anti JSassion
i^eprotfucetr in tt)e pijsteries of ti)e ^Itar.
DAILY VISJTS/^
* ' "T^ E hath made a remembrance of His wonderful
^^ works : He hath given food to them that
fear Him" (Ps. ex. 4, 5). The Eucharist is the
abridgment of all the gifts of God, for it contains
Jesus Christ, the Source of every grace and every
gift. All that Jesus has ever done for^our love He
still continues to do in the Eucharist. There we find
Jesus a Child, Jesus poor, Jesus our Teacher, Jesus
the wonder-working Physician, Jesus suffering,
Jesus dying for us. — Abbe Henri Perreyve.
How sweet it is to believe in this presence of Jesus
Christ ! how it touches, animates, and restrains us !
Hence how suited to our needs, and how worthy of
Him who has so loved us ! — Fcnelon.
Under the veil of the Most Holy Sacrament, as a
vesture hanging between His presence and our sight,
there is the Word Incarnate ; and out from that ves-
ture there goes forth the virtue of healing, as it went
out from the hem of His garment when the poor
woman touched it visibly on earth. — Cardinal
Manning.
Our Lord has left us His body in the Holy
*With alterations and additions from Father Spencer's
The Little Grain of Wheat.
56o The Blessed Sacrament.
Evicharist to be therein the memorial of His Passion,
the sacrifice of our altars and the nourishment of
our souls. — Lallemant.
No tongue can express the sweetness which the
fervent soul finds in the Holy Sacrament. It is
enough to say that true spiritual sweetness is drunk
at the fountain head. — St. Thomas.
By His Incarnation the Lord has given Himself
to all men in general; but in this Sacrament He has
given Himself to each of us in particular, to make
us understand the special love which He entertains
for each of us. — St. Liguori, Sermon xxxi.
Let no one approach the holy mysteries with a
distracted and wilfully dissipated mind. Let no one
think at this time of earthly or human projects.
Free from earthly cares, let every one elevate him-
self to heaven, and unite himself with the seraphim,
since he is so near the throne of the Almighty. — St.
John Chrysostom.
The Blessed Sacrament is that Presence which
makes a Catholic church different from every other
place in the world ; which makes it, as no other place
can be, holy. — Cardinal Nezvman.
Rightly indeed is the Sacrament of the Altar
called the Eucharist, that is, good grace : for in it
there is not only increase of virtues and grace, but
He is received whole who is the Fountain of grace.
— Master of the Sentences.
As by the agency of light we obtain the reproduc-
tion of objects, so by exposing our souls to the rays
of the Blessed Sacrament we shall receive and retain
the sweet likeness of Jesus, His divine photograph ;
and there will be imprinted upon our very exterior
itself an air of resemblance with Him, a something
of His features, a something which calls to mind the
meek and gentle Host. — Mgr. Pichenst.
The Blessed Sacrament, 561
All the saints have considered devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament the most powerful means of spir-
itual regeneration. Religious instruction makes us
know Jesus Christ, the Eucharist makes us feel and
taste Him. — Mgr. Diipanloiip,
Without the Holy Eucharist there would be no
happiness in this world ; life would be insupportable.
... In the presence of this beautiful Sacrament we
are like a person dying of thirst by the side of a river
— he would only need to bend his head ; . . . like a
poor person close to a great treasure — he need only
stretch out his hand. — Ven, Cure of Ars.
As fire converts into itself those things upon
which it has power to act; so in like manner Our
Lord, who is a consuming fire, by communicating
Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist, transforms us
into His likeness. — St. Dionysiiis the Areopagite,
During holy Mass, the angels assist the priest, all
the orders of celestial spirits raise their voices, and
the vicinity of the altar is occupied by choirs of an-
gels, who do homage to Him who is being immo-
lated.— St. John Chrysostom.
From the silent tabernacle where He has fixed His
abode Jesus governs and directs His Church by the
authority of His presence there. At the holy table
He feeds the people of His pasture, the sheep of His
hand : He is tjfie Master, the Physician, the Protector
of souls that belong to Him. — Abbe De Brandt.
Memorial sweet, that shows the death of my dear Lord ;
Thou living Bread, that life dost unto man afford ;
Oh, grant that this my soul may ever live on Thee,
That Thou mayst evermore its only sweetness be.
O mystic Pelican, Jesus, my loving Lord,
Cleanse me of my defilements in Thy blood adored,
Whereof one only drop, in Thy sweet mercy spilt.
Would have the power to cleanse the world of all its guilt.
562 The Blessed Sacrament.
0 Jesus, lying here concealed before mine eye,
1 pray Thou grant me that for which I ceaseless sigh.
To see the vision clear of Thine unveiled face,
Blest with the glories bright that fill Thy dwelling-place.
— St. Thomas Aquinas, ''Adoro Te Devote."
Jesus, ''Emmanuel/' ''God with us," in the taber-
nacle is the life, the joy, the hope, the consolation,
the great desire of all pious souls. "Rejoice," ex-
claims St. Bernard, "rejoice, ye spouses! Be in
transports of joy ! You possess the pledge, you hold
the earnest of the Spouse, to whom you will be
united in the celestial country."
Our disposition here and now should be to rejoice
and exult that He is present in the Blessed Sacra-
ment, to thank Him all the day long and to find our
happiness and consolation in staying before the al-
tar; having only one further desire, the blessedness
of beholding Him with our eyes face to face. But
that is too great a thing for this mortal, temporary
existence, where all is yet dark and imperfect, and
we live in the faint twilight of dawn (for that is
what this world is), and not in the full blaze of the
heavenly noonday. That we must long for and pray
that it come in the future ; then, in heaven we will
behold Him face to face. This desire is expressed
in that verse in the Canticles, where the soul, still
seeing in a glass darkly, says to the Beloved, "Show
me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou
feedest, where Thou liest in the mid-day" — ^that is,
she desires to behold Him face to face, in the full
light of heaven. But now she must be content with
the presence of her Beloved in the dark, as it were,
where she can not see His human form, but, never-
theless, knows well that she has His humanity here,
in the Blessed Sacrament, where He lives and feeds
among pure souls ; and so she says again, in the
TJie Blessed Sacrament, 563
words of the Canticles : ''My Beloved to me and I to
Him, who feedeth among the lilies, until the day
break and the shadows flee away/'
So we should find our delight in Our Lord's pres-
ence with us in the darkness of this life; and we
should be very grateful that He has not left us alone
in the darkness. If we greatly love and desire Him,
we will greatly love His sacramental presence, that
is, if we have a vivid, lively faith. And faith and
love go together. If one is strong, the other is
strong : if one is weak, the other is weak. St. Teresa
said, after her death, appearing to one of her nuns :
''What we in heaven do with the divine Essence,
you on earth should do with the Blessed Sacrament."
Now, in heaven they contemplate, worship, love the
divine Essence — that is their occupation. So we
should do with the Blessed Sacrament. In one of
her books the same saint tells about a woman she
knew who had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacra-
ment. This woman used to wonder when she heard
people talk about how happy those were who lived
during Our Lord's mortal life on earth, and how
much they would like to have lived then, and seen
Him and spoken to Him. She. used to laugh and
think to herself : What do they want ? They have
Him now to their heart's content, if they will take
the trouble to go to Him. Yes, it is a blissful thing
to think that though He truly ascended into heaven,
yet He did not leave us orphans, but continually
descends upon earth every time that Mass is said,
and remains wnth us, and will remain with us till
the end of time. Indeed we are better off than if
He had remained on earth in His human form, sub-
ject to the laws of place and extension. For then
people would have to journey far to get to Him; or,
if He went about the world, we could not tell when
564 The Blessed Sacrament.
we might expect to have Him ; and very many would
die without ever having been in His presence. But
now we have Him at all times and in every place
where there is a priest who possesses His power.
And in priests Our Lord is present in another way ;
for in them His own eternal priesthood lives upon
earth. But of this more anon.
Let me call your attention now to a very important
point, namely, ::hat in the Blessed Sacrament you
have Our Lord's whole life right before your eyes,
from the moment He was conceived in the womb of
the holy Virgin, until His present glorified life in
the kingdom of heaven ; that you have before your
eyes in the Blessed Sacrament, His infancy. His
hidden life. His public ministry. His Passion and
death. His Resurrection, and glorious life. And you
have His example, not only in the past, but you have
His present, living example and teaching. Now,
according to all these various phases of His life, all
the successive scenes of His former life on earth are
represented here, and the corresponding teachings,
examples, and actions are actually going on here.
This is certainly a consolation. Our Lord is not in
the Blessed Sacrament as dead or asleep, nor simply
there to receive your love and adoration. But just
as the most blessed Virgin had her divine Son's life,
and His holy examples, and actions, and words go-
ing on before her eyes, to her inconceivable advance-
ment in grace and spiritual progress, even so we
have her Son's life and example going on before our
eyes, in all their stages, which we can study to our
immense profit and advancement in grace. Let us
now study her Son's blessed life and divine example
with her eyes, so to speak, just as she used to look at
it ; only we are looking at it now, not in the past, but
in the present, here in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Blessed Sacrament. 565
First, as to the holy infancy, which is all more or
less a hidden life. The counterpart of this stage of
the earthly life of Jesus is very evident in the Blessed
Sacrament. The angel announced to Mary that she
was chosen to become the Mother of God. She
spoke the words, ''Fiat mihi secvindiim verbum
tmtin'' — ''Be it unto me according to thy word/' and
the Son of God became incarnate in her womb. The
priest at the altar speaks the words, ''Hoc est enim
corpus meum'' — "For this is My body,'' and the Son
of God and of Mary is incarnate in his hands (not
becomes incarnate, indeed, for He is so already).
For nine months He was hidden from all the world
except from His holy Mother, being yet unborn.
She alone knew and conversed with Him, save when
she visited St. Elizabeth, who, with her son, also yet
unborn, recognized the invisible presence of the Son
of God and of Mary. So, in the tabernacle. Our
Lord is hidden from the eyes of all the world under
the impenetrable veil of the sacred species, reveal-
ing Himself in love and faith only to those who be-
lieve, best known and most perfectly revealed to
those who are holiest and purest. In His nativ-
ity He was given into the hands of His crea-
tures ; in the Blessed Sacrament He is given into our
hands in holy communion ; and He is sometimes laid
in the hearts of those who are unworthy to receive
Him, even as He was laid in a stable and manger of
brute beasts. His blessed Mother presented Him in
the Temple to God His Father for our salvation ; so
the sacred Host is elevated on high in the Mass and
offered to the Eternal Father. His flight into Egypt
from the face of Herod has often been repeated
when the Blessed Sacrament has had to be carried
away to preserve it from the profanation of heretics
and pagans. As Our Lord when a child dwelt for
566 The Blessed Sacrament,
a time in Egypt among a pagan population who
knew not God, so in the Blessed Sacrament He
dwells in heathen lands and in Protestant countries,
dispensing His graces in secret, and drawing poor
ignorant hearts to His fold. In Nazareth He lived
for many years a hidden life of prayer, silence, obe-
dience, mortification of the senses ; so in His hidden
life in the tabernacle He teaches the same life of
prayer, silence, and obedience ; for there we behold
Him hidden from men, as at Nazareth, leading a life
of prayer, for the Heart of Jesus in the Host is
continually active, making infinitely sublime acts of
adoration to God His Father, and intercession for
us of infinite value. We behold Him there in pro-
found silence. We learn from Him self-denial ; for
there He continually refrains His senses, granting
them nothing on this earth. He teaches us obedi-
ence ; for He is absolutely obedient to His creatures,
the priests, as He was to Mary and Joseph ; they
place Him in the tabernacle, He remains in the
tabernacle ; they place Him upon the altar. He re-
mains on the altar. He teaches humility; for He
humbles Himself to the depth of remaining under
the poor elements, under the humble accidents of
bread, so that He seems to those who know Him
not to be an inanimate creature, not the Lord of
heaven and earth. Such also was the life He led at
Nazareth, where the neighbors knew Him not as the
Son of God, but as a poor lad, the son of Joseph the
carpenter.
Then we come to Our Lord's public life on earth.
We read how He went about doing good. He
taught from place to place. He cured the sick, and
cast out devils. He preached to thousands of per-
sons. He journeyed from place to place to heal the
souls and bodies of men. There is nothing like this
The Blessed Sacrament. 567
to be found in the Blessed Sacrament, is there? O
yes ! The Hfe of our dear Lord in the divine Host is
most active. He remains still in the tabernacle, it is
true ; but thousands of persons come to visit Him,
to be cured of the diseases of their souls. Graces
are flying forth from His Heart in inconceivable
abundance. Sinners are struck with contrition. A
poor, sad-hearted child com.es in and kneels by the
door. The Lord in the Sacrament sends forth His
power. He casts forth the seven devils from her
heart, she seeks the confessional, washes the feet of
Jesus with her tears, and goes forth from before the
tabernacle, another Mary Magdalen. A grief-
stricken mother weeps for her son, who is dead in
sin. The Lord in the Sacrament, being moved with
compassion, says to her, ''Weep not.'' He stretches
forth His hand, and raises the youth from the death
of sin and restores him to life. A mission is going
on in a church ; a thousand people and more are
present; the preacher speaks from the pulpit, the
Lord in the tabernacle sends forth His light and His
grace; power has gone forth from Him, and the
hearts of the people are touched, and hundreds are
converted. It was Our Lord preaching from the
tabernacle ; the preacher in the pulpit was His in-
strument. Do you not see how like it is now to the
time when He did all these same things in Galilee
and Judea? From the tabernacle Our Lord works
miracles, both un souls and bodies. He goes forth,
in the hands of His priesthood, and visits the sick.
He cures the lepers, by cleansing from sin. He
gives sight to the blind, by opening the eyes of unbe-
lievers to the truths of faith. In holy communion
He renews the miracle of feeding five thousand with
five loaves ; for He gives Himself wholly and en-
tirely to each one of thousands, nor does He multiply
568 The Blessed Sacrament,
Himself, nor does He become diminished. We read
a beautiful story in the Gospels, how one stormy
night He stood on the shore of the sea of Galilee,
and watched His disciples in the ship laboring at the
oars, for the wind was contrary ; and pitying their
tribulation He came to them walking upon the sea.
Even so He watches us from the shore of eternity,
from the throne of His glory, as we labor and
struggle through the night of this mortal life upon
the rough sea of this world; and He comes to us in
the Blessed Sacrament, wrdking upon the waters of
this mortal, earthly life in a mysterious, miraculous
manner, as not of it. And as He entered into their
ship, and immediately they found themselves at the
land, so He enters into the ship of His Church,
staying with us in the tabernacle, or giving Him-
self to us in holy communion, bringing us safe to
the land whither we are going, that is, heaven. He
chose twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples, and
sent them forth to teach and to preach ; He chose
also the holy women who followed Him, and minis-
tered to Him, and stood under the cross. So He
chooses men for Bishops and priests, and sends them
out to teach and preach ; and he chooses Religious,
who should help Him, and have part in His labors
and sufferings, and teach His little ones; and He
chooses you, also, who read this, to follow Him as
His disciple, and to accomplish His designs in your
regard, and obey His holy inspirations, and do all
His will. Is it not true that Our Lord is accom-
plishing a public ministry in the Blessed Sacrament
now, even more than on the shores of the sea of
Galilee? This is only a sketch. But in reading the
Gospels you may see many more parallels.
We find also a counterpart of the Passion and
death of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. He
The Blessed Sacrament. 569
was rejected by the Jews ; so He is rejected now by
heretics and infidels. He was seized, dragged from
one unjust judge to another, bufifeted, spat upon,
beaten, bhndfolded and mocked. So He is treated
now in the Blessed Sacrament, by the hatred shown
to Him by many men, by the writings and speeches
of infidels, by the haters of religion, who in some
countries would close the churches, drive Our Lord
from the tabernacle, and turn out priests and Relig-
ious. So, also. He is treated in holy communion by
bad Catholics, and by cold and indifferent hearts.
The Blessed Margaret Mary had some terrible vis-
ions about the communions of proud and indifferent
souls ; how displeasing they were to Him, how much
pain they gave Him, how in their communions they
dragged Him, as it were, through thorns and briars.
But when the soul is one with Our Lord in humility
and fervor, then her holy communion is a most pleas-
ing and acceptable act in the eyes of His heavenly
Father, and of great fruit lo the recipient. For she
puts few or no obstacles In the way of the graces and
blessings which flow out from the Heart of Jesus.
As for the glorious life of Our Lord, which He led
after the Resurrection, and is leading since, and will
forevermore, that is the very life that He is actually
leading in the Blessed Sacrament. The life He leads
here with us in the tabernacle is His glorious and
risen life.
He is with us in the Blessed Sacrament as a con-
sequence of the Resurrection and Ascension ; and
His sacramental presence is a constant reminder of
those happy mysteries. He is in the same actual
state now, in the tabernacle, that He was in on the
morning of the Resurrection, and when He was
parted from His apostles on His Ascension day. He
comes to us from the glory of heaven, fresh from the
570 The Blessed Sacrament.
bosom of His Father, full of beauty, blessedness, and
joy, full of the new wine of His Father's love,
crowned and sceptered, and Sovereign of the king-
dom of God, and desiring to confer all this blessed-
ness, glory, and royalty on all who will open their
hearts to Him. Blessed are we who have Him
with us night and day! In Him we have all we
want; for in the Holy Eucharist He gives us all He
ever was, and is, and is to be. ''Blessed are the eyes
which see the things that you see ; for I say to you
that many prophets and kings have desired to see the
things that you see, and have not seen them ; and to
hear the things that you hear, and have not heard
them'' (Luke x. 23).
With Father Faber let us exclaim : ''All blessing
be to Thee, Most Holy Sacrament! for that Thou
art God, and for that Thou art man, and for that in
love of us Thou art so lovingly and humbly veiled,
and yet withal so indubitably distinct and clear.
"O King of angels! Who can tell Thy worth?
The angels round Thy tabernacle know how far too
short eternity will prove to exhaust the hymns that
should enumerate the wonders of Thy Sacrament of
love !"
Let us turn our thoughts now to the
Ji^olg Sacrifice of tt)0 ^ltar»
and in particular to the priest who offers the Mass.
This is the greatest devotion, tbe greatest act of wor-
ship we are ever, or can ever be engaged in — the
holy sacrifice of the Mass. It is the sacrifice of the
cross re-enacted and continued day by day, and the
Lord's Passion and death daily represented. It is
the same sacrifice, differing only in the manner of
its offering. It is the reconciliation of man to God,
the sacrifice most pleasing to the Father, and the
The Blessed Sacrament. 571
source from which all good things come to us indi-
vidually. By the Passion of Our Lord, heaven was
opened, sin blotted out, and graces obtained for the
whole human race ; in the sacrifice of the Mass all
this is applied to each one individually.
Our Lord came among us, and reconciled
us to His Father, ''making peace through the
blood of His cross" (Col. i. 20). He was pleased
to be partaker of our blood, in order that He might
shed that blood for us (Heb. ii. 14). But not con-
tent, in the depth of His love for us, with His actual
sufferings and death upon the cross He wished to
continue this sacrifice by the hands of His priests,
even to the end of the world. Accordingly, in in-
stituting the sacrifice of the altar. He said : 'This
is the chalice of the New Testament in My blood,
which shall be shed for you,'' thus pointing out that
He instituted it in relation to and as a continuation
of the sacrifice of the cross wherein He shed His
blood. In the holy Mass is renewed, mystically, the
shedding of that same blood, "which speaketh better
than that of Abel," as the Apostle says, because it
crieth not for vengeance but for mercy. Not that
His blood is shed again in the ]\Iass actually, but it
is mystically done ; that is, the separation of the
blood from the body is represented by the separate
consecration of the Host and the chalice ; yet there
is actually and in truth offered to the Eternal Father
that same precious blood that was formerly shed in
the Passion, but which now is forever united to His
body in His glorified state in heaven, and in His
sacramental state in the Blessed Eucharist.
The Passion of Our Lord, then, is vividly repre-
sented before our eyes in the sacrifice of the Mass.
There is, first, that essential representation just
spoken of, where the blood of Our Lord is repre-
572 The Blessed Sacrament
sented as separated from His body by the separate
consecration of the Host and chaHce. Secondly, the
whole ceremony of the Mass, from beginning to end,
is a representation of Our Lord undergoing His In-
carnation, Passion and death. The priest himself
who offers the sacrifice is a living representation of
Jesus Christ. Or rather, the priest, in his own per-
son, is a representative of Jesus, while in his office of
priesthood, he is Jesus. How is that? Because he
goes to the altar to perform a divine act which Jesus
alone can do of Himself, because He is God, and
which is the own zvork of Jesus, and not the work of
man. The personaHty of the priest is, in the mind of
God, and should be also in his own mind, altogether
absorbed in the person of Jesus Christ; so that the
visible priest w^ho is seen at the altar is, as it were,
but the veil which hides from sight the divine and
eternal Priest, Jesus Christ Himself. There are not
many priesthoods — ^there is but one priesthood, the
priesthood of Jesus Christ ; there is but one priestly
power ; there is but one infinite force in certain
words, which are called the words of consecration ;
and this infinite force and these almighty words are
the power and the words of the divine Priest, Christ
our Lord. Therefore, every priest is a priest because
he is invested, not with a priesthood of his own, but
with the priesthood of Jesus Christ. It is most im-
portant for us to get this truth strongly and vividly
into our minds, so that Jesus in His priesthood on
earth, in His priests, may be a living reality to us;
so that when we see the priest coming out and stand-
ing at the altar, we may not think of him as Father
Brown, or Father Smith, may not think of his human
personality, which is naught, and may forget his
ways or peculiarities, or anything which stamps him
a mere man ; but we should see in him, with a living
The Blessed Sacrament. 573
faith, only Jesus Christ. Hence, it is the divine and
eternal priesthood of Jesus that is really and abso-
lutely there ; for if it were not there, there would be
no priest — only a mere man, powerless and useless.
Oh, how necessary is faith ! Pray for a living faith,
which looks beyond the appearance; which pene-
trates eternal truths; which sees that the one real
and great thing on earth is Jesus, and His priest-
hood, which is one with Himself. In heaven, says
one of the Fathers, the sacerdotal character in in-
dividual priests will no longer be hidden, but all eyes
will see its identity with the priesthood of Christ.
For between Jesus and the priest, on the ground of
the eternal priesthood, there is identity. Jesus and
the priest are one on that ground. The priesthood
that w^e have is the priesthood of Jesus, which the
Eternal Father conferred upon Him, when He said
to Him : "Thou art a priest forever according to
the order of Melchisedech," and this everlasting
priesthood He confers upon men, and shares with
men. In this way the priest is united with Jesus our
Lord as nobody else can be united. It resembles
somewhat the relations between Our Lord and
His most blessed Mother. How much grace a priest
has by all this ! He has sanctity itself in his hands
by the very possession of the eternal priesthood, if
he only wills it. The priest, if he wills it, can love
Our Lord with a love that is peculiarly the privilege
of the priest, and such as no one else on earth can
have ; a love that may be compared, in its character,
to the love of the holy Virgin for the Child Jesus ; so
that a devout and holy priest may, in a certain sense,
share in the love of Mary for Our Lord, as their
relations to Him are so much alike. How are they
alike ? She brought Him forth in the world, and the
priest brings Him down from heaven on the altar;
574 'The Blessed Sacrament.
she nursed Him and cared for Him on earth, and
the priest cares for Him and guards Him in the
sacred Host — for no one may touch the Host but
the priest, no one may open the tabernacle or care
for the Blessed Sacrament but the priest. He be-
longed to her. He belongs to the priest. He be-
longed to her that she might give Him to the world
— He belongs to the priest that he may give Him to
each one that seeks Him. Every priest oiight to be
a saint. It seems strange that all are not great
saints ; but, St. Paul says, ''We carry a heavenly
treasure in earthen vessels.'' I say these things that
you may have a great idea of the priesthood in the
Catholic Church, for it is the priesthood of Our
Lord, no matter who the priest may be who pos-
sesses it. Even if he be not a good man, yet it is as
a man that he is bad — as a priest he possesses, car-
ries in himself the holy and divine priesthood of
Christ Our Lord.
When the priest comes forth to the altar, take no
thought of who he is, or what he is by nature ; but
fervently desire of Our Lord that he may have the
grace to say the Mass with the same heavenly dispo-
sitions with which Our Lord is about to offer Him-
self by his hands in the Mass, and with which He
once offered Himself with His own hands in that
first Mass — after the Last Supper, on Maundy
Thursday. Pray very earnestly that the priest may
make Our Lord's interests his own interests, and
that he may place no obstacle in the way of the out-
flow of grace from the Holy Sacrifice by having any
worldly and wandering thoughts, but may be totally
taken up, in his mind and will, with the great act he
is about to perform. For although it is true that a
Mass offered in a careless and distracted manner, or
by a priest with a worldly heart, or even in mortal
The Blessed Sacrament. 575
sin, is not only valid, but, as St. Thomas says, is not
without its fruit, on account of the divine Victim of-
fered and the prayers of the Church of God ; yet, on
the other hand, if the priest is united to Our Lord
in his heart, and absorbed in Him, a devout and
fervent priest, his Mass has many special fruits and
sensible graces of which the other is deprived. So,
then, in uniting yourself to the priest in the Mass, do
so with the desire that he say it as Our Lord desires
him to say it, and as Our Lord Himself would say it
if He were standing visibly in his place ; and then,
through the priest, unite yourself to Jesus the one
High Priest, and endeavor to be absorbed in Him
during the Sacrifice, as the priest himself should be
absorbed. For He is offering Himself to His Father
in the Mass, and praying for His glory and His de-
signs in us. As David says of Him in the twenty-
first Psalm : ''To Thee is My praise in the great as-
sembly : I will pay My vows in the sight of them
that fear Him."
In assisting at the holy sacrifice of the altar, keep
in view the four ends of sacrifice, and pay your four-
fold debt to the Lord, namely : Adoration, Thanks-
giving, Reparation, and Prayer. You should assist
at holy Mass with great love in your heart for Our
Lord, in union with that great love with which He
came down from heaven, suffered and died and rose
again for us, and with which He is now^ offering
Himself in the Mass. You should hear it in union
with the love wnth which the heart of the most
blessed Virgin was filled at His Incarnation, at His
nativity, during His hidden life, during the years of
His public teaching and miracles, during His Pas-
sion, and while she stood under the cross and saw
Him die ; in union also with the love wherewith she
was filled at His Resurrection, and Ascension into
576 The Blessed Sacrament.
heaven ; striving to enter, as it were, into her senti-
ments, and to love Him with her heart, and to study
Him in these sacred mysteries as represented in the
Mass, with her eyes. You should earnestly desire the
glory of God, and wish to praise the Most Blessed
Trinity in union with the adorable Heart of
Jesus, in union with the blessed Virgin Mary, in
union with all the saints and citizens of the heavenly
court. You should also desire to give glory and
honor to the sacred humanity of Christ, and increase
of joy and glory to the angels and saints. Assist
also with a gratefur heart; giving thanks to God the
Father for giving us His Son, making Him our
Brother and giving us all good things along with
Him ; and for His blessed Passion and death ; re-
joicing in the infinite glory and joy with which His
Divine Heart is now inundated. Give thanks also
for all the graces and conversions granted to so
many thousands every day, and then for all the
thousand graces and favors granted to yourselves;
for it is a very just and wholesome thing, as the holy
Church says, for us to give thanks to the Lord our
God for all that we have received; yes, and some-
times to go over the list of them ; and we will always
be discovering mercies and favors we had never no-
ticed before.
It seems to me that we ought to have a special
love for the holy Mass, because it is the mystery
Our Lord Himself loves the best of all — it is His
favorite work.
He offers Himself in it to His Father with great
and inexpressible love. No words can express all
that the holy Mass is and all that it does. By it the
world is kept from destruction ; for the Eternal
Father beholds His Son humbling Himself in the
hands of His priesthood on every altar throughout
The Blessed Sacrament. S77
the world, and His wrath is appeased. By it the
hands of the servants of God are strengthened in
their constant battle against the devil and the world ;
by it the words of His preachers receive their fruit,
souls are converted from sin, and infidels to the
faith. By it the hearts of His children are kept up,
and their courage inflamed to sufifer with Him and
bear and do all things for Him. By it, all Our Lord's
holy intentions and designs for souls, and plans (if
we may speak so) for the salvation of sinners, re-
ceive their beginning and accomplishment. By it the
wickedness of Satan is restrained, and sins are kept
from being committed, and the consummation of all
things hastened. By it, in fine, come numberless
graces to each individual soul; but particularly to
those who understand and love the Mass as they
ought. With what love, then, with what recollec-
tion, should you not hear Mass, you whom Our Lord
calls not merely to do exterior work for Him, but
also to be united to Him and to pray for His holy in-
terests, making His interests your interests, and His
intentions your intentions ! So, in the holy Mass,
strive to be absorbed in Our Lord by love, praying
for the accomplishment of His interests and designs,
praying for His glory all the world over, for His in-
tentions in regard to Religious Orders, Communi-
ties, souls ; for the spread of devotion to the Sacred
Heart, the precious blood, and the Rosary ; praying
that He may become better and better known in the
holy Mass and in the tabernacle. And for this last
above all, you should pray, since in so many places
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is increasing, and
it seems to be the special need of this age. Do not
think you have nothing to do with all these things as
if they were above you. Our Lord deigns to have
need of you and of your fervent prayers in the Mass,
578 The Blessed Sacrament.
and He makes the accomplishment of some of His
wishes and designs depend on you. And not only
should you pray in this Holy Sacrifice for these in-
terests of Our Lord, but also offer yourselves up for
their accomplishment, as living and willing victims
along with the divine Victim in the holy Mass.
Cardinal Newman, referring to the sublimity of
the Holy Sacrifice, writes in Loss and Gain: "I de-
clare, to me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so
thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass. I could at-
tend Masses forever and not be tired. It is not a
mere form of words. It is a great action, the great-
est action that can be on earth. It is not the invoca-
tion merely, but, if I dare use the word, the evo-
cation of the Eternal. He becomes present on the
altar in flesh and blood, before whom angels bow and
devils tremble. That is the awful event which is the
scope and is the interpretation of every part of the
solemnity. Words are necessary, but as means, not
as ends; they are not mere addresses to the throne
of grace, they are instruments of what is far higher,
of consecration, of sacrifice. They hurry on, as if
impatient to fulfil their mission. Quickly they go —
the whole is quick ; for they are all parts of one inte-
gral action. ... So we, all around, each in his
place, looking out for the great Advent, 'waiting for
the moving of the water,' each in his place, with his
own wants, with his own thoughts, with his own in-
tention, with his own prayers, separate but concord-
ant, w^atching what is going on, watching its prog-
ress, uniting in its consummation. . . . There are
little children there, and old men, and simple labor-
ers, and students in seminaries, priests preparing for
Mass, priests making their thanksgiving; there are
innocent maidens and penitent sinners ; but out of
these many minds rises one Eucharistic hymn, and
the great action is the measure and the scope of it."
The Blessed Sacrament, 579
That ardent lover of the Blessed Sacrament, St.
Alphonsus Liguori, writes: ''All the honors which
angels, by their homages, and men, by their virtues,
penances, mortifications, and other holy works, have
ever given to God, do not weigh as much as the
glory given to the Lord of heaven and earth by a
single Mass/'
Our final consideration in this chapter is the sub-
ject of
Jiailj Vluitn to tf)e l^ost 3Slessetr Sacrament.
The following reflections on this point are culled
from a very instructive and interesting paper read
at the Third Eucharistic Congress by Father John J.
Frawley, C.SS.R.
Who of us has not heard of the touching incident
related of a French soldier in Orleans? He was
wont to spend at least an hour every day in church
before the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. When
asked by his captain what he was doing there, he
gave an answer worthy of a saint : 'T stand sentinel
before the throne of God. It grieved me to see
that the President has four sentinels to keep guard,
the general two, and God none. I will therefore
perform this service at least for an hour." In this
noble reply and still nobler action are pictured and
portrayed the natural logic of the Catholic soul
throbbing with lively faith in the real presence and
with burning love for the divine Prisoner, the mystic
attraction of the Catholic heart for Jesus, the Friend
of friends and the Magnet of souls hidden behind
the sacramental veils.
A visit to the Blessed Sacrament — what is it, what
does it mean? Listen to the thrilling description
given by the illustrious Cardinal Wiseman :* "The
familiar expression, 'a visit to the Blessed Sacra-
"^Essays on Various Subjects, vol 2, p. 264.
SSo The Blessed Sacrament.
ment,' so well understood in Catholic countries and
Catholic communities, contains a depth of faith and
of love which long descriptions would not so ade-
quately convey. It declares at once the simple,
hearty, practical belief in the real presence ; not a
vague, surmising opinion, not an uncertain hope that
the Lord of glory may be there ; but a plain convic-
tion that, as surely as a king dwells in his palace, and
may be there found by those who are privileged to
enter in ; or rather, that as certainly as He Himself
dwelt once in a stable, making it His first palace
upon earth, and was there Visited' by kings from a
distance, and by shepherds from the neighborhood ;
that as truly as He abode in the houses of His
friends, and was Visited' by Nicodemus for instruc-
tion, or by Magdalen for pardon ; so really does He
now dwell among us in such sort as that we may
similarly come before Him and have recourse to Him
in our wants. Nothing short of the liveliest faith in
the mystery could have introduced, or could keep up,
this practice. But the term is likewise the offspring
and expression of love. It implies a certain in-
timacy, if one may use so homely a term, with Him
to whom it is applied. It gets us beyond the dark
regions of awe into those of glowing affection ; it
raises us up above the crouching attitude of Is-
rael's children at the mountain's base ; nay, carries
us straight through the clouds and lightnings at its
side, to the silent, radiant summit, where God and
man meet face to face, and discourse together as
friends are wont to do. '
And a daily visit means the daily approaching and
abiding before the God of the tabernacle and the
tabernacle of God, the daily scaling and mounting of
the silent, radiant summit, where we meet God face
to face and converse with Him as our Teacher, Shep-
The Blessed Sacrament. 581
herd, Friend, Brother, Spouse, in unrestrained fa-
miHarity ; the daily reposing upon the Heart of Jesus
and speaking with Him heart to heart, the daily
adoration of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world — in imitation of the shining hosts of the
Church triumphant in heaven — ''the daily worship
of the adorable Victim on His altar-throne/'
Who can better tell us the benefits and blessings
of the daily visits than he who is the prince of the
apostles of the daily visits, and who himself tasted
to the full the unutterable sweetness and heavenly
graces of the daily visits, St. Alphonsus Liguori?
"Certainly,'' he exclaims, ''among all devotions, after
the receiving of the sacraments, that of adoring
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament holds the first place,
is the most pleasing to God, and the most useful to
ourselves. . . . You must be aware that in a quarter
of an hour spent in the presence of the Blessed Sac-
rament, you will perhaps gain more than in all the
other spiritual exercises of the day. . . . Jesus dis-
penses His graces in greater abundance to those who
visit Him in the Most High Sacrament. Blessed
Henry Suso used also to say that Jesus Christ hears
the prayers of the faithful more graciously in the
Sacrament of the Altar than elsewhere. And where
indeed did holy souls make their most beautiful
resolutions but prostrate before the Most Holy Sac-
rament? Who knows but that you also may one day,
in the presence of the tabernacle, make the resolution
to give yourself entirely to God? ... I repeat it
that indeed you will be blessed, not only in eternity,
but even in this life. ... Be assured that Jesus
Christ finds means to comfort a soul that remains
with a recollected spirit before the Most Blessed
Sacrament far beyond what the world can do with
all its feasts and pleasures. Oh, how sweet a joy it
582 The Blessed Sacrament.
is to remain with faith and tender devotion before
an altar and converse familiarly with Jesus Christ,
who is there for the express purpose of listening to
and graciously hearing those who pray to Him ; to
ask His pardon for the displeasures which we have
caused Him ; to represent our wants to Him as a
friend does to a friend in whom he places all his
confidence ; to ask Him for His graces, for His love,
and for His kingdom; but, above all, oh, what a
heaven it is there to remain making acts of love
towards that Lord who is on the very altar praying
to the Eternal Father for us, and is there burning
with love for us. Indeed, that love it is which de-
tains. Him there, thus hidden and unknown, even
though He is despised by ungrateful souls ! But
why should we say more? Taste and see."
We must all become like unto Christ. This like-
ness unto Christ can be acquired only through sac-
rifice. And where is the life of sacrifice taught but
in the school of the Crucified now set up on the altar
of God? The most heroic sacrifice of love, the
bloody sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, who though
sinless died for the sinful, forced the idea of sac-
rifice into the hearts of men. And from Calvary's
heights in shining procession the hosts of noble
souls march on through the ages, and for Jesus' sake
generously sacrifice their lives for the welfare and
salvation of men, inspired by the self -same Saviour
who in the Blessed Eucharist accompanied men
through the vicissitudes of times and of centuries,
and ever renews the torrent of generous self-sacrifice
that gushed forth from His Heart through the
wound in His side. And the Religious, kneeling im-
movable at the foot of the altar, with joy indescrib-
able draws the waters of magnanimous self-sacrifice
out of the Saviour's fountains (Is. xii. 3).
The Blessed Sacrament. 583
The Blessed Sacrament is our greatest, our most
precious treasure. For it is the same divine Essence
that constitutes all the glory of heaven, which is
here present in the tabernacle: our paradise on
earth. ''The Blessed Sacrament,'' says Father Fa-
ber, '' 4s no less than heaven on earth.' . . . God has
thrown Himself, His grace, His joy, His presence
into it as the last citadel of His love. Let us build
our tents beneath its walls, and abide there ever-
more : for those portals are the happy end of all
human pilgrimage."
It contains all the wealth of God's infinite love
and all the priceless merits of His Passion, the gem
of gems and the jewel of jewels, the Incarnate God
Himself. ''Let us not envy the blessed in heaven,
since on earth we have the same Lord, with greater
wonders of His love," says St. Alphonsus.
It is the most efficacious means of gratitude and
thanksgiving to God, the most certain remedy for all
our woes, the most abundant source of comfort and
consolation in sufferings and sorrows, of help and
deliverance in all the needs and afflictions of body
and soul for ourselves and all those intrusted to our
charge, for sinners and the souls in purgatory, for
the Church and the world. Hearken to the inspiring
words of Father Faber : "Many a time when a man
is wild with the questions, the doubts, the despairs,
the uncertainties, the fears with which a view of life
has surrounded him, and which are barking and bay-
ing at him, like so many dogs, he goes by an instinct
of grace to the Blessed Sacrament, and in a moment,
without effort on his part, all these shrill voices are
silent. His Lord is with him, the waves are still, the
storm is abated, and, not after further voyage, but
straightway, he is at the haven where he would be.
One look at the face of Jesus and the clouds fall
584 The Blessed Sacrament.
away, and there is light. . . . The Blessed Sacra-
ment is everything to us. We have our dearest Lord
with us, what care we for aught else? Darkness is
only pleasant shade when He is nigh. Disquietudes
are worth their pains for the extreme sweetness of
having His gentle hand to smooth them down. . . .
In a word, to have God so given up to us, to be with
us and to be ours, as He is in the Blessed Sacrament,
is our all in all."
Bourdaloue expresses the same thought thus :
*'No more than one visit to the Blessed Sacrament
is sometimes necessary to change immediately the
dispositions of a heart, and to cause the sweetest re-
pose and full content to succeed the greatest trouble
and sorrow. Many have approached it languishing
and overwhelmed with grief, and have returned re-
plenished with strength, courage, and even alacrity
and joy."
' In regard to the manner of making the daily visit.
Father Faber aptly remarks : ''The ways of visiting'
the Blessed Sacrament must be as various as the
souls of men. Some love to go there to listen ; some
to speak ; some to confess to Him as if He were their
priest ; some to examine their consciences as before
their judge; some to do homage as to their King;
some to study Him as their Doctor and Prophet;
some to find shelter as with, their Creator. Some re-
joice in His Divinity, others in His sacred humanity,
others in the mysteries of the season. Some visit
Him on different days by His different titles, as God,
Father, Brother, Shepherd, Head of the Church, and
the like. Some visit to adore, some to intercede,
some to petition, some to return thanks, some to get
consolation; but all visit Him to love." Love, en-
kindled by a lively faith, will contrive a thousand de-
vices, and will always find abundant matter for
The Blessed Sacrament. 585
prayer and conversation with the Eucharistic Sa-
viour. A certain devout soul, on being asked how she
employed the many hours passed in visiting the
Blessed Sacrament, replied in utter astonishment :
'*Good God, am I asked what I do in His presence?
Rather what is not done there ? We love, we ask, we
praise, we gW^ thanks ! What does a poor man do
in the presence of one who is rich ? What does a sick
man do in the presence of his physician ? What does
a man do who is parched with thirst in the presence
of a limpid fountain? What is the occupation of
one who is starving, and is placed before a well-
charged table?*' fSt. Alphonsus, First Visit,)
But, as in meditation, so also for the visit it is ad-
visable to have some method. Various methods have
been suggested. The renowned ascetical writer.
Father Louis de Ponte, S.J., recommends the appli-
cation of the interior senses to the mystery of the
Blessed Sacrament according to the method of St.
Ignatius. With the eyes of the soul we are to con-
template His divine majesty and all the stupendous
miracles and infinite treasures contained in this
august mystery — stimulating ourselves to acts of
adoration, homage, love, petition, thanksgiving.
With the ears of our soul we are to listen to His
loving invitations and holy inspirations and the salu-
tary lessons He teaches — exclaiming with the Psalm-
ist: 'T will hear what the Lord God will speak in
me" (Ps. Ixxxiv. 9). With the interior palate of
our soul we are to taste the sweetness of this true
Manna, of this heavenly Bread, in spiritual com-
munion. With the interior touch of the soul we are
to embrace His sacred wounds and reverently kiss
them, lovingly approach His Sacred Heart, touch
the hem of His garment, and with lively faith beg
Him to touch and heal us.
586 The Blessed Sacrament.
Father Eymard suggests a division of the time of
the visit, devoting it successively to acts of adora-
tion, thanksgiving, reparation, and suppHcation.
These are the four ends for which sacrifice is offered
to God, and the homage we render to our sacra-
mental God is to be a sacrifice of our hearts. This
method has been followed by his sons and disciples,
the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament.
The method of St. Alphonsus begins with a pre-
paratory prayer in which he offers the visit for three
ends : To thank our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament
for this great gift, to make amends to Him for the
outrages perpetrated against Him in this mystery of
love, and to adore Him in all the tabernacles on
earth, but especially as an act of humble compensa-
tion in those in which He is the least revered and
the most abandoned. This beautiful prayer has
been indulgenced by the Sovereign Pontiff. Then
follow texts from Holy Scripture with devout re-
flections, edifying sayings and examples of saints
and holy men, quotations from the Fathers and spir-
itual writers, fervent affections and aspirations,
humble petitions and supplications, varying for each
day in the month. Into these the saint poured out
the fire of love which consumed his own heart. These
holy sentiments and fervent prayers, coming from so
noble a source, must appeal to the piety of every
devout lover of the sacramental Jesus. At the end
of each visit the spiritual communion so highly rec-
ommended by St. Alphonsus and other masters of
the spiritual life, is to be made, which consists in
an ardent desire to receive Our Lord sacramentally
and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually
received Him. Before bidding adieu to Our Lord, a
short visit to our blessed Lady for every day in the
month is added together with a concluding prayer to
The Blessed Sacrament. 587
implore her powerful patronage: ''Most holy, im-
maculate Virgin and my Mother Mary/' which
prayer has been indulgenced by the Holy See, and is
one of the most beautiful prayers in honor of Our
Lady that ever fell from the pen of man. It was the
practice of St. Alphonsus never to separate devo-
tion to Mary from the love of Jesus, saying that as
Mary was continually associated with her divine Son
in the work of our Redemption, so she should also
be associated vv^ith Him in our devotions, and lead us
to Him by her intercession.
Whatever method we employ, the visit should
abound in acts of reparation and petition. The de-
votion to the Blessed Sacrament is practically identi-
fied with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. This
latter devotion promotes frequent visits to the
Blessed Sacrament, and is in turn nourished by
them ; and therefore our daily visits will become
most pleasing to the Sacred Heart, and
profitable to ourselves, if they are made with the ex-
press intention to spend in reparation some time
with Him who remains for us day and night on
our altars, and is so frequently left alone and aban-
doned.
''Be assured,'' writes St. Alphonsus, "that the
time you will spend with devotion before the most
divine Sacrament will be the most profitable to you
in life, and the source of your greatest consolation
in death and in eternity."
There is no doubt that the greatest consolation at
the hour of death for the lover of the Blessed Sac-
rament will be the remembrance of the frequent con-
versations he has had with his hidden God. How
often in life did he not love to repeat the sublime
words of the immortal hymn of St. Thomas Aqui-
aas :
588 The Blessed Sacrament.
"Humbly I adore Thee, hidden Deity,
Which beneath these symbols art concealed from me ;
Wholly in submission Thee my spirit hails.
For in contemplating Thee it wholly fails."
That must indeed have been a beautiful and touch-
ing scene in the sick-chamber of one of the noblest
of the American hierarchy, that strong and sturdy-
character, Archbishop Bailey. Just previous to his
death, in speaking to a warm personal friend, the
celebrated theologian, Father Konings, C.SS.R.,.
he uttered words which revealed the deep and tender
devotion of his beautiful soul to the Eucharistic God :
''Do you see that lamp burning there in the sanc-
tuary? I want my bed so placed that I can keep that
light constantly in sight !" For that light reminded
him of his best and dearest Friend. That light re-
minded him of the lamp of faith that lit up his err-
ing footsteps wandering about as he was outside the
bark of Peter, and brought him safe to the door of
the tabernacle. Often had he gone there to offer his
heartfelt gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts for
this greatest gift of faith, that made him the child
of the Eucharist, and taught him to know and love
his Eucharistic God. In the sorrows of life he had
always found Him his true consoler and counselor.
Now that he was about to be called home, for he felt
that the hand of death was on him, he sincerely
hoped and earnestly prayed that he should soon see
Him as He really is, face to face.
The good and great Archbishop could well say
in the concluding verse of that wonderful prayer of
St. Thomas, and may our lips, at the last moment
preceding eternity, pronounce the same words :
"Jesus, whom in this life veiled I behold,
Grant what my soul thirsts for with desire untold;
O may I, beholding Thine unveiled grace,
Rest in blissful vision of Thine open face. Amen/*
CHAPTER LIV.
JEmmanueL
IN The Following of Christ, Book IV., ch. i, par.
9, we read: "Many run to sundry places to
visit the relics of the saints, and wonder to hear of
their remarkable deeds ; they behold the spacious
buildings of their churches, and kiss their sacred
bones, enveloped in silk and gold. And behold,
Thou art here present to me on the altar, my God,
the Saint of saints, the Creator of men, and the
Lord of angels.
''Oftentimes, in seeing those things, men are
moved with curiosity and the novelty of sights, and
carry home but little fruit of amendment ; and the
more so when persons run lightly hither and thither
without real contrition. But here in the Sacrament
of the altar. Thou art wholly present, my God, the
man Christ Jesus, where also is derived, in full
copiousness, the fruit of eternal salvation, as often
as Thou art worthily and devoutly received.
''To this, indeed, we are not drawn by any levity,
curiosity or sensuality, but by a firm faith, a devout
hope, and a sincere charity.''
Commenting on these words of Thomas a Kempis
in a paper read at the Third Eucharistic Cons^ress of
the United States, the Rev. Edward McSweeny,
D.D., says :
"What the holy author of The Imitation vtm^ivked
is a subject of observation and thought with many.
An Italian artist was working silently for months
on the great altar-piece of St. Stephen's, New York,
and the clergy heard him express surprise that so
590 Emmanuel.
many people came in to pray before one or other of
the statues, or before the great mission crucifix set
up in the sanctuary, and left the church without pay-
ing homage to the living God in the tabernacle.
They forsake /the fountain of living water,' as Jere-
mias complains (ii. 13), seemingly forgetful that the
rest are but cisterns filled according to their capacity
by the divine Dispenser of grace. Is there not, as a
Boston prelate puts it (Emmanuel^ December,
1899) • ^ surfeit of emotional piety and a deficit of
intellectual'? Will you 'bring into captivity the un-
derstanding' (2 Cor. X. 5) of your fellow-citizens
by this manner ?
'Ts it expedient to have that pretty Sacred Heart
statue at one altar and tlie 'heart all burning' of the
'beautiful Son of God' on another? Why this illu-
mination at the shrine of a saint, and that single
flickering, dust-eaten, sometimes dying, alas ! may-
hap dead, flame, before the Real Presence? Are we
priests even always able to find the Blessed Sacra-
ment in this multitude of lamps?
''Honor the saints, love them and invoke them !
The words of St. Alphonsus may be used of any of
them : 'You can not love the saints too much, pro-
vided you love Jesus infinitely more.' Let us priests
think of the 'infinitely more.' Let us not be con-
tent with sating our senses and imagination, but
rouse our souls and those of our people to a 'definite
realization of the stupendous fact of the real pres-
ence of Jesus Christ on our altars!' There is vastly
more suggestion and impressiveness, more inculca-
tion of solid piety in the chapel at Dunwoodie, Over-
brook, or Mount St. Mary, with its solitary lamp,
than there is in some churches you and I could name.
'Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened,
and I will refresh you' (Matt. xi. 28).
Emmanuel. 59^
''A group of priests were conversing one day about
the efficacy of prayer to this saint or that. Different
ones of the elders spoke of their favorite saints. At
last the youngest very modestly remarked to his
nearest companion : 'As for me, I go right over
there'- — pointing to the altar of the Blessed Sac-
rament! He little thought that his preference
would be published for the consideration of the
clergy in this assemblage. 'The Master is come and
calleth for thee/' O priest! (John xi. 28). Father
Dalgairns offers a thought that to some is
of great value : We have the right to think
that Jesus in this mystery is present with all
His senses, that He sees us with His bodily eyes,
hears the sweet music of the organ and the children's
hymns, and so on. This can not be said of any of
the saints, as far as we know, for the Church knows
of no real presence of them. All the more reason
for accentuating the presence and the worship of the
Lord Himself, and coming ourselves and bringing
our children to His feet and to His 'everlasting arms'
(Deut. xxxiii. 2y) , which is the aim of the Euchar-
istic League."
FATHER Bernard's penance.
Father Bernard was a good and holy parish priest,
who w^as accustomed to give as a penance in con-
fession a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Naturally
the visit should be long or short, according to the age
and the occupation of the penitent. Sometimes,
however, instead of one, he used to impose two or
three, and even more visits.
Every one knew this. So, when any one directed
his steps to the church outside of the ordinary time
of service, he might expect to meet on his way some
592 Emmanuel.
one or other to say to him point-blank : ''You are
going to perform your penance, aren't you?"
As Father Bernard had charge of a great number
of souls, there might be seen at any hour of the day
a group of the faithful piously kneeling at the foot
of the altar. By long performing this kind of pen-
ance, many had acquired the salutary habit of never
passing the church without going in for some mo-
ments to adore the divine Host of our tabernacles.
One day, impelled by very lawful curiosity, one of
the parishioners wished to know why his pastor, un-
like other priests, had adopted that invariable man-
ner of acting. He went, consequently, to call upon
him, and in the course of conversation, very respect-
fully put to him the question.
The good rector smiled sw^eetly : 'T shall tell you,
my friend," he inswered. ''But allow me to begin
at the beginning. In my father's house were many
beautiful pictures, but, contrary to the style of these
days, they represented biblical scenes, especially
those of the Gospel. There was one that made a
deep impression on my youthful mind. It was that of
the divine Master curing the sick. Jesus was stand-
ing in the center of a large public place. Around
Him was gathered a crowd of the afflicted of all
ages and of every condition in life — men, women,
and children — all imploring their cure. They were
eagerly pressing around the divine Saviour, stretch-
ing out to Him their supplicating hands, and they
looked full of faith and confidence. And Jesus, the
good and merciful Jesus, was curing them all.
"The picture was so realistic, so exquisite, that I
used to pass hours before it. It charmed, it capti-
vated me. Later on, I felt curious to know which pas-
sages of the Gospel had inspired the artist. Let me
recall them to you, my dear friend, for the benefit of
Emmanuel. 593
your own soul. This same Saviour who for
centuries has shown Himself so tender toward the
unfortunate still Hves among us. His Heart has not
changed. His divine power is the same, and human
miseries also are .the same. Here are the passages
of which I am speaking :
" 'And running through that whole country, they
began to carry about in beds those that were sick,
where they heard He was.
'' 'And whithersoever He entered, into towns or
into villages or cities, they laid the sick in the
streets, and besought Him that they might touch but
the hem of His garment : and as many as touched
Him were made whole.'
''And now to come to your question — and, indeed,
it is time : Ever since I have been a priest, and,
above all, since I have had charge of a parish, a very
heavy burden for my weak shoulders, I have con-
stantly said to myself that souls as well as bodies
are afflicted with all sorts of infirmities and miseries.
In the profound conviction that the Eucharist is the
infallible remedy, I say to every one of my penitents
after confession : 'For your penance you will make a
visit to the Blessed Sacrament.' There proceeds
from it a virtue which cures all those that approach
it. Now, am I not right?"
The good gentleman went away very much edi-
fied, declaring that his pastor was a man of God."*"
*rA€ Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament, July, 1906.
CHAPTER LV.
XTbe 1bour ot BDoration before tbe Mceecb
Sactament,
STfie piett)ot)f of ^tiotation h^ l^eans of i\)e jFour IBntis
of tje Sacrifice.
y^ HE apostle of the Holy Eucharist in the nine-
^^ teenth century was, preeminently, Pere
Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), the saintly
founder of the Religious Congregation called ''The
Fathers of the Most Blessed Sacrament/'
One of the most illustrious members of this so-
ciety, the Rev. A. Tesniere, has given us a clear idea
of the method of adoration according to the so-called
four ends, in his book The Eucharistic Christ, from
which we quote the following passages.
Father Eymard, when replacing in his plan of
spiritual life, such as he established it for souls
called to serve the Eucharist, prayer by the adora-
tion of the Most Holy Sacrament, was constrained to
adopt a method which should, above all, favor con-
templation, praise, conversation, and union with
God. The adoration, in fact, must be made before
the Most Holy Sacrament, whether at the foot of the
throne of the solemn exposition or before the taber-
nacle, the burning lamp of w^hich is a sign of the liv-
ing Christ who inhabits it.
The mere fact of such a presence claims that the
adorer, coming forth from out of himself, should fix
all the thoughts of his soul on the august person
of the God-man shown to him through the trans-
parent veils of the Sacrament. It would seem as
The Hour of Adoration. 595
though it would be almost a violation of the highest
rules of propriety to be occupied with ourselves
rather than with Him, and as though we did not take
sufficient account of what His near presence claims
from us. However necessary may be the study and
the reformation of ourselves, it would seem as
though, in presenting Himself so openly before our
eyes, the hidden God, who so greatly desires to be
known, w^ere soliciting us to study Him, to know
Him, to apply ourselves to Him first before descend-
ing afterwards into ourselves, assured, as we may
w^ell be, that we shall never see as well what we are
as after we shall have clearly seen what He is —
''Noverim te, noverim meT
But, more than this, desiring that the adorer
should unite his prayer with that which, from be-
hind the Eucharistic veil, the real Holy of holies,
Jesus, the one sole Pontiff, offers to His Father, and
which is only the continuation of His sacrifice — that
is to say, of His death, accomplished in the morning
on the altar. Father Eymard was obliged to seek for
a method which would permit the adorer to appro-
priate to himself the acts, the homage, the sentiments,
the duties, of which the Mass is the solemn and per-
fect expression. Now, by the Mass, or by His sacri-
fice, Jesus Christ renders to God four principal spe-
cies of homage which the Council of Trent defines :
adoration, thanksgiving, reparation or propitiation,
and prayer. These four species of homage include
all the duties of religion — ^^that is to say, a theoretical
and practical recognition of all the truths which at-
tach men to God. St. Thomas has defined in the fol-
lowing brief and profound words the religion of man
toward God: ''Man is linked and bound to God,
above all, for these four reasons — namely, on ac-
count of His supreme majesty, composed of all His
596 The Hour of Adoration.
divine excellences ; on account of His past benefits,
testimonies of His goodness and of His love ; on ac-
count of the offenses committed against His holi-
ness, which render him a debtor to His justice ; and
on account of the possessions which are necessary
to him for the future as regards time and
eternity, and which he cannot obtain except from
His liberal bounty, which is rich in all kinds
of possessions/'*
Each one of these different species of homage in-
cludes the most precious and necessary acts of vir-
tue; they contain all that can be expressed of the
recognition of the perfections and of the rights of
God ; the confession of all the duties, of all the obli-
gations imposed upon man. For, in reality, there is
only one prayer which is perfect in all respects —
namely, holy Mass ; all other prayers are valuable
only in proportion to their more or less great union
with this personal prayer of Jesus Christ. It is the
same with the Christian virtues, which compose, to-
gether with the homage of prayer, the religion of
man toward God ; the only value they possess is in
the measure in which they take their origin and
are consummated in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
For a Christian there is, therefore, no form of
prayer more perfect than the participation in spirit
and in truth in the Holy Sacrifice.
But it must be borne in mind that during the time
in which Christ preserves the state of an immolated
Victim, with which He clothes Himself while offer-
ing to His Father His mysterious but real death
in the sacrifice of the Mass, the religion which is then
expressed, the homage which is then rendered. He
"^Homo maxime obligatur Deo propter majestatem ejus,
propter heneiicia jam accepta, propter offensam et propter
heneficia sperata (la 23e q. CXIL, a. III., ad. lo).
The Hour of Adoration. 597
continues, by the continuation of the said state, to
render to His Father. During the whole of every
day and every night, in the permanence of this state
of Victim beneath the species of bread and wine, He
adores the majesty, thanks the goodness, makes rep-
aration to the justice, implores the liberality of God.
This it is which inspired Father Eymard with his
method of adoration, called by him the method of the
four ends of the sacrifice. Placing the adorers in the
presence of Jesus, the perfect Adorer, could he ask
of them anything more opportune, more suitable,
more necessary even, than to unite themselves to the
Master of prayer, to the Pontiff in the exercise of
His prayer, and to pray like Him, with Him, by
Him?
He therefore asks of his disciples to aim prima-
rily, in their adorations, at the production of acts of
adoration, of thanksgiving, of reparation, and of
prayer ; to address them to God the Father, by Jesus
Christ, the Mediator and Pontiff ; to address them to
Jesus Christ Himself, who is God as well as Priest,
and the eternal end of all things, at the same time as
a Mediator between His Father and men.
But as all these species of homage ought to spring
from everything which God has revealed to us re-
specting His excellences, from all that His bounty
has given us, from all that we owe to His justice,
from all that we expect from His infinitely bountiful
plenitude, Father Eymard teaches his disciples to
discover in all truths, all mysteries, in all subjects
of meditation, the motives of adoration, of thanks-
giving, of reparation and of prayer which they neces-
sarily contain. He teaches them what acts of virtue
are inferred by each one of these species of primor-
dial homage in order to be properly rendered, some
virtues being more suitable to adoration, others to
598 The Hour of Adoration,
thanksgiving, others to reparation, and others, lastly,
to prayer. Finally, these motives not being able to
be discovered, and these acts to be produced, except
by a certain labor of the faculties and of the powers,
Father Eymard demands from the intelligence, the
heart, and the will their regular cooperation, which
is what all the different methods of prayer claim.
In this manner the whole of the interior be-
ing is seen to be employing itself in successively
producing, in union with the Eucharistic Pon-
tiff, the homage of the great and perpetual prayer of
this sacrifice.
From the strictly methodical point of view each of
these species of homage ought to succeed one an-
other in the order in which the Council of Trent
enumerates the ends of the Eucharistical sacrifice :
Adoration, Thanksgiving, Reparation, Prayer.
Father Eymard even recommends that the hour of
adoration (for he asks that the adoration should
habitually last an hour) should be divided into four
quarters, and that each quarter should in turn be
consecrated to rendering to God the four great spe-
cies of homage. He does not, however, render such
an equal partition of time absolutely necessary and
obligatory, and if grace gives inspiration any one
species of homage may be prolonged beyond the
others. But whatever may be the length of time
given to each species, the succession of these four
thoughts singularly facilitates the exercise of the
adoration, even in the case of the most inexperienced.
It is then four successive prayers, each of a quarter
of an hour's duration, Hnked together by the unity
of the same subject, but varying by means of the
four different points of view under which they are
made to pass ; and each time all the faculties are
brought into play in order to derive from them the
The Hour of Adoration. 599
diverse motives of the four ends and to produce the
acts of virtue proper to each. What could be sim-
pler or easier? The same truth, taken up again and
replaced four times under a different aspect : ( i ) Of
the adoration or of the divine excellences reflected
in it; (2) of the thanksgiving, and of the features
of the divine goodness which it bears, and the ben-
efits it recalls to mind; (3) of the reparation, and
of the differences it manifests between what we are
and what we ought to be in order to accomplish the
duties it reveals to us ; (4) of prayer and of the
graces which we need in order to fulfil the obliga-
tions it imposes on us.
Such is the method of the four ends of the sac-
rifice. Can we not see that by means of this method
of adoration our prayer is made to participate in a
wholly special manner in the august prayer of Jesus
Christ, and that we unite our own private religion to
the public religion of the Holy Sacrifice? That we
are consequently placed in very near relations with
the Eucharistic Pontiff, and that we honor in a very
direct manner His state and His action in the Sacra-
ment? What could be more appropriate to a
prayer which is destined to be offered in the pres-
ence of the tabernacle, or of the throne of the
exposition ?
To facilitate the exercise of it, we now proceed to
enumerate the acts of the different virtues which
may be produced by our different faculties for the
purpose of expressing the homage of each one of the
four ends of the sacrifice. Certainly we are not
bound each time to make acts of all these virtues ; we
name them all in order that a person may choose
among them according as the nature of the subject
or the state of his soul and the movement of grace
may guide him.
6oo The Hour of Adoration.
ACTS OF THE FACULTIES AND OF THE VIRTUES IN
EACH OF THE FOUR ENDS.
Acts and Virtues of the First End.
Adoration, understood as the first of the ends of
the sacrifice, has as its object the recognition of the
divine majesty, says St. Thomas, propter majes-
tatem, and, as he says elsewhere, that which evi-
dences His excellence above His creatures, the
beauty, the perfection, the amiabiHty of God — all
that constitutes His infinite being. In relation to us,
it is His sovereign rights as First Principle and
Supreme End, of Creator and Preserver.
The acts of the mind, in the adoration, are faith in
the truth proposed as the subject of adoration, be-
cause of the divine word and authority; the super-
natural understanding of the truth in question; the
spiritual contemplation of the perfection and the
amiability of God which are manifested therein ;
admiration ; praise.
The acts of the heart, or of the effective will, are
complaisance, desire, good-will, joy. The acts of the
will, properly so called, are the gift, the giving up,
of ourselves to the excellences, the perfections, the
amiabilities, the rights, the sovereignty of God ; and
this gift can hardly be manifested except by a kind
of annihilation of ourselves in the presence of so
much greatness, of so much splendor, of rights so
lofty, of a majesty so sublime. Humility, absolute
submission, abandonment without reserve, holy fear,
religious and profound silence, are the expressions
most suitable for rendering this annihilation of the
creature in presence of his Creator v/hom he adores.
Acts and Virtues of the Second End.
The action of thanksgiving has for its object the
gifts, the benefits, of God: propter data, such as
The Hour of Adoration. - 6oi
they are manifested in the truth which we are
meditating; consequently its formal object is
the goodness and the love of God, proved by His
benefits.
The acts of the mind are the following: Con-
sideration of the portion exercised by the goodness,
the love of God in the proposed truth, by means of
the views and the merciful designs revealed in it;
remembrance and enumeration of the benefits relat-
ing to this truth which we have received in our past
life, or which we are still receiving every day; the
study of the value, of the greatness, of the magnifi-
cence of these benefits, drawm from the different
circumstances which render them more or less
costly; the gratuity of them, the greatness of the
Donof, the indigence and the unworthiness of the
recipient, the continuation of the gifts, in spite of
abuse or of the small profit derived from them,
admiration, praise.
The acts of the heart are grateful love, com-
plaisance and joy, benediction and jubilation, effu-
sions of gratitude and of tenderness, happiness and
repose, tlie silence of beatitude. These acts issue
from the considerations exercised by the mind as
enunciated above, the heart following upon the mind
at the sight of the divine goodness and the review
of His gifts.
The acts of the will are effective gratitude, testi-
fied by protestations of fidelity, toward a benefactor
so magnificent; humility or the very humble accep-
tance of the position of debtor and of an insolvent
debtor; resolutions to make use of all of His gifts
only for His glory, to render to Him the fruit of
these seeds of His liberality; promises to make re-
turns to Him for them ; lastly, the gift of ourselves,
of all that we have, of all that we are, of all that we
6o2 • The Hour of Adoration.
will do, in testimony of gratitude and as an instal-
ment of our debt.
Acts and Virtues of the Third End.
Propitiation or reparation has for its object the
offenses and the shortcomings to be found in our
life in relation to the truth on which we are medi-
tating, and which this meditation discovers to us :
propter offensam. Reparation first supposes the
confession of the fault committed against the holi-
ness of God and the acceptance of the debts con-
tracted toward His justice; then, by prayer, the re-
entering into favor through His mercy. The formal
object of reparation is, therefore, justice to be ap-
peased and holiness to be restored, then the mercy
of God to be gained.
Acts of the mind : The examination or the atten-
tive consideration of the contrast between our life
and the truth proposed to it, either through our
formal sins or through our imperfections ; medita-
tion upon the seriousness of the state in question,
upon the gravity and the number of our faults;
upon the consequences which such a state and such
faults bring with them in regard to God, to Jesus
above all ; in regard to our responsibilities toward
our neighbor ; in regard to our vocation in time and
our eternal future ; and the sincere and humble
confession oi all our sins.
Acts of the heart: They consist chiefly in sad-
dened love, compunction, a breaking of the heart,
contrition; regret, bitterness, salutary fear, holy
sorrow, horror of sin ; compassion, pity for ourselves
and the other victims of sin — compassion, above all,
for Jesus, the first, the universal, but the innocent,
the gentle Victim of our sins.
Acts of the will : Detestation and renunciation of
The Hour of Adoration. . 603
evil, shunning the occasions leading to it, the rupture
of its ties, interior conversion, a firm resolve; satis-
faction and the resolution to perform penance;
voluntary humiliation, the accepta-nce of all the pains
it may please God to inflict upon us in expiation of
our faults ; lastly, the gift of ourselves, in the hum-
ble annihilation of the sinner, to justice that it may
satisfy itself here below in regard to us ; to mercy
that it may have pity on us, have patience and give
us new graces ; to holiness that it may restore and
transform us.
Acts and Virtues of the Fourth End,
Supplication, or prayer, has for its object the
gifts, the benefits, and the graces of God to be ob-
tained in the future even as the act of thanksgiving
had for its object the giving thanks for benefits al-
ready received : propter beneiicia sperata. It has
as its express reason the goodness, the liberality, the
plenitude, the providence of God, which it takes
upon itself to touch and to render attentive and gen-
erous in giving us all the good things necessary to
our indigence as being creatures of nothingness.
The view of the indigence in question had already
appeared during the reparation, in the consideration
of the shortcomings and faults which disfigure our
souls with respect to the truth proposed as a subject ;
it had already appeared in the contrast between these
defects and the divine perfections contemplated in
the adoration, with the benefits and the gifts set
forth in the act of thanksgiving.
Acts of the mind : A clear view of our needs ; a
consideration of the exact species of graces we have
to seek in order that our soul may profit by all the
fruits contained in the proposed truth ; the con-
sideration of the riches, of the plenitude, of the
6o4 • The Hour of Adoration.
providence of God, which possesses, without im-
poverishing itself, wherewith to enrich milHons of
creatures who are nothingness; a remembrance of
the promises whereby God has engaged Himself to
give either by way of facts or of guarantees which
show that He will be still more liberal, having al-
ready been so in such a magnificent manner.
The acts of the heart consist in hope, confidence,
desires, which are ardent and lively, animated as
they are by the sentiment of what we have already
received ; in the suffering we experience because of
our indigence; in pity for ourselves and for others
whose needs we know to be identical with ours ; in
charity, disinterested love which is generous, zealous,
apostolical, and makes us desire and earnestly ask
what will be either for the glory of God or a benefit
for our neighbor.
The acts of the will are formal prayer or the sup-
plication expressed by the heart or the lips ; repeated,
instant, persevering prayer; humble, lowly prayer,
full of ardor and also at the same time of abandon-
ment, willing what it asks, but still more the good
pleasure of the divine will which may prefer, for
reasons known to its unfathomable wisdom, to delay
instead of immediately granting; to permit the ac-
complishment of the trial instead of preservation
from it; the resolution to carry out into action, im-
mediately and very faithfully, the graces which are
asked for; the demand of the same gifts for all
those who have need of them; lastly, the gift of our-
selves, the oblation of our being and of the whole of
our life to the good God from whom we expect help
in order to repay it, at least in a slight proportion,
by means of this offering of small value, although it
be all that we can offer of what is best.
In terminating, a look must be cast upon the duties
The Hour of Adoration. . 605
which will immediately follow upon the adoration:
to ask the exact kind of graces which will then be
necessary to us, afterwards to implore through Mary
and through St. Joseph the blessing of Our Lord.
Read above all the tabernacles these sacred words :
''Ego sum; nolite timereT ''It is I; fear ye not!''
(Matt. xiv. 27.)
Live everywhere, by your heart and your inten-
tion, in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament.
Let us place prayer for the interests of holy
Church, for the Pope, for Bishops, priests, monks
and nuns, in the first place of all our intentions ; let
us pray, united with the divine, invisible Priest, for
the reign, the peace, and the extension of the
Church, so that all, Jews and pagans, infidels, here-
tics, and sinners may come into the Church, and
with her adore and glorify her most adorable Spouse
and her King in the Sacrament of His love and
merciful presence.
As soon as you enter a church, salute Jesus in the
tabernacle in these words : 'Thou art Christ, the Son
of the living God!'' Briefly, then, you can make
four acts according to the four ends, (i) Jesus, I
adore Thee with the angels and saints; (2) Jesus, I
thank Thee for all Thy graces and blessings; (3)
Jesus, I am sorry for having offended Thee, because
Thou art infinitely good; (4) Jesus, my good God,
I love Thee with my whole heart and above all
things; I pray Thee to bless me, that, like Thee, I
may be meek and humble of heart, and love Thee
more and more.
Redouble your visits to the Blessed Sacrament in
the time of trial.
At every visit ask for fidelity and perseverance ;
fidelity to your vows, your Rules and resolutions ;
fidelity to the duties of your state ; in a word, fidelity
6o6 The Hour of Adoration.
to your divine Spouse, so faithful in loving you and
bearing with you.
Have recourse to the divine Friend of the taber-
nacle in every temptation, in every perplexity, in
every trouble : to Him before any other friend.
Let us observe strict silence in church and keep it
so religiously as not to permit any one to break it
in our presence or on our account.
Let us take from the Holy Eucharist examples of
the virtues of our state, and let us purify ourselves
ceaselessly in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Every day let us renew the promise to serve and
honor divine Providence ; to do, as Jesus did, the
will of the heavenly Father ; to be perfectly submis-
sive to all His merciful dispensations. Let us make
our morning communion and our daily visits to
Jesus in the tabernacle the occasions for generous
offerings, the means of a new gift, of an abandon-
ment more and more sincere and perfect to the
adorable providence of God.
CHAPTER LVI.
^be IRelatlon ot Devotion to tbe SacreD Ibeart anD
to tbe Mceect) Sacrament*
We invite the reader's special attention to the following
treatise on the relation of devotion to the Sacred Heart
and to the Blessed Sacrament, which was written by that
illustrious son of St. Ignatius, the Rev. William O'Brien
Pardow, of New York, and read by him at the Third
Eucharistic Congress of the United States. It is a learned,
logical, lucid, and forceful discussion of the subject; it is,
moreover, devotional and helpful to practical piety. We
have read much on the subject, but we have read nothing
better than this paper, considering its comparative brevity
and compactness.
y^o be brief, as well as clear, in the development
^^ of this beautiful and fertile subject, I shall
examine first the essential characteristics of devo-
tion to the Sacred Heart; secondly, the essential
characteristics of devotion to the Blessed Sacra-
ment; and thirdly, I shall compare these various
characteristics, and thus, I trust, bring out in bold
relief the relation of the one devotion to the other.
Let us begin by looking up a few definitions in our
theological storehouses.
I. To understand the exact nature of any devo-
tion we must focus sharply on our mental screen its
material object as distinguished from its formal
object.
The material object is that particular thing which
is proposed for our worship.
The formal object is the reason that moves us to
have devotion to the material object.
The material object may be twofold, the primary
and the secondary. The primary material object is
6o8 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
the entire person whom the devotion has in view.
Honor, as St. Thomas says, is, strictly speaking,
shown to the entire being. The secondary material
object is something belonging to the person, and
honored precisely because belonging to the person.
As the material object may be twofold — the
primary and the secondary — so may the formal ob-
ject be twofold, the general and the special. The
general formal object is that general reason which
moves us to honor the material object; the special
formal object is that particular reason which leads
up to the honor paid the material object.
Let me now clothe these dry theological bones
with a little flesh, and add some color to the canvas.
I suppose, for example, that some friend has just
handed me a very valuable present. In thanksgiv-
ing for the favor, I raise to my lips the hand of my
benefactor. In this case the primary material ob-
ject of my respect is the man, my friend and bene-
factor; the secondary material object is his hand,
the instrument of his benefaction. The general
formal object is my friend's kindheartedness, which
prompted the favor; the special formal object is the
beautiful present which he has just given me. We
would, however, be very far afield in thinking that
these theological distinctions are mere scholastic
terms and not real and popular truths. The most
uneducated man, the least instructed in scholastic
doctrines, will affirm, if questioned rightly, that in
kissing a priest's hand, for example, he is honoring
the priest on account of the dignity of his office,
though he has never heard a word about the material
or formal object of a devotion. This is human na-
ture. To select another example. We honor a man
who has written a great book, but we do not restrict
our respect to his soul, the seat of his genius ; we
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 609
honor the entire man — totum compositum — soul
and body. The general material object in this case
is the author himself; the general formal object, or
the reason why we honor him, is his genius ; the
special formal object is his ability as shown in this
particular offspring of his genius.
II. So much for the general principles which un-
derlie all solid devotions. Let us now apply these
principles to the two beautiful devotions of which
there is question in this paper, the Sacred Heart and
the Blessed Sacrament.
The words "Sacred Heart" may be considered in
two different ways, first according to their obvious
and natural meaning; secondly, according to their
metaphorical meaning. In the former way, the
'^Sacred Heart" means that most noble portion of
Our Lord's adorable body which furnished the
arteries with their bright stream of blood, conveying
life and vigor to all the other parts of the body.
Besides having this physiological function, the
heart, according to many scientists, is the seat of
the sensible affections, and, leaving controverted
points aside, taken in its strictly physical sense, it is
certainly acted on in some very real and marvelous
way by the emotions of the soul, hope, fear, and
love. So much for the physical sense.
Taken in the metaphorical sense, the ''Sacred
Heart" means, and is the symbol of the love of our
blessed Lord for all mankind and for each human
being in particular. But to be quite exact, we must
go further still, for actual Catholic piety by the
words ''Sacred Heart" understands Our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ Himself, the God-man, loving
us with the most personal and tender of loves. To
be convinced of this, we have only to open ordinary
books of devotion in which we shall read, passim,
6io The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
that the ''Sacred Heart" appeared to Blessed
Margaret Mary ; the author evidently meaning that
Christ, whole and entire, appeared to this devout
servant of God. And to settle the question forever,
the Church herself uses and authorizes the touching
invocation: ''Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on
us,'' meaning, of course, by this, "O Lord and
Saviour, showing us your loving Heart in so tender
a way, have mercy on us." Thus, as ever, the ''lex
orandi" is identical with the ''lex credendi/'
Now, as there are two distinct natures in our
blessed Saviour, so are there two distinct loves, and
the Sacred Heart is the symbol of both loves, the
human and the divine, the created and the uncreated.
In referring, however, to the Sacred Heart as the
symbol of Christ's love, we must not fancy for a mo-
ment that the devotion to the Sacred Heart is merely
a symbolical devotion. This would make the beau-
tiful devotion very unreal, and would be very far
from the truth. Let me illustrate my meaning by
an example. When one reads carefully and prayer-
fully Chapter XV. of St. John's Gospel, where Our
Lord describes so realistically the relation of the
vine to the branches, and then says so lovingly, "I
am the Vine and you are the branches," one might
very easily be led to have a real and tender devo-
tion to our blessed Lord under the symbol of the
vine. But in this case, the vine would be a mere
symbol. The vine, however truly it represented His
love for us, and His intimate union with our souls,
could receive none of the adoration paid to Christ.
The devotion to Our Lord under the symbol of the
vine would be, as far as the vine is concerned, a
purely symbolical devotion. But it is altogether dif-
ferent with regard to the Sacred Heart ; for that very
Heart of flesh, in its place within the sacred body of
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 6ii
Christ, united to the divine Person of the ever
Blessed Trinity, is the direct object of our worship,
and, unUke the vine just referred to, is itself worthy
of all adoration.
Thus far we have examined the material object
of the devotion to the Sacred Heart ; a word now
about its formal object.
The general formal object of the devotion to the
Sacred Heart is the infinite dignity and excellence of
the divine Person of our blessed Lord ; the special
formal object is His most ardent love for mankind,
and, in a very special manner, His unrequited love
for mankind, that ardent love for which so very few
make Him a return of love. The first reason, there-
fore, of our devotion to the Sacred Heart is derived
from the hypostatic union ; for the Heart of Jesus is
not to be considered as separated from His human-
ity, or from the divine Person, as if it wxre some in-
animate object, but it is to be looked upon as inti-
mately united to both. Hence as the Sacred Heart
is adored in Christ and with Christ, so the general
reason for the adoration of the Sacred Heart is the
self-same as the reason for the adoration of the
Second Person of the ever Blessed Trinity, become
man for our sake. This general reason for adoration
is not evidently restricted to the Heart of Jesus, His
precious blood, His hands and His feet wounded for
us, as the rest of His adorable body are all wor-
thy of adoration by reason of the same hypo-
static union.
But there are two very special reasons or special
formal objects for the adoration paid to the Sacred
Heart, which is therefore adored not only because
it belongs to the assumed human nature of Christ,
but also because it is His own chosen symbol of His
love for mankind, and of His love unrequited. Hap-
6i2 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
pily, we are not obliged to go far to substantiate this
part of our thesis. The clear statement concerning
this formal object of the devotion is made by Christ
Himself. ^'Behold/' said Our Lord to Blessed
Margaret Mary in the beautiful little chapel at
Paray-le-Monial, ''Behold the Heart that has so
loved mankind as to spare nothing even to exhaust-
ing and consuming itself in order to testify to them
its love; and in return I receive from the greater
part of mankind only ingratitude; by reason of their
irreverence and their sacrilege, their coldness and
their contempt. . . . For this reason I ask you that
the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi
be set apart for a special feast to honor My Heart,
by communicating on that day and by making
reparation to it for all the indignities that it has
received.''
, HI. We have thus far glanced at the characteris-
tics of the devotion to the Sacred Heart ; let us now
apply the same method of study to the Blessed
Sacrament.
The general material object in the devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament is Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ Himself. This is clearly shown in the sub-
lime office which we priests recite on the feast of
Corpus Christi : ''Christum Re gem adoremus/' says
the Invitatorhim, ''dominantem gentibus/' This is
the general material object of the devotion and of
the feast. The special material object is the body
and blood of Christ under the sacramental veils:
''Qui se mandxicantibiis dat spiritus pinguedinem^'
continues the Invitatorium, This of course refers
to the eating of His flesh, as Our Lord Himself says :
"Qui mandticat Meam carnern et bibet Meum
sangiiinem habet vitam ceternamf' Thus the Invi-
tatorium oi the feast of Corpus Christi contains the
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 613
entire material object of the devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament, the general and the special.
Now, the general formal object of the devotion is
the infinite dignity of our blessed Lord and of His
sacred body and precious blood in virtue of the
hypostatic union.
The special formal object is that the Blessed
Sacrament, besides being the real presence, is also
a most loving memorial of the Passion of Our Lord
and of the Last Supper, when Jesus Christ broke
the bread and said: ''This is My body which is de-
livered up for you. Do this for a remembrance of
Me ;" and taking the chalice He exclaimed : 'This
is My blood of the New Testament, which shall be
shed unto the remission of sin." ''Qua nocte trade-
batur/' says St. Paul. ''Pridie quam pateretur''
says the priest offering up the same Holy Sacrifice.
IV. Having now focused our ideas concerning
the material and the formal object of both devotions,
we are in a position to define clearly the dogmatic
and theological relation of the one to the other.
The general material object is the very same in
both devotions, viz., the Second Person of the ever
Adorable Trinity become man for our sake.
The general formal object is the same in both de-
votions, viz., the infinite excellence and dignity of
Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
This identity of the general material and formal
objects in two distinct devotions will not surprise
any student of theology. He knows full well that it
is by the special material or formal objects that the
various devotions of the Church are differentiated.
Thus the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is not
the devotion to the most precious blood, nor is it the
devotion to the five wounds, though the devotion to
the Blessed Sacrament honors directly the body of
6i4 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Christ which contains the precious blood and which
was wounded for our iniquities. So the devotion to
the Sacred Heart is altogether distinct from the
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, because the
special material and formal objects are different. As
our Most Reverend Archbishop stated so clearly in
his letter to the clergy inviting them to this grand
Eucharistic Congress : ''The Church is ever bringing
forth under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost article
after article of her majestic creed, and, hand in hand
with this developrnent of doctrine, rise solemn and
precious devotions among her faithful children.''
Once more the ''lex credendi'' and the ''lex
orandi'' are in closest union; and the Church, like
the faithful steward of the Gospel, "profert de
thesauro site nova et Vetera/' This specialization of
the various devotions in the Church, this bringing
home to the people, with more realism, the full
teaching of the New Testament, has been the lov-
ing occupation of the Spouse of Christ ever since
the glorious day that beheld the great event of all
time and of eternity, "Et Verbum caro factum est/'
The devotion to the holy name of Jesus, to the
five wounds, to the precious blood, to the Sacred
Heart, to the Blessed Sacrament, all tend directly to
our blessed Saviour in person : ''Where the body is,
there the eagles are gathered together ;" but each of
the devotions has a special tone, color, or charac-
teristic of its own. In the devotion to the Sacred
Heart, the adorable Heart of Jesus is brought be-
fore the faithful in a special way, without any refer-
ence to the rest of Our Lord's sacred body. In the
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the entire body
of Our Lord is proposed for veneration under the
sacramental species, without any special reference to
His Heart. The devotion to the Sacred Heart, as
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 615
Our Lord Himself expressly declares, brings out in
bold relief the base ingratitude of men, and leads the
faithful into the wide field of reparation, which the
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as such does not
do.
If from the very night of the Last Supper down
to our own day, every single soul that approached
the holy table had been all aglow, even with the
ardor of the seraphs that surround the throne of
God, if every communicant had received our blessed
Lord into a tabernacle as well prepared to welcome
the divine Guest as was the cenacle itself —
''Ccenaciiliiin grande stratum'' — if every verse of
the beautiful psalm, '^Laudate Domimim de coelis''
had been a living, breathing reality, from the very
night before He died until now : '^Reges terrce et
omnes popitii; principes et omnes jiidices terrcE
jiivenes et virgines, seizes cum jtmioribus laudent
nomen Domini'' — if all this, I say, had been fully
realized in the reverence shown to the hidden God
of our tabernacle, the devotion to the Blessed Sacra-
ment would indeed still exist in all its grandeur :
''Quantum potes tantuni aude, quia major onini
laude, nee laudare sufUcisf' but the devotion to the
Sacred Heart understood in all its fulness, as pro-
posed by Christ Himself, would have disappeared ;
there would be no sacrileges, no ingratitude, no
coldness, no indifference to make reparation for.
Again, should the devout communicant confine
himself strictl}^ to the devotion to the Blessed Sacra-
ment, he might seem to satisfy the claims of the
Prisoner on our altars if after holy communion he
thanked our divine Saviour with his whole heart
for the undeserved favor of His visit, promising un-
dying fidelity, and then left the church w^ith grateful
soul to go about his ordinary occupations. But the
6i6 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
devotion to the Sacred Heart tells the devout com-
municant that he must widen his mental vision until
his horizon has become as extended as that of Jesus
Christ Himself; the devotion to the Sacred Heart
tells the devout communicant that for one who ap-
proaches the holy table there are a thousand who
keep away, and for one who approaches with the
inflamed dispositions that our blessed Lord has a
right to expect there are ten thousand who ap-
proach with hearts as cold as ice ; the devotion to
the Sacred Heart tells the devout communicant of
the ''other sheep/' ''alias oves habeo/' and rouses the
soul to do all in its power to bring them, too, to taste
and see how sweet the Lord is in the Sacrament of
His love. The devotion to the Sacred Heart trans-
forms the devout communicant into an apostle — an
apostle of prayer and of action. ''Ignem veni rnittere
in terram/' it hears the Heart of Jesus say, ''et
quid volo nisi ut accendatnrf" The devotion to the
Sacred Heart tells the devout communicant that the
King has made a great supper; that the supper in-
deed is ready, but that the invited guests have re-
fused to come ; the devotion to the Sacred Heart
sends forth the devout communicant into the high-
ways and byways, with the ''Compelle intrare'
ringing in his ears, and he will not be satisfied until
the ardent desire of the King be fully accomplished,
''that My house may be filled."
V. We have thus far examined the dogmatic and
theological relation of the two devotions ; the sub-
ject now calls for a few words about what I may de-
scribe as their polemic and historical relation.
The devotion to the Blessed Sacrament culmi-
nated in the establishment of the glorious feast of
Corpus Christi, in the thirteenth century ; but any
one who witnessed the celebration of this great
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 617
solemnity in any city of Catholic Europe — when Eu-
rope was Catholic — will hardly believe that this
most beautiful and consoling feast met at the out-
set with the bitterest sort of opposition. In this re-
gard, the relation of the devotion to the' Blessed
Sacrament and to the Sacred Heart is that of iden-
tity; both devotions, as expressed in their special
feast days, won their way to the place they now oc-
cupy in the hearts of the faithful only after a fierce
and protracted struggle. In the thirteenth century
our blessed Lord deigned to reveal to an unknown
Religious of Belgium His will that a special feast
should be established in honor of the Blessed Sacra-
ment. Juliana Corneliensis, as she is called in the
breviary, for twenty years delayed the execution of
Christ's request. At last she spoke. But no sooner
was it noised abroad that a new feast was being
thought of in honor of the Real Presence than op-
position and violent protests arose on all sides. The
critics who opposed the new celebration were not
Protestants, neither were they unbelievers, but
Catholics, well-meaning men, no doubt, ''sed non
secundum scientiam/' They had, too, what sounded
like good reasons for their criticism. ''All novelties
in religion,'' they said, "are dangerous. We are
neither more enlightened nor more pious than our
forefathers. Why, then, should not what satisfied
them for the honor of God and their own sanctifica-
tion also satisfy us?" "Moreover," they argued,
"the proposed festival is useless ; it is already cele-
brated on Holy Thursday ; and, besides, is not every
day, by the offering of the holy sacrifice of the Mass,
a feast of the Blessed Sacrament?" "Furthermore,
by calling attention to one day in the year as a feast
of the Real Presence, the Church would diminish the
devotion of the people to the daily and weekly cele-
6i8 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart,
bration of the Mass, and besides, this feast of Cor-
pus Christi — the body of Christ — suggests to the
mind the flesh alone, which is simply a material ob-
ject. By the institution of a special feast for the
body of Christ, Christ would be divided in the
people's worship. Our Lord is whole and entire in
the Blessed Sacrament/' they said, ''and this separa-
tion would only beget confusion in the minds of the
simple faithful/' Thus spoke, nearly seven hundred
years ago, some nervous theologians afraid of con-
fusing the minds of the simple faithful; but the
minds of the simple faithful are not always so easily
confused as the developed intelligence of some
theologians, and the great solemnity of Corpus
Christi, with its glorious liturgy, its snow-white
arches and its clouds of sweet incense, began its
triumphal march adown the ages, to the mighty
strengthening of the faith and hope and love of all
the Church's children. The race of nervous theo-
logians did not die out with the thirteenth century,
and we often come across men who in their love for
the divine Guest of our altars show signs of fear
where there is no cause for fear. The devotion to
the Sacred Heart broadens out our theology, and
tells us that He who loved to call Himself the ''Son
of man'' has many very dear friends among the sons
of men ; and that great honors paid to them only
emphasize the hold that the Blessed Sacrament had
on their lives, according to Our Lord's own words,
in St. John's Gospel : "He that eateth Me, the same
also shall live by Me" (John vi. 58).
True, all of us who have had the happiness of
kneeling at the grotto of Lourdes might, had we
rubbed strenuously our theological spectacles, have
counted more lighted tapers and far larger lighted
tapers burning there than we had counted in the
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 619
magnificent basilica above, around the Blessed
Sacrament. This, too, I am sure of, that even with-
out rubbing our spectacles at all, we could easily
have counted a far greater number of old sticks and
crutches, and of dazzling exvotos, in the rustic
grotto of the Mother than in the superb palace of her
divine Son ; and those who have seen some of the
miracles of Lourdes know that their place of predi-
lection is the grotto on the banks of the river Gave.
What does all this mean, but that it is the divine
King's way of honoring His immaculate Mother?
And as the Scripture says: ''Thus shall be honored
whom the King hath a mind to honor" (Esther vi.
9). The words spoken by Our Lord Himself will
ever be verified in His faithful servants and hand-
maids : ''Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth
in Me, the works that I do, -he also shall do; and
greater than these shall he do" (John xiv. 12).
We theologians are apt to forget that many a
sinner kneeling at the grotto of our immaculate
Mother has been roused by the touching signs of
devotion ever manifested there, who else had never
had the heart to approach and receive within his
breast the King of kings, and Lord of lords, in the
great basilica that looks down upon the murmuring
waters of the Gave.
True, there may be at times more tapers burning
at the shrine of some saint than before the Blessed
Sacrament, but we must remember that the lights
consu'^iing themselves before the Blessed Sacrament
are placed there officially, by the Church, and thus
every one of them is aglow with all the Church's
faith, and burns with ten thousand candle power.
But each of the little tapers burning before some
special statue or shrine is put there only by one
trembling hand and represents but one individual
620 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
soul. The glimmering light may be but too true an
image of the flickering faith within the tempted,
tortured, or despairing heart of the one who placed
it there. Of the God of our tabernacle it was said :
''He would not quench the smoking flax." The
lights burning before the statue of St. Anthony or of
St. Anne, as those that brighten the grotto of
Lourdes, have, we may be very sure, led many a
soul straight to the Blessed Sacrament. Let us not,
therefore, with ill-advised zeal blow out the lighted
tapers before the shrine of any of the saints of God,
lest in so doing we cause to flicker even the stately
sentinel lights, on the great altar, that keep their
watch before the King!
VL Having discussed, however imperfectly, the
theological or dogmatic relation between devotion
to the Sacred Heart and to the Blessed Sacrament,
having touched on their historical or polemical re-
lation, it remains for me to say a word about what
I may call their moral or ascetical relation, and then
my pleasing task will be finished.
As Our Lord, appearing to Blessed Margaret
Mary, stated that He desired a special day, of His
own choice, to be set aside in honor of the Sacred
Heart, the Friday after the octave of the Blessed
Sacrament, and that on that day He wished the
faithful to be urged to make fervent communions
of reparation, it is evident that the devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament really led up to the devotion to
the Sacred Heart; reparation was to be made for
the coldness and ingratitude of mankind, especially
as shown in their want of love for the Holy Eucha-
rist. So now, in return, the devotion to the Sacred
Heart leads many a soul back to the Blessed Sacra-
ment, and paves the way for firm belief in the Real
Presence. I explain my meaning.
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 621
The objections raised four or five hundred years
ago by so-called rationalists against belief in the
Real Presence were taken mostly from the nature of
matter and of quantity; from the concept of sub-
stance and of accident ; but these are not the difficul-
ties which keep men away from the holy table now-
adays. With the wonderful discoveries of modern
and especially recent science staring them in the
face, with an electric wire carrying four distinct
messages at one and the same time, without con-
fusion or interference ; with the astounding proper-
ties of radium and radio-active bodies which appar-
ently diffuse energy without diminution of power;
with these, I say, and many other equally startling
facts on all sides of us, showing what can be done
with matter still remaining matter, the thinking
men and women of our day can only say : ''What do
we know about substance or about the essential
properties of bodies?" The difficulties against the
Blessed Sacrament are not now those of Caphar-
naum, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?''
And yet,>for all that, so many of the men of our day
do not come any nearer to Him, that they may have
life and may have it more abundantly. What, then,
is the difficulty? The real difficulty in our day is
not how can the body of Christ be contained whole
and entire in a small particle of what has all the
appearances of bread, but it is, how can the Heart
of Jesus contain so intense a love for each one of
us as to work such wonders in our behalf? The
obstacle then is to be found in the difficulty of real-
izing the ardent, personal love of Our Lord and
Saviour for each and every human being. The
stumbling-block is no longer in the cenacle, where
our blessed Lord took into His holy hand the bread,
and said : This is My body ; but the stumbling-block
622 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
is in the cave of Bethlehem, where the second Per-
son of the Blessed Trinity took to Himself, from
a human Mother, the flesh of our flesh and the bone
of our bone. It is the Incarnation that staggers,
not the Last Supper. Let the men and women of
our day onCe admit the Incarnation, with all its per-
sonal love, and the Real Presence follows as clearly
as the light of the noon-day sun follows the dawn-
light that glimmers in the eastern sky.
Our gloriously reigning Pontiff, who has taken
so lively an interest in this great Eucharistic Con-
gress of the L^nited States, who, in his ardent devo-
tion to the Blessed Sacrament, has insisted that at
the holy sacrifice of the Mass the attention of our
people shall be centered in the Real Presence at the
altar, and not in the organ loft; who has decreed
that church music shall ever be prayer and not a
concert, Pius X., I say, gave to the world the key-
note of his reign, when, on his accession to the
Pontifical throne, he declared that it would be the
aim of all his prayers and all his labors, ''Restaurare
omnia in Christo/' Now, to bring back the world
to Christ, we must preach in season and out of
season, what the devotion to the Sacred Heart in-
sists on so much — His personal love for every mem-
ber of the human race. Useless for the poor re-
pentant sinner to give as an excuse for not ap-
proaching the holy table and receiving the precious
body and blood of Jesus Christ, that, even with all
his sorrow for sin, he is still so unworthy; the de-
votion to the Sacred Heart is right by his side to
encourage him and to say: *'You do not receive
communion because you are worthy; but because
our blessed Lord loves you so much as to have be-
come man for your sake ; He begs of you to come to
Him at the holv table even as He came to you in
The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 623
the cave of Bethlehem : 'Dilexit me et tradidit seme-
tipsum pro me' '" must the sinner say, even as the
great St. Paul said it. Neither are the effects pro-
duced by the devotion to the Sacred Heart re-
stricted to the individual. Statesmen and legis-
lators are glancing uneasily at the social and polit-
ical horizon of the opening twentieth century ; low-
ering clouds are assuming threatening proportions ;
the unrest among the working masses, the luxury
among the leisured classes ; all these give thinking
men matter for serious reflection. Human remedies
of all kinds are being thought out ; but no sooner
is one tried than it is discarded as useless and re-
placed by another just as useless. Is there, then,
no remedy? ''Is there no balm in Galaad, and is
there no physician there? Why, then, are not the
wounds of My people healed?" Yes, there is one
Balm and one Physician, and only one : ''Restaiirare
omnia in Christo'': the Blessed Sacrament, the di-
vine Balm, the Sacred Heart, the divine Physician.
The reception of holy communion by the people,
not simply once a year as an obligation binding un-
der pain of sin, not simply four times a year, but
frequently as an act of personal reparation to our
true Friend, whose love is so unrequited : behold the
remedy for all our social, political, and moral evils.
I am only quoting from the beautiful letter of the
Archbishops of this country, who in 1874 thus
wrote to His Holiness Pope Pius IX.: "We con-
sider it no little part of our pastoral duty to propa-
gate most diligently and impress most deeply on the
hearts of the faithful the devotion to the Sacred
Heart — a devotion which, not without reason, we
judge to have been divinely revealed in these evil
days of the Church, as an antidote against the
poison of error and as an impenetrable shield w^ith
624 The Relation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
which the faithful may fight without danger the
battle now raging."
It is time to conclude. Our Lord and Saviour,
choosing, Himself, the day after the octave of Cor-
pus Christi for the feast of the Sacred Heart, seems
to say to each one of us : ''Although what I have
done for the soul in the Sacrament of the altar is so
great a proof of My love, yet even after all this
the ocean of My love is still inexhaustible. I can
only point to My Heart and say :
''Behold the Heart that has so loved mankind.
What I have thus far accomplished is little com-
pared to what I am still prepared to do, if you will
only love Me in return: 'Prcehe, Uli mi, cor tuum
Mihi! All that I have thus far done is only the
manifestation of My love as it can be shown in this
valley of tears, in this land of exile ; all these gran-
deurs are only the frescoes on your prison walls.
Other and boundless proofs of My love still remain,
but they can be given only in the Father's house.
'Non potestis portare modo/ 'Sed quando venerit
id quod perfectum est, tunc evacuabitur quod ex
parte est.' "'
This great Eucharistic Congress is a triumphant
demonstration to the world of our lively and loving
faith in the Adorable Sacrament of the altar, and a
sure presage that the prayer which goes up from
all our hearts, "Thy Eucharistic kingdom come !''
will draw down countless graces upon our glorious
republic, will lead hundreds of our fellow-country-
men on and on, up to the true light of faith, by
which we see indeed dimly, until at length faith
shall be swallowed up in vision, the veils that now
hide our Eucharistic King shall be rent in twain,
and we shall be like Him because we shall see Him
as He is.
CHAPTER LVII.
Zbc %ovc of tbe SacreD l)eart tor tbe Btetnal
jfatber*— Cbe Bpoatleeblp ot prai^er,— ^be
XEwotolD Bevotlon to tbe Sacred Dearth
'T^. ove! Is there a word in any language that
f^-^ awakens such echoes in the human heart as
that short word — love? It vibrates through every
faculty of the soul of man, reviving in the memory
forms and reminiscences that had been forgotten
long since ; it illuminates the intellect with thoughts
unnumbered, and lights up in the will fires that
were well-nigh extinguished. It is like a torrent
carrying everything away with it in its mighty cur-
rent, which nothing can resist until it has attained
its term.
The whole history of the human race might be
summed up in the revelation of each man's love.
Is there among us one who does not feel in the
depth of his soul that his loA^e is the pivot around
which revolve all his desires and his appreciations,
all his sympathies and his aspirations, his joys, as
likewise his sorrows — in short, his happiness or his
misery ? Love, then, may be said to be the whole of
man. It may be, as it is destined to be, his salva-
tion ; it may be, as alas ! too frequently it is, his de-
struction, but it is ever the great question of love
that decides his happiness, both in this life and in
eternity. "My love is my weight," says St. Augus-
tine; that is to say, that we are borne upward or
downward, straightforward or out of our path,
just as we are drawn by the force of our love, which
is the impelling motive of everything within us.
626 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
And a greater doctor than St. Augustine — the Mas-
ter of all the doctors and the Teacher of the evan-
gelists— had long before told us that ' 'where thy
treasure is, there is thy heart also'' (Matt. vi. 21).
We are — to use the sweet language of Our Lord
Himself — ''the children of the kingdom;'' of that
holy kingdom wherein love has its law and its last
end. If it follows its law, it will infallibly attain
its end; all things will be in order, because charity,
that queen of virtues, governing all the rest, will be
in orde-r within us (Cant. ii. 4), and God will find
us on the last day "conformable to the image of His
Son," and consequently we shall be numbered
among the predestinate (Rom. viii. 29).
Now where shall we go in order to learn this di-
vine law regarding love, and to ascertain its su-
preme object? True, we have the precept delivered
of old to the ancient people of God, which precept
will be heard again on the sacred lips of the In-
carnate Word (Mark xii. 30), but sweet as is the
command to love the Lord our God, sweeter far will
it be, and far more powerful over the heart of man,
to learn of the human Heart of God Himself the
character of that love.
Were we to draw out all that might be said con-
cerning the subject before us, we should far exceed
the humble scope and the purpose of the present
work. The love of the human Heart of Jesus for
the Eternal Father! Eternity will reveal to us the
shoreless, fathomless ocean those words convey,
and the marvelous beauties contained in its depths.
But hidden as was the life of the Heart of Jesus
with His Father, it is given us even here below to
catch more than glimpses of that love which was,
if we may dare to say so, as the ruling passion of
His soul. In His formal discourses, as in the spon-
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 627
taneous expressions that flowed from His lips sent
thither by ''the abundance of His Heart/' we dis-
cover the supreme motive of that love which
prompted the Son of God to take human flesh, to
borrow a human heart, and to come down to dwell
among us. Far away in the eternal hills we seem
to hear the accents of the Only-Begotten of the
Father, the everlasting Word. ''One Heart at least
shall love Thee, one soul at least shall adore Thee
with a love that will be worthy of Thee, and since
man, the work of Thy hands, has by sin betrayed
Thee, one Man shall repair Thy wrongs and win
back to Thee Thy creation. Behold, I come that I
should do Thy will" (Ps. xxxix. 8, 9). Had God
never been outraged by sin there would still have
been an inadequacy of love, of worship, of religion,
toward Him, for how could what is finite render
w^hat is due to the Infinite ? The love of the Sacred
Heart adequately supplies all this, and to do so is
its primary office upon earth, its noblest and most
glorious prerogative.
Now do we not see that in this the Sacred Heart
becomes at once our great Exemplar, and that our
love for that Heart will necessarily lead us to the
love of the Eternal Father?
We have just struck on the rock upon which
genuine devotion to the Sacred Heart and an
earnest participation in its apostleship are based.
Shall we be forgiven if we say that, perhaps, the
love of Jesus for the Father enters too superficially
into our reflections concerning the Sacred Heart as
well as into our practical devotion to it?
St. Augustine, desiring to elucidate certain pro-
found dogmas hard to be comprehended by the hu-
man intellect, exclaims : ''Attend to your hearts,"
and then, by a clear analogy, he brings down to our
628 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
compass the great truths he is desirous of teaching.
The same method may well be employed in the sub-
ject that occupies us at present, more especially as
it. is a question of love, the seat of which is in the
heart. Who among us has not experienced that all
that is dear to one we love becomes for his sake
likewise dear to us? Such is the tendenc}^ — such
the power of love. Now, something altogether
analogous takes place in reference to the love we
bear our blessed Lord. We assimilate to ourselves
the affections of His Heart, involuntarily, grad-
ually, and as it were unconsciously observing in our
own a like order, and thus it is that our love is in-
terpreted, not only by devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, but also by union with that Heart in its
most intimate sentiments and desires.
Now, there was not a word that Our Lord ut-
tered during His pilgrim life on earth, not an ac-
tion that He performed, not a suffering to which
He submitted, that does not reveal the master-love
of His all-holy soul, and which was not destined to
draw the hearts of men to a deeper knowledge and
consequently a stronger love of His Eternal Father.
In the first year of His public ministry, we hear
Him, in the vSermon on the Mount, putting forth
the glory of their heavenly Father as the rightful
motive prompting men to the exercise of good
works, exhorting them so to act that they may be
the children of their Father who is in heaven, and
to make the perfection of that Father the model of
their own. If He threatens, it is with the loss of
the reward that heavenly Father would give them ;
it is the Father's eye beholding their secret prayer
and alms-deeds with which they are to be content.
It is, again, their Father who knows what is need-
ful for them, even before they pray to Him. In a
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 629
word, throughout the whole of His discourse we
feel we are listening to One who has before His
mind and in His Heart one all-absorbing Object,
with the love of whom He desires before all things
to inspire His hearers. Later on, we hear Him de-
claring that they who shall do the will of His
Father who is in heaven will be regarded by Him
as His "brother and sister and mother" (Matt. xii.
50). See the connection — in proportion to our love
of His Father will be the love of Jesus for us.
Again, it is the character of the Father and His
yearning love for men that are shadowed forth in
the parables, and in His familiar conversations with
His disciples the Father's name was ever on His
lips. So ravishing had been His utterances regard-
ing Him at the discourse after the Last Supper,
that Philip, out of himself, as it were, with the love-
liness of the Being brought before his mental vision,
broke forth in those memorable words : "Lord,
show us the Father, and it is enough.''
As time pressed on, and still the hearts of many
remained closed and hardened. Our Lord appeared
like one whose case w^as growing desperate, and
who grasped at every occasion, in season and out of
season, in which to bring before men the claims of
His heavenly Father. Thus it is we hear Him,
when the end was drawing near, speaking openly,
to the Pharisees and the rulers of the people, of His
Father as their God. He seems to hide Himself
in His oneness with the Father, and to retire into
the dazzling splendor of that Father's glory : "My
glory is nothing — it is My Father that glorifieth
Me"' (John viii. 54). Finally, it is the Father's
love that is the supreme reward promised to such
as love the Son : "If any man love Me, he shall be
loved by the Father;" as if He would say: Noth-
630 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
ing greater or more precious can I promise you as
a recompense for your love of Me : for to be loved
by My Father consummates and crowns all.
He declared the Father's will to be His own nour-
ishment, which meant that it was so precious to
Him that it held to Him the place of material food
and of every other thing, while the first recorded
word spoken by Our Lord is of His Father, as is
likewise the last He breathed forth upon the cross
(Luke ii. 49; xxiii. 46).
Has not enough been said for our purpose? We
sought for a teacher who, while he would instruct
us in the great science of divine love, would at the
same time allure our hearts by the loveliness of the
form in which his lessons would be clothed. Such
has been given to us. Our eyes have seen our
Teacher, and our ears have heard His words ad-
monishing us (Is. XXX. 20, 21), and He has
drawn us by the cords of Adam and by the bonds of
love (Osee xi. 4).
But if the Heart of Jesus attracts us to the
Father, and becomes to us the model of our love for
Him, inducing us to love, adore, and serve Him in
every possible way in union with that Heart, it like-
wise sets before us by its own example the charac-
ters of reparation, together with that love of souls
which naturally results from it, and both of which
are the spontaneous outcome of the purest love of
God.
The wrongs of an outraged parent or friend are
repaired in a twofold manner : first, by sympathy
and an increase of tenderness on the part of the
person oflfering the reparation, whether it be for
his own failing^s or for those of others ; secondly, if
it be the latter case, by leading back the oflfenders
to sentiments of sorrow for the wound they have
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 631
inflicted. That sorrow will be the source of a more
devoted love. Of all this, Our Lord is our supreme
Exem.plar. He was the Repairer by excellence of
all His Father's wrongs. He repaired them by His
love, by His sorrow for sin, by the sufferings He
voluntarily endured for it, by His adoration, and
by His whole life. He repaired them also by lead-
ing back souls to His Father, by making Him
known to men, by extending His kingdom upon
earth.
Now, this is what the Heart of Jesus asks of us.
He asks us to unite with Him in thus repairing His
Father's outraged glory. He asks us to repair in
like manner the personal wrongs which He Himself
received during His mortal life, and the ingratitude
with which His love has ever been and still is re-
paid by the greater part of Christians. The imita-
tion, then, of the Sacred Heart in its love of the
Eternal Father, forms the very basis of the true
spirit of our Apostleship. "Learn of Me," Our
Lord may say, ''how to love My heavenly Father,
and in what manner to repair His glory, and thereby
learn of Me the love and reparation that My Heart
yearns to receive from you itself.''
2ri)e ^postlesftfp of IBrajer tt)e JSerpetuatlon of t|)e 5B2^otfe of
Vcjz Jtncarnation.
Our Lord one day said to the Jews these remark-
able words : 'T came down from heaven to do the
will of Him that sent Me. Now this is the will of
the Father who sent Me; that of all that He hath
given Me, I should lose nothing, . . . that every
one Vv^ho seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may
have life everlasting" (John vi. 38-40). In these
words Our Lord distinctly makes known the pur-
6s2 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
pose of His Incarnation. He came down from
heaven, He says, to do His Father's will, and then
He goes on to state in what that all-holy will con-
sists. He willed that of all that He had given to
His only Son for His heritage — all that vast hu-
manity, all the nations and peoples and tribes of the
earth — He should lose nothing; and further, that
every one who sees the Son — the image of the
Father — and believes in Him, may be saved. To
bring this about, the Son and Our Lord came upon
earth, toiled, suffered, and died.
But His passible life being ended, Jesus, our
Head, having ascended into heaven, willed to leave
on earth members who should perpetuate His work
until the end of time, and by the same means that
He had Himself employed when dwelling among
us. We know how He performed His work; how
He accomplished His Father's will. The greater
part of His thirty-three years was spent in prayer.
From the first moment of His Incarnation He
prayed. During His infancy and childhood, when,
having submitted Himself to the ordinary condi-
tions of that early stage of life, He could perform
no. external work. He prayed. The eighteen years
of His hidden life at Nazareth, dating from the
time when He was found in the Temple convers-
ing with the doctors, w^ere passed in the hidden
apostolate of prayer, and it was by this way only
that, at that period of His life, He advanced His
''Father's business," which, while yet a child in
years, He had declared was to Him an imperative
preoccupation. 'T must be about My Father's
business" (Luke ii. 49). When He passed to His
public life, we find Him again retiring into the
mountains and spending His nights in secret con-
verse with His Father after His days of toil, and
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 633
at length when all was finished, and the hour of His
supreme sacrifice had arrived, He still prayed upon
His cross.
And various as were its forms, innumerable as
were its objects, if we regard them in detail, the
one great unending prayer of Jesus which sumxmed
up all within itself was this : that of all that His
Father had given Him for an inheritance He might
lose nothing. Such is the very essence of that
prayer so universal in its extent, so apostolic in its
character, so ardent in its zeal, that ascended with-
out ceasing from the Sacred Heart to the bosom of
the Father.
To the end expressed in that prayer, likewise
tended all that Our Lord wrought on earth. This
was the object of His labors and fatigues, — this
the aim of all His preaching and miracles, this the
cause of His lifelong sacrifice, the consummation
of which was upon Calvary.
Now, when we speak of union with the "Heart of
Jesus, we mean union with that Heart in its prayers,
in its toils, in its sacrifice for the glory of Him
whom Our Lord specially delighted to make known
to us as our common Father, "My Father and your
Father'' (John xx. 17). This union of our hearts
with the Heart of Jesus is peculiarly precious to
Him, not only because it is a testimony of our love
for Himself personally, but likewise because it
glorifies the Father by carrying on, as it were, the
great work of the Incarnation, the end of which is,
as has been already seen by Our Lord's own words,
the accomplishment of His Father's will. *'This is
the will of My Father, that of all He hath given Me,
I should lose nothing."
As then our apostleship has for its main object to
draw us to that union and to perfect us therein, it
634 ^^^^ Love of the Sacred Heart.
may be said with truth that it is a most real per-
petuation of the work of the Incarnation, inasmuch
as the members continue that work which their
Head had commenced. And this explains what
Our Lord said to His disciples, that it is ''one that
soweth and another that reapeth/' He was the di-
vine Sower, but He expired, sighing out the expres-
sion of His yet unsatisfied thirst for the gathering
in of His harvest. We have entered into His la-
bors, to continue His work, then to reap with Him
the harvest of souls, that so both the Sower and
the reapers may rejoice together at the great har-
vest-home above in the kingdom of the Father
(John iv. 36-38).
Assuredly, if we reflect a Httle upon the honor
and the privilege that Our Lord has conferred upon
us in associating us to so noble a work, we should
hardly waste our thoughts and time and energies,
as it is to be feared too many among us do, upon
the trifles that surround us ; we should not, if we
were penetrated with the thought of that great mis-
sion to which each one of us, in his measure, is
called, suffer our hearts and minds to be deterred
by them from their legitimate preoccupation with
the interests of God's glory. We should rather be
induced to miake of all that came in our way a mat-
ter of self-sacrifice in union with the sacrifice of
Our Lord, for the intention for which He became
Incarnate, toiled, and died.
As friends of the Sacred Heart, and associates of
its holy League of Prayer, this should be our one
great aim and dominant solicitude : that of all that
His Father has given Him for His inheritance. Our
Lord shall lose nothing — not one of the souls, if that
might be, for whom He shed His blood ; that none
of His priests should ever fall from the sublime per-
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 635
fection of their state, nor any of those consecrated
to Him, in whatever way it may be, degenerate from
their vocation; that the nations already possessing
the true faith may never lose it, and that those as
yet sitting in the darkness of heathendom may be
evangelized, so that no tribe or people or nation
may be excluded from the royal inheritance of the
Son of God, but that all may be brought to the
knowledge and love of His holy name.
This is our work which should ever be ''before
us," that is to say, before the "illuminated eyes of
the heart'' (Eph. i. 18), thus continually extending
our horizon and animating us to greater devoted-
ness to the cause of God, to the interests of Jesus
Christ. This is, indeed, to enter into and fulfil the
dearest wish of the Heart of Jesus, who desires to
find cooperators upon earth in the great work for
which He lived and died; souls having one mind
with Him (i Cor. ii. 16), and who regard all else
as merely subservient to that of hastening the com-
ing of the kingdom. To such as these, ''Adveniat
regnum tuum'' will be the expression of their en-
tire lives. The substance of those words and the
thirst for their accomplishment will mingle with all
their thoughts and accompany them in all their ac-
tions, lending to them an apostolic intention and a
supernatural energy.
This is why we have said that the apostleship of
the Sacred Heart is a perpetuation of the work of
the Incarnation, and being so, to share in that
apostleship is one of the noblest aspirations, the
most solid happiness, and the most sanctifying
privilege that we can possess here below.
636 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
Jiebotion to t!)e Sacretr 3^mxt is ^Thjofolti j^eparatorg anlJ
Apostolic*
We have, in the first place, seen that the
master-love of the Sacred Heart, if we may so
speak, is love of the Eternal Father, and further,
that from that love, as from a parent source, flows
a double torrent of desire both tending to the same
term. That double outpouring issuing from the
very depths of the Heart of Jesus never separates,
never divides. It. flows on like two streams, both
emanating from the same fountain-head, mingling
their rapid currents until they are swallowed up in
the ocean. It will have been seen that the thirst to
repair the outraged glory of God His Father, and
zeal to bring the whole world to His knowledge and
love, were the twofold yet inseparable desire ema-
nating from that which we have called the master-
love of the Sacred Heart.
Our Lord thus becomes Himself the Teacher,
the infallible Teacher of the nature of devotion to
His adorable Heart, showing us that reparation
and apostolic zeal form together its essential char-
acter. To console and sympathize with its sorrows,
to compensate as far as is possible for its wrongs,
its disappointments, its frustrated love, and to em-
ploy every available means, but especially that of
prayer, for gaining to it new adorers, new repairers,
and for winning back those who have forsaken it,
such becomes the imperative necessity of souls who
truly love Our Lord. This is the motive of all
their efforts ; this the aim of all various devotions
and pious practices ; this the impelling force urging
them to deny themselves. The voice of an outraged
love seems ever appealing to their sympathies and
touching those chords within their hearts that sor-
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 637
row alone can reach. But more even than this is
contained in the plaints of that wounded Heart.
They tell of souls who are being lost — souls for
whom it shed its life's blood, and it becomes a sup-
pliant asking for cooperators in the work of their
redemption. It complains indeed that it has sought
for one that would grieve with it, but there was
none ; and for one that would comfort it, but found
none (Ps. Ixviii. 21) ; but it wills that those who
condole with its sorrows should practically en-
deavor to diminish the cause of them. Now, the
cause of the sorrows of the Sacred Heart is sin ;
whatever other form we may give it, it always re-
turns to that one comprehensive definition, sin in
some of its manifold varieties and degrees.
Reparation, then, in order to be real, must consist
not only of compassion for Our Lord's griefs, but
of compensation to the utmost of our power, by re-
ducing the measure of sin in ourselves and in our
brethren.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart, far from being
then, as some appear to suppose, a devotion wholly
consisting of tender sentiments, is, when rightly
understood, the most perfect observance of the first
and great commandment, a powerful means, there-
fore, for leading souls to the practice of sohd vir-
tue, and of active and devoted zeal for the dearest
interests of God. We have seen that if we really
love the Sacred Heart we shall become gradually im-
bued with its afifections, imitators of its virtues, and
devoted cooperators with it in its work.
God had already set before us as a law and a
duty what the Sacred Heart teaches us by love,
and it is this peculiar character of the teaching
of that Heart that renders it so adapted to this
latter age in which charity has grown cold, and
638 The Love of the Sacred Heart,
when egotism is gnawing at the very vitals of
society.
Yes, let us weep, as heretofore the pious women
of Jerusalem, over the sorrows of Our Lord, but at
the same time let us be mindful of the words He
addressed to them when He told them to weep for
themselves and for their children ; let us weep also
for our sins and for those of our brethren, whose
misdeeds are perhaps in many instances the off-
spring of our own bad example, or of our neglect
in fulfilling the duty imposed on us of praying for
one another.
The saints attributed to themselves the evils that
befell Christianity and the sins that were com-
mitted throughout the world. If our humility can
not reach thus far, we may at least, without any
exaggeration, reflect with sorrow that many sins
might have been prevented, many more graces pro-
cured for souls, had we entered more generously
into the design of Our Lord in revealing the devo-
tion to His Sacred Heart. He asked for repairers
of His cruel wrongs, and cooperators, and the one
can not exist without the other. The desire of mak-
ing reparation is inseparably bound up with that of
promoting Our Lord's dearest interests. These are
the two streams whose waters are ever mingling and
flowing on together toward the same term, and that
term is the glorification of Our Saviour's loving-
Heart.
Very acceptable, indeed, to that Heart are the
sentiments of tender condolence which are awak-
ened within us when we hear of sins com-
mitted against God, and of the coldness and neg-
lect His love too often meets with; but if our
reparation remained there, if it did not animate us
to greater fidelity on our own part — if it did not,
The Love of the Sacred Heart. 639
moreover, assume an apostolic form, by eliciting
from us the earnest prayer for the conversion of
sinners, for the perseverance of the tempted, for the
decrease of sin in all its terrible varieties — in a
word, for all that touches the glory of God and the
salvation of souls, our reparation would be mere
sentiment, the result of a transient and sensible de-
votion.
In this then, as in everything else, let us look to
our divine Alodel, who from the silent tabernacle
whispers to our souls : ''Learn of Me,'' — learn of
Me the characters of divine love — how strong in its
tenderness, how delicate in its sympathy, how con-
stant in its devotedness, how ardent yet how com-
passionate in its zeal I Let us pray fervently and
perseveringly that our love may increase, for love
wall teach us all things. Much communication with
the Sacred Heart will produce in our hearts a simi-
larity of sentiments, a Hkeness of minds, a mutual
confidence as between friend and friend, whence all
its interests wall become ours. Then we shall com-
prehend experimentally that true devotion to the
Sacred Heart, far from being sentimental or effemi-
nate, is strong in its very principle and fullof holy
energy in its results. While gently and lovingly
pouring balm into the wounded heart, it vigorously
combats the enemy by whom that wound has been
inflicted, and that enemy is sin. While condoling
v/ith the grief that the prodigal has caused and
striving by a more devoted love to compensate in
some sort for its bitterness, it seeks out the wander-
er, by procuring for him, by prayer and self-sacri-
fice, actual graces impelling him to return, for only
his return can fully heal the wound his wanderings
have caused.
Nothing more need be added in order to render
640 The Love of the Sacred Heart.
it evident that the devotion to the Sacred Heart is
at once reparatory and apostoHc, and that the first
imphes the second, which in its turn is an outcome
of tTie first.*
*From The Voice of the Sacred Heart,
CHAPTER LVIII.
JMoua ipracttcea In Ibonor of tbe SacteD Ibeart -
ot 5e6U0.
IN his excellent work, The Devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, Father Noldin, SJ., says:
''Whosoever desires to practice the devotion to the
Heart of Jesus fruitfully and profitably must fix upon
some prayers to be recited either daily, weekly, or it
may be once a month or once a year. A general
resolution to be devout to the Heart of Jesus is of
little use, unless at the same time the manner in
which the devotion shall be practiced is definitely de-
termined upon. In doing this it is well to bear in
mind the golden maxim of St. John Berchmans:
'Non multum, sed constanterf Let only a few
practices be chosen which can be performed with
recollection, without haste; but what is once begun
must not lightly be given up. It is not the number
and length of our petitions which render them ac-
ceptable to God, but the fervor, the fidelity, the per-
severance of the suppliant.
''Finally, too much stress can not be laid on the
fact that all devotional exercises are not alike suited
for all persons. Any particular one is therefore not
to be condemned and rejected because it does not
commend itself to or suit the feelings of one indi-
vidual. Just as all musical instruments are not
tuned to the same key, nor do all the strings of the
same instrument give out one and the selfsame
sound, so all Christians do not pray in the same
manner ; nay, the same soul is wont to frame his
petitions in different forms at different times. And
642 Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart.
only when each prays and sings in his own way does
the voice of prayer ascend from the Church of God
to the throne of the Most High as the melodious
notes of the organ, or a part-song of exquisite har-
mony." Some of the devotional exercises in use
among the adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are
mentioned by Father Noldin in the same book as
follows :
1. They join the League of the Sacred Heart,
and daily make the Morning Offering of the
Apostleship of Prayer, thus: ''O my God, I offer
Thee my prayers, works and sufferings this day in
union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the in-
tentions for which He pleads and offers Himself in
holy Mass, in thanksgiving for Thy favors, in re-
paration for our offenses, and for the petitions of
all our associates : especially this month for the
general intention recommended by the Holy Father/'
2. They regard pictures and images of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus with devout reverence. In regard to
these pictures Blessed Margaret Mary writes : ''Our
divine Lord assured me that it was especially pleas-
ing to Him to be adored under the symbol of the
natural heart, and that He desired representations
of it to be publicly exposed, in order, He added,
thereby to touch the insensible hearts of men. He
also promised me to pour into the hearts of all who
should venerate such pictures the superabundance
of His gifts and graces, and to grant to all places
where they should be exposed for special veneration
all manner of rich blessings.'' Hence it has become
customary among those who have a devotion to the
Heart of Jesus to put up in their houses, their own
rooms, or even on their desk or work-table, a picture
of the Sacred Heart, to which they pay devout rev-
erence.
Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart. 643
3. They keep the feast of the Sacred Heart with
fervor and devotion.
4. They practice special devotions on the first
Friday of every month. The first Friday of the
month is observed in a special manner because Our
Lord enjoined upon Blessed Margaret to receive
holy communion on the first Friday of every month
in order to repair the irreverences committed during
the month against the Blessed Sacrament, and
also because He indicated to her certain devotional
exercises to be practiced on the first Friday of the
month for the purpose of obtaining the grace of
final perseverance.
5. They offer some prayer or pious exercise (e.g.,
an act of consecration) daily, in honor of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
6. They are assiduous in paying frequent visits
to the Blessed Sacrament, and often approach the
holy table. Our Lord laid the injunction upon
Blessed Margaret to receive holy commxunion as
frequently as she was permitted to do so. It is an
excellent plan always to go to communion with
some definite intention, for some special object; for
instance, in thanksgiving for benefits received from
God; to obtain some particular grace for ourselves
or for others; to increase in the knowledge of self
and the love of God ; in obedience to the will of
God, who desires that we should receive holy com-
munion ; or in order to acquire a greater likeness to
Our Lord. In any case, it is only right, whether one
joins the Association of the Communion of Repara-
tion or no, to habituate one's self to oft'er one's com-
munion in reparation and satisfaction for the of-
fenses committed against Our Lord in the Sacra-
ment of His love, and to do this in union with the
thousands of communions received and offered daily
644 Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart.
with this intention by the members of the aforesaid
association.
7. They place all their trust in the Heart of
Jesus and consequently have recourse to it in all
their necessities. In all sufferings, vexations, and
difficulties they fly to the Heart of Jesus. It is the
Heart of Him who said : ''Come to Me, all you
that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you''
(Matt. xi. 28).
8. They raise their heart to Jesus by frequent
ejaculatory prayers. They do not wait until tempta-
tions and adversities compel them to turn to Him ;
they hold frequent intercourse with Him in the
midst of their work and occupations. Now it is an
act of love and thanksgiving which they breathe
forth; now an ascription of praise or act of adora-
tion, now an act of petition or propitiation, by which
they venerate the Sacred Heart; and these tokens
of reverence and affection are redoubled on days
and in seasons that are specially dedicated to the
honor of that Heart. They keep a picture of it
before them in order to be more often reminded of
it, and incited to pray that they may be kindled by
the flames which consume that Heart, and illumined
by the sight of the cross and wound and thorns ;
stimulated to renewed zeal, inspired with fresh cour-
age to sacrifice all and bear all for Christ's sake, who
bore so much and sacrificed so much for them.
9. They often send up heartfelt entreaties for
pardon, in order to make some amends to Our
Lord for the irreverences and impieties committed
against Him. Not one of all our pious exercises is
so pleasing to Our Lord and so essential a part of
our devotion as the work of propitiation and repara-
tion. The worshipers of the Sacred Heart are,
therefore, not satisfied with avoiding everything
Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart. 645
that may grieve it ; on the contrary, they strive by
propitiation and reparation to afford it consolation
and joy.
10. They make it their earnest endeavor to live,
to labor, to pray, to suffer in constant union with
the Heart of Jesus. For inasmuch as nothing is so
well-pleasing to God as the Heart of His Son,
nothing is more acceptable in His eyes than the soul
which is united to that Heart : ''He hath graced us
in His beloved Son" (Eph. i. 6). Therefore they
are wont to offer all their actions, prayers, and suf-
ferings with the same intention with which Christ
Himself prayed, labored, and suffered during His
life on earth. This was Blessed Margaret's con-
stant practice; she learned it from Our Lord Him-
self, and the Church instructs her priests to pray
with the same intention : ''Domine, in iinione illius
divince intentionis, qua ipse in terris laudes Deo per-
solvisti, has tibi horas persolvo/'
11. They maintain an intimate intercourse with
Jesus Christ. Familiar intercourse with Our Lord
is the choicest, the sweetest fruit of the devotion to
His Sacred Heart; for this all the saints longed,
this was the object of their aspirations. It consists
in consulting Him about all our affairs, both those
that relate to time and to eternity. In Him as in
the heart of a true friend we shall find sympathy,
solace, and succor.
12. They strive to make their heart more and
more like to the Heart of Jesus ; they strive to be-
come purer, more mortified, more humble, more
gentle, more patient, more obedient, more forbear-
ing, more yielding, more recollected, more zealous,
to cultivate likeness to Our Lord in all their
thoughts, affections, actions, in a word, to form
their heart after the pattern, the example of His
646 Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart.
divine Heart. In order to attain this end, it is es-
sentially necessary to acquaint ourselves more
closely, more accurately with the Heart of Our
Lord and Master. In Holy Scripture He manifests
Himself to us by the words He spoke, the actions
He performed; and by meditation we penetrate
more deeply into His Heart and acquire a knowl-
edge of the most lofty dispositions, of the various
virtues, in their highest perfection : ''Learn of Me,
for I am meek and humble of Heart."
13. They consecrate themselves wholly and irrev-
ocably to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We know
that, in accordance with Our Lord's command.
Blessed Margaret was for many years in the habit
of writing letters to priests. Religious, and the laity
for the purpose of commending to them and spread-
ing the devotion she had so much at heart. That
to which she gives the greatest prominence, and of
which she speaks most emphatically in her letters, is
consecration and oblation of one's self to the Sacred
Heart. 'The Redeemer,'' she. writes, "generally re-
quires complete self-abandonment from His
friends." She puts forward different arguments to
induce those whom she addresses to make this act
of oblation. 'Tt would give Our Lord singular
pleasure," she writes on one occasion, "if you fre-
quently renewed the entire sacrifice of yourself to
Him, and practiced it faithfully."
Two things chiefly are comprised in the act of
consecration. First, complete forgetfulness of self,
i.e., giving up entirely our own interests, profit, ad-
vantage, our own glory, and our own ease. It is the
penalty of original sin, from which we all sufifer
more or less, that we are by far too self-occupied,
too self-seeking, — that we think too highly of our-
selves. Blessed Margaret Mary remarks, in regard
Pious Practices in Honor of the Sacred Heart. 647
to the mortification of sensuality and pride: "If
Christ is to live in our heart by His grace and His
love, we must die to self, to our concupiscences, our
passions, our self-indulgences — to all, in short, that
belongs to our unmortified nature/'
In the second place, this consecration consists in
living entirely for Our Lord, i.e., striving to love
Him, to glorify and magnify Him to the utmost of
our power and in as far as our circumstances per-
mit. Consequently, abandoning all care of self to
Him who cares for us, we must think only how to
do our duty, our daily w^ork as well as possible to
the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to pro-
mote the interests of that Heart to the best of our
knowledge and ability. Thus when about to under-
take anything we ought first to implore counsel and
assistance from Our Lord to enable us to accom-
plish it to His glory alone ; and when our task is
finished we must give Him thanks with all our heart,
whether it be crowned with success or result in fail-
ure. Such is the plan of action, such the frame of
mind of one who has dedicated himself entirely to
the Heart of Jesus, and desires to live only for God.
''It appears to me,'' writes Blessed Margaret, "that
this single intention wall render our actions more
meritorious and more acceptable in God's sight than
all that may be done without that intention."
'Tf you are faithful in doing the will of God in
this life, your own will shall be accomplished
throughout eternity," are the words of Blessed
Margaret Mary. "The Heart of Jesus is at least
worth yours. Leave all, and you will find all in
the Sacred Heart. How sweet it will be to die after
having had a constant devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus — of Him who will be Our Judge."
CHAPTER LIX.
Cbe iptomlees of our mvinc IRe^eemet to tboec wbo
IDenerate 1bl6 SacreD 1beart»
2rje ^rtuelftj) ^Promise tn ^^articular,
I. 'T' WILL give them all the graces necessary in
^ their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their houses.
3. I will console them in their sorrows.
4. I will be their sure refuge during life, and
above all at the hour of death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their un-
dertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart a source and
ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise thereby to the highest
degrees of perfection.
9. I will bless every place where there is a picture
of My Heart exposed and venerated.
10. I will give priests who spread this devotion a
special power to move the hardest hearts.
11. All those who propagate this devotion shall
have their names written in My Heart, never to be
effaced.
There is a twelfth promise. It is found in a letter
written by Blessed Margaret Mary in 1688 to Mere
de Saumaise. The passage referred to is here given
in full as rendered correctly by Father Thurston,
SJ. :
12. ''One Friday, during holy communion, He
said to His unworthv servant — if she does not de-
The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer. 649
ceive herself — 'I promise thee, in the excessive
mercy of My Heart, that its all-powerful love will
grant to all those who communicate on nine con-
secutive first Fridays of the month the grace of final
repentance. They shall not die in My disfavor, nor
without receiving their {sic) Sacraments; for My
divine Heart shall be their safe refuge at this last
moment.' "
This twelfth promise has been the occasion from
time to time of a great deal of excitement and even
acrimonious controversy. The Rev. Ernest R.
Hull, S.J., in a little book that bears the title. Devo-
tion to the Sacred Heart, explains the twelfth prom-
ise in a comprehensive and luminous manner, and
answers all objections and difficulties urged against
it most satisfactorily. We have great pleasure in
recommending this treatise to the reader. It has
been published in pamphlet form by the Catholic
Truth Society of Scotland. Father Hull fortifies
his position by excerpts from other writers, a few of
which we quote in part. A French writer in Le
Regne du Cceiir de Jesus comments as follows on
the promises in general and on the twelfth promise
in particular : ''Our Lord did not make these prom-
ises except in favor of those who have a serious and
constant devotion to His divine Heart. The fulfil-
ment goes on a par with the devotion and will be
more certain and abundant in proportion as the
conditions laid down by Our Lord are more per-
fectly accomplished. By these marvelous promises
the Heart of Jesus intends solely to induce us to
return to Him love for love, in order that, fortified
by this love, we may practice in their sublime per-
fection all the Christian virtues, even those which
are the most difficult.''
Referring specially to the twelfth promise the
650 The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer.
pious author writes : ''Let us begin by saying that,
extraordinary as this promise appears, it really con-
tains nothing new. A similar one is attached to the
scapular of Mount Carmel. Let us also add that
this promise is certain as regards its origin
and its effects. It was certainly made to
Blessed Margaret Mary . . . and it is cer-
tainly accomplished in favor of those who fulfil the
conditions.
''It is, however, necessary to understand it in its
true sense and to guard against all false interpreta-
tion. Our Lord does not say that those who accom-
plished the conditions demanded are dispensed from
an attentive vigilance to avoid all sin, or from a
courageous struggle to vanquish temptations and to
fulfil all the commandments, or from assiduously
employing all the means which belong to a true
Christian life — especially prayer and penance. It
gives us this assurance only, viz,, that those who
perform these nine communions will obtain the
graces necessary for the exact observance 0(f the
commandments and the evangelical counsels, for
carrying the cross all the days of their life, and for
persevering unto death in the narrow way which
leads to heaven."
An English writer gives the following explana-
tion in the small Handbook of the Aposfleship of
Prayer, which is circulated in England : 'That
these words (of the twelfth promise) are among
the authentic writings of Blessed Margaret Mary is
certain. It is also certain that they were neither con-
demned nor censured by the Church after the close
examination to which all her writings were submit-
ted in the process of her beatification, and though
this must not be taken as implying that the Church
authoritatively declares this particular revelation to
The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer. 651
have been a fact, still it implies that there is nothing
in it opposed to Catholic faith.
''While, therefore, we should not expect an
authoritative declaration on the genuineness of this
particular revelation, we may recognize that the
Church leaves us free to accept it, provided always
we understand it in a sense which nowise contra-
dicts her teaching. For the same Lord whom we
may believe to have made this revelation is He who
teaches us always through the mouth of His Church.
''Now the sixteenth Canon of the Council of
Trent says : 'If any one, who has not learnt it by
special revelation, declares, with absolute and in-
fallible certainty, that he is assuredly to receive the
great gift of final perseverance, let him be anath-
ema.' Those, therefore, who believe the twelfth
promise to have been really made must take care to
understand it in such a way as not to fall under the
condemnation of this canon. In other words, their
confidence in the promise must not be turned into
presumption : they must not declare, as with absolute
and infallible certainty, that, whatever they may do
during the remainder of their lives, after making
the Nine Fridays, they' will in the end be saved.
"There are two phrases in the twelfth promise re-
corded by Blessed Margaret Mary which call for a
word of explanation. 'One Friday,' she writes, 'if
she does not deceive herself.' That this expression
does not necessarily imply a doubt in her mind as to
this particular revelation, we gather from her use
of it in recording other revelations, and from the
fact that her Superiors had explicitly directed her
to speak in this way when she referred to the divine
favors she received. Again, at the end of the prom-
ise are the words : 'They shall not die in My disfavor,
nor without receiving their Sacraments.' If it is
652 The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer.
true that some good persons who are said to have
made the Nine Fridays have, as it is alleged, died
without the rites of the Church, the explanation
might be given that Our Lord blessed their desire
of the Sacraments with the graces which would
have accompanied actual reception, or conferred
those graces at the confession and communion which
He foresaw would be the last.
''One word of warning ought to be given here.
Some anxious souls who have frequently tried to
complete the Nine Fridays and have never succeeded
allow themselves to be disturbed by the thought that
this is a bad sign, and that they will not persevere in
grace to the end. Such anxiety is distinctly super-
stitious, and is altogether foreign to the spirit with
which Our Lord's most merciful words are to be re-
ceived."
Father Hull tells us how the ''devil's advocate''
objected to the twelfth promise and what reply was
made to him. He writes : "In the course of the
process of beatification, when the virtues and super-
natural favors of Blessed Margaret Mary came un-
der consideration, the promoter of the faith — the of-
ficial popularly known as the 'devil's advocate' (we
use Father Thurston's article*) — took exception to
the Great Promise, objecting that Margaret Mary's
visions several timies took the form of an assurance
of predestination given to living people ; and he
asks : 'Can one persuade one's self that the gift of
final perseverance, which usually lies hidden in the
inscrutable counsels of God, and is so rarely re-
vealed, should so easily and frequently be revealed
to that one person? Such revelations,' he adds, 'ac-
cording to St. Francis de Sales, are to be suspected
of their very nature.'
"^The Month, June, 1903.
The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer. 653
''This was the 'devil's' argument. To which the
promoter of the cause repHed that : 'According to
the correct teaching of theologians, from St. Thom-
as downward, devotion is not true devotion unless
it finds the soul perfectly obedient to God ; and on
this account, in all matters of this sort, the tacit con-
dition is always supposed, viz., that the command-
ments of God (without which no one can enter
eternal life) are diligently observed.' He then re-
fers to other instances, such as 'the recommenda-
tions of the Rosary or the devotion to Our Lady
of Mount Carmel, and other pious practices from
which those devoted to them derive a strengthening
hope of heavenly glory.' He then concludes : 'This
is the only meaning of the promise — "that God will
concede to those who carry out those practices, cer-
tain special graces by which they may keep the com-
mandments and so enter into life." '
"He afterwards goes on to say that 'the devotion
to the Sacred Heart is only a special form of the
practice of the love of God ; but any practice of the
love of God involves keeping of the command-
ments. And, after all, this certainty of attaining
the kingdom of heaven is not promised to every-
body, but only to those who have consecrated them-
selves in an especial way to the honoring of the
divine love.'
"It seems that this answ^er was sufficient to sat-
isfy the objicient; and no further obstacle to the
process was raised on this score."
Most pious souls interpret the twelfth promise in
this sense, as Father Hull says : "If asked to state
precisely what the promise does mean, we believe
that, with a little help from the questioner, the reply
would be vague but at the same time unobjection-
able. 'It means,' they would say, 'that by the per-
654 The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer.
formance of the Nine Fridays we shall receive some
special grace to persevere to the end, to be sorry for
our sins, and to die with such Sacraments as may be
necessary at our last moments — always supposing
that we do not abandon our general good purpose
of living well and serving God faithfully. It is an
encouragement to us, but not an inexorably mechan-
ical law. It fills us with hope and devout assur-
ance. It does not furnish grounds for recklessness
and presumption.' "
An American writer* comments as follows on the
twelfth promise : ''Certainty as to the fulfilment
of the promise depends on many things about which
certainty can not be had. And so long as anything
remains uncertain in this matter of salvation it is
mere folly to run any risk. We must still work on
in fear and trembling." And again on page xx. :
^'Granting, with theologians, that concerning our
justification we may have some form of moral cer-
tainty which frees us from anxiety and sets the
mind at rest, . . . still this so-called moral certainty
of our being in the state of grace while receiving the
communions of the Nine Fridays would not suffice
to take away all anxiety and set our minds at rest
about our salvation. Why? Because of the doubts
that overhang the Very meaning of the promise. As
long as there can be any hesitancy as to the exact
meaning of Our Lord's words, those who have made
the Nine Fridays, and who feel, as it were, that
they have made them worthily, must still remember
that our divine Lord, neither in this revelation nor
in any other, has spoken so clearly as to put their
minds completely at rest concerning their eternal
salvation. Far be it from us to set up a claim of
"^Sacerdos in the American Messenger of the Sacred
Heart, February, 1898.
The Promises of Our Divine Redeemer, 655
absolute certainty in regard to the meaning of Our
Lord's words to Blessed Margaret Mary. Even if
the interpretation that we have given above is held
as nothing more than highly probable, still this is
sufficient to make us practice with the greatest alac-
rity and zeal the devotion of the Nine Fridays. A
high degree of probability that a certain priceless
treasure lies hidden in a field which I have bought
is sufficient motive for me to spare no pains in
searching for the treasure."
Christ our Lord has not failed to fulfil His prom-
ises of graces and blessmgs during life and at the
hour of death to those who seek them in His Sacred
Heart, as is attested by hundreds of thanksgivings
published month after month by thirty-one periodi-
cals in various languages. Faith in Christ's promises
has evidently been richly rewarded. Jesus is faith-
ful to those who love Him. Would that His Sacred
Heart were known and loved by all men !
CHAPTER LX.
Zbc Ibeart of Jeeua in iprai^et.
*T~| ET US imagine we see Jesus kneeling in the
'-'--^ little house of Nazareth, His sacred hands
reverently clasped, His eyes closed or raised to heav-
en. We have before us the Incarnate God praying
to His Eternal Father. It will then refresh our souls
to withdraw for a while within the silence and soli-
tude of the holy house, and while we contemplate
the scene with reverence let us endeavor to pene-
trate the Heart of Him who is praying there. So
beautiful is the picture presented to our minds
by the thought of Jesus in prayer that truly
it might suffice to rivet our inward eye and claim
our adoring love, without the addition of any
comment.
Let us regard Him as the Wisdom of the Father,
the Eternal Son, kneeling there in silent contempla-
tion of the divine majesty unveiled before Him,
while He pours out the eternal love, the burning
prayer, which consumes His Sacred Heart. The
labor of the day is over, and Jesus is now free to
give Himself up unrestrainedly to that holy exer-
cise which has not ceased to be the occupation of
His soul amid His daily toil. How profound is the
mystery of that divine communication which passes
between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son, be-
tween the human Heart of the Man-God and the
Father in whose bosom He had dwelt from all
eternity ! Unchecked now by the external trammels
to which in His Incarnation He had made Himself
subject, He could deliver Himself up to the trans-
The Heart of Jesus in Prayer. 657
ports of His love, and taste, in His earthly exile. His
old. His eternal delight of solitude with God.
But we must not forget that we are contempla-
ting our divine Model in prayer; for we are not to
suppose that we have chosen one too exalted for our
imitation. No, Jesus prays as one of us. It is in
Him a human Heart that throbs with love and de-
sire, and He teaches us eloquently how to pray, and
discloses qualities with which our prayer should be
endowed. He has formally constituted Himself our
Master in prayer, as in all other things. In His
public life and in His Passion He has taught
us even the very words in which we should
present our petitions, or upon which they should be
formed.
Now, it must be remembered that the Heart of
Jesus did not change ; what it prompted His sacred
lips to pronounce for our example afterwards, it
contained within itself, and expressed in its secret
communications with the Father during the hidden
life at Nazareth. Therefore, we have only to pene-
trate His Heart in order to hear Him praying to
Our Father as well as His Father, teaching us thus
to be unselfish in our prayer, and showing us that
He carried all our necessities and interests in His
Sacred Heart. We hear Him desiring the sanctifi-
cation of the Father's name, the advancement of His
kingdom, by which all peoples and nations may be
brought to His knowledge and love; we find Him
praying for the accomplishment of the Father's will
by men on earth, even as it is accomplished in
heaven. We shall hear Him also asking for "our
daily bread," teaching us thus from whom we are,
primarily, to expect the sustenance necessary for our
temporal support, but instructing us, moreover, how
earnestly and daily we are to pray for that ''super-
658 The Heart of Jesus in Prayer.
substantial bread'' without which we shall perish
everlastingly.
There, too, we learn the humble petition for the
forgiveness of our sins, and the condition by which
we are to hope for that forgiveness- — our own for-
giveness, namely, of those who may have wronged
us. Finally, we hear the cry for deliverance from
temptation and every evil that may result from sin
offered up for others as for ourselves. Beautiful
prayers of the Heart of Jesus ! May you be ever in
our hearts also, eyer ascending from them, in union
with His Heart, to the bosom of Him who is Our
Father likewise in heaven.
Let us, when reciting the Pater Noster, reflect
that it is the expression of the prayer of the Sacred
Heart during these long years of the hidden life,
when Our Lord was apparently doing nothing
toward the accomplishment of His great work on
earth. Surely such a reflection will help to animate
us with His Spirit in reciting it, and thus render it
far more efficacious in promoting His interests than
we must fear it too frequently is.
In contemplating the Heart of Jesus when en-
gaged in prayer, we must have remarked the order
which He observes therein. The sanctification of
His Father's name, the coming of His kingdom, the
perfect accomplishment of His will, are the objects
of the opening petitions. Then follows the begging
of those benefits which we are to ask for our neigh-
bor and for ourselves, thus practically elucidating
the teaching He afterwards gave when He declared
that the first commandment of the Law was the love
of God above all things ; and that the second was to
love our neighbor as ourselves ; as also when He
commanded us to seek first the kingdom of God and
His justice. So will it be with us if charity is
The Heart of Jesus in Prayer. 659
rightly ordered in our souls. The love of God, and
consequently the thirst for His glory, will hold su-
preme place in our hearts, from whence will flow
spontaneously, as from its source, the love of our
brethren and the quenchless desire for their salva-
tion.
We have seen, too, the reverence with which
Jesus prayed, a reverence which was at once tender
and adoring, ready, and full of ardor. Holy
Scripture tells us that ''He was heard for His rev-
erence," and makes known to us the fervor with
which He prayed by telling of the ''strong cry and
tears'' with which it was accompanied. His rev-
erence was so deep because He knew the majesty of
Him to w^hom He prayed, and the intensity of
fervor with which He prayed resulted from the ve-
hemence of His desire.
From our hearts also the "strong cry'' will come
forth which shall "pierce the clouds" when we shall
be filled with the spirit of the prayer of Our Lord's
Heart, and when we have learned to love like Him,
with the same kind of love, unselfish, self-forget-
ting, and full of desire for the things that He de-
sired.
Finally, we too may participate in that delight in
the holy exercise of prayer which we have witnessed
in the Heart of Jesus. Love is its source — love
which renders prayer not an isolated act distinct
from the other duties of the day, but rather a more
free, more unrestrained exercise of that which is
ever going on within our hearts. He who loves
God ardently longs for the hour when, external oc-
cupations being over, he can give full scope to the
effusions of his heart, alone with his Beloved.
For him the great duty of prayer has nothing irk-
some, even when deprived of sensible consolation.
66o The Heart of Jesus in Prayer.
The companionship of God has for him no tedious-
ness. Prayer is for him soHtude with God, where
he need have no reservations, where he need fear
no criticism ; he is alone with his Father, as he will
be in the hour of death, as he will be throughout
eternity. His soul will remain tranquilly at rest
with God — his heart beating in union with the Heart
of Jesus, and even in trial and in suffering where
this union exists there is peace.
And now, as the fruit of this meditation, let us
ask ourselves the cause of our frequent aridity in
prayer, an aridity perhaps which we have falsely at-
tributed to some supernatural visitation, but which,
we must in all sincerity acknowledge, proceeds from
the want of union beWeen our hearts and that of
Jesus ; the absence of an earnest, absorbing desire
for all that regards His glory; an indifference to
that fusion of interests w^hich would render our
hearts one with His, and make our prayer so fruit-
ful an exercise for our own good and for the good
of the Church and of society. We have the same
objects to pray for now as Jesus had in the solitude
of Nazareth. If, therefore, we do not find where-
with to occupy our minds and hearts in prayer, we
can only attribute it to our little love, to our apathy
for the advancement of God's glory. Let us go in
spirit to Nazareth and entreat: ''Heart of Jesus,
teach me to pray — 'Our Father.' ""^
*From The Heart of Jesus of Nazareth.
CHAPTER LXI.
^be !Sscc\{nc66 ot tbe Ibeart ot Jesus*
/T\EEKNESS is one of the chosen virtues of the
^^*^ Heart of Jesus ; it shone in His birth ; it was
Hke a heavenly language which said to the humble
shepherds : Approach this Infant, fear not; He is full
of goodness, of benignity, and of meekness.
Meekness or sweetness is the daughter of humil-
ity : every humble heart is as sweet as it is humble.
What then should be the Heart of Jesus Christ? and
how well was it not authorized to say to us : "Learn
of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart" !
The principle of this ineffable sweetness was in His
Heart; He had but to follow its movements; His
soul was always under the dominion of the Word,
which governed and directed it in all things. How-
ever, no soul ever had sentiments so lively, so
delicate; no trait of injustice or of malice toward
His enemies ever escaped Him, although He had all
the aversion of a Man-God for their evil disposi-
tions.
The holy evangelists tell us little in regard to the
exterior of Jesus ; but that which they have told us
suffices to prove that a love tender and full of
charms shone in all His actions. Born of a virgin,
formed in the womb of His Mother by the direct
operation of the Holy Spirit, destined to be the in-
strument of the most glorious soul that ever existed,
the body of Jesus should be infinitely more beautiful
than that of Adam in the terrestrial paradise. Be-
sides, had not the prophets foretold that He would
be the most beautiful among the children of men?
662 The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus.
And to know that majestic sweetness shone in His
features, in His words, and in all His movements,
when He appeared upon earth, we have only to ob-
serve the effect that His appearance produced upon
those who surrounded Him. He took for His em-
blem that gentlest of all creatures, the lamb; and
the characteristics of this emblem were so strikingly
depicted in His exterior deportment that St. John
the Baptist had no sooner perceived His holy face,
than he cried : "Behold the Lamb of God."*
In His infancy it was natural that His counte-
nance should wear an expression full of sweetness,
which was the particular characteristic that one
would expect to find. For if it be true that an in-
nocent candor always shines in the eyes of infancy,
before reason has yet enlightened them with its
light, it should have shone in a much greater degree
from the eyes of the Infant Jesus, as He only con-
sented to pass through the years of early life to gain
us more surely to Himself; therefore it is probable
that He assumed the appearance of infancy under
its most attractive form : He voluntarily softened
*Jesus, my tender Lamb, I would, by this sweet name,
make myself master of Thy Heart. This name awakens in
Thee, I know, sentiments of mercy and love, of which I
have great need, and which are sweeter to my heart than
all others, for they speak to it of hope and banish all
thoughts of fear or terror. O divine Heart ! O Lamb
immolated from the beginning of the world : Lamb who
hearest the sins of the world ; Lamb invoked by the saints
of both Testaments, Lamb which was foreshadowed by the
victim under the hand of the patriarchs, and which each
day immolatest Thyself in reality by my hands ; whom
John the Baptist pointed out, whom the Christians invoked ;
Lamb which ornamentest the tomb of the martyrs and the
Eucharistic chalice ; O Jesus ! Lamb of God and of men,
be my sweetness and my strength, my purity and my life ! —
Mgr. Baudry.
The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus. 663
the brilliant splendor of His intelligence, which
shone in His infantine eyes, to assume in His
countenance, along with the tenderest expression,
that of the amiable joy fulness of a child of
earth. And as He increased with age and showed
Himself to the world, see how this character of
sweetness evinced itself in His words, actions, and
countenance. In walking by the shore of the Sea of
Galilee He had only to say a word, and immediately
one after another the Apostles quitted all to follow
Him. ''Follow Me," were the only words He ad-
dressed to them; and they devoted themselves to
Him for life.
Jesus Christ conversed familiarly with the com-
mon people, with the poor, with children. He asso-
ciated with rough men, and He bore with unalter-
able sweetness their weakness, their imprudence,
their ignorance, their inconstancy. He repeated for
their sakes the same discourses. He developed their
ideas, and raised them by degrees to the knowledge
of the most sublime mysteries ; He animated their
confidence, encouraged their good desires, correc-
ted their false ideas ; finally. He disdained not to call
them His friends, and even His brothers. He lived
with them as a father rather than as a master; He
treated them even almost as equals, and when one
considers how greatly He was their superior, not
alone on account of His divinity, but according to
His humanity, one is ravished by His sweetness and
condescension. His doctrine was sublime, and His
manner all opposed to prejudice and passion; but
His discourses were accompanied with so much
grace and attractiveness that He persuaded, touched
and attracted every heart. His sweetness appeared
principally under the contradictions that He experi-
enced during His public life and in the manner in
664 The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus,
which He justified Himself from the odious re-
proaches that were cast upon Him.
One day, passing through Samaria, He en-
countered, near one of the wells, called the
fountain of David, a woman drawing water.
Who can not recall to mind the touching
conversation of Jesus Christ with the Sama-
ritan woman? This woman had not lived a
regular life, nevertheless no word of reproach es-
caped from the lips of the divine Saviour. Of what
use would it be to discourage and dishearten? Jesus
Christ loved better to make use of words full of
light and of sympathetic commiseration, capable of
touching and reclaiming : "If thou didst know the
gift of God, and who He is that saith to thee, 'Give
Me to drink,' thou perhaps wouldst have asked of
Him, and He would have given thee living water !''
I can not pass in silence the fact that He never
showed any weariness when the multitude pressed
around Him, when the sick tried to touch the hem
of His garments, or when the mothers desired Him
to lay His hands upon their little ones.
While the Son of Mary was dining with a Phari-
see, a woman who did not bear a good reputation in
the city of Jerusalem broke an alabaster vase filled
with perfumed oil over the feet of Jesus Christ,
which she had washed with her tears and dried with
her hair and her kisses. This conduct seemed strange
to the master of the house and Jesus said : "Dost
thou see this woman ? I entered into thy house, thou
gavest Me no water for My feet'' (this was custom-
ary in the East) ; "but she with tears hath washed
My feet and with her hair hath wiped them ; I say
to thee many sins are forgiven her, because she hath
loved much !"
Never were there uttered words so touchingly
The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus. 665
sweet, so sublimely noble as those of the Savipur^
which He uttered at this time; they will reecho
through all ages to gain hearts to Jesus Christ.
After the feast of Tabernacles they brought into
the Temple, and before Jesus, a guilty woman. The
evil-minded Jews demanded of Jesus what they
should do with this woman, and reminded Him that
according to the Jewish law she should be stoned
to death. Jesus cast down His eyes, and after keep-
ing silence for a while, bent down and traced some
words upon the ground and said : ''He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her." The crowd understood, and retired one after
the other, filled with confusion. Then the Saviour
said to the sinner: ''Woman, hath no man con-
demned thee? . . . Neither will I condemn thee;
go and sin no more !''
This interview with the sinful woman in the
Temple is most touching; there is revealed in the
language and conduct of Jesus Christ, in connec-
tion with this woman, the goodness of a God, the
wisdom of a God, and the mercy and sweetness of
a God. Seek in modern times or in antiquity and
you will find nothing like it; no action equal to it;
it was the most sublime ray of the glory of God.
Can you be surprised after that at this passage of
Isaias, which foretells the sweetness of the Saviour :
"He shall not be sad, nor troublesome . . . He shall
not cry nor have respect to persons, neither shall
His voice be heard abroad . . . The bruised reed
He shall not break and smoking flax He shall not
quench." Enlightened by the Holy Spirit Isaias has
thus drawn the portrait of the Saviour. Are you
astonished at the language of St. Anselm in the
eleventh century, saying: "Good Jesus, how sweet
Thou art to those who think of Thee, who love
666 The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus.
Thee! I know not truly, because it is beyond me,
whether Thou art dearer to the hearts of those who
love Thee as dwelling in flesh or in remaining the
Word ; in Thy abasement or in Thy sublimity. For
those who love Thee, oh, it is sweeter to see Thee
born of a virgin than to know that Thou wert be-
gotten of the Father before light in the splendor of
the saints ! I prefer Thee in the form of a slave to
that of Thy divinity equal to God. It is sweeter to
contemplate Thee dying upon the cross, in presence
of the Jews, than to admire Thee as Lord of the
angels in heaven ; to follow Thee as obedient to the
ways of the world than to salute Thee in possession
of the empire of the universe." Are you astonished
that the celebrated St. Catherine of Siena, speak-
ing of Jesus Christ, in the sweet language of Italy,
cries continually: ''Buon Gesii, Signor mio dolce!
O me Dio amor dolce! 0 dolce GestiT ''Good
Jesus, my sweet Lord ! O my God, my sweet Love !
O sweet Jesus !" Are you surprised that in writing
to the Popes and cardinals of her time St. Cath-
erine always began her letter thus : "Carissiino
padre in Gesu dolce Cristo'' — ''Dearest Father in
our sweet Jesus Christ/' Yesterday and to-day,
is not Jesus Christ for us all the ''dolce Gesu'' of
St. Catherine of Siena ?
What sweetness during the course of His dolorous
Passion ! After having rendered in a few words a
modest account of His conduct and doctrine He
kept silence ; and He accomplished even to His last
sigh that which was foretold of Him, that He would
be slaughtered like an innocent lamb, without open-
ing His mouth to complain.
His friends. His dear apostles, joined theniselves
to His enemies to fill up the measure of His sor-
rows. He allowed Himself to be kissed by the
The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus. 667
traitor, and in return for reproaches He uttered
only these sweet words: "Friend, whereto art thou
come?" ''Dost thou betray the Son of man with a
kiss?'' Peter denied him three times, with an oath,
with an imprecation; Jesus turned toward him
that ineffable look of sweetness, so well known by
those who lived in His friendship. That was all
His vengeance, His only reprimand, along with His
pardon. If you desire to know what there was in
those eyes so powerfully attractive, remember the
effect that was produced upon Peter by one of His
looks alone. This apostle denied Him with an oath ;
when the eye of Jesus rested upon him he immedi-
ately went out and shed bitter tears, although the
Saviour had no longer that dignity nor beauty that
had been admired in Him formerly ; His livid face
now bore the marks of the blows that He had re-
ceived; the blood with which He was stained had
disfigured and rendered Him unrecognizable; but
the sweetness of His divinity showed itself in the
accusing gaze of those eyes of burning love which
He turned upon His apostle, so full of reproachful
goodness ; and he, opening his soul to repentance,
shed torrents of tears. Even to the day of his mar-
tyrdom, his tears flowed when the memory of that
look of Jesus returned to him."^
This sweetness agreed perfectly in Jesus with
zeal and firmness. When He defended the interests
of His Father and of truth, or reprehended hypo-
*Who shall ever say, who shall ever know how this look
of Jesus and the tears of St. Peter have touched and saved
souls ! Sweet look of infinite mercy, which yet came even
after the lapse of eighteen centuries to pierce and purify
our ungrateful hearts ; holy and sweet tears of repentance,
which have extinguished and shall extinguish forever the
flames of vice in this world and those of punishment in the
world to come ! — Louis Veuillot.
668 The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus.
crites, He spoke with fire and energy; He testified
a holy indignation and sometimes even displayed
authority. But when there was question of none
but Himself, He either forbore to refute the in-
juries and calumnies with which He was charged,
or else He defended them with extreme moderation,
evincing no change, either in His manner or words,
but employing without any warmth such invincible
reasons as left His enemies without rejoinder.
The sweetness proceeding from virtue does not
resemble that of temperament. Souls naturally
amiable are often weak, soft, indifferent, and even
carry indifference to excess ; but those who become
amiable in imitation of Jesus are strong, firm, full
of feeling, indulgent according to necessity, with-
out failing in the rules of justice. The soul gentle
by nature does not reprehend for fear of disturbing
herself or of falling out of humor. The soul ami-
able through virtue reprehends with severity, but
always with self-possession. The former dissimu-
lates through timidity, the latter through a spirit of
charity. The first often exposes herself to non-ful-
filment of duty, the second always accomplishes it
faithfully without any human respect. The one will
manage others for her own interest, the other will
do so solely for God and for the best.
In works of zeal and in the direction of souls, en-
deavor to imitate the ineffable sweetness of the
Heart of Jesus, avoid violent methods, sharpness,
harsh words, bitter reproaches or too light ones;
do not break the bruised reed nor quench the smok-
ing flax. See how Our Lord conducted Himself
in regard to sinners in His own case. Did He sud-
denly launch His justice upon them? No; He
sweetly set before the guilty soul its infidelities and
invited it to repentance; if He chastised, it was al-
The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus. 669
ways paternally and with mercy. In a word, He
tried in every way to gain and change the will, and
even until he gives himself up to final impeni-
tence it is not permitted us to believe that God
will entirely abandon the sinner without hope of
pardon.
James and John prayed Him to cause fire to de-
scend from heaven upon the Samaritan city that re-
fused to receive them, but He answered them : ''You
know not of what spirit you are : the Son of man
came not to destroy souls, but to save." Notwith-
standing the reproof of the apostles. He called to
Him even the little children, who had been attracted
by the charm of His person, and caressed them with
the tenderness of a mother. Neither contradiction
nor injustice ever draw from Him a single word of
harshness. His enemies dared to say to Him, the
God of holiness, *'Thou hast a devil ;'' and what
reply does He make to them ? "1 have not a devil :
but I honor My Father, and you have dishonored
Me."
You have not the glory of God and the salvation
of your neighbor more at heart than had Jesus ; and
you can not employ more efficacious means than
His. Act then, exteriorly, as He did interiorly.
Let your advice, your invitations, your reproaches,
be like His. Labor in union with His grace and
therefore let that grace animate, direct, and sustain
you in the exercise of your zeal. If we do not
w^atch ourselves very closely, much of self will
mingle with our zeal for God and for the good of
souls. It is ourselves that we consider; it is our-
selves whom we seek to please; it is not the reign
of God, but our own that we would establish.
Happy the heart in which, as in a sanctuary,
sweetness acts under the divine influence of faith.
670 The Meekness of the Heart of Jesus.
hope, and charity! Fears and desires no longer
trouble it; animal and carnal instincts are arrested
in their development, or at least act only in the vivi-
fying atmosphere of truth, of goodness, of beauty,
by which they are surrounded and which impreg-
nates and penetrates them.*
*From The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the
Rev. F. Huguet, Marist.
CHAPTER LXII.
pontifical Decrees Concerning Dail^ Communion^
^r^HE following are the original text and the offi-
^^ cial translation, as given in the London Tub-
let, of two decrees concerning daily communion, is-
sued at Rome; one by the Sacred Congregation of
the Council and the other by the Sacred Congrega-
tion of Indulgences and Holy Relics.
I. I.
Hecretum Sacrae <8:ongteaa^ lliecree on Heceibmfl liailj
tionis €:oncilii tje il^ost Ji^olj lEucJarist.
De Quotidiana SS. Eu- ^he Council of Trent,
chansttce Sumptione. h^^j^g -^ ^j^^ the un-
Sacra Tridentina Sy- speakable treasures of
nodus, perspectas habens grace which are offered
ineffabiles quae Christifi- to the faithful who re-
delibus obveniunt g r a- ceive the Most Holy Eu-
tiarum divitias, sanctissi- charist, makes the foUow-
mam Eucharistiam su- i n g declaration : ''The
mentibus (Sess. XXH.^ holy Synod would desire
cap. vi.), ait: Optaret that at every Mass the
quidem sacrosancfa Sy- faithful who are present
nodus, ut in singulis Mis- should communicate not
sis adeles adstantes non only spiritually, by way
solum spirituali affectum of internal affection, but
sed sacramentaU etiam sacramentally by the ac-
Eticharistice perceptione tual reception of the Eu-
communicarent. Quae charist'' (Sess. 22, cap.
A^erba satis aperte pro- 6). Which words de-
dunt Ecclesiae desider- clare plainly enough the
672 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
ium ut omnes Christifi- wish of the Church that
deles ille coelesti convivio all Christians should be
quotidie reficiantur, e t daily nourished by this
pleniores ex eo sanctifi- heavenly banquet, and
cationis hauriant eifectus. should derive therefrom
abundant fruit for their
sanctification.
Huiusmodi vero vota And this wish of the
cum illo cohserent desi- Council is in entire agree-
derio quo Christus Domi- ment with that desire
nus incensus hoc divinum wherewith Christ our
Sacramentum instituit. Lord was inflamed when
Ipse enim nee semel nee He instituted this divine
obscure necessitatem in- Sacrament. For He
nuit su3e carnis crebro Himself more than once,
manducandae suique and in no ambiguous
sanguinis bibendi, prse- terms, pointed out the
sertim his verbis : Hie est necessity of eating His
panis de eoelo descen- flesh and drinking His
dens; non sieut mandu- blood, especially in these
caverunt patres vestri words : ''This is the
manna et mortui sunt: bread that came down
qui mandueat hune pa- from heaven ; not as your
nem vivet in ceternum fathers did eat manna
(loan., vi. 59). Ex qua and are dead: he that
comparatione cibi angel- eateth this bread shall
ici cum pane et manna live forever'' (John vi.
fctcile a discipulis intelligi 59). Now, from this
poterat, quemadmodum comparison of the food
pane corpus quotidie of angels with bread and
nutritur, et manna in de- with the manna, it was
serto Hebrsei quotidie easily to be understood
refecti sunt, ita animam by His disciples that, as
christianam coelesti pane the body is daily nour-
vesci posse quotidie ac ished with bread, and as
recreari. Insuper quod the Hebrews were daily
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion, 673
in oratione Dominica ex- nourished with manna in
posci iubet panem nos- the desert, so the Chris-
irum qiwtidianum, per id tian soul might daily par-
SS. Ecclesise Patres fere take of this heavenly
unanimes docent, non bread and be refreshed
tam materialem panem, thereby. Moreover,
corporis escam, quam pa- whereas, in the "Lord's
nem eucharisticum quo- Prayer," we are bidden
tidie sumendum intelligi to ask for ''our daily
debere. bread," the holy Fathers
of the Church all but
unanimously teach that
by these words must be
understood, not so much
that material bread which
is the support of the
body, as the Eucharistic
bread which ought to be
our daily food.
Desiderium vero lesu Moreover, the desire
Christi et Ecclesise u t of Jesus Christ and of the
omnes Christifideles quo- Church that all the faith-
tidie ad sacrum conviv- ful should daily approach
um accedant, in eo potis- the sacred banquet is di-
simum est ut Christifi- rected chiefly to this end,
deles, per sacramentum that the faithful, being
Deo coniuncti, robur inde united to God by means
capiant ad compescen- o f the Sacrament, may
dam libidinem, ad leves thence derive strength to
culpas quae quotidie oc- resist their sensual pas-
currunt abluendas, et ad sions, to cleanse them-
graviora peccata, quibus selves from the stains of
humana fragilitas est ob- daily faults, and to avoid
noxia, praecavenda : non these graver sins to
autem praecipue ut Dom- which human frailty is
ini honori, ac venerationi liable ; so that its primary
674 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
consulatur, nee u t s u -
mentibus id quasi merees
aut prsemium sit suarum
virtutum (S. August.
Serm. LVII. in Matt. De
Orat. Dom., v. 7). Unde
S. Tridentinum Coneil-
ium Eueharistiam voeat
antidotum quo liberemur
a culpis quotidianis et a
peccatis mortalibus prce-
servemur ( Sess. XIII.
cap. ii).
Hanc Dei voluntatem
p r i o r e s Christifideles
probe intelligentes, quo-
tidie ad hanc vitae ac
fortitudinis mensam ac-
currebant. Erant perse-
verant es in doctrina
Apostolorum et c'om-
municatione fractionis
pan is (Act ii. 42).
Quod saeculis posteriori-
b u s etiam factum esse,
non sine magno perfec-
tionis ac sanctitatis emo-
lumento, Sancti Patres
atque ecclesiastici Scrip-
tores tradiderunt.
purpose is not that the
honor and reverence due
to Our Lord may be safe-
guarded, or that the
Sacrament may serve as
a reward of virtue
bestowed on the recipi-
e n t s (St. Augustine,
Serm. 57 in Matt., de
Orat. Dom., n. 7).
Hence the holy Council
of Trent calls the Eu-
charist ''the antidote
whereby we are delivered
from daily faults and pre-
served from deadly sins"
(Sess. 13, cap. 2).
This desire on the part
of God was so well un-
der stood by the first
Christians, that they
daily flocked to the holy
table as to a source of life
and strength. ''They
were persevering in the
doctrine of the apostles,
and in the communica-
tion of the breaking of
bread'' (Acts ii. 42).
And that this practice
was to continue into later
ages, not without great
fruit of holiness and per-
fection, the holy Fathers
and ecclesiastical writers
bear witness.
PontiUcal Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 675
Defervescente interim
pietate, ac potissimum
postea lanseniana lue un-
dequaque grassante, dis-
putari coeptum e s t d e
dispositionibus, quibus ad
frequentem et quotidi-
anam Communionem ac-
cedere oporteat, atque alii
pr3e aliis maiores ac diffi-
ciliores, tanquam neces-
s a r i a s , expostularunt.
Huiusmodi discepta-
tiones id effecerunt, u t
perpauci digni haberen-
tur qui SS. Eucharistiam
quotidie sumerent, et ex
tarn salutifero sacra-
mento pleniores effectus
haurirent ; contentis
ceteris eo refici aut semel
in anno, aut singulis
mensibus, vel unaquaque
ad summum hebdomada.
Quin etiam eo severitatis
ventum est, ut a frequen-
tanda coelesti mensa in-
tegri coetus excluderen-
tur, uti mercatorum, aut
eorum qui essent matri-
monio coniuncti.
Nonnulli tamen in con-
trariam abierunt senten-
But when in later
times piety grew cold,
and more especially un-
der the influence of the
plague of Jansenism, dis-
putes began to arise con-
cerning the dispositions
with which it was proper
t o receive communion
frequently or daily; and
writers vied with one an-
other in imposing more
and more stringent con-
ditions as necessary to be
fulfilled. The result o f
such disputes was that
very few were considered
worthy to communicate
daily, and to derive from
this most healing Sacra-
ment its more abundant
fruits ; the rest being con-
tent to partake of it once
a year, or once a month,
or at the utmost weekly.
Nay, to such a pitch was
rigorism carried, that
whole classes of persons
were excluded from a
frequent approach to the
holy table ; for instance,
those engaged in trade,
or even those living in
the state of matrimony.
Others, however, went
to the opposite extreme.
676 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
tiam. Hi, arbitrati Com- Under the persuasion
munionem quotidianam that daily communion
iure divino esse prsecep- was a divine precept, and
tarn, ne dies ulla praeteri- in order that no day
ret a Communione vacua, might pass without the
prseter aha a probato Ec- reception of the Sacra-
clesia usu aHena, etiam ment, besides other prac-
feria VL in Parasceve t i c e s contrary to the
Eucharistiam sumendam approved usage of t h e
censebant, et ministra- Church, they held that
bant. the Holy Eucharist
ought to be received, and
in fact administered it,
even on Good Friday.
Ad haec Sancta Sedes Under these circum-
officio proprio non defuit. stances the Holy See did
Nam per decretum huius not fail in its duty o f
Sacri Ordinis, quod in- vigilance. For, by a de-
cipit Cum ad aures, diei cree of this Sacred Con-
12 mensis Februarii anni gregation, which begins
1679, Innocentio Pp. XI. with the words Cum ad
adprobante, e r r o r e s aures, issued on Febru-
huiusmodi damnavit e t ary 12, a.d. 1679, "^ith
abusus compescuit, simul the approbation of Inno-
declarans omnes cuiusvis cent XL, it condemned
coetus, mercatoribus these errors, and put a
atque coniugatis minime stop to such abuses ; at
exceptis, ad Communio- the same time declaring
nis frequentiam admitti that all the faithful of
posse, iuxta, singulorum whatsoever class, mer-
pietatem et sui cuiusque chants or tradesmen or
Confessarii indicium, married persons not ex-
Die vero 7 mensis De- cepted, might be admitted
cembris anni 1690, per to frequent communion,
decretum Sanctissimus according to the devotion
Dominus noster Alexan- of each one and the judg-
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 677
dri Pp. VIII, propositio
B a i i , purissimum Dei
amorem absque uUius de-
fectus mixtione requirens
ab iis qui ad sacram men-
s a m vellent accedere,
proscripta fuit.
Virus tamen iansenia-
n u m, quod bonorum
etiam animos infecerat,
sub specie honoris ac
venerationis Eucharis-
tise debiti, haud penitus
evanuit. Quaestio de
dispositionibus ad f r e -
quentandam r e c t e a c
legitime Communionem
Sanctse Sedis declara-
tionibus supervixit; quo
factum est ut nonnulli
etiam boni nominis Theo-
logi, raro et positis com-
pluribus conditionibus,
quotidianam Com-
munionem fidelibus per-
mitti posse censuerint.
Non defuerunt aliunde
ment of his confessor.
And on December 7,
1690, by the decree o f
Pope Alexander VIIL,
Safictissimus Dominus,
the proposition of Baius,
postulating a perfectly
pure love of God, without
any admixture of defect,
as requisite on the part of
those who wished to ap-
proach the holy table,
was condemned.
Yet the poison of Jan-
senism, which, under the
pretext of showing due
honor and reverence to
the Holy Eucharist, had
infected the minds even
of good men, did not en-
tirely disappear. The
controversy as to the dis-
positions requisite for the
lawful and laudable fre-
quentation of the Sacra-
ment survived the
declarations of the Holy
See ; so much so, indeed^
that certain theologians
of good repute judged
that daily communion
should be allowed to the
faithful only in rare
cases, and under many
conditions.
On the other hand,
678 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
viri doctrina ac pietate
prsediti, qui faciliorem
aditum prseberent huic
tarn salubri Deoque ac-
cepto Usui, docentes, auc-
toritate Patrum, nullum
Ecclesise prseceptum
esse circa maiores dis-
positiones ad quotidia-
nam, quam ad hebdoma-
dariam aut menstruam
Communionem ; f ructus
vero uberiores longe fore
ex quotidiana C o m -
munione, quam ex heb-
domadaria aut menstrua.
Qusestiones super hac
re diebus nostris adauc-
tae sunt et non sine acri-
monia exagitatse; quibus
Confessariorum mentes
atque fidelium conscien-
tiae perturbantur, cum
christianae pietatis ac
fervoris baud mediocri
detrimento. A viris id-
circo prseclarissimis ac
animarum Pastoribus
SSmo Dno Nostro P i o
Pp. X enixae preces por-
rectae sunt, ut suprema
there were not wanting
men of learning and piety
who more readily granted
permission for this prac-
tice, so salutary and s o
pleasing to God. In ac-
cordance with the teach-
ing of the Fathers, they
maintained that there
was no precept of the
Church which prescribed
more perfect dispositions
in the case of daily than
of weekly or monthly
communion ; while the
good effects of daily com-
munion would, they al-
leged, be far more abun-
dant than those of com-
munion received weekly
or monthly.
In our own day the
controversy has been car-
ried on with increased
warmth, and not without
bitterness, so that the
minds of confessors and
the consciences of the
faithful have been dis-
turbed, to the no small
detriment of Christian
piety and devotion. Ac-
cordingly, certain d i s -
tinguished men, t h e m -
selves pastors of souls,
have urgently besought
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 679
Sua auctoritate qusestio- his Holiness Pope Pius
nem de dispositionibus X. to deign to settle, by
ad Eucharistiam quotidie his supreme authority,
sumendam dirimere dig- the question concerning
naretur; ita ut hsec salu- the dispositions requisite
berrima ac Dea acceptis- for daily communion ; so
s i m a consuetudo non that this usage, so salu-
modo non minuatur inter tary and so pleasing to
fideles, sed potius augea- God, might not only suf-
tur et ubique propagetur, f e r no decrease among
hisce diebus potissimum, the faithful, but might
quibus Religio ac fides rather be promoted and
catholica undequaque im- everywhere propagated;
petitur, ac vera Dei cari- a thing most desirable in
tas et pietas baud parum these days, when religion
desideratur. Sanctitas and the Catholic faith are
vero Sua, cum Ipsi max- attacked on all sides, and
ime cordi sit, ea qua the true love of God and
pollet solicitudine a c genuine piety are so lack-
studio, ut christianus ing in many quarters,
populus ad Sacrum con- And his Holiness, being
vivium perquam frequen- most earnestly desirous,
ter et etiam quotidie ad- out of his abundant solic-
vocetur eiusque fructibus itude and zeal, that the
amplissimis potiatur, faithful should be invited
qusestionem prsedictam to partake of the sacred
huic Sacro Ordini exami- banquet as often as pos-
nandam ac definiendam sible, and even daily,
commisit. and should profit to the
utmost by its fruits, com-
m i 1 1 e d the aforesaid
question to this Sacred
Congregation, to be
looked into and decided
once for all (deiinien-
dum).
68o Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
Sacra igitur Concilii Accordingly, the
Congregatio in plenariis Sacred Congregation of
Comitiis diei i6 mensis the Council, in a plenary
Dec. 1905 hanc rem ad Session held on Decem-
examen accuratissimum ber 16, 1905, submitted
revocavit, et rationibus the whole matter to a
hinc inde adductis sedula very careful scrutiny ;
maturitate perpensis, ea and, after sedulously ex-
quae sequuntur statuit ac amining the reasons ad-
declaravit: duced on either side, de-
termined and declared as
follows :
1° Communio fre- i. Frequent and daily
quens et quotidiana, ut- communion, as a thing
pote a Christo Domino et most earnestly desired by
a Catholica Ecclesia op- Christ our Lord and by
tatissima, omnibus the Catholic Church,
Christifidelibus cuiusvis should be open to all the
ordinis aut conditionis faithful, of whatever
pateat; ita ut nemo, qui rank and condition of
in statu gratise sit et life; so that no one who
cum recta piaque mente is in the state of grace,
ad S. Mensam accedat, and who approaches the
prohiberi ab ea possit ; holy table with a right
and devout intention, can
lawfully be hindered
therefrom.
2° Recta autem mens 2. A right intention
in eo est, ut qui ad consists in this : that he
sacram mensam accedit who approaches the holy
non Usui, aut vanitati, aut table should do so, not
humanis rationibus in- out of routine, or vain-
dulgeat, sed Dei placito glory, or human respect,
satisfacere velit, ei arc- but for the purpose of
tius caritate coniungi, ac pleasing God, or being
divino illo pharmaco suis more closely united with
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 68i
infirmitatibus ac defecti-
bus occurrere;
3° Etsi quam maxime
expediat ut frequenti et
quotidiana Communione
utentes venialibus pecca-
tis, saltern plene delibera-
tis, eorumque affectu sint
expertes, sufficit nihilo-
minus ut culpis mortali-
bus vacent, cum propo-
sito se nunquam in pos-
terum peccaturos : quo
sincere animi proposito,
fieri non potest quin quo-
tidie communicantes a
peccatis etiam venialibus
ab eorumque affectu sen-
sim se expediant ;
4° Cum vero Sacra-
menta Novae Legis, etsi
effectum suum ex opere
o p e r a t o sortiantur,
maiorem tamen p r o -
ducant effectum quo
maiores dispositiones in
iis suscipiendis adhibean-
tur, idcirco curandum
est ut sedula ad sacram
Communionem prsepara-
Him by charity, and of
see king this divine
remedy for his weak-
nesses and defects.
3. Although it is more
expedient that* those who
communicate frequently
or daily should be free
from venial sins, espe-
cially from such as are
fully deliberate, and
from any affection
thereto, nevertheless it is
sufficient that they be
free from mortal sin,
with the purpose of never
sinning mortally in fu-
ture; and, if they have
this sincere purpose, it is
impossible but that daily
communicants should
gradually emancipate
themselves from even
venial sins, and from all
affection thereto.
4. But whereas the
sacraments of the New
Law, though they take
effect ex opere operato,
nevertheless produce a
greater effect in propor-
tion as the dispositions of
the recipient are better;
therefore, care is to be
taken that holy commun-
ion be preceded by seri-
682 PontiUcal Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
tio antecedat, et congrua
gratiarum actio inde se-
quatur, iuxta u n i u s -
ciiiusque vires, c o n d i -
tionem ac officia ;
5° Ut frequens et quo-
t i d i a n a Communio
m a i o r i prudentia fiat
uberiorique m e r i t o
augeatur, oportet ut Con-
fessarii consilium interce-
dat. Caveant tamen Con-
fessarii ne a frequenti seu
quotidiana Communione
quemqiiam avertant, qui
in statu gratise reperia-
tur et recta mente acce-
dat;
6° Cum autem per-
spicuum sit ex frequenti
seu quotidiana S. Eu-
charisti3e sumptione
unionem cum Christo
augeri, spiritualem vitam
uberius ali, animam vir-
tutibus effusius instrui,
et aeternse felicitatis pig-
nus vel firmius sumenti
donari, idcirco Parochi,
Confessarii et conciona-
tores, iuxta probatam
Catechismi Romani doc-
ous preparation, and fol-
lowed by a suitable
thanksgiving according
to each one's strength,
circumstances, and
duties.
5- That the practice of
frequent and daily com-
munion may be carried
out with greater pru-
dence and more abundant
merit, the confessor's ad-
vice should be asked.
Confessors, however, are
to be careful not to dis-
suade any one {ne quern-
quant avertant) from fre-
quent and daily commun-
ion, provided that he is
in a state of grace and
approaches with a right
intention.
6. But since it is plain
that, by the frequent or
daily reception of the
Holy Eucharist, union
v/ith Christ is fostered,
the spiritual life more
abundantly sustained, the
soul more richly en-
dowed with virtues, and
an even surer pledge of
everlasting happiness be-
stowed on the recipient,
therefore parish priests,
confessors and preachers
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 683
trinam (Part. II. cap. iv.
q. lviii.),christianum pop-
ulumad hunctam pium ac
tarn salutarem usum cre-
bris admonitionibus mul-
toque studio cohortentur ;
7° Communio f r e -
quens et quotidiana prae-
sertim in religiosis Insti-
tutis cuiusvis generis pro-
moveatur ; pro quibus
tamen firmum sit decre-
tum Qtiemadmodum diei
17 mensis Decembris
1890 a S. Congr. Episco-
porum et Regularium
latum. Quam maxime
quoque promoveatur in
clericorum Seminariis,
quorum alumni altaris in-
hiant servitio; item in
aliis christianis omne ge-
nus ephebeis;
8° Si quae sint Insti-
tuta, sive votorum solem-
nium sive simplicium,
quorum in regulis aut
constitutionibus, vel
etiam calendariis, Com-
muniones aliquibus die-
— in accordance with the
approved teaching of the
Roman Catechism (Part
ii. cap. 4, q. 58) — are fre-
quently, and with great
zeal, to exhort the faith-
ful to this devout and sal-
utary practice.
7. Frequent and daily
communion is to be pro-
moted especially in Re-
ligious Orders and Con-
gregations of all kinds;
with regard to which,
however, the decree Que-
madmoditm, issued on
December 17, 1890, by
the Sacred Congregation
of Bishops and Regulars
is to remain in force. It
is also to be promoted
especially in ecclesiastical
seminaries, where stu-
dents are preparing for
the service of the altar;
as also in all Christian
establishments of what-
ever kind, for the train-
ing of youth.
8. In the case of relig-
ious institutes, whether of
solemn or simple religious
vows, in whose Rules, or
Constitutions, or calen-
dars, communion is as-
signed to certain fixed
684 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
bus affixse et in iis iussae
reperiantur, hse normse
tanquam mere directives
non tamquam prcecep-
tivco putandse sunt.
Praescriptus vero Com-
munionum numerus ha-
beri debet ut quid mini-
mum pro Religiosorum
pietate. Idcirco f r e -
quentior vel quotidianus
accessus ad eucharisti-
cam mensam libere eis-
dem patere semper de-
bebit, iuxta normas su-
perius in hoc decreto
traditas. Ut autem om-
nes utriusque sexus re-
ligiosi huius d e c r e t i
dispositiones rito cog-
noscere queant, singula-
rum domorum modera-
tores curabunt, ut illud
quotannis vernacula lin-
gua in communi legatur
intra Octavam festivi-
tatis Corporis Christi ;
9° Denique post pro-
mulgatum hoc Decretum
omnes ecclesiastici scrip-
tores a quavis contentiosa
disputatione circa d i s -
positiones ad frequentem
et quotidianam C o m -
munionem abstineant.
days, such regulations are
to be regarded as directive
and not preceptive. In
such cases the appointed
number of communions
should be regarded as a
minimum, and not as set-
ting a limit to the devo-
tion of the Religious.
Therefore, freedom of
access to the Eucharistic
table, whether more fre-
quently or daily, must al-
ways be allowed them,
according to the prin-
ciples above laid down in
this decree. And in or-
der that all Religious of
both sexes may clearly
understand the p r o -
visions of this decree the
Superior of each house is
to see that it is read in
community, in the ver-
nacular, every year with-
in the octave of the feast
of Corpus Christi.
9. Finally, after the
publication of this decree,
all ecclesiastical writers
are to cease from con-
tentious controversies
concerning the disposi-
tions requisite for fre-
quent and daily com-
munion.
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 685
Relatis autem his om- All this having been
nibus ad SSmum D. N. reported to His Holi-
Pium Pp. X. per infra- ness Pope Pius X. by the
scriptumS.C. Secretarium undersigned Secretary of
in audientia diei 17 mens, the Sacred Congregation,
Dec. 1905, Sanctitas Sua in an audience held on
hoc Emorum Patrum de- December 17th, 1905, his
cretum ratum habuit, Holiness ratified and
confirmavit atque e d i confirmed the present de-
iussit, contrariis quibus- cree, and ordered it to be
cumque minime obstanti- published, anything to
bus. Mandavit insuper the contrary notwith-
ut mittatur ad omnes lo- standing. He further or-
c o r u m Ordinarios et dered that it should be
Prselatos Regulares, ad sent to all local ordina-
hoc ut illud cum suis ries and regular prelates,
Seminariis, Parochis, in- to be communicated by
stitutis religiosis et sacer- them to their respective
dotibus respective com- seminaries, parishes, re-
municent, et de execu- ligious institutes and
tione eorum quae in eo priests ; and that in their
statuta sunt S. Sedem reports concerning the
edoceant in suis relationi- state of their respective
bus de dioecesis seu insti- dioceses or institutes,
tuti statu. they should inform the
Holy See concerning the
execution of the matters
therein determined.
Datum Romse, die 20 Given at Rome, the
Decembris 1905. 20th day of December,
►fiViNCENTius Card., 1905.
Episc, "^Vincent,
Pr^nestinus. Card. Bishop of Pales-
Prcefectus. trina, Prefect.
C. De Lai, Secretarhis. Cajetan De Lai, Sec.
686 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
11.
©ectetum gatbfs et <!^ri)is.
Saiictissimo Domino
Nostro Pio Pp. X. vel
maxime cordi est ut. effi-
cacius in dies propage-
tur ; uberioresque edat
virtutum omnium fruc-
tus iaudabilis ilia ac Deo
V a 1 d e accepta consue-
tudo, quae fideles, in
statu gratiae rectaque
cum mente, ad sacram
Communionem quotidie
sumendam accedant.
Quamobrem supplicia
plurimorum vota ab Emi-
nentissimo Viro Cardi-
nali Casimiro Gennari
delata benigne 1 i b e n -
t e r q u e excipiens, iis
plane cunctis qui memo-
ratam consuetudinem ha-
bent, aut inire exoptant,
specialem merito gra-
t i a m elargiri statuit,
Clemens porro Pp. XIII.
f. r. per decretum huius
sacri Ordinis, sub die g
Decembris 1763 ''omni-
bus christifidelibus, qui
frequenti peccatorum
confessione animum
studentes expiare, semel
saltem in hebdomada ad
11.
IBecree on t!)e Confession of
HBailj Communicants,
His Holiness Pope
Pius X. most earnestly
desires that the praise-
worthy custom, so very
acceptable to God, by
which the faithful, in a
state of grace and with a
right intention, approach
daily to holy communion,
may become more gen-
eral and may lead to
more virtuous lives. For
which reason, graciously
and gladly receiving the
petitions of many per-
sons addressed to him
through the Most Emi-
nent Cardinal Casimir
Gennari, he has justly
determined to grant a
special favor to all those
who follow or desire to
follow the practice afore-
said.
Pope Clement XIII.,
of happy memory, by a
decree of this Sacred
Congregation of Decem-
ber 9, 1763, granted to
all the faithful, "who,
striving to purify their
souls by frequent con-
fession of their sins, were
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 687
Sacramentum Poeniten-
tiae accedere, nisi legi-
time impediantur, con-
sueverunt, et n u 1 1 i u s
lethalis culpse a se post
praedictam ultimam con-
fessionem commissse sibi
conscii sunt, indulsit, ut
omnes et quascumque In-
dulgentias consequi pos-
sint, etiam sine actuali
confessione quae coetero-
quin ad eas lucrandas
necessaria esset. Nihil
tamen innovando circa
Indulgentias lubilaei,
tarn ordinarii q u a m
extraordinarii, aliasque
ad instar lubilaei con-
cessas, pro quibus asse-
quendis, sicut et alia
opera iniuncta, ita et
sacramentalis confessio
tempore in earum con-
c e s s i o n e praescripto
peragatur." Nunc vero
Beatissimus Pater Pius
X omnibus christifideli-
bus, qui in statu gratiae
et cum recta piaque
mente quotidie Sancta de
Altari libare consuescunt,
quamvis semel aut iterum
per hebdomadam a com-
m u n i o n e abstineant,
praef ato tamen f . r.
accustomed, unless they
were legitimately hin-
dered, to approach the
Sacrament of Penance, at
least once a week, and
were not conscious of
having committed any
mortal sin since their last
confession, the privilege
of gaining all indul-
gences whatsoever, with-
out the actual confession
which otherwise would
be necessary for gaining
them ; this concession,
however, being in no wise
applicable to the indul-
gences of a jubilee,
whether ordinary or ex-
traordinary, nor to other
indulgences granted i n
like manner, for which,
besides the other works
enjoined, sacramental
confession must be made
within the time p r e -
scribed/' Now, how-
ever, to all the faithful
who, being in a state of
grace and having a right
and devout intention, are
accustomed daily to re-
ceive the holy Sacrament
of the Altar, even if they
once or twice in a week
omit their daily com-
688 Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
dementis Pp. XIII. in-
dtilto frui posse concedit,
absque hebdomadarise
illiiis confessionis obliga-
tione, quae ceteroquin ad
Indulgentias eo temporis
intervallo decurrentes
rite lucrandas necessaria
extaret. Hanc insuper
gratiam Eadem Sanctitas
Sua futuris quoque tern-
poribus V a 1 i t u r a m
clementer declaravit.
Contrariis quibuscumque
non obstantibus.
Datum Romse, e
Secretaria S. Congrega-
tion i s Indulgentiis
Sacrisque Reliquiis
prsepositae, die 14 Feb-
ruarii 1906.
A. Card. Tripepi,
L. •!< S. Prcefectus.
D. Panici Archiep.
Laodicen,
Secretarius.
munion, our Most Holy
Father Pius X. grants
that they may avail them-
selves of the above-men-
tioned Indult of Clem-
ent XIIL, of happy mem-
ory, without the weekly
confession which in other
circumstances is still of
obligation for rightly
gaining the indulgences
that occur during the
week. His Holiness,
moreover, has graciously
declared that this privi-
lege will hold good in fu-
ture times. Anything
to the contrary notwith-
standing.
Given at Rome, the
14th day of February,
1906.
■^ A. Card. Tripepi,
Prefect,
D. Panici, Archbishop
of Laodicea,
Secretary.
The present rescript
has been shown at the
Secretariate of the
Sacred Congregation o f
Indulgences and Holy
Relics. In testimony
whereof, etc.
Joseph M. Canon
CosELLi, Substitute,
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 689
Given at Rome, at the
aforesaid Secretariate,
the 1 6th day of Febru-
ary, 1906.
PREGHIERA PER LA PROP- PRAYER FOR THE PROPA-
AGAZIONE DEL PIO USO CATION OF THE PIOUS
DELLA COMMUNIONE CUSTOM OF DAILY COM-
QUOTIDIANA. MUNION.
O dolcissimo Gesu che
veniste al mondo per
dare a tutte le anime la
vita della grazia Vostra,
e che, per conservarla ed
alimentarla in esse,
voleste essere e la quo-
tidiana medicina della
loro quotidiana infermita
ed il loro quotidiano sos-
tentamento ; umilmente
V i preghiamo, per i 1
Vostro Cuore cosi ar-
dente dell' amor nostro, a
diffondere sopra di tutte
il Vostro divino spirito,
affinche quelle che sven-
turamente sono in pec-
cato mortale, converten-
dosi a^ Voi, riacquistino
la vita della grazia per-
duta, e quelle che, per
Vostro dono, vivono gia
di questa vita divina,
ogni giorno, quando pos-
sono, si accostino devota-
O sweet Jesus, who
didst come into the world
to give to all souls the
life of Thy grace, and
who, to preserve and
nourish in them this life,
hast wished to be their
daily food and the daily
remedy of their daily
weakness, we humbly
supplicate Tliee, by Thy
Heart so inflamed with
love for us, to shed upon
all souls Thy divine spir-
it, that they who, un-
happily, are in mortal
sin, may be converted to
Thee and recover the
life of grace that they
have lost, and that they
who, by Thy help, al-
ready live this divine life,
may devoutly approach
Thy holy table every day
that they can ; so that by
means of daily com-
690 PontiUcql Decrees Concerning Daily Communion.
mente alia Vostra sacra munion, receiving daily
mensa, onde per mezzo the antidote of their daily
della quotidiana Com- venial sins, and feeding
unione, ricevendo ogni daily the life of Thy grace
giorno il contravveleno in their soul, and thus
dei loro peccati veniali purifying themselves al-
quotidiani, ed ogni gior- ways more and more,
no alimentando in se la they may, at last, arrive
vita della grazia Vostra, at the possession of the
e purificando cosi sempre life of beatitude with
p i u I'anima propria, Thee ! Amen,
giungano finalmente al
conseguimento della vita
con Voi beata. Amen.
Three hundred days* indulgence every day. — Pius X.
'''mt^^ ^rt TOou ^fraOrr*
Blessed Emily Bicchieri, of the Order of Domin-
icans, had the most ardent love for the Blessed Sac-
rament. She was permitted to communicate thrice
in the week and on all festivals, which in those days
was unusually frequent. Emily's humility took
alarm, and she resolved to abstain for a time from
approaching the holy table. But Our Lord would
not allow His spouse to fall into this dangerous de-
lusion. He appeared to her radiant with celestial
glory saying : ''Beloved spouse, why art thou afraid
to approach My banquet ? Have I not prepared it
on purpose that I might feed thee with My flesh and
blood ? Come without fear and look not so much at
thine own vileness, but rather on the loving pity
which moved Me to institute this Sacrament for the
happiness of My creatures. Learn that they who re-
ceive Me out of love please Me infinitely more than
they zvho keep azvay from Me out of fear/'
Pontifical Decrees Concerning Daily Communion. 691
Reassured by this vision, the servant of God hun-
gered more and more after the Bread of angels. One
day she was detained at the bedside of a sick Sister
and thus prevented from communicating with the
rest. As soon as she was free she went to the choir
and lovingly ofifered to Our Lord the great priva-
tion which she had suffered. An angel immediately
appeared and brought her holy communion in the
sight of all the Sisters.*
"^Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament,
CHAPTER LXIII.
Communion tor IRell^loue.
^I^Tfter the priest, sanctified by ordination to be
(s/^ the worthy minister of the daily Sacrifice and,
consequently, to consummate it by daily communion,
if there is another being destined and fitted by her
vocation for the daily nourishment of the flesh of
Jesus Christ, it is, assuredly, the Religious. She has
for it a double need, created by the holy state that she
has embraced : the need of His love, and that of her
own indigence.
The profession of holy virginity and the benedic-
tion of the Pontiff have consecrated her the spouse
of Jesus Christ. She has left the ranks of the laity
and taken her place in the sacred hierarchy, forming
therein the choir of virgins. She belongs no more
to her family, and she can no longer dispose of her
heart, for she has vowed it entirely and forever to
her only Spouse. If love is the bond and the law of
Christian marriage, in a far higher degree is it such
in the transcendent union with the Son of God which
the Religious contracts ; for the Spouse whom she
has chosen possesses every perfection without failing
or defect, and He is so lovable that He may be liter-
ally loved to adoration. She can, then, live only to
love Him ; she can serve Him, labor and suffer only
for love of Him. But love is kept alive by intimate
relations with the beloved, by mutual presence, by
the common life, by union of all kinds. It is per-
fectly satisfied only by the most entire, the closest
possession. Give, then, to the spouse her Spouse.
Communion for Religious. . 693
Let her not only see Him, converse with Him,
serve Him, but let her eat Him, let her possess Him
in reality, since He is of such a nature that we can
take Him as our nourishment. To feed her love,
give her the Bread of divine charity, but give it as
often as it is permitted, and that is every day. Is
she who is not allowed to sit at the table of the
Spouse for the daily repast a spouse ? She is rather
a stranger or a servant!
The heart of the Religious has need of Jesus, be-
cause it is to Him that she has given herself, be-
cause it is He whom she seeks, and whom nothing
can ever replace. She makes the sacrifice of all the
loved ones of her family, she renounces the joy of
becoming at a new fireside the object of a love as
sacred, and this for a Being superior to all others,
and whom she can love with a higher love. It is not
for the spiritual advantages found in the religious
state, although so desirable, nor to satisfy the taste
for solitude or the apostolate, nor to gain the grati-
tude of those that they benefit that so many con-
front its subjection, privations, and trials. It is to
find Jesus, it is to possess and to secure God more
surely. 'Tn my bed by night I sought Him whom
my soul loveth : I sought Him and found Him not.
I will arise and go about the city : in the streets and
the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul lov-
eth: I sought Him and I found Him not. The
watchmen who keep the city found me. Have you
seen Him whom my soul loveth? When I had a
little passed by them, I found Him whom my
soul loveth : I held Him, and I will not let
Him go till I bring Him into my mother^s house''
(Cant. iii. i), into the inmost sanctuary of my
soul, to live with Him forever. Ah ! give Him, then,
694 • Communion for Religious.
daily to her who can not Hve a single day without
Him!
The Christ of the Eucharist is still more desirous
to give Himself to the Religious than she is to re-
ceive Him,* for He loves her, lowly creature that she
is, who has believed in Him, who has preferred Him
to all else, and who wishes to live for Him alone. He
loves her for her virginal purity and for the excel-
lent gifts with which it has pleased Him to enrich
her. His delights are to see and converse with her.
''Arise, make haste," He says to her, ''O My beauti-
ful one, and come!" Come into the secret of in-
timacy. ''Show Me thy face, let thy voice sound in
My ears : for thy voice is sweet and thy face comely"
(Cant. li. lo).
Jesus loves the Religious, and He wishes to find in
her compassion for His sufferings, consolation in
His trials, a faithful friend amid the general forget-
fulness of His own, a spouse who receives Him and
gives Him a secure shelter from the hatred and in-
gratitude that pursue Him. "Open to Me, My be-
loved, My sister undefiled ! My head is full of dew,
and My locks of the drops of the night" (Cant. v. 2).
Give, then, to the Religious that which ungrateful
men disdain or reject. Let her communicate every
*St. Chrysostom says that it is characteristic of the
Eucharistic Christ to give Himself in order to satisfy
the desire that He deigns to cherish for us : ''Neces-
sarium est, dilectissimi, Mystcriorum discere miraculum,
quodnam sit et quare sit datum et quce hujus rei utili-
tas. Unum corpus eMcimur. Ut itaque non tantum per
caritatem hoc iiamus; verum etiam ipsa re in illam mis-
ceamur carnem, hoc nanique per escam eiHcitur, quam
largitus est nobis, volens ostendere desiderium quod erga
nos habet. Propterea semetipsum nobis immiscuit, et
corpus suum in nos contemperavit, ut unum quid simus,
ianquam corpus capiti coaptatum: ardenter enim aman--
tium hoc est'* (Horn. LXL, ad. pop. Antioch).
Communion for Religious. 695
day in reparation for those that do not communi-
cate, or that communicate unworthily.*
Let Jesus and His spouse possess each other
without restriction, by every means possible here be-
low, for their love increases daily by community of
life, led in the service of the divine Father and of
souls. The mutual penetration of heart to which
prolonged intercourse leads ; above all, the labors un-
dertaken and the sufferings endured together con-
tribute to love, and tend to close and blissful union.
Favor this spread of daily communion, and let noth-
ing on the part of the "friends of the Spouse" f
— ^^that is, His ministers — prevent His daily meeting
with the spouse whose lily purity captivates Him :
''Ego dilecto meo et dilectiis mens mihi, qui pascittir
inter lilia'': ''I to My beloved, and My beloved to Me,
who feedeth among the lilies" (Cant. vi. 2).
*This is the thought of St Jean-Baptiste de la Salle,
the founder of the great family of religious laics, the
Brothers of the Christian Schools. He urges his sons
to communicate often instead of the people of the world,
who excuse themselves from doing so, some alleging their
business affairs, others the pleasures of the world which
they do not wish to forsake. Jesus Christ tells us that it
shall be taken from him who has not and be given to
him who has ; whence we may conclude, in respect to the
Most Blessed Sacrament, that the graces prepared for
those that turn their back on it will be given to those
that have the happiness to approach it often. To profit
by so great an advantage, hasten to communicate, go
with faith. You will do very wrong by excusing your-
self, since you have so many means for it and so great
facility. Rest assured that, whatever excuse you may
give to Jesus Christ to dispense yourself from communi-
cating, He is not disposed to receive it (Med. for the
second Sunday after Pentecost).
V'Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est; amicus autem sponsi,
qui Stat et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem
sponsi" (John iii. 29).
696 Communion for Religious.
We can never transcend the desires of Our Lord.
On a certain Good Friday, when Blessed Margaret
was manifesting to Him her ardent desire to receive
Him, and the suffering that her inabiUty to do so
caused her, Jesus said to her: ''My daughter, thy
desire has so deeply penetrated My Heart that, if I
had not already instituted the Sacrament of love, I
would do so now for thee V'^
The Religious makes profession of tending to the
perfection of the evangelical virtues, because they,
more than any others, facilitate the perfect service of
God by removing the chief obstacles to sanctity, and
by more explicitly fitting the soul for that service
which is the supreme end of creation. This renders
her a being essentially religious, that is, vowed and
devoted to God alone. Although all Christians make
profession of the true religion, yet she assumes as
her own proper name* that of ''Religious.'' But the
most perfect individual act of religion toward God,
that which makes the soul participate more abun-
dantly in the public sacrifice of the Mass, that which
more completely surrenders the soul to God in love
stimulated, in purity refined, in fidelity ratified by
renew^ed declarations, is, assuredly, holy communion.
Let the Religious tend, then, to the perfection of the
virtue of religion by daily communion, as she does
to that of poverty and obedience by acts that lead
thereto. If the perfection of communion consists,
above all, in excellence of dispositions, that is in a
great measure realized by zeal to receive as often as
possible, in order not to lose a single particle of the
gift of God : ''Particula honi doni non te prcetereaf
— "Let not the part of a good gift overpass thee!'*
(Ecclus. xiv. 14).
The sublimity of her vocation creates for the Re-
*Vie et CEuvres, t. I. p. 290.
Communion for Religious. 697
ligious another need for daily communion, namely,
her innate inabiHty to fulfil it as it ought to be ful-
filled without this daily help.
Her life is difficult. Entirely supernatural, it is
established on the complete and universal subjuga-
tion of nature, not only of its depraved instincts and
low satisfactions, but of those joys and aspirations
w^hich are lawful to him who, in the suite of Jesus
Christ, has not made of these words the device of
his life: ''Abneget semetipsum/' ''Let him deny
himself !"
The constitutive virtues of the religious state are
the perfect virtues of Christianity, so perfect that the
wise Legislator, not daring to prescribe them to all,
has made them the object of a counsel proposed only
to the best. Now, these virtues the Religious is
bound to practice daily more perfectly, never ceasing
to reproduce the divine Model still more preemi-
nently. She will never equal Him, but He inces-
santly urges her on with the words : ''Sequere me''
''Follow Me !" To pause under the weight of
fatigue at any point of this rude path, determined no
longer to make the constant effort that continued
progress demands, is for a Religious a formal and
culpable infidelity.
And yet how greatly does the difficulty of making
that effort increase as she advances in life ! The true
merit of the religious life does not consist in immo-
lating one's self by the holy profession, which
might appear like the so-much-desired recompense
of the sacrifices already accomplished by entrance
into religion, and sustained during the period more
or less long of probation. Fervor, youth, health, en-
thusiasm, the novelty of obedience and illusions also
— for those fiancees of Christ have not yet come in
contact with the real difficulties of the religious life
698 Conimunion for Religious.
— wreathe and inebriate the victim, transforming
her sacrifice into a joyous feast. But when, after
some years, she meets constantly the same austeri-
ties, the same obscure duties, the same chanting of
the divine praises or adoration in the middle of the
night, the same class-work, care of the sick or visit-
ing the poor the whole day long, ah, then! When
health begins to fail and strength grows weak, thus
changing effort into suffering; with the evidences
of the incurable weaknesses of her will and her
natural repugnance to sacrifice, which have un-
veiled her vanished illusions ; with the avowal she is
forced to make of her little advancement in the
reformation of her faults and the spiritual trans-
formation of her nature ; with the experience of
miseries that astonish her in others and the painful
relations they engender; with the small success of
her devotedness among souls and the ungrateful
contradictions of the world — both sources of so
much bitterness — ah! it is then that, to renew each
morning her profession with firm determination ever
to stand loyally by all her engagements, is for the
Religious truly meritorious and sometimes heroic!
Add to these difficulties inherent to their manner
of life the few helps that Religious find along their
path, and at times the absolute privation of them.
To encourage them daily to renew the sacrifices of
their religious profession, their compassionate
Spouse daily renews under their eyes the oblation of
the Sacrifice in which He immolates Himself to God
for the salvation of mankind, and dies under a
weight of sorrow, humiliation, and abandonment. To
infuse into souls the strength of the same love, of the
same immolation, our dear Lord offers to them gen-
erously His immolated flesh, His streaming blood.
His devoted soul, His Heart torn by abandonment
Couimunion for Religious. 699
«
and drowned in bitterness. He says to them : ''Take
ye and eat. Do this for a commemoration of Me !
Abide in Me, remain in My love. He who abides
in Me finds in My love the strength to observe all
My commandments, as love for My Father has made
Me fulfil all His desires. Remain in Me, remain in
My love, for he that abideth in Me beareth much
fruit, and without Me ye can do nothing. The
world will hate you, will persecute you, will expel
you from your churches and monasteries. But
have confidence in Me. Rest in Me. I have con-
quered the world !''
O I beg of you, in pity for those beings so
despoiled of everything, those souls of sacrifice and
suffering, give them the daily Bread with which
the valiant woman strengthened her servants early
in the morning before sending them forth to their
labor ! ''De node siirrexit deditque cibaria ancillis
siiis/' ''She hath risen in the night and given victuals
to her maidens.'' That woman of equal prudence and
goodness is the Church, whose intentions it is our
capital duty to fulfil. Truly, it would be difficult to
excuse from hard-heartedness and want of sagacity
the priest that would exact of a Religious efforts
and sacrifices which represent the perfect accom-
plishment of the duties of her state during the day
without furnishing her with the help and strength
of daily communion.
Since daily communion is so proper for their
state and so necessary for them to attain perfection,
preachers in their instructions, confessors in their
direction, superioresses in their chapt-ers to the com-
munity, mistresses of novices in their conferences,
should earnestly aim at keeping alive in the hearts
of the Religious sovereign devotion toward the
Blessed Sacrament, the living bond of union with
700 Communion for Religious.
Jesus Christ. Let them unceasingly rouse the de-
sire of receiving it every day, habituating them-
selves to making this great act the principle and the
end of their whole life. Daily prayer, the divine
Office, the Rosary, pious reading, silence, manual
labor, classes, care of the sick, obedience, the morti-
fications of the Rule, humiliations, sufferings, trials
sent by divine Providence — all should take as
distinctly as possible the character of preparation for
or thanksgiving after holy communion. In this way
souls abide in Jesus Christ and He abides in them.
They will then, in a great measure, realize the ideal
of the religious life, which Jesus alone led in its per-
fection— Jesus their Model, the true Religious of
God — as He Himself expressed in these memorable
words : "As I live by the Father, so he that eateth
Me the same also shall live by Me.'' *
*By the Rev. A. Tesniere, S.S.S., D.D., Communion for
Religious,
CHAPTER LXIV.
Commentarg on tbe Decree ot tbe SacreD Con^re^a^
tion ot tbe Council (December 20, 1905)
IRegarDing Dailis Communion*
>J^ HE Decree declares : ''No one in the state of
^^ grace approaching the holy table with a right
and pious intention must be prevented from doing
so: 'Ita ut nemo, qui in statu gratice sit et cum r^cta
piaque mente ad S, Mensam accedat, prohiberi ab
ipsa possit/ ''
It declares that, ''although it is expedient for those
that make frequent or daily communion to be free
from venial sins, at least fully deliberate ones, and
from affection to such sins, nevertheless, it suffices
to be free from mortal sin and to have resolved never
again to commit it: 'SuMcit nihilominus ut culpis
mortalibus vacent, cum proposito se nunquam in
posterum peccaturos' ''
It forbids confessors to keep from daily com-
munion any one in the state of grace who wishes to
communicate with a good intention : ''Caveant con-
fessarii ne a frequenti seu quotidiana communione
quemquam avertant, qui in statu gratice reperiatur
et recta mente accedat/'
I. In its exposition of the question, the Decree
commences by referring to a well-known text of the
Council of Trent: '^Optaret quidem sacrosancta
Synodus ut in singulis Missis iideles a)dstantes non
solum spiriiuali aifectu, sed sacramentali etiam Eu-
charistice perceptione communicarent/' And it de-
clares that "these words clearly express the desire of
the Church to see all the faithful nourishing them-
702 Commentary on the Decree.
selves daily with the celestial food, in order that they
may draw from it fruits of sanctification more and
more perfect." *
This paragraph determines the definitive interpre-
tation of these celebrated words of the Council of
Trent. The opponents of daily communion refuse
to see therein the Church's expression of a true and
sincere desire relative to daily communion, and the
invitation given to all Christians to receive it every
day if they can every day assist at Mass. ''Optaret/'
some say, "the Council would desire,'' if it were pos-
sible and fitting ; but being certainly neither one nor
the other, the Council very prudently contented itself
with simply expressing a conditional wish, and not
a determined desire. Others even pretend that these
words of the Council, uttered to justify private
Masses at which no one communicates, have no con-
nection with the practice of communion, and that,
consequently, an argument in favor of daily com-
munion can not be found in them. But in our day,
it can no longer be doubted that the Council of
Trent, infallibly expressing the sentiments of the
Church, ''desires that all the faithful daily approach
the heavenly banquet: ^Qitce verba satis aperte pro-
dunf EcclesicB desideriumut om^ies Chris fifideles
illo coelesti convivio quotidie reiiciantur.' ""
11. Henceforth, it is impossible to deny that the
doctrine of daily communion proposed to all Chris-
tians is founded on the fourth petition of the ''Our
Father" ; nor can any one condemn, either logically
or exegetically, those who interpret it chiefly in the
Eucharistic sense, without, however, excluding from
it the demand for corporal bread. "For," says the
'^''Qu(u verba satis aperte produnt Ecclesice desiderium
ut omnes ChristiUdeles illo ccelesti convivio quotidie reiici-
antur, et pleniores ex eo sanctiUcationis hauriant eifectus.'*
Commentary on the Decree. 703
Decree in its second paragraph, *Svhat the Saviour
orders us to ask in the 'Lord's Prayer' by the words :
'Panem nostrum quotidiamcm/ is, according to the
almost unanimous opinion of the Fathers, less the
material bread than the daily reception of the Eu-
charistic Bread: 'Insiiper, quod in Oratione Domi-
nica exposci jiibet Panem nostrum qiiotidianiim, per
id SS. Ecclesi(£ Patres fere unanimes docent non
niaterialem panem, corporis escam, quam panem eu-
charisticum quotidie siimendum infelligi deheref '^
We must, however, remark that the Decree does not
condemn the Fathers and the Doctors who interpret
the fourth petition by corporal bread. But it im-
plicitly condemns those that exclude the possibility
of a second literal sense referring to the Bread of
the soul ; and it affirms the lawfulness of this latter
interpretation, which is the chief basis of the doc-
trine and practice of daily and general communion.
III. Another consideration, as touching as it is
weighty, is that which declares that the wish of the
Church in favor of daily communion for all the
faithful is conformed to the desire with which the
Saviour was possessed when He instituted the Eu-
charist, and which, indeed, led Him to do so : ''Hu-
jusmodi vota cum illo cohcerent desiderio quo
Christus Dominus incensus hoc divinum Sacr amen-
tum instituit/'
Daily communion, consequently, offered to all,
very far from being a chimerical dream or a piece of
rash audacity, presents no danger to the honor of
the Sacrament and the good of souls, and is the
normal measure of the Gift its divine Institutor
wishes to make to us. It is not offered to an elite
portion of the flock, but to all who have need of His
flesh, in order to live of His life and to secure to
themselves its eternal possession. Now, all men
704 Commentary on the Decree.
belong to this necessitous class. Jesus presents
Himself not as a rare aliment to make a holiday
feast more sumptuous, but as the daily bread neces-
sary for the support of ordinary life, and which
must in consequence be eaten every day. This dis-
tribution of the Bread of life is as large, abundant,
and infinite as His love for man. It is the measure
of His Heart : ''Quantum isti, tantvim ille, nee sump-
tus minuittirr The desire of His Heart is to supply
the daily needs of all men : needs of restoration,
needs of conservation, needs of action, needs of spir-
itual fecundity and constant progress, even to the
perfection and plenitude of eternal life.
In this pious recapitulation of the Saviour's de-
sires, made by the Decree, we catch the sweet echo
of His tender and burning words at the Last Sup-
per: "Desiderio desideravi hoe pascha mandueare
vobiseuni" : 'With desire have I desired to eat this
pasch with you.'' These words were the immediate
preparation for the gift of the Eucharist. We hear
in them the vibrant echo of the order given by the
vSaviour at the time of the revelation of His Heart,
when He complained ''of receiving in return for all
His eagerness to shower His benefits upon us, only
coldness and rebuffs ;'' for He then said : "Above all
shall you receive Me in communion as often as obe-
dience will permit you.'' This was the means desig-
nated to console Him and render some return for
His love.
The rule which ought henceforth to inspire all the
distributers of the Bread of life is, then, daily com-
munion for all whom they can render capable of it.
IV". To show how much the Saviour had at heart
the daily and universal gift of His flesh and blood,
the Sacred Congregation thus expresses itself: "It
was not only once nor in ambiguous terms that the
Commentary on the Decree. 705
divine Master taught the necessity of eating His
ilesh and of drinking His blood, as He did in these
words : 'This is the Bread come down from heaven.
It is not Hke the manna, which your fathers ate in
the desert, but which did not prevent them from
dying. He who eats this Bread will live forever.'
By comparing the Bread of angels with material
bread and with manna, the Saviour clearly incul-
cates upon His disciples that as the body is nour-
ished daily with bread, and as the Hebrews were
fed in the desert with the manna which fell every
morning from the skies, so the Christian soul can
daily nourish herself and repair her strength by
partaking of the Bread of life : ' Quemadmodum
pane corpus qitotidie mttritur et manna in deserto
Hebrcei qitotidie refecti sunt, ita animam chris-
tianam ccelesti pane vesd posse qitotidie ac
recreariy This is the reply to those who pretend
that nowhere in the Gospel is it taught that com-
munion may be received every day, and that the
argument drawn from the daily reception of the
manna, as alleged by the Saviour, has no connection
with daily communion. It also justifies those who
see in the choice of bread — the daily nourishment
of the greater part of the human race — the sacra-
mental sign of the Eucharist, the manifestation of
the divine Institutor's intention of offering it to all
as their daily sustenance.
V. There are others who lose sight of the needs
of human infirmity, so inclined to evil, and of the
sincere, condescension of the Saviour to~- satisfy
them, and they look upon communion principally as
a recompense of man's virtue. They, above all,
make it a duty of conscience toward God. That,
certainly, ought not to be neglected ; but it is, never-
theless, not the chief purpose aimed at by the
7o6 Commentary on the Decree,
Saviour in the gift of communion. Let us hearken
to these words : ''The desire of Jesus Christ and the
Church to see all the faithful daily approaching the
celestial banquet aims, above all, at this result;
namely, that the faithful, uniting themselves to God
by the Sacrament, may draw from it the strength
to moderate their evil inclinations, efface their daily
venial faults, and shun the mortal falls to which hu-
m.an fragility is exposed. It is, then, not princi-
pally to procure the honor and glory of God, nor is
it as a reward of virtue that the Holy Eucharist is
offered to the communicant." The Council of Trent
calls the Eucharist, also, ''the antidote which de-
livers from daily faults and preserves from mortal
sins.'' *
It is evident that this imperfect idea of Christ's
intention in the institution of communion has en-
gendered all the severity imposed upon souls in per-
mitting them frequent communion. If it was His
own honor that He expected above all else, could
souls ever be sufficiently pure, sufficiently virtuous,
sufficiently recollected to receive Jesus Christ in
communion? Could they ever make sufficient
efforts, gain sufficient victories, merit sufficiently
the reward of the Eucharist, the pledge and
foretaste of eternal beatitude, if it were this mo-
tive of reward that led them above all con-
siderations to the holy table? Oh, no! mercifully
replies the Sovereign Pastor, who has penetrated
the true meaning of the Heart of Jesus Christ.
The first property of communion is to be a support
against weakness, a preservative and remedy against
human infirmity : "Sacramenta propter homines f^
The Bread of angels, in becoming the Bread of via-
tors, is adapted to their miseries. If in giving it
*S. Aug. Serm. LVII. in Matt. De Orat. Dom. V. 7-
Commentary on the Decree, 707
Christ can become indifferent to His own honor, He
is satisfied with the state of grace and an act of piety
as an immediate preparation for receiving. If the
heavenly bread is not meant as a recompense of ef-
forts to receive it well; if it is sufficient to reward
the most heroic far above what they deserve, Jesus
disdains not to abase Himself to the most lowly, in
order to encourage them. The sacred Host con-
tains the same Christ who counseled the most
sublime detachment, and who lauded the farthing of
the poor widow. It contains and it gives the great
King who prepares a magnificent marriage feast for
His Son. Inviting all the poor and miserable of the
highways and byways to take part in it, He asks
them, in order to show themselves worthy of the
honor done them, merely to cover their poverty with
the nuptial garment. Lastly, it contains and be-
stows the supreme Remunerator, who decrees beati-
tude to the martyrs come out victorious from perse-
cution for justice' sake, but who does not deprive of
it those who have given a morsel of bread or a cup
of water to the needy, a word of consolation to the
afflicted.
VI. The Decree says, moreover, that the custom
of daily communion declined only with the relaxa-
tion of fervor, and that it was under the lamentable
influence of this abasement of souls, dragged down
by Jansenism to its own level, that the dispositions
for frequent and daily communion began to be dis-
cussed. These dispositions were made more and
more difficult and declared necessary, so that this
pretended increase of respect for communion was
born in reality of a diminution of piety toward the
Holy Eucharist. By diminishing the frequency of
holy communion, they, in fact, dissolved the vigor
of the Christian life; they lived less of the life of
7o8 Commentary on the Decree,
Jesus Christ; they did in reaUty return toward
paganism in their morals. It prepared the way for
the invasion of the sensuaUsm of the eighteenth cen-
tury and of the naturahsm of the nineteenth, in
which the Vatican Council beheld concentrated all
the definitive heresies and apostasies of the Christian
world. How, in effect, could it escape such a de-
gree of decay in faith when, under the pretext of
that false respect, stigmatized by St. Cyril of Alex-
andria as ''diabolical piety,'' the Jansenistic school
had so far ''pushed its severity as to exclude entire
classes of the faithful, such as business men and
married people," that is, the immense majority of
Christians : ''Quin etiam eo severitatis ventum est,
ut a frequentanda ccelesti mensa integri coetus ex-
cluder entiir, uti mercatoruni, aut eorum qui essenf
matrimonio conjunctif
VII. "Frequent and daily communion, inasmuch
as it is ardently desired by Our Lord and by the
Catholic Church, ought to be accessible to all Chris-
tians of every rank and condition ; so that no one ap-
proaching the holy table in a state of grace and with
an upright and pious intention can be turned away."
This first declaration is the chief one, and all
others are but consequences or explanations of it.
It lays down clearly two general principles : the first,
founded upon the desires of Christ and the Church,
declares the lawfulness of communion, not only fre-
quent, but daily, for all the faithful of every condi-
tion ; the second determines the two special disposi-
tions necessary and sufficient for it.
Daily communion received by all Christians is
conformed to the formal intention of Jesus Christ
and the Church: ''Utpote a Christo Domino et a
Catholica Ecclesia optatissima/^ Jesus and the
Church ardently desire to see it practiced by all
Commentary on the Decree. 709
their children. They have not decreed the law under
pain of grave sin, because they do not wish this most
benevolent offer of eternal life to be for men ab-
sorbed in the things of earth an occasion of multi-
plied death. But it is certain that, when souls fulfil
this desire, when they communicate every day, they
are entering into the intentions and satisfying the
wishes of Jesus and the Church : ''Optatissima/'
VIII. The only conditions required and sufficient
to render lawful the call of the pastors and the par-
ticipation of all Christiahs in daily communion, to
take away all danger to the honor of the divine
Bread and the good of souls, and, on the contrary, to
make it profitable to both the one and the other, are
''that the communicant should be in the state of
grace, and should approach the holy table with an
upright and pious intention. No one presenting
himself with these two dispositions can ever be sent
away: 'Ita tit nemo, qui in statu gratice sit et cum
recta plaque mente ad S, Mensam accedat, prohiberi
ab ea possit/ "
Behold a rule which contrasts strangely with those
that have prevailed almost everywhere up to the
present. To be admitted to daily communion, it suf-
fices to be in the state of grace, that is, actually free
from the stain of mortal sin; and to be led to the
holy table by an upright and pious intention.
''What! so few dispositions exacted for the im-
mense honor, the precious privilege of daily com-
munion?" will exclaim with astonishment they who
esteem numberless dispositions of propriety neces-
sary for frequent communion. We answer, Yes !
But let us not make a mistake !
The state of grace is not so small a thing, not a
mere resource, a common state tolerated, perhaps, in
little and ordinary souls, but unworthy of elevated
710 Commentary on the Decree.
souls alone fit for daily communion. The state of
grace is the very foundation of the Christian life,
a divine gift, which no one can ever merit, and which
Jesus acquired by His blood. It is the supernatural
soil, fertile and vivifying, in which all divine virtues
germinate and take root. ''The state of grace," says
the Council of Trent, ''consists not merely in ex-
emption from sin, but in the renewal and sanctifica-
tion of the interior man by the free reception of
grace and divine gifts. From unjust, man becomes
just by the state of grace*; from an enemy he be-
comes a friend, and the heir by hope of eternal life''
{De Justificatione, Ch. vi.). "At the moment of
justification,'' says the Council again, "through the
merits of the Passion of Jesus, the love of God is
shed into the heart of the sinner and remains there.
Man is ingrafted on Christ, through whom he re-
ceives the gifts of faith, hope, and charity ; for faith,
if not completed by hope and charity, would be
powerless to unite perfectly to Christ, and to make
of the justified His living member" (Ch. vii.).
The state of grace renders a man participant of the
divine nature, makes him a child of God by adop-
tion, a member of Jesus Christ, a living branch of
the vine, of which Jesus is the trunk. By the state
of grace, man lives in Jesus and in God. He loves
God and God loves him. He abides in His love, and
he is vitally united to Him, living of His life by the
fundamental and stable communication of sanctify-
ing grace, which the uninterrupted presence of the
Holy Spirit pours incessantly into his soul, and by
the effusions that come to him through the channels
of the Sacraments. When he acts, all his naturally
good w^orks become holy and meritorious for eternal
life by virtue of the supernatural elevation communi-
cated to them by the foundation of sanctifying grace.
Commentary on the Decree. yii
Now the state of grace is of such a nature that it
can be easily lost by mortal sin, though it can not
be substantially diminished nor altered by venial
sin. In every baptized or justified soul exempt from
mortal sin, it subsists and remains in its substantial
integrity, however numerous may be the venial sins,
even the most deliberate, or however the affections
may cling to them. No doubt, such faults and,
above all, such affections chill the fervor of divine
charity, between which and the state of grace there
is but a shade of difference. No doubt they retard
the activity of the supernatural life, which is in-
volved in the state of grace. But they do not dimin-
ish the substance of sanctifying grace ; they merely
enervate or enfeeble its powers of action. Without
doubt, again, it ordinarily happens that, under the
number and relative gravity of venial sins, the will
inclines to fall into mortal sin by a new and more
serious weakness. But inasmuch as mortal sin has
not destroyed it, by severing the bond of love which
united the soul to God and conducted into it the un-
interrupted flow of the divine life, the state of grace
remains intact in the soul and sustains its funda-
mental life and hohness.
What hindrance, therefore, can prevent this
branch, already attached to the vine and vivified by
its sap, from aspiring to new increase by com-
munion ? What can prevent this member, united to
Jesus, its Head, living by His life, from imbibing
new life from communion? How could this Father
feel repugnance to nourishing the child of His own
blood, since it lives of His life and bears resemblance
to Him in all its features, though veiled under the
dust of venial sin ?
Evidently, the difficulties that the majority of
theologians of the last three centuries have in ac-
712 Commentary on the Decree.
cepting as sufficient for daily communion the habit-
ual disposition of the state of grace alone, come
from their not making enough account of the poAver
and greatness of this state. The robe of innocence,
washed in the blood of Christ, they regard at most
as an undergarment in which it would not be proper
or honorable to present one's self ; and so, of neces-
sity, a more sumptuous one, of perfect purity and
ornamented with the precious embroidery of the vir-
tues, must be provided.
He who reasons thus, forgets tw'o things : that
these more excellent dispositions are, in fact, the
portion of only some chosen souls ; and that Christ
wishes to be the daily nourishment of all. He for-
gets, also, that, by the will of its divine Author, it
is in the very nature of communion to efface venial
sins ; and that it is losing sight of this most oppor-
tune and beneficent efficacy, to permit communion
to those only who, by other means, have been previ-
ously purified. This would be to subordinate the
power of the Sacrament to that of human action and,
in fact, to deprive of the great fruit of an increase of
sanctifying grace, ex opere operato, the most im-
portant of all, a multitude of souls found incapable
of the most perfect dispositions. And the Church,
as a mother, alarmed at the loss of supernatural life
sustained by so many souls unable to preserve it
without the help of daily communion, says to all her
ministers of the Bread of life: No! No! do not re-
ject from the daily participation in the Eucharist
any of those who are in the state of grace ! Not
only they who have been long in that state and who
ordinarily persevere therein, but all those that are
actually in it at the moment they present themselves
to communicate, were they returned to it only one in-
stant previously by the remission of their sins ! And
Conifiientary on the Decree. 713
if, fallen back again into mortal sin, they again pre-
sent themselves, and you judge them capable of
absolution, because their repentance and their firm
purpose of amendment seem to you sincere, urge
them again to the holy table; for they have again
put on the wedding-garment, and they have need,
in order not to fall again, of receiving the Bread of
Hfe !
He who is ahve has the right and duty to preserve
his life. For the communion of to-morrow, the
same disposition is necessary as for that of to-day,
and nothing more. Why should the Paschal or the
monthly communion be given at so cheap a rate,
while more frequent communions cost so much
more? Each one of them contains the same Christ,
whom it has pleased to become the necessary food
of all His members, from whom He exacts in return
nothing more than that they should be living in the
state of grace. No one has a right to interfere in
the constitution of the sacramental economy in or-
der to modify Christ's institutions. There is some-
thing rash in showing one's self more difficult than
He. O my priests, says the Church, do not keep
away from daily communion any of those that ap-
proach thereto clothed with the state of grace: ''Ut
nemo qui in statu gratice sit prohiberi possitT
"St. Philip Neri, who devoted his hfe to the
sanctification of the young men of Rome, and whose
testimony comes to us with the double weight of
sanctity and exceptional experience, used to say that
frequent communion, together with devotion to the
Blessed Virgin, were not only the best, but that they
were the only means of preserving the faith and
morals of young men and of helping them to rise
again after their falls. How he carried out this
principle in practice will be seen by the following
714 Commentary on the Decree.
example : A student came to him one day and begged
his assistance in ridding himself of some evil habits
to which he had long been a slave. The saint en-
couraged the young man, gave him good advice,
and after hearing his confession absolved him and
sent him away happy, with the permission to receive
holy communion on the morrow. Tf you should be
so unfortunate as to fall again, come and see me at
once,' he added, 'and in the meantime put your en-
tire confidence in God.' The next evening the youth
returned to the saint to confess a relapse. Philip
treated him exactly as before, encouraged him to
struggle bravely, absolved him and allowed him to
approach the holy table the next day. The student,
harassed by the tyranny of the evil habit, and yet
eager to return to God, drew from this compas-
sionate direction and from the reception of the Holy
Eucharist, such energy and constancy of purpose
that for thirteen days in succession he returned
daily to the saint's confessional. Finally, charity
carried the day, and Our Lord gained a new recruit.
The young man made such rapid strides in the way
of perfection that St. Philip soon judged him worthy
of aspiring to the priesthood. He eventually be-
came an Oratorian, edified all Rome by his zeal and
his virtues, and died still young in the odor of sanc-
tity. To the end of his life he never wearied of
telling the story of his conversion in order to en-
courage sinners and to make young men understand
that their only hope lay in frequent communion. '^' *
IX. The state of grace is the habitual disposition,
the fundamental disposition for communion. But
as every rational act should have an actual disposi-
tion or an intention, that is, an immediate conformity
*Anecdote from The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament,
inserted by the Editor.
Commentary on the Decree. 715
of the soul and its powers, which conformity varies
according to the nature of the acts to be ac-
compHshed, the Decree exacts of every communicant
the joining to the state of grace "an upright and
pious intention :" ''Et cum recta plaque mente ac-
cedat/'
In what this right and pious intention consists,
the second Rule informs us in these terms : "In this,
that the communicant in communicating does not da
so through habit, vanity, or purely human motives,
but from the will to please God, to unite himself
more closely to Him by charity, and to apply this di-
vine Remedy to his infirmities and defects."
Hence "a right intention," in order to perform
with the supernatural rectitude (demanded by a
good act) a serious act, which involves the con-
science, and of which God will be the judge : Mens
recta. The rectitude of an action consists in perform-
ing it wnth a view conformed to its nature and end, in
harmonizing the will with the excellence and the end
of the work we are accomplishing. Rectitude, then,
excludes voluntary insincerity, evasion, hypocrisy.
It excludes everything that could vitiate an act in
its nature, means, or results. Thus, they would fail
in rectitude by communicating through habit, or
through the influence of an established custom, not
to be remarked and blamed, perhaps, for failing to
do so: ''Usui non indulgeatf' To do a thing
through pure habit is to follow a routine, to yield
to some pressure from without, to conform to a
fashion, to allow one's self to be influenced instead
of resolving for one's self. It is to be wanting in
good-will, I mean the upright and sincere will which
God, who looks at the heart, desires to find in those
that approach Him : ''Mens recta in eo- est ut . . ^
Usui non indidgeat/'
7i6 Commentary on the Decree.
It is the same with all "the other human motives
which might lead one to communicate : 'Ant humanis
rationihiisf " Such, for example, as interest or fear :
fear to displease by not communicating ; interest to
retain some position by communicating. Again,
some human motive having a creature in view, thus
turning the supernatural act of communion from the
necessary end to which by its nature it is borne,
namely, the glory of God and the eternal goodness of
the soul. Such a motive deviates from supernatural
rectitude and can not legitimately dispose the soul
for the act of communion. A person influenced by
such reasons only, even were he in the state of
grace, can not be admitted to the holy table :
''Humanis rationibns non indulgeat/'
Having enumerated the causes which might fal-
sify the intention of the communicant, the Sacred
Congregation indicates some of those that would
render it ''surely right and pious." Let them ap-
proach the holy table ''to please God : 'Ut Dei placito
satisfacere relit;' '' to satisfy the goodness of the di-
vine Father who desires to give us His celestial
Bread every day, since He orders us to petition for
it; to content the merciful desires of the Heart of
Jesus Christ, of which we are certain; to perform
a religious act which of its nature honors God and,
consequently, is agreeable to Him : "Ut Dei placito
satisfacere velit!' Let them approach the Sacra-
ment whichj by institution, augments divine charity
in the soul by uniting it more closely to God : "Et ei
arctiiis caritate conjungif' Nothing is more ad-
vantageous to the soul than to love God, and no limit
being put to the progress of this love we can but
praise those that desire to receive the Eucharist
daily, in order to increase daily in their soul, as long
as life lasts, the love of our good God. Lastly, let
Commentary on the Decree. yiy
them approach who want to find ''in this divine
Remedy the strength to resist their weakness and
defects : 'Ac divino illo pharmaco sitis iniirmitatibus
ac defectibus occurreref '' This last intention may
be, perhaps, less noble, less perfect than the preced-
ing in the reception of daily communion; but how
necessary it is for all, however pious and religious
they may be! Sinners by our origin, deeply agi-
tated and disorganized, constantly solicited by the
seduction of created goods to enjoy a larger share
of them than is reasonable, we have perpetually to
guard ourselves, to rise from our falls, or to purify
ourselves. ''Our faults are daily," says St. Am-
brose ; "let the remedy, also, be daily.'' Again, God
is pleased that we should daily purify ourselves by
His flesh and His blood, for "His will is our sancti-
fication.'' St. James says, "To keep one's self un-
spotted from this world, is religion clean and unde-
filed before God and the Father." This reason alone,
namely, preservation from sin and the cure of its
remains, the correction of defects and the repres-
sion of the passions, the help afforded the weakness
and incurable misery of a nature radically vitiated,
is sufficient to justify daily communion. Such an
intention is "right and pious." Of this there can be
no doubt. Let him, then, who, without excluding
the more elevated intentions of pleasing God and of
increasing His love in his heart, feels urged most of
all by his own misery to recur to communion, ap-
proach thereto daily. That is an intention very
right and very pious, which honors the blessed Eu-
charist as the Remedy par excellence, by applying it
to spiritual evils as their cure, for so willed the di-
vine Institutor when He said of it : "Take ye all,
and eat. This is My body. . . . Drink ye
all of this. For this is My blood . . . shed
7i8 Cormnentary on the Decree.
for many unto remission of sins. In remissionem
peccatorumr
X. By restricting to the simple state of grace and
a religious intention the dispositions necessary and
sufficient for daily communion, does not the Sacred
Congregation suppose dispositions better and purity
more perfect than can be brought to it? No, cer-
tainly not, and the third Rule is formulated, as fol-
lows : '* Although it is very advantageous for those
that make frequent or daily communion to be free
from venial, at least fully deliberate sins and from
all affection to such sins, yet it suffices for them to
be exempt from mortal transgressions and have the
resolution to commit them no more. Possessed of
this firm purpose, it is impossible for them to com-
municate daily and not free themselves by degrees
even from venial sins and affection to them."
Thus the Sacred Congregation recognizes the
great advantages of being purified from venial sins
before communicating: ''Maxime expediat ut fre-
quenti et quotidiana conimimione utentes, venialibus
sint expertesf' This most perfect purity opens the
soul more freely to the coming of Christ. It disposes
it better for union with Him by love, inasmuch as
it proves a closer conformity of man's will with that
of God ; and there is no doubt that the divine Spouse,
who ''feeds among the lilies," delights in manifesting
Himself to the pure soul, and making it taste the
heavenly consolations of which He is the inexhausti-
ble source.
That it may not be thought that purity absolutely
perfect, free even from faults of surprise and weak-
ness, is easily attainable and a state accessible to
many, the Sacred Congregation is satisfied with
holding up as very advantageous a state of purity
less elevated, less rare, namely, ''exemption from de-
Commentary on the Decree, yig
liberate venial sins and affection to them : 'Veniali-
bus peccatis, saltern plene deliheratis, eontmque af-
fectit sint expertes.' '' This state is, indeed, easier,
although it exacts a great spirit of sacrifice and care-
ful vigilance over self to reach it and to maintain
one's self in it. By this most indulgent limitation of
the desirable dispositions, the Decree manifests its
absolute reprobation of the proposition of Baius,
already condemned by Pope Alexander VIII., a
proposition which calls for ''the purest love of God
with no mixture of imperfection in those who desire
to communicate.'' To exact freedom from venial
faults, even from those committed without full de-
liberation and affection, as not a few of the adver-
saries of daily communion have done, was not, in-
deed, to adhere formally to the condemned doctrine,
though it came very dangerously near it, since the
difference between freedom from every venial sin,
even indeliberate, and pure love without imperfec-
tion, is not very pronounced.
Although exemption from deliberate venial . sins
be very advantageous, and may, perhaps, be ex-
pected from souls of very good will ; although it be
very well, also, to create it and cultivate it carefully,
yet such exemption is not necessary even for daily
communion. 'Tt suffices to be free from mortal sin
with the firm purpose not to commit it again : 'Siif-
■ficif nihilomimis lit cidpis mortaUhiis vacent, cum
proposito se mtnquam in posteriim peccaturos/ ""
This firm purpose is not a new disposition added by
the Decree to that of the state of o^race and the right
intention. It forms implicitly a part of the state of
grace which, in the adult, is attachment to God above
all else and, consequently, the resolution of never
resisting His will in any grave affair ; for that would
be to separate from Him by the revolt of mortal sin.
720 Commentary on the Decree.
Now, ''this firm purpose, if sincere and sustained
by daily communion, can not fail sooner or later to
have the happy result of freeing the soul from venial
faults and all affection to them : 'Quo sincero aniini
proposito, fieri non potest quin qiiotidie communi-
cant es a peccatis etiam venialihiis, ah eorumqiie af-
fectu sensim se expediant/ "' The opponents of
daily communion hold that only they can be admitted
who no longer commit deliberate venial sins and
who have overcome every attachment, every affec-
tion to such sins. Even to those that possess these
two conditions, they are rather reserved in granting
frequent communion, which shows that they expect
this double result much more from man's own ef-
forts than from the grace of the Sacrament, and that
they strangely exaggerate the conditions necessary
for its reception. The Sacred Congregation de-
clares that habitual venial sin is never an obstacle to
communion, even daily, and that it is one of the
properties of communion to efface stains and to de-
stroy bonds, but on condition that against those
faults which happen, sad to say, daily, we fortify
ourselves every day with ''this antidote which frees
us from daily faults," according to the word already
quoted of the Council of Trent : "Antidotum quo
liberemur a culpis quotidianis." "^
In connection with this commentary it is quite in
order to reflect upon the following words of Mgr.
John S. Vaughan, in Thoughts for All Times: "The
desire on the part of Our Lord to be wher-
ever a human heart beats, or an adoring soul
lives, though a most astounding effect of divine
charity, is surpassed by the institution of the Sacra-
ment of holy communion. The great Lover of
*The foregoing is taken from an article by Pere Tesniere,
published in The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament.
Commentary on the Decree. 721
souls would be not only present, not only in the
closest proximity, but in actual union with each soul
His hands have made. 'My flesh is meat indeed. My
blood is drink indeed. Who eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him'
(John vi. 57). He truly and actually enters our
souls ; occupies our hearts ; reposes within us as
within a living tabernacle, and so possesses our very
being, when we place no obstacle in His way, that
we may justly exclaim with St. Paul : 'I live ; now not
I, but Christ liveth in me' (Gal. ii. 20). There
in the very center of our soul He holds His
court. 'My delight is to be with the children of
men' (Prov. viii. 31). 'As the living Father
hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he
that eateth Me, the same shall live by Me' (John
vi. 58).
''It is impossible for any one to think seriously
of what holy communion really is, without feeling,
if I may so express myself, bewildered, over-
whelmed, and almost confounded by the undreamed-
of and wholly unparalleled depths of divine con-
descension it supposes. It is so profound and
unfathomable a mystery, it indicates a charity so
measureless and infinite, that one feels almost as if
one dare not think of it, lest the thought should
crush and paralyze one's heart and senses. A kind
of spiritual tremor, or vertigo, seems to seize upon
one, such as is experienced in the physical order on
looking fearfully and fitfully from the beetling edge
of some gigantic height, down a measureless fall of
sheer precipitous rock.
"There is nothing on earth that can compare with
this union. No love less than infinite love could
have devised or contrived half so beauteous or half
so sumptuous a banquet for the weary pilgrim,
722 Commentary on the Decree.
wending his way along the dusty road of Hfe to the
great city of God.
''Further than this we can not go, at least not in
this life. There is nothing between this and the
beatific vision itself. In the adorable Eucharist, we
have all that we shall ever have in heaven. When
the consecrated particle rests upon our tongue, we
hold within us all that constitutes the essential bliss
of the saints in eternal glory. The difference is
merely that we fail to realize it. We possess it, but
without being able to estimate what we possess. If
by some stupendous miracle our eyes were suddenly
opened, we should find that we were really in
heaven ; or rather, that heaven itself had come down
upon us and entered into our soul. How countless
are the ways in which God proves His love for
menr
CHAPTER LXV.
Sanctit^im ©race*
^ANCTiFYiNG grace, otherwise called the state of
J^-^ grace, is a certain state in which I was put by
baptism — in which, doing good works, I merit
heaven — which grows upon me by every such good
work done, and by every Sacrament worthily re-
ceived— a state from which I fall by mortal sin, and
which I recover by repentance — a state, dying in
which I am sure to go to heaven, and dying out of
which I am sure to be lost eternally. Sanctifying
grace then is a very important thing: it is, in fact,
the most important thing in life to a Christian. His
lifelong occupation should be to guard and increase
this treasure. To guard it, as his Saviour bids him :
''Watch ye therefore, because ye know not the day
nor the hour : take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye
know not when the time is when the lord of the
house cometh, lest coming on a sudden he find you
sleeping ; and what I say to you I say to all. Watch"
(Matt. XXV. 13; Mark xiii. 33-37). To increase it,
by good works and Sacraments, as his Saviour again
bids him : 'Traffic till I come'' (Luke xix. 13). Our
Lord speaks of "watching'' as servants sit up for
their master, not knowing at what hour of the night,
early or late, he may be coming back : neither do I
know when Our Lord will come again to judge the
earth, or, what is more important for me personally,
when I shall die and appear before His judgment
seat, whether now in the spring-time of my years or
after a long life. However long be my life, there
is not a day of it on which I may not die unex-
pectedly. And to die out of the state of grace means
724 Sanctifying Grace.
for me to go down into the hell of fire. Therefore
my Saviour's warning, 'T say to you, watch,'' means,
as it is addressed to me, ''Live in the state of grace."
But I can not live in the state of grace without grow-
ing in it, and increasing the store of sanctifying
grace already in me. I must do good works, and
every good w^ork in the state of grace merits an in-
crease of sanctifying grace, and consequently an
increase of glory in heaven. Now everything I do
from morning to night may be and ought to be a
good work. Whatever I do, ought to be a right and
proper thing for me to be doing at the time. If it
is a right and proper thing to do, it is a good work.
One way or another, I am to imitate my Saviour, of
whom it is written that as He ''grew in age," or
stature. He likewise grew in "grace before God."
Thus, too, I am to grow in the likeness of my im-
maculate Mother, "full of grace" (Luke i. 28; ii.
40, 52; Johni. 14).
Sanctifying grace is our comfort in the ills of life.
Troubles come in abundance from without, but not
the least of man's troubles is his own unsatisfactory
self : as in navigating a rough sea in some crazy
craft, the waves are heavy, but your chief annoy-
ance is that they reveal so many weak points in your
vessel. It might have been constructed to behave so
very much better ! Few people, perhaps, are dis-
satisfied with their own judgment: but w^ho is satis-
fied with his own constancy, his own self-control?
What room for self-satisfaction is left when one re-
flects on the scrutinizing gaze of God? What a
poor appearance I must present to the eyes of my
Maker ! Our good resolutions fail, our fits of piety
pass ofif, faults that we thought overcome re-assert
themselves, cur weaknesses are apparent on every
possible occasion : we say to ourselves in the bitter-
Sanctifying Grace. 72s
iiess of disappointment, "Oh, that I were better !"
''Can I ever be good ?" We cry with St. Bernard :
''There is nothing seated in me, but all is in commo-
tion, all things sway to and fro, my whole being
tosses like the sea/' Yes, there is one thing that
with a little fidelity and care will remain constant
within me; and that is the best thing of all, the
sanctifying grace of God. Sanctifying grace is
never absent from us except when we are in mortal
sin. More than that, whenever it is in the soul at
all, it is there in all the fulness that it has ever at-
tained to in that soul. Grace does not lend itself
to figures, but we may use figures to aid our under-
standing of this matter. As a man, once grown to
six feet, will never again be reduced to a stature of
four feet or five, but wherever he is, there is six
feet of him ; so the sanctifying grace that in a par-
ticular soul could once be represented by sixty, can
never be represented in that soul by a lower num-
ber, say forty-eight. It may drop down to zero, and
be all lost, but if it comes back again, it comes back
in a quantity at least up to sixty. Sanctifying grace
is not diminished by venial sin. Venial sins of great
perversity and wilfulness endanger sanctifying
grace, inasmuch as they lead to mortal sin; but
though they endanger it they do not diminish it.
While there is any of it at all in the soul, there is all
that ever was there : and if, after being lost, it comes
back again, there comes back all that ever was
there. The frailty of the "earthen vessel'' in which
it is contained does not make the "treasure" less
(2 Cor. iv. 7). There are very strange people in
the state of grace — here "a lazy, ragged, filthy,
story-telling beggar-woman," as Cardinal Newman
says {Apologia, p. 248), there a lot of idle boys,
mischievous and giddy. If they were to die as they
726 Sanctifying Grace.
are now, they would be punished in purgatory for
their idleness, but in the end they would go to heaven
—they have a right to go there. Even now, with all
their faults, they are God's most dear children, His
right trusty and well-beloved sons. All this is
meant, not to encourage m.e in my faults, but to save
me from the discouragement that comes of my ef-
forts at improvement seeming to lead to so little. It
is not a little thing if, with all my imperfections on
my head, I am still in the state of grace.
However, we rnust behave as becomes that state,
and not of set purpose behave unbecomingly even
in little things : otherwise, going from little faults to
greater, we shall finally lose sanctifying grace alto-
gether. This, then, is the use, this indeed the neces-
sity of acquiring virtues. Acquired virtues are good
habits ; and good habits, like skill in games, are got
by repeated good acts : by doing a thing well over
and over again we get into the w^ay of doing the
thing readily whenever we see occasion for it. Such
good habits are the virtues of obedience, of self-
control, of temperance, of meekness, of modesty, of
diligence. These virtues themselves are not sancti-
fying grace. Sanctifying grace may exist without
them, as in the baptized infant or in the newly ab-
solved sinner. The infant has no acquired habits
whatever: the inveterate sinner, who has just made
a good confession, has no acquired good habits, but
many bad ones: yet both have sanctifying grace.
But that grace is not safe unless the possessor of it
is diligent in doing good, resisting evil, and so ac-
quiring habits of virtue. These acquired habits of
virtue are the ramparts and defenses of sanctifying
grace. A man is a fool who, having a great treas-
ure in his possession, leaves it unsecured.*
*From Ye Are Christ's, by the Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S.J.
CHAPTER LXVI.
Devotion to tbe paaeion ot Out XorD anO Saviour
5e0U0 Cbriet
'T^ EVOTiON to the Passion of Our Lord, like devo-
f^^ tion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, is strongly approved and
urged upon the faithful by our holy Mother, the
Church. It is a solid devotion, deeply founded in
dogma, and reaches back to the earliest ages.*
True devotion, in its perfect meaning, includes
love for and imitation of the person to whom we
are devoted, and in reference to our dear Lord we
may affirm that the Passion and the Blessed Sacra-
ment are best suited to inflame our hearts with love,
and to arouse in us an earnest desire of imitation.
They are the strongest proofs of the love of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus for man, and therefore the
best means to inflame the heart of man with love of
Him. St. Augustine exclaims : ''Let Him be nailed
with the nails of love in the midst of thy heart, who,
for love of thee, was nailed by the rough iron nails
to the hard wood of the cross." Considering imita-
tion as part of our devotion, while our blessed
Saviour gave us an example of all virtues at all
times, He practiced them in a most sublime and
heroic manner during His Passion. In the most
trying circumstances, Christ our Lord gave us an
example of those virtues which we need most — pa-
tience, meekness, mercy, charity, silence, perfect
poverty of spirit, sublime abandonment, obedience to
the heavenly Father's will — even unto death. St.
*Read Old and New, by Fr. Nicholas Walsh, SJ. (De-
votions).
728 Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord.
Bonaventure says : ''He who desires to go on ad-
vancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace,
should constantly meditate on the Passion of Jesus
Christ."
He who frequently reflects on the sufferings of
Our Saviour can not live without loving Him, with-
out imitating Him, without laboring and suffering
in union with Him. Father Dignam, S.J., speaking
to Religious, says : ''We should go through the dif-
ferent circumstances of the Passion, and compare
them with the occasions of suffering we meet with in
religious life. They are drops of the chalice which
Our Lord asks us to drink with Him. 'Can you not
drink of the chalice I have drunk for the love of
God ?' His bonds are our vows ; the sufferings of
the scourging, our physical pain. He is treated by
Herod, who held authority from God, as a fool.
He was rejected for Barabbas ; are we not sometimes
rejected for another — set aside for some one who
is certainly more worthy than ourselves ? Is not the
gall they gave Him like the bitterness we receive
when we are longing for consolation? As we look
at the dead body of Our Lord hanging on the cross,
we see that His Passion was one long act of sub-
mission: 'Obedient unto death.' Every wound
preaches the same lesson.
"The vows! How dear they should be: (i) Be-
cause they so perfectly fulfill the object of Christ's
sufferings for me, in so weak a creature; (2) be-
cause they make so poor a life so great a glory to
God; (3) because they impart so great a merit to
such little acts, and promise so great a reward.''
St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says : "The
charity of Christ presseth us" (2 Cor. v. 14). One
who meditates frequently on the sufferings of Christ
will feel himself so constrained by the Saviour's in-
Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord. 729
effable love for him, that he will not possibly be able
to refrain from loving a God so full of love, who
has suffered so much to wan our love. Hence, the
Apostle of the Gentiles said that he desired to know
nothing but Jesus, and Jesus crucified. ''I judged
not myself to know anything among you but Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified" (i Cor. ii. 2). All the
saints have learned the art of loving God from the
study of the crucifix. St. Francis of Assisi found
no subject on which he exhorted his brethren with
greater eagerness than the constant remembrance
of the Passion of Jesus.
''As for myself,'' writes St. Alphonsus, ''I can
never be satiated with meditating on the Passion of
our divine Redeemer. In this subject I find every-
thing. Meditation on the Passion teaches the perfect
observance of the vows and Rules, the love of con-
tempt and of the trials that are inseparable from the
religious life. He will never effect much who does
not carry Jesus Christ crucified in his heart. He
who keeps his Redeemer in view, can not but love
Him truly." Jesus Christ crucified should be our
love, our life, our treasure, our all. With St. Paul,
we ought to be able to say : ''With Christ I am nailed
to the cross ; and I live, now not I, but Christ liveth
in me. ... I live in the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and delivered Himself for me" (Gal.
ii. 19, 20).
The sufferings of Christ have been a subject of
earnest and fruitful meditation with all devout souls
in all ages. The tradition is not difficult to receive
that Mary, the Blessed Virgin, John, the beloved dis-
ciple, the penitent Magdalen and the other pious
women who stood in the shadow of the cross on Cal-
vary, together with the holy apostles, after the As-
cension of Our Lord frequently visited the scene of
730 Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord.
His sufferings and shed many tears along the Via
Dolorosa. The Apostle St. Paul, writing to the
Hebrews, says : ''J^^us also, that He might sanctify
the people by His own blood, suffered without the
gate. Let us go forth, therefore, to Him without the
camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. xiii. 12, 13).
Doubtless the Passion was earnestly preached to
the people in the time of the apostles ; else St. Paul
would not have written : "O senseless Galatians, who
hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the
truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been set
forth crucified among you?" (Gal. iii. i). Look-
ing to Jesus crucified for love of them, the early
Christian martyrs, as well as those of a later day,
were enabled to endure the most terrible sufferings
with courage and heartfelt joy. In all ages thou-
sands of the faithful have made pilgrimages to the
Holy Land. Why? In order to visit the scenes
of Our Lord's sufferings. They wished to impress
deeply on their minds w^hat the Blessed Saviour had
suffered for mankind and for their own salvation in
particular. Doubtless they returned to their homes
better men and better women, their hearts aglow
with the love of Jesus crucified. ''All the saints,"
says St. Alphonsus, ''cherished a tender devotion
toward Jestis Christ in His Passion ; this is the
means by which they sanctified themselves." To all
those who have followed the Redeemer on the way of
the cross and are now glorified with Him, "to live
was Christ and to die was gain" and therefore they
longed for and eagerly embraced suffering.
St. Bernard was wont to exclaim : "My heart to
the cross and the cross in my heart." Father Hubert,
the author of Ecce Homo, writes: "The cross and
sufferings of Our Lord were not only a source of
comfort to the saints, but a book from which they
Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord. 731
learned heavenly wisdom, as St. Bonaventure ac-
knowledged. They had the crucified Saviour ever
before their eyes. This is why we see the saints so
often represented with the crucifix before them, like
St. Aloysius, St. Teresa, St. Bernard (who bears the
instruments of the Passion in his hands), and many
others. On their death-bed they read and com-
forted themselves out of this book. 'Give me my
book,' said St. Benitius on his death-bed (he meant
his crucifix). This is my book, my best-beloved
book ; it will help me to make my last will. I have
often looked into this book, and with it I will end
my hfe.' "
A pious servant of God made use of the fol-
lowing good practice, in order to overcome tempta-
tion, to encourage himself in patience, and to stir up
in himself love to Christ. He often placed himself
opposite the crucifix and spoke thus to himself :
"See thy God on the cross — darest thou commit
sin? See thy God on the cross, and do not com-
plain in thy sufferings. See thy God on the cross,
and consider how worthy of all love He is.'' St.
Augustine did something of the same kind. ''As
often as I am tempted," he says, 'T take refuge in
the wounds of Christ, and make my sanctuary in
the compassionate Heart of my Lord."
"The life of the servants of God," writes St. Paul
of the Cross, "is a continual death. For you are
dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. I wish
you to die this mystical death. Suffering is brief;
joy will be eternal." We read in the Gospel of St.
Luke (ix. 23) : "If any man will come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me." These words were spoken by our
divine Redeemer to all Christians, but they were
meant undoubtedly for Religious in particular.
^JZ'^' Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord.
By the taking of their vows, they are professedly
cross-bearers.
The three nails of the crucifix should remind them
of the three vows by which they themselves are cru-
cified with Jesus. As Father Edmund Hill, C.P., re-
marks in his admirable little book A Few Simple and
Business-Like Ways of Devotion to the Passion: 'Tf
we would 'take up our cross' for the day, we must
make a good, strong, generous resolution every
morning to mortify our natural inclinations : (a) By
performing our duties faithfully; (b) by bearing
our trials patiently; (^) by fighting our temptations
perseveringly. This will be taking up our cross in
real earnest."
'The Apostle," says Father Baxter, ''exhorts us
to carry our cross daily in these words : 'Always
bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus'
(2 Cor. iv. 10). No day, therefore, ought to pass in
which the disciple of Christ does not make some
progress in mortification. Hence the learned St.
Augustine remarks, 'The whole life of a Christian, if
he lives according to the Gospel, is a cross and a
martyrdom.' Embrace, therefore, your cross will-
ingly, and whatever is disagreeable to flesh and
blood; for the cross will be a passport to an ever-
lasting life of happiness."
CHAPTER LXVII.
©baervationg Concerning tbe /iReDitattona on tbe
lpa06ion ot Cbriet
** ^T^OTHiNG effects in the soul so complete a sancti-
«-*^6 fication as meditation on the sufferings of
Christ/' says St. Bonaventure. *'Keep a continual
remembrance of the sufferings of your heavenly
Spouse/' are the words of St. Paul of the Cross. ''En-
deavor to fathom the love with which He endured
them. The shortest way is to lose yourself completely
in that abyss of sufferings. Truly does the prophet
call the Passion of Jesus a sea of love ancl of sorrow.
Ah ! therein lies the great secret which is revealed
only to humble souls. In this vast sea the soul
fishes for the pearls of virtues, and makes her own
the suff'erings of her Beloved. I have a lively con-
fidence that your Spouse will teach you this divine
method of fishing; He will teach it to you if you
keep yourself in interior solitude, your mind free
from all distraction, detached from all earthly
affection, from every created thing, in pure faith and
holy love.''
In your meditations on the Passion, consider Our
Lord's sufferings from different points of view by
asking yourself the following simple questions :
Who suffers ?
What does He suffer?
From whom does He suffer ?
Why or for whom does He suffer ?
How or with what affection does He suffer ?
While meditating on the Passion of Our Lord,
many affections may be entertained and expressed.
734 Observations Concerning the Meditations.
But, as Father Baxter, S J., observes :* Spiritual
writers remark seven affections which pecuharly cor-
respond to the subject.
I. Admire in each mystery the dignity of the Per-
son who suffers, and the intensity of the torments to
which He freely subjects Himself. ''Who is this
who Cometh from Edom, w4th dyed garments from
'Bosra? Why, then, is Thy apparel red, and Thy
garment like theirs that tread in the wine-press?"
(Is. Ixiii. I, 2.)
n. Condole with Him, as children do with their
parents when in distress or affliction, or as brothers
do with each other. ''My son Absalom, Absalom,
my son, would to God that I might die for thee,
A-bsalom, my son, my son Absalom" (2 Kings
xviii. 33).
HI. Be confounded at your ingratitude, and
grieve for your sins which were the causes of His
sufferings. If these sins drew^ blood from Christ,
they should surely draw tears from you. 'T know my
iniquity, and my sin is always before me" (Ps. 1. 5).
IV. Love Him who has shown such love for you,
and suffered so much for your sake. "Lord," says
St. Ambrose, 'T owe more to your injuries for my
redemption than to your works for my creation."
V. Hope for, and promise yourself, all the good
that your heart can wish ; for ''He that spared not
even His own Son, has He not also, with Him, given
us all things?" (Rom. viii. 32).
VI. Thank Him for having suffered so much for
you ; "for the best means of preserving a benefit is
a faithful recollection of it, and a constant profes-
sion of gratitude."
VII. Imitate your Lord and Leader in suffering
"^Meditations for Every Day in the Year, by Rev. Roger
Baxter, SJ.
Observations Concerning the Meditations. 735
reproaches and injuries. He has suffered so much
for you ; and what return have you made, what re-
turn will you make? ''Christ suffered for us, leav-
ing you an example, that you should follow His
steps" (i Pet. ii. 21).
i^eflectioixs on ti)e ^passion of <©ur Hortr*^
CHRIST INVITES ALL TO CONTEMPLATE HIS PASSION.
I. Christ with good reason complains that after
having suffered so much for men. He still finds them
ungrateful and forgetful. ''I looked for one," He
might truly have said during His Passion, ''who
would grieve together with Me, but there was none ;
and for one who would comfort Me, and I found
none" (Ps. Ixviii. 21). ''The just perisheth, and no
man layeth it to heart" (Is. Ivii. i). Meditate on
this pitiful state of your Jesus ; tell Him that you
will not leave Him alone ; that you wall sympathize
with Him; and that the just one shall not perish
without your notice and condolence.
n. We can do nothing more pleasing to Our Re-
deemer than to meditate frequently on His Passion.
He invites all mankind to this holy exercise by the
mouth of His prophet : "O all ye that pass by the
way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to
My sorrow" (Lam. i. 12). He calls the attention of
all mankind to His sufferings by the same prophet :
"Remember My poverty," he says, ''the wormwood
and the gall" (Lam. iii. 19). Reflect, and apply the
case to yourself : if you had suffered any serious loss
in your property or person in the defense of your
friend, would you not justly expect that he should
ever be grateful for your friendly kindness? How
much more has Christ suffered for you !
*Baxter (ibid.).
*JZ^ Observations Concerning the Meditations.
III. Present yourself before Christ as an attentive
spectator of His sufferings, and promise to meditate
on them with feelings of gratitude. Say with the
prophet, ''I will be mindful and remember ; and my
soul shall languish within me. These things I shall
think over in my heart, therefore will I hope" (Lam.
iii. 20). And if you contemplate His Passion, you
will have good reason to hope; for He suffered in
order that He might be able to present Himself as
our advocate before His Father, and allege His own
sufferings in our behalf. He pardoned the thief on
the cross and gave him admission into paradise.
WHO SUFFERS ?
I. He who suffers is the immaculate Lamb of
God, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in
His mouth'' (i Pet. ii. 22), He was the Holy of
holies, possessed of the divine Spirit beyond measure,
the perfect form and image of His Father. His cru-
ciners confessed Him to be the Son of God, and their
judge had already pronounced Him innocent.
II. He who suffered had already devoted His
whole life to the good of others ; He "had gone about
doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by
the devil" (Acts x. 38). He therefore not only suf-
fered without deserving these sufferings, but, on the
contrary. He merited every kind of honor, respect,
and veneration.
III. He who suft'ered was the great Lover of man-
kind. He had made Himself our Redeemer, Pastor,
Physician, and Brother, If the son ought to feel sen-
sibly the sufferings of his father, and the spouse to
condole with her spouse in his afflictions, how much
more reason have you to compassionate Jesus Christ
in the sufferings which He has undergone for your
Observations Concerning the Meditations. T^l
sake ! There is no character, however afifectionate,
and no title, however dear, that this man-God has
not assumed in your regard. Grieve for Him, then ;
and if you can not carry, with the Apostle, the marks
of His sufferings on your own body, bear them in
your heart. Resolve to suffer something, at least,
for His sake.
WHAT DOES HE SUFFER?
I. The sufferings of Christ were various and nu-
merous. He suffers in His external goods ; for He
is stripped of everything that He had, even of His
very clothes, and He is suspended naked on the
cross, in the presence of all the Jews. He suffers in
His honor; for every species of reproach is thrown
upon Him. His fame suffers ; for He is variously tra-
duced and calumniated : He is represented as a Sam-
aritan, a man possessed by the devil, a glutton, a
lover of wine, a blasphemer, and a seducer. His
knowledge is insulted ; for He is considered as a man
without learning and a madman. His miracles are
esteemed as so many impostures. And to crown all,
He is totally abandoned by His friends.
n. How much He suffered in His body ! His eyes
were defiled with spittle, and filled with the blood
which flowed from His sacred head, and tormented
with the scornful gestures which they were obliged
to behold. His ears were wounded with repeated
blasphemies against God, and most mi just accusa-
tions brought against Himself. His taste was tor-
mented with the most violent thirst, and then with
vinegar and gall. Lastly, His sense of feeling was
tortured in every part of His sacred body, by
thorns, stripes and nails. So that it might be said
of Him with truth, 'Trom the sole of the foot unto
72i^ Observations Concerning the Meditations.
the top of the head, there is no soundness therein'*
(Is. i. 6).
TIL Christ suffered, also, most severely in His
mind. His agony in the garden and His dereliction
on the cross were perhaps the severest of all His
pains : add to those His foreknowledge of the ingrat-
itude of mankind, and their abuse of His Redemp-
tion. Be ashamed at your cowardice in suffering
and your impatience under the pressure of crosses.
Form a resolution of suft'ering something for Him
who has suffered so much for you.
FROM WHOM DOES HE SUFFER?
I. He suffers from every kind and character of
men; from the highest to the lowest, from the
sacred and the profane. He is dragged about the
streets by the dregs of the people ; He is forsaken by
His friends, He is accused by the priests, laughed
at by the soldiery, condemned by the council of the
high priest, ignominiously treated in the court of the
governor, and sentenced to death at the tribunal of
the president. Learn, hence, to contemn the opin-
ions and judgments of the world which was so un-
just to your Saviour.
H. He suffered from those whom He came to
save, on whom He had already bestowed most singu-
lar favors during His private and public life ; so that
He might truly say, ''they have hated Me without
cause" (John xv. 25). And w^hat is still more, He
suffered Himself to be betrayed by His own dis-
ciple, to give us an example of patience in the fail-
ure and abandonment of friends. ''The man of My
peace, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, hath
greatly supplanted Me" (Ps. xl. 10).
HI. He was left exposed to the machinations of
Observations Concerning the Meditations. 739
hell, according to the expression of St. Luke : 'This
is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Luke xxii.
53) . He was surrendered to the power of Satan, not
as holy Job was, with this restriction, ''but yet save
his life'' (Job ii. 6), but absolutely and even to death.
Compassionate your Lord, thus forsaken by His
friends and left to the mercy of His most cruel ene-
mies ; and if at any time it should be your fortune to
experience the insolence of men, remember "the dis-
ciple is not above the Master'' (Matt. x. 24).
WHY OR FOR WHOM DOES HE SUFFER?
L Christ did not suffer for Himself, for He was
incapable of doing anything that deserved punish-
ment ; but He suffered in order to reconcile mankind
to His Eternal Father, and to open to them the gates
of heaven. He suffered in every manner, because in
every manner men had offended their God, and be-
cause His object was to apply a remedy to every
vice. To correct our covetousness, He chose to die
naked; to reform our pride. He willingly suffered
reproaches ; He opposed His torments to our lux-
ury, and He drank vinegar and gall to atone for our
intemperance.
H. He suffered in a most peculiar manner for
His enemies, that is, for all sinners ; for "God com-
mendeth His charity toward us, because, v/hen as
yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ
died for us ; and when we were enemies, we were re-
conciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. v.
8, 10). And what is more, when He was in the act
of expiring on the cross, He prayed for His execu-
tioners, that He might teach us "to overcome evil
by good" (Rom. xii. 21).
in. Christ suffered for all mankind in general,
740 Observations Concerning the Meditations.
and for each of us in particular. Apply, then, His
sufferings to yourself, and make them your own.
Render yourself capable of saying with St. Paul, ''I
live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and delivered Himself for me'' (Gal. ii. 20). Re-
flect what return you can make for so much love:
''What shall I render to the Lord for all the things
that He hath rendered to me ? I will take the chalice
of salvation" (Ps. cxv. 3). Take, therefore, the chal-
ice of His Passion, and drink it at least spiritu-
ally by contemplation ; this is the return which your
Saviour expects, and of which He will most cor-
dially accept.
HOW OR WITH WHAT AFFECTION DOES HE SUFFER?
I. His sufferings were prompted by a most sin-
cere love for us ; He earnestly wished beforehand for
the hour in which His Passion would commence. "I
have a baptism," He says, ''wherewith I am to be
baptized ; and how am I straitened until it be ac-
complished!" (Luke xii. 50.)
H. His sufferings were endured with the most
profuse liberality. One single pain, one drop of
blood, would have atoned for the crimes of a thou-
sand worlds, in consequence of the nature of the suf-
ferer; but Christ shed all His blood. "With Him"
there is ''plentiful redemption" (Ps. cxxix. 7).
HL He suffered with the greatest meekness ; for,
"w^hen He was reviled. He did not revile ; when He
suffered, He threatened not ; but He delivered Him-
self to him who judged Him unjustly" (i Pet. ii.
23). And the prophet had foretold that "He shall
be led as a sheep to the slaughter" (Is. liii. 7).
IV. He suffered with an insatiable zeal for the
salvation of mankind ; hence He exclaimed on the
cross, "I thirst" (John xix. 28).
Observations Concerning the Meditations. 741
V. In His sufferings He was perfectly humble ;
hence He might have said of Himself, ''I am a worm
and no man ; the reproach of men, and the outcast of
the people'' (Ps. xxi. 7).
VI. He exercised the virtue of poverty during the
whole of His Passion, and He ultimately died naked
on the cross.
VII. His patience and perseverance were uncon-
querable, and never yielded to the most grievous tor-
tures.
VIII. He practiced the virtue of obedience in its
highest degree during His sufferings. He was "obe-
dient unto death, even to the death of the cross"
(Phil. ii. 8) . He was obedient not only to His Eter-
nal Father, but even to His cruel executioners. "I
have given My body to the strikers," He says of
Himself by His prophet, ''and My cheeks to them
that plucked them ; I have not turned away My face
from them that rebuked Me and spit upon Me" (Is.
1. 6). Examine minutely this perfect model of pa-
tience and ^virtue, and ''go and do thou likewise."
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Devotion to tbe Messed VivQin.—iJitsat^'e %ovc
tor tRcUgiowB.
IF it be true, and the holy Father St. Damian de-
clares that it can not be doubted, that Mary
loves all mankind, that after God her love for all,
without exception, is the strongest, with what ten-
derness must she regard the Religious who has aban-
doned everything for love of Jesus and consecrated
herself entirely to her divine Son ! She well knows
that such a life is closely conformed to her own and
to that of Jesus. She beholds the Religious so often
occupied with meditating on her life and virtues,
proclaiming her praise, honoring her by novenas,
visiting her oratories and shrines, reciting her
Rosary, fasting on the vigils of her feasts, and
urging others to practice devotion to her. She sees
the Religious at her feet, calling upon her for help,
and begging for the graces she loves to obtain for
her children, such as perseverance in the service of
God, strength in temptation, love of Jesus, and de-
tachment from the things of earth. How, then, can
it be doubted that she will use her merciful influence
in behalf of the Religious ? And this dear Mother is
so grateful. *T love them that love me" (Prov. viii.
17), the Holy Ghost says by the lips of Mary. Yes,
she is so grateful that, according to St. Andrew of
Crete, she returns the least service with the richest
gifts. She promises to free from sin all who honor
her and influence others to honor her : ''They that
work by me shall not sin,'' and to them she assures
the kingdom ot heaven : ''They that explain me
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 743
shall have life everlasting'' (Ecclus. xxiv. 30, 31). A
Religious owes special gratitude to Almighty God
for introducing her into the convent life, where, in
the community exercises and by the example of her
fellow sisters, she is so frequently reminded to have
recourse to Mary, who is the joy and the hope of all
who invoke her.
It is Mary herself who calls innumerable souls to
religion. St. Philip Benitius, a handsome and promis-
ing youth, entered the chapel of the Servites of
Mary, outside the city of Florence, to attend the ser-
vices, one Thursday in Easter week. During the
reading of the epistle, he heard the words formerly
addressed to the deacon Philip: ''Go near, and join
thyself to this chariot" (Acts viii. 29). The words
made a deep impression on him, for he, too, was
called Philip. He felt that they were addressed di-
rectly to him by the Holy Ghost. They pursued him
the rest of the day, and that night he dreamed that
he was in a wild, pathless region full of rocks, bleak
hills and deep, dangerous ravines. Briars and thorns,
and all manner of creeping things covered the muddy
ground. Frightened at the wildness and the loneH-
ness of the place, he cried out in terror. Then he
saw the Blessed Virgin, surrounded by angels hov-
ering in the air. In her hand was the habit of a
Servite, and she uttered the words : ''Philip, go near,
and join thyself to this chariot." He awoke, and,
recognizing the meaning of the words, no longer
doubted that he should join the Order of the Servites
of Mary. Early next morning he presented himself
before the Superior of the convent, requested admit-
tance, and was clothed as a lay-Brother. Thus did
Mary introduce him among her chosen servants. St.
Teresa was only twelve years old when she lost her
mother. Full of sorrow, the child threw herself on
744 Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
her knees before a picture of the Blessed Virgin, and
begged her to be to her a mother in the place of her
whom she had lost. Mary heard her petition. ''I
have never called upon this most glorious Mother/'
St. Teresa tells us, ''without immediately experienc-
ing her gracious protection.''
Great, indeed, should be the confidence of the Re-
ligious in the Blessed Mother of God and Queen of
heaven, since through her mediation she has doubt-
less received the grace to enter the religious state.
"He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have
salvation from the Lord" (Prov. viii. 35), are the
words that holy Church sings on the high festivals
of the Mother of God. Whoever finds me, says Mary,
by sincere devotion to me, will find the life of grace
on earth and salvation in heaven. St. Anthony ex-
claims : ''All who bravely defend this powerful
heavenly Queen will surely be saved." St. Anselm
goes so far as to address the divine Mother in the
following terms: "O Blessed Virgin, as it is im-
possible for one who does not honor thee, for one
whom thou dost not help, to be saved, so is it im-
possible for him who commends himself to thee, for
him whom thou dost favor to be lost." Even in this
world, says St. Bonaventure, will the foster-children
of Mary be acknowledged by the blessed in heaven
as their brethren, and every one that wears the
badge of Mary's service is inscribed in the book of
life. Devotion to Mary may be looked upon as a
sign of the elect. St. Thomas says : "Mary signifies
star of the sea. As the star guides the mariner into
port, so the Christian will be guided to heaven bv
Mary."
Were a true servant of Mary damned, it would be
because Mary either could not or would not help
him. But no, says St. Bernard, it is impossible for
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 745
a true servant of Mary ever to be lost, for she is
lacking neither in power nor in willingness to assist
him. Let us reflect a little on INIary's power with
God to procure the salvation of her servants. The
holy Church, to inspire us with confidence in this
great mediatrix, directs us to address her by the title
of ''powerful" — ''Virgo potens/' ''Powerful Virgin,
pray for us" ! God Himself, the Almighty God, has
adorned her with this title, for Mary has assured us :
"He that is mighty hath done great things to me"
(Luke i. 49). St. Theophilus, Bishop of Alex-
andria, writes : ''The Son loves to hear His Mother
petitioning Him for favors, and He grants all that
she asks, in this way to repay her for v/hat she did
for Him when she became His Mother." Cosmas of
Jerusalem declares the intercession of Mary to be not
only powerful, but all-powerful; and in the same
spirit Richard of St. Lawrence writes : "Through the
Almighty Son has the Mother become all-powerful."
The divine Son is almighty by nature, the Mother
is all-powerful by grace. She obtains from God all
that she asks, and this for two reasons : first, be-
cause she was the most faithful of God's servants
and loved Him most; hence, as Suarez says, the
Lord loves Mary above all the blessed together. St.
Bridget one day heard Jesus saying to His Mother :
"My Mother, ask for whatever it pleases thee, for
thy requests will always be granted. Because thou
didst deny Me nothing on earth, I can refuse thee
nothing in heaven." The second reason that Mary
is so powerful with Almighty God is because she is
the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour. As her re-
quests are those of a mother, they partake of the na-
ture of commands ; therefore, it is impossible that
she should not be heard. St. John Damascene cries
out to her : "O my Mistress, thou art all-powerful
746 Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
to save sinners ! Thou dost need no recommendation
with God, for thou art His Mother." When St.
Chrysostom speaks of the request that Mary pre-
sented to her divine Son at the wedding-feast of
Cana, that He would supply more wine, he remarks :
''Jesus replied to His Mother's suggestion, 'They
have no wine,' in words that seemed to refuse the
favor she was craving, 'Woman, what is it to Me and
to thee? My hour is not yet come' (John ii. 4) ;
nevertheless the divine Saviour failed not to do all
that she desired."
Have recourse to Mary, the all-powerful Mother
of God ; run to her with confidence in all your
troubles ; she is your own dear Mother! All praise
and thanksgiving be to the ever-blessed Trinity, who
hath manifested to us Mary, ever virgin, clothed
with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on
her head a mystic crown of twelve stars !
J^arj's IBesire to Jj^elp y^tx iHtf^iUixm.
Great is Mary's desire to succor those who honor
her, confide in her and invoke her. What avail
to us would be Mary's power if she did not care for
us? But we may feel sure that, as she is the most
powerful among the saints, so also does she care
most for our salvation. "Who after thy divine Son,"
cries out St. Germanus to Mary, "has done more for
us than thou, O Mary? In all our woes who assists
us as thou? Who is so helpful to poor sinners as
thou ? O Mary, thy power is far greater than we can
comprehend !" St. Andrew Avellino calls Mary the
business-agent of heaven. But what kind of business
does Mary carry on in heaven? Her business is to
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 747
make constant intercession for us, obtaining for us
the favors for which we beg her. She once said to
St. Bridget : "I am called the Mother of mercy, and
that I am by the mercy of God.'' Who indeed has
given to us this tender protectress except the merci-
ful God, who wills us to be saved ? The love of all
mothers taken together can not equal that which
Mary bears to a single one of her servants. She is
compared to a beautiful olive-tree : ''As a fair olive-
tree in the plains" (Ecclus. xxiv. 19). ''In the
plains," that is, that all may behold her, may run
to her. Oil, the symbol of mercy, flows from the
fruit of the olive-tree ; Mary, "the fair olive-tree,"
diffuses her tenderness over all that have recourse
to her.
Let us run to her in all our necessities, for she is
always ready to assist us, her hands are full always
of graces and favors. Richard of St. Victor declares
that Mary's heart is so sympathetic that, as soon as
she learns the needs of her servants, she hastens to
anticipate their requests, and helps them before they
call upon her. She is gentle and loving toward all
who come to her. Our sweet Mother herself
attracts all to her, promising them all kinds of good
things : "Come to me, all ye that desire me, for in
me is all hope of life and virtue." Mary calls all, the
just and the sinner. As the evil one is always going
about seeking whom he may devour, so does this
divine Mother go about seeking whom she can save.
One cry brings her to our assistance. St. Bonaventure
says that Mary so longs to help us and see us in
heaven, that she feels hurt and offended not only by
those who openly outrage and insult her, but also by
those who do not come to her for assistance. The
very thought of Mary, as he tells us, used to inun-
748 Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
date his soul with consolation. He saw in her mercy
personified, her hands outstretched to free the slaves
of sin. Mary's unceasing occupation in heaven is
intercession for the needy. Let us invoke her in the
words of St. Thomas of Villanova: ''Come, beloved
Queen and Advocate, fulfil thy office ! Thou art the
intercessor of the needy. Help us, poorest of sin-
ners !"
Our Lord once revealed to St. Catherine of Siena
that He had charged Mary to take men, and espe-
cially sinners, prisoners, and lead them to Him;. and
Mary herself told St. Bridget that there was no sin-
ner, no matter how abandoned, who, if he called on
her, would not return to God and, by her media-
tion, obtain forgiveness. Just as the magnet at-
tracts iron, so does she draw the hardest hearts to
herself and to God. "Who,'' exclaims Innocent HL,
"has ever had recourse to Mary, and was not
heard?" .
Holy Church teaches us to call the blessed Mother
of Jesus our hope : ''Salve, spes nostra T "Hail, our
hope !" The godless Luther could not endure to
hear Mary addressed as our hope. God alone, he
said, should be our hope, and God curses him who
puts his hope in a creature. That is true, but only
when we place our hope in creatures without regard
to God. We hope in Mary as in our intercessor
with God. We have so much the more reason to do
so, since God, according to St. Bernard, has in-
trusted to Mary all the treasures of grace that He
wills to impart to us. Let us, then, confidently in-
voke the divine Mother, especially when the fear of
hell torments us. Let us say to her with all our
heart : "In thee, O heavenly Queen, I trust that I
may not be confounded in eternity ! In thee do I
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. y/\g
place my hope. Mother of Jesus, Mother of mercy,
my own dear Mother, take care of me and save me
from helli Make me a saint, that with thee in
heaven I may praise and glorify my Lord, thy divine
Son, forever/'
CHAPTER LXIX.
/Bbari^, ®ur /iRotber: 1bow to Ibonor Ibet*
antr ^ioiis ^Practices.
BROM what has been said, we feel assured that
Mary can and does help her servants, espe-
cially those who are constant in their devotedness to
her, and who not only profess their love in their
words, but also show it in their actions. ''Mary, the
Mother of God, is my mother,'' St. Aloysius was
wont to exclaim in an ecstasy of delight and grati-
tude, and like a true servant of Mary he was ever
anxious to avoid the least thing that could displease
her or her divine Son, and always eager to honor and
please her by acts of mortification and by the imita-
tion of her virtues. Let us do likewise ; let us care-
fully avoid whatever is displeasing to Almighty God.
*'Detach thy will from sin," wrote St. Gregory VII.
to the Countess Matilda, ''and you will find in Mary a
mother more willing to protect and assist you than
any earthly mother.'' If you love Mary truly, you
will please her by a constant struggle against your
passions, by striving to become ever more like to her
in virtue, by mortifying yourself in little things, and
by performing some devotion in her honor every
day. Your constant endeavor should be to please
your sweet Mother, and this you will do above all by
doing the will of her divine Son, by your fidelity in
the service of God, in laboring for your own sanc-
tification, and the salvation of souls.
Mary, Our Mother: Hozv to Honor Her. 751
''True devotion/' as we read in The Little Book of
Our Lady, '"comes from God and leads to God. The
fundamental rule in regard to the homage which we
offer to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints is,
that it must ultimately be referred to God and our
eternal salvation. Our devotion to the Blessed Vir-
gin would be of no avail if it did not tend toward
our' union with God, toward possessing Him eter-
nally.
'"True devotion extends itself to the saints without
being separated from the eternal Source of all sanc-
tity. 'For other foundation no man can lay, but that
which is laid ; which is Christ Jesus' (i Cor. iii. 11).
Let Him be the foundation of our devotion to His
holy Mother.
"We are not able to honor our blessed Lady ade-
quately, since, through her, Jesus has come to us.
Oh, how great, how sublime was Mary's vocation!
God predestined her before all ages to be the Mother
of the Saviour of the world. And having called her
to fill this most glorious office He would not have
her be a mere channel of grace, but an instrument
cooperating, both by her excellent qualities and by
her own free will, in the great work of our Redemp-
tion.
''For thousands of years the world had been ex-
pecting the promised Messias. The fulness of time
has now come. The eternal Father sends a heavenly
messenger to Mary, to treat with her of the mystery
of the Incarnation. She pronounces the word
'Fiat!' 'Be it done!' And the heavens open; the
earth possesses a Saviour; Mary has become the
Mother of God,
"Years pass by. The time has arrived when the
great sacrifice is to be consummated. We find Mary
at the foot of the cross. With the dying breath of
752 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
Jesiis she receives the Church as an inheritance.
Mary becomes our Mother.
'These are the two great titles which give Mary a
claim on our veneration and affection. She is like
a fountain from which the waters of grace have
spread themselves abundantly over the whole human
race. As we have once received through her Jesus,
the Source of all blessing and grace, so we also ob-
tain through her powerful intercession the various
effects and applications of this grace in all the cir-
cumstances of life. Her maternal charity, w^hich
shines forth in the mystery of the Incarnation, also
causes her to take a share in the consequences of this
universal principle of benediction. Thus Mary is, by
her intercession, the Mother of all Christians, the
Mother of all men. Her overflowing charity is an
appropriate instrument for the operations of grace.
''Who is better able than Mary to plead in our be-
half ? She can confidently speak to the Heart of her
divine Son, where her wishes, her sentiments, find an
echo. She fears no refusal. The love of the Son
makes Him lend a favorable ear to the request of
His Mother.
"Our blessed Lady is able and willing to help us,
but in order to secure her powerful and kind assist-
ance we must have a sincere devotion to her. This
devotion must be practical : it ought not to consist
in words only, but in actions. A person truly devout
to Mary will enroll himself in her confraternities,
especially in the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary ;
he will celebrate her feasts, venerate her images,
visit her temples, and endeavor to imitate her virtues.
Certainly, he can not be said to have a true devotion
toward the Mother of God who does not honor and
invoke her by frequent and fervent prayers. Among
the various exercises in her honor, comes in the first
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 753
place the Mass of our blessed Lady. Pious histori-
ans record many favors obtained by those who cele-
brated or heard Mass in her honor. The Church
also grants special privileges to the Mary-Mass on
Saturdays. The Office of the Blessed Virgin, her
Litanies, and the holy Rosary are singularly pleasing
to her. Let us not imagine, however, that to secure
the special protection of the Mother of God our
prayers must needs be very long; much will depend
upon circimistances ; but let us not forget the advice
which blessed John Berchmans gave to his com-
panions at his death : ' The least homage is suffi-
cient, provided it be constant.' Hence, what we have
once resolved to do in honor of our blessed Lady
must never be put aside or neglected, but must be
faithfully persevered in, daily, until death."
Father Basso urges the devout clients of Mary
to observe some very commendable practices, as fol-
lows:
On rising in the morning and on retiring at night
say three Aves in honor of the purity of Mary with
the aspiration : "'By thy holy virginity and Immac-
ulate Conception, O most pure Virgin, purify my
body and sanctify my soul!" Take refuge under
her protecting mantle, that she may keep you from
sin by day and by night. When the clock strikes,
salute Mary with an Ave, Do the same on leaving
or returning to your room, also when passing her
pictures and shrines. At the beginning and end of
every work or action, say an Ave^ for blessed is that
work which is placed betw^een two Aves. When-
ever we salute our dearest Queen with the "Angelic
Salutation," so pleasing to her ears, she answers us
with a grace from heaven.
An Act of Consecration, the ''Salve Regina/' the
*'Sub tunm prcesidhim/' the ''Memorare/' or some
754 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
other favorite prayer is said daily by devout souls in
honor of our blessed Mother, to obtain from her the
grace of a holy life and a happy death. Another
very acceptable devotion to Our Lady consists in of-
fering three Paters and Aves to the Most Holy
Trinity, in thanksgiving for the graces and privi-
leges bestowed on her. The Saturday's fast on bread
and water is a very laudable practice for those who
have the courage to make such a sacrifice in honor of
Mary. One can at least refrain from dainties. Do
not neglect to perform some little devotion or morti-
fication in honor of Mary on Saturday, for it is espe-
cially consecrated to her by holy Church. Let no
day pass without reading a little from some book
that treats of Mary. Make with great fervor the
novenas preparatory for the feasts of Mary.
Father Bowden of the Oratory, in his Miniature
Life of MarVj suggests the following practices in
honor of Our Lady. They may be drawn by lot, or
otherwise chosen, at the beginning of a month,
especially the month of May.
1. Take a short time from your recreation to spend
in solitude conversing with Mary or in meditation on
the mysteries of her life.
2. Rise punctually in the morning, invoking her as
''the morning star.''
3. Invoke her sixty-three times as "Virgin
Mother" in honor of her sixty-three years.
4. Visit in spirit one of her great sanctuaries.
5. Mortify your will three times as an offering to
Mary.
6. Say three Glorias in honor of the saints and
Doctors who have explained and defended her pre-
rogatives.
7. Gain indulgences for the soul in purgatory
most devoted to the Blessed Virgin in life ; offer
Mass and communion for this purpose.
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 755
8. Ask Mary to be present with you during the
day to drive away evil spirits.
9. Perform some act of kindness wnth inconven-
ience to yourself.
10. Say three ''Hail Marys" in reparation for the
blasphemies uttered against her.
11. Give an alms in honor of her poverty. (If you
have no money at your disposal, you can bestow the
alms of kindness and sympathy.)
12. Invoke the saints who were related to her —
Sts. Joseph, Joachim, Anne, etc.
13. Mortify 3^our sight, once or more, in honor of
Mary's modesty.
14. Burn a candle before her image or picture.
1=;. Recall with devotion her words recorded in
the Gospel, remembering how many of your sins are
committed in speech. Bear your sufferings and
sorrows silently and patiently.
16. Say the litany for the conversion of a soul for
Mary to offer to God.
17. Shun idleness during the day in imitation of
Mary at Nazareth.
18. Say a "Hail Mary'' in honor of St. Gabriel^
who brought it to earth.
19. Practice some little mortification at meals.
20. Before going to sleep, place yourself with the
infant Jesus in Mary's arms.
21. Say seven Glorias with extended arms, in
honor of her seven dolors.
22. Make a spiritual communion in union with
her disposition at the Annunciation.
23. Say a Memorare to obtain Mary's help at the
hour of death.
24. Keep silence for a short time, and with Mary
ponder on God's words in your heart.
25. Say a ''Hail Mary" before going to bed, to
prevent one mortal sin during the night.
756 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
26. Visit her altar or image in atonement for the
desecration of her sanctuaries.
27. Say nine "Hail Marys" in union with the nine
choirs of angels who are ever praising her.
28. Say a Salve for the spread of devotion to her.
29. Say fifteen Glorias, in honor of the last fifteen
years of Mary's life, for the grace of perseverance.
30. Kiss the ground, and say three ''Hail Marys"
for the virtue of holy purity.
31. Say a ''Hail Mary" in reparation for your
neglect of Mary's service during this month.
32. Distribute leaflets in praise of Mary, scapu-
lars, medals, pictures, and beads, to promote devo-
tion to the blessed Mother of God.
Let us conclude this chapter with some special re-
flections on the Rosary. In the Litany of Loretto the
Church calls Mary "Queen of the most holy Rosary."
In his beautiful and instructive sermon on the so-
lemnity of the most holy Rosary, the Very Rev. D. T.
McDermott says : "Why is the devotion called the
most holy Rosary? The Church carefully weighs
her words. She selects terms to convey her meaning
as precisely as it is possible for language to express
it. However language, in its poverty, may fail
to express fully her meaning, the Church never
indulges in exaggeration. Yet she calls the devotion
of the Rosary — most holy. And most holy it shall
be found to be in its origin, in its prayers, in its ob-
ject, and in its effects."
The word Rosary, as applied to this devotion,
means Garden of Roses. It is, of course, figurative,
and is intended to impress upon all that they will be
able to gather flowers of piety and the fruits of
every virtue from this devotion.
In Sacred Scripture, our prayers and good works,
because of an analogy they bear to them, are likened
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 757
to material things. For example, our pious deeds are
compared to light, in the following text : ''Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father who is in heav-
en/' Good example is likened to the perfume of.
precious ointments : ''Let us run in the odor of
Thy ointments." Incense, in the words of holy
David, has become a symbol of prayer : "Let my
prayer ascend like incense in Thy sight." Men re-
gard those who live soberly, justly, and piously as
diffusing around them, by holiness of life, a sweet
odor, just as fragrant flowers fill the surrounding at-
mosphere with perfume. Hence, St. Paul says of
those who lead holy lives : "They are the good odor
of Christ unto God." And men say of them at
death : "They died in the odor of sanctity."
Christians were accustomed to decorate the altars
of the Blessed Virgin, and to crown her statues with
flowers, because these were emblematic of Mary's
virtues. Hence, they hoped their prayers and devo-
tions would be as acceptable to the holy Virgin as the
sweet-smelling flowers they offered her were agree-
able to men, and that their contemplation of these
flowers would lead to the cultivation, in their own
hearts, of those virtues which found in flowers such
beautiful emblems. The Rosary is then fittingly
called Mary's chaplet or wreath.
The Rosary is a string of one hundred and fifty
small beads, divided by fifteen larger ones into tens
or decades, as they are commonly called. The string
of beads ordinarily used has but five decades, and is
but a third part of the Rosary.
The arrangement of beads in this manner for the
purpose of telling prayers, shows that they come to
us, not only from the earliest Christian times, but
that they were in use among the Jews. And it is not
758 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
at all unlikely that the Blessed Virgin used something
very similar to a string of beads in counting her
prayers. So completely identified did beads become
(in the course of time) with the counting of pray-
ers, that the word '*bead" signified prayer. The ad-
vantage of a string of beads for those who had a
certain number of prayers to say was, that it allowed
the mind and heart to be concentrated entirely on
God, while the hand mechanically told the number,
by passing a bead between the fingers.
The one hundred and fifty beads represent the
psalms of David. The devotion of such of the Jews
and of the early Christians as could read and procure
books, was the reading of the psalms. In order to
furnish a substitute to those who could not read or
procure books, vocal prayers were assigned to the
number of one hundred and fifty — to be told by
transferring a pebble (for every prayer) from one
pocket to another, or by passing a bead through the
fingers.
The Rosary was recited in this form until the thir-
teenth century. While, since that era it has devel-
oped, and been made eminently practical, yet there is
nothing in it to-day that did not spring from the
germs it held then.
It was then aptly called the people's psalter. The
psalms of David are very suggestive of the Rosary
as developed by St. Dominic. Some of the psalms
are prophetic, descriptive of Our Saviour's coming,
His office, and His reign. These correspond to the
Joyful Mysteries. Other psalms are lamentations
for sin, and prayers for deliverance from sufiferings
and enemies. These correspond to the Sorrowful
Mysteries. Then again there are those which are
hymns of thanksgiving and praise, psalms of victory.
These correspond to the Glorious Mysteries. The
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 759
fifteen larger beads denote the mysteries of the Ro-
sary. The arrangement of the Rosary in this form,
with its meditation on the mysteries, is generally
credited to St. Dominic. It matters not whether the
Rosary of to-day was given to the saint by the Blessed
Virgin herself, who is said to have appeared to him,
or whether it was the result of an inspiration of
grace. It has proved its title to heavenly origin by
its fruits. "A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit ;
neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit ;
wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them/'
The one great object of this devotion is to impress
upon men the truths connected with the Redemption.
When the number, the piety, the heroic virtues of
those joined together in the devotion of the Rosary
are considered, it must appear manifest that this
form of prayer is simply irresistible with God.
Just think of the number of holy souls joined in
the confraternities of the Rosary, some still in the
world, others in religious communities ! Many of
these, like Aloysius, are angels in human flesh, who
add bodily mortifications to innocence of life. Others
are holy penitents, like Magdalen, Augustine, and
Mary of Egypt, who honor God more by their pen-
ance than ninety-nine just who need not penance.
Think then of this countless number of devout men
and women, who every day recite the Rosary piously
for themselves and their brethren ! Think of the
dying who, in momentary expectation of seeing God,
devoutly ofifer the prayers of the Rosary as their
last petitions to heaven in behalf of their brethren
and themselves ! Think of those who were once
members of these confraternities, who are now
among the elect of God, and who constantly watch
over the welfare of these fellow-members on earth.
Think of the prayers, almsdeeds, mortifications of
76o Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
all those united in the Rosary, as presented to Jesus
Christ through the hands of His Mother, and may it
not be said they do a holy violence to heaven? ''The
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the vio-
lent bear it away/' How truly may it be said of
those who, through this devotion, learn the virtues
of Mary, and exhibit them in their daily lives :
"They that explain me shall have everlasting life."
The Rev. Mother Francis Raphael, O.S.D.
(Augusta Theodosia Drane), writes, in The Spirit
of the Dominican Order: "If we examine the special
devotion of our saints, we shall find that the mys-
teries of the Rosary were like an unseen thread run-
ning through them all. Take the story of Magdalen
Angelica, whose life was divided according to the
three parts of the Rosary. At the commencement of
her religious conversion she kept entirely to medita-
tion on the Joyful Mysteries, in order to obtain a
childlike gaiety and innocence of heart. Then when
she had received the habit of religion, she took the
Sorrowful Mysteries to meditate upon, and with
them entered upon a long course of austerities and
disciplines. And at last she passed on to the Glori-
ous Mysteries ; and heaven rained down a very
deluge of light and consolation into her soul, so
long left disconsolate on the cross of her agonizing
Spouse. This light was so divine and wonderful
that it often became visible, encircling even her body
in a bright luminous cloud. 'She acquired all her
perfection,' says her biographer, 'through the medi-
tations of the Rosary ;' and when one Rosary Sun-
day, toward the close of her life, she knelt before
Our Lady's altar, and prayed for innocence of heart,
the divine Mother spoke to her and said : 'Be of good
heart, my daughter ; for that which thou prayest for,
thou already hast.''
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 761
We read in The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacra-
ment: ''It was Our Lady herself who, at Lourdes,
excited us to the devotion of the Rosary. She
passed through her fingers a long Rosary of glitter-
ing beads, smiling the while upon Bernardette, who
was reciting her chaplet.
''If we desire to gather the fruit, we must bend
the branch. If we long to possess Jesus, we must
draw Mary to us. The Rosary is the sweet and
powerful means of finding Jesus through His
Mother.
"The month of the holy Rosary comes to recall to
us how much the immaculate Virgin loves this devo-
tion and excites us to practice it. Let us be faithful
to the call, we, above all, who are servants of the
Most Blessed Sacrament. What, in truth, does
Jesus Eucharistic long for? What does He desire in
abiding with us, except to live always in our
thoughts, in our love? 'Do this in commemoration
of Me,' did He say when giving us the Eucharist.
Now, the Rosary responds to the same desire. As
the Blessed Sacrament contains Jesus, with all the
graces and virtues of His past states, so the Rosary
calls up before the mind's eye all His mysteries.
Therefore it is that, after the Eucharist and the
liturgical offices, which successively recall to us all
the feasts of Our Lord, the Rosary is the very best
way of continually contemplating the life of Jesus
Christ and of uniting ourselves to Him.
"If we afford so much pleasure to father, to
mother, to friends by a hearty greeting, how much
more must our fervent 'Angelic Salutation' please
Jesus and Mary! Oh, then, let us repeat, without
tiring, this filial salutation, and Jesus and Mary will
help us nozv and at the hour of our death T
In The Rosary Magazine we read the following
762 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
interesting communication : ''The Holy Father Pope
Pius X. has offered a signal mark of his love for the
Rosary in granting, July 31, 1906, to all those who
piously carry the beads about with them, an indul-
gence of one hundred years and as many quarantines.
This indulgence may be gained daily, provided, of
course, that one be in a state of grace. Rosarians will
recall that this privilege was long enjoyed by mem-
bers of the Rosary Confraternity, Pope Innocent
VIII. in a bull dated February 26, 1491, having con-
ferred it in the blessed hope that such a plenitude of
favor might spread devotion to the Rosary over land
and sea. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII. published a cata-
logue of indulgences in which the above did not ap-
pear. As Rosarians we rejoice that this favor is again
ours, and we fervently pray that a still wider propa-
gation of the Rosary devotion may result, and that
the desire of the Venerable Pontiff to bring all
things to Christ may be speedily realized.
'Tn view of the many inquiries concerning the
Crozier indulgence, which is five hundred days for
each Hail Mary, it may be well to state here that a
greater indulgence, that of five years and five quar-
antines, can be gained by Rosarians each time the
holy name of Jesus is reverently pronounced in the
recitation of the Dominican Rosary.''
5rj)e pCass antr tje S^osara?.
One day, St. Dominic, the great apostle of the
Rosary, was preaching before the Duke of Bretagne,
his court, and an immense crowd of people. He af-
firmed that, as he had learned from heaven, no hom-
age, with the exception of the holy sacrifice of the
Mass and the Divine Office, was so pleasing to Jesus
and Mary as the fervent recitation of the Rosary.
Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her. 763
This assertion seemed exaggerated to many of his
hearers, but they were soon led to a change of senti-
ment.
St. Dominic celebrated Mass after his sermon, and
now behold a miracle under the eyes of all. At the
moment of Consecration, when the saint elevated the
sacred Host, they saw in it the Mother of God, hold-
ing in her arms and pressing to her breast the Infant
Jesus. The people, transported with joy, gazed
upon the ravishing spectacle. But behold, at the ele-
vation of the chalice, another vision replaced the
first. It was Christ on the cross, covered with blood
and wounds, whom Dominic held in his hands.
Then, near the moment of Communion, a third
prodigy roused the wonder of the faithful to the
highest pitch. A dazzling light surrounded the al-
tar, and in its splendor appeared Our Lord in all the
glory of His Resurrection, as on the day He blessed
His disciples, and ascended to heaven.
The holy sacrifice over, St. Dominic explained the
meaning of the apparitions. The Infant Jesus in
His Mother's arms represented the Joyous Mys-
teries ; Jesus crucified, the Sorrowful ; and Jesus
risen, the Glorious. God wished to show us that all
are contained and reproduced in the holy sacrifice of
the Mass just as they are honored by the Rosary.
He wished, above all, to make us understand how
much He desires these mysteries to be cherished by
Christians. By that miracle. He openly confirmed
the preaching they had just heard.
The Rosary is the abridgment, the resume of the
whole life of Christ, as is also the holy sacrifice, of
the Mass. The Mass gives Him to us in reality, and
the Rosary makes us contemplate Him. The Mass
rises, then, above the Rosary, as sacramental com-
munion rises above spiritual communion. But as
764 Mary, Our Mother: How to Honor Her.
Spiritual communion bears excellent fruits in a fer-
vent soul, something like those of the Sacrament it-
self, so by the pious recitation of the Rosary we
unite very intimately with Jesus in His mysteries, to
offer to God all their merits, and to receive for our-
selves their most abundant fruits.
The Rosary, with its Joyous, Sorrowful, and
Glorious Mysteries, is of so great importance in the.
eyes of holy Church that she has consecrated the
month of October to the practice of the devotion.
To salute Mary and, with her, the Most Holy
Trinity — to salute Jesus, the blessed Fruit of the
Virgin — to meditate on the mysteries of our Re-
demption— is not this to love God and Mary, and to
draw upon one's self all the favors of heaven?
He who recites his Rosary gathers the roses of
love. Blessed are those Christian families of which
all the members, old and young, recite the Rosary in
common, for, says Our Saviour, "Where two or
three are gathered in My name, there am I in their
midst.''
But the Holy Eucharist comprises and sums up
all mysteries. Then although it is good to recite the
Rosary everywhere, let us, above all, recite it in
church. With what satisfaction Jesus, present in
the sacred Host, will listen to the praises we address
to His Mother and, through her, to His divine
Heart ! *
*From The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament, October,
1906.
CHAPTER LXX.
Obdix^f tbe /IboDel ot Ibols Wirainitg.
/T\ARY, the Queen of heaven, is the Mistress of all
^"*^ the faithful, and especially of those devoted
to the spiritual life. It is proper, therefore, that we
honor her not only by prayer and devout practices,
but still more by the imitation of her virtues. Christ
our Lord willed that His divine Mother, after His
glorious Ascension, should remain some years on
earth to be the teacher of the disciples. In all their
needs they went to her for advice and instruction.
In accordance with the will of her divine Son, Mary
has ever since acted as teacher and model in His
Church. Her perfect sanctity makes her a shining
example, a leader for all that are aiming at perfec-
tion. Among the numerous virtues that adorn the
Blessed Mother of God, there are three which Re-
ligious should especially make their own, namely,
her chastity, obedience, and poverty.
The first of these virtues, chastity or virginal
purity, is the most essential adornment of a religious
soul. Mary was the first among the Jewish maidens
who,* by divine light, attained to the knowledge of
the inestimable value of virginity. She loved it more
than life, and she would not, as it appears, have ac-
cepted the dignity of divine motherhood had she
been obliged to sacrifice her precious virginity.
Learn of Mary to value this holy virtue at its true
price, and how to preserve it.
Virginity is called, in the language of all nations,
the angelic virtue. Its beauty and charm brought
God Himself down to earth. It is the virtue that
766 Mary^ the Model of Holy Virginity,
the new Adam loved with special predilection. To
those who practice it, He gives, besides a priceless
peace of heart, the assurance that they shall see God
and follow the Lamb without spot whithersoever He
goeth in the new Jerusalem. It is this virtue that
beautifies the countenance, imparting to it the fresh-
ness of the lily and the glow of the rose, and which
raises man above the angels. It is a virtue so lovely,
so precious, so exquisite, that human language
hardly dare mention its name for fear of desecrating
it. The Holy Ghost says: ''No price is worthy of
a continent soul" (Ecclus. xxvi. 20). All the
wealth, the rank, and the honors of this world are
nothing compared with one pure, virginal soul.
But what means must be adopted to keep the lily
of virginity pure and spotless ? The first means con-
sists in mortification of the senses. St. Jerome says
that he deceives himself who thinks to live among
sensual pleasures and wickedness without danger of
falling into sins against the holy virtue. When St.
Paul was tormented by the sting of the flesh, he had
recourse to bodily mortification : 'T chastise my
body, and bring it into subjection" (i Cor. ix. 27).
If the body is not mortified, it will hardly obey the
spirit. ''As the lily among thorns, so is my love
among the daughters" (Cant. ii. 2). As the lily
preserves its beauty among the pricking thorns, so
is virginity protected by the rampart of mortifica-
tion.
The second means for the preservation of this
beautiful virtue is humility. Cassian says, "He who
is not humble can not be chaste." Almighty God
frequently punishes pride by permitting it to en-
gender the hideous monster of impurity. King
David acknowledges this the cause of his own fall :
"Before I was humbled I oflfended" (Ps. cxviii. 67).
Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity. 767
Humility wins purity for us. The stronghold of
virginity is humility, its custodian is love. He who
thinks to conquer the revolts of the lower nature
by continence alone without the virtue of humility
is like a drowning man who tries to save himself by
throwing out one hand.
The third means above and beyond all others is
prayer. Prayer is absolutely necessary for the pres-
ervation of the precious treasure of virginal purity.
If God does not grant us His gracious assistance,
and for this we must pray, we can not, like the lily
among the thorns, remain unsullied. The holy
Fathers tell us that prayer is necessary for the sal-
vation of adults, and they ground their proposition
on the words of the Holy Spirit, who says : "We
ought always to pray, and not to faint'' (Luke xviii.
i) ; ''ask, and it shall be given you" (Matt. vii. 7).
The Angelic Doctor teaches that after Baptism con-
stant prayer is necessary for man. As for every
practice of virtue the grace of God is needed, still
greater is the need when the holy virtue is in ques-
tion, since fallen nature inclines so strongly to the
opposite vice. Man will not by his own strength
remain pure and, therefore, in those violent
conflicts wath the impure spirit, he must cry to the
Lord with his whole heart in imitation of the Wise
Man, who says : 'Wnd as I knew that I could not
otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this
also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it
was, I went to the Lord, and besought Him, and said
with my whole heart" (Wis. viii. 21).
We must stifle the first mxovements of sensuality
as we would crush a young snake. If we let it grow,
it will assume such proportions as are not easily
overcome. A bad thought or imagination must be
banished at once. This may ofttimes be accom-
768 Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity.
plished by one little word, the holy name of Jesus, or
that of Mary. A tranquil turning of the mind to
some other subject, especially an act of love, a re-
calling of the presence of God, a sigh of the heart
to the purest of Virgins, any of these will banish the
tempter. Should he return, be not discouraged. Re-
new confidence in God, and repeat some little ejacu-
latory prayer for help. Let us resolve rather to die
than to commit sin. Let us seek refuge in the
wounds of Jesus Christ, making the sign of the
cross on our breast. The three Aves morning and
evening in honor of the purity of Mary Immaculate
are a powerful remedy against the assaults of the
impure spirit.
Commenting on Mary's virginal purity, the au-
thor of The Month of Our Lady writes : ''Mary dur-
ing her whole life employed the most active vigi-
lance in guarding the inestimable treasure which
she possessed. Although unknown to the infirmities
of corrupt nature, she maintained as much watch-
fulness as if in everything and everywhere she had
something to fear, something to dread. To keep far-
ther from herself every enemy of the purity of the
heart, she cultivated assiduously the virtues of hu-
mility, modesty, temperance, diligence, silence, and
devout contemplation — fair and august daughters
of heaven; and they shielded her against all those
forces which the world, the flesh, and the spirits of
darkness marshal in battle to overwhelm our virtue.
St. Ambrose very well says of Mary that she was a
virgin not only in body but in mind; that she was
humble in heart, grave in words, prudent in spirit,
little inclined to speak, diligent in perusing the Holy
Scriptures and in avoiding every danger, that she
might devote herself wholly to God. The Church sa-
lutes Mary as Mother most chaste. Mother inviolate.
Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity. 769
"Mary is Queen of virgins. Her virginity then
must be embellished with qualities altogether new
to the world. What more unheard of than virginity
and motherhood united in the same person ! What
more new than that a most pure virgin, not knowing-
man, should give birth to a son! That a virgin
should become a mother by the operation of the
Holy Ghost ! That a virgin, free from what is com-
mon to all other mothers, should become the Mother
of God ! The decisions of councils on this point,
the doctrine of the Church, the teaching of the
Fathers and the divines, are familiar to every
Catholic. All proclaim that Mary was a virgin when
she conceived, a virgin when she brought forth
her son, a virgin forever after."^ The Church chants
the praises of Mary as a virgin in a manner alto-
gether peculiar and unknown to other virgins —
'Virgo sin gill aris/ And does not she alone wear
the diadem of the Mother of the King of kings, by
which she claims dominion over angels and saints?
Did either nature or grace ever produce a virgin like
Mary ? Mary is most holy among the holy, most
pure among the pure, a celestial wonder, the mirror
of virtues, the miracle of the world, the joy of
heaven and earth. She alone is Virgin and Mother ;
Virgin without example and without equal ; Mother
of the Author of grace. She is virgin in body,
in mind, in look, in thought, in feelings, in word,
and in work. As the eagle soars above all the
feathered tribe, the Virgin Mary rises above all
other virgins. Almighty God Himself, in various
parts of Scripture, has exhibited under beautiful
images the singular excellence of the virginity of
Mary. She is the virgin rose that opens its purple-
tinted bosom to the kindly influence of the heavenly
"^St. Aug. de Cat. Rud. c. 22.
770 Mary^ the Model of Holy Virginity.
dew; she is the lily among thorns that diffuses
around an aroma of fragrance; she is the fair and
innocent dove that reflects all the various colors of
light in presence of the sun ; she is the immortal
palm, the incorruptible cedar, the triumphant laurel,
the turpentine tree with spreading branches and
dense foliage. She is figured as the terrestrial
paradise, the tree of Hfe, the well-enclosed garden,
the sealed fountain, the mirror without blemish, the
ark of Noe and of the covenant, the little cloud seen
by Elias, the fleece of Gideon, the tabernacle and
the Temple. She was the closed gate through which
was to pass, without its being opened, the God made
man, the consoler of the afflicted, the hope of Israel,
the Saviour of the human race, the desire of all just
souls; He was to throw open the gates of heaven
closed by sin, and to fill with souls redeemed by
Himself the seats left vacant by the rebellion of
Lucifer. These and numberless others were the
symbols which foreshadowed that illustrious
maiden, who was chosen to be the Mother of God
without suft'ering the slightest detriment to her vir-
ginal purity.
''Besides the symbols, there are innumerable pas-
sages in Scripture which allude to the virginity of
Mary. Isaias clearly foretells that the Saviour
should be born of a virgin. 'Behold a virgin shall
conceive and shall bear a son, and his name shall
be called EmmanueF (Is. vii. 14). Again he 'said,
'There shall come forth a rod out of the root of
Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And
the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him' (Is. xi.
I, 2). 'The land that was desolate and impassable
shall be glad; the wilderness shall rejoice, and
flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blos-
som, and shall rejoice with joy and praise; the glory
Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity. 771
of Libanus is given to it ; the beauty of Carmel and
Saron : they shall see the glory of the Lord, and
the beauty of our God' (Is. xxxv. i, 2). But while
he described the blessings of redemption, he fore-
knew that Christ w^ould be born of a virgin mother ;
and the honor of the Son redounds to the honor of
the Mother. When the beauty of a flower is ad-
mired, the stem which produced it is praised ; when
the fruits of a tree are carefully watched and gath-
ered, by the very act the good qualities of the tree
itself, and the seed from which it arose, are com-
mended. God, moreover, in the mystic explanation
of the Church, called her all fair, and without stain
of sin to tarnish her virginal innocence. Thou art
all fair, O my love, and there is no spot in thee
(Cant. iv. 7). Fair as the moon, bright as the sun
(Cant. vi. 9). As there is no heavenly body more
beautiful than the sun and the moon, so there is no
creature more passing fair than the spotless Virgin
Mary.
''But the claims of Mary to the title of Queen of
virgins are not yet exhausted. She consecrated her
body to God by a vow of perpetual virginity. This is
the opinion of St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Ilde-
fonsus, and all the Doctors of the Church. The holy
Virgin was not ignorant that herself and all other
creatures belonged entirely to God, because from
Him they derived their being, and she wished to
consecrate herself solemnly to Him in the presence
of angels and men, on the day of her presentation in
the Temple, when she was only three years of age.
This resolution was inspired by the Holy Ghost, and
she executed it with all the devotion and fervor of
her soul. She loved God with her whole heart and
her whole strength, and her only thought was to
give Him pleasure. She knew also that the merit of
^^2 Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity.
virginity is increased by the obligation of a vow to
maintain it ; and she chose the part which was more
perfect, more secure, and more glorious to the Lord.
Then were verified in her the words of the Holy
Ghost, by whom she was already regarded as a
spouse : 'My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed,
a fountain sealed up' (Cant. iv. 12). The Holy
Spirit repeated twice the words, 'a garden en-
closed," because she was equally pure in body and
soul; and to place her virginity in security she
reared around it, by means of a perpetual vow, a
powerful barrier, in order to break all the assaults
of the unclean spirit of the abyss; and she strength-
ened this defense by intrusting it to the guardianship
of humility, modesty, silence, and temperance. St.
Augustine, and after him the Fathers and theo-
logians, wishing to prove that the Blessed Virgin
had consecrated her virginity to God by vow, bring
forward her words to the angel, when he announced
to her that she should be the mother of the Word
Incarnate. 'How shall this be done, because I know
not man?' (Luke i. 34). Mary by these words did
not express a doubt that the mystery foretold by the
angel would have its accomplishment; she wished
merely to be informed of the manner in which it was
to be accomplished, bearing in mind the vow of per-
petual virginity which she had made from her earli-
est days. Her question to the angel is an evident
proof that she had dedicated herself to God in soul
and in body. If she was espoused to Joseph this was
not the loss, but for the protection, of her virginity.
"Some, perhaps, before Mary, had the will to pre-
serve the fair virtue of virginity, as Elias, Eliseus,
Jeremias, and Daniel ; but before her no one con-
secrated it to God, and bound the will forever by a
perpetual vow. Under the old covenant a vow of
Mary, the Model of Holy Virginity. yy2>
virginity, or rather sterility, a necessary consequence
of it, was viewed as a reproach, a disgrace, and a
curse to a family (Exod. xxiii. 26). When Rachel
gave birth to Joseph, she exclaimed, *God hath
taken away my reproach!' (Gen. xxx. 23). When
the daughter of Jepthe learned from her father that
she was to be offered in sacrifice, in fulfilment of a
vow which he had made to the Lord, she said to
him : 'My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth to
the Lord, do unto me whatsoever thou hast
promised. Grant me only this which I desire : Let
me go, that I may go about the mountains, and may
bewail my virginity with my companions' (Judges
xi. 36). Besides the disgrace of celibacy, the de-
sire of giving birth to the Saviour of the world had
seized upon the hearts of all Hebrew maidens. In
the New Testament as soon as Mary unfolded the
snow-white standard of virginity, innumerable
bands of virgins immediately rallied around her.
In the first bloom of their age they consecrated their
hearts to God, and under the triumphant banner of
the Virgin courageously and successfully com-
bated against the devil and the flesh. Thus were
fulfilled the words of the prophet when he sang to
the sound of his golden harp : 'After her shall vir-
gins be brought to the King ; her neighbors shall be
brought to Thee. They shall be brought into the
temple of the King' (Ps. xliv. 15). Mary is there-
fore Queen of virgins, because she was the first to
bind herself by perpetual vow to maintain unsullied
the fair and angelic virtue of virginity."
CHAPTER LXXL
trbe ITmltatton of /Iftari^ in 1ber ©beOience anD
In 1ber ^ovcvt^.
*TAext to the virtue of purity, Mary practiced that
«^& of obedience in the highest degree. Her will
was perfectly submissive to the directions of her
parents, of the priests of the Temple, of St. Joseph ;
she followed with dociHty every prescription of the
Law of God ; she hearkened to the words of the
angel; and she never resisted the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. She rose up without delay to go to
her cousin Elizabeth, and she never sought exemp-
tion from any one of the Mosaic laws. She sub-
jected herself and her Son to the law of purifica-
tion, which was not in any manner obligatory upon
her, presenting herself in the Temple before the
high priest, and offering her first-born to the Lord.
LTnresistinglv she allowed herself to be led into
Egypt by her chaste spouse, St. Joseph, although
she was there to be reduced to the direst poverty.
Mary's whole life was marked by the most per-
fect obedience, but it shone forth most especially at
three different epochs. First, she signally exercised
the virtue of obedience when the angel announced
to her the joyful tidings of the Incarnation of the
Son of God in her chaste womb. ^'Behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth
a son : and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall
be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most
High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the
The Imitation of Mary. yy$
throne of David His father: and He shall reign in
the house of Jacob forever. And of His kingdom
there shall be no end'' (Luke i. 31). The sweetest
joy inundated the soul of Mary at these words, but
she was silent ; she was pondering their meaning.
She was to become a mother, yet she was resolved
to remain a virgin. She had vowed her virginity
to God. What should she do ? At last, she spoke :
''How shall this be done, because I know not man ?"
Her words signify : I wish to remain a virgin.
What will the Lord God do to preserve my virginity
if I become a mother? Then the angel answered:
''The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.
And therefore, also, the Holy which shall be born
of thee shall be called the Son of God, . . . because
no word shall be impossible with God." Now did
the holy Virgin take courage, and with perfect sub-
mission to the divine decrees, she exclaimed : "Be-
hold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it done to me
according to thy w^ord" (Luke i. 38).
Secondly, Mary's obedience shone forth on the
day of the Passion of her divine Son, on the day of
the ignominy of Jesus, Saviour of the world. Mary
heard the imprecations hurled in wrath against
Him. Every word was for her a sword of sorrow.
At the foot of the cross was consummated her death-
like agony. Other martyrs could, in the midst of
their torments, fix their eyes on the glory of the
risen Redeemer, and find therein encouragement,
but here the loving heart of the Mother had to en-
dure in the very highest degree all that served to
increase the shame, the agony of her Son. There
she stood, her riven heart suffering more than did
the mother of Moses when she launched the cradle
of her darling on the treacherous waves, more than
776 The Imitation of Mary.
the aged Jacob when his streaming eyes rested in
horror on the blood-stained mantle of his beloved
Joseph, more than David when he longed to die for
his son Absalom. Ah ! that most tender of mothers,
that most gentle of hearts, in the sight of the hu-
miliations, the death-agony of her Son, has far sur-
passed in compassionate anguish the sorrows of all
others. Who could measure her grief when she saw
her Jesus fastened to the cross, crimsoned with His
dripping blood! With that precious blood, which
the earth drank in at the foot of the cross, were
mingled the burning tears of the martyred Mother !
When she saw the shadows of death gathering upon
His forehead, when she beheld His head sinking
upon His breast, when she heard His last sigh, ah !
well might she exclaim : ''O, all ye that pass by the
way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to
my sorrow!'' (Lam. i. 12,) In all these bitter suf-
ferings of soul, Mary was submissive to the divine
will.
After the Ascension of Our Lord, fresh sorrow,
fresh sadness swept over the soul of the divine
Mother, but each new wave found her bowing in
submission to the heavenly Father. She alone could
estimate the jewel, the treasure, that had been
snatched from her by the Ascension of Jesus. O
how she loved Him, her glorious one ! Her tender-
ness for Him equaled her thanksgiving for all that
He had done for the human race. But nevermore
would it be given her to serve Him, to follow Him,
to be personally near Him and in direct communica-
tion with Him as she had been accustomed to be-
fore His Passion. Yet Mary's obedience never
swerved. She remained submissive in this vale of
tears after her beloved Son had passed to eternal
joy and glory. We have an example of similar
The Imitation of Mary. yyy
resignation to the divine will in the holy Bishop
Martin. Being attacked by a serious illness, he told
his disciples, who were standing around his bed
weeping, that he was now going to die. In their
grief at the prospect of losing him whom they all
loved so much; they cried out : "Father, why do you
leave us ? To whom do you leave us in our sorrow ?
Ravenous wolves will fall on your flock, and who
will save us from their fangs when our shepherd
is dead? We know your desire to be with Christ,
but your reward is secure, and it will be none the
less for being delayed. Be touched by our great
need, and think of the dangers in which you leave
us.'' Martin mingled his tears with those of his
disconsolate disciples, raised his eyes to heaven,
and prayed : "Lord, if I am still necessary to Thy
people, I do not refuse to work. Thy will be
done V Thus, even in his last moments, the will of
God was the only rule of the saint's conduct.
Examine your own heart, and see to what extent
you have gained a victory over self; how much
progress you have made in the virtue of obedience.
Follow the example of the Mother of God. Hence-
forth, renounce your own will and your own judg-
ment to follow the will and be led by the direction
of your Superior. Abandon yourself to the way of
obedience, for ''no way," says St. Teresa, ''leads
more quickly to perfection than the way of obedi-
ence," and nothing does Satan hate more than obedi-
ence. You must become as little children, else you
can have no part in the kingdom of God.
SrSe 39obert2 of iWarj.
After Jesus Christ, the God-Man, who for love
of us chose poverty, and that in order to en-
778 The Imitation of Mary.
rich us with the highest gifts, there never lived
a creature in whom poverty found a more worthy
dwelling-place than the most blessed Virgin Mary.
This we shall clearly understand when, from the
teaching of the holy Fathers, we shall become con-
vinced that true poverty consists not in being ex-
teriorly poor, but in being interiorly divested of all
love and desire for earthly goods.
One of the properties of divine love is to lead the
soul to despise temporal goods, to find in God her
most precious treasure, and to love Him as her
highest good. The truly poor man is rich in God.
Who can express how rich that man is who owns
but God alone ! ''They have called the people happy
that hath these things; but happy is that people
whose God is the Lord" (Ps. cxliii. 15). No one is
rich but he in whose soul God Himself deigns to
dwell. He carries in himself the Source of all good,
the Father of all treasures, the infinitely good and
perfect God. The whole world is his. He is with
God the master, the lord of creation. St. Paul knew
the happiness of possessing God when he said : "I
count all things to be but loss for the excellent
knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord'' (Phil. iii. 8).
The Blessed Mother of God, the model of religious
perfection, possessed the virtue of poverty in the
highest degree. She despised the things of earth and
trod them under foot, because the Lord was her
inheritance and possession. She could say with the
Psalmist : ''Thou art the God of my heart, and the
God that is my portion forever" (Ps. Ixxii. 26) :
therefore was she well-pleasing to Almighty God,
who lavished His graces on her as on no other. For
all honors and prerogatives bestowed upon her the
Holy Virgin was grateful. She praised the Giver
The Imitation of Mary. 779
while she humbled herself, and the more she praised
Him the more freely did He pour out on her the
riches of His love.
The glorious example of her divine Son was for
Mary a preeminent motive for practicing poverty of
spirit. "Our Lord Jesus Christ/' says St. Paul,
''being rich, became poor for your sake, that
through His poverty you might be rich" (2 Cor.
viii. 9). The Prophet Zacharias, also, calling upon
Sion, says: ''Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion !
Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold
thy King will come to thee the just and Saviour. He
is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt,
the foal of an ass" (Zach. ix. 9). And St. Luke
records of Jesus Christ : "The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the air nests : but the Son of man hath
not where to lay His head" (Luke ix. 58). The ex-
ample of Our Lord's poverty influenced the whole
life of His blessed Mother. Her clothing was poor
and plain, and the words of Holy Scripture may
be aptly applied to her: "She hath sought wool and
flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands"
(Prov. xxxi. 13). She was poor in her marriage
with Joseph, the humble carpenter of Nazareth, a
little city of Galilee. She was poor at the birth of
her divine Child when, in a deserted stable, without
attendants or help of any kind, she brought forth
her Son and wrapped Him in the swaddling
clothes common to the poor. She was poor in her
offering when she presented her holy Child in the
Temple. As she herself was poor and the Mother
of a poor Child, who was to live and die poor, she
redeemed Plim with the offering of the poor, two
turtle-doves. Mary was poor as long as she lived,
poor in everything. She wanted to be poor while
780 The Imitation of Mary.
on earth, that we, by her example, might become
rich. She loved poverty, which, by divesting of tem-
poral goods, obtains the riches of eternity.
As a Religious, you, also, must love poverty of
spirit after Mary's example. Reflect on the great-
ness of the recompense that the divine Saviour has
in store for those who leave all for His sake :
*' Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven'' (Matt. v. 3).
CHAPTER LXXII.
IWs^v^, tbe Ibol^ /nbotber ot ©oD*
1. (^F the glorious birth of the holy Mother
^^ of God there is something told us in the
old books. At the time when, in Jerusalem, King
Herod had reigned about seventeen years, there
lived in Nazareth a well-to-do man, called HeH, or
Heliakim, or otherwise Joachim. He was of the
house of the holy King David, and had married a
woman of Bethlehem named Anna. They both
lived justly before God, and walked without blame
in the commandments of the Lord. They divided
their means into three parts : the first part they gave
to God for the Temple at Jerusalem, and for the
priests of the Lord; the second they gave to the
poor ; the third they used for their own wants.
But they had no children, and this was a great
grief to them. On one occasion, on the feast of the
dedication of the Temple, Joachim went up to
Jerusalem to pray. He washed to make his offering,
but the priest turned him away, for he thought that
God had cursed him, because ''He had left him
childless.'' This reproach gave the pious man much
pain. He went away, -and fasted with Anna, his
wife ; and together they fervently prayed that they
might be blessed with a child. They promised that
the child which God gave to them should be dedi-
cated to His service. And God at last heard their
pious prayers. Anna gave birth to a little daugh-
ter, who was chosen by God to be the Mother of His
Son. This happened on September 8th, in the year
733 after the building of the city of Rome. Accord-
782 Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
ing to ancient tradition, the birthday of the Mother
of God was on a Sabbath, which is now the Satur-
day of the Christian week.
Of all other saints, the Church keeps the day of
their death as their feast-day. Only of Our Lord,
of the Mother of God, and of St. John the Baptist
does she keep also the day of their birth. And this
is done because these three holy persons alone were
born without original sin, and were therefore already
holy at their birth.
But the Church keeps up the birthday of the
Blessed Virgin with so much greater pomp, because
her birth brought the greatest blessing and joy to
the whole world. For, first, she is the Mother of
Our Saviour, Jesus Christ ; she brought to us that
salvation which poor humanity had sighed for, for
four thousand years. Secondly, Mary has also be-
come, in a spiritual way, the Mother of all
Christians.
To all those who love her and honor her with
devotion, she has always shown a motherly love;
has taken them under her powerful protection,
and has obtained many miracles for their good.
2. It was the custom of the Jews to name their
new-born girls fifteen days after their birth. The
name which the Mother of the world's Saviour was
to bear w^as the sweet name of Mary. This name
was chosen not by the parents of the child, but by
God Himself. The holy teacher, St. Jerome, says :
"The exalted name of Mary, which was bestowed on
the Mother of God, came down from heaven ; it was
given to her by command of the Lord."
But when God gives a name, it is always full of
deep truth and meaning for the one who receives
it. So, indeed, is this holy name of the Mother of
God. Mary means as much as 'The Exalted," 'The
Mary, the Holy Mother of God. 783
Strong/' "The Mighty," or also "The Lady" or
"Mistress." And such is the Mother of God in very
truth. She is the exalted one, for over and above
her high dignity as the Mother of God there is noth-
ing for a creature more exalted than the dignity of
being, through grace, a child of God. She is the
strong one, for, by the grace which she received
from God, she has trodden upon the head of the old
serpent, the wicked spirit, and crushed him, so that
over her he can have no power. She is the mighty
one, for, by her intercession with her divine Son,
she is able to obtain help for all who love her, and
honor her, and seek her help. She is Lady and
Mistress, because she is the Mother of the Lord,
who is King of heaven and earth. And so the name
of the Mother of God has always been loved and
revered by true and faithful Christians. Blessed
Paul of the Cross never uttered it without baring his
head and bending himself reverently, as though he
were standing before the very throne of the Queen
of heaven. The priest must bow his head in the
holy Mass as often as he repeats the name of Mary.
And so it came to pass that, even in the olden days,
men celebrated the feast of "the name of Mary." It
Avas taken up first in Spain, and had the sanction of
Pope Leo X. in the year 15 13; and since the
year 1683 it has been kept up throughout the whole
Catholic Church.
3. Of the childhood of the Mother of God there
is nothing told us in the Holy Scriptures. It was
not until later that the holy teachers of the Church
put together what had been related from mouth to
mouth about the days of Mary's childhood. And
this is what they have written down :
The pious parents of Mary, Joachim and Anna,
had vowed that the child which God might send
784 Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
them should be dedicated to His service in the
Temple of Jerusalem. Now, near to the Temple
there was a house in which Jewish maidens were
brought up. There they were instructed in the holy
Law, learned all sorts of useful work, and had to
make and cleanse the priestly vestments ; and after
they had been trained they went back again to their
parents. To this house of training, and to the ser-
vice of the Temple, the parents of Mary devoted
their child. As she was now three years old, they'
took her to Jerusalem. They carried her up into
the Temple, and presented her to God with all the
usual ceremonies. Then they handed her over to the
priests who had charge of the house of training.
Mary now parted with her parents, and took her
place in the community of girls. She was glad she
had come to Jerusalem, for now she could serve God
without hindrance, and alone.
She began at once with all diligence to learn her
womanly work. She learned to spin and sew, and to
embroider in gold and silk, for this was needed for
the priests in God's service. She was also instructed
in the sacred writings of the Old Testament. She
learned to understand and to sing the psalms, and
listened with attention and joy while the priests of
God related the sacred history, and spoke, from the
prophets, of the expected Saviour.
The tender little maiden got up at midnight and
prayed for herself and for all God's people. In the
morning she was up again early, and stayed long in
prayer. Then she went to work till dinner-time.
After that she read in the Holy Scriptures, until the
time when the evening offering was made in the
Temple. She went to that every day, and took part
with great fervor in the singing of the psalms. She
was always in the habit of praising God. Whenever
Mary, the Holy Mother of God. 785
others saluted her she gave back to them the greet-
ing, ''Deo Gratias/' that is, 'Thanks be to God."
St. Jerome thinks that this beautiful expression had,
in this way, its origin in Mary.
She was most loving to her companions. She
served them with joy, helped them with their work,
and often took the heaviest share of it upon herself.
She was always gentle and patient. Wherever she
saw people in trouble, or ill, she had tender com-
passion for them, and consoled and helped them
where she could. But above all things she took care
that none of her playmates should ofifend God by
sin. St. Ambrose describes the childhood of Mary,
and says: "She was maidenly in body and in soul,
and humble of heart. She spoke little and modestly,
and read diligently in the Holy Scriptures. She did
not seek to be rich, but trusted in God, and worked
with great zeal. She never troubled herself about
the praises of men, but wished only to please God.
She gave nobody pain, was kind to every one,
showed respect for old age, and bore no envy against
her equals.. She avoided all self-praise, followed the
voice of conscience, and loved to be virtuous. She
never gave offense to her parents by a single look,
never despised the poor, never laughed at infirm
people, and never turned away from the needy. In
her looks there was nothing unfriendly, in her words
nothing frivolous, in her walk nothing unbecoming,
in her voice nothing of harshness. Thus her bodily
form was a beautiful image of her soul — an image
of virtue. The life of Mary was so holy that it can
be a pattern for all mankind."
While she abode in the Temple, the Mother of
God made a vow never to be married but, as a vir-
gin, to live for God alone, if it were pleasing to her
divine Master. She stayed eleven years in Jeru-
786 Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
salem. When she was fourteen years old she went
back to her parents at Nazareth. She was espoused
to St. Joseph, after she had learned that such was
God's will. But after the espousal, while she tar-
ried for a few weeks in the house of her parents,
God sent the Archangel Gabriel, and made known
to her that she was to be the Mother of the Saviour
of the world. Mary submitted humbly to God's
decree. And so the eternal Son of God became man,
and dwelt among us.*
4. Mary became the Mother of God. ''Rising up,
she went into the mountainous country with haste,
into a city of Juda ; and she entered into the house of
Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass
when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the
infant leaped in her womb : and Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud
voice and said : Blessed art thou among women ; and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this
to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to
me?" (Luke i. 39-43.) And when Mary's days
were accomplished that she should be delivered, she
''brought forth her first-born Son" (Luke ii. 6, 7).
And after eight days were accomplished that the
child should be circumcised. His name was called
Jesus, "which was called by the angel, before He
was conceived in the womb" (21). And uot long
after, an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to
Joseph, saying : "Arise, and take the Child and His
Mother, and fly into Egypt; and be there until I
shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod
will seek the Child to destroy Him" (Matt. ii. 13).
And at the marriage in Cana of Galilee the wine
failing, the Mother of Jesus said to Him : "They
*The preceding paragraphs are from Flowers from the
Catholic Kindergarten, by the Rev. F. Hattler, S.J.
Mary, the Holy Mother of God. 787
have no wine ; and she saith to the waiters : What-
soever He shall say to you, do ye" (John ii. 1-5).
And is it not written : ''There stood by the cross of
Jesus, His Mother and His Mother's sister, Mary of
Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene"? (John xix. 25.)
Resting upon these reasons and these authorities,
the Church cut off from her communion those who,
with heretical wickedness, should attempt to take
away from the glory of Mary by denying that she
was the Mother of God (Council of Ephesus, an.
431).
Commenting on Mary's dignity as the Mother of
God, Father Ferran, in his Month of Our Lady
(translated by the Rev. Dr. John F. Mullany),
says : Mary, being the Mother of God, is evidently
exalted in dignity above all creatures. Although she
is of most illustrious race, of the blood of the
patriarchs, and of the royal family of David, this is
naught in comparison with the nobility, incom-
parably greater, which she acquires from her Son
(St. Pet. Damascene). The more noble the son is,
the greater the honor of the mother ; and the Son of
Mary being of infinite dignity and authority, the
honor of His Mother must be almost immeasurable.
She alone can say with the Eternal Father to
the Eternal Son : ''Thou art my Son : this day
have I begotten Thee" (Ps. ii. 7). The Father
says to Jesus, by the mouth of the Prophet : "Thou
art My Son in virtue of eternal generation."
Mary, by the Evangelist, says also to Jesus :
"Thou art my Son in virtue of generation
in time." And, as the tree is known by its
fruits, the dignity of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is
almost infinite (Alb. Mag.). Great is the elevation
of Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominations,
Powers, Cherubim, and Seraphim; but they are all
788 Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
far inferior to Mary. Great are the Patriarchs, the
Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Confessors,
but Mary is their Queen. "Mary," says St. Gregory
the Great, "is the mountain of Isaias on the summit
of the other mountains ; for she transcends in lofti-
ness of glory all angels and men. Mary is the sil-
very moon that illuminates by night the path of the
traveler. Mary is the sun that by its effulgence
eclipses the light of all the stars, and rules in splen-
dor as if the stars had no existence. Fair as the
moon, bright as the sun."
The intimate Union also between Mary and God
declares the sublimity of her dignity. Christ, the
Son of God, received his human nature from Mary,
By her divine maternity, therefore, Mary is most
closely united with the infinite person of Christ;
hence accrues to Mary a dignity almost infinite.
"Mary," according to St. John Damascene, "by
becoming the Mother of the Creator, became at once
the Queen of all creatures." "Hence," says Gerson,
"there belongs to Mary a kind of natural dominion
over the whole universe." "All creatures," says St.
Bernard, "in whatever rank of being, whether merely
spiritual, as angels ; or rational, as men ; or corporeal,
as purely material beings ; all in the heavens and on
the earth, and in the places under the earth, that are
subject to the omnipotent dominion of God, are sub-
ject also to the authority of the holy Virgin Mary."
The Church sanctions these assertions by saluting
Mary as Queen of heaven. Queen of angels. Queen
of the world.
Mary is the Mother of Christ by nature and she is
at the same time the Mother of all Christians by
grace. Mary is not only our Mother in name, but
she performs every day the part of a most loving
mother. In the kingdom of glory she implores her
Mary, the Holy Mother of God. 789
Son continually in our behalf, for it is He who has
consigned us to her as children. If Christ is our
Advocate with His Father, she is our advocate
with her Son, Christ Jesus, our Saviour. She is the
Mother of grace for the just man, that he may perse-
vere and advance in the way of virtue; and she is
the Mother of mercy for the sinner who has the will
to be converted to God. To all she says in the words
of divine wisdom : "I am the Mother of fair love, and
of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me
is all grace of the way and of the truth : in me is
all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all
ye that desire, me, and be filled with my fruits''
(Ecclus. xxiv, 24, 26). ''Blessed is the man that
heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates,
and waiteth at the posts of my doors. He that shall
find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from
the Lord'' (Prov. viii. 34, 35). ''Mary," says one
of her devout servants, "loves us ardently because
she adopted us as children, and wishes us to call her
Mother of love." No precept has been given to
parents to love their children. This is a love of
natural necessity. Wild beasts even are taught by
nature to love their own oflfspring. "Can a woman,"
says Isaias, "forget her infant, so as not to have pity
on the son of her womb?" And if she should for-
get, yet will not Mary forget us. She ardently de-
sired to die with Jesus out of love for us, whom
He so excessively loved. "The Son was expir-
ing on the cross," says St. Ambrose, "and Mary
was in spirit ofifering herself to die with Him for
our benefit."
The love of Mary for men arises from her love
for God. The love of God and the love of our
neighbor are embraced in the same precept. "This
commandment we have from God, that he who
790 Maiy, the Holy Mother of God.
loveth God must love also his brother" (i John iv.
21 ). The more love for God increases, the more in-
creases the love of our neighbor. What did not an
Alphonsus Liguori perform in the kingdom of
Naples, a Charles Borromeo in the territory of
Milan, or a Father Damien among the lepers?
And why? Because they were inflamed with a
strong and active love for God. But in love for God
Mary far excels all the saints ; therefore in love of
her neighbor Mary is more ardent and earnest than
they were. Mary loves us because we are her chil-
dren, given to her by the dying Saviour. And she
loves us fervently, because Jesus Christ has pur-
chased us at the infinite price of His Passion and
death. She knows full well that her Son came into
the world to seek and save that which was lost. She
knows that Jesus Christ, although God, emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made
in the likeness of man, and in habit found as a man ;
that He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Mary must,
then, love those whom God loves ; and as God loves
in order to save, and most ardently desires that we
all be saved, Mary is for us a loving mother, whose
whole solicitude is employed to conduct us to
heaven.
''In the olden days," says Father Hattler, "when
sailors traveled out upon the wide and open
seas, and wished to know in what direction they
should steer their ship in the darkness, they
had to fix their eyes upon a certain star in the
heavens called the pole-star, or the 'Star of the
sea.' The life of a Christian is like unto a voy-
age over an unsafe and stormy ocean : it is full of
dangers and snares, which can sink men into the
depths of sin and eternal damnation. But Mary.^
Mary, the Holy Mother of God. 791
with her example, and with her helpful intercession,
is like a guiding star. The Christian, during life,
should look up to her; he should put her example
before him, try to imitate her, and pray for her help.
Whoever does that can never be lost. Therefore
has Mary been justly called The Star of the sea;'
and it is a beautiful discourse which St. Bernard
once made about this. In it he says : 'Mary means
as much as *'Star of the sea." This name is most
justly fitting to the Virgin Mother. She is that
bright gleaming star which rises above the wide,
vast ocean, shining with her merits, and shedding
light by her example. Turn not thine eyes away
from the light of this star if thou wouldst not be
buried in the waves.'
''When thou seest thyself upon the stream of
time, tossed between wind and wave, rather than
treading upon the firm earth, look up to the Star:
call, 'Mary!'
"When pride, or ambition, or calumny, or envy,
like the wild waves, toss thee hither and thither,
look up to the Star : call, 'Mary !'
"When thy heart, with anger, or sinful desires, is
whipped about like a little ship in a tempest, then
look up to the Star : call, 'Mary !'
"When the greatness of thy sins affrights thee, or
the horror of thy conscience makes thee ashamed,
and thou beginnest to feel thyself in the grasp of
despair, as in a whirlpool, dragged down and down
into the abyss, then look up to the Star : call, 'Mary !'
In danger, in anxiety, in doubts, think of Mary,
call on Mary : let her name be ever on thy lips, let
it always abide in thy heart.
"But to wm her intercession, depart not from the
pattern of her life. Only follow her, and thou wilt
never go astray; call upon her, and thou wilt not
792
Mary, the Holy Mother of God,
despond; think of her, and thou wilt not falsely
judge. If she takes thee by the hand, thou canst
not fall; if she protects thee, thou canst know no
fear ; under her guidance thou wilt never weary ;
with her favor thou wilt be landed happily. So
mayest thou learn, in thy own self, how true it is
what is written : 'And the name of the Virgin was
Mary, that is. Star of the sea !' ''
How devotional, how beautiful, how helpful is
the hymn, ''Ave Maris Stella'' ! Say it frequently
with great attention and devotion.
^JVE maris stella,
ck/r-^ Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper virgo,
Felix coeli porta.
Sumens illud Ave,
Gabrielis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Hevae nomen.
Solve vincla reis,
Profer lumen csecis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce.
Monstra te esse matrem,
Sumat per te preces,
Qui pro nobis natus
Tulit esse tuus.
Virgo singularis,
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solutos,
Mites fac et castos.
BRIGHT Mother of Our
Maker, hail!
Thou Virgin ever blest,
The ocean's Star by which
we sail.
And gain the port of rest !
Whilst we this Ave thus to
thee
From Gabriers mouth re-
hearse,
Prevail, that peace our lot
may be.
And Eva's name reverse.
Release our long-entangled
mind
From all the snares of ill ;
With heavenly light instruct
the blind,
And all our vows fulfil,
Exert for us a Mother's care.
And us thy children, own ;
Prevail with Him to hear our
prayer,
Who chose to be thy Son.
O spotless Maid ! whose vir-
tues shine
With brightest purity;
Each action of our life refine,
And make us pure like thee.
Mary^ the Holy Mother of God,
Vitam praesta puram,
793
Inter para tutum,
Ut videntes Jesum,
Semper collsetemur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
Summo Christo decus,
Spiritui sancto,
Tribus honor unus. Amen.
Preserve our lives unstained
from ill,
And guard us in our way ;
That Christ, one day, our
souls may fill
With joys that ne'er decay.
To God the Father, endless
praise :
To God the Son, the same ;
And Holy Ghost, whose equal
rays
One equal glory claim.
Amen.
CHAPTER LXXIIL
®ur XaD^ ot tbe Mceec^ Sacrament
^?^HE pleasing little incidents of the interview in
^^ which His Holiness Pope Pius X. granted
official recognition to the title ''Our Lady of the
Blessed Sacrament" are thus recorded in Emmanuel,
March, 1906 : A prelate of Canada, whose devotion
toward the Holy Eucharist is equaled only by his
benevolence, Mgr. Gautier, Archbishop of Kings-
ton, was recently in Rome. The Superior-General
of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament, Very Rev.
Father Estevenon, whose headquarters are at the
church of Saint Claude, a spot well known to the
pilgrims to the Eternal City, suggested to His Grace
to petition the Holy Father, in behalf of the faithful
of his diocese, to grant an indulgence for the recita-
tion of the little prayer: ''Our Lady of the Most
Blessed Sacrament, Mother and Model of adorers,
pray for us !"
Pleased with the idea. His Grace drew up a
petition in writing to present to His Holiness in an
audience appointed for him on December 30th.
The new title was to be ''Our Lady's new year's
gift."
But behold what happened ! During the inter-
view, having obtained from the Holy Father permis-
sion to read his carefully worded petition, the Arch-
bishop could not find it. In vain did he search his
pockets, in vain were those of his overcoat, which he
had left in the antechamber, turned inside out.
Great was the embarrassment of the good prelate,
and he began viva voce to lay before His Holiness
the substance of his stray petition.
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 795
At once, smiling and earnest, with that kind and
obHging readiness habitual to him, Pins X. took up
his pen and, without an instant's hesitation, wrote the
text given below. Then, after signing it, he handed
it to His Grace of Kingston, who could scarcely find
words to express his delight and gratitude.
"Cunctis qui coram SS.mo Sacramento publicae
adorationi exposito recitaverint hanc iaculatoriam :
'Doniina Nostra SS.mi Sacramenti, ora pro nobis'
Indulgentiam trecentorum dierum concedimus.
"PIUS PP. X.
''Die 30 mensis Decembris, an. 1905."
By this rescript an indulgence of three hundred
days is granted to all who recite the prayer : ''Our
Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us !'' be-
fore the sacred Host exposed for adoration.
On Our Lady and the Eucharist, Father Faber
writes as foUov/s : "Who can doubt that there is a
close and invariable connection between devotion to
our dear Mother and devotion to the Blessed Sacra-
ment? The force of terms would be enough to
prove it. The lives of the saints and the teaching of
spiritual books are both full of it. But we do not
need them for proofs, for the experience of every
one of us proves it decisively to ourselves at least.
We have felt and known that in proportion as we
loved our blessed Lady, our devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament grew more tender and more reverent,
and the more we w^ere with the Blessed Sacrament,
even without seeming to think of Mary, the more an
intense devotion to her took possession of the very
depths of our heart. This is a phenomenon which is
universal throughout the life of the Church, and
which needs no further commentary than the re-
membrance that one is the Mother and one the Son.
"Never was mere creature exalted to such a posi-
70 Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
tion of power and empire as was Mary, made
Mother of mankind at the foot of the cross, when
her woes were consummated and her heart broken,
and yet she miraculously lived. But here again the
light of the sacred infancy is on her. It is as Mother
of God that she becomes Mother of men as well. It
is because she bore Him that she had a right to share
with Him what He endured for us. Again, when at
Pentecost she, who was all light already, was incon-
ceivably illuminated and gifted by the Holy Ghost,
is was as the Mother of the Word that she became
Queen of the apostles of the Word. The glory of
her death of love was also the earthly crown of the
annunciation, and the mystery of the assumption in-
volved the heavenly crown whereby Our Lord paid
her for the delightful ministries of her maternal
love. Of course, all these four mysteries have a
beauty and a glory and a significance of their own ;
yet they are what they are, their full beauty and dig-
nity belongs to them, because of the mysteries of the
sacred infancy.
''Our Lady's life may be divided into four mys-
teries preceding the Incarnation, the immaculate
conception, the nativity, the presentation, and the es-
pousals ; then into the four great mysteries of the
sacred infancy, the annunciation, visitation, nativity,
and presentation ; and then into four mysteries sub-
sequent, her compassion, Pentecost, her death, and
her assumption. These are her twelve stars. Be-
tween the sacred infancy and the cross there inter-
vene four mysteries of shadow and of deepest im-
port, full of glory but a hidden glory or rather a
seeming shame. These I call the eclipse of Mary,
wherein she is most especially likened to her Son,
and drinks deepest of the similitudes of the Incarna-
tion. They are the finding in the Temple, the mar-
Ou7' Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. 797
riage at Cana, Jesus leaving Nazareth to begin His
ministry, and His words when He was told that she
was at the door. Full as they are of doctrine and
devotion, these four mysteries do not concern us
now. What I wish to point out here is that the
fountains of her honor are in the four great mys-
teries of the sacred infancy — the annunciation,
whereby she became the Mother of God ; the visita-
tion, which implies His life in the womb ; the nativ-
ity, when He put Himself into her hands ; and the
presentation, when He enabled her to offer to God
an offering as immense as God Himself: and these
four mysteries cast a light on the four that precede
the sacred infancy and the four that follow it; and
the four mysteries of her eclipse would be no mys-
teries at all but for her divine maternity. Then I
argue thus: The devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
is the same as the devotion to the sacred infancy.
But devotion to the sacred infancy is in fact devo-
tion to our blessed Lady. Therefore devotion to our
blessed Lady is devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Judge whether I prove this sufficiently.
'Those whose spirit leads them to look at every-
thing as it comes from Jesus, as His doing, or per-
mitting, or willing, base their devotion to our blessed
Lady simply on the will of her Son ; and while they
by no means think lightly of the decrees of God, the
intrinsic rights of the divine maternity, or the theo-
logical conveniences which we learn in the schools,
nevertheless, they repose the devotion to our blessed
Lady on these three axioms or facts : i. Jesus did not
come without her. 2. When He came, He made the
access to Him lie through her. 3. When He went.
He left her to be to the Church what she had been to
Him, and, in fact, always works in the Church by
her, and never without her. Now, look at the first
79^ Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
fact : Jesus did not come without her. She was an
integral part of the plan of redemption, not a mere
ornament, as some speak. Can anything be merely
ornamental in any work of God? It may be
doubted whether it is consistent with reverence to
say so. The first thing that meets us in the sacred
infancy is that He will not be incarnate without her
consent. That there was the Incarnation was owing
to her consent, and therefore that there was the
Blessed Sacrament, which is a daily and hourly re-
newal of the Incarnation, is owing to her consent.
What is present in the Blessed Sacrament by the
force of consecration is just what He took from
Mary, and only that His flesh and blood. All else is
present by concomitance.
''Let us come to the second fact. When He
came, He made access to Him lie through
her. When St. John the Baptist was to be sancti-
fied, it was through her that the grace came.
She was, as it were, deputed to confer on him the
insignia of innocence. When the simple shepherds
came to worship the new-born King in Bethlehem,
Our Lady stood guardian by the manger. When
the learned kings of the East knelt to make their
mystic ofiferings to the omnipotent Child, it was on
Mary's lap they found Him. Her knees were the
seat of wisdom. If they kissed the Saviour's feet,
it was she who interpreted His will, and permitted
the familiarity and the grace. So, too^ in the
Blessed Sacrament, the light of her dignity shines
upon the priests of her Son, and what was once her
single prerogative has become the office and the
right of multitudes. For what is Benediction but
repeating what was done to the shepherds and the
kings? Only in this, as in all things else, the
Blessed Sacrament multiplies and enriches the first
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 799
privileges of the Incarnation ; and, whereas this hap-
pened once to the shepherds and once to the kings,
it now happens many times a day all the world over,
and freely to mixed m.ultitudes of good and bad,
''Turn to the third fact. He always works in the
Church by her, and never without her. In dogma it
has passed almost into a proverb that the doctrine
about Mary shields the doctrine about Jesus, and
contains it as she once contained Himself. In ritual
they are never separated. In devotion they have
grown together; and in great ecclesiastical epochs
her action has been manifested to the Church in
countless ways,, both natural and miraculous. As
M. Olier and his school have long since been promi-
nent in teaching, just as St. Bernard taught in his
doctrine about the mystical neck of the Church, Our
Lord never seems to act in any notable way in the
Church, without our tracing the instrumental hand
and power of Mary. So it was in the sacred in-
fancy; the world was governed through and from
her, as the world is governed at this hour through
and from the species of the Blessed Sacrament. So
that if you examine it reverently and minutely the
sacred infancy is itself a picture of the Blessed
Sacrament and of Mary in the Church ; the Blessed
Sacrament images the sacred infancy and Mary in
the Church ; and Mary in the Church is best seen,
best explained, and best commented upon by the
Blessed Sacrament and the sacred infancy. How
far does experience bear out what has been said?
Why, to so great an extent that in the devout life it
is almost the same thing to say of a»man that he has
a great devotion to our blessed Lady, or that he has
a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
''What is all sweetness in communion, all joy at
Benediction, all inward fluttering of the ravished
8oo Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
heart before the tabernacle, but the antitype of this
delightful mystery of the Visitation? Has it not
always been Mary that brought Him to us? Look
at our past lives. When did we come to love Jesus
so burningly, so enthusiastically, as we do now;
when was it^ and where, and how, and what reminis-
cences are mingled with it all? O my Mother! my
Mother ! I see as it were threads of gold running
ever through the web of my past life. They are the
threads of thy love, thou who hast been my provi-
dence. I never have a communion but to thee I owe
it. The tabernaclie, the pyx, the monstrance — the
very beauty of the mystery is that it is thy Jesus,
and not another, the body that was formed from
thee, and not a new one, which consecration brings.
When I come to thee on thy feasts, to look at thy-
self, to admire thy beauty, to praise thy grace, to
glorify God for all thy gifts, to kneel before thee
and tell thee all my heart in prayer, for thou art
omnipotent in thine intercession, thou hast Jesus
with thee, and makest me feel Him even when haply
I was not thinking of Him in my mind, though
surely I am always loving Him in my heart.
''All our best life, all our spiritual life, is nothing
but a succession of visitations, visitations from Mary
bringing Jesus with her ; but nowhere is the simili-
tude so faithful as it is in the Blessed Sacrament.
How often, when we come near to the tabernacle, a
secret fire comes forth, and our hearts burn within
us without apparent cause. Cares fall off, tears are
dried, doubts melt away, temptations are paralyzed,
anxieties are alkyed, our soul is bathed in quiet,
sudden jubilee. Joy, exultation, praise, delight, the
sense of forgiveness and the spirit of worship —
these are exactly the fruits produced within us, as
they were produced in the Baptist's soul.
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. 8oi
'There is no one to whom the mere vicinity of the
Blessed Sacrament has not been the cause of un-
numbered blessings/'
''It does not follow/' writes Pere Eymard, "be-
cause it is our special office to honor the Eucharist
that we should lessen our devotion to the Blessed
Virgin. Far from it. He would be truly displeas-
ing to Jesus who should say : 'The Eucharist is
enough for me; I do not need Mary/ Where do
we find Jesus upon earth? Is it not in the arms of
Mary? Is it not she who has given us the Blessed
Eucharist ? It was her acquiescence in the Incarna-
tion of the Son of God — the divine Word — that be-
gan the great mystery of reparation to God and of
the union with us that Jesus accomplished during
His mortal life, and that He continues in the Eu-
charist. The more we love the Eucharist, the more
we shall love Mary. We love what our friend
loves, and where is creature so loved by God, mother
so tenderly loved by son, as Mary was by Jesus ? If
we owe reverence to Jesus, we owe it to Mary also.
If we adore Him, we must honor her, and to corre-
spond to, as well as to enter fully into, the graces
of our vocation, we owe to Mary a special devotion
as to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. When
we honor Our Eord on the cross, we pray to Our
Lady of sorrows ; in the life at Nazareth, it is Our
Lady of the hidden life who is our model. What
was the occupation of Mary in the cenaculum ? She
was in almost constant adoration. She was the
Model and Queen and Mother of all adorers;
she was, in a word. Our Lady of the Blessed
Sacrament. Jesus left her, so to say, fifteen
years or more on earth after His Ascension
in order that we might learn from her how to
adore and serve Him perfectly. Oh, how beau-
8o2 Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
tiful must have been those years spent in adora-
tion!
*'At Bethlehem, Mary was first to adore her di-
vine Son lying in the manger. After her came St.
Joseph and the shepherds and kings, but it was Mary
who first laid this train of fire, the fire of divine
love that should encircle the earth. She continued
to adore Him in His hidden life, in His apostolic
life, and in His suffering life on Calvary. Study the
character of Mary's adoration. She adores Him in
all the states of His life, and not in a sterile and
monotonous adoration. She adores Him poor at
Bethlehem, toiling at Nazareth, and later, teaching
and converting sinners. She has adored Him upon
Calvary and suffered with Him. Her love follows
all the sentiments of Our Lord, which were known
and divined by her, and into which her sympathetic
love made her enter in entire conformity.
• 'To you, also, adorers of the Blessed Sacrament,
I say, adore always, but vary your adoration as
Mary varied hers. Enter into and revive all these
mysteries in the Eucharist. Without this, you will
fall into routine, and if your adoration is not regu-
lated and varied by some new thought or motive
you will become weary and stupid in your prayers.
''It was thus Mary recalled, on the anniversaries
of these mysteries that had been accomplished be-
fore her eyes, their circumstances, their lessons, and
their graces. She reminded Jesus by them of His
great love for us. We do not always speak to a
friend of the present; we recall pleasing souvenirs
of the past and we contemplate the future. The Eu-
charist is the compendium of all these mysteries, and
renews their graces and their love.
"Mary had such a love for the Blessed Sacrament
that she could scarcely bear to separate herself from
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. 803
it; she lived in the Blessed Sacrament and passed
days and nights before the altar. She must cer-
tainly have lent herself to the needs of the apostles
and the faithful who sought her aid, but her love
for her hidden God shone out upon her countenance
and communicated this ardor to those who ap-
proached her. Let us honor Mary under the title
of 'Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament/ Yes, let
us say, with confidence and love, 'Our Lady of the
Blessed Sacrament, Mother and Model of all
adorers, pray for us who have recourse to you !' "
CHAPTER LXXIV.
^ari2 ITmmaculate.— ICbe Ifmmaculate Conception
of tbe Mlcescb IDtrglm
y^HE work of our Redemption — Christianity in its
^^ final analysis — -jnust always bring us back to
Mary. She was the first gentle flower to bloom
forth in the springtime of the new era, that won-
drous plant that bore her fruit in motherhood, but
still retained the blossom of her virginity. The
name ''Mary'' is interpreted as the ''bitterness of the
sea," but the bitterness of her Hfe was all her own :
to us she became the Star of the sea, leading us on
to our glorious destination. "All generations," she
says, "shall call me blessed." Twice blessed, rather;
for virginity and fruitful maternity are woman's
greatest blessings, and Mary, the virginal Mother of
the Man of men, became, in the birth of her first-
born, the spiritual Mother of us all. Such a singular
combination of prerogatives simply defies exaggera-
tion. No eulogist of her, however perfect, but can
say : "Condescend to hear my praises, O sacred Vir-
gin, and give me strength against thy enemies."
In the history of God's chosen people special men-
tion is made of five women who, at different times,
were the joy and the crown of their age: Mary, the
sister of Moses and Aaron, who led the Israelites
through the Red Sea, chanting the while her Mag-
nificat to the Lord; Abigail, the wife of Nabal,
David's enemy, whose eloquence and beauty so
touched the king's heart that he spared her husband
and her people, and styled her blessed among
women; Ruth, whom filial devotion led far from
Mary Immaculate. 805
home and fatherland, and whose faithfulness finally
gained for her first place in her master's love and
house; Judith, who having slain Holofernes, the
scourge of her people, was styled by them ''the glory
of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel;" and finally Anna,
the mother of Samuel — Samuel whom she wrung
from God by prayers and tears, only to return him
magnanimously to the Lord. Now it is a singular
fact, providential surely, that the initial letters of
these five names, Mary, Abigail, Ruth, Judith and
Anna, taken in order spell the name Maria; the
name of her in whom were focused all the virtues
of those that preceded her and those that followed ;
who was second only to the Man-God. If a greater
than John the Baptist was never born of woman in
the Old Law, surely, with the single exception of
Christ, a greater than Mary was never born of
woman in the New. The painter Zeuxis, w^e are
told, depicted his ideal woman by copying the vari-
ous graces of many models into one figure, and an-
cient mythology has it that each divinity lent a
charm to grace the queen of love. A myth, yes, but
a myth founded on a fact, on Mary's creation. She
is that Ruth whose loving heart recked not of home
or country but only of her people and her Lord ; she
is that Judith who slew man's bitterest foe when she
crushed the head of the serpent ; she is that Abigail
by whose eloquent beauty the wrath of the King of
kings was turned to mercy. The Child of her
prayers she gave, like Anna, freely to the Lord ; but
most of all she is that Mary who alone of mortals
passed through the sea of this sinful world dry-shod
and without a stain. Man may say that but for Eve
Adam had never sinned; he may point to his sex
deified in the person of the Saviour ; but still, speak-
ing of the purely mortal, we can and do turn to a
8o6 Mary Immaculate.
woman, to Mary, and salute her in the words of the
poet as : "Our tainted nature's soHtary boast."
In the x\pocalypse Mary is described as the
woman clothed with the sun of God's effulgent
grace, the moon, the changeful moon, under her feet,
and on her head a crown of stars, the brightest star
of them, all her Immaculate Conception. Alone of
mortals, she, from the instant of her creation, was
preserved from the stain of original sin. We read
that the Prophet Jeremias and John the Baptist
were sanctified in their mothers' wombs, but still
each was created, each conceived, in sin. In fact, with
Alary as a solitary exception, every child of Adam is
heir to Adam.'s guilt. In the beginning God made
man right, says Ecclesiasticus, right with the recti-
tude of order, his soul and its higher powers subject
to God, his lower nature subject to his reason and
will, and the whole visible universe subject to the
composite man. The world was then an earthly
paradise, no labor, no want, no affliction from with-
out, no misery from within, but happiness and im-
mortality here, and the assured vision of God here-
after. But man, like the angels, was tried, and
man, like the angels, fell. The angels sought equal-
ity with God in power, and man, equally guilty,
sought equality with God in knowledge. And as in
their case so in other and all cases ; self-exaltation
ended in humiliation, for God anathematized man
and freed his subjects from their allegiance to him.
"'Cursed be the earth," He said ; ''thorns and thistles
will it bear thee. Thou shalt labor and toil all the
days of thy life, and as dust thou art, so unto dust
thou shait return." Original sin, with its effects,
was the complete subversion of the primitive har-
mony established between God and man, between
man's higher and lower natures, and between man
Mary Immaculate. 807
and the world; and this sin and its effects we all
inherit. "Behold," says the Psalmist, '*I was con-
ceived in iniquities, and in sin did my mother con-
ceive me." And St. Paul adds, ''As by one man sin
entered this world, and by sin death ; so death hath
passed upon all men from him in- whom all men
have sinned." As the wages of sin is death, and as
all men die, we must naturally conclude that all men
are conceived children of wrath in original sin. It
stains the unborn, and the newly born ; it stains man
in whatever stage of unbaptized existence he may
be, for only sin excludes from happiness, and Christ
has said: ''Unless a man be born again of water and
the Holy Ghost, he can never enter the kingdom of
heaven." The Church attests this fundamental
dogma by celebrating the feasts of the saints, not
on the day when in sin they came into this world,
but on the day of their death, when, sinless, they
passed to glory. St. Jerome discourages inquiry as
to how original sin is transmitted, saying: 'Tt is as
though one fallen overboard were asked, * How came
you there?' and should reply, 'Ask not how I came
here, but seek rather how^ you may get me out.' "
Anyhow, our natures were corrupted in Adam
and Eve as waters in their source, with this differ-
ence, that human nature is not purified in transmis-
sion. As the different members of my body may
become guilty of crime, though not acting by their
own volition but under the influence of my perverse
will, so we, as we are of the great body of human-
ity, contract the guilt of a sin of which the head
alone was guilty. Adam and Eve were a repre-
sentative committee of two, chosen from the
myriads of human possibilities. Theirs was a test
case ; their fate our fate ; so that we all share in their
sin and punishment as we should have shared in
8o8 Mary Immaculate.
their happiness had they remained faithful to God.
One single exception is recorded — the Virgin Mary.
Of her alone we can say with the Canticle : ''All
beautiful art thou and there is no stain in thee.'' In
St. John's vision of her the moon under her feet
denotes the absence in her of all stain or change-
denotes her to be as Longfellow styles her: 'The
peerless queen of air, who as sandals to her feet,
the silver moon doth wear."
For us Catholics the ultimate proof that Mary was
immaculately conceived must ever be the fact that
for centuries this truth was accepted by the entire
Catholic world, and defined at last as an article of
our faith by Pius IX. in 1854. Nor are we without
reasons for the faith that is in us. This privilege
of Mary was foreshadowed in the words of God to
the demon-seducer of our first parents : 'T will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and thy seed
and her seed, and she shall crush thy head." We
can readily understand the enmity between Mary's
Son and Satan, but that Mary herself should, as
promised, vanquish the serpent, is explainable only
on the theory that she was never for an instant sub-
ject to him by sin, that she was immaculately con-
ceived. Jesus and Mary were prefigured in Adam
and Eve — they are as like as the light of to-day and
to-morrow, and yet they differ as the waning twi-
light from the coming dawn. Adam's hands, out-
stretched toward the forbidden fruit, point to death
and darkness ; the hands of Christ in Gethsemane,
receiving from the angel the chaHce of His suffer-
ings, point to life and light : and it was not until
the w^ater from the side of Christ on the cross
trickled down on Adam's skull that life met death in
Baptism. Ad^m was made -of immaculate earth, as
yet uncursed — a true figure of the stainless Virgin
Mary Immaculate. 809
who was to conceive and bear the Saviour. ''Hoh-
ness becometh Thy house, O Lord," says the Psalm-
ist ; and Mary's body was the house of the Lord ;
the material from which He built Him an earthly
habitation. Christ was the wisdom of the Father,
and Holy Writ has it that 'Visdom will not enter
into a malicious soul nor dwell in a body subject
to sin." To deny the Immaculate Conception of
Mary is, to my mind, scarcely less blasphemous
than to assert that the humanity of Christ Himself
was stained with original sin, for did He not be-
come flesh of her flesh and bone of her bone ? And
who does not recoil in horror from the thought that
even the adorable body and blood of Christ in the
Sacrament of the altar should have had its origin
in anything defiled by sin? The Immaculate Con-
ception of Mary is a necessary corollary of Christ's
absolute sinlessness. It was asserted by John the
Baptist when he refused to baptize the Saviour in
the Jordan. It was asserted by Christ Himself when
He demanded of His enemies : ''Which of you shall
convince Me of sin? And what fellowship is there
of God with Belial?"
But apart from her divine Son, Mary in the
Scripture vindicates in her own person this article
of our faith. Mary's destiny was to undo what Eve
had done, and whatever in the order of grace Eve
lost Mary regained. Mary is the direct antithesis
of Eve. Ave, Eva, even their names are an in-
version, the one of the other. It was due to God's
dignity and power that His fair creation should be
restored by exactly the same means wherewith by
the demon it had been destroyed. Eve sprang from
Adam and became his mother in error and death;
Mary sprang from God and became the Mother of
the Man-God — the truth and the life. Eve con-
8io Mary Immaculate.
sented to the prince of darkness, but it was to an
angel Mary said : ''Be it done unto me according to
thy word/' Mary brought forth her Son without
loss of virginity and without pain, whereas had she
ever even for an instant been the subject of original
sin God's words would have been verified of her
as of every daughter of Eve : ''I will multiply thy
sorrows and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth chil-
dren." Eve came to fill the world with the thorns
and thistles of human afflictions, but the Canticle,
speaking of Mary's conception, says: "The winter
is now past, the rain is over and gone, and the
flowers have appeared in our land." She is the
flower of the field and the lily of the valley. *'As
the lily among the thorns," says the Canticle, so is
Mary among the daughters of Eve. She is the
fleece of Gideon, bathed in the heavenly dew, while
all around was parched with the breath of helL
Upon Mary, says the Psalmist, grace came down as
the dew upon the fleece, and from her it spread
broadcast, and was increased by the preaching of
the Apostles and their successors, until it became as
showers gently falling upon all the land, for their
sound hath gone forth into all the earth and their
words unto the ends of the world. She is the ark of
Noe, unsubmerged by the universal deluge of sin ;
alone on the world of waters, a solitary refuge for
the remnant of mankind.
There is one more text of Scripture from many
that might be adduced concerning the Immaculate
Conception. In the sixth Canticle we read : "Who is
she that cometh forth as the dawn ; fair as the moon,
bright as the sun ; terrible as an army set in array ?"
All the beauties of Nature, of the day, of the night,
and of the intervening time — the aurora — are here
attributed to Mary. She came as the dawn, pure
Mary Immaculate. 8ii
and sweet, with the promise of a glorious day. St.
Francis of Assisi loved to meditate gazing on the
rising sun: *'For," said he, ''with the eye of faith I
can see therein the dawn of man's Redemption." It
was another and beautiful way of saying that he
loved to meditate on Mary's Immaculate Concep-
tion. ''Fair as the moon." In all nature there is
nothing lovelier than the pale queen of night, as
with stately tread she ascends the throne of heaven^
while the stars, like flowers, strew her royal way.
She shines with a borrowed light, 'tis true, as Mary
did, but still star differs from star in glory, and
Mary is the brightest of them all. And lest we
should imagine that, like the moon, there is any spot
or change in her, the Canticle adds that Mary is
bright as the sun.- One and the same halo surrounds
Mary and the Child in her arms. If a brief vision
of God on Mount Sinai made the face of Moses
shine like the sun, what shall we say of Mary, who
for thirty long years basked in the smiles of the
Saviour ? Through her the light of divine truth and
the warmth of divine love suffused this world, thaw-
ing out the congealed heart of the sinner and start-
ing up the rivulets of human sympathy. Finally, to
tlie powers of darkness she is terrible as an army set
in array. As the shadows of night fly westward in
confusion before the dawning aurora, so the demons
before the coming of Mary ; for she was the first to
throw off the yoke of Satan, the first to put his
forces to flight. "^
The Rev. Charles Coppens, S.J., in an article in
the American Ecclesiastical Review for May, 1904,
the year in which the Church celebrated the golden
jubilee of the definition of the dogma of Mary's Im-
maculate Conception, advances this argument :
*Frbm Baxter's Sermons from the Latins.
8 12 Mary Immaculate.
*'That God could exempt a soul from contracting the
stain of Adam's sin, no man can deny; that He
should have wished to do so in the case of the most
highly favored among His creatures, was most per-
fectly suitable to His infinite wisdom and goodness.
What Christian father would not, if he could, bestow
such a favor on his favorite child ? What dutiful son
would refuse to exemipt his mother from the dis-
grace of becoming a bondwoman to his bitterest
enemy? What honorable man would not share his
own stainless honor with his beloved spouse? And
is not Mary the favorite Daughter of God the
Father ; the blessed Mother of God the Son ; and the
beloved Spouse of the Holy Ghost? Was it to be
expected that Christ, who came to destroy sin,
should leave the stain of it to defile, for a time. His
own Mother's soul? As He was a totally sinless
man, so, as was most proper. He made His blessed
Mother a totally sinless woman. Having shed His
sacred blood to wash away the stain of sin, He or-
dinarily applies His merit to each soul in Bap-
tism; but to His Mother's soul He applies it at
the moment of creation. She, therefore, owes all
her sinlessness to Him; she shared in his Redemp-
tion, but in a more excellent manner than all other
men."
'* Against those," writes Father Lambing in his
excellent booklet, The Immaculate Conception, "who
would argue that the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception would go to prove that Mary was not
actually redeemed, and that consequently her ex-
emption from the sin of Adam was contrary to the
whole economy of God's dealings with man. Dr.
Ullathorne reasons in this masterly way : He who in
the face of the universal law gave sanctity to the
soul of John the Baptist before he was born, could
Mary Immaculate. 813
give sanctity to the soul of Mary at the moment of
its conception. But in that case, was Mary a child
of redemption? Was she the offspring of His
glorious blood? Most assuredly was she redeemed
by His blood. Her redemption was the very master-
piece of His redeeming wisdom. It presents one in-
stance more, the very noblest, of that law of accum-
ulation of excellences, as the one absolutely perfect
work of redemption. For, to enter upon the cele-
brated argument of Scotus, Our Lord is the univer-
sal Redeemer and most perfect Mediator. Must we
not, then, look for some most complete and exquisite
example of His mediatorial and redeeming powers ?
An example of such surprising excellence that a
greater can not be imagined? And if He has not
wrought that absolutely perfect redemption in His
blessed Mother, of whom alone it is predicated, has
He yet put forth in any case His full powers of re-
demption ?
''He who prevents the disease is a greater physi-
cian than he who cures it after it has been con-
tracted. He is the greater redeemer who pays the
debt that it may not be incurred, than he who pays
it after it has fallen on the debtor. It is a greater
good to save us from sin that we may not sin, than
to save us from sin after we have sinned. It is a
more blessed mediation to prevent us lest we should
offend the majesty of God, than to appease His
anger after we have offended. And so St. Bernard
says of the angels who stood, that Christ saved them
by His grace, that they might not fall, and was in
that way their Redeemer. And if Our Lord exer-
cised a greater power of redemption over Mary than
over others, by preserving her from actual sin. He
exercised His greatest power by preserving her
from original sin.'"
8i4 Mary Immaculate.
As the Rev. D. I. McDermott says in his Sermons
on the Blessed Virgin: "The one grand leading idea
presented for our consideration in almost every part
of the Mass and the Office of the feast of the Im-
maculate Conception is, that Mary was the taber-
nacle, temple, house, so to speak, in which the Re-
deemer of the w^orld lived for nine months ; and
that all the graces with which Mary was enriched
were given her to make her a dwelling-place worthy
of the Son of God. In the prayer at Mass this
morning, the Church says : O God, who didst cause
that a virgin should be conceived without sin, to the
end that she should be made a meet dwelling-place
for Thy Son : O God, who through the precious
death of Thy Son foreseen by Thee didst keep her
clean from all stain, hear us, we beseech Thee, and
grant that by her prayers, we also who are presently
defiled may finally be made pure, and so with her
attain unto Thee. In the Office of this feast, the
Church applies to Mary these words : 'Wisdom has
built for Himself a house.' The divine Architect,
however, never fails to attain His purposes, to exe-
cute satisfactorily His designs. He that annihilated
Himself in becoming man might have dispensed
with many things which would, according to our
worldly notions, have befitted His abode, but what
one thing must He have, by very force of His na-
ture, excluded from it?
''According to the Apostle, Our Lord became
like unto us in all things except — in what ? Except
in sin.
"Sin, therefore, must have been excluded from
this. His carefully considered house. 'The Arch-
itect,' says St. Proclus, 'was not dishonored in His
work, for He dwelt in the house He Himself had
built. The clay did not soil the potter in refashion-
Mary Immaculate, 815
ing the vessel he had molded. Nor did aught from
the Virgin's womb defile the most pure God ; for
as He received no stain in forming it He received
none in proceeding from it.' If holiness became the
material temple wherein God dwelt in the spirit of
His power, how much more, then, did it become the
living temple in which He dwelt for nine months?
The temple in which, according to a spiritual writer,
were forged the weapons by which He overcame the
devil — the 'House of Gold' enclosing the well-
spring whence He drew that blood, one drop of
which was capable of saving the world. Well, then,
may we cry with the Psalmist : 'Holiness becometh
Thy house, O Lord !' Well, then, may we cry out
in the words of the Office of the day : 'The Most
High sanctified His temple, placed its foundations
in the holy mountain, and built it in the sun.' "
"The ancient tabernacle formed by men," writes
the author of Lessons from Our Lady's Life, "was
necessarily incomplete, even as the rites and cere-
monies of old were but types of the perfect Sacrifice
to come; but Mary came into the world perfect
from the hands of God. Mary was the holy of
holies in very truth, the temple of the Most High,
the tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, and through her,
as the Mother of the Victim, the supreme, all-avail-
ing Sacrifice was offered to God for man. Before
her very birth she was 'blessed among women,' spot-
less as befitted the predestined Mother of the Most
High. To understand the dignity which her Im-
maculate Conception confers on Mary we must real-
ize the full value of the human soul in the eyes of its
Maker. The body, indeed, is formed of the dust of
the earth, but the soul is the very breath of God.
Made to His image and likeness, instructed by His
voice, sanctified by His Holy Spirit, redeemed by the
8i6 Mary Immaculate.
blood of His only Son, how much is the soul worth!
If an ordinary soul, subject to many frailties and
marred with many blemishes, be yet so precious in
the sight of God, what must be the dignity of Mary,
whose soul was absolutely free not only from actual
sin but also from that inherited stain common to hu-
manity ?
''The consideration of the Immaculate Conception
of our holy Mother should fill us with the greatest
reverence for that wondrous purity which raised
her above all creation, and which she carried unsul-
lied throughout her life. 'The Immaculate Concep-
tion,' said a holy riun lately called away, 'suggests
thoughts of joy and comfort. Of joy — for as a
child is proud of its mother, may we not rejoice in
the beauty of Our Lady — '^Tu honorificentia populi
nostri'' — who won the admiration of men, angels,
and of God Himself — ''Gratia plena, tota pulchra
es''? Of comfort — for it was for mankind as well as
for herself that Mary received the grace of freedom
from sin, in order that she might bring forth Our
Lord, through whose merits she has especial power
of dispensing to us purity of conscience. . . . How
dear was purity to her, since to keep it in its
original splendor she would have sacrificed the
greatest of honors — divine maternity.' Let us
honor the immaculate purity of Mary by endeavor-
ing to become like her. She was sinless even in her
conception, that she might be worthy to bring forth
the Lamb who taketh away the sins of the world,
and she desires sinlessness in her children. For love
of our spotless Mother, then, let us resolve to fly
from all occasions of sin, to refrain from even the
smallest deliberate fault, that her pure eyes may find
in us naught to ofifend their gaze."
"Well may the enlightened Christian," exclaims
Mary Immaculate. 817
a pious author, ''make a pilgrimage ... to the
Heart of Mary. If he feels with St. Paul that he
has been redeemed at a great price, if he values
with St. Peter more than the corruptible gold and
silver of this world the blood of Christ in which he
has been redeemed, well may he go and prostrate
himself before the heart of Mary, and worship with
humble reverence before that fountain from which
the saving tide of redemption has flowed upon him.'*
CHAPTER LXXV.
^ater Boloroea^— ©ur Mceecb Aotber of Sorrows*
^^HERE is a group of statuary called the 'Tieta/'
^^ which reminds us of all the sorrows of the
Blessed Virgin, not by representing them all, but by
presenting to our view that scene in the sacrifice of
Calvary wherein the dead body of the Saviour, after
having been taken down from the cross, is laid in
the arms of the Mother of sorrows; that moment
when Mary gave to Jesus the last sad look and the
last loving embrace ere His sacred body was con-
signed to the tomb. When we behold the dead body
of Christ pressed to the bosom of the Virgin
Mother, when we behold Mary's searching, agoniz-
ing glance into the sightless eyes, and into the
gaping wounds of Jesus, we need not be told what
had been up to this the Son's sufferings or the
Mother's sorrows. Just as the last kiss on the brow
of a loved one cold in death brings, in an instant, be-
fore the mind, the incidents of his last sickness, even
the whole life of the dead, so one look on this group
recalls all the incidents of Our Lord's suffering and
of Our Lady's sorrow, with the distinctness and
vividness with which a flash of lightning reveals ob-
jects in the darkness.
To-day it will be my endeavor to impart to you
some idea, however faint, of Mary's sorrow, al-
though to do so would be a difficult task for one pos-
sessed of the greatest learning, the most vivid
imagination, and the most eloquent tongue. That
we may learn how hard it is to form any adequate
idea of Mary's sorrow, the Church applies to her the
Mater Dolorosa. 819
words of the Prophet Jeremias : ''To what shall I
compare thee, or to what shall I liken thee, O
daughter of Jerusalem ? To what shall I equal thee,
that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion ?
For great as the sea is thy destruction" (Lam. ii.
13)-
Who can measure the sea? While sailing across
its vast expanse the largest vessel seems but an atom
on its bosom. In sight is a great waste of water,
which is but as a drop in comparison with those
mighty wastes of water which the horizon conceals
from view\ At certain points, the length, breadth,
and depth of the sea may be measured ; at others it
stretches out and sinks down so far and so irregu-
larly as to baffle all human efforts to estimate its
volume. Thus the sea, while not infinite in extent,
is, humanly speaking, immeasurable.
This is why the sea is truly a picture of Mary's
broken-heartedness. Now and again, definite views
are obtained of certain features of Mary's sorrow,
which, for the moment, seem to afford some basis
for an accurate estimate of her sufferings. When,
however, an attempt is made to measure them., other
aspects of the intensity, duration, and bitterness of
her dolors are revealed in such bewildering propor-
tions as to render futile all efforts to measure the sea
of her broken-heartedness. Thus reflection shows
us that Mary's sorrow^ though falling short of the
infinite, is measureless.
Some notion of Mary's sorrow may be formed
from the consideration of the three things personi-
fied in the 'Tieta/' vk., her love, her pity, and her
compassion.
The greatness, the intensity of love depends upon
the power to love and the attractiveness of the object
on which love is bestowed. The faculties of man's
820 Mater Dolorosa.
soul are developed by his virtues or dwarfed by his
vices, just as man's sensibility to pain is increased by
healthfulness or diminished by sickness. As disease
dulls, deadens the nerves in certain forms of sickness,
until the power to suffer is so decreased or destroyed
that the body may be cut or burned without the af-
flicted one experiencing any sensation of pain, so sin
hardens the heart, dries up the fountains of compas-
sion in the soul until the very power to love or sym-
pathize with others is either lessened or altogether
lost.
Sin, the Catechism says, darkens the understand-
ing, weakens the will, and begets an inclination to
evil, until vice finally renders the soul indifferent to
all its obligations, dead to all the noble sentiments
that should glow in it. Through wickedness, pa-
rents become heartless, insensible to all the claims of
children; and spouses to the fidelity and affection
which should be cherished between husband and
wife. In his epistle to the Romans, St. Paul sums
up in these words the consequence of the vices into
which the pagans had fallen : ''Foolish, dissolute,
without affection, without fidelity, without mercy."
In his epistle to Timothy, the Apostle says of those
given to a reprobate sense, that they are without
natural aft'ection. In a word, sin tends to make
monsters of men.
As, then, in proportion to the ravages of disease,
the body becomes insensible to pain, so, in propor-
tion to their degradation, do sinners lose natural af-
fection. As the greatest capacity for physical suf-
fering exists in the sound, perfect body, so natural
affections are developed and strengthened in propor-
tion to the sanctity of the soul.
Mary was sinless, preserved by a singular privi-
lege from both original and actual sin. Her soul re-
Mater Dolorosa. 821
mained unclouded by even the shadow of any im-
bruting passion. She not only retained unimpaired
all the natural feelings of her pure heart, but she
cultivated them to the highest degree possible for a
creature to attain. So eminent in sanctity did she
become, that the Archangel Gabriel said to her :
''Mary, thou hast found favor with God.'' As her
holiness surpassed that of the angels of heaven, her
power to love exceeded that of the cherub or seraph.
The strongest form of human love is maternal af-
fection. "Can a woman," asks the Lord through the
mouth of the Prophet Isaias, ''forget her infant so as
not to have pity on the son of her womb ? And if she
should forget, I will not forget thee." Here God
speaks of a mother forgetting the child of her womb
as an almost impossible contingency, and finds in a
mother's love the highest type of His own undying
affection for His creatures.
Mary was the Virgin Mother. Hers was the
heart of the Immaculate Virgin and of the divine
Mother. It is evident, therefore, that Mary by
nature and by grace had, of any creature, the great-
est capacity to love, to pity, and to suffer ; and as she
had consecrated herself entirely to God there were
neither worldly interests nor human ties to divide
her love, or divert it from her divine Son. It was
centered wholly in Jesus.
Maternal instinct often blinds women to their
children's deformity or depravity ; it impels them to
love, to cling to them when they have neither beauty
nor goodness to excite or retain affection. Mary,
however, loved Jesus because He was infinitely
worthy of her love. No mother ever had such a son.
Mary's Son was both human and divine, the fruit of
her chaste womb, "the splendor of the Father's glory
and the figure of His substance," at once the Son of
822 Mater Dolorosa.
Mary and the Son of God. For three and thirty
years had she seen Him develop into the comeHest of
the children of men ; for three and thirty years she
had seen Him increase ''in age and wisdom and grace
before God and men/' had seen not only the beauty
of holiness, but the divinity itself light up His
features ; for three and thirty years she had admired
His beauty, wondered at His wisdom, revered His
virtues, adored His divinity.
Thus in Mary was concentrated, as in one con-
suming flame, the strongest affection a mother ever
cherished for a child, and the intensest love a
creature ever bore the Creator. And, since it was
impossible for greater love to exist than that which
united Jesus and Mary, there could be no greater
sympathy than that which existed between them.
Every suffering inflicted on the sacred humanity of
Jesus was a sword that pierced Mary's soul.
While the love of Jesus has been the sole support
and consolation of the martyrs in their suffering, it
was the cause of the exceeding bitterness of Mary's
sorrow. St. Augustine says of St. Lawrence : ''In-
toxicated with the wine of divine love, he felt neither
torments nor death." Father Faber says : ''The
great support of the martyrs is that their inward eye
is bent on Jesus. It is because that within is stronger
than that without, that they are joyful amid their
torments. It is not that their agonies are not real,
but that they are tempered, counteracted by the suc-
cors which the soul supplies, from the grace and love
with which their generous Master is at the moment
filling them to overflowing."
On the other hand, Jesus was the sole cause of His
Mother's grief. Therefore, St. Liguori, quoting
Diez, says : "While the other martyrs are repre-
sented as bearing the instruments of their suffering
Mater Dolorosa. 823
and death, St. Paul with the sword, St. Andrew with
the cross, St. Lawrence with the gridiron, Mary is
represented (in the Tieta') as supporting her dead
Son, because Jesus Himself was the instrument of
her martyrdom.''
Of Mary, Father Faber says : ''Her sinless body
was deHcately framed for suffering beyond all
others, except that of her Son. The more refined and
delicate the soul, the more excruciating its agony.''
Pity is the feeling by which we are moved to re-
lieve another's distress. It often lingers in the
breast after the other sentiments of humanity have
been extinguished. It is so general that it may be
said that one touch of pain makes the whole world
kin. It may be exercised when there is neither love
nor esteem felt for the sufferer.
"Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
Pity gave ere charity began,"
says the poet. It not seldom, degenerates into a
morbid sentimentality because extended to criminals
in such a way as to lessen the horror of crime. It is
found in its true character and strongest aspect
when the sufferer is punished for adhering" to a
righteous cause, and where the heart of the sympa-
thizer is filled with love and justice and mercy. If
then there ever was a heart that could pity, it was
Mary's; if ever there was an object that called forth
pity, it was Jesus. The exquisite perfections of His
body and the noble sentiments of His soul rendered
Him most sensitive to insult and to pain ; His tor-
ments were the most excruciating ever endured ; He
had not a single consolation. He suffered unjustly;
He endured all tortures uncomplainingly; He suf-
fered unselfishly, dying that sinners might live.
Mary knew all this. She knew how every insult
824 Mater Dolorosa.
and blasphemy sickened His soul ; how every wound
made His flesh quiver with pain. She knew that He
had labored only for the salvation of men; and
therefore, she knew how His soul shrank in horror
from the false accusations brought against Him;
how ingratitude, sharper than the serpent's tooth,
had stung Him to the quick.
How her heart must have been touched, melted
with pity, when she saw Him in the hands of His
enemies, bearing the cross and crowned with thorns,
surrounded by an infuriated rabble demanding His
death ! How her sympathetic soul must have gpne out
to Him as she accompanied Him to the place of cru-
cifixion, as she saw Him nailed to the cross, as she
witnessed Him hanging on the tree, as she saw Him
die, as she embraced His lifeless body before it was
laid in the grave !
What a relief would it have been to Mary, what
a comfort would it have been to Jesus, if she had
been permitted to vindicate His innocence against
those who charged Him with crimes against God
and His nation ! What a relief to bid them be still
who reviled and blasphemed Him, to wipe away the
blood and spittle which disfigured His adorable face,
to stay the arms that dealt Him blows, to lift Him
tip tenderly when He fell under the weight of the
cross, to moisten His parched lips when He cried
out : ''I thirst !'' To speak a comforting word as
He exclaimed in His dereliction : ''My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?'' To hear a sigh
from His lips or to see a spark of life in His eye as
she folded His bruised and bleeding body to her
bosom for the last time !
When the one who pities can afford relief, his
thoughts are diverted from his own feelings and
centered on the good that he is doing the sufferer.
Mater Dolorosa. 825
The agony of agonies is felt when a mother's heart is
melted with pity as she witnesses the sufferings of a
well-beloved son, and finds herself powerless to ease
his pain. Mary's sorrow was embittered by the fact
that neither her love nor her pity availed to prevent
or assuage the sufferings of her Son. While her
love forced her to press near to Jesus, her pity was
as unavailing to mitigate His sufferings during His
Passion as it was to resuscitate Him when, lifeless,
He was laid upon her knee. Thus her presence dur-
ing the Passion but added to the anguish of Jesus,
while it deluged her own soul with an ocean of bitter
regret.
Why? Because her compassion would not permit
any mitigation of Jesus' suffering. The words ''pity"
and ''compassion" are usually taken to signify the
same thing, are used interchangeably; and when a
difference is recognized between them it is one of
degree rather than of kind, compassion being under-
stood as implying more of tenderness than pity. The
difference, however, between these words, as they
are exempHfied in the 'Tieta," is radical, arising
from the unique position of the Blessed Virgin in the
plan of Redemption, from her exceptional relation to
the Passion of Christ.
The primitive, literal meaning of compassion is to
suffer with another. In this sense, the apostles and
disciples of Our Lord were His fellow sufferers as
well as Mary, though not to the same degree. The
very following of their Master required them to
leave all things, to deny themselves, and to drink of
the chalice of which He would drink; but the
apostles were without any clear, well-defined idea of
what Jesus would have to suffer before entering into
His glory. Mary, however, was not an unconscious
instrument in the work of Redemption up to the mo-
826 Mater Dolorosa.
ment Christ's Passion began, and then its unwilHng
witness.
She was not only (Hke the other friends of the
Saviour, but more fully) a sorrowful witness of the
scenes which preceded and accompanied the awful
tragedy of Calvary; she not only fully realized all
that Jesus suffered, but she foresaw before He was
conceived in her womb all that He would suffer. So
much at heart, indeed, had she the object of His suf-
ferings, that she was constrained out of love for
sinners and obedience to God to devote Him to those
sufferings, w^hile. all the affection of her soul in-
clined her to save Him from them.
The only thing in history that approaches Mary's
compassion was the suffering of Abraham when, at
God's command, he consented to sacrifice his son,
Isaac. But what did Abraham's contemplated sacri-
fice of Isaac cost him in comparison with what the
sacrifice of Jesus cost Mary? What proportion does
a father's love bear to a mother's? What compari-
son is there between Isaac and Jesus ? Only that of
the shadow to the substance, only that of the type to
the reality. In consenting to the awful sacrifice of
Jesus on Calvary, Mary simply immolated herself by
doing a holy violence to the strongest and tenderest
ties, to feelings that could exist only between the
Virgin Mother and the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
Abraham consented to the sacrifice of Isaac during a
few hours, but Mary daily, momentarily consented
to it for thirty-three years. Abraham's soul was
filled for a brief space with bitter sorrow, but Mary's
during the whole lifetime of Jesus.
In order to see how immeasurably Mary's suffer-
ings surpassed those which any other human being
ever endured, it is necessary to acquire some idea of
her foreknowledge of Christ's Passion, of her will-
Mater Dolorosa. 827
ingness to participate in it, of the heroic, holy pur- '
pose that animated her when she devoted Jesus to
death in the cause of men's salvation.
Mary's sanctity entitled her to the fullest confi-
dence of the Deity as to the means by which the
world's Redemption was to be accomplished. While
God conceals His counsels from the proud and
wicked, He confides them to the humble and to the
innocent. Mary was selected because of her humil-
ity. She was full of grace ; she had found favor with
God. Upon no creature has such a eulogy been
passed as that which God the Father, by the mouth
of the Archangel Gabriel, pronounced upon Mary.
No creature was ever admitted to that close and
marvelous union that existed between Mary and the
Eternal Father. Living only for God, and in God, it
may well be believed that secrets were committed to
her of v/hich priest and prophet were kept in igno-
rance ; just as Jesus communicated to John, by reason
of his virginal sanctity, secrets concerning w^hich the
other apostles dare not even question their Master.
It may well be believed that Mary knew more than
the prophets of old, upon whose vivid portrayals of
the sufferings of the Messias she had often medi-
tated ; that she knew more than Joseph, who learned
from the angel that Jesus would "save His people
from their sins" (and every IsraeHte knew that with-
out the eft\ision of blood there was no remission of
sin) ; that she knew more than Simeon, whose vision
of the Passion enabled him, in those forcible, ex-
pressive words, to liken Mary's sympathy with Jesus
in His sufferings to a sword of sorrow that would
pierce her soul.
While the apostles were often, during the lifetime
of their Master, rebuked for their slowness to be-
lieve, their failure to understand, never once was
828 Mater Dolorosa.
Mary's faith or understanding rebuked. On the
contrary, she is represented as keeping the divine
counsels, pondering them in her heart. While the
apostles, when they spoke of Christ, before the de-
scent of the Holy Ghost, often exhibited the densest
ignorance of His true character, and the most er-
roneous notions of His purpose in coming into the
world ; while even after the Resurrection they
asked : ''Wilt Thou at this time restore the king-
dom of Israel?'' Mary, on the other hand, showed
in the Magnificat, and at Cana, the fullest apprecia-
tion of His divine. character, and of His coming. No
Doctor of the Church, with all the advantages which
the complete history of Christ afforded him, has
been able to formulate more correct ideas of Jesus
than those clearly implied in the words Mary spoke
concerning Him.
The extent of Mary's knowledge is not a mere
matter of speculation. It is a matter of fact that, be-
fore the Incarnation, she was the only daughter of
Israel that entertained a correct notion of the charac-
ter of the Messias. The other women of Judea re-
garded the coming Messias as a great temporal
prince. Hence, as the time of His coming ap-
proached, a consuming desire to be the mother of
the Messias burned in the breast of every Jewish
woman. With this object in view, the maid sought
marriage, the wife prayed for fruitfulness, and im-
plored the Lord to save her from sterility as from a
curse. No such ambition, however, was cherished
by Mary. On the contrary, by a vow of virginity,
she had made her mothership of the Messias, hu-
manly speaking, impossible. She had such a true
conception of that exalted dignity that she deemed
perpetual continence and a life of sanctification in the
temple necessary to prepare herself, not for the
Mater Dolorosa. 829
mothership of the Messias, but to become the hand-
maid, the servant of the woman God would deem
worthy of so high an honor. In this, what testimony
does not Mary bear to that incomparable dignity to
which God, regarding her humility, exalted her ! No
less an authority than Cardinal Newman interprets
Mary's reply to the angel: ''Behold the handmaid
of the Lord," as signifying that Mary simply aspired
to become the servant of the mother of the Messias.
If Mary entertained such correct ideas of the Mes-
sias before the angel's visit, what fulness of knowl-
edge must she not have received through Gabriel's
message and his answers to her questions ! Her
dialogue with the Archangel shows plainly that she
was not selected as a mere instrument, but as a
free, intelligent agent; that she was free to refuse
to become the Mother of the Messias, and that she
consented only after having attained to a clear un-
derstanding of what would be required of her.
''She was troubled," the Gospel says, at the
angel's words, and asked in her own mind the mean-
ing of his salutation. The angel having allayed her
fears, Mary asks plainly : "How shall this be done,
for I know not man ?" Mary did not blindly consent,
like the apostles, to participate in the work of the
Messias, and like them fail in her part when it came
to drink of the cup of Christ's bitterness. She con-
sented only after she had known what sacrifice that
consent would demand of her, and therefore, she
never afterwards shrank from what was laid upon
her : "Be it done unto me according to thy word."
It is clear that Mary could have absolutely refused
to become the Mother of the Messias ; nevertheless,
her acceptance was so deliberate, was given with
such full knowledge of the sufferings it involved,
and with such willing obedience to the counsels of
830 Mater Dolorosa,
God ; and consequently, was so meritorious, that the
Holy Ghost, by the mouth of Elizabeth, declared
Mary blessed for having consented : ''Blessed art
thou that hast believed, because those things shall be
accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord"
(Luke i. 45).
If, at the time of the Annunciation, Mary did not
know the sorrows she would have to endure in con-
sequence of her consent, why should she be called
blessed for having believed? Why, as the Gospel
says, was she troubled? Why should she not have
gladly and promptly accepted the honor, so much
coveted by the other women of her day? Why
should she not have been profoundly grateful for the
honor if the sword or sorrow it contained was con-
cealed from her? Mary was blessed in her belief,
singularly and especially blessed, because she made
the voluntary sacrifice of her maternal affections in
offering her Son as a Victim of propitiation for the
sins of the world. Mary was superlatively blessed
among all the friends of God ; she was also troubled
in this, that she consented to become a mother in or-
der that her Son might suffer a cruel death to re-
deem the world. In this consisted Mary's coopera-
tion in the work of Redemption. She knowingly,
willingly, in obedience to the Eternal Father, con-
sented to supply from the fountain of her life-blood
the Victim, the Lamb that taketh away the sins of
the world.
Let those who would form some idea of her com-
passion look at Mary, from the moment of the In-
carnation, standing in spirit as truly under the
shadow of the cross as when she actually stood by
the cross of Jesus on Mount Calvary. During that
more than thirty years of martyrdom, her knowledge
of Jesus' sufferings did not increase, but her realiza-
Mater Dolorosa. 831
tion of them became more and more vivid and pain-
ful in proportion as she saw Jesus increase in age, in
wisdom, and in grace, until she saw Him offered a
bleeding, dying Victim on the tree. Every time she
saw Jesus, every time she heard Him, every time
she thought of Him, she was compelled in spirit to
offer Him as a propitiation for the sins of the world.
''Every look of Jesus,'' says Father Faber, ''drove
the sword deeper into Mary's soul. Every sound of
His voice, while it lifted her on the wings of ma-
ternal transport, brought with it its own bitterness,
which pierced all the keener and deeper for the joy
that had gone with it. Every action of His came
with a multitude of pains, in which past and present
blended in one terrible prevision, which was ever
present to her blessed soul. The very sight of Jesus
was her torture; Jesus, the joy of the martyrs, was
the executioner of His Mother."
Mary's sorrows are, in one respect, like the attri-
butes of God. Theologians tell us that in God there
is no distinction betw^een love and anger, between
justice and mercy; that these are only forms of His
infinite goodness which to men seem at one time
love, at another anger; at one time, justice, at an-
other, mercy; just as the sun, though fixed in the
heavens and at all times giving forth the same light
and heat, seems to . occupy different positions at
morning, noon, and evening, to be hotter in summer
than in winter. So the sorrows of Mary seem distinct
in character, time, and effects, because of the differ-
ent circumstances under which they have been mani-
fested to us ; whereas, in Mary, they constitute but
one and the same sea of bitter woe.
Men may contemplate each incident in Christ's
life as separate and distinct in itself from other in-
cidents. They may meditate on the Joyful or Glori-
832 Mater Dolorosa.
ous Mysteries without for a moment considering the
Sorrowful Mysteries. They may even sympathize
with Christ in His cruelest tortures, and thereby fill
their souls with peace (through the compunction
thus excited for their sins) ; fill them with hope of
salvation, as well as admiration for the infinite love
of Jesus for sinners.
This method of meditation has led men to regard
each mystery of the Passion as distinct and discon-
nected from the other mysteries. Many have thus
erroneously fancied that Mary's attention, like theirs,
was fixed only on one event or mystery of the Pas-
sion at a time ; that each suffering of Christ involved
her in a grief peculiarly its own, and bore no relation
to that of the mystery that either preceded or fol-
lowed it.
How different was it with Mary ! To her Christ's
whole life was more than an open book. She saw it
all uninterruptedly from Nazareth to Calvary, from
the manger to the tomb. For her there were no Joy-
ful Mysteries, followed for a brief period by the Sor-
rowful. No ; from the words spoken by the angel of
the Annunciation to the words spoken by the angel
of the Resurrection, all were for her Sorrowful
Mysteries.
Mary always saw the end. ^'The sword of Sime-
on's prophecy was the crucifixion. Everything in
the life of Jesus reminded her of the death He was to
die, and therefore required her to consent to the
sacrifice of her Son anew.'' Father Faber says :
''Postures and attitudes in which she saw her be-
loved Son had some startling likeness in them to
something which was to occur in the Passion. When
a carpenter's tool pressed against the palm of His
hand, she saw the wound of the nail there. The
white brow of boyhood often seemed as if it had a
.Mater Dolorosa. 833
coronal of rosy spots around where the thorns
should be."
There is a painting which has suggested this ser-
mon, and that may be called ''The Shadow of the
Cross." It represents a scene in the workshop of
Nazareth. Joseph is employed at the carpenter's
bench, Mary sits plying the distaff. A bright sum-
mer's day pours a flood of light into the room. Jesus,
a beautiful youth, with filial piety informing every
feature, advances with outstretched arms towards
His Mother to embrace her, and to imprint a kiss
upon her cheek. O ! what would this scene have been
to Mary, with what joy would it have dilated her
soul, if only the future had been concealed from her !
But, alas ! looking at Jesus, the Mother's joy is
turned into grief, because she sees that the loving
attitude of her Son casts the shadow of the cross on
the opposite wall.
What more touching, entrancing, than the scene
enacted at Bethlehem ! The winter winds were joy-
ful with the music of the multitude of the heavenly
host, praising God and singing ''Glory to God in the
.highest, and peace on earth to men of good will;"
the dismal cave was lighted up with the glory of
heaven ; angels, and wondering, adoring shepherds
came to worship the new-born Saviour; and Mary
and Joseph lovingly, adoringly, contemplated the
heavenly Babe. Had that scene, which has filled the
earth for centuries with light and gladness, no joy
for Mary ? Did not its splendor, for the time being,
dispel the shadow of the cross? Did not Mary, in
the words of Holy Scripture, rejoice "Because a man
was born into the world," and, for the moment, turn
the eye of her soul from the vision of Calvary ?
Alas! no. The joyous light of the Nativity only
projected the shadow of the cross more distinctly
834 Mater Dolorosa.
Upon Bethlehem. The scene in the stable, it is true,
touched Mary's soul, caused rivers of love to well out
of her heart, but only that the thought of Calvary
might instantly change them into an ocean of bit-
terness. As Mary laid the divine Infant in the man-
ger, as she saw His little arms stretched out as if to
embrace her, she thought of the time that same Jesus
would be laid upon the cross, and nailed to it, when
His arms would be stretched out in crudest torture,
in infinite love, to embrace the whole human race.
As she listened to the song of the angels, she
thought of the blasphemies with which men would
demand His death ; as she looked on the reverent
shepherds, she thought of the wild beasts that
would cry for His blood ; as she looked on the glory
of heaven lighting the first opening of His eyes, she
thought of the darkness that would fall upon their
closing. As she saw earth and heaven rejoicing
over His birth, she thought of how man and God
would forsake Him at death ; as she clasped Him to
her bosom, she thought of the time when He would
be laid at last, as you see Him in this group of
statuary, all bleeding and bruised, wounded and
lifeless, on her breast. Thus, even at Bethlehem,
Mary stood in the shadow of the cross; and there,
amid all the joy of that scene, was compelled to con-
secrate the winsome Infant to the death of Calvary.
''The Passion,'' says Father Faber, ''became an in-
evitable vision to her. She could not look away.
Everything about it was commuted into bitterness.
The process went on when the sun was shining
brightest, and the Mother's heart expanded to its
light and heat. She belonged to sorrow. It had
drawn her life under its dark waters. Her life wa^
hidden in the Heart of Jesus, amid gloomy forms,
appalling shadows, dread insights into horrible gulfs
Mater Dolorosa, 835
of sin, thunders and lightnings of divine wrath,
frenzies of lawless demons, excesses of human
cruelty, and a very living show of the instruments of
the Passion. Every action of Jesus became a suffer-
ing, every source of joy a fountain of bitterness,
every look at Jesus, every movement that He made,
every word that He uttered, all stirred and diffused
the bitterness that was in her. The very lapse of
time itself was bitterness, for she saw Gethsemane
and Calvary coming down the stream toward her."
And if this was Mary's cruel portion during the
Joyful Mysteries, who can imagine what m.ust have
been the bitterness of her grief during those cruel
scenes that followed, where every torture of Jesus,
like a sword, actually pierced her soul !
It was during the Sorrow^ful Mysteries that the
shadow of the cross constantly deepened, that the
sufferings of Mary grew more intense, until the
shadow became the dread reality ; until Mary ac-
tually stood by the cross to which Jesus was nailed ;
until the sight of the Son's sufferings immolated the
Mother a living victim on the altar of the world's sal-
vation.
Hitherto the stripes, thorns, nails, lance, had been
invisible, had had their existence only in the mind.
Now thev are awful realities that afflict body and
•> •'
soul. ''Sense," says Father Faber, ''is more than
prevision, something far different from it. The
senses interrupt that interior tranquillity in which the
darkest visions may possess the soul without disturb-
ing it. The senses have special things of their own
in sights, sounds, and touches of grief ; they pierce
the flesh, causing it to tremble with chilly pains, tor-
turing the nerves, freezing and firing the blood by
turns, stabbing the brain like daggers, and bruising
the convulsed heart as if it were with a vise of iron.
836 Mater Dolorosa.
It was the eye-witnessing of the Passion which made
Mary's martyrdom to be in her body as well as in her
soul, because it made every pulse a beating instru-
ment of pain. What a fearful thing for a mother,
particularly one of such exquisite sensibilities and
profound love as Mary, to have to follow her only
Child through every step of that bloody drama !" She
could pity Him, could wish to save Him ; but, like
Him, she yielded to the eternal decree, saying: ''Not
my will, but Thine be done !"
Considering the intensity, bitterness, and duration
of her sufferings in soul and body, the question
arises: Could mortal have made greater sacrifices,
or have suffered more in behalf of any cause, than
Mary made and suffered by consenting to give her
Son for the salvation of men? What did patriarch,
or prophet, or apostle do for the salvation of men in
comparison with what Mary suffered for it? If
those who, at Christ's invitation, abandoned their
nets and boats to follow Him, shall hereafter sit on
thrones and judge the world, what must be Mary's
place in the kingdom of God, since she, in obedience
to the divine will (to appropriate the words of St.
Paul), ''spared not her own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all" ?
Let the redeemed learn, then, what they owe to
Mary. Let them think of her more than thirty years'
martyrdom, in consequence of her m.aternal instincts
leading her to desire that the chalice of suffering
might pass from her divine Son, while her obedience
to the divine counsels and her devotion to man's sal-
vation, doing a holy violence to her love, forced her
to say : "Let the will of the Father be done ; let my
Son suffer death to redeem His people from their
sins!"
Let them look often and thoughtfully upon the
Mater Dolorosa. 837
scene on Mount Calvary! Let them meditate on
Mary's holy heroism. Let them think of her as a
woman weak in her sex, as a mother wounded in her
tenderest affections; as sorrowful unto death, yet
tearless; unwavering in her purpose to fulfill the
promise made to God through Gabriel ; willing to
drain the chalice of her affliction ; calm, when it came
to making the sacrifice required for the redemption
of the world; resolved to witness the end, to see
Jesus blot out the handwriting against sinners with
the most precious blood He had drawn from the
fountains of her heart; to stand by the cross until
she he^ivd : "Consummatum est/' ''It is finished;"
until she saw her Son become the Saviour of the
world, and the children of wrath become the
children of God; until Jesus' lifeless body enfolded
to her breast left her, amid the shadows of Calvary,
in a desolation so unutterable that earth has no
name for its anguish.
Let Christians look upon Mary crowned by Jesus
on Calvary, in the words of Isaias, ''with the crown
of tribulation,'' and then they will understand why
Mary takes an interest in their spiritual welfare;
why she jealously guards the affair of their salva-
tion in life; why she bends all her energies at the
hour of death to protect souls from the assault of
the demon. Then they will understand why that
unfailing devotion to the cause of the world's Re-
demption which Mary displayed from Nazareth to
Calvary she now exhibits in behalf of each and
every one of the redeemed : to the end that the pre-
cious blood of Jesus shall not have been shed for any
soul in vain.
The object of the "Pieta," then, is to promote de-
votion to the Passion of Christ, and to the sorrow
of His blessed Mother. Happily for you who will
838 Mater Dolorosa.
pray before it, the love excited at it will not, like
Mary's love for Jesus, fill your souls with sadness,
but rather fill them with ''that peace which sur-
passeth all understanding," because at this shrine
you will conceive a lasting hatred of sin, the sole
cause of Jesus' suffering and Mary's sorrow.
The pity born of the contemplation of this group
will not be, like Mary's, powerless to mitigate or to
prevent the injuries inflicted on the Saviour, but
rather it will enable you to relieve Him in the person
of all earth's afflicted — to give drink to the thirsty,
food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, instruc-
tion to the ignorant — of whom Christ says : *'As
often as you did it to one of these. My least
brethren, you did it unto Me." It will enable you to
prevent these sins which found expression in the in-
juries inflicted during the Passion on Christ, and by
which, St. Paul says, men now ''crucify the Son of
God anew and make a mockery of Him."
The desire to suffer with and for Christ with
which the "Pieta" will fire your souls will not,, like
Mary's compassion, add to the anguish of your suf-
fering Lord by making Him the witness of His fol-
lowers' pain, but rather will make Jesus and Mary
and the angels of heaven rejoice over the innocence
preserved, the conversions wrought, the temptations
overcome, the virtues cultivated, the souls saved
through your zeal and labors and sufferings in
furthering the kingdom of God on earth.*
*A sermon by the Very Rev. D. I. McDermott,
D.D., rector of St. Mary's, Philadelphia. (The introduc-
tory sentence has been slightly changed.)
CHAPTER LXXVI.
Oxxv XaDi2'6 Dai2.
SaturTra^ ©etiicatetr to tt)e JJmmaculate ^^onception.
I SHALL not pause to treat in detail of the num-
bers of Religious Congregations, sodalities,
confraternities, etc., that have been instituted in
modern times, and more especially since the dog-
matic definition of the Immaculate Conception. Nor
shall I refer to the very large number of devotions
that have been introduced into the Church, and ap-
proved and indulgenced by its Supreme Pontiflf.
And as regards churches and religious and educa-
tional institutions of every kind, the whole v/orld,
even to its remotest parts, is dotted with them, from
the stately cathedral to the humble country church
— and nowhere more so than in America. But it
v/ill be both interesting and instructive to dwell
briefly on the manner in which Saturday came to be
dedicated to the holy Mother of God; and later to
the Immaculate Conception.
It would be impossible to determine with cer-
tainty when Saturday first became especially Mary's
day; but it is worthy of remark that it was first
sacred to the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin, because
on that day she was filled with bitterest anguish of
soul on account of her divine Son being then cold in
death in the holy sepulcher. For this reason Pope
Innocent I., about the year 417, decreed that Satur-
day should be observed as a day of abstinence in
honor of Mary's sorrows ; but in doing so he doubt-
less only gave the sanction of his supreme authority
840 Our Lady's Day.
to what had existed, at least in places, long before.
Some writers have found an argument in favor of
the dedication of Saturday to the Blessed Virgin as
early as the eighth century, from the fact that the
votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin is assigned by
Alcuin to that day. But on referring to the original
documents, it is found, as Father Bridgett remarks,
that this argument is not conclusive; for Alcuin
merely says that 'Ve have added a Mass of the holy
Mother of God for certain days, which, if any one
sees fit, he may sing.'' But it is beyond question
that as early as the eleventh century Saturday was
considered as peculiarly dedicated to the Mother of
God. ''A beautiful custom,'' says St. Peter Damian,
''has grown up in some churches, that on every Sat-
urday in Mary's honor Mass is celebrated, unless
some feast or ferial in Lent prevent it." St. Peter
greatly promoted this devotion as well as the recita-
tion of the Little Office, and the fast of Saturday.
Pope Urban IL, in the Council of Clermont in
1096, made the Office of the Blessed Virgin on Sat-
urday of obligation. The same Pope introduced the
Preface of the Blessed Virgin into the missal.
A Scotch writer of the fourteenth century, either
Fordun, or his continuator Bower, says : 'Tn the
days of our fathers the Sabbath (Saturday) was
held in great veneration, in honor of the Blessed
Virgin, principally by the devotion of women, who
every Saturday, with great piety, restricted them-
selves to one meal, and that merely of bread and
water." He tells how the Sovereign Pontiff set
apart the whole Office of Saturday to Our Lady;
and he continues : ''Therefore the faithful on this
day, inflamed with zeal for Mary, to please her Son,
keep a solemn Office to His most glorious Mother.
They sing also her solemn Mass with the
Our Lady's Day. 841
Gloria in excelsis. Let each of us, therefore, see
whether he has the affection of a good son toward
this Mother, rejoicing more in her honor than in his
own, and feehng her dishonor more than his own
shame. But if a sinner can thus love Mary, how
much more does her innocent Son Jesus, the God of
charity ! In this confidence many churches, as they
can not set apart all the days to her, have chosen at
least one day in each week." He then complains
that the old customs are no longer strictly observed.
''Prelates," he says, ''are very culpable in allowing
the people to vary the days of fasting in honor of
Mary, since Saturday is dedicated to her. But now
you will find both men and women take good suf)-
pers, even eating eggs on Saturday, who on Tues-
day or Thursday would not touch a crust of bread,
lest they should break Our Lady's fast. . . . O
self-will, enemy of the soul, opposed to God and
pleasing to the devil !" It may be remarked, how-
ever, that the English, who were noted before the
Reformation for their devotion to the Blessed Vir-
gin, centered it principally in her joys (Father
Bridgett). St. Louis, king of France, made it a
constant practice to wash the feet of several poor
persons every Saturday in Mary's honor ; and after-
ward wait on them at table. He also made provi-
sion for Masses to be celebrated on every Saturday
in the year in the church of Our Lady of Chartres,
and desired, as far as the rubrics would permit, that
they should be votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin.
What was true of the countries mentioned was true
almost universally of every country of Europe and
the East in the ages of faith.
As time wore on, and by a secret dispensation of
Providence the devotion of Catholics to the Blessed
Virgin began to center more and more on the Im-
842 Our Lady's Day.
maculate Conception, it soon came to usurp the
place of the others that had been fixed on Saturday ;
so that, in the last two or three centuries, if not be-
fore that time, the last day of the week has come to
be by excellence the day of the Imm.aculate Concep-
tion. Throughout the United States and many
other countries the Office and Mass of the Immacu-
late Conception are of obligation on Saturday,
when the feast of a saint or a privileged ferial or oc-
tave day does not fall upon it. This arrangement is
destined doubtless to continue, and even to spread,
as devotion to the Immaculate Conception is now
fast becoming the leading devotion of Catholics, at
least in English-speaking countries and in the New
World.*
*From Father Lambing's The Immaculate Conception,
(The Blessed Virgin, under the title of the Immaculate
Conception, was chosen as the Patroness of the United
States in 1846. The solemn definition of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception by Pope Piux IX. occurred on
Dec. 8, 1854.)
CHAPTER LXXVII.
XLbc JSleseeD Sacrament anD St Joaepb.
>/||'e wish to make you understand three things:
^^^^^ the first, that, in a certain sense, we owe to
St. Joseph the Wheat of the elect, w^hich is offered
to us ; the second, that, participating therein, our
happiness equals, yea, even surpasses, in some
degree, that of St. Joseph himself; thirdly, and
lastly, that his example teaches us how we ought to
prepare to receive it well and to profit by it.
The glorious Patriarch, St. Joseph, was no
stranger to the Eucharistic mystery. We possess in
our tabernacles, we offer on our altars, we receive
at the holy table, the body born of the Mrgin Mary,
as the Church sings : ''Ave veritm Corpus, natiim
de Maria Virgine." This sacred body was con-
ceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost, it is true ;
but it was formed in the chaste womb, and from the
very substance of a tender virgin w^ho could not dis-
pose of herself, since she had made choice of a
spouse; and by that title St. Joseph already had
over the Infant Jesus a certain right.
Let us hear how^ the blessed Bishop of Geneva
speaks upon this point : *Tf a dove," says he, "car-
ries in its beak a date, and lets it fall in a garden
where it takes root, to whom will the tree belong
that will spring from it, but to the owner of the
garden? The owner of the ground is naturally the
owner of the fruit it produces : ^Res fructificat
domino/
''Now, the Holy Spirit, the sweet Dove of the
Jordan, let fall this immortal Date of the uncreated
844 The Blessed Sacrament and St. Joseph,
Word into the bosom of Mary, who is compared by
Him to a garden enclosed, 'hortus conchisiis, soror
mea sponsa, hortiis conchisus/ And there the Just
'par excellence' took root, there developed, there in-
creased like a beautiful palm-tree, 'jusUis ut palma
florebitf
"But the Blessed Virgin belonged to St. Joseph
as the spouse belongs to her spouse; the blessed
Fruit of her womb, therefore, belonged also to him,
because 'quod nascitur in agro meo, meum est' say
the jurists. It was the same with his foster-son. He
was a golden ear of corn come into his field, a bunch
of purple grapes produced from the branches of a
vine belonging to him ; to him, then, belonged also
the Wheat of the elect and the Wine that ger-
minates virgins.''
Still more, St. Joseph was the guardian of the
Son of God. He watched over his ward with care,
and he shielded Him from persecution at t4ie peril
of his own life. Scarcely was Jesus born than cruel
Herod sought to put Him to death. The murderous
scythe of the jealous tyrant was raised to cut down
in the blade the mysterious Wheat that germinated
in the womb of Mary as in a virgin soil. Arise,
Joseph, take the Child and His Mother, and provide
for His safety by flight. Watch over Him, pre-
serve Him from harm, for He is our only hope. He
will one day feed the whole world with His own
substance. It was Joseph who saved from being
cut down by the storm of persecution that growing
ear of wheat, which gave us the sacred Bread that
nourishes to eternal life.
It was in Egypt that, during the seven years of
plenty, the ancient Joseph stored up in granaries the
wheat which was to feed the subjects of Pharao and
the house of Jacob during the seven years' famine.
The Blessed Sacrament and St. Joseph. 845
It was first in Egypt and then at Nazareth that the
new Joseph concealed for a long time Him who, on
the eve of His death, opened His tabernacles and
said to both Jew and Gentile : ''Take and eat, this
is My body ; take and drink, this is My blood. My
flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed/'
Our Joseph, with more right than the viceroy of
the Nile, may be called the provider of the world ;
and in these days of sterility, after nineteen cen-
turies, we are still living on the wheat laid up and
kept in reserve in those abundant granaries which
we call the holy tabernacles.
Is there anything else to be said on this first
point? Yes, my brethren. If St. Joseph had no
part in the formation of the sacred body of Jesus, it
was not so with regard to its increase and develop-
ment. If he gave it not being, he supported it at
his own expense. He was, says St. Bernard, ''carnis
Slice nutritium/' His foster-father; and he gained
by assiduous labor life for Him by whom all things
live and have their being. It was his sweat, it was,
alas ! very often his tears, that nourished the In-
fant of Nazareth in such a way that, with Santeuil,
we can say of the adorable humanity of the Saviour :
"Et formata Dei sine te, de tiiis crescitnt membra
lahorihusf'
We can understand, also, that our great saint is
meant to play a part in the sacred mystery which
the Church presents to us. It was the bread gained
by him that formed, or, at least, increased, the blood
shed on Calvary, and which we receive at the altar.
It is this bread become the flesh of the Son of
man that gives us life.
The sacred Host comes to us sweetened with the
thought of the guardianship which St. Joseph exer-
cised over it; and with the divine blood the chalice
846 The Blessed Sacrament and St. Joseph.
brings us sacred memories of the sufferings and
trials of the carpenter of Nazareth.
Is not this the sense and even the expression of
this passage of the decree that we now quote ?* Does
it not say : "Solertissime emitrivit quern populus
ft delis viti panem de caelo descensiim sumeret ad vi-
tarn ceternam consequendam" ? ''He nourished with
greatest soHcitude Him whom the faithful were one
day to receive as the Bread of life, which was to
sustain them on their heavenward journey/*
Divine Master, do we not remember that in Thy
Eucharist, which is the merciful continuation of
Thy incarnation, Thou art still the Son of Mary and
Joseph, and that Thou hast for Thy father and Thy
mother a Heart most devoted, most filial, and most
loving?
' If St. Joseph refused Thee nothing, and wept
that, having given all he had, he could give no more,
what canst Thou refuse him, oh, Jesus, since now all
is Thine, and it is Thine to give in return ?
*The Decree of Pius IX., declaring St. Joseph patron of
the universal Church, and raising his feast to the first class.
CHAPTER LXXVIIL
©n Devotion to St. Sosepb, tbe Spouee ot tbe
/nboet JSleseeD Dirgin.
IT is giving to the Blessed Virgin a testimony of
love which is dear and precious to her when we
take her holy husband Joseph as the primary object
of our devotion after that which attaches and conse-
crates us to her service.
In what esteem ought we not to hold such a
saint, a man chosen by God to be the guardian of
the infancy of His Word made flesh ; to be the
witness and the protector of the virginity of His
Mother!
He watched over the true tabernacle of Israel ; he
transported from one place to another, according to
seasons and circumstances, the ark of the new al-
liance ; he held in his keeping the price of the salva-
tion and the redemption of men. What glory to
have had in this life a legitimate authority over the
Queen of heaven and earth, even over ''the King of
ages, alone immortal, to whom belongs all glory!''
In order to form an idea of his eminent merit, we
have only to remember that he is the husband of
J^Iary : the virtues of the one enable us to appreciate
the virtues of the other. God gave to Mary a hus-
band worthy of her. But, above all, remember that
Jesus reposed a thousand times upon his breast.
What holy, celestial feelings must not the Child-God
have imparted to his heart! Joseph lived with Him
w^ho is the source of all graces, and with her who is,
as it w^ere, the channel for distributing them : how
many spiritual riches did he not receive from them I
848 On Devotion to St. Joseph.
Patience, gentleness, love of our neighbor, love of
God, all kinds of virtues shone in him, and were
carried to the most sublime heights.
Christian soul, that desirest to give thyself up to
the exercises of a devout and interior life, have re-
course, in order to obtain the grace of them, to the
intercession of a saint who practiced them in so per-
fect a manner. The Church has erected to God
temples in his honor ; she has instituted feasts in his
honor; she invites her children, by means of devo-
tions which she has authorized, to look upon him as
one of the most powerful protectors they have in
heaven.
The name of Joseph is, in fact, specially invoked
by all the faithful ; they frequently unite it with the
name of the sacred persons to whom he was so
closely united — Jesus and Mary. Well known is the
indulgenced prayer, ''J^sus, Mary, and Joseph, I
give you my heart and my soul.'' If, at the time
when Jesus and Mary lived at Nazareth, we had
wished to obtain a grace, what more powerful medi-
ator among men could we have employed than St.
Joseph? Will he now have less credit with them?
"Go, then, to Joseph!" (Gen. xH. 55). Go to St.
Joseph, that he may intercede for you. Whatever
may be the grace you desire, God will grant his re-
quest. More than this, in whatever condition you
may be, whatever may be your state of life, that very
state and condition will provide you with a special
motive of confidence in him. The rich ought to re-
member, while praying to him, that he is the de-
scendant of patriarchs and of kings.
Let the poor remember that he did not disdain
their obscurity ; that, like them, he lived in poverty,
that he labored all his life as an artisan.
The virgins, that he kept the most perfect virgin-
On Devotion to St. Joseph. 849
ity; and married persons, that he was the head of
the most august family that ever existed.
Children, that he was the foster-father of Jesus,
the guardian of His childhood.
Priests, that he had so often the happiness of
carrying Jesus in his arms, that he even offered to
the Eternal Father the first-fruits of the blood of
Jesus on the day of His circumcision.
Religious, that he sanctified his solitude at Naza-
reth by avoiding all unnecessary contact with the
world, by the most intimate union with Jesus and
Mary and by the faithful discharge of every duty.
Lastly, pious and fervent souls, that never was
there a heart, after the heart of Mary, that loved
Jesus with greater ardor and tenderness.
But, above all, go to Joseph to obtain the grace of
a good death. The common opinion that he died in
the arms of Jesus and Mary has given cause for the
great confidence which the faithful have, that,
through his intercession, they will enjoy as happy
and as consoling an end. It may, in fact, be re-
marked that it is particularly at the hour of death
that we reap the fruits of the devotion we had dur-
ing life to this great saint.*
Father Lings writes in his Little Manual of St.
Joseph: 'To the world, puffed up with pride in her
science and culture, she gives as model, Joseph,
whose faith is simple and childlike; who believed,
without one thought or doubt, the most profound
mysteries of our religion ; the first after Mary to
adore his God and Saviour ; the first witness of His
weakness as a little child, whose whole heart was
filled with a deep love and reverence for his Creator.
''To the world, accustomed to judge by appear-
ances, the Church offers as a treasure of sanctity
*From The Imitation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
850 On Devotion to St. Joseph.
and virtue this humble man, who worked in the
greatest retirement, thinking only of pleasing his
God. Simple, obedient, chaste, and laborious, he is
called a just man in the Gospel, and the Church,
wishing to show how highly she values his virtues,
proclaims him the guardian of her interests, and does
all she can to inspire her children with a truly heart-
felt devotion to this holy patriarch.
'The manner in which the Church has exalted the
name of Joseph shows how very dear the devotion
to this great saint is to her, and how many are the
advantages and graces to be reaped from it by us,
her children. If we love the Church Joseph will
find an especial place in our affections, he will be
the model of our lives, our help in difficulties, and
our comfort in sorrow. We may never be afraid of
paying too much honor and respect to him whom
Jesus obeyed as a child obeys his father.
. *'A great many Bishops, with the Holy Father at
their head, have proclaimed in a most solemn man-
ner their approbation of the devotion to St. Joseph,
and how excellent it is to place ourselves under his
special protection, in this age of pride, sensuality,
and cupidity.
"Pope Pius IX. was but a short time raised to the
throne of St. Peter, when he ordained that through-
out the whole Catholic world the feast of the Pat-
ronage of St. Joseph should be celebrated on the
third Sunday after Easter, so that those w^ho were
prevented, by their occupations, from honoring our
holy patron on March 19th, which is the principal
feast dedicated to his name, might be able to invoke
his assistance and study his virtues on this day con-
secrated to the worship of God.
''Let us contemplate St. Joseph in his hidden life
at Nazareth, and resolve to become more and more
On Devotion to St. Joseph. 851
devout toward him. Seeing him so holy, we will
understand how right it is that we should try to fol-
low his footsteps and imitate his virtues. When we
see him so great we will feel moved to implore his
powerful intercession with Almighty God, and the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will come down upon us, and the testimony of a
good conscience will illuminate our souls with rays
of holy joy.''
An indulgence of three hundred days is attached
to the following invocation :
**Help us, Joseph, in our earthly strife,
E'er to lead a pure and blameless life."
The most holy and enlightened Catholic writers
have testified to the advantages of devotion to St.
Joseph. We might cite such glorious clients of the
humble patriarch as St. Bernard, St. Teresa, St.
Bernardine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, Gerson,
Suarez, and many others. But we will confine our-
selves to a few short extracts from writers of our
own time.
Father Dalgairns, of the London Oratory of St.
Philip Neri, writes thus in his book on the Devotion
to the Heart of Jesus:
'Tt can not be denied that in the first ages of the
Church there appears a greater devotion to St. John
the Baptist than to St. Joseph ; nowadays the very
reverse is the fact. Why is this if it be not because
the worship of the spouse of Mary and the father of
Jesus is better suited to us than that of the mighty
saint who was the herald of His coming? There is
no jealousy in heaven, and the great St. John, the
very apostle of disinterested love, would willingly
point to St. Joseph and say, as he did to Our Lord,
'He must increase, and I must decrease.' The
852 On Devotion to St. Joseph.
thought of the sweet saint who guarded Jesus and
Mary in their weary flight through the wilderness
was to be more useful to Christians than the remem-
brance of the stern voice which sounded through the
desert."
Father Faber, who devotes to St. Joseph some ex-
quisite pages in the second book of The Blessed
Sacrament, says in his work on the ''Precious
Blood":
''It is by comparing God's choice of him with the
office he was to fill, that we come to see the glory
and the grandeur of St. Joseph, and to contemplate
with reverent awe the heights of a holiness to which
such familiarity with God was permitted."
The same devout writer says elsewhere :
"This is the immensity of his dignity. The incom-
municable and ever-blessed paternity is in figure
communicated to him. He is the foster-father of
Jesus. To the world without he passes for His
father. He exercises the authority of a father over
Him, and performs for Him all the affectionate and
anxious offices of a father. The unspeakable treas-
ures of God, Jesus, and Mary, are committed to St.
Joseph's keeping; and he is himself a treasure as
well as the treasure-house of God. He is part of the
scheme of redemption. What wonder theologians
should tell us such great things of his copious
graces and his mighty gifts '"
Let us conclude with these words spoken by Pope
Pius IX. :
"I have seen a little picture which represents St.
Joseph wnth the divine Infant, who points toward
him', saying : Ite ad Joseph ! To you I say the same.
Go to Joseph ! Have recourse with special confidence
to St. Joseph, for his protection is most powerful, as
he is the patron of the universal Church."
BppeuDix*
flbajfms anD Counsels ot Saints anD Spiritual
mvitcve.
IF you wish to raise a lofty edifice of perfection,
take humility for your foundation. — St.
Thomas Aquinas: Sermon X.
The first degree of humility is a cheerful and
ready obedience. — Rule of St. Benedict: Ch. VII.
A beautiful flower is humility; beautiful is pa-
tience, obedience, meekness, modesty, and every
other virtue; but the most beautiful is charity. —
Blessed Jourdain de Saxe: Letter XXXIII.
He is most powerful who loves most. — St.
Gregory the Great: Life of St. Benedict, Ch.
XXXIII.
The best of all prayers is that in which we ask
that God's holy will may be accomplished, both in
ourselves and in others. — Venerable Louis de Blois,
O.S.B.
God regards the motive and not the action. It is
not the importance of the action that He considers,
but the excellence of the intention, the love which
prompted it. — St. Gregory the Great, O.S.B.
So great is the goodness of God in your regard,
that, when you ask through ignorance for that
which is not beneficial, He does not grant your
854' Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
prayer in this matter, but gives you something bet-
ter instead. — St. Bernard. O. Cist.
To love God truly one must have three hearts in
one : a heart all on fire for God ; a heart full of
charity for his neighbor; and a heart of flint for
himself. — Bl. Benedict Joseph Labre.
Happy is he who, when praised and glorified by
others, does not regard himself as better than when
humbled and despised; because a man is only what
he is in the eyes of God and nothing more. — St.
Francis of Assisi: Minor Works, Part IV.
The conquest of a city is of less importance to us
than a victory gained over ourselves. — St. Gr'egory
the Great, O.S.B.
. The most efficacious sermon is a good example.
Nothing better convinces those spoken to than a
practical illustration of the counsel given. — St.
Bernard, O. Cist.: Sermons.
Let us never voluntarily dwell upon the faults of
others when they present themselves to our minds;
instead of dwelling on them let us at once consider
what there is of good in these persons. . . .
No one should think or say anything of another
which he would not wish thought or said of him-
self.— St. Teresa.
True perfection consists in a perfect love of God
and our neighbor; the more perfectly a soul ob-
serves these two commandments, the more perfect
does she also become. — St. Teresa: Interior Castle,
Ch. 11.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints, 855
When poverty is faithfully observed in a
monastery, there is no fear that perfection will fall
to the ground ; for it is poverty which preserves the
monastic life. ''The walls of poverty are very high
and very strong/' says St. Clare ; hence she sought
to shut in and surround monasteries with the walls
of poverty and humility. — St. Teresa: Way of Per-
fection.
Above all things we should care for the sick,
serving them as if they were Christ in person, be-
cause He has said : * 'T was sick and you visited
Me. As long as you did it to one of these, My least
brethren, you did it to Me.'' — Rule of St. Benedict:
Ch. XXXVI.
Let all thy care be to possess thy soul in peace
and tranquillity. Let no accident be to thee a cause
®f ill humor. — St. Vincent Ferrer: Spiritual
Treatise.
It is only the devil and his followers who ought
to be sad; we, on the contrary, should always re-
joice in the Lord. — St. Francis Assisi: Monastic
Conference, II.
If thou art wise, expect to die every day ; thus
thou shalt keep thyself always ready and happy to
depart on the great journey to thy eternal home.
— Bl. Henry Suso.
Let us always remember the Last Judgment, after
the example of St. Jerome, who, though a saint,
never lost sight of it. — St. Teresa: Mansion 6th, Ch.
IX.
856 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
Death is welcome to one who has always feared
'God and faithfully served Him. — Life of St,
Teresa: Ch.XXVU:
It is certain that no flower can bear fruit unless
it dies ; so a person will commence to bear fruit in
Jesus Christ in proportion as he renounces himself,
abandons himself, and dies to himself and to all
things. — Ven. John Tattler: Instit., Ch. XXII.
We do not wholly receive the treasure of God's
love because we do not wholly give ourselves to
Him. — Life of St. Teresa: Ch. II.
St. Francis of Assisi dwelt for entire hours upon
these words : "My God and my All.''
There is nothing more salutary than to meditate
each day upon the torments a Man-God has endured
for us. The wounds of Jesus Christ pierce the
hardest of hearts, they inflame the coldest. — St. Bon-
aventtire.
St. Magdalene of Pazzi, meditating upon the suf-
ferings of Jesus Christ, crucifix in hand, with
ardent love cried out : "O Love ! O Love ! never
will my heart cease to tell Thee that Thou art its
love." With St. Philip Neri, let us often exclaim:
^* Jesus, my love !"
Jesus Christ crucified is our model. His wounds
preach to us of the afl-*ections which should animate
us, what we should be and what we should do. — St.
Bernard.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 857
St. Thomas Aquinas, during a visit which he
made to St. Bonaventure, asked the latter from
what books he had drawn the erudition, the unction
which made his writings so admirable. Showing
him a crucifix, he replied : 'This is my book ; it is
the source of all I have written. It is this which has
taught me the little that I know." Let us press the
crucifix to our lips, begging our divine Saviour to
instruct us, to give us His love.
The four extremities of the cross are ornamented
with four precious pearls. Humility is placed at the
foot, obedience occupies the right, patience the left ;
charity, the first and queen of virtues, burns in let-
ters of gold at the head. These four virtues shine in
a most striking manner in the Passion of Jesus
Christ. They are the four principal fruits which we
must gather from meditating on Jesus crucified. —
St, Bernard.
Let us have a great devotion to the crucifix; let
us often fix our eyes upon the image of Christ cruci-
fied, and meditate on the excess of His love. Let
us frequently kiss the crucifix with ardent love and
earnest desire to please Him in all things.
The name of Jesus is an impregnable rampart.
There is no pearl, no ornament, that can be com-
pared to the name of Jesus. We sound the harp's
sweet harmonies when we pronounce the nam^e of
Jesus. — BL Henry Siiso: Spiritual Letters.
The book of Psalms is a poem written in heaven.
Those who are able to appreciate its value become
angels. Had we only the Psalter, that would suffice
during the entire course of our life for our spiritual
858 Maxims and Counsels of Saints. '
exercises, our readings, our prayers, and all other
acts of adoration and homages which we should
render to God. — Ven. Louis de Blots, O.S.B.
The whole end of our meditation should be to
have it followed by good actions ; for in it the soul
considers how and what she must do to please God
and how she must show by her works the love she
bears Him. — St, Teresa: Mansion yth, Ch. IV.
The humble, those who have a lowly opinion of
themselves and love to be despised by others, please
God the most. He makes it His delight to be with
them, to pour upon them the treasures of His grace,
to reveal to them His secrets, and to attract them
sweetly to Himself. — Thomas a Kempis.
Our Saviour has said that it is necessary for him
who would become greater than others to make
himself the least. This is a truth all Christians be-
lieve. How is it so few conform their lives to it? —
St. Vincent de Paul.
Do not think you have made any progress in per-
fection until you regard yourself as the last of all,
and desire that all others should be preferred to you,
because it belongs to those who are great in the sight
of God to be little in their own eyes. — St. Teresa.
Vain complacency, coupled with the desire that
others would speak of us and praise us, is an evil
which makes us forget God and spoils our holiest ac-
tions. There is no vice more pernicious to those who
would make any progress in the spiritual life. — St.
Vincent de Paul,
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 859
What does it signify if we are calumniated,
despised, outraged by men, if we are innocent before
God and agreeable in His eyes?- The saints made
it their pleasure to be little and abject in the hearts
of all. — St. Teresa.
The most profound degree of humility is to re-
ceive humiliations and abjections with the same
complacency that vain persons do the greatest
honors. — St. Francis de Sales.
One of the best means to acquire humility is
profoundly to engrave, in our minds this maxim:
Each one is really only what he is in the eyes of
God, nothing more. — Thomas a Kempis.
Our principal business should be to conquer our-
selves, and to become more perfect every day in this
practice. It is particularly necessary that we should
apply ourselves to be victorious in little temptations,
regarding, e. g., vivacity, suspicions, jealousy, indo-
lence, vanity. By so doing we shall obtain the
strength to resist greater ones. — St. Francis de Sales.
Mortification of the appetite is the A B C of the
spiritual life. He who does not know how to sup-
press the vice of gluttony in himself will only with
great difficulty triumph over his other vices. He
will be compelled to wage a continual war with
them, if he would not have them govern him en-
tirely.— St. Vincent de Paul.
One of the things which keeps us far from per-
fection is, without doubt, our tongue. When one
has arrived at that point that he does not sin with the
86o Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
tongue he is perfect, according to the Holy Ghost.
This is why we must speak Httle and well — little and
with simplicity, with charity, and in a manner that
will make virtue appear amiable. — St, Francis de
Sales.
According to the doctrine of the saints, one of the
principal means to lead a Christian and exemplary
life is to observe modesty of the eyes. If there is
nothing more necessary than this virtue to preserve
piety in the soul and to edify our neighbor, there is
nothing which tends more to sensuality and gives
more scandal than the opposite fault, — Rodriguez,
Believe me, the mortification of the senses — -of the
sight, the hearing, the tongue — is more beneficial
than to wxar a chain of iron or a hair-shirt. — St,
Francis de Sales,
We must above all labor to mortify, to root out
our predominant passion ; I mean by this, that in-
clination, that vice, that bad habit which governs us
and leads us into sin. This is the king. When he is
captured the battle is won. — Rodriguez.
St. Ignatius frequently said to a novice who was
of an extremely vivacious and fiery temperament :
''My son, conquer yourself, and you will have in
heaven a crow^n more splendid than many others who
are more meek of character." One day the master
of novices complained of him as being unmanage-
able. The saint replied: 'T think he of whom you
complain has made more progress in virtue in a few
months than another whom you praise so much has
made in a year."
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 86i
It might be supposed of St. Francis de Sales that
he was of a character naturally sweet. It was by
virtue alone that he acquired this admirable sweet-
ness with which he ravished all hearts. Anger, he
was heard to say, was the passion he had most difn-
culty in conquering.
Whenever one feels excited with too much ardor,
or is over-anxious to perform some action, no matter
how holy it may be, if it be possible it is better to
defer it till another time, when the heart is tranquil,
lest self-love insensibly steal in and soil the purity of
our intention. — St, Vincent de Paul,
Do not think too highly of your own ideas. If
your advice is asked, give it frankly, but with perfect
indifference as to whether it be followed or rejected.
Follow rather the advice of others than your own in
all things permissible. — St. Francis de Sales.
One Blessed he God in the time of adversity is
worth more than / thank you said a thousand times
in prosperity. — St. John of Avila,
There is no sign more certain that one is of the
number of the elect than, while leading a Christian
life, to be the subject of sufferings, desolations and
trials. — St. Louis Gonzaga.
A certain merchant begged St. Teresa to recom.-
mend him to God. She did so ; and having occasion
to speak to him some time afterwards, she said : "I
have prayed for you, and it has been revealed to me
that your name is written in the book of life. As a
proof of this I give you notice that, from this time
henceforth, nothing will prosper with you in this
862 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
world." And this was verified. But a short time
intervened, when all the vessels he had upon the sea
perished. His friends assisted him, and came to his
rescue with another vessel to try his fortune again ;
this likewise was lost. Finding himself in poverty
he became content to possess but God. He finished
his life in sanctity.
If the Lord sends you great tribulations, it is a
sign that He has great designs upon you, and that
He wills that you become a saint. Would you be-
come a great saint,. pray that He may send you suf-
ferings. There is no wood more proper to enkindle
and feed the fire of divine love than the wood of the
cross. — St. Ignatius Loyola,
Be assured that we shall obtain more grace and
merit in one day by suffering patiently the afflictions
which come to us from God or from our neighbor
than we could acquire in ten years by mortifications
and other exercises which are of our own choice. —
St. Francis de Sales.
My sisters, learn to suffer something for Jesus
Christ without letting others perceive it. — St.
Teresa.
If you look upon the ground at the rod which
Moses used before Pharao, it appears a frightful
serpent ; but if you regard it in the hand of Moses,
it is a wand with which he performed the greatest
prodigies. So it is with tribulations. Considered in
themselves, they are horrible ; but when one views
them in the hand of God, they become sweet and
delicious. — St. Francis de Sales.
Maxims and Counsels of Saiiits. 863
Meekness is a virtue which supposes a noble soul ;
that is, those who possess this virtue are superior to
all one may say of them or do to them. Though they
may receive indignities from others in word or
action, they preserve their tranquillity and lose not
their peace of soul. — St. Thomas Aquinas.
Th-e highest degree of meekness consists in serv-
ing, honoring, and treating kindly those who are our
inferiors and who treat us with ingratitude and in-
solence.— St, Francis de Sales,
Can there be anything really worthy of disturbing
our peace? Should the universe be overthrown, I
would not trouble myself. There is nothing in the
world that can be compared to peace of heart. Pre-
serve it at any cost. — St, Francis de Sales.
The remedies against anger are, first, to prevent
it, if possible, or to occupy the mind with thoughts
which tend to allay the movements of the heart when
excited; second, to imitate the apostle, who, in the
time of tempest, had recourse to God, to whom it be-
longs to give peace to the heart ; third, to do nothing,
to say nothing, during the time the heart is agitated,
relating to that which gave rise to anger ; fourth, to
oblige ourselves to make acts of sweetness and
humility toward those with whom we are inclined to
be angry. — St. Francis de Sales.
The perfection of a person in a community consists
in an exact obedience to the Rules. He who ob-
serves them most faithfully will without doubt be the
most perfect. — Rodriguez,
864 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
The companions of St. Aloysius Gonzaga attest
that they never saw him fail in a single point of the
Rule.
The predestination of Religious is attached to a
love of their Rule, and to the exact performance of
what is their duty in virtue of their vocation. — St.
Francis de Sales.
Among the papers of St. Bonaventure was found
the following, written in his hand : 'T have not en-
tered religion to live as the others live, but to live as
they ought to live, according to the spirit of the in-
stitute, and in a perfect observance of the Rule.
This is why, upon entering religion, I was given the
Rules to read, not the lives of others. I accepted
them voluntarily, and took them for the direction of
the life I should lead. I ought, then, to observe them
all, even if I saw no one else observe them.''
St. Francis de Sales paid the highest praise to a
General of the Carthusians who was so punctual in
observing the Rule that not even the newest novice
could be more exact.
St. John Berchmans, being on his death-bed,
asked for a book of the Rules which he had so faith-
fully observed. When it was given to him, he
clasped it lovingly and said : ^'Holding this book, I
die with confidence and joy."
Obedience is without doubt more meritorious than
any austerity. What austerity is greater than to
keep the will continually submissive and obedient ? —
St. Catharine of Bologna.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 865
A great means to preserve one's peace and tran-
quillity of heart continually is to receive as coming
from the hands of God all things, whatever they may
be and in whatever manner they may come. — St,
Dorothy,
It is plainly evident that he who feels inclined to
perform a good work when it is contrary to obedi-
ence yields to a temptation ; because when God fills a
heart with inspirations the first is that of obedience.
— St. Teresa.
Perfect obedience is shown in three things — in
the execution, in the will, and in the judgment. In
the execution, by doing promptly, joyously, and
punctually what the Superior orders ; in the will, by
wiUing only what the Superior wills; in the judg-
ment, by being of the same sentiments as the Su-
perior.— St. Ignatius Loyola.
He who is truly obedient makes no distinction be-
tween one thing and another, one employment and
another ; he desires nothing else but to execute faith-
fully what is commanded. — St. Bernard.
The excellence of obedience consists not in do-
ing the will of a Superior who is sweet and good,
who commands more by asking as a favor than by
authority, but in being submissive to the yoke of
one who is imperious, rigorous, ill-humored and ap-
parently never satisfied. — St. Bernard.
Unless you do violence to yourself, and unless you
arrive at that point when it becomes indifferent to
you whether you have one Superior or another, do
not persuade yourself that you are a spiritual man
866 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
and a faithful observer of your vows. — St. John of
the Cross.
When the Superior orders a thing, it is not he who
speaks; it is God. The Superior is but a trumpet
through which the voice of God passes. This is the
key of obedience; this is why those who aim
at perfection obey in all things so promptly,
making no difference between one Superior or an-
other, obeying in the same manner the lowest in
charge the same as the highest, those who are im-
perfect as well as the perfect. They pay no attention
to the qualities nor the person of the Superior, but
to God alone, who is always and at all times the
same, equally worthy of our submission, on account
of His perfections and His authority, which never
change. — Rodriguez.
Do you know why it is that many who are a long
time in religion, practicing so many acts of obedience
each day, do not acquire the habit of this virtue ? It
is because they do not obey to do the will of God.
This should be the reason of our obedience. —
Rodriguez.
St. Magdalene of Pazzi regarded always the per-
son of God in her Superiors. In obeying them she
desired to do the will of God ; all that her Superior
commanded her seemed ordered by God. On this
account she always experienced inexpressible satis-
faction in obeying.
To be truly obedient it is not sufficient to do what
is commanded; we must do still more : obey without
hesitation and without question. Hold it for certain
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 867
that what is commanded is what you can do best and
most perfectly, although it may not appear so to you.
—St. Philip Neri.
Those who make profession of following the max-
ims of Jesus Christ should greatly esteem simplicity.
Although, in the judgment of the wise ones of the
world, there is nothing more contemptible than
simplicity, it is, nevertheless, a very amiable virtue,
because it directly conducts to the kingdom of God,
and likewise gains for us the affections of men. — St.
Francis de Sales.
Those who possess the virtue of simplicit}- make
themselves loved even by those who are deceitful. —
Si. Vincent de Paul
Simplicity is nothing else but a pure and simple
act of charity; its only end is the love of God.
Our soul is truly simple when we have only this
end in all we do. — St. Francis de Sales.
The office of simplicity is to make us go straight
to God, without listening to human respect, without
consulting our own interest; to make us speak
frankly and from our heart ; to make us act simply,
without any mingling of hypocrisy or artifice ;
finally, to keep us far from duplicity or deceit. — St.
Vincent de Paul.
When a soul that is simple wishes to say or do
something, it is content to consider if it be ex-
pedient to do so, without taking time to consider
what others may think or say. After having de-
cided upon what to do, she does it, and thinks no
more of it. If thoughts of what others may say
868 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
come to mind, she makes no account of them, be-
cause she seeks only to please God, not creatures,
and this is all that the love of God requires.— ^'f.
Francis de Sales,
It does not suffice to do good things. We must
do more ; we must do them well, after the example
of Jesus Christ, of whom it is written : "He hath
done all things well.'' Let us, then, study to per-
form all our actions in the spirit of Jesus Christ;
that is, in the manner He performed His actions,
proposing to ourselves the same end ; otherwise every
work, good perhaps in itself, will bring upon us pun-
ishment rather than rewards. — St, Vincent de Paul.
Many persuade themselves that they have no true
sorrow for their sins if they do not practice many
and great corporal austerities. Let us learn, never-
theless, that he does a good penance who studies to
please God alone, at all times and in all things. This
is a very perfect thing and of great merit. — St.
Francis de Sales.
The Saints arrived at sanctity by devoting them-
selves to the sanctification of all their actions ; they
did all they believed Our Lord asked of them in the
most perfect manner possible.
St. John Berchmans, that servant of God who
labored continually to become a saint by performing
in the most perfect manner possible his ordinary
actions, had taken for his motto this sentence, which
he studied frequently : ''Poenitentia maxima vita
communis,'' "My greatest penance is the ordinary
life." Perfection in the common life ; let that be our
aim.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 869
Our Lord does not measure our perfection by the
number and greatness of the works we do, but by
the manner in which we do them ; and this manner
is the love with which and by which we perform
them. Actions are more perfect according as the
love with which they are performed is more pure
and more perfect. — St, John of the Cross.
The Divine Office is one of the most excellent of
actions. In reciting it we celebrate the praises of
God, which is the ministry which belongs to the
angels. We should not then acquit ourselves of this
duty through habit and without piety, but with all
the devotion of which we are capable.- — St. Mag-
^dalene of Pazzi.
The examination of conscience which all pious
persons are in the habit of making every night be-
fore taking their rest is a great help, not only to
conquer our evil inclinations, but to acquire virtue
and to perform our ordinary actions well. It is not
so much to discover the faults of which we have
been guilty during the day that we make this ex-
amen, as to conceive a lively sorrow for them, to
form the resolution not to fall again into them, to
do penance for them and, especially, to advance in
virtue. — Blessed John of Avila.
Be careful lest you think the time lost that you
give to acquit yourself perfectly of your employ-
ment. It is very agreeable to God to leave our exer-
cises of piety which are not of obligation, when duty
calls us elsewhere.— vS^. Teresa.
Do not fear that those occupations which come
under the rule of obedience, no matter how great or
870 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
how multiplied they may be, can be a hindrance to
union with God. If they are performed in the
presence of God and for His glory, on the contrary,
they unite one more intimately with God ; for how
can that which unites our wnll with God's will keep
us afar from Him ? — St, Francis de Sales,
Exterior occupations were not for St. Magdalene
of Pazzi an obstacle to recollection ; they were not
even a cause of distraction. 'Tt is the same to me,"
she said one day, ''whether I am ordered to go to
pray with my Sisters in the choir or to do some
manual labor. Oftentimes I have found more of
God in work than in prayer.''
One of the great obstacles to the well-doing of
our actions is that while we do one thing we think
of another that we have done or that we are yet to
do. The manner of doing each action well is to give
attention only to the one we are actually performing,
doing it as perfectly as we can, and when it is done
think no more of it, lest it prevent us from occupy-
ing ourselves well with what we have on hand. —
John of Avila,
''Age quod agis." "What thou doest do with all
thy heart."
One obstacle to the goodness of our actions is pre-
cipitation. Look well to this fault, which is a
capital enemy of true devotion. No action done
with precipitation is w^ell done. Those who are
traveling find it best to go always with an equal
step. — St. Francis de Sales.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 871
Be self-possessed, said another wise director of
consciences, in all that you do. Thus you will avoid
many faults. One does that fast enough which is
well done, ''Sat cito si sat bene/'
Still another obstacle to the well-doing of our
actions is worry and solicitude. Great affairs do
not distract us so much as small ones when these
are numerous. This is why we must receive them
peacefully, striving to do them in order one after
the other, without anxiety. By so doing, they be-
come for us occasions of much merit. — St. Francis
de Sales,
The works of God are almost always done little
by little ; they have their commencement and their
progress. One must not pretend to do all in a mo-
ment, in haste, nor think all is lost if one does not
become perfect at once. We must always advance,
but without anxiety. Pray much and make use of
the means suggested by the Holy Ghost, paying no
attention to the false maxims of the world. — 5"^.
Vincent de Paul,
St. Vincent de Paul was very slow to decide upon
any matter. Nevertheless, his slowness, which to
some appeared excessive, never had any bad re-
sults, never injured any affair of which he had
charge. Every one was surprised to see that he suc-
ceeded in all he undertook. Still more, at the same
time that everything prospered w^ith him he ac-
quired treasures of merit in heaven, because charity
animated all that he did for his neighbor.
Among many excellent means that are given to
perform our actions well, I recommend this to you :
872 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
To perform each of your actions as if it were to be
the last one of your Hfe. Ask yourself while you do
it this question : If I knew that this was the last
hour of my life, would I do it in this manner? — St.
Vincent de Paul.
All that we do receives its value from our con-
formity to the will of God ; for instance, if I take
recreation because it is the will of God I merit
more than if I suffered death without having that
intention. Keep well in your mind this thought,
and remember it iti all your actions, in imitation of
the carpenter, who passes all the boards he uses un-
der the plane. It is thus you will do all with per-
fection.— St. Francis de Sales.
It was this truth of which a Jesuit Brother w^as
well convinced when he said that when at table,
taking his repast, he did as much as the apostle of
the Indies, because St. Francis Xavier in preaching
the Gospel simply did the will of God, and he him-
self accomplished that will when he was in the re-
fectory during the time the Rule required it.
If it happens that you say or do something which
is not well received by all, you should not for this
reason reflect much upon it, because it is beyond a
doubt that it is self-love which makes us seek to be
approved in what we say or do. Simplicity aban-
dons to Providence the success of actions done for
Him. — St. Francis de Sales.
Christian prudence consists in judging, speaking,
and acting as the Eternal Wisdom, when robed in
our mortal nature, judged, spoke, and acted, and in
governing one's self in every circumstance accord-
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 873
ing to the maxims of faith, not according to the
false sentiments of the world, or according to the
weak light of its understanding. — St, Vincent de
Paul.
God is a being very simple. This is why, if we de-
sire to make ourselves, as far as it is possible, like to
Him, we should endeavor to be by virtue what God
is by nature ; that is, to have a heart simple, a mind
simple, an intention simple, a manner simple, a
language simple ; to walk honestly, without artifice,
with an exterior conformable to our interior, re-
garding God alone in all our actions, whom alone
we should desire to please. — St, Vincent de Paul.
A friend will visit his friend in the morning to
wish him a good-day ; in the evening, a good-night ;
taking also an opportunity to converse with him
during the day. In like manner make visits to Jesus
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, if your duties per-
mit it. It is especially at the foot of the altar that
one prays well. In all your visits to Our Saviour,
frequently offer His precious blood to the Eternal
Father. You will find these visits very conducive to
your growth in the knowledge and love of Our
Lord. — St. Magdalene of Pazzi,
Make frequent use of short, indulgenced prayers,
aspirations, and ejaculations. St. Francis de Sales
and St. Thomas Aquinas often made ejaculatory
prayers. Every time that St. Ignatius heard the
clock strike he recollected himself and elevated his
heart to God. St. Vincent de Paul was exact in ob-
serving the same practice.
874 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
Let us bless God that we are children of His
Mother; let us imitate her and consider our great
happiness in having her as our patroness and ad-
vocate. The devotions we practice in honor of the
glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they may be,
are very pleasing to her divine Son, and He re-
wards them with eternal glory. — St. Teresa: Book
of the Foundations, Ch. I.
Let the name of Mary be ever on your lips ; let
it be indelibly engraven on your heart. If you are
under her protection, you have nothing to fear ; if
she is propitious, you will arrive at the port of sal-
vation.— St. Bernard, 0. Cist.
I have noticed that all those who have true devo-
tion to St. Joseph and render him special honor are
very much advanced in virtue, for he takes great
care of souls who recommend themselves to him ;
and I have never asked him anything which he did
not obtain for me. — Life of St. Teresa: Ch. VL
The way by which we reach God is indisputably
by means of works of mercy. — St. Angela of Merici.
Almost all the faults that persons in religion com-
mit against their Rules and in their exercises of
piety arise from the facility with which they lose
sight of the presence of God.- — St. Francis de Sales.
There is a certain manner of prayer rnost simple
and very useful ; it is, to be habitually in the pres-
ence of God. And this sight of God will produce
in us an intimate union with Him, a simple and per-
fect intention. Oh, how precious is this manner of
prayer ! — St. Francis de Sales.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 875
'Think of Me, and I will think of thee," said Our
Lord to a saint. He would have him understand
that the continual remembrance of God is an excel-
lent means not only of not offending God, but also
of being enriched with His favors.
It is certain that God desires that which is most
advantageous to us much more than we desire it
ourselves. He knows better than we by what means
that which is best for us must arrive. The choice of
means is entirely in His hands, since it is He who
disposes and regulates all things in the world. It
is also certain that in events which happen, that
which befalls us will always be best for us. — St.
Augustine.
Let us endeavor to conceive a great diffidence in
ourselves, and always to have this truth present to
our mind, that of ourselves we are good for nothing,
that we can but spoil the designs of God. If we
keep this thought in view, it wall cause us to depend
entirely upon God and bring us often to Him to ob-
tain His help. — St. Vincent de Paul.
God takes care of those who place all their
thoughts in Him and depend interiorly on Him,
serving Him with great fidelity. He protects us in
proportion to our confidence in Him. He comes to
our help in every danger, having an infinite love for
souls who jrest in Him. — St. Francis de Sales.
St. Francis of Assisi and his sons had nothing,
yet they never suffered for clothing to cover them
nor for food to sustain them. When he sent his com-
panions anywhere to preach, he addressed them in
876 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
the words of the prophet: ''J acta super Dominum
curam tuam et ipse te emttriet/' ''Cast your care
upon the Lord, and He will sustain you.'' In speak-
ing of his community and of God, he would say:
'*We have a mother who is very poor, but we have a
Father who is very rich/'
When we propose to undertake something belong-
ing to the service of God, having invoked His light
and feeling assured that it is His will, we must make
use of the human means which are necessary and
proper to execute the orders of divine Providence;
nevertheless, it is not upon these means we must rely,
but solely upon the divine assistance ; from this we
must expect success, being well persuaded that what-
ever may happen will be for our advantage. — St.
Vincent de PaiiL
In our various employments and in the cares
which attend them, we must not be disquieted nor
act with haste. Devote a reasonable and moderate
attention to them, and then leave them to divine
Providence, giving place to Him to regulate things
and manifest His will. Be certain that when God
wills that an undertaking succeed delay never
harms it ; there is always more of Him in propor-
tion as there is less of ourselves in it.— 5^. Vincent
de Paul,
When we have undertaken a work foT God, cer-
tain that it is His will, it is necessary to be coura-
geous and persevere to the end, no matter how mul-
tiplied or great the obstacles may be. Divine Prov-
idence never fails in things which we have com-
menced by His order. — St. Vincent de Paul. Never
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 877
was this saint discouraged by difficulties. In pro-
portion as he saw obstacles, he displayed more con-
stancy and resolution.
Weak souls, who are filled with self-love and a
desire to be esteemed, at the first sign of the slight-
est calumny take fire, burn with indignation, and
can not recover their peace without many words es-
caping them. It is not thus with generous souls,
who seek only to please God. They know well that
God sees their innocence, and that He will not fail
to defend them in the way which is most for their
good. — St. Augustine.
When we find ourselves in danger we should not
lose courage, but confide perfectly in Our Lord. The
greater the peril, the nearer is the help of Him who
calls Himself our aid in tribulation. — St. Ambrose.
St. Ignatius was on the sea at one time when a
great tempest arose. The sails of the vessel were
torn to pieces ; all on board, except the saint, were
in fright and tears ; they expected nothing but
death. St. Ignatius alone was tranquil and without
fear. He was calm because these words were
present to his mind : ''The winds and the sea obey
the Lord.'' ''The tempest did not arise without His
permission,'' he said, "and without it we can not
be lost. The Lord is master. If He wills that I
perish in the waters, I consent, I will it. I confide
in His mercy."
It suffices for a soul that loves God as it ought to
love Him to know that a thing is right, and that it
will redound to His glory to do it immediately, with-
878 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
out hesitation, with a desire to please Him, and to
show Him its love. O my God, how easy Thou
makest the most difficult things to those who love
Thee ardently, and who abandon all for Thy love ! —
St. Teresa.
St. Teresa ardently desired a reform in her Rule
in order to be more detached from all things and to
follow more perfectly her vocation. Nevertheless,
she desired it in such a spirit that if the Lord had
made her understand that He wished her to aban-
don the undertaking entirely, she would have done
so instantly without any pain. It was to put in exe-
cution this great desire which burned within her,
namely, to do only what is most pleasing to God,
that she made a vow to do always that which she
knew to be the most perfect. For many it might be
rash to make such a vow ; but in doing this, St.
Teresa felt that God asked it of her. She never
failed in one point to keep her vow.
The Church, in the prayers in which she invokes
St. Ignatius Loyola, makes us understand that the
true and distinctive character of this saint was to do
all for the greater glory of God, and indeed he con-
stantly inculcated upon others the importance of do-
ing all things Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
**Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward,
But as Thyself hast loved me,
O ever loving Lord !
"E'en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing.
Solely because Thou art my God
And my eternal King."
— Hymn of St. Francis Xavier.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 879
''All for the greater glory of God!" St. Ignatius
'Loyola repeats these words three hundred and sev-
enty-six times in his Constitutions. — Snares: de
Rclig., Vol. IV; Book VIII, Ch. VI; No. i.
It is greater to practice self-denial than to raise
the dead. — Nolarci,
He who nurtures in himself the germ of trouble
and uneasiness, that is to say, opposition between
his private judgment and the rules of obedience, will
never enjoy peace of heart nor tranquillity of mind.
— Letter of St. Ignatius on Obedience.
In our ministry to men we must imitate the angels.
They do not neglect any means to procure the sal-
vation of men, but the result, whether good or bad,
causes them to lose nothing of their blessed and
eternal peace. — Ribadeneira: Book V; Ch. II.
I will carefully consider how, on the day of judg-
ment, I would wish to have discharged my office or
my duty; and the way that I would wish to have
done it then, I shall do now. — Spiritual Exercises.
Obedience, by its sacrifices, resembles martyrdom.
They who, by a generous effort, make up their
minds to obey, acquire great merit. — St. Ignatius:
Letter 50.
Place before your eyes as models for imitation
not the weak and cowardly, but the fervent and
courageous. — St. Ignatius: Letter 50.
To conquer himself is the grandest victory that
man can gain. — St. Ignatius: Letter 51.
88o Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
The despising of one's self in the midst of honors
and riches, and disdain for all glory, should be
esteemed m.ore highly than corporal mortification. —
Bartoli.
We must practice both interior and exterior mor-
tification, but with this difference, that we must
give ourselves up to the first particularly , always,
and without exception; to the second, on the con-
trary, only as far as circumstances and the par-
ticular condition of persons and occasions will per-
mit.— Bartoli: Book III.
One ought to obey a Superior not on account of
his wisdom, goodness, or other qualities which God
has given him, but only because he is God's repre-
sentative, and acts by His authority, who has said :
''He that heareth you heareth Me ; he that despiseth
you despiseth Me.'' — St. Ignatius: Letter on Obe-
dience.
In speaking to the sad and sore of heart present
to them a cheerful and serene countenance ; speak
with all sweetness, so as to restore them the more
easily to peace and tranquillity, overcoming in this
way one extreme by another. — St. Ignatius: In-
struction to Fathers Sahneron and Broet.
Never accept as undoubtedly true what an accuser
says, until after you have heard the accused and
found him guilty. Do not lightly condemn the
actions of others ; we must consider the intention of
our neighbor, which is often good and pure, al-
though the act itself seems blameworthy. Treat
sinners as a good mother treats her sick child ; she
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 88i
lavishes more caresses on her child when he is sick
than when he is well. — Bartoli,
Vanity and vainglory are vices born of ignorance
and blind self-love. — St. Ignatius.
Put not off till to-morrow what you can do to-
day.— Bartoli: Book IV.
Before choosing let us examine well whether the
attachment we feel for an object springs solely from
the love of God. — Spiritual Exercises.
If God gives you much suffering it is a sign that
He wishes to make you a great saint. — Bartoli:
Book IV.
The value of a thing is only its worth before God.
-Ibid.
Do you wish to be always happy? Then be al-
ways humble and obedient. — A. Cost ems.
The life of a Christian is a perpetual warfare : but
the strife is but for a few fleeting years, and then it
will be succeeded by an eternity of peace and glory.
— Father Clare, S.J.
Every time you hear the clock strike, remember
you are not the master of the next hour, and think,
at the same time, of the Passion Our Lord was
pleased to suffer to gain eternity for you. — Blessed
Labre Cordigere.
882 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
The subject ought to behold in his superior, not
the man, but Him for whose love he has sacrificed
his will ; and the fewer qualities the superior has,
the greater merit there is in obeying him. — St, Fran-
cis: Monastic Conference, 4.
God afflicts man for several reasons: ist, To in-
crease his merit ; 2d, That he may retain His grace ;
3d, To punish his faults; 4th, To show forth His
glory and His other attributes. — St, Anthony of
Padua: Sermon for Lent, 31.
The holiest man is not he who holds the holiest
station, but he who best fulfils the duties of the
state in which divine Providence has placed him. —
St. Lidwine,
I especially exhort you, my brethren in the Lord,
while engaged with the world, not to argue, nor be
boisterous, nor to judge others, but to be gentle,
peaceful, reserved, agreeable, humble; in fine, to
speak kindly to all, as it behooves you to do. — St,
Francis: Rule of the Friars Minor,
Happy is he who does not excuse himself, but re-
ceives blame and humiliation silently, even when
the fault is involuntary. — St, Francis: Monastic
Conference, 11.
It is safer and easier to decline presents entirely
than to determine upon those which one may receive
without danger; for it is not easy for a man who
Maxims and Counsels of Saints, 883
has commenced to receive them to know where it is
proper to stop. — St. Elzeaf, Third Order,
Be always patient and agreeable; if any one has
offended you, offer to God the pain you have suf-
fered. By this mark I will know if you are God's
servant, z'is., if you bring back kindly to God the
brother who has gone astray, and if you never cease
to love the man who has been very culpable. — St.
Francis: First Letter to Brother Elias.
In every undertaking, temporal as well as spirit-
ual, do your part, leave God to do His, and hold
your peace. — St. Joseph of Cupertino.
Charity is a fire ; but three things can extinguish
it : the whirlwind of pride, the inundations of glut-
tony and luxury, and the dense fumes of avarice. —
St, Anthony of Padua: Sermons.
The surest means of obtaining God's grace is by
holy indifference, and by resignation to His holy
will. — St. Joseph of Cupertino,
Happy is he who has charity for every one, and
who does not desire, moreover, that they have
charity for him ; and happy, too, is he who performs
great services for his neighbor, yet does not trouble
himself about receiving like services in return. —
Bl. Egidius of Assisi.
If we understood the nature of purgatory, we
would be more anxious to free the dear souls there.
884 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
O ! purgatory, how terrible thou art ! — Ven. Mary
Chembine of the Clares,
The sacrifice of our will is the best and most ac-
ceptable offering that we can make to God. — St.
Joseph of Cupertino.
The best perfection is to do ordinary things in a
perfect manner. Constant fidelity in little things is
a great and heroic virtue. — St, Bonaventure: Mir-
ror of the Novices,
He who is charged with the care and direction of
others, and who holds the highest place, should be
as the least of all and the servant of his brethren,
and use toward each of them the condescension
which he would wish to be shown to himself if he
were their inferior. — St, Francis: In Second Letter
to the Faithful.
May your discourse be seasoned with the pre-
cious salt of prudence and charity. Be not too seri-
ous nor yet unseasonably jocose nor immoderately
gay ; let your manner be agreeable and regulated by
Christian modesty. — St. Leonard of Port Maurice,
There are many who are given to prayer and
works of zeal, who undergo self-privations and
mortification, but who, for a word which seems in-
jurious to them, or for some little misunderstand-
ing, immediately take offense ; such are, indeed, not
poor in spirit.-— 5*^. Francis: Monastic Conference,
14.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 885
He is truly obedient who permits himself to be
removed without murmuring, who is indifferent to
the office given him, or does not desire any other
place, and who, elevated to an important position,
remains as humble as before. — St, Francis: Ex-
amples, I.
If you are faithful in doing the will of God in this
life, your own wall shall be accomplished through-
out eternity. The Heart of Jesus is at least worth
yours. Leave all, and you will find all in the Sacred
Heart. How sweet it wall be to die after having had
a constant devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus —
of Him who will be Our Judge. — Bl. Margaret
Mary.
Consider the answer which Christ gave the scribe.
''The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests,
but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay His
head." As if He wished to insinuate this sentiment
— why should you wish to follow Me for worldly
wealth, when I have no lodging of My own, being
more poorly provided than the very beasts of the
field and the birds of the air ? O wonderful poverty
of this sovereign King! This poverty, however, is
of such immense value as to be able to purchase
the kingdom of heaven. ''Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt,
v. 3). The true disciples of Jesus Christ ought,
like their master, to have no coffers in which to
hoard their treasures (as foxes "have their holes"),
and they ought not to be like birds who build their
nests on high ; that is, they ought not to seek high
and dignified employment, but court humility and
obscurity. Their Master was "poor and in labors
886 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
from His youth'' (Ps. Ixxxvii. i6). Ponder the im-
port of the Prophet's words : ''Though thou be ex-
alted as an eagle, and though thou set thy nest
among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith
the Lord" (Abdias, 4). — Baxter: Meditations.
There is nothing that will make your heart more
conformable to the Heart of Jesus than sincerity,
simplicity, and humility. — Bl. Margaret Mary.
In all your actions avoid haste and eagerness, en-
deavoring to form your exterior as well as your in-
terior upon the model of Jesus Christ and His Sa-
cred Heart. Employ well the present time without
being uneasy about the future. — Bl. Margaret Mary.
Striving after perfection, is another way of saying
'self-conquest." — Fr. Dignam, S.J.
To brood over our sufferings is poison to the
soul, so also is pondering over the faults of others.
Count as a fault each time you think of any one's
faults without thinking of their good qualities and
praising God for them. We were created to praise.
How peaceful will be the death of one who has
never allowed himself to judge or say an unkind
word! He wrll find at his judgment the Sacred
Heart to be an open tabernacle where he will rest
forever. — Ibid.
To have a smile for all is a great means of doing
good. But only those who try know how hard it is.
We shall succeed better if we learn to smile at God ;
for He, dear Lord, loves to see us smile at Him,
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 887
and, like His creatures, He is pleased with our
cheerfulness. — Ibid,
Severity toward ourselves should render us more
meek, indulgent, and afifable toward others. If our
neighbor's act has one hundred sides, we should al-
ways look at it from its most favorable side. — Ibid.
I will spare no effort to maintain a constant peace
and interior joy. — Father Schneider, S.I.
How should we employ our time? (i) We should
keep steadily to our spiritual duties; (2) Fulfil the
duties of our state of life; (3) Do what we owe to
our station ; ( 4) Fill up our spare time well ; (5) Do
even our least actions in a spirit of faith and love.
You will never feel any sacrifice if you love. Look
at the intensity of love and the loyalty of the saints ;
these ought to be a stimulus for us. In all circum-
stances let our prayer be: ''Non mea voluntas, sed
tua Hat.'' It will bring us strength and consolation,
and will render us cheerful and ready to bear every
hardship. Glory is only to be earned by the cross. —
Father Clare, S.I.
Try to be unnoticed except when called on to
com.e forward in the cause of God and our neighbor.
With what zeal ought we not to labor for the poor,
so especially dear to our blessed Lord, and how-
ready we should be at all times to comfort and en-
courage them in their sorrow and sufferings. — Ibid,
If we would please God we must make up our
minds to trample upon human respect, to disregard
the opinions of men, and to reject all fear of what
888 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
the world will say, whenever there is a question of
performing our duty. — Ibid.
Break off prayer or any occupation for your suf-
fering neighbor's sake ; but, like Mary, have Christ
with you whithersoever you go. Be assured that
nothing brings so much consolation and sweetness to
souls that love God as leaving Christ for Christ. —
St. Philip Neri.
When you cannot obtain justice, suffer and be
silent. Lay your case in secret before God, and
He will turn all things to your good.
What folly is this, O my God ? Why are we so
concerned at being falsely accused by all men, if
we are innocent before Thee? — St. Teresa.
"Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath
care of you." — i Pet. v. 7.
Jesus is ever to be found in the tabernacle. In
trial or sorrow look not to men for comfort, but
seek Jesus as your friend, and with Him alone will
you find perfect peace.
What can the world give thee without Jesus? To
be without Jesus is a grievous hell ; to be with Jesus
is a sweet paradise. — The Imitation.
''You shall seek Me, and shall find Me when you
shall seek Me with all your heart.'' — ler. xxix. 13.
Learn of Mary on Calvary so to assist at holy
Mass that you may die to yourself and live only for
God and your neighbor.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 889
The most mortified will be the most tenderly
caressed by the Heart of Jesus. The most charitable
will be the best loved by the Heart of Jesus. The
most silent will be the best instructed by the Sacred
Heart. The most obedient will have the mxOst credit
and power with the Heart of Jesus. — BL Margaret
Mary.
Jesus wills that you should be attentive to Him and
prompt to follow His lights and movements. Jesus
loves you, and will not permit you to perish while
you have confidence in Him. United in spirit to the
choir of angels, pray frequently and earnestly for the
conversion of sinners, the perseverance of the sick
and agonizing, and the release of the souls in purga-
tory. O Jesus, form my heart according to Thy
Heart, and then my life, whole and entire, will flow
on according to Thy good pleasure. — St. Gertrude.
God has exalted Mary above all creatures, so in
your heart and soul she must reign supreme after
Him. Consider w^hat is w^anting in your reverence,
love, and devotion.
The Mother of God is the ladder of heaven. God
came down to earth by this ladder, that men might
use the same means to climb up to Him in heaven. —
St. Fulgenthis.
Strive, like Mary, to fulfil faithfully, and for God,
the ordinary duties of your state, especially those
which are repugnant to you.
Nothing, however trifling, done for God's sake,
will go unrewarded. — The Imitation.
Sqo Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
Self-contempt and perfect union with the divine
will : these are the main points of the Christian life.
— St, Paul of the Cross: ''Passion Flozvers/'
Have you ever noticed rocks in the sea, beaten by
the tempest? A furious wave dashes against the
rock, another and yet another does likewise, yet the
rock is unmoved. But look at it after the storm
has subsided, and you will see that the flood has but
served to wash and purify it of the defilement it had
contracted during the calm. Hereafter I wish you
to be as a rock. A wave dashes against you?
Silence ! It assails you ten, a hundred, a thousand
times ? Silence ! Say, at most, in the midst of the
storm, "My Father, my Father, I am all Thine ! O
dear, O sweet will of God, I adore thee!'' — Ibid.
Remember that true holiness is accompanied by
pains and tribulations from within and without, by
attacks of visible and invisible enemies, by trials of
body and mind, by desolations and prolonged aridi-
ties ; *'and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution'' (2 Tim. iii. 12), that is to
say, all sorts of trials from demons, from men, and
from our rebellious flesh. — Ibid.
God usually deprives His servants, for a time, of
all consolation, that they may learn to serve Him
through pure love, and become truly faithful ser-
vants. He deprives them of spiritual delights, even
on the most solemn occasions, to test their faith and
fidelity. ''Sursttm corda'' then ; let us lift up our
hearts and generously serve our great God and Our
Lord Jesus in faith and pure love. — Ibid.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 891
The best way to acquire that peace which is born
of the love of God, the inexhaustible Source of all
virtues, is to accept all tribulations, whether spirit-
ual or temporal, as coming directly from the pa-
ternal hand of God; to look upon all unpleasant
events as very costly gifts presented to us by our
heavenly Father ; to repeat often the sacred words
of Our Saviour : "Yea, Father, for so hath it
seemed good in Thy sight" (Matt. xi. 26). — Ibid.
When our pious undertakings meet with little
success, let us not be troubled ; when God wills any-
thing to be done for His glory He will not fail to
urge on the work until it is accomplished. — Ibid,
Suffering is but brief; joy will be eternal.
The indulgenced ejaculation which the Passion-
ists call "the offering'' is this : "Eternal Father, I
offer Thee the precious blood of Jesus, in satisfac-
tion for my sins, and for the wants of holy Church."
It is indulgenced one hundred days for every time
we say it "with at least contrite hearts and devo-
tion.'' But after the words "for the wants of holy
Church" we may add any intention we please with-
out losing the indulgence. So we make it as fol-
lows : "Eternal Father, I offer Thee the precious
blood of Jesus, in satisfaction for my sins, for
the wants of holy Church, for the conversion of sin-
ners, and for the suffering souls in purgatory." We
add these two intentions because they are the best
in point of charity. — Edmund Hill, C.P.: Devotion
to the Passion.
Indulgenced ejaculatory prayer for the renewal of
the religious profession : "Heart of Jesus, Victim of
892 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
Love, make me a living and holy sacrifice to Thee,
and pleasing to God!" — Ind. 50 Days: Pius X., Feb,
27, 1907.
The saints were not satisfied with refraining
from doing to others what they would not wish
done to themselves ; they did to others what they
would wish done to themselves; or, rather, forget-
ting themselves, they thought only of God and their
neighbor. It has been wisely remarked that the
harder they were on themselves, the more lenient
and condescending they were toward others. Holy
humility kept them in spirit under the feet of every
one, and made them believe that they were unworthy
of the least regard. Far from showing themselves
exacting, they thought that too much attention and
kindness were paid them ; hence, they expressed
profound gratitude for the least services. Nothing
deterred them, except obedience, when there was
question of obliging others. Let us be polite in the
least details of life, with the politeness inspired by
charity and the spirit of faith. — Demore.
Endeavor to be ready to work or rest, to live or
die, only as God wishes. — Bozuden.
I wish, with all my heart, to be fortified by the
Sacraments before I die ; but I have the hardihood
to prefer the providence of my Lord and my God to
all the Sacraments ; and I think this is the safest
preparation for death. — St. Gertrude,
''My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,
that I may perfect His work." — John iv. 34.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 893
^'Behold/' says Christ to His disciples, "I send
you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye, there-
fore, wise as serpents, and simple as doves" (Matt.
X. 16). Thus He wishes the serpent's wisdom to be
united with the simplicity of the dove in the char-
acter of His apostles. He requires that they should
be prudent, in seizing proper occasions and times of
doing good to their neighbors ; simple, in acting
with sincerity and purity of intention withput
double-dealing, acrimony or malice. *'Thy eyes are
as those of doves," says the spouse in the Canticle,
that is, pure and simple. Let these be the model of
your rectitude of intention. — Baxter: Meditations.
*Tn your patience possess ye your souls." St.
Augustine defines patience as ''a virtue which
enables us to endure with tranquillity the misfor-
tunes of life, whatever they may be." Patience has
various degrees ; by the first we bear pain rather
than offend God ; by the second we accept trials with
calm and resignation ; by the third we ardently de-
sire to suffer for the love of God. Our dear Lady
practiced patience in its highest degree. Her life
was full of sorrows, which she accepted joyfully as
a means of imitating her divine Son. Look at our
patient Mother standing on Calvary, suffering as no
creature ever suffered, and yet so gentle, so for-
giving to Jesus' persecutors, so perfectly calm be-
cause her patience had its source in her burning love
of God. — Madame Cecilia: Mater Mea,
''My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
Mary could have said in union with Jesus, ''My
meat and drink is to do the will of my Father." It
was this spiritual joy that ever sustained her. Re-
pulsed from door to door in the chill December
894 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
night, ''it is His will/' Toiling across the barren
sands, ... a stranger among the idolaters of
Egypt, ''it is His will.'' Following the blood-stained
footsteps of her Son, childless and desolate at the
third hour, "it is His will," . . . and yet even now,
''Exultavit Spiritus meus/' — Father Humphrey:
Mary Magnifying God.
Be bright and cheerful. Forget yourself and
strive to make others happy.
Oh, how many wonderful examples of obedience
to the will of God our glorious Lady has left us
throughout the whole course of her life, and in her
marriage with St. Joseph and her flight into Egypt !
"Whither are you going, O glorious Virgin ! with
that pretty little 'Child ?"
"I am going to Egypt," she will say.
"But what makes you go there?"
"The will of God."
/'Shall you be long away?"
"Just as long as God wills."
"And when shall you return?"
"When He shall bid me."
"When you do come back, will you not be more
joyful than now that you are going?"
"No, certainly not."
"But why?"
"Because in going there, and in remaining there,
I shall be doing the will of God, as well as in re-
turning."
"But when you return you will go again into your
own country?"
"Ah!" she will answer you, "I have no country
but this, to do in all things the will of God."— vSf.
Francis de Sales: Our Lady's Book of Days.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 895
The chief thing for us to remember, as the sure
basis of our devotion, is that Mary's power with
Our Lord is still the same as it was during His life
upon earth ; for natural feelings are not destroyed in
glory, but are exalted and perfected. Therefore,
the most Blessed Virgin need never fear a refusal :
Christ's own love pleads on the side of Mary's
prayers, for the human nature which He assumed
appeals to Him in her ; and so we have, ever plead-
ing our cause with God, that most powerful of all
human advocates — a Mother at the feet of her Son.
— Bossuet.
Zeal for souls is of no merit if we do not love our
own community : it is only a delusion ; charity be-
gins at home. There are a great many command-
ments and counsels to keep ; but all the Fathers of
the Church are agreed that St. John was right when
he said, that ''if we love one another we have ful-
filled the law." We can not love Jesus Christ whom
we can not see, if we do not love one another whom
we do see. ''J^^ge not, and you shall not be judged."
There will be no ''judgment" for those who never
judged others ; they will go straight to the Sacred
Heart. Suppose when looking at a dead sister, we
remembered her unkind judgments of others, oh!
how we should tremble as we prayed for her soul ! —
Father Dignam, SJ,: Retreats.
It is our privilege that our life is one of drudgery;
by this we earn our highest reward, so that we
ought to be bright. The devil makes a nest, and
lays his eggs in a gloomy heart ; he loves darkness.
We should be free from all desires that take away
the peace of our souls. Sometimes we let very small
things destroy our peace. We must be active, al-
896 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
ways ready to help others, and to have our orders
changed, and not confine our activity to work that
we Hke. We should be gentle, unobtrusive in our
charity ; quiet and calm in our exterior and heart. —
Ibid, '
Make it the fixed purpose of your life to make all
others happy as far as it is in your power, and so
(for that will be necessary) to put self out of view
altogether. This then ought to be the first thought
on awakening : ''Dear Mother, for thy honor I will
take care that everybody who speaks to me to-day
shall go away happier.'' This thought ought to be
the first in your examen at night: ''How^
many have I failed to make happy to-day?" — Ibid.
We presume to arrogate to ourselves the power
of deciding what we will tolerate, and what we will
not. 'T can stand this, but I can't stand that." Some
can not bear this defect, and some can not bear that ;
some can't stand meanness, some can't stand un-
truths, some can't stand rudeness ; and so on. But,
if we look within ourselves, we shall find very often
that the faults we condemn so in others are either
fully developed, or, at the least, latent in our hearts.
I remember one of our fathers once saying, that
what he condemned in other priests, he was certain
to find sooner or later in himself; he said, ''There
were three things I was terribly down upon, and all
three of them I have had to acknowledge, and bear
in myself." I remember the story about some
negroes ; when they quarrel they always finish by
calling each other, "Oh, you black nigger!" This
is the way with us — we are severe, and down upon
others for faults and defects hardly more glaring
than our own. Who are we that we should dare to
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. ^97
make laws as to what is to be tolerated, and what
punished? Poor, weak, miserable, little, wretched
creatures, hanging by the thread of God's infinite,
loving, patient, tender compassion ! There is not one
of us that is not capable of committing any fault, no
matter how serious or grave. If we have true
humility, we shall never fail in charity; for charity
and humility are twin sisters ; they go hand in hand.
— Father Dignam: Retreats,
Every human being is continually panting for
happiness, the good and the wicked are alike de^
sirous of gaining it, but they seek for it by different
means. Christ, therefore, commences His Sermon
on the Mount with the Beatitudes, as if He were to
say, you all desire to be happy ; listen then, and I will
point out the ways that lead to felicity. Do you,
therefore, take care to set your affections on this true
happiness, and seek for it by the means which Christ
points out. Christ honored eight virtues which are
contemptible in the eyes of the world, with the titles
of beatitudes. He has made these so many steps by
which we may ascend to heaven in order to enjoy our
ultimate and everlasting happiness. These are pov-
erty of spirit, meekness, sorrow for sins, hunger and
thirst after justice, mercy, purity of heart, the mak-
ing of peace both with God and men, and the suffer-
ing of persecutions for Christ's sake. You must as-
cend these steps, if you wish to enter into the joys of
your Lord. ''Blessed is the man whose help is from
Thee; in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by
steps" (Ps. Ixxxiii. 6). — Baxter: Meditations,
''Blessed are the merciful" (Matt. v. 7). "He
went about doing good, and healing all" (Acts x.
Sg^ Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
38). ''He was teaching daily in the Temple'' (Luke
xix. 47). ''Come to Me, all you that labor and are
heavy burdened, and I will refresh you'' (Matt. xi.
28). Consider the reward attached to works of
mercy. "They shall obtain mercy." This mercy
will accompany them in this life, it will extend to
both body and soul, and it will be their reward in
the next life : "With the same measure that you shall
measure it shall be measured to you again" (Luke
vi. 38). Reflect how much you stand in need of
God's mercy, and what your case would have been
had God dealt with you according to your deserts.
Be merciful, therefore, to others, that you may ob-
tain mercy. Meditate on the sentence of St. James :
"Judgment without mercy to him that hath not done
mercy" (James ii. 13). — Baxter: Meditations.
Our divine Lord loves the poor sufferers in pur-
gatory with an infinite love, and ardently desires to
receive them into heaven. Let us try to gain many
indulgences to-day for those who, while on earth,
most loved and honored His Sacred Heart. — For-
get-Me-Nots from Many Gardens,
Silence kept in a spirit of devotion brings great
solace to the suffering souls. There are few who do
not sin by the tongue, and purgatory is filled with
souls who suffer for having given that member too
much liberty. Offer to-day for their relief some
acts of self-denial. — Ihid.
The Lord declares him "accursed who does His
work negligently." What a dreadful thing to ap-
pear before Him with imperfect works ! — prayers
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 899
said without devotion, the Divine Office recited with
distraction, meditations made without fruit! Let us
pray to-day for those who are suffering for such
offenses. — Ibid,
Let us assist at Mass and offer a communion fre-
quently for the relief of priests and Religious de-
tained in purgatory. We read in the life of the
Venerable Mary of Antigua that a nun of her con-
vent, having died, appeared to her, and said : ''Why
is it that you do not offer for me and for the other
souls the Stations of the Cross?'' The servant of
God remained in suspense at these words, when she
heard Our Lord say to her: ''The exercise of the
Way of the Cross is so profitable to the souls in
purgatory that this soul has come to ask it of you
in the name of all. The Via Crucis is a suffrage of
great importance for these souls. By offering it for
them you will have them as so many protectors, who
will pray for you and defend your cause before My
justice. Tell your Sisters to rejoice in this treasure
and the precious capital they have in it, that they
may profit by it." It is the common opinion of the
Fathers and Doctors of the Church that those who
fervently and perseveringly interest themselves for
the souls in purgatory will not be lost. O security
to be desired ! — Ibid,
A short offering which may be made each morn-
ing for the souls in purgatory : O my God ! Deign
to accept my every thought, word, and action, as a
loving petition to Thy mercy in behalf of the suffer-
ing souls in purgatory, particularly . I unite
to Thy sacred Passion the trials and contradictions
of this day, which I purpose to bear with patience in
900 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
expiation for the sins and infidelities which detain
Thy children in the purifying flames of purgatory.
—Ibid,
In the morning and often during the day, .kiss
your crucifix and say : *'My Jesus, I thank Thee for
having died on the cross for my sins; have mercy
on me, and save my soul!'' When you behold the
three nails of the crucifix, think of the three vows by
which you are crucified with Christ as a victim of
love. The life of a Religious is a continual death.
Let your life be hidden with Christ in God. Be
faithful to your religious promise ; faithful to your
holy Rule, which is the expression of God's will, and
pray in the spirit of the Seraphic St. Francis : ''O
good Jesus, may the sweet flame of Thy love con-
sume in my heart whatever is displeasing to Thee,
so that I may die to self and the world for love of
Thee, who hast vouchsafed to die for love of me!"
O souls! seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the
shadow of the cross. There mourn the Passion of
your divine Spouse, and drawing from your hearts
tears of compassionate love and repentance make of
them a precious balm with which to anoint the
wounds of your Saviour. — St. Paul of the Cross,
''Intra tna vidnera, absconde me.'' Within Thy
wounds hide me. As of old Moses hid in the cleft
of the rock and was there protected by God's right
hand, so may I be hidden in Thy sacred wounds, the
clefts in the Rock of ages. Within Thy wounds,
hide me. Saviour, that henceforth my life may be
hidden with Thee in God. — Madame Cecilia: Re-
treat Manual.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 901
When you are alone, take your crucifix, kiss its
five wounds reverently, tell it to preach you a little
sermon, and then listen to the words of eternal life
that it speaks to your heart; listen to the pleading
of the thorns, the nails, the precious blood. Oh,
what an eloquent sermon! — St. Paul of the Cross:
Flowers of the Passion.
In temptation say : ''O my Jesus, through Thy
Passion and death, give me the victory over this
temptation/' Take your crucifix, kiss it devoutly
while the temptation lasts, and rest assured that you
will not sin. — Ibid.
When I lie down to rest at night, I will think
that I shall perhaps die that very night, I will then
make a fervent act of contrition for my sins, kiss the
crucifix, and say : ''Father, into Thy hands I com-
mend my spirit.'' — Ibid.
We prove our attachment to God more in suffer-
ing a great deal for His sake than in working a great
deal for His glory. — St. Alphonsjis Ligtwri: Vic-
tories of the Martyrs; Introd., § 2.
Behold the skull and cross-bones at the foot of the
crucifix; what is the origin and meaning of this
representation ? The American Ecclesiastical Review
answers this question : ''According to a very old
tradition (Detzel, Icoiiographie, Ch. IV., p. 422),
Adam, the father of the human race, was buried on
the spot where Our Lord died. A similar tradition
has it that a sprig of the tree of life which Adam
took from paradise and planted as a lasting remem-
brance of his transgression in the place where he
wished to be buried, became the wood from which the
902 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
cross of Our Saviour was fashioned. Thus the tomb
of Adam was identified with the spot on the mount
of Calvary on which the cross was raised. So art
has represented it for centuries, and the skull and
bones of our first parent are placed there to indicate
that they (and the whole race of man) receive new
life through the death of Christ: Ecce resurgit
Adam cut dat Deus in cruce vitamf (Inscript.
cruc, in the Cathedral of Chur, in St. Ulricus at
Augsburg, etc.)"
Pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of
the whole human race ; for love of Jesus crucified aid
the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. There
are in the world over one thousand millions of men
and women in pagan and non-Catholic countries
who are laboring in darkness and the shadow of
death, who do not love the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
because they do not know Him. Jesus thirsts for
souls. For love of the Sacred Heart help, and in-
terest others in, the work of Catholic missions.
Silence sets us free from many sins, which one is
liable to commit in speech. "He that keepeth his
mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from dis-
tress'' (Prov. xxi. 23). "Blessed is he that hath not
slipped with his tongue" (Ecclus. xxv. 11) ; "for
the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, an unquiet
evil, full of deadly poison" (James iii. 6, 8). Do I
keep the Rule of silence, that I may beware of many
sins? Am I especially careful not to sin by words
against charity? Silence allows us time for reflec-
tion and is a companion to prudence. Am I wont
well to consider things ere I set to work? Unless
one keeps his soul collected and composed, he can
not be united with God in the sweet bonds of love,
Maxims and Counsels of Saints, 903
he can not listen to His words nor speak with Him,
he can not say, with the spouse of Solomon's can-
ticle: "My Beloved to me and I to Him (Cant. ii.
16). "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth and
a door roundabout my lips'' (Ps. cxl. 3), that I may
shun all useless or hurtful speech and ever live in re-
ligious composure. O Lord ! may I ever be mind-
ful of the words of the Holy Ghost : "He that keep-
eth his mouth, keepeth his soul ; but he that hath no
guard on his speech, shall meet with evils both
here and hereafter" (Prov. xiii. 3). — Lescoiibier:
Monthly Recollection.
Blessed are the actions enclosed between two
"Hail Marys !" — St, Alphonsiis Liguori.
"May Thy will be done !" That is what the saints
had continually on their lips and in their hearts. —
St, Alphonsus: Advice to Religious,
All perfection consists in the love of God; and
the perfection of divine love consists in the union of
our will with that of God. — St, Alphonsiis ; Con-
formity to the Will of God, § i.
The ejaculatory prayers most pleasing to God are
acts of love, resignation, and offering of one's self.
-^-True Spouse: Ch. XX.
May the two names, so sweet and so powerful, of
Jesus and Mary, be always in our hearts and on our
lips. — Glories of Mary: Pt. L Ch. X.
If you wish to suffer in peace, say, I am making
my purgatory.
904 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
It is good to meditate upon the last things, death,
judgment, eternity; but let us above all meditate
upon the Passion of Christ. — St. Alphonsus: Advice
to Religious,
I must remember that I am always obliged to do
whatever my Superiors command me, and that I
may do it without anxiety if only it be not evidently
against the law of God. St. Teresa, being once in
doubt about something, was told by Our Lord : ''My
child, you can never be wrong in obeying." O
Lord, teach me perfect obedience that I may be
ever ready to say, with Thy blessed Mother: ''Be-
hold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done
to me according to His word.'' In view of death,
can I repeat the words which St. Peter spoke to
Jesus : "We have done what Thou hast commanded
us; what reward wilt Thou give us?" If I want to
be able to speak thus at the hour of my death, what
have I to change in my life? What must I amend,
if I want confidently to expect death and the ever-
lasting reward of heaven? "Every one that hath
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My name's
sake shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess
life everlasting" (Matt. xix. 29). Keep your heart
pure, do well your daily works and sanctify them by
the intention to perform them solely for the love of
God: ''Ad majorem Dei Gloriam!' and you will be-
come a saint. — Lescoubier: Monthly Recollection,
Am I ready for death ? If I had to die at the pres-
ent moment, would I have no fear of being lost?
But if to-day I deserve hell, shall I deserve heaven
to-morrow? Besides, the morrow is uncertain: I
do not know whether to-morrow I shall be alive.
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 905
I will then take care, this very moment ; I will elicit
an act of perfect contrition over my past sins and
begin a new life. Which way am I walking? Am I
on the road of pride and disobedience ? On the road
of self-indulgence and guilty pleasure? On the road
of self-will and ambition? On the road of sloth and
carelessness? This very day I will leave that road,
lest it bring me to ''the place of torments" (Luke
xvi. 28). — Ibid,
Meditate often and seriously on the happiness of
heaven. Such meditations, besides deepening our
knowledge of God, and of the things He has pre-
pared for them that love Him, have a wonderful
power of detaching our hearts from the transitory
pleasures and honors of this world. They, more-
over, create in our. soul an unquenchable thirst for
the vision and possession of God, while they infuse
into us a new courage to battle manfully against all
the obstacles which beset our path in the practice of
virtue.
Such meditations fill us, moreover, with a laud-
able and noble ambition of reaching a high degree
of union with God. This w^as the ambition of the
saints, and it should be ours also. It was this desire
of a most intimate union with God, that caused them
to deny themselves even the most innocent pleasures
of this world, and to undergo sufferings, the bare
recital of which makes our poor nature shud-
der. They knew that ''our present tribulation,
which is momentary and light, worketh for us
above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of
glory'' (2 Cor. iv. 17). — Boudreaiix: The Happiness
of Heaven.
9o6 Maxims and Counsels of Saints.
In the thirty-seventh chapter of her Life, St.
Teresa speaks thus : '*I would not lose, through any
fault of mine, the least degree of further enjoyment
in heaven. I even go so far as to declare that, if the
choice were offered to me whether I would rather
remain subject to all the afflictions of the world,
even to the end of it, and then ascend, by that means,
to the possession of a little more glory in heaven ;
or else, without any affliction at all, enjoy a little
less glory, I would most willingly accept all the
troubles and afflictions for a little more enjoyment,
that so I might understand a little more of the great-
ness of God ; because I see that he who understands
more of Him, loves and praises Him so much the
more." Here is the ambition of a great saint. It is
not after crowns or scepters, or the glory of this
world that she sighs, but after a single degree of
higher enjoyment in heaven; and to obtain that she
is willing to remain sufifering in this wretched world
to the end of time. Let such be your ambition in
the future. If not in so sublime a degree, let it, at
least, be directed only to the acquisition of "treas-
ures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust con-
sume, and where thieves do not break through and
steal" (Matt. vi. 19). Labor incessantly for that
''inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that can not
fade, reserved in heaven for you" (i Pet. i. 4). "Be
faithful unto death," says Our Lord Jesus Christ,
"and I will give thee the crown of life" (Apoc. ii.
10). — Boudreaux: Ibid.
"The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
He hath set me in a place of pasture." "Though I
should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evils, for Thou art with me." "And
Maxims and Counsels of Saints. 907
Thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life/'
— Ps. xxii.
'Tn Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never
be confounded." ''Bow down Thy ear to me; make
haste to deliver me." "Be Thou unto me a God, a
protector, and a house of refuge to save me." ''I
have hoped in the Lord; I will be glad and rejoice
in Thy mercy." ''Make Thy face to shine upon Thy
servant, save me in Thy mercy." — Ps, xxx.
2l^ ^ajorem Wei ©loriam^
Fiat, laudetur atque in May the most just, most
seternum superexaltetur jus- high, and most amiable will
tissima, altissima et ama- of God be done in all things,
bilissima voluntas Dei in be praised and magnified
omnibus. forever!
Hesartiing Special €:onfessors ot 3Elelisious Communities
BATHER McNiCHOLAS, O.P., says : By the special
confessor of nuns is not meant the ordinary,
nor the extraordinary, as we understand the extraor-
dinary, but one that is sought whenever some special
need is felt by the individual to unburden herself to
some priest appointed for this purpose. If the pre-
dominant thought of the penitent were a considera-
tion of his or her offenses against God, united with a
profound sorrow and an earnest entreaty for
forgiveness, and ruled by charity, the personality
of the confessor might be an unknown quantity. We
face, however, the fact which often defies analysis,
that we can open entirely our conscience to one con-
fessor and can unhesitatingly subject our actions and
motives to his most searching scrutiny, while to an-
other, w^ho may be more sympathetic and kind, an
undefinable something prevents an open and free
manifestation. Too many priests do not give this
fact sufficient consideration when dealing with nuns
as penitents. How many priests, even, are there who
can say, 'Tt makes no difference to whom I go to
confession"? And priests, as a rule, are not looking
for direction or directors in the choice of their con-
fessor. St. Thomas says that a confessor would sin
who would not willingly grant to a penitent permis-
sion to confess to another, because many penitents
would rather indefinitely postpone confession than
confess to certain priests. Conscience is a delicate
thing. We cannot form it as we do a table or a vase.
Qio Addenda.
It does not work automatically; but human life-
strings, which unexpectedly pull in this or that direc-
tion, rule it. The difficulties referred to will exist as
long as the personality of the confessor means what
it does, as long as spirituality makes tender con-
sciences, as long as persons consecrated to the ser-
vice of God are human, as long as nuns are nuns.*
Since the recent decree of the Congregation of the
Council f urges that daily Communion be promoted
in all religious communities, and, as a matter of fact,
since the Holy Father's wish has been carried out in
many of the convents of nuns, the provision by our
Bishops of special confessors becomes more impera-
tive.
As stated in my first paper,J only one ordinary
confessor is to be appointed for a community, and,
as his designation signifies, he alone is to hear regu-
larly the confessions of its members. For the same
community, however, there may be several special
confessors§ (confessarii adjimcti). According to the
general law of the Church, special confessors of sis-
terhoods, or of communities that make profession of
simple or perpetual vows, do not require the special
approbation which must be given for nuns of solemn
vows.f The particular law, however, of most dio-
ceses requires special approbation, and this ''ad
validitatem/'\\
^Consult the Decree Quemadmodum regarding the
special confessors of nuns or sisters.
t20 December, 1905, in the EccL Review, July, 1906, p. 81.
See ''The Holy Father's Wishes Regarding Daily Com-
munion," ibidem, p. 60.
XEccl Review, October, 1906, p. 351.
^Quemadmodum, n. IV. ; Normce, 147.
ilnscrutahile Dei, Gregory XV., 5, February, 1622; Ecc\.
Review, October, 1906 ; Gennari : Consultazioni, I, p. 72>7'
II The Visitation Nuns in a few dioceses make solemn pro-
fession.
Addenda, 911
It is to be observed that three recent Papal docu-
ments— the Qitemadmodum (17 Dec, 1890),
Conditce (8 Dec, 1899) and Normce (Cong. EE. et
RR., 28 June, 1901) — confirm absolutely the provi-
sions of the ''Pastoralis Cures'' in so far as they re-
gard the confessors of nuns.
The Quemadmodum makes further specifica-
tions even more favorable to the nuns, declaring (n.
IV.) : ''Moreover, while the prescriptions of the
Holy Council of Trent and the decree of Benedict
XIV. in his Pastoralis Curce retain their full vigor,
His Holiness admonishes prelates and superiors not
to deny their subjects an extraordinary confessor as
often as the need of their conscience requires it, and
this without seeking in any way to find out the rea-
son why their subjects make such a demand, or with-
out showing that they resent it.''
As can be seen, the decree Quemadmodum (n.
IV.) takes hold of the provision of the special con-
fessor in a very practical way by further adding:
''Lest so provident a disposition [of the Pastoralis
Curce] as this should be made illusory, His Holi-
ness exhorts the ordinaries to name in all localities
of their dioceses in which there are communities of
women well-qualified priests with the necessary fac-
ulties to whom such Religious may easily have re-
course to receive the Sacrament of Penance.'' The
NorriicF confirm this legislation of the special con-
fessor and add : ''Where bishops, in compliance with
the instructions of the Quemadmodum, have ap-
pointed the qualified priests with the necessary facul-
ties, superiors may have recourse to these without
being obliged to ask the bishop in each case" for a
special confessor. — Ecclesiastical Review, April,
1907.
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