PIETY.
Most appropriately indeed was the name _piety_ given by our
fathers in the faith to the sentiment which elevates the mind and
heart to God. It establishes an intimate union between God and the
Christian soul, for it is an affection composed of the most generous
qualities of the human heart. In woman, it is a mixture of respect,
devotedness and tenderness, which are enhanced still more by a
certain blending of fear, confidence, and candor. Man is pious
towards God and his parents; but the woman whose heart is not
vitiated by anything fictitious is pious towards those whom she
loves, for in each one of her affections may be found, combined in
different degrees, all the shades of sentiment that we have mentioned
above; but it is in her piety towards God that they are especially
striking.
Woman's heart languishes for God, because it thirsts after the good
and beautiful; and all her efforts to satisfy its cravings will prove
futile until it is immersed in the bosom of the Divinity, the Source
of all goodness and beauty. With woman the heart is the great
receptacle of grace, the principal agent in the practice of piety and
virtue. If this precious disposition of her heart offers many and
great advantages, it carries with it also its inconveniences. The
heart is a near neighbor of the imagination, and the latter often
allures the former by its charms. Its activity is often developed and
exercised at the expense of the will, by diminishing and enfeebling
the power and influence of the latter. It not unfrequently happens
that the heart becomes the seat of dangerous illusions, when it not
only favors, but even indulges in that tender and sensible piety,
which is founded on and fed by lively sentiments and beautiful
images. In this state it costs no little effort to will and act.
The reading of a pious book, the meditating on the mysteries of the
passion and death of our Saviour will melt the heart to tenderness.
Thus, nature has a greater share than grace in piety and fervor of
this stamp. Self-complacency and self-love are here most adroitly
concealed under the garb of humility, and it requires a rare sagacity
to discover their presence. The Christian soul in this state seeks
not to please God or others, but it seeks rather its own pleasure,
and for many women this kind of piety is a form of affectation and
vanity. With those fine sentiments and enthusiastic transports they
remain unmortified, vain and curious lovers of flattery and averse to
reproof, retaining all their faults, which they endeavor to conceal
under the mask of external piety.
Do not ask such women to bridle their will or to restrain the
sallies of their humor,--speak not to them of the good derived from
self-mortification, self-abnegation and the love of the Cross,--words
such as these have no signification for them. They are satisfied with
simply feeling and giving expression to those virtues, after the
manner of artists who, by a happy disposition of mind, are expert in
becoming penetrated with ideas and sentiments in which their will has
no part whatever; and which have no moral influence over their life.
They are delighted to go with Jesus on Mount Tabor and contemplate
Him in the splendor of His glory; but when there is question of
participating in His ignominy on Calvary they most shamefully abandon
Him. And when He asks them to aid Him to carry His cross they do it,
if at all, as reluctantly as did Simon of Cyrene. They willingly
multiply prayers and exterior practices of piety, which flatter
natural inclinations; they frequent the Sacraments, and this
furnishes them the occasion and means of producing those lively and
tender sentiments upon which the heart loves to feast.
Their doleful condition is rendered still more deplorable by the use
of the most sacred things to nourish their self-love and sensibility.
Grace, according to their views of the spiritual life, is only a
means to render natural sensibility more delicate and refined. Thus,
led on from one delusion to another, such women come to the end of
their life, rich in foliage and flowers, but without ever having
produced any fruit.
I hope, dear reader, that such may not be your case; but, to avoid
all error on a point of such vital interest, meditate constantly on
the divine instructions that Jesus has left us in the Sacred
Scriptures, and on those also with which He inspired the pious author
of the "Following of Christ," their most perfect commentator. Learn
to discern genuine piety from that which bears only the name. Learn
to distinguish between its object and that which is only a means to
attain that object,--two things which are frequently and erroneously
confounded, yet which are very distinct and very different from each
other; for it is a great mistake to neglect the end by attaching too
much importance to the means by which to attain it.
Piety does not consist in sublime language, mystical thoughts, or
angelical sentiments, for, according to St. Paul, we might speak the
language of angels and be still only sounding brass; neither does it
consist in the knowledge of divine mysteries, nor in the more
excellent intellectual gifts; for, according to the same apostle, a
man might be a prophet and possess a knowledge of all science,
without being on that account anything in the sight of God.
Faith is truly grand, because it is the principal basis of our
justification; and because with it we are enabled to obtain all
things from God. Nevertheless, man might have faith strong enough to
move mountains and be absolutely nothing before God. Charity to the
poor, compassion for the unfortunate are indeed excellent virtues,
because they cancel numerous sins, and because they seem to form the
principal matter of that terrible judgment which will decide our weal
or woe for eternity; yet you might distribute all your wealth among
the poor, and still merit no reward from God.
We are recommended by the Holy Scriptures and by the masters of the
spiritual life to practice mortification, the perfection of which is
found in martyrdom; and nevertheless, though you should even lacerate
your body till it became one bleeding wound, and deliver it into the
hands of the executioner to be burned, you might gain nothing thereby.
None of all those things constitutes the essence of piety. One thing
alone can claim this privilege and that is CHARITY, not that charity
which consists merely in _feeling_ and _speaking_, but a
_charity that is active_, and which penetrates the entire life
by its divine, influence; that charity which is patient and
beneficent, not envious, dealing not perversely, not puffed up. True
charity is not ambitious seeks not its own, is not provoked to anger,
thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity but for the good it
beholds everywhere, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things and endures all things; such is the soul of true piety
according to the Apostle St. Paul. (Cor. I Epist., xiii chap.)
Our divine Lord clearly defines its nature in the following terms:
"_If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me, for he that will save his life, shall lose
it, and he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it._"
(Matth. ch. xvi.) To be a Christian consists in walking in the
footsteps of Jesus Christ. Hence, to follow Him and carry the cross,
self-denial is the first and most necessary qualification. In order
to enjoy the eternal happiness of the future life we must sacrifice
the false joys of earth. Again, He tells us: "_The kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away_," that is
to say, _the valiant, the energetic, and persevering_, will
alone succeed in securing it; for the words _bear away_ express
the action of one that seizes a prey. Add to these texts those others
of St. Paul: _"If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none
of his,"_ that is--he does not belong to Christ, he is not His
disciple; and _"they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh
with the vices and concupiscences."_
Now I would not have you think that the piety of which I speak is
too elevated for you, that it can he practiced only by members of
religious orders, and very holy laics--this is by no means the case.
What is required of you is nothing more than what our Lord and all
the saints would have you do.
I must point out another error not less pernicious to the practice
of true piety, namely; that of taking the means to the acquisition of
piety as the end for which you practice it, for the means should at
all times be appreciated according to their just value, or according
to the assistance they give you to attain your end as a true
Christian, which consists in dying to self and to self-glory. I would
not have you judge of your progress in perfection by the number of
your communions, or the multitude of your pious practices, or the
length of your prayers, but by the victories which you gain over
yourself, over your passions, your character, and your temper.
Like all other good things, you can turn prayer to your spiritual
detriment, when you have recourse to it through vain glory. Be
thoroughly convinced of the truth expressed by the Evangelist St.
John, _that he is a liar who says that he loves God, and does not
keep his commandments._ Remember that the spirit of darkness, as
St. Paul tells us, can, and often does, transform himself into an
angel of light, and produce in the mind false lights, which dazzle
and blind it.
Now that you know in what the essence of piety consists, you ought
to learn in what faculty of the soul it resides, and this knowledge
will preserve you from many illusions, and point out to you the
direction in which you must advance in order to attain your end.
Piety, should, by its divine influence, penetrate all the faculties
of the soul and take possession of your whole being; it ought, as we
have said above, to make its presence especially felt in your heart,
by purifying all its affections; but its principal abode should be in
the will, through which it may reach all the other faculties in order
to elevate and vivify them.
The will is, indeed, if I may so speak, the organ or the instrument
of sacrifice and duty; and since piety properly consists in sacrifice
and duty, in suppressing the inordinate appetites of the human heart,
and elevating nature above herself, the will is the faculty in which
piety should reside.
It is not an easy matter to be truly pious, for, in order to attain
to a superior order of spiritual perfection, we must lay aside
_self_ which paralyzes all the generous movements of the soul,--
we must also faithfully correspond to divine grace. All this entails
much difficulty, many struggles, and, consequently, great and
constant efforts.
Every being has a tendency, founded on an imperious instinct, to
dwell in its natural sphere, which it can not leave even to enter a
superior one without making a great effort. Hence, the Holy Ghost
warns him who desires to serve God to prepare for temptation and
struggle. Now, among all the faculties of the soul, the will is the
best disposed for the combat, because pleasure has a smaller share in
its movements than in those of the heart and imagination; it is able,
when necessary, to rise superior to the most alluring charms,
preferring fidelity to duty with all its difficulties and bitterness.
To be pious implies the faithful observance of God's commandments,
_"If you love me,"_ says Christ, _"keep my commandments;"_
it consists in being resigned to the will of God, ready to be
disposed of at His good pleasure. To do this you must place all your
faculties, and especially your will at His disposal. God has reserved
to Himself the right of acting in an intimate and profound manner
upon the will. This faculty is His sanctuary, in which He delights to
dwell, and operate the prodigies of His grace and love, which He
communicates with unbounded prodigality to His elect.
This is the throne upon which He silently engraves the image of His
divine Son, the essential characteristic of predestination. It is in
this power of the human soul that He plants in the depth of Christian
humility the foundation of solid virtue, in defiance to the disorders
of the mind, the agitations of the heart and the incoherencies of the
memory.
From the bosom of the Divinity our Blessed Lord brought with Him two
special favors, one of which was for His eternal Father, and the
other to be given persons of good-will. He charged His angels to
announce them to the world in the person of the shepherds. They were,
glory for His Father and peace for men, but only for men of good-
will. This heavenly peace is a foretaste of the never-ending joys of
Paradise. It is a prize worth striving for, and easy to secure, at
least for you, since it is promised to all persons of good-will.