HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL THINGS AND CLEAVE TO CHRIST ALONE
Whosoever thou art who longest to enter upon this happy state or seekest
to direct thither thy steps, thus it behoveth thee to act.
First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses.
Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble
to penetrate within it.
Shake off all earthly things, counting them useless, noxious, and
hurtful to thee.[8]
When thou hast done this, enter wholly within thyself, and fix thy gaze
upon thy wounded Jesus, and upon Him alone. Strive with all thy powers,
unwearyingly, to reach God through Himself, that is, through God made
Man, that thou mayest attain to the knowledge of His Divinity through
the wounds of His Sacred Humanity.
In all simplicity and confidence abandon thyself and whatever concerns
thee without reserve to God's unfailing Providence, according to the
teaching of St. Peter: "Casting all your care upon Him,"[9] Who can do
all things. And again it is written: "Be nothing solicitous";[10] "Cast
thy care upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee";[11] "It is good for
me to adhere to my God";[12] "I set the Lord always in my sight";[13] "I
found Him Whom my soul loveth";[14] and "Now all good things came to
me"[15] together with Him. This is the hidden and heavenly treasure, the
precious pearl, which is to be preferred before all. This it is that we
must seek with humble confidence and untiring effort, yet in silence and
peace.
It must be sought with a brave heart, even though its price be the loss
of bodily comfort, of esteem, and of honour.
Lacking this, what doth it profit a religious if he "gain the whole
world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?"[16]. Of what value are the
religious state, the holiness of our profession, the shaven head, the
outward signs of a life of abnegation, if we lack the spirit of humility
and truth, in which Christ dwells by faith and love? St. Luke says: "The
kingdom of God," that is, Christ, "is within you."[17]