_=Maxims and Counsels=_
OF
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
_=For Every Day of the Year=_.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
MISS ELLA M^cMAHON
_=Second Edition.=_
DUBLIN
M. H. GILL & SON
50 UPPER SACKVILLE STREET
1884
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_=Imprimatur=_:
JOHN, CARDINAL McCLOSKEY,
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK.
_September 4, 1882._
_=Re-imprimatur=_:
✠ EDUARDUS CARD. MAC CABE,
ARCHIEPISCOPUS DUBLINENSIS, HIBERNIÆ PRIMAS.
INTRODUCTION.
PIOUS SOUL:
The Spiritual Father who presents himself to you under this title is the
gentle Bishop of Geneva, who, in the opinion of St. Jane Chantal and St.
Vincent de Paul, was the most perfect imitation of our Saviour living
among men.
Love for souls is his great passion. He is not astonished at either
falls or discouragement, which he cures by remedies as gentle as they
are efficacious. Whatever your disposition you will find sometimes a
word of consolation, sometimes a counsel of perfection, or a means of
accomplishing a difficult step in the ways of God, and of elevating
yourself to Him.
This collection is like the inner life of the Saint unconsciously
written by himself. He first practised, and then taught. One is gentle
from motives of virtue, only when he possesses moral strength; now we
find in these lines the secret of that strength which made St. Francis
de Sales the gentlest of men. He admirably inculcates the method of
sanctity which he perfectly possessed—a sanctity which seems so easy to
realise that we feel a desire to reproduce it. It is the flower which
the Spiritual Father causes to bloom in your soul. It will soon bear
fruit if you are faithful.
_These counsels have been carefully gleaned from the complete collection
of the holy Doctor._
MAXIMS AND COUNSELS
OF
_=ST. FRANCIS DE SALES=_
FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.
1.
Keep yourself faithfully in the presence of God; avoid hurry and
anxiety, for there are no greater obstacles to our progress in
perfection.
2.
Cast your heart gently, not violently, into the wounds of our Saviour;
have an unlimited confidence in his mercy and goodness.
3.
To make good progress we must devote ourselves to getting over that
portion of the path which lies close before us, and not amuse ourselves
with the desire to attain the last step before we have accomplished the
first.
4.
We must make our imperfections die with us from day to day. Dear
imperfections, which cause us to recognise our misery, which exercise us
in contempt of self, and the practice of virtue, and notwithstanding
which God accepts the preparation of our hearts which is perfect.
5.
I recommend simplicity to you; look before you, and not at the dangers
which you behold in the distance. Keep your will firmly bent upon
serving God with your whole heart. While you are thus occupied in
forecasting the future you expose yourself to some false step.
6.
Have no care for the morrow; think only of doing well to-day, and when
to-morrow shall have become to-day then we shall think about it.
7.
We must make a provision of manna for each day only; and let us not be
afraid that God will fail to send down more upon us to-morrow and the
day after to-morrow, and every day of our pilgrimage.
8.
Since the Heart of our Lord has no more loving law than meekness,
humility, and charity we must firmly maintain these dear virtues in us.
9.
True sanctity lies in love of God, and not in foolish imaginings,
raptures, &c. Let us devote ourselves to the practice of true meekness
and submission, to renouncement of self, to docility of heart, to love
of abjection, to consideration for the wishes of others: this is true
sanctity and the most amiable ecstasy of the children of God.
10.
May you belong to God for ever in this mortal life, serving Him
faithfully through its trials, bearing the cross after Him, and may you
be his for ever in life eternal with the whole celestial court!
11.
The great good of our souls is to live for God, and the greatest good to
live for God alone.
12.
He who lives but for God is never sad, save at having offended God.
13.
He who lives but for God seeks only God, and since God is with him in
adversity as well as in prosperity, he dwells in peace in the midst of
tribulation.
14.
He who lives but for God frequently thinks of Him during all the
occupations of life.
15.
Then let us belong wholly to Him, and live but for Him, desiring only to
please Him, and for his creatures in Him, through Him, and for Him.
16.
Make your little efforts sweetly, peacefully, and amiably to please this
Sovereign Goodness, and do not be astonished at difficulties.
17.
We must be constant in aspiring to the perfection of holy love, in order
that love may be perfect; for the love which seeks anything less than
perfection cannot fail to be imperfect.
18.
Never permit your soul to be sad and live in bitterness of spirit or
scrupulous fear, since He who loved it and died to give it life is so
good, so sweet, so amiable.
19.
To live contentedly in our exile, we must keep before our eyes the hope
of our arrival in the country where we shall live for ever.
20.
God, who calls us to Him, sees how we are approaching, and will never
permit anything to happen but what is for our greater good.
21.
God knows what we are, and will hold out his paternal hand to us in a
difficult step, in order that nothing may arrest us.
22.
Never look forward to the accidents of life with apprehension;
anticipate them with a perfect hope that God, whose child you are, will
deliver you from them, according as they come.
23.
God has preserved you so far; only keep yourself faithful to the law of
his providence and He will assist you at all times, and where you cannot
walk He will carry you.
24.
Do not think of what may happen to-morrow, for the same eternal Father
who cares for you to-day will care for you to-morrow and always; either
He will not send you trouble, or, if He does, He will give you
invincible courage to bear it.
25.
The child can never perish who remains in the arms of a Father who is
almighty.
26.
If God does not always give us what we ask, it is to keep us near Him
and give us an opportunity to urge and constrain Him by a loving
violence.
27.
Behold this great Artisan of mercy. He converts our miseries into graces
and the poison of our iniquities into salutary remedies for our souls.
Tell me, I pray, what will He not do with the afflictions, the labours,
the persecutions which assail us?
28.
An over-sensitive mind can neither receive nor endure anything without
telling of it, and it is always a little astonished at the lowly places
which humility and simplicity choose.
29.
I see you with your vigorous heart which loves and wills powerfully. I
like it, for what are those half-dead hearts good for? We must make a
particular exercise once every week of willing to love the will of God
more tenderly, more affectionately than anything in the world, and that,
too, not only in bearable but in the most unbearable events.
30.
Even at a time when you had not so much confidence in God, did you
perish in affliction? Then why have you not courage to meet all other
trials?
31.
Plant in your heart Jesus Christ Crucified, and all the crosses of this
world will seem to you like roses.
32.
We must not only be willing that God should strike us, but we must
accept that He shall strike us where He wills.
33.
Lord Jesus, without reserve, without an if, without a but, without
exception, without limitation, may thy holy will be done in all things,
at all times.
34.
Daily strengthen yourself more and more in the resolution, which you
formed with so much affection: of serving God according to his good
pleasure.
35.
Never think you have attained the purity of heart which you owe to God
until your will is freely and joyfully resigned to his holy will in all
things, even in the most repugnant.
36.
Regard not the appearance of the things you are to do, but Him who
commands them, and who, when He pleases, can accomplish his glory and
our perfection through the most imperfect and trifling things.
37.
A true servant of God has no care for the morrow; he performs faithfully
what is required of him to-day, and to-morrow he will do what is
required of him without a word.
38.
So, no matter how God treats you, it is all the same to you, you tell
me.... Ah! how suddenly self-love insinuates itself into our affections,
however devout they may appear.
39.
Here is the great lesson: We must discover God’s will, and, recognising
it, we must endeavour to do it joyfully, or at least courageously.
40.
The meek Saviour would have us meek, so that, though surrounded by the
world and the flesh, we may live by the Spirit; that, amidst the
vanities of earth, we may live in heaven; that, living among men, we may
praise Him with the angels.
41.
The sight alone of our dear Jesus crucified can speedily soften all
sorrows, which are but flowers compared with his thorns. And then our
great _rendezvous_ is an eternal heaven; and compared with the price of
eternity, what are the things which end with time?
42.
Continue to unite yourself more and more with our Lord. Plunge your
heart into the charity of his, and say always with your whole soul: “May
I die and may Jesus live!” Our death will be a happy one if we have died
daily.
43.
The repugnance you feel testifies no want of love; for it seems to me
that, if we believed that being flayed God would love us more we would
flay ourselves, not without repugnance, but in spite of the repugnance.
44.
Cultivate not only a solid love, but a tender, gentle, meek love for
those about you; I have learned from experience that infirmities
destroy, not our charity, but our meekness towards our neighbour, if we
are not strongly on our guard.
45.
Lord Jesus, what true happiness for a soul consecrated to God to be
strongly exercised in tribulation before leaving this life!
46.
How can we know frank, ardent love but in the midst of thorns, crosses,
weariness, above all, when this weariness is prolonged?
47.
Nothing can give us deeper peace in this world than to frequently
contemplate our Lord in all the afflictions He endured from his birth to
his death: contempt, calumnies, poverty, abjection, weariness,
suffering, nakedness, wrongs, and grief of every kind.
48.
A heart which esteems and grandly loves Jesus crucified, loves his
death, his sufferings, his insults, his poverty, his hunger, his thirst;
and when Jesus grants this heart a small share in them, it is jubilant
with gladness and lovingly embraces them.
49.
Every day, not in prayer, but in your walks, you should recall to mind
our Lord amid the thorns of our redemption, and consider what happiness
it would be to share them.
50.
Let us faithfully cultivate that resignation and pure love of God which
is never wholly practised but amid sufferings; for to love God, when He
feeds us with sweetness is nothing more than children do; but to love
Him when He feeds us with gall is to offer Him the cup of our loving
fidelity.
51.
I recommend you to God, that you may obtain the gift of holy patience;
and it is not in my power to propose to Him anything for you, save that
He may, according to his holy will, fashion your heart for his dwelling,
and reign there eternally; and whether He fashion it with the brush, the
hammer, or the chisel, must be according to his good pleasure.
52.
The heart which unites itself to the Heart of God cannot help loving and
accepting with sweetness the arrows with which God pierces it.
53.
I desire that your cross and mine should be wholly the cross of Jesus
Christ; and as to the imposition of this or that burden, or making any
choice, God knows what He is doing and why He does it—it is certainly
for our good.
54.
Our sweet Saviour is pleased that we should speak to Him of the trouble
He sends us, and that we should complain, provided it be lovingly and
humbly, and to Himself, just as little children do when their mother has
punished them.
55.
God wishes that, like Job, I should serve Him in the midst of dryness,
suffering, and temptation; like St. Paul, that I should serve Him
according to his desire. You will see that one day He will do all and
even more than you can desire.
56.
I praise God for the constancy with which you bear tribulations.
Nevertheless I still see in you a little over-eagerness and restlessness
which form an obstacle to the final effect of your patience.
57.
The effect of patience is to possess one’s soul, and, in proportion to
our patience do we acquire complete and perfect possession of our soul.
58.
We must lose everything rather than courage, confidence, and good-will.
59.
Would to God that we paid little attention to the condition of the road
which alarms us, but kept our eyes steadily fixed upon Him who guides
us, and the happy end to which He leads us.
60.
When you have meditated upon the grievous anguish which our Master
endured in the Garden, and in union with Him prayed to the Father for
consolation, if it does not please Him to send it, think no more of it,
but brace your courage to work out your salvation on the cross, as if
you were never to descend therefrom, and as if you were never to see the
atmosphere of your life clear and serene.
61.
For the honour of God yield completely to his will, and do not think
that you can serve Him better another way, for we serve Him well only
when we serve Him as He wills.
62.
We are always wishing for this or that, and though we have our sweet
Jesus in our breasts, we are not content. Yet it is all we can desire.
One thing alone is necessary, and that is, to be near Him.
63.
Train yourself to serve our Lord with a strong and fervent gentleness:
it is the true way of serving Him.
64.
Frequently kiss in your heart the crosses which our Lord Himself has
placed in your arms. Heed not whether they are of perfumed or precious
wood: they are more truly crosses when they are of coarse, heavy,
ordinary wood.
65.
This sweet love of our hearts casts us down only to raise us up. He
lurks and hides, peeping through the lattice, to see the expression of
our countenance.
66.
Keep Jesus closely in your arms, for it is thus the Spouse holds Him as
a bouquet of myrrh, that is of bitterness: but He is not bitter; He only
allows us to be bitter to ourselves.
67.
Being a good servant of God is not always having consolation and
sweetness, nor being always free from aversion and repugnance to good.
68.
To be a good servant of God is to be charitable to our neighbour,
maintaining in the superior will an invincible resolution to do God’s
will: to possess great humility and simplicity in confiding one’s self
to God; to rise as frequently as one falls; to inure one’s self to
humiliations, and to tranquilly bear with others and their defects.
69.
Frequently behold our Lord who looks down upon you, poor little creature
that you are, and sees you in the midst of your labours and
distractions.
70.
Frequently raise your heart to God, ask his help, and let the foundation
of your consolation be the happiness of belonging to Him.
71.
Let us raise up our hearts, and behold that of God all goodness, all
love, all love for us! Let us adore and bless his will in all things,
let Him prune, let Him cut where He will, for we are eternally his.
72.
Let us place ourselves before our Crucified Sun, as the weary bee basks
in the rays of the sun, and then let us say to Him: “O beautiful Sun of
hearts, Thou dost vivify all by the rays of thy goodness; behold us
exhausted before thee, whence we will not move, Lord Jesus, until Thy
fire hath revived us!”
73.
Let us not forget the maxim of the saints, which warns us that every day
we must feel that we begin our perfection; and if we bear this well in
mind we will not be astonished at the miseries we find in ourselves. The
work is never done, it must be always recommenced; and recommenced with
a good heart.
74.
What we are about to commence will be better than what we have done, and
when we shall have accomplished that, we will recommence something else
which shall be still better, and then something else, until we leave
this world to begin another life, which will have no end, for nothing,
nothing better can come to us.
75.
See, then, whether one should weep when he finds trouble in his soul,
and whether he ought not courageously to push on ever further, since he
must never pause, and whether he ought not to have the resolution to
prune, since we must use the knife, even to the division of soul and
mind.
76.
Why do you weep, O woman? No, you must no longer be a woman, you must
have the heart of a man. But courage! take heart! we have our sweet
Jesus with us.
77.
The love of God does not consist in consolations, otherwise our Lord
would not have loved his Father when He was sorrowful unto death, and
when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This was the
greatest act of love which it is possible to imagine.
78.
Our imperfections should not please us, but they should not take away
our courage. God does not like our imperfections and venial sins, but He
loves us in spite of them.
79.
Live joyfully; our Lord looks down upon you, and looks upon you with
love, and with a tenderness proportioned to your foolishness.
80.
Turn your eyes from yourself, and direct them towards God with an humble
courage to speak to Him of his ineffable goodness in loving our poor
human nature, in spite of its infirmities.
81.
Our enemy is a great bawler; be in no way troubled about him, for he
cannot hurt you; despise him, and pay no attention to him. He made as
much noise and thundered as loudly about the saints; but behold! they
are lodged in the place which the miserable creature lost.
82.
Fear not; you are walking upon the sea, amid the winds and the waves,
but it is with Jesus. If fear seizes you, cry loudly, “Lord, save me!”
He will stretch forth his hand to you; clasp it firmly and go joyfully
on.
83.
Despise, I pray you, all those thoughts of vainglory. For they are
really but flies which cannot harm but only annoy you. It is an
incompatible thing to be in this world and not to feel the movements of
the passions.
84.
Let yourself be governed by God; do not think so much of yourself.
85.
I expressly forbid you to be over-eager, as this is the mother
imperfection of all imperfections.
86.
Simplify your judgment. “If your eye is simple, your whole body will be
light.” Do not make so many reflections and replies, but go on with
simplicity and confidence.
87.
For you there are but God and yourself in the world, and you should not
concern yourself for all the rest, save as God commands you.
88.
Give your soul a thousand times to God, and sometimes say not a word to
Him, but simply contemplate his gentleness. This is one of the great
sources of spiritual gain, for as the mind converses so frequently and
so easily with its God it will be perfumed with all his perfections.
89.
The Christian soul is the spouse not yet of Jesus glorified, but of
Jesus crucified; that is why the rings, ornaments, and tokens with which
He adorns her are crosses, and thorns, and the nuptial banquet is gall,
hyssop, and vinegar.
90.
Do not look here and there so much. Turn your eyes upon God or yourself;
you will never see God without goodness, or yourself free from misery;
and you will find his goodness kind to your misery, and your misery the
object of his mercy.
91.
Rarely examine closely what others do; look upon them simply, kindly,
and amiably. Do like the bees, gather honey from all the flowers.
92.
My commandment is, that you do like little children; while they feel
their mother holding them by the sleeve, they go on boldly and run about
everywhere, nothing daunted by the falls that are caused by the weakness
of their legs. Thus, while God holds you by your good-will to serve Him,
go on boldly, undaunted by your little stumblings, provided you cast
yourself into his arms and give Him the kiss of charity.
93.
Go joyously and with a light heart as far as you can, and if you cannot
always go joyously, go always courageously and confidently.
94.
We must have patience, and little by little, correct and overcome our
bad habits, for life on the whole is a continual warfare.
95.
Rest is reserved for heaven; on earth we must always struggle between
hope and fear, on condition that hope be ever the stronger when we
consider the almighty power of Him who helps us.
96.
Frequently during the day cast your heart, your mind, and your care upon
God with great confidence, saying, “I am thine, save me.”
97.
Be kind to your neighbour in spite of rebellious murmurings and
outbursts of anger.
98.
Do not be astonished to find yourself overwhelmed with evil
inclinations. God permits them in order to make you humble.
99.
Self-love may be mortified in us, but it never dies; from time to time
it sends forth shoots which prove that, though cut down to the root, it
is never completely destroyed.
100.
Self-love never leaves us. It sleeps sometimes like a fox, then suddenly
springs upon the chickens. We must therefore be constantly watchful of
it, and patiently defend ourselves against it.
101.
Let us keep firm hold of the merciful hand of our good God, for He
wishes to draw us after Him.
102.
Live wholly according to the Spirit, live quietly in peace, have perfect
confidence that God will help you.
103.
Be careful to purify your heart more and more each day. Now, this purity
consists in weighing everything in the scales of the sanctuary, which
are only the will of God.
104.
Let us be what we are, and be that well, in order that we may honour the
Master Workman who has made us. Though we were the most excellent
creatures under heaven, what would it avail us if we were not pleasing
to the will of God?
105.
We must always and in all things live peaceably.
106.
I approve of your making an act of humility every day, humbling yourself
to an inferior, performing some menial office in the house.
107.
It is not possible that you should so soon be mistress of your soul, or
that you should control it so absolutely at first.
108.
Dispose your soul to tranquillity in the morning, and be careful during
the day to recall it frequently to that state, and to keep your soul
within your control.
109.
Do not be terrified if you are guilty of some little impatience; do not
let it trouble you, but when you recognise it quietly humble yourself
before God.
110.
Try to preserve a sweet tranquillity of mind; say to your soul:
“Courage! we have made a false step, but let us keep steadily on and
keep watch over ourselves.”
111.
Make no account of the judgments of men.
112.
Be silent concerning all things, and you will have interior peace,
because for you and me the only secret of acquiring this peace is to
endure to the utmost the judgments of men.
113.
Consider for whom you labour, and those who strive to trouble you shall
labour in vain.
114.
Among beggars, those whose sores are the most terrible consider
themselves the most fortunate, for they excite more compassion and
receive more abundant alms. We are only beggars, and the most miserable
among us are the most fortunate, for these God looks upon with greater
compassion.
115.
Be glad that men make no account of you.
116.
Consider how all the vexations of the past have vanished; those of the
future shall vanish in the same way.
117.
The great point of humility is to see, to honour, to serve, and converse
fittingly with those whom we dislike, keeping ourselves humble, gentle,
and submissive to them, for remember that the humiliations which are the
least visible are the keenest.
118.
Let our Lord turn us to the left or to the right, and send us in a
hundred directions. He never abandons us but to get closer possession of
us; He never leaves us but to guard us better; He never struggles with
us but to enter our souls and bless us.
119.
Courage! Let us keep on in the low valleys of the small and humble
virtues. I love these three little virtues: gentleness of heart,
firmness of mind, and simplicity of life.
120.
I recommend to you more than anything else the exercise of holy
gentleness and sweetness in all the events of this life.
121.
Accustom yourself in all that you do to act and speak gently and
quietly, and you will see that in three or four years you will
completely control that abrupt impulsiveness.
122.
He who can preserve peace in the midst of the confusion and complexity
of business, and sweetness in the midst of suffering, is almost perfect.
123.
I recommend to you great evenness of temper, sweetness and gentleness of
heart; for these virtues, like the oil of a lamp, maintain the flame of
good example; for there is nothing more edifying to our neighbour than
charitable kindliness.
124.
When shall we be wholly imbued with sweetness and gentleness towards our
neighbour? You needed only that; your zeal was good, but it had this
fault; it was a little bitter, over-urgent, and captious.
125.
Raise your eyes to heaven, and among the mortals now immortal there you
will not find one who attained eternal happiness but through continual
afflictions and trouble.
126.
Let us humble ourselves profoundly, and acknowledge that if God be not
our shield and armour, we shall be pierced through and through with
every kind of sin.
127.
I desire that you should be extremely lowly and humble in your own eyes,
condescending and gentle as a dove.
128.
Do not be quick to speak; say much by a modest and judicious silence.
129.
Behold God in all things without exception, acquiescing in all his
commands with great simplicity.
130.
Say frequently, in the midst of your contradictions and sufferings: This
is the path to heaven; I behold the gate, and I am sure that the storms
will not prevent my reaching it.
131.
Take no trouble on account of what the world thinks of you; despise its
good opinion and its contempt, and let it say what it will of good or
evil.
132.
Do not think that our Lord is further from you in the midst of
turmoil.... It is not tranquillity which brings Him to our hearts, but
the fidelity of our love.
133.
From day to day withdraw your heart from all kinds of amusement and
vanity, ... from all that turns you from a blessed eternity.
134.
I desire to love God or die; death or love, for life without love is
worse than death.
135.
O God! it is towards Thee that I am sailing.... We reach the port
through all storms, provided we have an upright heart, a good intention,
firm courage, our eyes fixed upon God, and all our confidence in Him.
136.
Do not be vexed at the annoyances which come from the complexity of
business; believe me, true virtue is not nourished in exterior repose
any more than good fish in stagnant water.
137.
Keep your hearts well under control, beware of over-anxiety. Place your
confidence in the providence of our Lord. Be fully convinced that heaven
and earth shall pass away rather than that our Lord shall fail to
protect you while you are his obedient daughter, or, at least, desirous
to obey Him.
138.
Live wholly in our Lord, let Him be the atmosphere in which your heart
breathes at ease.
139.
Give particular attention to the practice of gentleness, study every
pulsation of your heart, and if it be not gentle, make it so before all
things.
140.
I desire that upon all occasions during the day you should interiorly
recollect yourself in God, addressing Him a few words of fidelity and
love.
141.
Believe me, God loves souls shaken by storms, provided they receive all
from his hands and valiantly strive to remain faithful in the midst of
combats.
142.
One of the best penances and satisfactions which a heart guilty of some
fault can offer is to endure a continual cross and abnegation of its
self-love.
143.
It gives me an incomparable pleasure to think of the great honour it is
for a soul to speak heart to heart with its God—that great, sovereign
infinite Being—yes, for what the heart says to God is known only to God
Himself. Is not this a marvellous secret!
144.
When we pray it is well to think that there is no one in the world but
God.
145.
The great secret in prayer is simply to follow the attractions of the
heart. We must go on in good faith and with pure intention to reach God,
to love Him, and unite ourselves to Him. True love has little method.
146.
You should be so in love with God that even though you can do nothing in
his presence, you should nevertheless be glad to be near Him, were it
only to see Him and look at Him from time to time.
147.
When your heart is distracted in prayer, bring it gently back to the
point from which it has wandered, and lay it tenderly at the feet of its
Master. If you do but this your hour will be well employed.
148.
If we can speak to our Lord in prayer let us speak to Him, praise Him,
listen to Him. If we cannot speak because we are spiritually hoarse, let
us stay nevertheless and make Him a reverence.
149.
What a happiness it is to be with God, no one knowing what passes
between God and the heart but God Himself and the adoring heart.
150.
I should like to have a good hammer with which to blunt the sharpness of
your mind, which is too subtle in its ideas of your advancement. I have
often told you that in devotion we must go on in good faith, acting
frankly and promptly. If you do well, praise God; if ill, humble
yourself.
151.
Humble yourself profoundly, and urge on your soul with the love of
Christ crucified, that you may be able to spiritually digest this
heavenly food.
152.
He who communicates according to the spirit of the Spouse annihilates
himself before God, saying to our Lord: Destroy me, annihilate me, and
convert me into Thee; then it is no longer we who live, but Jesus
Christ, who liveth in us.
153.
When the mother pearl has received the drops of the fresh morning dew it
draws within itself and closes its shell to preserve them fresh; in like
manner, when you have received the Blessed Sacrament, withdraw into
yourself and collect all the faculties of your soul to adore this
sovereign King, and relish by a lively faith the spiritual refreshment
which this Divine Germ produces in your breast.
154.
Take your rest as much as possible near the heavenly Infant. See how He
receives the breath of that great ox and that ass, which neither feel
his presence nor show it by any movement. Will He not then receive the
inspirations of our poor hearts?
155.
How happy we should be had we only Jesus in our understanding, only
Jesus in our imagination! Jesus would be in us everywhere, and we
everywhere in Jesus.
156.
We should manage our years, our months, our weeks, our days, our hours,
our moments so well that, being employed for the love of God, they all
may be profitable to us for eternal life.
157.
Shall we not, in future, cease to be the old selves, which shall all,
without exception, be for ever sacrificed unreservedly and
unconditionally to God and his love?
158.
When you encounter things which give you trouble, remember that the
saints cheerfully did greater and more troublesome tasks, and encourage
yourself by their example.
159.
A person who is free from the fever of her own will is satisfied with
everything, provided God be served. She is indifferent to the nature of
the service which God chooses to give her.
160.
Frequently say to our Lord: What wilt Thou that I do? Is it Thy will
that I should serve Thee in the most lowly duties of the house? Provided
I serve Thee, I care not what the service may be.
161.
Love this good God in your retreats, in Holy Communion, and when He
consoles you; love Him particularly in the midst of trouble and
confusion, in aridity, contradictions, and tribulations; for it was thus
He loved you in the midst of the scourging, the nails, the thorns, the
darkness of Calvary.
162.
The monastery is a hospital of spiritual sick who desire to be cured,
and to this end submit themselves to the knife, to the lancet, to be
burned, to be bled, and to all kinds of bitter remedies. O my very dear
daughter, firmly resolve that you will submit to all this, and pay no
attention to what self-love may urge to the contrary, but sweetly,
amiably, and lovingly take the blessed resolution: to die or to be
cured.
163.
Must you be disquieted and troubled because of difficulties? Oh, by no
means. It is the devil who is ferreting and spying about your mind, to
see if he cannot find some door open to him.
164.
You are right not to care what is said of you; you who belong to God
should not think of reputation. Let God dispose of our life, our
reputation, and our honour as He pleases, since they are all his. If our
humiliations be his glory, are we not glorified?
165.
When you meet with contradictions or afflictions through anyone, beware
of yielding to complaints, but compel your heart to suffer tranquilly;
if some sudden outburst of impatience escape you, bring your heart back
to sweetness and peace.
166.
See, my daughter, we are too fastidious in calling poor a state in which
we endure neither hunger, nor cold, nor ignominy, but merely some
inconvenience in our plans.
167.
Gradually temper the vivacity of your mind to patience, sweetness,
humility, and affability, in the midst of the silliness and
imperfections of your sisters.
168.
Nothing gives us profound tranquillity in this world but to frequently
look upon our Lord in all his sufferings. In comparison with all that He
endured, we shall see that we are wrong to call the little accidents
which we encounter afflictions, and that we do not need patience for
things so trifling, since a little modesty would suffice to make us bear
well all that happens to us.
169.
We must never answer temptations, nor appear to hear the enemy. If he is
noisy, patience! we must prostrate ourselves before God and remain at
his feet. He will understand that we want his assistance, though we may
not be able to speak.
170.
Believe me, my dear daughter, sweets engender worms in little children;
that is why our Lord mixes bitter with the sweet for us. We must have a
great courage, which on all occasions will resolutely cry, God be
praised! caring little for sweet or bitter, light or darkness. Let us
keep on in this essential love.
171.
God desires that you serve Him without relish or feeling, in the midst
of aversions and afflictions of mind. This service will not give you
satisfaction, but it will content Him; it will not be to your taste but
it will be to his.
172.
God is so good that He will visit your soul interiorly, and strengthen
and establish it in solid humility, simplicity, and mortification.
173.
Let us always keep on; however slow our progress we are getting over a
great deal of the road. God wishes that our misery should be the throne
of his mercy.
174.
Keep your heart brave and ready for any service that shall be imposed
upon it; according as you undertake many things for God, He will second
you and work with you.
175.
Have the heart of a child; a will of wax, and a mind free from the
slavery of all affection.
176.
Oh, what a great blessing it is, my daughter, to be pliable and easily
turned to any service. Our Lord has taught us this submission by his
example, as much as by his words.
177.
He who is very attentive to please the heavenly lover has no leisure for
introspection; his mind continually tends whither love leads him.
178.
This exercise of the continual abandonment of one’s self to the hands of
God includes in the most excellent manner all other exercises in their
greatest simplicity, purity, and perfection, and while God leaves us the
desire for it we should not change it.
179.
Simplicity is an act of charity pure and simple, which considers only
God. It looks straight at God, and can suffer no mixture of
self-interest nor intermingling of creatures; God alone is its object.
180.
We should bear tenderly with those whom our Lord bears with, we must bow
our heads, and bear ourselves contrary to our habits and inclinations.
181.
Complain as little as possible of injuries, for it rarely happens that
one complains without sin, since our self-love exaggerates in our eyes
and hearts the wrongs we have received.
182.
Hold the cross of our Lord upon your breast, and as long as you firmly
clasp it in your arms, the enemy will be at your feet.
183.
Great evenness of temper, continual gentleness and suavity of heart, are
more rare than perfect chastity, yet very desirable.
184.
As regards our perfection, which consists in the union of our soul with
the Divine Goodness, it is only a question of knowing little and doing
much.
185.
We must make up our minds to two things: one is, that we shall find bad
weeds growing in our garden, and the other, that we will have the
courage to uproot them, for our self-love will live as long as we do,
and from it arises all this noxious growth.
186.
We must endeavour to double, not our desires and our exercises, but the
perfection with which we fulfil them, seeking by this means to gain more
by one action than we would by a hundred others done according to our
inclination and affection.
187.
One act performed in dryness of spirit is worth more than several done
in great sensible fervour.
188.
I say, then, that we must die in order that God may live in us, for it
is impossible to acquire union with God by any other means than
mortification. These words, “We must die,” are hard, but they are
followed by a great sweetness, and this sweetness is union with God.
189.
Your miseries and infirmities should not astonish you; God has seen many
others, and his mercy does not reject the miserable, but is exercised in
doing them good.
190.
We must do everything through a motive of love, and nothing through
compulsion. Our love for obedience must be greater than our fear of
disobedience.
191.
I leave you liberty of spirit, not that which excludes obedience, but
that which excludes constraint, scruple, or over-eagerness.
192.
Here are the marks of true liberty: 1st. The heart which possesses this
liberty is not attached to consolations, but receives afflictions with
all the sweetness that the flesh admits of. I do not say that it does
not love and desire consolations, but that the heart is not bound to
them.
193.
2nd. Such a heart is in no way attached to spiritual exercises, so that
if sickness or any other accident interferes with them it feels no
regret. I also do not say that it does not love them, but that it is not
attached to them.
194.
3rd. Such a heart rarely loses its joy, for no privation saddens one
whose heart is not bound to anything. I do not say that it _never_ loses
its joy, but that it is only for a short time.
195.
A soul which possesses true liberty will leave his prayer, and with an
amiable countenance and gracious manner greet the importunate person who
disturbs him. For it is the same to him whether he serve God in
meditation or by bearing with his neighbour; they are both the will of
God.
196.
Liberty of spirit has two vices: a spirit of inconstancy and a spirit of
constraint. For example: I resolve to make a meditation every morning.
If I have a spirit of inconstancy I will defer it till evening at the
slightest excuse—for the barking of a dog which has disturbed my sleep,
for a letter to be written, though it is not at all urgent. On the
contrary, if I have a spirit of constraint I will not omit my
meditation, even though a sick person is very much in need of my
services.
197.
Everything tends to the good of those who love God. And, in truth, since
God can draw good from evil, for whom will He do it, if not for those
who have given themselves without reserve to Him? Yes, everything tends
to their profit, even sin. David would never have been so humble if he
had not sinned; nor would Magdalene’s love for her Saviour have been
what it was. Tell me, then, what will He not do with our afflictions and
labours?
198.
If, then, it ever happen that some grief come upon you, assure your soul
that if she love God all things will turn to her good. And though you
may not see the means by which this good shall be effected, be all the
more convinced of it.
199.
It is a very good sign that the enemy rages and beats at your door: it
shows that he has not what he wants. If he had he would cease to cry
out, but would quietly enter and stay with you.
200.
Courage! As long as we can say, even coldly, God be praised, there is no
reason to fear. And do not tell me that it seems to you that you say it
in a spiritless way, with no strength or courage, but as if you had to
do violence to yourself to utter it. Oh, this is the blessed violence
which taketh heaven!
201.
As long as a temptation is displeasing to you there is nothing to fear,
for why does it displease you if not because you do not wish it?
202.
Moreover, these very importunate temptations come from the malice of the
devil, but the trouble and suffering they cause us come from the mercy
of God. He draws from the malice of his enemy the holy tribulation by
which He refines the gold He desires to place in his treasury. Despise
the temptations and embrace the tribulations.
203.
We must endure our own want of perfection, if we would attain
perfection. I say that we must endure it patiently, but we must not love
or caress it. It is by the endurance of this suffering that humility is
nourished.
204.
Those who aspire to pure love of God have not so much need of patience
with others as with themselves.
205.
We must confess the truth: we are poor creatures, capable of very little
that is good; but God, who is infinitely good, is content with our poor
labours, and finds acceptable the preparation of our heart.
206.
But what means this preparation of our heart according to the expression
of Holy Writ: “God is greater than our heart, and our heart is greater
than the world?” When our heart, in the solitude of meditation, prepares
the service which it must render God, it effects marvels. All this
preparation, nevertheless, is in no way proportioned to the grandeur of
God, and ordinarily it exceeds our strength, and becomes too great to be
carried out in our exterior actions.
207.
Our minds prepare for God a mortified flesh free from the rebellion of
the senses, prayer free from distraction, a loving heart free from all
bitterness, a humility free from all taint of vanity. All this is very
good, an excellent preparation; but who carries it out? Alas! when we
come to the practise of it, we fall short. Must we on this account be
disquieted, troubled, or afflicted? No, certainly not. Must we apply
ourselves to exciting a multitude of desires to stimulate ourselves to
attain this perfection? By no means.
208.
I do not say that we must not tend to perfection; but we must not desire
to attain it in a day, that is in a day of this mortal life, for such a
desire would only uselessly disquiet us.
209.
It is not possible, I assure you, to be completely rid of self while we
are on earth. We must always carry self with us, until God carries us to
heaven; and while we carry self, we carry a burden of very little value.
210.
Solomon tells us that a servant who suddenly becomes mistress is a very
insolent creature. Were a soul to become all at once perfect mistress of
passions which it had long served, I fear it could not but be vain and
proud.
211.
If in our heart there be a single thread of affection which is not for
God, we should instantly tear it out.
212.
I cannot understand how you, a daughter of God, long since abandoned to
the bosom of his mercy and consecrated to his love, can yield to such
immoderate sadness. You should console yourself, despising all the
mournful and melancholy suggestions with which the devil tries to weary
you.
213.
Do not examine yourself so carefully to discover whether you are in
perfection or not; for, should we attain the greatest perfection we
should neither know nor recognise it, but always consider ourselves
imperfect. The end of our examen should never be to discover whether we
are imperfect, for that we should never doubt.
214.
Therefore we should never be astonished at imperfection or let it sadden
us; for we cannot fail to find ourselves imperfect in this life, and
there is no remedy for it save humility, since by this virtue we shall
repair our faults and gradually improve.
215.
It is for the exercise of this virtue that our imperfections are left to
us, since it is inexcusable not to seek to correct them, and excusable
not to succeed perfectly; for it is not with imperfections as it is with
sins.
216.
If you wish to do well, regard as a temptation every suggestion
concerning change of place; for while your mind is looking beyond where
it should be, it will never apply itself to doing well the duty which
lies before it.
217.
We must not desire all to begin by perfection. It matters little how one
begins, provided he be resolved to go on well, and end well.
218.
I tell you that you will be faithful if you are humble. But will you be
humble? Yes, if you wish it. But I do wish it. Then you are humble. But
I feel that I am not. So much the better; that helps to make you more
so.
219.
You desire that it should always be spring in your soul, but that cannot
be. We must endure vicissitudes of weather interiorly as well as
exteriorly. It is only in heaven that we shall find the perpetual beauty
of spring, the perpetual ripening of summer, the perpetual fruition of
autumn. There we shall have no winter; but here winter is required for
the exercise of abnegation, and a thousand little virtues which are
practised in times of sterility.
220.
My God! We shall soon be in eternity, and then we shall see how
unimportant are all the things of this world, and how little it mattered
whether they were accomplished or not. Yet we are as anxious about them
now as if they were affairs of great importance.
221.
Verily, we do not like crosses if they are not of gold enamelled, and
adorned with precious stones.
222.
I am sad and will not speak; this is what parrots do. I am sad, but I
speak because charity requires it; thus do spiritual persons. I am
despised and I get angry; peacocks and monkeys act thus. I am despised
and I rejoice; thus did the Apostles.
223.
Examine whether your heart pleases God?—you must not do it;—but whether
his pleases you? yes, truly, for if you look at his Heart, it cannot but
please you, it is so sweet, so condescending, so loving towards frail
creatures when they recognise their misery, so merciful to the
miserable, so kind to the penitent....
224.
Be just; neither excuse nor accuse your poor soul without due
reflection, lest by excusing it without reason you render it insolent,
or by lightly accusing it you weaken its courage and make it
pusillanimous.
225.
How many courtiers there are who go into the presence of the king a
hundred times, not to speak to him or listen to him, but merely to be
seen by him, and to show by this assiduity that they are his servants.
When, then, you come into the presence of our Lord, speak to Him if you
can; if you cannot, remain and show yourself to Him, and do not be
anxious to do any more.
226.
You do nothing in meditation, you tell me. But what should you do if not
just what you are doing, that is, presenting and representing your
misery and nothingness to God? The most efficacious appeal a beggar can
make is to expose to our eyes his ulcers and necessities.
227.
But sometimes you do not even do this, and you remain before Him like a
phantom or statue. Well, that is something. In the palaces of princes
and kings there are statues which are only meant to gratify the eyes of
the king; content yourself with a similar service in the presence of
God. He will animate the statue when it pleases Him. Were we to ask the
statue if it desired anything it would answer, “No; I am where my master
placed me, and his pleasure is the sole happiness of my being.”
228.
Ah! but it is a good prayer, and a good method of keeping one’s self in
the presence of God, to wait upon his will and good pleasure.
229.
As for me, I think that we keep ourselves in the presence of God even
while we sleep, for we go to sleep in his presence and by his will. And
when we wake we find that He is beside us, that He has not stirred from
us, nor we from Him; therefore we have kept ourselves in his presence,
though with closed eyes.
230.
When a certain cross is given to you alone it is of more value, and it
should be dearer to you because of its rarity.
231.
God be praised! God or nothing; for all that is not God is nothing, or
worse than nothing.
232.
Do not turn your eyes on your infirmities and incapacity, except to
humble yourself; never let them discourage you.
233.
Finally, do not be angry, or at least troubled because you have been
troubled; do not be overcome because you have allowed yourself to be
overcome; do not be disquieted because you have allowed yourself to be
disquieted by angry passions; but take your heart and place it gently in
the hands of our Lord and ask Him to cure it; meanwhile, do all you can
to renew and strengthen your good resolutions.
234.