ACROSS THE THRESHOLD
FROM Worcester Isaac went on to New York, stopping on the way to make
a brief visit to the Fourierite community in New Jersey, known as the
North American Phalanx. He probably had some personal acquaintances
there whom he hoped to inoculate with his newly-found certitude. He
reached home June 20, 1844, and five days later presented his letter
to Bishop McCloskey. Concerning the acquaintance then begun, which,
on the bishop's part, soon took the form of a discerning and wise
direction, and eventually deepened into a life-long friendship, we
shall have more to say hereafter. The diary chronicles their first
meeting and gives the reason of the brief delay which ensued before
Isaac was admitted to conditional baptism. The bulk of the entries
made between this date and that of his formal reception into the
Church, the first of August, contains spiritual doctrine of a kind so
eminently characteristic of Father Hecker throughout his life that we
continue to make extracts from it:
"New York, June 25, 1844.--This morning I went to see Bishop
McCloskey. I found him a man of fine character, mild disposition, and
of a broader education than any of the Catholics I have had the
pleasure of meeting. He was acquainted with Brownson's writings and
Emerson's, and personally knew Mr. Channing, whom he had met at Rome.
He loaned me some books on matters pertaining to the Church. He is to
be gone for a fortnight from New York, and I am to wait until he
comes back before I take any further steps toward being united with
the Church."
"July 5, 1844.--It is the duty of every man to do that which
expresses the divine life which stirs within him, and to do nothing
which is inconformable to it. So far as he falls short of this, so
far he falls short of his duty, his perfection, and divine beauty. I
think we may say with very great certainty that this is the only way
to obtain happiness in this world and eternal felicity in the world
to come. It is to this God calls us, but we--no, not truly we, but
the Man of Sin--flatter ourselves, as he did Eve, that if we follow
him we shall not die but become as gods. We, to-day, have the same
temptation to overcome that Eve had.
"Oh, how much greater God would have us be than we are, and we will
not! We must cast out the Man of Sin and submit to the Paradisiacal
Man. This we are enabled to do, blessed be Heaven, by the grace of
God through Jesus Christ.
"What are the temptations which hold men back from following God and
leading a divine life? In one word, the World. Pride, love of praise,
riches, self-indulgence, all that refers and looks to time instead of
eternity, heaven, God.
"We should encourage all that gives us an impulse heavenward, and
deny all that tends to draw us down more into the body, sense, time.
Man, alas! is weak, powerless, and unable to perform any good deed
which will raise him to God without the free gift, the blessed grace
of God the Holy Spirit. We all fail to act up to the divine grace
which is given us. O Lord! forgive my manifold transgressions, and
empower me to be more and more obedient to thy Holy Spirit. My inward
man desires to follow Thy Spirit, but the appetites of my members
ever war against and often subdue him. Strengthen him, O Lord! and
enable him to govern my whole three-sphered nature. Send down Thy
celestial love into my heart and quicken all my heavenly powers.
"It is very true that no man can serve two masters. Between God and
Mammon there is no compromise, no mediator. Lord, make me fully
sensible of this, and strengthen my resolution to follow Thee. I do
look to the Church of Christ for help. Oh, may I find in it that
which the Apostles found in Jesus!"
We cannot refrain from reminding the reader of the immature age, and
almost total lack of education--in the ordinary meaning of the
term--of the man who wrote these lofty and inspiring sentences. He
was ignorant of everything but the most rudimentary truths of
Catholicity; had never read an ascetic work; had never spoken on
ascetical subjects with Catholics; had never read the life of a
saint; and had no experience to draw from except his own. Yet mark
the absolute certainty of his propositions and their uniform
correctness. It should also be made known that these doctrines and
sentiments, though written with the most evident haste, follow each
other, page after page, without an erasure or a correction. The
truths which had dropped upon his mind were, indeed, rudimentary, but
so well adapted was the soil to receive the seed that the fruit was
instant and mature. Seldom has spontaneity so well approved itself by
its utterances.
"July 6.-The immediate effect of Christianity upon humanity has been
to increase man's sensibility to the objects of the spiritual world.
Poetry, music, the fine arts, are ennobling and spiritualizing only
so far as they appeal to the nature of man divinized by the influence
of the Divinity. Previous to the coming of Christ the tendency of the
arts was, on the whole, rather to encourage licentiousness and sin
than to elevate and refine human nature. The tendency of Christianity
was to restore man to his primitive gracefulness, excellence, and
beauty. Hence the expression of man in art--or, rather, of the divinity
in man--became purer and more beautiful in its character. . . .
"In affirming Jesus to be the basis and life of modern civilization,
nothing is detracted from the great and good men who preceded Him;
nor" [is it denied] "that they have left traces of their genius upon
modern society.
"When we speak of Jesus as God, we affirm Him to be the Source of all
inspiration, from whom all, ancient and modern, have derived their
life, genius, goodness, and divine beauty.
"Jesus quickened the spiritual powers of the soul which were deadened
by the fall, and man again saw heaven, and angels descending and
ascending to the throne of ineffable Love.
"All the promises of Jesus refer to gifts of spiritual power over
inanimate matter, the animal creation, and the Man of Sin.
"Jesus came to give a spiritual life which would generate all
knowledge and physical well-being. He came, not to teach a system of
philosophy, however useful that might be; not to direct man how to
procure food for his physical existence with the least possible
exercise of physical strength, however necessary this might seem. But
He came to give man a new nature which shall more than do all this;
which will not only secure his well-being here, but his eternal
felicity hereafter.
"As we rise above our _time_ nature, and are united with our _eternal_
nature, we feel more and more our indebtedness to Christ. It was to
this He called us in all His words, and now calls us in the
Spirit. . . .
"So long as low appetites are cherished, and selfish passions
harbored, and vanity allowed a seat in our bosoms, so long will men
be slaves to their stomachs, backs, and business. Every quickening of
our sensibility toward love, heaven, equity, will lead us to change
our circumstances so as to make them conformable to our new inward
life.
"It is for us to be true to God, however unlike the world we may
seem. It is in silence, in private, alone, that deeds can be done
which shall outstrip those of the Alexanders and Napoleons in their
eternal effects."
"July 7.--All that we contend for is that man should obey God, and
co-operate in His work _with his will_ and _not against it._ Interior
submission to the Love Spirit is the answer to all questions
concerning man's welfare, here and hereafter. Whatever a man is led
to do in obedience to it is well done and godlike, though it lead him
to offer up his only dear son.
"We do say, with great emphasis, that nothing under heaven should
prevent a man from following God. Unless a man can give up all and
follow Christ, he is none of His."
"Every _true_ man is a genius.
"All genius is religious.
"The objective forms of genius are the expressions of the beautiful,
the good, and the true; in one word--God.
"He is a genius in whom the beautiful, the good, and the true
permanently inhabit. . .
"The genius in every work of art is religious, whatever the subject
may be.
"We repeat that every man is called to give expression to the
highest, best, divinest in him; and to this, and to this only is he
called.
"We add that the Catholic Church is the medium of this divine life,
and that she has nurtured and encouraged men of genius in her bosom
as a fond mother.
"We do not mean to say that the Church has converted men of ordinary
stamp into geniuses, but that she has given the highest inspiration
to the inborn capacity of genius, and so, to men thus gifted, has
been the means by which they have become more than they could have
been without her: so, also, with the most ordinary men.
"We affirm that the influence of Protestantism upon the business
world has been to make it much more unchristian than it was in the
middle ages under the influence of Catholicism."
At this period, when Isaac Hecker's search had ceased, but when he
had not yet entered into complete and formal possession of the truth,
we find him looking back at his past almost as if it were a thing in
which his interest was but curious and impersonal. The thought of
writing a history of it occurred to him, and he jotted down some
brief notes, and made a partial collection of such letters and other
memoranda, apart from the diary, as he found to have been preserved
by his family. But this scheme was merely one of the occupations with
which he beguiled the necessary delay imposed on him by Bishop
McCloskey's absence. One can easily believe that the plan he proposed
to himself has deeply interested the present writer, who, though
regretting that it was not followed out by Isaac Hecker himself, has
yet been enabled by the diary and the letters to measurably fulfil
its purpose. He divided it into five periods, and, with a
reminiscence of _Wilhelm Meister,_ called it his _Wanderjahr:_
"The first should be named Youth, and give the ideal and the actual
in youth.
"The second should be the struggle between the ideal and the actual.
"The third should be the mastery and supremacy of the ideal over the
actual and material.
"The fourth should give the absolute union of the ideal and the
eternal-absolute in their unconditioned existence.
"The fifth should give the eventual one-ness of the ideal-absolute
with humanity and nature.
"Under these five heads I have in mind materials sufficient to make
a volume, but lack the close application necessary to connect them. I
do not say it would be readable when done. It would be the esoteric
and exoteric history of my own life for ten years. . .
"I would open the first chapter thus: Let men say what they will, God
above us, the human soul, and all surrounding nature, are great
realities, eternal, solemn, joyous facts of human experience."
In the fine passage that follows we have an anticipation of the
prominent modern conception of Christianity, as a developing force in
the history of man--closing an epoch and introducing a new species;
or, as Father Hecker would have said in later years, raising man from
his natural position as a creature of God to true sonship with Him
through affiliation with Jesus Christ. The thought, as it stands in
the diary, is eminently characteristic of Isaac Hecker, who always
felt, in a measure beyond what is ordinary, his solidarity with all
his kind, and a longing to keep in step with them on the line of
their direct advance:
"July 12.--We make no question that God gave to all nations, previous
to the birth of Jesus Christ, His beloved and only Son, dispensations
of light and love in their great men, and led them from time to time
to the stage of civilization to which they arrived. The Christian
affirms that God is the Parent of humanity, the Father of every human
being.* It would be in direct contradiction to his faith to deny
this. But Jesus Christ came to introduce a new life, whose light and
love should so surpass all that had been before Him as to make it
appear as darkness by contrast. This life makes no war against the
good and true that already existed in men, but it embraces, includes,
and fulfils it all, and then adds more than men had dared to dream
before His coming. That Christianity is of this high character, not
only did its Author show by the example of His life and death, but it
has shown itself to be so wherever it has come in contact with any of
the older forms of religious faith and doctrine. It has exhibited a
power that is superior to, and which overcomes, all that arrays
itself against it. We do not deny that Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Plato,
Socrates, Zeno, Cato, etc., were good, great, and religious men,
above the age in which they lived, and inspired be a life not only
superior to that of their time but above that of a great part of
Christendom, so-called. But we say that Christ gave to the world a
life infinitely above theirs, and that, had they been His
contemporaries, or ours, they would have been as far superior to
their actual selves as the inspiration of Christianity is superior to
that under which they lived."
[* "As some also of your own poets said: For we are also His
offspring. Being, therefore, the offspring of God, we must not
suppose the Divinity to be like unto gold or silver or stone, the
graving of art and the device of man." (Acts 17:28, 29)]
Although there is authority for saying that the business partnership
between Isaac Hecker and his brothers was not formally dissolved
until he went away to Belgium in 1849, he seems never to have resumed
any active share in it after his return from Concord. Now and again
the old scruples about this apparent inactivity returned upon him,
and we find him contracting his personal needs within a compass so
narrow that his support shall be felt as the least possible burden.
Thus he writes, on July 13, that his present state of suspension from
all outward engagements cannot and should not be of long continuance.
He adds:
"It is a clear and bounden duty that every one should in some way or
other compensate the world for that which he consumes from its store.
But I do not see how I can do this consistently with the present
state of my mind. To be sure I have contracted my wants as respects
eating as far as seems possible to me; somewhat in dress, but not as
far as I should and can do. As for pleasures and many other causes of
expenditure, I trust I am not immoderate. In this part of the world I
do not see any prepared, congenial conditions. If I were in Europe, I
should find in the Catholic Church institutions which I could enter
for a time, until this period of my life would either fix itself
permanently, or give place to another in which I could see my way
more clearly. But here I am, and not in Europe. Some thoughts have
arisen in my mind, and I will state them, as to what may come at some
future time within the range of the possible:
"If I am joined to the Catholic Church, and there is such an
institution in Europe, may I not go there and live for a time? Ah! is
this possible?
"If we owned a spot of ground, I would be willing to go on it and
engage as much of my time as possible in cultivating and improving it.
"Lastly, I do not know what effect the advice and influence of the
Catholic Church may have upon my mind, and do have a slight hope that
I may find the exact remedy that I need in my union with her.
"I feel the assurance that if I follow the Spirit of God, and place
all my confidence in it, it will do for me what I dare not hope to do
for myself."
A day or two later he jots down, casually as it were, one of those
profound observations which are like pointers to his whole career.
Occurring at this early period, when, as the reader may see
hereafter, the germs of all his later thought and work were beginning
to unfold, they are like rifts in the darkness which seemed to
himself to lie about his future, and show plainly to the student of
his life how straight and secure his path was amidst it all. He had
been counselling himself to patience and entire reliance upon God's
providence while waiting the opportunity "to create or procure the
circumstances" necessary to the expression of his own individuality.
He felt that this was the especial task to which all men were called.
To use his own words:
"It is for this we are created; that we may give a new and individual
expression of the absolute in our own peculiar character. As soon as
the new is but the re-expression of the old, God ceases to live. Ever
the mystery is revealed in each new birth. So must it be to eternity.
The Eternal-Absolute is ever creating new forms of expressing itself."
In the next chapter we shall have occasion to give Father Hecker's
choice of an epitaph for Dr. Brownson. We think that the sentences
just quoted are worthy to be his own.
In the middle of July Bishop McCloskey returned to New York, and
Isaac waited upon him without delay. Their first long conversation
made it plain to the bishop that the young man had very little need
of further preliminary instruction, and it was settled that
conditional baptism should be administered to him within a fortnight.
That the nature of Isaac Hecker's vocation also revealed itself to
this prudent adviser is also evident from this entry, made in the
diary as soon as the visit was ended:
"He said that my life would lead me to contemplation, and that in
this country the Church was so situated as to require them all to be
active. I did not speak further on this subject with him. He asked
whether I felt like devoting myself to the order of the priesthood,
and undergoing their discipline, self-denial, etc., and becoming a
missionary. I answered that all I could say was that I wished to live
the life given me, and felt like sacrificing all things to this; but
could not say that the priesthood would be the proper place for me.
"I feel that if, for a certain length of time, and under the
discipline of the Church, I could have the conditions for leading the
life of contemplation, it would be what the Spirit now demands.
Whether I shall not be compelled back to this if I attempt to follow
some other way, I am not perfectly sure. The bishop intimated that in
Europe there were brotherhoods congenial to the state of mind that I
am in. If so, and I could remain there for a certain length of time,
why should I not go? I will inquire further about it when next I
speak with the bishop.
"There is a college at Fordham where there is to be a commencement
to-morrow, which the bishop invited me to go and see. Perhaps I shall
find this place to be suitable, and may be led to examine and try it.
The Lord knows all; into His hands I resign myself."
His impressions of the Catholic college at Fordham he does not
record. The next entry in the diary is, as usual, taken up with the
large topics which for the most part excluded particular incidents
from mention. What his strict abstinence from permitted pleasures,
and the rigorous self-discipline which he had so long practised,
meant to himself, may be partly gathered from the extract we are
about to give. He says he does not call such denial,
"in strict language, the denial of our true, God-created, immortal
self, but the denial of that which is not myself, but which has
usurped the place of my true, eternal, heavenly, Adamic being. It is
the restoration of that defaced image of God to its primitive divine
beauty, grace, and sweetness. We must feel and possess the love and
light from above before we have the disposition and power to deny the
body and the wisdom of this world. If we have the Christ-spirit, we
will fulfil the Christ-commands.
"Thus was it with man prior to his spiritual death, his fall. He
lived in and enjoyed God, and was in communion and society with
angels, not knowing good and evil. His life was spontaneous; his
wisdom intuitive; he was unconscious of it, even as we would be of
light were there no darkness. We should see it and be recipients of
all its blessings without knowing its existence. But darkness came,
and man knew. Alas! in knowing he lost all that he possessed before.
"Jesus came to restore man to that eternal day from which Adam fell."
About this time he mentions having spent a day in the woods with some
friends, at Fort Lee; it is the only allusion we find to any sort of
recreation or companionship with others. He sat alone for an hour, he
says, in a pleasant spot which overlooked the Hudson and the high
Palisade rocks, and "seemed to be in communion with the infinite
invisible all around in all the deep avenues of the soul."
Four days before his baptism comes this anticipation of it:
"New York, July 27, '44.--I have commenced acting. My union with the
Catholic Church is my first real, true act. And it is no doubt the
forerunner of many more--of an active life. Heretofore I did not see
or feel in me the grounds upon which I could act with permanence and
security. I now do; and on this basis my future life will be built.
What my actions may be, I care not. It was this deep eternal
certainty within I did wish to feel, and I am now conscious that the
lack of it was the reason for my inactivity.
"With this guide I ask no other, nor do I feel the need of the
support of friends, or kindred, or the world. Alone it is sufficient
for me, though it contradicts the advice of my friends and all my
former life. It certainly seems to me absolute: if any error arises
it will be from my disobedience."
"July 30.--The inward voice becomes more and more audible. It says:
'I am--obey!'
"The new clothes itself in new dress.
"What proof does a man give that _he is_ if he does only what has
been done?
"Can a man repeat the past with genius?
"One true act opens the passage to ten more.
"Man is left to his own destiny; religion but sanctifies it."
When the day comes at last, the Sacrament itself gets only the
briefest chronicle. The door seems but a door. Passing through it, he
finds himself at home, and apparently without one quickening of the
pulse, or any cessation of his desire to penetrate all its secret
chambers. The explanation of this is to be looked for in the
presumption that his baptism in infancy had been valid. It was
conferred by a Lutheran minister who must have been trained in
Germany, and whose methodical adherence to the proper form might be
counted on. In the sight of God, doubtless, he had never since been
outside the Church. He was like a child stolen from the cradle, but
in whom racial and family traits had been superior to an uncongenial
environment.
"Friday, August 1, 1844, 1 P.M.--This morning we were baptized by
Bishop McCloskey. To-morrow we attend the tribunal of confession."
Then he mentions a curious fact which recalls a similar experience of
St. Catherine of Genoa: "We know not why it is we feel an internal
necessity of using the plural pronoun instead of the singular."
But if conditional baptism left him silent, the Sacrament he
certainly received the following day opened the flood-gates of his
speech:
"August 2.--Penance! joy! unbounded love! Sweet Jesus, Thy love is
infinite! Blessed faith! sweet love! I possess an internal glory, a
glowing flame of love! Let my whole life be one act of penance! O
dear Jesus, the life-giver! Oh, what a sweet thing it is to be in the
way of loveful grace! Jesus, keep me near Thee! Oh, how great a
condescension, Jesus is my Friend! Oh! who has the conception of
Jesus being his _Friend?_ O ancient faith, how dear, how good is God
in giving us sinners thee! Blessed is the grace of God that leadeth
sinners to thee! Oh, how thou hast comforted the soul! It would turn
from thee, but thou strengthenest it. The cup was bitter, but
infinitely more sweet is the joy thou givest. My soul is clothed in
brightness; its youth is restored. O blessed, ever-blessed,
unfathomable, divine faith! O faith of apostles, martyrs, confessors,
and saints! Holy Mother of Jesus, thou art my mother. I feel in my
heart thy tender love. O holy Mother, thou hast beheld me! Bless me,
Virgin Mother of Jesus!"
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