THE DRYNESS OF PREACHERS, AND THE VARIOUS EVILS WHICH ARISE FROM THEIR
FAILING TO TEACH HEART-PRAYER--EXHORTATION TO PASTORS TO LEAD PEOPLE
TOWARDS THIS FORM OF PRAYER, WITHOUT AMUSING THEM WITH STUDIED AND
METHODICAL DEVOTION.
If all those who are working for the conquest of souls sought to win
them _by the heart_, leading them first of all to prayer and to the
inner life, they would see many and lasting conversions. But so long as
they only address themselves to the outside, and instead of drawing
people to Christ by occupying their hearts with Him, they only give them
a thousand precepts for outward observances, they will see but little
fruit, and that will not be lasting.
When once the heart is won, other defects are easily corrected. This is
why God particularly asks for the _heart_. By this means alone would be
prevented the drunkenness, blasphemy, lewdness, enmity, and robbery
which are prevalent in the world. Jesus Christ would reign universally,
and the Church everywhere would be revived.
Error only takes possession of the soul in the absence of faith and
prayer. If men could be taught to _believe simply_ and to _pray_,
instead of disputing amongst themselves, they would be gently led to
Christ.
Oh, how inestimable is the loss of those who neglect the inner life! Oh,
what an account will they have to render to God who have the charge of
souls, for not having discovered this hidden treasure to all those whom
they serve in the ministry of the Word!
The excuse given is that there is _danger_ in this way, or that ignorant
people are incapable of spiritual things. The oracle of truth assures us
that God has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has
revealed them to babes. And what danger can there be in walking in the
only true way, which is Jesus Christ, in giving ourselves to Him,
looking to Him continually, putting all our trust in His grace, and
tending, with all the forces of our souls, to His pure love?
Far from the simple ones being _incapable_ of this perfection, they are
the most suitable for it, because they are more docile, more humble, and
more innocent; and as they do not reason, they are not so attached to
their own light. Having no science, they more readily suffer themselves
to be guided by the Spirit of God: while others who are blind in their
own sufficiency resist the divine inspiration.
God tells us, too, that it is to the _simple_ He gives understanding by
the entrance of His Word (Ps. cxix. 130). "The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the _simple_" (Ps. xix. 7). "The Lord preserveth the
_simple_: I was brought low, and He helped me" (Ps. cxvi. 6).
O ye who have the oversight of souls! see that you do not prevent the
little ones from going to Christ. His words to His disciples were,
"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of
such is the kingdom of God" (Luke xviii. 16). Jesus only said this to
His disciples, because they wished to keep the children away from Him.
Often the remedy is applied to the body, when the disease is at the
_heart_. The reason why we have so little success in seeking to reform
men, is that we direct our efforts to the outside, and all that we can
do there soon passes off. But if we were to give them first _the key of
the interior_, the outside would be reformed at once with a natural
facility.
And this is very easy. To teach them to seek God in their heart, to
think of Him, to return to Him when they find they have turned away, to
do all and suffer all for the sake of pleasing Him--this is to direct
them to the source of all grace, and to make them find there all that is
necessary for their sanctification. O you who serve souls! I conjure you
to put them first of all into this way, which is Jesus Christ; and it is
He who conjures you to do this by the blood He has shed for the souls He
confides to your care. "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem" (Isa. xl. 2,
marg.) O dispensers of His grace, preachers of His Word, ministers of
sacraments! establish His kingdom; and, in order to establish it truly,
make it reign over HEARTS. For as it is the heart alone which can oppose
His empire, it is by the subjection of the heart that His sovereignty is
most honoured. Alas! we seek to make _studied_ prayers; and by wishing
to arrange them too much, we render them impossible. We have alienated
children from the best of Fathers, in seeking to teach them a polished
language. Go, poor children, and speak to your Heavenly Father in your
natural language: however uncultivated it may be, it is not so to Him. A
father loves best the speech which is put in disorder by love and
respect, because he sees that it comes from the heart: it is more to him
than a dry harangue, vain and unfruitful though well studied. Oh, how
certain glances of love charm and ravish Him! They express infinitely
more than all language and reason. By wishing to teach how to love Love
Himself with method, much of this love has been lost. Oh! it is not
necessary to teach the art of loving. The language of love is barbarous
to him who does not love; and we cannot learn to love God better than
by loving Him. The Spirit of God does not need our arrangements; He
takes shepherds at His pleasure to make them prophets; and, far from
closing the palace of prayer to any, as it is imagined, He leaves the
doors open to all, and Wisdom is ordered to cry in the public places,
"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth
understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the
wine which I have mingled" (Prov. ix. 4, 5). Did not Christ thank His
Father that He had hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and
had revealed them to babes? (Matt. xi. 25.)