81
precious
in their eyes, everything enriches them. They are inexpressibly indifferent
towards all things, and yet neglect nothing, having a respect for, and
making use of all things. As God is everywhere, the use made of things by
His will is not so much the use of creatures, as the enjoyment of the divine
action which transmits His gifts by different channels. They cannot sanctify
of themselves, but only as instruments of the divine action, which has power
to communicate His grace, and often does communicate it to simple souls in
ways and by means which seem opposed to the end intended. It enlightens
through mud as well as through glass, and the instrument of which it makes
use is always singular. To it everything is alike. Faith always believes
that nothing is wanting to it, and never complains of the privation of means
which might prove useful for its increase, because the Workman, who employs
them efficaciously, supplies what is wanting by His action. The divine
action is the whole virtue of the creature.
Section V. Nature and Grace the Instruments of God.
SECTION V.—Nature and Grace the Instruments of
God.
The less capable the soul in the state
of abandonment is of defending itself, the more powerfully does God defend
it.
The one and infallible influence of the divine
action is invariably applied to the submissive soul at an opportune moment,
and this soul corresponds in everything to its interior direction. It is
pleased with everything that has taken place, with everything that is
happening, and with all that affects it, with the exception of sin.
Sometimes the soul acts with full consciousness, sometimes unknowingly,
being led only by obscure instincts to say, to do, or to leave certain
things, without being able to give a reason for its action.
Often the occasion and the determining reason are
only of the natural order; the soul, perceiving no sort of mystery therein,
acts by pure chance, necessity, or convenience, and its act has no other
aspect either in its own eyes, or those of others; while all the time the
divine action, through the intellect, the wisdom, or the counsel of friends,
makes use of the simplest things in its favour. It makes them its own, and
opposes so persistently every effort prejudicial to them, that it becomes
impossible that these should succeed.
To have to deal with a simple soul is, in a certain
way, to have to deal with God. What can be done against the will of the
Almighty and His inscrutable designs? God takes the cause of the simple soul
in hand. It is unnecessary for it to study the intrigues of others, to
trouble about their worries, or to 82scrutinize
their conduct; its Spouse relieves it of all these anxieties, and it can
repose in Him full of peace, and in security.
The divine action frees and exempts the soul from
all those low and noisy ways so necessary to human prudence. These suited
Herod and the Pharisees, but the Magi had only to follow their star in
peace. The child has but to rest in His Mother’s arms. His enemies do more
to advance His interests than to hinder His work. The greater efforts they
exert to thwart, and to take Him unawares, the more freely and tranquilly
does He act. He never humours them, nor basely truckles to them to make them
turn aside their blows; their jealousies, suspicions, and persecutions are
necessary to Him. Thus did Jesus Christ live in Judea, and thus does He live
now in simple souls. In them He is generous, sweet, free, peaceful,
fearless, needing no one, beholding all creatures in His Father’s hands, and
obliged to serve Him, some by their criminal passions, others by their holy
actions; the former by their contradictions, the latter by their obedience
and submission. The divine action balances all this in a wonderful manner,
nothing is wanting nor is anything superfluous, but of good and evil there
is only what is necessary. The will of God applies, at each moment, the
proper means to the end in view, and the simple soul, instructed by faith,
finds everything right, and desires neither more nor less than what it has.
It ever blesses that divine hand which so well apportions the means, and
turns every obstacle aside. It receives friends and enemies with the same
patient courtesy with which Jesus treated everyone, and as divine
instruments. It has need of no one and yet needs all. The divine action
renders all necessary, and all must be received from it, according to their
quality and nature, and corresponded to with sweetness and humility; the
simple treated simply, and the unpolished kindly. This is what St Paul
teaches, and what Jesus Christ practised most perfectly.
Only grace can impress this supernatural character,
which is appropriate to, and adapts itself to each person. This is never
learnt from books, but from a true prophetic spirit, and is the effect of a
special inspiration, and a doctrine of the Holy Spirit. To understand it one
must be in the highest state of abandonment, the most perfect freedom from
all design, and from all interests, however holy. One must have in view the
only serious business in the world, that of following submissively the
divine action. To do this one must apply oneself to the fulfilling of the
obligations of one’s state; and allow the Holy Spirit to act interiorly
without trying to understand His operations, but even being pleased to be
kept in ignorance about them. Then one is safe, for all that happens in the
world 83can work nothing but good for souls
perfectly submissive to the will of God.
Section VI. Supernatural Prudence.
SECTION VI.—Supernatural Prudence.
The soul, in the state of abandonment,
does not fear its enemies, but finds in them useful helps.
I fear more my own action and that of my friends
than that of my enemies. There is no prudence so great as that which offers
no resistance to enemies, and which opposes to them only a simple
abandonment. This is to run before the wind, and as there is nothing else to
be done, to keep quiet and peaceful. There is nothing that is more entirely
opposed to worldly prudence than simplicity; it turns aside all schemes
without comprehending them, without so much as a thought about them. The
divine action makes the soul take such just measures as to surprise those
who want to take it by surprise themselves. It profits by all their efforts,
and is raised by the very things that are done to lower it. They are the
galley slaves who bring the ship into port with hard rowing. All obstacles
turn to the good of this soul, and by allowing its enemies a free hand, it
obtains a continual service, so sufficing that all it has to fear is lest it
should itself take part in a work of which God would be principal, and His
enemies the agents, and in which it has nothing to do but to peacefully
observe the work of God, and to follow with simplicity the attractions He
gives it. The supernatural prudence of the Divine Spirit, the principle of
these attractions, infallibly attains its end; and the precise circumstances
of each event are so applied to the soul, without its perception, that
everything opposed to them cannot fail to be destroyed.
Section VII. Conviction of Weakness.
SECTION VII.—Conviction of Weakness.
The soul in the state of abandonment
can abstain from justifying itself by word or deed. The divine action
justifies it.
This order of the divine will is the solid and
firm rock on which the submissive soul reposes, sheltered from change and
tempest. It is continually present under the veil of crosses, and of the
most ordinary actions. Behind this veil the hand of God is hidden to sustain
and to support those who abandon themselves entirely to Him. From the time
that a soul becomes firmly established in abandonment, it will be protected
from the opposition of talkers, for it need not ever say or do anything in
self-defence. Since the work is of God, justification must never be sought
elsewhere. Its effects and its consequences are 84justification
enough. There is nothing but to let it develop “Dies diei eructat verbum”;
“Day to day uttereth speech” (Ps.
xviii, 3). When one is no longer guided by reflexion, words must
no longer be used in self-defence. Our words can only express our thoughts;
where no ideas are supposed to exist, words cannot be used. Of what use
would they be? To give a satisfactory explanation of our conduct? But we
cannot explain that of which we know nothing for it is hidden in the
principle of our actions, and we have experienced nothing but an impression,
and that in an ineffable manner. We must, therefore, let the results justify
their principles.
All the links of this divine chain remain firm and
solid, and the reason of that which precedes as cause is seen in that which
follows as effect. It is no longer a life of dreams, a life of imaginations,
a life of a multiplicity of words. The soul is no longer occupied with these
things, nor nourished and maintained in this way; they are no longer of any
avail, and afford no support.
The soul no longer sees where it is going, nor
foresees where it will go; reflexions no longer help it to gain courage to
endure fatigue, and to sustain the hardships of the way. All this is swept
aside by an interior conviction of weakness. The road widens as it advances;
it has started, and goes on without hesitation. Being perfectly simple and
straightforward, it follows the path of God’s commandments quietly, relying
on God Himself whom it finds at every step, and God, whom it seeks above all
things, takes upon Himself to manifest His presence in such a way as to
avenge it on its unjust detractors.
Section VIII. Self-guidance a Mistake.
SECTION VIII.—Self-guidance a Mistake.
God imparts to the soul in the state
of abandonment by means which seem more likely to destroy it.
There is a time when God would be the life of the
soul, and Himself accomplish its perfection in secret and unknown ways. Then
all its own ideas, lights, industries, examinations, and reasonings become
sources of illusion. After many experiences of the sad consequences of
self-guidance, the soul recognising its uselessness, and finding that God
has hidden and confused all the issues, is forced to fly to Him to find
life. Then, convinced of its nothingness and of the harmfulness of all that
it derives from itself, it abandons itself to God to gain all from Him. It
is then that God becomes the source of its life, not by means of ideas,
lights, or reflexions, for all this is no longer anything to it but a source
of illusion; but in reality, and by His grace, which is hidden under the
strangest appearances.
85
The divine operation, unknown to the soul,
communicates its virtue and substance by many circumstances that the soul
believes will be its destruction. There is no cure for this ignorance, it
must be allowed its course. God gives Himself therein, and with Himself, he
gives all things in the obscurity of faith. The soul is but a blind subject,
or, in other words, it is like a sick person who knows nothing of the
properties of remedies and tastes only their bitterness. He often imagines
that what is given him will be his death; the pain and weakness which result
seem to justify his fears; nevertheless it is under the semblance of death
that his health is restored, and he takes the medicines on the word of the
physician. In the same way the submissive soul is in no way pre-occupied
about its infirmities, except as regards obvious maladies which by their
nature compel it to rest; and to take suitable remedies. The languor and
weakness of souls in the state of abandonment are only illusory appearances
which they ought to defy with confidence. God sends them, or permits them in
order to give opportunities for the exercise of faith and abandonment which
are the true remedies. Without paying the least attention to them, these
souls should generously pursue their way, following by their actions and
sufferings the order of God, making use without hesitation of the body as
though it were a horse on hire, which is intended to be driven until it is
worn out. This is better than thinking of health so much as to harm the
soul.
A courageous spirit does much to maintain a
feeble body, and one year of a life spent in so noble and generous a manner
is of more value than would be a century of care-taking and nervous fears.
One ought to be able to show outwardly that one is in a state of grace and
goodwill. What is there to be afraid of in fulfilling the divine will? The
conduct of one who is upheld and sustained by it should show nothing
exteriorly but what is heroic. The terrifying experiences that have to be
encountered are really nothing. They are only sent that life may be adorned
with more glorious victories. The divine will involves the soul in troubles
of every kind, where human prudence can neither see nor imagine any outlet.
It then feels all its weakness, and, finding out its shortcomings, is
confounded. The divine will then asserts itself in all its power to those
who give themselves to it without reserve. It succours them more
marvellously than the writers of fiction, in the fertility of their
imagination, unravel the intrigues and perils of their imaginary heroes, and
bring them to a happy end. With a much more admirable skill, and much more
happily, does the divine will guide the soul through deadly perils and
monsters, even through the fires of hell with their demons and sufferings.
It raises souls to the heights of heaven, 86and
makes them the subjects of histories both real and mystical, more beautiful,
and more extraordinary than any invented by the vain imagination of man.
On then, my soul, through perils and monsters,
guided and sustained by that mighty invisible hand of divine Providence. On,
without fear, to the end, in peace and joy, and make all the incidents of
life occasions of fresh victories. We march under His Standard, to fight and
to conquer; “exivit vincens ut vinceret”; “He went forth conquering that he
might conquer” (Apocal.
vi, 2).
As many steps as we take under His command will
be the triumphs we gain. The Holy Spirit of God writes in an open book this
sacred history which is not yet finished, nor will be till the end of the
world. This history contains an account of the guidance and designs of God
with regard to men. It remains for us to figure in this history, and to
continue the thread of it by the union of our actions and sufferings with
His will. No! It is not to cause the loss of our souls that we have so much
to do, and to suffer; but that we may furnish matter for that holy writing
which is added to day by day.
Section IX. Divine Love, the Principle of All Good.
SECTION IX.—Divine Love, the Principle of All
Good.
To those who follow this path, divine
love is all-sufficing.
While despoiling of all things those souls who give
themselves entirely to Him, God gives them something in place of them.
Instead of light, wisdom, life, and strength, He gives them His love. The
divine love in these souls is like a supernatural instinct. In nature, each
thing contains that which is suitable to its kind. Each flower has its
special beauty, each animal its instinct, and each creature its perfection.
Also in the different states of grace, each has a special grace. This is the
recompense for everyone who accepts with goodwill the state in which he is
placed by Providence. A soul comes under the divine action from the moment
that a habit of goodwill is formed within it, and this action influences it
more or less according to its degree of abandonment. The whole art of
abandonment is simply that of loving, and the divine action is nothing else
than the action of divine love. How can it be that these two loves seeking
each other should do otherwise than unite when they meet? How can the divine
love refuse aught to a soul whose every desire it directs? And how can a
soul that lives only for Him refuse Him anything? Love can refuse nothing
that love desires, nor desire anything that love refuses. The divine action
regards only the goodwill; the capability of the other 87faculties
does not attract it, nor does the want of capability repel it. All that it
requires is a heart that is good, pure, just, simple, submissive, filial,
and respectful. It takes possession of such a heart, and of all its
faculties, and so arranges everything for its benefit that it finds in all
things its sanctification. That which destroys other souls would find in
this soul an antidote of goodwill which would nullify its poison. Even at
the edge of a precipice the divine action would draw it back, or even if it
were allowed to remain there it would prevent it from falling; and if it
fell, it would rescue it. After all, the faults of such a soul are only
faults of frailty; love takes but little notice of them, and well knows how
to turn them to advantage. It makes the soul understand by secret
suggestions what it ought to say, or to do, according to circumstances.
These suggestions it receives as rays of light from the divine
understanding: “intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum”; “A good
understanding to all that do it” (Ps.
cx, 10), for this divine understanding accompanies such souls
step by step, and prevents them taking those false steps which their
simplicity encourages. If they make arrangements which would involve them in
some promise prejudicial to them, divine Providence arranges some fortunate
occurrence which rectifies everything. In vain are schemes formed against
them repeatedly; divine Providence cuts all the knots, brings the authors to
confusion, and so turns their heads as to make them fall into their own
trap. Under its guidance those souls that they wish to take by surprise do
certain things that seem very useless at the time, but that serve afterwards
to deliver them from all the troubles into which their uprightness and the
malice of their enemies would have plunged them. Oh! what good policy it is
to have goodwill! What prudence there is in simplicity! What ability in its
innocence and candour! What mysteries and secrets in its
straightforwardness! Look at the youthful Tobias; he is but a lad, yet with
what confidence he proceeds, having the archangel Raphael for his guide.
Nothing frightens him, nothing is wanting to him. The very monsters he
encounters furnish him with food and remedies; the one that rushes forward
to devour him becomes itself his sustenance. By the order of Providence he
has nothing to attend to but feasts and weddings, everything else is left to
the management of the guiding spirit appointed to help him. These things are
so well managed that never before have they been so successful, nor so
blessed and prosperous. However, his mother weeps, and is in great distress
at his supposed loss, but his father remains full of faith. The son, so
bitterly mourned returns to rejoice his family and to share their happiness.
Divine love then, is to those who give themselves
up to it 88without reserve, the principle of all
good. To acquire this inestimable treasure the only thing necessary is
greatly to desire it. Yes, God only asks for love, and if you seek this
treasure, this kingdom in which God reigns alone, you will find it. If your
heart is entirely devoted to God, it is itself, for that very reason, the
treasure and the kingdom that you seek and desire. From the time that one
desires God and His holy will, one enjoys God and His will, and this
enjoyment corresponds to the ardour of the desire. To desire to love God is
truly to love Him, and because we love Him we wish to become instruments of
His action in order that His love may be exercised in, and by us. The divine
action does not correspond to the aims of a saintly and simple soul, nor to
the steps it takes, nor to the projects it forms, nor to the manner in which
it reflects, nor to the means it chooses, nor to the purity of its
intention. It often happens that the soul can be deceived in all this, but
its good intention and uprightness can never deceive it. Provided that God
perceives in it a good intention, He can dispense with all the rest, and He
holds as done for Him what it will eventually do when truer ideas second its
goodwill.
Goodwill, therefore, has nothing to fear. If it
fall, it can only do so under the almighty hand which guides and sustains it
in all its wanderings. It is this divine hand which turns it again to face
the goal from which it has strayed; which replaces it in the right path when
it has wandered. In it the soul finds resources for the deviations to which
the blind faculties which deceive it, render it subject. It is made to feel
how much it ought to despise them, and to rely on God alone, abandoning
itself absolutely to His infallible guidance. The failings into which good
souls fall are put an end to by abandonment. Never can goodwill be taken
unawares. That all things work for its good is an article of faith.
Section X. We Must see God in all His Creatures.
SECTION X.—We Must see God in all His
Creatures.
In the state of abandonment the soul
finds more light and strength, through submission to the divine action, than
all those possess who resist it through pride.
Of what use are the most sublime illuminations, the
most divine revelations, if one has no love for the will of God? It was
because of this that Lucifer fell. The ruling of the divine action revealed
to him by God, in showing him the mystery of the Incarnation, produced in
him nothing but envy.
On the other hand a simple soul, enlightened only by
faith, can never tire of admiring, praising, and loving the order of
89God; of finding it not only in holy creatures, but
even in the most irregular confusion and disorder. One grain of pure faith
will give more light to a simple soul than Lucifer received in his highest
intelligence. The devotion of the faithful soul to its obligations; its
quiet submission to the intimate promptings of grace; its gentleness and
humility towards everyone; are of more value than the most profound insight
into mysteries. If one regarded only the divine action in all the pride and
harshness of creatures, one would never treat them with anything but
sweetness and respect. Their roughness would never disturb the divine order,
whatever course it might take. One must only see in it the divine action,
given and taken, as long as one is faithful in the practice of sweetness and
humility. It is best not to observe their way of proceeding, but always to
walk with firm steps in our own path. It is thus that by bending gently,
cedars are broken, and rocks overthrown. Who amongst creatures can resist a
faithful, gentle, and humble soul? These are the only arms to be taken if we
wish to conquer all our enemies. Jesus Christ has placed them in our hands
that we may defend ourselves; there is nothing to fear if we know how to use
them.
We must not be cowardly, but generous. This is the
only disposition suitable to the instruments of God.
All the works of God are sublime and marvellous;
while one’s own actions, when they war against God, cannot resist the divine
action in one who is united to it by sweetness and humility.
Who is Lucifer? He is a pure spirit, and was the
most enlightened of all pure spirits, but is now at war with God and with
His rule. The mystery of sin is merely the result of this conflict, which
manifests itself in every possible way. Lucifer, as much as in him lies,
will leave no stone upturned to destroy what God has made and ordered.
Wherever he enters, there is the work of God defaced. The more light,
science, and capacity a person has, the more he is to be feared if he does
not possess a foundation of piety, which consists in being satisfied with
God and His will. It is by a well-regulated heart that one is united to the
divine action; without this everything is purely natural, and generally, in
direct opposition to the divine order. God makes use only of the humble as
His instruments. Always contradicted by the proud, He yet makes use of them,
like slaves, for the accomplishment of His designs.
When I find a soul which does all for God alone, and
in submission to His order, however wanting it may be in all things else, I
say “This is a soul with a great aptitude for serving God.” The holy Virgin
and St. Joseph were like this. All else without these qualities makes me
fear. I am afraid to see in it the action 90of
Lucifer. I remain on my guard, and shut myself up in my foundation of
simplicity, in opposition to all this outward glitter which, by itself, is
nothing to me but a bit of broken glass.
Section XI. The Strength of Simplicity.
SECTION XI.—The Strength of Simplicity.
The soul in the state of abandonment
knows how to see God even in the proud who oppose His action. All creatures,
good or evil, reveal Him to it.
The whole practice of the simple soul is in the
accomplishment of the will of God. This it respects even in those unruly
actions by which the proud attempt to depreciate it. The proud soul despises
one in whose sight it is as nothing, who beholds only God in it, and in all
its actions. Often it imagines that the modesty of the simple soul is a mark
of appreciation for itself; when, all the time, it is only a sign of that
loving fear of God and of His holy will as shown to it in the person of the
proud. No, poor fool, the simple soul fears you not at all. You excite its
compassion; it is answering God when you think it is speaking to you: it is
with Him that it believes it has to do; it regards you only as one of His
slaves, or rather as a mask with which He disguises Himself. Therefore the
more you take a high tone, the lower you become in its estimation; and when
you think to take it by surprise, it surprises you. Your wiles and violence
are just favours from Heaven.
The proud soul cannot comprehend itself, but the
simple soul, with the light of faith, can very clearly see through it.
The finding of the divine action in all that occurs
at each moment, in and around us, is true science, a continuous revelation
of truth, and an unceasingly renewed intercourse with God. It is a rejoicing
with the Spouse, not in secret, nor by stealth, in the cellar, or the
vineyard, but openly, and in public, without any human respect. It is a fund
of peace, of joy, of love, and of satisfaction with God who is seen, known,
or rather, believed in, living and operating in the most perfect manner in
everything that happens. It is the beginning of eternal happiness not yet
perfectly realised and tasted, except in an incomplete and hidden manner.
The Holy Spirit, who arranges all the pieces on the
board of life, will, by this fruitful and continual presence of His action,
say at the hour of death, “fiat lux,” “let there be light” (Gen.
i, 14), and then will be seen the treasures which faith hides in
this abyss of peace and contentment with God, and which will be found in
those things that have been every moment done, or suffered for Him.
91
When God gives Himself thus, all that is common
becomes wonderful; and it is on this account that nothing seems to be so,
because this way is, in itself, extraordinary. Consequently it is
unnecessary to make it full of strange and unsuitable marvels. It is, in
itself, a miracle, a revelation, a constant joy even with the prevalence of
minor faults. But it is a miracle which, while rendering all common and
sensible things wonderful, has nothing in itself that is sensibly
marvellous.
Section XII. The Triumph of Humility.
SECTION XII.—The Triumph of Humility.
To the souls which are faithful to
Him, God promises a glorious victory over the powers of the world and of
hell.
If the divine action is hidden here below under
the appearance of weakness, it is in order to increase the merit of souls
which are faithful to it; but its triumph is none the less certain.
The history of the world from the beginning is but
the history of the struggle between the powers of the world, and of hell,
against the souls which are humbly devoted to the divine action. In this
struggle all the advantage seems to be on the side of pride, yet the victory
always remains with humility. The image of the world is always presented to
our eyes as a statue of gold, brass, iron, and clay. This mystery of
iniquity, shown in a dream to Nabuchodonosor, is nothing but a confused
medley of all the actions, interior and exterior, of the children of
darkness. This is also typified by the beast coming out of the pit to make
war, from the beginning of time, against the interior and spiritual life of
man. All that takes place in our days is the consequence of this war.
Monster follows monster out of the pit, which swallows, and vomits them
forth again amidst incessant clouds of smoke. The combat between St. Michael
and Lucifer, that began in Heaven, still continues. The heart of this once
magnificent angel, has become, through envy, an inexhaustible abyss of every
kind of evil. He made angel revolt against angel in Heaven, and from the
creation of the world his whole energy is exerted to make more criminals
among men to fill the ranks of those who have been swallowed up in the pit.
Lucifer is the chief of those who refuse obedience to the Almighty. This
mystery of iniquity is the very inversion of the order of God; it is the
order, or rather, the disorder of the devil.
This disorder is a mystery because, under a false
appearance of good, it hides irremediable and infinite evil. Every wicked
man, who, from the time of Cain, up to the present moment, has
92declared war against God, has outwardly been great
and powerful, making a great stir in the world, and being worshiped by all.
But this outward semblance is a mystery. In reality they are beasts which
have ascended from the pit one after another to overthrow the order of God.
But this order, which is another mystery, has always opposed to them really
great and powerful men who have dealt these monsters a mortal wound. As fast
as hell vomits them forth, Heaven at the same time creates fresh heroes to
combat them. Ancient history, sacred and profane, is but a record of this
war. The order of God has ever remained victorious and those who have ranged
themselves on the side of God have shared His triumph, and are happy for all
eternity. Injustice has never been able to protect deserters. It can reward
them only by death, an eternal death.
Those who practise iniquity imagine themselves
invincible. O God! who can resist You? If a single soul has the whole world
and all hell against it, it need have no fear if, by abandonment, it takes
its stand on the side of God and His order.
The monstrous spectacle of wickedness armed with
so much power, the head of gold, the body of silver, brass, and iron, is
nothing more than the image of clay; a small stone cast at it will scatter
it to the four winds of Heaven.
How wonderfully has the Holy Spirit illustrated
the centuries of the world! So many startling revelations! so many renowned
heroes following each other like so many brilliant stars! So many wonderful
events!
All this is like the dream of Nabuchodonosor,
forgotten on awaking, however terrible the impression it made at the time.
All these monsters only come into the world to
exercise the courage of the children of God, and if these are well trained,
God gives them the pleasure of slaying the monsters, and sends fresh
athletes into the arena.
And this life is a spectacle to angels, causing
continual joy in Heaven, work for saints on earth, and confusion to the
devils in hell.
So all that is opposed to the order of God
renders it only the more to be adored. All workers of iniquity are slaves of
justice, and the divine action builds the heavenly Jerusalem on the ruins of
Babylon.
Spiritual Counsels of Fr. de Caussade
93
SPIRITUAL COUNSELS OF FR. DE CAUSSADE
I. Conformity to the Will of God.
I.—Conformity to the Will of God.
Written in 1731 to Sister Marie-Thérèse de
Voiménil, in the 9th year of her profession, and the 28th of her age.
For the attainment of perfect conformity to the will of
God.
1st. At the beginning of each day, and of meditation,
Mass, and Communion, declare to God that you desire to belong to Him
entirely, and that you will devote yourself wholly to acquiring the spirit
of prayer and of the interior life.
2nd. Make it your chief study to conform yourself to the
will of God even in the smallest things, saying in the midst of the most
annoying contradictions and with the most alarming prospects for the future:
“My God, I desire with all my heart to do Your holy will, I submit in all
things and absolutely to Your good pleasure for time and eternity; and I
wish to do this, Oh my God, for two reasons; first: because You are my
Sovereign Lord and it is but just that Your will should be accomplished;
secondly: because I am convinced by faith, and by experience that Your will
is in all things as good and beneficent as it is just and adorable, while my
own desires are always blind and corrupt; blind, because I know not what I
ought to desire or to avoid; corrupt, because I nearly always long for what
would do me harm. Therefore, from henceforth, I renounce my own will to
follow Yours in all things; dispose of me, Oh my God, according to Your good
will and pleasure.”
3rd. This continual practice of submission will preserve
that interior peace which is the foundation of the spiritual life, and will
prevent you from worrying about your faults and failings. You will put up
with them instead, with a humble and quiet submission which is more likely
to cure them than an uneasy distress, only calculated to weaken and
discourage you.
4th. Think no more about the past but only of the present
and future. Do not trouble about your confessions, but accuse yourself
simply of those faults you can remember after seven or eight minutes examen.
It is a good thing to add to the accusation a more serious sin of your past
life. This will cause you to make a more fervent act of contrition and
dispose you to receive 94more abundantly the grace
of the Sacrament. You should not make too many efforts to get rid of the
obstacles which make frequent confession disagreeable to you.
5th. To escape the distress caused by regret for the past
or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the
infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, give the present
wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.
6th. When God in His goodness sends you some
disappointment, one of those trials that used to annoy you so much; before
all thank Him for it as for a great favour all the more useful for the great
work of your perfection in that it completely overturns the work of the
moment.
7th. Try, in spite of interior dislike, to show a kind
face to troublesome people, or to those who come to chatter about their
troubles; leave at once prayer, reading, choir office, in fact anything, to
go where Providence calls you; and do what is asked of you quietly,
peacefully, without hurry, and without vexation.
8th. Should you fail in any of these points, make
immediately an act of interior humility—not that sort of humility full of
uneasiness and irritation against which St. Francis of Sales said so much,
but a humility that is gentle, peaceful, and sweet. This is a matter
essential for overcoming your self-will, and to prevent you becoming a slave
to your exterior or interior devotion.
9th. We must understand that we can never acquire true
conformity to the will of God until we are perfectly resolved to serve Him
according to His will and pleasure and not to please ourselves. In
everything look to God, and you will find Him everywhere, but more
especially where you have most completely renounced yourself. When you are
thoroughly convinced that of yourself you are incapable of doing any good,
you will give up making resolutions but will humbly confess to God: “My God,
I acknowledge after many trials that all my resolutions are useless.
Doubtless I have hitherto depended too much on myself, but You have abased
me. You alone can do all things; make me then, do such and such a thing, and
give me, when necessary, the recollection, energy and strength of will that
I require. Without this, I know from my former sad experiences, I shall
never do anything.”
10th. To this humble prayer add the practice of begging
pardon at once or as soon as possible of all those who witnessed any of your
little impetuosities or outbursts of temper. It is most important for you to
practise these counsels for two reasons: first, because God desires to do
everything in you Himself; secondly, on account of a secret presumption,
which, even in the 95midst of so many miseries,
prevents you referring everything to God, until you have experienced a
thousand times how absolutely incapable you are of performing any good. When
you become thoroughly convinced of this truth you will exclaim almost
without reflexion, when you act rightly, “Oh my God it is You who do this in
me by your grace.” And when You do wrong: “This is just like me! I see
myself as I am.” Then will God be glorified in all your actions, because He
will be proved to be the sole author of all that is good. This is your path;
all the misery and humiliation you must take on yourself, and render to God
the glory and thanks that are His due. All the glory to Him, but all the
profit to you. You would be very foolish not to accept with gratitude a
share so just and so advantageous.
II. Counsel for Outward Behaviour.
II.—Counsel for Outward Behaviour.
Counsel for the outward behaviour of one
called to the life of abandonment. Addressed to Sister Charlotte Elizabeth
Bourcier de Monthureux.
When you wake raise your soul to God, realising His
divine presence; adore the Blessed Trinity, imitating the great St. Francis
Xavier, “I adore You, God the Father, who created me, I adore You, God the
Son, who redeemed me, I adore You, God the Holy Ghost who have sanctified
me, and continue to carry on the work of my sanctification. I consecrate
this day entirely to Your love and to Your greater glory. I know not what
this day will bring me either pleasant or troublesome, whether I shall be
happy or sorrowful, shall enjoy consolation or undergo pain and grief, it
shall be as You please; I give myself into Your hands and submit myself to
whatever You will.”
Fix your attention on what strikes you at the beginning
of the day and on that with which grace inspires you more particularly in
the interior of your soul, keeping it before you quietly. Begin your prayer
with it, then give yourself up completely to the Spirit of God and remain
thus for as long as He pleases. Imitate the good woman who exclaimed, “My
God, if You will not give me bread, at any rate give me patience.”
Those who practise ordinary prayer in which the
intellect is exercised should remember the subject of meditation prepared
overnight, because if the mind is allowed to wander to all sorts of
subjects, then the whole day will be out of order as a clock not set
correctly at first will go wrong all day.
For the toilet, do all that is necessary, then think no
more about it.
96
The way to hear holy Mass worthily is to represent to
yourself the mystery of the Cross. Ascend Mount Calvary in spirit, and
contemplate what takes place there as though you actually saw it. Admire
first the justice of God who punishes His only Son for the sins of men of
which He took on Himself the semblance and for which He had offered Himself
as the atonement. Secondly, the greatness of God to whom such a reparation
was due. Thirdly, the value of our souls reclaimed at such a price; fourthly
the eternal happiness that Jesus Christ has merited for us and the eternal
torments from which He has delivered us. Reflexions on these divine subjects
should fill our souls with faith, hope, humility, compunction, gratitude and
love. Those who cannot keep their minds steadfastly fixed on such high
subjects should address themselves to the Blessed Virgin, who was present at
this mystery, or to St. John, St. Mary Magdalen and the good Thief, and
finally to our Lord Himself in token of their piety, and to give Him the
honour due to Him on account of the excess of His immense and
incomprehensible charity and mercy.
I have only two things to say on the subject of prayer.
Make it with absolute compliance with the will of God, no matter whether it
be successful, or you are troubled with dryness, distractions, or other
obstacles. If it is easy and full of consolations, return thanks to God
without dwelling on the pleasure it has caused you; if it has not succeeded
submit to God, humbling yourself and go away contented and in peace even if
it should have failed through your own fault; redoubling your confidence and
resignation to His holy will. Persevere in this way and sooner or later God
will give you grace to pray properly; but whatever trials you may have to
endure never allow yourself to be discouraged. As to the Office, there are
three ways of saying it, equally easy and solid. The first is to keep
yourself in the presence of God and to say the Office with great
recollection in union with Him, occasionally raising your mind and heart to
Him. Those who can say it thus need not trouble to alter their method. The
second way is to attend to the words in union with the mind of the Church,
praying as she prays, sighing when she sighs, and deriving all the
instruction from it; praising, adoring, thanking, according to the different
meanings of the verses we are pronouncing. The third way is to reflect
humbly that you are actually united to holy souls in praising God and in
desiring to share their holy dispositions. You should prostrate yourself in
spirit at their feet, believing that they are much more full of piety and
fervour than yourself. These feelings are very pleasing to His divine
Majesty, and we cannot be too deeply impressed with them. With regard to
confession, be firmly convinced 97that you need not
trouble about it, either on account of your miseries or of your sins. St.
Francis of Sales says that after sorrow for sin there should be peace. This
then is what you ought to aim at, and above all you should be full of great
confidence in the infinite goodness of God, remembering that His mercy is
greater than any of His works, that He glories in forgiving us, but cannot
prove His generosity if we are wanting in confidence. He loves simplicity,
candour, and uprightness, go to Him therefore with perfect confidence, in
spite of all your weakness, misery and unfaithfulness. That will win His
heart, and He will forgive everything to those who trust in His goodness and
love.
Do not spend more than half-an-hour over your
preparation. More than that would be waste of time, and would give the devil
an opportunity to create trouble in your soul. This must be avoided more
than anything, for peace of mind is a tree of life, the true root of the
interior spirit, and the best preparation for the prayer of recollection and
interior silence. The first quarter of an hour at the most can be occupied
with the remembrance of your faults, all those that you forget after this
examen will be as if non-existent, and you will be forgiven. The last
quarter of an hour should be employed in exciting yourself to contrition,
begging this grace from God, and endeavouring to obtain it quietly and
without any effort of the mind, by the thought of the goodness of God and
the great mercy He has shown you in withdrawing you from the world, where
you would have been lost, and calling you to the religious life in which you
can so easily save your soul; or, by preserving you from dying in a state of
sin; or, by reclaiming you from a tepid, feeble and imperfect life, in which
you ran the risk of being lost, even in the religious state.
After reflecting for some moments in this way you should
think that contrition being purely spiritual is, by nature, not sensibly
felt, and that sensible sorrow is so misleading that certain sinners, in
spite of every sign, are refused absolution, because it is possible that a
habit of sin—even of mortal sin to which the will consents, may subsist with
it. The surest sign of true sorrow for which the greatest sinner will
receive absolution is, to resolve by the grace of God never to commit these
great sins again. Then say from the bottom of your heart: “Lord! I hope You
have given me the necessary contrition. I hereby ask Your pardon for all the
sins I have committed; I detest them with all my heart because of the hatred
You bear them. You see, my God, that I am truly sorry, not only for having
committed them, but also because I am unable to feel all the sorrow I wish
to have. You conceal this sorrow from me even in giving it, so that I may
98never be certain of having been pardoned, nor of
being in a state of grace. It pleases You to keep me in this humble
dependence in order to give occasion for faith and holy hope, the way by
which You would conduct me. I am compelled to be satisfied with the
remembrance of Your great mercy, and in it I will lose myself, and to it I
will blindly abandon myself, fully and without reserve; and I will do so, Oh
my God! with all my heart. Yes, Lord, I will rest willingly on You alone,
accepting this state of uncertainty that is so terrible and in which all are
kept, even the greatest saints and the souls most dear to You.”
As regards the declaration of your sins; tell those
that you recollect simply and in as few words as possible, leaving the rest
to the unbounded mercy of God without troubling about what you do not
remember, or do not know. You can conclude by mentioning some greater sin of
your past life. After that you may feel morally certain that you have
received the grace of the Sacrament. The following is an easy way of
practising frequent confession. To prevent more certainly all anxiety about
the past and as a help for the future here is a counsel in a few words.
Leave the past to the infinite mercy of God—the future to His sweet
providence, and the present give up entirely to the love of God by our
fidelity with the assistance of His grace, which will never fail you, except
by your own fault.
While receiving absolution let this thought preoccupy
you and, throwing yourself in spirit at the foot of the Cross, kiss the
wounds in our Lord’s sacred feet saying “Oh I my God! I ask but for one drop
of that most precious and adorable Blood that You shed for my salvation. In
Your goodness let it fall upon my sinful soul to cleanse it more and more
from all its stains, and above all, from the grievous sins of my past life
for which I very humbly ask pardon. I have a sure hope of obtaining it from
that very great mercy You have so often shown to this miserable and vile
creature.” This done, I forbid you in the name of God, to think,
voluntarily, any more either of the confession you have just made, of your
sins, or of contrition in order to find out if you have been forgiven and
are restored to grace.
This is a mystery known only to God, and one which He
keeps to Himself; and the devil makes use of it to disturb and trouble souls
in order to make them waste time, and to deprive them of that sweet interior
peace, which is the best disposition for communion, and without which they
can derive little fruit from that heavenly feast. In such a state of anxiety
and distress it is difficult to have any desire for this divine food; it is
even distasteful to us through our own fault, because, instead of rejecting
and despising these foolish anxieties into which the 99evil
one has thrown our souls we permit ourselves to be harassed and afflicted by
them. Let them fall as a stone falls into the sea.
For Holy Communion these two points will suffice:
before Communion let us act like Martha, and after like Mary,—that is to say
we should prepare ourselves by fervent acts of virtue and of the good works
adapted to our state, without uneasiness and without over-eagerness, and
then reflect on Jesus Christ, on His infinite merits and love and remain
united to Him in an ineffable peace, transcending all feeling.
Nature seeks self in everything, even in exercises of
piety and virtue as well as in those actions prescribed by the necessities
of this life. It was on this account that the saints sighed continually and
were ceaselessly on their guard, looking upon themselves as their own
greatest enemies. We should be particularly careful as regards those things
for which we have an attachment and be ready to sacrifice anything that
gives us pleasure to comply with the lawful demands of our neighbour,
especially where the matter is one of obedience. The will of God should
always prevail over our own desires however holy they seem to us.
III. Interior Direction.
III.—Interior Direction.
Method of interior direction, addressed to
the same Sister.
1st. We attain to God by the annihilation of self. Let
us abase ourselves till there is nothing of self to be perceived.
2nd. In the degree in which we banish all that is not
God, we shall become filled with God, because where we no longer find self
we shall find God. The greatest good we can do for our souls in this life is
to fill them with God.
3rd. The practice of complete abnegation consists in
having no other care but that of dying entirely to self to make room for God
to live and work in us.
4th. The most excellent act of which we are capable,
and one which in itself contains all other virtues, is to resign ourselves
entirely to God by a total self-renunciation, and to lose self in the abyss
of our own nothingness to find it no more save in God. This is the one thing
necessary recommended by our Lord in the Gospel. Oh! the riches of
nothingness! Why are you not known? The more completely a soul annihilates
itself the more precious does it become in the sight of God. To lose
yourself in your own nothingness is a sure way of finding God. Let us
endeavour then to make the simple recollection of God, combined with a
profound forgetfulness of ourselves and 100a loving
and humble submission to His will become our sole task. This effort will
keep far from us all that is evil and retain in us all that is useful for
our salvation, and meritorious in the sight of God.
5th. Do not draw distinctions between the rest from
labour, that is exterior, and that which is interior: it is all the same
provided you submit willingly and keep interior peace—it is well to note
this.
6th. In our intercourse with others let us be detached
in a way that will show how far removed we are from all tenderness or
feeling. It is inconceivable how small a thing will suffice to impede the
soul, and for how long a time, often for a whole life-time a trifle is
capable of preventing the wonderful progress that grace would have effected
in our souls. God requires an empty space even in the most remote recesses
of our nature in order to communicate Himself to our souls.
7th. It is in the most trying and annoying
circumstances that you can practise the most perfect self-effacement and
become confirmed in this matter by the loss of secondary things; let us then
cheerfully acquiesce in the loss of everything except the loss of God.
8th. Let no business matter, nor any occurrence
whatever, have any value out of God, and let God be all in all to us.
9th. Let us never be eager about anything nor allow
our hearts to be oppressed by anything whatever. Where there is neither
interest nor affection, there is no eagerness, nor sadness, but a void that
is ever peaceful and unchangeable. In this we shall be established when we
have detached ourselves from all created things, and shall find ourselves
where self-seeking ceases; let us lose all to find all.
10th. When we have reduced ourselves to the Unity that
is God, all that is not God is undesirable to us. If we but knew how to
content ourselves with this supreme Unity we should never trouble ourselves
about anything else. This truth thoroughly understood and well practised
will enable us to cut off all superfluous things, even those that seem good,
holy, and necessary, but which, in the end might do us harm instead of
helping us to attain the object of all our aspirations—namely to be one with
the Supreme Unity.
11th. Let our motto be that of blessed Giles of
Assisi, “One to love, a single soul to a single God.” Let us go further
still and love our identity in this Unity, but let us forget all things
else, and remember nothing but this Unity, this infinite Unity—God alone.
This expression—unity—is very enlightening. It will make us cut off all
multiplicity, all superfluity and will be very efficacious in inducing us to
give our whole minds to God 101and to discover all
that He desires from us. We shall find in it treasures of grace, of light,
of innocence, of holiness and of happiness.
IV. Conduct after Faults.
IV.—Conduct after Faults.
Concerning our conduct after having
committed faults.
1st. Endure with humility before God the humiliation of
your faults. After having been unfaithful to grace and after accidental
failings remember always that you are nothing and have a holy contempt of
yourself. This is the great advantage that God allows us to gain even from
our faults.
2nd. Fear, especially if carried to excess after
whatever fault you may have committed proceeds from the devil. Instead of
giving in to this dangerous illusion use every effort to repel it, and cast
uneasiness away as you would cast a stone into the depths of the sea, and
never dwell upon it voluntarily. However, should this feeling, by God’s
permission be stronger than the will, then have recourse to the second
remedy, which consists in allowing ourselves to be crucified in peace
according as God permits and as the martyrs abandoned themselves to their
tortures.
3rd. What is said about the fears that go with
conspicuous faults applies equally to that feeling of uneasiness and
distress which proceeds from constant little infidelities. This oppression
of the heart is occasioned also by the devil. Despise and combat it as if it
were a real temptation. Sometimes, however, God makes use of this anguish
and excessive terror that certain souls suffer in order to purify them and
make them die to themselves. If it is impossible to succeed in driving them
away, the only remedy left is to endure this interior crucifixion peacefully
in a spirit of absolute resignation to the divine will. This is the way to
regain the peace and calm of a soul truly resigned to the will of God.
4th. The fears roused about the recitation of the Office
are nothing but a mere temptation because actual attention is not necessary.
In order that prayer may have all its merit it is sufficient to make it with
virtual attention which is nothing more than an intention to pray well
formed before beginning, and this, no distraction even though voluntary can
recall. So you can say the Office quite well while at the same time enduring
continual involuntary distractions, as the trouble caused by these
distractions is the best proof that the wish to pray well is heartfelt; it
is also a sign that the wish is genuine. Therefore this wish makes the
prayer a good and true prayer. Although hidden from the soul, on account of
the trouble occasioned by 102these distractions the
good intention, nevertheless, exists and is not hidden from the sight of God
who gives us a double grace, first in hearing our prayers as He does all
prayers rightly made, and then in concealing this from us in order that we
may be mortified in everything, and on all occasions.
V. Temptations and Trials.
V.—Temptations and Trials.
On temptations and interior trials. Addressed
to Sister Anne Marie-Thérèse de Rosen, confidante of the inmost thoughts of
Madame de Lesen, through whom the latter communicated with Fr. de Caussade.
1st Principle. In the eyes of God violent temptations are
great graces for those souls which by them suffer an interior martyrdom;
they are the great battles in which great victories have made great saints.
2nd Principle. The keen pain and cruel torment endured by
a soul attacked by temptations is a sure sign that it has not consented, at
any rate, not with that full entire consent, that advertence and
deliberation which constitute a mortal sin.
3rd Principle. During the darkness of these violent
temptations the soul, fatigued and troubled as it must needs be, will commit
many minor faults through weakness or negligence, surprise or
thoughtlessness; but I maintain that in spite of these faults it merits more
and is more pleasing to God and is truly better fitted for the reception of
the Sacraments than ordinary persons, who, favoured with sensible devotion,
have hardly any struggles to endure, nor any violence to do to themselves.
The virtues of the former are much more solid having passed, and still
passing through such severe trials.
4th Principle. Whatever sins people who are tempted may
have committed in the past, if for some years they have been firm and have
given no voluntary consent, they will make the more progress in the ways of
God the more humble they are rendered by these temptations, because humility
is the foundation of all good.
5th Principle. Most people, not much advanced in the ways
of God and of the interior life, set no value on any operations but those
that are sweet and evident to the senses. It is certain, however, that those
operations that are most humiliating, afflicting, and crucifying, are most
calculated to purify the soul and to unite it intimately with God. Also, all
masters in the spiritual life are agreed in recognising that more progress
is made in patient endurance than in action.
103
6th Principle. As God converts, proves, and sanctifies
seculars by temporal afflictions and adversities, so He usually converts,
proves, purifies and sanctifies religious by spiritual trials and interior
sufferings a thousand times more grievous; such as dryness, weariness,
loathing, sinkings of the heart, spiritual despondency, humiliating
temptations, violent and continual, excessive fears of being in mortal sin,
terrors about His judgments and fear of reprobation. If, as spiritual books,
preachers, directors of souls and good Christians aver, incessant
afflictions are necessary for people in the world, and that without them
many would be lost; why not say the same on interior crosses without which a
multitude of Religious would never arrive at the perfection of their state?
Experience shows daily that the most ordinary way by which God conducts the
religious whom He most loves is that of greater interior trials; whereas, in
regard to seculars who are dear to God, it is by the way of temporal
adversity. Therefore we who preach patience, submission and a loving
resignation in their troubles to seculars, ought in our own trials to apply
the same rule to ourselves that we know so well how to give others. Do not
interior crosses come also from God? Are they less mortifying, and,
therefore, less salutary? Does God demand less submission from us, and is
our patience less pleasing to Him?
7th Principle. By the effect of His merciful wisdom, and
to keep His elect in a state of dependence on His grace, in a more complete
abandonment to His mercy, and in a state of greater humiliation, God hides
from them nearly all the interior operation of His divine Spirit, the holy
dispositions He accords them, the good desires He inspires, and the infused
virtues with which He has enriched them. And for this purpose what are the
means He employs? Let us pause to admire His wisdom and goodness. He makes
use of the continuance and violence of temptations, of the trouble they
cause in the soul, and the fear of having yielded to them. He hides the
great virtues these souls acquire and the great victories they gain by
allowing them to suffer slight defeats; and the ardent desire they have to
make worthy communions by the fear of having made bad ones, their fervent
love of God by their fear of being wanting in love for Him. Whereas they
feel the greatest horror at the smallest faults He allows them to be
saddened by the continual imperfections they imagine themselves to commit.
He permits them to think all their good works badly done, and that they
always give way to the first stirrings of all their passions, while, all the
time they are gaining the victory.
Nevertheless, as God, in keeping them in this state of
humiliation and abandonment, does not wish to deprive them of all
104consolation and confidence during their trials,
He makes known their state to enlightened directors, and if these souls are
simple and obedient they may be assured of never being deceived. From the
foregoing principles we can easily derive light in the doubts which
occasionally assail us as regards communion and the fulfilment of other
duties.
First Rule. The fear of communicating should never deter
us, especially if our confessor enjoins it. God does not usually allow him
to be deceived. Even if that should happen the penitent cannot be deceived
in submitting, nor commit sacrilege, because blind obedience given in good
faith to a director can never lead us astray in the sight of God. Should
these sufferings and temptations become redoubled after communion, instead
of preventing the fruit of it, if endured peacefully and with humble
resignation united to an abhorrence of evil, it does but increase it. This
abhorrence is made sufficiently apparent by the pain and martyrdom these
temptations cause, which those who really give way never experience. Books
that treat of the effects of communion addressed to the generality of the
faithful only speak of the ordinary effects, but there are many particular
cases where quite contrary effects are experienced. Then communion produces
a much more precious fruit, for, while the vehemence of the temptation
increases with a lively sense of weakness, it serves to augment our merit
and to develop in our hearts feelings of the most profound humility.
Second Rule. Violent efforts to prepare for Communion
are only pleasing to God in principle, but the result is disappointing
because the soul becomes troubled and harassed. The intensity of these
efforts must be moderated; everything that has to do with God, or the things
of God should be done sweetly, tranquilly, and without effort. The best
preparation for Holy Communion in this sad state is to endure patiently and
with resignation this interior martyrdom. Preserve at any cost the peace in
which God dwells and in which He is pleased to work. It is not grace but
self-love that makes you keep away from Communion in order to escape the
tortures and agonies that the soul endures by God’s permission, to destroy
in it this same miserable self-love. Go then without fear and even with a
kind of joy to bear these interior operations that are so purifying and so
sanctifying. The most wonderful good effects will be experienced eventually;
effects that God hides from the soul at the time for its good. Therefore
bear yourself as a criminal in His presence, and as a victim of His merciful
Justice. This is the best attitude for a soul in this state, adopting any
other it would never find peace. This apparent destitution and abandonment
has but one aim, which is to increase self-distrust and to compel
105the soul to cast itself with greater confidence
into the arms of God. It sees no other help and even that it cannot see.
Faith and faith alone must suffice without any other support. The sensitive
part of the soul can do nothing to affect the will, and God expects nothing
from it but the free choice of the will which has complete mastery over its
acts. The best disavowal of the temptation is the extreme horror of its
attacks. No good can be attained by making a multitude of acts, these would
only serve to trouble and fatigue the soul. It had best keep to the
following act which comprises all that is required of it. “Lord, You are
all-powerful and goodness itself, it is for You to defend me and to preserve
me from all evil, that is beyond my power. I accept this suffering for love
of You, only keep me from all sin.” Afterwards let it remain in peace in the
midst of the storm. It will find itself strengthened without knowing how by
the hidden hand of God.
Third Rule. The fact of being incapable of sustained
thought, or of producing acts in prayer need not sadden the soul; for the
best part of prayer and the essential part is the wish to make it well. The
intention is everything in God’s sight either for good or evil; now this
desire it has to the extreme of anxiety—therefore it is only too keen, and
has to be moderated. The soul must be kept peaceful during prayer and end
prayer in peace. Instead of making so many resolutions let it be content to
say: “My God make me perform such and such a good action, avoid such and
such a bad one, because I am unable of myself to do anything. I feel my
weakness too much, and my past experience teaches me that without You I can
do nothing, and that if You do not act in me by the power of Your grace
nothing will be effected.” For directing the intention the soul abandoned to
God need not make many acts, neither is it obliged to express them in words.
The best thing for it is to be content to feel and to know that it is acting
for God in the simplicity of its heart. This is making good interior acts;
they are made simply by the impulsion of the heart without any outward
expression, almost without thinking; just as worldly people without avowing
it have but one end in everything—which is the satisfaction of their
sensuality, their avarice, or their pride; God seeing their intention which
is hidden in their own hearts will punish them for it. The chief principle
of the spiritual life is to do everything, interior as well as exterior,
peacefully, gently, sweetly, as St. Francis of Sales so often recommends.
The moment we desire to form an act, it is already formed and held as
accomplished, because God sees all our desires, even the first movement of
the heart. Our desires, says Bossuet, are, with regard to God, what the
voice is with regard to men, and a cry 106from the
depths of the heart, even unuttered, is of the same value as a cry sent up
to Heaven. For the rest, all the acts made in a state of the greatest
aridity are usually better and more meritorious than those that are
accompanied by sensible devotion. Forebodings about the future should not be
indulged in except with due submission and resignation to the holy will of
God, and this practice ought to have for aim, not so much the making of
formal acts as the keeping of our hearts in a certain habitual state of
readiness by which it seems to say to God every moment and in every
circumstance, “Fiat, fiat! Yes, I desire and accept all, only preserve me
from all sin. Yes, my heavenly Father, always, yes.” This “Yes,” uttered
with all the heart contains the greatest acts, and expresses the greatest
sacrifices.
Prayer.
Prayer.
Prayer of the Rev. Fr. de Caussade to obtain
holy abandonment to the divine will.
Oh my God when will it please You to give me the grace
to remain habitually in this union of my will with Your adorable will, in
which, without uttering a word all is said, in which all is accomplished by
allowing You to act, in which one’s only occupation is that of conforming
more and more entirely to Your good pleasure; in which, nevertheless, one is
saved all trouble since the care of all things is confided to You, and to
repose in You is the only desire of one’s heart? Delightful state, which,
even in the absence of all sensible faith, affords the soul an interior joy
altogether spiritual. I desire to repeat without ceasing by this habitual
disposition of my heart, “Fiat,” yes, my God, yes, all that You please, may
Your holy will be done in all things. I renounce my own will which is very
blind, perverse, and corrupt in consequence of its wretched self-love, the
mortal enemy of Your grace, of Your pure love, of Your glory, and of my own
sanctification.
Prayer to be said in temptation:
Oh my God! preserve me by Your grace from all sin, but
as for the pain by which my self-love is put to death, and the humiliations
which crucify my pride, I accept them with all my heart; not so much because
they are the effects of your justice, but as benefits of your great mercy.
Have pity on me then, dear Saviour, and help me.
Letters on the Practice of Abandonment to Divine Providence
107
Second Part
LETTERS ON THE PRACTICE OF ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE
PROVIDENCE.
First Book
FIRST BOOK.
ON THE ESTEEM FOR AND LOVE OF THIS VIRTUE.
Letter I. Happiness and Peace of Abandonment.
Letter I.—Happiness
and Peace of Abandonment.
To Sister Elizabeth Bourcier de Monthureux.
The happiness and peace of a soul entirely
abandoned to God.—Perpignan, 1732.
Madame and very dear Sister. You do well to give yourself
up entirely and almost solely to the excellent practice of an absolute
abandonment to the will of God. In this lies for you all perfection, this is
the straight path leading most quickly and surely to a profound and
unchangeable peace; it is also a secure safeguard to preserve this peace in
the depths of the soul even in the midst of the most violent storms. Far
from doing it harm, these storms will serve infallibly, not only to increase
its merits, but also to strengthen more and more this union of the created
will, with the divine will, and it is this which renders the peace of the
soul unchangeable. Oh, what happiness! what grace! what a certainty as to
the life to come, and what unalterable peace does she possess who belongs to
God alone, who has no being out of God; who has no other support, no other
help, no other hope but God alone.
What a beautiful letter one of your Sisters has written to
me on this subject! She says that for a whole month this one thought
consoled, sustained and encouraged her so strongly that instead of
reluctance to practise this virtue, she felt it a source of peace, and of an
inexplicable joy. It seemed to her that God took the place of director, of
friend, and will to be all things to her Himself. The more we become
accustomed to these thoughts, the more settled will be our peace; and the
fixed determination to seek God only, and to unite our will to His, is, in
the best sense of the word, that “goodwill” to which peace has been
promised.
How can created things trouble a soul which neither
desires nor fears them? Let us endeavour to arrive at this state and then
our peace will be firmly established. Let us imitate the holy Archbishop of
Cambray who said of himself, “I endure all until the worst comes to the
worst, and then, finally, I find peace in complete self-renunciation.”
Letter II. A Short Way to Perfection.
108
Letter II.—A
Short Way to Perfection.
This abandonment is the shortest way to
arrive at perfect love and perfection.
Your letter, my dear Sister, put me in mind of the
Gospel, where we see a young man approaching our Lord to ask Him the way to
eternal life. Our good Master replied that he should keep the commandments,
and when the young man answered that he had kept them faithfully from his
youth, our Lord said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have
and give to the poor, and come, follow Me.” Your request is exactly the same
as that of the young man. You want me to show you the shortest and surest
way to attain perfection which is the fullness of life eternal.
If I did not know you as I do I should answer that the
first thing to do is to keep your rule, because the rule is to every
Religious the only sure road to perfection. But I am aware that you have
kept it with scrupulous fidelity for a long time: therefore, what you wish
to learn at present is by what particular practice a Religious who
faithfully fulfils all her duties can arrive at a high degree of sanctity.
To this question, my dear Sister, my reply will be exactly similiar to that
of our good Master. If you would be perfect, divest yourself of your own
views, of all high notions of yourself, of studied elegance, of all
reflexion of your own conduct; in fine, of all that you can call your own,
and give yourself up without reserve and for ever to the guidance and good
pleasure of God. Abandonment, yes, entire, blind, absolute abandonment;
this, for souls circumstanced as you are is the height and the whole of
perfection, because perfection consists in perfect love, and because for you
the practice of abandonment is another word for the practice of pure love.
It is true that love, even the purest, does not exclude
in the soul the desire of its own salvation and perfection; but it is
equally incontestable that the nearer the soul approaches the perfect purity
of divine love the more its thoughts and reflexions are turned away from
itself and fixed on the infinite goodness of God. This divine goodness does
not compel us to repudiate the happiness it destines for us, but it has
every right, doubtless, to be loved for itself alone without any reflexion
on our own interests. This love which includes the love of ourselves but is
independent of it, is what theologians call pure love, and all agree in
recognising that the soul is so much the more perfect according to the
measure in which it habitually acts under the influence of this love, and
the extent to which it divests itself of all self-seeking, at any rate
unless its own interests are subordinated to the interests of God. Therefore
total renunciation 109without reserve or limit has
no thought of self-interest—it thinks but of God, of His good pleasure, of
His wishes, of His glory; it neither knows, nor desires to know aught else.
Far from making its own interests a reason for its love, the soul, truly
detached, generously accepts and embraces all that tends to annihilate them;
darkness, uncertainty, weakness, humiliations! all these things give it
pleasure directly it perceives that it so pleases the Beloved, because the
pleasure and satisfaction of its Beloved form all its own pleasure and
satisfaction. It neither has a will, nor a desire, nor a life of its own but
is completely lost, engulfed, and, as it were, annihilated in the depth of
the dark abyss of the will of Him whom it loves.
I could tell you of souls known to me, which, having
crossed this terrible pass of total abandonment, and thrown themselves into
the deep abyss of the incomprehensible will of God, could not refrain from
crying out in a transport of joy and holy confidence, “Oh! will of my God!
how infinitely holy, just, and adorable it is, and still more lovable and
beneficent. If it be entirely accomplished in me, I shall infallibly find
true satisfaction in this life and eternal happiness in the next. Infinite
mercy could not permit anything which did not tend to the greater good of
His poor creatures. These only can be lost by the perversion of their own
will, and by preventing the accomplishment of those designs which are always
holy and most merciful. Give me then, oh my God, the grace to destroy by
complete detachment this foolish resistance, and henceforth be assured that
Your holy will shall be done in me; while I shall be equally assured of
salvation and perfection.”
Letter III. Peace in Turmoil.
Letter
III.—Peace in Turmoil.
To Sister Marie-Thérèse de Vioménil.
To be applied to herself. Profound peace
can be enjoyed in this abandonment even amidst the bustle of business
matters.—Perpignan, 1740.
What I have always feared has come to pass. I have no
power to refuse a charge that is contrary to all my predilections and for
which I do not believe myself to have any aptitude. In vain have I groaned,
prayed, implored, and offered to remain all my life in the vicariate of
Toulouse: I have been compelled to make the sacrifice—one of the greatest of
my whole life. But now I see plainly the hand of Providence. The sacrifice
having been made and reiterated a hundred times God has taken from me all my
former repugnance, so that I left the mother-house, which you know how much
I loved, with a peace and liberty of spirit which astonished even myself.
More still! When I 110arrived at Perpignan I found a
large amount of business to attend to, none of which I understood; and many
people to see, and to deal with; the Bishop, the steward, the king’s
lieutenant, the Parliament, the garrison staff. You know what horror I have
always entertained for visits of any sort, and above all for those of grand
people. Well! none of these have given me any alarm; in God I hope to find a
remedy for everything, and I feel a confidence in divine Providence which
enables me to surmount all difficulties. Besides this I enjoy peace and
tranquillity in the midst of a thousand cares and anxieties, such as I
should have imagined ought naturally to overwhelm me. It is true that what
most contributes to produce this great peace is, that God has rendered my
soul impervious to fear, and I desire nothing for this short and miserable
life. Therefore, when I have done all in my power or that I felt before God
that I ought to do, I leave the rest to Him, abandoning everything entirely
and with my whole heart to divine Providence, blessing Him beforehand for
all things and wishing in all, and above all, that His holy will may be done
because I am convinced by faith and by numerous personal experiences that
all comes from God, and that He is so powerful and such a good father, that
He will cause everything to prosper for the advantage of His dear children.
Has He not proved that He loves us more than life itself since He has
sacrificed His life for love of us? Therefore, as He has done so much for
love of us, are we not convinced that He will not forget us? I entreat you,
then, not to worry about me and my affairs. Do the same that I have
constrained myself to do. Directly I have taken measures before God and
according to His will I leave all the rest to Him, and look to Him for
success. I wait for this success with confidence, but also in peace; and
whatever takes place I accept, not for the satisfaction of my impatient
desires, but keeping pace with divine Providence, who rules and arranges all
for our greater good, although generally we do not understand any of His
ways. And how can we dare to judge Him, poor ignorant creatures as we are,
and blind as the moles that burrow underground.
Let us accept all from the hand of our good Father and
He will keep us in peace in the midst of the greatest disasters of this
world, which pass away like shadows. In proportion to our abandonment and
confidence in God will our lives be holy and tranquil. Also where this
abandonment is neglected there can be no virtue, nor any perfect rest.
You were wrong in being surprised that I was not so at
the views and plans of N., for, besides that nothing surprises me in this
life, you ought to know my ways of always looking at the best side of
things, and setting everything in a favourable light 111as
St. Francis of Sales advises. This fortunate habit protects me from danger,
and somehow makes it impossible for me to think badly, to judge harshly, or
to speak uncharitably of anyone, whoever he may be.
I strongly advise you to adopt it; it will greatly
contribute to the preservation of the peace of your soul, and the purity of
your conscience. Believe me, and sacrifice all human feelings, consoling
yourself for all by abnegation and confidence in God alone, Who alone can
fill the place of all else.
Letter IV. Liberty of Spirit.
Letter IV.—Liberty
of Spirit.
My dear Sister;
I am touched at your wish to share in my trials, but I am
happy in being able to reassure you. It is true that, at first, I felt a
keen pain at finding myself loaded with a multitude of business affairs and
other cares quite contrary to my attraction for silence and solitude; but
notice how divine Providence has managed about it. God has given me the
grace not to attach myself to any of these affairs, therefore my spirit is
always at liberty. I recommend the success of them to His fatherly care, and
this is why nothing distresses me. Things often go perfectly, and then I
return thanks to God for it, but sometimes everything goes wrong and I bless
Him for that equally and offer it to Him as a sacrifice. Once this sacrifice
is made God puts everything right. Already this good Master has, more than
once, given me these pleasant surprises. As regards having time to myself, I
have more here than elsewhere. Visits are rare now, because I only go where
duty obliges me, or necessity calls me. The Fathers themselves knowing my
tastes, soon left me alone, and as they are aware that I do not act in this
way out of pride or misanthropy, they do not take exception to my conduct,
and indeed many are edified by it. Nevertheless I am not quite so dead as
you seem to think, but God has given me grace not to care how discontented
people are with me for following my own bent. It is He alone whom we ought
to have any great interest in pleasing; as long as He is satisfied that is
enough for us all, other things are a mere nothing. In a short time we shall
appear before this great and sovereign Master, this infinite Being. Alas! of
what avail will it be to us then for eternity to have done anything except
for Him and inspired by His grace, and His holy Spirit? If one became more
familiarised with those simple truths, what repose would not our hearts and
souls enjoy during this present life? From how many idle fears, foolish
desires and useless anxieties should we not be delivered; not only
concerning 112this life, but also the next. I assure
you that since my return to France I begin to look forward more than ever
with great peace and tranquillity to the end of this sad life. How could I
experience aught but joy at seeing the end of my exile approaching?
Letter V. Recourse to Providence.
Letter V.—Recourse
to Providence.
To the same Sister.—Perpignan, 1741.
I am constantly experiencing here the action of divine
Providence, for no sooner do I make a sacrifice of everything to Him than He
rectifies and makes it all turn out for the best. When I find myself at the
last resource I place all my needs in the hands of that good Providence from
whom I hope all things. I have recourse to Him always. I thank Him without
ceasing for all, accepting all from His divine hand. Never does He fail
those who put their whole trust in His protection. But how do people usually
act? They substitute themselves, blind and powerless as they are, for that
divine Providence infinitely wise and infinitely good. They build on their
own efforts and thus withdrawing themselves from the ruling of divine love
they deprive themselves of the helps they would have received had they kept
within its shelter. What folly! How can we doubt that God understands our
requirements better than we do ourselves, and that His arrangements in our
regard are most advantageous to us although we do not comprehend them? We
might make use of the small amount of sense we possess to decide that we
will allow ourselves to be guided by that sweet Providence even though we
cannot fathom the secret activities it employs, nor the particular ends it
desires to attain. Should you remark that if it is sufficient for us
passively to submit to be led then what about the proverb, “God helps those
who help themselves”? I did not say that you were to do nothing—without
doubt it is necessary to help ourselves; to wait with folded arms for
everything to drop from Heaven is according to natural inclination, but
would be an absurd and culpable quietism applied to supernatural graces.
Therefore while co-operating with God, and leaning on Him, you must never
leave off working yourself. To act in this way is to act with certainty and
consequently with calmness. When, in all our actions we look upon ourselves
as instruments in the hands of God to work out His hallowed designs, we
shall act quietly, without anxiety, without hurry, without uneasiness about
the future, without troubling about the past, giving ourselves up to the
fatherly providence of God and relying more on Him than on all possible
human means. 113In this way we shall always be at
peace, and God will infallibly turn everything to our good, whether temporal
or eternal.
Letter VI. Alone with God.
Letter VI.—Alone
with God.
To the same Sister. Abandonment ameliorates
the wearisomeness of solitude.
My dear Sister,
You are giving yourself unnecessary trouble about me. You
have persuaded yourself that I look upon the isolation in which I live as a
misfortune, whereas this is far from being the case. Every day I bless God
for this happy stroke of His providence. I learn by it to die to all things
in order to live to God alone. I was not so shut away at ——. There, many
events both within and without kept me up, and made me feel alive; now,
there is nothing of that kind. I am in a veritable desert alone with God.
Oh! how delightful it is! Great interior desolation is joined to this
exterior solitude. However painful to nature such a state may be, I bless
God for it because I have no doubt that it is good for me. It is a universal
death to all feeling even about spiritual matters, a sort of annihilation
through which I must pass in order to rise again with Jesus Christ to a new
life, a life all in God, a life stripped of everything, even of consolation,
because in that the senses take part. God wishes to leave me destitute of
all outward things, and dead to all to live only to Him. May His holy will
be done in all things, and for ever! This is the strong pillar to which we
must remain firmly fastened, this is the solid immovable foundation of all
our perfection. You see, my good Sister, how little I require your
compassion, since the subject on which you pity me most is precisely the
subject of my joy. I must own, however, that the extreme solitude in which I
found myself here so suddenly did not at first appear at all pleasant to me
except in the superior part of my soul, but very soon my whole soul
participated in it. Once more have I learnt by experience that we cannot do
better than to follow step by step the course appointed by divine
Providence. That is my great attraction, and more than ever am I resolved to
devote myself to it blindly, without reservations and in all things, such as
places, employments, seasons, in fine for everything. For a long time I have
contented myself with asking God for one single grace, which is that I may
have no other desire than to please Him, and no other fear than to offend
Him. If He gives me this grace I shall be rich indeed both for time and
114eternity. I wish for you as for myself, only
this. What can one fear who abandons oneself entirely to God? Besides the
peace of mind it brings we shall find our perfection therein. If greater
merit is gained in sacrifice what can be more meritorious than the entire
sacrifice of our own will even in those things that seem to be most
reasonable and holy, to the fulfilment of the will of God alone? Let us then
have no other employment, no other ambition but that of uniting our will to
the most merciful will of God, and let us be well assured that this will be
our salvation even when we imagine that all is lost.
Letter VII. A Holy Community.
Letter
VII.—A Holy Community.
The happiness experienced by a Community of
Poor Clares in practising abandonment to God.
My dear Sister,
I have made a discovery here that has given me more
satisfaction than anything else could have done. In this town of Albi there
is a convent of Poor Clares of the Great Reform, entirely separated from the
world, who take no dowry and live on daily alms. The Superior is the most
saintly person I have ever encountered in my life. I felt beforehand a great
interior drawing to have a share in their holy intercourse, and nearly all
of them have told me that they felt the same about me. I believe that God
intends to bestow some great graces on me through their holy prayers. They
lead a very interior life and practice abandonment to God with a remarkable
perfection. When I assured them that on every occasion that presented itself
I would try to procure alms for them, they seemed to be quite scandalised
and begged me to think only of their spiritual needs and to make them more
detached and more holy by my instructions and prayers. You cannot imagine
anything more wonderful than their union, candour, and simplicity. Impressed
by their great austerities I asked them one day if such a hard life did not
affect their health and shorten their lives. They replied that there were
hardly ever any invalids amongst them, and that very few died young, most of
them living to be over eighty. They added that fasting and mortification
contributed to improve their health and to prolong life, which good cheer
usually tended to shorten. I have never beheld such gaiety and holy joy
anywhere else as among these good nuns. To please them I had to talk
continually on spiritual subjects as they could not tolerate gossip and
worldly news, but said “of what use is all that to us”? I assure you, you
would be edified and very glad on my account of this fortunate discovery,
for, although I have often visited this 115place
before, I knew the Community only by name, and looked on the nuns as dead to
all; buried and quite out of sight.
What a favour and consolation for me! I might add it is
fitting also to praise and magnify God for the wonders He has worked in
these souls.
Letter VIII. Our Dependence on God.
Letter
VIII.—Our Dependence on God.
To Sister Marie-Anne-Thérèse de Rosen (1724).
Concerning motives for abandonment on
account of the goodness and greatness of the divine Majesty.
My dear Sister,
Do not ask me for new ways of acquiring the friendship
of God, and of making rapid progress in virtue. I know only one way which I
have more than once explained to you, and of which my daily experience
demonstrates more and more clearly the infallible efficacy. This secret is,
abandonment to divine Providence. Bear with me for calling your attention to
it once again, and do not grow weary, either, of learning what I do not
weary of teaching you. I should like to cry out everywhere, “Abandonment!
abandonment!” and again “Abandonment!” unbounded and unreserved; and for two
good reasons.
1st. Because the greatness of God and His sovereign
dominion over all, require that all creatures should bow before Him, that
all should be cast down, and as it were annihilated before His supreme
Majesty. There is no comparison between His infinite greatness and our
nothingness. It is above all things, comprehends all things, absorbs all
things in its immensity. Or, rather, it is all things since all things that
have a separate existence from the Divinity have received their being from
Him in creation and still continue to receive it in their preservation which
is creation renewed unceasingly. Thus the existence we have received from
God remains, as it were, in the bosom of the Divinity and never leaves its
service, but remains plunged and engulfed therein. God, then, is the author
of all being, nothing is, nor lives, nor subsists, nor moves, but by Him,
and in Him, He is Who is, by Whom and in Whom all exists, and Who is in all
things.
Things, compared with nothingness, seem to have an
existence, but, compared with God, they seem nothing; they only possess
being and substance by the gift of God; while He alone exists of Himself,
and owes nothing to any other than Himself. Therefore as everything belongs
to Him, necessarily everything will return to Him that His supreme dominion
may be glorified by all His creatures. Those creatures that have not the
gift of 116reason glorify Him according to their
state in following with complete exactness and perfect obedience the laws of
their nature; but He has a right to expect from His reasonable creatures a
glory far more worthy of Him; which results from their voluntary
abandonment. And what more just and noble use could any reasonable creature
make of its liberty than in rendering to God all it has received from Him,
and in offering Him in advance all that may be added to it in the future?
Understand me thoroughly; the homage that God expects from us He alone can
give us power to render Him in giving us the thought, the desire, and the
will. Also if He gives us this grace, and if we profit by it, far from
taking the credit to ourselves we ought to thank Him for it as the crown of
all His other benefits. The impulsion which prompts us to offer up this last
thanksgiving is yet another grace, as well as the thought that projected the
act. Thus, each of our moments, each of our actions, in increasing our debt,
forms new ties and makes us depend more entirely on the divine goodness. At
this thought, our spirit, our heart, our soul remain as though engulfed,
lost, annihilated in the profound abyss of this sovereign dominion.
Our merits, regarded in this light, far from inspiring
us with pride will pierce us with the idea of our own utter dependence,
which, as we see more clearly we shall understand better; and we shall
finish by arriving at the complete annihilation of our entire being before
God. Thus alone shall we be true, and shall be before God in our proper
state—that of nothingness. Thus, also, shall we practise perfect
abandonment. To keep oneself always in this interior disposition is what
Holy Scripture calls “walking in justice—in truth,” outside this state there
is nothing but falsehood and injustice towards God. Injustice because we
deprive Him of the gory that belongs to Him; falsehood because we flatter
ourselves in appropriating what can never belong to us.
2nd. The second motive to induce us to abandon
ourselves without reserve is, that, unless God receives from His creatures
the homage due to His infinite Majesty He cannot give free vent to His
infinite goodness. All that His creatures bring to Him by a total
renunciation He wills to return to them by a gratuitous gift of His mercy;
or rather, He repays infinitely more than they have given Him, because in
return for the gift of their limited being He bestows on them His infinite
riches. Therefore at the bottom of this abyss of renunciation where we
should expect to find nothingness we find infinitude. What an exchange of
the divine liberality! What ingenuity of divine wisdom! What a contrivance
and surprise of the divine goodness!
Letter IX. The Goodness of God.
117
Letter IX.—The
Goodness of God.
To Sister Marie-Thérèse de Vioménil.
Another fresh motive for abandoning
ourselves to God. His fatherly providence.
I do not understand your uneasiness, my dear Sister, nor
why you take pleasure in tormenting yourself as you do about the future,
when your faith teaches you that the future is in the hands of an infinitely
good Father Who loves you more than you love yourself, and who understands
what is necessary for you much better than you. Have you forgotten that
everything that happens is ordained by divine Providence? And if we
recognise this truth how is it that we are not humbly submissive in every
event both great and small to all that God wills or permits? Oh! how blind
we are when we desire anything other than what God wills! He alone knows the
dangers that threaten us in the future, and the helps we shall require. I am
strongly persuaded that we should all be lost if God were to grant us all
that we asked for, and this is why, says St. Augustine, God out of
compassion for our blindness, does not always hear our prayers, and often
gives us the exact contrary to what we asked Him, as being in truth better
for us. Truly it seems to me that in this world nearly all of us are like
people who in madness, or delirium, ask for exactly what will cause their
death, and to whom it is refused out of charity, or in pity. Oh my God! if
this truth were but understood, with what blind abandonment would we not
submit to all the decrees of Your divine Providence! What peace and
tranquillity of heart should we enjoy about all things and in all things,
not only as to outward events but also about the interior state of our
souls. Even if the painful vicissitudes through which God makes us pass
should be in punishment for our unfaithfulness, we ought to say to
ourselves, “God wills it by permitting it,” and humbly submit. We must then
detest the offence and accept the painful and humiliating consequences, as
St. Francis of Sales so often recommends. Would that this principle,
thoroughly grasped, could put an end to the troubles and anxieties that are
so useless and so destructive of our peace of mind and spiritual progress.
Shall I never be able even with the help of grace to introduce into your
soul this great principle of faith, so sweet, so consoling, so
tranquillising? “Oh my God!” we ought to repeat, “may Your will be
accomplished in me and never my own. May Yours be accomplished because it is
infinitely just and also infinitely advantageous to me. I acknowledge that
You can will nothing that is not for the greatest benefit to Your creatures
as long as they are 118submissive to Your commands.
May my wishes never be granted if they do not agree perfectly with Yours,
because in that case they would be disastrous to me. And if ever, my God, it
happens that either through ignorance or passion I should persist in
desiring things contrary to Your will, may I always be refused or punished,
as the effect, not of Your justice, but of Your compassion and great mercy.”
“Whatever happens,” said St. Francis of Sales, “I shall
always side with divine Providence, even if human wisdom tears her hair out
with spite.” If you were more enlightened you would judge very differently
from the ordinary run of human beings; then, too, what a source of peace and
strength this way of looking at things would prove to you. How happy are
saints! and how peacefully they live! and how blind and stupid we are in not
accustoming ourselves to think and act as they do, but to prefer living shut
up in thick darkness which makes us wretched as well as blind and guilty.
Let us then make it our study, aim, and purpose to conform ourselves in all
things to the holy will of God, in spite of interior rebellion. Even about
this rebellion we must acquiesce in the will of God, for it compels us to
remain always before Him in a state of sacrifice as to all things; in an
interior silence of respect, adoration, self-effacement, submission, love,
and an entire abandonment full of confidence to His divine will.
Letter X. Continued Troubles.
Letter X.—Continued
Troubles.
To the same Sister.
My dear Sister,
I am sorry that your troubles continue, but I should be
much more sorry if you refused to profit by them, at least in the way of
making a virtue of necessity. Remember our great principles:
1st. That there is nothing so small, or so apparently
indifferent which God does not ordain or permit, even to the fall of a leaf.
2nd. That God is sufficiently wise, and good and powerful
and merciful to turn even the most, apparently, disastrous events to the
advantage and profit of those who humbly adore and accept His will in all
that He permits. Is there anything more consoling in religion than these two
principles? When we know too that our natural dislikes and rebellions, far
from preventing the merit of submission, do but increase it as long as this
submission 119is sincere in the higher part of the
soul; when we know further that these fits of impatience and vexation which
are only half voluntary, are the effect of frailty, and do not destroy our
submission, but only slightly diminish its merit.
These imperfections are often useful to us by rendering us
more humble, and preventing us from losing all our merit through a vain
self-complacency. Do you recollect this wise saying of Fénélon? “It is a
great grace of God to be willing to suffer, not in a grand and heroic way,
but quite humbly, and in small things because in this way we gain patience
and become little and humble at the same time.”
As for the grievous trials of which you speak, add them to
your cross as an extra weight that divine Providence allows you to carry,
and instead of one “Fiat,” say two, then remain in peace in the superior
part of your soul whatever storms and tempests rage in the inferior part.
The latter resembles the base of a high mountain where bad weather is
usually encountered, however fine and clear the sky is at the summit. Try
then to keep yourself always on the summit in those serene heights above the
thunderstorms and every disaster.
It seems to me that your thoughts dwell too much on
creatures. As for me, thank God I see only Him in all things. Everything
helps me to Him. Since it is He that has placed us where we are, dependent
on those who afflict us, it is, therefore, on Him alone that we must depend.
It is He alone, I am certain, who inspires or allows the actions of men. I
will accept nothing that does not come to me from Him, will owe no
obligation to any one but Him, will thank no one but Him alone. If you call
to mind how little men contribute to the existing state of things you will
see that it is divine Providence who manages everything in a manner
singularly adapted for the welfare of those who submit to Him, and who
disposes everything for their best advantage. God can produce occurrences,
and arrange necessary circumstances as seems good to Him, may He be blessed
for all, in all, and for ever.
I am aware that my direction is considered rather too
simple, but what does that matter? This holy simplicity hated by the world
is, to me, so delightful that I never dream of correcting it. Everyone to
his taste. I respect those who are wise and prudent, but content myself with
remaining one of those poor, simple and little people of whom Jesus Christ
speaks, and after His example St. Francis of Sales. Let us be sure that God
arranges all for the best. Our fears, our activities, our urgencies make us
imagine inconveniences where in reality they do not exist. Let us follow
step by step the ways of divine Providence, and when we realize what is
required of us let us desire that and 120nothing
else. God knows much better than we do ourselves what is most suitable for
us, His poor creatures. Our misfortunes and sufferings often result from the
accomplishment of our own desires. Let us leave all to God and then all will
go well. Abandon to Him everything in general: that is the best way, indeed
the only way of providing infallibly and surely for all our real interests.
I say “real” because there are false interests that lead to our ruin. The
abandonment to divine Providence which I practise and counsel others to
adopt is not so heroic nor so difficult as you seem to imagine. It is the
centre of a solid peace, and in it I find an unchangeable repose, proof
against the most trying events. Oh! how well repaid we are for the small and
miserable sacrifices we make for God! And then, once made, there are no more
to make, because we no longer have any other desires. We cannot entertain
even a wish for ourselves apart from the will of our sovereign Master, nor
without His permission. What a happy state both for this life and the next!
Letter XI. Good Wishes.
Letter XI.—Good
Wishes.
To the Sisters of the Visitation at Nancy (1732).
Mutual good wishes between souls who seek
nothing but God alone.
My very dear Sisters,
Your good wishes for me are quite heavenly; they are
evidently dictated by the heart, but what a heart! One that is entirely
spiritual and interior, which sets no value on anything but what is divine,
and has no interests but those for eternity.
Profiting by such an example I return you a thousand good
wishes of the same sort, and in the same spirit as yours, and particularly
that God will be pleased to preserve and increase more and more; 1st. The
love of solitude and silence which forms the spirit of recollection so
necessary for the interior life; 2nd. The spirit of peace and charity, of
union, and of detachment and interior abnegation which preserves that sweet
and tranquil peace in the soul, which is the true happiness of this present
life and the foundation of the interior life; 3rd. An attraction for the
practice of the presence of God, and for heartfelt prayer, for these are the
mainsprings of the spiritual life; 4th. The sincere will to be all for God
which incessantly renews the spirit of fervour; 5th. An entire and perfect
union of our wills with the will of God, which will make us contented with
our spiritual poverty because God wills it. Thus we sacrifice our self-love
however deep-rooted and hidden it may be.
