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Title: Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the year
Author: Saint Francis de Sales
Translator: Ella McMahon
Release date: May 21, 2024 [eBook #73661]
Language: English
Original publication: Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son, 1884
Credits: Adlaurentius and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAXIMS AND COUNSELS OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR ***
_=Maxims and Counsels=_
OF
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
_=For Every Day of the Year=_.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
MISS ELLA M^cMAHON
_=Second Edition.=_
DUBLIN
M. H. GILL & SON
50 UPPER SACKVILLE STREET
1884
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_=Imprimatur=_:
JOHN, CARDINAL McCLOSKEY,
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK.
_September 4, 1882._
_=Re-imprimatur=_:
✠ EDUARDUS CARD. MAC CABE,
ARCHIEPISCOPUS DUBLINENSIS, HIBERNIÆ PRIMAS.
INTRODUCTION.
PIOUS SOUL:
The Spiritual Father who presents himself to you under this title is the
gentle Bishop of Geneva, who, in the opinion of St. Jane Chantal and St.
Vincent de Paul, was the most perfect imitation of our Saviour living
among men.
Love for souls is his great passion. He is not astonished at either
falls or discouragement, which he cures by remedies as gentle as they
are efficacious. Whatever your disposition you will find sometimes a
word of consolation, sometimes a counsel of perfection, or a means of
accomplishing a difficult step in the ways of God, and of elevating
yourself to Him.
This collection is like the inner life of the Saint unconsciously
written by himself. He first practised, and then taught. One is gentle
from motives of virtue, only when he possesses moral strength; now we
find in these lines the secret of that strength which made St. Francis
de Sales the gentlest of men. He admirably inculcates the method of
sanctity which he perfectly possessed—a sanctity which seems so easy to
realise that we feel a desire to reproduce it. It is the flower which
the Spiritual Father causes to bloom in your soul. It will soon bear
fruit if you are faithful.
_These counsels have been carefully gleaned from the complete collection
of the holy Doctor._
MAXIMS AND COUNSELS
OF
_=ST. FRANCIS DE SALES=_
FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.
1.
Keep yourself faithfully in the presence of God; avoid hurry and
anxiety, for there are no greater obstacles to our progress in
perfection.
2.
Cast your heart gently, not violently, into the wounds of our Saviour;
have an unlimited confidence in his mercy and goodness.
3.
To make good progress we must devote ourselves to getting over that
portion of the path which lies close before us, and not amuse ourselves
with the desire to attain the last step before we have accomplished the
first.
4.
We must make our imperfections die with us from day to day. Dear
imperfections, which cause us to recognise our misery, which exercise us
in contempt of self, and the practice of virtue, and notwithstanding
which God accepts the preparation of our hearts which is perfect.
5.
I recommend simplicity to you; look before you, and not at the dangers
which you behold in the distance. Keep your will firmly bent upon
serving God with your whole heart. While you are thus occupied in
forecasting the future you expose yourself to some false step.
6.
Have no care for the morrow; think only of doing well to-day, and when
to-morrow shall have become to-day then we shall think about it.
7.
We must make a provision of manna for each day only; and let us not be
afraid that God will fail to send down more upon us to-morrow and the
day after to-morrow, and every day of our pilgrimage.
8.
Since the Heart of our Lord has no more loving law than meekness,
humility, and charity we must firmly maintain these dear virtues in us.
9.
True sanctity lies in love of God, and not in foolish imaginings,
raptures, &c. Let us devote ourselves to the practice of true meekness
and submission, to renouncement of self, to docility of heart, to love
of abjection, to consideration for the wishes of others: this is true
sanctity and the most amiable ecstasy of the children of God.
10.
May you belong to God for ever in this mortal life, serving Him
faithfully through its trials, bearing the cross after Him, and may you
be his for ever in life eternal with the whole celestial court!
11.
The great good of our souls is to live for God, and the greatest good to
live for God alone.
12.
He who lives but for God is never sad, save at having offended God.
13.
He who lives but for God seeks only God, and since God is with him in
adversity as well as in prosperity, he dwells in peace in the midst of
tribulation.
14.
He who lives but for God frequently thinks of Him during all the
occupations of life.
15.
Then let us belong wholly to Him, and live but for Him, desiring only to
please Him, and for his creatures in Him, through Him, and for Him.
16.
Make your little efforts sweetly, peacefully, and amiably to please this
Sovereign Goodness, and do not be astonished at difficulties.
17.
We must be constant in aspiring to the perfection of holy love, in order
that love may be perfect; for the love which seeks anything less than
perfection cannot fail to be imperfect.
18.
Never permit your soul to be sad and live in bitterness of spirit or
scrupulous fear, since He who loved it and died to give it life is so
good, so sweet, so amiable.
19.
To live contentedly in our exile, we must keep before our eyes the hope
of our arrival in the country where we shall live for ever.
20.
God, who calls us to Him, sees how we are approaching, and will never
permit anything to happen but what is for our greater good.
21.
God knows what we are, and will hold out his paternal hand to us in a
difficult step, in order that nothing may arrest us.
22.
Never look forward to the accidents of life with apprehension;
anticipate them with a perfect hope that God, whose child you are, will
deliver you from them, according as they come.
23.
God has preserved you so far; only keep yourself faithful to the law of
his providence and He will assist you at all times, and where you cannot
walk He will carry you.
24.
Do not think of what may happen to-morrow, for the same eternal Father
who cares for you to-day will care for you to-morrow and always; either
He will not send you trouble, or, if He does, He will give you
invincible courage to bear it.
25.
The child can never perish who remains in the arms of a Father who is
almighty.
26.
If God does not always give us what we ask, it is to keep us near Him
and give us an opportunity to urge and constrain Him by a loving
violence.
27.
Behold this great Artisan of mercy. He converts our miseries into graces
and the poison of our iniquities into salutary remedies for our souls.
Tell me, I pray, what will He not do with the afflictions, the labours,
the persecutions which assail us?
28.
An over-sensitive mind can neither receive nor endure anything without
telling of it, and it is always a little astonished at the lowly places
which humility and simplicity choose.
29.
I see you with your vigorous heart which loves and wills powerfully. I
like it, for what are those half-dead hearts good for? We must make a
particular exercise once every week of willing to love the will of God
more tenderly, more affectionately than anything in the world, and that,
too, not only in bearable but in the most unbearable events.
30.
Even at a time when you had not so much confidence in God, did you
perish in affliction? Then why have you not courage to meet all other
trials?
31.
Plant in your heart Jesus Christ Crucified, and all the crosses of this
world will seem to you like roses.
32.
We must not only be willing that God should strike us, but we must
accept that He shall strike us where He wills.
33.
Lord Jesus, without reserve, without an if, without a but, without
exception, without limitation, may thy holy will be done in all things,
at all times.
34.
Daily strengthen yourself more and more in the resolution, which you
formed with so much affection: of serving God according to his good
pleasure.
35.
Never think you have attained the purity of heart which you owe to God
until your will is freely and joyfully resigned to his holy will in all
things, even in the most repugnant.
36.
Regard not the appearance of the things you are to do, but Him who
commands them, and who, when He pleases, can accomplish his glory and
our perfection through the most imperfect and trifling things.
37.
A true servant of God has no care for the morrow; he performs faithfully
what is required of him to-day, and to-morrow he will do what is
required of him without a word.
38.
So, no matter how God treats you, it is all the same to you, you tell
me.... Ah! how suddenly self-love insinuates itself into our affections,
however devout they may appear.
39.
Here is the great lesson: We must discover God’s will, and, recognising
it, we must endeavour to do it joyfully, or at least courageously.
40.
The meek Saviour would have us meek, so that, though surrounded by the
world and the flesh, we may live by the Spirit; that, amidst the
vanities of earth, we may live in heaven; that, living among men, we may
praise Him with the angels.
41.
The sight alone of our dear Jesus crucified can speedily soften all
sorrows, which are but flowers compared with his thorns. And then our
great _rendezvous_ is an eternal heaven; and compared with the price of
eternity, what are the things which end with time?
42.
Continue to unite yourself more and more with our Lord. Plunge your
heart into the charity of his, and say always with your whole soul: “May
I die and may Jesus live!” Our death will be a happy one if we have died
daily.
43.
The repugnance you feel testifies no want of love; for it seems to me
that, if we believed that being flayed God would love us more we would
flay ourselves, not without repugnance, but in spite of the repugnance.
44.
Cultivate not only a solid love, but a tender, gentle, meek love for
those about you; I have learned from experience that infirmities
destroy, not our charity, but our meekness towards our neighbour, if we
are not strongly on our guard.
45.
Lord Jesus, what true happiness for a soul consecrated to God to be
strongly exercised in tribulation before leaving this life!
46.
How can we know frank, ardent love but in the midst of thorns, crosses,
weariness, above all, when this weariness is prolonged?
47.
Nothing can give us deeper peace in this world than to frequently
contemplate our Lord in all the afflictions He endured from his birth to
his death: contempt, calumnies, poverty, abjection, weariness,
suffering, nakedness, wrongs, and grief of every kind.
48.
A heart which esteems and grandly loves Jesus crucified, loves his
death, his sufferings, his insults, his poverty, his hunger, his thirst;
and when Jesus grants this heart a small share in them, it is jubilant
with gladness and lovingly embraces them.
49.
Every day, not in prayer, but in your walks, you should recall to mind
our Lord amid the thorns of our redemption, and consider what happiness
it would be to share them.
50.
Let us faithfully cultivate that resignation and pure love of God which
is never wholly practised but amid sufferings; for to love God, when He
feeds us with sweetness is nothing more than children do; but to love
Him when He feeds us with gall is to offer Him the cup of our loving
fidelity.
51.
I recommend you to God, that you may obtain the gift of holy patience;
and it is not in my power to propose to Him anything for you, save that
He may, according to his holy will, fashion your heart for his dwelling,
and reign there eternally; and whether He fashion it with the brush, the
hammer, or the chisel, must be according to his good pleasure.
52.
The heart which unites itself to the Heart of God cannot help loving and
accepting with sweetness the arrows with which God pierces it.
53.
I desire that your cross and mine should be wholly the cross of Jesus
Christ; and as to the imposition of this or that burden, or making any
choice, God knows what He is doing and why He does it—it is certainly
for our good.
54.
Our sweet Saviour is pleased that we should speak to Him of the trouble
He sends us, and that we should complain, provided it be lovingly and
humbly, and to Himself, just as little children do when their mother has
punished them.
55.
God wishes that, like Job, I should serve Him in the midst of dryness,
suffering, and temptation; like St. Paul, that I should serve Him
according to his desire. You will see that one day He will do all and
even more than you can desire.
56.
I praise God for the constancy with which you bear tribulations.
Nevertheless I still see in you a little over-eagerness and restlessness
which form an obstacle to the final effect of your patience.
57.
The effect of patience is to possess one’s soul, and, in proportion to
our patience do we acquire complete and perfect possession of our soul.
58.
We must lose everything rather than courage, confidence, and good-will.
59.
Would to God that we paid little attention to the condition of the road
which alarms us, but kept our eyes steadily fixed upon Him who guides
us, and the happy end to which He leads us.
60.
When you have meditated upon the grievous anguish which our Master
endured in the Garden, and in union with Him prayed to the Father for
consolation, if it does not please Him to send it, think no more of it,
but brace your courage to work out your salvation on the cross, as if
you were never to descend therefrom, and as if you were never to see the
atmosphere of your life clear and serene.
61.
For the honour of God yield completely to his will, and do not think
that you can serve Him better another way, for we serve Him well only
when we serve Him as He wills.
62.
We are always wishing for this or that, and though we have our sweet
Jesus in our breasts, we are not content. Yet it is all we can desire.
One thing alone is necessary, and that is, to be near Him.
63.
Train yourself to serve our Lord with a strong and fervent gentleness:
it is the true way of serving Him.
64.
Frequently kiss in your heart the crosses which our Lord Himself has
placed in your arms. Heed not whether they are of perfumed or precious
wood: they are more truly crosses when they are of coarse, heavy,
ordinary wood.
65.
This sweet love of our hearts casts us down only to raise us up. He
lurks and hides, peeping through the lattice, to see the expression of
our countenance.
66.
Keep Jesus closely in your arms, for it is thus the Spouse holds Him as
a bouquet of myrrh, that is of bitterness: but He is not bitter; He only
allows us to be bitter to ourselves.
67.
Being a good servant of God is not always having consolation and
sweetness, nor being always free from aversion and repugnance to good.
68.
To be a good servant of God is to be charitable to our neighbour,
maintaining in the superior will an invincible resolution to do God’s
will: to possess great humility and simplicity in confiding one’s self
to God; to rise as frequently as one falls; to inure one’s self to
humiliations, and to tranquilly bear with others and their defects.
69.
Frequently behold our Lord who looks down upon you, poor little creature
that you are, and sees you in the midst of your labours and
distractions.
70.
Frequently raise your heart to God, ask his help, and let the foundation
of your consolation be the happiness of belonging to Him.
71.
Let us raise up our hearts, and behold that of God all goodness, all
love, all love for us! Let us adore and bless his will in all things,
let Him prune, let Him cut where He will, for we are eternally his.
72.
Let us place ourselves before our Crucified Sun, as the weary bee basks
in the rays of the sun, and then let us say to Him: “O beautiful Sun of
hearts, Thou dost vivify all by the rays of thy goodness; behold us
exhausted before thee, whence we will not move, Lord Jesus, until Thy
fire hath revived us!”
73.
Let us not forget the maxim of the saints, which warns us that every day
we must feel that we begin our perfection; and if we bear this well in
mind we will not be astonished at the miseries we find in ourselves. The
work is never done, it must be always recommenced; and recommenced with
a good heart.
74.
What we are about to commence will be better than what we have done, and
when we shall have accomplished that, we will recommence something else
which shall be still better, and then something else, until we leave
this world to begin another life, which will have no end, for nothing,
nothing better can come to us.
75.
See, then, whether one should weep when he finds trouble in his soul,
and whether he ought not courageously to push on ever further, since he
must never pause, and whether he ought not to have the resolution to
prune, since we must use the knife, even to the division of soul and
mind.
76.
Why do you weep, O woman? No, you must no longer be a woman, you must
have the heart of a man. But courage! take heart! we have our sweet
Jesus with us.
77.
The love of God does not consist in consolations, otherwise our Lord
would not have loved his Father when He was sorrowful unto death, and
when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This was the
greatest act of love which it is possible to imagine.
78.
Our imperfections should not please us, but they should not take away
our courage. God does not like our imperfections and venial sins, but He
loves us in spite of them.
79.
Live joyfully; our Lord looks down upon you, and looks upon you with
love, and with a tenderness proportioned to your foolishness.
80.
Turn your eyes from yourself, and direct them towards God with an humble
courage to speak to Him of his ineffable goodness in loving our poor
human nature, in spite of its infirmities.
81.
Our enemy is a great bawler; be in no way troubled about him, for he
cannot hurt you; despise him, and pay no attention to him. He made as
much noise and thundered as loudly about the saints; but behold! they
are lodged in the place which the miserable creature lost.
82.
Fear not; you are walking upon the sea, amid the winds and the waves,
but it is with Jesus. If fear seizes you, cry loudly, “Lord, save me!”
He will stretch forth his hand to you; clasp it firmly and go joyfully
on.
83.
Despise, I pray you, all those thoughts of vainglory. For they are
really but flies which cannot harm but only annoy you. It is an
incompatible thing to be in this world and not to feel the movements of
the passions.
84.
Let yourself be governed by God; do not think so much of yourself.
85.
I expressly forbid you to be over-eager, as this is the mother
imperfection of all imperfections.
86.
Simplify your judgment. “If your eye is simple, your whole body will be
light.” Do not make so many reflections and replies, but go on with
simplicity and confidence.
87.
For you there are but God and yourself in the world, and you should not
concern yourself for all the rest, save as God commands you.
88.
Give your soul a thousand times to God, and sometimes say not a word to
Him, but simply contemplate his gentleness. This is one of the great
sources of spiritual gain, for as the mind converses so frequently and
so easily with its God it will be perfumed with all his perfections.
89.
The Christian soul is the spouse not yet of Jesus glorified, but of
Jesus crucified; that is why the rings, ornaments, and tokens with which
He adorns her are crosses, and thorns, and the nuptial banquet is gall,
hyssop, and vinegar.
90.
Do not look here and there so much. Turn your eyes upon God or yourself;
you will never see God without goodness, or yourself free from misery;
and you will find his goodness kind to your misery, and your misery the
object of his mercy.
91.
Rarely examine closely what others do; look upon them simply, kindly,
and amiably. Do like the bees, gather honey from all the flowers.
92.
My commandment is, that you do like little children; while they feel
their mother holding them by the sleeve, they go on boldly and run about
everywhere, nothing daunted by the falls that are caused by the weakness
of their legs. Thus, while God holds you by your good-will to serve Him,
go on boldly, undaunted by your little stumblings, provided you cast
yourself into his arms and give Him the kiss of charity.
93.
Go joyously and with a light heart as far as you can, and if you cannot
always go joyously, go always courageously and confidently.
94.
We must have patience, and little by little, correct and overcome our
bad habits, for life on the whole is a continual warfare.
95.
Rest is reserved for heaven; on earth we must always struggle between
hope and fear, on condition that hope be ever the stronger when we
consider the almighty power of Him who helps us.
96.
Frequently during the day cast your heart, your mind, and your care upon
God with great confidence, saying, “I am thine, save me.”
97.
Be kind to your neighbour in spite of rebellious murmurings and
outbursts of anger.
98.
Do not be astonished to find yourself overwhelmed with evil
inclinations. God permits them in order to make you humble.
99.
Self-love may be mortified in us, but it never dies; from time to time
it sends forth shoots which prove that, though cut down to the root, it
is never completely destroyed.
100.
Self-love never leaves us. It sleeps sometimes like a fox, then suddenly
springs upon the chickens. We must therefore be constantly watchful of
it, and patiently defend ourselves against it.
101.
Let us keep firm hold of the merciful hand of our good God, for He
wishes to draw us after Him.
102.
Live wholly according to the Spirit, live quietly in peace, have perfect
confidence that God will help you.
103.
Be careful to purify your heart more and more each day. Now, this purity
consists in weighing everything in the scales of the sanctuary, which
are only the will of God.
104.
Let us be what we are, and be that well, in order that we may honour the
Master Workman who has made us. Though we were the most excellent
creatures under heaven, what would it avail us if we were not pleasing
to the will of God?
105.
We must always and in all things live peaceably.
106.
I approve of your making an act of humility every day, humbling yourself
to an inferior, performing some menial office in the house.
107.
It is not possible that you should so soon be mistress of your soul, or
that you should control it so absolutely at first.
108.
Dispose your soul to tranquillity in the morning, and be careful during
the day to recall it frequently to that state, and to keep your soul
within your control.
109.
Do not be terrified if you are guilty of some little impatience; do not
let it trouble you, but when you recognise it quietly humble yourself
before God.
110.
Try to preserve a sweet tranquillity of mind; say to your soul:
“Courage! we have made a false step, but let us keep steadily on and
keep watch over ourselves.”
111.
Make no account of the judgments of men.
112.
Be silent concerning all things, and you will have interior peace,
because for you and me the only secret of acquiring this peace is to
endure to the utmost the judgments of men.
113.
Consider for whom you labour, and those who strive to trouble you shall
labour in vain.
114.
Among beggars, those whose sores are the most terrible consider
themselves the most fortunate, for they excite more compassion and
receive more abundant alms. We are only beggars, and the most miserable
among us are the most fortunate, for these God looks upon with greater
compassion.
115.
Be glad that men make no account of you.
116.
Consider how all the vexations of the past have vanished; those of the
future shall vanish in the same way.
117.
The great point of humility is to see, to honour, to serve, and converse
fittingly with those whom we dislike, keeping ourselves humble, gentle,
and submissive to them, for remember that the humiliations which are the
least visible are the keenest.
118.
Let our Lord turn us to the left or to the right, and send us in a
hundred directions. He never abandons us but to get closer possession of
us; He never leaves us but to guard us better; He never struggles with
us but to enter our souls and bless us.
119.
Courage! Let us keep on in the low valleys of the small and humble
virtues. I love these three little virtues: gentleness of heart,
firmness of mind, and simplicity of life.
120.
I recommend to you more than anything else the exercise of holy
gentleness and sweetness in all the events of this life.
121.
Accustom yourself in all that you do to act and speak gently and
quietly, and you will see that in three or four years you will
completely control that abrupt impulsiveness.
122.
He who can preserve peace in the midst of the confusion and complexity
of business, and sweetness in the midst of suffering, is almost perfect.
123.
I recommend to you great evenness of temper, sweetness and gentleness of
heart; for these virtues, like the oil of a lamp, maintain the flame of
good example; for there is nothing more edifying to our neighbour than
charitable kindliness.
124.
When shall we be wholly imbued with sweetness and gentleness towards our
neighbour? You needed only that; your zeal was good, but it had this
fault; it was a little bitter, over-urgent, and captious.
125.
Raise your eyes to heaven, and among the mortals now immortal there you
will not find one who attained eternal happiness but through continual
afflictions and trouble.
126.
Let us humble ourselves profoundly, and acknowledge that if God be not
our shield and armour, we shall be pierced through and through with
every kind of sin.
127.
I desire that you should be extremely lowly and humble in your own eyes,
condescending and gentle as a dove.
128.
Do not be quick to speak; say much by a modest and judicious silence.
129.
Behold God in all things without exception, acquiescing in all his
commands with great simplicity.
130.
Say frequently, in the midst of your contradictions and sufferings: This
is the path to heaven; I behold the gate, and I am sure that the storms
will not prevent my reaching it.
131.
Take no trouble on account of what the world thinks of you; despise its
good opinion and its contempt, and let it say what it will of good or
evil.
132.
Do not think that our Lord is further from you in the midst of
turmoil.... It is not tranquillity which brings Him to our hearts, but
the fidelity of our love.
133.
From day to day withdraw your heart from all kinds of amusement and
vanity, ... from all that turns you from a blessed eternity.
134.
I desire to love God or die; death or love, for life without love is
worse than death.
135.
O God! it is towards Thee that I am sailing.... We reach the port
through all storms, provided we have an upright heart, a good intention,
firm courage, our eyes fixed upon God, and all our confidence in Him.
136.
Do not be vexed at the annoyances which come from the complexity of
business; believe me, true virtue is not nourished in exterior repose
any more than good fish in stagnant water.
137.
Keep your hearts well under control, beware of over-anxiety. Place your
confidence in the providence of our Lord. Be fully convinced that heaven
and earth shall pass away rather than that our Lord shall fail to
protect you while you are his obedient daughter, or, at least, desirous
to obey Him.
138.
Live wholly in our Lord, let Him be the atmosphere in which your heart
breathes at ease.
139.
Give particular attention to the practice of gentleness, study every
pulsation of your heart, and if it be not gentle, make it so before all
things.
140.
I desire that upon all occasions during the day you should interiorly
recollect yourself in God, addressing Him a few words of fidelity and
love.
141.
Believe me, God loves souls shaken by storms, provided they receive all
from his hands and valiantly strive to remain faithful in the midst of
combats.
142.
One of the best penances and satisfactions which a heart guilty of some
fault can offer is to endure a continual cross and abnegation of its
self-love.
143.
It gives me an incomparable pleasure to think of the great honour it is
for a soul to speak heart to heart with its God—that great, sovereign
infinite Being—yes, for what the heart says to God is known only to God
Himself. Is not this a marvellous secret!
144.
When we pray it is well to think that there is no one in the world but
God.
145.
The great secret in prayer is simply to follow the attractions of the
heart. We must go on in good faith and with pure intention to reach God,
to love Him, and unite ourselves to Him. True love has little method.
146.
You should be so in love with God that even though you can do nothing in
his presence, you should nevertheless be glad to be near Him, were it
only to see Him and look at Him from time to time.
147.
When your heart is distracted in prayer, bring it gently back to the
point from which it has wandered, and lay it tenderly at the feet of its
Master. If you do but this your hour will be well employed.
148.
If we can speak to our Lord in prayer let us speak to Him, praise Him,
listen to Him. If we cannot speak because we are spiritually hoarse, let
us stay nevertheless and make Him a reverence.
149.
What a happiness it is to be with God, no one knowing what passes
between God and the heart but God Himself and the adoring heart.
150.
I should like to have a good hammer with which to blunt the sharpness of
your mind, which is too subtle in its ideas of your advancement. I have
often told you that in devotion we must go on in good faith, acting
frankly and promptly. If you do well, praise God; if ill, humble
yourself.
151.
Humble yourself profoundly, and urge on your soul with the love of
Christ crucified, that you may be able to spiritually digest this
heavenly food.
152.
He who communicates according to the spirit of the Spouse annihilates
himself before God, saying to our Lord: Destroy me, annihilate me, and
convert me into Thee; then it is no longer we who live, but Jesus
Christ, who liveth in us.
153.
When the mother pearl has received the drops of the fresh morning dew it
draws within itself and closes its shell to preserve them fresh; in like
manner, when you have received the Blessed Sacrament, withdraw into
yourself and collect all the faculties of your soul to adore this
sovereign King, and relish by a lively faith the spiritual refreshment
which this Divine Germ produces in your breast.
154.
Take your rest as much as possible near the heavenly Infant. See how He
receives the breath of that great ox and that ass, which neither feel
his presence nor show it by any movement. Will He not then receive the
inspirations of our poor hearts?
155.
How happy we should be had we only Jesus in our understanding, only
Jesus in our imagination! Jesus would be in us everywhere, and we
everywhere in Jesus.
156.
We should manage our years, our months, our weeks, our days, our hours,
our moments so well that, being employed for the love of God, they all
may be profitable to us for eternal life.
157.
Shall we not, in future, cease to be the old selves, which shall all,
without exception, be for ever sacrificed unreservedly and
unconditionally to God and his love?
158.
When you encounter things which give you trouble, remember that the
saints cheerfully did greater and more troublesome tasks, and encourage
yourself by their example.
159.
A person who is free from the fever of her own will is satisfied with
everything, provided God be served. She is indifferent to the nature of
the service which God chooses to give her.
160.
Frequently say to our Lord: What wilt Thou that I do? Is it Thy will
that I should serve Thee in the most lowly duties of the house? Provided
I serve Thee, I care not what the service may be.
161.
Love this good God in your retreats, in Holy Communion, and when He
consoles you; love Him particularly in the midst of trouble and
confusion, in aridity, contradictions, and tribulations; for it was thus
He loved you in the midst of the scourging, the nails, the thorns, the
darkness of Calvary.
162.
The monastery is a hospital of spiritual sick who desire to be cured,
and to this end submit themselves to the knife, to the lancet, to be
burned, to be bled, and to all kinds of bitter remedies. O my very dear
daughter, firmly resolve that you will submit to all this, and pay no
attention to what self-love may urge to the contrary, but sweetly,
amiably, and lovingly take the blessed resolution: to die or to be
cured.
163.
Must you be disquieted and troubled because of difficulties? Oh, by no
means. It is the devil who is ferreting and spying about your mind, to
see if he cannot find some door open to him.
164.
You are right not to care what is said of you; you who belong to God
should not think of reputation. Let God dispose of our life, our
reputation, and our honour as He pleases, since they are all his. If our
humiliations be his glory, are we not glorified?
165.
When you meet with contradictions or afflictions through anyone, beware
of yielding to complaints, but compel your heart to suffer tranquilly;
if some sudden outburst of impatience escape you, bring your heart back
to sweetness and peace.
166.
See, my daughter, we are too fastidious in calling poor a state in which
we endure neither hunger, nor cold, nor ignominy, but merely some
inconvenience in our plans.
167.
Gradually temper the vivacity of your mind to patience, sweetness,
humility, and affability, in the midst of the silliness and
imperfections of your sisters.
168.
Nothing gives us profound tranquillity in this world but to frequently
look upon our Lord in all his sufferings. In comparison with all that He
endured, we shall see that we are wrong to call the little accidents
which we encounter afflictions, and that we do not need patience for
things so trifling, since a little modesty would suffice to make us bear
well all that happens to us.
169.
We must never answer temptations, nor appear to hear the enemy. If he is
noisy, patience! we must prostrate ourselves before God and remain at
his feet. He will understand that we want his assistance, though we may
not be able to speak.
170.
Believe me, my dear daughter, sweets engender worms in little children;
that is why our Lord mixes bitter with the sweet for us. We must have a
great courage, which on all occasions will resolutely cry, God be
praised! caring little for sweet or bitter, light or darkness. Let us
keep on in this essential love.
171.
God desires that you serve Him without relish or feeling, in the midst
of aversions and afflictions of mind. This service will not give you
satisfaction, but it will content Him; it will not be to your taste but
it will be to his.
172.
God is so good that He will visit your soul interiorly, and strengthen
and establish it in solid humility, simplicity, and mortification.
173.
Let us always keep on; however slow our progress we are getting over a
great deal of the road. God wishes that our misery should be the throne
of his mercy.
174.
Keep your heart brave and ready for any service that shall be imposed
upon it; according as you undertake many things for God, He will second
you and work with you.
175.
Have the heart of a child; a will of wax, and a mind free from the
slavery of all affection.
176.
Oh, what a great blessing it is, my daughter, to be pliable and easily
turned to any service. Our Lord has taught us this submission by his
example, as much as by his words.
177.
He who is very attentive to please the heavenly lover has no leisure for
introspection; his mind continually tends whither love leads him.
178.
This exercise of the continual abandonment of one’s self to the hands of
God includes in the most excellent manner all other exercises in their
greatest simplicity, purity, and perfection, and while God leaves us the
desire for it we should not change it.
179.
Simplicity is an act of charity pure and simple, which considers only
God. It looks straight at God, and can suffer no mixture of
self-interest nor intermingling of creatures; God alone is its object.
180.
We should bear tenderly with those whom our Lord bears with, we must bow
our heads, and bear ourselves contrary to our habits and inclinations.
181.
Complain as little as possible of injuries, for it rarely happens that
one complains without sin, since our self-love exaggerates in our eyes
and hearts the wrongs we have received.
182.
Hold the cross of our Lord upon your breast, and as long as you firmly
clasp it in your arms, the enemy will be at your feet.
183.
Great evenness of temper, continual gentleness and suavity of heart, are
more rare than perfect chastity, yet very desirable.
184.
As regards our perfection, which consists in the union of our soul with
the Divine Goodness, it is only a question of knowing little and doing
much.
185.
We must make up our minds to two things: one is, that we shall find bad
weeds growing in our garden, and the other, that we will have the
courage to uproot them, for our self-love will live as long as we do,
and from it arises all this noxious growth.
186.
We must endeavour to double, not our desires and our exercises, but the
perfection with which we fulfil them, seeking by this means to gain more
by one action than we would by a hundred others done according to our
inclination and affection.
187.
One act performed in dryness of spirit is worth more than several done
in great sensible fervour.
188.
I say, then, that we must die in order that God may live in us, for it
is impossible to acquire union with God by any other means than
mortification. These words, “We must die,” are hard, but they are
followed by a great sweetness, and this sweetness is union with God.
189.
Your miseries and infirmities should not astonish you; God has seen many
others, and his mercy does not reject the miserable, but is exercised in
doing them good.
190.
We must do everything through a motive of love, and nothing through
compulsion. Our love for obedience must be greater than our fear of
disobedience.
191.
I leave you liberty of spirit, not that which excludes obedience, but
that which excludes constraint, scruple, or over-eagerness.
192.
Here are the marks of true liberty: 1st. The heart which possesses this
liberty is not attached to consolations, but receives afflictions with
all the sweetness that the flesh admits of. I do not say that it does
not love and desire consolations, but that the heart is not bound to
them.
193.
2nd. Such a heart is in no way attached to spiritual exercises, so that
if sickness or any other accident interferes with them it feels no
regret. I also do not say that it does not love them, but that it is not
attached to them.
194.
3rd. Such a heart rarely loses its joy, for no privation saddens one
whose heart is not bound to anything. I do not say that it _never_ loses
its joy, but that it is only for a short time.
195.
A soul which possesses true liberty will leave his prayer, and with an
amiable countenance and gracious manner greet the importunate person who
disturbs him. For it is the same to him whether he serve God in
meditation or by bearing with his neighbour; they are both the will of
God.
196.
Liberty of spirit has two vices: a spirit of inconstancy and a spirit of
constraint. For example: I resolve to make a meditation every morning.
If I have a spirit of inconstancy I will defer it till evening at the
slightest excuse—for the barking of a dog which has disturbed my sleep,
for a letter to be written, though it is not at all urgent. On the
contrary, if I have a spirit of constraint I will not omit my
meditation, even though a sick person is very much in need of my
services.
197.
Everything tends to the good of those who love God. And, in truth, since
God can draw good from evil, for whom will He do it, if not for those
who have given themselves without reserve to Him? Yes, everything tends
to their profit, even sin. David would never have been so humble if he
had not sinned; nor would Magdalene’s love for her Saviour have been
what it was. Tell me, then, what will He not do with our afflictions and
labours?
198.
If, then, it ever happen that some grief come upon you, assure your soul
that if she love God all things will turn to her good. And though you
may not see the means by which this good shall be effected, be all the
more convinced of it.
199.
It is a very good sign that the enemy rages and beats at your door: it
shows that he has not what he wants. If he had he would cease to cry
out, but would quietly enter and stay with you.
200.
Courage! As long as we can say, even coldly, God be praised, there is no
reason to fear. And do not tell me that it seems to you that you say it
in a spiritless way, with no strength or courage, but as if you had to
do violence to yourself to utter it. Oh, this is the blessed violence
which taketh heaven!
201.
As long as a temptation is displeasing to you there is nothing to fear,
for why does it displease you if not because you do not wish it?
202.
Moreover, these very importunate temptations come from the malice of the
devil, but the trouble and suffering they cause us come from the mercy
of God. He draws from the malice of his enemy the holy tribulation by
which He refines the gold He desires to place in his treasury. Despise
the temptations and embrace the tribulations.
203.
We must endure our own want of perfection, if we would attain
perfection. I say that we must endure it patiently, but we must not love
or caress it. It is by the endurance of this suffering that humility is
nourished.
204.
Those who aspire to pure love of God have not so much need of patience
with others as with themselves.
205.
We must confess the truth: we are poor creatures, capable of very little
that is good; but God, who is infinitely good, is content with our poor
labours, and finds acceptable the preparation of our heart.
206.
But what means this preparation of our heart according to the expression
of Holy Writ: “God is greater than our heart, and our heart is greater
than the world?” When our heart, in the solitude of meditation, prepares
the service which it must render God, it effects marvels. All this
preparation, nevertheless, is in no way proportioned to the grandeur of
God, and ordinarily it exceeds our strength, and becomes too great to be
carried out in our exterior actions.
207.
Our minds prepare for God a mortified flesh free from the rebellion of
the senses, prayer free from distraction, a loving heart free from all
bitterness, a humility free from all taint of vanity. All this is very
good, an excellent preparation; but who carries it out? Alas! when we
come to the practise of it, we fall short. Must we on this account be
disquieted, troubled, or afflicted? No, certainly not. Must we apply
ourselves to exciting a multitude of desires to stimulate ourselves to
attain this perfection? By no means.
208.
I do not say that we must not tend to perfection; but we must not desire
to attain it in a day, that is in a day of this mortal life, for such a
desire would only uselessly disquiet us.
209.
It is not possible, I assure you, to be completely rid of self while we
are on earth. We must always carry self with us, until God carries us to
heaven; and while we carry self, we carry a burden of very little value.
210.
Solomon tells us that a servant who suddenly becomes mistress is a very
insolent creature. Were a soul to become all at once perfect mistress of
passions which it had long served, I fear it could not but be vain and
proud.
211.
If in our heart there be a single thread of affection which is not for
God, we should instantly tear it out.
212.
I cannot understand how you, a daughter of God, long since abandoned to
the bosom of his mercy and consecrated to his love, can yield to such
immoderate sadness. You should console yourself, despising all the
mournful and melancholy suggestions with which the devil tries to weary
you.
213.
Do not examine yourself so carefully to discover whether you are in
perfection or not; for, should we attain the greatest perfection we
should neither know nor recognise it, but always consider ourselves
imperfect. The end of our examen should never be to discover whether we
are imperfect, for that we should never doubt.
214.
Therefore we should never be astonished at imperfection or let it sadden
us; for we cannot fail to find ourselves imperfect in this life, and
there is no remedy for it save humility, since by this virtue we shall
repair our faults and gradually improve.
215.
It is for the exercise of this virtue that our imperfections are left to
us, since it is inexcusable not to seek to correct them, and excusable
not to succeed perfectly; for it is not with imperfections as it is with
sins.
216.
If you wish to do well, regard as a temptation every suggestion
concerning change of place; for while your mind is looking beyond where
it should be, it will never apply itself to doing well the duty which
lies before it.
217.
We must not desire all to begin by perfection. It matters little how one
begins, provided he be resolved to go on well, and end well.
218.
I tell you that you will be faithful if you are humble. But will you be
humble? Yes, if you wish it. But I do wish it. Then you are humble. But
I feel that I am not. So much the better; that helps to make you more
so.
219.
You desire that it should always be spring in your soul, but that cannot
be. We must endure vicissitudes of weather interiorly as well as
exteriorly. It is only in heaven that we shall find the perpetual beauty
of spring, the perpetual ripening of summer, the perpetual fruition of
autumn. There we shall have no winter; but here winter is required for
the exercise of abnegation, and a thousand little virtues which are
practised in times of sterility.
220.
My God! We shall soon be in eternity, and then we shall see how
unimportant are all the things of this world, and how little it mattered
whether they were accomplished or not. Yet we are as anxious about them
now as if they were affairs of great importance.
221.
Verily, we do not like crosses if they are not of gold enamelled, and
adorned with precious stones.
222.
I am sad and will not speak; this is what parrots do. I am sad, but I
speak because charity requires it; thus do spiritual persons. I am
despised and I get angry; peacocks and monkeys act thus. I am despised
and I rejoice; thus did the Apostles.
223.
Examine whether your heart pleases God?—you must not do it;—but whether
his pleases you? yes, truly, for if you look at his Heart, it cannot but
please you, it is so sweet, so condescending, so loving towards frail
creatures when they recognise their misery, so merciful to the
miserable, so kind to the penitent....
224.
Be just; neither excuse nor accuse your poor soul without due
reflection, lest by excusing it without reason you render it insolent,
or by lightly accusing it you weaken its courage and make it
pusillanimous.
225.
How many courtiers there are who go into the presence of the king a
hundred times, not to speak to him or listen to him, but merely to be
seen by him, and to show by this assiduity that they are his servants.
When, then, you come into the presence of our Lord, speak to Him if you
can; if you cannot, remain and show yourself to Him, and do not be
anxious to do any more.
226.
You do nothing in meditation, you tell me. But what should you do if not
just what you are doing, that is, presenting and representing your
misery and nothingness to God? The most efficacious appeal a beggar can
make is to expose to our eyes his ulcers and necessities.
227.
But sometimes you do not even do this, and you remain before Him like a
phantom or statue. Well, that is something. In the palaces of princes
and kings there are statues which are only meant to gratify the eyes of
the king; content yourself with a similar service in the presence of
God. He will animate the statue when it pleases Him. Were we to ask the
statue if it desired anything it would answer, “No; I am where my master
placed me, and his pleasure is the sole happiness of my being.”
228.
Ah! but it is a good prayer, and a good method of keeping one’s self in
the presence of God, to wait upon his will and good pleasure.
229.
As for me, I think that we keep ourselves in the presence of God even
while we sleep, for we go to sleep in his presence and by his will. And
when we wake we find that He is beside us, that He has not stirred from
us, nor we from Him; therefore we have kept ourselves in his presence,
though with closed eyes.
230.
When a certain cross is given to you alone it is of more value, and it
should be dearer to you because of its rarity.
231.
God be praised! God or nothing; for all that is not God is nothing, or
worse than nothing.
232.
Do not turn your eyes on your infirmities and incapacity, except to
humble yourself; never let them discourage you.
233.
Finally, do not be angry, or at least troubled because you have been
troubled; do not be overcome because you have allowed yourself to be
overcome; do not be disquieted because you have allowed yourself to be
disquieted by angry passions; but take your heart and place it gently in
the hands of our Lord and ask Him to cure it; meanwhile, do all you can
to renew and strengthen your good resolutions.
234.
The highest degree of humility is not only to recognise but to love our
abjection. I am guilty of a blunder; it brings humiliation upon me;
good. I am guilty of immoderate anger; I am sorry for the offence
against God, and very glad that it proves me vile, abject, and
miserable.
235.
If envy could reign in the kingdom of eternal love, the angels would
envy the sufferings of God for man, and the sufferings of man for God.
236.
Do not be troubled about not making acts of virtue well; for, as I told
you, they do not cease to be very good, even when made languidly and
wearily as if by force. You can only give God what you have, and in this
season of affliction you have no other action to offer Him.
237.
You will be very happy if you receive with a filial and loving heart
what our Lord sends you from a heart so paternal in its care of your
perfection.
238.
I will not tell you not to regard your afflictions, for your impulsive
heart will answer, “I cannot but consider them, they make themselves so
keenly felt;” but I tell you to look at them through the cross, and you
will find them so small, or at least so agreeable, that you will rather
endure their suffering than all consolations without them.
239.
Right sadness speaks thus: “I am miserable, vile, and abject;
nevertheless God will exercise his mercy towards me, for virtue will be
perfected in infirmity.”
240.
When our Lord was upon the cross even his enemies declared Him King;
when souls are upon the cross they are declared queens.
241.
Ah! do not examine whether what you do is much or little, whether it is
done well or ill, provided it be not sin, and provided you have an
upright intention to do it for God. Do everything as perfectly as you
can; but, once an action is performed, think no more of it, but rather
of what there is to be done.
242.
We should equally resolve upon two things: first, to bring the utmost
fidelity to the fulfilment of our exercises; second, to be in no way
troubled, disquieted, or astonished if we sometimes fail; for the first
comes from our fidelity, which should always be earnest and constantly
increasing, and the latter comes from our infirmity.
243.
We must, then, correct our poor heart gently and quietly, and not add to
its trouble by the severity of our reprimands. “My heart, my friend,” we
should say, “in the name of God, take courage; let us keep on and be
more watchful in future; let us turn to our Helper and our God.” Alas!
we must be charitable to our poor soul, and refrain from severity as
long as we see that its offences are not deliberate.
244.
Loadstone attracts iron, amber attracts hay and straw; were we hard as
iron, or light as straws, we must unite ourselves to this Sovereign
Infant Jesus, who truly draws all hearts to Him.
245.
The best thoughts, affections, and aspirations of a great soul are fixed
upon the infinitude of eternity; destined as such a soul is for
immortality, it finds all that is not eternal too short, all that is not
infinite too small.
246.
Yes, speak little, and gently, little and well, little and frankly,
little and amiably.
247.
O my God, how beautiful must heaven be, now that the Saviour is its Sun,
and his bosom is a fountain of love where the blessed drink at will!
248.
Each one looks therein and sees his name written in characters of
love—characters which love alone can read, which love alone has graven.
249.
St. John the Baptist, through obedience, kept himself absent from our
Saviour, knowing well that to seek our Saviour outside of obedience was
to lose Him.
250.
I leave you to imagine the good odour which this beautiful lily (the
Blessed Virgin) spreads in the house of Zachary. What could she give
forth but that with which she was filled? And she was filled with Jesus.
251.
My God, I marvel to find that I am so full of myself after so many
communions.
252.
There are two kinds of wills: one says, “I would like very much to do
good; but it costs a disagreeable effort; it is too difficult;” the
other says: “I desire indeed to do good; the will is not wanting, but
the power alone stops me.” The first fills hell, the second paradise,
and it was the latter will which caused Daniel to be called a “man of
desires.”
253.
I pray you, hide your trouble from yourself as much as you can, and if
you feel it, at least do not think about it. You are a little given to
dwelling upon it.
254.
You tell me that it is hard to will to do, and to be unable to do. I do
not say to you that we must will what we can do, but that before God it
is a great deal to be able to will.
255.
What would you do, if you were never to be delivered from your trials?
You would say to God: “I am thine; if my miseries are pleasing to Thee
multiply them, prolong them.” Make friends with your trials, as if you
were always to live together, and you will find that when you no longer
think of them and cease to be anxious, God will deliver you from them.
256.
No, my dear daughter, I am not troubled as long as our resolutions
remain steadfast. Though we were to die, though everything were to be
overturned, what would it matter provided they continued firm?
257.
Our night is as brilliant as our day, when God is in our hearts, and our
day is night when God is absent from us.
258.
A spirit of indifference helps us in all things, even to making us
content during seven weeks, when a father, and a father who loves as I
do, and a daughter, such as you, receive no news of each other.
259.
Let the darkness be what it may, we are near the light. Let our
impotence be what it may, we are at the feet of the All-powerful.
260.
I shall say nothing of the extent of my affection for you, except that
it is incomparable, that it is whiter than the snow, and purer than the
sun.
261.
There is nothing which prevents our attaining the perfection of our
vocation like desiring another.
262.
I beseech you, my dear daughter, do not fear God as you do, for He does
not wish to harm you; love Him fervently, for He wishes to do you a
great deal of good.
263.
Our Lord will cause us to enjoy peace when we shall be sufficiently
humble to sweetly endure war.
264.
Nothing can equal in merit the offering of our sorrows to Him who saved
us by his own.
265.
Dwell very little upon the mixture of self-love in your actions; we
should pay no attention to these sallies of self. When we disavow them
two or three times a day we have done all that is required. Nor must we
violently resist them; a gentle denial is sufficient.
266.
The whole world is not worth a soul, and a soul is worth nothing without
its resolutions. We need not be troubled because we are weak, if by
trusting in the power and mercy of God we never lose courage; on the
contrary, my daughter, I would rather be weak than strong before God,
for He takes the weak in his arms, and the strong He leads by the hand.
267.
Believe me, we advance through stormy weather, and under a dark and
cloudy sky. It is a better time for travellers than if the sun poured
its ardent heat upon us. Courage! light and joy are not within our
power, nor any consolation except that which depends upon the will; but
while that will is protected by our holy resolutions, and as long as the
great seal of the heavenly chancery remains upon our hearts, we have
nothing to fear.
268.
Those who spiritually digest Jesus Christ feel that Jesus Christ who is
their food is diffused through every part of soul and body. They have
Jesus in their mind, in their heart, in their breast, in their eyes, in
their hands, in their tongue, in their ears, in their feet. But what
does this Saviour do in all these parts? He redresses, purifies, prunes,
and vivifies all; the heart loves through Him, the mind understands
through Him, the breast breathes through Him, the eyes see through Him,
the tongue speaks through Him. Then we can say, “We live now, not we,
but Christ Jesus liveth in us.” I show you to what we must aspire though
we must be content to attain it by degrees.
269.
Let us keep ourselves humble and go to Holy Communion boldly; we shall
gradually become accustomed to this heavenly food and learn to digest it
to our profit.
270.
Charity, so far from searching for evil, fears to meet it; if she
encounter it, she turns away and appears not to see it. She will shut
her eyes rather than meet it.
271.
Oh! happy is the mind which sees but two objects, God and self, one of
which enraptures it with a sovereign delight, and the other abases it to
the extremest abjection.
272.
If what we are doing be necessary, even though it distract our attention
from God, we need not be troubled. We are taught to do all our actions
for God, and by so doing we keep ourselves in his presence. Beware of
thinking it necessary to offer each action to our Lord, for that would
interfere with the simplicity of the practice of the Presence of God.
273.
Oh! I pray you, do not fall into the fault of considering the
imperfections of others, for it will retard your perfection very much
and will injure your soul.
274.
My dear daughter, we must flay the victim if we would have it acceptable
to God. In the Old Law, God would accept no victim as a holocaust if it
had not first been flayed; in like manner our hearts can never be
immolated and sacrificed to God until they shall have been flayed,
stripped of their old skin, that is, of their habits, inclinations,
repugnances, and superfluous affections.
275.
An act of mortification performed with great repugnance is infinitely
suited to strongly advance you in perfection.
276.
My daughters, do not deprive yourselves of Holy Communion because of
bitterness of heart; but when you feel it you must draw near to God, to
strengthen your heart and unite it to his spirit of meekness.
277.
To pray is to raise the mind to God and converse with Him concerning our
interests with a reverent familiarity, and a confidence greater than has
the most petted child in its mother, and to talk with Him of all things
both high and low, of the things of heaven and the things of earth; it
is to open one’s heart to Him and pour it out unreservedly to Him; it is
to tell Him of our labours, our sins, our desires, and all that is in
our soul, and to find our rest with Him as we would with a friend. It is
what the Holy Scripture calls “pouring forth one’s heart as water before
Him.”
278.
All should serve charity and charity should serve no one, not even her
Beloved, of whom she is not the servant, but the spouse, and to whom she
owes love, not service.
279.
Be patient with your trials; our Lord, alas! permits them that you may
one day know what you are when left to yourself. Do you not see that the
trouble of the day is lighter after the rest of the night? an evident
sign that our soul needs but to firmly resign itself to its God, and to
become indifferent to serving Him amid thorns or roses.
280.
Be a little lamb, a little dove, quite simple, sweet, and amiable,
unquestioning and frank. Love this good God who loves you so much.
281.
Be not too tender towards yourself; avoid weeping and complaints;
endeavour to be free and detached from yourself, in order to be wholly
under the guidance of God’s hand, for where his spirit is there is also
liberty.
282.
I see your childish tears and troubles. Know, then, that all our
childishness comes from this: that we forget the maxims of the saints,
who warn us that we must act as if we were daily to begin anew the
labour of our advancement; we shall not be so much astonished to find
miseries and faults to correct in ourselves. The work we have undertaken
is never finished; we must continually begin over again with a good
heart.
283.
There is and can be nothing which I cannot do, inasmuch as I place all
my confidence in God, who can do all things, and with this confidence
the soul courageously undertakes all that it is commanded, however
difficult it may be.
284.
Live joyously, my dearest daughters, in the midst of your holy
occupations. When the atmosphere is heavy in the midst of aridity,
labour independently of your heart by the practice of a holy abjection
and humility.
285.
We shall never possess perfect sweetness and complete charity, if they
be not exercised in spite of repugnance, aversion, and disgust. True
peace does not consist in not combating but in conquering.
286.
It should be a source of humiliation to us that we are so little master
of ourselves, and so fond of our ease. Our Saviour did not come to seek
his ease or comfort, either spiritual or temporal, but to deny, to
combat Himself, and to die.
287.
Do not allow yourself to yield in any way to sadness, which is the enemy
to devotion. What, then, should sadden a soul which serves Him who shall
be our joy forever?
288.
Our Lord revealed to Blessed Angela that there is no good so pleasing to
Him as that which is done by force; that is, the good which a resolute
will effects and offers Him by working against the weight of the flesh,
and the repugnances in the inferior part of the soul, and in spite of
sadness, aridity, and interior desolation.
289.
What can I say to you on the return of your miseries, save that as the
enemy returns we must resume our arms and bring back our courage, in
order to fight more valiantly than ever?
290.
Beware of yielding to any kind of distrust, for the heavenly goodness
does not permit you to fall in order to abandon you, but to humble you,
and teach you to keep a firmer and closer hold of the hand of his mercy.
291.
What happiness to serve God in the desert without manna, without water,
with no consolation save that of being under his guidance, and suffering
for Him!
292.
When you meet with some contradiction, take your resolutions and place
them in the wounds of our Lord, and pray Him to preserve them and you
with them; then wait in these blessed retreats until the tempest has
past.
293.
The throes and pangs of spiritual birth are painful to nature; our souls
must give birth not exteriorly, but interiorly to the sweetest, the most
pleasing, the most beautiful child that could be desired. It is the good
Jesus whom we must form within ourselves. Courage! we must suffer much
that He may be born in us.
294.
You always examine too much to discover whence your sadness comes. We
must not be so curious as to wish to know the cause of the diversity of
states in this life. And in what way shall we show our love for Him who
suffered so much for us, if not by patiently enduring aversions,
repugnances, and struggles?
295.
We must cast our heart among the thorns of difficulties, allow it to be
transpierced with the lance of contradictions, steeped with gall and
vinegar; in a word, feed on absinthe and bitterness, since God wills it.
296.
I desire that you should continue the exercise of getting rid of self by
abandoning yourself to our Lord, to the guide of your soul. Say: “I
earnestly wish it, Lord; tear, wrest from me without hesitation all that
burdens my heart. I except nothing; wrest me from myself! O self! I
abandon thee for ever.”
297.
You must abide like a poor miserable creature before the throne of
Divine Mercy, and remain there wholly stripped of all action and of all
affection to creatures, and make yourself indifferent to all things.
298.
How beautiful it is to renounce esteem of self, to renounce what we are,
our own will, all complacency in the creature, and, in short, all of
self. We must bury this human self in an eternal abandonment, that we
may never more see or know it as we have seen and known it.
299.
The virtues which grow in prosperity are of little value; those which
are born in the midst of afflictions are strong and firm. In this life
God usually allows his children and faithful servants only the honour of
suffering much and carrying their cross after Him.
300.
A heart indifferent to all things is like a ball of wax in the hands of
God, capable of receiving all the impressions of his eternal good
pleasure. It does not place its love in the things which God wills but
in the will of God which decrees them.
301.
To belong wholly to God say adieu to all that is not God.
302.
A monastery is an academy of strict correction, where each one should
allow himself to be treated, planed, and polished so that all the angles
being effaced he may be joined, united, and fastened to the will of God.
303.
It is an evident sign of perfection to wish to be corrected, for the
principal fruit of humility is to show us the need we have of
correction.
304.
Does God look upon you with love? What a subject to be in doubt about!
In his goodness He looks down with love upon the most terrible sinner,
have he never so little true desire to be converted.
305.
When shall we become wholly dead to ourselves in the sight of God, and
live that new life in which we shall no longer wish to do anything of
ourselves, but leave God to do all that He will through us, and let his
living will act upon ours, wholly dead in his love?
306.
Jesus our Heart, our Heart of Hearts, lovingly watches over us.
307.
Rest your spirit upon the stone which was represented by the one beneath
the head of Jacob, for it is the same upon which St. John reposed on the
day when his Master manifested the excess of his love.
308.
Behold St. Peter; fear is a greater evil than the evil which is feared;
it would have caused him to perish in the waters had not his Master
saved him. Oh! child of little faith, fear not! You are walking on the
waters, in the midst of the wind and waves, but it is with Jesus; if
fear seizes you cry loudly, “Lord, save me or I perish!” He will extend
his hand to you; clasp it firmly and go on joyously.
309.
Yes, abandonment to God in interior and exterior suffering is excellent.
Oh! how good it is to live but in God, to work but in God, to rejoice
but in God.
310.
When we are in doubt of not having done our duty, or of having offended
God, we must humble ourselves, beg God to forgive us, and start afresh.
Pure love of God says to us: “Unfaithful one, humble thyself, rely upon
the mercy of God, ask pardon, and after renewed promises of fidelity and
love, continue on in the pursuit of thy perfection.”
311.
I must tell you that you are now dead to the world. This is a part of
the holocaust; there remain two other parts, one of which is to remove
the skin of the victim, divesting your heart of self, cutting off or
getting rid of all the impressions of nature and of creatures; and the
other, to burn and reduce your self-love to ashes, and to convert your
whole soul into flames of heavenly love.
312.
You should be particularly careful to lean wholly to the side of
humility, since you are so much inclined to pride and self-esteem.
313.
Let us humble ourselves and speak of our wounds and miseries at the door
of the temple of divine piety; but remember to show them with joy, and
be perfectly happy to appear in want and despoiled of all things, in
order that our Lord may fill you with his grace.
314.
Be sweet and affable to all except to those who would take from thee thy
glory, which is thy misery and thy absolute poverty: “I glory in my
infirmities,” says the Apostle; “it is good for me to die, rather than
that any man should make my glory void.” See, he would rather die than
lose his infirmities.
315.
Yes, you must keep your misery and lowliness, for God looks down upon
it. Men look at the exterior, God looks at the heart; if He sees the
lowliness of your heart He will give us great graces. This humility
preserves chastity; that is why the soul of the spouse is called the
_Lily of the Valley_.
316.
Keep yourself joyously humble before God, but maintain an equally joyous
humility before the world. Be very glad that men make no account of you.
If you have their esteem laugh at it joyously; if they esteem you not,
console yourself that, as regards you at least, the world judges truly.
317.
I am truly like those fathers who never tire speaking with their
children of means for their advancement. But what shall I say to you to
this end? Be always very lowly; humble yourself more and more every day.
This is true greatness.
318.
I have gotten the habit of recommending all who address themselves to me
to lift up their hearts, as the Church tells us in the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass. A heart thus generously lifted up is always humble, for it is
established in truth and not in vanity; it is sweet and peaceful, for it
makes no account of what could trouble it.
319.
When I say that the heart is sweet and peaceful, I do not mean that it
does not suffer and feel affliction. No, certainly, I do not say that;
but I say that it meets sufferings, trials, and tribulations with such a
strong will to bear them for God, that all its bitterness is full of
peace and tranquillity.
320.
It is a great part of our perfection to bear with one another in our
imperfections. How can we, in fact, practise love for our neighbour, if
not by this forbearance?
321.
Our heart must be kind and gentle towards our neighbour, and full of
affection for him, particularly when he is wearisome and displeasing to
us, for then we find nothing in him to make us love him but respect for
our Saviour.
322.
If your heart be in heaven the winds of the earth cannot move it. No
action of the world can harm him who has renounced the world.
323.
Speak of yourself as little as possible; this I tell you earnestly;
remember it and pay attention to it. If you are imperfect, humble
yourself and do not speak of it.
324.
We must die between the two pillows of humility and confidence.
325.
We must fortify our courage, and never give up because of obstacles, but
fight valiantly, astonished neither at the number of our enemies nor the
duration of the struggle.
326.
Lord, command my soul all that Thou wilt, and give me strength to obey.
Thou hast begun in me the work of my perfection, and I can never doubt
that thy goodness will achieve it, if I faithfully co-operate with Thee.
327.
In what do you think the greatness of courage consists? It is in the
humility of courage, and yours will be greater in proportion to the
humility in which you possess it, that is, in proportion to your little
esteem of yourself.
328.
Recall to mind the words so admirably impressed upon the hearts of the
apostles by our Saviour: “Unless you be converted and become as little
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Verily, if we
would attain perfection we must be like little children in our courage,
that is, humble, gentle, docile, and easily turned to any purposes.
329.
If you speak, speak of God; if you are silent, speak to God.
330.
I would rather be a gnat by the will of God than a seraph by my own.
331.
Our gentleness with our neighbour must be carried to extreme, even to
foolishness, and we must never retaliate; believe me, if we lose
something by this, our Lord will make it up elsewhere.
332.
Courage, my very dear daughter: behold, you are at last upon the sacred
altar to be sacrificed, immolated, consumed before the face of the
living God. Truly, this day must be counted as one of the days which the
Lord has made.
333.
Ah! how happy are these beloved hearts of my daughters, in having left
for a few years the false liberty of the world to enjoy eternally the
enviable slavery which takes away no liberty, save that which would
prevent us from being truly free.
334.
I know the state of your soul very well, and I seem to see it always
before me with its little emotions of sadness, surprise, and
disquiet—emotions which continue to trouble it, because it has not yet
cast deep enough the foundations of love of the cross and abjection.
335.
No, my dear daughter, it is not necessary to the practice of virtues to
be continually mindful of all of them; that would only embarrass your
thoughts and your affections. Humility and charity are the mother cords
to which all the others are attached: one is the highest, the other the
lowest. The safety of a whole edifice depends upon the foundation and
the roof. These are the mother virtues, which the others follow as
little chickens do the mother hen.
336.
I have just spoken of you with our Lord, but I dare not absolutely ask
for your deliverance; for if it please Him to flay the victim, it is not
for me to desire that He should not; but I implore Him to hold you by
the hand as He has always done.
337.
God be praised! Live, Jesus! We must bear our cross; whoever bears it
best, is through it made the stronger.
338.
There never was a saint who did not experience both ecstasy and rapture
in life and its operations by overcoming himself and his natural
inclinations.
339.
Whoever has a spirit of prayer despatches more business in an hour than
others in several, and wholly at leisure hastens to his rest, which is
to treat with God; but God only communicates Himself to the obedient.
340.
Never lose your interior peace for anything, whatever it may be, even
though everything be overturned about you; for what are all the things
of this life compared to peace of heart?
341.
Under all circumstances, be invariable in the resolution to adhere with
great simplicity and unity to God, by a perfectly trustful love,
abandoning yourself to the mercy of love and the paternal care which His
Providence has of you.
342.
Remain unalterable in a holy nudity of spirit, never assuming any care,
desire, affection, or pretension whatever. Our Lord loves you, He wishes
you to be wholly his; let no arms but his support you, rest upon no
other breast but his.
343.
We must descend to earth to regulate the necessities of this life, but
in all things our heart should relish only the dew of God’s pleasure,
and refer all to the praise of God.
344.
If we love our sweet Saviour let us feed his lambs, since it is a mark
of faithful love;—but with what must we feed these dear sheep? With love
itself, for they will either not live at all, or they will live upon
love.
345.
He who would lay up virtues without humility is like one who carries a
precious dust in his hand exposed to the wind. The great secret of
maintaining true devotion is to have great humility. Be humble and God
will be with you. God is pleased to dwell in a heart deepened by
humility, docile through simplicity, and great through charity. He who
is truly humble desires to be humbled. Humility produces generosity.
Remember, my dear daughter, that the keenest humiliations are those
which are least visible.
346.
We must change from one place to another without changing our love or
the object of our love. Be indifferent to all occupation in the midst of
different occupations. Be uninfluenced by affairs, and remain equally
for God in all things.
347.
How happy we shall be if one day we change self into that holy love
which shall make us one, and entirely free us from all complexity of
affairs, so that we shall have at heart only the sovereign unity of his
Holy Trinity.
348.
Curiosity, ambition, restlessness, and forgetfulness of the end for
which we are in this world are the cause of our having more impediments
than works, more bustle than business, more undertakings than results.
And these incumbrances, these superfluous occupations with which we
burden ourselves, are what divert us from God, and not the legitimate
exercise of our employments.
349.
Our perfection must be true and solid. For example, though anger is
raging within me, though my blood boils, I will not cease to be as
gracious and gentle as it is possible to be, and all the reasons which
nature urges for its release I will strangle as she presents them, I
will not listen to one of them. This is true virtue, true gentleness.
Ah! God gives you occasion to practise patience. Would you let it escape
you? Perhaps you may never in life meet with such another opportunity.
350.
Courage, my poor mind! Let us reject all discourse, research, inquiry;
let us become more simple, and be rid of this tiresome care of self; let
us confine ourselves to the simple view of God and our own nothingness.
Let us steadily lean upon the results of the sovereign will, even when
we fall, for the dear Jesus will give us the necessary sentiments. O
mind, one is never wholly master of thee.... Thou wouldst know all in
spite of us. O my God, stop this miserable wanderer!
351.
The saints did not abound so much in sensible sentiments, they worked
according to the lights and truths of faith. Ah! let us be ever wholly
detached from everything before God, taking no trouble for what comes to
us. Let all that is not God be as nothing to us. Let us contemplate the
infinite goodness of God and forget ourselves. Let us immolate all our
affections to Jesus Christ.
352.
Condescending to the humour of others, bearing with rudeness and
tiresome manners on the part of our neighbour, victories over our own
humours and passions, renouncing our smallest inclinations, efforts
against our aversions and repugnances, a continual endeavour to maintain
the peace of our soul, a kind and amiable manner of receiving censures
upon our condition, our life, our conversation, are all more fruitful to
our soul than we can imagine, provided love for God be the motive which
animates us.
353.
Whenever I enter a place consecrated to our august Queen, I experience a
thrill of love which tells me that I am with my mother, for I feel that
I am the child of her who is called the refuge of sinners.
354.
Away from me those who love severity, for I will have none of it! It is
better to be obliged to account to God for too much gentleness than too
much severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the father of the
wretched; God the Son is called a lamb; God the Holy Ghost manifests
Himself under the form of a dove. If there were anything better than
benignity Jesus Christ would have told us, and yet He gives us but two
lessons to learn of Him—meekness and humility.
355.
The passport of the daughters of Jesus Christ is peace. The joy of the
daughters of Our Lady is peace. We must always be at peace. Know that
the virtue of patience is that which most assures us perfection; and if
we are to be patient with others, we must be equally so with ourselves.
May Jesus be in the midst of thy heart, and thy heart in the midst of
Jesus! May Jesus live in thy heart, and thy heart in Jesus! Amen.
356.
Great saints never are guilty of mortal sin, but only of useless,
ill-timed, imprudent, and rude actions; slight acts of impatience,
slight excesses of joy, of mirth, slight failings in vanity, and other
like faults are useless movements and irregularities into which the just
fall seven times—that is, very often.
357.
If I want only pure water, what does it matter whether it be brought me
in a vase of gold or glass? What is it to me whether the will of God be
presented to me in tribulation or consolation, since I desire and seek
only the divine will?
358.
A heart indifferent to all things is like a ball of wax in the hands of
God, to receive all the impressions of his eternal good pleasure, a
heart with no choice, disposed for all things, placing its affection,
not in the things which God wills, but in the will of God which decrees
them.
359.
Paradise is no more pleasing than the miseries of this world, if the
divine good pleasure be equally in the miseries as in paradise. Labour
is paradise, if the divine will be found in it, and paradise labour, if
the divine will be not in it.
360.
The divine good pleasure is the sovereign object of the detached soul;
wherever it sees it, it runs in the odour of its perfumes, unceasingly
seeks the places where it most abounds, regardless of all other things.
361.
In the monastery of the devout life each one considers himself a novice,
and a lifetime is devoted to a probation according to the rule of the
order; it is not the solemnity of the vows but their fulfilment which
makes novices professed.
362.
He who ardently loves God does not turn back his gaze upon himself to
discover what he is doing, but keeps his heart occupied with God, the
object of his love. A heavenly chorister takes so much delight in
pleasing God, that he desires no pleasure from the melody of his voice,
save as it is pleasing to his Sovereign.
363.
There is nothing so sad as to serve a master who knows nothing of our
devotion, or who, if he knows it, gives no sign of being satisfied with
it; and it must be a strong love which sustains itself alone,
unsupported by any pleasure or aspiration. Thus does it happen in the
exercises of sacred love; like deaf choristers we do not hear our own
voice, on the contrary, we are oppressed by a thousand fears, and by the
uproar which the devil makes about our heart, suggesting that we are not
pleasing to our Master, that our love is useless, yea, even false and
vain. Oh, my dear Theotime! it is then we must manifest an invincible
fidelity to our Saviour, serving Him purely for love of his will, not
only without pleasure, but in the midst of this deluge of sadness,
terrors, alarms, and temptations.
364.
No, Lord, I wish for no event; for I leave Thee to will it for me as
Thou pleasest; but instead of wishing for events I bless Thee for those
Thou has ordained. Father, I am thine. I know not what I should wish; it
is for Thee to will and do for me all that shall seem to Thee good. “My
Father truly loves me, and I am wholly his.”
365.
O Jesus! be my sweetness and my honey; sweeten my heart by the sweetness
of thine.
366.
To whom is He not good, this Sovereign Love of hearts? Those who taste
of his sweetness can never be sated therewith, and those who approach
His heart cannot contain their own with praising and blessing Him for
ever. Continue to unite yourself more and more to this dear Saviour.
Bury your heart in the charity of his, and let us say with all our
heart: “May I die and Jesus live; this shall be a happy death if it take
place in this life.” May you be blessed with the benediction which the
Divine Goodness has prepared for hearts which abandon themselves a prey
to his sacred and holy love.
367.
You must bow your head and bear yourself contrary to your habits or
inclinations. Live humbly before God, amiably with your neighbour, and
sweetly with yourself.
368.
Cast your thoughts earnestly upon the shoulders of the Saviour, and He
will support and strengthen you. When He calls you to a kind of service
which is contrary to your taste, your courage should not be less, but
rather more than if your taste concurred with his pleasure, for where
there is least of self the work goes best. Do not permit your mind to
consider itself, its powers, its inclinations. You must keep your eyes
fixed upon the good pleasure of God, and upon Providence.
369.
We must not amuse ourselves with discoursing when we should run, nor
with chatting about difficulties when we should conquer them. Say
courageously: “I will do much; not I, but the grace of God which is
within me.”
370.
Hold the cross of our Lord upon your breast, and as long as you firmly
clasp it in your arms, the enemy will be at your feet.
371.
Ah! how I would like to see you always transfigured in our Lord! Oh! how
beautiful is his face, how sweet his eyes in their wonderful gentleness,
and how good it is to be with Him on the mount of glory! It is there we
should lodge our affections, and not on this earth, where there is
nothing but empty beauty and false vanity.
372.
May God give you strength to break the ties which prevent you from
following the heavenly attractions of your heart! Ah! it is sad to see a
little bee in the treacherous coils of a spider, but if a favourable
wind of grace break these wretched fetters, these unfortunate meshes,
why does not this dear bee hasten to disentangle itself and proceed to
the making of its sweet honey.
373.
The sting of honey-bees is much more dangerous than that of other bees,
and so the machinations of friends against us are exceedingly hard to
bear; but we must endure them, bear with them, and finally love them as
dear contradictions. We must absolutely, invariably, and inviolably
desire only God. But the means of serving Him should be the object of a
very feeble desire on our part, so that if one means be taken from us we
shall not be greatly affected thereby. Our desire for everything which
is not God should be very weak and indifferent.
374.
When we are ill in body we must exact of our minds only acts of
submission and acceptance of labour, and acts uniting our will with the
good pleasure of God, which acts are formed in the superior part of the
soul. As to exterior actions, we must perform them as best we can, even
though it be languidly, heavily, and against our inclinations; and to
make them acceptable to Divine Love, we must acknowledge, accept, and
cherish the holy abjection of our state. In this way you will change the
lead of your languor into gold, and that, too, finer gold than your
heart could offer in its brightest and happiest moments.
375.
It seems to me that I see your heart before me like a dial placed in the
sun, which never moves, while its needle and balance are continually in
motion, ever turning towards the beautiful planet; for your heart in
like manner remains motionless, while your will is continually turning
by means of its good desires towards God.
376.
How is your poor heart? Is it always valiant and vigilant against
attacks of sadness? In God’s name, do not torment it, even though it
wander a little; reprove it gently, and bring it back to the path. You
will see that this heart will become a true heart, according to the
Heart of God.
377.
Think of that great dereliction which our Master endured, and see how
this dear Son, having asked consolation of his good Father, and seeing
that He willed not to grant it, thought of it no more, ceased to seek
it, but, as if He had never desired it, valiantly and courageously set
about the work of our redemption. After you shall have prayed to your
Heavenly Father for consolation, if it does not please Him to give it
you, cease to think of it, but renew your courage to work out your
salvation on the cross, as if you were never to descend therefrom.
378.
O my God! how beautiful, how lovely is this cross! We make every effort
to obtain the wood, and we exalt it on the Mount of Calvary. Alas! happy
are those who love it and bear it. It will be exalted in heaven, when
our Lord shall come to judge the living and the dead, to teach us that
heaven is the mansion of crucified souls.
379.
I love independent, vigorous, and sensible souls; for this great
sensibility confuses and disquiets the heart, and distracts it from the
prayer of loving attention to God, prevents complete resignation, and
impedes the perfect destruction of self-love. I am the most affectionate
person in the world; and it seems to me that I love nothing but God, and
all souls for God.
380.
When a soul aspires to be the spouse of Jesus Christ, it must cast off
the old man and clothe itself in the new, by giving up sin, and then
cutting off from its life all the superfluities which could divert it
from divine love.
381.
As the exercise of purity of heart ends only with life, let us not be
troubled at sight of our imperfections. Our perfection consists in
combating them, and we cannot combat or vanquish them without feeling
and knowing them.
382.
Our Lord is the mysterious tree of desire of which the holy spouse of
the canticle speaks. It is to his feet, then, that we must go to breathe
a sweeter air, howsoever little the heart may be oppressed by the
atmosphere of the world.
383.
We desire to build a great edifice, that is, to erect God’s dwelling
within us; therefore let us consider whether we have sufficient courage
to ruin ourselves, or to let God raze us to the ground that He may
rebuild us into a living temple of his Majesty.
384.
Our sole pretentions should be to be united to God, as our Lord was
united to his Father when He died on the cross.
385.
Desire nothing, ask nothing, refuse nothing; this practice contains all
perfection.
386.
There is a certain simplicity of heart which contains the perfection of
all perfections; and it is this simplicity which makes our soul consider
God alone, and keep its forces wholly collected within itself, in order
to devote itself with all possible fidelity to the observance of his
laws, with no wish or desire for anything else.
387.
Recall yourself sometimes to the interior solitude of your heart, and
there, removed from all creatures, treat of the affairs of your
salvation and your perfection with God, as a friend would speak heart to
heart with another.
388.
We retire into God because we aspire to Him, and we aspire to Him that
we may retire into Him. Thus the retirement of the heart and the
aspiration towards God are one the effect of the other.
389.
Our will can never die, but it sometimes passes beyond the limits of its
ordinary life to live wholly in the divine will. This is accomplished
when it will not and cannot any longer will anything, but abandons
itself without reserve to the good pleasure of Providence: it no longer
lives, but the will of God lives in it.
390.
Let us be earnestly attentive to blessing God for all that He shall do,
saying: “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord.” No, Lord, I desire nothing; for I leave Thee to will for
me wholly as Thou pleasest; instead of wishing for anything, I bless
Thee for what Thou shalt decree.
391.
Hast thou fallen into the net of adversity? Look not at thy misfortunes,
or the snares into which thou art taken, but turn to God and leave all
to Him. He will care for thee.
392.
We should peacefully abide in our misery and abjection, in the midst of
our imperfections and weakness until it shall please God to raise us to
the practice of great virtues.
393.
We must live in this world as if our mind were in heaven and our body in
the tomb.
394.
Choose the best virtues and not those which are most esteemed; the most
excellent, and not the most apparent; the most solid, and not the most
fanciful.
395.
If anger or pride attack me, I must do all in my power to incline my
heart to humility and meekness, devoting to that end my spiritual
exercises, the sacraments and the other virtues.
396.
Do not limit your patience to certain trials, but extend it universally
to all that God shall send you, or permit to reach you through any
source.
397.
A truly patient man bears, with the same evenness of temper, ignominious
trials and those which are honourable. As the sting of bees is more
painful than that of flies, so the contradictions we experience at the
hands of good people are more trying than those which come from the
wicked.
398.
Complain as little as possible of injuries, for it rarely happens that
one complains without sin, since our self-love exaggerates in our eyes
and hearts the wrongs we have received.
399.
You wish absolutely to form Jesus Christ in you, in your heart, in your
works, by a sincere love of his doctrine and a perfect imitation of his
life; rest assured it will cost you many pangs; but they will pass away,
and the presence of Jesus, who shall live in you, will fill your soul
with an ineffable joy which can never be taken from you.
400.
Think frequently of Jesus crucified; consider Him covered with wounds,
filled with sadness, despoiled of everything, loaded with maledictions.
Then you will acknowledge that your sufferings can in no way compare
with his, and that never shall you endure anything in the least degree
approaching what He suffered for you.
401.
God’s great desire is that we should be perfect, to unite ourselves with
Him by the perfect imitation of his sanctity. “Be you therefore perfect,
as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
LIVE JESUS!
_=God be Praised.=_
M. H. Gill & Son, Printers, Dublin.
Transcriber’s Notes
1. Italic text in the original is delimited by underscores.
2. Bold text in the original is delimited by equals signs.
3. Blackletter text in the original is delimited by both underscores
and equals signs.
4. Maxim 398 is a repeat of maxim 181, and maxim 370 is a repeat of
maxim 182.
5. The following table notes the changes made to the printed text,
denoted in brackets:
=Page= =Maxim= =Text= =Operation=
16 24 may happen [you] to-morrow Removed.
38 78 imperfections and venia[l] Added.
42 86 body w[ /i]ll be Replaced.
47 100 constant[ly] Added.
60 135 confidence in Him[.] Added.
79 176 as by his words[.] Added.
86 194 for a short time[.] Added.
97 213 so carefull[y] to discover Added.
107 233 you ha[ ]ve been Removed.
124 268 through Him[,] the mind Added.
151 323 your[/newline/]self Removed.
163 349 practise patience[.] Would Added.
178 374 37[ ]4 Removed.
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