The nun sanctified by the virtues of her state
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| THIRD DEGREE. The third degree of poverty requires that you do not complain when you are in want even of necessaries. The Mother of God once said to one of her devout servants, a Franciscan nun: My child, as long as all your wants are supplied, you are not poor; true poverty consists in having less than is necessary. " To complain of poverty," says St. Jane Frances Chantal, " is displeasing to God and to men. I never feel so happy as when I bear some of the marks of poverty." That great servant of God, Baptista Vernazza, a canoness regular, used to say that she experienced great pleasure in reflecting that she had no provision for any future necessity. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was afflicted at seeing her wants supplied by the abbess. She once felt so much complacency, in not having bread at table, that she afterwards accused herself of having entertained too much pleasure in the privation. Sometimes she exclaimed: " Oh ! how happy should I be, if I went to table and found no food, if I went to sleep and found no bed, if I went to dress and had no clothes ! Oh that all things were wanting to me ! 1" Pars sacrilegii est, rem pauperum dare non pauperibus." Ad Pammach. 2" Crebra munuscula, et sudariola, et fasciolas, ac degustatos cibos, blandasque litterulas, sanctus amor non habet." Ad Nepotian. 3 Chap. X. , 2.
Tell me, dear sister, do you practise such perfect poverty? Although you may have renounced all affection for the world, and for vain and superfluous possessions, you are perhaps still attached to what you regard as necessary, and still anxious to be furnished with decent and comfortable clothes, food, and bed. It is this solicitude about them that disturbs you whenever they are wanting to you. But in what way do you wish to be poor? Do you expect to enjoy the reward of poverty, and at the same time to want nothing? Would you not be in want of many necessaries had you remained in the world? And do you seek to be supplied with all necessaries in religion, which you embraced for the purpose of suffering, and in which you had made a solemn vow of poverty? " To desire to be poor," says St. Francis de Sales, "and not to feel any of the inconveniences of want, is to wish for the honor of poverty and the advantages of riches." 1 But you will say, Had I good health, I would cheerfully suffer all things; but I am weak and infirm, and therefore I cannot bear to see the Superior as forgetful of me as if I were in good health. You complain that others are unmindful of you, and you yourself forget that you have entered religion for the purpose of suffering. A nun should embrace sufferings in sickness as well as in health. In the Constitutions of the Teresians the following admonition is given: "Our sick brethren, if anything be wanting to them, should remember that they have embraced the poverty of Jesus Christ, and therefore, neither in sickness nor in health, should desire to be treated like the rich." St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi gives a very excellent advice on this subject. 44 However great your infirmities," says the saint, " never take and never seek what savors not of poverty." Hence, St. Bernard says 2 that it is not becoming in poor religious to make use of costly remedies; and therefore he recommended his monks not to take any other medicine than decoctions of herbs. 1 Introd. ch. 16. 2 Epist. 345. Had you remained in the world, you should not, perhaps, be able to procure the medicine and the attendance of physicians, with which you are provided in religion; and still you seek for other remedies. Ah ! be content, not only to live but to die in poverty; and rejoice that death, when it comes to take you out of this life will find you treated as a pauper. On every occasion in which you have to suffer from want have before your eyes the beautiful sentiment 94 of St. Jane Frances Chantal, who was accustomed to say, that as the opportunities of practising poverty are so rare, we should, whenever they occur, accept them with gladness. FOURTH DEGREE. The fourth and last degree of poverty requires not only that a religious be content with what is poor, but also that she prefer and select what is poorest the poorest cell, the poorest bed, the poorest clothes, and the poorest food. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi rejoiced in eating what was left by the other sisters. Her habit was so threadbare that the Superior obliged her to change it. St. Jane Frances Chantal used to say that for the perfection of poverty it is advisable not to use silver when tin is sufficient, nor tin when lead answers the purpose. The nun who wishes to be a saint observes a similar rule in all other things. It will be useful to insert in this place the beautiful instruction of Father Anthony Torres to a nun who was one of his penitents: " Since your Spouse esteemed poverty so highly, you should love it as a treasure; you should practise it in all things, and glory in it more than in the most splendid ornaments. Do not allow any nun or lay-sister in the convent to be poorer than you. You should wear no ornaments, and no more clothes than are absolutely necessary; you must practise poverty even in your veil, which should be coarse and patched, and even in the beads that hang by your side. You should delight in wearing a poor patched habit, and should not cast it aside until it is no longer fit for use. Abstain as much as possible from keeping two habits, or more linen than the humblest of the lay-sisters. Do not possess or seek anything, however necessary it may appear, without first looking at your naked Spouse on the cross, and asking his permission. Neither give nor receive any presents, however small, without the Superiors leave. In your cell you should have only a poor bed, the coarsest bed-clothes, two chairs of straw, a crucifix, four unframed pictures, the few books that your director will prescribe for your use, and whatever else is indispensably necessary. You should frequently examine before the crucifix your conduct with regard to the virtue of poverty; and if you find that you possess any superfluity you should take it immediately to the Superior. Never ask from your relatives anything for your own use; you may ask something from them for the Community, but never reserve anything whatsoever for yourself." Ah ! dear sister, after having renounced the world and all its goods, do not, I pray you, prefer emptiness and nothingness to the Lord. When, to induce St. Clement, Bishop of Ancyra, to deny Jesus Christ, the Emperor Diocletian offered him silver, gold, and precious stones, the saint heaved a deep sigh of sorrow at seeing his God compared with dross. And when, on condition of renouncing Christianity, the dignity of first pontiff and head of the priesthood was offered by the tribune to St. Basil, Martyr, on the part of the Emperor Licinius, the saint replied: "Tell the emperor that though he made me master of all his dominions he could not give me as much as he would take from me by robbing me of my God to make me a slave of the devil." 1 1 Boll. 26 Apr. Ait. n. II. And, dearest sister, since you have left all things for God, do not, for the sake of any miserable earthly good, expose your soul to the danger of eternal perdition. Imagine that God places before you himself on the one hand and creatures on the other, and that he speaks to you in the language that he once addressed to the Venerable Mary Crucified: " Choose between me and creatures whichsoever will make you happy." A religious should have no treasure but God. I conclude in the words of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi: "O happy the religious who, detached from all things by means of holy poverty, can say, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance." God only is the portion that I desire in time as well as in eternity. Hence the saint was heard to exclaim: " Nothing, nothing but God; I desire to possess him only for his own sake." Prayer. My Jesus, in Thee I find all things : out of Thee I desire nothing. Ah ! draw me entirely to Thee ; enkindle in my heart Thy holy love, by which I desire to see myself entirely consumed. My dear Redeemer, I know that Thou hast been near to me for so many years, because thou dost wish me to belong entirely to Thee. Since, then, Thou dost so ardently desire my welfare, grant that henceforth I may seek only Thy love, and the fulfilment of Thy holy will. Ah ! Lord, deliver me from all affections that remove me from Thee. Grant that my thoughts may be wholly employed in endeavoring to avoid every offence against Thy majesty, and in seeking to please Thee to the best of my power. O incarnate Word ! Thou art come upon earth to kindle the flames of love in the hearts of men. Oh ! take possession of my heart ; fill it with Thy love ; enlighten it, and make it ready and willing to execute all Thy holy 95 desires. In a word, unite my soul perfectly to Thy divinity, and possess it entirely and forever. Unite Thyself to me, and me to Thee, by a perfect love that shall never be dissolved. Grant that I may be no longer mine own, but that I may be Thine entirely and forever, my treasure, my love, and my only good. Mary, my mother, in thy intercession, my hopes are placed. CHAPTER X. DETACHMENT FROM RELATIVES AND OTHER PERSONS. I. Detachment from Relatives. IF attachment to relatives were not productive of great mischief Jesus Christ would not have so strenuously exhorted us to estrangement from them. “If", he says, “any man come to me and hate not his father and mother . . . and brethren and sisters, he cannot be my disciple� 1 And again: I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother 2 But why does the Redeemer insist so strongly on alienation from relatives ? Why does he take so much pains to separate us from them ? He himself assigns the reason: it is because a mans enemies shall be they of his own household. Relatives are the worst enemies of the sanctification of Christians and particularly of religious; because they are, according to St. Thomas, the greatest obstacle to advancement in virtue. " Frequently," says the holy Doctor, "carnal friends oppose the progress of the spirit; 3 for in the affair of salvation the nearest akin are not friends, but enemies." 4 The truth of this assertion is fully established by experience. 1 " Si quis venit ad me, et non odit patrem suum et matrem, . . . non potest meus esse discipulus." Luke, xiv. 26. 2 " Veni enim separate hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam." Matt. x. 35. 3" Frequenter amici carnales adversantur profectui spirituali." 2. 2, q. 189, a. 10. 4 " Propinqui carnis, in hoc proposito, amici non sunt, sed potius inimici. " Centra retrah. a relig. a. 9. Even St. Charles Borromeo, not withstanding his great reserve and perfect detachment from relatives, acknowledged that after returning from among them he felt his soul tepid, and detached from the things of God. Hence, according to all the masters of the spiritual life, he that desires to walk in the way of perfection must fly from relatives, must abstain from taking part in their affairs, and when they are at a distance must not even inquire about them. What progress can be expected from the religious that wishes to have her relatives near the convent, who, if she does not see them, is constantly sending letters and messages to request a visit from them; and who, if they yield not to her entreaties, is disturbed, and complains by frequent letters of their absence and neglect? It is impossible for a nun of this description ever to attain a close union with God. " Whoever," says St. Gregory, " wishes to be truly united to the Father of all must be separated from relatives."1 Whoever aspires to a union with God, the common Father of all men, must fly altogether from his kindred. When the Blessed Virgin lost the infant Jesus she sought him in vain for three days among her kinsfolk. " Yes," says St. Bernard, " Jesus is not found among kinsfolk."2 Peter of Blois asserts that the love of flesh and blood soon robs the soul of the love of God. " Carnal love will soon remove you from the love of God."3 Religious should regard the dying words of Moses as peculiarly applicable to themselves: Who hath said to his father and to his mother, I do not know you; and to his brethren, I know you not. These have kept thy word and observed thy covenant 4 1 " Extra cognates quis que debet fieri, si vult Parenti omnium verius jungi." Mor. 1. 7, c. 13. 2"Jesus inter cognatos non invenitur." Epist. 107. 3 " Carnalis amor extra Dei amorem cito te capiet." Epist. 134. 4 " Qui dixit patri suo et matri suæ : Nescio vos; et fratribus suis: Ignore vos; ... hi custodierunt eloquium tuum, et pactum tuum servaverant." Dent, xxxiii. 9. The religious who tells her parents and her brothers and her sisters that she knows them not, is the true spouse of Jesus. She is the kings daughter who obeys the call of God, and fulfils the covenant made with him at her profession, when he spoke to her in the language that he addresses to every soul consecrated to his love: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy fathers house. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty. 1 Hear my voice, O daughter, and learn to understand the great blessings that you will receive if you observe my commandments. Open, then, your ear to my words: forget your kindred and your father s house, and I, your King and Spouse, shall love your beauty. "It is," says St. Jerome, " a great advantage to forget your parents; for then the King shall greatly desire your beauty." 2 Great shall be your reward: you shall become dear to the Lord, who will make you happy here and hereafter. Such is the recompense promised by the Redeemer when he said: And every one that hath left house or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother . . . for my name s sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall possess life everlasting 3 The nun that leaves her relatives in effect and in affection shall obtain eternal beatitude in heaven and a hundredfold on earth; she will leave a few and shall find 96 many sisters in religion; she will abandon a father and a mother, and in return shall have God for her father and Mary for her mother; and from them she shall experience the kindness and affection of the fondest parent. 1 " Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam, et obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui; et concupiscet Rex decorem tuum." Ps. xliv. ii. 2"Grande praemium parentis obliti: Concupiscet Rex decorem tuum!" Epist. ad Furiam. 3" Omnis qui reliquerit domum, vel fratres, aut sorores, aut patrem, aut matrem, . . . propter nomen meum, centuplum, accipiet, et vitam æternam possidebit." Malt. xix. 29. Hence, convinced that detachment from kindred is highly pleasing to God, the saints have sought to be wholly removed from their relatives. St. Francis Xavier, when about to set out on the Indian mission, refused to visit his mother or relatives, though they repeatedly requested a visit from him, although he passed near their place of residence, and although he knew that he should never see them again. When his sister came to see St. Pachomius he sent her the following message: " It is enough for you to have learned that I am alive; go, then, in peace." Some of the saints have gone so far as to abstain from reading the letters of their dearest friends. St. John Climacus relates that St. Anthony, after having spent several years in the desert, on receiving some letters from his relatives, said to himself: What can I expect from the perusal of these letters, but disturbance of mind, and the loss of the peace that I enjoy ? The holy man then cast them into the fire, saying: Begone from me, all thoughts of my country, that I may not return to the things that I have already left. To the flames, ye letters, that I may not be one day burned by you. " For my part," says St. Teresa, " I cannot conceive what consolation a nun can find in her relatives. By attachment to them she displeases God, and without being able to enjoy their amusements she shares in all their troubles."1 How applicable to you, dear Sister, is this reflection of the saint? When your parents and friends come to the grate, they certainly cannot make you a partaker of their worldly amusements, for you cannot go beyond the limits of the enclosure. In their visits, then, they only recount their misfortunes, their infirmities, and their wants. 1 Way of Perf. ch. x. Surely such narratives only serve to fill your head and heart with so much inquietude, with so many distractions and defects, that after each visit you will be for several days disturbed and distracted in your meditations and Communions by the remembrances of what you have heard. How is it possible that you who have left the world can so ardently desire the frequent visits of your relatives ? Is it that they may frequently rob you of your peace and of the progress you have made ? Oh ! what an excess of folly to imagine that you cannot be happy without frequently seeing your friends. Ah ! if you keep aloof from them, what torrents of consolation and happiness would your Spouse, Jesus, infuse into your soul ! St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say that an abhorrence of the grate should be the principal fruit of the Communions of religious. And as an evil spirit once said to the Venerable Sister Mary Villani, there is certainly no place where the devil does so much injury to religious as in the parlour. Hence, St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi would not even enter the parlour; and such was her hatred of it, that she could not bear to hear it mentioned. Whenever she was obliged to go to the parlour, she would begin to weep, and would say to her novices: " My dear children, pray to God for me; for I am called to the grate." When leaving them, she would beg of them soon to call her away from the grate under some pretext. But you will say, What am I to do? Am I never to see my friends? When they visit me, must I send them away, and refuse to go to the grate? I do not require so much from you; but if you refuse to see them, would you do wrong? would you do what would be inconvenient, or what is never done by religious? Several nuns have resolved never to see their relatives, and have fulfilled their resolution. In the life of Father Torres, it is related of Georama Snakelike, a religious in the convent of St. Alvina, that so great was her attachment to her relatives that her thoughts were continually upon them, that she desired frequent visits from them, and sent every day to inquire about her father. Her sister, Mary Antonia, who lived in the same convent, was so fervent, that she besought the Lord to make her suffer a great deal in this life. Her prayer was heard, and she was afflicted with an ulcer, which ate away her flesh, and produced the very pangs of death. In her agony she would exclaim: "More suffering, O my Spouse, more suffering." When dying she said to Gerolama, that she hoped to obtain eternal glory, and that as soon as she should enter into bliss she would beg of God to transform her tepid sister into a saint. She died: Gerolama changed her life, and adopted and observed for forty years the resolution never more to see her relatives. It once happened that two of her nephews came to visit her, but she refused to see them; and having sent them away, she went to the grate of the church to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. The young men entered the church, expecting to see her at a distance; but she instantly retired behind the curtain, and such was the effort which she made on that occasion to stifle the feelings of flesh and blood that she fainted away. Whoever does not offer violence to herself will never 97 become a saint. Sister Gerolama made rapid progress in divine love, and afterwards lived and died a saint. After death her body was opened and a cross of flesh was found on her heart, as a token of the great love that she had borne to Jesus crucified. Why cannot you imitate her example, and free yourself forever from the distractions that are caused by going to the grate ? But you will say that the abbess or the confessor will not permit you to observe such a resolution. On what grounds can they refuse you permission ? Is not such a resolution the fruit of a divine inspiration ? and if practised, would it not be a source of great edification to the other sisters ? Would it not, at least, make them see the impropriety and the dangers of attachments to their relatives and to the grate? But should the Superior command you to see your parents or relatives, I tell you to obey; but at the same time I entreat you to imitate the example of Blessed Theodore, who, when commanded to converse with his mother, who had come to see him, said to the abbot: " Father, you command me to speak with my mother, but do you assure me that from the conversation I shall suffer no spiritual injury?" Afraid of the consequence, the abbot released the brother from the obligation that he had imposed upon him. It may be useful to remind abbesses and confessors, that if, without just cause, and only through caprice, or unreasonable human respect, or self-interest, or to avoid trouble, they hinder the greater progress of a religious, who seeks to run to God, they will certainly have to render to the Lord an account of their conduct. As to you, dear Sister, when they oblige you to see your relatives, obey; again I say, that I do not require of you never more to see your friends; but whenever necessity compels you to speak with them, I exhort you to observe the following rules: 1. Before you go to the grate, recommend yourself to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament or on the cross, and beg that he may assist you and preserve you from every fault in your conversation. 2. Take care not to imitate the religious who go to the parlour to amuse themselves, or to learn what passes in the world, and afterwards tell it to the whole Community. 3. Be careful not to make known to externs the internal affairs of the convent, and particularly what might tend to the discredit of the Superior or the sisters. 4. Should externs begin to speak on useless or worldly matters, such as marriages, balls, or fond attachments, break off, break off at once the conversation, and introduce some Christian maxim, or some fact from which you can draw a spiritual sentiment. You are not to learn the language of seculars, hut should teach them the language of religious, whose conversation should be always on the things of God. Time spent at the grate is not profitable to the soul; it is all lost, and for it you shall one day have to render an account to God. 5. Never seek a visit from your relatives. When they come, endeavor to withdraw from them as soon as possible; excuse your withdrawal by saying that you must attend to the duties of your office; that you must assist a person who is sick; or make some similar apology. Whoever wishes, easily finds very just reasons for taking leave of visitors. If you act in this manner, they will soon feel that their conversation is not very pleasing to you, and will come less frequently to disturb you. And be assured that the shorter their visits, the fewer will be your faults; and that the less frequently you see them, the more you will be recollected, and the greater will be the consolations that you will receive from Jesus Christ. The Venerable Sister Catharine, a Cistercian, because she became a nun against the consent of her parents, was altogether abandoned by them; but such was the joy that her Spouse poured into her soul, that she was accustomed to say: " I do not envy my sisters who are visited very frequently in the year by their parents, because as often as I wish, I go to my true father, Jesus, and to my dear mother, Mary, and they fill me with consolations." 6. Lastly, take care, above all things, not to implicate yourself in the temporal concerns of your relatives; such as marriages, contracts, expenses, or any similar affairs. If you do, you will lose all peace and recollection, and perhaps your immortal soul. " How many monks," says St. Jerome, " by compassion towards their father and mother have lost their own- souls ?"1 1 " Quanti monachorum, dum patris matrisque miserentur, suas animas perdiderunt!" Reg. Monach. de laude Relig. How many religious by compassion for their relatives have been lost ? In another place the saint says, that the more tender the affection of a religious for her kindred, the greater her impiety towards God. " Great piety towards relatives is impiety towards God." 1 And what greater impiety than that a nun should, for the service of her family, give up the service of God, neglect mental prayer, the sacraments, and expose herself to all the distractions that necessarily arise from the care of worldly affairs. St. Bernard exhorts his religious " to fly from such cares, as being diabolical." 2 St. Ignatius of Loyola refused to interfere in the marriage of one of his nieces, though she was the heiress of the family. St. Francis Borgia would not ask the Pope for a dispensation (which he would have easily obtained) to have his son married to a relative, although the acquisition of a large estate depended upon the 98 |