The nun sanctified by the virtues of her state
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| 6. Let us, in the third place, examine what is of the greatest importance, the conditions with which it is necessary to pray. It is necessary, in the first place, to pray with humility. "God," says St. James, "resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" — iy. 6. God rejects the prayers of the proud, and does not listen to them; their pride is a wall which hinders the Lord to hear their petitions. But, on the other hand, Ecclesiasticus says, that « the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds and he will not depart till the Most High behold" xxxv. 21. The prayer of an humble soul, that esteems herself unworthy of being heard, penetrates the heavens, and is presented at the throne of God; and she departs not till God beholds and hears her petitions. When, therefore, we ask the divine graces, we must first give a glance at our own un worthiness, particularly at the frequent infidelities into which, because we trusted too much in our own strength we have fallen, after so many resolutions and promises. And full of diffidence in ourselves, we should pray, and implore of the divine mercy the aid which we stand in need of.
390 THE TRUE 7. Secondly, it is necessary to pray with confidence. Ecclesiasticus says, that no one has ever trusted in the Lord and has been confounded, or not heard. — ii. 11. We should, as St. James says, pray without wavering, and with a secure confidence of being heard. " Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering" — i. 6. The apostle adds: " For he that wavereth, is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind. Therefore, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord" — Loc. cit. id. He says, that the man who prays with a doubt of being heard, being tossed like a wave of the sea, encouraged by one thought and disheartened by another, shall receive nothing from the Lord. We must, then, trust in the divine mercy, and believe that if we pray we shall certainly receive the graces we ask; our prayer then shall be certainly heard, and, as our Saviour assures us, the object of our petitions shall certainly be granted. "All things whatsoever you ask, when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come anto j^ou" — Mark xi. 24. But, says St. Augustine, how can we fear that our prayers shall not be heard, when God (who is truth itself) has promised to hear all who pray to him. "Quis f alii metuat dum promissit Veritas ?" — Lib. 22, de Civ. Dei. c. 8. In another place the saint asks, how can that God who so frequently exhorts us in the Scriptures to pray for his graces, refuse what we ask of him ? " Hortatur ut petas, negabit quod petis ?" No; this is impossible, adds the holy doctor, for by his promises the Lord has obliged himself to grant us the graces we demand of him. " By his promises he made himself a debtor" — S. Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. 2. 8. But, you will say, I am a sinner, I deserve chastisement and not favours; and, therefore, I am afraid, because I am not worthy to be heard. But St. Thomas answers, that the efficacy of prayer to obtain the divine graces depends not on our merits, but on the mercy of God. " Oratio in impetrando non inmititur nostris meritis, sed soli divinaa misericordiae" — 2. 2. q. 178. a. 2. ad. 1. Hence, Jesus Christ has said: " Ask, and it shall be given you, .... for every one that asketh receiveth" — Luke xi. 9, 10. "Every one," says the author of the Imperfect Work, "whether he be a just man or a sinner" — Horn. 18. The Lord has promised to hear the prayers of all, not only of the just but also of sinners. But to remove every apprehension, our loving Redeemer has said in another place: "Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you" — John xvi. 23. As if he said — sinners, you have no claim to be heard by my Father; SPOUSE OF CHRIST. 391 ask his graces then in my name; that is, through my merits, and I promise that he will give whatsoever you ask. How consoling the words of St. James: "If any want wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men abundantly and upbraideth not" — i. 5. If, says the apostle, 'any of you want wisdom — that is, the divine love, what is he to do ? Let him ask it of God, who usually dispenses his graces with a liberal hand; that is, he bestows greater favours than are asked of him. He adds, and he " upbraideth not;" that is, when we ask of God his gifts, he does not reject our petition and upbraid us with the insults we have offered to him, but appears then to forget all our ingratitude; he accepts our homage and hears our prayer. 9. Thirdly, it is necessary to pray with perseverance. St. Hilary says that to obtain the divine graces it depends on our continuance in prayer. " Obtineri in sola precum mora est" — Cant. 6, in Matt. The Lord wishes to hear some the first time, others the second, and others the third time. Hence, since we know not how often we are to present our supplications in order to be heard, we must always continue to ask the graces we stand in need of, and particularly the gift of final perseverance, which (as the Council of Trent teaches, Sess. 6, c. 13) we cannot merit. But St. Augustine says it may be merited in a certain manner by prayer; that is, by praying for it, it is surely obtained. " Hoc ergo donum Dei (preseverantiae) suppliciter emereri potest, idest supplicando impetrari" — De donopers. c. 6. But to obtain this gift, and to be saved, it is, as St Thomas observes, necessary for every one to ask it continually of God. " In order to enter heaven, continual prayer is necessary" — 3. p. q. 39. a. 5. And before him our Saviour said the same: " We ought to pray always, and not to faint" — Luke xviii. 1. And the Apostle says: " Pray without ceasing" — 1 Thess. v. 17. It is not enough, says Cardinal Bellarmine, to ask the gift of perseverance once or a few times; in order to obtain it every day, we must ask it every day. " Quotidie petenda est ut quotidie obtineatur." On the day we neglect to ask it, we may fall into sin and be lost. 10. St. Gregory teaches, that God wishes to give us perseverance, but in order to give it he wishes to be importuned, and as it were, forced by our prayers. "God," says the holy doctor, " wishes to be asked, he wishes to be forced, he wishes, in a certain manner, to be overcome by importunity" — In JPs. 6, poen. This appears from the repeated exhortations of our Lord: "Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be 392 THE TRUE opened to you" — Luke xi. 9. Ask, seek, knock; this is necessary, particularly to obtain strength to conquer violent temptations: we must pray and multiply prayers until we are freed from the temptations. Let us continually repeat: My Jesus, mercy; Lord, assist me; do not permit me to be separated from thee. It is also necessary to ask always the spirit of prayer, or the grace to pray continually — that great gift, which God has promised to the family of David. " And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers" — Zach. xii. 10. Mark the words " of grace and of prayers;" which mean, that prayer is alw&ys united to the grace we desire. He who perseveres in prayer may be certain of not being taken in the snares of his enemies. "A net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings" — Prov. i. 17. In vain, says the wise man, is the net cast before the eyes of the bird; for it instantly flies away and escapes. Thus, they who pray escape all temptations; for by prayer they instantly fly to God, and he delivers them. And let us remember that there never can be any excuse for a sinner who says that he fell because he had not strength to resist; for the Council of Trent has declared that " God does not command impossibilities, but by his precepts he admonishes you to do what you can, and to ask what you cannot do, and he assists you that you may be able to do it" — Sess. 11. God does not command impossibilities; but in giving us his precepts, he admonishes us to do what we can with the ordinary grace which he gives to all; and in order to be able to do what we cannot do with the ordinary grace, he admonishes us to ask the additional helps which we stand in need of; and whenever we ask them he is ready to grant them. 11. The Lord, then, hears the prayers of all, because he has promised to hear them; but it is necessary to know that this promise does not extend to temporal favours — such as bodily health, the acquisition of wealth, or the attainment of a post of honour, and the like. For God frequently, and justly, refuses these gifts, because he knows that they would be injurious to the soul. " The physician," says St. Augustine, "knows better than the patient what is useful for him" — Tom. 3, c. 212. It is not the sick man, but the physician who cures his malady, that knows what is most conducive to his recovery. If these temporal favours be the object of prayer, they should be asked with resignation, and on the condition that they will be conducive to our eternal salvation: if we ask them without this resignation, the Lord will not listen to our prayers. But in praying for SPOUSB OP CHRIST. 393 spiritual blessings, we must pray not conditionally, but absolutely, and with a firm confidence of obtaining them. Behold how our Saviour encourages us to ask such graces: " If you, then," he says, " being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good spirit to them that ask it ?" — Zdike xi. 13. If you, said our Lord, who are evil, and full of self-love, cannot refuse your children what they ask, how much more will your heavenly Father, who loves you more tenderly than the fondest parent loves an only son, grant the good spirit, that is, the graces which are profitable to the soul, whenever we ask them from him ? 12. O God ! how often are the prayers of certain persons offered for temporal graces only ? The time of prayer, says St. Teresa, is not a time for treating with God on matters of little importance. Let us ask for virtues, for the divine light in order to fulfil the divine will: let us ask for meekness, for patience under crosses, for perseverance, and for divine love, which, as St. Francis de Sales says, contains all other good gifts: let us ask the grace to pray always, and to recommend ourselves continually to God. " If," says St. Augustine, " thou dost not hear these prayers of thy servants, what wilt thou hear?" — De Civ. c. 8. 0 my Lord, what petition wilt thou grant if thou neglect these that are so pleasing to thee ? Ah ! the Lord desires ardently to enrich us with his gifts, because he is infinite goodness ! So great is his desire that, as St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi says, when we ask his graces, he, in a certain manner, considers himself under an obligation to us, and thanks us, because we then give him an opportunity of satisfying his desire of promoting our welfare. If he does not bestow his graces upon us, the fault is ours: it is because we do not ask them of him. He, then, who remains in his poverty, is undeserving of compassion: he is poor because he does not wish to ask of God the graces which are necessary for him. Hence, St. Teresa used to say that she would have wished to ascend a mountain, from which she could be heard by all men, and from which she would continually exclaim: "O men, pray ! pray ! pray." 13. I will not dilate more on this subject, because, as I have said in the beginning, I have written at length on it in several places, and particularly in the little book on prayer (which is now in the hands of many,) and therefore 1 will not weary those who have read it by repeating the same things. But I would wish to do nothing else than write, and speak always on this great means of prayer; for, on the one hand, I see that the holy Scriptures, the Old as 394 THE TRUE well as the New Testament, exhort us so often to pray, to ask, and cry out, if we wish for the divine graces. " Cry to me, and I will hear thee" — Jer. xxxiii. 3. " Call on me and I will deliver thee" — J°s. xlix. 15. "Ask, and it shall be given you" — Matt. vii. 7. "All things whatsoever you ask, when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you" — Mark xi. 24. "You shall ask whatsoever you will, and it shall be done unto you" — John xv. 1. " If you shall ask me anything in my name, that I will do" — John xiv. 14. There are a thousand similar passages. I know not how the Lord could better declare this desire to bestow his graces upon us, or the necessity we are under of asking them, if we wished to obtain them. The holy fathers, also, continually exhort us to pray. And to speak the truth, I complain of preachers, of confessors, and of spiritual writers, because I see that neither preachers, nor confessors, nor spiritual writers speak as much as they ought of the great means of prayer. And in so many courses of lenten sermons which have been published, where shall we find a discourse on prayer ? Scarcely do we find a few passing words on it. Hence, I have written at length on this subject in so many of my little works; and when I preach, I do nothing else than say and repeat: pray! pray! if you wish to be saved, and to become saints. It is true that to become saints we must have all virtues, mortifications, humility, obedience, and principally holy charity; and to acquire these virtues, other means besides prayer are necessary — such as meditation, communion, holy resolutions; but unless we pray, all our meditations, communions, and resolutions will not make us practice either mortifications, or humility, or obedience: we shall neither love God nor resist temptation; in a word, we shall do no good. Hence, St. Paul, after having enumerated many virtues necessary for a Christian, tells us to be "instant in prayer," Bom. xii. 12,) in order, as St. Thomas says, to show that or the attainment of the virtues we stand in need of, it is necessary to attend to constant prayer, because without it we shall not have the divine aid, which is necessary for the practice of virtue. 14. Let us conclude. Blessed sister of the Lord, if you wish to be saved and become a saint, recommend yourself always to Jesus Christ, to his divine Mother, to your angel guardian, and to your holy advocates. Keep your mouth always open, and your heart always vigilant, saying: "My God, assist me; my God, assist me; most holy Mary^ pray for me; my holy Angel-guardian and my holy advocates, assist me. The great servant of God, and the great mission- SPOUSE OP CHRIST. 305 ary, Father Leonard of Port Maurice (who died a few years since at Rome, with the reputation of a saint,) used to say, that we should not allow a moment to pass without repeating with the tongue, or in the mind, the little prayer — My Jesus mercy ! My Jesus mercy ! These words, he would say, contain an act of sorrow .and a prayer for grace to sin no more. He relates, in his most beautiful work (The Sacred Manual for Nuns,) that he knew a holy man who always repeated these words, My Jesus, mercy ! so that he sometimes repeated them three hundred times in a quarter of an hour. I advise you to do the same; endeavour to repeat this prayer as often as you remember it: when you awake, at your meditations, after communion, at your work, at your recreations, at table, and at the grate, repeat continually: My Jesus, mercy! My Jesus, mercy ! And in repeating it let your intention be to say: My Jesus, by my sins I would deserve hell, but trusting in thy mercy, I hope for pardon and grace to love thee always: my Jesus, assist me And do not forget to recommend yourself to the divine mother, who is called the treasurer and dispensatrix of the divine graces. Hence, St. Bernard says: " Let us ask grace, and let us ask it through Mary; for what she seeks she finds, and she cannot be disappointed" — Serm. de Aquaed. PRAYER. (It would be advisable to repeat the following prayer every day.) Eternal Father, thy Son has promised that thou wilt grant us all the graces which we shall ask of thee in his name. Trusting, then, in this great promise, I, in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, ask of thee the following graces; and what I ask for myself, I intend to ask for all men. First, I ask the pardon of all the offences I have offered to thee, for which I am sorry above all things with my whole heart, because I have despised thy infinite goodness; and I purpose to die a thousand times rather than ever more offend thee. Secondly, I ask thy divine light, which will make me see the vanity of all the goods of this earth, and thy infinite greatness and goodness. Thirdly, I ask thy holy love, which will detach me from all creatures, and particularly from myself, that I may love nothing but thee and thy most holy will. Enkindle the fire of thy love in my heart. Fourthly, give me confidence in the merits of Jesus Christ, and in the patronage of Mary. Fifthly, I ask holy perseverance in thy grace. Lord, thou knowest my weakness and my frequent infidelities after so many promises; if thou do not constantly assist me with 396 THE TRUE thy aid, I shall again miserably lose thy graces: my God, do not permit me to be separated from thee. I purpose, in all my temptations and necessities, to have recourse to thee; and \ am certain that as often as I recommend myself to thee, I shall receive thy aid; but I fear that I shall neglect to have recourse to thee, and that this neglect may be the cause of my ruin. Ah ! Eternal Father, through the love which thou dost bear to Jesus Christ, grant me the grace of prayer, that is, the grace to pray to thee always for thy aid, always repeating: My God, assist me; my Jesus, mercy; Mary, my mother, pray for me. To thee, in fine, I turn, O Mary, my advocate and hope; thou dost obtain from God whatsoever thou askest. I entreat thee, through the love which thou bearest to Jesus Christ, to obtain for me holy perseverance and the grace to recommend myself always to thy Son and to thee. Amen. CHAPTER XXI. On devotion to most holy Mary* 1. Oh ! how great the grounds of hope of the soul that trusts in the intercession of this great Mother of God. Behold the words which the holy Church applies to Mary on * In a notice to the reader, prefixed to the Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus explains the sense in which he wished his doctrine regarding the privileges of the Blessed Virgin to be understood. He concludes this explanation in the following words: "Then, to say all in a few words, the God of all holiness, in order to glorify the Mother of the Redeemer, has decreed and ordained that her great charity should pray for all those for whom her divine Son has paid and offered the most superabundant price of his precious blood, in which alone is our salvation, life, and resurrection. And, on the foundation of this doctrine, and inasmuch as they accord with it, I have intended to lay down my propositions which the saints, in their affectionate colloquies with Mary, and in their fervent discourses upon her, have not hesitated to assert" — Glories of Mary, Monza edition, vol. I, p. 1 1, 12. In the third chapter of the first volume (p. 123, 124,) St. Alphonsus compares the hope which we place in the Blessed Virgin to the confidence which a person has in a minister of state, whom ne asks to procure a favour from his sovereign. "Whatsoever Mary obtains for us, she obtains it through the merits of Jesus Christ, and because she prays in the name of Jesus Christ" — Glories of Mary, vol. 1, p. 88. " Mary, then, is said to be omnipotent in the mann :t in which omnipotence can be understood of a creature; for a creature is incapable of a divine attribute. Hence, she is omnipotent, inasmuch as she obtains by her prayers whatever she asks" — Ibid., p. 223. To obtain favours through the intercession of Mary, by practicing devout exercises in her honour, " the first condition is, that we perform our devotions with a soul free from sin, or at least with a desire to give up sin." SPOUSE OP CHRIST. 391 her festivals: "He tnat shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord" — Prov. viii. 35. He that shall find me, says Mary, shall find the life of grace here and eternal glory hereafter. Addressing the divine Mother, St. Anselm says: "Virgo benedictissima, sicut impossibile est, ut ate a versus, et a te despectus salveter: ita ad te conversus, et a te respectus impossibile est ut pereat" — De excel. Virg. cap. 4. The saint says that as it is impossible for a person not devoted to, and protected by Mary, to be saved, so, on the other hand, it is impossible for him to be lost who recommends himself to Mary, and is regarded by her with love. St. Antonine says that all those who are defended by this great queen are necessarilv saved: "Necessarium est quod hi, ad quos Maria convertit oculos suos, pro eis advocans, salventur et glorificentur" — Part 4, tit. 50. St. Bonaventure writes that they who obtain the protection of Mary shall, even while they live on this earth, be acknowledged as companions by the saints in glory, and that they who shall carry the badge of servant of Mary, shall be written in the book of life: " Qui acquirit gratiam Mariae, cognoscetur a civibus paradisi: et qui habuerit hune characterem, adnotabitur in libro vitae" — In Psal. Thus, to be devoted to Mary is a mark of predestination. The angelic doctor says that Mary is called "the Star of the Sea," because, as navigators are directed to the port by means of the pole star, so Christians are guided to paradise by Mary: " Sicut navigantes per stellam d& portum diriguntur, ita et Christiani diriguntur ad gloriam per Mariam" — Opusc. 1. 2. Should a person truly devoted to Mary be lost (I will hereafter explain what is meant by a true client of Mary,) it would be because she is either unable or unwilling to assist him. " But no," says St. Bernard, " she can neither want the power nor the will" — Horn. 2, in Missus est. It is impossible for a true and persevering client of Mary to be lost; because she can neither want the power nor the will to assist him. Let us, then, see, in the first place, how great is Mary's power before God in favour of her clients. To inspire us with confidence in this great advocate, the holy Church invokes her under the title of powerful Virgin — ■Vtrgo pote?is f ora pro nobis. Yes, that God who is omnipotent, has, as she herself has said, given her great power. " He that is mighty hath done great things to me" Luke i. Hence, St. Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, has " If a person wish to commit sin with the hope of being saved by the Blessed Virgin, he shall thus render himself unworthy and incapable of her protection" — Vol. 2, p. 325, 326. 398 THE TRUE written: " The Son is pleased that the Mot'ner should pray to him, because he wishes to grant her whatever she asks, in order to repay her for the favour received from her in giving him flesh." St. Bridget heard Jesus say to Mary: "Ask what you wish from me, for your petition cannot be fruitless" — Rev. lib. 1, cap. 3. My mother, ask of me what you wish: you know that I cannot reject any of your petitions. He then added: " Because you refused me nothing on earth, I will refuse nothing to you in heaven." You refused me nothing while I lived on earth, it is right that I refuse you nothing now that you are with me in heaven. 3. But what is the principal reason why the prayers of Mary are so powerful before God? St. Antonine says: "The prayer of the Mother of God partakes of the nature of a command; hence, it is impossible that she should not be heard" — Part 4, tit. 15, cap. 17. sec. 14. The prayers of Mary being the prayers of a mother, partake in a certain manner of the nature of a command, and therefore they cannot be rejected. Hence, Blessed Albertus Magnus used to repeat the words of the Church, " montra te esse matrem," in this sense: O Lady, show thyself a mother; ask thy Son, as his mother, to have mercy on us. Cosmas of Jerusalem asserts that the protection of Mary is omnipotent; "Omnipotens auxilium tuum, O Maria." Yes, says Richard of St. Laurence, it is but just that the mother should share the power of the Son: " Cum autem eadem sit potestas filii et matris, ab omnipotente Filio omnipotens mater facta est" — Lib. 5 X de Laud. Virg*. The Son is omnipotent by nature, the mother is omnipotent by grace; that i% she obtains by her prayers whatsoever she wishes. |