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The nun sanctified by the virtues of her state


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Again the saint says that God cheerfully lends his aid to all, however great their sinfulness may be, who with a firm resolution consecrate themselves entirely to his love. The meditations of a religious should always be concluded by strong resolutions. " Short prayer," says St. Teresa, " which produces great effects, is better than prayer continued for many years, but devoid of holy resolutions." 1 And of what use, I ask, is the meditation in which we are content with certain devout affections, and certain general petitions made through habit, but in which we never resolve to correct the faults we know to be an obstacle to our spiritual advancement ? 4. One of the most necessary resolutions is to remove as much as possible the occasions of our defects. The devil laughs at all our resolutions and promises of amendment as long as we expose ourselves to the occasions of sin. He once said that of all instructions that which treated on avoiding the occasions of sin was the most displeasing to him. A religious, then, should endeavor to discover the causes of her defects; she ought to examine if they arise from familiarity with any person within or without the monastery; from remaining in such a place; from keeping up a correspondence by letters or by presents, or from similar causes. St. Teresa says that if a soul does not relinquish worldly diversion she will soon begin to fall back in the way of the Lord; and that if all sinful occasions be taken away she will advance rapidly in the love of God. This great saint also says that a religious should communicate her temptations only to those who love perfection. If she disclose them to imperfect souls she will do injury to herself and to others. 5. A religious ought to be particularly exact in performing acts of the virtues opposed to the evil inclinations which are most troublesome to her, and which most frequently lead her into defects. 1 Life, ch. 30.
For example, if she is prone to pride, she should take particular care to humble herself before all, and to bear patiently all the humiliations that she receives from others. If she is addicted to greediness, she ought to abstain as much as possible from the indulgence of her appetite. They that are inclined to other defects should adopt similar means of conquering them. It will also, as Cassian observes, 1 be very useful to represent to ourselves, in the time of mental prayer, the occasions which may occur; as, for example, any insult or injury that we are likely to receive, and then to resolve to humble ourselves, and to be resigned to the divine will. Such previous resolutions (except with regard to temptations against chastity) prepare the soul for sudden and unforeseen contradictions. It was by this means that the saints were always prepared to bear with peace and joy all the derision, injuries, stripes, and injustices that they received. 6. It is also very useful to make the particular examination on the predominant passion, and to perform some penance as often as we yield to it. We must never cease to combat this passion until it is completely conquered; we must trust in the divine aid, and say with holy David: I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them ; and I will not turn again till they are consumed 2 I will persecute my enemies; I will beat them down, and will not cease to 42
combat them till they are utterly destroyed. Remember that however great your progress in virtue may be, it would be a fatal delusion to imagine that your passions are dead, for, although they may be extinguished for a time, they will again spring up as long as you remain in the body. 1 Collat. 10, c. 1 6. 2 " Persequar inimicos meos, et comprehendam illos; et non convertar, donee deficiant." Fs. xvii. 38.
" How muchsoever," says St. Bernard, " you have advanced here below, you err if you think your vices are not only suppressed, but dead." 1 Hence Cassian observes that to prevent the passions that you have subdued from resuming their sway, it is necessary to watch continually; for if you slacken your exertions they will return, and will rule your soul with still greater despotism. 7. To overcome any defect whatever, it is necessary, above all, to distrust altogether our own strength and exertions, and to place entire confidence in God, saying with David: For I will not trust in my bow; neither shall my sword save me 2 If we confide in our own resolutions and exertions our labor will be lost. We must therefore pray without ceasing for the divine assistance, continually crying out, Have mercy on me, O Lord; assist me O my God. Jesus Christ has promised that he who asks shall receive, and that he who seeks shall find; 3 but to obtain God’s gifts we must pray continually, and never cease to pray. We ought, says the Redeemer, always to pray and not to faint.4 Whenever we give up prayer we shall be defeated; but if we persevere in prayer, with a true desire of receiving the graces of God, though as yet we have not been conquerors, the victory shall, nevertheless, ultimately belong to us. 1 " Quantumlibet in hoc corpora manens profeceris, erras, si vitia putes emortua, et non magis suppressa." In Cant. s. 58. 2 " Non enim in arcu meo sperabo, et gladius meus non salvabit me." Ps. xliii. 7. 3 " Petite, et dabitur vobis; quaerite, et invenietis." Luke, xi. 9. 4 " Oportet semper orare, et non deficere." Luke, xviii. I.
Prayer. O my Jesus, look not on my ingratitude to Thee, after all Thy mercies, but turn Thy eyes to Thy own merits, and to the pains that Thou hast suffered for me, from the crib of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary. I repent, with my whole soul, of all the offences that I have offered to Thee. From this moment I consecrate to Thee my life, which I desire to spend in doing all that I can to obey and to love Thee. I love Thee, O my Redeemer, but I love Thee too little ; for Thy mercy’s sake, increase in my soul Thy love. Hear my prayer O Jesus, and make me, by Thy grace, continue to repeat this prayer. O love of my soul, O that my heart may burn continually with Thy love. I have offended Thee grievously ; but for the future I desire to love Thee intensely. I desire to love Thee alone, because Thou alone deservest to be loved above all things ; and I desire to love Thee for no other reason than because Thou art worthy of all love. O Mary, my mother and my hope, assist me.
CHAPTER VII. INTERIOR MORTIFICATION, OR ABNEGATION OF SELF-LOVE. OBEDIENCE. I. Necessity of combating Self-love. Practical Rules. THERE are two sorts of self-love : the one good, the other pernicious. The former is that which makes us seek eternal life the end of our creation; the latter inclines us to pursue earthly goods, and to prefer them to our everlasting welfare, and to the holy will of God. " The celestial Jerusalem, " 1.says St. Augustine, " is built up by loving God so as to condemn one s self; but the earthly city is raised by loving self so as to despise Almighty God." Hence, Jesus Christ has said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself: 2 Christian perfection, then, consists in self-abnegation. Whoever denies not himself, cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ. " The augmentation of charity," says St. Augustine, " is the diminution of cupidity: the perfection of charity is its destruction." 3 The less, then, a Christian desires to indulge passion, the more he will love God; and if he seeks nothing but God, he will then possess perfect charity. But in the present state of corrupt nature it is not possible to be altogether exempt from the molestation of self-love. 1 " Fecerunt civitates duas amores duo: terrenam, amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei; coelestem, amor Dei usque ad contemptum sui." De Civ. D. 1. 14, c. 28. 2" Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum." Matt. xvi. 24. 3" Nutrimentum charitatis est imminutio cupiditatis; perfectio, nulla cupiditas," De div. quæst q. 36.
Jesus alone among men, and Mary alone among women, have been free from its suggestions. All the other saints had to combat their irregular passions. The principal and the only care of a religious should be, to restrain the 43
inordinate inclinations of self-love. " To regulate the motions of the soul is," as St. Augustine says, " the office of interior mortification." 1 Unhappy the soul that suffers itself to be ruled by its own inclinations. " A domestic enemy," says St. Bernard, " is the worst of foes." 2 The devil and the world continually seek our destruction, but self-love is a still more dangerous enemy. " Self-love," says St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, " is like a worm which corrodes the roots of a plant, deprives us not only of fruit, but of life." In another place she says, " Self-love is the most deceitful of all enemies: like Judas, it betrays us with the kiss of peace. Whoever overcomes it conquers all. He that cannot cut it off by a single stroke should at least endeavor to destroy it by degrees." We must pray continually, in the language of Solomon: Give me not over to a shameless and foolish mind 3 O my God, do not abandon me to my foolish passions, that seek to destroy in my soul Thy holy fear, and even to deprive me of the use of my reason. Our whole life must be one continued contest. The life of a man upon earth, says Job, is a warfare. 4 " Now he that is placed in the front of battle must be always prepared for an attack: as soon as he ceases to defend himself he is conquered. 1 " Regere motus animi." Serm. 196, E. B. 2 " Magis nocet domesticus hostis." Medit. c. 13. 3" Animae irreverent! et infrunitse ne tradas me." Ecclus. xxiii. 6. 4 " Militia est vita hotninis super terram." Job vii 1
And here it is necessary to remark, that the soul should never cease to combat her passions, however great her victories over them may have been; for human passions, though conquered a thousand times, never die. " Believe me," says St. Bernard, " that after being cut off they bud forth again; and after being put to flight they return." 1 Hence by struggling with concupiscence we can only render its attacks less frequent, less violent, and more easy to be subdued. A certain monk complained to the Abbot Theodore that he had contended for eight years with his passions, and that still they were not extinguished. " Brother," replied the abbot, " you complain of this warfare of eight years, and I have spent seventy years in solitude, and during all that time I have not been for a single day free from assaults of passion." 3 We shall be subject during our mortal lives to the molestation of our passions. 2 " But," as St. Gregory says, " it is one thing to look at these monsters, and another to shelter them in our hearts." 3 It is one thing to hear their roar, and another to admit them into our souls, and suffer them to devour us. The human soul is a garden in which useless and noxious herbs constantly spring up: we must, therefore, by the practice of holy mortification continually hold the mattock in our hands to root them up and banish them from our hearts; otherwise our souls will become a wild, uncultivated waste, covered with briers and thorns. " Conquer yourself," was an expression always on the lips of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the text of his familiar discourses to his religious. Conquer self-love and break down your own will. Few (he would say) of those who practise mental prayer become saints, because few of them endeavor to overcome themselves. " Of a hundred persons," says the saint, " devoted to prayer, more than ninety are self-willed." Hence he preferred a single act of mortification of selfwill to long prayer, accompanied with many spiritual consolations. 1 "Credite mihi.et putata repullulant, et effugata redeunt." In Cant. s. 58. 2 Vit. Patr. 1 5, libel. 7, n. 5. 3 " Aliud est has bestias in campo operis sævientes aspiccre, aliud intra cord is caveam frementes tenere." Mor. 1. 6, c. 22.
" What does it avail," says Gilbert, " to close the gates, if famine the internal enemy produce general affliction ? 1 What does it profit us to mortify the exterior senses and to perform exercises of devotion while at the same time we cherish in our hearts rancor, ambition, attachment to self-will and to self-esteem, or any other passion which brings ruin on the soul ? St. Francis Borgia says that prayer introduces the love of God into the soul, but mortification prepares a place for it, by banishing from the heart earthly affections the most powerful obstacles to charity. Whoever goes for water to the fountain must cleanse the vessel of the earth which it may contain; otherwise he will bring back mire instead of water. " Prayer without mortification," says Father Balthasar Alvarez, " is either an illusion, or lasts but for a short time." And St. Ignatius asserts that a mortified Christian acquires a more perfect union with God in a quarter of an hour s prayer, than an unmortified soul does by praying for several hours. Hence, whenever he heard that any one spent a great deal of time in mental prayer, he said: " It is a sign that he practises great mortification." There are some religious who perform a great many exercises of devotion, who practise frequent Communion, long meditations, fasting, and other corporal austerities, but make no effort to overcome certain little passions for example, certain resentments, aversions, curiosity, and certain dangerous affections. They will not submit to any 44
contradiction; they will not give up attachment to certain persons, nor subject their will to the commands of their Superiors, or to the holy will of God. 1 " Quid proficit clauses esse aditus, si intus hostis fames cuncta contristat ?"In Cant. s. 26.
What progress can they make in perfection ? Unhappy souls! they will be always imperfect: always out of the way of sanctity. " They," says St. Augustine, " run well, but out of the way." They imagine that they run well because they practise the works of piety which their own self-will suggests; but they shall be forever out of the way of perfection, which consists in conquering self. " Thou shalt advance," says the devout Thomas a Kempis, " in proportion to the violence thou shalt have offered to thyself." 1 I do not mean to censure vocal prayer, or acts of penance, or the other spiritual works. But, because all exercises of devotion are but the means of practising virtue, the soul should seek in them only the conquest of its passions. Hence, in our Communions, meditations, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and other similar exercises, we ought always to beseech Almighty God to give us strength to practise humility, mortification, obedience, and conformity to his holy will. In every Christian it is a defect to act from a motive of self-satisfaction. But in a religious who makes a particular profession of perfection and mortification it is a much greater fault. " God," says Lactantius, " calls to life by labor; the devil, to death by delights." The Lord brings his servants to eternal life by mortification; but the devil leads sinners to everlasting death by pleasure and self-indulgence. Even works of piety must be always undertaken with a spirit of detachment; so that whenever our efforts are unsuccessful we shall not be disturbed, and when our exercises of devotion are prohibited by the Superior we shall give them up with cheerfulness. Self-attachment of every kind hinders a perfect union with God. We must therefore seriously and firmly resolve to mortify our passions, and not to submit to be their slaves.
1 " Tantum proficies, quantum tibi ipsi vim intuleris. " Imit. Chr. 1. i.c. 23.
External as well as interior mortification is necessary for perfection: but with this difference, that the former should be practised with discretion; the latter without discretion, and with fervor. What does it profit us to mortify the body while the passions of the heart are indulged ? " Of what use is it," says St. Jerome, " to reduce the body by abstinence, if the soul is swelled with pride ? 1 or to abstain from wine, and to be inebriated with hatred ?" It is useless to chastise the body by fasting while pride inflates the heart to such a degree that we cannot bear a word of contempt or the refusal of a request. In vain do we abstain from wine while the soul is intoxicated with anger against all who thwart our designs or oppose our inclinations. No wonder, then, that St. Bernard deplored the miserable state of religious who wear the external garb of humility, and at the same time inwardly cherish their passions. " They," says the saint, "are not divested of their vices: they only cover them by the outward sign of penance." By attention to the mortification of self-love we shall become saints in a short time, and without the risk of injury to health; for since God is the only witness of interior acts, they will not expose us to the danger of being puffed up with pride. Oh ! what treasures of virtue and of merits are laid up by stifling in their very birth those little inordinate desires and affections, those bickerings, those suggestions of curiosity, those bursts of wit and humor, and all similar effects of self- love ! When you are contradicted, give up your opinion with cheerfulness, unless the glory of God require that you maintain it. When feelings of self-esteem spring up in your heart, make a sacrifice of them to Jesus Christ. If you receive a letter, restrain your curiosity, and abstain from opening it for some time. 1 "Quid prodest tenuari abstinentia, si animus intumescit superbia? Quid vinum non bibere, et odio inebriuri ?" -Ep. Ad celant.
If you desire to read the termination of an interesting narrative, lay aside the book, and defer the reading of it to another time. When you feel inclined to mirth, to pull a flower, or to look at any object, suppress these inclinations for the love of Jesus Christ, and deprive yourself for his sake of the pleasure of indulging them. A thousand acts of this kind may be performed in the day. Father Leonard of Port Maurice relates that a servant of God performed eight acts of mortification in eating an egg, and that it was afterwards revealed to her that as the reward of her selfdenial eight degrees of grace and as many degrees of glory were bestowed upon her. It is also narrated of St. Dositheus, that by similar mortifications of the interior he arrived in a short time at a high degree of perfection. Though unable, in consequence of bodily infirmities, to fast or to discharge the other duties of the Community, he attained so perfect an union with God, that the other monks, struck with wonder at his sublime sanctity, asked him what exercises of virtue he performed. " The exercise," replied the saint, " to which I have principally attended is the mortification of all self-will." Blessed Joseph Calasanctius used to say that " the day which is spent without mortification is lost." To convince us of the necessity of mortification, the Redeemer has chosen a life of self-denial, full of pains and ignominy, and destitute of all sensible pleasure. Hence he is called by Isaias a man of sorrows. 1 He might have saved the world, 45
amid the enjoyment of honors and delights; but he preferred to redeem it by sorrows and contempt. Who having joy set before him, endured the cross." 2 To give us an example, he renounced the joy which was set before him, and embraced the cross. 1 " Virum dolorum." Is. liii. 3. 2 " Proposito sihi gaudio, sustinuit crucem." Hebr. xii. 2.
"Reflect again and again," says St. Bernard, " on the life of Jesus, and you will find him always on the cross." 1 The Redeemer revealed to St. Catharine of Bologna that the sorrows of his passion began in his mother’s womb. For his birth he selected the season, the place, and the hour most adapted to excite pain. During life he chose to be poor, unknown, despised; and, dying, he preferred the most painful, the most ignominious, and the most desolate of all sorts of death which human nature could suffer. St. Catharine of Sienna used to say, that as a mother takes the bitterest medicine to restore the health of the infant she suckles, so Jesus Christ has assumed all the pains of life to heal the infirmities of his children. Thus he invites all his followers to accompany him to the mountain of myrrh; that is, of bitterness and of sorrows. I will go to the mountain of myrrh 2 Behold, he invites us to follow him if we wish for his company. " Do you come," says St. Peter Damian, " to Jesus crucified ? If you do, you must come already crucified, or to be crucified." : If, O sacred spouse, you come to embrace your crucified Saviour, you must bring with you a heart already crucified, or to be crucified. 3 Speaking especially of his virginal spouses, Jesus Christ said to blessed Baptist Varani: The crucified Bridegroom desires a crucified spouse. Hence, to be the true spouses of Jesus, religious must lead lives of continual mortification and self-denial. Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus. 4 They must never seek their own satisfaction, in any action or desire, but the pleasure of Jesus Christ, crucifying for his sake all their inclinations. 1 " Volve et revolve vitam Jesu; semper eum invenies in cruce." 2 " Vadam ad montem myrrhæ." Cant. iv. 6. 3 " Venis ad Crucifixum ? Crucifixus venias, aut crucifigendus." De Exali. S. Cruc. s. I. 4 " Semper mortificationem Jesu in corpore nostro circumferentes. " 2 Cor iv.10
They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences 1; Religious, if they expect to be recognized as the spouses of the Redeemer, must transfix all their passions. Let us now see what are the means by which the spirit of interior mortification may be acquired. I. The first means is, to discover the passion which predominates in our heart, and which most frequently leads us into sin; and then to endeavor to conquer it. St. Gregory says, that to overcome the devil we must avail ourselves of the artifices by which he seeks our destruction. He labors continually to increase in us the violence of the passion to which we are most subject; and we must direct our attention principally to the extirpation of that passion. Whoever subdues his predominant passion will easily conquer all other evil inclinations; but he that is under its sway can make no progress in perfection. " Of what advantage," says St. Ephrem, "are wings to the eagle when his foot is chained ?"2 Oh ! how many religious are there who, like the royal eagle, are capable of lofty flights in the way of God, and who, because they are bound by earthly attachments, never fly, and never advance in holiness. St. John of the Cross says, that a slender thread is sufficient to fetter a soul that flies not with eagerness to its God. Besides, he that submits to the tyranny of any passion, not only does not go forward in the way of virtue, but is exposed to great danger of being lost. If a religious neglects to subdue her ruling passion, other mortifications will be unprofitable to her. 1 "Qui sunt Christi, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum vitiis et concupiscentiis. " Gal. v. 24. 2 " Quid aquilæ prosunt alæ, capto pede ?"
Some despise worldly riches, but are full of self-esteem. If they do not endeavor to bear the humiliations which they receive, their contempt of mammon will profit them but little. Others, on the contrary, are patient and humble, but enslaved to the love of money. If they do not mortify the desire of wealth, their patience and humility in bearing with contempt will be of little use to them. O sacred virgin, resolve then, with a resolute will, to subdue the evil inclination which is most predominant in your heart. A resolute will, aided by the grace of God (which is never wanting), conquers all difficulties. St. Francis de Sales was very prone to anger; but by continual violence to himself he became a model of meekness and of sweetness. We read in his life that he bore without murmur or complaint the injuries and calumnies which, to try his patience, were by the divine permission heaped upon him. As soon as one passion is subdued we must endeavor to overcome the others; for a single unmortified passion will be sufficient to lead the soul to destruction. St. Joseph Calasanctius asserts that while a single passion reigns in a heart, though all the others should have been extirpated, the soul shall never enjoy tranquillity. "A ship," says St. Cyril, " however strong and perfect it may be, will be unsafe 46
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