Chapter I - Of the Heart and its Government
- Through love of God, though shalt readily accomplish whatsoever thou wilt...whereas if by thy own forces thou attempt anything, thou wilt effect nothing.
- Man's life on earth is a continual warfare...In this warfare thou must watch, and thy watching must consist in purifying and quieting thy spirit in all its motions.
- When any sudden storm of passions and sensual unquietness ariseth in thy soul, be always ready with speed to settle and pacify the same, in not granting it too much liberty to start or wander out of the right way.
- Note that thou do this ever, not with force or violence, but with great mildness; for thy principal exercise must be to quiet thy soul and heart...that always they be at rest.
Chapter II - Of the Soul's care to settle herself in quietness
- When thou hast attained to this good peace, thou shalt without toil or travail, be led to great matters in much security, and shalt obey and suffer injuries without disturbance.
- If at any time thou be so afflicted that thou canst not attain this quietness, then fly thou to prayer, after the example of our Savior in the garden, and depart not from it, but persevere as did He, until thou find thy will conformable to God's will, being pacified and reposed.
- When we endeavor that all things be done conformable to our own will, then, whatsoever falleth out otherwise, doth afflict, trouble and disquiet us.
Chapter III - How this dwelling of peace is built by little and little
- Our Lord saith, "Blessed are the peaceable." All that He requireth of thee is that, when thy passions raise thee up, thou shouldest sit down again, keeping thyself quiet in all thy works, thoughts and emotions.
- But as a house is not built in one day, so thou must not think in one day to attain to this perfect peace and inward rest.
- The foundation of [the spiritual house] is humility.
Chapter IV - To obtain this quiet the soul must rid of all other comfort
- Thou must be earnest to embrace tribulations, and esteem them as thy sisters, and wish to be despised by all men, and that none do comfort thee but God. Let this be thy settled persuasion, that only God is thy whole joy, and that all other things be but thorns to thee.
- Think thou to thyself, that if thou wert led to some place, where thou shouldst receive some disgrace and affornt, yet thou wouldst go willingly and with joy, being sure that God is with thee.
- Thou must also force thyself to be glad whe nanyone wrongeth thee with injurious words, and despiseth or rebuketh thee.
- To suffer with Christ crucified is the only true glory; but to follow one's own will and desires, endeth in perdition.
- When thy will desireth anything that seemeth holy, yet be not hasty, but submit all to God in great humility, beseeching of Him that His will alone may be done in thee.
- And do thou acknowledge how easily thou mayest be deceived under the appearance of good, by indiscreet zeal, which - like a false prophet - sheweth the look of a lamb, but is inwardly a ravening wolf. For whatsoever separateth the soul from humility, and leaveth her in vexation and unquietness, sheweth by its fruits that it is a wolf, and not a sheep.
- If it chance thee to fall, be not troubled. Humble thyself only again before our Lord, and, acknowledging thy weakness, be advised against some other occasion. For [it may be that] God permitted it so to fall out, to abate some secret pride, which is in thee, unknown to thyself.
Chapter V - How the soul must be in solitude that God may work
- Seeing that thy soul is the temple of God, in which He doth lodge, do thou keep it void of all other things for Him alone. For alone He desireth to find thee, alone without thoughts, alone without desires, alone without thy own will.
- Do not thy will, but let God's will be done in thee.
- O holy solitariness! O wilderness of joy, where we may be alone with God. Take off thy shoes and enter this holy ground, O my soul!
Monday, January 15, 2018
Sunday, August 21, 2016
The 12 Steps to Holiness & Salvation: Chapter 3 - THE LOVE OF GOD (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
He who loves God because he finds in Him his own happiness has an interested, a selfish love, which really belongs to the virtue of hope and not to love. But he who loves God because for His own sake He deserves to be loved, has the true and genuine love of friendship.
The perfect love of God, however, does not exclude the hope of Heaven.
All perfection consists in the love of God. All the other virtues are of no account unless they are accompanied by love.
He who loves another is very careful to cause him no offense; on the contrary, he is eager to do what will afford him pleasure.
The first and greatest commandment which the Lord has given us bids us love Him with our whole heart. "Son, give me thy heart." (Prov 23:26)
As a reward for this love, God promises to give us Himself: "I am thy protector and thy reward exceedingly great." (Gen 15:1)
"I love them that love me." (Prov 8:17)
"He that abideth in charity, abideth in God and God in him." (1 Jn 4:16)
"He that loveth me shall be loved by my Father; and I will love him." (Jn 14:21)
Illustrious people are proud of the fact that their nobility goes back five hundred or a thousand years; the nobility of God is from all eternity. Who is greater than God? He is Lord of all.
St. Augustine says that the efforts of God to bestow favors on us are greater even than our desire to receive them. He never permits anything we do for love of Him to go unrewarded.
We must therefore love God from our hearts because He is worthy of all love. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." (Jer 31:3)
Those who loved us first on earth were our parents; but they began to love us only when they began to know us; God, on the contrary, loved us before we had an existence. Even before our parents lived, God loved us.
NATURE BIDS US LOVE GOD
"Heaven and earth cry out," says St. Augustine. "Everything I see speaks and urges me to love Thee my Lord; all creatures tell me Thou hast created them for love of me."
When St. Teresa looked at the trees or flowers or the meadows and brooks, she said they accused her of ingratitude and chided her with her little love for a Creator who had called all these things into being just to be loved by her.
THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST A PROOF OF LOVE
How could Our Lord have better proved His love for us than by suffering so many pains and such contempt and by ending His life in bitter agony on the Cross?
But alas, we have grown so accustomed to hear of the Incarnation and the Redemption, of a God born in a stable, a God that was scoured and crowned and crucified, that it makes but little impression on us.
If Jesus Christ is not loved by mankind, it is because so few thing of the love He has shown them.
St. Paul says, "the charity of Christ presseth us." (2 Cor 5:14)
and, "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness." (1 Cor 1:23)
Yes, says St. Gregory, it seemed foolishness for them that the Author of life should die for men.
And why has Jesus done all this? He has done it, says St. Augustine, in order that man might recognize the inexpressible love which God bears him.
"With what love would be we be inflamed," says St. Francis de Sales, "did we but see the flames of love that burn in the heart of Christ! What a happiness for us did we glow with the fire that consumes our Lord and our God! What joy, to be bound with the bonds of love for God!"
O God, where is our gratitude? If an insignificant servant had suffered for us what our heavenly Spouse has endured, could we ever forget it?
So says St. Paschal, "My love is nailed to the Cross for me; my Love has died for me."
And you, Christian soul, what have you done for your Divine Redeemer? What proof of your love have you given Him?
Think of the special graces He has given you and which He has denied to so many others. Think of the many He has permitted to be born in countries where infidelity and unbelief hold sway!
And you have received the grace to be born in the bosom of the Church of God!
Alas, you have treated Him with ingratitude and offended Him anew. And yet, He was willing to pardon you again and with the same love. Instead of punishing you as you deserved, he showered upon you His graces and inspirations. At this very moment, while you are reading theses words, He continues to invite you to His love. Well then! What do you propose to do? Is it possible you can resist any longer? Why do you still hesitate? Do you wish to wait until God ceases to call, and abandons you?
MEANS OF ADVANCING IN GOD'S LOVE
1 - By means of desire
In order to dedicate yourself entirely to the love of your Divine Spouse, you must courageously make us of the means conducive to that end. The first means is an ardent desire for this perfect love.
God distributes His graces in abundance to those who hunger and thirst for them, as the Blessed Virgin says, "He hath filled the hungry with good things." (Lk 1:53)
All trouble is light and sweet when our efforts are prompted by an ardent desire.
"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice." (Mt 5:6)
2 - By renouncing all else
The second means of obtaining perfect love of God consists in renouncing all love that does not refer to God.
If we wish to arrive at the perfect love of God, we must banish from our hearts every attachment that has not God for its object.
As long as the heart is not free from earthly inclinations, the love of God can find no entrance there; but as soon as it is detached from creatures, the fire of Divine love is enkindled and grows continually stronger.
"I count all things but as dung, that I may gain Christ." (Phil 3:8)
When the love of God has entered our hearts, we place no longer any value on what the world esteems. "If a man shall give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing." (Cant 8:7)
3 - Self-Denial
One must deny himself by gladly embracing what is opposed to self-love.
What pleases us most, in that we must deny ourselves, just because it pleases us. For example, we must turn our eyes away from this or that object because it is beautiful.
We must do a service to the ungrateful just because he is ungrateful.
We must take a bitter medicine just be cause it is bitter.
We must love even virtue without attachment. For example, it is necessary to love prayer and solitude; but when obedience or charity prevent us from devoting ourselves to prayer and solitude we should not be disquieted, but accept resignedly everything that happens by the will of God to thwart our inclinations.
4 - The Passion of Christ
The fourth means of acquiring perfect love of God consists in frequent meditation on the sufferings of Christ.
We must not reflect on the sufferings of Jesus Christ for the sake of the consolation and sweetness it affords, but only to inflame our hearts with love for our suffering Savior, and to learn from Him what He desires us to do.
St. Francis of Assisi became a seraph of love by meditating on the Passion of Christ. He was found one day bathed in tears uttering loud sighs. "I am weeping over the pains and insults of my Divine Master. But what grieves me most is that men for whom He suffered so much never think of the torments He endured."
5 - Love of Prayer
The fifth means of acquiring the treasure of God's love is prayer.
"Jesus, give me thy Holy Love; Mary my Mother, obtain for me the love of God; my Guardian Angel and all my holy patrons, intercede for me that I may love God with my whole heart and soul."
The Lord is generous in the bestowal of His gifts, but He is especially bountiful in giving His love to those who seek it.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
The 12 Steps to Holiness & Salvation: Chapter 2 - HOPE (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
Hope is a supernatural virtue by which we confidently expect, in virtue of God's promise, the endless happiness of Heaven and the means necessary for its attainment.
The first and foremost object of our hope, the object by excellence, is the possession of God in heaven.
The hope of eternal happiness is inseparably united with love.
According to St. Thomas, friendship is nothing else but a mutual attraction; it follows that friends must do as much good to one another as in their power.
Our Lord called His disciples His friends because He communicated His mysteries to them (Jn 15:15).
"Friendship," says the Angelic Doctor, "requires that a friend be in possession of his friend."
"My beloved is mine and I am his." (Canticles 2:16)
In Heaven, the soul gives itself entirely to God and God gives Himself entirely to the soul, as far as its capacity and merits will allow.
Love strives after union with the object loved.
Since this union cannot be effected between those that are separated, the lover continually yearns for the presence of his beloved.
A soul that tenderly loves Jesus Christ cannot live here below without the most ardent longing to be united with Him in Heaven, where He will be her reward.
As long, therefore, as our soul is not perfectly united with God in Heaven, it will never enjoy true peace. Those who love Our Lord sincerely find peace of heart, it is true, in conformity to the will of God; but perfect peace and perfect rest they shall never have here below.
It was for this reason that the saints yearned for their heavenly home, consumed as they were with ardent love for God.
St. Paul desired nothing more ardently than to leave this world and to be with Christ: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." (Phil 1:23)
"The good that I hope for," says St. Francis of Assisi, "is so great that every suffering becomes for me a pleasure."
St. Thomas teaches that the highest degree of love that a soul on earth can attain is an ardent desire for Heaven, to be there united to God and to possess Him forever.
St. Bellarmine thinks that in Purgatory there is a place where souls endure no pains of sense, but are tortured solely by the loss of the presence of God.
St. Gregory, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Bridget and St. Bede [agree].
There are souls that strive after perfection, but without any special desire to leave this earth and to be united to God.
There are three things necessary for the attainment of eternal life:
1.) the pardon of our sins
2.) the victory over temptations
3.) a holy death
THE PARDON OF OUR SINS
"Thou hast sinned, O Christian," says St. John Chrysostom, "but dost thou desire forgiveness? Fear not, for God's desire to grant it is greater than your desire to receive it,"
If God sees an unfortunate wretch in sin, He waits for a favorable opportunity to show him mercy.
At times He reveals to him the punishment he has deserved. (Ps 59:6)
At times He knocks on the door of the sinner's heart, hoping that He may open it. (Apoc 3:20)
Sometimes He goes after the sinner and calls to him like a compassionate father. (Ezech 18:31)
Dionysius says that God even begs us not to hurl ourselves into perdition. (2 Cor 5:20)
If, in spite of all of this, there are hard and obstinate hearts that refuse to yield, what more is there that the Lord can do for them?
To every sinner who desires to repent, He promises pardon.
"Come and accuse me: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool." (Is 1:18)
"I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance." (Lk 15:7)
It is doubtless true that we shall have a strict account to render of all the sins we have committed, but who will be our judge?
We shall be judged by a loving Redeemer who, to save us from eternal death, delivered Himself to death, and not content with that, now acts as our advocate with the Father in Heaven.
How could He reject the repentant sinner, since He came down from Heaven to seek the sinner?
In the revelations of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, we read: "Through the revenge I took on my body of My Son, My justice has been changed into clemency. His blood cries not for vengeance, as did the blood of Abel; it asks for mercy, and My justice cannot resist its pleading. The blood of Jesus binds the hands of Justice so that they cannot be raised, as once they were, to punish."
According to the words of St. Teresa, everyone who is ready to die rather than offend God anew can say that he truly hates his sins.
Upon the pronunciation of her sentence to death, St. Afra raised her eyes to Heaven and uttered the following prayer: "My Lord Jesus Christ, Thou who has come to call not the just but sinners to repentance and hast given the sinner the assurance of pardon when he returns repentant to Thee, receive me, a poor sinner; I gladly submit to this torture for lov eof Thee; grant that this fire which consumes by body, may preserve my soul from Hell."
VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION
We must confidently hope for the victory over our temptations.
When we build on the foundation of our own strength, our edifice is sure to fall.
It is necessary to place our hope in the merits of Jesus Christ.
There may be times when temptations are so violent that sin seems unavoidable. We must be on our guard at such times not to lose courage and give up the struggle. Our only resource is to hasten to Jesus Crucified. He and He alone can sustain us. The Lord permits that from time to time even the saints have such storms to endure. (2 Cor 1:8)
We are bowed down by sorrow and harassed by passion, but yet we do not despair...because the Lord by His grace gives us strength to resist our enemies.
At the same time the Apostle bids us not to forget that we are weak and frail creatures who may easily lose the treasure of divine grace, and we can preserve it only by the power of God: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us." (2 Cor 4:7)
*IMPORTANT:There are certain faults that we consider of no account, and yet they may be the reason why God withdraws His supernatural light, and thus the power of the devil is increased. Such faults are:
- the desire to be regarded as learned and distinguished from the world
- vanity in dress
- the seeking of superfluous comforts and luxuries
- the habit of showing oneself offended by every unkind word or want of attention
- the inordinate desire to please others
- the omission of exercises of piety from human respect
- disobedience in little things
- little lies and jokes at the expense of charity
- loss of time through idle conversations or a greediness for news
In a word, every attachment for earthly things, and every gratification of self-love may give the enemy an opportunity of accomplishing our destruction.
Faults of this kind committed with deliberation deprive us of that assistance of Our Lord which would protect us from falling into sin.
A HAPPY DEATH
The hour of death is for us the time of greatest anxiety. Jesus Christ alone can give us the strength to suffer, with patience and profit, the trials of this last decisive moment. At the approach of death we hvae more than ever to fear from the assaults of Hell. The nearer we approach our goal, the more will Hell strive to prevent our reaching it.
Should the devil therefore assail us in life or at death, bringing before us the sins of our youth, we must say to him with St. Bernard: "What I need to enter Heaven, I appropriate from the merits of Jesus Christ who suffered and died in order to procure for me that glory of which I was unworthy."
MOTIVES FOR OUR HOPE
1.) Promises made by God
"Every one that asketh receiveth." (Mt 7:8)
"In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever." (Ps 70:1)
"Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you." (Jn 16:23)
(See also Ps 17:31, Ecclus 2:11, Ps 24:3, Ps 90:14-15, Heb 10:23, Mk 11:24)
2.) The sincere desire of Our Lord to make us happy. God loves all His creatures.
If, therefore, God loves all men, He must also desire that all men attain eternal happiness, for this is the highest and only good of man since it is the end for which man was created.
Calvin was guilty of horrible blasphemy when he said that God had created some men only to cast them into Hell. He even dared to assert that God forces men to sin in order that they may be damned. "God will have all me to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2:4)
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezech 33:11)
Why does God so ardently desire the salvation of all men? Simply because He has created them from love and He has loved them from all eternity.
"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee." (Jer 31:3)
"The Lord dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish but that all should return to penance." (2 Peter 3:9)
Never give expression to such sentiments as: Who knows, perhaps God does not wish me to be saved! Perhaps on account of my offenses He desires me to be lost forever! Such thoughts you must banish from your mind, as it must now be evident to you that God assists you with His grace and urgently invites you to His love.
3.) The merits of Jesus Christ
Long before our Savior had appeared on earth, the royal Psalmist David placed all his hope in Him. (Ps 30:6)
How much more, therefore, ought we to place our confidence in Jesus now that He has come and accomplished the work of our redemption.
If on account of our sins we have good reason to fear eternal death, we have still stronger motives for hope of eternal life in the merits of Jesus Christ.
By our sins, we have deserved eternal death, but our Redeemer has come to our assistance and taken upon Himself our debts in order to make satisfaction for them by His sufferings. (Is 53:4)
"Let us therefore go with confidence to the throne of grace; that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid." (Heb 4:16)
The throne of grace is the Cross on which Our Lord was exalted in order to dispense mercy and grace to all who have recourse to Him.
Let us hasten, therefore, to the Cross of Christ and embrace it with unwavering confidence.
The merits of Christ have opened to us the treasury of God by acquiring for us a right to all the graces that we can possibly desire.
CHRIST'S INTERCESSION
Between the Eternal Father and ourselves there is a Mediator, Jesus Christ, to whom we are united by bonds of love so strong that nothing can ever break them unless we ourselves break them by mortal sin.
Jesus is loved by His heavenly Father; therefore, we are loved with Him.
God loves His Divine Son more than He hates the sinner.
THE INTERCESSION OF THE BLESSED MOTHER
A fourth motive for unbounded confidence is the powerful intercession of Mary our Mother.
Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace.
"Through thee who has found grace, may we have access to the Son, O Mother of our Salvation, in order that through thee He may receive us who through thee was given to us."
All goods and graces that we receive from God come to us through the intercession of Mary.
And why is this?
"Because God has wished it so." (St. Bernard)
St. Augustine gives further reason: "Mary can rightly be called our Mother because by her love she contributed towards giving us the life of grace and making us members of the Mystical Body of Christ."
On this account the Church desires us to invoke her as "our life, our sweetness and our hope." Accordingly, St. Bernard exhorts us to have constant recourse to this divine Mother because her petitions are certainly answered: "Hasten to Mary, for I say it without hesitation, the Son will certainly hear the Mother. She is the ladder of safety for poor sinners. She is my greatest assurance; she is the only ground of my hope."
You can reach God only through Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ only through Mary.
St. Bonaventure says, "I rejoice and am glad, for my sentence on judgment day depends on Jesus my Brother, and on Mary my Mother."
QUALITIES OF HOPE
1.) Our hope must be firm and unwavering
The Council of Trent agrees, "We must all confidently hope for the assistance of God; for as GOd has begun the good work in us, He wills to complete it, provided we make use of His grace; both the desire and its realization are from Him."
With human hope there is always connected the fear that the person who has made a promise has changed or will change his mind. Christian hope, on the contrary, which looks to eternal salvation, has no doubt or fear whatever regarding God.
It is nevertheless true that even Christian hope is not altogether free from a certain fear; but as St. Thomas says, "We have nothing to fear on the part of God, but only from ourselves."
The Council of Trent was right, therefore, in condemning the innovators for saying that man has no freedom of will, and that each one must have an infallible certainty with regard to his perseverance in grace and eternal happiness.
Our cooperation is necessary for the attainment of eternal happiness.
We should therefore trust with unwavering confidence in His goodness.
It sometimes happens that, owing to spiritual aridity or the diquiet resulting from a fault we have committed, we feel an absence of that sensible confidence in prayer which we would gladly experience.
We must not on that account cease to pray, because God will very likely hear us sooner then than at other times, since we are apt to pray with greater distrust in ourselves and more hope in the goodness and fidelity of God.
2.) Our hope must be founded on God alone
The Lord forbids us to place our trust in creatures.
St. Vincent de Paul advises us not to count much on the protection of men, for if we do the Lord will withdraw from us.
Someone may say: If God alone is our hope, how can the Church address Mary as "Our hope?"
St. Thomas says, "We can place our hope in anyone in a twofold manner: we can regard one as the principal and ultimate cause for our hope, or as the secondary and mediate cause."
For example, one may hope for a favor from the king through his minister.
Now as the King of Heaven is Infinite Goodness itself, he desires to enrich us with His graces; but as the great confidence on our part is necessary to obtain them, He has, in order to increase our confidence, given us His own Mother as our Mother and mediatrix to assist us.
We are right therefore in calling the Blessed Virgin our hope, for by means of her intercession we hope to obtain what we never could obtain by our feeble prayers.
By invoking Mary with confidence, we manifest no distrust in the mercy of God, but simply fear on account of our own unworthiness.
3.) Our hope must be active; it must labor
Unless we labor, we should belong to those idle souls who tempt the Lord.
We must act as if the obtaining of our salvation depended entirely on ourselves, and yet we must place all our confidence in God and be thoroughly convinced that of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain what we desire.
God accomplishes everything by means of His grace, but He nevertheless desires our cooperation.
What have we to do? Above all things, we must pray.
St. John Chrysostom writes, "He who says 'I will not stop praying until I am eternally happy" will certainly be eternally happy."
The devil is never tired of laying snares for our destruction. "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." (1 Pet 5:8)
How shall we win so important and difficult a victory? Only by prayer, says St. Augustine, and persevering in prayer.
By means of the assistance we receive through prayer we must endeavor to keep the Commandments of God and do violence to ourselves so as not to yield to the temptations of Hell. (Mt 11:12)
We do violence to ourselves by conquering ourselves and mortifying our senses.
And when we have been guilty of a fault, says St. Ambrose, let us do violence to the Lord by prayers and tears in order to obtain His forgiveness.
"We must rule over ourselves by subduing our evil passions in order to win Heaven which Jesus Christ has merited for us."
Friday, May 13, 2016
The 12 Steps to Holiness & Salvation: Chapter 1 - FAITH (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
Faith is a divinely infused virtue by which man believes, on God's authority, what God has revealed and teaches through His Holy Church.
Faith is the foundation of our hope.
The proofs for the truth of our holy faith are clear...Consequently, unbelievers have no excuse for refusing to submit their reason to the teachings of our holy faith. "He who believes not is already condemned," says our Divine Savior.
Faith gives us knowledge which surpasses in dignity all scientific truths.
Our holy faith is a treasure of unspeakable value. That which we perceive with our senses or comprehend with our reason may and often does lead us astray. The truths of faith, on the contrary, are revealed by God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Faith supplies us with an abundant source of merit...for the merit of faith consists in this: that we accept and believe the truths proposed, freely and without constraint. "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." (Jn 20:29)
OUR SHIELD AND PROTECTION
"This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith." (1 Jn 5:4) God has created us simply to labor at our souls' salvation and to become holy. "This is the will of God, your sanctification." (1 Thess 4:3)
Faith puts us in a position to overcome all obstacles...such as human respect, inordinate desires of the flesh...all the temptations of hell. The devil is very powerful, no doubt, and his temptations are calculated to inspire us with fear and dread.
But the man of faith triumphs over all his attacks.
"In all things, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one." (Eph 6:16)
"My just man liveth by faith," says Holy Scripture (Heb 10:38). By means of faith, [man] sustains himself in the life of grace. When faith grows weak, virtue is in danger; when faith is lost, virtue departs with it. Accordingly, when we are assailed by a temptation to pride or sensuality or any other vice, for self-defense we must instantly arm ourselves with the principles of holy faith...[We must think on] the account we shall have to render on judgment day.
Faith preserves our peace of heart amid the trials and tribulations that beset us, for in all the crosses of life, faith gives us the assurance that patience and resignation will merit eternal joy.
Let us therefore thank God...Let us thank God unceasingly for this wonderful grace and be ever mindful of the words of the Psalmist: "He hath not done in like manner to every nation." (Ps 147:20)
AN OFFERING OF THE INTELLECT
Once we are convinced that the truths we are asked to believe really come from God, we are obliged to submit our reason and, on the strength of God's word, to accept as certain the truths proposed, though we may not or cannot understand [all of] them.
"As newborn babies desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation." (1 Pet 2:2)
FAITH NOT OPPOSED TO REASON
The mysteries of holy faith are not in opposition to reason, but they transcend its power of comprehension. "Faith," says St. Augustine, "is characteristic not of the proud but of the humble."
If you are tempted by the evil spirit against some truth of holy faith, do not stop to consider the difficulties suggested by the devil. Make an act of faith without delay and protest before God your willingness to lay down your very life for the truths of your holy faith.
St. Francis de Sales was very ill, he was grievously tormented with doubts in regard to the Blessed Eucharist. Never for a moment did he stop to argue with the devil, but he fought and overcame him with the holy Name of Jesus.
Often turn to our Divine Redeemer and address Him in the words of the apostles, "Lord, increase our faith." (Lk 17:5
"Bring into captivity our understanding unto the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor 10:5)
This does not, of course, prevent us from considering the motives that make for the credibility of our holy religion. On the contrary, God wishes us to use our natural powers of intellect to be convinced of the reasonableness of our faith.
PROOFS OF FAITH
1.) The truth of our holy faith is loudly proclaimed by the prophecies of Holy Scripture...prophecies uttered hundreds of years ago. For example, it was prophesied that the Jews, in punishment for the deicide, would be driven from the templte and the holy land, and hardened and obstinate in sin would be dispersed throughout the world.
2.) The truth of our holy faith is evident from the miracles which were wrought by our Lord, by His apostles and the saints of the Catholic Church. If a religion has real miracles to show in confirmation of her doctrine, that religion must be divine, for it is impossible for God to sanction and promote a false religion by the performance of genuine miracles.
"Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do he also shall do; and greater than these he shall do." (Jn 14:12)
In the early days of the Church, miracles were more numerous than they are today, since they were necessary for the spread of faith. Still, they have never been wanting in any age, and they have constantly aided in the conversion of heathen and infidel nations.
By what right do you refuse to believe such men as St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Gregory and others when you willingly accept what a Tacitus, a Suetonius or a Pliny has said?
3.) The courage and constancy of the martyrs. Under the reign of Diocletian, 17,000 Christians were executed in a single month.
According to Genebrard, 11,000,000 martyrs were put to death during the ten great persecutions....30,000 martyrs for each day, subjected to every imaginable torture.
The number of those willing and anxious to die for their holy faith was never diminished but always seemed to increase.
Now I ask, if the faith of these valiant martyrs were not the True Faith of Christ, would they ever have been able to endure those frightful torments and to delivery themselves up freely and joyfully to a cruel death?
[Two accounts are written as follows:]
"I will rather suffer death at the hands of the executioners or at your own hands than refuse obedience to God; I will not cast myself into Hell for the sake of pleasing any man..."
"I know what Heaven is worth; and since a martyr's death is the shortest road that leads me thither, I choose it with joy, and I esteem my earthly life as little as dust beneath my feet."
A mother continually called out to her son who, like herself, was fastened to a cross: "Courage, my son, courage! We are on the way to heaven. Continue to call on Jesus and Mary."
4.) We consider that from the time of the apostles down to our own days, our faith has continued unaltered. The apostles and their successors were careful to preserve the doctrine of our Divine Redeemer in its primitive purity and integrity.
"Going therefore, teach ye all nations; teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."(Mt 28:19-20)
"Let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you." (1 Jn 2:24)
"Let there be no schisms among you; but be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Cor 1:10)
These admonitions of the apostle have always been strictly adhered to by the pastors of the Church, for, in the words of St. Augustine, "What they found in the Church they have preserved, and what their fathers handed down to them they in turn left as precious legacy to their sons."
The doctrines she teaches today are the same that were taught and believed in the first age of the Church. The sects, on the contrary, that have separated from the Catholic Church, have not remained unchanged in the doctrines which they propound.
There you will find a record of ever-changing tenets of the Protestant denominations. The pride that caused the founders of these sects to refuse obedience to the true Church of Christ has led their followers to turn to refuse obedience to them, and thus countless new doctrines and new religions have sprung into existence.
A LIVING FAITH
"It is certainly great folly not to wish to believe the Gospel of Christ; but it would be greater folly still to believe and to live as if you did not believe it." (Pico of Mirandola)
"O my brethren," exclaims St. James, "what shall it profit if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?" (Jam 2:14)
Many Christians believe without doubt that there is a just God who will judge them; that endless happiness or eternal misery await them; and yet they live as though there were no God, no judgment, no Heaven and no Hell.
St. Bernard says, "show by your deeds that you believe; by a virtuous life a Christian must prove that he has faith."
If a man firmly believed that the grace of God is the highest and best good he could possess, and that sin robs us of grace and is the greatest evil in the world, he must of necessity change his life.
St. Bernard says, "He who acknowledges God with his tongue but denies Him in deed, dedicates his tongue to the Lord and his soul to the devil."
Faith without works is dead. (Jam 2:17)
There are Christians who willingly accept those teachings of our holy faith that are confined to the sphere of the intellect, but who give no proof whatever that they believe the truths which affect the will.
St. Paul writes, "Try your own selves if you be in the faith; prove ye yourselves." (2 Cor 13:5)
Blessed are they that suffer sickness and temporal loss or some other misfortune with patience and resignation. Blessed are they that suffer persecution because they flee from sin or endeavor to promote the glory of God!
He who from human respect neglects the practices of piety and the reception of the Sacraments and is wholly absorbed with the attractions of the theater and ballroom can have no valid claim to the title of a faithful Catholic.
There are many who imagine that a life in harmony with the precepts of our holy faith must necessarily be a sad and joyless life. The devil pictures our holy religion to them as a tyrant who imposes only burdens and cares upon her children, forces them to constant self-renunciation and interdicts the gratification they desire.
The law of Jesus Christ commands us to battle against our inordinate inclinations, to love our enemies, to mortify our bodies, to be patient in adversities and to place all our hope in the life to come. But all this does not make the life of the truly faithful a sad and sorrowful one.
Ask those who lead a life of faith if the renunciation of this world's goods makes them sad! They will answer without hesitation, "No no! we desire but God alone and nothing else."
Should anyone object that a life according to faith is opposed to nature, I answer: It is, no doubt, opposed to nature - but to a depraved and fallen nature. It is burdensome, yes, but only for those who rely on their own strength and resources. But for one who trusts in God and begs for His assistance, the observance of the law of Jesus Christ is sweet and easy. "Taste and see how sweet is the Lord." (Ps 33:9) "Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you and learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest in your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Mt 11:28-30)
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross (Book I, Ch. III & IV)
Of some imperfections which some of these souls are apt to have, with respect to the second capital sin, which is AVARICE, in the spiritual sense.
- Many can never have enough of listening to counsels and learning spiritual precepts, and of possessing and reading many books which treat of this matter, and they spend their time on all these things rather than on works of mortification and the perfecting of inward poverty of spirit which should be theirs.
- They burden themselves with images and rosaries...they put one down, now they take up another.
- Others you will see adorned with medals and relics [wearing these supersititiously thinking they will become holy just by wearing them instead of using them for their true purpose of devotion and in the true sacramental nature]
- I condemn the curiosity and multitude of these things, inasmuch as it is quite contrary to poverty of spirit. True devotion must issue from the heart, and consists in the truth and substance alone of what is represented by spiritual things; all the rest is attachment and affection proceeding from imperfection, and in order for one to pass from this to any kind of perfection, it is necessary for such desires to be killed.- I know a person who for more than ten years made use of a cross roughly formed from a branch that had been blessed, fastened with a pin twisted round it; he had never ceased using it, and he always carried it about with him until I took it from him; and this was a person of no small sense and understanding.
- [Those of advanced spirituality] set their eyes only on being right with God and on pleasing Him. Thus with great generosity they give away all that they have, and delight to know that they have it not, for God's sake and for charity to their neighbor, no matter whether these be spiritual things or temporal.
- It befits the soul to contrive to labor, in so far as it can, on its own account, to the end that it may purge and perfect itself, and thus may merit being taken by God into that Divine care wherein it becomes healed of all things that it was unable to itself cure.
Chapter IV
Of other imperfections which these beginners are apt to have with respect to the third sin, which is LUXURY
1. The first cause from which they often proceed is the pleasure which human nature takes in spiritual things. For when the spirit is moved to pleasure and delight in God, the sensual nature, which is the lower part, is moved to pleasure and delight of the senses because it cannot [yet] possess and lay hold upon aught else, and therefore it lays hold upon that which comes nearest to itself, which is the impure and sensual.
- For example, this happens often in Communion, for when the soul receives joy and comfort in this act of love, because this Lord bestows it, the sensual nature takes that which is its own likewise, as we have said, after its manner. But when this sensual part is renewed by the purgation of the dark night, it no longer has these weaknesses.
2. The second cause whence tehse rebellions sometimes proceed is the devil, who, in order to disquiet and disturb the soul, at times when it is at prayer or is striving to pray, contrives to stir up these motions of impurity in its nature. Therefore, not only do persons become lax in prayer (for fear of these impurities), but some give up prayer altogether...since the devil attacks them then more than at other times, so that they may give up spiritual exercises.
- He succeeds in portraying to them very vividly things that are most foul and impure, and at times are very closely related to certain spiritual things and persons that are of profit to their souls, in order to terrify them and make them fearful; so that those who are affected by this dare not even look at anything or meditate upon anything, because they immediately encounter this temptation. And upon those who are inclined to melancholy this acts with such effect that they become greatly to be pitied since they are suffering so sadly; they believe it to be clear that the devil is ever present with them and that they have no power to prevent this.
3. The third source whence these impure motions are apt to proceed in order to make war upon the soul is often the fear which such persons have conceived for these impure representations and motions. Something that they see or say or think brings them to their mind, and this makes them afraid, so that they suffer from them through no fault of their own.
- There are also certain souls of so tender and frail a nature that when there comes to some spiritual consolation or some grace in prayer, the spirit of luxury is with them immediately, inebriating and delighting their sensual nature in such manner that it is as if they were plunged into the enjoyment and pleasure of this sin...the same thing happens to such souls when they are enkindled with anger or suffer and disturbance or grief.
- Some of these persons make friendships of a spiritual kind with others, which oftentimes arise from luxury and not from spirituality; this may be known to be the case when the remembrance of that friendship causes not the remembrance and love of God to grow, but occasions of remorse of conscience. When the friendship is purely spiritual, the love of God grows with it.
- But, when this lvoe arises from the vice of sensuality aforementioned, it produces the contrary effects; for the more the one grows, the more the other decreases, and the remembrance of it likewise...and again comes a certain remorse of conscience.
- Our Savior said in the Gospel: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (Jn 3:6)
- When the soul enters the dark night, it brings these kinds of love under control. It strengthens and purifies the one, namely that which is according to God; and it removes and brings the others to an end.
Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross (Book I, Ch. I & II)
BOOK THE FIRST
Which treats of the Night of Sense
On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings - oh, happy chance!
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.
- In this first stanza the soul relates how it dies to all things and to itself by means of true mortification, in order to attain to living the sweet and delectable life of love with God.
- A "dark night" is here understood as a purgative contemplation, which causes passively in the soul the negation of itself.
- Herein it extols the great happiness that none of the three enemies - which are the world, the flesh and the devil - could hinder; the aforementioned night of purgative contemplation lulled to sleep and mortified, in teh house of its sensuality, all the passions and desires with resepect to the mischievous desires and motions.
On a dark night
Chapter I
- Into this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth from the state of beginners - which is the state of those that meditate on the spiritual road - and begins to set them in the state of progressives...that they may arrive at the state of the perfect, which is that of the divine union of the soul with God.
- The soul, after it has been definitely converted to the service of God, is, as a rule, spiritually nurtured ad caressed by God, even as is the tender child by its loving mother, who warms it with the heat of her bosom and nurtures it with sweet milk and soft and pleasant food, and carries it and caresses it in her arms; but, as the child grows bigger, the mother gradually ceases caressing it, and, hiding her tender love, puts bitter aloes upon her sweet breast, sets downthe child from her arms, and makes it walk upon its feet, so that it may lose the habits of a child and betake itself to more important and substantial occupations.
- Therefore, such a soul finds its delight in spending long periods - perchance whole nights - in prayer; penances are its pleasures; fasts its joys; and its consolations are to make use of the sacrements and to occupy itself in divine things...but then these souls will often find themselves, spiritually speaking, very weak and imperfect. For since they are moved to these things and to these spiritual exercises by the consolation and pleasure they find in them...[they will find it very difficult once God withdraws such consolations for the purpose of drawing them closer to Himself]
- [Let us take a look at the seven capital sins from a spiritual perspective and see how they affect beginners]
Chapter II
Of certain spiritual imperfections which beginners have with respect to the habit of PRIDE
- As these beginners feel themselves to be very fervent and diligent in spiritual things and devout exercises, there often comes to them, through their imperfections, a certain kind of secret pride, whence they come to have some degree of satisfaction in their works and in themselves.
- They have a certain desire to speak of spiritual things in the presence of others, and sometimes even to teach such things rather than to learn them. They condemn others in their heart when they see that they have no the kind of devotion which they themselves desire; and sometimes they even say this in words, herein resembling the Pharisee.
- In these persons the devil often increases the fervour that they have and the desire to perform these and other works more frequently, so that their pride and presumption may grow greater.
- Some reach such a degree of evil that these persons are wont to reach that they would have none appear good save themselves
- Sometimes, too, when their spiritual masters, such as confessors and superiors, do not approve of their spirit and behavior, they consider that they do not understand them...and that their confessors themselves are not spiritual. And so they immediately desire and contrive to find some one else who will fit in with their tastes...Sometimes they even harbour ill-will against them.
- They occasionally give outward evidence of inward movements - sighs, ecstasies - in public rather than in secret, wherein the devil aids them, and they are pleased that this should be noticed, and are often eager that it should be more noted.
- They are too much embarrassed to confess their sins nakedly, lest their confessors should think less of them, so they palliate them and make them appear less evil, to excuse themselves rather than accuse themselves. Sometimes they seek another confessor to tell the wrongs that they have done, so that their own confessor shall think they have done nothing wrong at all, but only good.
- Some of these beginners, too, make little of their faults, and at other times become over-sad when they see themselves fall into them, thinking themselves to have been saints already; and thus they become angry and impatient with themselves, which is another perfection.
- They often dislike praising others and love to be praised...sometimes even seeking out such praise.
- There are hardly any beginners who, at the time of these signs of favor (consolation), fall not into some of these errors.
- Those who are moving on to perfection progress by means of humility and are greatly edified, having very little satisfaction with themselves; they consider all others as far better...the more they do, the less they are satisfied. All they do seems to them to be naught, and they never notice what others do or do not...they always believe others are better. If men should esteem and praise them, it seems to them strange that anyone should say these good things of them.
- These souls have a deep desire to be taught by anyone who can bring them profit; they are the complete opposite of those of whom we have spoken above, who would fain be always teaching, and who, when others seem to be teaching them, take the words from their mouths as if they knew them already.
- They rejoice when others are praised; they grieve only because they serve not God like them. They have no desire to speak of the things that they do, because they think so little of them that they are ashamed to speak of them even to their spiritual masters.
- They are more anxious to speak of their faults and sins, or that these should be recognized rather than their virtues...This is a characteristic of the spirit which is simple, pure, genuine, and very pleasing to God.
- The imperfections into which they see themselves fall they bear with humility, meekness of spirit and a loving gear of God, hoping in Him.
- God leads into the dark night those whom He desires to purify from all these imperfections so that He may bring them farther onward.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Chapter Five - The Mistake of Considering Cowardice a Virtue
- Thus man who thinks he is far advanced in virtue looks with too much indifference on temptations
- He feels astonished at his fall, and finding himself deceived in his expectations, sinks into sorrow and despair.
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