THIS CHAPTER CONTINUES THE SAME SUBJECT AND SPEAKS OF ANOTHER KIND OF UNION
WHICH THE SOUL CAN OBTAIN WITH THE HELP OF GOD. THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE OF
OUR NEIGHBOUR IN THIS MATTER. THIS IS VERY USEFUL TO READ.
1. Zeal for souls left by divine union. 2. The soul may fall from such a
state. 3. How divine union may always be obtained. 4. Union with the will of
God the basis of all supernatural union. 5. Advantage of union gained by
self-mortification. 6. Defects which hinder this union. 7. Divine union
obtained by perfect love of God and our neighbour. 8. Love for God and our
neighbour are proportionate. 9. Real and imaginary virtues. 10. Illusionary
good resolutions. 11. Works, not feelings, procure union. 12. Fraternal
charity will certainly gain this union.
1. LET us now return to our little dove and see what graces God gives it in
this state. This implies that the soul endeavours to advance in the service
of our Lord and in self-knowledge. If it receives the grace of union and
then does no more, thinking itself safe, and so leads a careless life,
wandering off the road to heaven (that is, the keeping of the commandments)
it will share the fate of the butterfly that comes from the silkworm, which
lays some eggs that produce more of its kind and then dies for ever. I say
it leaves some eggs, for I believe God will not allow so great a favour to
be lost but that if the recipient does not profit by it, others will. For
while it keeps to the right path, this soul, with its ardent desires and
great virtues, helps others and kindles their fervour with its own. Yet even
after having lost this it may still long to benefit others and delight to
make known the mercies shown by God to those who love and serve Him. [185]
2. I knew a person to whom this happened. Although greatly erring, she
longed that others should profit by the favours God had bestowed on her and
taught the way of prayer to people ignorant of it, thus helping them
immensely. God afterwards bestowed fresh light upon her; indeed the prayer
of union had not hitherto produced the above effects in her. How many people
there must be to whom our Lord communicates Himself, who, like Judas, are
called to the Apostleship and made kings by Him, as was Saul, yet who
afterwards lose everything by their own fault! We should learn from this,
sisters, that if we would merit fresh favours and avoid losing those we
already possess, our only safety lies in obedience and in following the law
of God. This I say, both to those who have received these graces and to
those who have not. [186]
3. In spite of all I have written, there still seems some difficulty in
understanding this mansion. The advantage of entering is so great, that it
is well that none should despair of doing so because God does not give them
the supernatural gifts described above. With the help of divine grace true
union can always be attained by forcing ourselves to renounce our own will
and by following the will of God in all things. [187]
4. Oh, how many of us affirm that we do this, and believe we seek nothing
else--indeed we would die for the truth of what we say! If this be the case I
can only declare, as I fancy I did before, and I shall again and again, that
we have already obtained this grace from God. Therefore we need not wish for
that other delightful union described above, for its chief value lies in the
resignation of our will to that of God without which it could not be
reached. [188] Oh, how desirable is this union! The happy soul which has
attained it will live in this world and in the next without care of any
sort. No earthly events can trouble it, unless it should see itself in
danger of losing God or should witness any offence offered Him. Neither
sickness, poverty, nor the loss of any one by death affect it, except that
of persons useful to the Church of God, for the soul realizes thoroughly
that God's disposal is wiser than its own desires.
5. You must know that there are different kinds of sorrow: there are both
griefs and joys rising from an impulse of nature or from a charity which
makes us pity our neighbour, like that felt by our Saviour when He raised
Lazarus from the dead. [189] These feelings do not destroy union with the
will of God nor do they disturb the soul by a restless, turbulent, and
lasting passion. They soon pass away, for as I said of sweetness in prayer,
[190] they do not affect the depths of the soul but only its senses and
faculties. They are found in the former mansions, but do not enter the last
of all. Is it necessary, in order to attain to this kind of divine union,
for the powers of the soul to be suspended? No; God has many ways of
enriching the soul and bringing it to these mansions besides what might be
called a 'short cut.' But, be sure of this, my daughters: in any case the
silkworm must die and it will cost you more in this way. In the former
manner this death is facilitated by finding ourselves introduced into a new
life; here, on the contrary, we must give ourselves the death-blow. I own
that the work will be much harder, but then it will be of higher value so
that your reward will be greater if you come forth victorious; [191] yet
there is no doubt it is possible for you to attain this true union with the
will of God.
6. This is the union I have longed for all my life and that I beg our Lord
to grant me; it is the most certain and the safest. But alas, how few of us
ever obtain it! Those who are careful not to offend God, and who enter the
religious state, think there is nothing more to do. How many maggots remain
in hiding until, like the worm which gnawed at Jonas's ivy, [192] they
have destroyed our virtues. These pests are such evils as self-love,
self-esteem, rash judgment of others even in small matters, and a want of
charity in not loving our neighbour quite as much as ourselves. Although
perforce we satisfy our obligations sufficiently to avoid sin, yet we fall
far short of what must be done in order to obtain perfect union with the
will of God.
7. What do you think, daughters, is His will? That we may become quite
perfect and so be made one with Him and with His Father as He prayed we
might be. [193] Observe, then, what is wanting in us to obtain this. I
assure you it is most painful for me to write on this subject, for I see how
far I am, through my own fault, from having attained perfection. There is no
need for us to receive special consolations from God in order to arrive at
conformity with His will; He has done enough in giving us His Son to teach
the way. This does not mean that we must so submit to the will of God as not
to sorrow at such troubles as the death of a father or brother, or that we
must bear crosses and sickness with joy. [194] This is well, but it
sometimes comes from common sense which, as we cannot help ourselves, makes
a virtue of necessity. How often the great wisdom of the heathen
philosophers led them to act thus in trials of this kind! Our Lord asks but
two things of us: love, for Him and for our neighbour: these are what we
must strive to obtain. If we practise both these virtues perfectly we shall
be doing His will and so shall be united to Him. But, as I said, we are very
far from obeying and serving our great Master perfectly in these two
matters: may His Majesty give us the grace to merit union with Him; it is in
our power to gain it if we will.
8. I think the most certain sign that we keep these two commandments is that
we have a genuine love for others. We cannot know whether we love God
although there may be strong reasons for thinking so, but there can be no
doubt about whether we love our neighbour or no. [195] Be sure that in
proportion as you advance in fraternal charity, you are increasing in your
love of God, [196] for His Majesty bears so tender an affection for us
that I cannot doubt He will repay our love for others by augmenting, in a
thousand different ways, that which we bear for Him. We should watch most
carefully over ourselves in this matter, for if we are faultless on this
point we have done all. I believe human nature is so evil that we could not
feel a perfect charity for our neighbour unless it were rooted in the love
of God.
9. In this most important matter, sisters, we should be most vigilant in
little things, taking no notice of the great works we plan during prayer
which we imagine that we would perform for other people, even perhaps for
the sake of saving a single soul. If our actions afterwards belie these
grand schemes, there is no reason to imagine that we should do anything of
the sort. I say the same of humility and the other virtues. The devil's
wiles are many; he would turn hell upside down a thousand times to make us
think ourselves better than we are. He has good reason for it, for such
fancies are most injurious; sham virtues springing from this root are always
accompanied by a vainglory never found in those of divine origin, which are
free from pride.
10. It is amusing to see souls who, while they are at prayer, fancy they are
willing to be despised and publicly insulted for the love of God, yet
afterwards do all they can to hide their small defects; if any one unjustly
accuses them of a fault, God deliver us from their outcries! Let those who
cannot bear such things take no notice of the splendid plans they made when
alone, which could have been no genuine determination of the will but only
some trick of the imagination, or the results would have been very
different. The devil assaults and deceives people in this way, often doing
great harm to women and others too ignorant to understand the difference
between the powers of the soul and the imagination, and a thousand other
matters of the sort. O sisters! how easy it is to know which of you have
attained to a sincere love of your neighbour, and which of you are far from
it. If you knew the importance of this virtue, your only care would be to
gain it.
11. When I see people very anxious to know what sort of prayer they
practise, covering their faces and afraid to move or think lest they should
lose any slight tenderness and devotion they feel, I know how little they
understand how to attain union with God since they think it consists in such
things as these. No, sisters, no; our Lord expects works from us. If you see
a sick sister whom you can relieve, [197] never fear losing your devotion;
compassionate her; if she is in pain, feel for it as if it were your own
and, when there is need, fast so that she may eat, not so much for her sake
as because you know your Lord asks it of you. This is the true union of our
will with the will of God. If some one else is well spoken of, be more
pleased than if it were yourself; this is easy enough, for if you were
really humble it would vex you to be praised. It is a great good to rejoice
at your sister's virtues being known and to feel as sorry for the fault you
see in her as if it were yours, hiding it from the sight of others.
12. I have often spoken on this subject elsewhere, [198] because, my
sisters, if we fail in this I know that all is lost: please God this may
never be our case. If you possess fraternal charity, I assure you that you
will certainly obtain the union I have described. If you are conscious that
you are wanting in this charity, although you may feel devotion and
sweetness and a short absorption in the prayer of quiet (which makes you
think you have attained to union with God), believe me you have not yet
reached it. Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbour, and
leave the rest to Him. He will give you more than you know how to desire if
you constrain yourselves and strive with all your power to gain it, forcing
your will as far as possible to comply in all things with your sisters'
wishes although you may sometimes forfeit your own rights by so doing.
Forget your self-interests for theirs, how ever much nature may rebel; when
opportunity occurs take some burden upon yourself to ease your neighbour of
it. Do not fancy it will cost you nothing and that you will find it all done
for you: think what the love He bore for us cost our Spouse, Who to free us
from death, Himself suffered the most painful death of all--the death of the
Cross.
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[185] Life, ch. vii. 18. Way of Perf. xli. 8.
[186] Life. ch, vii. 21.
[187] Found. ch. v. 10. 'These shall not attain to the true liberty of a
pure heart, nor to the grace of a delightful familiarity with Me, unless
they first resign themselves and offer themselves a daily sacrifice to Me:
for without this, divine union neither is nor will be obtained.' (Imitation,
book iii. ch. vii. 4.)
[188] Philippus a SS. Trinitate, l.c., p. iii. tr. i, disc. ii. art. 4.
[189] St. John xi. 35, 36: 'Et lacrymatus est Jesus. Dixerunt ergo Jud+ªi:
Ecce quomodo amabat cum.'
[190] Fourth Mansions, ch. i. 5. Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 7.
[191] Way of Perf. ch. xvii. 2.
[192] Jonas iv. 6, 7: 'And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it came up over
the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, and to cover him, for he
was fatigued; and Jonas was exceeding glad of the ivy. But God prepared a
worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and
it withered.'
[193] St. John xvii. 22, 23: 'Ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus. Ego in
eis, et tu in me: ut sint consummati in unum.' Way of Perf. ch. ii. 6.
[194] Way of Perf. ch. ix. i, 2.
[195] 1 St. John iv. 20: 'Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum
quem non videt quomodo potest diligere?'
[196] Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 5.
[197] Way of Perf. ch. vii. 4.
[198] Way of Perf. ch. iv. 3; vii. 4.
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