Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues [2]

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PRACTICE OF PERFECTION AND CHRISTIAN VIRTUES

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY JOHN GRIFFIN, ROEHAMPTON

FATHER JOSEPH RICKABY, S.J.

PRACTICE OF PERFECTION AND CHRISTIAN VIRTUES BY

ALPHONSUS RODRIGUEZ OF

THE

SOCIETY

OF

JESUS

DONE INTO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME

DIRECT

FROM

THE SPANISH

BY

JOSEPH RICKABY OF THE

I N

SAME SOCIETY

TWO

V 'O L U M E S

VOLUME TWO TREATISES XII - XXIV

LONDON. THE MANRESA PRESS: ROEHAMPTON. '929

IMPRIMI POTEST: HENRICUS KEANE,

S.]., Praep. Provo Angliae.

LONDINI, DIE II FEBRUARII,

1929.

IMPRIMATUR:

+ FRANCISCUS, Episcopus Menevensis. 13 FEB., 1929.

" There· is no doctrine, however good in itself, that may not be made bad use of by one who does not know how to apply it properly." .

No hay doctrina por buena que sea de que no pueda uno usar mal si no la sabe aplicar como conviene. TR. viii., CH. 30.

CONTENTS TWELFTH TREATISE

01 temptations I. That temptations cannot fail to come in this life. . II. How some are tempted at the beginning of their entry into Religion, others afterwards II I. Why the Lord wishes us to have temptations, and of the utility and profit that ensue upon them . IV. Of other benefits and advantages that temptations bring with them . V. That temptations avail us greatly to know and humble ourselves, and have more recourse to God. VI. That in temptations the just are further proved and purified, and take root better in virtue . VII • That temptations make a man diligent and fervent VIII.'That the saints and servants of God not only do not grow sorrowful bver their temptations, but rather rejoice for the profit they make thereby . IX. That in temptations one learns lessons not for oneself only, but for others ' . X. Here begins the enumeration of remedies against temptations, and first on the part of the mind, the strength and cheerfulness which we should keep in dealing with them • XI. How little it is that the devil can do against us . XII. That we should draw great courage and confidence for struggling with temptatiorns from the consideration that God is looking at us ' . XIII. Of two excellent reasons for fighting with great courage and confidence under temptation XIV. That God permits no one to be tempted heyond his strength, and that we must not be discouraged at the temptation growing or conti,nuing • XV. That to distrust ourselves, and place our whole confidence in God is a great means to overcome temptations, and why God so readHy' comes to the help of those who trust in Him ' . XVI. Of prayer as a remedy: some ejaculatory prayers, suitable for time of temptation XVII. Of two other remedies against temptations

CHAP.

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CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE XVII I. Of two other chief remedies, which are to resist temptation in its beginnings, and never to be idle . . 48 XIX. Of temptations which come under the appearance of good, and that the great remedy for all such temptations is to recognise and hold them for what they are 5 I XX. How we should behave in temptations of evil and impure thoughts, and of remedies against them . 55 XXI. That in different temptations we should behave differently as to our manner of resisting them . 61 XXII. Some important pieces of advice for the time of temptation 63

THIRTEENTH TREATISE Of inordinate affection for kindred CHAP. 1. How important it is for a Religious to avoid VISIts to relations and journeys to his own native place. . II. That a Religious should also avoid, as far as possible, being visited by his relations, and any communication with them by letter • II I. That even though it be under plea of preaching, a Religious should shun intercourse with his relations and visits to his native place • IV. That a Religious should stand particularly on his guard against occupying himself with the business affairs of his relations V. What has been said is confirmed by some examples. VI. Of other evils and losses caused by affection for kindred, and how Christ our Redeemer taught us to keep out of their way . VII. How this temptation is apt to disguise itself not only under the appearance of piety, but of that of duty, and the remedy to be applied thereunto

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FOURTEENTH TREATISE

Of sadness and cheerfulness CHAP. I. Of the great mischiefs that follow from sadness II. In which are given sundry reasons why it befits us to serve God cheerfully " II I. That the ordinary faults into which we fall should not be enough to make us abandon this cheerfulness . IV. Of the roots and causes of sadness, and its remedies . V. That recourse to prayer is a grand means for getting rid of sadne3s .

94 98 10 3 105 108

CONTENTS CHAP.

IX

PAGE

VI. Of another very ordinary root of sadness, which is the not going on as we should do in the service of God' and of the great cheerfulness that comes· of a good conscience .•...••. VII. That there is such a "thing as good and holy sadness .

1I 1 1 15

FIFTEENTH TREATISE

01 the treasures and great blessings that we have in Christ,' and Of the proper method of meditating on the mysteries of His Sacred Passion, and the fruit we should gather tram thence CHAP, L Of the treasures and great blessings that we have in Christ • .•••• •••. II. How profitable and pleasing to God is meditation on the Passion of Christ our Redeemer. • • • III. Of the method to be followed in meditating the Passion of Christ our Redeemer, and of the sentiment of compassion which we should draw from thence. • IV. Of the sentiment of sorrow and contrition for our sins, which we should gather from the meditation on the Passion of Christ our Lord • • V. Of the sentiment of love of G o d . . • VI. Of the sentiment of gratitude and thanksgiving . VII. Of the sentiment of admiration and hope '. VII I. Of the imitation of Christ as the fruit which we should gather from meditation on His mysteries . . IX. In which is established by sundry examples how profitable and agreeable to God is meditation on the Passion of Christ our Redeemer • .

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131 133 137 141 144 147 15 2 155

SIXTEENTH TREATISE

Of Holy Communion and the Holy Sacrifice 01 the Mass CHAP. 1. Of the inestimable benefit and great love that the Lora has shown us in the institution of this Divine Sacrament. • • • • • • • • • . • II. Of the excellent and wonderful things that faith teaches for our belief in this Divine Sacrament . III. Here begins the discourse on the preparation which the excellence and dignity of this Divine Sacrament requires • • • • • • • • •• IV. Of the cleanness and purity, not only from mortal sins but also from venial sins and· imperfections, with which we should approach Holy Communion .

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CONTENTS

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PAGE

V. Of a more particular disposition and preparation wherewith we should approach this Divine Sacrament 180 VI. Other considerations and modes of preparation, very useful for Holy Communion • •. . 183 VII. What we are to do after having received the Divine Sacrament, and what should be our thanksgiving . 187 VIII. Of other methods of thanksgiving. •• . . 189 IX. Of the fruit that we should gather from Holy Communion • • . . • • • . 191 X. That the frequentation of Holy Communion is a great remedy against all temptations, and particularly for the preservation of chastity . 193 XI. Of the chief fruit to be gathered from Holy Communion, which is our union with and transformation into C h r i s t . . • 196 XII. Of another main fruit which we should gather from Holy Communion, which is to offer and resign ourselves entirely into the hands of God; and of the preparation and thanksgiving to be made conformably thereto . • • . . • • J 99 XIII. Seeing that this Divine Sacrament works such wonderful effects, what is the reason why some who frequent it do not experience them in themselves? . 205 XIV. Of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass . 209 XV. How to hear Mass • . . , 217 XVI. Some examples on the devotion of hearing Mass, and saying it every day, and the reverence that we should have in assisting at it 227

SEVENTEENTH TREATISE

0/ the end and institute at the Society at Jesus, and 0/ some means, very profitable tor all men, which will help us to attain that end CHAP.. 1. The end and institute of the Society of Jesus. • II. Of the excellence of this enterprise of saving souls, and of its great merit and value . II 1. That this enterprise belongs to all members of the Society, and that all have their share in it, even though they be not priests . IV. How necessary it is for this end first to ground ourselves right well in virtue V. That not only ought we not to neglect our own ad· vancement to help our neighbour, but we need to be more careful of it and more diligent about it on his account .

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CONTENTS

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CHAP.

}'AGE

VI. That we must beware of the other extreme, which would be withdrawing from all intercourse with our neighbour under pretence of attending to ourselves 267 VII. Sundry remedies against the pusillanimity of those who withdraw from helping their neighbour for fear of losing their own souls. • . • • . . 274 VII I. Of the first means of doing good to our neighbour, which is a good and holy life. • . • . . 280

IX. Of another means of helping our neighbour, which is prayer •

.••..•

. , 288

X. Of a third means of doing good to our neighbour, which is zeal for souls • •• . XI. What an efficacious means this zeal is for helping and improving our neighbour • •• XII. Of three things that will help us to have this zeal . XII I. What is the good and true zeal that pleases God, and what not . XIV. Of another means to do our ministrations well, which is to keep our eyes on the soul that makes the inner man, and not on the outer man as he appears externally. •• '" XV. Of another means of helping our neighbour, which is to abandon all confidence in ourselves and put our whole trust in God • • . XVI. Of the great efficacy of this practice of putting confidence in God for the obtaining of blessings at His hands • . . XVII. How very displeasing to God is want of confidence . XVII I. That we must not be discouraged nor lose heart, though we see little fruit produced by our labours among our neighbours .

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EIGHTEENTH TREATISE

0/ the essential vows 0/ religion, and the great blessings 0/ that state, CHAP.

I. That the perfection of a Religious consists in the perfect observance of the three vows that he makes of poverty, chastity, and obedience • 338 II. Why these things are done and confirmed under vow. 341 III. Of other great benefits and advantages that the obligation of the vows carries with it . 343 IV. Why the surrender that one makes of oneself to' Religion by these three vows is called by the Saints a second baptism and a martyrdom • . 34 6 V. That liberty is not given up or diminished by vows, but rather is perfected . 349

CONTENTS

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PAGE

CHAP.

VI. Of the great blessings that there are in Religion, and the gratitude that we owe to God for having called us to it •. • VII. Continuation of the subject of the previous chapter. VII I. Of the renovation of vows practised in the Society, and of the fruit meant to be gained thereby. . IX. Continuation of the subject of the previous chapter .

352 361 363 367

NINETEENTH TREATISE Of the vow of poverty

CHAP. I. That the vow of poverty is the foundation of evangelical perfection. • • . 373 II. Of the great reward wherewith the Lord rewards the poor of spirit . . 377 III. That God rewards the poor in spirit not only in the next life, but also in this • . 379 IV. In what poverty of spirit consists . 383 V. Of Religious, who having left greater things, get a passion in Religion for lesser things . . 389 VI. Of three degrees of poverty . • 392 VII. Of some means to arrive at poverty in spirit and preserve ourselves therein.. • . • 394 VII I. Of another means that will greatly help us to attain poverty in spirit and keep us in the same • . 399 IX. What has been said is confirmed by some examples. 403 X. To what and how a Religious is bound by the vow of poverty . . • . . • • . . 406 XI. Explaining how it is against the vow of poverty to receive or give anything without leave of the Superior, even though the thing be not belonging to the house . ..• • 410 XI I. Coming down to particular cases of certain things contrary to the vow of poverty . . 414 XII 1. An answer to an objection which throws much light on this matter . 419 XI V. That the vow of poverty binds under mortal sin, and what quantity is enough to make a mortal sin. • 423 XV. Whether a Religious can receive money to layout in pious works without leave of the Superior, and when he would sin therein against the vow of poverty. . 426 XVI. vVhat has been said is confirmed by some examples . 43 I

CONTENTS

xiii

TWENTIETH TREATISE

Of the virtue of chastity PAGE

CHAP. I. Of the exoellence of the virtue of chastity, and the degree whereby we are to mount to the perfection thereof 43 6 II. That to preserve chastity, mortification of all the senses, and especially of the eyes, is necessary . 440 III. That, particularly in this virtue of chastity, it is necessary to make much account of small things. . ,44 2 IV. That in confession we should take particular account of anything contrary to chastity " 445 V. How violent and dangerous is the passion of love, and how much we ought to fear it . . 449 VI. Of some remedies against impure temptations . 452 VII. That penance and mortification of the flesh is a very proper and main remedy against this temptation . 457 VIII. Of other remedies against impure temptations 463 IX. Of the fear of God 466 X. Of the great advantages that there are in this fear of God • 473 XI. In which what has been said is confirmed by some examples . 476 0

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TWENTY-FIRST TREATISE

Of the virtue of obedience CHAP.

I. Of the excellence of the virtue of obedience .

II. II I. IV. V. VI. VII. VII 1. IX. X. XI.

. Of the need that we have of the virtue of obedience Of the first degree of obedience . . Of the second degree of obedience . Of the third degree of obedience . Of blind obedience. Of the obedience necessary in spiritual things. . In which what has been said is confirmed by some examples • Of the source and origin of judgments contrary to obedience, and the means whereby we may help ourselves against them • An explanation of the three reasons that the Apostle St. Paul gives for obedience Of a very main' and efficacious means for gaining the virtue of obedience in its perfection, which is to obey the Superior as Christ our Lord That it is a necessary means for acquiring the virtue of obedience, to obey the Superior as Christ. . 0

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CONTENTS

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XII I. Of other great advantages there are in obeying the Superior as Christ.. •••. XIV. That God takes as spoken against Himself any disparaging and complaining words spoken against the Superior • • •• • XV. That obedience does not prevent making representations, and of the conduct to be observed in such a case • • • • • • • . . • . XVI. Of excessive solicitude in what regards the body, and how proper it is to avoid singularities here . XVII. An answer to a scruple about the duty of looking after one's health • . • . . • • . . • XVII I. What has been said is confirmed by some examples .

544 546 550 557 563 569

TWENTY-SECOND TREATISE

Of observance 01 the rules CHAP. I. Of the great favour and benefit God has done us in encompassing us with Rules • . I I. That our perfection consists in the observance of the Rules . II I. That though our Rules do not bind under sin, we should not make that an excuse for neglecting to observe them • • . IV. That although the matter about which a rule deals is trifling, this is no excuse, but tells rather against him who does not keep it . • • . V. Of the great mischief that comes of making light of the Rules, even though it be in small things. VI. Of the great blessings that follow upon observance of Rules, and setting much store by them, even in small things •. • VII. What has been said is confirmed by some examples . VII I. Of some other things which cause us to fail in the observance of the Rules, and the remedy for them IX. Of other means to help us in keeping the Rules. •

572 575 578 580 583 587 59 0 594 599

TWENTY-THIRD TREATISEI

Of manifestation of conscience: the openness which should be had with Superiors and Ghostly Fathers in giving them an entire accoant of conscience CHAP. I. How important it is to deal openly with our Superiors. 605 II. What a great relief and consolation it is for a man to be open with his Superior and Spiritual Father, and the blessings and benefits that ensue therefrom 612

CONTENTS

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II r. That to discover temptations to the Superior or Spiritual Father is a very efficacious means to take against them • .••••.•• I V. That no one ought to omit telling his temptations to his Spiritual Father on the plea that he already knows the means to be taken to meet them. • • V. That none should omit manifesting things because they look trifling. . • • • • • . • VI. Some further answers to the difficulties that usually hinder this openness in manifesta.tion. . . . VII. Meeting the main difficulty that is apt to stand in the way of openness in manifestation. . . • . VII 1. Another way of meeting the· aforesaid difficulty. • IX. That we owe much gratitude to God for making the account of conscience in the Society so easy. and pleasant, and how it comes to be so . X. Of the method to be observed in giving an account of conscience " XI. Answer to certain doubts arising from the above

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630 636

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TWENTY·FOURTH TREATISE

0/ fraternal correction CHAP.

I. That correction is a mark of love, and the great good . there is in i t .

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I I. That pride is the cause of our not taking correction

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II 1. Of the inconveniences and losses that follow from not

taking correction well. . . • . . • . IV. How important it is to take correction and admonition well • • • . . . . . . • . • V. In which what has been said is confirmed by sundry examples. • ., ., . • VI. Of the Rule and Constitution that we have in the Society, of discovering the faults· of our brethren immediately to the Superior • . . VI I. Sundry important warnings in this matter

664 666 67 I 673 682

TWELFT.lI TREATISE

OF TEMPTATIONS CHAPTER I

That temptations cannot fail to come in this life S on, entering on the service of God, stand in righteousness and fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation (Reclus. ii.· I). St. Jerome on that text of Ecclesiastes, A time of war, and a time of peace (Eccles. iii. 8), says that the time of war is while we are in this world, and the time of peace will be when we pass out into the next. And hence our heavenly city takes its' name of Jerusalem, which signifies Vision of peace. "Let no one therefore," he says, "fancy himself secure in time of war, where fighting is the word, and apostolic weapons have to be wielded, if we wish to be· victorious and rest in peace some day." St. Augustine on the words of St. Paul, .I do not the good that I would, but the evil that I "would not, that I do : I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin that is in my tnembers (Rom. vii. 19, 23); says that the life of the just man here is a . conflict and not a triumph; hence we hear the notes of ,var sounded by the Apostle, marking the contradiction of his flesh, and its great inclination to evil: but the note of triumph shall be heard afterwards, when this corruptible, and mortal body shall have put on incorruption and immortality. And the note of triumph shall be: 0 grave, where is thy victory? 0' death, where is thy sting? (I Cor. xv. 55). Job putS! it well in these words: JIv! an's life is a 'warfare upon earth, and his days as those ot one 'who works tor his daily hire (Job vii. I). For as it is the part of the day-labourer to work and weary himself all day long, and then follows reward and repose, so also with us the day of· this life is full of labours and VOL. II

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temptations, and reward and rest will be given us according as we shall have laboured. Coming down in particular to examine the cause of this continual war, the Apostle St. James puts it: Whence are war's and strifes in you? is it not fro1n this, from your lusts warring in your members? (James iv. I). We have in ourselves the cause and root, which is the rebellion and contradiction to all good which dwells in our flesh in consequence of sin: the earth of our flesh has been put under a curse, and thus brings forth thorns and thistles that prick and torment us continually. The Saints bring in to this purpose the comparison of a ship, which sets sail, and thereupon the sea grows angry and rises in a storm and high waves, that threaten to engulf the vessel: so is our soul in this vessel of the body, leaky, full of holes; and besides the leakage there arise waves and tempests of many disorderly movem,ents and appetites, which threaten to drown and swallow it up. The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul (Wisd. ix. IS). 'rhus the cause of our continual (temptations is the corruption of our nature" that tomes peccati, or incehtive t9 sin, and evil inclination which remains with· u~ in consequence of sin. Our greatest enemy dwells in our house, and it is he that makes upon us continual war. Thus there is nothing to amaze a man, when he sees himself molested by temptations; for after all he is a child of Adam, conceived and born in sin, and he can never cease to have temptations, and evil inclinations and appetites making war upon him. Thus St.· Jerome observes that in the Our Father Christ our Lord does not teach us to pray that we may have no temptations, for that is impossible, but that we l11ay not fall under temptation. And else\vhere Christ said to His disciples: Watch and pray that ye enter· not into temptation (Matt. xxvi. 4I)~ Entering. into temptation, says St. Jerome, is· not being tempted, but being overco'me by temptation: in tentationem intrare non est tentari, sed vinci. The holy patriarch Joseph ·was tempted to adultery, but was not overcome by the temptation. The chaste Susanna was tempted in the same way, but by the aid of the Lord did not fall under the temptation. "You are mistaken,

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WHERE THEREIS NOTHING TO LUST AGAINST

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brother," says 51. Jerome writing to Heliodorus, "you are labouring under a great mistake, if you think that a Christian can ever go without persecution. Then are you most assailed, .when you do not know that you· are being assailed. " OUt adversary the de7Jil, like a roaring lion, goeth alJout, see}~ing whom he may devour (1 Pet. v. 8) ; and do you take yourself to be. at peace ? He sitteth in a1nbush takin theirtnocent, he sets his eyes upon the poor, he lies in 'wait for thetn like a lion in his den (Ps. 9); and do you .fancy yourself secure? That is a delusion, because this life is a time of war and conflict. To be frightened at temptations is as if a soldier were to take fright at hearing a musket-shot, and want to get out of the war for that; or as if a sailor were to jump overboard, because the ship rolls and pitches· and turns his stomach. St. Gregory says it is a· delusion of some folk, when any grave temptation assails them, to think straightway that all is lost, and that God has forgotten them and they are in His disgrace. A great delusion this; on the contrary you must understand that to be tempted is not only the. ordinary lot of men, but is a thing that especially befalls spiritual· men, who are aiming at virtue. and perfection. All who would live piously in Christ Jesus shall sutfer persecution, says· the Apostle (2 Tim. iii. 12). Others often do not know what· temptation is, they cannot see the rebellion and war which the flesh makes on the spirit, rather they take it for a dainty morsel. St. Augustine remarks this well on those words of St. Paul: The flesh lusteth against the spirit (Gal. v. 17). "It is in the good that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, for in the bad it has nothing to lust against: there only does it lust against the spirit where there is spirit." So·· the

devil need not lose his time in tempting such people, for without any doing of. his they of their own accord follow him, and surrender themselves to him without difficulty or contradiction. Hunters do not go a-hunting after cattle, but after stags and bucks, who run lightly and take to the hills. It is like those who are running with the Iig-htness of stags to the height of perfection, that the devil goes hunting with his nets and temptations; but

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as for those others who live· like cattle, he has them already in his stall, and has no need to hunt for them. " He is at no pains to assail those of whom he feels already that he is in undisturbed possession," says St. Gregory. And therefore we should not only not be dismayed at temptations, but rather take them for a go09 sign, as St. John Climacu5 observes. "There is no surer si n," he sa s, " that the devils are being beaten by us, than their assaihng us most vIgorous y. ey do it because you have revolted from them, and gone out of their jurisdiction: therefore does the devil persecute you, because he envies you: otherwise he would not persecute you so much.

CHAPTER II

How some are tempted at the beginning of their entry into Religion, others afterwards The blessed St. Gregory observes that some begin to feel ·this war of temptations at the beginning of their entry into Religion, when they first set to work at recollection and the pursuit of virtue. He quotes to this effect the example of Christ our Redeemer, who wished to prefigure this condition of things and sketch it in outline in His own person by an admirable dispensation, since He did not allow the devil to tempt Him till after He had been baptised, and retired into the desert to fast and pray and do penance: then Holy Writ tells us that the devil came up to tempt Him. Hereby He designed, says St. Gregory, to warn those who were to be His members and His sons, to be on the look out for temptations when they proceed to recollect themselves and give themselves to virtue, because it is quite the way of the devil to operate on those lines. When the children of Israel went out of Egypt, Pharaoh at once got together his army and all his power to go against them. Laban again, when Jacob went away from him, followed him \vith a great troop and burning indignation. And when the devil went out of that man mentioned in Holy Scrip-

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CONVERSION FOLLOWED BY TEMPTATION

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ture (Luke xi. 24-26), it says that he took with him seven other spirits worse than himself to return into him, as if making a levy against a rebel, and going out to subject him once more. So the devil, when anyone rebels against him, and seeks to escape from his domination and subjection, is then more kindled to wrath, and shows himself more fierce, and seeks to make greater war. St. Gregory quotes to this ~urpose what the Evangelist St. Mark says, when. Christ our Redeemer cast out that unclean, deaf and dumb spirit: 7.vith loud cries and ntuch tearing of him he went out of him (Mark ix. 25). The Saint says: " Observe that while the devil possessed the man, he did not tear him; and when by the divine power he was being compelled to go out of him, then he tore him" : that we. might understand· that the devil then tries to trouble and molest us with temptations, when we are going a\\'ay from him. Apart from thi~ St. Gregory says that the Lord permits and wishes us to be tempted at the beginning of our Religious life, that no one may fancy that he is a Saint for having left off his evil life and taken to a good one, thoughts which readily occur to people in that condition; and that the security of th~ good life that he has taken up may not make him negligent and slack. To that end God permits temptations to come upon him, to put before his eyes the danger he still is in, and rouse and waken him up to be .diligent and careful. St. John Climacus says, the novelty of a new life is wont to be irksome to hini. who has been accustomed to an evil1ife; and in the embrace of virtue there is manifested and felt the contradiction and war of vice fighting· against the same, as . the / bird, trying to escape from the snare, then feels that it is caught. Thus no one should be affrighted or dismayed at feeling difficulties and temptations at the beginning, since it is quite the ordinary thing. St. Gregory adds that sometimes one who. has left the world and an evil life and begun to serve God, has temptations such as he never felt before his conversion: this however he says is not because there was not in him before .the root of those te.mptations: the root was in him, but it did not appear and show itself then, and

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no\v it shows itself. When a man is very much taken up with other thoughts and all sorts of cares, he often does not know himself nor take cognisance of what passes within him; but when he begins to recollect himself and enter into himself, then he comes to see the roots of evil that are germinating in his heart. It is, the Saint says, like the thistle that grows on the road, and does not come into viev.' \vhile all tread upon it who pass that way; still, though the pricks do not come out, the root remains covered up in the ground; and when passersby cease to tread on them, the pricks forthwith sprout and come out; so, he says, in worldly people the root of temptations often lies concealed and does not show itself externally, since, like that thistle on the road, it is trodden upon and crushed, as by wayfarers' feet, by the diversity of thoughts that come and go, and by numerous cares and occupations. But when one goes apart from all that, and recollects himself to serve God, then, as there is no one to tread on the thistle, there appears that which was hidden a\vay there before, and the pricks of temptation springing from that evil root are felt. Thus a person's experiencing in Religion temptations such as he never had before his entry, is not because of his being a worse man now than \vhen he "vas in the world, but because then the man did not see or kno"v himself, and now he begins to see and "know his evil inclinations and disorderly appetites: thus what he has to aim at is not the hiding or covering up of the root, but the rooting of it out. Others there are, says St. Gregory, who at the beginning of their Religious life are not assailed with temptations, but rather feel much peace, sweetness and consolation; and afterwards, as time goes on, the Lord tries them with temptations: so His Divine Majesty has arranged, with divine knowledge and contrivance, that the path of virtue may not seem to them rough and difficult, and they lose heart and go back again to what they had left a little before. Thus He acted with His people when He led them out of Egypt: He did not take them by the land of the Philistines, which was hard by, for the reason that I-Ioly "\iVrit gives, lest perchance, seeing

CH.

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CONSOLATION NOT EERFECTION

7 wars spring up against them'.1they' tnight repent of having gon,eout of Egypt, and return thither again ~(Exod. xiii. 17). But at the beginning God did them many favours, working great marvels and miracles on their behalf; but by the time that they had crossed the Red Sea, and were in the desert, and could not go back, He proved them \vithmany hardships and trials before their entry into the Land of Promise. So says the Saint, in dealing with, those \vho leave the world, God rids them sometimes of wars and temptations at the outset, that being yet tender in virtue, they may not get frightened thereby and return. to the world. He takes them through pleasant places at the beginning, and gives them consolations and sweetnesses, that having tasted the delight and pleasantness of the \vay of God, they may better afterwards bear the ,var and molestation of temptations and hardships, all the more the more they have tasted of God and come to know how well He deserves to be served and loved. So with St. Peter, the Lord first showed him the beauty and splendour of His glory in the Transfiguration, and then permitted him to be tempted by the servant-maid's question, whether he was a disciple of Christ, in order that, humbled by temptation, weeping -and loving, he might learn to strengthen and aid himself oy the sight he had formerly seen on Mount l'habor; and as fear had overthrown him, so the delight, of the sweetness and goodness of God, which he had experienced, might raise him up. Hence, says St. Gregory, will be understood a mistake commonly made by those who are just entering on the service' of God. Finding themselves sometimes in so much peace and quiet,-the Lord doing them the favour of opening out to them the way of meditation,-finding too the exercises of virtue and mortification easy, they fancy that they have attained perfection, not understanding that these are" the sweetmeats of children and beginners, and that the Lord gives these gratuities to wean them from the things of the world.! Sometimes, says the Saint, God communicates Himself more, abundantly to less perfect souls and souls' that have not advanced so much in virtue, not because they deserve the.se consolations, but

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because they are in greater need of them. It is the way that an earthly father acts, who, while greatly loving all his sons, seems not to make account of those who are in health; but if one of them is ill, he not only provides medicines for his cure, but also things that make for comfort and ease. And as a gardener, while new plants are tender, waters the.m frequently and with extra care, but once they are strong and have taken firm root, he leaves off this watering and extra care., so the Divine Goodness observes this method of management with \veaklings and babes and beginners. The Saints also say that sometimes God gives more consolations to those who have sinned more, and seems to do them more particular kind turns and favours, than to those who have always led a good life, that the former may not lose confidence and hope, and the latter may not gro-w proud. This is well set forth in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke xv. 11-32), and in the feasting, music and rejoicing vvith which his father received him, killing the fatted calf and making a great banquet; \vhereas to the elder son, who had spent. all his life serving him, and had never transgressed his command, he had never given so much as a kid to make merry with his friends; because the healthy are in no need of a physician, but the sick, as the same Lord says (Matt. ix. 12).

CHAPTER III

liVhy the Lord wishes us to ha7Je tem,ptations, and of the utility and profit that ensue upon them The Lord your God tempteth you, that it may be made manifest whether ye love him or not with your whole heart and your whole soul, says the Holy Spirit in Deuteronomy (xiii. 3). The blessed St. Augustine raises a question on those words. How, he says, does Holy Scripture say that God tempts us; and on the other hand the Apostle St. James says in his Canonical Epistle (i. 13) : God tentpteth no ntan? He answers that there are two

CH.

iii

NOT ABANDON ME ENTIRELY

9

ways of tempting: one to deceive and make fall into sin, and in that way God tempts' no man, only the devil, whose office it is so to do, according to what the Apostle St. Paul says: Let it not be that the tempter hath te1npted you (I Thess. iii. 5); where the Gloss says, " that is the devil, whose' office it is to tempt." Another way of tempting there is, to prove' and ga'in experience of a person, and in this way it is that Holy Scriptxe says that God tempts and proves us. And in Genesis (xxii. I) it is said: God tempted and proved A braham. The Lord gives us a nudge, and many nudges, that we may know and understand our powers and the measure of our love and fear of God. And so the same God said thereupon to Abraham, when he put his hand to the knifeJo sacrifice his son: Now I know that thou fearest God (Gen. xxii. 12): that is, as St. Augustine explains, 'now I have ITlade thee know that thou fearest God.' Thus while there are some temptations sent us by the Lord from His own hand, there are others permitted to come upon us \.bymeans of .our enemies, the devil, the world, and the flesh. But what is the reason why the Lord permits and wills t1)at we should have temptations? St.. Gregory, Cassian and. others treat this point very well. They say in the first place that it is' profitable for us to be tempted 'and ~icted, and for the Lord at times to withdraw His hand a little way from us: were it not so, the prophet would not say to God: Do not abandon me entirely (Ps. 118). But because he knew very welt that the Lord is wont at times to leave His servants and withdraw His hand a little way from them for their greater good and profit, he does not ask God never to leave him, nor ever withdraw His. hand from him, but never to abandon him entirely. And in the twenty-sixth psalm he says : Withdraw not in anger from thy ser7.l ant. He does not ask God never to withdraw from him at any time and in any way, but not to withdraw from him in anger, or forsake him so far as to let him come to fall into sin : but as for proving him and sending him temptations and trials, he rather asks for it. P10ve me, 0 Lord, and try me (Ps. 25). And by Isaiah the same Lord says: A little, for an instant, I

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have forsaken thee, and in great rnercies will I gather thee: in a moment of indignation I have hidden my face from' thee, and in everlasting mercy have I had mercy on thee (Isai. liv. 7-8). But let us see in particular the benefits and advantages that accrue to us from temptations. Cassian says that God deals with us as He dealt with the children of Israel. He would not entirely destroy the enemies of His people, but left in the Land of Promise those enemies of His people, those tribes of Canaanites, Amorrheans, Jebusites, etc., to teach and exercise His people, that security might not make them fall into idleness, but they should be valiant men of war, habere consuetudinem praeliandi (J udges iii. 2). So he says the Lord wishes that we should have enemies, and be assailed by temptations, that we should have practice in fighting, and not take harm from idleness or prosperity; for oftentimes the devil deceives and overthrows by false sense of security those whom he has not been able to overcome by open fighting. ,.St. Greg~ says that bya high and secret disposition of His Providence the Lord wishes the good and the elect to be ten1pted and afflicted in this life; because this life is a road, or to speak better, an exile, whereby we journey and make our pilgrimage until we reach our heavenly country; and \vhereas some travellers, when they see on their way sundry meadows and woodlands, are apt to stop and turn· off from the road, therefore the Lord has wished that this life should be full of trials and temptations, to prevent our setting our heart and love on it, or taking our land of exile for our country, and to make us continually sigh for home. ~~A~~n~ gives the same reaSOD, and says that temptations- aIidtrials go to sho\v us the misery of this life, that we may more ardently long for that life of heavenly bliss, and seek after it with greater diligence and fervour. And in another place he says it is " that we may not love the stable," ne viator stabulum amet pro domo sua} and forget those royal palaces for which we were created. When the nurse· wishes to wean the child, and teach it to eat bread, she puts aloes on her breasts: so God mingles

CH.iv

NO TEMPTATIONS, NO CROWN

II

bitterness with the things of this life to detach men from them, and make them with all their heart and desire long after heaven. And St. Gregory: "The evils that beset and oppress us here make us have recourse and turn to God."

CHAPTER IV

Of other benefits and advantages that temptations bring with them Blessed is .the man that suffereth temptation, and has been well approved therein, because he shall r'eceive the crown of life {James i. 12). On these words St. Bernard says: "Temptations needs must come: for who shall be crowned but he who hath lawfully fought? (2 Tim. ii. 5). And if there are no temptations, who shall fight, having no adversary to fight with?" All the benefits and advantages' which Holy vVrit and the Saints tell us of in their sermons·· of trials and adversities, and they are innumerable, all these advantages temptations bring in their train. One of· them, .and a chief one of all, is that which the words above quoted say. The Lord sends us them, that we may afterwards win a greater reward and crown in the glory of heaven: since through many tribulations must we enter into the kingdom of God (Acts xiv. 21). This is the royal road to heaven,-temptations. tribulations and adversities. And so in the Apocalypse one of those Ancients, showing St. John the great glory of the Saints, said to him: These are they that are corne out of great tribulation, and have wa'shed their robes white in the blood. of the Lamb (Apoc.vii. 14). . By the way, St. Bernard asks how does he say that they have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, seeing that blood is not apt to whiten but to colour. They came out white, he says, because along with the blood from the side there issued forth also water, and that whitened them,. Or if we do not say that, he says that they changed to white, because the Blood of that· tender and spotless Lamb was like a white and ruddy milk, accord-

12

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ing to the saying of the Spouse in the Canticles: My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen among a thousand (Cant. v. 10). Thus it is that through blood and tribulations entrance is gained into the kingdom of heaven. Here stones are hewn, cut and finished off, to get them to lie flat in their place in the temple of the heavenly Jerusalem, since no hammer, nor blow of hammer, is to be heard there (3 I{ings vi. 7). And the better and more conspicuous the place where the stones are to be laid, the more do they pick and shape the.m. And as the stone over the doorway is usually most elaborately picked and finished off,because the entranee is what most strikes the eye, so Christ our Lord, becoming the new gate of heaven, which hitherto had been closed, would be most of all beaten with blows of the hammer ;-as also to the end that we sinners should feel ashamed to enter by a gate cut and shaped "vith so many tribulations and afflictions, without first suffering some blows ourselves, that we may be knocked into shape. Stone that is to be thrown into the foundation is not usually cut stone: so those who are to be thrown below into the depth of hell have no need of being wrought and hammered. Let them make merry here in this life, let them gratify their whims and appetites, let them do their own "vill, let them give themselves up to good cheer, since with that they will be paid all their due. But they who are destined to go and repair the ruins of the evil angels, and to fill those seats that they lost by their pride, must be hewn into shape by afflictions and temptations. St. Paul says: If we are sons, we shall be heirs, heirs of God and joint he-irs with Christ, yet so that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with hi,n (Rom. viii. 17). And the angel said to Toby: Because thou wert acceptable to God, and He wished thee well, therefore he wished to try thee with temptation (Tob. xii. 13), that so thy recompense and reward might fie greater. And of Abraham the Wise Man says that God t1'ied him and found hinl, faithful (Ecclus. xliv. 21); and because He found him faithful, constant and brave under temptation, therefore He gave him reward, and

CH.

iv

PURGATORY

13

promised him under oath to multiply his generation like the stars· in heaven and the sands on the seashore. It is for this then that the Lord sends us trials and temptations, to give us -a greater reward and a richer crown. And so the Saints say that God does us a greater favour in s,!(nding us temptations, giving us at the same time grace to overcome them, than if He· were entirely to deliver usfrom them, because. at that rate we should miss the reward and glory that we merit thereby. ~ adds to this another reason, that the Lord loving us so much is not satisfied with our gaining glory and great glory in heaven, but wishes us to gain it quickly, and not to have to detain us in purgatory; and therefore He sends us here afflictions and temptations, \vhich are His hammer and forge whereby the rust and dross is cleared off. our soul, and it is cleansed and purified so as to be able to enter at once into the enjoyment of God. Take away the dross from the silver, and a rno'st pure vessel will come forth (Prov. xxv. 4). And this is no. small favour and benefit, to say nothing of the gain that we make by commuting so great and severe a punishment as we should otherwise have to suffer there into the little or nothing, comparatively speaking, that we suffer in· this life: Moreover Holy Scripture is full of the fact that the .I!!Qsperities of this life separate the soul from God, whereas adversities and afflictions are the occasion of draWing •her to God. What but . prosperity made Pharaoh's cup-bearer so quickly forget his interpreter Joseph{Gen. xl. 23)? What but prosperity made King Ozias proud, after such fair beginnings (2 ehron. xxvi. 16) ? What made Nabuchodonosor vain, what made Solomon vain, what made David vain enough to number the

people? And when the children of Israel saw themselves in high power, thanks to the great favours and benefits that the Lord had done them, then they deteriorated and forgot God the more (Deut. xxxii. IS). On the other hand, the prophet says that in trouble men return to God. Cover, 0 Lord, their face with ignominy, and straightway they will seek thy protection (Ps. 82). They cried to the Lord in their affliction (Ps.

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106). When the Lord sent them the pestilence, then they sought him and 'lverecon'l'erted to him, and rose When early in the morning to meet him (Ps. 77). N abuchodonosor was changed into a beast,-whether it 'were in sober reality or in imagination,-then he knew God (Dan. iv. 30-31). What a much better man David was under the persecution of Saul, Absalom and Semei, than in his walk in prosperity on the balcony! So afterwards, like one who has been well under the knife, he says : We have rejoiced for the days in which thou didst humble us, for the years in which we suffered hardship (Ps. 89). It is good for trle. that thou didst humb-le 1ne (Ps. 118). Oh, what a good thing it has been for me, 0 Lord, to have been humbled and afflicted! How many have been cured by this treatment, who otherwise 'would have perished! When the thorn of tribulation and temptation pricks, then one enters into oneself, is converted and returns to God (Ps. 31). Even in the world they say that the fool is made a \vise man by punishment. And it is the pronouncement of the Holy Ghost by Isaiah (xxviii. 19). It is only suffering that openeth the eyes of understanding. And more clearly by t'he Wise Man: A 'severe illness maketh the soul sober (Ecc1us. xxxi. 2). Severe illness,afflictions and adversities bring a man to reason. A l11an is living in prosperity, free and unbroken, like a young bull untamed, quasi juvenculus indornitus (Jerem. xxxi. 18): God flings over him the yoke of tribulation and temptation to quieten him down. The angel cured Toby with the gall of the fish (Tob. xi. 2-16); and with clay Christ gave sight to the blind (John ix. 1-7). For this then the Lord sends us temptations, vvhich count among the number of really great trials, and are most sensibly felt by spiritual men. As for those other material trials, such as losses. of property, illnesses and the like, for the servants of God, who are bent upon spiritual things, they are a very light matter, falling well outside their concern: for all that sort of thing only touches the body, and so they do not take much account of it. But when the trouble is interior and reaches the soul, as temptation does, which goes to separate them from God, and

CH.

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ALL BUT LOST

15

seems to put them in danger and risk of losing Him, \ that is a thing they feel much, and makes theln cry out with a cry as loud as that of the Apostle St. Paul, when he felt this war and contradiction of the flesh, seeking to drag the spirit away with it: ' Woe is me, that evil carries me away with it;. and the good I fain would do, I do not succeed in putting into execution! who will deliver me from this captivity and servitude! (Rom. vii. 24).'

CHAPTER V

That temptations a'vailus greatly to know and humble ourse1'7Jes, and have more recourse to God Temptations are further fraught with another great benefit and advantage: they make us know ourselves. ,, We often do not know what we can do, but temptation shows us what we are," says that holy man (A Kempis). This knowledge of ourselves is the foundation-stone_ of the whole spiritual edifice: without. it nothing durable can be built; and with it the soul rises like foam, because she knows how to take her stand on God, in whom she can do all things. Now temptations lay 0R.~n to man his weakness and ignorance.. whereas up to then his eyes were closed· both to the one and. the other, and so he. was unable to think poorly of himself, because he had not had this experience. But when a man sees that a breath of wind knocks him over, that at a mere nothing he stops benumbed, that when a temptation comes upon him he is disconcerted and gets into. a heat, and counsel and good sense at once desert him and darkness enve1opshim,-he begins then to moderate his high presumptions, and to humble and think meanly of himself. If we had no temptations, we should thereupon have considerable conceit of ourselves and fancy ourselves very valiant; but vvhen temptation comes, and man sees himself on the point of falling and apparently within the thickness of a penny-piece of plunging into the abyss, then he knows his weakness and humbles

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himself. Therefore St. Paul says (2 Cor. xii. 7), ' that the fact of my having been caught up to the third heaven, and the great revelations that I had had, might not move me to pride, the Lord permitted me to be tempted, that I might know what I was of my own self and humble myself accordingly.' Hence follows another great benefit and advantage, which is, that as a man knows his weakness, he comes thereby to know the need that he has of the favour and help of the Lord, and of' having recourse .to Him in prayer, and ever clinging to Him as to his remedy and refuge, according to that saying of the prophet: Oh, how good it is for me to draw nigh to the Lord, and never go far from him (mihi adhaerere Deo bonum est, Ps. 72). And as a mother, when she wishes her boy to come to her, gets other people to frighten him, that he may be under the necessity of going to her lap; so the Lord permits the devil to alarm and frighten us with his temptations, that we may have recourse to His lap and protection. In Gerson's words, " as a mother lets go of her child for a short interval, that he may call on her more earnestly, seek her more diligently, embrace her more closely, and she in her turn may fondle him more affectionately, quo instantius ille clamet, accuratius quaerat, arctius stringat, et illa vicissim blandiatur suavius." St. Bernard says that the Lord at times loosens His hold on the soul, that she may cry out to Him with more longing and fervour, and hold fast to Him. more strongly. So He did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, pretending that He wished to go further forward, that they might importune and detain I-Iim. Stay with us, since the evening is coming on, and the day is waning (Luke xxiv. 29). Thence it comes also that a man sets more store by the favour and protection of the Lord, seeing the need that he has of it. ~~~. _Q.~tI.-says that on this account it is expedient for U'S1lla1 theLord should withdraw His hand just a little from us, since if we always alike enjoyed His protection, we should not esteem it so much, or take it to be so necessary; but when God leaves us a little to ourselves, and 'we think we are going to fall, and then

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17

PILOT IN ROUGH WATERS

see that He gives us His hand at once,-if the Lord had \ not co.m .. e to my a.id, my soul had alm..ost dwelt in hell (PS•. 93),-then we set a high value on His favour, and become more grateful, and recognise better His goodness and mercy. In whatever day I call on thee, I at once know that thou art my God (Ps. ·55). One cries to God in temptation, and feels His aid, and experiences the faithfulness of His Majesty in the good protection that He affords in time of need. So one recognizes Him for Father and Defender, and is inflamed more with His love, and breaks out into- His praises, as the children of Israel did, when the Egyptians went in pursuit of them, and they beheld themselves on the far side of the sea, and the enemy drowned (Exod. xv. I). Hence also it comes that one does not attribute any good thing to oneself, but attributes· all .to God, and gives Him the glory of all, which is another great benefit and advantage arising out of temptatIons, and a great remedy against them, as also' a means of gaining great favours and rewards from the Lord. CHAPTER VI

That in tetnptations the just are furthe'r proved and purified, and take root better in virtue The Saints further say that the Lord would have us tempted to prove our virtue. As in winds and tempests it appears whether a tree is well rooted, .and as the valour and strength of a knight and good· soldier is not brought to light in time of peace, but in time of war, in encounters and conflicts, so the virtue and strength of a servant of God is not evidenced in time of devotion and comfort, but under temptations and trials. On the words, I am ready and not afraid to keep thy commandments (Ps. 118), St. Ambrose says that as he is the better pilot and worthy of greater praise, who has the. knowledge and skill to steer a ship in time of tempests and squalls, when the ship seems now to be going to the bottom, and now to be. lifted up by the waves sky-high, rather than one who can steer and guide it in time of calm and fine 2

VOL. II

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weather; so he deserves greater praise who is able to steer and guide himself in time of temptations, in such way that neither does prosperity lift him up to pride, nor adversity and trial frighten and dismay him. Therefore does God send temptations, as He dealt with the people of Israel, allowing hostile tribes to dwell around them, that in thern he might make trial of Israel, whether they would hear the cornmand1nents of the Lord, which he comrnanded their fathers by the hand of Moses (Judges iii. 4). And the Apostle Paul says: Divisions must needs arise, that they who are approved rnay be made manifest among you (r Cor. xi. 19). God hath tried them and ound them worthy of h.imself (Wisd. iii. 5). Temptations are the strokes whereby God discovers the fineness of the metal: they are the touchstone whereby He tests I-lis friends: thereby I-Ie conles to see what stuff each one is made of. And as men on earth like to have trusty and tried friends, so also does God, and therefore He proves them. As ve'ssels .are proved in the furnace} says the Wise Man, and silver and gold in the fire, so are the just proved in temptation (Ecclus. xxvii. 6: Provo xvii. 3). St. Jerome says: "when a mass of metal is burning in the fire, it does not show itself whether it is gold, or silver, or any other metal, since it is then all of one colour, and seems all fire" ; so in time of consolation, while fervour and devotion last, all has the look of fire, and the nature of the individual does not appear: but draw the mass out of the fire, let it coo], and you will see what it is. Let that fervour and consolation pass, let trial and temptation come, and then the stuff that each individual is made of will come to light. When in time of peace a man takes the way of virtue, one does not know whether that is virtue, or whether it springs from a good natural disposition, or some particular relish that he has for the exercise, and the absence of rival attractions; but when he perseveres under the assaults of temptation, it shows ,~ell that he does things on the motive of virtue and love

o God. Tern 'tation also serves to urify a man more. As the goldsmith purifies silver and go d y re, an rids it of

CH.

vi

GOLD/NTHE FIRE

19

all its dross, so the Lord wishes to purify His' elect by temptation, that they· may be more agreeable to His Divine lVlajesty (Ps. 65). I will burn them· as silvet is burnt, and prove them as gold is proved, says the Lord by Zachary (xiii. 9). And by Isaiah: I will clear thee of thy dross in the crucible, and take away all thy tin (i. 25). This is the \vork of temptation in the just: it consumes and destroys in them the scum of vices,· and love of world Iv thIn s and of the selves and makes them more ardent and purified. t is true, says St~ Augustine, that not all gather this fruit from temptations, but good people only. There are things that, put in the fire, at once soften and melt away, like wax; other things harden, like clay. So good people, in the fire of temptation and trial, are softened, Knowing and humbling themselves; but the wicked are hardened .and·· made more obstinate. Thus we see that of the two thieves on the cross, one was converted, while the othet blasphemed. So St. Augustine says: temptation is a fire, in which gold comes out brighter, and straw is consumed; the just is made purer. and more perfect, and the wicked more utterly lost: it is a storm, in which the just weathers it out and ·the wicked is drowned. The children of Israel found their way through the waters, which served them as a wall to the right and the left, while the. Egyptians sank and were drowned in the same waters1Exod. xiv. 21-2 9).

St. Cyprian brings this reason to encourage .us in tribulations and persecutions, and persuade us not to fear them; because FIoly Writ teaches us that God's servants rather increase and multiply thereby, as it tells us of the children of Israel, that the more .they \vere oppressed and harassed by the Egyptians, the more they increased and multiplied (Exod. i. 12). And of Noah's Ark it is said that the \vaters of the deluge rose in flood and lifted the Ark above the mountains of Armenia (Gen. vii. 17: viii. 4) : so t'he waters of tribulations and afflictions lift up and greatly perfect a soul. If you are not purified by tempo.' tation,it will be because you are not gold, but.· straw, and so remain black and foul. Gerson says that as the sea by .• its storms and tempests casts out of itself the

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impurities that it has gathered, and remains clear and purified, so the spiritual sea of our soul is cleansed and purified by temptations from the impurities and imperfections that it is apt to gather from an unwholesome peace and tranquillity, and to that purpose God sends them. ' Again, as a _good husbandman prunes his vine that it may bear more fruit, so the Saints say God our Lord, who likens Himself in the gospel to a husbandman, prunes His vines, that is, His elect, that they may fructify' more. Every b'ranch that beareth fruit in me J he will prune it that it rnay bear more fruit (John xv. 2). What has been said is further confirmed by this: the effect of temptation is to make the contrary virtue strike deeper root in the soul. The holy Abbot Nilus says: " As' frosts and storms make shrubs and trees take deeper root in the soil, so do temptations make the contrary virtues take deeper root in the soul": plantas enutriunt venti et tentatio confirmat animae fortitudinem. Virtue is made perfect in' temptation [in infirmitate 1, that is, is established, solidly grounded and made steadfast (2 Cor. xii. 9: cf. tr. xL, ch. 10). When a disputant assails a truth, and you defend it, the more reasons and arguments he brings to assail it, the more reasons you firid- to establish' and confirm it. So with the servant of God,-the more temptations the devil brings up in opposition to virtue, the more motives and reasons God's servant finds to preserve it and resist the temptation: then too he makes new resolutions, and practises more acts of the virtue in question, which thus takes root and is strengthened and grows the more. Thus it is very well said t'hat temptation acts on the soul like blows on the anvil, which harden it more and make it more solid and strong. Besides this, which is the ordinary course of things, St. Bonaventure says that' God our Lord is wont to bestow extraordinary consolations and re'wards on those who are tTIuch tempted to any vice and show themselves faithful in temptation, by bestowing. on them in an eminent degree the contrary virtue. Thus St. Gregory relates of S1. Benedict how manfully he resisted a strong temptation of the flesh by throwing himself naked among

CR.

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STRENGTHEN CONTRARY VIRTUE

21

brambles and thorns; "'Therefore the Lord gave him such perfection of chastity. that thenceforth ,he nevermore experienced any impure temptations. We read the .same of St. Thomas Aquinas, how with a blazing brand he put to flight a woman who came to solicit him: God thereupon sent angels who girded tight his loins as a sign that He bestowed upon him the gift of perpetual chastity. In the same way St. Bonaventure says of those who are tempted. against faith, or with temptations to blasphemy, that the Lord is wont to give them afterwards great clearness and strong light of faith and a burning love of God, and the same with other. temptations. He quotes to this effect that text of Isaiah (xiv. 2): They shall capture and subdue those who sought to capture and subdue them. That is a thing that gives great comfort in temptations. Take comfort and animate yourself to fight, my brother, for the Lord wishes the contrary virtue hereby to strike deep roots in your soul, He wishes to bestow on you an angelic chastity. A lion came out to meet Sampson, and he met it and slew it, and afterwards he found in it a honeycomb (Judges xiv. 5-8). So does t~mPtation look like a lion at the· outset, but do not. be a~raid of it, meet it and overcome it, .and you wdl see how afterwards you' find therein very great sweetness apd pleasure.. •. '. .. .". . Hence also it ""'ill be understood how on the contrary, when one lets himself be carried away by temptation and yields to it, the bad habit will grow by the doing of the acts that belong to it, and therewith the temptation will also grow and be stronger in future, because the vice will have' taken deeper root and got more mastery over the man. So St. Augustine observes. Jerusalem hath sinned a great sin, therefore hath she becotne un-

stable, weaker and more apt to fall again; says the prophet Jeremy (Lam. L 8); as the Wise Man also says:: The sinner will add sin to sin (Ecclus. iii. 29). This is a very important warning for those who are assailed. with temptations. The devil with such 'people is .wont . to deceive and blind them, getting. them to helieve that the temptation will cease by their gratifying it. A very great delusion! rather, if you comply with the tert1ptatio~, it

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will strike deeper root, and the passion and appetite will grow upon you, and henceforth will have greater force and more mastery over you: it will come back to overthrow you more easily time after time. They say well that this is like the case of dropsy; the more the dropsical man drinks, the thirstier he grows; or of the miser, the more he gets, the greater does his covetousness become. So in this case, take it for an understood thing, that when you let temptation carry you away and yield to it, it will grow as many degrees as you· yield, and you will lose so many degrees of strength. And· when you resist and show fight, not yielding to it, virtue and strength grow in you to a proportionate degree. Thus the means to gain the victory over temptations and evil inclinations, and attain peace and quiet, is never to give in to them, or let them have their own way. In this fashion, little by little, with the help of the Lord, the temptation and passion gradually loses strength, until it ceases to give any trouble at all. This should greatly encourage us to resist temptations.

CIJAPTER VII That temptations make a man diligent and fervent Temptations carry with them al30 another considerable benefit and advantage, that they make a man diligent and careful, fervent and spiritual, as being always on the verge of a fight. As a long peace makes men slack, careless, and up to doing very little, so war and practice in arms makes them strong, robust ana valiant. For this reason Cato in the Roman Senate gave this as his opinion: ' It is well for the Romans that Carthage should stand intact, lest idleness draw them into other and greater evils. \Voe to Rome when Carthage shall be no more.' The Lacedaemonians gave the same answer, when their king. proposed to destroy and level to the ground a city that had given them much trouble at every stage of their history. The governors and senators declared that they would never consent to the breaking of the whet-

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TEMPTATION DRIVES US UPON GOD

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stone, on which the strength and valour of the Lacedremonian youth was sharpened to a keen edge. They gave the name of ' whetstone' to the city that had often made them take up arms, for thereby their youth were exercised in arms, and displayed the mettle and valour of each; and they reckoned it a great injury to their State to have no more wars and conquests. Thus the having no temptations is· apt to make men remiss and careless. A man IS taking· things quietly: nothing can induce him to take the discipline or wear a haircloth; he yawns at meditation, is slack in obedience, wanders about seeking conversation :-there comes upon him a violent temptation, in which God and God's aid is necessary: thereupon he pulls himself together, and conceives spirit and fervour for mortification and meditation. Even in the world they say: ' If you want to know how to pray, go to sea.' Necessity and· danger teach people to pray and have recourse to God in earnest. .~9. §.t~CErj'~~t~ says that on this account God permits temptations-TOr our good and spiritual profit. "When He sees that we are falling into tepidity,withdraWing from His conversation and intimacy, and making little account of spiritual things, He lets us go a little from His hand, that being thus chastised we may return to His Majesty with more seriousness and care." And else"vhere: "When the devil assails us and goes about to frighten us· with his temptations, that makes for our advancement, since then we get to know what we are, and have more diligent recourse to God." Thus temptations are not only no obstacle or hindrance to our travelling in the way of virtue, but are even a means to help us thereto. So the Apostle St.· Paul called temptation, not a knife or lance, but a prick and goad. The goad does not kill nor injure, but awakens and arouses, and makes one go the way more vigorously ; so temptation does not injure, but does much good, since it arouses and awakens people to go their way better. This is apt to prove generally beneficial to all, even to the most advanced. However good and strong a horse may be, the spur is needful, and he runs better when he feels it : so God's servants run better and more nimbly in the service of God, when they feel

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these pricks and goads of temptations, and then they become more humble and cautious. St. Gregory says: " The aim of the devil in temptation is evil, but that of the Lord is good." The leech, when it sucks the blood of the patient, has no other purpose but to glut itself, and \vould suck it all away if it could; but the purpose of the physician is to draw off the bad blood, and give health to the sick man. When they apply the cautery called the ' fiery button' to a patient, all that the fire wants. is to burn, but all that the surgeon \vants is to heal: the fire would like to reach the healthy part, but the surgeon applies it only to that which is diseased, and will not let it go further. Thus the a'im of the devil in temptation is to ruin our virtue and merit and glory; but the Lord's aim is otherwise, and He marvellously works the exact contrary effect by the same llleans. Thus the stones that the devil hurls against us to break our heads and kill us, He takes to work out from them a most fair and precious crown for us, as we read of the glorious St. Stephen, who was surrounded by persecutors and overwhelmed by the stones that they threw at him, and saw the heavens opened, and Jesus Cprist as it were gathering up those stones, to make of them for him a jewelled crown of glory. Gerson adds another point that is very consoling, which he says is the common doctrine of Doctors and Saints: it is that though one under the molestation of temptations commits some faults, and thinks that he has been guilty of some negligence and carelessness, and there has been some venial sin mixed up in the matter; nevertheless, on the other hand, the patience that he keeps under this affliction, and his conformity \vith the will of God, and the resistance that he makes, fighting against the temptation, and the expedients and means that he applies to gain the victory, not only remove and clear away all these faults and negligences, but make him grow and go forward, meriting greater grace and greater glory, according to the saying of the Apostle, God draws good from the temptation (faciet CUtn tentatione proventu'm [lK,BUu, he says, to have given up property and wealth, if you do not also give up your own will and follow the will of pbedience. Suriu~ relates some notable sayings of St. Fulgentius, Bishop, i who was Abbot of a monastery. This is one of them, d~aling with obedience: " Do you know," he says, "who ~re true Religious? They who have no will of their o~n, but give themselves up, prompt and indifferent, for anytp.ing that the Superior shall command them. This it is to \be a Religious, neither to will nor to will not." He doe~ not say that you will be a Religious if you take many di!sciplines, or wear rough hairshirts, or are strong enough ~o work hard ~11 day long, or be a great Doctor or Preacher, but if you be very obedient and have no will Qf your lo\vn. IUos verosmonachos esse, qui mortificatis voluntat~bussuis parati essent nihil velle, nihil nolle, sed abbatis t(tntummodo consilia vel praecepta servare. Thus pbedience is the virtue most essential in Religion, the virttie that makes one be a Religious. I t is that which pleases God more than sacrifice and victims; in that is included and contained poverty, chastity, and all other virtues. ! If you are obedient, you will be poor, chaste, humble, silent, suffering, mortified, and master of all virtues. i And .this is no exaggeration, but downright truth: for virtues are acquired and gained by practising i