Teresa | Goddelijke openbaringen

SPIRIT OF S. TERESA.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE LITE OY S. TERESA."

^ LONDON:

BURNS, LAMBERT, AND OATES,

17 AND 18 PORTMAN STREET,
AND 63 PATERNOSTER ROW.

1866. J

CratwUtrt an* arrange*

" O charitatis victima!

Tu corda nostra concrema."
\ Hymn far Vespers of S. Teresa.

Smprfmatttr. T

HENRICUS E.,

Archiep. Westmmaat.

lou dor :

LEVEY AND CO., PRINTERS, GREAT NSW 8TRBKT,
FETTER LANE, B.C.

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PREFACE.

The " Exclamations of the Soul to God" were
written by S. Teresa, according to the Bollan-
dists, in the year 1579. They are the out-
pourings of her soul before God after Holy
Communion.

The " Directions on Prayer and on the Life
of Prayer" have been extracted chiefly from
VEsprit de Ste. Therese, published in 1775 by
M. Emery, afterwards Superior of S. Sulpice,
who selected such passages from the. various
writings of the Saint as, although directly ad-
dressed to religious, convey a practical lesson
to all who aim at leading a life of close union
with God.

The Novena preparatory to the Feasts of

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PREFACE.

S. Teresa is written by an unknown hand.
Its dedication to Madame Louise de France,
Novice Carmelite, fixes as its date the year 1770,
when the daughter of Louis XV. left his
brilliant and dissolute court for the solitude of
Carmel, and received her father's conversion
as her reward.

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CONTENTS.

PART I.

Exclamations of the Soul to God.
chap. PA0B
I. Complaints of the soul at its separation from God

during this life 3

II. How the soul which loves God is divided between
the desire of enjoying Him and the obligation
of assisting her neighbour .... 5

III. Thoughts of the Saint on the consideration of her

sins, and of the mercy of God . . . .7

IV. Prayer that God would enable the Saint to recover

the time which she had not spent in loving and
serving Him 10

V. Of the complaint of Martha, and how a soul which

loves God may complain to Him of her misery 12

VI. How painful is this life to a soul which longs ardently

for God . . H

VII. The exceeding goodness of God, Whose delight is to

be with the children of men . . . .16
VIII. Prayer for sinners who are so blind that they do not

desire to see 18

IX. Prayer that God would deliver by His grace those
who feel not their own misery, and seek not to

be delivered from it 20

X. How small is the number of the true servants of God
— Prayer for those hardened souls who refuse
to arise from the death of sin . . . .22

XI. Fearful state of a soul which, at the moment of
death, hears the sentence of her eternal con-
demnation 25

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CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

XII. How cowardly men are in the service of God, how

fearless in offending Him 27

XIII. Of the happiness of the Saints in heaven, and of the
impatience of men who choose rather to enjoy
for a moment the false pleasures of this life
than to wait for the true and eternal joys of

heaven . 31

XIV. How sweet will he the countenance of our Lord
Jesus Christ at the last judgment to the good,
and how terrible to the wicked ... 34
XV, The consolation of the soul under the weariness of

her long exile 37

XVI. That God alone can give relief to the soul which

He has grounded with His love ... 39
XVII. That we know not what to ask of God— Ardent
desires to leave this world, in order to enjoy
perfect liberty, which consists in freedom from
the possibility of sinning 42

PART II.

Directions on Prayer and on the Life of Prayer.

I. Motives of S. Teresa for the establishment of her

reform 51

II. The true nature of union with God . ... 53

III. The love of God— Its signs and its benefits . . 58

IV. The way of perfection is sweeter than men suppose 64

V. Great benefit of courage in the service of God . 66

VI. Various ways of deceiving ourselves ... 70
VII On the contempt of worldly honour .... 76
VIII. Little attachments, great hindrances in the way of

perfection 79

IX. Persons farthest advanced in grace ought to live in

continual fear of falling ..... 85

X. Grievous nature of deliberate venial sins . . 87
XI. Confidence in the goodness and power of God, and

contempt which we ought to feel for the devil . 88
XII. On forgiveness of injuries, after the example of

our Divine Lord 91

XIII. Vain excuses of lukewarm religious . . . 92

XIV. Prayer against the desire of human approbation . 94
XV. God will never fail us if we fail not ourselves . 95

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CHAP. PAOK

XVI. Necessity of interior mortification ... 96

XVII. Difference between true and false humility . 100
XVIII. Various kinds of false peace .... 103

XIX. On a constrained and narrow spirit of devotion 106

XX. Sufferings of those who are divided between God

and the world, and how much it concerns
them not to abandon the practice of mental

prayer 107

XXI. Means to preserve recollection in prayer . . 109
XXII. Answer to objections against mental prayer . 117

XXIII. True vocal prayer always involves mental prayer 120

XXIV. Prayer of recollection— The contemplation of

God as within us 122

XXV. Importance of the thanksgiving after Holy

Communion 127

XXVI. Marvellous effects of Holy Communion . . 183

XXVII. Benefit of devotion to S. Joseph . . . 134
XXVIII. Spiritual love of perfect souls for God, and for

those who assist them in the way to heaven
—The kind of love which they bear to crea-
tures 136

XXIX. We should not complain of slight indispositions,

nor give way to excessive fear of death . 146
XXX. The danger of thinking that we have virtues

which we do not really possess . . .160

XXXI. Duty of nuns to pray for ecclesiastics and reli-
gious who are labouring in the world —

Prayer of S. Teresa 166

XXXII. Error of those authors who forbid the contem-
plation of our Lord's Humanity . . . 163

XXXIII. Temptation which often assails a soul which

has renounced sin in its endeavours to unite
itself more perfectly to God in prayer . 166

XXXIV. Aridities in prayer ought neither to astonish

nor discourage us 170

XXXV. Action, or the service of God, ought to be the

end of contemplation 176

XXXVI. That without the gift of contemplation we may

attain to perfection 178

XXXVII. Maxims addressed by the Saint to her religious 182

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CONTENTS.

NOVENA BEFORE THE FEAST OF S. TERESA.

PAGE

Preparatory Prayer 193

Fibbt Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the virtue of humility . 194
Second Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the virtue of penance . 197
Third Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the virtue of patience . 201
Foubth Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to interior trials . . . 206
Fifth Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to prayer itself . . . 209
Sixth Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the virtue of faith . . S12
Seventh Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the virtue of hope . . 216
Eighth Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to the love of God . . 218
Ninth Day. Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer

in relation to her blessed death . . 222

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PART I.

EXCLAMATIONS OF THE SOUL TO GOD.

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THE

SPIKIT OF S. TEKESA.

CHAPTER I.

Complaints of the soul at its separation from God
during this life.

O my life, O my life, how canst thou endure to
be separated from thy true Life ? In what
canst thou busy thyself in this deep solitude ?
What canst thou do, when all thy works are so
full of defects and imperfections ? O my soul,
who can console thee, exposed as thou art upon
this tempestuous and stormy sea ? I weep
when I consider what I am, and I weep still
more that I have lived so long without weeping.
O Lord, how sweet are Thy ways ! but who can
walk therein without fear ? I tremble lest my
life should pass away without doing any thing
for Thee; and when I try to serve Thee, nothing

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that I do contents me, because I can do nothing
to repay Thee the least part of the debt I owe
Thee. I feel that I would consume myself in
Thy service; but when I look upon my own
misery, I see that I can do nothing good but
what Thou Thyself enablest me to do.

O my God and my Mercy, what shall I do
not to undo the mighty works of Thy grace in
my soul ? All Thy works are holy, just, and
of an inestimable value, and wrought with
marvellous wisdom, because Thou, O Lord, art
wisdom itself. If my understanding would
search into their wonders, my, will complains;
for it would have nothing to disturb the repose
of its love.' O my God, my spirit would fain
know Thee, and it is overwhelmed by Thine
ineffable greatness; my heart burns to enjoy
Thee, and cannot, because it is enthralled in
the dark prison of this mortal life. Thus the
activity of my understanding is an obstacle to
my love, though it was a help to it at first, by
the consideration of Thy greatness, by which I
learned to measure my inconceivable little-
ness. But why do I speak thus, my God?
To whom do I complain ? Who hears me but
Thee, my Father and my Creator? . And what
need have I to speak, to make known to Thee
my trouble, when I see clearly that Thou art in
my heart? Thus do my thoughts wander.

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But, alas, O God of my soul, who shall assure
me that I am not separated from Thee? O
life, how bitter art thou, which even to the last
moment can give me so little security as to the
most important thing in the world ! Who can
desire thee, when the only advantage that can
be gained or hoped from thee, which is to
please God in all things, is so uncertain, and
surrounded by so many perils ?

CHAPTER II.

How the soul which loves God is divided between
the desire of enjoying Him and the obligation of
assisting her neighbour.

I often think, my loving Master, that if any
thing could console us in any degree for living
without Thee, it is a life of solitude, because
there the soul rests in Him Who is her true
repose. But too often, alas, she cannot enjoy
Thee in perfect liberty, and so her sufferings
are redoubled. And yet this suffering is joy
to that which she feels when she is torn from
that solitary communing with her Creator to
converse with creatures.

But whence conies it, O God, that a soul
which aspires only to please Thee becomes
weary of repose ? O mighty love of God, how

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unlike thou art to earthly love, which would
have no companions, lest they should rob it of
a portion of its beloved ! But the love of God
is enkindled more and more, the greater the
number of hearts that love Him ; and its one
sorrow is to see that all men love Him not.

Therefore, O my Sovereign Good, in the midst
of the overwhelming sweetness and interior
consolations which the soul enjoys with Thee,
she is sorrowful when she thinks of the great
multitude of those who reject these heavenly
joys, and of the number of unhappy souls who
will lose them for ever. She seeks, then, by
every means, to increase the number of Thy
friends, and willingly sacrifices her repose to
the hope of enkindling in others a desire for
the happiness which she enjoys.

But, oh, my heavenly Father, would it not
be better to put aside these desires for a time
of less abundant consolation, and to give these
blessed moments wholly to the enjoyment of
Thee ? O Jesus, great indeed is the love which
Thou bearest to the children of men, since the
most signal service which we can render Thee
is to leave Thee for the love of them, and for
their spiritual good. What do I say? It
is even thus that we possess Thee more fully.
We feel, it is true, less sensible sweetness; but
we make it our joy to please Thee, and we see

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that all the joys of earth, even those which
seem to come from Thee, have no solidity unless
they be accompanied by the love of our neigh-
bour. He who loves not him, loves not Thee,
O most loving Master, because it was by shed-
ding Thy Divine Blood, even to its last drop,
that Thou hast shown us the love which Thou
bearest to the sons of Adam.

CHAPTER m.

Thoughts of the Saint on the consideration of her
sins, and of the mercy of God.

O my God, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
when I consider the glory which Thou hast
prepared for those who accomplish Thy will
even unto the end, — the labours and sufferings
by which Thy Son has purchased it for them;
when I think of our unworthiness, and how
the excess of Thy love, Who hast taught us to
love by dying for us, deserves a far other return
than our ingratitude. How is it possible, O
Lord, that all this should pass from our minds,
and that men should so far forget Thee as to
venture to offend Thee ? O my loving Saviour,
is it possible that we should thus forget Thee,
and that, notwithstanding our ingratitude, Thy

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Sovereign Goodness should still remember us ?
What ! when our sins have pierced Thee to the
heart by a mortal stroke, dost Thou, forgetting
all, stretch forth Thy hand to raise us from our
fall, and to heal our souls of their incurable
frenzy, that they may turn to Thee and implore
Thee to make them whole I Blessed .be so
loving a Master ! Blessed be His abounding
mercy ! Eternal praise to His tender com-
passion 1 O my soul, bless this great God for
ever ! Oh, what a heavy punishment must the
very weight of His , benefits bring down on the
ungrateful! Vouchsafe,' O my God, Thyself
to apply a remedy to this great evil. - O
children of men, how long will you be hard of
heart! how long "shall your hardness s strive
against the charity of this most sweet Jesus!
Do we think that our malice shall always pre-
vail against Him?. No, no; the life of man
passeth away like the flower of the field, and
the Virgin's Son shall come to pronounce the
terrible sentence. O omnipotent > God, since
Thou art to judge us, whether we will it or will
it not, why do we not consider how deeply it
concerns us to please Thee in this life, that so
Thou may st be propitious to us at that last
awful hour ? But are there any who rejoice
not that they shall be judged by so just a
Judge ? Blessed are the souls, O Lord, who

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at that terrible hour shall rejoice with Thee !
O my Master and my God, what is the anguish
of a soul which, having been raised by Thee
from its fall, awakes . to see how miserably it
has lost itself for a few moments of fleeting
pleasure; a soul which, knowing, O God of my
heart, O Sovereign Goodness, that Thou never
failest those who love Thee, and ever answerest
those who call upon Thee, is firmly resolved,
by the help of Thy grace, to serve Thee faith-
fully even until death 1 How is it that we do
not die as often as we remember that we have
lost the precious gifts of our baptismal inno-
cence ? Alas ! the best life we can live is to
die of shame and sorrow. How can a soul
which loves Thee intensely, O my Divine Master,
endure an anguish like this? But what am I
saying? Pardon, O Lord, my senseless words.
Have I forgotten the miracles of Thy love, the
infinite extent of Thy mercy ? Have I forgotten
that Thou earnest into the world for sinners,
that Thou hast redeemed us at so tremendous a
price, and hast paid for our false pleasures by
the torment of Thy painful scourging? Thou
hast cured my blindness by the veil which was
placed in mockery over Thy Divine eyes, and
my vanity by the cruel crown of thorns which
pierced Thy head. O Lord, Lord! all these
things serve but to increase the sorrow of those

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who love Thee. The only thought that consoles
me is, that the more widely my wickedness
shall be known, the more gloriously will Thy
Divine mercy be exalted throughout all eternity.
And I know not, O my God, whether this
sorrow will not last all my life long, even until
the day when I shall behold Thee in glory, and
be delivered from all the miseries of this exile.

CHAPTER IV.

Prayer that God would enable the Saint to recover
the time which she had not spent in loving and
serving Him.

Mt God, my soul seems to have some foretaste
of heavenly repose, when I think of what will
be my joy if, by Thy mercy, I come one day
to possess Thee. But I would serve Thee first,
because it was by serving me that Thou didst
purchase for me this happiness for which I
hope. What shall I do, then, O Lord? O
God, Whom I love, what can I do for Thee ?
Oh, how late have my desires been enkindled
for Thee! and how early, O my God, didst
Thou begin to seek me, and to endeavour to
gain possession of my heart, calling me to
consecrate myself wholly to Thy service 1 O

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Lord, wilt Thou, then, abandon this miserable
creature ? Wilt Thou reject this poor beggar,
who desires now to give herself wholly to
Thee? Is there a limit, then, O Lord, to the
multitude of Thy mercies, or to the munificence
of Thy bounty ? O my God, how gloriously
can6t Thou show forth to-day the riches of
Thine infinite goodness in Thy servant ! Make
known to me Thine omnipotence by restoring
to my soul, through an intense act of love, all
the years which I have lost by spending them
without loving Thee. Am I uttering extra-
vagances? for men are wont to say that " time
lost never returns." No, blessed be the God
of my soul ! I acknowledge, O Lord, Thy
sovereign power; and if Thou art almighty
(as in truth Thou art), what is impossible to
Him Who can do all things ? It is enough, O
Lord, it is enough that Thou wiliest it. Miser-
able as I am, I believe firmly that Thou canst
do what Thou wilt ; and the greater the mar-
vels that I hear of Thee, the more firmly do I
believe that Thou canst work greater still in
me, and with the more assured faith' do I believe
that Thou wilt do what I ask. Who can
wonder at the marvels wrought by Him Who
can do all things? Thou knowest, O my God,
that in the midst of all my miseries I have
never ceased to acknowledge Thy sovereign

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power and infinite mercy. In this, at least,

0 Lord, I have not offended Thee. Vouchsafe
to remember it in my favour. Do Thou Thy-
self, 0 my God, restore to me all the time that

1 have lost ; restore it by the effusion of Thy
grace in my soul, now and for ever, that I
may appear before Thee in the nuptial gar-
ment. " If Thou wilt, Thou canst."

CHAPTER V.

Of the complaint of Martha, and how a soul which
loves God may complain to Him of her misery.

O Lord my God, is it possible that I should
dare to ask Thee for new graces, when I have
served Thee so ill, and have so carelessly
squandered what I have already received from
Thee? How canst Thou trust one who has
so often betrayed Thee? What shall I do,
then, O Divine Consoler of desolate souls, 0
Heavenly Physician of all who come to Thee
for healing? Shall I keep silence concerning
the wants of my! soul, and wait till it shall
please Thee to relieve them ? ; No, assuredly ;
for knowing well, O sweet and loving Saviour,
how manifold are our wants, and what conso-
lation we should find in laying them before

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Thee, Thou hast commanded us to ask of Thee,
and hast promised to give us what we ask.

I often meditate on the complaint of holy
Martha.; I do not think that she was com-
plaining only of her sister ; but that what
grieved her, most was the thought , that Thou
didst not regard her labour, nor care to have
her near Thee. Perhaps she thought that
Thou didst not love her as well as her sister ;
and this must have given her far greater pain
than the labour of serving Thee, Whom she
so dearly loved; for. love changes labour into
repose. • That this was the feeling of her heart
appears plainly in this — that she says not . a
single word to her _ sister,, but addresses her
whole complaint to Thee, and even ventures, in
the exceeding boldness of her love, to reproach
Thee with a want of solicitude for her: " Carest
Thou not?" And Thy reply, O Lord, shows
whence her complaint proceeds ; for Thou dost
declare to her that love alone gives value to
all things, and ;that " the one thing needful"
is such a love for Thee as will, triumph over
every obstacle which can be placed in its way.

But, O my God, how shall we ever love
Thee as Thou deservest to be loved, unless to
our love of Thee Thou art pleased to unite
Thy love for us ? Shall I complain, then, with
this great Saint? Oh, no, I have no cause of

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complaint ; for Thou, my God, hast never
ceased to give me tokens of Thy love far above
all that I could ask or desire. If I have any
thing to reproach Thee with, it must be the
excess of patience wherewith Thy goodness has
borne with me unto this day. What, then,
shall so miserable a creature ask of Thee ? I
will venture, Lord, to address to Thee the
prayer of S. Augustine : " Give me something
to give to Thee, that so I may discharge a
portion of the immense debt I owe Thee. Ke-
member that I am Thy creature, and make
me to know my Creator, in order that I may
love Him."

CHAPTER VI.

How painful is this life to a soul which longs ardently
for God.

O Sovereign Master of all creatures, my God
and my Joy, how long must I wait to enjoy
Thy blessed Presence? What remedy dost
Thou afford to one who can find none upon
earth, and who can taste no repose out of
Thee ? O long life I cruel life ! life which is
no life ! Oh, how lonely is my soul in this
solitude ! how irremediable is this evil ! How
long, O Lord, how long? What shall I do,

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my only Good? Shall I desire not to desire
Thee?

O my God and my Creator, Thou dost pierce
us with the arrows of Thy love, and leavest
the dart in the wound; Thou woundest, and
the wounds are incurable ; Thou killest, to
infuse more vigorous life. Thou dost what
Thou wilt, O loving Master, because Thou art
almighty. How can a worm of the earth, such
as I am, endure such contrary extremes of joy
and suffering ? Be it so, O Lord, since such
is Thy will, for my only desire is to love Thee.
But, O my Creator, how intense is the suffer-
ing ! Pardon these complaints, forced from me
by anguish which Thou canst alone relieve.
My soul is imprisoned in so dark a dungeon,
that she cannot but pant for liberty; and yet,
to obtain it, she would not swerve one hair's
breadth from Thy adorable Will. O my God,
my Glory, I beseech Thee, cease to increase
the tortures of my soul by wounding it more
and more with Thy love, or put an end to them
at once by taking it to Thyself. O death,
death, I know not who could help fearing thee,
if he have spent any portion of his life without
loving God! And since this has been my
misery, what do I ask, and what do I desire ?
To go to receive the just punishment of my
sins? Suffer it not to be so, my Saviour, since

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my ransom has cost Thee so dear. O my soul,
leave God to accomplish His own will. This
is. all thou hast to do. Serve thy Lord, and
hope, that His mercy will relieve thy sufferings,
when thy penance shall ', in some sort have de-
served for thee the pardon of thy sins. Desire
not to enjoy until thou hast suffered. But, O
my true Master and my King, I shall not be
able * to do what I , say, unless Thy omnipotent
hand sustain me and Thy loving mercy assist
me ; with these I can do all things.

CHAPTER VII.

The exceeding goodness of God, Whose delight is
to be with the children of men.

O my only Hope, my Father, my Creator, my
true Lord, my Brother, when I meditate upon
Thy words, 4< My delight is to be with the
children of men," my soul is filled with exceed-
ing joy. O Lord of heaven and earth, what
sinner but would take courage from these
words ? Is it possible, O my God, that Thou
canst find no other, creatures in whom to take
delight, that Thou art driven to solace Thyself
with so abject and miserable a little earth worm
as I am ? O Heavenly Father, when Jesus

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Christ Thy Son was baptised, a voice was
heard from heaven saying that "in Him
Thou wast well pleased." Dost Thou liken us,
then, O my God, to this Thy Divine Son ? O
boundless mercy ! O favour infinitely above
our deserts! And we mortals can forget it!
O my God, Who knowest all things, remember
our misery, and vouchsafe to cast an eye of
pity on our weakness.

And thou, my soul, contemplate the joy and
the love wherewith the Eternal Father knows
His Son, and the Eternal Son knows His
Father ; and the ardent love whereby the Holy
Spirit unites Himself to Them both : and con-
sider that in this love and this knowledge there
can be neither change nor diminution, because
these Three are One. These Three Supreme
Persons reciprocally know and love each other,
and delight in each other after an ineffable and
incomprehensible manner. What need, then,
O my God, hast Thou of my love ? Why dost
Thou desire it ? What can it profit Thee ?
Oh, blessed be Thou, God of my heart, for
ever and ever; let all creatures praise Thee,
and let their praises be eternal as Thyself.

Kejoice, O my soul, that thy God is loved as
He deserves to be loved; rejoice and be glad
that His goodness and excellence are known as
they ought to be known. Give Him a thou-

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sand thanks that He has given us upon earth
His Beloved Son, by Whom He is thus per-
fectly known, that so He may be known and
loved on earth as He is known and loved in
heaven. O my soul, under the shelter of His
protection, fear not to draw near to thy God;
and since He delights to be with thee, beseech
Him that nothing in -this world may hinder
thee on thy part from delighting in Him, in
the contemplation of His greatness, and of His
infinite claims to our praises and our love.
Beseech Him to help thee to glorify His holy
Name, that thou mayst be able to say with
truth : " My soul doth magnify the Lord."

CHAPTER VIII.

Prayer for sinners who are so blind that they do
not desire to see.

O Lord my God, Thy words are words of life,
in which men would find (did they but seek
it there) the happiness for which they long.
But what marvel, O my God, that in the folly
and weakness to which our evil works have
reduced us, we lose the recollection of Thy
sacred words ? O great God, God of my heart,
Creator of all things, what is the whole creation

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which Thou hast drawn out of nothing, in
comparison with what is ever in Thy power
to create ? Thou art almighty, and Thy works
are incomprehensible. Suffer not Thy words,
then, O Lord, ever to depart from my mind.
Thou hast said : " Come to Me, all ye that labour
and are burdened, and I will refresh you."
What more do we desire, O my Divine Master ?
what do we ask ? what do we seek ? and
wherefore do the slaves of the world perish, but
because they seek their refreshment and their
repose out of Thee ? My God, my God, what
a mystery is this, what a fearful and pitiable
blindness thus to seek rest where it will never
be found ! O my Creator, have compassion on
Thy creatures ! Consider that we do not
understand ourselves, that we know not what
we want, and wander far away from the rest
which we desire. Give us light, O my God;
for we need it far more than the man who was
born blind. He desired ardently to behold the
light, which was hidden from him ; but we are
blind, and will to remain so. What error is so
hopeless as this ? Here, O Lord, is an occasion
to show forth Thy power, and to manifest the
infinite abundance of Thy mercy.

O God of my heart, only true God, it is a
great thing I ask of Thee, even to love those
who love Thee not, to open to those who do not

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knock, and to heal those who not only take
pleasure in their sickness, but labour to in-
crease it. Thou hast said, O most sweet
Saviour Jesus, that Thou earnest upon earth
" to save sinners." Behold them here, O Lord,
sinners indeed. And Thou, O Heavenly Fa-
ther, regard not, I beseech Thee, our blindness,
but behold the rivers of blood shed by Thy
Son for our redemption. Let Thy mercy
shine forth amid the darkness of our misery.
Remember, O Lord, that we are the work of
Thy Hands, and save us in Thy goodness and
Thy clemency.

CHAPTER IX.

Prayer that God would deliver by His grace those
who feel not their own misery, and seek not to be
delivered from it.

0 Saviour of my soul, Who art all love and
compassion, Thou hast said: " Come to Me, all
you that are athirst, and I will give you to
drink." Burning, indeed, is the thirst of those
unhappy souls who are consumed by the desire
of earthly things ; great need have they of that
heavenly water, lest they perish in those flames.

1 know, O my loving Master, that Thou wilt
not refuse it to them, for Thou hast promised

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it, and Thou canst not break Thy word. But
if they have grown up in the midst of those
flames, so as to have become unconscious of
their fury, if in their madness they perceive
not their exceeding peril, what remedy can be
applied to them? Yet it was to heal such
great evils that Thou earnest into the world.
Begin Thy work, then, O Lord, — begin with
them; for the tenderness and depth of Thy
compassion is most gloriously revealed in
healing the deepest and most inveterate wounds
of our souls.

Consider, O Lord, how Thine enemies daily
increase in boldness. Have pity on those who
have no pity on themselves ; and since they will
not come to Thee, I beseech Thee, O Lord, to
come to them. I beseech Thee in their name,
for assuredly those dead men will arise and
come forth from their tombs, when once they
begin to see their own misery, and to know
Thee and taste the sweetness of Thy mercy.
O Life, Who alone givest life, refuse not to me
that living water which Thou hast promised to
all who desire it. I desire it, my Jesus, I ask
it, I come to Thee to receive it. Do not hide
Thyself from me, O Lord, for Thou knowest
how greatly I need it, and that there is no other
remedy for a soul which Thou hast wounded
with Thy love.

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O my Saviour, what great cause have we to
fear, so long as we remain in this life, where
we are between two contrary fires ! The one
shrivels and destroys the soul, the other puri-
fies it, and prepares it for the eternal enjoy-
ment of Thee. O Jiving fountains, which flow
from the loving wounds of my God, how abun-
dantly shall you flow even to the end of the
world, to refresh and strengthen our souls;
and how securely will he pass through the
perils of this miserable life, who drinks of your
life-giving waters !

CHAPTER X.

How small is the number of the true servants of
God — Prayer for those hardened souls who re-
fuse to arise from the death of sin.

O God of my soul, how ready are we to offend
Thee, how still more ready art Thou to pardon
our offences ! Whence, O Lord, does our in-
sane presumption proceed ? Is it that in the
greatness of Thy mercy we lose sight of the
greatness of Thy justice ? " The sorrows of
death have encompassed me," said Thy prophet
of old, speaking in Thy person. O Heaven !
O Heaven ! O Heaven I what a terrible thing
is sin, which encompassed God with sorrows,

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which put God to death. O God of my
soul, these sorrows still encompass Thee !
Whither canst Thou go to escape them ? Men
pierce and wound Thee mortally on every
side.

O Christians, it is time to rouse yourselves
in defence of your King, and to gather round
Him now that He is forsaken by all men. He
has but a very few faithful subjects left; the
multitude follows the standard of Lucifer.
And, what is more detestable still, traitors,
who call themselves His friends, betray Him
secretly, so that there is hardly any one in
whom He can confide. O only true Friend,
what an evil return does he make to Thee who
thus betrays Thee ! O faithful Christians,
come, weep with your God; for the tears of
compassion which He shed over Lazarus were
not for him alone, but for all sinners to the end
of time who should obstinately -refuse to leave
their tombs at the call of His Divine Voice.

O my Sovereign Good, how visibly present
to Thee at this hour are the sins which I have
committed against Thee ! Make them to cease
from this moment, O Lord, make them to
cease, and with them the sins of the world.
Eaise these dead souls; let Thy call be so
mighty as to awaken them to the life which
they have no power to ask, and at Thy voice

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let them come forth from the sepulchre of their
false pleasures. O my Divine Master, Lazarus
asked Thee not to raise him. Thou didst work
that mighty miracle at the prayer of a sinful wo-
man ; there is one now at Thy feet far more sin-
ful than she ; show forth, then, once more the
magnitude of Thy mercy ; miserable as I am,
I ask it for those who will not ask it for them-
selves. Thou knowest, O my Sovereign Lord,
the anguish I endure when I see them in such
deep forgetful ness of the torments which they
must endure through all eternity, if they will
not return to Thee.

0 you, who are accustomed to follow in all
things the caprices of your own will, and to
live in the pleasures, feastings, and enjoyments
of the world, have pity on yourselves. Re-
member that a day will come when you will
be subjected for ever, ay, for ever, to all the
fury of the powers of hell. Remember that
the same Judge Who now beseeches you, will
then pronounce your sentence, and that you
are not assured of another moment of life.
Wherefore, then, do you refuse to live eternally ?
Oh, the hardness of human hearts ! Let Thy
boundless mercy soften them, O my God.

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CHAPTER XI.

Fearful state of a soul which, at the moment of death,
hears the sentence of her eternal condemnation.

O mt God, my God, have mercy on me ! How
shall I express what I feel at the thought of a
soul which, after having been loved, esteemed,
served, indulged, and cared for here, finds at
the last moment that she is hopelessly lost,
and that for all eternity ? What a fearful
moment, when all the truths of faith, which
can no longer be overlooked and disregarded,
stand out in terrible reality before her 1 She
is torn away for ever from the pleasures which,
it seems to her, she had but just begun to
taste ; and so it is in truth, for all that passes
away with life is but a fleeting breath. She
finds herself in the midst of that hideous and
cruel company amid which she must dwell for
ever. She takes her place in that noisome
lake, filled with serpents, which torture her
with their poisoned stings. She enters that
dismal darkness, enlightened only by a lurid
flame, which serves but to make visible the
horrible sights around her !

Oh, how weak are these words in comparison
with the reality ! Who, then, O Lord, had
covered the eyes of that poor soul with so

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thick a veil that she saw not the abyss before
her until she was engulfed in it for ever ? Who,

0 Lord, had closed her ears, that she heard
not what she had been so often told of the
intensity and eternal duration of these tor-
ments ? 0 life without end, — O endless
punishment, — how is it that thou hast no ter-
rors for those tender and delicate slaves of
their own bodies who fear to pass a single
night upon a hard bed ?

O Lord my God, I weep over the time when

1 did not understand these truths. And, since
Thou knowest the pain I suffer at the sight of
the number of unhappy souls who refuse to
listen to them, I beseech Thee now to enlighten
one soul, O Lord, — at least one, — who may be
the means of enlightening many others. Hea-
venly Father, I ask it not in my own name,
for I am not worthy to be heard, but for the
merits of Thy Son. Look upon His Wounds,
and as He pardoned those who inflicted them,
so do Thou, great God, for His sake, pardon us.

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CHAPTER XII.

How cowardly men are in the service of God, how
fearless in offending Him.

O my God, my true Strength, how is it that we,
who are so cowardly in all things beside, are so
fearless in offending Thee ? It is against Thee
that the children of Adam put forth all their
strength. Oh, excess of folly and blindness !
for if they had the full possession of their
reason, they would never dire, even with the
combined strength of the whole human race, to
take up arms against their Creator, and to
wage an incessant warfare against Him Who
could in one moment plunge them into the
abyss. But, in their blindness, they act like
madmen, they seek and find death where their
crazed imagination thought to find life. What
can be done, O God, for these poor distracted
souls, what remedy can cure their madness ?
It is said that frenzy gives strength to the
weak ; and truly it is so with those who de-
part from Thee. They yield basely and pas-
sively to the tyrant who rules over them, and
turn all their fury against Thee, Who hast laden
them with blessings. Oh, incomprehensible
wisdom of my God 1 Thou hast need of all
the love Thou bearest Thy creatures to endure

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this madness of ours, to wait so patiently for
our recovery, and labour Thyself for our re-
storation in so many ways, and by the use of
so many Divine remedies. I am struck with
terror when I see men at the same time so
cowardly and so bold. When the slightest
exertion is to be made to avoid an occasion of
sin, or to escape some danger which threatens
the eternal loss of their souls, they are so fear-
ful and faint-hearted, that they persuade them-
selves that they cannot do it if they would ;
and, at the same time, O my God, they lack
not courage and audacity to attack a majesty
so awful as Thine.

How is this, 0 Lord ? Who gives them this
strength ? Is it the leader whom they follow ?
But is he not Thy slave, bound in eternal fire ?
How can he raise his standard against Thee ?
How can this vanquished wretch give courage
to others to resist Thee ? How can they madly
choose to follow him who has been cast helpless
and destitute out of his heavenly inheritance ?
What can he bestow whose only portion is
eternal ruin ?

Why is this, then, my God ? Why is it, my
Creator ? Why are we so strong against Thee,
and so weak against the devil? If even, O
my King, Thou didst bestow no favour on
us in this life, if in this world we could obtain

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something from the prince of darkness, would
it not be folly to attach ourselves to him?
Thou, Lord, hast in reserve for us an eternity
of happiness without alloy, while he has but de-
lusive pleasures to offer us, and promises which
lure us to perdition. How will he deal with
us, who has been a rebel and a traitor to Thee ?
What strange blindness, what hopeless madness,
is this, O my King and my God 1 We serve
this, Thy mortal enemy, with Thine own gifts,
and we repay Thee for the excess of Thy love
to us by loving him who hates Thee, and who
will hate Thee throughout all eternity ! Hast
Thou not done enough, 0 my loving Redeemer,
in the blood which Thou hast shed for us, the
stripes, the unspeakable anguish and excruciat-
ing torments which Thy love endured for us to
attach us for ever to thy service ? And when
we ought to avenge the honour of Thy eternal
Father, so unworthily insulted in Thy person (for
thou, Lord, desirest no vengeance, but hast freely
pardoned all), ungrateful and insensible as we
are, we take for our friends and companions
those who have treated Thee with such bar-
barity. But since we choose to march under
the banner of their infernal captain, we shall
undoubtedly share their fate, and dwell with
them eternally in his company. Great God,
such is the miserable lot which awaits us,

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unless Thy mercy restores us to ourselves and
forgives us the past.

O mortals, come to yourselves at last ! Look
upon your King ; you will find Him full of
clemency. Put an end, at last, to your ungrate-
ful rebellion, and turn all your rage and all
your strength against that implacable enemy
who wages war against you. Come to your
senses at last, and, with loud cries and many
tears, ask light from Him Who giveth light to
the world. For the love of God, see whither
your impious warfare tends. You are using
all your strength to put to death once more
Him Who, to give you life, died upon the cross.
Consider that it is He Who defends you from
your enemies. And if all this is not enough,
let this truth at least affright you, that you
cannot resist His power, and that sooner or
later you will have to expiate your audacious
contempt of Him in eternal fire. Is it because
you behold that supreme "Majesty chained and
bound for the love of us that you thus auda-
ciously offend Him ? What more did His mur-
derers do than load Him with blows and cover
Hirn with wounds, after having bound Him to the
pillar ? O my God, what hast Thou suffered for
those who are so little moved by those suffer-
ings ! A day will come when Thy j ustice will burst
forth and show that it is equal to Thy mercy.

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Christians, set these truths before you, and
make them the subject of your deepest medita-
tion. Never shall we be truly able to understand
the munificence of our Lord's gifts to us. Unless,
then, His justice were equal to His goodness,
what would become of those who have de-
served to be tried and condemned by it ?

CHAPTER XIII.

Of the happiness of the Saints in heaven, and of the
impatience of men who choose rather to enjoy for
a moment the false pleasures of this life than to
wait for the true and eternal joys of heaven.

O holt souls, how blessed is your lot, who
already enjoy, without a fear of ever losing it,
true and perfect felicity in heaven, and who
sing the praises of my God in an eternal trans-
port of bliss ! Well may you sing without in-
terruption your canticles of joy ! How envious
am I of your freedom from the anguish which
pierces my heart at the sight of the great of-
fences committed in this miserable life against
my God, the marvellous ingratitude with which
His benefits are repaid, and the blind and
lamentable insensibility to the ruin of the mul-
titude of souls which Satan drags down daily
into hell !

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O blessed souls, heavenly souls, come to the
aid of our misery I Intercede for us with that
God Who is infinitely rich in mercy, that He
may shed into our hearts one drop of your
felicity, and cast upon our minds one ray of
the light which illuminates you I And do Thou,
O my God, vouchsafe to give us an idea of
that eternal weight of glory which Thou dost
prepare for those who fight courageously for
Thee during the short dream of this miserable
life 1 O loving souls, souls enkindled with the
love of your God, obtain for us some concep-
tion of youf bliss in the certainty that your
happiness is eternal, and of the ever-new delight
with which you contemplate the certainty that
it will never end.

How great is our misery, O my God I It
seems that we are not ignorant of these truths,
and even that we believe them ; but we are
so little accustomed to think of them, they are
so strange to us, that in fact we do not know
them, or desire to know them.

O selfish men, enslaved by your tastes and
your pleasures, is it possible that, rather than
wait a little time to possess the fulness of joy
— rather than wait a year, a day, an hour,
perhaps a moment — you carry your folly so
far as to sacrifice an eternity of happiness to
some miserable pleasure of sense I

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O my God, how little confidence we have in
Thee, thus to refuse Thee a little time! and
how differently hast Thou dealt with us ! O
loving Father, what inestimable riches hast
Thou intrusted to us— even Thy beloved Son,
with His thirty-three years of unspeakable
suffering, and the infinite merits of His cruel
and agonising death ! And those priceless
blessings Thou didst lay up for us long centuries
before our birth, undeterred by the foresight
of our future ingratitude 1 Thou hast been
beforehand with us in all things ; so that, hav-
ing such a treasure in our hands, it depends
upon us alone to make use of it to obtain eter-
nal riches in heaven.

And you, O blessed souls, who have made
so profitable a use of the talents intrusted to
you, and have purchased therewith an inherit-
ance of eternal joys, teach us to profit by your
example. Come to our aid ; and since you are
bo near the Fountain of life, draw water from
it for us who are perishing with thirst in this
land of exile.

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CHAPTER XIV.

How sweet will be the countenance of our Lord Jesus
Christ at the last judgment to the good, and how
terrible to the wicked.

O my God and my true Lor,d, he who knows
Thee not, loves Thee not What a momentous
truth is this 1 How greatly, O Lord, are they
to be pitied who will not know Thee ! The
hour of death is a fearful hour; and how ter-
rible, O my Creator, will be the day of Thy
just judgment 1 Jesus, my Saviour and my
only Good, I often think of the sweetness of
Thy countenance to those who love Thee, and
whom Thou dost vouchsafe to love. It seems
to me that one glance of those loving eyes is
a sufficient reward for long years of faithful
service.

Oh, how difficult it is to make this under-
stood by those who know not by experience
the sweetness of the Lord I O Christians,
Christians, remember that you have been made
the brethren of this great God ! Consider Who
He is, and despise Him not ; for as His coun-
tenance is consoling to those who love Him,
so will it be terrible and full of wrath to His
enemies and persecutors. Oh, how far are we
from understanding that sin is nothing lea*

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than a warfare which we carry on against God,
a conflict of all our senses and of all the powers
of our soul, which vie with each other in plot-
ting treasons against their Creator and their
God!

Thou knowest, my loving Master, that the
mere thought of beholding Thy Divine counten-
ance in anger at the dreadful judgment -day
has often caused me greater terror than all the
tortures and all the horrors of hell, and that I
then besought Thee, as I beseech Thee now, to
be pleased in Thy mercy to preserve me from
so dreadful an affliction. What evil could
befall me in any way approaching to this !
Let all other miseries combine to fall upon me,

0 my God, but deliver me from this eternal
anguish. Let me never abandon Thee, O my
Saviour, and let me never cease to enjoy the
vision of Thy Divine beauty. Thy Father
has given Thee to us ; suffer me not, O my
dearest Master, to lose so precious a treasure.

1 confess, eternal Father, that I have ill-guarded
it; but this fault is not irremediable, so long
as we are in this place of exile.

O my brethren, my brethren, who are like
me, the children of God, let us weep bitterly
over our past offences. You know He has said
that if we repent of them, He will remember
them no more. O boundless mercy ! what more

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do we desire ? are we not ashamed even to ask
so much ?

But it is our part to receive that which is
offered to us by the wondrous clemency of our
Lord and our God. Since, then, He desires
nothing from us but our love, who could refuse
it to Him Who has not refused to shed His
blood and to give His life for us !

Consider that He asks nothing of us but
for our own benefit. But, alas, O Lord,
what hardness, what madness, what blindness
do we show! We feel sensibly the loss of
some trifling object. The loss of a needle
troubles us. The falconer is grieved to lose his
hawk only for the delight which he takes in
seeing it soar into the air ; and we are insensible
to the loss of this Royal Eagle, to the loss of
the Majesty of God Himself, and of the eternal
kingdom and the endless happiness which He
has prepared for us. How is this, O Lord?
How can this be? I confess that I under-
stand it not. Deliver us, O Lord, from this
amazing folly; heal us of this exceeding
blindness.

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CHAPTER XV.

The consolation of the soul under the weariness of
her long exile.

Alas, alas, O my God, how long is the time of
this banishment; and how I pine with the
desire to behold Thee I My loving Master, what
can the soul do which is held captive in this
prison ? O Jesus, how long is the life of man,
although we say that it is short ! It is short,
indeed, to gain an endless life; but it is very
long to a soul consumed with desire to behold
her God. What solace, O Lord, dost Thou
give to this martyrdom ?

There is none, but to endure it for the love
of Thee. O my God, sweet repose of those
who love Thee, withdraw not Thyself from a
heart which seeks Thee ; for Thou alone dost
increase and sweeten the torments which Thy
love inflicts upon the soul.

I am consumed, O Lord, with the desire to
please Thee, and out of Thee I can find no
consolation in this world. Wilt Thou be dis-
pleased with my desire to come to Thee ? be-
hold me, then, at Thy feet, O Lord. If it
be necessary that I should live to do Thee
some service, I willingly accept, like Thy great
lover Martin, all the labours and sufferings

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which await me upon earth ; but, alas, alas, my
loving Master, who am I, and who was he?
He had works, and I have but words ; these
are all that I can offer Thee. Let my desires,
O my God, be accounted for something before
Thee, and regard not my want of merit. Grant,
O Lord, that we may all deserve to love Thee.
43ince we must live, let us live for Thee. Let
us cease at last to follow our own desires and
our own interests ; for what better can we seek
or gain but to please Thee? O my God, O
my J°y» what shall I do to please Thee?
Miserable and defective are all my services,
even if I were able to render Thee many.
Wherefore, then, should I be chained longer in
this sad prison-house ? I understand, O Lord ;
it is that I may accomplish Thy will. What
greater blessing can I desire? Wait, then,
wait, then, O my soul, for thou knowest neither
the day nor the hour ; watch diligently, for all
shall pass away quickly, though to thy eager
desire what is certain seems doubtful, and what
is short 6eems long. Consider that the longer
the time of thy conflict for God, the more wilt
thou manifest thy love towards Him, and the
greater will be thy enjoyment of thy loving
Lord in an eternity of joy and felicity.

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CHAPTER XVI.

That God alone can give relief to the soul which
He has wounded with His love.

O my God and my only Master, it is a great
consolation to the soul which feels the anguish
of solitude in her absence from Thee, to reflect
that Thou art present every where. But this
thought fails to comfort her when the transports
of her love become more vehement, and the
pain of Thine absence is more cruelly felt.
Her mind is disturbed, her reason is overcast,
and this consoling truth is veiled from her.
Her mind is filled with one thought, — that she
is far from Thee ; and she finds no balm for the
wound inflicted by Thine absence. For the
heart which loves intensely can receive neither
counsel nor consolation except from Him Who
has wounded it with His love, and Who only
can apply a remedy to the wound He has
inflicted. When Thou wilt, O Lord, Thou
canst quickly heal that wound; but, until Thou
heal it, for that soul there is neither healing
nor consolation but in suffering for Thee. O
true Lover of our souls, with what goodness,
what sweetness, what unspeakable tokens of
tenderness, what joy infused into the very
inmost heart, with what abundant consolation,

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dost Thou heal the wounds inflicted by the
arrows of Thy love ! But, O my God, my con-
solation in all my sufferings, what need have I
to say that Thou alone canst heal them ?

What folly, what madness would it be, to
imagine that any human remedy could heal
those who have been wounded by the fire of
Thy Divine love ! Who in this world can
fathom the depth of those wounds, ascertain
their cause, or prescribe relief to tortures so
cruel and yet so sweet ! Too precious is this
suffering to be relieved by the poor art of men.

Well may the Spouse say in the Canticle:
" My Beloved is mine, and I am His." My
Beloved is mine, she says ; for it is not possible
that love like this should begin with any thing
so mean as my love. But, if my love be so
mean, whence comes it, O my Divine Spouse, that
it stops at no created thing, and can ascend
even to its Creator? And why, O my God,
why does my Beloved call me His ? O true
Lover of my soul, it is Thy work ; it is Thou
Who dost begin this contest of love. Thou
dost hide Thyself, and, behold, all the senses
and all the powers of the soul are filled with
anxiety, and experience the desolation of being
forsaken by Thee. Wounded by Thee, O
Sovereign Beauty, and left afar off from Thee,
they seek Thee, like the spouse of the Canticle,

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in the streets and public places, and implore
the daughters of Jerusalem to give them tidings
of their God. When this conflict has once
begun, what shall they do? Against whom
shall they go forth to battle, but against Him
Who has already possession of the fortress
wherein they dwell, i.e. of the superior part
of the soul? O my Beloved, if Thou hast
banished them thence, it is but to give them
the merit of reconquering their Conqueror, —
that, weary of Thy absence, they may hasten
to lay down their arms, that they may become
stronger by the loss of their strength, and fight
more successfully for their defeat; in short,
that, by acknowledging themselves conquered,
they may triumph over their Conqueror. O
my soul, what a fearful conflict hadst thou to
sustain when thou wast in this strait; and
how faithful is the picture I have drawn of it !
My Beloved is, then, mine, and I am His. Who
will undertake to part or to quench these two
ardent fires? Assuredly he would labour in
vain, for those two burning hearts are now but
one.

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CHAPTER XVn.

That we know not what to ask of God — Ardent
desires to leave this world, in order to enjoy perfect
liberty, which consists in freedom from the possi-
bility of sinning.

O my God ! O Wisdom, boundless, infinite, beyond
the conception of Angels or of men ! O Love,
past comprehension ! Who lovest me 'infinitely
more than I can love myself, to Thee do I
abandon myself. And wherefore, my loving
Master, should I desire more than it is Thy
will to give me ? Why should I weary myself
in asking for the desires of my own heart?
Thou seest clearly whither tend all the thoughts
of my mind and all the desires of my heart ;
but I know it not myself. I know not what is
good for me; so I may find that to be a loss
which I believed to be a gain. Were I, for
example, to ask of Thee to deliver me from
some suffering which Thou hadst appointed for
my mortification, what, O my God, should I be
asking of Thee? If I were to ask Thee to
send me this suffering, perhaps it would be
beyond the power of my weak patience to
endure; or, if I were to come out victorious
from the trial, perhaps — being so imperfect in
humility — I might imagine that I had done

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something, whereas it is Thou alone, O God,
who dost all things. Were I to pray for suffering,
it would, perhaps, be in something which would
not touch my honour and reputation, which I
judge to be necessary for Thy service, — and this,
as it seems to me, from no motive of self-love.
And yet that which appears to me to be a
diminution of reputation might be just that
which in Thy Divine purpose was intended to
increase it, so as to give me greater power to
serve Thee, the only end which I have in view.

I could add many other things to prove to
myself that I do not understand myself. But
as I know that they are known to Thee, why
should I say more ? or why have I said even
this ? O my God, it is that on the days in
which I feel my misery most deeply, when my
reason is covered with a thick cloud, I may
seek and endeavour to find myself in these
words which I have written. I often feel my-
self so miserable, so weak, so cowardly, that I
wonder what has become of Thy servant, of
her who believed that, in the power of the
graces she had already received from Thee, she
could face all the storms of this world. No,
my God, I will never henceforth trust to any
thing I might desire for myself. My will shall
be that Thy Will should ordain for me what-
soever shall please Thee, because my only good

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consists in pleasing Thee ; and if Thou, my God,
wert to grant me all that I desire, I see plainly
that I should destroy myself.

How blind is the wisdom of men ! how
deceitful is their foresight I O my God, Whose
knowledge is infallible, vouchsafe to order
things for me according to Thy Will, and not
according to my own. Punish me not, O
Lord, by granting me what I ask or desire,
when it is not in conformity with the purposes
of Thy love. May that Divine love burn
eternally in my heart ! — this is my only desire.
May self die within me from this moment, and
may Another, greater than myself, and Who
loves me better than I love myself, live and
reign in my soul ! May He live and give me
life; may He reign, and may I be His captive !
my soul desires no other liberty. How could
he be free who is not subject to the Almighty?
Can any captivity be heavier or more miserable
than that of a soul which has escaped from the
hands of its Creator? Happy are they, O
Lord, who are so strongly bound to Thee by
the chains of Thy mercies and Thy benefits,
that they have no power to break them.
" Love is strong as death, it is hard and in-
flexible as hell." Oh, happy is he who re-
ceives his death-stroke from Thy hand, and is
cast by Thee into that hell of Divine love,

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whence he hopes not, or rather fears not, ever
to depart !

Alas, O Lord, as long as this fleeting life
endures, the life of eternity is always in peril !
O life, the hindrance to my happiness, why
am I not permitted to put an end to thee ! I
endure thee because my God endures thee; I
take care of thee because thou art His ; do not,
then, betray me, do not be ungrateful to me.
O Lord, how long does my banishment endure ?
Doubtless the longest pilgrimage is short to
gain Thine eternity ; but how long is a single
day, a single hour, to the soul that knows not
but that she may offend Thee, and fears that
she shall offend Thee ? O free-will, what a
miserable slave art thou to thy liberty, unless
thou art fixed by the love and by the fear of
Him Who created thee ! Oh, when will that
happy day come when thou shalt be plunged
into the infinite ocean of the Sovereign Truth ;
when thou shalt no longer have or desire to
have liberty to sin, because thou shalt be free
from all imperfection, and blissfully united to
thy God, to live for all eternity the very life
of thy Creator and thy Master ! He is happy
because He knows Himself, loves Himself, and
enjoys Himself, without the possibility of doing
otherwise. He has not, and He cannot have,
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Himself, for in Him such liberty would be an
imperfection. O my soul, thou wilt never
enter into thy rest until thou shalt be perfectly
united with thy Sovereign Good, until thou
shalt know what He knows, love what He
loves, and enjoy what He enjoys. Then shall
there be no more change or inconstancy in thy
will, for the grace of God will have so marvel-
lously transformed thee, it will have made thee
in so perfect a degree to partake in the Divine
nature, that thou wilt no longer be able to for-
get that Sovereign Good, nor to desire to be
able to forget Him, nor to cease to enjoy Him
in the eternal fruition of His love.

Blessed are they who are written in the Book
of that immortal life. But, my soul, if thou
art of this number, " why art thou so sor-
rowful, and why dost thou trouble me ? Hope
in God;" for in this exile I will still confess my
sins to Him, and will declare His mercies.
This canticle of praise I will sing to my Saviour
and my God, and will mingle my sighs there-
with. A day will come, 1 hope, when I shall
sing His glory alone, for then my soul shall
feel no longer the bitterness of compunction ;
all her sighs and fears shall be over for ever.
But until then, " in silence and in hope shall
be my strength." I choose rather to live and
to die in the hope of eternal life, and in labour-

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ing to attain it, than to possess all that this
world contains, with all its fleeting pleasures.
" Forsake me not, O Lord, for in Thee do I
hope. Let not my hope be confounded."
Make me always to serve Thee, and do with
me what Thou wilt.

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PART II.

DIRECTIONS ON PRAYER AND ON THE
LIFE OF PRAYER.

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CHAPTER I.

Motives of S. Teresa for the establishment of
her reform.

Just when I was beginning the foundation of
the monastery of S. Joseph at Avila, I heard
of the troubles in France, of the ravages caused
there by the heretics, and how they were daily
gaining strength. All this touched me keenly.
I wept in the presence of God, and implored
Him to provide some remedy for so great an
evil. It seemed to me as though I would
willingly have given a thousand lives to save
even one of the vast number of souls who were
destroying themselves in that kingdom. But since
I was only a woman — and so wicked a woman
too— as well as very incapable of rendering to
God such service as I desired, I thought — as
I still think — that since He has so many enemies
and so few friends, I ought to use every exer-
tion to make those friends as good as possible.

Thus I resolved to do all which depended
on me, to practise the evangelical counsels with
the greatest perfection, and to try to induce
the religious with whom I lived to do the
same. For the fulfilment of this design, I

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trusted in the great goodness of God, Who
never fails to help those who have renounced
all for the love of Him. I hoped that these
good daughters being such as my desires pic-
tured them, my faults would be covered by
their virtues ; and I thought that we could
please God by giving ourselves up to prayer
for preachers and ecclesiastics and for learned
men who write in defence of the Church. O
my Redeemer ! how can I enter on this subject
without my heart being torn to pieces ? Who
now are Christians ? Must Thy greatest ene-
mies, then, be found amongst those whom
Thou dost choose as Thy friends, upon whom
Thou dost shower down Thy choicest favours,
in the midst of whom Thou dwellest, and to
whom Thou dost communicate Thyself through
the Sacraments? Truly, my God, they who
now quit the world, quit nothing ; for what
can we expect from men, since they show so
little fidelity to Thee? Do we deserve that
they should treat us better than they treat
Thee? have we done them more good than
Thou hast done, that so we may hope that they
will love us better than they love Thee ? What
can we, then, expect from the world, who, by
the mercy of God, have been snatched from
the midst of its contagious and fatal atmo-
sphere ?

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CHAPTER II.

The true nature of union with God.

I have met with some who seem to ima-
gine that the essential point in prayer is the
exercise of the understanding ; and if they can
keep their mind fixed on God, though by using
great violence to themselves, they immediately
consider themselves to be very spiritual per-
sons, and if they experience involuntary dis-
tractions, or are obliged to turn their minds to
any thing else, even to things good and meri-
torious, they immediately become greatly af-
flicted, and fancy they are doing nothing.

But the true proficiency of the soul con-
sists, not in much thinking, but in much lov-
ing. And if you ask me how this love may
be acquired, I answer, by resolving to do the
Divine Will, and to suffer for God, and by
so doing and so suffering when occasions for
action and suffering arise.

Oh, how does Divine charity press the
heart of those who truly love the Lord and
know the desires of His Heart ! How little
rest do they take, if they can be of any use in
advancing the welfare of a soul, and increas-
ing her love of God ; or if they can give her
any comfort, or free her from any danger 1

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How little do such souls look to their own
interest or their own ease! And when they
can do no good by their works, they endeavour
to do something by their prayers, importuning
our Lord in behalf of those numerous souls
whom they grieve to see in danger of eternal
destruction ; and thus bewailing their lot, they
sacrifice their own repose, and pay no regard
to their own happiness, considering how they
may best accomplish the will of God. And
thus it is with obedience : it would be a strange
thing if, when God clearly tells us to do some-
thing for Him, we should choose rather to
stand gazing upon Him, because we could
thus please ourselves most 1 This would be
a strange way of advancing in the love of God;
to bind His hands, and compel Him to lead
us onward in a way of our own choosing ! O
Lord, how far are Thy ways above our thoughts!
And what dost Thou require of a soul which is
already determined to love Thee, and give herself
entirely into Thy hands, but that she should be
obedient, that she should inquire in all things
what tends most to Thy glory, and ardently
desire to execute it ? She has no need to seek
out new paths, or to choose between them, for
her will is now Thy will. Thou, O Lord,
takest upon Thyself the care of leading her
in the path wherein she shall make the great-

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est progress. And though the superior may
not take the trouble of guiding her in the way
most advantageous to her, but may employ her
only in those duties which he thinks will tend
most to the good of the community, yet Thou,
O my God, dost conduct her, disposing her and
all her employments in such a manner that —
without understanding how — she finds herself
making great spiritual progress, obeying with
such fidelity every command of her superiors,
as is matter of astonishment even to herself.
Such a soul was a religious with whom I spoke
a few days ago, who, by obedience, had for
fifteen years been so engaged in his duties and
offices, that during all this period he did not
remember to have had one hour for himself.
All that he could do was to steal some spare
time in the day to devote to prayer, and to
attend carefully to the purifying of his con-
science. This was the most obedient soul I
ever knew, and he even imprints this virtue on
all with whom he converses. Our Lord has
liberally rewarded him ; for, without his know-
ing how, he enjoys that precious liberty of
soul which the perfect possess, and in which
consists all the happiness that can be hoped
for in this life ; for, desiring nothing, he pos-
sesses all things. Such souls neither fear nor
covet any thing on earth ; afflictions do not dis-

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turb them, neither does pleasure elate them ;
nothing, in short, can rob them of their peace,
because nothing can deprive them of God, on
Whom alone it depends : the fear of losing
Him is the only thing which could disturb
them. Every thing else in this world is in their
eyes as if it were not, because it neither gives
nor takes away their joy. O blessed obedience!
blessed even in the distractions which it im-
poses, since the soul is thereby raised to so
high a degree of perfection !

Courage, then, my daughters ; let there be
no sadness, when obedience calls you to ex-
terior employments — as, for example, into the
kitchen, amidst the pots and dishes ; remember
that our Lord goes along with you to help you
both in your exterior and interior duties. I
remember a religious once told me that he had
determined within himself always to do what-
ever his superiors should command him, no
matter what trouble it might give him. One
evening, being quite spent with labour, and not
able to stand on his legs, he wished to rest
himself. No sooner had he sat down, than his
superior came and found him, and bade him
take a spade and go dig in the garden. The
good man said nothing, though so completely
exhausted ; he took his spade, and as he was
going into the garden by a certain passage —

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which I saw a great many years after this was
related to me, when I founded a house in that
very town — our Lord appeared to him with his
cross on his shoulders, and so faint and weary
as to make him understand that what he then
suffered was nothing in comparison with what
his Saviour had endured.

I believe that it is because the devil knows
well that there is no path which leads us
sooner to the highest perfection than that of
obedience, that he raises so many difficulties
under the semblance of good, to disgust us
with it. Let this truth be well understood,
and men will clearly see that the highest per-
fection does not consist in interior joys, nor in
sublime raptures, nor in visions, nor in having
the gift of prophecy, but in bringing our will
into such conformity with the Will of God, that
whatever we know He desires, that also shall
we desire with our whole affection, receiving
what is bitter as joyfully as what is sweet and
pleasant, if only it be according to the Will of
His Divine Majesty.

I particularly wish it to be understood that
the reason why obedience, in my opinion, is
so speedy and so sure a means of arriving at
this happy state is, that in order so to master
our own will as to be able to devote it wholly
and sincerely to God, it must be subject to

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reason, and obedience is the shortest and most
efficacious means of bringing it into this subjec-
tion. To attempt to effect this by arguments
is never to come to a conclusion, and is a dan-
gerous method withal, for nature and self-
love will always have so many good reasons on
the other side, that we should never come to a
conclusion ; for that which our reason sees to be
best, often appears to us foolish, because we
have no mind to do it.

CHAPTER in.
The love of God— Its signs and its benefits.

O our good Master, give us some weapon of
defence, that we may escape the snares of our
enemy in our dangerous warfare ! Those, my
daughters, which His Majesty has given us to
use are love and fear; for love will make us
quicken our pace, and fear will make us cau-
tious where we set our feet, that we may not
fall on the road where there are so many
stumbling-blocks amidst which we must travel
as long as we live : thus armed, I can safely
assure you that you shall not be deceived.

You may ask me by what means you shall
discover whether you possess these virtues of

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hope and fear. You have reason for asking
this question, for a certain and clear proof
thereof cannot be given ; because, were we
sure that we possessed the love of God, we
should be also sure of being in a state of grace.
But observe, sisters, there are some proofs
which it seems even the very blind can see ;
they are not secret, and though we should not
wish to hear them, they cry aloud, and will be
heard ; for there are few who have them in
perfection, and therefore they are the more
manifest in those who have. The love and
fear of God are like two strong castles, whence
war is made against the world and the devil.
Those who truly love God, love all good, seek
all good, encourage all good, commend all good,
always unite themselves with the good, and
acknowledge and defend the good. They love
nothing but truth, and such things as are
worthy to be loved. Do you think it possible
for those who sincerely love God to love vani-
ties, or riches, or worldly things, or pleasures,
or honours? They have no quarrels, they
bear no envy; their only object is to please
their Beloved alone ; they are dying of the de-
sire for His love, and thus they spend their
lives in studying how they may please Him
best. It is impossible that the love of God,
if it be indeed His true love, should be con-

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cealed, as we see in the examples of S. Paul
and S. Mary Magdalen. The one appeared
from the third, the other from the first, day
visibly wounded by the love of God ; for there
are different degrees of love, and it is more or
less visible according to its strength. If it is
slight, it manifests itself but little ; if great, it
manifests itself more fully ; but wherever there
m is a love of God, be it great or little, it will
reveal itself — if great, by great effects ; if little,
by trifling ones.

It will not, then, be difficult for you to re-
cognise that love if it be true, — and I do not
understand how it can remain hidden ; for if
we are told that it is impossible to hide the
love we bear to creatures, and that the more
we endeavour to do so, the more surely it re-
veals itself, how should it be possible to con-
ceal so ardent a love as that which we bear to
God — a love which is so just, a love which is
ever increasing, because it is ever discovering
a thousand new reasons for loving, without
finding one against it; and, lastly, a love whose
foundation and reward is the love of God, Who,
that we might never doubt His love, has mani-
fested it to us by so many labours and sorrows,
even by the sacrifice of His own life ?

Alas, my Saviour, how easily do they who
have experienced these two kinds of love dis-

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cern the difference between them ! I implore
Thy Divine Majesty to manifest it to us whilst
we are still in this life. For what a consola-
tion will it be at the hour of our death to know
that we are going to be judged by Him Whom
we have loved above all things ! We shall
carry to Him fearlessly the schedule on which
is inscribed the debt we owe Him, and we shall
not look upon heaven as a foreign land, but as
our own true country ; since He is there Whom
we have loved so much, and Who also has
loved us so much — that love having this ad-
vantage over all earthly love, that, provided we
love Him, we cannot doubt that He loves us.

Consider how great a happiness it is to pos-
sess this love, and what a misfortune not to
possess it ; since, if we have it not, we fall into
the cruel hands of the tempter, the enemy of
all good, and the friend of every kind of evil.
To what, then, will that poor soul be reduced
when, having passed through the pains and
horrors of death, it shall find itself encircled by
those cruel and pitiless hands, and, instead of
enjoying some repose after so many sufferings,
will be precipitated at once into the abyss of
hell, where a horrible multitude of serpents
surround it on all sides ! What a terrible and
frightful abode ! what a deplorable and miser-
able resting-place ! If those persons who love

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their ease, and who run the greatest risk of
falling into this misery, can scarcely bear, even
for a single night, the discomforts of a bad
lodging, what do you think they will have to
endure in passing a whole eternity in that
frightful dwelling? Let us not desire to live
at our ease ; we are well off as we are : the
inconveniences of this present life may be com-
pared to a night passed in some wretched inn.
Let us praise God for our sufferings ; and whilst
we are in this world, let our life be ever one of
penance.

Oh, how sweet will be his death who shall
have done penance for all his sins, so that,
escaping purgatory, he may, from the moment
he quits this life, enter on the glory of the
blessed ; and thus freed from every kind of fear,
he shall enjoy perfect peace! Would it not be
great cowardice not to aspire to this happiness,
since its attainment is not impossible? At
least let us ask of God, that if our soul, when
it quits the body, must be in a state of suffer-
ing, it may be in a place where we shall endure
it willingly, where we may live in hope of its
consummation, and where we shall not fear
that our Divine Spouse has ceased to love us,
or has deprived us of His grace.

I have been very diffuse on this subject, yet
not so much so as I could have desired; for

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what is more delightful than to speak of such
a love? What, then, is its possession? O
Lord, give it me, if it so please Thee. Grant
me grace not to quit this life until I no longer
desire any thing, nor am capable of loving any
thing, save Thee alone. Grant also, if it please
Thee, that I may use this word 'love' with
regard to Thee alone, since there is no solidity
save in Thee; and every thing which is not
founded on Thee must speedily fall to the
ground. We often hear it said by persons in
the world, " Such a one has never repaid my
kindness," or "Another one does not love me."
Truly I can scarcely help laughing when I hear
it; for what does that person owe you? and on
what do you found your claim that she should
love you ? It should only make you see more
clearly what the world is, since the very love
you bear her will become to you a cause of
torment and disquietude. When God has once
truly touched your heart, you will bitterly re-
gret having allowed it to be taken up by these
lower affections, which, in comparison with His
love, are nothing but children's play.

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CHAPTER IV.

The way of perfection is sweeter than men suppose.

0 Lord my God, how plainly does Thy omni-
potence appear ! We may not question what
Thou wiliest, since Thou makest all things
possible, however impossible they may seem
to nature, that so we may understand that no-
thing more is required but only to love Thee
sincerely, and to forsake every thing in good
earnest for Thy sake, that Thou, O my Lord,
mayst make every thing easy for us. It would
seem that Thou wouldst fain persuade us that
there is some difficulty in observing Thy law ;
but I see none, O Lord, nor do I understand
how the road which leads to Thee can be
called strait. I find it a royal road, and not
a narrow path — a road along which he who
walks courageously, walks securely. As it is
far removed from the occasions of sin, we meet
with no stumbling-stones or other hindrances
thereon. But I call that a narrow path and
very dangerous which has a steep precipice on
either side, down which a single false step may
cast the careless traveller, and dash him to a
thousand pieces. He that loves Thee, O eter-
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Thee, walks securely along this broad and
royal road; and if, perchance, he stumbles,
Thou, O Lord, dost stretch forth Thy Hand to
hinr ; and if he should sometimes fall, yet such
a fall — nay, even many falls — will not destroy
him, if only he love Thee, and not the things
of this world, and still hold fast his humility.

I cannot understand why men are so afraid
of entering upon the way of perfection. May
our Lord grant us in His goodness to under-
stand what a poor security is to be found in
the midst of so many manifest dangers as are
to be met with hx following the maxims and
opinions of the world, and that true security
consists in endeavouring to advance still fur-
ther and further in the way of God 1 Let us
fix our eyes upon Him, and fear not that this
Sun of Justice will set or leave us wandering
by night. We shall not be lost, if we do not
first abandon Him. Men fear not to go among
lions, every one of which is ready to tear them
in pieces, — I mean what the world calls honours,
pleasures, and delights ; whereas here the devil
makes us afraid of little mice. A thousand
times have I been astonished at this, and ten
thousand times have I desired to proclaim aloud
with tears my great blindness and wickedness,
if so I might prevail upon others to open their
eyes to these truths. May He open them Who

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can do so in His goodness ! and may He never
allow mine to become blind again 1 Amen.

CHAPTER V.
Great benefit of courage in the service of God.

His Majesty loves courageous souls, if only
their courage be accompanied by humility,
and they be free from confidence in themselves.
I have never seen one of such souls lag behind
on the road; and, on the other hand, I have
never seen any cowardly soul, however humble
it might be, advance as much in many years
as a generous soul in a very short space of
time. I am amazed when I consider how
much may be done by animating ourselves to
do great things ; for though the soul may not
have sufficient strength to perform them im-
mediately, yet she takes a flight which will
enable her to soar very high, though, like a
bird whose wings are yet weak, she grows
weary at times, and is constrained to take some
repose. I have often been helped by consider-
ing the words of S. Paul : " I can do all things
in Him Who strengthens me." As for myself,
I knew well I could do nothing. I have also
gained great profit from the words of S.

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Augustine: " Give what Thou commandest, and
command what Thou wilt." I have often
thought that S. Peter took no harm by throw-
ing himself into the sea, though afterwards he
was afraid. These first resolutions are of
great importance, though it is necessary that
we should proceed with discretion, and do no-
thing without the advice of a director. But
we must take care that he be not one who will
teach us to creep along in the way of perfec-
tion; and humility must ever be our guide,
that we may understand that our strength
comes from God alone.

We must first understand, however, what
kind of humility this must be ; for I think the
devil does great injury to those who practise
prayer, and prevents them from advancing, by
giving them a false idea of the true nature of
humility, and by making them think it a
species of pride to have heroic desires, to wish
for martyrdom, and to imitate the Saints. He
tells us, or leads us to suppose, that the actions
of the Saints are to be admired, but not to be imi-
tated, by us sinners. This I say likewise; but
I say, moreover, that we must consider what is
only to be admired, and what may be imitated,
by us. It would not be fit, for example, for a
weak and sickly person to fast much, or to use
severe penances, or to go into a desert where

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he could find neither food nor any thing else
needful for him. But we should be convinced
that we may, by the Divine assistance, strive
to have a great contempt for the world, and
for its honours and riches. We may also imi-
tate the Saints in loving solitude, keeping
silence, and practising many other virtues
which will not destroy these miserable bodies,
which we preserve so carefully even at the risk
of injuring our souls. The devil does much on
his part to foster this excessive care of our
body ; for when he sees that we have some little
fear about our health, he desires nothing more
to persuade us that the slightest thing will be
enough to kill us, or at least to destroy our
health ; and if we should have the gift of tears,
he will try to make us fear we shall lose our
sight thereby. I have passed through these
temptations, and, therefore, I know what they
are ; and I know also that we cannot desire a
better use of life or health than to lose them
both in such a cause. Being so weak in health
myself, I was unable to do any thing, till I re-
solved to make no account at all of my health,
nor to care for my body: even now I can do
but little; but as soon as our Lord was
pleased to discover to me this trick of the
devil, I told him, whenever he represented to
me the danger of losing my health, that my

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death would be of little consequence; if he
represented to me the necessity of rest, I told
him that it was not ease that I now wanted,
but the cross ; and so on. Though I am still
very infirm, I see clearly that in rnany in-
stances my infirmities were increased by the
temptations of the devil, or by my own cow-
ardice, and, as I am not so nice and delicate as
formerly, I now enjoy much better health than
in the days when I took so much care of it
It is, therefore, of great importance that those
who begin to practise mental prayer be not
disturbed or terrified by these over-anxious
thoughts. Let them believe me on this point,
for I have had some experience therein; and
perhaps it may be of some use to mention these
my faults, that so others may take warning by
my example.

There is also another temptation against
which, though it takes the semblance of a zeal
for virtue, it is necessary to be on our guard,
arising from the trouble which we feel on ac-
count of the sins and defects which we observe
in others. The devil endeavours to persuade
us that this grief arises only from our desire
that they should not offend God, and that we
are troubled because His honour is insulted.
Then we immediately desire to remedy this
evil, and thus become so restless that our

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prayer is disturbed ; and the greatest misfortune
is, that we think this to be virtue, perfection,
and great zeal for God's glory. I speak not of
that affliction which is caused by public sins,
if such are committed in a community, nor of
other calamities of the Church, — such as
heresies, whereby we see that so many souls
are lost; for this is a very holy affliction, and
being holy, it does not disturb the soul. But
the secure way for a soul which practises
prayer is to detach itself from all things, and
to think only of itself and of how it may please
God. Let us, then, always endeavour to con-
sider the virtues and good qualities which we
perceive in others, and to conceal their defects
by the consideration of our own great sins.
The reflection that they are better than we,
will lead us in time to the attainment of great
perfection.

CHAPTER VI.
Various ways of deceiving ourselves.

I knew a person very intimately who com-
municated often, never spoke ill of any one,
had great tenderness in prayer, lived at home
in almost continual solitude, and was so sweet-
tempered, that whatever was said to her, she

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never gave way to anger: which I look upon as
no small degree of virtue. She had never been
married, and was no longer of an age to marry ;
and she had suffered much adversity with-
out murmuring. Seeing her in this state, and
being unable to remark any sin in her, and
learning also that she watched over all her
actions very narrowly, I looked upon her as a
person much given to prayer, and a very per-
fect soul : but when I came to know her more
intimately, I found that she was only calm when
her own interest was not concerned, and that
as soon as this was touched, she at once showed
herself to be as sensitive as I had believed her
to be detached ; that notwithstanding the seem-
ing patience with which she listened to what
was said to her, so full was she of self-esteem,
that she could not bear the least allusion which
might detract from her dignity; and that she
had so great a curiosity to know all that was
going on, and took so much pleasure in her
own ease and comfort, that I found it difficult
to understand how she could remain for even
one hour in solitude. She justified her actions
in such a manner, that (to believe her) it would
have been a grievous wrong to her to look
upon any one of them as a sin. Thus, whilst
nearly every one considered her as a Saint, she
filled me with compassion, particularly when

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I observed that all the persecutions which she
told me she had suffered had arisen chiefly
from her own fault; so I did not envy her her
sanctity. This person, and two others whom I
have known, who like her believed themselves
to be Saints, have inspired me with greater
fear than the greatest sinners I have ever
known.

Implore God, my daughters, to enlighten us
with His grace, that we may never be deceived
in this manner, and thank Him earnestly for
having bestowed on us so great a favour as to
bring us into a house consecrated to His
service, where, whatever efforts the devil may
make to blind us, he cannot so easily succeed
as if we were in the world; for though, amongst
seculars, there are some who, in their anxiety
to be perfect, believe that they are already fit
for heaven, it is hard to know whether they are
really such as they fancy themselves; but in
monasteries this is more easily discerned, and
I have never had any difficulty in discerning
it, because there, instead of fulfilling our own
will, we must do what is commanded us; and,
on the contrary, those who live in the world,
although they may have a true desire to please
God, to see their own character clearly, and
not to deceive themselves, cannot avoid this
danger, because they act according to their own

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will, or if they sometimes resist it is not with
so great a mortification of their will as that of
religious. We must except those persons who
submit themselves to a director capable of
guiding them, their true humility not allowing
them to place much confidence in themselves.
There are others, who, after our Lord has given
them grace to understand the nothingness of
all things here below, have, out of love to Him,
renounced riches and pleasures in order to
embrace a life of penance : but they value their
own reputation so highly, and are, in conse-
quence, so discreet and prudent, that they
desire also to do nothing which may not be
pleasing in the eyes of men. These two things,
my daughters, do not agree : and the misfortune
is, that these persons are so little aware of
their^ error, that they always take the side of
the world rather than that of God.

The greater number know not how to bear
the slightest thing which is said to their dis-
advantage, although their conscience convicts
them of its truth. This is not to embrace the
cross, it is but to drag it; can we wonder that
it seems to them so heavy ? Whereas, one
who loves it, finds it easy, not only to embrace,
but even to carry it. I conjure you, my
daughters, to consider deeply that in conse-
quence of the vow which you have made, the

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world should henceforth be as nothing to you.
What ! after having renounced your own will,
which is of all things the most difficult, can you
retain any affection for that delusive sort of
happiness which is to be found in riches,
honours, and pleasures ? What do you fear ?
Do you not perceive that in order to prevent
worldly people thinking or saying something to
your disadvantage, you would be obliged to
take incredible pains to please them?

There are other persons (and I shall finish
with them), of whom, when we examine their
actions, we have reason to believe that they
have made great progress, and who, neverthe-
less, remain half-way on the road. They do
not pause at what may be said of them, nor on
this false point of honour; but they do not
exercise themselves in mortification, nor do
they renounce their own will. Though they
seem ready to suffer every thing and pass for
Saints, yet if some important occasion regarding
the glory of God presents itself, they prefer
their own to His. Nevertheless, they do not
perceive it, and imagine, on the contrary, that
they are thinking only of God, and not of the
world, when they dread what may be the
result, and fear that a good work may pro-
duce a great evil. It would appear as though
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come a thousand years before they come to
pass.

These persons would not, like S. Peter, throw
themselves into the sea, neither would they
imitate the numberless other Saints who have
not feared to resign their repose and to risk their
lives in the service of their neighbour. They
are very willing to help souls to draw near to
our Lord, provided such aid does not trouble
their own peace, and that it involves them in
no peril.

CHAPTER VII.

On the contempt of worldly honour.

When our Lord begins to give some degree
of virtue to a soul, it ought carefully to
cherish it, lest it run the risk of losing it;
this holds good in matters relating to our
reputation and honour as well as in many
others. For we, who think ourselves to be
entirely disengaged from all things, are often
not so in reality ; hence we have great need
to be careful in this respect, — for if any
one still feels any concern for the point of
honour, let him believe me that his soul is
bound by a chain which no file can sever, but

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the grace of God, united with prayer and our
own endeavours ; and this chain seems to me
so strong, that I am not surprised that it so
greatly impedes our progress. I know some
persons whose actions are so holy and sublime,
that we cannot help regarding them with ad-
miration, and exclaiming, " O my God, how is
it that such a soul still cleaves to earth, which
does such great things for Thee ?" I answer,
some point ef honour holds her down ; and,
what is still worse, she is unable to perceive it ;
and that because the devil makes her believe
that she is obliged to take care of her honour.
But let such souls listen to me ; for the love of
•our Lord, I beg of them to believe me, a
poor little miserable ant, whom our Lord would
have to speak in Bfis name ; let them be as-
sured that unless they free themselves from
this caterpillar, though it may not destroy the
tree entirely, because some other virtues per-
haps remain (though worm-eaten), yet it will
never become a beautiful tree, nor will it ever
flourish itself — no, nor suffer any others to
flourish that grow near it — because it will not
bear the fruit of good example. I say again and
again that any attachment, however slight, to the
point of honour is like a false note in the play-
ing of an organ, which spoils the whole har-
mony. This is an evil which does harm to the

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soul in ^ every way, but in the life of prayer it
is a very pestilence.

For in that life of prayer we endeavour to
unite ourselves to God by following the coun-
sels of Jesus Christ, Who was loaded with
injuries and false accusations, and yet, at the
same time, we wish to be very careful of our
honour and reputation. But we shall never
arrive at our journey's end but by the same
road along which our Lord travelled. Our
Divine Saviour will not dwell in our soul
unless we endeavour to correspond with His
grace, by giving up in many things even that
which is our right. But some, perhaps, will
say, " I have no opportunity in matters of this
kind to give up any thing for His sake." I
believe that our Lord will not suffer any one
who has such a desire to lose so great a good,
but that His Majesty will so order things that
he will have more opportunities than he as
yet desires of gaining this virtue. Let us all,
then, put our hands to the work ; for I wish
to inform you that some of those miserable
nothings which I performed, mere straws, fit
for nothing but to be cast into the fire, were
all accepted by our Lord : may He be praised
for ever I

Amongst my other imperfections, I had very
little knowledge of the Breviary, or of any of

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the offices of the choir ; and this arose from my
being so careless and given to vanities : while,
at the same time, I saw novices who were able
to teach me. I did not ask them any ques-
tions, for fear they should discover my ignor-
ance; but shortly afterwards, a good opportunity
was presented to me — and this favour is usually
granted by God. So when He had opened
my eyes a little, I asked — when I was in the
slightest doubt — the youngest in the house to
inform me ; and, so far from thus lessening
myself in their esteem, I rather rose in their
opinion. Our Lord was pleased to give me a
better memory from that time. I was also a
bad singer, and I was troubled at it, not from
fear of making any blunders in the presence
of God — for that would have been a virtue —
but because so many heard me ; and thus I
was so disturbed, purely on account of my
reputation, that I really acquitted myself much
worse than I need have done. Afterwards,
I thought it better to tell the sisters plainly,
that I could not sing well, which was really
the case. At first I had some difficulty in doing
this, but afterwards it became a pleasure to
me ; and thus it appears that when a soul
begins not to care about her faults being known,
she is able to do her duty much better. And
when I renounced this unhappy desire of

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honour, which I fancied I could acquire in
singing, I began to sing much better than be-
fore ; and thus, when we perform such poor
little acts as these, His Majesty is pleased to
give them worth and value, because they are
done for His sake, though in reality they are
nothings — and I am sure I am nothing.

He also enabled me to advance in humility,
by seeing all the sisters advance except myself,
for I was never good for any thing ; when, how-
ever they left the choir, I would stay to fold
up their mantles, for it seemed to me as if they
were Angels, who were there singing the praises
of our Lord. This I continued to do till they
came to hear of it ; and then I was not a little
ashamed, for my virtue was not so far advanced
as to be willing that they should know this
practice of mine : not because I was humble,
but only lest they might laugh at me, because
I was still so completely good for nothing.

CHAPTER VIII.

Little attachments, great hindrances in the way of
perfection.

If a rich person, having no children nor any
one to whom he can leave his estate, loses
some portion of his wealth, yet retains sufficient

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for the support of himself and his household,
and even something to spare, — should that per-
son be as much disturbed and as uneasy as if
he had not bread to eat, will our Lord ask
him to forsake all things for His love? It
may be said that he is troubled at his loss,
because he would have left his money to the
poor. But I am confident that God loves better
that we should conform ourselves to what His
Majesty ordains, and endeavour to keep our
souls in quiet, than that we should exercise this
charity to the poor.

Another has abundance to live on, and some-
thing to spare. An opportunity presents itself
of acquiring additional wealth. If it be offered
to him as a gift, by all means let him take it ;
but to seek after it, and when this is obtained
to strive for more and more, let the intention be
ever so good (and good it must be, for, as I said,
these persons are devout and really virtuous), yet
let them be assured that they will never enter
the mansions nearest to the King's. It is just
the same with such persons if they chance to
be despised, or their honour be in some way
touched, however slightly ; there remains in
their minds a certain uneasiness, which they
cannot easily shake off fcr overcome.

You may think, sisters, that I wander from
the subject, and that what I say does not relate

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to you, because in this house we neither have,
nor desire, nor seek for wealth, nor does any
one do us injury. These comparisons, then,
you may say, have nothing at all to do with
us. Still, they may be of use on many occa-
sions which may happen — which, to mention
here, is neither necessary nor convenient. By
these comparisons you will discover whether
you are wholly disengaged from all affection
to those things which you have forsaken ; for
certain little occasions often present themselves
by which you may make a sufficient trial of
yourselves, and know whether you have gained
ihe mastery over your passions. And, believe
me, perfection consists not in wearing or not
wearing a religious habit, but in endeavouring
to practise virtue, and in subjecting our own
will in all things to the will of God. It con-
sists also in regulating our lives conformably
to whatever His Majesty shall appoint for us,
and in desiring not our own will, but His.
But as we have not as yet reached this point,
let us humble ourselves, as I said ; for humility,
sisters, is the ointment of our souls, and if we
possess it, our Lord, the Divine Physician, will
come and heal us, though He may delay a
while.

The penances which the persons of whom I,
have been speaking perform are as carefully

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regulated as their lives, which they most anx-
iously preserve, in order, they say, thereby to
serve our Lord. In their mortifications they
use great discretion, that they may not injure
their health. There is no fear of their killing
themselves, for their good sense will take care
of that. Such a love is not indeed desirable
as deprives us of reason ; but I wish we had
such reason as not to be content with serving
God in this manner, always standing still in
the same place, so that we never arrive at the
end of our journey. And yet we think that
we are always advancing, and that with great
labour and difficulty — for, believe me, this is
a very wearisome way— it will be well if we
do not lose ourselves altogether. My daugh-
ters, if we had to go from one country into
another which we might conveniently reach in
the course of a week, how would you like, on
account of the inns, the winds, the snows, the
rains, and bad roads, to be a year on the way?
would it not be better to finish the journey
at once? — for we shall assuredly meet with all
these inconveniences, and with the enmity of
the old serpent also. While we proceed with
so much caution, every thing delays us, because
we are afraid of every thing, and so we have
no courage to venture forward ; as if we could
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endure the difficulties of the way! No, this
is impossible ! For the love of God, therefore,
sisters, let us press forward, and leave our
reasons and fears in His hands ; let us rise
above this natural weakness, and leave our
superiors, whom it concerns, to take care of
this miserable body, and let us think of no-
thing but of hastening on to see the face of
our Lord and our God!

We have indeed but few delicacies ; yet too
much care for our health may delude us, and
our health, after all, will be no better for all
our care. This I know, and I know likewise
that perfection does not consist in bodily au-
sterities, which are its least important part.
Our progress depends, as I have said, on our
advancing with great humility. We should,
therefore, always imagine that we ourselves
have travelled but a little way, and believe that
our sisters have hastened on far before us ;
and we ought not only to desire, but to endea-
vour to be accounted the most base and wicked
of all creatures. If we do this, we shall prove
our state to be good; otherwise we shall con-
tinue all our lives where we are, laden with a
thousand afflictions and miseries ; for not hav-
ing left ourselves behind, our journey becomes
very difficult and painful, because we travel
under the heavy burden of this miserable clay.

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That which, in my opinion, will exceedingly
profit those who, through the mercy of God,
desire to rise higher in His service, is to be
very careful to obey promptly; and it would
be very useful, even for persons in the world,
to choose, as many do, some one whom they
may obey, in order to avoid doing their own
will in any thing ; for this it is which generally
deceives and injures us. And here they should
not seek a person of the same disposition and
ideas as themselves, who may flatter them in-
stead of striving to detach them from the world,
but one who knows its deceits, because they
will thus be better enabled to discover those
deceits ; and also because, when we see things
which at first appear impossible easily accom-
plished by others who have sanctified themselves
thereby, we feel exceedingly encouraged. When
we see their flight, we venture to fly, like young
birds, which, though they cannot soar high at
first, yet ascend little by little, in imitation of
their elders. This is a great assistance, as I
know by my own experience.

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CHAPTER IX.

Persons farthest advanced in grace ought to live
in continual fear of falling.

It is indeed a very great misery to live in this
world, where we must always be like those
who have their enemies at the gate, who can
neither eat nor sleep, but are obliged to have
their arms continually in their hands, — always
in anxiety and fear lest the enemy make a
breach on one side or the other, and so become
master of the castle. O my Lord, my God,
how wouldst Thou have us to love a life so
miserable? Could we refrain from wishing
and praying to be taken, but for the hope of
losing it for Thy sake, or spending it wholly
in Thy service, because we know that thus we
shall be accomplishing Thy good pleasure?
But for this, my God, should we not say, with
S. Thomas, "Let us die with him," since to
live without Thee, and in the fear of perhaps
losing Thee for ever, is nothing else than to die
many deaths ? I tell you, therefore, my daugh-
ters, that the blessedness we must ask for is to
be at last in security with the Blessed ; for, amidst
these fears, what pleasure can he have who
finds no pleasure except in pleasing God?
Consider that some of the Saints have had much

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greater fears than these, and yet they have
fallen into grievous sins ; nor are we sure that,
if we fall, God will stretch out His hand (I
mean, His especial assistance) to lift us up, and
that we shall have grace to do penance as they
did. I assure you, my daughters, that while I
am writing these words, I am seized with
such fear that' I neither know how I can write,
nor how I can live, when I reflect on this
subject, as I very often do. Pray, my daughters,
that His Majesty may ever five in me; for,
otherwise, what security can there be for such
a life as mine, which has been so wicked ?

But His Majesty knows I can only depend on
His mercy; and, since by it alone I can become
other than I am, I have no other remedy but
to have recourse to it alone, and to trust in the
merits of His Son, and of the Blessed Virgin,
His Mother, whose habit you and I, though
most unworthy of it, wear. Thank Him that
you are the true daughters of this Lady; and,
therefore, having so good a Mother, you must
not be ashamed of my being so bad. Imitate
her, and imagine what the greatness of this
Lady must be, and what a great honour it is
to have her for our Patroness, so that my sins,
wretched creature as I am, have not been able
in the slightest degree to tarnish her holy
Order. But I wish to warn you against one

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thing: be not too secure because the order is
so holy, or because you are the daughters of
such a Mother; for David was a great Saint,
yet you know what was the end of Solomon.
Neither should you make much account of the
enclosure and penance in which you live; nor
let your continual converse with God, or your
uninterrupted exercise of prayer, render you
secure; nor your separation from the world;
nor your abhorrence of worldly things. All
this is very good, but not sufficient, as I have
said, to free us from danger. Frequently, then,
remember and meditate on this verse: "Blessed
is the man who feareth the Lord."

CHAPTER X.
Grievous nature of deliberate venial sins.

Who does not commit many venial sins inad-
vertently ! But may God deliver us from a de-
liberate sin, however small it may be ! for I do
not understand how we can have the boldness
to act in opposition to so great a Lord, even
though it were but in a very small matter, much
more when we know that there is nothing small
which offends so awful a Majesty, and especi-
ally when we remember that He stands looking

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at us. Hence such sins seem to me to be pre-
meditated, just as if we said : " Lord, though
this sin may displease Thee, yet I will commit
it. I now see that Thou beholdest it, and that
it displeases Thee. Of this I am well aware;
but I prefer to follow my own fancy and passion
rather than do Thy will." Now, in a case of
this nature, is the fault small? To me it
seems not small, but great; ay, and very great.

CHAPTER XI.

Confidence in the goodness and power of God, and
contempt which Ve ought to feel for the devil.

Oh, how good is God ! oh, how good and how
powerful is the Lord! He gives not only
counsel, but remedies also. His words are
works. How is our faith hereby strengthened,
and our love increased ! Thus I often call to
mind how our Lord, when a tempest had risen
at sea, commanded the winds and the waves, and
there came a great calm; and I said then, Who
is this Whom all the powers of my soul obey, and
Who, in an instant, gives such dazzling light to
chase away such thick darkness, and makes that
heart become soft which seemed before to be as
hard as a stone; and Who gives the water of

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sweet tears where before there was so long and
great a drought ? Who inspires these desires ?
Who gives such courage ? What have I been
thinking of, that I should fear ? What is this? I
desire to serve this Lord, and I wish for nothing
but to please Him. I renounce all pleasure
and ease, and every other good, save only the
doing of His will ; and of this good I am sure,
as I can safely affirm. Since, then, this Lord
is so powerful, as I see He is and know He
is, and since all the devils are His slaves (and
of this I can have no doubt,, since it is of
faith), what harm can they do me, who am a
servant of this Lord and King? Why may
I not have strength enough to fight with all
the powers of hell ? These enemies only venture
to attack those who give themselves up to
them; or they make their attacks only when
God permits them for the greater good of His
servants, whom they tempt and torment. I
would it might please His Majesty to make us
fear Him Whom we ought to fear, and to
make us understand that we receive greater
harm from one venial sin than from all the
powers of hell put together, — this is certainly
true. But when, by our affection for honours,
riches, and pleasures, we give the devils power
over us, by loving and desiring that which we
ought rather to abhor, then, indeed, they will

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do us much harm ; for we enable them to fight
against us with our own arms, which we put
into their hands, and with which we ought
rather to defend ourselves. * What a great evil
is this I But if we now resolve to detest all
these things for the love of God, and to embrace
His Cross, and to serve Him in good earnest,
the devil flies from these resolutions as we
should fly from the plague. He is the friend
of lies, and a lie itself. He will have nothing '
to do with one who walks in truth. But when
once he sees our understanding obscured, he
skilfully labours to obscure it still more, — he
helps us to blind ourselves; and, considering
us to be children, he treats us as such, because
he sees that we place all our satisfaction in the
vain things of this world, which are only toys
fit for children. With such souls he wrestles
more or less as he sees a hope of success. May
our Lord grant that this may never be my
case; but may He rather, in His mercy, make
me take that to be ease and rest which is,
indeed, true ease and true rest ; and that to be
honour which is true honour ; and that to be
pleasure which is true pleasure ; — and not to
seek false ease, false rest, false honour, and false
pleasure! and then I care not a straw for all
the devils in hell, for they will be afraid of
me. I do not understand those fears by which

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we exclaim, " The devil ! the devil 1" when we
ought rather to say, " 0 my God ! my God 1"
and so make the devil tremble.

Do we not already know that the devil is
unable to move unless our Lord permits him ?
What, then, is the cause of ail our fears ? I
confess that I fear those who are so frightened
at the devil more than I fear the devil himself.

CHAPTER XII.

On forgiveness of injuries, after the example of
our Divine Lord.

O mt Lord, art not Thou our pattern and
example ? Assuredly Thou art. Now, wherein
did Thine honour consist, O Divine Master ?
Didst Thou not lose it, by being humbled even
to death ? No, Lord ; but Thou didst gain
honour for us all. Oh, for the love of God,
sisters, consider how hopelessly we shall lose
our way if we follow this road of human hon-
our, since it is wrong from the very outset ; and
God grant that no soul may perish for observing
these miserable points of honour, without con-
sidering in what Jionour consists ! We imagine
that we have done a great deal if we forgive
some little trifling affront or injury which de-

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serves not to be so called ; and, as if we bad done
some extraordinary action, we come and beg
of God to forgive us, since we have forgiven
others. Make us understand, O my God, that
we know not ourselves, and that we come with
empty hands; and do Thou, in Thy free mercy,
pardon us.

But how highly must God value our love
one to another, since our good Jesus might
have proposed many other things to His Father,
and have said : " Forgive us, O Lord, because
we do great penances, or because we pray and
fast much, and have left all things for Thee;
and because we love Thee exceedingly ; because
we would lose our lives for Thee." Many
other such things He might have mentioned;
and yet He only said, " as we forgive them."
Because, perhaps, He knew we were such
great lovers of this miserable honour, and be-
cause it is a duty so difficult to perform, He
spoke of it alone, and offered it to His Father
on our behalf.

CHAPTER XIH

Vain excuses of lukewarm religious.

I sometimes hear religious say, in order to
excuse their own tepidity, that God bestowed

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extraordinary graces on the holy founders of
their orders, because their virtues were to be,
as it were, the foundation of these spiritual
edifices, — and such is really the truth ; but
should not these persons remember that they
too, by their virtuous example, are bound to
serve as a foundation for those who shall come
after them ? If we who are still living do not
fall into relaxation, and if those who succeed
us also maintain the exact observance of the
rule, the spiritual edifice will continue to sub-
sist. But what advantage shall I reap from
what was established with so much labour and
courage by the Saints who preceded me, if,
through my fault and want of virtue, I allow
it to fall into ruin ? Is it not evident that
those who enter religion, instead of allowing
their thoughts to travel so far back as to the
founders of their order, should rather fix them
on their superiors and the other religious who
are before their eyes ? In truth, it is an easy
way to excuse our imperfections, to say that
they arise from our not having lived in those
early times. But, 0 my Saviour, how vain
and unreasonable are all such excuses 1 Is it
not evident that they do but serve to deceive
us ? I am ashamed, my God, to be so use-
less and so unfit for Thy service; but I see
clearly that if Thou hast not favoured me with

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the same graces which Thou didst bestow on
those who were before me, I can but attribute
it to my own sins and imperfections. I cannot
reflect without sorrow on the difference between
my life and theirs, nor can I speak of it with-
out tears. I acknowledge that, so far from
profiting by their labours, I have rendered
them unfruitful by the bad use which I have
made of them ; yet I can but blame myself, —
not Thee, of Whom no one can complain. A
religious who perceives that any relaxation,
however slight, is creeping into her order,
should serve, by her virtue, to sustain the holy
edifice ; nor need she doubt of Thy assistance to
enable her to do so.

CHAPTER XIV.

Prayer against the desire of human approbation.

O my Lord, when I consider in how many
ways Thou didst suffer, and yet without in any
way deserving it, I know not what to say of
myself, nor where my senses were when I did
not desire sufferings, nor what I do when I
excuse myself. Thou knowest, O my God, that
if I have any good in me, it has been bestowed
by Thy bounty alone. And by what art Thou
restrained from giving me much rather than

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little ? If it be because I do not deserve it, I
deserve as little the favours which Thou hast
already bestowed on me. Is it possible that I
should wish any one to think well of a creature
so wicked as I am, when so many evil things
have been spoken against Thee, the Supreme
Good ? Do not suffer it, O my God ! Nor let
me desire that Thou shouldst endure any thing
to remain in Thy servant which is in the
slightest degree displeasing to Thee. See, O
Lord, my eyes are dim, and the smallest thing
suffices to blind them. Give me light; and
make me really desire that every one may
abhor me, since I have so often forsaken Thee,
though Thou hast loved me so faithfully.
What folly is this, O my God I What do we
imagine that we shall obtain by pleasing crea-
tures ? Why are we concerned at being falsely
accused by all men, if we are innocent before
Thee?

CHAPTER XV.

God will never fail us if we fail not ourselves.

O Lord, all our evils come from not fixing our
eyes on Thee. If we considered only the way,
we should soon arrive at our journey's end ; but
we fall a thousand times, and stumble and

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stray from the Way, by not fixing our eyes (ad
I said) on the True Way. It seems never to
have been trodden, so new does it appear to
us. We seem, I say, not to be Christians, nor
to have ever read the Passion in our life,
since we cannot endure to be despised even in a
trifling matter. We reply immediately, " We
are not Saints." When we do any thing im-
perfect, may God deliver us, sisters, from saying,
" We are not Angels," " We are not Saints."
Consider, that though we be not Angels or
Saints, it is a great happiness to think that if
we strive after it, we may, by God's assistance,
become Saints ; and fear not that He will fail
you, if you fail not yourselves.

CHAPTER XVI.

Necessity of interior mortification.

In the life of perfection all appears to be hard
and laborious, and justly so, because it is a
war against ourselves ; but when we begin it,
God works so powerfully in the soul, and be-
stows on it so many favours, that all that we
can do in this life seems but little. Now, since
we nuns have done that which is most difficult,
in sacrificing our liberty for the love of God ?

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subjecting ourselves to another's power, and
enduring so much labour, fasting, silence, en-
closure, and attendance in choir, so that, were we
ever so desirous of relaxation, we could seldom
enjoy it, — why, I ask, are we so slow in morti-
fying our interior, without which we cannot
perfectly perform the rest, while with it all the
rest becomes perfect and meritorious, and we
are enabled to go through all our exterior
duties with great ease and delight ?

We shall acquire this interior mortification
if we accustom ourselves by degrees not to do
our own will or follow our own appetite, even
in very trifling things, until we have completely
made the body subject to the spirit. I say
again, that all, or almost all, consists in re-
nouncing all care of ourselves and of our own
pleasure ; for the least which he can offer,
who begins to serve God in earnest, is his life,
after he has already given up his will to Him.
And why are you afraid to give Him this ?
There is no true religious who is really given
to prayer, and wishes to enjoy Divine consola-
tions, but would desire to die for her Lord, and
to suffer all manner of crosses for His sake.
Do you not know, sisters, that the life of a good
religious, of one who wishes to be numbered
among the intimate friends of God, is a long
martyrdom ? I call it long, because it may be

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called so in comparison with that of those who
are beheaded in an instant ; but our whole life
is short, and some lives are extremely short.
And is it not uncertain whether our life may-
be so short as to end an hour hence, or in the
very moment when we have resolved to serve
God with all our strength ? Such a thing is
not impossible ; and, after all, we have no
reason to make any account of that which has
an end, and much less of life, in which we have
no certainty of a single day. And who that
remembers that every hour may be his last
will refuse to spend it in labour ?

Believe me, then, the safest way is to keep
these thoughts ever before us. Let us, there-
fore, learn to cross our own will in every thing ;
for though we cannot do this all at once, yet,
by diligence and prayer, you will by degrees
and unconsciously attain to it. It may, indeed,
seem very severe to say that we must not please
ourselves in any thing, because the joy which
accompanies this self-denial, and likewise the
benefits which arise from it even in this life,
are not also mentioned.

But as your rule enjoins you to practise all
this, the chief difficulty is surmounted : excite,
therefore, and help each other forward, and let
.^each endeavour to outstrip the rest.

Observe carefully the movements of your

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interior, especially if they concern desires of su-
periority. May the merits of Christ's Passion
deliver us from saying or dwelling on such
thoughts as these, " I am the senior in the or-
der," or " I have laboured more than others,"
or " Another is better treated than I am" !
If these thoughts arise, they must be stifled
immediately ; for if you dwell upon them, or
talk about them, they will become .a very
plague. Cry, therefore, to God, and let all
your prayers have this end, that you may ob-
tain a remedy for so great a danger. You may
ask why I insist so much on this ; you may
think what I say too severe, since God bestows
His favours even on such as are not thus disen-
gaged. I believe that He does this because,
in His infinite wisdom, He sees it expedient to
lead them on thereby to forsake all things for
His sake. I do not account a person's entering
religion the forsaking of all things, because
there may be attachments even in religion ;
while, on the other hand, in every state of life
a perfect soul may be humbled and detached,
though with greater difficulty, because order
and retirement are great helps to detachment.
But, believe me, that if there be any hankering
after honours or riches (and this may happen
in monasteries as well as in the world), those
who cherish such desires, though they may

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have spent many years in prayer, or, to speak
more correctly, in speculation (for perfect
prayer takes away all these defects), will. never
make any progress, nor be able to derive any
fruit from their prayer.

CHAPTER XVn.

Difference between true and false humility.

Be on your guard, daughters, against a certain
false humility, which, to our great disquiet, is
suggested by the devil, respecting the greatness
of our sins; for hereby he is accustomed
to disturb souls in many ways in order to
dissuade them from Holy Communion, and
from praying for particular intentions — for the
devil persuades them they are unworthy ; and
when they approach to receive the most Blessed
Sacrament, the time in which they might
receive great favours from God is mostly
spent in discussing whether or not they have
been well prepared. The enemy prevails so
far as to make a soul believe that, because she
is such a great sinner, God has forsaken her, so
that she almost doubts His mercy. Whatever
she says, seems to her dangerous, and all her
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reality be. She is quite discouraged, because
she feels that she has no power to do any good ;
for that which appears good to her in others,
seems bad in herself.

Pay very great attention, daughters, to this
point on which I am now about to speak ; for
at one time it may be humility and virtue to
consider ourselves very bad, and at another
time it may be a very great temptation ; and
because I have experienced this, I know it to be
true. However great our humility may be, it
does not disturb or disorder the soul, but
brings peace, delight, and calmness. Should
any one at the sight of her own wickedness
clearly perceive that she deserves to be in hell,
and so scarcely dare to ask for mercy, this grief
— if it springs from true humility — has a cer-
tain sweetness and satisfaction attendant upon
it, so that she would not wish to be without it.
It does not disturb or straiten the soul, but
rather enlarges it, and disposes it to serve
God more fervently. But the other kind of
grief troubles and disorders every thing, throws
the soul into*utter confusion, and is very painful.
I believe the devil thus tries to make us think
that we have humility, and at the same time
— if he can— to make us distrust God. When
you find yourselves in this state, avoid, as
much as you can, thinking on your own misery,

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and meditate on the mercy of God, — how much
He loves you, and how much He has suffered
for you.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Various kinds of false peace.

Mat God preserve us from those different
kinds of peace which worldly* persons enjoy,
and which cause them to remain tranquil, even
though they may have committed the greatest
sins. Does not such a peace deserve rather to
be called a warfare ? This false peace is a sign
of the union of such souls with the devil ; he
will not make war upon them during this life,
lest he should drive them to have recourse
to God to deliver them from his power. Let
them enjoy their false happiness as long as it
pleases them; I hope through the mercy of God
that He may never find such amongst us.

Since whilst we are in this life we have to
maintain a continual warfare against so many
enemies, we cannot be too vigilant both over our
interior and our exterior ; for though God may
give us great grace in prayer, yet as soon as we
have it, we shall meet with a thousand little
stumbling-blocks, causing us to omit certain,
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with sufficient exactness, or we shall fall into
some interior troubles, and be assailed by tempt-
ations. So far from thinking or wishing to
be entirely exempt from these temptations and
troubles, I look upon them as great favours
from God, and very profitable to the soul, by
promoting its progress in virtue ; but I cannot
help fearing for those who feel no sorrow for
their faults — if it be but a venial sin, it should
always give us pain.

If you love me, pay great attention, I pray you,
to this: Is it not true that a living person feels
the slightest prick of a pin or a thorn ? In like
manner, if our souls are not dead, but animated
by an ardent love of God, shall not we be
very sensitive to the least thing which is not
in accordance with our profession and our
obligations ?

Scrupulous persons should remark that I do
not mean those faults into which we sometimes
fall without thought, and even unconsciously,
but those which we ordinarily commit, — make
little account of, do not regret, and even do not
strive to correct, because we look upon them
as nothing, and thus sleep on in a false and
dangerous tranquillity.

Strive, my daughters, not to have always
the same faults to accuse yourselves of in con-
fession ; and since our weakness is so great

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that we know not how to avoid committing
some, let us at least endeavour that they be
not always the same, lest they strike deep roots
into our souls, which will be very difficult to
eradicate, and these roots again produce others,
like to a plant which, when watered every day,
grows so rapidly that, though at first it would
have been easy to pluck it up with the hand,
it becomes necessary afterwards to use a hoe or
a spade to uproot it.

Let us ask God to aid us at those moments
which, in the hour of death, and at His dread-
ful Judgment, we shall see to have been so
important, especially to those who have, like
us, the honour of having Him for our Spouse in
this life who will then be our Judge.

Amongst worldly people we may meet with
another kind of peace, less dangerous than that
of which I have spoken, — it is the peace of those
who are careful , to avoid the commission of
mortal sin, — which in itself is no small thing
considering the manner in which people live at
the present day ; but I am persuaded that they
must fall into it from time to time, because
they make so little account of committing a
great number of venial sins, which are on the
very verge of mortal sin. These persons do
not fear to say — and I have often heard them
— "What! do venial sins seem so important

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to you ? Surely holy water will efface them,
and the Church, like a good mother, gives us
also other remedies for them." What, my
daughters, can be more deplorable than to
hear Christians dare to speak in this manner !
I conjure you, by your love for God, never to
commit any sin, venial though it be, under pre-
text of these remedies. We may always sus-
pect the dispositions of those persons who desire
consolations which weaken virtue, tend to
tepidity, and give rise to doubts whether sins
committed in this state are venial or mortal.
May God in His good pleasure deliver us from
this kind of peace !

CHAPTER XIX.

On a constrained and narrow spirit of devotion.

I exhort you to fly all constraint and narrowness
in the service of God, because the soul which
gives way to it is not thereby disposed to any
kind of good, and often falls into scruples which
render her useless to herself and others. Even
if she does not become scrupulous, she will, how-
ever good herself, be unable to aid others to ad-
vance in piety, inasmuch as this constraint is so
opposed to our nature, that it intimidates and

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frightens us. Thus, though these persons are
persuaded that your road is a better one than
theirs, yet the fear of falling into the state of
constraint in which they see you causes them
to lose all desire to enter upon it. Endeavour,
then, as far as you can without offending God,
to behave in such a manner towards those with
whom you have to live, that they may be pleased
with your conversation, that they may desire to
imitate your conduct, and that virtue may
appear so sweet and amiable in your intercourse
with them that, instead of frightening them, it
may inspire them with reverence and love.

This advice is very important to religious ;
the holier they are, so much the more watchful
should they be to exercise gentleness and sweet-
ness towards their sisters. Therefore, my
daughters, when the conversation of your sis-
ters is not such as you would wish it to be,
and even though it may occasion you much
annoyance, be careful never to show it, or to
keep away from them. By this means they
will love you, and you will be useful to them.
Let us, then, be very careful to please all those
with whom we have to converse, but especially
our sisters.

Strive thoroughly to understand this im-
portant truth, that God does not regard these
little things so much as you imagine, and that

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therefore you should not cramp your mind,
which will hinder you from doing much good.
Have only, as I have said, a pure intention
and a determined will not to offend God, with-
out allowing your soul to be weighed down by
scruples, since, instead of thereby becoming
saints, you would fall into many imperfections,
into which the devil would insensibly draw
you, and which would hinder you from being
of as much use to yourselves or to others as
you would have been if you had followed a
different course.

CHAPTER XX.

Sufferings of those who are divided between God and
the world, and how much it concerns them not to
abandon the practice of mental prayer.

I wish I could obtain leave from my confessors
to declare how often I failed in my obliga-
tions to God when I was not supported by the
strong pillar of mental prayer ! I passed nearly
twenty years on this tempestuous sea, con-
tinually falling and rising again — though I
rose very imperfectly, since I fell again so
quickly ; and in this kind of life, so far below
perfection, I made almost no account of venial
sins. Mortal sins I feared, indeed, but not as I
ought to have feared them, since I did not

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avoid the occasions of committing them. I can
declare that this i3 one of the most painful
lives which can be imagined, for I neither en-
joyed the sweetness of serving God nor the
pleasures of the world. When I was entertain-
ing myself with worldly amusements, the remem-
brance of what I owed to God gave me pain;
and when I was conversing with Him in prayer,
worldly affections disturbed me ; and so painful
was the conflict, that I know not how I could
possibly have endured it for one month, much
more for so many years. Herein I clearly
see the great mercy of God towards me, that,
while still so much engrossed with the world,
He yet gave me courage to practise mental
prayer. I say courage, because I see not one
thing in the world which requires greater
boldness than to be carrying on treason against
a King— to be sensible that He knows it well
— and yet never to depart from His presence.
For though it be true that we are always in the
presence of God, yet methinks they who converse
with Him in mental prayer are in a special man-
ner in His presence, because then they see that
His eyes are on them ; whereas others may
remain long in His presence without remember-
ing that He looks upon them.

Now, the reason why I have written this is,
first, as I have said before, that the mercy of God

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109

and my ingratitude towards Him may be
clearly discerned ; and, secondly, that it may
be understood how great a blessing God be-
stows on a soul to which He gives a good will
to practise mental prayer, even though it have
not attained great perfection in this exercise.
For she who shall persevere therein, whatever
sins she may commit, whatever temptations
may be presented to her, or whatever falls she
may sustain by the artifices of the devil, will
assuredly be brought safely by our Lord in
the end to the haven of salvation, as I trust
He has now brought me.

CHAPTER XXI.

Means to preserve recollection in prayer.

When we are in prayer, let us endeavour always
to be in company. And what better companion
can we have than the very Master Who taught
us the prayer we are about to say? Therefore,
my daughters, represent that same Lord to
yourselves as present with you, and observe
with what love and humility He stands teach-
ing you. And, believe me, you cannot remain
long without such a Friend. If you^accustom
yourselves thus to dwell near Him, and He

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sees that you do it with all the affection of
your heart, and that you endeavour continually
to please Him, you will not be able, so to speak,
to drive Him from you. He will never be
wanting to you. He will help you in all your
troubles ; you will find Him with you in all
places. Do you think it a small favour to have
such a Friend at your side ? O sisters, those
amongst you who cannot discourse much with
the understanding, nor keep your thoughts
fixed, without being distracted, accustom your-
selves to this practice : I know by my own
experience you may do it, for I have lived many
years under this cross of not being able to fix
the imagination during prayer, and 1 know it
is a great affliction. Yet I know also that our
Lord does not so forsake us, but that, if we
humbly approach Him and beg Him to remain
with us, He will bear us company. And if
we cannot obtain this favour in one year, let
us be content to wait many years, nor grudge
spending much time for so great a gain. I
say that we may in time accustom ourselves
when at our ordinary work to dwell by the
side of this true Master. I do not now require
you, however, to meditate continually on Him,
or to labour to form a picture of Him, or to
exercise your understandings in sublime and
curious speculations. I require of you only

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to look at Him. And what hinders you
from turning the eyes of your soul for one in-
stant, if you can do no more, upon this adorable
Spouse? You can bear to look upon most
frightful objects ; can you not look upon that
-which is more beautiful than imagination can
conceive? If He do not appear beautiful in
your eyes, I give you leave not to look at
Him ; and yet, daughters, your Spouse never
takes His eyes off you. He has endured a
thousand abominations committed against Him,
and yet they were not enough to make Him
forbear looking upon you. Is it much, then,
for you to take off your eyes from these exterior
objects, and sometimes to cast a look at Him ?
Behold, as the Spouse saith, He stands waiting
for nothing else but that we may look upon Him.
As you wish for Him, you will find Him. He
loves so much to be looked upon by us, that
no diligence will be wanting on His part to
attract us. People say, that if a wife wish to
live happily with her husband, she must do as
he does : if he be sad, she must appear sad
too ; if he be merry, she must appear so like-
wise, though she may not be so in reality.
See, sisters, from what a subjection you are
freed! Thus, in truth, without any fiction,
does our Lord act with us; for He makes Him-
self the subject, and would have you to be the

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mistress, and He bears Himself according to
your wish. If you be cheerful, contemplate
Him as risen, for it will rejoice your soul merely
to imagine how He went forth from the sepul-
chre, with what brightness, with what beauty,
with what majesty! how victorious, how joyful,
like one who has gloriously returned from
battle, where He has gained a mighty kingdom,
which He wishes to bestow wholly upon you !
Now, is it much that you should once turn
your eyes to look upon Him Who lavishes so
much upon you ? If you be sad or afflicted, con-
sider Him on the way to Gethsemane; for what
sorrow is so great as that which He then en-
dured in His soul, since He, though patience
itself, speaks of this sorrow, and complains of
it? Consider Him, again, bound to the pillar,
full of pains, all His flesh torn to pieces through
His great love for you, persecuted by some,
spit upon by others, denied and forsaken by His
friends, and without any one to plead for Him !

You may consider Him, likewise, laden with
His cross, His enemies giving Him not time
to take breath. He will look upon you with
those eyes, so beautiful and so compassionate,
filled with tears, and He will forget His own
sorrow to comfort you, provided only that you
go and solace yourselves with Him, and turn
your eyes to look upon Him.

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O Lord of the world, my true Spouse ! art
Thou driven, my Lord and my God, to admit
such wretched company as mine? You should
say, sisters, if your hearts have been so soft-
ened from seeing your Saviour in the state I
have described, that you not only desire to
look on Him, but are delighted to speak with
Him, not in a set form of prayer, but with
supplications issuing from the grief of your
hearts. Is it possible, you will say, O my
God, that Thou canst take comfort in such
company as mine? for it seems by Thy looks
that Thou art pleased to have me with Thee.
How, O Lord, is it possible that the Angels
should leave Thee alone ? that even Thy Father
should not comfort Thee? If it be true, O
Lord, that Thou art pleased to suffer all this
for me, what is it that I suffer now? What
do I complain of? I am now so much ashamed
of my complaints, since I have seen Thee in
such a state, that I wish to suffer, O Lord, all
the afflictions which may happen to me, and
to find in them a source of great consolation,
that so I may imitate Thee in something. Let
us go together, O Lord ! Whithersoever Thou
goest, I will go ; by whatsoever path Thou
travellest, I will travel also. Bear your part,
daughters, in this cross ; be not troubled lest
the Jews trample upon you ; if only you bear

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your Lord company, heed not what they say
of you, be deaf to their accusations, and, though
you stumble and fall with your Spouse, shrink
not from the cross, nor forsake it. Consider
attentively the weariness under which He strug-
gles on, and by how many degrees His Passion
exceeds your sufferings, however great you may
fancy them to be, and however sensibly you
may feel them ; and thus you will be comforted :
for you will see that they are but children's
play when compared with His.

You will perhaps say, sisters, How can this
be done now? Had you seen Him with your
corporal eyes at the time when His Majesty
lived on earth, then you would very willingly
have done it, and have kept your eyes ever
upon Him. Believe it not ; for she who will
not now use a little violence to herself in order
to keep herself in recollection, that she may
behold her Lord within herself, — which she
may do without danger, and by merely using
very little diligence, — would far less have placed
herself at the foot of the cross with Magdalen,
in the face of death. And what must our
glorious Lady and this blessed Saint have suf-
fered ? What threats, what evil words, what
shocks, what insults I With what courtiers
had they to deal ! — the very ministers of hell
and servants of the devil! Doubtless, what

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they suffered must indeed have been terrible ;
but the great sorrows of Another made them
insensible to their own. Imagine not, there-
fore, sisters, that you would be fit to bear such
great afflictions, if you are now unequal to
such small trials. It is by exercising your-
selves in these that you may learn to endure
greater afflictions.

In order to help you herein, you may carry
about with you an image or representation of
our Lord, not merely to wear it in your bosom
and never to look at it, but to speak often to
Him ; for He will teach you what to say to
Him. Since you find words to speak to others,
why should you want them to speak to God ?
Do not believe this. I, at least, will not be-
lieve it, if you will only accustom yourself to
converse with Him ; if you do not, you will
•be sure to want them ; for when we are unused
to converse with a person, a kind of strangeness
grows up between us and him, and an ignorance
how we should address him ; so that we soon
find a difficulty in speaking even with kindred
and friends when we are unaccustomed to con-
verse together.

It is likewise an excellent thing to take a
good book in your own language, to help you
to collect your thoughts, that so you may learn
to pray, and by little and little accustom the

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soul thereto by caresses and holy artifices, that
she may not be frightened or discouraged.
Kemember that we have strayed long ago from
our Spouse ; and so depraved are we, that great
skill is required to induce us to return to His
house. We have so accustomed our souls and
our thoughts to follow their own pleasure, or,
to speak more properly, their own pain, that
the wretched soul knows not its own condition.
I again assure you, that if you carefully accus-
tom yourselves to follow this counsel, you will
thereby gain such great profit as I cannot
express, even if I would. Keep yourselves
near, then, to this good Master, and firmly re-
solve to learn what He shall teach you ; and
His Majesty will so order things, that you will
not fail to become excellent scholars ; nor will
He forsake you, if you do not forsake Him.
Consider the words uttered by His Divine
mouth ; for by the very first you will immediately
understand the love He bears you, — and it is
no small happiness and consolation for a scholar
to know that his master loves him.

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CHAPTER XXII.

Answer to objections against mental prayer.

Some say, " This way of prayer is not fit for
women, for they may fall into delusions ; it
is better they should spin. They have no
need of such subtleties ; a Pater and Ave are
sufficient for them." This I also say, sisters ;
and why should thejf not be sufficient? We
cannot do wrong in forming our prayer upon
the prayer uttered by the lips of our Lord
Himself. They say well, then; for were not our
weakness so very great, and our devotion so cold,
we should have no need of any other prayers,
of any other books to instruct us how to pray.

I speak to those who cannot fix their thoughts
upon other mysteries, which seem to them too
artificial ; and for them I now lay down certain
principles, means, and counsels relating to
prayer, though I do not intend to dwell on
high and abstruse subjects. I have always
been more affected and moved to greater re-
collection by the words of the Gospels than by
any other books, however well written.

I come, then, to this Master of Wisdom, that
He may perhaps inspire me with some con-
siderations that may profit you.

Let no one deceive you by showing you an-

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other way to heaven than that of prayer, whe-
ther mental or vocal. All persons should use
either the one or the other ; and for yourselves,
1 say that you stand in need of both ; for this
is the very office and employment of religious.
Whoever shall tell you there is danger in this,
consider him to be a dangerous person, and
avoid him ; but do not forget this advice, for
perhaps you may stand in need of it. It will,
indeed, be dangerous for you to want humility
and the other virtues ; but God forbid that the
way of prayer should be a way of danger!
The devil seems to have invented the art of
exciting these fears, thereby to place a stum-
bling-block in the way of those who are given
to prayer.

See the wonderful blindness of men, who do
not consider the many thousands in the world
who have fallen into heresy and other great
evils by not practising prayer, or knowing what
it is ; and if among all those who practise it
the devil, the better to accomplish his designs,
has. made a very few to fall, a great fear is
excited in men's minds of the practice of this
virtue. Let those beware what they do who
thus fly from good in order to escape from
evil. Such an invention, as it seems to me,
can come only from the devil.

O my Lord, arise and defend Thyself! See

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how men misinterpret Thy words ! Suffer not
such weaknesses as these to remain in Thy
servants !

Banish these fears, then, sisters ; pay no at-
tention to such opinions ; for these are not times
when we should believe all persons, but only
those whom we see to walk conformably to the
life of Christ. Endeavour to keep a pure con-
science, to have a contempt for all the things
of this world, and firmly to believe whatever
our holy Mother the Church teaches, and you
may then be assured that you have taken a
safe course. Cast away these fears where there
is nothing to fear. Show those who would
terrify you, in all humility, the way in which
you are walking. Tell them that your rule
commands you to pray without ceasing, as in-
deed it does, and that you must observe this
rule. If they say that it means only vocal
prayer, ask them whether the understanding
and the heart are to be attentive to what is
said in vocal prayer. If they answer " Yes," —
and they can make no other reply, — then you
see they acknowledge thereby that, to make
vocal prayer well, you are compelled to use
mental prayer also — ay, and contemplation too,
if God should be pleased to raise you to it.
May He be blessed for ever ! Amen.

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CHAPTER XXIII.

True vocal prayer always involves mental prayer.

The difference between mental and vocal
prayer does not consist in the mouth being
open or shut, for if, while utteriug a prayer
vocally, I attentively consider and perceive that
I am speaking with God, being more intent on
this thought than on the words which I pro-
nounce, then I am using both mental prayer
and vocal prayer together. But if they tell you
that you may be speaking with God when you
recite the Pater Noster, and yet be thinking of
the world, I have nothing to say to such prayer
as this, for if you would conduct yourselves as
you ought to do in speaking to so great a Lord,
it is fitting you should consider to Whom you
speak, and who you are, that you may speak
to Him with due respect. For how can you
address a king and style him " your majesty,"
or observe the ceremonies which are used in
speaking to the great, unless you are acquainted
with the dignity of him to whom you speak,
and understand what is your own place ? He
must be honoured according to his rank, and
with the honour which custom requires; and
with this you should be well acquainted, un-

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less you would be sent away as unmannered
clowns, and so gain nothing.

Now, what is this ? O my Lord ! what is
this ? O my Sovereign ! how can it be en-
dured ? Thou, my Lord, art an eternal King,
for Thy royalty is no borrowed dignity. I
feel a special delight as often as I hear it said
in the Creed " that Thy kingdom hath no
end." I praise Thee, O Lord, for this; and I
bless Thee for ever. Never suffer any one, O
Lord, who speaks to Thee, to do so only with
his lips. What is this, Christians ? Do you
say you need not mental prayer? Do you
understand what you say ? I certainly think
you do not, and, therefore, you would have us
all to be mistaken with you; and neither do
you know what mental prayer is, nor how
vocal prayer is to be used, nor what contempla-
tion is; for did you understand it, you would
not condemn on the one hand what you praise
on the other.

O my Emperor, Supreme Power, Essential
Goodness, Wisdom without beginning, with-
out end, Perfection boundless, infinite, and
incomprehensible, fathomless Ocean of won-
ders, Beauty comprising all beauties, Divine
Strength, very God 1 Would that I had all
the eloquence of men, and wisdom also, to
understand (as far as can be understood in this

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world, which in reality is nothing), how to
make known but some of those many things
which might enable us to understand, in some
small degree, how great is this our Lord and
Sovereign Good.

Consider, then, and understand with Whom
you are going to speak, and with Whom you
are speaking. In a thousand such lives as ours
we should never learn fully to comprehend how
this Lord deserves to be treated, before Whom
the Angels tremble, Who commands all things,
with Whom to will is to do. Is it not fitting,
then, my daughters, that we should endeavour
to delight ourselves in these excellences which
adorn our Spouse, and that we should under-
stand to Whom we are espoused ; and also what
manner of life it befits us to lead, on whom
He has vouchsafed to bestow so great a
dignity ?

CHAPTER XXIV.

Prayer of recollection — The contemplation of God
as within us.

Consider what your Master says : " Who art
in heaven." Do you think it is of little im-
portance for you to know what heaven is, and
where your Most Holy Father is to be sought?

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I tell you that it is very important for those
who are subject to distractions, not only to
believe this, but to endeavour to realise it by
their own experience, because it is one of those
things which lay the strongest hold on the
understanding, and infuse the deepest recollec-
tion into the soul. You already know that
God is in all places ; now, it is clear that where
the king is, there is the court, — and, therefore,
where God is, there is heaven: you may also
believe without doubting, that where His
Majesty is, there is all His glory.

Consider what S. Augustine says : that " he
sought God in many places, and came at last
to find Him in himself." Do you think it is
of little importance for a distracted soul to
understand this truth, and to know that she
need not go to heaven to speak with her
eternal Father, or cry aloud to be heard by
Him ? — for however low we may speak, He is
so near that He will not fail to hear us ; neither
do we need wings to fly and seek Him, but we
can compose ourselves in solitude, and behold
Him within us. Never, then, let us separate
from so good a Guest, but with great humility
speak to Him as a Father, entreat Him as a
Father, relate our troubles to Him, and beg a
remedy for them, though we know that we are
not worthy to be His daughters.

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Be on your guard, daughters, against a cer-
tain false modesty, to which some persons are
addicted, and think it is humility ; yet it is not
humility, if the King is pleased to show you a
favour, to refuse to accept it; but it is humility
to accept it, and acknowledge how much it
exceeds your merits, and so to rejoice in it.

Pay no attention to such humility, daughters,
but treat with Him as with a Father, as with
a Brother, as with a Lord, as with a Spouse,
sometimes in one way, sometimes in another;
for He will teach you what you should do to
please Him. Be not too easily discouraged,
but challenge His word, since He is your
Spouse, to treat you as such. Consider that
you are much concerned in understanding this
truth, viz. that God dwells within you, and
that there we should dwell with Him.

Being thus at home with Him, you may
meditate on the Passion and offer Him to the
Father, without wearying the understanding
by going to seek Him on Mount Calvary, or in
the Garden, or at the Pillar. Those that can
thus shut themselves up in this little heaven
of the soul, where He abides Who created
heaven and earth; and who can also accustom
themselves not to stray whithersoever their ex-
terior senses lead them, let them believe that
they walk in an excellent way, and that they

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shall not fail to drink water from the fountain,
and thus to advance far in a little time. They
are like one who makes a voyage by sea, who
with a little favourable weather arrives within
a few days at his journey's end, whereas those
who go by land are much longer on the way.

Let us remember, then, that within us there
is a palace of great magnificence; the whole
building is of gold and precious stones, — in a
word, it is in every way a fit dwelling for so
great a Lord. Forget not, also, that the glory
of this edifice in some degree depends upon
you, for truly there is no building so beautiful
as a pure soul filled with virtues; and the
greater these virtues, the brighter do those
stones sparkle which adorn this palace of the
great King, Who has been pleased to become
your Guest, and Who sits there on a throne of
inestimable value, even on your heart. For
if we did but remember that we have within
us such a Guest, I think it is impossible that
we should be so fond of the things of this world,
because we should see how base they are in
comparison with those treasures which we pos-
sess within us.

Some persons will, perhaps, laugh at me,
and say, "All this is very evident;" and they
may be right in saying so; but for some time
it was obscure to me. I knew well I had a

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soul, but I understood not the dignity of that
soul, nor thought Who lodged within it, because
my eyes were blinded by the. vanities of this
life, so that I could not see Him. Methinks,
had I then known, as I do now, that in this
little palace of my soul so great a King is
lodged, I would not have left Him so often
alone, but sometimes, at least, I should have
stayed with Him, and have been more careful
to prepare a fair lodging for Him.

Thus was He pleased to be confined in the *
womb of His most sacred Mother. He, as our
Lord, brings us liberty with Him, and, because
of His great love to us, abases Himself to our
nature. When a soul begins to know Hira,
He does not discover Himself fully at once, lest
she might be troubled to see her own littleness,
and the greatness of Him Who dwells within
her. By degrees He enlarges that soul,
according to the measure necessary for the
gift which He infuses into her. Therefore I
say that He brings liberty with Him, since He
has power to enlarge His palace. Our part is
to give it to Him as His own, with a full and
perfect resolution to let Him use it as His
own, and place there, or take away, whatever
He pleases. This is His pleasure, and this is
His right: let us not refuse it to Him. He
will not force our will, He takes only what we

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give Him. But He does not give " Himself
entirely to us till we give ourselves entirely
to Him: this is certain; and because it is a
truth of such importance, I so often remind
you of it. Nor does He work His full pleasure
and purpose in the soul until, without any
impediment, it is wholly His: nor do I under-
stand how He could deal otherwise with it> for
He is a lover of order.

CHAPTER XXV.

Importance of the thanksgiving after Holy Com-
munion.

The daily bread which we ask of God in the
Lord's Prayer is either bread for our bodies,
or the Divine Eucharist, which is the bread of
our souls. Hence, sisters, however anxious
others may be in asking for that earthly bread,
let us beseech the eternal Father to give us
grace to ask of Him our celestial bread. And
as the eyes of the body cannot have the delight
of beholding Him, because He is veiled, let us
ask Him to discover Himself to those of the
soul, and to make Himself known to be that
most pleasant and delicious Food which can
alone preserve our lives.

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Know you not that this most holy Bread Is
nourishment even to the body, and an excellent
remedy even against corporal maladies? I
know it to be so, for I am acquainted with one
subject to grievous diseases, who, being often
in great pain, was thereby freed from it, as if
by the touch of a hand; and afterwards con-
tinued in perfect health. This happened fre-
quently with regard to diseases which were
well known to exist, and which in my opinion
could not be counterfeited. And because the
wonders which this most holy Bread effects in
those who worthily receive it are well known,
I do not relate many which I could mention,
and which I know to be true; with regard to
the person I speak of, our Lord had given her
so lively a faith, that when she heard some
persons say they wished that they had lived at
the time when Christ our Lord, our Sovereign
Good, conversed with men in this world, she
smiled to herself, thinking that since we enjoy
His presence in the most Holy Sacrament as
really as if He were still visibly on earth, we
need desire nothing more. I know that the
person of whom I speak, though she was very
far from perfection, was accustomed for many
years when she communicated to endeavour to
rekindle her faith, as much as if she had seen
with her corporal eyes our Lord coming into

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her soul. And this she did (believing that our
Lord was now entering her poor cottage), in
order to disengage herself as much as possible
from all exterior things, and so to enter in with
Him. She endeavoured to collect her senses,
that they might all understand so great a good,
or rather that they might not hinder the soul
from understanding it. She imagined herself
to be at His feet, and, with blessed Magdalen,
she wept as if she had seen Him with her
corporal eyes in the house of the Pharisee; and
though she might feel no devotion, yet faith
told her that it was good for her to be there,
and there she remained discoursing with Him.
For unless we wish to stupefy ourselves and
blind our understanding, we cannot doubt that
this is not a mere representation of the imagi-
nation — as when we contemplate our Lord
upon the Cross, or in some other stages of His
Passion. There we represent these things as
past; but this is a thing present, and an abso-
lute truth. Therefore, we need not go far to
seek Him; but, knowing that till the natural
heat has consumed the accidents of bread, our
good Jesus stays with us, we have but to seize
so good an opportunity of uniting ourselves
with Him.

Now, if, when He lived in this world, He
healed the sick by the mere touch of His gar-
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ment8, how can we doubt that He will grant
us whatever we ask of Him, while He is
actually in our house ? His Majesty is not
wont to be a bad paymaster; let us, then, only
give Him fitting entertainment. If you are
troubled at not seeing Him with your corporal
eyes, consider it is not expedient for us ; for it
is one thing to see Him glorified, and quite
another to behold Him as He was when He lived
and conversed on earth. Such is our weak
nature, that we could not endure it; the world
itself would be moved, nor would any one be
able to stay in it, because by the vision of this
eternal truth, it would evidently appear that all
those things which we value here are a lie and
a cheat. And how should such a sinner as I
am, who have so highly offended Him, dare to
behold Him, or to be so near Him? He is
accessible under those accidents of bread ; for
if the king be disguised, we are able to converse
with him without the wonted ceremonies and
reverences, and it even appears that he is
obliged to suffer this, because he has not made
himself known. But if our Lord were to
manifest Himself visibly, who would dare to
approach Him with such tepidity, such un-
worthine8s, and with so many imperfections as
ours?

Let us stay, then, willingly with Him, nor

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lose so fair an opportunity of treating with
Him ; for the time after Communion is the best
for conversing with Him. Consider that it is
fraught with the richest blessings to the soul,
and that our good Jesus then delights much
in our company. Take heed, then, daugh-
ters, that you leave Him not. If obedience
calls you to some other duty, endeavour that
your soul at least may be still with our Lord:
your Master will not fail to teach you at this
time, though you understand not how ; but if
you immediately fix your thoughts on some-
thing else, and you heed Him not, nor regard
Him Who is within you, then complain of no
one but yourselves.

This, then, is the fitting time for our Master
to teach us, and for us to hear Him and to kiss
His feet, because He has been pleased thus to
instruct us; beseeching Him not to depart
from us.

After you have received our Lord, endeavour
then to shut the eyes of the body, to open those
of the soul, since you then possess His very
Person within you; for I tell you again, and
would repeat it continually, that if you adhere
to this practice as often as you communicate,
and endeavour to keep your conscience pure, so
that you may be admitted frequently to the en-
joyment of this blessing, He will not come so

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disguised but that, as I have said, He will
make Himself known in manifold ways, ac-
cording to our desire to see Him; and our
desire should be that He would wholly reveal
Himself to us. But if we make no account of
Him, and, after we have received Him, go away
from Him to seek after base earthly things,
what can He do for us ? Must He drag us by
force to seek Him, because He loves to be
known by us ? No ; for men did not treat Him
well when He openly exposed Himself to the
gaze of all, and told them plainly Who He was:
there were very few who believed Him. It is,
therefore, a great mercy which He shows to
us when He makes us understand that it is
He Who is present in the most Holy Sacra-
ment; but He wills not to be seen openly, nor
to communicate His favours and bestow His
graces, except on His true friends, who, He
knows, earnestly desire Him. Therefore, let
not any but such as thus lovingly and rever-
ently approach Him, venture to importune
our Lord to manifest Himself to them.

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CHAPTER XXVI.

Marvellous effects of Holy Communion.

I am fully persuaded that if we approached the
Adorable Eucharist with great faith and great
love, one single Communion would enrich us
with celestial treasures; how much more, then,
should we receive from many Communions !
But need we be astonished that we reap so
little fruit from them, when it appears as though
we approached the holy table only as a cere-
mony, and from custom ? Miserable world !
which thus closes our eyes, to prevent us from
seeing the eternal happiness which we might
acquire were we to receive this great Sacra-
ment with a heart full of burning love for our
Saviour and of charity towards our neighbour.
O Lord of heaven and earth ! is it possible
that we should be capable of receiving in a
mortal body such extraordinary proofs of Thy
love? And is it possible, at the same time,
that we should not desire to understand what
are the favours which the Canticle of canticles
shows that our omnipotent God wills to bestow
on our souls? O inconceivable favours! O
sweet and penetrating words, one of which
alone, out of the tenderness of our love to
Thee, my Saviour, should fill us with holy

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rapture ! Be Thou ever praised that it is no
fault of Thine that we enjoy not this great
happiness ! In how many different ways hast
Thou vouchsafed, and dost Thou still vouchsafe
daily, to testify Thy love to us ! I ask of Thee,
O my Saviour, but one thing in this world, —
that I may be honoured by one kiss from Thy
Divine lips, by which I may be so inflamed
that I shall not be able, even though I should
desire it, to grow cold in Thy love, or relax
from that close union which Thou hast vouch-
safed to contract with me. Grant, O Sove-
reign Master of my life, that my will may be
so submissive to Thine, that nothing may ever
have power to separate those two wills; and
that I may be able to say to Thee, O my God,
Who art all my glory : " The milk which flows
from Thy Divine breasts is sweeter than wine."

CHAPTER XXVIL

Benefit of devotion to S. Joseph.

I took for my advocate and master the glorious
S. Joseph, and recommended myself much to
him ; and up to this time I cannot remember
having asked him for any thing which he has
not obtained for me. I am quite amazed when

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I consider the great favours which our Lord
has bestowed upon me through the intercession
of this blessed Saint, and the many dangers,
both of soul and body, from which He has
delivered me. It seems that to other Saints
our Lord has given power to succour us in one-
kind of necessity only ; but this glorious Saint,
as I know by my own experience, assists us in
them all; hence our Lord, it appears, would
have us understand that, as He was obedient
to him when on earth (for He called him His
father, and obeyed him as His master), so
now in heaven He grants him whatever he
asks. This truth many others, also, have ex-
perienced who, at my desire, have recommended
themselves to him. They are now deeply
devoted to him ; and I myself have daily fresh
experience of his power.

Would that I could persuade all men to
prove by their own experience the advantage
of devotion to this glorious Saint, and thus to
receive their share of the blessings which he
obtains from God ! I have never known any
one who was truly devout to him, fail to
advance rapidly in virtue ; for he assists in a
most special manner those who recommend
themselves specially to him. For many years
past I have been accustomed to ask favours of
him, and my petition has been always granted.

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Moreover, if at any time it contained some-
thing inexpedient, he rectified it for my greater
good.

Persons who are given to prayer ought, it
seems to me, to have a special devotion to him ;
% nor can I conceive how we can think of all the
time he dwelt with our Blessed Lady and the
Infant Jesus, without thanking him for his
care over them both.

Those who need a director to teach them to
pray, cannot do better than take this glorious
Saint for their guide. They will be in no
danger of going astray.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

• Spiritual love of perfect souls for God, and for those
who assist them in the way to heaven — The kind
of love which they bear to creatures.

It now seems to me, that when God makes a
person clearly to understand what the world
is ; that there is another world, and what the
difference is between the two, — that the one
is eternal, and the other a mere dream; what
the Creator is; what blessedness it is to love
the one, what misery to love the other; together
with many other things which our Lord truly
and clearly teaches him in prayer who desires

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to be instructed by Him; — that such persons,
I say, learn to love in a manner far different
from theirs who have not been thus taught.

You may, sisters, think it useless to insist
on these points, and you may say, " We all
know these things." God grant it may be
so, and that you may know them in a way
which may be profitable to you, and may
imprint them deeply on your hearts ! If you
know them, you will see that I speak truth in
saying, that those to whom our Lord gives this
love, and raises to this state, are generous, royal
souls. They are not content with loving such
vile objects as creatures, with whatever beauty
or gifts they may be endowed. If the sight
thereof pleases them, they praise the Creator for
it ; but they do not rest there. I mean, they
do not dwell upon them so as to conceive an
affection towards them; for this they would
consider to be loving a thing without substance,
and embracing a shadow ; and it would make
them so ashamed of themselves, that they
would not have the face to tell God that they
love Him.

You will reply: " Such persons as these know
not either how to love, or to requite the love
which is shown them." I answer, at least,
they have little desire to be loved ; and though,
sometimes, an impulse of nature may excite

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a feeling of pleasure at the thought of being
loved, yet, when they come to themselves, they
see this is folly, unless the persons who love
them may do good to their souls by their
instructions or their prayers. Not that they
fail to be thankful to such persons, and to
requite their love by recommending them to
God; but they refer that love to our Lord,
knowing that it comes from Him. As they
find in themselves nothing deserving of love,
they believe that others love them because God
loves them, and they leave the payment of their
debt to His Majesty, beseeching Him to dis-
charge it, — and thereby they are in a manner
acquitted of the obligation ; and so, consider-
ing the matter attentively, I think what great
blindness it is to desire that others should love
us, except they be persons who, as I have said,
may assist us in acquiring solid blessings.

Now observe, that as in desiring any one's
love we always have some interest, or advantage,
or pleasure to ourselves in view, so these perfect
souls have already under their feet all the
goods which the world can bestow upon them, —
all its delights, ail its pleasures ; so that, even
if they would, they cannot find pleasure in any
thing but God, and in discoursing of God.
They cannot see what benefit they can derive
from being loved, and so they care not for it.

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When they behold this truth vividly represented
to them, they laugh at themselves for the anxiety
they have sometimes felt to know whether
their affection has been returned or not; for
even in a pure affection it is very natural to
desire that it be requited. And yet, when
requited, the payment is made in straws, light
and unsubstantial, which the first wind blows
away. For, granting that we are greatly beloved,
what do we gain thereby ? Hence, such great
souls no more care to be loved than not to be
loved, except by the persons I have mentioned
above, for the good of their souls, and because
they see that the weakness of our nature pre-
sently grows weary, if it be not sustained by
love.

You may think that such as these cannot
love any one but God. Yes ; they love their
neighbour also, and with a truer, more profit-
able, and more ardent affection than that of
other men ; theirs only, indeed, is true love.
Such souls are always much more willing to
give than to receive, and this even with regard
to God Himself. This, I repeat, deserves the
name of love ; for those other affections have
but usurped this name.

You may ask me, " If these persons do not
love the things they see, what do they love?"
I reply, that they do love what they see, and

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are attached to what they hear; but the things
which they see and hear are permanent and
abiding. If such persons love, they look beyond
the body, and fix their eyes on the soul, observ-
ing whether there be any thing there worth
loving; and, if not, they see some beginning
or disposition thereto, and so they begin dig-
ging the mine in the hope that they may at
last find gold. If they love souls, the labour
of digging does not trouble them; there is
nothing which they would not willingly do for
the love of that soul, because they desire to
continue to love it for ever; and they know
well this is impossible, unless it be endowed with
virtue, and filled with the love of God. I say
impossible, — though the person should have be-
stowed many favours upon them, were he ready
even to die for them, and to do them every possi-
ble good office, and were he, moreover, possessed
of every natural endowment, — it were impossi-
ble for such natural reasons alone that these
holy souls should love him with a steadfast and
abiding love. They understand and know too
well by experience what are all things here
below, to be thus deceived. They see that
their judgments and that person's do not
agree, and that it is impossible they should
always continue to love one another, — for the
love which is given to one who does not

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observe the law of God must end with life, — and
then they must part and go different ways.
And this love, which is only for this world, a
soul into which God has infused true wisdom
values not above its worth ; nay, even below it.
It can be desired only by those who take plea-
sure in the things of this world, viz. pleasures,
honours, and riches, and are glad of some com-
panion to enjoy such recreations with them ;
but whoever detests all this, regards such
friendships as little or nothing.

The love, therefore, of perfect souls moves
them to desire that the object of their affection
should love God, that so He may be loved by
them ; for they know no other love will endure,
and that all other love will cost them very dear.
They fail not to do all they can to benefit that
soul, and would lose a thousand lives to promote
its sanctification in the smallest degree. O
precious love, which imitates the love of Jesus,
the Master and Teacher of love, and our Supreme
Good !

Wonderful to behold is the vehemence of this
love for souls ; how fervent its penances and
prayers 1 how earnestly it recommends them to
all whose prayers avail them with God ! What
a continual desire for their advancement; what
sorrow when it sees no improvement ! And
if, after it has made some progress, a soul be*

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gins to fall back a little, he who thus loves it
seems to take no pleasure in life ; he can neither
eat nor sleep, for the care which weighs upon
him, and the fear that the soul he loves so
much may perish, and so they may be eternally
separated (for to the death of the body in this
world such persons pay no regard), since he does
not wish to rely on that which in an instant
may escape his hands. This is, as I have said,
a love without any mixture of self-interest ; all
it seeks and desires is to see the soul it loves
rich in heavenly goods. This, indeed, is love,
and not that which is called by that name here
below ; and I speak not of vicious and inordinate
affections — from which, may God deliver us 1 —
but of those lawful affections which we bear
to one another, such as exist between friends
and kindred. Now, here we are in continual
terror lest the person we love should die : if
his head ache, our souls seem to ache; if we
see him in affliction, we lose patience ; and so
with regard to every thing else.

But that other supernatural love is not like
this ; for though, through natural infirmity,
we cannot but feel for the suffering of one we
love, yet our reason soon begins to consider
whether it be good for his soul, whether he
grows richer in virtue thereby, and how he
bears it ; and then we beg God to grant him pa-*

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tience, that he may gain merit by these sufferings.
If we see that he is patient, we feel no trouble,
but rather joy and consolation, though we
would more willingly endure the trouble than
see him endure it, could the merit and gain
which are to be found in suffering be given
over entirely to him we love ; but all this
without trouble or disquiet.

I say again, this love is like the love which
Jesus, our good Lover, bears us; for it em-
braces all kinds of afflictions, that so others,
without any pain, may reap the benefit thereof.
They whose hearts are filled with this holy
love, use no double dealing with their friends,
nor are they blind to their faults ; but if they
think they can be of any service to them by
their reproofs, they fail not to speak plainly to
them, through their desire to see them rich in
virtues. What arts do they use for this pur-
pose, though they care not for the whole world
besides ! They cannot prevail on themselves
to act otherwise ; they cannot flatter those they
love, nor pass over their faults.

There is, therefore, a continual warfare with-
in them ; for though in one sense they care not
for the whole world, nor heed whether others
serVe God or not, because they attend only to
themselves, yet it cannot be thus with regard to
those to whom God has united them. Nothing

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is concealed from them ; they discover the least
mote in their souls. I tell you, such love is
a heavy cross. Happy the souls who are thus
loved ! Happy the day wherein they became
the objects of such love !

O my Lord, grant me the exceeding favour
that I may have many such to love me 1 Truly,
O my Lord, I would more willingly be loved
by them than by all the kings and lords of the
world ; and with great reason, — for they labour
by all possible ways to make us such, that we
may command the world itself, and have all
things therein subject to us. Love such per-
sons, sisters, as much as you will, as long as
they continue such. They are few in number.
People may say to you, " There is no need
of this ; it is enough for us to possess God."
But I reply, it is a good means of enjoying
God to be able to converse with His friends ;
great benefit is always attained thereby : this I
know by experience ; and, next to God, I owe
it to such persons as these that I am not in
hell ; for I was always very desirous that they
should recommend me to God.

This is the kind of love which I wish to
possess; and though at first it be not very
perfect, our Lord will cause it to improve
more and more. Let us begin by what is
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mingled with a little natural tenderness, it will
do us no harm if only it be not exclusive. It
is sometimes necessary and good to feel and to
show some tenderness, to sympathise with the
afflictions and weaknesses of others, even though
they may be trifling. For it happens some-
times that a very little thing troubles one
person quite as much as a great cross would
afflict another : and persons of a timorous
nature are much distressed by small things.
Though you may have more courage, you
must not fail to sympathise with others, nei-
ther should you wonder at their trouble ; for
perhaps the devil has employed greater power
and strength against them than he exerts to
make you feel great torments and afflictions ;
and perhaps our Lord reserves the same for you
on some other occasion; and, moreover, those
trials which seem grievous to you, and which
are so in themselves, may seem light to others.

Thus we must not judge of others by our-
selves, nor estimate ourselves according to our
state at a time when God has perhaps given us
more than ordinary strength without any la-
bour on our part ; but let us estimate ourselves
according to the time when we were weakest
and most cowardly. This advice is very useful
to teach us to compassionate the miseries of
others, however slight they may be.

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CHAPTER XXIX.

We should not complain of slight indispositions,
nor give way to excessive fear of death.

It seems to me, my sisters, a great imperfec-
tion to be continually complaining of little
evils: bear them silently, if you can; if they
are great, they will complain of themselves after
another manner, and it will be impossible long
to conceal them. Consider that, being, as you
are, a small community, and being, as you
ought to be, filled with charity, if one of you
indulges in this bad habit, she will give a
great deal of pain to all the rest. As to those
who are really ill, they ought to say that they
are so, and receive with simplicity all the
assistance which they need. . If you were once
freed from self-love, you would feel so keenly
the least kindness or indulgence offered to you,
that there would be no fear of your seeking it
unnecessarily, or of your complaining without
a cause. But, if you should have a reasonable
cause of complaint, it will be as much your
duty to mention it as it would be contrary to
your duty to seek indulgence without necessity.
It would be very wrong, in such a case, in
your superiors to withhold from you the neces-
sary care; and you have no reason to fear that

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such a thing should happen in our houses of
charity and prayer, where the number of the
community is so small that it is easy to observe
the necessities of each member. Do not com-
plain, then, of certain feminine weaknesses
and indispositions, which are of no long dura-
tion and no great severity, and with the thought
of which the devil sometimes fills our imagina-
tions; be content to speak of them to God
alone: otherwise you will run a risk of never
being delivered from them.

I insist especially on this point, because I
consider it to be very important, and believe
it to be one of the principal causes of relaxa-
tion in convents ; for the more we indulge the
body, the weaker it becomes, and the more it
seeks indulgence. It is wonderful to see what
pretexts we find to seek relief from our ailments,
however slight they may be. The soul is thus
deluded and hindered in the way of virtue.
Remember, I pray you, how many among the
sick poor have no one to whom they can
complain, for to be poor and to be well cared
for are two things which seldom go together.
Remember, also, how many married women
there are (for I have known many, and those
of a good position in life), who dare not
complain even of great sufferings, for fear of
annoying their husbands. Alas, sinner that I

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am! did we then come into religion to live
more at our ease than they ? Since you are
exempt from so many trials which are endured
in the world, learn at least to suffer something
for the love of God without letting all the
world hear of it. A woman unhappily married
opens not her lips to complain, but suffers
without asking the sympathy of any one, for
fear her husband should hear of her complaint ;
and shall not we suffer between ourselves and
God some of those pains which our sins deserve,
especially when our complaints would be un-
availing to relieve them ?

I am not now speaking of great illnesses, —
such as a violent fever, — though I would have
even these to be borne with patience and
resignation; but of those slight indispositions
which we may bear without taking to our beds
and giving trouble to every body. Now, if
what I am writing were to be seen by any
one without, what would all the religious say
of me ? But I would willingly bear any thing
that they might say, if I could thus be of
service to any one ; for if there be but one in a
convent who thus complains without reason of
trifling maladies, it often happens that others
come not to be believed, however great may
be the sufferings of which they have to com-
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Let us set before us the holy hermits of past
ages, whom we consider as our fathers, and
whose life we profess to imitate. What labours
and sufferings did they endure from extremity
of cold, from the excessive heat of the sun, from
hunger, and many other annoyances, having
none to complain to but God alone ! Do you
think, then, that they were made of iron, and
not of flesh and bones, as we are ? Be assured,
my daughters, that when we begin to over-
come ourselves, and bring our bodies into sub-
jection, they will cease to torment us so much.
There are plenty of persons to take the neces-
sary care of us; therefore, fear not to forget
yourselves, unless some evident necessity should
arise for your keeping yourselves in memory.

Unless we come to the determination to
trample under foot the fear of death and the
loss of health, we shall never be good for any
thing. Endeavour, then, to come to this point,
— to abandon yourself wholly to God, whatever
may happen to you; for what matters it if we
should die? Shall we not have courage at
least once to make a jest of this miserable
body, which has so often made a jest of us?
Believe me, my sisters, this resolution is of
greater consequence than we are wont to
imagine: for if we accustom ourselves to deal
firmly with this body of ours, we shall gradually

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subdue it, and shall master it at last. Now,
a triumph over such an enemy is no slight
step towards the attainment of a perfect victory
in the conflict of this life. I beseech God,
Who alone has the power, to grant us this
grace. I believe that those alone who already
enjoy thi6 victory are capable of understanding
the benefit which we derive from it, which is
so great, that I am persuaded, if any one could
but know it beforehand, he would account no
suffering too great to purchase the repose of
this victory over self.

CHAPTER XXX.

The danger of thinking that we have virtues which
we do not really possess.

It is only by trial that we can discover whether
we have patience, humility, and poverty. The
greatest injury which the devil could do to
us unawares, would be to persuade us that we
possess virtues which we have not. This
belief diminishes humility, and causes us to
neglect the acquisition of those virtues which
we imagine we already have. Thus thinking
ourselves safe, we fall, without knowing it,
into a snare out of which we cannot withdraw

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ourselves. I assure you that this temptation
is very dangerous, and, having had great ex-
perience of it, I can confidently speak of it,
although not so well as I should desire to do.
Now, where, my sisters, is the remedy for this
evil? If we think our Lord has bestowed
upon us some virtue, we should consider it as
a gift which we have received from Him, and
which He could take from us at any moment,
as often happens by the permission of Divine
Providence. Have you not felt this, my daugh-
ters? If you say no, I cannot say the same;
for sometimes I think I am quite detached,
and when the moment of trial comes, I find
that I am so in fact; at other times I find
myself to be so attached to what the day before
would have made me laugh, that I do not
know myself. Sometimes I believe I have so
much courage that if occasions for serving God
occurred, nothing would hinder me ; and occa-
sionally I find that this is really true; but,
at another time, I find myself so weak that, if
I met with the slightest contradiction, I should
not have courage to kill a mouse for the love
of Him. Sometimes I imagine that whatever
might be said against me, and whatever mur-
murs might arise, I could suffer all without
pain; and on many occasions I have found
that I was not deceived, as these murmurs

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even gave me joy; but at another time the
least word has afflicted me so much, that I
wished to be out of the world. I am not alone
in these feelings, for I have noticed the same
in many persons better than myself.

If this be the case, my sisters, who can say
that her soul is adorned with virtues, since,
when she most needs them, she finds that she has
none ? Let us, then, beware of such thoughts,
and let us rather own that we are poor, and
let us not appropriate to ourselves virtues which
do not beloug to us. The treasure of our souls
is in the hands of God, and not in ours; we do
not know how long it may please Him to leave
us in the prison of our misery and poverty
without enriching us. It is very true that,
if we serve Him humbly, he will help us
in our wants ; but, if we acquire not this virtue
step by step, He will leave us, and, in so
doing, He will bestow on us a great mercy,
since by this punishment He will teach us that
we cannot too much esteem this virtue of
humility, and that we have absolutely nothing
but what proceeds from His grace.

Here is another piece of advice. The devil
sometimes persuades us that we have some
virtue — for instance, patience; because we
make a resolution to practise it, and because
we often make acts of desire to suffer much for

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God, and because we think this desire is really
sincere, we remain satisfied. But I beg of you
to beware of esteeming this kind of virtue, or
to think you know these virtues except by
name, and do not persuade yourselves that God
has given them to you until you find, by
experience, that you have them; for it may
happen that the least word said to you will
destroy all this pretended patience. When you
have suffered much, give thanks to God that
He begins to exercise you in this virtue, and
continue to suffer with great courage.

Here is another of the devil's artifices: he
persuades you that you are poor ; and in one
sense he is right, because, as religious, you
have made a vow of poverty, or because in
your heart you desire really to practise it.
Thus the religious thinks herself poor because
she has made a vow of poverty, and the pious
secular because she desires to die poor; they
both say: "I desire nothing, and, if I possess
any thing, it is because I cannot do without it;
for I must live to serve God, Who wishes us
to take care of our health," and a thousand
other things with which that angel of darkness,
transformed into an Angel of light, inspires us,
and which, in appearance, are good. Thus he
persuades persons that they are truly poor,
and that they really have the virtue of poverty,

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and that by this means all is accomplished ; but
this can only be tested by trial. The conduct
of a secular will prove if he be really poor: if
he is too anxious about temporal goods, he will
soon show it by desiring more income than is
necessary, or by keeping more servants than
he needs, or, on occasion, of a lawsuit for some
temporal matter ; or, if some poor farmer fails
to pay his rent, he will show no less uneasiness
than if he were in danger of wanting bread.
As men never lack excuses, I doubt not that
this secular would reply, that in all these
matters he only wishes to avoid wasting his
substance by want of care ; but I do not wish
him to waste it, — I only say that he ought to
avoid solicitude in the care which he takes of
it. If temporal matters succeed with him,
well ; if not, let him take it patiently, — for he
who is truly poor makes so little account of all
these things, that, though he thinks himself
bound to take a reasonable care of them, he
feels no uneasiness on the subject, because he
believes that he shall never want necessaries ;
and even were he to want them, he would not
be greatly troubled. He regards all these
temporal things as mere accessories, and not as
his principal object : his thoughts soar above
them, and are occupied on these lower things
<mly from necessity.

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As to religious who are poor, or who at
least ought to be poor, since they have made
the vow of poverty, it is true that they possess
nothing of their own, but it is often because
they have nothing in their power. If a gift be
offered them, it will seldom happen that they
judge it to be superfluous. They are very
glad to have something in reserve. If they
can get habits of a fine material, they do not
think of asking for something coarser. It is
the same with regard to humility. We think
we do not care for honour or reputation ; but,
if our self-love be touched in the slightest
degree, we soon show by our feelings and our
actions that we are very far from being humble.
If, on the contrary, something honourable or
advantageous be offered to us, we are as far
from rejecting it as those of whom I have just
been speaking as so imperfect in their spirit
of poverty are from refusing any thing which
may be profitable to them. It will be well,
even, if we do not seek it. We have these
words, " I desire nothing — I care for nothing,"
so continually in our mouths that, by dint of
repeating them, we come to believe what we
say.

It is most important, then, to watch continu-
ally over ourselves, in order to discover this
temptation, not only in the things of which I

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have just been speaking, but in many others,
because it is well known that when our Lord
really gives us a single virtue, it seems to draw
all others after it; and, moreover, when you
believe you have any virtue, you should always
fear lest you deceive yourself, because he who is
truly humble always doubts his own virtue,
and believes that of others to be incomparably
greater and more real than his own.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Duty of nuns to pray for ecclesiastics and religions
who are labouring in the world — Prayer of S.
Teresa.

Since the heresies which have arisen in this
century are like a consuming fire which is
making continual progress, and which is be-
yond the power of man to stay, it seems to me
that we should act as a prince would do, who,
being not sufficiently strong to resist the ene-
mies who are ravaging his country in the open
field, would retire with some chosen troops into
a strong fortress, whence he would make ex-
cursions with that small band, which would
harass them far more than the attack of a
multitude of undisciplined troops ; for such a
garrison is sure to obtain the victory, or at

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worst can only perish by famine, there being
no traitor among them. Now, my sisters, in
our convents we may indeed be pressed by
famine, but it will not compel us to surrender.
It may kill us, but will never overcome us.
Why, then, do I say this to you? It is to
show you that we ought to ask of God not to
suffer that in the citadel whither His good
servants have retired there should be any to
take part with His enemies, but that He would
strengthen the virtue and the courage of preach-
ers and theologians, who are, as it were, the
leaders of His troops, and that He would grant
that religious, who constitute the great body
of His soldiers, should advance daily in the
perfection required by their holy vocation.
This is of infinite moment, because we are to
expect our deliverance from supernatural, and
not from natural, means.

Since we are incapable of rendering any
service on this occasion to our King, let us
endeavour, at least, to become so pleasing to
Him that our prayers may assist those among
His servants who, being endowed with learn-
ing and virtue, labour so courageously in His
service. Now, if you ask me why I insist so
much upon this point, and exhort you to assist
those who are much better than ourselves, I
reply, that it is because I do not believe that

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you as yet sufficiently understand how great is
the gratitude which you owe to God for having
brought you into a place where you are free
from the business, the engagements, and the
conversations of the world. This favour is
much greater than you can conceive, and those
of whom I speak are far from enjoying it, — nor
would it be fit that they should enjoy it, es-
pecially in these days, since it is their part to
strengthen the weak and encourage the timid.
For what could soldiers do without a captain ?
It is necessary, therefore, that they should live
among men, that they should converse with
men, that they should be seen in the palaces
of kings and of great men, and bear themselves
externally like other men.

Do you think, then, my daughters, that it
requires little virtue to live in the world, to
converse with the world, and to be mixed up
with the affairs of the world, and at the same
time to be in heart not only detached from
the world, but even its enemy, to live upon
earth as if in a place of banishment, — in short,
to be Angels, and not men ? for unless they be
such, they deserve not to bear the name of our
Lord 8 captains, and I beseech Him not to
suffer them to leave their cells — they would
do far more harm than good in the world; for
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those who ought to be their teachers. If,
then, they be not well established in piety, and
fully persuaded how deeply they are bound to
trample all earthly interests under foot, to be
detached from all perishable things, and at-
tached only to those that are eternal, they will
be unable to help betraying their faults, how-
ever carefully they may seek to conceal them.
As it is with the world they have to deal, they
may rest assured that not one of their defects
will be passed over, but that it will remark
their very slightest imperfections, without no-
ticing, perhaps even without believing in, their
good qualities.

I often wonder from whom it is that men of
the world learn the true nature of perfection,
for they study it not in order to follow it —
to which they think themselves by no means
obliged, accounting it quite enough for them
to keep the letter of the commandments — but
to employ that knowledge in examining and
condemning the minutest defects of their neigh-
bour. So far do they sometimes carry their
refined criticism, that they mistake for imper-
fection and relaxation something which is, in
fact, a virtue. Do you imagine, then, that the
servants of God have no need of an extraordinary
aid from Him to carry them safely through
this arduous and perilous warfare ?

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Strive, then, my sisters, to merit from our
Lord these two things, which you should con-
tinually ask of His Divine Majesty: First, that
amongst the many learned and religious per-
sons who labour in this great work there may
be many qualified to succeed therein, and that
it may please Him to render those capable of
the task who are not yet sufficiently qualified
for it ; for a single perfect man will render
Him greater service than a multitude who are
imperfect. Second, that when they are engaged
in so momentous a conflict, our Lord will sus-
tain them by His almighty hand, that they
may not stumble among the continual dangers
to which they are exposed in the world, but
may shut their ears against the song of the
sirens which beset that perilous sea. For
if in the strict enclosure wherein we dwell
we are enabled by our prayers in any measure
to contribute to this great work, we shall have
our share also in the conflict for God; and I
shall account the labours to have been well
employed which I have endured in the estab-
lishment of this little house, where I desire
that the rule of the Blessed Virgin, our Queen,
may be observed with the same perfection as
at the beginning.

Think not, my daughters, that this continual
prayer for others is of no avail, though many

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would persuade us that we should do better to
be praying for ourselves. Believe me, that no
prayers are more profitable than those that we
offer for others; and if you fear that they may
not avail to lessen your sufferings in purgatory,
I reply, that they are too holy not to avail you
there. But even were you to lose something
in this respect, be content ; for what matter
though I should remain in purgatory until the
day of judgment, if by my prayers I may
save a single soul — still more, if I may save
many, ^nd so greatly promote the glory of our
Lord ? Despise, my sisters, those pains which
are but temporary in comparison with a ser^
vice of far greater account which you may
render to Him Who has suffered so much for
the love of us. Labour continually to learn
what is most perfect, and converse on things
concerning your salvation with persons who
are learned and able to instruct you ; so shall
you promote the glory of God and the good of
His Church, the only object of my desire.

It would indeed be great presumption in me
to believe that I could do any thing to obtain
so great a grace ; but I trust, O my God, to
the prayers of Thy servants with whom I live,
because I know that they have no other thought
or desire but to please Thee. For the love of
Thee they have left the little which they pos-

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sessed, and would have left far more, had it
been theirs, for Thy service. How, then, can
I believe, O my Creator, that Thou, Who art
so grateful for the love of Thy creatures, wouldst
reject their petitions? I know that when Thou
wast on earth Thou didst never despise poor
women, but in Thy great goodness didst even
show especial favour to many among them.
When we shall ask Thee for honour, or gold,
or any of those things which the world seeks
after, then do not hear us. But wherefore, O
Eternal Father, shouldst Thou not listen to
those who ask only for such things as relate to
the glory of Thy Son, who make it their only
delight to serve Thee, and who would give Thee
a thousand lives ? And yet I do not ask Thee,
Lord, to grant us this grace for the love of us
— I know that we do not deserve it ; but I
hope for it in consideration of the merits of
Thy Son, of the glorious Virgin His Mother,
of the Martyrs and Saints who have laid down
their lives for Thee. But, alas, O Lord, who
am I, that I should dare to present this petition
in their name ! Alas, my daughters, what an
evil mediatrix to offer such a prayer for you,
and to obtain it ! Will not my boldness rather
serve to increase the just indignation of the
awful and sovereign Judge Whose clemency I
implore ? But, O Lord, since Thou art a God

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of mercy, have pity on this poor, sinful woman,
this miserable worm of earth, and pardon my
boldness. Consider not my sins ; consider,
rather, the earnestness of my desires, and the
tears which I pour forth with my prayer. I
beseech Thee for Thine own sake, have pity
on the multitude of souls which are perishing.
O Lord, come to the aid of Thy Church, stay
the torrent of evils which overwhelm Christen-
dom, and make Thy light to shine amid our
darkness.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Error of those authors who forbid the contemplation
of our Lord's Humanity.

Some spiritual books recommend their readers
not to contemplate the Humanity of our Lord
in prayer, and to occupy themselves solely with
His Divinity, because they say that the con-
templation of any thing corporeal, though it be
the Humanity of Jesus Christ Himself, is a
hindrance to those far advanced in prayer, and
that it prevents them from attaining perfect
contemplation. They allege in their defence
the words addressed by our Lord to His Apos-
tles before His ascension into heaven ; but it
seems to me, that if the Apostles had then be-

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lieved as firmly as they believed it after the
descent of the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ
was both God and Man, the sight of His
Humanity would have been no hindrance to
their attaining to the highest degree of con-
templation. That which leads these contem-
plative writers to this conclusion is their opin-
ion, that as contemplation is a thing wholly
spiritual, the representation of any thing cor-
poreal must be a hindrance to it, and that we
should endeavour to consider ourselves as sur-
rounded on all sides by God, and as it were
absorbed in Him. This consideration, in my
opinion, is often very useful to us ; but to
carry it so far as to separate ourselves from a
portion of our Lord's being, by setting aside
the thought of His Sacred Humanity, which we
thus class with our own miserable bodies and
other created objects, is a thought which I
cannot endure.

If our weakness does not permit us to con-
template our Divine Saviour amid the torments
of His Passion, overwhelmed with sorrow and
suffering, persecuted by those whom He had
loaded with benefits, torn with stripes, bathed
in His Blood, and forsaken by His Apostles,,
because the sight of this would be too grievous
a pain to us, what hinders us bearing Him
^ppany in His risen life, especially when we

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have Him so close to us in the Holy Eucharist,
in the same glorified state in which He ap-
peared before His ascension into heaven, ex-
horting and encouraging His disciples to become
worthy one day to reign with Him eternally in
heaven ?

Thus, although we had attained the highest
degree of contemplation, let us seek no other
road than this, in which it is impossible to go
astray; for it is from this Divine Saviour that
we must learn to practise all virtues. He shows
us the means, He gives us the example of them
in His life, He is the perfect model of all vir-
tues ; and what more can we desire than to
have such a Friend ever at our side, Who never
forsakes us, as do worldly friends, in trial and
suffering? Do we not see that the glorious
S. Paul had His name continually on his lips,
because it was ever engraven on his heart?
and ever since I have known this truth, and
have carefully considered the lives of great
contemplative Saints, I have observed that they
have never taken any road but this. We see
it in S. Francis, by his love for the Wounds
of that Divine Saviour; in S. Anthony of Padua,
by his devotion to His Sacred and Divine In-
fancy; in S. Bernard, by his delight in the
contemplation of His holy Humanity; in S.
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other Saints. I doubt not that it is good to
detach our thoughts from corporeal things, as
so many spiritual persons say so ; but this can
only be when we are far advanced in prayer ;
for it is evident, until we attain that point,
we must seek the Creator by means of crea-
tures, according to the grace which our Lord
bestows upon each of us. Of this I do not
now undertake to speak. What I wish to say,
and what I would endeavour clearly to explain,
because we cannot lay it too deeply to heart,
is, that among the objects from which we should
detach ourselves, we are on no account to
number the most Sacred Humanity of our
Lord.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Temptation which often assails a soul which has re-
nounced sin in its endeavours to unite itself more
perfectly to God in prayer.

Into what trouble and temptation do the spirits
of darkness cast these poor souls ! On one
hand, reason represents to them that all that
is in the world should be accounted as nothing
in comparison to the happiness to which they
aspire. Faith teaches them that this happiness
ought to be the object of ail their desires. The

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memory shows them what is the ejid of all
things here below; it reminds them of those
who have fallen from great prosperity into
extreme misery, of the sudden death of many
who had lived in every worldly delight; of
those bodies, nourished with such delicacy, now
the food of worms ; and many other lessons of
the like kind. The will induces them to love
Him alone, from whom they have not only
received their life and being, but manifold other
proofs of His love. The understanding teaches
them that were they to live for centuries to
come, they could never find so faithful a friend:
that the world is nothing but vanity and false-
hood ; that the pleasures which the devil promises
them, and the pains with which he threatens
them, are but delusions ; that it would be gross
folly on their part to leave the abundance of
their home and go forth like the prodigal son
to feed upon husks with the swine after having
squandered their inheritance. These reasons are
strong enough to convince such souls, and to
enable them to triumph over the enemy. But,
O my Lord and God, the strength of vain cus-
tom has such a hold upon the world, that it
overthrows all reason ; for faith being all but
extinct, we prefer what we see to what it
teaches us.

What need has the soul in this state, 0 my

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Divine Saviour, of Thy heavenly succour! Suffer
it not to abandon its enterprise, teach it that
its eternal happiness depends upon its perse-
verance ; teach it how important it is that it
should depart from evil companions and stand
always on its guard. If the devil sees it abso-
lutely resolved to suffer all things, and death
itself, rather than give way, he will soon retire
and leave it in repose.

Here it is that the soul shows its generosity,
unlike the cowardly soldiers whom Gedeon sent
back when he went forth to battle. It must not
look for pleasure and satisfaction ; for is it not
a marvellous thing that when our virtues are
but newly born, and are still mingled with a
thousand imperfections, we should dare to look
for sweetness in prayer and to complain of our
aridities ? Let it never be thus with you, my
sisters. Embrace the cross which your Spouse
has carried, never forget that it is to this you
have solemnly bound yourselves, and that they
should account themselves happiest who can
suffer most for the love of Him. This is the
chief point, and all the rest you should account
as an accessory for which you will return Him
thanks if He is pleased to bestow it upon you.

You will think, perhaps, that if only you
could receive interior favours from God, there
are no exterior sufferings which you would not

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gladly endure : but He knows better than we
what is good for us ; it is not our part to* give
Him counsel ; and He may well say to us, that
We know not what we ask. Never forget, I
pray you, for greatly it behoves you to remem-
ber it, that those who are beginning the life
of prayer should labour with all their power to
conform their will to the will of Qod, and should
firmly believe that in this conformity consists
the greatest perfection which they can acquire
in this spiritual exercise, and the farthest pro-
gress which they can make on this road to
heaven.

I have spoken elsewhere more fully of the
mode of resisting sucn temptations as the devil
sets before us to trouble us in our prayer, and
that it must not be done with violence, but that
we must endeavour sweetly and gently to collect
our thoughts. As to the rest, be not troubled
if you think you are wanting in certain things
which are not essential, Rest assured that if
you persevere in the exercise of prayer, God
will turn all things to your advantage ; whereas
if you abandon prayer, there is no remedy to
hinder your gradual declension from Him but
to resume its exercise. May God give you a
full understanding of this momentous truth 1

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CHAPTER XXXTV.

Aridities in prayer ought neither to astonish nor
discourage us.

We most never be induced by any dryness
which we experience therein to abandon the
exercise of prayer ; though this dryness were
to last continually, we ought to regard it as a
cross which it is good for us to bear, and which
our Lord aids us invisibly to carry. We can
lose nothing in the service of so good a Master,
and a time will come when He will repay us
with usury for the slightest thing which we
have done for Him. Be not disquieted, then, by
evil thoughts, but remember that the devil tor-
mented S. Jerome with them even in the midst
of the desert. I have suffered these pains for
many years together, and I know how great
they are; but I have clearly seen that God
rewards them so bountifully even in this life,
that one hour of the consolations which He has
since given me in prayer has repaid me for all
that I had suffered during that long time. Our
Lord permits these troubles and many other
temptations to befall some at the beginning and
others during the progress of their course of
prayer, and this conduct of His towards us is,
doubtless, for our greater benefit; for as He

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purposes to bestow upon us such great graces
at last, He desires first to make us experience
our own misery, lest that which befell Lucifer
should come upon us.

What dost Thou omit to do, O Lord, for the
greater good of the soul which Thou knowest
to be wholly Thine, which abandons itself abso-
lutely to Thy Will, being resolved to follow
Thee unto death, even the death of the cross —
to help Thee to bear Thy cross, and never to
abandon Thee ?

Those who have made this generous resolve,
and have also renounced all earthly things to
seek only spiritual blessings, have nothing to
fear ; for what can trouble those who despise
all the pleasures of earth, and seek those only
which come from conversing with God ? They
have overcome the great difficulty in their
course. Give thanks, then, O blessed souls, to
His Divine Majesty, trust to His goodness, which
never forsakes those whom He loves, and beware
of entertaining this thought: Why does He give
to others in a few days that devotion which He
withholds from me after so many years ? Let
us believe that this is for our greater good ; and
seeing that we belong not to ourselves, but to
God, let us leave Him to guide us as it shall
please Him.

We must observe carefully — and my own

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experience leads me to say this with confidence
— that a soul which has begun to walk in the
path of mental prayer, with a full resolution to
persevere therein, regardless of what may befall
her, either in the way of consolation or desola-
tion, has no cause — though she may sometimes
stumble — to fear that she will draw back, or
behold the spiritual edifice which she has begun
fall into ruins ; for she builds upon an immov-
able foundation, inasmuch as the love of God
consists not in shedding tears, or in that ten-
derness and spiritual delight which we desire
simply for our own consolation, but it consists
in serving God courageously, in practising
justice, in exercising ourselves in humility ; to
do otherwise is to desire to receive continually
and to give nothing in return.

For weak women like myself, I believe it is
good that God should favour them with consola-
tions, to give them strength to bear the trials
which He is pleased to send them ; but I cannot
endure to hear learned men, of great powers,
and who profess to serve God, make so much
account of those sweetnesses which are to be
found in devotion, and complain when they do
not receive them. I do not say that if God be
pleased to give these favours, they are not to be
received with joy, — but I say that those who
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believe that such things are not necessary for
them, since our Lord does not bestow them, and
that they should remain quiet, and consider
uneasiness and trouble of mind as a fault and
imperfection which befits only cowardly souls,
as I have often seen and experienced.

I say not this so much for beginners as.
for that great multitude who, having be-
gun, make no further progress. As soon as
their understanding ceases to act* they ima-
gine that they are doing nothing, they dis-
quiet and afflict themselves greatly, although
it may be that all the time their will, uncon-
sciously to themselves, is gaining strength for
good, and that what they consider as failings
and faults are not such in the eyes of God. He
knows better their misery than they know it
themselves, and is satisfied with the desire they
have to think of Him and to love Him, which
is the one thing that He requires of them; and
all this sadness serves only to disquiet the soul
and to render it still more incapable of ad-
vancing.

I can assert positively, from the testimony of
my own experience and that of many spiritual
persons with whom 1 have conversed on the
subject, that this state of aridity often arises
from bodily indisposition. So great is our
misery that, so long as the soul is enclosed in

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the prison-house of the body, it partakes of all
its infirmities, — the variation of its humours
and even the change of the weather often so
affect the soul that without any fault of its
own it cannot do what it would, and suffers in
many different ways. At such times, the more
we endeavour to constrain it, the more does the
evH increase, so that we have great need of dis-
cernment to know when it proceeds from this
cause, lest we burden the soul instead of help-
ing it. Persons in such a state ought to look
upon themselves as invalids, they should change
their hour of prayer for a time, and pass
through this trying season as best they may.

I have said that we must use discernment,
because it sometimes happens that the devil is
the cause of this evil; so that we must not
always interrupt our prayer when our mind is
troubled and distracted, but neither must we
always strain a soul which is already over-
tasked. Books and exterior works of charity
may then occupy it, and if we are not capable
even of this, we must then give way for the
love of God to the weakness of our body, in
order to enable it hereafter to serve Him in
its turn. We must take the recreation of holy
conversations, and even, if our confessor advise
it, of country air; experience will show us what

best for us in such cases. In whatever state

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we may be, we can always serve God. His yoke
is sweet, and it is of great importance not to
force the soul, but to lead it gently and sweetly
to that which is most profitable for it.

I repeat again, and I cannot repeat it too
often, we must neither be disturbed nor afflicted
by these aridities, disquietudes, and distrac-
tions ; we shall never be delivered from them,
nor acquire a blessed liberty of spirit, until we
begin not to fear the cross ; for then our Lord
will help us to bear it, and our sadness shall be
turned into joy.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Action, or the service of God, ought to be the end
of contemplation.

I wish, my sisters, that the end of your prayer
should not be the enjoyment of contemplation,
but the acquisition of greater strength for the
service of God. To use that precious time for
any other purpose, is simply to throw it away ;
for how can we expect to receive such favours
from our Lord if we follow another path from
that in which He and all His Saints have ever
walked? To offer a fitting reception to that
Divine Guest, Martha and Mary must unite
together; for would it be a hospitable reception

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to give Him nothing to eat ? And who would
have given it to Him if Martha had sat at His
feet like Mary, listening to His words ? Now,
what is the nourishment which He desires, but
that we should Jabour with all our power to
gain for Him souls who shall love and praise
Him, and who shall work out their own salva-
tion by the praises they offer Him, and the
services they render to Him ?

Here you will, perhaps, make two objections:
first, that our Lord says that Magdalen had
chosen the better part; to which I reply, that
she had already fulfilled the part of Martha
when she washed His feet and wiped them
with her hair; for what a mortification, think
you, must it have been to a person of her
condition thus to go through the street, and
probably all alone, in the fervour of her love,
to enter the house of a stranger, and to endure
the contempt of the Pharisees, and the reproaches
cast by them on her past life ? for those proud
men doubtless made a mock of her conversion,
saying that she wished to play the saint, as
such persons say still of those who desire to
turn truly to God, though their reputation may
not have been so evil as was that of this admir-
able penitent. Again, it is certain, my sisters,
that she had the better part, inasmuch as she
had the portion of intense suffering; for, not to

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speak of the intolerable grief which she ex-
perienced at the sight of a whole people possessed
by so fearful a hatred against its Redeemer,
what anguish did she endure in witnessing His
death? We see, then, that this illustrious
Saint was not always at our Lord's feet in joy
and consolation.

The second objection which you may perhaps
make is, that you would gladly labour to win
souls for God, but that your condition and sex
forbid it, because they render you incapable of
preaching and teaching as the Apostles did. I
have answered this objection elsewhere, but I
will not fail to recall here what I have said
before, because this thought may help you to
fulfil the good desires with which God has
inspired you.

1 said, then, that it sometimes happens that
the devil suggests to us undertakings beyond
our strength, in order to induce us to abandon
those which are within our reach, so that our
thoughts may be taken up with nothing but
projects which are impracticable to us. Content
yourselves, therefore, with the assistance which,
by your prayers, you may render to a few
souls, and do not attempt to be useful to the
whole world. Try to benefit the persons in
whose society you live, and to whom you are
under greater obligatipns than you are to others,

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inasmuch as they have the first claim upon jour
charity. Do you think that you will be doing
little by inciting and encouraging them all by
your humility, your mortification, your charity,
and every other virtue, to increase more and
more in the love of God, and in holy zeal for
His service? Nothing can be more pleasing
to Him, or more profitable to you; and, when
He thus sees that you do all that it is in your
power to do, He will know that you would do
far more still if you were able, and will reward
you no less abundantly than if you had gained
a multitude of souls for Him,

CHAPTER XXXVL

That without the gift of contemplation we may
attain to perfection.

I once knew a great servant of God who had
attained an advanced age, and led a most
penitential and saintly life, — one whom, indeed,
I should be most thankful to resemble, — who
employed days and years in the exercise of
vocal prayer, without ever attaining to the gift
of contemplation ; all that she could do was to
dwell upon these vocal prayers, pronouncing
but a few words at a time. There are many

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other persons in the same state; but if only
they be humble, I believe that, in the end,
they will do far better than those who have
much consolation and much sensible devotion
in their prayer; perhaps this humbler way is
one of greater security, for we have often
reason to doubt whether such consolations
come from God ; and, if they do not come from
Him, they are very dangerous, because the
devil makes use of them to excite us to vanity;
whereas, if they do come from God, there is
nothing to fear, for they will be always accom-
panied by humility.

Moreover, those who do not enjoy His con-
solations always fear that this arises from
their own fault; this keeps them humble, and
excites them to a continual desire to advance.
They never see others shed a single tear with-
out imagining that if they shed not so many, it
is because they are far behind them in the
service of God, whereas, it may be, they are
greatly in advance of them. For tears, although
they be a good sign, do not constitute perfection,
and there is far greater security in mortifica-
tion, detachment, and the exercise of the other
virtues. If only, then, you practise these, fear
not but that you will arrive at perfection as
surely as more contemplative souls.

Was not Martha a Saint, though we do not

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read that she was a contemplative ? And what
can you desire more than to be like that
blessed woman, who was accounted worthy to
receive our Lord so often into her house, to
provide food for Him, to serve Him, and to sit
down at His table? If, like her sister, she
had been always in raptures and ecstasies, who
would have taken care of their Divine Guest ?
Religious ought to consider that the convent is
the house of S. Martha as well as of S. Mag-
dalen, and that it ought to partake of the
character of both sisters. Let those, then,
whom God leads by the way of the active life,
take good care not to murmur at those whom
they observe to be absorbed in the life of
contemplation, because they may be assured
our Lord will undertake their defence against
those who may accuse them. Nay, even should
He not speak for them, such contemplative
souls should abide in peace, having received
from Him the grace to forget themselves and
all created things. Let the others remember
that it is needful that there should be some one
to prepare a table for Him, and account them-
selves happy to serve Him with S. Martha. Let
them consider that true humility consists chiefly
in submitting ourselves willingly to all that our
Lord requires of us, and accounting ourselves
unworthy to bear the name of His servants.

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Thus, whether we are devoted to contempla-
tion, whether we make mental or vocal prayer,
whether we wait upon the sick, or be employed
in the lowest or meanest offices in the house,
what does it matter, since in all these things
we are serving that Divine Guest Who comes
to lodge, eat, and repose with us ?

I do not say, nevertheless, that you are not
to do what you can to attain to contemplation.
I say, on the contrary, that you should make
every effort in your power to attain to it,
only remembering that your success depends on
the will of God alone, and not on your own
choice; for if, after you have served Him for
many years in the same office, He desires that
you still remain there, would it not be a strange
kind of humility to wish to pass to another ?
Leave the Master of the house to order all
things as it pleases Him. He is all-wise and
almighty. He knows what is fittest for you
and most pleasing to Himself. Be assured, if
you do all that is in your power, and if you
prepare yourself for contemplation in a manner
as perfect as that which I have set before
you, — that is to say, with entire detachment
and true humility, — He will assuredly give it
to you; or, if not, it is because He waits to
give it to you in heaven with all other virtues,
and treats you like a strong .and generous

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soul, making you to bear your cross here
below as He Himself bore it as long as He
was in the world. Can He, then, give you a
greater mark of His love than thus to choose
for you what He chose for Himself? And may
it not be that it would be far less advantageous
to you to attain to contemplation than to
remain in the state in which you now are?
These are secrets which He reserves to Himself,
and which it belongs not to us to fathom. It
is far better for us that He should not leave it
to our own choice; for we want to become
great contemplatives all at once, for the sake of
enjoying greater sweetness and repose. What
is most advantageous for us is, not to seek our
own advantage, for so we shall never have the
fear of losing that which we have never desired.
Our Lord will not permit one who has truly
mortified her own will by submitting it to His
to lose any thing, but for her own greater gain
at last.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Maxims addressed by the Saint to her religious.

1. Land which is uncultivated, though it be
very fertile, will produce briers and thorns,
and so will it be with a man's understanding.

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2. Speak well of spiritual persons ; such as
religious, priests, and hermits.

3. Speak little when you are in company
with many persons.

4. Observe great modesty in all your words
and actions.

5. Never contend eagerly, especially in mat-
ters of little moment.

6. Speak to all persons with a well-regulated
cheerfulness.

7. Never treat any one with contempt.

8. Never blame any one without discretion
and humility, and a secret confusion at your
own faults,

9. Accommodate yourselves to the mood of
those with whom you converse ; be glad with
the joyful, and sad with the sorrowful, — in a
word, become all things to all, that so you may
gain all.

10. Never speak without weighing your
words well, and fervently recommending them
to our Lord, that so you may say nothing to
displease Him.

11. Never excuse yourself unless you have
Strong reasons for doing so.

12. Never mention any thing concerning
yourself which may redound to your praise,
such as your knowledge, virtues, high birth,
unless you have some reason to hope it may do

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good; and then mention it with humility, re-
membering that all these gifts come from the
hand of God.

13. Never use exaggerated expressions; but
give your opinion calmly and simply.

14. In every conversation endeavour to bring
in some spiritual subject, for this may prevent
idle words and detraction.

15. Never assert any thing of which you
are not quite certain.

16. Never give your opinion on any matter
unless it be asked, or unless charity require
you to do so.

17. When any one speaks to you on spiritual
subjects, listen to him with humility, and as a
disciple to his master, and take to yourself
whatever good he may impart.

18. Discover all your temptations to your
superior and your confessor, and also your imper-
fections and difficulties, that they may give you
counsels and remedies whereby to overcome
them.

19. Do not remain out of your cell, nor
leave it, without a reason; and when you do
so, beg God's grace that you may not offend
Him.

20. Never eat or drink but at the appointed
time, and then give thanks to God.

21. Do every thing as if you saw His

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Majesty present with you, for by this means
a soul makes great progress.

22. Never speak evil or listen to evil of any
one except yourself ; and when you take pleasure
in observing this rule, you are going on well.

23. Offer every action you perform to God,
and pray that it may tend to His honour and glory.

24. When you are merry, use no immode-
rate laughter; but let your mirth be humble,
modest, gentle, and edifying.

25. Always consider yourself to be the
servant of all, and behold Christ our Lord in
all; and thus you will show them due respect
and reverence.

26. Be ever ready to obey, as if Christ our
Lord, in the person of your superior, had
commanded you.

27. In every action, and at every hour,
examine your conscience; and having observed
your defects, endeavour to correct them by the
Divine assistance : by this means you will soon
attain perfection.

28. Take no notice of the defects of others,
but only of their virtues, and observe your
own defects.

29. Always cherish a strong desire of suf-
fering for Christ in all things and on all
occasions.

80. Every day make frequent oblations of

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yourself to God, and that with great fervour,
and an earnest desire to possess Him.

31. Place before you throughout the day the
subject of your morning's meditation, and use
great diligence in this respect, for it will be of
great benefit to you.

32. Observe carefully the thoughts with
which our Lord may inspire you, and execute
the desires which He shall give you in prayer.

33. Shun singularity as much as possible,
for it does great harm in a community.

34. Often read the constitutions and rules of
your order, and observe them faithfully.

35. In every creature consider the provi-
dence and wisdom of God, and praise Him in
them all.

36. Disengage your heart from all things.
Seek God, and you will find Him.

37. Conceal your devotion as far as possible,
and never show outwardly more than you have
within.

38. Do not discover your inward devotion
unless constrained by some great necessity. " My
secret to myself," said S. Francis and S. Bernard.

39. Complain not of your diet, whether it be
good or bad, remembering the gall and, vinegar
of Jesus Christ.

40. Speak to no one at table, nor lift up
your eyes to look at any one.

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41. Think on the table of heaven and its food,
viz. God Himself; and its guests, viz. the
Angels: raise your eyes to that table, and
desire to sit down at it.

42. Before your superior (in whom you
behold Christ Himself), never speak except
what is necessary, and that with great reverence.

43. Never do any thing wbich you would
not do before every one.

44. Make no comparisons between persons,
for comparisons are odious.

45. When you are blamed for any thing,
receive the reproof with interior and exterior
humility, and pray to God for the person from
whom you have received it.

46. When one superior gives you a com-
mand, do not tell him that another commands
the contrary ; but believe that the intentions of
both are holy, and obey the command given
you.

47. Be not curious to discover secrets ; ask
not questions about things that -do not concern
you.

48. Cease not to bewail your past life and
your present tepidity, and your unfitness for
heaven ; that so you may live in fear, which
will bring great good to your soul.

49. Always do what those with whom you
live desire of you, if it be not contrary to obe-

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dience, and answer them at all times with
humility and sweetness.

50. Ask for nothing peculiar in diet and
apparel except upon some urgent necessity.

51. Never desist from mortifying and hum-
bling yourself in all things till the day of your
death.

52. Ever accustom yourself to make fre-
quent acts of love, for they inflame and soften
the soul.

53. Make acts of all other virtues.

54. Offer all things to the Eternal Father,
together with the merits of His Son Jesus
Christ.

55. Be gentle to all, and to yourself severe.

56. On the festivals of the Saints, meditate
on their virtues, and beseech God to endow you
with them.

57. Use great care every night in the exam-
ination of your conscience.

58. On the days when you communicate,
let the subject of your prayer be, that so
miserable a sinner as yourself is allowed to re-
ceive God ; and reflect at night that you have
received Him. '

59. When you are superioress, never blame
any one in anger, but wait till it is over, and
so your rebuke will do good.

60. Diligently aim at perfection and devo-

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tion, and do all that you have to do devoutly
and perfectly.

61. Exercise yourself diligently in the fear
of the Lord, which keeps the soul in compunc-
tion and humility.

62. Consider well how quickly men change,
and how little reason we have to trust them :
adhere, therefore, closely to God, Who is un-
changeable.

63. Endeavour to treat concerning the af-
fairs of your soul with a confessor who is
spiritual and learned, and follow his counsels
in all things.

64. Whenever you communicate, beg some
gifts of God, through the great mercy whereby
He is pleased to come into your poor soul.

65. Though you may have many Saints for
your advocates, address your requests particu-
larly to S. Joseph, for his power is very great
with God.

66. In time of sadness and trouble, do not
omit your accustomed good works, whether of
prayer or penance, — for the devil will try to
make you neglect them, — but rather practise
them more diligently than before; and you will
see how soon the Lord will relieve you.

67. Do not discover your temptations and
imperfections to those who have made little
progress towards perfection (for thereby you

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may injure both yourself and them), but only
to the more perfect.

68. Remember that you have only one soul ;
that you can die but once ; that you have but
one short life ; that there is but one glory, and
that eternal : and this thought will detach you
from many things.

69. Let your desire be to see God, your fear
lest you lose Him, your sorrow that you do not
enjoy Him, your joy in that which may bring
you to Him ; and thus shall you live in great
peace.

Lines written by 8. Teresa in her Breviary.

Let nothing disturb thee,

Let nothing affright thee;

All passeth away :

God only shall stay.

Patience wins all :

Who hath God, needeth nothing ;

For God is his All.

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FEAST OF S. TERESA.

Preparatory Prayer.

Glorious Mother S. Teresa of Jesus, who art
amongst Virgins what the Seraphim are amongst
^Angels ; happy Virgin, who wast consumed by
the fire of Divine love and filled with the sera-
phic spirit, — if my prayers and my desires tend
to the greater glory of God, present them to His
Divine Majesty, and beg Jesus Christ, thy
Divine Spouse, to accept them. But if, alas !
I err in my petitions, change them, I earnestly
entreat thee; form others for me in their stead,
and obtain for me what will be most pleasing
to God, most conducive to His glory, and most
profitable to my own soul. Amen.

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FIRST DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the virtue of humility.

Humility consists in the knowledge of ourselves,
in a sincere contempt of ourselves, and in bear-
ing, and even desiring, to be despised by others.
These are the steps by which the soul attains
to this sublime virtue. If S. Teresa had not
been devoted to prayer, she would have been
especially exposed to the danger of pride and
vain-glory by the superiority of her intellectual
powers. It was necessary for her to descend
into her inmost self to discover her own nothing-
ness, and it was by a wonderful grace from God
that she was enabled to bring her mind into
subjection, and to lose it in the Divine Immen-
sity. She would never have learned that she
was nothing without the aid of the sublime
degree of prayer to which she was raised by
God. She acknowledged herself, by the light
therein received, to be weak, frivolous, and
liable to commit great faults ; she wondered
that she was not treated as an outcast by all
men, and looked upon herself as unworthy of
a place in the house of God. If her prayer
had not been of the highest order, her intellect
would have betrayed her, it would have gained

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the ascendency over some passing desires of
humility and humiliation ; but finding herself
absorbed in the fulness of God, in that Infinity
in which all created perfection disappears, she
conceived that profound contempt of herself
which subdues every illusion of the intellect.
When we wish thoroughly to know ourselves,
we must begin by asking for grace to know
God — we must enter upon the study of God,
if I may venture thus to speak — which is what
the Apostle recommended to the first Christians
when he spoke to them continually of the
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Why is the world
vain and presumptuous, but because it does
not possess this knowledge, which the Apostle
declares to be above all other? S. Teresa
possessed it in an eminent degree ; and she
owed this knowledge to continued prayer, in-
spired and animated by the quickening breath
of the Holy Spirit. This wonderful woman
has written of the things of God with a power
and unction of which she was probably alone
unconscious, so great was her conviction of her
own unworthiness and inability. She in some
sort resembled those Prophets who, when they
announced the mysteries of salvation, declared
that they knew not how to speak, and that
they were as nothing in the sight of God.
Oh, when shall I understand the nature of

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that prayer which was the foundation of S.
Teresa's humility ! when shall I devote myself
to it, if not in such an eminent degree, at least
in such a measure as may teach me to know
and despise myself ! I shall never be humble,
O my God, till I give myself up to the practice
of prayer 1 It is the only way in which I can
learn to see Thy greatness and my misery, Thy
benefits and my ingratitude, Thy love and my
indifference. Give me, O Lord, one ray of
that light which illuminated S. Teresa, one
drop of that unction which overflowed her soul,
one spark of that sacred fire which inflamed
her heart. And do thou, holy lover of Jesus,
look favourably upon me, and obtain for me
the grace so to pray, that I may annihilate
myself, and be lost in the abyss of all know-
ledge and in the furnace of pure love.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Who didst engrave on her soul such solid,
sublime, and at the same time such profound
humility, that she never swerved from it in
the high state of sanctity to which Thou wast
pleased to raise her, nor ever lost sight of her
lowliness and nothingness, although favoured
with the most wonderful graces, and raised to a

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state of the highest contemplation, in which
her heroic actions and wonderful miracles drew
upon her the applause of men ; I entreat Thee,
Divine Jesus, by this great humility of Thy
spouse, to grant me such a true and solid
humility, as will make me to know my faults ;
dispel the darkness of my soul, and preserve
me from the subtle poison of vanity, and finally
dispose my heart to receive the grace which [
ask of Thee in this Novena, if it be for the
greater glory of God. Amen.

SECOND DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the virtue of penance.

S. Teresa did not lay the foundation of her
perfection in penance, but in prayer ; and the
royal Prophet did the same : he prostrated
himself at the feet of his God, and breathed
forth his sighs before Him ; then he put on
sackcloth and watered his couch with his tears.
It is prayer which discovers the malice of sin,
and excites the sinner to avenge on his own
person the injuries offered to God. Jesus
Christ prays in the garden, and beholds Him-
self loaded with the sins of the whole human

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race, and then says, " Rise, let us go ; behold,
he is at hand that will betray Me." Our Divine
Saviour goes from prayer to the prsetorium and
to Calvary. S. Teresa, following His example,
strengthened herself by prayer against that
domestic enemy her body, and brought it into
subjection. We marvel at the austerities of
this Saint, and in general of all the holy friends
of God ; and the reason is, that we do not know
the inspirations which they received from God in
prayer, nor are we able to conceive the fer-
vour of soul which set them at such enmity
against their senses. A man of prayer is a
mortified man ; if exterior crosses are wanting
to him, he invents them for himself, being
convinced that, as a sinner and a disciple of
Jesus Christ, he ought to suffer. It is a
proof that the penitential spirit of 8. Teresa
had its origin in prayer, that her reform is
founded on prayer and on the continual daily
practice of an austere and penitential life.
It would have been impossible for her to per-
suade men and women to embrace a life so con-
trary to nature, if she had not begun by making
them lead a life of prayer. In the warfare
of the world, men do not expose themselves
to the fatigues of a campaign unless urged
to it by some powerful motive, such as glory,
-^ambition, or patriotism. In the spiritual con-

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flict, we do not declare war against our senses
without being furnished with interior strength ;
and this strength can be obtained only by
prayer. A man of prayer is never sensual,
and a man without prayer is never penitent.
Every body is not able to practise the austeri-
ties of S. Teresa ; but whoever applies himself
to prayer will find a thousand ways of mortify-
ing himself. He begins by cutting off every
kind of superfluity, and reduces himself to the
use of mere necessaries, so as to make his
life at least approach to a life of austerity; he
deprives himself of all pleasures, not only of
such as are dangerous, but even of such as are
lawful ; he endeavours, according to the advice
of the devout author of the Imitation, always
rather to possess little than much ; he blesses
God when occasions of suffering present them-
selves ; he never lets a day pass without deny-
ing his senses some gratification ; he secretly
practises, according to his condition, his strength,
and his measure of grace, some of the mortifi-
cations which devotion inculcates and author-
ises.

O penance, precious fruit of prayer, I esteem
and love thee, all immortified though I be 1 I
can say nothing in my defence when I behold
the example of the Saints, and especially the ex-
ample of S. Teresa. I am not astonished at the

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austerity of her penance, when I see how en-
tirely she was given up to prayer. I behold
her clothed with the whole armour of salvation,
and I see that she perfectly apprehended those
words of the Apostle, who associates this holy
armour with the practice of prayer : " Put you
on," says he, " the armour of God, praying at
all times in the spirit." Lead me on, O Lord,
to penance by prayer, and sanctify my prayer
by penance, that my heart and mind may be
Thy victims in prayer, and that my body may
be also made a sacrifice to Thee by penance.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Who didst inspire her with a most rigorous
spirit of penance, Who didst suggest to her
means to people the world and the desert with
illustrious penitents and holy anchorites, to fill
with that same spirit the most timid souls, and
enable a multitude of women to triumph over
the natural weakness of their sex, and, as Thy
spouses, to lead an angelic life like those tender
flowers which bud and blossom in the midst of
thorns; I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by
the austere penance of this Thy spouse, to give
me grace to mortify my body and to bring it
into subjection, and to lead a truly Christian

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life, embracing willingly the holy severity of
penance, that so I may obtain the grace which
I ask in this Novena, if it be to the greater
glory of God. Amen.

THIRD DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the virtue of patience.

S. Teresa was called to a work which required
an invincible degree of patience. In addition
to the interior sufferings by which she was
tried by our Lord, He commanded her to re-
store the strict observance of the ancient rule
in the Order of Carmel — an undertaking in
many ways far more difficult than the foun-
dation of a new congregation. The founders
of such holy societies have indeed to endure a
conflict with the world and its passions ; but
reformers are opposed also by custom, preju-
dice, and even by the reason and prudence of
good men. Such persons often regard with no
favourable eye an attempt to set aside the miti-
gations granted by authority, confirmed, per-
haps, by the use of many centuries, and approved
by a multitude of estimable persons. It is
necessary on such occasions to be able to dis-

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tinguish what is due to legitimate authority
from the effects of an undue indulgence of
human infirmity and self-love. The remedy
for abuses must be sought in the midst of the
relaxed society, and the formation of new colo-
nies necessarily leads to the depopulation of the
original institute. The reformer runs the risk
of being accounted an innovator, and is exposed
to the imputations of fickleness, ambition, and
disobedience. Such an undertaking is far more
delicate and difficult in the hands of a woman.
Men are slow to believe that she can have been
raised up by God for the accomplishment of a
work which would have been hard even to the
intellect and resolution of one of themselves.
Whatever her reputation for sanctity and illu-
mination, innumerable obstacles will rise up in
her path, and her success — if she succeed at
last — will be at the cost of incredible labour
and suffering. Such was the position of Teresa.
Her natural powers might have enabled her to
govern an empire, but the Spirit of God alone
could have enabled her to undertake and ac-
complish the reform of Carmel. That Divine
Spirit endued her with light, strength, and per-
severance, but it left her trials and crosses.
This was the very test of her direction and her
influence. The founders of Christianity suc-
ceeded in establishing it, because they were

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guided by the Holy Ghost; but they gave their
hearts' blood for the full accomplishment of
their mission. Teresa pursued her way with
unchanging patience through her long course
of trial, contradiction, and persecution. Whence
did she derive that strength and constancy, but
from the unremitting exercise of prayer? Prayer
was the foundation of her work, the source of
her illumination, the armoury and the treasury
whence she derived her means and weapons
of success. She rose from prayer to confront
the difficulties in her path as the martyrs went
forth from prayer to torture and death. No
labour for her Divine Spouse was too great for
this courageous woman to undergo. She roused
the hearts of men to aid her, and quickened
them with her own energy. Toilsome journeys,
dissensions within, opposition without, the human
prudence of friends and directors, earth and hell
arrayed against her — all were alike impotent to
dismay or discourage her. In the distraction
of business around her, in the multitude of
obstacles before her, she kept herself closely
united to her Divine Saviour — the cross of
Jesus was her shelter. It was in prayer alone
that Teresa acquired her wonderful gift of
patience. The reform of Carmel is the crown-
ing work of prayer ; whence I may conclude
that, if I am feeble in my undertakings, im-

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patient in the trials of life, full of distrust in
the work of my salvation, it is because the un-
failing support of prayer is wanting to me. A
soul which is founded on prayer is like a rock
continually beaten by the waves, which is un-
moved by the utmost fury of the storm. O
my God, shall 1 always continue thus ne-
gligent in prayer 1 Shall I never seek to
establish my soul in peace by that mighty,
that only means of acquiring constancy amid
the troubles which surround me! O great
Saint, may I at last become thy disciple in the
life of prayer ! I am not called to a work so
sublime as thine ; but the enemies of my
salvation are terrible. Obtain for me the gift
of prayer, that I may resist and overcome them.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Thou didst fill her with the spirit of power,
and with an heroic courage to undertake im-
mense labours for Thy glory ; Thou didst give
her invincible patience in all the trials which
she had to endure ; her life, her happiness, and
her glory consisted in suffering for Thee, and
the continual cry of that magnanimous and
burning heart was "to suffer or to die." I
beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by that invin-

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cible patience of this Thy glorious bride, to
grant to me a patience so perfect, that it may
be my consolation and glory amid the sufferings
and labours of this miserable life ; that it may
secure to me happiness and eternity ; that it
may efficaciously lead me to live amid suffer-
ings, and to be crucified with Thee ; and, lastly,
that it may merit for me the grace which I ask
in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory
of God. Amen.

FOURTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to interior trials.

It is in these interior trials that prayer is
especially needed, although at such times it
will be an extremely difficult and laborious
task. Interior trials are — temptations, aridity,
dereliction, the repugnance of the heart and
mind to all spiritual exercises. With the best
will to serve God, we seem then to be without
will, because clouds darken the soul and storms
overwhelm it. Under such circumstances prayer
is at once the only resource and the greatest
torture of the creature. Feeling its misery and
its need, it casts itself on the bosom of its
Creator, and that bosom seems to be closed

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against it; it is attracted towards God, and at
the same time it seems to be repulsed by Him ;
it desires to love Him alone, and yet feels as
if it were filled with opposition to His love;
glimpses of heavenly light are succeeded by
horrible darkness. No one ever experienced
the severity of these trials in a greater degree
than S. Teresa; and she had, moreover, to
endure perplexing doubts, arising from the
extraordinary nature of her vocation. Our
Lord led her by an interior guidance, the
reality of which men were slow to see and hard
to believe. Her directors disturbed instead of
consoling her, and, far from guiding her aright,
would have led her astray. If that great soul
had not been sustained by prayer, it would
have sunk under the weight of its trials, and
the marvellous work of its perfection would
have come to naught. But what a glorious
light of prayer arose in the darkness of that
night ! It is not given to me, my God, to
penetrate that mystery. All I know is, that
Teresa persevered in union with Thee, and in
the intimate persuasion of her own nothingness ;
that prayer was the altar on which she con-
tinually offered her whole being to Thee ; that,
notwithstanding Thy seeming severity, she held
fast to Thy cross ; that, with all her docility to
her directors, she persevered with unshaken

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constancy in the path marked out for her by
Thee, and that this hard and rugged path led
her on to the sublimest summit of perfection.
The Church needed an example like this for
a multitude of faithful souls whom God tries
by interior sufferings. They learn from S.
Teresa never to relinquish the path of prayer,
in whatever darkness it may be shrouded,
to deepen the knowledge of their nothingness
by the consciousness of their weakness ; to
redouble their fervour when their heart seems
like a dry and thirsty land ; and to await with
patience the visitation of the Lord. If all the
Saints had, like S. Teresa, written the history
of their lives, we should see them triumph over
these dark and stormy seasons, by the constancy
and fervour of their prayer. This was the
refuge of the great Apostle himself in his
terrible conflicts : " I besought the Lord thrice,"
he says, "and He said to me, My grace is
sufficient for thee."

O holy prayer, support of weak souls, light
of those who are seeking God in the dark, I
devote myself to thee, I take thee for my
companion, and will follow thee whithersoever
thou shalt lead me, and whatsoever difficulties
may beset my path. I will pray always,
according to the counsel of the Apostle, and
the example of S. Teresa. Holy Spirit, do

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NOVJENA BEFORE THE

Thou pray in me, ask Thou in me; may
Thine ineffable groanings atone for my aridity,
hardness, and coldness ! Keep alive in me the
love of prayer, and feed me with that celestial
bread until the day when I shall be united to
Thee eternally in heaven.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Who didst try her constancy and fidelity by
many long years of acute interior sufferings,
Who didst purify her love by veiling Thine
Own, and didst unite her more closely to Thee
by the withdrawal of Thy consolations and the
infliction of the most painful trial of dereliction,
and by the rough way of dryness and desola-
tion didst raise her to the highest degree of
prayer ; Divine Jesus, her Guide and her Master,
I beseech Thee, by this long martyrdom of
Thy faithful spouse, to sustain my weakness in
the trials and temptations of this life, to enkindle
my confidence in the midst of interior pains
and perplexities, to preserve my soul from
weariness and tepidity, to fix my imagination,
to enlighten my mind, to inflame my heart in
the holy exercise of prayer, to be Thyself my
Guide in the narrow and difficult way of salva-
tion, and, lastly, to grant what I ask of Thee

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FEAST OF S. TERESA. 209

hi this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of
God. Amen.

FIFTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to prayer itself.

The science of prayer is not like other sciences,
which require preliminary studies in some
respects foreign to their subject. We can
become learned in prayer only by prayer itself.
We all know that prayer requires the full
attention of the mind and all the affections of
the heart; but we do not all know how to
silence our imagination and to empty our heart
of every affection which does not tend to God.
We are all willing to receive consolations from
Heaven; but hardly any of us can resolve to
wait for the Lord, and to depend upon the
operations of his grace. The Holy Spirit
guided Teresa in the way of prayer, and she
was docile to His teaching. She had an exceed-
ing love of prayer, and a determined will never
to depart from the Divine Presence, knowing
that, without that holy Presence, not only
habitual, but vivid and actual, it is impossible
to attain to intimate union with God.

I understand not, O Lord, the prayer of S.

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

Teresa, I know not the secrets which Thou
didst unveil to her in that holy exercise of
Thy love; it is not for me to presume to enter
that sanctuary. I am too profane to be initiated
into the sublime mysteries of the intercourse
between Thee and Thy chaste spouse; but I
see throughout the whole life of this holy lover
of Jesus, that she ever rose from prayer more
humble, more lowly in her own eyes, more
fervent in love, more devoted to the- good
pleasure of God, more eager to suffer for His
glory, stronger in her holy resolutions, more
detached from her own will. I behold her
prayer as a fruitful field in which she reaped
continually the fruits of holy self-denial.

O prayer of S. Teresa, how dost thou exalt
my soul, how dost thou detach me from earth,
what glories dost thou disclose to me from the
world to come, the kingdom of Jesus Christ 1
Well did that great soul comprehend the value
of detachment from all that is not God ; fully
was she enlightened as to the vanity of all
earthly things ! Yes, Lord, Teresa accomplished
literally those words of thine Apostle : " Our
conversation is in heaven ." She lived upon earth
like the blessed dead of whom the same Apostle
says that " their life is hidden with Jesus
Christ in God." I aspire not to the sublimity
of her prayer, but I have greater need than

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she to die to myself, to break at once and for
ever with the world and my own passions ; and,
like Thy disciples, I say to Thee : " Lord, teach
me to pray." And do thou, great Saint, so rich
in merits gained by prayer, obtain for me the
prayer of faith and love, that I may be so
closely united to Jesus in all my actions as
never to lose sight of the Beloved of thy heart.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
who didst bestow on her so sublime a gift of
prayer as placed her among the Cherubim
and Seraphim, and made her so enlightened a
mistress of that science of the Saints as to be
able to point out to all who walk in the ways
of prayer, meditation, and contemplation, the
paths which they should follow each in his
several degree, — I beseech Thee, O Divine
Jesus, by the sublimity of her prayer, to make
me a faithful disciple of that seraphic mistress,
and to enable me to make such progress in
her school as to attain to an attentive, fervent,
and solid prayer, a prayer which may enable
me to fulfil Thy holy law, and which may ob-
tain for me the grace which I ask in this
Novena, if it be to the greater glory of God.
Amen.

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

SIXTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the virtue of faith.

If S. Teresa had not been a child of prayer,
her faith would have been weak, and a weak
faith borders closely upon that dead faith which
leads to perdition. " He that cometh to God,"
says the Apostle, " must believe ;" but it is no
less true, that to believe we must come to God.
Faith led Teresa to prayer, and prayer per-
fected her faith. Her whole life is made up
of faith and prayer. The lights afforded her
were sublime because her prayer was unceas-
ing. Oh, how many lessons may we learn
from this ! We are enslaved by our senses,
they separate us from God, they crush us to
the earth ; prayer alone can free us, and bear
our soul to heaven. Teresa seems to have
been raised up in these latter times to console
the Church for the rebellion of her children.
She received special light upon the truths
assailed by heretics, she read them in the very
light of God, and spoke of them with an elo-
quence which was like the voice of God. Is
it not wonderful that a simple nun should have
written so fully upon such sublime subjects
without a word escaping her which could be

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FEAST OP S. TERESA*

213

censured by the severest criticism ? The most
gifted men tremble when they take these subjects
in hand, and continually fear lest they should
make a false step on so difficult a road. Teresa
was guided by prayer, and the Spirit of God
guarded her from all danger. The sublime
faith which was His gift extended not only to
the mysteries of religion, it instructed her in
all the secrets of the interior life. It taught
her what God is to a soul full of good will, and
what such a soul is to God ; it unfolded to her
all the consequences of her religious profession,
all the degrees of perfection, all the various
ways in which God is pleased to guide the soul,
all the illusions which spring from self-love or
from the malice of the devil. She learned all
these lessons in prayer ; prayer was the school
of faith, and faith the reward of prayer. If we
reflect upon our want of faith, we shall see that
it arises from our coldness in prayer. If we
will but give ourselves to prayer, faith will
revive in our soul, faith will control our senses,
faith will overcome our immortification ; and
our judgments of the world, and all that the
world esteems, will be conformed to the judg-
ment of Jesus, the Author of our faith. Our
conversation will bear upon it the impress and
the seal of faith ; our vocal prayers, now often
so cold, so hurried, and so fruitless, will be

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

clothed with the intelligence of faith ; holy
Scripture will become to us the food of faith,
and faith will be strengthened and preserved
by the Sacraments of the Church.

O prayer of faith ! O faith nourished by
prayer ! how gloriously do you shine forth in
the life of S. Teresa ! When, O my God, shall
I enter on the way of prayer, that I may be
filled with the light of faith ! Alas, my faith
has hitherto been dim because my prayer has
been cold. I desire to believe, O my God, and
I desire to speak to Thee. * Thy prophet sepa-
rates not these two things, " I believed, and
therefore will I speak and Teresa's life was
filled with these alone. Give me, 0 Lord, the
spirit of prayer, that I may believe, and give
me faith, that I may pray.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Who gavest her so firm a faith in Thy mys-
teries that she believed them more confidently
than if she had seen them with her bodily
eyes, a faith so luminous that it lighted her to
walk securely in the highest paths of perfec-
tion, a faith so vivid and so burning that it
brought about the conversion of a multitude of
souls ; I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by

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FEAST OF S. TERESA.

215

that marvellous faith by which Thou didst
vouchsafe to enlighten Thy glorious spouse,
to give me a living, enlightened, firm, and con-
stant faith, which may subdue my heart and
mind to the teaching of our holy mother the
Church, a faith which may direct me in the
spiritual life, and which may obtain for me the
grace which I ask in this Novena, if it be for
the greater glory of God. Amen.

SEVENTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the virtue of hope.

The two objects of Christian hope are salvation
and the means of salvation. We are all obliged
to hope for salvation and for the means necessary
for its attainment; but it is prayer which
secures us in the way of salvation, and affords
us the means to attain it ; and, of all kinds of
prayer, mental prayer is the most effectual,
because it is the exercise of the mind and
heart, and because it unites the soul to God,
the Author of salvation and of all the graces
which lead to it. It is a dangerous presumption
to hope to attain salvation mthout prayer ; and
it is an insult to the Divine goodness, and a

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

distrust of the promises of our Lord, not to
entertain a sure hope of salvation with prayer.
S. Teresa's confidence was founded on prayer.
By prayer she rose superior to all creatures,
and to all the faint-hearted fears which hold
back so many souls called by God to perfection.
Her confidence rested not upon visions and
revelations, — gifts which may be communicated
even to the enemies of God, such as the false
prophet Balaam and the high-priest Caiphas.
Teresa's confidence rested upon a prayer which
was humble, lowly, dependent on the Spirit of
God, and animated with a single desire to serve
Him. The spirits of evil might trouble her, —
men might censure her, — events might seem to
cross her designs, — still she remained unshaken.
She went forth from prayer as the Apostles
from the cenacle, prepared to act, to suffer, or
to die for the glory of God. Some persons
pray, all the time distrusting prayer, or rather
distrusting God, Who has led them to pray.
They are like those imperfect Christians who
waver, according to the expression of S. James,
and are, therefore, inconstant in all their ways ;
they know not how to listen to the Lord in
prayer, and this it is which leaves them in
trouble and uncertainty. Teresa excelled in
this art of listening to God, of hearing Jesus
'^Ititt speaking within her after Communion;

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FEAST OF S. TERESA.

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and this is one of the most precious lessons
contained in her works. She knew that in
prayer we must speak little and listen much ;
that the Spirit of God delights to teach us, and
that His lessons go home to the heart by their
divine power.

O Divine Spirit, speak Thou to my heart;
strengthen it against the fears which disturb
it: the fear of sorrow, the fear of humiliation,
the fear of poverty, the fear of sickness, the
fear of death. Prayer dispels all these fears,
because it establishes the heart in God, the
Sovereign Master of all events, Who turns them
to the greater good of those who love Him.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
inspire me with the same hope and confidence
which enabled her to undertake and carry
through things which seemed impossible. In
the power of Thy Divine Spirit she founded a
multitude of houses, having no other aid or
support but Thy good Providence; amid the
hottest fires of persecution she looked confi-
dently for success; and when the world and
hell were leagued together to overthrow her
work, she stood firm against the artifices of
the devil and the oppositions of men, yielding

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

neither to their unjust suspicions nor their
vain alarms. Unmoved even by the human
prudence of learned divines, Teresa pursued
the way marked out for her by the Holy Spi-
rit; and, unshaken by the tempests which
swept across her path, her heroic heart clung
unchangeably to Thy Divine promises. I be-
seech Thee, my loving Jesus, by this firm hope
of Thy faithful spouse, to grant me a like
hope of my salvation, and of the means ne-
cessary for its attainment, — a hope which may
inspire me to seek always the greater glory of
God without regard to the fear or favour of
men. And I beseech Thee also to grant the
petition which I make to Thee in this Novena,
if it be to Thy greater glory. Amen.

EIGHTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to the love of God.

Prayer is at once the school and the exercise
of love. It is in meditation, as the Prophet
says, that the fire is kindled. S. Teresa was a
living victim to Divine love because her whole
ilfe was united to God in prayer. We think
of her now in glory; and we imagine that when

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219

on earth she led a life beyond the possibility
of our imitation. This is a great mistake.
Teresa was a simple religious, like many others ;
but she was devoted to prayer in a measure
far beyond that of ordinary souls, even in reli-
gion; and it was this which had raised her to
such an exalted degree of love. Is it impos-
sible for us to pray and to love ? If God does
not enkindle in our hearts so vehement a flame
as burned in the heart of Teresa, do we place
no obstacles in the way of the Divine operations,
such as our voluntary distractions, our needless
intercourse with the world, our repugnance to
solitude ? Have we learnt to listen to our
Lord in prayer ? do we lose courage after a
few faint efforts to unite ourselves to Him ?
Are we ready to sacrifice to Him our vanity,
our ambition, our self-love? Do we converse
with God as children with their father ? Are
we simple, persevering, and hearty in our
communications with our Lord ? Teresa was
not always prostrate before His Tabernacle or
before the Crucifix in her cell ; she was con-
tinually in action and overwhelmed with la-
bours ; but she lived and worked in the
presence of God, and conversed with Him even
while she held intercourse with creatures.
When she received Divine illuminations, she
increased the more in humility, and in the

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NOVENA BEFORE THE

conviction of her own nothingness. When
she experienced interior trials, she blessed
God for His seeming severity, and her love was
strengthened by these very privations. We
admire and wonder at the multitude and singu-
larity of the extraordinary graces which were
lavished upon her ; let us rather admire her
gift of prayer, and learn that it was the way
which led her to perfect love. Let us ac-
knowledge the unspeakable goodness of the
Lord, Who communicates Himself to the
humble and lowly, that they may learn to
pray and to love. When S. Paul was struck
down on the way to Damascus, he began
to pray, and Ananias found him praying.
Who has ever loved more fervently than
S. Paul, or written more burning words in
praise of Divine charity ? Love is the life of
the soul, and prayer is the food of love. The
whole difference between Teresa and the world-
ling farthest from the kingdom of God is, that
Teresa nourished her soul with the food of
love by the exercise of prayer, and that the
affections of the worldling are swallowed up in
death, because they are fixed upon earthly
objects. He also loves ; but his love is mis-
placed, because it is turned towards creatures;
he also offers aspirations, but to the demon of
ambition, to the demon of pleasure, to the

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demon of wealth. O fearful illusion of mis-
placed love 1 there is nothing needed but sin-
cere and fervent prayer to restore order to
that soul: but the worldling has no taste for
the things of God ; he knows not the prayer of
the heart; he has no conception of the nature
of Teresa's communings with Jesus.

O Lord, I am but too probably in this way
of death ; recall me to Thee by prayer, pierce
my heart with the dart of Thy love: it is full
time; and I say to Thee in all sincerity with
David, "My heart is ready, O Lord; my heart
is ready."

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S.
Teresa, Who didst so enkindle her with love
that she became a seraph in human form, Who
didst so wound her heart with the sharp
arrow of Thy Divine charity as to consume it
by that heavenly fire, and break the bonds
which held her captive upon earth, bearing
her soul on the wings of that most pure love
before the throne of Thy Divine Majesty; I
beseech Thee, Divine Jesus, by the love which
consumed Thy blessed Spouse, to enkindle my
heart with the same Divine fire, that it may be
offered as an acceptable holocaust to Thee,
that every moment of my life may be devoted

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N0VENA BEFORE THE

to Thy love, and that my last breath may be a
sigh of love to Thee. May that love hold up
my hands, and with a holy violence obtain
from Thy Divine goodness what I ask of Thee
in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory
of God, the honour of Thy spouse, and the
good of my soul. Amen.

NINTH DAY.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation
to her blessed death.

The spirit of prayer accompanied Teresa to
her last hour ; for, as the Church sings in her
Office, she died rather of a transport of love
than of any bodily ailment. So close had
been her union with Jesus during life, that,
like the great Apostle, she could defy death to
separate her from His love. This thought
would suffice for my instruction and conver-
sion ; for it will be impossible to be united to
God at the moment of death unless we have
spent our life in the holy exercise of prayer.
The faculties of the soul will not then turn to-
wards their great Object, if they have been
continually absorbed in objects of sense. The
consolation of the dying depends upon the

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daily practice of prayer during life. Our Lord
then communicates Himself most abundantly
and most lovingly to the heart which has been
open to His inspirations during a long series of
years. If we would die like Teresa, we must
pray like her.

Spirit of prayer ! Source of light, of peace,
and of consolation ! when the world disappears
before the opening vision of eternity, when the
senses fail, and the soul breaks its bonds, — Thou
art its only resource, its only support, its
strength and its hope ; these precious privileges
belong only to the deathbed of those who
during life have subdued their senses to Thy
sweet yoke, who have devoted all the facul-
ties of their soul to thee, and have acquired
the blessed habit of unceasing prayer. May
prayer, then, be my nourishment and my
delight; may it unite me, as it united Teresa,
so closely to God, that neither death nor hell
may be able to separate me from Him.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
whose life was an unbroken chain of extraordi-
nary graces and favours, a continual exercise
of Thy holy presence, an intimate union with
Thine infinite greatness, a perfect sacrifice of

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NOVENA BEFORE TEE

love, and whose death was the crowning work
of Thy grace, the consummation of that inef-
fable union, the triumph of charity, — I beseech
Thee, Divine Jesus, by that death so precious
in Thy sight, to enable me to walk all the days
of my life in Thy holy presence ; to keep me
continually united to Thee, my only and Sove-
reign Good ; to cast upon my cold heart some
sparks of that sacred fire which consumed the
heart of S. Teresa, that at the awful moment
when time shall be no more, and eternity shall
begin, I may have a sweet and lively hope to
enjoy Thy Divine presence, to be inebriated
with those rivers of joy of which Thou art the
Source, and to burn throughout eternity with
that heavenly fire of which that which con-
sumed Teresa on earth was but the symbol, the
foretaste, and the pledge.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa,
Thou didst give to her, as to Thy beloved
disciple, Mary for a Mother, and didst inspire
her from her very infancy with 60 lively and
tender a devotion to that blessed Mother as
attached her throughout life devotedly to her
service, and inspired her with a fervent zeal
for her honour. At her altars she conceived
the plan of her reform ; under her auspices she
carried it out; under her mighty protection
she placed her finished work ; she trans-

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225

mitted that same devotion to Mary to her
children, and by its power she still keeps alive
amongst them the love of their holy state. I
beseech Thee, therefore, Divine Jesus, by that
tender and filial devotion of Thy Spouse to
Thy most holy Mother, to give me the same
childlike love, that I may consecrate myself to
her service; that I may be zealous for her
honour, and fervent in promoting it; that I
may labour to multiply the number of her
servants and her children, that so I may have
her for my prevailing advocate with Thee.

Blessed Virgin, I prostrate myself before
thee, and humbly beseech thee to present my
prayers to thy Divine Son. I am unworthy
to be heard. All my hope to obtain the
grace which I as£ at the close of this No vena
rests upon thy all-prevailing intercession.

THE END.

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Book L (woodcuts), 2d. ; Primer and Book I. to-
gether, 4d.

Book II. (woodcuts). 5d.

Supplement to Book I. (woodcuts). 4d.

Supplement to Book II. (woodcuts). 6d.

[These Two Books supply the want of additional
reading which is often felt in the junior classes.
They also comprise elementary lessons in writing
and arithmetic]

Book III., containing more advanced lessons. 8d.

Book IV., containing lessons for the higher classes.
Is.

The Child's Spelling and Reading Book, 6d. ; or, the

Two Parts separately, 4d. each.
By means of this book, with its simple musical notes,

and other appliances, children acquire spelling very

rapidly and accurately.
Tablet Lessons, including Alphabet and Figures, in

very large type, Is. 6d. ; Alphabet and Figure

Sheet by itself, 2d.
The Pictorial Reading Book ; many cuts. 1*. Ad.
A New Historical Catechism. Price 4d.

Chart 2s. 6d. ; Rollers, 5s. 6d.

Lessons on Christian Doctrine, on a Sheet 2d.

Catechetical Reading-Book. Is. 4d.

Full Catechism of the Catholic Religion. By the

Rev. J. Fander. Limp, Is. 6d. ; cloth, 2s.
Introduction to the History of England. Is. 8d.
History of England for Children ; Plates. 3s.
History of England for Colleges and Families. 6s.
Catechism of the History of England. 6d.
Manual of Christian Doctrine. 3s.

Digitized by

Manual of Church History. 2s.

Reeve and Challoner's Bible History. 2s.

Prints for ditto, coloured. 16s. and 12*.

Children's Mass-Book for Singing, &c. Id.

Old-Testament Stories. Is. 4d.

Gospel Stories. 1*.

Manual of Confirmation (just published). 2d.
Robinson Crusoe (revised for Catholic schools). 2a.
A First Book of Poetry. 1*.
A Second Book of ditto. 2s.
A Third ditto (Selections by De Vere). 3*. 6d.
Sacred Poetry for Schools. Pocket-size. 1*.
A Popular History of France. Illustrated. 3*. 6d.
Pocket French Grammar. Cloth, Is.
Vade Mecum of French Conversation. 1*.
Catechism of English Grammar. Wrapper, 2d. ;
cloth, 3d.

Hints on Teaching Schools and Congrega-
tions to Sing. Free for a Stamp.

Sight-Singing made Easy, Pt. I, contains the

Elements of Singing on an improved and simple
plan, combining the advantages of the Tonic Sol-
Fa system with the ordinary notation ; suited for
schools and convents. 6d.

Sight-Singing made Easy, Pt. IL, containing

further Exercises, and easy Part-Songs, Catches,
&c. (with an easy Introduction to Harmony),
answering also the purpose of a School Song-
Book. 6d.

Messrs. Burns and Co.'s Complete Catalogue may be
had on application.

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