That It Will Be a Great Aid to the Attainment of Perfection Not to Commit Faults on Purpose, and Never Relax in Fervor

IT will also aid us much towards growth in virtue and perfection to try never to commit faults on purpose. There are two sorts of faults and venial sins; the one sort is that into which those who fear God fall through frailty, ignorance, and inadvertence, albeit with some carelessness and negligence. As to such faults as these, they who serve God and walk in His sight with an upright heart know by experience that they cause no bitterness of heart, but rather humility; nor do they find that on that account God turns away His face from them, but rather they experience new favor from the Lord and a new spirit by the humble recourse they have to God for them. Other faults and defects there are which they fall into with advertence and on purpose, who are tepid and remiss in the service of God; and these faults are an obstacle to the great blessings we should receive if we did not commit them. For these faults the Lord will often turn away His face from us in prayer, and withdraw many favors. Thus, if we wish to thrive and receive many favors of the Lord, we must take care not to commit faults on purpose. Enough the faults that we commit through our ignorance and inadvertence; let us not add to them more. Enough the distractions that we have in prayer through the fickleness of our imaginations; let us not distract ourselves voluntarily and on purpose. Enough the faults that we commit against the rules through our weakness; let us not break them of set purpose.

St. Basil lays down another means for gaining perfection, and says it is an excellent way to advance much in a short time; it is not to call halts on the road of virtue. There are those who make temporary efforts and then stop. Go on as you have begun and do not call these halts. On this road of spiritual life you will find yourself more wearied by making these halts than by not making them. In this there is a great difference from the bodily exercises; the more the body works and labors, the more it is worn out; but the more the spirit works, the more strength it gathers: caro operando deficit, spiritus operando proficit (St. Basil). And says the proverb: “The bow that is kept strung breaks, but the soul unstrung decays”—Arcum frangit intentio, animum remissio. St. Ambrose says that, as it is easier not to fall into sin but preserve innocence than after a fall to do true penance, so also it is easier to keep up the fervor of prayer and devotion than to return to it after being distracted for several days. The blacksmith who draws the iron red-hot from the furnace, in order that it may be soft and ready for him to make of it what he wishes with his hammer, does not let it go altogether cold, but before it goes cold he puts it back in the furnace so that he may readily deal with it as before. So we should never allow the heat of our devotion to die down; for once our heart has grown cold and callous, it will be hard to go back to our first fervor. Thus we see by experience that, however much a man may have advanced in virtue, yet if he grows care.

less for a season, in the little time that he surrenders to distractions and ceases to continue his pious exercises, he loses all that he had gained in a long time; scarce a trace is left of what he had before and it is with difficulty that he returns to it. Contrariwise, they who go on with fervor and persevere in their pious exercises, easily hold their own and in a short time advance much. The reason is that they lose no time and do not undo what they have done, unlike the tepid and slothful, who with their frequent halts do and undo, weave and unweave, and never finish their web. But the fervent, far from undoing, get on with their work and gather new strength daily by continual exercise, and new facility to do more and do it better; so they advance much. So says the Wise Man: Hands slothful and remiss bring on poverty, but the hands of the strong gather riches (Prov. x. 4). He who does not choose to work will grow poor, and he that puts his strength into his work will grow rich. The soul of them that work shall grow fat (Prov. xiii. 4).

A father of our Society, comparing tepid and slack religious with the diligent and fervent, used to say that the tepid and remiss who as they grow into seniors come to play the part of idlers and make it not their aim to get on with their perfection, are like old servants in the houses of our nobility, who render no service in the house, but make a show and sit by the gates of their masters’ houses telling stories. They are given their keep as old servants, but they do not find favor or advancement with the master; indeed, he scarcely remembers them. You will see other young servants, youths so diligent and solicitous in the service of their master that they never think of pausing or sitting down all day long. Hardly has their master given them a hint of what he wants than the thing is done. These are they that find favor and advancement. Such are diligent and fervent religious.