What a Great Relief and Consolation It Is for a Man to Be Open with His Superior and Spiritual: Father, and the Blessings and Benefits That Ensue Therefrom

THE saints and doctors of the Church, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Bernard, say that one of the greatest comforts that a man can have in this life is to have a faithful friend whom he can lean upon, discovering to him all his heart and its secrets, according to that saying of the Wise Man: A faithful friend is a medicine for life (Ecclus. vi. 16). There is no medicine so effectual for the cure of wounds, says St. Augustine, as a friend who can comfort you in your afflictions, counsel you in your doubts, rejoice with you in your adversities. He who hath found such a friend hath found a treasure. Treasure, do I say? There is nothing to be compared to a faithful friend (Ecclus. vi. 14-15). All the silver and gold that the Indies yield, and all the world rejoices in, is not worth so much as such a friend. Now this is the blessing that the Lord has given us in the Society, that you have such a friend, you must understand, in your superior, who is your spiritual father, your master, your physician, your mother and brother, and has more than a mother’s feelings for you, and will take your interests for his own and more than his own. Know, then, how to profit by such a friend, and open your heart to him with great confidence. If you find such a friend, Says the Wise Man, have recourse to him; let thy foot wear out the steps of his door (Ecclus. vi. 36); frequent his room, consulting him and imparting all your concerns to him, since in him you will find comfort, counsel, and remedy for all your needs. As to the sick man it is a relief and comfort to declare himself to the doctor who is to attend him, so to the man in affliction and distress it is a great relief and comfort to declare and manifest his pains and afflictions to one who can console and aid him.

One of the means that philosophers prescribe for casting out sadness and relieving the afflicted heart, is to relate and declare one’s troubles to another. St. Thomas mentions it, treating of sadness, and gives this reason for it. When a person chooses to endure his troubles all by himself alone, they draw his attention and thoughts more to them, and so afflict him more; but when they are imparted to another, the sufferer is somewhat diverted therefrom because his attention is distracted and his heart dilated and relieved. So we see by experience, and it is a common saying among men: “Pardon me, sir, because it is a relief to me to recount my troubles.” The holy Abbot Nilus, a disciple of St. John Chrysostom, says that this was a common means prescribed by the holy Fathers for this purpose. They illustrated it by a good comparison. Have you not seen how dark and gloomy the clouds look when they are charged with a quantity of water, but, as they proceed to discharge it and get relieved of their burden, they become bright and resplendent? Thus, while a man is burdened and shut up with his temptations, he lives in great sadness and perplexity, very heavy and melancholy; but when he casts off from himself this burden by discovering and manifesting himself to the superior, his heart is relieved, his sadness assuaged, he is cheered up and comforted, and straightway he comes to enjoy great peace and satisfaction of heart.

St. Dorotheus relates of himself that he felt so peaceful and happy upon discovering and manifesting all his doings to his master and spiritual father, that he became afraid and had his suspicions as to whether he was going on well, and felt indignation against himself, saying that afflictions are foretold as the lot of such as are on the way to heaven: for by many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts xiv. 20). And when he saw that he felt no affliction, but great satisfaction and comfort, these fears came over him as to whether he was on the right road to heaven. This went on until his master, the Abbot John, told him not to trouble about that, for this peace and contentment which he felt was promised to those who opened their conscience as he did. And let it be observed that this openness must be not only in the matter of temptations and imperfections, but also in things that of themselves are good and quite spiritual, as we shall presently explain and have already said before.

On account of the great importance of this practice our Father enjoins it so earnestly, and would have superiors talk and converse frequently with their subjects; as well for other advantages that there are in their doing so, as also because by this private and familiar intercourse subjects are greatly encouraged to have recourse to their superiors and explain themselves clearly to them. And for the more abundant help and great consolation of all, he orders in his Constitutions that there be in every house and college a prefect of spiritual things, to whom all can have recourse to gain relief and consolation by talking to him, and to be directed and aided in the affairs of their souls.

Cassian says very well of all human methods and all mechanical arts, which serve for temporal advantages only, that, though they be material and can be seen with the eyes and felt with the hands, nevertheless they cannot be learned or well known unless one serves an apprenticeship and puts oneself under a master who can teach them. What sensible man, then, can think that for this science of your spiritual advancement alone you need have no master to teach you and tell you how to behave, it being a matter so hidden and spiritual and invisible that not only the eyes of the body cannot see it, but not those of the soul either, except where there is great purity of heart. And this is not like other sciences, where a mistake involves temporal loss, which can easily be repaired; there is question here of the losing or saving of the soul forever. We are not fighting here against visible enemies, but against invisible; and not against one or two, but against countless troops of devils, making war upon us night and day. It is necessary, therefore, says Cassian, to have very diligent recourse to our elders and spiritual fathers, declaring to them all that passes in our soul, to be directed and helped by them.

Apart from other reasons, the great fruit and profit that ensues from having in every house a prefect of spiritual things and having recourse to him is clearly seen from the things that are treated of and laid before him, which are to give an account of how one gets on at meditation, what method one follows therein, what fruit one gathers, whether one observes the additions and recommendations that we have for making it, what is the subject of our particular examen and whether we mark it and compare results, whether we make spiritual reading and how we profit by it, whether we have any temptations and how we behave under them, what penances and mortifications we practise, as well private as public, how we are in the matter of obedience, of indifference, in humility, in observance of rules, and other like things. Now whoever knows that he has to give an account of all that, evidently will be helped to take a little more care, to be able to give a better account. Moreover, there is no doubt but that to see that much importance is attached to a thing, and great account taken of it, is a great means to make us also regard it and attach importance to it. Seeing that they ask me these things again and again clearly obliges me to take more care of them; and if I fail once, to take care not to fail a second time.

As theologians and saints say, sacramental confession is a great bridle to restrain men from sin. So it was shown by the experience of the heretics in Germany who had denied and abandoned it. Things went so far that they found their towns full of vices and deeds of violence. No man was sure of his neighbor; and these very heretics sent a petition to the Emperor Charles V, begging him to make a law ordering all to go to confession, seeing that, since confession had been abolished, they could not live or get on with one another. Thereat the emperor laughed not a little, as if it had been in his power to make a law to that effect. Now, as it goes a long way to restrain a man from committing sin, to know that he has to confess it, so it also greatly restrains a man from committing faults and imperfections, to see that he has to give an account of them. And to push the comparison further, frequent confession is one of the chief means that we can give to a person for his salvation; for besides the grace and forgiveness of sins that is given in that sacrament, there are therein contained all the remedies and counsels that can possibly be given. Thus, when we wish anyone there in the world to make great progress, we give him some advice: at one time, to recite the rosary; at another, to hear Mass daily if he can; at another, to hear sermons; at another, to make examen of conscience; at another, to do some penances, and never to let a day pass without doing some penance; but finally, to put the seal on all, we give him for a remedy, to confess frequently to a good confessor; and therein we think we are giving him all remedies in one, and saying all that can be said and all that need be said. For if he does that, the confessor will give him every week or every fortnight or every month the means and remedies that you cannot give, nor he take all at once. The confessor will ask him an account of how he puts into execution the counsels that have been given him. This is what good confessors should do; they should take care that their penitents go on always advancing in virtue. To this end masters of spiritual life advise penitents that everyone should have a fixed confessor; for to confess today to one and tomorrow to another is a likely way of making little progress, since no one takes such a casual comer expressly under his charge or regards him as any son of his. In the same way, in this practice of giving an account of conscience there are included all the particular means and remedies that can be given to anyone for his spiritual progress: for hereby the superior or Spiritual father sees what profit you are making out of meditation, examens, and spiritual reading; hereby he sees how you are overcoming temptations and inclinations and the infirmity of nature; hereby he sees how you are in point of silence, humility, indifference, and resignation, and whether you are advancing or falling away; hereby there is given you the particular remedy and advice that you have need of according to your necessity and disposition, correcting you on one point, encouraging you on another. And this being done with the gentleness and charity with which it ought to be done, and by the bounty of the Lord is done in the Society, so that you understand that the only object desired and aimed at is your greater good and spiritual improvement, this means cannot fail of being of great effect and efficacy.