Thirty-third point. His devotion, his prayer, and his recollection of the presence of god

Her answer on the thirty -third point was :

I believe most firmly that the life of our Blessed Founder was, on account of the extreme purity of his intention in all that he did, one continual prayer. For, having been under his direction for nineteen years, and Almighty God having permitted me to have an intimate know ledge of him, and close communication with him, both by correspondence and by word of mouth, I

154 Saint 3ant J* to (fijantars Impositions can most positively assert that in all his actions he had no other aim than the greater glory of God, and the fulfilment of His good pleasure. He used to say that the Divine Will was the sovereign law of his heart, and that in this life we must offer the prayer of work and action; that the best prayer we could possibly make was absolute acquiescence in the Will of Our Lord. This was another proof that his life was a con tinual prayer; for I can declare that in every step he took you could easily see that he was almost always recollected in God — although his recollection was not of a sad or gloomy kind; indeed it was not in any way apparent, except to those who knew his ways.

About fifteen years ago, I asked him if he ever, for long at a time, ceased to turn his thoughts to God; he replied : " Sometimes, for about a quarter of an hour." This answer, coming from a Prelate so occupied as he was with all kinds of varied and important business, filled me with admiration. He also taught his penitents to be constantly turning their thoughts back to God, even amidst such spiritual actions as preaching, hearing confessions, studying, reading, speaking of holy things, and the like.

Indeed, his sermons, conversations, and advice only tended to lead souls on the way towards a closer union of the mind with God, both by prayer and by action.

He told me once that he never felt em barrassed or constrained in the presence of kings and princes, because the thought of a still greater and more majestic Presence was always with him, and kept him, wherever he might be, in the same mental attitude of reverence; and although he lived, generally speaking, surrounded by men and the pressure of business, yet he kept his heart, as far as possible, recollected in God. I will give you a proof of this. Writing to me on one occasion, he said : " I am surrounded by people, and yet my heart is solitary."

Besides all this, however, it is certain that our Blessed Founder had received from God a great gift of prayer, and that he conversed with Our Lord very simply and familiarly, with the most confiding love. Speaking to me once on this subject, he compared his prayer to oil, which, poured upon a highly-polished table, goes on spreading more and more over the surface; say ing, that in the same way, from the few words or thoughts which he took for his meditation, there came forth a tender affection which pervaded his whole soul and steeped it in a surpassing sweetness.

He told me that the first thought which came to him on waking was of God, and that he fell asleep with the same thought, as far as he was able.

He also told me that it was a special joy to him to be quite alone, because of the all-pervading presence of God, of which he was then more keenly sensible than amid the tumult of business and conversation. I know that sometimes the

156 Saint Sane J* tie Cental's Impositions holy Bishop, beginning to pray without any pre paration, felt himself suddenly rapt and wholly recollected in God.

He used to say that we did not know what was the true service of God; that the true way of serving Him was to follow Him and walk after Him in the highest point of the soul, without the support of consolation, or of feeling, or illumi nation other than that of bare and simple faith.*

It was not, however, that he did not receive, and that very often, great illuminations, both interior and even exterior, which showed how pleasing his manner of prayer was to God. He told me that once, when he was saying his rosary in the evening twilight, there appeared to him two pillars of fire, one large and the other small; that at first he felt a little fear, which, however, soon vanished, and that after a short time they faded away in the corner of his oratory, dying out in sparks. Monsieur de Thorens,t a man of rare piety and veracity, told me that once when he went to see our Blessed Founder he found him in his chamber quite agitated; seeing which, M. de Thorens pressed him very earnestly to tell him the reason, and after some hesitation, the holy Bishop told him that being at his prayers in this same oratory, which was really nothing but a simple prayer-desk with a Crucifix on it, a ball of fire had suddenly appeared to him and then vanished in sparks above his head.

t Count Louis de Sales bore this title at that time.

About five or six years before his death, speaking of prayer, he said that in it he felt no sensible emotion, for that all that God effected in him was brought about by a light which flashed through the highest region of his soul, and that the inferior portion had no part in it whatever.

Another time, speaking on this same subject, he told me that he had had good thoughts, but that it had been rather by way of the outpouring of his heart into eternity and the Eternal, than by discursive prayer.

He added that he did not trouble himself much whether prayer brought him consolation or desolation : that when Our Lord gave him good feelings he received them in simplicity; that when He gave him none, he did not think about the matter.

He has described in his book, the Treatise on the Love of God, so delicately and so clearly all the degrees of prayer and contemplation, that it is easy to judge how eminently rich he was in this gift of prayer, and indeed when we saw him in prayer, our hearts were filled with affection for the exercise : many people agree with me in saying this. He recommended its practice most earnestly to those who were under his direction. The year before he died, we saw clearly that his thoughts were so absolutely detached from things of earth that they could only rest in God.

He had indeed, as he told me, a great facility in prayer, and almost always received through it vivid illumination, and he had also sentiments of

158 Saint Sane J* tie (EfyantaPs most sacred union with God, before Whom he bowed down with the deepest reverence and con fidence. He had several times told me in writing that I was to remind him to tell me what God had given to him in holy meditation. When I saw him, therefore, I asked him, but he answered : " Things so simple and so delicate that when they have passed away one can say nothing."

For some time before his death, he was scarcely able to give any time to this holy exercise, so overwhelmed was he by business and infirmities. One day I asked him if he had made his meditation. " No," he said, " but I have done what is as good." And this I can well believe, for, as may be seen from the preceding observations, his soul was always closely united to God, and he did all things for the sake of pure Divine love, and for no other consideration.

His ordinary Confessor, who for the space of about fifteen years never lost sight of him, said that he always believed that the holy Bishop had some secret understanding with Our Lord, for his inward guidance, and a special knowledge of such things as are hidden from other men. I believe this myself, and that he held a close and serious communion with God, for I never knew him to be attached to any special devotional exercise, nor indeed to anything whatever, neither have other people seen him to be so; and thus he pre served a holy freedom of mind which enabled him to do any and everything according to what Divine Providence offered him. When the time

Ef)irt2=tf)trt( point 159 had come for him to say Holy Mass, or to make his meditation, or perform any other similar exercise, he has often been known to delay or omit the exercise altogether, if the service of his neighbour or some other lawful occasion demanded it.

Once, in our Convent Church at Lyons, he was vested and on his way to the altar when a very poor and lowly person stopped him, begging him to hear his confession; our Blessed Founder heard it instantly, and indeed this was a thing which he often did.

He was never seen to be troubled or in any way wearied, when business matters came unex pectedly one upon the top of the other, but always took them quietly as from the hand of God, not looking at them in the light of human reason. Indeed both his Confessor and I used to notice that he never seemed to regard things as they were in themselves, but as they were in Him Who sent them. Thus he was always pray ing, keeping his heart constantly open to the good pleasure of God, in which he acquiesced simply, without any distinction or exception whatever.

He used often to say that a soul wishing to serve God perfectly must attach itself to Him alone, desiring ardently and unceasingly to possess Him, but that as regards the means of attaining to such a condition, the soul must not attach itself to any particular method, but must go on its way quite freely, gaily, and serenely, wherever charity or obedience should happen to call it.

160 Saint Sane J* t»e Cljantars depositions

All these counsels he himself put continually into practice, as is well known to those who were most intimately connected with him.

It is also well known that our Blessed Founder recited the Offices in Church with most extra ordinary attention, reverence, and devotion. He scarcely turned his eyes or his head, except where it was necessary, and always remained standing in an attitude of grave humility, never assuming a sitting posture, weak and weary though he often was from many illnesses; unless, indeed, when he officiated pontifically, and then he took his seat on his throne. He assisted at all feasts and vigils of great feasts at the Divine Office in his Cathedral and at Compline in Lent, with such devotion and modesty that one saw plainly how perfectly his attention was fixed upon God. At these times great light and wonderful thoughts of God were poured into his soul. He wrote to me once, that while celebrating a certain great feast, he had felt as though he were among the choirs of angels.

It is undoubted that he said Holy Mass every day, without failing, unless for some just impedi ment, such as sickness, or when he was in the country, where he had no Church in which to say it. When the holy Bishop was at the altar, it was easy to see how deep was his reverence in the presence of God. His eyes were modestly cast down; his face full of recollection, and so calm and sweet that those who looked at him attentively were touched and thrilled with devotion. Especially at the moment of Consecra tion and Communion the peaceful radiance of his countenance filled every heart with emotion. In deed this Divine Sacrament was his true life and strength, and in this action he appeared like a man wholly absorbed in God. He said his Mass in a grave, gentle, even tone of voice, without the least hurry, however busy he might be. He told me, many years ago, that from the moment that he turned to the altar he had no distraction of any kind. I know that some people, having seen him communicate, were so much touched with devotion that they never afterwards forgot what they had seen.

It is well known that our Blessed Father had a most perfect devotion to Our Lady, and a tender love for her, accompanied by a true filial confidence in her. He called her, his Lady, his Queen, his Mistress. When he preached her praises, on her feast days, which he never failed to do, it was always with a peculiar fervour, ease, and joyousness. " You know," he once said to rne in writing, " that our glorious Mistress always gives me special help when I speak of her Divine maternity. I entreat her, sweet Mother of God, to put her hand into the precious side of her Son, and to take from thence His choicest graces, that she may give them to us abundantly."

At another time he said to me : " I have been feeling most strongly, how great a blessing it is to be a child, though an unworthy one, of this glorious Mother. Let us undertake great things

1 62 Saint Sane $. tie ffiijantal's Bepostttons under her patronage, for if we are ever so little dear to her, she will never leave us destitute of what we are struggling to attain/' In all his necessities our holy Bishop had recourse to the most glorious Virgin, and advised the same to his penitents. He made pilgrimages in her honour to the Chapel of Loretto, to our Lady of Com passion at Thonon, whither he went on foot, and to many other places, where our dear Mother is specially honoured.

He said his rosary every day with extraordinary devotion, and used to tell me that he found all his help in the Blessed Sacrament and in that Holy Virgin from whom he had received special and even miraculous assistance, as I have before said.

He placed our Order, which he himself insti tuted, under her protection, and named it after the sacred mystery of the Visitation, procuring for us the privilege of saying the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin only, a favour which has since been confirmed to us in perpetuity by our present Holy Father, Pope Urban VIII. The intention of our Blessed Founder in doing this was that there should be an Order in the Church of God, specially consecrated and dedicated to sing day and night the praises of that sovereign Queen, of whom he speaks so worthily and in such high terms in his books, and to whom he has even dedicated his Treatise on the Love of God. This is well and publicly known.