Fortieth point. His discernment of spirits and gift of prophecy

August 2, 1627, at seven o'clock in the morning, she answered the fortieth point as follows :

Of all the gifts which our Blessed Founder received from God, that of the discernment of spirits was one of the most eminent, and was a fact so well known to all who visited him most frequently, and were most intimate with him, that they, as well as people from all parts, came to him for enlightenment in difficulties of con science. I know that many Prelates, Heads of Religious Houses, Monks, Parish Priests, private Gentlemen and Lawyers, Princes and Princesses, and persons of all ranks, rich and poor, from different provinces, came to him for this purpose. The number of souls directed by him in the way of Christian perfection is almost innumerable. I have never heard of any one of them who fell away from the fear of God, or was misled by any deceits, excepting one individual who lived far away from him, and that instance is not absolutely certain.

When he passed through any town he had such a reception as no one else ever received. Even the most experienced spiritual Fathers came to consult him, and sent their penitents to him to be enlightened in the most difficult points of the spiritual life. A great servant of God

190 Saint Sane ff. tie CfjantaPs JSeposttions assured me that Father Coton, a Jesuit, and a man of extraordinary piety, speaking to her about a soul then in his charge, and led in most strange paths, said that although several other servants of God thought well of this person, he could not feel perfectly sure of her, until he had the opinion and testimony of our Blessed Founder, with whom this great Father Coton had so much and so often wished to confer.

The Reverend Father Suffren, a Jesuit, the Confessor of the most Christian King and of the Queen his mother, a man of the deepest humility, and well skilled in the direction of souls, said that after having consulted our Blessed Founder, he had learned more as to such direction in the nine hours or thereabouts during which he had conversed with him on the subject, than he had done as yet in the whole course of his life.

The Reverend Dom Sens, who was General of the Feuillants and a man of rare piety, also told the above-mentioned servant of God that the number of those who had received the gift of the discernment of spirits was very small, but that our Blessed Founder possessed it, and this in an eminent degree; this is a well-known fact.

The holy Bishop had such a penetrating insight into the souls of men, that when he was con sulted, either personally or by letter, on matters of conscience, he discerned with extraordinary delicacy and clearness the inclinations and secret moving springs of those souls, and spoke in terms so precise, definite, and intelligible, that he made them understand with the greatest ease the most intricate and lofty matters relating to the spiritual life. This is very plainly seen in his published Letters. I know this of my own ex perience, but others have also told me so. He assured some persons who communicated their spiritual necessities to him that he saw their hearts as clearly as through a crystal. To how many souls has he not said : " You are not speak ing plainly," which was perfectly true, as some one to whom this happened told me. He said to one : " You are hiding from me what one day, when it is too late, you will wish you had told me." And so it really was; and others have assured me that they were constrained by the force of remorse of conscience, to come back to him that they might explain themselves fully.

Generally speaking, it was impossible to conceal anything from him : indeed, people used to say that he knew their hearts and all their thoughts quite well. I have been assured by reliable persons that he had actually told them what they were thinking about. He could also discern if any one was possessed or not. He often told his penitents what they wished to say before they had spoken, and that he could do this was an almost universal belief among those who made their confessions to him. A certain person of high rank who had gone astray, and fallen into some secret sin, owned ingenuously that he dared not show himself to our Blessed Founder for fear he should know what he had done.

192 Saint Sane JK tie CfjantaFs depositions

There was a certain Nun who had great and most extraordinary visions and revelations. These were communicated to several doctors of divinity, and had even been approved by four Religious, doctors of divinity belonging to different reformed Orders. Our Blessed Founder was informed of this in writing, and without having seen the person in whom all these graces were said to have operated, he, though with his usual modesty, condemned the whole matter, forbidding at the same time any contention with those who had given their approval to it, and very soon after wards it was plainly proved that the thing was nothing but an imposture. He gave suitable advice for the guidance of this soul, and she afterwards acknowledged her sin, and died a holy death. He undeceived many others, and he has never, to my knowledge, approved the turn of mind and spiritual life of any one without its being thoroughly good and solid.

From various quarters I know that his advice was sought on these supernatural occurrences : he did not despise them, but at the same time he never made much of them. It was only true virtues that he reckoned as of real account. I know that he often calmed excited spirits with a single word.

There were many souls (and I myself among the number) who, being anxious and disquieted with many troubles, and coming to him in their distress, were, by the grace of God, calmed some times by a single word of his. I have heard that this was the case with a soul tormented with scruples and the fear of being lost, to whom, after having heard her pour forth all the anguish of her spirit, he said : You must lose your soul in order to save it. When she expressed a desire to receive fuller instructions from him : " No," said he, " that is enough; you need submission more than reasoning." And she then left him, greatly calmed and consoled.

To another who suffered from very much the same mental disquietude, he only said : " Do not be anxious about anything; submit absolutely to the good pleasure of God," and at once a great peace and calmness fell upon her soul, and abode there ever after.

M. le President de la Valbonne went to him one day, in great disturbance of mind. Before he had time to explain his trouble, our Blessed Founder led him into his study and made him read a chapter of the Treatise on Divine Love, which he was at that time writing. After the good man had read it, he became quite calm, and unburdened of the trouble which had been oppressing him interiorly. Many were quieted by a single glance from him, others by reading his letters; and in fact innumerable maladies of restless souls were cured by him.

In conformity with the Spirit of God which acted in him, he was always quick to recognise the dispositions of the souls with whom he came in contact, and if he found them not prepared for what he was going to say, would stop short,

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194 Saint Sane J. toe ffiftantal'is Impositions not wishing to waste words where there was no audience; but as soon as he recognised the unction of the Spirit of God, he poured into these souls the instruction necessary for their welfare.

Moreover, I have noticed, that quite gladly he left the Holy Spirit to do His work freely in souls, and he himself followed the attraction of that Divine Spirit, and guided them as they were led by God, leaving them to follow the Divine inspi rations, rather than his own instructions. I have observed this in my own case, and I have also been told of it by others with whom he dealt in the same manner; and, if I am not mistaken, he showed by thus acting great enlightenment in the discerning of spirits.

He was absolutely admirable and incomparable in his method of training minds according to their various capacities, without ever urging them on unduly : indeed he gave and imprinted upon the hearts of his penitents a certain liberty which set them free from all scruples and difficulties, and raised the soul to such a tender love of God, that every hindrance to the devout life vanished. To this fact all his books bear ample testimony, and I know that there was an inexpressible sweet ness in obeying his counsels; indeed as regards myself, my only trouble was that he did not give me commands enough.

A young girl, who was thinking of entering our Order, came to ask him when he would like her to do so. He answered firmly : " You will never be a Nun, but this little sister of yours will be one." The child to whom he alluded was then only twelve years old, but it turned out exactly as our Blessed Founder had predicted; the elder girl married, the younger took the veil, and is now Superior of one of the Convents of our Order.

In these matters the holy Bishop received great enlightenment from God, by means of prayer. I remember that the late M. Favre, First President of the Supreme Senate of Savoy, a most excellent man, of rare humility and piety, the intimate friend of our Blessed Founder, told me that as he was in very great affliction about the soul of his wife, who had died without con fession, he came to tell him of his trouble. The holy Bishop prayed for her, and then said to the President : " Do not grieve any more about the soul of my sister (so he called her); rest assured that it is in the way of salvation."

In the year 1 6 1 6 the Duke de Nemours came with a large army to take possession of this pro vince of Savoy. Every one believed the ruin of the country and the taking of this town to be inevitable. Our Blessed Founder, after having thought a while over this disturbance, declared with great firmness that it would all soon die away, and so it did, just at the time predicted by him.

When tidings were brought to him of the ill ness of a sister-in-law, he went to say Mass for her; on his return he told ine that he had not known how to pray for her as a sick person, but could only do so for her as dead, which indeed

196 .Saint Sane J. tie CEfjantal's Impositions she was at the time, as we soon afterwards heard.

Five or six years before I took the veil, I said to him : " My lord, will you never take me away from the world ? " He answered with extra ordinary firmness : " Yes, and some day you will leave all things; you will come to me, and your portion will be the utter destitution of the Cross." This did indeed take place, and by means so far removed from any that human prudence would have suggested, that they can be attributed only to the Providence of God.

I know that to a great many people he pre dicted events, which really happened, and of which he could have known nothing except by the gift of prophecy; such as the issue — humanly speaking, absolutely uncertain — of various matters. For example, he predicted to Madame de Cre'mieux, a lady living in his diocese, who had lost many children at their birth, that she would at last become the happy mother of a living child. This was so, and the child born at that time is living still. This is true, &c.