Part IV. The Interior Life Imparts Fertility to the Works of the Active Life

The interior life is the condition of their fertility. We do not treat here of the fecundity of the Sacraments, as such, for it is derived “ ex opere operato.” Here we treat of the effects resulting from the labors of the apostolic man. Let us recall that if the apostolic man “ abides in Christ and Christ in him,” the fruitfulness willed by God is assured, for Christ says of him, “he bears much fruit” (John 15.5). It is the evident result of his interior life. This is confirmed by our experience. For thirty years we have investigated the results of the training of girls in two asylums; each asylum is managed by a community belonging to a different Sisterhood. At one period sixteen girls from these asylums were sent out into good positions after reaching their majority. After a period from eight to fifteen months three of the girls from one institution and two from the other had, from being frequent communicants, fallen into the most degrading social conditions. Of the eleven remaining only one had remained a good, practical Catholic. In one of the asylums there has been but one change in the community; that was the change of superior eleven years ago, Six months later already a_ radical transformation in thespirit of the community had taken place.

Three years later a similar happy transformation has been observed in the other Community, following the change in the chaplaincy. And since then none of the girls sent out into positions have fallen away; all have remained fervent Catholics.

How should this be explained? The superior of one of the asylums, though an able and willing worker, did not possess the interior spirit requisite for the apostolate, and in the other, the chaplain, though personally a good priest, lacked the interior life necessary in an apostolic laborer. And those who replaced them, effected a complete transformation in those communities, because of their interior life. This transformation was easily apparent in the exemplary behavior of the inmates at prayer, sf in the chapel, at work, and study and even at recreation!

“Let those who have an intense craving for apostolic labors,” says St. John of the Cross, “ who imagine they can stir up the world by their preaching and other good works of zeal, reflect for a moment. They will then easily understand that they will be more useful to the Church and more pleasing to the Lord, not to mention the good example they would give to those around them, if they would devote more time to prayer and the exercises of the interior life. In such a condition they would effect more good with greater ease and less labor by devoting themselves to one work, than they now do by the many they endeavor to carry on, for then mental prayer would obtain for them the graces they need to produce such fruits. Without mental prayer all they do amounts to mere noise, resembling the striking of a hammer on an anvil and causing only an echo all around, effecting usually nothing good, or even doing harm. May God preserve us from such a laborer, if ever he happens to swell with pride! In vain are appear- — ances in his favor; the truth is, that he will effect nothing, for it is certain that no good work can be

(4 accomplished without the help of God. Oh, t sad things could be written of those who give u the interior life and aspire to perform striking things to please men and draw their attention, etc., to themselves. Such laborers practically know nothing of “ the source of living water and the mysterious fountain imparting fertility.”

We cannot accuse St. John of the Cross of ex- aggeration, for, as Bossuet, a competent judge, declares the saint is noted for his perfect, good | and practical common sense, and for his zeal in warning his readers against using extraordinary means of sanctification, and for his remarkable precision in his writings. We will now examine some of the causes of the fecundity of the interior life. 1. The interior life attracts the blessing of God. “T will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and thy people shall be filled with good things ” (Jer. 31. 14). God does not say “I will give My priests more zeal, more talent;” but “‘I will fill them with fatness,” that is, “I will fill them with My spirit and impart choice graces to them, in order that My people shall be filled with good things,” that is, “with spiritual things.”” God can distribute His graces as He pleases, but according to the ordinary

% course of His Providence, He distributes them in proportion to the piety of the apostolic laborer and the dispositions of the people.

“Without Me,” says Christ, “ you can do nothing” (Johh 15. 5). On Calvary He shed His redeeming blood. But how did God assure its first fecundity? By the miracle of the diffusion of the interior life, when on Pentecost the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles. Before that event there was nothing narrower than the zeal and the ideal of the Apostles. But on that day the Holy Ghost transformed them into interior men, and at once their preaching converted thousands. God does not usually renew this prodigy, but subjects the graces of sanctification to the creature’s free and laborious cooperation with actual grace. But by choosing Pentecost as the official birthday of the Church, He wishes us to understand, that His priests and other apostolic laborers should prelude their apostolic works by their own personal sanctification. Wherefore every apostolic laborer should expect more fruit from his prayers and sacrifices, than from his personal labor, for “ it is God who giveth the increase,” as St. Paul declares (I Cor. 3. 6). Hence Lacordaire, before preaching, was wont to spend a long time in prayer and to scourge himself. Monsabré before ascending the pulpit would say the rosary, kneeling. In acting as they did, these two holy and eloquent religious followed the teaching of St. Bonaventure: “¥ The real success of an apostolate is found rather at the foot of the crucifix, than in the display of brilliant qualities.” “As to preaching, giving good example and prayer, the greatest and most powerful of thesé three, is prayer,” says St. Bernard. This saying of St. Bernard is a commentary on the declaration of the apostles: “As for us, we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6. 4). They looked upon prayer as being of greater importance than preaching, and as being an indispensable preparation for fruitful preaching.

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself informs us that in importance prayer holds the first place, for “ the harvest is great, and the laborers are few” (Mat. 9. 37). But how can this state of things be remedied? The only remedy He gives is “ prayer.” “ Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He send laborers into the harvest”’ (v. 38). If the mere supplication of a holy soul is a more powerful means of remedying the want of laborers, than any other, it follows that the fruitfulness of the zealous apostolic laborer depends principally on his being a man of prayer.

The first requisite in an apostolic laborer is “Prayer.”. The next is “to preach, to labor.” Pope Pius X in his Encyclical of June 11, 1905, to the Bishops of Italy, says: “ To restore all things in Christ by the apostolate, divine grace is indispensable, and the apostle receives it only under the condition of being united to Christ. Jt ts only after forming Jesus Christ in ourselves, that we shall be easily able to restore Him to the family and to society. All those who participate in the apostolate, must therefore possess genuine piety.”

What we assert of prayer is to be applied to all the other elements of the interior life, such as sufferings, that is, all that is interiorly or exteriorly painful to nature. Some men suffer as pagans, others as reprobates, and others again as saints. To suffer truly with Christ, we must suffer as saints, and then our suffering will profit us personally, and will be capable of applying to men’s souls the mystery of the Passion; and we may then truly say with St. Paul: “I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His body, which is the Church” (Col. 1. 24). These words of St. Paul are explained by St. Augustine as follows: .“ The sufferings of Christ were complete, but in our (divine) Head only; but in His mystical members they are still incomplete.” Christ suffered, first, as our Head; and now is the turn of His mystical body to suffer. Every priest, every apostolic laborer can say: “ I am a member of Christ, and that which is wanting to the sufferings of Christ, I must endeavor to complete by my sufferings for the Church, His mystical body.” According to Father Faber the fecundity of the apostolic works may be ascribed to the union of the sacrifices of the evangelical laborers to the Sacrifice of the Cross, and thereby to their participation in the efficacy of the blood of Christ shed on Calvary.

2. The interior life enables the apostolic laborer to sanctify others by his good example. * In the Sermon on the Mount our divine Saviour says to His apostles: “ You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world” (Mat. 5. 13, 14). Weare the salt of the earth in proportion to our holiness; but “if the salt lose its savor,’ of what use is it? It is only fit to be cast out into the way and trampled upon. But the pious apostolic laborer is truly the salt of the earth, a real agent of preservation from the corruption of human society. He is a shining light in the night of error for the brightness of his example, more than his preaching, will dispel the darkness accumulated by the spirit of the world, and cause the ideal of true happiness, which Jesus Christ traced in the Eight Beatitudes, to reign in the hearts of the objects of his labor. That which is most capable to induce the faithful to lead a truly Christian life is precisely the virtue of him who has to teach it. On the other hand, his weaknesses turn away men from God. “ Through you the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ” (Rom. 2. 24). Wherefore the apostolic laborer should on every occasion show the lighted torch of his good example rather than regale men with fine speeches, that is, he should take great care to practise what he preaches.

It has been aptly remarked that a physician can take proper care of the health of his patients, and cure them, even if he is ill himself; but to succeed in curing souls, we should have a healthy soul, for in this matter the spiritual physician must impart something of himself, at least by his example. Men have the right to be exacting from him who pretends to reform them, and they soon discern if the reformer’s actions agree with his teaching, or if his preaching is only deceptive speech.

How powerful, for instance, is the priest’s preaching on prayer, if the people often witness him communing with our divine Saviour in the tabernacle! How persuasive he will be when preaching on avoiding idleness, on doing penance, if he is always usefully employed and mortified! And if he is ever kind, charitable to all, even to the poor and the children, as a true imitator of Jesus Christ, how » deeply will his exhortations sink in the hearts of his hearers, “‘ whose pattern he is”’ (I Pet. 5. 3).

The teacher who is not an interior man considers he has done his duty, if he merely hears and explains the lessons of his pupils. If he were an interior man, a saying escaping from his heart, an expressive gesture or look, his very demeanor, his very manner of making the sign of the cross, of reciting the prayers before and at the end of class or school, might produce as good an impression as a good sermon!

A Sister in a hospital, in an asylum, or other institution, possesses a power and an efficacious means of doing much good, without transgressing the limits of duty; for she can inspire in the hearts of those intrusted to her care the love of Jesus Christ and His Church.

The Christian religion has been propagated, not so much: by long and frequent discussions and learned explanations, as by the works of a truly Christian life of the apostolic men and of the faithful, a life so contrary to the worldly spirit of self-— ishness and sensuality. If now the Catholics, or, at least, all the apostolic laborers, were as holy as the early Christians, how irresistible would their apostolate be among our modern pagans and the sects which are so prejudiced against our holy Church and her doctrine!

O external radiation of an interior soul united to God, how powerful art thou! It was the sight of the Ven. Father Passerat, C.SS.R., saying Mass so devoutly, that drew Father Desurmont to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which he was destined to illustrate and benefit so greatly. The faithful possess an intuition of holiness, which nothing can deceive, for they flock from all sides to obscure men of God, as we see in the case of St. Clement Hofbauer, C.SS.R., the BI. Curé d’Ars and many others,

It is to the apostolic workers especially, that Jesus Christ says: “So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Mat. 5. 10), by imitating them. St. Paul addresses the admonition to them also: “In all things show thyself an example of good works” (Tit. 2. 7); “ Be thou an example of the faithful in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in chastity” (I Tim. 4. 12); “ The things which you have seen in me, these do ye” (Phil. 4. 9); “ Be followers of me, as I also am of Christ (I Cor. 11. 1). We should be able to challenge our adversaries as Christ did the pharisees: “Which of you shall convince Me of sin” (John 8. 46), for we are called to imitate Him: “ Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1.1). Therefore it behooves the apostolic laborer to follow St. Paul’s admonition: “‘ Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed” (2 Tim. 2. 15).

Pope Leo XIII (Encyc. 8 Sept. 1899) says: “ Above all, very dear sons, bear in mind that the indispensable condition of true zeal and the best pledge of success is purity and holiness of life.” And Pope Pius X says likewise: “ All who are devoted to Catholic works should be men of such a spotless life, as to be fit to serve as an efficacious example to all men.”

3. The interior life produces in the apostolic laborer an efficacious supernatural radiation. One of the most serious obstacles to the conversion of men is that God is “a hidden God” (Is. 45. 15). Nevertheless, God, by an effect of His goodness, discloses Himself to men through His saints and through saintly souls. Through such persons the supernatural pierces and enables the faithful to perceive “ something of the mystery of God.” May it not be the brightness of sanctity, the splendor of the divine influx, what the theologians call sanctifying grace, or better still the result of the ineffable presence the Holy Ghost dwelling in holy souls? In fact, this divine presence spiritualizes such souls still more. Just as the sun’s rays passing through a crystal vase renders it still more sparkling, so also the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in very holy souls renders them more luminous, and enables them to spread grace and charity around them.

The manifestation of the Divine, which was per- ceivable in all the actions and motions and even in the sleep of the Man-God, is, in some degree, to be perceivable also in persons leading a very intense interior life. The wonderful conversions wrought by certain saints, through the renown of their virtue, the numerous aspirants to perfect life, that flocked from diverse places seeking admission into their communities, proclaimed in an evident manner the secret power of the silent apostolate. The sanctity of the Abbot St. Antony attracted the numerous monks that peopled’ the Egyptian deserts; the sanctity of St. Benedict drew together the vast army of Benedictines who civilized Europe; that of St. Bernard exercised an unparalleled influence over monarchs and peoples; St. Vincent Ferrer’s holiness aroused an indescribable enthusiasm wherever he went and the conversion of immense multitudes; and the holiness of St. Ignatius enlists in the service of the Church an army of defenders and apostles like St. Francis Xavier, who by his labors and virtues conquered to Christ and His Church more than a million of pagans. These and other prodigies can be explained only by the power of God shining through the holy life of His apostolic men.

It is a misfortune for important apostolic works when there is a lack of men of interior life engaged therein, for then the supernatural agency is as if enchained and powerless, and gradually the religious spirit will decline in that region, and the wicked will possess more power to do harm.

Although St. John Baptist performed no miracle (John 10. 41), multitudes were attracted to him. The voice of the Bl. Curé d’ Ars was too weak to be heard by the crowds around him. Although they were unable to understand what he said, they could see him, and the very sight of him subdued them and converted them. A lawyer returning from Ars, being asked what had struck him the most, replied: “I have seen God in a man.”

This reminds us of an apt comparison. A person standing on an insulated stool and holding a wire connected with an electric machine, becomes charged with electricity, if he is touched by a person standing by, there is an electric spark emitted from him, which produces a shock on the one who touches him. In like manner the interior man is united to or connected with God, and so filled with His spirit, that all who come in contact with him, are touched, as it were, by the spirit of God dwelling in him, so that we may say of the interior man what the evangelist says of our divine Saviour:

“ All the multitude sought to touch Him, for virtue went out from Him” (Luke 6. 19). The words and acts of the interior life are as the outflow of that latent and supreme power for removing and overthrowing obstacles and effecting conversions, or increasing fervor. The more deeply rooted the theological virtues are in a heart, the more their outflow promotes their. birth in the souls of others.

By his interior life the apostolic laborer radiates Faith. The presence of God in him is manifest to those who hear him. Like St. Bernard, he isolates himself and constructs for himself an interior solitude, in which he enjoys the company of a mysterious and loved Guest, with whom he communes ‘every moment, who inspires his words, counsels and directions. Men feel convinced that he is supported and guided by Him, and that his words are but the faithful echo of those of his interior Guest, and that he, therefore, speaks “as the words of God” (I Pet. 4. 11). It is the “Divine Word” teaching, speaking by His creature, so that he may, like Jesus Christ, say: “ The words that I speak to you, I speak not of Myself” (John 14. 10). The influence of the words of an interior man, of a man of God, is far more potent than that of one who lacks the interior spirit. The latter may interest and charm, but is unable of itself to lead to a supernatural faith or cause men “to live by faith.”

Never before has there been so much preaching,

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• so many arguments and explanations, so many fine — treatises on faith, and, we regret to say it, never | before has there been less “ living by faith.” Many catechists seem to consider the act of faith only as an act of the intellect, although it pertains also to the will. They forget that to have faith is a supernatural gift, and that between perceiving the motives of credibility and the act of faith itself, there is an immense distance, which can be filled only by God together with the good will of the person

| taught. To fill up this void the holiness of the — teacher reflecting the divine light contributes not a little influence in moving the will of the person taught.

The interior life of the apostolic laborer radiates Hope. Being firmly convinced by faith, that true happiness can be found only in God alone, he is able to speak so sweetly and consolingly of heaven and its joys and rewards, and thereby induce those afflicted with trials and sufferings to bear them cheerfully, especially after they have received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. How lively and penetrating are the words of consolation from one who can truly apply to himself these words of St. Paul: “Our conversation is in heaven” (Phil. 3. 20). Others may make fine literary and poetic descriptions of the heavenly rewards, but their words will produce no practical results similar to those of the words of an interior man, for the latter will encourage the sorely tried and the despondent to bear their heavy crosses, for God’s sake, with resignation and even cheerfully!

The interior apostolic worker radiates Charity. All who really wish to sanctify themselves, desire above jall to possess charity, for “the abiding in Jesus and of Jesus in oneself ” is the object of every interior man. If preaching in missions and retreats on the eternal truths is indispensable and salutary, the preaching on the love of Jesus for us produces generally in us a more salutary and lasting impression. If the preacher is himself an interior man and truly loves God, his words will convert his hearers. When there is question of withdrawing a soul from sin or raising it from fervor to perfection, the love of Jesus is the incomparable lever. The Christian wallowing in the mire of evil habits, but still capable of recognizing in others their ardent love of God and the void and deception of earthly loves, commences to experience disgust for the latter. He already appreciates to some extent the immense love of Jesus for men and the possibility of loving Him in return with a love above all love for creatures. Through the exhortations of an interior apostolic laborer, such a sinner will be induced to make all the sacrifices necessary to cause the love of Jesus to reign in his heart.

The interior apostolic man radiates Kindness. “ A zeal that is not kind,” says St. Francis de Sales, “proceeds from a false charity.” By making mental prayer on Him, whom the Church invokes as the “ Ocean of Goodness,” we can succeed in reforming and transforming ourselves, however selfish and harsh we may naturally be, for our defects would gradually be corrected with the divine assistance. By nourishing ourselves frequently with the sacred flesh of Him, in whom “ appeared the goodness and kindness of God” (Tit. 3. 4), and who is “the image of the Father’s Goodness” (Wisd. 7. 6), we participate in the divine goodness and kindness, and experience the need of being like Him —

“ diffusive.” The oftener our heart is united to Jesus Christ, the more it participates in His Goodness, the principal quality of His divine-human Heart. The apostolic man, being transfigured, as it were, by divine love, his words and actions will bear the seal of compassionate benevolence and loving kindness towards the sinful and the lowly, and with an ever-increasing generosity and devotedness, he will joyfully and magnanimously, sacrifice himself for the welfare of his fellow-men, without desire of popularity, without subtile selfishness.

“ God has willed,” says Lacordaire, “‘ that we can do good to men only through love, and that without love we cannot enlighten them or inspire them with the love of virtue.” In fact, man glories in resisting compulsion, and in making objections to those who always pretend to convince him. But since it is not humiliating to yield to kindness, man easily yields to kind ways. How many conversions from error, from a sinful life, are brought about by the Sisters without discussions, and only through their indefatigable devotedness and even heroic kindness! Witnessing such great charity and devotedness, the infidel, the non-Catholic, the hardened sinner cannot forbear exclaiming in his heart: “God is there! for I see Him such as He is called — The Good God!” God must be good indeed, since communing with Him enables interior persons to suppress all self-love and natural repugnances. ‘“‘ Kindness,” says Father Faber, “ is the overflowing of self upon others. We put others in the place of self. We treat them as we should wish to be treated ourselves. Kindness adds sweetness to every thing. It is a divine, rather than a human thing, and it is human, because it springs from the soul of man just at the point, where the , divine image was graven deepest.” Elsewhere Father Faber remarks that “it is always the contemplative saints, who have loved sinners even more than the active saints who devoted their whole life in laboring for their conversion.” And this explains why an apostolic laborer should be an interior man.

“Whether you encourage or strive to deter,” says St. Vincent Ferrer, “ have a mother’s heart, show to all the bowels of a tender charity, and let the sinner perceive that charity inspires your every word. If you wish to benefit souls, first have recourse to God, that He may pour into your heart charity, the abridgment of all virtues, so that it may enable you to obtain your object.” There is an infinite distance between natural kindness, which is only a fruit of one’s temperament, and the supernatural kindness of the soul of the apostolic man. The former may inspire respect, and even sometimes direct to him the love due to God, but it cannot induce a man, for God’s sake, to make the sacrifices necessary to return to God. Such an effect can be the outcome only of a kindness flowing from intimacy with Jesus Christ, that is, from the interior life. Hence the interior apostolic man may sometimes do things, that even very good persons would disapprove. A certain layman, conversing one day with Pope Pius X, applied some very bitter epithets to an enemy of the Church. ‘ My son,” said the Pope, ‘‘ I do not approve your language. As a penance, listen to this anecdote. A priest I know well, when he first came to his parish, thought it his duty to visit every family in the place, not only Catholics, but also Jews, Protestants and freemasons, and he announced from the pulpit that he would do the same every year. This caused a great agitation among the neighboring priests, and they complained of it to the bishop. The priest was summoned by the bishop and was severely repri- manded. The priest modestly replied: ‘ Monsignor, in the Gospel Jesus Christ commands the shepherd to bring all the sheep to the fold (John 10. 16); how can I do this, if I do not go to seek them? Moreover, in doing so I do not yield any principle, for I merely show my interest and charity to every soul, even the stray ones, that God has entrusted to me. I have announced these visits from the pulpit; if you insist on my giving them up, please give me the order in writing, so that I may know that I am guided by your orders in giving up my intended visits.’ Moved by the correctness of the priest’s views, the bishop did not insist. The sequel showed that the priest was right, for some of the stray sheep were converted, and all the others ever after showed great respect for our holy religion. We must be firm and unwavering with regard to principles, but we should extend our charity to all men, even to the worst enemies of the Church.” : The interior man radiates Humility. The humility of Jesus Christ, as well as His meekness : and kindness, attracted multitudes to Him. “ With-— out Me,” He says to us, “you can do nothing” — (John 15. 5). Having been raised to the dignity — of cooperator of Christ, the apostolic man will become the agent of supernatural operations, but under the condition that Jesus shall always be apparent therein. The more the apostolic laborer effaces himself, the more will Jesus manifest Himself. Without this self-effacement the apostolic man will “plant and water” in vain, and there will be no growth. Genuine humility derives its special charms from Jesus Christ, for it breathes the Divine. The zealous laborer, who effaces himself, in order that Jesus may appear to act, may say with St. John Baptist: “It behooveth that He should increase, and that I should decrease ” (John 3. 30). Such a one will receive from Jesus the gift of winning always more and more hearts.

Humility is one of the most powerful agents in saving souls. “‘ Believe me,” avers St. Vincent de Paul to his priests, “ we shall never be fit to do the work of God, if we are not persuaded that, of ourselves, we are more apt to spoil than to succeed. Arrogant ways, airs of self-sufficiency are often the causes of failures in the works of the apostolate. The up-to-date Christian means to preserve his independence. He will obey no one but God; before obeying God’s minister he must first be so convinced of his duty to do so, as if he beheld God’s signature to His minister’s words. Hence in his ministry the ‘apostolic man must efface himself by his humility, so that God alone may appear therein and cause his labors to succeed. Hence a certain writer calls the truly humble apostolic laborer “a transparency of God,” for God can be seen, as it were, through the labors of his ministry.

Humility, according to all the masters of the spiritual life, is the foundation of all the moral virtues, and is therefore absolutely necessary to the apostolic man, both for his sanctification and for the success of his labors. God hates the proud, and gives His grace only to the humble. Jesus requires all men, but especially His apostolic men, to learn from Him humility: ‘Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart” (Mat. 11. 29). The apostolic man who is deficient in humility is deficient in the interior life, and will effect but little for his own sanctification and for that of his neighbor.

The apostolic laborer radiates Firmness and Meekness. The saints have often been vehement, especially against error, the contagion of sin and hypocrisy. St. Bernard’s zeal was remarkable for its firmness. But prompted by his interior spirit, he had recourse to firmness only when it was evident that all other means would fail; and after showing a holy indignation and prescribing remedies, repara- tion and requiring pledges and promises, he would, with a maternal kindness, as it were, endeavor to convert those whom his conscience urged him to combat. Although he condemned without pity the trors of Abelard, he, after refuting and reducing him to silence, treated him so kindly as to make him his friend. When principles were not at stake, ernard did all in his power to prevent harsh measures. When he heard of the persecution of he Jews in Germany, he at once left his convent ‘o preach a crusade of peace, and showed that the mnly weapons to be used against the Jews, are moral yersuasion, good example and devotedness.

In the Chablais where Protestantism had _ first en introduced by force of arms, and had, in the ourse of time become deeply rooted, and all eforts to convert the inhabitants had failed, St. “rancis de Sales undertook the difficult task. Their inisters, hearing of this, planned to kill him. But rancis, refusing the protection of the secular arm, ent there meek, humble and self-sacrificing. The

Calvinists beholding in him a man wholly unselfish and resplendent, as it were, with charity towards God and men, were full of admiration, flocked to hear him, and the result was that in a few years Francis had brought back into the Church the great majority of the people. But the meek Francis, when finding it necessary, did not hesitate to invoke the power of the secular arm to confirm the fruits of his words of meekness and of his heroic devoted-_ ness. In this he, like other saints, imitated the : example of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel we perceive our divine Saviour forgiving with the greatest kindness the penitent Magdalen and the woman taken in adultery and the good thief; He was a friend to Zacheus; the publicans gathered around Him and He received them and ate with them; He was gentle and kind to the sick, the afflicted, the poor and little children. And yet the Incarnate Meekness and Kindness uses a whip to drive the venders out of the temple. And how strong and severe are his expressions when alluding to Herod and denouncing the vices and hypocrisy of the scribes and pharisees!

Whenever principles are not at stake, it is meekness that should predominate in the evangelical laborer. “We can catch more flies with a little honey,” remarks St. Francis de Sales, “ than with a barrel of vinegar.” When the disciples, angered at being refused hospitality, wished to call down fire from heaven to destroy the town, our Lord rebuked them, saying: “ Ye know not of what spirit you are” (Luke 9. 55). A certain French bishop, well known for his strict adherence to principles, not long ago went to console the families in his episcopal city that were mourning over their sons that had been killed in battle in the present war. One of these families was that of a strict Calvinist, known for his great aversion to Catholics, and the bishop’s kind sympathetic words so deeply moved him, that he exclaimed: “Is it possible that a bishop, so noble by birth and so distinguished for his learning, should come, notwithstanding the difference of our religions, to my poor dwelling to sympathize with me and console me?” This fact caused him to entertain kinder disposition towards the Catholic Church and Catholics.

The interior man radiates Mortification. The spirit of mortification is necessary to fecundate the labors of the apostolic man. All is resumed in the Cross; and so long as we have not caused the mystery of the Cross to penetrate souls, we have only grazed them. But who can prevail upon weak men to accept a mystery so repugnant to man’s natural horror of suffering? Only he who can say with St. Paul: “ With Christ I am nailed to the cross” (Gal. 2. 19). They can, “ who always bear about in their bodies the mortification of Jesus Christ, so that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in their bodies” (II Cor. 4. 10). To mortify oneself is to reproduce what St. Paul says of Jesus: “ Christ did not please Himself” (Rom. 15. 3), and to renounce oneself, to love what does not please us, to aspire to be without ceasing an immolated victim. But this cannot be attained except by leading an interior life. St. Francis of Assisi, walking in silence with eyes cast down, preached with fruit by his very appearance the mystery of the Cross. An unmortified man, were he as eloquent as St. John Chrysostom or Bossuet, would make no impression on men, were he to act in like manner. The world is so thoroughly impregnated with the love of pleasure and enjoyment, that no merely natural ability or eloquence can conquer it; only the apostolic man can, by his spirit of mortification and detachment, bring the Passion home to men. St. Paul would apply the epithet “ enemies of the Cross of Christ” (Phil. 3. 18), to many Christians who behold, in the Christian religion, only exterior practices handed down by tradition, and periodically performed with respect, but without reference to the amendment of life, to combating the passions, or leading a life conformable to the spirit of the Gospel. Of these Jesus can say, “‘ This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Mat. 15.8).

“Enemies of the Cross of Christ” are the effeminate Christians who regard all the comforts of life as indispensable, who follow all the fashions of the world, enjoy inordinate pleasures, and are shocked by this saying of Jesus Christ: ‘ Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13, 3, 5); to them the Cross is a scandal (I Cor, 1. 23). And this is the kind of Christians an apostolic laborer devoid of interior life is apt to produce!

Our divine Saviour desires only our heart. It was to win it, to possess our will and to encourage us to follow Him on the way of self-denial, that He came on earth to be our Model and to die for us. The apostolic man, whose life is based on this teaching of Jesus, “ Let him deny himself” (Mat.

16. 24), will alone be able to inspire to men the self-denial necessary to every true Christian. But the apostolic man, who follows Jesus Christ only from afar, will fail in attempting to inspire self-denial to others, for “no one can give what he has not,” as the saying is. Only he who possesses the practical science of Jesus Crucified can oppose a strong dyke against the world’s constant seeking after wealth, ease and comfort, pleasure, enjoyment and the gratification of the passions, which threaten to submerge all things and ruin families and nations.

To preach Jesus Christ crucified was the summary of St. Paul’s apostolate, and because he lived according to his preaching, he was enabled to cause men to relish “the mystery of the Cross,’’ and to live in accordance with it. Every apostolic laborer should, by his interior life, be able to fathom this mystery, and induce men to live by its teachings. Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XV, in his Encyclical of Nov. 1, 1914, exhorts the apostolic laborers to plough more deeply (in cultivating the Lord’s vineyard), in order to cut away from men’s souls the love of ease, comfort and pleasure, and all selfishness and frivolity, and prevent them from forgetting the goods of eternity. This is an appeal to the interior life of the ministers of the “ Crucified.”

4. The interior life endows the evangelical laborer with true eloquence. We mean the eloquence capable of converting souls and leading them to virtue. In the Office of St. John the Evangelist we read these words: “ Leaning on the Lord’s breast, he drank from the fountain flowing from the sacred breast. of the Lord, and he spread the grace of the Divine Word over the whole earth.” What a deep lesson in these words for those who preach, teach catechism, or have to perform some apostolic work! By these words the Church indicates to them the source of true eloquence. The interior apostolic men who “ draw the waters (of grace) from the Saviour’s fountains (His Sacred Heart) ” (Is. 12. 3), possess true eloquence, for they speak heavenly to earth, enlighten, move, console, strengthen their hearers. The apostolic man who relies on his mental prayer, his Mass, his holy Communion, his Visit to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin for the success of his apostolate, will possess an eloquence that will bear fruit, and he who does not so rely will be but “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal” (I Cor.

5. 1), for he is not a fit channel of that love which renders the eloquence of the friends of God irresistible. “‘ As to those who are not wont to commune with God,” said Pope Pius X in his exhortation of Aug. 4, 1908, to the Catholic Clergy, “ when they speak of Him to men or impart directions for a Christian life, they lack entirely the divine inspiration, so that the word of God seems to be almost dead in them. Their speech, however brilliant for its prudence and (natural) eloquence, does not at all represent the language of the Good Shepherd, which the sheep willingly listen to; it makes only a noise and melts away into nothingness.” Let us again bear in mind, that only the Holy Ghost, the Principle of all spiritual fecundity, effects conversions, and imparts the graces which enable men to flee sin and practise virtue. The word of the evangelical laborer, when penetrated by the unction of the Holy Spirit, becomes a living channel of fecundation for souls. Before Pentecost the preaching of the apostles had but little result. After their retreat of ten days wholly spent in the exercises of the interior life, the Holy Ghost came down and, as it were, took possession of them and transformed them. Their first essays in preaching were truly iraculous draughts. The same is the case with yvangelical sowers; they plant and water with great ficacy, and the Holy Ghost always gives the inease. Their preaching is both the sowing of the ed and the rain fecundating it; and the sun which iveth the increase is never wanting.

The apostolic man derives his eloquence from his fe of union with Christ through prayer and the istody of his heart, and also from Holy Scripture, hich he studies diligently, and of which he is very ond. Every word of God to man, every word rom the lips of Jesus is as a diamond to him. He ever opens Scripture until he has prayed the Holy host to enlighten him. Watch with how great an nction he ‘quotes the word of God when preaching, nd what a difference between the light he draws rom it and the learned or ingenuous applications 1ade therefrom by the mere light of human reason! ‘he former exhibits the living truth capable of enightening and imparting life to the hearers, and sading them to virtue. But the latter may please nd cause admiration without, however, leading to alvation.

The interior life, to be complete, requires a ender devotion to Mary Immaculate, for she is the channel of grace, and especially of all choice graces. The apostolic man, who is accustomed to have constant recourse to the Mother of the Author of grace, exerts a powerful influence in his labors, not only when he speaks of her grandeur, privileges and unlimited power with God, and of her love for men, especially for poor sinners, but also when he seeks to inspire his hearers with a tender devotion to her and great confidence in her perpetual help in all wants, especially in temptation and at the hour of death.

5. The interior apostolic man produces in souls deep and lasting results. As we have seen, only an interior laborer can produce interior men. Hence to produce permanent or lasting effects, we must seek to make interior men of those for whom we labor. Fervor may, at first, be very great in a Sodality, in a religious community or in a religious order, but if the members are not interior men, that fervor will not last, but will soon begin to diminish, until it becomes extinct. On the other hand, associations, whose members are interior men, will live for centuries in their first fervor and always prove exemplary and useful. We will not allude here to pious associations very numerous and fer- vent at first, that in a few years gradually dwindled down to a few members. But there are still in existence in France prosperous works, or associations, founded before the old French Revolution by priests who lacked all the natural qualities calculated to insure success, and had only their genuine piety and ardent zeal for the glory of God to recommend them. One of these works, or associations, at Marseilles, cared for students and workmen; its founder, the Abbé Allemand, required of all the young members as holy a life as was led by the early Christians; and ever since the youthful apostles, for so we may call them, have continued and are still doing their grand work and have given to the Church numerous bishops, priests, religious and missionaries, and to society thousands of exemplary and useful fathers of families, who are the support of the Church and ornaments in every walk of life.

An example, among many, will show the difference between the result of the work of an interior apostolic laborer and that of the work of one apparently more popular who was not an interior man, or who was far less so than the first. A certain holy religious, deceased not many years ago, but whose life has been published, was director of a Congrega- — tion of very capable Catechist Sisters. This interior man said one day to the Superior of one of the convents: “ Methinks it would be well for Sister X. to cease teaching catechism for a whole year at least.” “But Rev. Father,” replied Mother Superior, “ you seem not to know, that she is our best teacher and directress. The children come in crowds from all parts of the city, being attracted to the catechism classes by her wonderful ability in teaching and managing them. If we should remove her, most of the little boys would cease attending the catechism lessons.” ‘I have assisted at some of her lessons,” replied the priest; “she indeed dazzles and entertains the children, but in too human a manner. She will, after spending another year in the Novitate, be better grounded in the interior life, and will be also better able to sanctify her soul and the souls of the children by her zeal and talents. But she is at present actually an obstacle to the direct action of our Lord on the souls of the children preparing for their first holy Communion. But as I see my proposition does not please you, I will agree on a compromise. I know Sister N. as a very interior soul, though not very talented. Ask your

Superior General to send her to you for a time; and at first let Sister X. start the Catechism class for a quarter of an hour, just to calm your fears concerning the desertion of the children; and later on there will be no need of her making her appearnee at all. You shall then see that the children will pray better and sing more devoutly, for their recollection and docility will be far more satisactory.” Sister N. came and two weeks later Sister N. alone taught the children catechism, and the number of children attending the class con- ‘inued to increase, and it was evident that it was esus that was teaching them through her, for by aer looks, her modesty, meekness and kindness, and y the way she pronounced the Saviour’s name and nade the sign of the cross, she made a deep and reverential impression on the children. Sister X. ad shown great talent in explaining and making nteresting subjects usually dry to children. But ister N. did more than prepare well her explanaions and adapt them to the capacity of the children; or what predominated in her teaching was the uncion which accompanied all she said and did. And is by the unction that souls come into a real conct with Jesus Christ. In Sister N.’s classes there was far less noisy demonstration and none of that fascination that the lecture of some great explorer or weird story teller would provoke. On the other hand, there was an atmosphere of recollection, for the boys behaved in the classroom as well as if they were in church during divine service, and no human means were used to prevent dissipation of mind or signs of weariness. The influence hovering over the class was that of Jesus, for an interior person explaining the catechism is like the heavenly tones” of a musical instrument played by Jesus Himself, and no human art, however marvellous, is comparable to the action of Jesus on souls.

6. Through the Holy Eucharist the interior life resumes all the fecundity of the Apostolate. “ The end of the Incarnation and of every apostolate,” says St. Augustine, “is to render human nature divine.” “The only-begotten Son of God,” says St. Thomas, “ wishing to make us partakers of His divine nature, assumed our human nature, in order that, having become man, He might make men gods.” It is in the Eucharistic life, that is, in the solid interior life nourished in the Divine Banquet, that the apostolic man assimilates the divine life, so to speak, for our divine Saviour declares: “ Ex- cept you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you cannot have life in you” (John 6. 54). The eucharistic life is the life of Jesus in us, not only by the indispensable state of grace, but by the superabundance of its action in us, for Jesus says: ‘‘I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly’ (John ro. to). If the apostolic man should over abound in divine life, that he may impart it to the faithful, and if he finds it so abundantly only in the Blessed Eucharist, how can he expect fruits from his labor, unless through the Eucharist? We cannot meditate on the consequences of the dogma of the Real Presence, of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and holy Communion, without being led to the conclusion that our divine Saviour instituted this Sacrament, as the focus of all the activity and devotedness of every apostolate truly useful to the Church. If the whole Redemption gravitates around Calvary, all the graces of this mystery flow from the altar. And the apostolic laborer who does not live thereby, possesses only a lifeless speech incapable of imparting salvation, since it does not emanate from a heart sufficiently impregnated with the redeeming blood of the Saviour.

Jesus Christ had a special end in view when, after — the Last Supper, He so emphatically and so pre-— cisely declared by the parable of the vine and its branches, the inefficacy of an action which is not animated by the interior spirit. “As the branch cannot of itself bear fruit, so also neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Then to show the power of an apostolic man united to Him by his interior life, He adds: “ He that abideth in Me and I in him, he bringeth forth much fruit ” (John 15. 4, 5). The interior man, and he only, bears much fruit, for it is only through such a one that God acts powerfully; hence St. Athanasius exclaims: “ Through the flesh of Jesus Christ we have become (as) gods.” When the preacher or catechist pre-— serves in himself the warmth of the divine blood, — when his heart is enkindled with the fire that con- — sumes the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, how living, ardent and inflamed are his words and capable of — communicating his ardor to his hearers, for through — holy Communion his words become as “ Christ-— bearers” to others! When Satan retains souls in ignorance, when that proud and unclean spirit strives to fill souls with pride, in order to drown them in the mire of vice, the Blessed Eucharist, the © life of the interior man, enables the apostolic man to triumph in himself and others over the enemy of salvation.

Love is perfected by the Eucharist. This loving “Memorial of the Passion” re-enkindles in the soul of the apostolic man the fire of divine love, when it is in danger of going out, and enables him by the consideration of Gethsemani, the Pretorium and Calvary, to speak to the suffering and afflicted in words, that will enable them to participate in the consolations derived from the thought of Jesus crucified. Like the saints the apostolic man should frequently visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to seek light and strength, to recommend to Him his labors for souls. He will make progress in the interior life only in proportion to his love of the Eucharist and his zeal in inspiring it to those entrusted to his charge. Pope Pius X, the Pope of frequent and even daily Communion, chose as his motto “ to reestablish all things in Christ” (Eph. 1. 10), and judged that the chief means of ensuring its success is the grafting of the Eucharistic life in both the clergy and the faithful. The ravages in the past of unbelief, indifference and crime, in spite of so many able and zealous apostolic workers, can be attributed in great part to the insufficiency of their Eucharistic life. Let us, therefore, we apostolic — laborers, show our ardent love for Jesus in the Eucharist, often visit Him and do all in our power to promote among the faithful daily attendance at holy Mass, and frequent and even daily Communion. Let us take to heart these words of St. Francis of © Assisi: “ Mental prayer is the source of grace. Preaching is the channel for distributing the grace — we have received from heaven. The ministers of the Word of God have been chosen by Him to carry to all nations what they themselves have learnt and gathered from the Lord, especially when Br- FORE THE TABERNACLE.” Let us follow the saint’s directions, and we shall be able to contribute our share towards “ reestablishing all things in Christ.”