Letters 70–84

Letter 70. To a Lady Living in the World.1 on the Desire For Knowledge

LIVE quietly from day to day, Mademoiselle, without thinking about the future. Perhaps there may not be a future for you. Even the present is not really yours, and you must only use it as is consistent with the Will of God, to Whom it actually belongs. Go on with the exterior works you have in hand, since you find them easy and attractive; keep your rule diligently, in order to avoid dissipation and the consequences of your exceeding liveliness. Above all, use each present moment faithfully,— that will bring you all needful grace.

It is not enough to practise detachment, you must become small in your own conceits.2 By detachment we only renounce external things; by this lowering our mental stature we renounce self. By it we renounce all lofty aims. There is a lofty aim after knowledge and good-

1 This lady appears to have been subject to the restraint of living in the house of an aged relative; and ultimately to have joined a community. The letters are not dated.

2 Fenelon's word, — a very favourite one with him, is "s'apetisser: " we have no English word precisely corresponding, but it bears the same meaning as that of S. John iii. 30, " He must increase, but I must decrease. "

ness which may be more dangerous than the loftiest of worldly fortune, because it is less overt. We need to be lowly in all things, not reckoning on anything of our own, least of all on our own courage and virtue. You reckon overmuch upon your courage, your disinterested uprightness. A child has nothing really its own, no power of discrimination, — it treats a diamond as it would an apple. Do you be like a child. Count nothing as yours. Forget yourself. Yield on all sides; let the least be greater than you.

Pray with your whole heart, with simplicity, out of pure affection, not with your intellect, like a person holding an argument

The real learning you need is stripping off self, thorough recollection, silence of heart before God, renunciation of intellect, a taste for lowliness, obscurity, helplessness, and unimportance. This is an ignorance which alone can teach all the truths which no knowledge can impart, or at least most superficially.

Letter 71. Dangers of Human Applause

M.'s good health and your present tranquillity rejoice me. Nevertheless I am somewhat fearful lest self-love may too keenly relish this ease, so different to the discomfort you have experienced. Contradiction and other humiliating circumstances are far more profitable than success. You know that your troubles made you find out what you never knew before about yourself; and I am afraid lest the authority, the success and admiration which are easily acquired among second class people in the country, should foster your imperious temper, and make you self-satisfied as you were before. Such selfsatisfaction will mar the best ordered life, because it is incompatible with humility.

We can only be humble so long as we give heed to all our own infirmities. The consciousness of these should be predominant; the soul should feel burdened by them, groan under them, and that groaning should be as a perpetual prayer to be set free from "the bondage of corruption," and admitted into the " glorious liberty of the children of God: " overwhelmed by its own faults, the soul should look for no deliverance save from the great Mercy of Jesus Christ. Woe to the soul which is selfsatisfied, which treats God's Gifts as its own merits, and forgets what is due to Him!

Your remedy for dissipation and dryness will be to set apart regular seasons for reading and prayer; only to mix yourself up in outward matters when it is really necessary; and to attend more to softening the harshness of your judgment, to restraining your temper, and

1|oro to bear Affronts humbling your mind, than to upholding your opinion even when it is right; and finally, to humble yourself, whenever you find that an undue warmth concerning the affairs of others has led you to forget the one allimportant matter to yourself, Eternity. " Learn of Me," Jesus Christ says to you; " for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." ' Be sure that grace, inward peace, and the Blessing of the Holy Spirit will be with you, if you can maintain a gentle humility amid all your external perplexities.

Letter 72. How to Bear Affronts

I AM touched by your troubles, but I can only pity you, and ask God to comfort you. You greatly need that He should impart His Holy Spirit to guide you in your difficulties, and to moderate your natural vehemence under circumstances so calculated to excite it As to... I think you should speak of that to none save God in prayer on behalf of the person who insulted you. I have often fancied that I saw you to be very sensitive on that point; and God always touches us in our weak place. Men are not killed by a blow on the extremities — the nails or hair, — but by an injury to the vital parts, which 1 Matt. xi. 29.

are called noble. When God purposes to make us die to self, He always touches that which is the very essence of our life, — He adapts our cross to each. Let yourself be humbled; calm and silence under humiliation are a great benefit to the soul. One is sometimes tempted to talk humility, and it is easy to find plenty of opportunities for so doing, but it is better to be humbly silent. Talkative humility is always suspicious; talk is a certain relief to self-conceit.

Do not get angry about what people say; let them talk while you try to do God's Will. As to the will of men, you could never come to an end of satisfying it, nor is it worth the trouble. Silence, peace, and union with God ought to comfort you under whatever men may falsely say. You must be friendly to them, without counting on their friendship. They come and go; let them go, — they are but as chaff scattered by the wind. Only see God's Hand in what they do; He alone wounds or comforts us through their means. You need all your resolution in your present position, but at the same time your quickness of temper requires checks and impediments. Possess your soul in patience. Frequently recall the Presence of God, so as to calm yourself, to humble and adapt yourself to the little ones. Nothing is really great save lowliness, charity, mistrust of self, detachment from one's own opinion and will.

life of Jle$traint 135

All stiff, harsh goodness is contrary to Jesus Christ: God knows how truly I am yours in Him.

Letter 73. Recollection in a Life of Restraint

I CAN* say no more to you than what I have always said: simply obey your director, without heeding your own likings or opinions. You are fortunate in the guidance of a very pious and enlightened man. For myself, I can only say generally, that you ought, I think, to persevere in setting aside seasons of recollection, otherwise you will become a cross to her whose support you are called to be. You have a terrible inclination for dissipation and foolish complaisance; you like to praise and be praised; you are conscious of a vigour in your intellect and your natural powers which fosters pride. Nothing but recollection can mortify this life of pride, and moderate your intolerable vehemence.

There are two things to be heeded as to your hours of recollection; first, you must never reserve them out of a spirit of contradiction or impatience with M. . . . who is disposed to engross you. Whenever you feel that you are actuated by this unworthy spirit, punish yourself by yielding to her for that day. The other rule is only to set aside such time as is necessary in order to recollect and strengthen your soul; let there be nothing for your own private amusement, or for mere curiosity, which is a great snare to you. And while reserving such time steadily, it should be done quietly and gently.

Let your reading and meditation be simple, less to satisfy your intellect than your heart. Whatever seems to fill the one is merely puffing up; you think to quicken zeal, while really you are quickening pride. It is not a question of much knowledge, but of knowing how to abase yourself and to be as a little child in God's Hand.

As to topics which excite fear, I do not think you need force yourself to approach them. You will often meet very worthy people who urge you to do so, and who tremble themselves because they do not see you tremble; but do not be troubled; follow your own leading quietly, and so long as you are stedfast in recollection and humility be at rest. The fear of offending God is fear enough.

As to a curious spirit even about good books you should repress it; you have found by experience that it harms you, and you should be grateful to God for having taught you this. Under a pretence of seeking information people often foster tastes which feed their selfconceit, and keep up a mental pride very contrary to the Spirit of God. It is by a childlike spirit that you will gain true knowledge, which is that of the

Patience 137 heart, not the knowledge which merely dazzles us from without.

Letter 74. Patiexce Under Contradiction

A HEATED imagination, vehement feeling, a world of argument, and flow of words, are really useless. The practical thing is to act in a spirit of detachment, doing what one can by God's Light, and being content with such success as He gives. Such continuous death to self is a blessed life which but few realise. A single word quietly spoken under such influences will go further, even in worldly matters, than the most eager, bustling exertions. It is the Spirit of God speaking with His Own strength and authority. He enlightens, persuades, touches, edifies. Scarcely anything has been said, but everything has been done. On the contrary, when people let loose their natural excitability, they talk interminably, indulge endless, subtle, superfluous imaginations; they are afraid of not saying and doing enough, — they get warm, excited, — they exhaust themselves without anything being the better for it Your disposition greatly needs such warnings; they are hardly less requisite for your body's sake than for that of your soul; and your doctor and director would be of one mind in this matter.

Let the river flow beneath its bridges; let men be men, that is to say, weak, vain, inconstant, unjust, false, presumptuous. Let the world be the world, in short; and verily you cannot hinder it. Let everybody follow their natural disposition and habits; you cannot remould them, it is easier to let them alone and bear with them. Accustom yourself to put up with unreasonableness and injustice. Abide tranquilly in God's Bosom; He sees all these evils more clearly than you do, yet He suffers them. Be content with doing what little depends upon you well, and let all else be as though it were not. I am very glad to hear that you have some hours set apart: use them neither as a miser nor a prodigal.

Letter 75. Benefits of Looking Death in the Face

IT is a good thing to go down to the gates of death; we see God more closely there, we get accustomed to what must come ere long. One should surely gain self-knowledge by drawing so near to God's Judgment and His Eternal Truth. How great, how all in all He seems; we do indeed bow powerless when we approach Him so closely, and the veil which hides Him is all but lifted! Use this grace for your greater detachment from the world, and still more from yourself; for we cleave to all

Benefit of.suffering 139 outer things for the sake of self, and all other attachments can be traced to that as their ultimate source. Love God, and renounce self for love of Him; do not cling to your own talents or strength; indulge no self-complacency in His Gifts, such as disinterestedness, equity, sincerity, generosity towards others. All these come from God, but they all turn to poison, and simply puff us up directly that we put our secret trust in them. We need to be as nothing in our own eyes, and always to act accordingly; all our lives we need to be hidden, and as it were annihilated, as our Dear Lord hides Himself in the Sacrament of His Love.

Letter 76. The Necessity and Benefit of Suffering

I SYMPATHISE with all your sorrows, but we must carry the Cross of Jesus Christ during this brief life. The time for suffering will soon be past, and that for reigning with the God of Comfort, Who will wipe away every tear with His Own Hand, in Whose Presence all pain and groaning will vanish for ever, will shortly come. While this brief season of trial lasts let us beware of losing anything of the grace of the cross. Be it ours to suffer humbly and quietly. Self-love exaggerates our griefs, and enhances them in the imagination. A cross borne simply, without the ingenious additions of self-consciousness, is half lifted off us. Those who suffer with such loving simplicity are not only happy in spite of this cross, they are happy because of it; for love delights to suffer on behalf of the beloved, and the cross which likens them to their Beloved One is a bond of union which consoles them under its own weight.

Do you bear the heavy burden of a very aged person who can no longer bear her own. The mind becomes weak at so great an age; goodness itself, unless very deeply rooted, seems to grow slack; temper and restlessness acquire all the strength which the mind loses, and theirs is the only activity which remains. Surely this is a most precious cross for you! you must accept it, bear it daily. It involves a veiy absolute self-renunciation both mental and bodily. It is a great blessing, however, that you can have some hours of freedom in which to be at peace in the Dear Lord's Bosom. That is when you must refresh yourself, and gain new strength for your toils. Take care of your health, relieve your mind by intervals of cheerful relaxation and rest. As age advances, less and less must be expected of a person who has no resources; — you must expect little or nothing from her, neither must you expect too much of yourself.

Letter 77. Need of Calming Natural Activity

I AM afraid lest your natural activity should consume you amid the irksome details with which you are surrounded. You cannot take too much pains to subdue your natural temperament by prayer, and by a frequent renewal of God's Presence through the day. A Christian who grows eager over worldly trifles, and who suddenly awakes to the sense of God's Presence amid such eagerness, is like a child whose mother catches him suddenly having lost his temper over a game; he is quite ashamed at being found out. Be it ours to abide tranquilly, fulfilling all outward duties as well, or as little amiss, as we can, while inwardly we are absorbed by Him Who is alone worthy of all our love. Whenever you become conscious of the impulses of your nature, throw them aside, so that grace may possess you wholly. It is well to stop directly that we find nature getting the upper hand. Such fidelity to grace is almost as beneficial to the body as to the soul, — there is no neglect, and yet none of Martha's trouble.

Letter 78. Forbearance to Others

I AM sorry for you, but you must bear on. We are sent into this world only to be purified by mortification of inclinations and self-will. Let self die in you then: you have first-rate opportunities, — it were a pity to lose them! I am as convinced as you are that the daily rule should not be infringed, but you must deal pitifully with the infirmities of others. You can recoup in detail what you lose in the gross. It requires some managemen to deal with fanciful people; if you show plainly all that you want to do you throw them into despair; while, on the other hand, if you give them the least hope of conquering you they will give you no peace until they get their own way. So you must learn at times to slip quietly over certain matters, while abiding absolutely firm as to what is essential.

But remember that real firmness is gentle, humble, and quiet. Anything like sharp, harsh, restless firmness is unworthy of God's work. We are told that Wisdom "sweetly ordereth all things:"' do you the like; and if ever you are betrayed into acting roughly, humble your-

1 Wisd. viii. I.

£he JlcligionjS life 143 self without reserve. Confess that you are often in error as to manner, and in substance keep to your rule. In other respects you cannot be too obliging or too assiduous. There is no manner of reading or prayer which will teach you so much self-renunciation as this subjection, provided that in your more private hours you attain sufficient recollection to make good use thereof, and that the distraction of business does not harden your heart. In a word, make as great a point of recollection as possible, and give all the rest of your time to charity, which is never weary, which endures in all selfforgetfulness, and becomes as a little child for the love of others.

Letter 79. To One Entering the Religious Life. on Calmness of Mind

I PRAY that this new year may be a renewed season of grace and blessing to you. I am not surprised that you do not enjoy recollection as you did in first issuing from a prolonged state of distressing excitement. Everything gets exhausted in time. A naturally lively mind accustomed to activity is sure to languish directly that it is thrown into solitude and comparative indolence. For a great many years you have been inevitably forced into dissipation and external activity, and that made me in the long-run dread this quiet life for you. At first you were upheld by the novice's fervour, to which nothing is hard; you cried out with S. Peter, " It is good for us to be here." But the same Evangelist tells us that S. Peter " knew not what he said," and it is often so with us. In moments of fervour we fancy we can do all things; in counter moments of temptation and depression we think we can do nothing, and that all is lost. In both alike we are mistaken.

The wandering imagination which tries you ought to be no matter of surprise. You brought the elements thereof with you, even when you were so keen after recollection. Natural disposition, habits of life, everything in you tends to activity and energy, — it was merely weariness and exhaustion which made a different manner of life attractive to you. But gradually, by faithful corresponding to grace, you will really enter into that life of concentration into which heretofore you have had a mere passing glimpse. God often gives it in first beginnings, to show His children whither He is leading them; and then He withdraws it, to teach us that it is not our own; that we have no power to acquire it of ourselves, or to retain it; that, in short, it is a gift of grace, which we must seek in all humility.

Do not be alarmed because you find yourself quick, for <5ob 145 impatient, imperious, decided; such is your natural character, — you must feel it As S. Augustine says, we must bear the yoke of daily shame for our sins. We must feel our weakness, our misery, our own powerlessness to correct what is amiss. We must have no hope in ourself, and hope only in God. We must bear with self without flatten,', and without neglecting the means necessary to correct it While waiting for God to deliver us from self, we need to know it thoroughly. Let us humble ourselves beneath His All-Powerful Hand; let us be supple and plastic, yielding to Him directly that we feel the assertions of self-love. Be silent as much as is possible; avoid hasty decisions; withhold your opinions, your likes and dislikes. Pause and break off your activity whenever you become conscious of its excess, and do not let yourself go headlong after your warm feelings even when lawful.

Letter 80. All For God

WHAT I most desire for you is a certain calmness, which recollection, detachment, and love of God alone can give. S. Augustine says that whatever we love outside God so much the less do we love Him; it is as a brook whence part of the waters is turned aside. Such a diversion takes away from that which is God's, and

thence arise harass and trouble. God would have all, and His jealousy cannot endure a divided heart; the slightest affection apart from Him becomes a hindrance, and causes estrangement. The soul can only look to find peace in love without reserve.

Dissipation,1 the great foe of recollection, excites all human feelings, distracts the soul, and drives it from its true resting-place. Further still, it kindles the senses and imagination; and to quiet them again is a hard task, while the very effort to do so is in itself an inevitable distraction.

Concern yourself as little as possible with external matters. Give a quiet, calm attention to those things assigned to your care by Providence at proper seasons, and be sure that you can accomplish a great deal more by quiet thoughtful work done as in God's Sight, than by all the busy eagerness and over-activity of your restless nature.

Letter 81. How to Do All in the Spirit of Prayer

ALL you have to do is to turn your energies inwardly upon yourself. Do not be disheartened at your faults;

1 The sense in which Fenelon uses this word must always be borne in mind, not that in modern use among ourselves, but " a scattering abroad," its original meaning.

JThc Spirit of Drawer 147 bear with, while correcting yourself, as we try to bear with and correct those committed to our charge. Try to cast away that restless activity which exhausts you physically, and leads you into faults as well. Accustom yourself gradually to let your mental prayer spread over all your daily external occupations. Speak, act, work quietly, as though you were praying, as indeed you ought to be.

Do even-thing without excitement, simply in the spirit of grace. So soon as you perceive natural activity gliding in, recall yourself quietly into the Presence of God. Hearken to what the leadings of grace prompt, and say and do nothing but what God's Holy Spirit teaches. You will find yourself infinitely more quiet, your words will be fewer and more effectual, and while doing less what you do will be more profitable. It is not a question of a hopeless mental activity, but a question of acquiring a quietude and peace in which you readily advise with your Beloved as to all you have to do. Such consultation, simple and brief though it be, will be more easily held than the bustling, restless arguments we hold within ourselves when natural energy has its way.

When once the heart is steadily bent towards God, we easily learn to withhold the hasty action of nature, and to wait for the time when we can act under the impulse of God's Grace only. It is continual death unto self which quickens the life of faith. That death is a real life, because peace-giving grace takes the place of disturbing natural causes. I entreat you try to train yourself to such a cultivation of the inner spirit, and then gradually everything will become prayer in you. You will not be free from suffering, but a peaceful suffering is one half relieved.

LXXX1L CARE OF HEALTH AND DUTY.

You must not heed your scruples as to the indulgences conceded by your community. Your constitution is very delicate; you are not young, and a trifle would upset you. Do not wait till you are ill to spare your strength. The wise course is to foresee evils, rather than wait till they come. It is not allowable to run any risks in your present condition. In spite of these little indulgences, your life will not be very voluptuous. Mentally you may practise greater mortification. You must stifle your restlessness, renounce your self-will, retrench inquisitiveness, your longing after success, and your eagerness to attract all that gratifies self-conceit. Silence, whereby to cultivate the Presence of God, is the best remedy for all our troubles; it is a very practicable mode of self mortification in the most ordinary life.

Utilise your rest for calming yourself, softening your temper, fostering charity, humbling presumption, checking impetuosity, cultivating recollection and the Presence of God, together with that gentleness and consideration which are due to your neighbour. "Do this and ye shall live." God has moulded your disposition so as to contain a great treasure, by giving you wherewithal to sacrifice and crush out self daily and hourly. Things which would scarcely rouse other people touch you to the very core. You can feel nothing by halves. But it is well that you should realise this, so as to be on your guard against your likes and dislikes.

Letter 83. Over-Eagerness

Do not give way to the quickness of your likes and dislikes, and mistrust that fervid zeal which lays you open to perilous mistakes. Do not be hasty about anything, especially about such a matter as a change of abode. Avoid dissipation, without exposing yourself to overmuch weariness and ennui. Do not be afraid of giving yourself the relief of a little really good Christian society; be content with such inward fervour as God gives you, without trying to force it up to some consciously higher mark. The great thing is to fulfil God's Will honestly i5° Spiritual fitter* in denying self, in spite of all the deadness and repugnance one may feel. I pray that our Lord may give you peace, not to feed your self-will and self-pleasing, but to lead you on in self-renunciation for His Sake

Letter 84. Patience in Spiritual Privation

I AM always pleased to hear of you; and now you will be surprised, yet must forgive me for another source of satisfaction, which is to see you with somewhat less of that sensible fervour, on which I felt you were resting too much. It is a good thing to feel one's weakness, and to learn by experience that all such fervour is but temporary. While we have it, it is God's Compassion ministering to our weakness; it is the milk of babes; but as time goes on we must be weaned, and learn to eat the dry bread of a more advanced age.

If we always possessed such taste and readiness for recollection, we should be sorely tempted to reckon upon it as our own downright possession; we should not realise either our weakness or our proneness to evil; we should be deficient in mistrust of self, and not have sufficient recourse to prayer. But when this conscious fervour is liable to interruption, we know what we lose; we remember whence it comes; we are forced to humble jpptritiml privation 151 ourselves and seek it from God; we serve Him all the more faithfully in that we find less delight in the service; we constrain ourselves; we sacrifice our tastes; we no longer sail with wind and stream, but by sheer strength against both; we attain full mastery over self; we may be in trouble and bitterness, but if so, we accept them, and do not cleave to God only because it is pleasant to do so; we are ready to accept pleasure only when God sends it; we acknowledge our weakness, and realise that it is out of indulgence that He does so send it; and when He takes it away we acquiesce readily, believing that He knows far better than we do what we need.

The one thing which always depends on ourselves is a conformable will, and this will is all the purer when it is bare and cold, yet stedfast. Be as regular in your fixed season for meditation as though it came quite easily to you. Make use of those times in the day when you are only partially occupied with external things, to occupy yourself inwardly with the things of God; for instance, while doing needlework you can maintain a close sense of the Presence of God. Such conscious sense of His Presence is most difficult during conversation, but even then you can frequently recall a general sense of it, overruling your every word, and repressing all that is overeager, all savouring of pride or contempt, all sallies of self-conceit. Bear with yourself, but do not flatter your-

152.Spiritual?Letterj$ self. Work diligently and consecutively, yet calmly and without self-conscious impatience, at the correction of your faults.