Letters 117–124

Letter 117. To the Same. Ox Crosses

CAMBRAI,/«/y 27, I7II.

I HAVE not written to you for long, dear Duchess, but I am afraid to write by the post, and it is some time since any other opportunity offered. You do well in leaving our friends' confidence to come and go as they will. One learns to bear what is wearisome, and sensitiveness wears off when we persevere in putting aside all brooding on self. The less we expect from our neighbour the more kindly and helpful to every one we shall become. If you seek confidence, it escapes you; — leave it alone, and it is sure to come back; but I do not mean that you should not seek it merely with this object

The heavier your crosses are the more careful you should be not to add to them. And you do add to them either by making vain efforts against Providence from without, or by other no less vain struggles within. You must be motionless beneath the Cross, keep it as long as God gives it, without trying to move it impatiently; and moreover bear it in a lowly spirit, adding to its own weight the shame of bearing it so badly. The Cross would cease to be a cross if self-love had the flattering support of believing that it was enduring manfully.

... As to myself, I spend my life in growing angry unreasonably, in talking indiscreetly, in being impatient of the importunities which vex me. I hate and despise the world, and yet it still flatters me. I feel old age creeping over me, and grow used to it, without learning real detachment from life. I find nothing real in myself, outwardly or inwardly. When I examine myself I seem to be dreaming, and see myself as a mere vision. ... I think I have no desire to meddle with the world; I feel a sort of barrier between myself and it, which keeps me far from seeking it; and I think I should be heartily grieved if I were called back to it.

Letter 118. To La Sgeur Charlotte de Saint-Cyprien, Car- Melite. Dangers of Intellectual Attrac- Tions

WHAT will you say, my dear Sister? I have not had one available moment in which to read your " Life of the Blessed Jean de la Croix," but I hope soon to read it carefully. . . . What I would desire for you, dear Sister, is that you should not trust too much to intellect in your obedience. Do not obey a man because he can argue more forcibly or speak more feelingly than others, but of Intellect 215 because he is providentially ordered for you and is your natural superior, or because apart from all else you feel that he more than others is able to help you to conquer your infirmities and attain to self-renunciation. A director is of little use in teaching detachment from self when it is self-will which seeks him. O my dear Sister, how I wish I could teach you true poverty of spirit! Remember what S. Paul says: " We are fools for Christ's Sake, but ye are wise." J I would fain see in you no wisdom save that of grace, which leads faithful souls in the sure way when they do not yield to temper, their passions, or selfwill, or to any merely natural impulse. To such as these all that the world calls talent, taste, and good reasoning is as nought.

Letter 119. To the Same. Ox the Same Subject

I CAN only tepeat what I have ventured to say frequently before: Beware of your own intellectual gifts, and those of others; judge no one according to them. God, the only wise Judge, goes on a very different line; He gives the preference to children and childlike minds. Read nothing out of mere curiosity, or in order to confirm your own opinions; rather read with a view to foster a 1 I Cor. iv. 10.

hearty spirit of meekness and submission. Talk little of yourself, and never save as a matter of obedience. Be as frank as a child towards your superiors. Make no count at all of your lights or extraordinary graces. Abide in simple faith, content to be obscure and unremitting in obedience to God's Commandments and the Evangelical Counsels as set forth in your Rule. Act up to whatever God may make known to you through others, and accept meekly whatever may seem strange to you. Self-forgetfulness should take the shape of crushing out self-will, not of neglecting that watchfulness which is essential to the real love of God. The greater your love, the more jealously you will watch over yourself, so that nothing may creep in unworthy of that love. This, dear Sister, is all I have to say to you: receive it in the same spirit with which I write. I ask our Lord to give you a deeper understanding of these things than anything I can say, and Himself to be all in all to you.

TO THE SAME. SICKNESS A TRUE PENITENTIAL EXERCISE.

. . . No one can be more sorry for your sufferings than I am, and I forgive them for hindering you in your penitential exercises. Are not siclcness and pain a con-

^purification of j&ieknegjs 217 tinual penitential exercise given us by God, and infinitely better adapted to our needs by His Hand than anything we could choose for ourselves? What is to be aimed at in any penitential works save mortification of the flesh and submission of the spirit to God? As to your reading, I cannot regret the loss, so long as it pleases God to deprive you of the power to read. All the best books in the world put together cannot teach one so much as the Cross. It is better to be crucified with Jesus Christ than to read His " Sufferings; " — this last is often only an interesting study, or at best an exercise of the affections, whereas the other is the real solid fruit, and carrying out in practice the result of all our prayers and meditations. So go on bearing your pain in silence and tranquillity, dear Sister: no better meditation than union with Christ on His Cross. No one can suffer quietly for the love of God without praying most really and purely. And so you may safely let books alone; books are only useful in so far as they teach and fit us for this self-sacrificing prayer. You will remember the passage in which S. Augustine, speaking of the final moment of his conversion, says that after having read certain words of S. Paul, ''Xo further would I read, nor needed I; for a light as it were of security was infused into my heart." ' When God supplies inward nourishment, we do not need it 1 Conf. Bk. VIII. c. xii. p. 153, Lib. of Fathers.

from without. The word from without is only given in order to supply that which is inward; and when God tries us by depriving us of that which is external, He makes up for the deficiency by supplying the need, and not leaving us to our own destitution. Be it yours, then, to wait silently and lovingly upon Him. Occupy your mind with whatever His Grace may suggest in meditation, to make up for what you cannot have by means of reading. Verily Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of the Father, is a Divine Book of teaching. Sometimes we seek merely to indulge our curiosity in reading, or to gratify our intellect; and then God weans us from such pleasure by sickness. He trains us by helplessness and a languid incapacity which is very trying and humbling to self-love. But what an excellent lesson! Where is the book which could teach one so much?

One thing I do very earnestly intreat of you is honestly to spare your strength, and to receive the alleviations afforded you as you would wish some one else to whose needs you ministered to receive them. Such simple, unaffected conduct will be a greater mortification to you than the austerities you regret, but which are out of the question. Moreover, God is better served by one who, overwhelmed with suffering, is content to be deprived of all consolation, than by those who are absorbed in the most conspicuous works. "To whom will I look, saith the

DutttjS of a Superior 219

Lord, but to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word? " ' The one class find their stay in their own lights, their own exertions, their own works, but God carries the other tenderly in His own Arms. Weep as much as you will over the faults which you say God brings to your mind; I like what you call your stupidity a hundredfold better than your fine intellectual feelings, which are a purely hollow stay. Be content with what God gives you, and that alike in every kind of vicissitude. Once more, take care both of body and mind, for both are exhausted.

Letter 121. To La Mere Marie de L'Ascension, Carmelite — (The Archbishop's Niece). on the Duties of a Superior

I TRUST, my dear niece, that God, Who has called you to bear rule among your sisters, will take away all that is of your own spirit, and fill you with His Spirit to fulfil your work. God's work is to make men love Him, and to root out self, so that He alone may live in us. So your function is to mortify the creature and adore the Creator; and must you not mortify self, that you may

Isa. Ixvi. 2.

teach others mortification? must you not love, if you would kindle love in them? No teaching is effectual without example; no authority is endurable save in so far as it is softened by example. Begin with acting, and let your words come after that. Action speaks and persuades: mere words are purely vain. Do you strive to be the lowest, humblest, most obedient, most recollected, most detached, most regular member of your House. Obey the Rule, if you would be yourself obeyed; or better still, teach others to obey, not you, but the Rule, to which you are foremost in obedience. Do not indulge any failings, but bear patiently with every possible infirmity. Wait for those souls whose progress is slow: you run the risk of disheartening them by impatience. The more vigour you need, the more gentleness and kindness you must combine with it. Why, when the Lord's yoke is easy and light, should that of a Superior be hard or heavy? Either be a real mother in compassionate tenderness, or do not presume to fill the place of one. You must learn to put yourself by self-abnegation under the feet of all those who have placed you over their heads by election. Endure all things: it is only by means of the Cross that we can hope to acquire the grace and mind of Jesus Christ so as to win souls. Superiors who do not bear the Cross will always be barren as to the offspring of grace. A well-borne cross gives untold of a: Superior influence, and brings a blessing on whatever you do. S. Paul was only shown the good works he was to do, together with the sufferings he was to endure. It is only through suffering that we learn to pity and comfort others.

Consult persons of experience; say little, listen much; study much more how to get a knowledge of the hearts of those under your care and adapt yoursejf to their needs than to talk fluently to them. Let them see that your heart is open to them, and let every one learn by experience that they can open theirs to you with safety and comfort. Avoid every sort of harshness, and find fault, when it must be done, with kindliness and consideration. Never say more than is necessary, but say that with the fullest honesty. Let no one have cause to fear lest they should be mistaken in believing what you say. Decide slowly but firmly. Keep your eye on each person committed to your care, and follow her if she strays from you. You must learn to be all things to all God's children, so that you may gain them all. Above all, correct yourself if you would be able to correct others. Invite others to tell you your faults, and believe that what they will tell you is precisely that to which your self-esteem blinds you.

I am, my dear niece, your truly devoted, and anxious for all your best interests in our Lord, etc.

Letter 122. To One About to Enter the Religious Life. on Indecision and Weakness

I REJOICE to think of you as on the eve of a great sacrifice, wherein I trust you will find peace. But that needs to be less Bought in outward condition than in the heart's disposition. So often as you attempt to look forward and make conditions with God, so often, you may be sure, He will overthrow all your plans, and you will lose all that you sought to grasp. Far better to let go everything unreservedly. God's Peace can only be found where all self-seeking and self-will are utterly thrown aside. When you cease to be eager for anything save God's Glory and the fulfilment of His Good Pleasure, your peace will be as deep as the ocean, and flow with the strength of a flood. Nothing save holding back, and the hesitation of an undecided mind, can disturb or limit that peace, which is as boundless as God Himself. You are a very Lot's wife, for ever looking back out of anxiety and mistrust. What you are leaving needs neither retrospect nor regret; let it drop out of your sight as well as from your hands. The indecision of your mind, which cannot be stedfast when things are settled, causes you a great deal of utterly useless trouble,

Enfceeteion anD cHeaknesji 223 and hinders you in God's Ways. You do not go on, you simply go round and round in a circle of unprofitable fancies.

One cannot call you headstrong, for no one ever met truth with less resistance, but your docility only lasts while one is speaking to you, and then you relapse into indecision. The present time is a sort of crisis, in which you must try to make a thorough change. So give no further heed to yourself, but act steadily up to your decision. If you hearken to the promptings of self, you invite temptation. To-morrow you will be no longer your own, — for long, indeed, you have had no right to call yourself so. God takes you wholly as His, and you — half draw back. You lack courage. A false wisdom and selfishness lower your standard. The moment that you think of nothing save God's Will you will not know fear, and there will be no hindrance in your way. Cast aside all earthly impulses, and so doing you will spare yourself much inward anxiety and much outward indiscretion.

God would have you wise, not in your own conceits, but in His Wisdom; He will guide you in true wisdom, not through your own imaginations, but rather by utterly casting them aside. When you cease to act upon impulse you will be free from self-conceit. The movements of grace are simple, frank, childlike. Impetuous

224 jSptrittwl nature imagines and talks largely; grace scantily, because it is calm and recollected. It adapts itself to various temperaments, and is all things to all men; it is universally plastic and yielding, because it clings to nought of self, but only seeks to help others. It knows how to proportion, to restrict, to mould itself to the needs of others. It is willing to be rebuked and corrected; and, above all, it knows how to hold its tongue, and only say what its neighbour can bear, whereas nature is for ever pouring out the overflow of inconsiderate zeal.

I shall ask God to treat you as wholly His Own, and to spare you in nothing which can promote His Glory. Woe to those weak, timid, selfish souls who expect to be indulged, and to put a limit to God's Grace. He does not reign by halves: His Will must be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and whatever is not offered to God in that spirit must needs pass through the fire of purification ere it can be acceptable in His Eyes.

Letter 123. To a Novice About to Be Professed

I LONG to know how you have prospered in your retreat, while awaiting the day which you fear so much, and which is really so little to be feared. You will find out that the phantoms which scare you from a distance are

<To a ^omce 225 nothing at all when you draw near. When S. Teresa took her vows, she says that she fell into a state of convulsive trembling, and felt as if all her bones were out of joint " Learn from my example," she says, " to fear nothing in giving yourself to God." In fact that first terror was followed by a peace and sanctity which are yet our marvel and admiration.

I would rather have you take eight hours sleep, and pay God with some other coin by day. He does not require you to watch more than your strength permits; but He does require a simple, docile, recollected mind, a heart yielding to His Will, generous in its unlimited acceptance thereof, ready to do and suffer all things, wholly detached from the world and from self. This is the real pure immolation of the whole man; all else is not himself, but his rude husk.

Prostrate yourself before the Child Jesus with the Magi. Giving up your will (which indeed is not yours to give), you will make a more precious offering than all the gold and perfumes of the East Offer it, but unreservedly and without recall. They who give thus receive abundantly, while those who keep back anything lose greatly. The faithful soul has nothing left, not even himself. You must not fret over your faults so long as you do not cherish them, or any secret inclination to persist in them. All such reservations hinder grace and Fin. sp. z.—//.] P keep the soul from reaching forth to God. If you lay all your failings unreservedly at God's Feet, He will scorch them up as fire consumes straw; He will make them serve to humble, crucify, confound you; He will wrest all self-reliance and conceit from you by their means; and then, when He has smitten you, He will burn the rod. Be of good cheer, — love, endure, be patient and yielding in His Hand.

Letter 124. To a Lady. on Confession and Communion.1

MADAME, — In reply to your questions concerning confession and communion, I reply that the Eucharist was instituted in the form of Bread, that is to say, of our most familiar food, and the Fathers call it " daily bread." The

1 Fenelon's meaning in this, as in another letter on " Frequent Communion" {Letters to Men, p. 319), must not be misunderstood. He is affirming and proving that the Christian's privilege and blessing is to receive the Blessed Sacrament daily, and that to abstain from so receiving, and only to assist at Mass, the celebration thereof, is to forfeit our privilege. But he by no means condemns the practice of assisting at such celebration after having received, as a separate act of thanksgiving and prayer, or where sickness and infirmity render communion at a proper hour impossible. This seems too obvious to need stating. In other letters he tells people to come to a late celebration under such circumstances to assist. Here he is only arguing against the notion that it is more reverent to abstain from very frequent communion.

Confession aniJ Communion 227 primitive Christians broke this sacred bread " daily with gladness and singleness of heart." x S. Chrysostom says, " In vain we offer the mysteries, if none partake thereof." Assisting at mass without taking part in it by communion is but half a work; so doing we only half fulfil the intention of Jesus Christ in the institution of this Sacrament Nothing but our own unworthiness ought to exclude us from the communion of our daily bread. All Christians are called to it, and they offend against the sacrament when they deprive themselves thereof. Our whole life ought to tend to prepare us to receive Holy Communion daily. The Eucharist is offered by the priest that the faithful may live by it. The one action bears strict reference to the other; and there is something wanting to the sacrifice when the laity draw back as though forbidden to approach the altar, not daring to eat the Victim offered for them. Yet modern ideas are very far off these purer views. People are somewhat scandalised at a priest who does not say Mass daily, and yet they are surprised to see a layman communicate every day in the week. But if the layman be leading a good Christian life, he may and ought to communicate daily if able, just as a good priest, if able, may and ought to offer the sacrifice daily. I should make no exception save of those persons who are either subject to a Com- 1 Acts ii. 46.

228 jSputtu«l fetters munity Rule, where everything is laid down for them, or to such worldly engagements as make caution necessary. To this I must add, that such persons as cling to their failings and voluntarily indulge in venial sin are unworthy of this daily communion. But as to simple, upright souls, who are willing to do all they can to improve, who are humble and docile, the daily bread is unquestionably theirs by right. Their involuntary failings, so far from excluding them, do but increase their need to be fed with the Bread which strengtheneth.

Nothing, then, can be more opposed to the institution of the Sacrament and to the spirit of the Church than to show respect to the Eucharist by receiving it seldom. Provided men be living in a state of purity, the true reverence is to receive it frequently. I know men cannot say " I am pure; " but we must not judge ourselves, we must let ourselves be guided by a pious, discreet counsellor.

The rule for confession is just the contrary to that for communion. Communion is food essential to life; the more one takes it the more one is nourished and strengthened. But confession, on the contrary, is a medicine, and one ought to try to diminish one's need of it. I know very well that the need will never altogether cease, for we shall always commit faults so long as we live, but at least we must endeavour to

(Confession ant) Communion 229 lessen the necessity which we cannot altogether do away with.

The power which Jesus Christ gave to His ministers to bind and loose, to forgive and to retain sins, is absolute and without restriction. But they cannot absolve secret sins which are not made known to them. Therefore this ministry implies the avowal of sins, either public or at least private. This is confession. When it is only auricular (i.e. made to the ear of one), it is the least that can be required. But, one way or other, the sinner must accuse himself. As to the minister, he has unrestricted power to remit all sins, and so much the more clearly venial sin. It does not appear that in early times people confessed themselves as frequently of these venial sins as is now the custom among us. The Fathers (especially S. Augustine) say that such sins are remitted by the Lord's Prayer, the fasts of the Church, and by almsgiving. But, above all, such sins are wiped out by the Love of God, that consuming fire which shrivels up our imperfections as natural fire consumes straw. Many venial sins are remitted to that soul which loves much. When we read the lives of the early Fathers of the Church, we find their historians relating their death with circumstantial detail, without mentioning the frequent confessions we now use. This was because they lived lives of great purity, and it does not seem that in those

230 j»piritttal days men made regular confession of those venial sins which no one would cherish who truly loves God.

I acknowledge that the present use of the Church is otherwise. But this change of discipline need not surprise us. The power to remit venial sin is still given to the priest, so that the faithful may resort to its help whenever so doing is profitable to him. Many saints have done thus with the happiest results; many souls find abundant purification through this means. It were a shameful wrong to deprive the number of tender consciences which need this consolation, this supply of grace, of it. Of course we must guard against letting it become a mere habit, a treacherous comfort, a mere unprofitable relief to the heart. People sometimes are tempted to think that all is done when they have told their sins; others rely on the efficacy of absolution to excess (i.e. regardless of amendment of life); others find a certain pleasure and self-satisfaction in talking about themselves, perhaps to a confessor of their own choice, and to whom they feel a great attraction. And then this practice of confession becomes just as easy and soothing to such persons who use it in a mere routine, which takes the place of all else to them, as it is a sharp discipline to sinners who rarely use it. Wise, discreet confessors ought to be able to judge of their penitents' needs, and be guided by the profit derived from their

(Cmplotjment of (Lime 231 confessions as to their more or less frequency. I must venture to say that, generally speaking, this is a matter which is not treated with sufficient weight and seriousness. As to upright, enlightened people, it seems to me that they do well to bear in mind two things, — one to go to confession as often as seems needful, or even beyond that strict limit, as a matter of example; and the other to conform to the present discipline of the Church, and try to profit by it by coming to confession with a lowly, teachable heart.

ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME.

I QUITE understand that what you want of me is not to convince you of the great duty of using time rightly; — grace has taught you that long since. One is happy in having to deal with souls who have so to say accomplished half their journey; but do not suppose I mean to flatter you, — you have still a long way to go, and there is a wide difference between the mind's conviction and the right disposition of the heart, taking shape in diligent, dutiful practice.

Nothing has been commoner at all times, or now, than to meet with souls who are most perfect and saintly in precept But " ye shall know them by their fruits,"

the Saviour of the world has said; and this is the only sure rule, if it be fairly dealt with; — by this we must judge ourselves. Time bears a very different aspect at different seasons of one's life, but there is one maxim which applies equally to all seasons, namely, that none should go by uselessly, — that all time forms part of the order, a link of the chain of God's Providence as regards our salvation, — that every season carries with it various duties of God's own appointing, and concerning the discharge of which we must give account to Him, since from the first to the last moment of life, God never means us to look upon any time as purposeless, either to be used as our own apart from Him or lost. The important thing is to know how He would have us use it. And this is to be learnt, not by restless, fidgety eagerness, which is much more calculated to confuse than enlighten us, but by hearty submission to those God has set over us, and by a pure, upright heart, simply seeking God, and diligent in resisting the deceits and wiles of self-love as fast as it perceives them. For remember, we lose time not only by doing nothing, or doing amiss, but also by doing things in themselves right which yet are not what God would have us do. We are strangely ingenious in perpetual self-seeking; and the things which worldly people do overtly, those who want to serve God sometimes do with more refinement, under

(£mplorjment of iTtme 233 some pretext which hides the faultiness of their conduct

One general rule for the right use of time is to accustom yourself to live in continual dependence upon God's Holy Spirit, receiving whatever He vouchsafes to give from one moment to another, referring all doubts to Him, and, where an immediate course of action has to be taken, seeking strength in Him, — lifting up your heart to Him whenever you become aware that outward things are leading you away, or tending to forgetfulness or separation from God.

Blessed is that soul which by sincere self-renunciation abides always in its Creator's Hands, ready to do whatever He wills, not weary of saying a hundred times daily, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Teach me to do Thy Will, for Thou art my God. Send forth Thy Light, Lord, to guide me; teach me to use the present time to Thy service, forgive the misuse of what is past, and may I never blindly reckon on an uncertain future."

With respect to business and external duties, we only need for the right use of time to give a straightforward diligent heed to the ordering of God's Providence. As all such duties are the result of His plans, we have but to accept them dutifully, submitting our own tempers, fancies, inclinations, our self-will, our fastidiousness or restless anxiety, our hurry, in short all our own natural impulses to do what we like how we like. Take care not to let yourself be overwhelmed by outer things, nor utterly immersed in external interests, however important.

Every undertaking should be begun with a definite view to God's Glory, continued quietly, and ended without excitement or impatience.

The time spent in society and amusement is generally that most dangerous to one's self, though it may be very useful to others. Be on your guard, that is to say, be more faithful in remembering the Presence of God at such times. You need then especially to cultivate the watchfulness so often enjoined by our Lord, — to use aspirations and liftings up of your heart to Him, as the only Source of strength and safety; otherwise you can scarcely hope to be kept from the subtle venom so often lurking amid society and its pleasures, or to be really useful to others. This is more than ever necessary for those whose position carries great weight, and whose words may do so much good or so much harm.

Spare time is often the pleasantest and the most useful as concerns one's self; it can hardly find a better use than that of renewing our strength (and this bodily as well as mental) through secret communion with God. Prayer is so necessary, it is the source of so much blessing, that when once the soul has realised its gifts, it will

Amusements 235 hardly fail to seek them anew so often as it is free to do so.