Chapter V. The Union with God Ordinarily following the Night of the Senses
Between the two nights of which St. John of the Cross speaks in his description of the soul's ascending journey toward perfect divine union, diere is, as it were, a time of calm, when the soul keeps on advancing in the light without great difficulty or fatigue. Other spiritual authors speak of this period between what they call the second and third conversions. Father Lallemant, S.J., alludes to it several times in his beautiful book, The Spiritual Doctrine. The first conversion takes place when we renounce the spirit of the world to give ourselves to God, for example, on entering religion. Since the engrafted plant is apt to go back to its wild state, it must experience a second conversion, or as St. John of the Cross calls it, the night of the senses, during which our Lord Himself teaches us the emptiness of created things and the value of the one thing necessary. The third conversion, if it takes place in this life in such a way as to enable us to avoid purgatory, consists of the different degrees of the night of the soul, when the Lord enlightens us much more concerning our weakness and misery and His own infinite greatness.
The relatively calm period that takes place between the second and third conversions is what we wish to discuss now, following the teaching of St. John of the Cross and of St.
Teresa. They have both, in quite different ways, given exactness to what had already been said by St. Gregory, Hugh of St. Victor, Tauler, St. Catherine of Siena, the author of The Imitation, and many other great spiritual writers.
The view of St. John of the Cross St. John of the Cross says:
When the house of sensuality was now at rest — that is, was mortified — its passions being quenched and its desires put to rest and lulled to sleep by means of this blessed night of the purgation of sense, the soul went forth, to set out upon the road and way of the spirit, which is that of progressives and proficients, and which, by another name, is called the way of illumination or of infused contemplation, wherewith God Himself feeds and refreshes the soul, without meditadon, or the soul's active help. Such, as we have said, is the night and purgation of sense in the soul.1
In the preceding chapter he had said that the soul is no longer moved by the pleasure of attraction and sweetness which it finds in its work, but only by God. It likewise practices here the virtue of fortitude, because, in these difficulties and insipidities which it finds in its work, it brings strength out of weakness and thus becomes strong. . . .
It is no longer angry with itself and disturbed because of its own faults, nor with its neighbour because of his faults, neither is it displeased with God, nor does it utter unseemly complaints because He does not quickly make it holy.
Then as to envy, the soul has charity toward others in this respect also; for, if it has any envy, this is no longer a vice as it was before, when it was grieved because others were preferred to it and given greater advantage. Its grief now comes from seeing how great is its own misery, and its envy (if it has any) is a virtue, since it desires to imitate others, which is great virtue. . . .
Often, in the midst of these times of aridity and hardship, God communicates to the soul, when it is least expecting it, the purest spiritual sweetness and love, together with a spiritual knowledge which is sometimes very delicate, each manifestation of which is of greater benefit and worth than those which the soul enjoyed aforetime; although in its beginnings the soul thinks that this is not so, for the spiritual influence now granted to it is very delicate and cannot be perceived by sense.
Finally, inasmuch as the soul is now purged from the affections and desires of sense, it obtains liberty of spirit, whereby in ever greater degree it gains the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.
These St. Paul enumerates as follows: "But die fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity."2 These fruits arc, as St. Thomas teaches, acts proceeding from the influence of the Holy Ghost in us and bringing us a holy delight.3 They are, therefore, entirely different not only from the fruits of concupiscence but also from the fruits of simple reason, even when enlightened by faith, as in discursive meditation. St. John of the Cross adds:
The soul which God is about to lead onward is not led by His Majesty into this night of the spirit as soon as it goes forth from the aridities and trials of the first purgation and night of sense; rather it is wont to pass a long time, even years, after leaving the state of beginners, in exercising itself in that of proficients. In the latter state it is like to one that has come forth from a rigorous imprisonment; it goes about the things of God with much greater freedom and satisfaction of the soul, and with more abundant and inward delight than it did at the beginning before it entered the said night. For its imagination and faculties are no longer bound, as they were before, by meditation and anxiety of spirit, since it now very readily finds in its spirit the most serene and loving contemplation and spiritual sweetness without the labour of meditation.
To prevent our thinking that this means the soul will no longer experience any dryness, St. John of the Cross immediately adds:
Although, as the purgation of the soul is not complete (for the principal part thereof, which is that of the spirit is wanting . . .), it is never without certain occasional necessities, aridities, darknesses and perils which are sometimes much more intense than those of the past, for those were as tokens and heralds of the coming night of the spirit, and are not lasting. . . . For, having passed through a period, or periods, or days of this night and tempest, the soul soon returns to its wonted serenity; and after this manner God purges certain souls which think not to rise to so high a degree of love as do others, bringing them at times, and for short periods, into this night of contemplation and purgation of the spirit, causing night to come upon them and then dawn.
The Imitation often speaks of the same thing.
A final remark made on the subject in The ~Dar\ Night says: "This sweetness, then, and this interior pleasure which we are describing, and which these progressives find and experience in their spirits so easily and so plentifully, is communicated to them in much greater abundance than aforetime, overflowing into their senses more than was usual pre-
8o THE LOVE OF GOD vious to this purgation of sense; for, inasmuch as the sense is now purer, it can more easily feel the pleasures of the spirit after its manner." 4
What St. John of the Cross has to say about the degrees or "cellars" of love contributes much to the clarification of this teaching. He writes: "And we may say diat there are seven of these degrees or cellars of love, all of which the soul comes to possess when she possesses in perfection the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, in the manner wherein she is able to receive them." 0 These seven cellars or cells of the soul remind us of St. Teresa's seven mansions, which also correspond to the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, as Isaias ranked them in descending order: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: die spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." 8
In die night of die senses, as we have seen, the gifts of knowledge and of fear of the Lord have most prominence, making plain to us the emptiness of created things and strengthening us against die frequent temptations of this same period. In the night of die soul we shall see the special working of the gifts of understanding and fortitude. In the transforming union the gift of wisdom is in most evident operation. The gifts of counsel and of piety dominate the time of calm after the night of the senses, and at this dme die gift of knowledge serves less to reveal the empdness of created things than their symbolism of the divine.
6 The Spiritual Canticle, st. 26.
THE UNION WITH GOD 81 The gift of piety, as St. Thomas remarks, 7 disposes us to receive docilely those inspirations producing in us an entirely filial affection for our Father in heaven, such as St. Paul speaks of in his Episde to the Romans: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God." 8
The gift of piety corresponds to the beatitude of the meek, for it leads us to see other men not as rivals but as God's children and our brodiers. The gift of counsel, the guide of true piety, corresponds to the beatitude of the merciful, since in difficult cases it inclines us more toward mercy dian toward rigorous justice. The predominating influence of these two gifis imparts to the period under discussion its peculiar character of calm, the fruit of the passive purification of die senses. However, the soul has not reached the end of its upward journey, although those who have come so far may be carried away like St. Peter on Thabor and say: "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." 9 As St. Mark goes on to say, "He knew not what he said." And soon afterward our Lord foretold His passion, "It is written of the Son of man, that He must suffer many things and be despised." 10 The Passion finds its reflection in the purgation of soul which, for truly generous hearts, follows the period of calm spoken of here.
St. Teresa's testimony For anyone who has studied St. Teresa's Interior Castle closely, it is apparent that the union with God enjoyed by the soul between the night of the senses and the night of the soul corresponds to the period covering the second phase of the fourth mansion and die whole of the fifth. The fourth mansion begins with "supernatural recollection" following a period of dryness 11 and often accompanied by the aridity characterizing the passive night of the senses. 12 Furthermore, the time of quiet following it may be arid because of the opposition encountered from the imagination and sensitive appetite. 18
The life and works of St. Jane Frances de Chantal show that this arid quiet can last a long time. In it we find the two elements which, according to St. John of the Cross, are characteristic of the passive night of the senses: on one hand, the beginning of infused contemplation together with a strong desire for God and for perfection; and on the other, the deprivation of what we call sensible grace and of the facility or even of the ability to enlist the cooperation of the imagination and devote oneself to discursive meditation.
« Cf. Third Mansion, chap. 2.
12 Cf. Fourth Mansion, chap. J. When discussing supernatural or passive recollection, the beginning of infused prayer, St. Teresa speaks of the usefulness of temptations arising at that time and encourages those dismayed by their detractions during prayer, showing how these result from the fact that the imagination cannot cooperate in infused prayer as it formerly did in discursive meditation.
"Fourth Mansion, chap, i: "When this (the imagination), wanders we at once imagine dial all the powers of the soul follow it; we think everything is lost, and that the time spent in God's presence is wasted. Meanwhile the soul is perhaps entirely united to Him in the innermost mansions, while the imagination is in the precincts of the castle, struggling with a thousand wild and venomous creatures and gaining merit by its warfare." Cf. also The Way oj Perfection, chaps. 31. 34* 38.
At the beginning of her sixth mansion St. Teresa describes the night of the soul as follows:
I shall not enumerate these trials in their proper order, but will describe them as they come to my memory, beginning with the least severe. This is an outcry raised against such a person by those amongst whom she lives. . . . Persons she thought were her friends desert her, making the most bitter remarks of all. . . . Yet oh! the rest would seem trifling in comparison could I relate the interior torments met with here, but they are impossible to describe. . . . Let us first speak of the trial of meeting with so timorous and inexperienced a confessor that nothing seems safe to him; he dreads and suspects everything but the commonplace. . . . The poor soul, beset by the same fears, . . . feels a torture and dismay at his condemnation that can only be realized by those who have experienced it themselves. For one of the severe trials of these souls ... is their belief that God permits them to be deceived in punishment for their sins . . . (their) fears become almost unbearable. Especially is this the case when such spiritual dryness ensues that the mind feels as if it never had thought of God nor ever will be able to do so. 14
Anyone reading this chapter and meditating on it sees that it describes the night of the soul discussed by St. John of the Cross in the second book of The Dar\ Night. We understand, then, that the union with God enjoyed by the advanced or proficient between the two nights corresponds to the second phase of St. Teresa's fourth mansion: for these souls know a quiet of soul no longer arid but consoling, and when they enter her fifth mansion they experience some degree of simple union, whether complete or incomplete.
14 Sixth Mansion, chap. i.
In the prayer of quiet the will alone is captivated. 15 A mysterious light manifesting the goodness of its indwelling God together with the gift of piety, present in the will itself and disposing it for an entirely filial affection for God, achieves this work within it. This state of soul has been compared to a child at the breast. 16 Better still, it is like possession of that living water of which Christ told the Samaritan woman. This water has its source in God yet it springs up in the inmost depths of our being, giving us great peace and sweetness, enlarging our hearts and our whole interior life, accomplishing such things within us that the soul itself cannot comprehend what it has received." In this state, however, the intellect, memory, and imagination are not captivated by the divine action. Sometimes they act as aids to the will and set themselves to serve it, at other times their cooperation causes it nothing but trouble. 18
In her Life, St. Teresa uses the noria, a kind of water wheel, to symbolize the prayer of quiet. We remember the image she borrowed from the four ways of watering gardens: The first is by bucketing water from the well hand over hand, the symbol of discursive meditation. 18 The second is by using the noria, a sort of water wheel or windlass that demands less effort than was required at the start to dispose us to receive God's grace; here, the saint says, the flowers of virtue are ready to appear. 20 The third is done by irrigation from a river or spring and corresponds to the sleep of the powers
10 St. Teresa, The Way of Perfection, chap. 31. " The Interior Castle. Fourth Mansion, chap. 2.
captivated by God and unconscious of the things of the world ; here the flowers of virtue blossom. 21 Lastly, the watering is done by rain, symbol of the prayer of union, the source of heroic resolutions and of great growth in humility. 22
Progress in prayer is, therefore, generally accompanied by progress in virtue; in fact, living faith, charity, and the gifts accompanying them are exercised in prayer; for charity informs and animates, so to say, the other virtues resulting from it and increasing with it. 23 According to St. Teresa, 24 then, if the soul that has already reached the prayer of quiet is humble and generous, it will be raised still higher — to union. But the saint notes that regularity, a fidelity of a somewhat external kind, is not sufficient; we must have besides great docility to the Holy Ghost, because He requires more and more of us as He gives and desires to give us more. 25
In simple union the divine action is so strong that it completely absorbs the activity of the interior faculties of the soul during the time of prayer. Their entire activity is directed to God and no longer strays away from Him. Not only the will, but the intellect, too, is captivated by Him, and the natural operations of the memory and imagination come to a standstill so that the soul is usually no longer troubled by distractions, at least when it experiences complete union.
This fact explains why die higher faculties, the intellect and will, are positively captivated, fixed, and absorbed by God through the illumination and inspiration of the Holy
21 The Interior Castle. Fifth Mansion, chap. I.
25 Fifth Mansion, chap, i: "Outwardly wc may appear to practice the requisite virtues, but we have far more to do than this before it is possible to attain to contemplation, to gain which wc should neglect no means, either small or great."
Ghost necessary for infused loving contemplation. This losing of themselves in God is the eminent exercise of the supernaturalized intellect and will in this life. Intensity of contemplation and of union with God brings about a certain suspension of the natural exercise of the lower faculties (the imagination and sensory memory) and, as a result, of reason as well. This happens because die entire activity of the soul is directed toward God by the higher faculties and these exert a spiritual influence over the lower powers, which are stilled, as it were, and lulled to sleep. The absorbed scholar who abstracts his attention from external things to the extent of no longer seeing them offers us a parallel in the natural order. 20 The soul no longer makes any effort to get the healthgiving, refreshing, and purifying waters but simply receives the rain as it falls from heaven, 27 God allowing it to cooperate with Him only by complete submission of will. 28 Yet we continue to merit, not that the vital will-act in such a case is the result of discursive meditation, but because it acts freely in its docility to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. 2 As St. Teresa says, "How beautiful is die soul after having been immersed in God's grandeur and united closely to Him but for a short time!" 30 By dying wholly to self such a soul
*« The imagination would not be suspended in its activity but positively captivated if it were a case of an imaginary vision, which is sometimes granted in this state, although it is not at all essential to it. Suspension of the natural activity of the lower powers is not simply a consequence of the intensity of contemplation; it results from the fact that God in some way fetters these faculties as in rapture, so that they can give no trouble to the intellect and the will.
17 Life of St. Teresa by herself, chap. 18.
28 Fifth Mansion, chap. I.
20 Cf. St. Thomas, la Hae, q.m, a.2, for the difference between operating and cooperating grace. The act spoken of here is a result of operating grace. 3 <> Fifth Mansion, chap. 2.
becomes so changed that its transformation is comparable to the metamorphosis of a silkworm into a white butterfly. 31 In both instances, life reaches maturity only after a transformation. Thus we see why St. John of the Cross calls the period of the spiritual life which we have been discussing the age of the proficients or advanced.
It should be remarked, with St. Teresa, 32 diat the prayer of union is often incomplete, without cessation of the activity of the imagination and memory, these powers sometimes making war on the intellect and will. 33 Here again, as in the case of the prayer of quiet, we must pay no more attention to the imagination than we would to a fool. When treating of incomplete mystical union St. Teresa says: "Is it necessary, in order to attain to this kind of divine union, for the powers of the soul to be suspended ? No; God has many ways of enriching the soul and bringing it to these Mansions besides what might be called a 'short cut.' " 34
34 The "short cut" together with its delights referred to here is sometimes taken for infused or mystical contemplation but consists only in the suspension of the imagination and memory, or the beginning of ecstasy, which sometimes accompanies mystical union and does much to facilitate it. It is plain, in fact, that the states of prayer referred to in the Fourth Mansion — supernatural recollection and the prayer of quiet — are infused. With all the more reason we can say the same thing of those in the Fifth Mansion. When starting to speak of these, St. Teresa herself told her daughters: "There arc very few who never enter this mansion: some more and some less, but most of them may be said at least to gain admittance into these rooms. I think that certain graces I am about to describe are bestowed on only a few of the nuns, but if the rest only arrive at the portal they receive a great boon from God, for 'many are called, but few are chosen.' "
Among these "certain graces" is the "short cut" of the suspension of imagination and memory. On this point, cf. Arintcro, O.P., Cuesliones misticas, 2nd ed., p. 330; P. Garate, S.J., Razon y Fe, July, 1908, p. 325; Saudreau, Les degres de la vie spirituellc, 5th ed., II, ioi, note 2.
The effects of the prayer of union are wonderfully sanctifying. The soul knows deep contrition for sin and a burning desire to praise and serve God ; it suffers much to see sinners lost and catches a glimpse of the sufferings Jesus Christ endured; and it really begins to practice heroic virtue. 35
What distinguishes St. Teresa from St. John of the Cross is that she puts more stress than he does on the extraordinary favors which may accompany the different states of prayer. Yet she takes care not to confuse concomitant and accidental favors with the essential character of interior states, recognizing that certain graces are bestowed only on a few of those who gain admittance to the inner mansions. 30 Moreover, St. Teresa emphasizes the progressive extension of the mystical state to the different faculties of the soul. To bring out the increasing intensity of this life she shows how the higher powers are more and more positively captivated by God and the natural exercise of the lower faculties becomes suspended. However, she knows, as the text cited above shows, that the binding of the imagination is only an attendant and accidental phenomenon of the infused prayer of union and that ecstasy is not a sure sign of greater knowledge and love of God since it usually comes to an end in transforming union, the most perfect mystical state. 37
In connection with this subject Father Lallemant has something most apt to say in his Spiritual Doctrine:
It cannot be maintained that St. Teresa held that there were two ways, one mystical, one not mystical, for arriving at the Fifth Mansion. By stating that the prayer of supernatural recollection and the prayer of quiet arc infused, she said just the opposite. Cf. also The Way of Perfection, chaps. 18, 19. 20, 21.
35 Fifth Mansion, chap. 2.
87 Seventh Mansion, chap. 3.
THE UNION WITH GOD 89 The degrees of contemplation, according to some, are, first, recollection of all the powers of the mind; secondly, semi-rapture; thirdly, complete rapture; fourthly, ecstasy. But this division expresses not so much the essence of contemplation as its accidents; for sometimes a soul without rapture will be favoured with a sublimer light, a clearer knowledge, a more excellent operation from God, than another who is favoured with the most extraordinary raptures and ecstasies. The Blessed Virgin was more elevated in contemplation than all the angels and saints united; and yet she had no raptures. 38
Like the girl Bernadette, some saints had raptures and ecstasies when diey were children but afterward experienced diem less often or not at all.
St. John of the Cross makes it quite clear that such phenomena are accidental. To bring out die increasing intensity of union with God, rather than the extension of the mystical state to the different faculties, he lays stress on the passive purifications required by this union. They provide a much better indication of the soul's progress in knowing and loving God because they belong to the very essence of the different stages of the spiritual life.
As we have seen, St. Teresa has not neglected these signs, 39 but neither has she elucidated them as well as St. John of the Cross. He, being a theologian, was more concerned than she with linking contemplation and union with God to their causes and thus explaining them. So he has shown us how contemplation is connected with an eminent degree of the theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost and how the progressive purification of the virtues brings souls to a
38 Seventh Principle, chap. 6, art 7.
39 Sixth Mansion, chap. 1.
po THE LOVE OF GOD higher and simpler form of contemplation and to closer union with God. Thus he gives us an explanation of how virtue usually grows with prayer, since all the functions of the spiritual organism develop together. 40 The passive purification of the soul evidences this truth more strikingly than any other state because it requires heroic acts of faith, confidence, patience, and love of God and during it more than at any other time is verified the old maxim, Ad lucem per crucem. The cross frees men from illusions and leads anyone who carries it supernaturally to true contemplation and perfect love of God.
With a view to keeping souls from falling into discouragement, they should be advised at this time frequently to renew their consecration to Mary the Mediatress and, with all the more reason, to die Sacred Heart. It should also be suggested that they consecrate themselves to the Holy Ghost, the Master of our interior life, so as to be henceforth more and more docile to Him in darkness as well as in light, in dryness as well as in joy. If we place our full consent in such a consecration, it will have marvelous consequences. If a formal pact with the devil, when fully consented to, can have such terrible results, we know that the will's full consent has no less import in the order of good than in the order of evil. Doubtless it is easier to destroy than to build; yet, with the help of grace, the building of the spiritual temple is always possible, and die Holy Ghost is infinitely more powerful than the demons. We have only to place ourselves under the direction of our inner Master and set ourselves never to refuse Him anything plainly in conformity with the duties of our state and of our vocation; then the more faithful we
are, the more He will keep our chief obligations before our minds and so lead us, by a more and more generous practice of virtue, to perfect purification and union with God.
The value of the hidden life
Everything just said about the passive purification of the senses and the period normally following it, called the illuminative way, reveals the value of the hidden life to us. For a living and practical idea of it, we shall quote from a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles written by a priest friend long tried by illness, who obviously speaks from experience and desires to remain unknown. The great merit of this commentary is that it rises spontaneously and immediately from sensible symbols to spiritual realities and has passages of real beauty. The following pages relative to the first verses of the Canticle concern the apostolate of the hidden life.
O my God, when I meet a soul that You seem to have called to the true life, I feel impelled to pray boldly: Here is one of Your children, O Father! Give him a new mark of Your affection. You have already given him so much! If anything is lacking in his preparation, supply it so that he may be worthy of You! Purify him, adorn him, surround him with Your love. Take him up, as it were, in Your arms and hold him against Your great heart. And, I dare ask it, Father, reverently, humbly, but ardently as well, put Your kiss upon his mouth. I shall know no peace until You fulfill my desire. It is good; it is legitimate. I ask it for Your glory, for the good of this soul, and for my own sake, O Jesus. Remember the words of Your holy precursor: "He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice."
And grant that I may be able to say as he did : "This my joy is therefore fulfilled."
The conditions necessary to make an apostle of the interior life can evidently be reduced to two: an ardent desire to lead the hidden life and perfect docility to grace, so that the Holy Ghost may make whatever use He will of us as instruments for others. If we are to help souls by speaking to them of the interior life, the preparation necessary for it, its nature and its crown and consummation, we must have more than a scientific knowledge of these mysterious realities, such as can be had from a serious study of the masters. In this matter personal experience means much and rounds out common doctrine.
When a man is in immediate contact with the reality he is describing, his speech has an indescribable persuasiveness. He not only knows this reality but lives it and, in a sense, is it and, therefore, has no trouble putting it into words. Under the action of grace, his words become light and warmth and life to the listener. They have fire because the soul that expresses and is expressed by them is itself on fire and has, after striving long and patiently, been given this sometimes unmerited gift of utterance by God Himself. Then a man may give away the fruits of his garden, as St. Teresa puts it, without harm to himself. We must abide God's time, the autumn of the soul. If we attempt to reap in the spring instead of at harvest time, we are liable to let others go hungry and to starve to death ourselves. But when the time is really ripe, we must not let false humility or sham prudence make us refuse to give of our good things to others lest we smother our fire with ashes and allow the children of our heavenly Father to go hungry for bread.
Docility to grace is then most necessary for the apostle of the hidden life. Being only an instrument in the hands of the divine Worker, he must do nothing of himself and by himself. Ordinarily, of course, he remains free and autonomous. Only at certain times and in certain events the Holy Ghost moves him without his taking the initiative of his own action. When this happens he has no other duty than to give his full and perfect consent to all his Master desires him to say or to do. In all other cases, he need only concern himself with cooperating disinterestedly, intelligently, and docilely with grace. God alone knows what He expects of a soul, what He desires to do with it, the plan of life He has sketched for it, the place He has set aside for it in His spiritual edifice, the part it has to play in time and in eternity. Nothing can prevail against the divine will.
The apostle of the hidden life who has fulfilled the two necessary conditions has a wonderful mission. God's mercy works but for one end: to teach us what heaven is, to make us desire it, to put in our hands the means to gain it. Now heaven is nothing else but perfect, conscious, and definitive participation in the inner life of God. And the interior life is nothing else but the imperfect but very real beginning of this participation : inchoatio vitae aeternae, inchoatio et praelibatio beatitudinis. Therefore, nothing on earth so resembles and so prepares us for eternal life as a life of intimacy with the adorable Trinity living at home in our hearts. And no more beautiful task exists in this world than to teach souls the art of beginning their heaven on earth. God is glorified, they are given happiness, and we are made glad.
O my Jesus, since You love interior souls so much, increase the number of those who worship the Father "in spirit and in truth." Let each one of them be more recollected, more earnest, more generous, and, in a word, more loving. Give to Your other selves, those to whom You have willed to confide the care of discovering, cultivating, and improving the souls so dear to You, an abundant share in Your priestly grace, that they may give themselves entirely to this divine task. Show them the beauty of these souls. See to it that they understand their full value. Illumine them with Your light. Surround them with Your love. Be their counselor and guide in such an important and difficult undertaking. Make them prudent, patient, devoted, forgetful of self and concerned only with making You known and loved. 41
41 Robert dc Langeac, Virgo Fidelis (Paris: Lethiclleux, 1931).
Footnotes
Chapter 22 of 37